Bokuboy This is all I have ready for this story for now. 3,435 words.
“You can't have us arrested for trespassing.” Izuku said for the tenth time. “We have an invitation to be here.”
“You participated in the first event and that you weren't invited for. It's for UA students only.” Cementoss said, his monotone voice didn't have any inflection, as if he was bored.
“You're wrong.” Connor said with a grin. “There are no rules that ban other students from competing. The rules only state that we can't actually win because the first UA student to cross the finish line is the winner.”
Midnight laughed at her prized wayward students. “Why didn't you bring the rest of your school?”
“We couldn't get any other invitations to cover for them being here.” Izuku said. “We weren't going to commit fraud by making fake tickets or trying to sneak in people without buying tickets. That would be breaking the law. We are going to be the best heroes in the world and we are not law breakers.”
“You do realize that there can be only one person in the number one spot.” Snipe said, trying to get at least one shot in on the kids that had disrupted the sports festival.
“You're wrong. We tied for first on the entrance exam. Who are you to say that we can't both be the number one hero?” Izuku asked, which shut him up.
“If you're all done berating us over this, we'll just go.” Connor said.
“You can't just leave after this.” Nezu said and waved at the mass of reporters making comments and recording everything.
“Legally, we didn't do anything wrong. You can't hold us unlawfully or do anything at all to us, really. We're not students at your school and you have no authority over us.” Connor said.
“We'll see about that.” Nezu said.
“Go ahead and try to stop us from becoming heroes or telling agencies to not hire us.” Izuku said, surprising everyone, especially the mouse-like Nezu. “We'll start our own agency if you do and we'll destroy every other agency in the country. We'll be the only ones they'll call and it will be all your fault.”
“That's a very bold statement.” Midnight purred and her hand reached for Izuku's neck.
Connor slapped her hand away. “Keep your pheromones to yourself. He has a girlfriend.”
“How did you know I can do it through touch, too?” Midnight asked.
“We know what all of you can do.” Izuku said and stepped close to Connor. “How much practice have you been doing lately?”
“I can easily get us out of the stadium. I'll have to stop at the land boundary, though. No quirk usage outside of regulated areas.”
“That's good enough for me.” Izuku said and pat his own side. “Grab on and let's get out of here before they make something up to keep us here.”
Connor laughed and put his arm around his best friend's waist. “As long as they all know that we would have won everything if they would just stop restricting us.”
“I'm pretty sure after they see this, they are going to be talking about us for a while.” Izuku assured him and then waved at the UA students. “See you at the hero training camp this summer!”
All of the shocked shouts and yells from the students gave them the distraction they needed as Connor slowly lifted them up into the air.
“Oh, my god!” Midnight exclaimed and everyone turned to look.
“NO WAY!” Mei shouted and started to jump around, excitedly. “Connor! You did it! YOU DID IT!”
“I told you she would react like that.” Izuku said with a laugh.
“Yeah, yeah.” Connor said and picked up speed the higher they flew. “Lips off your girl, remember?”
“Damn right.” Izuku said as they quickly approached the top of the stadium and one of the large screens showing the audience reactions. “Look at their faces!”
Connor had to laugh at the shock and awe he saw. “I guess it really is rare for someone to have a flying quirk.”
“Unbelievably rare, especially since they usually don't get any physical protection when they do fly.” Izuku said. “Can you imagine taking off at half the speed of sound, only to have your body be crushed from the g-forces?”
“Ouch. Yeah, that would suck.” Connor said as they passed over the edge of the stadium and dropped down towards the edge of the parking lot. They weren't surprised to see a news crew waiting there and his mother was right at the forefront.
“You know, that might have looked cooler if you had a cape on.” Lois said as her son landed in front of her and the news crew.
“No capes.” Connor said. “I've seen too many villains grab onto dad's and toss him around with it.”
Lois laughed softly. “He loved that damn thing. It was his baby blanket and nearly indestructible.”
“It would help cover things if used properly. The indestructible part alone would make it a valuable asset when...” Izuku mumbled.
“Geez! I'll carry it on me when I become a hero, if it will make you shut up about it.” Connor said with a mock glare.
Izuku chuckled. “Done.”
Lois coughed to get their attention back and then spoke. “One, two, three. We all just saw you make a triumphant exit from the UA Sports Festival.” She said in her reporter voice. “What did you think of the first event and your treatment after you were discovered hiding in plain sight?”
Connor spoke with authority as he relayed his observations and then Izuku added his own. They both said the students seemed okay with them being there and hadn't really noticed anything wrong until they revealed the different uniforms.
“We left before they could trump something up against us.” Izuku said. “I'm sure it would have been dropped later, since they just wanted us out of there quicker than we were willing to leave on our own.”
“Why did you crash the UA Sports Festival?” Lois asked.
“It's unfair how they are getting preferential treatment by... well, everyone. They are only one of many hero schools in this country and yet they are the only ones being allowed to hold huge events like this and have exclusive contracts to not let any other schools to have their own at the same time.” Connor said. “If that's not a monopoly on resources that should be shared with other schools, especially the hero agencies that only send scouts to look for UA students because they are the 'best' school, then I don't know what else it could be.”
“You doubt the claim that they are the best?” Lois asked and smirked.
“I have proof that it's false. Just last year, the teacher that expelled us, had expelled his entire class for not following his unreasonable orders that countered what the principal had the rest of the students doing, namely orientation and getting them used to high school life.”
“You're joking.” Lois said, her voice flat.
“I wish I was. There's no Class 2-A at UA high school. Since they never move people to the general studies course when expelled, that's twenty of the top forty students from last year's entrance exams that were cut adrift for no reason, just like we were.” Connor said and Izuku nodded. “That's a lot of potential heroes to lose their spots and recommendations on an idiotic teacher's whims.”
“I'm sure the powers that be will be very interested to find out about where those students ended up.” Lois said. “Now, what was that you just did? Did you actually fly? I thought you had a molecular density quirk?”
Connor smiled. “It was technically flying.”
“What do you mean by technically?” Lois asked, inquisitively.
“I was actually defying the pull of gravity on my molecular structure; or in essence, creating my own gravitational field because my molecular structure is so dense. I've been practising it a lot lately and I can use it to partially negate any other gravity field that I am around, which is the planet's.”
“So, it's not a second quirk or anything?” Lois asked, pointedly.
“No, everything I can do... super speed, super strength, and now limited flight, are all based on my one sole quirk.” Connor said.
“Thank you, Mister Kent. That was very informative and you've cleared up a lot of questions that I'm sure the watchers have been eager to get answers to.” Lois said and turned to face the camera. “That was an exclusive interview with the future hero, Supreme.” She said and put a hand on Connor's shoulder. “...and the future hero, Prowess.” She said and put the hand on Izuku's shoulder next. “We can only hope that we will see more great things out of these young men in the future. I'm Lois Lane, on-site reporter for the Daily Planet at the UA Sports Festival.”
“...aaaand, we're clear.” The cameraman said and turned off the camera. “That was great, Lois.”
“Thanks.” Lois said as the rest of the crew checked things over to send to the studio while her assistant checked her hair and make-up. “When is the scheduled interview with the event organizers?”
“We have an hour. It's during the intermission while the other students that didn't make the cut during the obstacle race entertain the viewers with those weird games that don't mean anything.”
Lois laughed and nodded to the assistant before she turned back to look at her son and his best friend. “Thank you both for doing this.”
“Mom, I love you. I promised you years ago that I would do anything for you.” Connor said.
“Yeah, what he said.” Izuku laughed and punched Connor's arm. “We better go before those heroes staring at us decide to ignore your mom's awesome reporter presence.”
Connor glanced over and saw Mt. Lady staring at them with a kind of lustful look on her face. She also had Kamui Woods and some old guy beside her. “Good point. Let's go.”
“I'll see you at home.” Lois said and stood on her toes to kiss her son's cheek. “I'll bring supper.”
Connor nodded and then he and Izuku jogged out of the parking lot and down the street to go home.
*
“How? How are they doing this to us?” Nezu asked and rubbed his paw-like hands over his little snout. UA's approval ratings that they had hoped would raise after the sports festival, had actually dropped several points. The words 'elitist' and 'exclusivist' were floating around on the net as well. He was also sure that last word wasn't a word at all.
“Lois Lane has always been a force to be reckoned with.” All Might said. He hadn't gone to the field to confront the two wayward students for the same reason that Aizawa hadn't. It would only make things worse if they were there.
“No one should have that much media power.” Aizawa commented.
“She doesn't.” All Might said with a chuckle. “She just knows people and can drum up interest in pretty much anything when she puts her mind to it.”
“The clip on the net of them easily destroying the Zero Pointers has already reached a million views.” Midnight said and reached up to rub her breast. “They look sooo good in UA track uniforms.”
The other heroes ignored her antics for the most part.
“Their story is trending on social media, too. Over three million posts and comments about them are already on there with thousands being added every hour.” Thirteen, the Rescue Hero, said. “I think this is a race we can't win.”
“It's not a race, it's a slaughter.” Snipe, the Gunslinging Hero said. “We've been behind since the start and they haven't lost ground once.”
“What do we do?” Present Mic asked. “Our big event to make everyone forget about the USJ fell flat.”
“I wouldn't say that.” Cementoss said. “They aren't talking about the USJ anymore.”
“It didn't improve our standing; but, at least it did serve as a distraction.” Nezu said and looked around at the teachers. “It's just too bad that the support hero that won the obstacle race declined the offer to keep fighting on because advertising her babies with unworthy opponents didn't appeal to her.”
“She is also that Midoria kid's girlfriend.” Aizawa said. “I think we should get rid of her for giving him her invitation to the sports festival.”
“You can't so easily erase your mistakes like you can quirks.” All Might said. “She didn't do anything wrong. She can invite anyone she wants and...”
“What if she had invited a villain?” Aizawa asked. “Would that be okay?”
“Why don't we just kick all of the problem children out and close the school?” Nezu asked and that made everyone fall silent. “Exactly. It wouldn't solve any of our problems.”
“I can't believe Bakugo won the tournament by default.” Power Loader said with a laugh. “He's been out of hand since he started here and no one wanted to fight the arrogant bully.”
“They saw the images of the kids he bullied in grade school and middle school, thanks to that expose Lois Lane shared when asked about her son being bullied for being quirkless.” All Might said with a sigh. “No one wants to have burns or marks on their skin permanently. I've tried talking to the boy and all he says is that my time will soon be over and that he is going to be the number one hero.”
“Aizawa?” Nezu asked.
“He's relatively behaved in class. He only acts out when anyone challenges him.” Aizawa said.
“You leave him alone and told everyone else to as well?” Midnight asked, concerned.
“No, the class president Iida did. In fact, he said that to make the class more enjoyable, they should all just assume that Bakugo doesn't exist until he behaves himself properly.”
Thirteen shook her helmeted head. “All you're doing is isolating him from his peers.”
“He doesn't believe he has any peers and calls them all 'extras'.” Aizawa said. “I tried to trade him to Vlad King's class...”
“...and I don't want him any more than you do.” Vlad said and crossed his arms. “I've got a great group of kids this time...”
*cough* “Neito.” *cough* All Might said, pointing out the loudmouth that his peers, and especially the class representative, had to keep reined in from getting into too much trouble.
“...and I don't want to switch one of them over to your class after the solid rivalry they've built up.” Vlad finished as if All Might hasn't spoken.
“Rivalry? It's a joke.” Aizawa said, dismissively. “They aren't half as talented as my students.”
“Says the guy that ditched two of the strongest kids in the world because they questioned his authority.” Midnight said and stopped massaging her breasts.
“They weren't that strong then.” Aizawa said to try and defend himself.
“I disagree.” Nezu said and picked up a sheaf of paper. “I just happened to have tea with the president of Shiketsu Academy at the end of their first week. He was gracious enough to give me a copy of their quirk assessment tests.”
“WHAT? He would never do that!” Aizawa exclaimed.
“He made an exception this one time.” Nezu said and then read off the results. As he went down the list of the events that the students went through, testing their quirks and showcasing their abilities in all kinds of things and not just the standard fitness tests. “As you just heard, they had automatic passes in quite a few of them because of their performance in our own entrance exam.”
“How the hell did they throw the baseball three miles?” Aizawa asked, despite his resolve to not react to the numbers.
“They were holding back to keep their numbers even.” Nezu commented and all of the heroes gave him surprised looks, even All Might. “They didn't break a sweat for the entire afternoon.”
They all fell silent as they thought about that.
“Their teachers absolutely love them, too. They ask for extra classes to get ahead and then help the other students in their classes to excel.” Nezu said and Aizawa grumbled. “Their entire class had high marks and no one was left behind, even with the strife that they've had.”
“What strife?” All Might asked.
Nezu told them about what he had heard from a few different sources and what Connor Kent had been subjected to because of an ex-girlfriend.
“I thought Shiketsu Academy forbids relationships.” Midnight said.
“I don't think they anticipated their freshmen to start dating right away.” Nezu said. “Then again, he is the son of Superman. Someone was going to try to get to him eventually.”
“It could have been me.” Midnight said and then sighed. “Those poor boys have missed out on enjoying this wonderful body so far.”
No one commented on the boys not enjoying it in the near future, either.
“Now with their quite showy departure, everyone is talking about them and calling us down.” Nezu said and sat back in his chair. “Did anyone see the interview they did?”
Most of the heroes in the office nodded.
“Do any of you feel like apologizing for your behaviour?” Nezu asked and no one spoke. “Normally, I could get this hushed up; but, the thing already aired before we had our own interview with Miss Lane.”
“I told you that she would wreck you if you tried to cover anything up.” All Might said. “She can be vicious when discovering someone in a lie, especially after...” He stopped talking. They all knew that she knew her husband's killer had escaped before the USJ incident. The masked villain was still debilitated and blinded; but, that was little consolation.
“How did that meeting go?” Aizawa asked, unable to resist poking All Might when he was down.
“I... survived.” All Might said, sadly. He had probably lost the only real connection he had to his dead best friend by alienating that friend's widow. Being sworn to secrecy about the villain hadn't let him sleep any better at night and Lois' scathing words about betraying Superman and her, had cut him to the bone.
“There's nothing to be done about that now.” Nezu said with a sigh. “She has us over a barrel and she's shooting holes in it to let us sink. I've been tempted to fight her on her own terms, only she has so many friends in so many different arenas that I can't even attempt to make any inroads to getting our own propaganda out there.”
“Is it called propaganda if it's the truth?” Thirteen asked, curious.
“Ours or hers?” Nezu asked back.
“Both.” Thirteen said.
“As long as it shows you in a positive light, it's classed as propaganda.”
Thirteen nodded. “Then you can only make new roads to travel if the others are blocked or barricaded.”
Nezu thought about that and smiled. “Good. That's good.” He said and looked at All Might.
“No, I'm not giving an interview.” All Might said and stood. “I refuse to let those vultures anywhere near me after they helped cause the USJ incident.”
Nezu thought about ordering him to do it, then sighed. “I won't force you to do anything.”
“Good.” All Might said and walked to the door. “Because the last thing UA needs is to see me portrayed as incompetent.”
“Do you really think you could be that bad at an interview?” Aizawa asked.
“Of course not. It's Miss Lane taking that interview apart and pointing out all of my evasions and incomplete answers that would ruin me, my reputation, and probably the last bit of credibility this school has.” All Might said and opened the door before looking at everyone there in the office. “Then again, maybe things really do need to be changed like she suggested.”
“All Might, you can't believe that.” Snipe said.
“I think we've all become kind of power hungry and let our own desires and needs to rise above the welfare of the students and the people we are trying to teach the students to protect.” All Might said. “Not once during this discussion did anyone mention how the students reacted or cared what they thought of what happened.” He stepped out into the hallway. “Did anyone even ask them?”
The door closed on a silent room, because none of them had thought of that, not even the smartest creature in the room. President Nezu sighed and rubbed his face in frustration again.
Bokuboy This is all I have ready for this story for now. 3,435 words.
“You can't have us arrested for trespassing.” Izuku said for the tenth time. “We have an invitation to be here.”
“You participated in the first event and that you weren't invited for. It's for UA students only.” Cementoss said, his monotone voice didn't have any inflection, as if he was bored.
“You're wrong.” Connor said with a grin. “There are no rules that ban other students from competing. The rules only state that we can't actually win because the first UA student to cross the finish line is the winner.”
Midnight laughed at her prized wayward students. “Why didn't you bring the rest of your school?”
“We couldn't get any other invitations to cover for them being here.” Izuku said. “We weren't going to commit fraud by making fake tickets or trying to sneak in people without buying tickets. That would be breaking the law. We are going to be the best heroes in the world and we are not law breakers.”
“You do realize that there can be only one person in the number one spot.” Snipe said, trying to get at least one shot in on the kids that had disrupted the sports festival.
“You're wrong. We tied for first on the entrance exam. Who are you to say that we can't both be the number one hero?” Izuku asked, which shut him up.
“If you're all done berating us over this, we'll just go.” Connor said.
“You can't just leave after this.” Nezu said and waved at the mass of reporters making comments and recording everything.
“Legally, we didn't do anything wrong. You can't hold us unlawfully or do anything at all to us, really. We're not students at your school and you have no authority over us.” Connor said.
“We'll see about that.” Nezu said.
“Go ahead and try to stop us from becoming heroes or telling agencies to not hire us.” Izuku said, surprising everyone, especially the mouse-like Nezu. “We'll start our own agency if you do and we'll destroy every other agency in the country. We'll be the only ones they'll call and it will be all your fault.”
“That's a very bold statement.” Midnight purred and her hand reached for Izuku's neck.
Connor slapped her hand away. “Keep your pheromones to yourself. He has a girlfriend.”
“How did you know I can do it through touch, too?” Midnight asked.
“We know what all of you can do.” Izuku said and stepped close to Connor. “How much practice have you been doing lately?”
“I can easily get us out of the stadium. I'll have to stop at the land boundary, though. No quirk usage outside of regulated areas.”
“That's good enough for me.” Izuku said and pat his own side. “Grab on and let's get out of here before they make something up to keep us here.”
Connor laughed and put his arm around his best friend's waist. “As long as they all know that we would have won everything if they would just stop restricting us.”
“I'm pretty sure after they see this, they are going to be talking about us for a while.” Izuku assured him and then waved at the UA students. “See you at the hero training camp this summer!”
All of the shocked shouts and yells from the students gave them the distraction they needed as Connor slowly lifted them up into the air.
“Oh, my god!” Midnight exclaimed and everyone turned to look.
“NO WAY!” Mei shouted and started to jump around, excitedly. “Connor! You did it! YOU DID IT!”
“I told you she would react like that.” Izuku said with a laugh.
“Yeah, yeah.” Connor said and picked up speed the higher they flew. “Lips off your girl, remember?”
“Damn right.” Izuku said as they quickly approached the top of the stadium and one of the large screens showing the audience reactions. “Look at their faces!”
Connor had to laugh at the shock and awe he saw. “I guess it really is rare for someone to have a flying quirk.”
“Unbelievably rare, especially since they usually don't get any physical protection when they do fly.” Izuku said. “Can you imagine taking off at half the speed of sound, only to have your body be crushed from the g-forces?”
“Ouch. Yeah, that would suck.” Connor said as they passed over the edge of the stadium and dropped down towards the edge of the parking lot. They weren't surprised to see a news crew waiting there and his mother was right at the forefront.
“You know, that might have looked cooler if you had a cape on.” Lois said as her son landed in front of her and the news crew.
“No capes.” Connor said. “I've seen too many villains grab onto dad's and toss him around with it.”
Lois laughed softly. “He loved that damn thing. It was his baby blanket and nearly indestructible.”
“It would help cover things if used properly. The indestructible part alone would make it a valuable asset when...” Izuku mumbled.
“Geez! I'll carry it on me when I become a hero, if it will make you shut up about it.” Connor said with a mock glare.
Izuku chuckled. “Done.”
Lois coughed to get their attention back and then spoke. “One, two, three. We all just saw you make a triumphant exit from the UA Sports Festival.” She said in her reporter voice. “What did you think of the first event and your treatment after you were discovered hiding in plain sight?”
Connor spoke with authority as he relayed his observations and then Izuku added his own. They both said the students seemed okay with them being there and hadn't really noticed anything wrong until they revealed the different uniforms.
“We left before they could trump something up against us.” Izuku said. “I'm sure it would have been dropped later, since they just wanted us out of there quicker than we were willing to leave on our own.”
“Why did you crash the UA Sports Festival?” Lois asked.
“It's unfair how they are getting preferential treatment by... well, everyone. They are only one of many hero schools in this country and yet they are the only ones being allowed to hold huge events like this and have exclusive contracts to not let any other schools to have their own at the same time.” Connor said. “If that's not a monopoly on resources that should be shared with other schools, especially the hero agencies that only send scouts to look for UA students because they are the 'best' school, then I don't know what else it could be.”
“You doubt the claim that they are the best?” Lois asked and smirked.
“I have proof that it's false. Just last year, the teacher that expelled us, had expelled his entire class for not following his unreasonable orders that countered what the principal had the rest of the students doing, namely orientation and getting them used to high school life.”
“You're joking.” Lois said, her voice flat.
“I wish I was. There's no Class 2-A at UA high school. Since they never move people to the general studies course when expelled, that's twenty of the top forty students from last year's entrance exams that were cut adrift for no reason, just like we were.” Connor said and Izuku nodded. “That's a lot of potential heroes to lose their spots and recommendations on an idiotic teacher's whims.”
“I'm sure the powers that be will be very interested to find out about where those students ended up.” Lois said. “Now, what was that you just did? Did you actually fly? I thought you had a molecular density quirk?”
Connor smiled. “It was technically flying.”
“What do you mean by technically?” Lois asked, inquisitively.
“I was actually defying the pull of gravity on my molecular structure; or in essence, creating my own gravitational field because my molecular structure is so dense. I've been practising it a lot lately and I can use it to partially negate any other gravity field that I am around, which is the planet's.”
“So, it's not a second quirk or anything?” Lois asked, pointedly.
“No, everything I can do... super speed, super strength, and now limited flight, are all based on my one sole quirk.” Connor said.
“Thank you, Mister Kent. That was very informative and you've cleared up a lot of questions that I'm sure the watchers have been eager to get answers to.” Lois said and turned to face the camera. “That was an exclusive interview with the future hero, Supreme.” She said and put a hand on Connor's shoulder. “...and the future hero, Prowess.” She said and put the hand on Izuku's shoulder next. “We can only hope that we will see more great things out of these young men in the future. I'm Lois Lane, on-site reporter for the Daily Planet at the UA Sports Festival.”
“...aaaand, we're clear.” The cameraman said and turned off the camera. “That was great, Lois.”
“Thanks.” Lois said as the rest of the crew checked things over to send to the studio while her assistant checked her hair and make-up. “When is the scheduled interview with the event organizers?”
“We have an hour. It's during the intermission while the other students that didn't make the cut during the obstacle race entertain the viewers with those weird games that don't mean anything.”
Lois laughed and nodded to the assistant before she turned back to look at her son and his best friend. “Thank you both for doing this.”
“Mom, I love you. I promised you years ago that I would do anything for you.” Connor said.
“Yeah, what he said.” Izuku laughed and punched Connor's arm. “We better go before those heroes staring at us decide to ignore your mom's awesome reporter presence.”
Connor glanced over and saw Mt. Lady staring at them with a kind of lustful look on her face. She also had Kamui Woods and some old guy beside her. “Good point. Let's go.”
“I'll see you at home.” Lois said and stood on her toes to kiss her son's cheek. “I'll bring supper.”
Connor nodded and then he and Izuku jogged out of the parking lot and down the street to go home.
*
“How? How are they doing this to us?” Nezu asked and rubbed his paw-like hands over his little snout. UA's approval ratings that they had hoped would raise after the sports festival, had actually dropped several points. The words 'elitist' and 'exclusivist' were floating around on the net as well. He was also sure that last word wasn't a word at all.
“Lois Lane has always been a force to be reckoned with.” All Might said. He hadn't gone to the field to confront the two wayward students for the same reason that Aizawa hadn't. It would only make things worse if they were there.
“No one should have that much media power.” Aizawa commented.
“She doesn't.” All Might said with a chuckle. “She just knows people and can drum up interest in pretty much anything when she puts her mind to it.”
“The clip on the net of them easily destroying the Zero Pointers has already reached a million views.” Midnight said and reached up to rub her breast. “They look sooo good in UA track uniforms.”
The other heroes ignored her antics for the most part.
“Their story is trending on social media, too. Over three million posts and comments about them are already on there with thousands being added every hour.” Thirteen, the Rescue Hero, said. “I think this is a race we can't win.”
“It's not a race, it's a slaughter.” Snipe, the Gunslinging Hero said. “We've been behind since the start and they haven't lost ground once.”
“What do we do?” Present Mic asked. “Our big event to make everyone forget about the USJ fell flat.”
“I wouldn't say that.” Cementoss said. “They aren't talking about the USJ anymore.”
“It didn't improve our standing; but, at least it did serve as a distraction.” Nezu said and looked around at the teachers. “It's just too bad that the support hero that won the obstacle race declined the offer to keep fighting on because advertising her babies with unworthy opponents didn't appeal to her.”
“She is also that Midoria kid's girlfriend.” Aizawa said. “I think we should get rid of her for giving him her invitation to the sports festival.”
“You can't so easily erase your mistakes like you can quirks.” All Might said. “She didn't do anything wrong. She can invite anyone she wants and...”
“What if she had invited a villain?” Aizawa asked. “Would that be okay?”
“Why don't we just kick all of the problem children out and close the school?” Nezu asked and that made everyone fall silent. “Exactly. It wouldn't solve any of our problems.”
“I can't believe Bakugo won the tournament by default.” Power Loader said with a laugh. “He's been out of hand since he started here and no one wanted to fight the arrogant bully.”
“They saw the images of the kids he bullied in grade school and middle school, thanks to that expose Lois Lane shared when asked about her son being bullied for being quirkless.” All Might said with a sigh. “No one wants to have burns or marks on their skin permanently. I've tried talking to the boy and all he says is that my time will soon be over and that he is going to be the number one hero.”
“Aizawa?” Nezu asked.
“He's relatively behaved in class. He only acts out when anyone challenges him.” Aizawa said.
“You leave him alone and told everyone else to as well?” Midnight asked, concerned.
“No, the class president Iida did. In fact, he said that to make the class more enjoyable, they should all just assume that Bakugo doesn't exist until he behaves himself properly.”
Thirteen shook her helmeted head. “All you're doing is isolating him from his peers.”
“He doesn't believe he has any peers and calls them all 'extras'.” Aizawa said. “I tried to trade him to Vlad King's class...”
“...and I don't want him any more than you do.” Vlad said and crossed his arms. “I've got a great group of kids this time...”
*cough* “Neito.” *cough* All Might said, pointing out the loudmouth that his peers, and especially the class representative, had to keep reined in from getting into too much trouble.
“...and I don't want to switch one of them over to your class after the solid rivalry they've built up.” Vlad finished as if All Might hasn't spoken.
“Rivalry? It's a joke.” Aizawa said, dismissively. “They aren't half as talented as my students.”
“Says the guy that ditched two of the strongest kids in the world because they questioned his authority.” Midnight said and stopped massaging her breasts.
“They weren't that strong then.” Aizawa said to try and defend himself.
“I disagree.” Nezu said and picked up a sheaf of paper. “I just happened to have tea with the president of Shiketsu Academy at the end of their first week. He was gracious enough to give me a copy of their quirk assessment tests.”
“WHAT? He would never do that!” Aizawa exclaimed.
“He made an exception this one time.” Nezu said and then read off the results. As he went down the list of the events that the students went through, testing their quirks and showcasing their abilities in all kinds of things and not just the standard fitness tests. “As you just heard, they had automatic passes in quite a few of them because of their performance in our own entrance exam.”
“How the hell did they throw the baseball three miles?” Aizawa asked, despite his resolve to not react to the numbers.
“They were holding back to keep their numbers even.” Nezu commented and all of the heroes gave him surprised looks, even All Might. “They didn't break a sweat for the entire afternoon.”
They all fell silent as they thought about that.
“Their teachers absolutely love them, too. They ask for extra classes to get ahead and then help the other students in their classes to excel.” Nezu said and Aizawa grumbled. “Their entire class had high marks and no one was left behind, even with the strife that they've had.”
“What strife?” All Might asked.
Nezu told them about what he had heard from a few different sources and what Connor Kent had been subjected to because of an ex-girlfriend.
“I thought Shiketsu Academy forbids relationships.” Midnight said.
“I don't think they anticipated their freshmen to start dating right away.” Nezu said. “Then again, he is the son of Superman. Someone was going to try to get to him eventually.”
“It could have been me.” Midnight said and then sighed. “Those poor boys have missed out on enjoying this wonderful body so far.”
No one commented on the boys not enjoying it in the near future, either.
“Now with their quite showy departure, everyone is talking about them and calling us down.” Nezu said and sat back in his chair. “Did anyone see the interview they did?”
Most of the heroes in the office nodded.
“Do any of you feel like apologizing for your behaviour?” Nezu asked and no one spoke. “Normally, I could get this hushed up; but, the thing already aired before we had our own interview with Miss Lane.”
“I told you that she would wreck you if you tried to cover anything up.” All Might said. “She can be vicious when discovering someone in a lie, especially after...” He stopped talking. They all knew that she knew her husband's killer had escaped before the USJ incident. The masked villain was still debilitated and blinded; but, that was little consolation.
“How did that meeting go?” Aizawa asked, unable to resist poking All Might when he was down.
“I... survived.” All Might said, sadly. He had probably lost the only real connection he had to his dead best friend by alienating that friend's widow. Being sworn to secrecy about the villain hadn't let him sleep any better at night and Lois' scathing words about betraying Superman and her, had cut him to the bone.
“There's nothing to be done about that now.” Nezu said with a sigh. “She has us over a barrel and she's shooting holes in it to let us sink. I've been tempted to fight her on her own terms, only she has so many friends in so many different arenas that I can't even attempt to make any inroads to getting our own propaganda out there.”
“Is it called propaganda if it's the truth?” Thirteen asked, curious.
“Ours or hers?” Nezu asked back.
“Both.” Thirteen said.
“As long as it shows you in a positive light, it's classed as propaganda.”
Thirteen nodded. “Then you can only make new roads to travel if the others are blocked or barricaded.”
Nezu thought about that and smiled. “Good. That's good.” He said and looked at All Might.
“No, I'm not giving an interview.” All Might said and stood. “I refuse to let those vultures anywhere near me after they helped cause the USJ incident.”
Nezu thought about ordering him to do it, then sighed. “I won't force you to do anything.”
“Good.” All Might said and walked to the door. “Because the last thing UA needs is to see me portrayed as incompetent.”
“Do you really think you could be that bad at an interview?” Aizawa asked.
“Of course not. It's Miss Lane taking that interview apart and pointing out all of my evasions and incomplete answers that would ruin me, my reputation, and probably the last bit of credibility this school has.” All Might said and opened the door before looking at everyone there in the office. “Then again, maybe things really do need to be changed like she suggested.”
“All Might, you can't believe that.” Snipe said.
“I think we've all become kind of power hungry and let our own desires and needs to rise above the welfare of the students and the people we are trying to teach the students to protect.” All Might said. “Not once during this discussion did anyone mention how the students reacted or cared what they thought of what happened.” He stepped out into the hallway. “Did anyone even ask them?”
The door closed on a silent room, because none of them had thought of that, not even the smartest creature in the room. President Nezu sighed and rubbed his face in frustration again.
