Chapter Text
There was a low rumbling through the crowd of students as they were gathering in the main gym for a surprise assembly. No one knew what they were here for, even the teachers were gossiping with each other at the edges of the room.
“Are you ready to begin?” I looked down at the chimaera padding around in a suit at my feet.
“As I’ll ever be, I still can’t believe I agreed to this,” I replied, letting him nimbly scale my side to perch on my shoulder as I readjusted my grip on my messenger bag.
“Oh don’t be like that. I have no doubt that your expertise will be indispensable!” Nedzu chirped. Yeah, indispensable. I pushed the door open fully and walked up the stage to the podium. The whispers had picked up when I’d entered but went dead silent when Nedzu took the podium. I took a step back.
“Hello, students and teachers. I thank you for taking time out of your day to gather here for this special announcement. I know you’ve all been wondering why you’re here and as my friend here doesn’t care for pomp or formality I’ll get right to the point.
“I’ve gathered you all here to introduce our newest faculty member Miss Hestia Rhea-Noceda!”
Wow, he actually pronounced that correctly, I’m flattered. I took a step forward to stand by the podium.
“Hello, and please, call me Hestia,” I beamed, waving politely, “It will be a pleasure working with you all.”
“Miss Noceda here is originally from America and was a private researcher of psychology here in Japan before agreeing to work here. She will be taking over Hound Dog’s position as head councillor with a focus on hero students, though anyone is free to seek her aid. This will alleviate some of Hound Dog's burdens and allow him to focus on other responsibilities. I hope you treat her with the utmost respect. I believe that’s everything, so now Miss Noceda will be fielding questions!”
“Hang on a second Nedzu!” I interrupted, ignoring the handful of hands that had shot into the air, “Therapy and counselling isn’t all I’ll be offering the students, now is it?”
“Ah, yes,” Nedzu hopped off the podium and gestured to it, “would you please my dear?”
“Right, so. Nedzu and I talked it over and figured it would be a shame to not take full advantage of my skills and knowledge, thus I will be teaching an optional subject. Since I’m not yet qualified to be a teacher it’ll be less of a class and more of an after school activity that you can sign up for and participate in after school hours are over. However, since I’m new to this and there’s only so much I can handle, it will only be offered to the first-year students this year,” I explained with a wink.
Then, Nedzu took over again.
“Miss Noceda will be running an activity looking at pre-Quirk era literature and history.”
“Now I’ll be taking questions from the floor,” I winked. Hands shot into the air again. I scanned the crowd of students, most of the raised hands were from first years, which made sense seeing as they were the only ones eligible for my class. But…
“The third year with the blonde hair back there.”
“Does the first year restriction on your classes also apply to your counselling?”
“Never, and counselling will always be my priority. Next?”
“Purple-haired first year over here?”
“Would your class count for anything if we decided to take it?”
“Ah, Nedzu, a hand?”
“Externally, taking or passing Miss Noceda’s class will not count towards graduation or your transcripts. However, internally it would prove your drive and dedication and ability to handle extra work outside the planned curriculum. If you were looking to switch courses that may be a good thing to consider. Another would be Miss Noceda’s counselling services.”
“Right, even if you don’t need counselling in a traditional sense my door is always open if you get overwhelmed or need somewhere to study, nap or destress. Also, since counselling comes in many forms and I’ve been given free rein to conduct my sessions however I wish that means I can offer help with homework, engage in gossip and even play games with you.”
“And while we can’t yet offer official psychology classes yet counselling sessions can be used for that too if you want it,” Nedzu added, “Miss Noceda is well versed in trauma therapy and criminal psychology, both useful for hero courses, and the psychology of business and marketing, useful things for both of our business and support courses that UA doesn’t officially offer yet, among other topics.”
Way to sell counselling as a great learning opportunity and not what people usually see it as. Wonder how long that positive attitude will last when the first year hero classes learn we’re going to make it mandatory for them.
“Green bean over there, what about you?” I called, the boy startled at the nickname before blurting his question.
“ I was wondering. Since UA is known for… that is to say-”
“You want to know if I am or was a hero and what my quirk is?” I guessed. The Kid’s cheeks flushed as he shrank in on himself, his head bobbing up and down, “ I think I’ll just keep that to myself for now and let you try and figure it out. Think of it as a challenge.”
A sudden thought came to me and I plastered a sharp grin on my face.
“In fact, I think that’s a wonderful idea. Let’s make it a challenge, the first person, or group of people, to figure it out without help from Nedzu or the staff will get a prize.”
I looked to Nedzu whose eyes were glinting as the possibilities of how this would play out ran through his head. After a moment he seemed to snap out of it and turned to me.
“It seems we only have time for one more question. If you have any further questions you may find Miss Noceda in the staff room or in her office.”
My eyes roamed over the crowd of people, focusing on those with their hands raised debating who I would let ask the final question. My eyes finally rested on an American looking girl with horns in her blonde hair standing among the first years. I pointed at her and called out.
“Do you speak English!” she called out excitedly waving her arm back and forth in excitement as she spoke. I grinned.
“Of course I do,” I replied with a wink, “Tambien hablo Espanol.”
With that, the assembly ended and all the students drifted out, back to their homerooms to await their first class. The teachers lagged behind them as the kids were herded out, some casting their gazes back at Nedzu and me. I suppose it was because he sprung this on them out of nowhere, but to be fair I wasn’t expecting to be here either.
“There will be a staff meeting after classes end at the end of the day, your classes will not begin until next week and your counselling sessions start tomorrow. I should be handing you paperwork to do for the rest of the day but you have already completed that.”
“Get to the point Nedzu,” I sighed, pulling a folder out of my bag and flicking through the pages scanning each one briefly.
“What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
I pulled two of the pages out of the folder and quickly memorised them before looking down at the chimaera.
“If my assignment requires me to work with the first year hero classes the most out of anyone else in the school then I should probably get a headstart and get a read on them now.”
“Their files will be on your desk in the staffroom, I wish you the best of luck,” the principal cackled before scampering away to the nearest vent access. I sighed, put the sheets and folder away and headed off.