I am not affiliated with any rights to My Hero Academia (Obsessed? Yes. Crazily talented/wealthy? No.)
Nine sets of eager eyes followed my every move just as soon as I entered the room. I knew there should be ten, but based on the eerily-floating clothes I assumed one student's quirk caused invisibility and, judging by the feminine bulges, it must be a girl. I walked towards my desk and grabbed the assignment books, hoping the instability of my limbs wasn't as obvious to them as it was to me. The students were dispersed across the room; some in spherical chairs, others sprinkled on large pillows. Tenya Iida sat singularly at the table, looking a little uncomfortable but still game. I took a quick pull from my new thermos (gifted to myself and on clearance) before turning to the class.
"Good morning! I'm Ms. Tsutomi, and I'll be serving as your ethics instructor. Mina Ashido?"
"Present!" The girl raised a pink hand in the air, a grin plastered on her equally-pink face. Little horns poked out of her wild, short pink hair, and her eyes were almost completely black except for two pinpoints of amber irises. I smiled back as I handed her the booklet with her name adorned on the front.
"Tsuyu Asui?"
"Call me Tsu" Said a big-eyed, emerald-haired girl. Her tongue was sticking out of her mouth like a little frog. I blinked.
"You...Are so cute," I said, laughing. She- Tsu- pinked a little before smiling herself. So far, so good.
"Oop, I missed one- Yuga Aoyama?"
"Ah, mon amie! You were probably dazzled by my sparkling charm and appearance-"
"Toru Hagakure?" I interrupted bluntly. The class giggled as I rejected the obvious, over-the-top presence of this blonde, misty-eyed boy, moving on to the waving glove seemingly void of an arm. "Hello. I imagine your quirk can be quite troublesome for teachers, huh?"
"I've just learned to shout out answers as opposed to raising my hand," Toru responded simply. Her body wriggled in its seat and she added, "Plus, I have to remove all my clothes to be completely stealthy, which isn't something I like to do in public."
"Not that she hasn't done it before…" Iida muttered, seemingly flustered. I realized it probably wasn't because there had been a naked girl near him at some point; rather, because it was probably against school code to remove one's clothing altogether. I shook my head and placed an assignment book on his desk.
"Tenya Iida, class rep," I informed him. He gave an affirmative nod, looking impressed with himself. I wondered if anyone else had even ran against him for his prideful position.
Midoriya and Mineta were next, taking their books with a smile and sulking observance, respectively. I handed out a book to a boy with human-looking hands and a feathered head, who responded with a stoic nod. Okay then.
Uraraka was seated next to a sleek-looking girl donning a crisp uniform and voluminous ponytail. Skin clear, eyes bright, and seemingly confident, I thought back to my own high school days and how I was pretty much the exact opposite. This is the type of girl I'd strived to be like. I suddenly felt defensive and quieted while handing her the small spiral. She smiled.
"It's nice to finally have a teacher a little more down to earth!" She cheered, taking the book scribed with Momo Yaoyorozu in both hands, as if it were a delicate gift. Uraraka nodded in agreement, eyes wide with excitement. Okay, so maybe I was very much overreacting. More work needs to be done about those quick assumptions of mine.
"Please. You haven't seen what this mad woman is capable of yet…"
"What was that?" I asked calmly, turning a burning gaze towards Mineta. He instinctively looked away, sweating suddenly. I nodded, smug and satisfied. That's what I thought.
"Okay! Instead of going over a syllabus and class rules right off the bat, I thought we'd get to know each other first and assess some characteristics," I informed, settling into a chair of my own. It was spherical and the material was white and fur-like, soft to the touch and comfortable. It was mom's congratulatory gift for my classroom, and I hoped to keep it as pristine for as long as possible. What better way to do so than simply sit in it myself?
"I would like you guys to line up in chronological order based on your birthdays, with the eldest at the back and youngest at the front. You will be timed for this exercise. But!" They were already turning to each other, ready to discuss, and turned back for the kicker. I held a finger up with a smile. "You can't speak to each other. Not a word."
"What?! How are we-" Mineta began, words tapering off after Ashido pinched his mouth shut. I held up my phone, timer ready.
"Go!"
This was a great exercise to check collaborative skills and quickly it was obvious who excelled and who sincerely needed improvement. After a minute or so of all the students running around as individuals, miming birth months, astrological signs, and what appeared to be what Uraraka must do for birthday festivities, Midoriya clapped. All attention turned to him and he pointed to Uraraka before holding both hands, palm towards her, in question. The brunette blinked before her brown eyes widened, holding up ten fingers before displaying two more. Midoriya nodded and pointed to the end of the line.
Now they've got it.
The progression sped up, Iida going through the line and mime-checking the years. Within the minute of he and Midoriya taking the lead, the line was complete.
"2:36! Not bad!" I displayed the timer before setting it aside to clap. "Now, line up alphabetically based on your favorite food- only this time, you're free to speak,"
Chaos ensued for a few horrible seconds. This time, Momo took charge, glossy ponytail swinging with her movement "If the food begins with a through m, move to the front. Su, alphabetize them from there. N through Z, moved to the back with me."
"Less than a minute and a half this time; even better," I praised, pleasantly surprised. Different students had taken initiative this time, and the majority of wasted seconds had been spent on indecisive students (Uraraka, Mineta, Aoyama) trying to decide on a food. I ushered for everyone to sit and, quite proudly, I noticed they all chose seats not only a little closer to one another but to me as well.
"So. Was that difficult?"
A round of nods and agreements answered.
"Why?"
"Because we couldn't just shout out our birthdays and go from there," Mineta answered.
"You were limited in your abilities," I agreed. "How was that?"
"Really irritating"
"It definitely made things harder," Midoriya admitted.
"Harder, but impossible?"
"Obviously not," Momo spoke this time. "After we were able to come together as a team, it was all easy street from there,"
"So teamwork was more important than ability?"
There was a pause then.
"Well, yes," It was the bird-shaped boy this time, his voice level. "With the exception of a few leading students, the collaboration between us outweighed individual ability. Without teamwork, as you phrased it, our group would have floundered."
"So the work of the group, regardless of an important ability, was able to pull off the feat sufficiently, yes?"
Again the group nodded. I felt my face growing sly and I leaned forward, looking between each of the students.
"If that's the case, then why do we even need heroes, as their abilities do not outweigh those of the collaborative masses? Put more simply: if a group of people lack ability but excel in working together, why would they need someone with unique abilities to help or save them?"
Silencio.
"Your homework is to come up with an answer," I glanced at the clock, noting the period was nearly up. Several students, such as Su, Tokoyami, and Midoriya looked pensive, while others (Mineta and Iida) looked dumbfounded. I nearly grinned; icebreaker brain teaser: successful. We had a few minutes left and I wandered over to the purple-headed lecher, giving one of the balls a poke. Uraraka giggled nearby.
"So, what's the deal with these?" I asked, giving them another jab. They seemed a little sticky and I was suddenly worried about what kind of residue might now be on my finger. I discreetly wiped it on the back of my dress, hopeful it was a natural stick and not something he'd done to them.
"They're my sticky balls. I can make them stick to anything I want and they won't unstick unless I do it myself," His lisp made everything he was saying seem even more absurd. Mineta pulled one off and squeezed it; the orb was pliable but returned to its original shape after each movement. He offered it to me and I gave it one last final nudge, too afraid if I picked it up I wouldn't be able to get it off.
"I can create inanimate objects by using the lipids from my body, so long as I know their makeup," Momo offered and, holding her hand out, she created a little wooden doll. It had curling, painted hair and a striped dress on, with a little smile and two rows of eyelashes over two small dots for eyes. I realized with great delight she had created me.
"Yaoyorozu! Oh my goodness!" I squealed, clapping. Momo pinked as I grinned ear to ear, Mineta's balls long forgotten. "Can- may I keep it?"
"Of course," She answered shyly. I cradled the doll carefully, as if any sudden movement might dispel the creation, and immediately hurried over to set it at the forefront of my desk, on display for the whole classroom. My first gift!
"What about you, Miss Tsutomi? What's your quirk?" Midoriya asked in a friendly manner. That involuntary twitch tickled my limbs as it always did when broached about this subject. I rose carefully, scratching my neck. How much do I share?
"I, um, I don't use my quirk. Not usually, anyway,"
The whole class seemed taken aback. Uraraka voiced the class's surprise; "What? Why?"
For the first time in a while, a dozen thoughts and answers ran through my mind. How much do I disclose? How much is too much, especially this early in the year? Instead I went with my rehearsed answer; the one mom had me recite so many times I didn't even need to think it out.
"I have no need to. Society thrived prior to quirks, meaning everyday life is possible without their usage as well."
"So you work at a school built on the foundation of creating heroes, but don't believe in using quirks," Tokoyami spoke slowly. I shook my head, a little agitated. Panic was nipping at my ankles at the new, semi-judgmental tone of the room. I needed to turn this horse back around to the real point at hand.
"That's not what I'm saying at all. Actually, add this to your homework: Why do we need heroes in general, and would it be right to force those with unique or powerful quirks to use them for the public good?"
My question ended just as the bell rang. My class lingered, seemingly lost in thought, before slowly rising. I smiled, wishing them all a good day, trying to ignore my rattling organs and staticky mind, catching a memory like a scratch on vinyl.
It was amazing.
The water danced like sparkling stars, catching the light and reflecting it across my arms, my legs, my cheeks.
I had been washing my hands, preparing for dinner, when the water suddenly sprang to life and out of the filled sink, circling me like a protective windchime.
The door opened and I grinned, excited for mom to see that I was special, that I, like the heroes on TV, had acquired a special talent.
The droplets fell, leadened, as her scream ripped through my chest.
The following classes were similar in character, excluding a rather loud blonde who kept inquiring about the effectiveness of class 1-A. I couldn't tell if he was an overzealous fan or simply jealous of them. Regardless, I still much preferred the earlier hour kids to his class, barely feeling guilty over my quickly-growing biases. A few other students, including a pitch-black character with startling white hair and a tired-looking boy with indigo eyes, were interesting, but proved more reserved than disruptive. I sighed, suddenly exhausted, and pulled out my little homemade lunches from the mini-fridge behind my desk.
These students were, so far, rather sweet and obedient, and had quirks both useful or interesting (I was still a little curious how Tsu used her power. Couldn't frogs throw up their stomachs? Could she do that?) that they discussed freely and with ease.
I wondered what that was like. Did their parents...Were they excited, to know? Proud?
Weren't they scared?
The class funneled out at a controlled, quick pace, wanting nothing more than to run wildly but too fearful of their teacher's impeccable wrath. Every second of lunch was vital for nourishment and gossip and diffusing all their newfound knowledge out of their ears as quickly as possible.
Or Aizawa supposed, anyway.
He leaned back in his chair, eyes closing at the sudden quiet.
Beautiful.
The tired hero stretched his neck, moving side to side, when he noticed something mildly horrible.
He could see that idiot new girl, straight across the hall, clear as day.
He'd been surprised when she hadn't shown up in the blue blazer and skirt from the other day; instead she was an annoying nautical vision, dress striped like a beach umbrella and small heeled sandals to boot. Golden starfish peeked out of her long hair; it was down today, another difference in appearance.
She wore fucking echinoderms on her ears, for God's sake. Where did this woman come from?
Chiyo Tsutomi had already created quite a stir around the school. Apparently she'd started right in with the hard, philosophical questions that had the students discussing her lesson even outside of her specific classroom. He'd already had to silence a handful of whispered discussions and it wasn't even after noon yet.
Also interestingly, she'd inquired about their personal lives and quirks, and had went so far as to even tease a few of them. Tsuyu seemed particularly chipper in class. Tsutomi had grown some fans.
He'd also gleaned some very interesting information: the new teacher at UA didn't like using her quirk.
My assumption was right, then.
He wondered if this little tidbit was related to the mystery around her behavior. Was she appalled by heroes? Quirks in general? She wouldn't have applied to this job if that were actually the case.
A far more foreboding thought struck him. What if...She's a mole? The distaste for "control" does not exclude her from attempted villainy, regardless if it concerns using her own quirk.
He'd been watching her as the whole conversation circled his mind, lost in the hornets of thoughts.
Tsutomi was and had been gazing out the window, looking to be just as deep in thought. That polite smile from this morning wasn't strapped on her face but she didn't exactly look upset, either. The best word Aizawa could think of to explain her expression was...puzzled. Vulnerable.
She didn't really seem the type to be an informant. He'd caught dozens over his professional lifetime, and felt he had a rather good grip on the signs. So what's her deal, then?
Maybe he was being too hard on her. Grudgingly he looked away and slowly rose to his feet. She obviously didn't realize all instructors ate for free in the cafeteria, or that the majority shared their meals together in the teacher's lounge. He'd just reached the door, still hidden in the cool dark of his room, when a familiar, looming figure appeared, almost nervously hovering within Tsutomi's door.
She turned.
Two perfect rows of teeth appeared between her pink lips, bright as fluorescents.
"Toshinori! I was hoping you'd come; I made you a lunch, you're so skinny-"
Shota Aizawa backed away from the door but not entirely out of sight, letting the scene unfold. He watched the once-stoic young woman burst with exuberance and light, teasing the lanky, blushing blonde man, all but forcing food into his mouth. Her movements and stature, the genuine smile on her face and ease in his presence, mirrored the opposite of her usual outward appearance, and Aizawa came to two conclusions.
One: Chiyo Tsutomi did not realize the true identity of the hero All Might.
Two: She more than likely believed Toshinori Yagi, known only to a small handful as the true identity of All Might, possessed no quirk.
And that's why she was comfortable around him.
