The next day of school dawned cold and rainy. As Izuku dug out his umbrella, unused up to this point in the year, he wondered vaguely if it would let up by lunchtime. Even if it did, the grass would be all wet, so eating outside under their usual tree would be out of the question. He supposed he and Shinsou -- Hitoshi, he thought with a smile -- would just have to eat inside. Maybe they could actually join in with the other hero students for a change, now that Hitoshi didn't have to feel awkward as the only Gen Ed kid at the table.
The rain showed no sign of letting up as Izuku neared the school, and he didn't see Hitoshi waiting for him outside like he usually did. Izuku smiled to himself, imagining Hitoshi leaving his umbrella out for some wet cat and getting soaked. He was just wondering if it was weird to actually hope Hitoshi had done just that so they would have to share Izuku's umbrella on the way home, when suddenly the sound of splashing footfalls came from behind him.
"Iida!" he said in surprise, watching as the class rep sped by him in a rain slicker and large rubber boots. "Going all out with the raingear huh?"
"Why are you walking so slowly?" Iida demanded, and Izuku picked up the pace to jog along behind him. "You'll be late!"
"There's still five minutes until class starts," Izuku protested, but none the less kept pace with Iida.
"UA students should always be ten minutes early!" Iida declared, which Izuku had to admit was a very Iida-like affirmation.
Once they were inside though, Izuku couldn't help but let his thoughts turn to what Uraraka had said about the reason Iida had left the sports festival early. The attack on Ingenium had been all over the news, but details had been limited. He had been in Hosu City hunting a specific villain, the hero killer who called himself Stain. There had been an altercation, and Ingenium was now in the hospital. Izuku looked askance at Iida as he shook the water out of his umbrella. What burden might he be carrying, depending on the details of Ingenium's condition the press had left out?
"Iida-" Izuku began, turning to his friend with umbrella still in hand.
"Midoriya," Iida said, at nearly the same time, turning to Izuku once he had the hood of his rain slicker down.
"I was-" Izuku tried again, but was taken aback when Iida bowed his head, bending slightly at the waist.
"The Iida family owes you a debt of gratitude," Iida told him solemnly. "It's because of you my
brother isn't permanently crippled."
"What!" Izuku gasped. "What do you mean crippled?"
Iida hesitated, swallowing audibly, then went on without raising his head.
"My brother, Tensei, was separated from the other pros he was working with in pursuit of the villain they were chasing," he explained. "His helmet was damaged in the fight, leaving him unable to call for help. He would have had to drag himself out onto the street to get medical attention, which the doctors say would have damaged his spine significantly more. However, he used a technique you had recommended in your analysis, using the smoke from his exhaust pipe to send a signal, and he was found without having to move himself. It's because of that technique, which you designed, that my brother will walk again, and Ingenium will, with time, return to work as a pro hero."
"Iida," Izuku breathed, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. Iida straightened, and Izuku immediately bowed his own head. "I'm so sorry! I'm glad he'll get better, and honored that my analysis was a help to him, but I just wish I could have come up with a technique that would have stopped him from getting injured at all!"
A hand landed on Izuku's shoulder, and Izuku looked up to see Iida smiling benevolently down at him.
"For that injury only one man is to blame," Iida said simply. "I could not ask any more from you than you have already given me. I'm in your debt, Midoriya."
Izuku gave Iida a shaky smile, and nodded decisively. Iida's hand squeezed his shoulder, but curiously, Iida's expression didn't change. He kept looking at Izuku with the same smile, neither widening nor relaxing it, as though he were keeping it in place with concentrated effort. All of a sudden it seemed somehow strained.
"Well," Izuku said, swallowing his apprehension, "we'd better get to class!"
"Yes!" Iida agreed, whirling around to lead the way deeper into the school building. "It's time for the next step on our journey to becoming heroes!"
There had been two rest days between the sports festival and classes starting back up, in order for the second and third years to crowd campus with supporters for their sports festivals. Endeavor had spent most of those two days at his agency, not even coming home at night, dealing with the public relations fiasco the festival had created. His PR manager, a woman whose name Shouto didn't remember, had called Shouto's phone six times. Shouto had declined every call. He'd been busy.
Visiting his mother for the first time since she'd been in the hospital had been less dramatic than he'd thought it would be. She'd been pleased to see him, far from the cold welcome he'd anticipated. She hadn't seen the sports festival, but she had forgiven him, both for staying away and for using his fire. She'd apologized for her own part in their distance, and Shouto had forgiven her in turn. Things had been too awkward for her to embrace him, but he'd been able to hold her hand, both their arms outstretched toward each other across the little room. He had promised to rescue her from the hospital, but she shook her head sadly and told him not to waste his energy. He had also secured her approval to come back and visit her again.
Shouto had mentioned Midoriya and Shinsou to her. Only in passing, only as 'the people who
helped me reconsider my perspective,' but still it made her smile. She told him she was happy he had friends now. Shouto wasn't sure he was allowed to consider Midoriya and Shinsou 'friends' just yet, but he had assured her he was also grateful for their presence in his life.
Now with the rest days behind them Shouto sat at his desk, watching his classmates discuss the sports festival and waiting for class to begin. Most of them were chatting about the newfound fame they had acquired from being on television. Out of all of them only Sero was dissatisfied with his new reputation, and for that Shouto felt somewhat responsible. He needn't have beaten him so decisively, but he'd been angry at the time.
Quite against his will, Shouto's eyes kept drifting to Midoriya and Shinsou. They were seated close to each other, with Shinsou directly behind Midoriya, and were currently at their desks talking quietly together. Rather than joining in with the rest of the class they were poring over one of Midoriya's notebooks, indicating various points on the page to the other's attention and muttering to themselves. Shinsou's hair was also rather wet, but Shouto didn't know what that was about. Once Midoriya threw a glance at Shouto, but he squeaked when he saw Shouto watching him and turned quickly back to Shinsou. Shouto tried to go back to watching the other students, but he couldn't help where his wandering eyes kept ending up.
Abruptly the door slid open, and Aizawa-sensei stood in the doorway a moment before entering. "Morning," he said gruffly.
Immediately every student was in their seat, eyes front, backs straight.
"Good Morning Aizawa-sensei!" they chorused.
Aizawa made his way up to the podium. "We have a big class today," he said dully, "on Hero Informatics."
A few members of the class paled noticeably, but all were quiet. Shouto wondered why. He could hazard a guess at what they were going to be doing, and picking hero names didn't seem too difficult. He himself had already picked one.
"You need codenames," Aizawa went on. "It's time to pick your hero identities."
The atmosphere in the room immediately reversed, and several students stood up in their seats to cheer at the announcement. Before the class could devolve into chaos Aizawa swiftly activated his quirk, and everyone returned to their seats.
As Aizawa explained about internships and draft picks and why this year was different, Shouto again found himself glancing at Midoriya. His notebook had been put away, and he was watching Aizawa nervously. Shouto had a suspicion he knew at least part of the reason why this class was different: it was because of him, and the chance he represented to forge an alliance with his father's agency. However, he also wondered if Midoriya and Shinsou might have something to do with it as well. Midoriya's notebooks had been making waves ever since their discovery, and Shinsou's dark horse victory had been quite a coup. No doubt there were plenty of agencies eager to lay claim to them as well.
Shouto's suspicions were proven correct when Aizawa put up the tallies for the number of offers each of them had gotten from hero agencies. Shouto had 4,123 offers, while Shinsou had come in a close second at 3,965. Midoriya rounded out the top three, miles beyond anyone else, at 2,452 offers. Ojiro, the third place winner, had a modest 360 offers. Yaoyorozu, having only lost to the winner of the entire festival in the quarter finals, had 341 offers. Iida, knocked out in the same
round at Yaoyorozu and also from a prominent hero family, had 298 offers. Kirishima, Uraraka and Sero each had a few, but none of them had broken three digits.
"I got offers?" Midoriya piped up immediately in obvious disbelief. "But, I'm a transfer student!"
"So is Shinsou," Aizawa said curtly, "but I imagine you have offers mostly based on the reputation that facilitated your transfer. I haven't looked at them, but I'd wager most are from agencies that specialize in intelligence gathering and covert ops, taking down big organizations of villains without large-scale fights."
Midoriya still looked dazed, but he nodded his understanding. Shinsou looked a little surprised himself, but he said nothing and Aizawa didn't draw any attention to him. Around the room the other students were also exclaiming over their offers. Shouto merely sat back and tried not to think of how he would choose an agency that wouldn't want to use him for his connection to Endeavor. He doubted it would even be possible.
"That's amazing," Yaoyorozu said from beside him, and it took Shouto a moment to realize she was talking to him. "You must be proud."
"These offers are probably because of my father," Shouto informed her. She didn't look pleased with this response, but turned her attention back to the front.
Aizawa went on to explain that the whole class would be working with pros, even those students who got no offers. Shouto wondered if it might not be better to pick from the list of agencies that had agreed to let any UA student intern there, without preference. He knew that would be disrespectful though. He couldn't afford to start making enemies this early in his career, not if he intended to truly distinguish himself from his father's reputation. The sports festival had done many things for him, one of them being a reminder of the kind of hero he wanted to be.
"And for that we need hero names!" Sato concluded when Aizawa finished his explanation. "Things are suddenly getting a lot more fun!" Uraraka agreed.
"These hero names will likely be temporary," Aizawa said as though the two students hadn't spoken, "but take them seriously or-"
"-you'll have hell to pay later!" finished a female voice as the door slid open once more.
Several of the boys in class exclaimed as Midnight walked in, arms behind her head and heels clicking ominously on the tile floor.
"What you pick today could be your codename for life," Midnight told them as she walked up to the podium beside Aizawa. "You'd better be careful, or you'll be stuck with something utterly indecent!"
"Midnight is going to have final approval over your names," Aizawa said as he took out his sleeping bag. "The name you give yourself is important. It helps reinforce your image and shows what kind of hero you wanna be in the future. A codename tells people exactly what you represent."
Aizawa encouraged the class to consider All Might's name, but Shouto's thoughts turned to his father. 'Endeavor' meant 'to put effort into achieving a goal,' which had proved unintentionally prophetic. He had tried and tried his whole life to outstrip All Might, but had never quite managed it. Shouto wondered how his codename might backfire, but decided to put it from his mind. This had been the name he'd wanted back then, when he'd first dreamed of being a hero. This was the
name he had chosen.
Whiteboards were passed around, and Midnight announced that they would be presenting their choices. There was a general moan of disappointment from the rest of the class, including from Midoriya and Shinsou. Shouto looked over to see them contemplating their whiteboards with trepidation. Had they worked so hard to get into the hero course, only to not even have names in mind?
One by one students selected their names and went up to the podium to present their choices. Some were altered, some were rejected out of hand, but most were approved. Asui's was even met with a standing ovation. All the while Midoriya and Shinsou stared down at their whiteboards, but their markers remained firmly capped.
Eventually Shouto was called and dutifully made his way up to the front. "Shouto," he said, showing everyone the whiteboard bearing his name.
"Just your name?" Midnight asked, looking down at the board in confusion. "Is that it?"
"Uh-huh," Shouto replied, without giving any indication of uncertainty. Eventually Midnight shrugged and told him to go back to his seat, giving the name her tacit approval.
Eventually the only ones left were Shinsou, Midoriya and Iida. Midnight beckoned Iida up to the podium, and he went with a solemn face. His face had been solemn all day.
"You're using your real name too?" Midnight asked when he showed the class his whiteboard.
Iida didn't face the class, but rather angled his body away from them. Shouto wondered about that. He knew that something had happened to Iida's brother in Hosu, some kind of battle with a villain that had left him badly injured, but the news had been sparse with details. Shouto wondered just how dire the situation was, to make Iida look like that.
Shouto looked at Midoriya, to see his reaction to the name Iida had chosen. He too looked vaguely troubled, though whether that was by the name or Iida's demeanor, Shouto couldn't tell.
Finally Midnight turned her attention to the last two students who had not presented. "Midoriya, Shinsou," she called. "Which one of you wants to go first?"
"Um," Midoriya said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Can we have a little more time to think about it?"
"Yeah," Shinsou agreed, "I mean, I just got here. Now you want me to distill my whole future as a hero into a pithy nickname?"
Midnight considered this for a moment, then nodded. "You have until the end of the week to pick names and clear them with me," she declared. "Take a little more time to think, but not too long, or you'll end up with whatever names your mentors decide to stick you with."
Both Shinsou and Midoriya gulped, but nodded their assent.
Aizawa awoke from his nap long enough to tell them that internships would be a week long and start at the beginning of next week. He and Midnight advised them to think carefully about their choices, then told them to start considering now and dismissed the class, leaving the students alone with their lists of potential agencies. Shouto looked over his own list and sighed to see mostly big names that either collaborated often with the Endeavor Agency or would certainly like to do so.
The Endeavor Agency itself was also on his list.
Shouto considered his options as all around him his classmates did the same. Did he want to intern at Endeavor's agency? No, of course not. Was it the best option for him? Perhaps. He still needed help with his fire, both to control it and to use it to its fullest potential. Endeavor was, after all, the Flame Hero. It might be for the best to intern at his agency. Shouto told himself this wasn't giving in, and it wasn't following in his father's footsteps. This was using a resource at his disposal, before discarding it like he had always planned.
"Now?" Midoriya's voice reached his ears, and Shouto looked up to see Midoriya turned in his chair to face Shinsou.
"No time like the present," Shinsou told him, and then the two of them rose from their seats and turned to Shouto.
Shouto watched the two of them approach, carefully as though he were a skittish animal. When they reached his desk they stood shoulder to shoulder, making a wall of themselves between him and the classroom, keeping their conversation private.
"Todoroki," Midoriya began, fidgeting nervously.
"Midoriya," Shouto acknowledged, "Shinsou. Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"
"We've been talking," Midoriya twiddled his fingers, looking at them rather than Shouto, "and uh, we were wondering if, uh, that is if you want to-"
"Izuku has some experiments he'd like to run on my quirk," Shinsou interrupted firmly. "We want to know if you'd be willing to help us test it out."
Izuku nodded, smiling shakily and obviously grateful Shinsou had taken over. Shinsou looked confident, but pleased to have gotten the request out in the open. Both of them looked at him eagerly for a response.
Shouto took a few moments to consider the sharp, stabbing pain in his heart when Shinsou used Midoriya's name like that. It was the same feeling that had caused him to walk away when Midoriya had first asked if he could use Shinsou's proper name. He'd spent a considerable part of the last two days trying to identify it, before coming to the conclusion that it was jealousy. The two of them clearly had a very special bond, if they were willing to go so far for each other, but they had also gone to great lengths to help Shouto. He had felt like he was a part of something, when he'd joined in on their plan, an unfamiliar feeling reminiscent of the fizziness he'd noticed when they had so spectacularly outperformed him. The reminder that the bond between the two of them went back much further, ran much deeper, made that feeling evaporate, leaving a painful emptiness in its place.
This, however, was soothing to that ache. This was the two of them inviting him back in, to collaborate with them once more. They could have gone to Ashido or Yaoyorozu, any of the girls in class who had participated in the plan and now surely would have helped them. Out of everyone, they had chosen Shouto.
"Yes," he said. "I would like that."
"Cool!" Midoriya chirped, eyes shining with happiness. "I, uh, have to go see Hatsume today after class, and today's not really a good day for it what with the rain, but the weather should be fine tomorrow so I figured we could all meet up at Training Ground Beta. I'll bring some equipment I
need and that environment should be ideal."
"Sound good?" Shinsou asked, turning back to Shouto. After a moment's consideration, Shouto nodded.
The door to the support course workshop was big and metal, like a loading bay door. Izuku stood outside it, wondering how he was supposed to get in. Hatsume had asked him to meet her here, but she hadn't told him how to get inside. Was he supposed to just knock?
Before he could come to a decision a loud BOOM came from inside the workshop, prompting Izuku to jump back a step. The door slid open and smoke poured out, and Izuku backed up against the far wall, waving at the black cloud that was gathering around him. After a few seconds Power Loader stumbled out, coughing and also waving his hands.
"Hatsume that's it!" Power Loader shouted. "I said you could use the workshop after school, but that's only if you don't blow the whole place up!"
"But Sensei, explosion is the mother of invention!" Hatsume cackled, emerging from the smoke with soot stains all over her.
"I don't think that's how that saying goes," Izuku said, then coughed.
"Midoriya!" Hatsume cried in delight, darting over to him and grabbing him by the arm. "Step into my office! I've got a couple super cute babies just for you!"
With some apprehension, Izuku allowed himself to be towed into the workshop. Power Loader sighed but let the two of them be. The smoke was already thinning out, and Hatsume waved the rest of it away and dragged Izuku over to a workbench near the back. On it was another pair of boots like the ones she'd made him for the sports festival, along with a simple metal rod about the size of a baton.
"I know you told me to focus on my baby for the sports festival, but I couldn't help working on this too!" Hatsume chattered, snatching up the metal rod and holding it up triumphantly. "I spent the last two days working feverishly to put the finishing touches on it!"
"Thanks Hatsume!" Izuku said, examining the rod closely. It didn't look like much, but that didn't mean anything when it came to Hatsume. "Uh, how does it work?"
"I'm glad you asked!" Hatsume beamed. She held the rod out at arm's length, perpendicular to the floor, and suddenly it extended to about the height of a bo staff. The end of it clinked against the tiles, and Hatsume let out a bark of laughter.
"This baby is a masterstroke of simplistic design combined with multifunctional capabilities!" she explained excitedly. "It's made of pure steel and can extend to any length between one foot and three hundred feet!"
"Three hundred feet!" Izuku exclaimed. "It can really extend that far?"
"Yep!" Hatsume nodded energetically. "I can't vouch for its ability to take a hit at that extension, but up to a hundred feet and you could set a bomb off next to this baby without any structural damage!"
She tapped the end on the floor twice, and when it struck the second time a clawed foot projected from the end and dug into the ground. Still in her hand the rod extended up to the ceiling, dragging Hatsume skyward with it. When it was in place she wrapped her body around it and shook it vigorously, but both she and the rod stayed firmly in place.
"Even at full extension it'll still bear the weight of a couple people," she said, "so if you need to get some elevation in a hurry, just hold on tight!"
The rod then began to retract, letting Hatsume slowly down, and once she had her feet on the ground the claw released its grip on the floor and disappeared inside. Then it returned to its shorter length, easily held in her hand.
"It's ideal as a baton or a bo staff," she said, throwing it up to twirl in the air before catching it again, "and it can be shrunk down to fit in your pocket! Plus its got a few more surprises!"
She pointed the upper end at Izuku's face, a few inches from his nose, and suddenly the end of it sparked like a taser.
"Capable of discharging fifty thousand volts of electricity!" she recited. "And, the whole thing's a fingerprint scanner! Try and take it from me!"
Izuku reached out and, carefully not trying to take it, touched it with the pad of one finger. A small jolt went up his arm, and her jerked his hand back.
"It's got a failsafe to prevent you being disarmed!" Hatsume said, nearly giddy with enthusiasm. "I'll just need to put your fingerprints in here and then you and I will be the only people in the world who can use it!"
"That's amazing Hatsume!" Izuku gushed, looking at the weapon with awe and wonder. "What do you call it?"
"The Force Lance!" Hatsume crowed.
"Incredible," Izuku shook his head in disbelief. "Absolutely incredible. You really made this for me?"
"Designed with my favorite quirkless hero in mind!" Hatsume assured him. Then she set the force lance down on the workbench and picked up the pair of boots that also sat there. "And it's not the only thing!"
"What did you put in the boots?" Izuku asked eagerly.
Hatsume grinned and tapped the heels of the boots together. Out of the bottoms sprouted a set of in-line skates, and out of the back of the soles came a little metal tube like an exhaust pipe.
"It's not a rocket," Hatsume said with a pout, "which was my original idea, but it blows compressed air fast enough to propel you forward. The mechanism continually compresses more air, so you can keep going indefinitely, even if you're not moving your feet. Plus they'll help you pick up a little more speed than you'd otherwise be able to."
She tapped the heels together again, and both the wheels and the exhaust pipe vanished into the boot. Then she tapped the toes together.
"Ice skates?" Izuku asked, staring at the blades that now extended from the bottoms of the shoes. "Why would I need ice skates?"
"Oh, I don't know," Hatsume said coyly, "it seemed like you were getting pretty cozy with that Icyhot boy during the sports festival."
"I was not!" Izuku said hurriedly, brain going into panic mode faster than he could even process Hatsume's words. "I mean, I was, but it's not like that at all!"
"I just meant you might work together some time," Hatsume said with a wink. "I made a pair for Shinsou as well, with all the same attachments."
Hatsume looked around, as though only just now realizing that something was missing. "Hey," she said, frowning. "Where is Shinsou?"
"He said he had to go talk to Aizawa-sensei about something," Izuku told her. "He said he'd meet up with me later."
"Just as well," Hatsume sighed. "I haven't finished his weapon yet. Now, try these babies on! I wanna make sure the placement of the buttons is convenient!"
UA didn't have individual offices for teachers. Instead they all worked together in a communal space, with desks facing different directions to give the illusion of privacy. There was no real privacy, anything one teacher was doing or saying could be overheard by the entire room, which meant that if a student wanted a genuinely private word with a teacher they would have to hope they could catch that teacher alone.
Or, in Hitoshi's case, stakeout the communal office until he was relatively sure that Eraserhead was the only one in the office.
To his relief, he had judged correctly, and Hitoshi walked into the teachers' office to find his new homeroom teacher sitting alone at a desk facing the wall in one corner. It was across from the door, so Hitoshi fully expected to have to get Eraser's attention, but the pro hero spoke up as soon as Hitoshi had opened the door.
"So you finally decided to come in huh?" Eraser said without turning around.
Hitoshi's heart leaped into his throat. "How did you-"
Eraser pointed to a small, inconspicuous mirror attached to the wall over his desk, angled to give him a view of the doorway. Hitoshi deflated as he realized Eraser had been observing him linger with studied nonchalance in the hallway outside, watching the teachers come and go for over an hour.
"So you knew I was there the whole time huh?" Hitoshi asked dejectedly.
"You need a few good lessons in stealth," Eraser said, sounding characteristically bored. "And one or two in not giving away information you don't need to. I only noticed you standing there in the last five minutes. Judging by what you just said, it's been a lot longer."
Hitoshi could have cried. He got me twice! He's so good at this!
"Well?" Eraser said, still not turning around, only giving Hitoshi half his attention. "What were you so eager to talk to me about in private?"
Hitoshi cleared his throat, wondering how to word his question. "I've been thinking," he began carefully, "about that meeting in Nezu's office. I was a little . . . overwhelmed at the time, but playing it back I thought . . . well, there was something funny about the whole thing. Something that almost seemed . . ."
"Staged?" Eraser interrupted. "Good, you picked up on that. I thought I was going to have to drill you in observational skills too."
"Wait, what?" Hitoshi sputtered. "It was staged? But, how did you know-"
"That you would win?" Eraser asked conversationally. "Well, we knew it was your intention to impress us. We knew you had Midoriya in your corner. And we knew that you and the other students had some kind of plan going on."
"No!" Hitoshi said reflexively, fighting panic. "That's not, I mean it wasn't-"
"You used all the resources at your disposal to secure victory," Eraser said, and Hitoshi would have given a fair amount to be able to see his expression in the pause he left there. "We can hardly fault you for that."
Hitoshi let out a shaky breath. Eraser knew he'd made a deal to get into the hero course, and for some reason he wasn't angry. The weight that had been on his shoulders the last two days melted away, leaving only a sense of peace and, strangely, confidence in its wake. Perhaps even too much confidence, if what he said next was anything to go by.
"Then I guess it wasn't just a casual visit, huh."
Finally Eraser paused in what he'd been doing and turned around, the wheels of his chair making a soft noise as he adjusted his position. He looked Hitoshi over with a bored expression, but there was a tiny spark of interest in his gaze.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"When you came to watch me and Izuku training," Hitoshi explained, "you said you were just coming to make sure he wasn't slacking off. But you really came to see me, didn't you."
Eraser was quiet a moment, then nodded slowly.
"And telling us that Bakugou would also be trying to win," Hitoshi ventured still further. "That was supposed to make me work even harder."
"You catch on quick," Eraser said, not sounding pleased or displeased, merely making an observation.
Then Hitoshi said something that was much, much bolder than anything he'd ever said before.
"There was no chance that Bakugou was ever getting back into the hero course, was there?" he asked. "You were lying."
There were a few tense moments when Eraser didn't respond. He merely looked at Hitoshi with the same bored indifference, not giving anything away. If he was angry, he didn't show it. If he was happy, he didn't show that either.
At long last Eraser shrugged. "It was just a logical ruse," he said dismissively. "You'll find I use small deceptions like that to keep the class motivated all the time."
"I can't imagine that's a popular method," Hitoshi said without thinking, then immediately cursed his own hubris.
Eraser, however, let his the corners of his mouth twitch upward in something approximating a smile.
"It's not," he confirmed, "but then again, I'd imagine you know something about using methods that aren't exactly popular."
Hitoshi nodded, not trusting himself to say any more. Eraser turned his back on Hitoshi, adjusting his chair so that he was facing his computer again.
"If that's all," he said pointedly.
Hitoshi decided to take that as a dismissal. He nodded respectfully to Eraser's back, not sure if he was still watching him in the mirror, then turned and walked briskly out of the room. Once he was out in the hallway though he slowed down, mind swirling what the conversation he'd just had.
Eraserhead routinely lied to his class to get the best work possible out of them. He had lied to Hitoshi, apparently for the same purpose. Did that mean he'd considered Hitoshi his student, even back then?
"A logical ruse huh?" Hitoshi mumbled to himself. That certainly was food for thought.