Crossing The East Sea

(PART ONE - THE DIRECTORATE) 1 The Invitation

The evening sun was shining in through the tall glass windows of Yuuei Academy as Hitoshi Shinsou made his way down the carpeted corridor, a pile of books in his arms. The mid-year examinations were coming, and students everywhere were beginning to feel the pressure, especially those in their final year.

Shinsou was with Ayumi, a girl from General Studies, and they were heading toward the library. In an attempt to appear chivalrous, he had offered to carry her books for her, in addition to his own, and the pile in his arms was beginning to feel rather cumbersome. His own math textbook was on top, and he was staring at it and wondering how he was going to handle all the calculus problems inside, when he heard someone calling his name.

"Shinsou! A word with you, please."

Shinsou turned around. Shouta Aizawa was standing nearby, tall and forbidding, the usual tired expression on his face.

"Aizawa-sensei," said Shinsou, automatically. Ayumi gave a small squeak of fright, because Aizawa always made her nervous. "I'll go first, see you later," she whispered, and disappeared rapidly down the corridor, forgetting to take her books from him.

Shinsou frowned. He wondered what the teacher wanted. He hoped it wasn't going to take too long, especially as the books were beginning to feel heavier by the minute.

"There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about for a while, Shinsou," said Aizawa, looking speculatively at him.

Shinsou said nothing. He had gotten angry with another student the previous week, and had brainwashed him by calling out to him from a distance so that he wouldn't be recognised. He had then made the student strip and run naked around the school corridors, singing at the top of his voice. No one knew Shinsou had done it, because he had first instructed the student to hide in the toilet for half an hour before venturing out and commencing the performance. Shinsou had been in the middle of a class when the commotion broke out, so it didn't occur to anyone that he had been responsible.

Even so, Aizawa was usually quite sharp, and Shinsou couldn't put it past him to guess the truth. He looked at the teacher, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible.

"What about?" he said, casually.

"You'll be graduating soon, Shinsou," said Aizawa directly, "What are you planning to do after that?"

Shinsou looked at him in surprise. Most of the students in the hero classes had received nominations from pro heroes, and it was the norm every year that the majority accepted job offers from these various hero agencies. Besides, it was only the middle of the year; there was still the hurdle of the final examinations six months later, and it seemed rather early to be discussing career prospects.

"Apply for a hero agency, I suppose," he said, vaguely.

"No other options?" said Aizawa, observing him carefully.

"Well, it's still early," said Shinsou, evasively. He shifted the books slightly, to balance their weight more evenly on both arms.

"Not that early," said Aizawa, "You should put more thought into it. I've talked to you about this before. Your Quirk isn't like most. The more well known you become, the harder it'll be for you to use it. Once people get wise to the way your Quirk works, they're not going to respond to you. Are you going to wear a different disguise every time you go on patrol?"

"I presume you have something to suggest?" said Shinsou. He hoped that Aizawa would notice all the books he was carrying, and end the conversation soon.

"Put those books on the ground," said Aizawa, "This will take a while."

Shinsou placed the books on the floor, and then looked at Aizawa, perplexed.