Chapter 37: The Storm
"I want this beast in chains! NOW!"
"M-ma'am. If you'll just—"
"This monster attacked my son! Look at him! He's traumatized!"
"Ma'am. The nurses have told me that-"
"It's assault! Attempted murder!"
"Ma'am, please restrai—"
"WHY IS THIS MONSTER NOT CHAINED UP?! YOU'RE THE PRINCIPAL! EITHER DO IT NOW! OR ELSE I'LL—"
"Ma'am!" The school principal, a man that looked more Rat than man, cut in desperately, "While I understand you are upset, I will not tolerate threats against a student."
The woman looked mortified as she hugged her son from behind in his seat, "Threats against your students?! Look at what that horned freak did to my darling!" the woman screeched as she pointed at the other student in the room. Eri.
Eri, while her uniform was a little torn in places, looked none the worse for wear. Unlike the woman's son, who had tissue shoved up his bloodied nose, a swollen lip, and not one but two black eyes. Rolling her eyes, Eri placed her elbow onto the chair's armrest and leaned to the side, "I defended myself, you know."
The woman sneered, "You lying little сук—"
"ENOUGH!" The principal slammed a hand down on his desk, "Until both children have their parents here, I expect everyone to wait and behave. Now, Mrs. влад…владим…ирович…" The principal winced at his failed pronunciation of the foreign name.
The woman narrowed her eyes, "владимирович. Анастасия владимирович."
"...Right…" The Principal desperately wished to sneak a drink of his scotch from his secret drawer in his desk. He also hoped that it was Eri's father that showed up for this emergency meeting. He was the most understanding of the—
Bzz!
The intercom on the principal's desk buzzed. With a press of a button, his secretary's voice came through, "Nyaa, she's on her way up now, sir. She didn't wait for anyone to show her to your office. She said she knew the way."
"R-right. Thank you, Ms. Neko—"
The door to the office swung open and the principal almost opened the desk and downed the whole bottle of scotch right then and there. The first person to enter the room was a little boy with messy brown hair, bright green eyes, and the pinkest cheeks you'd ever seen if you never met his mother, "Big sis! Big sis! You're in trouble again aren't you?!"
Eri groaned as her little brother Toshi latched onto her arm and jumped about, "Ugh, it's not that big of a deal."
Toshi titled his head to the side, "that's not what Kouta said when we ran into him at the entrance."
Eri rubbed her brow. Of course, Kouta would still be here waiting.
"But don't worry! Aunt Stabby is here to save you!"
Looking back, Eri raised an eyebrow at the other person still standing in the doorway. There, wearing her best business suit, a skirt that, in Eri's opinion, was waaaaay too short and tight to be considered professional, and a pair of rectangular, semi-rimmed glasses that she didn't need but only wore because they went so perfectly with the suit, stood Toga Himiko. Eyes, scanning the room, with her right cybernetic eye glowing a soft yellow just because she could, "Hello, Principal Splinter. It's good to see you again." Himiko was smiling. And only three people in the room knew what that meant.
"Who is this?" The angry Анастасия growled, "I was expecting the girl's parents. You don't sound like this brat's," Himiko's eye twitched, "mother."
Eri looked up at Himiko, praying that her Fairy Godmother didn't slit the woman's throat out of annoyance. Himiko though kept a calm and cheerful exterior, "Toshi, why don't you go sit with Ms. Nekovras. You can show her that new trick you learned you could do with your Quirk, while I and Ms.—"
"Mrs." Анастасия cut in.
"While I and Mrs… um?" Himiko paused as she waited for someone to fill in just who she was talking to.
"Влад…владим…ирович…" The principal fumbled over the name again, as did Eri when she tried to step in.
"владимирович. Анастасия владимирович. My god can people in this country not say a simple name."
"While I and Mrs. Vladimirovich Anastasia," Himiko pronounced the woman's name flawlessly," deal with this incident, which I'm sure is all just a big misunderstanding."
Toshi looked at Himiko, wide-eyed, then at Anastasia, "Are going to—"
Himiko shook her head and ushered Toshi out, closing the door and whispering a soft, "Maybe."
Himiko closed the door and turned to look at the other woman, "So I understand our kids got into a little," Himiko looked over at the boy, "Scrape?"
The principal started to talk but was cut off, "You stillhaven't said who you are! I want that monster's parents here. Not some hussy nanny."
"Hussy? Really?" Himiko dead-panned before sighing, "Okay, just so we can put a pin in this, I am Eri's Aunt, Godmother, Second Mother by her own parents, and most importantly for this moment, I am her legal guardian in the event her parents are unable to be with her."
"Ha! Looks like you won't be proving anything, liar," The boy spoke, muffled with his clogged nose.
Himiko blinked and looked down at Eri, "What's that about?"
Eri groaned, "He said I was lying about who my parents were."
"Really now?"
The mother put her hand on her son's shoulder, "Nickolas confronted this brat on her lying about her parents, something she's been doing for some time; Since the start of the school year at least, when we moved here. She claims her mother and father are the heroes Deku and Uravity, an obvious lie, but when my brave boy tried to make the class see her deception, she attacked him!"
Himiko raised an eyebrow, "And he knew this was a lie because…"
Anastasia pointed at Eri, "I explained to my dear son that a child must look like their parents. She would have to have green or brown hair or eyes, at the very least. And her horn is nothing like the Quirks of those heroes. Plus her age. She's too old to be their daughter."
Himiko looked over at Principal Splinter, who shrugged his shoulders, "So an argument about that led to the two having a fight?"
Eri pointed at Nickolas, "He got mad and attacked m-"
"Shut your lying mouth, brat. You've already been caught in one lie. Getting caught in two will only make your punishment worse!"
Principal Splinter coughed hard, "Ma'am! As a parent of four boys, I can understand your desire to protect your child; however, you are not the one handing out punishments here! That is the matter for the school."
"Don't you know who I am?! Who my husband is?! What that makes me and my son?! I very much can punish this girl if I see fit!"
"... Who are you exactly?" Himiko asked, keeping calm, much to Eri's and the Principal's nervousness.
"My husband is the head diplomat from Russia here to serve in the embassy! That makes us Russian citizens. This girl's attack on my dear boy was an attack that, if not dealt with properly, would mean I would have to call my guards and have her detained for crimes against Russian citizens!"
"...Yeaaaah, that's not how that works, I think," Himiko said, "The fact that you're married to an ambassador doesn't give you any legal authority here. Diplomatic immunity, maybe, but that's it. As for if Eri's lying about defending herself, how can you be sure?"
Red in the face, the woman pointed at Eri, "Look at her, not a scratch on that smug face! The only way that could be is if she snuck up on my son and attacked him from behind!"
Himiko looked down at Eri, who looked back, "I healed."
"Yeah, thought so."
"Wha—"
"Eri's Quirk heals her if she gets hurt. It's a subconscious thingm" Himiko explained.
"So she used her Quirk without a—"
"Ma'am," The Principal cut in, "Our countries' laws on Quirks are very similar. A Quirk that is constantly affecting its own body is not one that can be punished for use. Now, if she had used her Quirk against someone—"
"Which I didn't, I just beat him up," Eri grumbled.
"— that would be another matter."
Himiko patted Eri's shoulder, "We can go back and forth over this all day. Is there any video footage of the fight? Phone video, maybe? I know kids love to record fights and post them online. I'm sure that will help settle measures."
"We have security footage. It's being collected right now."
"She openly admitted to using her Quirk. Video footage won't do anything to exonerate her! I'm tired of these delaying tactics, and I want this girl expelled and arrested NOW! That's the only thing you should be doing!" Anastasia screeched, pointing with a sharp nail at the principal before her hand disappeared into her purse to pull out a small key fob, of some kind, with a large button in the middle, "And if you don't, I will."
"That's a panic button." Himiko said, eyeing the device, "I guess being the wife of an ambassador, it makes sense you have one. But as I said, you don't have any legal authority here, lady. You don't get to just summon some cops to do your dirty work."
"I have a personal Professional Hero as a bodyguard. One press and he'll be here to detain this monster and bring her to the Russian embassy for incarceration," Anastasia said, trying to sound ominous."
Eri looked between the angry mother, the suddenly very nervous Nickolas who had paled at the mention of security footage, and Himiko. This woman was pushing more buttons than the one she was holding. Himiko may have "matured" some as she had gotten older, though you would need to put that in large quotation marks.
Before things could escalate further, there was a knock on the door, and a round man in a security vest came in, "Sir, we have the footage ready."
"Good. Good, could you pull it up on my screen so everyone can watch?"
The man nodded and walked over to the principal's desk, quickly pulled up the video, "Finally," Anastasia muttered.
The video showed Eri and Nickolas at lunch surrounded by a group of kids. The two were obviously arguing. Between them, Kouta was trying to keep the two separated. As the video went on, Kouta was beginning to get some space between the two, pulling Eri back with him, who didn't look all that eager to leave, but was nonetheless, moving back. Then Nickolas shoved Kouta out of the way and got into Eri's face. Screaming.
Eri flipped him off. When she started to turn towards Kouta, her feet snagged on something. She lost her balance and swung her arms around to steady herself. Nickolas shoved her hard and sent her tumbling to the ground. He then dove after her as she was suddenly stuck to the ground, and began wailing on her with his fists. Hammering away.
Eri ripped herself free of whatever was holding her, ripping up her uniform as she did so, and jammed her knee into Nickolas' groin. The boy rolled to the side, grabbing himself. Eri pressed her knees into his chest, and unlike his hammer blow, delivered four straight jabs into his face. Nickolas was motionless as Eri got up.
The room was silent.
For several seconds.
"What's the boy's Quirk?" Himiko asked. A chilling frost on her voice. Her smile gone.
"Shadow Trap. Any shadow he or his own shadow touches, he can turn extremely sticky." Principal Splinter answered, a drop of sweat rolling down his whiskers.
Himiko reached down and rewound the video back to where Eri suddenly lost her balance, tapping the screen where it looked like her shoes had suddenly become stuck. In her own shadow. She then eyed Eri's torn-up uniform. Torn where she had hit the ground, "Mrs. Vladimirovich, remind me again what you said about being upset about Quirks being used?"
Click!
Anastasia pressed her thumb down so hard on the panic button that it was a small wonder the plastic didn't shatter, "The girl comes with me! This is doctored footage! I will not let anyone hurt my boy and get away with it! She's coming with me, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it!"
She was raving, face red and near frothing at the mouth.
Click!
Click!
Click!
The woman's other hand was gripping her son's shoulder so tight that he was now squirming in pain.
This alarmed Eri, "h-hey, you're hurting him!"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I'M GOING TO HAVE YOU THROWN INTO A GULAG! DO YOU HEAR M-"
The door to the room swung open, and the woman's personal hero bodyguard rushed in, "Have no fear! Because Grape Juice is hereeeeee... what the actual hell?"
Minoru looked around, first at his clients and then at Eri and Himiko, "Um, hi? Eri, Toga."
"O-ow. M-mom ow…" The boy was still squirming and Minoru quickly walked over, and unclamped the woman's hand from his shoulder, "Easy there, ma'am. You were accidentally—"
"ARREST THAT LITTLE MONSTER AT ONCE!"
Minoru looked completely lost, "Um, what?"
"Mineta."
"Toga," Minoru repeated, the two looking at each other as they tried to understand what was now happening. "What're you and the squirt doing here… Hi kid."
Eri waved.
"Kids got into a little scrape," Himiko pointed at the boy, "And Quirks got thrown around a bit."
"Oh crud…" Minoru looked Eri over, "He didn't do the sticky feet trick, did he?"
"Yup." Eri and Himiko said. Eri lifted up her feet, showing the torn-up shoes.
"...Kid, I taught you that trick in case you needed to run away from a kidnapper or something." Minoru groaned.
"S-sorry, Mr. Grape."
"So," Himiko began, not bothering to hide the ice in her voice, "You work for this woman now?"
"Eh?"
"She said you were her personal pro hero. And that she was going to have you arrest Eri to take her to the Russian embassy and throw into a gulag."
Minoru looked back at Anastasia, pointed at her, then at himself, "That's… not my job, like, at all. I've been asked to help look after her and her son, yeah. But I technically work for the Embassy and the Ambassador while he's in the country at the behest of the Japanese government… Well, me and a group of other heroes technically. I was the one who gave her that distress button. The kid has one too. Figured it would be good for emergencies."
"WHY ARE YOU JUST TALKING?! Do your job! Grab the little bitch, and let's go!"
Himiko cleared her throat, "No one is taking Eri anywhere."
Anastasia snarled and pointed at her, "Grape Juice! Beat the shot out of that one, then grab the little girl!"
Minoru looked completely flummoxed at Anastasia before turning over at Nickolas, "Kid, why'd you go and pick a fight, to begin with?" He spoke to the boy calmly. He needed answers and wasn't getting anywhere with the mother.
"She kept saying she was Deku and Uravity's daughter. Mom said that was impossible, so I called her a liar. We yelled, and I got mad…"
Minoru shook his head sadly, "You know you can't just go around doing that to people you think aren't telling the truth."
Nickolas nodded sadly.
"Especially when they aren't lying."
Nickolas's eyes went wide while Anastasia's mouth closed with a snap.
"Clearly, neither of you know who these two are. This," Minoru pointed at Eri, "is Midoriya Eri. The eldest daughter of the number one heroes. And this," Minoru pointed at Himiko while talking directly to the mother, "is Toga Himiko, also known as Carmilla. One of the other famous or infamous heroes of Green Tea Rescue. One of the three founding members. The other two are the two big names whose daughter you just kinda threatened. And this one, she's her aunt and a lot more. She's known as the next R-Rated Hero but also The Bloody Queen of Discourse."
"Bl-bloody queen?"
"Do you wanna know why she has those names?"
Anastasia nodded.
"You don't wanna know why she has those names."
Anastasia shook her head, "B-but she's not on the hero boards."
Himiko stepped forward, "The crap I do, isn't something you advertise."
Nickolas looked at Eri, "but she's too old to be their kid? That's what mom said."
"I'm adopted. I was like nine or something when they took me in a year after they graduated from U.A."
"Oй ебать" Anastasia chirped, all color leaving her face.
"So you really are their kid?"
"Yup."
"Oh…Cool."
There was silence as Eri blinked rapidly, "cool?"
Nickolas shrugged, "is it not cool?"
"I mean, yeah… most of the time. You're taking this pretty well. Better than your mom, at least. She's totally dead to the world now."
Himiko looked at the two, "you two kids alright with just letting this go?"
"I mean, I am, but…" Eri looked at the boy and the damage she did. She might have gone a little overboard. She's gotten some training under her belt. He didn't.
Noticing Eri looking at him, Nickolas pointed at his face, "it's not a big deal. As long as you're not lying, I'm fine."
Himiko nodded, "Sounds like we could just sweep this under the rug as kids being stupid. What do you say?"
"That's got my vote," Minoru added, "Nickolas is a good kid. But he's thirteen and stupid. He got his face smashed; let him deal with that for the next week or so."
Principal Splinter looked over the group and then focused on the kids, "it would save me on some paperwork…" he focused on the kids, "is this done?"
"Yes, sir," they answered.
"Go."
Minoru quickly got the mother and son out of the room and waved goodbye to Himiko and Eri, reminding them of the annual class-get-together.
"You going to bring that blonde chick I saw you hanging on?" Himiko asked, laughing at the memory of the pictures shared on the class's message board. Minoru's smile and peace sign made it look like he had won the lottery.
"Nah, we broke up like a week ago. It was a wild couple of weeks, but we were just looking for some fun. I think she's dating some baseball star now. Or was it a movie star?"
Himiko remembered some of the other images he had shared, "You broke up with a woman with a rack like that? Are you insaaaa…. Oh my god," As Himiko spoke, Minoru flipped out his phone and showed her a picture of his new girlfriend, "...How tall is-"
"A little over three meters."
"six arms?"
Minoru grinned widely, "And six very talented hands."
"...Damn those abs."
"She works out a lot. She's in MMA."
"...How are you not squashed yet?"
Minoru smirked before he left with the Vladimirovichs.
Himiko then sent Eri off to collect her brother, leaving herself and the principal alone in the office.
"Thank you for not killing anyone."
"I wouldn't have done that for something like this. She was all bluster, and kids do dumb things all the time."
"Thank you for not stabbing her."
"…You're welcome," Himiko conceded with a laugh. "Oh, by the way. How are the quadruplets? I heard they're finally coming out of their shells."
Principal Splinter groaned but with a smile, "They're fine, thank you for asking. Much more active now, they play Ninja all day and love to sneak around and try to scare me. And they're growing fast too. I swear someone mixed in some toxic waste or something with all the pizza they eat. The change is just crazy."
Himiko laughed, "God, if that isn't the truth. Toshi was a little monster during the terrible two's. Then he started breathing fire."
"Eri mentioned that's not all he does now. A little pyrokinesis mixed in, I hear."
Himiko groaned, "Yuuuuuup."
Splinter pulled out his scotch and two glasses, "Sounds like you need one too."
Taking the glass and shot, the two clinked glasses and downed their pick-me-ups.
"Do we get to go see her now?" Toshi asked as he rode on Himiko's shoulders, "I wanna see if she hatches today!"
Eri groaned, "She's not in an egg!"
Toshi puffed out his cheeks, twin little puffs of pink flame coming out his nose as he did, "It's totally an egg."
Himiko pointed up at him, "Watch the fire, kiddo."
"Awww, I'm not going to set your hair on fire, Aunt Stabby… again…"
Eri laughed, earning herself a flick on the forehead. "Ow."
"You behave now. I got you off the hook with the school, but you're still fair game with your parents." Eri pouted, which Himiko ignored, "And as for you, Spit-Fire," Toshi laughed at his favorite nickname, "Your little sister isn't in an egg. It's an incubator. And she's still a long way off from being born—"
"Hatched."
"-Born. It'll be another five months."
Thoughtfully Eri looked off in the distance, "It's still crazy how that all played out with her…"
Himiko nodded, "No kidding… You haven't been thinking about that night at all, have you? Media like to make things seem more dramatic than they actually are."
Eri shook her head, "It's not a good call to take in the middle of the night when you see on the news the villain hideout your parents are in blew up."
"Kid, I was there with them. It wasn't a big deal at all. Hell, your mom was ready to go back to work with that shit still sticking out of her… At least until when the medics were pulling the shrapnel from your mom's gut, and that's how she learned she was preggers. Then she let them work while she made sure your dad didn't die from shock."
Eri nodded. All in all, considering all the different horrible outcomes that could have happened that night, her mother and little sister made it through with little to no bad side effects. The only 'bad' lasting effects were that her mother had a few new scars on her stomach, but those were par the course at this point. Her mother was a warrior, after all. And the baby would have to stay inside the incubator until its birth. By the time the doctors were sure she was going to be fine, it was too risky to try and reintroduce her into her mother. Hearing her mother talk about it, she was saddened in some ways, since she did have fond memories of carrying Toshi to term but at the same time, not having to go through all the other bull shit giving birth to a child entailed helped ease that pain.
The surprise pregnancy did lead to another few interesting talks that Eri overheard when her parents didn't know she was listening. Her parents knew they had lucked out and had dodged a bullet. This fact brought up the issues of their very active love for each other, family desires, parental responsibilities, and heroic responsibilities. They had started a family very young with Eri, while they were also trying to deal with becoming pros. Then almost immediately after they adopted her, they found out her mother was pregnant with Toshi. Her mother had kept being active as long as she could, perhaps a bit longer than necessary, if the press and maybe a few other friends/heroes were to be believed. Now they were having their second child, and while her mother wasn't going to have to worry about taking time off like the first time, there was still the issue that she had gotten pregnant.
What if she got pregnant again? The wounds she got weren't bad enough to make it so she couldn't have another child, though doctors did say that if she wanted another child, it might be wise to have it under more supervised conditions.
Did they even want another baby? Her parents were still very young, and now were going to have three kids to raise while being very active heroes. Should they take steps to make sure another situation like this didn't happen? Should they take steps to maybe have a fourth child later? Eri remembered a very long conversation her parents had with Tsuyu and how she had taken steps to make sure that when she was ready to have a baby, she would have options in case anything happened to her that could impact her later. While her parents were very attentive as Tsuyu explained everything, the fourth person in the room, Eri, recalled being super uncomfortable when the idea of future children got brought up.
It'd be nice if they finally put a ring on Tsuyu's finger before that day came.
"Oi, kid," Himiko tapped Eri's shoulder, "You got a strange look on your face."
Eri looked up at Himiko, "Oh? Sorry. Just thinking about… stuff."
"Stuff? We're talking about babies, and you're in dreamland thinking about stuff?" Himiko got a devious smile, "Thinking about what kind of kid you and Kouta could make? Hmmmm? Moving a little fast, don't you think?"
Eri's eye bulged and her face went red, "NO I WASN'T!" Eri forced herself to calm down. But if Himiko wanted to play that game, she looked up at her, eyes almost judging Himiko, "I don't think I'm the one that should be thinking about babies. And really, it's much more rude to keep people waiting. Don't you think?"
Himiko eyed Eri carefully before pushing her on, "Come on, let's go see your little sister before we go home."
Toshi giggled, "You're just delaying because it's your turn to cook dinner tonight."
"..." Himiko neither confirmed nor denied that claim, which made Toshi giggle more. Himiko poked one of Toshi's legs on her shoulder, "Keep laughing, kid, and I'll tell your folks that you've been sneaking into my room to play with my knives."
Toshi whined, "But you said you wouldn't!"
"Spit-Fire, I lie. A lot."
"Meanie!"
"Yuuup."
Ring
Ring
Ring
Himiko fumbled for her phone and checked the caller ID, "Uh oh. The clinic just sent a text."
Eri groaned, "She didn't. Not again."
"She did. Tore the place up. Luckily the docs have everything anchored down now, but a few nurses found themselves on the ceiling."
Toshi laughed, "Baby Juuriko is super strong!"
Eri laughed, but also winced in sympathy for the doctors and nurses at the clinic. Her baby sister Juuriko had developed her Quirk while still in gestation. Not a totally uncommon thing, though it was more common for mutation type Quirks and not emitter types like her sister had. Her Quirk, Gravitokinesis, a name her father had come up with, because of course someone who thought it was important that everyone knew his Quirk was Psychokinesis and not Telekinesis, would come up with a name like that. It was the perfect combo of her mother and father's Quirks and let Juuriko control the gravity around her with her mind. And recently, Juuriko had been using it at random times. Now everyone was ever vigilant and on the lookout for the little green glow that came off her fingers— the tell-tale sign that things were about to get topsy-turvy.
As the three walked down the sidewalk, Eri glanced over at Himiko, "You don't think Mom and Dad will be upset with me for the fight, do you?"
Himiko rubbed her chin, "Probably not. But you have been letting yourself get riled up pretty easily recently. You'd think going to such a prestigious school like Soumei Junior High you wouldn't be getting dragged into so much trouble."
"Grrr," Eri growled, "Either people want to pick a fight with me because my parents are heroes or they want to beat me up because they think I'm lying. I'm so ready to get out of here and into U.A. already."
"Right, because U.A. is going to be much easier than what you're dealing with now. No fighting whatsoever." Himiko deadpanned. Eri rolled her eyes. "Kid, you may need to re-evaluate how you view that place. It's not a walk in the park. Believe me, I know first hand."
"That's not really fair. All the issues you had there were kinda insane."
Himiko nodded with a laugh, "True, which is only fitting since I am insane. I did have some pretty… extremely bad days there. Though that wasn't really the school's fault."
Eri went quiet, "yeah. Some of the stuff you went through… Was pretty bad. Wasn't it."
Himiko sighed, some very bad memories floating to the surface she hadn't thought of in a long while, "Yeah. There were some fuck awful days."
"So, any idea what this is all about?" Mei asked as she scanned over the stack of papers she and everyone else in the principal's office were having to sign, "I mean I've had to sign lawyer speak papers before, but this," Mei flipped through the inches of papers, "is a whole new level."
The room was filled with either the sounds of pens on paper or the soft background noise of the office''s tv, droning away about the early morning news.
Tsuyu looked up from her paperwork, "You've had to sign stuff like this before, kero?"
"Mostly non-compete clauses and stuff dealing with copyright and patent infringement. Just making sure that the stuff we make in the support classes are our own ideas and we aren't stealing anything."
"Does that happen a lot?" Tsuyu asked.
"You ever hear about corporate espionage? There are corpo-spies everywhere looking to get an edge. And if they can't buy you out, then they'll just take it and claim it was their idea in the first place."
Hitoshi groaned as he flipped over another page, "I'm going to have a carpal tunnel after this. And to answer your question, besides that, this has something to do with Toga since she wants to talk to us, not a damned clue. It would be nice," Hitoshi looked over at the teachers, Nezu, All Might, Aizawa, and Midnight, "If we could get a little more information."
Midnight smiled, but her voice carried a seriousness to it, "You'll find out everything once you've signed the papers and everyone is here."
Tsuyu tapped her chin, "I wonder where Toga, Midoriya, and Uraraka are?"
From his chair, Tenya looked down at his phone's clock, "I did see her hurrying towards the school entrance. Perhaps she went to meet with them before coming here."
Mei scratched her head, "Why'd she want to do that?"
"Gather some courage, maybe," Shouto offered in a seat next to Tenya.
Hitoshi glared at the two, "While we're waiting, why aren't you two having to do all this paperwork?"
"Todoroki, Midoriya, Uraraka, and I have already taken care of our paperwork," Tenya replied matter of factly.
"When?"
"A few days ago."
"A few days… Wait, did you all do this while in Hosu City? Does this have anything to do with the attack you guys survived? Do you already know what this is about?"
Tenya stiffened, more than usual at least, at his small slip. Fortunately Nezu waved Hitoshi back to the task at hand, "Please. Just focus on your work for now. Everything will be explained, and then you'll join," Nezu's phone started ringing, "your classmates." He finished speaking and then looked down at his phone. "Hmmm?"
"Something wrong, sir?"
"It's Mr. Toomes."
"Your head lawyer? Why would he be calling now? Shouldn't all the paperwork be squared away?"
Nezu shrugged and answered.
Hitoshi rubbed his sore wrist, "I hate this," he groaned before looking up at the tv, "not as much as having to wade through that crowd of reporters outside though. All Might, sir."
"Yes, Young Shinsou?"
"What'd you do this time?"
All Might laughed, "A fair question. I have no idea. I don't see why they'd be here again."
Shouto looked at All Might blankly, "You're All Might. Does the press need more of a reason besides that?"
That got another booming laugh from the hero and a few groans from Aizawa and Midnight, "As long as they behave themselves, we can just ignore them," Aizawa said, rubbing his eyes.
Tsuyu flipped through another sheet, nearing the end of the stack. Glancing up from her work and giving her wrist a break, she saw a few familiar faces on the screen, Midoriya? Uraraka? And there's Toga? Why are they—
Tsuyu's thoughts were interrupted. Nezu, blinking rapidly in shock, bolted from his chair, "What do you mean the gag order was just rescinded?!" The alarm in his voice chilled the room. "When? Who authorized that?... Your calls are getting blocked?" Every teacher went stiff as a board while the students were left completely lost. They all almost missed it when Mei pointed towards the tv screen, confused and alarmed, "Ummm, Toga's on tv. And they're… saying stuff about her."
Hitoshi looked at Toga then at the headline flashing across the bottom of the screen, "Serial killer? What the hell?"
With everyone quiet, the news flash came in crystal clear, "We interrupt your regular news broadcast to bring you a breaking story. We come to you live, at U.A. High School, where wanted serial killer Toga Himiko has been confirmed to be in attendance. We will continue to bring you up-to-date news on this developing story. We now go live to our reporter on the scene."
Hitoshi and Tsuyu were looking at the screen in complete and utter bewilderment, neither able to do anything but stare. Mei looked back and forth from the tv, her friends, noting that Shouto and Tenya were shocked but not like Hitoshi and Tsuyu and then at the teachers. Shocked but also mad.
Nezu listened to the call for a few more seconds, "Find out what's going on. I need answers. Please, hurry." He then hung up, "This is on all the news stations… Go now." he pointed at the three teachers who were already heading for the door, "Midnight, Aizawa, you focus on Toga. All Might I want you to handle the press. We need to get a handle on this now before-"
"TOGA!" A new voice came through the tv speakers, and Nezu knew immediately that any chance of getting a clean handle on the sudden crisis was thoroughly dead, "I finally found you, you monster!"
Midnight almost tripped on her feet, whipping around to look at the screen, "Oh my god, that's Saito."
Then phones began to ring. Teachers' phones and then the students'. Shouto snapped out of his shock and looked at the incoming texts, from family and then some from his other classmates wondering what was going on, "Our class knows."
Tenya looked through his texts, links to news streams and articles. Family and friends, wondering if this was real. It dawned on him that if the parents of students and not just his classmates were seeing this, then they'd, of course, be contacting their children to figure out what was going on. And when they were asked that would let other students know. This news was going to spread through the school like a wildfire in a matter of minutes.
Voices began to carry through the walls.
Loud voices.
Panicked voices.
Forget minutes, it was surging through the school in a matter of seconds.
Nezu pointed towards the door, "Go. Now!"
The door crashed open, and the chorus of voices from outside hit the remaining students like a truck. Tenya looked back at his Principal, who looked him right in the eye, "Mr. Iida, as 1-A's representative, I need you to take your classmates back to your classroom and make sure everyone stays calm."
"I-"
"As Toga's classmates, they must be getting a huge brunt of questions... and maybe accusations. I need you," Nezu looked over at Shouto, "And you, Mr. Todoroki, to make sure no one starts to panic. Or causes trouble."
Tenya and Shouto shared twin looks of understanding. Right now, they were the only ones in the class that would be relatively calmest. They knew about the full story regarding Himiko, so they had the best chance of explaining things now that it was all out in the open.
If the class gets this information fast, they should be better prepared for the external trouble that was soon to come.
Assuming this would prevent any internal trouble.
It was an impressive feat. Even dressed in his bright purple costume and green cape, a color combo that should immediately draw any and all attention, Slidin' Go didn't have an eye or camera on him. Any other day and his pride would have been hurt. Today though, he didn't mind at all. Standing at the back edge of the crowd, Slidin' Go whistled to himself while at his side Chitose flipped through her phone and laughed, "It's everywhere now. Every station is jumping on this story like sharks smelling blood… Hehe," She chuckled to herself, "not a bad analogy considering the stars of this little show."
"Ma'am, how long until the courts realize their systems were hacked?"
Slidin' Go was here to make sure of only one thing. That his commander, Curious, faced no problems here. So that meant he needed to be aware of any potential dangers. Chitose waved him off, "How long until they get the gag order reimposed? An hour maybe. How long until they figure out their security was breached, if Chikazoku did everything right, never. A glitch in the system during a software update affected their phones, preventing them from being able to take any calls, and that flagged a few orders as expired by mistake. That's all they'll find, and we'll be in the clear. Add a few anonymous tips about the story, and you have instant news coverage." Chitose looked at the reporters, "All ready to tear this story apart and get the biggest headline."
"That boys confronting her now," Slidin' Go observed, "He's really making a scene… Though that Midoriya boy is with her."
Chitose's smile thinned. Out of everything, that was the biggest issue that she had no real control over. She knew she had to play it safe around Izuku. Rikiya now had a marked interest in the young man. She had been told that she was not to involve him in her scheme. A ghosted phone number was the most she was going to get away with. Fortunately, Saito was locked squarely onto Himiko, and Curious had no plans to directly involve Izuku. She had her sights set higher. And if everything went according to plan, her action might help push Izuku away from the heroes and into more welcoming arms.
Saito, my little man, it's time you get to vent that righteous anger. My perfect match to light this fire. Burn bright and burn fast. Help me char one of this society's great pillars.
"Ma'am, Just for my peace of mind, but you don't plan on confronting any of the heroes directly, right?"
Chitose sighed sadly, "Unfortunately, I can not. Strictly forbidden. I'll have to rely on some of my soldiers to take the reins on this interview. They have my questions at the very least."
Izuku blinked in stunned silence as a boy, who looked to be about the same age as himself, burst through the crowd of reporters and started screaming at Himiko. One second before he, Ochako, and Himiko had been about to hurry back inside the school after finding out that someone had texted her outside using a phone number and contact info that was made to look like his own. And now this was happening. When he called her a monster, that jolted him from his stupor, "H-hold on a second." Izuku put his hands up and moved to put himself between this boy and Himiko, "I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding."
As Izuku tried to calm things down, he noticed, disturbingly, that all the cameras the reporters had were pointing right at them. He was also aware that in his pocket, his phone was vibrating and chiming away as it got call after call and text after text.
"We-we're late for class, so we need to-"
The boy snarled and pointed at Himiko, "She's not going anywhere! I won't let her escape again!"
"Escape? Look I'm sure you're-"
"Izuku stop." Hearing Himiko speak up, Izuku turned to look behind himself. Ochako had an arm protectively around Himiko, looking just as confused and worried as he was. She also looked tense, reminding Izuku of how she would get before some of their sparring matches. Ochako was ready for a fight. Himiko though, didn't look anything like he was used to seeing. Timid, defeated. It was like someone had sucked the life out of her, "That's Saito."
Ochako's eyes bulged while Izuku thought for sure the ground had opened up underneath his feet, Saito? The guy that Toga… Izuku then began to puzzle together what was going on. The picture he was coming up with was not good.
1: Himiko had been lured outside of U.A. by someone using his name.
2: There were almost as many reporters now as there had been at the start of school when before there hadn't been. They had been waiting.
3: The boy that Himiko had stabbed and drank blood from was with the reporters.
4: All of this was happening only a few days after the confrontation between U.A. and Tartarus. Tartarus who were not happy with how things had ended and that knew he was a friend of Himiko's.
5: If Saito was here, and the reporters were here, and Himiko had been made the center of attention, then whatever court order that had been keeping people quiet was either gone or had been broken.
Run! Get Toga out of here! NOW!
"I don't know what that monster has told you about herself, but I know everything she's done." Saito started to walk towards Himiko, "I've been following you, Toga. Ever since I saw you in the Sports Festival you've been the only thing I could think about. You don't get to leave a trail of bodies behind you and think you can just walk away from that. People know who you are! They talk about you, Stain's other followers. They have every one of your crimes documented. Pictures of the people you've killed." Saito's face twisted, disgust dripping from his voice, "video of the perverse things you've done just to get some blood." Saito held up a stack of papers neither Izuku nor Ochako had noticed. He threw them onto the ground in front of the three, scattering them around their feet.
They were pictures. Some were from cameras, while others were screenshots of videos.
Bodies cut open.
Mutilated corpses.
Pictures of Himiko covered in blood. A knife in hand.
Stills from videos of Himiko as she bared herself to lure in a group of men.
"You're pretty famous on the dark web, Toga. Either as Stains lap dog or his whore."
Izuku sucked in a breath, and kicked the papers away, "Uraraka! Grab Toga! We're getting out of he-"
"She's not going anywhere until she answers for what she did to me," Saito moved to block the way to the main entrance, "You might think you know what she is, but you can't ignore the proof in front of you!"
"This isn't the way to do this. I understand what-"
"You understand? Who the hell are you? More people she's tricked into believing she's a person? Look at those pictures and tell me what kind of person does that to someone else," Saito grabbed at his shirt and pulled it down, popping some of his school uniform's buttons as he did. Even without fully opening his shirt, Izuku, Ochako, Himiko, and the cameras zooming in on him could see the scar that ran from his collar and down his chest, resembling a horrific welding together of skin instead of a wound several years healed. "I thought she was a classmate. And she did this to me! She's a fucking monster! A deranged freak! She didn't just cut me open! You have no idea!"
"She needed your blood."
Saito's eyes, wide and intense, shifted away from Himiko to Ochako, "W-what did you say?"
Ochako kept her arms around HImiko, hating how she couldn't feel the other girl's warmth. She had simply stopped functioning. It was obvious that seeing Saito again, her first victim, had shaken her to her core. Himiko wasn't heartless nor unfeeling. At least not anymore. She had been forced to confront that she wasn't the monster she believed herself to be, at least not fully, back in Hosu City. Now, that newly found humanity was getting forced to confront her first and maybe greatest sin. Thugs, villains, gangsters, predators, Himiko had killed so many of them. Saito, though, had been innocent. And now he was here, with an army of reporters to drag Himiko into the open, to crucify her in front of the world. Ochako could see he thought he knew everything, but he didn't. The way he was acting, he couldn't have known, "Toga needed your blood. Toga's Quirk makes it so that she needs blood, but her parents stopped her. They starved her for years until she wasn't able to stop herself."
"Wh-what?"
"Please listen," Izuku said, "Most people are only aware of how a Quirk can affect a body when it's used, but there are some Quirks that can affect a person's biology. Make them need things in order to live or even just function. That's what Toga's Quirk is like. We need food and water," Izuku glanced back at Himiko, "Well, she needs blood too. She was only a little kid when her family forced her into Quirk suppression therapy. They tried to ignore her needs, until-"
"If her parents knew what she was, they should have smothered her in her fucking crib," Saito seethed, "she's a fucking monster, and they should have killed her."
Izuku looked at Saito in shock, "You can't be—"
"You don't get to blame a Quirk for this!" Saito then looked at Izuku and Ochako. Focused right on them, "You looked at those photos and didn't even bat an eye… You knowwhat she is. You know and you're trying to defend her? Make excuses? What the fuck is wrong with you?! Aren't you two supposed to be learning to be heroes? She's killed people!"
Ochako cut in, "She was manipulated by Stain! He took advantage of her and used her!"
"I can't defend the things Toga has done, but neither can you or anyone ignore that she's a victim too. U.A. is trying to help her. Heal her from everything that—"
"VICTIM?!" Saito snapped, his rage bubbling over, "SHE'S NOT A VICTIM! I'M A VICTIM!" Saito's breathing came out in ragged snarls, "U.A.'s helping her? Heroes are helping her while they come to visit my family and threaten us! Tell my parents to stop asking questions! Tell me to be quiet or else!"
Izuku and Ochako glanced at each other, neither sure what to make of that. It didn't make sense.
"She's a monster! A freak! And yet she's given everything after she's taken so much from me! Where's the justice in that? How can anyone claim to be a hero and allow this to happen! No hero would let this happen! You're twisted! Fakes!" Saito raved and yelled, stepping closer and closer towards them, and Izuku began to worry that the boy was going to do something drastic. With him blocking the way back to the school entrance, Izuku needed to think of a way for them to escape. No good was going to come staying here, but Izuku was not going to do anything to Saito either. He was not going to force their way through him.
If Uraraka can float us, I can get us inside and—
"I'm sorry."
Izuku froze. Ochako stopped too. Himiko's voice was quiet. Pitiful. But even over everything, they heard her, "I'm sorry for what I did to you."
"You're… sorry?" Saito's teeth ground together, "After everybody you've killed. Everyone you've hurt, that's all you can say? Do you really think that comes close to making up for your crimes?! 'Sorry?' That just saying that will absolve you of your crimes?!" Saito pointed at the scattered pictures, "Look at everything you did! You're a killer, and you enjoyed it! And now you're going to stand there and try and apologize for all of this?!
Izuku watched Himiko look down at the scattered pictures before she shook her head, "I never said I was sorry for this. For surviving." She then looked back at Saito, "I said I was sorry for what I did to you."
Saito's eyes narrowed, "What?"
"It shouldn't have been you, Saito. That day, it was still the middle of class. No one was supposed to be in the halls. I thought I had a clear escape. I could feel myself breaking, the mask the Quirk councilors my parents hired to put on me was crumbling away. I knew something was about to happen, I just didn't know what. But then, there you were. Alone and scuffed up from a fight. I snapped."
"Then you should have run for the roof. At least then, a lot of people wouldn't be dead."
Himiko didn't flinch or react at all to Saito. She just stood still, even as Ochako urged her to come with her and away from the crowd and Saito. Ochako was focused on Himiko, but Izuku, his eyes narrowed, and for the briefest moment, red lines of jagged and unstable energy flared up on the skin of his knuckles and arm as One for All surged, "Don't you dare say-"