Chapter 13: Back to School
Summary: Classes start up again! Lunch, with Momo and Izumi throwing each other under proverbial buses! Replacement Training for the USJ!
Chapter 13: Back to School
The return to classes was, it had to be said, actually pretty boring. Since the entire University had shut down for the security overhaul, classes picked up where they left off. Meaning, unfortunately, that it wasn't a Core Heroics day when they returned. Trying to get back into the groove of mundane classes, the most exciting of which was a Heroics History class, was honestly causing Izumi some mental dissonance. She could tell others from Group A that she ran into were suffering similarly, which likely explained almost half of their Group gravitating together during their lunch period. It was there, with two tables pulled together, that the topic of the USJ was awkwardly breeched, with a few people telling bits about their own experiences.
The relief of not simply ignoring what had happened was almost enough to overcome the horrible embarrassment Izumi felt at the way a few of her classmates gushed over how 'badass' she'd been. Though that embarrassment was tempted with just a bit of chagrin as well, as a few students were eyeing her like she was dangerous. Which, to be fair, she was. Just not to them. Thankfully, the building tension from that wariness, as well as the heavy atmosphere in general, was popped rather thoroughly by a suggestion from Mina.
"Okay! Serious stuff is serious! We all probably do need to talk about this. But I'd bet one of my horns Midnight-sensi will bring it up tomorrow. Which means we totally need to do something else super serious!"
Every single person at the table could already tell from her tone that whatever came out of Mina's mouth next was not going to be serious. Which, really, said a lot about Mina's…everything. Most of them had only known her for, like, a week.
"Group chat! We totally need one! Seriously, even if we didn't need one to talk about all the things…it's probably a good idea to be able to check on each other! Even with the professors saying everyone was okay, I really wanted to check on all of you over the weekend, you know? Just to make sure no one was super freaking out or something. But, I only had like seven of you on my contact list! That needs to be fixed, pronto!"
That…actually wasn't a bad idea. Izumi could see from the resigned expressions on several faces that they all knew they were about to be emoji and meme spammed by a few of their classmates. But those same resigned expressions also informed her that they'd quickly realized the same thing that she just had. That, in fact, being able to connect with each other after events like this really was probably important. Sighing, Izumi nudged Momo. Her girlfriend looked over at her curiously. Just in time for Izumi to unceremoniously throw her under the bus.
"All in favor of Momo being the moderator instead of Mina, say 'aye.'"
The chorus of near immediate 'ayes' that rippled along the table was satisfying. As was both the surprised expression on Momo's face and the pout on Mina's. Hesitating a few heartbeats to process what had just happened, Momo narrowed her eyes at Izumi for just a moment, before sighing and reaching for her phone.
"Fine. I guess I can do that. Actually, it's probably better either I or Izumi did it anyway. We can set it up as a side-channel on the HSN. That way it will be encrypted, if the ringleaders from the USJ get the bright idea to try tapping into our communications. I'm going to insist every one of you set up a biometric lock on your devices before I invite you, if you don't already have one, though."
Momo's casual delivery seemed to set several of their fellow students aback. Izumi frowned, then realized why that was. Groaning, she snagged her girlfriend's phone and hooked into it with her cyberpathy.
"I'll do the actual setup. I think they are about to ask why we can set up an HSN channel. And I'm not explaining. It's your fault, after all."
Momo blinked in confusion, looking over their classmates, then made a little 'ah' noise as several of them nodded. Shrugging…she promptly got her revenge by throwing Izumi under the bus in return for her earlier action.
"What Izumi didn't want to say is that she's the inventor of the Hero Scouter. I helped with the physical device a bit, and handled the business side of things for the most part, but Izumi and 2B are the real geniuses behind the system. They created and maintain all the code for the HSN system, even if a team from one of the Yaoyorozu subsidiaries actually runs the day-to-day operations and troubleshooting departments."
Izumi shot her girlfriend an utterly betrayed look as all eyes swiveled to her, getting only a serene smile in return, Resolutely, she focused on actually setting things up, trying to ignore the sudden attention. Momo's lips twitched as she continued.
"As a result of being the three original creators of the system Izumi, 2B, and myself all have administrative accounts. Which means we can set up private side channels, of the sort usually used by Hero Agencies. That will provide us with considerably more security than any standard app could give us."
Everyone at the table was in various states of stunned. It was Tsuyu who recovered first.
"Ah. That makes sense. Does this mean our hero gear will be able to tap into it as well?"
Momo nodded. But didn't get a chance to confirm that fact before Mina suddenly erupted.
"Wait. What? Izumi created the HSN?! Why did I not know about this? Why did everyone not know about this?!"
Izumi shrunk in on herself as the table erupted into chaos. For the first time, she was extremely distressed that her cyberpathy was so advanced. Somehow, she didn't think it was going to take them very long to realize she'd finished setting things up less than three seconds after she stole Momo's phone…
... ...
The next day, Midnight's morning Heroic Theory class was both a welcome return to the subject…and a bit tense, given what everyone expected would be discussed. They were right to assume such, as well, though the first topic wasn't exactly what they had expected Midnight to lead off with. Their sensei had been waiting for them with an air of mixed tiredness and seriousness that was out of character for the teasing, energetic teacher. The moment they had all taken their seats, Midnight took a deep breath…and bowed deeply to the class.
"Before anything else. It is my duty to officially extend an apology on behalf of the University for what you experienced last week. While Heroics is a dangerous career choice, and every single one of you would have seen combat eventually, it never should have happened so soon into your Heroics education. On behalf of UA University, you have our official apologies, as well as our promises to do better."
Midnight stood, took a deep breath, then started again. This time there was a little bit of her normal energy, but she still didn't seem to be entirely herself.
"As an extension on that topic, I have one other announcement regarding the USJ. All of you are required to schedule a counseling session for sometime this week. No exceptions. Anyone that does not comply will be immediately transferred to a career track of their choice, one that does not include Heroics."
Midnight paused to let that sink it but didn't give anyone time to protest before she raised a quelling hand and continued.
"Note that this is not a policy shift that happened only due to the events of the USJ. This is pre-existing policy for all students after their first engagement in serious combat with real villains. This is a session you would not have avoided, so long as you stayed on the Heroics track. Roughly half of all students end up having the one required session in their first year, with no recorded cases existing of someone getting through their second without it. You are all simply getting it sooner than usual."
The explanation seemed to settle a few students who had clearly been intending to protest. A few were still scowling, but everyone seemed to accept it. At least for now. It remained to be seen if anyone would try to weasel out of it. Seeing the results of her explanation, Midnight gave a sharp nod and moved on.
"We will be spending most of this class breaking down the various fights at the USJ while they are still fresh. I know that may be painful for some of you, and if you feel overwhelmed at any point, you may exit to the hall. However, as regrettable as the occurrence was, it's extremely rare to get real, live combat data to go over this early in your career. We will not be wasting the opportunity. Before getting into it, however, there is one additional general announcement."
An expression speaking of mixed feelings flitted across Midnight's face for a moment, before she schooled herself back to her professional demeanor.
"After consultation over the weekend, we have decided to go ahead with this year's Heroics Tournament. As all of you are undoubtably aware, the Tournament will be hosted by UA in one mont—"
"Is that really a good idea?!"
It was, surprisingly, Kamanari who cut across Midnight to voice the thoughts many were having. Normally, he was too busy starting at Midnight's tits to even consider interrupting. And it was clear from his blush as Midnight's pinned him in place with a dangerous smirk that he'd simply blurted it out. To his relief, Tsuyu rescued him from the slightly sadistic expression the professor was leveling at him.
"He has a point. If the USJ ringleaders escaped, won't they try again when they can virtually guarantee All Might will be there again? He was their target, right?"
There were nods all around, making Izumi frown as she wondered how that information had spread. She'd known since 2B had been in the plaza for the exchanges between Midnight and their leaders, but…right. They had at least two people in class, other than her, with enhanced senses. And she'd quasi-ordered Shoji to listen in on everyone herself. Add in the possibility that some of the thugs in various zones had mouthed off, as well as the opening comment from their teleporter, and clearly most of the class had pieced it together. Shaking the line of thought off, she focused on Midnight as their instructor sighed and explained.
"We did consider canceling, for exactly that reason. But numerous factors weighed against it. Not only is the Tournament a critical part of internship selection for students, but canceling it would have sent a poor message to the public. Even so, we nearly did it anyway…except that the Yaoyorozu Group has been able to mockup prototype teleportation jammers based on sensor data Ms. Midoriya acquired during the USJ confrontation. Without being able to teleport onto the grounds, a significant increase in both police and hero presence was deemed sufficient to secure the Tournament against another such attack."
That seemed to calm the most outspoken students, but a few still looked uneasy, even as Midnight forcefully took the reigns of the conversation. Their professor pulled her Hero Persona on like a coat, hips swaying as she turned on the projector and swiveled to wave at the screen. There was a collective flinch as security footage of the USJ was displayed. Midnight ignored it, calmly launching into a set of breakdowns of the USJ action. Starting, surprisingly enough, with critiques of what both she and Thirteen had done both right and wrong…
... ...
If that morning's practical session had been grueling, the announcement in their Practical Heroics class that they would be resuming basic Rescue instruction had created a tension that could have been cut with a knife. Thankfully, the announcement had been accompanied by an calm explanation that, with Thirteen still out of commission, they would not be using the USJ for their evaluation. Midnight readily admitted that, frankly, using the USJ for their first session was more a matter of theatrics and an excuse to introduce the University's Rescue Specialist as it was anything else. The vast majority of what would have been covered at the USJ could just as easily be handled at other facilities.
All of which explained how, after getting into their costumes, they found themselves in a gym that looked suspiciously like a more advanced version of a civilian rec center. Prominently featured was an Olympic sized pool, an enormous rock wall tilted at an odd angle, and a large open space that looked like it was normally a gymnastics setup, but was currently hosting a number of first aid training dummies. Midnight was standing with the dummies, alongside one of Recovery Girl's nurse assistants and Ectoplasm. Or at least an Ectoplasm clone...
"All right everyone! We can't cover everything you missed from the USJ. But that just means we're swapping things around. Generally, we cover mostly civilian evacuation from various environments in that first sessions, allowing us to measure your general knowledge level of how to use your Quirks to safely do so. We'll do the same thing here for Water Rescue and Mountain Rescue, and we'll head out into one of the fake cities for a bit of Urban rescue as well. What that won't cover is specific hostile environments, like a burning building."
Midnight paused and waved to the nurse standing next to her.
"Instead, one of Recovery Girl's minions is here to cover basic CPR and other core life saving practices. Normally, that's covered later in the semester, but it's been swapped around while Thirteen is stuck in recovery. Now, aside from our adorable class couple," Momo and Izumi refused to blush as Midnight wave at them…or tried to, at least. It was mostly a failure. "Is anyone else here certified as a First Responder?"
Surprisingly, or perhaps not given that it was a class of hero students, four more students raised their hands. Midnight nodded to Shoji, Iida, Asui, and Bakugo. That last one made several people do a double take, and Katsuki glared back as if daring them to say anything. Even Midnight looked slightly surprised, but got over it quickly.
"Excellent. Six people, in addition to myself and Nurse Tia, gives us a solid number of experienced people to help with that portion. For now, we'll split up. Those of you with previous first aid training, you'll be getting a quick refresher and check from Nurse Tia while everyone else splits between myself and Ectoplasm for the Water and Mountain rescue evaluations. For the Mountain Group, it will be…"
Izumi tuned Midnight out as she and Momo moved to join the nurse, alongside the other certified students. Even if it wasn't as flashy as the USJ, she was glad that the University was still making sure to complete their basic assessments. As Midnight had said in previous lessons, getting a good understanding of where they all were would create the foundations of their individual learning…
... ...
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