The Next Morning

U.A. High School

“Mr. Wayne, please meet the principal of U.A., Nezu,” The secretary said, introducing John to the… principal?

“That’s right. It’s me, Nezu, the one who could be a dog or a mouse or a bear, but more importantly… I’m the principal!” the jovial-sounding rodent man said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wayne. Would you like to come inside my office and have a cup of tea? We have much to discuss, and I am afraid not much time before other affairs will require my direct attention.”

“Good to meet you as well. A tea sounds nice right about now.” John replied, offering the rodent his hand. It was a little awkward as he had to lean over to do it; Nezu was barely taller than his knees. He looked like a giant white hamster wearing a suit, with the only thing ruining his adorable visage was a rough-looking scar over his right eye.

John had arrived at the school early, wanting to get a little more information on this world he found himself in. He already figured out that this League of Villains were the ‘bad guys’ here, but he wasn’t sure where he should try to fit into the story. He hadn’t forgotten his plan of getting out of this world quickly, but he wanted to make sure he had a handle on the place before he recalled to DEN. 

At least I want a place to put my head that isn’t a hotel. 

Nezu brought him into a plain-looking office with a simple wooden desk and a single chair, along with a couple of plain black couches and a coffee table between the desk and the door. Only a couple of small bookshelves, a small counter with a tea set on it, and a single filing cabinet finished out the room. John could appreciate not wasting money on ostentation like his office was in HS DXD.

At least he has a nice view of the city and forest from here.

Gesturing for John to sit on a couch, he started to brew some tea. “Tea is such a wonderful creation you humans have made. It is quite possibly my favorite thing I have encountered since I started to live amongst you.”

“I don’t mind a tea, though a coffee is usually my go-to in the mornings. You know, some of us Americans still have a slight aversion to tea, even in this day and age.” John said with a smile, making a joke.

“Ah! Hah! Yes, your Boston Tea Party. Taxation without representation and all the fallout that followed. Truly a fascinating past your country has, much like your own, Mr. Wayne.” Nezu replied.

“What do you mean?” John asked, wondering what the rodent meant. The memories he had were… intense at times, but this body didn’t lead an overly interesting life for the most part.

“Oh, just an observation, Mr. Wayne. You managed to bring down a mid-ranked villain with nothing more than a Christmas Turkey and a knife, protecting your youngest sister, and preventing him from completing his villainous plan. Then, despite the situation, you went back to work after the attack, more concerned for your students than yourself.” He said, coming over to the couch with a teapot and a couple of cups.

“Wasn’t much else to do. Carol couldn’t look at me anymore, and Twi-…  Cathleen threw herself into her work afterwards. So, I did the same. Does this have some bearing on this job interview, Principal Nezu?”

“Principal is fine, it is my Hero alias, or Mr. Principal.” He replied, not answering John’s question right away. Instead, he poured them both a cup of tea and slid one to John. “Ahh… perfection.”

John took a sip and nodded at the principal in appreciation. He had no idea what type of tea it was, but it was good.

They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the tea. John already pegged this guy as a bit of an eccentric, so he decided to wait him out. He activated his scouter skill out of curiosity, but didn’t get anything from him. It wasn’t like with Jaina, when he felt a block, but more like there was nothing for him to read at all. 

Does he have no thoughts on the surface? Or is this something else?

It would have to be something he would have to investigate later. 

The rodent set his cup on the table with a satisfied ‘ahh’ a minute later, then looked at John directly. “What I liked about your application was that despite the fact you’re not a hero, you didn’t hesitate when faced with a villain. Afterwards, you showed your primary concern was for the students at your school. In my book, it was a selfless act in the service of your students. If you had a more combat-oriented quirk, I am sure you would have made a great pro hero, but instead, you have used it to help the youth grow and prosper.

What I want is for you to use your experiences in your role as the School Counselor and Head of Student Discipline. I believe you will be able to relate your experiences to the challenges our students will face during their training. How to not hesitate, even with the odds stacked against you. After your actions in the schoolyard yesterday, I think my assessment of you was spot on.”

John shook his head. School Counselor? Head of Student Discipline? He didn’t have any schooling for that, and wasn’t that a conflict of interest between being both a counselor and a disciplinarian? He opened his mouth to say as much, but Nezu beat him to it.

“Don’t worry, you won’t actually be in charge of any actual discipline. That already squarely falls on the teachers in their classrooms. Anything that happens on school grounds will be handled by either their homeroom teacher or me. You will just receive their reports.” 

“It’s not that, it’s tha-” John started, but was interrupted by an intercom blaring into the room.

“Mr. Principal, the police are here to discuss yesterday’s events at the U.S.J. They are in the conference room with the teachers involved.” The secretary’s voice said.

“Very good. I’ll be right there.” Nezu replied, then stood up. “Well, duty calls. Just see my receptionist for your U.A. ID and the task list I have for you for the next few days. I don’t expect you back here until Monday, so try to get to know the city and the surrounding areas. Good luck, Mr. Wayne.” 

“Wait, I think ther-” John tried again, but the rodent was already out the door. “A mistake.” He sighed.  

Guess I’m a therapist now.

He shrugged his shoulders and finished his tea. He would just do whatever was on that task list, then, when he got a chance, he would clear up this error. Obviously, right now was not the time to deal with the misunderstanding about his qualifications.

He stood up and exited the room, wondering what in the world the rodent already had him tasked to do.

Hidden Lab

Unknown Location

“The death of Shigaraki has delayed my plans of possessing a new body, Doctor. I fear I may need to accept an inferior alternative.”

“Yes. Well, my Master, if it comes down to it, we can transfer your will into the body of a Nomu like Kurogiri, though I would prefer to do that only as a last resort. He took a significant amount of time to stabilize, and I am unsure how much of you will remain if we performed a similar operation on you.”

“Yes. That would be a regrettable choice. Now, how did your conversation go with our Russian friend?”

“I would hardly call him a friend, more of a colleague at best. With the serious injuries that All Might sustained from Nomu, we are in agreement that he was weakened from your previous battle more than the media led us to believe. He suggested we consider a different approach to our nomu production, by focusing more on volume than quality of nomu.”

“Hmm, that would require more lab space than we currently have. Did he offer labs in their territories to let us build more?”

“No. Too much of a liability if it was discovered that the Russian mafia was producing the Nomu’s that were attacking Japan. However, he is willing to sell us all the equipment we could ever want at a discount, providing we can pay for it up front.”

“That is… possible. What about the reduced cognitive powers of low-grade Nomu’s? If we are not selective with easy-to-use Quirks, they will be all but useless.”

“They will still be extremely strong, durable, and have regenerative capabilities. If we add a single Quirk instead of multiple, they should be able to manage that much. Not to mention, they are just for distraction, to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible. I will continue to produce our higher-grade Nomu’s in this lab while we build several satellite labs around Japan.

Then we drop groups of low-grade nomu into unsuspecting cities, forcing them to call in heroes from other cities, or else they become overwhelmed. While the heroes are distracted, we can send in crews of villains and higher-grade nomu to the now lightly protected areas, and achieve our actual objectives.”

“You and your colleague seemed to have a productive conversation, Doctor.”

“All Might was a thorn in his side as well some time ago, Master. Now that he smells the blood in the water, he believes it is time to strike. This is just about pure vengeance from afar for him, something to enjoy before he dies of old age as well.”

“Old age and treachery. I can respect that reasoning. Once Kurogiri has been repaired, let’s work out the details of this new plan, Doctor. If nothing else, this will be an entertaining distraction while I look for a new candidate to be my vessel.”

“Yes, Master.”

With that, Doctor Tsubasa and Zen Shigaraki, also known as the villain All For One, turned to the vat where their prized nomu, Kurogiri, was still recovering from his recent injuries. He had been built differently than Nomu, the nomu who had been killed at the U.S.J., and did not have super regeneration initially, but a higher cognitive function. In light of recent events, they had fixed that error, giving the linchpin of their operation the ability to self-repair any injuries it took. Short of being decapitated, he should be able to get himself and the rest of the villains with him out of almost any situation.

With his Quirks, they would be able to finish off this weakened All Might and finally bring Japan to its knees.

Early Afternoon

City of Musutafu

“Okay, they should be here,” John said, comparing the address on the file he was given to the one on the building in front of him. It looked like a regular apartment building, with no signage indicating that a hero agency was on the inside. 

After talking with the receptionist and receiving his shiny new U.A. Faculty ID, John was given a credit card and a list of different heroes and agencies to go and visit for various reasons. 

This particular one was called The Lurkers, and he was looking for a hero who went by the name Edgeshot. U.A. wanted to hire them for additional security at the Sports Festival in two weeks and to see if they would be willing to take on extra students during the internships a month from now.

Normally, these would have been handled with a simple e-mail, but for some reason, they had not received any responses. Nezu thought this would be a good experience for John to meet several of Japan’s higher-profile heroes, as well as give him some time to explore the area on company time. 

“It will save him from having to look at a map every time someone says a city name.” The receptionist said, repeating Nezu’s words.

John had a hard time disagreeing with that, though many of the places on this list were just on the outskirts of Tokyo. Surprisingly, many students and staff commuted to U.A. on a bullet train from Tokyo and other outskirt cities daily. He still hadn’t had time to look at housing costs in this city, but that was also scheduled into the extensive list Nezu had left for him.

Shrugging, he walked into the small lobby and buzzed the intercom labeled with the agency name.

No answer.

He tried again after a minute. Still no response.

“Probably out patrol-“

“YOU! Why are you buzzing my office?!” A voice said behind him. He turned around and looked down at a very angry set of magenta eyes glaring at him from behind that purple mask that hid nothing.

“Good afternoon, Mt Lady. I need to deliver some files to your boss. Do you know where Edgeshot is right now?” John replied, trying hard not to laugh. Of course, the first stop on his journey was the agency where the heroine who tried to arrest him, then tried to get him to buy her a drink, worked.

“Why? Are you here to file a complaint? Because that is my department, and I’ll file anything you say under ‘G’ for garbage.” 

“Actually, I’m delivering stuff from U.A. and Principal Nezu. You know, since you aren’t replying to e-mails. Is that also your department? You should try to bribe your co-workers to do that for you, too, Mt Escort.” John snapped back at her.

“Grrr! I swear I’m-“

“You’ll what? Tell me, hero, please.” John said, taking a step forward and crowding her space. “Is last night the first time a straight man didn’t fall for your flirty attitude? Yeah, you’re a beautiful woman, but you’re as subtle as a brick. Show off less, and cut the intensity of your flirting in half, and maybe I would have bought the ‘Lady’ a drink. Or don’t. It’s your life, waste it however you want. Here, give this to your boss.” John said, pushing the file into her hand. “I’ve delivered it to your agency, so now excuse me, Mt Lady. I have places to be.”

John stepped around the stuttering heroine and walked out the door. His next stop was to check out of his hotel, then pop on a train. His next stop was a Dojo in Jaku City, to find Mirko, The Rabbit Hero.  

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep