It had been over a decade since Nina had last stepped foot inside the halls of UA, and after all those years she never thought that she'd see those metal gates again - much less as a staff member. "Oh, you must be the new teacher," a woman around her age greeted her at the staff office. She had a perky look to her; hair tied up in a bun and thin framed glasses that complimented her dark blue eyes and hair to match. Despite her being seated, Nina could tell that she was taller than one might expect a woman with her frame to be. The receptionist tried to disguise the surprised look on her face, and Nina did her best to pretend not to notice it.

She wasn't all that recognizable after all. In order to qualify as a teacher in UA you had to have some amount of hero work under your belt, which meant big names were the norm. Nina watched the young secretary squint in thought as she neatly put together a pile of onboarding paperwork, handing it over to her. "Here you go Mrs.-Um"

"Kanjou" Nina smiled politely back as she took the papers. Pleasantries were never her strong suit, but she had been making strides the past few months, she only hoped it would be enough to actually teach a class.

Nina sat down across from the woman, slipping out a pen she had brought from her home office and filling out the paperwork. The pair made small talk, Nina coming to find that the receptionist's name was Aoki. "It's lovely!" she said. It was a bit too on the nose for someone like her, but she didn't say that part. "I'm sorry to ask-" Then don't. "But I was wondering if you're going to be teaching here permanently?" Aoki asked, polite enough to let some of her embarrassment show through. Nina met Aoki's shy smile with a coy one, tucking a few loose strands of black hair behind her ear. "That's what I'm hoping for. I graduated from UA, was top of my class even. I want to try and support the next generation of heroes in the same way my teachers did to me" Nina smiled, Aoki widening her gaze a bit. "Y-you were top of your class? So you've been doing hero work outside of Japan then?"

Poor girl. "N-no, I've been doing hero work here actually. I'm sure you've heard of me" Nina fought the wide grin she had just beneath the surface. It was almost too easy. Nina watched as Aoki visibly reddened at the implication of not knowing who she was. "U-umm, you do look incredibly familiar! Oh, it's on the tip of my tongue" Aoki's hands raised to meet her chin as she pretended to be in thought.

"Yeah? I was in that one natto commercial," Nina couldn't help but keep the charade going - watching Aoki choke on words made it worth the teasing. "A-ah. I don't very much like natto so I always tend to skip that commercial" Aoki's gaze struggled to pry itself away from the finished paperwork in Nina's hands.

Just as Nina was ready to pull out her phone to show her the commercial in question, the office door opened and Aoki drew a sigh of relief. "Aizawa! The new teacher is here."

At the mention of his name, Nina straightened her back, burying any malicious intent she had. "Shouta?" She turned, eyes bright in delighted surprise. Aizawa's eyebrows raised slightly, his face softening in familiarity. "Chinen?" Nina recoiled at the use of her maiden surname, but quickly adjusted. "Long time no see" she spoke cordially, keeping some distance.

"Oh, you know each other!" Aoki said with far more excitement than was necessary. "That makes this easier, I'm sure you're familiar with the layout having been a student here, but Aizawa will be here for you to shadow" she continued, eager to hand Nina off to the next person. "I look forward to it! I'll make sure to come by and visit for lunch" Nina said, giving Aoki a charismatic wink. The secretary's smile faltered, though she played along. "O-of course. You're welcome to it."

Nina left with Aizawa, matching his pace if only keeping a foot or two between them. Silence fell as they walked, not that she minded it. Nina had gotten used to his lack of interest in small talk during their time in school together. What did surprise her was his unexpected warmth towards the students they passed. She watched in envy as each one greeted him, earning a nod or an inquiry about their day. It wasn't much, in fact it even seemed like he didn't care to the average onlooker - but Nina wasn't some random person off the street. She had come to know all his little habits during the time she spent observing him at UA or on the news.

What bothered her wasn't the warmth he had towards his students - he wouldn't be the person she'd fallen in love with if he didn't treat his students well. No, it was the fact that it seemed like parts of the Aizawa only she knew about were being displayed to everyone around them. The way his eyes softened when he spoke to the kids and staff, the rubbing of his neck when he received the smallest of praise, the students seemed to catch on to all of it. Since when did you become so easy to read?

She knew he would change during their time apart, she was ready for that - it just wasn't easy to share him with the world.

"You'll be shadowing me today with the first years" Aizawa spoke plainly when they arrived at the classroom door. Despite the lack of enthusiasm Nina clung to every word. "You'll take over in tomorrow's hero course, but for now try and get to know the students," Aizawa explained before he opened the door to class 1-A. He didn't even give her a moment to steady herself, stepping into the classroom. Nina fought down a smile, he hadn't changed all that much.

The whispers that were heard from outside quickly ceased when the door slid open. There was a shuffle, and then silence. All 20 kids were waiting patiently in their seats, though Nina could feel their stares. She followed Aizawa to the center of the desk, letting him take attendance before he introduced her. "This is Himitsu (ヒミツ), she'll be taking over tomorrow's hero course lesson," Aizawa said jestering to her. Nina took delight in hearing him say her hero name, fighting to keep a blush from rising to her cheeks. There were some whispers and excited looks, though she could tell that most of the students were confused by her presence. She gave them a confident smile, some returning the gesture, others simply observing. "I look forward to seeing what talent the future heroes have," Nina acknowledged them warmly.

The lesson and the rest of the day went by at a snail's pace. She had been assigned to observe and help with menial tasks, which wasn't all that different from what she did on a daily basis. By the time lunch rolled around many of the kids had become more vocal about their theories in regards to her identity - and she had memorized their names, quirks and faces. She listened to them, amused at what they managed to come up with.

"I heard she's an international hero, maybe she's from the United States!" Ashido suggested hopefully.

"Wouldn't it be cool if she was from Australia or something?" Hagakure chimes in

"She's French you know, you can tell by the way she carries herself" Aoyamo gloates, sipping on the glass of juice he took with lunch.

"As if, she looks Japanese. Besides, that still doesn't tell us what her hero name and quirk is" Kaminari intervened.

The group shared a look before turning to Midoriya, who was in his own thoughts at the end of the dining table. When he felt their collective stares his complexion turned beat red. "W-why are you all looking at me for?" he asked, though he put it together before they could say it. "You're the hero otaku, if anyone knew anything about her, it'd be you," Ururaka said encouragingly.

Nina witnessed the conversation from a distance, reading their lips and piecing together the conversation through context. She was half listening to Kayama talk about her time in UA, reminiscing about their classmates and teachers. "You haven't changed at all!" she comments, a hint of envy allowed to seep into her words. "Gosh, your skin is just as smooth, meanwhile I'm aging like fruit left out to dry" Kayama sulked. "You think so?" Nina smiled bashfully at her, forcing some blood to her cheeks with a stolen glance towards Aizawa. "What I'd give to get rid of these wrinkles, and the color?" Kayama's hands came up to cup her cheeks, tearfully mourning her youth.

For a moment Nina dropped the facade while Kayama's attention was off of her - a glimpse of annoyance and disbelief crossing her face. If this was what she had to deal with for the next few months she was going to take more than just her freedom from All for One.