Chapter 15 – New Teacher
It was weird going back to school after having all that time off. The mood was... strange. People walked through the halls, going to their classes, but none of them were grouping up. There wasn't any conversation echoing throughout the building. Everyone's face as they passed by was set in a serious look. It felt almost like a hospital.
Ochako shook her head to dispel the weird feeling. It would fall on her to be positive. That way she could help everyone feel better.
She put on a smile, and walked into class. She wasn't quite the first one in. Iida was sitting down and staring straight ahead, not checking his phone or even studying. Tokoyami and Kira were also there, sitting together and talking too quietly to overhear.
She tried to engage Iida in a conversation, but he was quiet, only responding with clipped one word sentences. She eventually let him be.
It wasn't too long before the rest of the class began filtering in. Most of them seemed alright, like they'd gotten over the attack on the USJ, but a few here and there seemed strangely reserved. Well, she guessed it couldn't be helped.
One noteworthy student was Bakugou, who seemed to have put on a lot of muscle. He'd bulked up to a seemingly abnormal degree.
"Uhh, Bakugou?" His gaze snapped to her as she spoke. The look in his eyes was as intense as always, and for a moment she clammed up. But he raised his eyebrow impatiently, and she forged ahead.
"What happened with you? You look… different." She ventured.
He scoffed. "How'd ya notice? Yeah, I discovered a new aspect to my Quirk during the uh, stress of the USJ. Turns out it also gives me super strength."
"What?!" Shouted Ashido. "That's totally not fair! Your Quirk was already powerful!"
"Yeah, and how do explosions and strength mix together? That's a weird combo." Kirishima chimed in.
"Hmm. Multifaceted Quirks are odd, but hardly unheard of." Yaoyorozu said. "It's not impossible that this would happen. Take Todoroki's Quirk, for example. Either way, Bakugou, I suppose congratulations are in order."
Bakugou scoffed again. He didn't meet Yaoyorozu's eyes, Ochako noticed. He just glared at the wall behind her.
"No seriously! I get how Todoroki does fire and ice – those are both, like, elements! But super strength and explosions don't go together." Kirishima said.
"Oh for – neither does a big solid shadow and a bird face, but you're not harassing the fuckin' bird brain back there!" Bakugou shouted out, seemingly broken out of whatever reverie Ochako had caught him in.
Maybe she was just imagining things. Either way, she felt she had to come to his aid.
"Doesn't Kujo have two Quirks? Shrinking stuff and healing? I guess stuff like this isn't all too rare." Ochako mused aloud.
I can certainly vouch for the shrinking. She thought, with a mild pout. She didn't like being even shorter than normal.
"Settle down." Aizawa came in, closing the door behind him. A blonde foreigner they'd never seen before trailed in behind him. An adult, wearing strange clothes riddled with holes. But that was an afterthought.
"Mister Aizawa! You're… covered in bandages!" Ochako shouted in surprise.
"I'll start by informing you of some of the changes being made."
"He ignored me..."
"Starting today, a new teacher will be taking over All Might's position. This teacher is noteworthy for class 1-A, because some of you will be interacting with him more than others. To that end, he's taking homeroom today to meet you all."
The man who had followed Aizawa in stepped forward.
"My name is Pannacotta Fugo. I'm a… hero from Italy, and my hero name is Purple Haze. It's a pleasure to meet you all." He hesitated oddly on the word hero, but Ochako barely noticed.
It was a little weird, she thought. A new teacher, so suddenly. It felt almost like they were… replacing All Might. She shook her head to dispel the morbid thought. Be positive. She reminded herself.
"Your Japanese is very good!" Yaoyorozu said.
"Mister Fugo's Quirk increases his intelligence by a large margin. As such, it's easy for him to learn a second language." Aizawa said in mild but tired voice. "He learned the language on the flight here."
The class erupted at that. Several students exclaimed how cool that was, and several others expressed disbelief. Mina in particular came out with another cry of how unfair that was. Ochako giggled a little, but she could empathise. If she had something like that, she'd be doing so much better in class…
"Please, please. My Quirk can't take all the credit." Fugo said. "My boss, that is, the hero I work with. He's half Japanese himself, on his mother's side. He gave me some pointers and practice before I left. I didn't learn it all from scratch."
"Oh, makes sense. But with a Quirk like that, you're not the straight combat type, huh?" Asked Kirishima.
"I try to avoid direct combat, yes." The new teacher responded.
"Moving on to the next bit of news." Aizawa said. "Soon, the students will begin work shadowing. Usually, hero agencies send us requests after watching the UA Sports Festival, but since it was cancelled, that's obviously not likely to occur. A few of you have received requests anyway, but most of you will be expected to choose from a list of heroes.
"Higashikata." The boy with the bowlcut perked up.
"You've received a request from Walking Heart, and you'll be shadowing her. Kujo, you've received one from King Nothing, and will shadow him."
"What gives, we don't get a choice?" Higashikata asked.
"No. You must shadow a Stand-using hero. Since these two have specifically made requests, they get you. It's not as though we have a surplus of Stand-using heroes available." Higashikata rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly at that, seemingly conceding the point.
Kujo didn't really react either way. He must have been expecting this. Ochako thought.
"Kira, Hirose, you'll be partnered up." Aizawa continued. "We have another Stand-using hero available, and since you two don't have requests, you'll be placed with him."
"Understood."
"Gotcha!"
"Todoroki and Bakugou are the only other students to get requests from pro heroes. Since the two of you aren't Stand users, you have the option to refuse and pick a different hero." He said, turning to the two students in question. Todoroki nodded his acknowledgement, and Bakugou grunted.
"The rest of you will be taking the same list of heroes to shadow. Pick three options, and rank them in the order you'd prefer. There's no guarantee you'll go with your first, or even second pick. They may end up taking another student. That's why it's important to be open."
He gave the stack of papers to Yaoyorozu, who began distributing them to the non-stand using students.
"Another thing to mull over, while you do this. You'll be selecting Hero Names, which you'll use during your job shadowing. Be sure to take it seriously. These names could very well stick. Mister Fugo will oversee that."
Ochako had to put more thought into the specific hero she'd follow, as she'd already had a name in mind. But even that didn't take too long, and she ended up turning her paper in with Gunhead's name at the top.
Once everyone had finished their selections, Purple Haze gave a number of whiteboards and markers to Hirose and Yaoyorozu, who passed them out to the class.
"I'll give you a few minutes to think about this before we start sharing the names. Try and make it good." He said, ending with a light, easy smile.
Ochako finished hers quickly, and used the time to watch the others. The Morioh crew and a few others finished quickly as well, but most took a minute. Iida and Bakugou were the last to finish. They took a while just staring down at their boards and frowning, for a long enough time that it began to draw attention.
Finally, they too put down something, and Fugo clapped his hands.
"So, who wants to share?"
Ashido went up first, amd revealed a board saying 'Alien Queen'. Ochako didn't quite like the name, and many of the others seemed to share her sentiments, but the teacher just shrugged and said 'if you're okay with that'.
The next one up was Kujo.
"Well, it's a pretty obvious name, considering, you know… but, here." He flipped his board to reveal the words 'Soft and Wet', which caused the teacher to suddenly start choking.
He stood straight up quickly enough, and pounded a fist on his chest to stop his coughs, before shooting an incredulous look at Kujo.
"That is- you're one of the Stand users, right?"
"Yeah? What's wrong?"
"Is that the name of your Stand?" Fugo frowned as he spoke, his eyebrows knitted together and raised high in an incredulous stare.
"Yes?" Kujo looked back at him blankly.
"Well… in that case, I guess I don't have a reason to override you… I guess we should just be grateful we're not in an English speaking country..."
Ochako didn't really understand what was so bad about it herself. A look around the room showed most wore blank looks of confusion to match with Kujo's. All but Yaoyorozu, who was poorly hiding a grimace.
Weird.
"Okay, next?"
It went on as expected. The other Stand users, rather expectedly, took the same name as their Stands. It wasn't too surprising when Todoroki quietly went up and revealed his own name, but it was when Bakugou did the same. She kinda expected something boisterous and obnoxious from him.
Iida was the last to go. He flipped over his board, showing off 'Ingenium' to the entire class, and didn't say a word.
Fugo quirked an eyebrow. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Japan already have a hero named that?"
"My brother. He retired recently."
If Ochako had been sitting in the back she probably wouldn't have heard him. His voice was strangled, and so quiet, and it was filled with an emotion she couldn't recognise.
"Ah, I see. Well, in that case, wear it with pride." Purple Haze turned back to the class. "That concludes the name choosing. It was nice to have met you all. We'll be seeing each other later on in the school year. Some of you will be seeing me sooner. For now, I must take my leave."
Ochako frowned, trying to puzzle out that last comment in her mind.
The train stopped, and they all began to filter off.
"Wait, we're all going the same way?" Josuke wondered. "I didn't think it was weird that we took the same train, but everyone is stopping at Hosu?"
"Yeah, it makes sense. For the four of us, at least. I figure we're probably all going to shadow the Higashikatas. They're the only Stand wielding heroes in the country, after all." Yasuho said.
"So we'll be placed with Speed King." Kyo said, quietly.
"Yeah. But I don't get why you are here, Iida. No offense." Yasuho added.
"The hero I'm with is Manual. He's a local hero, based here in Hosu. He's supposed to be good for work shadowing and interns. That's why I chose him." Iida was strangely quiet, Josuke thought. He was always serious, but he was usually much more outspoken, loud, and physically expressive.
"That explains Iida." He said. "But as for everyone else… well, I was a little confused, because Nori- Mister Higashikata texted me, and told me to meet him here in Hosu. I figured everyone else would be going to Morioh..."
Privately, he was pleased. This meant he'd probably be working with Yasuho at points. And he could bring up that idea he'd been playing with. Norisuke might agree to it.
"Haato told me to come here too. They're probably gonna meet us there and drive us back to Morioh, y'know?" Joshu said.
"That makes no sense." Kyo interjected. "Why wouldn't they just get us at the apartment if that was the case. Hosu isn't any closer than Musutafu. Besides, I was told to go to a conference room. That hardly sounds like I'm getting picked up."
"Ugh, who gives a shit?"
Kyo rolled her eyes but otherwise ignored Joshu.
They walked along the road, mostly quiet, but for the occasional chatter between Josuke and Yasuho. Even that was strangely infrequent. Iida's mood seemed infectious.
They weren't even that surprised when he turned onto a different street and split from them without a word.
"Uh, bye Iida..." Yasuho said, her tone tentative. Uncertain.
"Goodbye." He said, without looking back.
The four of them continued on the same way, finally coming to a stop in front of the same building. The front door was unlocked, and they'd already been told to let themselves in beforehand.
The interior was a lobby, with several businessmen and women waiting in chairs off to the side. They walked up to the receptionist.
"Hello, I'm here for conference room 12?" Josuke said.
"Me too. I think all of us are." Yasuho added. No one contradicted her.
"Go on up to the second floor. They're already here, and they sent word that they were expecting you."
"Thank you." She said.
They made their way up, and passed by several rooms, before coming to the one marked 12. Upon entering, Josuke took note of three figures sitting around a table. All were dressed in their hero costumes.
"Come in, come in." Norisuke said. "We need to catch the four of you up."
Josuke took in his appearance for a moment before entering. It was the first time he'd had seen the man's work outfit. The base was almost street wear, a pair of pants and a t-shirt, only made notable by the multicoloured puzzle piece pattern.
The pants appeared to be slacks, at least in composition. That was kinda weird, Josuke felt. He'd never seen slacks with graphics before.
A pair of gauntlets were attached to Norisuke's arms, with nozzles in the palms. Josuke knew he had the same Quirk as Joshu, which let him emit a sticky substance from his hands. He expected the gauntlet worked with that Quirk.
The four of them wandered in and took their seats. As they did so, they looked at the room's third pro hero with confusion in their eyes.
"The three of us have undertaken the same case. It may be a bit unorthodox, but we'll all be working together on this one. Not to worry though, we'll still be taking some time to train those specifically assigned to us." The sole woman, Higashikata Haato, said.
Her own outfit was more… fashionable. A long white dress, a pearl necklace, and a pair of high heels. Josuke wasn't entirely sure it was her hero outfit, he just assumed it to be, considering the other two.
"Paisley Park, Born This Way, you two will be shadowing me." Pannacotta Fugo looked across the table at them all, an almost bored expression on his face.
He was wearing the same outfit as he had in school, but all the teachers wore their hero outfits at UA. Josuke was more surprised by his presence than his apparel.
"Uh, Mister Fugo, you have a Stand?" Yasuho asked.
"While we're interacting in a professional manner, you'll be expected to call me Purple Haze. And yes. In fact, that's the reason the three of us have been put on the same case."
"And what is that?" Kyo asked.
"From the reports given by Ingenium, it would appear that the Hero Killer Stain has manifested a Stand." Norisuke said. "As such, the Hero Association has called on us to stop him. Our goal is to take him alive. After all, if he has a Stand, he may have information regarding the League of Villains."
The older man locked eyes with Josuke, and he understood. The mission they were working together on. This would be an opportunity to get the healing Stand from Whitesnake.
It was a damn tall building, Katsuki thought, as he climbed up the stairs. The guy only had two damn sidekicks and one intern, what the hell did he need all that space for?
"Hey, what's with that scary look? You should be happy! Sir rarely requests a student!" What was worse was this damn upperclassman blathering on in his ear.
"Yeah."
"I gotta say, I'm a little surprised. You don't really seem like his type! Usually he likes to pick someone with a bit less uh… well." The older student threw back head with a hearty laugh. It was annoying as shit. "Anyways! A word of advice before you go in? Sir might have asked for you specifically, but that's not the same as him acknowledging you. If you want him to acknowledge you, you'll have to make him laugh!"
"What kinda dumbass shit is that?"
"Hey, it's the truth."
"Whatever."
They finally reached the top of the needlessly long staircase, and came to the office door. Rather than knock, Katsuki elected to push the door open and stride on in.
Sir Nighteye was sitting down, and had clearly been waiting for them. His eyebrows were furrowed, and a frown covered his lower face. It was a grim look.
"Thank you for coming. Togata, please wait outside."
The upperclassman nodded, leaving Bakugou alone with the hero.
"So. You're All Might's successor. You don't look like much." Sir Nighteye was even more stunningly dour in person.
"Throw me at a villain and see for yourself." Katsuki stated, standing straight and grinning.
Sir Nighteye didn't seem very impressed, however. If anything, his countenance seemed to grow even darker. "Is that it? You can win a fight?"
"I can win every fight." Liar. He thought to himself. You can't even beat up a lizard with a camera. He didn't let his grin waver.
"Is that what makes a hero? Is All Might great because he wins every fight?" Katsuki noticed the use of the present tense, and filed that away for later.
"Yeah. He struck fear into the hearts of villains everywhere. It took a Stand to take him down."
"And there it is." Sir Nighteye said.
Katsuki raised an eyebrow.
"Your motive. What you'll achieve. Fear. If all you want to do is inspire fear, you may as well be another villain."
He clenched his fist hard at that. What the fuck?
Katsuki took several steps forward and leaned over the desk, until he was face to face with Sir Nighteye.
"What the hell does that mean? I'm gonna stop the fucking villains, that's a hero's job!"
"A hero job isn't just stopping villains. It's saving people." If he was bothered by Katsuki being in his face, he didn't show any signs of it.
"Obviously." Katsuki snorted hard, showing just what he thought of that. "And people get saved when villains get stopped."
"No, they don't. That might save someone from the immediate danger, but it doesn't save their hearts. There is no future for a society without humour."
The older man's rebuttal was delivered in low monotone. Where's the humour in that? He wondered.
But something odd was shining in the man's eyes. Somewhere beyond the sudden thrumming of anger in his veins, Katsuki was realising Sir Nighteye was fanatical in his belief in humour. Fanatics never acknowledged their own hypocrisy. I'm the same way with winning. Something in his gut clenched at that, but he pushed it to the side. Easy enough to do. He just had to replace it with the ever present rage. He'd gotten used to that.
"What the actual fuck are you talking about? If you think heroes have to tell jokes all the time, replace your sidekicks with stand up comics." Katsuki laughed, but it was so low and bitter it sounded more like a cough. He pushed his face even further into Sir Nighteye's space, until he and the pro hero were nearly nose to nose, and continued in a dark murmur. "See if that stops a rampaging villain."
Nighteye scoffed, narrowing his eyes at Katsuki. But he leaned back all the same. Score.
"You must know I'm aware of One for All."
"Yeah, no shit. Why the hell else would All Might's former sidekick request me personally?" The tenser part had seemed to pass, and Katsuki straightened back up as he spoke, exiting Sir Nighteye's personal space.
"I never thought you should inherit it, and all you've done since arriving is convince me you're unworthy."
Again, no shit. Katsuki thought. Join the club.
"Then why are you bothering with me? What do you get out of it?"
"Togata should have inherited it." Nighteye said in a mild tone. Like they were friends, talking about what they'd have for lunch or some shit.
Katsuki barked out another laugh.
"What? That obnoxious idiot? You've gotta be kidding. And don't think you can dodge the fucking question."
"He's the number one student in UA. In fact, he's closer to taking the number one hero spot than most pros. That alone should convince you, since you seem to believe might makes right."
Katsuki ground his teeth so hard he could hear the creaking in his ear, but he didn't dispute the remark.
"But much more importantly, there is always a smile on his face. Whenever he's around, you hear laughter. That is the most necessary quality for a hero. For All Might's successor." Sir Nighteye paused, and breathed out a sigh. He rubbed his eyes with two fingers, pushing his glasses up in the process.
"Did you know All Might was originally Quirkless? In those days it was more common, but it's still worth noting."
Katsuki's heart seemed to stop, and a faint taste of bile rose up in his mouth. He looked at the pro hero, and for a moment the yellow in his hair was washed away. The green hair turned into a tousled mop, and the glasses disappeared, replaced with freckles. Why am I thinking about that all of a sudden?
Sir Nighteye pressed on, ignorant to Katsuki's internal reverie.
"One for All can give anyone power, that doesn't matter. Togata is the kind of hero who can save a person's heart. He can inspire others.
"And no, I'm not trying to dodge your… effing question." The hero's nose crinkled while he recalled Katsuki's words, as though he smelled something foul. "You're here so I can show you exactly how much you don't deserve this power. You're here to learn."
A sea of negative emotions was roiling in his gut, waves of hate and shame crashing down until he couldn't differentiate them. It all mixed in to one strange misery, pointed in every so many directions he couldn't keep track of it all.
Katsuki was about ready to leave, there and then, and say fuck the job shadowing, when Sir Nighteye stood up straight.
"We have a training facility in this building. Follow me, and we'll begin." Well, that was just about the best damn thing the man had said since Katsuki arrived.
The churning inside him wasn't quelled, but he did his best to push it to the side, and grudgingly walked with the hero.
Togata was in the hall, holding some can he'd gotten from a vending machine. In front of him was one of Sir Nighteye's sidekick's, Centipeder. The two were happily chatting, but Sir Nighteye called out to Togata, bidding him to join them as they made their way to the gym.
He still wasn't too happy with the way this was turning out, but he figured training was the perfect time to show what he could do. Maybe then I can convince someone I'm worthy.
Principal Nedzu's face flashed in his mind. The fucking rat had its ugly muzzle twisted in some version of a grimace. That long mouth had been grimacing at him since the two of them had first begun to truly interact. Katsuki wasn't sure he could remember any other look daring to grace the rat's face anymore.
"I'm choosing you." Blood in my mouth. The villains nearby had been so wrapped up in their fight, they weren't paying attention. All Might had been so quiet. Even Todoroki hadn't heard. "Your drive… I believe in it. I really do. You'll do great things."
Why? Why me? Why waste something like that on this? But distraught as he was, the sadness inevitably turned. One moment he was swimming, the misery sliding underneath his skin, slick around his bones. The next, it had morphed into rage. Heat poured out from his heart, pounding through his veins 'til his temples throbbed. Katsuki thought about Nedzu, and Sir Nighteye. How fucking dare they? How dare they doubt All Might? Doubt me?!
The mood swing was abrupt, but he was used to it. He reveled in it, really. He only had so many feelings he could process at a time, and anger was by far the best. It's familiar, at this point.
"How often are you going to retreat into your own head?" Sir Nighteye's voice, scornful as it was, shook him from his thoughts. "This isn't the first time I've seen it happen, and I've just met you."
They'd arrived. Katsuki elected to ignore him, and looked around the room.
The training facility was big, at least enough to somewhat justify the size of the place. A wide variety of weights lined one of the walls, near a bench press. There was a punching bag, a treadmill, and a few other assorted strength and endurance training machines. But the major draw was a large ring, centered directly in the room. Katsuki grinned, and cracked his knuckles.
"Alright, Bakugou." Sir Nighteye sighed. "Time to see what you can do. Get in the ring. You too, Togata. First to get knocked out of bounds, fall unconscious or yield loses."
Well, now he had a way of relieving the anger.