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It was a nice afternoon, during lunch period. Both Nemuri and Hizashi had dragged Shouta out to the cafeteria since the two of them were on watch duty and wanted him to join them.
"I don't see why you're doing this. I just want to go take a nap before I have to supervise heroics with the hell-spawn and the blonde buffoon," Shouta grumbles.
Hizashi huffs, "You've been coped up in your office all day long. It's about time you get out of there."
Before Shouta could retort, they hear some of his students talking. Shouta realised they were now standing within earshot to the self-proclaimed Dekusquad's table.
"Well, I just don't get how the heroics system works. The different paths and types of heroics… It's so complex- and we've only started this topic!", Uraraka complains.
"Yeah. Usually, I have no trouble memorising stuff, but this is on another level, kero," Asui croaks.
Iida nods, "I myself still have trouble remembering everything despite having already been taught the basics about it by my brother and parents. Don't be too hard on yourself. As you said, we've only just started."
Todoroki beside him nods in agreement. "My father also taught me about the heroics system. That is to say, he has his sidekicks explain it to me. I never listened though, out of spite." None of them comment on it, the entire Dekusquad looking as if that was a normal statement from the boy.
"Rai-Sensei always explained it so well that we barely had problems understanding the topic. What're you doing differently for them to have problems?", Hizashi mutters quietly to Shouta.
Shouta huffs in turn, "well, I don't copy her way of explaining it... mostly because I forgot how she did explain it. Besides, she just has a way with her words... and diagrams." Before the trio of teachers could continue to whisper amongst themselves, another voice cuts in.
"It's not that hard though."
All heads immediately turn to Midoriya. He doesn’t look up as he takes a bite from his food. "No, seriously. Sure, it may seem complex at first, but it's quite simple once you get the hang of it. And to be honest, it's my favourite topic."
"If that is so, then you must share your learning technique! It would be beneficial for all of us," Iida states.
Uraraka leans forward and stares directly into Midoriya's eyes. "Prove it. Tell us about the heroics system. Right now."
Midoriya hums, quickly finishes his food and then takes out a notebook from nowhere. He opens the notebook on a blank page and takes out a pen, spinning it mindlessly in his hand before clicking it. "Let's start with the general thing and then go over into the specifics. As you know, there's three heroics paths: Limelight, Twilight and Underground." Midoriya writes all three paths down, spaced from one another around the page.
"Limelight is the path of heroics that everyone sees: they're basically the face of heroics." He writes something beneath Limelight.
"That... that says 'Media Baby', Midoriya-kun," Iida says as he looks over Midoriya's shoulder.
"Wait, 'Media baby'? Isn't that one of the names Rai-Sensei always called limelighters??", Nemuri whispers.
Hizashi furrows his eyebrows and nods. "It is... that begs the question on where he heard it."
"You can't tell me that they're not media babies. Or Posters for that matter. I still like Posters as a nickname for the limelight heroes more," Midoriya hums as he writes 'Posters' next to 'Media Baby'.
"I'm adopting that name now. Poster is a perfect description of them," Todoroki monotones.
Iida looks between the two, appalled. "Midoriya! Todoroki!
All the while, Hizashi, Nemuri and Shouta look at Midoriya in slight disbelief. "... how does he have the exact same nicknames for limelight as she did? With the exact same preference?", Shouta murmurs.
"A-anywho. The next are Twilight heroes. While they have the same publicity as the Limelight's, most of their work happens behind the scenes. Well, their missions aren't anything like the ones of Underground heroes, but I suppose their work can be compared to theirs. Due to the duality of their path, they have been dubbed Two-Face."
Iida chokes.
Midoriya stops writing and looks him directly in the eyes. "If you think they're offended by that, then I don't think you know Twilight Heroes. They absolutely love being called Two-face. For example, I once overheard Aizawa-Sensei call Kayama-Sensei that and she just exclaimed in glee."
That she did. And right now, she seemed to be close to bursting with delight. Shouta merely takes a slow step away from her.
"And to the last path, Underground heroics. As their name suggests, they're completely unknown by the public, working where the media's light won't shine. Underground heroes, or as I like to call them, Voids, have the highest level of security and anonymity of all heroes."
Asui tilts her head in question. "Voids, kero?"
Midoriya nods. "Yes. It's basically since no one knows they exist, so they may as well be voids. Although there's also Shadow, but that's more used for apprentices, interns, new sidekicks... basically any newer hero to the underground."
"So far, so good. That was still easy to follow," Uraraka says. "Now comes the chaos that I don't understand."
"Yep! Now that we discussed the heroics paths, we can move on to the sub-types! The gist of sub-types is that they describe the work a hero does most. For example, rescue is a sub-type, although it's one of the larger ones, so most confuse it to be its own heroics path," Midoriya explains as he writes down 'rescue' somewhere between both Limelight and Twilight.
"Huh? Why put it there?", Uraraka asks.
"Because some sub-types can only be found in certain heroics paths. Underground heroes can never have the rescue sub-type, even if they do sometimes rescue civilians. The rescue sub-type is only for those who always are in charge of rescue when disasters or villain attacks or the like occur. Like the wild-wild pussycats. While they specialise in mountain range rescue specifically, they're still within the rescue sub-type. Of course there's Thirteen-Sensei, who also falls into the rescue sub-type, with a specialisation in urban disasters."
"That's... such a good way to explain it. Actually, I feel like I heard it explained that way before," Hizashi murmurs.
Todoroki hums. "Huh... interesting. Are there any sub-types that can be found in all heroics paths?"
Midoriya nods and moves his pen to write in the middle of the page. "Yep! There's quite a few- actually, most of them are. For example, there's walker or watcher. It basically describes heroes that do a lot of patrolling. Walker for those who do it during the daytime and in public view, and watcher for those who patrol in the night and out of sight."
"Another one that can be found in any path is Medic, who are trained doctors and heroes, like Recovery Girl. Although it's more common to find medic sub-type heroes that are merely medical doctors who have a hero license to use their quirk freely and on scene," he explains.
Uraraka gasps. "That's really cool! But that means they don't do anything but medical work, right? How are they able to maintain their hero license if they don't to any hero work?"
Midoriya hums. "Well, their on field medical practice is basically their hero work. There's also this whole rule that states that any medical sub-type hero who are just licensed doctors with the bare minimum of heroics training are allowed to maintain their hero license without doing any other hero work. It's mostly because having them on field when disasters strike means they can respond quickly and treat patients with their quirks without the whole permission process that is necessary in hospitals."
He turns his attention back to his notebook. "Anyways, then there's the Case sub-type which can only be taken on by the twilight and underground path. It's usually seen as the opposite of walker/watcher, but heroes can still have both sub-types. Case basically means that the hero mainly works on cases." The green boy writes it between Twilight and Underground.
"Wait, kero, so heroes can have multiple sub-types?"
"Yes! Most heroes have multiple. For example Yamada-Sensei has walker and case, while the Wild-Wild Pussycats all have rescue and team."
"Wait, team? That's a sub-type?", Iida asks.
Midoriya nods and continues to write the mentioned sub-types and even points at them. "Yep. It's also one that can be found in any path. The name is pretty self explanatory. So, uh, next is support. It's basically heroes who make support gear besides hero work, like Maijima-Sensei! Or just support engineers with a hero license in general."
"Next is-"
"Hold on. Just how many sub-types are there?", Todoroki cuts in, making Midoriya pause.
"Uhhh 13; 14 if you count Walker and Watcher as separate sub-types. Anywho, as I was saying... next is Negotiator. Those are heroes who prioritise talking villains down instead of fighting them immediately. They're the first heroes to be sent into a hostage situation if the possibility is there. It can be quirk-related and usually even is. If anything, I think the best example would be Shinsou-kun! He'd be an amazing negotiator sub-type hero."
Shouta had to agree with Midoriya’s words. Shinsou would absolutely be a perfect negotiator sub-type hero. After all, his quirk was perfectly suited for deescalation- as long as the target responds of course. Though in the cases the negotiator sub-type is best utilised in, talking to the villains or criminals is exactly what they need to do.
After writing ‘Negotiator’ in the middle of the page, Midoriya moves to write between Underground and Twilight. “Then there’s tracker. Their primary job is to track and hunt down villains on the run. Well, mostly. Sometimes, they’re tasked with finding and apprehending vigilantes as well. Their skills lie in pursuit and capture,” he explains.
“Quick question before I forget it later, kero,” Asui cuts through, making Midoriya pause for a second. “Of the sub-types, which ones do you associate yourself with?”
“Huh… what sub-types would the green bean be?”, Nemuri murmurs, Hizashi nodding beside her.
Shouta had to admit that it was a good question. His first thought would go to the typical limelight stereotype of walker with a dash of rescue. Though if he thought further, he could go like Hizashi, being a very present Twilight and going for walker and case. Then again, with his analytic abilities, he would be a good control or even intelligence sub-type.
Midoriya hums, gently tapping his pen against his notebook. “Me? Well… I’d say I fit in the walker and intelligence sub-types. Intelligence, or also called Reconnaissance, are heroes that deal in intel- whether via informants, hacking or analysis.” He writes it down beside Tracker.
“Yeah, I can see you being an Intelligence sub-type. With all those analysis notebooks of yours, it doesn’t surprise me,” Uraraka muses.
“Anywho… another sub-type for all is Control. It refers to the heroes usually taking charge of operations and making decisions. They’re kind of the masterminds of raids and other missions. An example would be Principal Nezu! Control sub-type heroes are usually non-combative, though there’s the rare exception like Sir Nighteye who aren’t,” Midoriya explains.
“Then we have the Underground specific sub-types. Underground is the only path that has sub-types tailored to it. First one would be Ambush. Like most sub-types, the name is self explanatory. They prioritise sneak attacks and swift takedowns. A good example would be Aizawa-Sensei.”
He pauses for a bit to write it under Underground with another sub-type. “And lastly, Undercover. Again, pretty much self explanatory. I don’t think I have to explain it.” With that, he finally sets his pen down.
There’s a moment of silence as his friends soak up his words.
“That was… wow. Very informative,” Hizashi says, looking at both Nemuri and Shouta.
Nemuri only nods slowly. “Yeah. And he knew all that from the top of his head? I mean, I know all sub-types as well and know exactly which ones which, but even I can’t just list them all like that. I’d probably forget to name a few.”
Shouta merely hums in agreement.
“There’s still one missing though. You said it’d be 13, 14 if we counted walker and watcher as separate things. You said there’s Walker, Watcher, Team, Negotiator, Medic, Support, Control, Rescue, Tracker, Intelligence, Case, Ambush and Undercover. That’s 13 when counting them separately,” Todoroki notes.
Asui raises an eyebrow at the dual-haired teen. “You kept count, kero?”
“Todoroki is correct. Did you perhaps remember the count wrong, Midoriya?”
The trio of teachers blink. They hadn’t even noticed it. “Huh. Which one’s missing again?”, Hizashi mutters.
“I have no clue,” Nemuri shrugs. Shouta also just shakes his head. Even though he just held the opening lecture on the topic earlier today, he doesn’t quite know which one could possibly be missing.
It’s clear to see that Midoriya is debating something, his eyebrows furrowing. “I didn’t count wrong… I just left one out on purpose.”
Uraraka gives him a bewildered “What? Why?”
“…” Midoriya picks his pen back up and writes one last sub-type in the middle of the page. “It’s called Poison. As for what it is… it’s not relevant as of now. To even get this sub-type there’s a whole process that has to be completed and it comes with its own special license. It’s not something we have to think about as of now. It shouldn’t even be something we consider as a possibility.”
Shouta’s eyes widen. He’d forgotten all about it for a minute. And from the looks of it, his two friends had as well.
Midoriya purses his lips, eyes staring right at his notebook. “Even with the extensive process that has to be completed to get the Poison sub-type, it’s one that those who have it usually take advantage of. I don’t even understand how they even came to the idea of making this sub-type! It’s just so-“ before he could continue, he takes a deep breath, calming himself back down.
“Point is, the Poison sub-type isn’t important for us right now. I can see us going over it in our third year, maybe even end of second year depending on how the curriculum is structured.”
The Dekusquad shares a look before staring at the green haired boy. It’s Iida asks who for them all. “You’re not going to tell us what this Poison sub-type is?”
“Absolutely not. You’ll know what it is when you need to. But all you need to know for now is that there is a sub-type known as Poison.” Midoriya closes his notebook and stows it away. “I’ll put a photo of that page into our group chat.”
Shouta slowly walks off to another part of the cafeteria, having heard more than enough from the conversation, Hizashi and Nemuri following him. They stop at a corner from which they could easily keep watch over the entire cafeteria while also being away from all students.
“It’s so rare and something Nezu heavily frowns upon that I completely forgot about it! Nezu lets any hero of any sub-type into his roster of teachers, so long as they meet his requirements. But any Poison sub-types? They’re shot down immediately,” Nemuri says, crossing her arms.
Shouta’s expression hardens. “Right. And for good reason. Managing to get the Poison sub-type might be hell and is known to be almost impossible, but once you do get it, you have the license to legally kill. And the Rat doesn’t want anyone on staff to have that kind of license.”
Because that’s exactly what Poisons are. Heroes with the permission to kill. Hike there’s other sub-types that also need a license to be obtained, like Medic or Support, Poison has the most heavily regulated procedure to even receive the license. It’s so heavily regulated and restricted that 0.1% of the heroes that do try to get one manage to pass the rigorous procedure.
And that’s saying something when it’s at most 1.3% of heroes that try to get the license.
But the problem doesn’t lie in the heavily restricted access to these licenses. No, the real problem lies in the regulations once the license has been received. Or rather, the nonexistent ones. Once someone gets their hands on the license that makes them a Poison sub-type, there are no regulations or restrictions in order. There’s nothing preventing them from just killing any villain or criminal on sight.
And it’s exactly that unrestricted use of the license that had Nezu decide to bar anyone who had one in possession.
Midoriya was right when he said it wouldn’t be touched upon until a later date. Right now they were just getting everything taught so they can start engraving it into their minds and to perhaps get a better idea of what type of hero they want to be in the future.
His thoughts halt for a moment as he thinks over how Midoriya explained the topic to his friends. It was all too familiar. And while not in depth, he explained all the major points.
Shouta leans against the wall, not even bothering to listen to Nemuri and Hizashi’s conversation.
No, because the way Midoriya explained it was all too familiar. But the only one who ever explained this topic to him was Rai-Sensei. It’s also just been far too long ago for him to remember all the details of how she explained it.
Shouta can feel the gears spinning in his head, though they’re not connected to another. There’s something he’s missing, something he’s forgetting. What exactly made Midoriya’a explanation so familiar?
The technical terms? Those are universally known, so those would be familiar, no doubt. And because of that, it’s not odd for Midoriya to know them as well.
The nicknames for the different heroics paths? That’s something Midoriya or anyone else wouldn’t have been able to find that easily. Although any former student of Rai-Sensei’s is well aware of those nicknames and they even use it all the time. It’s not that weird for Midoriya of all people, an avid hero fanboy, to have heard those terms before and use them himself.
But his knowledge on Poison? That’s what bugs Shouta the most. While Midoriya may not have said anything about what that sub-type is about, Shouta could clearly tell from his words that he knew exactly what it meant.
But that’s the problem.
Poison is so heavily regulated outside of those who possess one that the public isn’t even aware of its existence. The HPSC keeps it so tightly under wraps that only heroes know of it. Hell, even then there’s a few who have only heard of the name of the sub-type but have no clue what exactly it is.
So for Midoriya to know what it is, which is very evident by how he spoke of it with distaste, and the fact that he even said he left it out on purpose, is concerning. Even with how avid of a hero fanatic he is, there’s not even a speck of it floating on the internet. So him knowing of it should be impossible.
Before Shouta’s mind could continue to think on overdrive, he pushes himself off the wall. “I’m tired and need a nap. I’m going back to my office.” This time, before either Nemuri or Hizashi could grab him, he already makes his way out the Cafeteria.
Kami, this was too much thinking in his free period. And he still had his hell-class and the blonde Buffon that is All Might to deal with later.
Joy.
Heroic Paths and their sub-types diagram
