If you choose magic you will never be able to return to the life you once lived. Your world may be more ... exciting ... but it will also be more dangerous. Less reliable. And once you begin to walk the path of magic, you can never step off of it.
NEIL GAIMAN, The Books of Magic: The Road to Nowhere
Chapter 4
Nezu sighed as he looked out at the devastated landscape of the USJ, taking particular note of the massive hole that had been blasted in the roof, and the doors that had been knocked off their hinges.
Thank heavens he had Cementoss on staff.
The repair bill was going to be a nightmare.
And yet somehow, still not as bad as last years attempt at rescue training.
Food for thought.
"We need to make some drastic improvements to school security, don't we?"
"Yes." Snipe said matter-of-factly, already recreating the conflicts that must have taken place in the Unforeseen Simulation Joint in his head, making use of his knowledge of his colleagues' abilities.
He still found himself whistling when he found himself staring at the point that Kaito had been blocking the blows of the enhanced titan that was apparently called Nomu, before All Might had proceeded to uppercut it into the cloud belt.
He'd been the first to admit he hadn't really known what to think of the younger man, or why he had decided to become a teacher at UA.
Then one day out of the blue Kaito had asked if he'd been willing to spar with him, so he could practice his defense against an opponent who specialized in oblique attack angles like him.
Snipe had agreed, and after a quick demonstration that yes, he was able to block bullets, and that he also had the capability to heal himself if he didn't manage to block them and they'd both gotten started.
With rubber bullets of course.
Just because he can heal doesn't mean that Snipe should be stupid.
And it had been great, being able to spar against someone who didn't know his tells as well as the other teachers and similarly, having to work to try and figure out Kaito's tells in turn.
"A warp quirk is already very rare, but for a villain to have one, of all things…." Nemuri Kayama, otherwise known as the R-Rated Hero, Midnight pondered before turning towards the Principal of UA, wanting to hear his analysis on the situation.
"How are our wayward teachers doing?" Nezu asked instead, seemingly unaware of his colleague's unasked question.
Midnight frowned slightly at the deflection but continued on regardless. "All Might's in the medbay but he should be out by the end of the day, Recovery Girl's going to address his wound as best as she can." She reported, briefly addressing the memo that the school's primary means of healing had sent to her. "Aizawa's got some damage done to his arm, some kind of localized decay from one of the villains quirks. Judging by the state of his clothes he should be in a far worse state but I'm guessing that Kanetsuki got a hold of him before it was too late."
"And how is our local magician doing?" Snipe asked with a tilt of his masked face. "I need to drop off his phone, someone's been buzzing it with messages every five minutes."
As if on command, the sound of music could be heard as something began vibrating in one of Snipe's pockets.
Midnight sighed at that. "Well he's asleep. Like usual. Principal how is it you managed to hire someone who manages to sleep just as much as Aizawa does?"
"He had excellent references." The small animal said in a deadpan voice. "I'll have to inform the Association that he'll be unavailable for a few days. If last time was any indication he probably won't wake up until tomorrow at least, perhaps even the day after that."
They wouldn't like that, but they would have to accept it.
"Thank you for taking him down to the nurse's office, Nemuri-san." Snipe said with a brief nod.
The woman in question blinked at that. "I didn't take him, I've been here with Nezu. I thought you took him?"
"No, I took Aizawa, and Cementoss took All Might." The gun wielding hero said with an almost audible frown. "Then where is he?"
There was the sound of a high-pitched chuckle and the two teachers looked down to see Nezu indicating towards the exit.
"I believe I may see our wayward comrade in the distance." The principal of UA said politely.
They turned and followed Nezu's pointing finger and caught sight of Kaito.
Both teachers, seasoned heroes and professional teachers, struggled not to burst out laughing.
------------
Standing outside with his other classmates as the police did their duty, searching the area and talking to the teachers Eijiro Kirishima was amazed that he wasn't shaking.
They'd just had villains, real villains, attack them while they were on a school trip.
He'd even fought some of them!
For a moment there he thought in some small way that he'd made a small step from the person who'd stood back and watched frozen in fear when it was time to man up.
He'd been in awe of Bakugou, a guy who by no means had the friendliest personality, but the way he just committed to an action and didn't seem to feel anything so much as resembling fear in the process was incredible.
As soon as they'd been teleported to that building, he hadn't stopped to question people, or hesitate with indecision, he just threw himself at the enemies in front of him.
He'd wished he could be that decisive.
And then he'd seen something even more incredible.
He'd watched that new guy, Kane-something standing toe to toe with that massive villain, stopping him in his tracks time and again.
Kirishima knew that if he'd been the one trying to tank those hits he would have been lucky to have survived even one of them.
He'd lost count of the number of punches that he'd blocked with nothing more than his hands, not losing his cool the whole time.
That was the most incredible manly spirit that he'd ever seen.
He'd lost track of him for a bit while All Might had brawled with the big guy, with debris and shockwaves blasting off every few seconds.
But after All Might had sent the villain rocketing out of the USJ, teach had strolled out of the forest like it was a day in the park and started taunting the guy who had run away from him.
And then he started doing that awesome stuff in the air with his Quirk, and the villains had stopped in place!
So manly!
It was like having Crimson Riot as one of his teachers!
He was definitely not regretting coming to UA.
"Let's have the students return to their classroom for now." The police detective in the trench coat addressed the policeman that was standing guard, making his way towards Kirishima and his fellow students. "We won't be questioning them right away, anyway, right?"
Tsuyu hopped over, much like a frog and stopped before the newcomer. "Detective what about Aizawa-sensei and Kanetsuki-sensei?" She asked, the concern evident in her voice.
"And Thirteen?" Mina interjected, clearly worried about the rescue hero.
Kirishima felt a grimace form on his face at that. He hadn't seen Aizawa sensei up close but the state of his clothes and the blood stains seemed to show that he'd gotten the crap beaten out of him by that Nomu guy.
And then there was Thirteen. Their hero suit looked even worse than Aizawa if that was even possible.
"Eraser Head will be just fine, Shirou Madoushi already treated the worst of his injuries." The detective replied with a polite smile, addressing all the students as he did so. "Thirteen has also been treated. The lacerations they received were bad, but she'll be just fine in time."
Oh that's good.
Wait as second…
"Shirou Madoushi!?" Midoriya piped up, shock clear in his voice. "The Magical Healing Hero?"
"The Number Twelve on the Hero Billboard Chart?" Tooru piped up, her gloves waving in the air excitedly.
Kirishima perked up at that.
The Hero of Kurobe Dam.
That was what everyone first thought of when they heard about Shriou Madoushi.
Then there was the fact that he was one of the most prolific Rescue Heroes in Japan, seemingly constantly on the move and teaming up with different heroes as he went to save people and sometimes to fight Villains if they were threatening them.
He didn't do many interviews.
He didn't have any merchandise.
He just…did what he did.
He was one of the biggest up and comers in the Hero scene, and his ranking reflected that.
And he was here?
Kirishima wondered where the number twelve was now?
Maybe healing Thirteen?
Wherever he was, he was certain that it would be manly as anything.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sprawled halfway up the stairs that led to the USJ's entrance, Kanetsuki Kaito snored like a broken chainsaw, in a position that any all of his colleagues' present had no idea how it was possible to physically fall asleep in.
They'd witnessed him wake up sporadically, stumble his way forward a little bit more, before apparently giving up and going back to sleep again wherever he was at the time.
Eventually, after Nemuri had taken out her phone and gotten more than enough material recorded of her little junior, both her and Snipe picked him up and started making their way back outside.
"She's going to rip him a new one, you do realize that right?" Snipe asked, feeling the slightest bit of pity for what was certainly going to happen to the sleeping man
Midnight giggled at that. "I know. I just wish I could be there to see it." She sighed with a gleam in her eyes.
Snipe could only sigh resignedly at that.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I came to groggily, blinking my eyes as I stared up blearily at the familiar white painted tiles that served as the ceiling.
I frowned.
Wait a minute.
That's not my ceiling.
Then that means…
A dry cough drew my attention to the left, revealing an elderly woman wearing a doctor's coat and using a large syringe as a way to tie her hair back looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
Blast.
"Well, it looks like somebody decided to stop sleeping around on the job." Recovery Girl remarked, her tone an utter deadpan. "Say young man, would you happen to know where my assistant is? Last I checked he looked a lot like you, only not as foolish."
I groaned, bringing a hand up to cover my eyes only to abort the attempt mid-motion as a flare up of pain rocketed down my arm.
Ow.
Bad strain.
Really bad strain.
And apparently not just there if the way my body is protesting is any indication.
Really regretting using Haste so much without giving myself a chance to recover first.
Then again, I wasn't really given much of an opportunity to…
My train of thought was interrupted by a small hand yanking on my earlobe, nearly pulling me out of the bed as I flailed around in a blind panic.
"Pay attention to me when I'm lecturing you Kaito." My superior said in a deceivingly polite tone, still holding my ear in a vice grip.
"Yes ma'am." I grunted out, turning the entirety of my attention towards her. "Did everyone make it out okay? How's Aizawa and Thirteen?"
She looked at me for a long moment, long enough for me to start worrying before she sighed and let go of my ear.
"Thirteen had some lacerations across her back and arms, but I've already seen to her, she'll be up and running in no time." Recovery Girl began, indicating to one of the curtained off beds that Thirteen was probably occupying and if the sound of faint snores are any indication, sleeping in. "Eraser Head's elbow seems to be decayed by something, and he's suffering from acute exhaustion, I've given him a saline drip and some more standard treatments until he's recovered enough stamina for me to treat directly."
I let out a sigh of relief at that.
They're okay.
Thank God.
"Barring some minor bumps and bruises, the students are all fine, with the exception of Midoriya." I watched her face flicker into something very close to annoyance at the mention of little Green. "Again. Broke two fingers so badly they were practically sausages by the time I got a look at them."
I thought back to when I had last seen Midoriya and vaguely recalled seeing some discoloration on one of his hands.
To be fair I was more occupied with healing Aizawa, and then having to deal with the Nomu and Shigaraki.
"He needs to learn how to control his quirk or he's going to start damaging himself beyond the capability of my quirk to fix him. And don't you dare say anything about doing it in my place. One day that boy is going to get into trouble, and if you or I aren't there to heal him if he keeps injuring himself like this, he's not going to be able to save anyone, not even himself."
I frowned but nodded my head.
She wasn't wrong.
He couldn't come to expect that he would always have a healer waiting to fix the damage done to him at the end of the day.
That's just not feasible.
Hell, I am a healer, and my innate regeneration is many times greater than that of an ordinary person but I've still been injured to such an extent that I've been bedridden at times, either through pushing too far past my limits or my own stupidity.
Usually some combination of the two.
Might need to have a word with Little Green about how he's using his quirk, and what it's going to lead to.
Otherwise he's just going to keep getting further up on Recovery Girl's shit list.
"I take it you want to go sleep in your bed instead of staying here in the medbay like a reasonable person?" the Youthful Heroine asked, one eyebrow raised in expectation of my response.
I smiled tiredly at that. "You know me so well, Chiyo-sensei." I replied respectfully, much as I had years ago when I first started interning under her.
Chiyo sighed, seemingly in disgust, but the way her lips were moving upwards suggested otherwise. "I figured as much. Luckily someone volunteered to give you a lift home."
Oh.
That's nice.
Sure didn't want to try and make my way home on public transport like this.
Or fall asleep in a cab on the way.
My mood fell sharply when I turned and watched the person who would be driving me home.
Hizashi stood in the doorway, signature wide grin in full force, clearly holding back his shouted greetings through sheer force of will.
That and the avalanche that would have fallen on him if he'd disturbed the quiet of Recovery Girl's medbay.
Again.
Held in his hands, was the same pink abomination from this morning, cat ears and glitter still sparkling away.
Great.
That's just…
Great.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I found myself roused from what was starting to be a truly blissful amount of sleep by the sound of my phone buzzing away at full volume, blasting away any home of falling back to sleep in the process.
I drunkenly reached for the blasted device and squinted at the screen in the dark lair that was my room and swore.
On the plus side, according to the time on my phone and the fact that didn't hurt, told me that I'd gotten enough sleep to recover.
And apparently according to the messages my car was fixed.
Sweet.
Have to pick that up before work.
I'll need it for tonight.
On the downside, it was still way too early.
Who on earth would be calling this early?
As if summoned by my complaint the phone started ringing again, as the sound of the Chicken Dance indicated that 'KFC' would like to talk to me.
Son of a…
With a grumble, I picked up the phone and braced myself for what was sure to come.
"So…" A familiar voice drawled, dragging the word out far too long. "How's that whole keeping a low-profile thing going for you?"
I let out a groan. "Oh here we go…" I muttered rolling my eyes as I did so.
"I mean I get it." The asshole on the other end of the phone continued talking, not acknowledging my complaint in the slightest. "You youngsters don't want to hang out with your old friend Keigo anymore. Now that I'm too old for a child like you to have lunch with."
I felt my eyebrow twitch at that. "I'm only ten days younger then you, shorty."
"Such insolence!" Keigo replied with a gasp, laughing all the while. "You know back in my day I…"
"Hawks, I swear to God," I interrupted the ceaseless pratter of my oldest friend. "Another word out of you and you'll be sorry."
I heard the number three hero in Japan give off a barking laugh at that. "Consider me appropriately scared then." Hawks responded with a teasing voice. "Now are you coming out to train or am I going to have to break out the boombox again?"
I barely held back a snarl at that.
It would be funny if it was only a joke.
Having one of the most popular hero's in Japan, floating outside your balcony with a boombox blasting 'Rock you like a Hurricane' in the middle of the day, complete with air guitar solo, when some reasonable people (i.e. me) are trying to catch up on sleep, the general public tend to have certain thoughts when you walk out and yell at the bastard in question.
Questions which Hawks plays along with for the sole purpose of driving me insane.
Never have I been so grateful of the fact that I'm apparently unrecognizable out of my Hero outfit.
Hawks laughed again.
Apparently didn't managed to hold back that snarl as well as I thought.
"See you on the roof in five."
Asshole.
I hung up the phone and was surprised to find that my hero outfit was hanging up in front of me, freshly cleaned.
The post it note stuck on the front told me who I had to thank, and I resolved to buy Hizashi, a beer next time he dragged Aizawa and me out and not lace it with laxatives like I'd been planning to originally.
I swiftly changed into my uniform, clipping the belt around my coat shut and ensuring my side bag and hidden pockets were already packed.
I quickly stuffed my work clothes into a gym bag with one hand as I wrestled my boots, both lucky and his more mundane brother on and made my way to the door.
Then I grabbed my hat, placed it firmly upon my head and made my way to the roof to meet with my oldest friend.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I pulled open the door leading to the inside of our little training ground, retrieving the key from the lock without a second thought and placing it on the hook on the inside of the door, massaging my shoulders as I did so.
I might have been more than used to having Hawks serve as an impromptu taxi service over the years, but it didn't change the fact that being hoisted up like that was by no means a natural feeling experience.
Hawks casually walked past me down the stairs, one of his feathers streaking off into the darkness, a loud click signaling the flicker of lights illuminating our path downstairs.
"And I promise, I'll drop you off at the mechanics when we're done. Then you can pick up your car and not have to rely on your big brother to give you lifts everywhere."
I scoffed at that. "I'm certainly glad it isn't a tall order for you. I'm sure you'll grow to surpass it if it is."
Ah, good old short jokes.
Truly the height of comedy.
Hawks flipped me the bird before he vanished off the stairs and into the studio below.
This right here was our own little home away from home.
While we were still bunking with the Association we had both gotten frustrated to the point of tears by the fact that the training rooms that were needed to really let loose with our powers and fight without needing to worry about bystanders were always seemingly in use by someone, and even when we did get out turn with them, we never seemed to have enough time, or we weren't able to schedule training together.
When the old man passed away, I'd been surprised to find that he'd left me his boxing studio in his will.
For a while I thought about living here, and at times when I couldn't make it to wherever I was supposed to be resting my head I did crash here on occasion.
But whenever I thought about changing it into someplace to live, I felt something twist inside of me.
The old man wouldn't have wanted that.
So Hawks and I, mostly Hawks to be perfectly honest, came up with a better idea.
With the help of all the petty cash that we could spare, we did a different kind of renovation.
We closed off entry from the ground level entirely, and turned what used to be a dilapidated boxing gym, into the no holds bar sparring room that we'd always wanted.
Padded floor, wall and ceiling.
Weapon Racks.
Sparring Dummies.
Granted it was a bit of a pain for me to get in here without Hawks, but I had my own means of getting in.
By the time I'd made my way down the stairs Keigo had already thrown the gym bag he'd been carrying into the corner and was preforming some light stretches, bouncing from one leg to the other as he loosened himself up. "Took you long enough. Did you get lost?" He asked mockingly, a smirk on his face as continued stretching.
I started doing the same, making my way through my basic routine before I deigned to reply to my opponent's unremarkable words.
"What are we training with today then, you great feathery chicken?" I challenged, stretching out my arms as I did so.
There was a flash of something metallic to the right and with a brief pull of my quirk I managed to snatch it out the air before it collided with my face.
That's one good thing about being able to accelerate your reflexes whenever you feel like it.
You tend to react really quickly to sudden surprises.
"Swords." I muttered in slight disgust, looking down at the katana in my hands with distaste. "Really man?"
Hawks rolled his eyes at that. "Yes, really Kaito. I don't know why you're complaining, it's obvious to anyone with a functioning set of eyes that you've got one hell of a talent when it comes to them."
I pulled a face. "I just don't like them Keigo." I replied mulishly, refusing to speak of the real reason.
It didn't really matter anyway.
The hero in front of me was one of the few people that actually knew why I loathed the weapon in my hands.
Unfortunately, he also didn't happen to give a shit.
The feathers that made up Hawks' wings shifted before forming a facsimile of a blade in his hand, which he twirled with a lackadaisical smile.
The feather sword before me might look stupid, but I'd witnessed Hawks use those feathers to slice through solid stone.
"Whatever. Well I need to practice against someone that actually knows what to do with the pointy end of a sword, so that leaves the most talented swordsman I know."
I paused at that, thinking over his words before a grin spread across my face.
"Yoroi Musha found out you've been slacking with your sword practice?" I said knowingly, and my grin spread further as I watched my oldest friend twitch violently in response to that name.
Knew it.
Yoroi Musha, one of the most experienced Heroes in the Japanese circuit, had once taken on Hawks as his sidekick when we were both much younger at the request of the Association.
Hawks was, and still is to some extent, a naturally lazy individual whose greatest desire is to laze about without a care in the world to worry about.
His mentor on the other hand, is someone who has been one of the premier vanguards against villainy since he was our age, and is essentially the closest thing the modern world has to a forever vigilant samurai eternally sworn to the code of justice.
Hawks found out the hard way, that one of the main reasons that this is the case even now, is that every waking moment that the old man can spare is dedicated to training. And he does not expect perfection from himself or his underlings.
He demands it.
That being said, the fact that a man old enough to be my grandfather can still even now preform the entirety of his grueling workouts without the benefit of a healing factor like mine still astounds me.
The sheer force of will that drives the old master is something to behold.
Hawks learned much during his time, and it was there that he first started to become truly formidable with his feather sword.
The one downside Hawks learnt was that even though the internship may have ended, Yoroi Musha didn't seem to care. And whenever Hawks' started to forget to practice with his 'weapon' sooner rather than later the Equipped Hero would show up out of nowhere and proceed to brutalize train him until he was back at as he would grump and growl as "acceptable."
Despite the fact that Hawks could probably beat the old man handily in a fight these days, I think he's still traumatized from the time he spent interning for him.
"Guess I could use the practice." I admitted, drawing the blade out of its scabbard to examine it briefly. "How long do we have?" I asked, thinking back to our last little spar.
Hawks had needed to abandon our match at the climax as his patrol was about to start.
That and the fact that I was running late for my next appointment at that point.
But the first reason makes it sound more like its Hawks' fault so I rely on that one more.
"Long enough." He promised, flourishing his blade, even as I watched another blade form out of his wings in his free hand, a sure sign that he wasn't going to be starting slowly and ramping up this time.
We didn't bother with not using our quirks in spars like this.
The point was to go at each other with everything we had, no holding back, to push each other further along in the process.
It was my frustration in getting my ass kicked by Keigo that had let to me further refining Haste until I could use its upgraded version.
Likewise, when the ratio flipped towards my direction Hawks learnt how to react even faster with his feathers and how to eschew controlling them with gestures in an effort to counter it.
I felt a fierce grin form at that, even as I changed my stance, sliding the blade back home into the scabbard held in my left hand.
With my free hand I grabbed my hat and tossed it lightly forward between us, having it freeze in the air at about eye level.
I bent my knees, sliding one foot forward slightly as the white glow of my quirk started flowing out of me, my right hand firmly grasping the hilt of the sword.
Hawks own grin turned feral as he watched me, a few stray feathers floating above him now, poised as floating daggers ready to be launched at a moment's notice.
The brief Stop I'd used on my hat ended.
The world went white.
It hit the ground.
I moved.
Hawks dashed forward, his feather daggers hurtling through the air beside him even as he started swinging his own blade.
And then?
Chaos.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I staggered into the Principal's office the following morning with a yawn, absently rubbing at the cut on my cheek that hadn't finished healing yet.
Damn it Keigo, just because I've got a slight healing factor doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt when you cut me, you great feathery pr…
"Kaito-Kun." The principal's words interrupted my thoughts of vengeance, drawing my attention back to the here and now.
"Yes, sir?" I responded automatically, not having a clue if he'd said anything important earlier.
I was back in the suit that served as my teaching attire, my hero outfit locked in the back of my car.
While my outfit is great for many things, teaching in a class room is not one of them.
Nezu gestured to his left and I suddenly became aware of all the other people that were present in the room, seated around a U-shaped desk that I was fairly certain had not been there last time I'd been in here. "We were just about to get started. Please take a seat."
I sat down in the empty seat next to Kan, nodding a greeting as I did so and started flicking through the papers that had been placed there, with a summary of the information the police had managed to discover printed upon it.
Absentmindedly, I pulled a coin out of a pocket, and started fiddling with it in my left hand, flipping it for a moment before deciding on having it dance across the back of my hand.
As I started scanning the detective, Naomasa continued speaking from where I had apparently interrupted him.
Whoops.
"The police have investigated the group calling themselves the league of villains, and there does not appear to be anyone registered with the name Shigaraki in his twenties or thirties with a Quirk that lets him disintegrate anyone he touches." Naomasa reported, briefly checking his own notes before continuing. "It's the same with the villain called Kurogiri with the Warp Gate. They are probably not citizens and are using false names. In other words, they are people with unregistered quirks, who are part of societies underbelly."
Hmm.
Well that sounds about right.
Of course things couldn't be that simple.
Kan Sekijiro, otherwise known as the Blood Hero: Vlad King frowned at that. "You mean we don't know anything." He said, looking over some of the notes that the police had provided us.
He was teaching the other first year hero class, right?
It could have just as easily been him in this situation so I understand his concerns.
"We must hurry. Once their ringleader Shigaraki's gun wounds heal, they'll definitely try again. It'll be a pain." Snipe said decisively, addressing the table.
"Their ringleader, huh?" All Might murmured to himself, a distant look on his face.
"What is it all Might?" Nezu spoke up, asking for the number one Hero to share his opinion on the matter.
"It was a bold attack that normal people wouldn't carry out even if they thought of it. To suddenly go on an on with his wild statements like that, although he didn't talk about his own Quirk, he was bragging about that Nomu's quirk to anyone who would listen." All Might began, and even in this smaller form his words held a weight to them that made it seemingly impossible to interrupt him. "And when things didn't go the way he wanted, he was visibly upset. Well the incident with the quirk was also to force my hand, but…" All Might trailed off, his brow furrowing.
"Even so, it was foolish to throw away the advantage of having unknown Quirks when fighting against Heroes." Nezu remarked, adding his own opinion to the discussion.
"An amateur." I agreed with All Might, still dancing the coin across my knuckles as an afterthought as I reexamined my own experiences with the leader of 'the League of Villains.' When I fought him he used terminology more akin to video games then real life, and seemed to believe that the knowledge that he had derived from it was equivalent to the real world. "He doesn't seem to be fully in touch with reality. He seems to think it's a game of sorts."
"He made immature, wild statements with a straight face. He bragged about his possessions. He thought everything would simply go his way. Adding that to what I saw of him when he carried out the attack, the picture U got of Shigaraki is someone who hasn't gotten rid of his childish sense of omnipotence." All Might listed out before coming to the obvious conclusion. "A man-child."
Someone devoid of the common sense and morality instilled by standard society.
It sure fit the bill I'll say that much.
"A child with that amount of power?" Vlad King responded in a loud voice, seemingly perturbed by the picture that had been painted.
"Could it be that he never received the Quirk Counselling every child gets in elementary school?" – Midnight hypothesized, trying to think of a reason that a person like Shigaraki could exist in today's society.
"That's presuming he even went to elementary school." I said darkly, my thoughts flashing back to memories that were best off forgotten. "You'd be surprised how often people fall through the cracks in society."
There was a moment of silence after my statement, no one seemingly willing to comment on my statement.
"Well," Snipe interjected, drawing the conversation back to the topic at hand. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"There were 72 villains arrested the other day at the USJ. They were all small timers that lurked in back alleys. But the problem is how they all agreed with that man child and followed him. In the current environment saturated with heroes, villainous people who have been oppressed may be drawn to that kind of simple minded evil."
"That's true." Sekijiro agreed, one of his hands tightening into a fist for a moment before relaxing.
"I agree, but not with the idea that Shigaraki knows anything about charisma." I interjected, drawing the attention of the room back to me. "I had a little talk with one of the villains during the assault. Shigaraki killed one of the small timers in front of them. Fear can be one hell of a motivator."
There are plenty of people who don't know what to do with their quirks."- Snipe
"This is alarming, though…"- Midnight
"Well it's thanks to you heroes that we are able to devote ourselves to our investigation. We'll expand our search network and continue to assist in arresting the perpetrators."
"A man-child." Nezu remarked, clearly thinking aloud as he examined the situation. "In a sense, he's like our students. He still has room to grow. If there were someone capable of backing him, trying to cultivate his malice…" he trailed off.
That was the scary thing about Nezu, for all of his small stature he was still the person I'd want to fight the least in this whole room.
At his core, he's a schemer.
And he's very good at what he does.
Which reminds me of something else.
"There's one more thing we need to worry about." I spoke up, drawing the attention back towards me. "When Shigaraki was talking about that Nomu, he said that it was made to kill All Might. Key word there being made."
"Which implied the existence of another member of the League." Nezu spoke up, clearly grasping my train of thought. "One that is capable of creating beings tailor made to fight other heroes."
"Perhaps this villain mentor you were worried about?" Sekijiro suggested, even as he started to get up from the table, his home room about to begin in a few minutes.
"Best case scenario, yes." Snipe gave his own thoughts on the matter. "Worse case, there's even more members of the league that haven't revealed themselves yet."
Any further conversation was cut off by the sound of the bell signaling the start of the school day buzzing over the school's intercom and we all began packing up and making our way out of Nezu's office, with Yagi transforming out of his emaciated state into the familiar form of the Symbol of Peace and escorting the detective out.
"Kaito-Kun, a moment of your time before you leave." Nezu requested, causing me to halt in my advance towards the door and spin on my heel to face my boss.
"Something I can do?" I asked, my mind still half concerned with the debriefing that had just taken place and the classes that I still had to teach today.
"I'd like you to start teaching the first years in the heroic department your class." Nezu said in way of an introduction, cutting short any other thoughts in an instant.
"When?" I replied after a moment's hesitation, already running the calculations in my head.
"Not immediately, we don't want to distract them from the Sports Festival. I was thinking sometime soon after that." He suggested politely.
This early?
My class kind of relies upon the fact they've already been taught a few things first.
I'm going to need to restructure the whole thing, aren't I?
Is it going to make sense if I don't?
I sighed.
No, it won't.
Well there go my plans for the weekend.
"Any particular reason for the sudden change up?" I asked my boss, honestly curious as to the logic that could have led one of the smartest people on the planet let alone Japan to have come to this decision.
"A hunch." Nezu said proudly, pointing a hand up towards the ceiling as he did so.
"A hunch." I parroted back, suddenly far less confident in the supposed intelligence of my immediate superior.
Nezu smiled widely at me. "Would have you preferred I said animal instinct?"
I sighed at that.
Well regardless of my own thoughts on the matter, boss man wants this to happen.
"Additionally, that request I made of you a few weeks ago, do you think that you and Snipe will be ready in time?" Nezu asked popping his chin up on one of his tiny little arms.
I grinned at that.
"We've been ready for weeks sir." I responded confidently, flicking my coin up into the air as I did so. "And I promise you this much."
I clapped my hands together over the falling coin before pulling them away, revealing the coin to be nowhere in sight. "It'll be a show to remember."
==============================
I paced at the front of the room, one hand on the remote as I signaled the next slide to show up on the board.
"Now tell me. Looking at these images, which one do you think is the villain, and which one do you think is the hero?" I asked, gazing around the room for someone to answer my question.
Most of the third years seemed to be doing their best to avoid my gaze, clearly exhausted and counting down the minutes until the day was over and they could stumble home into bed.
Granted so was I.
But as I was being paid to teach and not sleep, if I had to suffer, then they had to as well.
The first picture was of a figure in a skin tight costume with vibrant colors, swinging through the air with acrobatic grace on a bright and sunny day.
The second was entirely different, a figure in an armored suit in dark colors, clearly intended to blend into shadows and darkness, three shuriken held firmly in one hand, half concealed in an alley as rain poured down from the night sky."
I received a host of answers from my students, with the grand majority of the room deciding that the figure in the armored suit was the villain, with a small minority seeming to think that the figure in the spandex suit could be the villain instead.
I shook my head and sighed dramatically, clicking the next slide forward as I did so.
"You are all, in fact, both wrong." I revealed gesturing back to the board, the pictures now replaced with the old comic books that the two heroes were drawn from. "None of them are the villain."
There was the sound of groans and complaints of unfairness from my students but like any good adult, I ignored them entirely and got on with my job.
"Both of them are heroes, but they both take very different approaches to how they be a hero such as it were." I continued the slide show continuing even as the fictional heroes were now replaced with more modern ones, of differing styles of heroism. "This is something that's still valid in today's society. Some heroes like Eraser Head make use of stealth and ambush tactics to confront villains, techniques that some would argue are villainous compared to the straight forward and honest battles of heroes like Endeavour or Miruko."
"Now building upon that, All Might is regarded by many to be the ultimate example of heroism of the modern era, the ideal for all other heroes to strive after." I paused and took the time to meet the eyes of each of my students as I continued on. "I want you to all to think on just why that is. What makes this one man, stand above all the others as the number one. Is it one thing, or a series of things?"
"I want you to imagine that you, as you are right now, are the number one hero in Japan. My question for you is this. Do you think that they you would be worthy of that title? If you don't think you are, then tell me why. And don't just say because I don't have experience that's a cheap answer."
There were a few chuckles, but most of the students had contemplative, clearly contemplating the question I had posed to them.
"I want you to examine yourself, put yourself in the same situations that the heroes who have come before you have faced and triumphed over and ask, just how would I have faced such a scenario." I continued on, wanting to keep striking at this while the iron was hot.
Almost as if summoned by my words the sound of the ringing bell signifying the end of classes for the day had my students scrambling to pack up their things.
Well.
That's that then.
"I'll expect to hear some of your answers in our next class. And remember your essay on whether Kant's Categorical Imperative is a valid moral theory in today's society is due in two weeks. And I want your answer to the question, not someone else's. If I find out that someone's answer isn't theirs then you'll be spending as many detentions as it takes with me after school until you've given me your own answer, is that clear?"
There was a chorus of replies of varying from groans of dismay to cheery affirmations depending on the student as the room quickly emptied itself out.
As my students vacated the room, I quickly began packing my own gear into my bag, before swiftly making my way towards the underground staff car park.
Lord above, I was so grateful for the fact I didn't have to sit in Mic's clown sidecar seat again.
And the less said about public transport, the better.
It's gotten better over the years but the fact of the matter is that some things haven't quite been updated for the taller members of our society yet.
I turned the corner and went to make my way down the corridor leading to the staircase that would grant me access to my chariot and swore internally as I beheld the throng of people blocking my way.
You know for once, I'd like to actually be something that actually resembles being on time, you know?
Is that so much to ask?
Alright let's see what the hold up is.
"You students are blocking the hallway." I drawled out as I approached, ensuring that my boots were clicking loudly against the floor as I did so. "I do hope you have a good reason for doing so?"
Loud footsteps, an authority figure looking down at you with disapproval, and a demand for explanation.
The perfect trifecta.
I received a cacophony of excuses and reasons being thrown at me, even as I took in just which class room they were standing in front of, as well as the make up of the students who were even now crowding the damn corridor.
I see.
I swear it's the same nonsense every year.
"You came here to challenge those in the Hero class, stating that your coming for their seats in the sports festival." I summarized blandly, making full use of my height to stare down at the students that were beginning to now edge away from the tall teacher that was approaching them. "I applaud your spirit if nothing else, but if you truly are aiming for one of their spots, then why are you wasting your valuable time not training?"
Several of them started at that, their expressions changing to a whole host of different expressions ranging from shame to anger before the group that was blocking my way dispersed all making their way towards the stairs that led to the exits.
I may have made use of Ominous Glare No. 2™, complete with white light bleeding out of my eyes at the more stubborn ones until they decided that they had somewhere better else to be.
Kids these days.
I heard the students of class 1-A start talking again, an explosion of different conversations and questions that I honestly didn't have time for now.
I was running late enough as it is.
But I suppose I can clarify one more thing before I go.
"That wasn't just directed at them." I said finally, turning back to the frozen members of Class 1-A. "All of you are good. The USJ proved that much. But there's a lot of people who are 'good' out there. I expect more from you. For those who much is given, much is expected. Prove to them that you deserve your place in this class."
I watched as they seemed to stand up straighter at the challenge I had laid out, seemingly focused on the task at hand.
Well, my job here is done.
I went to leave but remembered my earlier promise to talk to little Green about his quirk usage before he managed to break something he couldn't have fixed later on.
May as well.
"Midoriya, a word if you please." I spoke, before I made my way down the mostly empty corridor.
"C-Coming sir!" The hero in training said with a stammer, quickly following after me.
"Do you know why I'm talking to you now Midoriya?" I asked, buying myself time to properly word what I wanted to ask in my head.
Look I wasn't expecting to do this right now alright?
Thought I'd have a bit longer.
"Did you want to ask me about the villain attack sir?" Midoriya responded hesitantly, clearly not showing much confidence in his answer.
"Not quite. The reason I wanted to talk to you was about your Quirk."
I watched as Midoriya tensed at that remark.
Odd.
Perhaps he feels sensitive about the fact that he's so new to having a Quirk.
His paperwork indicated that up until recently that he was entirely Quirkless.
A rarity for sure, but not an impossibility.
"My Quirk, sir?" Midoriya parroted, his brows furrowed together.
Actually, that may explain a lot of things.
Given how recently he got the Quirk, then perhaps he hasn't had any time to perform any proper analysis on his own Quirk.
"Your Quirk is a super strength type, correct?" I asked rhetorically, waiting for Midoriya to respond in the affirmative before I continued. "What do you know about how it works."
Midoriya blinked at my command, but I watched as his mind started to work, and if his written test scores are any indication, he's got quite the talent when it comes to reasoning.
"My Quirk lets me make use of a large amount of…energy to greatly enhance my attacks or movement by concentrating it and releasing it. I've been able to concentrate it even further so I only damage a finger instead of a limb, but I still can't control it very well."
Aha.
And there is our problem.
But I can't just feed it to him.
Knowledge alone won't help him here.
He's got to realize the issue himself, or it'll just make things worse.
"Sounds like your coming at it from the wrong angle then." I remarked, hiding a grin at the startled look that appeared on Midoriya's face at that. "When I was first learning how to use my quirk on myself, I made a similar blunder. You're not seeing the forest for the trees."
I wasn't lying there either.
The less said about my first few attempts at using Haste on myself, with the aim of only enhancing my hand to try and punch faster the better.
I still shuddered thinking about it.
Looks like I've lost Little Green if the incomprehension on his face is any hint.
But I'm already running late as it is.
Screw it.
One last metaphor for the road.
"Midoriya I want you to imagine a river. Now imagine using a china tea cup to try and move the water from the river to refill a bucket." I began, repeating words that had once been said to me, many years ago. "It will take twenty perfect trips between the river and the bucket to fill it with the tea cup, and the cup will break if too much pressure is placed on it."
Midoriya had started writing down what I was saying at some point, frantically scribbling away in one of the notebooks that he always seemed to have on him.
That's one way to ensure you don't forget it I suppose.
"Each trip will take forty seconds. What is the fastest time you can fill the bucket without breaking the tea cup?" I watched Midoriya stop, doing the calculation in his head and jumping to give me the answer before I held up a hand to stop him. "Think on it over the weekend. The fastest way to fill the bucket."
And with that I left, making my way towards the stairs that led to the staff car park at a fast walk but not breaking into anything faster than that.
For better or worse, those kids have already come face to face with a little bit of what heroes can come up against out there in the big wide world.
Next time they might not be lucky enough to come up against small fry.
Much as I'd love for people like Little Green to have the time to be able to make the same mistakes I had when I was first learning, something tells me he won't have the time.
Call it a hunch.
=============================
I walked into the store with a practiced smile, walking up to the counter with an ease that came from plenty of familiarity at this point.
Thank God they stay open this late.
Literally every other florist on this side of town is closed by this time.
"Well if it isn't the most magical bachelor I've ever met." The brightly smiling florist behind the counter called out, giving a wave as I got closer. "Here to pick up the usual?"
"Ah, dear Ruka, the fact that an effervescent angel like yourself can deign to speak to a lowly mortal like me always gives me hope that this time will be the one!" I replied in a similarly over the top fashion, dramatic flourish and all.
Ruka bought a hand to her face in in mock mortification. "Oh my, such honeyed words! What will my husband think, with such a ravenous beast before me?"
I heard a laugh emanate from the door leading to the back of the shop, the heavy vibrations signifying the approach of the other owner of the Flowering Stone.
"Probably a prayer for that poor unsuspecting beast." Ishi replied with another laugh that sounded like a landslide, the thick stone arms of the florist clutching the bouquet I'd ordered with surprising delicacy.
Ruka pouted at that, sniffing and turning her head away from her husband.
At least she hadn't tried to punch him like last time.
As it turns out, when your arms are made of stone, when someone tries to punch them, they tend to get hurt in the process.
"Seriously though, again?" Ishi asked with an eye roll at his wife's antics, handing over my purchase as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Much as I appreciate the business perhaps you should purchase a different type of flowers? Change things up a bit? You're never going to settle down at this rate."
Ruka chimed in at that, seemingly having forgiven Ishi for now. "I'm sure I find someone who'd be more than happy to go out with you if you keep having trouble like this."
I laughed at that, even as I nodded in thanks to the pair. "I just want to be sure I find the right one, that's all." I replied, turning and walking back to my car, waving a goodbye as I did so. "See you in two weeks!"
I opened the door, gently placed the bouquet on the passenger seat and sighed before gazing at the clock on the dash of my car.
Damn that's late.
And it's a long drive too.
Let's get started.
=============================
I looked at the reflection of myself in my car's window and vainly tried to make myself look at least somewhat presentable.
I know she never says anything about the way I look, but I always feel like I've insulted her if I don't put the effort in.
With my last minute grooming somewhat accomplished I picked up the flowers from where I'd placed them on the roof of the car and started striding down the cobblestone path.
I've walked down this path so much that I can do it blindfolded at this point, but instead I simply breathed in the crisp night air and sighed.
I did love nights like these.
And so did she.
I reached the end of the path and took a left, walking up the stairs onto the upraised area next to the path and came to a stop before a very familiar name.
"Hey there squirt." I said quietly, a soft smile on my face. I went to the vase and removed the flowers I had left there from my last visit and placed the new ones back in. "Bought your favorite."
I stood there and listened for her reply, the wind whistling around me.
"Sorry I was late. Yeah, I know I really should work on that one of these days, but this time I had a good reason." I promised, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly as I did so.
And so, I stated regaling her with stories about what had happened since I last saw her, about teaching at UA and the worries I had about whether I was good enough, about the encounter with the villains at the USJ, training with Hawks again, even about the ongoing antics of Ruka and Ishi.
By the time I was finished it was well and truly late, and I knew by the time I got home I was going to be lucky to have more than a few hours sleep before I would have to face the world once more.
"Well, time for me to get going then." I said apologetically, stretching and letting out a series of wince inducing cracks and pops from my back as I did so. "I'll see you next week."
I waited for her reply before I turned and made my way back to my car, treading the familiar path back to the car park and the long drive back that awaited me.
I silently got into my car, started it, and made my way out of the cemetery.
I sometimes questioned why I went.
Why I did this week after week.
Was it some form of morbid penance?
A way of punishing myself for not being there for her?
I don't know.
I don't think so at least.
Despite all my supposed power, all my 'magic', I couldn't use it to save the people that mattered most to me.
I knew a part of me broke when she died.
It wasn't fixed yet.
I wasn't sure I wanted it to be fixed.
But I think it was more than that.
I think that every time that I went to see her, that I told her about my week, and about how the world was changing, It was like she was still with me.
That I was keeping her memory alive, so I'd never forget just how special she was.
If she was alive now, she'd have been in elementary school.
A part of me knew that fact was one of the reasons that I'd accepted Nezu's offer in the first place.
But even ignoring all that, I enjoyed working as a teacher.
I enjoyed watching the kids grow and adapt into their own kind of heroism, and helping them along the way.
So even if I couldn't save her.
I could be someone that she would be proud of.
Well, there we are!
Sorry for the delay, my issue with my back exacerbated until I was bedridden for the better part of two weeks and I was in no state to keep writing this.
I should be posting some pictures of what Kaito's Hero Outfit looks like, and we finally got his Hero name as well!
I contemplated just having it be in English, but I think it sounds better in Japanese.
As always, thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought in the comments!
Holy.....I just read all your posts so far at once. The flow, the character building, the steady drip of information to make your version of a known world, it all made this one of The most enjoyable Fanfics I've ever read, in just 4 chapters. You have a gift, and I'm hooked for whatever story you make.
Also, the sheer cool factor that he already has with students is just beautiful. Really captured the various POVs really well
Wow, I don't usually enjoy decompress chapters because it often feels like filler but yours actually felt like it moved the plot forward and gave life to characters. I like the little hints you gave to flesh out your character further, and in just four chapters you've already pretty well-established not just your character's personality but also his motivation, which I think is very well-done.
Anyway, this continues to be an interesting take on MHA, and I like how your character is shown interacting with non-students despite being embroiled in the canon storyline.
I was imagining something a lot more classy. Like a stylized superhero-ified version of a stage magician's clothing done in white. Something that would be appropriate to have gloves and dress shoes, and the hat as a top hat. Slightly loose sleeves to aid in a bit of sleight of hand.
I was imagining something a lot more classy. Like a stylized superhero-ified version of a stage magician's clothing done in white. Something that would be appropriate to have gloves and dress shoes, and the hat as a top hat. Slightly loose sleeves to aid in a bit of sleight of hand.
I thought of something similar at first. But let's just say there's a good practical reason for him to have an outfit with multiple layers as compared to the crisp clean stage outfit.
Also he wanted a visually distinctive look so anyone looking at him wouldn't mistake him for anyone else. And it's certainly...distinct.
I thought of something similar at first. But let's just say there's a good practical reason for him to have an outfit with multiple layers as compared to the crisp clean stage outfit.
Also he wanted a visually distinctive look so anyone looking at him wouldn't mistake him for anyone else. And it's certainly...distinct.
Is his costume a support item, maybe not bullet proof but I could see it being Knife Proof. Seems kind of dumb how often hero costumes or gym clothes are destroyed in MHA.
I thought of something similar at first. But let's just say there's a good practical reason for him to have an outfit with multiple layers as compared to the crisp clean stage outfit.
Also he wanted a visually distinctive look so anyone looking at him wouldn't mistake him for anyone else. And it's certainly...distinct.
Does the look of his costume have anything to do with his style of heroing prior to joining UA? From how Kirishima described him, Kaito seems to have been a nomadic hero like Mirko prior to Nezu recruiting him to UA, so him dressing like a wizard hobo would make sense if that was the case.
I thought of something similar at first. But let's just say there's a good practical reason for him to have an outfit with multiple layers as compared to the crisp clean stage outfit.
Also he wanted a visually distinctive look so anyone looking at him wouldn't mistake him for anyone else. And it's certainly...distinct.
Well, as long as you're admitting that it isn't a good look, it takes the wind out of the sails of exasperation. I'm reminded of the 'derelicte' collection from zoolander.
"I'd like you to start teaching the first years in the heroic department your class." Nezu said in way of an introduction, cutting short any other thoughts in an instant.
I thought of something similar at first. But let's just say there's a good practical reason for him to have an outfit with multiple layers as compared to the crisp clean stage outfit.
Also he wanted a visually distinctive look so anyone looking at him wouldn't mistake him for anyone else. And it's certainly...distinct.
I thought of something similar at first. But let's just say there's a good practical reason for him to have an outfit with multiple layers as compared to the crisp clean stage outfit.
Also he wanted a visually distinctive look so anyone looking at him wouldn't mistake him for anyone else. And it's certainly...distinct.
Back problems??? Did you consider going to a Chiropractor??? I have my own rather painful back problems and trips to those professionals always seems to fix it, for a time until I abuse it again, and bring relief to my stressed and abused back. The relief is hard to describe, some say it's like a high, other like great relief off their... affected area, it's just magical.
Also, love your work. It may make use of some cliches, but the way you presented/wrote it made it all work very well together/made it come together beautifully. Hope you manage to fix your back problems, I personally know that it's very very VERY Painful to have.
Edit: Hopefully this gets more attention, seen many a good fics being underrated.
I thought of something similar at first. But let's just say there's a good practical reason for him to have an outfit with multiple layers as compared to the crisp clean stage outfit.
Also he wanted a visually distinctive look so anyone looking at him wouldn't mistake him for anyone else. And it's certainly...distinct.
Looking at the USJ fight, it seems that a mainstay of his combat style is the immobilization of his enemies by using his clothing to first tangle limbs and then timelocking them in place. With the defense against the Nomu Muda-Muda-Muda, I think he's flickering the time lock on his gloves the instant before the punches connect, forming what should be an immovable shield.
Given this combat style, it's a good thing that he's specializing in rescue work instead of villain suppression. Otherwise, in extremely villain heavy situations, he's gonna end up known as the "Stripping Mage" hero, instead of the "Healing Mage" hero.
interesting fic, but I would prefer more SIness to come accross. It doesn't exactly feel like an SI, it feels more like an OC. I want to see more of his thoughts and things that aren't normal for this world.
