Chapter 10
"It's Miruko again on the news."
"Can't blame the press for putting her in the spotlight."
He pauses in his tracks, stopping from making his presence known to the class he was about to enter, about ten minutes just before lunchtime ends. Instead, he turns back around and quietly makes his way to a corner and peeks around it to look at the source of the voice.
He sees two students are leaning against the window, standing next to each other closely as their shoulders rub. One of them is holding a phone in hand; no sound is coming out from it and the screen is away from him but the students are invested in what they are seeing.
He narrows his eyes at them. Bringing phones to school is not allowed, regardless of their courses. Yes, he knows all of his students bring their phones to school in secret but at least they have the respect and decency to not take them out during class. It's not a class session now but should he confiscate the phone?
"Well the billboard announcement is next week," one of the two students suddenly starts. "You gonna bet she'll move up?" he asks his companion without looking away from the screen.
"Unlikely," the companion replies while making a face, also not looking away from the screen. "I saw the stats just yesterday and she needs to perform a miracle to break through the top ten. I don't think she'll make it within that time frame."
He can understand their view, but they're underestimating what Usagiyama is capable of. She truly earned the eleventh rank Hero, considering the fact that she was ranked seventeenth before. To jump such a big gap within such a short time is a testament of her strength and abilities.
"I'm still wondering just how she managed to get so high on the board without any agencies."
"It's pretty impossible to do if you think about it."
He narrows his eyes at those comments. There is quite an accusatory tone to them.
"It makes me wonder if she bribed someone to get to that spot."
Alright, that's it.
"Foolish thoughts will be a great hindrance to your progress."
The two students jump two feet in the air and let out a loud yelp as he finally reveals his presence to them. They turn towards him, panic fills their widened eyes and straighten up to a rigid posture as he approaches them with menacing steps. Both begin to sweat under his gaze as one desperately tries to hide his phone behind his back.
"M-Mr. Aizawa, sir!" One of them squeaks out, nervousness is evident in his voice. When he stops with a thump of his boot, both students audibly gulp.
"Undermining the achievements of others only proves you are lacking as a Hero," he starts out, looking from one student to the other. The harshness in his tone causes the students to flinch but wisely maintain eye contact. "Miruko deserves her spot on the billboard, I can attest to it myself."
"We're sorry, Mr. Aizawa, sir."
"It's just that… It's hard for us to comprehend that a Hero who has no agency can go this far."
"There are many Heroes who have no agency. I am one of them." One student looks down at his feet guiltily while the other gives him a look of utter surprise. It seems one forgot he is an independent Hero while the other didn't know. He tries not to roll his eyes.
'Many seem to forget the fact that I am an independent Hero myself.'
That means he is doing a great job as an Underground Hero.
"Miruko simply fights harder than anyone, all with her own strength. Many young children, especially the girls, look up to her as their Hero. Your doubts only make her stronger. I believe she can go higher."
"We're sorry, Mr. Aizawa, sir," they apologize again, in unison this time.
"Do not ever let me hear those words again. Or it is out for the two of you."
"Yes sir, Mr. Aizawa, sir!" Their downcast expression disappears as they straighten their spines when they shout that.
"One more thing." He holds out his hand, palm facing the ceiling. One of the two students releases a heavy sigh before he reveals his phone from his back and drops it into his palm. "Now get going."
The students bow towards him before they scramble away, hopefully to class because it's about to start. He releases a sigh once they are out of sight before he pockets the phone. He'll return it tomorrow if they behave. They're not from the Heroics Course but it won't be hard to identify who those students are.
"Ever the Hero, huh?" A familiar voice enters his ears, coming from behind. He turns around and sees the Rabbit Hero approaching him, grinning quite widely.
"I only did the basic needs," he replies after greeting her with a nod as she stops just in front of him. She snorts and raises an eyebrow.
"What? Stoppin' people from talkin' shit?" she asks jokingly as she juts one hip to the side.
"Such mindset is unsuitable for a Hero." She lets out a cackle at his words, showing her teeth. Then, her expression tones down, softens.
"How ya feelin'?" she asks in a gentle tone, head tilted slightly to the side as she looks up to him.
Nedzu just gave him the green light to go back to work yesterday, about a week after he was released from the hospital. He didn't waste any time and he is already in class on time, much to the students' horror.
He's still banned from Hero duties until he is better, though.
"Better. And…" He hesitates, breaking eye contact. He reaches one hand up to rub the back of his head. "Thanks," he says awkwardly. When he hears Usagiyama chuckles, he looks back at her and notices she is grinning widely.
Her cheeks are tinted pink too.
She looks better herself, he admits.
She is back to this gentle side of her.
"Is there a reason for you to be here?" he finally asks.
BING! BONG!
He looks up when the bell rings, distracted by it, before Usagiyama could answer. That is signaling the end of lunch break and the start of the next class session. Students will start filling in the hallways and returning to class.
"Well, I was about to take a break, but…"
Something soft brushes against his cheek.
He whips his head back towards Usagiyama, who is quite closer than before. He can feel his eyes are so wide with shock that he believes they might pop out from their sockets.
Usagiyama merely smiles up at him. She has that smile again, except this time it is wide, happier, cheekier, and the blush on her cheeks is slightly deeper. She looks proud at what she had just done to him.
"I'm already rejuvenated to go back to work this instant. C'ya, Aizawa!" She waves at him as she turns around and goes back to where she came from.
There is a noticeable hop in her steps.
And her bobtail is wiggling with glee.
He reaches up with one to featherly touch the place that she had just…
His eyebrow ticks as he feels his cheeks burn from embarrassment. His face pinches into a scowl to mask the feeling.
'Why did she have to do that?!'
.
He really hates his friends right now, all little of them.
They had somehow gotten him to attend another big event again, in a span of less than three months (that's a personal record that he hates that had broken). While they didn't pull the sympathy card on him like last time with the Gala, they did much worse.
They had collectively mastered the "abandoned kitty eyes" to use it against him. Yes, even Mic, somehow, can do it just as good as Midnight. He suspects they had been practicing it with each other. He doesn't know how the rest can do it so well, but he knows that Mic and Midnight must've told them about it.
Well, at least they're here with him instead of not attending like at the Gala awhile ago. They even assigned their seats pretty much around him (except for Might; he has his own designated seat). He is sitting right in the middle of his circle. It's just the unfortunate thing about his seating is-
"Midnight! What's your opinion on being compared to Mt. Lady in regards to your beauty?!"
"Mt. Lady! What's your opinion on being inferior to Midnight in regards to your beauty?!"
"Hey!"
"Hah!"
"Present Mic! Your radio station went up in popularity and finally dethroned "Prelvis Esley Neoclassicals Initiative Supreme" from the top spot, can you tell us how you managed such amazing feat!"
"Better music taste, yo!"
"I can't believe Esley called his radio station as P.E.N-"
"Fatgum, can you tell us-"
"Ms. Joke, a moment of your-"
"Manual, your-"
"Midnight!"
"Mt. Lady!"
"Present Mic!"
He can feel his temples throbbing and eyebrow ticks from irritation from all the reporters and their interviews around him. Their loud voices grate his ears and he laments again for not bringing earplugs with him. It's impossible to tune out and ignore their voices when they're coming from directly next to him.
He sinks further into his scarf, a poor attempt to drown out the noise. This is going to be a painful few hours.
He is thankful no one has approached him, though.
He did get a few odd looks from the reporters, for sitting close to famous Heroes. A few did try to interview them but his friends expertly diverted their attention away from him.
He silently thanks them all for it.
When the light begins to dim, the reporters are being shooed away. He releases a deep sigh of relief now that the noise has quietened down to a more bearable level. The quieter and dimmer atmosphere means it is the announcement for the top ten Heroes on the billboard. It'll be easier to tune everything out.
"Sitting in tenth place, after a phenomenal performance in just a week prior, enough to break into the top ten, give a round of applause to Miruko!"
He looks up, eyebrows high on his forehead in mute surprise as the stadium is exploding with deafening applause and shouting cheers and whistles. The giant screen on the stage shows Miruko, grinning so widely he feels his own cheeks hurt just by seeing it. He quickly realizes it is a live feed and she is facing the crowd.
He doesn't have to move his line of sight much to finally find the real person, standing at the very front of the crowd, her back facing the stage. She's waving at the crowds, at the people cheering for her. The announcer is speaking something but it was drowned out by the sheer volume of the applause, but when a person, most likely the announcer, approaches Miruko, the noise quickly dies down.
"Not only are you the second highest ranking female Hero across Japan, you are also the second female Hero to earn a spot on the top ten on the billboard." The crowd explodes into louder cheers and applause for a short moment. "And you wouldn't be able to earn your rank if it wasn't for your incredible performance last week. Can you tell us what drove you to create something akin to a miracle?"
Miruko lets out a hearty laugh, showing her fangs to the world. Then, she looks away from the announcer and starts scanning the crowd, sweeping over the fans, over the Heroes attending.
Then, somehow, through the many, uncountable crowd in the massive stadium, her red eyes locked onto his.
He blinks, taken aback and surprised that she somehow manages to single him out amongst everyone.
Her grin widens.
But the creases at the corners of her eyes soften.
"Someone believed in me."