The Deity Entertainment Network

Chapter 225 – Official And Not-So-Official Conversations

Monday Morning

U.A. High School

"With the increase in villain attacks and damages caused to the transit system, we will be breaking for summer break early this year. As you can see outside, construction has already begun on the new student dormitories. I believe that we will be better able to protect our students and staff if we provide them housing during the week, though it will only be mandatory for first-year students to stay on campus." Nezu said to the assembled staff and teachers. Behind him, through the staff room windows, a fairly large building could be seen going up beside the sports field.

"With that said, there will be some shuffling of staff positions as well. All Might and Thirteen are both switching to a part-time position, running classes only two to three days a week. I'm still sourcing replacement instructors, so it will be up to the rest of you to cover some of these classes, myself included. Now that students are here full-time, we will need someone present on school grounds while they are here. Twilight Knight, that would technically fall under your purview as the school disciplinarian, though that is also beyond the scope of your contract as we had agreed upon. I've had my secretary start drafting up a new contract for your review; once complete, I'll give you a few days to choose to accept it or not."

"Of course, Mr. Principal," John replied, a little sad that the ratman had decided to address him by his hero name. He really wished he had thought that one out a little better now.

Wait. Did he just say staying here full-time? Don't you usually hire security guards for that sort of thing?

The meeting continued for some time, the ratman being fairly thorough in passing on information to the staff. He did go off on a random tangent about tea, but otherwise stayed on the topic of how U.A. will be run going forward and how exams would be pushed until the students returned. They broke up the meeting by noon, leaving the instructors with an unexpected six weeks off before school reopened, barring a few other meetings, of course.

It surprised him that little was said about him being the Twilight Knight, though when he thought about it, it made a little sense. They were all experienced heroes in that room; dressing up and fighting villains was normal to them. Maybe it was hubris, but he expected the revelation to surprise them more. Still, it felt odd not being anonymous anymore. 

Just as he and Anan were about to leave for home, Nezu interrupted them. "Twilight Knight, can you join me in my office for a few moments? There are a few things that we need to discuss."

"Of course." He replied, then turned to Anan and gave her a kiss goodbye, saying he would catch up with her afterwards.

"You have left quite the mess behind you over the weekend, haven't you?" Nezu said once they were alone in his office.

"Maybe a bit," John admitted. "There was a lot going on, and I needed my full powers to mitigate as much of the damage that this League of Villains caused. I can't do that dressed up in my hero suit"

"Quite. Well, as good-intentioned as that may be, you have caused some stirrings within the government and police forces' bureaucracy. Here." He said, sliding John a letter with the National Police Agency logo on the top. 

"What is this?" He asked.

"This was a letter from the police chief stating that they are opening an investigation into one of my staff members. One John 'Twilight Knight' Wayne, and that they expect my full support."

"Seriously? I saved nearly two dozen of their officers, and they want to charge me with something?"

"You were labelled as a vigilante until recently, which is technically against our laws. However, he called me this morning to clarify a few things. He is being pressured from above to push this investigation to the fullest extent of his powers. Someone wants to detain you until the investigation is complete and a trial has been set, but due to your actions, he is fighting against that. 'Just have him keep his nose clean until then, and we won't have any issues allowing him remain free' was what he said on the phone."

"So... I'm being treated as a criminal?"

"As a suspect. I also received a letter from the education minister stating that I am to suspend you until the police investigation is completed. So, effective today, you are on leave with pay." Nezu said, then leaned forward on the couch. "Now, I believe the powers that be are just looking for a win right now, since they cannot seem to find where these villains are located. Elections are happening in six months, and they need to show that they are doing something. I am not without my own resources; I plan to use them to spin this in a direction which paints you as a hero. You did end the Hero Killers' reign after all, not to mention you healed All Might."

John sighed. "Politics?"

"Politics."

"God, I hate the government sometimes."

Thursday

Jaku City

*Thump-ta-ta-ta-ta, Thump-ta-ta-ta-ta, Thump-ta-ta-ta*

"Keep it up, Ochaco."

*Bang. Bang*

"Rotate your hips a bit more, Tsui. Maximize the power of those kicks."

"John, I'm supposed to be building things. Why am I doing squats?"

"Mei, your endurance is horrible. I'm an old man, and can run circles around you. I'm not asking you to become Rumi, just be in better shape. Besides, between that supplement I gave you and the party system, you will grow quickly. Now, forty laps around the yard. There are only thirty minutes left before the morning exercises are over, and I'll make you all a nice, hearty breakfast. Momo, join her."

"Yes, coach!"

John was supervising the girls' training that morning, while Rumi and Yu were sparring. A quick glance over there saw that Yu had made some serious progress since she started training with Rumi. She was still much slower than the rabbit, but she was holding her own in their battles. 

Rumi's predictions turned out to be true with the recent update to the pro hero rankings, with Yu now coming in at number nine. Rumi remained at fifth spot. Depending on Yu's incarceration rate, she suspected Yu would even surpass her in a year's time, though she fully planned to make her work hard to surpass her.

John hopped up on the chin-up bar and started doing weighted crunches while cycling Ki and healing magic. He wasn't quite as incredible as Rumi was at this, only holding a single hundred and some odd pound cube, but with a quick glance at his status panel, he was getting significant training bonuses from all the women present. 

300 percent right now, and when Midoriya and Tenya are here, it bumps up to 400. Anan will be back tonight, so tomorrow, when everyone is here, my training bumps to 450 percent boost plus my substance X. I see what Xiolain meant when she said the party system works for training even if you're not intimate with your partners. As long as they hold a decent respect for you, it seems to work.

He still had no idea what to do with his Ki, other than push it around his body, but he was sure that would come.  

Speaking of intimacy, he was on an odd footing with Rumi right now. She wanted to have sex, believing he was more than strong enough to defeat her now, but he was turning her down until he could beat her in pure martial arts. So they were sparring every evening now, and she would thoroughly whoop his ass. He could see the progress he was making, which was prompting him to redouble his training efforts. 

She was also on a high as well, as the party system was allowing her to see gains again, albeit much slower than everyone else. She was hoping to move to the top three pro heroes at some point, a lofty goal considering All Might and Endevour were first and second. Hawks, the number three pro hero and the man who made John realize he could wield a sword as a hero, was quite successful as well, and it would be hard for her to displace him. Still, she had a new goal in mind and felt she now had a path to get there.

"Coach, do you have a moment?" Ochaco asked after a few minutes, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her rosy cheeks were even redder than normal from the exertions.

"Sure, but you are doing tire rushes after your break. What do you need?" He replied, still holding his plank.

"Some of the other students in 1-A wanted to know if they could come by to get training during the break. Do you think Rumi would be okay with that?"

"I see no issues with it, but that would be up to her. We don't have the finances to pay everyone to intern like you four. Not yet, anyway. Usually, a dojo would charge its students for training."

"But do you think she would be okay with it?"

"Probably, but let's ask her over breakfast, okay? Now, you have some rushes to go and do. You need to be faster and more nimble on your feet, young lady, so I don't need to pull knives out of your body the next time you fight a powerful villain. Mark my words, will make you worthy of being a top ten hero by the time you graduate U.A."

"Hah, yes, coach. Thank you." She said, then darted outside. John just shook his head, then continued with the crazy core exercises Rumi did.

Friday Afternoon

"So, when should I be expecting my next grandchild?" Hinata asked, stepping back from the killing strike she had just landed on John's neck. 

"Excuse me?" He replied, getting up and dusting his gi off before retrieving his wooden practice blade that she had managed to whip out of his hands.

"What? It's been some time now, and I'm curious. Yu has been cagey about it whenever I bring it up, so I thought I would ask the stallion instead of the mare."

"It hasn't been that long, has it? Why are you worried about our sex life?"

"I'm an old woman. The sooner you have one, the sooner I can spoil it rotten." She replied, smiling at him warmly.

"Right. Despite your age, you still don't look a day over thirty. No one would call you an old woman."

"I'll take that as a compliment, though you should be giving those to my daughter, not me. Now, spill it. When will I have my next grandchild?"

"It will happen when it happens," John replied, not wanting to go over their weird sexual dynamic that had cropped up because of Rumi's impossible task. They all wanted to have sex, but wanted Rumi to go first. Since John was adamant that he needed to beat her in a fight to complete her impossible task, they have been in this strange limbo of just playing around at night.

Anan still hadn't been able to join them for more than a few cuddles, having left to deal with the aftermath of a small tsunami to the south the same night she had returned. He was content to let things be as they were right now, more focused on training than anything else. 

"Sure, sure. Have you set a date for the wedding at least?"

"My god, you are really pushing this today? Did something happen?"

"Oh, just some political stuff. You know, needing to protect my not-quite son-in-law from the law. It would be nice if he were my official son-in-law, father of my soon-to-be-born grandchild."

"Are you saying I owe you a grandchild for all your work?"

"Heavens no. I would do this for the true paladin, no matter what. It would just be nice if he would give an old lady a little something in return. You know, to make me feel appreciated for all my hard work."

"You sound like my wife did when she was waiting for grandchildren in my past life. Don't go trying to guilt-trip me into putting a baby into her belly before she is ready for one. She is becoming an even more popular hero now than she was before. I would hate for that to slow her down."

"Why don't you ask her what she wants. Or are you worried about having kids while there are still villains around? Sorry to burst your bubble, but there will always be villains out there, but life must go on."

"Hah, no. Not worried about that at all."

"Then put a bun in that oven, and gimmie a grandchild." She said, barely containing her laughter over her own words. 

"MOM! Stop harassing John. It's not even the right time of the month to be worrying about it." Yu said, walking into the dojo at the tail end of their conversation. Tsui and Momo were with her today, while Rumi had Ochaco and Mei out on patrol with her.

"Ahh, so that ends our training time for today. You are improving, but it will take a significant amount of time to become proficient with the blade. I'll see if I can make some more time next week and give you a couple of extra sessions. Meanwhile, you should start using your other blade a bit more, and see if you can come up with a solution to the lack of grandchild problem."

"MOM!"

"Did we walk in on more adult-themed problems? My parents could tell you all about how to make more kids if you need some help. Between babysitting those little tadpoles and all this training, I barely have a moment to myself anymore. *Ribbit*" 

John just sighed.

Tuesday Morning

Jaku City

Flowing Mountains Hero Agency And Rescue Services

"Ta da!" Yu said, unveiling the new sign out front of their hero agency to the applause of everyone gathered below. 

"So we are finally an official agency?" John asked as he looked over the sign. It was made to resemble Mt Fiji, with one of the rivers flowing out of it, with the words to the right side and below the picture. Yu folded the cloth that had been covering it, then shrank back down to normal size.

"Yes. The paperwork was finalized last night." Rumi replied, standing beside him. "Yu and I thought about it quite a bit, and we used parts of our hero names to come up with the name. Mt Lady is obvious, and Mirko means beautiful or to flow, so a beautiful flowing river under the mountain seemed to work."

"What about Thirteen?"

"Heh, what is the address?" Anan said.

"Oh, Thirteen Nagnankashi. Hah, that works."

"Yep. Now it's time to get out patrolling. Tsui! You're with me today. Ochaco, you're with Yu. Momo, Mei, you're on call with Thirteen. Tonight we will celebrate with- Can I help you?" Rumi said, turning her attention to someone behind him.

"Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt you, Ma'am. I'm here for the Twilight Knight." A tall man dressed in a business suit said, flashing a police officer's badge. Well, a man with the head of a bulldog.

"What can I do for you?" John asked.

"Do you have somewhere more private we can talk?"

"Sure. Follow me."

They went inside the agency and commandeered one of the meeting rooms. 

"Now, what can I do for you, officer?" John said, lingering on the last part since he didn't know who he was talking to.

"Sorry, I'm so used to being recognized, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Kenji Tsuragamae, the chief of police." The man said, holding out a hand to John. He shook it, and they sat down at the table.

"Now, I won't beat around the bush and waste your time. I'm here for two reasons. One, to thank you for saving my officers from lengthy rehabilitation and possible early retirements. I owe you a great debt for that, which makes the second reason I'm here all the more distasteful." He said, pulling out an envelope from his jacket and passing it across the table.

"What is this?"

"A court summons. You are to appear at a hearing in two weeks' time, where a judge wants your testimony. You are not being charged with anything, not yet anyway. The details are in the letter, but to sum it up, Mr. Wayne, the government wants to suspend your work visa and deport you back to America for both operating without a valid heroes licence and not holding a valid certification to be a therapist."

John just looked at the letter in front of him, then started to chuckle. Of all the things he was expecting, killing villains, disobeying police officers, or carrying a concealed weapon around, he didn't think they would be looking at his lack of certification for his day job.

"All right, Chief. Thank you. I'll be there."

They stood up then and clasped hands again. "Listen, I know a couple of good lawyers if you want me to put a word in. It's a damn farce, and they know it, but they have a dozen of my detectives gathering information on you right now. You are guilty of what they are accusing you of, that is without a doubt, but you have done us a great service and should be rewarded for that. Not sent back to America in proverbial chains."

"Should you be telling me this?"

"Probably not, but if those fools want to waste my time with bullshit like this, I'm of a mind to toss as many wrenches into their plans as I can. Besides, you saved my cousin and her kids from that giant villain on the first day you arrived in Japan. Family is one of the most important pillars to anyone who follows bushido, and I will do what I can to help the man who helped my family."

John had to take a moment to think back, remembering the family he pulled out of the burning vehicle in the first five minutes after arriving in this world. He really hadn't given them a second thought once they had escaped to safety. "How are they doing?"

"Excellent. The kids are still unholy terrors when they run around the house during family dinners, but that is beside the point. They are happy and healthy thanks to you. So, take my card, and if you need anything from the police, let me know." 

The police chief left a few moments later, leaving John alone with his thoughts. He wanted to get angry about this, and he probably would later, but right now all he had in him was satisfaction. Satisfaction in the knowledge that he saved a family and that they were still doing well.

Whatever else happened, he would always have that.