"Welcome back, class!" Hina exclaimed clasping her hands together as the bell rang to indicate the start of the lesson. Her bright smile was met with a mix of exhausted expressions and relieved sighs from class 1-A to be back to some sense of normalcy. Some were a little off put to be back in class, no doubt having had a wonderful time during their internships, but a majority didn't seem all that affected. Huh. She hadn't expected this. Most students she'd taught years previously had wanted to stick around with their internship for much longer.
"I hope your internships went well, and that you learned something new and exciting while away." An indistinguishable grumble was heard through the students, but Hina ignored it to walk back around her desk to sit down. "Now that you've experienced an inkling of what being a hero is like, are there any questions about what you've learned, or things that weren't explained?"
Momo's hand raised with reluctance. Her face was a mix of concern and some sort of guilt. "Hitagawa Sensei...will we have another opportunity to work as an intern?"
The redhead frowned slightly, head tilting. "Unfortunately, no. Is there something the matter, Momo?"
"Well..." The young woman pushed her pointer fingers together, "my internship...wasn't what I expected it to be. I feel like I didn't learn as much as I could have if I'd signed up with...someone else."
"I see..." She said, placing her hands on the desk. Mineta and a few other students nodded, sharing the same sentiment. "I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't what you'd hoped for. But like I said, this is the only opportunity the school helps to arrange for the students to participate in internships."
Momo looked down sadly, and some of the others were clearly disappointed by Hina's words. She was careful to keep her expression neutral. Spoiling the fact that they'd participate in work studies in their coming years wasn't something she wanted to do. It would take away the surprise, for one thing, and they had other things to focus on other than something so far from now in the future.
"But it sounds like your experience wasn't entirely useless. You've learned that sometimes being a hero isn't all that it's cracked up to be. It's not all about standing in the limelight or actively helping people like you expect to do. There are caveats to every profession, and heroism is no different." She said. "So while you may have been disappointed that it wasn't what you'd wanted, keep in mind that this is a stark look at what you may be doing in the future. It may not be what you entirely expect."
Several heads nodded sadly, but then she smiled again. "Are there any further questions?"
For once, Hina didn't mind finishing up her paperwork. Because it was only the first day back from the students' small break from class, there wasn't much to grade. A few surveys and questionnaires about their experience interning to help the agencies, as well as some pop quizzes that will introduce the students to the next section of lessons. All in all, a light work day.
It wasn't long after the school day ended that Nezu called for all of the teachers to assemble in the conference room for a meeting. She didn't recall any sort of memo letting them know there would be one, so she assumed this was an impromptu thing.
The school was quiet, but she bumped into Midnight on her way to the room. She was greeted with a mischievous wink and an arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"So...give me the details." She said happily, ushering them both in the direction of the conference room.
"Details on what?" The redhead questioned in confusion. Midnight only laughed.
"Oh, you know. On what happened after Aizawa walked you home the other night." Was her suggestive reply, backed by an eyebrow waggle.
"Nothing happened..." Hina muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Not everyone has a mind like you, Nemuri. He just walked me there to make sure I didn't black out on the way. I said thanks and he left. That's all."
"Mhmm..." The sensual teacher hummed with a fixed smile. They turned a corner, seeing a few other teachers up ahead entering the room at the end of the hall. "This is all part of your plan to just be 'friends' with him, right?"
"Nothing. Happened." Hina reiterated again. The man in question suddenly appeared from an intersecting hallway in front of them, and he turned towards the conference room without noticing them at all. Hina turned her voice down to a whisper so he wouldn't accidentally overhear. "And you know that's not what I meant when I said that!"
"Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that. Just know you're not off the hook yet." Midnight laughed, finally releasing her as the reached the doorway. "I'll find out one way or another."
"Tch..." Hina shook her head, saying nothing more as they entered.
Each teacher took their seats, and the redhead made sure to take a seat far away from Midnight. The art teacher definitely noticed, and shot her an amused grin from across the table. The only thing she got back in response was a half-hearted glare from her friend.
Nezu finally took his seat at the center chair and placed his paws on the table. "Thank you for coming on such a short notice, all of you. I did not anticipate having to hold this meeting, but I believe it is necessary."
"Is this about the practical exams?" Cementoss asked thoughtfully, and the dog-mouse-bear nodded with a smile.
"Exactly."
"Seems like the students know what they'll be up against...I've already heard the rumors going around about what they'd be facing." Present Mic said with crossed arms beside Hina, obviously put out by that fact. He enjoyed seeing the surprise and slight terror on their faces when they'd first encountered the robots in the entrance exam and the sports festival.
"It'll give them more time to prepare, if anything." Ectoplasm said with a shrug.
Nezu held up a paw to stop their line of thinking. "Not necessarily. Normally, we'd move forward with the same practical exam we've had for previous years, but the recent villain attacks have made me reconsider. I'm not confident the robots alone would be sufficient challenge to prepare the students for future encounters."
Hina winced uncomfortably. "You sound certain it will happen again."
"Given the circumstances, it would be negligent to assume otherwise." Nezu remarked to her calmly, before addressing the rest of the room. "As the times change, we must also change to meet these new dangers on equal footing. It is clear that this generation of heroes has already gotten a taste of the real thing. I feel anything less of a challenge would only hinder their progress. That is why I'm advocating for the students to face the UA staff as their exam opponents."
General surprise filtered through the room, but it only took a moment for them to understand his line of reasoning. They didn't have any other available opponents that were more difficult than the training robots, and it was totally illegal to have them face real criminals or villains. The teachers were a good middle ground that would satisfy the challenge Nezu was looking for.
"Are we certain they're ready to face certified pros?" Snipe questioned, mostly on board with the idea but still somewhat concerned. "There's an obvious power gap and disadvantage to the students here."
"We can introduce a handicap to the teachers to even the odds." Aizawa spoke up, putting forth his own idea.
Power Loader scratched his head thoughtfully. Well, more accurately, his metal helmet. "Hmm...using equipment as a hinderance would make the most sense since there's less than a week until the exam. I could have my students put together some compact weights or quirk dampeners to reduce speed and reaction times."
"It's a universal limitation, so it could work." Hina mentioned, thinking about it. She wasn't sure how much weight would affect All Might or Cementoss, given their capabilities, but there were few other options to consider. Quirk dampeners were expensive and hard to get ahold of. Even with Power Loader's connections, she doubted he could put together so many in time for the exam.
"I'm not sure weights would affect my quirk to a large degree." Thirteen spoke up, a little reluctant. "I don't want to accidentally injure one of the students. Perhaps I should be excluded from the roster."
"I would accept your request, but I must insist you at least keep an open mind." Nezu responded evenly. "You especially have always been very conscientious about the use of your quirk. The students need to understand and be able to work around a quirk that is objectively very dangerous, and I feel like you would be the best opponent to allow them to learn that from."
After a moment, Thirteen nodded in understanding, and the meeting continued. Everyone seemed on board with the concept of weights as a limitation, so Nezu wrote it down on his paper. "Are there any other concerns before we go forward?"
"One-on-one still seems too difficult." Present Mic pointed out. "Even with weights to inhibit our movements, we've all had years to train our quirks. We'd have to hold ourselves back to give them any sort of chance at passing. They should at least be paired up so the matches don't end within a few minutes."
Nezu nodded thoughtfully, listening to all the teacher's opinions. "I agree. Not only will it exercise their own personal capabilities, but also promote teamwork. Teams should be carefully selected, however, to push their limits as individuals and as groups."
"I may already have a few ideas for class 1-A." Aizawa said, and Nezu nodded for him to continue. "Midoriya and Bakugou do not work well together. While they both inspire the other students to push themselves, together they are horribly inefficient. This might be an opportunity for them to overcome that."
Toshinori, who'd been listening intently up to that point raised a hand. "If I may, I'd like to be the one to test them."
Aizawa looked over at the number one hero and nodded. "They both admire you, so it will be an additional obstacle to overcome the parts of themselves that see you as their idol."
"A wonderful idea!" Nezu said, writing it all down in his notebook. "Are there any others you believe should be paired?"
Aizawa listed out a few more potential teams, but Hina's thoughts had already began to drift off by then. Mic's comment about training their quirks for years had hit her somewhere deep. Now that she thought about it, was she even a challenge for her own students? Physically, it would make sense that most could probably overpower her quickly, but even with her recent trainings she wasn't confident she could be a very good opponent for any of her students.
Her brow furrowed, and she tried getting herself back on track. All this uncertainty needed to be addressed. She was a UA teacher. She had a very good handle over her quirk. And damn it all, Hina thought that she was a pretty creative person. Even if a situation wasn't ideal for her quirk type, she'd made it this far with her quick thinking.
It helped for a moment, but her self esteem would take a bit more than that to overcome.
Aizawa had finished talking, and she glanced up to watch Nezu finish writing something in his notebook. He smiled a moment later and set the paper aside. "Very good. I feel confident with these teams and their respective opponents. Now, onto class 1-B..."
The meeting had come to a close. With teams selected, the exams were set.
Hina was one of the first teachers out of the conference room, intent on going home to train some more. Or...maybe the gym. She hadn't gone in the past little while, and she needed to keep herself physically fit. Her speed and nimbleness was what kept her out of most of the danger anyway. Losing them would severely impact her position as a hero.
She was halfway down the hallway before hearing another pair of footsteps behind her. Her head turned and she spotted Aizawa a few steps behind her. Her mouth twitched upwards in a small smile. "Oh, hello."
He frowned slightly, watching her face as she slowed for a moment so they could walk side by side down the hall. "Is something wrong?" He questioned, and she winced.
"No?"
His incredulous, silent stare made her squirm until she gave in and sighed. "It really doesn't matter much. I shouldn't even be disappointed by it."
"What is it?"
"...It's difficult not to feel inadequate in comparison to the rest of the teachers." She admitted with a grimace, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably. "I know I'm not the only teacher that won't be testing the students, and I know I'm probably just not suited for this sort of exam, but...ugh, I don't know what I'm expecting. I sound pathetic."
"The problem is you comparing yourself to everyone in the first place." Aizawa stated bluntly. "It's unproductive and doesn't help you."
Hina sighed with a nod. "I know...it's a work in progress."
"If you wanted to participate in the exam, you should have spoken up." He said, glancing her way. The only person stopping you was yourself."
"Yeah..." Everything he was saying made sense, but her own insecurities made it difficult to really absorb what it all meant. "If I felt like I was better suited to actually assess the students, then maybe I would have said something. Who knows if I would even pose much challenge anyway?"
Aizawa didn't say anything, but she saw his head upturn to glance at a clock on the wall as they passed by. As they neared the school's main entrance lobby, he turned away from the doors and headed the opposite direction. "Come with me."
"Why?"
"You'll see." Was all he said.
Curiosity getting the better of her, and because she always enjoyed their time together, Hina did as he told her to while shrugging her purse higher up on her shoulder.
He took her outside on the other side of the building, where the P.E. Grounds were. It was growing close to the evening, but the sun still painted the clouds a mix of colors as it set. She appreciated the view until Aizawa stopped in the middle of the open dirt plot of land they usually held the outdoor assessments on and turned to regard her.
"What are we doing here?" She asked again, and he crossed his arms.
"Fight against me."
She stopped short, brows rising in surprise. "Fight...against you? Why?"
"If you're serious about training yourself to be stronger, you shouldn't just focus on your quirk, and speed will only get you so far." He stated. "Show me what you can do, and maybe I can help train you in things you need improvement on."
Biting her lip, Hina looked around, still reluctant. "I'm not sure doing this here is a good idea. If any of the students see, they might think it's ok to have their own private training sessions between themselves."
"Class is over. There's no one here right now."
"I suppose, but-"
His expression hardened. "Get over your insecurities, Scarlet. No more excuses. The only way to keep them safe is to push past what makes you weak. Unless all of that was just a lie?"
The way he said it was accusatory, rude even. It should have pissed her off. But it didn't. Treating everyone with kindness often meant that they did the same to her in return. Other than a little teasing from Midnight and the others, she couldn't remember the last time someone had outright been disrespectful to her like that. And maybe that was exactly what she needed. That little jolt to make her realize that all this pussyfooting around and feeling sorry for herself was ridiculous and unbecoming of her position. Or maybe it was the very fact that it came from him, of all people, the most logical man she knew.
For now, she'd push the horrible self-doubt down to the furthest parts of her mind and take this seriously. Aizawa stood waiting for her next move, hands stuffed in his pockets casually. Maybe he expected her to walk away. Well...if he'd been hoping to goad her into fighting him, he'd succeeded.
She tossed her bag to the side and stepped away from it to give her some space. The indecision had faded from her stance. "It wasn't."
Aizawa's hands came out of his pockets, and he reached up to put on his yellow, protective goggles. "Good."
His hair lifted from it's relaxed position, and the capture weapon began coiling fluidly around him, like a snake waiting for prey. Truth be told, to be on the receiving end of it was a little intimidating, but she couldn't think about that right now. If she didn't take this seriously, she'd be taken down in a second. Living that down would be nigh impossible.
"I won't go easy on you." Eraserhead promised, relaxing a bit so he wasn't so rigid, ready to react to anything she might do. Scarlet Seer smiled.
"Good."
Tying up her hair so it would stay out of her face, she debated whether to try using her quirk on him at all or to stick exclusively with her physical capabilities, however limited they were. The fact that he knew what her quirk was and could instantly negate it posed disadvantageous to her. He wasn't immediately trying to erase it, though, so perhaps he'd allow her a single attempt to demonstrate how she'd typically use it in combat. Trying to use it over and over might cause her to lose focus, though. She'd have to be careful.
The end of his capture weapon lashed out with sudden speed, but she had been prepared for it and dodged to the left. Using the momentum from her initial movement, she began running in an arc on his left side, mindful of the second end of his weapon and watching to see if he would deploy it.
She heard a 'whooshing' behind her and reflexively ducked down in a slide. The ribbon-like weapon rushed just above her head. She didn't stay in place too long, knowing that he could redirect it in whatever way he saw fit. Staying on her feet and in motion was the only way to combat it in the first place.
He was on the move now, running the opposite direction to keep his distance from her and keep his long-range advantage. It was a game of cat and mouse now.
She followed after him, dodging and weaving past the ends of his capture weapon when he tried to wrap it around her. She extended her quirk, touching upon his mind to try reading his movements to easily predict how to evade his attacks. Whereas Eraserhead had to maintain constant contact, she had the advantage of being able to at least blink once she established a connection.
They danced around each other, with him trying time and time again to restrain her and Scarlet Seer slowly gaining more ground as her speed kept her one step ahead. But the closer she got to him, the faster she'd have to react to his capture weapon. She felt the ribbon brush past the edge of her boot, and she yanked it out of the way quickly.
From behind, she felt more as instinct rather than heard from his mind, and leaped to the right as his capture weapon intersected where she had just been a moment ago, the ribbons crossing over each other before looping to head towards her again. She sprang back into action, heading straight towards him now rather than skirting along his peripherals.
She came up with an idea. It was shaky, but perhaps it would work. Knowing his quirk, she'd only get one shot at it, so it had to be perfect. The distance was closing between them. Scarlet Seer waited until the timing was just right...
"Aizawa Sensei!" She projected to his mind in Midoriya's voice, focused off to his right side and behind him, closer toward the school building. She knew that alone wouldn't be enough to convince him it was real, though. So she added a little more with it.
"Deku, you damn nerd! Don't run off and snitch to a teacher!" She sent in Bakugou's voice, and she directed a fake distracted glance to his right just to sell it.
It worked. She saw his moment of hesitation, that tiny second of doubt and uncertainty as he turned his head towards the where the noise was supposedly coming from. One voice would be suspicious, but two right after the other, of two different people no less, felt more genuine. Scarlet Seer smiled a little as his ribbons receded due to his inattention, before using her chance to get in close.
Putting her back into it, she sent a solid punch into Eraserhead's face as he faced forward again, careful not to aim it at the scar from his battle from USJ. She didn't want to unintentionally cause more damage, but felt it necessary not to hold back since he had no intention of doing so. He grunted in surprise, but Eraserhead was surprisingly durable, and managed not to stagger too greatly from the blow.
Scarlet Seer used the new angle to drive her elbow backwards into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him briefly, but he seemed to have recovered from her distraction. She caught a flash of red eyes behind his goggles and she felt her quirk's reach in his mind give way. Spinning to follow the movement of his stagger, he swiped his leg out and caught her in the shoulder, forcing her away from him with a powerful kick. The force behind it probably bruised her shoulder, if anything. She nearly lost her balance, wobbling a bit.
Her boots slid on the dirt for a few feet, but she immediately went back on the offensive, intent not to lose her foothold now that she was in close. Eraserhead's capture weapon had returned to floating around his neck and moved no further. He met her punch with a deflect, and they began a battle of melee fighting.
He was much stronger than her physically, every blow backed by muscle and strength that Hina did not possess. Each attempt at a block felt like she was being beaten down, like a hammer banging consistently at a weakening wall. Scarlet Seer's attacks were quick and did not penetrate very far. However, she was constantly moving, using her small frame and lithe movements to target weak points and vulnerable spots on his body before he had a chance to react.
Both were fast and focused, neither giving much attention to anything other than each other while they sparred. The fact that the sky had darkened into a navy blue hue was lost to them both, and the area was lit only by the solitary lamp post nearby.
Scarlet Seer's breath was heavy with all of the effort she'd exuded during their fight. The concept of time was far too complicated for her to think about right now, but it felt like they'd only just began their little sparring match. She would have been surprised by how long they'd actually been going for.
She was caught by surprise when, instead of blocking a punch like she expected, Eraserhead simply stepped out of the way. Scarlet Seer's own momentum sent her stumbling forward. She tried turning but the damage was done. She felt his strong hand grip her wrist and pull her backwards, his foot tripping her up. With a cry of surprise, she was sent unceremoniously into the dirt, one of his knees pressing itself into her back.
She panted into the ground, trying to catch her breath. Now that the world was coming back to her, her eyebrows shot up when she heard his own labored breathing. As if she'd actually been giving him a run for his money. That didn't seem right. He was Eraserhead, after all. A very combat-efficient pro hero. And she was...her. Ah, there was her insecurities coming back...
"That wasn't bad, you know." Aizawa said as he took off his goggles, still trying to get his breath back. His hair had fallen back into place and the ribbons were resting on his shoulders once more. "You're not as useless in a fight as you seem to think."
"It didn't feel like I lasted very long." She replied, laying her head on it's side so she could see him out of the corner of her vision. Hina watched him check his phone in his pocket, before shrugging.
"15 minutes is still more than most of the villains get." He said, showing her the time on the screen. Her expression turned to one of surprise, and he pocketed the device again. "Any longer and I'm not as effective anyway."
"Still, I can see why you're a good fit for 1-A." She said with a small smile. It faltered a little at the sudden realization that Aizawa hadn't let go of her wrist yet, and his knee was still planted in the middle of her back. It wasn't painful, per se, but their breathing and the position just made it seem a little...more meaningful.
Reigning in her oncoming dirty thoughts before they got out of hand, she squirmed in his grasp. "Umm...you can let go now." She said.
"Right..." His hand released her wrist and the weight pressing down on her from above lifted. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and faced across from him.
"So, what's my final grade?" She asked jokingly, and he shook his head.
"Your speed and agility are impressive. They're your best assets. If you can figure out a way to implement more of your quirk into your combat style, it would make a big difference."
Hina nodded, expecting as much but still felt an inner warmth at hearing his praise. "I have a few things in mind. It's just a matter of learning them and putting them into practice. Daichi's been able to project images for years, but I was never comfortable with going that far."
"Why? It sounds very useful in combat." He asked.
"It always seemed too invasive. I didn't want to end up accidentally traumatizing someone or causing more damage than was necessary. I didn't want to give the public any cause for concern after he was arrested." She shrugged, but then rolled her shoulder a few times when it felt stiff. "You nailed me pretty good, you know."
The moment the word 'nailed' left her mouth she inwardly cringed, already struggling to keep her sultry thoughts at bay.
"So did you." He mentioned, rubbing along his jaw to ease some sort of pain or ache. She grimaced.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I didn't injure you, did I?" She unconsciously reached forward to tilt his face more towards the light of the lamp post beside them to see if there was anything left over. His chin was scruffy from his 5 o'clock shadow. He didn't seem to mind and let her move his face as she wanted to.
"I'm fine." She let go of his face and he stood. He reached down and Hina eagerly accepted his hand to help her to her feet, snatching her purse in the process.
"Thank you for telling me what I needed to hear, by the way." She said as they began walking towards the doors of the school. He looked at her and she smiled. "I know I need to be more confident in my abilities, but I sink back into being insecure most of the time. Maybe I just need a rough reminder every now and then to get me back in line."
Aizawa shrugged. "We can spar a few times a week, if you want. I can help you get stronger."
"Really?" She perked up, her head tilting with a mix of curiosity and excitement. The idea of getting to spend more time with him outside of work, while also furthering her goal of being more reliable as a hero was very appealing. And he'd even offered it outright. Hina had no need to ask.
"I don't mind the practice." He replied evenly, and her smile widened.
"I would like that very much."
Hina could have sworn she saw the corner of his mouth twitch in an almost-smile, but it was getting dark and the light wasn't reliable. He stared at her a moment before facing forward again, and they began their trek towards their respective homes.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
