Chapter 103: Departure
When Yoshikage Kira opened the door to the principal's office, he was surprised to see the principal himself sitting in his office chair, deftly holding a pair of chopsticks in one paw and a bento box in the other. Recovery Girl was sitting beside him, watching him with a smile.
"Kira-kun, you're here! Please, have a seat!"
Although the principal said this, the items in his paws didn't move an inch. His chopsticks were still clamped around a rice ball.
"Little Zu, Kira is here, so I'll be going now. Remember, you absolutely cannot be a picky eater," Recovery Girl said with a smile, walking toward the door.
Yoshikage Kira held the door open for her, his gaze shifting to Principal Nezu with a look of surprise.
Kira rarely saw the principal, having only met him once before during the USJ incident. During the Sports Festival, Nezu had been presiding over the third-year stadium, so they hadn't seen each other then either.
In Kira's impression, Principal Nezu was a gentle and refined mole. He had never imagined that in front of Recovery Girl, he would act just like a well-behaved little boy.
Nezu slowly finished the last rice ball, packed up his utensils, and placed them on the desk. He elegantly wiped his mouth with a napkin, hopped down from his chair, and walked toward Kira with a smile. "Kira-kun, I'm sorry to call you here during your lunch break. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
"It's fine," Kira said, shaking his head. "Principal, is there something you needed to see me about?"
"Let's sit down and talk," the principal said, gesturing for Kira to sit on the sofa in front of the coffee table. He handed him a cup of fragrant tea. "Have you already decided where you'll be going for your work-study experience?"
Kira accepted the cup but didn't drink it. He shook his head. "Not yet. But I'm hoping to go to a quieter city. For example, Gang Orca's Midnight Agency in Tottori Prefecture."
"Gang Orca? Indeed, that is a quiet place. With his intimidating presence, not even the media would have the guts to bother you there."
Kira paused. So the principal knows about the concert? Then again, the reporters had mobbed the school gates. How could the principal, with his "High Spec" Quirk, not know?
"However, Kira-kun," Nezu continued with a smile, "while the location is suitable, I do not believe Gang Orca is a Pro Hero who is particularly good at teaching others."
Kira already knew this. Gang Orca was perennially in the top ten of the "Heroes Who Look Like Villains" ranking. Even though he was also ranked tenth on the official Hero Billboard Chart, just like his moniker "Gang" suggested, most of his admirers were thugs who worshiped violence. The general public mostly just looked at him with awe and fear.
He was excellent at intimidating villains, but he wasn't the best choice for a mentor. However, Kira was just looking for a place to lie low and avoid the hype; he didn't really care about the hero's teaching ability.
At the end of the day, a Pro Hero was just a civil servant. In his past life, Kira had been a corporate drone; he was all too familiar with that system. While the hero profession was probably different, he couldn't imagine it was that different.
"Principal, to be honest, it doesn't really matter to me where I go. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
Kira set the teacup down and stood up to leave.
"Kira-kun, do you remember the USJ incident?" Nezu suddenly asked. "You led your classmates well that day and successfully stalled for time. The school has been meaning to reward you for that."
"A reward?" Kira sat back down, suddenly very interested in that word.
Nezu smiled. "I have specially commissioned a Pro Hero to guide you personally. I believe that under his tutelage, you will be able to make great progress."
"Is that the reward?"
"That's right. His agency's location is in Oma City, right next to Tottori. The population there is small, and the people who live there don't pay much attention to what happens in the big cities. It fits your requirements perfectly."
Kira hadn't really cared before, but since the principal was insisting, he thought about it. "May I ask for this Pro Hero's hero name?"
Nezu handed him a piece of paper. On it was written: Supersonic Hero: Mad Rabbit. Location: Oma City, Twilight Agency.
Kira looked at the completely unfamiliar name. "Mad Rabbit? I don't think I've ever heard of this hero. I haven't seen that name on the rankings..."
Nezu didn't answer, instead asking a question of his own. "Kira, do you know how heroes are categorized?"
Although he didn't know why he was asking, Kira recited the knowledge from his textbook. "Like the police, Pro Heroes have many classifications: Support Heroes, Combat Heroes, Underground Heroes, Healing Heroes, Civilian Heroes... there are too many to properly categorize. But these are just classifications made by private experts and are subjective; the government doesn't recognize them."
"Any Pro Hero who has obtained a license can, in theory, accept any commission, but they generally only accept missions in their field of expertise."
"The official Pro Hero rankings published by the government are based on a ratio of social contribution, number of incidents resolved, and public support rate. The most active combat heroes often get the highest rankings, but occasionally, a civilian hero with an overwhelmingly high support rate will break into the top ten."
"You've studied your lessons well. As expected of the Hero Course president," Nezu praised him, then continued. "Just as you said, the more active a hero is, the higher their rank. Take your homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa. He's incredibly powerful, but his name will never appear on those charts."
Kira hesitated. "Are you saying that this 'Mad Rabbit' is also a powerful underground hero who doesn't work in the public eye?"
Nezu nodded with a smile. "Not only that, but he is also..."
Although the forms were due before the weekend, many students who had already decided where they were going had already turned them in. Since this hero hadn't been on Kira's original offer list, he submitted his form directly to the principal, who entered the data into the computer.
"Are you sure, Kira-kun? Once this is submitted, you can't change your mind," Nezu asked with a smile.
"Yes. If he's really as you say, Principal, then I'm quite interested."
Nezu pressed the button.
After school, with the weekend just beginning, the students all said their goodbyes and headed home to prepare for their week-long internships—saying farewell to their families, packing their bags, and buying any last-minute necessities.
Soon, two days had passed. The students gathered in front of the subway station, luggage in one hand, and an eye-catching carrying case in the other—the one containing their hero costume.
"Is everyone here? Remember not to lose your costumes."
During the internship, they would need the local residents to recognize them by their costumes; it was a key part of building their reputation. As such, the school had given them special permission to wear them in public, something normally only allowed after receiving a full hero license.
"You must be polite to the local Pro Heroes. They are your seniors. In other words, they are the ones who will be grading your performance on this internship. If anyone's grade is too low, then..."
The entire class looked at each other and chanted in unison, "YOU WILL BE MERCILESSLY EXPELLED!"
Mina Ashido giggled. "Mr. Aizawa, you've said that so many times! We're not going to fall for it again!"
"You brats..." Aizawa gave a rare, weary smile. "In any case, don't cause any trouble for your mentors. Now, dismiss."
Some of the students were interning in Tokyo, so they just had to head directly to their agencies, where lodging would be provided. The other students would be taking trains to various parts of the country, though most were concentrated around the three major cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nagoya.
Toru Hagakure peeked at Kira's train ticket and said, surprised, "Kira-kun, you're going to Tottori Prefecture? That's really far..."
Kira replied, "It's not that far, really. It's only five or six hours on the bullet train. What about you, Hagakure? Where are you going?"
"That's a secret!" Hagakure said, making a raspberry sound. "Bleh! This is what you get for not telling me you were going to perform at the concert! I'm not telling you!"
"Whatever makes you happy," Kira said with a helpless shrug. "Well, I have to go."
"Okay... bye-bye," Hagakure said, her voice suddenly dropping.
Watching Kira's back get further and further away, Hagakure's spirits suddenly lifted. An invisible aura of determination flared around her. "Alright! You can't give up, Toru! You're Invisible Girl! You just have to overcome a little problem like this and show him!"
"Go! Go!" Hagakure cheered herself on as she walked off in the opposite direction.
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