Chapter 119: Back to School (1)
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Shoto Todoroki felt quite... weird on his way to his classroom.
He was never the type to care about what others thought of him, but he felt quite nervous just imagining walking into the class.
Ida died, all because Todoroki failed to save him. If only he was a minute early… he could have saved him.
But not only did he fail, but he also had to be saved by Neji. That was a big hit to his self-esteem. Was he nothing but a child in actual villains' eyes?
Was he really… so useless?
Todoroki was thinking, just when he heard a yell, saying 'Bye Neji!' from far. Turning in that direction, he saw Neji waving his hand to a blue-haired girl, who didn't seem to want to leave so Neji dashed away from there.
Neji spotted Todoroki looking and stopped in front of him.
"Oh, hey Todoroki. Are you doing fine now?" Neji asked as he watched Todoroki's eyes.
"...I am." Todoroki nodded and started walking beside Neji. "That was your sister?"
Neji inclined his head. "Yes, she is. Don't get any weird ideas about her, though."
Todoroki stared at him in confusion.
'Ah…' Neji blinked. 'Forgot he is oblivious about these things.'
"It's nothing, I was trying to make a joke."
Neji said to the staring Todoroki, who slowly lowered his head towards the ground.
"Sorry, my humour isn't that great."
Neji smiled cringely. "Dude, it's no big deal. Drop the formalities."
Todoroki nodded. "I will try."
But he couldn't try, however, because they had by then reached the door of Class 1-A.
They both stopped on their feet and exchanged glances. At last, with a sigh, Neji swiped the slide-door to the side.
Immediately, as if the people inside were waiting, their eyes shot towards Neji and Todoroki. The class, which was loud until a moment ago, went silent.
Neji and Todoroki awkwardly walked inside the class, standing there under the gazes of others for a long moment just as Kendo clapped her enlarged hands.
"Shake it off, guys!" She yelled. "They've been through enough, don't make this awkward for them!"
There was another long stretch of silence, before the class burst with questions. Many ran to Todoroki and Neji, but Neji swiftly avoided them to take a seat behind Momo.
Momo had come to school before Neji did because her mother came to pick her up since she was apparently missing her daughter too much.
"Sheesh, the vice-president is doing a better job than the president," Neji whispered as he sat down. "Wonder who that useless president is."
Momo turned to give him a dead stare and turned ahead again. She was about to say something just before Kendo did it. She knew he was joking about it, but she did feel ashamed at his insult. Some other girl was looking after her boyfriend, even though she was present right there.
While she grimaced deep in her mind, Ochako Uraraka called Neji from behind.
"Um, are you alright?" She asked softly. "It must have been so hard on you…"
Ochako didn't have Neji's number and didn't talk much in the Class 1-A group chat, either. So she only asked Neji once about the incident in Hosu. Which clearly wasn't enough to convey her worries.
"I am fine…" Neji said, turning around. "Ida's death was pretty shocking for me, but it's been a while since then so I feel much less guilty now."
He talked slowly so that Momo couldn't hear his blatant lies.
Ochako nodded. "Please, don't feel guilty at all. You weren't at fault. You even saved Todoroki…"
Even though she said all that, she still couldn't believe it…
Ida was dead… Ida, their classmate, a person they had spent around 2 months with… yet, now after a week of absence, he was no more.
That was absolutely horrifying when any of the students present in the class thought about it. They could have been in Ida's place… they could have died, just like him, and that was only an Internship.
The students realised how dangerous their path actually was. How difficult it would be when they finally go Pro…
Kendo had again calmed down the mass, this time Momo joined in as they both stopped the students from trying to ask questions to Neji and Todoroki.
"This wasn't what I meant when I said to ease up!" Kendo yelled. "Calm down, everyone! Please don't cause a ruckus!"
The students were calming down slowly, which sped up in an instant as the door opened and Aizawa walked in.
He was well shaven this time, a scar present under his left eye. But he still wore his baggy clothes as he walked into the desk and stopped in front of the now silent class.
"The week's been rough on you guys." He said. "And so has it been on us teachers, you'd know if you are up-to-date with the news." Aizawa went silent before he spoke again. "From this, we have many things to learn and…"
Neji blurred out the sound from outside and started to think in his mind.
He was mostly busy with Rumi, but he did see some news about what Aizawa just said.
Ida's death wasn't UA's fault and was instead his temporary mentor Pro Hero Manual's fault. He was revoked off his Hero Licence and it was currently being judged what his further punishment should be. Many are claiming lifetime jail for him, whilst many are claiming that he gets his license back. He had no way to look after Ida when it was under attack by those brain monsters, after all. Fortunately, the second party seems to be winning.
But even though UA wasn't responsible, and the law knew that too, the public still gave them sore eyes.
"What did the school teach the students if one of the bright stars from Class 1-A died like that?"-->That was their complaint.
They were fools, of course. It's only been a mere two months since UA even started, so how much could they have taught the students anyway?
However, after orders from the higher-ups, as their Homeroom teacher, Aizawa had to apologise to the public in front of the camera. Aizawa did so without any complaints.
"I, as his teacher, and you all as his fellow students, will always remember Tenya Ida who died as a true hero." Aizawa finished the speech he was giving. Silence fell in the room, and Aizawa went silent too.
Ida's death hit him the hardest after Todoroki. Aizawa had lost a friend to a villain in the past, which was the main reason why he was so strict with his students. Only to make them realise that the path that they chose isn't a fun one. Yet… he has failed on his teachings.
Aizawa felt grateful to Neji again for he had at least saved one of the students. He felt very guilty for having second thoughts about Neji before. He planned to apologise to the young man properly once he got the chance.
"Now, I didn't want to do what I am going to do just after I said all those," Aizawa spoke again. "But Ida's absence leaves the class with an empty seat. The higher-ups have decided to fill it asap to make sure that another student gets a bit better teaching."
The class nodded. They would have usually been angry and disappointed at the school for this, but after hearing Aizawa's long dialogues, they understood how important this class was. This decided their future, their life. If someone new were to also get proper training, then that would be better.
They were sure someone like Ida would also want that.
Aizawa turned his head to the door. "Come in and introduce yourself."
Slowly, from the side, a boy with messy, indigo-coloured hair flaring outwards walked inside the class and stood beside Aizawa.
"Hello." He spoke, and unlike how everyone else remembered from the Sports Festival, he didn't sound so hollow. He was a bit excited and nervous too, as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "My name is Hitoshi Shinso, nice to meet you all."
The class stayed silent, recalling how this same guy ruthlessly made Mei cry, and also how he used his quirk to control the other students' minds to play around his whim.
In other words, he wasn't a guy they had a good impression of.
"Everyone," Aizawa said with a held back sigh. "Please treat him well, as he is your classmate now."
More or less somewhat reluctantly, everyone nodded.
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