Chapter Text
Koda frowned as he stared out the window of the small airplane. It was his first time flying with Principal Nezu, and hopefully it wouldn’t be his last, but he couldn’t manage to muster up any excitement for the big day. He hugged the backpack in his lap tightly like a teddy bear, trying to calm his nerves.
A lot of things made Koda anxious. Quite a lot of things, in fact. But perhaps surprisingly, flying was not one of them. Rather, what was on his mind was the conversation he’d overheard earlier between some of his classmates.
It had started when Ms. Midnight randomly selected Koda as one of the team leaders for a group assignment. He hadn’t quite caught what his classmates had said initially, but it wasn’t difficult to infer from the conversation that followed.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. He’s certainly a valuable teammate,” Yaoyorozu had elaborated. “I just don’t usually think of him as team-leader material. That’s all. But I’m sure his group will do great,” she insisted.
“I don’t believe that she meant anything by it,” Todoroki had concluded calmly. “Koda’s information-gathering skills are always appreciated,” he reasoned, “but you must admit that taking orders from him is difficult to imagine.”
At least Tokoyami had stood up for him. “He may be a man of few words,” his friend corrected them sternly, “but he has more than earned my trust.”
At least someone believes in me. Koda sighed to himself and tried to stop thinking about it. He already had enough to be nervous about today, and he didn’t need his classmates’ misgivings weighing on him too.
“Are you feeling alright, Koda?” Nezu asked into the microphone of his aviation headset, having noticed the student’s discomfort. “It will take a bit longer, but we can make the trip by train next time, if you prefer.”
“Oh, um…” Koda fiddled with his own headset’s microphone to respond. “I’ll be ok, Sir, I promise. I just, um, I’ve never been in a plane this small before, and it’s, uh, louder than I expected. That’s all.” Not entirely a lie. “Are we almost there?” he added, trying to sound cheerful.
“Almost. Just over this ridge here,” Nezu pulled back on the aircraft controls as they approached the mountain crest. “Aaand…”
As the plane finally made it over the mountain, Koda looked down to marvel at the beauty of Mon Cala Bay. The sparkling clear water shimmered in the sunlight, and the valley surrounding it was filled with a vibrant diversity of trees, a sure sign that the natural preserve was happy and healthy. Finally, in the distance, the facility came into view.
“Welcome to the Menagerie, Koda.”
There were at least a dozen buildings, and as they came closer and closer, the variety in their construction became more and more apparent. The ones that stood out most had shiny, glass roofs: greenhouses, or perhaps aviaries, Koda reasoned. Others adjoined fenced-in areas of various sizes. The big one, though, was right on the beach.
The Menagerie housed all sorts of quirked animals, and it was one of Principal Nezu’s passion projects. For a long time, and still in many places, quirked animals were hunted down. Even those with harmless quirks were considered dangerous, as it was feared they could mutate without warning or give birth to monsters. So, after what he went through himself, Principal Nezu founded the Menagerie, a place where quirked animals could live safely and peacefully. And, a place where Nezu would eventually prove that animals could be heroes too.
That was why Nezu had brought Koda here: to meet his future teammates, if all went well.
As the plane descended towards the short airstrip, Koda finally regained his focus. Today was important. He needed to act like a leader, whether his classmates believed in him or not.
First on the itinerary was Torpedo, a bottlenose dolphin with a propeller quirk that allowed it to swim at incredible speeds. Torpedo was already an accomplished Hero, frequently aiding marine search-and-rescue missions, and his pod had been successfully relocated to Mon Cala Bay.
And second was The Murder, a fearless flock of crows with inherited super-regeneration quirks. Their independent potential for heroism was less clear, and their relocation hadn’t gone as smoothly, so it would be up to Koda to make a good impression.
Koda clutched his backpack tightly once again as the small airplane finally touched down and came to a stop.
Three figures awaited the principal and student as they exited the plane. Two of them wore lab coats—Menagerie staff, no doubt—but the first one that caught Koda’s attention was a very excited dog!
“Ruff! Ruff!” The German Shepherd barked excitedly as it rushed towards Principal Nezu. Its tongue hung out of its snout, flapping about as it ran, and it had but one thing on its simple mind: That tongue was about to go all over its favorite furry friend’s face.
“Okuri, be polite,” the older of the two researchers called out.
The canine practically skidded to a halt, stopping mere inches from Nezu’s unflinching smile. Tongue still hanging out, it sat and held out one of its paws expectantly.
“Hello, Okuri! What a polite gentleman you are today,” Nezu responded by shaking Okuri’s paw, before reaching up to gently pat his head.
Perfect, the dog concluded. Polite was complete.
Nezu barely knew what had hit him when Okuri bowled him over. If it hadn’t been for the delighted laughter that ensued, Koda might have considered intervening.
After the dog had licked almost every inch of his face, Nezu finally cried uncle. “Okuri, I have another new friend for you to meet,” he managed to get out through his own giggling. He gestured, of course, to Koda.
Koda’s eyes lit up as the well-groomed shepherd bounded towards him before sitting politely and once more extending its paw. He knelt down, shook the creature’s paw, and introduced himself. “Hello, Okuri. I’m Koda.” For now, he used his quirk only to communicate with the canine, not to influence it.
“Lovely to finally meet you, Koda,” the elderly researcher greeted the student warmly. “Principal Nezu has told us so much about you.”
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Koda replied, though it was difficult not to be distracted by the dog’s curious sniffing.
Okuri was overjoyed to meet a new friend, and this one was especially friend-shaped. Polite was complete, but the new friend was still unfamiliar, so he had decided to start with enthusiastic sniffing. It still smells mostly of the flying contraption, but behind that… Pollen. Flowers? Trees? Inviting outside smells. And… Bath soap, lavender. What a fragrant aroma! Time to sniff closer to the new friend’s mouth… Oh, sweet bread! And even sweeter berries! Yes, delicious. Okuri could already tell that this would be a very good new friend.
“This gentleman’s name is Okuri,” the researcher began formally introducing the dog. “He’s still two years old, so he’s always excited to meet new friends. He can be a very good boy when the situation calls for it, though.”
Koda was impressed with Okuri’s politeness and felt honored to be sniffed. He loved dogs, and even more than that, he loved what dogs represented: People and animals were capable of understanding one another, learning from one another, and caring for one another, with or without special quirks.
Before the playful canine could get any more ideas, the researcher decided it was time to step in. “Okuri, heel,” she called gently, offering the dog a training treat before turning to Koda. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Dr. Magnolia.”
Koda could have kicked himself for not recognizing her sooner. “Dr. Magnolia? Jui Magnolia!?” Dr. Jui Magnolia was one of his biggest inspirations. She had a healing quirk, but it only worked on non-primate mammals. Some would say that it was a niche quirk, but she had done many great things with it, becoming an icon in the veterinary world. “It’s an honor to meet you, ma’am. My apologies for not recognizing you,” Koda bowed nervously.
“Oh, not at all! It happens all the time,” she reassured him jovially. “I don’t believe I’ve had a new photo published since before you were born.”
“Sorry to interrupt, but I have some unfortunate news,” Nezu began. “Koda, Miss Kukui here has informed me that Torpedo needed to be dispatched on an urgent mission,” he gestured to the graduate student behind him.
The young woman bowed. “The entire department sends its sincerest apologies, young Koda.”
“Oh…” For a moment, Koda was speechless with disappointment. He was supposed to get two chances to prove himself today. Now he was only going to get one. But he did quickly come to his senses. “No need to apologize, I understand,” he corrected himself, “I’m here to team up with Torpedo, not hold him back.”
“That’s the spirit, Koda,” Principal Nezu started, “It’s nothing we can’t reschedule. But first, you’ll all be delighted to know that I have a plan-B for today’s itinerary, and it involves kittens…”