An Undead Academic Experience 6

Chapter 6: The USJ

<<<Kana Sato>>>

Kana hummed as a horde of reporters and paparazzi met her on the way into UA; not unexpected, but earlier than anticipated. There were a few ways she could go about interacting with them. Acting aloof and above it all would give her a cool vibe, though that would conflict with the ‘odd girl’ image her classmates had of her.

She could be charismatic and poetic, but that had the same problem… she’d need to alter her behavior over time to break that, which made things hard.

“Don’t give them anything.” Kana blinked and looked over to see Lily beside her, it also made her reevaluate just how sneaky the bubbly girl was.

A sneaky dog was so much better than just a loud one.

“Besides, I’m pretty sure them badgering students is violating a law,” Lily added with a shrug, “So, there’s a good chance they’ll regret this later.”

“It could… help us later in life… improve our popularity…” Kana noted, “It is not as though they can harm us…”

“Maybe, but I’ve read some interviews done by some heroes,” Lily said, “And honestly? The media seems like they’ll rake heroes over the coals for the slightest mistake. And then some are just trying to stir up drama for drama’s sake. So, it’s best not to acknowledge them until we’ve gotten our Public Speaking classes.”

“... Allow me to use my father’s skillset then,” Kana replied with a frown, “It may be useful…”

“Sure, just don’t give these… vultures an excuse to drag you through the mud,” Lily said, “I might do something unwise.”

Running her hand through her hair and practically sauntering towards the cameras, Kana smirked, shifting her body language into something not… sexual, but sensual. It would, at least, improve her popularity among teenage boys.

Though she was very aware that Lily’s cheeks were flushing, which amused her.

“Yes, All Might is teaching us, and no, you can’t come inside to meet him…” She trailed off for a moment, “But I think I can answer a question here and there. One at a time, please. We aren’t animals.”

“Is it true a student was injured in his first class?” One of them asked, “I think that shows negligence, what’s your opinion on it?”

She felt Lily tense next to her, but Kana’s smile didn’t twitch as she replied, “They injured themselves, it was overall minor, and All Might stepped in as quickly as he could to fix the situation. It wasn’t negligence, there’s just simply no way to prevent all possible injuries while we’re doing physical training,” She explained without explaining, avoiding the topic of what exactly the injuries were.

They’d simply assume it was overtraining or, perhaps, pulling a muscle doing something silly. Teenagers things rather than the truth.

[size=1]“Damn she’s good,”[/size] Lily muttered.

The questions continued in that vein for a few minutes, most far less accusatory than the first, but… “I think that’s all the time we have,” She finished, “Please, please, we need to get to class and… there are other ways to get information. Perhaps asking another of the pro-hero teachers if they’d accept an interview? Midnight enjoys giving those, if I recall correctly. She’ll only give those to people who care about us as students and people, though… best be on your best behavior, yes?”

The group let them pass with murmurs of contrition… and a few of glee, those would do well in the future, she thought.

“Goddamn, that was… something, Kana,” Lily said, clearly impressed.

“It’s just a matter… of considering how I want to sound before I begin speaking…” Kana replied, body relaxing into her more ‘normal’ stance, “My… father helped me, pointed out traps…” And he had, for which she was grateful.

The acting was all hers, however.

“Still impressive,” Lily insisted, “Honestly, I’m not sure I could’ve done that. Yeah, I’m social, but I’m nowhere near that.”

“It’s… not a question of being social…” Kana tried to explain, “It’s just… manipulation. Never lying, but… leading them to believe what you want them to. Acting as you want them to… Like you’re… talking to villains.”

Lily snorted, “Wow, tell me how you really feel.”

“... you wouldn’t believe me if I did…” Or she’d feel insulted, one of the two. “But I can say… I find you cute.”

That disarmed the girl enough that she stopped asking too many questions… just as intended. Maybe she could learn the full truth in the future, but not yet. Lily had to be fully secure in the belief that she wasn’t a monster before then.

A glance at the class schedule forced a groan out of her, for once fully genuine.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked after recovering from being flustered.

“We… are choosing class representatives today…” She replied, gesturing to the paper.

“Yeah… that’s going to be something…” Lily said with a grimace, “I swear if that Bakugo gets selected after that shitshow yesterday, someone’s going to be losing some fingers at least.”

And like that, her opinion of Lily went up a few notches.

“... it will be fine,” Kana replied, “Most… will vote for themselves, I shall vote for Yayorozu.”

“Problem,” Lily started, “and I don’t mean to disparage anyone who made it into 1A, but I don’t think some of our classmates are all that observant…”

“It… will be fine,” Kana reiterated, “Trust me.”

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All went exactly as she’d predicted, which wasn’t a particular surprise to her. People were… predictable when power was on the line. Yayorozu, Momo, she insisted on being called, had voted for Izuki, which she hadn’t predicted, but there was always a margin for these things. 

Though Lily had voted for her, which, while flattering, she didn’t appreciate. It was hard to manipulate events when you were in charge of the circus, after all.

Still, Momo’s victory over everyone else didn’t surprise her.

She was certainly a better fit than the rule-obsessed Tenya. She had no doubt that if he won, he’d be trying to make the class run like it had in Somnei, which she actually looked up after hearing about it. It seemed to run more like a military academy than a middle school, but it was either a thing with private elite schools or just a Japanese thing.

She’d have to ask Lily; she had proven to be rather insightful.

“Now that that’s over…” Lily started before the alarms went off, “Ah, what now?” She didn’t whine, but she was annoyed, “Can’t things be normal for at least our lunch break!? Is that too much to ask for?!”

Kana snapped her fingers, sending out an explosive shockwave of noise that cut through the din. “Enough,” She snarled before controlling herself, “Calm yourselves. Are you heroes, or a group of panicked monkeys?”

“Well spoken, Sato,” Momo said before creating a megaphone with her quirk. “Everyone, calm down! It’s just reporters! Please return to your lunches! And assist anyone who may have been injured during the initial panic to the nurses' office!”

“Well, this is disappointing,” Kana muttered. She’d thought some of the reporters would’ve done what she suggested. Maybe some of them did.

“Don’t worry, I bet the ones that didn’t get swept up are going to set up a proper interview.” Lily said, patting her shoulder, “Though I do not pity the ones who thought invading a school was a good idea. You think the principal is going to inflate the unemployment numbers?”

Kana just shrugged; she didn’t know much about the principal other than that he was a rat-bear-thing.

“With luck… he won’t need to,” She put forward, “They’ll get fired on their own…”

She hoped anyway, better to not deal with them later that way…

[hr][/hr]

The bus ride was… pleasant enough. Izuki babbled on about quirks, Lily said things in pretty ways, others spoke generically… pleasant enough.

She didn’t enjoy how Bakugo just glared and seemed to stew in resentment at perceived slights. Though Asui calling her out for her trash personality didn’t help, she wasn’t wrong either. Heroes were as much celebrities as they were public servants. And while some Heroes could get away with being aggressive (Mirko being the perfect example), threatening to murder and screaming ‘die’ at the top of their lungs wasn’t particularly heroic.

At least in Kana’s opinion.

Still, she didn’t see All Might at all, and he was supposed to have been there. Perhaps it was injury-related? Or he’d overslept, he was on a new schedule, and not being adjusted for it made sense to her.

Thirteen and Eraserhead were more than capable as teachers, at least, so the class would be informative and good practice… even if she’d already understood everything about the woman’s speech before she’d started talking.

The thing about having dangerous quirks was that you learned they could hurt people early on, oftentimes very badly. She’d left her home country partially to get away from that history and the rumors it had spawned, after all.

And if Lily hadn’t been exaggerating, she found out how dangerous her quirk was under the best circumstances. And at least the Quirk councilor that was involved only lost a few fingers and their job for their recklessness.

So Kana was more than prepared to focus on learning the ins and outs of rescue work… when things went pear-shaped. It also meant the death toll for any hopes of having a relatively straightforward and peaceful first year.

One was happenstance, twice was suspect, but three times was enemy action.

Lily showed surprise that the villains appeared like the rest of the class, but nowhere nearly as much. She certainly didn’t think it was another test like Kirishima did, which made her roll her eyes.

He wasn’t stupid, but he had a simplicity that Kana would’ve appreciated any other time.

“This isn’t a test,” Eraserhead said gruffly, “They’re real villains! 13 evacuate the students!”

“... you can’t stop them on your own…” Kana whispered, staring at the largest of the arrivals, its souls writhing and screaming; grafted and bolted together on a spiritual level. It reminded her of one of her classmates, but he was far calmer and happier, and so she assumed it was natural.

She’d have to reconsider that.

“I see three quirks…” She mumbled, feeling a level of disgust, “Regeneration, something involving kinetic energy, and something that seems to be strength or speed related… four quirks, if you count its body. It isn’t human, it’s dead, I think… just a puppet.”

The other students muttered, but Eraserhead spoke over them, “Regardless, you’re students! 13 get them out of here! And why haven't the alarms triggered?”

Kana didn’t stick around to hear whatever answer they’d get; exploding forward with bile in her throat. Each step made her go faster, giving her more energy to throw herself forward with.

And she’d taken a lot of steps already.

Lily was right beside her (technically a few steps behind, but semantics), dependable (occasionally foolish) Lily. She wasn’t sure if this was a good idea, but she wasn’t going to leave Kana alone. A faint smile appeared on her lips; she would have to praise her after this… assuming they weren’t being punished for some reason.

Then Kana went faster and left her behind, the crack of a sonic boom going unheard by her until she slammed into the beast; the explosive shockwave of impact throwing most of the villains away… and not harming the beast an inch.

“Kinetic Absorbtion…” Kana noted, head tilted as she stepped back to observe the creature and its handler. “A companion to my Kinetic Storage. It would be useful for me to have… I’ll just have to tear the soul from its flesh. The Regeneration will make that harder… mm…”

“I thought these kids were supposed to be heroes!?” One of the villains shouted in alarm.

“If I weren’t… every one of you would be dead already,” She freely admitted, “Now, be smart and surrender; your limbs will thank you for it.”

Though before they could mock her, Lily and a furious Eraserhead joined.

“We will have words,” The Undergrounder promised flatly.

“This isn’t a fight for you, Eraserhead,” Kana replied, voice just as flat, “Leave now, protect the students.”

Eraserhead didn’t respond and instead focused on fighting the other lesser villains with Lily beside him.

“I’m being ignored…” A villain covered in hands sighed, “Oh well, you’re the girl that steals souls, aren’t you? I guess you’ll do as a replacement for All Might. Nomu, capture her!”

Kana didn’t respond and instead focused on the giant, not that she ignored everyone else.

It was fast, extremely fast, but she could slow it down, drain its speed and energy so she could mentally keep up and hit back just as hard.

Each punch, each slash, each wave of force sent explosive shockwaves outwards and threw the smaller villains through the air. Not all of them landed safely, but only the bottom of the barrel stayed down (which was a lot of them), but the ones that were a real threat got up with some difficulty, only to be put back down by a ruthlessly efficient Eraserhead or Lily.

She could see that her strikes were working… but it was taking too long, the beast was too naturally tough to be put down before she ran out of energy, and then it would be all over.

Then a splash of familiar blue fire hit it, spreading along its back and making it react for the first time. It screeched and lashed out, knocking more of its supposed allies away. Kana took note of it as the beginnings of a plan started to form in her head.

“Lily!” She shouted, “More ice! Freeze the beast solid!”

Kana wasn’t sure if Lily had heard her for a moment, but the sudden torrent of icy blue flames gave her the answer. The creature screeched even louder and changed its target to Lily, but the coldness of her flame was sapping it of energy. 

Not fast, but easily noticeable. Its skin took on the bluish hue that signified frostbite before it darkened. Its regeneration was working to heal the frostbite, but it was too widespread to fully counter, resulting in a slow, drawn-out end.

“More!” Kana called, “Colder! As cold as you can make it!” She cried as she leapt straight up, allowing Lily to go all out without hitting her.

The fires intensified, and the entire area turned into a freezer as the flames devoured all the ambient heat. Kana and Eraserhead could see their breaths, and couldn’t help but shiver as a bone-deep chill went through them.

Lily’s quirk was terrifying to witness, like an onrushing tornado.

It did what Kana needed it to do.

The beast was frozen.

Kana plunged and thrust enough energy into the beast to emulate a car bomb into its head.

The world vanished in a spray of frozen gore… and then her quirk grasped the beast’s. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think. The screaming was too loud, the souls fought her even as she threw chains around them, as she enslaved them to force them into compliance. They’d forgive her once they realized she wasn’t the one who killed them, but they had to stop fighting first…

“Let’s go Kurogiri, we got what we wanted.” The hand-covered villain said.

Though before they could take her away, a stream of blue fire flew towards them, and they dodged, mostly. The hand-covered villain’s right arm was a lost cause, frozen and would turn necrotic soon if they didn’t amputate or heal it.

A literal kiss of death if they didn’t hurry.

Then her world turned to darkness, falling through a deep, misty portal and landing in a twitching, tired, weakened heap.

The villains were next to her and, before her… a thousand screaming souls, the hand villain apologizing for being unable to kill All Might and for needing his help.

It didn’t take long for her to be strung up in power-resistant manacles, hanging from a reinforced ceiling to take away her leverage and inside a field of force to keep any ranged abilities restrained.

Smart of them, unfortunately.

“Hello, Kana Sato,” The faceless man started, “I am All for One, and you are my brother’s great-granddaughter.”

Eyes half lidded as she stared into where his were supposed to be… Kana laughed, pitiless and hollow. “That fills me with a deep disgust,” She admitted, head falling back as far as it was able to in her restraints. “To be related to such… idiocy.”

“Idiocy?” All for One just chuckled, “And why is what I’m doing idiocy?”

“Have you looked into a mirror recently?” She replied, head tilting, “I won’t have to deal with that, you know. And not just because I’ve gotten regeneration now rather than before any injuries. I won’t have to deal with it because I didn’t rock the boat!” She cackled, chains rattling, “I know I’m better, I’m like a god to them! I don’t need to force it, they’ll just see it in time! Why should I take what they will willingly give!? Their adoration, their belongings, at the very least the belongings I’d ever care about! Their stories and their adorable little worries!”

All for One just observed her before laughing faintly, “We’re more alike than I realized…” He commented with a faint smile, “Doctor, tend to Shigiarki,” All for One ordered, “My niece just gave me some food for thought…”

Kana laughed again, slumping forward. “No, I didn’t, you and I both know you’ll disregard anything I say. Fair’s fair, I’ll do the same for your words. You just want me to think I have a chance at swaying you… But we’re too alike for that, aren’t we?”

“Clever girl. You’d be surprised how often that’s worked in the past,” All for One said, “This generation of Heroes are stupid and weak due to that oaf’s ‘Age of Peace,’ all he did is make the fat and ripe for the taking.”

“Oh, how little you know,” Kana laughed again. “Wow, you’re providing me with actual entertainment. That puts you above most things. This is going to be fun to watch.”

All for One just snorted. “For every genuine Hero, dozens are doing it for pathetic reasons,” He retorted as the Doctor took Shikigari away.

“For pleasure, for fame, for a job to do,” Kana purred, “How is that any different from you? From me?~”

“Oh, I’m not saying that. I’m many things, but I am aware enough of my hypocrisy,” He said with a chuckle, “But I remember when Heroes actually were what they said. They lived up to the name.” He added, sounding almost nostalgic.

“That makes one of us,” Kana whispered, “I have no such flaws. You, however… well, you just admitted to it.”

“Being self-aware is no flaw, girl,” All for One said simply.

“Hypocrisy is. It blinds you, tricks you, leaves you empty and hollow and bored all the time. Holy fuck, you must be so bored with all that medical equipment you need!” She retorted, “That’s what your path got you!”

All for One didn’t deny it. "Unfathomably bored,” He said, “And what got me this is my hoarding tendencies. I love quirks. I love to collect them. Study them. Arrange for bloodlines to unite to see what sort of quirks will come of it. But when a quirk I carelessly gave to my brother became One for All, I needed to have it. I chased it for two hundred years, and now it’s only after I’ve become a shadow of myself do I realize my folly and have finally decided to cut my losses.”

“I don’t believe you,~” Kana purred, “I think you were wanting to test All Might, you were the one that hurt him, weren’t you? You were the one who weakened him. You wanted to see if he’d weakened himself too, didn’t you? You were watching the whole fight, weren’t you?”

“I did all that, but I didn’t need to see if he’d weaken himself. I already knew he would,” All for One said as he rested his chin on his fist, “I know his personality, his obsession. I know even after recovering from having his lung and guts ripped out, he’d immediately throw himself into work. Survivor’s guilt compounded with so many other issues. All Might’s ultimate enemy isn’t me, not really. It’s himself.”

“I can’t say I know him as well,” Kana admitted, “But you may be right. But I know something you don’t.~”

“It’s such a shame we’re so similar,” He said, “You’d make a better student than Shigarki… manchild that he is, but it’s my own fault, really. But what do you know that I don’t, niece?”

“I know where you’re going to go when you die,~” She laughed, “Oh I don’t doubt the existence of the divine, I see the souls of all, I just don’t care. But you? Oh you’re terrified of the idea, aren’t you? So scared of death you are because you’re scared it does exist! And you know how it will judge you.~”

He just laughed again, “Doesn’t everyone fear that inevitable end?” He asked with an amused smile, “I’ve known that when I die, it won’t be pleasant.”

“You just think you won’t, but you will, you will. And I hope I’m watching when it’s done,~” She giggled.

“We all die eventually, Kana,” All for One said, “Eventually the Reaper will collect its due, you can run from it but it’ll get you all the same.”

“You don’t believe that,” She replied, “Even I don’t believe I’ll die, I simply… acknowledge the risk and take it into account. You have contingencies to fix it if it happens, but you don’t think they’ll be needed. And if they are, you don’t think they’ll fail. I see it, written into your soul.”

He nodded. “True, but I too acknowledge the eventuality,” He said, “And of course I do, I’m not eager to die after all. Now, I think I’ll leave you to your thoughts.”

He walked away as she laughed and laughed.

“I understand you…” She whispered eventually, “We’re the same, after all. We’re both monsters… but I’m a monster that cares for their pets, they can’t provide pleasure if they’re dead…”

They were the same, yes. But she had what he didn’t: a low time preference. He could never understand that, he wanted it all now… but she could wait for it. It would all come to her, in time.

So now that she was alone she just closed her eyes and decided to get some rest. Or at least as much as she could, hanging there like that. It was time to wait for her entertainment to arrive once more.

Her dogs were hers and so they’d come hunting, like the loyal hounds they were.

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