Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Tanya POV.
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! I just yelled at my superior! Not only did I yell at him, I practically insulted him to his face! In front of dozens of people! This is bad, this is very bad! Sir Nighteye wasn't just any hero. For starters, he was a man, and to belittle one was enough to raise eyebrows and raise suspicions. But most importantly, Sir Nighteye had been All Might's partner.
Sir Nighteye's reputation and influence were undeniable; going against him, insulting him, and challenging him in public was a very bad idea! In the worst-case scenario, I'd end up expelled from UA or never get a decent job as a hero in my life; in the best, I'd never be able to get near the hero scene in all of Osaka.
And that was just Sir Nighteye. Yes, Aizawa-sensei praised me, but there were a dozen heroines present, each with their own influence and power. This was a terrible situation!
But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that I had let my emotions dictate my actions, I had let my justified hatred for Being X spiral out of control. When a person allows their basest emotions to override the logic of a utilitarian mindset, that's when bad things happen.
Did it bother me that Sir Nighteye refused to use his quirk to help with the case? Definitely. But it wasn't my responsibility, and I wasn't in a position to complain or contradict my superior, especially since I was just a student, an intern for another heroine.
I was so far down the chain of command that I wasn't even in it. Even if I hated the sight of Sir Nighteye, even if the mere thought that we were acting on the orders of a higher being like that bastard from Being X disgusted me to the core, I should have kept my cool.
"Tanya." I shuddered slightly before turning to look at Lady Nagant, who was gesturing for me to follow her. Then she stood up and began to walk away. I felt a pang of worry, gritted my teeth, and stood up, ignoring everyone's stares.
I followed Lady Nagant to the corner of the room. She pointed to it, and I moved to the spot and turned to face her. I straightened up to my full height and stared at her. Lady Nagant shifted so that her body shielded the other heroes, or rather, shielded my face, while she scolded me with her back to them.
"Are you alright?" Lady Nagant asked, looking at me, almost whispering, just loud enough for me to hear and not the other heroes nearby. I shuddered slightly but kept my face impassive. I was sure I'd kept it that way the whole time, so I wasn't sure what Lady Nagant was seeing in me.
"I'm fine, Lady Nagant, thank you for your concern." I said slowly in a low voice. Lady Nagant just stared at me, her eyes piercing, like a hunter looking at its prey, as if she were looking deep inside my being.
"You know... I'm considered one of the best trackers in the country, not many know why. The heroes at the top of the rankings know, they're aware, especially HPSC since they give me orders. My job is to hunt down hunters who misuse their status." Lady Nagant said with a coldness that made me shudder.
My eyes opened slightly. Hunt… hunters?
"There are no requirements to become a hunter; anyone with a decent quirk or an awakened aura can do so simply by registering, and for that reason alone, they receive a higher status than they deserve."
"That means that not everyone who joins is... honest, using their power to help others; some use that power selfishly, maliciously against other hunters or civilians."
"My job is to find them, identify them, investigate whether the accusations are true, and finally hunt them down," Lady Nagant said, her words as cold as ever. I shuddered slightly.
"That..." I tried to find the words. "I don't understand why you're telling me this, Lady Nagant. It seems like some kind of... secret." I said, suppressing a grimace. Lady Nagant looked at me curiously.
"Secret? Not really, I'm just not publicizing it, but it's not a big secret, why would you think that? " Lady Nagant asked curiously. I looked at her cautiously.
"I mean... the murders of the hunters are definitely something that would be kept secret," I said slowly. Lady Nagant's eyes widened. She began to laugh. I looked at her, confused.
"By the goddess, Tanya, murder? I capture and imprison villains and people who misuse their privileges as hunters; everyone is subjected to due legal process." Lady Nagant said amusedly, and I blushed slightly.
"You said you hunt hunters, murder seemed implied!" I defended myself slightly, Lady Nagant chuckled while shaking her head.
"No, I'm sorry to tell you that I'm just a law-abiding heroine," Lady Nagant said cheerfully. I pouted.
"Even so, getting back to your question, why are you telling me all this, Lady Nagant?" I asked once more, changing the subject. Lady Nagant raised an eyebrow.
"You're not stupid, Tanya, quite the opposite, in fact. Sooner or later you would have figured it out, either you would have, or someone like Ryuma's grandson would have," Lady Nagant said, shrugging. "I'm an excellent huntress, in fact, I take a bit of pride in it, you know?"
"And do you know why I'm so good? Because I'm a specialist in Observation Haki," Lady Nagant said with a small smile. I felt a shiver run down my spine. "I have a high degree of detection; I'm able to follow a person across a city for dozens of kilometers, and especially, I'm able to sense their emotions," Lady Nagant said playfully. I clenched my teeth tightly. "So I'll ask one more question: are you alright? If you don't want to talk, then that's fine, but I'm here for whatever you need," Lady Nagant said gently.
Haki! Haki again! This walking invasion of privacy was really starting to bother me! I took a deep breath, letting a large amount of air into my lungs as I was already used to thanks to Total Concentration Breathing.
I was about to refuse immediately; showing weakness in front of a superior was not something one should do, before Izumi's voice crept into my head.
"Assumption is the mother of all errors. Not everyone thinks the same way you do. Some people are simply much more sentimental and act irrationally. You might reach bad conclusions simply by thinking your way. That's not wrong; you have the right to your way of thinking. But not everyone thinks that way, especially normal people, including heroes."
"So just... talk, even if you're sure of the other party's intentions, talk, no one will laugh at you, and it will help you know what they really want from you. And if they do laugh, well, you can just destroy them using your sharp tongue or putting a bullet in their forehead, both work."
That was one of the many conversations I had with Izumi, and… he was right about a lot of things. Especially about my parents. Hearing their actual words that they hadn't really adopted me for my potential as a hunter or hero was a hard blow to my ego and my intelligence, but it was also… a kind of warm balm.
I knew they liked me, that they loved me, but I thought that love was linked to my usefulness, that they simply loved me for being... me. Everything changes completely now, in a really nice way.
And that wasn't the only example; my relationship with my classmates and teachers was also different once I stopped overthinking resources and usefulness, even though it was difficult since that thinking was almost instinctive for me. I needed a lot of help from Visha and Izumi. I took a deep breath.
"I... I'm afraid I've damaged my career prospects by speaking out of turn and against Sir Nighteye." I confessed, closing my eyes. Lady Nagant looked at me before bursting into laughter. I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. Damn you, Izumi.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you," Lady Nagant said, laughing. I glared at her. She was definitely laughing at me. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," she repeated playfully. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm sorry, it's just that this is the first time you've really been open with me, and it turns out that the panic I sensed in your aura was your worry about Career Prospects,'" Lady Nagant said with a small laugh. I blushed even more.
"It's important to me!" I couldn't help but defend myself, embarrassed. Lady Nagant just laughed more while shaking her head.
"You're truly something else," Lady Nagant said with a warm smile. "First, regarding your speech, I agree with you," Lady Nagant said with a smile, my eyes widening. "But I also understand Sir Nighteye's point of view," Lady Nagant said with a tired sigh.
"Your... point of view?" I asked cautiously. Lady Nagant hummed.
"I won't go into detail, but every time he talks about his Quirk, there's... a lot of pain, an unfathomable pain inside him," Lady Nagant said, looking intently at me. "And it could be for many reasons, but only a few come close to that level of pain. As you know, children don't control their Quirks well, or they simply use them out of curiosity. Tell me, what do you think would happen if he used it on his family and saw something terribly wrong, and he wasn't able to stop it? And not just once, but several times until he became convinced that the future is 'immutable'?" Lady Nagant asked gently.
I froze in place, my eyes widening in horror as the image began to form rapidly in my head.
"I-"
"There's no need to apologize," Lady Nagant interrupted gently. "You didn't know, and Nighteye knows, he doesn't blame you, he doesn't hold a grudge, he's not angry with you." Lady Nagant assured me, and I bit my lip.
"Even so..." I tried to say awkwardly, Lady Nagant just smiled slightly.
"Seriously, you don't have to worry. Sir Nighteye is more upset about the situation, about his own 'uselessness' and his own shortcomings, which prevent him from helping Eri and solving the case. You really have nothing to worry about."
"A dose of reality or another point of view might help," Lady Nagant said gently. I just sighed as I nodded.
"I... thank you for telling me." I said honestly, and Lady Nagant nodded.
"Now let's go back, your... boyfriend should be here any minute." Lady Nagant said simply, and I nodded. We both started walking back to the meeting table. I could see several heroines glancing at me, but I ignored it and sat down next to Visha, who looked at me with a genuinely worried expression.
I just looked at her, smiled reassuringly, and shook my head. Visha just sighed. I could feel her hand move under the table and grasp mine. I took hold of it and intertwined my fingers with hers. Her touch calmed me more than I expected.
Most of us remained silent, but I could see several of the heroes or students talking quietly to each other, until various noises began to be heard. Aizawa sighed and stood up, moving with long strides before approaching the door and opening it fully.
At that same moment, two spots moved quickly, crossed the threshold of the room, and stopped before hitting the wall.
"Ha! I won! " said the heroine who should be Mirko, she had a shit-eating grin on her face as she pointed at Izumi.
"You won?! You changed the rules at the last minute! I got into Sir Nighteye's agency first!" Izumi complained indignantly. Mirko just lifted her chin.
"I'm the heroine in charge, I have every right to change orders." Mirko mocked, Izumi just rolled his eyes.
"Your exact words were 'Whoever arrives first at Sir Nighteye's agency wins,' and I definitely arrived first. Changing the rules later and saying 'Whoever arrives first at the meeting room' isn't valid." Izumi glared at Mirko.
"It is, and I win." Mirko said with the same wide smile.
"Oh yeah? That doesn't make up for the fact that you took down fewer villains than me today." Izumi mocked petulantly. I could see Mirko practically bristling.
"I was just being generous by letting you practice with some minor villains. I'll let you know that my villains were stronger and more dangerous." Mirko grumbled, and now it was Izumi's turn to laugh mockingly.
"Did I hear you had trouble with a villain?" Izumi asked mockingly, Mirko looked at him indignantly.
"Did you call me weak?" Mirko asked with a dangerous hiss.
"If the rabbit's foot fits you." Izumi mocked. Mirko was practically about to lunge at him.
"Enough," Aizawa growled, activating his quirk beside him. Even so, Izumi and Mirko continued to stare at each other before clicking their tongues. I wanted to... I sighed heavily. Seriously, Izumi? Was that the kind of relationship you had with your superior? I shouldn't even be surprised anymore.
"A tie?" Izumi grumbled, Mirko snorted and crossed her arms.
"A tie." Mirko grumbled reluctantly. Then they finally turned to look at us. A smile grew on both their faces.
"So?! Where's the case?! Which villain do we have to hit?! " Mirko asked cheerfully.
"None." Sir Nighteye sighed. "This is just an intelligence meeting." Sir Nighteye said. Mirko looked around and clicked her tongue.
"Boring." Mirko grumbled, walked to the table, grabbed one of the empty chairs, and slumped down. "Izumi, take care of it." Mirko said, waving her hand dismissively. Izumi snorted.
"To begin with, that's why I'm here, that's what I was called in for," Izumi said dryly.
"Yes, and that's why I'm saying you should take care of it." Mirko said as if it were obvious. Izumi snorted, but started walking forward. At that moment, Mai, who had still been in her weapon form inside a sheath, transformed back and appeared behind Izumi.
The sight of both of them seemed almost regal. Izumi's walk was always striking; he moved with such fluidity and elegance that it was almost mesmerizing to watch. His kimono and slightly long hair made him look even more attractive.
Behind him, Mai was helping with the image, following Izumi two steps behind, she had a white Kosode and a red hakama, the clothing of a Miko from the old world, or well, from this one too, the title was maintained and they were also common in this world, it suited them well, both of them.
I had to give Rembran credit; the image she wanted to project was easy to see. Izumi's much more elaborate traditional kimono drew far more attention than Mai's simple miko attire, allowing people to focus on and notice Izumi.
Mai, thanks to her simple attire, especially a Miko outfit, was unconsciously relegated to the role of a 'follower' or 'companion,' which didn't bother her at all; in fact, she preferred not to draw more attention than necessary, so it was a good combination. Izumi's regal walk, with Mai following behind, was so captivating that you couldn't look away.
"Yahallo ~" Izumi said with a smile, looking at us. And I sighed. Or well, until Izumi opened his mouth.
What on earth does ' Yahallo ' mean?