In the Arms of White Chrysanthemums

      U.A. High School is a school where the teaching staff is truly a team of the best specialists, who are gathered from all over the world. Principal Nezu is constantly searching for new staff, hunting teachers from other schools and academies, forming a friendly team in order to eventually obtain the quintessence of knowledge and moral qualities. Magic Elixir is a team capable of providing high–quality and effective educational services and competently conducting the educational process for students of the U.A. High School.       Myrna Novak was sitting in Principal Nezu's office, holding a package of documents and a job offer in her hands, wondering at what point she succumbed to the tempting conditions of the cunning beast that is at the head of the entire school, and enrolled in Japanese courses.       "I am glad that you are now part of our team," the principal said, and his speech was as always soothing and endearing.       Myrna still couldn't tell if she was happy about it or not, so she just smiled a little in response. She recalled that strange day when, waking up in the morning, she found an intriguing letter on her e-mail. It was sent from the general corporate mail of the school, but judging by the style of the letter, it was obviously written by the principal himself. She was not immediately interested in the offer, she had to think for a couple of days before clicking on reply and preparing a letter back.       During several months of negotiations, Myrna managed to learn basic Japanese, and by the time the deal was concluded, she could already keep up a conversation on abstract topics. And so, beloved Croatia, partially located in the west of the Balkan Peninsula, waved its hand sunnily and led her on her way with the sound of the sea.       "Is this my official position at the school?" having looked through the English version of the employment contract, Myrna asked with an accent.       The strict letters of the Times New Roman printed the word: Methodologist. After hiring, Myrna will have to familiarize herself with the current teaching methodology, curricula and practical classes, as well as attend teacher lessons, identify advantages and disadvantages, which will then need to be discussed at the pedagogical council. The position was very responsible. And it was perfect for the terms of their deal.       "Yes," Nezu replied, taking the seal for signing documents in his hands, "I will introduce you to our friendly team. Will you sign in European style, or you have already had your own seal made?"       Myrna squinted at the red tip of the principal inkan, on which the hieroglyphs of his name were engraved.       "I'll sign it like this for now. The inkan maker is overloaded with orders, and mine won't be ready until the end of the month."       "Ok."       "Can you tell me, Principal Nezu," Myrna asked when they had completed the legal side of the preparations, "Why did you turn to me of all the specialists? You promised to tell me only after I arrived in Japan."       The principal spread his hands and smiled, baring his small fangs.       "It's very simple. First of all, you are still young, unmarried and without children, so the family will not be able to stop you from moving to another country with a different time zone and climate, where you will have to plunge headlong into another culture. Moreover, this is largely why you agreed to learn the language. And, of course, we were indirectly acquainted with you, just through one handshake. When I asked my colleagues for help, you were on their list of recommendations."       "It's all clear," Myrna commented, grinning, "the solution turned out to be more boring than I thought. You are right, age directly affects our willingness to take risks. If I were five or ten years older, I definitely would not have accepted your offer."       She had just arrived in Japan the day before and didn't even have time to look around properly, although she noticed right away: this country has nothing to do with her sunny Croatia. The bustling, sparkling and vibrant areas of Musutafu cannot be compared with the old Gothic and Neo-Renaissance districts of Zagreb. In general, Myrna has been to few places, mostly traveling only in Europe.       Rising from his seat, Nezu walked around his desk and headed for the door. After putting the documents in a folder, Myrna also stood up.       "Don't worry, Ms. Novak," he finally encouraged, "I will personally make sure that you can adapt to the new environment without any problems. We have a very good doctor here, you can contact her at any time."       Myrna gasped, remembering that her childhood idol was working at the school. Is Principal Nezu talking about the legendary Recovery Girl? She had dreamed of meeting her all her life.       The appearance of a new employee in the teaching staff has always been a very interesting event. It was always especially interesting to see how the teachers gossiped culturally and extremely intelligently. Teachers are generally able to discuss a lot of things very intelligently. When he was free after the lesson, Aizawa Shota went into the teacher's room to upload planning to the school curriculum, designed specifically for the functional requirements of U.A.       "A specialist from Europe?" he heard the voices of the colleagues.       "Yes, I saw her this morning. She is young, from twenty-five to thirty years old. She doesn't look particularly serious, although it is difficult to determine something specific about the heroes by their appearance."       "Is she a hero?" Nemuri Kayama, whom everyone knew as Midnight, doubted.       "Don't we have a mandatory requirement to have a hero license if you want to become a teacher?" Hizashi Yamada asked.       Ken Ishiyama, with the heroic name of Cementoss, undertook to answer him:       "Not for everyone."       Shouta Aizawa continued to stare at the screen, catching the teacher's gossip out of the corner of his ear.       "What grade will she take?"       "I don't even know what rate she will be given, and what she will teach. Judging by her track record, which I found on social networks, this Novak will be something like a methodical work manager at the Department of Heroes. Principal Nezu has long wanted to streamline our teaching system and, it seems, has finally found a suitable candidate.       "Apparently, we should expect a series of transformations according to the European teaching tradition." Midnight sighed, resting her chin on her fist.       "It'll be interesting to see her," Present Mic said. "I have heard that European women are extremely emancipated."       "I've heard that too," Kan Sekijiro agreed, "even though I've never been to Europe.       The door opened a crack, and Principal Nezu entered the teacher's room. A girl followed him. All the teachers turned around, clutching the fragile body of their future colleague with their eyes. Their new methodologist looked to be about twenty-six, although that age was quite floating. Against the background of their usual Japanese band, she stood out too much. And not only with European facial features. She was wearing a beige business suit with wide palazzo trousers, and on her feet were huge pale pink nikes, slightly worn but clean.       "Let me introduce you, colleagues, our new employee Myrna Novak. She will work with us as a methodologist for educational work."       "Good morning," the girl smiled, slightly lowering her head in a polite bow.       She had soft features and a charming smile, and wrinkles gathered at the corners of her green and prickly eyes, like branches of fir trees. Shaggy hair, not styled, stuck out in all directions and gave the girl a childish, spontaneous look.       "Welcome to the team!" The teachers answered her with a polite bow as well.       Myrna ran her eyes over them, picking out interesting and unusual personalities. Out of all this bright variety of bizarre suits, she stopped and slowly glided over a seemingly completely ordinary guy. He was dressed all in black, with a grayish ribbon wrapped around his neck. His eyes were half-closed wearily, as if he was ready to fall asleep at the same moment. In general, his whole appearance screamed of exhaustion, even his hair was as uncombed as hers.       "I am sure we will work productively together!" putting on a polite working smile, Myrna continued, bowing once more. "I hope my accent won't bother you, I've only recently started speaking Japanese."       "Not at all!" they groaned back at her. "Your Japanese is wonderful!"       "Novak-san arrived in Japan only yesterday morning and has not had time to properly settle into her new apartment yet, so she will start working in two days." the principal finished.       This was not critical, because the school year did not start until a week later, and Myrna hoped that before that she would have enough time to immerse herself in work. Although at first glance it looked unreal.       When they left, the teachers stood in silence to count for three minutes and then continue to gossip.       "Too young!" an excited whisper exploded. "And this girl is going to give us instructions?"       "I don't know, colleagues, but personally I doubt that this person was able to master all the necessary competencies at such a young age!"       "A methodologist?" Present Mick mused. "We-ell, we should also have a school psychologist. And as for age, you know, colleagues, life is full of unexpected cases, take at least our principal."       "That's a good point." another teacher answered him.       U.A. High School was considered a large organization, and therefore could allow employees from other countries to be accommodated in apartments built on the school grounds. Looking at her key card, where the number of the building, side, and apartment appeared as a dot on the map, Myrna mentally plotted the necessary route. There were two buildings in total: one for the pro heroes, the other for teachers of the General education department. They differed in that the building for the pro heroes had a mini-training range, as well as rooms for storing and caring for personal heroic equipment, and the building for everyone else had a gym and a conference room.       Myrna expected that she would be moved to the administration (their building was located in a completely different place), but it turned out that there were no places there. Upon hearing this, Myrna sighed heavily and fell silent. It was an old psychological technique that she had learned as a student, and it always worked flawlessly. The secretary felt uncomfortable, fussed and offered her the best apartments in the teachers' buildings. Myrna agreed, not very cheerfully, and accepted her pass, hiding a gleeful smile in the corners of her eyes.       Her apartment was on the second floor in the right side of the second building, which was intended for teachers of the General Education department. Putting the plastic card to the lock, Myrna waited until the system counted the chip and the door opened. Taking off her shoes, she walked on, marveling at the size and technological luxury of her future apartment. The room smelled like an uninhabited space, and Myrna went to the window, lifting the bamboo blinds and putting them on micro-ventilation. The sunny afternoon light immediately hit her face and illuminated all her immodest accommodation. The beige color scheme and the abundance of upholstered furniture made the apartments incredibly cozy and soothing, she already wanted to live in. Passing by a small kitchen, a wooden table, a light sofa with pillows, in front of which there was a TV, past a soft and lush double bed, Myrna stepped on a fluffy rug and entered the bathroom, separated from the rest of the room by a huge glass. It would be hard to live here together, especially if you are embarrassed by your body.       She would really like to check right now how comfortable it is bathing in a glass room, but for now she had to settle for a wet fantasy. Her suitcases were still in the hotel.       In general, Myrna would have given U.A. hospitality a fat minus, because without signing the contract and entering it into the database, she could not be given the key to the apartment, so she had to check into the nearest decent hotel and spend the night there. She had already checked out in the morning, having handed over the keys, and now her belongings were waiting forlornly in a special storage room. However, after getting acquainted with her new home, Myrna resolutely drew a clear perpendicular, crossing the minus right in the middle and turning it into a plus. Despite the small difficulties, she was completely satisfied.       After going down to the street, Myrna wandered to the main gate to try to call a taxi and go get her suitcases. Green bushes of flowers were planted on the lawns, which were supposed to bloom only by August. She recognized them: they were chrysanthemums. She just wondered what color they will be?       Cats were trampling near the checkpoint, poking their muzzles into bowls of cat food. There were four of them in total: two smoky, one red and another three-colored. Coming closer, Myrna stroked one of them, and it gently pushed its head into her palm.       "They feed you, don't they?" she asked in her native language, squatting down. "How well-fed you all are here."       "There was another one," a man's voice came from behind. "But it's gone somewhere, I haven't seen it for two weeks."       Looking up, Myrna saw the same ordinary guy from the teacher's room. In his hands he had a bag of expensive cat food full of all sorts of vitamins and trace elements.       "And you are?.." she began, getting up and catching up with him with her gaze.       "Shouta Aizawa", the man introduced himself. "Homeroom teacher at the Department of Heroes.       His face was young, framed by light stubble, and there were already bruises under his black eyes. He must have suffered from insomnia, depression, or he just had chronic anemia.       "A typical introverted nerd", Myrna thought, looking at him.       Aizawa was only half a head taller than her, but his baggy clothes and shock of black hair made him look more massive. He gave the contradictory impression of being both an awkward and unassembled person, but at the same time very attentive and strict. There was something in his half-closed gaze that Myrna couldn't immediately identify.       "Can you help me?" she began, taking out her phone and opening the map. "I need to get to my hotel to pick up my things. I was brought here in the principal's corporate car, and it is still difficult for me to call a taxi by phone in Japanese."       Scratching his head, Aizawa looked at the map, thought for a while and suggested:       "I can drive you myself. The hotel is not far away, I think it will be much faster and easier this way."       "The nerd-introvert turned out to be a gentleman", Myrna was mentally surprised.       "I would appreciate it."       They got into a compact crossover and drove towards the hotel. Looking at Aizawa's hands as he started the car, shifted the gearbox and put his hands on the steering wheel, Myrna felt a strange attraction.       This is all her pernicious fetish for men at the wheel, the reason why she always sat in the back seat in a taxi. Shouta Aizawa drove beautifully and neatly, did not cling to the steering wheel like a drowning man in a lifebuoy, but rather supported it with two hands, like a girl's waist. When they reached the main road, they flew smoothly, as if the wheels did not even touch the asphalt.       "You drive great," Myrna praised, looking out the side window at the city.       "I noticed it from your look."       Instantly embarrassed, she smiled wryly. Shouta continued to stare at the road.       "I wonder how perceptive he is? Did he only notice my admiration or something else?" she thought, feeling her face burn with embarrassment.       "How old are you?" Myrna hastened to change the subject.       "An adult, if that's what you mean." Shouta immediately brought her back.       Very perceptive. Having noticed her look and interpreted it correctly, now Shouta openly mocked her with a stony face.       "I mean", Myrna decided to correct herself, "you look young, and you already work as a homeroom teacher at a prestigious hight school. You must be a very talented teacher."       "You look young too, Novak-san," he returned to her again, "I guess your merits were also highly appreciated by the school. I'm twenty-seven. And you?"       Grinning, Myrna shook her head. How unbearable this Aizawa was after all. If she had taken a fancy to him before, she was taking back all her words now. But she only smiled politely in response.       "A fair answer. I'm twenty-nine. I am at the very peak of the crisis of a quarter of my life."       "And how is it there?" Shota asked as he pulled into the hotel parking lot.       "I won't scare you in advance," Myrna waved off and got out of the car.       The nerd gentleman helped her load two large suitcases, and they drove back.       "Where are you staying?" Shouta asked, stopping at a traffic light.       "At the second building, which is for teachers of the General Education department".       The man was greatly surprised by this.       "Why not the first one? Are you not a professional hero?"       "No," Myrna shrugged. "Should I?"       "You will work with the curricula of students at the Department of Heroes, and for this you need a hero's license."       Myrna thought about it. Principal Nezu didn't say anything to her that she would be tied only to the Department of Heroes, it must have been obvious already? She would have to reread all their long correspondence, perhaps she had missed this important moment. It seemed to her that she would work for the whole school.       "I have a license," she said after a pause of thought.       She really had this piece of plastic, but Myrna had never worked as a pro hero in her life.       "Really? What's your quirk?"       Shota continued to put pressure on her, putting her in a vulnerable position and making her feel uncomfortable. This was not how she had imagined her first day at the school. The Japanese didn't even give her a break.       "I'd rather keep it a secret. It is quite unusual, and if others find out about it, it will cause unwanted issues for my work."       Aizawa didn't answer. Arriving at the school, Shouta helped her unload her suitcases, taking them to the teachers' dormitory. By this time, the staff had already finished planting the flower bushes.       "Aizawa-san, do you know what color these chrysanthemums will be?" she asked as they passed by.       After glancing at the lawn, Shota quickly replied.       "White. This is the national flower of Japan, and the white color means immortality."       "Immortality?" Myrna asked, the word was still unfamiliar to her in Japanese, and suddenly shuddered.       The sky above her turned black and was covered with ragged, heavy clouds. The water vapor rushed around, combining into a fibrous, dirty cotton-wool-like cloth. A feeling of disgusting sticky anxiety rose in her, hugging her from the inside with its icy hands. A large tremor broke through her body, she coughed, and suddenly vomited.       "Novak-san? What's the matter with you?" Aizawa shouted, rushing towards her.       Everything swam before her eyes, but Myrna frantically looked around, trying to find the source of her condition. And found it. Several people were coming out of the main entrance of the school, two mothers and three children: two boys and one girl.       "Who are they?" Myrna asked as soon as she came to her senses.       Shouta followed the direction of her gaze.       "Those entering the first year signed the documents on enrollment, probably."       "Damn it!" Myrna swore in her native language, and then caught herself and switched back to Japanese, taking Shouta's hand and getting to her feet. She didn't even notice how she fell to her knees. "Aizawa-san, let's go to the dormitory."       After looking at her carefully, Shouta decided not to ask questions, picked up his suitcases again and went deeper into the school territory.