Chapter 8: A New Symbol
Taneo Tokuda was in dire need of a cigarette.
Unfortunately for him, he had given up smoking a long time ago after one too many dizzy spells had left him sitting in the emergency room. His doctor had told him that he had severely damaged his lungs, with a high risk of developing COPD, or better known as emphysema in some cases.
Modern medicine had enabled him to survive the surgery to repair them back to complete normality, and a minor healing quirk did the rest, leaving only light thin scars across his chest.
Since then, Taneo had vowed to never smoke again, and satisfied his oral fixation with strong peppermint scented chewing gum.
Chewing on a few sticks at once, he wandered the familiar streets of downtown Musutafu, enjoying the warm weather provided by the morning sun. It was early enough that most people were still sleeping, and only local sanitary workers were busy sweeping the sidewalks of any debris.
A robbery occurred yesterday at a nearby J-Mart, and while most of the obstructions had been cleared and removed by the Disposal and Waste department of the Hero Public Safety Commission, or HPSC for short, there was still a lingering smell of citrus that permeated the air.
Apparently, the suspect had a quirk that had required them to consume copious amounts of oranges to work.
It was a far cry from the pungent scent of rotten fish Taneo had to endure down in Chiba last week, after doing an intensive report on a pair of walrus heteromorphs that had been caught doing illegal trafficking of endangered fish and marine life by the local authorities.
He had ended up having to wash his clothes three times in the washing machine before the smell had finally vanished, though, sometimes on a bad day he could catch a small whiff of fish every now and then.
Grabbing some hot dark roast coffee from the nearest vending machine, Taneo continued on his aimless journey to nowhere in particular. He had already submitted his final edits to the editor-in-chief of the Juzo Magazine, his current occupation of work.
As a highly in demand freelance journalist, he has full autonomy on writing whatever captures his interest, having gotten exclusive interviews with high-ranking Pro Heroes and celebrities due to his lucrative status as one of the more professional and savvy reporters to talk to.
It also helped that his good looks opened more than just doors.
Eventually his feet took him to the one place long since forgotten in his hazy smoky memories of Summer that consisted of chocolate covered sundaes and scraped wet knees. The Takoba Municipal Beach Park, or better known colloquially as Dagobah Beach by the locals, was a site Taneo would often visit during his younger adolescent years with his father.
Such trips were the highlight of his childhood, the sweet chocolatey sundae that they ate together by the pier as the sun set in a blaze of orangey red still lingered on the very tip of Taneo's tongue as he slowly licked his lips.
A terrible tsunami more than a decade ago had left the whole place a mess with scattered half decaying debris and over the years, it became known as a glorified dumping site that police officers would look away if paid off well enough.
The decrypt site had since attracted a myriad of shady looking characters and equally shady events to its lair, with emergency responders often being called in to deal with cases involving domestic violence, battery, or in some serious cases, homicides.
While most of the dead bodies had happened to be either an unlucky gangster who had met an unfortunate end by a rival gang member or a homeless junkie that had unfortunately overdose on illicit dangerous drugs, once in a blue moon, a John or Jane Doe would be found half buried and forgotten, rotting away in all that rubble and sand.
The last that had been discovered before All Might and his Symbol of Peace era had decreased crime activity to an all-time low in Japan, had been a high school student that had been stabbed by her college age boyfriend and left for dead on the beach.
Taneko had remembered that particular case since he had been the one to personally report first before even the local news had really known about it.
It was a sad case. Not only because the victim had suffered immensely for a prolonged period of time without anyone willing to contact the police for fear of revealing their own bad behavior and getting arrested for it but said victim apparently had big aspirations for becoming a hero herself and now would never do because of some guy who couldn't handle his liquor.
Today, compared to his last visit, the beach was bustling with life, as what seemed to be Middle School aged kids were removing debris up the stairs and into proper disposal containers in a neat orderly fashion.
Blinking slowly in surprise, Taneo watched as a pair of kids, one with black hair and shark teeth and the other with pink skin and tiny yellow horns used their quirks in combination to reduce a large stainless-steel refrigerator into a pile of melted down metal.
Another pair of kids, one with a large hairless tail and the other with spiky black hair covered by a zig-zag patterned headband carried pieces larger than the entire length of their torso with relative ease up the stairs and into what seemed to be a makeshift dumping site where two girls, one with hair dark hair tied up into a spiky ponytail and the other with straight light baby blue hair and glasses took turns carefully assorting through the pile before placing them into their respective disposal bins.
Taneo was intrigued.
"So, tell me again how you got involved in this clean up initiative?"
Taneo had arrived back at the Dagobah Beach a few days later after observing the rather bizarre scene of kids cleaning up all the junk and debris off from its sandy shores.
The person that he was currently interviewing, a young blond teen with periwinkle blue eyes who proudly introduced himself as Monoma Neito. A boy with lofty claims on becoming a future Pro Hero much to Taneo's amusement as the kid barely reached his chest and probably weighed a good 90 pounds wet.
Smirking, Monoma placed a hand over his chest in a dramatical fashion, posing as if he had been asked by a photographer to pretend he was advertising an expensive cologne product.
"Of course," he answered in a haughty tone of voice befitting his equally haughty expression.
Standing close by, a young girl with orange hair tied into a side ponytail that Taneo presumed was Monoma's friend rolled her eyes up at the display.
"This clean up initiative that you asked about, is called "The Younglings Dagobah Clean Up Crew" or as I like to call it "The Younglings Dagobah Crew.""
Taneo scribbled it all down onto a blank notepad. At least that explained the green and yellow bandana with the letter D on it that all the kids were currently sporting around their foreheads.
"I joined in after reading about it all online on the HeroForAll forum–" Taneo knew all about the popular website that catered to hero enthusiasts everywhere in Japan, "–and had decided it would be a good investment for someone such as myself who is planning on getting into the hero course at Yueei High."
Taneo raised a brow.
"Are you planning on taking the Hero Entrance Exam then?"
If possible, the smirk on Monoma's face grew even wider.
"Ah, but of course, my dear good man!" the blond teen spread his arms apart. From nearby, his red-haired friend facepalmed herself in embarrassment. "My quirk, Copy, is just simply too perfect for heroism and to deny the world of such excellency would be most shameful. Thus, it was imperative for me that I join this initiative and do some good to the community here at Dagobah."
Taneo scribbled some more.
"I see…"
A noble cause, if veering a bit too closely to self-narcissism, but it wasn't something totally unexpected in today's hero obsessed society.
"One more thing."
Taneo met the periwinkle blue eyes of Monoma and briefly imagined himself in the blond middle schooler's place, eager to show the world what he was capable of and how resourceful his quirk, Whole-Body Lens, could be for heroism.
"Can you tell me more about the person who had started this initiative?"
"For the record, please state your name and current occupation."
After his (rather) lengthy and long chat with Monoma Neito, Taneo had then turned his attention to the next person in the Dagobah Clean Up Crew, a young orange haired girl who was present throughout the entirety of Monoma's interview.
"Ah!"
The young girl blinked, running a hand through the unruly thick locks of her side ponytail. A nervous tick, Taneo deduced correctly to himself after spending years analyzing people's miniscule facial expressions as a journalist.
"Sure thing."
She then took a deep breath, and began speaking once more again, her voice even and measured with a little sprinkle of nervousness mixed in. Interestingly enough, Monoma remained by his friend's side after giving his own frivolous interview, giving her an encouraging pat on the back.
"My name is Kendo Itsuka," the girl said, "I'm currently a student at Chiba City Soga Junior High."
Taneo wrote down the information on another blank sheet of paper from his notepad.
"Great. Can you then tell me how you came across The Younglings Dagobah Clean Up Crew."
Like Monoma, she had also come across the posting on the HeroForAll forum page due to the insistence of her blond friend and had decided to join in as well as she believed her quirk, Big Fist, could be of some benefit for the cause.
"I was a bit skeptical at first," Kendo admitted, "especially since Neito has a tendency to over exaggerate on things that spark his interest."
She sides eyed said friend, and Monoma simply blew a deceptively charming kiss in return which Kendo responded back with an eye roll.
"But after meeting the person in charge of this initiative, I was immediately hooked. It's been great meeting other kids who are also planning on taking the Hero Entrance Exam at Yueei High."
"Aiming to be a hero as well?"
Kendo nodded, her posture straightening to her fullest height. She flexed the tendons of some of her fingers, looking down at them in an almost contemplatively-like manner.
It was a sort of wizened expression that Taneo had rarely seen as a teenager.
"I've grown up with people who have dedicated their lives to helping others out. My parents own a Dojo that had been passed down through my mother's side of the family, and there has never been a day that they haven't spent not doing something for our community back at home. Whether it's through teaching basic martial arts moves to the local kids and women in my neighborhood or offering shelter to refugees and the homeless, my parents have taught me that even the smallest, good deeds could have a tremendous impact on a person's livelihood."
Her bright teal eyes met his own dark mismatched blue and white eyes with a ferocity that rivaled some of the more passionate politicians such as Hanabata Koku, a popular leader of the Hearts and Mind Party.
"That is why I want to become a hero."
Slowly, Monoma clapped, a pleasant if not overly indulgent honest to goodness smile spreading far across his face as gestured to his friend.
"See?"
His own periwinkle blue eyes twinkled in absolute delight.
"This cause is just more than for the good of the community, it brought a whole group of people together for one singular purpose."
Taneo slowly raised both of his brows.
"And that is…?"
Here, both Kendo and Monoma shared a knowing look, exchanging something heavy and meaningful in the silence spread between them. They both turned back to Taneo, and it was Kendo who surprisingly answered the question for him.
"Our potential to change the world."
Since his interview with Monoma and Kendo, Taneo had found himself visiting the Dagobah beach more frequently in between doing reports on various crimes throughout Japan and intensive Q&As with some highly profiled Pro Heroes.
The aquarian lover Sea Rescue Hero: Selkie, also known as the faithful and adorable husband of one Gang Orca had been very appreciative when Taneo had visited his agency all the way up in Hokkaido to report on a potential drug bust of Trigger from no named Yakuza gang. Even went as far as to give him some special fancy cheesecake from LeTao for all trouble.
Taneo didn't mind doing the whole trek.
He had a bit of a soft spot for mutants generally, having gotten to know many during his time at Musutafu University studying Journalism. Those that had joined his academic track were extremely dedicated to spreading the word on the discrimination of heteromorphs and lobbying for better opportunities that he could get behind.
Taneo had participated in more than one protest in his life.
His next batch of interviews at Dagobah beach had him meet a lively girl named Ashido Mina with striking alien features and a boisterous outgoing boy by the name of Kirishima Eijiro who were both happy to chat with him during their short break.
"It's just so much fun!" Ashido said, beaming a bright smile at Taneo as she bounced on the toes of her feet.
She had such an energetic personality, a bit of a rarity for someone so otherworldly like in the world of Quirks that made Taneo silently wonder to himself if she was simply trying to overcompensate her odd looks in a bid to make a great first impression. Unsurprisingly for those with striking Heteromorphic traits.
"I've learned so much about my quirk that I never even knew about!"
That was another thing.
Besides helping out the Dagobah community by cleaning out the crowded junk from the beach, apparently one of the members of the cleanup crew, who was only known through their alias, YamiKumo, had been helping create training modules for those interested in pushing their Quirks to the next level.
Apparently, they were very good at their job, which Ashido and a couple of others have insinuated during his conversation with them.
"Yeah!"
Kirishima punched a hardening fist into the palm of his other hand, creating a noticeable cracking sound like two boulders smashing together that echoed easily across the vast beach.
"There's nothing manlier than supporting your fellow men!"
Both kids had belonged to the same private school somewhere in the upper west side of Musutafu and had lofty aspirations to become Pro Heroes as well. For Kirishima, it was to honor the late Crimson Riot, an old school type hero that was popular among men and young boys in Taneo's childhood. And as for Ashido, she had felt that her bubbly personality and unique ability to get along with pretty much anyone was more than enough to charm even the most hardened of villains.
Strangely enough, Kirishima had sent his pink friend a worried glance when she mentioned that last part.
Interesting.
And of course, this mysterious Midoriya Izuku, the one who had initiated the whole cleanup program was nowhere to be seen.
"It is a fine pleasure to meet you, Mr. Tokuda!"
A relatively tall and muscular boy with short dark cobalt blue hair and a thick pair of square rimmed glasses was shaking Taneo's hand with such energy that he was worried that it might come flying out of its socket if the teen didn't stop soon enough.
"I am Ida Tenya, the younger brother of the great Turbo Hero: Ingenium, and grandson of the supreme Engine Hero: Locomotion. Age 14 and from the Somei Private Academy."
Taneo knew of the Ida family. Anyone who was remotely interested in heroes would have known about their impressive work and admirable efforts in the earlier development of the hero industry.
No surprise that Ida had similarly lofty aspirations.
The bespectacled teenager continued to boast about his family's history before eventually transiting to his reasons as to why he had joined the Dagobah Clean Up Crew.
"A noble effort that I had found compelled to be a participant for by my friend, Midoriya Izuku, who I had personally become acquainted with at the National Japan Mensa Gifted Youth program last summer. A fine gentleman himself, who shows exemplary skills befitting a good leader and teacher."
Taneo scribbled the information down, intrigued at the little tidbit that had implied that Midoriya Izuku had been a part of a highly gifted summer program for the youth. The MESNA were no joke and took their application seriously to the point that their selection was typically reserved for the elite and wealthy.
To be even considered for such a coveted program with no notable background himself…
Well, Taneo wanted to meet this Midoriya Izuku quite soon enough.
A bespectacled girl joined them shortly afterwards, flanked by another girl with long straight periwinkle white hair and an extremely haughty expression that could give even Monoma Neito a run for his money.
The first girl had introduced herself as Sekigai Kashiko, an average plain face girl with wavy light baby blue hair and a calm, well-mannered demeanor that paired well with the straightforward and slightly intimidating persona of one Ida Tenya. Both her and the other girl, only given her surname as Intelli, were also part of the summer MENSA youth program and knew Midoriya Izuku intimately as well.
"I see."
Taneo jotted down his notes.
"Are you all planning on doing the Entrance Hero Exam at Yueei High?"
Adjusting the rim of his glasses, Ida nodded sharply once after he exchanged a brief look with the other two girls.
"Well, I am, Mr. Tokuda," he corrected and Taneo had to stop himself from blinking in confusion. As a professional, it was bad to react in such a way as to dissuade a guest from speaking their thoughts. "My brother, Ida Tenya, despite his many achievements, had not graduated from Yueei High nor did my grandparents. As the first in the Ida family to do so would be a great honor."
With a slow shake of her own head, Sekigai answered next.
"And as for me, Yueei High isn't the school where my parents earned their licenses, so I feel no strong compulsion to try the Hero Entrance Exam myself."
Starting to fully understand what the kids were trying to say, Taneo turned his attention next to Intelli who only barely managed to refrain from rolling up her bluish-lavender eyes in an undignified manner unbefitting her high social class status.
"The uniform there is much too drab for my liking."
Sekigai giggled, tossing a fond sort of expression at Intelli who had resolutely averted her gaze in the opposite direction at the last possible second but not before Taneo's keen eyes caught the light pinkish blush that appeared briefly across the young girl's face for a heartbeat.
Interesting.
Life got in the way of things, and Taneo doesn't get to visit the Dagobah Beach until Early August.
A breakthrough in the Mind Hack case, a notorious villain who used his quirk to make people do his bidding without their knowledge, had finally seen the man's arrest. It was all over the news, and Taneo had been one of the many reporters swarming the hideout where the villain had been residing in—a quiet neighborhood in Nabu.
There were even some reports of a child being found within his home, though he couldn't verify its authenticity.
So, when Taneo finally arrived one early morning, he found to his surprise that the beach had undergone a significant upgrade in his absence. Someone had taken the liberty of repairing the dilapidated gazebo near the shoreline of the beach, giving it a fresh new coat of paint and removing all the rotten wood planks and patching up any holes.
The beach itself also looked better than it did in the past, with nearly half of the garbage removed and discarded away, revealing the clean yellow crisp sand that made up most of the ground.
Taneo actually felt like he could walk around barefooted in the sand and not accidentally step on a broken piece of glass and risk needing a tetanus shot.
His presence immediately drew eyes onto him the moment he stepped off the final step and made contact with the sand.
Those that knew him, Monoma, Ashido, and Sekigai, waved their hands to him while the others shared curious glances at each other before tentatively approaching Taneo with smiles on their faces.
He had a much larger crowd this time around and it took a considerable amount of time to get to know the new faces that suddenly swarmed his vision.
There was Hatsume Mei, the self-proclaimed pink haired genius who planned on creating life-changing inventions in the near future. She had a worrying tendency to talk way up close and personally, disregarding Teneo's own personal space.
Hatsume was barely held back from Taneo by an exasperated yet fondly smirking Awase Yosetsu; a young teen boy who was responsible for all the headbands everyone was wearing and had quite the eclectic choice of language when it came to swear words.
Taneo could barely manage to contain his excitement when the heiress of the Yaoyorozu empire, Momo Yaoyorozu, came to help Yosetsu settle down the semi erratic Hatsume Mei all while calmly introducing herself as if Taneo had no clue who she was when in reality she was one of the most well-known names in Japan.
Though few people would be able to accurately recognize the raven-haired heiress out of a line-up, Taneo had personally been invited to a few high-class events exclusive to only a selected curated guest list, which gave him the opportunity to mingle shoulders to shoulders with the upper echelons of High Society.
The Yaoyorozus were nearly present in every event, parading their beautiful daughter around as if she was a priceless gem that had been unearthed from an ancient powerful civilization.
To be looked at from afar and not be anywhere close to her worldly presence.
Here, at Dagobah Beach, Taneo could only nod mutely as he shook hands with her, listening carefully to how the raven-haired Yaoyorozu came about meeting with Midoriya Izuku and the Dagobah Clean Up Crew.
Once Yaoyorozu had explained her reasoning as to why she was a part of the initiative, it was like a floodgate had happened, and suddenly the other teens were chiming in with their own answers.
It was no surprise that a majority of them wanted to be heroes in their own right, citing influences from a variety of seasoned Pro Heroes that had made names for themselves in the Hero industry.
Ojiro Mashiro, the blonde Heteromorphic boy with the large hairless tail Taneo had first seen weeks ago, had mentioned one of his idols, The Lion Hero: Shishido who was currently ranked in the top thirties in terms of popularity, as an inspiration. Understandably, seeing that heteromorphs were more likely to gravitate towards other heteromorphic heroes than most.
From what little he could see of Ojiro Mashiro, the young boy at the very least channeled the Lion Hero's steely determination for justice.
Another teen, this one tall, lanky, and with skin the color of the deepest part of a midnight sky, named Kuroiro Shihai, had verbosely answered that he had a liking for the dark and broody type of heroes such as the Ninja Hero: Edgeshot or the Nightwing Hero: Rouge the Bat.
In direct contrast to his best friend's purplish prose, Honenuki Juzo, an equally tall boy with pale skin, ashy blond hair, and no lips, was shockingly simplistic and heartwarming in his own personal reason to become a hero.
He has a mother suffering from addiction, specifically pain medication due to how volatile her quirk was to her body, and was currently out on the streets, roaming for her next quick fix. Honenuki wanted to be a hero not only to save his mother, but to bring more awareness to those suffering from their quirks without a proper outlet to help them through the turmoil.
That had earned the pale boy a nice round of applause for that, and Taneo placed an asterisk to Honenuki's name for further consideration.
He might be someone to keep a close eye on in the future.
When the conversation shifted to one Midoriya Izuku, it was interesting to hear everyone's relationship had evolved over the years or weeks they have known the green haired teenager. It seemed through his charisma alone, Midoriya had somehow managed to charm a wide array of people into his wide circle of friendships.
Taneo was about to consider it the work of a mental quirk before one of the teens, Kirishima Eijiro, had casually mentioned offhand that Midoriya Izuku was "so manly even without a quirk!".
Pausing abruptly in the middle of writing another sentence, Taneo immediately shifted his gaze right onto the Hardening quirk user.
"Midoriya Izuku is quirkless?"
A pregnant pause rippled across the teens and most of them shared an uneasy glance at one another or a sharp frown in some few cases.
"Yes," Ojiro spoke out first, his large hairless tail curling a little behind him like a writhing King Cobra waiting to strike its unsuspecting prey. "Is that a problem?"
There was a bit of an undercurrent of a challenge beneath that polite but firmly asked question.
It was no surprise that the treatment most quirkless people here in Japan typically face in their day-to- day lives wasn't so stellar and as a professional journalist, he had plenty of firsthand experiences dealing with what some have taken to call the 'undesirables.'
Taneo snapped his notepad shut.
"No," he answered, truthfully because it wasn't truly a problem in his mind. "Not in the slightest."
It was a few days later when Taneo finally got to meet the elusive Midoriya Izuku.
He had just stepped out of the Dagobah train station, having opted for mobile transportation this time around for efficiency, when he had been approached almost instantly by a young petite girl with dark hair dyed a deep red in the front, and a pair of amazingly crystal cerulean eyes.
Taneo nearly jumped out of his skin when he glanced to his right to find her already standing there with a bored, almost emotionless expression over her face.
"What the heck, kid!" Taneo all but screamed in English as he placed a shaky hand over chest.
He could feel the thump-thump of his heartbeat pressing harshly against his ribcage.
The strange girl simply curled one of her delicate dark brows upwards, her expression remaining otherwise unchanged, but Taneo swore he caught a glimpse of childish amusement flickering across her cold blue eyes.
"Midoriya wants to see you."
That got Taneo to pause abruptly, gaping at the young girl with blinking mismatched eyes. Within seconds, he had reverted back to his cool, savvy, collected demeanor, smoothing out his wide scowl with practiced flawless ease.
"And you are?"
He gave her one of his most charming dazzling smiles; the one that had opened doors (and other things) due to how shiny and perfectly aligned his white teeth were and hoped the usual desired effect would happen soon enough.
Unfortunately for him, it seemed that the young teen girl was immune to his roguishly dashing features, simply turning right around on her heels to walk, with a confident stride in her steps.
Once she was a good distance away, the strange girl finally glanced back over her shoulders at Taneo before looking away again.
He knew exactly what he had to do.
Grumbling that his good looks had failed him for the first time in months, Taneo shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans as he lumbered behind the young dark-haired girl, who he was beginning to suspect was taking a great delight in his misery despite seemingly expressing only one emotion at a time.
She had hardly looked behind her once he started following her, and Taneo took that moment to gather his thoughts, both on the strange girl and his apparent impromptu meeting with the mysterious Midoriya Izuku.
Based on the mere fact that he had never seen her before prior to today, and the fact that she had referenced Midoriya Izuku, Taneo used his deductive skills to the max, and concluded that this was most likely Kodai Yui; another teen that had been referenced a few times (mainly from Awase Yosetsu, Yaoyorozu Momo, and a couple of others).
Other than what she had said to him; Kodai Yui barely spoke another word as they walked together in the beaming afternoon light of the community of Dagobah. Due to the rampant crime rate, businesses closest to the train station fared a lot better than those further by the coastline, and most of the passersby were seen in those convenience stores or cafes, taking full advantage of the Air conditioner and cold drinks.
It was unusually hot today.
And yet with the all black attire Kodai Yui was currently sporting–a simple black tank top, long black jeggings, a nice burgundy red leather jacket–one would be forgiven to assume it was Fall instead.
Idly, Taneo wondered if the clothes had anything to do with her quirk. Like Kuroiro Shihai fellow.
Eventually, after a few twists and turns in some shady looking alleyways with some equally shady looking characters who curiously gave them a wide berth (all while bowing their heads respectfully at Kodai), they had arrived in front of a cafe that could be best described as 'not too shabby looking.'
The cafe, named THE ROOST, was near a semi coveted spot by the Dagobah beach, with pristine wide windows that pointed to the sandy yellow shoreline and a creamy pastel green exterior that enticed passersby to enter its cozy abode for coffee and yummy baked goodies.
Entering inside, Taneo was greeted by the melodious jazzy beat of a classical piano playing softly in the background and the warm familiar rich scent of roasted coffee beans. The interior of the cafe was similarly covered with creamy pastel green wallpaper and wooden tables and plump green couches.
A blonde spiky haired guy with scarlet red eyes was manning the front desk, already in the midst of pouring a customer a cup of espresso in a cream-colored mug. He looked up at them the moment they had entered, giving Kodai a small lopsided smile before gesturing to the back of the room where Taneo believed Midoriya Izuku might be waiting for them over there.
"I will be with your orders right away," was all the blonde said before returning his attention back onto the customer.
Kodai simply nodded, making a beeline to the back without once glancing at Taneo to make sure he was following her too.
Annoyed, Taneo quickly followed in her footsteps, a little peeved that all of his questions so far had remained unanswered since being accosted by the strange young girl.
At least there was a silver lining to this metaphorical gray cloud over his head.
Midoriya Izuku was not the kind of person Taneo had anticipated on meeting.
He was, first of all, a lot older looking than Taneo had expected, with a nervous smile and a smattering of freckles across his face and hands. His hair, green with deep dark shades of black in some parts, hung low and wispy over his left eye, which gave Midoriya a sullen, shabby appearance that was completely unlike the clean, well-dressed image Taneo had conjured up in his head from all the comments he had heard from the Dagobah Clean Up Crew.
When Midoriya shook his hand, Taneo took extra note of the long sleeves that reached up past his wrist, and the way the guy's shirt was buttoned up all the way to his neck as if to hide something dark and secretive.
"I–It's really nice to meet you, Mr. Tokuda."
Midoriya Izuku's voice was high-pitched, and he seemed to stutter every other syllable. Still, there was little to doubt the genuine happiness that radiated from his tone.
Raising an eyebrow, Taneo took a seat across from him while Kodai Yui remained standing by a nearby wall with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I think I should be the one saying that" Taneo said in return. "You've caused quite a stir around here and as a journalist I couldn't resist an interesting potential story to write."
Midoriya Izuku gave him a nervous sort of laugh, fiddling with the corner of a napkin.
"That's nice to hear."
It was shockingly easy to keep his pleasant expression in place as Taneo listened to this Midoriya Izuku blabber about, making light small talk as if delaying the main reason for his arrival, which was odd, as Taneo had been brought here to interview him.
Not the other way around.
The same blond guy from an earlier interrupted their conversation, bringing with him a tray of enticing baked goodies and four steaming cups of hot piping coffee. He set them each down one by one onto the table, and it was there that Taneo had finally noticed the thick heavy-duty pair of white gloves the guy had on each of his hands.
It was something that oddly contrasted to the otherwise ordinary pastel green and brown uniform that the man wore.
Immediately upon seeing him, Midoriya Izuku's nervously odd demeanor brightened as he greeted the blond server with a wide toothy smile.
"Kacchan!"
The blond server, interestingly enough nicknamed Kaachan (which was quite the feminine endearment, if Taneo was to be frank, given that the nametag on his shirt read Kaichi), grinned back in return, placing one of the steaming cups in front of Midoriya Izuku.
"Hey, Matcha Bean," was Kacchan's reply.
The two men were soon chatting, and Taneo wouldn't be lying if he almost felt like an awkward third wheel with how buddy buddy they were with one another. The way the two males were staring at each other, especially the blonde one, hinted at something deeper in their relationship that as a professional journalist (and a hopeless romantic) could see with relative ease.
A quick glance at his right revealed that Kodai Yui was nowhere to be seen.
"Excuse me?"
Taneo turned to the left where a young boy was standing by his table, a warm smile on a freckled face. Green eyes met mismatched black and white and Taneo couldn't help but feel a tingle of familiarity in the stranger's friendly face.
"Uhm…"
A bit lost for words, Taneo simply gestured over for the boy to sit.
Still smiling, the young boy took the seat next to him. He was dressed pretty casually, in a way that seemed almost effortless for fashionable teen influencers of the current Post Quirk Age. A red cap was perched comfortably on top of a nest of green curly locks that the strange boy then used to tip at Taneo in a show of gratitude.
Taneo's gaze was locked onto the shooting caped star logo embroidered onto the hat.
He knew that logo.
It was the official symbol of the Quirkless People of Japan Society or QPJS for short. The current largest non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the lives of quirkless people residing in the prefectures of Japan. And one of the few remaining ones survived the Post Quirk Ages.
For the past couple of decades though, it had become somewhat of a controversial symbol in society.
Known originally for its dedication in leading the first Quirkless revolution that had shocked the world in the 23rd century. With the rise of pro-heroes and quirks appearing at an exponential rate in various countries around the world, a general consensus was beginning to pick up steam within the population.
Those with quirks were the next step to evolution.
Suddenly humanity had the answer to their worldly problems right in front of them the entire time; that these quirks could solve everything that had plagued humanity from the beginning of time.
From solving World hunger all the way to creating new organic compounds that break all convection of The Basic Laws of Chemistry, there was nothing that seemed impossible for mankind to overcome so long as there was the perfect quirk for the job.
Thus, a group of people that had once been a minority and disenfranchised were now seen in a different sort of light from the majority of quirkless humankind.
Who were now slowly and steadily becoming extinct with every passing day.
"Thanks," the strange boy said. "People aren't really as considerate as they used to be."
The boy then winked at him as if sharing a secret joke between the two of them.
Nowadays, wearing such a symbol is tantamount to broadcasting to the entire world your pro-quirkless view and status. Something that had been viewed almost as treacherous as treason to the Japanese government according to some popular local officials. Namely, the leader of the Hearts and Mind Party–Hanabata Koku.
A very…contentious politician to say the very least.
Slowly, Taneo nodded his head.
"I understand completely."
The strange boy tilted his head as if considering something vital, before widening his handsome grin.
"Tell me." There was a bright twinkle in those brilliant forest-green eyes of his. "Are you interested in changing the world?"
"You know that grape jelly…isn't a suitable replacement for breakfast, right, Shou?"
Shou, better known as Aizawa Shota by his peers and Eraser Head by the media, leveled a tired but firm glare at his best friend. A packet of Konnyaku grape flavored jelly (his personal favorite was apple, but it was currently out of stock at his local Family Mart at the moment) dangled between his teeth, most of the slurpy purple goodness already sucked out from the bent straw.
Just to be extra pretty, Shota made sure to slurp up the last bit with an audible loud gulp without breaking eye contact once.
His best friend gave him a soft sigh, turning away from the audacious display with a sip of his coffee mug that had the words 'KARAOKE SINGER' writtenin big bold letters at the front.
"And people think I'm the childish one."
To be fair, his best friend, Yamada Hizashi, or better known as Present Mic to his adoring fans and media, was a man that garnered a lot of attention based on his looks alone. His style consisted of black leather, lots and lots of belts, and had styled his long blonde hair into a spiky upturn that would make a cockatiel flush green with envy.
He had always been this way, long before Shota had met him during their first year in Yueei High. A sucker for public attention, Hizashi loved the spotlight, and it showed even in his work as a Pro-Hero, always wanting to be the first in line to blast the villains away with a strong yell of his quirk, Voice.
It was completely opposite to who Shota was as a person.
A man who preferred staying as far away from the spotlight as feasible possible. To the point where even his hero's name, Eraser Head, was hardly mentioned on the news when it came to any hero discussions. He was at least in a cordial but distant relationship with the Musutafu police department and had an unofficial membership with the Midnight Crawlers, a prefecture specific group of heroes who were not affiliated with any hero agencies nor took any direct orders from the Hero Public Safety Commission.
Basically, vigilantes that skirt between the line of legality and illegality.
Even his quirk, Erasure, matched his quiet, serious, aloof demeanor. It was extremely useful in stealth-based missions and watching villains who were once over reliant on their quirks struggle to use them when he turned them off with Erasure, never failing to amuse Shota the slightest bit each time.
Hizashi took another long sip of his coffee, before opening the door that led to the staff faculty room specifically for those teaching the hero track course in Yueei High.
It was near the end of July, which meant that most of the students, especially those not on the hero course track, were on break till the end of August, enjoying the warm weather without stressing about any upcoming exams. Hero students, however, were shit out of luck and only had two weeks of vacation before having to return back to the school campus for extra training in preparation for the Provisional Hero License Exam.
Typically, second- and third-year students were permitted to take the exam, but, recently, Principal Nedzu had been considering lowering the age bracket to include first year students as well much to the grumbling from the higher ups in the Hero Public Safety Commission.
Oh well.
Shota tossed the empty packet of grape jelly into a nearby bin as he headed to his designated office space in the room. And if he happened to have a Nyan Nyan Cat plushie resting on his seat from a gag gift he had received many Christmases ago, then who was Shota to say something?
Good thing, he had expelled his recent batch of students a couple of semesters ago. They were an absolutely terrible bunch. The worst he's had so far in years.
So many of them thought they were God's gift on Earth and treated their quirks with blatant disregard for their fellow classmates' wellbeing. Shota was more than happy to teach them a lesson in rationality and a taste of what life will be like for them as professionals.
If it had made him into the villain in those students' eyes, then so what?
Shota would much prefer having angry but alive students as opposed to dead ones.
The rest of the staff faculty room was filled with the usual early birds: Ectoplasm (rank: unknown as the man was currently working as a full-time teacher since losing his legs from a villain attack) was preparing a large batch of Calculus quizzes for the third year students at his desk, which Shota had little doubt that the Cloning Hero was taking absolute delight in upping the difficulty level for his homeroom class in particular.
Standing by the water cooler and chatting up a storm were two of the recent hires joining the upcoming Fall semester. Yueei High prided itself on giving the best education known to man not only in Japan, but possibly the entire world, and having high ranking Pro-Heroes as some of its faculty members was one of its main highlights to attracting potential students from all over the nation. Though the school does receive over hundreds of thousands of resumes from starry eyed Pro-Heroes itching to work at the exemplary institute, Principal Nedzu was surprisingly pretty picky when it came to hiring additional teachers; sometimes preferring to hire alumni despite it being seen as nepotism.
That was the case for these two recent hires in particular, as they had both graduated from Yueei High in recent years with decent to stellar grades and had some previous exposure already to the world of Pro-Heroes.
The first was a purple skinned woman, who went by the name of Jinx: The Trickster Hero (current hero rank: 666). Her pink hair was styled into two devil horn shaped buns, and her outfit of choice consisted of an all-black purplish gown, which was a plus in Shota's eyes. Her quirk, Bad Luck, allowed her to emit bad luck to anybody or anything within her vicinity, making her more useful for stealth based missions or small group battalions in order to reduce the amount of damage or friendly fires she might invertible cause with her quirk.
The other hero was Bumblebee: The Honeybee Hero(current hero rank: 415). She was a dark-skinned woman who had impressive height for someone her age, coupled with a pair of expansive honeybee wings that poked out from her back. Her quirk, Honeybee, gave her all of the properties that came with the flying insect, including the shapeshifting ability to turn herself as small as a bee while retaining her extraordinary super strength and powers.
Both were decent enough kids (with Shota having personally had the pleasure of being Jinx's homeroom teacher for her first year in Yueei High) and were not as cocky or as annoying as some of the other recent hires. They were mainly here as teaching assistants, using the time spent here to gain some much-needed skills in teaching the next generation of heroes.
Jinx's pink catlike eyes met his own from across the room, and she smirked–a telltale sign that something mischievous was afoot.
"Morning Present Mic and Aizawa-Sensei," Jinx said in a faux-cheery tone, while Bumblebee waved her hand in greeting.
No matter how many times Shota had tried to correct her, the Bad Luck quirk user still insisted on addressing him as her sensei and not colleague.
"Sorry to say," she continued, "but if any of you were planning to grab some coffee the machine is broken again."
Aizawa took a glance at the left side of the room, where sure enough the extremely fancy and (very) expensive coffee maker was out of function once again. It wasn't to say that Jinx had a terrible handle on her quirk, by far she was one of the most careful out of his students when it came to controlling her powers, but the Trickster Hero sometimes couldn't resist pulling a prank or two at the expense of her peers.
"Again!?" Hizashi lifted his trademark yellow sunglasses up to his forehead, blinking his bright red eyes in surprise. "That's the third time this month?!"
Her smirk turned into a sheepish sort of smile.
"Sorry, I just can't help myself."
Simply shaking his head, Shota took his seat as he pushed the Nyan Nyan Cat plushie to the back of his chair.
"Just tell Nedzu to order another one," he said in a dry, bored tone, waiting for his computer to boot up. "It's not like we're pressed for money."
If anything, the Principal would probably commission an indestructible one by the support track students to withstand Jinx's Bad Luck quirk. The mouse/bear chimera was always up for a delightful challenge.
"Hey, hey! Listen to this, Ai-za-wa-kun~!" sang an irritating nasally voice coming from the desk diagonally opposite from Shota's, causing the man to sigh in frustration as he turned sideways to face the unknown speaker.
Asher: The Fae King Hero (current hero rank: 57) was one of the most annoying people Shota had ever had the misfortune of meeting and ranked high on the 'Shit list'. Blonde, handsome, and extremely cocky; he knew that his good looks would earn him a lot of fame and accolades which made him a poor match against someone like Shota who liked to remain relatively unknown by the public.
It didn't stop the man from pestering him around like a love-sick teen girl.
"What."
Asher's shit eating grin had turned several degrees brighter knowing that he had once again gained Shota's undivided attention, and Shota was just glad he didn't have to see the man's icy blue eyes beneath his purple sleeping mask that he always wore with his outfit.
"We might be having a special teacher joining our faculty soon~."
That caused Shota to raise a brow.
Nedzu hadn't said anything about hiring someone new this late in the year. Especially given that most of the hero course positions have been filled by now, save for a few internships and Teacher Assistants spots that were typically reserved for alumni or third-year students with stellar grades.
And what on earth could Asher mean by a special teacher?
Logically that would mean somebody from the top 50 rank, maybe even 30. Which wasn't all too uncommon sight as several high-ranking Pro-Heroes such as Endeavor, All Might, and even Best Jeanist had all graduated from Yueei High. Often, especially during the Spring semester, Nedzu would invite some of them to discuss their experiences as heroes to starry eyed students eager to learn more about the world of heroics.
The irrational side of him, however small it was, thought otherwise.
"Really?" Hizashi had joined in the conversation, taking his seat beside Shota and propping his feet up against the table much to Cementoss's obvious disapproval from across the room. "Must be some big uppity fellow from the HPSC."
That was another possibility. Even if Shota personally knew for a fact Nedzu would rather chew off his own tail than ask for anything of the sort from the Safety Commission.
"Nah~." Asher still kept his gaze straight onto Shota, which gave him the creeps. "It's a hero. That I know. A high ranking one. Think of the top ten~."
Shota's other eyebrow joined the first one up on his forehead.
"Really?" Hizashi questioned, not quite buying it.
Shota didn't blame him.
The top ten pro-heroes were notoriously busy with everything ranging from mission requests to interviews. None of them Shota could imagine having the time or energy to take on a full-time teaching position.
Asher doesn't respond to Hizashi's comment, instead leaning slightly forward, his chin resting neatly on top of his hand with kawaii sparkles appearing out of nowhere in the background.
"Say, Aizawa-kun~," he cooed, and Shota knew better than to show any visible reaction to the sickly endearing usage of his name. "Are you busy this Friday? I saw there's a new cat cafe that recently opened in Shibuya. I know how much you like those cute little kitty cats~."
As if to further prove his point, Asher, somehow despite wearing a sleeping mask, was able to locate the Nyan Nyan Cat plushie that Shota had been using as a cushion for his back. Shota fully believed it was just a ploy to check out his ass.
"Not interested."
Asher frowned.
Pleased to have that terrible conversation out of the way, Shota concentrated on prepping for his next batch of younglings that he would have the pleasure of terrorizing come Spring of next year. The entrance examination was fast approaching, often taking place in the colder days of Fall. He was still assigned to be the homeroom teacher of class 1-a despite several requests (which have all been swiftly denied by Principal Nedzu) to finally be one for an upper year class.
When Shota had first originally started out his teaching career, he had no prior experience of working with a crowd younger than 25 and it showed spectacularly during his first year as a homeroom teacher for an unsuspecting group of students. He had earned the lovely moniker: "That Hobo Guy", from disgruntled students who had the displeasure of interacting with him.
Shota, himself, had thought the very same thing as well.
Teaching was not the first thing that popped into his head when it came to career choices, but a series of unfortunate events had led him onto this path which seemed to have no end in sight. At the very least he could enjoy the ride and tutor (or torture in some cases) a new generation of heroes for the unforeseeable future.
With that thought in mind, Shota prepared himself for a long day and a sleepless night of preparation.
Unfortunately, Aster was right.
There was a new teacher who would be joining their hero track faculty. And it was someone Shota had not expected. Nor was he equally pleased to see.
It had all started inconsequential enough. An email had appeared in his inbox one early Saturday morning, prompting him and all other staff members to report to conference room number 8 by ten o'clock at the very latest.
Shota had thought little of it as he got ready for the morning.
He showered, got dressed and fed his cat, Sushi, his black and white tabby cat, her favorite breakfast meal, while Shota ate a bland meal of lightly buttered toast and some black coffee. He could never be like Hizashi, who insisted on drowning his own cup of coffee with sugar and cream.
Once ready, he headed out of the dormitory assigned specifically for staff members of Yueei High School. Campus life had been something long since implanted since the foundation of Yueei High, the founder at the time had wanted to create a school that would accept students from all over the world, and that had meant dormitories were a must have commodity.
Unsurprisingly, nearly all of the student population reside within the steely gigantic fortress that was recently ranked number five in the "World's Most Secure Location" by TIMES magazine. And Shota couldn't blame them for wanting to stay here.
The campus of Yueei High expanded for several hundreds of acres, brimming with everything from nature parks for students to leisurely walk in after their classes to a small but highly sophisticated series of shops all run by second and third-year students from the Department of Management and General Education. The sheer magnitude of it all tended to be more than a little overwhelming for incoming students and it wasn't often that Shota, or one of the other hero staff like Hound Dog would be called upon by Principal Nedzu to search for a missing student who had gotten lost somewhere within the massive campus.
Thankfully most of the important school facilities are not too far from one another, but it still took some time for most to get used to it at first.
Using his capture scarf hung loosely around his neck, Shota grabbed a low hanging tree branch and propelled himself off from the ground. Quirk usage was normally frowned upon outside of emergencies, but Yueei High has always been known for their unorthodox way of thinking and Shota was technically not breaking any rules by using his own quirk in the slightest bit.
Plus, it was so much better than taking public transportation.
Mindlessly swinging from one branch to the next, Shota let the sounds of nature eased his anxious mind on the upcoming meeting with Principal Nedzu and the hero staff. Whatever it was, it must have been important enough for Nedzu to call in everyone on a nice Saturday morning and there could only be one reason as to why that was.
Shota grunted as he swatted a mosquito away from his face.
He hated surprises.
Always had. Always will. He liked going into things with a rational mind, calmly assessing his options before choosing the one that would guarantee him a 99% success rate with a small margin of error. He took that seriously, even outside of work, which would explain why he was still chronically single when his colleagues were all in steady long-term relationships.
Oh well. At least Sushi could keep him company for a while.
"Oh, excuse me!" a raspy voice bellowed from somewhere below the canopy of foliage.
Pausing at a particularly gnarly branch, Shota glanced down to find a very tall man with blonde hair waving up at him. He was dressed nicely in a yellow pinup suit that he wore loosely around his gaunt figure. This weas definitely not a student.
"Oh, thank goodness!" the man said once he noticed he had gotten Shota's attention. "I was wondering if I would eventually find someone here. Would you mind helping me? I think I am a bit lost in finding my way out of this damn forest." He added the last part with a sheepish grin that stretched easily and wide across the stranger's face.
The sunlight highlighted the man's dimples causing Shota to look away briefly.
In his head, Shota cursed his misfortunate.
He was not late for the meeting in the slightest bit, but he did like to make a point and show up early to seize the first cup of brewed coffee.
And it looked like Cementoss might beat him to the punch for once in his life.
"Sure."
Shota swopped down in an instant and the man looked a bit taken aback at the blunt response but seemed to have recovered quickly from it.
"Thank you so much!"
The man bowed respectfully toward him as he spoke, which looked a little odd given the significant height difference between the two of them. Shota had to crane his neck all the way up just to meet him at eye level, which was annoying as hell to do.
"Sure."
Swiftly, Shota pivoted on his heels and headed towards the direction of the building, not taking a second to glance back to even make sure the stranger was following along. He heard the man sputter briefly from behind him before heavy footsteps stumbled into a pace that easily matched Shota's fast steps thanks to his long lanky legs. Another thing to be annoyed about.
For a good duration of the walk, it was silent between them. After the initial small talk had failed spectacularly, the stranger had come to some sort of conclusion that Shota was definitely not a morning person and gratefully seemed content to allow nature to fill the void.
"Where exactly are you going to?" Shota suddenly asked.
The stranger glanced over at him, seemingly as shocked as Shota was that he was the one starting a conversation this time around.
Shota felt the need to justify his reasoning.
"I need to know, so I can take you there directly. Otherwise, you will just probably gonna get lost again."
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Shota could hear Hizashi screaming at him for being rude to a potential romantic interest. Not like Shota would have a chance. However friendly the man was, there was no way his type would be anything like him.
At least the strange man had the grace to not laugh, instead coughing slightly into a pale lavender handkerchief that he had kept tucked away in his pocket. Faint red droplets littered the edges of the cloth, and alarm bells rang off inside Shota's head.
"The infirmary, if you don't mind," further solidifying Shota's theory that the man needed medical help. It was all too common for many to seek out Recovery Girl for medical treatment or surgery, since she was one of the few people in the entire world to have a Healing Quirk that works extremely well on patients.
Shota grunted and said nothing else.
Eventually, the forest soon gave way to brick houses and infrastructure, and like a beacon of light, the twin towers of Yueei High gleamed valiantly beneath the morning sunlight. Despite having seen this building more than a hundred times, it still never failed to catch his breath every time he stood before its sparkling glory.
Beside him, the man let out a content sigh.
"Still amazes me each time I see it…"
Shota turned sharply to him.
"You were a student?"
The man chuckled a light tune.
"A very long time ago. Much before your time."
There was a long pregnant pause before the man seemed to have realized the insensitivity of his comment before sputtering out, "Not that I think you look old or anything! Such a handsome man like yourself probably don't have to worry about anyone questioning your age. Not unlike little old me."
Shota should be mad.
First off, the man assumed he was old, which given his hobo like outfit wasn't really too far out of the realm, but still. And second, the man then tried to compliment him by calling him handsome.
Something that had Shota's heart racing slightly above normal.
How annoying.
Turning away, Shota nestled his face deeply into his Capture Scarf to hide his grimace. And the faint red flush he was sure had appeared around his cheeks.
"Sure. Whatever."
He kept on walking, and as expected, the strange blonde man followed him without another word.
The Infirmary encompassed the entirety of the 8thfloor of the twin towers of Yueei High, equipped with enough beds to house a small neighborhood. A necessary precaution given that having adolescents with absurdly powerful quirks who are also not equipped with handling their emotions was a sure recipe for disaster. The majority of the patients tended to be those from the Hero course, but it was not unheard of for an Education course or a Support Course student to wander around the halls.
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to reveal soft music and pastels walls. The Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl (hero rank: currently unknown, giving that she had retired decades ago before Aizawa was even born) was a firm believer that hospitals visits should be as painless and as seamless as possible to ensure the least amount of trauma was inflicted on her patients. Something Shoto readily agreed with given that he has been to the hospital more times than he would like to admit to the point that he was already on first name terms with some of the nurses here.
Speaking of which, one of them, Nurse Tokoyami—a petite lady with a blond bird head—appeared out from one of the open rooms, rolling a cart of medicinal supplies in front of her.
"Oh!" A warm smile grew across her beak. "Good morning, Aizawa-san. Here for your weekly cheek-up or are you just stopping by to drop off a student for us to deal with?"
Shota gestured with his thumb at the person beside him.
"Neither."
Nurse Tokoyami glanced over in confusion, and her eyes grew wide with surprise.
"Yagi-san!" She quickly approached the tall blond man and jabbed him right into his chest. "Where were you? Recovery Girl had asked you to come over into her office over an hour ago!"
Surprisingly, the man looked frightened, which Shota didn't blame him for being. Nurse Tokoyami may be little, but she could use her quick (Phoenix Tears) with surprising brutality.
"Y-yes about that!" The man, now known as Mr. Yagi, waved his lanky arms wildly about in front of him. "You see…I had wanted to give myself some time exploring the campus since it's been years since I've been here." Here, he gave the nurse a sheepish smile which did little to quell her anger. "One thing led to another and suddenly I got lost in the forest. But thankfully…"
Mr. Yagi turned his gaze right onto Shota, sending a shiver down his spine.
Those sky-blue eyes were sort of nice to look at.
"Eraser Head, here, was able to rescue me from my predicament. Guess that's why he's a hero."
Shota looked away sharply.
Damn it.
Nurse Tokoyami said nothing as she silently gave Mr. Yagi the stank eye before finally deflating with a soft sigh.
"Recovery Girl did say you were always a bit of a scatterbrain…"
Mr. Yagi spluttered in indignation while Shota coughed into his fist to hide the small chuckle that had managed to escape from his lips. Judging by the shot of annoyance he received from the other man; it seemed Shota had failed spectacularly.
Nurse Tokoyami then tsked, grabbing onto the long sleeves of Mr. Yagi's yellow pinup suit.
"Well, we have to hurry then." She began to drag the tall man with shocking ease. "Recovery Girl is on an important Zoom call right now, but I get started with taking your vitals in the meantime."
Mr. Yagi seemed like he wanted to protest, giving Shota a pleading stare as he was unwillingly dragged down a corridor. Shota could only shrug helplessly.
There was no way he was going to come between a determined nurse and her patient.
The two disappear into a room and Shota took that as his cue to leave despite a small part of him wanting to stay behind just to observe in the background. He wasn't sure why exactly this part of him wanted to know if Mr. Yagi was alright (that blood-stained handkerchief came to mind) but Shota knew that it was something he shouldn't reflect too deeply into it.
He knew that would only lead to more pain.
"Ah! Eraser Head!" Nedzu's cheery voice was the first thing to greet Shota as he entered the conference room. "Good to see you arriving on time."
The principal, a small white mouse/bear in a fine expensive suit, waved his paw from his place at the head of the round table. Around him were many of Shota's colleagues from the Hero Department, which included a rather uncharacteristically smug Cementoss who simply raised his steaming mug of coffee at him.
Shota let out a tiny grunt, making a beeline for the coffee machine and snack trays.
He had been with the Principal long enough to know that the chimera was pointing out how odd it was for Shota to arrive on time instead of his usual early arrival of an hour or two before the meeting had started.
Once his mug was filled with the delicious dark roasted goodness that was coffee did Shota finally addressed the purple elephant in the room.
"I got caught up with something."
Principal Nedzu stirred at his tea, taking a delicate sip from it once he was done.
"Oh, I am quite aware of that."
It was a running joke within the Yueei High that Nedzu has eyes and ears on pretty much every corner of the campus, and that nothing, and Shota meant absolutely nothing, ever got bypassed him without his knowledge. It was best not to question it.
"Well, anyway," Nedzu beckoned Shota to join them at the roundtable, "Our main guest of honor is still quite busy, so we have some time before they arrive it seems."
Midnight, who had been texting intently on her phone, raised her head from the screen with a curious look on her face.
"About that," she said, "who exactly are we here for. It must be a big deal if you wanted all of us to be here today." She then pouted. "I had to reschedule a potential Tinder date for the afternoon and another for tomorrow."
A murmur of agreement rippled across the table.
"Yes, yes. My apologies." Nedzu said, clasping his two white paws together. "It took quite a bit of legal work to get this person on board on our team here."
Vlad King, a large muscular man with short grayish white hair and two prominent lower canines, huffed loudly in his seat.
"So, it is a top ten hero then," he grumbled.
Beside him, Asher grinned.
"Wouldn't this be a safety risk?" Snipe, ever the reasonable spokesman of common sense, chimed in. "Having someone at that level would attract all sorts of buzzards and mangy coyotes."
Those were Snipe's preferred euphemism for paparazzi given that he was a Cowboy fanatic.
"That had been most certainly considered, Snipe," was Nedzu's response. "But I can rest assure you and your concerns that such a thing would not occur within our esteemed campus." A slight squeaky sort of chuckle emitted out from the Principal. "In fact, one might say that the opposite effect might occur."
That peaked Shota's interest as he took a seat beside Hizashi much to Asher's clear disproval.
"Oh?"
Ectoplasm, who had been quietly watching till this point, had finally decided to join in the conversation.
"Is there something that we should be aware of about our new staff member?"
Another squeaky chuckle came out from Nedzu's snout.
"Perhaps. But that would be something to discuss for another time. For now, just know that our guest of honor is here not only for academic reasons but alsofor personal reasons."
Excited murmurs echoed inside the room.
Something beeped, and Nedzu looked down at the watch on his right wrist.
"Speaking of which, it seems our guest is on the elevator as we speak."
More murmurs rippled across the roundtable.
Nedzu cleared his throat, and the murmurs quieted down in an instant.
The principal's demeanor had shifted to one of seriousness.
"Before they arrive, let me lay down some ground rules. First, I would expect you all to continue to be professional within the walls of this campus. What you do outside of it is none of my business but do be aware that as a faculty member of Yueei High you are representing our fine institute to the world. Anything that looks bad on you will look doubly bad for us as well since I was the one that had hired you all in the first place."
Several of the teacher assistants gulped, especially Jinx, who stood up rigid straight in her chair.
Meanwhile, Shota took another sip of his coffee, knowing fully well that Nedzu was just bullshitting. The chimera might have a personal vendetta against the scientists that had experimented on him before he became the beloved principal of Yueei High, but he had a soft spot for all of his staff members and was more than willing to go above and beyond for them even at the cost of his own reputation.
"Second, please do not bother our new teacher unless it's for work related reasons as they are on a very tight schedule balancing academics and heroic duties. Unless I say it's mandatory, do not expect our new teacher to attend every staff meeting. Though, I might be sorely tempted to make them join our yearly dinner gala if needed be."
There was a sharp knock on the door.
"And last, but not least, do give a warm and friendly welcome to our newest staff member!"
The door burst open, and loud booming laughter made its way into Shota's eardrums, instantly spoiling his mood.
It can't be…
"No freaking way!" Bumblebee stood up from her seat in excitement. "Are you for real!?"
"Have no fear!"
A man in an obnoxiously bright blue and red spandex waltzed into the conference room, eliciting sharp gasps and animated squeals.
"For I—"
The man, All Might, ended up locking eyes right onto Shota's, and Shota swore he saw a shimmer of surprise appear across the hero's face.
"Am here!"
Shota cursed internally.
It seems he will not be having a peaceful semester anytime this year.
Sasaki Mirai
I have found a potential student that I want you to meet
Let me know of your earliest availability, Toshi
We haven't spoken in a while
At the very least let me treat you to a cup of coffee
Yagi Toshinori stared at his phone for a long minute before stuffing it back into the pockets of his pinup suit.
It had been a very eventful day so far for him.
He wasn't always the best at time management (something Gran Torino tried to beat into his thick skull) but even Toshinori himself knew he was playing it too close for comfort. He had started his day at his usual wake up at 6 in the morning, eating a meager breakfast of unflavored yogurt and green tea before setting out for his visit to the Yueei Highschool.
Toshinori had been eagerly awaiting for this day, even purposely having his entire weekly schedule cleared of all other meetings and interviews. He even did his best to taper down his tendency to help civilians in need, reminding himself that other Pro Heroes were more than capable of completing the job, though he couldn't resist helping out a little girl rescue her cat off from a lamp post.
Today looked like it was going to be great.
The sun was out in full force, and the sounds of nature and people filled the air as he walked from his apartment in downtown Tokyo to the metro station. From there, it was a 45-minute wait as he took a direct line to Musutafu surrounded by chatty adolescents and sleepy salarymen.
It was a place he hadn't personally visited in his civilian form, and he took his time soaking in all the new sights and sounds. Due to its proximity to one of the top high schools for potential Pro Heroes, Musutafu had transformed itself from a humble trading town to a thriving metropolis. New establishments were always in the works, and Toshinori found himself mentally jotting down anything that caught his attention.
Looks like they're opening a cat café sometime next month.
The walk up the famously large hill to the school campus was a bit of a trek, and if Toshinori was any other person, he might have been tempted to use the specialized buses designated specifically for Yueei students and visitors but had thought better of it.
He would much rather enjoy having the sun on his face than be cooped up on public transportation.
Once he had arrived on the school ground, a security guard took down his information and issued him a temporary visitor's id, and he was free to explore the campus so long as he was within the parameters of the ever-watchful eyes of the security Bots. Toshinori took that opportunity to explore one of the forestry areas near the twin towers, wanting to get some restful moments beneath the sunlight.
Unfortunately, he had found himself lost when it came time to head to the infirmary to see Recovery Girl for a quick check up, and Toshinori would have probably been forced to transform into his All Might form if not for the unexpected arrival of one Eraser Head.
The literal definition of Tall, Dark and Handsome, Toshinori had never had the pleasure of meeting someone who fully embodied the Underground Hero status so proudly. As All Might, the limelight was all he had even known, having to smile against fussy reporters who would out toss insensitive comments at him in an effort to get him to fumble on live television, and Toshinori could fill an entire library with the amount of trashy cheap magazine dedicated to discussing about his love life.
Or well lack of.
Eraser Head was none of those things. He moved within the shadows and remained there even after the dust had settled and the villains were neatly packed into transport vans to police stations, staying to help comfort a traumatized civilian or helping detectives gather all the necessary evidence to put the convicts to jail. Toshinori would be a fool to say he wasn't a big fan of the Erasure Hero.
Even speaking to him up close and personal had sent Toshinori into a panic, stuttering on his words and coughing up more blood than usual.
Thankfully, the man either seemed to not care nor noticed his extreme nervousness.
When they had finally reached the infirmary, Toshinori had been ready to ask the man for his contact information in hopes of treating Eraser Head out for coffee as thanks for helping him out of the forest, but luck was not on his side for once in his life and Nurse Tokoyami had dragged him away before he could even get to say goodbye to the man.
Now Toshinori was having second thoughts on becoming part of the Yueei High's faculty if it meant having to face Eraser Head on a daily basis. He had no clue what the other man thought of his All Might form, but judging by the sour expression that the Erasure Hero was sporting during the entire duration of the meeting with Principal Nedzu, Toshinori could only assume it was anything but positive.
Now, he had to learn how handle his emotions around Eraser Head while dealing with the joys of teaching snot nosed bratty teenagers.
Toshinori let out a deep sigh, loosening the tie around his neck a little bit.
He liked kids of course. The look of pure joy that would often appear on a child's face whenever he arrived to save the day had always been considered a highlight for him. But teaching was a whole other matter. He was not very strong, academically wise, and even Gran Torino had laughed right in his face when Toshinori had told him a week ago about his teaching offer from Nedzu.
"You? As a teacher?" The old man had chortled through a mouthful of half-congealed Taiyaki. "I'm gonna have to pray for those students."
Rude. But his mentor was not wrong.
Toshinori could admit to being many things, a hero, an idol, a symbol of peace, but being a teacher was definitely not one of them.
The evening sky was dark and brightly lit with tiny stars. Principal Nedzu made him stay back after the meeting was over to go through the school's yearly curriculum with him and discuss what were the expectations for him as a teacher here at Yueei High. He wasn't exactly on board as full-time given his chaotic schedule as All Might, but he also couldn't skip his lectures all willy nilly for some banal reason.
It was important that he maintained a decent relationship with his colleagues in case he needed help with creating suitable homework or activities for his students. At least most of the staff were friendly; Present Mic was a riot to be around with, and several of the older Heroes like Cementoss and Ectoplasm he was at least familiar with given the work they had done together for HPSC assigned missions.
The teaching assistants were all from a much younger generation than the others and Toshinori would admit he was a little overwhelmed with the latest Gen Z slang and phrases that came from their mouths.
Still, for the first time in quite some time, Toshinori felt a silver of excitement building inside his chest. He knew the main reason he was even here was to find a potential successor to pass on the One for All quirk too, but it was also nice to have some sort of structure in life after a lifetime of chaos.
Plus, it would at least get him out of his apartment.
During his musing, Toshinori hadn't realized that his feet had taken him to a place he had least expected to arrive at—the Takoba Municipal Beach Park.
Last time he was here, the place was a dumping site for unwanted trash and debris. It was also a haven for drug addicts and shady deals. He remembered the last victim that had been found amongst the piles of garbage. A young high school girl with an aspiration to become a hero only to have her life cut shortly from a jealous boyfriend.
The fact that the boyfriend was quirkless was a hot topic on the news, and Toshinori had felt sick in his stomach at the idea that this would only bring even more discrimination onto a community that was already suffering with disdain from the majority of the world.
As All Might, he had been forced to make a generic statement about the case. Citing that hate has no place in this world, and that anybody has the potential to change the world no matter what their background is.
It had felt gross to say it at the time, especially with how much the media had misconstrued his words into something indecipherable to suit their quirkiest agenda, but he wished he could do more for the Quirkless community.
Now, compared to before, the beach park looked to be in much better shape, with a good portion of the debris cleared out to reveal the white sands beneath. Even the gazebo at the end of the pier had been repaired, and Toshinori found himself gravitating towards, picking up pieces of white sands with his dress shoes.
It was peaceful here.
The dark waves lapped at the columns of the pier, and Toshinori could hear the faint squawks of seagulls in the distance.
He had no clue there was any sort of community project dedicating to renovating this place, he would have gladly joined in his civilian form. Maybe he could find a way to still join given that the beach park was not entirely cleaned out just yet.
Till then, Toshinori might find himself visiting this place in the near future whenever he needed some time to himself.
He looked up at the starry sky.
I hope I find someone.
Having One for All was a blessing. But it was also a curse.
And Toshinori was not sure he would want to inflict the same sort of trauma onto someone else. Especially someone who has yet to explore the world like he did.
Oh well.
Toshinori sighed to himself.
Something to consider once he crossed that bridge.
Till then, he was more than happy to continue being a pillar for World Peace.
Just for a little longer...