Chapter 9

Chapter Text

"Okay," Nana said, still reeling from the realization that Midoriya's hidden quirk seemed to make them a ghost. "First thing we need to do is check to see if we can move from one person to another or if we're stuck haunting Bakugo for the rest of his life."

"I'm guessing that's a thing ghost-me has control over," Midoriya said. "Any idea how we might be able to contact me…er… him?"

"We have a few ideas," Yoichi said, reminding Nana of the attempts they'd made to contact Toshinori when he'd first started using One for All. It hadn't worked but maybe they'd just been trying to contact the wrong holder. Surely a ghost would be more likely to sense them and find a way to communicate directly. Plus it was Midoriya and if there was one person with enough analysis skills to find a way to be a ghost and a hero it was that kid.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Midoriya asked excitedly. "Let's get started."

~*~

Homeroom was a shock.

Only eight of Shota's nineteen remaining students were actually in the room when the bell rang.

And all eight of them seemed as shaken as Shota. A quick check of his phone showed five emails that had been forwarded by administration advising that Jiro's, Yaoyorozu's and Uraraka's parents had reported their daughters were taking the day off for mental health reasons—acceptable, in Shota's opinion as long as it was only a day or two and they'd sought some form of counseling—and a notification that Iida's and Mineta's parents had transferred their sons out of UA and into other high schools. Shota tried not to be relieved by that last one. Mineta's behavior toward the girls had been concerning and sooner or later Shota would have had to deal with it. It may even help the girls recover faster just by knowing the little pervert wouldn't be a problem any longer.

But that still left five students unaccounted for: Aoyama, Ojiro, Koda, Sato, and Hagakure.

"Ashido," Shota asked, "is there anything on the class group chat to explain the absence of the others?"

"Group…chat?" Ashido asked in a small, worried voice.

"Present Mic has excellent hearing," Shota said, quickly explaining how he knew Ashido had organized the class into a group chat before they'd all been released to go home. "And I'm impressed that you and the rest of the class chose to stick together to see this thing through. A good support network is essential for a successful pro-hero career."

"Oh," Ashido said, obviously relieved.

"But as your teacher, right now I need to know if there are legitimate reasons for the missing members of the class not being here."

Ashido seemed reluctant to invade her fellow student's privacy so Shota gave her the information he already knew. "I have been notified regarding Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Iida, and Mineta."

Ashido nodded but turned to Kirishima in a silent appeal for help.

"Ojiro and Sato are…rethinking their career options," Kirishima said diplomatically.

"Koda?" Shota asked.

"No clue. They haven't said anything on chat."

That wasn't surprising. The quiet (not actually silent) kid had been distressed when a couple of the birds they'd called to them for the entrance exam had been injured. Shota had actually been surprised when they'd accepted the school's offer. But after yesterday's events it was logical that they'd be worried all over again. It looked like there was at least one parent-teacher interview in his near future.

"And Hagakure?"

"She's here," Ashido said, glancing around the room in confusion. "She was in her seat when I got here."

Which meant if she was still in the room she was completely naked.

Shit.

"Hagakure," Shota said, turning toward the empty desk, "if you're here please let me know."

"I'm here," a quiet voice said from Midoriya's desk. "Sorry."

"Hey," Shota said, lamenting the loss of his usual distance between himself and his students. "It's okay to feel distressed over what happened yesterday"—he turned to address the whole class—"and I promise all of you that we'll work through this together"—he moved closer to Midoriya's desk—"but I'm afraid I must insist that you put your uniform back on." He tried to lighten the mood a little by adding, "A child sitting naked in the classroom will cause all sorts of problems for me and the school if someone in the press found out."

"But having me naked for heroic's class is acceptable?" Hagakure asked in what seemed to be uncharacteristic sarcasm.

Shit. He'd hoped to correct this problem before needing to discuss it.

"I am in the process of reviewing everyone's hero costumes," Shota said, falling back on the tone Hitoshi often described as intense. "It seems there were a lot of inappropriate designs from the contractor this year."

"So that wasn't deliberate?"

"Fuck no," Shota said, startled enough to swear in front of his class. Damn, he really needed to claw his emotions back under control. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No, that wasn't deliberate and under normal circumstances it would have been discovered long before you were required to wear—or in your case not wear—it for class."

"So Yaoyorozu's and Uraraka's costumes…"

"Will be reviewed and replaced, yes." The sounds of relief seemed far louder than they should have been considering there were only nine children in the room.

"So when you say 'under normal circumstances…'"

Shota really didn't want to explain because it felt like throwing Yagi under the bus, but he also needed the kids to understand that Midoriya's tragic death and the hero costume problems were not the usual way of things at UA. They had protocols and systems in place for this very reason.

"Normally," Shota began, choosing his words carefully, "the first heroics class each year is spent going over safety protocols and learning what is and isn't acceptable behavior in training. At UA we aim to teach you everything you need to know to become a successful pro-hero, but that starts with safety lessons, not battle trials."

"So All Might—"

Shota cut Kirishima's question off with a sad smile. "All Might was aware of the curriculum yet didn't really understand its importance. Jumping ahead to battle trials was ill-advised and with obviously tragic results, but there were extenuating circumstances that led to that error." He glanced around the room, glad to realize the students were all listening carefully. "The principal and staff are aware of the problem now and are making adjustments to ensure your safety."

"Will All Might still be teaching us?" Kaminari asked.

"He will be. He has decades of experience that you will all benefit from, but he'll be accompanied by a more experienced teacher until he is more comfortable in his role as your heroic's instructor."

Ashido was clearly reading her phone. Ordinarily having their phone out in class would be an automatic detention, but Shota was willing to let rules like that slide for a day or two. "Is Bakugo okay?" she asked, still looking down at the small screen.

"Why do you ask?" Shota asked warily.

"There's a um…news article…that um…"

"Send me the link," Shota said, not hesitating to give his personal number to all of the students currently in class.

The headline was horrifying.