This is a bit of a lengthy author's note- sorry for that, but please read it :)
AN: holy heck, normally, I take the time to reply to every review. Never have I received so many reviews so fast. So this will be the first time I bundle responses…
Moving up in the world! So first off, Thank you all!
I was told that I have little descriptions going on, so I updated the chapters to try and describe the characters better… I just didn't want to put too much detail into things out of people's point of view, you know? If a character only gave someone a passing glance, I wouldn't describe more than a few things they would pay attention to, etc.
Tanya's quirk doesn't reflect her personality? O.O., have you looked at my Google doc with the story's outline? Tell me if you have so I can lock it down better… joking aside, the other review is correct- quirks are a genetic lottery. If you want angel wing, Tanya, or Magic Tanya, there are many better fanfictions on this site with those. I'm just trying to be different, and there are reasons for the quirk that may or may not be explained in the next few chapters…
Sorry to burst people's bubbles with Tanya being related to Present Mic- Yamada is just a ubiquitous last name… Taro Yamada is the Jane Doe of Japan- but don't worry. Her parentage is a neat little subplot I have going on.
Also- I will have already updated the last chapters, but if you don't want to reread them, here are some quick notes on Tanya's looks…
When I alluded to her scars and past injuries- I didn't mean she literally LOST her arm; she damaged it on par with Izuku going 100% in the fight with Muscular. Her body was not suited for the amount of power she used and caused massive damage, but not that debilitating. I also alluded to her doing exercises to keep her physical therapy going, but I'll clarify that now.
Also, I described her as small and thin. I didn't mean emaciated or malnourished. She is short and doesn't have muscles…
Again those things should be clear now. By the time this is posted.
Also, I am German. I know how, at least my family speaks, other languages. That will make sense later.
Santos: ¡Estás de suerte, Kyoka es uno de mis personajes favoritos!
Chapter 2: A Young Girl's Survival Training
Tanya Yamada, Hero Student, 1-A Seat # 6
The sheet of paper that was given to us was, in fact, four different pieces of paper. The first was our syllabus, explaining everything we would do during the course up to the sports festival.
The second was a non-disclosure agreement about the various hero lessons, information about each other hero students, and everything related to the U.A. Facilities.
The third was an agreement to undergo said training in the hero course and waive the rights to sue the school for any emotional or physical damage that may or may not happen while undergoing training.
The last was their hero costume application. We would put down any support equipment, specifications, and design space for our design…
All were to be taken home and signed by our guardians, or we would be expelled from the course. Which… made sense so no one blamed the teacher, Present Mic, for the harsh words. Though the reminder of Aizawa did bring the mood down in the room.
He then explained to us the various facilities open to Hero students. The Guidance Counselor, Hound Dog, was available at all times of the day. Hero students only need to ask the teacher to visit him, and they will be allowed to at any point and for however long it takes.
Recovery Girl and her assistants are on call at all times, even after normal school hours until eight, because the training facilities are also open after hours until eight every day.
Lunch Rush serves meals for all students and dinner if they sign up for it during lunch. The price of the meals is incredibly affordable, thankfully.
After all that, he said that while we may have missed the orientation today, we will be given a brief welcome by the various teachers throughout the week and that today was a half day so that we could hang out with our classmates and get our forms signed at home.
When the teacher left with a "THAT'S ALL FOLKS!" the class breathed a sigh of relief.
I set the papers in my bag and stood up to leave when a phone was shoved in my face. I froze and looked up at the pink-skinned girl; Ashido was smiling down at me. What does she-"Take it and put your phone number in it!"
Oh. Oh! I smiled and took the phone, quickly typing a number I had memorized. After I was snubbed earlier by Bakugou, I didn't think about networking with the other students today. "I don't actually have a phone, but I put in my Caretaker's number. I don't think she would mind if you contact her to get in touch with-" I was cut off by, "You don't have a phone?!"
I blinked up at her, looking at her shocked face. Is it really so odd? "... Yeah?" I mean, it's sorta like getting a permit to use your quirk for work or getting a driver's license. Not everyone in Japan has one. Public services are rather good here, buses and trains are always on time so you can always get to where you need. I never needed a cell phone in the Empire, anyway. Radio worked just as well. "Anyway, if you want to meet up to work on homework in the future, you can call this number, and she will let me know. I need to be going soon if I want to take the train to Fukuoka."
I bowed to the girl and exited the room, which seemed to explode with people rushing around, passing numbers to one another.
I should sign up for the after-hours training hall and dinner for lunch rush every day. I'm sure his meals might be a few levels above what is expected at the orphanage, and it will give me an excuse to avoid the others at home from asking me questions about All Might and what hero stuff I'll be learning every day.
As I left the school, I started hearing some shouts. The students here really are lively, aren't they? I bet they didn't have to deal with a teacher like Aizaw- "I said, hold on, Tanya-chan!"
Huh? I turned and saw Hagakure and Jiro rushing up. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought those yells were someone else." The invisible girl waved it off, "That's fine! I figured we could all walk to the station together! I also invited Uraraka, but she said she wanted to talk with Midoriya." Ah. So she must have also noticed and wanted to have an in with the son of the number one. Gotta give credit; the hero students know how to network. "Well, I don't mind the company. Let's head off."
And so we walked together towards the station, Hagakure filling the silence by animatedly talking about different workouts and giving advice on other diets. I made sure to memorize what I could. She outperformed most of the class today in basic physical skills, only really falling behind due to people's more specialized quirks in each of the tests.
Speaking of, the ear jack girl did give me good advice today… I waited until Hagakure ended her talk about the exam before turning to Jiro, "speaking of exercises. I didn't thank you for the advice you gave me during the practical today Jiro ." I bowed respectfully, "I appreciate it."
"You don't have to bow-" I stood back up to see her looking off embarrassed; the invisible girl was looking at her as well from what I could tell, "I mean, Aizawa shouldn't have put you on the spot like that either, a lot of us are here to learn how to use our quirks better… Us girls just have to stick together, yeah? You can call me Kyoka… You too, Hagakure!"
That seemed to excite the invisible girl more, "You can both call me Toru too!"
I smiled brightly; having hero friends will be helpful when I graduate, "You can call me Tanya as well, but even still. Your advice was appreciated, Kyoka. I didn't think about using that specific frequency until you did that." The taller girl just looked away, her ear-jacks moving around slightly.
Toru jumped in, "How does that even work anyway? Like if I hear you make noise I get affected by whatever you're doing?"
How to explain it, "Well. From what I know- I'm still finding out what the specifics are… The louder I make noise with my voice, the brighter my light gets. And the frequency of the sound I make affects the color of the light, as well as the effect. When I reach a certain frequency the more… stronger and faster I become. When I reach a lower one, the weaker and slower I am. The sound also affects others around me if the light shines on them? Or just if they hear the sound? I never really tested that, and I sorta just did what I could today to not get expelled."
Honestly, that little caveat, I need to find the answer as soon as I can. Aizawa will expel me if I don't figure out something that simple.
I should have really figured that out ages ago. My caution with Being Xs plans with the HPSC has caused me to be too paranoid.
"That's so cool~; I'm just invisible- obviously- something about refracting light. My parents are the same! What about that two-voice thing you did, and your voice changed when you were singing." Toru was, at this point, waving her arms wildly while walking in front of Kyoka and me.
She is one overly excited girl. "Being invisible has its uses, don't sell yourself short there. Most high-profile villains like to gloat over their victims before heroes arrive. You could show up without them knowing and take them down before anyone else." Encouragement was not my strong suit, so I looked to my side to see if Kyoka agreed with me. Seeing her nod beside me, I continued, "And about the two-voice thing, ʸYͦoͧu ͫmͤeͣᶰanͭ ͪtͥˢhis? I have two sets of vocal cords that work independently. I can also make my voice sOuNd like whatever I want. It took a lot of practice." I smiled at the shocked expression on Kyoka's face and the frozen floating clothes- shocked?
Well, I have every right to be proud of my accomplishment. It took me years to get to swap my vocals on a dime like that. It was somewhat helpful during the karaoke nights I'm forced to attend to keep the other kids comfortable with my quirk being what it is. Getting my throat to produce sounds normally formed in the mouth with a tongue took even more effort and time. I am glad I didn't have something like Bakugou's explosion quirk. Who knows what they would have me do for quirk training there… Then again, I might have been sent to the HPSC's sponsored hero track.
Being a government agent is different from my idea of a comfortable life.
Toru gushed, "That's so cool~! Do me do me!"
I laughed, "Alright, so-" Bubbly, higher pitched, bright, "That's so cool~! Tanya-chan~ You need to put some meat on your bones ~."
Toru must have loved it, she was shaking, "O. M. G."
"I sound so cute!~" "That's so cool~."
Kyoka started laughing at us, so I turned to her and pulled out Aizawa's voice, "Keep laughing like that, and I'll expel you!"
She froze for a moment before laughing harder, Toru joining in.
I smiled. Mission accomplished on getting friends. See, I can communicate with people just fine, Mita!
The walk to the train station ended with all of us splitting up at the station. I gave both of them Mita's number, of course.
The friendships will hopefully make the hero course bearable while I am in it. Afterward, it never hurts to have a few high-profile Heros as clients! Networking really is the best thing one can do.
Mita Mano, former sidekick 'Joyful Fist' turned Caretaker.
Despite the years I have been here, this time of the year always gave me pause and a bit of sadness. The kids that used to rush around are replaced with empty halls as everyone is off to their various public schools. The only ones still here are those too young to be in school or those old enough to be helping around while their independence papers are being processed.
However, this year was one of the more exciting in a while. Tanya made it into the Hero course of U.A. Sure, I pulled some strings to get her application accepted despite the strict censors on past health issues, but that just meant she truly did impress them with her heroic spirit if they still took her after going over her history!
Sando also made it into the support course, so it's not like she was the only child here to do it, but that just made it all the more exciting!
And sure, a couple of the kids here made it into general studies here, but I didn't raise them like I have those two and the ones that came after.
This is the first time I can say that to two of my kids! In U.A.! What more could I ask for, honestly? Well, my legs, but other than that. I was a happy little mother.
The day passed with my cleaning and checking on the little ones when the front door opened.
I turned to greet whoever was there when I froze. The man was setting off alarm bells in my head. Usually, parents arrive here in pairs and call in advance, but sometimes they show up without a prior appointment… and when that happens, they always seem to dress casually, not in a suit and tie. Only the agents from the HPSC do that, "... What can I help you with, sir?" The elderly man with silver, almost white hair looked at her with aging red eyes.
I stood straight, gripping the broom in my hand tighter to cover my nerves as I looked at him over. He looked foreign, with thinner lips and higher cheekbones than she had seen in a while. The last time one of these HPSC goons showed up, they tried to fine them for misuse of funds when they had bought a few of the older children's phones so they could get jobs!
Misuse of funds! For Cell Phones! In this day and age!
Needless to say, she hated them even more.
"Ja." The foreign word and accent initially surprised her, "You see I haf r-r-reason to beliefe mein grentdaughter vas placed here…." His voice was rough, and it took her a moment to piece together what he said, "Sir, you will have to make an appointment if that is the case." Not an HPSC goon, but still… shifty. What's a German doing here?
He reached into his pocket, causing me to guard myself with the broom, and he pulled out a wallet… He laughed off my reaction, "It's good to see you r-r-ready to defend yourself, cha, fery good. Forgife me mein ignorance uff your language. Mein daughter vas much better zan I at zis. Sche vas killed vhile I vas away, years ago." He pulled up a photo with a blonde-haired woman holding the arm of a much larger-suited man.
"Zis iss her you see, I lost her almost fifteen years ago, I vas told vhen sche died zat her baby died mitt her you see, but r-r-recently I vas told ze baby surfifed. I kome to find her."
The woman was familiar as well as the man… But I couldn't remember why.
Regardless, "Sir, I would like to help you, but you still need to make an appointment or you won't be able to see any of the children here, even if you claim to be one of their grandfathers. Fifteen years is a long time, surely you understand that right?"
The man sneered, but it was gone as soon as it came, "You are r-r-right, I vill kall undt set up an appointment. I am sorry fur ze intrusion." He bowed and left.
What… an odd interaction.
I looked at the closed door before remembering the photo in my hand. I rushed to follow, but there was nothing outside, and I couldn't see the man walking down the street in either direction…
A second glance at the photo showed me the blond hair woman with gray eyes and the large man in a suit who looked nothing like the thin old man. Her husband or boyfriend, perhaps?
Regardless, I got some calls to make. There was only one child that looked like this woman that came here fifteen years ago, and I will be damned if I let Tanya have her life uprooted when everything was just starting to go the way she wanted just because of one old man that couldn't leave well enough alone…
Tanya Yamada, Hero Student, 1-A Seat # 6
The return trip home and subsequent signing of my papers went rather quickly, Mita seeming lost in thought until I asked her to look over them. The syllabus includes the timetable for the classes and the various department-specific classes.
Japanese, math, science, foreign languages, history, and art are all compulsory subjects. Every department studies these core subjects at different times of the day. The hero course takes these during the morning, followed by lunch. Then, in the afternoon, Heroic-specific classes take place.
Heroics-specific classes included everything they need to know to become excellent heroes in service of the community and work towards the qualifications necessary to be allowed to use their Quirks in public spaces. They were to be trained in battle, first aid, law enforcement, and various other certifications they required, such as Support Gear Maintenance.
Two significant things to note were listed before the sports festival: Quirk Gas training and Rescue training at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. Quirk Gas is an evolution of Pepper spray or O.C. spray. It is used to non-lethally take down unruly criminals, but due to the nature of the mist, heroes rarely use it. The reaction to the spray is hard to predict as some people are immune to it, and it is frowned upon in society to use what some consider a military weapon… yet punching someone into a wall is encouraged and cheered?
Yet another odd thing about quirk society.
The Unforeseen Simulation Joint is what I am mostly looking forward to. While I am not aiming to be in the hero course for long, the logistics and engineering required to create what amounts to seven natural disasters in a localized and controlled environment is something to be amazed at, if nothing else. The logistics of fitting that into a budget? Mythical. The U.S.J. has been discussed in the community as the go-to place for training in all hero hopefuls and first responders.
The fact that U.A. can have the first year, first semester even, students attending a lesson there is rather… insane, to say the least. I knew they were considered the best when I applied, but this much pull in society is unreal.
Signing the N.D.A. and the agreement for training was simple, and without me having any family members, I didn't need anyone else to sign anything. That also means I have a valid excuse to not discuss anything with the other children here! Mita signed on as a witness and then snatched the final paper away from me, grinning wildly.
I sighed. Of course, she would be excited about the costume. While I am not expecting to stay in the hero course, a hero suit is a requirement up to and including the sports festival. I have never been very creative with anything not involving my voice. So a former Pro's advice would be appreciated, I suppose.
The next half hour was spent going back and forth over the particulars as she took down notes and sketched. I wanted protection, an awful amount of combat training was listed, and accidents happened. A skin-tight jumpsuit wouldn't offer much protection from explosions or electric shocks… My shoulder and arm were hurting after the practical exam, so having padded gloves or knuckles would help when I am punching things and boots for kicks. A Kevlar vest would help against any projectiles and pockets. Female clothing is always so impractical without deep pockets to hold things. A belt to carry some other things would be helpful as well.
Regarding the specific support equipment for my quirk, a mask with vocal misters…
Which also brought up questions on the specifics of my quirk that needed testing. Mita was there when I was hospitalized years ago, so she might have a more firm idea from the doctor. I was never told much about the specifics there, which makes sense. I was only five at the time. "So, how exactly does my quirk affect others? I always just assumed it was the light I generated. I shine a light, I influence others… If I am going to survive in this course, I will need to learn these specifics as soon as possible."
Mita took a moment to lean back in her chair, thinking before leaning forward onto the paper with my hero costume ideas, "Well, the quirk doctor said that from what they were able to diagnose, your quirk organ, the one that your vocal cords are connected to, sends chemicals to your vocal cords. What those are specifically, I can't remember. Still, whatever it is causing you to generate that light, you do." she waved to her neck as if to gesture to me where my light shines from, "The volume of your voice determines how much chemicals are sent there, thus causing the light to shine brighter. They believe that the light causes that reaction, but based on practical experience, I would say it is a multiplier on the effect…."
"In what ways?" Knowledge is power, after all. The more I know about this, the better it will be for me.
Mita never stopped scribbling on the paper as she continued, "So like, the times you were singing karaoke. I sometimes was not in the room, however I still felt the effects of your voice. While the effect went away the longer I was away I still had that feeling. When I came back into the room, suddenly I got that full force again."
"Wouldn't that just mean that it went away when you left, but it returned when you came back?"
"Well. yes and no. There was that time I wasn't there at the start of the night, making dinner for everyone, and I felt that burst of energy from down the hall. It only got more pronounced when I came and called you all to dinner."
If that is the case, I am fortunate I covered my neck before jumping and used a frequency he couldn't… hear…
"Wait, Mita. One moment. Do I have permission to use my quirk right now to test something?" She looked up from her drawing, her brow furrowed in worry, as she always looked when I asked, "You don't always have to ask. You know we trust you here. Go ahead."
I nodded and sang- at twenty-five kilohertz. I took the usual frequency I used for my strength enhancement and pitched it outside the human hearing range. My neck shone an aura of red around me.
She nodded while squinting, "I feel more awake than when I drank coffee, but… I don't hear anything."
I continued to sing at that frequency while covering up my neck- She squinted. "So… The light is what causes the effect?"
I stop singing, explaining my discovery, "Both do. If you can hear my sound, the tone affects you. And the light carries that same effect. If you are hit with both, the effect is more pronounced. If you are deaf, you would still get the feeling if you were in the line of sight of me, and if you can only hear me, then you will get that effect as well!"
I smile. Now that I know how that works, I can keep using my quirk without the threat of expulsion!
"I'm glad you're happy, dear. Now sit down, and let's go over your hero costume again. I need to go over Sando's papers later…."
But first, designing something that protects me without standing out too much, despite Mita's protests...
—-
The next day I made it to class once again early, the room looking empty like yesterday, however with a quick scan of my quirk, I could see the vibrating form of Toru in her chair at the back as well as the static vibrations of Aizawa under his desk. Are they still practicing Inemuri here?
Deciding to ignore the lazy teacher I waved to my friend while moving to my seat. Based on the excited sleeve waving back, I figured she noticed me. As if on queue, the second I set my things down and pulled out my papers, Bakugou stormed into the room, his ever-present sneer on his face.
After some research the previous afternoon, I discovered he must suffer from a form of Quirk Induced Mania. His quirk Explosion naturally makes him have mood swings as explosive as he believes his quirk to be.
You see such mania affecting people at all levels of society. A quirk that lets someone talk to animals finding it hard to talk to humans, or a quirk that gives someone a tail, naturally using said tail in everything they do. With such emphasis on quirks being part of your value in society, some people feel subconsciously that they must use them at any opportunity. Styling their way of life around their quirks. There are also those quirks whose biology actually does affect its users, people with animal quirks having their entire diets change from the norm to include things their animal halves naturally eat, such as the Pro Hero Gang Orca being unable to stomach food that is not sea life.
So while I forgive him for his behavior. The teacher will have to teach him to ease off on his explosive temper. A hero with his attitude won't make it far unless he has as much control as Endeavor to avoid unnecessarily harming people.
"Good morning Baku-" "Shut up Blinky!" Right. I'm not his mother, nor am I his teacher. It's not my responsibility to discipline him.
So I gave up on him and waited for the rest of the class to show up…
The rest of the class funneled in as the time ticked by. I waved toward Kyoka when she entered, but other than a few outliers who felt comfortable talking with each other, such as Ashido whispering animatedly with Hagakure, the room waited for the bell.
As soon as the bell went off Aizawa lazily stood up from behind the desk, surprising many of the students before he ordered everyone to hand forward the papers from yesterday. Of course, he made sure to include that if anyone was missing, even a single one, they would be expelled.
It was frantic momentarily as everyone passed forward their papers with bated breath. Aizawa slowly stacked the four different sheets of paper in front of him. Looking over the hero designs the longest, snorting every few moments before looking up.
"It appears no one is expelled. Also some of you have submitted some questionable designs… you will have to work with the support company later to have them changed. Until then, I will have these all routed to the appropriate personnel. Stay here until the first period."
He then walked off without a word.
The class was silent for a moment waiting for something to happen as I felt Aizawa's vibrations move further away from the classroom.
"Does anyone else think he needs to take the stick out of hi-" The bubbly tone of Hagakure started to ask from the back of the room. Before she was interrupted by the boy with engines for legs shooting up out of his seat shouting-
"That sort of talk is unacceptable for a hero institution! Don't you think that sort of talk is disrespectful to our upperclassman who has been through this curriculum? And the Heroes who have taken the time out of thi-" "Nope! I rate him one star!" Hagakure interrupted him right back, waving her arms around.
"Why I-" "Oh Shut it you extras! If he is here then he is the best! You all can go piss him off and get expelled for all I care!" Three guesses as to who that was.
The engine boy, Tenya, spun around on Bakugou. Their argument was being watched by the whole class, who were egging either one or the other on. The ones who weren't were either attempting to look small in case a teacher showed up or were conspiring with their neighbors for something or other…
I busied myself with preparing my English text and notepad when I picked up the loud frequencies of the radio hero heading down towards us. I looked at the two boys, still arguing. Apparently, Midoriya was trying to get them to calm down unsuccessfully…
This would give a bad example to the teacher about the class… I turned to the side, away from them, and spoke in Aizawa's voice. "If you don't sit down in the next four seconds, I will expel each of you."
The class became silent as the three boys yelped and rushed to their seats. Well, the two did. Bakugou scoffed and sat down.
A second later, in the shocked silence, Hagakure snorted before chuckling as the door opened. "HELLO, EVERYONE!"
—-
If falling asleep during a boring lecture was socially acceptable, I would have attempted to do so. Despite his best attempts, Present Mic could not make Anglish grammar enjoyable. Doubly so for someone with a firm grasp on the language… wait.
English, not Anglish… Whatever.
Same thing.
It's been nearly fifty years, if I remember my first life's age correctly, since I last sat in high school. My second life skipped right to the Rhine and War College. However, no matter how much I tried to pay attention to the material, with the assistance of Mr. Yamada… I just couldn't. The class was rooted in boredom. I took to trying to memorize my classmates' natural frequencies and taking notes in my book, if only for appearances. Each person had a unique sound, usually only a few frequencies of differences, but the pitches, diffusions, and were all over the place.
Aoyama #1 - A hushed staccato.
Ashido #2 - A pure but insistent noise.
Asui #3 - a sonorous echo.
Down the list, I went keeping an ear out for if I would be called…
Nedzu, Principle of U.A.
The start of the year was always a wash of administrative duties. Transfers to the various courses, requests to change multiple classes in the curriculum, requests to and from different agencies to use facilities…
Some people have wondered why I even bother looking at my emails and papers when I could just have an algorithm or A.I. handle it. I certainly have toyed with the idea at one point. However, if I were to do such a thing, I would instead spend my time doing other things, which would then run the risk of me not going over the data collected by said A.I. and being surprised… No. I should keep a hands-on approach to things close to home. Instead, I have a few programs supporting me to keep an ear out for keywords and names in various media, saving me from watching opinionated political news networks.
Because of those programs, while approving the various classes and applications to use our facilities, I was alerted to a rather exciting bit of info.
An unscheduled flight from Germany of all places was intercepted by Hawks and the JSDF. While they forced the plane to land and arrested a small group for trespassing- their names when entered into the system pinging several investigations and cold cases- another flight from Russia went unnoticed. Whoever was hacking the flight logs did a great job covering their tracks… I am only being alerted only because of the A.I. tracking such updates...
Ah, it was the hacker "Lonely Millionaire." I sent his location to the hero net. I doubt they will make it to him in time, as the net trail had gone cold a few days ago, but it's no longer my problem.
As a hero, I respected privacy and, of course, avoided hacking into public spaces and devices unless it was part of an ongoing investigation, which is why said flight that landed two days ago only just now was alerted to me. Why was I alerted at all if I held such a respect for privacy? Well, I had left a few bugs in the system from when I was an active hero to alert me whenever someone on Interpol's or Japan's most wanted was spotted.
Surprise surprise.
A Pakhan, a Russian mob boss, was spotted with a group of thugs on the outskirts of Fukuoka. Ilya Kuzmin. Age forty-two. Wanted by Interpol for drug trafficking, smuggling, people smuggling, and human trafficking.
With a click of my paws, I sent the photos of the meeting and the active warrant to the police and Heronet.
I would have left it alone if the street name didn't seem familiar. I inputted it into my system to look up the various-
Ah, that street is where a few first years live. Uyeda Sando, Support Course. Tanya Yamada, Hero Course.
I minimized the still-in-progress documents and opened a few new windows…
Nothing is going to harm my students under my watch.
Tanya Yamada, Hero Student, 1-A Seat # 6
When the lunch break started, I didn't waste any time. My notebook was shoved back in my pack, and I marched towards where I memorized the lunchroom to be.
The line was starting to form when I arrived, so I quickly took my place. No one had to know if I got there faster than the rest of my class due to harmlessly abusing my quirk just a little bit.
Lunch Rush, the hero that cooked all the food and was in charge of the cafeteria, could only be described as a living meat grinder. The mutations caused by Quirks were indeed something odd. Nonetheless, the man was awfully cheerful and highly proficient at his work. The man quickly served the students and cooked new batches of food as fast as they were ordered.
And what food it was. I was delighted to see many different meals, all at dirt-cheap prices. Overall the food was above and beyond what I was used to in this life and the last.
Granted, I almost missed the vein-clogging foods of the Empire if only for nostalgia's sake, but the local dishes, especially made by Lunch Rush of all people, sold me on the idea of dining back in the Akanese world. Finding an empty table, I dug in, only now seeing my classmates slowly pour inside the large hall. The reactions of my new friends to spotting me already eating was a treat, but not enough to distract me from enjoying the blissful food.
As I worked on the dark chocolate cake dessert, my classmates took up many seats around me. I greeted them before focusing back on my food, letting their conversations wash over me. There will be time for socializing when I am finished.
It seemed they were discussing the various teachers and how boring classes were. Typical teenage drama- at least until Uraraka's voice popped up asking, "So did you see the look on the boy's face when Aizawa told them to sit down? That was hilarious."
When did that happen? "What are you talking about?" Ashido asked my question for me.
"This morning, after he made us think he left-" "Oh, that was Tanya!" Toru jumped in, interrupting Uraraka causing most of the table to turn towards me, collectively asking, "What?" Toru froze, seeming to understand she said something she shouldn't have, "Oh… I mean…"
I better clarify this for her, "It's fine, Toru. Just don't let the boys hear you say that. I would rather not give up that trick for at least the first few days." The others at the table were confused, not understanding the situation, so I cleared my throat, drawing everyone's attention before speaking in Midoriya's stuttering pitch, "C-Can you p-please stop staring-" A dark growl in the back of my throat interrupted Midoriya's voice as Bakugou took over, "Shut up extra! I don't want to get expelled!"
After a moment of silence, they clapped at the performance. Some of the girls asked me to try someone else or say specific things, but I just waved it off, telling them I wanted to relax my voice before training today, which caused Ashido to ask, "So what do you think the training will be today?"
The almost regal tone of Yaoyorazu spoke up, "Well based on the syllabus we will have some basic first aid and crowd control/urban survival training."
"Crowd control training? Ah. right. Guess there is no avoiding it." I mentally started to count down the hours. "What do you mean? It sounds like it will be fun!"
I looked over at Ochako and raised a brow. She seemed serious. I added Masochist into my mental summary of her before replying, "I don't think getting Devil Spit in the eyes is fun."
"What- that's today!? We just got the syllabus yesterday! I haven't prepa-"
The bell rang, interrupting her fretting.
I stood up from my seat. The other girls could handle that.
On my way out of the lunch room, I slowed my steps and allowed a few groups of older students in front of me to observe.
A few girls from the upper classes were huddled around each other, looking at their phones while walking, no doubt helping one another not bump into anything while networking.
I should try and get into their no-doubt wide web of contacts. It would only be beneficial.
One step at a time, however.
My first step should be to set my plan in motion.
Today's first aid class was somewhat redundant to me. The only things that seemed different from my previous lives were the emphasis on avoiding hands, limiting direct physical contact, and the extra focus on gathering as much info as possible if the victim was conscious or not.
Those three points made sense, given the sheer quantity of various skin and touch-related quirks. Paramedics would need as much info as possible on how to best treat the victims, not to mention the different materials required for each individual. No one wanted to be the hero that killed someone because they stitched their gills closed.
Sadly despite the rather morbid subject material. Today was all theoretical. During a practical, I will have to hold the hand of the manakin and use inappropriate materials for wounds.
Today however it's instead… "death by PowerPoint." Ectoplasm-sensei has lured the class into falling for his trap. Honestly, the only reason I haven't dozed off was watching the various frequencies of ectoplasm clones and how closely they resemble the 'host.' What I wouldn't do to have a quirk like that one…
Regardless I give him an A for knowledge and a D for his presentation. Already I could faintly hear the sound of snoring in the dimly lit room…
Don't these idiots know that sleeping in class will make them fail?!
The bell rang out before the lights turned back on, and I heard the nasal voice of Mineta squeak out, "What happened."
"That concludes the lesson, make sure to keep it in mind, as you will be tested on your knowledge next week. Good luck in the next class, cold air helps."
After that bit of advice, he walked out of the room. Barely a minute passed, and whatever tiredness we may have felt disappeared into anxiety when an elderly woman, who I recognized as the nurse Recovery Girl, and Aizawa entered the room. Trailing behind them was a cart being pushed by a small robot.
"Good afternoon. Time is precious, so let's get through this presentation and get you all certified." Aizawa spoke in his deadpan voice as Recovery Girl started to lay out some cloth on the wall and floor.
The class held its breath, no one wanting to get in trouble. Aizawa pulled several papers from his scarf and dropped them onto his lectern.
"Welcome to my favorite part of the year, basic urban survival training."
One brave but dumb male voice cheered excitedly before quickly quieting down when Aizawa glared at him, "Kaminari, front, and center."
The spiky golden-haired boy scratched the back of his head nervously as he stood in front of everyone.
"Now for todays lesson we will be going over basic information before going over a basic questionnaire followed by a test, and Kaminari has graciously volunteered to go first. Fill this out and pass it to her would you." The last bit was addressed directly to Kaminari as he passed a paper and pen to the boy.
Well, more like he threw them at him. I salute your sacrifice.
"Now, Recovery Girl has more important things to do then sit here all day monitoring this lesson, so let's get right to it." He looked down at the papers and began reading, his board voice the only sound in the room other than Recovery Girl messing with her tablet, quickly seeming to enter in whatever info Kaminari gave her.
"If you bothered to read the syllabus you would know, Quirk Spray, Q.S., or 'Devils Spit' is used by law enforcement to control crowds and take down criminals. Rarely will a Hero have one of these or use them. However, that does not mean that you will never have one. Nor will you not encounter it during your career. There is always a risk that a criminal you are encountering will have one on hand, or you will be hit in cross fire by a Police Officer."
Kaminari seemed to realize what exactly he was standing up for and started shaking.
"It is because of this, that we will expose you to this today as well as go over the proper use of this tool."
The class held its breath as Aizawa smiled while drawing out a small canister from his scarf.
He stepped around his podium before stepping closer to Kaminari, who backed up into the area Recovery covered up earlier.
When the teacher backed up, Kaminari calmed down.
Not sure why when he is standing right where Aizawa wants him to…
"There are three main areas where the spray will have the most effect, and we will hit all three today."
Without any fanfare, he snapped his hand towards Kaminari, "The eyes-" "OH MY-" The yellow, choking mustard cloud spray shot out from the teacher's hand directly towards the young man's face. His hands shot up to cover his now, no doubt burning eyes. Aizawa kept his eyes on him, his quirk smothering Kaminari's sparks.
"The respiratory system, nose and mouth." "Wait I-" More death shot out, some entering the boy's mouth. Coughing, followed by Kaminari falling into a fetal position on the ground.
"And the skin. You can see it is already inflamed and burning." A moment passed as his broad smile and eyes passed over the class. Kaminari's quirk finally unleashed a few pitiful sparks from his shaking form on the ground.
Then he sprayed Kaminari one more time before continuing.
Death
"The spray not only has physical effects, it also has psychological effects you must be aware of. Fear and anxiety, they can't see you anymore, or if they can their vision is heavily obscured. Panic attacks are common, they may feel like they are dying. If so, be on the lookout for hyperventilation- they may feel they aren't receiving enough oxygen and fall over."
Recovery Girl stepped up to the poor boy, shushed him, and cleaned his face with a wet towel as he started to shake on the ground. I could tell he was clenching in whatever curses and sobs he could.
I clenched my eyes shut, breathing deeply. It's been years since I thought about the damn war. Why did it have to be yellow?
I felt a poke and spotted Kyoka's ear jack whip back towards her chair. Giving me a thumbs up from her seat. For appearances, I smiled and nodded slightly. Not wanting to draw attention to myself from the teacher, I focused back on his lecture.
"The correct delivery of the spray is anywhere from five to twenty feet, any closer and the spray is too concentrated in a single point and can potentially cause permanent damage to the target's eyes. The way you aim is towards the target's left or right ear and sweep across their eyes and nose to the opposite ear. Then you sweep back to the start as I just demonstrated."
Kaminari, at this point, had his head dunked into a medium-sized tub of water that the robot had pulled in from somewhere. Sparks of electricity shoot off from his back. The old lady was now wearing rubber gloves and rubbing circles on his back.
"Things to keep in mind before usage. If the person is above you, that's a pretty stupid mistake as worst case the spray misses and hits you in the face, and best case you hit them and they fall over the railing. Spraying someone actively driving a vehicle…" he looks up a blank face as he sweeps over the class, most of them too stunned by what just happened in the past few minutes to say or do anything, before returning to the paper, "A female that is obviously pregnant, the elderly, and of course. Spraying into the middle of a crowd."
Aizawa put the spray down, and the class seemed to let out a breath of relief, only faintly heard over the slight splashing and sobbing coming from the front.
"Now. Let's say you come across a victim of pepper spray, you must first reassure the victim, try to keep them calm and decontaminate them. Wet and dry paper towels, dunk their head in cool water-"
He lazily gestured toward the nurse and Kaminari while speaking,
"Have them open their eyes under the water and try to get as much of the spray off their skin as possible. Stay with them until the medical services are on hand and they can take over."
He leaned into his podium, continuing to speak, his smile gone and his laziness taking over, "Do not. Rub the eyes or remove their contacts if they have any. That will only damage the retinas and increase the chance of permanent injury."
He waited a few moments before continuing.
"Now for the case we will be testing today. You are Sprayed in the face just like Kaminari. For this test we will go under the assumption that you have a support item with you, Handcuffs and a taser. The first thing you do when Sprayed is cover your gear with a hand, and keep your other free to protect yourself."
He demonstrated taking a step back, his right hand grabbing the end of his scarf and his left holding out in front of himself. An obviously practiced stance.
"You will create distance from me, stay calm, and call for help. And you will be forceful. Because after you are Sprayed I will approach you and attempt to take your gear. I succeed you will do this test again tomorrow after class. And we will do this test every day until either you pass or give up, any questions?"
I doubt anyone will speak up with the amount of fear he has given everyone these past two days.
He waited a moment, looking over the class, who all seemed to as one turn their heads towards Kaminari, whose swollen red face stared back at them.
"Good. Let's begin."
The blatant joy in his voice didn't win him any points in my book, and I doubt the class was any different.
Kyoka Jiro, Hero Student, 1-A Seat # 12
Pain.
That is all that I can think about. My eyes were burning, I could barely breathe, and I could hear sobbing and curses from everyone around me.
Why the heck did I have to do this? That is all anyone in the class could think or talk about.
After what seemed like forever, a wave of tiredness and relief took over as the damn nurse finally used her quirk on me.
"Now do calm down dear, it was only a few minutes. Back in my day they used-"
Whatever you say, lady.
There was always one minute of dodging the teacher, followed by five minutes of pain and washing before she would use her quirk to fix any swelling the students experienced. The reasoning I couldn't give a damn about at this point, but I'm sure it was a good reason.
My shirt was soaked, and I grabbed a fresh towel to dry my hair and face. Looking around, most of the class was staring off into the middle distance or watching the remaining few writhing in pain or getting sprayed.
This class sucked.
All I learned was a lot of new curse words and saw sides of my classmates that I didn't think about before.
The standouts so far are…
Tenya attempted to get out of doing this test, pulling out a certification saying he was already tested and certified. When Aizawa shut that down, saying it was not the first time he had heard that, there was a bit of a verbal spar from the Rules Lawyer of all people.
'A' for effort. He still fell down crying like the rest of us.
Bakugo, I was only slightly disappointed when he stood there frozen after the spray hit. Apparently, he just blacked out with his confident grin on his face.
It took Recovery Girl grabbing his arm and pulling him over to the tub for him to notice time passed, his face burned, and he failed.
The curses were cathartic.
Shoji was forced to remove his mask, showing his scarred face to the class for the first time.
He was practically unaffected, using his quirked limbs to turn into eyes and avoid Aizawa's lunges.
Toru was sprayed twice due to Aizawa missing the first time and hitting her chin, and she was the first and only student to try punching the teacher when he came at her. She still passed, but no one attempted to go on the offensive after she was tripped onto the ground lazily.
Momo attempted to make a gas mask before going up, but Aizawa had her remove it before spraying her. Afterward, she made a wall of fans for her face, which the rest of the class used to cool off after their tests. During this, Mineta cried out about 'the promised land of wet T-shirts.' It didn't take long after that for a divide to appear between the girls and boys.
Sadly the little perverted demon, while having snot and tears poured down his eyes, let out that he apparently built up an immunity to the pain. No doubt girls everywhere tried to spray him before.
Aizawa was particularly vicious to the less confident students, seeming to make sure more of the spray hit the target of those shaking in fear. Koda, Mineta, and Midoriya. I fear Tanya will be added to that list based on her appearance during the explanation.
Because of this, when Midoriya stood there shaking, I sent a small prayer up so he wouldn't pass out.
When he was Sprayed, he stood there for a moment blinking. When Aizawa sighed and moved forward to take his gear, Izuku jolted and blocked his attempts.
It took a few seconds for Izuku to walk off to Recovery Girl and whisper to her, "I don't feel anything- no, I mean like… it didn't work on me-" "I'll explain later. Just wash your face off." "Yes, mam."
Hmm.
Going to ignore that one.
"Yamada. Your turn." The short girl walked forward, and I noted that she loosened her tie as she got to the front.
Without warning, he sprayed her face as soon as she got onto the mat.
It looked like she was going to be a repeat of Bakugou the way she just stood, shocked still before something in her seemed to snap, and a high-pitched sound abruptly flared out from her throat.
In the silence, she clutched her neck.
With his glowing red eyes, Aizawa put the spray down and approached like he did everyone else who failed. However, when he got within a few steps of her, she let go of her throat and feebly tried to swing at him. Which he dodged lazily.
In fact, it looked more like she was trying to wave him back off than punching at him.
If this was any other situation seeing four and a half foot girl try and punch the teacher would have been adorable.
"You're not saying anything. How are you going to get help!" Aizawa shouted at her. Didn't he know by now his quirk made her mute? The second he blinked, Yamada made a high-pitched keening noise before…
Well, that's why she was quiet.
Everyone's faces pulled in disgust as the girl violently painted Aizawa in yellowish liquid bile. Aizawa froze in place like anyone else would be in the same situation. He must have turned his quirk off as well.
"Sͣtͬ…ͪstͦʷayͦʷ bͦʷacͦʷk!ͣ ͬᵍGͪ…gͦʷo.ͦʷ" she violently projectile vomited at him again "Gͥo ͪAͣwͭaͤyʸ!ͦ ͧHelp!" She shouted in her twin voices before holding her mouth closed again.
Aizawa stood there stunned, dripping in bile as the nurse finished her countdown and collected the girl to go to the wash tub. Recovery Girl was chuckling as she helped dunk the poor girl's head in the tub.
"Three rare reactions in one class." Recovery girl laughed as she patted Yamada on the back a few times.
Aizawa stood frozen as he dripped bile from his clothes. Then he slowly turned towards the shocked class, small chuckling stopping at his glowing eyes. "Class. Dismissed." he stated. Clear. Concise. To the point. The class remained frozen in their seats as we watched him squelch his way out the door. The tiny robot that had assisted Recovery Girl beeped, following behind the slouched teacher with a whirring sound. A mob head extending from its chest cleaning behind the homeroom teacher's steps.
When the door slid shut behind the teacher, the class was silent momentarily before a chuckle left Toru's lips.
Then Mina joined, chuckling.
And as if a damn burst, everyone was laughing.
Honestly. If all the stress of this-
"Does that mean I passed?"
The sounds petered out as we all turned to see a dry Sato who looked to have come out of this experience unscathed. He seemed to shrink in his seat as everyone glared at him.
Justice would be swift an-
"Sato front and center." Recovery girl smirking, holding up a can of devil spit.
The cheering resumed.
I wasn't one of them- Tanya looked like she was experiencing hell, and it wouldn't be right to be happy until she was cured...
Only a few P.O.V. changes in this chapter. I hope you enjoy it regardless!
Tanya's favorite Lunch Rush food is the bowl of Peaches, by the way… I'm sure Jack Black would agree.