Chương 49: What They Want From You

The first offer came with excellent formatting. That made Kurose dislike it immediately. She stood at the front of Class 1-C with six printed pages clipped together, her expression neutral in the way students had learned meant someone had tested the limits of her patience and discovered there were no exits there.

Ren sat with his left arm wrapped, his ribs taped beneath his uniform, and his right hand resting flat on the desk because the urge to flex his index finger had become annoying enough to qualify as a personality flaw. Scar Tension had not repeated since the medical test. Recovery Girl had made sure of that by banning every object that could possibly become an experiment, including rubber grips, smooth pens, and once, after watching Ren stare at a wet cafeteria tray for too long, trays.

Shinso sat beside him, shoulders slouched and eyes too awake. Aizawa's first "future inconvenience" training session had not happened yet, but the knowledge of it had already started changing his posture in small defensive ways, as if a future capture weapon had wrapped itself around his pride before touching his body. On the board, Kurose had written: ATTENTION IS NOT CONSENT Below it: OPPORTUNITY IS A REQUEST Below that: REQUESTS CAN BE REFUSED Sano stared at the board with deep suspicion.

"Sensei""No""I had not asked""You were preparing to""I was preparing to appreciate the typography""No" Sano sat back. Kenta whispered "Growth failed" Arai hid a smile behind her notebook. Kurose lifted the clipped pages.

"After the Sports Festival, several students in this class received official or unofficial attention from faculty, departments, agencies, media contacts, and private organizations. Some of that attention is appropriate. Some is premature. Some is opportunistic. Some is predatory while wearing nice stationery" The class went quiet. Ren's right index finger pressed against the desk. No tension. Just pressure. Kurose looked at him for half a second and then away. Good. She was not making him the lesson yet.

"The Hero Course receives this type of attention every year" she continued "They have structures for it. They have warnings, staff filters, and older students who can tell them which agencies overwork interns, which heroes use interns as props, and which opportunities are worth the cost. General Studies does not usually receive this volume of attention" Shinso muttered "Lucky us" Kurose heard him.

"Yes. Luck often arrives after a failure of preparation" That landed. Kurose placed the pages on her desk.

"Therefore today we are discussing how not to confuse being wanted with being valued" Ren wrote that down. Not because he liked it. Because he did not. Kurose turned the first page around and held it up.

"This is a media request for Akiyama Ren" The room shifted. Ren kept his face still. Hana would ask later if he had eaten lunch. Recovery Girl would ask if his pulse had risen. Kurose would know without asking. He breathed. Kurose read without showing the sender's name.

"They request an exclusive interview with Akiyama regarding the emotional journey from presumed Quirkless General Studies student to the Scar Hero of U. A." Sano made a choking sound. Arai's face closed. Kenta's hand tightened around his pencil. Shinso turned his head slowly toward Ren. Ren looked at the board. Scar Hero. No. Not anger. Something colder. Kurose folded the page once.

"We refused" Ren exhaled. Only then did he realize he had been holding his breath. Kurose continued.

"Reasons: minor student, medical recovery, inaccurate framing, exploitative language, no educational value, no consent requested through appropriate channels, and because I disliked the phrase emotional journey enough to consider setting the letter on fire" Sano raised his hand. Kurose looked at him.

"Could that be part of our civics curriculum?"

"No""Can we watch if you change your mind?"

"No" Kurose lifted the second page.

"This is a request from a Quirk analysis blog with a large following asking for access to publicly available footage and permission to publish a technical breakdown of Scar Tissue" Ren's stomach tightened around the name. Kurose looked at him.

"Public footage cannot be controlled. Permission to use your name, medical framing, or U. A. confirmation was refused" Ren nodded.

"Thank you""Do not thank me for baseline protection""I am thanking the person implementing it" Kurose paused. Then said "Accepted" Shinso looked betrayed by the existence of a successful thank you. Kurose lifted the third page.

"This is a private support equipment startup asking whether Arai Mei would be interested in consulting on sensory-dampening equipment inspired by her festival performance" Arai blinked. The class turned toward her. She froze. Kurose's voice sharpened.

"Do not stare at her as if she has become a product category" Everyone turned back. Arai's shoulders lowered slightly. Kurose looked at her directly.

"This one is not automatically predatory. It is premature. I have placed it in review. If you want to discuss it later with guardians present or with school support, we will" Arai nodded once. Quiet. But not invisible. Kurose lifted another page.

"This is a rescue agency asking whether Mori Kenta would be open to future observation for structural rescue training tracks" Kenta straightened. Sano whispered "Structural king" Kenta kicked his chair. Kurose said "Also premature. Also not bad on its face. Also not accepted without proper process" Kenta nodded slowly. His face looked like he had been handed something heavy and did not yet know whether it was a weapon, a tool, or a compliment. Kurose lifted the next page.

"This is a heroics commentary channel asking Shinso Hitoshi to appear in a debate titled Mind Control Quirks: Heroic Asset or Villain Risk" The room temperature changed. Shinso did not move. Ren felt his own fingers curl. Kurose looked at the class.

"We refused" Sano whispered "Good" This time Kurose let it stand. Shinso's face remained empty. Too empty. Kurose's voice stayed controlled.

"The reasons were simple. He is not a debate topic. His Quirk use at USJ is documented as Emergency Rescue Support. His festival performance is documented as controlled competitive use. Anyone asking him to debate whether he is a villain risk is not asking for education. They are asking for spectacle" Shinso's throat moved. He looked down. Ren wrote: Not a debate topic. Then slid the page sideways just enough that Shinso could see if he chose. Shinso did not look. His eyes shifted once. Good enough.

Kurose placed the page aside.

"Now we come to the category that concerns Akiyama and Shinso most directly" Ren looked up. Shinso did too. Kurose picked up a thicker stack.

"Agency interest" The class went very still. Because that was the word students wanted. Agency. Internship. Path. Professional recognition. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Adult attention with official letterhead. Kurose let them feel it for three seconds before cutting it open.

"Agency interest is not admission. It is not validation. It is not safety. It is an adult or organization saying they see potential use in you. Potential use may align with your goals. It may also devour them" She placed two folders on the desk.

"One for each of you. These are filtered summaries. You will not receive direct contact information yet. Your parents or guardians will be involved as appropriate. Principal Nezu, relevant faculty, and I are reviewing all requests" Ren looked at his folder. Shinso looked at his. Neither reached immediately. Kurose noticed.

"Good" Sano whispered "The folders are enemies""No" Kurose said "The folders are containers. Learn the difference" She moved to Shinso's folder first.

"Shinso. You have received three serious agency inquiries and many unserious ones" Shinso's voice was flat.

"Serious meaning less insulting?"

"Serious meaning they identified actual use cases beyond fear and spectacle" His face did something almost invisible. Kurose read.

"One underground hero agency expressed interest in your stealth, verbal trigger, and restraint potential. Their note was concise, non-public-facing, and included questions about ethics training rather than branding. That is a positive sign" Aizawa's name did not enter the room. But his shadow did. Shinso nodded once.

"Another agency specializing in hostage de-escalation and crowd control asked whether you had any interest in long-term negotiation support work. They used the phrase consent-bound applications, which is rare enough to be worth noting" Shinso looked up despite himself.

"Consent-bound?"

"Yes""That sounds fake""It may be aspirational. We investigate before believing""Good" Kurose continued.

"The third is a mid-rank patrol agency whose language was poor. They are not being advanced" Shinso's mouth twitched.

"Poor how?" Kurose read from the page.

"A Quirk like his could be useful if properly supervised" The room went colder. Shinso smiled without humor.

"There it is" Kurose tore the page in half. Every student stared. Kurose dropped both halves into the recycling bin.

"Not advanced" Sano slowly raised both hands in silent worship. Kurose looked at him. He lowered them. Ren felt something loosen in the room. Not much. Enough. Kurose moved to Ren's folder.

"Akiyama. Your inquiries are more numerous and more problematic" Ren nodded. Expected. Still. Hana had warned him that after public footage, people would call curiosity opportunity. Daichi had added that anyone who wanted him badly after one televised injury should be made to explain what they wanted before being allowed in the same room. Kurose opened the folder.

"Several rescue agencies expressed interest. Most framed the interest around hazard assessment, emergency movement under constraint, and structural response. Those are being reviewed, but no contact is approved until medical stabilization and until we are certain they understand the word no" Ren said "Which ones seem legitimate?" Kurose looked at him.

"Two. One specializes in urban collapse rescue. One in post-disaster evacuation support. Both used cautious language. Both asked about your recovery before potential training. That matters" Ren wrote: Asked recovery first = possible green. Recovery Girl would probably still call it yellow. Kurose continued.

"Four combat-oriented agencies expressed interest in your durability, pain tolerance, and potential as a close-quarters specialist" Ren's mouth went dry. Kurose's expression turned cold.

"Rejected at this stage""Why?" His voice came too fast. Hana was not here. Daichi was not here. But their absence did not make the question safer. Kurose answered anyway.

"Because your file states no evidence of damage immunity, no safe repeatability, no combat application development, and no permission for adults to mistake your emergency response for durability training" Ren looked down. Shinso's eyes were on him. Sano looked as if he wanted to say something and had bitten down on his own soul to avoid it. Kurose's voice did not soften.

"Do you disagree?" Ren could say yes. Part of him did. The part that wanted the folders to matter more than caution. The part that wanted an agency to say they had seen not just rescue but combat potential. The part that heard close-quarters specialist and imagined a version of himself that did not need to be protected from opportunity. He breathed.

"No" Kurose waited. He added "I wanted to""Good report" He hated that. Needed it. Kurose continued.

"Two medical research groups requested anonymized data related to Scar Tissue" The class went silent in a different way. Ren looked up slowly. Kurose's eyes were already on him.

"Refused" The word arrived before panic could assemble. Ren still felt it. Medical research groups. Data. Scar-lines on screen. A body as method. His right index finger pressed into the desk. No tension. No tension. No tension. Kurose said "Status" Ren forced his hand flat.

"Yellow. Anger. Fear. Scar heat none. No activation""Good" Shinso's voice was quiet.

"They asked for data?"

"Yes" Kurose said "They asked without student consent, family consent, or sufficient ethical framework. Their requests will not proceed" Kenta said "Can they ask again?"

"Yes" Arai asked "Can they ask around U. A.?" Kurose's expression became even colder.

"They can attempt it" No one mistook that for permission. Ren looked at the board. Attention is not consent. Opportunity is a request. Requests can be refused. He had written similar things in notebooks for years. It felt different when the request was for pieces of him. Kurose turned one more page.

"There is one inquiry I am required to disclose because of its status and because hiding it would create more risk than naming it" Ren's attention sharpened. Shinso looked at him. Kurose's face had become unreadable.

"The Endeavor Agency sent a formal inquiry" The classroom did not move. Even Sano stayed silent. Ren heard Todoroki's voice in his memory. You do not know him. You do not know what he made me for. Daichi's voice followed from the infirmary. That boy is carrying a building. Kurose placed the page flat on her desk but did not let anyone see the text.

"The inquiry did not offer an internship. It requested that U. A. inform them if Akiyama Ren becomes eligible for future heroics observation or internship consideration, citing interest in high-stress survival response, field persistence, and compatibility with extreme-environment training" Ren's left forearm heated under the wrap. Not Quirk. Maybe Quirk. Maybe memory. He kept his breathing even. Shinso's chair creaked. Kenta whispered "Extreme environment" Arai's face went pale.

Sano looked uncharacteristically serious. Kurose looked directly at Ren.

"This inquiry is not being advanced without extensive review" Ren said "But not rejected""No" The honesty was worse.

"Why?"

"Because Endeavor is the Number Two Hero and his agency has legitimate legal standing to express interest in prospective students after the Sports Festival. Refusing categorically without process may invite more attention than controlled delay. Controlled delay protects better than dramatic rejection" Ren swallowed.

"Does Todoroki know?"

"I do not know" That was worse too. Shinso spoke.

"His father watched Ren move through Todoroki's ice and thought extreme-environment training" Kurose said "Likely" Ren looked at the desk. Field persistence. High-stress survival response. Compatibility. Every phrase was clean. Every phrase was wrong in a way that could become useful to the wrong adult. Kurose said "Akiyama" He looked up.

"You do not have to decide anything about that inquiry today. You will not meet Endeavor because of this inquiry. You will not be placed under his observation because of this inquiry. Your parents will be informed. Recovery Girl has already added a medical hold to any extreme-environment proposal involving you" Ren blinked.

"Already?"

"Before lunch" Shinso muttered "Medical speedrun" Kurose continued.

"Todoroki's relationship with his father is not your responsibility. Endeavor's interest is not your validation. His agency's status does not override welfare protocol" Ren nodded. The words landed. Not enough. But landed. Kurose looked at the whole class.

"This is the point. Some requests will sound like recognition. Some will use professional vocabulary. Some will come from heroes you admire or fear. Some will come from people with rankings so large they distort the room. Your task is not to be grateful fast enough" She tapped the board.

"Your task is to understand what they want from you" Ren wrote that down. What they want from you. Then, underneath: Wanting me useful ≠ valuing me alive. His hand shook once. He put the pen down. Kurose saw. She moved on.

"For today, none of you will respond to outside contact alone. If you receive direct messages, emails, letters, gifts, or requests through personal channels, you forward them to me. You do not answer. You do not argue. You do not accept. You do not decline with profanity, even if educationally deserved" Sano lowered his raised hand. Kurose continued.

"You protect yourselves by making adults use proper doors" Arai wrote that down. Kenta did too. Shinso looked at his folder as if the paper inside had become heavier. Ren kept his right hand flat. No tension. No thread. No small answer. Good. The lesson ended with forms. Everything important seemed to. Kurose gave each student a contact-report sheet. Sano asked whether carrier pigeons counted. Kurose said yes. Sano asked whether emotional pigeons counted. Kurose said only if they carried written requests.

Arai asked whether online reposts should be forwarded. Kurose said only direct targeting or unsafe misinformation. Kenta asked whether family members could answer calls. Kurose said guardians could refuse but should document. Shinso asked whether silence counted as a response. Kurose said sometimes, which made everyone more tired. Ren put his agency summary folder into his bag without opening it fully. He did not trust himself to read the Endeavor inquiry twice. At lunch, he texted Hana. Agency inquiries today.

Kurose will brief you. Some bad. Endeavor Agency sent formal inquiry. I am stable. Ate breakfast. Eating lunch now. He stared at the message. Then added: Not hiding it. He sent it before he could polish the sentence into something less vulnerable. Hana replied in twenty-one seconds. Good. I am proud of the last sentence. Eat all of lunch. Daichi replied separately. Endeavor can wait behind your mother and Recovery Girl. This is not a metaphor. Ren stared at that longer than necessary.

Shinso sat across from him and dropped a carton of milk onto the table.

"Your parents?"

"Yes""Bad?"

"Protective""Bad for Endeavor" Ren's mouth twitched.

"Yes" Kenta sat beside Ren with his own tray.

"I got a rescue agency thing""Urban collapse?" Kenta blinked.

"You know?"

"Kurose said one rescue agency was interested in me too. You make more sense for structural stability" Kenta looked down at his food.

"I lost to Iida""You made Iida adjust his movement""That's not winning""No" Kenta looked up. Ren held his gaze.

"It is evidence" Kenta absorbed that. Then nodded once. Arai sat beside Shinso.

"Equipment company" Shinso looked at her.

"You okay?" Arai considered.

"I do not know yet" Sano arrived dramatically with his tray.

"I received no agency inquiry because society fears morale-based power" Kenta said "You got a student council volunteer request" Sano gasped.

"Betrayal of privacy" Arai said "It was on the board""Public betrayal" Ren listened to them and ate because the alternative was becoming the least intelligent person at the table. Across the cafeteria, Todoroki sat with Class 1-A. He did not look over at first. Then he did. Ren did not know whether Todoroki had heard about the Endeavor inquiry. Probably not. Maybe yes. Maybe Endeavor's interest moved faster than sons were allowed to understand. Todoroki's face remained unreadable from across the room.

Ren gave no signal. Todoroki looked away. That was probably best. For now. Midoriya appeared at the edge of the table with bandaged fingers, Uraraka behind him and Iida slightly to the side like a moral support structure with glasses. Shinso sighed.

"You look like an apology committee" Midoriya flinched. Uraraka elbowed him lightly. Iida bowed.

"We are not a committee" Shinso looked at him. Iida adjusted his glasses.

"Though if there were a committee, proper scheduling would be" Uraraka elbowed him too. Ren looked at Midoriya.

"Status?" Midoriya blinked. Then straightened.

"Pain controlled. Fingers fractured but stable. No arm break. Recovery Girl yelled at me. All Might" He stopped. Too fast. Too public. Ren saw the panic. So did Shinso. So did Iida, though not for the same reasons. Midoriya corrected.

"My mentor also said restraint first" Ren nodded.

"Good" Midoriya's eyes shone in the most inconvenient way.

"I'm sorry I used your match in mine" The cafeteria noise seemed to dip around them. Ren put down his chopsticks.

"Did you use me as evidence or spectacle?" Midoriya swallowed.

"I thought evidence. But it was public, and I did not ask" Ren looked at him. Midoriya held still despite the visible urge to keep apologizing until oxygen surrendered. Ren said "Then do not make the apology bigger than the action" Midoriya stared. Uraraka looked relieved. Shinso muttered "He says, professionally" Ren ignored him.

"I am angry in a delayed way" Ren said "Not only at you. Do not ask me to sort it now" Midoriya nodded quickly.

"Okay""Your statement was relevant" Midoriya's shoulders eased. Ren added "It still made my body part of your turning point" Midoriya froze again. Good. Not punishment. Information.

"I understand" Midoriya said"No" Ren said "But you are trying" Midoriya looked down. Then back up.

"I'll keep trying""Good" Shinso groaned. Ren looked at him.

"What?"

"The word is spreading" Iida stepped forward.

"Akiyama, I also wished to say that your conduct during the Sports Festival and your restraint now display admirable civic maturity" Ren stared. Shinso stared. Uraraka looked worried. Sano leaned across the table from nowhere.

"Civic maturity?" Iida stood straighter.

"Yes" Sano placed one hand over his heart.

"I want that on a shirt" Kenta said "No" Arai said "Maybe small font" Ren closed his eyes. The lunch table survived. Barely. After school, Kurose called Ren and Shinso back to her office. The folders were there again. So was Nezu on a small screen. Recovery Girl was not present, which meant either the meeting was less medical or she was lying in wait somewhere more efficient. Kurose gestured for them to sit.

"This is brief" Shinso said "That has been said before""This time I mean it" Nezu smiled from the screen.

"You have both handled today's disclosures with acceptable restraint" Shinso's eyebrows lifted.

"Acceptable" Ren said "High praise" Nezu continued.

"There is one additional matter. Due to the volume of interest, we are expanding privacy protections around both of your records" Ren's attention sharpened. Kurose pushed two forms forward.

"Data access audit. Any faculty request to view expanded Quirk or post-festival evaluation data will be logged and reviewed. Medical data remains restricted. Agency inquiries will be filtered through the school. You are to report any direct contact immediately" Ren looked at the form. Shinso read faster.

"Why expanded?" Kurose answered "Because attention invites curiosity. Curiosity with credentials can still be inappropriate" Nezu's voice remained light.

"We prefer doors with locks" Ren thought of Garaki without knowing why. A shiver moved up his spine. Not a fragment. Not exactly. More like the old feeling before USJ, when a word became a room in his mind and the room had no exits. Black fog. Hands. Heavy. Now another image tried to form. A monitor. A gloved hand. A file opening. He inhaled. Scar heat none. Pulse up. Kurose noticed.

"Status" Ren answered automatically.

"Yellow. Unease. No image. No clear fragment. Data access topic triggered threat association" Nezu's eyes sharpened slightly. Shinso turned toward him. Kurose wrote.

"Do you need to stop?" Ren shook his head once.

"No. Continue. But restrict data aggressively" Nezu said "We intend to" Ren looked at the form again. It suddenly felt less bureaucratic. More like a wall. Fragile. Necessary. He signed. Shinso signed after him. Nezu folded his paws.

"Good" There it was again. Shinso whispered "Contagion" Kurose ignored him. The meeting ended quickly as promised. That was suspicious enough to feel like mercy. In the hallway, Shinso walked beside Ren without immediately speaking. The late afternoon sun turned the windows gold, making U. A. look kinder than it had any right to look after inviting the world to watch children hurt each other for futures adults controlled. At the stairwell, Shinso stopped. Ren stopped too.

Shinso leaned against the wall and looked at the folder under his arm.

"People want to use us" Ren looked out the window.

"Yes""Some use is not bad""No""That makes it worse""Yes" Shinso looked at him.

"Do you want the rescue agency ones?" Ren thought about collapsed buildings. Hazard lines. People trapped. Hands on broken concrete. A body that could find one second of grip where none should hold.

"Yes" Shinso nodded.

"Do you want Endeavor?" Ren's left forearm warmed beneath the wrap.

"No" The answer came clean. Then, because clean answers were rarely complete, he added "I want what the inquiry implies I might become" Shinso's face tightened.

"Field persistence""Yes""High-stress survival response""Yes""Compatibility with being treated like weather damage" Ren looked at him. Shinso's expression remained sharp. Ren breathed.

"Yes" Shinso looked away first.

"At least you know""Do I?"

"You said it out loud. That counts for something" Ren looked down at his right hand. His index finger looked ordinary.

"What do they want from you?" he asked Shinso snorted once.

"Depends who asks. Some want a villain-shaped debate prop. Some want a quiet button they can press when people talk too much. Some maybe want a hero" He said the last word like it might reject him if heard too clearly. Ren said "What do you want from you?" Shinso's mouth opened. Closed. He looked annoyed.

"Rude question""Yes""Hypocritical""Yes" He stared out the window. After a while, he said "A second answer" Ren nodded. Good. Not clean. But good. They walked again. Behind them, in Kurose's office, two signed audit forms entered a system designed too late but not uselessly. Elsewhere in U. A., agency letters waited in filtered inboxes. Media clips multiplied. Teachers argued. Parents prepared questions. Heroes saw potential. Some saw students. Some saw tools. Some, far away from U. A.

and beneath any lawful door, would eventually see a method. Ren did not know that yet. He only knew that being wanted had weight. And that the next part of becoming a hero might not be proving he could move under pressure. It might be learning who was allowed to ask him to.