Chapter Text
“All censored, I’m afraid, Reader.”
You and Nedzu both knew it was a highly probable outcome. Your eyes fell on the manga books on the principal’s desk. Your mind flashed black to all the gestures you used to express the answers to Nedzu’s questions about the future. You thought back about all the nods and head shakes you gave him to make him understand.
Censored. Censored. Censored.
Just who invented censoring? You just wanted to have a talk.
Unfazed, you started the last of quite a few experiments, “Ingenium is going to come across with Stain while in Hosu during the Sports Festival. He would come out of their fight alive but he would be forever paralyzed from waist down. Stain’s civilian name is Akaguro Chizome. I know you have the means to get info about his quirk with this name.”
The creature seemed to be focusing with a faint burrow between his- well, what could have been his brows. He continued his actions for a moment and you kept speaking, repeating your words, before the principal closed his eyes with a barely noticeable wince.
“It seems even though the lip patterns are familiar to me, something is interfering with my interpretation of them into actual words.”
You fell silent as he sipped his tea. He continued, “However, I could understand approximately 30% of your words, but at the risk of quite an inconvenient headache. And there is no apparent pattern for the words comprehended.”
“But we’ll have to admit this is an improvement compared to all the other methods,” you piped up. “You can actually catch some words.”
The censoring sound had been grating on your nerves.
Nedzu downed his tea in one go and refilled it. The headache must be a serious one if he was downing the whole cup. You internally winced in sympathy but there was a part of you that was apathetically thinking the headmaster should have tried better to read your lips.
It would make this whole thing easier! Being understandable would really be appreciated, especially in your line of work, which was essentially being a seer just for UA if you discounted the importance of both your decisions and the info you had. It was quite a weight to be placed upon a normal human being’s shoulders.
You wondered how Sir Nighteye handled knowing the future.
Not well, considering his history with All Might. And there was also the fact that he could not see the whole picture. He could not see all the shit that was about to go down.
You could.
You had seen some spoilers. You had an inkling of what was going to happen in the infamous Paranormal Liberation Arc. So many casualties, so many lives lost, so much destruction, so much loss.
And the continuation of evil through its host. Yes, you knew what would happen to Shigaraki.
Damn you, All for One.
The heroes should have just given him a death penalty when that devil was in Tartarus. That would have prevented a lot of things.
“So, we’ve got the rest of the evening to ourselves. I have cleared my schedule for our talk,” Nedzu said. “Would you be open to telling me more about the future’s plot as I try to read you?”
“Yes, if that would be alright with you. Having a headache is a nuisance.”
Nedzu gave you a smile, “I’ll be alright, Reader. Now, about this killer you’re telling me…”
It seemed none of you were retiring tonight until you let Nedzu know about the Hero Killer, Midoriya’s fight with him, the Shie Hassaikai and of course, the flaming trash can. Oh yes, you were after Enji. Or rather, you would be setting Nedzu after Enji.
The latter was sure to result in less work and more thrills for you.
And Eri was going to be saved no matter what. You were not going to risk or compromise her wellbeing like that. Unlike what happened in USJ.
She was just a child…for goodness’ sake.
Just as 1A were just teenagers.
You sighed. This was going to be a long long evening.
But not long enough to excuse you from a long study session in UA’s own library the very next day. You were operating on your normal hours of sleep but a big yawn still slipped out as you typed away on your laptop for a quiz.
You chose Management Administration in Business and Heroics as your field of study in this universe. It would be useful, not to mention the availability of both heroes and business teachers at UA.
So far, you had not met or consulted any of the teachers outside the heroics course.
Even though you were focusing on your own work, you let your thoughts drift away to some other things while simultaneously going through the questions. Some other things like how you and Nedzu still had more experiments to conduct with the censoring feature such as including another person.
This corner of the library was quite peaceful. That was not to say the whole library was not peaceful. It was.
But the students and even a few of the faculty tended to rarely come to this corner so you had all of it to yourself. Some of them even seem to avoid this corner on purpose for some reason.
You stood up from your seat after finishing the quiz and stretched before walking around for a bit. But before you could leave your corner, a flash of yellow caught your eyes. You whipped back to the spot above the seat you were previously occupying just for your eyes to be attacked with the most outrageous tone of yellow that belonged to Aizawa’s sleeping bag.
You admitted just to yourself that you had been sort of avoiding Aizawa outside of class. You could not help but feel guilty about the man’s injuries.
He had not been spared from them even though you had foreseen the USJ attack.
And a part of you was afraid if he would hold a grudge against you for it, for endangering his students for the greater good of the plot: for your own advantage in this world in which you would normally be useless.
It was that part that urged you with an urgency, that only a dying man would possess while trying to reach sanctuary, to hurriedly gather your supplies and things and exit the library.
No, you were not worried about how the man thought of you.
You were… merely considerate of the man’s sleeping quality with you studying at his usual napping spot. Clenching your bag to your chest, you fled, er, gracefully speed-walked to your own room in the teacher’s dorm.
None the wiser of the black eyes tracking you until you were out of the library.
Plus Ultra.
“Plus Ultra!”
Plus Ultra.
“Plus Ultra, Reader!”
That was the last straw. You were done with this “Plus Ultra” bullshit. The only plus ultra you wanted right now was plus ultra sleep.
Heck, you might even be swayed to a plus ultra break!
Present Mic, currently the bane of your existence, grinned as he stopped along with you albeit more gracefully considering that you were completely lying down on the track.
Yes, track because apparently, you needed to raise your stamina by running.
You did not know if it would raise your stamina levels but it sure was raising your done-with-this-world levels. The more steps you took while running behind the voice hero, the more steps you wanted to take towards a nice cold shower and then, into your bed towards eternal slumber.
So, this was what they had in mind when they said you had to train for basic self defense.
Basic, your arse.
“Oh come on, Reader. Show me your Plus Ultra spirit. The end is getting closer!”
Yeah, his end at your hands was getting closer along with your own.
The blonde grinned wider as he spotted your expression, “Oooh, your glare is similar to Shouta’s. But it’s weaker than his. I’l have you know I’ve dealt with a lot of his glares and came out of them alive. Sometimes not entirely whole but still!”
You just tried to catch your breath, inhaling and exhaling without responding to Mic.
You briefly entertained the thought of shoving a bug down his grinning mouth but underneath all that scorn and tiredness, you knew this was essential and vital for your survival in this world of quirks.
If word got out that a person like you existed, All for One would not do nothing and let you be.
Especially as you claimed that your premonition powers came from a quirk and not from the manga you read and the anime you watched. He would be intrigued with the made-up quirk.
“Come on. Get up. You can rest for a while when you finish this lap,” Mic offered you a hand, his leather gloves absent as he was not in his hero costume at all. Instead he was in a simple tracksuit, if you could call the yellow eyesore of a color he was wearing. His hair was in a ponytail.
He was training you even though he did not have to, sacrificing his free time for you.
Now, that, you could not be mad at him for that. You gave him an exhausted smile as you grabbed the offered hand and resume running.
At the end of the lap, you both took a break when only one desperately needed it and the other did not need it at all. Mic did not even seem ruffled by all the running and stretching you did. And also, if he were, he would not be a hero and certainly not a teacher at UA.
Opening a water bottle, you slowly drank from it as he sat down beside you. He waited until you caught your breath.
“By the way, what are your plans for the sports festival?”
You glanced at him, “Oh I’m just staying in the stands, watching among the audience. Maybe I might hit up the game booths too. You’re the MC for it, right?”
You knew he was going to be the announcer but you asked for the sake of conversation and pretending to be just someone with a premonition quirk instead of someone from another dimension where this world was a mere story.
“Yep,” he popped out the ‘p’, “Wanna join the announcer booth? It has a nice view because of all the announcements that’s gonna happen there.”
“No, thanks for offering, Mic. I’d rather not miss all the drama that’s going to happen in the stadium. Besides, you just want to be alone with Aizawa.”
He gasped dramatically, “What? Oh no, we’re- we’re not like that. We’re just friends!”
You blushed. You forgot to forget all the things you had read from the fanfics you had consumed of your favorite entertainment. This was embarrassing. “Oh no. I’m sorry, Mic! I didn’t mean to.”
The hero just chuckled, “It’s alright. I get that a lot. I’m just too busy with my three jobs to date anyone, let alone my grumpy high school friend. And just call me Yamada. I’m not ion hero duty after all.”
You nodded to show your understanding of his request.
“High school friend?” you inquired even though you knew their backstory from the parts of the Vigilantes spin-off manga you read just to know more info about Kurogiri/ Shirakumo.
“Yeah, Shouta, Nemuri and I go way back. Shouta and I were in the same class during our UA years and Nemuri was just a year above us. She helped us out a lot and in turn, we brought her into our friendship circle!”
“I can certainly picture an energetic highschooler you, a grumpy teenage Aizawa and your smiling senpai Kayama together,” you said before smirking and teasing him, “Were you louder or quieter in high school?
“Oh you, stop. I’ll have you know I was as loud as I should be and I still am.”
“Alright, alright, Yamada,” you smiled at him. “It's great that you guys are still together after all these years. Some friends just drift apart after high school, you know.”
He nodded as he stared ahead, his eyes behind his prescription glasses losing its shine a bit.
You internally winced. You did not mean to bring up that a member of their friend group was dead now.
“Yeah. I agree with you. It’s great to have them as friends,” he admitted softly before brightening up again. “I bet it would be great to also be friends with you! Let’s be friends and training together like this will be more fun, Reader!”
Did he just say he wanted to be friends with you?
You huffed, “We’ll see about that.”
“So…friends?”
This man had a really youthful way of making friends. It was refreshing. His friendly cockatoo energy was kind of a vibe.
“Unfortunately.”
Yamada grinned, “Oh, I see you’re a bit of tsundere.”
“What?! No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you kinda are, my dear Reader.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
You sighed, “Are we really doing this?”
“Yes.”
You discreetly glanced at Midoriya as he opened his water bottle and drank quite a bit from it.
It was during a training session for class 1A, one designed for preparations before the Sports Festivals. You were not required there but your curiosity got the better of you. It helped that you had always wanted to see how they trained for the Sports Festival.
Each and every one of the herolings were training, either by themselves or in pairs and groups. Well, except Midoriya who was currently taking a break.
You had kept your eyes on him silently as he went through a series of boxing forms and maneuvers without using his quirk because at this point of the plot, he still could not use One for All without his bones breaking into pieces like ceramics.
“Anything you want to share with the class?”
You glanced at Aizawa, eyes lingering on the scar beneath his right eye, before looking back at Midoriya. You pondered what you should do. If you decided to go through with this idea, the plot might be tipped into the hero side’s favor and you were not sure if that was a completely good idea.
But would it matter much? You narrowed your eyes in thought.
Todoroki needed to realize that he only had to use one quirk and that one quirk was his own, instead of his mother’s or his sperm donor’s. Convincing him would require nothing short of broken bones and a destroyed arena.
Sure investigating into the reasons behind his rejection to the fire side might reveal the dirty laundry of the Todoroki family.
However, you did not think Aizawa, however great of a teacher he could be, would not be able to extract that particular piece of information from Todoroki during their first ever talk. Even if he did, Endeavor’s status of the No.2 hero would prevent him from being untimely arrested.
Hence, he would still be operating as a hero after All Might’s retirement.
You really should be getting Nedzu’s input with this but you figured if anything, that should not happen, happen, the principal could handle it.
Additionally, Shinsou needed to be trained sooner so that his potential could be fully utilized.
After all, a quirk was just a quirk, a tool used in heroics. There would be times when that tool failed. When that time came, no hero should be a one-trick pony. But dealing with Shinsou could wait until after the sports festival.
What could not wait was Midoriya and One for All.
After training would come the Sports Festival and the Internships where Midoriya would fight with the infamous hero killer. Before that, he would be trained by Gran Torino. And after the Hosu attack was the final exam.
There would be no direct contact between the protagonist and the League.
There was also the fact that being able to use Full Cowl would spare the green haired boy’s arms from surgery. Honestly, no one should have arms injured that repeatedly even for a friend they wanted to help.
Having made your decision, you replied, “Yes, actually. Have you wondered why Todoroki does not use his fire?”
“Yes,” Aizawa admitted. “Even in training, he was not showing that half of his quirk at all.”
“Yeah, about that,” you started, “you might want to speak with him and help him if he still doesn’t use it after the sports festival.”
The hero hummed, “Did he use it during the festival?”
You noted the usage of past tense in his question and smirked, “That’s for me to know and for you to find out, even if it would be the censored version.”
The heroics teacher only rolled his eyes at your answer. But your implication was already clear and received.
“Actually, there’s more. I want to speak a bit with Midoriya, Aizawa, if that’s okay. And also, you might want to check his quirk record. It might surprise you.”
The underground hero hummed before nodding at you and giving you the go ahead.
So, you called for Midoriya’s attention as you approached his training area, “Hey there, Midoriya. Sorry for interrupting you but I have some things to talk about with you. Especially how you are using your quirk.”
The student immediately focused on you, “Yes, Reader Sensei.”
You chose your words carefully, “I want you to think about how you’re using your quirk. It’s clear that using it all in one punch like All Might isn’t working out for you.”
The boy blinked before becoming cautious. You would also be if you were in his place and someone was comparing your quirk with your predecessor’s, especially if you actually got his quirk from said predecessor.
“Yes, sensei,” gosh, you gotta get used to being called sensei, “m-my quirk still breaks my bones and that’s why I am not training it like the others,” Midoriya sighed.
“Well, you’re using 100% of the quirk, right?” At his nod, you continued, “How about toning it down? Think about it. You’re using all 100%, concentrating it only in one place. That makes energy being contained in even one square inch of area quite high, yeah?”
“Oh, that makes sense. That’s why my arms keep exploding like eggs in the microwave! If I reduce the percentage, then it would become better. Oh! What would even be better is to reduce both the percentage and to increase the area so that the power is distributed evenly and not so concentrated that it breaks me when I use it,” he mumbled.
You strained your ears to listen to it and when he finished, he blushed, “I was mumbling, wasn’t I?”
You huffed out a laugh, “Yes, but it’s all okay. I see you’ve got what I meant.”
“Yes, Reader sensei. Thank you so much for this advice!”
“Well,” you glanced away, “you would have figured it out on your own. I’ve seen it. I was just fastening the process so that you won’t have to deal with bone-breaking quirks anymore. It’s important to take care of one’s body, especially if it is essential for one’s profession, you hear me?
“Yes, sensei,” Midoriya sheepishly said.
Good, that boy desperately needed some self-care, you thought.
“Oh, and one more thing. Don’t freak out but,” he immediately tensed up, “I’ve read about your quirk and its origin. I think All Might suspects it already but I haven’t confirmed it with him yet. So, he might call you to come and the three of us might have a talk.”
Wide green eyes blinked as he nodded. “Y-yes, sensei. Please don’t tell anyone who doesn’t know.”
“Of course,” you grinned and winked, “I do know how to keep a secret. Besides, even if I tell someone, they would not hear it until they are meant to hear it.”
Midoriya mumbled under his breath but you couldn’t catch it.
With a smile, you patted his shoulder and took your leave, leaving the boy to his own thoughts and some new ideas for training when he got out of his own mumbling spree.
You walked back to where you originally stood, beside Aizawa. The underground hero was watching you intently, “You’re not bad for a newbie.”
Ooooh, that was definitely a compliment if it was from Aizawa.
You raised one corner of your mouth, “Thank you, but I read it so the solution is not mine. I cannot take credit for it. It was a matter of time before he figured it out on his own.”
“Then, why not wait? I was giving him time to solve it himself. I wanted to see if he could.”
You grimaced. So that was why Aizawa never did anything about One for All and its initial reducing-bones-to-pieces phase. “Aizawa, his quirk would have broken him to the point of needing surgery. I cannot let it happen to Midoriya.”
You lowered your eyes, shame coloring them, “I’ve already let bad things happen.”
“So, it’s true that you knew the attack was that day,” Aizawa said in a non-committal tone. But you knew that there was an accusation in his words.
Aizawa was the type of person to be able to work it out from only a few words of yours. What An underground hero. It was only logical that he would say it directly to your face without any buffer or pretty words used to soften the blow.
You nodded wordlessly. You did not trust your voice.
“I see.” He looked away from you without any more words. His eyes were unreadable. You wished you could but if wishes were horses…
You leaned onto the wall behind you as you tried to deal with being confronted with the very feelings and thoughts you had been metaphorically running away from because of the very person you had been literally running away from.
Even right now, all you wanted was to run away from this as well.
You looked around the training room. Seeing as all the students were focusing on their own training, you allowed yourself to sink into a sitting position, your arms hugging your knees.
A pathetic sight compared to the tall, dark, mysterious and stony underground hero standing beside you. You knew how pathetic it would look from the outside. You certainly felt pathetic. It was all you could do to keep your face impassive.
“I really am not a good person,” you blurted out.
Damn, just why did you voice your thoughts out loud?
This was getting out of hand. You needed to put a stop to this. You were about to stand up, an excuse on your lips, when you heard Aizawa, “Maybe. Maybe not.”
You looked up at him quizzically from your place on the floor.
He glanced down at you, your eyes meeting briefly before he looked away again and half hid his lower face behind his scarf. “That depends on why you let it happen.”
Sensing a question woven in his words, you said, “I was afraid that preventing it would change the plot from how I know it. The USJ attack is when it all begins. I couldn’t afford any major changes. I…I’m not certain that such a change won’t affect the future of this universe. B-but of course, that is still no excuse for me to let the attack happen and cause you to be injured and your students to be traumatized. Of course, it isn’t.”
His dark eyes were boring into you. You inhaled, “Aizawa, I…”
You swallowed and whispered, “I am very sorry.”
This had gotten out of hand. This had pathetically gotten out of hand.
Why was this happening?
Your wide eyes fell on his crescent scar, the scar from being smashed into concrete by a massive abomination of a being. The scar from the attack you could have prevented but did not.
Every sound around you started to feel amplified including your heartbeat. And you just knew you were on the verge of panicking in front of the whole class of 1A and their homeroom teacher in the gym where they were supposed to train for the sports festival without any distractions.
Now, this was just downright unacceptable.
Your breathing sped up.
You could have this panic attack in the safety of privacy back in the teacher’s dorm combined with the one for being transported into a fictional dimension.
Just not now.
Not now.
Gosh, not now.
“Illogical,” a firm voice broke you out of whatever pit you were in. You blinked and blinked again at Aizawa, letting out a quiet questioning noise. He continued, “Your reasons behind your actions make it illogical for you to apologize to me.”
Oh.
He was saying you did not need to apologize in his own way. A feeling you did not care to put a name to blossomed in your chest, warming it up little by little.
“So do not say sorry for doing your job,” his eyes were staring at you the whole time.
Perhaps judging you for showing vulnerability in public but you could not help but ignore that possibility.
And then, voices were raised as someone ran into a wall.
Aizawa immediately made his way to where Midoriya, who apparently was the one who accidentally ran into the wall, was starting to sit up from his sprawled position with a sheepish expression on his face.
He really was a good person. And a good teacher.
Well, a good teacher taking care of his problem students.
“Thank you,” you whispered to his back, unheard by the proper receiver of those words, before quietly standing up and leaving the training room.
Now, you got some feelings to work through and a talk with the Symbol of Peace to arrange.
Maybe, you would work through feelings a bit later rather than sooner.
No one would complain if you do that. Certainly not yourself.