Chapter Text
You stood at the gateway of U.A. Academy. The letter you had been sent was still folded neatly in your palm, your fingers nervously closing over it.
You never thought you would be back here, especially considering the circumstances of how you left.
Thankfully, not much had changed. You noticed some small things that seemed different as you walked up to the main building that was soon towering over you. A fresh coat of paint here and there, which was expected. You saw some new buildings in the distance, but you shrugged them off as new training grounds. You were happy to find that the inside was pretty much identical to how you remembered it - making it far easier to navigate.
You thought you had come in earlier than the students had, but a few of them were still lingering half-asleep, ready to attend the opening ceremony for the new semester. A handful of upperclassmen gave you a tired gaze, obviously noticing a new face but being too exhausted to think much about it.
You would be lying if you said you weren't slightly nervous. The strange nostalgia that washed over you soothed your jitters momentarily, though. Seeing all the students in their neatly pressed uniforms with sleepy smiles while talking to their friends really brought back memories of the place.
You mentally shook off the thoughts. You had been so preoccupied with reminiscing on old times that you almost walked straight past the principle's office. You had spent many hours here back in the day, so it felt strange to now be approaching it as a teacher instead of a troubled teenager.
You straightened out your back, dusting off your skirt and your blazer, fixing your hair to the best of your abilities and clearing your throat. You put on the most convincing, pleasant smile you could before knocking the door with your knuckles. You still felt anxious, despite knowing you weren't in any kind of trouble. The door opened, and your gaze fell downwards to meet the eyes of the short white animal.
You greeted him quickly, giving an awkward bow, quite clearly still nervous in his presence.
"You certainly haven't changed much, Miss [Y/L/N]!" He exclaimed with the usual cheery tone he possessed. It made you a little looser to hear his tone.
"And neither have you," you smiled. "You haven't aged a day."
"You flatter me," he led you inside of his office and you quietly closed the door behind you. "Tea?"
"Ah, yes please," you confirmed, settling down into the nearby couch and putting the letter on the desk in front of you. You stared at it, still a bit bewildered at the fact it was sent to you on purpose, and not by mistake.
You watched him silently as he poured tea, with a calm and neutral expression, no care in the world. You still had a lot of questions burning a hole through your heart. He pushed a teacup to your side of the desk and you gratefully took it, staring into the liquid as you held it on your lap.
"Why did you ask me to teach here?" You asked suddenly as the principle was mid-way through his tea. He didn't look surprised at the question. He set his cup down.
"You had a lot of recommendations," he said slowly, obviously trying to keep the conversation casual.
"I was expelled from this place when I was sixteen," you cut in quickly, slowly blinking. You wondered if he had forgotten. He hadn't.
"I remember. Vividly." He paused and took another sip of his tea. "I also remember what made you a good student."
You looked at him confused for a moment. Why did that matter? You were expelled when you attended this school - you never thought you'd come back. Why is there a sudden change in the attitude towards you?
"You care about others," he concluded simply. "It was the whole reason you wanted to be a hero and everyone could see it. Especially me. Do you remember the entrance exam?"
Barely. You hadn't thought about it in years.
"You were easily paralyzing the robots, instantly putting them out of commission and earning the points. You were on your way to having the highest score in the whole year group," he recounted with a ghost of a smile. "But you saw someone. Shouta Aizawa. He was about to be crushed by that falling robot, and you could see that. You stopped yourself from earning points just to save him."
You felt the blush rising in your cheeks. You felt embarrassed whenever any teachers or students praised you for it - you simply saw it as the right thing to do. You still thought that. You cleared your throat with a quick nod.
"Well, yes, but that was so long ago. I disobeyed your orders in the end, didn't I?"
"You did. Your heart was in the right place," his nose wrinkled in thought. "U.A. Academy needs teachers who know how this place runs. Teachers that are selfless. I know you didn't follow my rules when you were a teenager, but I have the utmost faith that you would risk your life for these pupils. And after all the attacks we have had, that's a priceless trait."
You stared at the lukewarm cup of tea on your lap. Silently. You had watched the news coverage of the USJ attack. It made you sad and angry all at once, as you stared at your TV screen helplessly from your apartment, grading middle school papers. It was all your students would talk about.
Almost instantly after the attack, you received the U.A. letter in the mail, asking you to take up a teaching place in the academy, lifting your lifetime ban from the establishment.
"I'm thankful, sir, I really am," you finally exhaled. "But I can't teach a hero course. I barely have a license--"
"Ah, no need," he cut in. "I want you to teach but I'm not letting you off the hook that easily. You'll be teaching the general studies course."
"General studies," you echoed.
"Yes, yes," he nodded, putting his empty teacup down. "I can at least hope you have your license for teaching and training children with Quirks?"
"Of course."
"And due to the new dorms being built, you can live right here on-campus," he explained happily. That must have been what those buildings in the distance were, then. That certainly was a selling point for you. Your apartment was so far away, and the rent was so pricey for a place so small.
"That sounds beneficial," you admitted.
"So, will you accept the job?"
You slowly put your untouched cup of tea on the table, your head swimming with thoughts. You didn't know what to say. You had gone over this conversation in your head a million times since you got that letter - but they all had different outcomes. It paid well, you knew that. And the free accommodation was an added bonus. But this place was swamped with memories. Good and bad. Who knew if you could concentrate in a place like this?
But your mind remembered the faces of those terrified freshmen on TV after the USJ. After they were cornered by very real villains and after their lives were threatened. You thought about how frightened they must have been while they were at camp, being attacked by adults, far older than they were. It dug a pit in your stomach and you felt guilty even if you couldn't have prevented it. In the end, that's what pushed you to your answer.
"Yes. Yes, I accept the job."
The principal broke out into a thankful smile, hopping off of his seat and explaining that he had some extra meetings due to the villain attacks. He left his door open, saying someone would soon be there to escort you to your new class.
He was gone before you could tell him you remembered where the general studies department was.
You stood alone in the open room, slightly giddy and anxious all at once. You picked up your bag from the floor, fidgeting the straps nervously. Your mind was swimming with thoughts of what your new class would be like. When you were a teenager, you assumed that the general studies department was full of weak hero wannabes. You had thankfully matured since then.
You were midway through applying lipgloss when you heard the shrilling (yet familiar) voice of your escort.
"[Y/N]! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN YEARS!"
You flinched a little at the noise, but forced a smile, standing up to meet your old classmate and now, pro-hero. Hizashi Yamada.
"Yamada, it's nice to see you again," you smiled meekly, your ears still ringing. You felt slightly humiliated being confronted by your past like this. Everyone else in your class sure seemed to go on and become great heroes. Unlike you.
"YOU KNOW, now that I think about it, I thought you were banned from U.A. for life!" He exclaimed as he began to lead you down the hallway.
"I suppose the principal changed his mind," you shrugged.
"Oh yeah! You were expelled! I remember because y--"
"Let's not talk about that."
He surprisingly pursed his lips and suddenly stopped in front of a classroom you could only assume was your own. It was nervewracking.
"Well, here you are," he hummed with his usual smiley disposition. "Good luck! I doubt they're troublemakers, though."
"Right," you nodded.
You decided to tear the band-aid off quick and just pushed your way instantly into the class. Unfortunately, Yamada wasn't correct about this class not being full of troublemakers.
You were instantly assaulted with the view of two boys fighting between the desks. Only one purple-haired boy in the class even noticed you had made an entrance. You were slightly shocked, but it was nothing you couldn't handle. You had broken up many fights in your teaching days. Thanks to your quirk, you were kind of great at it.
The two boys were eager to fight and they were ready to pounce at each other. You quickly raised both your arms, causing them to be frozen in place. Paralysed.
"What's the meaning of this?" You asked in a dull tone, your eyebrow rising. The rest of the class instantly scattered and took their seats. The two boys were quite obviously embarrassed. You released them from your grip of paralysis, causing them both to fall flat on their palms.
"Both of you get to your desks. Now."
They did so, thankfully without any backtalk. You really didn't want to get into an argument with any student on your first day.
You made your way to the front of the classroom, resting your handbag on the floor and picking up the nearest piece of chalk. You quickly scrawled your name on the chalkboard, gesturing to it momentarily for the whole class to see.
"I'm Miss [Y/L/N]. I'm your new general studies teacher," you introduced. A few of them looked at each other with a confused look that you recognised from many years of teaching. "If you're wondering, no. I do not know where your previous teacher is. I haven't even met them before. All you need to know is that I'm here now."
A few of them settled in their seats after you said that, seemingly content with the answer. You gazed out of the window at the dorm buildings for a minute with a smile, trying to lighten the mood after the first impression you had made.
"You guys live on campus now, huh?" You asked. A few students nodded in response. "Things sure have changed since I was here last."
Multiple pairs of eyes lit up as you said that, prompting a sudden Q&A session.
"You attended U.A. Academy?" An unknown voice asked. "Are you a pro-hero?"
"Of course she isn't," another voice cut in. "You would have known who she was."
"Well, maybe she's one of those pro-heroes that hide their identity!" Someone yelled out, and many students liked this idea.
"Like Miss Medicine," a sickly small girl mewled out, pushing her black bangs from her face.
"Everyone settle down," you laughed nervously. You weren't entirely sure how to break them the news that you were actually just expelled and made nothing of yourself. Instead, you decided to lie. Like any good teacher would. "I just attended the general studies course here. Like you guys."
The class deflated again. You nervously glanced at the lanky purple-haired boy in the front row who had barely changed his expression since you walked in.
"I'll just do roll call."
You soon learned that the boys that were caught fighting were called Tetsu Kashiwabara and Eisuke Inoue. You promptly gave them both three days of detention. The small girl was Miliko Fukuyama and the purple-haired boy that unsettled you was called Hitoshi Shinso.
It was a small class of only around fifteen students. The smallest you'd ever had.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all," you smiled. You sat in your seat, crossing your legs as you quickly read over the class schedule the principal had given you before he left his office. It was mostly the same thing you had been teaching in normal high schools, give or take a few more Quirk-focused lessons.
So you trudged through the day.
The students were kind enough, although many of them had the underlying sadness about not being in the hero course. You could sense that from the moment you walked into the room. A few of them were too shy to answer, but thankfully the loud-mouthed students took over instantly, blurting out answers whenever they could. You could only be glad that they were warming up to you instead of despising you.
During lunch, you were glad to get some peace. However, you spent most of your time calling your landlord explaining that you were moving out. You were midway through scrolling over pages of moving companies when your ears rang once more.
"[Y/L/N]! Aren't you coming down to the staff lounge?! That's where we eat!" He explained loudly, almost personally offended that you skipped out on catching up with him.
"Yeah, I know," you sheepishly chuckled. "I'm just making arrangements to move here. My apartment is pretty far."
"You're moving to U.A.?! Ohhh, it'll be just like old times! I'm getting emotional just thinking about it."
"Yeah, it's a big move. Do you know if they allow cats?" You queried, thinking of your all-black tabby who was probably curled up near your fan as you spoke. "I don't wanna rehome him."
"Oh, yeah!" He nodded. "I can't promise that Eraserhead won't steal him though, haha!"
You quirked a brow with a small smirk. "Shota? Does he like cats? Doesn't really seem like him."
"Yeah, yeah! He's full of surprises. He'd be happy to see you! He probably wouldn't even have attended U.A. and become a hero if he got crushed by that robot you saved him from!"
People really do remember that, huh?
"I don't think Shota is ever very happy to 'see' anyone. But I'm sure I'll bump into him eventually."
The bell suddenly rang, causing Yamada to give out a shriek and rush back to his class. You chuckled under your breath, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.
The second half of the day was as uneventful as the first. You didn't expect to be fighting any villains or training any young heroes, but you knew there had to be more to the general studies course than this.
You flicked through the huge folder of timetables, reading it while the students were busy.
You noticed a large slot that read "TRAINING" in bold, red letters, for the final hour of every Friday.
"Training?" You read aloud. "You guys have training?"
"Yeah," Shinsou finally spoke up, his bored expression shifting. "After the attacks, they said they didn't want to risk any class in U.A. being unprepared."
Smart, you thought. I'll have to ask Yamada about training these kids.
You had lost yourself for the final hours of class, scrawling in your notebook. Names, times and prices of moving companies, how to transport your cat to the new apartment, ideas for training...
You exhaled quietly, closing it over and packing all of your new material into your bag.
"Miss," the meek girl called out. You looked over at her with an interested gaze.
"Yes?"
"We have a report due for today. I don't know if you'll take it because the previous teacher is gone, but..."
Many of the students groaned at the fact that she brought it up. They began digging around in their bags slowly, fishing the half-finished papers out.
"I'll take them, sure," you agreed, but inwardly groaned at the fact of grading them all. "What are the reports about?"
"We were supposed to write about our favourite pro-hero and analyze them," Shinsou said in a monotone voice, putting his paper down on your desk.
Huh. Could be interesting.
The end of the day dragged nearer as all the students gave you their reports. They became restless in their seats, packing their stationery into their backpacks and talking to their friends nearby. You allowed it - you were too tired to protest. It had been a long, hard first day.
The true exhaustion hit you when you were on the train on the way home, your head hanging as you almost passed out multiple times.
Your mind spun, wondering if your cat would settle nicely into the new apartment. Then your brain naturally wandered to Shota. You knew you would eventually have to speak to him, due to you being coworkers, but the thought still scared you. You weren't exactly childhood friends or anything, but you were as close to him as you could be in high school. He disagreed with your recklessness and you understood why. Neither of you had spoken since the day you were expelled. He was noticeably upset, though.
You were so distracted by your worries that you almost missed your stop, jumping to your feet and quickly scurrying out the half-closed doors.
You stood on the train platform. Breathless and anxious but still somehow eager to see what the future in U.A. would hold. Between the old friends and new students, you wanted to find a place of comfort. You wanted to forget your past.