When Toru walked into the classroom there was an unfamiliar feeling of dread all over. She almost jumped to guard against whatever attacker was on the prowl, but she relaxed when she noticed that the gloomy mood she was looking out for seemed to be just her classmates miserable faces.
All of them seemed either frazzled, irritated, sad, or gloomy. Their faces written with despair. It was an unfamiliar sight, if Toru had to guess, either one of their favorite teacher's had retired or someone had died.
She tried to mirror in her body language that she had tensed up too. She was glad none of her classmates could see her expression though.
As she sat in her seat, she looked back at Bakugo, trying to continue to make contact and conversation.
"What's going on?" She whispered, hoping Bakugo would answer her.
He did not, he just looked away and threw his feet onto his desk. He seemed slightly more irritable than normal too, although it wasn't very noticeable.
Something big happened. But what? What am I missing out on? Toru wondered, holding her pencil tightly.
"Did you forget, Hagakure? Terms end next week." Shoji came to the rescue, hearing her question and seeing Toru being ignored. His tone didn't seem mean, just amazed at Toru's forgetfulness.
Apparently, she was making an impression as a ditz.
So? Toru found herself thinking. Why did the term ending cause such a gloomy atmosphere?
Toru wracked her brain to try to call on her experience from last year. She had only had one year of schooling before, and she had mostly been working on perfecting her attitude and disguise over observing her classmates.
The term ending…. I think that meant grades were going to be posted? I remember a few people crying in middle school. I didn't think too hard about it at the time, but perhaps grades being posted is something associated with failure, and thus people may cry. Toru thought.
But that couldn't be it…Right? This was a hero school. The best of the best studied here. They wouldn't just get stressed over grades being posted. They had near death experiences in their future! Grades were nothing compared to that.
Maybe there's a fight to the death or something at the end of the term…No. That sounds wrong…Maybe someone gets expelled? Something harsh has to happen.
Shoji seemed to pick up on Toru's silence and confusion. He sighed and explained more politely. "Some people…Kaminari in particular, are worried about the written exam." Shoji explained.
"Oh! Thanks! Sorry! I totally spaced on the term ending! It's like…There's so much to learn and hero school is so fun I wasn't even thinking!" Toru replied quickly. "Ah…Oh no…So it's a test coming up…" She tried to act gloomy too.
I can't believe it's just a written exam that's causing this gloom. Is this what hero teenagers worry about? Not their upcoming deaths? Toru thought.
Shoji seemed to smile back. "It's all right, Hagakure. I'm surprised by your forgetfulness, but it's fine." He paused. "Out of curiosity, what grade did you get on the last test, Hagakure?"
My answer will probably determine how much I should freak out. Toru thought. "16th in class!" She replied back chipperly.
I tried to get a good number of wrong answers last test. I don't need to be too smart. I don't want any eyes on me. She had tried to aim at Kirishima's level of intelligence. After all, he was someone who had a great attitude, tried hard, and was always throwing himself into things, but he didn't actually seem too bright. He wasn't naturally gifted in classwork.
I managed to do my goal too, since I think Kirishima got 15th in class. Toru smiled to herself. It had been a success.
"And that's how I got 9th in class! You gotta be smart, Kaminari. Smart like me. Oh, how hard it is to be a genius." Mineta sighed, bragging loudly about his placement.
Perhaps I went about things wrong, if Mineta got a higher score than me. I should have aimed for 9th to knock him off his high horse. Toru thought pettily. She silenced that inner voice.
"I got 10th." Shoji sighed. "I think I did average, but I should probably study a little harder." He admitted. "Do you think we can add flashcards to our next training session in the gym?" Shoji suggested, quietly. "It's good to train our minds as well as our bodies. And I think it could help."
"Yeah! Let's do that! It's no problem!" Toru agreed, easily enough.
It seemed like other people were making their own study groups. Yaoyorozu was offering to tutor anyone who needed it at her mansion.
Joining Yaoyorozu's study group would be a great opportunity to form a better bond with her, but I don't need to waste my time on extra curriculars. All the after-school time I can afford should be All for One's time. I should be available for the league. She also needed to keep her body in an actually good condition so that her strength didn't wane while she was pretending to be weaker. She couldn't do her stricter exercise in front of heroes though, so it had to be done at home.
She simply didn't have time for Yaoyorozu's study group, even if it would make sense for her to join, given the fact that she had placed low.
Once homeroom came to an end, Aizawa was happy enough to remind everyone that the term was about to come to an end and that an exam was incoming. Toru was somewhat thankful that his reminder homed in that the students really were scared for a small test, instead of some sort of big, huge battle.
"There won't just be a written exam this time. There's also a practical component. Make sure to train your minds and bodies at the same time. That's all." Aizawa said before leaving.
A practical component…I wonder how important it is that I succeed on that? How many of the students in 1-A would fail? If she wanted to stay average, would it be more accurate to fail? How would Aizawa punish failure? She didn't have any experience to base on her answers. This was the first practical exam of the schoolyear.
I'll do some investigating. If information gathering isn't part of the test, than heroes are stupider than I gave them credit for. After all, information was power, and preparing for a battle or a test could make or break results.
Toru was good at gathering information, so this wouldn't be too hard.
Toru Hagakure acted as a bubbly, happy go-lucky girl in public. And as a bubbly girl, it wasn't out of character to just walk up to people and ask them invasive or out of the blue questions. She didn't even need to sneak into the faculty office to do investigating on this test.
All she needed to do was find an upperclassman once class was let out. She looked for someone in their second year with a hero course uniform and stopped them in the hall. It was a normal looking girl with something that looked like pom poms on her ears.
"Hello! Sorry for stopping you out of the blue. Did you happen to have Mr. Aizawa as your homeroom teacher last year?" Toru asked.
The girl smiled politely. "Yeah. He was a tough teacher." She admitted. "Did you get expelled and re-enrolled too? That was a heck of a demonstration!"
Toru laughed, matching the girl's tone of voice and body language to be friendly. "Nope! But he did threaten us with expulsion the first day! I was wondering-"
"You want advice, right? On how to get through the year? My best advice is to always follow his demands and orders. You've gotta believe he has a plan and is genuinely thinking of your best interests!" The girl gave a thumbs up.
It was generic, but Toru didn't show her annoyance. "Actually, I was wondering if you remembered his first practical exam and could tell me what it was like." She corrected. "Although I appreciate the other advice! It'll definitely be helpful for my journey as a hero!"
The girl's eyes sparkled. "Oooh…So you're a proactive student, huh?" She clapped. "You don't need to worry! The first practical exam is battle based. You'll be teaming up in teams of two to take on giant robots. You know…Trying to take down as many robots as possible like the entrance exam? It's supposed to measure how much you've grown."
"…That's all?" Toru asked. That sounds boring, uncreative, and not that difficult. And Aizawa will definitely expect me to pass since I've already beat a 0-point robot.
The 2nd year student thought hard. "Hmm…Well, the thing I can tell you to watch out for most is that Mr. Aizawa is prone to making the teams of two students who work the WORST together. So, work on your friendships with the other students if you don't want to get screwed over by the time of the practical exams."
Toru nodded, and thanked the girl before going off to the lunchroom. I'm already working on fostering strong friendships with all the students, but this might be bad news for me. After all, in her eyes the student she worked worst with was Mineta. Although that could be said for any of the girls and Mineta.
Worry briefly clouded her mind at the idea that she'd have to battle side by side with Mineta.
I'll have to tolerate the idea of his existence eventually so that I can pull off any missions that require our cooperation, but I just can't like the idea. Sure, it wasn't a done deal that she'd be paired up with Mineta for the exam, but if what the second year said was true, Mineta would definitely be paired up with another girl, to try to teach the girls to cooperate with him. And she could easily lose that lottery.
It's unfair. We aren't part of the problem. He is. But we'll be taught that we have to tolerate him. Perhaps this practical would be harder than she thought.
Toru ate lunch that day next to Tsuyu and Ochako, at the 'strong kid table' where Todoroki and Iida sat. Midoriya was also there.
"I don't think it will be anything crazy." Toru overheard Iida say. The only topic on anyone's lips was the exam.
"The written exam questions will come from what we study in class." Midoriya had a normal, and observant statement to add. "So, I should be able to manage somehow, but…"
Midoriya got 4th in the last exam, right? So, why is he so worried? He's one of the smarter kids in class. Toru thought. Midoriya was just prone to worrying over everything. She was pretty sure he had anxiety.
"You can manage, huh?" Uraraka also seemed depressed over Midoriya worrying when the kids who had scored worse, like her, really needed to worry. Uraraka had scored 13th in the last exam.
"Seriously though…What will we have to do for the practical exam?" Midoriya asked.
Should I share what I learned? It wasn't too hard to obtain the information I gathered…And it will win me some points if I share what I know. But what if part of the test is gathering information and you aren't supposed to share? Will I be graded down for talking? There's too many unknowns so far. And I'm not even sure they'll do the same thing as last year. A smart school wouldn't do the same thing every year. I need to do some more investigating.
"It'll be a comprehensive test of everything from first semester." Toru quoted.
"That was all Mr. Aizawa would tell us." Tsuyu complained.
There. Now maybe Midoriya will be pointed in the directions of the robots, since they were part of our first semester. And if sharing information is breaking the rules or something I won't have broken any rules.
"Everything we did so far…So just combat training and rescue training, in addition to basic training…" Uraraka went over what they had done.
We didn't do rescue training though. We got attacked by villains instead. Toru held back on saying that out loud.
"In addition to studying we'll have to keep in good physical condition-" Midoriya had started mumbling. Before he could drone on and on with his inner thoughts, he got hit in the head with the elbow of Monoma from class B.
"Oh sorry. Your head's so big that I ended up accidentally hitting it." Monoma mocked, carrying a fancy tray of food. Something that looked like steak and wine. But it definitely wasn't wine.
That clearly wasn't an accident. There was no free table anywhere near Midoriya's head. Monoma was the type who just liked picking fights with Class A.
"You're from Class B-Um…Uhh Monoma!" Midoriya recalled.
Monoma didn't care and didn't really even listen to him.
"I heard you guys met the hero killer. Just like in the sports festival…" Monoma trailed off. "You guys in Class A have to have all the attention, huh?"
Todoroki and Iida looked guilty.
Ah. I see. Some drama that has nothing to do with me, Uraraka, or Tsuyu. Toru just kept eating, trying to ignore Monoma, and avoid his attention.
"That attention isn't because people have high hopes for you. It's because you keep attracting trouble, right?" Monoma pointed out. "Oh. That's scary. Someday the rest of us might be caught up in the trouble you bring and become victims as well. Like getting cursed by the god of pestilence!"
I doubt it. Unless Class B is on one of the excursions that Bakugo or All Might is targeted, then they'll probably sit happy and alive. After all, I'm not in Class B. Toru thought to herself.
Kendo, another student with Class B with the quirk of 'big fists' whacked Monoma on the head, stopping him from continuing to talk.
"Monoma, that's not funny! Don't you know what happened to Iida?" She pointed out.
"Kendo!" Iida frowned.
She must be one of the class representatives from Class B, or else she wouldn't have spoken to Iida recently. Toru had heard that the class representatives met up frequently to discuss how to reign in their classes. Kendo had probably heard of Iida's injury there.
"Sorry Class A, this guy's heart is kinda…Well you know…" Kendo apologized. Monoma was on the ground, completely knocked out cold. She made no mention of the knocked out Monoma.
"You guys were talking earlier about how you don't know what's going to be on the practical exam for the final, right?" Kendo asked. "Looks like it will be combat against robots like in the entrance exam."
I guess it wasn't the wrong approach then to share information. For some reason I thought a hero school would be more secretive and cagey, but that doesn't make any sense. They're heroes after all, so sharing information is probably the norm. Toru thought.
"Really? How do you know?" Midoriya asked.
"An upperclassmen friend of mine told me." Kendo admitted. "It's kinda cheating though."
So, asking an upperclassman is the standard approach to information gathering in this test…. That means it might not be reliable information since that's way too easy. Toru thought. There was no mention of the incompatible pairs either, but she assumed that was because Vlad King was nicer to his students than Aizawa.
"No. It's not cheating. That's right…I'm sure gathering information ahead of time is also part of the test…I see…I also should've asked an upperclassman. Why didn't I realize?" Midoriya became consumed by mutters.
I should probably ask Mei if she's heard any rumors, since she's part of the support class. After all, if the exam is really robots perhaps the support course's final is making those robots. And it will confirm if the exam is really that. Toru thought to herself.
With that, at least a few of class A knew a little about how to prepare for the exam. And since it was information given by Kendo, Toru could easily share what she learned with Mina before gathering any information she deemed actually trustworthy.
After lunch there was a free period to study for the practical. Students would probably benefit more from hands on training by All Might, but no, instead it was a study period.
Maybe All Might's injuries from his battle with Master 5 years ago are aggravating him. I have noticed he's been less present in teaching than the school advertised and promised. Toru thought. She didn't know the details of All Might's injury. She hadn't been told, but she did know that All for One had told Shigaraki that it made All Might 'weaker.' Perhaps he needed to rest more.
Either way, Toru decided to spend her free period visiting the support program. She saw Mei pull off some goggles and run up to greet her.
"I'm so sorry!" Mei immediately said as she greeted Toru.
"What for?" Toru asked. "You have nothing to be sorry about! You've always been a big help to me! What's wrong?"
"I had to drop my blindness training! I can't work on trying to create support gear without my eyesight anymore!" Mei apologized. "So…There will be less progress on your costume…."
Ah. Her grades probably dropped too much, huh? "It's all right. After all I want you to be able to focus on school and not sacrifice anything for me." Toru reassured her. "I do admit I was excited, but you can pick up on my costume project later, right? There's no rush."
Mei still looked sad. "Yeah but…Costume design is real work! I shouldn't put it aside to study the basics."
That's true. Mei isn't the type to really be focused on grades. Toru thought. "It's fine. It's fine!" She reassured. "I'm sure whatever you had to stop it for was an exciting project."
Mei's eyes glittered. "It was! There's this competition you see for our final to design a piece of gear that restricts the teachers of UA's movement! I want to come up with the snazziest design. I want to win so bad! I've been sketching up all sorts of ideas, and well…sketches require eyesight." Mei looked guilty again.
Bingo. So, some sort of final has nothing to do with robots. We'll be fighting the teachers instead. I wonder how they expect students with very little training to pass that sort of exam though?... I guess that's part of Mei's exam, to give us a fighting chance. Toru thought.
A device that restricted movement wouldn't do much against the long-range fighters like Snipe, Thirteen or Present Mic though.
"Do you know why—" Toru tried to fish for some information from Mei. Mei put her finger to her lip and stopped her.
"I got you! Don't worry. In return for my costume negligence, I listened close to the information given to me so I could pass it on to my favorite hero in training!" Mei reassured.
Favorite? Prepare to be disappointed. I'm not even a real hero. Still, Toru felt herself grow warmer from Mei's affection, and her desire to help Toru even before she asked for help. Mei was a good person, and she was lucky to call her an ally.
"Class A will be tested by fighting teachers. Or at least I overheard Power Loader say that he was getting prepared to fight Class A for their practical. It wasn't much investigative work, I was just in the right time and place, but I got some grade A information!" Mei put her thumbs up.
"Just Class A?" Toru found herself expressing confusion.
Mei didn't answer her. She was off in her own little world. "I'll come up with a great design that will restrict the teachers greatly so you can win. And then when you fight the teacher's you'll think, that's Mei's design! She's rooting for me and fighting by my side!" Mei rambled.
Perhaps only Class A gets the harder exam because of our string of bad luck, facing villains at USJ and Iida facing Stain. Perhaps the school is trying to prepare us to protect ourselves? A bit unfair that they left Class B out. No wonder Monoma's so mad at us. Or maybe UA wants Class A to look better than Class B because we're being trained by All Might. I don't know…All I have is theories…Toru had to find her own answer since Mei wouldn't provide her one.
"Thank you so much for this information, Mei! I honestly thought I was going to have to try to dig up the information from you, via skillful conversation, but you really just came out and handed it to me. It's very helpful!" Toru told her.
Mei smiled and laughed. "You were going to try to use your skills for information gathering, huh? You really would've done well in support. Some support students gather information and provide the heroes with it." Mei told her, as if it wasn't too late to transfer.
Toru shook her head, and then made an X with her arms, to show her she wasn't interested.
"Well, no matter! I can support you as much as I can and provide you with the information you need. We need information gathering heroes to have a bit of an edge over just power-based ones, right? Make support proud!" Mei told her.
"Thanks, Mei. You're a really good friend." Toru told her, a little too seriously, before hugging her quickly before she left. That was what a friendly girl would do, she reasoned.
No. Don't think that genuinely. Just say it. Mei is a great FAKE friend. No one here is my real friend. They don't know the real me. I have about as much personality as the tools she uses. I'm not allowed to form real connections. I shouldn't.
She could calmly admit Mei was about the best fake friend that she could ever get though. A great ally who had a clear motive that wasn't prone to betrayal. A good fake friend.
If only Toru was a normal girl. Then she could have thrown herself fully into their friendship.
Before school ended for the day, Aizawa had one more announcement to make. "I'd like to clarify about the final…Well, it's almost time for summer vacation. You won't be resting for the whole month like you did in middle school though. During summer we'll have a summer training camp in the woods." Aizawa announced. "You'll only be able to attend if you pass the final."
Everyone was super excited. There was loud screaming. Students jumped out of their desks.
Mina pumped her hands in the air. "Tests of courage!"
"Baths!" Mineta screamed.
"Fireworks!" Even Tsuyu was visibly excited.
"Curry!" Iida excitedly chimed.
"Open air baths!" Mineta continued his tirade. Anyone could guess what he wanted and was excited for. Peeping on more ladies.
Toru was shaking her arms excitedly too. This is what All for One wanted me to keep my eyes out for! This is where he wants Shigaraki to recruit Bakugo! She memorized the date of the camp that Aizawa had on the board.
So now that I know that's linked to finals…I definitely have to pass. Written and practical. With no room for error. She didn't have to worry about ensuring Bakugo would pass. Bakugo always got high marks, but she had to worry about herself.
Fighting the teachers after all? Some of the teachers were harder than others. Present Mic she had little defense against his loud noise, and All Might was the strongest hero to ever exist. Although, she would have enjoyed punching him a few times, if All for One couldn't beat him, she definitely couldn't.
Ideal scenario, I face Aizawa. He can't see me so he can't erase my quirk and I basically have an ensured win, with little effort on my part. Sight based heroes sometimes have weaker other senses so I can easily sneak up on him. Toru thought.
Everyone was already planning for the training camp as if their victory was already in sight, but Toru was now seriously thinking about the exams.
If I have to pass that means Mineta might seriously become a danger to my mission and future. Toru realized. He was still talking about hot springs, while others were seriously discussing other aspects of the training camp.
She might seriously be set up with the dud. She could not risk losing the lottery and being paired with Mineta.
She pretended that wasn't on her mind though. "Eating and sleeping with everyone! I'm so excited!" Toru excitedly flapped her arms.
Aizawa glared at her. "Remember…You have to PASS the final though." Perhaps he thought with her grades she'd struggle.
That made other low scorers excitement die down. Especially Mina, Kirishima, Sero and Kaminari. They looked frightened again.
The vibe in the classroom has been replaced again with fear. Toru noted as Aizawa dismissed class. That meant people weren't paying attention to her.
I need to deal with Mineta. As one of the few people who knows the practical is going to be a paired exam, I need to ensure Aizawa doesn't place him in my team. And that meant doing exactly what Yaoyorozu, Uraraka and the rest of the girls had elected not to do.
Tattling on Mineta and telling Aizawa how uncomfortable he made all the girls. Hopefully, the relationship she had fostered with Aizawa over internships would make him listen to her, but she was doubtful.
She just didn't trust heroes to do anything actually good.
Walking out of the classroom while people were both excited and melting down, Toru went to the faculty office, knocked on it, and asked to see Aizawa. He walked out to see her.
"What is it?" He asked. It wasn't rare for a student to see him after class.
"There's something I want to talk to you about in the practical exam-" Toru put on her best stern and serious voice, as she was trying to advocate for herself.
Aizawa sighed. "I'm not letting Ashido attend the summer camp if she fails the written portion of the exam. If you came to advocate for her to tell me I'm discriminating against people bad at schoolwork or something—"
Toru huffed. I'm glad he sees me as someone who wants to fight for my friends, but that wasn't what this was about! She crossed her arms. "It's not that. It's about some of the investigation I've done."
Aizawa frowned, realizing this was probably something that couldn't be solved in a sentence and let her into the lounge where students and teachers usually convened for conferences or discussions.
Once they were out of earshot, he gestured for her to continue.
"I did some investigating and apparently the final is going to be a paired exam? An upperclassman said that you tend to pair students that do the worst together. That raises a lot of concerns for me, honestly!" Toru admitted, pretending to act like an adult, and take a more professional stance.
She needed to get Aizawa to see that this wasn't, in no way okay, pairing Mineta with a girl and forcing the girl to tolerate him.
Aizawa smiled a bit. "It's good that at least one of my students is doing some investigative work. I overheard Midoriya talk about fighting robots, so it seems like some of you understand a part of this test." He praised.
So, information gathering was a normal part of the test! Toru felt a bit more confident.
"However, if there's someone you don't want to work with, I'm not going to give you any favors and put you with your preferred match-" Aizawa said sternly. "That's not what the test's about."
"But…But it's not just me! It's all the girls of Class A who would be in trouble if you paired one of us with Mineta. It would be an instant failure. And it wouldn't be fair!" Toru complained.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow.
"It wouldn't be our fault either. You should know that! You might be trying to make us tolerate people we don't like, but it's hard to work with someone who makes you deeply uncomfortable and frightened. Why any of us girls would probably be more focused on if Mineta was going to try to grope us instead of the actual test!" Toru complained. Her voice was raising. "You have to be constantly guarded around Mineta! And he wouldn't be taught any lesson if you paired us together. It would be only females who suffered."
Aizawa looked genuinely startled at the outburst, a little concerned, and surprised.
I'm probably the first student who has mentioned this to Aizawa. And it might make some enemies since I went over the other girl's heads. But Aizawa isn't a gossip. He probably won't tell anyone I said this. This is a big gamble. I'm betting on that Aizawa has enough common decency as a teacher and person to listen to me, but if he's stubborn in his own teaching methods then he might pair me with Mineta to spite me.
If Aizawa was like any sort of hero Toru had seen before, she was making a losing bet. Heroes didn't care about normal issues. They cared about big battles and fame. Aizawa wasn't a fame-based hero, but he probably only cared about helping people in battle or people who struck a nerve with his personal feelings, like Shinso, or Toru briefly when she was interning under someone Aizawa didn't like.
If I lose this gamble, I'll have to turn to more drastic measures. Like poisoning Mineta's food so he's sick during test day. Toru clenched her fist. At least she had a back up plan. And worst-case scenario she could turn off her feelings during the exam. It would be difficult to pretend to be bubbly girl Toru while acting as the tool she really was, but she could at least try.
Aizawa's brow was furrowing. He was looking deeply concerned. He sighed. "Is he really that bad? Around the girls I mean…. I don't really keep track of him."
"Yes! In the locker room yesterday, he tried to peep on us via a hole!" Toru tattled. "And you know that I can't wear a costume during hero work. I'm naked! I wouldn't feel safe doing an exam with Mineta."
Aizawa looked pained. Perhaps he was having trouble believing something this huge, to such an extent. "He's a hero course student like the rest of you, so try—"
To get along with him? Scold him deeper? Toru wasn't going to let Aizawa finish his statement. "So, UA doesn't care anything about sexual harassment, huh?"
Aizawa looked surprised at how Toru kept fighting this and then guilty. He thought for a moment. "Unfortunately…I don't think UA does have huge rules about that. We've been gifted with no students who have had issues with that before…And…The media really jumps on anything bad that happens at UA."
So, to save UA's skins, they don't report that sort of stuff. Nor has a student ever reported it because they've been too afraid. That all sounded very typical of what Toru knew about UA. There had been no reports of a student like Mineta in UA's history before, but because of the frequency of people like Mineta, Toru had to wonder if UA was really lucky or if they just didn't care about those issues.
"It would be a different story of course if Mineta acted on his lust!" Aizawa quickly assured, noticing Toru's shoulders slump. "Why, I'm sure Principal Nezu would deal with it and if he didn't, I would." He promised. "But…If we treated him differently now, when nothing big has really happened yet—"
I just told you he tried to spy on us getting dressed! Toru wanted to scream.
"Because of Mineta's age, news sources would see it as a poor boy who just wanted to be popular and got expelled or something for talking too vocally." Aizawa sighed. "And because I've heard other students talk about…females in lewder terms, like Kaminari, we'd face discrimination lawsuits. People would claim UA got rid of Mineta because he wasn't conventionally attractive." Aizawa sighed.
Then clean them all up. Get rid of all of them!
"I'm sorry to say, if you came to try to report Mineta for expulsion that can't happen. I'm… Truly sorry. I had no idea Mineta was doing any of that." Aizawa was trying to be apologetic and honest, but it wasn't winning Toru over. "That's only worst-case scenario though! If I ever catch him saying or doing anything I'll stop him." Aizawa tried to promise.
I don't believe you. Toru thought to herself. But maybe if Aizawa was apologetic he'd at least listen to her request about the final. She could play on his sympathy and make him feel guilty and use him.
"Try to think of things on the bright side though. Different sorts of adversaries make heroes grow. Think of Mineta as just a different sort of foe to face." Aizawa tried to lecture.
He couldn't see Toru's face, but he could assume it was judging him. He wasn't winning her over any.
He looked guilty again. "You know I myself had many bullies in my class in UA. They actually made me stronger-"
"Bullying is different than the fear us girls have to go through with Mineta, Mr. Aizawa." Toru scolded.
Aizawa stopped lecturing. He looked guilty. Perhaps it was extra effectual that Toru was the one coming to him with this problem, and she had already pointed out a few of his flaws as a teacher, particularly that his exam was unfair to people with quirks like his, and that he was paying more attention to students that weren't even his.
"I honestly don't have the authority to do anything extreme, Hagakure. Truth be told, I'm not permanently allowed to expel anyone. The rumors about what I did to the previous year have been greatly exaggerated and I only pretend I have the authority…"
He's saying it's not his fault. It's his boss's. That I should let things be. But I didn't even ask to expel Mineta. I asked him to not place him on any girls' team. But he immediately jumped to assuming I wanted him expelled based on him spying on the girls. That meant Aizawa did know Mineta's spying was serious and that a normal person would want him punished for it. But he didn't have the authority and had to play the role of explaining why it couldn't be done.
I would want him expelled, but he doesn't need to know that. Toru calmed her irritation and anger, trying not to make it visible. "When did I ever ask for expulsion? I just want you to make me and the other girls feel safer by not putting him in our practical team!" Toru reminded.
Aizawa's eyes widened as he realized he was getting ahead of himself, because of how serious the issue was. He nodded, doing a 180 on his previous stance, because of just how much arguing Toru had done. "You've made some valid claims. I'll make sure he's not on any of the girl's teams." He promised.
My gamble paid off! I shamed Aizawa into doing what I wanted! Toru breathed a sigh of relief.
Aizawa looked relieved, even though he had ended up agreeing to something he wasn't previously going to agree with. "Now, I have to ask, because I'm your teacher and I'm supposed to. If you have any trauma that's making Mineta's behavior feel worse, please tell me so I can better accommodate that and set you up in a session with Hound Dog-"
"I do not." Toru clarified very quickly. "I mean, I have a normal amount of experience with this sort of thing. A lot of people objectify us mutant type girls, as like a weird fetish or something. I think it's normal? Tsuyu and Mina have probably gone through just as much of that as me." Toru explained.
Aizawa looked horrified to have been told that so frankly and to learn that. He cleared his throat. "I'll…ask Mic about it. He knows more about pop culture stuff than me." He paused. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask about the exams to help accommodate you?"
Oh. This is a switch. At first, he was very stubborn about doing a harsh exam, but now he seems to be trying to please me through bribery since he can't actually do anything big about Mineta. He must feel massively guilty, but he's not trying to let it fully show that he's horrified about the Mineta thing. That's a good sign. Toru grinned.
She better not take advantage of this. After all, she might need to call on this favor at a later time. "Nope! I'm good! Well, I mean obviously I don't want to be put on a team with Kaminari since you said he's basically a prettier Mineta. But I'm good with whatever other stuff you have in store for me in the test."
She could make do.
Aizawa nodded, agreeing with her request. "I will make sure you aren't with Kaminari, although I don't…actually think he'd do the things Mineta would." Aizawa tried to defend one of his students. "And I'll ensure Mineta isn't paired with a female."
Toru smiled. Victory!
Aizawa seemed to still be a bucket of nerves when he saw Toru out, looking guilty, and worried about what could have been if Toru hadn't seen him. I was going to pair him with Asui because things seemed awkward around them. Thank god, I heard about this stuff before the test. That wouldn't have been in her best interests.
Toru skipped off. Things had gone according to plan and well. And now all she had to do was study enough that she could ensure she passed with a score that let her go to the summer training camp and report her findings to All for One.
So my original structure for writing this story was write a season of the fic, and then edit the chapters of the previous season and post them, so I could always have some chapters in my backlog to edit and so I could have enough time between when I had written the chapter and when I had actually edited the chapter to think over if plot points didn't work. (I've written in my backlogs up to the beginning of season 4 for example, and outlined what will be covered in season 4) I had this structure so I could get chapters out at a decent pace, but as some of you may have noticed I haven't been updating very frequently.
This is not because I've lost interest! My health is just very bad. In the next few weeks I'm going in for surgery twice, so mostly the reason I've been slow is because of that. Hopefully I'll be able to write more when I'm feeling better because this has been a fun way to reanalyze my hero academia.