The Deity Entertainment Network

John and Shota arrived at the infirmary of U.A. a few minutes later. It reminded John a little of the infirmary that Shizuka had in High School of the Dead, back when he first started his DEN journey. Except instead of a beautiful blonde nurse, there was a short, grey-haired grandmother staffing it. She was wearing a weird, overly large set of headphones over her ears, with a visor connecting them.

She looked up from her desk when they entered, looking confused at the pair of them, then addressed Shota. "I expected you a while ago. You know you were injured as well, Eraser Head."

"It's just a few scratches now, I'll be fine." The man said, waving her off. "We came by to check in on All Might and Thirteen."

"And who is this we?" She said, then looked up at John and squinted her eyes. "Oh! Hello there, handsome. Are you injured as well?"

"Howdy, Ma'am. No, I'm fine. The name is John. I should be starting here as an instructor tomorrow." He replied, bowing his head slightly to the older woman.

"Hmm... Oh, Nezu mentioned they had a new guy coming in this week. Welcome to U.A. I'm Chiyo Shuzenji, but just call me by my hero name, please, Recovery Girl. I have gone by that name for so long, I sometimes forget my actual name."

"Then please, call me John. I'm not a hero, just a teacher."

"Don't sell yourself short. Teaching is a noble profession; they are heroes to many kids, mainly when they get older and look back at their time at school." She said sweetly.

"Will you two stop flirting? We came by to check on those two." Shota said, clearly not wanting to be near Recovery Girl for some reason.

"Hmph, youth these days, no respect for the elderly. Yes, yes, they are both here and awake. Thirteen is just here for a bit longer for observation. Whoever healed her injuries did an amazing job, but I want to make sure she is okay before sending her home. The damage done to her suit was no joke." She said, gesturing to a pile of clothing on the side of the room that John now realised was what was left of that space suit she was wearing earlier. "As for All Might... well, you can ask him yourself. Head on behind the curtain. I'll be here, filling out paperwork."

"Thank you," Shota replied.

They walked behind the curtain, and sure enough, All Might and Thirteen were there. All Might was laid up on one of the beds, small again, barely more than skin and bones. His chest and arms were wrapped up in bandages, and his leg was in a cast. John had to hold himself from casting a healing spell immediately, not realising the extent of the man's injuries earlier when he had expanded and prevented him from killing that gassy villain.

He held my arms like a vice while balancing on one leg. Just how strong is this guy? And just how strong were those guys I fought?

He shivered, never having been more glad of using ambush tactics since he arrived at DEN. He would have to be more careful when dealing with Quirk users in the future.

On the other side of the room, Thirteen stood by the window, wearing a yellow T-shirt and black shorts. She was probably around thirty years old, with short, wavy brown hair and pretty hazel eyes. She was quite tall for a woman, around six feet tall, with an athletic build. Still, she had curves where it counted; her breasts were about an E-Cup that would fit nicely into his hands.

Stop it! Jesus man, what is wrong with you?

"Aizawa! You survived that... thing?" All Might said, breaking John out of his self-recrimination.

"Only because of our unexpected guest. It had broken all the bones in my limbs, and was about to shatter my skull on the ground, when that man snuck up behind it and struck." Shota said and began explaining the fight and its aftermath to All Might.

John left the two of them to talk and turned to Thirteen. She hadn't said anything yet, but was listening to the other two heroes with interest.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. She jumped a bit, not expecting to be addressed.

"Yeah.. yes, I'm fine." She replied. John didn't know her, but she sounded anything but fine. She looked at him, a curious expression forming on her face. "I'm sorry, do I know you from somewhere? Your voice sounds familiar."

"Not that I'm aware of. My name is John Wayne. I just moved from the States to take a position here at the school. I should have started today, but this attack happened." He said, offering her his hand while his mind churned over her words.

Did she recognise my voice from earlier? I thought she was unconscious.

"Anan Kurose, otherwise known as the pro hero Thirteen." She said, taking the offered hand. It was soft yet calloused, like she did a lot of work with her hands but kept them moisturised.

"I heard from the students how you defended them earlier. That was very brave of you, Ms Kurose."

"Ha. Brave, yes. But stupid. I nearly killed myself with my own Quirk." She said with a self-deprecating laugh. "If it wasn't for that 'Twilight Knight', I might have been hospitalised, or worse."

"They mentioned him as well, but that doesn't change the fact that you stood up to that villain." He activated his scouter skill, wanting to get to see what she was actually thinking.

"Yes. At least they're safe."

{I was useless. I hesitated. That villain was right, I don't have any experience on the battlefield... but I don't want to kill anyone. That isn't why I became a hero.}

John blinked. He was a bit confused at that, his memories telling him that being a pro hero typically meant fighting against villains with Quirks. He noted in his mental notepad to bring it up another day, as he didn't want to pry too deeply into the personal issues of one of his peers he had just met.

"Hey, the students are alive and well and the villains were stopped. You had a good plan to send that speedy student for help, so don't beat yourself up too much about it and keep your chin up."

"Right." She said, giving him a tight smile. He didn't need his scouter skill to know she still felt responsible for her failure to protect the students from the villain.

"Mr Wayne, do you have a moment?" Shota asked, beckoning him over to the other patient's bedside.

"Sure." He replied. He excused himself from the floundering conversation he was having with Thirteen and stepped over to All Might's bed.

Shota introduced him, but when the man offered his hand to shake, he groaned and clutched his side in pain. Before John could react, Recovery Girl popped up between them, the tiny woman pushing John back with little effort.

"I think that is enough visitors for the day. Thirteen, you're free to go. You two, shoo, shoo." She said, comically trying to herd the pair of them out of the recovery room. "Don't worry, I'll have him good as new by tomorrow."

"No, wait." All Might said, looking directly at John. "I just wanted to thank you for today. The students needed someone, and we were not there for them. So, thank you, Mr Wayne."

John nodded to the man. "It was my pleasure, All Might. Helping people in need, particularly children, is something any responsible adult should do as long as they are able to."

John didn't have time to activate his Scouter skill before he was herded out of the infirmary by the diminutive woman. She barely let him grab his suitcase before the door was slammed behind them. He wasn't sure if All Might meant the talks he had with students, or when he was at the U.S.J., and inadvertently rescued everyone from the villains.

Easy, you're overthinking this because Thirteen might have recognised your voice. Your brain is just tired. Using your Quirk with the students earlier just exhausted you even more. If he knows, well, there is nothing you can do about it now.

"That was... abrupt." He said, looking over at Shota.

"She gets like that sometimes. Well, I'm going to have a nap." Shota replied, his eyes looking bloodshot again. "Can you get out of here on your own?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Tomorrow."

John made his way off the U.A. campus and into the town, praying silently that he would make it to the hotel before something else happened.

He really needed a nap, too.

Hotel Bar

John managed to get to the hotel without further incident. It was a nice place within the city of Musutafu, which was located a reasonable mile or so walk away from the school. The room was well-appointed, and they had a nice bar downstairs which featured live music, along with discounts for anyone who was renting a room at the hotel.

So, after napping in a chair for a few hours, he got cleaned up and went downstairs. He wanted to have a couple of drinks, listen to some music, and go over a few things in his head. Everything came at him fast today, and he wasn't sure he'd made the right choices.

The bar was not what he expected. The room was mostly a gaudy red, with gold trim on almost everything. The solid oak bar was the only thing not covered in some sort of red velvet. Despite the decor, the place was about half full, with most patrons taking up the tables and chatting with what he assumed were coworkers from the snippets of conversations he caught. There wasn't a band on the small stage, but the curtains were drawn, making John think that whatever show was going to happen hadn't started yet.

Taking a seat at the bar, he ordered a whiskey with his room card, then started to take stock of the day.

Alright, so this is some weird world of superheroes. It kind of reminds me of Marvel or DC comics, but they even have schools to train kids to become heroes. The world seems to be full of villains as well, and they attack people frequently, robbing, kidnapping, or even murdering them.

Now, from these memories, I'm supposed to become a teacher at that school. An OG character for DEN, with my only attachments being my way-too-popular younger sister back in the states and an even younger sister who became estranged from this body over a decade ago. After the attack.

He took a drink, grimacing at the memory. His damaged face was explained away as the result of a villain's attack fifteen years ago. A villain, who had a bone to pick with his hero sister, decided the best way to get his revenge was to get close to John's youngest sister. So, he pretended to be a somewhat normal person and 'saved' her from some villains. They started to date soon afterwards, with the family none the wiser to his true intentions.

Then, on Christmas Day, he struck. He killed John's parents with the blades he could turn his arms into, then came after John. John just happened to be pulling a turkey out of the oven, so he threw it at the villain, then grabbed the carving knife. Half-blinded from the boiling juices, the villain slashed John's face instead of his neck, then John was on top of the beast and carved him open with that blade.

That's when his youngest sister walked into the room and screamed. Things hadn't been the same since, with either of his sisters.

He took another drink. That line of thinking wasn't helping his current situation.

So, I arrived and immediately got into a fight with a villain. Then I was almost arrested because I was carrying a weapon. That is so damn weird, since these Quirks are so common, and villains seem to attack people frequently. You would think they would want people to be able to defend themselves, instead of having to wait for Heroes to show up.

Then that cabbie brought him to the wrong place, and he ended up in another fight that could have easily torn him to pieces. He had checked on his phone before coming down here and found videos of All Might in action. The man was bloody Superman; he could fly and literally knock down a building with a punch. The fact that that beast had defeated him made John want to keep his sword at his waist at all times, rules be damned.

I need to learn how to fight without that weapon. I'm not helpless without it, but unless I happen to have a gun, I only have a limited amount of spell power in worlds like this. It's not like breaking that mech out in the middle of a fight would help either; it would take time to get inside of it. And I am not bringing those people trapped in the Pelican into this world, I'd almost rather have left them with the Clans... no, no I wouldn't have, but this place is a different flavour of distasteful to me.

He took another sip. It was a nice whiskey, smooth with an almost caramel flavour.

That school is weird, too, though I have no real frame of reference for how a school for superheroes would even work. I don't even know what I'm teaching, though I assume English or World History, as that is what this body taught back in the USA. Those students were... wild.

He didn't know how else to explain it. Their personalities were all over the place, which isn't unexpected; everyone is different. What was unexpected was how extreme some of them were. Like the short kid, Minoru Mineta, who was wearing a purple suit with a diaper, was openly crying and thought he was useless, even though his sticky ball Quirk seems like a super useful ability to have when trying to capture most people.

Then there was that Katsuki Bakugo kid, whose rage reminded John too much of his own from his younger days, before he calmed down some. The problem was that the kid could literally make explosions from his hands, so he always had a very dangerous weapon, only a flick of the wrist away.

He could go on, and on, as he took their names down in his mental notepad, from what they were saying and what he could read from their thoughts. If it wasn't for his own Quirk, he doubted he could have gotten them to even pay attention.

And that is another weird thing. This Quirk is much different from anything else I have received from DEN so far. Almost everything else seems to be something for fighting, or at least fighting adjacent, but this one is almost like something that would be attached to the Eroge gatcha, like Tonal Connection or Scouter. Not to mention it seems to overtax my brain when I use it for a extended period of time.

He had a unique skill that his younger self called Guide of the Sage. His previous body had barely considered it a Quirk, since the only thing it did was create an aura that mildly influenced others around him to be more receptive to listening to him. It wasn't like brainwashing or mind control. Strong emotions could easily negate its effects, but having the skill had helped his previous body teach by having the students focus on him with the aid of the Quirk. But if someone was coming at him in anger, the Quirk did nothing at all to even slow them down. He had tried.

He took another sip.

The staff seemed nice, though that Shota Aizawa man had a very weird way of speaking. He sounded bored, almost like he was half asleep, even though he was the one to keep talking. He would have to learn more about them in the coming days, in particular Anan Kurose and All Might. Shota didn't seem to notice the similarities in his voice with the Twilight Knight, but he wasn't sure about the other two. He wouldn't beat himself up about that, as becoming the Twilight Knight allowed him to rescue a lot of people today, but he would need to be careful going forward.

I didn't even get All Might's actual name. In fact, I don't know how the staff usually address each other there. Shota seemed fine with Mr Aizawa, while Recovery Girl preferred her hero name. Bah, that is a tomorrow problem.

Just then, a small commotion was happening beside him, bringing him out of his contemplation. He turned his head and almost laughed. That beautiful blonde hero, Mt Lady, was standing beside him, haggling with the bartender. She was wearing a little black dress with a plunging neckline that almost reached her navel, exposing a significant amount of cleavage from her two massive breasts.

"Oh! I forgot my card! Surely you can comp this drink for a young, beautiful Hero-" She started to flirt, but was cut off.

"Sorry, Ma'am. No free drinks here. We already offer a Pro Hero discount. If you can't pay, then I'll have to ask you to leave." The bartender said, then added when she started to pout. "I'm gay, and not a superhero fanboy, so your tricks won't work on me."

"Hmph!" She said, then noticed John watching her. She slid up to him and asked in a sultry voice. "Hey, handsome, how about you buy a damsel in distress a drink? I can make it worth your while."

John finished his drink, then smiled at her. "Damn, don't they pay you heroes enough? You have to resort to becoming an escort to make ends meet? No wonder you almost lost to that villain today, exhausted from needing to turn tricks all night!"

"Hun? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I'M A VIRGIN, MISTER! I DON'T TURN TRICKS!" She screamed, the power in her voice nearly blowing him out of his chair. Her magenta eyes looked like she wanted to kill him right then.

"Then learn to pay for your own damn drinks." He snapped back. Something about her attitude grated on his nerves. "Acting like some shallow harlot won't endear you to a real man, just fanboys who have more money than brains. Now, get. I have important business with another glass of whiskey, and don't need the hero, Mt Virgin, trying to loom over me because she doesn't want to grab her credit card."

"Why I outta-"

"Lay off, Yu. Pay for your drink and come sit back down. We have business to discuss still." Another man said. In stark contrast to Mt Lady, he was wearing a long red sweater, baggy brown pants, and an odd-looking hat that hid most of his face. Between his hands and part of his face, he appeared to be made out of wood.

God, some of these Quirks really mess with your body.

She glared at him again, but turned around and pulled a card out from a hidden pocket above one of her breasts. She stomped off to the table where her two companions were waiting. He wasn't positive, but he was sure they were the two heroes that were on the ground behind her earlier.

John just chuckled and flagged down the bartender for another glass. He was only going to have one, but having the entitled blonde yell out in the middle of a crowded bar that she was a virgin put him in a good mood. He would finish this, listen to whatever music they would have on, then go back to bed.

Tomorrow would be an interesting day.