EDIT: 19/07/2018

First let me clarify that Ryouka signed the contract with her own free will. She was persuaded, not forced. Ok she might be forced to come to listen to Recovery Girl's persuasion, but if she really didn't want to be Recovery Girl's apprentice she will never agree to it. Please don't take this story too seriously! This was originally meant to be a crackfic after all.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

No. 4 Goodbye

Ryouka had been alive for a long time, and during those lifetimes, she had acquired a lot of skills.

One of them was haggling.

With great satisfaction, she managed to rip Recovery Girl and Nedzu-sensei off by making them agree to pay her a 3500 Yen per hour salary for her service as All Might's healer and Recovery Girl's sidekick, which was a pretty damn good salary for a part time job—2500 Yen above the minimum hourly wage for most Heroes' sidekicks.*

Ryouka might not want to be a Hero or a Sidekick or whatever it was you called them, but if she absolutely had to be one, she sure as hell would reap as much benefit from it as possible.

It sure made her wonder where the heck they got all that money from though. Even U.A.'s building was really lavish—the training facilities were top notch too, yet the tuition was not that expensive for such an outstanding school. Maybe the government was backing them financially? Well, whatever. Not her business to know where the money come from as long as she got paid the amount they'd agreed on.

Anyway, with her meal provided by the school, her tuition covered from the scholarship they promised her, and her hourly wage such a large amount, all in all it wasn't that bad of a deal. The only downside was that she had to be careful not to reveal her magic and that Recovery Girl had the right to call her for fieldwork at any time if there's an emergency.

Ryouka mentally lamented the fact that she probably will lose quite a few nights of sleep after this. Her skin was going to look terrible.

Oh well, nothing that a good nutrients potion or a blemish balm wouldn't help.

After the number was agreed upon, Recovery Girl told her to finish up her uniform and Hero costume application form, but Ryouka didn't know what to put in her Hero costume so it took her a long time to finish. In the first place, why did Heroes even have to wear costumes? Wasn't it embarrassing and impractical to wear something so gaudy in public?

Grumbling under her breath, she finally just scribbled some words on the 'Preferred Design' section of the page.

'I don't really care what it looked like as long as it's durable, comfortable, easy to wear, and easy to move in. Please don't make it too revealing or gaudy, or I'll come to the field just wearing T-shirt and old sweatpants.'

"Are you finished yet, Ibuki-chan?" Her soon-to-be Master asked curiously.

Ryouka frowned at that, feeling that the old lady somehow became more genuine with her. Was it because she agreed to all these troubles with All Might?

"I do, actually. Where do I drop this off?" Ryouka asked casually, quickly adjusting the forms so that Recovery Girl couldn't see what she had written in the preferred design section.

"The support department," the old healer reminded her patiently. "It's quite far from here—in the other side of the campus. Are you sure you're alright alone?"

Ryouka shrugged. "Probably. I'll just ask someone if I get lost."

"Do not worry, for I am here!" All Might suddenly yelled, standing up as he transformed back into his muscle form with a small poof of smoke. When Ryouka, Recovery Girl, and the Principal stared at him for his interruption, the No. 1 Hero blushed and scratched his cheek clumsily.

"I-I mean, I can take young Ibuki there. It shouldn't take more than several seconds." All Might explained, moving his hands awkwardly to make his points before he stopped, looking down at Ryouka's indifferent stare. He gulped visibly, before continuing in a quiet voice, "If she wants to, of course."

Ryouka felt her lips quirking upwards involuntarily.

The man, with his heroism and muscly body and face that looked like they came out straight from an American comic book, was actually a dork. That's kind of… adorable, actually.

"Sure, why not." Ryouka agreed, voice laced with only a hint of amusement. Inside though, she was thoroughly enjoying herself seeing the untouchable hero acting flustered like a schoolboy. "If we're going to spend a lot of time kissing—I mean, healing—in the future, it would be a good idea for us to know each other better anyway."

"K-kissing—" All Might sputtered, waving his hands around him in panic, his face flushing hotly even as his everlasting grin stayed in place. "T-that—I-I didn't mean for—"

Ryouka couldn't help it. She snorted loudly.

"I'm just teasing." Ryouka said, hiding a smile behind her hand. "You don't have to worry, All Might-sensei. I am not interested in you in that way so you don't need to be conscious of me."

Without waiting for the blond man's reaction, she stood from her seat, gathering the papers she need to submit to the support department.

"Come, All Might-sensei. The sooner I submit this paper, the sooner I can go home and rest." Ryouka said, nodding her head at the Principal and Recovery Girl to tell them she was leaving before she went to the door, leaving All Might there in the room, still gaping at her disappearing back.

"You sure do pick an interesting person to join us, Chiyo-sensei." Principal Nedzu said, sipping his tea calmly as he watched the commotion.

Recovery Girl laughed at his words.

"That she is, Nedzu-chan." The old lady chuckled softly before she sipped her own tea, a proud but somehow sad feeling settling inside her tiny, old heart.

"That she is."

.

.

.

Done with the transferring school business, Ryouka went home after being dropped in the hallway near the front gate by the No. 1 Hero.

As thanks for dropping her there (she didn't want to walk all the way there—U.A's campus was huge, alright) she asked the skeletal-looking Hero to bend down to her height so that she could reach his face and pressed her lips onto his. He jerked, startled by her sudden action, but was compliant when she pried his mouth open and breathed out her Spring of Life into his lungs.

"There you go. Do you feel better?" Ryouka asked him casually. As she expected, the poor hero was shocked speechless. How amusing, she thought inwardly. His face was so red that Ryouka wondered how he didn't faint from all the blood pressure.

Ryouka could see the visible signs that her quirk had worked even without hearing All Might's answer though. The hero's complexion looked healthier, he stood a little straighter, and his hands stopped trembling. He must be just acting tough before even though he must be in quite some pain.

Ryouka knew that in addition to healing them, her quirk gave a certain 'refreshing' feeling for the recipient and gave them some boost in energy, so he would be fine for now—until he acted recklessly and overexerted himself, at least.

Ryouka pressed her lips together.

'Heroes. Always so self-sacrificing.'

"Well, I'm going. Thanks for the ride, Hero," Ryouka said to her soon-to-be patient for the year. All Might managed to compose himself better this time as he let out a small chuckle and nodded at her.

"Thank you for healing me too. I feel better already," the hero said awkwardly and Ryouka smiled a little at that.

"I'm glad. Because I'm exhausted now. Your injuries are more serious than they appear to be. Take care now."

Without waiting for a response, Ryouka turned back and started walking towards the gate, leaving the No. 1 Hero behind.

Since the meeting with her employers took only a few hours, it was still midday when Ryouka stepped outside of the prestigious school's vicinity so she decided to walk leisurely around the town before she finally head back to the train station because she had nothing to do at home anyway.

As she walked through a shopping district near the station, a brochure plastered onto the glass window of a beauty salon caught her eyes.

'A haircut, huh…' Ryouka mused silently.

Ryouka took a lock of her hair and stared at it wistfully. She had grown her hair long and untamed to hide her face so no one would notice her, but… it's not like she needed a disguise anymore right? She had been discovered, and it was a pain trying to see through her bangs.

Ryouka sighed and dropped her hands back to her side.

This was it for her.

She was going to lose her anonymity after this no matter what she does, wasn't she?

It wasn't that Ryouka regretted any of her actions that ultimately brought her to this point in life. She didn't even blame Recovery Girl for doing what she did—not when she found out the reason behind her actions. No, she was the one who couldn't let go of her saving-people thing even though she had sworn to herself that she was going to have a perfectly normal life for once, after everything that happened in her previous lives.

She was the one who decided to save that girl's father, and she was the one who decided to be All Might's healer—because she knew how it felt to want to save people no matter what happened to himself.

She had been in his place before. She had even died a martyr, more than once, in her previous lives. She understood his need to protect people, which was why she knew he won't be stopped. The only thing the people around him could do was provide support—either until there was no evil left in the world for him to conquer or until he burned himself out trying to do it, and Ryouka might be trying to stop being a hero, but she wasn't heartless.

Still, she wondered if she made the right decision. She loved the freedom that anonymity had given her. It was just a taste, but that little taste she had was wonderful. But… if she was going through with all of this, she will lose everything that she tried to build ever since she was born to this world. Was she ready for it?

Ryouka scowled, annoyed at herself.

Since when did she became such a coward? The "her" from her previous lives would be rolling in their graves now, if they were actually separate people.

There was no point in being hesitant and second-guessing everything. It was happening whether she was ready or not, so she better be ready for it. There was no point in dawdling around, wondering if it was the right decision or not. She was never the one to think things thoroughly anyway.

Besides, even if she hadn't accepted the offer to be All Might's healer, she still wouldn't have a normal life anyway.

Ryouka might have gotten lazy after all the times she had been alive, but she was not stupid. She knew how invaluable her so-called Quirk was in this world.

In her original world that she lived in as Harry Potter, a power like hers was simply fantastical. No magic could ever do something like she could now—that was why potions existed in the first place.

It might seem trivial at first glance, after all it wasn't flashy and explosive unlike most Heroes' Quirks, but healers could change the tides of a battle in a heartbeat—which was why they were so precious and desirable.

Ryouka knew how useful her Quirk was.

She also knew how fast rumors travelled.

Because of her actions all through last week with the strings of accidents that happened around her, people had begun to talk about her and she knew she had been getting some interest from the Villains' side too.

Recovery Girl was devious and might have tried to blackmail her, but she was harmless. If the Villains approached her though, she really would lost any chance of having a relatively normal life. Not only that, her family would be in danger too should she refused to go with them.

It was better for her to be under the Heroes' wings, who at least were not people who actively hurt people or cause terror on a daily basis.

The only thing she could do right now was move forward cautiously. These people only discovered her Quirk anyway. It wasn't that bad. She just had to heal some people. It wasn't like they knew she could do more than heal people. They didn't know about his magic, so she still would have a relatively normal life. She could even still write her novels too in her free time between healing people.

She rubbed her forehead, feeling tired and stupid now for overreacting and being dramatic about everything. Well, that's one thing that never changed no matter in which world she was in, she guessed.

With a sigh, she finally stepped inside the salon.

A new look for a new stage in her life.

Fitting, right?

Well, if anything else, at least she didn't have to cover herself up now.

She was quite fond of the body she currently resided in after all.

No. 4 Goodbye — End

*3500 JPY = 32.83 USD (26/02/2018)

PS: If you're wondering why I update so slowly it's because I'm currently writing my undergraduate thesis. I'm in the middle of escapism though so you're getting two (or even three) new chapters in these next few days!