The Emperor's Dragon II

The Truth Doesn't Change

Hitoshi had gotten a couple of odd looks when he'd joined Class 1X for their debrief from the scenario. Some of those looks turned into understanding when the student thought about it for a moment but others were still vaguely insulted. He wasn't overly surprised. Hitoshi hadn't needed Aizawa's warning that there would be a mixed reception when his apprenticeship was more widely known about and definitely when he began participating in class. Some of the General Studies students had been supportive, others had been wildly jealous and he had seen no reason why the Heroics students would be any different. The looks were telling him he was right. No matter what happened in the future, he could already tell that some of them would never believe he was a hero because he hadn't gone through what they saw as the 'only path'.

He listened as they went over the first team's performance. There wasn't much to say there. The villain team plan had been solid, with him the unexpected fly in the ointment. When someone complained that he shouldn't have been there, it was politely, but firmly pointed out that only about 1 in 100 hero operations ever went fully to plan. There was always something unexpected that went wrong, and if this had been a real operation, then there would have been more civilians around.

The whiner had shut up and the debrief had moved to the next team's actions. Hitoshi watched the video and saw the moment he made his move. He shook his head, telling himself again that if this had been real, he wouldn't have chosen then to do something. Even as a vigilante, at that point, the hero was confronting the villains and the hero's civilians were relatively safe. The only reason he'd gone for it was he had a score he had to maintain in the exercise.

"Why did you do that, dude?" One of the students laughed.

There was something about the tone that jarred Hitoshi. He cocked his head slightly and huffed. "Yeah, I don't have experience being a vigilante," he muttered.

It must have been louder than he thought because silence greeted him.

Shoji, Jiro, Juzo and Shouto were all staring at him. The rest of the students sensed something was up and were watching intently. Hitoshi glared back. He hadn't meant it that way... But he kind of had.

"Shinsou, enough!" Aizawa snapped.

Hitoshi huffed. "Yes, Sensei," he said. Bloody hell. He must have hit a nerve. "If the situation had been real, I would not have entered into it," he said to the students who were still watching, nodding to the one who had asked why he'd done it. He thought they were from Niryu High. "But I had goals I was meant to achieve as well," he added the explanation.

That seemed to do the trick and there were nods from the students, while Aizawa gave him a measured look. Inwardly Hitoshi sighed. They were still watching him but... He might not have meant it quite the way it sounded but it felt good to say it, because he knew what they were thinking and... they knew he had a point.

-ted-

With UA hosting students from multiple Hero High Schools, Lunch Rush was providing more than just lunch. Hitoshi glanced towards the cafeteria's kitchen. Dinner today appeared to be prepared by Lunch Rush's assistants but it still smelt divine. As such, when he had the opportunity, he ate dinner at UA, rather than at home. Not that he didn't love his mum and dad's cooking but... they fully admitted they weren't professional.

Up until now, he'd never been approached by others, though Hitoshi sat with people from General Studies when he could, and on the rare occasion he'd gotten Mei out of her lab, he'd sat with her. Today was different.

He turned from getting his food and found himself looking into the wide eyes of several students. From their uniforms, they were from a variety of schools, which meant they were hero students from the other classes. .