Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Uh— sorry?” Sigma must’ve heard wrong, surely.

Fyodor raised a single thin eyebrow, fingers intertwining with his chin delicately placed on top. Yet he didn’t repeat himself. It was the Jester, Nikolai, who jumped in with a delighted cackle.

“You’re getting a vacation Baby Bird!!” He tossed both his arms out, cape flicking in a grand opening motion. Oh so he didn’t mishear. Well, not completely. Sigma’s pretty sure Fyodor used ‘break’ rather than ‘vacation’.

Sigma, Sky Casino Manager, member of the Decay of Angels, and artificial human born from The Book, did not do breaks. He was never given one the moment he was found by those soldiers in that desert. And now he’s just… forced to go on a break? After claiming the Sky Casino as his own? When he didn’t want to leave? Not to mention he’s technically an associate with terrorists. If not one himself!

It made no sense!

Twirling and turning on his toes, Nikolai didn’t let Sigma sink deep into his mind with his grating voice. “QUIZ TIME!!! Why would Dostoy give Sigma a vacation?!” Sigma made no sign of answering, still reeling from the declaration.

Evidently, Nikolai wasn’t waiting for an answer to begin with, laughing harder, doubling over and clutching his stomach. “THAT’S RIGHT! It’s for a mission!” In neck breaking speed he stood right up again, hands clasped together as he swung them side to side animatedly. “Ooohh~ Sigma is sooo~ luckyyy~!!! Dos-kuunn! When will I get a vacation?!”

And just like that Nikolai was clinging to the seat Fyodor made himself comfortable in, whining and pouting.

Fyodor smiled a mute smile. Nikolai, who wasn’t even facing Fyodor, whined louder, as if knowing already the answer.

Sigma finally choked out a reply. “But I don’t want a break!” And, admittedly, his outcry was childish. But it was the truth! He never believed Fyodor would be the one, out of all his handlers, to propose this. “I’m perfectly fine up here in the Casino, you know I am best here!”

“It is non-negotiable.” Fyodor explained calmly, shutting Sigma up quickly. He tilted his head, dark chocolate hair swaying. “You are the least recognized associate with Decay of Angel. Therefore Boss has graciously granted this mission’s responsibility to you, Sigma.” 

Sigma frowned, nibbling the inside of his cheek. Fyodor wasn’t displeased but he had that glint in his eyes. One that reminded others exactly why he was on par with the Demon Prodigy of Port Mafia. A predatory gaze.

“What are the mission details?” Sigma wilted, a weak man despite his confident front.

The look eased, satisfied. “Undercover.” At the manager's wide expression Fyodor's lips curled. “A school teacher. That is what we believe you will pass off as the best.” If Sigma’s mouth was open before his jaw was on the floor now. 

“A TEACHER?!” He shrieked. Nikolai cackled as he fell back, as if Sigma’s reaction was the peak of his day! “I can’t be a teacher Dostoevsky-sama! What would I even teach kids?! How to handle their money and avoid falling into shark loan debts in a Casino?!”

“Precisely that, actually.”

“…You can’t be serious, Dostoevsky-sama.” He stared at the man, confoundedly. Surely this was joke? Right?!

A hand materialized from thin air before Sigma, holding a file in it towards him. He had no choice but to take it, watching as the hand returned from Nikolai’s cape. With a pointed look from Fyodor he opened the file, staring down at a photo of a glass building that looked like an ‘H’ all around. The other man talked as Sigma read through the files. 

“As you know, much of the world is riddled with these low level scum called Quirked Individuals,” Sigma did know that, vaguely. His short time among the living did limit his knowledge. Being restricted from one group to the next dampening his world knowledge further. “Lower than the sinners I have been blessed with cleansing, fixated on their good and bad. Their Heros and Villians .” Fyodor continued, sounding as disgusted as a self proclaimed inhuman being like him could. “UA is the most prestigious institution for these beloved heros-to-be. We wish for you to play a good little teacher there for the time being…. As much as I loathe to hand them our little любимец .” 

The last part was a mutter. Meant for himself— and perhaps Nikolai, no longer flailing and falling theateratically, who nodded very seriously at that. 

Sigma clicked his tongue. If he grew used to one thing from the demon masquerading as a man before him it would be the odd attention he was given. Not so much as Nikolai but more than the average man that Fyodors used.

(Nikolai helpfully quipped in one night whilst invading his down time that “Dos-kun likes pretty people!” and nothing more. Sigma hadn’t even asked him. It just seemed like Nikolai knew it was a question wriggling far back in his mind.)

“They might steal him, Dos-kun!” The jester cried out, eyes curled up in crescent moons that contrasted his words' emotions. He began to shake Fyodor's chair, unable to jostle it like he intended.

“Please let me go, too! I’ll make sure those filthy heroes keep their paws off our Dove!” Said man sweat silently under Nikolai’s declaration.

His way of ‘keeping their paws off’ is more likely than not to involve fatal injuries.

The Russian shared the same sentiments. “No, Kolya.” He denied the jester. “It pains me to decline the tempting idea, but you draw too much attention. Something Sigma can’t have. Besides, you have your own mission too.” And waved Nikolai off, his word final on the matter. Nikolai caught on that, pout disappearing entirely with a satisfied laugh bubbling in his throat. He happily released it, shoulders shaking. 

“I knew Dos-kun wouldn’t bore me~”

“…Dostoevsky-sama..” 

Sigma interrupted, completing his file review in five minutes and memorized its brief contents, closing the pale cream file with a fwamp . “How do you know I’ll easily be accepted as a teacher here?” For what purpose does it serve you? Went unsaid but he knew the other man would pick up on it, whether he wanted that or not. He, despite his wishes otherwise, was a useful tool for Fyodor. He’d be blind to see it. So that begs the question; why send him away? Outside where he can easily monitor him and let him fall into his game?

It was almost an out. So why?

A cold, cruel smirk was given as a reply. Sigma paled.

“You were bound to mingle with these Quirked individuals at some point.” He explained. A surprise to Sigma who assumed Fyodor wouldn’t tell him a thing. “This way we control how . Additionally, it’s good to know who may meddle with us in the future.” He sneered, referring to those Heros Sigma has yet to have the joys of coming across. “Though I hoped to never let them stumble across our operations, Boss believed the chances of their noses not sniffing where they shouldn’t be are slim. I am inclined to agree.” He folded his hands over Sigma’s desk, leaning back. 

That still left one question unanswered.

Seconds ticked by, and Sigma relented that he’ll never receive a response. “The school year—“

“It begins in three months. Enough time to get your affairs in order and settle in your new role. Not to mention before this year's set of heros take their entrance exams.” Fyodor waved off his fellow Decay member. “Boss and I have your forged documents and ID for you here,” He gestured up, Nikolai held up another file, encased in black. “Be sure to memorize it, Sigma.”

With that Fyodor stood from Sigma’s desk, rounding the furniture and walked to and out the exit. Nikolai followed after, stopping just short before Sigma to hand off the file and cheerily said “Good luck~!” In a sing-song tone, then skipped after the amnesic man. 

The door closed with a click .

Sigma felt nauseated. 

Chapter Text

Nikolai fluttered around Fyodor, talking about one thing or another and never the same topic for long the moment it was the two of them alone again. The Russian tuned out the Ukrainian for the most part, their heels clicking echoing in the hall. Further and further away from the Managers room.

“Dos-kun…” Nikolai gained his attention with his quieted tone. Nikolai was rarely ever quiet. “I was serious about those heros. You know Sigma as I do, how he looks for a place to call home, what if…” he trailed off. A rare emotion of worry painting his face? No. Not worry, it was something dangerous disguised as worry.

Fyodor didn’t need to hear the rest of the jesters' words. 

What if Sigma left us for them? What if they steal him?

He laughed a short cold laugh, finding the ‘worry’ unfound as it was amusing.

“Sigma hates to be used, too.” Fyodor explained cryptically. Like before, he never explained himself. Always leaving Nikolai to pick up pieces and form whatever picture he wanted from the scraps. He wasn’t one to lay his thoughts bare. “There will be a new appreciation in him when his task is over with.”

To use and abuse their status as good little heroes  for nefarious deeds done behind their glorious popularity contest. That’s what ‘Heroes’ do best.

Yes, Fyodor has no reason to spare time on a useless thing like worry for Sigma.

The man would come to see the unjust and hypocritical world that was outside their own and choose which of the two he prefers.

Which will be the Decay of Angels and the Sky Casino, naturally.

There was no risk of a betrayal. An injury however… that is far more likely. Fyodor frowned at the thought. Heroes will no doubt try to put Sigma under their thumbs once they realized his talents.

But if they do. Japan will have more to worry about than simple villains ruining their perfect world.

“Come, Nikolai. We must go over your mission details. You leave a little earlier than Sigma himself.”

“Yes Dos-kun~!”

Nikolai’s previous spirit returned. Latching a hand onto Fyodor’s shoulder and the other on his cape he covered them both with it, effectively transporting them both off the Sky Casino’s premises.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Sigma, on the other hand, collapsed into his chair the moment Fyodor and Nikolai left his room. He grasped the files given to him tightly to still his shaking hands.

Him? Away from the Sky Casino? Teaching? Children?! This would all go to shit at any moment!

No matter how many angles Sigma looked at the situation it just made no sense. He dropped the files on his desk, shoving his hands into his hair and tugging on the split colored strands.

He had so much to prepare for his departure; set someone up to be temporary manager, ensure his guests were still happy while he was gone— fuck he hadn’t asked how long he’ll be on this mission— leave ways for communication in case of emergencies…

There was just too much that needed to be done and Sigma knew Fyodor would want him gone in the next week.

Slapping his cheeks Sigma huffed, eyes filled with determination.

Grabbing the black file with his fake documents for this infiltration slash undercover mission, he cracked it open.

Memorization was his strongest skill, thus he treated this single file as though it were one of his guests. With precision.

Most of the information was kept relatively the same. The only additions he must remember were his birthday, his age— now officially twenty three— and his ability. Or, considering the mission, his quirk. 

The file labeled him quirkless. Which Sigma was fortunate for, even if he knew the lack of a Gift was for entirely selfish reasons on the Decay of Angels behalf.

He’d hate to go down to this school and be grabbed for his usefulness. Heroes or not, humans were still greedy creatures and Sigma was a wary, repeat victim to them.

Just this once he’ll thank Fyodor. Silently. In the safety of his own mind.

He spent a little longer memorizing his backstory than anything. Much to his displeasure he wasn’t allowed to bring up his ‘former occupation’ as a Casino manager, but it’s to be expected. Here it was listed his former occupation was a Hero’s finance manager in Russia, giving him enough credits to teach whatever class Fyodor has in mind for him. 

(He doesn’t want to begin to think over what people Fyodor had brainwashed and slash or killed to get him such credible referrals)

He was listed as Yokohama born, explaining away his lack of records or birth certificate in Japan’s government files. He wasn’t quite sure that was accurate anyways; he was ‘born’ in a desert which he was fairly certain to be in the middle east. Those that found him were American. On top of the Japanese and Russian he knows enough to be fluent in, Sigma believed it would be hard to pinpoint what his ethnicity was, even if he were to miraculously get a dna test. He was androgynous in all senses of the word.

Yokohama, an infamous city closed off to the rest of Japan, would easily push some suspicion off him, yet will simultaneously bring down another set of problems on his lap. Fyodor had a plan for all these details, no doubt. Though he loathed to think he was in the middle of it all. To be used for whatever greater scheme the man has already in place.

Behind his own documents were information sheets on the staff of UA. Eyebrows rose high, but silently did he spread out the files carefully on his desk.

A quick skim over them, he prioritized the ones that can bring him danger first. His eyes landed on one file in particular, and his earlier nausea came back tenfold, swirling in his stomach in unease. 

Nedzu; Principal

Quirk; High Specs

• Has the intelligence that far surpasses humans

A rodent. An intelligent rodent beyond human comprehension. A fucking rodent!

This was it. This was his suicide mission. Fyodor finally used him for all he was worth and deemed it appropriate to give him a mission where he can hope to flee, but in reality will be destroyed. He could cry.

His fingers clenched the paper tightly, then smoothed it out hastily once he realized what he did. 

Fyodor had a plan. He had a plan. Sigma didn’t trust his teammate but he trusted his usefulness hadn’t ran dry yet. He’ll be fine! Everything will be great. 

… Maybe. 

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts Sigma focused back on reading the rest of the files. 

Notable ones; Eraseread; Aizawa Shouta, Thirteen; Kurose Anan, Snipe, and Midnight; Kayame Nemuri. 

Of course there was also the No.1 fucking hero of Japan! But Sigma wasn’t bent on focusing on that for now.

In terms of dangerous and deadly to his health, Present Mic; Yamada Hizashi and Thirteen presented the most issue, as well as Nedzu. A burst eardrum is no laughing matter, and a black hole? A perfect offense and defense. Once again he was so glad to be labeled as quirkless in his files.

They’ll underestimate him.

Sigma was never planning on engaging any of these teachers in a battle. But knowing his teammates as he does, he’ll at least be stuck in the crossfire.

He spent the next three hours memorizing every little detail about his future co-workers as well as doing his own research to keep up to date with the current news. At least he had a safety net to fall back onto; his previous location being Russia. His ignorance to Japan’s news will be excused then.

Gathering up the files into a neat stack he opened one of his desk drawers, planning to drop them in there until he left, and was met with a phone he’s never seen before placed delicately inside, a sticky-note attached to it. Sigma had a feeling who left this here, only confirmed with the ridiculous faces drawn on the note as he picked it up. 

For your mission; keep in touch little dove~ ;)

- Koyla <3

Well… it made sense he couldn’t use his old one. Too much sensitive information if it was hacked into.

Still, as he checked his contacts on the new device, he was surprised to find only Fyodor's number in it. What? No Nikolai? That’s suspicious. He was only further shocked to see UA’s phone number in here already. 

Right.

He should… call and get this mission started.

Pressing on the contact, Sigma brought the phone to his ear as his free hand scrolled through UA’s website on his laptop. The call was picked up only after the first ring.

“Ah! Hello, Sigma-kun. Dostoevsky-kun said you’d be calling soon!” A chipper, almost squeaky, voice greeted him. Sigma’s heart dropped. 

What?

Chapter Text

Sigma’s heart was hammering in his ear. “What?” His voice strained.

The voice on the other end paused, like they too realized the situation, and laughed. It wasn’t one meant to ease his already quickened heart and on edge nerves. 

“I see! So the situation is like that, is it?” Sigma swallowed down the lump forming in his throat. “Dostoevsky-kun neglected to inform you about my involvement! You must be so confused, Sigma-kun.” 

And wasn’t that the truth? 

The caller pushed on without pause for Sigma to edge a word in. “Well introductions are in order then. My name is Nedzu, I’m the principal here at UA!” Nedzu— the damn intelligent rodent— introduced himself. “Your wellbeing will fall under my jurisdiction, I do hope we can get along for my sake!”

“Your sake?” Sigma cut in, tone still rough from the shock. 

“Well yes, my sake. I’m not brazen enough to believe Dostoevsky-kun will leave my and my staff's welfare intact otherwise.” Still with that upbeat tone… it unnerved Sigma to no end. 

“U-uh. Yeah..” Sigma had no clue what he meant by that. He cleared his throat, finally gathering his wits. “I suppose that explains Dostoevsky’s confidence in me.” He had a rat on the inside, no pun intended.

They should move on to important matters. Sigma took the initiative. 

“But enough of that, Principal Nedzu. I was admittedly worried how I could worm my way into the staff's numbers but considering your involvement with… Fyodor… that eliminates some of my half baked plans.” He leaned forward, wedging his phone between his shoulder and ear, freeing both hands to work away on his laptop. “I can only guess you won’t tell me why this is all happening either, will you?” 

“Ha Ha Ha! I would, but I believe Dostoevsky-kun should bear those responsibilities.” Sigma sighed. Of course he would… “I will say we came to a mutual understanding and both benefit from this situation. Now, when will you come in for your interview? You have a guaranteed spot, yes, but it’s best to keep up appearances anyways, hm?”

“Ah.” He ran the calculations in his head, knowing the work he had to complete before he left. “Give me a week… this was sprung on me at the last minute, after all.”

“Of course! Does next Tuesday work?” There was the faint sound of pen scratching on paper.

“Oh that… yes that works well, actually. Thank you.” 

“Oh no, thank you! It isn’t everyday an Ability user graces us Quirked Individuals with their presence! I look forward to working with you, Sigma-kun.”

The beep indicating the calls end rung in Sigma’s head, too fast for him to get the last words in. Of course he knew he was an Ability user. Great.

Not!

A fatigue-like feeling washed over him. It was all too familiar, one typically accompanying him long after he’s talked with Fyodor one on one. The above natural intelligence were all the same to him; draining.

It dawned on him, again, long after he left his office to gather his employees for a meeting and planning, that he again forgot to ask how long this mission would keep him from the Sky Casino.

Damn it.

Sigma groaned, palming his face with both hands.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Just as he and Nedzu agreed upon, Sigma moved in near Musutafu just a day before his ‘interview’ for the finance teaching position.

The move itself was without any flair. 

He was given a small housing to himself, far enough from the school he's meant to work at, in the Kanagawa prefecture, that taking a train every morning would be in his foreseeable future, with just the right amount of space for him to live comfortably without worry over empty or extra unoccupied space.

(He fretted silently over the proximity they had to Yokohama. Fyodor must know that, right?)

It came with two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a sizable kitchen that was separated from the living room by its island. It came furnished already; the theme of the furniture had Sigma believing Nikolai fought with Fyodor to add just a dash of his character in every room. 

There was always one wildly patterned decor no matter where he looked.

He set his laptop on the coffee table, his bag dropped next to it on the floor, and he dropped himself face first onto his couch with a loud groan.

The days leading up to his departure for this mission were, to say the least, hellish.

Nikolai kept bugging him day in and day out as he made his preparations, causing a ruckus that only added more to Sigma’s plate, only to up and disappear just yesterday with no word!

And because of his pranks he had to leave his employees with more anxiety hanging on his heart than when he first got this mission!

(Despite said employees repeatedly assuring Sigma they have everything covered. And will call him if they were in dire need.)

Then Fyodor did the odd thing and decided to accompany him until his interview tomorrow. Which did nothing for his overthinking and overlapping brain. Everything felt so suffocating. Like he was leashed. 

Just a bunch of questions wondering why, why, why?

A rustle of clothes shifting, and a hand nudged Sigma to sit up. Which he did with haste just to avoid the mentioned man from sitting on him.

Fyodor settled next to Sigma, paying no heed to how stressed his teammate was. Rather, he leaned over and plucked up Sigma’s new laptop— after all he couldn't bring his old one for this mission— logging into it without permission and opening an application already installed on it. 

Several screens popped up at once. Looking into it, Sigma realized it was a camera feed.

He sat up on his knees, quickly sliding himself into the Russian's side to peer at the many cameras. It was almost like he was back in his control room, watching over everyone. He itched to grab the laptop from Fyodor but settled for clenching his pant leg instead. 

It’ll be rude, he reasoned, just as he spoke, “What is this, Dostoevsky-san?” He decided to play dumb, head tilting.

That plan was shot in the foot as Fyodor chuckled. “Do not act stupid now, Sigma.” He turned the laptop towards him, crossing his arms. “Go on,” nodding down to the device, he focused intently on Sigma’s reaction.

Whatever trap this was, Sigma fell for it completely.

He nabbed the computer from Fyodor’s lap and settled it on his own, keys clicking as he switched from one camera to the next and studied each tab. 

It was his casino. Live.

These were camera feeds from his own system.

His breath hitched. 

Fyodor crossed his leg over the other, leaning into Sigma’s personal space this time to watch the people in the cameras go about their daily gambling lives, humming. “Lest you become distracted from worry.” 

“Huh?”

“We can’t have you failing this mission.” Fyodor explained. Which, really, didn’t explain anything. 

Sigma frowned at the other, but decided— for his safety— not to say something on the matter.

Rather he focused on alternating between checking the casino cameras and opening a new tab to start laying out his class-plans as an upcoming teacher. It was a rough draft until he was hired officially.

The Russian got up after a while, silently leaving for the kitchens.

Sigma gnawed on his inner cheek, finger tapping on the laptop as he stared at the blank screen of his notes app. 

Just what the hell do you teach kids? About finance of all things? It would be completely different were he teaching college students maybe, but again, these were kids!

A distinct clink on the coffee table drew the young man back from his turmoil. A quick glance to the window made him realize he stewed in his thoughts a lot longer than it felt. Heat was radiating near his cheek and he turned to the source.

A mug was held by his face with a tea bag tag hanging from it. As Sigma drew his eyes up he found Fyodor at the end of the mug, staring at him with a silent brow raise, as if asking the other ‘well? Aren’t you going to take it?’  

Sigma grabbed the mug with both his hands delicately, holding the warm drink close to his chest with a question bubbling in his throat, decided better than to ask it, then drank it. He didn’t even think about the possibility Fyodor may have poisoned him. 

He was really banking on his usefulness to the older man.

The effects of the tea hit him almost immediately. He let out a sigh, relaxing into his couch just as Fyodor scooped back up his laptop and plopped it on his own lap again. 

He closed out the camera tabs and got started on Sigma’s lesson plans. Outlining the basics and what students should know at their age, what to teach if not, and how to plan lessons moving forward. Assisting just this once.

Sigma watched Fyodor silently, eyebrows pinched together in a concentrated expression, trying to figure Fyodor out like a puzzle.

“Dostoevsky-san…” He began, risking the break in silence for his one question.

“Hm?”

He wasn’t blown off, that’s good! 

“How… ah. How long is this mission?”

The clacking of the keys paused. “…A few months.” Then resumed after that vague time frame was given.

“Oh.” He replied lamely, returning to the silence with his sipping.

Eventually he drank all his tea and set the mug on the table to be put in the sink later, and with nothing better to do, started to watch Fyodor work away on his laptop, on lessons he should be planning. He leaned his head against the cushions, drawing his knees to his chest and circling them with his arms, dozing off to the muted sounds of the keyboard. Though sleep didn’t come to him like he hoped as something nudged his leg. 

Opening his eyes he saw Fyodor staring at him, fixedly. 

With him awake the Russian, in a flat tone, told him to “Go to bed.” With a nod down the hall further in the house. He wrinkled his nose at Sigma’s clothes, conveying how distasteful he found that his subordinate was attempting to doze off in his day wear.

Sigma flushed, hastily getting to his feet. “Goodnight then, Dostoevsky-san.” He bent down low to scoop up his bag and flee the lounging area for his bedroom. Or— what he will now claim as his bedroom. 

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Sigma mimicked his earlier motion and face planted onto the bed, exhaustion he wasn’t aware he had taking over and swaying him to sleep.

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

The following day came by too quickly, in Sigma’s opinion. As he groaned and flipped himself over to stare at his ceiling, he craned his neck and checked the time.

His heart leapt into his throat when he saw it was nearing noon.

He was up and out of the house in record time, dressed in his usual garb with a bag on his side, and cursing under his breath at his lack of forethought to put on an alarm for today. He could only pray Nedzu wouldn’t bite his head off for his tardiness.

The train ride felt like it took forever to reach Musutafu, he practically bolted out like lightning once the train doors opened, drawing some disgruntled eyes to his harried figure as he weaved and twisted his way through crowds and arrived to the bus stop that’ll lead him close enough to UA just in time to catch said bus.

He collapsed in a free seat, hand over his chest as he tried to steady his quickened breaths and even speedier heart.

First impressions? Thrown out the window.

If he were any regular aspiring teacher interviewing for this job Sigma was certain his application was rejected by this point.

With one deep final inhale and exhale, Sigma sat straight in his seat and combed his fingers through his hair, fixing up his slightly disheveled appearance. He wasn’t someone to lose his cool so early on, he can put on a brave face when unexpectedly confronted by the unknown! His worries were unfounded and baseless. 

By the time the bus reached his stop, Sigma was way calmer than when he left his house this morning. He walked with confidence up to UA’s gates, determined to get this interview over with and turn this mission around. 

He held his visitor ID as he crossed the gates, tensing for a second and listening for any alarms, but as none came he picked up his stride and made his way into the building. 

If Sigma thought the building’s outer architect was ridiculous, the interior was far worse . How was anyone meant to navigate these halls without a map pointing where to go for what?!

He could have sworn he passed by the cafeteria twice now.

He was frowning, lips pressed thin as his feet picked up to an almost brisk walk. Looking around but only seeing windows, windows, and more windows— there wasn’t a single sign to show where he should be going! He’d give anything right now for some sort of guide—

Speak of it and it shall be granted. 

“Oomph!-” Both himself and a higher pitched voice said as Sigma ran directly into someone, stumbling back onto his butt. He groaned, just his luck.

“Oh god- are you alright?” Called out the same voice. When Sigma looked up to assure the other he was fine, his words were caught in his throat with a choked gasp, gaping at the lady before him.

Despite reviewing heros for this mission and researching his future co-workers, Kayama Nemuri, Midnight, just wasn’t something you got used to until seeing her in person.

Cladded in dark black leather leotard and a skin colored bodysuit, she looked all much like her public figure as the ‘R-Rated Hero’ . 

With her clothing that would make Nikolai whistle and call scandalous and even make Fyodor’s eyes widen, Midnight stood over Sigma with a red domino mask framing her wide concern blue eyes. A hand held out towards him in an offering to help him up.

“Uh- oh! Yes, I’m fine.” Sigma assured her quickly, grabbing ahold of her hand and being pulled up to his feet. He knew he was no light weight either. “Thank you ma’am,” he patted down his pants, feeling his rump starting to ache. Damn that fall was a lot harder than he thought… 

Midnight laughed, “Ma’am? Please call me Midnight- or Nemuri. I wouldn’t mind hearing my name from your lips, pretty thing~” She winked at Sigma, grinning as all most of her concern melted away behind her Heroic persona.

Right, Sigma returned with a small smile, she dislikes references to her age. And ‘Ma’am’ is pretty high up there in terms of referring to one's age. “My apologies, Midnight-san. And apologies for running into you like that, I’m usually more aware of my surroundings…”

“Don't sweat it, cutie. You could repay me by telling me your name?” If Sigma hadn’t researched better he’d assume the older woman was flirting with him. Her tone and body language definitely suggested as such.

“Sigma,” He offered, watching as Midnight’s face contorted as if waiting for a really bad joke.

When the silence stretched on her expression eased into shock and disbelief. 

“No,” She gasped. “Really?”

Head tilted, the younger man didn’t understand what the problem was. “Yes? Is there something wrong with my name?”

“NO! No! It’s a lovely name!” She quickly assured Sigma, confusing him more. He felt like there was an obvious jab being made at him, so he crossed his arms. Causing Midnight to slightly panic and laugh nervously. “Ahahah! Say- What are you doing in UA, Sigma?” Quickly deflecting from the topic.

“Oh! I’m—“ realization dawned on the two-toned haired man as he cut himself off. “Midnight-san! You just saved me!!” His sudden exclamation startled the woman, looking upon him quizzically for his outburst.

“I know I’m an angel but where’s this coming from?”

“No- well. I suppose you are my angel sent from above in these trying times…” murmured Sigma, smiling to himself. The gobsmacked look he was given went unseen. “But no, I’m looking for the principal's office and got a little lost.” He explained, and Midnight suddenly understood his outburst.

“Why didn’t you say so! I can show you where it is right now.”

“Thank you,” He sighed, following after the hero as she walked past him, down the direction he already came from.

He was just that hopelessly lost, it seems. 

(Something he must correct before the school year began.)

“You didn’t answer my question, Sigma-kun.” Midnight looked over her shoulder towards the other.

“Oh- yes. Why am I here?” Midnight nodded, “I’m applying to a teaching position.”

She made a soft sound, questioning. “I didn’t know we still had any positions to fill up?”

Sigma found it weird Nedzu didn’t inform the staff already of the new class— or had he only given the green light to those in the hero department? 

“Well you do now, I suppose.”

She looked at him weirdly again.

He couldn’t help but wonder if he was already messing up the plan with all these suspicious remarks. He’s meant to gain their favor, no?

But before he could try to remedy whatever odd thoughts Midnight had about him, she stopped before a larger than average door.

Turning to him, she gestured. “This is the principal's office.” And knocked on the door.

“Come in!” That chipper voice squeaked.

Opening the door, Midnight held it open for Sigma, who thanked her quietly with a head bow. 

“Ah! Sigma-kun, Midnight-san! What a pleasant surprise to see you two together.” Nedzu commented, hopping up onto his desk and folded his paws over each other.

“I found him wandering around like a newborn kitten, Principal Nedzu! Couldn’t even give him a set of directions huh?” Teased Midnight, crossing her arms under her chest.

Sigma felt like protesting, but silently stood to the side as he watched the interaction between his employer and future co-worker, hands held together behind his back.

“I thought it was best that he got a vague grasp on the building, since he’ll be working here soon enough. Speaking of! Thank you for guiding Sigma-kun here, Midnight-san!” 

Midnight, knowing when she was dismissed, looked to Sigma and gave him a thumbs up and a wink with a whisper of “Good luck!” Before she left the room, the door shutting behind her.

With the third party out of the room, Sigma tensed as Nedzu moved to sit on the couch in his office, gesturing for him to do the same. 

“Now, Sigma-kun. Let’s talk, shall we?”

God. Sigma thought, Geniuses are such pains.

Chapter Text

After the tedious and needless interview done by Nedzu— which was really him checking to see if he had everything to remain inconspicuous— Sigma was now officially a part of the UA staff.

He thought that meant he could go home, possibly explore Musutafu because honestly this was the most freedom he had in a long time—

However, Nedzu had other plans. 

“Well now that that is over with, it’s time for yourself to be introduced to our staff!” The rodent hopped down from his seat, wadding over to his desk to grab his phone, messing around with the device before setting it down with a satisfied hum. “Head upstairs and take a right, the teacher lounge should be the third door down!”

They were on the second floor, so the lounge was on the third floor and the cafeteria was on the first floor. Mentally, Sigma jotted these locations down.

Standing, the manager bowed at the waist, “Thank you, Principal Nedzu-san.” and quickly strode out of the office with such haste it was practically him fleeing the scene. Nedzu guffawed.

Did he enjoy his discussion— his check up— with Nedzu? Not one bit. And he was glad to conclude the interaction swiftly.

Making his way up the flight of stairs and down the hall just as Nedzu told him, he approached his destination with a sense of tranquility.

This would go better, he believed, placing his hand onto the door and sliding it open.

“HAH! I told you- pay up!” A woman said the second Sigma stepped into the teacher lounge.

It was Midnight.

She held out her hand towards a man with long yellow hair, gelled up in a curve into a banana shape; Present Mic, Hizashi Yamada, groaned out loud and dug into his pockets, taking out some bills and handing it off to her, who grabbed it smugly.

“You shouldn’t make bets like that, Hizashi,” A whole cement block advised, disproving. “She always wins.”

“But how was I meant to know this meeting was for a new staff member! ” He squawked out defensively.

“You bet on me?” Sigma blinked, finding the familiar topic of betting— a synonym to gambling— drawing him in, leaving most of his anxiety at the door. 

Most.

Present Mic shook his head, “I just don’t get it, Nem! Nedzu called us for less things like this- how’d you guess it?!”

Midnight grinned, “A girl never kisses and tells.”

“Yes, dear, they bet on you.” An old woman— Recovery girl— pitied the younger man and gestured for Sigma to take the empty seat on one of the lounge's couches. “The youth know no shame.” 

Sigma was grateful to be told where to sit, back straight when he settled. “I’m not sure I can let this go on in good conscience,” he sighed, turning to the blond hero. “Midnight-san helped me find Nedzu-san's office. She already knew of my existence.”

“ NEM. ” Gasped Present Mic, “You SWINDLED ME?!” His hand flew to his chest, clutching his heart dramatically. “How could you!”

“Aw sweetie, why’d you tell him!” Midnight complained non-seriously, pushing at Present Mic’s weight as he threw himself against her, mock-crying of betrayal.

Sigma smiled, laying on his Manager charm. “The cards were against Present Mic-san from the beginning. I believe in fair play.” Most of the time.

You don’t live long by playing by the rules of society twenty-four seven.

Midnight huffed, finally able to shove Present Mic to the other side of their couch, right into Snipe. The two men squawked, limbs flailing. “You’re a fiend is what you are. That handsome face is a trap!”

Sigma mouthed ‘handsome?’ to himself just as Present Mic sat up, frantically checking his hair. When everything was in order he leaned over with a grin, “Well, Nem. Don’t keep any more secrets from us, introduce the new guy!”

“Why should I? He has his own pair of pretty lips to speak from.”

Pretty lips . That was the second time he heard that remark from her .

Sigma brushed off Midnight's playful words, clearing his throat to gain attention. “My name is Sigma, pleasure to be acquainted.” And bowed his head respectfully to the Heroes.

There was a stifled laugh, then a smack followed by a yelp.

When he looked up he found Present Mic rubbing his leg and Midnight looking a little too innocent. He tilted his head and the woman winked at him.

Odd. What’s with the reactions to his name? He feared they may have heard of it from the underground network but Fyodor was keen on keeping his name out of any associations with the Decay of Angels. Not to mention these Heroes do not look like the type to go poking in the underground.

Sigma was spared from his thoughts as Recovery Girl addressed him.

“You look so young, Sigma-kun,” She observed. “How old are you?”

This was an easy answer. “Twenty three.”

“ TWENTY THREE?! ” Resounded across the lounge, astonishment, disbelief, and synonyms of those emotions coloring each Heroes face.

 “I feel so old! You’re so young! A whole life ahead of you! And you’re here—“ Present Mic paused, “…what are you here for, anyways?”

So Nedzu spared no information to the staff. Great.

Composing himself mentally with all the practiced answers in his mind's forefront, Sigma placed on his Manager smile. “I’ll be teaching a new subject for the Heroics course; Finances. Principal Nedzu believed it be best to teach young Heroes what they may get into and how to lighten the load off of their employees.”

“About time,” A… caterpillar? A very bright yellow caterpillar mumbled from its spot on the floor. “I’ve had enough complaints sent in about these kids not understanding basic business finances in the Hero profession from the Business course to bury the most proficient employer under for weeks.” The caterpillar wriggled around, propping itself up against the couch and revealed the face of Eraserhead, Aizawa Shouta, staring back.

The one with the least amount of public information.

Sigma isn’t a genius, therefore he was ignorant to many things about his co-workers, just like the general public. To make matters worse Fyodor only granted him basic access to information. Leaving him in the dark and woefully unprepared. Like he trusted Sigma to work well with what he had.

He would, naturally. But he must be conscious of any slip-ups.

“Well it’s my job to lighten their future employees' workload.” He sounded exasperated as he continued. “Just because they are future heroes doesn’t give them an excuse to slack off on basic paperwork.”

Aizawa hummed. “I like you already, kid. Where did you work before this?”

Sigma felt flattered. “I have experience with these things,” in a way. “And in Russia. My… agency relied heavily on the subordinates to complete everything on time.”

“Russia?” Turning to the new voice jumping in, Sigma was met with Lunch Rush peering from the staff’s kitchen. “Your Japanese is amazing!” And gave a thumbs up in his direction. “Oh! What’s your favorite dish, by the way?”

The split hair colored man laughed, his smile straining. “I’m not Russian, I just worked there.” he explained, “I’m actually from here, Japan, but it’s been years. Thank you, though. I was afraid I might forget the language! I also don’t have a favorite dish.”

A pause, “Unless cookies count?”

“A sweet tooth, ay?” Midnight purred.

“I suppose so,” Sigma agreed, nodding.

Lunch Rush seemed to take his answer and correction in strides, disappearing back into the kitchens.

“So how will your class run?” This came from Sekijiro Kan, Vlad King. He leaned over the couch Sigma sat on, startling the younger man as his head snapped to face him.

“Well, Nedzu-sama and I are still ironing out the final details…” drawled Sigma, lying on the spot. His schedule wasn’t yet given to him after all. “You can ask him for a proper explanation.” There, deflect to the most trustworthy source they knew. Dismiss the topic without appearing rude. Genius thinking!

Vlad King gruffed, accepting the dismissal as it was given. He moved away from Sigma, trodding on over to the giant dog-like staff member near the tables. Ryo Inui, Hound Dog.

“Hey!” Present Mic clapped his hands, gathering everyone's attention. “Since we’re all here anyway, should we finalize the entrance exams? They’re just a month away!”

Sigma sank back into the cushions as the attention was taken off of him.

“Well I was thinking about the Support course and…” Power Loader, Maijima Higari, went on to explain his exam idea for future aspiring students.

Sigma tuned out the conversation, patting around his pockets for his phone. It was odd he wasn’t receiving ten plus messages from Nikolai the second the clock struck twelve. 

When his pockets came up empty, that’s when Signa recalled his new phone didn’t have Nikolai’s contact. Only Fyodor’s and UA. Though he has a feeling that will change very soon.

He also realized he left his new phone at… home.

His new home. His temporary home. Not the Sky Casino.

How he missed the Sky Casino.

Up in the skies where even the clouds couldn’t touch it, couldn’t touch him . Granting him a clear view of Yokohama.

A gift to him from Fyodor, payment for the usage of his ability. 

His home .

All his . 

He missed it desperately.

Once more he wondered to himself; Why am I here?

“—gma-san…. Sigma-san?”

Eyes fluttering open— when had he closed them?— Sigma sat straight as he directed his gaze in the voices direction. Cementoss, Ishiyama Ken, looked at him with concern. At his attention, he asked, “Are you well? You zoned out.”

A quick glance around and it seemed everyone stalled their conversation on the upcoming exams, similar looks adopted on all their faces- with exceptions. How long was he zoned out for? How many times had his name been called?

Turning back to Cementoss, he smiled sheepishly. “I was just recalling where I left my phone this morning,”

The concern turned to sympathy. Present Mic in particular nodded solemnly. “Yeah I get that,” then turned back to Midnight and resumed their previous topic; the written portion of the exams.

He mustn’t linger on his thoughts of home.

He let the rest of the conversations pass over him, staying only out of obligation and info-gathering. And what he learned was that these entrance exams were far too biased. Fighting robots? He may not have been in this quirked world for long but there were an array of interesting quirks, to limit and even cut out aspiring students because the exams were aimed for flashy, hard hitting, external quirks simply made no sense for a prestigious and wide range school like UA.

“Is there, perhaps, a second point system?” Sigma inquired, placing his metaphorical hand on the table.

It only made sense, this was a hero school after all. All the cards shouldn’t be stacked against these students if the dealer was any good.

“A second point system… that’s an amazing idea!”

The dealers were horrendous, Sigma rightfully decided.

That’s how he spent his remaining hour with the UA staff implementing a second, secret point system to give the less athletic hopeful-heroes a shot at passing.

When he returned ‘home’ it was to silence and lacking any other presence. Fyodor was gone, the certainty of it settled over his mind even before Sigma thought of the older man. He unslung his bag from his shoulders and dropped it on the couch, eyes catching a glint coming from the kitchen. It was the reflection of the light bouncing off his missing phone. A notepad next to it with writing. A message.

With the lack of threat looming over him Sigma was at ease as he walked up to the island and plucked up the notepad. It wasn’t signed, but reading the neat Russian writing, he knew it was Fyodor.

I have business to conduct elsewhere. Ivan’s contact is in your phone, message him if assistance is needed .

His other hand grabbed his phone and quickly checked for messages. True to the note a new contact labeled ‘Ivan’ was on his list. That was the fellow who worshiped Fyodor, no? He recalled catching glimpses of long silver strands disappearing behind corners when he was in Fyodor's domain. He was a subordinate, not unlike him but somehow a lesser pawn.

He then got a notification.

Oh! He was added to the staff group chat, how quaint.

Shooting off a quick hello Sigma pocketed his phone where he won’t easily misplace it and trudged further onto his home and went through his new routine of getting comfortable. Shower, dry his hair, brush his hair, make some tea— Sigma mentally noted to go grocery shopping tomorrow—  migrate to the living room, and scan over his Casino camera feed like he was back in the control room and not thousands of miles away from his safe haven of a home.

He sank into his couch. 

What a long, long mission he has ahead of him.

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Sigma was sure to mention his absence the following day, explaining to Nedzu about settling in properly. The principal assured him he had the right to come and go in as he pleased and to ‘please not inform me like I'm your keeper.’  

Whatever that meant.

He fiddled with the card between his fingers, staring at it like it were another puzzle to decipher. That meant it involved Fyodor.

He found the credit card on the coffee table this morning, no note, no nothing. It was clear who it belonged to, and Sigma had half a mind to message the Russian right now and ask if he left anything here.

But that would be insulting the man, calling an intelligent being like him forgetful. So of course he did it anyway.

At least Fyodor seemed amused when he responded back.

Yes, he is giving Sigma one of his cards. What? Did he think Fyodor was going to allow one of his own to live off a salary? A teacher's salary? Do not make him laugh.

He was just making sure this wasn't some prank schemed up by Nikolai!

Pocketing his phone Sigma shoved the card into his wallet and put that deep in his sleeves. With money not being an issue any longer he can freely do his grocery shopping and buy the other necessities he’ll need to live on his own long-term. He grabbed his keys and headed out for the nearest market street.

It was a steady walk, nothing too taxing as Sigma entered the marketplace.

He actually never went to one before, being secluded to one location at all times tends to limit your ‘normal’ experiences. A quick glance around and Sigma grabbed a hand basket that he carried through the store, choosing to go aisle by aisle and select what he needed there.

Sure beat wandering around aimlessly!

However, as Sigma looked through the brands and different foods the market had to offer, he began to realize how little he knew. Food was prepared for him by Fyodor, or more accurately, his subordinates, and before that he was given rations or scraps by the soldiers. Even the store bought items, though few and far between, had been brought in by Nikolai and his Overcoat.

In reality, Sigma had not one clue what a man of his age should be eating to be healthy. He should’ve researched before stepping out, now he looked foolish just standing there. He forced himself to continue down the aisles, choosing to grab items based on how familiar they were to him. He can adapt, he’s done so before without assistance.

His eyes caught sight of some packaged sweets on display. He was going to dismiss them, no need to be addicted to sugar like Nikolai was, but the box of Amerikaners drew the cookie-aficionado towards the section with eyes alight like stars appeared in them.

Nikolai brought these in one day with intention to tease Sigma, calling him and the cookie twins for their split colors. 

Jokes were on him entirely, the second Sigma bit into one out of annoyance he tuned the jester out immediately as bliss eloped every one of his senses.

Let’s just say, Nikolai didn’t get a single cookie that day.

As he reached out and plucked up a box to set in his basket, a familiar accented voice called behind him. “Sigma-kun? Well, I’ll be damned!”

Turning to the voice, Sigma was met with the unmasked face of Snipe, who looked just as shocked to see him here as Sigma was. “Snipe-san? You live around here?”

“I should be askin’ you that! I’m born and raised in Kanagawa,” The tanned hero walked up to Sigma, “so yer here doin’ some groceries huh?” Peering at his basket, Snipe clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “What’s allah this?” And prodded at the sad contents in the basket. He shook his head, “…Now this just won’ do.”

He hooked a hand around the crook of Sigma’s elbow, tugging the younger man back around towards the front to grab a cart and wheel it around with the younger at his side. Sigma felt lost, eyebrows pushing together. 

“Uhm... Snipe-san what are you doing?”

“Helpin’ ya out, what’s it look like?” 

“No I see that,” Sigma struggled to find the right, non-offensive words. “But why?”

“Well ya can’t live off just that, it won’ get you through the week!” Snipe pointed to the offending basket, “What’s yer budget kid?” 

Budget? That’s a good question. Sigma held his chin between his forefinger and thumb. “… ¥1 million.” 

“…yer jokin’.” 

Sigma swallowed, “I’m limiting myself,” 

Snipe ran a hand down his face, “that’s you limitin’ yerself…?” That was an absurd amount of money to spend on groceries.

“Yes.”

“…Alright, well, let’s get goin’ then,” Just how much did Sigma’s old job pay him?

Pushing Sigma’s apparent money-blindness aside, with much difficulty, Snipe led the younger man back into the store aisles. With him here, Sigma was able to gather the information he needed on what he was meant to be buying. And it appeared he had to buy a lot of things despite living alone. He wasn’t sure if he’d eat all of this before any of it spoiled…

“Snipe-san, I live alone,” Sigma spoke up as the older man continued to load the cart full.

“Mhm…” It was clear Snipe wasn’t paying attention as he debated between two brands of rice for Sigma. 

He swallowed his sigh. “Would I really need all of… this? ” And gestured to the steadily rising pile in the cart. “I can’t exactly cook either.” And boy did that statement catch Snipe’s attention. 

“Naw… really?” The man asked, staring down in bewilderment. When Sigma nodded again, more hesitantly, he shook his head. “Tha’s just gotta change soon. How far ya live from here?”

“I am a quick learner if given time, there's no need for you to—“ He tried to explain, or— better said— assure Snipe of whatever wrong conclusion he came to. He was interrupted.

“Relax kid, I’m just tryna see if ya’d like to stop by my place to learn. My husband's a better chef than I but ‘m a mean baker.”

“You’re married?” Sigma looked surprised, overcoming his relief that Snipe wasn’t trying to get into his home. Call him paranoid. “I never knew.” That tidbit of information wasn't in his files when he went looking.

“Well it ain’t exactly public information,” shrugged the cowboy-theme hero. “An I don’ wear my weddin’ ring in uniform.” Holding up his right hand, he showed off a wedding band that shined against his dark skin.

Sigma’s mouth dropped into a small ‘o’ shape, blinking back his surprise. “I suppose that makes sense. Beautiful band, by the way,” the compliment fell off his lips with ease, like butter, as he turned away from the increasingly proud man.

Snipe was married. Noted.

He stewed in this new information silently as Snipe helped him gather the appropriate groceries. Just as they reached the liquids— like milk— Sigma asked the question that was on his mind, “Why offer such help? I’ll take it, do not think I will decline the thoughtful offer, but we’ve really only known each other for a day…”

Snipe held back a chuckle, seeing Sigma’s genuine confusion. “Well why naw? Yer new in town an my co-worker. Tha’s ‘nough reason for me to lend a personal hand.” He propped open the freezer door with his hip, gesturing to the different milks lined across the shelves. “Got any certain brand ya fancy?” 

Sigma shook his head and Snipe grabbed a red labeled milk with a shrug. “‘sides, I like ya kid. Yer doin’ UA an future pro’s a huge favor with yer classes,” He dropped the milk onto the cart pile and pushed away, the split-toned hair man followed after like a little duck. Heh, cute. “So don’ go lookin’ confused over kindness, it makes folk think ya haven’t been treated well before and they’ll become overbearin’ to make up for it.”

That startled Sigma, face dropping from its silent confusion to shock, then into a thoughtful one in quick succession. “I see,” he said, finally understanding it was just human nature to assist those that were innocent looking and troubled. Not that he was innocent by any means, however he can admit he looked the part. “Thank you, for… all of this, Snipe-san.” And bowed his head, expressing his gratitude to him.

Snipe paused shortly after, looking over to Sigma’s bowing figure. He couldn’t resist it any more, he raised his hand and ruffled up those white and lilac strands with his large calloused palm, eliciting a squeak from Sigma. “Hey now, as I said it ain’t nothin’! Now c’mon, some of this stuff should be put away as soon as possible, an I know fer a fact ya got no car to lug all these in.” He turned the cart down towards the check out lines, leaving Sigma to gape at his retreating back.

“But Snipe-san—!”

Snipe cackled and picked up speed as Sigma started jogging after him with protests shouted at his back. Giving no chance to refute his offer this time.

Sigma huffed with arms crossed as his back hit the passenger seat, looking out the window with Snipe and the radio filtering as background noise. In the end he and his groceries were driven home. And despite his heavy protests and huffing, a smile tugged at his face

Perhaps this mission won’t be so unbearable after all.

Chapter Text

Just like that a month went by and the entrance exams were here.

Sigma got ready in the morning, checking if he had everything for the day and double checking just to be certain. Though he wasn’t the one taking the exams, he was still an organizer and from experience hosting events in the Casino he knew these things can get chaotic fast . Luckily, he wasn’t given a huge role in the entire thing, just assisting Present Mic with his room of potential students and joining the rest of the staff in the computer rooms for the practical portion. Easy enough.

Now that the day is finally here, Sigma can stop worrying about it.

In between the days Snipe had invited him over to continue his lessons in cooking (and baking!) He spent all his free time thinking about the major day. It was worse than his times texting up a report for Fyodor every other week! Which, by the way, he still didn’t understand the reasons for. 

He knew Fyodor was watching him, it was evident after he received a short text from him, interrogating about Snipe being in his home the day he ran into the Hero. To say the least, Fyodor wasn’t pleased with any Hero invited in the safe-house he’s bunked Sigma in.

Sigma understood the why behind it — after all, being buddy-buddy with Heros and letting them into your home while being a terrorist was only what truly stupid fools did, like Fukuchi—  but the fact he was being watched, without his knowledge beforehand, to this very moment unnerved Sigma.

So that begs the question, if Fyodor knew what he was doing, what did the reports matter for? Fyodor didn’t explain himself either, always brushing off his questions with asking his own about one thing or another whenever he sent one in. Sigma eventually gave up asking and dutifully continued on with the order.

Sigma sent a quick message to the Russian with his latest report before departing the house for UA. He switched chats to respond to Present Mic’s string of messages regarding the entrance exam as he boarded the train, laughing to himself as Aizawa cursed the blond out for waking him, sparing Sigma his wrath.

They were amusing, the other teachers. Sigma found himself getting to know them better over the weeks leading up to today. Yet, despite their growing relations, has always declined any and all offers to hang out after work. 

If he grew too close things would get unbelievably messy later on when this mission of his was complete. When he had to leave for his real home.

Though, there was one exception to that.

He reasoned with himself, and Fyodor, that he couldn’t avoid Snipe, even if he wanted to, after that fateful meeting in the market.

The Hero knew where he lived and could drop by any time if Sigma became too much of a recluse. So the cowboy themed Hero had been the exception to his avoidance-out-of-work rule.

Fyodor accepted his reasoning, but warned— in not so many words— that Snipe could and would be killed if Sigma’s mission was compromised.

A noose tied around his throat and a foot on the stool should he act out.

A call over the speakers alerted him of his stop approaching. Sigma pocketed his phone and boarded off the train, making his way to UA.

When he arrived there were just a handful of young teens lingering about— early arrivals. He must be cutting it closer than he realized! Slipping past the gates without alerting the children, Sigma made his way into an auditorium-like room where Present Mic was waiting for him in.

“Hey, hey, heeey!!” Present Mic waved to his approaching figure. “Glad you can join me! Let's just get these papers settled on the rows there and we are GOOD. TO. GO!” His voice reverberated in the room as he shouted and Sigma strained a passive smile in return as he grabbed the stack held out to him. 

“Alright, Present Mic, I’ll take the left, you take the right?” He suggested, pointing to each side. With a thumbs up given to him, he turned over to his designated ‘side’ of the room and began laying out the papers one by one. 

He was placing the last of the papers down when the first early students entered their room. Sigma inclined his head respectfully and briskly met Present Mic back at the podium in the center before it became crowded. Once the seats were all filled the radio host slipped Sigma a microphone, giving him a small thumbs up as he whispered— which was a volume he didn’t realize the hero had— “Why not do the exam speech for the first half, yeah? You got this!!” And clicked his tongue as he finger gunned the other man.

Sigma frowned, having not prepared for a speaking role. But, well, improvising was steadily becoming a skill he was mastering. He turned to the large auditorium, tapping the microphone with his finger to check if it was on, then began speaking into it with nerves on fire, “A-Ah, good morning everyone.” 

Low murmurs of ‘good morning’ were given back awkwardly. The manager cracked a smile just as awkward.

“Today you will be taking your written entrance exams, you will have…” he trailed off, glancing back at Present Mic, who discreetly held up a single finger to indicate the time, “One hour to complete your exam. I wish you the best of luck and… uhm, Plus Ultra?” He stumbled to say the schools— or was it All Might’s?— slogan, quickly turning off the mic and setting it on the podium and hurrying to the other teacher's side. 

His fellow teacher chuckled, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “You did great , Siggy!”

He sighed, nudging off Present Mics arm, “Don’t call me that, Yamada-san.”

“You’re right, it's not the greatest nickname for you. Don’t worry, I’ll find the perfect one soon enough!”

“That’s not—“ Sigma gave up, shoulders sagging with another sigh. “Let’s just keep an eye out for cheaters okay?”

With diverting Present Mic’s attention back to the students before them, Sigma and he were able to distinguish and quietly discuss which students were cheating on their exams, with the former mentally noting down their exam numbers to give Nedzu later on.

3076 is using a water bottle with inner text. Didn’t Aizawa suggest against letting anything personal in the room?

8460 is sneaking glances, they should learn subtlety in the future.

4328… is that their quirk!?

So on and so forth.

When the hour was up, Sigma had everyone round up their papers to the end of their row and gathered them up in a neat pile to set aside. When he was done, Present Mic shoved a clicker into his hands unceremoniously. 

“Use this when I do my speech, I’ll give you cues, yeah?” Then gestured to the single entry door after a quick look at the clock behind the stage, “and lock up the doors, it’s time!” And turned to the audience of students as Sigma ducked behind him to comply. He didn’t have much of a choice to begin with.

The moment Sigma locked the door with a click , Present Mic addressed the audience, projecting his voice with his gear's assistance. “WELCOME TO THE U.A ENTRANCE EXAMS, EVERYBODY SAY ‘HEEYYYY’!!!”

The crowd was silent. Sigma winced, yikes.

Present Mic wasn’t deterred, “Well, that’s cool, my examinee listeners!! I’m here to present the practical exam guidelines. ARE. YOU. READDYY?!” And ended off with another ‘YEAH!!’

Again he was met with silence. Sigma felt the second hand embarrassment roll off several students in the crowd and sighed, shaking his head.

Present Mic gestured to the screen and Sigma used that as his signal to press the clicker. “NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION, LISTENERS! WE'LL BE TESTING YOUR METTLE BY RUNNING A TEN-MINUTE PRACTICE RUN AT OUR REPLICA CITY-DISTRICT!” Explained the teacher, hands waving around as Sigma timed the screen changes with his cues. “YOU CAN TAKE WHATEVER EVER YOU LIKE!

GATHER AT THE DESIGNATED MEETING AREA AFTER THE PRESENTATION, YA DIG?”

Sigma privately wondered to himself if he should invest in a pair of earplugs for the duration of his mission. Rubbing at his ears as the blond continued on with explaining the rules and exam course, he thinks it wouldn’t be a bad investment. Life saving, actually.

Just as the presentation was wrapping up, a voice loudly interrupted. “EXCUSE ME, MAY I ASK A QUESTION!?” Startling both teachers into looking over.

A stiff looking boy with dark blue hair and glasses stood up from his seat, a paper clutched in hand. “ON THE HAND-OUT, THERE ARE CLEARLY FOUR TYPES OF VILLAINS LISTED!” Then he turned it around to show, pointing at the four small square images.

“SUCH AN ERROR WOULD BE THE HEIGHT OF EMBARRASSMENT FOR A TOP-TIER NATIONAL ACADEMY OF YUUEI'S CALIBER!! WE ARE SEATED HERE TODAY BECAUSE WE SEEK GUIDANCE ON THE PATH TO BECOMING MODEL HEROES!”

Not stopping there, he sharply turned to face another boy, barking out, “and you!” A green haired boy pointed at himself, shocked. “Yes, you! Curly haired kid! Quit your mumbling, it’s quite distracting! If you came here for fun and play then I suggest you leave this instant!” The kid shrunk on himself, which seemed to satisfy the spectacle wearing student.

Present Mic lowered his sunglasses to get a proper look at the kid, then his eyes widened with recognition. Quickly he shoved the microphone previously on the stand back into Sigma’s hand, gesturing to the audience with a smile. “Thanks for asking, examinee 7111! I’ll let our totally cool helper here explain it!” Then shoved the younger man forward, encouraging.

Sigma looked back with wide eyes like he couldn’t believe Present Mic would throw him out there unprompted. He slowly faced the audience of children and swallowed back another sigh. 

Oh well, he should get used to this.

“I see you mean the 0-pointer, yes? It is a dud-enemy. Something meant to be purely an obstacle in your exam, as its name makes it obvious; it’s worth zero points. Is that an acceptable explanation, examinee 7111?”

The boy gave an affirmative and sat back down, not in the least bit embarrassed nor ashamed with all that attention on him. It was admirable, really.

Sigma turned off the mic again and kept it in hand as he backed up, giving the floor to Present Mic as he closed off the entrance exam explanation. With a large wave of his hand, he dismissed the students to head into their assigned arenas and gestured for Sigma to follow him. The young man did.

They met in a room filled with cameras with the other staff members, Nedzu gestured for them to take a seat. “Wonderful! That’s the last of our examinees, now we can begin the true test.”

“Same deal as last year?” Midnight asked.

“Yes, the same deal as last year, and the year before that, and the year before that!” The rodent chirped, leaning back into his high seat with arms outstretched wide, just as Present Mic leaned in to announce the start. “Let the ‘dibbing’ begin!!”

He slammed his paw on a large button; a loud buzz resounded in the control room, and the students were dashing off into the separate arenas after a prompt from Present Mic, ‘there’s no countdowns in real life!’

Sigma sat closer to the back of the room, observing multiple camera angles at once with his hands clenching his upper arms. The others started pointing out different examinees and praised their attacks and strategies against the robots, even some ‘claiming’ a student for their homeroom or course. He didn’t understand the ‘hype’ behind it.

Just as he thought to pull out his laptop, a blast that caused the camera to shake caught his attention. Turning to that camera, Sigma saw a blond blur flying across the arenas and blowing the support course’s robots to smithereens. He leaned closer, straining his eyes to focus solely on the filtered mass of the student, but gave up when that didn’t work. He sighed and leaned back, bringing out his laptop and pulling up the camera feeds of the arenas. Here is where he got a much better look on the examinee; spiky blond hair, sun-kissed skin, red eyes, and a mighty quirk to top it all off. 

It was a shame there was no mic to pick up on audio, even if Sigma focused well enough and could vaguely see the motions of the boy's lips, he knew not how to read them.

He clicked off to glance over the different camera angles, pausing here and there when a particular motion interested him but never for long. Sure, the different types of quirks being utilized here were amazing in their own right, but when you compare it to Fyodor's terrifying Crime and Punishment, or even his own Ability, quirks' impacts were just… dull.

The young man paused on another screen, then clicked back two camera screens to stare at another blond examinee.

The examinee was approaching another student from behind, quick on his feet for a child, and Sigma nearly thought he would have to write him down for immediate disqualification, when the boy tapped the other on the arm and moved away just as quick, long enough to avoid being seen by his victim(?) when he looked around, attacking the robots moments after with his quirk.

His quirk which seemed to mimic the boy he just tapped. Huh.

A shriek shook Sigma from his mind, attention snapping up to the other staff. 

It was Midnight who let out the sound, hands cupping her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the big screen. The big screen displayed a green haired kid launching himself at a 0-Pointer and demolishing it with one punch. It was impressive! But that wasn’t why Midnight gave such a strong reaction. 

Sigma stood up, voice in full disbelief, “Did he just break his arm? ”

Oh, and did he mention the kid was falling? That was an important bit of information.

“Shouldn’t we do something..?!” Sigma gestured to the screen, hand clenching his laptop as he realized, in horror, that no , the teachers were not going to help. Oh god, a kid is about to be seriously, critically, even, injured right before his eyes—

Just then another kid slapped the first one across the face and saved them both from becoming pavement mush. Sigma fell back onto his seat with a shaky sigh, heart beating erratically as the buzz of the exam’s timer went off.

“What a smart girl, she’d make a fine rescue hero someday!” Thirteen praised, their hands clasping together.

“That arm-kid might be a hazard if his quirk isn’t trained properly. What was his file again?” Aizawa asked, turning to Nedzu.

“Izuku Midoriya, age 15. It says his quirk was developed only recently,” The information came from Sigma, who pulled up the file at the mention of the examinee. “Isn’t that a very rare occurrence?”

“But not unheard of!” Nedzu chirped, smiling widely. “How interesting…”

Uh oh.

Sigma looked back down to Izuku’s file, pitying the poor kid.

He shut his laptop, shaking his head as the other teachers discussed among themselves the top and the notable examinees.

Those eyes belong to a genius interested in something, and once they were, it was impossible to shake off that interest.

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Chapter Text

After the exams were wrapped up Sigma, was packing away his laptop to head back home when a hand landed on his shoulder. He repressed a flinch, looking up to see Present Mic and Midnight staring at him with expecting eyes.

“O-Oh, Yamada-san… Kayama-san… is there something wrong?”

“Yes there’s a problem, you won’t hang out with us!” Midnight whined while Present Mic nodded along seriously. Sigma instantly felt relief, relaxing under Present Mic’s palm. Just some social duties he has to play by, it seems.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been busy planning for the school year. It’s my first time teaching after all.” Explained the man, hiking his bag strap over his shoulder. ‘And I’ve been avoiding getting to know you all intimately.’

“I’m sure you’ll do great! UA’s teaching policy is so lax, you can plan it however you like.” Present Mic assured Sigma.

Midnight agreed, “And now that the entrance exams are wrapped up, it will be smooth sailing here on out! So c’mon handsome, hang out with us! We were planning to hit some bars later with Shouta.” 

“Do not drag me with you.” Came the muffled reply from the yellow sleeping bag in the corner. Which seemed to be a bad move as Present Mic split from the ‘harass Sigma into joining us’ group to happily bug his husband.

“That sounds pleasant,” replied the manager diplomatically, “But I have prior engagements to attend to…” a lie.

“Oh? Like what?” Midnight asked, mischief evident in her eyes.

Sigma didn’t like that. “I asked Snipe-san to—“

“NOPE! No you didn’t, I asked Snipe myself! You guys have nothing planned today!” The lone woman declared, puffing out her chest with a triumphant grin, ignorant to the way Sigma’s heart sank to his stomach.

That was usually his fall back when he wanted to avoid the other staff members. He wasn’t lying per say, either. Typically he’d ask Snipe for some lessons in baking just to ensure his little fibs weren’t fibs anymore.

“I, uhm. I see… well..” 

Thankfully, Sigma was saved by a knock on the door. He quickly moved over to open it and had to look down as a small brunette with round pink cheeks looked up at him. “Uhm, is this where the UA examiners are…?”

Thank you tiny girl!!! Sigma praised in his head, just as he looked over his shoulder and called out; “Midnight-san, there’s an examinee here for you!” Then slipped past the teen as Midnight came by with a ‘what?!’ swiftly stride down the hall before he can be stopped.

Call it fleeing, he was a coward like that.

He set his phone on silent when he boarded the train, successfully evading another day of socializing.

…Wow did he sound antisocial.

He didn’t fully relax until he closed the door of his house behind him, leaning against it with a long sigh.

The first major hurdle this mission has given him so far has passed.

He set his bag down and collapsed onto his couch.

He deserved a nap. So he dozed off then and there, fully planning on handing over the more promising student files over to Fyodor on his safe-phone later.

If a red gloved hand suddenly appeared in his house carrying a tray of cookies and left them on the coffee table before the couch and sleeping resident on it, well, Sigma was none the wiser as to how those cookies got there when he woke up later that evening.

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A few more weeks passed by without much excitement playing in Sigma’s undercover life. With the serenity settling in, he finally allowed himself to explore the prefecture he was settled in. It was the weekend which meant everywhere was full of people enjoying their time off school, work, or other life consuming day-to-day things. 

He went on to visit the more populated areas of the prefecture, avoiding the borders of Yokohama like it was the plague, and even found a delicious bakery just a little away from his house, joined with a cafe.

That was where Sigma currently found himself spending time relaxing, munching on a batch of cookies he bought and scrolling through the media apps on his phone, trying to catch up with hero news. There was a lot , by the way.

First he had to read about Japan’s Top 10 Heros!

There was All Might; Sigma winced at the heavy American theme he had going on. Wasn’t Japan offended even a little by their No.1 not representing his own country? Or did being the Number 1 Hero automatically push aside a ‘small detail’ like that? There were far too many videos of the man for Sigma to get through in just the short time he had in this cozy cafe, so he went for the oldest one. It seemed to be his debut.

(The concept of a debut for what was officially glorified police work never sat right with Sigma even as he learned more about how the system worked, bit by bit.)

He was coming out of some large debris and rubble with several people on his back and under his arms, speaking about something like hope and peace; Sigma wasn’t paying attention exactly to the words, just how All Might carried himself. He seriously doubted this guy had a teacher's license when he was so busy maintaining that number 1 spot. Granted, Sigma didn’t have an official teacher's license either, but he wasn’t the one children looked up to and aspired to be one day. He was just saying, the most skilled staff member they had was an underground hero, and everyone else was below 50 in terms of the ‘public ranking’. They had time to learn and hone their teaching careers.

It didn’t help matters that Sigma has yet to meet All Might. Always sending his assistant in his place for staff meetings because he was ‘too busy’ . All in all, the manager's impression of the No.1 Hero wasn’t positive.

He was meant to work alongside this man? Even if he cared about future Heroes, he certainly didn’t act like it.

He went to note that down in his next report as he switched to research the No.2 Hero; Endeavour.

A far cry from All Might’s persona.

At least All Might was kind upfront. Endeavour however…

He was arrogant. He didn’t assure civillains when he arrived; he stated facts. While it wasn’t a bad thing to be assertive, he didn’t exactly work well with other Heros. It was either his way or everyone would go down. He was a solo-act and had a one-sided rivalry with All Might.

Not fit for his number 2 spot, if he’s being honest here. Especially regarding the amount of property damage he’d collected under his belt. 

That’s the report Sigma wrote down after reviewing several videos anyways. Fyodor most definitely knows more about the top ten than anything he can dig up in only a couple of hours.

He reached for another cookie but his hand hit cold metal. Looking up he was faced with a dilemma; there were no more cookies left.

A sudden BOOM! coming from outside startled the daylights out of Sigma, distracting him from his current problem to look outside the Cafe’s windows instead.

There was rising smoke down the road, civilians all around had stopped their daily lives to stare. Another explosion happened, and that’s when the civilians started to run. Most were sensible and ran away from the wreckage but there were a few people, most in which Sigma realized were children , ran towards the commotion, perhaps wanting to catch a glimpse of whatever Hero would come in and save the day.

The recklessness of it all appalled Sigma.

“Don’t they know they’re causing further trouble for the Heroes?” A young voice nearby spoke out loud, sounded just as disgusted as Sigma felt.

Looking over, he saw a boy, early teens, with short blond hair combed semi-neat with grey-silver-like eyes, similar to his own. He wasn’t alone, sitting with a little lady with thicket green hair that resembled vines reaching past her waist. The former looked horribly familiar.

“Their hearts follow their desires, Neito.” She spoke softly, staring at the windows then turned away with a saddened frown. “I pray they find this terrible danger worth their time.”

The blond boy, Neito, scoffed. “Yeah, and pray they don’t end up in a hospital because of it too while you’re at it, Ibara.” He sighed, drumming his fingers against his upper arm as he looked at the clock in the cafe. “We have to stay here until the Heroes catch the villain. Sorry our day out is getting cut short again .”

“It’s alright, Neito. Not even you can predict God’s will.” Assured the vine-haired girl, Ibara. She rested a hand against Neito’s upper arm, soothing him with a smile. “We can return to my abode if it’s truly unsalvageable, if you desire so.”

“… That would be nice, Ibara.”

Sigma felt pity for the civilians in Japan. Their normal day-to-day lives could be uprooted by a badly timed criminal attack.

It was a wait and sit game if you weren’t involved with the attack itself, too. So Sigma sat back, waiting with the remaining civilians in the cafe until the coast was clear outside.

It took another hour for the Heroes to apprehend the criminal and another thirty minutes for the streets to be closed off and cleaned up for civilians to walk out and return to their lives.

Sigma left the cafe, catching sights of the Hero on scene assisting in cleaning up the rubble and helping the civilians caught in the crossfire. The large black and white coloration and dorsal fin on their head told him who they were before he saw their face. Gang Orca, the Killer Whale Hero. He was Number 10 in the Hero Ranks, and Sigma could see why.

Kind Heroes like him that stayed to help the aftermath were few and far between.

It was due to Heroes like Gang Orca that gave Sigma some hope for Japan’s Hero Society.

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Finally the first day of school was finally upon the UA staff.

Sigma only sat through orientation with the other staff members as Nedzu spoke to the first year students and their families, congratulating them on making it into UA, giving them a run down over UA’s rules, the spirit in which they’ll find in the community, and even a rundown of the school’s layout. Pretty standard, from what he had researched about orientations.

The only glaring problem was the absence of Aizawa and Class 1-A.

Sigma looked over to the empty part of the seats left out in the gym as Nedzu was wrapping up his speech then leaned forward to see the equally empty seat belonging to one Aizawa Shouta. 

“Lookin’ for Sho?” Whispered Midnight in his ear, noticing her younger co-workers searching eyes. “He always does this, don’t worry about it!” Her eyes flickered over to the 1-A empty seats, “He’s just… evaluating his students. Seeing if they’re worthy.”

Seeing if they’re worthy? They passed the exams, did they not? Their placement in the Hero Course was enough proof, no?

Sigma squinted his eyes, then let out a sigh. “I hope their missing the orientation won’t hinder them later on.”

Later, he learned Aizawa expelled an entire class of students the previous year and that this year of Hero-hopefuls passed his personal evaluations.

Heroes were crazy.

Teachers of future Heroes were even crazier!

Chapter Text

Today was the first official day of UA, classes would be in full swing, and Sigma was nervous.

It was like the day of the entrance exams but worse. He actually had things to do and expectations to uphold. The horror of it all!

He paced around the staff lounge in the early morning; he got there before even Aizawa had, their resident night Hero. In fact, when the man did show up he nearly stumbled right into Sigma, surprised to find him there as much as Sigma was surprised at his clumsiness.

“Are you okay, Aizawa-san?” Fretted the manager, hands hovering over his shoulders to steady if need be.

Aizawa waved off Sigma’s concerns, “What are you doing here so early?”

With the distraction now resolved, Sigma was plunged back into his worries. 

The young man made a strangled sound, stressfully running his hands through his hair. “What if they don’t respect me?” He blurted out his small fears to the other. Aizawa’s carefully blank expression spurred him into explaining, “It’s silly, I know, but I have very little experience with kids!” And the horror stories he read the other day about students treating their teachers clung to Sigma like claws sinking into flesh.

Aizawa pulled out his sleeping bag, unzipping it casually as he huffed. “You’ll be fine. These problem children know to respect the staff. You’ll just need to show them you won’t take their shit sitting down.”

He watched the young staff member nibbled on his lower lip, tugging on his cuffs and frequently glancing at the clock hanging above the board. Aizawa slipped into his cocoon while he resumed pacing.

Something about it rang familiar bells in Aizawa’s head. He recalled seeing similar behaviors before over the course of his teaching career. What was it again? Yamada and Nemuri always suspected he had it… 

“Sigma,”

The man looked over to Aizawa.

“Do you have anxiety?”

He laughed, which wasn’t a typical reaction the underground Hero expected with the two hair-toned man.

“No,” Sigma sucked in a big gulp of air, hand resting over his heart to ease the fast pace beating. “It’s something different. I am pretty prone to panic attacks, but it does not hinder my day-to-day life. No need to worry if I can do my job.”

Aizawa realized that the earlier laugh the other man let out was one from bitterness. Was his efficiency doubted often?

“I wasn’t—“ He paused, then sighed. This was a fight happening too early for his liking. He dropped it. “…Alright.” He settled on the floor, yawning. “If you could, wake me ten minutes before classes start.”

Getting a confirmation from the other man, Aizawa dozed off into a nap as Sigma switched to tapping his foot repeatedly and staring at his phone. 

He’ll bring up his co-workers possible disorder to Recovery Girl another time.

ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Sigma had his classes before lunch and second period after lunch. It was currently time for his first lesson of the day. 

He stood in front of the doors belonging to 1-A (which was ginormous!) hearing the students behind it chatter loudly with one another— by god are they loud— and staying rigid right until the bell rang.

Well, he thought with his hand on the door. Here goes nothing, and he entered the class silently.

The first students to notice him and quiet down were the closest to the door, rather obviously. A boy with blond, neatly kept hair, the other blond beside him with a tail, and a third boy just two rows back with blue hair and glas— oh you have got to be kidding me!

Rather than meet the eyes of the stiff student from the entrance exams, Sigma hurriedly made it to the front in quick long strides. The quiet click of his heels garnered the attention of the remaining students, the chatter dying as he reached the podium.

Setting his bag behind the podium after taking out the stack of papers and setting them on top, Sigma cleared his throat to silence the remaining murmurs, putting on his best Manager smile. 

“Good morning, class 1-A, I am your Heroics Finance Teacher; Sigma.” He introduced himself, turning around to use the chalk and write out his subject and name. When the man turned back around and faced the class he could already see a student’s hand raised. He pointed to them with a small, open palmed gesture. “Name and your question, if you could please.”

The student lowered their arm, “Yaoyorozu Momo. Is your name derived from the Greek alphabet?”

Sigma blinked, taken aback. “That…. Yes, it is. Specifically the letter eighteen.” 

Yaoyorozu nodded, folding her hands together. “The letter ‘s’, no?”

“Correct… my, I didn’t think some people knew the Greek alphabet!” He studied it after Fyodor told him where the name was derived from out of idle curiosity. He wasn’t fluent in it, actually, and he’ll need to review the material to recall any word in the language, though he’ll always remember Sigma in the alphabet. But with that said, Greek was not a common language people learned for the fun of it. Especially not a 13-15 year old girl!

The praise caused the girl to fluster, lowering her head. “Ah, it was a part of my home studies…” She awkwardly fumbled to explain.

That does shed light on some things. Students who come from a home schooled background will tend to be more advanced in some aspects to their other peers. Or so Fyodor explained to him one day when he asked about schooling and what he went through in his past. It was the only hint he’d been given from the illusive man about his character.

Nodding respectively in the ravonette’s direction, he continued on with his planned class introduction. “Ahem, right… Hero Financing!” Get back on topic, Sigma! “Normally, from my understanding of UA’s school system, the Business course handles future Heroes’ finances and anything else to do with the business while you kids tackle crime with the police. Well, that will change starting this year!” Obviously, with his presence here and the change in the course schedule. Sigma grabbed the stack of papers and moved around the podium to the front row students. “If you can pass these out for me?” He asked kindly to the invisible student closest to the windows.

The girl squeaked, standing up. “Of course, sensei!” She hastily grabbed the stack to pass out to the class, all while Sigma moved back to the podium and continued his speech. 

“You’ll all learn the basics of finances in the Hero business and how to properly manage and keep in check all of the government money that flows through your agencies.” The Hero Public Safety Commission to be exact- and what a unique concept that was. A whole branch of the government that’s more powerful than Japan’s regular government? It must be the reliance the country has on Heroes and the fear of ‘Villainous’ quirks that keep the branch in power. “Because if you can’t figure out if your own staff is money laundering, it will fall onto your shoulders as their supervisor and employer.” Sigma dashed a line underneath Finances and turned to the class as the invisible girl sat back in her seat.

“And trust me, that will do irreparable damage to your image as a hero.” The world runs on money, the government moves with it. If someone messes with money, the government will act. This is a fact Sigma learned as a Manager.

(Though his Casino is under no jurisdiction, therefore pays no taxes to any government.)

The class was silent. Sigma took this chance to glance over the students faces; these were one half of the student’s he was meant to teach for the foreseeable future, after all.

Aside from the stiff glasses wearer, Sigma was delighted to realize he recognized more of these students from the entrance exams, for better or worse.

There was the exploding blond: Katsuki Bakugou! (He read his files to turn into Fyodor for possible future heroes). He landed as number one on the charts. It made sense he was first picked for the Hero course. His seat was behind the invisible girl, who he really should learn the name of sooner rather than later.

Pure invisibility is a dangerous Ab- Quirk; who knows when she’ll be around to listen in?

Then there was the kid who broke his arm: Izuku Midoriya. The late bloomer. Curious, curious… Sigma had sent Fyodor his file, believing the Russian would find interest in the rarity of a late bloomer in this quirked society. He seemed to be mumbling to himself, which was ticking off Bakugou who sat in front of him. But, nicely enough, the blond was focused on paying attention. What a good, and unexpected, student!

Oh and… That was the girl who (unknowingly) aided in his escape from his co-workers. And the very same girl who assisted in Midoriya when they all thought he would be injured severely. 

He wasn’t sure of her name yet…

“The sheets that were handed out to you will be your classwork for today, please read over the instructions carefully and answer accordingly!” Seeing some of the students’ downcast expressions, Sigma added on, “You may talk to your classmates, but your answers will all have to be on your own. If you have any questions you may ask me now.” And almost instantly did several hands shoot up. Sigma jerked back, surprised. “O-oh my! Alright, uhm… you there, name and question?”

“Mina Ashido!” Acid quirk user, “How old are you?”

… Eh?

“Uhm,” Sigma, in shock, answered, “Twenty-three.” Was that a common question asked? “Now if you have any topic related—“ 

“Twenty-three?!” Shrieked Mina, covering her mouth a second later. “Oops— sorry, sorry! Just- wow you are just… just…”

“Pretty manly for being a teacher at twenty-three!” Inserted a red-hair student with sharp shark teeth. “Like, woah!!” 

“…I thought you were younger,” Gravity-girl gave her two-cents shyly. “I mean- teacher assistants are pretty young so when I saw you with the other teachers I just thought…”

“That I was a fresh graduate?” Sigma finished her thought for her. The brunette nodded, rubbing her cheeks. “Your name? And yours too, mister.” Both students looked pretty panicked when he asked, making Sigma shake his head. “You aren’t in trouble, I’m just still learning all your names, so if you could give them to me before you make your statement that will do wonders.”

The redhead shared a look with Ashido, “Well… my name's Kirishima Eijiro, teach.” 

“Ochako Uraraka, Ms. Sigma!”

“Thank you. Now, no. I’m obviously not a teacher assistant—“ Sigma paused, eyes turning back to the pink cheeked student, “I’m sorry, did you call me ‘miss’, Uraraka-san?” The student nodded, confused and hesitant. A headache began to form.

There were still hands raised, and he suddenly feels like he understands what some of them are. He sighed again, “Lower your hand if your question involves my personal life.” Several students dropped their hands, some more sheepish than others. “Lower your hand if your question involves my gender; I am a man, please refer to me as Sigma-sensei.” Two hands dropped, one from the sparkling blond from the front and another from the boy with strange purple balls on his head. The latter looked oddly disappointed. That still left… Midoriya’s hand. 

“Name and question.”

“Izuku Midoriya!” He seemed way too excited— “What is your quirk?!”

Oh.

Oh!

Sigma smiled, “I’m actually quirkless,” Turning around after answering the class’ last question, Sigma stared at the clock. They had under forty minutes left… “Now that everyone’s questions have been answered I’d like for you all to get to your work! It’s due by the end of class and no later.” 

Turning back to the class he could see various faces of shock. 

…Was the time too short?

“If… you could turn to your work now that would be wonderful. We can have time tomorrow to get to know eachother better.” Though he kept a confident, calm tone when addressing the students, internally Sigma was fretting; what had triggered the sudden silence?

After an awkward amount of seconds with pure silence, the students eventually murmured various ‘yes sensei’s and got to work, with some of them turning to each other to— presumably— work on their assignments. Though except for two…

Sigma wanted to question why Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugou were both staring so intensely at him rather than their work, but instead he turned to grab his laptop from his bag and work on drafting up a basic report for the day. Maybe if he ignored them they’ll return to their work and ask whatever questions they have after class! (Please?)

Eventually they did, thank god, and left Sigma with peace of mind to work on his reports— both for the school and for Fyodor.

Time flowed by with low chatter, pencils to paper, and the faint clicks of a keyboard until the bell rang and class ended. Students began to put away their things. Some held their papers as they stood, but Sigma waved to get their attention. 

“Just leave your papers on your desk, I’ll collect them myself. Have a wonderful lunch!”

Some students smiled at him as they left, giving well wishes in return, and soon the manager was left alone in the classroom. He started to gather up the papers, skimming each one then adding it into the pile to grade during his break. He slid them into his bag, grabbed his laptop, and walked out of the class to the teacher’s lounge. Upon entering the lounge he could already see Aizawa and Yagi talking inside.

Yagi was the first to spot him, “Ah, young Sigma! How was your class?”

“Oh- It went well,” Sigma answered idly, sitting across from the blond and next to a now sleeping Aizawa. He was focused intently on his reports as he did. “Uh huh… kids are great. Asked very odd questions. Lesson went okay.”

Lesson… lesson… oh right! The papers!

Closing his laptop he pulled out the stack of papers he had to read and grade. The top page… oh dear.

Kaminari Denki… oh boy. Sigma sure had his work cut out for him. The kid could grasp some basics in finances but was definitely an overspender on useless things, which would not go over well in adulthood. In heroics, even less. 

“Well, that’s good news. I—ah, All Might has their class next.” Yagi informed, unprompted—

“Wait.” Sigma looked up from his papers. “All Might is finally showing up?”

“Yes, it’s his lesson next period. Of course he’ll show up-“

“What is he planning?” He prodded, looking more interested than he was feeling. “When did he have time to come up with a thorough lesson? He was on the news an hour ago.”

“Aah… it’s a… a surprise!” Yagi said, “He hasn’t even told me! Ha ha ha!” Laughing it off, Sigma can see the clear dismissal of the topic.

“…That seems highly irresponsible.” He drawled out. Something nagged him about the whole thing. He shifted attention back to the papers, sifting through. “You said he had next period?” 

“Yes. It should be pretty interesting!” Beamed Yahi.

Mentally, he went over his schedule. He had a free period after lunch. Taking a pen, he started making small notations on the students' papers. “Do you think All Might would mind if I shadowed him next period?” He asked, humming appreciatively at Yaoyorozu’s paper; this girl had a good head on her shoulders. She was a recommendation student, wasn’t she? It’s not a surprise finances are a concept she could handle well. There was still much to teach, obviously. But he won’t have to rework an entire lesson to teach things like balances.

He has to find a middleground somewhere…

“Shadow?” Choked Yagi, blood peeking in through his lips’ corner, surprised by the request. “This is… sudden. Can I ask why?”

Sigma stared at Yagi, as if the secretary was the dumb one here. “It’s the number one hero, teaching a class of hero hopefuls.” He said. When Yagi continued to stare at him, he sighed. “I’m interested in how he’ll handle his class. Japan’s hero system is still fairly foreign to me.” 

“Oh!” The blond said, the idea clicking. “Yes I believe that would be fine with m– him. Anything to teach the youth, am I right?”

“Right!” Smiled Sigma. All business. “Great to see we agree. So you’ll let him know I’ll be shadowing him?” When Yagi nodded, giving a familiar thumbs up pose, he returned to his papers. “Wonderful, thank you Yagi-san. You might want to get on telling All Might soon though…” He then gestured to the clock, “Lunch is almost over.”

“What?” Yagi looked, then jumped to his feet after nearly choking on his own spit. “Oh shoot— yes thank you for letting me know youn– Sigma-san. I’ll get right on that!” He quickly left the lounge, which confused Sigma greatly.

“…Why didn’t he just call All Might?”

“Sometimes Yagi doesn’t think.” Grumbled Aizawa.

Sigma tilted his head, hair spooling off his shoulders. “Good evening Aizawa-san. Had a nice nap?”

“I did before you walked in.” He sighed, rubbing his face and the eyebags he carried. Yeesh. “Heard the students asked you odd questions.”

How did he hear that? Word must travel extremely fast.

Shaking his head, Sigma wrote another note on another student's paper; Aoyama Yuga. Surprisingly good at understanding finances even if his wording was… well, interesting. “Yes, is it normal for them to ask such personal things?” He asked the veteran staff member. “I think the only normal– by society's standards– question I was asked is what my quirk was. And that was when the twenty minute mark had hit.”

Shouto Todoroki… Endeavor’s child. Why did he write down essentially what was a ‘just throw money at it’ solution to the situational question? It had nothing to do with money directly! Just a simple scenario to see how students would handle a publicity situation regarding their agency's finances if rumors started circulating! 

Perks of being a hero’s child, I guess.

While on the subject, he should give Izuku Midoriya and Bakugou Katsuki extra credit for their amazing answers. These were the type of answers to expect from someone with more hands on experience in finances. 

(Though Bakugou’s was more well written than Midoriya.)

Aizawa’s low voice drew his consciousness away from the papers and onto his curiously lilted words, “What is your quirk?”

“I’m quirkless.” 

Aizawa made a thoughtful sound. 

He paused in his grading. 

“Was that never brought up?”

“I think we skipped over quirk introductions last meeting.” He drawled, arms crossed.

“Hm.” He glanced back to the clock and hitched his breath when the hand ticked past the 12. “Oh, lunch is almost over!” He dropped the pen and started gathering up the papers again, keeping the ungraded pile separated from the graded pile with his laptop used as a divider in his bag, slinging the strap over his shoulder. “Well if anybody asks about my quirk feel free to tell them what I told you. I’ll talk to you later, goodbye!”

“Sigma, wai—“

He closed the door behind him before Aizawa could stop him for a word, briskly walking down the halls back to Class 1-A just as the hand ticked past the 12 again and caused the bell to ring. Now he had five minutes until the students return and All Might starts his lesson plan.

There was a specific reason why he wanted to shadow All Might, too. 

His heroics lessons would be highly beneficial towards Fyodor’s information gathering and he could receive personal eyewitness information about the Number one Hero! Did he feel a little bad about the fact that he’s essentially using these kids' education to dig some dirt on UA and the heroes? Yes. But only a little.

Fyodor wanted information and clearly Nedzu was giving the green light for him to use Sigma in order to get it. Probably to monitor him and choose what information Fyodor would be directly privy to. After all, the Russian could use unorthodox ways to get his information and it’d be just as effective if not more. Why he chose this route and why Nedzu agreed to it in the first place were none of Sigma’s concerns. He’d get a headache worse than his Ability comas if he thought about how those two rat geniuses’ minds worked.

It wasn’t his position to question the big picture.

Plus. He just did not like All Might all that much. Something about him rubbed him the wrong way; he’d loved to be proven wrong about the guy with this lesson.

Soon the students all trickled into class. Some familiar voices greeted Sigma as they sat down before turning to each other to chat. By the time the bell rang every student was sitting and waiting for their next teacher to show.

“Sigma-sensei…” Looking over, he found Mina was the one asking for his attention.

“Yes, Miss Ashido?”

She tried not to look nervous as she asked this, but couldn’t quite hide her emotions all that well behind her smile. “Are you our heroics teacher too?”

“Hm? Me? Oh no- no, no, no. I’m just your finance teacher.” He assured the girl and saw several students ease and sigh in relief. Which… okay, could be hurtful if he understood why they were uneasy about the idea.

Mina beamed, “Oh! Then who’s our teacher?”

“It’s—“

“I HAVE-“ The door slid open and in came All Might, announcing his presence. “…ENTERED THE ROOM LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!!”

The students burst in another wave of chattering. Sigma took note of who was particularly excited about the hero; Izuku Midoriya taking the lead by a landslide as he started muttering about All Might’s costume.

Also; what about his announcement was normal? That was the least normal thing he’d ever heard!

“Heroics training; THE class which will push you to your limits as future Heros! I am your teacher; ALL MIGHT!!” He posed at this point, flexing his muscles. “No time to dally. Today’s activity is BATTLE TRAINING!!!”

What.

“BATTLE TRAINING?!”

“Yes! Battle Training! Ha ha ha! Now for that you’ll be needing your very own…” The wall by the door started to push out rows of cubbies— what??? “COSTUMES!” Oh. Yes. Because that made perfect sense. “These are in accordance with your quirk registry and the special request forms you filled out after your acceptance. NOW! Put these on and gather at Ground Beta!” With another pose he gestured to the door, encouraging the students to rush out and change into their new hero uniforms. 

After the last student grabbed their package from the cubby and left the classroom, Sigma turned to All Might just as the man himself turned to Sigma.

“Hello, All Might. I’m Sigma; it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” He held out his hand to All Might, smiling politely. “Your secretary told you I’d like to shadow you today, I hope?”

“Yes! Yes he did! It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Young Sigma!!” The blond shook Sigma’s hand, firm. His hand practically engulfed Sigma’s and shook most of his arm! “I’d be delighted to have you shadow my lesson for the day– and in the future as well! The more the merrier when teaching the youth, yes?”

He has similar speaking quirks to Yagi. Odd.

“Uh-huh… so,” His hands dropped, resting over his stomach as his fingers touched tips to create a small triangle between his pointer and thumbs, gesturing to the door. “Shall we meet up with the students now? I’m very intrigued on how heroes teach their youth in Japan.”

Reminded of the situation, All Might slapped a hand over his temple. “You’re right! Let us get on to it then! HYAH!!!” He gaped at the spot All Might vacanted, flabbergasted.

… Did All Might seriously just leap out of the windows? Granted he opened them first but—

Okay. So far, he doesn’t particularly enjoy the eccentricities this man has displayed. And he’s been around eccentric people! Including Fyodor’s lobotomy butler! Including NIKOLAI!

“…I should wait for the students.”

Yes. He should do that. Which was how Sigma ended up in the halls of the students' locker rooms, arms crossed and leaned against the wall on his phone. Scrolling through more Hero news.

Oh, a murderer was on the rise, killing Heroes but he hasn’t been caught yet. How interesting–

Students started trickling out of the locker rooms, some of them chatting very excitedly while others remained silent- though it was the quiet ones like Bakugou and Shouji who noticed him first, and the ones which gave him a nod in passing. He smiled in return.

“Oh! Sigma-sensei! What are you doing here?” Kaminari questioned, waving as he approached him.

He found it nice how the students weren’t afraid to walk up and start conversing with him already. “I’m shadowing All Might for today and I thought to wait for you guys.” He informed the few that were lingering around to hear his answer.

“Seriously? Is that, y’know, safe for you?” The blond student asked brazenly. It earned him a smack from Sero, elbow-tape quirk. “Ow- what?? I was just asking since these things can maybe get dangerous for a quirkless guy—“ Sero slapped him over the shoulder again. But it was already too late to cover his words.

Sigma frowned. This was the second time students reacted to his ‘quirklessness’. “Well, I won’t be directly involved. I’m only observing your lesson. Which, by the way, you’ll be late for if we do not start moving.”

“Shh–oooot….! You're right!” 

Ah, what a one track mind these kids had. It was endearing, he thought.

Sigma walked behind the group of students as they chatted and talked about each other's new looks, checking out all of their hero uniforms with a critical eye. Some made sense like… well, he hates to continue praising the kid but, Bakugou! From what he read up on his quirk he could see why the kid wore black; heat draws to darker colors and will cause him to sweat extensively, making it far easier to create explosions. He wasn’t sure what the gauntlets were for just yet, but it could be for more than aesthetic.

The same could not be said about some of the other students. Ashido’s tie-dye one piece doesn’t make sense knowing her quirk. And Kaminari had no perks for his electrical quirk. Not to mention Hagakure— in fact. Most of the girls had unhelpful uniforms. Why were most of them skin tight?

But the worst of all had to have been Yaoyorozu. The girl had barely anything on! He had to avert his eyes because the entire thing felt disrespectful to stare at. The exposure, the vital places she was leaving exposed for injury- and what was with that giant book?

Goodness gracious.

He had to comment on this sooner or later. On all of their uniforms. Or should he bring up his concerns with All Might? Aizawa? Probably Aizawa. Mental note to talk to Aizawa about the students' uniforms now made!

Eventually Sigma and 1-A made it to Ground Beta where All Might was waiting for them in his signature I AM HERE! pose. How gaudy. 

“NOW!!” Announced All Might, causing the students to look up and fall into a row. “It’s time for combat training!”

He was still in the dark over what exactly that entails…

“SENSEI!!” Iida called out, arm raised in that stiff motion. “This is the precise grounds in which we conducted our exams! Does this mean we will hold urban battles again?”

That would be tame, so it would be ideal, but he has a feeling that—

“No, we are going even further than that!”

There it is.

“Majority of the time villain battles occur outside, but looking into the total numbers, you’ll find the most atrocious villains appear indoors; backroom deals, house arrest, imprisonment— in a society filled with heros the truly intelligent villains work in the shadows!” 

Sigma’s fingers twitched over his bag strap, surprised to hear vague mention of the underworld from the Hero’s mouth. Potential trouble. 

For Nedzu, that is. He’ll be perfectly fine. (Hopefully.)

“You all will be paired into teams, a villain and a hero team, which you will then be facing off in a two-on-two indoor battle!”

The announcement brought a wave of shock across the students.

Tsuyu cocked her head, “So no basic training? Kero.” 

Clever girl! What about the basics?!

“Practical experience covers the basics!” All Might dismissed, grin glistening. “Any questions?”

Immediately, several hands shot up and several voices gave their questions.

“What determines victory?”

“Are you threatening to expel someone like Aizawa-sensei did…?”

“Can I blast everyone away?”

(Sigma had to look again to see who asked that; Bakugou?!)

“How do we proceed to divide ourselves into teams?” Iida shouted.

“How fabulous is my cape!?”

All Might’s grin turned into a grimace underthe bombardment of inquiries from the students. “One at a time! My quirk isn’t super-hearing!!” He begged.

The blond hero pulled out note cards(?!) and began reading off of them. “NOW LISTEN UP!”

All Might then went on to explain the simulation the students would be acting out for their lesson. Sigma thought it was a decent lesson plan, he could see why the Pro-Hero chose it for the class. But as a very first lesson? It just seemed so… irresponsible!

“Now, everyone’s teams will be chosen through this lottery!” Lo and behold, All Might pulled out a box with a hole in the center of the roof for his hand, shaking it up to emphasize the paper within it. “Sigma-san, would you do the honors?”

“Ah-“ He looked down to the box then up to the owner of the box. He wasn’t sure if those voidant black caves could even be called eyes, but he could still tell they held an expectant gaze in them. With the box being thrust in his direction, the manager had little choice in the matter. “Yes, I would.” He then reached into the box and started drawing out names for teams.

Team A: Izuku Midoriya & Ochako Uraraka

As he called out their names, Uraraka cheered and shuffled her way over to the boy as Midoriya looked towards the girl with flailing hands. If he paid more attention to their area of the room, Sigma would’ve been able to hear the fluster that carried itself in Midoriya’s tone and his pink freckled cheeks.

Privately, he was, kindly, wondering what the fuck Midoriya’s uniform was meant to be, and how did it help him in the slightest? At least with Uraraka, there could be an excuse for lightweight materials to take some burdens off her quirk.

(And why did it look like some poorly drawn bunny…? Sigma wasn’t even sure if the uniform was made by the support course!)

Shaking his head, he resumed picking the teams for the lesson.

Team B: Shouto Todoroki & Mezou Shouji

A mutant quirk and the child of a Hero. They were both fairly quiet in their own ways; neither bothered to move to the other when their names were called for Team B. Sigma wondered how that team would fare in coordination. 

Todoroki’s uniform was a dastardly thing with just ice encasing his left side, while Shouji’s gave his arms the room it needed to work at full capacity.

His mutant quirk was highly intriguing and Sigma could see, in the privacy of his mind, the boy being a decent dealer on the Casino floor if he were older, what with all those limbs and extra eyes.

It could slowly desensitize the patrons and allow for the Casino to open its gates for more mutant quirk folk– ah, he was dwelling too much on hypotheticals. 

Team C: Minoru Mineta & Momo Yaoyorozu

The girl looked calm and collected on the outside, much like Sigma does when in public- like now- as she made her way over to Mineta. The boy himself looked particularly pleased (unabashedly so) and kept looking at Yaoyorozu with a giddy smile. 

Their height difference was rather comedic, as Mineta was just at the right height to—

Sigma flinched, crushing the next student's name in his palm.

“Is everything alright, Sigma-san?” Inquiried All Might.

“…Yes, yes. Everything is fine.”

Sigma stared down at the paper forming the next team as he mentally jotted down another thing he may need to discuss with Aizawa about his students.

He did not particularly enjoy where Mineta’s eyes kept wandering.

Team D: Katsuki Bakugou & Tenya Iida

Glancing back up after calling their names, both boys looked over to each other across the room with similar bewildered expressions, though Bakugou’s was more like a scowl. Some of the other students— notably Midoriya and Uraraka— winced at the team choice.

Are the two boys not compatible? Would this team exercise build up whatever bad blood was festering between them?

Once again, demonstrating why doing a team exercise as intense as this, where adrenaline would be skyrocketing, was a bad idea…

Team E: Mina Ashido & Yuga Aoyama

Ashido took quick, bouncy steps towards Aoyama, raising her hand to high five the sparkly boy. They immediately began talking— or more accurately Ashido started jabbering on with Aoyama nodding.

Alright, Sigma thought, just a few more to go…

Sigma continued picking out the teams, a dull excitement under his skin, anticipating the lesson just as much as any of the other students, wondering what the No.1 Hero could be capable of. 

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