Chapter 9: Naruhata Municipal Hero University
Three months had passed since Power became a recognized citizen of Japan. Takumi, who had just finished his high school finals and become a full-fledged graduate of Naruhata Municipal High School, had been home-schooling her as promised.
Before focusing on academics, he started by hammering in basic routines and safety lessons. Making sure she understood the necessity of three proper meals a day, a well-established sleep schedule, basic manners and communication, and most importantly of all, hygiene.
Even with a literal supercomputer in his brain accounting for Power's each and every micro-educational need, it had taken him a whole month to teach her that. And that was just making sure she had the information in her brain, getting her to actually abide by the standards was a whole different beast. It didn't matter how hard Takumi tried, he would need a lot more than a couple months to shape her into a truly presentable member of society.
The second month was dedicated to basic language and vocabulary. He wasn't sure where Power had obtained her odd mental-dictionary from, but all the fancy terminology she could spew out was meaningless when Takumi needed to give her a detailed lecture regarding the concept of a bath.
He started by running Power through the bare basics: naming objects in the house, simple conversations, describing actions, basic reading sounds. Takumi even got her a picture book or two, his quirk deeming the girl to be more of a visual learner than a verbal one.
This month was all about basic literacy: the alphabet, phonics, and short sentences.
At least, that's what he wanted to be teaching her.
In reality, her teaching was going something more like: handwriting, handwriting, and some more handwriting. Next to Power, a toddler fingerpainting their name onto a canvas would like the work of a master calligrapher.
"Stop gripping your pencil so hard, you'll snap the lead." Takumi chopped her on the scalp, watching over her like a tiger parent as she worked away at an elementary-level handwriting guide.
"Ow! Creepy human! I demand you cease your insolent strikes upon mine—!"
He raised his hand again, her feistiness retreating like a terrified turtle back into its shell.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
Takumi felt his phone begin to vibrate, its screen displaying an incoming call from an unknown number.
"Hello?" He picked up.
"Good morning, is this Takumi Kisaragi?" The voice seemed to stem from a man of an older age bracket, his quirk estimating someone around 55-60.
"Speaking."
"Excellent! My name is Haruto Sakamori, I'm reaching out to you as the President of Naruhata Municipal Hero University."
Takumi's usually half-lidded eyes widened a little. To test the waters, he had applied for a scholarship to all the universities he had on his list, with the exception of Tokyo East Public Safety College. He'd rather not have his name land up on the HPSC's desk, whether it be through direct or indirect means.
"I've just gone over your application for a scholarship grant, and I must say, you have a rather impressive record. Your principal spoke rather highly of you when I called to confirm your letter of recommendation."
Impressive enough for him to call Takumi directly, it would seem. Scholarship or not, most universities strictly responded to an applicant via email, and that response usually came from their admissions office, not the top man himself.
"Honestly, I'm half-inclined to just accept your application right here and now, but there are certain procedures I can't ignore even as President. Therefore, I'm wondering if you'd be open to a face-to-face interview with me sometime soon?"
Takumi took a deep, recomposing breath. In a situation like this the last thing he wanted to do was sound desperate or overtly-eager.
"Yes, I'm available. When would you like me over?" His tone was lukewarm as ever.
"Well, I happen to have a rather open schedule today. So today if possible, would 1:00 PM work for you?"
"It would. You can expect me there on time, President Sakamori."
"Great! I look forward to seeing you in person, Kisaragi-kun."
The moment the line ended, Takumi went straight to his wardrobe, looking for a set of attire that'd make him look as presentable as his budgeted clothing could physically allow him to.
"Creepy human, for what reason do you inspect your storage of second-skin layering with such impatience?" Power asked with evident boredom.
"I have an important meeting to attend to. I won't be home in time to cook lunch so help yourself to the leftovers in the fridge," he glanced at her with emphasis. "And make sure you reheat the food before you put it in your mouth."
"Hmph! One as great as I has no need for your meddlesome reminders!" She held her head up high.
He couldn't wait for the day when that statement became the truth.
///
.
Takumi checked his watch.
12:55 PM.
A ten-minute bus ride was all he needed to reach NMHU's front gate. The campus was situated on the edge of Naruhata's urban district, surrounded by mid-rise buildings, older apartment complexes not too dissimilar from Takumi's, and narrow streets.
Unlike prestigious hero academics, the campus adopted a compact, almost cramped layout to maximize the limited space they could afford, giving it the overallI impression of practicality rather than luxury.
After checking in with the security at the front gate and confirming his appointment with the President, Takumi was allowed entrance into the institution's main academic building. A six-story concrete building with a modern yet slightly dated design, heavily reinforced walls, and narrow windows designed to withstand potential quirk accidents.
Takumi walked past lecture halls, tactical analysis classrooms, strategy simulators, and faculty offices before arriving at an office room situated on the building's uppermost floor. His eyes glancing at some of the nearby reflective mirrors to inspect his own appearance.
He adorned a freshly-ironed plain light-grey button-up shirt with no visible logos, and properly buttoned up sleeves alongside a pair of dark budget office trousers that fit well with his color scheme. It was an inexpensive outfit, but with his quirk helping him maintain them and manage his self-grooming, he looked presentable enough for a place like NMHU.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Come in." The President's gravely, calm voice ushered Takumi inside.
Upon opening the door, the first thing he saw was a elderly man's face that showed the marks of a long, eventful career. His skin weathered with deep lines around his eyes, and most strikingly of all, a long pale scar that ran from his left temple to the middle of his cheek, one clearly older than Takumi himself.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kisaragi-kun." The man gestured to the seat opposite him. "Please, have a seat."
The salt-and-pepper haired man was none other than Haruto Sakamori, NMHU's President, and a retired pro hero who once went by the name "Sentinel". A man who decided to dedicate his remaining days to training the next generation for the role he once occupied, just as his seniors did for him.
"The pleasure's all mine, President Sakamori." Takumi obliged, his quirk's threat assessment noticeably louder than usual as he looked the man dead in the eye.
'Environmental scan: desk, office chairs, bookshelf, windows, door. Possible improvised weapons: desk edge, chair legs, glass fragments. Escape paths: door behind target, window exit (3rd floor drop risk). Target environmental advantage: moderate.'
'Observed variables. Height: 182cm. Build: broad shoulders. Muscle density: above civilian average. Visible injury: right leg positioning offset.'
'Movement indicators: balanced state despite injury, controlled breathing, minimal wasted movement. Estimated training profile: former professional combatant. Estimated combat experience: high.'
'Target reaction time estimated: 0.18-0.22 seconds.'
'Target likely possesses combat-capable quirk. Estimated quirk threat level: unknown.'
'Hostility probability: 0.8%.'
Takumi's brain processed all that in the three steps it took him to get from Haruto's office door to the chair he had gestured to.
"So, tell me about yourself, what made you want to apply here? Or more specifically, what made you want to become a pro-hero?" Haruto smiled warmly, beginning with a question any half-intelligent person would expect.
Obviously, Takumi couldn't just throw a statement like 'I want to retain my humanity' at him, nor could he use any common responses since that'd more likely than not make the President lose all interest in him.
'Best alignment: practical reasoning over heroic idealism.'
"Because my quirk is built for it," his voice was calm as a gentle river. "It analyzes the combat risk of the people around me, and finds the most efficient way to stop a threat should it arise. If I were to apply this quirk anywhere else, I'd be neglecting the field of work where it is most useful."
His quirk went over Haruto's visible reaction indicators. His slight nod, his maintained eye focus, and his unchanging posture.
'Probability of positive impression: 72%. Response acceptable. Continue interview.'
"Battle Algorithm. A B-Tier Intelligence Quirk." The President had committed Takumi's registry to memory. "That's a very pragmatic response, Kisaragi-kun. Not that I hate it, on the contrary, I appreciate your honesty, but it's not just your quirk that I'm interested in. I want to know more about you, the person wielding it."
A brief pause followed.
"Tell me, if you were out there on the streets, stopping crime and protecting the innocent. Why would you be doing it? What would drive you to make yourself the wall between those who needed you and those who wished to cause harm unto the people you're sworn to protect?"
'Interpretation: crux of inquiry is about commitment under pressure. Haruto Sakamori is testing for internal conviction.'
His quirk deduced that the optimal response must communicate realism, acceptance of risk, and personal responsibility.
"Because someone has to." His tone didn't waver in the slightest, making it clear to the President that there was no way for him to catch Takumi off-guard. "If my quirk tells me a situation will end up with people getting hurt, and I'm the person most capable of preventing it, then walking away would mean my acceptance of that outcome. That is not a calculation I'm willing to ignore."
"Hm. So what you're saying is…" Haruto steepled his fingers. "...Your quirk's very existence is an obligation for you to help those in need? Thus it's your moral obligation to protect those that can be saved by it?"
"In a sense, yes." He kept his response purposefully vague. His aim was to come off as someone with a strong moral compass, not a puppet of his own DNA.
"I see," Haruto reclined into his office chair. "I can't help but feel that response is a little grim, although, I'd be a fool to pretend like it isn't genuine. A lot of the students I interview like to pretend that heroism is something that can exist in and of itself, a concept that doesn't need to be fueled by something that uniquely belongs to the person who chooses to embody it."
The President's gaze steeled.
"But in reality, that doesn't apply to a single actively serving hero out there. A person becomes a hero because they want something, because they want to protect something, because they want to attain an ideal version of themselves, the list goes on and on. True heroism isn't perfection. It's playing a mental game of tug-of-war in your mind between doing good and bad, and winning in favour of the former every time. Never forget that, Kisaragi-kun."
Takumi met his words with a firm nod. "I won't, President Sakamori."
'Probability of positive impression updated: 84%. Response acceptable. Continue interview.'
"Good," Haruto openly expressed his approval. His eyes turning to his monitor which he shifted towards Takumi, the file on his quirk registry opened. "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but other than you, there's only one other applicant with an intelligence quirk this year. Obviously I can't tell you what the quirk itself is, just yet, but I can tell you that it's been registered as A-Tier."
A-Tier Intelligence Quirks were classified quirks that provided a 'tactical genius boost'. An ability that offered a short burst of extreme intelligence but came with certain limitations that kept it from receiving an S-Tier designation.
"This applicant's quirk registry was updated quite recently, whereas yours hasn't gotten a refresh since you were four years old."
Takumi already knew where the President was going with this.
"Out of curiosity, I'd like to ask you if anything's changed about your quirk since then? Abilities such as yours have a tendency to progress with the natural development of the human brain after all." There was a glimmer of expectation in Haruto's aged eyes, but Takumi had already committed himself to shutting such hopes down before he even got on the bus.
"No, my ability to interpret my quirk's calculations has improved with my education, however, the quirk itself doesn't feel any different from its state thirteen years ago." He sprinkled a pinch of truth over a complete, bare-faced lie.
"I see," the President couldn't hide his faint disappointment from Takumi's quirk. "Well, most of the time it's the user's application of their quirk that takes precedence over the quirk itself. All the hardware in the world won't help someone if they can't grasp how to use it correctly."
'Probability of positive impression updated: 93%. Target has reached their conclusion. Verdict will now follow.'
"In any case, you have a quirk well-suited to the profession, and an exemplary record that highlights your hard work and diligence. Personally, I can't see a single reason to deny you a scholarship." He made his approval known through a welcoming smile. "The entrance exams will begin two weeks from now. If you pass, the full-ride is all yours."
Takumi stood from his chair and offered the institution's head a respectful bow.
"I hope I'll be able to live up to your expectations, President Sakamori."
"As do I, Kisaragi-kun. I look forward to seeing you as a part of this university's next cohort."
'Interview conclusion: resounding success.'
///
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