The next morning, Khan noticed the press the moment he turned the corner. Camera vultures. Long lenses. Buzzing near the gates like they were ready to catch a scandal and ride it all the way to retirement. Probably chasing a scoop on All Might. The man couldn't sneeze without a headline printing "Symbol of Peace Feels Weakness, Nation Panics."
Khan just changed course and headed toward the side entrance. Too early in the week to get photographed fake-smiling in front of a dumpster.
"Khan-sensei!"
He turned and spotted two girls rushing toward him. One in the flesh. The other… not so much.
Uraraka, smiling wide, jogged over first. Her lunch must've actually hit her system this time because she wasn't limping. The second girl was a floating school uniform. Blazer sleeves and skirt bobbing in sync, nothing inside but air and good intentions.
He didn't slow down. Just smiled softly.
"Morning," he said, voice warm enough to keep them coming. "Didn't expect company this early."
Uraraka smiled wider. "We saw the press. Thought we'd dodge them."
Khan nodded, then looked directly at where Hagakure's face would be. He didn't track the skirt. Didn't act surprised. That shit screamed creep if you didn't handle it right.
"And you," he said smoothly, "Hagakure Toru, right?"
The blazer tilted.
"You know me?"
"Of course I do," Khan said, tone calm, proud, and not an inch predatory. "You passed the entrance exam with a Quirk that most people write off as 'support-only.' That's nothing short of amazing. That's effort. That's drive. You earned your spot."
The sleeves fluttered a bit. Maybe her hands moved. Maybe that was nerves. Either way, it landed. Bullseye.
Uraraka gave Toru a quick elbow nudge, like "See?" but didn't say it. She just smiled harder.
Khan nodded toward the side building. "C'mon. Less cameras this way. Unless you wanna end up in some tabloid with the headline 'UA's Invisible Student -- Real or Publicity Stunt?'"
Toru made a noise that might've been a laugh.
Uraraka groaned. "Oh god. They'd totally do that."
"Yeah," Khan said, already walking, "and then write three follow-ups about skirt length even if there's no body in it."
"Ew," Uraraka muttered. "Creeps."
Toru agreed with a mumbled, "Yeah, that's so gross," which came from somewhere near his shoulder.
They followed him to the side door. Nobody else around. Just a few birds picking at trash bins.
Khan held the door open. Let them both in first.
"Thanks, Sensei," Uraraka said as they passed.
"Appreciate it," said the blazer.
"Of course," Khan replied, letting the door close behind them. Then he walked ahead, checking the hall.
"How's the leg?" he asked, glancing sideways.
Uraraka hesitated. "Better."
"Hurts less, or you stopped noticing?"
She winced a little. "...Both?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Food helps," she added quickly. "I got the grocery box yesterday. There's a lot in it."
"Good." He didn't smile this time. "You don't get stronger starving."
"I know."
"You need more?"
She blinked. "Huh?"
"Box won't last forever. Some students need double portions if they're burning calories in training."
"Oh! Uh, no, I think I'm good for now. I'm rationing."
He stopped walking. Faced her fully.
"You don't ration nutrition," he said. "That's how people get hurt."
She flinched again. Feeling guilty.
He softened it with a shrug. "Talk to me before it runs out. No paperwork needed. Just ask."
Uraraka nodded, eyes on the floor. Toru said nothing.
Khan looked between the two of them.
"You girls good getting to homeroom from here?" he asked.
"Yeah," Uraraka said. "We've got it."
Toru added, "Thanks again!"
"Anytime," Khan said.
Then he walked off. No need to milk the moment. Sometimes quiet was the best bait. Let them sit with it. Let them wonder what else he saw. What else he'd say next time.
The girls stayed back a second longer before heading down their own hallway.
Khan didn't watch them go. He had a staff meeting to pretend to care about. The hallway bent ahead into admin offices. He stepped around a janitor cart, nodded at the old man scrubbing gum off a railing with a smile, "Good morning, Taka," he said as he passed, the old man greeted back with a grunt. Khan pushed open the door into the staff lounge.
**
The next few days passed without any major incident. Press incident? Check. Alarms? Blared. Students? Panicked. Staff? Pretended it wasn't their fault while secretly shitting bricks.
Turned out to be "just the press," according to the official statement. Headlines stayed tame, UA's image stayed polished.
Khan didn't do anything. Nezu wasn't someone to underestimate. He just made sure the villains had the curriculum. If they failed, he wouldn't act to hand it over. The League had the intel. Lesson plans, student rosters, teacher quirks, class schedules. It was gift-wrapped, easy to find.
But that was the catch, wasn't it?
Midoriya wasn't in 1-A.
That one variable might've kneecapped the whole damn plotline. Canon didn't break easy. But it bled. Oh, it bled.
Khan paced the office with his coffee cooling in one hand and a tablet in the other. Shoes off, sleeves rolled. Nobody else was around to see it. Not that they would've cared. He was just "the counselor." Quiet guy. Good at listening. Forgotable enough that even the cameras skipped him.
He stopped in front of the window and stared down at the courtyard.
Midoriya saved Tsuyu. And Mineta, but fuck that gremlin. Froppy mattered.
Mineta was a dead weight. Could vanish tomorrow and the System wouldn't even send a push notification.
Still. The ripple effect mattered.
No Deku meant Tsuyu might drown. Aizawa might bleed out. Shigaraki might get too far in. Too early. Khan swiped the screen, pulling up the map. USJ layout. Threat zones. Predicted incursion routes. The attack was a heartbeat away. But what happened if no one balanced the playing field?
Could let Mineta die. Hell, should. Kid probably had a folder of schoolgirl panty shots stashed behind his dresser and a Quirk that screamed, "I peaked at 13."
But Tsuyu...
Nah. She had to make it out. Not just alive. Rattled. Vulnerable. The good kind. The kind that cracked open later when comfort came with a smile and an admin keycard.
Khan gritted his teeth. This wasn't the time for improvisation. It was early game, dammit. The timeline still needed to look intact, even if the core was rotten.
He sat down hard, fingers dancing across the screen again, flipping tabs. Midoriya helped Aizawa too. Distracted Shigaraki at the right time. Delayed the warp point. Made sure Eraser didn't get liquefied in front of his students. Just enough delay to keep the Symbol alive.
Khan rubbed his forehead. He couldn't add Midoriya back in. Hell, Khan couldn't even force a "rescue mission" without blowing his own cover. Too early for grand moves.
Shigaraki needed to lose. Not by a lot. Just enough to stall his god-complex from leveling up. The Nomu had to break bones. Aizawa needed stitches. Thirteen had to scream. Iida had to run like a panicked Roomba. The students needed to taste helplessness.
But not break. Not yet.
He sipped the coffee. It was cold. Didn't care.
He leaned back in his chair, one leg over the other, eyes on the clock.
He could let the event play. Aizawa, dead. Thirteen, shredded. Couple students gone too, maybe Kaminari melted on a stairwell or Mineta popped like a grape under Nomu's foot. Press would lose their minds. Parents would rip their hair out. UA's reputation would tank harder than a washed-up sidekick's OnlyFans.
Tempting.
The System would go nuts. Buffs raining like a hentai lootbox...
But it wasn't worth it. Not yet. That kind of fallout left scars he couldn't harvest clean. Heroes would start sniffing. Villains would get cocky. Worst of all, a few of his toys might not survive the splash damage. And he wasn't risking that. Not when he hadn't even fucked a single one into submission yet.