"Mm, alright, let's go. What's with that expression? We're just going to school, aren't we? Why are you so nervous? Isn't performing on stage more stressful than this?"
Tohka looked at Miku Izayoi with confusion. She couldn't understand if something was wrong with her today. Ever since the two of them returned yesterday, she'd been acting unusually awkward. It's just going to school—what's the big deal?
"No, I've just been thinking about how to develop myself these past few days, so I'm not going today."
Miku was definitely not about to admit how bad her grades were… Just thinking about going to high school felt like torture to her. But she didn't want to lose face in front of Tohka, so she forced a different excuse instead.
Besides, she'd already noticed it—Tohka might seem a little airheaded on the surface, but when it came to academics, she was surprisingly capable. That dealt a serious blow to Miku's pride.
"Geez, you can't stay cooped up in the house forever. There'll be plenty of chances in the future anyway."
Without waiting for Miku to argue, Tohka grabbed her by the hand and pulled her toward the door.
Unfortunately, though they were both spirits, Miku's strength was no match for Tohka's. She could only watch helplessly as she was dragged outside. Step by step, they headed toward the school.
Of course, once they were out the door, Miku resigned herself and followed along.
"The repairs here sure went fast. Everything's basically back to normal already."
Walking through the streets, Tohka clicked her tongue in amazement. There were no signs left of the battle that had taken place here. Even the temporary bridge connecting to Manhattan was already open to traffic. Honestly, if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed a huge battle had taken place.
"By the way, do you know what happened to the place where we first met?"
Looking around, Miku suddenly remembered the night they first encountered each other—especially the scene where the meteor crashed down. That moment had left a deep impression on her.
"Hmm? That place? Of course it hasn't recovered. That attack was practically like a meteor strike. Even if the destructive power wasn't that great, the damage was definitely real. I'm sure that area is still under lockdown. Why, do you want to go take a look?" Tohka replied after thinking it over.
"Uh, forget it." Miku rejected the idea without hesitation. She had no desire to go back and look.
And so, the two of them chatted and laughed as they made their way toward school.
Luckily, nothing unexpected happened along the way. After all, if movie logic held true, there was usually a peaceful period after a major battle.
She had even heard that ever since the fight with Graviton, even Kingpin had been keeping a low profile.
"This is the school, huh? Looks pretty good." Soon, the two arrived at their destination—Tohka and Spider-Man's high school.
"Let's go. The message I got says we're supposed to head to the principal's office." Tohka opened her phone and glanced at the message she'd received earlier.
"The principal's office? Why there?" Miku asked, puzzled.
Normally, a new student's enrollment didn't need the principal's direct involvement. At most, you'd go to the student affairs office or something.
"Yeah, I thought so too. But that's what the message said… whatever, let's just go and see."
Tohka thought about it and agreed it was strange. But she couldn't figure out what the sender was planning, so she decided not to think too hard and just brought Miku along.
"By the way, what kind of person is your principal?" As they walked to the office, Miku asked curiously.
"Um, I don't know."
"..."
Right, it was only now that Tohka realized she had never actually seen the principal. Despite being at the school for quite a while—and skipping a bunch of classes—no one had ever come after her.
So, she had completely forgotten the principal even existed. But while they were talking, they arrived at the office.
Without hesitation, Tohka pushed open the door, eager to finally see what kind of person the so-called principal was.
"Hello, Miss Tohka. And Miss Miku Izayoi."
As soon as she entered, a familiar voice greeted her. Following the voice, Tohka saw someone she recognized.
"Coulson? What are you doing here? Sitting in the principal's chair—wait, don't tell me you're actually the principal?"
Looking at the source of the voice, Tohka immediately recognized him. It was none other than Coulson, one of Nick Fury's trusted agents.
"No need to look surprised. This school is one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s affiliated institutions."
Another voice spoke up. Then, Tohka noticed Nick Fury sitting on the side drinking tea, calmly watching her and Miku with his one good eye.
"Well, that explains a lot. But does Tony know about this? And what's the point of this school, anyway? Are you training agents or something? So, this place is basically a nest of spies, huh."
Tohka rolled her eyes and started complaining. Why were these two agents suddenly involved in education?
"Cough, cough—not exactly." Nick Fury choked a bit at her words.
After coughing a few times, he explained, "Our goal is to provide a place for the next generation of S.H.I.E.L.D. to study. Actually, we only have a few people from our organization in this school. As for Tony, I just told him a couple of days ago. Anyway, the main reason we're here today is to see Miss Miku Izayoi. We have a few questions we'd like to ask her."
At this, Nick Fury turned his gaze to Miku, who was hiding behind Tohka in silence. As for why she was quiet—it was because Nick Fury had scared her.
Truly scared her. No matter what, she was still a middle school girl until recently. But Nick Fury had lived through World War II and crawled out of piles of corpses. The killing intent he exuded was enough to terrify Miku.
"What do you think you're doing? If you're looking for a fight, I'll take you on. Now cut out that killing aura." That aura might have been scary for Miku, but it didn't faze Tohka in the slightest. She immediately stepped in front of Miku and glared at Nick Fury protectively.