Hina's eyes glanced around the room of students for several moments after the beginning bell had rung. All 20 in place, no empty seats. For the most part, they all looked as normal, and for a moment it was as if the past week had never even happened. She'd never been more thankful of such a thing.
"Hmm, I feel like it's been...awhile since we've all been able to gather in a class setting." She said suddenly, giving them all a warm smile. "I hope I'm not the only one who is happy to be back here together."
Several quiet nods and smiles responded, and her smile lifted even more. She clasped her hands behind her back and tilted her head. "I suppose I should ask how you've all acclimated to your new dorms. Exciting, I hope?"
"They're great!" Ashido cried out, arms spread up above her head. "My closet is huge!"
Yaoyorozu smiled apologetically. "Actually...I'm used to a much bigger room. But I think it'll be a good experience for me! And it offers a nice quiet place to study."
"Hanging out with everyone is a lot easier now, though." Kirishima grinned, arms crossed. "It's awesome!"
Several positive replies followed suit, all for varying reasons. Hina was relieved to hear them all in high spirits. Well...everyone but one person. She spared a hasty glance at Bakugou, who leaned forward on his crossed arms on his desk. His stare was fixed on the chalkboard behind her, not bothering to partake in the conversation with the others. It wasn't entirely out of place behavior for the grouchy boy, but considering what he'd been through just recently...
I should keep an eye on him, she thought to herself.
"You got a new suit, didn't you, Hitagawa Sensei?" Hagakure questioned rather obviously. Her sleeves moved as if she'd clutched her hands together. "It looks beautiful!"
"Thank you." She said, looking down at her upgraded suit with pride. "I figured it was time for an upgrade."
Clapping her hands together, she turned and went to stand behind her podium, addressing the class. "Now then, while I'd love to chat about how you've all been a bit longer, we do have a lesson to get to. So, please take out your notebooks and prepare to write some information down. Today's topic is very important."
Hina grabbed the bottom of her projector and pulled it until it was left hanging, the sound of shuffling papers and pencils behind her. She went to her laptop on her podium and pulled up the powerpoint she'd put together, holding the clicker she'd need to go through each page. Once finished, she turned again and faced the class.
"In light of the recent catastrophes you've all been very closely associated to, I thought it prudent to begin discussing the importance of counseling and therapy." She said, going over and turning off one light so they could more easily see the front projections. "And it may be surprising to hear, but counseling is actually a very integral part of being a hero."
A sharp scoff made her look to Bakugou in the front row.
"Therapy? Really?" He scowled. "I'm not gonna sit down and talk about my feelings every time I rescue someone." He remarked cuttingly.
Hina offered him a patient smile. "Of course not. I wouldn't expect you to. It would make more sense to visit with one if you found yourself somehow unable to rescue the civilian, don't you think?"
The mere suggestion of such a thing left them all stunned, but she wanted her message to come across very clearly. It wouldn't do to lie to them and have them unprepared for the profession they were all training for. "We are all human and mistakes can happen. Maybe you don't quite make it in time to save a hostage, or someone becomes injured in the crossfire. Perhaps you experience a trauma, a harrowing situation, or find yourself skirting the edge of death.
"Heroes constantly put themselves in situations of great danger," she went on to explain, eyeing each of them carefully to gauge how her words were affecting them, "and any number of things can go wrong that you may not expect. A miscalculation. A defeat. A loss. Whether it's your fault or not, it is something you will be expected to handle and confront."
The class went quiet, the realization that, they too, would have to face such a circumstance one day. She watched as Bakugou's eyes narrowed, and he quickly looked away from her. Her own squinted imperceptibly, concerned by his reaction. With everything he'd been through recently, she wanted to pay close attention to him in particular.
"...even someone like All Might?" Mineta asked warily, raising his hand a little.
"I can't speak for all of the top heroes," Hina answered, "but yes. Even they attend private therapy sessions to work through the experiences they face while on the job. It is nothing shameful or surprising. Saying that being a pro hero is difficult would be a gross understatement, and to be at their best, they must continuously work through those hardships."
With a click of her remote, the screen shifted to show an older picture of female hero, wearing what was very close to a ninja-inspired costume. "Do any of you recognize this hero?" She asked, eyes scanning the students in the class.
Even Midoriya, who she wouldn't have been half surprised if he did know the answer, didn't raise his hand. All she saw was unfamiliarity and shaking heads. Nodding, she clicked again and the pro's name appeared under her.
"Her name was Whisper, an American pro hero with a noise-cancelling quirk. Her specialty was hostage rescue and infiltration into dangerous and unpredictable situations." Hina went on. "She was very successful in her time. Though the American ranking system is a bit different from ours here, she frequently neared the top ten rankings during her active time period. Her skills were highly sought after all over the country, and she had many fans."
"What happened to her?" Ojiro asked. "If she was so great, why haven't we heard of her?"
"A good question. One I will answer in a moment." The redhead said calmly, clicking the slide to go on to the next one. "How about him. Anyone ever seen him before?"
Another hero, this one a more recently taken photo, lit up the projector. A heavily-muscled man with a stern expression. Again, more shakes of their head. "This is Broadsteel, a Russian hero. Highly successful in his career, with a very similar ability of hardening and strengthening, Kirishima." Hina nodded to the boy, who grinned.
Another click, and another hero. "How about this one?"
"That's-" Midoriya spoke up, then stopped, looking a little uncomfortable. "That's Mach Man..."
"Mach Man? I've never heard of him." Sato said in confusion, looking at the screen closer as if that would give him an answer.
Hina glanced around, but didn't see any other recognition in the room. She looked back at the green-haired boy. "Midoriya, would you kindly explain to the class?"
He swallowed. "Umm...he was a super-speed hero from northern Japan. He was really good at rescues and started becoming sort of popular up there, but..."
He hesitated, and she prompted him to continue with a nod.
"...they don't talk about him anymore, since he sort of...went crazy."
"Crazy? How?" Asui asked, her head cocked in confusion.
Hina clicked her remote, and a news article showed up on the screen. "Mach Man, while in the middle of a rescue, fatally injured a young child while engaged in his super speed. The child suffered immense head trauma from the tremors and vibrations of his body, and died the following day. He was 2 years old."
She sighed, shaking her head. "It was an honest mistake. He had no intention of causing harm to the small boy, but once he was made aware of it, he had to be taken into custody by law enforcement. He was hysterical and unconsolable, and was considered a danger to himself and the general public. He's been a resident of a mental health hospital for 12 years now."
Another click, and the screen flipped back to the picture of Broadsteel, another article also accompanying it. "Broadsteel was renowned throughout his country as the strongest man alive. He was talked about even internationally. But one day, he encountered another hero who bested him in a test of strength. It was a friendly competition, nothing sinister. But for some reason, he couldn't handle the sudden realization that he was not the strongest person alive."
She clicked it again, and a second article was shown. "While it may sound trivial to you, they believe that this self-identity crisis caused a sudden addiction to steroid substances and unhealthy boosting practices. He was determined to regain his title and keep hold of what he'd grown accustomed to being. It eventually killed him."
One more click, and Whisper appeared on the screen again.
"Whisper's situation was more drawn out than the others." Hina said sadly, staring up at the woman's smiling picture from her news article. "After years of success, she experienced a large defeat. The villain she'd been tracking for some time managed to kill all his hostages and escape arrest.
"After that, a few more similar things occurred-an infiltration mission was botches, and members of her team were killed, hostages were again killed before she could assist-and she was suddenly stuck in a string of terrible losses in her career. Looking back, the circumstances of these defeats were dire. Any hero could have made the same decisions she had, but Whisper couldn't handle the sudden downturn in her job performance."
The redhead turned back to the class. "They discovered her in her apartment a few days later. She had taken her own life after being unable to cope with her various failures."
Another click, and the screen went blank. For several seconds, she let the silence persist as the students took in what she'd told them. Some had faraway stares, imagining such horrible things that had happened to these people. Some looked visibly sad, or were still writing down the information.
"I'm not telling you all these stories in order to scare you, or depress you. I simply want you to understand what might have changed their outcomes. There is one thing that all of these heroes had in common." She stated. "None of them attended counseling sessions during their careers to help relieve themselves of these internal struggles. None of them had been taught or sought out the skills necessary to work through and confront these feelings. Instead, they let these negative experiences fester and grow."
"Can counseling really do that much for you?" Shoji asked with some doubt, and Hina nodded.
"Absolutely. Sometimes, even the simple act of talking about it can help. But professional counselors and therapists know the techniques that help you through your traumas. That's what they are trained for, and there are professionals hired specifically to handle pro hero clients."
She saw several of the students nod in understanding, though some doubt still remained in their expressions. It wasn't much of a surprise, really.
"It may not make the most sense until the first time you experience that moment of defeat or failure. But keep what I say in mind. Physical attacks will leave wounds, but they heal with time. Emotional scars don't go away on their own. They are entirely more difficult to erase and require you to face what has happened to you. Don't see it as a sign of weakness to receive help from someone else."
Waiting for her tea to heat, Hina leaned against the counter in the teacher's lounge during her lunch hour. It had been a long day thus far, and the day wasn't even over yet. She still had three classes left to teach. Obviously the course material for today's lesson wasn't of the upbeat nature, but she hadn't anticipated it dragging her own morale down so much as well. It was honestly exhausting.
Staring down at her cup, she didn't realize Cementoss had entered the room until he stepped up beside her. She startled with a gasp, flinching away from him.
"I didn't mean to scare you." The cement hero said evenly, and she quickly shook her head.
"No, no...I was lost in thought was all. My tea is probably done by now anyway." She grabbed for the kettle and poured herself a cup, taking it with her to the couch to sit. "How are you, Cementoss? It's been awhile since I've last gotten to talk to you."
"I'm well, thank you." He responded, pulling his lunch from the fridge and joining her on the couch opposite to converse. "Certainly better now that school is back in session. Coming back to classes is a welcome change to staying at home. I enjoy the routine of the school day."
Hina smiled, agreeing. "There's something comforting about being surrounded by the students, too. Like everything is back to the way things were."
"Yes...though not everything is as it was." He said, eyeing her evenly. "You've changed a bit, if you don't mind me saying."
"I have?" She quirked a brow, taking a sip of her tea. "I mean...my costume is different-"
"Obviously, but your demeanor too. The way you carry yourself is that of...esteem." He eventually settled on. "I remember you always being particularly shy, as if you tried to take up as little space in the room as possible. Now...you appear more comfortable."
"All that from getting my tea and sitting down, huh?" She chuckled, recognizing her own feelings when she'd tried on her new suit for the first time.
"They do say I'm a perceptive man." Cementoss quipped, and she almost couldn't tell if he was joking or not. She shook her head a moment, thinking about how to respond.
"I feel like Kamino changed all of us a bit." She said, looking out the window as if she'd be able to see the destruction from here. Thankfully, they were miles away and the many nearby buildings blocked any view they'd otherwise have. "But...I'm beginning to like the person it's making me into. I feel...more capable than before."
"Of course." He nodded thoughtfully after eating some of his lunch. "Though, I always thought you had a unique strength to you, Scarlet Seer."
She looked back to him and smiled warmly, thankful for her dear coworkers. "Thank you. You're as eloquent as always, Cementoss."
They enjoyed the rest of their lunch break together, talking about the most recent book he'd picked up, sipping tea and eating together pleasantly.
The rooftops of Musutafu were quiet that night and Hina felt the wind whipping at her back as she crouched on the edge of one particular building, looking down on the streets below. The edge of the main street were still quite populated, evening-goers wandering from shop to restaurant and to the entertainment hubs in this part of the city. Most looked to be having a fun time, and their thoughts echoed very similar sentiments.
Donning her new black suit, Hina was practically invisible this high up. Should anyone look up, the backdrop of stars and dark sky behind her would mask her silhouette fairly well. They'd probably really have to be paying attention in order to spot her from this distance.
She tugged at the hood around her head, still getting used to having it there. It felt like it would constantly fall off if she turned her head too quickly, but it stayed in place thus far without problem. The gloves on her hands were a new sensation too, though after wearing them throughout the day for classes, it had definitely slipped her mind.
Not seeing anything of interest below, she jumped to the next building and tried to find another vantage point on a new location, looking for anything that might be wrong. Part of her kept an eye out for any other heroes nearby, one in particular, actually.
She'd been a little disappointed at not having seen Shouta at all that day. Predictably, he'd been rather busy on the first day of classes since the short yet unprecedented break away. They all had to adjust lesson plans and course materials now due to the time away. Other than Cementoss, she'd not met with any other teacher, all of them preoccupied with getting everything back in order.
I suppose I'll see him later tonight. He is my neighbor now, after all.
The thought was still strange to wonder about.
Satisfied with a new vantage point on an air conditioning unit of a multiple-story office building, Hina sat atop it comfortably, watching and waiting for something to happen. Anything, really. All these calm nights of patrol were getting a little stale. Placing her chin in her hand, she sighed and settled in for a wait.
She activated her quirk, gazing down at the people walking the streets, deciding to pick one at random to-
Something coiled around her waist and yanked her backwards. She let out a shocked cry but, her instincts clicking into action, she managed to land on her feet as they slid against the roof from the force of whatever was pulling her. Someone came up behind her quickly. Fast. Quiet. Closing in-
Her leg came up behind her, kicking back whoever was approaching fast, irritated when they held fast. Having been completely caught off guard like this? This person knew what they were doing, alright. The darkness made it difficult to see and, having just been looking down at the sidewalk lamps and lights of the street, her eyes weren't fully adjusted yet.
They made a lunge forward and she kicked out again, hoping to keep them at a distance to utilize her quirk. A hand grabbed her ankle, pulling her close and off balance again.
She fell to the ground, then rolled out of the way of another coil of...fabric...
Fabric?
Wait- Her head jerked around, spotting red eyes behind yellow goggles and that familiar capture weapon aimed straight at her. Jumping out of the way, she held up her hands in a placating gesture.
"Shou-?"
Her question was cut off by his lunge towards her, knocking her on her back to the office's roof again. She grunted, hitting hard, the wind knocked out of her momentarily. Her hands were locked against her side, wrapped up in the capture weapon that had bound them with her waist. She couldn't move, and in her disorientation, she hadn't even noticed when that had all happened.
Hina coughed, shaking her head as she felt him kneel on her stomach. "Seriously? What the hell..."
"Identify yourself." Was his cold, blunt statement. A sever expression marked his face.
"Shouta, stop, it's me!" She said, still struggling to breathe a little. She felt him pause, staring down at her perplexingly, then sudden realization prompted him out of it. He reached down and pulled away at the hood, revealing her signature red hair tied up in a messy bun and her confused expression.
"Hina?" He questioned, finally moving his knee to kneel at either side of her hips so she could breathe normally. The goggles were lifted to reveal his eyes, which had gone back to normal. However, he didn't immediately let her go yet.
"Jeez, what a way to say hello..." She muttered with a chuckle, panting and stealing air now that her lungs were unhindered. "What's with the violent greeting?"
"I didn't recognize you. Since you didn't look like any hero I've seen before, I figured you were staking out for a crime. Sorry..." He said, eyes glancing down at what she was wearing. Perhaps without thinking, he reached down and took hold of the edge of her collar's fabric. "What happened to the red?"
"My suit was redesigned, but I still have a red version for the day to day." She said, watching him take in the sight of her new hero costume. The way he was still sitting on her waist, and the fact that her arms were still wrapped to her side, was doing funny things to her breathing. Damn her if this wasn't more than one of her more provocative dreams over the past few months..."This one is for when I do night patrols. I blend in a lot better with the darkness this way."
"Yes, you do..." He muttered, eyes trailing down her body with a little uptilt of his mouth.
"I like how it turned out..." She added with a swallow, eyes still fixated on the way he was staring her so intently. "...what do you think?"
He didn't immediately answer, gaze flicking up to her face before returning to the contours of her body. The fingers at her collar softly trailed down the valley between her breasts-the ghosting touch made her shiver-then sideways below the dip of her breasts and down her side to rest at her waist.
"Black is a good color on you." Was all he said, voice quiet and appreciative. "Can't help but wonder where the inspiration came from, though..."
"Hmph. Wouldn't you like to know." She breathed with a grin, glancing down at his lips expectantly.
He let out a huff, amused at her obvious attempt at goading him in for a kiss. She was honestly loving the feeling of his weight on her. Part of her had wondered how he'd react upon seeing her new costume for the first time, and truthfully she'd hoped it would go a little something like this.
If she had the leverage, she'd just lean up and steal a kiss for herself. Her logical-minded boyfriend had always struck her as the type who took his patrols very seriously-no doubt that included a hands-off philosophy while on the job-and she'd toyed around with the thought of seeing how far she could push his buttons before he cracked. His eyes even trailed down her neck, as if contemplating doing something about her thinly-veiled challenge, but she was sorely disappointed as he lifted himself off her body. The capture weapon unwrapped from around her waist, releasing her hands at the same time.
Grabbing his offered hand to help her up, she stood straight and brushed herself off, flipping the hood back over her head to cover her now messy bun. She tried her best to ignore the pounding heart, since it seemed he was back to business again and all about patrol. Damn...
"Anything so far?"
Hina sighed out a breath, crossing her arms and looking down the street below. "No, nothing. I almost had to swoop in and help a little old lady cross a busy street but another civilian ran up before I could help."
He nodded, setting his goggles back into place as he stepped beside her to observed the city too. "I've had similar luck. Everything is quiet across the city tonight."
"Well, then. What say we join up tonight to ease the boredom?" She asked, gently bumping her hip into his. "I enjoy our patrols together."
"As much as I'd like the company," He said, clearing his throat, "you'd honestly just be a distraction to me, right now."
Despite being unable to see his eyes in the darkness, especially behind those yellow goggles of his, Hina had a feeling he was giving a bit of side-eye at the moment too. Taken out of context, the words themselves sounded a bit insulting, but she knew he meant them in a completely different way. An indirect compliment to her and her...physique. Her smile widened as she laughed, and she sauntered to plant herself directly in front of him, her back to the city.
"A distraction, huh? But wait a minute..." She said, arms wrapping themselves around his neck before he could back away or try to escape. His hands came up to her waist to either steady her or prepare to push her away, but she felt no resistance from him. Hina wasn't entirely sure where all this seductive confidence was coming from-maybe the suit, maybe the feeling of being someone new, she wasn't sure-but she wasn't going to lie. She enjoyed seeing the erasure hero off his game a little.
The air between them was something new, something heavy and abuzz with pent up desire, which both had been intentionally staving away from for the sake of taking things slow between them. Hina was bringing it to the forefront, testing the waters to see how they both felt about it. She had no intention of having sex with him on this rooftop, out in the open, but she sure didn't mind toeing the line to see how it would feel. A taste of what the real thing could be.
"...one little black suit and suddenly you can't do your job, Eraserhead?" She breathed lowly, reaching up to pull his goggles back down around his neck. His eyes were heady and fixated solely on her. Hina felt his fingers tighten on her waist. Their lips were mere inches apart, their breathing quickened. "I fail to see the logic in that."
It was impossible to tell who exactly had leaned forward first to close the distance between them-she didn't really care in the long run, honestly-but both eagerly reciprocated their lip lock. His fingers held her tightly to his body, both to keep her from stepping back too far and falling off the building, and to deepen the kiss. The urgency of it all was exciting, electric.
Turns out it was easier than she thought to make her man of reason crack from the pressure, and she loved every second of it.
The hands planted on her waist began gliding upwards, feeling their way up with a pace that didn't match their feverish kiss at all. His thumbs brushed the edges of her breasts, leaving her shivering in place and tingles in the small of her back. Even through the fabric of the suit, she could feel every gentle pass of his fingers on her skin.
His kisses began to wander, trailing down her jaw and underneath. She gasped, feeling a sharp nip against the skin of her neck, softened by an open-mouthed kiss. The attention to her neck was a satisfying mix of abuse and tenderness, harsher bites and the drag of his teeth always followed up by his gentle lips and warm tongue to ease any sting of pain. The added scratch of his facial hair only did good things to her messy emotions.
Her fingers carded back through his hair, and he let out a quiet groan against her skin. Barely audible, but there nonetheless. Hina enjoyed the sound more than she probably should, and by god, she wondered what he would sound like with no clothes on and in the privacy of their apartments.
The longer this went on, the further down the gutter her thoughts went. An ache settled between her thighs, and her toes curled in her boots. Her lack of awareness was akin to being drunk, and just as with a large amount of alcohol in her system, she found her quirk beginning to activate of it's own accord.
Breath panting out in no apparent rhythm, Hina's mind conjured images of them tangled in the sheets of her bedroom, the sounds emitting from them of the mature nature. She couldn't help but imagine his larger frame completely smothering her from above as they moved-
"Hina." Shouta groaned low, stopping entirely and laying his forehead in the crook of her neck. His hands planted themselves on her shoulders, out of reach of anything tempting, just in case. If they both had any hope of sticking to their respective decision, she needed to stop now. "You're projecting..."
"S-sorry." She gasped out, desperately trying to reign in her imagination and deactivating her quirk. Her eyes faded from their bright cyan to her normal brown. For several seconds she simply stood there, trying to catch her breath and steady the beating of her heart. She hadn't anticipated her mind deviating so much, and allowing her thoughts to drift to such a place so quickly...
The wind helped to cool her skin. Shouta straightened up, looking down at her with a mixture of restraint and measured desire. He wanted to keep going, but knew they shouldn't. At this rate, they'd do something neither really wanted to do right now.
"Maybe we should patrol separately, after all." She finally said, and he could only huff out a laugh, his head shaking.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
