Midoriya Izuku, Class 1-A Seat #18It was finally Parents' Day.
Izuku entered 1-A's classroom to find Uraraka in an animated conversation with Asui.
"And she seriously still wanted to go out with him, after he got caught shoplifting? Oh, good morning, Midoriya."
Asui echoed the "Good morning, Midoriya."
"Good morning, Uraraka, Tsuyu." Izuku replied. He had come a long way talking to girls but when he saw Urarka's bright smile blossom as she noticed him, he couldn't help but blush.
"It's Parents' Day. Who will be coming to see you?" Uraraka asked.
"My mom. She seemed a bit nervous, actually."
"My mom is coming too, apparently she won the card game to decide who could come." Uraraka said, with an amused grin.
"Which of your parents is coming, Tsuyu?" Izuku asked.
"My dad. You can't miss him, since he'll be the one with the froggy face. Ribbit."
"I'm excited to meet them." Izuku said, before he excused himself from the girls and headed for his seat by the window. The room might have been the same as ever, but he felt strangely on edge. His classmates around him kept chattering about what their families were like and who would be there.
Maybe they felt a bit awkward about Parents' Day too?
Awkward or not, though, he didn't hate the idea of his mom showing up. If anything, Izuku felt proud to show her that he was realizing his dreams.
Until he sighed while thinking about the appreciation letter he had written.
"What's wrong?" Todoroki asked softly.
"Oh hey! Good morning Todoroki."
Todoroki just kept staring at him, until Izuku realized he was waiting for an answer.
"Oh, uh, nothing really. Just thinking about how embarrassing it will be to read my letter." Izuku flustered out.
"Right."
"Did you write yours?" Izuku asked, thinking about Todoroki's poor relationship with his father.
"Yeah, for my sister actually." Todoroki replied.
"She's coming today?"
"Yes."
"Oh. I see."
Awkward silence and the implication hung in the air for a moment before Iida approached both of them, "Good morning Midoriya! And a happy Parents' Day to you!"
He had Tokoyami, Mineta, and Kaminari in tow.
Native, the hero who they had saved from Stain, had given them tickets to a theme park. The other boys must have been the ones that Iida had invited instead, since both Todoroki and Izuku couldn't make it.
"Good morning. How was the uh, theme park after school yesterday? I'm really sorry I couldn't make it." Izuku said. He had instead attended the grand opening of a new All Might exhibit he had been planning on going to for weeks, so the apology was more about the bad timing with the tickets expiring. If anything he was grateful for the excuse, since he didn't feel like he should get a reward for interfering that day.
Iida waved him off, "Think nothing off it. Our day was anything but ordinary but we still thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Wouldn't you agree?"
Tokoyami gave a single word answer before Mineta jumped in, excited, "Get this Midoriya! Tokoyami is a cradle robber!"
"What? Enough of your falsehoods!" Tokoyami said with a scowl. His denial brought the attention of some of the class, as some of the girls turned their attention to the ongoing conversation. He winced for a moment before giving a sigh of relief when he noticed they weren't all looking in his direction.
Kaminari explained, "No, not really, but a little kid did confess her love to him."
"Why?" Izuku asked.
"It's too long a story to tell at the moment, but to tell the short of it, no cradles were pilfered by Tokoyami." Iida said.
Mineta took issue with this, "Who can say though, once she grows up?"
Tokoyami glared at Mineta, "You're the only one who would enact such a scheme."
"Would if I could! And there's nothing illegal about it!" Mineta proclaimed.
Jiro scoffed, and said, "They should make your entire existence illegal, Mineta."
"Flatties don't get a say in this." Mineta quipped with scorn.
Jiro looked like she was going to hit him, but Iida turned his head in confusion, "Flatties, what does that mean?"
"Small boobs, man." Kaminari answered, rather than cover for Mineta.
"Don't actually tell him!" Mineta said, his eyes flicking towards the back of the classroom for a moment before he hissed at Iida, "And stop asking about these things!"
"How rude. One shouldn't get hung up on the relative size of someone's anatomy." Iida said, as he crossed his arms to indicate 'no'.
Yaoyorozu nodded, "He's quite right, Jiro."
"That's difficult to accept coming from you, Yaoyorozu." Jiro said, before poking Mineta hard with one of her earphone jacks when he tried to speak up again.
Izuku finally sat down in his seat, as his classmates continued to settle down, for when Aizawa would arrive.
When the bell chimed and Aizawa didn't show up, the class took immediate notice.
"He's not here?" Hagakure asked, sitting up from her seat in the front row to make sure he wasn't in a sleeping bag behind his desk.
"Maybe he's just late? Ribbit?"
Izuku thought to himself about how unusual this was.
Uraraka's voice from the back of the classroom cut through the murmuring, "Calm down, I texted him a message. If I don't get a reply back I'll check the staff room in a couple minutes."
Izuku tried to remind himself to be calm.
A few more minutes passed, and he glanced back at Uraraka to see if she had gotten a message. She wasn't even looking at her phone, just sipping on her thermos with her eyes closed. She looked tranquil.
Then everyone's phones buzzed in at the same time.
—
Hagakure Toru, Class 1-A Seat #16
The class checked their phones in a panic. Toru was no exception. She had been on edge watching Midoriya tensing up behind her all morning.
It was a message from Aizawa.
'Ride bus to mock cityscape. Now.'
Toru watched Midoriya mutter to himself, "The cityscape? But why?"
Kaminari responded, "Oh I know! Aizawa probably wants to hold our class, letter reading, and school tour all in one place! It is only rational!"
That was probably it. It was just weird. That was all.
Watching Uraraka get up, and tell the class to follow, Toru walked right behind her. She could see Uraraka furiously typing on her phone.
Uraraka was a bit taller than Toru, and wore boots, so it wasn't too hard to sneak a peak at what she was writing. First Uraraka typed something to Aizawa, then she composed an email to the U.A. High staff. It looked like she was just giving them a heads up but the wording seemed to indicate that Uraraka was looking for a confirmation of some sort.
As they got to the bus, Mineta complained, "Why not just have us meet there instead? This sucks." At least he wasn't hitting on anyone.
Toru was surprised when Uraraka didn't sit next to Yaoyorozu like she normally did. Toru was more surprised when she got to sit next to Uraraka. Uraraka was still perched in a way that she could easily see most of the bus, which meant Toru got a good view as well.
As their classmates got to their own seats, Iida looked at Midoriya, and asked, "What's wrong, Midoriya?"
"It's just, uh, making us waste time like this? Does that sound like our teacher?"
Toru noticed Uraraka flip over to another contact on her phone but it was hard to pay attention to everything all at once.
"No, it is most unusual." Iida said, suddenly in thought.
"Stop overthinking everything Midoriya! You're stressing everyone out. So what if Aizawa screwed up?"
Toru felt slightly bad for agreeing with Mineta. She wondered why Bakugo wasn't shouting at him yet, like he normally would.
"Would you say that to his face, Mineta?" Asui asked.
"Course not, so you better not rat me out!"
"What if this is all intentional on our teacher's part?" Iida said, as if he had figured out some mystery.
"Explain." Todoroki prodded. Toru had noticed he had been hanging out with Iida and Midoriya ever since after the internships.
"For heroes, the unexpected can arrive at any moment. This could be an exercise designed to test our reactions."
This made a lot of sense to Toru. Or she at least wanted to believe it was just another annoying test. It was the kind of thing Aizawa would pull. It fit his definition of 'logical' to an extreme.
"Or this could be an actual trap. Everyone should take this seriously, regardless." Uraraka suddenly said. "I've not gotten any response back from Aizawa, or any of the other staff, and we're almost to the destination. When we are exiting the bus I'll stand by the door and tag everyone with my quirk in case we need to evacuate again. Be alert and be prepared to follow my orders, or Yaoyorozu's if I'm not around."
Or something might have actually happened. The atmosphere on the bus got really tense.
The class slowly exited the bus with Uraraka touching everyone's hands. Toru wanted to give Uraraka a high five but the look on her face was grim, so she just touched Uraraka's outstretched hand, and then Uraraka stepped off the bus last.
As they cleared the bus, it sped off. Aizawa was nowhere to be found.
Uraraka looked around for a moment, before turning to the class, "Shoji, Jiro, anything?"
Jiro stuck her jacks in the ground as the class tried to stay quiet, and Shoji generated extra noses on his tentacles. Toru wondered if she should volunteer to scout ahead.
"Heartbeats, lots of them." Jiro said as she retracted her jacks.
"I smell something… Gasoline." Shoji said.
Kiminari started talking, "Maybe there's a fake pileup in there, for tra—"
Uraraka cut him off, sounding annoyed, "This isn't the twenty-first century. Gasoline powered cars are increasingly rare. If it was a simulated pileup he would smell diesel or burning electronics."
Toru heard a scream in the distance, followed by a series of cries.
Midoriya broke into a run toward the voices, with most of his fellow students following him. Toru stayed by Uraraka, who followed the class at a slower pace, as she looked around, possibly for threats.
Following the voices, Class 1-A found a street lined with buildings, and the smell of gasoline permeated the air. Since nobody would see her face, Toru wrinkled her nose.
Before them was a cleared plot, with the buildings that had occupied the space before crushed into rubble on either side. In the middle there was a pit about twenty meters in diameter. At the very center of it, a cage in the shape of a cube seemed to balance on a slender platform, holding it in midair.
Toru spotted her mom, who was wearing her favorite red coat and hat. It made her stand out in the crowd of what must have been everyone's parents.
"Mom?! Is that you?" Midoriya gasped.
Most of the parents were shouting in terror for their children, causing most of the class to quickly gather to the edge of the pit, Toru included.
The stench of gasoline was particularly strong there. Toru looked down. There was a puddle of what must have been gasoline about ten meters or so below them.
"How'd our parents get in there?" Kaminari asked.
"And where is Aizawa?" Mineta asked, sounding panicked.
A cold, mechanical voice answered their questions. "Aizawa is down for a nap. A nice, long, dirt nap."
"Aizawa is dead?" Toru asked, worried.
Mineta looked like he was about to cry, "That can't be true. I mean, April Fools' was like two months ago! Show yourself, you creep!"
The artificial voice mocked the class again, "Get a hold of yourselves little herolings. You are free to think this is a joke, but you should be aware there are… hostages in play."
"Hostages?" Midoriya said.
"The voice is coming from inside the cage." Shoji said from a mouth on one of his extra tentacles. He also had a bunch of extra ears on his tentacle-arms now.
"Inside the cage?" Midoriya said.
"Correct. I am here… with them." The group of parents flinched away from the back of the cage to reveal a dark figure. A tall giant of a man, wearing a black mask, black clothing, and a torn black cape. The parents scurried into the corners of the prison, away from the villain.
Iida had his phone out, trying to make a call, but the villain must have spotted him. "I should mention now that contacting your school or the authorities is not permitted. Fleeing or seeking outside help is forbidden. Try to run, and it will be your parents who pay the price."
Toru wasn't the only student who went stiff, but she was pulled back suddenly by Uraraka, who was staring at the cage with an expression that didn't fit her normal demeanor. Uraraka drew a finger to her lips toward Toru and then stared back at the cage. Following her gaze Toru saw a woman with a hairstyle identical to Uraraka's, mouthing something like Toru couldn't make out.
"Help us, Momo!"
"You must not panic, Mother. Keep calm." Yaoyorozu replied.
Beside Yaoyorozu's mother was what looked like a frogman in a suit. "Croak, croak."
"That croaking means danger. Ribbit…"
Asui was usually so levelheaded, but the distress in her voice only made Toru feel worse. And next to her Uraraka was still seething. It was making Toru feel sick to her stomach.
A woman with green hair, who must be Midoriya's mother, was crying.
"Why? Why is this happening?" Midoriya asked.
The man in black spoke up again, his robotic voice crackling. "I was expelled from U.A. High. My dreams of being a hero were all I ever had. That a genius such as myself failed is proof enough that this world of heroes is fake. It's full of phonies. Imagine? Me? A dropout? That's why I've—"
Toru felt her stomach lurch for a moment as she noticed small rocks suddenly starting to float around her, before they fell just as quickly.
"So you put that stupid looking black cape on just to throw a tantrum, you dumbass?" Bakugo screamed.
"I knew Aizawa's threats to expel us were real." Kaminari said, while Midoriya tried to get Bakugo to stop pissing off the villain. Toru looked to Uraraka, who looked like she had clenched every muscle in her body and gritted her teeth, but her classmate was unnaturally quiet. Her eyes remain fixed on the cage.
"I'm already bored. Let's blow this guy sky fucking high!" Bakugo said with a grin, as a small explosion went off in his hand. He rushed to the edge, ready to let his momentum carry him straight to the platform in the center of the pit.
"Slow down, or have you already forgotten about the hostages?" The caped criminal said, as he dragged a woman with spiky hair who looked like she could be a supermodel to his side.
Bakugo skidded to a halt, an odd expression on his face, his teeth gritted.
"Good job getting yourself caught, old hag!"
The woman, who must have been his mother, flashed from fear to rage, just as fast as Bakugo's mood seemed to change. "I've told you a thousand times over not to call me a hag, you little shit!"
"Wow. I uh, suppose I can see the family resemblance." Kirishima said.
"That supposed to be a compliment, shit-hair?" Bakugo snapped back at Kirishima.
Toru noticed Midoriya's mom speaking to Bakugo's, "Mitsuki, please, we're hostages, remember?"
"Oops."
"Pipe down," said the man, releasing Bakugo's mother with a shove.
Midoriya stepped forward, and locked his eyes on the villain. "What are your demands?"
"What are my demands? One thing only. The complete and utter destruction of your bright futures. And slaughtering your parents in front of you is just the way to do it."
The metal cage groaned suddenly.
"All of this, just to get at us?" Ojiro said beside Toru. She grabbed onto his shoulder, feeling suddenly dizzy. The stress was really getting to her, but she had to pull it together, for her mom.
On Ojiro's other side, Kirishima raged, "You got beef with us? Then bring it. But leave our folks out of this!"
The metal started creaking even louder, it sounded like it was coming from the cage. Toru wondered if that was the villain's quirk. Maybe the artificial voice wasn't just a voice changer?
"Oh ho ho ho. But it isn't your bodies I aim to destroy. No. That would be too easy for the likes of me. It will be far more painful when your parents suffer and the little heroes-in-training have nobody but yourselves to blame."
"If you truly walked the path of the hero before, then stop this foolishness!" Yaoyorozu screamed, and Ashido joined in, "Exactly! And you're going to prison when this is dealt with!"
"Oh, I have no intention of escaping. After all, I have nothing left to lose. So for my final act, I might as well savor your descent into despair and agony as you watch your family perish. Now, who should I start with?"
The villain lunched toward the hostages, who shrank into the corner of the cage, but he lost his footing as he fell upwards into the top of the cage, before slamming violently on his back.
Tearing itself from the pillar holding it up in the central platform, the cage flew upwards, and the villain slammed into the bottom before he could get his bearings.
The cage started to list, as the villain slammed into the top of the cage again, and the parents inside started to slide toward one end of it.
"Todoroki, ice over this pit so nobody falls in." Uraraka barked, " Tokoyami, get me and Yaoyorozu to that cage."
Toru managed one last glance at Uraraka's face before she zipped off. She looked furious.