Runner Ups

by renren-writes

[Runner Ups Reboot] Even with the League of Villains gone, 20 years later a new threat emerges and terrorizes not heroes themselves, but Hero Academy students. The Boogeyman and his numerous copycats are on the loose and targeting students at all schools, with the latest victim to go missing a Zenshi Academy student. Time will tell if, or when, the others will follow.

10. X: Class Reps

Chapter ten! This chapter is all about the class reps and stuff! Hope you all enjoy!

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X.

Class Reps

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Arc Theme: Again - Yui

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"How's everyone feeling today?" Mononoke chirped first thing the next morning.

After a hectic day of jumping straight into classes on their first day of school, the students of class 1-B were now more comfortable in their seats and ready for the day, and the first thing they were doing in their homeroom class was what every school allowed for each year: A class representative vote. Some were excited, from what Mononoke could see, while others were less eager based on their reactions. Mononoke had drawn up the class seating roster behind him, a crisp six-by-four table that reflected the class's placement based on how he saw them. While the chart they'd been given had the top row closest to the doors and the bottom row closest to the windows, the top row on Mononoke's chart was closest to him while the bottom was closest to the far wall. Instead of four students per row, it was now six students per row.

A very complicated table, but Mononoke preferred to draw up his seating charts based on who sat closest to him in the classroom. Such a shame Skathi didn't see it that way.

"You all look like you had a big day yesterday, but I'm sure you'll do well with today's classes as well! I even hear some of you started a group to exercise each morning," he went on. "I'd like to remind everyone that the training field closest to the dorms is open as early as four in the morning, so you have plenty of time before breakfast to get up early and spend an hour limbering up!"

Some of the students closer to the back of the class glanced at each other in relief. Knowing his lovely classroom, Mononoke could expect to see them clamouring outside to exercise together as early as tomorrow morning.

"Now, I'm sure you're all very excited to get into things, so I won't delay," Mononoke told the class. He gestured to the board behind him, and then to the box and slips of paper on his desk. "Like any other school, Zenshi employs a class representative system that requires the students to vote. I know one day isn't enough for you all to get to know each other, but I'm sure you've all been able to gravitate towards people you click well with. I only have one rule with my representative elections, and sadly other teachers don't abide by this rule—you're not allowed to vote for yourself. Anyone else is fine, and so I can make absolutely certain you didn't vote for yourself, you'll be required to include your seat number on the corner of your sheet, above who you voted for. I won't read it out, don't worry. But I'll be able to make sure you all don't try to avoid voting for anyone else, okay?"

Truthfully, his own class representative vote in high school had left a horrible impression on him. Mononoke was about the only person who hadn't voted for himself in his class, and the revote for a vice representative had also fallen to him because he, once again, was the only one to not vote for himself. The same thing happened every year, and Mononoke vowed to not allow such a thing to happen under his watch. Hell, he'd even heard that some of the upperclassmen he used to teach still abide by the rule of not voting for themselves in their new classes—they set aside their egos and decided on who would be most reliable based on experience from the past couple of years.

Mononoke held up the box of papers and gave it a small shake, and then he smiled at the students at the back of the class as he stepped out from behind his desk. "Can the students at the back of the class come and grab four slips of paper each? You'll need to hand them to the others in your row on the way back to your seats."

From the doorway to the window, Hachisuka Hime, Kaiyo Ryuichi, Mori Emiko, Shinkai Mizuki, Takami Kiaria and Yumeya Hanabi all stood up and walked to the front to collect their slips of paper. Each slip was taken right from a textbook Mononoke had clipped up, and he'd been thorough enough to cut up extras for everyone in the class if they needed them. The extras were hidden in his sleeve, stapled together for ease of access, and Mononoke just smiled silently as each student took their slip of paper and fiddled with it.

"I'm not going to influence you on who to vote for and what kind of person should be the class representative," he informed them. A couple students were already proudly writing down names on their slips as he spoke. "I want you to vote for who you think should be class representative based on your own values and opinions. We have another fifteen minutes until homeroom is over, so take your time with deciding. I will advise you all, however, that discussing your votes won't be allowed. We can't let other people influence our votes! When the last slip is put in the box, we'll start tallying up the votes."

To his surprise, it only took about five minutes for everyone to get their votes in. The very last one to vote was Yoyo, who'd clearly deliberated on her choice the hardest, but she was beaming like a ray of sunshine when she reached in and shuffled her slip with the others in the box. She sat back down with a grin, and Mononoke bit back a laugh as he turned to the whiteboard with a marker in hand and announced the tally.

He called out each name as they were written, and he had to pause when he saw seat twenty-three's slip—Yoyo's slip.

Whoever has the least amount of votes :)

Mononoke actually paused and looked back at Yoyo, eyes wide and surprise evident on his face. He'd been so sure that a social butterfly like Yoyo had some ideas for who to vote for in mind. But whoever had the least amount of votes? Was this her leaving it up to his discretion once voting was over? There was no way everyone would have one vote each.

Ah, he thought as he smiled at her. She wanted everyone without a vote to have at least one. What a thoughtful, heartfelt girl. Mononoke would have to keep an eye on her.

"I'll count this one last," he informed the class, and he set the slip on his desk.

By the end of the round of voting, the top votes—and only ones to receive votes before Yoyo's was counted—were as followed:

Kaiyo Ryuichi: 4
Koizumi Mirato: 3
Takishima Asuka: 3
Hachisuka Hime: 2
Suzuki Aoi: 2
Torihiki Yuzuru: 2
Yoyo Yoyo: 2
Bara Momoiro: 1
Hagane Tetsuya: 1
Kirameki Hibana: 1
Sasaki Kaiten: 1
Yumeya Hanabi: 1

A one-point lead for Ryuichi as the class representative, and with Yoyo's vote counted, it became a seventeen-way tie for a single vote. No one well and truly was left out, and Mononoke was beaming as he called Ryuichi up to the front of the class to crown him class representative.

The real issue came with the tie for vice representative.

"Kaiyo-kun, you can take these slips and hand one out to everyone," he informed Ryuichi, and he passed the stapled slips of paper to the boy to distribute. Mononoke turned to the other students, and he singled out Asuka and Mirato to join him at the front of the class. "We'll be holding a revote for the vice representative. Koizumi-kun and Takishima-chan won't be allowed to vote in this instance, and I want you all to think very carefully about who you want to vote for between them."

It took even less time for the votes to come in for the redo. Mononoke collected the box of papers and went through them carefully, tallying up each vote as he checked each slip. But by the time it reached ten votes for Mirato and seven for Asuka, it was becoming clear to him who would wind up vice representative.

With a grand total of fourteen votes to rival Asuka's eight, Koizumi Mirato stood with watery eyes in front of the class and bowed his head low in thanks. It was very touching, and Mononoke walked away from the experience feeling more confident in his class's abilities.

As he went to leave the room, he was approached by Asuka very quietly—her textbook was already in her hands, but she was clearly looking for answers that only Mononoke could answer. He paused, smiling down at her, and waited for her to ask her question.

"Mamonaka-sensei, between you and me, how might one go about being elected as representative next year?" she asked gently.

Oh? An ambitious one. Mononoke giggled softly to himself, and he shrugged his shoulders with a shake of his head.

"Truthfully, Takishima-chan, a class representative election is a glorified popularity contest," he explained. "I noticed a few people voted for their friends rather than for someone 'suitable' for the job. My advice? Keep doing what you're doing, and once you hit your second year, people will be more aware of your accomplishments and the care you take with them. Your first year is just formality, if that makes sense."

Asuka seemed contemplative as she nodded along, and she thanked him with a chirp as she skipped back to her desk. Mononoke nodded to himself as he left the room proper, and he slid the door shut with a hum.

If he was right… History was their next class, no? That meant there was a chance Mononoke would run into Blackbelt, and the two antiquity-themed heroes would likely get lost in conversation. As much as Mononoke enjoyed his conversations with the earnest Blackbelt, he'd have to stonewall him today in order for his class to actually start, or else the poor children would be left wondering twenty minutes into their class why their teacher hadn't shown up.

True to his assumption, Blackback barrelled around the corner of the hall just as Mononoke was about to turn the very same corner. Mononoke let out a thick cloud of black smoke from his mouth, cushioning the two of them as they ran into each other, and Blackbelt bounced off of Mononoke with a gasp as he seemed to realise what he'd almost done. Despite Mononoke's best attempts at preventing a hold-up, Blackbelt immediately prostrated himself onto the ground in front of Mononoke and slammed his forehead onto the floor.

"A thousand apologies, Mamonaka-dono!" Blackbelt near-shouted. Mononoke was startled by the loud boom of his voice, and he was quick to gently coax him back into standing. The last thing they needed was to disrupt other first-year classes on this floor! "Are you okay—er, unharmed?"

How adorable, that he was trying to use his old-fashioned way of speaking even while he was freaking out. Mononoke giggled and waved a hand, shaking his head at Blackbelt as the smaller man stood up fully.

"I'm fine, really," he insisted. Blackbelt beamed up at him, letting out a sigh of relief as he did so, and the two men laughed off the incident without much fuss. "I suppose I should—"

Despite his attempts at being polite, Blackbelt's eagerness seemed to make him desperate to ask a few questions.

"The children!" he interrupted Mononoke, eyes wide and demanding. "Be they—I mean, uh—art the children well? H—Hast the dang'r did cause the children stress?"

Mononoke needed to take a moment to translate the question in his head, and he realised that Blackbelt was asking him if the children were scared of the threat of death. If they were unnerved by the idea of their upperclassman being a victim of a serial killer.

Frankly speaking, Mononoke felt it was too early to tell if any of them were to become victims of a serial killer. A copycat killer had already attacked one of his students prior to her enrollment to Zenshi, and the others were already banding together in a way that suggested they wouldn't let each other be caught unawares. And from what he'd heard about 1-A, they were doing much of the same. He didn't know the full details with them all, but one of them already seemed to have a bright future—a distant relative of the Pro Hero Shouto, who was set to enter UA on a recommendation before turning it down in favour of going through Zenshi's exam proper.

He wasn't worried. There was plenty of time to take stock of the situation while poor Usamaru was out of commission. The Boogeyman never took more than one child at a time, and never for less than two weeks. They were approaching the two-week mark with Usamaru, which meant it was only a matter of time before his body would turn up and a new one would be kidnapped.

Uncle would have to take note of who fit the M.O. of the villain in the area. Ararisu was the area the Boogeyman had hit the least, after all, and if his new victim was from the area, it stood to reason that the rest might be from Ararisu too. But, he supposed, life had a way of throwing curveballs at you.

So with a graceful tone of voice, Mononoke looked towards the window and put on a show of acting elegant, much like someone from the era they both dressed from would.

"T's a lovely day the present day, wouldn't thee concur?" he asked, and Blackbelt took a moment to process the words before smiling excitedly at him. He always did get excitable when Mononoke played along with his shtick. "The children art joyous and eag'r to continueth their studies, and those gents appeareth to beest getting 'long swimmingly. P'rhaps this bodes most wondrous times ahead of us."

"A—Aye!" Blackbelt agreed, leaning back into his bit with gumption. "Most wondrous times, I'm c'rtain!"

Mononoke stepped aside, giving Blackbelt some room to walk past, and he gracefully bowed to the man. "T's about timeth thee beganeth thy lesson on the Sengoku p'riod, aye?"

Blackbelt was full of energy as he shouted, "Aye! Till we next meet, Mamonaka-dono!" and run at full speed for the classroom.

As soon as he was in the door and greeting the class with high energy, Mononoke let out a relieved sigh and turned to resume his trip to the teacher's lounge. Goodness, some people were simply too high energy in the morning. At least he knew Blackbelt would jive well with some of his more energetic students.

He opened the door to the teachers' lounge and immediately spotted UFOriko by the kitchenette, and Mononoke whined as he stumbled towards her in his thick geta.

"Tea…" he whimpered. "The onryou needs tea…"

UFOriko giggled as she pulled out another mug for him, and despite how bland it tasted compared to properly brewed tea, Mononoke was grateful for the quick and handy teabag that was left to sit in his mug for five minutes. He preferred sobacha tea over bergamot, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"How did your class's election go?" he asked her. UFOriko let out a heavy sigh and pinched at her brow with a gloved hand. Uh-oh, that was troubling.

"Most of them voted for themselves, like every first-year class tends to," she sighed. "We had to hold a revote for who would be the representative and who would be the vice president—it was a four-way tie for both spots."

Mononoke chuckled. "I had a seventeen-way tie," he mused.

UFOriko stared at him in horror. Quietly, she asked, "For first place?"

"Last place," he reassured her. "But we did have to hold a second vote for the vice representative. Second place was a tie between two very strong contenders."

She huffed her cheeks out and pouted at him. "You're so mean, teasing me like that!" she whined. "You know I'm a little slow compared to everyone else!"

"And what you lack in brains, you make up for with heart, dear," he joked. Mononoke sipped his tea with a smile. "Are any of your students nervous?"

That made her stop and think for a moment. She frowned, contemplative as she seemed to go through each and every student in her head, and then UFOriko was crossing her arms over her chest loosely. Stumped, from the looks of her.

"It's hard to tell," she said. "A couple of them are putting on a show of being brave, while others are genuinely personable and eager to become Pro Heroes. Normally I don't worry about this too much, since it's the boys who cause more trouble, but the girls this year…"

Mononoke raised a brow. "Catfights already?" he asked, surprised.

She shook her head. "No, no, they aren't fighting," she corrected herself. "But they're… Well, to put it into perspective, my class rep is the type to baby those around her if they're weaker than her. You know the type—they don't mean to, but it comes off as condescending because they want you to do as they say because they know what's best for you. I don't think she's terrible, but… Ugh, I'm totally stereotyping right now, but she's related to the Himura family. You know, that big family out in the sticks who intermarried to keep their ice Quirks from diluting?"

Ah, so she was talking about the one distantly related to Shouto. Mononoke just reached over and patted her shoulder gently, smiling with sympathy in his eye.

"I'm sure all of the students have habits they'll unlearn with time," he reassured her. UFOriko looked hopeful as she smiled back at him, the guilt in her statement fading from her expression. "It's only the second day. These things take time. As long as you help guide her to the right path, she'll flourish."

UFOriko took a moment to take in a deep breath and calm herself some more. She sipped her tea, no longer anxious or tired, and she gave Mononoke a sidelong glance as she ran a finger over the rim of her mug.

"Y'know, Mononoke, you'd be a really great parent," she said out of the blue. Mononoke choked on his tea, coughing into his hand as he set his mug down. Where was this coming from? "Ah, sorry! It's just—you're so patient with the kids every year, and you have this really gentle way of handling even the most troublesome ones. I can tell you really love your job!"

Loved his job?

Mononoke wiped at his mouth with the tissue UFOriko passed him and thought for a moment. He loved his job, huh? He'd probably argue it was the opposite. He wasn't fond of his job—many families were broken up because he had to put away villains, and Pro Heroes had even broken his own family when he was a child, all because his parents did a few things society didn't deem morally good-natured. It hurt to see so many people in pain, especially when Mononoke entered the field to help minimise the trauma that came with families whose homes were broken by both the crimes of villains and the recently uncovered wrongdoings of negligent and greedy Pro Heroes. The Todoroki family case had been a massive eye-opener, at least to him it had been, back when he was a teen watching from the sidelines through a TV screen, and he'd wanted to be a Pro Hero who could hold other Pro Heroes accountable.

But did he love it? Absolutely not. He'd put away so many friends over the years because they strayed from the morally righteous path. Numbers became more important than lives, and very few like Blackbelt existed in the world in this day and age. He had no doubt that Pro Heroes were pinnacles of goodness and safety back when the government first made them legal to combat the rising Quirk-related crimes, but the moment commercialisation came into play, it was over for modern heroics.

What Mononoke loved was the children he worked with. So eager, so excitable, so determined to see their dreams through. They weren't taken over by the drive for bigger numbers and the like, and their wide-eyed idealism made them the perfect people to mould into proper Pro Heroes. A student who grew up to be like the Pro Heroes who abused their positions and the people's love for them was a student who was failed by their teachers, and Mononoke refused to fail his students. It was why he'd agreed so readily when Skathi had asked him to teach at Zenshi after the previous headmaster quit—she'd echoed those same sentiments, believing that her generation of Pro Heroes were lucky to have been taught the true value of being a Pro Hero by the war with All for One, but that it was tragic that it'd taken such trauma to mould them all into what they were today.

He loved his students so much that sometimes he was at a loss for what to do with them. He wanted to guide them to the best of his ability, but Mononoke was only human. Even he was prone to fumble, despite his convictions. He just hoped his students wouldn't hold it against him if he taught them the wrong thing by accident thanks to his own biases.

"I… suppose I do love my job," he eventually said, and he did mean it. But when Mononoke spoke of his job, it wasn't as a Pro Hero teaching at a hero academy. It was as a teacher guiding his students to their fullest potential, all with a loving hand and gentle voice.

After all, his parents raised him with the utmost care and love, and despite their arrests down the line for their petty crimes, Mononoke had turned out just fine.

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Science was a subject Mizuki could confidently say was her strongest, best topic in terms of grades, right next to math. And having a science class right before lunch was due to start? God, it was such a great way to get her in a good mood and look forward to what she was going to eat.

Most of the class had already left the room to go get their lunches, with the exception of Mizuki and a few others still finishing up some notes they were taking. A couple were getting up to leave, and Mizuki caught sight of one of the students from the corner of her eye. Two rows over, hunched over her desk as she furiously wrote down notes before she could forget them, Mizuki saw the resident drama queen of the class being crowded by Hachisuka Hime once again.

Well, maybe it was rude to say Ishibashi Sumie was a drama queen. She couldn't help being the only one to not participate during the introduction game when everyone had moved in, and even though she seemed fine with him now, she'd clearly been unnerved by whatever weird thing Koizumi Mirato had said to her. Mizuki could understand it, but that didn't mean she was jumping at the chance to tear down the girl's walls, either. She wanted to be left alone and was broadcasting that super clearly so far, and if it were Mizuki in her shoes, she would've bitten someone by now.

The usual ones to hang around Hime were gone already—Shizu Shogo was told to go on ahead and get his massive order in before someone beat him to the punch, and the blockhead timidly offered to save Hime a seat. Hime accepted, though seemed to also demand a seat be saved for a couple of other people. It was easy to tell that she was going to pester people into sitting with her, and Sumie seemed to be one such person.

Asuka approached Mizuki's desk with a hand on her hip. Ever since the entrance exam had ended, Mizuki wouldn't deny that her opinion of the girl was… less negative than before. Not favourable, because Asuka still annoyingly inserted herself into Mizuki's business, but she wasn't being rude about it. No, it felt like actually getting accepted into Zenshi had mellowed her out a little. The only people she was really being outwardly tense towards were class 1-A, but they hardly interacted with the class yet beyond running into a few people at lunch and dinner.

"Mizuki-chan, you coming to lunch?" she asked, tone light and casual. She'd already gotten used to Mizuki's terse and antisocial answers, and she didn't seem very bothered by them no matter how hard Mizuki tried to chase her away. Even now, after a mere two days of cohabiting with her in the dorms and attending classes with her, Mizuki had gotten used to Asuka calling her so casually. "We're thinking of doing some revision during dinner. A little bit more freedom to work together on our shortcomings compared to lunch."

A cram session at dinner? Mizuki was a bit apprehensive. The last time she'd been asked to go to a study group by someone in her class, she wound up expelled from school and with a permanent stain on her record. She tensed up, glaring at Asuka, but tried not to come off as too harsh as she turned the girl down.

"I'll find my own way to lunch," she muttered. "And dinner. Enjoy yourselves."

Asuka curled her lip up into a scowl and groaned. "Fine, you're off the hook this time. But we're totally cliquing it up the moment I get my hands on you."

Joy.

Mizuki waved her off with a scowl of her own just in time to see Sumie nodding at Hime. Hime was standing still now, a phone in her hand as she typed something into it, and Sumie actually looked like she was talking to her. Mizuki looked away as Hime glanced at her. She wasn't going to get involved. If Hime was able to make Sumie warm up to her, that was more power to her.

And then someone started skipping across the classroom towards her, and Hime laid herself down over Mizuki's desk, right on top of her notes and interrupting her train of thought.

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped. Asuka and Mugi had already left, so no one was coming to Mizuki's aid unless they really wanted to step in on her behalf. "Get off my notes!"

"Hey, hey, what do you want for lunch? I'll order it ahead of time for you," Hime drawled. "I'm already grabbing Sumi's while I'm at it."

Sumi? Did she mean Sumie? Was that what they were talking about? Mizuki shook her head and gave Hime a shove. To her credit, Hime didn't move much. But she did peel herself off of the desk once it was clear Mizuki would try to shove her again.

"I don't want bees on my food," Mizuki snapped. "That's so gross."

"I'd be real stupid to put one of my bees in your food," Hime mused. "It'd hurt me a lot more than it'd hurt you. Bebe-senpai stomped on one of my bees in the exam, and my eye was killing me for the rest of the day."

"Just—" Mizuki gestured angrily to the door. "Go get your friend's food."

Hime stood there for a moment and ruminated on the words. "Well, I don't know if we're friends yet. It's only been a couple of days, and Sumi's very standoffish. Kind of like you are," she teased. "But I'd be more than happy to do a full order for you, if you don't mind coming to pick it up from my table—"

"Look, no offence, but I don't trust you to not put something in my food," Mizuki cut her off. "Or spit in it."

She was surprised at how… unhurt Hime looked. She brought a hand to her chin, thoughtful, and then nodded once in understanding.

"Bee for an eye, gotcha," she said, and that was the farthest thing from Mizuki's mind right now. She was thinking more along the lines of Hime dumping sriracha or a ton of salt into her meal while she wasn't looking. But it was good to know Hime immediately defaulted to thinking people didn't trust her because of the bee, rather than her own goblin personality. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Good luck with your notes!"

She turned and waved behind her shoulder to Mizuki, and Mizuki heard her call something out to Sumie—almost as though double checking the order—before Sumie nodded and turned back to her notes. Mizuki held back a sigh as she looked down at her own, and she realised, with a bit of shame, that her notes had been finished when Hime had draped herself over the desk. Mizuki had just… been really out of sorts thanks to her personal space being invaded. She actually let out a sigh this time and rubbed at her eyes tiredly.

Mizuki should've been more concise with why she was mad. If Hime knew why she was upset with her this time, she might've respected her boundaries the next time. As far as Mizuki knew, Sumie hadn't made Hime follow any boundaries—just asked her to stop, albeit a bit loudly yesterday morning, and Hime no longer shook her chair while she was in it. Perhaps Mizuki shouldn't have been so harsh with her. After all, she hadn't meant to imply it was because of Kuin that she didn't trust Hime. She just didn't trust Hime because she didn't trust people in general.

The bee was just out of the equation entirely.

She stood up and tucked her notes under her desk, frowning to herself, and she gave Sumie a half-hearted wave as she left the classroom. Mizuki doubted she'd catch up to Hime at this rate, especially since the girl had practically been skipping out of the room after checking Sumie's order, but if she did… She'd make sure to explain things properly to her. Despite how out of pocket she felt sometimes, Hime did give off the energy of someone who would listen when told not to do something. It just felt too good to be true, in Mizuki's eyes.

She walked with her arms crossed over her chest, head down as she contemplated how to approach Hime if she didn't run into her in the hall. It was hard to figure these things out ahead of time, but Mizuki liked to believe that honesty and being upfront was the best solution to communication problems. Did she communicate with people often? Well, no… But she knew the fundamentals of communication, and that was what mattered. This would just be one of those times where Mizuki didn't outright ignore someone when they got on her nerves, and instead broke it down for them why they annoyed her.

That was the plan and all, until she was almost at the elevators and spotted three people huddled up in a corner. She recognised two—one being Hime, and the other being the Poi-bastard from the entrance exam, and Mizuki wondered how the hell he managed to get into the school when he'd spent so much time sabotaging everyone else instead of defending his own badge. Maybe he was in the general studies class or something. The third one, though, Mizuki didn't recognise.

She quickly hid behind one of the corners that led to the elevators and peered at the group. Poi-bastard was standing guard, and the other girl, who had hair as white as snow, was crowing Hime in what any passerby would call a cliche kabedon. But for Mizuki, who was in the same class as Hime and knew just how weird she was, it was obvious that she was uncomfortable instead of bashful like anyone else on the receiving end.

She could hear the tail end of what they were saying before she'd shown up, and it didn't look very friendly to her. Mizuki managed to hear Hime finish saying, "—to UA…?"

The girl with snowy hair smiled down at Hime like someone with complete and utter adoration for a person would. "Well, that was the plan," she said. "But when I found out from Shun that you were going to Zenshi, I just had to follow. I worry about you, Hime."

Hime was uncomfortable as she looked away, shrinking in on herself. "I'd rather you call me Hachisuka-san," she mumbled.

"What?" The girl tilted her head in genuine confusion. "Hime, we're friends. Why wouldn't I call you by your first name?"

"I said I'd rather you didn't, Himura-san," Hime repeated.

Himura… Wasn't there someone in 1-A by the name Himura? Mizuki tensed up as she contemplated stepping in. If she was being bullied by some in 1-A, Mizuki had to put a stop to it ASAP. She may not like the girl all that much, but no one deserved to be singled out.

Mizuki knew how easily the victim could become the perpetrator if the right words were said by the real bully. Mizuki knew how much Hime's attendance at Zenshi rode on her behaving herself. If they were bullying her and tried to say it was her fault, this could end in imprisonment for Hime—not expulsion like Mizuki's had stopped at.

"Hime, you're not mad at me, are you?" she asked. "Please, call me Setsu like you used to. I miss hearing you say my name."

Poi-bastard was rolling his eyes and mime gagging behind Setsu's back. He turned around, scowling, and he grumbled, "Himura, I'm starving. Let's just go already. She clearly hates your guts."

Setsu whirled around and grabbed Poi-bastard by the collar, her pretty face curling into a snarl.

"Hime doesn't hate me!" she shouted. "She knows everything I do for her is for her own good! You don't know anything!"

Hime tried to take the opportunity to sneak to the elevator, but from Setsu's foot, a wall of ice shot out and blocked Hime in—trapped in the situation she clearly wanted out of.

That's it, Mizuki thought. She was stepping in.

She took one step, and Hime glanced over at her in surprise as she noticed Mizuki's angry expression. But she didn't say anything—Setsu dragged her attention back to her, shoving Poi-bastard away, and she grabbed Hime's face with her hands so gently. Almost as though it were made of glass.

"You know I only did it because I was worried, right?" Setsu insisted. "How long are you going to give me the silent treatment for, Hime? How was I supposed to know that removing Kuin would kill you?"

Mizuki paused. She stared, gobsmacked, at the pretty girl from 1-A. Kill her? Did she… Did Hime almost die because of her?

Did Setsu try to cut Kuin out herself?

In an instant, Mizuki's mind was back in elementary school, back in the classroom where the study group had been held. She saw the scissors, snipping away mockingly as they drew closer to her head. She felt the hands holding her down, heard the laughter in her ears.

Setsu was just like them.

Mizuki's feet moved before she could register what she was doing. Poi-bastard caught sight of her, paling immediately as he made a sprint for the elevators, and Mizuki felt the bulb on her forehead grow heavier and heavier.

"We're just going to cut it off for you," she remembered her former friends telling her. "You'll have less to worry about without it hanging off your face."

Bullshit, Hime's best interests were in mind.

Mizuki shoved herself between Setsu and Hime so violently that she was surprised she was able to make Setsu stumble. She really was so pretty, and she hated that such good looks were wasted on someone clearly delusional. Hime stood behind her, using Mizuki as a shield, and she was gasping for air now that Setsu was out of her personal space.

"She said back off," Mizuki snapped. Setsu glared at her, not unlike she had with Poi-bastard, and she stomped her foot on the ground.

"She didn't!" Setsu insisted. "Stay out of this!"

Mizuki clicked her tongue. "I know your type," she hissed. "It has to be your way or the highway. You say you're doing it for her own good, but aren't you just being selfish? You don't think about what the other person wants—clearly, since you can't even call her by the right name."

Setsu clenched her hands into fists by her side. "I'm just trying to help her," she said, purposefully trying to calm herself down. At least she knew not to keep kicking and screaming, Mizuki thought. "She can't help being weak because she's Quirkless. She needs my help."

Excuse the fuck out of her? Hime was not Quirkless—and if she used to be, she wasn't now.

"She has a Quirk," Mizuki corrected her.

"She doesn't!" Setsu insisted. "Kuin's not good for her!"

"Oh?" Mizuki rolled her head back, sneering down her nose at Setsu. "Is that why you almost killed her? Because you didn't like Kuin living rent-free in her head?"

Setsu opened her mouth, about to argue, but before she could even say a word, Mizuki caught sight of Sumie barrelling around the corner frantically. She skidded to a stop, loud enough that Setsu paused and looked in surprise at the corner, and when she did, Mizuki saw Mononoke rounding it behind Sumie.

The moment he saw the wall of ice blocking Hime and Mizuki from the elevators, he flicked a hand in Setsu's direction and lassoed her with thick tendrils of black smoke. Setsu was dragged along the floor towards him, stunned silent, and Hime was quick to push past Mizuki in a panic.

"Mamonaka-sensei, she didn't do anything wrong!" she insisted. "This is just a misunderstanding!"

"Whatever the case," Mononoke said in a low, stern voice. Very unlike his usual self at homeroom. "It would seem Himura-chan has neglected to remember that Quirk use outside of combat classes is forbidden. We'll be having a word with your homeroom teacher."

He dragged Setsu behind him, back to the teachers' lounge, and as soon as they were out of an earshot, Sumie sprinted towards Hime and checked her over frantically. For someone who wasn't keen on making friends and getting close to people, Sumie sure was attached to Hime already. Mizuki let out a low sigh, and she reached up for the bulb hanging on her forehead. It was close to bursting, and she glanced over at the ice wall with narrowed eyes.

Without a second thought, Mizuki popped the bulb against the ice wall and let the verrucotoxin turn to frost on its surface. Now she could enjoy lunch in peace.

"She's not a terrible person," Hime insisted to Sumie. Sumie had her arms crossed over her chest, dubious expression as clear as day on her face. "She isn't, she's just—I don't know, she's misguided. She genuinely doesn't mean any harm."

"It sure looked that way," Mizuki scoffed. She fixed her uniform with a heavy sigh and nodded to the elevators. "I'm not here to judge, but let's just say I've been in a similar situation to you, from the sounds of it. And I'd be a lot less inclined to forgive and forget someone being misguided."

Hime frowned at her. "I didn't forgive and I didn't forget," she said. "I just don't know what else to say to her to make it more clear that I don't want to be her friend anymore."

"Leave me the hell alone, for starters," Mizuki supplied.

"I tried that." Hime was starting to bristle, something Mizuki couldn't recall seeing her do ever. "She just thinks I don't mean it. I still talk with someone else she tried to get involved with the whole thing, so she thinks she's in the clear too. It's not that deep."

Sumie cleared her throat and gestured to the elevator, echoing Mizuki's attempt to move the conversation there. At least Hime listened to Sumie this time, stomping around the wall of ice and calling an elevator while Sumie and Mizuki followed.

"I'm not one to go running to a teacher—" Sumie started.

"Right, totally believe that with you bringing Mamonaka-sensei with you," Hime cut her off with a grumble.

Sumie looked taken aback. For a moment Mizuki could see her own anger start to flare, but Sumie clearly forced it back down to finish her sentence.

"But," she growled through her teeth, "it might pay to ask to be separated in joint classes from now on. Like what Kousaki requested anyone not okay with him do."

Hime glared at the floor. When the elevator arrived, she stomped in and began pressing the door close button before the two girls could even get on. Mizuki shoved Sumie inside and made it in just before the doors could catch her uniform behind her.

Defeated, Hime sat down on the elevator floor and curled in on herself.

"I don't hate her," she mumbled. "So I shouldn't do something that makes her think I do. And I don't want people to think she's a bad person. I just want her to make friends other than me. I can't be everything she wants me to be."

Sumie and Mizuki were quiet. They glanced at each other, uncertain, and from the looks of Sumie's expression in particular, it was clear Mizuki was the one with marginally more experience in the social aspect of school. Mizuki cursed to herself and ran a hand through her hair, grinding her teeth together, and she opened her mouth once, closed it, twice, before clenching her hands into fists.

What the hell did she say?

"You're not… wrong for wanting that," Mizuki tried. She spoke slowly, dragging out her sentences as she tried desperately to think of the right things to say. "Someone forcing a… an idealised version of yourself onto you is… Don't get upset or defensive, because I'm not trying to be a bitch here. It's inherently a bad thing. Okay?"

Hime sniffed and buried her face in her knees.

It wasn't pushback, at least.

"And if you have to keep living up to this… idealistic view of yourself, you'll get burnt out," Mizuki went on. This was what people online would say on help forums, right? She felt like she was parrotting a lot of what they said at this point. "And if you get burnt out, that—uh—Himura would be disappointed."

"She wouldn't be disappointed," Hime insisted. "She'd just steer me in the right direction."

"But what if the right direction hurts you?" Sumie reiterated. "What if you can't keep staying on the right path? What if the right path leaves you feeling like… anyone but yourself?"

Wow, okay, she didn't expect backup from Sumie on that part. Was she talking from experience? Mizuki shook her head. Not her business, and not the focus of the conversation right now.

"Ishibashi's right," she sighed. "It's like the process of, uh… What would you call it? Unpersoning yourself? You stop being a person and start being a novelty, and when the novelty wears off, you're left unable to pick up where you left off when you're dropped by someone."

Hime looked up, and she looked almost pained as she stared up at them with one big, glassy eye. Oh fuck, was she about to cry? Mizuki hurriedly tapped the button for the cafeteria as she tried to salvage the conversation. C'mon, c'mon, couldn't this thing move faster?

And then, softly, Hime snorted and giggled. Mizuki paused, frazzled, and stared at Hime in surprise.

"What?" she asked.

Softly, Hime told her, "You guys are so out of your depth with my issues."

Sumie cleared her throat and tried to look at anything but Hime. "W—Well… Um…" she drawled, uncertain. "Did we… help?"

Hime wiped at her eye and sniffed. She pushed herself back to her feet, though she was a little unsteady on her legs, and leaned against the elevator wall.

"Sorry I tried to close the doors before you came in," Hime said.

"I mean, I would've done the same," Mizuki blurted out. She stopped pressing the button and tucked her hand behind her back. "I've, uh, done it in the past. When I saw people from school out in public. Everyone's done it at least once."

"I've never done it," Sumie muttered.

"You're gonna," Mizuki snapped. "Minute we head back to class as a group, you're gonna do it and get it over with."

Another laugh bubbled up from Hime. This one had a bit more energy to it, and it felt like a wave of pressure was lifted from the elevator's confined space. She wouldn't say Hime laughing was nature's way of healing, but it definitely felt more in-character for her than the moping she was doing before.

Mizuki didn't realise she was waiting for a moment to relax until the relieved sigh escaped her. Maybe she was a little out of her depth with something like this—standing up for someone and explaining things gently to them when they insisted nothing was wrong—but all things considered… this wasn't a bad attempt. She couldn't see herself hanging out with Hime every day and getting their nails done in matching colours and all that junk, but she could realistically imagine walking to the cafeteria each day to prevent other run-ins like this. Whatever Mononoke was going to do with Setsu, it was out of their hands. Whether or not Setsu followed the punishment she was given was out of their hands as well.

"Ah, that reminds me," Hime said, and she pointed to Mizuki. "What was up with that guy running away when he saw you?"

"Oh, Poi-bastard?" Mizuki blurted out. She saw the surprised looks on the girls' faces and realised what she'd said. "I mean. Um. I don't actually know his name. Takishima called him that at the entrance exam. Anyway. He took our badges and we had to steal them back, and he got sprayed with the toxin in my bulb. Swelled up like a balloon after I put my dirty socks in his mouth to make sure he didn't swallow any."

Hime let out another snort, but it seemed to be mixed with a chesty cough as she doubled out and started laughing loudly enough to drown out the elevator music. Sumie stared at her in stunned silence, though more at the bulb on her forehead, and it was clear she was wondering how potent the toxin in it was. Mizuki wasn't in the mood to explain what it did and how effective it was—something told her that the minute Sumie found out, she'd start holding Mizuki at arm's length. She wasn't even sure how she felt about Hime finding the situation so funny, either. Asuka, at least, had given reasons for why she felt Mizuki's mutation was useful for a Pro Hero's work; but the delight Hime was getting out of this? She was getting mixed feelings about it.

When the elevator came to a stop at the cafeteria, Hime had calmed down enough to move closer to Mizuki and wave a hand dismissively.

"Sorry, sorry," she giggled, still catching her breath. "It's just—socks, huh? Wish I'd been a bee on a wall for that."

Did she just make a bee pun out of the phrase "fly on a wall"? Mizuki scrunched up her nose at her.

"Anyway, I didn't say it earlier, but thanks," Hime went on. Mizuki blinked at her, surprised. Really? She was thanking her this soon? She'd expected a few more days of resistance before being grateful for someone stepping in. "It could've gone a lot worse, just not for me. And if it helps any, Kuin's got a pretty high opinion of you thanks to today. Between the three of us, she likes you two the most after what just happened."

Hime was skipping as she made her way to the lunch line and saved the girls a spot. Mizuki and Sumie stood for a moment, surprised more than anything, and it seemed they were both processing what Hime had just told them. Mizuki wasn't sure if she was flattered that the former villain bee approved so highly of her, but she had to admit… being thanked for standing up for someone did feel a little good.

She reached up and clutched at her chest, pursing her lips, and something in her heart just seemed to squeeze as Hime's gratitude echoed through her head. As she thought about the fact that Kuin actually liked her, liked her enough that she'd probably be less guarded around Mizuki when Hime was involved.

It just felt so odd.

Beside her, Sumie rubbed the back of her neck and stared at the floor. "It doesn't get easier, does it?" she asked, and it felt like she wasn't quite talking to Mizuki. But when Mizuki let out a soft hum, questioning what she'd meant, Sumie went on, "Figuring out if someone genuinely means it, or if you're being strung along."

Oh.

Alongside the squeeze in her heart, Mizuki felt a twinge of pain. That was what it was—a little bit of hope, mixing in with doubts that made it so murky that she couldn't tell if she was truly happy about what Hime had said, or paranoid that Kuin was buttering them up after a weakness of Hime's was shown.

The jury was still out on everything. But the jury was clearly starting to take notice of things, too.

"I guess not," Mizuki agreed.

Despite neither being too keen on spending time with each other, it felt like, as they approached Hime to take their places in line with her, they had a bit of an understanding of each other. Mizuki may have related to Hime in terms of past friends betraying her, but it felt more like she understood Sumie more thanks to that one question. Maybe something had happened to Sumie as well, and her demons hadn't followed her to Zenshi like Hime's had.

She glanced down at the Quirk-suppressing bracelet Sumie wore.

Maybe it had something to do with her always wearing that like a crutch during classes. She'd seen Sumie fiddle with the key to unlock it, clearly able to take it off whenever, but more often than not, Mizuki wouldn't deny seeing it light up to actively suppress a Quirk when Sumie was being bothered by someone. Even now, after they'd all calmed down in the elevator and had that talk about Setsu, the light on the bracelet was still blinking away dutifully.

Maybe, she thought.

---

"And that's a wrap on class."

Skathi clapped her hands once, signalling for the students to put their pens down, and Ryuichi didn't miss how some students slumped into their chairs with varying sighs. It was a little perplexing, the idea that this class had taken it out of them; it was their heroics class, and the assignment had simply been to fill out a list of things each student wanted to accomplish during their time at Zenshi, the kind of Pro Hero they wanted to be, and answer questions regarding scenarios they might find themselves in. It was no different to the forms they were made to fill out at the end of middle school, where they had to list some kind of job they wanted to aim for and a goal in life to strive towards.

Everyone had been excited for their first heroics class today, expecting to get out into the field and do some physical training. But Skathi had dropped the pile of papers onto the desk the moment she arrived, and everyone immediately realised that their giantess of a headmistress had no intentions of taking them to a training area quite yet.

"It always helps to go into your training with an idea of what you want to do as a Pro Hero," she'd explained. "Naturally, we'll be teaching you all sorts of work—villain apprehension, search and rescue, evacuation, first aid—but being aware of your strengths and shortcomings can go a long way during these vital high school years. Helping your teachers work out a plan to help you become your best self is the key first step to attending Zenshi's heroics department."

Naturally, everyone had grumbled and groaned over it. And then Skathi had gone on to explain that some of their costumes required some fine-tuning, and they wouldn't be ready until their second heroics class this week. Ryuichi saw it only fair that they compromise with taking a day to work out their plan for the next three years while the poor support department toiled away on their new duds. After all, if they didn't sort this stuff out now, when would they? They could only pick one agency to intern with after all was said and done, and even then the Pro Heroes they'd intern under had to know what they wanted to focus on.

That being said, it was highly likely Ryuichi would intern under his parents. He had the whole shebang set for him, but they weren't going to let him take it easy. If he didn't have everything worked out by the time they reached out to Zenshi for him to intern under them, then Ryuichi was in for the ass-riding of a lifetime.

"Everyone make sure to hand their papers to Kaiyo-kun before going to dinner," Skathi informed the class. Perhaps it was a small blessing that Ryuichi sat second-closest to the far door of the classroom, that his classmates could drop everything off on his desk and then leave without navigating past other chairs aside from Hime's. "We'll be having our next heroics class in two days, so your costumes and support items will be ready by then. Make sure to get plenty of rest tomorrow night for it, because it'll be first thing in the morning."

Several students became excited at the news that their proper heroics class will start in two days. Ryuichi stretched his arms high above his head, groaning as he did so, and the first to hand him their goals was the one in front of him—none other than Ishibashi Sumie, who looked a little anxious as she turned in her seat and stared at him. She hesitated to hand her paper to him, and when Ryuichi tilted his head innocently, Sumie's question was almost surprising.

"Promise you won't read it," she demanded.

Ryuichi scrunched up his snout. "Do I look that nosey to you?"

Sumie immediately looked at his snout. Ryuichi reached up and covered it with one hand.

"I won't peek. You can even give it to me upside down and I'll slide mine on top," he told her. Sumie seemed to be fine with that. She slid her sheet to him, and he slid his own under hers before flipping them over to face the right way. Now all he could see was his own paperwork, and Sumie let out a relieved breath.

She was gone along with a handful of others, all of whom seemed to find their answers to be easy and immediately at the forefront of their minds. A couple of the legacy kids like himself didn't keep it much of a secret what their goals were—Kiaria even absentmindedly asked if it was okay to just write down that she was going to replace her dad, and Ryuichi shrugged earnestly. He supposed it was alright, but he wasn't the teacher who decided that. It wasn't that far off from his own goals, though, so if Kiaria somehow gave a "bad" answer, so did the responsible Ryuichi.

And then came the more sheepish ones, who had goals in mind but felt them to be silly. Arashi Lyoko wandered to the back of the class to hand Ryuichi his sheet, and he was rubbing the back of his neck and averting his gaze as his face turned a slight rosy tint.

"I have to have written the most generic thing ever, right?" he asked Ryuichi, and it was all the permission Ryuichi needed to look down at the sheet.

Which field of Pro Hero work do you see yourself entering?
Whichever one the teachers say suits me!

What are areas you feel you could improve upon as a Pro Hero?
Maybe get to a better place mentally…?

What kind of Pro Hero do you want to be?
The strongest! A Pro Hero no villain can beat in a fight! Someone people can be proud of!

Ryuichi hummed and rubbed at his chin. "They're not the worst answers in the world," he said. "I don't think anyone else in the class has said they wanna be the strongest yet. And your areas of improvement are really realistic." He glanced at Lyoko, then, and saw the boy was now more certain of his answers as he basked in the mild praise Ryuichi had given him. "Did you think the teachers would laugh at you for it?"

Lyoko's face matched his hair as he quickly turned away and laughed nervously. "N—Not at all! I'm sure a couple of them said the same thing, back when they were my age! B—But… Don't a lot of our teachers, like Intelli-sensei, strike you as realists?"

That she did. Mad Hatter was definitely a realist to the point of almost bordering pessimistic. The way she phrased everything, it was almost like the students who got questions wrong on her test were in dire need of cram sessions. Thank goodness a couple of the more math-savvy students were able to convince her that they'd already planned to do study groups in the dorms after classes each day. Even Ryuichi had volunteered, even if he wasn't too keen on some of the people eager to join his group. As much as Yoyo Yoyo seemed the type to try and improve herself, she also felt like the type who embraced her more idiotic moments and disrupted everyone else in the process.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Ryuichi reassured him. "Normally a homeroom teacher handles things like career aspirations, so maybe Mamonaka-sensei will be reaching out to other Pro Heroes during our classes for tips on improving our shortcomings."

Lyoko's eyes were sparkling as he looked at Ryuichi with a starstruck expression. "You think so?" he asked, excited.

He clearly had an idea of who he wanted Mononoke to make a call to, and Ryuichi had a feeling he knew which Pro Heroes were at the top of his wish list.

Ryuichi nodded safely, and then he threw a grin at Lyoko as he struck a thoughtful pose.

"And the way I see it, the sky's the limit for our resident stuntman, right?" he teased.

Lyoko laughed softly to himself, and Ryuichi felt a sense of pride as he finally got the boy to relax and feel a bit more confident. He nodded his head in thanks to Ryuichi, and then told him he'd save a seat for him at lunch—which Ryuichi appreciated, especially if delivering these sheets to the teachers' lounge was going to eat at his chances to get a good spot at the cafeteria.

And then came the next sheepish one, and despite not getting permission to peek, his eyes couldn't help wandering as she held the paper out to him to take.

What field of Pro Hero work do you see yourself entering?
I don't know. I don't want to die.

What are areas you feel you could improve upon as a Pro Hero?
I don't want to die.

What kind of Pro Hero do you want to be?
I don't.

It was… puzzling. And when Ryuichi looked up from the sheet at Mugi, she was shuffling on her feet almost helplessly as she stared at Asuka near the other side of the class.

Did she really not want to be a Pro Hero? Then why was she even here? Everyone in the Eguchi family was a Pro Hero—why didn't Mugi want to be one?

"E—" he started, but then Asuka flew out of her chair and let out a groan that cut him off. Ryuichi was stunned silent as he watched Asuka barrel towards him like a hurricane, and she slammed her sheet on the desk—covering up Mugi's own in the process.

"C'mon, Mugi-chan," Asuka groaned. "I'm starving. I'll share some of my dessert with you again."

"I—I'm ordering sukiyaki again, if you want some of it," Mugi stammered. Asuka looked at her, and as they were walking out, she pinched at Mugi's cheeks with a concerned expression.

"We need to get more vitamins in you, Mugi-chan," she said in a babyish voice. Ryuichi stood up, unsure if he wanted to follow and demand answers for Mugi's sheet, but the next lot of papers were shoved in his face before he could even call out to them. "Sukiyaki every night can't be good for your taste buds."

"I eat rice and sashimi with it, too," he heard Mugi whine—and then they were too far away from him to see or hear, out into the hallway and beelining for the elevators.

Mirato was at his desk, not crowding him like the others had but definitely waiting for Ryuichi to address him. Ryuichi sat back down with a groan, and his face was pinched in a frustrated scowl as Mirato gently placed his sheet on the top of the pile.

"Ryu-kun, what was that about?" he asked.

Ryuichi almost wanted to ask him how he didn't already know, what with his future sight and all, but he stopped himself as he took calming breaths. Wordlessly, Ryuichi pulled Mugi's sheet from the pile—catching sight of other sheets, like Teruki's goal of making enough money to retire comfortably if his Quirk impacts his future as a Pro Hero, and Tetsuya's goal of becoming the strongest Pro Hero in Japan so that he had enough sway and power to investigate past cases—and he passed it to Mirato with a glance at the door again.

Almost everyone was gone now. The only ones who remained were Kanon, Yoyo, and Miyuki. Mirato poured over the sheet with growing concern, and when he lowered the sheet, Mirato was pale in the face and had a horrified look in his eyes.

"I didn't know it was that bad," Mirato whispered. "I knew Mugi-chan was under some pressure, and I told her that her brother would understand—she—she interns under him later in the year—but I didn't know it was…"

"Do we ask if she can be transferred out of the class?" Ryuichi whispered back.

Mirato shook his head quickly. "Mugi-chan was so beside herself in the future. She was scared of her brother rejecting her," he explained. "I think… I think Mugi-chan will get in trouble if she isn't in the heroics department."

Who could possibly punish her? The staff? No way, they wanted to make sure only the kids could handle it were in the heroics department. They picked Mugi because they clearly believed she could do this. Her brother was ruled out, since he was apparently wholly on Mugi's side, according to Mirato. Her parents?

Oh God, her parents. If they were anything like Ryuichi's, who pushed for him to become a Pro Hero, then they were making sure all of their children were Pro Heroes no matter what. He knew the type—it had taken forever to convince his parents to let him go to Zenshi instead of UA, mostly because Ryuichi didn't want to be part of a long line of Pro Heroes who went to UA, and instead be his own person as a Pro Hero in terms of history and growth, and he'd had to do some heavy-lifting in saying he was going to form a group similar to Team Idaten that he'd lead with a careful and dutiful gaze. If Mugi had that same pressure to attend, and Zenshi was the safest option she could pick—but that didn't make sense, since Zenshi was considered the new unsafest hero academy in Japan right now after Usagiyama Usamaru's kidnapping—

"She's scared of becoming a Boogeyman victim," Ryuichi realised. "She doesn't want to be a Pro Hero because she's scared of becoming a Boogeyman victim."

Towards the front of the class, he saw Miyuki's ears flick back and her posture go stiff. She clearly wasn't writing anymore, and he watched as she hunched over herself and forced herself to finish what was on her sheet.

"Mamonaka-sensei's gonna see Mugi-chan's sheet anyway," Mirato whispered. "This—This is a cry for help, right? M—Maybe Mamonaka-sensei will know what to do."

"We have an on-site therapist, right?" Ryuichi asked. Mirato nodded quickly. "I'm gonna ask Mamonaka-sensei to book Eguchi-san in with them. Regardless of if she wants to be a Pro Hero or not, this level of fear in her day to day life isn't healthy for her. And if she's too scared to ask for someone to talk to, she needs someone to give her a push."

Mirato nodded again, and he had a determined look on his face as he sucked in a deep breath. "After dinner, I'm gonna go through the labyrinth as much as possible so I can reassure Mugi-chan that she won't die!" he insisted. "I'll write it all down for her and everything!"

He wasn't sure how much Mugi would believe Mirato, but he supposed the effort couldn't be scoffed at. Ryuichi nodded in agreement, and he glanced over at the other three. He was startled almost immediately upon looking away from Mirato as he spotted Yoyo approach with a skip in her step, already right at his desk while the two were having their frantic conversation.

"Mugicchi's sad?" Yoyo asked in place of a greeting.

Ryuichi gave her a charming smile and covered Mugi's sheet with his arm. "Ah, I think having to think so hard about her goals took it out of her," he lied. "Do you know what usually cheers her up?"

If anyone could provide some relief to the timid girl, it had to be the resident golden retriever in the class. Despite how simple and gluttonous she was, Yoyo had an almost mystical level of reassurance and acceptance that radiated off of her in thick waves. She almost had nothing bad to say about anyone, unless they wasted food or didn't like rap music, and more than anything, Yoyo had already committed things her classmates liked to memory. Ryuichi was still trying to remember which sword smell Kanon had decided he liked after the ice breaker game had ended, which was so silly in hindsight because it should be easy to remember which sword your friend liked.

"She said she likes fluffy things," Yoyo recalled. "I have some super fuzzy blankets in storage, actually! And some of them are weighted, too! I hear a lot of people like weighted blankets. Oh! Have you guys seen the picture of the cat that woke up after sleeping in a weighted blanket? Her fur was all messy and everything—"

"A fluffy blanket might be nice," Mirato chimed in. "I helped her unpack on the first night, and she only had a couple of fluffy pillows for her bed. She might appreciate a fluffy blanket to match them."

Yoyo was beaming as she proudly placed a hand to her chest. Ryuichi panicked for a moment, thinking she was going to pull the blanket out right here and now, but she simply thumped her chest with her fist confidently.

"I have a ton of colours in here too!" she boasted. "I'll ask Mugicchi which one she likes most!"

Well, there was a temporary fix found. Ryuichi and Mirato thanked Yoyo as the girl skipped out of class, chanting about how she was excited to eat her "Dynamite Donburi" and rapping each ingredient loudly and proudly. Ryuichi would be more impressed with the freestyle rap if the lyrics weren't the obscene amount of ingredients listed in the meal for one small girl.

"Yoyo-chan's nice, hm?" Mirato gushed. "Whichever girl she dates is gonna be lucky to have her."

Ryuichi looked at him in alarm. "You took a peek at our love lives?"

Mirato quickly backpedalled, flustered, and waved his hands about frantically. "N—Not intentionally!" he insisted. "S—Sometimes I'll see you guys making lovey-dovey faces at different people, and I roll with it because I don't think true love is set in stone and all—and sometimes you guys are super happy and I don't wanna force you all into a specific relationship if another one makes you happier, and—and, uh—I wouldn't mind playing cupid a couple of times, but it's also not my business, so I'd be rude to impose—"

Ryuichi snickered and leaned forward, back in his teasing mode. "Is our little class cinnamon roll a peeping Tom?" he teased. Mirato became even more flustered and stumbled over his words some more, and even Miyuki looked up this time to see what the commotion was. "So? Did you take a peek at your own relationships? Cutie pie like you probably got a real catch, though that just means more competition for me."

Mirato stopped moving completely. His face was as red as a tomato, and he was clearly holding his breath as he finally looked away from Ryuichi and started sweating profusely.

Ryuichi's flirtatious teasing stopped immediately.

"Huh?" he said, quiet. Mirato looked further away, his neck turned at almost a full one hundred and eighty degrees. "I was kidding. Are you serious?"

"I hold many hands with many people in this class," Mirato choked out. "I try not to put too much stock into which of my potential ships will sail until it does."

"Is that why you act so familiar with us?" Ryuichi wheezed. Mirato was silent again. "Hey, isn't this knowledge kind of powerful—"

"Ah, Miyu-chan's done!" Mirato yelled. He sprinted over to Miyuki, diving for the paper before Miyuki could even pull the pen from the paper. Miyuki's hair and fur around her ears and tail poofed up like a cat's would, and Mirato was still sweating as he set to work folding the paper like origami in an attempt to delay handing it to Ryuichi. "That sure took you a while, Miyu-chan! Isn't it so hard to decide these things?"

Ryuichi squinted at Mirato from his desk. Oh, he was getting some answers out of him. He didn't like relationship drama, but an attempt to tease people he liked was something Ryuichi couldn't pass up.

By the time Miyuki left, she was patting Mirato's shoulder with a deadpan stare and leaving him in the dust to hand the paper to Ryuichi. Mirato was whining and begging her to stay and walk to dinner with him, but Miyuki just gave him a two-finger salute and slid the door shut behind her.

All that remained was Kanon. And when Ryuichi watched Mirato flutter to his side, he noticed that Kanon's sheet looked… empty. Not a single trace of pen marks or anything on it as Mirato came to a stop and stared.

"Ka-kun…?" Mirato asked. Kanon looked up from his sheet, a frustrated expression on his face, and Ryuichi stood up with the papers in hand. He didn't think Kanon would have this much trouble with it, but he supposed every class had one person who didn't know what they wanted to do with their future.

Ryuichi came to a stop behind Kanon's chair, and he rested a hand on the back of it as he peered over Kanon's shoulder at the sheet. Yep, completely empty. Not for lack of trying, he thought—Kanon's pen was the type that could erase ink, and there were skid marks on the paper that showed he'd clearly erased something a couple of times.

"Having a hard time?" Ryuichi asked. Kanon looked back down at the sheet and nodded once. "I get it. It's hard to know the answers to questions like these at the drop of a hat. I still don't know if I wanna be a maritime search and rescue hero, or if I want to be the type who hunts down villains. I'm more suited for the sea, but sometimes accidents at sea are fatal enough to not require a Pro Hero, y'know?"

Kanon tilted his head, and Ryuichi could see his face pinch up even more—this time in confusion.

"Can't you still rescue people at sea when an accident happens?" Kanon asked him.

Ryuichi sighed and shook his head. "Not every time," he explained. "You have to understand that things like capsized ships and wrecks very rarely have people surviving once the whole ship goes under. Taking into account things like water pressure and the specific area of the sea an accident happens at, the odds of finding someone who miraculously survived with what little air and rations they'd grabbed are slim to none. How does the saying go? We know more about space than we do about the ocean?"

Mirato nodded in agreement. "But people would still benefit from a Pro Hero evacuating a sinking ship," he reasoned. "A lot of people on luxury ferries would have a chance of survival if someone like you came in and rescued them before air supply ran out."

Ryuichi laughed, though it felt hollow as he spoke his next morbid thought: "Fingers crossed the boat capsizes in a reef and not in the open ocean, then."

The morbid topic of conversation was quickly moved on from when Mirato glanced down at Kanon's sheet again. He hummed, thoughtful, and leaned against the desk in front of Kanon with a contemplative expression.

"What made you apply to Zenshi, Ka-kun?" he asked.

Kanon furrowed his brows as he looked up at Mirato. He looked to still be getting used to the nickname from the three-eyed boy, and he took a moment to think about his answer.

Finally, he told the boys, "Bishamon told me I have potential to become a hero. It was the first time anyone acknowledged my skills."

That had to be about the most words Ryuichi had heard Kanon speak in one go. Ryuichi pushed away from Kanon's seat, walking to lean against the desk to Kanon's left, and he let out a curious hum.

"That's the leader of Troika," he recited. Kanon nodded once, and he seemed a little pleased that Ryuichi knew what he was talking about. "You did say you trained with them a little. I think all three of them went to Zenshi, now that I think about it."

Mirato gasped, delighted. "That makes so much sense!" he cheered. "Bishamon's known as the Blade Hero, and you love swordplay!"

Kanon nodded again, even more excited—which was saying a lot, given he still looked impassive and distant as ever—and he looked back down at his sheet.

Ryuichi glanced at the question about what kind of Pro Hero the class wanted to be, and he sniffed.

"If you can't think of what you want to do or what kind of Pro Hero you want to become," he suggested, "why don't you just list what you're already good at and say you want to incorporate it into your hero work?"

Kanon looked at him like he'd just given him the answers to the universe and its existence. "Swords," he said softly, almost to Ryuichi instead of writing it on his sheet. "I'm good with swords."

"Then while Bishamon is the Blade Hero, you can be the Sword Hero," Mirato suggested. Kanon nodded along again, and he turned to his sheet with renewed determination.

By the time he was done, every answer aside from the ones about his shortcomings boiled down to using a sword. Ryuichi could tell Mononoke had his work cut out for him with Kanon.

As Kanon left and nodded to the duo in thanks, Mirato and Ryuichi let out relieved sighs. Ryuichi checked his phone, and he was stunned to find that he and Mirato had spent almost a good hour with Kanon trying to help him brainstorm. He counted his blessings that he'd accepted Lyoko's offer to save him a seat. A late dinner wasn't terrible, but it wasn't ideal, either.

Kanon's sheet, which sat at the top of the pile, did have something a little concerning in his shortcomings section that gave Ryuichi pause, though.

What are areas you feel you could improve upon as a Pro Hero?
I don't know. I'm not good at a lot of things. Bishamon said I could become a Pro Hero, but I just want to find my calling. Will I be expelled if I want to be anything other than a Pro Hero?

Somehow it felt on-brand that Kanon would fire back a question to his homeroom teacher on a written question in an assignment. Ryuichi tucked Kanon's sheet in with the others, and Mirato walked by his side as they made their ways to the teachers' lounge. It wasn't like Mirato needed to come, but he gave his reasoning that he had to pull his weight as a vice representative, and who was Ryuichi to argue against that?

They did hear running behind them, a shout for them to hold the door open when they were about to open it, and Mirato turned around just in time to catch a glimpse before quickly turning back to the door without a word.

Strange. He was usually so social.

Ryuichi glanced back, spotting bright blue hair barrelling towards them, and he briefly managed to put a name to the face as the girl skidded to a stop behind them.

"Tsunematsu-san?" he asked. She was carrying paperwork in her hands, and a brief glance revealed that it was the same sheets 1-B had filled out. Right, 1-A had a heroics class in the morning today. Did Skathi give them all day to decide on this stuff between classes? "I thought Himura-san and Poi-san were your class's representatives."

Mazuna was gasping for air as she recovered from her frantic sprint. Despite not being too far, it seemed that she was under a bit of stress from having to keep the papers from flying all over the place.

"H—Himura-san and Poi-san were removed," she wheezed. Ryuichi blinked, surprised. They were? "They got in trouble at lunch today—I only just found out after evening homeroom ended that I was the new rep."

Seriously? How come 1-B didn't get an evening homeroom today?

No, not the important part there. They probably didn't get homeroom because it was the headmistress lumping homework on them that was time-sensitive.

"You seem a bit overwhelmed," Ryuichi noted. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

Mazuna nodded, and despite looking exhausted already, she seemed receptive to being made the representative for 1-A.

Abruptly, almost like he was pointedly trying to get away from her, Mirato opened the door to the teachers' lounge and called out, "Mamonaka-sensei! We have some papers for you!"

"Ah, sorry," Ryuichi said hurriedly. He stepped aside to let Mazuna in first, and she passed him with a grateful giggle. He watched as she fluttered towards UFOriko, her homeroom teacher, and Ryuichi wandered after Mirato towards Mononoke's desk. It wasn't far from UFOriko's, just on the other side of the collective of tables and desks, and Mononoke was already looking right at Ryuichi expectantly as he hurried over. "We've got our class's heroics assignment done."

Mononoke took the pile with a graceful nod, but when Mirato and Ryuichi didn't immediately leave, he glanced up from the pile.

"What's the matter?" he asked, concerned.

"Ah, sensei, we've just got some worries about one of our classmates," Ryuichi started. Mirato shifted on his feet and mumbled Mugi's name, and Mononoke wasted no time flicking through the papers until he found her name. He paused, seeing her constant pleas about not wanting to die, and he looked almost crestfallen. "Y—Yeah… It might be presumptuous of me to say, but I think she might've been forced to attend Zenshi's heroics department."

"I will admit," Mononoke mumbled, "it did look like multiple people had filled out Eguchi-chan's application for the heroics department. Most children wanting to get into the heroics department put the marketing department as a close second, since graduates from that department go on to actually run the bureaucratic side of Pro Hero agencies. But Eguchi-chan had general studies as her second choice."

Mirato pursed his lips and looked at Mononoke with a pleading expression—total puppy dog eyes, if you asked Ryuichi.

"Mamonaka-sensei, she might get in trouble if she gets removed from the course," he pleaded. "S—So, if possible, can she be given appointments with the on-site therapist? To help her with her fears!"

Mononoke set down the papers and reached up to rub at his brows. He sighed, heavily and with great effort, but when he looked up from his hands, he was smiling gently at the boys.

"I'll see what I can do," he said, and from his tone, it was easy to tell an unspoken, Without alerting her parents, hung in the air. Whatever pressure Mugi was facing at home wouldn't seep into her school life. "You boys did a good thing by bringing it to my attention. You must worry about Eguchi-chan a lot, hm?"

Mirato looked hopeful as he nodded. Ryuichi nodded as well, though with less excitement. He may not have been friends with Mugi, not yet, but she was easy to get along with. Her submissive personality was just more concerning than her actual good traits were prominent.

"Most people tend to ignore and say it's not their business," Mononoke went on, "but as Pro Heroes, a cry for help is our business. I think I can rest easy with the class in your capable hands, Kaiyo-kun, Koizumi-kun. I'll broach the topic gently with Eguchi-chan, but for now, take a deep breath and eat your dinner in peace. You have a big week ahead of you, I hear."

With any luck, this wouldn't interfere with the practical heroics class in a couple of days. Ryuichi and Mirato left the room soon after Mazuna did, the exchange of sheets and information more brief between her and UFOriko, and as soon as they entered the elevator, Mirato let out a relieved sigh. Almost like he was glad Mazuna wasn't in the elevator with them.

"What was that about?" Ryuichi asked. Mirato let out a confused hum, but his expression seemed to sour when Ryuichi added, "With Tsunematsu-san."

Mirato pouted and looked away from Ryuichi, focusing on the glowing buttons of the elevator. "I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled.

"You're a terrible liar," Ryuichi pointed out. Mirato flinched, letting out a pained sound, and Ryuichi leaned closer to him, glaring. "Hey, hey, did you have a premonition about her?"

"I'm just of the opinion that Tsunematsu-san—" The full formal polite name, not even a nickname. Something was fishy. "—is currently someone I shouldn't focus on. Why should I when I have so many lovely classmates to be friends with?"

"So she did something terrible in the future?" Ryuichi probed.

Mirato got defensive then. "Not in the future!" he insisted. "She's better in the future! But right now…"

Ryuichi tilted his head as Mirato trailed off. Mirato seemed to realise what he was doing, and he huffed as he turned away from Ryuichi—not unlike he had in the classroom.

Ryuichi shrugged and sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. Some people need a little humbling, and apparently Tsunematsu-san isn't as humble as she appears," Ryuichi drawled. "Best to let fate take its course. Kind of like how you let fate take its course with your love life."

"Are you still on that?" Mirato sputtered.

"I'll never be off it," Ryuichi joked. "Should I start calling you honey? Sugar-pie? Sweetie?" Then he made a show of gasping, acting like a bright idea had come to mind. "Hubby-wubby?"

Mirato clamped his hands over his ears with a shout. "I hold many hands with many people in our class!" he repeated.

"Those hands are looking mighty empty right now."

"I'm holding myself!"

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Mirato sprinted out with his hands still over his ears. Ryuichi stepped out with a snicker, watching as Mirato hurried to take his place in line, and Ryuichi took one final chance to tease at him before he too had to wait for his food.

"Just remember!" he called, earning the attention of people in the cafeteria nearby. "You have two hands!"

Mirato was screeching like a pterodactyl as he dropped into a squat in the dinner line.

Ryuichi laughed to himself and fixed his uniform, but even as other students went back to their dinners, he still felt eyes on him. He thought it might've been Lyoko, and he glanced over the tables in search of the redhead. But when no sign of him was found, he looked in the other direction—and who should he see but Kiaria holding an empty lunch tray, looking at him with pursed lips and wide eyes.

"Two hands, huh?" she asked him.

Ryuichi, not one to pass up a chance to flirt, batted his eyes at her. "I also have two hands, if you're interested."

Kiaria looked over at Mirato, who was recovering from his ordeal with a beet-red face, and then back at Ryuichi.

"Lizards aren't my thing," she told him matter-of-factly.

Ryuichi dropped the playful attitude immediately. "I'm a dragon," he insisted. "You're the second person to call me a lizard."

"Dragons are just overgrown lizards," Kiaria reasoned. And then she continued on her way to drop off her used tray, almost like the conversation hadn't even been a blip on her radar.

Ryuichi sighed heavily and trudged towards the line. Well, there was his fun for the day over and done with. Now he had to get his food and find where the hell Lyoko was sitting.

Hopefully classes would go a bit more smoothly now that he was able to help a couple of his classmates. It was his duty as class representative, after all.