The car pulled up on the outskirts of the Class 1-A complex.
Yagi stepped out with an exhausted expression, more so than usual, breathing deeply to recover some of his energy after the intense conversation at the home of his successor, Midoriya Izuku.
The now-retired Symbol of Peace had decided to accompany Eraser Head to all the scheduled meetings with the students' parents. He did the same with Vlad King and the students of Class 1-B.
He owed it to them. Yagi felt it was the only thing he could do for those children he failed to protect when they needed it.
—Are you sure you want to spend your little free time with those brats? — came Aizawa's inquisitive voice from behind. Yagi turned in his direction, looking at the sleepy man whose eyes, for once, showed a justified exhaustion.
The conversations they had so far were difficult, at best.
The parents of their students had been reluctant, fearful, distrustful. His word, All Might's word, was not enough for them. Yagi did not blame them.
UA had already lost two students, and allowed a third to be kidnapped. Those could have been any of their children, and it was natural that almost all the parents looked at the security protocols, the new UA policy, and the empty promises—in their eyes—of Aizawa and Yagi with skepticism.
—I haven't been there for them as I should have been. I want to see how their spirits are for the next term— the skeletal man replied.
Aizawa nodded and started the car, leaving Yagi alone with his thoughts.
He walked with a dejected pace, his mind lost in the pending matters ahead of him.
He hadn't had time to visit Sero Hanta, nor was he aware of his current state. Yagi didn't want the boy to lose his way, but the conversation with his father was going to be the most difficult one, surpassed only by the one he had with the families of...
He shook his head slightly, clearing it of such tragic subjects. He would not brood now if he wanted to project an image of strength before his students who were still alive.
—Waaah!— a youthful voice suddenly shrieked, followed by a dull thud that sounded quite painful to Yagi's ears.
It came from the other side of the complex, but not from inside. Curious, the man decided to take a look.
Wandering through the trees and hearing audible gasps, Yagi made his way to a small clearing where a strange obstacle course greeted him.
Platforms, tunnels, spears, giant mallets, and an endless array of other tools danced in an organized chaos, all sharing a common and familiar characteristic to the Hero.
In the middle of it all, the young man Yagi knew as Mineta Minoru was sweating buckets and panting like a dog, his short limbs struggling against the ground to push himself up once more.
—Move— said a monotonous voice, also familiar to Yagi.
Mineta's eyes went wide and he groaned as he threw himself to the side. An instant later, one of the black mallets slammed into the spot where he had just been, cracking the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Yagi shuddered. His body twitched in a futile attempt to leap forward and pull the boy out of there, but it barely responded as it should.
He stumbled clumsily and was on the verge of falling, if not for a tendril of sand that wrapped around his waist and stabilized him.
—Uh, T-thank you, Tetsumaru-Shonen!— Yagi said with a touch of embarrassment.
The sand swirled in front of him and a disc-shaped platform materialized. Yagi hesitated for a second before stepping forward and allowing the construct to lift him into the air.
Mineta, unaware of what had happened, continued evading the relentless assault of the constructs in what Yagi could only interpret as a training circuit dedicated to environmental control and sharpening instincts. A cheap one, at that.
—Isn't it a bit harsh for Young Mineta?— he questioned Tetsumaru as he reached the branch where the black-haired boy was watching the action.
—He asked for it. And compared to Mei, I'm a sugar cube— Tetsumaru replied.
Yagi felt a phantom pain as he recalled the girl's forceful measures. He couldn't deny such a statement.
His gaze shifted to Mineta, who continued to push himself, shrieking in panic every now and then, but never stopping his movements or begging for mercy.
He saw determination, one that hadn't been there in the past. He saw effort, a genuine one not fueled by the desire or lust that usually characterized the boy.
—... What was it that...?— he asked weakly, confused at first and connecting the dots afterward.
—He was with me— Tetsumaru said. —I didn't think I would see him again after what happened. The experience changed him.
—You as well— Yagi remarked, watching him from the corner of his eye. —When you started the course, I didn't see any interest on your part. Frankly, I didn't understand why you and your sister were here.
—And do you understand now?— Tetsumaru asked him. Yagi coughed lightly, shamelessly evading the question.
—Where are the others?— he inquired after a while. Tetsumaru silently levitated the sand platform, and Yagi rose above the trees, moving toward a different location.
*******************************
Mei took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh air and enjoying the feeling of it against her skin. Her finely braided hair fluttered a bit, the bangs hiding part of her face dancing playfully.
She heard hurried footsteps behind her and opened her eyes, a glint of amusement flashing in them.
The chakra flowed through her body with fluidity, now more precise than in the past and with much greater efficiency.
Specific sections of her body surged with power, instead of a general area. The resulting movement was faster, more precise, and energy-efficient.
She performed a backflip, her hands firmly gripping Todoroki Shoto's bicolor hair mid-arc.
—Aaagh!— the boy groaned at the yank.
Mei slammed him onto his back with force, taking a few crimson and silver strands between her fingers.
—It hurts, doesn't it? Why do you think soldiers used to shave their heads in the past?— she remarked with amusement.
Indeed, the boy's expression reflected pain and a touch of anger.
Mei urged Shoto to get his ass moving and take a breather next to the already bruised Bakugo. Then, she called out her next victim.
—Jiro~ Come here!
Jiro Kyoka shuddered slightly, looking with a complicated expression at two of the toughest guys in her class who were now beaten to a pulp.
With a sigh of defeat, she got up from the ground and entered the small testing field—or rather, Mei's playground.
—Hey, don't be so rough with me. Physical combat isn't my strong suit, you know— she reminded her with a feigned tone of indifference.
—It's okay, Jiro. We're girls, there's nothing to fear— Mei calmed her with an unsettling smile.
After about five minutes, Jiro fell to her knees, her body drenched in sweat and covered with a few bruises here and there. Despite everything, Mei really hadn't been hard on her.
Mei dismissed the enthusiastic group of kids and ordered them to take a shower. She remained in place, patiently waiting for the arrival of Yagi, whom she had seen approaching over the trees.
—Hello— the gaunt man greeted with a peace sign as he descended slowly. The sight made Mei laugh for some reason.
—It seems you are following in your brother's footsteps, Young Mei— Yagi remarked, looking in the direction where Jiro, Todoroki, and Bakugo had disappeared.
—As long as Aizawa-Sensei and the rest of the staff are busy, they can only train their bodies and gain some combat experience against a superior opponent— she shrugged.
—But they asked you for this, didn't they? And you didn't turn them down— Yagi pointed out with something like a smile on that triangular face of his.
Mei frowned. In reality, she had simply accepted because she couldn't spend the entire day burning through chakra, and Nezu's program still hadn't finished whatever it needed to complete to start her simulated Ninjutsu tests.
It had nothing to do with hanging out with the brats or lending them a hand. Yes, that was definitely the case. The only soft one here was Tetsumaru, not her.
After that, Mei invited the malnourished man to lunch and took him to get familiar with the Class 1-A complex.
She ended up cooking for all the other morons too. To her annoyance, Tetsumaru was the only one who didn't make it back on time.
Hours later, Midoriya, Mina, and Kaminari would arrive, adding more commotion to Mei's new home.
During the following days, the kunoichi began a routine that consisted of preparing breakfast, kicking her classmates' doors down and dragging them out of bed at dawn, subjecting them to a higher level of physical conditioning than they were used to, and balancing their meals.
Kirishima, Asui, and Shōji also joined in, though both boys and Midoriya received much more extreme treatment, with Shōji and Kirishima focusing more on technique and responding to agile, fast enemies.
Midoriya was forced to perfect his agile bunny style in deadly races with the kunoichi, who whipped him with water bullets through the small UA forest.
Finally, Nezu's computer completed the integration of a super-advanced simulation system, taking into account a standard level of thermal resistance at the Tenketsu points and bioelectric tension in the chakra pathways.
The Director used the pure chakra samples Tetsumaru gave him to introduce a more accurate estimation scale by incorporating the esoteric Yin aspect. It still wasn't 100% safe, but it was the best they had.
The moment arrived, and Mei was once again covered in an endless array of sensors while holographic screens tracked her entire internal chakra network in real time.
Locked in a glass cage with emergency medical equipment close at hand, the kunoichi took a deep breath and wove the hand signs of a signature technique.
The process was methodical and slow. Each seal not only agitated the chakra in a specific pattern and at a determined intensity, but also worked in conjunction with Mei's mind to designate the area of the body where the greatest concentration would occur.
Invisible waves of energy accumulated in her stomach, clashing against one another according to the diagram displayed on the digital screens.
Nezu and Tetsumaru watched the risk values shown by each of the tens, hundreds, and then thousands of simulations that the computer executed in seconds, updating with every new seal that Mei wove.
In the end, the kunoichi held the mass of chakra in her stomach with visible effort, waiting for the signal on the screen before her eyes.
One second, two, three, five, nine.
Little by little, the tension rose and Mei began to sweat, wondering if that idiot Tetsumaru was about to cause her death by having her intestines explode.
At the tenth second of waiting, the image before Mei updated with a green glow.
She quickly studied the "safe" path mapped out on the diagram and released the energy, her heart hammering against her chest.
If things didn't go well...
Her eyes snapped open suddenly, and a scorching but non-harmful sensation flooded her throat, swelling her cheeks so fast she didn't know how to react.
Mei opened her mouth desperately and spat out a dense fireball that bathed the chamber in an orange light.