Earlier on U.A.'s campus...
Midoriya walked towards U.A. Academy with Skylar by her side. She was surprisingly quiet as they walked over to the school. He noticed that she seemed to be walking with him pretty too close for his liking, but tried to ignore it. He looked around to notice that there were a few classmates walking around outside since it was a Sunday. Everyone that he saw wore casual outfits and were hanging out with their friends. He hadn't noticed that sort of thing in a while, that it felt good to be walking outside like this.
Then he noticed Skylar.
She seemed to be excited to start hero training with him, but something about last night still bothered him. She acted like what happened between them never happened last night. She was a little intimidating towards him for some reason, but now she was back to how she usually acted around everyone. He didn't understand why she acted that way around him, but then he thought the nightmare just bothered him that much.
He rubbed his throat, still feeling that dryness in it. It wasn't letting up all that much as he walked with her. He hoped that it would lighten up a bit, but it wasn't going away anytime soon. He was just glad that the burning sensation was just a part of the nightmare. If that were still going on, he'd be going over to Recovery Girl right about now.
Midoriya hoped that this had nothing to do with One for All. Then again, he remembered feeling like this had nothing to do with it. He wondered if he should talk to AllMight afterwards about this. Maybe he would understand what was going on for the most part. He didn't remember much of the nightmare, but maybe just talking about it will help him understand what's going on.
"Hello? Izuku? Are you still there?" Skylar asked him as she tried to get his attention.
"Huh? Oh! S-Sorry Skylar. I was just... trying to see what you might want to work on for hero training," Midoriya said to her, "I don't mind if you decide on what you want to work on."
He noticed that she was surprised by him letting her decide on what to do for hero training. She thought about it for a minute, but he could tell that she didn't know what to pick.
"Hmm... Maybe! No... not that. That's too much... But maybe we can...! No, I can't do that..." Skylar said more to herself.
Midoriya got a little nervous hero training with her, wondering what she was going through. It sounded like she was trying to figure out what kind of hero training she was and wasn't allowed to do. He could tell that her father was still strict with her about what she was allowed to do. He noticed her playing with her bracelet and remembered how strong she felt during their spar together.
"Maybe we can just try to improve on our quirks a little bit. Then maybe spar a little, but only if you're up for it," Midoriya said back.
Skylar's eyes lit up and stopped playing with her bracelet.
"Sounds great!" Skylar exclaimed as she jumped up for joy.
Midoriya couldn't help but smile, seeing her so excited to be doing this with him. It made him even more confused as to why she seemed off earlier this morning. She even got up later than usual, which seemed off for her. Even if she hasn't been here for very long, she still seemed like someone that would get up early every morning. Something about it just seemed off.
Soon enough, they were in the hallways and heading towards their classroom. As they got closer to their respective class, Midoriya noticed Skylar looking around like she was looking for something. He hoped that she didn't lose anything, but then noticed her staying close to him. Something about it felt like a little awkward and made him a little red in the face. She then noticed his Miraculous and almost got close enough to take it.
Midoriya stepped away inconspicuously so that it didn't seem like he was annoyed with her.
Whatever was going on with her, he didn't know if he should stay away from her or not. Something about it just seemed like she wanted a friend to hang out with. But then he felt this weird feeling coming from her and knew that it was her quirk. He could feel that subtle energy coming off of her, which made him a tiny bit sleepy. He didn't get much sleep last night, so it seemed to take effect a little more than usual. He tried to shake it off, but it still bothered him a little.
"Skylar. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Can you maybe step away from me a bit?" Midoriya asked her politely.
"Oh! Yeah. Sorry about that," Skylar said as she stepped away from him, "So, where do you think all of the teachers are? It's pretty quiet in here. I thought they'd be busy with... you know, teacher stuff."
Midoriya forgot to mention Alya to her and wondered if he should say something to her. Wherever they were, he had a feeling that they were trying to figure out what was going on with the League of Villains. Skylar was staring at him like she wanted an answer this time around. He didn't know what to tell her at the moment.
"They're probably just busy with paper work or something," Midoriya explained to her, "Mr. Aizawa had to leave to take care of some things. I'm sure that he'll let us hero train with that's what you're worried about. Don't worry, he's not strict like your father."
Skylar seemed a little thrown off by that comment as they headed to their classroom.
"I never thought about that before..." Skylar trailed off as they kept going.
Midoriya noticed her looking a little upset about something. He could tell that she was caught off guard and hoped that he didn't say anything that bothered her. He just wanted her to feel more comfortable going to this school. Before he could say anything, he soon spotted the classroom.
"Umm... C-Come on. Let's go get our hero costumes. I'm sure once you put it on, you'll feel better," Midoriya said to her.
She listened to him, and they both entered the classroom. Midoriya went to grab his and soon noticed Skylar taking her time. She looked around when she had never entered the classroom before. Something about it seemed weird to him, so he grabbed her case for her. She walked over to Mr. Aizawa's desk, which got his attention. She carressed his desk, as if she was observing it. Midoriya noticed her looking around the classroom like she was looking for something.
"It's weird seeing the classroom so empty like this," Skylar said to him, "Even though I haven't been here for very long, it just always seems weird to see classrooms empty and cleared out like this. Even my middle school back in Paris was pretty big, but nothing like this. My father was pretty strict with what classes to take. At some point however after middle school, things worked out for me. And then... I came here to U.A..."
Midoriya noticed something about the way she talked. Her eyes seemed distant like she was thinking about her father. For a moment, he could've sworn that she missed him which confused him. He thought that she didn't like him very much, and now she was homesick. He didn't understand where this was going, but something about it he also understood where she was coming from.
"I know what you mean. I might not have had strict parents like you, but I understand how weird it feels to change schools," Midoriya explained to her, "It can be pretty intimidating at first. It took me a long time to get use to coming here. Once I had friends who supported me, I felt less of that and more like home for me. Everyone here has become more like a family than I thought they would. I hope that you can see that and be friends with us as well."
Skylar's eyes locked onto him, and he noticed something about her that he never had before. She looked like she had eyes full of guilt.
Before he could do anything, she looked away and grabbed her case from his hands. She headed out of the classroom, but waited for Midoriya to come with her. He hesitated to follow her, worried that something was going on with and her father. He knew that he called her, but she still seemed a bit nervous about something. She didn't say anything as they headed towards the changing rooms.
The whole time over to Gym Gamma, she didn't say a word.
In the staff room...
Most of the teachers let Rena Rouge do her thing while Mr. Aizawa and AllMight stuck by her side. She went through some student and security files just to make sure everything was in order. So far, she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. She looked through them one by one, making sure that nothing stuck out to her.
She soon looked through the security files and hoped that she could find something that might help them. There was a lot of technical data and stuff that she didn't quite understand, but knew what to look for. Being around Max all the time and working on some projects with him helped her understand a few things here and there about data. Nothing seemed to stick out all that much as she scrolled through them.
"Do you see anything that might help us find this hacker?" AllMight asked her, "Even this kind of stuff confuses me."
Rena Rouge looked at him and noticed how nervous he looked. She knew that he was worried about his students and looked again. She thought that maybe she'd be able to find something off, but nothing stood out. Everything seemed to be in order, so she had a feeling that this hacker was good at hiding their tracks.
"No. There's nothing that stands out to me," Rena Rouge said to him, "Whoever is doing this, I can tell that they are good at covering their tracks. If this really is a League of Villains member, then maybe a file on them would help. Do you guys have that?"
Mr. Aizawa nodded and directed her to the file. Rena Rouge found out right away and opened it up. She was surprised to see a pretty big group as she skimmed through them. A couple of them didn't quite stand out as much as she thought they would. She didn't quite notice anything out of the ordinary for someone that was smart enough to hack into U.A. systems. She even noticed a few of them were arrested, so it couldn't have been them.
She even looked through their information and quirks to see if any of them had a quirk that would be able to do this. Nothing even close to hacking powers.
"None of these members seem to be smart enough to even pull something like this off," Rena Rouge said back as she scrolled down, "If anything, this seems like a completely different group all together."
The teachers seemed a little relieved for a minute there that might have nothing to do with them. Even AllMight seemed to relax a little as Rena Rouge kept scrolling. Then she spotted someone that stuck out to her. They looked like a purple teleporter of some sort, which seemed intriguing to her.
"Kurogiri? He seems like he'd be someone that would break into U.A.," Rena Rouge asked Mr. Aizawa.
"He was actually arrested a while ago before we left for Paris. We just forgot to put it into the files," Mr. Aizawa explained to her, "I don't think he's involved in any way. It seems like the League of Villains aren't involved after all."
"Thank goodness for that. We've had enough of those freaks lately," Snipe said to them.
Rena Rouge was almost about to close the file when someone caught her attention. He looked like an older man with a moustache. He had green goggles that had a steampunk style to it. Something about him seemed like someone that shouldn't stick out that much. Like he would stay in the shadows and let everyone else do their thing.
"Doctor Garaki? You don't seem to have a lot of information on this guy," Rena Rouge pointed out as she looked through his file.
"No. We think he's involved with the League of Villains, but there's no official evidence to prove it," Mr. Aizawa explained to her, "Besides, he hasn't done anything like the others to get him in the spotlight unfortunately."
Rena Rouge noticed AllMight getting tense about something, and she knew that he was familiar with him. She hoped that this older man wasn't a problem for them. Then she spotted something that confused her even more.
"Nomu? What's that?" Rena Rouge asked them, "That doesn't sound like something that I should know about."
She noticed AllMight flinch in his seat and knew that she might need to pull back a bit.
"It's nothing that you should know about," Present Mic said to her.
Mr. Aizawa gave him a stern look, which made him go back to his work.
"They're experiments that Doctor Garaki created," Mr. Aizawa explained to her, "That's one of the reasons that we're trying to find evidence to arrest him. He's done things with quirks and messed with them in ways that should get him arrested. The only reason we think he's involved is because of the boss of the League of Villains does similar things with quirks."
"Shouta. Maybe we shouldn't get her into this," AllMight said to him, "This isn't something that anyone should know about. I know she's here to help, but she's still a kid."
Rena Rouge looked at them and looked at the file again. She read it some more and realized that this was the only person that stuck out to her. Something about him seemed really smart and knew his way around hacking computers. If anything, something about him seemed like the only one that could pull this off.
"Unfortunately if it's anyone that's involved with the League of Villains, it's definitely him," Rena Rouge explained to them, "He's the only one in the group that could pull this off. He doesn't have to come here to get what he needs. He can just hack from wherever he's hiding. I know that I don't have any proof, but this is the best answer I've got so far."
AllMight's fists clenched, hoping that she was wrong about this. If he was involved in all of this, then he realized that he was coming after his students. He worried that he might get closer to Midoriya and even the portal. He just hoped that he had no idea about the portal.
"I really hope that you're wrong," AllMight told her, "If he's trying to get information on my students, then this is something that we need to handle ourselves."
"I agree with AllMight. We can't let our students get involved, that includes you as well Rena Rouge. You're still just a kid," Mr. Aizawa told her.
"You two already said that. I don't need the reminder," Rena Rouge told them, "I get it, but I should still help out around here. Maybe I can try to look through the security cameras. See if I can find anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. I promise to not do anything that you wouldn't approve of."
AllMight, Mr. Aizawa and some of the teachers shared looks and let Class 2-A's teacher handle things. He let out a sigh, knowing full well that he had to look after her for a while.
"Fine. Just don't do anything more than looking through the security cameras," Mr. Aizawa told her.
Rena Rouge gave him a detemined look and nodded as she looked through the security cameras for a moment. For a while, she just skidded through the videos and didn't find anything interesting. She was looking at some footage that was going on right now at the moment. Rena Rouge wondered if she could look through any footage that was from a few days ago. She thought maybe she'd find something around the time that the hacking started.
Then she spotted Midoriya and Skylar in the hallway. They were heading out of the school in their hero costumes which seemed to catch AllMight's attention. They looked like they were ready to hero train together. She watched Midoriya for a moment and noticed Skylar looking excited about something. He looked a little bit uncomfortable around her for a moment, but still smiled. AllMight seemed to be interested in what was going on, which got Rena Rouge wondering who Skylar was exactly.
She didn't know her like they did, but she noticed Skylar looking around for something as they left. Something about it seemed a bit off putting. Soon enough, they were out of shot and walking out of the school building.
"Hey, do you guys have security cameras anywhere else?" Rena Rouge asked them.
AllMight knew exactly where this was going, and he wasn't sure if they should be doing this. Mr. Aizawa didn't hesitate however and looked about ready to look further into this.
"We have cameras around the front doors of the school building and Gym Gamma. They're clearly going to hero train together," Mr. Aizawa told her, "Whatever you're getting at with Skylar, I want to know as well. If she came here to mess with my students, then she's got a lot nerve doing this in the middle of the school year."
AllMight and Rena Rouge could've sworn there was flames coming out of his eyes from how tense he was. She flinched, realizing that he wasn't someone to mess with. He showed her the rest of the security cameras and found out that there were security cameras even in the dormitories. She was shocked by that, but also found out helpful. Soon enough, she found a security camera outside of the school building.
She found Midoriya and Skylar outside, and they were heading for a building in the distance. She had a feeling it was this Gym Gamma so they could hero train. She didn't notice anything weird, but they were soon walking away from the camera. She soon switched to Gym Gamma, waiting for them to show up.
Rena Rouge looked over at AllMight, and she could tell that Midoriya meant a lot to him. Something about his eyes told her that he cared about him.
"Whatever's going on with the hacker, Doctor Garaki or Skylar, I'm sure we can figure this out before things get out of hand," Rena Rouge told him, "I wouldn't want Izuku getting involved in something crazy like last time."
AllMight looked at her, and she could tell that he appreciated her doing this for them.
"Thank you Rena Rouge for doing this," AllMight told her, "Young Midoriya, he's been through enough already. He doesn't need to handle anything else right now. All I want is for him to train and focus on his work here in U.A. just like he always wanted."
"I understand. I'll make sure that this gets wrapped up soon enough," Rena Rouge said back, "Who knows, maybe things will turn out okay, and Skylar is just a new student here."
Rena Rouge spotted Midoriya and Skylar enter Gym Gamma. They were alone, which got their attention.
She knew to keep a close eye on them as they got ready to hero train.
Another amazing chapter!
This is a good chapter, but it's not my favorite. I think I just wanted to get this one of the way since I'm not good at figuring out computer tech kind of stuff. I like writing about Alya being a detective. Having AllMight around felt good considering what she's dealing with at the moment. Midoriya and Skylar have been a lot of fun to write. I like where things are going for them, and I'm interested in the next couple of chapters. I realize that their keeping secrets from Skylar, but I think it'll make things more interesting.
Midoriya and Skylar are getting ready to hero train.
What's going to happen next??
More to come soon!