Learning to Trust

"Camouflage is a game we all like to play, but our secrets are as surely revealed by what we want to seem to be as by what we want to conceal."
-Russell Lynes


Chapter 6: In Plain Sight

"You're not All Might's desk jockey. You're a Pro. And you're looking for someone, aren't you?"

Yagi was silent for a long while, his face an impassive mask. The silence alone confirmed Aizawa's speculation far better than any words could have. Still, Aizawa waited patiently for the answer. The man looked very sick and frail, and Aizawa didn't think for a second that it was only a show. The blood was real, for one. And Recovery Girl had seemed genuinely concerned when she'd contacted him...

"He's too sick to walk home, Eraserhead, but that fool's going to do it if someone doesn't drive him. You're the only one available."

"Can't it wait an hour til Mic's free?"

"I'm not even sure I can keep him here until you're free…"

Aizawa continued to watch the man from over the capture weapon wrapped loosely about his shoulders. He has to be a pro. An old brawler, by the looks of the scars on his hands and the way he balls them into fists when he's agitated. Someone who spent his life in close range fights. Who doesn't know what to do with himself when he can't fight anymore.

Who though? Aizawa's brow furrowed. He kept tabs on the pro circuit as much as possible, and nothing about this guy was familiar. No… that's not quite true… There was something unsettlingly familiar that made it feel as though they'd crossed paths before.

Pointedly avoiding eye contact, Yagi finally responded. "Not quite, but you're close enough. I can't go into details."

"Then give me the basics." Aizawa crossed his arms, leaning against the window frame to more comfortably face his companion, keeping his eyes carefully trained on the man. If he had a physical augmentation quirk, erasing it might not work, but still… better to be safe, not that the man was likely to be a villain. Unless he'd managed to pull the wool over Nezu and All Might's eyes. Aizawa snorted softly at that. Not likely. Nezu's quirk made it almost impossible to directly trick him. And All Might may act like an idiot at times, but he would never have sent someone to UA without knowing the guy's history. Retired maybe? It would make sense… It was hard to tell Yagi's age. His poor health likely had him looking older than his years, but even so, Aizawa suspected the man had to be in his forties or fifties. "Why did you lie about who you are?"

The man sighed, seemingly unsurprised by this turn of events. "Technically, I didn't lie, you know. I never said I was only a clerical employee." He picked up the tea that Aizawa had brought to him taking a sip, and thoughtfully running his thumb across the garish primary colors emblazoned on the mug. Red, white, blue. Stars and stripes. Gold trim. The massive cup starkly contrasted the faded man who held it. "By the way, you can relax," he finally said softly. "I'm not a villain."

"I didn't say you were."

"You look ready to erase my quirk at a moment's notice."

"I am."

Yagi nodded. "I thought so. And I don't even know if you can, honestly. I'm not planning on using it on you anyway. Nezu trusts you, so I do, too. Mostly."

"So, tell me why I should trust you."

Yagi ran his hand over his face, tiredly. "I can't."

"Why?"

Yagi shrugged. "Anything I do or say at this point won't help." He sipped his tea.

"Even the truth?"

"Probably would make things worse, honestly."

"I see." Aizawa continued to stare at the man, one hand absently fingering the fabric straps of his capture weapon. Dammit, Yagi. Are you trying to make this difficult? "We're not driving back until you give me something to work with."

"I'd show you my licence, but it's in my briefcase on campus."

Somehow Aizawa doubted it. "That's convenient," he replied flatly.

Yagi shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. I don't carry it on me, because things like this tend to happen." He stuck his hand through the hole sliced across his pocket.

"Tell me what you can, then. No lies. I'll confirm what I can with Nezu."

"I never lie." The blond managed a weak smile that didn't quite reach his intense eyes. "I just keep a lot of secrets."

"I'll take what I can get at this point."

"Right." Yagi turned back to the window. "I am a pro. Been working as a hero since you were in diapers. I'm affiliated with Might Tower, as I've already told you. Before my injury, I worked with Nighteye and some other associates of All Might, but I'm less able to be active as a hero than I used to be-" he motioned vaguely to his left side- "so now I mostly do some odd clerical work and public relations while managing All Might's private life."

"And why are you here?"

"I'm checking out UA and helping to determine if placing All Might at a high school is actually a good or terrible idea. I was the best choice, because I'm part of the inner circle at Might Tower. I know what he can and can't handle."

Aizawa nodded, relaxing a bit. All rational answers. Yagi's body language implied he was telling the truth. More importantly, it matched what little Aizawa already knew. "That's all?"

Yagi smiled again. "Of course not. You're right. This is a perfect place to monitor crime. We've been trying to track a villain from Minato. We don't know much about him. He started off as a low level thug who liked playing games with the Police Force. Recently people have been going missing. Then suddenly, so did he. So All Might and the police teamed up. Based on some of the games he previously played with the police, we've got reason to believe he's somewhere between Musutafu, Tokyo, and Fuji. We're attempting to triangulate his location in order to pin him down and find his victims."

"I see… That's quite the range." Aizawa scratched at the stubble on his chin. "And what's All Might's plan if your villain is here?"

Yagi didn't bat an eye. "I take him down and report in."

Aizawa looked the frail man up and down again. "You must have one hell of a quirk, Yagi."

The other man chuckled. "It'll get the job done. Hopefully I won't need it. We don't expect him to be here. Not with all of the pros near UA." He coughed once and swiped at his mouth with his tattered sleeve. "Good enough?" The man turned his severe face back to his companion, his blue eyes glittering fiercely, a contrast to the mild tone in his voice."

"It'll do for now."

Yagi grabbed his torn suit coat from the nearby chair where he'd dropped it. "Good. Let me change into something a little less air conditioned. I know you need to get back to class, and I need to get something to eat before I deal with any more of Nezu's paperwork."

Aizawa nodded. "Fair enough. I've got to get back to my brats soon anyway. They'll be devastated if they miss their Quirk Ethics test this afternoon."

Yagi chuckled at that and turned to walk toward the bedroom. As he reached the door, Aizawa added, "I want to see the rundown of this villain though. I don't care if you have the agency send over a file or if the Minato Police Force sends something. If there's a villain important enough for all this trouble, I want to know enough to protect my students."

Yagi paused in the doorway. "I doubt you'll have to worry about this guy, but I already had the file sent to Nezu just in case. He can share it at his discretion."

"Thank you."

"And Aizawa?"

"Yes?"

"If he does come here, I won't let UA become a battleground. I promise."


They drove back to UA in relative silence, both men lost in their own thoughts.

The possibility of a new villain wasn't really much of a concern if Aizawa was being entirely honest with himself. The prestigious hero school was a beacon for would-be heroes and a temptation for villains. That was one of the primary reasons the UA Barrier had been created in the first place: to keep the students safe when villains foolishly tried to infiltrate the academy.

Aizawa even had to admit that it now made sense that All Might himself hadn't come to the school, though Aizawa still questioned his logic in sending a semi-retired hero with a heart condition and half of his organs missing. Still… everyone knew that All Might's first priority was always the safety of innocent civilians. He was the Symbol of Peace and Beacon of Hope for a reason. He would prioritize whichever location was most likely to yield this villain of his and save his victims.

"Aizawa, is something wrong?" Yagi's voice broke into his confused thoughts just as he was pulling up to the UA faculty entrance.

"Just thinking about All Might," he replied, darkly, rolling down his window to flash a faculty pass at the card reader. He motioned for Yagi to hand over his guest pass as well.

"Oh?" Yagi handed the laminated card over.

Aizawa flashed this one as well, and, after the barrier lifted, he handed the card back to Yagi, and began driving onto the campus. "I don't like the idea of him teaching here."

"Because you don't want an idiot teaching your brats?" Yagi asked, flashing a toothy smile.

"Yes… and no." Aizawa stopped the car to allow a few staff members to cross the road in front of him. Of course one had to drop a stack of papers right in the middle of the road. Aizawa tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as he and two other teachers hurried to gather the loose pages up before the wind took them away. He glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes… Then his dark eyes shifted back to his passenger who was still waiting patiently for him to complete his thought. He sighed.

"He is an idiot," he continued, feeling almost as though he had to defend his point for some reason. As though he were talking to All Might, himself. "He's a showy media whore who's going to draw unwanted attention to the school and make our students focus all of their energy on just being him." He scowled. "Do you realize how long it takes me every year to teach them to stop trying to copy him? How much harder is this going to be when he's the one actually teaching them? If he can even teach…"

Yagi remained silent.

"Don't get me wrong. I know it isn't his fault. We all grew up trying to be him at one point or another, even if some of us grew out of it faster than others. And I know why he caters to his fans." he paused and grumbled begrudgingly. "And it works. But still… no one can do everything. He can be a Symbol of Peace: some grinning ideal of perfection for every hero to model themselves on and for every villain to fear. Or he can be a teacher: an actual human with flaws and fears that teaches the kids that courage isn't a lack of fear and unrealistic goals, and heroes aren't flawless." Aizawa began driving again as the pedestrians finally made it to the sidewalk. "No one can live up to that standard. The kids are setting themselves up for failure."

"You don't think that maybe he's giving them hope?"

"Sure. Until you realize that hope doesn't help you pass practical examinations. And copying All Might doesn't help someone with a psychological quirk win a fight." He pulled into the lot. "Keep your eyes open for a space. This is the worst time to look for parking."

Yagi just nodded and glanced out the window. "You know," the lanky man replied quietly. "This is probably before your time, but when I was a kid, it didn't matter how many heroes we had, everyone lived in fear. There were good heroes with great quirks, but it was never enough. I used to think that the reason was because for every hero, there were always more villains who had more powerful quirks. Villainy was like a disease, destroying Japan. And I remember thinking that maybe what Japan needed was someone who could somehow take everyone down. We just needed some ultimate hero to defeat the ultimate evil that used to run the show." Yagi grinned. "I actually told that to one of my teachers. She called me crazy."

"I probably would have agreed with her."

The older man kept smiling. "All Might wound up being that hero. Not by himself. You're right. He could never do anything by himself. And I know it looks like he's trying to take credit and loves the attention, but that's not the case. Someone needs to draw the villain's attention, so the others can take down the enemy while they are distracted."

Aizawa didn't answer for a long moment, starting another circuit around the lot. "Look, I know I call him an idiot, but don't get me wrong. I've fought with All Might once or twice, and he's an exemplary hero. He knows how to prioritize a catastrophe, and he's dedicated his entire life to saving others. Citizens always come first. I admit it… he's Number One for a reason." He scratched his jaw. "But a teacher has to prioritize his students. And the best teachers aren't the best heroes."

"Because they expect everyone to know what they know?" Yagi suggested.

"Exactly."

The lanky blond coughed lightly. "Back when I went to UA, my homeroom teacher called me an idiot sandwich on my first day. I get it."

Aizawa smiled at that. "Idiot sandwich, huh? I'll have to try that one. I usually just expel someone on the first day."

Yagi laughed as though it were some sort of joke.

Aizawa chose not to correct him. "I just think All Might will be a disaster of a teacher. Unfocused. Undisciplined. Prioritizing his hero work. Expecting the kids to be prodigies like him. Anyone else would be better."

"You're telling me."

Aizawa raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Aren't you supposed to be supporting his teaching plan?"

"Just because I'm here doesn't mean I think he can teach. And I agree with you. He has no experience with children. He prioritized hero work over a personal life, pushing away everyone who ever cared about him. I don't know if he even can form enough of a bond with the kids to make them want to learn from him." Yagi pinched the bridge of his nose as though just thinking about it was giving him a headache. "Everything you said is true. I know it. But you should at least know that All Might is aware of his shortcomings, too. At worst, he will reject the position. At best, he needs guidance if he comes. Nezu has offered to help, but the principal has his own work. All Might needs a mentor from the staff, and they seem to share your opinion that All Might is ill-suited for this position. I really don't see how this can work."

While Yagi was speaking, Aizawa pulled into a newly vacated space and shut off the vehicle. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door, stepping out into the cool sunshine of spring. "Honestly, I'd rather have you than him. At least you seem to prioritize the kids. And you know what an injury can do to a hero. They might actually learn something."

Yagi had been unfolding himself from the car, stretching his stiff limbs. At those words, his severe expression was replaced by one of surprise and bafflement. "You thought I was a villain ten minutes ago, Aizawa. How could you say now that I-?"

But before he could complete that thought, a painfully loud voice screeched across the parking lot. "Hey! Hey! What's shaking, peeps?"

Aizawa winced.

Poor Yagi actually covered his ears and appeared to be in some pain for a moment.

"Ignore him. That's what I do."

But Yagi wasn't even able to form a reply before Present Mic's loud voice rang across the campus once more. "Yo! Yo! Yo! Eraserhead! Where've you been?"

Aizawa sighed deeply as Mic approached. "Nowhere. Now go away."

The blond voice hero just laughed. "Chill, man. I just got sent by the principal to collect your pal for a meeting. You'll have to play hooky another day."

Aizawa's eyebrow just twitched at that, but Mic turned to Yagi in the meantime, cheerfully chirping in his loudest MC voice.

"Come on, All Might, my man!"


Author's Note: Thank you so much, lolo popoki for 1) listen to me fret about this chapter for two days and 2) the beta work that this chapter definitely needed! I appreciate everything! And yes... I channeled a little Gordon Ramsey into the Gran Torino bit:D

Thanks to all readers. I hope you're still enjoying yourself! I know that I am!

Sincerely,
Sirius:)