Ready and prepared for the day early for once, Hina sat in her classroom, unsure what to do for the next 20 minutes. She wasn't sure what prompted her to get to work earlier than usual, perhaps the simple desire for a break in her routine. The redhead stared at the clock, her brown eyes tracking each tick of the second hand as it spun around the circular face. Each tick sounded so much louder now that she was focused on it.
Might as well stretch my legs a bit...no use sitting here staring at the wall.
Standing from her desk, she yawned. Hina opened her classroom door and stepped out into the hallway. It was brightly lit and clean, but somehow felt stale without the occasional student milling about. It only reinforced her belief that the student body really brought this building to life, rather than the state-of-the-art facilities or famed reputation it carried.
For once, the teacher's lounge was empty when she walked in. No Present Mic shouting his greeting as soon as she stepped inside, nor Midnight asking about the latest drama to unfold in her life. Just quiet serenity. Smiling in appreciation of this, she walked over to the coffee machine and set the pot to start.
The gentle hum of the machine was the only noise she heard other than the building's air conditioning kicking on in the vents above. She leaned against the counter to wait for it to finish, when the trench-coated mathematics teacher entered the room. She accepted that the quiet time to herself would only last so long, and flashed him a happy smile.
"Ectoplasm, how're the legs?" She asked, and he chuckled.
"Fake, as always." He made his way over to her on the skinny battle prosthetics that were part of his hero costume, and not for the first time she wondered how he could ever keep his balance on them. "How're the kids?"
Hina grinned. "Non-existent, as usual. You know I'm not exactly looking for a husband any time soon."
"Ah, well. Someone's bound to have a few little ones any day now. I look forward to the inevitable requests to babysit." He said happily, settling himself a few feet away to wait for the coffee to be ready.
So set on being 'the favorite uncle,' but with no desire to have his own children and lacking any siblings, he was vocally encouraging most of the staff members to have kids already so he could finally fulfill that long-time wish. Of course, as pro heroes, relationships weren't exactly an easy thing to maintain, but he could hope all the same.
Hina sighed, staring at the pot as it began filling itself with the revitalizing beverage they were practically dependent on. "I'd say the students this year are children enough for me. Sometimes I wonder how their actual parents managed to raise them for years on end. They must be saints."
"I'll say. Many of them are struggling with the mathematics course, but are reluctant to attend my after-class study session to help them one-on-one." He shook his head. "They know what they have to do to fix their falling grades, but won't put in the work to do it."
"Maybe your helmet scares them away. Go without it for a day?" She offered up playfully, and he looked at her.
"You're saying they'd prefer me sans costume?" He asked incredulously. "They might just scream in terror and run the other direction. I don't think most of them realize that these pearly whites are the real deal and not just painted on."
"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself. You're beautiful just the way you are." She said with a pat to his shoulder, her smile widening. She enjoyed the playful banter that they shared when around each other. He was like the brother from her youth, not the one who now sat in prison.
The coffee machine beeped, and Hina reached for the now-full pot. She poured herself a cup, leaving plenty of room for her milk and sugar, before passing Ectoplasm what was left. He filled his cup nearly to the brim with the black liquid, setting the pot back in its place before taking a large sip. The fact that it was piping hot didn't seem to bother him in the least. "Ah, that's the stuff."
Hina made a face, stirring her drink up to mix completely. "I don't know how you can stand just straight bean water. Blegh."
"I don't understand how you can still call that coffee." He retorted, pointing to her creme-colored beverage. "It's more like sugary milk with the hint of coffee taste."
"Just how I like it." She winked, taking a tentative sip to test the temperature. She glanced at the clock, seeing there were only a few minutes before class began, and she pushed away from the counter. "I should get going. Knowing my first class, they'll be there already waiting for me."
Ectoplasm laughed. "I'll probably hang back a few minutes, since my students could use that precious time to cram before I drop a test on them today. It's worth a quarter of their grade, too."
"What a cruel man you are." Hina replied cheerfully, waving to him as she left the lounge.
The warmth from the drink made her hands warm, even in the cooler hallways. Outside, she could see stragglers entering through the UA barrier, backpacks on their backs and hurrying to make it to class on time. She sipped away at her drink as she walked back to her classroom then frowned when, lo and behold, Aizawa appeared around the corner up ahead.
"What in the hell are you doing here?" She asked in surprise, approaching him.
Through the bandages covering his face, she could still see his eyes. "...Working?" He replied, unsure why she was asking.
Hina gestured to his face and arms in bewilderment, which were still completely wrapped in bandages, leaving them basically useless. "Are you kidding me? Look at you! You should be allowing your body to heal, not coming to work."
"I'd rather be here than sitting in a hospital bed all day." He said in a muffled voice. Hina raised a brow, but he stuck her with a bland stare. "As hard as that might be to believe."
He seemed alright just standing there and walking around, but being the homeroom teacher of class 1-A would certainly require a little more than just filling out paperwork and giving a lecture. Especially with the upcoming Sports Festival, his students would expect to train nonstop.
She also knew he was steadfastly dedicated to his job, almost to a ridiculous degree, and the thought of being absent for a class was probably something he avoided at all costs.
"Well," she finally gave in, thinking that he was both a capable teacher and hero alike, and that he could at least take care of himself, "just take it easy, alright? No need to make things any worse than they are."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Hina looked up as the class bell rang, and she sighed. "I'd better get going, sorry. I've got to get them on the bus soon." She started past him down the hall.
"Oi." He called, and she turned in place. "Let me buy you a coffee when I'm out of these bandages."
Her initial instinct was to ask why, but she figured it didn't matter anyway because it meant they were becoming closer. She smiled, giving a thumbs up as she started towards her class again.
"Sounds great! I love forward to it."
Hina ushered the students through doors of the community center, having them huddle in the main lobby. They looked around at the many tables and carts that littered the room, filled with cans and boxed goods that would be put together in packages for those in need. The redhead spotted the director on the other side of the room and waved in his direction.
"Ah, thank you so much for coming! Your help will be greatly appreciated..." He said, clasping his hands together. He was an older gentleman, portly with a large face but kind eyes. He bowed to all of them gently. "My name is Uno Tadashi. I'm the director of Community Services for the city. We are very fortunate to have you all on hand to assist us."
Hina stepped in, turning to class 1-A with a smile. "The reason I've brought you here is to hopefully enlighten you. There are more ways to be a hero to the city than just fighting villains, and helping out in a food pantry or refuge shelter are things that many people do not realize are very important for the community's general well being."
"Nowadays," Tadashi jumped in, looking over the students sadly, "your generation seem to forget about our cause, or figure that someone else will do it. This has caused a decline in awareness to what we do. I'm hoping that some of you today will take a liking to it so that you might return one day and help again."
"Until the class period is over, please follow all instructions that he gives you, and have a bit of fun! You may just enjoy it."
She looked over her students, extending her quirk. Most, namely the female students, were excited at the possibility of being of assistance. A majority of the boys didn't feel much towards the task at hand, simply viewing it as a learning and educational assignment, while one boy in particular was not happy whatsoever to be here.
Bakugo stood with his arms crossed, glaring at the tables stacked high with food. Kirishimia seemed to be trying to convince him that this would be a good thing, but he wasn't having any of it.
Tadashi paired them off at random, choosing two students at a time and directing them to specific parts of the building, instructing them that supervisors would tell them their next task. Before long, Bakugo and Sato were the final two students, but Hina stepped in before Tadashi could assign them a section.
"I'd like to speak to Bakugo for just a moment, if you don't mind." She said, earning her a pointed frown from the young boy. Obviously he didn't feel they needed to have a discussion about anything.
"Not at all! I'll have this young gentleman come with me for the time being." The older man smiled, ushering Sato over to a small office.
Hina walked back over towards the entrance of the building, pushing her way through the door so they'd have privacy away from the rest of the class. Once Bakugo had exited, he kicked at the ground with a scoff.
"Tch, you're really wasting my time, teach. How's this supposed to help me make my quirk stronger? Or figure out ways to work on my weaknesses?" He gestured to the building angrily. "All of them can spend their day moving cans around, but I want to go back to the school to train with All Might or Aizawa Sensei."
Hina sighed, placing her back against the building's brick wall. "I see we still don't quite see eye to eye, do we? Even after I explained my course to you on the first day."
"I understand the importance of the other stuff," he corrected with a softer tone, "but I won't have time to play community service with the city after I become a hero. Villains will be my priority. I don't get the point of doing this now."
She reached into his mind, seeing that he was desperate to reach his goal as quickly as possible, and that he saw this as a set back, a waste of time while he could be doing something more productive. So determined for someone so young, with such a nearsighted view of growth. Hopefully he'd see that there was more than one way to get to his ultimate goal.
"Bakugo, you need to understand that I am not doing this simply because I feel like it. There is a purpose to everything I teach you." She said gently, regarding him with a small smile. "I wanted the students to discover this on their own, but I'll tell you outright instead."
She pointed back to the doors of the building. "The people in there? The ones that you help organize a food pantry with and the ones who receive that food as a result? They are the people responsible for determining who the number one hero is. Not the media, not the police or the government itself, but the ones you actively assist every day. Any John Doe you might bump into on the street. They're the ones who vote in those popularity polls which ultimately decide the rankings.
"If you want to become the number one hero so badly, you need to show them you have their best interests at heart. And that means displaying your humility, offering your services, without any expectation of reward or credit."
He still looked a little speculative, eyeing her as if she were about to pounce at him with the intent to deceive him, but she simply trooped forward. "Take All Might and Endeavor as examples; although Endeavor has definitely closed more cases and is speculated to have just as much if not more power than All Might, it's his attitude and superior demeanor that keep him fixed at the number two spot. All Might's hero-like personality is what makes him a Symbol of Peace to the country, not just the fact that he can defeat villains with little trouble."
Bakugo's arms were still crossed but his expression turned more thoughtful than annoyed, staring hard at the pavement. She searched his mind again, and could see the way he was carefully working his way through what she'd just explained. Having that tangible comparison was a great help. She'd keep that in mind for the future.
"So, do you understand why we are here?" She asked quietly, giving him some time to decide if he was going to accept her lesson for the day. Bakugo was a tricky young man in particular, with a very rigid definition of what being a hero actually meant. His vision of being a pro was certainly attainable, but there were definitely several things that he could work on to make that dream much easier to accomplish. She hoped he'd come to understand at least a little of what she was trying to teach him.
"Yeah. Don't want all of the others getting too far ahead. I'm not gonna let them steal the spotlight from me." He announced resolutely, stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking back inside of the building, not looking back to see if she was following. Hina smiled to herself, just a step behind him, congratulating herself mentally for having overcome this small obstacle.
Hina unlocked her apartment door with a jangle of her keys and she pushed inside with a satisfying sigh. After a long day of going back and forth from the school with each class period of students, it felt so nice just to be home to kick her feet back and relax. Her bag and keys were tossed on the kitchen table to deal with later and she went immediately to her room to change into comfortable clothing.
Tossing her hero costume in the washer for the next day, she collapsed onto the couch in her hoodie and sweatpants and just stared at the black tv screen for a moment. Huh. She hadn't even bothered to turn a light on. With a huff, she pushed herself up from the comfy cushions and clicked the nearest lamp on, illuminating her dark apartment with a dim light.
Now that she was up, she recognized how hungry the long day had made her. Staring at cans and boxes of food made her think about eating all day long, and she'd skipped her lunch after all was said and done. She resorted herself to something quick and easy so she could get off her feet already.
Returning to the couch with a ramen cup and a cup of tea, she turned on the tv to watch something. It was some sitcom about a billionaire man who'd taken in a poor, single mother in need of work. From what she could tell, the man was slowly falling for the woman, while she only saw him as an employer, and thus the drama continued.
After several minutes it began to bore her more than anything. She clicked the button for the next channel, skipping it after it became apparent it was nothing but infomercials. An easy invention that could cut all of her fruits and vegetables in a matter of seconds? No thanks...
Finally settling on the news because nothing else seemed all that interesting, she leaned back and began to eat from her cup of ramen. The news anchors debated amongst themselves if UA hosting the sports festival after such a blatant attack against them was truly the right move.
One female guest shook her head adamantly, jabbing her finger onto the glass table she sat at with the others. "This an obvious result of UA not following the educational status quo and being allowed to operate virtually unregulated. It should be noted that no other school in the district has had such an event occur on school property, nor has the school apparently increased their security measures to prevent another such instance."
"UA has an upstanding record of producing high profile heroes from it's alumni." The male beside her pointed out, obviously fed up with what the woman was saying. "Saying that, it's very apparent they know what they're doing. Having more regulations in place, or Big Brother looking from over their shoulder, would only hinder the growth of these future heroes."
"Oh, come on. Is no one going to take into account that students were put in extreme danger here? Maybe no one else is willing to say it, but I will. UA shows a blatant disregard for their students, interested instead on high ratings and pushing out as many pro heroes as possible. That's the real reason they're pushing to host the Sports Festival, despite the circumstances."
"Oh, fuck off with that..." Hina muttered through a mouth full of ramen. The woman was obviously delusional, or a vocal advocate for completely educational conformity. Thankfully, she came across as a nutcase, so it was difficult for anyone to take her seriously. Anyone who worked at UA would tell you their first and foremost priority was the safety of the students, no matter who they were.
The segment quickly ended, and the tv cut to a commercial break. She got up to use the bathroom, keeping the bathroom open so she could hear the news even from down the hallway. After relieving herself, she set about the task of removing her makeup, wiping away the foundation and mascara that she'd applied that morning.
From the bathroom, she could hear the channel switch back over to the news, the commercial break over. A ding from her phone made her look down, but it was only a work email, and she ignored it for the time being. Hina looked back up at the mirror, rubbing the makeup removing wipe along the creases beside her eye.
"...identified the escaped villains from the recent prison explosion."
The redhead perked up, and ran into the other room to watch the segment. The male news anchor with one horn sticking out of his head faced the camera directly, a picture of the prison scene displayed beside him.
"Prison officials have confirmed that a total of 6 villains managed to escape from the facility in the moments before authorities and heroes arrived to contain the situation." Beside him, the picture changed to three mugshots of villains who had escaped, their names just underneath.
Her eyes scanned the three faces, but she didn't recognize any of them. But then they switched, and her heart sank.
The middle picture, a scowling red headed man in a prison uniform, with the name Hitagawa Daichi underneath. His gray eyes, which he'd gotten from their father, stared at her from the screen. The fingers of her free hand gripped the couch cushion like a vise, and the words the news anchor was saying sounded far away and muffled. His picture disappeared after a moment, and she wandered back to the bathroom, feeling just a little numb.
"Daichi..." She muttered, shaking her head slowly. Her fears had come to fruition.
Suddenly, every dark alley and street corner now posed itself a danger to her. With no idea of where he was, she had no way to prepare. Hina didn't like the thought of having to live her life like a hermit now, but she knew that Daichi probably still held a lot of hatred for her. For what reason, she couldn't guess, but their last encounter had certainly made that perfectly clear. He hated her, with every fiber of his being. And she was without doubt that she would be one of his targets.
Her need to become stronger now had a second purpose. Not only would she need to keep the students safe from villains that hoped to harm them, but she'd also have to keep herself safe from her own brother. And it was now a much more time sensitive goal than it had previously been.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
