Chapter 19

.:. Taking Bets Now .:.

"Okay people! Are you ready to get this party started?"

Even without his Quirk Present Mic's voice echoed around the room easily, a loud round of cheers rising in response from the gathered teachers. The blond grinned at the crowd from the stage, pumping a fist in the air. "Alright, alright, alright!" he shouted in English. "Then let's kick off this bash with the classic: KA-RA-OKE! Who'll be our first volunteer?"

People immediately began shouting out names, their voices overlapping and tinged with laughter. Soon enough Midnight strolled to the stage though, grinning as she snatched up the microphone from its stand. "I nominate Hound Dog!" she declared, and the room howled with laughter. The counselor was soon pushed up to the stage, looking mildly displeased at being the first one to sing that night, but he didn't try to protest.

He swiped the remote from Mic's hand so he could start going through the song list, soon settling on a classic. As the familiar notes of Elvis Presley's Hound Dog began playing another round of loud cheers and laughter rose from the teachers. Mic grinned as he hopped off the stage just as his colleague began singing, heading for the bar counter where a grumpy Aizawa sat with his head pillowed in his arms.

"Well, we're off to a great start as usual!" he declared cheerfully as he slid onto the stool next to him. "I knew asking for that Elvis track to be thrown onto the list was a good idea!"

"You only did it for the puns," Aizawa grumbled, voice muffled by his arms, and the blond laughed. His voice lost some of its original volume and energy, the stage-worthy Present Mic persona shedded in favor of Yamada Hizashi. Who, to be fair, was still more energetic than most teenagers and toddlers, just slightly less flamboyant about it than his hero persona. And given tonight's crowd, the Present Mic energy would probably linger pretty heavily.

Yamada grinned as he turned to wave over the bartender. "A Grasshopper for me," he said, and glanced over at Aizawa. "You want want anything, Eraser?"

"No, I have patrol after this," Aizawa muttered, peeling his head off the counter. He was met with a scoff not from Yamada but Kayama, the dark-haired woman strolling over to plop onto the stool on his other side.

"You always schedule your patrol for this night," she remarked, bracelets jingling as she leaned her cheek against her palm. "Even though we always do the party the same week, every year."

"Saturday is the only day I can go out on patrol without having to think about getting up for school the next morning," Aizawa deadpanned. "Sue me for wanting to do both my jobs."

"Please, everyone knows you only need two hours of sleep to function fine," Kayama teased, and waved over the bartender. "Hey, can I get a martini over here?"

"That... is weirdly tame for you," Aizawa muttered, eying her suspiciously. She just smirked, eyes glinting mischievously.

"Oh, but the night is so young," she purred. "It's better to ease in slowly than dive in head-first from the start. No one ever wants to go all-in right away anyway, and I want to savor this." Aizawa couldn't help his shudder at her tone, and silently reaffirmed that his decision to schedule a patrol had been absolutely correct.

Every year at the end of the first week, UA rented out a bar for a big party to celebrate the start of the year. It was a tradition that had started as a simple night out drinking, but grew into a larger event as the years went on. Given the nature of their work, it only made sense to rent out an entire bar to make sure that they wouldn't be overheard discussing sensitive information while drunk.

After all, conversation at this party always centered around the kids.

"So, you haven't expelled anyone yet," Cementoss remarked. The large blocky man had joined them at the counter, the first one Kayama had decided to lure into her trap. As she'd said, she'd started small, eagerly advocating the quality of this bar's martinis to their coworker. He seemed rightfully wary of her intent, and focused on Aizawa as he waited for his drink. "Given some of the repairs I had to make to the gym, I'd expect at least one by now."

"None of them have proven too reckless or unmotivated yet," the underground hero huffed, crossing his arms. "I've had to threaten them to take things seriously a couple times, but overall this year's class seems largely competent so far."

"Admit it, you're also too amused by their antics with Gran Torino," Kayama piped up with a grin, tracing the lip of her martini glass with a bright red nail. "I watched those clips from the security cameras Snipe put in the chat. That first session is the funniest thing I've seen in years." The remark had Yamada almost choking on his Grasshopper as he snorted, breaking into a wide grin even as he caught his breath.

"Oh man, those clips are nothing!" he cackled. "Snipe and I ended up doing some heavy-duty editing and put together a highlight reel from both classes! Even found the perfect soundtrack: Yakety Sax!"

"That silly saxophone music?" Cementoss asked.

"You know it!" Yamada shot him finger guns, and downed another sip of his Grasshopper. "Okay, quick side-note, how does a drink named after something so gross taste so good? Can we come up with another name for it?"

"Like what, Minty Fresh Slime?" Aizawa muttered, eying the bright green liquid with distaste. Yamada's face instantly contorted with disgust while Kayama burst out laughing.

"Oh my gosh, that is awful!" she cackled.

"Why would you say that," Yamada groaned, and gestured at the glass with a frown. "Come on, it doesn't even look like slime! The color's way too rich and opaque!"

"Who actually uses the word 'opaque' in conversation?" Aizawa muttered wryly, and Mic scowled and swatted his shoulder.

"Why is it even called a Grasshopper, anyway?" Kayama wondered. "I know they're both green, but this shade feels more Christmas-y to me."

"So what, 'Holly Jolly Green'?" Cementoss asked in a perfect deadpan, and she snorted.

"Don't think it's that green! Maybe a 'Green Snowfall'? It is used in milkshakes sometimes..."

The conversation shifted to cocktail names after that, both speculating on the origins of some popular names and proposing new ones for each one they ordered. It ended with Cementoss getting just drunk enough to accept Kayama's proposal to try one of her experimental concoctions, at which point Aizawa and Yamada decided to relocate to another table before she targeted them in earnest.

"We're all going to end with hangovers tomorrow, aren't we," Kan murmured as they watched the amused bartender bring over a variety of bottles at her request. They couldn't see the labels from their current distance, but it would likely be a combination that would make them wince.

"Yep," Yamada agreed. "Everyone but Eraser."

"You might be onto something with those patrols," Kan snorted, taking a sip of his own glass. Like most, 1-B's homeroom teacher had wisely decided against partaking in alcohol just yet, starting with a simple water while he dined on the various appetizers prepared for the party. Everyone had already eaten dinner, but they'd left plenty of room for snacks to try to dampen the impacts of the alcohol.

Aizawa reached for some of the crackers on the table's center, nibbling at them idly. On the stage Maijima Higari, better known as Power Loader, was cajoled into taking the microphone, looking rather put out as he scrolled through the list of options. Why someone suggested him was a mystery, since he had a rather scratchy voice that didn't translate well to singing.

"At least karaoke will be fun," Yamada remarked with a grin. "Drunk karaoke is always hilarious."

"Most of you can barely remember it though," Aizawa reminded him dully, and the blond scoffed.

"Oh, come on, plenty of us can remember it just fine! I'll never forget the time you sang the national anthem to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody!" Kan nearly choked on his drink as he burst into laughter while Aizawa frowned.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in genuine confusion.

"That night was legendary!" Kan declared with a grin. "Can't believe I forgot about that! Everyone else was trying to sing along to the lyrics—"

"Badly," Yamada cut in with a sharp grin. "Seriously, your drunk English is almost as bad as Owada's!"

"You still talk about him? Owada graduated three years ago. And you only had to deal with him for a year!"

"Yeah, after I literally begged Nedzu to let him drop it! Kan, you have no idea how badly that kid butchered English. It physically pained me to read his homework! I actually cried once! Right, Shou?"

"I came home from patrol to find you sobbing on the couch at two in the morning," Aizawa confirmed flatly. "It was the last thing I wanted to deal with after almost breaking my ribs that night."

"Anyways, my point stands, really impressive you guys were as bad as Owada," Yamada said with a nod, and the Blood Hero rolled his eyes.

"Well, we were drunk that night," Kan said firmly. "So yeah, we butchered the lyrics. We're not that fluent. But even then, having Aizawa sing 'kimigayo wa, chiyo ni yachiyo ni' in a perfect monotone is pretty distracting too!" he added with a snort. "I think Snipe even started singing along with him in English."

"Snipe was the only one who didn't butcher English that night," Yamada sniffed haughtily. "That was a brilliant translation of Kimigayo, I wish I'd taken notes of his lyrics because I can barely remember them now. But, singing the wrong song still took away a good chunk of his points."

"I still have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," Aizawa grumbled irritably, and Yamada smiled almost sympathetically as he patted his shoulder.

"You never do, Eraser. You never do." The remark had the dark-haired man looking at him in even more confusion and mildly bewildered while Kan snorted.

"You're lucky, I can remember every last drop," he muttered wryly, mouth twisting in a disgusted grimace. "I don't know how Kayama manages to talk me into drinking that shit she makes every time, it always tastes awful." Yamada nodded in agreement, smile fading to a more serious look.

"She starts by getting you drunk enough to lower your inhibitions," he said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder towards Cementoss. The man had just downed the first shot of her first concoction of the night, his face almost stony as he slammed the cup down and shuddered. "You lower your guard just enough to agree, and after the first one, you know it tastes bad, but it's just heavy enough to make you dumb enough to agree to another. It's a vicious cycle, for sure."

"And you'll fall victim to it anyway," Aizawa added flatly.

"At this point I think most of us are just resigned to it!" Yamada laughed, voice just slightly strained. Several of the nearby teachers made quiet, half-hearted noises of agreement. After this long, Kayama had gotten the art of talking people into accepting her toxic concoctions down to a science. While they could resist for most of the party, she usually got everyone to have at least one by the end of the night.

At this point they mostly just accepted it with the logic that if it was truly harmful, Recovery Girl would put a stop to it. Granted, the Youthful Heroine was never present at these parties, but they still consoled themselves with that reasoning.

"Well, I for one think I'll take her up on that drink early," Maijima declared as he joined them at the table, fresh off the stage after his song ended. The Support Hero slumped into the empty chair with a groan, grabbing the wine bottle waiting on the table. His claw-tipped fingers clinked against the glass as he filled one of the cups. "After this week, I'm down for it."

"Is your class actually that bad?" Aizawa asked, genuinely curious. It was rare to see the other man look so tired and done with his class, at least not in the first week. Usually that was his thing.

"There's this girl, Hatsume," Maijima grumbled. "Genius inventor, one of the best talents I've seen in years. Has a million ideas. A million destructive ideas." He scoffed, shaking his head as he downed the wine like a shot. "She's already blown up the lab two times."

That had Yamada and Kan wincing. "I thought I heard a pretty loud boom while passing the hall yesterday," Yamada muttered.

"Yep, that was her. Crazy thing is most of her ideas work. She's just got so many and works so fast, that the mistakes show up quicker than usual." He shook his head. "I can just tell it's setting the tone for the rest of the year. So when Kayama comes over to drag me to her side, I'm not gonna put up a fight."

Normally they'd try to talk him out of the potentially suicidal action, but it was hard to argue with that reasoning. "Well, guess that's one less thing to bet on," Kan said. "Usually you don't get an explosion until third week."

"At this rate, I'll be lucky to have no explosions any week this year," Power Loader grumbled. "You can bet on Eraser expelling kids instead, seeing as he didn't do that yet." Aizawa just sighed quietly, not even bothering to argue that he didn't always expel someone in the first week. Last year had been an outlier.

"I have a better one," Yamada said with a smirk. "How about how long it takes for him to actually use Erasure." That had the other teachers snapping to attention.

"You haven't used it yet?" Power Loader asked in surprise.

"Somehow, no," Aizawa confirmed. "Don't ask how, I'm still not sure how I got through the dodgeball game without it. After this long Torino suggested I should save it for when it'd leave the biggest impact on the class."

"You would get along with him," Kan snorted. "That first exercise seems like the kind of thing you'd come up with, if it didn't take so much effort on your part."

"It was definitely more effective than the usual drills we'd do on day one."

"Not arguing that. Did a way better job at highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. And it was hilarious to boot!" The larger man flashed a sharp grin, still keenly amused by seeing his students struggle to catch the old man. The best part had been when Honenuki softened the ground at one point to try to trap Gran. He had easily jumped over the affected area, but several other students got stuck instead. The class ultimately split up so one group could focus on extracting the trapped students.

Snipe scooted back his chair at a nearby table where he'd been talking to Thirteen, having been lightly listening in on the conversation. "We are playing that highlight reel later tonight, right Mic?" he asked. "I didn't spend five hours editing that thing together with you for it to never see the light of day."

"Of course!" the blond replied in English. "We'll get it queued up on the big screens before Eraser leaves for his patrol!"

"Hopefully we're all still sober then," Thirteen commented. "Kayama-senpai just lured over that new teacher from gen-ed." Everyone winced sympathetically, turning to see the new hire already talking to Kayama. Clearly no one had warned the poor woman about her devious cocktails, taking a shot of Midnight's latest monstrosity and then promptly gagging.

Snipe gave a low whistle. "Damn, she downed the whole thing in one go."

"Even for hazing new employees, that feels kinda cruel," Kan muttered. "Didn't anyone warn her?" Then the new hire did something that had them all freeze.

"Is she taking another?" Yamada asked in disbelief as they watched Kayama hand the woman a second cocktail. Once again she downed it without hesitation, an almost devious smirk on her face as she slammed the empty cup onto the counter.

And then she waved for the bartender, and began pointing out bottles on the shelf behind him to bring over.

"...Oh god, there's two of them now," Yamada whispered, face rapidly paling as she began pouring the various liquors in a cup.

"Should we warn everyone else?" Thirteen wondered.

"And say what, the new hire from gen ed might be another Midnight?" Snipe asked rhetorically. "They'd probably just laugh it off. And besides, her stuff can't be worse than Midnight's monstrosities anyway."

"You realize you just jinxed us, right?" Power Loader deadpanned. "If we all go into alcohol-induced comas, I'll blame you." As if to help prove his point Kayama downed the newer woman's concoction, and her lips curled back into a very pleased-looking smirk. Clearly she approved of it, which meant a hellish night for their livers.

"Should've taken a page from Gran's book and skipped tonight," Kan grumbled. Yamada scowled, pulling out his phone.

"Screw it. Let's at least start getting the bets down while we're sober. Half the reason any of us even come to this party is for the betting pools! Alright, got the notes open and ready to type! Hit me with whatever you guys got!"

"I give two weeks before Aizawa expels someone," Snipe interjected. "Two thousand yen."

"I'll put three down on the week before the Sports Festival," Kan countered. "That's when kids will start to get really reckless with training and need a wake-up call."

"How about first person to submit a modification request for their costumes or support gear?" Power Loader wondered. "I feel like that Kaminari kid skipped over actual tools, so I'm hoping to see him drop by soon."

"Based on the highlight reel, that Shiozaki girl from 1-B might need a modification too," Yamada mused. "I get what she was going for with the long, flowy gown look, but she kept tripping over it. She could at least shorten it so it's closer to the ankles. And those sandals don't look good for lots of running around rough environments, don't really protect her feet much."

"Says the guy who wears leather constantly," Aizawa muttered, and Yamada just stuck out his tongue before turning to resume logging the bets in his phone. The dark-haired man seemed to waver for a moment then, mouth pressing into a thin line, before seeming to give in. "Komori will probably be in to change her shoes by the end of next week."

"Oh, I'll put down money on that," Snipe snorted. "Especially after you guys go to the USJ. Heck, I'd even bet she'll peel them off and go barefoot before that field trip ends. Those shoes definitely aren't good for moving around much."

"So then she might be a contender for first broken bone," Kan mused. "I figure we'll get at least one there."

"Hey, hey, cool it with the bets on broken bones!" Yamada hissed, shooting him a sharp glare as he looked up from his phone.

"Why, though?" Power Loader asked. "There's always going to be a broken bone in the hero course. Actually, I might throw one in for my class."

"Who, that Hatsume girl?" Snipe asked.

"No, Hidaka Maro. He's way too curious and keeps getting close to everyone's projects, Hatsume's included. He already almost got caught up in one explosion. At this rate it might be more interesting to bet on whose project causes it."

"Huh, that does sound pretty interesting from the norm..."

Yamada scowled, turning back to his phone with a huff. "You guys can bet on it if you want, but I'm not putting that on the official list," he declared. "And I am not going to be the one to deal with RG when she finds out you're betting on kids' injuries." That got some winces from the whole group. While broken bones were just a basic, accepted reality at UA, Recovery Girl definitely wouldn't approve of them betting on it.

"Alright, I guess we'll write that one down separately," Kan muttered.

"What, Recovery Girl's wrath isn't enough to scare you off?" Aizawa deadpanned.

"No, but I mean. I've got a pretty good feeling we'll get some at the USJ this week. I think Yoarashi might use a bit too much force at one point and blast Tetsutetsu into a wall. Kid's been trying to convince him that his Steel will let him hold up fine if he's thrown around with Whirlwind. I think that's a lesson he'll have to learn the hard way."

"Oof, he's saying that to Yoarashi?" Snipe hissed. "Yeah, no, that kid's a goner."

"Speaking of the USJ, I'll bet five thousand yen that's where Aizawa-senpai will use Erasure," Thirteen declared. "That's when we'll probably need it the most." Everyone nodded in agreement, no one bothering to counter that bet.

It didn't take long for Kayama and her new best friend to start roping in more victims. Shouta kept to the edges of the crowd, watching his colleagues grow increasingly inebriated over the course of the next hour and a half. Not many people could remember the woman's name since she'd just been hired and worked as an underground hero, but after tonight she'd definitely leave her mark on them.

By the time he left he felt genuine pity for the few who'd volunteered to stay sober as babysitters. He pushed the thought away though as he stepped into a nearby alley, throwing his capture weapon at a fire escape to pull himself up to the roof in one smooth move. The night was still young and the streets still a bit too crowded for his liking, so he chose to keep his travel to the rooftops as he began his run across town.

His patrol route was located halfway across Musutafu from the bar UA had rented for the start of year party, but he didn't particularly care. He moved swiftly and silently, jumping shorter gaps or to lower rooftops, and using his capture weapon to help pull himself closer to others. Along the way he stopped a couple times, intercepting a mugging at one point, and an attempted assault outside a bar at another.

All in all it took about a little over forty minutes to reach his usual stomping grounds. When he neared the usual starting point he paused to check his phone, pulling up his text messages. For the past month he'd been on the trail of a group behind a recent string of robberies. This morning an informant had reached out to police about a potential hideout, and Shouta had agreed to check it out during his patrol.

The location wasn't too far, and after a quick glance at the screenshot of the map Officer Tamakawa sent he pocketed the device and set course. He'd recognized the area as home to a recently closed strip mall, the landlord wanting to tear down the structure to build something new. It would make an ideal hiding spot, the closed shops lacking the instability that usually plagued long-abandoned buildings, and the landlord hadn't seemed to care for security since he planned to demolish it anyway.

As he neared the area he had to drop to the street, as the strip mall faced a few standalone buildings too widely spaced to use for transit. He finished the rest of the trek at a brisk pace, keeping his saunter casual and pulling out his phone to pretend to check it. There wouldn't really be anywhere to hide on approach, so he'd be best off walking normally rather than trying to sneak over.

When he drew closer his eyes flickered towards the shops to gauge for any signs of life or movement. And that was when he froze. There weren't any lights on inside the building but it still had street lamps along the sidewalk, which clearly highlighted the gaping hole in one of the shutters blocking one of the stores.

Shouta abandoned all pretenses and shoved his phone in his pocket as he took off running. The edges of the hole looked frayed the same way thread did rather than twisted and warped like he usually saw in metal, the shutter seeming to open into a black abyss. He pulled out a small flashlight and clicked it on, shining it into the darkness even before he reached the shutter itself.

Even from a distance he could see the beam illuminated only a thick coat of dull brownish-gray on a floor he knew had been tiled. Shouta came to a halt just outside and peered inside, huffing quietly as he confirmed his suspicions. With a soft sigh he pulled out his phone and tapped Tamakawa's contact information to call him.

When the officer picked up he didn't even wait for pleasantries. "Bad news, the targets are gone."

"Damn, did they blow town?"

"Not sure, but the place is dusted."

"Shit, that's the second time this month," Tamakawa hissed softly, and Shouta could only hum as he continued to peer into the store.

Nothing remained inside but a fine layer of dust and particles floating clearly in his flashlight's beam.

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