After a few hours of interrogation, Luke and the rest of the students gathered in the Reception Hall of the Hot Spring resort, facing Erasure Head.
It was already evening.
The moment Sir Nighteye had coughed up blood, Luke had contacted the hospital, Aina, and Erasure Head.
Surprisingly, the first one to arrive was Sand, as if he had been lingering near the resort since the beginning. It was he who had rushed Sir Nighteye to the hospital, Aina tagging along with them.
Then, Erasure Head and All Might had gone directly to the hospital before coming at the resort with the police to get the full picture of the ill event.
When the Pros arrived to the resort and heard what happened, the worst guess of a Villain trying to assassinate Sir Nighteye turned into the most baffling mystery.
Of course, Luke hadn't hidden anything, sharing the exact reason for which Sir Nighteye had approached him before passing out in a bloody manner.
That was the thing, though.
No matter how cruel the future Sir Nighteye saw, his Quirk had never really harmed him physically.
Now, one of the top Pro Heroes of Japan, and the best investigative mind with a powerful Quirk, was hospitalized.
And the reason — Sir Nighteye had been trying to find more about Dr. Blessed through Luke!
"No talking to the press," Erasure Head warned. "Go straight home and prepare yourself for tomorrow. Focus."
"Sir…" Luke eyed the Pro. "How is Sir Nighteye?"
Aizawa noticed the expression on the boy's face and sighed. "It's not your fault, Luke," he said. "Maybe something went wrong with Sir Nighteye's Quirk. We will know… once he comes out of the coma…"
The students gasped. "… Coma?!"
Even Luke felt a chill running down his spine.
Miss Justice… He asked for the hundredth time. Was this really supposed to happen?!
All Luke had wanted was to involve a time factor in his future through Mr. Fool's Blessing. He had never intended to harm Sir Nighteye. The Pro Hero was a part of Japan's backbone, as Foresight was a Quirk that could turn the tables of wars.
For Sir Nighteye to go into a coma, especially when chaos was breathing down the country's neck, was nothing but the greatest ill omen.
[… I truly don't know…] Miss Justice answered the same. [I… do have a guess.]
What? Luke asked as the students surrounded Erasure Head to know more.
[… Well. Consider what would have happened if Foresight had merely failed?]
Luke didn't need Decryption to know that answer. "He would have tried again…"
And it struck him like a bolt of lightning, making him swallow his next words.
[Yeah…] Miss Justice nodded. [Again. Again and again. Sir Nighteye would try Foresight on you day after day, whenever he got his hands on you. You couldn't have kept asking for Mr. Fool's Blessing, right? So… the best way was to make him deter from using Foresight on you after first failure. Also, it's more of a blow to his consciousness than to his body, if I am not wrong about what he had seen using Foresight. There will be no long-term harm to his health. Trust me.]
Luke… let out a sigh.
He didn't owe Sir Nighteye anything.
If Luke really thought about it with a cold mind, then Mr. Fool had just saved him from months-long harassment, it seemed.
Still…
Luke couldn't help but get worried about the greater implications of Sir Nighteye going into a coma. Because, if he wasn't remembering it wrong, and comparing the changed timeline of events between the current world and his past life, then…
… Eri should be coming into the picture soon, right?
…
HQ,
The Apostles of Mr. Fool
Melissa read the news about Sir Nighteye's sudden hospitalization and frowned.
The news mentioned nothing about the reason behind it, though.
"… Ms. Shield?" Mushroom called from behind.
Melissa looked over her shoulder and her pupils dilated as she used Spirit Vision.
A storm of golden motes of light blasted her vision, Spirit Particles wreaking havoc within the 12-ft-tall creature.
Leader had asked her to use her uniquely innovative mind to unearth this mystery, Melissa remembered, deactivating Spirit Vision. For that, she would need to open Mushroom up. But first, she needed them for something else.
"Can you… hack into police database and… find out more about Sir Nighteye's hospitalization?" Melissa stuttered out the question.
It was hard, she realized, going against the law.
No. She corrected herself. It was harder to set the boundaries when you could go against the law and… get away with it.
Out of nowhere, Melissa imagined Dr. Blessed's shoes full of thorns.
No wonder he ended up becoming an International Criminal… despite not being a Villain.
On the other side, Mushroom nodded with enthusiasm. "… We have been hacking databases to research coffee and mushroom farming already…" the cyborg admitted, making Melissa's mouth twitch. "Hacking the police database should be easier… no?"
The large mushroom cap on Mushroom's head pulsed with cyan light as it connected to the WiFi.
After a while, the pulsating light stopped, and Mushroom opened their eyes. "… Sorry, Ms. Shield," they said, feeling guilty. "We couldn't find any exact reason…"
Melissa sighed.
"But…" Mushroom-nimi continued, making Melissa snap her head up. "… one of the reports mentioned that the last person Sir Nighteye met was… Renji Saionji."
Slowly, Melissa stood up, her eyes popping out of her head.
In that exact moment, as the name Luke boomed in her mind, she remembered the time when Dr. Blessed had revealed his face to them. She had been having a feeling that his face felt familiar ever since. But every time she tried to think more, Dr. Blessed would say something, and she would forget about it.
Now, in his absence, Melissa latched onto that thought like a blood-sucking worm, her heart beating out of her chest.
No… No… Melissa's hand fumbled into her pockets, taking out her Topaz Pendulum. No… It can't be…
She hurriedly penned down a question on a paper, Cogitated, and let the Topaz Pendulum drop from her hand, repeating the question several times.
"Are Luke and Dr. Blessed the same person?" Someone read the question aloud.
Melissa's eyes shot open and, to her horror, she found Dr. Blessed standing right next to her.
"Well…" he said, his voice carrying a humor as he looked at her. "… please continue with your divination, Ms. Shield. But, ask this to yourself first — Does the answer matter?"
Dr. Blessed turned around, patted Mushroom, who seemed to have called him, and walked away, his voice echoing in Melissa's mind.
"Bet you don't need divination for that question? Haha!"
********************
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