"Thanks Torino." He watched as Toshi took in another bottle of milk, instead of beer like a man. "I just … needed someone to talk to."
"It's not like I have anything going for me nowadays." The old master laughed. "What's got you so down in the dumps this time, Toshi? I thought everything was going well for you."
"I thought so too, but I've been questioning it more and more lately." He groaned. "I messed up big time, with Iruma, with everything."
"Messing up isn't the end of the world." Gran argued, taking a sip of ale.
"It literally is in some cases." He responded. "It is when you throw the weight of the world on a kid who never asked for this life to begin with."
"Hey, what's done is done, time travel doesn't exist, so mistakes can't be undone, just fixed." He spoke. "Giving the kid One For All puts pressure on him, but it's not like he's breaking down. Miriko got him to stop bone breaking right?"
"She did, before that he wasn't using it at all. He moves differently than me, fights, thinks differently than me, and I'm proud of him for making his own choices, for being so kind without it being forced on him, but, I think I was too hasty when I chose him." He sighed. "You know, Sir Nighteye around a year ago called me, said he had someone who'd be the perfect fit for One For All."
"I met the kid, a nice guy, lots of potential." Gran spoke up. "Maybe he would have been perfect for One For All … but he just would have been you. Your mistakes in all."
"Yes." He nodded. "In the end, I don't regret what happened, but on the day I was supposed to meet him, I came across a sludge villain. I had him within my sights, but…I started to lose speed, I slowed down, and he escaped while traveling the sewers. After that, I just found myself..questioning everything I've done."
"So you finally hit your mid-life crisis! Now that's a toast."
"You of all people don't get to talk about mid-life crises. I saw what you did to those cats." The good times. "But it did make me think, so I decided to get back to my roots. Community service and all that. It's where I met him, chugging away at trash."
"Ah, I was wondering how that story went, Trash-zombie." The man was undoubtedly a sadist. "So you got soft seeing him do something no one else was doing and made your choice right then and there, huh?"
"I wouldn't put it that simply, but essentially, yes." He smiled at the memory. "The way he showed pure kindness and generosity just spoke to me on a level I haven't felt in years, not since Nana…" Toshi looked down, gripping his glass. "But it was engineered, created as a puppet in a way that looks like one of All For One's minions took reign of it. And I put the pressure on a kid that didn't need it."
"Okay..that sounds pretty messed up, I'm not going to lie." Gran huffed. "But as I said, you can't undo a mistake, only fix it now. You're still here now, aren't you? You're still his teacher, right?"
"Yep, and that means teaching him everything about the hero world. The good and the bad." He looked at the cup. "I should be teaching him right now, but here I am, helping everyone here with the last of my time."
"Your time with One For All doesn't mean it's the end for you." Gran stated. "Unless you think One For All's vessel is all you are, then yeah, your sorry butt's about to be kicked right out of the spotlight very soon."
"You'd think I'd be able to punch a villain with no quirk, a missing stomach, liver, and half a lung?"
"If I can do it, you can kick villainy's ass with nothing but your arm. But whatever happened to helping people?" The man paused, looking down at his own hands.
"Heroes are just people who help." He repeated his successor's words. "Thank you, sensei. I needed someone to kick some sense into me."
"Glad you think so, I still need to wipe the floor with you for only sending a freaking letter."
"Oh I think that's a cry for help!" He still had it.
Nejire watched as Ryuko sat down with Miriko. Super important hero time! "So how's the gang you've been tracking? Any leads on a main base?" Her boss asked.
"Nah, just a few thugs at the bottom that barely knew anything about the group they worked for." The Rabbit hero shrugged, munching on a carrot nonchalantly. "I keep running into villains that keep saying they're demons though. They all keep saying my 'human' stench is putrid."
"You sure that's not just sweat from hopping around city to city?" Nejire asked. "I get that sometimes when I fly around too much. Tamaki says it's not too bad when I ask him about it but Mirio is super weird about it."
Miriko gave her a strange look before turning back to her boss. "This the…"
"Yeah, that's her." Ryuko sighed.
"Can I kick her but for that comment or…"
"Best not to respond negatively. I don't think she could process it."
"Heh, I can oddly relate to that."
"Oh, that reminds me, I have a going away bag." That was new. What could be in it. "Here, it's stuff you'll definitely need when you get back." Ryuko handed Miriko a bag, and curious at its contents, the pro checked it over … before immediately glaring.
"Baby formula?"
"You know, for your new bundle of joy."
"Wait, you're pregnant!" Nejire shouted. "But you don't look any fatter."
"Why you…!" Miriko raised her foot up, but her boss grabbed it before she could bring it down.
"Hey, do that and you can forget about me throwing you a baby shower."
"Baby..what? What the hell are you going on about?!"
"Oh, don't start denying it now, you're crazy for your little kit. You cried when he passed his exams."
"HE IS NOT MY ACTUAL KIT!" The woman shouted.
"Oh, she adopted a kid!" Nejire understood the situation perfectly. "Congratulations. Is it a boy or a girl?"
"Boy-FUCK! That is not the situation and you know it, Dragon Bitch!"
"Oh really, and cuddling him like a mama bunny to make sure he sleeps at night is totally just a normal student teacher exercise."
"He wanted to sleep in a tent, what was I supposed to do?"
"You could've offered the couch or let him take the bed alone, but no, you jumped straight into snuggling. The big tough bunny taking care of her little wolf pup." Ryuko was laughing. "Although if you're not attached, I suppose I can hire him to keep Neijire company."
"Oh, we can do a sleepover!" Nejire spoke up excitedly. "I'll grab the sodas and sleeping bags. And lots of music. Can't have something like sleep get in the way of fun!"
"I told you, no one's going to take my Kit..damn it!" Miriko grumbled. "Ugh, empathy sucks. Why can't I just punch them out of me?"
"Because they're like bacteria. They just become part of you and unless you're a heartless bastard that doesn't care about life? Empathy sticks with you for eternity." Nejire responded, and the two adults looked like they were afraid. "What? Doesn't everybody know about that?" People could be so dumb at times.
"So, what's the sitch?" Twice asked, looking down at the forest. "The 411, the situation, the operation in place, the things of which-"
"I get it, I'm just not responding cause I'm trying to ignore you." Well that was rude! "You do realize our job here is to wait until night comes. Otherwise, we're just making sure the pro's don't notice us too early on." Mustard explained.
"I totally understand! Uh, explain it to me again." Shut UP you horrible excuse of a human being. No you shut up! I'm in charge here. No I am, I'm in … the mask is one. There is one person under the mask.
"Hehehe, you're so funny." Toga giggled, and that was enough to lift his moods just a little. "So much better than that asshat Amy. Just because you're a demon, doesn't mean you get to be a jerk."
"He's a literal demon from hell, I'm sure that's a requirement." Spinner rolled his eyes.
"Didn't he say hell was peaceful?" Mange asked. "I'm still debating if I should actually worship god or not considering that little tidbit."
"Eh, religion is bullshit whether or not it's true." Dabi answered. "As long as heroes burn, I'm down for almost anything. It's not like the guy's all that tough. Tomura scared the hell out of him when his precious magic couldn't protect him."
"Oh yeah, that was funny." Toga giggled cutely. "Hey, do you guys think we'll make some friends down there? The kids are supposed to be super strong and smart and stuff."
"If they're strong I'm down for a match." Muscular laughed from behind his mask. "But don't tempt me, I'm already holding back as it is."
"Tomura was clear, we don't kill them, we simply just make sure they're out of the way as we grab our targets." Compressed reminded them. "That's going to be quite the trick to pull off. The explosive brat is going to be a handful."
"So much meat … I wanna eat it all." Moonfish growled out.
"Just the adults, big guy, nothing more. Eat all you like." No, this guy will take you seriously. You're one, one person.
"I'm sure the adults would be good enough, the fakes they are." Spinner argued.
"Another question, how am I supposed to go non lethal? My quirk literally kills by walking around." Mustard asked.
"Try using low dosages at a time. Should be just enough to knock them out." Everyone looked at Dabi. "What? I look up many ways to kill people."
"Yeah, but you seemed like the kind of guy to just, you know, set them on fire and be done with it." Mange answered for everyone.
"You calling me a moron?"
"Not at all! A complete idiot!" Damn it! STOP SHOWING UP IN HIS HEAD!
"Oh, are we playing the moron game?" They turned to the living demon, smiling at them. "The six play that sometimes, say it helps them get in the causal mood."
"Were you listening the entire time?" Toga asked.
"Halfway through, Kurogiri just dropped me off. I had to stay behind to double check the list, I plan on using a scrying spell." They all stared at the boy. "It's second year material, I'm not a moron."
"Sure.Sure." Everyone, even the voice was able to agree on that.
"So much chaos in one little group. It's like I never left school." That was something everyone could agree on.
Monoma laughed as the five students entered. "Such a pathetic display. Five students of 1-A fail while only one of our magnificent 1-B has one. Superiority is on our side."
All those cretins groaned as he reveled in their failure. They may be popular, but their time in the spotlight was coming to an end. "Oh really, and who exactly did you face in your final?" The tape arm user, Sero asked.
"All Might, of course. I went to take his quirk, but sadly there was no response." Likely a stockpiler, he'd have to try something else next time.
"Wait, if you're the only one here, then who was your partner, and how did they pass?" The multiarmed Shoji raised an eyebrow.
"Kurio, luckily, trained himself to hide even with the lack of utility for his quirk." Sunny city, not the best. "And walked out without a single scratch inflicted." Not many could say they escaped the number one unnoticed.
"Sounds boring. You should've seen Bakugo and Todoroki's fight with All Might. Super flashy and manly! And they actually were able to work together without killing each other!" The Tetsutetsu clone, Kirishima, spoke exactly like he would have.
"Oh really?" Yes, yes you fools! Reveal all your secrets to him! He'll take what they talk about here and apply it for when the classes eventually clash! They would play the long game, play it smarter, and they'll come out on top as the truly superior hero class!
"It was a dazzling display of courage, teamwork, and large-scale destruction. The grace at which they moved was spectacular." The sparkly one looked FAR too happy right now.
"Sit down you morons. Class is in session." Aizawa spoke up, standing next to Vlad-sensei. "Now we're going over what you all did wrong, and how to improve." Right, he almost forgot he was being punished for his failure to pass. Oh well, once he caught up and surpassed the simpletons in these remedials, 1-B will be one step closer to overshadowing 1-A!
"Mam, this isn't fair." Ochako called out.
"Just because you don't like your partner doesn't give you the right to switch." Blue Cat-sama replied, exasperated with how many times people asked that.
"That's not why I … Well, I'm absolutely furious about that." Toru wasn't bad. Why didn't they get along? "But that's not it, the problem is Iruma has no partner!"
"Oh really? Oh no, that's such a shame." Red Cat-sama said in a weird voice and expression.
"Guys, it's fine." Iruma waved off. It's not like anything bad was gonna happen.
"Iruma-kun, we don't trust you to be alone. Ever." Toru spoke sternly.
"Seriously, it's not that bad, right guys?" He asked the rest of his class.
"You had lunch with the villain that almost killed us during the first week of school right before summer started." Jiro stated.
"You also got kidnapped by a nomu before being dropped right in front of the hero killer." Todoroki continued.
"You almost die daily whenever you go to a job." Iida added on.
"Yeah, and I came out without a scratch didn't I?" Iruma smiled.
"... Okay, I'm gonna go with the kid for safety reasons." Buff Cat-sama spoke up. "From what they say he's a danger magnet."
"Why do people keep saying that? How can danger be magnetic?"
"..." Red Cat-sama looked at him weirdly again. "Is he…you know?" She asked his friends.
"Undetermined." Everyone said at once.
The groups went down the trail one at a time, Iruma waiting his turn with the last few people remaining. "So test of courage, I just have to not get scared right?" Iruma asked. "I feel I can do that." He encountered scary situations almost everyday! This wouldn't be so different. "Wait.." He smelled something. "Is someone cooking something in the forest?" Maybe that was the prize at the end!
"Cooking the forest?" Buff Cat-sama looked confused, before noticing smoke. "Fire … there's a fire!"
"Ragdoll, come in!" Red Cat-sama touched her head. "Ragdoll, come in!"
"Sorry, Ragdoll's busy." They turned to see a lizard man with a cool looking sword and a strong man with a magnet. "You can deal with us though, while we wreak some havoc."
"Like we're going to let that happen!" Buff Cat-sama yelled, stretching their arm back and punching the magnet person, who caught it. "We won't let you lay a hand on these kids!"
"Oh, we're not gonna hurt them. We're taking them." They paused. "Well, most of us. Pretty sure Muscular was looking to murder someone up in the mountains."
"You have Muscular!?" The two heroes looked concerned. Why, it was one villain in the mo-
"Kota." Iruma stood up. "I'm going to save Kota!" He shouted, running to the mountains. He wasn't about to let a kid get hurt. Especially someone trying to not get involved in this kinda stuff. He ignored Cat-sama's warnings too. There was no danger he wouldn't survive.