As the days went by, everyone finished settling into the dorms. Rooms were decorated, arguments over furniture happened, and routines slowly formed. But one thing stood out: Aoyama still hadn't shown up.
He didn't answer calls. He didn't reply to messages. Even his usual sparkly, slightly annoying selfies stopped appearing in the group chat.
At first, some joked about it.
After a while, the joking stopped.
With no better idea, they ended up gathering around Yaoyorozu. As Vice President, she at least looked like someone who might actually get answers. Going to their Class President wasn't really considered. They could already imagine the response: "Who is Aoyama?" So they turned to the responsible one instead.
"Yaoyorozu, do you think you can contact him?" Midoriya asked. "Or maybe… talk to the teachers?"
"I've already tried messaging him several times," she said, hands folded in front of her. "No response. I'll ask Aizawa-sensei."
So they waited outside the staff room until their homeroom teacher appeared, scarf hanging as usual and expression exhausted.
"Aizawa-sensei," Yaoyorozu said, stepping forward politely. "This is about Aoyama. We're concerned-"
Aizawa didn't even let the sentence fully hang.
"Aoyama Yuga will not be continuing with us from now on," he said plainly, looking straight at Yaoyorozu and then at the group gathered behind her.
The hallway went quiet for a second before reactions finally caught up.
"Ehhh!?" several of them blurted at once.
Midoriya stepped forward without thinking. "But, Aizawa-sensei! Why did-"
Aizawa's eyes narrowed as his hair floated up, his Quirk activated. Midoriya stopped immediately.
"It's his personal issue," Aizawa said, tone flat. "If you want answers, ask him. Not me."
The wording was simple and blunt. Some of them exchanged glances. It sounded suspiciously like something Tsutsumi would say when he didn't want to elaborate any further.
After that, Aizawa just walked off, clearly done with the conversation. He didn't bother giving extra explanations he knew they wouldn't get anyway.
Jiro watched his back for a moment. "…His way of talking feels familiar," she muttered under her breath.
But with Aizawa saying it was personal, they couldn't really push it further. All they could do was stand there in the hallway, with a quiet, uncomfortable feeling sitting in their chests, worrying for their classmate.
...
It didn't take long for school to start up again. Before anyone could really get used to sleeping in, classes were already back on schedule. The teachers shifted focus pretty quickly: getting the hero course ready for the provisional license exam.
With this temporary hero license, the students can freely use their Quirk in public to help save lives without being considered lawbreakers.
"So why am I here again?" Tsutsumi asked, already in his hero costume, hands in his pockets as he looked at Aizawa standing beside him.
Aizawa didn't bother turning around. "We're helping students train and polish their super moves for the provisional license exam," he said in his usual even tone. "You're helping too. Realistically, you probably have more super moves than anyone can keep track of."
Tsutsumi clicked his tongue. "Tch. I don't wanna work." He didn't even try denying it.
"Too bad." Aizawa finally glanced at him. "I added you back to the teacher chat group. Congratulations, you're my teaching assistant now."
Tsutsumi silently pulled out his phone.
[TsutsumiRyoko has left the Chatgroup]
A second later:
[Nezu has added TsutsumiRyoko to the Chatgroup]
Tsutsumi stared at the screen for a moment, then simply turned off notifications and put the phone away like the problem might stop existing if he didn't look at it.
"…Fine. Let's get this over with," he muttered.
Out on the field, Cementoss was already reshaping the ground. Walls rose, platforms formed, and open spaces turned into training zones in a matter of seconds. The students spread out, talking, stretching, training their Quirks.
Since he was apparently working now, Tsutsumi decided to at least walk through the training grounds and see how everyone was doing.
Jiro was practicing nearby. Her movement speed had gone up since the last time he paid attention to her training. Her kicks were sharper, faster, and harder. She now had small speakers attached to her knuckles and boots, and every strike carried a faint vibration that hinted at what she could really do if she cranked the volume up.
"Kyo," Tsutsumi called out casually, watching one of her kicks land against an Ectoplasm's clone. "After training, go meet Melissa. Your new support items would be ready."
Jiro blinked and turned toward him, noticing he was wearing those special glasses again. "Sure. Can I get a clue about what they are?" she asked. She already knew he liked customizing things, which made her both curious and a little wary.
"Also, here." He tossed something lightly in her direction.
She caught it out of reflex, a wristband, almost identical to his.
"You can figure it out later," Tsutsumi said. "If it's too troublesome, call me."
Before she could ask anything else, he was already walking away to check on someone else, like he'd simply toggled the conversation off.
Jiro looked down at the wristband, then back up at his retreating back. She smiles and sighs before placing it on.
"This really does feel like a new phone." She murmurs, before deciding not to do anything with it for now.
Reaching Bakugo's spot, Tsutsumi noticed that the blonde had gotten even better with his Quirk. He was condensing his sweat to create tighter, heavier blasts, and each explosion hit harder than before. The only issue was that the moves became a bit slower, but with more practice, the speed would probably catch up on its own.
"Azu, send Katsuki's support blueprint to Melissa," Tsutsumi said, not raising his voice, just giving the order while he watched Bakugo blow apart one of Ectoplasm's clones.
"Katsuki, Melissa will call you later once your new support gear is ready," he added, already half-turned to leave.
"Sure!" Bakugo answered back, immediately following it up with another explosion, clearly more focused on the fight than the conversation.
Tsutsumi kept walking down the training grounds.
He stopped for a moment when he saw Todoroki. The half-and-half was forming more than just basic walls or spikes now. His ice was starting to take shape as cleaner constructs, not quite polished yet, but definitely heading in the direction Tsutsumi had suggested before.
Progress was still progress, so there wasn't much to complain about.
He had Azu send another set of support gear blueprints for Todoroki to Melissa as well. She'd been interested in figuring out his tech anyway, always curious about how he built things, so letting her work on these felt like a good warm-up for her before moving on to anything more advanced.
Moving along, Tsutsumi eventually reached Kirishima. The redhead was using a form called Unbreakable, which looks tongue and cool on the surface. But the downside is that he is extremely slow and relies heavily on close combat to even have a hope of taking down his opponents.
If someone stayed at long range or just moved faster than him, then Kirishima would be no different from a fish out of water.
Tsutsumi couldn't exactly help him any further than this without interfering to the point that would force Kirishima to change his entire style.
Anyway, the redhead chose this style as a tribute to his hero, and it actually makes some sense, so Tsutsumi wasn't going to force it.
"How are both your trainings going?" Tsutsumi asked, turning his attention to Kaminari and Tokoyami.
"Pretty sweet! Check this out!" Kaminari said. His body lit up with a faint yellow glow, small sparks of electricity snapping around him. His hair even lifted a little.
"I can't go as fast as you, but it's still a big upgrade!" he added, then immediately decided to prove it by taking off beside Iida. He managed a short race, lasted about five laps, and then completely ran out of gas and had to power down.
"Not bad. Keep working on building resistance to your own electricity, and while you're at it, increase your stamina too," Tsutsumi said. Kaminari just lay on the ground and gave him a tired thumbs-up.
"Hm. Kaminari, do you know how to use a yo-yo?" Tsutsumi asked.
"Uh, not really. I tried once, but it was kind of a pain," Kaminari said, finally pushing himself back to his feet.
"I see. Then practice when you've got free time. If you get good at it, I'll send you the new support item," Tsutsumi replied. He tapped his glasses, letting Azu handle the simulations for a weaponized yo-yo that could conduct electricity and hold up under heavy use. Once the tests finished, the blueprint was sent off to Melissa.
He then looked toward Tokoyami. Dark Shadow was wrapped around Tokoyami's body, similar to how Tsutsumi had used Dark Shadow during the sports festival, forming a cloak-like shape as he practiced controlling its movements.
Tsutsumi watched quietly for a bit, just checking how steady the control was before moving on to the next student.
"Tsutsumi, look, I can create mucus similar to yours," Asui said, lifting her hand. A pale, gooey liquid slowly slid down her fingers and dripped onto the floor.
"Are they poisonous?" Tsutsumi asked right away, not sounding impressed or bothered. Asui just stared at him for a second.
"Uh, no. I don't want to hurt anyone by accident," she said, lightly scratching her cheek.
"I see. Then try making it do something else," Tsutsumi replied, hands in his pockets. "You can turn your mucus into a glue-type substance, or give it a paralyzing effect. Anything that helps in a fight without actually killing anyone."
Asui nodded slowly, thinking about it.
"After you figure that out, come find me and we'll continue," he added, already turning away. He didn't wait for an answer and kept walking down the training field.
He stopped again a short while later.
"So, besides a slightly faster creation time, you haven't really improved?" Tsutsumi asked, watching Yaoyorozu pull out another metal pole from her body like it was the easiest thing ever.
"Shut it! How am I supposed to learn anything when all you do is hit me in the head!?" Yaoyorozu shot back, her face heating up as she remembered him repeatedly whacking her with a wooden staff.
"Just imagine if I had used a real weapon. I'd have turned you into a mop and wiped the floor with you," Tsutsumi said in the same calm tone, which only made her eyelid twitch harder.
She wants to argue against that, but something tells her that if she said something like that, Tsutsumi might pull out a wooden staff and beat her up again.
"Tch. Then work on your dodging," Tsutsumi said, slightly annoyed. He had kind of been hoping she would argue so he'd have an excuse to hit her again.
He continued on without lingering.
"You should add some weapons to your style," Tsutsumi said plainly to Ojiro next. "Your tail is strong, sure, but if you just rely on that and basic hand-to-hand stuff, you won't get very far."
Ojiro stayed quiet, listening.
Tsutsumi didn't bother to soften it. Ojiro's Quirk mainly gave him a tail. Besides that, he didn't have any natural boosts like crazy strength or armor.
"Take Kirishima, for example," Tsutsumi added. "If you two fought seriously, he would win."
Ojiro opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. He knew Tsutsumi wasn't wrong, and there wasn't much to say to that.
"I… understand," he muttered.
"No rush," Tsutsumi said. "Figure out what kind of weapons suit you. If you rush it, you'll just end up with something useless."
Ojiro nodded, thinking it over more seriously this time.
After checking on everyone he could help for now, Tsutsumi decided that counted as "working," at least by his standards. With nothing else he felt like doing, he quietly slipped back into his usual habit of slacking off at work.