Atrocious

- Chapter 3 -

The principal's office was smaller than I had expected. The furnishings were also very sporadic and functional.
'He probably doesn't like to decorate himself,' I thought to myself and noticed a large, wide bookshelf next to his desk, on which his closed laptop lay and a few houseplants enjoying their lives in the semi-shade.
I roughly skimmed the spines of the books.
Heroic stories. Biographies. Mathematics. Psychology. Profiles of the heroes and their specialties.
Cookbook for a low-meat diet.
Ok, somehow that didn't fit in at all and I had to smile.
The principal offered me a chair so that I was sitting directly opposite him. It was taller than his own, presumably so that I could see and speak better and not force him to climb onto the desk.
"Now then - the formalities. You had already sent us most of the documents in advance, and they were completed to my complete satisfaction! I still have a few forms open that I would like to discuss with you, as well as a few questions, if you don't mind.
"Of course."
He opened a small folder with a rubber band and looked inside: "You moved here from Europe and I wonder how it came to make such a move?"
I swallowed for a moment and scratched the back of my right hand lightly. I often did that. Especially with unpredictable questions like that.
"You know that Jinji is my brother." He nodded silently.
"Well, he's my half-brother. Our parents separated when I was two years old. Unfortunately, I don't know the reasons. He went to Europe because he was born there and took me with him."
He raised his finger thoughtfully: "May I ask why you didn't stay with your mother? After all, the first thought is that the mother has custody."
There was silence for a moment and the principal was visibly uncomfortable having asked this question.
"You may be right. My mother had suffered a burnout at the time and my father took advantage of that to get custody. Ruthless, but I couldn't change it.
So I grew up European and Japanese, but decided to return to Japan when my mother had a new husband and had Jinji."
The principal's nod said it all.
"You stood by your mother when Jinji's father died," he concluded.
"That's right. He told me he spoke to you...His father's death at the hands of a villain broke him, almost wore him down.
I think it was the last drop that flooded everything in his heart and gave him the confidence to become a superhero and come to the U.A."
I smiled, albeit slightly pained, and looked into his eyes.
My brother was the most important person to me.
Even though he'd spent many years straining the nerves of Zarya and me, going on nightly escapades and wanting to hunt down villains on his own authority, his heart was always full of compassion and love for others.
I was proud of him and always wanted to be.
Mr. Nezu nodded sympathetically and handed me some documents.
"Please take your time to look at everything. Here you can see a handover form for an apartment in our hall of residence.
It is currently located outside the U.A., but we are considering building dormitories for students and teachers on the school grounds in the near future. For reasons of cost, time and safety."
That sounded promising. I nodded to him, read the documents and signed them.
The miscreants are not afraid to attack the students and teachers and unfortunately it has happened more than once. Better security by shielding the students and teachers from the outside was important. And that included the dormitories.
"This is a letter that has no legal implications, but has an emotional value for me and for you. A point of reference."
I was a little unsure what he meant by that and I took the sheet. It was smaller than the other documents and written by hand.
"You hereby promise to take care of the students to the best of your knowledge and belief and to train them to become superheroes".
We had often heard that the rector was fully committed to the U.A., so you could certainly expect more bureaucracy and security aspects. But this was unexpected and I found it heartbreakingly awesome. Without hesitation I signed it: "You can rely on this," I said and handed it to him. He seemed relieved at my statement and continued with more handover protocols for access cards, keys and sportswear.
I had to suppress a laugh when I handed over the costume concepts. I wasn't a hero and didn't want to be one, but for my own protection a costume tailored to me was appropriate.
When we had completed the rest of the formalities, the principal jumped out of his chair, beaming with joy, and walked around the desk towards me.
He offered me his hand again, which I gladly accepted.
"Then I'm delighted to officially welcome you to the U.A.!"
I thought my heart skipped a beat. I had the job. The job at one of the most prestigious schools in the country.
And now not only did I have Jinji in my sights, I could now give mom the reassurance she needed and think about my teaching career myself.
I rose from my chair and bowed sincerely.
"One more thing, Mrs. Hayami. You may deal with the students as you see fit. Except for psychological and physical violence... Unless it is used in practice fights."
"But I'm a teacher of social work and healing cuisine now, aren't I?"
"How good are you at your specialty? Because believe me, you won't just be doing your normal lessons!"
Not just the prescribed lessons? Well, in the contract it was listed that substitute lessons such as sports and heroic history can occur. That's why a doctor's certificate about my state of health was required. But I was actually hoping that these would only be absolute exceptions.
We left the office again and the principal took plenty of time for me. Every corridor was explored, the support and general departments examined, the swimming pools and training grounds visited, as well as the canteen and the meeting rooms.
The tour lasted almost four hours until the principal stood in front of a simple door with yellow stripes.
"The Teacher room. Now is a good time, because most of the teachers are here for the meeting. I hope you're not that excited?"
I smiled incredulously: "Yes, I am. My first job after graduating. It makes you feel fuzzy."
Even though he was a mouse, small and deliberate-looking, he radiated a self-confident, friendly and human aura that some people could learn from. I calmed down and took a deep breath. 'This is going to be good,' I thought.
He opened the door and I almost fell to the floor in shock.