Chapter 15 – First Day of School
It was only two days later from when I had struck that deal with Principal Nezu, and I was preparing to leave my prison cell for hopefully the last time. I was roused early that morning by the guards and given a chance to shower and change back into my civilian clothes. Blessedly, someone had washed the clothes I had arrived in so I didn't have to wear them dirty on my first day at school. First impressions and all that.
When it finally came time to leave, I was shackled and escorted out to a blacked out prisoner transport car. The guards were on edge around me and were taking every precaution to prevent my escape. Admittedly, the thought had crossed my mind, but with the heavy quirk-canceling collar around my neck that was a pipe dream. And honestly I was curious, if not nervous, what this U.A. High would have in store for me. I had never attended school in my life. Watching tv shows and movies had clued me in on what exactly happened at these places, but experiencing it firsthand for myself was going to be something new. And I was not prepared.
I didn't have time to process my emotions or prepare myself mentally for whatever challenges lay before me today. Time seemed to speed up as my travel time to U.A. was over in the blink of an eye and I was pulled out of the car by my chains. We had stopped in front of a massive blue arch with the letters 'U.A.' shining brightly in the center in gold. The whole thing screamed prestige and money. Lots of money. For a moment I wondered how they got the funding to build such a thing. If this was just the entrance, I could only imagine what was on the inside.
Speaking of which…. Beyond the gate I could see the main building with its glass windows slowly beginning to glow as the sun peeked over the horizon to begin the new day. I shifted from one foot to the other, looking around and wondering why we weren't passing through the gates already. Having a chained prisoner surrounded by armed guards out on the street was sure to get someone's attention sooner or later. But it looked like the guards were waiting for something - for someone to show up.
Down the path leading to the entrance of the school I spied a blonde man in black leather fast approaching us. He had a heavy speaker attached to around his neck while his hair was probably his most notable feature. It was absolutely ridiculous gelled up in a gravity-defying arch from his head. It reminded me more than anything of a cockatoo's crown.
Mr. Cockatoo, as I dubbed him henceforth, offered a curt wave as he stopped just outside the gates.
"Yo, what up listeners? Thanks for bringing in our guest speaker today."
His weird vernacular struck me as odd, and I determined that he must be one of those heroes who also taught at U.A. like Eraserhead. The guards nodded back in welcome and they visibly relaxed in the hero's presence. One of them moved to hand over my chain lead to Mr. Cockatoo, but he shook his head, refusing.
"We won't be needing those here. Principal Nezu's orders."
At this guards grew uncomfortable with the idea.
"But sir," one of them spoke in a cautious whisper as if I wasn't standing next to them, "she's dangerous. We can't hand her over without assurances."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I had done nothing up to that point to earn the title of being dangerous, and I was growing tired of being treated like a vicious villain. Sooner or later I was going to snap and it wasn't going to be pretty for anybody.
"Got that covered, yo." Mr. Cockatoo held up a black circlet for them to see. It was another collar I realized. This version was streamlined and thin when compared to the bulky one currently installed around my neck. Anyone looking at the black ring would think it was some sort of punk jewelry.
The guards were not convinced, but acquiesced when Mr. Cockatoo wouldn't take no for an answer. The shackles dropped from my limbs and I rubbed my wrists tenderly, breathing a sigh of relief with the heavy restrains off my body. With my quirk restored I felt whole again. I felt like me.
That lasted for all of two seconds.
Mr. Cockatoo held up the circlet to me with a pleasant smile. "If you would, babe."
He wanted me to put the collar on myself - to willingly submit myself back inside a cage. The guards around me tensed, waiting to see what I would do. Would I seize my chance and make a move to escape? Or would I put on the collar? I would not go back to that prison. I told myself that, and so I hesitantly reached out, taking the choker from Mr. Cockatoo. I found that it snapped open into two equal halves and fashioned it around my neck before bringing the two ends back together. The thing gave a click, indicating that it had locked in place. I pulled a face as I fiddled with it, spinning it this way and that, trying to get comfortable with its close proximity to my skin. At least it was better than what the prison had shackled me with and definitely not as noticeable.
"Looks good on ya, babe." Mr. Cockatoo finger gunned me with a wide grin.
I didn't know if he was trying to reassure me or trying to flirt. That kind of thing often went right over my head. So I chose not to respond, instead wrapping my arms around my torso protectively as a cold wind blew by. It was still early morning, and I was wearing the same dark t-shirt and leggings I had been arrested in. They offered me no protection from the temperature in the air unfortunately. Mr. Cockatoo took notice and decided to take pity on me.
"Let's get you inside then before the kiddies start to show up." He moved aside, gesturing for me to walk forward and across the gate's threshold. The mention of 'kiddies' was a subtle nudge for the guards to get a move on and leave. Some eyebrows would certainly be raised and questions asked if anyone saw a prison car standing outside the gates of U.A.
Wasting no time to get out the chill morning air, I took a step forward to the other side and followed after Mr. Cockatoo as he proceeded back to the building. As I did so I could hear the metal band give a soft beep from somewhere inside it. I didn't have time to wonder what it meant. Mr. Cockatoo gave the guards a brief wave over his shoulder, slowing his walk as I caught up to him.
"Thanks again, fellas!" He called out.
When I turned to look back at the gate's entrance the last door to the car had slammed shut and they were gone. I was now alone with only Mr. Cockatoo for company. Out of the corner of my eye I inspected the hero discreetly. I had never been this close to another hero in a long time. The only exception being when I had met Vision back when I was seven. And there again there was the time that Eraserhead was in my apartment. So maybe there had been two times that I had been in the accompaniment of heroes. Though typically, I gave heroes a wide berth to avoid drawing attention to myself. Heroes just naturally drew drama and attention to themselves wherever they were, and I didn't want to get caught up in that.
"Sorry about that." He apologized in a murmur to me, his eyes glancing at the black cord around my neck as my hand was still fiddling with it. "Normally I give girls something shinier on the first date." He chuckled. "Name's Present Mic by the way, though you can call me Mic since we'll be working together."
"Eve." I replied in kind. "So you know about my deal with Nezu then." I realized as he opened the door for me and let me inside the warm building.
"All the staff here does."
The warm air of the school building couldn't stop the chill from running down my spine as my senses heightened to be on full alert. In the eyes of the law I was still a criminal, and now I was surrounded in a place filled with heroes. Heroes and criminals historically do not get along. I felt my stomach plummet with this knowledge. If everyone here knew about my deal, then how much else did they know? What exactly had Nezu shared with them? My secrets had protected me for a long time. To not be able to hide behind them anymore was nerve wracking.
"I'll be honest with you since you'll be working alongside us. Not everyone was onboard with Nezu's decision." Mic spoke up from my side. "But you should have heard how the principal fought for you in the staff meeting." He chuckled at the memory.
"How much did he tell you all about me?" I asked nervously. I needed to know where I stood - where the threats were so I could prepare for them. If there were any dangerous heroes bearing me a grudge, then I needed to know so I could avoid them.
He turned to look at me then when he heard the anxiety rising in my voice. "Listen, you don't have anything to worry about here. If Principal Nezu vouched for you, then it's all good. He even talked the HPSC down from enacting full on security measures to make sure you were welcomed here. Had to allow one concession in the end to make the HPSC happy, but at least it's better than what they had on you a few minutes ago." He gestured to the collar.
I was honestly in shock that someone had gone that far for someone like me, and I wondered what I had said to convince Nezu to put such faith in me.
"What about you?" I turned to the hero as we walked the lone hallways together. I was trying to absorb the new environment around me while continuing the conversation with the hero, and so my head was on a constant swivel as I talked. "What did you think of me coming here?"
Mic gave a shrug. "I'm just glad that we're getting another female on staff. Too many dudes around if you know what I mean." Present Mic peered over his shades at me. "It was time to liven the music up around here anyways. Needed some fresh new tunes to teach into these future heroes."
"About that..." I started, hoping to get some advice or clarification from him as what exactly I was meant to teach these kids. That part was never made clear. But I never got to ask my question as we had arrived in front of a tall wooden door with the letters 1-A painted vertically on its surface.
"Here we are! Class 1-A! " He slid open the massive door to the room with a flourish, letting me enter inside. It was my first time inside a classroom and it was what I had expected it to be. TV and movies had at least educated me to this fact. Twenty empty desks sat in rows of four with a podium and large screen at the front.
"Aizawa will be teaching this class so this is where you'll be." Present Mic walked in after me, watching me as I checked out the room.
"Who?"
"Eraserhead." He clarified. Cocking his head in confusion, he spoke again. "He never told you his name?"
My face grew dark as the recognition dawned within me - the hero's grim mug flashing through my brain.
"No. He didn't." My voice was tense as I tried to rein myself back under control. I still had strong feelings against the hero.
Present Mic had clearly seen my expression and burst out laughing. "Yah, he has that effect on people, but try not to let him get to you. The guy's a big softie under all those layers."
"A big softie?" I thought doubtfully. The person who tracked me down and tore my life away - a softie? Immediately I tried to picture Eraserhead smiling kindly and I felt my brain struggling with the concept. I'll believe it only when I see it, though I wasn't holding out much hope. I broke myself out of the thought and looked around half expecting said hero to pop out of the shadows like a wraith.
"Where is he by the way?" I asked tentatively. "I thought Nezu said that he would be the one to watch me while I was here."
"He's hanging out somewhere around here. Mr. Elusive and reclusive." Mic gave a defeated shrug, shaking his head in a heavy sigh. "Made me be the one to go fetch you from the gates."
From the scowl on my face, Present Mic quickly backtracked his words. "Not that it wasn't a bother to go get you. Gave me a chance to be the first one to meet the new babe on the block." He gave me a thumbs up and grinned.
I rubbed the scowl from my face with my hands, replacing it with sigh. "I'm not mad at you. Just him. He's not exactly my favorite person right now, and I'm probably not his either."
Exactly why I was telling all of this to Present Mic - another hero and probably Aizawa's colleague - I didn't know. Sometimes the words just come out before I can stop them. I just hoped that none of this would get back to Eraserhead himself.
"You got history with him, huh?" Mic raised an eyebrow at me.
"That's one way to put it." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously and looked away. "He's the one who tracked me down and interrogated me."
"Ouch! My man can be terrifying when he wants to be." He shook his head back and forth in disapproval. "But cheer up! He'll warm up to you eventually and you'll see he ain't all that bad."
"I doubt that." I murmured too low for Present Mic to hear.
Present Mic looked down at his watch to check the time and grimaced. "I gotta leave you now." He spoke up after a moment. "Need to disappear before the students arrive. Hang out here until Aizawa shows up. He'll have to show his face sooner or later. This is his class after all."
My eyes glanced at the clock above the door and saw that it read 7:25 am.
"Alright. I'll see you around. Thanks again for walking me here." I sent him a smile in thanks. He had been kind to me despite knowing who I was, and for that I was grateful.
"No problem, Eve!" Present Mic left me with a wave, shutting the door behind him. And with that I was left on my own.
I stood numbly for a moment. I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what one did in this kind of situation. Should I take a seat at one of the desks, or just stay standing? My eyes instinctively sought out the furthest corner in the room towards the back of the class where I could see everything but not be noticed immediately. I would wait there till Eraserhead showed up. Taking up my post in the corner, I leaned against the wall, crossed my arms and waited for the students to arrive. I didn't have to wait long as the door to the classroom opened and a teenaged boy with spiky blonde hair wandered inside. His face was set in a permanent scowl while his sharp eyes took in the room before landing on me.
"Tch." Was all he gave before taking a seat and putting his feet up on the desk.
He was early. The clock only read 7:30, and class didn't start till 8:30. He had a full hour before he needed to even be here. He was either very eager for his first day of hero training, or he was one of those kind of students who was naturally studious. Considering the scowl he had walked in with was still on his face and his feet were up on the desk, I went with my first conclusion. The colors in his soul were aflame with confidence with twists of arrogance and perhaps a little bit of excitement. I concluded that he thought very highly of himself.
Five minutes passed and a few more students walked inside. They all gave me furtive glances, wondering who exactly I was. I could see the gears behind their eyes turning with the question. I wasn't their age so I couldn't be a student, but I also wasn't wearing a flashy hero costume so I wasn't a teacher. But this last part they were not 100% sure of, so they gave me respectful nods and let me be.
As more students entered they started to mingle with one another in groups, introducing themselves with an energetic fervor that made me desperately wish I had several cups of tea in me. It was too early in the morning for this kind of energy. God, I felt old.
There was a sudden commotion in the room as the general octave rose. One of the other boys had taken notice of Scowl Boy and his clear lack of respect for classroom etiquette, and had taken it upon himself to point out Scowl Boy's social faux pa.
Scowl Boy did not take kindly to being lectured to.
I watched with mild interest out of the corner of my eye as they argued back and forth, only looking away as the door opened again. A mousy boy with dark green hair stood in the doorway, trembling and looking around at the students in their seats. The boy who had tried to lecture Scowl Boy moments before also noticed the newcomer and went to greet him. It was only a moment later when the last student, a girl, arrived behind Mouse Boy, startling him slightly and making him jump. Mouse Boy struggled to hide a blush as the girl rushed him in recognition, giving him a wide smile. But something out in the hall behind the trio made them all suddenly jump and turn to look down at whatever had spooked them. Curious as to what had scared them, I left my post and made my way to the front of the room. Keeping my distance, I bent around to the side and caught sight of the yellow caterpillar that suddenly appeared behind the chattering students. I recognized Eraserhead's dark tresses and gloomy face as it poked out from the plush yellow sleeping bag. He gave a tired blink and from within the sleeping bag he brought out a juicebox to his lips, drinking it down in one slurp. I gave a frown at the scene before me as it aligned perfectly with my first vision upon meeting the hero.
"What the hell?" I thought internally.
The yellow blob rose off the floor as Aizawa got to his feet and stepped out of the bag.
"It took you eight seconds before you all shut up. That's not gonna work. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that." He said sternly to the stunned teens.
A hush fell over the students and all eyes had drifted to the door, wondering who in the world was this person.
In a bored tone, Eraserhead addressed the rest of the students as he stepped inside. "Hello, I'm Shota Aizawa. Your teacher."
I could feel the shock in the air as it ran through the students with this sudden realization. And then I felt all twenty pairs of eyes simultaneously land on me, the same question resounding in their heads. It didn't take a genius to know what they were thinking. If this man, Aizawa, was their teacher, then who the hell was I? I began to sweat a little under the weight of the students' combined gazes. The hero didn't bother to answer the invisible question that hung in the air, preferring largely to ignore it as he gazed around the room before settling at last on me. His tired eyes went briefly to the black collar around my neck before he looked away. Reaching inside the sleeping bag he pulled out a gym uniform.
"Put these on and head outside." He spoke to the students.
One by one the students took a uniform from him and left. I was glad to no longer have the attention centered on me, but what was I to do now? Do I follow the students out? Or was Eraserhead expecting me to do something? Either way I didn't want to be alone in the room with him. When the last uniform was handed out I shuffled past Eraserhead, making my way quickly out the door. I didn't get far. Bindings suddenly shot out to wrap out my torso, forcefully pulling me back into the classroom towards Eraserhead.
"Where do you think you're going?" Aizawa spoke, a sharp look glinting in his eyes.
"Um, with them?" I cocked my head to the door that the students had left out of, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. I was trying to ignore just how close our bodies were, but Eraserhead's face being mere inches from mine made that damn difficult. Any attempt I made to increase the distance between us was thwarted by the unnecessarily tight straps around my torso and arms.
"No. You're not." He stated. In one single movement, he released the straps from around my body and called the bindings back around his neck. I stumbled back a step from the sudden release before I found my footing again. "Follow me." Eraserhead motioned me with a finger and walked out of the door and down the hall in the opposite direction of the students.
"You could have said something." I growled in my mind. But I held in my temper, hiding the annoyed scowl on my face as best I could before bounding after him. I had to remind myself that being cantankerous would do me no good here - not when the punishment was the prison I had just left hours before. It was only my first day out. I had to make this work. I had to 'be nice'.
Eraserhead continued to walk down the hall, down a flight of stairs, and out onto the school grounds. He never spared me glance over his shoulder to see if I was following him. We were walking further and further away from the main body of the school towards a forest in the distance. With each step closer to the forest, I could feel my nerves steadily increasing. I was completely alone with Eraserhead and I did not feel safe. While I was determined to be on my best behavior, the same could not be said from the U.A. staff members. Even Present Mic had told me that some of them had voiced their displeasure about me being here. Was Eraserhead one of them? Would he take it upon himself to force me to go back on Nezu's deal? He was probably of the mindset that a criminal like me had no place among budding future heroes. And I would have to agree under the circumstances, but I was not going back to that prison come hell or high water. But it also didn't mean that I wouldn't defend myself in some measure if Eraserhead attacked.
"Um, where are we -'' I raised my voice and came to a stop, refusing to take another step until I got an answer. I could at the very least book it back to the building if he tried anything with me. But Eraserhead had stopped as well. It seemed we had arrived at where he wanted to go.
"This should be far enough." He interrupted me, turning abruptly on his heel to study me.
"Far enough for what?" Thankfully my voice did not betray me as I spoke.
"Show me your quirk."
I stood slightly stunned. Out of all the possibilities that were running through my mind as to why he had led me out here this was not one of them. I looked at him pensively.
"Right here? Right now?"
"Yes. Now get on with it." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, growing annoyed that I was robbing him of precious time.
"What about this?" I pointed to the collar on my neck.
"Don't worry about it for now. It's been deactivated."
I pursed my lips, wondering what the hell he was up to. Was he trying to goad me into using my quirk and then using it as an excuse to say that I broke my contract to send me back? It was a possibility. Somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear Ivan's voice, telling me again that these were good people who wanted to help.
I would have to trust them. I would have to trust Eraserhead.
"All right." I replied.
I lowered myself to the ground and laid back on the grass, folding my hands over my stomach. True to his word I was able to activate my quirk despite the collar still being around my neck. A warm wind swept over the sea of grass, disguising the sigh that left my lips as my soul was released into the air. When I left my body I made sure to keep my soul invisible. I didn't know exactly what Aizawa was up to, and until I could figure it out I would stay that way. I floated a few meters above the ground to survey what he would do next. Now that I was out I had the upper hand. To anyone looking in on us it would have looked like Aizawa was glaring slightly annoyed at a woman who decided to take a snooze in the grass.
I moved in closer, circling the scene for a moment as I studied him watching my body. He didn't move to attack. In fact he didn't move at all. A visible tick formed on his brow and a second passed before he brought out a small remote buried inside his pant's pocket. He fiddled with the dial on it before pressing a button. Immediately a painful electric shock ran from my neck and traveled into my core. The pain had come from my body, jumping across the distance and into my soul. My eyes locked on that thin black circlet around my body's neck. So the collar did more than cancel out my quirk's activation it seemed.
Aizawa's head scanned the area around him. He was looking for something. When he didn't find it his hand turned the dial on the remote and pressed the button once more. A stronger current shot through my system and I fell to the ground in a pained gasp.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" I screamed in his face, turning visible before his eyes.
"There you are." Aizawa spoke unbaffled. I had to hand it to the man. Any sane person would have jumped or shrieked when I suddenly materialized before their face, but he was not the least bit surprised. He didn't even flinch.
Eraserhead took a few steps back so he could examine my Ghost appearance. I was not exactly the picture of a ghoulish specter that the rumors had believed me to be. Despite the stories and theories out there on the net of what I looked like in my Ghost form, I was not terrifying. I was not demonic or dead looking. I appeared like any other living person that you would find on the street. Well, maybe I looked a bit scarier than the average person, but I blamed that on my perpetual resting bitch face. Something that both my physical body and soul form shared.
"So this is what the Ghost looks like." He muttered after a while.
I shot him a dirty glare and lowered the hand that had been massaging my neck. I left the ground and hovered a few inches over the grass.
"What the hell is up with that collar?" I grimaced as the electric tingles finally faded out.
"It was specially made for you by our support staff." Eraserhead explained, and he held up the remote in his hand. "This device lets me deliver a power electrical shock to your body's system. It's nice to know that works. I wasn't sure if you would be able to feel it once you activated your quirk."
"So you wanted to test it out?!"
"It was a logical tactic. Now I know it works on you, and you now know what will happen if you try anything in the future." There was not a shred of sympathy in his voice as he said this.
"Big softie, my ass." I internally cursed, thinking back to what Present Mic had called him. Present Mic needed his heart checked because this man was clearly a sadist. The darkening look in my eyes made Eraserhead speak up again, this time in warning.
"Disappear from sight and I'll shock you. In addition, know that if you attempt to activate your quirk without my prior permission that collar will shock you on its own. Leave school grounds or get more than 50 meters away from this device when outside of the school and it will shock you repeatedly until you are back within range. There's a GPS tracker in it so I'll always know where you are. Consider yourself on a short leash." He smirked at the joke he had just made.
I was a dog - a dog with a shock collar. And he was my master. One step out of line and I would be disciplined. The fierce independent spirit within me was seething with rage at the mere concept.
"Now tell me the extent of your quirk." Eraserhead lowered the remote back inside his pant pocket, but I had the sneaky suspicion his thumb was still poised over the shock button.
Internally I was still boiling, my mind processing the new restrictions that I had found myself chained to. But it didn't change anything fundamentally. I would continue to play nice and give them no excuse to throw me out.
"And just so you know," Aizawa spoke up again, catching my attention, "what you just experienced was the two lowest settings. Continue to waste my time and I'll crank it higher."
"Fine." I spat out. I crossed my arms over my chest and rose higher into the air.
"As you can see I can fly and turn invisible." I said, coming to a stop and folding up my legs to sit cross legged in the air. I peered down at him in a frown before continuing on. "I can do everything that you can think a ghost can do, and that means I can pass through solid objects, manipulate items and people around me, and take possession of people's bodies. Though, I can also track down people if I am given something of theirs that they held close and as long as they're still alive." I ticked off on my fingers. I didn't tell him about my ability to turn off quirks. I'll be keeping that to myself for now since I didn't know how they would handle that little tidbit.
"And what can you do when you're in your body?" Aizawa asked, glancing down at my sleeping form.
I was silent for a moment before responding. "I can see the souls of others, though I try not to all the time."
"Why?"
I spoke numbly into my hand, turning away from his gaze. "It hurts my eyes if I use it too much. Seeing a soul is like looking into a bonfire, and the more souls there are around me the less I can handle looking at them. It's better if I try to block them out. Also, it's very revealing looking into a person's soul. Sometimes I don't like what I see." My eyes flashed back to his. Truthfully I had never looked at Eraserhead's soul, and given everything I had just experienced about the man, I didn't want to.
"Hmm." He studied my look carefully and moved onto the next question. "Anything else I should know about?"
"There's a range limit to how far I can be away from my body. About 20 km or so." I grumbled.
"And what happens if you leave that range?"
"Dunno. Haven't tried to go beyond that. I get kind of tired and strained, and then I get pulled back like there's a tether between me and my body." I swept a hand from my midsection to my body down in the grass.
"Anything else?"
"I can't be out of my body for anything longer than a day when I'm at full energy levels. My body suffers more the longer I'm out. If I use my quirk too much when I don't have enough energy, my body kinda goes into lock down and I fall into a deep sleep that I can't be woken from."
He gave a short nod. A question rose behind his expression as a frown formed there.
"Does your quirk allow you to change your appearance in that form?" He asked.
"Not that I know of." I murmured while looking down at my ghost body. I knew where this was leading to, and beat him to his next question. "This is what my quirk looks like. How it's always looked. Don't quite know why it doesn't match my body's appearance."
"Hmm." Was all that Aizawa gave as he closely watched my face for any hint of a lie. For once I was not lying.
He sighed, closing his eyes and turned to head back to the school. "That's everything I wanted to know. Collect your body and follow me."
I hovered for a moment before setting back down on the grass and walking back to my body to follow after him. Aizawa froze in mid step, spinning back just before I reached my body.
"Wait a moment."
I gave him a frown, but took a step back anyway.
His face took on a concentrated stare while his hair stood on end around his head. He gave my body a long unblinking gaze before settling back on me. A shiver ran through my very soul as our eyes locked together.
Nothing happened.
He blinked and his hair dropped back down. Aizawa turned away suddenly, hiding the serious concern in his eyes as they narrowed deep in thought. I shook myself of the shiver that had coursed through, not liking it one bit. Concluding that I was free to return to my body, I slipped back inside and got to my feet, dusting off the dirt and grass from my clothes.
"Before I forget." Aizawa called out to me over his shoulder, his face partially hidden by his hair. "Under no uncertain terms are you allowed to manipulate or possess the students or staff against their will while you're here. Do that and I will throw you back into the prison cell you just came from. Is that understood?"
He didn't need to tell me twice. I wasn't going to give them any reasons to distrust me, and with this collar firmly around my neck, I seriously doubted I could cause much harm even if I wanted to.
I nodded my head. "Yes, sir."
"I'm glad we understand each other." He turned back, walking swiftly towards the school.
I trailed after him like a dog after its master, tail in between my legs. He silently led me around and through the buildings to a large training field in the back. Class 1-A was already there in their gym uniforms, broken off into groups as they chatted. Some wise few were stretching out, getting ready for whatever Eraserhead had in store for them.
"Go stand over there." He dismissed me off to the side, pointing to a spot on the ground. It was away from where the other students had gathered. Obediently, I did as he asked. Getting to the spot in the dirt and parking it.
After having my conversation with Eraserhead and seeing the students again, I was curious to see if he would act differently around them or if his ice demeanor was reserved just for me. It would be telling to discover this so I could conduct myself around him accordingly. If he was a bastard to the kids, then it wasn't just me. He was just naturally a grouchy man. But if that was the case, things would not go well for those kids who were clearly giddy with anticipation to begin. He would kill their glee in a heartbeat.
"Those poor kids." I thought sympathetically as I watched Aizawa make his way to the front of the class, hands still buried in his pockets.
He murmured something out loud, but not enough for me to catch it. Immediately a confused chorus rose up among the students.
"What? A quirk assessment test?" They all cried out.
One of the girls towards the front was exclaiming about missing orientation. She struck me as someone who was bright in the face of adversity - someone who always got back up from every fall. She had a determined spirit to her that I admired.
"If you really want to make the big leagues," Aizawa said with his back turned to the class, "You can't spend time on pointless ceremonies."
"There's that icy demeanor." I thought with a grimace. That confirmed it for me. Eraserhead had a permanent stick up his ass and these kids were going to find that out soon enough. But what did that mean for me when I was literally collared to the devil?
Eraserhead continued on, explaining here at the school they were not beholden to traditional methods and he could run his class however he saw fit. A nervous cautiousness made its way through the group as he turned back towards them. He explained further that those with the strongest quirks were not allowed to excel simply because, in the eyes of the ministry of education, everyone needed to be treated as equals. With this he called to the boy with spiky blonde hair, calling him forward to the front of the class and handing him a ball. He directed the boy to a circle off to the side, telling him to throw it with his quirk.
Bakugo, as learned his name, got into position within the circle, launching the ball with an explosion high into the air. I gave a low whistle in appreciation as I watched it fall some distance away. The kid was powerful despite his age. No wonder his spirit was so confident with a quirk like that.
An excited murmur ran through the class at the prospect of being able to show off their quirks to one another. Aizawa turned on them suddenly, sapping their momentary gleeful moods.
"So this looks fun, huh?" He said coldly, quickly souring the mood among the students. "You have three years here to become a hero. You think it's going to be all games and playtime?" He scolded them. Even at this distance I could see the devilish smirk growing on his face as he continued. "Idiots. Today you'll compete in eight physical tests to gauge your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately."
There was justifiably more than a few murmurs of shock that ran through the students from the prospect of being sent home on the first day. And I was one of them. Even I could see the unfairness of it all, but there was nothing I could do to help them out. I was just a spectator here banished to the sidelines.
From my vantage point I was able to gauge most of the student's emotions. Some were understandably scared, some were overly confident of their strengths, and some even were downright relaxed despite the threat. A girl with black hair tied up high on her head was at this end of the spectrum. Mousy Boy, however, was teetering over the opposite edge. I could see that he was nervously fidgeting with his hands at the front of the group over some internal dilemma that he was having.
It was clear that Eraserhead was thriving off the fear he had caused.
"Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs." He stated aloud while pushing his hair back from his face to show his fierce expression. "Understand? If that's a problem, you can head home right now."
The same girl from the start of the class, spoke up again, giving voice to what everyone was thinking but not saying.
"You can't send one of us home!" She cried out. "I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn't the first day. That isn't fair."
"Oh? And you think natural disasters are?" Eraserhead replied. "Or power hungry villains? Hmm? Or catastrophic accidents that wipe out whole cities? No! The world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try to combat that unfairness. If you want to be a pro, you'll have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years U.A. will throw one terrible hardship after another at you. So go beyond - plus ultra style." He beckoned them with a finger encouragingly. "Show me that it's no mistake that you're here."
His speech had ignited the fires within them, stirring them to prove themselves worthy. I was amazed just how quickly the mood had changed within the group of students. Perhaps I had judged Eraserhead too early. Perhaps he knew exactly what these students needed to improve.
"Now then. We're just wasting time by talking. Let the games begin." Eraserhead grinned.
I watched from the sidelines as Eraserhead pushed them through the various exercises to gauge their abilities. And silently I was grateful that I wasn't being told to participate as well. I would have failed dramatically and embarrassingly in front of a bunch of teenagers and their plus ultra attitude. But standing there I had the chance to study each of the students without interruption or bias. There were a few who were obviously blessed with powerful quirks. The boy with bi-colored hair came to mind along with Bakugo. They were sure in their abilities and excelled in almost all of the exercises. They would not be going home today. But I couldn't say that for everyone else. My eyes drifted over to Mousy Boy as he took his spot in the circle to throw the softball. Up till that point he had been lackluster in the other exercise events. The rest had at least one event that they could shine, but him - he was ordinary. This was his last chance to prove himself and his abilities, and he knew it too.
Looking at him standing in the pitching ring, I saw the gears turning in his mind as he stared down at the ball in his hand. In a way his entire future lay in the palm of his hand. It was now or never.
The entire class stood by and watched as he took his throw, a look of sheer determination shining brightly across his features. His right arm began to glow with a web of lines crisscrossing over his skin. He launched the ball with all the might he could muster, but it fell a disappointing distance away.
"Forty-seven meters!" The robot called out, only further highlighting the disappointing throw.
I turned my head immediately to where Eraserhead stood and saw the bindings slithering in the air along with his hair. He was glaring intently at Mousy Boy. It was the same stare he had given me hours before when he had tried to test his quirk against mine. The only difference here was that it had worked. Mousy Boy's quirk was gone as was evident by the apparent shock on his face.
"I erased your quirk." Eraserhead confirmed.
Mousy Boy turned back to the hero, flinching when he saw the intimidating glare Eraserhead was leveling him with.
"The judges for this exam were not rational enough. Someone like you should never be allowed to enroll at this school." Eraserhead said coldly.
"Wait, you did what to my - '' A look of recognition dawned on the boy's face. "Those goggles! I know you. You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. The Erasure Hero: Eraserhead!"
A confused murmur rose from the rest of the students as they tried to place the hero name. I guess Eraserhead wasn't that well known judging by their puzzlement. I thought maybe it was just my reclusive nature that I hadn't recognized the name when I had first encountered it, but it seemed Eraserhead just wasn't popular enough to attract the public's attention after all.
"You're not ready." Eraserhead continued, his unblinking stare never wavering on the boy. "You don't have control over your power. Were you planning to break your bones again? Counting on someone else to save your useless body?"
I gave a flinch at this new info. Had the kid purposefully hurt himself before just to succeed?
"No! That's not what I was trying to do!" The boy cried out in determination.
Eraserhead's bindings whipped out and dragged the boy forwards with surprising strength.
"No matter what your intentions are, you would be nothing more than a liability in battle." The hero glared down at his capture. "You have the same reckless passion as another overzealous hero I know - one who saved a thousand people by himself and became a legend. But even with that drive you're worthless if you can only throw a single punch before breaking down. Sorry, Midoriya, but with your powers there's no way you can become a hero."
A hush fell over the group as the bindings fled back to Eraserhead's body and his hair fell about his face.
"I've returned your impractical quirk. Take your final throw. Hurry! Get it over with." Eraserhead exasperatedly stated as he trudged away.
My heart went out to Midoriya as he was left alone to stand in the ring. To be so close to one's dreams only to stand on the edge of having them taken away in an instant - it was a feeling I could understand all too well. Even fifteen years later I was still chasing after the whispers of a childish dream, trying to find the pieces of a life that would never be mine.
Midoriya stood for a moment before letting his mind come to a decision. Without warning, he launched the ball forwards and it rocketed into the sky, sending air shockwaves spiraling outwards. I felt my mouth hang slightly open as I watched the ball disappear into the blue atmosphere. So he had power after all, but it came with a cost. Already I could see his right forefinger grow into a painful black and blue. It was broken. What Eraserhead had said earlier finally clicked in my head, and it only made me concerned about what else the boy had broken just to get here.
"Mr. Aizawa," Midoriya spoke up, drawing the hero's attention away from the phone as it read the final distance. "You see...I'm still standing!" He clasped his injured finger into a fist, a pained smile on his face as he stood there in the ring.
The look on Eraserhead's face stunned me. He was grinning excitedly at Midoriya, as if his whole opinion of the boy had suddenly shifted in his favor.
"So he can smile." I thought bemusedly. It wasn't a genuine smile like the ones you would find in photographs - sure, but was as close to one that I had seen so far on his face. All I had seen was scowling, hard looks, and pure exhaustion. That was the full extent of Eraserhead in my eyes. But seeing this was something new, and I held out hope for my future tied to this black hero. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad after all.
While Midoriya's throw had been impressive to say the least, this seemed to have struck a sensitive cord within Bakugo as he rushed at Midoriya. "Hey, Deku! You bastard! Tell me how you did that or you're dead!" He blurted out, small explosions sparking within his hands as he sprinted forward.
Midoriya flinched and braced for the impact that Bakugo had the full intention of dishing out. Bakugo was suddenly stopped in his tracks, his body straining against the strength of Eraserhead's bindings as they took hold of his head and torso. The teen was slightly stunned to find himself held back from his intended target.
"What? Why the hell is your scarf so damn strong?" He grunted through his teeth, twitching his head back to stare at the one who had dared to stop him.
"Because it is a capture weapon made out of carbon fiber and a special metal alloy." Eraserhead replied, slightly annoyed now. "Stand down!" He raised his voice, "It would be wise to avoid making me use my quirk so much. It gives me serious dry eye."
"Good to know." I tucked that piece of information away to use for later if necessary.
After a moment he released Bakugo from the straps. "You're wasting my time now," he plainly stated. "Whoever's next can step up."
From my spot I watched as Midoriya shuffled past Bakugo quickly, while nursing his injured hand close to his chest. It was becoming more apparent to me that those two had some sort of strained history between them. I would have to keep an eye on those two in case it escalated beyond control. If there was one thing I would not tolerate it was pig-headed teenagers.
"Um, Mr. Aizawa, what about her? She didn't get a chance." A girl with pink hair and black eyes spoke up. She drew a finger, pointing over to where I stood watching. The whole class turned to look at me and I froze. I was again the center of attention and the one person they had the most questions about. It seemed the time had come for Eraserhead to introduce me to the class, but it honestly wasn't much of an introduction.
"Eve is a student-teacher for Class 1-A, and as such already has a firm handle on her quirk." Aizawa dismissed the girl's offer. "She is here to learn something else, and will help train you all with your quirks when the time comes." He didn't bother to even look at me as he said this. He was drawing a distinct line between me and the rest of class on purpose.
"Sir!" I recognized Studious Boy from earlier when he spoke suddenly, a hand raised stoutly in the air. "How will she assist us in training our quirks?"
"Eve has a vast amount of experience being out in the field and around villains. Her insights will be invaluable to you all so that you can understand and combat criminal behavior." Aizawa said tersely. He was getting ticked off that the class's attention had been sidetracked. I saw Scowl Boy's - I mean Bakugo's - red eyes narrow in disbelief in my direction. I was less than ten years older than them and rather unimpressive looking with no hero costume to boot. Nothing about me screamed 'vast amounts of experience'.
"Thank you, sir!" Idia shouted as Aizawa finished. He turned to me, bowing quickly. "I look forward to any training and advice you can give us!"
"U-um, sure." I stammered out, scratching the back of my head. I honestly had no clue how I would be of any help to them. I was still working that out myself.
"If we can get back to the assessment..."Aizawa grumbled, calling their attention back to the front.
After the softball pitch the students moved into the gym to complete the rest of their assessment tests. I hung close to the gym walls as they powered through sit-ups, toe-touches, and a long distance run. Just watching them was making me exhausted. With the last of Eraserhead's exercises concluded the dreaded final line up was all that was left to decide who's dream would end that day. Eraserhead had gathered the students at the back of the gym building, and I was curious enough to see the final scores that I left my patch of dirt to join them. I received a few curious stares when I was noticed standing behind them, but they didn't say anything. They were much too nervous to see their results to focus too much on me.
"All right, time to give you your results. I've ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already." Eraserhead pulled out his phone, "I'll just pull up the whole list. It's not worth going over each individual score."
From his phone a hologram board shot out, displaying each of the students' names and their rankings. I scanned down the list and I felt my heart clench when I got to Midoriya's name. He was ranked twentieth, which meant he was last. My head spun over to where Midoriya stood, and I could see his soul shatter with the realization of what that meant.
"And I was lying." Eraserhead spoke out suddenly, collapsing the hologram board with a click. "No one's going home." A stunned silence followed, myself included. "That was just a rational deception to make sure you gave it your all in the tests." He explained with an eerie smile.
The students' emotions shifted quickly from shock to annoyance at the lie they had all bought into. Internally I scolded myself. I should have seen this coming. Eraserhead was conniving and intelligent. I should have remembered that from our time at the police station. And intelligence is a dangerous thing to thwart. I would have to be careful around him if I ever tried to outwit him.
"That's it, we're done for the day." Eraserhead declared, stuffing his hands in his pockets and beginning to walk away. "Pick up a syllabus in the classroom. Read it over before tomorrow morning." He stopped in front of Midoriya, handing him a slip of paper. "Midoriya, take this and go have the old lady fix you up. Things are going to be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins. Make sure you're prepared." He stated.
Eraserhead glanced over to me, beckoning me with a finger. "Eve, you're with me."
I sighed heavily, not looking forward to being stuck alone in his presence. I had graciously been a spectator the entire day, out of sight and out of mind, but now I could sense that was coming to an end. I wove my way around the students and followed after Eraserhead's retreating back as he disappeared around the corner of the building.
"Aizawa, that was a rotten move." A deep voice spoke out into the air, catching my attention as I turned the corner.
A muscular man dressed in a yellow pin-stripe suit was glaring at Eraserhead as he passed by, his hands planted firmly on his hips. Eraserhead paused to address the newcomer.
"All Might, so you were watching. No talk shows today?"
"All Might?!" My eyes took in the famous hero that even I had heard about. Hey, I may be a recluse but that didn't mean I wasn't aware of the world around me.
"A rational deception! That's cute, but you're not exactly known for being light hearted." All Might accused.
"Oh, you can say that again." I grumbled internally, coming to a stop beside the two heroes.
"I read your file." All Might continued, "Last year you expelled an entire class of freshmen students. You have no problem kicking students out! Anyone you deem unworthy!"
"You did what now?" I turned towards Eraserhead in disbelief. My opinion of him had just begun to soften somewhat, but that was short lived if what All Might had said was true.
"Indeed!" All Might nodded vigorously at me. "He was planning on sending last place home today. Weren't you, Aizawa? So that can only mean - " All Might pointed a finger at Aizawa. "-you see the same kind of potential in young Midoriya that I do!"
"What is this about?" Aizawa turned towards All Might with a knowing grin. "It almost sounds like you've been in his corner the whole time."
All Might suddenly reeled back at the accusation.
"Isn't it a little early for you to be playing favorites?" Eraserhead asked. "He doesn't have zero potential, I'd admit. If that were the case, I would have sent him straight home after class without hesitation." His face grew hard as he turned back and continued to walk away, saying simply, "It's cruel to let a kid keep dreaming of something that will never come true."
"In your own strange way you're a kind man, Aizawa. I know that." All Might spoke under his breath as he watched Eraserhead walk away.
"Oh? How do you figure that?" I piped up from All Might's side, crossing my arms over my chest as I watched my warden leave me behind.
All Might visibly jumped when he heard my voice, startled to find me still standing there. I guess he had forgotten that I was there. But I was used to it. I had made it my profession to be unnoticeable and so people often forgot that I was even there.
I quirked my eyebrow at him as he calmed down. He held a hand over his racing heart.
"I think it's far crueler to crush a dream." I spoke out, watching Aizawa's retreating back. "Crush a dream and you crush a soul. And souls do not recover as easily as the body." I turned back to All Might, offering out my hand. "I'm Eve by the way. It's nice to meet you."
"Ah, yes! The new student-teacher hire! I heard about you!" All Might leaned down and shook my hand gently. "As you probably heard from Aizawa I'm called All Might. I'm a new teacher here just like you. Sorry about jumping earlier. I had forgotten that you were there." He gave me a weak smile.
I shrugged, showing him that I was not offended. "It's okay. I'm used to it." Out of the corner of my eye I checked on how far Eraserhead had gone, and judged silently when he would notice that I wasn't following. I turned my gaze back to All Might.
"So you're a new teacher here too? What do you teach?"
"Combat training!" He stated proudly, shoving a thumb into his chest and squaring his shoulders.
"Well, you certainly look like it." I chuckled at his display. Those muscles were screaming overwhelming strength.
"Eve!"
I winced when I heard Eraserhead shouting out my name behind me. I drew in a heavy sigh, my shoulders slumping forward. He had noticed me gone at last.
"You know Eraserhead, right? Got any advice on how to deal with him?" I chucked my thumb over my shoulders at the increasingly irritated hero.
All Might's eye drifted down to the collar around my neck, allowing a frown to appear on his face. "Stay strong, Eve. And try not to get on his bad side." He offered an encouraging smile while his hand went to give my shoulder a gentle squeeze. I felt a tingle when his hand touched me. I wasn't used to being physically touched so the sensation was weird, but not entirely unwelcome.
"Yah, I know about that side already." I grumbled under my breath.
"Eve!" This time it was not a warning, but a command.
"Looks like the warden is calling me." I huffed out, and turned to walk away, giving a wave back. "It was nice meeting you, All Might!"
"And you as well, Ms. Eve!" He beamed back.
For a moment I let my eyes flash as I peered inside the famous hero. I was a bit curious to see what kind of soul powered the undisputed number one hero, and I was not disappointed. A raging inferno of yellow flames flickered before my vision. There were no other colors and no hint of darkness within those tendrils of flames. His soul was completely pure. He harbored no ill-will, and there was no deceit.
I let my vision shift back to normal, and I widened my smile at the hero. In this place I could at least put my trust in him. As I caught up to Eraserhead, I slowed to a walk and fell in step beside him while keeping my eyes and thoughts to the ground under my feet.
Eraserhead glanced over at my face, his features softening somewhat. "You're smiling." He observed.
Immediately I dropped the smile and stared straight ahead, slightly mortified that he had caught me in a moment. Thankfully Eraserhead turned his head away, stuffing his hands back into his pockets.
"What were you two talking about?" He asked curiously.
The word spilled out before I had the chance to stop myself. "You."
"And this made you smile?" He lifted an eyebrow at me, not believing me at all.
I kept my face straight ahead to avoid eye contact as I quickly thought of a way to backtrack out of this hole I had dug for myself. I didn't want Eraserhead to get any false notions stuck in his head.
"Nnnnoooo." I fumbled with my hands behind my back. "I was just happy to have the chance to meet All Might. I like him. His soul is very...warm." I admitted finally, the small smile returning to the corners of my lips.
Eraserhead sighed heavily in annoyance. "Everyone likes that idiot."
He didn't say anything after that, forcing his way through the doors and back into the main school building. I had to rush forward to catch the door before it could close behind him, and I pursed my lips in aggravation that he hadn't bothered to keep it open till I was at least inside.
"Let it go, Eve." I huffed internally. "Stay on his good side, remember?"
I followed him soundlessly back up the stairs and into the classroom of 1-A. It was still empty. The students were no doubt still changing out of their uniforms and had yet to arrive. I hoisted myself up to sit on one of the front row desks, watching as Eraserhead collected his sleeping bag from the floor and was fishing around inside it for something. His hand emerged with a stack of papers which he promptly dropped beside me on the desk.
"Stay here and hand these out to the students when they arrive. Come find me in the teachers' room when you're done."
I picked up one of the papers, quickly scanning it over. It was the syllabus he had asked the students to collect before leaving. Wait. I mulled over his instructions to me. He was leaving me by myself. Alone. This coming from the man who didn't let me out of his sight all day, but was now content to leave me alone in an empty classroom? Not that I was complaining or anything. It just had me slightly taken aback. Based on our interactions earlier that morning I had expected to be tied to his shadow from then on out. Was he beginning to trust me a little to allow me a tiny bit of freedom? Heh, whatever it was I'll take it.
"All right." I nodded, placing the paper back down on the stack.
He gave me an unblinking stare before gathering his sleeping bag under his arm and heading out the door. With a soft thud he shut the door behind him and left. I kicked my feet lazily under me, letting them swing against the desk as I waited for the students to arrive. I wasn't quite sure why Aizawa wanted me to hand out the syllabus to the students when they were clearly old enough to collect it for themselves. But at this point I was glad for the break and rest from being outside the whole day. The cool surface of the desk under me felt heavenly on my thighs, and my feet were crying with joy for not having to stand anymore.
My head snapped up when I heard a commotion of whispers coming from the other side of the door.
"Stop pushing me!" I heard a girl whisper.
"You first!"
"You do it then!"
"Hurry it up already!"
That voice was clearly Bakugo's. I would recognize that irritated firecracker anywhere. So the students had finally made their way back. The door to the classroom slammed open suddenly and Midoriya toppled through and onto the ground, narrowly avoiding getting trampled by his classmates as they swarmed forward. Before I knew it I was quickly surrounded by their far too eager expressions. There was nowhere to run.
"Hey! Your name's Eve, right?" The pink hair girl flashed a smile in my face, clearly energetic to get acquainted with me. "My name's Mina! It's nice to meet you! Mr. Aizawa didn't really give us a chance to introduce ourselves earlier."
"And I'm Hagakure!" Another girl spoke out. Her clothes were the only thing I could see about her since her quirk was invisibility.
"Kirishima." A spiky red head stuck a thumb in his chest as he spoke.
"Name's Kaminari."
"Asui, but call me Tsu."
"Aoyama!"
"I'm Uraraka!"
"Tokoyami."
"Shoji."
"Shoto."
The students went around, introducing themselves one by one till my head slightly spun just trying to remember all of their names.
"And my name is Midoriya." Midoriya pushed his way forward to the front, concluding the class's introductions. I was glad to see that his finger was no longer purple.
I gave a shy grin. "It's nice to meet all of you -"
"Step back all of you! Show some respect to our instructor!" Iida scolded his fellow classmates, taking it upon himself to form a human barricade between me and them.
The pink haired girl, who I now knew as Mina, ducked under Iida's arms, completely ignoring him. A look of utter shock froze on Iida's face at the blatant lack of respect.
"So Mr. Aizawa said you were a student-teacher. I've never heard of that before!" She leaned forward into my face to study me.
I blinked furiously at the close proximity, leaning slightly back so I could breathe.
"Yah, it's a first for me too."
"If you're a teacher here, you must be a hero! What's your hero name? Is it anyone we've heard about?" Hakagure bounced forward with interest.
"N-no, not quite. I'm not a hero yet. That's kinda why I'm here."
"Not a hero?" Tokoyami voiced.
This news seemed to stun the students.
"But teach' said that you would be helping us train to become heroes." Kirishima scratched the back of his head. "Said that you had tons of experience being out in the field or something like that."
"Well, he wasn't wrong when he said that." I replied.
"So you are a hero!" Kaminari exclaimed. "Come on! Tell us your hero name!"
"N-no, I'm not." I corrected him.
"Are you some kinda super secret spy?" Mineta looked up at me, his eyes appraising.
"No."
"Tell us then! The suspense is killing me!" Hakagure squirmed.
I thought quickly, wondering if I should tell them my identity or not. In this case I believed less was best.
"I do - did -," I quickly corrected myself, "some work out of the public eye. Nothing that would make the news. You probably wouldn't know about me at all. I mainly did rescue cases - mostly kids who were being trafficked because of their quirks."
"Sounds like hero work to me." Tokoyami spoke, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding to himself.
"You're Ghost!" Midoriya suddenly blurted out, his hands slapping over his mouth as if he had said a dirty word.
I stiffened at the name. A few heads snapped in Midoriya's direction, confused to what he was even talking about. He looked a bit sheepish at this sudden outburst, but quickly got over it as he lowered his hands from his mouth, exclaiming excitedly, "You're Ghost, aren't you? You're a legend! A complete mystery on the net! There's been so much debate on whether or not you even exist! I didn't think you were real! Incredible!"
The kid was sharp to have made that connection so quickly. A part of me silently wondered what internet sites he was visiting if he even knew about Ghost. Ivan was thorough in wiping my existence from the more popular hero-fan websites, but when it came to the darker places on the web, my name popped up far more often than I would have liked. Ivan would wipe these occurrences whenever he found them, but they would only spring up again in a different forum. It was a continuous source of a headache for him. I had a feeling that my name would be popping up more now that I was out of the shadows.
"Sorry, Ivan." I thought of my stalker friend, sending him a silent apology for all the work that has essentially gone down the drain.
The rest of the class fixed me with their gazes, a new sense of awe in their faces. Midoriya continued on in a ramble whipping out his notebook and jotting something down. "The successful number of kids rescued from criminal rings has greatly risen ever since the first sighting of you fourteen years ago. You've been instrumental in bringing down several quirk trafficking rings that even the police had trouble finding. There's been so much talk about how exactly you do it. The only eye witness reports of sightings of you are from the children you rescued so their reports are often unreliable and varied." Midoriya muttered to himself, launching into a full on analysis.
"Fourteen years ago?" Bakugo called out incredulously, ending Midoriya's muttering. He had moved back to his desk while the others were still crowded around me. His feet were propped up on the top while his hands were buried deep in his pockets. "How exactly old are you?"
I fumbled with my hands nervously in front of me. I was unused to the weight of the attention of so many people, and I had not expected to be found out on the first day no less. I was not prepared to handle this.
"Twenty-two." I said, hoping they wouldn't hear me. No such luck. He had heard me despite the distance.
"And you're a student here?!" Bakugo yelled out. "Are you some kind of delinquent?"
"No." I stated firmly. "I never had the chance to go to school due to some circumstances in my life, so I never had the chance to get my hero license. That's part of the reason why I'm here now."
"Huh?" Bakugo craned his neck as if he hadn't heard me.
"You were operating without a hero license?" Iida clutched a hand over his chest at the mere thought. "But that would make you - "
"A vigilante." I finished for him. My hands were grasping the edge of the desk in a death grip as I spoke. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Now that they knew who I was, all I had to do was wait for their opinion of me to turn. It was what I was expecting at this point. Not exactly ideal or the impression I wanted to leave on the first day, but if this was going to happen might as well rip it off in one go like a Band-Aid.
"How are you even here at U.A.?" Iida continued in disbelief. "There are stringent laws and regulations in place to prevent this kind of thing."
"I was offered a deal, so I took it." I shrugged, defending myself and looking straight into Iida's eyes. I would not let myself be lectured to by a teenager. "I'm here to earn my hero license so I can get back out there and do what I do best. And while I'm here I've been asked to help you all train to become heroes. Up to you whether or not you want help from someone like me. It makes no difference to me."
"I meant no disrespect." He apologized, softening his tone and giving a slight bow. "I was caught off guard. Please forgive me. If you're here, then it must mean the teachers trust you to help guide us."
It was now my turn to be stunned. I had closed myself off, ready for a fight and for the students to dismiss me, but looking at their faces now I could see that they were not dissuaded. In fact they were more interested than ever before.
"So how many kids have you saved?" Mineta spoke up, turning the conversation around.
I glanced down at him, my mind doing somersaults as I processed his words while I attempted to backtrack my emotions at the same time.
"I-"
"Wait, hold up." Kaminari cut in. "Midoriya said you were first noticed fourteen years ago. That would have made you," He counted down on his hands, "Eight years old when you started out." He looked at me dumbfoundedly. "That's insane!"
"Seven." I stated, turning my head towards him. "I started when I was seven, and it took a year before the world caught on."
"Whoa." Sero gave a low whistle.
"Where were your parents in all of this? I have a hard time imagining any parent approving this kind of dangerous undertaking for a child." Iida asked. His disapproval was clear, but it held more worry for my personal safety rather than an attack on my choice of actions.
"Dunno." I shrugged. "Didn't have any parents around. I was on my own."
"Oh, mon pauvre!" Aoyama gasped in a low voice.
A heavy silence washed over them as they absorbed everything I had said. Orphan. Vigilante. Ghost. This was who they were talking to. This was me. It was all rather heavy stuff to unload onto them in one go, but they would have found out eventually one way or another.
"It's alright!" Momo leaned forward and gathered my hands into hers. "Everyone takes different paths in life. I'm glad that you decided to pursue your hero license and come to U.A." I sensed a mother hen spirit within her - someone who naturally wanted to help others.
"U.A. was an excellent choice!" Iida agreed vigorously, his arm repeatedly chopping the air. "You won't find a better education than right here."
The others nodded in eager agreement.
Uraraka fist pumped the air. "Let's all work hard to become heroes!"
I couldn't help the smile that forced its way onto my lips. These students were something else entirely. Their enthusiasm and acceptance of me was not at all what I had expected. Perhaps I would like it here after all.
"Hey, you should show us your quirk sometime!" Hagakure spoke excitedly. "I bet it's awesome if you were able to rescue all those kids and not be noticed by the media this whole time."
This caught Midoriya's attention, his notebook poised and ready to go. He was eager too for a visual demonstration of what the Ghost could do. They all were.
"Show us your costume too!" Mineta pawed at the invisible air, a bit of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth as he imagined something perverted. Gratefully Asui struck him hard across the face with her tongue.
"Maybe some other time." I chuckled, a hand absentmindedly going to the band around my neck. "I would have to check with Aizawa first."
"Awww." The girls and some of the boys cried out dejectedly.
Bakugo's eyes did not miss my hand playing with the metal band around my neck or the smile that dropped from my lips when the students' attention shifted away from me.
"It's getting late," Uraraka said, gathering her school bag, "we better be heading home now. See you tomorrow, Ms. Eve!" She waved me good-bye and took one of the sheets of the paper off to my side. This signaled to the others how late the hour had become, and they bade me farewell - save a special few (ahem, Bakugo), before collecting the syllabus on their way out. The classroom door slid shut behind them, and I found myself alone again. The place was eerily quiet now when it wasn't filled with their voices. It somehow didn't feel right to me.
It felt incredibly lonely and cold without the students here.
I let out a short laugh under my breath as I swung myself off the desk. I had been alone for the majority of my life, save of course for Ivan's company that came through the laptop's speakers. But during that whole time that I was alone I was never lonely. But standing there in the empty classroom, I certainly was now. The irony was not lost on me. The kids and their exuberant personalities had wormed their way into my heart despite my efforts to distance myself. If they could do that, there really was no hope for me anymore. I made up my mind before I could make my way out the door - I would help those kids to become the best damn possible heroes they could be.
And that's a promise.
Translation:
Oh, mon pauvre - Oh, you poor thing
(At least that's the translation google spat back at me)
So this is the longest chapter yet. Didn't really mean for it to end up that way, but I ended the chapter where I thought it came to a close nicely. I have a few more currently written out and will post those within the next few days.
If you've made it this far into my story, you have my sincere thanks for sticking with me. I hope that I have earned the privilege of your time and have at least entertained you for awhile. I have the story mostly figured out from here on. It's just a matter of getting it out of my head and put into words.
Take care, and thank you!