AN: Walkmanapprenticewordsmith - I have this radical idea that Toga getting adopted into either Izuku or Ochako's families is actually the best way to achieve my two favorite Toga ships, TogaxTherapy and TogaxAcceptance. I am a firm believer that she needs those in her life before she needs romance - although in this story, she already has both of those, so it's just a matter of time…
Also as I'm discovering, Himiko as Izuku's big sister still allows for plenty of fun moments between them, even if the dynamic is familial.
James Birdsong - Thanks!
The students of class 1-A were led to the cafeteria, which has been divided into multiple makeshift sections. Taking in the scene, Izuku saw that Recovery Girl had taken over one corner of the cafeteria, turning it into a makeshift office to tend to the class. Right now she looked like she was examining Mashirao's broken arm. And then off in the far corner of the cafeteria, he saw Hanta was sitting down next to Ectoplasm and giving a statement to a pair of police officers.
Finally, there was a space with a number of tables covered in food and drink, which is where most of his classmates were settling in. Izuku saw that Tenya was already sitting at one of these tables, waving them over. Ochako and Tsuyu immediately began to head towards him, but Izuku decided not to join his friends yet. He turned to Himiko.
"Are you going to be ok?"
She glared back at him. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question?"
Izuku could only laugh nervously. "Y-yeah, probably."
"I'm better now that you are safe." She admitted. "We will talk later though - I uh, I should probably get going." She motioned towards the trio of third year students that were dressed in their hero costumes, slowly walking around.
Izuku watched as Himiko paired off with one of the third years and joined them in slowly patrolling the cafeteria before turning back to his own classmates, sitting in small groups at the tables. Seeing the expressions on some of their faces, he decided to check up on them. Other than his and Katsuki's encounter with the sludge villain last year, he wasn't sure if anyone else in the class had ever experienced actually being in a villain attack before, let alone one where they were the ones being attacked.
He had managed to check in with about half his classmates before Momo came up to him, her arm and shoulder wrapped in bandages.
"Midoriya, it's your turn to see Recovery Girl."
Izuku just shook his head. "I want to make sure everyone else is ok first."
That seemed to bother Momo. "Did you forget that we agreed to split duties?"
"N-no."
"Then I fail to see what the problem is. Checking on our classmates' welfare shouldn't fall on your shoulders alone."
Izuku sighed and glanced over to where his sister was, half-expecting her to be glaring at him. This feels like exactly the kind of setup she would arrange, given her opinions of his sacrificial nature. Fortunately for him, she seemed to be preoccupied talking to one of the third years, and that Momo had come to this conclusion on her own.
"No, you're right." Izuku conceded. "I'm sorry."
Momo just shook her head. "No need to apologize. You go get checked out, I'll check on the rest of the class."
Having relented, Izuku watched as Momo sat down next to Mina, Eijrio, and Katsuki and began talking to them before he walked over to Recovery Girl, sitting down nervously in a chair.
"So what did you do this time?" She asked.
Izuku sheepishly offered his hand. "I may have had to use full strength as part of my escape plan?"
Looking down at his hand, she sighed. "As troubling as it is, it appears you've learned enough control to minimize the damage. And it looks like you had someone splint it as well? I was expecting much worse from you."
Recovery Girl removed the splints and examined his fingers, making sure they would set properly before she used her quirk on Izuku. She then began wrapping his fingers in fresh bandages.
"It's really sad that I don't have to explain the next steps to you. Can you please try and stay out of trouble for more than 24 hours this time?"
Trying to suppress the wave of exhaustion from her quirk, Izuku managed a nervous smile. "I'll try!"
After a quick checkup to determine that nothing else was wrong, Recovery Girl finally dismissed him. Izuku managed to make it to the table where his friends were sitting before collapsing in a chair. Seeing his friend's exhaustion, Tenya helpfully pushed a drink and tray of snacks in front of him so that he could eat and regain some of his energy.
As Izuku began eating, Tenya spoke up. "I am glad I was able to make it to the teachers in time. I was worried I wouldn't be fast enough."
Izuku paused to offer him a reassuring smile. "No, it would have been a lot worse if you didn't escape."
"Yeah Iida, you were a hero today!"
"Those villains were scary, kero."
"Thank you! I must admit, it was difficult to leave. My initial instinct was to stay and fight."
"Well, that's why we're here, right?" Ochako chimed in. "If we knew what we were supposed to do all the time, we would already be working as heroes!"
"Indeed! You are right, Uraraka. Thank you."
The group descended into idle chatter, reassuring each other after the day's events. One by one, everyone in the class was seen by Recovery Girl, and taken to meet the police to give a statement about the day's events.
After a while, once all of the students were attended to, the class saw Principal Nezu enter the cafeteria, flanked by Present Mic, Vlad King, and Hound Dog. Once he had the student's attention, Vlad lifted Nezu up, where he began to sit on the teacher's shoulder.
"Good afternoon students! I wish I could address you under better circumstances, but unfortunately fate is not so kind."
Nezu paused for a moment, before continuing. "We have informed your parents of what has happened, and are preparing an assembly for all of the hero course students, which your parents will be allowed to view and participate in. But before then, I wished to speak to you directly."
"As strange as this may sound to you, I would like to congratulate all of you. Your first villain encounter is always going to leave a lasting impression on you, and by all accounts, your performance today was exemplary. To start, I am pleased to announce that I have been informed by Recovery Girl that all of you will be making full recoveries, for which I am thankful. In addition, we have heard promising news from the hospital - both Eraser Head and Thirteen are in stable condition, and are expected to recover."
"Now why am I congratulating you? It is because you all are trying to become heroes, of course! As future heroes, you will be expected to face villains on a regular basis. And you will be forced to do so in less than ideal circumstances. We seek to simulate these circumstances over the course of three years to test you and help you all become the best heroes you can be. And today, your actions have shown that you are all worthy of being heroes - and that you have bright futures ahead of you."
"However, that doesn't change the fact this happened before you were fully prepared for it. While Recovery Girl will vouch for your physical health, we also wish to stress the importance of your mental health. Therefore we are requiring everyone to schedule an appointment with Hound Dog, our resident therapist. Or, if you have a personal therapist, you may schedule a session with them and submit a note to exempt yourselves. If, after your session, you feel better about today's events you may stop, but there will be no shame if you require additional sessions to work through everything you had to deal with today. Another important lesson is that, whatever you imagined when you decided to join the hero course, the heroic profession is stressful and dangerous, and you must take care of yourself, both physically and mentally."
Izuku thought about it for a moment. He has seen Himiko's therapist several times in the wake of his mom finding out about Katsuki's bullying, and he seems to recall that they also specialize in therapy for heroes, because of course Nezu would suggest someone like that. He'd have to talk to his mom about setting up an appointment.
"Now then, before I depart, I would also like to let you all know that my door is always open. If you have questions or concerns that do not get addressed today, feel free to come by my office and I will gladly talk to you in private."
With those words, Nezu and the other teachers departed to prepare for the second, more public assembly. Class 1-A was given a few more minutes to finish their snacks and collect themselves before they were escorted to the main auditorium. When they arrived, they saw that the other five hero classes were already seated. As the students found their seats, Izuku watched as Himiko and the other upperclassmen continued past them to sit with their own classes.
Once everyone was seated, the students didn't have to wait long before they saw Nezu and the teachers enter the auditorium. The teachers arranged themselves on stage, while Nezu stepped up to the podium. Once they had all settled in, he began his speech.
"Greetings students, and greetings to all of the parents who are watching remotely. For those who don't know me, I am Nezu, the Principal of UA High School. Today, at approximately 12:40 PM, the students of class 1-A had arrived at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, one of our off-site facilities that is used to teach our students about being a rescue hero. However, shortly after they had arrived, tragedy struck. A group of villains, who have identified themselves as the League of Villains, had their own plans. Their stated goal was simple - they wished to kill All Might."
He paused momentarily while everyone was processing this information, waiting for the uproar to die down before he continued.
"Of course, they failed. All Might has had many attempts on his life over his 40 years of service, and today's attempt was no different. However, the fact that villains were willing to target him while he was in his role as teacher is most concerning."
"At UA, we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality education for our students, training them to become the best future heroes they can be. And this year we had sought to continue providing that quality of education by hiring All Might, Japan's beloved #1 hero, to our faculty as a teacher. We did so knowing that it would attract attention, but we made the decision to bring him onboard anyways, and even now, despite today's unfortunate events, I stand by my decision. All Might is an invaluable asset to our teaching staff, and his willingness to share his wisdom with the next generation of heroes is a unique and special opportunity for your children."
"Now I know this is merely a small comfort, knowing that your children were not the intended targets in all of this. After all, what is to stop them from being caught up in another attempt on All Might. And this is where I wish to assure you all that, even though our students were not the intended targets, we are treating them as if they were."
"We already have many security measures in place. Some of these are publicly known, such as our security gates which prevent entry if you do not possess the right identification, and there are many other security measures we will not discuss over an open line, to prevent their details from becoming public. Unfortunately, despite these measures, the League of Villains was able to circumvent them due to having someone with a teleportation quirk among their ranks. As any of the professional heroes on the line could attest, preparing to handle teleportation quirks is always a tricky situation at best. However, by revealing to us that there is someone with a teleportation quirk among their ranks, they have given us the opportunity to plan for that and update our security accordingly."
"Once again, I am not at liberty to discuss the details over an open line, but Higari Maijima and the rest of our support department are already brainstorming ideas to account for teleportation quirks. In addition, we will be reaching out to several hero agencies and support companies in the coming days for assistance. Furthermore, over seventy villains were also arrested today after the attack, and we will be working with local authorities to ensure justice is done, as well as to develop a clearer picture of what transpired before the attack."
"Rest assured, we are taking this threat against our faculty and students very seriously. We will not allow a repeat of today's events to happen in our school's facilities."
"Now then, if any parents have questions, we will open the line to answer them."
Izuku spent the next half hour only partially listening as Nezu fielded questions both from his classmates and from the parents, but he found himself distracted. All Might was not among the teachers present. To ease his troubled mind, he found himself mentally preparing a list of questions to ask his mentor, hoping to get some additional insight about today's events.
Inside of an empty bar, a black portal appeared and two figures stepped through.
"Damn those NPCs, pulling out special attacks like that." Tomura Shigaraki complained as he tried to flex his bandaged hand.
"Please try not to irritate the stitches, young master." Kurogiri replied as he walked behind the bar. "While the doctor we have is highly skilled, your hand still requires time to heal naturally."
Annoyed, Shigaraki pressed his bandaged hand down upon the soft cushion of a stool, until all of his fingers were touching the fabric. As he hoped, the chair immediately began to crumble into dust as his quirk activated.
"At least that mini-boss didn't deal permanent damage." Shigaraki mused. "But I won't underestimate him again."
A moment later a screen lit up behind the bar, and the voice of his sensei came through.
"Today was an unfortunate setback, but ultimately it does not interfere with our plans."
"All I saw was failure!" Shigaraki spit out.
"Calm yourself. Remember, there are lessons to be found even in failure. As long as you continue to learn, I will provide you with the resources to keep trying again, until you succeed."
Shigaraki sat down with a huff, and began scratching his neck. "I see. What you are saying is that even though we lost our fighter, I still gained experience points from the encounter."
"Precisely. And when the time comes, I will have additional Nomu prepared for you."
"Yes, we will need more next time." Shigaraki turned to the screen. "Our mistake this time was thinking we only had All Might to worry about, so we didn't go in with a full party. Instead we just brought those hirelings along, thinking they would be sufficient crowd control."
"See, you are learning. Take some time to recover and think about your next course of action, and then we will speak again."
The screen went blank again, and Kurogiri offered Shigaraki a drink and a plate with a sandwich on it. Shigaraki wasn't interested however, as he focused on his bandaged hand.
"There is also that mid-boss that revealed himself. I still owe him for what he did."
After giving his public speech and dismissing the students for the day, Nezu and the majority of the teachers reconvened in his office. While waiting for the teachers to file in, Nezu prepared tea, pouring himself a cup and setting out a kettle and additional cups for his teachers. Once the last teacher had arrived, Nezu pressed a hidden button underneath his deck, sealing the door and activating the anti-surveillance countermeasures he had built into his office.
"I am glad you could all join us." Nezu addressed the assembled staff.
"So, how bad was the attack today really?" Snipe asked, straight to the point.
"In terms of injuries, minimal. While both Aizawa and Kurose have suffered major injuries, they are both in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery. In addition, none of the students suffered injuries beyond the capabilities of Recovery Girl. Plus, thanks to the swift thinking of our students, All Might was able to keep his current condition a secret from both the villains and the students who were on site."
Nezu paused to sip some tea. "However, it has created a PR problem, and It has exposed significant weakness in our defenses, I am afraid. First, the PR problem. The villains themselves provided us with a convenient excuse in that they were making an attempt on All Might's life. But that still doesn't change the fact that today, twenty children under our care were attacked by villains. It calls our competence into question, and I am sure the HPSC would love nothing more but take advantage of this situation to remove some of our autonomy."
That caused an uncomfortable silence in the room.
"The second problem is it exposes an inherent weakness in our security systems. To speak honestly, our security was thoroughly compromised. They were able to teleport two different individuals into the USJ without triggering any of our early warning sensors, who then proceeded to use their quirks to not only disable all sensors within the facility, but then also suppress all communications into and out of the facility."
"That is extremely concerning." Kan said.
Nezu drank some more tea. "Fortunately, I think I have a plan to turn this to our advantage. However, before I discuss that there is one final concern raised by today's attack. I have reason to suspect this so-called League of Villains has a spy within the school itself."
That caused uncomfortable murmurs among the teachers.
"I am assuming you have proof of this?"
"Nothing definitive, no. However, there are several pieces of evidence. First there was the incident yesterday with the reporters. After collecting testimony from the students we can safely say that our gate was destroyed by the man who has identified himself as Tomura Shigaraki. Except, even with the chaos caused by the reporters there is no indication of a man matching his rather unique appearance inside the school itself yesterday. Even without his rather morbid costume of mummified hands, he has a unique appearance that I am sure would have been noticed."
Nezu paused a moment before continuing. "The second piece of information came from Shigaraki today. The way he was talking and acting, it was as if he was expecting All Might to be at the facility yesterday. And he was supposed to be - if he hadn't worn himself down earlier in the day. These two facts, when put together, indicate that he has some way of gathering information on our school's activities."
"Who would have known All Might's schedule?" Nemuri asked.
"That information would have been available to our hero course students and all of the teachers."
"So you are claiming someone from among those two groups is feeding him information?"
"Unfortunately. We will review the cameras a second time to confirm that Shigaraki was nowhere to be found on campus grounds. But, from the evidence we have available, it implies that he had someone on the inside that he was working with."
This caused the teachers to all begin talking at once, until Nezu raised a paw to silence them.
"Before anyone can think otherwise, I want to assure all of you that I trust everyone in this room implicitly. I would also add All Might, Aizawa and Kurose to the list. They would all be here if they weren't indisposed."
"So you think it is a student?"
"Unfortunately, yes. While we try to vet our students prior to the entrance exams, that doesn't change the fact that they are still children and could fall under outside influence."
This caused an uneasy murmur among the teachers, with Yamada speaking up. "I hate to even consider this, but what about the listener from my class, Midoriya? You have to admit a shapeshifting quirk would be ideal for a spy."
This earned him a shout of protest and a glare from Kan, which prompted Yamada to press his case. "I know she is your protege, but I've seen her file! The report on her background showed a lot of irregularities!"
Nezu jumped in, silencing the two teachers before their argument could escalate. "The irregularities displayed by her file would normally never have earned her admittance to this school, you are correct. However, I personally authorized the exemption. There are mitigating circumstances in Miss Midoriya's history, back from when she was known as Miss Toga. Details that Kan is also aware of, seeing as he was the hero responsible for handling her situation during the missing month. However, those police records have been sealed due to her status as a minor. Just be aware of the fact that both of us have reason to trust her completely, and she is in fact enrolled in this school precisely because she wishes to push back against the numerous negative stereotypes associated with her quirk."
Snipe stood up to speak. "This sounds like exactly what the villains want to happen - for us to stop trusting each other, and to stop trusting our students. I, for one, am going to continue trusting my students."
"Snipe is correct." Nezu offered. "Given the circumstances, your concerns are quite valid Yamada. But the important thing to remember right now is that the majority of our students are still trustworthy. There is also the concern that if we suddenly change our behavior towards certain students, that may cause our spy to panic and escape. It is best to act as if we do not suspect a spy for now, until we are in a better position to act against them."
Nezu gave the teachers a moment to think it over before they all agreed with his assessment. Yamada even went a step further and apologized to Kan for doubting his student. Once the teachers began settling down again, Nezu opened his desk and retrieved a manilla folder.
"Now then, as I mentioned earlier. I have a plan to keep the HPSC at bay and strengthen our position in light of this attack. As some of you know, we have been in discussion with other hero schools to increase cooperation between schools, but we have never been in a position to execute our plans - until now. I think it is time to finally enact the two main portions of these plans. I am seeking to create, in essence, a mutual defense network with the other schools. The two primary pieces of this being a high-speed rail system connecting the schools, and a communications network of our own, similar to, but independent of the HPSC's Hero Network."
"I'm not seeing the benefit of this." Snipe said. "And that's saying something."
Nezu merely opened the folder and looked at the assembled teachers. "In the wake of this attack, other villainous groups may decide to start going after students directly. After all, while they are still children under our care is when they are most vulnerable. In essence, this would allow hero schools to support each other if copycat attacks happen."
"And you think you could get the HPSC to sign off on this?"
"Oh, the HPSC would never allow such a plan to go through. They prefer us to be divided and isolated, because that makes it much easier to manipulate us, and it forces us to remain dependent on them. Due to All Might's involvement, I am going to be speaking to the Japanese government directly, and once I get government officials on our side, the HPSC will have no choice in the matter."
That elicited a laugh from several teachers. "Now I get it."
"In terms of upgrades for our own defenses, I believe Maijima has already devised several ideas on how to strengthen our own early warning and alarm systems."
Nezu offered the floor to Maijima, who began to lay out several hastily drawn sketches on the desk in front of him, and the meeting continued as they discussed additional countermeasures and upgraded systems.
After the assembly, Izuku and his friends packed their bags and departed for the day. As they were walking out of the school they were intercepted by Himiko and, much to their surprise, one of her other classmates - Daichi Oda. When he saw that Tsuyu was still with them, another second year - Reiko Jun - walked over to join the group as well.
Izuku looked around in confusion. "Where is Atsuko today?"
"She's got other plans tonight." Himiko responded, pointing behind Izuku.
Izuku turned around and saw Atsuko and another student he didn't recognize stopping Mina and Eijiro, talking to them for a few moments before the four of them began walking out together. Looking further, he noticed many other second and third years either waiting, or talking with his classmates.
"Is this-"
Himiko just nodded. "We know the threat is most likely over and that everyone is safe. But we're heroes in training! We can't just stand by after something like that, so a bunch of us got together and organized escorts home."
Izuku looked at his friends, who began smiling.
"We appreciate it."
"It makes me feel better, kero."
"Well, should we get going?" Daichi asked. "I'm sure all of our parents would be happy to have us home."
After leaving the school gates, the first people to split off were Tsuyu and Jun, who said their goodbyes before heading towards a different train station. The remaining five students continued together until they reached the common station that they all use, where Tenya and Daichi broke off to catch the train together. Meanwhile, Ochako, Izuku, and Himiko lingered at the entrance of the station, standing in awkward silence after their companions left.
Normally, Ochako didn't mind going back to her apartment, eating a simple meal, and doing homework by herself, but after today's attack that didn't sound appealing at all. She was too busy mentally going over her budget, trying to work out how badly her food budget would be affected if she wanted to pick up a hot meal and mochi on her way home to see Himiko and Izuku having a silent conversation.
Eventually, Izuku spoke up, breaking her concentration. "U-Uraraka, the other day you said you live alone right?"
"Yeah." Ochako frowned at that, not happy to be reminded of that fact right now.
"W-would, err, do you want to come over to our place for dinner? After everything that happened today, I-err, we'd understand if you want some company right now."
Ochako's head snapped up to look at Izuku, the blush on her cheeks spreading as she raised her hands defensively. "No that's not necessary! I wouldn't want to impose!"
"Don't be silly" Himiko joined in. "Mom already cooks for three, which means she is basically cooking for four, giving us leftovers after every meal. You wouldn't be imposing at all!"
From the way Himiko was looking at her, Ochako was fairly certain that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Besides, the promise of a warm meal and company for a few more hours certainly sounded appealing right now. It took her a moment to realize the only thing getting in the way was her own stubbornness.
"I- if you're sure, I think I would like that." Ochako admitted.
"S-sounds good. And if you want we can s-study together while we wait." Izuku felt a blush rising to his own cheeks. He wasn't expecting her to actually accept his offer!
"That sounds great!" Ochako responded a little too quickly.
Unlike the other two, Himiko appeared to be enjoying the scene altogether too much. "Sounds good! I'll call mom and let her know, I'll meet you two at the platform!" She responded cheerily as she pulled out her phone and ran off ahead, leaving Izuku alone with Ochako.
"W-well, we should get going, our train is this way."
"Y-yeah, lead the way!"
As they began walking, Ochako mentally went over her budget again. "Actually, if it's not too much to ask, I'd like to stop somewhere as well."
AN: Man, it turns out when I give Nezu the floor he has a lot to say.
I know the series is focused on class 1-A, to the point where we only really know 4 hero students outside of the first years, but it always felt weird to me that a school with only 120 students on a single track didn't have more interaction among the classes, especially in the wake of the USJ attack or the summer camp attack. This may be coming from a distinctly non-Japanese worldview though.
Also, not going to drop specific spoilers, but the manga this week was wild, some of my long-term ideas now seem less crazy.