Your Hero* Macadamia - A BNHA/MHA Quest

The first thing Snipe does when he meets you is shake your hand. The second thing he does is take off his mask and place it on the kitchen table. "Miyamoto Hideo."

You know vaguely that secret identities for Heroes are largely a relic of the past – Snipe is one of the most prominent Heroes that bother with that kind of thing. His shoulder-length blue dreadlocks are well-known, but less so is the horrific scar that cuts across his face horizontally, placed just under his nose like a dark parody of a mustache.

"So," he says, "this is going to be a learning experience for both of us. I'm assuming you're aiming for something to do with Heroics?"

You nod, "It seems to be the best path for me."

He shrugs, "It's a good path, but it's not always the best one. Dangerous, tough, and if you do it right, thankless."

You furrow your brow, "Thankless? Aren't there entire festivals dedicated to praising Heroes?"

"That's the thing," he begins, sitting down. "Sure – let's take All Might, Endeavor, Best Jeanist – they're all incredibly popular and successful Heroes. But All Might? For all that he's loved, the guy's so active that I doubt he has a personal life. Endeavor's got the highest villain take-down rate in the country, but…" he pauses, "well, let's just say that being a Hero is the main thing on his mind, to the detriment of everything else. Best Jeanist does have a social life, but he's dedicated to being an exemplary member of society 24/7, whether he's 'on-call' or not, which means he's always putting on a face and never lets himself just... be."

He leans back in his chair, "Some Heroes do luxuriate in the fame, some just treat it as a 'day-job', and some let it consume them. It's a tough field, and though it seems glamorous, doing it 'right' takes something out of you." Snipe pats his mask, "That's one of the reasons I wear this and keep my real name low-key. I get a little bit of work-life separation."

You nod, processing his words. "Are you trying to dissuade me from Heroics, or just trying to give me the full picture?"

He shrugs, "Mainly trying to figure you out and give you an opportunity to figure me out. Trust won't build for a while, but a bit of mutual understanding goes a long way."

You look between him and Mrs. Yamamoto, "Is that why you're being so…"

"Forthright," Mrs. Yamamoto suggests.

"Forthright with me? To 'build trust'?"

Snipe nods, "Yep. Subtlety has its place, but here and now I want you to know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, so you're less likely to do something foolish."

"Something foolish like trying to con a villainous fringe group?" You rub the back of your head. You definitely made a mistake with the CRC, not that it matters now.

"Yep," Snipe says again, "pretty much. So, I heard Wash sent out feelers too?"

"Yep," you reply, imitating him.

He crosses his arms, nodding. "Not surprised – his whole thing is standing up for people so that they can live peaceful and happy lives, but he's always on the lookout for those that are willing to stand up for themselves." He smiles, it's a jagged and crooked smile that seems to pull on his scar, but it looks completely genuine. "If everyone did that, there'd be less of a need for Heroics, and we could focus on better things."

"...better things?"

Mrs. Yamamoto nods, "Heroes and the industry built around them eat up a significant portion of the skilled workforce."

"A lot of our best minds are focused on making support gear. It's been 200 years since mankind set foot on the moon, and all we've gotten since the rise of Quirks has been a few half-hearted Mars rovers and an unmanned flight to Proxima Centauri B that lost contact 50 years ago." Snipe sighs, "If you do decide to go into Heroics I won't try to dissuade you, but no matter what I will try to ram it into your head that a Hero's true goal is to make the industry redundant. We have a lot catching up to do." He gestures at himself, "When I was a kid, I mean a little kid, I wanted to be a space cowboy." He laughs, "Dunno if we'll get to the space part in my lifetime, but I've got half my dream at least!"
He pauses, then sobers. "So that was my dream. What's yours?"

Power, you don't say. The power to never have anybody overlook you. The ability to be untouchable, either literally or metaphorically. To be someone.

What is your dream, or rather, what do you tell Snipe?
[] I want to be the very best, like no one ever was.
[] I don't want to be powerless ever again.
[] I want to be strong and fearless like All Might.
[] I want to make a society where nobody falls through the cracks.
[] I want fish to fear me.
[] Write-in

---

Snipe's interesting, because what we know about him from canon: He's cowboy themed, he's a homeroom teacher for the senior heroics track, and he's level-headed and has decent morals. That's it, we don't know his identity, and that might just be because Izuku and the rest of 1-A aren't his students, but it's interesting to me, given that even Wash and Manual's names are known. Miyamoto -- family name, Hideo -- given name.

I updated the character sheet -- remember the original vote ages ago, where one of the bonds was an obsession with power? Yep! Some other stuff, too. Competent Care will increase and eventually cause a permanent constitution increase, because man. 6 is not healthy. Yagi Toshinori has around 5 constitution, for reference.

So with the current vote -- this is kind-of a character moment. The first three are all true, though framed differently and implying different things. The fourth is plausible, but if Saki does seriously think about changing society it's more because of the power that one would need to wield to do so -- that can change, though! Write-in is whatever you want it to be. It can be a past-tense dream, like 'I wanted to be king of the world' or 'I wanted to be a professional wrestler'. If you write-in with the first one but extend it to finish the entire Pokemon theme song then you'll get what's coming to you.

You hem and haw, and decide that you need to be truthful here, or as truthful as you can be. Lies and half-truths won't cut it. "I don't want to be powerless ever again."

Snipe nods slowly, "Expected that, though I'm a bit surprised you admitted it." He sighs, "But is it that you don't want to be powerless ever again, or that you don't want to feel helpless ever again?"

You feel your eyebrows scrunch into a scowl, and the roiling of irritation and anger in your chest – (Roll: Wisdom, DC 15, 1d20+2=21) – but he's not wrong. Your brow smoothes, "Both."

"So you're not powerless. You control your own life, and as a Pro-Hero have a great deal of leeway and sway. What do you do? Why do you fight?"

"I'll fight so that…" You pause, "I'll fight because I want to, because there's no other way. Because otherwise, I'd be powerless. I'd be helpless. I'll fight for power, for myself, and because if I don't, how can I expect anyone to fight for me? To help me?"

"Because the first time people help you without getting something obvious in return," Snipe begins, "is also the first time you really stood up for yourself, huh?"

You let out a small, harsh guffaw. "Stood up for myself? I was running away. I made a bad decision and was running from the consequences." You take in a breath so fast it stings, "I'm done running."

Snipe nods, and there's something in his eyes, some emotion you can't quite place. (Charisma, DC 12, 1d20+0=9) It had better not be pity.

---

The trip to Tokyo is uneventful, though Snipe uses the opportunity to gauge your academic skills and knowledge. Eventually you get to a small apartment that's not quite in a bad part of town.

"This is where I live during break," Snipe says, showing you in. "It's not much, because I'm barely here. I'm off work for another week, after that I'll show you my place in Musutafu." A bedroom, a former office that has a new futon, a small kitchen and a tiny bathroom.

"And your Hero Agency?"

Snipe laughs, "These days my 'Hero Agency' is a small office under my Musutafu apartment, and it's mainly used to process paperwork and grade essays. I still do regular patrols in Musutafu and usually focus on aiding other heroes during the break, but these days my main focus is teaching."

After you set down your bag of entirely new clothes in Snipe's hastily vacated office you reconvene at his kitchen table.

"So, Yuuei." He sits down at the table and passes you a glass of juice. You wrinkle your nose and he laughs. "One of my colleagues drinks juice boxes, so you should count yourself lucky. It's all-natural!" He has a glass of juice himself, so at least you aren't being patronized.

"So, Yuuei," you parrot.

"Yeah. Your first choice of high school?"

You hum, then nod. "It's known as the best Hero school in Japan."

"That's intentional – it's also the most publicized Hero school in Japan, the most heavily fortified Hero school in Japan, and the most selective Hero school in Japan."

You mull over his words, take a sip of juice, and then you get it. "It's the All Might of high schools."

Snipe – Mr. Miyamoto – grins. "Most people don't notice that about him. Yeah, we're a decoy. We get the most funding because we take the heat off the other schools."

He leans forward, "We are the best, the very best. And it's partly because we have to be the best. Shiketsu's almost as good as us, to be fair, but they don't put themselves out there. Our students get more on-the-job experience, they get better facilities, they get more opportunities to shine. That's their real test, where all the training has an opportunity to really take hold and help them become Heroes." Snipe sighs, "I wish we had the option of keeping our students' lives and Quirks private, but we don't. Being a Hero means sacrifice, and being an intentional target is one hell of a sacrifice."

"How many Yuuei students die?" It's probably a bit tactless, but it's relevant.

He takes in a breath and lets it out, "When they're attending Yuuei? It's low. Maybe one dies every three years, and usually those are more the fault of the Hero they're Sidekicking with than anything else." Snipe shakes his head, "No, for deaths and casualties you have to look at graduates. 1 in 20 Shiketsu graduates will die within their first two years. It's double the rate for Yuuei graduates, 1 in 10, dead in 2 years." He shakes his head, "It's not a skill gap either, because those remaining 9 out of 10? They can expect at least 20 years of solid Hero work, whereas half of the Shiketsu graduates end up retired or dead by their tenth year."

You nod, "Yuuei graduates get targeted."

"Targeted, cocky, overestimated by their bosses. Those that survive often thrive, but those first few years are dangerous. It's not easy being in the spotlight." Snipe points at you, "If you're going Hero course, that's where you'll be. And if you go General Studies and switch after a good showing at the Sports Festival, even more so."

"Is this you trying to figure me out again?"

Snipe chuckles, "No, this is me giving you 'the full picture'. From what I've seen so far, you have the drive for Heroics. I think you could make it, but as a teacher it's important to me that my charge knows what he's getting into."

You mull it over – you definitely want to go to Yuuei. It's one of the best schools in country, it means you'll know most of the future top Heroes and their handlers. But do you want to go for Heroics, Business, or General Studies? Or do you want to go out on a limb and go for Support?

[] Heroics
[] General Studies
-[] With the aim of transferring
-[] No, really, just General Studies
[] Business
[] Support

"Now," You can see Snipe transform from his mindset as a Hero into that of a high school teacher as he downs his glass of juice and produces a folder from… somewhere. "When we get to Yuuei I can give some of my students extra credit to tutor you. But we're not at Yuuei yet, so let's work on-"

[] Math. You know the basics. The very basics.
[] Reading, writing. Your penmanship is atrocious and you have the vocabularity (that's the word, right?) of a third grader who's also a motherfucking sailor.
[] Actually, you kind of want to learn how to sing. That's part of school, right?
[] History and civics (Social Studies)

---

Important note: a lot of General Studies students will be planning on transferring to Heroics via the Sports Festival. General Studies students are admitted based on how high they score on the placement test, whereas all Heroics students have to do academically is pass, it's hard but it's not prohibitively hard, otherwise Kaminari wouldn't have gotten in.

The academic subject you choose is more for flavor than anything else, all the main subjects will be covered. The current school year is around halfway done, Snipe's just returning from a semester break in-fact -- it's summer RN, the Japanese school year starts in April.