Chapter 32 - Hurricane
The excitement in the air among the students was almost palpable – UA was going to reopen the campus before the Winter Break.
Most of the credit was due to an SOS app the support course helped install on every UA student's phone. The moment the app was opened, it sent out a detailed alert including the student's name and live location to all heroes within a 100-yard radius. The heroes would then be dispatched according to speed and location to the student.
"The expectation is to have all functionality of the application running by the end of the week." Nedzu sat at the end of the table in the conference room, his hands placed on either side of the meeting agenda in front of him.
Every member of UA staff was crowded into the room. Aine stood in one of the far corners absentmindedly fiddling with her necklace while listening to the meeting.
One of the teachers for General Studies raised his hand, "When will the campus reopening take affect?"
"All students will be cleared to visit their families as soon as they have downloaded the app and it is cleared for use." Nedzu gestured with one hand towards the projection still illuminating the wall behind him, "We predict that by this weekend, most if not all students will be ready to leave campus as they did before the threat." He glanced at his watch, "Now, if you will excuse us – I would like to speak to the pro-heroes before classes begin for the day. Thank you for your attendance! The rest of you are dismissed!" With that, the room began to empty.
Aine cast one last look over her shoulder at Shouta, Hizashi and Nemuri before the door closed behind her.
"This doesn't feel right." She looked over to see that a group of teachers had gathered together, a woman in business attire spoke "Did they even attempt to consult with the police before making this decision?"
One of them scoffed, "After that fiasco of a press conference they had last week, I wouldn't be surprised if this is some PR thing."
Aine remembered watching on TV as the Commission had held a second press conference about the incident after a new video cropped up of Ikeda mocking and miming for Sasaki to jump – despite several attempts to get them taken down. It was supposed to be a closed press meeting with only hand-picked select members of the press there with pre-scripted questions, but someone had leaked the location resulting in a horde of blood-thirsty reporters flooding the room. Most of the questions had revolved around the same insinuation – that the incident would not have happened had "the student" not been trapped with his abuser.
"Don't you agree, Miss Satterfield?"
Aine snapped out of her thoughts to see the small group awaiting her response, "I'm sorry?"
"I said that I'm sure there is something that they just aren't telling us, like that the police have already identified the student but just won't tell us who." The male teacher shrugged his shoulders, "Although I would think it would make more sense to tell all of the staff which student it is so everyone can keep an eye on them."
Another teacher stepped closer in towards the group, waving them together before speaking in a hushed tone, "Unless they are worried that someone from the staff would target them. Remember back before all of this when the Commission was here?" she paused and looked around before continuing, "I heard that they were looking for a villain disguising themself as a teacher!"
"That can't be the case." The first teacher waved her off before standing straighter, stretching his back, "if they thought there was a villain hiding among the staff why even tell us how the SOS app worked?"
The female teacher from before wagged her finger at the man, "Don't you see? That's why they called the pros in and left us out here. They are getting some kind of secret information and..."
"Hokama, leave your conspiracies and paranoia at home." Another teacher had walked up to the conversation, "The Commission knows what they are doing." He patted Hokama on the shoulder. "Now, let's all stop clucking like a henhouse and get to doing what they pay us for."
The man started ushering the small group out the door and within a few moments, the lounge had cleared. Aine spared one last look at the closed conference room door before leaving.
I hope there is more to this plan. More than just using these kids as bait.
The chaos of the day almost matched that of the first few days after campus had closed down. Between visits, coordinating with outside counselors and her other daily duties, Aine felt like she hadn't stopped to breathe until she heard the ringing of the bell signaling the end of the day.
A gentle rapping against her door frame pulled her attention away from the email she was working on. Looking up, she saw Shouta standing against her doorframe – his arm still bent at the elbow where he had knocked. "Busy?"
Aine smiled as she shook her head, "Just finishing this email and then I am done for the day. Come on in." He took a brief look into the hallway before stepping fully into the room. She quickly finished attaching the student's proposed therapy schedule to the email before closing her laptop.
"I wanted to stop by and see if you were coming over tonight." Shouta closed the door behind him.
Frowning, she gave a short shake of her head, "I've still got a mountain of things to get done so I'm sorry but I need to stay home."
By now, Shouta had crossed the distance of her office to step around behind her desk. He gently grabbed her shoulders and used his hand to lift her chin to look at him, "This is the second night you've skipped this week."
His dark eyes searched back and forth across her face, she closed her eyes, "I know. Tomorrow night, I promise." At her words, he ran his hands down her arms – lightly squeezing and releasing her hands just as the door swung open.
"Knew we'd find you two crazy kids in here!" Hizashi burst through the door with Nemuri close on his heels. They were both still in their hero uniforms.
Nemuri gave him a not-so-gentle thump on his ear before turning to close the door behind them.
"OW!"
She walked past him to lean against Aine's desk, a sly Cheshire-cat grin spreading across her bright red lips. Hizashi dramatically flopped on the couch, rubbing the offended ear while Shouta rolled his eyes in half-hearted annoyance.
"You both seem to be in a good mood."
Nemuri looked over her shoulder at Shouta, "You haven't told her the good news yet, Shou?"
"What news?" Aine looked between the three pro-heroes in confusion.
Shouta sighed, "With the new safeguards in place and the app rolling out, the Commission decided to let all pro-heroes return to their regular duties. No more extra patrols."
Hizashi leaned backwards with his hands behind his head, "Everything is going back to business as usual. Even the dorm duty rotations are supposed to be resuming their regular frequency." A wide grin spread across his face, "Which means after next week," he sat up straight and pointed at Shouta, "Your next in the lineup!" Hizashi dropped his arm down to rest on his knee, "I'm sure Cementoss will be glad to pass the torch."
"It was going to be my shift with them anyways." Shouta walked behind the couch, patting Hizashi's shoulder as he passed.
"Anyways!" Nemuri waved her hand, "With duties shifting around and extra patrols ending, it looks like all of our schedules are finally going to sync up this Friday." She stood up from her spot leaning against the desk and turned to look towards each of them, "So, I thought – let's get together for a movie night! Just like old times! We can ask Togata to watch Eri for you, Shou. It will be perfect!"
Aine beamed, "That sounds great! C'mon, Shou, what do you say?"
He sighed, "I'll pick the movie."
Aine laid back on her couch, twirling the thumb drive between her fingers as she waited for the call to connect. Emma should have gotten to the firm by now.
"Aine! I just got to work, how are you?" Emma's luminescent voice rang through the receiver.
"Meh, pretty neutral to be honest. Spent most of the day doing more secretarial work than actual counseling." Aine tossed the drive into the air, catching it with the same hand.
She could hear Emma greeting people in the background, "Did something happen? I thought you got all the schedules and files ironed out weeks ago." The background noises faded away as Aine heard the distinct click of a heavy wooden door being closed.
She sighed, "Oh, I did but apparently the school is facing pressure to open up campus after that video leak."
Emma clicked her tongue, "Like that couldn't possibly go horribly wrong!"
Aine explained bits and pieces of what had been discussed in the staff meeting as well as some of the safety measures being taken to help lessen risk factors. "As much as I would love to shit-talk the Commission right now, I wanted to talk to you about the video files I sent you yesterday. Have you had a chance to look through them?"
"I did! In fact, this morning I have already put the wheels in motion to get the case reviewed and on the docket as soon as…." Aine heard the rustling of fabric as Emma covered the phone and spoke in muffled tones to someone else. "Sorry about that. As I was saying, I've petitioned the court for a hearing as soon as possible. All they need to do is review the videos you sent me as well as the statements I was able to get by proxy from the Sasaki family regarding the lead-up to the incident and I'm confident that this will be a quick verdict." Emma's voice lowered to almost a whisper, "I know I said I wasn't going to ask but….well….please tell me you obtained this legally…. You just want to remain anonymous to keep the Commission out of it….right?"
Aine held the thumb drive up before wrapping her hand around it and letting her arm fall to rest across her eyes, "Emma…"
"Nope….no….forget I asked! The less I know, right? Just…" Emma sighed, "I worry about you. We still haven't cleared up your issues. Yes, in the eyes of the court you are legally protected but…"
She sat up, moving the phone to her other shoulder as she gently tossed the thumb drive onto the coffee table, "I'm fine, Emma. I'm not using my quirk or doing any daring-do when I'm out so I'm not risking being turned in for being a vigilante." Aine pulled the phone closer to her ear, "I promise I'm being careful. I wouldn't risk you or Shouta over this, I just can't let these kids continue to be mistreated at these schools." She sighed, "I promise, from here on out I will let this run its course the legal way."
"No interference?"
"No interference. Now," Aine glanced at the time on her phone, "it's about time for me to get some run-time in. It's been too long." As if to emphasize to the empty room, she rolled her shoulder.
Emma laughed, "Okay, okay I've got to get to work on this case anyways. You aren't my only 'client', you know."
"I know I know." Aine smiled to herself, "Call me with any updates. Love you guys!"
"Love you, too!" she could almost hear the amusement in Emma's voice over the rustling of papers in the background before the call went silent.
Collecting the thumb drive from the coffee table, she dropped it into the drawer on one of the side tables as she walked by it headed to her room to change.
The night air was noticeably cooler as she headed down the familiar path to Ground Beta. Although it would have been nice to go on an excursion after "behaving" herself for a week, Aine figured it was safest to test out the success of her physical therapy sessions in a more controlled environment. Besides, now that the evidence of the maltreatment of quirkless children at one middle school had been turned over to the courts, they could focus on trying to permanently open the doors of this gilded cage.
And then I won't have to … Aine's thoughts were interrupted by the text notification pinging from her pocket.
The notification flashed across the top of her phone screen:
"Please meet at Gym Gamma. – All Might"
Sliding the phone back into her pocket, she hesitated for a moment before turning towards the path to Gym Gamma. As she reached the gym entrance, she could hear and feel explosions from inside as well as a strange almost electric hum vibrating the air. Her hand hovered over the doorknob as the muffled sounds began to die down behind the door.
Opening the door, she was met with the sight of large mountains of rock and stone scattered around the gym. A far cry from any gym she had ever encountered. Dust and small bits of rock were still floating through the air along with the smell of smoke and touch of ozone.
"I wasn't sure you would join us so quickly!" All Might waved as he walked towards her from the side of the gym.
Aine shrugged as the sounds of battle reemerged. She looked up just in time to see a quick flash of green followed by another explosion. "I was actually on my way to Ground Beta when I got your message. What's this about?"
He stood beside her, turning to watch as the two boys emerged atop the structure dressed in their gym uniforms taking only a momentary pause before the chase seemed to start again. All Might took a deep inhale, "I think you and I can both agree that Tartarus won't be able to hold All For One indefinitely." Aine glanced sideways at him, his eyes followed the pair as they battled. "You mentioned that you have been running from him since you were a teen. I wanted to ask your help."
She shook her head, "I'm not sure how much I can help. Most of my success was short lived."
"And yet, you stand here." He offered her a short smile, "I want you to help me teach Young Midoriya and help him to be prepared in case he needs to avoid…I mean if…" he trailed off as a dark shadow fell across his face.
Aine turned back to watch the boys before dropping her head, "I'll help." She crossed her arms, "Meet me in my office tomorrow and we will discuss further."
A look of relief crossed All Might's face, "Thank you, Miss Satterfield."
"Don't mention it." She turned to leave just as the sounds of battle ended. Looking back, she saw the two future heroes walking back towards where All Might stood as she closed the door behind her.
She paused for a moment, just letting her thoughts settle before she turned back towards the path to Ground Beta. As she started down the path in the darkness, her memories began to flood forward unwanted and undeterred. Memories of her various missteps trying to avoid detection by All For One, the choices she had to make, the people she had to hurt. She begrudgingly accepted that All Might was right. If All For One managed to escape from Tartarus, Midoriya would need all the help he could get.
She had made enough mistakes, maybe – just maybe – she could prevent him from enduring the same.