With that in mind, Kamui Woods quickly continued the introductions.
"Eraser Head-senpai, this is Inspector Inoue," he said respectfully. "He's the senior officer I've been working under during my time training with the police."
Hearing that, the middle-aged officer named Inoue only glanced at Aizawa Shota—the man Kamui Woods had just addressed as his senior—then gave a quiet snort.
That was it.
No greeting.
No acknowledgment.
No attempt to hide the fact that he was displeased.
It was obvious he had no intention of showing courtesy to someone who had just openly questioned his way of thinking.
Aizawa, for his part, didn't seem interested in him either. His brows twitched once, then he shifted his gaze away as if the officer wasn't worth another second of attention.
The air between them immediately turned stiff.
Kamui Woods felt his scalp tighten.
Still, he wasn't foolish enough to think he could mediate between the two. So he decisively pretended not to notice the tension at all and pushed the conversation forward.
"About what I mentioned on the phone earlier, Eraser Head-senpai…" Kamui Woods said, carefully choosing his words. "Since U.A. hasn't started classes yet, I was hoping you could keep an eye on that child, Shimura Tenko, for a while. His Quirk is strong, but the way he thinks seems a little out of step with mainstream society, so I thought—"
"I was already planning to."
Aizawa cut him off before he could finish.
His tone was as flat as ever.
"Anything else? If there is, say it."
Then he gave Kamui Woods a brief look and added, "You've been circling around it this whole time. That usually means there's another request you're trying to work up the nerve to ask."
Kamui Woods froze for a second.
He had, in fact, been hesitating.
The truth was, Aizawa had agreed to come here for two reasons.
The first was simple: Kamui Woods was a junior he liked well enough, and if a junior he thought highly of asked for help looking after someone, he wasn't the type to refuse without hearing him out.
The second reason was more important.
He was interested in Shimura Tenko.
Kamui Woods, one of the most promising rising Pro Heroes of the new generation, had specifically asked him to watch that boy. And earlier, through a few carefully chosen words, even All Might had clearly hinted that he hoped Aizawa would do the same.
A teenager who could draw the attention of both All Might and Kamui Woods was not someone Aizawa could ignore.
"Y-Yes," Kamui Woods admitted, his face reddening slightly beneath the mask after being seen through so easily. "There is one more person I'd like you to keep an eye on. His name is Izuku Midoriya. He's a student at Oridera Middle School."
As he said it, he lowered his head a little.
"I'm sorry. I should've mentioned it from the start. I know suddenly adding another person at the last minute is troublesome, so…"
"Izuku Midoriya?"
Aizawa repeated the name, and for the first time, a faintly strange look appeared on his face.
That name, of course, was familiar.
Not just familiar.
It was very familiar.
Thinking back to his earlier conversation with All Might, Aizawa suddenly found the situation a little amusing.
So this was the boy All Might had chosen as his successor?
And the extra student Kamui Woods wanted him to watch just happened to be the same one?
What a coincidence.
Or maybe not a coincidence at all.
Kamui Woods blinked in surprise.
"Senpai… you know Midoriya?"
What surprised him even more was Aizawa's expression.
For a brief moment, the usually dead-eyed, permanently exhausted-looking Eraser Head had actually smiled.
Not a warm smile, either.
Something closer to a dangerous one.
"Senpai?"
Kamui Woods instantly grew nervous.
Why did that look… so villainous?
"Relax," Aizawa said, waving a hand as if brushing the concern aside. "I'm just surprised he's the one you want me to watch."
Then he added, much more directly, "Fine. I'll take it."
A faint, unreadable glint passed through his eyes.
This actually worked out well.
He had already wanted to see what kind of boy All Might had chosen to inherit the Symbol of Peace.
And now that chance had landed right in front of him.
If Midoriya turned out to be spineless, mediocre, or half-baked—
then Aizawa fully intended to have a long talk with All Might afterward.
The title of Symbol of Peace was too heavy.
Far too heavy.
It was not something that could be entrusted to someone unworthy.
As for Shimura Tenko…
Thinking of the "good kid who liked interfering in things" All Might had described, Aizawa frowned slightly. Then he glanced sideways at Inspector Inoue, who had remained stiff and silent through most of the exchange, and spoke in a calm tone that left no room for argument.
"As for this surveillance nonsense, let's stop it here."
"I'll talk to Shimura Tenko myself."
Aizawa trusted All Might's judgment.
If All Might said the kid was a good kid, then Aizawa was willing to believe there was something there worth seeing.
"Understood, senpai," Kamui Woods replied immediately, his tone openly respectful.
He had known it.
This senior was nothing like Inspector Inoue.
And now the contrast couldn't have been clearer.
Compared to Inoue, Aizawa's judgment was much closer to what Kamui Woods himself believed was right.
With Eraser Head stepping in, Shimura Tenko would probably be fine.
Unfortunately, Kamui Woods' relief was not shared by the man beside him.
Inspector Inoue's brows drew together tightly.
"That's not your place, Eraser Head," he said in a clipped tone. "Pro Heroes have the authority to capture criminals. What happens after that is not something you're entitled to interfere with."
Aizawa slowly turned his head and looked at him.
His eyes were cold.
"Criminals?"
He repeated the word as if weighing it.
"Are you talking about criminals?"
"Is that boy one?"
In Aizawa's view, this man's thinking really was twisted.
He had let the earlier "sheep and lions" nonsense slide because there had been no point wasting time on every warped idea that came out of the officer's mouth.
But now?
Now he was practically trying to label a middle school student as a criminal simply because the kid hadn't chosen to sit quietly and wait for someone else to save him.
Because he had stood his ground when faced with villains.
Because he had fought back when street trash tried to prey on him.
That wasn't justice.
That was insanity.
And worse than insanity, it was the kind of logic that would eventually push every truly capable person into opposition.
If everyone with real strength was treated as a threat the moment they acted outside the system, then what kind of peace could possibly be left?
Seeing the coldness in Aizawa's gaze, Inoue's frown deepened.
"He may not be one yet, but—"
"Enough."
Aizawa cut him off with a curt wave of the hand.
Then, in the same flat voice, he ended the matter.
"You don't need to concern yourself with it anymore. I'll speak with your superiors myself."
The moment those words came out, Inoue's face stiffened.
Once Aizawa brought his superiors into it, there was no point continuing to argue.
So outwardly, he fell silent.
But the unwillingness on his face remained obvious.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios