apathy

he is here! getting a chapter like a normal person!

Toshinori steps into one of the Staff Only staircases and deflates with a matching exhale of breath. The last few parts of the events have been just as exciting as the obstacle course, and his students have been doing very well so far. Young Todoroki and Bakugo had led their teams to victory in the cavalry battles, as expected of those two powerhouses. The young purple-haired general education boy—Shinsou, was it?—from the top five of the race had gotten into the third round as well, and when two of his teammates opted out of the one on one battles, his friends had gotten in too.

Those two... They had definitely been a pair to watch out for during the cavalry battle. Thinking of the way that they had bounced around with the support girl, Hatsume, on top of Midoriya's shoulders, snatching any headband they thought they could get away with made Toshinori chuckle. Toshinori had thought it a shame that they were paired against each other in the preliminary rounds of the 1v1s. At least until he saw that Hatsume was using it as a platform for advertisement, and Midoriya seemingly had no issues with being a test dummy instead of fighting...

Toshinori shakes himself out of his thoughts and pushes open the door to exit the stairs, coming out to the back of a large space full of chattering, eating students. Everyone is taking a lunch break while Cementoss fixes the arena, so it is quite crowded. It's a mixed bag; Toshinori can walk through without much questioning, but he does get his fair share of looks and whispers while he does it.

But, this also gives him a chance to check up on his students as he makes his way to see Lunch Rush. In fact, as he crosses the floor, he comes a few feet away from young Uraraka and Iida, the two of them glancing over at Hatsume, who is talking excitedly to another support student.

"I just think it's a little selfish is all! Is that Midoriya-san not ashamed to be used as her puppet without getting a chance to prove himself?" Iida whispers to his classmates, doing his now familiar chopping motion with his hands. Toshinori looks over to Hatsume, feeling a bit bad, because Iida's whispers are about as loud as normal talking. She's still talking with the other student, but her smile has taken on a strained note, like she's desperately trying to not seem affected.

Toshinori steps forward to go and cheer Hatsume up—perhaps by telling her how impressive he had found all of her delightful inventions?—when someone collides with his side. Toshinori steadies them and breathes a sigh of relief that it wasn't his injured side, at least.

"Ah, sorry sir." The person apologizes, straightening himself. Toshinori blinks in surprise when he recognizes Midoriya, and then in concern at the exhaustion he sees in the student's eyes. Midoriya isn't focused on him, though, he has a sharp eye on Hatsume right now.

"No harm done, my boy." Toshinori assures, stepping away with a small cough. Midoriya takes his eyes off his friend for a short moment to scan Toshinori, and Toshinori feels an inexplicable shiver go up his spine. He almost feels like he's being dissected by those darkened eyes, like they can see his every secret. Midoriya looks away a moment later, pushing past a few people.

"Mei!" He calls before he actually reaches her. Hatsume turns to him, a brief look of shock crossing her face. She recovers quickly, a wide grin flashing on her face not a second later.

"Ah—well if it isn't my favorite lab rat!" She exclaims, throwing an arm around his shoulder when he finally arrives at her side. "What can I do for you, Izukkun?"

"Shinsou got us a table, I came to get you." He says, pulling her bodily away from her conversation. As he passes him, Midoriya sends a subtle glare towards Iida, who looks away, shame etched on his features. Toshinori can't help feel empathetic towards him as well, but he does think Iida can do with learning a bit more tact.

With no confrontation impending, Toshinori keeps moving through the room, exiting into another hallway which leads him down to where Lunch Rush is preparing all sorts of meals. To Toshinori's surprise, Aizawa is there as well, sitting at a table placed out of the way. He doesn't look awake, but Yamada says that Aizawa tends to pretend to nap while observing his surroundings. Either way—after Toshinori asks Lunch Rush for his order and is sent to sit at the same table, though he stays standing—he makes sure to stay as quiet as he can. He can't really help his coughs though, and he keeps fidgeting awkwardly.

"For godsake, just sit down." Aizawa irritably orders after a few minutes, proving that Yamada really was telling the truth. Toshinori stutters an apology and takes a seat in the other chair across from Aizawa. 

Toshinori has respected Aizawa from the moment they met. Before, even. Aizawa is a stern, grumpy man, but he is extremely talented and good at his jobs. Toshinori looks up to him as a teacher, because lord knows that Toshinori himself is severely lacking in that department. Of course, he can't say that the sentiments are returned in any form; Aizawa seems to loathe him for some reason. When he asked Yamada, the louder man had just said something about him 'not being a fan of the impact' and then run off.

"Ah, so, that trio..." Toshinori pipes up after a few moments of awkward silence, wringing his hands. "Midoriya, Shinsou, and Hatsume?"

"What about them." Aizawa shifts, lifting his head a bit, and opens one eye. Either Toshinori really had interrupted a nap, or Aizawa is giving him a particularly dark glare.

"Oh, I-I just think they're doing very well is all!" Toshinori waves his hands with a smile to assure Aizawa he didn't mean any harm. "I'm very curious about their quirks actually—I overheard someone saying Shinsou's was a type of brainwashing, and Hatsume's is something to do with zooming, but I haven't heard anything about Midoriya's. It must be interesting."

"He doesn't have one."

"Pardon?"

"He's quirkless and more capable than you think. I'm going somewhere else to rest before Hizashi drags me away again." Aizawa say, pushing up out of his chair. He leaves the room without another word, abandoning Toshinori to that bombshell announcement. He sits at the table blankly until Lunch Rush delivers his lunch, at which time he wanders out, lost in an old memory.

 "Sir, can a quirkless kid like me be a hero?"