(A/N) Hoooooly crapsicle sticks was this update ever delayed to hell and back. Sorry fellas, a homie is going thru it rn😞. I don't want to bore you with the details, but times are busy, and so I've had to sit with this chapter at about 80% for like a month. It's out, thankfully, but holy shit lol. I'll have a lot more free time around Christmas so you can expect another (or more) updates for this story and others around that time.

Also, in case it wasn't made clear, the extra at the end of the last chapter is entirely AU. Even if Shirou happened to be bad with technology in canon (which he wasn't), it wouldn't really matter here either way. BNHA is supposed to be set sometime in the future, so overhead projectors probably wouldn't have been something that Shirou would have even used in his lifetime. In fact, I'd suppose that pretty much everyone in that world is technologically savvy in one way or another for similar reasons. Again, the extra was just for fun.

At any rate, I wish FFN had a better way for authors to communicate with readers. PMs are fine and all, but trying to answer the question of every reviewer is really hard. Which do I answer directly? Which do I address in the AN? I'm sure as hell not about to start putting the Q&A at the start of each chapter or else we'll end up with ANs that are longer than the chap itself. If you feel neglected in any way, dear reader, know that it is not because I don't appreciate you, and definitely not because I've forgotten about you. Each and every review is received with great love and consideration from yours truly.

That said, a question that has been asked quite a bit (that many want me to address) concerns the current situations with Shoto and Endeavor.

... Anway. We're quickly approaching the USJ timeline, so buckle up. We've got our first look at Miruko this chapter, albeit only snippets through the eyes of some students. Hopefully, y'all like the chappy.

Enjoy!

X

"Good idea, don't you think?"

Shirou's answer to her question was a silent one. Rather, he didn't answer her verbally at all. The high-ranked pro hero gave her nothing more than a smile that screamed, "No, but please don't blow a gasket over it."

Rumi deciphered the plea loud and clear, but she wasn't about to let him squirm out of this one. She met his smile with a toothy grin of her own: so bright that Shirou could have mistaken her mood for "chipper" were it not for the daggers that her eyes were staring into his skull.

She hummed innocently. "What's wrong? Got something to say?"

He held back a groan. "Well…"

"Well?"

"I mean…"

"Spit it out."

He gave up. Slumping into his chair with a deep sigh, Shirou gave it to her straight. "No. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to attack my students halfway through the lecture to 'keep them on their feet'."

The Rabbit Hero's hand slapped the table between them hard enough to rattle it "But why n–"

She stopped to steady her thermos as it threatened to tip over, then tried again, "But why not? It's not like that sort of thing didn't happen to us back in the day."

"That's true," he admitted. Before she could dig deeper, however, he added, "My class is entirely theoretical though. I'll leave the more eccentric activities to whoever's in charge of their practical lessons."

The sneer that crossed Rumi's face expressed something between pity and disappointment. She told him honestly, "Damn you're a stick in the mud. How does the 'Number Two Hero' manage to have the personality of a neutered middle-aged man?"

Shirou sputtered. "What? No I don't! There's nothing wrong with trying to preserve the integrity of my students' learning environment."

The mug she had on twisted even further. "Hey, hey… Are you trying to teach 'em a lesson, or are you just trying to hear the sound of your own voice for an hour?"

"Lectures can teach them plenty."

"Not in my experience."

"Like you've actually ever listened in class!"

"Everyone learns differently!"

"You can't learn by skipping!"

"I skipped 'cuz they weren't teaching anything important!"

"How would you know!? You weren't there!"

Practically butting heads at that point, both parties froze at the sound of the door creaking open.

"Uh…" trailed off Kan. The homeroom teacher of Shirou's sister class gathered his thoughts at the entrance before asking, "What's Miruko doing in the teacher's lounge?"

Shirou leaned back into his seat and coughed into a fist in an attempt to compose himself. "She's my guest lecturer for today. I invited her here so that we could iron out how we'd want to approach things."

"Which we're disagreeing on," she added.

"…Which we're disagreeing on," he agreed.

The white-haired teacher scratched the back of his head. "That's fine and all, but doesn't 1-A have the field trip today? Wouldn't you want to save something like this for a day without much else going on?"

"Both first-year classes are early this morning though, right? It's fine," Rumi waved him off easily. "I'll just say my piece and bounce when they gotta go. It's not like this will be a one-time thing."

Vlad King blinked owlishly. "It's not?"

Rumi looked at him like he was an idiot. "How am I supposed to fit everything into one class?" she asked rhetorically.

There were a few things that Kan wanted to ask in response to that, the point at the forefront of his mind was where she found her sudden desire to impart her wisdom to a bunch of high school kids. He was a smart man, however, so his inquiries were kept to himself.

"I didn't know that you two knew each other," he tried instead. The senior teacher turned his back to the pair in order to get his instant coffee rolling, but his ears were kept open for a reply.

"Yeah, from way back," Shirou offered. "Since we were students ourselves."

Vlad hummed in honest surprise. "You know, considering how both of you really play up the whole 'Lone Wolf' thing, it's a little unexpected that you have such a long-lasting relationship."

"Bah," exclaimed Rumi dismissively. Her frown nearly comically-pronounced, she took a big swig of coffee.

Vlad King quirked a brow. Did he say something he shouldn't have?

Shirou laughed lightly in an attempt to restore the calm of the room.

"What's this? What a welcome surprise, Miruko-kun!" spoke a new voice.

Entering was the principal himself. The mutant animal smiled to the extent that his physiology allowed.

"Principal," greeted Shirou with a polite bow– though it came across as more of a shrug from his seated position. Kan bade his boss a good morning in a similar fashion with a hand still manipulating the instant coffee maker.

Rumi grinned from ear to ear.

"You know it, big cheese."

Nezu didn't even bat an eye at the terrible nickname. He teased good-naturedly, "You're not here to cause me any more issues, I hope? I thought I was finally rid of you years ago."

Rather than get offended, she laughed boisterously. "You know I am!"

Shirou half-bowed again. "Sorry. I'll make sure she behaves herself."

"Watch it…" she grumbled, shooting him an annoyed look.

Kan held his breath for a moment expecting some sort of escalation, but it never came. To mask his surprise, he instead asked his boss, "What brings you here, Principal? I don't think I've seen you at the teacher's lounge all that often."

"That's right! Thanks for reminding me," exclaimed Nezu, slapping his paws together demonstratively.

The other three looked bemused. With a quirk like his, he didn't actually expect anyone to think that something had actually "slipped his mind", right? Why the theatrics?

"I just stopped by to make sure that Archer-kun managed to get all of the permission slips back in time," he explained with an apologetic tilt of the head. "Sorry again for the trouble, though since he's an untenured employee with no previous work history with our establishment, our policy states–"

"–That I need parental consent to take students off-campus," recited the new teacher easily. "I know. It was no issue, though, so don't worry. I got the last few the other day."

The youngest of the males present took out a plain-looking satchel from under the table. Rumi snorted when she saw it but immediately looked away when Shirou quirked a brow at her.

Taking out a fattened envelope, he handed it to the principal. "I could've dropped it off later, but since you're here…"

Kan whistled. "You got all of them? That's the Number Two Hero for you, huh?"

"Was that a… joke?" tried Shirou with an uncertain smile. "I don't get it, sorry."

Nezu received the package gratefully with both paws. "He just admires that you were able to get all of these from your students ahead of time, is all. They aren't known to be the most punctual. If I'm being honest, I'm quite surprised myself that not one student will need to stay behind as a result of a lost or forgotten document."

Shirou scratched the back of his head with a chuckle. "Is that so?"

Nezu hummed. "Then again, maybe they're just trying to impress you. Once they get used to you as a teacher rather than a hero, most will probably fall back on worse habits in no time.

The younger man made a sour face, which Rumi laughed at.

Kan took a glance at the clock. "Your class starts in a few, doesn't it?"

Rumi's mouth shut with a click. She grabbed the redhead across from her and made it out the door in seconds. From the hallway, her orders for Shirou to "hurry up" could still be heard.

With peace now returned to their sanctum, Nezu breathed out an exaggerated sigh.

"Considering how earnest she is, you wouldn't think that she used to land herself in my office eight times a week for being tardy. Where was this sense of punctuality when she was my student?"

With the table now clear, Kan pulled out a chair and slumped into it with a scoff. "Doesn't surprise me at all. Honestly, have those two actually known each other for that long? Archer is such an even-keeled guy that you'd have hoped that at least a little bit of that would have rubbed off on her."

Nezu brought a paw up to his chin. "Hmm. I believe you're misunderstanding something."

Kan quirked a brow. "I am?"

"It's a ruse. An illusion, if you will."

"I'm not following."

For once, the principal lost his amused, toothy grin. It was replaced by a tired look that somehow belied his age despite his mutant appearance.

"Emiya Shirou-kun is by far the most stubborn, hard-headed student that I've ever had walk these halls. Watching those two argue is like watching an unstoppable force fight an immovable object– except they're both the immovable object in this analogy. They're two peas in a pod, though I suppose that makes it sound nicer than it is."

Kan blinked. "Seriously?"

"They're on the other side of the education system now, Vlad-kun. As a teacher, just be thankful that they were never your problem to deal with."

X

Kendo Itsuka, like many of her classmates, was waiting for their teacher to show up with bated breath.

Like, who wouldn't be excited? Archer taught this class, of all people. If someone had told her before the semester had started that she'd be getting lessons from both top-two heroes practically every day, then she'd call them crazy.

Admittedly this would already be the second class that they'd have with him, but the high hadn't left her yet. What would they be doing today? The class outline that she received was awfully vague… Something like the last time, maybe? Another discussion period?

The shuffling of a door being opened was heard, and whatever chatter that was to be had between classmates ceased immediately.

Archer walked in, and she stared at him with poorly-veiled admiration. He was totally the perfect example of who she wanted to be as a hero– something she'd always known but had only been able to put into words as a result of their last assignment.

"What is a hero," was the question, and really, it didn't take her too long to come up with an answer.

Someone dependable! Someone who could keep their cool in any scenario and react accordingly– someone that everyone looked up to!

All Might was all of that and more, obviously, but it was kind of hard to set your standards that high. Like, is he even human? Besides, Archer was no All Might –and no one could ever be All Might– but that was exactly what made him so amazing. He didn't have the advantage of being the strongest man in the world, but despite that, he always knew exactly what to do.

That's who Kendo Itsuka wanted to be.

"Good morning, everyone," he greeted them all with a friendly smile.

Itsuka gave him her undivided attention, and most of her classmates did the same. Even a guy like Monoma-kun, full of himself as he was, couldn't help but stare at their sensei with a certain amount of reverence.

"We have something different planned for today," Archer announced. "I've brought someone who I think might have some great insights for all of you."

A guest lecturer? Who could it be?

…Or actually, what was the point? Teachers usually did stuff this when they wanted to bring legitimacy to a subject, like back in elementary school when that fireman came to her class to talk about fire safety. It wasn't as though the teacher himself couldn't, but more that there was the idea that people would rather hear that sort of thing from an expert rather than a general instructor.

But this class was called "Hero Ideologies", wasn't it? In this case, the general instructor was the expert, be it crime-fighting, rescue missions or whichever niche that could possibly involve pro hero work. Heck, he was the expert among experts. Other than a hero, then what, maybe a police officer? A first responder?

When Miruko walked through the door with her hands on her hips and her signature cocky grin set in place, all of Itsuka's previous arguments came crashing down in her head.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god it's her!

Hero rankings were one thing, but this was another matter entirely. This was Miruko. Practically every girl Itsuka's age had the woman's image plastered in their head when they thought of what it meant to be a strong female hero in an industry where the top dogs were predominantly male.

Although the boys seemed to have strong opinions of their own, much to their chagrin.

"No friggin' way!"

"Let's gooooo!"

"Hell yeah!"

"Wooooooo!"

Her eyebrow twitched, and she needed to physically hold herself back from hitting the hollering monkeys over the head. She had no delusions as to why they were so excited to see the Rabbit Hero.

Sensei put a hand on his fellow hero's shoulder.

"I'm sure you all know who this is, but allow me to introduce her to you anyway. This is Miruko, the seventh-ranked hero in japan."

She waved.

"Yo! I'm here because your teacher has no backbone."

Class 1-B acted as a single organism and did a synchronized double-take.

…Was she going for shock value? Yeah, definitely shock value. That comment was definitely a bit too unfiltered, even for someone like her.

Sensei grimaced. "What she means is that she'll probably be able to make her presentation sound more impactful than I could."

The short woman laughed.

"Sure."

Seeing Archer getting teased like this was a novel experience to Itsuka. He always seemed so in-control… it was, like, a completely different side of him, or something.

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to her side and almost jumped.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," apologized her teacher with a sheepish smile. He was sitting in a chair that he had pulled to the back of the class, between her and Shoda-kun. "I'm just going to watch from over here."

Not trusting her voice, she just nodded.

He's so close!

Miruko cleared her throat, and her head snapped back to the front of the class. Itsuka didn't know how much experience the woman had with presentations, but her body language said that she was loving the attention.

"What's the most important quality for a hero to have?"

Another opening question? Was this going to be an ongoing trend for this class?

Kaibara-kun raised his hand dutifully, speaking only when the pro hero nodded his way.

"I think it's important for heroes to be able to collaborate–"

"Wrong."

He froze mid-sentence, mouth flapping about uselessly as he was unable to process the immediate denial.

Itsuka would have felt much the same way in his place. Like, seriously? Were they past the point of the whole "self-reflection" thing now, or something?

The girl tried to catch Sensei from the corner of her eye, but his expression wasn't giving anything away.

"Does anyone else wanna give it a shot?" offered the presenter.

Monoma-kun grabbed the sides of his desk confidently. "One must always stay two steps ahead of the–"

"No. Are you people even trying?"

The boy became despondent.

It happened again and again. A student would offer their answer, and they'd get shot down before they could even finish. The longer it went on, the longer it took for students to gather the courage to put themselves out there.

Her classmates seemed like they were being discouraged by Miruko's brutal dismissals. Despite being a little uncomfortable herself, she wanted to encourage active participation. She lifted her hand–

Tetsutetsu-kun shot to his feet and slammed a fist into his palm.

"You just need to be gutsy!" was his boneheaded reply.

"Exactly."

Huh?

The rest of her class seemed to share in her confusion. Everyone's stares kept switching between the preening metal-head and the proud-looking woman grinning at him.

Itsuka didn't even try to be discrete when she turned to Sensei this time. Again, however, he didn't show any outward reaction to the way things were developing. Was he just going to let things play out?

…This couldn't be right, could it?

Miruko hopped onto the teacher's desk and sat herself cross-legged. Oddly enough, that was the only thing that Sensei seemed to be bothered by.

Although nothing more than a disapproving frown wasn't much either.

"Guts! Confidence! Determination! Call it whatever you want, but if you don't think you have any, then get lost! This isn't the career for you."

Miruko's words were a little heavy for Itsuka. It wasn't as though she didn't understand that she needed to be confident– she was plenty confident! But she knew there was more to it than that. Heroes needed some sort of balance, right? Again, Archer was a great example. He was the best-of-the-best because of his intellect and level-headedness. Would he have been able to get so far with nothing but "guts"? Definitely not.

She spoke as steadily as she could while raising her hand, "Uhm, Miruko-san, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? Like, in class with All Might-sensei the other day, he said that heroes can do anything as long as they have a plan, know themselves and know their enemy, and, like…"

She trailed off, less sure of herself after every word as the top female hero did nothing but stare at her silently. All the attention was on her now, and honestly, she felt like curling in on herself out of embarrassment.

When the white-haired woman finally spoke, her words came out calmly and evenly. "Yeah, sure. All that other stuff is great. That said, you're attending one of the greatest hero schools in the world. What's UA's motto? 'Know thine enemy'? 'Sharing is caring'? 'Teamwork is dream work'?"

Her grin returned. Miruko stood on the desk and made herself look as big as possible. "Go beyond! Plus Ultra! How many times have you heard that sales pitch since you got here? My greatest advice to you all is to start thinking about what that really means."

"A different question!" she shouted, then pointed at a random student. "Suppose that you're in an 'impossible' situation. You're tied down, or whatever, and a bunch of villains are about to kill you along with, I don't know, let's say a hundred civilians."

Shishida-kun looked distinctly uncomfortable with the question. "I… do not know. What can I do? You said it yourself, Miruko-san– the situation is impossible…"

She crossed her arms in front of her in an "x". "Fuck that noise."

"Hey! Language!" shouted Sensei for the first time since the start of the presentation.

To Itsuka's immediate bewilderment, the Rabbit Hero's response was the complete opposite of an apology.

"Suck it, sword boy," Mirko mocked him while flipping him the finger.

Sensei looked about as shocked as she felt. His face, reddened and contorted with embarrassment, was not an expression she had ever expected to see on the face of someone like Archer.

Her classmates, being the teenagers they were, found the exchange absolutely hilarious. It took the class about as much time to burst into laughter as it took Sensei to steel his gaze.

Which is to say, no time at all.

"As I was saying," continued Mirko as if she hadn't told off the number-two hero in japan in the rudest way possible, "If you give up because of something as silly as 'an impossible task', then you're not going to get too far as a hero. I've been in so many situations that were supposed to be 'impossible' that I've stopped counting altogether."

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Miruko-san," expressed Shishida-kun. "You said it was impossible–"

"It was a trick question, sorry. I said it was impossible, yeah, but that doesn't really mean that it is an impossible situation. Things are only impossible until they aren't. If that weren't the case, then your dear ol' teacher back there would've been dead long before he ever went pro."

All eyes turned to Sensei. All he could offer them was a sheepish laugh. "It's true, in a sense. Adversity can come your way whether you're expecting it or not."

There was definitely more of a story to it than what he made apparent.

"He's not alive right now, talking you all to sleep every class because he's a 'level-headed' guy or whatever," explained Miruko matter-of-factly. "You think he was always this good? He was able to come out on top against impossible odds because he refused to believe that the odds were impossible."

One part of Itsuka's brain was trying to wrap itself around what exactly it was that the Rabbit Hero was trying to say, and the other part was trying to process the way Archer's cheeks flushed from being praised.

Miruko pointed out another student. It took Itsuka a moment to realize that she was that student.

"Girl. Do you think you'd be able to beat your sensei in a fight right here, right now?"

Her mouth moved before her brain could catch up, such was the absurdity of the question. "Of course not!"

"And with that mindset, you never will. That sort of confidence is the difference between a great hero and everyone else."

Itsuka wanted to scream. What kind of logic was that? If she fought Archer, one of the greatest heroes, like, ever, then she would definitely lose. What sane person would expect otherwise? It would be like asking, "How come you couldn't beat All Might in an arm wrestle?".

Go beyond. Plus Ultra.

For a single, fleeting moment, UA's motto crossed her mind.

There was… probably a lot for her to think about.

X

"The Hero I-D class today was awesome," squealed Ashido-san. "Miruko is so cool! Speaking of which, she and Sensei seem like they're totally close, right? Like, I didn't expect them to have that dynamic at all. Sensei's reactions were super adorable though. Hehe!"

From where she sat on the bus, Hagakure-san bought into the gossip immediately. Her frame –nothing more than a floating outfit– squirmed to in a show of delight. "I know, right? I give Sensei a bunch of gap moe points for that!"

Those within earshot laughed at the absurdity of such a statement.

"Don't you think, Yaomomo?"

Yaoyorozu Momo snapped out of her thoughts, realizing maybe a moment too late that she was being addressed.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" she asked with an apologetic smile.

Ashido-san hummed with a puzzled look. "Are you alright? You've been a little out of it since we left."

The black-haired girl tried to sound as convincing as possible. Her eyes squinted shut to match the upturn of her lips. "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm just thinking about what Miruko said, is all."

"What's there to think about?" asked Kirishima-san from a few rows down. "All you need is guts, right? I totally get it! Miruko is like, super manly."

Ashido-san laughed. "She's a girl, idiot!"

"Would you all keep it down!?" interjected Bakugo-san for the first time. As usual, he looked pretty annoyed. "You're all too loud."

"Look who's talkin', Mister Cafeteria Flashbang," teased Kaminari-kun.

"Why you…"

"Man, that's hilarious!"

"Kacchan is getting bullied… UA is incredible…"

With the discussion moving elsewhere, Momo delved into her own thoughts once more.

"Confidence is the difference between a great hero and everyone else."

She didn't want to think of herself as a weak-willed person. No one did. But right now… it was a confusing time for her. Her whole life she was the best at everything she did, and it was a role she was happy to fall into.

It all changed when she came to UA, however. She wasn't head and shoulders above everyone else anymore. She didn't want to sound all self-absorbed –she didn't have some sort of superiority complex or anything– but she could tell that she was going to be left in the dust soon at this rate, and it stung.

Guts.

Was conviction her problem? Was Todoroki-san able to trample over her so easily because he had something she didn't?

Was Bakugo-san the same? His personality might be putrid, but no one doubted for a second that he had the potential to be a top hero. When he lost, he didn't start moping about like she knew she was doing right now. If anything, it just lit a fire under him to get better.

She wanted to be like that. Why couldn't she be like that?

It sounded so easy to just say, "I'll be more confident today. I'll be the best version of myself!"

It wasn't that easy, no matter how much she wanted it to be.

What did her classmates think of her? Did her physical aptitude ranking matter to them? Did her position as class rep matter to them?

Did it matter to her? Should it matter to her?

As she was… could she amount to anything as a hero?

"Get ready, everyone!" Sensei called from the front of the bus. "We're here!"

Momo shook her head. Now wasn't the time to think about… whatever this was. She would just have to do her best and hope that she'd be able to find her answers somewhere along the way.