The Exchange Hero

Episode 9

UA was closed for the next couple of days while they double checked the campus and beefed up the security. The battle at USJ made national news. Violent conflicts involving almost a hundred villains and more than a dozen pro heroes were fairly rare, not to mention involvement of the twenty students of Class 1-A to add extra excitement and pathos. Mostly the news was interviews with police officers and graphical recreations of the event based on the police reports. The only person from UA talking was Present Mic, the school's designated spokesperson. Mostly he kept to the company line of how UA students and faculty had faced the crisis with courage and resolve. He also stressed that the faculty had not hesitated to place themselves between their students and danger. And that UA personnel has accounted for more than 70 arrests.

The students had all received word from Kocho-sensei that we were to avoid speaking to the press, but some accounts of some of what happened had gotten out from "unidentified sources in the class". My money was on Mineta and Aoyama as the leaks, with longer odds on Kaminari, Ashida, and Sero. I was a bit surprised that no one who had been involved in the main fight at the end had spoken out. I figured Bakugo for the self-promoting type. I expected to see him on camera touting how he had torn through the goons and taken down Kurogiri, as the media identified the portal creator. I didn't think either Midoriya or Todoroki were the publicity-seeking kind, and I knew I wasn't saying anything to anyone.

I realized that I had made some major mistakes if I really wanted to keep a low profile and avoid identification as an Armstrong. My initial fight with the goons was ok. My actions all fit the new hero persona of a bouncing juggler that I was trying to create. But surviving the hit from Nomu, and worse coming back afterwards and starting in with my fists painted the picture of a powerful brick, like All Might or Captain Armstrong. This was the exact image I was trying to avoid. Even worse was the fact that my cap and mask were gone by that time. While puny, unlike the rest of the men in my family, I do share the distinctive Armstrong hair and nose. That was the reason my costume had a mask. I did not want anyone seeing an Armstrong look-alike doing hero things, not even my classmates.

Luckily, for whatever reason, stories of my part in the fight had not made the news. And only the three boys and All Might had been close enough to see what I had done. Oh yeah, and the three leaders of the League of Villains. Nomu was in custody, and was reported to be completely non-communicative. The other two seemed to be the brains of the outfit, and they had gotten away, after seeing me in action. They could pretty easily figure my secret out. I had a feeling that might actually be worse for me in the long run.

Every time I thought about the fight ... which was only three of four times, per hour, for days, including in my sleep ... I kept coming back to the fact that I had been almost completely ineffective. Not that I wanted to be a hero, but I always figured I could easily play in the big leagues if I decided to try. Now I wasn't so certain.

They were all so fast, both the bad guys and the pro heroes. Not the goons. They were easy to take down, though I heard that some of the other students had real difficulties. But Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and most especially Nomu were almost untouchable. The only way any of us students got hits on them was when they were either surprised or distracted. I first tagged Shigaraki when he was in shock from his power not working on me. The second time I got him, he was trying to hit Midoriya through a portal. I wasn't even on his radar. Even Bakugo, who is much faster than me, only got Kurogiri when he was concentrating on killing All Might. And Nomu ... I just couldn't stop thinking about how hard he hit me. It kept popping into my head and I would flinch. Or I would find my hand unconsciously massaging my ribs, which would remind me again how I got hurt.

Apparently, this behavior did not go unnoticed. On the third day, Mrs. Jiro sat Kyoka-chan and me down in the living room and let us know it was time to talk.