Timeloop Trouble

Chapter 50 - Grooming

Kohaku sensei wasn't as bad as Izuku had initially feared. His first impression had been the right one, she was a passionate teacher who loved to help her students improve in any way, shape, or form. She was everything a good teacher should be and didn't discriminate based on quirks or looks like some other teachers had in Izuku's past. She was great, actually, and Izuku realized more and more that they weren't so different after all. That, even if they were on different sides in this conflict, they shared the same goal: to make this world a better place. It's a shame she believed destroying him was the key to do so.

"A quirk analytics quirk, huh? That sounds interesting!" Kohaku smiled. She was his homeroom teacher, but she was also the school's quirk counselor, a role Izuku had once taken upon him as well. "Can you tell me how it works?"

"Well, uh, it's really not that impressive," Izuku said, still wondering whether this was all an act. Whether this conversation would swing around into an interrogation, whether Jikan members would ambush them now that they were alone. It made him nervous, but all he could do was play along for now. "I can see what sort of quirk someone has based on their appearance and if they use it, I can deduct the inner workings of it as well."

"What sort of quirk do you think I have?" she asked. That was a safe question since Izuku knew everything there was to know about her quirk already.

"...You secrete a sticky fluid," he started, squinting his eyes. "You can harden it, like resin."

"Oh my-" she gasped, clearly impressed. "You're right! My quirk is called Resin, actually. I secrete an amber-like substance from my palms, which I can form and harden into any shape I like."

"That's really versatile," Izuku commented. "You could've become a hero with such a quirk."

"Oh, you flatter me," she smiled. "But I'm afraid I'm not really the heroic type. Let's leave saving the day to true heroes, like All Might. I'd much rather focus on shaping the minds of tomorrow."

She didn't sound bitter about it, which made him wonder whether she had never dreamed of becoming a hero at all. She got inspired by the same man, wanted to make the world a better place, and had a quirk that would assure her a place at the top if she trained and used it correctly. Izuku would know, he'd fought her countless times before. And yet... Yet she wanted to teach, which was something to be admired on its own, in Izuku's opinion. But it would never get the recognition hero work provided.

Then again, her admiration for All Might left no room for other heroes to shine. They'd just be in the way of the one true hero, wouldn't they? There was no point in trying if someone else already reached perfection. If the standard had been set impossibly high, too high for anyone to reach in their lifetime. All Might was the best, the pillar keeping this world from collapsing into chaos, the symbol of peace and prosperity. Yeah, Izuku knew all about their ideology. He could relate to it, too, if only a little bit. Because he also knew how hard it was to carry such a burden alone. What kind of toll it took on All Might to keep up that perfection everyone expected of him.

Multiple pillars were better than just one. Working together was the key to balance, to long lasting peace. The Alliance existed for that reason, to remind them, and Izuku in particular, that working alone wasn't healthy or sustainable. Jikan was everything they were not. An organization so focussed on restoring the past that they didn't see the potential of the future. they refused to see the society they wanted to rebuild had flaws, that relying on one person wasn't the solution. And oh, Izuku suddenly felt like the biggest hypocrite in the world.

"You have a bright future ahead of you, after all," she continued, interrupting Izuku's inner revelations. "Your quirk can help a lot of people if used correctly."