The Emperor's Dragon II

Not One Way

Koi Sasume looked at her charges critically. They'd done Shiketsu proud by the very fact they were all still here. A couple of the Hero schools had left when their students had failed. Inwardly, she'd shaken her head. Surely they knew that UA wasn't just reaching out for no reason? They were looking for something specific. She still wasn't sure what, but with the new classes, she knew they hadn't found it yet. She should have just marched up to Nezu and demanded answers. The rat was contrary enough to have given them but he'd also have given her a look that told her she failed.

"You've done well," Koi told her students. It was odd to only have three but in this kind of environment it meant she could give them all personalised attention. "You won't be in the same classes any more but I want you to continue to support each other."

That was mostly for Taiki and Aimi. They were together. Inasa, being a first year, was in with the other first years. UA had mixed the classes up, breaking up their lauded Class 1A and distributing their students through the new classes. It might have been easier to keep their classes as they were but Nezu had insisted that mixing them would make everyone feel more integrated. And that, he said, was one of the points of the exercise.

"You still can't tell us why we are here?" Aimi asked.

"We are building inter-school relationships," Koi told her.

Aimi snorted. They were aware of the official reason but they didn't believe it any more than she did.

"I'm still not sure," Koi admitted. "But I imagine we are getting closer to finding out," she added.

Everyone had noticed the missing students by now, so everyone knew there was some reason they were no longer here. Without an official reason from Nezu, speculation was running rampant and ranged from the silly to the utterly insane. Knowing Nezu, it was possible one of those insane reasons was the truth but she suspected it would be something more pragmatic.

Taiki gave her a look but Koi was more interested in Inasa's expression. The teen seemed to be holding something back. She raised one eyebrow at him.

Inasa sighed. "I think it has something to do with Izuku," he announced.

That was a big call. The other two stared at him. Koi was tempted to just dismiss the sentiment but there could be something in the statement. "This is not the first time UA has-"

Inasa shook his head, interrupted her statement. "It's not the same," he said. "Most people don't remember Warui Yatsu, let alone realise he was a graduate from UA," he explained. He was gesturing to Taiki and Aimi as he spoke and Koi realised they didn't know who Warui Yatsu was, let alone any other pertinent details. Inasa really had prepared for enrolling into UA.

"And in a few years, people will not remember Izuku was even a student at UA," Koi replied. Izuku had barely made it through the first half of the year.

"I think they are hoping that," Inasa agreed. "But I think that Nezu knows he can't rely on that. Usually I'd agree, but with the other villain's actions and them targeting UA, I'd say that public memory is going to be longer. Plus there is what Izuku can do," Inasa added.

Koi grimaced. Izuku's unfortunately highly public ability to take quirks was going to be a problem. For more than just UA but, while Nezu would be aware of the wider consequences, he was probably trying to salvage UA's reputation first. "Go on," she instructed Inasa.

The black eyed teen nodded. "I don't know what this is about," he said, waving towards UA. "And while I'm positive it is, at least partially, to build interschool relationships and beyond that, hero relationships between those of us who are going to work together in the future, I'm also positive that this has something to do with Izuku. With his quirk, he can't be treated as a traditional villain," Inasa said.