He woke up at 9:30, the day's training, or whatever that had planned, started at 11:00. He got up and went to take a shower and then eat cereal with a blank face. Hawks left him a note on the kitchen counter. It had a beaded bracelet next to it. He read the note, Use this to ground yourself. You still are and always will be Luffy to me. We'll get through it together, like always.

Luffy sniffled and slid the bracelet on. It didn't slide off. He could tell it was old and worn. Luffy put the empty bowl of cereal in the sink and ate a banana before brushing his teeth and getting dressed in normal people clothes. A tank top and jean shorts. He didn't care if he had to dress a certain way during his forced lessons. He'd dress however the hell he wanted to.

When it was 10:45, Luffy left, cutting it close but making it inside on the dot. He found the president sitting at the table and Luffy wondered if she ever went anywhere else. She smiled at him and he scowled. She didn't seem bothered. She wasn't even going to try to be on friendly terms with Luffy, she knew he was trapped. And she also knew that he could release everything if she messed up, too.

They both held each other hostage, she was just more active about her end of the deal. "What stupid lessons do I have today?"

"You'll see. The room is over there."

"I know it's over there, I was there yesterday," he snapped. She didn't take the bait and just watched him storm inside, finding Tsuyo and all of the machines he and Z worked with.

"Hello, Luffy," Tsuyo said. Luffy gave a curt nod and sat down on the chair. "How are you?"

"Shitty. Let's get this over with," he said shortly. Tsuyo wasn't offended, and he didn't need to even do anything when Luffy warmed up the meditation. Maybe he should do this before each time. Since it calmed him after dealing with that infuriating woman.

Tsuyo said he was going to put the headset on. "Go for it." Luffy wasn't polite to anybody here. He wasn't there to make friends. He was there to be a bad person and betray his school. Betray people who helped him through such hard times. And he was spitting it back in their faces. He tried not to think about it, it was interfering with his meditation.

He calmed himself again, the shouting in his ears and harsh touching didn't stop his meditation, his state of mind where he forgot everything but to breathe in and out at a certain speed. He did this for an hour before Tsuyo took it off, and rolled the machines away. He wondered what they'd be doing now.

Someone else was coming now, and Tsuyo praised him for his progress and that he'd be seeing him again. Luffy didn't know when from that vague statement. He sat in the chair and waited for somebody else to come in.

It was somebody else who didn't look alarming or cruel. Did they really replace everyone besides the leader? Shouldn't they realize that if the leader fires so many people she hired, she fucked up? Well, there was no one in a higher position than the one she was in. No challenger. Besides Luffy, probably the only person who was on near equal footing. She couldn't lie to him.

It was a woman with long brown hair in a braid. She was pretty tall. "You've mastered breathing calmly and steadily," she began, getting right into it, no introductions. Well, Luffy didn't give a shit what her name was. "Now you're going to learn not to breathe."

Luffy wondered if she was going to kill him. It was a pretty creepy line, but then she started laughing, startling Luffy more. "That was a bad introduction. My name is Mari. I'll be helping you hold your breath for long periods of time."

"Why?"

"If you're a spy and someone senses you, breathing is an easy way for them to find you." Luffy didn't see why this was important. He wasn't going to be hanging from ceilings and listening to conversations like that.

"How long will this take?" he asked. She replied that it would need a lot of practice at home each day, but that he should be able to hold his breath better in a month's time. Luffy held in a groan. She said she understood that it is boring and definitely not instant gratification. But it took time to adjust your lungs. "Learning meditation is a state of mind. Breath holding requires your body to change. You need to strengthen your lungs. This takes time and you can't be impatient."

Luffy let out a breath and nodded. The next three hours consisted of breathing exercises. They were annoying and uncomfortable at some moments. But he managed to mix meditation in with it, calming his mind as he breathed in deeply as he was instructed. He kept his eyes closed as he did it, with Mari eventually no longer guiding him as his chest rose and fell.

Hey, if he did this then he could swim better, so there's a plus there. Maybe he could find a good thing in each exercise they did. Probably not, but he tried to be at least a little positive. After way too long in Luffy's opinion, he was stopped and told that was enough for today. "Practice often, okay? I'll know next week if you've been practicing."

"Okay," he said and stood up, walking back to his chair to wait for the next project, whatever it was. He didn't care, and started deep breathing, calming himself. He should have listened to Hawks about this a long time ago. It was different here since he had no choice to turn it down. Next came in a man, this time with what looked like some sort of lie detector test.

Was he going to be asked whether he was loyal to this contract? That he talked to Hawks about it?

The man looked up. They were doing this on purpose. Sending nice looking people when they sent cold figures to deal with Hawks as a kid. It was a stout man, looking in his forties at most. "Don't worry, this is just practice. And lie detector tests aren't accurate much anyways."

"Then why are we using it?"

He sat down on a chair across from Luffy's and said, "Well if you really fail at a lie, it will know. Don't worry, you're not only learning to lie. But how to spot a lie. It will be easy to see once you know what to look for," he said in a cheery voice. "My name is Herric. I'm a professional at deception detecting."

Luffy nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm going to hook you up to this," he said, and easily hooked it up in multiple places. "I want you to lie to me, something completely false. Somewhere nowhere near the truth. Okay?" Luffy nodded silently.

"I'm a one hundred year old troll and I eat people for breakfast," he said flatly. No blip. "I'm a vegan." Nothing. "I'm happy with my contract." Definitely nothing. "The earth is flat and vaccines are bad for children." Again, no sign of him lying.

"Your heartbeat is very steady, I'm impressed. But I can see the signs of lying all over your face, sadly. Anyone trained would know," he said honestly. Luffy nodded. Herric brought out flashcards, laminated, from his bag. Luffy was unhooked from the machine.

Herric handed him the cards, which showed subtle tells if somebody was lying. Small things that he didn't notice he did. He thought he did well at keeping his expression flat. Yet he was making all of these little mistakes? He asked which ones he failed at. Herric pointed out twelve of the twenty. So, he failed the majority.

"We will also need to work on your voice. Just speaking flat doesn't make a convincing lie. Before we work on the facial tells, I want you to work on your voice. Tell me the first line again, about the 100 year old troll," he said, sounding amused. Luffy wasn't. If it was Hawks, he would have laughed.

Luffy took a breath and said, "I'm a 100 hundred you old troll that eats people for breakfast. Cool, huh?" and he laughed. His face was still flat, showing a large contrast between his expression and his voice. He was then to say it as if it were a secret that he only wanted one person to hear. "I'm a 100 year old troll that eats people for breakfast," he said in a hurried whisper. He was told to say it angrily, as if he was saying it to someone to threaten them. He repeated it, but added more vitriol at the end of the sentence, emphasizing the end.

"You are already skilled at lying." Luffy bristled. "Lying is not always malicious. It can be used as an emotional defense mechanism. Telling somebody you are fine when you are not. Hiding pain from others. Not all lies are meant to harm others."

"Still, it's not like I want to be a perfect liar," Luffy replied honestly. "Not really something I'd put on a resume." The guy insisted that telling lies is still helpful. Luffy crossed his legs, and worked with him at having a conversation where Luffy lied about everything he said.

He hated being praised by these people. "You have fast responses."

"I've always been witty," Luffy said honestly, not bragging. Herric said he could tell. "I'm going to tell you a series of lies and truths. Look at the cards and try and figure out if I'm telling a lie." Luffy nodded, referencing the cards laid out in front of him.

"I'm 44," he said. Luffy said he told the truth. "No, that was a lie. Did you see my lips?"

Luffy shook his head. "I was looking at your eyes."

Herric put one finger up and said, "That is a very common mistake. You must focus on the whole face and body at the same time. For now we're working on facial expressions. "My lips pinched just slightly. Let's try again. Focus on my whole face." Luffy nodded.

"I have a daughter and a divorced wife."

"That's the truth. Your face was relaxed mostly."

"Correct! I will tell a very quick lie, and I want you to try and see what I've done with my face to show that." Luffy nodded again. "I can't swim," and looked away.

Luffy said, "Your eyes looked to the side before you turned your head." Herric said that was correct. Then he asked Luffy if he was paying attention to his voice. "Your voice was a little higher when you were lying, and said faster."

Herric nodded. "If you are faking a lie, as you were before, you can say your words flatly. But that often tells that you are lying with ease. To lie and tell a lie, you must compare what they are saying with how they said it. Saying the line about being a troll in that happy voice does not match the words you are saying. That is a give away. Over the top speaking is a sign of somebody lying to you. They are trying too hard to seem convincing. But, the face and tone are not always able to be distinguished. You must also observe the body. Sometimes the body is more telling than the face or voice. We often move our bodies without meaning to. For instance: if you have an itch, do you actively tell your body to itch it, or do you do it automatically?"

"Automatically."

"Yes. You can't always control the motions of your own body, unless you are skilled and comfortable in your setting. I will show you the tells of the body," he said and handed Luffy cards of the body moving, arrows pointing out what was happening.

Luffy watched his body closely, actually interested in this topic, knowing how to tell somebody is lying. It could be helpful for regular life and not being a spy. He watched Herric's body closely. As he spoke he moved his hand while he talked. When he stopped, he asked if he'd done anything suspicious.

"You moved your hand around a lot." Herric said that didn't always mean somebody was lying.

He said, "If I were moving my hand after speaking, it would be a tell. Gesturing with both hands is more suspicious than one hand. While lying, many times, the person will have their palms facing away from you. Gesturing during the lie is hard as your brain is doing many things, not just including the lying. Trying to not look like you are lying can be a downfall."

Luffy asked what you were supposed to do with your hands. If you should move them at all or keep them still. And what about putting them in your pockets? "You should keep your hands in sight. They don't need to move necessarily, but especially don't hide them. Now, I want you to try gesturing to me. I'll tell you if you've done something wrong."

Luffy repeated his first lie, gesturing with his hand animatedly. Then he stopped and was told it was too much, but good to not keep the hands pointed inward. They worked longer on the hands, Herric giving him all he knew about appropriate and non-suspicious hand gestures.

By the end, Luffy found himself very conscious about moving his hands at all. Not wanting to give it away. This was interesting, and challenging. He didn't think about the fact he was being trained to lie to his friends and teachers. People he liked, who trusted him. That's why I'm the perfect spy. He hated that thought, knowing it was so true.

After Herric deemed their hand gestures good enough for that session, they moved onto complete body language. Rocking back and forth, shuffling his feet, playing with his hair or other movements you wouldn't do in a normal conversation. He and Herric practiced keeping the body still but relaxed.

Luffy found himself making simple gestures while speaking. Adding certain things he felt would add more realism to a lie. Like coughing once or twice, itching his arm, yawning, other little touches like that.

When he was asked why he did them, Luffy didn't know if he was in trouble. "I-I thought it would look more natural than just standing still. I don't always just stand still like that. I move around a lot." Herric nodded and smiled, but refrained from telling him he was a talented liar.

"Those are touches you can add if you feel you need to look relaxed. They aren't necessary, but being able to come up with them on the spot and not break any of the other tells is a good idea." They both had conversations riddled with lies, but not where the other knew they were. Both of them would point out the mistakes the other made.

Luffy learned a lot from that time. By the end, he lied all about school to Herric, going into in-depth stories about his friends going skiing with him over winter break last year, the time most of the class failed a test so they were all given a pardon. Herric asked where the lie was, saying it was harder to spot it.

"It was all a lie. None of that shit ever happened," he said simply. Herric said he was a fast thinker, to come up with that all in a second. He never praised Luffy directly for lying. More for things like being observant, a fast thinker, focused on multiple things at once, working with facial movements.

He couldn't help but like Herric. He was with him for four hours and Luffy didn't once get the vibe that he was a bad person. Z was the one most suspicious. Herric was the one he favored, but still didn't like being taught to lie.

But he couldn't say it wasn't an interesting class. In the break they had, he'd brought Luffy a bag of chips from the vending machine somewhere in the building, as well as an apple juice. When he went home at 5:30, he had a lot of homework to do. He had to meditate, practice holding his breath and breathing deeply, and recommended practicing his lying with Hawks. He was no doubt an expert at detecting lies.

When he got home, Hawks was already there, worrying his lip before standing up when Luffy landed in the window. Merry ran up to him and he picked her up to hold her. "So, how'd it go?" Hawks asked slowly, but keeping his voice light.

Luffy sat on the couch, wings gone, and explained the day. How boring it was to practice deep breathing for hours. How he learned about spotting a lie and avoid giving away lying himself. Hawks didn't look upset with Luffy, and asked how the teachers were that time. "I think Herric might be a good guy. But he could be lying, he's an expert after all. I don't trust any of them. The woman was hard to read. Mari."

Hawks asked if he was told to do anything until next week. "I'm supposed to practice breathing and Herric recommended I work with you about the deception parts. I'm not gonna do that. I'm not gonna lie here," Luffy replied. Hawks didn't say anything at first, and Luffy worried that he'd said something wrong. "What's wrong?" he asked nervously.

"Nothing you've done. I'm sorry you have to do this," he said honestly. Luffy said that at least it was interesting and the whole time wasn't breathing deeply. "I can see how it's interesting. But, I only want you to lie when it's necessary."

Luffy nodded. "I know. Knowing how to and how to spot lying doesn't mean I want to. Y'know? I… I'm just going through the motions." Hawks put his hand on Luffy's head.

"I know that," he said confidently. "I was saying a reminder." Luffy nodded. He got up and heated up the leftovers from last night, starving. He made fresh rice and heated up the special sauce in the microwave while the other food heated in the oven. He found heating meals in the oven instead of the microwave tasted better. Hawks agreed, so it was how things were done.

The next day, they went to Luffy's training ground while he worked in the grueling weather, determined to not let the wind and chill get to him. Hawks was bundled up in multiple sweaters with a beanie on. Luffy was in a tank top and shorts. Boots on, though.

After that, they went to the restaurant they'd gone to the first time. They sat in the same booth that they had when Luffy was nervous about taking up money and eating too much. Things had definitely changed since he ordered as much as he wanted and got three refills. They both commented on it.

"You haven't changed. Still eat like a pig. Hey, no, this is mine," Luffy said. "The girls in my class would be jealous that you don't gain weight. It's a talent." Hawks grinned and said it was. And that flying was a work out for him, even when it was gliding.

Luffy was tired after training, but also energized. Still shivering even when they were at home, left overs from the restaurant stuffed in the fridge in the "take out" section. He put the label on it, saying "SUNDAY". He kept the kitchen organized. And the rest of the house stayed clean, too. Not that Hawks was really messy in any way.

For the next week, Luffy was proud of his mental health. He dealt with the stress of filming everything, even if it wasn't hard to do. He dealt with doing his internship for most of the afternoon after getting out of school and then logging it all before doing his other work, making food, doing the meditation and holding breath practicing, and going to his training ground while then working on his more useless and non-dangerous quirks at home.

He went to bed at midnight almost every night. He was sure he'd get used to it, but he had a lot to do each day. Except Sunday, the light at the end of the tunnel. He did the training, which was a lot more lying stuff and being checked up on with his deep breathing and meditation. The meditation was probably part of what saved him. Saved him from exhaustion and panic about not getting everything done perfectly.

Hawks reminded him that he'd get used to the schedule soon. Luffy knew that, but it didn't help make the present any easier. Hawks helped him with the homework he could, which was math. Luffy had always been smart, but doing complicated math while exhausted and stressed was difficult to say the least, even cheating by using Nezu's power for assistance.

At least his body was quickly getting used to the desert practice. But, he was an idiot and tried clearing his mind while trudging along through the sand, but instead fell on his face and got burned by the hot sand.

"What were you thinking, closing your eyes?!" Sero asked, laughing but also clearly exhausted.

"I was trying to meditate, okay?! This is boring and tiresome." Todoroki pointed out that it was hard to meditate and move at the same time. Luffy didn't tell him anything anymore. He knew Todoroki might be able to detect a lie, no matter if he was getting better at it. He missed his friend, but this was necessary.

Besides, he didn't deserve Todoroki.

Luffy sighed and didn't try again. By Thursday, Luffy and Tokoyami had their bodies adjusted enough to patrol. They both went together, and cleared small cases. Finding a lost dog, Luffy quickly pulling a little girl out of the street before she got hit. She cried about being yanked by her arm.

"I'm sorry, but you were in danger. If I give you a nice soft feather, will you forgive me?" Luffy asked kindly, crouched next to the little girl with a smile. She sniffled but nodded. Luffy pulled out a feather and gave it to her. "Take care of it, okay?" She smiled and nodded before seeing her frantic father, and ran to him.

Luffy and Tokoyami left, Tokoyami saying Luffy was a good hero. "So are you," Luffy replied. Tokoyami looked down and said he wasn't a charismatic person at heart. He was too literal, but didn't want to change himself.

"Hmmm, well, you don't need to be super charismatic, right? Just don't be an asshole. Hell, even assholes become big timers, think of Endeavor. Even before he showed a nice streak (sort of nice) he was number two even with being a jerk," Luffy pointed out, hands behind his back. "I wonder why we aren't being taught skills about being nice. Aizawa and the school want us to get our experience from work, right?

"But, shouldn't we be trained in being polite and patient with other people?" Luffy wondered.

Tokoyami said he agreed with that. "Bakugo needs training in that." Luffy laughed at that, agreeing. He and Tokoyami filled out the patrol's results, both of them doing it separately before sitting in the quiet room and filling out their logs for school.

"We don't have to log what we talked about, right?" Luffy asked.

"I doubt it," Tokoyami replied, and then added that they could always ask the teacher. "I'm sure he'd tell us nobody cares about our conversations, though." Luffy agreed with that.

Then he laughed. "Maybe Aizawa needs politeness training. Tricking us into thinking we'll be expelled and freaking us out. That's not how you work with kids right?" he asked with a grin as he finished his log and closed the notebook.

"Don't let him catch you saying that."

"Definitely not."

-x-

Luffy's face turned bright red and he felt his heart beat rapidly as he held his breath, Mari timing him in front of her. He finally exhaled, but then focused on inhaling. "Three minutes and sixteen seconds! Well done!" She handed him a bottle of water. It was Friday afternoon, his third Friday class. Three weeks of really not doing anything. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all. He wasn't collecting any useful data from his classes. He felt normal, pushing out the thoughts that he was breaking his teachers' trusts.

But he'd been balancing himself between doing his task he was chained to and also enjoying school. He nodded and said it was terrible. He never wanted to hold his breath like that, even if it was for swimming. She still praised him and reminded him it could someday save his life, so to keep practicing even after his job was over.

"So, keep practicing for two years?" he asked dryly.

"Even longer than that," she replied easily.

Herric came into his training room with three others. He introduced them as two normals and one deception detector that he worked with. "We're going to test your deception capabilities at the moment," Herric said cheerfully, handing Luffy a bottle of apple juice. He took a sip and then plastered a relaxed face. "Only lie for some of the questions asked. Okay?" Luffy nodded.

He had a conversation with the three of them, speaking lightly of some things, angrily of others and happy with the rest. He kept the facade up as he easily let truths and lies out of his mouth, focusing on his lies, his face and his body.

Don't move your hands. Don't look away. Keep your mouth normal. Stand up straight and still. Don't get caught.

He tricked himself into thinking these people were people he'd be in trouble with if they caught him lying. The professional asked him when the lying would start, seeming irritated. Luffy furrowed his brows. "I have been lying. Most of what I've said were lies."

The others looked at him blankly, and Luffy grew angry. "I was supposed to lie, wasn't I?! That's the point!"

Herric put his hands up to try and salvage the situation. "Now, now, don't get so worked up. I'm just surprised." Luffy repeated that they shouldn't be surprised, the whole point was for him to lie. "I mean surprised with how well you did."

Luffy frowned. "I just did what I was told by Herric."

The other professional lying guy said, "Yes, but you added small gestures that somebody relaxed would make without a second thought." Luffy glared at the ground. He was sick of being praised by these people all the time. He knew he was a fast learner, clearly, even in what he didn't want to learn.

Stupid brain.

"Well, now I want you to try and pick up lies from me, as you've proven you're well at lying yourself." Luffy grudgingly nodded. "And try not to look so focused. Every lie you think I tell, count them on your fingers." He nodded in agreement, and listened to this guy talk about his summer vacation.

Luffy's fingers went up every small twitch his face made. It was very hard to see them, but he'd been working hard with Herric, so he managed. When the guy said he was done, Luffy held up nine fingers. "Close. I told fourteen." Luffy couldn't help but frown when hearing he'd failed. "Which lies did you notice?"

Luffy listed the false or half truths he'd picked up. "You missed the one about the date of the vacations' beginnings and endings. Also about how many dogs I have, and finally what cruise company I used. Let's try another scenario. Watch very closely." Luffy nodded. He kept himself relaxed, not too scrutinizing.

He watched the guy carefully, able to compartmentalize what he was doing. Focusing on appearance, sound and running through any things in his story that don't match up. Also he was working on his own demeanor. He counted seven this time, thinking that was probably wrong. When he was asked he very briefly was hesitant to raise his fingers.

"Correct, I told seven lies. We'll do it once more, but the conversation will be much longer and you'll recite what I lied about." Luffy settled back in his chair a bit. He sighed and nodded. This one was harder, and he was irritated to find that he did terribly, he couldn't remember the lies, but before he could internalize just what was false, he had to focus on what he was saying next.

Jax, the professional lie dude, said, "You won't get this right away. It will take a lot of practice. I recommend attempting it at home. But we all know your stance on this matter, and won't force you." Luffy's eyes widened with what he said. "That's right. We're doing our job and don't know what you specifically are needing this for. But it's not hard to not notice your demeanor."

Luffy frowned. "You've known me for two hours."

"I'm good at reading people. It's my job. You will be able to read people better eventually, too. It will help when you're a professional hero and must decide whether somebody is telling the truth or not." Luffy agreed with that statement.

On Saturday, he spent all six hours with the lie guys. It was boring but he could feel himself getting better and better. By the end, he could hold a twenty minute conversation full of lies without batting an eye. Reacting quickly to what he was saying, making him not notice when Luffy found out he was lying.

He was improving drastically, and it was clear to the others that he was a fast learner despite not working on it anywhere but here. After the conversation, he was able to write quite a few of the lies down, but missed many. So they continued, and added training to help his memory strengthen.

Luffy couldn't help but feel satisfied when he mastered something, even if it was lying. Even if it was something negative. Well, he would use it outside of his spying. When the day was done, Luffy went home and immediately started his quirk physical therapy as he told Hawks about his day, who had picked up Luffy's favorite salad from the salad bar he'd forced Hawks to eat when he saw just how much fried chicken the man ate.

"Hawks, you know I wouldn't use any of this stuff against you, right?"

"Of course. I trust you no matter what. And besides, learning to read people and notice lies help a lot in the hero world," he replied, eating his garlic breadsticks more than the salad itself. Luffy nodded, saying he was trying to find something good out of all of this. He knew Hawks was trying that as well. Trying to make things a little less hard.

It was the next day that the president sent Luffy an email. "She sent me an email," Luffy said, coming out of his room with his phone. He hadn't opened it yet. "She" was the universal term for the president of the HPSC. Hawks was playing with Merry with her string toy and then put it down on the couch, much to her displeasure.

He opened it and read it through, his face falling. "Since I'm not finding anything useful without trying, she wants to to spy on teachers' meetings." Hawks growled and took a few deep breaths. "I don't know how to do that without anyone noticing. I mean, I'm good at breathing quietly now and holding my breath for a couple minutes, but it'd be terrifying to hide in the meeting room invisible, you know? I can't do that."

He put his face in his hands. "I can't record without being in there. She expects too much! I've been working on shrinking by reversing Mt. Lady's quirk, but I'm nowhere near close enough for that to work!"

"Take deep breaths, Luffy," Hawks said calmly. Luffy closed his eyes and forced his heartbeat to slow so he could think straight.

"I don't know if I can record from a distance. From the other room. But, would I need to be there for it to be alright? I'm not asking her for clarification, I'll figure it out myself," Luffy spat. He hated her. He closed his eyes, searching the filing cabinets in his head for anything useful for spying.

He opened his eyes slowly. He sighed and swore, wishing he could have said he didn't know how and hopefully left it at that. Well, he could dream. "I can hear way past the radius of UA. The meetings take place before school starts. If I can get there early and go into the library, I can listen to them from a distance and write everything down."

He sat down in a ball. "I'm the fucking perfect spy." Hawks had the decency to not confirm or deny this. After all, they don't lie to each other.