Hello again, everyone. Well, last week's chapter was certainly a powerhouse event, wasn't it? This chapter is honestly going to serve as a chance for the characters and ourselves to finally breathe again, but I still consider it to be just as important, if not for the fact that I got to get a bit creative with certain elements that we've never gotten to see in the manga or anime themselves. This is also, to my surprise just as much as yours, the currently longest chapter I've put together yet. When that happens with these chapters that don't revolve around major action set pieces, that should really say something about just how much of the characters I really wanted to lay out in the open here. I'm honestly really proud of what I did for this one, and I hope it meets all your expectations.
The site lately hasn't been notifying me when the story either gets new reviews, followers or favorites, but please don't let that dissuade you all from taking the time to voice your opinions about the story thus far. I keep asking week after week, and virtually no one does it, and I just can't understand why. I'm really not asking for much, I just want to know what you all think I'm doing best here, or if you have any constructive criticism you'd like to share in how you think the story could be improved. So please, when you read the chapter, just take the chance to post a review, it really would be genuinely appreciated on my part.
I'd once again like to give a special shout-out of gratitude to my two beta readers Mizu and Jonny, for all their awesome constructive and personal support. I'd also like to personally congratulate Mizu on their having just recently gotten married. You deserve all the happiness there is in the world to be had, my friend.
My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters, the original events surrounding them, and the alterations of established events that occur as a direct result of their existence in this universe.
A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.
UPDATE 06/16/23: I've made some updated touches to certain lines of dialogue through this chapter in regards to the meetings with the students' parents featured, in order to maintain continuity with the recently released adaptation of the first MHA School Briefs light novel that you can read here: 'Son of Justice: Parents' Day.'
Chapter 51
Trust
(Доверие)
Saturday, July 13th, Yokohama City Hospital
The hours that passed after the conclusion of the battle against All For One felt like they had gone by in a flash, whether it was the extensive rescue efforts carried out by all the summoned Pro Heroes, or the administering of emergency aid and medical care to Heroes and civilians alike that had been injured over the course of the battle itself.
To nobody's surprise, all the hospitals in the Yokohama City area were quickly swamped with patients and displaced civilians needing to be organized by the authorities for evacuation and relocation purposes until the destroyed portion of the Kamino Ward could be efficiently repaired.
Despite this overflow of human traffic, however, that didn't stop the doctors from putting in their most admirable efforts to provide treatment when and where they could. And for no two patients was this any clearer than Oleg Bezpalov and Toshinori Yagi, who had both been rushed straight into respective surgeries once they had been effectively cleared from the scene of the battle.
With the accumulated amounts of pain from such an extensive list of injuries that the two Heroes in particular had suffered, it was no surprise that at least one of them had trouble maintaining consciousness, as Oleg had already been fading in and out before having even reached the hospital. Perhaps it was the realization that they had finally reached it that allowed him to black out and stay that way, because the next time he had finally opened his eyes, he was already in a hospital gown in a bed of his own, with a similarly heavily bandaged and cast-wearing Toshinori lying in the bed right beside his own, with both Heroes now being addressed by a single doctor looking over their respective medical profiles; and all while the much less bandaged Gran Torino and Detective Naomasa were sitting in the corner, patiently waiting and listening to everything.
It was all too clear to all of them just how difficult it was for the doctor to have to speak to and see the man who was once known to the world as All Might in the state he was in, but his dedication to trying to stay professional was similarly admirable, as he had to explain just how many portions of both his arms were severely broken, how he had a hairline fracture to his skull, how one shoulder was broken while the opposite clavicle was fractured, and nearly half his ribs had been shattered, on top of a considerable burn injury to his chest.
It was unfortunately easy for the two patients to figure out just where that final one had come from. However, they could at least both be grateful the doctor didn't feel the need to bring the mood down any further by mentioning anything regarding Toshinori's Quirk. Instead, once he had gone through listing his injuries, the doctor had now turned his attention to the still burly Russian man beside him.
"Your injuries were nothing to scoff at either… Bezpalov-san. You taking the measure to cauterize your amputation wound did help a good deal, but you still ultimately lost a great deal of blood through that and all those impalement wounds. We pretty much had to go through nearly half our supply of universal donor blood just to get you back to a stable level; not uncommon for a man your size. After that, it was a matter of properly finishing sealing up that amputation wound, and dealing with the rest of your internal injuries. You were looking at a similar burn injury to your torso, more than a few shattered and broken ribs, a compound fracture to your left shoulder, a crack to your left orbital bone, and a number of micro-fractures to both your shoulder blades, and that's not even counting the near rupture damage to several of your internal organs we had to deal with, as a result of the accumulated heavy blows you took. Long story short, the two of you are far damn luckier than you might have originally thought. But, thankfully, the worst has come to pass for you two, so once you've gotten some time today to rest and finish the more urgent portion of your respective healing, you'll both be cleared to go back to Musutafu City, hopefully by tonight."
The gravity of their mutual close call; the doctor, Gran Torino and Naomasa could all see; was far from lost on the two men, especially as Oleg once again lowered his gaze to his now completely bandaged over stump of his left arm. To this, the doctor let out a regretful sigh. "My apologies; even with as advanced as medical technology has become, I'm afraid there was nothing we could do to try and re-attach your arm, Bezpalov-san. It had gotten caught so close to so many of those shockwaves that it was pretty much destroyed beyond any hope by the time it was found amid the wreckage."
The sigh that Oleg let out upon this information was of course quite heavy, but he wasn't about to dare start complaining, let alone lamenting what he'd ultimately lost. Knowing that there had to be a fair number of people caught in the destruction that ultimately hadn't made it, he knew he had no right to do such a thing.
And besides, his friend in the bed next to his had suffered a far greater loss by comparison, and he knew that was exactly what he, Gran Torino and Naomasa were all thinking, as the detective asked the doctor to give them some time alone, and soon he and the little elderly Hero beside him joined the two, watching as Toshinori was gazing contemplatively to his heavily bandaged left hand, and sling-and-casted right arm.
Neither they nor Tunguska even dared to ask exactly what or how Toshinori was thinking or feeling right now. It was all too obvious as the blonde man let out a weighty sigh of his own. "The last flames inside of me have finally gone out. The 'Symbol of Peace' is dead."
Anyone else easily could have let themselves fall into inescapable despair to speak or hear such a grim statement. However, Toshinori was not like anyone else, as instead of submitting to tears and feeling sorry for himself, he still looked ahead with that same inspiring glimmer to his sunken blue eyes. "However, there're still some things I have to do."
Taking this as the first possible cue, Oleg straightened himself up in his bed, as though to try and signal that he likewise had something to say before anything else. "That's right… in truth; we both do, in a way. I may be making quite an assumption here, so I apologize for that, but if malenkaya Yaoyorozu's family was able to craft such elaborate prosthetics for my fingers before, it surely must be possible they could be able to do the same for my arm as a whole. If that does indeed end up being the case, perhaps I may still be able to take my Pro Hero License Exam in due time.
"If I'm able to become an officially licensed and working Pro Hero again… then perhaps I might be able to do something, anything at all, to try and carry some of the weight you'd saddled yourself with for so long, Toshinori-san. After everything you've done up to this point, it seems only right that someone lighten some of your burden and do something to keep that idea of hope and peace for the people alive… at least until malenkii Midoriya is well and truly ready to finally take up your mantle."
It was hard to tell exactly how Toshinori was feeling about what Oleg was suggesting with that skinny face of his, but his actual answer was still very quick: "I appreciate what you're saying, Oleg-san, but you're hardly in any better shape than I am to even think of doing Pro Hero work any time soon."
"Toshinori's right; pushing yourself to get well enough to start torturing yourself through the exams, just so you can get back out into the field full-time is just an efficient way to get yourself laid up in a hospital bed or a casket that much sooner." As grim as Gran Torino's noting was, he thankfully didn't speak to Oleg as though he were scolding a foolish child, which the larger man could appreciate while having his goal thrown back at him.
"Any Hero, no matter their age, would need to take some time to properly heal up after the kind of injuries you've both sustained, so please, leave the public safety to us and the rest of the Pros, and just focus on letting your wounds heal. With the defeat and arrest of All For One, it's going to be a good amount of time, I believe, before the League of Villains will feel ready to make anywhere as bold a move again."
However, Naomasa's spoken confidence was, sadly, not reflected in the faces of the three accompanying Heroes, as Toshinori bowed his head in further contemplation. "We can't leave that kind of thing to assumptions, though, Naomasa. Shigaraki Tomura's mentality and approach was like that of a child during USJ… but already, his demeanor and attitude had matured much more than I had expected by the time of the attack on the students' training camp. All For One had clearly been putting his all into teaching that man as much as he could in a relatively short time in order for him to grow that much. We can only hope that, with him now being in prison, that his disciple won't somehow continue to grow nearly as fast… but even of that, I have my doubts."
Now that the now de facto leader of the League of Villains had been brought up, a whole new air of apprehension hung over all four of their heads, with Gran Torino now looking especially troubled. "Shigaraki Tomura… Shimura Nana's grandson, huh?"
Almost immediately riding off of that, Toshinori turned his gaze to his Russian hospital roommate: "Shimura Nana… she was my—"
"I already know, Toshinori-san. I heard how that bastard, All For One, kept taunting you with her name last night. I was pretty much able to put it together from that."
While Toshinori couldn't help but be only the slightest touch embarrassed at such a force of habit for his ally, Naomasa looked similarly troubled and perplexed. "But the whole thing about Shigaraki being her grandson, that's only what he claimed, wasn't it? There's not much basis behind all that, is there? Isn't it possible he was only saying that to throw you off your focus, Toshinori? Did neither you nor Gran Torino interact at all with the previous generation of her family?"
Toshinori still remained forebodingly silent, while Gran Torino looked similarly as thoughtful… and now, even regretful. "Well… Shimura's husband was killed. In order to distance her own child as far from the world of Heroes as possible, she gave him up to a foster family. She told Toshinori and I that under no circumstances did she want either of us to come into contact with her child, even if the worst were to happen to her."
Without even intending to match up, Oleg and Naomasa both instinctively fell back into their respective seats at the cruel irony of the end of such a story. "And, by keeping such a promise… this is what ends up happening. How miserable."
"Indeed. They always say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions…and time and again, it proves exactly why it's such a common saying. It's enough to make one never want to try and do something for the sake of another again if it happens often enough." Oleg muttered tiredly to himself, already being reminded once more of his third greatest failing as a Hero and mentor all those years ago, and what it had led to even all the way out here.
As for Toshinori, simply to think about such a cruel twist of fate left him clenching his bandaged hands tight, brute-forcing his way through the pain. "In parting with her own blood, my master just wanted to do what she could to ensure a life of peace… I have to go find Shigaraki, wherever he might be. If I do, then he—!"
"NO." Gran Torino's interjection was short, to the point, and unmistakable in how deathly serious he was, forcing his old student to look him in the eye. "What exactly would you do once you found him, Toshinori? Thanks to All For One telling you the truth about Shigaraki, now you'll no longer be capable of seeing him as a Villain. You would be at a complete loss. I know you don't want to hear this, but no matter what his lineage is, at the end of the day, he's still a criminal."
Toshinori looked deeply hurt, but neither he, Oleg nor Naomasa could deny the irrefutable point to Gran Torino's words, with the older Russian chiming in: "Your intentions to try and perhaps steer Shigaraki back in the right direction are more than admirable, Toshinori-san, but remember what I'd told you about what happened by my trying to rehabilitate Vukodlak… and how many people have ultimately suffered because of it. It's heartbreaking, but there are just some people who are too far gone for us to be able to help in that way. What would happen if you were to somehow get through to him, only for something further down the line to set him off again, and he becomes even worse than he already is? Trust me on this, as your friend; you don't want that kind of spiritual defeat after already losing One For All."
Oleg hated having to crush even this much of Toshinori's sense of hope for their mutual enemy, but he couldn't bear the idea of his friend having his spirit that thoroughly crushed, like what had happened to him.
It was once more difficult to tell exactly what was going through Toshinori's head, but that still didn't stop Gran Torino and Naomasa from joining each other side-by-side to formally address the two bedridden Heroes. "From now on, the search for the League of Villains shall be carried out by Tsukauchi-san and myself." For Gran Torino to still sound as authoritative and respect-commanding even in his own injured condition; it was now even easier for Oleg to see how such a small old man could have been such an influential mentor for Toshinori back in the day.
Following Gran Torino's word, the humble detective continued: "As for the two of you, Toshinori, Bezpalov-san, you two shall remain here until you are officially cleared to return home, and you shall both go back to Yuuei and carry out that which you both can still help each other do, even if Toshinori can no longer be the Symbol of Peace: helping to raise all of those aspiring children to become the very best Heroes they can possibly be."
As much as it hurt their mutual pride to have to be sidelined like this after everything else, it was still more than affirming to remember that even that singular duty still carried all the weight of importance in the world, and there was no way in hell they were going to let their mutual losses distract them from that. It was now time for them to start helping each other work ten times as hard to make sure those kids, and their mutual student, were all ready and prepared for everything their futures as Heroes were going to throw at them, no matter what.
Of course, before either of them could do any of that, they likewise realized they were going to have to have a very serious conversation with their respective charges first. And that was only going to be a matter of time.
Outskirts of Kamino Ward, Yokohama City
After finally reuniting with Shoto and Momo and letting themselves get properly attended to by the police and emergency services alongside the rest of the affected civilians from Kamino Ward; Nikolay, Izuku, Mina, Eijirou, Shoto, Momo, Tenya and Bakugo had found themselves at a virtual loss of what else there was they possibly could've done once morning had finally come, especially with the authorities and the Pro Heroes having everything so thoroughly taken care of
And so, it was with a great weight of stress being lifted from all their shoulders, that they finally delivered Bakugo to some of the attending police officers so that he could be officially reported to have been rescued to the rest of the Heroes, and he could at last be returned home properly. As relieving as it was to finally take that final step that would confirm their mutual mission was a resounding success, not a single one of them didn't feel a considerable sense of surprise and concern at just how unnaturally quiet and non-confrontational Bakugo was throughout the entire thing, not even once protesting that he didn't need to be rescued when the word was brought up.
"Well… I guess that's it, then." Nikolay ultimately said once Bakugo was out of sight, with many giving a single solemn nod of agreement. However, there was hardly any of the overwhelming joy that any of his friends had been hoping at least one of them would express, knowing they had managed to accomplish their mission.
Of course, even that kind of initial relief could only have lasted so long, considering exactly what they had all witnessed and felt in their hearts together mere hours ago. In fact, that painful reminder came back really quick when the remaining seven now-directionless Yuuei students could plainly see that the authorities had everything else efficiently under control, and they themselves had fulfilled their purpose… and yet couldn't shake the feeling that their business in Yokohama City was not yet finished.
"I don't know, you guys. I know the whole deal was that we were just trying to save Bakugo from the Villains… but I just wouldn't feel right, leaving without even checking to see if All Might and Tunguska-sensei are okay first." Mina, of course, pointed out with a particularly troubled tone. Deep down, of course they all agreed with her wholeheartedly. Those two and so many other Heroes had put their lives on the line and suffered in some of the worst ways these kids had ever seen a Hero experience yet. It was only right, as their students (and son), that they at least made the effort to see to them personally.
However, feeling this way, and actually acting on it, were proving to be two totally different things, even for the pink young girl who'd brought it up to begin with, and she could tell her friends were all just as emotionally conflicted as even she was. In the end, though, Tenya finally spoke up; his face equally tense with indecision of his own: "Ashido-san is right… but with the damage and number of injured civilians from the battle being as high as it is; it's easy to see that all the local doctors would doubtless be very busy attending to all the Heroes and civilians at once. It could potentially take all day before they'd finally be in good enough condition for visitors."
The painful truth of it all, though, was that while their class president did have a valid point on the practical side of things, that wasn't the major reason they were all so hesitant to actually go to the hospital to check on their two teachers.
The truth was that, in the end, they all felt nothing but doubt they would have the emotional fortitude to handle seeing the two Heroes in the condition they left the battlefield in. After having lived pretty much their entire lives seeing All Might as the indomitable pillar of justice and peace that he was… to see him in the flesh so shrunken down and scrawny, looking like he was going to keel over at any minute, was physically heartbreaking to imagine putting themselves through; and that was coming from those that only had him as their school teacher, and not a personal mentor like Izuku, who likewise knew he couldn't handle being in the same room as his most admired Hero right now, no matter how much he desperately wanted to, knowing what he'd ultimately lost.
And when it came to Tunguska… well, many of them had been starting to see him as more than just another teacher or even as an idol of what kind of Hero to aspire to. For students like Eijirou and Mina, he was even starting to feel like a secondary father already, so to see him missing an entire arm, they all knew would simply be too much. Even just thinking about it had Nikolay looking like he was on the verge of a tearful breakdown.
In the end, as much as they were all kicking themselves for it, they all knew they simply weren't ready for the emotional toll of seeing their teachers in such shape just yet. And it was with that, and knowing that their original mission had finally been accomplished, that the seven-student Bakugo Rescue Team had finally decided it was time to get onto the next train to Musutafu City in Shizuoka Prefecture, and finally return home.
Their hearts, minds and spirits may have all been heavy with regret and sadness for their teachers losses, as well as that of all the people around them in the grand scheme of things, but they still had the rescue of their classmate to be proud of, and by God, for the entirety of that near two-hour train ride back, they knew they needed to hang onto that sense of accomplishment and relief for everything it was worth.
Of course, even that air of accomplishment was quickly dimmed once their eyes started seeing the numerous headlines on the magazines and newspapers the passengers all around them were reading; every single one bearing the new image of All Might, and all of them with huge headlines like: 'IS THE SYMBOL OF PEACE OVER AS OUR HERO?!' 'ALL MIGHT'S TRUE FORM, AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR OUR FUTURE!' 'NO MORE ALL MIGHT, MORE VILLAINS TO COME?!'
And even this wasn't as bad as some of the whispers they could hear these same people making towards each other: "Do you really think All Might's no longer gonna be fighting Villains?" "How the hell am I gonna tell my kids All Might's no longer gonna be fighting for us?" "I guess if All Might's not gonna fight anymore, the police better get off their asses and start being more proactive in actually fighting against Villains instead." "Is any Hero who's gonna take that Number One spot even gonna be able to measure up in comparison?"
The seven students could all feel their stomachs twist and their hearts drop all over again to hear so many people expressing concern and doubt like this not even a day after what All Might had just gone through. Nikolay and Eijirou both looked like they really wanted to say something to these people, whether it be reassuring them, or perhaps even scolding them for sounding so snide about it. But a single discouraging glance from Tenya and Shoto thankfully dissuaded the two boys from doing so. This was still a monumental change that their entire society was going through right now, it was only natural that people air their thoughts and feelings out in order to move past it. Hell, their own mutual sadness as Hero students was their own way of doing the exact same thing.
Among their numbers, Mina couldn't help but glance more than a few times to see that, even among her friends, Izuku was the one easily looking the most heartbroken, having to read and listen to such things after All Might's departure. His head was bowed down, doubtless to keep his friends from worrying if they saw him crying, but the way his hands were so tightly clasped together in a trembling, white-knuckled grip, it was already very clear. "Poor Midori-kun. I know we're all really busted up about All Might, but I didn't think he could somehow be taking it even worse than that."
She had thankfully had the wherewithal to simply keep this to the most hushed whisper towards Momo sitting next to her, and the ponytail-wearing girl likewise glanced to their green-haired classmate. "It only makes sense; he and All Might were exceptionally close as far as teachers and students come. It's almost akin to that of a parent and their child."
Of course, with the mentioning of parents and children, all eyes soon drifted not only towards Nikolay, who was looking just as contemplative and determined to try and keep his emotional composure as best he could, but also to Shoto, who by now was also looking considerably troubled.
Nikolay could feel his friends' many eyes on him, but he was far from ready to start talking about what he could just feel they were all thinking, so he likewise leaned back tiredly in his seat and turned to Shoto across from him. "If those people and the media are right; and All Might really can't serve as the Number One Hero in the nation anymore, does that mean your father's automatically going to take his place, Todoroki-san?"
Shoto had clearly just been waiting for at least one of them to finally ask, as his answer came pretty much automatically, leaning back and looking tiredly up at the ceiling. "It only makes sense he will, having been Number Two for as long as he has… though I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't willing to accept it like this. All my life, all he ever wanted was to surpass All Might through his own sheer strength and power… and when he couldn't obtain it himself, he poured everything he had into me and my siblings for the same purpose. That was the only way he felt the Number One Hero spot could ever be rightfully earned. To have it given to him like this… I can only imagine the blow to his pride and hard work that must be."
Among them, Nikolay and Izuku were the only ones that could even come close to comprehending just how intense things with Endeavor were bound to be the next time Shoto saw him. As for the others, they couldn't begin to imagine, having never known a thing about the Flame Hero outside of his public image and strength when fighting Villains himself. In a way, they were all better off not knowing the truth in all its gritty details.
"Kolya-san… I'm sorry to bring this up now of all times, but I… I just have to ask, and maybe you'd be able to tell me. When your—I-I mean, when Tunguska-sensei's wounds are all healed up… do you think he'll still try to go for getting his Pro Hero License? I mean, if he was also a Number One Hero back in your country before, surely he'd still be capable of going for it again here, right?"
As Eijirou asked this understandably awkward question, Nikolay, fortunately, couldn't bring himself to feel upset at him for asking this now. Knowing how much the sharp-toothed boy had already come to admire his father, and then seeing him get hurt so badly, he was clearly looking for some kind of reassurance the man would be able to get back up and fight evil again. Losing All Might was bad enough; losing two Heroes he looked up to so much in a single night would probably break the poor boy.
"I don't think he cares about things like ranking anymore, Kirishima-san. As far as Dad is concerned, I think it's probably just about being able to get back in the field and just… feel like he's doing something to help people. And… with things surrounding All Might being the way they are, I wouldn't be surprised if he's got a bit of a beholden thing towards him going on now as well, like he wants to try and shoulder some of the weight that All Might used to. That's always been a part of who he is as a Hero, really."
It felt good to say this stuff out loud, at least, and it did put a bit of a relieved smile on everyone's faces to see Eijirou look so thoroughly reassured as he let out a sigh he'd been holding in unconsciously for the last few minutes.
"Bezpalov-san is right; Tunguska-sensei has hardly given reason for us to worry he'd never pick himself back up, regardless of injuries. That's just the kind of air he naturally gives off, just like All Might. And besides, once he's been cleared from the hospital again, it won't be as difficult for him to go about getting his Pro Hero license as you might think, even with the wounds he's sustained."
As Momo suddenly chimed in with this, sounding exceptionally confident in the circumstances, all eyes were soon on her, and she couldn't help but blush at having brought so much of her friend's attention to herself. "Well… what I mean to say is that, after the showcase of his successful finger prosthetics during the I-Expo, investments in my family's Support Company that made them has skyrocketed, and I recently learned that several of our best R&D workers have already been working on a number of full limb prosthetics to accommodate a number of different Quirks so that Heroes can continue to carry out their duties even after wounds like the one Tunguska-sensei suffered.
"After all, my parents had those first prosthetics made for him specifically as gratitude for his hard work with me and the rest of us; there's no way they wouldn't be just as willing to provide such a thing for him again after the battle he and All Might just went through, and the sheer number of people they saved in the process. Every person in Japan is bound to have seen at least a piece of it on the internet or on TV by now; it's not possible that they won't have been filled in on it as well."
It was certainly reassuring to hear her say this, and even if there was no telling how long it would ultimately take, there was something to be grateful for in the knowledge that, even if they were to have ultimately lost All Might, at least someone who could be considered close to him personally was still capable of potentially filling even a tiny bit of the space he would be leaving behind.
But for them and everyone else around them, this was still all nothing but hypotheticals. The only thing they knew for certain was that All Might was potentially on his way out into the world of Pro Hero retirement, and for many of them, that left a painful void in the pit of their chests, saying goodbye to what (for most of them) had been a true constant.
All of this on top of everything else they had experienced and put themselves through last night had ultimately taken a far great physical toll on the seven students than they had initially realized, as many were more than happy to simply let the rest of the train ride pass in restful silence.
Musutafu City
When they had finally returned to the train station in Musutafu City, it nearly felt like the seven youngsters hadn't been here in weeks, instead of just less than one. There was, of course, a great deal of that 'no place like home' feeling in the air among them, but likewise there was also that still-lingering weight of emotion over just what the immediate future was going to hold for them when the fallout from the battle finally settled.
As much as they all clearly wanted to, they all knew there wasn't anything any of them could say to try and lighten each other's spirits, at least not now. They would simply have to wait to hear what the police and the news would have to say and pick themselves up from there.
And so, with that resignation and a great deal of exhaustion, what had once started out as a tense but ultimately noble mission to save one of their own had finally ended with but the most casual of notes, as Tenya was the one to ultimately break the silence, and as such, the former Bakugo Rescue Team: "Well… I suppose we'll all just have to make sure to talk later once we're rested. With that: goodbye, everyone."
And right on his cue, everyone likewise began to finally give their farewells, with Izuku and Nikolay still clearly being the most drained from it all as they simply wished to see each other again at school, right after assuring an understandably concerned Momo that they would all indeed simply be returning home right away, and after Mina and Eijirou both tried to comfort Izuku that everything would be okay in the end, even though they were both visibly still as emotional as the rest of the group was inside.
With all their goodbyes having at last been said, and personally feeling more than ready to put this entire situation behind him and finally pass out, Nikolay was already on his way down the steps to the street so he could head home, even though he knew he'd be looking at nearly an entire day and night most likely all by himself.
"Kolya-kun!" "Yeah, man, wait up!" Just as he was about to start crossing the street, the young Russian was jolted already by the sound of Mina and Eijirou hurrying to catch up with him.
Of course, being as exhausted as he was, his sharpness was nowhere near where it normally was. "What's wrong? Don't tell me I forgot something important already."
"Well, no, nothing like that. We just didn't wanna have to try and chase after you the whole way back." Eijirou explained. This time Nikolay's confusion was less from tiredness and more from simply not following what his two knowingly smiling friends were getting at.
"'Chase me back?' We said our goodbyes already; I thought you two would be going back to your apartments."
"Well, that was the original idea, but… truth be told, Kolya-kun; after what happened, especially to Tunguska-sensei; me and Kiri didn't think it would be a good idea for you to be all alone right now. I'm willing to bet you haven't let out nearly enough of what you're really feeling about it, and we thought you'd prefer to have company to help you through all that." Mina's smile, almost matching Eijirou's, was still as compassionate and sincere as could be, to the point Nikolay could still smile in gratitude even through his physical exhaustion.
"I'm not going to say you're wrong, either of you. But I don't even know if I'm going to cry when I get home, or just simply pass out. You two shouldn't feel like you have to babysit me, even for something like this." As Nikolay tried to dissuade his friends from, honestly, sacrificing their own time for his sake, Eijirou just let out a hearty chuckle and brought a supportive arm over his shoulders.
"Aw, babysitting-nothing, Kolya-san. What else are friends for if they aren't even able to help each other through pain simply by being there for each other? It's the very least we can do, man. I mean, hell, if I'm being honest, I'm still feeling really shaky about what happened to him, too. I really don't wanna be at my place by myself right now, either."
"Yeah, neither do I. That whole thing was scary as hell; you don't just shrug something like that off. I don't even know if I could sleep, no matter how much I really want to. Right now, simply being together with you guys sounds like the best thing ever, you know?" Mina chimed in as well, bringing her own arm over Nikolay's shoulders as well so he was hopelessly caught in the middle with an awkward smirk on his face.
For Mina and Eijirou, the fact he was somewhat smiling and not still actively trying to talk them out of it was the best possible answer they could've hoped for. "Awesome! After managing to still save Bakugo after all that craziness, a day of just relaxing at home with besties sounds like heaven right now! You'll see, Kolya-kun, it'll be great!"
No matter how it could possibly turn out, all Nikolay knew was that right now, having them around was sounding better and better compared to simply being alone with his thoughts. And if his simply being there could help them both likewise, then there was no way in hell he could possibly turn them down. "Bolshoi spasibo, you guys. You're the best."
When they had finally returned to and stepped back into the Bezpalov house, it almost felt genuinely unsettling to step in and not either be met with the scent of food cooking in the kitchen, or the natural boom of Oleg's voice welcoming any and everyone inside. Without him here, or virtually anybody having been in here for a good few days, it almost felt like a completely unnatural place for Nikolay, even if only for a second.
Despite ultimately coming right back in and making themselves at home once more, that momentary feeling left Nikolay retreating back into the depths of his head for probably the hundredth time this morning; collapsing onto the couch with the heaviest sigh ever, staring off into nothing as he just kept thinking, even with Mina and Eijirou both taking their respective spots with exhausted groans of their own at both his sides.
"No place like home, right, Kolya-kun?" Mina asked knowingly, playfully nudging her Russian best friend with her elbow, only to quickly see he was once again a million miles away in his head.
Unwilling to let them sit in this kind of uncomfortable silence, Eijirou's eyes flew to the first thing he could spot, unfortunately being another old family photo of Kolya as an infant with both his parents that had been salvaged from the cabinet wreck months before. Even as he was mentally kicking himself for this, he simply couldn't help but ask: "Even if Recovery Girl didn't come to the scene afterwards, do you think they might've been able to treat Tunguska-sensei and All Might well enough they could even be let out any time soon?"
Despite Mina momentarily giving Eijirou a 'what are you doing?' look for bringing up their teacher and friend's father now of all times, Nikolay was surprisingly keeping his calm, as he just ran the palm of his hand down his face to try and get rid of even some of his tiredness. "Even if they somehow did, that doesn't help me none, just as I'm sure it doesn't help either of you, or Midoriya-san, or anyone else from our class the next time any of us see him. I've been trying to mentally psyche myself up for seeing his condition with my own eyes ever since the battle ended, but no matter how hard I try, I don't know how.
"A whole piece of him is gone forever, and nothing's going to be able to undo that, not even another fancy prosthetic. And on top of that, he's just had to say goodbye to probably his only real ally ever since we'd come here. Even if All Might is still alive, my Dad would be looking at a potential return to being a Hero without him to fight alongside in case another serious crisis like that battle were to happen. I don't know how we'll he'd be able to re-integrate himself into that kind of profession for real again without All Might to help bridge the gap."
Nikolay clearly wasn't looking for advice or an answer from either of his friends; good thing too, since they regretfully had to admit to themselves and each other that they were just as much at a loss as their Russian friend was.
Of course, bringing up the subject of All Might did once again leave Mina thinking back, this time with a considerably less emotional air of confusion. "I keep thinking back to seeing All Might all skinny and small like that… I don't know, it just feels so unreal, you know? I've never heard of a Hero without some kind of shape-shifting Quirk being able to totally change the way they look like that. Do you think he's always been able to do that, but just chose not to?"
Nikolay was essentially thinking out loud as he answered the pink girl at his side: "It's possible his muscle form was a result of activating his Quirk to begin with. I mean, Kirishima-san, your Quirk essentially changes the way you look when you activate it, but it's still not technically a shape-shifting Quirk."
Eijirou looked to be in full understanding of Nikolay's train of thought, while the young Slav now looked to be thinking about something else related to All Might's surprising real form, with an especially retrospective look in his green eyes. "In fact… when we first saw his form on the TV, Dad may have just barely been caught in the shot then, but I didn't even see him flinch. It's almost as though… as though he'd actually seen All Might in that kind of shape already. Now I just can't help but wonder if he knew about that whole thing that Villain was talking about, about All Might growing weaker, all along. I mean, for the longest time, Dad was resolute in him and I never revealing our Quirks under any circumstances back in Russia… and yet All Might somehow managed to convince him to suddenly go back on over ten years of that one mindset overnight."
Going in this direction had now left Eijirou looking especially thoughtful on the matter as well. "Well… if All Might knew he was actually getting weaker, maybe it's possible that's why he sought Tunguska-sensei out, looking for someone that could come close to matching his strength, like as a preliminary measure for when he couldn't be the Symbol of Peace anymore."
Of course, the moment Eijirou said it, he immediately regretted doing so, and not because of the returning 'what the hell' look on Mina's face. No, they all realized that his theory made it sound like the entire reason Nikolay had even ended up here and finally rediscovered and restarted his life, was all so his father could be a mere replacement. That kind of image could have easily made anyone lose all inspiration and hope, knowing something had happened to them for no benefit of their own, but that of somebody else alone.
So, of course, Mina was instantly to the rescue, as she placed a supportive hand on Nikolay's shoulder and helped pull him back so he was sitting up straight again and not burying his face in his hands in thought. "Maybe it's just not our place right now to wonder that kind of thing, Kolya-kun. Whatever it may be, I'm sure All Might and Tunguska-sensei had their reasons for not telling anyone about what was happening to him. I mean, we all heard what some of those people on the train were saying. It sounded like a lot of them were already losing hope now that they knew. Maybe that's the reason All Might didn't want anyone to see what he really looked like. It's kinda hard to be the Symbol of Peace when people are losing hope cause they know you're not gonna be around forever."
This time it was both Nikolay and Eijirou's turn to answer Mina with clearly impressed glances of their own; neither of the boys (nor Mina herself, for that matter) having ever heard her sound so deep before. Thankfully, their mutual awkward silence did lead the plucky trio to start laughing it all off with each other. But of course, once that had run its course, her theory could only lead their minds to one common place now:
"YOU'RE NEXT."
Ever since All Might had declared those words, the three students hadn't been able to truly stop thinking about it. It had filled them all with so much hope, inspiration and drive to live up to those words and prove themselves worthy of that torch their Hero had essentially passed onto them.
"In the end, it doesn't matter his reasons for keeping it a secret from us, or whether or not Tunguska-sensei will be able to become a working Pro to help try and fill some of that void. All Might still meant those words for all of us at Yuuei." Eijirou finally said in realization to himself, while Nikolay and Mina nodded in mutual agreement.
"I won't lie, I'm still pretty scared after seeing what the super tough Villain could do… but if there's other Villains out there that evil who want to hurt people… then I can't let myself be scared and just let them do whatever they want. I want to be the kind of Hero that can help beat those kind of Villains so people don't have to be that scared anymore. I wanna be able to make people feel the kind of hope All Might could make us feel even then." Mina declared to herself; her hands clutching onto her pant legs tight.
Both hers and Eijirou's eyes fell onto Nikolay, as his hands were clasped together in another white-knuckled grip, as though he were silently praying. When he finally lifted his head, the shimmer in his green eyes struck his two closest friends with another resonating air of… honest inspiration, almost as though he were embodying even a fragment of Tunguska's strength at this moment.
"You're both right. It's not going to be easy, and it's only going to get harder and scarier… but after everything All Might and Dad put on the line and lost in order to protect people from a Villain like that… what right could we have to call ourselves future Heroes if we weren't willing to at least face the same kind of risks? Starting today, I just know we're all going to be helping each other up every single step of the way, no matter what, so we can all not only become Pro Heroes… but the very kind of Pro Heroes that can live up to All Might's trust, carry the same kind of weight together that he did alone, and make him, my Dad, and all Pro Heroes like them proud."
Eijirou looked like he was about half-ready to meet Nikolay with a supportive fist bump after the fair-looking Russian boy had summoned up the energy for such a deeply heartfelt and Heroic speech ("That's was probably one of the manliest things I've heard you say yet, man"), before Mina suddenly pulled Nikolay out of his reverie and into a playful headlock, laughing and squeezing him close and tight.
"Tunguska-sensei would probably be crying with pride if he saw you just now, Kolya-kun! You sounded so cool! There's that always-burning Hero's fire of never-quitting that I admire so much about you! I almost thought you'd start glowing like Tunguska-sensei for a second there!"
With lighthearted and appreciative laughs and play-fighting on the couch to be had between the three; Nikolay, Mina and Eijirou felt their hearts lighten with hope and inspiration again for what felt like the first time in days, knowing they would always have each other to help get through even the darkest periods like what they had just witnessed last night.
The hours that had passed between their having to finish resting up in the Yokohama City Hospital before ultimately being cleared to leave, and then the lengthy police car ride back to Musutafu City in order to avoid the prying eyes of the press and the general public, felt like they went by at a true snail's pace for both Oleg and Toshinori.
By the time they had finally returned to the familiar city, the sun was already on the verge of setting, and thankfully, most of the public had already long since start leaving work for home, so there wouldn't be as many people running the risk of recognizing the two still heavily-bandaged men, and drawing unwanted crowds to them.
Walking the thankfully now quieter streets, Oleg took a deep breath of the cool night air. "What does it say about me that I would much rather simply stay out here and wait the entire night out, instead of finally have to have my son see me in the shape I'm in? Dammit all, I don't know how I should go about this with my own flesh and blood."
"It says that you're only human, and doing the best you can with the circumstances you've been given, Oleg-san. That's the way it unfortunately is for both of us now. Believe me, if I had any kind of definitive answer for how to approach Bezpalov-shonen with your wounds being what they are, I'd have told you in a heartbeat. I'm still trying to figure out what to tell Midoriya-shonen myself."
Toshinori's voice wasn't any less laced with regret as he answered his Russian companion as humbly as he could while still busily typing away a text message to Izuku on his phone; drawing a curious glance from the larger bearded man. "I've just asked him to meet me at the local beach. It's where I'd officially started his training to receive One For All, shortly before I'd gone out to seek you and Bezpalov-shonen. I can only hope he doesn't decide to use it to race over there, so I can actually have time to figure out how to open this talk with him."
At the same time as this, Oleg's blue eyes had fallen to the sling his stump of a left arm was now resting in. He'd long since lost count of how many times he'd instinctively looked down to it, as though he were expecting to find his arm having completely healed and become whole again.
During the hours they'd been forced to rest up at the hospital, they had both still been called by Headmaster Nezu, who had taken the opportunity to inform Oleg that the Yaoyorozu Company had already extended their resources towards creating a state-of-the-art prosthetic arm to replace what he'd lost, and that it would almost certainly be ready for him in only a couple of weeks. Of course, the Russian Hero was immensely grateful for their generosity, but nobody could possibly say that it would make him feel as though he'd never lost an arm to begin with.
Either way, it was going to be uncomfortable as hell to try and acclimate to daily life with Nikolay again with one less hand to work with. There was no way in hell he could possibly just try to laugh it off and hope that would be able to ease the tension and sadness the boy was no doubt reeling from even at this very moment.
"Are you sure you don't want me there with you to talk to him, Toshinori-san? Since he's supposed to be a student to both of us, it doesn't seem fair you should be alone in talking with him about this." Oleg suddenly asked, and even Toshinori, in his surprise, couldn't figure out if his colleague was being 100-percent genuine, or if he was perhaps saying it out of nervousness for speaking to Nikolay on his own, and was hoping the blonde-haired man would thereby extend the same offer in return.
"If this were just like any of the previous conversations I needed to have with Midoriya-shonen before, I might have actually taken you up on that offer, Oleg-san. But with him and the rest of those kids having been at the scene of the battle, there's no chance he and your son couldn't possibly have seen the battle against All For One with the rest of those civilians. I can only imagine how much Bezpalov-shonen's been worrying himself sick over you and your condition since then, just like Midoriya-shonen has no doubt been driving himself up the walls worrying about me, as well.
"You need to be with your son and be able to ride through this rough patch face-to-face right now, Oleg-san. It's not going to be easy… neither of the talks we're going to need to have with either of those boys is going to be easy. But it is ultimately for the best. Just… just try not to forget that, at the end of it all, we still need to uphold our responsibilities as teachers to those kids and make sure they never do something so reckless like that again, for their own sakes."
Toshinori's imploring was loud and clear to Oleg, as he knew that if he tried to stall for time here any longer, he would never be able to work up the courage to step foot back home and finally reconnect with Nikolay, not just to ride out the shock of his wounds, but also to finally properly express his relief for his son being conscious and on his feet again.
If anyone had asked Oleg after the fact why his mind had gone in the direction it did at that moment, he wouldn't have been able to give them an answer. Somehow, simply when thinking about Nikolay and the future together, Oleg couldn't help but start thinking back to what he had been told by Aizawa days ago about the intense fight between the boy and Bakugo the same day that the Villains had ultimately attacked the training camp.
And simply thinking about his own son being involved in such an unsightly display filled him with a whole new sense of worry. "I feel like such a damned fool, Toshinori-san. Even after everything we just went through… right now, all I can possibly think of is just praying that Kolya doesn't get expelled from Yuuei after all of this. Did you hear about that fight he and malenkii Bakugo got caught in back at the camp?"
Toshinori could recall a fair amount of the story, even despite Izuku having not gotten too directly involved. With his teaching partner's own son being a direct participant in it, though, he could easily understand just why the big man would suddenly be looking so tense all over again. "It is a worrisome situation to be sure, Oleg-san, but I have complete faith in Nezu-san and the rest of the teachers to come up with a firm but fair punishment for both those boys when the time is right. No matter how abrasive Aizawa-san may be, even he surely can't be blind to just what exactly Bezpalov-shonen went through after the fact of the fight in order to rescue as many of his schoolmates as possible in the midst of the attack. Surely that kind of selflessness can get through even to the likes of him. Now, I apologize for sounding insensitive or impatient, but please, stop tormenting yourself with these what-ifs and just go and show your boy that you're still alive and well, Oleg-san."
So, with the most heavy-hearted farewells, Oleg finally began to take his leave from the now solitary Toshinori, before the near skeletal man called out to him one last time: "Tunguska-san… thank you, for all of your help back there. It pains me you had to lose what you did in the process, but you ultimately helped more than you can truly understand, and I didn't want you to think I couldn't appreciate your efforts alongside everyone else's."
Oleg didn't want to risk losing his personal courage and focus by speaking, but the grateful nod and deeply emotional smile on his weathered face was all the answer Toshinori Yagi ever needed, as he finally began to leave for his home, and Toshinori braced himself for the no doubt heart-wrenching conversation he was finally going to have with Izuku any minute now at the beach.
When Oleg had finally returned home, even despite continuously mentally encouraging himself to just go in and get the hardest part over with the entire way there, he still found himself hovering outside that front door with his hand just short of grasping the handle; all the while with his heart racing and his own anxiety going through the roof.
When he had finally sucked in a final breath through his teeth and stepped inside, he was instantly met with the surprising sight of Nikolay, Mina and Eijirou all fast asleep under a single blanket with the Russian boy right in the middle, while seated on the living room sofa, with the TV still on, and three large empty ramen bowls on the table. Oleg may not have known exactly what he was expecting to walk into, but he definitely never saw this coming. In a way, he had thought simply having it be just him and his son having this heavy talk would be easier; but perhaps, in its own way, having his friends here might actually have been better. It would at least get him acclimated for when the rest of their classmates would eventually have to see him like this.
Before he could ruminate on it any further, though, Oleg was startled by Nikolay suddenly jumping with surprise where he sat, as the boy had suddenly opened his eyes and been stricken with shock at the sight of his father suddenly standing tall over them. And of course, Mina and Eijirou were instantly shaken out of their own slumber by their friend and host's reaction, only to likewise flinch with surprise at their teacher's return.
"Dad, they actually let you go this early already?! Are you okay?!"
"Please don't be mad, Sensei, we didn't just invite ourselves in!"
"Yeah, we just didn't want to be alone after—"
"EVERYONE, PLEASE, STOP FOR NOW!" Oleg's thunderous voice thankfully stopped the three teens' overlapping rambling, allowing them all some peace and quiet.
"I didn't want to startle any of you; I just didn't expect to find more than just Kolya here, that's all. I'm not mad. Given everything that happened, you were all right to stick together, don't worry." However, while Oleg was simply trying to downplay the real elephant in the room between them, he could tell he was wasting his breath, as now that he was here before all of them, he could feel their eyes had all instantly drifted to the half-empty sling under his left arm.
He could already see all their eyes beginning to moisten with the beginnings of tears; all of them at a complete loss just what the hell they could possibly say to the man, whether it be apologies or condolences or what have you.
Even Oleg still found himself grasping for what he could possibly lead with that could start getting them all through this emotional rough patch. Why he decided to try and outright lighten the mood over it, he would never truly know: "Yeah… it's a lot to get used to, I know. Good thing I've always been right-handed, though. Penmanship with a left hand is a pain."
Of course nobody was laughing, and the forced cheeky smile on his bearded face died just as quickly… and that was when the waterworks from the normally upbeat trio finally started.
[[I'm so, so sorry, Dad. I… I should've stuck around, should've done more to help! Maybe if I had, you wouldn't be—]]
"I'm so sorry, Sensei! What kind of Heroes can we possibly be if all we can think to do is just run and not help?!"
"You kept telling me I had all the makings of a truly manly Hero, and yet I couldn't even think of trying to stick around and help you and All Might fight! You could've still had both your hands if I did! I don't deserve to call myself a student of yours if I can't even—!"
"All of you, just stop with all of that, right now! You've clearly already been making yourselves sick with worry, and I'm not about to have you make that worse by throwing in regret on my behalf, all right? Now please, all of you, take a deep breath and just stop for a second, okay?" The moment he instructed the three to do this, they all thankfully did as they were told, wiping away their tears as much as they could and trying to keep from falling into yet more emotional hyperventilation.
Once he was sure they had at least halfway calmed themselves down, Oleg looked down to the sling and sighed. "It's a lot to take in, I know. But I would much rather have gone through something like this, than to have you or any one of your classmates be trying to fight against a Villain like that, even alongside All Might and I, and potentially risk any of you getting killed. All in all, this was the best case scenario, and I don't regret losing an arm in order to have made it possible. Losing any one of you would've been incomparably worse. Now stop with all this self-flagellating talk of guilt and cowardice, and just keep in mind that you ultimately helped us a great deal by helping get malenkii Bakugo out of there, so we could just focus on the Villain himself. Be proud of yourselves for that, at least."
With deep, shaky breaths, Nikolay, Mina and Eijirou once again found themselves awash with gratitude for Oleg's reassuring words. It was true, the whole point of them being there had been to save Bakugo; they had sworn from the start to avoid getting caught in a fight, and in the end they had actually managed to do that. But it still felt as though it paled in comparison when seeing their teachers get brutalized at the same time, and knowing they had been on the scene and could have tried to do anything at all to help in the fight itself. It was a painful split between their devotion to their personally sworn duty, and their desire to try and help those they cared about, regardless of the rules or potential consequences.
But now that Oleg had brought up the subject of the Symbol of Peace in the process; that had once again dragged out a far more pervasive dark cloud in the room, as the kids couldn't even begin to hide their nervousness on the matter. "Dad… if All Might really isn't going to be able to fight Villains and protect people anymore… what's going to happen with him?"
Nikolay's soft-spoken question was almost instantly echoed by an equally nervous Mina: "Yeah, who's going to actually take his place? What's going to happen to everyone in this country now that he's not there anymore?"
Clutching his fists onto his pant legs tight, Eijirou couldn't even try to hide the fear in his own eyes as well: "Yeah… I mean, even if someone like Endeavor were to take his Number One spot, would that really be enough? I mean, we all saw just what a monster that Villain you all fought was. I… I-I thought we were all starting to get more and more ready to be able to fight Villains as actual Heroes… but against someone like that?! I… I don't know if any of us could ever be ready to face off against something like that."
The three aspiring students all looked equally ashamed, as they couldn't help but agree with Eijirou's sentiment of self-doubt or lack of preparedness for such a challenge of their own. However, instead of a sigh or scowl of disappointment, Oleg instead answered the kids with a warm and reassuring smile. "And that realization, that even despite your past experiences, you don't just instantly think you're ready for such a major league Villain threat, is one of the best outcomes for you all to have after all of this."
They immediately looked up in confusion and incredulousness at the man as he knelt down to be at their same eye level. "A world-class Villain like that, who could hold his own against countless other Heroes like what you saw; that was exactly the kind of scenario I had in mind when I put your entire class through that final test during the exams. Sure, you may have won in the end back there, but it's good that such a victory didn't give you all an inflated idea of just what you were capable of standing up against. Hubris only ever ultimately breaks the people that have it in the end.
"To become a Hero strong enough to fight a Villain like that and actually hold your own takes years, even decades of the hardest work and training imaginable, and even for all your successes in serious situations, the fact is that you're not ready for that, and no matter what you may think, it's a good thing that you recognize that."
As Oleg explained all of this, he could see his words registering with all three of the teenagers before him, as their self-doubt began to give way to understanding, and from understanding to yet further inspiration. Seeing this, his smile only seemed to grow that much more. "And now that you've seen the kinds of threats there are out there, and recognized that you're not ready for them yet… what does that all make you think about right now?"
Nikolay lifted his head; a deeply determined sharpness to his eyes: "I think… it's not just physical strengths or Quirks we need to train so that we can really be ready. Power is only as effective as the person who's actually using it."
Following his lead, Mina sat herself upright, looking Oleg in the eye: "It's like what you and all our other teachers have been telling us all year: Heroes are strong in Quirk, heart and spirit. We ran away after grabbing Bakugo because we all got super-scared. We gotta be able to swallow that fear so we can keep fighting, even when things get really tough and people are in danger."
Eijirou suddenly shot up to his feet, fists clenched and his red eyes practically burning with inspiration: "And if we wanna become Heroes that are strong in all those things, we gotta keep training harder than we already have, and keep pushing and helping each other every single step along the way! Even a Hero as powerful as All Might still needed you, Endeavor and all those other Heroes to help him in the end. That means no one Hero is all powerful and able to face down every single enemy by themselves no problem. We gotta help each other get stronger so we can all be tough enough to fight together just like you guys did!"
Nikolay and Mina instinctively got to their feet as well and met Eijirou with an echoing cheer of agreement and support and a fist in the air, bringing a deeply proud smile to both his and Oleg's faces.
"That's just what I was hoping you three would take away from all of this. Yes, fighting against Villains is scary; only a fool would say otherwise. But even though your road towards becoming the kind of Pro Hero capable of handling such a huge threat will be long and difficult, so long as you never forget that not one of you is alone on that road, and always remember to be there to help each other, then I know you'll all be able to get to that point in the end. Now, please sit down."
As soon as they did so again, Oleg continued on, with no less optimism in his tone or posture, letting them know further still they didn't have to worry. "Now, as far as things with All Might and I are concerned, nothing is going to change there. We're both still going to be serving as your teachers at Yuuei full-time. And as for my condition, I've already been informed by Nezu-san that malenkaya Yaoyorozu's family is once again going out of their way to provide me a new prosthetic arm in a couple weeks' time, so that I'll be fully capable again once it's finally time to try my luck at getting my Pro Hero License. So don't any of you worry about me there."
The three kids all looked deeply relieved to hear this, especially Nikolay and Eijirou, but when thinking of All Might, despite Oleg's assurances of things simply playing out the way they had to, he still couldn't help but ask: "Dad… if All Might isn't able to use his Quirk or fight Villains anymore, then what's going to happen with Midoriya-san's training? I know he was technically a student to both of you, but it always seemed like All Might was much more personally connected to him in comparison."
"Yeah, if All Might was teaching Midori-kun how to keep from getting hurt using his Quirk, then does that mean you're going to take his place teaching him all the time?" Mina and Nikolay's questions, while understandable, still didn't dampen the overall affirming air Oleg was still managing to maintain.
"Nothing is going to change there, either; you three. Even if he isn't able to remain the Symbol of Peace anymore, All Might isn't going to stop giving everything he still has towards teaching every last one of you, not just malenkii Midoriya. He may be looking different from now on, but rest assured that in spirit and heart, he's still the same All Might you've known all this time. Rather than fretting over him no longer being the Number One Hero, instead just take the moment to be grateful he's still going to be there to help you all in becoming the kind of Heroes that can fill his shoes together.
"The life of a Hero, by definition, is all about change, both good and bad, and about being able to protect and prepare people for both. Never forget that, going forward." It really did all four of their hearts good, to see that they were still able to fan and strengthen that fire of their devotion to their mutual dream so much, even after having fallen into one of the lowest pits of fear and despair that they had fallen into yet since the start of the year. For Oleg, time and again, these three kids, and in essence, every single one of their classmates, was continuing to prove themselves to have the perfect hearts and mentalities capable of becoming the very same kind of Heroes he and All Might could be truly proud of, especially as long as they all stuck together.
And now, with both his own condition and addressing the fears of All Might's status having been addressed, it was now time for the last thing Oleg knew needed to be brought up so they could finally get back to moving forward as needed: "Now, with all of that thankfully cleared up, all of you, please stand up and form a single file line in front of me. Kolya in the front, and malenkaya Ashido in the back. Having one hand for now means I have to go about things this way."
None of the three were brave enough to ask just what the burly teacher before them was thinking, and thus did exactly as they were told. The moment they stood in a single line, all looking him in the eye confusedly, Oleg's bearded face cracked the beginning of a knowing smirk. [[Good.]]
BAM!
With incredible speed and precision, Oleg suddenly threw his right arm forward and met Nikolay's forehead with a flick from the tip of his pointing finger, hitting just hard enough to make his son's head reel back and knock Eijirou in his forehead, and repeating the chain reaction by just bumping the back of his head into Mina's forehead.
"[[GAH! What the hell was that for?!]]" Nikolay and his two friends exclaimed simultaneously in Russian and Japanese; only now Oleg was standing tall and exuding none of the approachable soft-heartedness from just seconds before. Now, he was going into full-blown teacher and scolding father territory.
"THAT was for the three of you and the other four running off and doing something so bloody reckless and stupid! For God's sakes, Kolya, you'd just gotten out of a coma you almost didn't survive; you and malenkii Midoriya had only just been cleared to leave the hospital! Why the hell didn't any of you just decide to leave things to the authorities and the Pros and go home where you'd know it was safe?! I swear, even one-handed, I'd be flicking the heads of all seven of you if you were all here right now!"
"But Sensei, we didn't just do it on a whim!"
"That's right, Mina actually tried like hell to talk me out of it!"
"The whole thing was my idea to begin with, Sensei! If you have to punish anyone, then please, just punish me for talking them into it at all!"
BAM!
A second impossibly speedy flick to the forehead silenced Mina, Nikolay and Eijirou's respective answers, once again whacking the backs of their heads into each other's foreheads.
"And THAT was for you sending me that damned text message hours after the fact and leaving me scared to death when we were in the middle of getting ready to go out and apprehend those Villains, Kolya! I'd already been climbing the walls, worrying about you when you'd been shot; just ask malenkaya Ashido! This isn't just for you, but for all of you: don't you ever do something like that to me again, do you understand?! It doesn't matter how strong you all may think I am; my heart can't take something like that again!"
His scolding had gradually started descending into that of very shaky emotion as he once again knelt down to their level so they could all see just how serious he was.
With the struggle to keep from crying lining Oleg's every word, Eijirou once again dared to step out from the line to answer him. "We're all really, really sorry you had to go through that, Sensei. Again, if you have to blame anyone for this, then blame me. Todoroki-san and I had been talking about it, but I was the one who originally came up with the whole rescuing Bakugo idea to begin with.
"I had been trying all this year so far to try and befriend him, and when he'd been kidnapped, I felt completely useless, because I couldn't do anything to prevent it. Then when I heard that Yaoyorozu-san had made a tracking device that could've helped us find him, I felt like if I didn't act on it, I couldn't even call myself a man, let alone a Hero. That was my reasoning, but it was still selfish of me to try and twist that around to talk Midoriya-san and Kolya-san into coming with me."
Seeing his red-headed friend put himself on the proverbial chopping block like this, Nikolay couldn't possibly stay silent, either. "It's not Kirishima-san's fault, Dad. He had his reasons, but I also had mine. Even if he hadn't offered to have me come along, I still would've insisted, myself. Ever since Bakugo and I had gotten in that fight, and then I found out he'd been kidnapped, I felt like it had all happened because of me, like it was because of me and that fight that he hadn't been in the condition to fight back like he normally could've. For all I knew, I was going to get expelled for it, so I knew that if I was going to get kicked out of Yuuei, I still wanted to try and make things right before I did. I knew it was reckless, dangerous and stupid, but I did it anyway, because I wanted to know I'd fixed the mess I'd helped make to begin with."
And seeing the two boys before her start standing up for themselves and each other so resolutely, Mina hunched her shoulders with her fists clenched, and hurriedly stepped forward to speak her own piece for all of them: "We all made the choice together, Sensei! No one deserves any more blame than another! It's like Kolya-kun said: I actually tried like hell to talk him out of going, but when I saw that he wasn't going to back down; I chose to come with so I could help keep them all safe in case things got dangerous! I know I should've kept trying to talk any one of them from going, but I didn't, so if you have to scold anyone for so many of us being put in danger, then let it be me."
With all three of them pouring out so many otherwise noble intentions at his feet, Oleg could only let out an exhausted sigh of his own, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Look, I'm not entirely ignorant to why you would all choose to do such a thing, even if you hadn't told me. Seeing the way you've all interacted with your other classmates in and out of the classroom; seeing just how strongly connected so many of you already were to each other, it was only natural that some of you would opt to take such an ill-advised course of action in order to save one of your own. Now all of you please get back in line."
The instant they had reluctantly gotten back in line, Oleg proceeded to flick their heads against each other a third and final time, by this point now leaving respective red spots on their three foreheads.
BAM!
"And THAT was for the three of you not following through with what we've all been trying to teach you this year, and just when it seemed like it was actually getting through to you to boot! Truly effective Heroes need to be able to think with both their heads, as well as their hearts; not solely the latter! If you had been following that advice from the start, maybe you wouldn't have ended up nearly getting caught in that battle to begin with! Thank heavens you all chose to do the smart thing and ran when you did! If you had stuck around and tried to help us fight like you said you wanted to, you all could very easily have gotten killed instead!"
As the three kids were still instinctively feeling at the marks of impact on their heads, they were all suddenly pulled into a singular massive one-armed hug, as Oleg had immediately followed up his scolding words by kneeling back down and swinging his remaining arm around them, once more to their mutual exclamations of surprise. In an instant, every trace of scolding and disappointment had vanished from his face and tone.
"But thank God it didn't turn out that way. No matter how disappointed I could be in you all right now, I just… thank God nothing happened to any of you."
Oleg's voice was exceptionally wrought with emotion again, and even if it weren't, the three could easily feel just how much he meant every word of it, through just how much his one-armed hold on them was shaking at the thought of something having happened to any one of them or the rest of their friends.
Even still essentially being held tight to each other, Nikolay, Mina and Eijirou slowly but surely managed to get their arms free, and ultimately expressed their understanding of the older Russian Hero's concerns, as well as their unifying gratitude for everything he had taught and done for them, by trying to get their arms around each other and his broad shoulders together in one of the most awkward (yet no less sincere) group hugs.
That night, they may have gotten scolded and been forced to finally swallow the fact that they were now looking at a world without All Might as they knew him, but in the strangest way, they also felt a whole new kind of security and readiness take hold of their hearts, as Oleg had finally let the three youngsters go from his grip and subsequently offered to let Mina and Eijirou stay for the night, knowing what a toll this whole, entire mess had taken on all of them.
Sunday, July 14th
When morning had come, Oleg, in his shortsightedness, had intended to greet the new day for the three kids currently under his roof by making them all breakfast himself, but he had ultimately come to learn the hard way just how much harder it was to manage things in the kitchen with only one hand; when the task of cooking in itself had already proven an insurmountable obstacle when he had two.
As such, Nikolay had to once again come to the rescue, this time with Mina and Eijirou helping out where they could, while Oleg had to once again resign himself to the fact that outside the domestic realm was where his capabilities truly shined.
In what Nikolay would have personally considered to be record time, he soon had his father, his two friends and himself supplied with a hearty breakfast of honest-to-goodness syrniki (Russian cheese pancakes) and tea with cinnamon stocks and orange slices to round it all off.
He couldn't have asked for a better way to start a new day, and what honestly felt like a whole new chapter in all their lives, than to see Mina and Eijirou's faces both light up with delight the moment they took their first bites. The pink young girl practically squirming with joy where she sat and happily proclaiming how much she'd love to eat his cooking every day was ultimately nothing more than the icing on the proverbial cake.
However, just as Eijirou was starting to genuinely ask Nikolay to give him cooking lessons, the sound of the TV growing louder over in the living room drew the trio's attention, only to find not only Oleg watching intently, but also the image of the now scrawnier All Might at a podium before countless reporters, while another announcer was speaking over it all.
"HERO BILLBOARD CHART JP! Number of incidents resolved, degree of contribution to society, approval rating of the general populace; factors such as these are tallied and aggregated, and twice per year the rankings of Heroes on active duty are announced! And yet…can you believe it?! The secret of the seemingly unshakeable Number One Hero has not only Japan, but even the Hero Headquarters in America in an uproar! This is the true form of All Might, who has reached the absolute limit of his stamina! As a matter of fact, he has recently declared that he is retiring from service as a Hero!"
The air inside the house had grown so heavy that one could actually physically feel it weighing down on their shoulders. Even though they had all suggested the possibility of it ever since the end of the battle, to actually hear it being announced by both the Symbol of Peace himself, and the national chart of Hero rankings in the entire country, made it feel so much worse, because now there was no more room for a sliver of doubt: All Might as they all knew him was officially no more.
However, from out of the cold dread of All Might's retirement at least came the considerable relief that the Number Four Hero, Best Jeanist, didn't actually die after all (despite what the three had sworn they'd all personally heard shortly before the battle) and was instead taking an extended leave from his Hero duties in order to heal.
And finally after that came the announcement of the Number Thirty-Two Hero, Ragdoll, having at last regained consciousness after having been rescued by fellow WWP member Tiger, but that due to what the announcers described as 'an abnormal change' rendering her Quirk unsuitable for use, that her Hero career was to be put on indefinite hold.
While Nikolay, Mina and Eijirou were of course immensely grateful that Best Jeanist hadn't died after all, and that Ragdoll was conscious and back with the rest of her teammates, the distinct wording the TV was using to describe her condition, was what ultimately got to them the most, with Eijirou nearly shooting up from his chair: "What do they mean 'an abnormal change'?!"
"Yeah, we all heard that Villain say so before he blew up that whole warehouse; he was talking about… about actually taking her Quirk for himself!" Mina agreed, still shuddering at the very implication that someone could even be able to do such a thing.
"He even said as much to Best Jeanist, how he wasn't going to take his Quirk. We all heard both those statements loud and clear, so why are they calling it something completely different! Don't the public deserve to know the truth?!" Nikolay likewise chimed in, expressing all their discontent with the deliberate lack of honesty.
At the three teens' impassioned protest, Oleg quickly shut the TV back off. "I'm not saying you're wrong for feeling the way you all do; I don't like the grammatical cover-up either. However, you need to consider the general mindset of the public in times like this. They're all still reeling from losing All Might as they knew him; if they were to suddenly be told there was also a Villain in the world who could take other people's Quirks and use them at will, it would be next to impossible to keep a panic from consuming the whole country, especially if they were to start imagining such a Villain somehow getting back on the streets. Right now, this is the best thing they can do to try and help ease the public back to some kind of state of normalcy."
Despite trying to explain this as straightforward and understandingly as possible, he could still see the looks of sheer disappointment in their eyes as they reluctantly sat back down, unable to make peace with the idea of lying to so many people, regardless of the circumstances. Of course it made sense, but it still didn't feel right.
BRRRING!
Just as he was about to join them at the dining room table, Oleg's cellphone suddenly began to ring, sending him scrounging in his pocket for it before hurriedly answering once he saw the Caller ID. "Headmaster Nezu-san, good morning." The mentioning of their principal got all three teens at full attention, with Nikolay looking especially tense, as though this were the harbinger for the dreaded discussion he'd been trying to brace himself for once everything else was said and done.
"Good morning, Tunguska-san. I'm sorry to disturb you so early, especially considering you must've only just gotten home relatively recently after yours and All Might's ordeal. I would like you and Bezpalov-kun to come up to Yuuei and meet me in the conference hall as soon as you're able, if you don't mind. All Might, Aizawa-san and Vlad King have also been called here as well. There's a couple things of considerable importance we need to discuss."
Exchanging a nervous yet knowing glance with his son, Oleg quickly confirmed with the headmaster before hanging up, and filling in his three charges on exactly what was going on.
Needless to say, Nikolay's admirable attempt to maintain an outward calm was quickly crumbling, all-but-certain that this was it, his final time of walking through Yuuei's doors as a student. As he and Oleg quickly got themselves ready, Mina and Eijirou likewise could tell this was about as good a time as any after everything else to start heading to their respective homes as well.
"Please, try not to set yourself up for anything, Kolya-kun. We don't know what Nezu-sensei could want with you. You just gotta go in there with your head held high like always, alright? Don't hesitate to call me afterwards and let me know what's going on, okay?" As Mina tried to ease the Russian boy's nerves, she took the opportunity to pull him into another comforting hug of support before finally stepping out the door, with Eijirou quickly following suit and giving Nikolay another friendly fist bump.
"You've got this, man, I know you do. No matter what happens, if you ever need help or someone to talk to, you know how to reach me."
With that, they all finally left the house, and soon Nikolay and Oleg were once again jogging on their way up the hill towards Yuuei, while Mina and Eijirou hesitantly turned their backs on the Slavic duo and began to make their way for the train station so the red-haired boy could get back to his place.
"You don't think they'll actually kick Kolya-kun out, do you, Kiri? I mean, he didn't start that dumb fight; Bakugo kept provoking him." Without Nikolay there to practically absorb her uncertainty and nervousness for his chances, Mina couldn't keep up the outwardly optimistic demeanor for his sake, knowing just how harsh Aizawa especially could be.
"Well, it's not like the Pussycats didn't just tell him the truth of how the fight started. I'm sure the teachers and Nezu-sensei will want to hear the truth from him before they make any decisions. I'm sure he'll be okay, Ashido." Eijirou explained with that same confident smile on his face, although even Mina could tell there was the faintest flicker of doubt in his red eyes, especially when considering the serious heap of trouble Nikolay had gotten himself into before.
Neither of them had any idea just how many extra chances Yuuei would be willing to give him, regardless of where the fault for any situation he got caught up in ultimately lay. And, of course, the thought of Nikolay actually getting kicked out and no longer being there by their sides couldn't help but leave Mina looking especially saddened. Soon enough, even Eijirou was starting to look particularly downtrodden at the thought of one friend having been removed by another. That was an especially cruel moral conundrum to find himself in.
However, as they both began to check their phones for the best time that Eijirou could catch a train to his part of town, they simultaneously stopped dead in their tracks when they were met with a number of phone calls and text messages from their respective parents, going as far back as shortly after the battle, with every message pretty much echoing the exact same thing:
COME HOME NOW!
The usual walk from home to Yuuei proved to be a bit more time consuming than usual, as Oleg and Nikolay had been forced to take the long way around to one of the side entrances to the campus, thanks to the still-congregated crowd of protesters practically camping outside the front entrance. The chaos surrounding the Villain attack on the training camp had riled them up enough as it was, but now that All Might was officially retiring, there was no doubt in Oleg's mind those people would be downright ravenous for answers now.
Thankfully, once they had gotten inside, it didn't take long for Oleg to navigate their way to the by-now regular conference hall, whereupon rounding the last corner, they were already met with the sight of Toshinori, Aizawa and Vlad King gathered together.
"You really haven't had a chance to slow down since we returned, have you, All Might?" Oleg immediately greeted the scrawny blonde man before him, choosing to refer to him by his public name to keep this sudden transition from becoming too much for his son.
It was a good decision on his part, too, as Nikolay was looking clearly shaken up by seeing the true form of All Might this up close, with those sunken blue eyes looking down upon the Russian boy with an air of understanding. "You don't have to be ashamed of your reaction, Bezpalov-shonen. I know this is going to be a lot for the rest of the students to take in and process as well. It was the same way with Midoriya-shonen the very first time I ever showed him."
Before Nikolay could even start to ask one of his many, many questions in light of the suggestion that Izuku had seen the Symbol of Peace like this before, the door to the conference hall suddenly opened, with Headmaster Nezu poking his little white head out. "Excellent, you're all here and none too soon, either. Please, come in."
At his behest, the teachers all began to file in, with Nikolay easily able to feel Aizawa's gaze focusing on him through the dangling locks of his black hair all the while. As much as he was really trying to keep calm, a single glare from his homeroom teacher easily undid all of that.
As he began to instinctively follow everyone else, Nezu suddenly raised an opposing paw to Nikolay's chest. "It does my heart a great deal of good to see you're already quickly recovering from your rather close brush from the Villain attack, Bezpalov-kun. My apologies, but right now, this is a discussion to be had solely among the teachers. If you could just wait out here for now, I'll call you both in when the time is right."
Nikolay was momentarily blindsided by the fact that Nezu was talking as though he were expecting even more people to come here. However, given the potential punishments he was liable to be looking at once he stepped through those doors himself, he wasn't about to start asking questions, and thus stepped back.
All Might was the last of the teachers to start moving in, and as he passed Nikolay, he momentarily stopped and glanced back to the young Russian standing awkwardly in the middle of the hall. "I understand you have good reason to be feeling nervous right now, Bezpalov-shonen, and for reasons not related to the Villain attack itself. However, for what it's worth: I think you did admirably in trying to save and protect your fellow students as you did during the attack. You ultimately did what any good Hero would have done, and several of your schoolmates are alive and unharmed for it. You did quite well."
It did bring an emotional smile to Nikolay's face that, even in the wake of his own retirement, All Might was praising him for his otherwise ill-advised but driven actions for the sake of others. However, since the former Symbol of Peace himself was addressing him personally, Nikolay couldn't keep one burgeoning question to himself: "All Might-sensei… I'm sorry if I'm getting too personal right now, knowing how close you both are, but… how… how is Midoriya-san holding up?"
All Might let out a heavy sigh, just thinking back to the beach-side conversation he and Izuku went through the previous night, which had gone just about how he had expected, with plenty of waterworks on his disciple's part to make it that much more painful. However, even despite that, there was a distant yet hopeful gleam to his blue eyes as he answered the Russian boy honestly:
"Of course he's devastated. I imagine many of the students are feeling much the same way, even as we speak. And yet, despite that, I know he'll bounce back in time… just like I know you and all your friends will as well. You all have indomitably strong spirits and hearts, Bezpalov-shonen. That's how I know that, even if I can't be the Symbol of Peace anymore, Midoriya-shonen will not be alone when he eventually takes my place… because he'll have plenty of fellow astounding Heroes like all of you by his side."
With that, he continued on his way into the conference hall, leaving Nikolay to really take in his words of support and faith, not just in him or Izuku alone, but in every last one of them as future Heroes. It was an incredible feeling to be sure. As the door finally began to close between them, he could see All Might was still looking him in the eye with a final note to be spoken: "Thank you all, for doing what you did to help save Bakugo-shonen, regardless how reckless it was. Don't let anyone or anything take that accomplishment away from you and your friends."
With that, the door finally clicked shut, and Nikolay was left feeling the most uplifted he had been ever since seeing All Might in his true form in the wake of such a horrendous battle. It was no wonder the man had become such a monumental figurehead in the world of Heroes, if he was still able to inspire and lighten a person's heart so effectively with mere words, even looking like he did now. For the first time today, Nikolay actually didn't feel an ounce of that fear of the reprimanding he was still inevitably going to receive here. If anything, he actually felt a sense of readiness for it; doing just what Mina and Eijirou had ultimately encouraged him to do: go in with his head held high.
As soon as the doors to the conference hall had shut, even the fragment of pleasant air among Nezu and his gathered teachers had faded. All men were forlorn and silent as they stood shoulder to shoulder before the headmaster's desk. There was no point asking if any of them had seen the news from the Hero billboard charts, it was pretty much the first thing they had all started their day with today of all days, except of course for All Might, since he'd been the one busiest actually making the news that was now being broadcast over all airwaves and being printed on every single front page in Japan.
With all of this being more than common knowledge to this gathering of five educators, Nezu momentarily looked All Might and Tunguska over, taking in their most clear-cut injuries, and thinking of exactly what they had all been fighting for in order to receive them. And so, with a deeply regretful and shaken sigh, the bipedal mouse headmaster finally spoke up, addressing the two Heroes in question:
"To permanently lose your very own Quirk as a whole, and an arm; through those respective sacrifices you two have made, an even greater amount of lives were saved, in light of your mutual efforts. As a citizen, a fellow Hero, and Hero school principal, I cannot thank you both enough, All Might, Tunguska-san."
While All Might gave no visible reaction of having taken in Nezu's thanks, Oleg only managed the slightest of grateful nods. As such, the headmaster continued further: "However… in the eyes of society, although you are both continuing your roles as teachers at Yuuei, at the very least, there will be some dissenting opinions. The news is already abuzz with curiosity as to who you are exactly in the Japanese scene of Pro Heroics, Tunguska-san. If you wish to avoid any accusations of promoting vigilantism falling on the heads of yourself or Yuuei as a whole, you may want to consider working faster towards obtaining your Pro Hero License so you can officially re-establish yourself.
"And as for you, All Might; I believe it's not too difficult to think just what some of those dissenting opinions the public may start throwing around could be in regards to you: 'From the very beginning, the problem was All Might transferring to Yuuei. Everything that transpired can be traced back to that. And now that he's in a state of health where he can no longer fight, isn't the risk of the children being dragged into another perilous situation all the greater?'"
Both Oleg and All Might had their eyes glued to the floor as Nezu threw this all out on them; simply because they knew how right he was. Both those scenarios sounded far too plausible on the part of the public to just be ignored. Nezu could see the two men, as well as Aizawa and Vlad King, were taking every word as seriously as could be. "This whole situation is causing everyone great anxiety. And that is exactly why now, more than ever, we must do everything we can to strengthen the threads you wove for us, All Might; the unwavering faith and confidence in Heroes."
Even if he wasn't exclaiming it from the mountaintops, the conviction with which Nezu stated the teacher's new directive and intent was no less heartfelt, and it was because of that, that without missing a beat, Vlad King suddenly stepped forward, a resolute hand over his heart as though he were echoing a similar oath: "In the wake of this incident, I have become all too aware of the great burden which we all forced you to bear all by yourself, and just how monstrously large it was, All Might. For that, I humbly apologize. And the threat has not yet been eliminated. From here on out, more firmly and strongly than ever, we must protect, nurture and raise the students."
To everyone's surprise, including his own, Oleg suddenly answered the 1-B homeroom teacher with exceptional sincerity: "You talk as though you and Aizawa-san have done nothing of note as Heroes recently, Vlad-san. It's because of both of you that the students were able to fight back and ultimately be saved, and it's especially because of you and so many of the students that Kolya didn't die out there… and I'm a damn fool for not having thanked you both sooner for it. We've all taken on a great burden by becoming teachers to these children; the only thing that's changed now is that we simply have to carry that burden into being able to help fill some of the void in All Might's absence, is all."
Even if his fellow three teachers didn't say anything of the sort, their eyes all reflected mutual surprise at just how driven in his words Oleg was, especially in light of having been so thoroughly handicapped. For Heroes that hadn't gotten to see the Sun of Justice in action nearly often enough like Vlad King and Aizawa were, to see him take such an injury in stride and act as though nothing had really changed was genuinely admirable. For All Might, it was honestly encouraging to see his old ally and friend regain his spirit so quickly and wholeheartedly.
Once it was clear his fellow educators weren't about to carry this diversion of a conversation much further, Nezu cleared his throat to regain control of the room. "Tunguska-san and Vlad-san are both right; we need to apply all our capabilities as a whole into helping to fill the space that All Might is leaving with his retirement, especially in regards to protecting and raising our students. And so, we shall act accordingly, and put into effect a plan of mine which I've been mulling over, now more than ever."
The instant the Headmaster brought up having thought of this for a while, Oleg and All Might immediately perked their heads up in realization of just where this was going, all too familiar after the last faculty meeting just days ago.
Without further ado, Nezu proceeded to produce a stack of identical papers, handing them to all four of the teachers before him, while keeping another stack with himself. "Starting first thing tomorrow, before the crack of dawn, Vlad-san and I will see to the Class B students, who ultimately suffered more injuries; and All Might, Eraserhead and Tunguska-san shall all go see to the Class A students for home visits. I ask for all your cooperation in this, as I know you all three have developed your own distinctly strong connections with the students of Class A, so some and their families will likely be more receptive to some of you than others."
As all teachers looked to the paperwork now in their hands, they were all met (just as Oleg and All Might had expected) by a header reading to the families of all the students, asking their permission to have all their children stay full-time on Yuuei's campus, as it transitioned into a boarding school.
Nezu could already feel a smile gracing his snout, as he could read all too clearly in the four teachers' eyes that they, too, saw this as the single best course of action they could take, not only to rebuild the trust those parents needed to have in Heroes in general, but also to completely ensure the safety of their students once and for all.
As soon as they had all voiced their mutual agreement on this idea, Nezu practically sprang up from his chair onto his desk, a whole new surge of energy in his body language. "It pleases me greatly that you're all of a similar mind. Copies of these forms have already been mailed out to the families of every one of our students for their consideration. We'll be proceeding with the construction work to make the transition at once, as soon as this meeting is over. This will also be a great way of killing two birds with one stone as well, as this is precisely why I asked you to bring Bezpalov-kun with you for this, Tunguska-san. You see, I've also taken the liberty of reaching out to another certain student and their family, asking them to come here as well. In fact, they should be arriving here any moment now if my calculations are correct."
The silence in the hall outside the conference room was slowly getting to Nikolay, as he continued to pace back and forth in wait for when he would finally get called in. For as much as he was trying to hang onto the feeling of hope that All Might had given him mere minutes ago, it could only go undisturbed for so long before the solitude started making his mind return to that all-too-familiar sense of worry and inevitability for what was undoubtedly waiting for him beyond those doors.
"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Nikolay nearly launched himself head-first into the roof the instant the explosive rage of Bakugo's voice shattered the now-blessed silence of the hall.
"YOU GOT A HELL OF A LOT OF NERVE TO SHOW YOUR FACE AFTER YOU—"
SMACK!
"DAMMIT ALL, KATSUKI, CAN'T YOU EVEN LOOK AT ANOTHER PERSON WITHOUT THROWING A GODDAMN TANTRUM?!"
The moment he heard a vaguely familiar female voice suddenly cut Bakugo off, albeit with just as much anger as he had, Nikolay immediately turned out of curiosity to find the always scowling figure of Bakugo approaching him from the other end of the hall, only now he was joined by two fresh-faced adults; only one of whom he could actually recognize from earlier in the year at Parents' Day: a woman a good head taller than him, with almost identical spiky platinum blonde hair and burning red eyes, but without nearly as fierce a look on her face. The adult he didn't recognize between them was a similarly heightened middle-aged man with slightly less spiky brown hair, a mustache and reading glasses.
The look on Nikolay's face made it far too obvious just how floored he was; now that he was getting a much better look; at how much Bakugo took after his mother, while the man who had to be his father looked so mild-mannered and meek in comparison, he never would've been able to guess the relation on his own.
However, the momentary distraction of seeing both his parents for the first time caused Nikolay to be taken by surprise when Bakugo was once again trying to lunge for him with pure bloodlust in his eyes. "AFTER THE SHIT YOU PULLED, YOU DARE TO SHOW YOUR FACE IN FRONT OF ME, YOU COMMIE CO—"
SMACK! SMACK!
From the moment his feet left the ground, Bakugo was swiftly smacked face down into the ground with two deafening slaps to the back of his head. Now his mother had an identical furious scowl on her face, only it was thankfully directed to him, and not the frankly petrified Slavic boy in front of them. "IT'S WAY TOO EARLY TO PUT UP WITH YOUR CONSTANT SCREAMING, KATSUKI! WHY DON'T YOU JUST SHUT UP AND WAIT FOR US TO HEAR WHAT YOUR TEACHERS COULD POSSIBLY WANT THAT WOULD FORCE US TO COME ALL THE WAY OUT HERE FIRST?!"
Even as Bakugo was begrudgingly getting back onto his feet, Nikolay could still feel his eyes burning right through him; causing him to instinctively ball his fists in preparation for any kind of cheap swing he would try to make.
Before the hotheaded blonde boy could open his mouth, thankfully, the doors to the conference room suddenly opened, and Oleg poked his head out. "Well, Nezu-san wasn't kidding, you did get here fast. It's a pleasure to meet you both far more properly this time. I'm Oleg Bezpalov, or you might have heard me referred to solely as 'Tunguska' back then. I'm your son's Quirk History teacher."
The larger Russian's demeanor was all smiles and pleasantries as he extended a welcoming hand to Bakugo's parents. Like the flip of a switch, the previously furious mother's expression instantly softened to a genuinely and similarly pleasant smile as she gave Oleg a courteous bow of introduction right alongside her husband (all while clutching the back of her son's head tight and forcing him to bow as well).
"It's an honor to finally meet you more personally too, Tunguska-san. I'm Bakugo Mitsuki, Katsuki's mother."
"And I'm Bakugo Masaru, his father. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
As soon as his father and Bakugo's parents had made their introductions, the woman known as Mitsuki immediately set her less threatening but equally intense red eyes on Nikolay, rendering him stiff with apprehension all over again. "Then this must be your boy… er… Nikolay-kun, if I'm recalling the Sports Festival right. I never did get a chance for an introduction back at Parents' Day, after all; no thanks to you, Katsuki. He's certainly more of a high-strung little thing than I expected; to hear you talk. With the speed and power he showed back then, I would've thought he'd match you in demeanor, if not considerably less shitty."
Bakugo, or Katsuki, himself looked like he was about ready to launch into another furious tirade at what Mitsuki was suggesting, but sensing this, Oleg quickly stepped out to try and get in between the two young boys. "Please, the rest of the teachers are right in here. We have something of great importance to run by you all."
Ever grateful for his father's intervention, Nikolay quickly followed after him once Katsuki and his parents had made their way inside. His heart was pounding heavily at his chest, knowing the moment of the final judgment was here, as far as his future as a Yuuei student was concerned, especially as the doors finally shut behind his back. There was truly no going back now.
Once the rest of the introductions between the present Yuuei staff and Bakugo's parents had been made rather swiftly, Nezu, Aizawa, All Might and Tunguska had been quick and concise in describing their intended plan to turn Yuuei from a high school into a full-on boarding school. Obviously, this development was colossal news for Nikolay and Bakugo themselves, but before either of them could even start to voice their respective opinions on it, Bakugo was swiftly answered for by Mitsuki, who silenced him with another resounding smack to the back of his head, all while wearing an all-too happy smile on her face. "No problem! He's all yours!"
"QUIT HITTING ME, YOU UGLY OLD HAG! I'LL BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA YOUR WRINKLY ASS!" Bakugo once again proceeded to start screaming right in her face, only for her to immediately start answering him in kind with another smack to his face; leaving mother and son nearly indistinguishable from each other:
"SHUT IT, YOU LITTLE PUNK! SINCE YOU'RE SUCH A WEAK LITTLE BITCH AND GOT KIDNAPPED, YOU CAUSED EVERYONE ALL SORTS OF TROUBLE!"
"THAT WASN'T MY FAULT! I COULD'VE KICKED ALL THEIR SORRY ASSES IF THAT SHAKY LITTLE PISSANT THERE HAD JUST KNOWN HIS PLACE AROUND ME!"
"MAKING EXCUSES JUST PROVES MY POINT, YOU HIGH 'N' MIGHTY LITTLE SHIT!"
Nikolay and Oleg didn't dare say a word, but they could both tell from a glance that they were thinking the exact same thing: just how clear it finally was where Bakugo got his awful temper from. When Masaru trying to intervene and calm his wife and son down didn't even seem to work, it was leaving Nezu more than a little skeptical if he was even going to be able to get to his penultimate point for why the two boys were here.
However, thankfully, Bakugo appeared to run out of steam, even though he was still scowling with murderous rage, while Mitsuki looked to once again completely return to a much more approachable demeanor. Seeing this, Aizawa hesitantly spoke up: "So… about our proposition, are you all really willing to comply?"
"Ah, the whole dorm thing? By all means. I'd be far better off without him around the house all the time outside of school." Just to emphasize her own point, Mitsuki once again gave her fuming son another smack upside the head when she could see his body tense up to once again start another argument.
With her blessing pretty much confirmed, Nezu once again took the reins of explaining the details. "As you might have come to assume, given the circumstances, we're planning to have dorm buildings to accommodate every single class in Yuuei, all fully constructed and furnished and ready to be lived in well before the second semester begins; halfway through August is what we're aiming for. What's more, we have every intention of having Bezpalov-kun and Bakugo-kun work together alongside our residing teachers, Cementoss-san and Power Loader-san, alongside the Quirked construction company we've contracted to aid in the construction, as a means of punishment for their altercation during their time at the training camp."
On one hand, Nikolay was absolutely floored that this was what was actually happening, instead of the outright expulsion he'd been preparing himself for ever since the fight itself. For all intents and purposes, he knew he should've been getting on his knees and thanking the headmaster for not kicking him out right from the get-go.
On the other hand, the idea of actually being forced to work together with Bakugo, of all people, was starting to make the idea of getting expelled seem only the tiniest bit more welcoming.
And that mentality of his was nothing compared to the look of borderline vomit-inducing disgust on Bakugo's face at the idea of having to actually work together personally with Nikolay in kind.
And in the midst of all this, Mitsuki and Masaru's expressions were the very definition of surprise, with the mother once again jumping in with the reply: "Wait, you mean Katsuki actually did get in a fight?! I thought those bruises were given to him by those damn Villains, and he was simply too embarrassed to admit it and was just making shit up. What the hell could you boys have possibly fought about?"
"An excellent question, Bakugo-san, and one I would very much like to hear answered by our two students here personally. I understand Eraserhead here was filled in on their little confrontation by the attending Heroes at the camp, but I feel we'd get the most clear-cut answer from those directly involved."
The moment Nikolay and Katsuki realized Nezu was essentially giving them the floor to finally explain themselves, the furious blonde instantly stepped forward, nearly shoulder-checking Nikolay along the way. "Ever since this year started, this weak-kneed little shithead's been acting all big and tough just because he's getting used to his Quirk, which he should've already done years ago! After he tries to run away and begs his way back in, he suddenly acts like he's all hot shit on the school grounds? I wasn't gonna stand for it, especially when Sensei actually had the guts to say we were on the same level as far as strength goes.
"So I told him to keep his head on his shoulders and not start getting too far ahead of himself, or else he was seriously gonna regret it, so then he starts talking mad shit at me, so I decided to put him in his place. If anyone in this damn place had any backbone, they would've done the same thing; I can tell you all that right now. Besides, I'm the one who was still standing at the end, so I know I proved my point with his sorry ass."
Katsuki was already grinning in self-satisfaction by the time he'd finished recounting his version of the events, especially when he could see the similarly fuming look on Nikolay's face at such a one-sided story. Taking his chance to step forward, the young Russian finally spoke up: "It's true that I tried to run away, you all know this; but I still made the choice to come back and keep trying to become the Hero I'd wanted to be a long time ago, and you've all seen it since then. I've been trying my hardest with every test this school has put in front of me, and I've been pushing myself more and more, as hard as I can, to try and become stronger so I can become the kind of Hero who can protect his friends and the public. Aizawa-sensei and All Might-sensei can both attest to that! You can too, Nezu-sensei! And yet, no matter how much I keep thinking and feeling I've improved, Bakugo constantly gives me a hard time; calling me weak, a coward, and all kinds of other vile crap I know I've said and done nothing to deserve from him. Yes, I'll fully admit, I have my own share of blame for not just walking away when he confronted me at camp, but if any of you had heard what he'd said to me, I would want to think you'd at least partially understand why I couldn't. It wasn't even about any of the stuff he'd regularly criticized me for, such as strength or questioning my willingness to stay on the Hero course."
As he gave this whole recounting of pretty much his and Katsuki's entire history, the latter's parents were both listening with intent, as were Oleg and All Might, while Aizawa's expression was as unreadable as ever.
As Nezu sat himself back down behind his desk, he clasped his paws together and looked Nikolay and Katsuki square in the eyes. "Eraserhead, when the Pussycats informed you of the moments leading up to these boy's fight, did they happen to tell you if they'd actually heard their little exchange in the moments prior?"
"No, Nezu-san. Ragdoll's Quirk only worked with vision, it didn't carry over to sound." Aizawa explained bluntly, and Nikolay could just feel the tension rising in his chest, somehow getting a feeling he knew where the headmaster was about to go with this inquiry.
"Bezpalov-kun, since Bakugo-kun already gave us the entirety of his testimony on the matter, perhaps you can tell us, since you technically weren't the one to throw the first punch and thus instigate the fight. In fact, from what I understand, you actually had an opportunity to simply walk away and avoid an altercation altogether. So tell me, what exactly did Bakugo-kun say that would make you turn right back around when you were so close to avoiding such a situation?"
Nikolay could already feel the regret creeping up his spine at having to echo such awful words as what Katsuki had thrown his way once his back was turned. But he knew, under all these discerning eyes, he couldn't possibly not give them an honest answer anymore. So, with a deep and noticeably shaky breath, the young Slav finally answered: "Bakugo, he… he said that… he said that if I wasn't willing to fight when confronted, then I wouldn't be able to protect anyone. Then he said that our classmate… my best friend, Ashido Mina, would die for putting any faith in me… just like my mom did for having any faith in my dad."
The air became so heavy in that conference room, it nearly knocked Oleg off his feet with shock. Even All Might and Aizawa's eyes couldn't help but noticeably widen that a student of theirs could say such a thing, knowing what they all did about their Russian colleague. Even without knowing the details, simply knowing that Katsuki had apparently gone for the low blow of insulting a fellow student's dead loved one even left Vlad King looking notably shocked.
And all the teachers' shock couldn't compare to the outright rage on Mitsuki's face when hearing this; not because it sounded like her boy was being wrongfully accused of saying something so heinous, but because she knew him and his temper well enough by now to know he had no filter when pissed off enough, and going across that sacred taboo line sounded exactly like something he would do.
WHAM!
Mitsuki's closed fist connected with the back of the likewise shouting Katsuki's head at insane speed, forcing him to fight her off as she was repeatedly taking swings at him. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR GODDAMN PROBLEM, KATSUKI?! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH SOMEONE PISSES YOU OFF, YOU DON'T MOCK SOMEONE'S DEAD LOVED ONE! THAT SHIT IS BEYOND VILE!"
"KEEP HITTING ME LIKE THAT AND HE WON'T BE THE ONLY ONE WITH A DEAD MOM, YOU DAMN CRAZY OLD BAT!" This time, as Katsuki and Mitsuki were rabidly screaming in each other's faces, Masaru didn't even dare to try and speak up to calm them down. This was a rage from his wife he'd rarely ever seen before.
"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY IT, YOU ROTTEN LITTLE BASTARD! IF YOU ASK ME, THAT BOY THERE DIDN'T BEAT YOUR ASS NEARLY HARD ENOUGH!" The moment Katsuki had left an opening in trying to fight away her striking arms, Mitsuki lunged in and grasped the back of his head in a vice grip, forcefully turning his head so he was now looking directly at Nikolay and Oleg, who were both simply speechless at her volatile reaction.
"YOU LOOK NIKOLAY-KUN AND TUNGUSKA-SAN IN THE EYES, KATSUKI, AND YOU APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW! AND YOU CAN BET YOUR ASS YOU'RE GONNA BE HELPING HIM BUILD THOSE DORMS, AND YOU'RE GONNA DO IT WITH A SMILE, OR ELSE YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT COMING HOME! YOU CAN FREEZE YOUR ASS OFF OUTSIDE LIKE THE RABID DOG YOU ARE!"
With an enraged, nearly animalistic roar, Katsuki wrestled his way out of his mother's grip, staring bloody daggers at her, Nikolay and Oleg alike. "THE HELL I WILL! I'D RATHER DIE THAN APOLOGIZE TO THAT WEEPY LITTLE BITCH, LET ALONE WORK WITH HIM!" By this point, the fact that Katsuki was still outright refusing to take back what he'd said, even when faced with actual consequences, had Nikolay more than ready to echo the very same sentiment, just about to open his mouth when—
"If either of you want to have a snowball's chance in Hell of continuing to attend Yuuei, you will." Aizawa's words were quiet, but spoken with a razor's edge, it was so serious. It was even enough to render Katsuki and his mother completely silent, while he and Nikolay felt an instinctive shudder shoot up their spines when they could see the grim glare in their homeroom teacher's eyes, as he slowly began to approach them.
"Truth be told, I should be expelling the both of you right now for such a disastrous display, especially in front of all your classmates. It's strictly because Nezu-san feels having you work together in getting those dorms built will ultimately be for your mutual benefit, that we're even having this conversation right now. A class in the Hero course is supposed to be able to function as one overall cohesive unit when a situation arises, and even the slightest gap in that cooperativeness can dismantle that entire unit. Right now, as it stands, the dynamic between you two is the one major remaining gap that's holding your class back. As such, it falls to both of you to try and fix it."
By this point, Shota Aizawa was now pretty much towering over Nikolay and Katsuki, as even the hotheaded young boy found himself involuntarily trembling in the soles of his feet, while Nikolay was already feeling a frigid sweat upon his brow. Their teacher's naturally intense gaze looked like he was about ready to strike them both down with a single glare if they even so much as thought of arguing with him. "So I think we all understand each other now: either the two of you can learn how to work together… or you can get expelled together. There is no third option. Understand?"
Of course the two boys were still visibly reluctant, but their words expressing such were still rendered mute when they couldn't take their eyes from Aizawa's gaze. The man was as deathly serious as a heart attack, and he couldn't have made it any clearer. This was their only option; otherwise their dreams of becoming Heroes through Yuuei were dead and gone.
With their hearts both heavy with reluctance, and their hands clenching into white-knuckled fists, both boys finally gave their answers: "Fine."
The instant he heard that single syllable word leave both their mouths, Nezu clapped his paws in gratitude for his students' cooperation. "Splendid. You can both report to campus grounds first thing tomorrow morning to start working. Today's the day for Cementoss-san and Power Loader-san to clear away the growth on the ground being reserved for the buildings themselves. They will also be keeping constant surveillance on you two to make sure you're actually working together, and they will be keeping myself and your teachers informed of how your progress appears to be going, so hopefully you will both take Eraserhead's words to heart and use this as an opportunity to put your long-time differences aside and actually figure out how you can work as a team."
With their fates officially having been sealed, Nikolay and Katsuki begrudgingly returned to their respective parents; after which, Mitsuki spoke up, thankfully far more calm and compassionate-sounding this time, while Katsuki kept his eyes angrily glued to the floor: "His abrasive attitude and terrible choices of words aside, our Katsuki… he's always been one to act rashly and without a second thought. And of course, he just had to be blessed with powerful abilities. And as a result of that, he was always spoiled and pampered by everyone around him, and this is how he turned out. He only ever got shallow praise for what was on the outside."
Once more listening to this, Nikolay once again found himself marveling over just how perfectly Izuku had worded exactly what Katsuki's overall source of his problem was, to hear it mirrored so accurately.
By this point, Mitsuki had now directly turned her attention to Aizawa specifically: "I suppose that's why your words at that press interview the other day made me so happy, Aizawa-san. 'This school sees Bakugo Katsuki for what he really is.' Those were my thoughts exactly. You don't know how happy it makes me to know this school sees Katsuki for who he is inside, instead of just for how strong he is."
Aizawa looked to be taking Mitsuki's words to heart, while still keeping his emotions completely hidden; at least glad that his words to drive off those media vultures from before had gotten his real meaning through to someone.
When seeing that his colleague didn't look to have any intention of saying anything in response, Oleg softly cleared his throat to gain the parents' attention: "That's exactly right, Bakugo-san. It's just as you said: even for as standoffish as his attitude can be, and yes, how awful his wording can be, despite what the media may have wanted to suggest, malenkii Bakugo is not a bad kid at heart. He simply needs the proper kind of guidance to nudge him in the right direction so he can become the next Top Hero like he wants. And that's exactly what Yuuei wants to be able to do for him, while also providing the protection that all the students should have been receiving in the first place."
With such impassioned words from such a towering and burly figure of a man, Mitsuki and even her husband couldn't help but mutually chuckle at such a display. "Well now, who would've guessed the teacher Katsuki kept calling an incompetent wash-out would be able to convey so much sincerity so easily? It's almost like our boy was pulling it right out of his ass out of sheer spite or something."
Despite her son once again scowling in quiet, seething rage, his parents were both still smiling with true confidence in the wake of what the Yuuei teachers had presented to them this morning. "For a while there, I'll admit I was worried. I wondered what would become of my little boy. But lo and behold, thanks to all of you, he came back home without even a scratch… or at least not a scratch that wasn't well deserved, thanks to your boy, Tunguska-san. I'm sure you'll all be dealing with quite a lot of outside pressure for the time being, but I, at least, am confident that you all know what's best for Katsuki. So I'll trust you and hand him over. Right hon?"
With a resolute nod of agreement from Masaru, Mitsuki once again grabbed tight onto the back of their son's head and forced him into another grateful bow, while she and her husband likewise bowed in gratitude right alongside him, leaving Tunguska visibly shaken among his colleagues. "He may be nothing but a helpless brat now, but please work him to the bone and make him a great Hero, for us."
With no other idea of what to possibly answer their trust with, Oleg, Aizawa, All Might, Vlad, Nezu and even Nikolay instinctively bowed in return; the Russian boy's doing so earning another amused chuckle out of Mitsuki, before she once again began grinding her knuckles against her fuming son's scalp; her once inviting smile now carrying a thinly veiled scolding edge: "And don't you forget, Katsuki, I'll be dragging your ass out here first thing in the morning to start making up for that shit you started, and I'll be dragging you out by your hair if I have to!"
As soon as that most recent of familial spats had run its course, the Bakugo family was finally given leave to go, with Nezu apologizing for dragging them all the way out for this matter. As Mitsuki and Masaru bid farewell to teachers and Nikolay alike, they quickly headed out, but just before he likewise left the room, Katsuki suddenly stopped in the doorway, and swiftly turned to face the teachers once more: "Hey, All Might… Tunguska-sensei…"
It was still clear that it physically hurt him to have to actually acknowledge the latter by name, let alone as 'sensei', but the curiosity both men felt as to just what this boy, of all their students, could possibly have to ask them superseded everything else.
As soon as he knew he had their attention, Katsuki took a deep, contemplative breath, unable to help but think back, not just to numerous passing glances from across the last half of the first year, but especially to the moment after the end of the battle, when he had seen how devastated Izuku had been when All Might had made his two word declaration over the air: YOU'RE NEXT.
"More than a few times now, I've been hearing talk and catching a glimpse here and there, of the two of you either talking to or training Deku personally. Now… now, I just have to know, just what exactly is Deku to you two?"
From where Nikolay was standing, it simply sounded as though Katsuki was just jealous of Izuku receiving some kind of perceived preferential treatment. For Oleg and All Might, however, they both knew that there was no way they could give the boy a fully honest answer, no matter how much it pained them to have to admit that with but a single glance to one another.
"Midoriya-shonen is just a student to us, of course… just like you, Bakugo-shonen. And just like you, I see him as a young, aspiring Hero. An 'egg' with great potential."
The moment All Might gave this answer, Oleg continued in kind, granting Katsuki the respect of eye contact as he tried to answer: "With All Might and I both having been former Top Heroes in our respective territories, I like to think that we're both equally capable of recognizing the kind of potential that can only come from one truly capable of reaching that same spot… and that's exactly the kind of potential we both have seen in both of you, malenkii Bakugo. I don't know if that's what you were hoping to hear, but know that it's the god's honest truth."
For a good couple of forebodingly silent moments, Katsuki gave no impression of a reaction, as though he were very deep down processing exactly what they were both telling him and trying to decide if that was indeed enough of an answer.
In the end, though, he didn't even give a sigh of acceptance, as he just as swiftly turned his back on all of them, continuing on his way out into the hall and out of sight: "Is that so? Well, if you're both so determined not to tell me… then that's fine."
As the door began to finally close upon him, though, they could both just barely pick up the sound of Katsuki Bakugo muttering under his breath: "But thanks… for everything… both of you."
And with that, the door gave a resounding click, and all were left in that stunned silence once more. Even Nikolay, who had barely managed to catch it, felt as though he were hearing things, to have actually heard Katsuki thank his father out loud.
Clap! "Well then, that already covers Bezpalov-kun and Bakugo-kun's families, as far as convincing for the boarding school transition goes! That just leaves nineteen more families of Class A for you three to visit tomorrow! I'd suggest you use the time between now and your departure tomorrow morning to practice exactly what you wish to say to try and help them see things from our point of view, gentlemen."
With Nezu making this closing announcement, it was clear that this meeting was officially adjourned, and thus after giving their respective goodbyes and overall thanks for everything to All Might, Aizawa, Vlad King and the headmaster, Oleg and Nikolay decided to head back home to prepare for their respective massive workloads beginning at the crack of dawn.
Monday, July 15th
Nikolay had to make sure he'd gotten to bed at a decent hour in order to wake up when he knew he needed to. When they had said his new construction punishment was to begin at the crack of dawn, he wasn't about to start asking specifics. And from when he had woken up, it was clear that Oleg had been of the same mind, as the man had already long since left with Aizawa and All Might for their class-wide family visit trip before he had even woken up.
Nikolay couldn't even begin to imagine when his father would even get back home today, if that was even possible, if they were making a point of seeing every single one of his remaining classmates at their family homes in a single 24-hour span. There was no way they all already lived in Musutafu City, let alone Shizuoka Prefecture.
Nevertheless, he couldn't allow himself to dwell on that, as he needed to hustle and get to the designated spot of Yuuei where the construction work was about to begin. He could only hope, as he jogged through the brisk early morning air to the school, that either he would somehow get there first, or… no, that was pretty much all he could hope for if this day was going to have any hope of being even remotely pleasant.
Unfortunately, from the moment he had once again gotten into the campus through one of the side entrances and followed the directions he'd been given, he was not only met with the sight of a wide open space just beside the main campus which no doubt had to be the site for the future dorms, due to the foundations having already been established (twelve of them from his count), but he was also met with an unmistakable head of spiky blonde hair waiting at just the same spot he had ultimately arrived at.
"It's about goddamn time you got here! Seriously, if you live so friggin' close to this place, there's no reason I should've gotten here even a couple minutes before you did! Lazy asshole!"
It took a great deal of willpower for Nikolay to not greet Katsuki Bakugo with a likewise 'good morning' out of sheer sarcasm. The boy was already in a foul enough mood as always, and they hadn't even gotten started yet. Right now, he could only assume they were waiting for either Cementoss or Power Loader to arrive and give them their first instructions of the day.
Before Nikolay could even think of anything else, though, he was suddenly met with Katsuki throwing an arm in his direction, only to stop at the last moment, revealing… an actual homemade wrapped lunchbox hanging from his grip. The Russian boy looked as though he had stepped into the twilight zone, while the blonde hothead grimaced with distaste. "Don't get the wrong idea, that nagging old bitch made this and forced me to give it to you as an apology."
Again, Nikolay was downright speechless, while also grateful to now know there was indeed someone who had even a figment of a leash on this once-perceived uncontrollable explosion-nut.
However, as he began to reach for it, he saw the grip Katsuki had on it tighten, to the point his fist was shaking and his veins were visibly pulsating. "But make no mistake here, you gutless little bitch; just because we're working together on this bullshit here, doesn't mean I'll ever actually work with you in the field as a Hero, I don't care what that asshole Aizawa says. Let's just get this crap job over with and be done with it!"
BOOM!
With that final declaration of intent, the lunchbox in Katsuki's hand suddenly erupted into a small contained fireball of an explosion, leaving only a trail of smoke emanating from under his hand, with a self-satisfied smirk plastered on his face as a result.
Except, without even missing a beat, Nikolay dug through his book bag and pulled out an almost identical box himself, this time with a semi-confident smirk of his own. "Too bad I thought to make my own last night. If you want to try and get me into another fight with you, you're gonna have to try a lot harder than that this time."
Nikolay was immediately beginning to regret saying as such, as the sight of his actually throwing Katsuki's insult right back in his face, had the ill-tempered young boy twitching his eye, looking half-ready to just start swinging again already.
"Ah, splendid, you're both here, and just in time, too." The pleased-sounding voice of Cementoss interjected before things between the two boys could get any more heated. Wasting no time, the sentient humanoid concrete slab literature teacher of Yuuei directed Nikolay and Katsuki to look upon the vast expanse they were going to be working with, complete with twelve concrete squares in two lines of six to serve as the foundations. In the distance, they could even make out the approaching lineup of contracted construction workers and their minimal equipment.
"As you can both see, Power Loader-san and I took the liberty of giving you both a blank slate to work with by clearing any obstructing brush and laying the foundation. The construction crews over there will be working on building the actual structures for the dorms themselves, but you boys will be working around and alongside them all the while. For now, while they get to it, you can work on digging out the network for the plumbing systems, and laying the pipe-work itself out. I'll assist in reinforcing the lines you lay down behind you as well. Afterwards, as the structures are being built, you can also get a head start on building up the AC, heating, water heating and sprinkler pipe systems throughout each building. The workers have plenty of blueprints for you to work off of if you need them.
"Once the structures themselves have been built, you can then get to work on constructing the interiors, installing the floorboards, windows, insulation and carpeting as you go along. After the actual construction itself has been completed, then you can both get to painting, tiling, plastering, varnishing and all around furnishing so that all twelve dorms are ready and livable by the start of the next semester. If you wish to get this all done properly in time for that, then I suggest you both get to it, and don't be afraid to ask each other for second opinions or assistance as the need arises. I have faith you boys will do quite well."
The fact that Cementoss could explain such an extensive workload with such a pleasant air of casualness seemed especially cruel, as every detail hit Nikolay and Katsuki like a hammer to a nail, just how immensely screwed they were for the next month's worth of time. With that parting notion of their needing to hustle if they wanted to finish in time ringing in their heads, and a silent begrudging acceptance of their mutual circumstances, the two constantly feuding boys finally set forward to get to work, with Cementoss watching their every move expectantly; his beady eyes reflecting a silent sense of confidence in their abilities to grow.
At that very same moment, Oleg, Toshinori and Aizawa had finally reached the first stop of their all-day family visiting road trip: the family home of Kyouka Jirou.
From the moment Oleg had met his fellow teachers in Aizawa's rental car in front of his house, the 1-A homeroom teacher had made it a very clear point to let him do the talking unless they found themselves in a situation on any visit where they felt they needed to provide a second supporting voice to the parents. As homeroom teacher, he was still the primary authority figure meant to be looking out for their children, while Toshinori and Oleg were ultimately secondary teachers who just happened to have decent connections with a number of the students. Thankfully, neither of the other two men was about to argue with him on this, as this was just as stressful and anxiety-inducing a scenario for them as it was for Aizawa himself.
And that was ultimately the best course of action, as it turned out; for upon proper introductions with Kyouka's parents (father Kyoutoku and mother Mika), they were both considerably apprehensive looking upon the three teachers' arrival, even despite their daughter's positive reaction to seeing them again. Seeing Toshinori's condition with their own eyes, alongside the half-empty sling under Oleg's left arm did nothing to ease their visible tension either.
Nevertheless, they were at least courteous enough to let the three adults inside, so as far as the teachers' were concerned, that was at least half their prospective battle of words won already.
Taking in the interior of Kyouka's family home, pretty much adorned in instruments, records and musical posters from top to bottom, and taking into consideration the very core of Kyouka's Quirk, it made far too much sense to Oleg that she would have grown up in a home of true blue music lovers like these two. It was also fitting, considering the fact that Kyoutoku himself looked like he would've been more at home in a heavy metal band, with a stern aged face and long wavy hair, while Mika, save for wearing librarian glasses, looked nearly identical to her daughter, even down to having identical hanging earphone jack earlobes.
As soon as they had been seated, Aizawa had immediately decided to cut through any prolonging pleasantries, just as Kyoutoku had made clear he would've preferred, and gave the two parents a copy of the paperwork they had been supplied with by Nezu yesterday. The momentary silence as Kyouka's parents had looked over the writing was exceptionally tense, as Oleg actually found himself beginning to grow genuinely nervous with each passing moment.
"Hmm… I can't rock with this." Kyoutoku stating his own form of disapproval so bluntly not only broke the silence, but also left Oleg and Toshinori visibly tense with uncertainty as what to do, while Kyouka's father simply gave his form back to Aizawa, looking all three men in the eye as he spoke his piece: "Regardless of whether or not she was seriously injured, the fact that my daughter was put in harm's way under your supervision doesn't change. And now, in the wake of this crisis, as if nothing ever happened, you nonchalantly declare 'we're having all the students relocate to the dorms'? Am I supposed to look at the injuries your two colleagues here are bearing, and just take that kind of risk in stride?"
Oleg was instinctively preparing to open his mouth to try and help the man before him see reason, but Aizawa just as quickly interceded, bowing his head low and never taking his eyes off the floor: "I very much understand your concerns, Jirou-san. However, we, too, after coming to realize the self-conceit, foolish pride, and negligence which were unconsciously growing within us, are now reconsidering our ways, and what we are able to do to mitigate any and all risks. I beg of you… just once more, can you place your trust in us and allow us to take your daughter in our care? I promise, on my status as a Hero and an educator, that I will raise Kyouka-san into a splendid Hero."
As much as his own sense of personal pride was against the idea of actually begging in such a manner, Oleg was nonetheless just as motivated by Aizawa's example, as he proceeded to similarly bow his head, to his fellow teachers' silent surprise. "Aizawa-san is telling the truth, Jirou-san. We all understand your apprehension to this plan, but we at Yuuei have indeed taken these recent failings to keep the students safe as a personal failing on our part we have every intention of rectifying, and we believe these dormitories on our campus grounds are the best way of securing that. I would not blame you if nothing we say is enough to convince you of our intentions, but we—"
"You don't have to go so overboard with the bowing and apologies, Tunguska-sensei. Neither do you, Aizawa-sensei." The sudden interjection of Kyouka's voice drew all eyes in the room to her, as she had silently come right in with a platter of tea cups for everyone, a slightly amused, perhaps even embarrassed, smirk on her face as she looked to Oleg and Toshinori specifically. "Believe it or not, from the moment the notification came in the mail yesterday, he had already made his decision. After witnessing that epic fight you were both in on TV, the old man was totally beside himself! He was all like: 'HELL YEAH! To think my little girl is under the tutelage of such rockin' guys! My daughter's shinin' even brighter than Brian the Sun, like, for real!' While drowning in tears, or so I heard."
Kyouka and Mika could both laugh at the recollection, about as much as Oleg found himself instinctively wanting to, but Kyoutoku looked hardly amused, trying to reprimand his daughter for, as he put it, blowing his cover as a real stern parent.
After a mercifully short yet ultimately good-natured in-family argument between the three, things had ultimately managed to calm down, and it had been confirmed for the three relieved Yuuei teachers that Kyouka's parents had indeed confirmed their granting permission for her to stay in the dorms. One family down, eighteen to go… in a single day, no less.
With apologies for having to leave in such a rush, and thanks given for the parents' consideration (along with a momentary father's bonding moment between Oleg and Kyoutoku regarding the reasoning for Kyouka's recent delving into his old Russian post-punk collection), the three teachers were quickly on their way back down to the car, ready to hit the road for their next visit in the Musutafu area.
"Tunguska-sensei!" Just as the large Russian was the last of the teachers to step out the gate to her parents' property, Oleg was swiftly stopped by the sound of Kyouka's voice calling to him from the doorway. As soon as he turned back, the purple-haired girl hurried over to him, with an undeniably concerned look on her otherwise neutral face. "I'm sorry for holding you up, Sensei, but I… I heard about the condition a lot of the other students were in after that Villain attack, on top of Bakugo getting kidnapped."
She looked to be struggling to will herself to get to her ultimate point, but if this was something she felt the need to talk to him personally over his fellow teachers about, Oleg had a pretty good idea where she was ultimately going, none too soon either, as she steeled herself and looked him in the eye. "I'd heard from some of the others that… that Kolya-san nearly died after it was over. I'm sorry to ask you this, but… w-was that true?"
Having by now prepared himself, Oleg kneeled down so he and Kyouka were on the same eye level, and so she could see how sincere he was as he gave her his answer: "I'm sorry, malenkaya Jirou, but… yes, it's true. But you don't have to worry. Kolya's already back on his feet and back to normal."
The smile of relief on her face upon hearing this was more than what Oleg had expected from Kyouka Jirou, out of all their students, but it was no less appreciated from him as her tension just seemed to vanish altogether. "I'm… well, I won't keep you, but… when you see him next, please let him know I'm… I'm glad he and the others are all okay, Sensei."
With the lightest chuckle, Oleg got back up and placed his one reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I will, but you'll have the chance to tell him that yourself as well when school starts back up; I know he'll be happy to see you're all right as well, malenkaya Jirou."
As Oleg bid his student goodbye and turned his back to rejoin his two colleagues, Kyouka turned back to her house with a deeply happy smile on her currently blushing face; this time not even caring about this strangely automatic reaction of hers when it came to his son.
As Oleg finally climbed into the back of Aizawa's car, since his larger size pretty much forced Toshinori to the front alongside Aizawa himself, the homeroom teacher finally let out a very heavy sigh, clutching the steering wheel tight. "I must admit, I came into this whole scenario prepared for a hell of a lot more criticism and reproach."
As much as it surprised Oleg and Toshinori alike to actually hear him express such blindsided surprise, it was the scrawnier blonde teacher who was quick to answer his colleague's words with some much-needed reassurance: "Well, it's much like what Bakugo-shonen's mother had said yesterday, Aizawa-san: you standing up to all those reporters and expressing Yuuei's honest regrets and self-awareness of their shortcomings, as well as its willingness to atone for them and do better… it's ultimately done a great deal towards repairing the trust of society in Heroes, even if a lot of the results may not be as instantly evident as we would like. You've done a great deal on your own already towards making this little venture a lot easier."
Aizawa gave no visible reaction to Toshinori's encouraging words, but it was still evident to him and Oleg both that he was definitely taking them into consideration; even as he pulled out the listing of all the student families they still had to visit before the end of the day, and the extensive travelling they would have to do in order to make it happen. "Well, since we already took care of Bakugo's family yesterday, the next student nearest here is the Yaoyorozu family. We should take care of the local students first, and then we can proceed to the next prefectures to take care of the rest."
With both his fellow teachers in full agreement, Aizawa proceeded to drive their little motley crew to the next family they would have to humble themselves before in order to regain their trust.
Almost two hours later…
It was still the morning, just barely ten to be exact, but they had already made significant progress in their trip, by this point having not only spoken to Momo Yaoyorozu and her parents, but also the families of Fumikage Tokoyami, Shoto Todoroki (which had simply consisted of him giving the form signed by his older sister at the front door and beckoning them to go for their own sakes) and Tenya Iida as well. Better yet, those families had all ultimately proven to be more receptive than any of the three teachers had expected, as in the end, they had all agreed to send their respective children to stay in Yuuei's new dorms come the start of the new semester; to both the teachers and their children's mutual relief.
As a matter of fact, to everyone's surprise, the family that had proven the most openly accepting of the idea right out the gate was the Yaoyorozu family. Unlike the others, they hadn't even pretended to try and be apprehensive or doubtful of the idea; thanks in no small part to Momo having already taken the liberty of trying to make her parents see the school's side of things well before the forms for the transfer had even been mailed out.
And as her parents had ultimately gone on to explain, much like their daughter had figured on her own; they were more than grateful for the three teachers' respective efforts in helping Momo further unlock her own potential, and were more than happy to entrust her to them on a full-time basis, while also going the extra mile to give their personal thanks and sympathies for Toshinori and Oleg's respective sacrifices in carrying out their duties as Heroes, regardless of licenses. They also confirmed they were having a new fully-functional prosthetic arm developed for the Russian Hero on top of everything else as another show of gratitude and aid. This, especially, was something Oleg found himself deeply and vocally grateful for, this time having no qualms bowing to express as such.
Now, with those four visits having been taken care of, it was time for them to finally attend to their last remaining local student family as Oleg knew of: Izuku Midoriya himself. As a fellow personal teacher of his alongside Toshinori, Oleg knew this one was going to be especially heavy in terms of emotions.
At least, this was what he would have been thinking to himself the most, had he not been currently occupied with a text message and photo that had recently been sent to him by Nikolay personally. His body had instinctively frozen when the picture displayed his son's face with a small bleeding laceration on his forehead just above his left brow, which the text had gone on to explain:
[[Hi Dad, thought I'd fill you in, unless Cementoss-sensei already has before me. The construction crews are building the structures for the dorms, and he decided to place me on duty for building the sprinkler and different ventilation systems, while Bakugo works on digging trails for, and setting up the piping for the plumbing systems himself. I tried working the same thing with him, but he's taken to blowing up any rocks that get in the way, and I've been hit by the results of that more than once now. I don't know how we're gonna make this work.]]
As Oleg finished translating this message for Toshinori and Aizawa, he couldn't even try to hide the concern his weathered face was wrought with. Despite this, Toshinori gave his Russian colleague an encouraging smile and solitary thumb up. "Try not to let this minor setback worry you too much, Oleg-san. It may be starting out rough, but Bezpalov-shonen and Bakugo-shonen are both very resolute in their respective drives to succeed. I'm certain they'll find a way to properly work together before the next semester starts."
"If they want to carry on as Yuuei students, they'll have no choice but to do so." Aizawa stated as bluntly as ever as they finally reached his car again. "That being said, a hiccup like this was only to be expected this early on. With how much they've verbally butted heads in the past, to say nothing of their actual fight, there was no way they were going to find their rhythm together this early on. That would've been far too easy."
As cynical as the man had sounded, both Oleg and Toshinori couldn't deny that Aizawa did have a valid point. Two teenage boys like Nikolay and Katsuki, with a history like they had, couldn't possibly move past all that in the first day. While they were silently accepting this bitter fact, Aizawa was already looking over the list. "Alright, looks like Midoriya is the last local student for us to see, then it'll be time for us to start looking at taking the train for the rest of this trip, especially if we're going to see to every student before the day is out."
As he began to climb back into the car, Toshinori actually remained steadfastly where he stood. "Actually, speaking of that… I think it would probably be better if I attended to this one on my own, Aizawa-san, Oleg-san."
Both teachers looked to Toshinori as though he were speaking complete nonsense, but they could quickly tell from just the way he stood and looked them each in the eye, that he was absolutely serious in this decision. Even despite that fact, though, Oleg couldn't help but ask: "Are you sure about this, Toshinori-san? If he's both our student like you said, it only feels right that I should be there with you for this."
However, Toshinori only gave his colleagues the closest thing he could manage to a confident smile with his bony face, even giving them another assuring thumb up to prove his point: "Under any other circumstances I would gladly say yes to that offer, Oleg-san. However, we only have so much time to meet with the rest of the students, and depending on how this one in particular will go, I don't want to risk holding either of you up from attending to their families. Besides, if we take too long, we'll end up missing dinner time. We can't have that now, can we? Don't worry; I can handle things here, so you two should go on ahead to the next houses on the list. I'll call you when I've finished visiting Midoriya-shonen, and we can figure out which train station to reconvene at."
A solitary glance between Oleg and Aizawa told the two men they were both of the same mind here: Toshinori wouldn't be saying this if he wasn't absolutely certain of his own capability in talking to Izuku and his family. As such, with a hearty handshake of good luck and good tidings until later, Toshinori proceeded on his way at a brisk jogging pace, while Oleg began to climb into the front passenger seat, only for Aizawa to instantly order him to the back, lest he ended up weighing the front end of the car down.
As they proceeded to drive to the nearest train station, Oleg had now taken student list duty, figuring out who the next nearest student to visit would be. From the looks of it, their next stop would be to visit Minoru Mineta's family in Kanagawa Prefecture (the irony of visiting the same prefecture he'd just lost his arm in so soon being far from lost on Oleg), and from there it would then be on to visiting the families of Mashirao Ojiro and Tooru Hagakure in Tokyo Prefecture, then the family of Denki Kaminari in Saitama Prefecture, and from there, two visits that Oleg was feeling particularly anxious over: the families of Eijirou Kirishima and Mina Ashido in Chiba Prefecture.
Five hours later…
It was only now starting to transition from early afternoon into the later hours, but at the rate Oleg and Aizawa had managed to burn through talking to the previous four families while taking extensive train travel to cut time, it felt as though they'd already been at this for more than a day. The two men could at least be grateful that not only had Toshinori managed to reconvene with them at the Saitama train station, but that his meeting with the Midoriya family had proven just as fruitful as theirs had been to the Mineta, Ojiro, Hagakure and Kaminari families.
Indeed, on the two teachers' part, every family had taken only a minimal amount of beseeching and self-humbling in order to convince them to entrust their children to their care again. It certainly sounded like it had gone considerably smoother than Toshinori's solo visit.
Upon his return, he had gone on in almost excruciating detail of how Izuku's mother had been steadfastly against her son going back to Yuuei, despite her son's apparent insistence on attending that very school, strictly for the reason that it had been All Might's alma mater.
However, just when it seemed like this story couldn't possibly uplift itself, it had taken a sudden turn when Izuku had actually stated it didn't need to be Yuuei, simply because a letter of thanks he had received from the little boy at the training camp, Kota Izumi, had made him finally realize what it felt like to be someone's Hero, and that was what he aimed to achieve, instead of simply following the exact same path as All Might.
In the end, after prostrating himself before the boy's mother and swearing to give his own life in order to give her son the nurturing and protection he needed, not only had Izuku's mother ultimately decided to entrust Izuku to their care once more, but had even gone the extra mile by asking the former Symbol of Peace not to sacrifice himself for Izuku's sake, and to instead keep living in order to give him the guidance he needed.
Even if he hadn't been there for it, to simply hear Toshinori explain the pride he felt when it had become clear that Izuku was finally starting to make his own individual path towards becoming a Hero and the next Symbol of Peace, couldn't help but leave Oleg feeling a considerable pride in how much the boy had visibly matured as well. Now he really wished he had actually been there, simply so he could have witnessed it himself. That boy certainly had a spirit worthy of some of the finest Heroes he'd met in all his years.
Of course, none of the teachers could dwell on the details of Toshinori's experience for long, because by now, they had finally departed from the train station of Chiba Prefecture for the two meetings Oleg knew were making him the most visibly nervous out of everyone else they had visited thus far. What was more, he couldn't even be granted the benefit of a minute to compose himself, as Aizawa was already looking over the list. "Alright, according to the addresses and the local directory, it looks like Kirishima's home is closer, so let's tackle that, then Ashido's house next."
As Aizawa already was taking the lead, Oleg found himself having difficulty following in suit, until Toshinori planted an assuring hand on his shoulder, with a friendly and supportive wink. "If anyone may be able to get through to Kirishima-shonen's parents, Oleg-san, I know it's you. Don't worry, when the time comes, I know you'll be able to do what's needed."
Oleg was clearly grateful for his friend's moral support, as he quickly began following Aizawa's lead, with Toshinori following close behind.
Eijirou Kirishima's family home was just about as nondescript as anyone else's home they had visited thus far, with the exception of the Yaoyorozu and Todoroki mansions. Perhaps that was what managed to finally ease Oleg's nerves as he, Aizawa and Toshinori had finally approached the front gate. However, the front door had swung open before any of them could even ring the doorbell at the entrance gate, only to be greeted with an echoing "SENSEI!" as Eijirou had come practically sprinting down to the gate, opening for his teachers himself.
"We've been waiting for you all to show up since they got the form yesterday! Please, come in—"
"Eijirou! For goodness' sakes, they're all fully grown adults; they don't need to be led by the hand! Please, gentlemen, come inside." A good-humored yet still stern adult man's voice called out from the front door, snapping Eijirou and his teachers to attention.
Standing at the door was a surprisingly bookish-looking middle-aged man with neatly trimmed black hair and glasses over a pair of red eyes, while at his side stood a similarly friendly-looking middle aged woman with longer black hair and a smile of sharp teeth; the latter of whom the three teachers recognized from Parents' Day, just as she did them.
"Dad, this is them! I-I mean, this is him! No, I do mean it's them! These are the teachers I've been telling you about! Mom, you remember, right?" Eijirou was like a little kid trying to point out Santa Claus to his parents as he rushed back to them, while the three teachers awkwardly followed after the excited red-haired boy, stepping forward to greet his parents with respectful bows, only for the man who was clearly his father to extend a welcoming handshake.
"Yes, Eijirou, don't forget we've been waiting for them just as long as you have. Please, don't mind our son; he still has a tendency to get more than a little over-eager."
With that, he gave each of the men a distinctly firm handshake, giving Oleg a look of clear impression; which was exactly what Eijirou's mother had expected ever since spending the evening of Parents' Day with her son, his friends and his favorite teacher. "I think it's safe to say we can both now see why, too. It's so nice to see you all again even in these circumstances, Tunguska-san, Aizawa-san, All Might-san."
Oleg bowed in greeting with a smile of nostalgia, while Eijirou's father once again took the lead: "Yes, my apologies to you all for having not been able to make it to your Parents' Day presentation; my work always keeps me so busy. I've really been wanting to meet the teacher that Eijirou hasn't stopped telling us about in all his daily texts since the year started. I have to admit, I envy the fact my wife got to see you in action against our son back then. You're clearly really something for him to talk about you as highly as he does. With the exception of All Might, I didn't think there could be a Hero that could get him as excited as Crimson Riot could."
At this, Oleg was finally able to chuckle in similar amusement. "Yes, I have to say, it's still something I'm having to get used to receiving again, that kind of unabated admiration. Malenkii Kirishima is still a great student when it comes to his in-action Hero studies, there's no doubt in any of our minds about that. Oh, for goodness' sake, forgive me; a proper introduction is in order when meeting any new faces. It's a pleasure to finally properly meet you both. I'm Oleg Bezpalov, you shouldn't have to relegate only to my Hero name."
Oleg's embarrassment had been palpable once he'd seen the stern glare from Aizawa at his not even having properly introduced himself like he and Toshinori had. However, Eijirou's parents were once again laughing at such a humble display from such a behemoth of a man. "Oh, please, no harm done. Any teacher that our boy can speak so fondly of is alright with us by definition. But I suppose some blame lies with me as well. I know Eijirou already introduced his mother before; but I'm Kirishima Katasa; his father."
"And I'm his mother, Kirishima Tawa. It's a pleasure to finally meet you all in person much more properly like this. Please, let's not all stand on ceremony, have a seat." With Eijirou's mother's insistence, complete with a tray of tea cups at the ready, the three teachers took their places on one corner sofa in the living room, while Eijirou and his parents took their spots at the other, looking the three visiting teachers in the eye.
Oleg knew he was going to have to be the leading voice in this conversation, simply knowing now that Eijirou had told his parents so much about the burly Russian now sitting in their home. As such, he knew they couldn't afford to let time pass on simple pleasantries. He needed to show his authority and professionalism as a teacher. "So, your son says that you've already long since received the forms sent out by Yuuei Academy regarding our recent decision for transition into a boarding school. So I'm to take it you've already figured why we've come all the way out here today."
Just as quickly as he had started, so too did the general welcoming and lighthearted air among Eijirou's parents start to fade, as they likewise knew there was no point trying to draw this out. As such, Katasa resolutely cleared his throat and looked the three teachers before him in the eye. "Listen, it's not that we don't respect and appreciate what you men stand for, both as teachers and as Heroes. I mean you, Oleg-san, and All Might-san; you both saved so many people in the long run by fighting that monster of a Villain, we both could see that clear as day."
Following her husband's lead, Tawa likewise leaned forward, a regretful look in her eyes as she spoke: "But, that all aside… I… we just don't feel comfortable entrusting our son to the care of your school, especially after he's now been directly attacked by Villains twice now. For as much punishment as his Quirk allows him to take, the fact is it's not indefinite and all-out invincible."
As Eijirou looked to his parents with dread in his eyes, his father continued on, looking especially upon the bandages on Toshinori, and of course, Oleg's missing arm. "That's right. And regardless of you two winning, you still went through an ungodly amount of punishment to do it. I'm sorry for saying this, but the state you two are currently in doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Oleg-san, the fact that you're in the condition you're in, and Eijirou still looks up to you so much… you must understand, it's incredibly worrying. We don't want our boy to end up suffering such horrific injuries if there's even the slightest chance we can do something to help him avoid it."
Before either of the teachers could speak, Eijirou suddenly shot up from his seat, looking downright imploringly to his parents. "What are you saying, Dad?! You're talking about Tunguska-sensei as if he's just some broken down shell of his former self now! Doesn't the fact that he's still sitting here, asking for another chance to keep teaching us, despite losing an arm, say anything to you guys?! I want to keep going to Yuuei and learning from these Heroes! Any Hero who can take something like what Tunguska-sensei and All Might went through, and keep standing and moving forward, is hands down one of the manliest Heroes I've ever seen, and the best kind of teacher! Even if it was to continue my education as a Hero, I… I-I don't want to go to any school where they wouldn't be teaching! It just wouldn't be the same; it wouldn't be worth it!"
Just as his parents were about to ask him to please sit back down, and Aizawa was about to reprimand him for such childish sentiments in the grand scheme of things, Oleg suddenly rose up from his seat, towering over everyone else in the room, before placing a large and stern hand on the silenced Eijirou's shoulder. "That's enough, malenkii Kirishima. You should know by now that manliness on its own shouldn't be the deciding factor in what makes a truly worthwhile Hero. In comparison, courage, kindness and a strong heart are far more important… and I have no doubt that any other Hero school in this country would be able to teach you the very same things that we have been teaching you so far back at Yuuei."
Needless to say, to have an actual Yuuei teacher saying such a thing left everyone else visibly caught off guard, while Oleg had now turned his warm blue gaze to Katasa and Tawa. Without breaking his line of sight, he calmly sat back down so they were once more on the same level. "Kirishima-san, believe it or not, I completely understand your reluctance to just leave your son in our care again after what just happened. I have no doubt malenkii Kirishima has told you by now, but just so we're on the same page here; I'm a parent too, and I… I nearly lost my son in that Villain attack last week. I'll tell you both right now that if I weren't a teacher at Yuuei, I would be making the very same decision that you've made.
"Every single day, I thank God or whatever force in this universe is listening, for the fact that my Kolya woke up and is back on his feet again… and not just for that, either. Every day, I express just as much thanks for the fact that things have unfolded so that my son and I even have the opportunity to be in this country right now. There's details to our circumstances we don't have nearly enough time to get into, although I can't shake the feeling your son may have wanted to share them with you himself by now. All you need to know is that in the time since we were given a second chance by coming here, malenkii Kirishima and my son have become very close friends, one of the very first my boy has ever had, to be honest; and it's through his and others' friendship, that my son has even started to make friends with even more of their classmates since then.
"And I know it hasn't just been a one-way influence, either. I feel that my son and I have also been having a reassuring influence on malenkii Kirishima and others' development, not just as Heroes, but as people as well, and I'm confident that, no matter what decision you ultimately make, the things we've both helped teach your son will stay with him, and ultimately help him to become a truly great Hero, just as I'm sure his kindness and bravery will stay with my son and his classmates at Yuuei and help them reach their fullest potential as well.
"Regardless whatever happens here today, I just want you both to know that we and Yuuei are doing everything possible to atone for our shortcomings and negligence, in order to provide the students the safety and upbringing they truly deserve, so that they can become the best kinds of Heroes they can possibly be, without being put in constant danger, and putting you and all their parents through terrible bouts of worry. I don't expect you to forgive our shortsightedness so soon… but I at least wanted you both to know all this more than anything else."
To put the final punctuation to his point, Oleg gave a deep and impassioned bow to Eijirou and his parents, with Toshinori and Aizawa instantly following suit; leaving the dumbfounded red-haired boy and his likewise shocked parents speechless.
However, this didn't last long on Eijirou's part, as he once again turned with great urgency to address his parents again: "Mom, Dad, please, can't you at least try to reconsider?! Everything Tunguska-sensei has said is the honest truth, I swear! If he says that Yuuei is doing everything they can to keep us all safe, what reason is there to doubt them?!"
However, while Oleg was keeping his head bowed down to illustrate how serious he was, and while Eijirou was once again getting far too wrapped up in the overall emotion of the moment; Toshinori and Aizawa could both see the serious contemplation reflected on the elder Kirishimas' faces.
"Oleg-san, please, sit back up. You shouldn't have to keep yourself down like that." Tawa finally spoke up softly, rendering Eijirou silent with surprise; reflected just the same in Oleg's eyes as he did as was asked of him.
Eijirou's parents both looked deeply conflicted, but his mother continued regardless: "My husband and I have always considered ourselves to be rather good judges of character, and we like to think that Eijirou inherited the same trait from us. Ever since the year started, he's had nothing but praises to be said about you, from your 'manliness', to your kindness, patience and desire to teach and protect your students. We never had reason to doubt that from you personally, but it was Yuuei as a whole that we were uncertain of."
At this point, it was now Katasa who leaned forward to continue building to their ultimate point: "We know our son enough by now to know that he never speaks false praises about people. In a way, you could say he's honest to a fault sometimes. And listening to you speak of his best traits when it comes to how he is and influences other people, I know you're speaking from the heart. Eijirou has likewise told us a lot about your son, Nikolay, as well, and how much he respects him for the same qualities he's said about you. All in all, from everything he's told us since then, we have no reason to believe that you and your boy aren't genuinely good-hearted and well-intentioned people.
"All of these things being considered, on top of everything you've just told us about Yuuei's attitude towards these recent events… I won't pretend to know how you did it, Oleg-san, but if you say that Yuuei is pulling all the stops in making sure those kids are kept safe during the course of their education… then I don't think we have any reason not to believe you… nor to deny our son the chance to keep learning under you all so he can become the manly Hero he's always wanted to be."
Eijirou nearly looked like he was about to start tearfully cheering with happiness at this sudden change in his parents' opinion, before his mother spoke up once more: "And besides, even if it weren't for the sake of his Hero education; taking into consideration everything we've come to know about you through Eijirou, and everything you've just said in your earnestness… and then adding onto that, just how much our boy has told us he loves going to Yuuei, and just how many wonderful friends he's made in the process… well, as long as they were to remain under all your protection and supervision, we couldn't possibly be selfish enough to take him away from all of that."
"As such, my wife and I… give you and Yuuei our blessing to have Eijirou stay in your dorms." The moment Katasa finally put the final punctuation on their decision, Eijirou was nearly howling with grateful cheers as he hugged both his parents at once, while Oleg and Toshinori let out mutually heavy sighs of relief. This was by far one of the visits Oleg had expected to be the most difficult, and yet by some miracle, he had managed to pull it off. Even Aizawa had a hint of gratitude in his tired eyes as he gave Oleg the slightest of acknowledging nods.
It wasn't long after that, that the teachers knew it was time for them to hit the road for their second Chiba Prefecture visit. It was of course difficult for Oleg to manage to get his way out the door, as Eijirou had become almost like a giddy little kid, trying to show his idol his room and all. Of course, promises of an as-yet unknown next time was thankfully enough to allow the Russian teacher to step out with his colleagues, ready to hit pavement once more.
"Tunguska-sensei, please, wait just a second!" Oleg immediately stopped, not even remotely surprised Eijirou would have just one more thing to say. However, when he turned to address his usually over-enthusiastic student, he was taken aback by the notably worried look in Eijirou's red eyes. "I'm sorry, I know you're all in a rush, but I just had to ask: how are things going with Kolya-san? I know I probably shouldn't have to begin with, but I was actually half-expecting him to be here with you today."
Naturally assuming Eijirou had to be carrying the same kind of fears of expulsion as Nikolay had, Oleg gave the red-haired boy a reassuring grin. "Well, Kolya's not getting expelled yet, if that's what you're thinking. No, Nezu-san has actually decided instead to have him and malenkii Bakugo work together in helping build the student dorms in time for the end of summer break. Granted, from what I've been told so far, it hasn't been going as well as we'd hoped. Between you and me, the latter's persistent foul attitude has me worried. Aizawa-san has said that if they aren't able to figure out how to work together by then, they will be expelled, both of them."
At first, Eijirou reflected pretty much the exact same look of worry that Oleg had. But just as quickly did his expression brighten right back up. "Don't worry, Sensei. Even with an attitude like his, I'm confident that Bakugo will start lightening up to Kolya-san by then. The fact he was there at the rescue mission's gotta get through to him sooner or later!"
At this, Oleg once more found himself chuckling with gratitude as he started mussing up Eijirou's spiky red hair. "You don't know how lucky you are to have such natural faith in people in such abundance, malenkii Kirishima. That's one of the many traits that's going to help make you a truly great Hero when the time comes. I just know it. Don't ever let anything take that away from you."
Eijirou nearly looked like he was about to star shedding tears of joy to be once more receiving such praise from someone he admired so much, but he hurriedly tried to wipe them away as he gave his teacher a big toothy grin of confidence and an equally affirming thumb up. With that and a final goodbye, the two finally parted ways, and Oleg quickly reunited with Aizawa and an approving-looking Toshinori as they continued their way down the road on foot for their next destination.
"You handled that exceptionally well, I think, Oleg-san. I dare say Kirishima-shonen might look at you as more of a homeroom teacher than Aizawa-san at this point." The two former Top Heroes couldn't help but chuckle in mutual amusement at such a ridiculous thought, while Aizawa simply kept his eyes on the local map, while of course grumbling in mild annoyance at the insinuation on Toshinori's part.
Much like the Kirishima household, the home of the Ashido family was no more or less than any of the other houses in the neighborhood. When the three teachers had initially rounded the last corner onto the street they lived on, they all were taken by surprise to find Mina herself standing vigilant just inside the front gate to her house, and excitedly waving and calling out to the trio the moment she saw them: "SENSEI! OVER HERE!"
Of course there was the initial shock on her part upon seeing All Might the way he truly was for the first time in the flesh, but that had thankfully run its course quite fast, as she had almost instantly gone right back into playing the eager host. "We were worried you all might've gotten lost! Please, please, come in!" As she excitedly ushered the three through the gate, the three teachers were soon greeted by an equally excited adult male and female voice practically echoing down from the front door. "THERE THEY ARE! See? I knew they'd end up getting here sooner or later! And you were worried!"
"Oh, look who's talking; I wasn't the one pacing all over the house since getting the mail yesterday, hon!"
Standing in the doorway was a rather decently-built middle aged man in casual athletic wear with bright pink skin and a head of closely cut darker pink hair, almost to the point it more resembled a very light shade of red. Next to him stood a middle-aged woman, albeit with a very youthful-looking and normally colored skin complexion and tone respectively, with a head of frizzy and even lighter pink hair, with a pair of protruding yellow horns identical to those of their daughter, albeit much longer, and with the exact same black-gold eyes as her as well; dressed in extravagantly elegant clothes in comparison to her husband. She frankly looked like something akin to a fashion model.
"Thank you for taking the time for us to have this meeting with you, Ashido-san." Aizawa immediately opened up with a humble bow, which Toshinori and Oleg quickly echoed, only for Mina's father and mother to both start laughing at such an official display, right before the man himself came in and took Aizawa's hand into an enthusiastic handshake.
"Oh, just listen to you! My Mina wasn't kidding; you're so serious right out the gate, Aizawa-san! Don't act like this is our literal first time meeting! Besides, anyone willing to do what you three have all done for her education and protection is a friend in my book! But if you have to insist on the whole ceremony, that's okay too. I'm Ashido Youshi! It's a pleasure to finally meet the teachers our daughter's been telling us so much about without the whole deal of pretending our lives are in danger this time!"
Following his exceptionally enthusiastic greeting, Mina's mother likewise gratefully shook both Toshinori and Oleg's hands, while giving a graceful curtsey at the same time. "And I'm Mina's mother, Ashido Yumi, obviously. Whether I've said it before back then or not doesn't matter. Thank you all so much again for everything you've been teaching our little girl over at Yuuei. And… I'm sorry for the losses you both have had to make in order to do that, on top of your Hero work, All Might, Tunguska-san."
At this point, not only was Oleg not even surprised that Mina's parents, out of those of all the students' parents, would act so familiar with the three of them after Parents' Day, but neither he nor Toshinori found themselves looking forlornly at their bandages and what-not this time.
After all, with how upbeat the whole Ashido family seemed to be right from the onset, it seemed impossible for any kind of negative mood to persist. It was actually strangely wholesome to see just how much Mina's constant positivity clearly came from her parents, especially her father, as Youshi was looking Oleg's physique over with a clear sense of approval. "Aw, heck, with muscles like that, I'll bet even a missing arm wouldn't be able to keep a big guy like you down, would it, Tunguska-san? I mean, age certainly wasn't slowing you back at the big show, did it? Why, I'll bet even in retirement, enough regular visits to the Hero-class gym could even get you back to looking something like your old self again, eh, All Might?"
Toshinori began scratching the back of his head in awkward embarrassment, honestly not sure how to answer such forward optimism. Thankfully, Aizawa once again stepped in before his two colleagues could be put any further on the spot before they could even get started: "I sincerely apologize for my rudeness, but my colleagues and I do have a good number more students to visit before the end of the day."
"Oh, of course! Please excuse us, Tunguska-san at least knows by now that we've always been the very sociable type, you can just see it with how easily our Mina can make friends. Please, all of you come inside and make yourselves comfortable." Yumi invited the three teachers, while playfully ruffling Mina's hair at the mention of her name, earning an amused and semi-embarrassed laugh from her daughter in kind.
Once they were all gathered in their living room, once again with full platters of tea and cookies at the ready (Yumi and Mina certainly wasting no time in making sure the three felt more than welcome), Youshi had already taken the reins of the conversation before either of the teachers could say anything: "Forgive my forwardness, Aizawa-san, but I just wanted to ask Tunguska-san here something really quick: Is your boy Nikolay with you by any chance, perhaps just falling behind?"
"Oh, yes, given how close you two are, and in light of what's happened to you; I would have thought he'd perhaps have come with you. He left such a good impression the first time, Youshi and I have just been dying to see him again. It's hardly even been a couple days since Mina came home, and it certainly feels like she has been, as well!"
After such an enthusiastic display from both her parents as to the chance of meeting Nikolay in person, Oleg was naturally expecting Mina to look unbearably embarrassed. Instead, however, she had a silently contemplative and admittedly worried look in her eyes. He already had a pretty good idea why, but decided to still give her parents the answer they deserved: "Unfortunately, Kolya isn't with me today. He's actually hard at work with malenkii Bakugo in helping to build the very same dorm buildings we came to get your opinions on."
Mina's head immediately perked up, but the worry in her eyes didn't dissipate. In fact, it only seemed to grow. "So Kolya-kun wasn't just messing with me when he said he and Bakugo had to work together? Oh man, that guy's attitude can be so crappy; how do you all know they'll actually work together?"
"Because they both will end up being expelled from Yuuei if they don't. It may be harsh and forceful, but sometimes the blunt way is the only way to really help two individuals find their specific synch." Aizawa answered just as bluntly as his mentality on the matter. It obviously didn't help Mina's anxiety for Nikolay's chances, now only looking even more worried now that she knew the stakes involved.
Of course, that didn't stop Youshi from giving a hearty laugh at the sound of it. "I couldn't agree more, Aizawa-san! Sometimes, all the quiet subtlety and grace in the world can't compare to the good old-fashioned hammer-and-nail approach of personal development! Some of my most successful gymnastics students can attest to that!"
At the same time as this, still seeing the clear-as-day worry on Mina's face, Oleg quietly leaned forward, while Aizawa was still being subjected to Youshi's mile-a-minute chattering. "Try not to worry, malenkaya Ashido. I visited malenkii Kirishima and his family just a little earlier, and he's confident Kolya and malenkii Bakugo will find that common ground they can work together on before the start of the next semester. If he can have that much faith in them, then I know you've got just as much, if not more deep down."
Finally, Mina's quivering mouth began to slowly form into a warm and deeply grateful smile. Of course Eijirou would have that kind of faith in them. Their identical tendencies to always try and focus on the best in people were things they both deeply respected about each other, and here she was actually letting herself fall by the wayside in that regard. Besides, what would Nikolay have thought if he had seen her looking so forlorn when thinking about his capability to succeed? She had no reason to think he couldn't pull it off. Hell, between him and Bakugo, she had far more faith in him by a long shot.
By now, Youshi had finally found the wherewithal to finally stop talking Aizawa's ear off and giving Yumi a chance to take the floor, especially now that the whole reason for the teacher visit had finally come up. "Since you brought up the whole thing about Yuuei's new dormitories, Tunguska-san, I suppose it's time Youshi and I gave your our answer. We've both thought about it for a long time now and… well, we'd be happy to entrust our Mina to your care once more."
At least with most of the other families they had visited, the parents had at least tried to put up some kind of resistant front to the subject. For Mina's parents to just come right out and give their okay was nothing short of mind-blowing. What was more, Mina didn't even look remotely surprised, instead still smiling as brightly as ever. Clearly they had already discussed this as a whole family long before the Yuuei trio had shown up. For them, this meeting was nothing more than an official formality.
"You have our deepest thanks for your trust and consideration, Ashido-san. However, if I may be so bold as to ask… why is it you're already so trusting of us, despite our previous shortcomings in guaranteeing Mina-san's safety?" Aizawa asked as he, Oleg and Toshinori once again gave deeply grateful bows in kind.
In light of this, Youshi clearly looked like he needed a second to really find the words that could answer the 1-A homeroom teacher as thoroughly as possible. Finally, with a deep breath he went on: "Well, the way we see it, interpersonal relationships are exactly what they sound like: a two-way road. The influences and benefits your friendship can give to others, so too can theirs come to you. In the time since this school year started, our Mina has told us so much about all the wonderful new friends she's made, both in her own class, and even outside of it. She's someone who has always loved and cherished every single one of her friends from the day she made her very first; she even still keeps in regular contact with friends she made all the way back in elementary school! We don't want to take her away from the friends she's made at Yuuei, nor do we want to take her away from them. They all deserve each other in their lives, all the way around."
From here, Yumi proceeded to follow up: "And besides, for as long as we can remember, our daughter's dream hasn't only been to become another great Hero, but more specifically to become another great Hero with every one of her friends standing at the very same level by her side. We don't want to take that dream away from her by taking her away from her friends. Besides, all of them, and all of you, have clearly been helping Mina in leaps and bounds when it comes to using her natural bravery more practically, instead of solely on impulse. The marked improvements to her average academics haven't been anything for us to ignore, either."
Yumi couldn't help but laugh the way only a mother could, as Mina puffed her cheeks out in a childish pout that her mom was taking now as an opportunity to once again point out that, even with improvements to be spoken of, her regular academic grades were still not exactly the best.
By this point, however, Youshi had finally stopped with the over-enthusiastic ribbing and laughter, and was now actually taking on a serious, even deeply compassionate expression, as he leaned forward and brought his hands together, looking Oleg specifically in the eyes. "But more than anything, if we're being completely honest, Tunguska-san… it's that, after everything she's told us about you and your son, and believe me when I say she told us quite a lot beforehand; but especially after having gotten to spend the evening really getting to know you and your son; Yumi and I don't want to deprive Mina or Kolya of each other's presence in their lives. They've clearly both been an incredible influence on each other, in a sea of already incredible influences. I don't think our daughter has ever talked so much about or even gravitated to one single person as much as she has with your boy. That says a lot to both of us, really."
"That's right. From everything she's told us about you two, you've both already been through far too much suffering and sadness as it is, and Youshi and I don't want to contribute any more of such a thing to your boy's life by keeping him and Mina apart. She already views him as such a precious and dearly close friend, and we couldn't possibly think of even potentially breaking such a connection."
With Yumi's sudden chime-in to the discussion, she and Youshi gave a silent but confirming glance to each other, which they both then gave to Mina in turn, and once she gave them an affirming nod and a practically glowing smile of her own, they finally turned to address the three watchful teachers before them. "All of those things, together with how clearly sincere you were when you explained how much Yuuei wishes to turn itself around and do everything within its power in order to keep all our children safe while getting their Hero education, Aizawa-san; is why Yumi and I are officially giving you our Ashido family blessing to leave our baby girl in Yuuei's care once more."
"OH, THANK YOU, DADDY! THANK YOU, MOMMY!" Mina practically squealed with delight as she threw her arms over both her parents' shoulders, one after the other while peppering their faces with grateful kisses; all while the Yuuei trio once again gave another collective sigh of relief, especially Oleg. That was now two of the hardest meetings he'd been bracing himself for, finally over and successful.
After once more exchanging gratitude and goodbyes to the Ashido parents, they were once again on their way out the door for the train station, before Oleg, as though he were simply just waiting for it, could already hear a light pair of footsteps chasing after them to the gate. "Something else on your mind you want to say, malenkaya Ashido?"
Turning back to face her, Mina couldn't even jokingly laugh about Oleg being able to read her like a book, instead looking exceptionally determined. "I'm sorry to bug you with this, Tunguska-sensei, but do you think it would be okay for me to mail food to yours and Kolya-kun's house? I mean, if you're still going to try and see everyone else from class before today is out, it sounds like you're not gonna be home until probably midnight, and if Kolya-kun is working construction all day, he's probably gonna be starving by the time he gets home. I don't think he should have to worry about cooking on top of everything else."
Oleg couldn't help but smile and even chuckle at just how unabashedly selfless Mina was being simply by asking this with no prodding needed. Even Toshinori couldn't help but smile at such generosity in someone so young, hence why he was the one to ultimately answer her: "You're an exemplary young woman, Ashido-shoujo, to have such immense selflessness for your friends and all those around you by nature. You can take it from me when I say that that's one of the biggest reasons I believe you'll become a truly outstanding Hero one day."
Even if it hadn't actually answered her question, it still visibly touched Mina deep down to receive such praise from the Symbol of Peace himself, nearly making her frizzy hair stand on end as her smile just seemed to illuminate the air around her. With that, Oleg lightly ruffled her hair with a warmhearted chuckle. "I can't think of a single reason why you couldn't do so, malenkaya Ashido. I know Kolya will appreciate it from the bottom of his heart, knowing the care you'll no doubt put into it for his sake."
This confirmation, together with Toshinori's personal encouragement, left Mina Ashido looking like she was practically on Cloud Nine, as she happily hugged both teachers for their words before just as quickly sprinting back into her house, no doubt ready to head straight into the kitchen to follow up on her own offer.
With that and another mutual chuckle of appreciation and amusement at her energy, Oleg and Toshinori hurried over to catch back up with Aizawa, ready to head up to the next prefecture, and the next student family visit.
Mie Prefecture, several hours later…
It had long since gone dark since the Yuuei trio had finished making their way up the Japanese eastern coastline in their journey to visit the majority of their students' families; each one thankfully resulting in the teachers humbling themselves and ultimately convincing the parents to give them one final chance at watching over their children.
From there, they had to relegate themselves to an especially lengthy train ride through the middle of the country to end up in Aichi Prefecture, so that they could speak to Tsuyu Asui and her family. After that had managed to turn out just as well, they were now finally on the way to their very last student of the trip, then they could finally return home and call it an incredibly exhausting day.
Upon their arrival in Mie Prefecture, it was certainly a far cry from the sizable cities that all the other students lived in. By comparison, this might as well have been farmland, and after following the directions to the address, the Uraraka family home fit that description rather well. It was somehow straddling that delicate line between being the same kind of middle-class home that most of Ochako's classmates lived in, and looking rather poor in condition as well. Remembering what Ochako had told him so long ago about her family's financial struggles being one of her biggest motivators to become a Hero, this was just about what Oleg had been expecting.
And, of course, with it being so late at night by the time they had finally arrived, it was still somehow surprising that the very girl they had come to see, and both her parents, were still wide awake and at the ready to receive them, as they hadn't even reached the front door before it had opened, revealing the family of three in waiting, with Ochako (somehow excitedly and nervously at the same time) calling out to her three teachers to come in.
Accepting the invitation, the three men made their way inside, with Ochako being as awkward yet precious in her attempt to try and play the proper host as she greeted them all personally. "I'm so happy you could all manage to make it today, Aizawa-sensei, Tunguska-sensei, All Might-sensei! I didn't know how long it would take, but we were ready to stay up all night if we had to."
Just as with every other visit, there was of course the initial shock from student and parents alike when it came to seeing All Might not nearly as tall and muscular as he always had been before, but by this point Toshinori was managing to take those brief moments in stride.
When it came to Oleg meeting one of his closest student's parents, this time around the charm came to him much easier, especially when it came time to shaking her rugged-looking father's hand. "You're a natural-born working man, Uraraka-san; I can feel it in your hands. I don't expect you to know specific details, but where I come from and how I was raised, that's something I can truly appreciate."
Indeed, the middle-aged Uraraka patriarch didn't know the exact details of Oleg's background like his daughter did, but the recognition of one working man to another likewise resonated with him. "Clearly you're the same way, Tunguska-san. Our little Ochako has told us a lot about everyone at her school, but she's definitely talked about you a lot when it comes to her teachers. Thank you so much for giving her as much of your attention and wisdom as you have been. It sounds like it's really helped strengthen her resolve something fierce. Oh, but listen to me, just going on like that. I'm Uraraka Ryo."
As he finally took the chance to bow down in greeting like an adult was supposed to, his wife and Ochako likewise bowed down, but nowhere as extremely as he had. "It's such a pleasure to meet you all finally. I'm Uraraka Fuyou. Won't you please take a seat? We apologize; we don't have very much to spare you in terms of refreshments. I know you've all come quite a long way to see us."
"Please, no apologies are necessary, Uraraka-san. We already ate on the train ride over here. Your hospitality is more than enough." Toshinori quickly talked the parents down. And just as they had nearly twenty times before in this day alone, the three teachers finally took their seats across from Ochako and her parents.
All three of the host family were clearly very nervous about who should have spoken up first, and what to even lead in with. While the teachers themselves didn't want to rush anything, especially with this being their final listed visit, Oleg could still easily tell that Ochako, snugly seated between her parents, wasn't able to take her visibly watery eyes off of the half-empty sling for his left arm. Of course, out of any of their students, she was bound to be one of the ones to become the most emotionally devastated to see the proof with her own eyes.
"I didn't want to believe it, even when I saw it on the TV, Tunguska-sensei. Even when I talked with several of the others on the phone afterward, even today, a part of me still didn't want to believe it. But seeing it now… I… I-I'm so sorry!" Oleg couldn't even begin to think what on earth the rosy-cheeked young girl could've possibly felt she had to apologize for, even as she'd already started collapsing into tears at the sight of her favorite teacher's most heinous injury.
Even as her parents were already trying to comfort her as she was choking on her tears, Oleg could only answer her in the one way he felt would've been able to bring even the beginnings of a smile back to her face. "You have nothing to apologize for, malenkaya Uraraka. This was a far more preferable result than what could've happened if I hadn't helped at all. Though it's weird, now knowing that whole 'phantom limb' thing is definitely for real. You may not see it, but I'm actually giving a thumb up right now. It's not there, but I can still feel like I'm doing it. But, in a couple weeks time, malenkaya Yaoyorozu's family will be supplying me with a new prosthetic arm. Then I'll be able to give you another assuring thumb up for real next time."
It was certainly unorthodox at the very least, how Oleg was choosing to try and reassure Ochako and lighten the mood; the looks on his colleagues' faces, as well as those of Ochako's parents, reflected just as much. However, the fact that the young girl was actually able to start giggling through her sobs as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, somehow managed to be the magic touch towards lightening the mood considerably.
Taking that for the best possible sign, Aizawa quietly cleared his throat so they could finally get to the point one last time: "As I'm sure you've all probably figured out by now, we've been travelling all day to personally speak to the families of our students in regards to—"
"Actually, Aizawa-sensei… we…" Ochako's sudden interruption, complete with raised hand, silenced Aizawa, but her expression reflected a very deep regret.
Once it was clear their daughter was struggling to say it, Ryo likewise cleared his throat and sat tall, meeting the three teachers on an equal level. "We've been talking about this whole dormitory business since we received the forms yesterday… to great extent, in fact. Ochako has been trying harder than you know to try and make us see hers and your side of this whole situation. And, while I'm sure you meant every word at that press conference, Aizawa-san; about how Yuuei is acknowledging all its failings and hubris when it came to the safety of its students… Fuyou and I are of the opinion that we… we don't want to run the risk of our daughter ending up getting hurt past the point of any hope for recovery, or ending up mutilated like what happened to you, All Might, Tunguska-san."
This resoluteness in their stance hit with the force of a 2x4 to the head for all three men, not having actually expected to be met with straight-up resistance like this so far into their journey.
It was almost instantaneous how Ochako suddenly jerked up in her seat, having had to hear her parents' refusal out loud again, as she suddenly objected: "But Mom, Dad, it's precisely because of Yuuei that I've even managed to last as long as I have! Tunguska-sensei's been training me and several others personally; that's how I've been able to handle myself in the few fights I've actually gotten into this year! I'm getting stronger and more capable because of teachers like them, I just know it!"
"Please, sit back down, malenkaya Uraraka." Oleg's sudden deeply quiet interjection rendered Ochako stunned with surprise, just like her parents; having half-expected the man to be wholeheartedly agreeing with everything their daughter had been saying. Instead, with a heavy sigh, he rose himself up where he sat, looking Ochako in the eye with a certain warmth and depth in his blue gaze. "Yes, my martial training, in accompaniment with your Quirk training, was supposed to help you, but it hasn't been me or my teachings that have been helping you the most. All this time, it's really been your drive to improve, to grow, that's been helping you the most.
"The truth is that a teacher is only as effective as their student's willingness to learn in order to achieve their fullest potential… and it's in that regard, that you've quickly proven to be one of the best students in your class when it comes to field training, as well as one of my best personal students. You've managed to latch onto and digest every single thing I've taught you up to this point, and I couldn't be prouder of you for it. Even with just what little growth I've seen from you already, I don't think any of us could be able to guess what your full potential could look like."
Before he could continue any further, however, Fuyou suddenly raised an objecting hand of her own; the worried looks on hers and her husband's faces clearly not sure if he was simply trying to enable their daughter, or if he was in fact being genuine, Either way, this was at a point where they couldn't help but interject. "I'm sorry, Tunguska-san. We have no doubt that you mean every word of what you say about our Ochako's development as a Hero, but… even if you say that, even if she's managed to utilize what you've all taught her to come out on top in the battles she's participated in thus far, how can you know that the next incident she ends up in won't be the one she won't be able to overcome, and she ends up getting herself hurt more than your school can handle?
"I hate to have to tell you this after you've been travelling for so long, but as her parents, we just don't think it's worth the risk of letting Ochako go back to a school that's already managed to land its students in serious danger twice under its watch." Despite the clear regret on their faces to have to be the ones to do this, Fuyou's tone was unshakable in its determination to show that they were only saying this for their daughter's own good, even despite the pleading look on Ochako's face.
Perhaps it was that very clear intent of seriousness with which she spoke, that spurred Oleg to speak up once more, but this time focusing on the parents themselves. "I don't expect you to believe me when I say this, but I do completely understand your position on this matter, Uraraka-san. You already know I have a child; how I nearly lost him because of that Villain attack at their camp. It's only for the fact that I'm also one of those children's teachers, that I'm not making the very same decision you are right now.
"No one can possibly deny that our children are the most precious thing we have in this world, and it's precisely for that reason, that we and all of Yuuei are dedicating everything we have in ourselves to mending our ways and ensuring the kind of safe and protected, nurturing environment that those children truly deserve, so that they can attain their fullest potential towards becoming truly great Heroes, without their lives being needlessly put at risk at every turn. We will continue to pay the price for our negligence and self-assuredness for years to come, but we are choosing to pick ourselves up and better ourselves from stem to stern, top to bottom, so that we can fulfill our duty to those that wish to become the next generation's Heroes, the way we were always supposed to."
The further he spoke, the more impassioned Oleg's voice and tone became, before he suddenly descended from his seat on the guest couch, and proceeded to get down on his hands and knees, nearly planting his forehead into the floorboards, to the visible shock of everyone in the room. In this entire day of nothing but these very same meetings, this had been the very first time Oleg had actually gone this far to appeal himself to the student's parents. Toshinori, especially, couldn't help but look on with an impressed sense of déjà vu, now looking at how he had presented himself to Izuku's mother, from the outside.
"Please forgive me for speaking beyond my role in this sense, but as the parents of one of our students, you deserve to know the truth, at the very least from where I stand. In only the last four months since this school year started, I've come to look at every single one of those students, malenkaya Uraraka included, as though they were my own children. As her parents, I know you wouldn't hesitate to do everything you could that was humanly possible in order to protect and provide for her… and that is precisely the very same promise I am making to both of you right now, not as a teacher at Yuuei, but from one loving parent to another. I will give everything I am to help ensure your daughter is just as safe and looked after as every single other student, even if I have to give my life in order to do so. I only ask that you please find it in yourselves to allow us that one final opportunity to make up for our shortcomings."
The fact that this behemoth of a man was prostrating himself and speaking so sincerely all at once really hit the Uraraka family hard when they had least expected it, to the point where Ryo couldn't help but instinctively get up to reach out to help the man back up. "Y-you don't have to go so dramatically far with that, Tunguska-san."
Likewise, Ochako had instinctively shot from her spot between her parents to Oleg's side, trying to get her arms around his right shoulder to try and get the man back up, all while trying not to cry after hearing him say such over-the-top dramatic things. "Please, Tunguska-sensei, you don't have to say such things. I don't want you to."
That was when Oleg suddenly rose up to his knees and made a point of making sure Ochako could see the sincerity in his expression, just as much as her parents could. "Even if you don't want me to, that doesn't make it any less true, malenkaya Uraraka. You should know me well enough by now to know I don't say anything unless I mean it wholeheartedly, and I did; every word of it. You're all like sons and daughters to me, just as you are to Aizawa-san and All Might, and you all have the potential to become truly great Heroes. We and all of Yuuei have much to atone for, and I'm prepared to make every sacrifice necessary so that you and all your schoolmates are as safe as can be on your road to becoming that which you all want to be most of all."
At this, Fuyou and Ryo both suddenly shot up from their seats, this time being the ones towering over Oleg as he and Ochako were still on their knees. "Please… please, just stop, Tunguska-san."
There was no anger to be heard in her mother's voice, but there was a great deal of conflict visible in both her parents' eyes, as though they were mentally at war with themselves on what to do here. There was no denying in either of their hearts, just how serious Oleg was, just how much he truly meant every word to try and assuage their fears and regain their trust. On one hand, they would have been happy to give it back and let them take Ochako under their wing again. After all, going there, making so many friends and becoming a stronger and more capable Hero made her so happy; they never would have wanted to take that away from her.
On the other hand, they still couldn't shake the horror they felt when they watched that horrendous battle on TV, and seeing just what it had taken All Might and Oleg to be able to come out victorious in the end.
Finally, with an incredibly shaky sigh, with his fists clenched at his side, and a very reluctant glance to his wife, which she in turn mirrored, Ryo looked Oleg in the eyes. "You say that you don't say anything unless you mean it wholeheartedly? I want to believe that, Tunguska-san. We both want to believe that. But as a parent, you must understand that we just can't forget the things we've seen these last couple days… or the things they make us feel, when we think of just how easily our Ochako could end up in that same position, if not worse."
Ochako's hair nearly looked like it was about to start standing on end; her blushing face tensing up in preparation for her parents to once again make their stance loud and clear and put an end to all her hopes for Yuuei just like that.
"With that all being said… not only does our daughter clearly adore you all as her teachers, but she's clearly grown exponentially in controlling and strengthening her Quirk, and becoming so much braver and capable in situations because of the influence of you and your school. That's why, if you all solemnly swear to stay true to all your words, all three of you, that you will do everything possible to keep our baby safe; to keep all those babies safe… then we're willing to give you and Yuuei one final chance to give Ochako the nurturing she needs to become a great Hero."
Oleg and Ochako both looked like they were about to suffer mutual heart murmurs when her mother had turned their stance around at the very end. Of course, that shock only lasted all but a second before Ochako started crying uncontrollably and hugging her parents tight, accidentally taking away both their gravity in the process as she kept thanking them both profusely.
As Oleg looked from that little scene back to his two colleagues, this time Aizawa couldn't hide the clearly positive impression on his face at just how the large Russian man had managed to turn the last family around, giving him a faint yet deeply communicative smile of gratitude. At the same time, Toshinori was likewise smiling, albeit much bigger than that of the homeroom teacher, and gave Oleg a hearty, congratulatory thumb up. With all that, along with his own immense relief in the pit of his chest, Oleg felt like he was on top of the world, even if only for a few precious moments.
With this being the final visit concluded, the ensuing thanks and farewells from teachers to parents were considerably more prolonged, as Ryo and Fuyou continuously tried to make sure they all gave their solemn word that they would do everything they promised for Ochako, which they of course all gladly confirmed, with numerous affirming bows to prove it. By the time they were finally on their way out the door, despite the Uraraka elders even going as far as to offer to let them stay for the night, all three men felt just about ready to go to bed inside the car and simply commence returning to Musutafu in the morning. Of course, they all knew their respective workloads were far from over, and the sooner they could all get home, the sooner that could be taken care of.
As Aizawa and Toshinori began to once more backtrack to the train station, Ochako's voice suddenly called out urgently, clearly trying to run after Oleg in the back from the sounds of it: "TUNGUSKA-SENSEI, PLEASE WAIT!"
Turning back to address the brown-haired young girl, she was surprisingly firm where she stood, trying to maintain as strong a front as she could, despite her naturally emotional voice when it came to them speaking one-on-one: "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help but wonder if you knew: do you have any idea what's going to happen with Kolya-san now that Bakugo's back safe and sound? I mean, kidnapping aside, they still got into a big fight and everything. All the other girls texted me throughout today, saying that they were actually being forced to help build the dorms together, or else they'll get expelled at the start of the next semester; but I thought at least Tooru-chan, Kyouka-chan and Mina-chan might've been messing with me. So… is it true?"
For some reason, Oleg couldn't help but now think back to that text and picture he had gotten from Nikolay earlier that day, which brought up a notably concerned stirring sensation in his gut. However, for both his own sake as well as Ochako's, he simply gave her a faint smile and a confirming nod. "It's true. They have yet to really find some common ground right now, but there's still plenty of time for them to do so, and I have faith that they'll end up doing just that, and I know I'm not the only one. All I can ask of you, malenkaya Uraraka, is to just have faith in those boys… and perhaps ask the rest of your classmates to have the same. Try not to worry, please. Things have a way of working out the way they're supposed to in the end. Always remember that. Now please, go back to your parents… and we'll all see you bright and early come start of the next semester, da?"
The hug Ochako suddenly threw around him was as fast as a shot, Oleg never saw it coming, and before he could even process what had just happened, she was already off like a shot, waving goodbye to her teachers the entire way. "SEE YOU ALL AT SCHOOL AGAIN, SENSEI! PLEASE GIVE MY BEST WISHES TO DEKU-KUN, ALL MIGHT-SENSEI!"
With that, and his heart feeling lighter than it had all day today, Oleg let out a truly exhausted sigh and returned to his two fellow teachers' sides, ready to put this final leg of their whole-day journey behind them and finally get some well-deserved sleep.
Musutafu City, just past midnight…
By the time they had finally, finally returned to Musutafu City, Oleg felt as though his body were simply being willed along by invisible strings, running on less than fumes by this point.
When he had finally returned home to find the lights were still on, he half expected to come in to find Nikolay once again hard at work in the kitchen, either to make up for his not having eaten all day, despite having made his own lunch the previous night, or to try and provide a meal for the man himself when he would finally come back.
However, upon stepping inside, he was instead met with the sight of his son sprawled out unconscious on the living room couch, looking as though he had face planted into it and fallen asleep right from the start; or at the very least had still enough energy to at least shower beforehand, since his clothes now weren't nearly as dirty as the ones in the picture before.
Upon further inspection, though, just as he was ready to try and nudge his son awake to make sure he'd eaten, Oleg spotted an opened and mostly-eaten large sushi roll that looked like it could have once been as big as a regular dinner plate in diameter. Knowing that Nikolay had never once expressed or even visually shown an attempt to make such a thing before, it didn't take long for Oleg to realize just where this concoction had come from.
This only went to be proven when he realized that there was an open piece of paper with pink handwriting on it sitting right next to the food and the empty box sitting next to it. Unable to ignore his own curiosity, Oleg ultimately picked up the letter to see just what it said.
'Hi, hi, hi there, Kolya-kun! Tunguska-sensei told me that the school is giving you and Bakugo a chance to keep from getting expelled by helping build the dorms we're all gonna be staying in later this year. I'll bet it's really tiring, so I wanted to send some food your way so you didn't have to worry about cooking. I had to ask my mom to help me make this futomaki right so it wouldn't just fall apart on you or on the way over there. It took a while, but thank goodness for super-speedy delivery services. If anything, hopefully it'll get to you right around the time you finally get back home.
'I'm so happy they're not kicking you out without even giving you a chance, Kolya-kun. I know you'll be able to pull this off, even if you have to work with Bakugo of all people. I understand this is all really important for you to do, but I hope we'll be able to see each other, or at the very least talk before school starts up again. My birthday's gonna be in just barely two weeks, and I'm trying to get as many of our classmates to come to my place for it as I can, given the way things are right now. Even if you can't make it here yourself, I'd still be super happy just to hear from you.
Let's look at this new semester as a new start for every one of us. With that, I even went and made something similar for Bakugo, with a little added personal touch of my own; that way we can all be on equal footing again and hopefully be able to get along better this time.
'Please try to get enough sleep while you're working hard, Kolya-kun. No matter how hard it gets, just know that me, Kiri and everyone else are all rooting for you. Since I can't do this personally, then here are some written hugs for you to help make all the aches and pains go away. *hugs, hugs and more hugs*
Mina'
The smile came to Oleg's face downright instinctively as he laid the letter back down and looked back to his fast asleep son, feeling a whole new surge of indescribable gratitude that Nikolay had managed to gain such wonderful friends in his life. He could even feel his heart momentarily stop once he realized that the young Russian boy even had a similar smile still on his face, even as he slept.
He knew lifting Nikolay up to carry him to bed would not only wake him right back up, but that doing it with only his one arm would make it all the more awkward, so he ultimately had little choice but to simply lay a blanket over his son on the couch and leave him there for the night. As he retired to his own bedroom to finally get some desperately needed sleep, he couldn't help but wonder what on earth it was that Mina could have possibly sent to Bakugo.
Bakugo Household
PEEEW!
"GAAAH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! YOU THINK THIS SHIT IS FUNNY?!"
From the moment Katsuki had returned home and showered away the day's worth of sweat from working on his own so back-breakingly hard, he had of course been taken by surprise when Mitsuki had pointed out that a package had arrived for him from one of his classmates; Mina Ashido of all people.
Frankly, he was too sore, hungry and, as always, pissed off to even think twice about what it could've been, and figured if nothing else he could just open it, take a peek and then throw it away.
Except that when he did, the moment he'd opened the box, he'd immediately gotten a cloud of glitter in all kinds of girly colors blasted right into his face, revealing a ruptured little balloon casing with a tiny needle that had been tied to the lid itself, rigged to pop when he opened it.
Underneath the little playful booby trap was a securely wrapped smaller futomaki, as well as a similar note written in pink that simply read: 'That's for all the name calling and mean comments you kept making to me and everyone else in class. We should all be trying to be friends. So consider this a little means of us being even so we can start over, from one Raccoon Eyes to one 'Splosion Nut! See you at school soon!
Ashido Mina'
While Katsuki was positively fuming on his way to the sink to wash all the glitter out of his hair and off his face, Mitsuki had instantly burst out laughing the moment she saw what had happened, and even harder once she saw the note. "Aww, cool it, would you, Katsuki?! Frankly, I think you could really use the kind of friends who can give you a good kick in the pants whenever you get all high and mighty!"
As yet another vicious shouting match unfolded between son and mother, there was no denying that, all in the air across Japan, over the households of every Yuuei student, there was a feeling of true change in the air, one that was very greatly welcomed by every single child living within those walls. This was truly the start of a whole new chapter in the lives of all these young and aspiring future Heroes.
The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia
There was never a day within the walls of the Kremlin where the air wasn't heavy with tension. Trying to manage all aspects of a nation continuously trying to prepare to defend itself against any Quirk-wielding menace, while trying to build up an at-best shaky economy would do that.
However, for the last couple of days, things had been especially intense in the presidents' office especially. And right now, that fact wasn't apparent to anyone more than Konstantin Khodamchuk, the head of the governments' Anti-Quirk Mobilization and Armament Bureau, as he had been called in to that very same office alone, and for the last couple of minutes as he stood at attention, had been met with nothing but silence.
A man like Khodamchuk did not get shaken easily, but this was one of a very few instances in which he actually felt himself just barely shaking. And the reason for that was currently playing on a single wide television screen mounted on the wall behind Russian president Dmitri Zaitsev's desk, with the man himself currently sitting with his back turned to the man he had called in.
Projected on that screen was a sample of a news program out of Japan displaying an immensely wrecked portion of some place called Kamino Ward, where the reporters were apparently talking about a drastic transformation they had all witnessed from the worlds' Symbol of Peace, All Might, that he had apparently revealed his true form to be a scrawny and frail-looking little man by comparison.
However, this wasn't what had the Russian president and his anti-Quirk bureau chief so tense. No, the reason for that was for the now-one-armed Hero the cameras had managed to catch numerous sightings of amid the aftermath, in an unmistakable white and gold costume, and a stand-out glowing golden disk behind his long-haired and bearded head.
Every single channel that President Zaitsev switched to, no matter what country the news was being reported from, it was the same exact thing but at a different angle, and every single time the face they both knew on sight showed up, Khodamchuk could feel the air grow that much heavier.
Right there, plastered on the screen for all eyes across the world to see, was their long eluded and previously fled most-wanted man in all of the former Bloc territories, Tunguska, the former Sun of Justice. Sure, none of the reporters knew his name; only referring to him as just an unknown foreign Hero that had been seen fighting to assist All Might, but these men knew, and right now, that was all that mattered.
[[Just when I thought that with his having fled the country under All Might's protection, he had effectively been removed from our table of immediate problems.]] Zaitsev muttered exhaustedly to himself, while Khodamchuk just barely squirmed where he stood, not daring to speak unless given permission to…which he was immediately granted as the president simply looked to him with an aggravated expression that practically screamed 'speak up, for gods' sake!'
[[What is it that you want me to do, sir? Just say the word and I can have it be done.]]
The instant he said so, he was instantly met with a grunt of derision from President Zaitsev as he suddenly opened up his personal laptop and turned it to reveal what looked to be an international message board that was currently posting new messages at record speed. [[There's nothing we can do now, you damn fool! Even if the majority of those people in Japan don't know him from Adam or a hole in the ground, there are still enough who do remember him from when he and All Might worked together all those years ago! They see that costume and that glow, and it all comes back to them!
[[His name's gonna spread out there, and from there it'll spread to other countries through the internet that much faster, including just where he came from, and from there will come the questions of what a Russian Hero is doing in Japan! Hell, it's already started on that front! Now that his face is in the public consciousness with someone like All Might, and in an event as colossal as this, there's no way we could even think of sending another covert team into Japan to try and arrest or eliminate him. It'd draw way too much public and international attention to us. Once that happens, people will start asking some very ugly questions about what exactly has been happening to all of our Quirked citizens in the years following the Siberian Flash. We may have been able to pass that off as a disastrous seismological event back then, but with international media starting to knock at our door if Tunguska were to suddenly vanish as quickly as he had appeared, we'd have no hope of being able to maintain that kind of cover up; not with a nation as large as ours somehow having not a single Hero, Villain or Quirked civilian in sight!]]
Without warning, the imposing nation leader suddenly threw his laptop across his office, shattering it to pieces upon impact against the wall, while Khodamchuk tried to remain as steadfast as he could, worried the man across from him was far from finished venting; simply waiting for an opportunity to speak.
As Zaitsev collapsed back into his chair, his eyes were alight with seething anger. [[It's unbelievable! Simply by showing his face to the public, Tunguska has essentially forced us to stand down in order to avoid international scrutiny. Our economy is struggling enough as it is, we need international cooperation in order to try and rebuild, and we can't do that if we have the press finding out the truth of what we've been doing here for the last thirteen years!
[[As if that wasn't bad enough, somehow the citizens were able to catch wind of this just before our censors could step in. Already I've been receiving countless emails and personal letters from the people, decrying me as their incompetent false savior who can't deliver them the one fugitive they want to see against the wall more than anyone! So now, we find our hands tied between trying to save face globally, and trying to find some means to assuage the people's frustration that not only has Tunguska still not been caught, but that for the good of our nation's stability, now we can't afford to catch him!
[[On top of that, none of this is even considering the possibility of what our remaining Quirked fugitives hiding underground across the former Bloc will be liable to do once they see their former Sun of Justice alive and well and potentially being accepted by people again, regardless if it's in another country. How can we be sure this won't embolden them to likewise come out of the shadows and start to properly organize against us? At least when they were hiding like rats, we needed only send someone like Vukodlak to remove them discreetly. With his being arrested and imprisoned in a place like Tartarus in Japan, we've lost our most effective pawn at removing such potential pests.]]
After a good few seconds of silence, and a weary gesture of the hand to signify it was okay for him to speak, Khodamchuk cleared his throat and stood tall. [[With all due respect, Mr. President, there's a good chance you may be worrying for nothing. I'm not sure if you've been kept up to date on this specific matter, but regarding the recent mass Quirk migration eastward from across the Bloc territory, that entire body of action seems to have long since come to an end, with no reports from any of our outposts throughout saying anything about recent dug-in communities of these fugitives. For all intents and purposes, it looks as though they've all well and truly left our borders in the eastward direction. As for the very few that would be foolish enough to still remain here, with the numbers of now-confirmed Quirked citizens that have participated in the migration, they'd be looking at gaining no new blood to their ranks after that. They'd pretty much be relegated now to only those they have with them now. Those odds are far from within their favor, regardless what their Quirks may be. If they had any brains among them, they would be going back into hiding. All we need do is smoke them out and take care of them like all the others from before.]]
At this, despite Khodamchuk's clear-as-day confidence, Zaitsev looked completely unconvinced, on top of being simply frustrated and tired. [[And how exactly do you propose we do that? Even one person with a Quirk, with the right kind of experience, can be an overwhelming opponent to an entire heavily armed squad of Spetznaz.]]
To his surprise, however, Khodamchuk actually began to put on an anticipatory smirk. [[Well, Mr. President, as fortunate timing would have it, my office has recently received word from our most seasoned technicians at our R&D lab up in the Kamchatka Peninsula. They've recently made some breakthroughs in anti-Quirk armor and weaponry that has been specially designed to be able to defend and stand up against a wide array of different Quirks. They've called me over to observe the field tests. I can arrive there in two days tops. I'm confident that if they work as well as my men believe they will, we can start developing them en masse to supply our law enforcement and military. From there, dealing with whatever remaining Quirked fugitives we have will become much simpler, to the point we wouldn't even need Villains like Vukodlak to assist us anymore.]]
Zaitsev was not a man who was visibly and overly expressive in the face, but Khodamchuk could still feel a great surge of relief build in his chest when he saw the president's once steely eyes visibly soften with his own sense of relief. [[Even if mishaps have occurred through elements outside your direct control, Konstantin, you've otherwise proven to be a competent and reliable man for me. I give you leave to go and observe these field tests. I expect you to give me a personal account of their performances as soon as they are done. I just hope for the sake of you and your entire bureau that this doesn't turn out to be another false hope.]]
With a stalwart salute, Konstantin Khodamchuk hastily took his leave, while Dmitri Zaitsev simply leaned back in exhaustion in his chair, silently hoping for some bit of good news that could help erase their entire Tunguska problem for them, without risking getting their hands dirty in the eyes of the entire world.
And there you have ti everyone, the new chapter for the week, and the first chapter I've uploaded since my birthday earlier this week. i had a lot of fun inventing Mina and Eijirou's respective parents as much as I did, since we never got to see such a thing in the manga or anime. I know it's ultimately not that big a deal, but I like being able to flesh things out like that.
I hope you all liked what you read here today. If you would all be so kind, please leave a review letting me know what you honestly thought.
In the meantime, have a great rest of your week in preparation for the holiday season, stay safe, and I will see you all with the next chapter next week on 11/20!