Chapter Text
“ Say what ? ” Xingqiu shouted in reflex and shock, eyes wide as he stared at his teacher. All the other students mirrored his expression, voicing their displeasure about the sudden announcement.
“ Wait, wait, wait– Sir, you have to be joking. ” Bennett grimaced as he held up a hand. The apologetic look his teacher gave him was enough to make him lament his decisions up to this point.
“ Razor don’t like that. ” Razor frowned as he whispered amidst the growing voices and complaints from the students in the class. Fischl hummed, one eye narrowed while she held his hand.
“ Children, calm down. ” Neuvillette raised his voice an octave higher, signifying his words. The students all stopped and reluctantly sank back into their seats, even if most were displaying features of displeasure and annoyance.
Neuvillette sighed, “ I am aware of their opinions of visions- us as a whole. However, it seemed there were quite a few points made by the other party and the board decided to test out the water. ” He started, eyes flicking to each of the students as they absorbed the information. Neuvillette had already seen narrowed eyes and he could hear the gears turning.
He smiled, gentle but almost sinister. “ This program works as a transfer program between Teyvat and the mainland, as a means to establish connection, communication, and relationships as well as the exposure of our cultures to them. ” He explained slowly, going off whatever Tsaritsa had shown them during the briefing. He could see the contemplative looks on each of his students, knowing that they had already figured out the real meaning behind the program.
“ As such, the third party will be sending a trip of their own to see- ah, experience our academy. The board has agreed to the proposed program and Teyvat Academy will act as the host. ” Neuvillette tapped his finger against the table.
“ So, I will tell you to welcome them and behave to the best of your abilities. Especially with their delightful opinions of us. ” Neuvillette nodded as he ended his speech. Some students snickered while others sneered in displeasure.
Neuvillette peeked at the clock, sighing in response. “ It seems that time needed me elsewhere. Please complete your portfolio by the end of the month and hand it to me. Other than that, the free period is in order. ” Neuvillette smiled as the students thanked him before he exited the classroom.
The moment Professor Neuvilette stepped out, the classroom exploded into myriads of chatters and voices.
“ Bullshit. All of this is bullshit. ” Xingqiu hissed through gritted teeth, eyebrows furrowed as he crossed his arms. Chongyun pulled his seat closer, intertwining his hand with the former. He flashed an apologetic smile while Xingqiu huffed in response.
Jiaming turned from his spot, “ Man, this program is gonna suck. I know I should be positive and all, but I’m not looking forward to arguing with a bunch of quirkist. ” He frowned, placing his chin on his palm.
“ I’m dreading it already. ” Bennett wailed from the side, face resting on the table. The boy was just oozing with the energy of uneasiness. Fischl patted his back consolingly.
“ Hey Xiangling, maybe it's a good time to put your vision to good use. ” Xingqiu stated with a short bitter laugh as Xiangling looked at him in confusion. Then her eyebrows shot up and a grin stretched on her face, “ Get Klee for that, she’s the expert. Or maybe Yoimiya. ”
Chongyun shuddered as memories flashed, “ No, never Klee. The last time that happened, her explosion broke through the pillars. ” He reminded them and silence followed. They all glanced at each other. Xingqiu averted his eyes, “ Yeah, maybe not Klee. ”
Fischl shrugged, playing with her tie. “ I’m sure the quirk kids can handle a little explosion. ” She blew her tie, nonchalantly. Jiaming perked up, “ Doesn’t one of them have an explosion quirk? ” He tilted his head.
Xiangling snapped her fingers and nodded, “ Yeah. The guy with anger issues is a typical homicide threat. ” She summarized and they all snorted at the description. Xingqiu rolled his eyes, “ No offense to him, but that guy looked like a chihuahua with rabies. ”
Bennette choked on his own laugh while Razor and Fischl quickly helped him. Jiaming burst into laughter, almost falling off his seat. Xiangling giggled, “ You should make a PowerPoint presentation for them. ”
Xingqiu lit up at the suggestion, blue eyes twinkling with wonder. “ Girl, I will! ” He exclaimed, earning a short laugh from the former. The raven-haired girl hummed, leaning back on her chair. Her joyful expression was replaced with a thoughtful one, “ Anyway, we already know the actual reason for this program. ”
Jiaming grinned, having recovered from his previous bout of laughter. “ Yeah, it’s not that hard to figure out their real intention. ” Fischl rolled her eyes, checking her nails while Razor leaned closer, resting his head on her shoulder.
“ They think we’re stupid. That’s their view of us. ” The girl stated as she shifted to a more comfortable position for her and Razor. The latter furrowed his eyebrows, “ Lupical no stupid. ” Fischl patted his head as a response.
“ Think the upperclassmen have already heard of this? ” Jiaming questioned and the others all straightened at the mention of their seniors. Xiangling opened her mouth when a loud buzz echoed among them. She fished out her phone with a curious look before a delighted grin broke out on her face.
“ Well, speaking of the devil! The group chat is exploding right now– oh my, even the Astrals know now. ” Xiangling informed and Jiaming whistled in surprise. Xingqiu also took out his phone, going through the group chat while Chongyun read from over his shoulder.
Fischl huffed, “ They are betting on how long the UA kids will survive before they go insane. ” she said out loud. Xingqiu laughed, “ Childe said three days max. ” Chongyun smiled, “ I’m agreeing with Kaeya, a week at most. ”
Xingqiu gasped, “ Chongyun, you’re too kind. You have too much faith. ” The sky-blue-haired boy raised his eyebrows in response. Jiaming stood up to look at Xiangling’s phone, “ What did the Astrals say? ”
“ Herta said that she doesn’t pity us. ” All of them laughed at that. Xingqiu rolled his eyes, “ I’ll be shocked if she does. ” Chongyun lightly slapped him on the shoulder for that comment.
“ Asta just offered to sponsor our funeral if it got a bit too much. Love her for that honestly. ” Jiaming repeated with a hearty grin. Xiangling cheered, “ Asta is my guardian angel at this point. ”
Fischl made a sound and Razor pulled away from his position. “ Cyno just told us to go back to the dorm. ” She notified and Razor mumbled some kind of positive response.
Xiangling nodded before flinching, “ Oh yeah, Thoma said to gather at the Pyro dorm. Jiaming, Bennett, let’s go! ” The girl announced, taking her bag as she dashed out of the class not even a second later. Jiaming and Bennett scrambled after her, chasing and yelling at the girl. Bennett almost fell if not for Jiaming.
“ Seems like everyone is gathering at the dorm. ” Xingqiu quipped after reading the message sent by Yelan. Chongyun pouted, he forgot his phone at his dorm but since the others were assembling at their respective dorms, it must be the same with Cryo dorm.
Xingqiu held his hand, “ See you later at the lounge? “
Chongyun nodded with a small smile as Xingqiu mirrored it before they parted ways since the Hydro dorm was opposite the Cryo dorm. The Cryo user watched as his boyfriend walked away before sighing and making his way to the dorm.
“ Ah, Chongyun. ” He stumbled into Mika and Freminet along the way and joined them on the way back to their dorm. It was nice to talk to people who were the same as him, personality-wise.
“ Thoughts on the program? ” Mika asked after a moment of silence. Chongyun shrugged, “ Xingqiu and Jiaming aren’t really happy with it. ” He told them. Freminet sighed, “ Most of us aren’t. Charlotte was kind of excited. Collei, not so much. ”
“ I’m not against it but I’m not really looking forward to it either. ” Mika spoke truthfully with a frown. Chongyun pulled his sleeve, “ I don’t mind as long as they don’t cause any problem. ” Mika and Freminet nodded.
The latter then blinked, “ Lynette said that is kinda impossible for the UA kids. ”
The three mulled over what that possibly meant. Mika grimaced, “ Let’s hope it’s not that bad. ” The other two nodded in agreement as they arrived at the Cryo dorm.
|/|
The class of 2-A were in high spirits as they conversed amongst one another, smiles wide on their faces. A second later, the door slid open– and their beloved homeroom teacher, Aizawa stepped in. All of them were quick to return to their seats.
Aizawa praised them with his eyes, eliciting a small grunt as he settled at his desk. The students all looked at him in curiosity, something was telling them that something big was going to happen.
“ I have an important announcement for all of you. ” He started and saw how all of them immediately stiffened, faces hardened and focused. He stifled the smile on his face before continuing. “ Our school has decided to collaborate with another school for a transfer program. ” Before he could continue, the kids instantly cut in.
“ Which school?! ” Mina shrieked in surprise.
“ Is it Shiketsu? ” Sero inquired with wide eyes.
“ Ooo, sounds fun! ” Hagakure cheered.
“ Shut up all of you fuckers! ” Bakugou exploded, yelling at his classmates. Some of them shrieked while Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose. The man sighed, “ No, none of what you think. And keep your question first, damn it. ” He stressed and some of his students laughed awkwardly.
“ Our school has decided to collaborate with Teyvat Academy instead. I’m sure you have heard of the academy, whether the school or its place. ” Aizawa said. The class looked at him in shock and surprise, unprepared for the information. Midoriya raised his hand, “ Like the one where their students have visions? ”
Aizawa nodded affirmatively as they started processing the information. “ Nedzu was able to strike a deal with them under the disguise of a transfer student program. In reality, UA and HSPC want to send you guys there to investigate the horrible things happening there. ” He informed them and saw how all of them straightened at the prospect of a mission.
“ So we’re gonna go and save the students there?! ” Mina remarked with a big smile. All of them had heard of how unethical Teyvat Academy is and they all feared for the students there who were being subjected to heinous treatment.
Aizawa nodded, “ The entire world barely knows anything about Teyvat Academy and its place. They are located on a separate land called The Ark , if I’m not wrong. ”
Bakugou scowled, “ What kind of fucking name is that? What do they think this is, a video game? ”
Aizawa shook his head and Bakugou huffed, “ Teyvat is one of the three countries there, with the other two being Astrals and Honkai. As of now, we only know a little about Teyvat Academy and nothing else about the other two. It has been reported multiple times that Teyvat Academy is the most dangerous school out there with its method of training young children with no limit whatsoever. ”
The students all grimace in disgust at the information. Shinsou narrowed his eyes as he digested it all.
“ They send these children on dangerous missions, not caring whether it is safe or not. Teyvat Academy exclusively looks out for quirkless people, giving fake hopes of these so-called ‘visions’ that can give them powers and taking advantage of them. We believe that there are a lot more sinister things happening behind the scenes, and as such, are taking action against it now. ”
All of 2-A were gaping in disgust and horror at whatever they were hearing. Bakugou’s face showed nothing but anger. All of them were horrified to know that Teyvat was preying on quirkless people and taking advantage of them.
“ That’s so unmanly! ” Kirishima shouted with a deep frown. Mina echoed his words too in complete agreement.
“ That is so evil. They can’t get away with that! ” Kaminari propped up a fist and the other kids were all shouting now. Midoriya felt his stomach churning uncomfortably at the prospect of quirkless kids being manipulated.
“ The HSPC wants all of you, as well as 2-B, to investigate and gather enough evidence of their horrible acts and expose them to the world. We believe that this is the best chance at taking down Teyvat Academy, as well as the other two. ” Aizawa ended. All the kids glanced at each other with hard-found determination.
Jirou raised a hand and Aizawa regarded her, “ Sir, you mention two other places there. Are we going to only investigate Teyvat Academy? ”
Aizawa grunted, “ It is the only available option right now. Teyvat Academy is the only place that we were able to establish communication with. The HSPC isn’t sure whether the two other places have similar academies or not. So it’s also crucial for you all to gather information about the other two places. ”
Seeing as there was no other thing to say, Aizawa cocked his head. “ That is all. We leave on Thursday. Get ready or whatever. The meeting’s over, get some rest. ” With that, he quickly exited the class.
The class was silent for a moment. Mina turned slowly, “ Sooo, what do y'all think?! ”
“ I think it’s a fucking waste of time. Why the fuck do we have to waste energy trying to save a bunch of quirkless fucker cheating because they are too worthless to get a quirk? I could care less about quirkless shit ass cheating as much as I don’t fucking care about the regular quirkless fuckers. “ Bakugou scowled, eyes raging before he slammed the door open and walked out. The class grimaced at his actions but couldn’t help to silently agree with his words.
“ Jeez, he should calm the fuck down for once. It’ll do him good or something. ” Shinsou rolled his eyes, unamused and annoyed by the raging blond’s attitude.
“ Let’s not get too riled up everyone. Right now, we should focus on our mission. Let’s put personal grudges and feelings aside for now. We need to work as a team to save our fellow hero students who are being abused and mistreated at Teyvat Academy. ” Yaoyorozu clapped her hands to grab their attention.
“ Why do we need to help anyway? ” Ojiro frowned at the looks she received. “ I’m not saying we should abandon them or something but it’s true that they are all quirkless people who are cheating. ” He frowned, not noticing the look of disgust Shinsou sent him. Midoriya also grimaced at his words.
Iida shook his hand profusely, “ Let’s discuss this back at our dorm! We must focus on our mission and save those innocent students from Teyvat Academy’s abusive actions! We must bring them to justice. ” He exclaimed and some of them cheered in return.
“ We’re going to save those students! ” Sero remarked with a proud smile. Kaminari puffed his chest, “ Those Teyvat kids will be grateful that we will be there! They won’t need to be afraid now that we heroes are going to save them. ”
Uraraka laughed at them as they all started exiting the class, quickly making their way to their dorm.
“ We should invite class 2-B too! We all need to work together for this. Let’s go! ”
|/|
“ This is the worst time to be a student. ” Heizou groaned out, stuffing his face full of his beetle plushie. Kazuha hummed from the side, focusing on tying his hair. Wanderer scoffed from the side, “ It’s only the worst time because those clowns are coming. ” He sneered at the reminder of the program.
“ Kaeya called them a circus instead. ” Sucrose quipped from the side, not tearing her eyes away from her jigsaw puzzle. Wanderer snorted at the comment while Kazuha smiled.
“ Is it too late to transfer to Astral? ” Heizou wailed comically and Wanderer rolled his eyes. He kicked the younger guy, “ Stop being dramatic. ” Heizou retorted indignantly, pouting as he stuffed his face full of the beetle plushie again.
“ It won’t be that bad. ” Jean commented with a stiff smile, closing the book she was reading. Most of them had taken to hanging out in the Anemo dorm’s lounge, so it was kind of crowded there. Everyone halted and turned to stare at her. Jean sweatdropped at the amount of flat look she was getting.
“ Be honest, Jean. ” Wanderer deadpanned at the woman. Jean rubbed her nape, mulling over her words before she gave up and sighed. She gestured, “ Okay, it might be a little bad. ” she said truthfully as everyone nodded and continued their business.
Jean exhaled, she wasn’t exactly lying when she said she wasn’t looking forward to the program but she was at least trying to stay positive about it.
Even if it wasn’t working quite well.
“ When are they arriving anyway? ” Heizou questioned, playing with his plushie. “ In two days. ” Lynette answered shortly, not looking away from her tea.
Someone groaned from the couch after hearing the answer. Mark, a dark-haired Snezhnayan, glared at his phone. “ I can’t believe we're gonna have those quirkist kids invading our school. ” He said with distaste in his voice and no one said anything to it.
While others had hope that the UA students would look past their quirklessness and visions, they also knew how doubtful that was. Which was ironic, considering those kids were supposed to be heroes and all. “ Let’s hope for the best, I guess. ” Mimi, a brown-haired Inazuman chimed. Some grumbled in agreement while others just sighed.
|/|
“ So, a little birdy told me that you guys are in some deep shit? ” Aventurine leaned against the railing as Kaveh groaned out loud once he heard the question. The architect flailed his arms, “ Why do they have to do this during my final year?! Why not next year?! ” The blonde wailed out in frustration.
Aventurine snickered, plopping down on the empty spot on the couch. Al Haitham greeted him with a look and a nod before going to his book. The gray-haired guy really reminded him of Dr. Ratio, just a little less confronting.
“ Don’t laugh at my suffering! ” Kaveh yelled out, flailing about on the mattress like some kind of caterpillar. Al Haitham didn’t even have the energy to deal with him. Aventurine watched in amusement as Kaveh went on and on about his complaints about the program.
“ I’m glad it’s not our academy that has to deal with this. I don’t think I would have the energy to deal with a bunch of wannabe heroes. ” Aventurine remarked as he wiped his sunglasses. Kaveh huffed, “ Why are they coming to our academy in the first place? ”
“ It is their misconception of thinking our academy is a hero school. They only see the world in black and white. ” Al Haitham commented, closing his book with a thud. Aventurine grinned at his words, a thought conjuring in his head. He whistled, getting up from his spot.
“ I’m gonna talk with my professor. Good luck, boys. ”
|/|
“ They can’t be that bad, right? ” Thoma raised the question, wincing slightly at the looks he garnered. He was trying to think positively of the program but most of Teyvat’s students weren't really fond of the outside work and its prejudice against the quirkless, or those with weak and useless quirks.
“ Take it from someone who comes from the outside, it is that bad. ” Dinie, a black-haired girl from India countered with a frown.
Daniil, a blue-haired boy from Russia shrugged, “ It’s not as bad in some countries but UA is from Japan and they are kind of notorious for having one of the highest quirkless suicide rates. ” He informed and continued eating, ignoring the countless horrified looks from the Teyvatians.
“ I mean, they are training to be heroes so it will be fine, right? ” Yoimiya vocalized as she chewed her fishball. She knew that there was a positive side to this program, even though some of the stuff being said was unfortunately true.
“ I love how much faith you have, Yoi. ” Hu Tao giggled at the blonde, who pouted in return. Yan Fei shook her head, “ Let’s not get our hopes up. We don’t know what the UA students are like. ” Yoimiya wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
“ I don’t want to think about this. ” Diluc grunted out, looking entirely unpleasant as he picked out his veggies. They all seemed to agree with him, dropping the topic and diving into another, it was at that moment that the cheery atmosphere returned. Yoimiya opted to push her thoughts away, arguing with Amber over the last piece of mooncake.
|/|
Unlike all the other dorms, the Electro dorm’s lounge was deserted– void of any of the students’ presence. For any other people, it would have been weird, seeing as most students hung around the lounge.
And yet, it was normal for those bearing the Electro vision. When it comes to this kind of subject, students would rather sit in their room for the moment– to adjust their view and clear their minds.
“ Quite the atmosphere we have. ” Yae Miko stated, gracing her fingers over a cerulean vase. It’s not a foreign sight to her whatsoever, Electro vision users have always valued their privacy and opinions. The students needed time and space to adjust to the clear imbalance that would arrive on their grounds.
“ Love to see how it will work out once those UA kids get here. This place might be barricaded. ” Cyno chimed in, hands busy rearranging his cards. He had just walked in after finishing his assignments.
Yae Miko hummed, taking a seat on the couch. “ If it isn't due to protocol, I would be inclined to close the dorm down due to maintenance. ” The woman stated, checking her nails casually.
Anyone in Teyvat knew that those with Electro visions didn’t like sharing their dorms to outsiders. While other students were permitted to enter or visit, most didn’t in respect of those with Electro visions.
Respect our boundaries and we will respect yours.
It was one of those things that really held the meaning of eternity.
“ It would be interesting to know what eternity means to those heroes. ” Yae Miko hummed, a borderline gleeful smile on her face. “ Most are displeased with the arrangement. For what it's worth, I do hope that the heroes will stick to their words. If not, they will be chewing more than they can. ” Cyno began with a monotone voice, his eyes narrowing. Despite the lack of emotion in his words, Yae Miko could see the warning written in there.
No matter how weird it is, Yae Miko really hopes the heroes will behave themselves. After all, they aren’t the only ones here.
|/|
“ Are you sure this is a good thing? ” Hawks questioned, a look of indifference on his face as he closed his book. Nedzu sipped his tea, a smile on his face while all the other heroes started entering the room. The number-2 hero shook his head, blinking drowsily.
“ Yes, I believe this is the best thing we can do. Now, everyone, please take a seat! ” He encouraged all the heroes needed. They obeyed, exhaling in curiosity as to what the principal of UA might want to discuss.
The chimera placed his cup of tea and jumped onto the table for extra height. “ Now, I take it that you are aware of our previous discussion concerning our next step to re-establishing our society. ” Nedzu started with a grin as realization dawned on the heroes’ faces. Aizawa shook his head in exasperation. Hawks only stared passively at the principal.
“ Thankfully, Teyvat Academy has accepted our proposition, not knowing that it is a disguise for our mission to gather information and expose their evil deeds for the world to see. ” At Nedzu’s words, some of the heroes exploded in excitement and shock. It got a little unbearable until Endeavor slammed a fist down on the table, effectively silencing their outburst.
The fire-hero face was oddly dark and strained, “ Continue, Nedzu. ” The rodent nodded gratefully. “ Now, we are all aware of Teyvat’s school system, especially the existence of visions. From the statistics we pulled, two-third of those that received visions are quirkless– with the remaining having some form of quirk. ” Nedzu explained, face neutral as the screen behind lit up to show data and research. Hawks raised an eyebrow at that. Many gasps of shock echoed through the room.
“ Despicable! Targeting people who don’t have quirks to protect themselves. ” Edgeshot shouted, eyebrows furrowed in anger. Best Jeanist nodded from beside him, eyes narrowed.
“ HSPC predicted that a large portion of TA are kids forced to do things beyond their ages. While visions are said to be a large part of Teyvat Academy, it has been recorded that they also accept other students who have no access to visions. What they are doing is simply taking advantage of these children, promising power that they will never receive. ” Nedzu continued, flipping through his notebook on what little information he gained. Meanwhile, looks of horror and dread painted the heroes’ faces.
Gang Orca growled out something incoherent, as well as Hound Dog who bared his fangs. As the Guidance Counselor of UA, Hound Dog was well-protective over the UA children, and hearing that Teyvat Academy was taking advantage of hopeful children made him angry.
Hawks took out his phone and started taking notes on what Nedzu was explaining. When Midnight raised an eyebrow at that, he only gestured that he was sleepy and decided that taking notes would be better.
“ Considering that Teyvat Academy has accepted our idea, we will be able to infiltrate their ground and gather information. With this, we will be able to take them down and save those innocent students. ”
Pro-Hero Wash then raised a hand, “ Does the World Hero Association not know anything about them? ” That question gained multiple weird looks.
“ World Hero Association has stated that they and The Ark will not get involved with each other and whatever choice we make for this will be entirely on us. Don’t worry! The government will step in if anything bad happens. ”
The heroes murmured in agreement at the plan. “ Sounds good. We can finally take down that place. With how they are trying to hide themselves, it’s quite stupid they decided to accept this program. They really don’t know what’s coming. ” Mr. Brave snickered, yelping when Kamui Wood reprimanded him for interrupting.
Hawks blinked, halting his writing, Huh.
“ As such! Classes 2-A and 2-B will be given this mission. They have survived through countless hardships so I have faith that they will succeed in this. As usual, both Aizawa and Sekijiro will accompany them. Of course, only a selected few are permitted on this trip. ” Nedzu told with an unapologetic smile, even to the disappointment of some of the heroes.
“ Excluding Aizawa and Sekijiro, we wish to send other Pro-Heroes but the list has not yet been approved by Teyvat Academy. For that, we will have to wait as we don’t want to arouse any sort of suspicion. ” Nedzu clarified, holding out his paws.
Hawks lazily tapped on his phone, feeling drowsy with each second. The meeting went on for a few more hours, just the Pro-Heroes discussing their plans. Hawks didn’t care to listen, probably because he found this whole thing ridiculous.
Somewhere along the meeting, Edgeshot and a few others started giving motivational speeches and Hawks could feel the secondhand embarrassment. He’s not very fond of this and wishes to just go home.
He’s not one to pray but he surely hoped the kids would be careful stepping into a lion’s den.
|/|
Compared to the previous dorm, those of Hydro visions were bustling in their own debates. The lounge was packed with students studying as well as discussing their own interpretation of what would transpire in two days. None of them were particularly thrilled about the program but were interested enough to see the heroes’ meaning of justice. They were curious to see how far the heroes would go to enact their version of justice.
“ Oh, please ! I really don’t want to sound indignant but they see the world in black and white! Those heroes are the same people who think that criminals or villains could never redeem themselves. They have no qualms about throwing someone in jail for petty crime- which is abiding by the law, I know –but to not give the help those people need?! And they wonder why crimes are rampant! ” Childe shouted and the rest gave him weird looks of awe.
If it was anyone, Childe would know how it felt to be a bad person, and to hear that those people could never redeem themselves was horrendous.
He then turned to Furina with an awkward look, pointing at her. “ Wait- what was that saying again? ” He sweatdropped as silence flew by. Furina blinked before standing with proportionate dramaticity, “ Justice is blind, not heartless ! ” She stated and half of the room cheered. Furina exhaled, sinking down to her seat again. Xingqiu elbowed her, winking teasingly.
“ And ! Criminals and villains are two different categories! I really don’t know why they can’t see that. ” Mona huffed, crossing her arms with an irritated look.
“ Agreed. It is a wonder how they don’t provide the actual help needed for the criminals and villains to be better. It is not like they don’t have the resources needed to uphold financial aid, a mental-health program or even therapy. ” Ayato told his points, to which they all nodded and murmured in agreement.
Nilou hummed, a frown on her face. “ I guess it’s because of their society. Unlike us, we don’t have villains-versus-heroes things, so you could say that their society depends on villains and criminals to exist. ” She said nonchalantly with a pout, fiddling with the end of her sleeve.
Furina blinked and cussed out something, “ That actually made sense, putain. ”
Kokomi smiled, “ Nilou is right. Time and time again it has been shown that heroes will lose their standings if there are no villains or criminals to apprehend. There is more to it, of course. ” Even while Kokomi was smiling, it didn’t quite reach her ears. It is no wonder as Kokomi herself had the unpleasant experience of dealing with said heroes.
Of course, they weren’t blind that there are genuinely good heroes but with the way the heroes society work and their discriminative views, it really put Teyvat in a bitter spot. Most hope it would get better from then on but their views towards vision users and The Ark as a whole really annoyed just about anyone. And don’t get them started on the whole view of quirkless or weak/useless quirks.
“ I mean, I'm kinda grateful they’re coming to Teyvat Academy instead– hear me out damn it –because what if they chose Astral Express Academy instead? Or even St. Freya ? ” Minsun, a white-haired Korean, stressed out while holding his hands in surrender when everyone else glared at him. Although his words made everyone pause and he could see all of their gears turning.
Then there were multiple horrified exclamations of ‘ Dear gods, no’ and ‘ Archons, fuck. ’
“ I applaud them for one good decision. ” Yelan stated with a mildly cheerful smile.
|/|
“ It seems that we have come to an indisputable moment. ” Zhongli’s voice echoed through the hall. His ember eyes trailed over each of the Geo vision users, displeasure and mild indifference etched on their faces. Except for Arataki Itto but that guy was in his own league.
“ All of you are aware of the recent development as well as the announcement that has been made. And I know , for a fact, that a large portion are not satisfied with the outcome. ” His words echoed through the halls and Zhongli internally sighed at the look of irritation and annoyance of some students when he mentioned the program.
“ From what we have known, UA Academy is the top Hero School in Japan, located in Musutafu. They are known for creating many upstanding heroes like All Might or Endeavor– although those names have little meaning to us. They have cemented themselves as the highest hierarchy in their society, just a little above the newly reinstated Heroes Safety Public Commission.
And I know you are all aware of their opinion about us. While I do encourage you to be on the best of behaviors, do show who we are. Show them that their prospect of heroes-versus-villains does not affect us. ” Zhongli ended with a firm nod, eyes slightly narrowed as a resounding ‘ Yes !’ came from the students.
Ningguang smiled and nodded as Zhongli gave the stage away to her. “ However, please do not openly antagonize their delegations. It is best to remember that those coming from UA are mainly children– they can be more open-minded. ” Or a pain to deal with .
“ Their opinions on us are unsavory but please keep your professionalism. ” Ningguang shook her head with a small smile, elevating the atmosphere a little bit as some students relaxed.
“ We don’t need their approval on anything we do. Keep your heads up and go on about your day like usual. It is in human nature to judge but do not be arrogant enough for it to cloud your views. ” Albedo remarked, his note in his hands as his eyes passively trailed across the dorm. Itto cheered with a ‘ woo! ’ and the rest of the students clapped.
Zhongli smiled, “ In the meantime, keep up with your studies and activities. Dismiss. ” He nodded in approval as students made their way back to the dorm, chattering along the way.
“ I can’t wait to go back and sleep! ” Itto exclaimed with a grin, stretching his arms. Gorou’s ears twitched while raising an eyebrow, “ Have you finished the assignment Miss Nahida gave? ”
Yun Jin hummed, “ Isn’t that due tomorrow? ”
Itto choked on his breath when he remembered, yelling in panic as he rushed to his dorm. Gorou sighed. Yun Jin giggled amusingly.
|/|
Asmoday leisurely thumped her finger on the table with a rhythm, golden hue eyes scrutinizing the screen in front of her. She certainly wanted to laugh at this turn of events.
“ Quite the expression you have. ” Istaroth spoke up, not even looking away from their paper. Asmoday hummed, resting her hands together. “ I’m looking forward to this program. ”
Istaroth paused for a moment before leaning back to look at the woman, “ Do you need me to contact Apocalypse? ”
Asmoday sent a flat look at them. “ Are you trying to start an actual apocalypse? No. That woman probably knew by now. ” Asmoday waved her hands in rejection, refusing to think about the short-white-haired woman.
“ How about Fuli? ”
“ No . ”
“ Oh, Xipe? ”
“ I said no. ”