Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Taylor POV.
I finally finished putting on the costume, including the new attachment to my outfit. There was a mirror nearby, not big enough to see my whole body, just my head, but if I stood far enough away, I could see myself properly.
A haori, a haori placed over my normal costume. My costume remained the same, a tight-fitting black spider silk suit, with armor panels made of artificially joined insect shells and exoskeletons, along with a small armor reinforcement made by the Support department to increase defense; the only aesthetic addition was a small, frayed skirt that was purely decorative.
It was all black, with some gray accents and a mask that covered my entire face with yellow lenses. The disguise was intimidating, especially when I was surrounded by my swarm.
I had a small backpack attached to my costume, tucked into the small detachable compartment of my back, filled with essentials. Most importantly, several EpiPens; there was also a pen, notepad, zip ties, a long cord made of spider silk, a small combat knife, and some bandages.
Unfortunately, that was all I could take, and I had needed to sacrifice the space in that compartment for belongings, leaving nothing to store insects in case of emergency.
The insects in my hair and inside my costume weren't even enough to create a small swarm without attracting attention.
So a Haori.
It was Izumi's idea, but it made perfect sense. The loose clothing gave me plenty of room to keep insects inside without it being obvious that I was carrying thousands of insects around me, even when I kept it open as the haori was meant to be.
The haori was extremely light and versatile; it didn't restrict my movement at all. It was made of an electrically insulating and fire-resistant material—again, Izumi's ideas for some reason.
But the design of the Haori was entirely my own; I had tried to emulate the appearance of a monarch butterfly. The base color of the haori was completely black, with disparate gold lines, and finally, the cuffs and hem had a gold trim with black dots.
I liked it; somehow, it went well with my costume, which was nothing pretentious. Even when I moved, my haori seemed to mimic the wings of a butterfly, making me look less intimidating.
And the best part was, it was mostly black; from a distance, the gold was barely noticeable, so I could continue hiding within my swarm without any problem. Much better than the white option Izumi had initially chosen when we started brainstorming.
The white would stand out horribly against my swarm and would be a constant target.
I took a deep breath; the only thing missing was my hair. I grimaced; it was getting longer and longer, even in a braid like I had now. It was so long, not annoying, but maybe it was too much? Should I cut it?
Mmm, maybe not too much, but below the shoulders should look good. I'll have to ask Izumi; at this point, he liked my hair more than I did. And well, if Izumi likes it, there's nothing wrong with keeping it, right?
I almost sighed. How low had I sunk, deciding the length of my hair based on what a boy liked? A boy who happens to be my irritating husband. I smiled slightly. Yes, I'll ask Izumi. I paused for a moment.
I blinked at that. Oh… I really had changed, hadn't I?
I used to like my hair; it was so similar to my… Annette's hair back then. I liked the comparison, so I kept it similar to hers, to the point that the idea of cutting it or even changing it in any way bothered me.
I… no longer felt that discomfort. I hadn't thought about it in a long time, and the thought of cutting my hair didn't generate any kind of aversion in me, just… emptiness. I wouldn't feel anything when I cut it, except for the question of whether Izumi would like it or not.
I sighed once more; this really wasn't the time for an existential crisis. I packed my school uniform into my satchel, closed it, and heard the lock click. I grabbed Shusui from the side, now free of its sword bag, and tucked it firmly into my waistband.
I took one last look in the mirror and nodded.
Finally, I went outside and found the whole group of heroes waiting for me. They all stared at me for some reason. I looked down, trying to find something wrong, then looked at them and bowed my head. Wearing a full mask made it impossible for them to see my face, so Midnight had taught us to emphasize certain movements while in disguise.
Well, mostly me, I was the only one wearing a full mask. Apparently, I was too American, and I still haven't heard the end of that teasing from my classmates. I almost wanted to huff with annoyance.
But putting that aside, I had to constantly remind myself to move my body that way—seemingly pushing all my body's reactions to my insects and staying completely still—it was truly creepy. I pushed those thoughts out of my mind again and focused on the heroes in front of me.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked, confused.
"Are you... wearing a kimono?" Antares asked, surprised.
"Haori." I corrected her immediately. "It's a haori."
"Yes... a Haori, whatever, you... I mean, it looks good on you, perfect, it looks very well made, but... are you sure you want to go out in that?" Antares asked, looking at me strangely.
"Yes? Why wouldn't I? It's my costume." I said immediately. I was still confused.
"I'm sure it would look very nice in Japan, but remember that here, anything Asian is immediately associated with ABB, you know that, right?" Clockblocker asked bluntly.
"Wait, what? Do you really think that a hero, just because they wear Japanese clothing, is affiliated with or supports a gang?" I asked incredulously as I looked at Miss Militia; she grimaced.
"In part? Public relations tries not to choose the same color scheme or similar theme as the gangs; civilians have their own perception, and forums and social media would devour them immediately."
"But most importantly, avoid gang retaliation. Gangs are very... possessive of their aesthetic, and a hero who dresses the same way or in a way they consider their own would only draw attention and increase the likelihood of the villains retaliating against that hero." Miss Militia said, holding a doll. I sighed.
"First, that's racist, to think that everything Asian is part of a gang simply because that gang is Asian, that's racist." I snorted dryly, and I saw everyone flinch slightly. "And second."
"If we let fear of retaliation from the villains control us, then we've already lost," I said solemnly. I could see them all freeze, their eyes widening, then I chuckled. "Or so I was told," I said playfully, and I could see their facades momentarily crumble.
I was smiling amusedly beneath my mask; really, I could see why Izumi did what she did if she got these reactions constantly.
"That... is very wise," Miss Militia finally said. I shrugged.
"I heard it from someone else," I said playfully. "But putting that aside, you said that public relations can prohibit costumes—will they make me take it off?" I asked curiously.
"Don't you guys have public relations?" Vista asked, confused. I nodded.
"We do, but I mean, we weren't denied anything? We all designed our costumes ourselves. Obviously, they're made by other people, dedicated companies, or the support department, but the initial sketches and the overall design of the costume are ours. We also chose our hero names, and we weren't denied anything? Well, I mean,as long as no one crossed a line or broke some law."
"There's a classmate who wanted her heroine's name to be 'Queen Explosion Murder,' which was completely rejected, and on the other hand, in costume, there's an invisible girl whose costume is just a pair of gloves and boots? She's literally completely naked."
"So yeah, they're pretty lenient in that regard," I said, shrugging. I could see everyone's faces, and the only way I could describe their expressions was pure envy. Unadulterated. Total envy.
"I'm so fucking jealous of you," Vista growled sharply.
"Language." Miss Militia said. Vista ignored it.
"You know how hard I had to fight PR for my costume?! So hard! Especially to get them to let me use a gun! Those PR idiots!" Vista snarled. Miss Militia sighed wearily but didn't correct her again.
"Really... they don't teach you anything about public relations?" Clockblocker asked incredulously, almost looking at me in wonder.
"Oh no, they teach us, they're preparing us to act in front of people and cameras, about the laws, and they prepared us to be practically a product to sell, they made that clear from the beginning. They explained how our appearance would set certain standards, how all the magazines, blogs, or gossip would be waiting for us to make a mistake."
"If we do something wrong, however small, have a bad day, or even something as trivial as gaining a little weight, they'll try to attack us and all that. They taught us everything; our teacher was quite detailed about that," I said immediately.
"Oh, you have a teacher? Who is she?" Miss Militia asked curiously, and I nodded.
"R-Rated Hero: Midnight," I said without hesitation. "I don't think there's anyone better to teach us about public relations," I added dryly. Everyone looked at me confused, not recognizing the name, except for Miss Militia, who wore an expression of recognition. I mean, it made sense; I didn't expect anyone in Brockton Bay to know about heroines in Japan. Especially if they weren't at the top of the Japanese hero rankings.
"R-Rated Hero?" Flechette asked, giving me a strange look. "Is she even a hero? Much less a teacher?" she asked again. I snorted.
"Of course she is, she's an excellent heroine, and yes, she's also an excellent teacher, if we ignore her flirting, or her sexual innuendo, or her provocative way of dressing, or her sexual behavior, or basically everything related to sex." I hummed. "She's our dorm mom, she's quite nice." I shrugged. Everyone was still giving me strange looks.
Yes… Midnight was special; there was a learning curve to get used to her, but she was definitely an excellent heroine and teacher. Although… certainly not the strangest. I still couldn't get over Hound Dog's opening speech for the new school term. Just… why bark? And how on earth did the other teachers understand him?
The most incredible thing is that Hound Dog was both the student disciplinary chief and the university therapist, so yes, UA really did have a rather peculiar collection of professors and staff.
"Putting that aside, since I'm terribly confused," Clockblocker interrupted. "Since we're talking about teachers, is it really true that All Might is your teacher?" she asked, completely serious and very excited, while looking intently at me.
"Yes." Confirm without hesitation.
"So? What's he like? Is he a good teacher? Is he amazing? He sounds amazing! It's like Alexandria suddenly came to teach!" Clockblocker said quickly. I snorted amusedly.
"It's fucking amazing." I said honestly while smiling broadly, Clockblocker almost squealed with excitement, in fact, she wasn't the only one.
"Oh, now I'm envious," Antares moaned. "Having the chance to study under All Might sounds amazing," she sighed. I smiled broadly; it was. All Might really was incredible, even here in the United States. All Might was truly beloved.
"Is he really a good teacher?" Weld asked, also seeming interested in the answer; I snorted amusedly.
"Oh no, he's really clumsy." I told them honestly, and they all froze.
"Wait, what? All Might, clumsy!? I don't believe it!" Clockblocker immediately denied.
"I mean... he might be a good hero, but a bad teacher?" Modularis tried awkwardly. I chuckled.
"Rather inexperienced," I interrupted playfully. "He's definitely never taught before, and it shows. He constantly uses flashcards or notes to jot down his lessons, he's quickly overwhelmed by the classes and the students, he treats us like children, and he's very dramatic—literally shouting his entrance at every moment." I said, letting out a small laugh before sighing. "But... he IS a good teacher."
"He writes his own cards and notes for his class, prepares one or two hours before each class, even going so far as to speak aloud to himself in empty classrooms as practice, constantly reads books on teaching, carries around a book called 'Even Fools Can Be Teachers! Theory of Easy Education,' and constantly asks other teachers for advice, even taking entire lessons from them."
"He tries to teach us all, everything he can, even if our quirks or fighting styles are completely different from his, he always comes around to try to help in some way and much more."
"So yes, he's an inexperienced teacher, he's never taught before and has a lot to learn, but he's improving, and it's truly inspiring to see him working so hard to learn how to be a good teacher for us," I said with a warm smile. All Might really was amazing, and being a father, I suppose, taught him a few things, especially how to deal with teenagers.
"Aarrhhg! I'm so jealous!!" moaned Clockblocker as she squirmed. And she wasn't the only one; I could see Antares squirming too, with a huge grin on her face. I could see silly grins on the others; even Miss Militia seemed amazed by the information.
"All Might is so amazing!" Antares exclaimed happily, and I chuckled.
"Yes, he is." I happily agreed. "Though that's all I can say about All Might, I can't comment on his personal life, and before you ask, not Ryuma's either." I said immediately. Clockblocker groaned in frustration, but the others nodded in confirmation.
"Don't worry, Taylor, they've already been notified," Miss Militia said with ease and confidence.
"Alright, then... training? I didn't put on my costume for nothing," I said playfully.
"Right, I was just forgetting," Miss Militia said with a nod. "We can go to the training room right away," she said, looking at the other heroes, who simply nodded in confirmation.
"We'll go get our weapons," Aegis said immediately, and when she said that, half of them moved at once. Aegis, Modularis, Clockblocker, Gallant, Vista, and Flechette moved to the rooms to the side to grab their weapons.
Meanwhile, Antares and Weld did not move.
"So... you have a fiancé." Antares said suddenly, and I just paused for a few seconds.
"I have a husband." I said directly, Antares and Weld froze, the former opening her eyes wide.
"Are you married? To Ryuma's grandson? I thought... he was your fiancé," Antares asked quickly, surprised.
"That's misinformation, I've been married for over a year." I said, shrugging. Antares opened and closed her mouth several times, and Miss Militia sighed wearily. Weld was the first to recover, clearing his throat.
"By the way... what's your hero name?" Weld asked curiously, I smiled slightly.
"Skitter, it's a pleasure to meet you all." I said easily as I watched the others approach once again. Well, let's see what the heroes of Brockton Bay are made of.