Shota Aizawa groaned as he shuffled through the blank white halls of Con Juro Hospital, a cup of hot coffee clutched tight in his hands. Two days into the school year and yet his class was already proving to be one of the most troublesome ones he'd ever had. To make matters worse he'd had to stay up late to watch the recordings of Toshinori's Save the President exercise.
He had to, albeit grudgingly, give it to the blond, even if he'd never admit it; for a new teacher, the exercise had been a great way to highlight to the class that combat was not necessarily the answer to everything. It'd also done a great job of allowing Shota to get a glimpse at his students' combat readiness. From an insight into their fighting styles, their combat mentality, and any training they might have had to how they utilized their Quirks, Shota could picture many, many worse ways the #1's first class could have gone. He'd know because he had planned on how to deal with the aftermath for many of them.
However, for as useful as it'd been to see his students' abilities secondhand, Shota couldn't control his irritation at pretty much everything at the moment. Staying up late to watch the film and take notes - then having to rewatch it several more times to look for any details he might have missed. By the time he finished it was time to go out on patrol, something that, as an Underground Hero, he did mainly at night in the shadier parts of town. AND THEN, just as he was wrapping up his night by handing over a pair of wannabe robbers to the police, ready to go home to snatch a few hours of sleep before he had to start the day he received a call from Doctor Flevance, the chief doctor working on Eri's case saying that there'd been a development and they'd appreciate it if he could come in.
That led to Shota's current state: half-awake, running on fumes, and animated only by the caffeine running through his body, which was probably poisoning him, or at the very least destroying his liver based on the amounts he was consuming it. Meh, it wasn't like he was going to live long enough to need his liver anyway. At the rate he was going, he was more likely to die from exhaustion than the hands of a villain. He'd worked long hours before, but right now, he was ready to sleep, and he had to admit that several of those closets he'd seen in the offices and rooms he'd strode past did look quite comfortable…
Shota shook his head trying to clear away, or at least temporarily, alleviate the cloud of drowsiness that seemed to fill his brain most of the time nowadays. "And people wonder why I have a sleeping bag at school," the black haired man grumbled. Oh yeah, school, he had that today too, didn't he? Shota looked at the nearest clock and groaned. Raising a hand to the peak of his forehead, he quickly slid it down his paler-than-usual face in irritated exhaustion. Unfortunately, the tiredness refused to get wiped away, Shota had plenty of time until school started, it was only around five in the morning after all, but something told the man as he approached the doctor's door that even if he napped in the staff room to recover his energy, this was going to be a long day.
"Excuse me, what's it like to have All Might as a teacher?"
"How would you describe All Might's teaching style?"
"Is it true that All Might and Midnight are secretly lovers due to All Might's latent masochistic desires?"
Momo blinked, "Um, what?"
The reporter's expression turned angry, "Tell me, did All Might really steal the heart of Mistress Midnight?"
Momo was sure her expression was rather uncertain, but before she could say anything, the sound of a whip cracking sounded behind the ravenette, causing her to turn, and drawing the attention of the crowd of reporters that surrounded her. There stood Midnight in her hero costume, a bullwhip stretched between her hands, her annoyance clear. She looked at Momo, her expression sweet and deceptively innocent as she smiled, "Hurry along to class sweetie, and tell the others that I'll be along in just a minute after I finish driving it into Mazo here that my relationship status is none of his concern." Halfway through her sentence Midnight's expression once more took on a rather sadistic twist, the R-Rated Heroine even going so far as to lick the black leather whip with her tongue, but Momo decided to ignore that in favor of something else.
"Mazo?" She questioned glancing at the black haired man with glasses, whose appearance reminded the ravenette quite a bit of Iida. Mazo ignored Momo completely, his attention focused completely on Midnight. His expression could be considered both lovestruck and fearful, and unless Momo was wrong the man was also quite turned on by the display.
"Yes, Mazo. A former sidekick of mine. Now, if you're done asking questions I believe I told you to get to class."
"Yes, sensei." Momo said, giving the heroine a quick bow before walking into the school at a quick pace. Just as she finished walking through the 'Path of Heroes' - as the brick path up to the school dotted with busts of famous alumni was called - a loud alarm sounded behind her. Whirling back around, Momo watched as sheets of metal rose skyward, closing off the entrance gate and tripling the height of the walls that surrounded the campus perimeter. She stood there, uncertain. What was going on? Was this an attack of some kind? Something else?
Her worries were dispelled moments later as a familiar heroine walked up the pathway towards her, rubbing the back of her head as she tilted it to the side to crack it. Opening her eyes, Midnight immediately caught sight of Momo, "Oh, you're still here."
"I was about to head inside, but then I heard the alarm." Momo explained, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, nothing to worry about," Midnight said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Some overeager reporter desperate for a quote tried to enter and accidentally activated the U.A. Barrier. Honestly, it should have deactivated by now, but I wouldn't be surprised if the rat is keeping it up to try and tell the reporters to go scurry along to whatever other story they can find."
"The U.A. Barrier?" Momo asked curiously as the two began walking towards 1-A, Midnight walking along with Momo, apparently escorting her to class.
"Yeah, you could say it's the first line of defense when it comes to security. If anyone tries to enter the premises without a student or staff ID card or a Special Entry Permission ID, the barrier will activate automatically to keep the intruder out."
"That seems a bit-" she trailed off.
"Excessive? Paranoid? Eccentric?" Midnight suggested helpfully. The heroine sighed, "All those words suit Nezu to a T, but it works, so I'm not going to complain. Villains have tried to attack Hero Schools in the past, since anything involving kids is a great way to get attention. And since U.A. is not only the number #1 school in the country, but also the alma mater of the #1 Hero it's a prime target. If Nezu's paranoia keeps you students safe, then he can put whatever insane safety measures in place that he wants." The two stopped having reached the door to 1-A.
"Thanks for walking me to class, Midnight-sensei." Momo said, bowing respectfully once more before entering the room. Several students were standing and talking to others, but Momo ignored them, making her way to her seat taking it just as the bell rang to start the school day. Immediately the door opened, but there was no other sound, all the students were sitting in their seats, back straight and silent. However, to all their surprise, it wasn't Aizawa-sensei that entered the room but rather Midnight, who made sure to flash Momo a mischievous smile before striding to the teacher's podium to stand behind it.
"Hello everyone," the R-Rated heroine said with a seductive smile. "I hope the reporters outside haven't been to much of a bother to you all. There aren't any plans for you guys to undergo media training for a few months yet, so avoid talking to them if you can. Reporters love nothing more than a good story, and some are known to purposefully phrase their questions in a way to make it seem like you're saying one thing but mean something else. Long story short, avoid speaking to reporters unless you have one of us staff members present, or a Pro Hero you trust. More than one hero hopeful has found their career cut short because they spoke without thinking or a reporter played around with the quotes they got." Midnight looked around the room to drive the point home, but saw nothing but acceptance.
"Great, next point of business, today you'll be choosing your class representatives." Excited murmuring broke out amongst the class at the statement. In a normal school, being class representative came with nothing but extra responsibilities. However at U.A., it allowed one to practice leading others, either in exercises or just normal school events. In other words, it was a position almost everyone in the class coveted to some extent, a sign of an up and coming stand out hero.
"Oh hush," Midnight interrupted, slamming a whip down on the podium, immediately silenting the class. Unlike the bullwhip Momo had seen earlier, this whip was smaller and in a flogger style. "I know it's exciting, but don't just shout over one another. Sekijiro normally appoints his representatives and Shota leaves it up to his class to decide, but I'm here so you'll be going about this democratically instead. Just write the name of whoever you think should be representative on a piece of paper, fold it in half, then pass it to the front of your row. I'll collect and tally them. Whoever gets the most votes will be the class representative, while second place will be the vice."
"Sensei!" Iida shouted, raising his hand in the air, "What do we do in the event of a tie?"
"Revote," Midnight waved a hand dismissively. "Next."
"We haven't known each other for that long," the frog-like Tsuyu pointed out, raising a finger to her mouth, "how do we know who to trust?"
"Yeah, and what do we do if everyone just votes for themself?" Kirishima asked.
"That's why it's a good idea," Midnight explained. "Whoever's chosen will have earned the trust of all those who voted for them, making that candidate the one most likely suitable for the job."
"I guess that makes sense," Kaminari said, putting his hands behind his head.
"Great, now if there are no more questions, get to voting. I want to try and get the representatives elected by the time homeroom ends, as I'll need to run the report to Nezu afterwards."
The class fell quiet as spare pieces of paper were pulled out and scribbled on. Some wrote a name down immediately, while others paused, clearly putting some thought into their choice. Momo wrote her name down immediately, being class representative could only help her in her role as a spy and honestly, out of all her classmates, the ravenette truly thought she was the one most suitable for the role.
The votes were passed forward and Midnight quickly collected them before heading for the board, writing down the name of whoever was voted for and a tally by their name for how many votes they had. It quickly became clear to the students looking on, that there were some standout names, and all too soon, the results were ready.
Momo Yaoyorozu - 5
Itsuka Kendo - 4
Shoto Todoroki - 2
Mina Ashido - 2
Hanta Sero - 1
Katsuki Bakugo - 1
Kyoka Jiro - 1
Yuga Aoyama - 1
Minoru Mineta - 1
Rikido Sato - 1
Tsuyu Asui - 1
"And with that, your representatives are decided. Yaoyorozu will be the Class Representative, and Kendo will be her vice. Help them if they need it." At that moment, the bell signaling the end of homeroom rang, "and that's my que to go turn the results into Nezu." Midnight said, gathering a few papers from the podium. "I'll see you all later in Art History. Oh, and before I forget, all of you will have rescue training with 1-B away from the central campus tomorrow, so be ready for that."
"Sensei!" Momo called out as Midnight's fingers reached for the doorway, causing her to pause. "Do you know why Aizawa isn't here today?"
To the class's surprise, Midnight broke out laughing at the question. Turning back towards them, they saw her reach up under her glasses to wipe an actual tear from her eye. "Don't worry about that scruffy old man," she said cheerfully, a mischievous smirk once more making its way to her face. "You could just say he's having something of a family emergency."
She held up her hand to forestall any questions, "Don't worry, he's fine, as is his family. You'll find out more tomorrow." At that, the R-Rated heroine left, although Momo could have sworn she heard the teacher mutter something about not being able to wait to meet the little unicorn. She tilted her head in confusion; just what was that supposed to mean?
"Itadakimasu!" Cries rose up all around the cafeteria as students of various grades and courses dug into their lunch, united by the simple fact that Lunch Rush's food was nirvanic.
"Ah, so good!" Ochaco Uraraka said, her mouth full of the mochi she was eating. Even with her family's monetary troubles, Lunch Rush's prices were affordable enough that she could eat the school's food every day, and the taste was just a bonus.
"Yeah," Kendo agreed from where she sat, across from the mochi-like girl. Most of the class was sitting together, although a few had wandered off to sit by themselves, mainly Bakugo and Todoroki.
"Aggh, forget the food," Mina exclaimed, standing up and slamming her hands onto the table, "I want to know who voted for who in the election this morning."
"Why?" Kirishima asked as he dug into a bowl of shark fin soup. "Want to know so you can begin playing matchmaker?"
"Kiri!" Mina cried, "You know it's too early in the year for that. We don't know each other well enough, and any romantic tension is going to have to develop, unless…" the pink alien trailed off looking around at the others, "I don't suppose any of you are in a relationship already?" she asked hopefully, only to be met by a unanimous head shakes, no causing the disappointed girl to sit back down, sinking low in her seat as she crossed her arms in front of her in an obvious pout.
"I voted for Todoroki." Kirishima said with a fanged grin. "The way he used his ice yesterday and how he went toe to toe with Bakugo with no hesitation was super manly."
"Well I guess that tells us who voted for Todoroki," Mina said with a sigh, casting a look at the dual haired boy who sat by himself, slurping down a bowl of soba. "He seems like he'd vote for himself, so that's his two votes. Now who voted for me!" The pinkette said, her excitement obvious as she looked around wildly.
"I voted for you, Mina!" The invisible Toru Hagakure exclaimed, waving her arms about. At least, that's what the others thought she was doing, based on the way her sleeves were waving about. "I think you'd have made a great class representative."
"Thanks, Toru," Mina smiled, before sitting up, her dour mood all but forgotten, despite it having afflicted her only seconds earlier. "I voted for myself too, so that's my two votes. Now who voted for Yaomomo?"
"Mina!" Momo cried a blush on her face, "You don't need to ask them that. What if they don't want to answer?"
"It's fine," Mina said, waving her hand dismissively, "no one has to answer if they don't want to."
"But-"
"It's fine," the masked giant, Shoji, spoke up. Even when eating, the man kept his mask on. Instead, he had formed a mouth at the end of one of his arm flaps to eat through. Even weirder, said mouth was still eating, the young man having formed another one to talk through. "I voted for you, so that's one vote, and if my thinking's right, I believe Kaminari voted for you too, so that's two of the five."
"What?" Momo asked, her confusion obvious, "Why?"
"Well you're smart," the blond Kaminari said, practically confirming that the young Yaoyorozu heiress had indeed gotten his vote. "It's because of your plan that we were the only ones to pass All Might's test yesterday, and you led us well so I figured why not," he finished with a shrug.
The others looked to Shoji, who merely nodded at Kaminari as if to confirm what the blond had said. "That's two," Mina said, turning to look at Momo, "and if you voted for yourself," the ravenette nodded, "that's three, which means there were two others." Said two revealed themselves by raising their hands. "Ojiro, Koda!" Mina exclaimed, shocked.
"Yeah," Ojiro confirmed, scratching his chin sheepishly, "I didn't really want to be the representative, so I just went with Yaoyorozu because I thought it was the best choice."
"Same here," Koda agreed, signing with his hands, "I'm not good in front of others, but she can lead, so I thought…" The rock headed boy blushed, raising his hands to cover his face as he squirmed in his spot.
"Okay that's Yaomomo's five, now who voted for Kendo?" Mina asked, casting her gaze around at the seated students.
"I voted for myself," Kendo offered.
"As did I," the bird headed Tokoyami added. Seeing their looks, he explained, "Like with Shoji and Kaminari, I too found myself astounded by the wisdom held within the head of the one who led me yesterday."
"I too voted for Kendo." Iida said, his robotic chop showing itself once more. "She showed courage and talent in yesterday's exercise, and I merely judged her to be the most suitable candidate."
"Umm…" Mina tilted her head in apparent thought as she looked at the dark blue-haired, glasses-wearing 1-A resident chopping robot, "does that mean you wanted to be the representative too?"
"Indeed," Iida confirmed, lowering his glass of orange juice after taking a sip from it. "However, wanting to lead and being able to do so are more different than people think, and much more difficult. Or at least that's what my brother taught me."
"Your brother," Momo asked, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin.
"Yeah," Iida confirmed, a soft smile forming on his lips. "He's someone I deeply admire and look up to. In fact, you could say that he's the reason I want to be a Pro Hero."
"That's cool," the violet headed Jiro said as she took a bite of some cooked beef, pausing to chew and swallow before continuing. "Sorry Kendo," she said, looking at the orangette apologetically, "I voted for myself, wanted to give the representative gig a try if I won, but trust me when I say you were my second choice."
"Same here, kero." Asui added.
"I voted for you, Kendo." Uraraka said cheerfully.
"Um, thanks," Kendo said, looking between the three girls. "Sorry, I get why Jiro would have voted for me, we were on the same team yesterday after all, but why did you both vote for me?"
"Oh, that's because of how nice you were after you took our headband." Uraraka explained. "So I figured, why not vote for you."
Kendo looked towards Asui, who merely raised her chopsticks from her fish to point at Uraraka. "She told me what happened," the frog girl said bluntly.
"Yeah, sorry Kendo," Mina said apologetically, "my second vote would have been for Toru, but don't worry, you would have definitely been my third choice."
Kendo smiled, "Thanks guys, I-"
She was cut off by a deafening alarm that rang through the cafeteria, halting all the students in their tracks, many of them glancing around wildly. "An alarm?!" Mina yelled. The sound of slamming metal caused many students to turn towards the lunch counter, watching as metal shutters descended, cutting Lunch Rush off from the rest of the cafeteria.
As students rose and rushed towards the single exit of the room, a groan caught Momo's attention. Momo tuned out the speaker system instead turning to her side the ravenette caught sight of Jiro clutching at her ears and moaning in pain. Momo quickly made a set of earmuffs and handed them to the tomboy violette. "Here," she said with a small smile.
Jiro looked at her for a moment before grabbing the offered earmuffs and putting them on. "Thanks," she muttered, although Momo was able to make out the words, "should have voted for you."
"Forget it," Momo said as students began to rush for the exit enmass, "let's get out of here."
"Right."
The speaker system replayed its message, allowing Momo to finally hear it in its entirety. 'I repeat, there has been a level 3 security breach. All students, please evacuate outdoors quickly and promptly.' The two girls rushed towards the doors, but quickly found themselves getting swept up in the chaotic flow of the crowd. Just before Momo could be swept away, she felt something wrap around her arm, dragging her back until she was standing next to Jiro.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it, consider us even." Jiro turned back to look at the writhing mass of gray U.A. uniforms. "What do we do now?"
"I don't know," Momo admitted, a hand rising to her chin in thought as she glanced out a nearby window. She stilled, catching Jiro's attention, but before she could ask, Momo reached out to clutch her arm.
"What is it?" Jiro asked in concern, before following Momo's gaze to see people swarming the grounds outside. She took a hesitant step back, "Are we under attack?"
"No," Momo said, sounding distracted, "look closer."
Jiro did and quickly noticed an array of television cameras, microphones, and boom mics charging through the now destroyed U.A. barrier entrance. The armband wrapped around several individual's upper arms sold it for her "The press?"
"That's right," Momo confirmed, turning back to the mass of students, shoving against one another in their efforts to flee, "and nobody else knows except us."
"What do we do?" Jiro asked, raising a hand and sweeping it through her hair. "There aren't any teachers around, can we even do anything?"
"Of course we can," Momo said, opening her jacket and the button up shirt underneath to expose her bare stomach. A flash of black caught Jiro's attention, and she realized that she could see the bottom of Momo's bra.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Jiro shouted a blush on her face as she waved her arms around wildly.
Momo turned to her companion, careful to keep her expression blank and clueless, despite the chaos and seriousness of what was going on around them, Jiro's reaction was almost enough to make the ravenette laugh, or at the very least crack a smile. She didn't though, instead focusing on what she desired to make. A bulge glowing blue and pink appeared on the ravenette's torso, quickly growing in size before disappearing leaving in Momo's hands-
"A megaphone?" Jiro asked.
"And an airhorn." Momo added holding up the second creation that she'd made while Jiro's attention had been focused on the megaphone.
"What's the plan?" Jiro asked.
"This," Momo repeated, holding the two objects up before pausing, "oh and you should probably cover your ears." Jiro just had time to obey the girl's instruction before the sound of the air horn echoed through both the lunchroom where the two girls stood, and the hallway all the students were struggling to cram into, the noise only magnified by the megaphone Momo held up above her head. The deafening noise silenced everybody, many of the students freezing in place to cover their ears as they groaned in pain, much as Jiro had earlier.
"Everybody, calm down!" Momo shouted, her voice echoing loud, crisp, and clear in the silence. "It's just the media, everything is fine! This is U.A., act like the best of the best you are supposed to be, and slowly, calmly make your way back to your classroom to await further instructions from a teacher!" The chaos fell away to be replaced by order as the mass of groaning, disoriented students slowly made their way back to their classrooms.
However, two first year heroic students stood still, heads downcast and fists clenched at their sides, their thoughts mirroring one another. 'I couldn't do anything.' Bakugo and Todoroki realized with frustration, 'All my power… was useless. I was useless.' Their thoughts turned to the voice both of them had recognized, 'Unlike her.'
Meanwhile, said girl made her way to the door, Jiro following along at her side, while her hands worked to button up her uniform once more. Pausing, her hand on the doorframe of the cafeteria entrance, Momo looked back, although she could no longer see out the windows to check on the press below. 'I wonder how they got in?' the ravenette wondered, but she shook it off. The questions could wait, she had a role to play.
"What do you think?" Midnight asked as she looked at the remains of what was once the front gate of U.A.
Nezu was silent, a paw cradling his chin, obviously deep in thought. "I can have a replacement installed tonight once the students leave," the Construction Hero: Powerloader spoke up. "It'll take an hour or so, but we can just use the robots from the entrance exam to guard the entrance in the meantime. I'm sure the chief of police or the commissioner would be more than willing to spare us a cruiser or two to keep an eye on things."
"And what if the HPSC wants to get involved?" Ectoplasm asked, turning to look at his companions.
"We tell them no." Nezu replied before anyone else could, his voice firm. "We thank them politely, but tell them that this was nothing more than an unfortunate accident.
"And if they insist?"
"We say no more firmly." Nezu said, leaving no room for argument.
"This was no member of the press." It was a statement, not a question, and both Powerloader and Ectoplasm turned to look at the sole female with them before Nezu spoke up.
"Agreed. Someone instigated this. But what was their purpose? Did someone sneak in amongst the crowd… or is this a declaration of some kind?"
A loud exclamation caught Powerloader, Ectoplasm, and Midnight's , the three watched as a pair of police officers escorted the last of the press out through the gate under the supervision of a tall, cleancut man dressed in a tan overcoat and matching hat. As if sensing their gaze, the man turned around and made his way over to the gathered Pro Heroes. "Detective Tsukauchi." Nezu greeted, his eyes not moving from the rubble he was staring at.
"Nezu."
"I assume that none of the reporters knows anything?"
The detective sighed, "Unfortunately yes, all of them say that the gates fell on their own, although with how tightly bunched together they were, it'd be a miracle if any of them saw anything in the first place."
"Vultures," Nemuri spat with disgust.
Ectoplasm turned to her, obviously unimpressed, "Says the one who plays up her act in front of those very same vultures whenever they're nearby."
Nemuri huffed, crossing her arms under her breasts, "That's different, when I do it it's free advertising, but this," she turned her head to look at the ruins of the gate, "this is something else."
"And more than likely, they won't get in any trouble for it," Tsukauchi sighed once more. He looked at Nezu, "I assume you don't want to press charges."
The rat-man-bear thing was silent for a moment before it blinked, turning away from the gate for the first time since he'd first arrived, "And give the ones they represent the chance to paint us in a bad light? No, better to give them a warning."
Tsukauchi nodded before turning, "Where's Aizawa at," the detective asked curiously, "wouldn't he normally be out here in this kind of situation?"
Nezu and Midnight glanced at each other, a pair of matching evil smirks rising to their faces that sent shivers up the spines of all the human males currently present. "Oh, don't worry," Midnight said, her tone sickening sweet.
"Aizawa is taking care of a much more… important matter." Nezu agreed.
"Yeah," Midnight said, turning away to head back inside the building, "you should be able to meet her soon."
Nezu followed the heroine, running after her before crawling up her body to take a seat comfortably on her shoulders, leaving the other three behind to look after them blinking dumbly.
"That was-" Ectoplasm began.
"Terrifying." Powerloader finished.
"Yeah," Tsukauchi agreed with a visible shudder. "Either way, I suddenly feel very sorry for Eraserhead. The other two could only nod in agreement. "Whelp, I've got to head back to the station." Tsukauchi said with a stretch. "Even if there were no arrests or charges this is still going to be quite a report I have to fill out."
"Before you go, could you station some officers at the gates to keep anyone from coming in?" Powerloader asked. "I can fix the gate tonight after the students leave and we can station some of the exam bots at the gate in the meantime, but…"
"But human support would be greatly appreciated." Ectoplasm finished for the mechanical hero."
"Okay I'll see what I can do." Tsukauchi said with a sigh, pulling out a phone as he began to walk away. The two heroes turned away as well to begin the walk back up to the main school building. However, neither could keep themselves from looking back one more time at the rubble of the gate, questions arising in their minds as both wondered just who had done this, and why.
Aizawa entered his apartment within the staff dorms at U.A., stopping for a moment to look around, ensuring everything was undisturbed from where he'd left it last night. When the room met his expectations he stepped aside, allowing his much smaller horned companion to slowly walk in ahead of him. The little girl looked around, her red eyes wide and mouth open in a small 'o'. He closed the door behind her, latching it tight before making his way to the kitchen where he set the bags weighing down his arms on the counter that doubled as his table. As he began to put food into the fridge, the light pitter patter of small feet let him know that his companion had followed him into the kitchen, likely having needed a moment to take her shoes off and leave them on the doorstep next to his.
"Umm," Eri nervously spoke up, clearly unsure about what to say or act like around him, "do you need any help?"
"No." Shota replied, immediately regretting it with a small wince when the word came out harsher than he'd intended. He could tell without looking that Eri had drawn back, and he mentally cursed his sleep deprived brain for his current lack of patience. "I'm sorry," he tried again. "I'm tired, and when people are tired, they get cranky. After I finish putting everything away I'll make you something to eat, then I'll leave you to explore the apartment or watch television while I take a nap. Is that okay?"
He looked towards Eri now, and for a moment the girl didn't move, freezing in place just long enough to give him a small timid nod. It was a start, and as he finished putting everything away Shota stood up, grabbing his last purchase: a box of macaroni and cheese. Making his way to the stove, Shota grabbed a pot filling it with water before he set it on the stove, turning the appliance on. As he waited for the water to boil under the watchful gaze of Eri, who stood nearby, Shota reflected back to the doctor's words from that morning.
"Her Quirk flared up," Doctor Flevance said, his voice flat.
"What?"
The doctor sighed, leaning back to look at Shota through his square glasses. "A flare up, Eri was asleep when, according to the nurse in charge of supervising her overnight, Conis, her horn started to glow. She immediately pressed the emergency help button, but by the time we got there, it had already stopped. Eri was awake, likely having been awoken by the light and, according to Conis, although she appeared to struggle for a moment, she was apparently able to shut it down."
Shota stared at the doctor for a moment, taking in his short, slightly spiky black hair and the similar colored whiskers on the man's chin and upper lip, though both were too short to be called proper facial hair. "Why am I here then?" He asked when the doctor didn't speak again, clearly wanting Shota to ask the question.
Flevance sighed once more, reaching a hand into the pocket of his lab coat, "There's two reasons. This," he said, pulling out an object and setting it on the table, "is the first one."
"A seed?"
"An apple seed," the doctor agreed with a nod. "One that just about an hour ago used to be an apple, a red delicious to be precise." Seeing Shota's look of confusion, Flevance elaborated, "Eri loves them, and Conis has made it a habit to bring them in whenever she can. She'd left one on Eri's bedside table for when she awoke."
"And Eri touched it accidentally when she activated her Quirk." Eraserhead guessed. Flevance nodded his silent confirmation. "Okay," now it was Shota's turn to sigh, "if the seed was the first reason, what's the second reason?"
"Her horn grew," the doctor explained, laying a vanilla folder labeled Eri on the table. "We were working under the impression that her Quirk was an accumulation type, with her horn serving as a physical manifestation of how much power she had stored up. To put it simply and avoid all the scientific terminology, the bigger the horn the more power she has. That's still our current hypothesis, but tonight has helped us come to several conclusions."
"Like?"
"Her Quirk isn't an erasure type like originally hypothesized, it's a rewind one. Using whatever power she stores up, she is capable of rewinding living organisms regressing their 'time'."
"It's a powerful Quirk," Shota noted, his furrowed brow the only sign of how deeply he was thinking about all this.
"Yes, and one that I'll likely under report when I submit her Quirk registration." Flevance agreed. He looked at Shota, and the underground hero was surprised at just how grave the doctor's expression was, although he didn't show it. "This is off the record, but many doctors and nurses, especially those in charge of working with Quirk registration, under report just how powerful their patients' Quirks are."
"Why?" Shota couldn't help but ask although he already had several reasons forming in his head. Theories based on whispers and rumors he'd gathered over the years while prowlin the darkened alleys of society's underbelly.
"To protect them, all sorts of organizations have access to Quirk registries: the HPSC, the police, higher ranked Pro Heroes, politicians, some support companies, schools, the list goes on and on."
"And many of them would love to get their hands on someone with a powerful Quirk." Shota guessed.
The doctor nodded, "Many of us don't think about it when we first start out, but there are cases if you look closely enough. Disappearances, accidents, kidnappings, some of these kids are from lower income areas, and I assume you've heard of Quirk rings." Shota only nodded, his face a blank emotionless mask. "They're disgusting," the doctor spat, "the new form of slavery, and a hell of a lot more popular. Everyone would love to have access to someone with a powerful Quirk, be it for their own personal use or for breeding a new member of the family." He practically snarled the words, his eyes filled with anger and hate, and Shota came to a realization.
"This is personal to you, isn't it?"
Flevance froze before collapsing back into his chair with a sigh. Leaning back, the doctor raised his hands to his face as he looked upwards, one hand lifting his glasses while the other rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Yeah," he admitted, his voice much softer, more open, "you could say that."
Shota was silent; he wasn't going to press the man to share his life story with someone who was essentially a stranger, he was an adult and he could talk if he wanted to. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to be sleeping tonight anyway, so his rush to get home had all but fallen away. He would have to message Nezu, but the rat owed him a day off, and frankly, he didn't care, Nemuri could teach his class for a day. She'd been slated to be their homeroom teacher anyway, until Nezu decided to shove it on him for expelling his entire class last year even if the majority had been let back in only a week later. He focused back on Doctor Flevance when the man spoke up.
"My Quirk is simple: it allows me to see a 3-D image, a model of whatever it is I'm touching within my mind that I can interact with: zooming in and out, rotating it, all that fun jazz. It's especially useful in my line of work, since I can just touch a patient and run a scan to see what's wrong with them. I started working here after I got my doctorate, and it was here I met my wife, sorry, ex-wife. She was a nurse, and like mine, her Quirk was especially useful when it came to her chosen field. She could break down things in the bodies of those she touched, or increase the speed at which their cells split. Scars, open wounds, infections, anything that was doing more harm to a patient than good, she could heal with a touch. In fact if I remember right an ancestor of hers was on the team of doctors that developed the vaccine for cancer, although she didn't get any credit for it. Considering they're related
"And then something happened to her," Shota guessed, but Flevance only laughed bitterly at the comment.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you," the man said with a rueful shake of his head, "but no, not her, my son." He chuckled darkly, "Turns out the bitch didn't just like using her Quirk on patients, but on herself as well. When your Quirk allows you to break down alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and other harmful substances while they're in your system you quickly lose your fear of them." He laughed once more, "It's a neat party trick, but it doesn't stop them from being addictive though, does it?"
"I would imagine not," Shota agreed after a moment, but Flevance only nodded.
"She sold our son," the doctor admitted, slouching forward to rest his upper body on the table, not that Shota could fault the man. "Sold him to some gang or another for some drug cash. She hadn't been using our shared account, too scared I'd find out, but her private stash was running low and she was getting desperate. I only found out when I came home from work that night to find her in the living room shooting herself up, only to wait out the high, erase the drugs in her system, and do it all over again. She's gonna be in prison until she's dead, her life's ruined, and I've never seen my son since I kissed him goodbye that morning." For a moment, the doctor, the man, was silent, lost in memories of the past.
After a moment he shook his head to clear the memories away. "Well, that's my tragic backstory," Flevance said, forcing a strained smile onto his face. "But right now, we need to focus on Eri."
"Yeah, so what's the problem with her having a powerful Quirk?" Eraserhead asked.
"The problem isn't that her Quirk is powerful, it's the possibilities it opens up," Doctor Flevance explained. "The ability to rewind a person's 'time', regressing them to a previous state of being." He looked at Shota, his expression grave, "It's not a lie to say that within her lies the potential key to immortality."
Shota stared at the man, unsure of what to say. "Imagine it," the doctor tried, "a politician, a villain, whoever gets their hand on her, they somehow gets her to do what they want, be it through threats, bodily harm, whatever. Eri uses her Quirk on them, but just enough to take the years off, put them back in their prime. It's bad for a while, sure but the person will get older, right? Only they don't, they stay the same at the peak of their abilities, and not just them, but all their followers too."
Shota's mouth slowly fell open in horror as he pictured the scenario, "They'd become a symbol, a beacon. Anyone who wants to extend their time, live just a little bit longer, would come to them." He whispered in horror.
The doctor nodded, "Now you're getting the idea, but it gets worse."
"Worse?" Shota repeated dumbly. How in the gods could it get worse?
"We don't know yet, but we can't rule out the possibility that Eri can use her power on herself." Shota blinked, before the full meaning of the statement hit him. An army of immortal villains that always stayed in the peak of power, their lifespans provided by one who was just as long lived as they were.
"Fuck," he muttered running a hand through his hair. This, this was dangerous, apocalyptic even. If word got out, everybody who was anybody would be fighting to get their hands on Eri, a white haired six year old girl who'd just been through hell.
"My thoughts exactly." Flevance nodded. "Now you get a sense of just how serious this could be."
"Yeah," Shota nodded, "but why me?"
"Again, two reasons," the doctor explained, holding up the same number of fingers. "Firstly, she trusts you, and I feel like after my years working with people, I've got a pretty decent grasp when it comes to discerning someone's character, my ex-wife not included. As much as you might deny it, you like the girl, and you'll do what you can to protect her. Am I wrong?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No." Shota admitted.
The doctor merely nodded, "And secondly, you're unfortunately the only person who can help her. Like we said, her horn grew again after her Quirk flare. We believe that, when she activates her Quirk, she begins to release the energy she's stored up within her causing her horn to shrink as her reserves are depleted. But in this case, it grew despite her actually using her Quirk on the apple." the doctor said, nodding at the seed that remained.
"So what happened?"
"I think," the doctor said, stressing the second word, "that when her Quirk flared, Eri released more energy than was used. Some of it went to rewinding the apple, but there was more that was released with no target in mind. That energy then returned to her, which should have just shrunk her horn to slightly shorter than its previous height but larger than it would be if all the power was depleted. However I instead believe the energy, once powered up and released with no conduit or purpose, gathered more energy before returning. That, or her using the energy powers it up and with no conduit to affect, it merely grew stronger. Either way, her horn grew, which means a flare up is likely in the not so distant future."
"How big is it?" Shota asked. The doctor merely responded by flipping open the file so the hero could see. It wasn't as large as it had been when he first met the small girl, but it was certainly bigger than when he'd last been here. Back then, it had been about the size of his thumb, but now if Shota had to guess, it was about as large as his palm.
"I'm worried that any future flare ups might draw attention to her," Flevance explained. "She's in a much better place now mentally than she started. All she needed was to know she was safe, some emotional support, and some good old fashioned kindness. However, to be brutally honest, there's not much more we can do for her. Right now she just needs time to come to terms with everything."
"And you think that it'd be better for that time to be spent with someone more low profile who's also uniquely situated to handle any potential Quirk flares she might have." Shota guessed. The doctor merely favored the hero with a charming smile. Shota responded with an annoyed growl. He didn't dislike the girl, and as a hero, he was supposed to do what he could to help those in need. Besides, he could see the doctor's point, since what place was safer than the U.A. staff housing, where Eri'd be surrounded by heroes for protection and he'd have easy access to her? "Alright," he sighed, lamenting all the nap time now surely lost forever, "I'll take her."
"Great," Flevance said cheerfully. With a small signal, the door to the room opened and the angelic nurse Aizawa remembered from his first visit walked in, a large pile of papers in her arms. "I'm sure you remember Conis," Flevance said, gesturing to the petite blonde, "but before we can give you custody of Eri, we're gonna need you to fill out some paperwork." Aizawa merely groaned as he leaned forward, slamming his head into the table. A long day indeed.
Kaina Tsutsumi, better known as Lady Nagant, made her way through the HPSC headquarters, head held high and face blank. Her presence wasn't exactly new, as she'd been a regular in this building for years, yet people still found time to whisper and point at her. Initially, she thought it was because they knew what she did, knew just whose blood it was staining her hands. But no, this was just the hero worship that came from seeing a Pro Hero up close and personal, even if it was in the workplace.
Reaching the President's office, she paused and turned to look at the secretary, who was typing away at a computer. "He's in a meeting, but he'll be done in just a few minutes," she said without looking up. Kaina didn't sit down, instead moving to lean against a nearby wall, allowing her to see the entire room, the entrances, the exits, and any routes an attacker may take. Call her paranoid, but at this point her training was so heavily instilled in her that it had become a part of who she was.
Just like the secretary said, four minutes later, the double doors to the President's office (polished to a gleaming brown of course) opened, allowing an ashe blonde haired woman that Kaina recognized as the President's assistant to slip out. For a moment, the two locked eyes, Kaina merely looking at the woman with the cold dead gaze she used when she was on an 'assignment', the woman merely dipped her head offering the most miniscule excuse of a courteous nod before leaving. 'Should really learn her name,' Kaina thought before shaking her head and grabbing the handles to the oaken doors, entering the room before the secretary could tell her to.
"Hello Kaina," Daitoryo greeted from behind his desk without looking up. "I'll be with you in a moment, why don't you take a seat." he said, gesturing to the two chairs that rested opposite him. Kaina didn't respond as she approached, merely standing behind the chairs, her dead eyes and emotionless mask locked onto the man who'd promised that he would make her a great hero that helped others, instead he'd made her into a killer.
"And done," Daitoryo finished with a flourish making it a show as he hit the enter key on his keyboard before closing the laptop looking up at Kaina as he set his elbows on the desk, "How are you doing today Kaina? Well, I hope." He fell silent waiting for an answer, but Kaina didn't respond, merely blinking whenever the need arose. "Very well," Daitoryou said after a moment of silence, Kaina's lack of a response not troubling him in the least. The president's smile faded, falling away to be replaced by a serious demeanor, "I have an assignment for you."
Kaina blinked as her shoulders dropped microscopically although the movement was far too small for the man to notice. She'd known to expect it, braced for it, but yet everytime Daitoryo spoke those words, Kaina swore she felt a piece of her soul die inside. "Who?" She asked, the first word she'd spoken since her arrival. The one word encompassing so much more than it let on. Who had caught the Commission's eye? What had they done or what were they planning to do? Who or whom would find themselves in the crosshairs of her scope? Who would she have to kill to keep this oh so valuable peace, the status quo, in place?
Daitoryo blinked, and to Kaina's surprise, there was a look of confusion in his eyes, one quickly replaced by understanding, slight amusement, before falling back behind the mask both of them were wearing. "I believe there might be a slight misunderstanding," Daitoryo said, "you were not called here to neutralize a threat, rather you were summoned because there is a group I need you to investigate." Opening a drawer in his desk, Daitoryo pulled out a vanilla folder, pushing it forward for Kaina to see.
Stepping forward, Kaina grabbed the folder, lifting it up to get a closer look. Emblazoned on the front, in the very center, was a symbol of an eight petaled flower, underneath of which was a name, "The Shie Hassaikai?" Kaina asked looking up.
Daitoryo merely gestured at the folder and Kaina obediently opened it, beginning to skim through the materials inside while listening as the President began to explain. "A remnant of the yakuza that managed to scrape by after Quirks manifested, due more in part to their members' loyalty to the head of the organization than anything else. But recently, the 'Boss' as they call him, entered a comatose state, and his adopted son Kai Chisaki rose to take his place."
"It says here that the Shie Hassaikai are considered eradicated?" Kaina interrupted, looking up, her confusion apparent. "And that Sir Nighteye was beginning an investigation into them just before that. Why are you asking me to investigate a group that no longer exists? Normally I'm assigned to…different tasks."
Daitoryo nodded, "True, but this incident is one that the Commission has taken a special interest in. You were in Jaku when the earthquake hit earlier this year, weren't you?"
Kaina nodded, "Well, that was no earthquake, rather it was an attack by an as of yet unknown group on the Shie Hassaikai's base of operations. The heroes of the city were distracted due to explosives rigged to go off at the same time the attack began. Thankfully, the attackers only targeted abandoned and deserted locations, with the exception of an electrical plant that the Shie Hassaikai were later revealed to have been piggybacking off of, along with a tour bus agency. Four buses from that same agency were later found in front of the Shie Hassaikai underground headquarters, likely stolen earlier that day and used to transport foot soldiers to the location."
"Any suspects?"
"Only one, but he seems to be more hired muscle than anything else. We don't have anything on their leadership, nor do we know their motives or reasoning."
"While as serious as that may sound, it still doesn't explain why you want me to investigate."
Daitoryou folded his hands in front of his face, looking over them to peer at Kaina. "When we investigated the remnants of the Shie Hassaikai base, we found signs of human experimentation."
Kaina paused, but when she spoke again, her voice was sharp, "As serious as that is, investigations are still not my area of expertise," she turned to walk away, "if you have a job that does require my unique skill set, you know how to reach me. And next time," she turned to look back, "don't waste my time." The only sound in the room was her footsteps on the hardwood as she walked towards the exit.
"There was also a lab table, you know?" Kaina paused, her hand outstretched towards the door handle. "On it we found human cells and blood. However, what was interesting was that when we checked the blood to see if there were any matches in the system, it came back negative, as if whoever was being experimented on didn't exist."
Slowly, Kaina turned around to find Daintoryo not even looking at her, instead skimming through the file she'd tossed down on his desk moments ago. "Or at least, there weren't any matches until someone new was entered into our system, a young six year old girl," he lowered the file as his eyes turned locking with her own, "by the name of Eri." Daitoryo closed the folder, putting it down on his desk as he shifted to face her.
"Sit." It was an order not a suggestion and Kaina obeyed, walking back to finally take a seat across from the HPSC President. "Tell me about her."
"I don't know a lot." Kaina lied through her teeth, careful to keep her face from betraying her. "I only encountered her when Eraserhead and I found her wandering through a park; she seemed lost, and after we observed bandage wrappings around her arms that she was unable to explain, we decided it was best to bring her to a nearby hospital. My only encounter with her since then was during a scheduled hospital visit."
"And her Quirk?"
"From what I know a normal mutation, a small horn on her head that grows and shrinks outside of her control. It can also glow, likely due to whatever energy it uses to fuel its size change. Why do you ask?"
"The Shie Hassaikai's temporary boss, young Kai Chisaki, his Quirk is Overhaul. The ability to both dismantle and restore; a Quirk that can destroy or heal its target at his discretion, and we already know who the cells and blood belong to…" he trailed off."
"You think he was using his Quirk on Eri?"
Daitoryo looked at her flatly, "There's no proof, it's all circumstantial."
"And it's also not enough to warrant my particular talents, yet here we are. There's more to it, isn't there?"
For a moment, Daitoryo was silent, studying Kaina as he looked at her. "They were researching something, attempting to develop a weapon that would use Eri's blood as a catalyst."
"What?"
He paused for only a second. "Quirk erasing bullets." Kaina's breath caught in her throat as Daitoryo leaned forward, smiling darkly, "Something that they would have no reason to do if her Quirk simply changed the size of her horn." He shook his head, continuing before Kaina could protest, "Do you seriously think we don't keep an eye on our operatives? I know you go to see her during your scheduled hospital visits, and with everything else," he sat back, the same dark smile across his face, "that was more than enough reason to assign an agent to keep an eye on her."
"Who?"
"Now, now, that'd be telling," the president chided. "And after you just lied to my face, do you really think I'd tell you so you can make her disappear?" He leaned forward menacingly, "Our agent saw her Quirk just this morning, Rewind, such a powerful Quirk and great for heroics," he grinned, "especially an HPSC sponsored one."
Kaina was up in an instant, her right hand rose to her shoulder as she activated her Quirk, the barrel of her gun sliding out of her elbow only to hang at her side angled downwards; after all what was she supposed to do aim it at, Daitoryo? The operative who'd reported to him? The HPSC? "You won't touch her!" She growled instead, but Daitoryo didn't balk, instead staring her down.
"A means to destroy Quirks isn't a bad alternative either," the president mused. "Our scientists are playing around with the research right now, but you know they'd be chomping at the bit to get their hands on Eri herself. Strap her to a lab table for the rest of her life so they never have to worry about anything happening to her, then just take whatever they need at their leisure."
This time, Kaina didn't hesitate, her rifle flashing up so the end rested just a few inches from Daitoryo's forehead. Her voice was firm, "I said you WON'T touch her!" she growled.
"Now, now there's no need for that," Daitoryo said, spreading his empty hands to emphasize he was unarmed, but Kaina's rifle didn't move. The man sighed, "If we wanted her in our hands, she'd be in them already. In fact call Eraserhead, just this morning Eri was transferred directly into his care."
Kaina stood uncertainly before slowly lowering her rifle to her side, deactivating her Quirk, her rifle slid back into her arm, leaving the limb to dangle beside her. She ignored the feeling of uselessness that filled her, focusing instead on her anger. "What do you want?" She growled.
"At the moment? Nothing," Daitoryo admitted. "I'm the only one who knows about her, besides the agent that supervised her in the hospital. The scientists are happy right now with the research and samples we gave them, and Keigo's the primary focus of those working to increase our sway over heroes. We don't have time to deal with Eri for the moment. So as long as you keep doing your job, Eri gets to go about living a 'normal' life with the condition that she might need to give a sample or do a test every now and then if the scientists start running low or need some data."
His eyes darkened, "Misbehave though, and Eri will find herself a resident of the nearest HPSC-backed orphanage. After all, for as useful as you have been in the past you are not irreplaceable. We have other agents that can do what you do and I doubt they would hesitate to remove a simple underground hero like Eraserhead. Do we have an understanding?"
"Yes," Kaina bit out. "Do you want me to actually investigate the Shie Hassaikai's disappearance, or was that just to get me in here so we could 'talk'?"
"Oh, I do want you to look into them," Daitoryo said shamelessly, "anybody that can organize the eradication of someone of their status is someone we need to take an interest in. Especially if they're a new player."
"And Chisaki?" Kaina asked.
Daitoryo paused, "I see the remark about his Quirk and what he might have used it to do didn't escape your notice. We don't have any particular need for him, so if you do find the man feel free to give him some of your personal hospitality. Now go be a good, loyal dog and fetch." He actually made a shooing motion with his hands, a clear dismissal. Kaina clenched her teeth so hard it physically hurt, but she turned and walked out of the office, making sure that the doors slammed behind her as she exited.
She had a yakuza organization to investigate, and she'd have to look into the people who'd surrounded Eri at the hospital to try and figure out who the agent was. Thankfully Daitoryo had given her a clue, although whether he'd done so purposefully, rendering the tip useless, or had done so unintentionally was still up for debate. Still, 'her,' Kaina mused thoughtfully. It was as good a place to start as any.
Author's Note:
Ladies and gentleman... I'm back and with a new chapter of Rival Heirs to boot. We aren't quite done with Arc II yet although next chapter will be the last one I promise and it'll focus on the USJ. After that we enter the Sports festival arc which I'm excited to finally write, the first two chapters are already up on my P-atreon so go read them there if you want to support me. Sorry, not sorry for the shameless self-advertising but it'll keep me from saying anything about it later. Anyway there also won't be an interlude between the two arcs this time so we'll be hopping straight into the preparations and after that is when the fun begins.
Anyway for this chapter we have Momo becoming class president which will only make her eventual betrayal that much better in my opinion. We also have her growing closer to Jiro and I can't help but wonder if Momo's kindness will make the little punk rocker develop an eensy weensy crush. Although I'm pretty sure cannon Kyoka's going to end up with Denki I personally am a fan of bisexual disaster Kyoka crushing on Momo but trying to hide it because she gets flustered around the aloof rich girl. That's just my headcannon though but since I'm an author I'm able to make it a reality. Ha! Writing. *insert coffee cup*
Other than that though we have the main focus of the chapter Eri and the revelation that the HPSC knows about her. Yes Doc Flevance is an oc of mine and I wonder if the description of him and his ex-wife's quirks remind you of anyone? Anyways back on topic, Eri's broken op quirk which I touched on in this chapter. Yes it requires an unknown energy but other than that she can basically do a ton. Lose a limb, rewind to before you lost it. Old, rewind to youth. Enemy has a Quirk, rewind them to before they developed one. I was tempted to have Izuku take in Eri and use it to heal All For One but no way would that man not take it and that combination is dangerous so she had to go to the heroes. As for why the HPSC doesn't just take her, well, the president doesn't want information about her to spread so better to keep her where she's relatively safe and they can retrieve her at any point rather than try to hide the girl and risk some greedy official in the Commission or government take her away for their own use.
Thanks to my proofreader and editor DutchHorizon for his work and I hope you all had a happy Halloween. Nothing like a bastardized version of a celtic festival to get the blood flowing but don't think I'm hating on it, Halloween is my favorite holiday. *Sigh* guess we can't look forward to Christmas decorations going up this week. Make sure to favorite, follow, and leave a review since I love reading them.
Anyway until next time this is the devil who wonders who he'd look riding a magical sleigh with eight flying succubi signing off.
- D'yavol Lucifer 3:)
*IMPORTANT NOTICE*
All the cover art for my stories are ones I found online. I am really interested in using fanart provided by you the readers to replace them. If you're interested draw something up and pm me so I can send you the details on where to send it or pm me and I'll give you some details so you can draw one. As I say in my bio if I use it I may add you as an oc in one of my stories! Isn't that exciting!
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