Hey again. Here's another chapter, but again I have some reservations. As you probably could tell, I have no experience at all in writing, especially for conversations. I'm trying to work my way through some character development for Taylor, but I'm not sure if the pace of it feels off.

Chapter 5: Heroes and Villains

"Hey, is that the Zombie Butterfly Girl?" Excited whispers came from a bunch of students as I walked through the corridor.

"Setsuna, one day I'm going to make you regret ever having come up with that ridiculous name," I threatened under my breath.

By my side, the girl in question was entirely unremorseful. "You're so popular now, Taylor-chan! Everyone wants to be your friend!"

I snorted. "The only thing they want is a demonstration of my training methods. Did you know that I've had three different groups beg me for a chance to play 'Zombie Butterflies: Return of the Butterfly Legion' since Monday?"

I used air quotations to emphasise the ridiculous name. As it turned out, some of the students that went with Kan had recorded the final moments of the training exercise, featuring my chosen six getting swarmed by an unending tide of bodies with increasingly complex powers. The video and Setsuna's poor choices of names had apparently spread like wildfire among the student body.

Hell, even Nezu had caught wind of the video, and pulled me aside to talk about it. He'd watched it once, laughed, then rewound to the part where I'd created my giant butterfly monstrosities and began cackling, playing that bit over and over again. At that point, he put in an order for a metric crapload of butterflies of all colours and sizes.

Of course, I slyly 'suggested' to him that it would be an ideal time to also place an order of Darwin's Bark spiders, under the cover of costume-making and teaching my students how to avoid traps and capture. He had stared for a moment, carefully scrutinising me – probably with his Thinker power – then shrugged and signed on an extra order of a few thousand of those spiders. Apparently, you could get away with just about anything financially related under the pretext of 'teaching funds' when you were the principal of a ridiculously rich high school.

Just how had the villainous warlord Skitter descended to becoming a glorified arcade machine, anyway?

Now, two days after the exercise, I was beginning to fall into the rhythm of the classes in UA. In that time, I've only had one other class where I acted as a teaching assistant, going over power classifications with Kan leading the discussion.

It was fairly basic, all things considered, a simple overview of powers and common tactics to deal with them. The students I had chosen for my training exercise were particularly engaged with the lesson, voicing out their thought process behind how they'd handled the exercise and set up a priority order for taking out the mock villains. I had told them that next time, I would be increasing the difficulty and scope of powers, but that only seemed to make them more excited, if anything.

"You need to lighten up, Taylor-chan!" Setsuna laughed, playfully punching my shoulder. She really had no notion of personal space. "What do you have now, anyway? The rest of us have English as the last lesson of the day, but you don't need that class, right?"

I nodded. "All Might has asked me to help with his lesson. Apparently, he's doing a theory lesson in Heroics today."

She stuck her tongue out, detaching it to hover in mid-air a foot in front of her while she continued walking. That was really weird. "Theory? That's no fun. Sad for 1-A, then. Think you'll do alright?"

I shrugged. "I haven't sat in on one of their classes, yet. Hopefully it wouldn't be too different from what I've already done."

"Well, guess I'll see you later, Taylor-chan!" She waved, standing outside the door of class 1-B.

"Sure," I said. Class 1-A was right next door, but through my bugs I could sense that All Might wasn't in the classroom yet, still doing some paperwork in the staff office. I wasn't quite sure whether I should enter.

I considered waiting outside for him to show up. I still had no idea what he wanted me to assist with, and I really wasn't too keen on making small talk with the members of class 1-A. Setsuna had dragged me into her social circle by force after my lesson, the improvised training exercise having brought the six members closer together. It was nice to be included, altogether unlike my previous high school experience, but I was cautious about sharing more than I should.

Of course, it was at that moment that the door opened. Someone had to have been bug-free, because I had no warning from tracking the positions of my bugs.

I came face to face with Ashido Mina. With her extremely distinctive pink skin tone, black sclera and yellow eyes, there was no way of mistaking her for anyone else.

Right, wasn't her quirk the ability to create acid from her body or something along those lines? That could explain why she was bug-free. Statistically speaking, just about everyone should have at least a single bug I could control at a time.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologised, then took a good look at me. I was now dressed in my new Weaver costume without the mask, having retired my damaged Skitter outfit. I would create a new one again once the Darwin's Bark spiders came through.

"Oh! You're the Zombie Butterfly – I mean, Taylor-san!" she chattered excitedly. "Are you taking us for heroics today? Can we play the Butterfly Legion game too?"

…and that made four people who've asked for that exercise.

"No, I'm assisting All Might in a theory lesson today. You can't really do that exercise with your quirk, anyway." For a moment, she looked dejected, then recovered. I wasn't looking forward to committing insect genocide at the hands of her acid. Come to think of it, most of the class 1-A members wouldn't really work too well with that exercise.

"Well, come in, come in!" she waved enthusiastically, walking back into the classroom. I had no idea why she'd even left in the first place. "Attention, class 1-A! Taylor-san is going to be teaching us today!"

"I'm assisting ," I stressed. "I don't actually know what All Might wants me to do."

"Same thing!" she said cheerfully, going back to her seat.

I looked at the students in the classroom, and they stared back. An uncomfortable silence fell over the room.

Mina took charge. "So! Why don't we introduce ourselves to Taylor-san? I'll start first! I'm Ashido Mina, my quirk is Acid, and I like dancing!"

She looked hopefully at the rest of her classmates, her smile slowly faltering when they didn't react.

Izuku came to her rescue. "I'm Midoriya Izuku, Taylor-san! I- I want to be a hero!"

He was so painfully innocent, but there was an openness that was almost sweet. I nodded at him, giving an attempt at a smile.

One by one, members of the class began to introduce themselves. Some were enthusiastic, some were aloof, and Koda was still outright shy or fearful. Kirishima had joined Mina in asking whether they would be allowed to take part in my training exercise (which now had the even more bizarre name of Zombie Uprising: Butterfly Rampage 2), and I told him in no uncertain terms to never call it that again.

Where even was All Might? I had been late in entering the class, what with Setsuna slowly taking her time strolling back to her own lesson. The round of introductions had taken up even more time, such that well over ten minutes had passed into the forty-five minute period.

My bugs told me that he was still in the staff room. I made a few flies loop in circles in front of his face, and a few spiders crawl over the paperwork he was handling.

The couple of bugs I had on his shirt noted a twisting of his torso, followed closely by a loud shout of " Oh shit!"

He'd totally lost track of time, hadn't he?

My bugs could feel him change into his Brute form, rushing with speed toward the classroom. Within seconds, he arrived just outside the door, then paused.

The door opened.

"I AM…"

He stepped in. "COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

…this man was the 'Symbol of Peace'?

I glared accusingly at him. "Held up by paperwork?"

He gave a guilty smile, scratching the back of his head. "Thank you for your reminder, Young Taylor."

Then he turned to look at the class. "So, my young students! You must be wondering why I've asked Young Taylor to assist in my lesson today. Well, wonder no more! If you are to be heroes in today's world, you need to know about the differences between heroes and villains! For today's heroics lesson, we will be discussing why and how heroes and villains differ. Who better to ask than Young Taylor, who has experienced both sides of the great divide of today's society?"

That wasn't quite what I was expecting. It wasn't entirely new to me, though, I had plenty of experience with that during my time as a ward. The visit to that school just before Behemoth struck New Delhi had been somewhat memorable, if only for the fact that it happened right before Behemoth .

Then again, was this another attempt by the teachers to pry some information out from me? I couldn't simply tell them everything about my past.

"Just to be clear, you want me to talk about the psychology of heroes and villains?"

All Might nodded rapidly. "Well put, Young Taylor! Would you like to begin?"

I took a few steps closer to the class. How did I do it back with the kids in that school? How had I phrased it to Miss Militia when she'd questioned me during the Nine's attack on Brockton Bay?

"Why do villains choose to become villains?" I asked.

"Because they're evil!" Kirishima gave a light bang on his table.

I raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm evil, then?"

"Umm…" he raised his hands in front of him, backtracking. "No, I mean, you became a hero and everything after –"

"It's fine. I get it." I cut him off. "That isn't quite the answer, though. I think that 'good' and 'evil' are descriptors used to paint their actions in a certain light. Someone is evil because of their motivations or their methods, but I don't think you would describe someone as 'evil' on its own. Try again."

I picked a raised hand. "Yaoyorozu?"

"Villains desire power, and are more willing to take any action available to them to achieve it. They may lie, cheat, steal, kill and more if it gets them what they want," she spoke in a measured tone. It fit well with the information I had on her, supposedly calm and intelligent, and from a rich upbringing.

"That's one possible reason. Anyone else?"

"Money?" Ochako offered.

"Good. Next?"

"Society doesn't accept them?" Minoru Mineta suggested. With his rather small size, it wasn't hard to think that others might have discriminated against him based on that attribute. Had he given this thought before?

"Excellent. Can anyone think of other reasons?"

"Villains like to hurt people?" Izuku suggested timidly.

"A bit of a generalisation, but possible. I'd lump that underneath a desire for power as Yaoyorozu suggested."

The class seemed to be thinking about the question, but no more hands were raised. I offered some of my own thoughts.

"All very good answers. There are many differences between this world and mine, so I can't comment if the reasoning of my villains will be the same. First of all, I may have misled you all a little."

I spread my arms apart, emphasising the two extremes. "Hero. Villain. We classify them as a very binary divide, but the reality of it is much more complex. Some villains wear their label with pride, perhaps because they want to go against the restrictions placed on society, because it's a harder and more rewarding road, or perhaps because being a hero can sometimes mean very little." I echoed the words I had told Miss Militia so long ago.

I held a hand up, pausing their objections. "Few people ever actually want to see themselves as 'evil'. As a villain, I've protected others, I've done things that by definition are illegal, some things I regret and some things I don't. The truth is, the motivations of heroes and villains aren't always so different."

I thought to some examples. "I've known a hero who was extremely dedicated and hardworking. He was also a massive dick ."

"Young Taylor –" All Might said.

"Don't worry, I know where I'm going with this," I reassured him. He must have trusted me, at least a little, because he didn't object just yet. "He was one of the most egotistic heroes I've met. He wanted credit for takedowns, wanted to be the hero that did things others could not. He would willingly sacrifice others if it meant that he could succeed where others failed."

Shouto Todoroki seemed to be paying very close attention since I started talking about an anonymised Armsmaster. I didn't quite know what that was about. Hopefully All Might had some idea.

"What happened to him?" Mina asked.

"He had a wake up call. It took him getting suspended, his arm chopped off, then suspended again , and finally almost being killed before he changed for the better. Less selfish, more willing to cooperate with others. At the end, he became a senior and mentor of sorts, someone that I could count on."

"I'm not saying that what he did is right, but what about the villain side of the equation?" Yaoyorozu questioned.

I considered how I wanted to phrase my answer. "The motivations of villains aren't always as clear as the three you've told me. Power, money and acceptance all fit into it, but sometimes circumstance can just as easily force someone into villainy."

"Think about it," I said, stepping across to the other side of the room, remaining engaged with the rest of the students. "In my world, powers are gained through trauma. In yours, they manifest at a young age. Can any of you say that you have a full control over your quirks when they arise?"

A couple of students shook their heads. Izuku was looking thoughtful.

I thought about the Undersiders. Rachel. "Think about the most dangerous of villains you've seen. The one at USJ could disintegrate with a touch. Could you say for certain that he couldn't have accidentally killed someone when he hadn't mastered his powers?"

Lisa. "Can you say for certain that a more powerful villain couldn't have forced someone with a useful quirk into their organisation? You've already told me that villains desire power and are willing to cross the lines that heroes won't."

I looked carefully at each student in the face. Brian and Aisha. "You mentioned money. Couldn't you say that a villain might have done some things to help someone else or be forced to commit a crime for survival? Something that wouldn't hurt anyone; petty theft, then slowly escalating further?"

Alec. "What about those born into a life of villainy, where they've known nothing else but that?"

I paused. Myself. "How about those who are so restricted by the laws of society that they can't do the right thing? Some acts of villainy are born of heroic intentions, perhaps carrying out a task of a different villain to rescue someone under their control. Perhaps simply because the authorities are bound by rules and regulations, and can't intervene while people get hurt. By definition, all of these people become villains."

I gave them some time to absorb what I said before going in for my main point. "Heroes and villains are what they are because of what they do , not what they think . I'm not familiar with all the heroes of your world, but I'm sure some of you may know a few heroes who you would never accept as such. Likewise, you may know some villains that you see yourself cheering for and supporting."

I looked toward All Might, seeing if he approved. He, too, looked thoughtful. What was on his mind?

"Taylor-san!" Izuku spoke up. "While all of that may be true, can't those villains become heroes? You became a hero, and I don't think you can be an 'evil' person if you saved us at USJ!"

"It's not so simple. Someone being forced into villainy isn't going to be given a chance to escape. Once you've crossed a certain line, there's no coming back, even if done by accident. My career change was something exceedingly rare. I've only known of one other before myself, and then personally took a few more over to my side after I'd become a hero."

I stepped back once more, standing behind the teacher's desk. Even Bakugou seemed to be mulling over my words. I gave them some time to think.

"But Taylor-san," Ochako said. "That just doesn't seem… right."

I gave a small smile. She was telling me that? "I know. That's why I'm telling you all about this. It's so easy to frame villains in the mould of 'evil', to justify your actions without knowing their motivations. Don't get me wrong, many villains are evil, and even as a villain I fought hard against them. All I'm asking is for you to consider that not all villains are equal, and not all heroes live up to your ideals. Some villains can be redeemed, but not if heroes continue to treat them all equally. Some heroes aren't necessarily 'good', but the rules set by society prevent any sort of punishment."

"What can be done, then?" Todoroki questioned, looking intently at me. "What do we do about the monsters wearing the skins of heroes? How do we win redeemable villains over to our side?"

Finally . Someone was beginning to question the way things were run. "I can't give you an easy answer. These heroes have committed no crime, and most of the time the people who do know what drives them are extremely few. You wouldn't get public support for sanctions or other punishments against them. They may face some challenges they can't handle, find their own limits and possibly change for the better, or they can continue as they are. Occasionally someone turns to villainy to stand up against them, but that method doesn't necessarily guarantee they'll reflect on their actions. More often than not, a challenge to their ego only drives them further."

Todoroki was looking agitated. What was up with him? Was this a personal matter to him? Did I want to pry?

No, not right now. I didn't know these people, and they didn't know me. It was a wonder that this first lesson with them was progressing smoothly so far.

"What about you, Taylor-san?" Izuku asked, tilting his head to a side. "How did you become a hero?"

I paused. This wasn't a question I had been expecting during this lesson.

How could I tell him about Cauldron and Alexandria? About Dinah and the End of the World? About just how and why I'd killed Alexandria, convinced the heroes to twist the truth to give them a win, all the while strong-arming the heroes through the threats that the Undersiders had made?

"I can't tell you that. Sorry," I lied. I wasn't sorry at all.

He looked like he wanted to press further, but All Might gave him a look. Extremely subtle, one that probably no one else in the class caught, but my bugs were very sensitive.

"So," I continued. "I think we can agree that Heroes and Villains are labelled by their actions. Another part of what I'm going to do now is to show you just how fine the line is between what you perceive as a hero and a villain. Koda, you might want to look away, if you're still afraid of my bugs."

He gulped, but continued to look at me. I gathered bugs from nearby, enough to form a small swarm, but nowhere near what I would use in a fight. I had them crawl over my face, obscuring all of it, while the rest of my swarm formed a dense field around me.

"Ew, yuck! Yuck, gross!" Mina was shouting.

Glenn Chambers had said that I wouldn't be out of place among the Slaughterhouse Nine in the recording of my retaliation against Tagg. I remembered just what I had done. Now, I tried to actively repeat it. I found that I didn't mind showmanship in front of the students, probably because I didn't really see them as a threat. Capes on Earth Bet weren't at all like them.

I let my form show within the swarm, then shifted some bugs to block vision over myself. In that time, I stepped to the side, formed a swarm decoy where I had been, while obscuring my own position. I had broken line of sight for only a half-second, but it was enough to fool people regarding my location. I let the students track my decoy as it moved out.

Once the decoy broke clear of the swarm, I lunged out to the side, pretending to strike at a phantom foe.

With that done, I turned to look at the students, dismissing my bugs. "I think we agree that that looked like the work of a villain."

The students didn't reply. All Might blinked at me.

"Um, Young Taylor, no offense, but was there a point to scaring your fellow students?"

"Yeah," I said.

I called over a couple of butterflies, presenting a more PR-friendly image. "Now, I look a bit more like a hero, I think. The same power, slightly different executions, but a very different way that people perceive the user."

"You're saying that quirks don't factor into the hero-villain divide?" Yaoyorozu said. "Our quirks in the hands of a villain could be very dangerous, but equally we choose to use our quirks heroically?"

"Yeah, I think you get the gist of it. Can you think of anyone with a quirk that can only be used by villains?"

They thought about it for awhile. Izuku broke the silence. "What about the slime villain?"

"Slime villain?" I asked. That wasn't something I was familiar with.

"Yeah! His body was made of slime, and he could take over another person's body by entering through their mouth!" He said animatedly. Then, in a lower voice, he added, "He tried to take over me and Kacchan. All Might helped rescue us."

"Shut it, Deku!" Bakugou warned. That seemed like a sore topic for him. He probably wasn't used to humiliation or defeat.

I considered that power. A Breaker-state with Master elements? Morally speaking, forced possession could be wrong, I supposed.

Then again, who was I to speak on the morals of Mastering humans? I had been Khepri , and I had Alec on my team.

"A bit of a grey area, but you could possess a villain, maybe. You could debate whether or not it's right, but I don't think you can get a clear answer. Maybe we agree that possession of, say, a petty thief would be wrong, but what about a murderer? A serial killer? Someone who destroys entire cities? Where would you draw the line?"

Izuku contemplated my argument, then spoke with determination, none of the flustering I had begun to associate with him. "I still think it's wrong."

Huh, good for him, standing by his own beliefs. If only he knew just what I'd done in my final hours on Earth Bet.

I nodded. "That's your judgment to make. If that's what you believe in, then stand by it. Just know that the line isn't always clear."

All Might clapped his hands. "Okay now, young students! We've heard a lot about heroes and villains from Young Taylor today. Your homework for today will be to write a short essay on how you might convince a villain to switch sides into becoming a hero. As future heroes, you will need to inspire not only the public, but also villains that their path is not the right one!"

He struck a pose. At that moment, the bell rang.

Had he timed that?

I nodded at All Might, and he gave me a smile. With that, I walked out of the classroom. Kan had said that he wanted me at a meeting with some of the other teachers.

Nezu wasn't an idiot. He had the quirk to prove it. He knew that Taylor Hebert was not all as she presented herself.

There were many holes in the story that she'd told them, large gaps that she'd glossed over. Very unsurprisingly, she had left out a large part of her personal involvement in many of the events of her world. There was an element of paranoia and difficulty trusting others, although she seemed to be more open with her classmates. That was good; a step in the right direction.

It was almost funny how Aizawa distrusted her until Nezu and Tsukauchi talked to him privately, seeing as both parties didn't trust easily. There was still lingering doubt, but at least he was willing to let her assist in teaching the students of class 1-A. Some of the ice between them was beginning to thaw. No doubt the healthy interactions with her classmates had convinced Aizawa that she was at least no threat to his students.

Incidentally, that 'Zombie Butterfly' exercise was one of the funniest things Nezu had seen all year. He might consider adopting an element of it when he was up against the students during the mid-term exam. Perhaps he could commission for an endless army of tractors to herd the students in, increasing in strength over time?

No, now wasn't the time for such distracting thoughts, as amusing as they may be. He was about to start a discussion regarding the upcoming Sports Festival, only waiting for a few more teachers.

Taylor Hebert chose that moment to walk into the room. He stood up on the chair, giving her a wide smile that she returned with a nod. She still wasn't completely open with him, it seemed. No matter; he could spend a lot more time with her.

The rest of the assembled teachers gave their own greetings. At the table were all of those that were present during their initial meeting with Taylor, except for Yagi and Chiyo.

"Taylor! Welcome, welcome. Please take a seat. We're just waiting for Cementos-sensei, Ectoplasm-sensei and All Might now."

"I was with All Might in class 1-A. He might take a while."

"I know, I know," he nodded. "For now, let's talk. How are you finding UA so far?"

"It's… different, I suppose," she said, measuring her words carefully. Once again, it was clear she wasn't completely trustful of him. "I'm getting quite used to it now, I think. I'll need to come up with more lessons soon though."

Under her breath, Nezu could hear her mutter quietly. Probably too soft for a human, but loud enough for his sensitive ears. " If only so that they would stop calling me Zombie Butterfly."

He smiled inwardly. Good, she was beginning to open up a little. Class 1-B was doing a fine job indeed.

"I believe you know the purpose of this meeting?"

She shrugged. "Kan said something about the Sports Festival. I thought that I wasn't going to participate?"

"That's the plan," he said. "With your position as a teaching assistant, people may ask questions about your involvement if you were to be in the main event. I don't think any of the other students can match you, anyway. I'm guessing that you probably have a way of countering even impressive students like Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki?"

She made a non-committal sound. "I wasn't planning to participate, anyway."

Ah, still keeping things close to her chest. With her experience, Nezu was almost certain that she could take any of the other first years despite being severely disadvantaged in close quarters.

Ectoplasm entered the room, and those at the table exchanged greetings. Nezu realised that he and Taylor didn't know each other.

"Taylor, this is Ectoplasm-sensei, our mathematics teacher. You probably haven't met because you've already done mathematics before. Ectoplasm, this is Taylor Hebert, the one we've told you about."

They nodded at each other. "Yeah, I know. Setsuna told me about you."

Oh? First names? Very interesting.

"By the way, Taylor, I've studied your flight pack. I might have found a way to get it recharged, but I can't really replicate the antigravity panels. Would you want to drop by and get it back in a few days?" Maijima informed her.

"Take your time, I don't really need to use it while in school anyway. Thanks very much for your help."

Cementoss entered the room, joined by Yagi. This time, it seemed that he and Taylor knew each other. She did have to take modern literature, after all.

As they took their seats, Nezu called for the meeting to start. "Right! As you all know, the Sports Festival is coming up in two weeks. I've invited Taylor here to get her input on the planning of events."

She nodded. "What kind of events are there?"

"Traditionally, we begin with an obstacle course or something similar, then a random event, and finally a battle tournament. We were thinking whether or not to stick to the same first two events or to switch things up," Aizawa informed her.

"And you're asking me?"

"You have a unique insight into the heroics of your world," Nezu smoothly interjected. "You would be more-or-less a neutral party who could evaluate how well our plans would meet the objectives of the festival."

"What are these objectives, exactly? Kan mentioned something about getting scouted by Pro Heroes, but not much else."

Nezu nodded. "That's one of the objectives. Beyond that, we want to showcase our students' quirks, their heroic attitude, show off what the other courses can do and gain public support and confidence in our teaching."

She frowned. "So it's primarily aimed for the hero course students, then?"

"The other courses have their time to shine during the Culture Festival later in the year."

"Okay," she said, considering for a moment. "Okay. So you want the public to feel like UA is successful in raising heroes. Why an obstacle course, though? What kind of random events are you talking about?"

"The obstacle course allows students to showcase their quirks in their own unique ways. It's been very successful throughout the past years," Nezu informed her. "As for the second event, it ranges from a cavalry battle, capture the flag, king of the hill, an elimination battle and more."

Again, she frowned. "How exactly does that translate to heroics?"

Ah, that was interesting. Nezu could tell that she was going to have some unique insight. Aizawa and Nemuri looked equally intrigued. He gestured for her to continue.

"From what I understand, the obstacle race is going to be mostly an every-man-for-himself effort against environmental hazards that you set up?"

Nezu nodded. "Mostly, yes."

"That's going to disadvantage quite some quirks vital to hero work, though. Take search and rescue work as an example. It doesn't exactly factor in too well in the obstacle race; some people like Jirou from class 1-A may be disadvantaged when her quirk is ridiculously well suited for rescue work. Hell, I'm not sure how well I'd fare against the rest if I were just using my bug powers in a race. As for the other events…"

She hesitated. Nezu smiled serenely at her.

"Again, it seems like you're emphasising the combat aspects of your students, but you already have the tournament for that. Even in combat, some people may be disadvantaged depending on how the scenario is set up. A Blaster would dominate a long-range battle against a Brute, while a Striker could be advantaged in a battle up close."

"What would you propose, then?" Aizawa asked, a single eyebrow raised.

"Well…" she closed her eyes, thinking for a second. "You'll want the event to be balanced. Something that would reward quick thinking and adaptability, making the judgement calls that heroes would make. At the same time, you'll want to measure and compare their skills in different situations, whether single combat, rescue or group tactics. There's a lot of ways you could set up those first two events, if you want a tournament as the final one."

"That sounds reasonable," Yagi mused. "But what kind of events would they be?"

She shrugged. "Mock search and rescue efforts in an ongoing fight, team battles in different environments, surprise villain simulations against single teams. Depends, really. Would you rather students cooperate or work individually? There's so many ways it can go. Even working with the obstacle course idea, making it team-based changes the dynamic entirely."

"Most of the other classes don't really engage with the events, though. Usually only the hero classes and a handful from the other courses get past the first event. It might be difficult to field something as the first event if that's the case," Nemuri pointed out.

"You could set up multiple victory conditions so people aren't disadvantaged. If we go with the idea of an active battlefield, they could be taking out a certain number of villains, rescue enough civilians, or defend an area for a long enough duration, for example. That way people aren't disadvantaged by their quirks and can get the chance to showcase what they can do to Pro Heroes. At the same time, those who want to sit out won't get in the way of the other students."

That was actually a decent idea. Nezu considered the merits and logistics of something like that. It was similar enough to the entrance exam, that it wasn't entirely foreign. They had the robots, and contacts with rescue training companies who could provide actors for a scenario like that. If nothing else, it might make good training for the provisional hero license exams later in the year. "If that's the first event, do you have any ideas for the second?"

"Depends what you're trying to get at, really. There's a lot of different ways to evaluate your students."

Nezu nodded. "We can continue discussing this again at a future date. In the meantime, let us all think of ideas and see if we should replace our original events."

Those at the table nodded. Taylor rose to stand, but Nezu beckoned for her to continue sitting.

"Something else?"

"The Festival isn't just a chance for them to shine. We were hoping to help you get scouted by Pro Heroes as well. It's going to be an important part of getting your licence, after all."

For an instant, she froze, then masked her emotions again. She was hard to read, but Nezu enjoyed the moments when her hard exterior cracked. It showed that she was human, someone trying to adapt to this world. Reading between the lines, Nezu had known that she wasn't as innocent as her story alone seemed, but he didn't even need his quirk to tell that she was making an effort to change.

Of course, his and Tsukauchi's quirks just made it easier to show her some trust.

"What do you mean?" she asked in a level tone.

"We wanted you to have a presence at some events, maybe use some of your abilities during them. We originally planned for you to use your power as obstacles in the race, but if we're changing that we can come up with another alternative. Another idea we've bounced around is getting you to do something separate after the main stages."

"You could demonstrate a training exercise or your teaching methods," Hizashi offered. Then, he sniggered. "I'm sure the public would LOVE to see Zombie Butterfly –"

She glared at the loud hero. "Don't finish that sentence. How do you know about that, anyway?"

The heroes exchanged looks. She sighed. " All of you know?"

"It's actually a good training exercise," Kan said. "Good practical experience, non-harmful, encourages the students to reflect and it's good fun for the students."

"Even if that's the case, I refuse to call it Zombie Butterfly, or any variant thereof."

She'd added the last bit upon seeing Hizashi about to come up with an alternative name. Unfortunate; some of them were rather humourous.

"We can rebrand it later," Nezu waved aside her objections. "What we're trying to get at is that your lessons are something fresh in UA. We want to showcase that aspect to the public as well."

"That wasn't even a good lesson," she said. "It's simple, direct, and a bit too static. It doesn't reflect a real fight. I only did it because they were completely inexperienced. I was planning to move on to different environments, traps and pitfalls, maybe different objectives."

Hizashi clearly thought of something, because he was trying to stifle his laughter.

Taylor sighed. "What is it now?"

"…you're saying there's a campaign mode?"

She ignored that remark. Nemuri chuckled.

Moments like this were nice. She acted like her own age, without the weight of whatever burden she carried from her world. Nezu hoped that this would continue.

"Anyway, keep thinking about it, Taylor. You've got two weeks until the festival."

"Fine," she said. "Do I get to pick my students for the demonstration?"

"If that's what you want," Nezu affirmed. "Are you planning to stick with those six?"

She nodded. "Probably. They work pretty well together, and their powers don't immediately destroy my bugs. I doubt you want to drain your coffers on butterflies. Incidentally, when will those bugs you ordered be arriving?"

"They should come within a week, definitely in time for the Festival. Are you going to be incorporating them into your showcase?"

"Maybe," she shrugged. "I'll think about it."

"Keep me updated," Nezu informed her. "If that's all?"

He looked around. No one had anything else to add. With a final nod, he rose, and the heroes trickled out of the room.

It seemed that Nezu just found Taylor's weakness. She was starting to care for her students, or at least was willing to help them out. His quirk allowed him to deduce from her words that she was doing the showcase more to demonstrate her students' abilities than to boost her own image.

He smiled. This was going along perfectly.

Hopefully this chapter wasn't too boring. I'm not quite sure exactly how I'll do the Sports Festival arc, but I think I'll be changing the events up (as the events of this chapter suggest). Hopefully I can wing it and come up with something half-decent.

Of course, if people are extremely opposed to it, I'll revert back to the default events.

I might do a short slice-of-life interlude next chapter or jump straight to the Sports Festival, probably the former.

Thanks very much for your words and suggestions, even those who dislike how I handled things (especially Chapter 3, it seems). I'm trying to improve, and hopefully it feels that way.