AN: This- is what I've been working on for the past few months. I'm sorry not sorry.

Unlike my other two works, this has been a solo undertaking- what that means for my motivation and how fast updates will be? No idea.

This chapter takes heavy inspiration from various other Youjo Senki fanfictions I've read- in fact that is really the only reason why I haven't posted this months ago. I wanted to create something original, but there is not much I can do to avoid some of the clichés that start "Third Life Tanya" stories- other then dropping you right in chapter 1, but I want readers of MHA that haven't read any Youjo Senki stories to understand the main character and vis versa... So here is the compromise. Chapter 0. :D

Edit 4/10/2022: I have updated a few lines in this chapter to better describe things and hopefully avoid confusion... Keep in mind the PoVs are in first person, and anything they do not notice/misunderstand/ignore, will not be explained. I will try to describe characters looks in a way that feels organic, but do comment if you feel I'm not giving enough info and I'll try to correct it.


Chapter 0: A Young Girl's Starting Line


Orphan Child

I was born amongst explosions. When I opened my eyes for the first time and could finally think, even though it shouldn't be possible at this age, I found myself clutched to a woman's chest. When I looked up to see her face for the first time, I only had a moment to memorize her features: long blond hair and pale gray eyes. Before an explosion of fire shook the building. I was thrown from her arms, rolling and crying.

Before I could crash into the floor or wall, I was caught by a humanoid… bear...

Demons, people with horns, tails… were those hoses for arms…?

I was rushed around. My vision was quickly hidden behind white fur as I was slowly rocked to sleep, my weak body unable to fight off the feeling of warmth.

When I awoke, I was in a white room smoke and fires far away from whatever safe place I must have been brought to. Time passed, and I was eventually passed to other creatures, humans, and robots. Fully functional autonomous robots, no less. Their faces flashed by, but they held little meaning to me.

Even now, I wasn't sure if that first woman had been my mother. Every time I pictured her face, I could only remember two features: long blond hair and pale gray eyes before she was enveloped in an explosion.

All I could really think about that situation was…

'No second reincarnation, my-'

Powerful as the bastard may be, he was too quickly frustrated and arrogant to be anything less than dirt in my eyes.

If it couldn't see that, then it wasn't all-knowing. If it couldn't change that, then it wasn't all-powerful. If it wasn't all-knowing and all-powerful, then it is not God. The self-described controller of reincarnation, who somehow had both the time and desire to reincarnate me again despite claiming to be overworked.

If it was genuinely overworked, all of this was just wasting time and resources on a lost cause to satisfy its ego.

Based on those facts, Being X would have been fired within a month at any agency.

Thus, since it was apparently self-employed, it only followed that its business model was also a failure.

It didn't matter, ultimately.

My faith would not be awakened according to the whims of Being X.

Or anyone, or anything else for that matter.

That fact had not changed during my time in the Imperial military as a mage, and it would not change now. No matter how strange this new world was.

Still, as an infant, those thoughts were hardly the only ones that filled my undeveloped brain. That was when I wasn't dealing with the unstoppable feelings of hunger, sleep, and shitting myself.

It didn't take much realize that I was in another world engulfed in battle. As if humans killing other humans wasn't enough, now there were many different species altogether.

Living harmoniously was an awful joke.

It made sense, though, right? With Being X's definition of escalation, I imagined that if there was ever a fourth life, it would be a world past the brink of destruction from nuclear fallout and alien invaders. Even worse, next time, I would probably be stuck as a child in the middle of the radioactive wastes scavenging for water, surrounded on all sides by mutants and zombies. No, a peaceful world was never in the cards.

Of course, no matter how much I cursed him, he never appeared before me in those formative years.

It seemed that an orphanage was a crucial part of Being X's repertoire, enough that I wished he would hire a team of highly paid advisers to properly guide him into ways to avoid repetition. Once again, he has proven that the definition of insanity is often overlooked.

Yet, there I was, growing up in an overcrowded orphanage in what must have been a sizeable modern-day city, surrounded by wailing children. Two years passed me by, my boredom urging me to move around and start displaying my intelligence enough for them to allow me to read some early childhood language books.

To my early delight, I found that many of the words on the pages were familiar, seeing as this world or country uses a variation of Japanese. That feeling passed quickly, however, as to my growing terror. The meanings attached to the familiar symbols were all wrong. At some point in history, the three writing systems were merged into a single written language. The most glaring offense staring at me was next to a cartoon cat. Dog.

Deciding right then and there to forget all my Kanji and treat this world's Japanese as its own separate language was for the best. Of course, Being X will try and handicap me with things that were supposed to be familiar. Luckily I didn't make a fool of myself by writing down something like "I love you, caretaker." Knowing what I know now, I might have written, "I see dead people." I could have found myself in a mental institution faster than I could blink.

Over time I took to taking sneaking glances at history books a few of the older orphans brought home, trying to learn more about the world I found myself in. Despite my rudimentary understanding of the written word, I eventually could decipher enough words on the pages to get a general idea of what I was reading.

The older kids thought it was cute for a two-year-old to "pretend" to read.

With my "research", I learned the simple truth for the third time. All men are not created equally. Communism will forever be a dream!

If you are born into an affluent family, you were given a higher education grade, granting you more opportunities to raise your value in society. If you were not, more than likely, you were not given the same opportunities and must work doubly the same value in society, as I had to do in my first life and have begun to do in this one.

This world, however, takes that same idea to the extreme… The chance cube of life skewed all wrong. More than half of the world's population possesses what they now call "quirks." While the remainder is considered relatively worthless by comparison. A few decades ago, being normal meant not having a weird ability or mutation. Now being normal is seen almost as a disability.

Two centuries ago, a baby in China started glowing. At first, they quarantined the child before discovering that his body had an extra organ that caused his skin to glow with bioluminescence. Months later, more and more children in China began to show these powers. As China locked itself down trying to contain these "Divergences," the first American violently displayed his ability. The history books removed his real name, but he became known as the "Five States Maniac."

Because of the aptly named Maniac, the whole world, instead of fostering the "Divergences" and expanding on the resource, attempted to genocide anyone that showed signs of being different. Spurned on to discover the cause, scientists finally found the "Plus Alpha" gene.

For years, nations worldwide began segregating Divergences or outright killing anyone deemed too dangerous before more and more copycats of the Maniac appeared. Citizens fought for their right to live and lashed out against the oppressive governments. The government, unable to contain the threat anymore, was unsure what to do when the perfect answer to their problems came along in the form of Other Divergences rising up to stop the rampage of their (rightfully so) angry citizens.

Governments fell into anarchy as vigilantes took over and installed their own governments, only for other groups of vigilantes to do the same to them. Eventually, one group in Japan decided to bring back the governments of old and arranged a system of self-policing as the branch of "Heroics," a pseudo-formal government job.

Thus modern-day Heroes were born.

All citizens must register their quirk into a database to keep illegal usage minimum and help law enforcement locate those who break the law. Vigilantism is considered a crime as the individuals who perform those actions are typically untrained and cause more damage to property than those who are trained- Not to mention insurance for property damage.

As with everything Being X decides to do, there are three categories into which "quirks" are put.

Emitter: Any quirk which would create or manipulate, for example, creating and controlling fire, ice, and water.

Transformation: Quirks that allow someone to change or manipulate their bodies. For example, turning big or small, turning into an animal, or growing extra limbs like a wing or tail.

Mutation: The last type of quirk is where someone gains additional features without an extra quirk effect or is an inherited part of a quirk, like having a bird's beak or a hawk's wings.

I should have known that my being reincarnated into Japan was too good to be true! Oh sure, while this country might still be called Japan, it has proven time and again thus far it is not the Japan of my original life as a Salaryman. Not that I could remember much of that time…

Regardless, even with all the various mentions of Hero this, villain that, All Might this… things had fallen into somewhat of a routine quickly. There is not much a currently five-year-old girl can do after all. Despite my showing more and more of my intelligence, assisting the caretakers in caring for the younger children, and attempting to help the older children present themselves to potential couples. I wasn't allowed to venture away and explore; honestly, I didn't feel the need to. Information was at the tip of my fingers with the computer at the orphanage, after all.

After everything in my previous life, it was a relatively calm sense of normality. If I had to put my finger on it, it was…

Nice.

Being in a much more civilized society, when compared to the front lines performing missions with the odds stacked against me, almost makes me feel as if I had succeeded in my goal of a safe retirement, the only downside being the highly publicized "Super Villain" fights once a month or so.

Years without any interference from Being X made me question if this reincarnation was on purpose and if I had somehow evaded the smug-

A crash and argument interrupted my thoughts again.

If only I could convince the children around me to stop using their quirks to make my life more stressful.

"Stop fighting you two, the Caretaker will be back soon and she won't want to see the walls destro- Stop. Fighting."

Two older kids again used their quirks to fight over some perceived slight. Of course, they ignored me, and I usually let them fight it out. However, today I just couldn't handle the noise. I had a splitting headache, and I could faintly see everything vibrating. Not to mention one of the boys in question ratted me out for stealing a mug of coffee earlier in the day...

I sat there grinding my teeth together, watching the boy with crab claws attempt to bash and pinch the beak of the seagull-headed mutant. Meanwhile, the rest of the children circled around, cheering for their favorite or ignoring the room being destroyed by staying in thier bunk beds. "If you want them to stop so bad Tanya-chan, why don't you just stop them yourself." the voice of the eldest child the Caretaker had put in charge echoed from behind. "Just keep your voices down, I'm busy." Doing nothing but texting on your phone.

But fine. If I rough them up too bad, I'll just say you told me too. Maybe a reprimand from the CEO will force you to do your job correctly next time.

I stepped forward, grabbed the Seagull Boy- Musaro's - shoulder, and shouted to get his attention. He turned my way only to be met with my fist bashing his head in the other direction.

I felt numb watching him fly off into the wall- however, the feeling of his spit on my hand made me internally cringe. I went to wipe my hand on my shirt, but the spit wasn't wiping off-

I looked down at the ᵖrͣeͥᶰd


Nedzu, Principle of U.A.

What is evil.

It is evil to bring harm to others. But is it also evil to stop someone from bringing harm to others by hurting the one who wants to commit harm?

People who think that good and evil are not subjective think this because they believe they are objective. They believe that there are standards that determine goodness and evil regardless of who judges the matter, rather than merely standards that vary across judges.

Miracle at Kamino Hospital

Seventy-five were injured, but no deaths

I sigh, rereading that report.

Objectively there is no such thing as evil, but blowing up a hospital is objectively not good in his eyes. Lying to the public about accurate statistics is objectively not good. The reasons for the lie to prevent the top twenty heroes from being labeled murderers by the public? For the greater good… right?

Massacre at Kamino Hospital

Forty infants were killed, Seventy-six children were killed, fifteen teenagers were in a coma, eighty-five life support patients were murdered when power to the building cut out, and Seventy-five adults were injured. The villain that the team, was hunting esca-

The teapot's whistle grabbed my attention.

Humans have a long history of killing each other over the slightest grievance. It almost makes me wonder if all my manipulations and plans were worth it.

Years have passed since the most significant thorn in society was put down, but almost as soon as it was finally destroyed, another made its debut. The fall of All for One he orchestrated left a vacuum that many groups simultaneously leaped at the chance to fill. The phrase nature abhors a vacuum comes to mind…

The yakuza groups grabbed a large chunk of his drug market and stubbornly held on to their last fragment of power. The radicals have flocked from All for One's circle into their fringe groups. Finally, even the government has made changes, as, without All for One, the top ten heroes had time to turn their eyes to other villains… namely their assassin, who they were forced to hide away. And those were just the local elements. Foreign elements he didn't have much knowledge of have made plays into the criminal underworld here as well. The German mob has, in particular, been particularly vicious, attempting to gain a foothold on the island. The Russian cartels, following their competitors in their attempts, have also tried.

Yes. I know about all these groups' movements. Admittedly, however, I now know I am not omnipotent and cannot predict everything that might happen. But my knowledge has always been my most effective tool in steering the general public toward my vision, so I pressed on.

When I became a hero, admittedly out of revenge to put my captors in jail, I let my schemes and big-headedness run too wild. Too sure of my own more remarkable intellect over the humans that I let myself be tricked. Like the Humans, I made plans thinking I held all the cards, not knowing that I. The All-Knowing Principal Nedzu. Was the one being led around like prey...

I put down the five-year-old report I kept framed on my desk. Never again.

I had stepped down as master manipulator and turned fully towards the future. If there are better, more pure heroes out there, then I will make up for my failures.

Taking a moment to sip his tea, I cleared my thoughts of those pleading golden eyes that stared at me from beyond the glass.

Indeed, I can make up for them. I just need time.


Mita Mano, the Former Sidekick 'Joyful Fist'

How did it come to this?

I used to be a secretary for the Purple Revolution Agency. In addition to being the secretary, I was also called to act as a sidekick. After graduating in business, I took the hero provisional license exam after graduating in business to use my quirk for self-defense. That decision, together with the surprising reaction of His Purple Highness to my quirk, landed me that prestigious job at the agency… I didn't make it into the Hero course, so I was somewhat surprised and took to my job like a fish in water.

Now… Now I'm jobless, and-

I couldn't help but sigh and think back to it all.

My skill with my quirk, Joy, was not enough when coupled with a string of bad days. When His Purple Highness was hospitalized, the other sidekicks and I needed to step up and fill the spot he left. My spirits were already down due to the death of one of my interns. Then the Kamino Hospital disaster happened. I could not muster up enough happiness to effectively use my quirk during the chaos and rubble from nearby buildings, and the explosions from the attacking villains destroyed my legs. It took a costly procedure to keep me alive.

I managed to survive, but at the cost of my career. I couldn't run any longer, and my walk turned into little more than a stagger. They offered me a cane, and I told them to-.

From an attractive Up-and-Coming Pro Hero (Forever Sidekick, my a-), I was promptly laid off. I was lucky not to get myself killed, but there was little else I could do to avoid being let go from the agency. They were not large enough to pay for full-time civilians; everyone needed to be able to work out in the field.

I tried to call some favors I acquired over my short career but could not land myself a job at any of the larger hero agencies. I had been looking for work around the city, contemplating my limited opportunities with my physical defect. I refuse to lower myself to be a simple office worker, my time in the hero industry staining me with that need to help others.

The issue with this situation was that less-wealthy agencies couldn't afford my services, an all-hands-on-deck situation. Those agencies wealthy enough to afford me were too competitive to desire to hire a cripple. Especially one that didn't have a higher education. Despite what those liars at the HPSC say, experience and a high school diploma can only go so far. Hero license or not.

I spent the next few weeks returning from job interviews to my apartment in a near-endless cycle, becoming increasingly desperate to find a job. Anything that could keep me at least partially connected to the hero industry.

Finally, I came across one posting that caught my eye, it wasn't something I would typically go for, but the pay was enough... An orphanage funded by the HPSC was looking for another caretaker. The posting specified that they were looking for someone with experience in raising children who could also act as a quirk trainer for the children. I could babysit a few little munchkins and easily emulate my high school teachers regarding quirk training.

The location was out of the way, on the city's outskirts, but otherwise, it was everything I had been looking for. Helping orphans also scratched that Hero itch I had nagged in my mind.

I could work here for a little while until I got back on my feet.

At least, that's what I thought at the time.

The orphanage welcomed me with open arms; there was a recent influx of children due to the recent disasters at Kamino and some bombings at the Naruhata wards. I had the essential know-how of quirks and managing crowds; my former status as a hero made me a familiar face that the HPSC could vouch for. It was surprisingly easy to get that caretaking license… Almost suspiciously so, but I just took my good fortune with a smile.

Also, the pay was better than I had been hoping for. Much better. The listing has apparently not been updated in a while. To me, it was like a dream come true. I even shelved my worries with my quirk problems when I realized I could make a life here. No more long hours chasing villains and dealing with the scum of society, just cooking for various children and helping them manage their quirks. Sure, there was more to it; changing diapers sucked, but I learned quickly.

And then… Tanya. The girl herself was problem-free, at least on paper. Though just thinking about the baby made me break into a cold sweat those first few months. She was an odd one. Communicating too perfectly. She only cried when she needed something, gestured with her hands at increasing dexterity, and made facial expressions that were too perfect… practiced. It was as if she fully understood what was going on around her before her first year. I had heard of quirked babies during my two-week caretaking course at work, so I let the intelligence slide; however, what I couldn't let slide was her expressions.

She had a blank deadpan look when left alone for longer than a few minutes as if her soul had vacated her body. The stare she gives me whenever she sees me looks a lot like that of older Heroes looking at new sidekicks or Villains like Queen Bee. Trying to find uses for you and being unable to…

It was unsettling, to say the least.

Was there a quirk messing with her? Was her intelligence some kind of mind control that went undocumented? Possibly. A lot of the children here had close encounters with villains. So I knew I couldn't stand idly by if that was the case. I called in some of my favors with the Purple Revolution Agency. Then when the children were all asleep, I had my former intern, Mophead, come and use his nullify quirk on them. He called me irrational for the whole situation before going out on patrol, but I just waved it off and insisted he visits more often. He left grumbling about nonsense which just brought a smile to my face.

At least he has started to move on from what happened.

When I picked Tanya up the next day, I figured Mophead was right. The baby still had the same expression of soul-crushing boredom. Just the look on her face gave me a feeling of… something. My boss, Okuma Yuki, the head caretaker at the orphanage, would say things like, "You should appreciate the quieter ones. As they age, the louder children start to mimic them, which means we can get a full night's rest!"

Well, if she's not worried…

Despite a few weeks of calming down and thinking rationally, I started to hear stories of children who grew up unable to feel emotions or express them violently. Killing animals because they like to see the light fade from their eyes… I spiraled back into thinking that Tanya was a villain in the making.

The girl was calm and placid now, but once the villain within her awoke, she'd make her way through the halls of this orphanage while everyone was asleep and kill them all one by one. So, I prepared. I used my quirk whenever possible to keep some semblance of conditioning, talking with all the kids so they could warn me at the first sign of anything 'weird' going on. Okuma warned me about the impression I was giving the children about quirk use, but I just waved her off. The more they use their quirks, the fewer accidents they will have later.

After a few months of no incident, I conceded that Mophead might have had a point, but it's only rational to exercise, right? I'm not going crazy. I-

I lived in fear spiraling back into periods of being calm only to freak out again for the first few years. During this time, Tanyas' behavior changed for the better. She started attempting to imitate the other children around the house, from poorly imitating the older children's yoga exercises to watching her quirk training sessions and trying to speak the words she says. What shocked me the most was when she kept gesturing at the computer, did little Tanya want to surf the web? She was trying to talk to them, and as soon as she managed to say her first words: "Mama's strong." It was as if a dam had burst.

It was a struggle to see her as that villain in the making when she kept asking questions about anything in the house, the country, and the world; it used to be innocuous things like what this object was or what that food was. However, she seemed to take note of the different adults and children who entered the orphanage, whispering their names quietly under her breath as if she was trying to remember them. It was funny hearing the young girl mutter, "What kind of hero name is Death Arms anyway?"

The incredulity of it all made me shelve the warning signs of psychopathy she displayed as a babe. Humor is often out of the grasp of truly mad villains, after all.

Time continued to pass, and Tanya seemed to have lost that expression of boredom and seemed to just grow further and further enamored by the world. As if she wanted to learn anything and everything about how things worked. No longer was I in fear of her. I instead did everything I could to learn more to teach her everything she wanted to know. Instead of thinking I had a future supervillain in the making, I rather felt like I was in the presence of a future top-ten hero.

I had spoken with Okuma about it, and she'd apparently gotten the same impression, documenting Tanya's growth and sending her reports to the HPSC. I'm not exactly sure what that arrangement was, but I figured it made sense to try and get more resources for her when her quirk showed up.

From then on, I figured it was best to leave the girl be and encourage her whenever possible.

It was an odd feeling, however. Teaching an infant, almost a toddler, everything that they wanted wasn't something that was really done... The child seemed more interested in learning than in any kind of game. So much so that she spent most of her waking hours trying to imitate everyone in the house like a miniature adult. The only thing that stopped me from restricting her computer time and forcing her to play outside with the other children was that when she did sit at the computer, intelligence and liveliness glimmered in Tanya's eyes, in contrast to mere months ago when there had only been a crude dullness.

I never raised a child like her. In fact, I had never raised a child before coming here, but I decided to leave things as it is. A perfectly obedient and heroic child is far better than a villainess out for blood. Besides, the other children were more than a handful for me.

She had so many questions and was doing her best to help; what kind of little girl wants to do household chores so much? She even helped Okuma with her reading classes. It was adorable that sometimes she misread a word and got frustrated, blaming her imaginary friend, Ex.

The girl was bright, not like I was at her age. I knew that with all the times Tanya ran around the yard trying to imitate the older children's exercises, the way she always sat and listened to my old Hero stories all the time, she was reminding me of myself. Looking up to the old Pro Heroes and wanting to be just like them, running around after my brothers…

Regarding Heroes, Okuma had been leaving for city hall more often around my fourth year here. There has been an increase in Villain attacks recently following the takedown of that villain organization- the Villain Industry? Union?... Whatever. Regardless, she had been petitioning for more patrols of the outskirts. Hopefully, they get approved, if only to let the children and others around feel safer.

Violent quirk awakenings are relatively rare. In fact, it's so rare no one ever really thinks about it. Only one in every twenty thousand hurts someone other than themselves when they activate their quirk, and of that percentage, only one in twenty hurts themselves as the body has an ingrained resistance to its own quirk.

So Tanya's rather violent quirk awakening shocked everyone at the orphanage.

I was off to the market that day to get groceries and was about to leave when Tanya approached me. She had turned five recently, with no sign of a quirk yet, but I was convinced that Tanya's genius was her quirk.

It would be hard for her to be a spotlight hero with it, but Tanya would also if The Principle could make it. She's cuter than he is, anyway.

It was hard to call Tanya a little girl with her ever-increasing intellect and tendency to help around the orphanage with everything, but at least little still described her size. Today was no different, with her asking to come with her and help pick out the groceries. I told her no this time, and that I would only be gone for a short while and to stay here, besides the noise would just aggravate the headache, Tanya had this morning.

She was complaining about seeing double, and I was surprised she could even walk around with how hot her face was earlier.

I told her she should socialize with the other children if she was okay with walking around. Something I had to remind her to do more often than not, as it seemed her genius and desire to be helpful, was isolating her from the other children. Not physically, of course, she was always there at meals and during study times making sure to be ready for school, but emotionally she was putting up walls. I understand she is more intelligent than those around her age, but a hero must be connected with the public they are trying to protect.

I returned a few hours later to a quiet abode. When I called out for anyone, all that greeted me was silence. Instantly my training kicked in as I rushed (staggered, really) through the rooms looking for anyone. The children were huddled together in various stages of distress in the living rooms. Some hopped up when they noticed me, screaming weird things like "It wasn't me!" or "Is she okay?"

After calming them down and saying everything would be okay, I grabbed the teenager left in charge. Shibata.

Getting the whole story felt like pulling teeth, but I wasn't a former (almost) pro hero for nothing. Shibata told me that Tanya had manifested her quirk by blowing up her arm in a fight. They rushed her to the hospital and a few other children with bleeding ears from Tanya's screams. The police arrived with the ambulance and left with Okuma, who had returned while I was out.

I had to make sure she was talking about Tanya. Of course, she had never been in a fight before, and I was convinced she had some intelligence quirk before I was led to the room that still had Tanya's blood on the floor.

I found out that night that the doctors were forced to keep Tanya sedated, as whenever she awoke, she would cry out in pain, causing something in the room to break. They had to perform surgery in order to save her arm, realigning her bones before they healed in the wrong location. Hopefully she would in time regain full movement, however there would be scarring. It was during this surgery while she was being scanned by some doctor's quirk, they discovered the second set of vocal cords in her throat and the extra organ that connected them to her voice box.

They numbed her throat before they woke her up, it hurt to see her freak out when she woke up unable to make a sound, but she calmed down after it was explained what was happening in simple terms for her young mind to understand. They explained they were doing everything they could until a trainer became available. The sheer frustration and sadness on Tanya's face as she drifted off to sleep…

I made it a point to be there for her whenever they had to wake her up.

Eventually, Okuma pulled through with the HPSC. Bringing Tanya's case up with an obscure branch of them (that needed much more funding from her grumbling) for children with self-damaging or 'beyond hero' tier quirks.

A trainer was made available. After a week, it became routine for Tanya to be brought into a soundproof room and work on controlling her quirk. They didn't even need to get a nullifier after the first few sessions as Tanya's control over her vocal cords quickly grew.

Her second vocal cords gave her a much more extensive range than usual while making sounds. She could see the sounds. Frequencies? I don't know, I just had her analysis added to her file and took note of the basics.

Regardless. The agent somehow convinced Tanya to sing rather than hold tones to help her control her quirk better. It didn't take much to convince the children to have a karaoke night, a weekly pass time at the orphanage, rotating with the usual weekly board game night. Though everyone knew the star of those nights was Tanya.

With her range, it was a crowd-pleaser to hear the deep baritone of Deep Bassman, followed immediately by the high pitch of Lilikachu.

Her second vocal cords allowed her to sing in harmony or even in duet in some cases. However, the times Tanya attempted such a thing were limited. I didn't get to hear what was said between the agent on his last day assigned to Tanya, but the dull eyes of the young girl that refused to leave afterward…

Next time I see that smug bastard, I will crush his skull.

The weeks that followed were heartbreaking. Tanya's cold face returned, and her eyes lost that spark of life I used to see when Tanya would read the school books or listen to my (not exaggerated at all) heroic tales I gave to the children. I had to restrict her computer usage when she began falling into reading weird conspiracy theory websites about "Shadow governments" and "Hero Assassins."

Following that, I would only see Tanya's eyes shining in that heroic golden light during the Karaoke nights, but it was a struggle to convince her to keep coming. Tanya would argue about needing to study or wanting to relax with a book. Thankfully it didn't take much prodding to convince her to come, tricking her into coming as quirk training always did the trick. Even if it felt underhanded at times.

Years passed by, and children were adopted and left. A few disappeared once they came of age, but Tanya would continue to help out whenever possible, despite her seeing her dream as unattainable. At least, that's what it seemed like to everyone.

I noted the overall hanging depression whenever Heros were mentioned. Every child dreams of one day using their quirks for the good of all. To bask in the limelight with the freedom to be… more.

But Tanya? No, that child wilted at even the possibility of the limelight. Ever since her own quirk backfired against her, the child avoided attention, even from possible adoption. Tanya always seemed to be busy when couples came to adopt. I tried to convince her to show her face to them; however, she refused to state that she would be fine and the other kids would need parents more than she would.

I finally stopped pestering her when Tanya told her that she didn't want another parent giving her a hug and walking off. Okuma's knowing look when I talked with her later made me embarrassed. It's okay to have favorites, indeed.

Time marched on, and it was that time to talk to the children about what they wanted to be when they grew up… I would pass out some papers so the younger children would write what they wanted to do, but inevitably everyone would write 'hero' or some variation. This year was no different for the children, "I know you all want to be heroes when you grow up!" I smiled as all the small children cheered around me, some even striking practiced poses. I looked past them to some older kids, who either rolled their eyes or chuckled at the sight.

The older teens inevitably had their dreams mellow out over the years, most of them knowing how unlikely it would be for them to be accepted into any hero course and choosing more realistic goals. Some still held out hope, however… I saw the clouded look in Tanya's eyes again as she stared blankly at the other children.

"How about you Tanya, what do you want to do?"

"I don't want to be a hero." She said dully, her eyes in the dull silver, refusing to shine. "I'm perfectly content with my job prospects." I didn't flinch as Musaro's clawed hand slammed against the wall. Since the incident years ago, he has always stayed clear of Tanya and has stopped walking around as if he owned everything. It was a good change, but it was mainly out of the guilt that he may have cost Tanya her dreams.

"You better get into U.A.! All those study guides better have helped you!"

"Oh, I won't let you down Musaro, I'll make it into U.A... just into the General Education course or Business."

I watched as Musaro's eyes unfocused and the other children made faces.

The tone in the room shifted, and even the ever-oblivious Tanya seemed to take note and smiled, "But I'm not the only one trying out for U.A. guys, I know Sando is trying out for the support course-"

The children all got distracted as the pudgy pigtailed girl became the center of attention, apparently shocked that Tanya knew and showing her shy side; during this moment Tanya slipped out of the living room.

I grimaced as the door closed and shook my head. Despite Tanya's Quirk training over the years, I knew the young girl still felt like a danger to others and refused to consider her dream of being a hero… even though she really wanted it.

She always helped around the house, was the one everyone went to for advice, had a heart of gold, and forgave any slight or prank against her- not overly so, of course, and made sure the children understood not to do it again.

Whenever I quizzed her on her opinions of various villains and their crimes, Tanya would answer with what could only be described as a Hero's response.

The grocery store hold up, "The man committed a crime because he felt he had no choice, if he could get a job he wouldn't have done that."

The fires of downtown, "It was good Endeavor took down that criminal as swiftly as he did. Property damage? The criminal's quirk was a walking virus that would have killed countless more people. The value of human life over a few buildings is nothing…."

Yes. I was convinced Tanya had the heart of a hero. She only needed the chance to see it. If she was given that, there would be nothing that would stop her.

That's why when she asked me to send in her application to U.A. I erased the checkbox next to Management and checked Hero, a smile on my face.

If I made sure a former intern made sure the folder made it past the censors…

I'd never tell. Anything for my children, after all.


Tanya Yamada, Middle Schooler

I groaned before rubbing my eyes. Why did I have to take this test again?

Right. When I gave my application to the Caretaker of the orphanage, there was a "mixup," and it was too late for me to resubmit to the general education course. Thankfully, after a few gaggle searches, it was explained to me that I could transfer my classes if I was accepted into the hero course. Transfers between departments were prevalent in the first year.

However unlikely that would be.

I was not one to believe in miracles. U.A.'s hero course had less than a one percent acceptance rate as students from all over Japan fought over admittance. The general course I studied for also had a low admittance rate of only five percent. However…I actually studied the material for it.

Hero students have to study law on top of their general studies and exercise for the practical test, which is changed yearly…

They actually fight over spots.

I didn't really look into it much. Brief mentions on forums speak of the tests being heavily biased toward destructive and flashy quirks.

My quirk fills the "flashy" requirements, but "destructive" leaves much to be desired… that's not even counting that I haven't exercised beyond the bare minimum to keep up with my physical therapy. I barely avoided that government-sponsored Hero track and didn't want to give them any ideas to come back.

Curse Being X for putting me in this position.


Nedzu, Principle of U.A.

"Are you really going to allow her to take the physical exam?" Recovery Girl spoke, stabbing her finger to the manilla folder.

It has been years since something like this has slipped through the cracks of the administration, though Midnight wasn't as sly as she thought she was, and honestly, the situation at U.A. is getting to be a bit of a bit of a trainwreck that he can't look away from.

Despite his best efforts in steering more of the older Heroes into raising the next generation of Heroes, they stubbornly refused- too secure in their ivory towers to notice the vultures circling overhead.

He didn't even bother asking Endeavor or All Might to join, so he was surprised when All Might approached him holding that job application and provisional teaching license…

A few years back, there was a significant staff turnover as many left to return to hero work or retired for personal reasons. I barely needed to look at the dates to learn why they were leaving. After all, it fell to him to fill in the gaps with competent teachers.

I leaned back into my chair at my desk and took a moment to glance over the two teachers in front of me. Shaggy hair, unkept beard, baggy eyes. Aizawa once again skipped sleep in favor of an extra patrol on the outskirts. He had sharp eyes, despite missing sleep, adrenaline keeping him invested in the topic. Chiyo's tone of voice is slightly uninterested. So Aizawa likely brought her here to argue with her as a witness or for her medical input.

Interesting.

"This is the height of irrationality. The girl shouldn't have passed the approving board, let alone the" Ah. That's the reason. I interrupted the man, "But she did, and she applied to the course regardless of her medical history."

Aizawa took a moment to gather his thoughts, hopelessly thinking he could change my mind here. He was already on the thinnest of ice with me regarding last year's expulsions, and his useful quirk was the only thing protecting him from being outright fired and served to the masses. The HPSC and school board did everything they could to save U.A.'s image and fought to keep the few rightfully angry parents and students who didn't decide to return to the school from going to the media with their stories. His quirk being what it was is the only reason I haven't blocked the HPSC's political maneuvering to cover for him.

"Then she is irrational and a danger to herself and others. We need to deny her application and reject her." There was something there- the way his voice pitched. This was more personal to him for some reason.

Interesting, but not overly so.

I let the silence in the room grow. The downsides to having already thought through the conversations with humans are that trying to get to the end of the debate takes time…

I let my gaze move over the two with an audible hum, confirming that they are both in agreement to deny her application. A suitable amount of time has passed to continue.

"Well then. Let me remind you both that your advice has always been heard and, in most cases, even followed. We will not be blocking Yamada's test." Before the two could talk back, I held up my finger, "The U.A. testing grounds are top of the line in safety and security. And we have you, Recovery Girl, on hand for any injuries that may happen, as well as plenty of other certified staff. The girl in question applied for the Hero course. Despite, and perhaps because of, knowing what her quirk can do to her body."

For a Hero school, sometimes these two really pushed the boundaries of 'Safety.' I chuckled at the thought and sipped his tea before continuing, "That's very Plus Ultra of herself. If she doesn't succeed then this may be just what she needs to be realistic regarding her health… but something tells me that she may just surprise you two, and even if she didn't I don't need to remind you of the current situation we have for ourselves this year."

All the teachers were given a stern talking to two years ago about the teachers' rather loose teaching styles and disciplinary actions. How the public will view the school and the impact such practices will have on the hero industry.

Then the talk became private last year between myself, Aizawa, and Vlad King.

Too late, perhaps. The students of 2-A banding together in a show of teamwork almost unheard of in such a large group of humans.

Sadly it was behind a lawsuit, not Hero work.

Oh well. If anything happens during the test, that is just one more incident to throw onto my pile to take to the school board. I might be able to change the damn school entrance exam into something that exemplifies pure heroics rather than punching society's problems away. The secondary scoring barely passed their notice when the exam was approved. Only human laziness has kept them from challenging it yet. Despite knowing my plans, at least to some degree, Aizawa, in all his 'rationality,' has been consistently shooting himself and this school in the foot.

Thankfully in terms of Yamada's entrance exam, I was able to glean from the HPSC's servers notes about young Yamada's potential and her 'mitigation' training.

Those were the only things that protected Midnight from being brought here to answer for herself.

While I rummaged over my thoughts, the two chastised teachers left my room. I waited a moment before setting down the application folder Aizawa left behind.

Tanya Yamada, Quirk: Fantasmic, emits frequencies of sound and light from her body with various minor effects depending on the color. The frequencies are controlled by her vocal cords. User is not protected from the impact, helpful or otherwise.

It's slightly off-putting that her face was familiar despite the common name. He didn't meet many non-heroes during his short-lived Heroics career and only met students sparingly as The Principal… Something to look into in the future if she becomes a student here.

Now, where is that blonde buffoon? He should have been here two hours ago…


Tanya Yamada, Hero Course Applicant

I was right. I will not pass this test.

It's two o'clock, and my brain was already turned to mush.

There were four broad subjects for the individual tests. Mathematics, literacy (both English and Japanese), science, and heroics.

Literacy went fine. Anglish or English were carbon copies in my three lives now. More evidence into the pile of Being X's laziness. To others, the amount of writing was probably overwhelming, but for me, who literally wrote pages of war documents and reports for fun?

On that note, math and science were also okay. I spent years in the sky running Magic calculations and formulas through her mind. Until the questions went to college levels, my pencil had been dancing across the page, and afterward, I could at least answer them after a few calculations.

Heroics was the one that went the worst, mainly due to not studying a lick of it. The basic first aid and mass casualty priority questions were methodical and in keeping with my second life, but the response to villains and apprehension questions? Insurance fraud vs. unregistered quirk use responses?

Enni Minni Miney…

Anyways.

I hope I did okay, but I'm not about to start praying to X over it.

If I managed to pass that test, it was likely because of the abundance of questions on mass casualty response and large-scale villain fights.

I pulled out my lunch and cracked open my utensils. If there was anything better about this life, it was the food. No longer was there the taste of war and death in every meal, bless the lieutenant's heart, but there is only so much you can do with sausage and bratwurst.

With a sigh, I shut my eyes. My space next to the garbage smelt horrid, but compared to the blood-soaked trenches of the Rhine, it was like roses. I chose this spot because it helped avoid the stampede of brain-dead teenagers looking for food.

If I don't make it into U.A., I would have to take an online class for at least one semester, and the funds would be tight; however, I deserve at least the opportunity of- No, that won't work. I have to make it into U.A. If only for the reputation of being part of Japan's best school. If I am actually in my well-deserved retirement life, being second place will not suffice. Always strive for excellence!

If I believe I'll fail, then I will fail. I must think I will succeed. And to do that, I need a plan…

But I can't plan until I know what the test will be…

After lunch, everyone was given a pamphlet of what they would be doing for the physical tests before they were ushered into a large auditorium and told to sit down at assigned spots.

Looking over the pamphlets, I read the rules multiple times while waiting for the Pro Hero to explain everything.

But even so…

Destroying robots.

Different points for each type.

Some robots are only an obstacle and not worth anything…

It was awfully… simple.

Anyone with a good enough quirk and stamina to match could destroy robots. Assuming they are built purposefully weak or have obvious weak points. However, that doesn't mean anything for heroic capabilities, just that you can throw a good punch or kick. Plus, from the forum crawls online, they all complained about a hidden test in the practical.

Wait… Heroics is all about- that was it!


Nemuri, Pro Hero Midnight, Heroic Arts Teacher

In the test observation room, the faculty watched with interest. Many switched from screen to screen. Some watching singular monitors.

"This group is very lively. They are pulling out tricks and doing very well."

I always hated this part of the year. I never liked the practical exam, despite understanding its necessity from a pragmatic point of view. There are too many students applying, there needs to be some way to cut down on the numbers, and the easiest way is a physical exam of their abilities to fight…

This is where my problems with the exam come in. My quirk and many other heroes are not truly suited for combat, despite what many people would have you believe- but that is why we trained our bodies to fight and user support items to augment ourselves. I might not have won second place in my first-year sports festival without my fans!

Most kids taking the exam will have yet to take martial arts training or consider using support items for their quirks. Hell, very few of the ones that have combat quirks have ever been pushed to their limits.

Oh well. As I have been told before. Life is not fair.

Just like those students with connections to make it into the recommended exams. These ones will have to work hard to impress and rise above.

I let my eyes roam across the various screens showcasing various students-

"What…" I snagged one of the remotes from the table and locked the camera on the student. A little blond-haired girl. From what I could tell from her shirt and jacket, she was skinny. She looked like a harsh breeze would send her to the ground... However, she was marching through the street as if nothing was wrong, passing by other students fighting the robots… And I knew for a fact she shouldn't have been there.

I must have kept the screen locked for too long because Nedzu said, "I see you are looking at Yamada as well."

What was she doing in the General Practical? I specifically put her in the recommended pile with-

Nedzu's sharp smile was looking right at me.

I barely kept from flinching, hoping I was wrong, "The kid just seems way too thin for it to be anywhere near healthy. But that would hopefully be fixed if she got in, which wasn't likely a possibility with her not doing anything. If she doesn't step up her game, I don't think-" I stopped when the camera seemed to be blinded white before the automatic shade filter turned on and showed the girl with her arm shoved elbow deep into a robot.

"Great. She's doing it." Aizawa tiredly commented, also keeping a close eye on the screen, now. He wasn't the only one, either. Yagi turned his glance from his monitor, following a green-haired green-haired boy frantically running around towards the now-shaded screen. Nezu was watching with his usual smile.

The monitors preemptively activated the shaded filter as the girl ran through the city, leaving any robots she encountered without a head. A few students fell over, clenching their ears as she passed by, prompting the question from Yagi, "What is she doing-" As I turned to him, Aizawa replied, "She is hurting herself and the other examinees."

I blinked at the open hostility. He always puts the safety of his students above all else, but accidents happen all the time in training, and she hasn't even been put in his class yet.

"What is her quirk?" Yagi seemed interested in the girl for some reason.

Nedzu hummed and replied, "Examinee number 3141, Tanya Yamada, her quirk is Fantasmic… and she isn't hurting the other students." he tapped a few buttons. The monitors switched back to the few students she ran by, showing them standing up and looking over themselves before running off, "She is energizing them. Though I wager the volume and light might have hurt them momentarily."

"So… she is singing at them?"

Aizawa hummed, "Based on her reports, I would expect her arm to have blown off by now…."

I choked on my breath; how did he know about that? I didn't realize Mita talked to him as well?

Across the room, Yagi spat blood, "What!" The shouts caused everyone in the room to look at them. Nedzu growled lightly, causing the other teachers to focus on him, "As Aizawa wants to create a bias for one of our examinees,, I suppose I must now inform you all. Our usual background checks of examinees missed a student this year." His beady eyes seemed to glance at me for a moment.

Crap. This is the last time she does something for that woman; connections be damned.

"She has hospitalized herself in the past due to her quirk going out of control when it awakened; however, it has been noted to be under control now. Because of this, I had allowed the exam to go through because after all, it is only one student and the danger is low at best, and at worst we have Recovery Girl on standby. Because of allowing this, we now have an examinee with a growing number of villain points. Back to your screens." Nedzu waited for the other staff to return to their monitors before turning back to Aizawa, "If she makes it in, she is going into your class, and because of your bias any recommendation for expelling this year will go through my approval first."

Aizawa only grunted before turning back to his screen. I could barely see the slight frown on his lips. A year without Aizawa being able to expel the students. That's a new one, but not unwelcome. I love the man, but he has been jumping the gun on expelling students for the last few years…

Nedzu puts on headphones before using one of the drones with a directional microphone to focus on Yamada. Numbly I synced my screen with his to listen as well.

"-will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it-"

Bad Apple? Nice choice.

Maybe she'll give Mita the benefit of the doubt.


Tanya Yamada, Hero Course Applicant

From the point of view of physics, sound is considered to be the waves of vibratory motion themselves, whether or not they are heard by the human ear. At low frequencies, sound can be potentially fatal to living beings by causing internal damage, while high frequencies cannot be heard by normal humans but can be used for sonar-like effects. Since sound vibrations can travel through the air, ground, water, and any form of medium, defense by using physical barriers is difficult. The vibrations themselves can also affect things at a molecular level.

Sound is an invisible, deadly weapon and a versatile tool.

That said, my vocal cords and eyes were mutated. I can make sounds at all frequencies, and if I focus, my eyes can 'see' the waves, however disorienting that is.

Ever since my quirk came in, I had trouble talking as the very bones in my body seemed to become brittle and break over the faint sound I made while breathing.

Quirk-induced Fibromyalgia at age five, thanks X, you damn-

Thankfully a branch of the HPSC stepped in to pay for quirk counseling and therapy. Our good tax dollars at work.

With the training, they gave, I was able to learn how to control my voice, and I discovered that on top of being able to play any frequency of sound with my vocal cords, I had a second set of vocal cords that turned the sound I created into visible light.

The doctors boiled it down to me, reversing the process of turning electricity to sound. But the effects that happened due to the lights were dramatic.

I compared the effects to how I used Magic in my second life. Faster frequencies gave the effect of adrenaline, strengthening my muscles and letting me move faster. Like Mita's quirk, meanwhile, slower frequencies gave the effect of cooling down, calming me down, but made it a struggle to move. Like the owner of the orphanage, Okuma's Time Out quirk.

The light was that same effect radiating out to all it touched, at least by my limited testing anyway. Every time I boosted my adrenaline, everyone around me got a boost, and every time I urged my light to shine brighter, I sent a shockwave of adrenaline through the air.

This was my brilliant plan.

Showboating is a part of heroism, and what's more, show boaty then makeing as much noise and light as possible. It helped that the robots were built with such obvious weak points and were slow to fire when blinded by the light I was making.

Now if only singing this loudly wasn't needed to shine as brightly as I needed.

My throat would be bleeding again after this, not to mention the bruises I could feel growing on my arm.

Focusing on the movement of the corners, I made sure to line up as many robots in my path as I could possible nothing but my pain and a para-"

-

The end of the exam was as abrupt as it began, a giant robot, the Zero Pointer. Appeared, and in a display of its robotic might, it scared away all the students towards the entrance.

At this point, all energy had left me, and I had to hobble towards the entrance coughing up the mistakes of the last fifteen minutes.

Hopefully, all that showboating was worth it. My throat can only handle so much.

At the entrance, the nurse, an old woman with a cane, used her quirk to heal my throat and gave me some gummies as fatigue overtook me. I need to sit down and catch my breath. I can't pass out now. If after only fifteen minutes I'm this exhausted, they won't-

I barely made it to the bench before sleep overcame me.

I also woke up in an infirmary with a few other students sleeping there.

Someone somehow managed to break both their legs and arm in the test?

I doubt he passed. Not that I am one to talk. Scheisse.

I left the infirmary and made my way back to the orphanage. The train ride gave me time to review the exam and what I did wrong. Showboating obviously was the answer they were looking for. However, putting that much attention on myself while tiring myself out would highlight my shortcomings.

I need to start sending out my applications to other schools. It's a shame. U.A. would have looked great on my job applications…

When I tried to do that, Mita just told me to wait for the test results first, as if she knew I had passed.

While I enjoyed the vote of confidence, my efforts to seem like the perfect student and child were backfiring here.

Damn, Being X. How did it come to this?

After a week of internally stressing about various deadlines, I was pleasantly surprised when Mita congratulated me and gave me a letter and a small metal projector. She gathered all the children around the room from surrounding me and Sando, who opened her note, the metal disk revealing itself as a projection made by the support course teacher. She was accepted into U.A.'s support course.

Following the cheers from the others, I set my own projector down. I mentally groaned as the impromptu huddle closed in around me as all the other children in the room recognized the large visage of All Might standing dramatically before her.

With barely a word of warning, All Might flexed, his muscles visibly rippling under his suit, "I am here as a projection! Congratulations, Tanya Yamada, you have shown great knowledge and valor during your two exams!"

His voice was loud and boisterous, a master of public speaking grabbing attention from all around himself, "You scored exemplary during the written exam, your knowledge of first aid setting you apart with a perfect score in that area! During the practical, you showed focus, bravery, and self sacrifice! All traits worthy of being a hero!"

All Might's close-up, smiling face was replaced by a few screens showing Tanya running around tearing the heads off the robots and glowing brightly. To both my embarrassment at the bad form I displayed and the oohs and ahhs of the children crowding my personal space.

All Might reappeared at the end of the short slideshow, a pen in his hand pointing at an empty screen to his side, "You scored thirty-eight villain points. While an impressive score in its own right, that was not enough to pass on its own!" The screen displayed the results with a red X next to a 38/40.

Wait that means I didn't pass.

My eye started twitching as I thought about all my future plans crumbling. The deadline for that other school was tonight- if I hurry, I can-

"Fear not however! That is not all we were testing for! There were also rescue points! Handed out by a panel of judges for your actions; you scored an impressive twenty additional rescue points for the revitalizing music you sang to all around you!"

I groaned, hearing my voice play back to me through the speaker- I knew I was off-key, thank you very much. Hearing my quirk be distorted by the small speaker didn't help either. Those groans faded when I saw my name listed in ninth place overall flashing on the screen.

Ninth… Place? Out of the hundreds of applicants?!

"This is your Hero Academia. As for why I'm here!? You are looking at U.A. Academy's newest teacher! And Young Tanya, I look forward to having you in my class! Well, that went well, I'm off to take a break. I've still got how many left?" With that little bit of humanity, the editor left the recordings. He disappeared, leaving me in a shock that slowly morphed into horror as all the children clapped and cheered me on.

I made it into the top school in Japan. I should be happy right? However, the problem is that I can't transfer out of the hero course as I planned. Snubbing the number one pro hero would be disastrous for any career I applied to! Not to mention everyone here would sooner crucify me! All Might is popular on the level of The Emperor.

Anyone criticizing him is never heard from again…

This is obviously a convoluted plan by Being X. Only he could come up with something so stupid!


Another title for this story is "Yeet-o to Hero"