Chapter 26
Morte_Perpetua
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Chapter 26
Tanya suppressed the growing urge to facepalm. Assistant? What had Himiko been thinking when she crawled into the vents? At least the excuse she delivered wasn't too terrible. Although it certainly would have been more believable if she had not emasculated Kuroiro beforehand.
"Yes, that is true. She is my special teaching aide in a way." she smoothly lied, smiling pitifully at the black-skinned student clutching his privates. His shadow transportation quirk was quite powerful to be able to spot and ambush an accomplished agent like that, yet in his human form he was as vulnerable as every other male.
"This was a... uh, test!" chirped her partner cheerfully, digging their grave even deeper.
'Why are you doing this?' Tanya thought distraughtly as murmurs erupted among the gathered children.
"Indeed. Despite not going as planned ," she eyed Himiko sharply to pre-emptively shut her up, "we wanted to surprise you a little. Can anyone tell me what this lesson was supposed to teach you?"
It was an age-old trick to use audience participation as a way to stall for time. In this case it was enough for her to subtly wave her disguised friend over.
"Yes, Kendo? What do you think?"
"To expect the unexpected, Miss Argent! We need to be prepared for villains to surprise us everywhere in the future!"
Approving grunts and hums filled the classroom as 1-B collectively nodded their heads as they committed the wisdom of their class president to memory. It seemed that this disaster, much to Tanya's relief, ultimately turned into a net positive for everybody involved.
"Precisely. Very good. As pro heroes it will be your duty to investigate any suspicious activity you come across and that means staying attentive and careful. Anything else anyone would like to add?"
"To buy a crotch protector!" Kuroiro wheezed, though it was clearly played up for dramatic effect.
Most people in the room laughed and even Himiko giggled a little.
The only blond boy in this class raised his hand.
"I have a question, Sensei."
"Hmm, Monoma?"
"Was this your way of comparing us to 1-A?"
There was a hostile undercurrent to his voice which she didn't like. Was this whole 'class rivalry nonsense' not already dead and buried?
"Elaborate please." she stated coldly.
"UA's golden class got attacked by villains three times already and you also got ambushed on your day off. Is this your way of measuring how we could handle such threats? Don't you have any confidence in us that we are just as good as those posers?"
Instantly, multiple people tried to berate him for the last comment, but she raised her hand to silence them. The eleventh ranked hero gave the boy a long hard look that put him visibly on edge, no matter how hard he tried to hide his nervous hand-wringing.
"Simple answer? No. Long answer? I do not hold you to a lower standard than class 1-A. What they had to go through went way above what you all are expected to endure as first years. Be happy that you were spared that experience. Principal Nedzu designed your curriculum and he is most likely the smartest person on earth, so I urge you to have more faith in UA as an institution. Many fine heroes have come from the B class in the past and that will not change if you continue to work hard. If you feel personally inadequate then you can gladly come to me or your homeroom teacher, Vlad King, to schedule extra training. Does that solve your issue?"
He gritted his teeth in frustration, but before he could get a word out the school bell signalled the beginning of lunch break. Smiling amicably to the remaining children Tanya watched them pass by her desk and a waving Himiko with only one question on her mind:
How did Monoma know of Stain's and Iida's confrontation when the police had not given out any details about the participants?
~[#҈#]~
Himiko was relieved to see that her beloved's eyes were neither distant nor icy as they focused on her, which meant that her punishment would be light! Probably…
"Why did you do that, Himiko?"
"I wanted to see you!" she grinned honestly.
"You literally crawled into my bed this morning. Was that not enough?"
"Nope! I can't get enough of you!"
She longed for the day when Tanya would say the same back to her... Instead her senpai just sighed and put a hand on her shoulder which was also very nice.
"I know this is a difficult time for you – no, for both of us – and you must feel very scared and alone, but can't just sneak after me. I'll try to make more time for you, alright? It's just that the Commission has gotten pushy with their patrol hours lately and I have to prepare lessons as well, so please don't be sad. I am not leaving you behind."
More time with her love was wonderful news regardless of the reason, but not if it put additional stress on her. Making her senpai's life worse was unacceptable. That was when a new brilliant scheme entered her mind. She was on a roll!
"Mmh, I have an idea, yep!"
A tilted head was all the sign she needed to continue.
"If the cat is out of the bag already, so to speak..." she smiled slyly, "Then why can't I become your official assistant? I'm gonna help you out and we can spend time together simultaneously! It's the best!"
Tanya looked like she was actually considering it. Success!
"I am not sure what the principal would say to that arrangement..."
"He told me that he would allow it as a reward! And I think I deserve a hefty reward for spending the whole week holed up in that dusty old cellar! It's gonna be fine when you are there to watch over me."
It was a shame that did not carry a camera with her because the face her love made as she bit her lip in concentration was absolutely precious!
"Okay. I am going to ask him and if Nedzu says yes then I see no prob-"
"Yaaaay!" she squealed, tackling Tanya in a crushing hug.
Muffled by her shoulder Himiko barely heard a whispered: "I'm really going soft."
~[#҈#]~
"Come on, let's peek on the girls in the shower later!" Mineta had simply said which was met with unexpected opposition. He just wanted to make a few more friends while doing what he loved! Was that so wrong?
Apparently it was, if his fellow teens were to be believed.
"Bound by earthly desires you shall never ascend to the night sky and bask in the moon's shadow." Tokoyami rasped with a sagely nod that could mean literally anything.
Kaminari was unusually insightful as well: "It's not worth it, dude! That could get us… like, suspended!"
"Also it's really unmanly, dude. We shouldn't disrespect our classmates who fought right beside us like that! They're all too manly to deserve that." added Kirishima.
In Mineta's humble opinion none of the girls with the exception of Jiro were 'manly' at all, but he had the feeling that the red-haired blockhead was gay for a long time already. Nobody who was interested in the female form talked so much about manliness!
"Okay, okay... It was just an idea."
"Pfft. Fucking pervert." Bakugou, the ass, sneered as he swaggered by them.
Still frustrated by his classmate's rejection Mineta couldn't hold himself back from retorting:
"You probably haven't seen what a woman looks like outside of textbooks!"
"What did you just say, you shitty midget?"
"You're never gonna get a girlfriend, you... Pomeranian!" he declared with righteous anger.
"As if you could ever land one. The only thing a woman will ever give you is a restraining order, you freaky dwarf. Keep on dreaming. Trash, wanna
deny it?"
Mineta really wanted to reply and tell him how his dream to get a harem of beautiful babes would one day become reality, but he was not stupid enough to further antagonize one of the strongest people in their year. So instead he swallowed his pride and crossed his arms with a scowl. Which would have been far more menacing if his eyes weren't level with Bakugou's hips...
"Mmph. Thought so. Anyways, might as well ask you losers where Argent is. Her bureau is locked."
"No clue, dude." Sero shrugged.
"I dunno... In the cafeteria I overheard a few girls from 1-B talking about her new assistant or something. Maybe she is showing them the ropes, you know?" Kirishima pointed out.
"You mean like the orientational day that we skipped because Mr. Aizawa didn't feel like it? Haha... Feels like a lifetime ago..." Kaminari chuckled with a strangely nostalgic expression.
"Wait, do you mean that cute brunette who was walking around with her? I've never seen her before so she must be Miss Argent's new assistant!" the tape quirk user remarked, interested.
Mineta was suddenly immensely jealous of his classmate for catching a look of this fresh addition to UA's already considerable pool of beauties...
Ojiro, who until now had stayed silent, suspiciously narrowed his eyes at Sero.
"Didn't you just say yesterday that your memory is terrible when you forgot your homework and had to copy mine?"
"Hey, cute girls are different!"
"Uh-huh... "
His fantasies were running rampant and so Mineta just had to ask:
"What did she look like? Was she well-endowed? How old is she? Is she hotter than Argent? Did she look like someone who is into partners that have a slight height difference to them?"
Instead of answering his very normal questions, Tokoyami decided to spew more cryptic drivel.
"Thy great longing shall be your undoing. By reaching for the sun your wings shall inevitably be burnt."
How useless! Even Bakugou agreed.
"Ah, fuck this. What a waste of time. Thanks for nothing, I guess."
"Hello, sweethearts~... Are you looking for me?"
Every boy in the common room collectively halted mid motion and turned around towards the window. Where moments ago had been simply empty space, now stood a young brown-haired woman, posing cutely. Her vulpine smile barely distracted his trained eyes from taking in her soft figure. She was a solid eight in his initial estimation, possibly a nine if her bust got bigger, though that was true for every woman.
All in all, leagues better than the petite Argent!
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm your teacher's super-cute assistant! You and I are going to have so much fun together!"
Between her and Midnight he was absolutely certain that the occasional villain attack would be well worth it to stay enrolled at UA!
"Mmmmh... You don't seem too happy to have me here..." she pouted.
"No! I am!" Mineta instinctively yelled.
"Oh, is that so?" purred the brunette, advancing towards him with a catlike gate that had him completely entranced.
Words failed him as for the first time in life a woman other than his mother laid a hand on his cheek.
"U-uh... Ehm..."
"You wanted to know if I fancy guys shorter than me, right?"
He could only dumbly nod.
"Well..."
Abruptly the hand that had caressed Mineta's face pinched his flesh tightly, eliciting a small cry of pain from him as he struggled in her iron-hard grasp.
"Truth be told, I'm not into pathetic worms . Vermin like you are not cute at all."
His attempt to free himself from this crazy chick was stopped when he glimpsed the murderous glint in her eyes that made him nearly soil his pants. There was no mercy in her gaze as if she was merely stomping out a particularly annoying insect. Only death awaited him inside these two bottomless pits of darkness!
"And if I catch you thinking dirty thoughts about Tanya – Argent – again then you can say goodbye to ever calling yourself a 'full' man again. Understood?"
It was a minor miracle that his skin did not tear from how frantically he nodded.
~[#҈#]~
Izuku carefully knocked on the door to Iida's room. Despite talking to his friend only a few hours ago, he still wanted to check up on the... slightly socially awkward teen. It was kind of ironic that he thought of Tenya that way when Izuku didn't even have real friends until a few weeks ago, Kacchan did not count , but it was true that the vice president of 1-A had problems in how he dealt with others and himself.
To people that did not know him; Iida would seem brash and perfectionist. However what was not immediately obvious about this was that he genuinely wanted to do what was right . And that often involved being strict about rules, so Izuku could only imagine how much of a hard time his friend was giving himself after what he had done.
If need be, he wanted to reinforce the knowledge in Tenya's brain that he was still a good person and could become an awesome hero, especially since he surely had been chewed out by Miss Argent this morning.
The thick dormitory door was penetrated by a muffled yell: "A moment, please!"
When it opened five seconds later, Izuku was surprised by the scent of incense and the sight of his friend in a fluffy bathrobe with the Ingenium logo on it.
"Please forgive my attire, but I was not expecting a visit so soon."
"Ehm, that's alright. But why are you..." he gestured vaguely in his direction, "you know..."
"It was part of the instructions. Please enter."
Stepping into the room, the smell of incense got noticeably stronger. What was going on?
"Which instructions exactly?"
"The top rated guide for easy meditation recommended that I dress in something that I feel most comfortable with. This was a gift from my brother and although I rarely have use for it, I cherish it immensely."
"Uh, ok, I guess that makes sense. But why were you meditating in the first place? Is that what the incense is for?"
"Correct. It is actually just a scented candle that I mysteriously found at the bottom of my suitcase. I do not recall ever buying or otherwise acquiring such an item, but maybe my parents deliberately left it for me. I will thank them later."
"Ahhh..." Izuku nodded slowly, though he was still confused.
"They are somewhat relaxing. Anyhow, while meditating I hoped to fulfil Miss Argent's task of reflecting upon the true nature of heroism."
Immediately the topic grabbed the interest of his inner hero nerd.
"Oh? That's some interesting homework. What did you find out?"
"I only began ten minutes ago and then you interrupted me."
Izuku rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"O-oh, is that so? Sorry, hehe..."
"No problem. I already re-read most of our textbooks in the hospital, so I should soon catch up with the rest of class, which gives me two more free hours to try today."
He couldn't help but shake his head fondly at the typical seriousness of his friend.
"I'm glad you are well, Iida."
"Please call me Tenya, Izuku."
"Sorry, force of habit."
"Nothing to worry about. And, Izuku?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for checking up on me. It means a lot to me that you care so much about our friendship. I think that is extremely admirable."
If anyone later asked, he only blushed because of the smoke in the air.
~[#҈#]~
"Damn it! How could you morons lose her! Do you know the security risk she poses? If she leaks one word I will have your heads! Get out and find her at all costs! Get out! " yelled the Chief Director.
Moujin did the clever thing, the expected thing and bowed his head in submission before shuffling as fast as possible out of the gigantic office of his superior. He spared the other idiots walking alongside him not even a glance, because their face quite frankly made him sick.
They had messed up everything!
They lost Carmilla before she could be extracted from police custody and now she was a walking, breathing info hazard waiting to doom their entire operation.
Of course they could silence all courts that would accept her claims, but even for the HPSC it would be hard to eliminate any trace of their involvement afterwards. It was a matter of principle. No one would normally believe a crazy girl that drank human blood like a filthy animal, but who knew what details that fell under operational security could be extracted from her by a capable third party?
According to their insiders, the police and the PSIA were equally stumped about her whereabouts which spelled a possible disaster for them all. The ones responsible for taking her could be criminals, the Chinese or any number of malicious organisations that would profit from defaming the Commission!
And he had no doubt that it would be innocent, upstanding folk like him who the President and the Chief Director would throw first under the bus
when worst came to worst.
He was not ready to go to prison!
Why was the world so unfair?
He had done nothing wrong and now because of the incompetence of others his wonderful career was going up in flames.
Well, if he was about to get punished for something he was not responsible for then he would take as many of these bastards with him as he could!
Spite and hysteria began to form a half-mad plan in his mind that would ensure his ungrateful superiors and worthless co-workers would curse the damned day when they wronged him. He was going to make sure that in case he 'went on an extended vacation' someone would enact his vengeance!
After everything he had done for that wretched girl, the least she could do was be his instrument of justice!
However he was going to need a while to accomplish this. Hopefully whoever was torturing Carmilla at the moment would take their sweet time and give him a few months, possibly a year. Then again those Chinese barbarians allegedly had a division of mindreaders for things like this, so
they could already be on the move...
A single application of his quirk 'Clear Mind' was not enough to calm him down completely, but administrator Moujin was nonetheless able to clearly reflect on the future.
And it looked dark indeed.
Tanya suppressed the growing urge to facepalm. Assistant? What had Himiko been thinking when she crawled into the vents? At least the excuse she delivered wasn't too terrible. Although it certainly would have been more believable if she had not emasculated Kuroiro beforehand.
"Yes, that is true. She is my special teaching aide in a way." she smoothly lied, smiling pitifully at the black-skinned student clutching his privates. His shadow transportation quirk was quite powerful to be able to spot and ambush an accomplished agent like that, yet in his human form he was as vulnerable as every other male.
"This was a... uh, test!" chirped her partner cheerfully, digging their grave even deeper.
'Why are you doing this?' Tanya thought distraughtly as murmurs erupted among the gathered children.
"Indeed. Despite not going as planned ," she eyed Himiko sharply to pre-emptively shut her up, "we wanted to surprise you a little. Can anyone tell me what this lesson was supposed to teach you?"
It was an age-old trick to use audience participation as a way to stall for time. In this case it was enough for her to subtly wave her disguised friend over.
"Yes, Kendo? What do you think?"
"To expect the unexpected, Miss Argent! We need to be prepared for villains to surprise us everywhere in the future!"
Approving grunts and hums filled the classroom as 1-B collectively nodded their heads as they committed the wisdom of their class president to memory. It seemed that this disaster, much to Tanya's relief, ultimately turned into a net positive for everybody involved.
"Precisely. Very good. As pro heroes it will be your duty to investigate any suspicious activity you come across and that means staying attentive and careful. Anything else anyone would like to add?"
"To buy a crotch protector!" Kuroiro wheezed, though it was clearly played up for dramatic effect.
Most people in the room laughed and even Himiko giggled a little.
The only blond boy in this class raised his hand.
"I have a question, Sensei."
"Hmm, Monoma?"
"Was this your way of comparing us to 1-A?"
There was a hostile undercurrent to his voice which she didn't like. Was this whole 'class rivalry nonsense' not already dead and buried?
"Elaborate please." she stated coldly.
"UA's golden class got attacked by villains three times already and you also got ambushed on your day off. Is this your way of measuring how we could handle such threats? Don't you have any confidence in us that we are just as good as those posers?"
Instantly, multiple people tried to berate him for the last comment, but she raised her hand to silence them. The eleventh ranked hero gave the boy a long hard look that put him visibly on edge, no matter how hard he tried to hide his nervous hand-wringing.
"Simple answer? No. Long answer? I do not hold you to a lower standard than class 1-A. What they had to go through went way above what you all are expected to endure as first years. Be happy that you were spared that experience. Principal Nedzu designed your curriculum and he is most likely the smartest person on earth, so I urge you to have more faith in UA as an institution. Many fine heroes have come from the B class in the past and that will not change if you continue to work hard. If you feel personally inadequate then you can gladly come to me or your homeroom teacher, Vlad King, to schedule extra training. Does that solve your issue?"
He gritted his teeth in frustration, but before he could get a word out the school bell signalled the beginning of lunch break. Smiling amicably to the remaining children Tanya watched them pass by her desk and a waving Himiko with only one question on her mind:
How did Monoma know of Stain's and Iida's confrontation when the police had not given out any details about the participants?
~[#҈#]~
Himiko was relieved to see that her beloved's eyes were neither distant nor icy as they focused on her, which meant that her punishment would be light! Probably…
"Why did you do that, Himiko?"
"I wanted to see you!" she grinned honestly.
"You literally crawled into my bed this morning. Was that not enough?"
"Nope! I can't get enough of you!"
She longed for the day when Tanya would say the same back to her... Instead her senpai just sighed and put a hand on her shoulder which was also very nice.
"I know this is a difficult time for you – no, for both of us – and you must feel very scared and alone, but can't just sneak after me. I'll try to make more time for you, alright? It's just that the Commission has gotten pushy with their patrol hours lately and I have to prepare lessons as well, so please don't be sad. I am not leaving you behind."
More time with her love was wonderful news regardless of the reason, but not if it put additional stress on her. Making her senpai's life worse was unacceptable. That was when a new brilliant scheme entered her mind. She was on a roll!
"Mmh, I have an idea, yep!"
A tilted head was all the sign she needed to continue.
"If the cat is out of the bag already, so to speak..." she smiled slyly, "Then why can't I become your official assistant? I'm gonna help you out and we can spend time together simultaneously! It's the best!"
Tanya looked like she was actually considering it. Success!
"I am not sure what the principal would say to that arrangement..."
"He told me that he would allow it as a reward! And I think I deserve a hefty reward for spending the whole week holed up in that dusty old cellar! It's gonna be fine when you are there to watch over me."
It was a shame that did not carry a camera with her because the face her love made as she bit her lip in concentration was absolutely precious!
"Okay. I am going to ask him and if Nedzu says yes then I see no prob-"
"Yaaaay!" she squealed, tackling Tanya in a crushing hug.
Muffled by her shoulder Himiko barely heard a whispered: "I'm really going soft."
~[#҈#]~
"Come on, let's peek on the girls in the shower later!" Mineta had simply said which was met with unexpected opposition. He just wanted to make a few more friends while doing what he loved! Was that so wrong?
Apparently it was, if his fellow teens were to be believed.
"Bound by earthly desires you shall never ascend to the night sky and bask in the moon's shadow." Tokoyami rasped with a sagely nod that could mean literally anything.
Kaminari was unusually insightful as well: "It's not worth it, dude! That could get us… like, suspended!"
"Also it's really unmanly, dude. We shouldn't disrespect our classmates who fought right beside us like that! They're all too manly to deserve that." added Kirishima.
In Mineta's humble opinion none of the girls with the exception of Jiro were 'manly' at all, but he had the feeling that the red-haired blockhead was gay for a long time already. Nobody who was interested in the female form talked so much about manliness!
"Okay, okay... It was just an idea."
"Pfft. Fucking pervert." Bakugou, the ass, sneered as he swaggered by them.
Still frustrated by his classmate's rejection Mineta couldn't hold himself back from retorting:
"You probably haven't seen what a woman looks like outside of textbooks!"
"What did you just say, you shitty midget?"
"You're never gonna get a girlfriend, you... Pomeranian!" he declared with righteous anger.
"As if you could ever land one. The only thing a woman will ever give you is a restraining order, you freaky dwarf. Keep on dreaming. Trash, wanna
deny it?"
Mineta really wanted to reply and tell him how his dream to get a harem of beautiful babes would one day become reality, but he was not stupid enough to further antagonize one of the strongest people in their year. So instead he swallowed his pride and crossed his arms with a scowl. Which would have been far more menacing if his eyes weren't level with Bakugou's hips...
"Mmph. Thought so. Anyways, might as well ask you losers where Argent is. Her bureau is locked."
"No clue, dude." Sero shrugged.
"I dunno... In the cafeteria I overheard a few girls from 1-B talking about her new assistant or something. Maybe she is showing them the ropes, you know?" Kirishima pointed out.
"You mean like the orientational day that we skipped because Mr. Aizawa didn't feel like it? Haha... Feels like a lifetime ago..." Kaminari chuckled with a strangely nostalgic expression.
"Wait, do you mean that cute brunette who was walking around with her? I've never seen her before so she must be Miss Argent's new assistant!" the tape quirk user remarked, interested.
Mineta was suddenly immensely jealous of his classmate for catching a look of this fresh addition to UA's already considerable pool of beauties...
Ojiro, who until now had stayed silent, suspiciously narrowed his eyes at Sero.
"Didn't you just say yesterday that your memory is terrible when you forgot your homework and had to copy mine?"
"Hey, cute girls are different!"
"Uh-huh... "
His fantasies were running rampant and so Mineta just had to ask:
"What did she look like? Was she well-endowed? How old is she? Is she hotter than Argent? Did she look like someone who is into partners that have a slight height difference to them?"
Instead of answering his very normal questions, Tokoyami decided to spew more cryptic drivel.
"Thy great longing shall be your undoing. By reaching for the sun your wings shall inevitably be burnt."
How useless! Even Bakugou agreed.
"Ah, fuck this. What a waste of time. Thanks for nothing, I guess."
"Hello, sweethearts~... Are you looking for me?"
Every boy in the common room collectively halted mid motion and turned around towards the window. Where moments ago had been simply empty space, now stood a young brown-haired woman, posing cutely. Her vulpine smile barely distracted his trained eyes from taking in her soft figure. She was a solid eight in his initial estimation, possibly a nine if her bust got bigger, though that was true for every woman.
All in all, leagues better than the petite Argent!
"Who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm your teacher's super-cute assistant! You and I are going to have so much fun together!"
Between her and Midnight he was absolutely certain that the occasional villain attack would be well worth it to stay enrolled at UA!
"Mmmmh... You don't seem too happy to have me here..." she pouted.
"No! I am!" Mineta instinctively yelled.
"Oh, is that so?" purred the brunette, advancing towards him with a catlike gate that had him completely entranced.
Words failed him as for the first time in life a woman other than his mother laid a hand on his cheek.
"U-uh... Ehm..."
"You wanted to know if I fancy guys shorter than me, right?"
He could only dumbly nod.
"Well..."
Abruptly the hand that had caressed Mineta's face pinched his flesh tightly, eliciting a small cry of pain from him as he struggled in her iron-hard grasp.
"Truth be told, I'm not into pathetic worms . Vermin like you are not cute at all."
His attempt to free himself from this crazy chick was stopped when he glimpsed the murderous glint in her eyes that made him nearly soil his pants. There was no mercy in her gaze as if she was merely stomping out a particularly annoying insect. Only death awaited him inside these two bottomless pits of darkness!
"And if I catch you thinking dirty thoughts about Tanya – Argent – again then you can say goodbye to ever calling yourself a 'full' man again. Understood?"
It was a minor miracle that his skin did not tear from how frantically he nodded.
~[#҈#]~
Izuku carefully knocked on the door to Iida's room. Despite talking to his friend only a few hours ago, he still wanted to check up on the... slightly socially awkward teen. It was kind of ironic that he thought of Tenya that way when Izuku didn't even have real friends until a few weeks ago, Kacchan did not count , but it was true that the vice president of 1-A had problems in how he dealt with others and himself.
To people that did not know him; Iida would seem brash and perfectionist. However what was not immediately obvious about this was that he genuinely wanted to do what was right . And that often involved being strict about rules, so Izuku could only imagine how much of a hard time his friend was giving himself after what he had done.
If need be, he wanted to reinforce the knowledge in Tenya's brain that he was still a good person and could become an awesome hero, especially since he surely had been chewed out by Miss Argent this morning.
The thick dormitory door was penetrated by a muffled yell: "A moment, please!"
When it opened five seconds later, Izuku was surprised by the scent of incense and the sight of his friend in a fluffy bathrobe with the Ingenium logo on it.
"Please forgive my attire, but I was not expecting a visit so soon."
"Ehm, that's alright. But why are you..." he gestured vaguely in his direction, "you know..."
"It was part of the instructions. Please enter."
Stepping into the room, the smell of incense got noticeably stronger. What was going on?
"Which instructions exactly?"
"The top rated guide for easy meditation recommended that I dress in something that I feel most comfortable with. This was a gift from my brother and although I rarely have use for it, I cherish it immensely."
"Uh, ok, I guess that makes sense. But why were you meditating in the first place? Is that what the incense is for?"
"Correct. It is actually just a scented candle that I mysteriously found at the bottom of my suitcase. I do not recall ever buying or otherwise acquiring such an item, but maybe my parents deliberately left it for me. I will thank them later."
"Ahhh..." Izuku nodded slowly, though he was still confused.
"They are somewhat relaxing. Anyhow, while meditating I hoped to fulfil Miss Argent's task of reflecting upon the true nature of heroism."
Immediately the topic grabbed the interest of his inner hero nerd.
"Oh? That's some interesting homework. What did you find out?"
"I only began ten minutes ago and then you interrupted me."
Izuku rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"O-oh, is that so? Sorry, hehe..."
"No problem. I already re-read most of our textbooks in the hospital, so I should soon catch up with the rest of class, which gives me two more free hours to try today."
He couldn't help but shake his head fondly at the typical seriousness of his friend.
"I'm glad you are well, Iida."
"Please call me Tenya, Izuku."
"Sorry, force of habit."
"Nothing to worry about. And, Izuku?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for checking up on me. It means a lot to me that you care so much about our friendship. I think that is extremely admirable."
If anyone later asked, he only blushed because of the smoke in the air.
~[#҈#]~
"Damn it! How could you morons lose her! Do you know the security risk she poses? If she leaks one word I will have your heads! Get out and find her at all costs! Get out! " yelled the Chief Director.
Moujin did the clever thing, the expected thing and bowed his head in submission before shuffling as fast as possible out of the gigantic office of his superior. He spared the other idiots walking alongside him not even a glance, because their face quite frankly made him sick.
They had messed up everything!
They lost Carmilla before she could be extracted from police custody and now she was a walking, breathing info hazard waiting to doom their entire operation.
Of course they could silence all courts that would accept her claims, but even for the HPSC it would be hard to eliminate any trace of their involvement afterwards. It was a matter of principle. No one would normally believe a crazy girl that drank human blood like a filthy animal, but who knew what details that fell under operational security could be extracted from her by a capable third party?
According to their insiders, the police and the PSIA were equally stumped about her whereabouts which spelled a possible disaster for them all. The ones responsible for taking her could be criminals, the Chinese or any number of malicious organisations that would profit from defaming the Commission!
And he had no doubt that it would be innocent, upstanding folk like him who the President and the Chief Director would throw first under the bus
when worst came to worst.
He was not ready to go to prison!
Why was the world so unfair?
He had done nothing wrong and now because of the incompetence of others his wonderful career was going up in flames.
Well, if he was about to get punished for something he was not responsible for then he would take as many of these bastards with him as he could!
Spite and hysteria began to form a half-mad plan in his mind that would ensure his ungrateful superiors and worthless co-workers would curse the damned day when they wronged him. He was going to make sure that in case he 'went on an extended vacation' someone would enact his vengeance!
After everything he had done for that wretched girl, the least she could do was be his instrument of justice!
However he was going to need a while to accomplish this. Hopefully whoever was torturing Carmilla at the moment would take their sweet time and give him a few months, possibly a year. Then again those Chinese barbarians allegedly had a division of mindreaders for things like this, so
they could already be on the move...
A single application of his quirk 'Clear Mind' was not enough to calm him down completely, but administrator Moujin was nonetheless able to clearly reflect on the future.
And it looked dark indeed.
(Although the image of Monoma waking up with Himiko looming over him was definitely its own reward here!)
