Chapter 11
Himiko hadn't messaged her in two days and Tanya was feeling restless. Of course she was not concerned; the girl could take care of herself. Nobody she had ever known was as dangerous as her partner in close combat situations. It filled her with immense satisfaction and gratefulness that she had managed to find Himiko on that fateful day and train her up to one of the finest agents the HPSC had seen to date. That was one of the few unambiguously good things that had happened to her in this life.
Why then did she feel so... empty? Probably the weather. Too much sunshine could also weigh down on one's mood, apparently.
Once again she dressed herself for school. Although this time she chose a more civilian attire instead of her iconic hero costume. Today was the day that the first pros from neighbouring districts were arriving to serve as extra security during the sports festival. That meant that she did not need to go on patrol, because all relevant areas of the city were already covered enough. For the next few days she would only need to serve in her role as teacher, not as a soldier.
A downside she sadly failed to consider was that she was technically not allowed to use her quirk when outside her hero persona which meant that she had to take the train to UA instead of flying there. It hurt her professional pride a bit that she had to run to the classroom in order to be on time, as that was a clear indication of time mismanagement, but at least she was not late.
So in her hurry she did not even notice the dark figure hiding under her desk when she entered the classroom.
~[#҈#]~
Shoto watched with interest as their normally perfectly prepared teacher rushed into the room. Well, to the untrained eye it might have looked like she was just casually walking in, but he could notice the subtle signs signifying her hurry. Her slightly dishevelled hair, the marginally raised breathing rate, and her uncharacteristically late appearance mere seconds before the clock signalled the start of class...
To Shoto for whom interpreting such details could mean the difference between getting a good night's sleep or not being able to properly walk the next day, it was all too obvious.
"Good morning 1-A! Today will be our last official lesson together before the sports festival. If Mr. Aizawa has recovered enough by that point he will be taking over your education again. I must say that I have enjoyed our shared time immensely – as short as it might be – and I hope that I could be of help to you aspiring heroes. So I wanted to say preemptively... Thank you." spoke Argent.
A shame. Although he still kind of resented her for forcing him to use the fire aspect of his quirk, he could also understand why she did it. It may seem cruel, but her teaching was much different from that of his sperm-donor, if one could even call that "teaching". She wanted to push him to be at his best, not for selfish reasons, but simply because she actually wanted to do her job.
Ashido broke the ensuing silence by clearing her throat.
"Ehm... Ms. Argent, couldn´t you ask the principal to hire you for real?"
"Yeah! That would be awesome!" added Uraraka.
Fools. As if the number eleven heroine would risk her position by further staying at UA. Perhaps she was different though...
"I do not want to slander Mr. Aizawa; for he has proven exceptionally brave in our defence at the USJ and our overall experience with his teaching methods is limited, but it would be a welcome change if you attempted to share the position of Homeroom Teacher with him. Ms. Argent, your dedication to our training has been commendable in every aspect and your enthusiasm to support us in unexpected ways much closer aligns with the vision I had of UA when coming here. I believe I can speak for most if not all of us when I say that it would be terribly sad to see you leave!" Iida started to drone on in his usual stuck-up fashion.
"Sure! What he said!" yelled Kirishima.
Why did they all have to be so loud? Screaming would not change anything.
"The shine of your appearance has been most dazzling, mon prof! Our little school will glow much less brilliantly without you, oui mademoiselle?"
One wave of her hand was enough to take back control of the room. Impressive. His bastard-father would have needed to flare his disgusting quirk for a similar effect.
"It warms my heart that you think so, but it is not my decision. If the higher-ups are unwilling then I am powerless to refuse them."
He found it comical how some of his classmate´s postures simultaneously deflated as if they were a hive mind.
"Nonetheless I will try my best to present my case to them. After all, how could I refuse if you ask me so politely." she smiled lopsidedly.
It was a nice smile. A small, but real one. Idly, Shoto thought back to the last true smile he had gotten from his family.
Suddenly a familiar dry voice rasped: "Well, isn't this sweet."
Argent´s body briefly tensed as if she was expecting an attack before slowly turning to the podium where Eraserhead had seemingly appeared out of thin air. How the man had been hiding inside the cramped space with his giant plaster casts was a mystery beyond mortal comprehension.
"Welcome back Mr. Aizawa. I was not aware that the hospital had released you yet."
"They haven't." he grumbled.
"Then why are you here? Surely you would know that aggravating your injuries will only lengthen your absence from your position as teacher."
"I am not going to aggravate them. Anyways, that speech was very cute, but don´t you think I have a say in this?"
Had he just said 'cute'? Unironically?
"Of course. Naturally I will respect your opinion on the matter, but ultimately it is up to the principal to decide how this school is run."
Eraserhead only grunted in reply, but remained silent. Both of them seemed to wait for the other to make a move until Ms. Degurechaff broke the tension.
"If that was everything you wanted to say, then I must ask you to leave. I have a lesson to give and we certainly don't want to waste our students' time any longer, right?"
"No. I am going to watch. I want to see what is so praiseworthy about your teaching style that got the kids all excited."
Argent nodded her head in contemplation and produced a translucent chair with a wave of her hand in the corner of the room. Wordlessly the bandaged man limped over and cautiously sat down on the silvery construct.
Hers was a powerful and extraordinarily versatile quirk. Too powerful, one could say. Just like with the Midoriya boy, Shoto had the feeling that there was more going on than simply good genetics. It was rather suspicious how someone with no personal information that his begetter´s spies could dig up had already achieved the number eleven rank. The informants that Endeavour employed were all top tier or else the bastard would have not managed to hide nearly as many scandals as he did.
Was Ms. Degurechaff also the product of a quirk marriage? A secret government experiment? Hmmm...
The lesson continued. He felt neither bored nor particularly engaged by it, but that was how they were most of the time. At least it was better than math with Ectoplasm. While taking notes he observed Eraserhead from time to time.
If Shoto had not known any better, then he could have sworn that Mr. Aizawa was eyeing their replacement teacher up. She seemed to be the sole focus of his gaze, roaming her body up and down, but never straying for too long from her shining, blue eyes. He reasoned that he was most likely wrong though, because the bandages around his head obscured much of his actual expression.
"So that concludes that particular topic. I am sorry that I had to overrun the time a bit, but it is important that you understand this particular subject. It will be the basis of much educational content in the future. If you have any more questions, please approach me now or in the teachers' lounge where I will be spending the next five to seven hours. Goodbye everyone!"
"Goodbye Ms. Argent." he mumbled, but it was drowned out by the much more enthusiastic responses of his peers. They were all so noisy and emotional; it was incomprehensible to him how they could act so carefree. He would definitely not miss them when he got his license.
Vaguely he could hear: "A word please..." from Eraserhead, but he was already half way on his way to the door, wanting to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible. A wish that was promptly squashed by the large crowd of people outside who were nearly filling the gigantic hallway.
Shoto clicked his tongue in annoyance.
~[#҈#]~
"How can I help you, Sir?"
It always paid to be respectful to veterans in the industry. You never knew what kinds of connections they had formed that could make her life harder in the future. Her strained relationship with Present Mic was a prime example.
"Well, would you like some feedback on what I thought of your lesson?" he asked.
Tanya had been expecting something of that sort already. Despite how she felt about Aizawa from the bits of information she had been able to piece together, she also knew that Nedzu would not have appointed him as homeroom teacher for the most prestigious class in Japan out of a whim. There had to be some hidden characteristic buried beneath his unprofessional laziness and it would prove beneficial to find out what that was.
"Of course. I would be thankful for more criticism. I imagine that despite our different work philosophies I could learn a lot from you."
The Erasure Hero smirked underneath his bandages.
"For one, why are you not in costume? Shouldn´t you demonstrate your presence as a hero in front of the kids? Not that I mind it, though."
Um... What was that?
"I do not think it is necessary to always wear my uniform in school. The children have already gotten used to it now, so I thought it would be a good idea to shake that up a little."
"There is something else you definitely need to change though."
"Hmm? What is it?"
From the sound of it he sounded quite serious! Had she broken some unwritten rule? Was she in trouble?
"You need to stop being so damn cute. It's distracting."
It took a full three seconds for her brain to comprehend what he had just said.
"Excuse me?"
"I said, you need to take a damn cue."
Oh. That made slightly more sense. She must have misheard.
"A cue from what? Your own style?"
"Hmph. Figure it out. Can you help me to the teachers' lounge now? Don't want to fall and embarrass myself in front of the brats."
As weird as the man was, his last wish was at least understandable. Tarnishing your image in front of an audience was never fun. Walking side by side they made their way over to the door only to be immediately blocked by a heatedly glaring mob of students. Most of their scorn was directed at Bakugou unsurprisingly.
Huffing in annoyance she stepped in the middle between the two sides to deescalate the situation before someone resorted to actual violence.
"What is this commotion about?"
"These extras want to scare us like the pathetic losers they are. 'Declaration of war'? Don't make me laugh."
Out of fairness she should ask for the perspective of the other side as well. Bakugou was hardly an objective source. In front of the crowd stood a purple-haired kid with an almost bored expression. He seemed to be in charge so Tanya addressed him.
"Could you tell me please what is going on here?"
"I was just advising the hero course that they should be prepared to give it their all next week. Because if they don't... There are many people here who did not pass the biased entrance exam and they are more than ready to take their place."
"Uh-huh. What is your name?"
"Shinso. Shinso Hitoshi. From 1-C." He stated defiantly.
Petty rivalry? How amusing... Time to crush his misguided jealousy.
"How many points did you get during the entrance exam then, Shinso?"
"Zero. The test was not fair. It was heavily favouring those with physical and flashy quirks. Those with less destructive powers were left behind in the dust. You wouldn't understand that."
Ignoring the whispered barb at the end she followed up: "Oh? You got absolutely zero points, because of your non-flashy quirk?"
"Yes. The exam was deeply unfair."
"How do you explain then how Hagakure here, got in?"
She pointed at the pile of floating clothes to her right.
"I cannot fathom how only being invisible could help directly in taking down giant robots. You would additionally need to be athletic, fast and smart to succeed. Or take Koda here, who can speak to animals. How do you imagine talking with birds and bees helped him in the entrance exam?"
The previously confident boy appeared to lose his previous bravado with every word she spoke.
"I... uhm..."
"Exactly. The truth is that you could have made it in somehow if you had just found a way. There is more to fighting than your quirk. I honestly don't know how the evaluation works at UA, but even I can see that it measures more than brute strength alone."
She turned to the rather nervous looking green-haired boy to her left.
"Midoriya, you only learned to control your quirk not too long ago. How many points did you get?"
"Ehm... Z-zero combat points a-and sixty rescue points."
"They had rescue points?" Tanya asked mildly surprised. With a raised eyebrow she stared straight at Shinso, looking so thoroughly unimpressed that a few children at the sidelines began to snicker.
"Am I right to assume that helping other examinees was what granted you your score, Midoriya?" she asked, not breaking eye contact with the Gen Ed student.
"Y-yeah."
"Good to know. Now that we cleared that up, please go back to your classrooms or to the cafeteria. Blocking the corridor is unacceptable."
Obviously not all fighting spirit had left Shinso, because his face twisted in fury and he yelled: "That still doesn't mean that we don't deserve to be in the hero course! I'll show you by entering through the sports festival!"
Tanya regarded him with an encouraging nod and made her way through the dispersing mass of bodies towards the teachers' lounge. Hopefully Midnight hadn't broken the coffee machine again. For all her talent with the needle that woman was as clumsy with electronics as a villain with snapped hamstrings.
~[#҈#]~
Nemuri had in fact not broken the coffee machine! The settings were glitching out randomly and the brew it produced was a little thicker and spicier than normal, but she did not really mind...
When she heard the door creak she innocently sipped at her cup and sifted through her papers as if nothing was wrong. Nobody needed to know that she had-
"Not again, Nemuri!" groaned Snipe as he uselessly pressed the start button over and over again.
Damn it! How did he know?
"Why do you always suspect me? I haven't done anything! I was just sitting here and-"
"Yeah, yeah spare me the details. You owe me Nemuri! You owe me for this injustice!"
Oh no! That was bad! She didn't want to fund his Karaoke Night again. Well, they were actually pretty fun, but the Sharpshooting Hero could drink like few others and good booze was quite expensive nowadays! That would cut harshly into her savings and she wanted to rather spend that money on the awesome new whip she found...
Think, Nemuri, think...
When in doubt, use your body as a distraction! That was a tried and tested Midnight specialty!
"Ohhh~... What do you want to do with me..." she mock-shivered, pretending to shield her modesty with her hands, which only served to accentuate her curvy figure even more.
"Stop that. Ya ain't getting me with that ol' trick."
She pouted, clasping her hands and pushing her bosom out in a seductive yet innocent manner.
"You are no fun... Don't you want to do some naughty things to a young maiden like me, you strapping fellow?"
"You are no young lady anymore."
Wha- That comment went too far! He would taste her wrath for this unfairly accurate insult!
"How dare you! I look not a day over twenty-two! Take this!"
The R-rated Heroine threw her half-empty cup at the fiend that had disrespected her beauty. Snipe expertly dodged the object with the ease of a veteran hero and so it continued unhindered on its trajectory towards the entrance area. She could only watch in horror as in precisely that moment the door swung open again and the projectile hit another target.
The porcelain burst and showered the entering person with coffee. Wait, was that...
"Shouta! Oh, I'm so sorry Shouta!"
Hastily she jumped out of her seat and began her best to clean his plaster casts and bandages with a napkin. Not that it did much, but further smearing the pristine white cloth with brown.
"Enough." snapped her friend and she fiddled with the stained handkerchief in shame. Her friend was in the process of recovering from severe wounds and what did she do? Throw a mug at him!
"Sorry... It's wonderful to see you so well already. But... uh, should you be out of the hospital? I mean the rat would have notified us if they released you..."
"Who knows? Maybe he thought it would be funnier that way."
"Alright. That sounds like him."
"Also I released myself. Another day looking at a white ceiling and I think I would have gone insane."
Nemuri chuckled at that.
"Yeah. Somehow I knew you would try that. Can't leave your kids alone for two weeks, ey? You are such a sweetheart."
"Whatever. I trust my replacement has been adequate?"
"Ehm, Shouta, she's standing right there..."
Argent appeared to realize the awkwardness in the air and pointed at the coffee machine.
"It's ok. I was just going to-"
Snipe despondently shook his head and the number eleven heroine glanced at Midnight with unbridled contempt. Oh shit...
~[#҈#]~
Nedzu had sunken deep in thought. His eyes were fixed to the live feed on his screen and his paws were absentmindedly tapping on the surface of his office desk. Normally, even the most complicated problem could be solved by him within a few minutes, but the scenario at hand was consuming his whole focus for more than an hour already.
The enigma in question was no other than his dear employee Aizawa Shouta.
When his familiar face had shown up on the security feed after entering the front gate Nedzu had been amused. The stubborn man seemed to never prioritize his own health above what he perceived as necessary for the wellbeing of his students. An admirable trait that led to much foolishness.
Then his amusement switched to confusion when he saw Aizawa apparently flirting with Ms. Degurechaff. Was it a technique to catch her off guard or disorient her? Had the trauma to his head perhaps produced undiagnosed side effects? Was he on drugs?
For his safety Nedzu needed to understand what precisely was happening to his former student. So he examined the video and audio footage closer and found more strange irregularities. They were subtle and could all individually be explained away, but they formed a pattern that was too consistent to ignore.
For example Aizawa spared his students not a single look. It was like they were of no importance to him at all. Or when he ate a peppermint bonbon which he normally hated.
The only logical conclusion was that this was not really the pro hero Eraserhead. An impostor had taken his place to infiltrate UA.
Of course there was a direct way to prove this, but if he went down there and arrested the doppelganger on the spot then that would only alert whoever was behind this operation. He had a few candidates for that in mind, mainly the League of Villains or the Hero public Safety Commission. Last time an outside force had penetrated the school security it had ended in the USJ attack, one of the most humiliating moments of his career. It had shown him that he had become far too lax and arrogant. Nedzu vowed that such an event would never come to pass again as long as he drew breath.
So investigating this suspicious individual was his highest priority at the time.
First he checked all traffic cameras in a five kilometre radius to ascertain where the Aizawa-lookalike had come from. Despite them using more hidden passageways and other less frequented routes it took his facial recognition software only half an hour to pinpoint their exact way through the city. What he found was either the most disturbing fact that he learned today or the one that could put his worries entirely at ease.
They came from the hospital.
Maybe it had been the real Aizawa from the beginning? Or… something terrible had happened to the poor man. Visions of a villain skinning his employee alive and wearing his skin or forcefully taking over his body assaulted Nedzu with gut wrenching dread. As fast as his paws could manage he dialed the number of the clinic, but was put directly into a waiting loop.
That was bad! This much planning and competence was the work of an experienced team! Far too professional to come from the League of Villains who only recently had made their clumsy debut. Not to get him wrong, Nedzu was extremely grateful that they did not kill anybody during their assault on the USJ, but it also demonstrated a certain level of incompetence on their part. Armed with hundreds of criminals, a biological super-weapon and an incredible warping quirk they could have staged a slaughter if their plan had been any good.
"I should be going now. The doctors are certainly searching for me all over the place like headless chickens." spoke Fake-Shouta through the speaker of his computer.
"Aww… You know I missed you? Without you grumbling in my ear I've felt lonely all week!" whined Nemuri.
"Only one week? I have been gone for two in case you haven't noticed."
Midnight punched the pretender slightly on the arm.
"Hush you. Will you show up to the sports festival?"
"Of course! You can count on it!"
"Wow, you sure sound enthusiastic about it, Shouta. Never thought you had it in you!"
"Hmph. How am I going to get in by the way?"
"The same as every year, silly. With your ID pass."
"Doesn't that sound a bit insecure? What if someone steals my pass or replicates it? Don't tell me that I am paranoid, Nemuri! After recent events we cannot be too cautious."
The previously jovial heroine sobered up and nodded seriously.
"Yes. You are right. The rat installed a ton of new security measurements for this reason."
"And what are they? I don't know if I feel comfortable with blindly trusting the security this time."
"That is not-" she began, but stopped herself when she looked down at his bandages. "Of course."
Nedzu would need to have a stern talk with Midnight when this was over. To give out sensitive information so readily was more than foolish, but in this special case he would not stop her. This failure would become unforgettable for her, he was going to make sure of that. Furthermore, if he knew which security details were given to the intruder then he would be the one in control. Should the breach become too severe he could still change the configuration of the safety protocols and special codes on a caprice.
By luring the attacking party into a false sense of confidence, the principal would be able to play them however he wanted and lure them into a trap. Then he could also observe how they acted when believing themselves to be alone and safe, which was objectively the best way to catalogue human behaviour.
Putting a tracker on their spy could possibly alert them and they would increase their efforts of staying hidden which would make it harder to roll out his retribution. No… he would do nothing for now, merely watch from afar.
But their transgressions would not remain unpunished for long. As soon as they crawled out of their holes the principal of UA would obliterate them! Their fruitless attempt was going to show the whole world that nobody messed with HIS school without painful consequences! Destroying their plans would be most satisfactory.
His shrill laughter reverberated through the building, filling students and teachers alike with trepidation.
