November 13, 2317
The high-strung vibe surrounding the school in the weeks following the tournament finally began to die down around the middle of November. Classes had begun ramping up in the tournament's conclusion due to the fast-approaching mid-terms, but if he were honest, Lyon wasn't worried about them in the slightest. The curriculum put forth by the school so far had been challenging for sure, but at the end of the day, it was nothing spectacular. Although, judging from the panic slowly starting to creep into the campus, maybe everyone didn't see eye to eye with him. That, in itself, was nothing new.
Then there was the matter of their missing classmate. Even weeks later, the absence of Melody still appeared to weigh heavily on most of their year. Outside of class, Lyon could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Narruk (though that was also in large part due to his shame over the tournament). Nathan was also in bad shape from his observations; his quiet detachment from the first week had melted into aggression, and Lyon was certain that he and the principal were on a first-name basis by this point. It was a curious situation. As far as he knew, Kira and Andi had been the only ones to have been contacted by Melody, and even then, it was only for a short phone call to tell them she was safe. Anything more than that was still a complete mystery.
And so, Lyon carried about his normal routine as if nothing had changed, believing there was no use worrying over matters he had no control over. His day began like every other. He woke up before dawn, ate a quick but hearty breakfast, and then began his morning exercises.
Of the few other students awake at that hour, Lyon was the only one not bundled up against the early morning chill. He couldn't help but stare curiously at these students. 'Hm, despite how unpleasant it seems, I would one day like to feel 'Winter's Bite', as it were. It must be intense for them to wear such heavy clothing. I wonder if it's a strange sensation being able to see your own frozen breath,' he thought idly as he ran.
After two laps around campus, Lyon shed his t-shirt and went about with his usual morning meditation and stretches. As the sun finally rose, more students began to flood onto the grounds. He greeted a sour-looking Andrew as the boy passed, on his way to do his own training, as well as a few other typical early birds. He was thankful whenever it was someone from his year that passed by, as they were the only ones that didn't look at him as if he'd set himself ablaze. 'I do suppose it isn't exactly typical to go shirtless in thirty-degree weather,' he conceded as a pair of sophomore girls passed by, giggling to themselves.
"You alright there, Lyon?" Rune asked, stopping mid-stride. As usual, the younger Holl looked as if he hadn't slept at all, which Lyon knew to be untrue. He'd never seen anyone sleep more than Rune or Oliver, the former due to his Quirk and the latter to laziness. It had become a common theme amongst those in the boy's dorm to place wagers on which of them would sleep the longest. Lyon himself never partook. He wouldn't want the rest of the dorm going broke, after all.
"I'm doing brilliantly." Rune hummed thoughtfully before plopping down a little distance away, his back against a large oak. He yawned and tried, in vain, to rub the sleep from his eyes.
"Man, Ms. Honoka worked us to the bone yesterday. Be thankful you don't have practicals on your midterms as freshmen. I think training is worse than the actual tests," Rune complained. Lyon grinned but stayed silent.
Of all the students at USAEI, there were only two Lyon just couldn't ever get a read of. Clara was a special case. While he could never quite tell what mood she was in, her general demeanor fascinated him (he'd never seen someone so strong yet so weak). Rune, on the other hand, was the opposite. To the outside observer, he could be described as aloof or even introverted. Rarely taking part in the boy's dorm's general rough-housing, but somehow always there to pick up the pieces… quite literally in some cases. However, he was touted as the "Ace of the Forge" by many of his classmates. A riddle within an enigma.
"Speaking of midterms, you nervous? Freshmen and seniors always get it the worst. More pressure to succeed on those two years than the middle two combined," Rune asked, raising an eyebrow as Lyon shook his head.
"Not quite. In fact, I'm rather excited about the prospect of putting everything I've learned to the test." The upperclassman chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"You're an odd one. For some reason, though, I believe you. I doubt you've ever been perturbed by anything before," Rune remarked. He pushed himself to his feet with a grunt and stretched his arms above his head. "Alright, enough chatter. You'd better go get changed here soon; the bell's gonna ring in fifteen. Do me a favor and make sure Oliver's awake, yeah? That boy's gonna be the death of me."
"Of course. Good luck with your test review." Rune's posture slumped, and he let out a low whine as he began walking away.
"You just had to remind me, didn't you?" Lyon watched as the boy walked away before glancing at his watch. 'Suppose I'll have to cut my routine a bit short this morning. Where did the time go? Oh well. Mr. Holl did say he had big news for today's homeroom period,' he recalled, making his way back to the dorm. It was most likely another practical lesson that bordered on insanity, but lessons like those had quickly become Lyon's favorite.
As it turned out, Rune's request to check on Oliver was fully warranted. While the boy had seemingly changed in some ways (Lyon had been stunned when the boy had participated in an exercise during combat training without being threatened), he was still the same Oliver. Waking the boy up was no easy feat either, and in the end, Lyon resorted to lighting a literal fire under the boy's feet. The important thing was that it succeeded; besides, the scorch mark would come out in the wash.
He made sure to impress the need for urgency on his classmate (though it most likely went over his head) before retreating to his own dorm room to prepare for the day of classes ahead.
Purpose of a Hero
Holl's 'big news', as it turned out, would have to wait. Like most mornings, their teacher was running very late. Ten minutes after the late bell rang, Oliver stumbled in and promptly collapsed into the desk beside Lyon, but still no Mr. Holl. Ten minutes turned into fifteen, and, with still no sign of their teacher, Class FH2 descended into chaos. Lyon had to give his teacher credit for putting Kira and Clara beside one another on the seating chart, but obviously, his attempt at getting them to end their feud was in vain. Their shouts woke up Oliver, who, in turn, dumped out his bag and shoved his head inside. Ever the peacekeeper, Andrew got up from his seat and began making his way over to them.
Behind Lyon, Lyle was poking at Narruk (a bad idea), while Epiphany and Sirius tried to encourage and dissuade him, respectively. On the other side of the room, it was clear that Alexander had finally discovered his sister's secret boyfriend and was in the middle of chewing her out. For once, Eris didn't immediately shoot back at her brother. Instead, she was reading aloud as she texted said boyfriend.
All-in-all, a very typical morning in classroom six.
Thirty minutes of their hour-long homeroom had passed before the door swung open, and a tired-looking Holl entered. The man tossed his bag onto his desk and turned to face the class. There was a fire in his gaze that Lyon recognized. Their teacher was furious. "I'd apologize for being late, but we all know I'm not, so let's go ahead and use the time we have left to get right into things."
"Mr. Holl–!"
"No, Kazani. Still no news about Halloway." Kira, who'd forgotten about her shouting match with Clara, lowered her hand and sunk dejectedly into her seat. From two seats behind him, Lyon heard Narruk growl, but before he could turn to investigate, Holl cleared his throat. "Regardless, the world must go on, and so do we. So, in these critical weeks before your mid-term exams, the Hero Council has decided it's the perfect time to begin their mentorship program. What this means is that due to the recent surge in villainous activity and, frankly, an alarming uptick in Pro Heroes deaths and disappearances, you kids are the answer."
Lyon's eyes widened as he realized the meaning behind their teacher's words. From the reactions of confusion or disbelief from some of his other classmates, it was clear that they, too, had figured it out. Then, of course, Clara had to make herself heard, as she always did. "They're finally sending us into the field? Wonderful."
"As eager as Ms. Ramirez seems to be, I want to impress on you just how dangerous this is. Which is why the Council has come up with some guidelines and rules to follow." There was a fair amount of venom in Holl's tone as he spoke. 'I suppose even Heroes will disagree with the Hero Council now and then. Quite an odd command structure, though I suppose it isn't totally dissimilar to other branches of government,' Lyon pondered, leaning forward in his seat as Holl produced a packet of papers from his bag. "For starters, students will not be sent into what are known as 'White Zones'. These are areas where crime is much more common and are usually patrolled by Pro Heroes or their sidekicks.
"Since you all are just freshmen, you'll be mainly working in 'Yellow Zones'. Crime here is less common and usually less violent in nature. You'll also be paired with an upperclassman to be your mentor of sorts, and no, you don't get to pick. I've paired each of you up with a student from Junior Hero Class One that I feel would work best with you." The class broke into excited whispers. Lyon had to admit, while practically the Council's solution was riddled with holes, he was quite excited. The opportunity to get field experience, as he understood it, was usually reserved for juniors and seniors.
"So, we're being relegated to meter maids then?" Clara interjected, clearly not pleased with the idea. Holl, instead of reprimanding her, simply grinned and flipped to the next page of the packet. If he hadn't been their teacher, Lyon was sure Clara would have torn into him for ignoring her. Her general lack of tact and horrible attitude seemed to be mostly reserved for her fellow students.
"While this is a good chance to gain experience, there are some caveats to this. To justify sending children into areas with any sort of criminal activity, you will be prohibited from actually confronting criminals. Instead, each student will be given a communications device that links directly to the Wireless Hero Network, where you can call for assistance from an actual Hero." Clara, and surprisingly a few other students, didn't appear very happy with this, but Lyon could see the logic. They were, in fact, still children, the oldest among them being barely fifteen. He couldn't imagine the media storm that would follow if they were being sent into active combat.
Back at the front of the class, Holl was flipping through the rest of the packet, rolling his eyes or scoffing at several intervals, before setting it down. He took a seat on the corner of his desk and looked out at them. After a moment, he shook his head and began to speak. "I'd be a shitty teacher if I didn't tell you how adamantly I fought against this plan. None of you should be anywhere near a battlefield until you're ready, which none of you are. You all begin these patrols in two weeks' time; I'd suggest you spend any free time you have preparing for it. Get to know your partner, come up with contingencies, familiarize yourself with the areas you'll be patrolling."
"Mr. Holl, what about Melody? What's she gonna do when she gets back?" Andi asked. To Lyon's surprise, Holl smiled.
"You don't need to worry about Melody. Her partner could be doing these patrols alone and be just fine, so no matter what, she'll have plenty of time to adjust when she returns," he explained, and Lyon had an inkling of who he was talking about. Melody would be more than fine with the Forge's Ace as her partner. Holl shot to his feet and clapped, his expression turning serious once more. From his pocket, he pulled out a small, well-worn notebook and flipped to a dog-eared page. "Speaking of partners and in the interest of time, I suppose we should start pairing you all up.
"Abrams, you'll be paired with Russ Gordon," Holl announced, making Andrew perk up slightly. From what Lyon could remember, Russ was the fidgety boy with a shrinking Quirk. Unfortunately, Mr. Holl didn't give him any more time to ponder the odd pairing as he began rattling off names from his book. Aria, you're with Rachel McAdams. Blackwood twins, you're with the Uliral twins, teach you both to work in teams better." Holl at least had the decency to shoot the twins an apologetic glance as they glared at him. 'Odd that he didn't specify which twin was with which. Hopefully, he gets to that before he forgets.'
"Ena with Carmen Bailando. Ferdinand with Nolan Cullen. Halloway with Holl. Ingram with Lotus Kieron. Kazani and Evan Biggs." So far, there didn't seem to be any objections with partners (excluding the Blackwoods, of course), though Oliver and Rylee both looked unsure. Perhaps they didn't know their partners… or perhaps they did. Lyon couldn't decide which would make them look so uncertain.
"MacAllister, you're with Tamako Nishikawa." There were a few murmurs, and looks of sympathy from the girls in his class as his new partner's name was called. 'That's odd. I've never heard of this person, yet they seem to have a reputation. I wonder why they're looking at me like it's a death sentence?' Holl paused for a moment as the class broke their silence, gave Lyon a pointed look, and continued. "McPherson, you'll be with Geoffrey Valmont. Mondronen and Taiga Naoto. Ramirez with Hector Bellanger. Suharto with Shaula Newton. Wilsk with Dominic Coore, and finally Wolfbane with Vance Lawton. Now, I've talked it over with the other teachers, and we've decided to give you the rest of the day off to spend getting to know your partners. Don't take this as an excuse to shirk your studies, though. While there's no practical, the midterms are still hellish if you're unprepared."
Purpose of a Hero
Immediately after Mr. Holl dismissed the class and stalked out with a sour expression, FH2 once again erupted. It seemed like the majority of the class was in good spirits, many of them leaving in twos and threes talking excitedly about their upcoming mentorships. After a moment of thought and deciding the risk of shattered eardrums was worth it in this situation, Lyon stood and approached Clara. "Fuck off, Flame Brain."
"Wonderful, thank you for asking," he responded. The girl's eyes narrowed, and she crossed her muscular arms threateningly over her chest.
"What do you want?" Perhaps bringing up the fact that this was the first sentence she'd ever said to him that wasn't derogatory in some way wasn't the best idea, so he instead settled for getting right to the point.
"Tell me about Tamako Nishikawa. There seemed to be a great deal of trepidation when her name was called earlier, and I can't help but wonder why?" Clara snorted and turned her glare on the few remaining girls left in the class.
"Don't know much about her, honestly. Keeps to herself when she isn't being a combative bitch." It took every ounce of willpower he had not to point out the hypocrisy in her words. Though the fact that Clara Ramirez, of all people, was referring to another person as 'combative' most likely explained the looks of sympathy from his classmates. "Oh yeah, she's always wearing this hazmat suit for some reason."
"Hazmat? You don't find that odd?" To his surprise, Clara shrugged apathetically.
"Why the fuck should I care? Now go away before I cave your face in."
Surprisingly, it appeared as if going to Clara had been the right call. He'd expected to be cussed out and have to ask one of his other classmates. Instead, Clara had given him enough information to build a baseline of the type of person his partner was. There was the matter of the 'hazmat suit', but he chalked that up to her Quirk. 'Perhaps her Quirk has something to do with radioactivity? Very interesting. I suppose meeting this Tamako is the only way to know for sure.' His path forward set, he set course for the girl's dormitory.
So far, he hadn't had much reason to venture to the tall, brick building that was strategically placed on the opposite side of the grounds from the boy's dorm. In most ways, it was quite similar to its counterpart. The only main difference he could spot at first were the inhabitants. As if she'd been expecting him, he was met at the front door by the head of the dorm. "Hey, Lyon, right?"
"Indeed, and you are Shaula. I've come to see Tamako Nishikawa." Shaula's smile faltered slightly, and she nodded briskly before inviting him in. The interior of the dorm was much less… chaotic than what he'd grown used to. There were no wrestling matches, no sign of broken furniture (though he noticed scorch marks, covered by a thin layer of paint, surrounding the kitchen door), and no raucous shouting (though he suspected that was due to the lack of a certain loudmouthed girl). The pink-haired girl looked over her shoulder at him as they walked.
"A few of your classmates told me you'd been partnered with Tamako. I figured it'd be best not to send you in blind." Lyon frowned. All the evidence so far – Clara's harsh description, the looks from his classmates, and now Shaula's actions – was beginning to play into his initial notion that Tamako was somewhat of a troublemaker. "I care a lot for all the girls under my watch, but Tamako is a complicated one."
"How so?" He inquired. Shaula bit her lip uncertainly, and her scorpion tail began to sway from side to side, its point passing very close to Lyon's face.
"Well, first of all, she hasn't been at the Forge very long. She was transferred here near the beginning of last year, and from what we understand, it was because she was kicked out of our sister school on the west coast." This was news to Lyon. 'There's another Forge?' Sensing his confusion, Shaula smiled brightly. "I say sister school, but that's not exactly right. The West Coast School for the Quirky is in no way affiliated with USAEI, but the schools do have a close relationship. Anyway, that's not the point. Tamako… she's incredibly bright, and I think she could be a brilliant Hero. She's just a little… rough around the edges."
A sad look crossed Shaula's face, but before he could ask, she stopped in the middle of the hallway, in front of a metal door, which struck him as strange considering the rest of the doors were made of wood. The nameplate beside it read 'Nishikawa'. Shaula sighed and knocked loudly on the door three times, the sound of flesh on metal reverberating through the hallway. There was a muffled voice behind the door, and Shaula gave him a shrug. "Usually takes her a minute to get her suit on."
There was a hissing sound as the door creaked open. From within the room emerged a figure in a large, dark green suit that covered her body entirely, right down to the gloves on her hands and heavy boots on her feet. From behind the transparent face cover, she glared at the visitors. "What the hell do you want?"
"Tamako, this is Lyon. He's the freshman you're going to be mentoring over the next few months," Shaula explained peppily, all her previous uncomfortableness seemingly gone. When Tamako turned to look at Lyon, her face scrunched up, like she'd just taken a bite of something bitter. To his credit, Lyon was unperturbed, grinning at the girl as if he couldn't see the disgust in her jade eyes. Tamako was the first to break away from their quick staredown and glared at the head of the dorm.
"No." In an instant, Shaula's energy seemed to fade, and she slumped her shoulders slightly.
"Tamako, I'm sorry, but you don't really have a choice in this matter. The princip–"
"You tell the principal that I'll babysit this little shit when he lets me participate in any sort of practical, yeah?" While Shaula's look turned sad, Lyon's eyes narrowed. Now that he thought about it, he didn't recall seeing Tamako in any of the highlights he'd watched from the upperclassmen tournaments a few weeks prior. The small threads of information he'd gathered began to knit themselves together.
"I see. Well, that certainly explains things," he muttered, drawing the attention of both girls.
"What?"
"It's your Quirk. Whatever it is, the faculty have deemed it too dangerous and have all but banned you from interacting freely with other students outside of the strict guidelines they've set, am I correct?" Tamako glared at him, while Shaula put a hand on his shoulder warningly. Of course, this practically confirmed his theory as fact in his mind. Lyon frowned and cupped his chin in thought. "Your Quirk must be very dangerous, but when you stop and think about it, that's no reason to put a stopper on your training. If anything, they should be embracing the challenge instead of pushing you into a corner."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Tamako demanded, her expression laced with fury. Behind him, Shaula sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, already knowing where this would lead. Lyon ignored both of them, instead taking a step closer and examining the girl's bizarre outfit.
"Based on the composition, your Quirk is not radioactive. No, if I had to wager a guess, I'd say mildly to severely poisonous. Though that brings up the question of why they wouldn't just administer the antidote to those affected and allow you to take part with other students."
"There is no antidote," Tamako answered, apparently inadvertently judging on the way she stiffened and looked away afterward. Once again, Lyon found his theory is confirmed, though, in this instance, he wasn't quite sure how that knowledge helped him. Something about this whole situation still bugged him.
"Tell me, what events transpired that led to you being transferred to USAEI in the first place?" She didn't answer him. Rather, she slammed the door behind her before taking off down the hall, deaf to Shaula's pleads for her to come back. Once she turned the corner and was out of sight, Shaula groaned and hung her head.
"That went well."
"I agree entirely," Lyon responded, his grin returning. Shaula looked at him as if he were mad. Then, she chuckled and shook her head.
"Your classmates were right when they told me you were weird. I'm assuming you have a way to fix this, then?" She asked. Despite her light tone, there was a glint of worry in her eyes. 'She wasn't lying when she said she cared. Though, I suppose Rune does as well based on his actions. It's good to finally be able to see the diversity of human emotions in person. Books just don't seem to capture it as well.' Still staring down the hall where Tamako had disappeared, Lyon shrugged.
"I have a few ideas. Needless to say, I can't wait for our work together to begin." There were just a few things he had to prepare first. He reached around and grabbed his notebook for history class from his backpack. He tore out a blank page and held it against the wall as he began to write. After he was done, he folded the paper and placed it on Tamako's door handle. Shaula gave him a questioning look, but he just smiled and allowed her to lead him back to the dorm entrance. His plan was in motion, and he was determined to understand Tamako Nishikawa. First, though… he had to find Lyle.
Purpose of a Hero
T-Minus One Day until the 2nd Anniversary! Not much has changed since yesterday, but I did forget to mention (at least to you few non-discord people. If there still are any of you besides Delphox - who should be happy to hear a bit more about Taiga) that these chapters are very loosely if at all beta'd. Three chapters in three days seemed like too much, so I decided fuck it. I'll read over and edit any mistakes I see myself (much less effective), and we can revisit them at a later date.
And yes, this chapter is half exposition and half setting up a future chapter. Don't yell at me.
Also, this chapter is the official end of the Tournament Arc. The next chapter will be the beginning of the Through the Veil Arc.
Anyway, on to the preview!
Next Time on the Purpose of a Hero
Chapter 50: Revelations
(Technically Chapter 51 for those of you on AO3…. there aren't many to be fair)