Infectious

ch. 5

Chapter Five;;- USJ

Days began to pass uneventfully, blurring together as nothing exciting happened. While Yuuei may have been a school for heroes, it was still a school. [name] would be the first to admit that she did not appreciate teachers as much as they deserved to be appreciated.

Soon, she had her hands full between watching the other heroes' classes if they had more important business to attend to and her own duties as co-homeroom teacher of 1-A. She spent more time trying to memorize names of other teachers' students than almost anything else. It was difficult work, trying to keep up with her and Aizawa's own lesson plans as well as keeping on top of other classes, but it felt good-- invigorating, really.

Since [name] had moved to Japan three and a half years ago, she had never really done anything besides her hero work. That was why she moved to begin with, but it still got a little bit monotonous after a little while. The first six months spent doing nothing but studying Japan's specific hero laws and laws that America didn't have, then working to get her license. After she actually got it, she just worked.

Heroes being the modern age celebrities definitely had it's downsides in a lot of aspects; it was hard to go out in public, you were almost always caught by some sort of reporter, and it was especially difficult to make friends. [name] had never been great at making friends before she was a mainstream[1] hero, but now that she was, meeting new people other than other heroes was hard.

Although, one could definitely make a case for other heroes being some of the nicest friends you could hope for. They're morally virtuous, generally friendly, and the only people on the planet that could understand what it was like to be a hero and the struggles that came with it. Still, [name] found herself distant from them. She wasn't sure if it was because she was American or a fault in her own personality.

Either way, teaching at Yuuei had made it considerably easier to converse with the others. They had subjects to talk about, suddenly, and they were forced to spend a lot of time together. [name], even though she had been so nervous about it in the beginning, was starting to think it was a good idea to take the job.

[1:00 P.M.]

[name] stood next to Aizawa as she watched Iida (who had swapped roles with Midoriya for class president after the alarms had sounded) line up the students in order of their seat numbers to get them on the bus.

"Should we tell him it's not the kind of bus he's thinking of?" [name] asked, still watching the group figure out their places.

Aizawa considered it for a short moment, but he was still quick to shake his head. "Nah, he's taking his job seriously. It's a good thing."

The group began to board and almost immediately some laughter could be heard from inside the bus as they realized Iida's line had been for nothing. "It feels a little cruel," [name] murmured.

She and Aizawa boarded the bus after the students were all on and seated. Sitting down a little ways away from their boisterous conversation, [name] smiled as she listened in on their talk. Soon, the topic strayed to their quirks.

[name] pulled her leg onto her seat and rested her head against her knee. "When I was in school, people didn't talk about their quirks nearly as much as these kids do," She said quietly, just before Bakugou started yelling about something to Asui.

Aizawa glanced over. "Their life pretty much revolves around their quirks, [surname]. It makes sense."

"Yeah, I guess. Hero schools sure are in a different league than regular schools." She sighed. Would she be able to be a good teacher to a school that is completely different than her own? Japanese schools in general were so much different than her experience, but then these kids were also at a school for heroes. Was it suitable for her--someone with no teaching experience and, honestly, only a little bit good at being a hero-- to be their teacher?

Aizawa gently pushed her heel off the seat. "Don't put your shoes on the bus seats," He scolded, cringing when Bakugou yelled something again. "And you're a fine teacher so far."

[name] perked up, blinking in confusion. "How did you kno--"

"We're here. Look sharp now." Aizawa stood and addressed the students, cutting off [name]'s question. The students started filing passed them. He kept his gaze trained on the students as they passed by. "You had it written on your face," He said softly, not facing her.

Still, [name] knew it was directed at her. She smiled at his back as he turned and followed out the last student off. "Thanks," she whispered, following him off as well.

Once they got all of the class inside, Thirteen showed themselves[2] to the class and began to speak. "There's the flood zone, landslide zone, conflagration zone, etc. Every disaster and accident you can imagine. I built this facility myself. I call it the 'Unforeseen Simulation Joint!'"

Thirteen turned to Aizawa and [name]. Aizawa looked around quickly. "Thirteen, where's All Might? I thought he was meeting us here."

"About that, senpai, it seems he just about reached his limit during his morning commute." Thirteen held up three fingers. "He's resting in the break room."

Aizawa looked annoyed, although that wasn't much of a difference from his usual expression. "The height of irrationality," He sighed. "So be it. Let's get started."

Thirteen turned back to the students, [name] and Aizawa moving to the side. They started talking about the dangers of quirks, using their own quirk-- Black Hole-- as an example. [name] would be a liar to say that she was listening, her mind once again returning to how often these kids were thinking and talking about quirks.

That had to be a toxic common mentality, especially for kids with no quirks, right?

Once some awed gasps slipped from the student's lips, [name] struggled to force herself back to attention.

"That is all! I thank you for listening." Thirteen bowed amidst the cheers of the class.

Aizawa leaned back on the railing causally, making a vague gesture to the space behind him. "Great. First off..."

Before he could finish, [name] hit his shoulder with the back of her hand, shifting to look at the fountain behind them. There was a swirling spot that had formed just in front of it, and it seemed to be growing bigger.

He stopped, turning around as well. A hand began to reach out from the swirling black mist. Aizawa jumped into action when a face appeared in the mist. Grey, shaggy hair, a pale skinned face covered by a.. severed hand? "Huddle up and don't move!" Aizawa barked at the students. The order elicited a couple of confused words from them, but they followed his command. "Thirteen! Protect the students."

[name] exchanged a glance with Aizawa as people began to pour out of the mysterious mist. Behind her, she heard Kirishima question what they were. "Don't move." Her tone of voice was stricter than she had ever used with the students. "Those are villains."

[1]- I'm going to use the term "mainstream" for heroes that aren't underground. I wasn't sure if there was a term for it, since I didn't remember it ever being mentioned in the manga, but it sounded like it made sense.

[2]- Thirteen's gender isn't ever directly stated, I don't think, so Thirteen is referred to as "they" in this fic.

a/n: i am really happy with the way this story is going. i've been having so much fun exploring how it would be to be a professional hero that you don't often see in fics (or maybe i just haven't found the right ones?) it's interesting to compare them to celebrities, but you also have to remember that these are huge huge influences on society, probably more so than celebrities irl are. there have been a bunch of aspects of hero life that aren't really mentioned in fics that i've been having a ball with imagining and putting into words.

here's a question i'm interested in hearing your guys' answer to: kind of like i've been mentioning in this fic, what are some aspects of hero life that aren't really talked about but you think would be interesting/cool/fun to read about? i'd like to hear your perspective on things that i haven't thought of