Infectious

ch. 1

Chapter One;;- Class 1-A

Arachnid, a local hero with six spider-like legs sprouting from his back, was battling a villain. Arachnid used his legs, his quirk, to swipe at the villain's feet. The villain, who had dubbed himself Grim (due to his face being bare of flesh, like a skeleton's) and had been on the run for several weeks now, jumped backwards in time so that he maintained his footing.

A crowd began to form around the fighting enemies. Worried civilians poured out from the surrounding buildings, creating a barricade around Grim and Arachnid. The street was cracked, mostly from the tests of time and heavy traffic, but there were scars in the dark pavement that were undoubtedly from fights just like this one. Concerned shop owners migrated to the front of their stores, fretting over the possible property damage.

A young woman of twenty four years meandered to the back of the crowd, watching the battle get progressively more intense. She found herself wincing as Grim landed a harsh swipe at one of Arachnid's legs with his hammer. A sickening crunch could be heard, even from the 100-odd feet away that the woman stood.

Arachnid's face was littered with cuts and newly forming bruises. Blood dripped into his right eye from a gash just above his eyebrow and constantly blinded that eye. The leg that had been broken with Grim's hammer laid limply on the ground, dragging behind the other five legs that were poised for defense.

The woman gasped as Arachnid leaped forward, his spiderlegs positioned in front of him, and managed to disarm Grim. They wrestled on the ground for a long couple minutes. Or, the woman thought they had to be wrestling. She couldn't see through the thicket of people, relying on her only moderately tinnitus affected ears to pick up the sounds of fighting.

Soon, the crowd erupted into happy cheering as Arachnid staggered to his feet. Grim didn't rise beside him, so the woman assumed that he was either unconscious or immobilized. Either way, Arachnid had won. His face was battered and his hero costume torn, but he was grinning widely, happy tears streaming down his gore-streaked face, leaving clean lines through the filth.

He looked so happy, in that moment. Despite all his injuries and pain, his smile was the most joyful, proud smile that the young woman had ever seen, it moved her to almost shed a tear of her own.

"I'm gonna be a hero," The woman, twenty four year old [name] [surname] whispered to herself. The words were lost in the crowds jubilant cheers, but not to her. She held on tight to those whispered words, and made them come true.

. . .

Excited chattering poured from each of the classrooms, equally as excited students milling around the hallways as they tried to find their classrooms. People were already pairing up and making friends with the people around them.

The gentle chiming of the bell made the students who looked lost panic. [name]'s attire, her hero costume, and her familiar face, had several students coming up to her for directions to their classroom. She was happy to help, but one glance at the time made her cringe and hurry towards the large wooden doors she had been originally trying to find.

[name] felt some nervousness blooming in her stomach at the thought of opening the doors, but she pushed it away. It would do her no good to work herself up over this. She forced a smile to her face-- one that had been practiced many times for the press-- and shoved the doors open.

The principal stood on his chair when he met [name]'s eyes, a smile forming on his bear/rat face. [name] really never was sure what sort of animal he was, but she figured it probably didn't actually matter much. He did his job, right?

"Pathogen!" He greeted warmly, gesturing vaguely to a seat in front of his desk. "Class just started, so I don't want to keep you too long, but feel free to sit."

[name] waved dismissively. "I'll stand, it's alright." Then, almost as an afterthought, she added: "And I'd prefer if you called me [surname] while I'm not on duty." She knew that one could argue that she'd always be on duty at a school for heroes, but being constantly referred to by her hero name still made her feel disconnected from who she really was.

Why did she take this job? She would have been fine as just a hero. She made enough money and it's not like she had a solid reason other than feeling as if she needed somewhere to channel this unsatisfied maternal urge these days. Twenty-eight definitely wasn't young, but it was not old enough to be giving up on ever having a family. Plus, she had her two cats that she babied already, which was enough of a family for her.

Nedzu nodded and sat back down in his own chair. [name] waited eagerly for him to speak, glad for the distraction from her quickly negative turning thoughts. "Well, you know that I wasn't able to get you your own class," He began, shifting through a stack of papers on his desk. Being the principal of such a large school must be exhausting, by the looks of his desk.

"Yes, and for the better I'm sure. I know you know that I don't have any experience teaching." [name] shifted her weight on her feet and eyed the clock. She already knew that having accepted the job offer so narrowly before the school year started would have made inconveniences for the school, and getting her class assignment so late would definitely mean Nedzu would keep for longer than she wanted to (and that he intended to, surely), but she worried that showing up too late on the first day would make a bad impression on her students.

Nedzu shrugged indifferently. "Most teachers here don't," he said bluntly. "Anyway, I know you said that you didn't mind what sort of class you taught or what course you're in. Still, the other teachers and I thought it'd be best to stick you in the hero course. From there, we weren't quite sure what to do." He finally pulled a paperclipped stack of probably 20-some papers out of the stack he was searching through. "However, you know Eraserhead, don't you?"

[name], although slightly taken aback at the mention of the name, nodded. "I do. Since we both tend to work at night, I see him often on patrols and we've teamed up together a couple times in emergencies." She paused, realizing Nedzu probably meant to ask if they got along. "He's a nice enough guy, from the few conversations I've had with him."

Looking glad, Nedzu handed the packet of papers to her. "You'll be sharing the duties of class 1-A's homeroom teacher with him. You'll also fill in for other teachers if it's absolutely necessary[1]."

The papers were the profiles of the twenty students of class 1-A and Aizawa's ([name] assumed the name had to belong to Eraserhead) vaguely outlined plans for the next couple weeks. [name] glanced over each of the papers briefly, trying to absorb students names and faces. She smiled, but she knew it didn't reach her eyes. It was her practiced smile. "Looks like he's out right now on the P.E. grounds right now, huh? I should go meet them out there."

Even having excused herself, it still took several minutes to pull herself away from Nedzu's conversation. Once she did, [name] checked the hallways for any straggling students and began to jog down the corridor to the P.E. grounds. It wasn't long before the group of kids came into sight.

[name] couldn't help but let a small, genuine smile tug on her lips. That was her class.

[1]- Japan doesn't technically have a substitute teacher pool, which is why Nedzu specifically said "if absolutely necessary." I figured since because Yuuei is taught by heroes, it's more likely that the teachers might be absent more often and so they are a little bit unorthodox in having a substitute teacher pool.

a/n: fognaeoinf i'm excited for this story!! the reader has more going on that in sunfeeder (my amajiki/reader fic) did, so this one will probably be longer, with longer chapters too.

i know this first chapter is kind of boring but it was mostly just hardcore intro and i made it up all on the spot because i accidentally deleted my original first chapter and forgot what it was about so,,,

also!! all that info in the chapter prior to this one is not necessary to read, but it will help you understand some of the stuff in the story that i won't always go explain in depth. for example, costume-- i will probably not ever explicitly describe that. the description of the costume is included in the hero information. i suggest reading the 'before the story starts' note, but it's totally up to you.

ilysm thank u for reading