At the Core | Aizawa Misako

Toothpick

・・・　・・・　・・・

     Day in and day out, villains still used their quirks for such small things.  She sat on the rooftop of the office building, kicking her feet over the edge.  Her friend Nishiya, a pro-hero who went by Kamui Woods, was battling a man covered in hair.  She didn't know what the fight was about but it couldn't have been too serious.  
     A lazy smile hung on her face, only broken by a small laugh when the villain called Kamui Woods a toothpick in reference to his quirk, in which he could manipulate wood (and by extension, his wooden body).  She'd been called her fair share of hilarious and wretched nicknames, though hers were unfortunately usually from the media instead of villains.  
     A crowd was forming outside of the perimeter of the fight.  Considering that it was 8am on a weekday, it made sense, as commuters were blocked on their way to school and work.  There were a couple of people who stood out, unique hair colors or large quirks pushing them above the crowd.  One was for another reason, though.  Well, he did have an interesting hair color, being what looked to be a deep green, but what caught her eye was him physically shoving past people and between them to get closer to the ongoing battle.  That was uncommon.  
     She wondered if he was a budding hero.  He seemed to be wearing a school uniform, it's consistent black lending itself toward something worn by middle schoolers.  She wondered what his quirk was and if she'd ever work with him.  
     She sighs to herself at the woman going through an exaggerated growth spurt.  She wasn't a fan of her, self-titled Mount Lady.  Her quirk let her grow over 10x her usual size.  She used this to steal all spotlight Kamui Woods had, growing perfectly so her boobs would take up the cameras that had previously been focused on the aforementioned toothpick.  She did defeat the guy, but stayed huge, causing untold damage just so she could make a cute pose and get pictures.  

     "Koa-chan!"  She blinks as she tunes back into the world.  Then she looks down, seeing a mop of black hair on the pavement below.  "Get down from there!"  She smiles as she pushes herself off the building.  She hardens her body right as she hits the ground, deepening the hole she'd unintentionally been working on for months.  She really needed to get that patched up.  
     "Hey!" she calls.  She hops the steel fence and pulls her friend into a quick hug.  His name was Kirishima Eijiro, one of the two people she'd been best friends with since she was a kid.  
     "What's up, man?" he asks cheerfully.  She shrugs her shoulders.  
     "Nothing much," she answers.  "What's up with you?"
     "Nothing for me either," he huffs playfully.  "I'm on the way to school, you joining me?"  She nods happily as they begin walking.  He looks down the crowded street to their left, finally starting to clear through as the battle was over and commuters could finally get through.  "Ah!  I tried to make it out in time to see what happened."  She chuckles to herself.  
     "It was nothing much.  Kamui Woods beating the guy, then Mount Lady grew twice the size and stole the cameras and victory.  The usual.  Oh, but the guy called Kamui Woods a toothpick which I find hilarious," she tells him.  He chuckles at the nickname.  
     "I don't know why you hate Mount Lady so much," he says.  
     "She doesn't play fair.  Quirks are already so varied and scews the polls.  I find it a notable piece of her character that she's so willing to take from others to better herself."  Kirishima shrugs.  He understood what she was saying, and he valued her opinion, but he didn't think it was a big deal.  She always got the job done and he felt that was more important than who wanted to win.  Plus, she was pretty cute.  Who could be mad a lady for being cute?  
     She giggles and pokes him in the shoulder, bringing him back.  "You like her, don't you!" she squeals.  Kirishima huffs and pushes her away as he blushes.  "You do!  You do!"  
     "No, I don't!" he shouts back.  
     "Jeez, Eiji-chan," she sings, dramatically waving her head back and forth.  "You shouldn't date women so much older than you.  Find someone your own age."  He scoffs playfully at her remark.  
     "Says you!  You're friends with an old man!"  
     "Hey, he's my boss, you know.  Plus, I'm not dating him.  Friendship and romance are two very different pools of people."  With a huff of annoyance and crossed arms, Eijiro begrudgingly agrees.
     "Whatever.  I don't want to date her, anyway.  You're so weird, Misako," he says.  She frowns at his use of her name.  
     "What did I do?" she pouts.  He smiles a little and apologizes if it was too mean.  They'd called each other by nicknames since they were 7, and usually only reserved their actual names for serious stuff.  "Anyway, why am I so weird?  Because I told you to date your own age?" she asks.  He laughs as he drops his crossed arms.  
     "Everything about you is weird, Koa-chan."  Soon enough, they arrived at Kirishima's middle school.  He thanks her for walking with him, and she wishes him a good day and extra homework.  Any other day, he would've chased after her to combat the karma she was giving him, but with the delay that morning, he didn't have time.  

     With her extra time, Misako begins to wander the city.  A radio was stuffed into her left ear, meaning when she heard All Might calling out about a villain he was facing, she began to head over.  It didn't seem that anyone else was nearly as close as her.  
     However, when she got there, there was no villain.  Instead, All Might, known to her as Yagi Toshinori, was slapping the face of a young boy laying on the sidewalk covered in green goo.  He was huge and muscular when mascarading as a hero, though he's shrink town to a sunken in man when off the clock.  
     "All Might!" she shouts, rushing forward.  He jumps and whips his head around.  "What are you doing?"  
     "Oh, uh," he stutters, looking back down at the boy.  She realized it was the kid she'd noticed earlier, with the dark green hair and the now-confirmed middle school uniform.  "I was fighting this sludge monster guy and he grabbed this kid so I knocked him out and everything but the kid isn't waking up."  She shakes her head, moving towards them.  She sat on the opposite of the boy and sat him up against her knees.  
     "Sometimes I wonder how you remain so popular..." she mutters under her breath, almost laughing.  "Don't slap him.  You're huge, you could give him brain damage.  Stabilize his head and shake his shoulder."  He begins to do as she suggested as she shakes her head.  "It's been too long since you had to renew your license."  He pinches his lips, but they pop right back up into a smile as the boy shoots upright and starts coughing.  Misako stands and takes a step back, swiping the sludge off of her leggings as Yagi start spouting some non-sense about 'justicing' and sewages.  She makes a face and Yagi gives a hearty laugh, but she didn't know if it was about her.  
     Misako raised a hand and begins to walk away, wondering when the kid was going to smack his forehead on the pavement as he teetered up and down like a nutcracker.  Then, when Yagi went to jump away with his super human strength, the kid clutched onto his leg.  Misako gasped, laughing as she threw a hand over her mouth and reminded herself that that was exactly why she didn't like being public.  

     Looking out the window and up at the sky, Misako's head tilted the side.
     "A tornado?  With no rain?  What's that about?"  She watches it fizzle out, clouds washing in from either side to bring in a downpour.  "Oh.  Yagi, I'm sure.  What a reckless man.  He's going to cause a typhoon one of these days."
     "Miss?"  Misako turns around, seeing her assistant standing in the now open doorway.  "Is something bothering you?" 
     "Oh, no, I'm okay.  Thank you, Machi-kun.  I was just watching the weather.  The rain is quite nice, isn't it?"  The woman nods her head.  "Is there something you needed?"  
     "Yes, Taiga-shachou requests you in his office.  He wants to discuss the plans for the hero corp you've been arranging."  Misako nods, following her out of her newly-appointed office and down the long hallway.  A grand wooden door sat in front of them, the walls lined with large glass panes that were tinted so dark, you could hardly see the man inside.  Machi pushes open the door and Misako thanks her as she steps inside.
     "Good morning, Misako," the man says calmly.  She smiles as she drops herself into one of the leather chairs across from her desk.
     "Good morning, Taiga," she greets back.
     "Good morning, Taiga-shachou," Machi echoes, much more timid and quiet.
     "The board has sent us a requirement for your employment to move forward as we'd like,"  Taiga begins.  He picks up a stack of papers and hands it to Misako.  She glances down at in confusion.  It was a high school application, though it was already completely filled out.  "They've said you must attend high school."
     "Attend?"
     "If you're attending, we can move forward."  She blinks slowly, pinching her lips.
     "High school?"