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Chapter 17: Into the Flames
🕑 Added 2024-03-05 15:01:14 +0000 UTCWell, the 'O' button on my keyboard is loose again! This is just BS; before this laptop, I used my dad's old one, which he got in 03, and my siblings and I used it throughout our middle and high school years without issue, with it finally packing in 2019 thanks to the battery issue. This laptop, by comparison, is another hand-me-down. Still, it was bought in 2015, and I got it a couple years back, so this is just getting annoying as it's not the first time the damn button has got loose, and I need to figure out a way to glue it back into place.
Also, my upload schedule might suffer a little with the school year in total as I prioritise lectures and overwrite notes. If a chapter will be delayed, I'll be sure to inform as well as my…early readers.
One last thing, a fan of my works has gone and created a TV Troupes page for this, which you can find at: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/EmeraldFurnacePathOfWaves
Chapter 17: Into the Flames
Stepping through the wrap, the grey-haired villain, covered in pale, severed hands, took in the sight of U.A.'s famous USJ and had to admit, it was pretty sweet. The kind of place that you get when you have more money than you know what to do with. If they had time, he would have gone around, had some fun and wrecked the place. Still, his attention shifted from that to how he was present as he could spot 20 brats at the top of the stairs, scared so much by their arrival that they might as well piss their pants. Still, it was the fact he only saw two teachers that got his attention. "Thirteen and…Vlad King? Wasn't All Might meant to be here?"
His right-hand man and holder of the warp gate quirk that got them here replied, his bright, toxic yellow eyes noting the lack of All Might. "According to the teacher's schedule we received the other day, All Might was meant to be present."
His conversation wasn’t subtle, which meant that both teachers heard it as Vlad took another step forward, putting himself between the students and the villains. "Thirteen." Thirteen acted as well, moving to support him but keeping closer to the class, who looked on with worry and fear.
"I know. They were the ones responsible for the break-in." She replied, clueing the students into the situation as they had thought it was the press. You mean villains had been responsible for that mess?
"The only question would be how they managed to get their hands on something like that? We did a complete sweep of the school. Not a single intruder penetrated deeper than the front." Vlad grunted, his frown prominent as he glared towards the crowd of villains, counting at least 50 of them, including the three remaining, which gave him the worst vibes.
With those 3 villains, the pale-haired one seemed annoyed as he scratched his neck. "What the hell? After I went through all the trouble of bringing this crowd to greet him, the man of the hour can't even bring himself to be here?" He asked, looking to the roof, seemingly as exasperated with things as one would upon realising their evening date flaked on them. “What sort of self-respecting villains would we be if people heard we got stood up by the one hero we were hoping for?”
“It was quite rude of him to not follow through with the plans for teaching this class.” His right-hand man replied, keeping an eye on the two heroes as, while outnumbered, a cornered hero was frightening.
The pale-haired villain snapped his fingers when he heard that line about students. "That gives me an idea. If he's not here, then we can leave him a message; how many dead kids do you think would be enough for that?" He asked, his blasé question sending a chill down the student's backs as they had known, practically, that villains could be like that. But there was a clear difference in knowing that and internalising it as they faced off against such a threat.
“H-how did they get in? U.A. has some of the best security in the world.” Awase asked as Kendo stepped forward. Midoriya was not far behind her as he tracked the villains and Koharu to offer comments on what seemed to be the most dangerous.
“Shouldn’t the alarm be ringing right now? There’s got to be some kind of trespasser’s alarm here.” Kendo asked as Thirteen looked upwards, as the entire building's shell had sensors like that installed, with many more in the interior. They run on 2 separate systems fed by 4 main lines to ensure the odds of an electrical fault or hacking couldn't completely down the security, but if it was inactive…
“There is, but it's most likely being deactivated, or something is jamming it." Tokage frowned, reading the situation and not liking the picture she was getting.
"Must be a villain with an electric-based quirk; it would explain why the light all went out," Honenuki added.
"A localised EMP?" Kaibara asked, as he only knew of the term from video games.
"Most likely." Thirteen nodded, her mind moving at a mile a minute to take in information, process it and devise the best plan to get the students out of there and get help. If the place was under the effects of a localised EMP, it meant that if they could get outside and put some distance between them and here, they could contact someone and raise the alarm.
"We just need to get out of here. If they went through the effort of stealing a schedule, then they don't have that many people, and whatever number they have would be here." Honenuki stated as Midoriya nodded.
"That makes sense. To try and take on the whole of U.A., even if they manage to cut off communications, they'll need a small army of villains. They planned for All Might to be here, so either they're aiming too high or have a way to counter him. Which means it's vital we get that information back to school." Midoriya explained his reasoning, though he was doubtful about that last part as even weakened, All Might was as close to a force of nature as pros got.
“Wil-will they try and take us hostage?” Kinoko looked nervous as he moved closer to her, heating up to offer her some comfort as Koharu leaned close to the mushroom girl.
"It would make good leverage, having hostages for when the police arrive," Shishida added. Though the beast of a student was sweaty from the sight of so many villains, none looked like they were friendly or messing around.
As much as he didn't want to, he had to cut through that misplaced optimism. These guys reminded him too much of those villains he had handled in the mountains. “I don’t think so, so we need to stick together. We came here to learn how to rescue people, so we’ll just have to rescue each other and show them that attacking U.A. was a big mistake.” He told them, trying to rally the students.
"I can take one at least a dozen of these bastards," Kamakiri stated, a glint in his eye that spoke to his confidence.
“Kamakiri,” Kendo put a firm hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "We're not here to fight and don't need to engage them. We're fighting to retreat."
“She’s right. I’ll buy you guys’ time. Thirteen, get the students out of here. Without them at risk, these villains lose just about all their power.” Vlad told them as he cracked his knuckles. He hadn't expected a fight today but wouldn't let that stop him.
“But sir, there’s so many of them. You're a brawler, but you can only manipulate your blood. You could run out before," Vlad raised a hand to stop Kendo.
"The first rule of being a successful pro is not being a one-trick pony and being able to work wonders with the skills and tools you do have." He told them before he turned his head just a little to address his fellow hero and teacher.
“I’m leaving them in your care, Thirteen.” With that, he took off running, jumping off the top of the stairs into the fray, blood already starting to spew from his gauntlets. Before him, he saw 3 villains step up, all having what looked to be ranged quirks. He didn't give them a chance to harm him as right as they fired, his blood shifted and twisted into a barrier, protecting him from their attack.
In that moment of surprise and hesitation, he struck as he closed the distance between them far faster than a man his size should be able to and swept the leg out from one of them, landing a fierce uppercut with a pair of knuckles made from his blood on the second one and hit the third with a mean left hook. Finishing his blitz by stomping on the head of the woman he had tripped. Looking around him, he saw that he was surrounded by scared villains, having never expected him to be that brutal or capable.
His blood snaked up his arms, forming his hardened crimson spiked gauntlets. “You picked the wrong man to fight, you gutter punks. Pigs will fly before I let one of you hurt my students.”
“You idiots, that’s Vlad King! He’s built for brawls!” Someone yelled, making him give them an unnerving smile as he was happy; they remembered that. Where his fellow hero homeroom teacher thrived in the shadows and took his foes quickly and silently, Vlad made a name for himself as a brawler, someone who could walk into an abandoned warehouse with 20 villains and take out all of them.
“Then we're just attacking him with overwhelming power!" A villain with four arms and crusty stone-like skin yelled as he charged. Still, Vlad didn't so much as blink as he batted aside the one hand, dodged the second and shifted the blood of his one gauntlet to trap the other two arms in blood chains, which left the surprised villain wide open for him to hit him with a nasty gut punch that knocked the wind outta the man. Using the chains he held on him, he turned on his heel and threw the man right at a woman with large gorilla-like arms, neither being prepared for him as they both found themselves out for the count.
"Power means nothing when in the hands of a novice," Vlad said as his blood split off into a finely decorated staff, which he twirled around his body and shoulders. "Wanna try that again?"
"Dammit, get him!" A villain yelled as they slammed their hands into the floor, the earth itself shifting to try and grab Vlad. They'll attack from a distance as if they couldn't match him up close.
Vlad kept his calm as he dodged the shifting earth, slamming the end of his staff into the floor. The weapon extended rapidly as he fed it more of his blood, shooting him towards the shocked earth manipulator. "You're not the first to think distance would be enough." He stated as he drove his knee into their face, breaking their nose and knocking them out as his staff shrunk just as a quirk, returning to its base size.
"Come on, you came all the way here. The least you can get is a quick trip to the hospital before you get locked up." He told them her glare made all the menacing by how he smiled at them, which made most of them gulp or swear from fear.
Watching this go on, the pale-haired villain mused to him, "Exceptional battle IQ, crazy speed and reaction time, the strength of a tank class character and the creativity of a rogue." Vlad wasn't slowed and moved through his grunts like the fodder they were. "I hate heroes, but this one ain’t half bad in a fight. A prime example of a good A-class character." He praised him, but he also knew that all characters, no matter which one in which game, had a flaw, a weakness which could be exploited.
All they had to do was watch and learn.
Line Break
"Heroes always make it look easy," Midoriya uttered, turning to run with the rest of them. Koharu kept an eye on their rear to ensure they didn't get caught off guard. Unfortunately for them, they didn't even make it halfway back to the entrance when a puddle of dark clouds formed on the floor before it burst forth into the warp villain, which they could have sworn had been with the other two seconds ago, with Thirteen immediately realising that he must have teleported.
“I’m afraid we can’t let you leave just yet.” The villain stated, their form blocking their way out, though they couldn't tell where the smoke started, and his body ended, if he even had a human body under there, to begin with.
Facing them, the villain bowed his head as if they were merely strangers who bumped into one another in the street. "Greetings, we are the League of Villains. We apologise for entering your sacred grounds and interrupting your class. Still, you see, we have a matter to attend to." He started, his toxic yellow eyes seeming to glow slightly brighter. “That being the death of All Might.”
“What?” Midoriya uttered, as he was scared like the rest of them. He might have handled villains before, but he knew in his gut that whoever this was was in a whole other league than those guys. However, that goal, spoken without any arrogance he could pick up, just seemed impossible. They had thought that they merely had a counter to All Might, something to keep him busy, which would be challenging, but not impossible, but to kill him? Nothing had that kind of power. Even whoever nearly did it couldn't finish the job.
“I believe that All Might was scheduled to be here. Was there a last-minute change to plans?” The villain asked as if expecting one of them to answer even if they did know. "Well, either way, it matters little regarding my role in things." His form started to shift, but Thirteen was ready for it as without anyone noticing, the cap on one of her fingers opened up, but before she could do anything, she was blocked.
“Like hell!” Kamakiri yelled, his arm blades extended, followed closely by Tetsutetsu, who had turned his body to steel, his fist pulled back to pummel this villain into the ground. Kendo and Midoriya saw this but weren't fast enough to stop them.
“Wait!” Thirteen yelled as she couldn't use her quirk if they were in the way, but that was in vain as both attacked…and met nothing. Tetsutetsu and Kamakiri didn't so much as pass through him but sent them right back via two portals, ending with both landing on their hands and knees at Thirteen's feet.
“What the?” Tetsutetsu was sure that he was moving the other way. How the hell did he get back to where he started?
“I…passed through him?” Kamakiri glared at him as the villain seemed no worse for wear.
"Oh dear, that was dangerous. I nearly forget. Students, you might be, but you're still exceptional golden eggs." The villain stated, but Thirteen wasn’t going to give him or anyone else a chance to react as she pointed her finger at him
“Move away, you two!” She yelled, needing to wait for the two students to get clear, but that was enough time for the villain to act as their body seemed to explode, racing towards them like a wave.
“Now be scattered and be tortured to death!” He stated as the entire group was engulfed in his mist, there were screams and yells, but Midoriya couldn't make out who was what, as he only instinctively grabbed onto the closest people to him and moved to try and escape. That plan fell through with their footing as they felt the ground beneath them vanish as Midoriya and whoever he grabbed fell with screams. But by the time the mist had cleared, Thirteen was disheartened to see that only 6 of the 20 were still present.
Line Break
As it wasn't teleportation but a warp-based quirk, Midoriya and the group didn't hit the ground so much, as they found themselves falling even after the portal opened up for them. "What the hell?!" Tsuburaba yelled before he, along with Midoriya, was grabbed by Shiozaki's vines. She must have wanted to latch onto a building. Still, they found themselves in the flame zone, which meant everyone was on fire, clouding their vision and making it suspect that anything here could support such a sudden load.
“Hold on!” He yelled at them, eyes able to make the rapidly approaching street below them before he took a deep breath, “Serpent’s Fireball!" He fired off a giant fireball, the blast countering gravity enough that when Shiozaki wrapped them all up in a bundle of her vine, their landing wasn't nearly as rough as it could have been. Slowly getting up, the trio groaned in pain, but they didn't feel anything broken, a plus, all things considered.
Standing up, Tsuburaba coughed again as the smoke got to him. "Is it normal for this place to have so much smoke? I kinda need to breathe to use my quirk."
"I suppose it's meant to mimic the real thing," Midoriya replied, not bothered by the flames in the slightest, even as Shiozaki checked her vines and found that some had already suffered burns.
“These flames are a detriment to my vines.” She noted that once they got out of there, she'd need to tend and water her hair to repair the damage. That would need to come later, as Koharu told Izuku they had company on the way; no sooner than when he turned, he saw a mass of villains heading right for them.
"There they are! I told you that fireball wasn't normal." One yelled, the trio blinking as they saw at least 30 villains coming after them. They thought the plaza had all of them.
“What is in this stupid place? Oh, to hell with it. We got ourselves some targets to play with." One of them, a man that looked like a lizard, replied as a fireball formed in his hand, which he threw towards them. Midoriya knew he had to stop it, but either he would devour it, which needed him to fully transform, or with one of his own.
“Crap!” The choice was made for him when Tsuburaba rushed forward, taking as deep a breath as he could and blowing out an extensive air wall to protect them. It didn't do much against the fireball, as while it shielded them from the worst of it, it still shattered, sending Tsuburaba into a painful landing.
“Dammit, What I wouldn’t give for an oxygen tank right about now.” He complained as Midoriya pulled him to his feet, directing him down the road.
“Worry about later. We need to move!" He told them, neither speaking against him as they escaped, knowing that most of the buildings would be a go, at least for the group; they had to keep moving, only staying still to catch their breaths. Finding a spot with much less smoke than others, Shiozaki and Tsuburaba nearly collapsed, leading to Midoriya frowning as he wasn't affected by the smoke at all. Still, he didn't like seeing his classmates in pain.
“Are you alright?” He asked them both as Tsuburaba waved it off, still short of breath.
“Yeah…just give us a second, will ya? Not all of us breathe fire." Tsuburaba replied. Shiozaki also offered a smile, but it didn't make him feel any better as he passed them a water bottle he had.
“Still, I’m the vice rep, I don’t like seeing you struggling like this.” He repeated, the two taking a drink, not even asking where he got it from as they didn’t pick up a prominent spot to carry one on his person.
"That is admirable, but there is little we can do now. All we can do is avoid them and wait for help to arrive. I'm sure whatever All Might was called away for would be second priority to this." Shiozaki told him, though she wished they could do much more.
“All Might…” Midoriya repeated that, turning it over with everything else they had heard in his head. "Something's been bugging me. They knew we would be here and that All Might was also supposed to be."
“That we know,” Shiozaki nodded as she heard the villains the same as him, her frown deepening when she recalled what must have been when they did it. “It would seem that the break-in was the fault of these vile villains. They let the depraved media into the school to cover their theft of a schedule.”
"Pretty ballsy if you ask me," Tsuburaba stated, a point both agreed on even if they wouldn't phrase it like that. But despite that, Izuku felt that a piece of the puzzle was missing.
"But you saw how fast they got in when we arrived and that this group awaited us. So, it means that odds are, they have villains placed in all the zones.” He stated, which worried the other two as they hadn't had time to think about it, but it made sense.
"Which would mean our classmates are in a similar situation to us. I can only pray that they manage to escape unharmed." Shiozaki replied as Tsuburaba muttered that it meant it'd be a while before help came.
That part made sense, but there was one that didn’t. “I'm pretty sure they wanted to split us up from the start, but I don't think they knew all that much about us; if they did, they wouldn't have sent me here."
"Maybe you messed things up when you grabbed us," Tsuburaba suggested, which wasn't impossible, but at the same time if that villain could send them all to different zones simultaneously, there was a workaround.
For now, they could table that as there was an even bigger issue to handle. “Maybe, but there is another issue. Their plan to kill All Might.”
"Like that can ever happen. Man's an absolute beast." Tsuburaba scoffed, with even Shiozaki seeming to agree with that, and perhaps if he didn't know All Might had nearly killed and was now permanently weakened, he would have thought the same.
“They’re as delusional as they are wicked.” Midoriya shook his head at Shiozaki’s statement.
“I’m not so sure,” He was missing a piece. Was it that big black one with the exposed brain? Something about it seemed…off, but he couldn't say how. Koharu noted that she got a similar feeling that unnerved her, as whatever that was, it was a threat. “You got the same feeling as well.” She added something else, which Shiozaki and Tsuburaba weren't privy to.
“What did she just say?” Tsuburaba asked as he bet that if they didn't have anything else, they might as well listen to the animal instincts of a snake.
Midoriya translated for her. "The big one, with the exposed brain. It gave off some bad vibes, but it didn't seem…alive?" He looked at his companion, who, if she had shoulders, would have shrugged as she didn't have a better way of describing it, as the creature's eyes resembled a rat’s in those last moments before death. However, it was clearly still alive and well, even if that was subjective at the moment.
“What does that mean?” Tsuburaba asked as Midoriya asked her to try to clarify it, as they had different senses and mindsets than Koharu. She thought of a way to explain it that would be easier for humans to understand.
"It felt like looking at a corpse, but also…not. She's seen plenty of people, which was strange, even by that standard." Midoriya relayed that they had seen plenty of people when they went out with Hado and Haya. They had seen plenty of folks that were heteromorphs with some of the craziest mutations out there. Still, no one looked anything close to that, if for no other reason than the exposed brain.
It wasn't the most robust evidence, but Midoriya trusted it. “I'm unsure what she means, but I can trust her judgement. There is the fact that these villains, or at least the ones that wear the hands, don't seem dumb enough to come here without a plan."
"What, how would they fight All Might?" Tsuburaba asked the million yen question.
“The beast,” Both boys turned to Shiozaki, who looked sickened by what she was saying. “If Koharu is right, it might not be human or one of God man’s creatures. But an unholy creation of man…” The girl shivered, as she had never had to face off against a result of men playing God, entering a domain in which they held no authority or right. She wasn't the only one who paled by that suggestion. Tsuburaba and Midoriya felt sick as this was the stuff of science horror stories. There should be rules, unwritten and unbreaking, against something like this, but it would seem that some villains would happily cross it.
"Hold up. Do you mean they have some bio-engineered weapon primed and ready to fight All Might?" Tsuburaba asked, sweating at the idea of a monster that could take on All Might being allowed to fight them.
"I'm not sure of anything right now other than we need to get out of here." Now more than ever, they needed a way out, as they'd be fools to take on something like that.
Knowing that Midoriya took a breath, his body started heating up. "I'll clear a path for us. You just stay behind me."
“You think you can take them all? By yourself?” Tsuburaba asked him, as he was strong, one of the strongest if not the strongest in class, but this wasn't class; this wasn't some test but the real deal. Midoriya knew that, and he scared him, as this wasn't the slime guy or the stone guy; this was next level, and he felt his knees shaking.
But what would Ryukyu do in this situation? What would Hado do? Would they run when people were in danger, or would they make a game plan and charge him to save their lives and hearts? He had his answer. He always did. So, channelling as much of Ryukyu's confidence as possible, he gave them a wobbly smile and a thumbs up.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m in my element.” He replied before turning and taking off running, quickly finding some of the villains that were after them.
“Hey! We’re already here, so let’s play in the flames!” Presenting himself to them, he fired off a fireball towards them, letting go of restraint just a little to allow himself this moment to dance amongst the flames.
Line Break
They weren’t the only ones going on the offensive as despite being caught off guard and scattered across the USJ, the students of class B had managed to get their feet under them and fight back as in the Landslide zone, amongst the rubble and debris, Tetsutetsu was having a field day against the villains who figured out pretty quirk their attacks had no effect on him, weapons even cracking if not breaking when swung at him. Meanwhile, Honenuki trapped any stranglers in the ground, leaving only their necks and heads above so that they could breathe.
In the Mountain zone, among the rocky outcrops and dry terrain, Monoma, Rin, and Komori were holding their own as Monoma copied and discarded quirks as he pleased, making it his mission to piss off as many of the villains as he could. At the same time, he did it while Rin kept on the move, firing at the aggravated villains who lost their cool and slipped up. Komori adds to the battle by growing her mushrooms all over the place, both on the surfaces and on villains who freaked out when they came fungal placeholders.
Tokage had just finished getting a wet and thoroughly unamused Shishida into the boat in the flood zone. Still, her many limbs kept the villains busy while the two devised a game plan. On the other hand, in the downpour zone, Yanagi and Kamakiri went to town on the villains, their thunderstorm-like conditions barely slowing them down as they worked in tandem to fight as she would slip up opponents or bring up objects to blind or block them. At the same time, Kamakiri moved through the confusion, slicing at limbs with crazy speed, though never deep enough to be serious, merely a means to incapacitate them.
Line Break
“The number you have dialled is unavailable at present. This could be because the number is A) Disconnected. B) Out of service range. C) the phone is switched off. Please try again later, or contact an alternative number” All Might cut to the automated response short, hanging up. Presently, the man sat in the faculty lounge in his weakened form.
"Strange, even Vlad's phone is off. That's not normal. There's no way they'll let their phones die, especially during the day when Nezu could contact them for school business." He said to himself. While he had been brought in after skipping a few hoops, Nezu had been quite clear on how teachers needed to remain in contact with him and each other throughout the school day. He even gave them all work phones and numbers, which, unlike their private ones, they needed to carry and have charged from 5am to 6pm.
There was no way that Vlad and Thirteen had forgotten to charge their phones, but there was another possible reason they could be off as the man slumped in his chair. "But on the other hand, they could have turned them off to avoid me. Dammit, I promised that I'll be there for class B and what do I do? I use up my time before the school day starts." He already knew they would drag him over the coals for that one. And with them having to handle an increased workload thanks to his absence, perhaps they turned their phones off to focus on that and a little to avoid him.
"I'm not their favourite person right now, but maybe I can try something. Even if it's only near the end of class, I can try to appear. It's not enough, but it's something." But it was still possible. I still had around 10 minutes left, which should be enough to pop by, say some words, and leave without anyone being wiser. It seemed like it would work as he bulked up, slamming his foot down as he got up.
“I shall go to,” His statement was cut short by him coughing up some blood. Perhaps his remaining time was shorter than he thought. As he was wiping away the blood from his lip, the door slid open.
“Sounds like you’re not in a condition to go anyway.” A rather chipper voice spoke up, one that seemed jovial, but he knew it was anything but.
“Principal Nezu?!” He exclaimed, both surprised and worried, as where Vlad and Thirteen would be less than pleased with his absence, Nezu would be far worse.
“Yes, I am!” The chimera replied with a giggle as All Might crouched low and wobbled over like a penguin.
“Your fur is well-groomed as always, sir.” All Might hoped to butter him up, lessen the blow.
He needed to find out if he was successful, as Nezu's smile was as meaningless as times as a 3-dollar bill. "The secret is keratin, though I doubt it would work as well for humans, but I have to ask, what are you doing here? Don’t you have a class to teach?” The number one, a man who had faced off against villains and natural disasters, gulped.
“Hum, I’m resting?” He replied, which wasn’t a lie…
"Resting? Quite strange, wouldn't you say? The only teacher I know who would need rest at 13:48 is Eraser, who tends to work the night shift. So why would you need rest?" Nezu asked him, looking at his watch to make sure of the time as All Might that maybe he should have rested on the roof, a fear made worse when Nezu pulled his tablet out of…somewhere.
“I think I have a clue. Look at that; All Might handle 6 incidents in only 1 hour!” He read the headline, the article not even 2 hours old, which included pictures of him running about.
"My, that was quite the achievement, I would ask where you found the time, but clearly, you took it out of the time you should have used here, teaching the students." All Might slumped, feeling like a child being scolded, but he couldn't blame his boss as he had behaved like one Nezu took a breath. He didn't like scolding his staff; he preferred lifting them up and messing with them equally, but this required a firm hand.
"All Might, we have been through this already. You took on a teaching job both as a cover for your diminishing time as a hero and to allow you the chance to search for a successor of your quirk." He stated, looking All Might over, seeing a swear form on his brow, and already knowing that his lack of time with class B was hampering that search.
"From your reaction, I can assume you haven't made progress either. This is all the more reason to focus on your role here. There's indeed been a rise in hoodlums and low-level villains recently, but surely the local pros can handle it.” Nezu remarked that he did find it odd that there was a rise in such incidents when the U.A. was located here. They announced All Might to be in the area, away from his usual routes in Tokyo.
"But since you're here, perhaps I can give you some pointers on the finer points of teaching, which I have learned over my 31 years in the profession." Now, All Might couldn't mask the groan or the shudder, as this was what he feared.
And for the first time in forever, a chapter is written within the word limit! There was just a tiny bit more, but that could be cut without consequence, and it was. I hope to keep to that going forward.
