Chapter Text
Tick Tock… Tick Tock…
It was the sound that the clock was making as Shifter sat in the chair, arms leaning against the table in front of him, hands together as his eyes peaked from behind. His pinky ticked with the clock on the wall… As soon as it was 19:00 (7 pm) sharp the door to the room opened and one after the other rolled in. First it was Yuki, closely followed by Eruption, taking a seat across from one another. Fang followed closely after, sighing as she closed the door after herself, taking a seat beside Yuki while taking her glasses off and putting them on top of her head as a sigh left her mouth.
“These children… I swear” she mumbled, rubbing her temples as she leaned forward.
Without a single warning, one of Ace’s portals opened in the ceiling as she landed in the chair beside Eruption with a grin, the portal closing fast behind her.
“So much for being childfree I suppose…” Fang mumbled, tilting her head to the side in exhaustion. An amused smirk grew on Eruption’s face towards Fang’s resignation. Yuki just tilted her head and slowly shook her head; no one could tell if it was fondness or in resignation.
“Ace… we have doors… please use them” Shifter said with a sigh as he put his hand down on the table.
“Hey! You told me to be incognito, so that I was” she said, crossing her arms as she puffed her chest out.
“I don’t think this is what he meant by that” Yuki said, leaning back a bit in her chair.
“I feel like we and you have completely different views on “incognito”” Fang said with another sigh, leaning her arms against the table, shaking her head in resignation. “But you’re creative at least” Fang said, her lips tweaking upwards a bit.
“I would call I chaotic but sure, creative it is” Eruption said, his smirk still in place. The banter was quickly interrupted by someone clearing their throat, causing all their heads to turn towards Shifter who sat at the edge of the table.
“Anyway. I believe we have some things to discuss” Shifter said, his tone caused everyone in the room to straighten their backs ever to slightly. Fang leaned back in her chair once again, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I have a feeling this isn’t about curriculum” she said, which earned her a headshake from him.
“No… This is about the first years…” He said, earning a raised eyebrow from the others. “Before you say anything. I know it’s technically not our responsibility, but I think we need to approach this year differently because of one major component...:” he said.
“All Might” Eruption said, his brows furrowing.
“Exactly… I don’t know how the media got air of it before even we did. But because that small detail got past put 20 students in danger”. Shifter said, eyes narrowing as he spoke. “Why? Because the villains directly targeted that man. I’m not sure if this is some sick stunt by Nezu or what… you can never be sure with that rat” he said, his words grew sharper and quieter with the last part. The other four looked between themselves, they already knew about Shifter’s… relationship with the principal... It was one battle between sharp minds, neither yielding. “My point is some major things. First, All Might is a good her, I will admit that-“ Shifter said before Eruption spoke up.
“But he’s a horrible teacher” he said.
“Exactly which will compromise our training later and possibly put some bad habits into the students that we will have to spend major time to undo.”
“And possibly put them into more danger than any of them realize…” Eruption ended Shifter’s sentence… he closed his eyes as he thought about the implications.
“Mhm, secondly… his title is cause for some concerns” he said.
“His title? But shouldn’t it be good… a soli- okay, at least an idol to aspire towards?” Ace asked, tilting her head a bit. Shifter shook his head, but Yuki beat him to it.
“Not quite. There are two major problems presented now. First, it could lead down a problematic path of unreasonable goals and aspirations… which is a spiral itself. Secondly, it’s good to have someone you aspire to be, but it tends to lead to blind obedience, like following everything he says, whether that is good advice or not.” Yuki said as she shook her head.
“And lastly, his title sure attracts some unwanted attention from outsiders. Whether that is reporters or villains… honestly? Equally bad attention” Fang said with a shrug. Shifter nodded as he leaned forward, eyes sharp and intense.
“I have one last concern” Shifter said causing the other to turn towards him again. “I’m rather concerned about the students themselves… more like how their confidence may have shifted. Your first attack can, if simplified lead to two outcomes, a spiraling self-doubt or… you feel untouchable and these can amplify depending on when things like this happen. And teenagers around 15/16… yeah, that’s just asking for disaster.” Shifter pointed out.
“So, what do you want us to do?” Fang asked, leaning forward, the exhaustion having left her face a long time ago.
“…I want you to keep an eye on the first-year students, specifically 1A… just observe, don’t engage. We need to see where we stand before we make any moves.”
“Does Nezu or even Aizawa know about this?” Yuki asked, knowing the answer already.
“No and it will remain that way.” He said, but his look said, “I have my reason, so trust me”. They looked at one another before back at Shifter, giving him a nod. His shoulders relaxed and so did his expression. “Good… good, then we will discuss the findings at the sport festival that’s in a month.” Shifter said with a nod.
“Wait, won’t Nezu find out about this meeting? Like security footage?” Ace asked, the other also turned to Shifter.
“She has a point” Yuki said, her arms falling across her chest. Shifter only smirked. “But you have solved that problem, haven’t you?” She said, knowing that looks, an infamous one among the staff.
“19:00 just happens to be the time the principal has a meeting with the first-year staff, every Friday. Meetings that last exactly for 2 hours... He sure likes to hear his own voice but it’s always the same stunts with the first-year staff. They’re an... interesting bunch indeed” he said... “Anyway... everything recorded between this hour to 21:00, will be recorded to my computer while his will just happen to miss some of this footage... but honestly, he have bigger concerns than missing footage from an empty meeting room” As he finished explaining Eruption, Fang and Ace looked at him like he had fully lost it or respect, it was honestly hard to tell. Yuki only had a small smirk on her face.
“I should have known better than to ask” she said as she closed her eyes as her face held a small but amused smirk.
Just as the clocked ticked did the days tick by, one after the other. All the third year staff observed, lingering in the shadows as they tracked 1A’s movement, one by one. There were certain patterns that started to appear as the days went on. Habits and even personality quirks that started to appear one by one.
Fang sitting in an empty classroom, chair against the wall as she leaned her head back, arms crossed but her tail was dead still and her ears were spiked, twitching occasionally. She was listening to the talking behind the wall, carefully and silently… She picked on every breath the students took, every change in tone and every slight movement.
“Hmm… interesting” She mumbled under her breath, not a muscle moved. Her ears picked up the more guarded and sharper tone Aizawa used while explaining the up-and-coming sport festival that was happening. “Stressed as usual I see” she mumbled, ears twitching a bit as she turned them ever to slightly to the right. Hearing the students mumble, the excitement in their tone, but also the small underlying fear that lingered in their tones as they spoke “Seems like Shifter was right once again” she mumbled with a small, amused huff. “Shouldn’t have expected less from him” Fang mumbled.
The door on the other side of the wall opened and soon closed, the footsteps leading away. She opened her eyes as a smirk grew on her face.
As the students gathered their things, chattering and preparing to leave it came to a halt. Just outside their door, a flood of other students from other courses stood there, including the other hero class 1B.
Fang quietly rose to her feet, carefully opening the door, leaning against the doorframe, as she spotted the crowd of students. Hearing a purple haired kid, looking almost like copy to Aizawa, saying something, declaring war on 1A during the sport festival after Bakugou let his mouth run like usual. Fang raised an eyebrow at the commotion “Hmm… an unaccounted variable it seems… how interesting” she mumbled under her breath as she closed the door behind her, letting the crowd take the attention as she disappeared around the corner, holding a neat notebook in her hand.
Just because she left didn’t mean that there weren’t more eyes out there looking, always looking.
A grin appearing in the shadows above the student, one that could easily rival that one of the cheshire cat themselves. “Seems like the class is finding themselves in the middle of some competition, huh?” she said under her breath as she stared at the scene under her, the crowd drowning out her words. Her eyes trailed over the students of 1A as they managed to leave the classroom, one by one, sorting them into neat little categories.
Her mind fell back to the meeting. 20:25, that exact time, when they had exactly 35 minutes left. “There are some students from 1A I want you to have a slightly closer eye on during the up and coming days.” Shifter’s voice cut through the quiet meeting room before placing out some files on the table with a small note attached to each one.
Katsuki Bakugou – Aggressive, competitive and prideful, suspect he’s carrying something heavy on his mind. His obsession to become the best can either be his best friend or worst enemy, keep an eye out, don’t engage unless necessary.
Shoto Todoroki – Cold, quiet and a bit aloof, suspect that he has more running beneath the surface. Especially since Endeavour is his father, which from knowledge has an unhealthy drive to beat All Might. May be influences. Extra: Doesn’t use fire side, maybe something that is hindering physically or phycological. Don’t engage unless necessary.
Izuku Midoriya – Optimistic, analytical and overly friendly, suspect with his easy going nature, more nervous outside and almost people pleasing attitude that he hasn’t grown up around a lot of friends growing up. However, observe quirk, breaks his limbs every time he uses it which is a major concern. Don’t engage unless necessary.
Momo Yaoyorozu – Intelligent, kind but clearly have some self-esteem issues. Observe her decision making, the small things such as hesitation, how she handles a crowd and her reaction to stressful scenarios and situation. Don’t engage unless necessary.
Ochako Uraraka – Kind and timid but is still clearly a good fighter and quirk user. She hopes to become a hero to be able to support her family, that makes her a vulnerable target. Don’t engage unless necessary.
Denki Kaminari + Mina Ashido – Class clows, not much alone but together is a recipe for disaster. Questionable influence on one another. Kaminari seems to be friends with Minoru Mineta (why he’s even in the hero course to begin with is beyond even me) which clearly shows a bad influence, which I would advise having separated. Don’t engage unless necessary.
Every file ended the same way “Don’t engage unless necessary.” Which made it clear that it was for pure observation purposes until he made the call to possibly engage.
The bell rang as Ace keeps laying above the unsuspecting students, her eyes following their every movement, they every decision, every move…
Tick Tock… Tick Tock…
Once again time ticked by, every second, every moment ticking by, one by one.
It was dead silent in the teachers’ lounge; once filled with chatter and was now filled with defeaning silence. The door opened with a sudden slam, causing the staff to startle ever so slightly. Aizawa sighed before he sent a glare towards the door, there it was All Might, standing in his heroic form, smiling like he always did, whether it was in a classroom or on a poster. A smile that never seemed to falter.
“I AM HERE!” The voice boomed in the teacher lounge. Which was met by an awkward silence following the entrance… “Not in the mood I see dead colleagues” All Might said with an awkward smile, his posture shrinking ever so slightly. “What’s the matter?” He asked, hoping to turn this conversation.
Midnight sat in one of the couches, a sigh left her mouth as she looked down into the tea in her hands. “The Sports festival is in three days…” she said, her voice tinged with a bit of worry as he brows furrowed, looking back up at him.
“But isn’t that something good?” All Might asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Normally, yes, but now? It’s quite a lot on the line.” Cementoss said, his head turning. Ever to slightly towards All Might. His expression didn’t say much, however the slight twitch in his finger and the minimal waves in his coffee said enough, earning an eyebrow raise from All Might. “You see… the department head is observing this time…” He said, putting down his cup on the table before him.
“Head of the department? Isn’t that the principal?” All Might asked as he sat down on a chair beside the doorway. His brows furrowed as he crossed his arms.
The rest of the staff shared a look before turning back to the man in the chair.
“Not quite” Present Mic said, his voice uncharacteristic quiet , catching everyone’s attention. “You see… it’s true that Nezu is the principal, but there is someone else just below him and honestly sometimes seems above Nezu himself” causing All Might to lean forward, his arms resting in his lap.
“Shifter” Aizawa’s voice cut through tension. A name that made everyone tense, even for just a second. “Count the rest of the third year staff in too.” He added, his look finally meeting All Might’s.
“Shifter, huh?” All Might said, his eyes were sharp and focused, the iconic smile wiped from his face as it was replaced by a focused look.
“Mhm, he and the rest of the third year staff is the ones that everything goes thought before finalizing. And I mean everything.” Mic said, now also looking at All Might again. “Indirectly our superiors…”
“Superiors? As in our managers?” All Might questioned with a raised eyebrow. A silence fell over the rest, sharing a look.
“That’s one way to see it” Midnight said.
“And the other?” All Might asked with a raised eyebrow, a question that didn’t receive an answer, but the silence told enough. “Okay… But what do you mean with almost above Nezu himself?”
Aizawa spoked up, the one who knew the most “We mean, it almost like constant battle between the two about who run the school… One day Nezu makes a change to the curriculum and the next says the change is revert without a word.” He said, turning his head towards nearby window, watching the sun dip in the horizon.