[8:Substitute Teacher]
(One week later)
Welp, it's time. Now, I have to go to school. High school. I remember high school. Never again. When I remember my time in high school, it changed who I was. I'll say this: not everyone deserves the right to vote or participate in democracy. Ancient China had the right idea with those imperial exams for who could be in government, as well as Ancient Greece in restricting who could vote. Why can't those things be implemented? If you want to run for government, you have to pass a test. If you want to vote, you have to pass a test. But when I say that, people see me as a bad person and a psycho. (A/N: geez, they're saying quite the rhetoric. Me personally, I wouldn't have done it like that.)
Whatever, time for school. Speaking of which, I have the uniform, but…mine is cooler. And I'm also very early, since I literally live here. So, I'm in an empty classroom right now, but I can hear the sounds of activity.
This seems like a good opportunity for a bit of fun.
I'm standing at the front of the class in my formal Carabinieri uniform, cape and all. And my height would make me look older than I am. Not a lot, but enough. I also already know all the names.
Let's see how long I can trick them and get away with this.
I picked up a piece of chalk and started writing some stuff on the board. You know, for being the 22nd century, I thought we would go beyond chalk, but it seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
"Hey, this feels kind of nice actually," I said to myself as I wrote on the chalkboard. This felt so cool. Now I understand why teachers like this.
Okay, to make it look as legit as possible, I have to write the class, my name, and then look serious. What's the class called again? Hero…something? You can't be serious. Did I really forget what the class is called on the first day? No, wait, it's just the homeroom! I'm thinking of the Heroics class taught by All Might.
Alright, "homeroom" in big letters and "Ms. Eleanor R. Hayes." underneath that. All right, looks good enough. Enough to fool new students, not a teacher.
I looked at the clock and noticed the time. Classes start in one hour, but they're going to arrive earlier than that, except for Midoriya and Ochaco. Wait, Midoriya is the given name, and Izuku is the family name, so it would be Izuku and Ochaco. My mistake. Hold on, is he named after Midori, the melon liqueur? It's a Japanese drink. Or is this a coincidence? Eh, whatever.
Now, I wait. Let's see who comes first. Or I'll just wait until everyone arrives. Yeah, I'll do that. Just wait for everyone to arrive and then start.
Now that I think about it. I'm faking being a teacher, but what if I were a…substitute teacher? It'll be so disrespectful, but funny, only to me, though. Should I let this intrusive thought win? Should I purposely take creative liberty when pronouncing names for a fake roll call and paint myself as disrespectful and not caring about the customs here, for a reference only understood by me?
No, no, I won't. I'm not that much of—
"Good morning."
Oh, someone's here already? Who in the world comes here this early to school? And I mean, if it's just classes, no other events, clubs, or whatever beforehand. When I remember going to classes, I'd stay in bed as long as I could. I arrived on time, but not so early that I spent more time waiting, which could've been used for extra sleep. I've become very good at optimizing how many times I can hit snooze on my alarm.
"Are you the teacher here?"
Let's see…dark, blue hair, glasses, kind of stiff and sophisticated. Yeah, one of the ones that come from privilege and money. It's Tenya Iida.
Some haters would say nepotism, but if it were me in the situation, which I kind of was in my last life, why would I care what others think? "Wah, wah, you only got to where you were because of nepotism!" Boo-hoo, so what? With how horrendous trying to get a job was in my last life, you have to do what you can to make it. Nepo life all the way for those who can do it. They shouldn't feel guilt or anything for it. It's just using the resources available to you, and the reality is that it's not fair, and it never will be.
I shook Tenya's hand firmly. "Good morning. You must be Tenya Iida. This is the homeroom for class 1-A. Pick a seat, there's still a lot of time left before class officially starts." I released his hand.
He glanced at the board. Here we go. If it can trick him, it'll work on everyone else. You just need to look the part, like how wearing a green vest and carrying some random piece of equipment gets people to believe you more than they should.
"You have a very youthful appearance for a teacher."
Oh man, pretty straightforward, huh? But what would you expect? Just go along with it. Even if this would totally raise questions about a person for asking a question like that. Now, I have no problem with it, but I know others do.
"I get that a lot. As I'm sure you saw, my name is Eleanor R. Hayes. And you're right to assume I'm not Japanese, but I'm here for a reason. Now, you can ask me more questions while we wait for others to arrive. I won't start anything until everyone else arrives."
You know, he doesn't seem to mind. I thought I'd have more of a problem with that, but I guess in his mind, UA is a top institution, so they have good reason for making the decisions they do.
Wait a minute. Globalism! That's why! Of all the stuff for the 22nd century, how did globalism not come to mind?! How much of an effect has that had? Eh, whatever, I'm not going to look into that.
Tenya looked around for a seat, and it was kind of funny because once he did, it became really awkward when we didn't talk. It was just me and me in silence.
Thankfully, it didn't last long when someone else came in. Alright, now it's officially starting. Let's see…whoa. It's Momo. Alright, alright, before anything else…no, absolutely not. I may be the same age as them, but I don't feel an attraction to anyone here. Now, obviously, I can say if someone is attractive and whatnot, but feeling some connection? Nah, it's just not it. And this isn't because technically there's nothing wrong with it, since I'm in the same age range as them, but because…I'm not attracted to younger women.
I like my girls a little bit older.
It's just…remembering how girls were like around this age in high school…I don't have good memories or experiences. Women who are older and mature already know what they want in life and will be clear about it. No drama, good communication, the stuff that isn't normally seen in younger women around my age. There's also a deeper connection with them. They can hold conversations that are more engaging to me, instead of some dumbass social media trend or the latest and worthless celebrity gossip. That's all I really want, an older woman who is interesting to talk to.
Yeah, the beauty is also nice. Let's be honest, that's a big factor in finding a partner, but with time, it'll go away. As someone once said, "Don't look for beauty, because it'll fade with time." That's another part; these younger women are too obsessed with makeup and all that. We all have imperfections, but people in my last life seemed so obsessed with looking young all the time and spending a fortune on a bunch of products to attain "perfection," and they end up looking weird and uncanny. Older women don't seem to care as much about that. And it saves a bunch of money.
Those are my thoughts, but if I had to choose…I would choose Tsuyu, or Asui. Same name. I don't know, there's something I like about her. No, it's not the tongue.
.
.
.
Okay, maybe the tongue is a big—small—reason. I swear.
"Greetings. My name is Tenya Iida! I am from…"
I forgot he does that. He runs up to them and aggressively introduces himself. It certainly makes an impression, but whether it's a good one or not depends on the person.
So, Tenya and Momo are here first. Why so early? I know they come from sophisticated backgrounds, but this isn't necessary. Showing up…I looked at the clock…30 minutes early.
Now, I also did, but in my defense, it's for the prank, which is a better reason, and I basically live here.
After Tenya introduced himself, and also me as the teacher here, Momo finally came up to me.
Another firm handshake. "Momo Yaoyorozu, good to meet you. Don't expect special treatment from here on out. I will fail you if I have to."
"I know. I take this seriously and have prepared."
"My name is Eleanor R. Hayes. I'll speak in more detail once the entire class is here. Go ahead and take a seat for now."
A few more minutes passed, and no one. Yeah, if anyone would come here too early, it'd be these two. Well, now to wait.