Rule #35b: Beware of the watchdog
It seemed that All Might's stint as a teacher at UA had yet to wear off as some kind of novelty, because this was really the only reason Toru could think as to why this reporter wanted to shadow them, of all people. Well…there was also the epic fight between All Might and All for One that had occurred on the night she had imploded, but that still didn't explain why he was interviewing them and not the (ex) Pro. "A newspaper?" 1-A chorused in varying levels of confusion.
"Yeah" Aizawa drawled, dressing his class where they had gathered in the living room that morning, still dressed in their raggedy pyjamas. "They wanna do a feature on your class for some reason"
"Isn't that amazing, Deku?" Ochako beamed excitedly at the greenette causing him to flush a violent red.
"That's kinda surprising, huh?" Kaminari smiled towards his peers.
"Uh, not really" Kirishima shrugged.
"Yeah, I mean the Sports Festival was on TV" Agreed Ojiro.
"Ooh! We've gotta look super cute in case they wanna take our picture!" Mina bounced up and down excitedly.
"For sure" Toru agreed, internally shivering at the gruelling lessons Bitch-sensei put them through when she taught them the importance of 'image'.
"I think you'll be just fine, Hagakure" Jiro smiled.
"That's enough!" Aizawa interrupted, cutting through any lingering conversations like a hot knife through butter.
"Yessir" 1-A blanched.
"It's nothing too exciting—the article's about how you're settling in, adjusting to dorm life, y'know? That kind of thing. Principal Nezu thought it would be a good idea. This'll show your parents and guardians that you're happy here and maybe set a few minds to rest…"
"Newscaster are usually super hot!" Mineta hissed not-so-quietly to Sero who stood next to him. Toru rolled her eyes at the boy's predictability. Did he ever think about anything else? "This is gonna be awesome! Right?"
"He said it was for a paper, so…" Sero trailed off.
"If she wants to write an article about my sticky balls, I'll give her an all access pass! I'll let her—"
"—I expect you all to be on your best behaviour today!" Aizawa snarled, his bandages coming alive and encompassing the squirming boy like a cocoon.
"…So, no wandering around in your sexy underwear?" Mineta squeaked out through the bandages holding him tight when he finally stopped squirming and just accepted his defeat. "Got it!"
"Yeah and we're glad about that" Sero sassily cocked a hip, no doubt referring to one of the many times Mineta had tried (and failed) to lure the girls into his room with promises of absurd sexual toys and events. Toru rolled her eyes at the boy once more before the reporter sauntered into the room like he owned the place.
"Don't worry on my account Aizawa-sensei!" The reporter waved off, his tone warm & welcoming. "I wanna get a feel for what dorm life is really like, so there's no need for them to act differently than normal"
"I didn't say you could come in yet" Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the gangly man, Mineta still suspended in the air like a piñata.
"I was told I had from 8am-6pm, so unless my watch is wrong"
"Hn" Aizawa grunted, dropping Mineta to the floor as the reporter came to stand next to their teacher.
"Hello everyone, my name is Tokuda Taneo. I'm looking forward to learning all about you all"
"Nice to meet you" 1-A chorused as they returned the bow of greeting given to them by the gangly man.
"Now, as I said, you don't need to anything special—just go about your day as you normally would, the camera'll do most of the work. I might an occasional question or two and I hope you'll answer"
"He's got such a nice smile!" Mina gushed.
"That is so not a woman!" Mineta grumbled where he lay slumped against the window covered in bandage marks.
"What to do? My sparkling personality will undoubtedly draw the camera like a moth to the flame" Aoyama sighed.
"Ye~ah, undoubtedly" Sato agreed somewhat put out by the blonde's not-so humble complaint.
"Principal Nezu has probably already spoken to you about this" Tokuda leant over to Aizawa. "But I wanna make sure you don't interfere in anyway, no offence—"
"—I understand" Aizawa cut him off as he rewrapped himself in his bandage-scarf now that it was free of horny teenage boy(s). "If you need anything, just let me know"
"I'm sure I'm in very capable hands! This is class 1-A afterall, everyone here is a promising hero candidate"
"Iida—if there's a problem, let me know immediately. Got it?"
"OF COURSE, SIR!" Iida stood to attention, "AS CLASS REPRESENTATIVE, I WILL CARRY OUT MY DUTY TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF ALL MY FELLOW STUDENTS. NO MATTER WHAT—!"
"—That's great, thanks" Takudo interrupted, thankfully cutting Iida off before he could into a full-on rant. "So what would you normally being doing this time of day?"
"HAVING BREAKFAST!"
"No need to be so formal! Just pretend that I'm not here…"
And so breakfast commenced as per usual, only this time with the added paparazzi popping in and out of conversations like a Whack-a-Mole with camera in hand. There were rather candid shots of the class just fooling around in front of the camera and just eating breakfast like they normally would, if a little more colourful than usual. Iida, of course, remained as passive as ever staring down the lens of the camera like an angry deer stuck in the headlights. It was almost like he was daring the cameraman to take more; or that he was posing for a school picture; either way it made Jiro snort rice all over Kaminari much to his chagrin. Predictably, Bakugou blew up at the camera being shoved in his face whilst he was eating which while understandable, the resulting reaction was not.
When Takudo first explained what he had planned to do, Toru expected him to just focus on their movements in the dorm, because y'know, the article was supposed to be about dorm life. But as it turned out, the moment they packed their bags and headed for school, so did he with camera and notepad in hand. It was a little odd at first, sitting in class with someone continuing snapping shots of them. Toru couldn't shake the feeling that someone was forever looking over her shoulder which made her uncomfortable; which probably sounded odd considering she was invisible, but that didn't change the fact. From theoretical lessons to hero lessons, Takudo followed them everywhere like a persistent shadow—even lunch, which was an embarrassment in that of itself. Especially when certain persons from 1-B caught wind (read: Monoma).
It was raining cats and dogs when Toru returned from her latest dance class but thankfully by the time she reached the first years' dormitories it had given way to glistening sun that had the beginnings of rainbow starting to peek through the clouds. Smiling up at the colourful light dancing across the sky, the invisible girl couldn't help but let the peacefulness of the moment wash away the tense and awkwardness that had enveloped most of the dance practise that day. Oishii had acted more or less the same as usual, leaving Toru to wander if her overactive imagination had imagined the interaction only days before.
At least that was the idea until he had manhandled her off to the side at the end of lesson, away from prying eyes before he expressed his…displeasure at her ignoring his instructions to stay out of Yoshiwara. "Was he just looking out for me?" Toru muttered to the clouds as a hand came up to encircle the bruised and battered forearm where his mouth hand had bitten down when he had pulled her aside. "Was that why he was like that? Surely, I didn't worry him that much"
And then there was Bakugou and Kirishima's intervention over the weekend that had come up out of nowhere. Toru had faced many trials with Bakugou—the camp & kidnapping, the invitation to join the League of Villains, the escape from One for All and his underlings, the Provisional License exam and even the debacle that was Yoshiwara. So why was Yoshiwara the one that he had called her out on? Surely, she wasn't as shady as he made her out to.
Yes, she had a Yakuza pin but that was because she had pinched it off of some low-grade member that had been visiting the compound to gloat and goad other potential members into joining. Yes, she had seemingly brushed off the dead bodies like they were nothing, but that was because it wasn't the first time she had seen them, nor interacted with them (courtesy of the very graphic compartmentalisation & disassociation lessons that Bitch-Sensei insisted they take part in if they were to become "little bratty assassins").
Sure, she knew how to fire a firearm with sniper-like precision, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it. Personally, she was much more a blade person; knives, daggers and the like were just so much more personal, y'know? And okay, yes, she did kill a person but Koro-Sensei's death had been more of a mercy killing whilst Stain's had been an act of self-defence in the face of survival. So when you explained it out like that, was it really so bad? Was she really so bad?
And just like that, the peacefulness of the moment was gone. Physically shaking herself to rid the thought from her mind, Toru continued on to her dormitory building to find Takudo sort of slumped over Midoriya like a potato sack as they took a selfie together, with the elder man's arm acting as a selfie stick. Hefting her bag higher up her shoulder, the invisible girl quietly made her way up the front steps and inside, barely casting more than a wave to the reporter and her peer as she headed inside, passing Ochako as she did so. In the end, Toru had barely made it to the stairs before Ochako returned with a blushing Midoriya and grocery bag in tow. "YOU GUYS!" She cheerily called, catching the attention of everyone still milling about the living room. "ALL MIGHT GOT US A YUMMY SURPRISE!"
"Awesome!"
"What…the hell?" Toru gaped, rubbing at her eyes as if that would change the fact that her laptop screen was absolutely covered in code. Encrypted and corrupted, but code nonetheless. From what Ritsu had been able to help her decipher, most of it appeared to be notes and transactions of some kind. Unfortunately that was all the pair were able to make out as the blasted All Might USB stick was far too damaged to pick out anything else, and honestly she was a little concerned about there being a hidden virus on the stick that would transfer to her computer. Just as she was about to pull the USB stick out, there was one final line of code that flashed on to the screen.
"Oh my God!" She gasped, fumbling with the device in her lap as she tried her best not to drop it on the ground.
"Toru?" Jiro called as she paused in the doorway, toothbrush and glass of water in hand. "Are you all right?"
"Hm?" Toru's head jerked up from the screen in front of her and over towards the musical girl, once again thankful that her blanched expression was invisible to others. "Oh, yeah, yeah I'm fine. Don't worry about it"
"Is something wrong?" Jiro furrowed her brows, "I thought I heard you say something?"
"Oh, uh, just an unsolicited dick pick" Toru blatantly lied, scrambling for something to get her classmate to go away and leave it alone. "I dunno, just some weirdo being gross"
"Yeah, I hate those too" Jiro scrunched her face up in disgust, before she waved goodnight and head off for her own room. Toru waited a beat or two before she returned to the line of code which had caught her attention and caused such a reaction. For there blinking on her screen in bright green was the signature mark of one, Doctor Yanagisawa Kotarō, a.k.a. Shiro.
