Luffy sat at the laptop on his desk, banging his head on the table. One day in and already Luffy had some sort of sensitive information. But, there was nothing wrong with the training they'd be doing. Parents would find out and that would make the information public. Luffy wasn't hurting anybody or anything by relaying this information.
Not that it mattered, he had no choice. That's what he thought as he sent the day's choppy scenes to his computer through his mind and clicked send to the Commission. He waited a few moments before getting a reply. Thank you for your work. Continue like this. See you Friday.
Luffy didn't respond. He went down to work in the office, Tokoyami working there every day now, too, even if they didn't patrol together. He wouldn't be there on Fridays, just like Luffy wouldn't. Though Luffy's wasn't exactly rest and relaxation. He had no idea what to expect, and was nervous.
He worked perfectly with Tokoyami, though, both of them bustling about the room and filing things, checking messages from other agencies to then report to Hawks. When he was out on patrol, they would put the letters in print into his mail slot and also in the folder on the computer. When Hawks came home and seemed to have no work to do, it was because he did it beforehand.
Just like he was extremely fast at patrolling, he was also a master of logging, reading and writing his own logs of the day. Meanwhile, Luffy took 40 minutes to write his day even though all he did was work in the room. He and Tokoyami traded texts, asking if they forgot anything since both of them worked fairly close together.
After he was finished, Luffy worked on other homework and then flew to the training grounds to practice his dangerous quirks so he could do his harmless ones at home. And when he finally did get home, he was exhausted and Hawks was already there. Luffy had told him he was training when he called to see where he was.
Well, time to make dinner. He'd learned more recipes over the summer, having gone to Yaoyorozu's house with everyone for tea and then learning new tactics by the cooks for her family. They were damn rich. Hawks probably had much more money, but he rarely spent any of it on anything other than necessities.
When he took in Luffy, he'd started a college fund almost immediately, which took very little money away from the monthly income. He asked how school went for Luffy, both of them dancing around the topic of him spying until Luffy addressed on his own. "I don't think there was any damning information. But they know how school is going to operate this year, what our classes will be, other things like that.
"I don't know what they're planning to do with the information, and I don't want to think about it. I know… I know that I don't want to do it, and I don't regret making sure the agency isn't terminated, but I wish it wasn't like this," he said sadly. Hawks sighed and said that things would be hard. He wasn't going to sugarcoat it or lie.
"Things will be hard, and you will hate doing it. But I… I don't want to say this and seem heartless or unconcerned, but I'm sure the guilt will end up fading. I just don't want you to lose yourself in the process," he said honestly. Luffy looked down at the food. He added some salt and pepper and then moved the food around the pan.
He confessed, "I'm nervous. About Friday and Saturday. I don't know what to expect. And you don't either since they said they'd changed tactics and wouldn't to anything cruel. I doubt it will be anything pleasant. Probably teach me to lie or something," he said bitterly. "I hate lying, even when I have to."
He knew that would change. He knew he'd become a compulsive liar to cover his tracks at school. He hoped he'd get training on how to keep his mental health stable in such a stressful and guilty two years. Unless something big happens and the president is fired from her position. But Luffy couldn't be a part of that, whatever it was, or the agency would be terminated.
Hawks sadly said, "They probably will teach you to lie, how to manipulate people." Luffy bit his lip, and muttered that he knew that. "You will change while spying, but when you come home, you're free. You don't need to spy or record or lie or anything like that. Home will be your safe haven." Luffy sniffed and nodded. Home was always his safe haven. He knew it always would be.
-x-
"Kill me," Sato groaned as they made their way through the desert, hats on as hot wind blew at them, as their costumes sunk into the sand. Others voice this desire as well.
Luffy said, "The sooner we reach the end the sooner we won't be dying." His voice was as a groan as well. He wasn't recording right now, but he had all day. Nothing interesting or damning that he knew of.
"Kirishima! That's cheating!" Mineta called when he saw Kirishima's hardening quirk activated.
"I can't help it!" All Might's voice over the intercom said that they needed to practice without their quirks, and Kirishima had to fight his body to get rid of the hardening and become miserable again. Luckily, there were showers they could wash off under to get all the sweat off of them afterwards.
A couple had already passed out from heat stroke and were removed, the others looking at them in jealousy. So, Yaoyorozu, Ojiro and Tsu were out. Tsu was understandable. But Ojiro was a surprise. So, the others kept on moving in their miserable pack. This year would suck for multiple reasons, but last year was really bad in its own way.
On the bus ride back, Luffy slept in his seat, unable to film while unconscious for obvious reasons. It was only a ten minute ride that had many others asleep as well. They all gathered in the class, beat. "Now! It will take time for your bodies to get used to the strain, and you will be exhausted, which is why homework has been cut back for second years in the hero department."
But they still had to do their interns. They gathered their things and trudged outside and Luffy beat his wings a couple times to wake himself before he flew back home, cruising and not needing to move too much.
He sent the contents of what he'd recorded to the commission with a bitter taste in his mouth before dressing back again and going to work. Hawks was there with Tokoyami. "Both of you. I want you doing office work until your bodies are used to what UA is putting you through this year. No patrolling while exhausted, that could be a recipe for disaster.
"If you need a nap, use that spare room, it has a couple couches in case somebody needs a nap," he instructed. Luffy knew that, but Tokoyami was grateful for his understanding, and thanked him. Hawks grinned. "I want my workers to be healthy and happy while they work. Mostly healthy. If you're a grumpy grump then don't go on patrol. We have an image to keep up here."
Tokoyami and Luffy nodded, and both of them then made it to the lounge room before taking naps on the couch. It was only for a good twenty minutes before they got up and stretched, both of them laughing. "This is gonna be hard to get used to."
"At least we'll go to bed just fine. No more sleepless nights," Luffy replied. "Use Fridays to learn to fly." Tokoyami asked what he did on Fridays now. "More work. Ugh. Boring work, too. I wanted to learn more and am gonna start being trained in other ways. Like that undercover case I told you about. Trained for that real hard, and it helped a lot! I was able to think clearer. So, that's what I'll be doing."
Tokoyami didn't press anymore, not drawing out more lies from Luffy.
So, it truly begins.
The week went by quickly despite the exhaustion Luffy felt on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Friday approached quickly. He was to go straight to the Commission headquarters after class. It was lucky they didn't have the horrible endurance sessions on Fridays. UA gave them a break and only did two of the five days of that.
So after class, after everyone rejoiced after making it through the first week, Luffy flew home and then doubled back to where he needed to go. He had a note from Hawks that told him to be calm and collected. And he was there for him afterwards. He landed in front of it and walked inside, backpack and costume carrier with him. He had his costume shield on since it had the connector.
But, when he walked into the meeting room, he unclipped the visor from it and put the headset in his bag. He stood there in his school uniform, and was led deeper inside. He expected cement walls, concrete floor, cold and emptiness. Instead, it was a room with dark walls, carpet and comfy chairs. He was surprised.
"Not what you expected?" Luffy shook his head. "I wasn't lying when I said things have changed since Hawks left. Now, go sit down," the president ordered. Luffy felt no real reason to cop an attitude at the moment. He didn't know what they were going to do. She left, and an older man walked in, in a black suit and tie, but without sunglasses.
"My name is Tsuyo, I'm your meditation teacher from now on."
"Meditation? I thought I was learning to be a spy," Luffy said in confusion. He nodded, but said all spies must control their breathing perfectly or they'd be spotted. Breathing quickly alerted people to you being nervous or lying. "You must calm your mind and breathing to not give yourself away."
Luffy slumped in the chair. Hawks tried to teach him meditation, but he got bored and never was able to make it past 20 minutes before getting irritated. "For forty minutes, I want you to clear your mind of everything. You will have your heart monitored so you know when you are steady and how to stay that way."
He gave Luffy a blindfold that he put on under his visor, keeping his eyes closed while tying it around his head.
He was indeed hooked up to heart monitors, and Luffy listened to the beeping noise, closing his eyes and trying to empty his mind. He got bored way before the 40 minute mark, but he would take advantage of these lessons. He'd rather learn anything than be doing useless bullshit all day.
"It will be hard to clear your mind, focus on your heart rate. Once it slows, I'll tell you when it is a good spot to try and stay at." Luffy was expecting cruelty. This dude seemed alright. He let out long breaths and heard the heart monitor slow. "There. Maintain it there." Luffy nodded, sinking into the chair and keeping his breathing in that range. The heart monitor really helped guide him.
He wondered if Hawks did this. If this guy was his teacher, too. But those thoughts were in the back of his mind as he focused on the rhythmic beeping on the machine. He kept his mind clear besides the beeping until it was turned off. He automatically lost his rhythm. "I'm going to turn it on quieter. Try to keep that pace," Tsuyo instructed.
Luffy heard the heart monitor come back and went back into the place the guy wanted him to be in. Breathing deep like that calmed his mind. Soon, the 40 minutes were up and he realized the beeping was no longer there, only echoing faintly in his mind. "You may take off the blindfold." He jumped at the sound. "After you master meditation you will be able to calm your breathing."
Luffy took the blindfold off and put his visor back on, opening his eyes. "You're a fast learner."
He replied, "Always have been," dryly. "Did you tutor Hawks when he was little?" Tsuyo shook his head. "Hmm."
"I don't know what happened to the old staff, but nobody from Hawks' time here still works here." Luffy raised his brows in surprise. Oh well, he still didn't trust these people. But Tsuyo didn't seem like too bad a guy. So far. "Take a ten minute break and we'll do that again. This time, there will be no sound, I will tap your arm with the pulse of your heart."
Luffy stood up and left to find the bathroom and get water before returning to the chair and slumping back in it. He fell into the mediation again, only this time he felt his pulse rather than hearing it. The blindfold was back on even if he kept his eyes closed. Once the tapping left, he kept imagining the tap until he no longer felt it on his arm but in his chest. Could hear his breathing and heartbeat, and kept them both steady.
Deep, long breaths for another 40 minutes. "Time's up again. I am surprised. You may be able to master meditation in one sitting. It will get harder. We'll put more background noise so you can learn to meditate in a loud room.
"Breathing loudly is a dead give away that someone is near." Luffy couldn't help the bout of satisfaction being told he was a fast learner. It was out of his control, he couldn't help but feel good when he was praised.
And doing meditation wasn't so bad. He wasn't foolish and thought it would only be meditation, though. He looked at his watch and saw he'd only been there under two hours. He asked how long the sessions were. "I don't teach more than three hours worth of meditation. We're doing it again, only you're not going to get any outside stimulus. You must do this yourself."
Luffy nodded and put the blindfold back on once again before sinking back into the meditation rhythm immediately. His mind cleared and all he thought about was his heartbeat, to keep it nice and steady. The time was up quickly again. Tsuyo smiled at him, saying he was pleased with Luffy's progress.
"I want you to practice at home and we will revisit it tomorrow morning."
"Am I going home already?" he asked in surprise. Tsuyo said no, that another teacher was coming in that would build on the meditation. Luffy didn't know what to expect, but was on guard when the next person came in. He brought a VR headset and set it on the table in front of Luffy.
He introduced himself as Z. Just Z. Luffy nodded. He didn't seem as calming as the previous guy, but Luffy didn't come here expecting it to be some fun field trip with nice people. "Tsuyo taught you meditation, the basics of it. I will be using this to produce plenty of stimulus. You need to try and keep your body calm despite everything flooding your senses."
"Right," Luffy said, closing his eyes for the headset to be put on and he opened it to see he was in the middle of a street with cars zooming past him, loud in his ears. He gripped the chair, but closed his eyes. The lights flashed outside of his eyelids. He was still hooked to the heart monitor, but couldn't hear the beeping.
The sounds were loud in his ears, even without using his super senses. It made his heartbeat sporadic, but the guy didn't stop or correct him. He eventually tuned out everything, imagining the sound wasn't there until he could only imagine hearing his heartbeat. He kept his eyes facing one direction, not flicking around with the bright lights outside of his eyelids.
He didn't know how long he was like that, but was given a tap on the shoulder and he was ready for the VR headset to come off. "Your heart rate was surprisingly stable. Now I'm going to change the noises, they will be people shouting words randomly. Learn to meditate during that. You are more likely to be in a room full of people than in the middle of a busy street."
Luffy nodded, and put the headset back on, opening his eyes to see people moving around quickly in front of his eyes, with shouts and screams and conversations being had. He closed his eyes and almost immediately tuned them out, his heartbeat calming, having spiked a bit when the first loud noise was made. The volume was slowly turned up, but he kept himself stable. He didn't know how long it was before he got another tap.
Next, the man said everything would be quiet, and he was going to randomly and suddenly jolt parts of Luffy's body. Luffy nodded and put the blindfold on. He had headphones on and a blindfold tied around his head again. No more VR it seemed. This one was harder. The jolts were sudden and in random places. And in varying degrees of force.
The pauses between jolts were a random length as well. His heart rate was quicker, he could tell. He was irritated by it. He grit his teeth and then relaxed his face and body. He made himself prepared to be touched anywhere, readying his body. So when he got one punch in the arm, that area didn't react. He kept still besides the heavy hits. He was even hit in the face, but kept his face straight and didn't even gasp in surprise.
The hits got harder, but not enough to cause pain to anybody. More forceful, but not abusive, really. After somewhere around twenty minutes, the hits stopped and the headphones were taken off. He undid the blindfold and pulled it out from under his visor.
The guy looked impressed. Z, his name was Z. "I am very surprised. It usually takes weeks of training to get to that level." Luffy slumped and repeated that he was a fast learner. Always had been. "You will make a great spy." Luffy's face twisted and then he took a deep breath.
"For two years. Then I'm done with this." Z told him that learning meditation was good for anybody in general, not just spies. Luffy nodded. Hawks would be proud of him. Maybe annoyed Luffy had never really tried with him. But his way of teaching just didn't fit for him.
He was led to an adjacent room that was all mirrors, a circular room with a bar handle around the curved walls. "Usually this is for many sessions later, but you will move while meditating. Of course you'd never actually meditate while moving, as it's dangerous, but this will help you with controlling your own breathing even as you move."
Luffy nodded and put the blindfold on once again. He had one hand gripping the bar on the wall. He cleared his mind all besides the next step, and the next. Making sure he didn't fall but also trying to focus and keep his heart steady. He stubbed his toe and that threw him off a bit but then he straightened and cleared his mind again.
The next time he tripped up, his heart rate didn't increase. He forced it not to and it obeyed him. He listened only to his constant, slow and deep breaths, keeping his mind clear. He walked in many circles before he was told softly to turn around and do the same thing. The guy didn't want to startle Luffy so he spoke softly. Luffy hadn't even known Z was in the room.
He easily recreated what he'd been doing and flipped it so he was going the opposite direction. He was stopped after a while, opening his eyes to look out of his visor, taking the fabric off again. "Alright, we're done in this room," Z said. He led Luffy back into the dark room with the comfy chairs.
Luffy sat back down and asked what they'd be doing next. "We're done. There's nothing left to teach you today." Luffy said it had only been a couple hours, having expected it to last for many more. "There's just nothing left to teach you. You already passed the exercises you would have been doing tomorrow. I am sure Tsuyo and myself will refresh your mind, but when you return home, practice meditating on your own. I assume you will be learning something else tomorrow."
Luffy stood up and put his jacket back on, gathering his things. He didn't thank the man, knowing he worked for the commission, and was trying to make him into a spy.
95 more weeks. 95 more weeks as a spy at his dream school, and then this was over. He would attempt to enjoy his time at UA while also being undercover. He should separate those things for his own mental health. School and spying. Happening at the same time, but occupying different parts of his consciousness.
He said nothing as he left. But the president stopped him. "I'm going home, I have nothing else to do," Luffy said in a sour voice. She started to tell him he was breaking the contract by not staying for Fridays. "No, literally, the guy told me there's nothing left to teach me today. Ask him, he's right there."
Z came out, and the president asked to know why Luffy was leaving so early. "He's passed all of the steps of meditation and meditation with stimuli. There's nothing left to teach him today, so I've given him permission to leave." Luffy hated the smile that was directed his way. It made him feel gross. He didn't want to see her slimy smiles.
"You may be better than Hawks was," she said in a pleased voice.
"I'll never be a better person than Hawks," he snapped.
"Perhaps more talented, though," she said as he stomped out of the building and flew home immediately. He didn't want those people to praise him for doing something he hates. He never wanted to see the president look like that again, but his pride won over and he would rather see that slimy sneer more than looking at him in disapproval or disappointment.
He honestly didn't give a shit about what she wanted or thought, but he wouldn't let her belittle him. He'd try his best. Hey, if he did, maybe he'd get to just leave early every day. He had no idea what he was going to do tomorrow.
Luffy tossed the exercise ball up over and over again as he laid on his back on the floor, doing his simple quirk practices. Hawks came inside during this. "You're back," he said in surprise and confusion.
"I got back an hour ago. I passed all their stupid tests so I got to leave early. Did you have to learn meditation? And then meditation while getting hit or moving around?" Hawks said that was one of the first things he'd learned. He said it would take awhile, so to not get impatient. "I already passed them. They said I was supposed to keep doing it for a long time but I got the hang of it really fast."
Hawks was shocked and sat down. "It took me three months." Luffy turned around and buried his face in the carpet with a groan. "That woman heard about my progress and then smiled at me and said I might surpass you. Fucking bitch, I don't want to be there in the first place. I don't need your praise."
Hawks pat his back. "You've always been a fast learner, not just with your quirks."
"I know, but I- I don't want them to be satisfied with my work! I don't want them to be happy or proud or impressed. If they are, they won't drop me, they won't release me from the contract!" Luffy raged. Hawks stayed completely calm.
"I can see how you feel. But I'm glad you didn't come out in pain or crying." Luffy looked at him. "That's what happened for a long time for me. I know I was seven and things were very different then. But, still."
Luffy wanted to move on and asked if Hawks had people named Tsuyo or Z. "No, who are they?"
"They're the guys that taught me meditation. In this fancy room with fancy fluffy chairs and carpet. I asked them, about the people who worked with you, but they were all fired and now it's all new staff," Luffy explained. Hawks was clearly shocked. The commission had been horrible to him, even if he hadn't known better. He was their tool for so long.
"Man, that's so weird. At least they won't be hurting you, right? Things really are different now, it seems."
Luffy grasped the ball hard. "No matter if they're nice to me, or treat me well, I will never want to work for them. Not after how they treated you and their threats and what they're making me do. I don't want to learn to be a spy. What if it makes me a bad person? I already lied to Tokoyami a shit ton about where i'm going on Fridays."
Hawks put his hand on Luffy's head. "Breathe slowly. Use meditation to calm yourself." Luffy nodded and calmed himself easily, turning off his senses until he was calm and opened his eyes. He was just so sad. "Don't let them change you. You are an actor for them. The person you act like with them isn't Luffy."
Luffy finally had tears down his cheeks. "I don't want to change. Why… why can't my life ever be normal," he sighed, sounding defeated. "95 weeks. That's how long I have to do this. 24 months. 95 weeks," he repeated. "It's gonna be a long 95 weeks if I somehow manage to not get caught."
Hawks brought him to the couch, leaning his head against Luffy's. "When you come home, you don't need to stay strong for anybody else." Luffy broke into sobs, curling in on himself. "You'll get through this, and not alone. Never alone."
"I do-don't feel safe ever talking to Ace anymore. I don't want them knowing about him, following him around," Luffy blubbered. Hawks just soothed him, saying they'd figure everything out and that Luffy could just cry and nobody was judging him. Hawks was the best person to be with Luffy through this mess.