the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

It was a funny thing, how quickly events in life could pull a complete 180 from the direction they'd initially been heading in.

When Satoru had first been contacted by UA he had been confused. Both by the idea of a high school of any sort being interested in him for any reason as his work had never once crossed paths with the academy, and later on the idea that they'd wanted to hire him. After that had followed a fair amount of doubt. Both in the sanity of the institution for approaching someone with no qualifications or experience as an instructor or teacher of adults let alone children, and later on doubts as to whether or not it was the type of responsibility Satoru was prepared to handle even had he been qualified. Mind, it hadn't been the first time. Doubt had been a constant companion in the man's life ever since childhood, and Satoru would've been concerned as to whether or not he was sane - the school's own reasoning aside - if he hadn't taken time to consider the offer before accepting it.

It'd only taken a day, yes, but relatively speaking that was a very long time for Satoru with how quickly he tended to weigh pros and cons, to look at risk assessment and come to a decision after considering all of the facts and intangibles. But that feeling of nervousness had never vanished. Not through the process of becoming accredited as an educator - as rushed as the process had been - nor in the weeks and days leading up to the start of the semester. Frankly speaking Satoru had no idea what to expect from a bunch of teenagers beyond his own experiences as a kid, and to say that those memories were faded or otherwise twisted by personal bias would've been an understatement. Applying his experiences and the world view as filtered by them to his students wouldn't have only been folly, it would've been the height of both arrogance and willful ignorance.

That said... all of it was up in the air at this point. While his colleagues had been forwarded their class rosters, lesson plans and other information relevant to their jobs as educators... Satoru had not. Initially he'd wondered if UA's senior staff had finally come to their senses and started second guessing their decision to hire him - but no. No, it was something that Satoru was all too familiar with after years and years of paperwork and administrative red tape.

Clerical errors. Didn't know where or how yet - it could've involved something with entrance exam scores and class assignment, anything in between - but until it got sorted Satoru had nothing set in stone for the start of the semester. Which was only a few days away.

Well, whenever that all got sorted and Satoru was given his students and their portfolios... it would be hectic. A lot of work in a very short amount of time to make up for what had been lost, but that was fine. Satoru was used to working under pressure, and the idea of it didn't bother him at all compared to the job that was to come after. If nothing else it left the man with a lot of time on his hands until the related materials were located and mistakes fixed, and Satoru had done as he always did on leave. Walk, or more accurately wander. Musutafu was a new town, and while UA had provided him with accommodations within the campus grounds staying locked up in those buildings was going to drive him insane without something to do.

One could only read so many books before you started to lose your taste for them and crave something different. A few minutes spent digging up clothes out of his bags that weren't sweats or shorts and Satoru was out, clad in what could've best been described as business casual - a white shirt and slacks. Nothing fancy and maybe a bit much for what amounted to a day of exploration but it was what he was used to and Satoru was nothing if not a creature of habit after years of training and instilled discipline.

It was at the end of one such day that Satoru now found himself, finally making his way back to the campus grounds, hands in his pockets and walking at a fairly leisurely pace. All things considered it'd been... well, not necessarily a productive day but at least a relaxing one. Nothing new per se but a few shops that Satoru hadn't been aware of before had been discovered, and with summer drawing to a close it wasn't so hot as to strike outside Satoru's comfort zone. Especially not here. Musutafu was a bit too close to the ocean for that whereas Satoru had grown up in the mountains - the difference between his and their ideas of "hot" were practically night and day. Speaking of... as his path took him to the boardwalk that ran along the city beach the former detective couldn't help but pause and look out at the darkening waters. Despite having lived the last several years of his life in Tokyo much of his experiences were in the inland districts and wards, not the central ones like Shinjuku that were all but adjacent to the water. It wasn't bad, necessarily, but it was different.

Different enough that it took Satoru a moment to register the fact that there was something bobbing out in the water, although the way it seemed to blend into the waves... it was hard to tell with the sun setting and evening giving way to night proper. Squinting against the darkness, Satoru didn't like the feeling he was getting from whatever it was he was looking at - but it wasn't until the man gave into curiosity and reached out with his Quirk to "ping" the patch of water that he realized what he was looking at, jaw dropping slack for a moment in equal parts surprise and disbelief. Half a second later Satoru was in motion, sliding down the concrete slope that elevated the roadway from the beach and running out towards the water.

"HEY!" Satoru shouted, hoping to at least get the kid's attention. Something at the back of his mind told Satoru that something wasn't right with this picture - the kid didn't seem at all distressed or struggling - but he was floating out to deeper water and that didn't bode well. Was it a rip tide of some sort? While Satoru was a strong swimmer the thought was enough to make him pause and hesitate as his shoes touched the water's edge as the last thing he needed was to put himself in a situation where both he and the kid were in need of help. The pause only lasted all of a moment, though, before Satoru was yanking his shoes off his feet as they'd only get in the way if he absolutely needed to go in after the kid.

"Can you hear me? Are you able to get back to shore?"

Tet Chiba

the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

Of all the responses that Satoru was expecting back, that was not among them. Something had already seemed off in the sense that the kid hadn't been panicking or trying to swim back, and much of the reason he'd yelled those specific words was to see if they'd been unconscious or otherwise incapable of swimming. Evidently that was not the case, however, as the response that came back was one of a surprisingly calm individual. Jumbled as the initial thoughts were they seemed to be following a logic of some sort and the word usage was correct, and what movements Satoru could physically see in the darkness were coordinated - and judging by the next response given the kid clearly understood what the adult had been asking, although the was a spark of irritation from Satoru at the implied attitude that came with the opposing response and the following question.

The kid didn't seem all that dumb or unaware of his surroundings which implied he knew what he was doing and where he was. By extension the only reasonable conclusion to be made was that the boy was in his element, likely due to a water based Quirk that suddenly had the teacher feeling more than a little foolish over the concern he had shown.

Mind, what the hell else was Satoru supposed to assume if he saw someone that far out in the water at night?

As the boy started to edge back closer to shore - although without his own Quirk it took a minute or two for Satoru to notice the movement - the adult would take a couple of steps back from the water's edge to drop back and sit on the dry sand, a hand running over his face to rub out the stress and noted fatigue that came with his initial assumptions. It was just as well, he supposed. He was going to have to get used to dealing with kids and teens sooner or later before the semester got well and truly under way, although Satoru couldn't help but hope they had a bit more common sense and a degree of consideration for other people by comparison. His hair was going to go gray early otherwise if every other day had anxiety spikes to this degree.

As his hand dropped away from his face to rest on his knee, though, the kid that had been out in the water had finally returned to shore and started to approach him. While removing the irritation he'd felt from his face had long become an old habit just by virtue of being forced to deal with the public in a courteous manner during his days in the police force, putting a smile on it was just that far out of reach as Satoru regarded the boy. His clothes were soaked, but... that was about it. The kid's skin was weirdly dry by comparison, and once again the teacher couldn't help but feel foolish for jumping to conclusions regardless of how reasonable they might have seemed at the time.

"Thanks for the compliment... I think. What were you doing out there? Sun's already set." Satoru started, head tilting slightly as he looked the boy over.

"You know you're going to worry a lot of people doing stuff like that, it's not safe for most to go swimming after dark. You got any older siblings or the like looking out for you? Your parents?"

Tet Chiba