Shota gripped the mug of coffee with both hands, relishing in its warmth and breathing in the fumes of the steaming black coffee. One upside of being principal? Access to Nezu's private kitchen, equipped with the best tea bags and coffee grounds known to man. The black-haired man wasn't so bold as to use any of Nezu's antique china, but raiding his cupboards felt like a big enough power move to satisfy him. Sure, Nezu would kick him out of his office next Monday, but he'll be damned if he doesn't take the drinks with him. He'll enjoy it while it lasts.
And it seems as if Midoriya had the same idea. From where he was currently seated behind Nezu's desk, he could see the child scribbling down all the brand names he saw to reference at a later date. Shota will have to ask him for a copy of that list later on...
"Umm... Shota?" He turned around to face the speaker, and was met with the sight of Nemuri, wrapping the end of her whip around her fingers before unraveling them and repeating the process. "I'm really digging the whole blooming romance you got going on between you and your caffeine addiction-" He scowled, "but in case you haven't noticed, I still don't know why I'm in here." No, he was absolutely aware of that, this was simply another power move. And maybe, just maybe, if this was him taking his petty grievances against Nezu out on his coworkers, well then... nobody had to know. Nonetheless, Shota straightened in his seat and reluctantly placed down his mug, diving into the conversation
"It's about the first new course of action," He stated simply, "I've decided to finally change the design of UA's entrance exam. That way, applicants with mental quirks or just less flashy quirks, in general, have an equal chance at passing as the others do."
"Or the quirkless..." Midoriya muttered to himself, still jotting everything down, and Shota froze as he was the only one who heard the little comment. Quirkless kids? In this day and age? It was unlikely, but not entirely impossible. Most of the quirkless population was made up of senior citizens, the ones born before the rising of quirks, so most people brushed them aside. It was cruel, in Shota's opinion, but that's beside the point.
Quirkless kids had essentially the same chance of becoming heroes as quirked children did, if not a little disadvantaged. It was fine, though, nothing that couldn't be solved with intense training and some support items. That's how it was for Shota, after all, he basically fought quirkless against his opponents. The only thing his erasure quirk did was level the playing field, mutant quirks excluded, So yeah, he agreed, this entrance exam leveled the playing field for all types of quirks, and those born without them.
"Oh," Nemuri breathed out, a little shocked at how fast he was moving forward with this project, "Okay, then. But why are you only telling me this, why not tell the whole staff? You're going to need their assistance and majority vote if you want the school board to even consider whatever your plan is..." Shota smirked and snapped his fingers to point to his right, where Midoriya was currently perching on the kitchen countertop. Nemuri flinched, did she seriously not notice him sitting there this whole time? Midoriya lifted his head out of his notebook for the first time in ages and delved into a detailed explanation.
"You're one of the only teachers besides Aizawa-sensei that could properly advocate for this change. Your quirk, Somnambulist, enables you to release a purple substance that has effects similar to that of sleeping gas, except without the toxic chemical properties. It causes anyone who inhales it to pass out for a specific period of time, working better on males than it does on females for unknown reasons. And, of course, absolutely useless on robots.
"You, much like Aizawa-sensei, require a human target to properly use your quirk. This is why had you taken the initial entrance exam, you would have failed. The only reason Aizawa-sensei was admitted into the hero course was that he came in first place during the sports festival of his first year. And according to school records, he was the only general education student able to do so in the history of UA. Meaning that unless you tore apart the robots with your bare hands or got a ridiculously high amount of rescue points like me, you got in through recommendation.
"You didn't even bother with the robots, because you knew it would be a meaningless fight. Therefore, you know first hand how unfair the entrance exam is, and can attest to this new course of action. Of course, Aizawa-sensei could, too, but everyone already knows his opinions on the matter. Another jab from him at the test's design wouldn't even make a dent, that's why you need to be the one to do it."
Ah yes, another pro of being principal: He has a secretary like Midoriya to thoroughly explain things instead of waste time doing it himself. Nemuri was gobsmacked, jaw hanging open and so wide it could catch flies. Clearly, she had underestimated how much the bushy-haired child could ramble, which was a lot. Although, using the term 'ramble' made it sound like pointless chatter with no end goal in mind, which this was anything but. It was a focused, thought out, and sophisticated report.
"I- Wha- How did you-" Nemuri stuttered, incredulousness lacing her tone, and Aizawa held up a hand to interrupt her.
"Nope. He's not done, yet." Shota smirked even wider at Nemuri's pain. God, this was more entertaining than watching All Might use flashcards when presenting a lesson. Finally finding an opening, Midoriya continued.
"Judging by the videos I found online of you fighting, a frequent technique you use against villains is drawing them in with faux friendliness and then attacking them with your quirk and support weapons once they're within range. You convincing the other teachers of UA would essentially be the same thing." Midoriya hesitated for a second before continuing, "...Except they aren't villains and you won't be physically attacking them."
"Well," Shota butted in, "desperate times call for desperate measures. So just put attacking them in the grey area between psychological warfare and physical harassment." At first, Midoriya looked like he wanted to protest, but after a second of consideration, seemed like he actually agreed . And Shota didn't know whether he should be concerned or proud, perhaps both. Nemuri gave them both a look that screamed 'what the actual hell is wrong with you people?' but his green-haired student was already explaining the second portion of the plan.
"In a sense, this could be considered psychological warfare," Shota vaguely heard a soft 'I can't handle two of them in the same building' come from the purple-haired woman, but chose not to address it, for the time being, trusting that Midoriya would write it down for him. "BUT, I think a better and much lighter term would be just a slight emotional manipulation of peers." Midoriya cheered. A friendly smile and welcoming eyes on his face that didn't quite match his words. Shota found himself holding back a snort at the kid's antics and what he considered 'better' and 'lighter'. If anything, he made it sound way worse.
...Hey, wait a second, since when does he have the urge to snort at things?
Midoriya's eyes suddenly took on a new look, darkening and contorting into something a tad bit feral. Once again, Shota found himself intrigued at the immediate change in personality. And once again, Nemuri looked five seconds away from either having a mental breakdown or fleeing the country, whatever's more financially convenient.
"According to recent observations, your relationships with your coworkers have become fairly obvious. Your hero art history class takes place right before lunch, and you can usually be seen walking off with pro hero Thirteen holding your lunches when the bell rings. Therefore, I can safely assume that you two are close enough to share lunch breaks 2-3 times a week. The photos on your desk depict images of your high school years with both Aizawa-sensei and Mic-sensei, suggesting that the three of you have been friends since high school and have not broken the bond since. Vlad-sensei, too, but eh... One time I saw you, Cementoss, and Ectoplasm having tea and holding three copies of the book ' Of Mice and Men' , suggesting you meet at regular times for a book club of sorts. Oh, and everyone can see that Snipe-sensei has a crush on you.
"Your responsibility would be to schedule regular meetings with those you have bonds with a subtly but frequently mention topics that include the following:" Midoriya took a deep breath of air and suddenly it occurred to both teachers that the student hadn't taken a single breath during his other reports. The hell kind of lungs does this kid have? "Quirk discrimination, childhood friends you used to know that had dreams of becoming heroes but didn't have the chance, tests, school board, the importance of democracy, robot sci-fi movies, wiring-"
"H-how would I casually bring up wiring in a book club meeting?" Nemuri rasped out looking worse for wear. Midoriya didn't even hesitate before responding.
"Spill some tea on your phone and loudly exclaim how you might have to get a new one because the liquid will mess up the wiring. Then complain about how if you could fix the wiring yourself, you would, but you aren't strong enough to rip apart that kind of advanced technology."
"...Oh..."
"Doing this repeatedly will guarantee that these thoughts will be stuck in their heads. That way, by the time Aizawa presents the new entrance exam design, they've essentially been buttered up and will be more open to it." They sat in silent anticipation for a few seconds before Midoriya finally realized what was going on and spoke up. "Oh! Yeah, I'm done."
"That was... a lot." The spiky-haired woman choked out hoarsely. "But sure, I think I could help out with that. And if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is the new plan?" Oh, Shota could answer this.
"There's two, whichever one works best is what we'll go with. The first one is making everyone fight robots, but permitting certain applicants to use support items, depending on their quirk status and the support item they chose. For example, a pipe or bo staff to mess up a robot's wiring and shut it down would be okay but requesting the use of a- I don't know, a flame thrower wouldn't be allowed." It might be absurd to suggest that a student would go so far as to bring that kind of lethal weapon to an exam, but judging by that Hatsume girl in class 2-H, it sounds like a pretty reasonable concern to him. "The second one is once again keeping the robots, but giving applicants the option of requesting to fight a member of staff or third-year students, depending on their quirk status. It'd give them a chance to show either their exceptional combat abilities, the usefulness of their quirk on the job, or both."
"So kind of like how students in other courses can use support items during the sports festival but hero students can't. It's just making up for their disadvantages in certain departments." Shota nodded, but Nemuri still had something on her mind. "You know Vlad's gonna try his hardest to fight you on this thing, right? Done it before and he'll do it again. He's narrow-minded when it comes to these things, it's not going to be easy, or maybe even possible, to convince him otherwise."
"We have a plan" Shota and Midoriya said perfectly in sync, with the same intense determination on their faces and seriousness in their voice. And they did have a plan, one that involved a particular lavender-haired child that is currently transferring to the hero course and a mad inventor that could bring the world to its knees.
"And even if the plan fails and Vlad-sensei doesn't change his opinion on the matter, as long as you keep others from listening to him, it won't change a thing. Majority vote wins, after all, and in the end, he's basically useless!" Midoriya stated while grinning, oblivious to how badly he just roasted Vlad. Shota found himself unable to hold back a fond smirk at that, which earned him a weird look from Nemuri.
The R rated hero looked back and forth between the new principal and his green-eyed secretary, an expression on her face that Shota couldn't manage to read. She must have been thinking of something pretty amusing, though, judging by the mischievous smile that left her face as quickly as it had appeared. Shota didn't know why, yet, but something about her suspicious smiles rubbed him the wrong way. Finally, Nemuri spoke.
"Is this a common occurrence with you, Shota? Do you influence your students to share your hate of Vlad King and make plans for his downfall?"
"First off, I wouldn't call it influencing so much as bringing along a spiritual awakening. Second, yes, I do make plans for his downfall. And third, no, this was all him. So far it's the only proof I have that generations are mentally evolving as time passes." Shota stated with a straight face, causing Nemuri to let out a loud cackle. Midoriya just tilted his head, looking eerily similar to a confused puppy. Or rather, a confused kitten. The boy was a genius at analyzing everything and everyone until it came to himself. Nemuri cooed at the boy's obliviousness before standing up and heading to the door. But before she could fully step out, she turned around to say one more thing.
"By the way, Midoriya, your essay on gothic architecture is due tomorrow." The child gave a firm nod, "Also, Shota, you never gave me a limit to how far I could go when convincing Snipe. Therefore, all hypothetical lawsuits that come as a result of this psychological warfare now rest on your soldiers. Have a fun day you two~" Nemuri cooed at them after dropping that whole bombshell, walking out the door and moving to close it behind her. The last thing the R rated heroine heard before the two's discussion became muffled was a boyish voice screaming,
"SLIGHT EMOTIONAL MANIPULATION-"
>>>>> <<<<<
"So, there are two ways we could go about this."
Izuku stared up at his teacher, hanging on every word. He may not have wanted to do this job in the beginning but fortunately, there was a lot more strategic planning involved than he had originally thought. He supposed it would be good practice for his analysis skills, so he wasn't going to slack off. Not that he would have slacked off either way but now was especially motivated not to. Not that he isn't always extremely motivated but-
"We could either do your plan or my plan. Take a pick." Right! He was supposed to be planning right now! He did find it kind of strange that Aizawa-sensei trusted him enough to let him pick the plan, though. This seemed like a really meaningful cause to his teacher and he didn't want to risk ruining it. Might as well give it his all! Midoriya held his hand to his chin, deep in thought, and began to mumble.
"According to Midnight-sensei, Vlad-sensei has repeatedly shut down all your attempts at changing the entrance exam design, meaning that at some point he has already heard all of your pieces of evidence and reasonings and completely ignored them." In Izuku's opinion, it seemed greatly prejudiced, but it'd be rude to talk about his teacher, a pro hero, that way. So he kept that little thought to himself and hoped that he'd never accidentally blurted it out to anyone. "So it'd be a waste of time to try and start with your plan. I say we start with my plan, get him all freaked out with the drama, and then you start your statistical report during the actual vote" Izuku hesitated for a few seconds before continuing. "Also, Shinso's already here and Mei won't be happy about having to wait any longer." Aizawa gave a firm nod.
"Sounds about right. Feel free to get started then, but try not to break too many bones, or else Recovery Girl will have my head on a platter." Recovery Girl... that's another problem he'd been meaning to discuss. "Once Vlad looks like he's at his lowest emotional point, you three can evacuate the area and pretend you're going back to the support lab or something." With that, Aizawa-sensei slipped into the shadows like an alley cat, disappearing from sight.
Izuku shifted from side to side on his feet, the feeling of Mei's prototype red shoes against his skin grounding him to the situation. He tried hyping himself up, telling himself that there was no way he could possibly mess this up. After all, he'd gone over it like a million times in his head and had been planning it ever since Aizawa-sensei told him about Vlad's hardheaded opinions. Shinso had memorized his lines, Mei had already convinced Power Loader to not expel her for this, and Izuku was about 70% sure this wouldn't end in an explosion, which was pretty impressive given Mei's reputation. Ironically, the only other thing at stake here for Izuku was his reputation. Finally, as soon as the green-haired child saw the red of Vlad King's suit make its way around the corner, he took a deep breath and had only one thought on his mind:
It's go time.
Izuku kicked the heels of his red shoes together, just like Dorothy did from that really old pre-quirk movie, and watched in fascination as two jets emerged from the bottom. Pushing down his uneasiness, Izuku waited for his target to get into the perfect position before blasting off with enough speed and force to dent a wall. Not that he wants to, but something a few notches under that should be guaranteed to catch the duo's attention.
...Wait, duo?
Izuku's eyes widened as he realized that there was another person standing beside Vlad King. Said person was much shorter and appeared to be wearing a hero course school uniform. Said student also had vivid red eyes and ash blonde hair. Kaachan. But it was already too late to change his trajectory, and Izuku could only watch in horror as he collided with his hot-headed classmate, tumbling to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.
"PFT" Kaachan spat, trying to get his mouth out of Izuku's obnoxiously curly hair. "WHAT THE HELL DEKU?! DO YOU REGULARLY SHOOT ACROSS HALLWAYS OR SOMETHING? YOU GET EXCUSED FROM CLASSES JUST TO PULL THIS SHI-"
"OHH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY!" Izuku yelled, waving his arms around in the familiar frantic motion that ended up accidentally whacking Kaachan in the face. Ah jeez, today's the day he dies, huh? Tell his mom he loves her. Tell his dad he'd probably say the same if he knew where he was. "AH- SORRY FOR THAT TOO!"
"STOP APOLOGIZING AND JUST GET OFF ME, DUMBASS!" Oh, right. Izuku rolled off the angry blonde and on to his back, the first thing he sees when he looks up being Vlad's stunned face staring down at them. And that was the moment the green-haired child realized that he was still in the middle of a performance and that Shinso and Mei were still eagerly awaiting their cue to come in. Crap, he can't mess this up now! His friends are relying on him! Aizawa-sensei is relying on him! QUIRKLESS KIDS EVERYWHERE ARE RELYING ON HIM. So without thinking of the consequences, Izuku hid his face from Vlad and gave Kaachan the dirtiest glare he could. Like Aizawa-sensei said, desperate times call for desperate measures.
"Look, I'm really, really sorry for knocking you to the ground, but don't you dare get in my way ." He growled out. Does he have a death wish or something?! And since when does he growl at people?! Luckily, it seemed like Kaachan was too shocked by his outburst at the moment to formulate a proper reply. Izuku jumped right back into his role.
"NO. GOD PLEASE NO. NO. NO. NOOOOO." He screamed out in fake anguish. Kaachan was even more shocked now, it was a weird expression to see on the angry pomeranian's face.
"Mido?!" A male voice called out, footsteps drawing closer. But Izuku didn't have to guess who it was, he already knew the voice belonged to a particular purple-eyed insomniac. He also didn't have to guess because he heard Kaachan grumble something along the lines of 'Eyebags', so it could really only be one person. "I thought Mei warned you to control the shoes' settings before blasting off!" Damn, Shinso, talk about acting skills.
"I did!" Izuku squeaked out, feigning panicked confusion. "But then it started sparking and by the time I realized it was malfunctioning I was already airborne! Technology is just difficult to handle sometimes!" Shinso gave him a fake dead stare.
"Seriously? You got defeated by a hunk of metal?" Shinso asked snarkily, and Izuku squawked in offense. To be honest, acting like this wasn't hard, considering this is the tone and actions they would normally do.
"Excuse you, it's not a hunk of metal that can be shut down just by tapping it!" See where he's going with this? As he said to Midnight-sensei, you have to subtly put the ideas in your targets head. "The jet was just one of its settings, it still has three more. Hell, one of them even shoots lasers!" Okay, so, Izuku can't really tell if that's being subtle anymore. But judging by the thoughtful expression on Vlad's face, the technique was working. "Imagine how badly I could have been hurt if I just randomly started hitting it midair, and in the end, it would have been a useless effort anyway!"
"You have that superpower quirk, don't you? Why didn't you just use that to make a blast of air in the opposite direction and even out the force or something?" Shinso asked. And bring it home!
"You expect me to make a blast in the hallway? I've already caused enough property damage, Shinso, I don't need any more of it! And besides, we aren't allowed to use our quirks outside of heroics class. So if you think about it," the tip of his mouth twitched, and he had to physically restrain himself from smirking. He's been holding back quite a lot of smirks this morning ever since he got the secretary job, is it a coincidence? "I'm basically quirkless."
Silence. Complete silence. Kaachan, who looked like he was just getting over the shock of nerdy little Deku growling at him, seemed to be thrown back into another spiraling crisis, probably confused as to why Izuku would bring up that chapter of his life. He didn't know why it was so shocking, though, he may have one for all now but it's not like that erases his past. Erases who he truly was at heart. Shinso didn't have as much restraint as Izuku did and was full-on grinning. And Vlad King... oh boy.
Vlad King was frozen; fingers, eyebrows, and nose twitching for some unknown reason. But he thinks he can speak for Aizawa-sensei and Shinso when he says he hopes it's regret and realization. But the trio wasn't done yet.
"It'd be suicide as a quirkless person, or just anyone without an offensive quirk," Yeah, he's really laying it on thick right now. "to try and go up against a death-machine piece of robotics. Why even bother?"
"IZU!" A pink-haired girl with goggles and a belt full of tools bounded over to him and kneeled by his side. Not to check on him, though, but rather the prototype shoes. "Huh, so my baby glitched out." She muttered, examining the sides.
" You don't say ." Kaachan gritted out, they all chose to ignore him, something that they would dearly pay for during their next meeting.
"I guess I could change up the design to make it more manageable for people, regardless of their quirk status." Vlad looked sick. "Or maybe I could give you another device to shut the shoes down if it reacts this way again. Hah, a support item for a support item! Well, thanks for testing my babies out!" Mei handed him his actual pair of red shoes and he quickly interchanged them for the ones on his feet, giving her the prototype back. Hopefully, he got to use it later, though, it would be amazing to use once Mei figures out the logistics of it. For a few seconds they all stood in silence, Kaachan surprisingly included. Although whether that's the result of a concussion, Izuku didn't know. He'll just enjoy it while it lasts. Finally, Shinso spoke up.
"I, uh, got to get to math. So..." Right! Aizawa said to evacuate once Vlad looked bad enough, which he definitely did. Izuku didn't want to be cruel, but this is just his job as a secretary. He has no other choice and that's the only reason he went this extreme.
...Right? Hopefully.
Izuku coughed. "Yeah. I have, like, secretary stuff. So I'll see you guys later."
"Cool! I have to fix my babies anyway! Bye!" Mei cheered, skipping off to class. Shinso soon followed, but with much less enthusiasm.
"Bye!" Izuku spared none of them another glance and started speed walking away in the direction he knew Aizawa-sensei was hiding in. As soon they were sure nobody could see them, his teacher left the cold comfort of the shadows and stepped out into the open, cringing at the lights in his eyes before turning to Izuku.
"On a scale of 1-10, how uncomfortable did Vlad look?" The underground hero asked bluntly. Although, something about his teacher's slightly trembling lips suggested he was on the verge of laughing at something. But it most likely just Izuku imagining things again, 'cause Aizawa-sensei never laughs.
"At first he was just shocked, so like a two, but then when Shinso and I mentioned metal and technology, he rose to a weird 3. And then after mentioning malfunctions, lasers, and property damage he was a 4. But like as soon as I said quirkless he just shot up to a 7. And then Mei laid it on thick with the topic of remodeling and support items so he's a solid 9 by now." He rambled excitedly, happy to know that his slight emotional manipulation was paying off. But also slightly scared.
"Great." Wow, Aizawa-sensei said great! Usually, it's an 'adequate' or 'okay' or 'that could be considered logical', but never a great. Izuku started bouncing on his feet even more, but his teacher narrowed his eyes. "Why are you more fidgety than usual. I'd pass it off as giddiness but you keep looking towards the hallway. You waiting for something?" Crap, he noticed . The tired hero narrowed his eyes even more as the boy froze. "Someone?" Izuku twiddled his fingers looking down.
"I knocked Kaachan to the floor when I was blasting in the hallway and I'm like 60% sure he has a concussion. But if I'm wrong, then I have about ten seconds before he-"
"DEKU!"
Izuku sprinted to Nezu's office and didn't look back, Aizawa-sensei didn't need his help getting back anyway and they had a meeting to attend to.
He'd rather get a pay decrease in his pens than deal with his explosive rival today.
>>>>> <<<<<
Shota was once again reunited with his mug of coffee, except over four hours had passed and the warmth was long gone, replaced with an icy chill that replicated the temperature of his heart. But it was fine, at least he wasn't the only one suffering right now. Shota gave a sly smile as he looked in Vlad's direction, the man was an absolute mess.
Now, Shota doesn't laugh. He doesn't. The last time he wholeheartedly laughed was during his second year of UA, and ever since then, nothing. The most he's been seen doing is a mischievous grin at someone else's suffering. But today... my god. He didn't laugh, because he's a pro hero and has learned about self-restraint for three years straight, but it was one hell of a close call. Any more of that incredibly scripted performance and Shota might have ruined his cold-hearted emo reputation.
He'd be lying if he said it wasn't at least a bit entertaining to watch Midoriya and his ragtag group of friends give Vlad a run for his money. Even now the hero looked a bit green. Vaguely, Aizawa felt like he was influencing the next generation, sharing his wise knowledge with them about the world. But in this case, it's not the world so much as it is the concept of knocking some sense into that blood wielding knucklehead. He'll past down his methods of psychological warfare- or, as Midoriya likes to call it, a slight emotional manipulation- just like Nezu did for him.
...Why does this sound like some demented family tree?
Shota blinked hard, snapping himself out of his thoughts. Now was not the time to be thinking of pointless nonsense, it was illogical and he had better things to do right now. Better things such as starting the UA staff meeting, which they were currently waiting on Snipe and Midnight- he doesn't want to know why it was specifically them and only them alone- to start. Shota lifted his head and gave a withering look to the ten pairs of eyes that currently rested on him. Or rather, nine. All Might's attention was focused elsewhere.
"Uh... young Aizawa-kun," He fixed his intense stare on All Might, enjoying the way the man seemed to flinch under it. "If you don't me asking, why is young Midoriya here in the faculty room instead of English with the rest of the class 2-A." Oh, right. No one besides himself, Nezu, Midnight, and class 2-A knew about Midoriya's position. He would have told them but he was already running on less sleep than usual and didn't have the time nor energy to worry about others. Now is as good a time as any, he supposes.
"Nezu and I agreed to make Midoriya my secretary for the week while I'm principal, to document observations and events, and assist with planning." He stated simply.
"Hai!" Midoriya exclaimed while slightly pumping up his fist, as excited as ever. If he listened really closely, he could everyone in the room coo a quick 'aww' under their breaths. Typical, the green-haired child had the entire school wrapped around his finger. Not that Shota's complaining, though, they had some pretty solid reasoning. The kid was practically a ray of sunshine.
"Secretary? Wait, does that mean I can give you my coffee order?" Power Loader asked, surprisingly serious. What kind of question was that? Midoriya's job is to give professional reports, not be somebody's gofer.
"Get it yourself." Shota said at the same time Midoriya enthusiastically asked "Cream and sugar?"
He- what?
Shota whirled around in his chair to give Midoriya, who was currently sitting in the smaller chair next to him, an incredulous look. The kid in question returned the look with a confused one of his own. Did... did the kid actually think it was his job to run errands for the other teachers? Shota just silently shook his head and watched as his student made an 'o' shape with his mouth, nodding in understanding before flipping to a random page in his book and scribbling something out. Shota doesn't even want to know what he had written down. The gruff man gave another hard blink to snap himself out of it before facing his coworkers again and was surprised to see them looking back and forth between himself and the kid while narrowing their eyes. Well, actually, just like last time All Might was ever the outlier, having a fond expression on his face. It's the same thing Nemuri did in his office when he and the kid were going back and forth about the warfare plan. Is there something he's not understanding or...?
The faculty room door burst open, drawing everyone's attention off of the principal and secretary duo, much to the underground hero's relief. Skipping through the door like some lovestruck school girl, Snipe took his seat, blushing all the way. And right on his heels was none other than Nemuri, a sly smirk on her face as she took the chair right of Shota's. He glowered at her and whispered,
" The hell did you do to Snipe?" Midoriya once again jotted his every word down, and this might have been the one conversation Shota wished he wasn't so diligent about.
"Oh you know," She waved him off, "a little wine and dine, the regular."
"You realize it's only 1:30 in the afternoon, right?" She gave him a sharp look.
"Hey, anything in or near the 'p.m' area is fair game." He rolled his eyes and did the same snapping/pointing gesture to Midoriya as he did that morning.
"Studies show that although drinking alcoholic beverages may delay the occurrence of a hangover, it's almost guaranteed that you will experience the after-effects later on, perhaps even during your drive home. And if you had alcohol the night before, then even the slightest amount could put you over your limit, possibly causing a car accident. Doctors can also attest to the fact that people who drink early in the day, combined with an empty stomach, are more likely to develop alcoholic liver disease and alcoholic dementia." Midoriya finished reading from his book and looked up at both of them with big green eyes, practically begging to be validated for the report. Shota gave an approving nod in return, watching out of the corner of his eye as the kid shared a victorious smile with himself.
Nemuri stared for a second before sighing. "I don't know whether I should be impressed that you just have that written in your notebook already for unknown purposes or very, very concerned."
"Both." Shota and the bushy-haired child said in sync. What is it with them and speaking in sync? It's only been a few hours since Midoriya became his secretary. Nemuri was the one to roll her eyes this time.
"Now I have to deal with three sadistic geniuses." She muttered under her breath. "But whatever, it paid off in the end, didn't it? That psychological warfare-"
"Slight emotional manipulation-" Midoriya's teacher breathed out a laugh. Wait, what?
"-worked like a charm! We got Snipe's vote in the bag." She whispered, giving a playful slap to Shota's arm before crossing her arms behind her head and leaning back to relax in her chair. Shota decided to turn a blind eye to whatever she and his coworker did and just move on with the meeting.
"So," he addressed the room, "I'll just cut to the chase. The first course of action I'm making as a temporary principal is the remodeling of the hero course entrance exam." An eruption of voices broke out and he activated his quirk, flashing them a glare with his scorching red eyes. "The favoritism towards flashy, physical quirks has become prominent in hero society, and what kind of hero school would we be if we didn't fight back against that kind of bias?"
"Damnnn Aizawa, kicking off you're entrance exam advocacy on the very first day of being principal." Power Loader bumped his fist against his heart two times, "Respect."
"Maybe senpai starting this project today was destiny!" Thirteen cheered, animatedly moving their hands as they talked. "I don't know about you guys but I've been thinking about robots and quirk discrimination all day, reminded me a lot of my childhood back when my classmates got freaked out by the fact that I didn't have a physical body. I think it's a sign." Ah, yes, quirk discrimination, something Shota can definitely relate to. If he took a nap for every time someone called him a villain just by seeing his quirk in action, his eyebags might have been a much lighter shade of purple.
Agreements rose up from all around the table, all speaking of the similar thoughts they'd had throughout the day. Shota, Nemuri, and Midoriya shared a small smirk at that. But it left their faces just as quickly as it had come once Vlad spoke up.
"You're kidding," Vlad said slowly, clearly trying, and failing, to keep the shock out of his voice at his coworkers' words. "right?" Shota tilted his head.
"Whatever suggested that?" The underground hero prodded, and everyone soon came to realize that this was the calm before the storm.
"W-well, it's just that- Uhm." Vlad sputtered, ears tinging red in a mixture of both embarrassment and frustration, "There's no way you could just change the entrance exam! Fighting the robots is practically a tradition at UA, we've done it for years!"
"Just because it's been done for years doesn't make it right. It can always be improved." Shota rebutted. Vlad was getting on his nerves with his narrow-minded statements.
"Do you even have a plan for this? Or is this just another half-assed project with no real depth behind i-"
"Midoriya," The tired, but more annoyed, teacher snapped his fingers, "if you would." Midoriya flipped to a page in his notebook- his second notebook, might he add, and pulled out eleven sheets of paper, distributing them among the staff. They were the remodeling options that they discussed with Nemuri a few hours ago, only way more detailed.
"Aizawa-sensei has drafted two possible plans for the new hero course entrance exam, both of which have been reviewed and approved by the fundamentals of law teacher in UA's business course, Hyun Gong. Who, by the way, has several Ph.D.'s and has been praised by Nezu himself for her published books. The sheets you have been given include the summary of the plans, how they would work, why the would work, and the funds needed to accomplish either of them.
'After emailing UA's accounting and finance department, we were informed that Nezu had been filtering 5% of this school's annual donations into a bank account that has increased with 1.5% interest every quarter for the past fifty years as a fail-safe of sorts. There's more than enough money to do either of these plans without even making a 0.01% dent in the net worth. All you guys need to do is vote on a plan, and it'll be mailed to the school board and hero commission right away for approval."
Shota swore he could hear a pin drop from how quiet the faculty room was after Midoriya's lengthy report. He doesn't know what they were expecting his bright-eyed student to say, but he knows that no matter what standards they held for the kid, he surpassed it. He's been doing that a lot, lately, and Shota's disappointed in himself for only noticing now, in his second year.
"Hey, kid," A tight voice called out, and the underground hero saw Midoriya lift his head out of his notebook to face the speaker, which just happened to be Vlad King. Shota swears to god if he says anything rude to his student... "Why are you doing this?" His student looked taken aback at the question letting out a quiet,
"Huh?"
"I asked, why are you doing this? Is it for extra credit or something? It has to be because there's no other logical explanation for why'd you help develop this silly project." How dare the word logical fall from his lips. "You love UA, don't you? You like the way we operate here. So why fight against it?"
"W-well, it's not really fighting, i-is it?" Oh no, Shota could physically watch as Midoriya retreated back into his shell, self-confidence being doubted and questioned from Vlad's tone of voice. "Isn't it m-more like improving for the g-greater good-" The blood bending pro hero cut him off.
"Greater good? UA already is the greater good, there are no flaws and nothing needs to be improved upon or changed! We have a system here and the system always works. It worked for you, didn't it?" Shota's eyes darkened, he didn't like where this was going but if he stopped Vlad now it'd make him seem like he can't handle opposing views. "You took the entrance exam and got in fair and square, and now you're one of the star students! That's good enough proof that-"
"But how many potential 'star students' were turned away because of the horrible design of the entrance exam? Say there was a student who had a touch activation color-changing quirk, it'd be perfect for underground heroics and concealing her identity. But how is she going to get the teachers to see that when she isn't able to show her usefulness? You think making the robot blue is going to help anyone? And even if she had martial arts training, no one should expect her to be able to kick the head off a robot." Nemuri snorted at Vlad's scandalized expression but quickly passed it off as a cough, probably fooling everyone but Shota. Midoriya hadn't even said it in a rude way, just stated it as facts, which it was. And maybe that's what made it so important, because it wasn't just about his emotions anymore.
"F-fine!" Ugh, he sounds like a whiny child. "But so what if it's good for concealing identities? If her quirk isn't suited for combat than she shouldn't be a hero." Does he even realize there are people around him with quirks just like the ones he's describing, the ones that aren't 'suited for combat'? "You, on the other hand, have a quirk that perfect for heroics! You don't need to worry about others, because if they really wanted to be a hero, they would do it by themselves. So why even consider them?"
"Meddling in matters that don't concern you is what makes a true hero. I'm helping this project move forward so others don't have to go through the same struggle that w-" Midoriya paused, seeming as if he just became aware of house loud his voice was getting, not that Shota or anyone else here would blame him. Vlad King can't seem to form one sentence without sounding like a bigot. But what exactly did his student mean by the 'same struggle'? Same as who? Shota promised himself that he'd find out later. "The population of people with mental quirks, quirks considered villainous, or no quirk at all have had to face more obstacles than you or anyone else could possibly know about. They don't have the resources or support to become a hero by themselves, which is all the more reason to make these changes."
Shota wanted to get up out of his seat and applaud the kid, and he's sure everyone else here did, too. Well, except Vlad, that is. He just looked embarrassed beyond repair. Good . He had asked Midoriya if this was some extra credit project and even if it really wasn't, there's nothing holding the proud teacher back from doing so anyway. Shota was already flashing him a wicked smirk and preparing to start the vote when suddenly everyone at the table realized something: Midoriya wasn't finished. It wasn't that he had any else to tell them, he'd said enough for everyone to know that he had won the debate. But if there's one more thing they all know, it's that actions speak louder than words. And Midoriya must have known that, too, since for the first time in... ever, the kid leveled his eyes on Vlad's and
glared.
That's right: UA's resident sunshine child just glared at Class 2-B's homeroom teacher, a pro hero . Everyone knew at the beginning of the debate that it was the calm before the storm, but they never expected Midoriya to be the storm. And it wasn't some pathetic dirty look you'd give to your friends when they pissed you off, this was the type of glare you'd give to your enemy- the type of glare a hero would give a villain. A searing pressure filled the room as venomous green eyes seemed to glow and crackle like lightning, waiting to strike it's next victim the second they make a single sound. In this case, that victim was Vlad King. Who wilted under the stare and tried to hide a gulp. And that's when it struck Shota that the boy beside him was no longer Midoriya Izuku, it was someone else. Something else. It was a hero.
It was Deku.
Then, almost like it had never happened, the pressure was gone. His eyes faded back to their usual forest green. The lightning had receded back into the soft clouds, replaced by a striking rainbow. And most importantly, the Deku persona was gone, leaving the Midoriya Izuku they all know and love in its wake. The green-haired child, as if he was oblivious to the situation, gave a cheery, kind smile and clapped his hands together.
"It's voting time!"
In the end, much to Shota's delight,- or as delighted as someone that tired could be- the plan allowing applicants to request to fight a UA student or member of staff as the physical entrance exam had come out on top. And it was a unanimous vote.
>>>>> <<<<<
Shota leaned against Hizashi's car as he waited for the loud blonde to finish grading the last of class 2-C's assignments. His friend- not that he'd ever say it out loud- had offered to drive him to his apartment for today. And Shota, ever the minimalist, accepted, knowing that he would take any opportunity he could to save money on public transportation. The underground hero sighed while thinking over recent events. Today had been a productive day, a good day. Maybe even great. He couldn't describe what the light feeling in his chest was but if he had to take an educated guess... he'd say it was content.
He'd been trying to get one of these remodeling plans approved ever since he accepted Nezu's teaching position at UA, but every single time he'd been shut down. Now, on his first day as temporary principal, he was able to erase years of struggling in the span of just six hours. Is this what it was like to be in Nezu's position? Knowing that because of your superior status, the school, and possibly the future of hero society was at your mercy? It's like he was the puppeteer of this complex performance, the pillars of society attached to his fingertips by strings that he can fully manipulate, not that he would. And he could see why so many people in this corrupt world craved so much power for themselves, not that he'd ever be that selfish. But still, he wouldn't mind living life like this for more than a week. And he could honestly say that he was excited for whatever new changes tomorrow would bring. He could also honestly say that the same applied for having Midoriya as his secretary for more than a week, too.
He turned his head to see the green-haired child in question still by the front steps of the school, jumping up and down as he chattered away, no doubt relaying his experiences as a secretary today to his friends. Shota then observed how Midoriya gradually stopped his jumping as his hand was slowly brought up to his chin and his mouth started moving a mile a minute, not even pausing to take a breath. The teacher- or he guessed principal, for now, looked away from the quartet of friends as he felt something fond shine through his chest, just like it had this morning when he had first pulled the kid out of class to assist him in planning. It was unfamiliar but in no way unwelcomed. Now was the prime time in Shota's life to experience new things, and he guessed that applied to emotions too.
But he immediately snapped out of his trance the moment a pair of deep red sneakers entered his view, and Shota lifted his eyes from the ground to see Midoriya standing in front of him, acting unusually fidgety.
"Problem child," The gruff man greeted, "Do you need something?"
"A-Aizawa-sensei! Hi! Um, I was just wondering..." Midoriya hesitated for a few seconds before continuing, "VladKingisn'tgoingtoreportmetoNezuoncehecomesbackright?" ...What?
"You're gonna have to slow down a bit for me to understand... whatever you just said," Shota tells him, and Midoriya fidgets for a few more seconds before regaining- sort of- his confidence.
"Vlad King isn't going to report me to Nezu for what I did once he comes back and try to expel me... right?" Shota, no. Don't do it. Don't you dare-
He snorted. Just once. And to think a single sound from his throat was enough to scare the living daylights out of his student, judging by how Midoriya's eyes widened and he started fidgeting even more.
"No, Problem Child, he's not going to expel you. Mostly because I'm the only teacher Nezu gave that power to, and because he's too terrified of either of us to try that." Midoriya squeaked.
"Wha...? Why would he be terrified of me?!" Is... is he joking? Shota gave him an incredulous look.
"Your glare lasted five seconds and you still managed to put the fear of God into him, looked like he was on the verge of shitting his pants," Shota stated amusedly, he wishes he had a camera to immortalize that moment.
"Oh!" Midoriya exclaimed, surprise clear in his face and voice as he broke out into a smile, "So it worked!" He whipped out his notebook and scribbling something down. Except it wasn't any of the notebooks Shota gave him, but rather something called 'Hero Analysis Notebook No. 14'. Huh, so this was the one he was always hunching over in class. Shota had seen the way his classmates reacted to it- Uraraka tried to get as far away as possible and Bakugo attempts to blow it up- but he's never actually seen what's inside. It must be pretty damn detailed if Midoriya is writing it, though. But that's not important.
"It worked?" Shota asked once the boy lifted his head, "What worked?"
"There are lots of people that use glaring as an intimidation technique during battle or in an interrogation: Endeavor, Bakugo, Mirko, and Todoroki are the ones I've seen the most. It's a useful skill to have, so I figured I should try my hand at replicating it from a person I know." Midoriya explained, animatedly moving his hands around as he explained.
"Is this person Bakugo?" Bakugo did glare a lot, and it would make sense if Midoriya took inspiration from him. But it still seemed wrong, in a way. Whenever Bakugo glared, it just got people to flinch and back off. When Midoriya glared...
"Hm? Oh, nah!" Midoriya waved his guess off before replying. "I learned it from my dad. He did it a lot when I was little and the first time I glared, my mom said it must have run in the family genes." Midoriya cheerfully recounted.
"Huh, interesting." Midoriya agreed, rapidly nodding his head. And that's when Shota had a not so moral idea. "If you want to collect data about the way people react to your glare, you should try it on classmates and compare results. Start with Bakugo." Should he feel bad? Maybe. Does he? God no.
The green-haired child looked at him like he'd just given him the answers of the universe and wrote it all down, mumbling the whole way. And it was only when the kid realized that Shinso was calling for him that he packed up his book and yelled a quick 'Bye!' at Shota, sprinting away to the lilac-haired boy and disappearing out the gates. Eventually, Hizashi came skipping towards him with a greeting and unlocked the car, letting Shota get in, but Shota was still deep in thought. Midoriya's father, huh?
He must be one terrifying man.