Chapter 59: Offers

A/N: Back from Hiatus and I hope you all like this chapter.

"Watanabe! Why does your shirt have blood on it?" Uraraka asked urgently.

"You are better off not knowing," Kaminari warned as he slumped into his seat. Uraraka looked questioningly at him, "Some guy attacked us because he wanted to know Watanabe's quirk," Izuku explained, "There were apparently lots of bets going on during the sports festival because of his quirk."

"Shouldn't you go see Recovery Girl then?" Uraraka asked.

"It's not my blood," Watanabe said nonchalantly.

There was a silence as Iida erupted, "You beat up someone!? Do you know how irresponsible that was? Quirks must not be used outside school!"

"Relax, we didn't use our quirks and I didn't beat him up either," Watanabe defended.

"Well then, who did?"

"Mr. Softy here," Kaminari jokingly pointed to Bakugou who scowled, "Idiots like them should expect a beating anyway."

"He's really getting soft huh," Tsuyu told Izuku, causing Bakugou to grit his teeth, "Yes, it seems he has found another stress outlet instead of me," Izuku jokingly replied.

"At least it's for a good reason now," Kirishima commented in an authoritative tone to make his classmates drop the subject so that Bakugou wouldn't explode.

"I suppose so." Izuku nodded happily, "By the way Iida, how's your brother doing? I saw that he got attacked on the news,"

Instantly, Iida's smile disappeared as an almost robotic face appeared, "You don't need to worry about him," he said a bit coldly, "Take your seat instead. You need to set an example as class rep." He replied shortly as he took his seat.

Izuku looked worried and turned to Watanabe but at that moment Aizawa walked in and they couldn't discuss further.

Aizawa stared at the class for a minute before clearing his throat gruffly, "Bakugou and Watanabe. Your attack on the old man was reported to us,"

The class tensed at Aizawa's words, knowing how ruthless he could be with his punishments.

"Luckily for you, witnesses were quick to claim it was in self-defense, so I'll not punish you this time. But next time, use your brain. A hero does not jump straight to violence." Aizawa warned them, "Moving on, since it's the first day after the sports festival and many of you are still recovering, we won't jump straight into classes. You will first be reviewing your hero offers and make a preliminary decision and after lunch will be choosing your hero names."

At the mention of hero names, everyone went crazy, "WHOO!"

"I can't believe we get to choose our hero names already!"

"Yeah, I thought that's only allowed after you get your license."

"SILENCE!" Aizawa yelled, "As I said, that discussion is for after lunch. You'll be looking at offers right now."

"Aww sensei, can't we do the hero names first?" Sero complained.

"No,"

"Why?"

"Because we need Midnight for that, and she's only available after lunch."

"Why do we need-" Sero was about to ask but his mouth was quickly muffled by Jiro who laughed, "That's fine sensei," she said.

To his side, Kirishima whispered, "Do you think Aizawa sensei has any idea about how to name a hero?"

Sero shook his head slowly, "Then shut up!"

Jiro let Sero go who grinned, "Sorry sensei, I'll wait till after lunch."

"Tch," Aizawa grumbled at the scene and set up his hologram, "These are the offers that were tabled for you," he pointed to the projected screen.

"Huh! How come Todoroki has the highest number of offers? He was out the first round."

"They probably want me because of my father," Todoroki commented darkly. Izuku, Watanabe and Kaminari shared a look.

"Kaminari isn't too far behind kero."

"Beating the son of the number 2 hero will do that I suppose." Sero grinned as Kaminari was handed a pile of offer letters.

"Watanabe is in third!? I thought Tokoyami would be there for sure," Hagakure said, shocked.

"I think most people are after the mystery of my quirk," Watanabe commented, a bit annoyed.

"But I beat Watanabe! Shouldn't I be higher?" Izuku groaned.

"Power quirks are quite common, so I guess it's not too much in demand," Kaminari explained. Izuku slumped on his desk.

"Fourth place isn't too bad," Tokoyami smiled as he received his offers.

"Why the hell have I got so little!?" Bakugou fumed, "Well you were knocked out in the cavalry battle and quite stupidly too," Kirishima grinned.

"So were you shitty hair!"

Kirishima wasn't fazed and just laughed, "Don't worry, we'll show them next time."

"Poor Shouji, being thrown around like a football didn't help his case," Kaminari commented sadly as he watched the measly pile of papers on his desk.

"At least he got some," Hagakure replied angrily as she pointed to her empty desk, "What are those who didn't get any offers going to do?" she asked Aizawa.

"You'll be given a list of agencies that are freely open for all students," Aizawa explained as he handed out the last of the papers, "Now, although you are completely free to make your own decision, five of you have special offers."

The class tensed as they wondered who the five could be, "The special offers are from UA teachers who wish to take you on as they feel they are best suited. You can reject them, but you must first talk with each of them." Aizawa warned, "The five students are Yaoyorozu, Kaminari, Watanabe, Koda, and Shouji."

Most students expected Momo, Kaminari, and Watanabe, a few were shocked at Koda's arrival but most turned surprisingly at Shouji, not expecting a teacher to go in for a special offer. They were surprised Izuku had not gotten a special offer over Koda.

"Yaoyorozu, Power loader wants you to work with him as he feels he can broaden your capability of making different things. I highly recommend you choose him." Aizawa proposed. Yaoyorozu gave a curt yet half-hearted nod.

"Kaminari, Present Mic has asked for you because both of your quirks require massive control. I think Mic will be your best option," Aizawa tried to convince him.

"Shouji, Recovery Girl asked specially for you and told me that either you are interning with her or she'll cut off my coffee supply," Aizawa rolled his eyes, "Please intern with her,"

"I almost don't want to now," Shouji jokingly said but seemed to consider the offer, especially since he now knew the huge extent of his quirk.

"Watanabe… Snipe has asked for you. I think you have some better offers which you could look at." Aizawa said, "Now Koda-"

"Hold on a minute," Watanabe interrupted, "That's it? No reasoning as to why Snipe asked for me?"

Aizawa twitched, "He wants you so that he can teach how to use a gun so that you can have it included in your gear." Aizawa explained begrudgingly. He did not want any of his students, especially Watanabe, learning how to use a gun and then making some stupid mistake.

"I think I know who I'm interning with!" Watanabe said with starry eyes.

"This is a preliminary round. You'll have three days to think so that you don't make the wrong decision. You may be surprised with the other offers you have gotten," Aizawa interjected, "And lastly, Koda, who has been asked to intern with… Nedzu?" Aizawa said hesitantly, not believing his eyes.

Aizawa and the students all turned to face Koda who had a knowing grin on his face, "If Koda's done something to have Nedzu pick him and not you guys… I don't want to know what he did!" Kaminari whispered to his friends.

"Did the birds pooping really leave that much of an impression?" Jiro joked causing Watanabe to nearly puke.

"Anyway, just make your preliminary decision and the class rep will hand me a list of them. You can consult with whomever you like. Just keep it down." Aizawa ordered and got zipped up in his sleeping bag.

Soon, the usual chatter of the class started.

"Izuku, who did you get offers from?" Kaminari asked.

"Well, I got most of them from combat-based hero agencies, but I think I'll go with Gran Torino," Izuku said as he shifted through his papers.

"Torino-sensei knows about your quirk too, so that's probably the best choice," Kaminari agreed.

"You have a lot of choices," Izuku eyed Kaminari's offers.

"Hm? Oh yeah," he replied distractedly, "I was just thinking about Mic sensei's offer. I really do need to get this quirk under control you know."

"Well, we're just looking today, so look at the other offers too. I can help if you'd like?"

"That'd be great," Kaminari grinned, "But Watanabe, are you sure you want to go with Snipe sensei?" Kaminari asked, "There are so many others to choose from,"

"Yeah, but how many can teach me to use a gun!?" Watanabe responded excitedly.

"You should still check the other offers. Maybe you'll end up liking them more?" Izuku tried convincing his cousin, "It won't hurt, right?"

Watanabe groaned but nodded. He slowly started to sift through his offers, clearly uninterested in most of them. There were several attractive offers but Watanabe didn't feel as though he'd learn anything worthwhile from them. However, one particular offer made Watanabe giggle.

Kaminari looked at his friend suspiciously and leaned in for a closer look, "Whoa!" he looked shocked, "You got an offer from Nighteye!?"

Kaminari's shouts made the entire class turn towards Watanabe. Aizawa smirked in his sleeping bag, having already heard the rumors.

"Dude! You got an offer from All Might's sidekick!" Sero shouted with excitement.

"I guess it was good that you didn't fill out the form to intern with Snipe sensei!" Hagakure pointed out.

"Why? There's no way I'm interning with Nighteye," Watanabe said nonchalantly as he shifted the offer into the refused pile.

The class gaped, "But Nighteye is like a legend! You have to accept it!" Izuku yelled, his inner fanboy working.

Watanabe eyed his cousin with a bored look, "There's nothing to learn from him. He only wants me because of that ridiculous rumor that I have foresight, nothing else." He defended.

"But still, it's All Might's former sidekick."

"Well, All Might himself teaches us, so I don't think I'll be missing out on much," Watanabe pointed out, "I'd be better off going to one of the combat agencies. At least that way, I learn something new."

Aizawa smiled in his sleeping bag. He was proud to see his students going to places to learn rather than popularity.

"Bakugou, where are you going?" Kirishima asked.

"Gang Orca," Katsuki replied shortly.

"Whoa! You got an offer from a top 10 hero! That's awesome!" Kirishima lauded, "How did you do it? We didn't even get too far in the competition."

"He knows me from before," Bakugou replied quietly. Though he wouldn't show it, it made Bakugou happy that Orca was still looking out for him even though the rehabilitation scheme had ended months earlier.

"Sensei, where is Hatsume interning?" Todoroki asked.

"Why do you need to know that?" Aizawa asked from his sleeping bag, a bit irritated.

"Tokoyami was the runners up and is going to Hawks for his internship. So, I just wanted to know who the winner went to."

Aizawa's mood darkened slightly at hearing Tokoyami taking up Hawks offer. Nedzu and the other UA teachers thought that Hawks was working for the commission. But they couldn't stop Hawks offer either since the commission would be tipped off. To make matters worse, Nedzu wasn't sharing his information on Watanabe's father, which hindered Aizawa's decision-making.

"Sensei, did you hear me?" Todoroki asked.

"Yes, I did," Aizawa replied, pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind, "Hatsume has no intention of being a hero so she refused all the hero agency offers and went to intern with a support company instead. Given her brilliance, she'll probably make even more things to either help you or pummel you during the next festival." Aizawa said truthfully, not making an effort to mince his words.

The class went silent at Aizawa's retort. It felt as if he was disappointed with their performance during the sports festival. Aizawa too understood his students' feelings and sighed, "What has happened has happened. That's why we train, but next time you better work harder. You can go for lunch now," Aizawa gave a slightly early dismissal.

The class slowly and quietly started to file out, "Izuku, aren't you coming?" Kaminari asked his friend who was still sitting, "No, I have something to talk about with sensei. You know being a class rep and all that." Izuku laughed nervously.

"In that case, I must stay as well!" Iida loudly proclaimed.

"No, no! You don't need to, really." Izuku rapidly waved his hands.

Aizawa waved Iida away, "I'll only need Izuku for this. Go to lunch." Aizawa ordered, sensing Izuku had something personal to talk about. Iida nodded slowly and left.

"I wonder what Izuku wants to tell Aizawa," Ojiro wondered.

"Hopefully he isn't tattling on something we did."

Once the class had walked away, Aizawa asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

Izuku gulped and nervously spoke, "Well it's about Iida…" he said anxiously, not meeting Aizawa's eyes.

"What is it about him?"

"He took the offer from Manual, in Hosu. And that's where his brother got attacked, so I just thought that it would be best for him to not go…" Izuku voiced his concerns.

Aizawa examined Izuku slowly, and sighed, "I think Iida is not that irresponsible, but I'll talk to him about it. Tell him to meet me after lunch."

Izuku nodded, his face lighting up as Aizawa took his concern seriously. Just as he was about to leave, Aizawa asked, "You do know that he will connect the fact that you stayed behind to tell me about this, and he'll be angry at you for meddling?"

Izuku gulped but hesitantly nodded, "Meddling when you don't need to is the essence of being a hero." He replied shortly before leaving.

"It is unusual for a student to ask to meet with the principal; usually it's the other way round." Nedzu commented as he shared some of his lunch with Watanabe, "So, what is it you needed?"

Watanabe slowly munched on a bun, "It's not something I need to know but rather something you need."

"Oh?" Nedzu asked with interest, "There are not many things that I am unaware of."

"Oh, trust me, you don't know this, and if you did, you are an asshole," Watanabe said menacingly.

Nedzu's interest grew, "What is it then?"

"Endeavour is an abusive piece of shit who hurt Shouto, his siblings, and put their mom in a mental institution," Watanabe said aggressively.

Nedzu looked shocked. He could sense that this would be huge, and gulped down his tea in one go before sitting up straight, "And where did you get this piece of information?"

"Shouto told us."

"Us? Who all know?"

"That… doesn't matter," Watanabe replied, not wanting to pull anyone else into it, "What matters is you have to save the Todorokis."

Nedzu let out a deep breath, "I understand where your feelings come from but it won't be that easy Watanabe. Endeavour is the number 2 hero. If we pull him down, we aren't just messing with the hero infrastructure, we are messing with society's belief in heroes."

Watanabe clenched his fists angrily, "So what! Just because of that we should leave them to suffer!?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what are you saying!?" Watanabe demanded.

Nedzu remained unfazed and didn't seem to be bothered by his student's anger, "Of course, I will help Todoroki. But it's not going to be like it can be fixed in one day. Such a thing will require time. I'm smart, not a magician."

"And in the time, it takes?" Watanabe asked.

"I'm afraid there won't be too much we can do for them in that time. We'll have to be careful not to tip of the hero commission about our movements." Nedzu explained.

"The commission?" Watanabe asked, "What about them?"

Nedzu's face hardened. He really didn't want to badmouth the commission in front of Watanabe since his father was a part of it, "The commission may not share the same views as you and choose the betterment of the society over the Todorokis." Nedzu tamely explained the commission's corruption.

Watanabe bit his lip, "I know that the commission is corrupt," he said remembering the forum's outburst, "But they aren't that evil?"

Nedzu sighed but nodded quietly, "But, my dad works there too. He's not evil, maybe he can help us!"

"I'm sure he is but it's best not to contact your father. The hero commission will be tipped off on that as well. They already think UA is trying to expose them." Nedzu explained, making sure not to call out Ryuzen as a spy of some sort. He didn't want Watanabe to be hurt by his words.

Thankfully, Watanabe bought Nedzu's reasoning, and moved on, but not to a much better topic, "Does this mean the commission has other heroes under their thumb?"

"It… is a possibility," Nedzu admitted.

"Do you know them?" Watanabe asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't concern you at the moment. Leave it to us teachers. In the meantime, do you have any other information I could use?" Nedzu changed the subject.

Watanabe nodded, "His mother was sent to a mental hospital because Endeavour drove him nuts and she poured hot water over his eye because Shouto looked like him," Watanabe told in a disgusted tone, "His brother moved out but his sister stayed back to look after him. Not that she gets treated much better from what I heard."

Nedzu nodded, "And who else knows about this?"

"I'm not telling you that."

"I'll need them as witnesses."

"Yeah, and when you do, Shouto will feel completely betrayed. At least this way, the only one he'll be mad at is me." Watanabe proclaimed.

"So, it's probably Kaminari and Izuku who know as well?" Nedzu guessed.

"Unless I say yes, you don't know that, so you can't do anything with it," Watanabe pointed out.

Nedzu smirked, "True. But I have to ask, why did you come straight to me and not Aizawa?"

"Because you're smart and have the power to take Endeavour down."

"Yes of course, but had you told Aizawa, he would have told me too. So why come directly to me without at least talking to Aizawa first?"

Watanabe smirked, "You are the smartest person for a reason." Watanabe admitted, "Aizawa sensei would hear me out and agree. Heck, he'd even go on a warpath to take Endeavour down. But his emotions would get the better of him and the task might be a bit inefficient. Plus, he wouldn't take into account the commission and all that."

"So, you think my lack of emotions will provide me with clearer judgment?" Nedzu summed up.

"Yes," Watanabe told, a bit harshly.

Nedzu smiled, "Perhaps you are right on that," Nedzu mused, "But I know enough of human psychology to know that Todoroki won't be pleased with you for this."

"I already took that into account."

"But did you think that the rest of your friends might also be mad at you?" Nedzu asked.

Watanabe looked to freeze for a second, "…What's done is done." He stated simply.

"One last thing," Nedzu said, "From All Might's account as well as the police report, when Izuku was being bullied, you punched Bakugou and then you got knocked out by the teacher. That may seem like an accident, but knowing you, you could have easily dodged that."

There was a tense silence as Watanabe looked at the floor, "It was necessary."

"I know it was." Nedzu said, "But that time, you made it seem like an accident to alert your parents instead of going straight to them. Why the opposite this time? Why come to me directly now, instead of somehow coercing Shouto?"

Watanabe said nothing and simply stood up to leave. Nedzu smiled, "Don't take it personally. Your choice shows that you know your limit on what you can and can't do. That's a good thing!"

"Just don't tell Izuku about this one… please," Watanabe begged.

"I won't," Nedzu assured. Watanabe nodded and opened the door to leave when Nedzu interrupted, "Watanabe, do you feel doing this makes you a hero? Do you think others will praise you?" Nedzu asked inquisitively, to get a better view into Watanabe's mind.

Watanabe stopped short and took no time to think as he responded bitterly, "I don't care what other people think. I just want to help people."