Chapter 64: The Incident's End (End of Volume One)
In the U.A. High School conference room.
"The leader is a young man named Tomura Shigaraki, who possesses a Quirk that allows him to disintegrate anything he touches. The police have already searched the Quirk registry for all individuals logged between the ages of 15 and 25, but there's no record of him."
Dressed in a suit, Detective Tsukauchi held a stack of papers that his department had worked on all night. He reported the police's findings to the U.A. staff, who were seated in rows. "The other one, a man named Kurogiri with a warp gate Quirk, is the same. There are no matching files. In other words, they're ghosts—individuals who have never officially registered their Quirks."
"Not only are their names fake, but their Quirks are also incredibly rare..." A woman in a skintight suit rested a hand on her cheek, her face flushing under her half-mask as she slipped into a fantasy. "If only a handsome older man like that were on our side. He's totally my type..."
"Midnight! Don't be ridiculous, he's a villain!" a burly man in a classic, deep-red battle suit roared, chastising her with the voice of a hardened hero. "If he hadn't had that sudden burst of power at the end, we would have captured Tomura Shigaraki and claimed a total victory, instead of the news just reporting that we 'repelled the enemy'!"
"Got a problem with what I said, you big mutt!?" Midnight slammed her hand on the table and shot to her feet. "Am I wrong? A rare Quirk like his is a strategic asset! That's far more valuable than someone with nothing but muscle between their ears!"
"You R-Rated hag!" The burly man stood up as well, his canines showing as a threatening growl rumbled in his throat. "You wanna go?!"
"Vlad King, Midnight, stop fighting. Detective Tsukauchi is still here," a skeletal, withered-looking man in a yellow pinstripe suit said, coughing twice. "We should be discussing the enemy's strategy right now. Don't air your personal grievances here."
"All Might is right. Setting aside the information on Kurogiri for now, we should focus on their objective—to kill the Symbol of Peace," said the Principal, a white creature resembling a mouse, or perhaps a bear, smiling as he quelled their dispute. "First, based on Detective Tsukauchi's information, we can conclude that the followers they gathered were just low-level street thugs. So, we must consider how he managed to recruit them and... whether he will gather more to attack U.A. in the future."
The teachers fell silent. The enemy had a valuable asset like Kurogiri, allowing them to launch surprise attacks at any time. If they unleashed another one of those creatures they called a Nomu when All Might wasn't present... the consequences were unimaginable.
"Actually, you don't need to be so worried. We've gathered information from the interrogations of the 108 villains we captured," Detective Tsukauchi said. "The majority of them were remnants of the 'Seaside Park' gang, which the police and All Might dismantled together. They were basically all rounded up this time, so you don't have to worry about them gathering a force of this size again anytime soon. The problem, however, lies with another, smaller faction..."
"Please, go on," the Principal said with a smile.
Detective Tsukauchi took a deep breath, his expression turning grave. "They are people who truly believe in Tomura Shigaraki. They believe in his cause to overturn this world of heroes."
"Ha... ha... HAHAHA!" Vlad King's canines flashed as he was the first to break the tense silence, laughing so hard that tears streamed from his eyes. "Overturn the world of heroes... Does he even think before he speaks?!"
After a moment, Vlad King stopped laughing, his voice turning serious. "This society is built upon the foundation of Quirks. If control is lost, people become intoxicated by their natural-born power, becoming slaves to it. Heroes exist to suppress that phenomenon. We are symbols of light, compressing malice into the corners where it cannot escape. To want heroes to disappear is nothing but a fool's dream!"
Everyone was silent, all of them inwardly agreeing with Vlad King's sentiment. As Pro Heroes, they were righteous, indispensable.
The Principal chuckled and turned to the sickly-looking man lost in thought. "What is it, All Might?"
No one in the conference room was surprised to hear the Principal address this man as "All Might." They all turned to him, waiting to hear his profound insight.
"I'm more concerned about the child, Tomura Shigaraki..." All Might looked down at his own massive hands, which seemed disproportionate to his withered body. "He had the advantage of his own Quirk being unknown, yet he went out of his way to boast about the Nomu's abilities. If he hadn't given that explanation, I'm not even sure if I could have defeated that monster..."
"Right, the investigation into the Nomu is already underway," Tsukauchi interjected in a timely manner. "Thanks to the testimony from student Yoshikage Kira, we can completely rule out the possibility of the Nomu being used again. It will be monitored in a secure facility for the rest of its life."
"Kira? You mean the class president from 1-A?" Midnight's reaction was intense. She licked her lips. "Oh, I adore that handsome boy. I think I prefer those innocent types over mature older men after all..."
"Are you planning to prey on your own student!? Principal, fire this R-Rated woman immediately! She's unfit to be a teacher!"
"I've heard about that boy from others. Not only is he serious and responsible, but he was willing to sacrifice himself at a critical moment. He's truly an uncut gem."
"The other kids were great too. Todoroki and Bakugo's performances were both remarkable..."
The meeting devolved into chaos as the teachers began praising the Class 1-A students they favored, completely forgetting the original topic of discussion.
The Principal didn't stop them. He mouthed "Come to my office later" to Detective Tsukauchi and, with a smile, prepared to leave.
Cementoss, a Pro Hero whose work on the battlefield involved supporting others, deeply admired Yoshikage Kira's selfless act. As Class 1-A's Modern Literature teacher, he also had a soft spot for the responsible class president. The other students had also performed exceptionally well during the attack...
Seeing the Principal about to leave, Cementoss couldn't help but speak up to request a reward for his students. "Principal, what kind of reward do you think students as excellent as them deserve?"
Indeed, it wouldn't be right to let such achievements go unacknowledged...
The Principal thought for a moment and said, "I have my own considerations. We'll let their performance in the upcoming event determine that."
"You mean... the Sports Festival!"
The Principal smiled without another word. With his hands behind his back, he walked to the door, jumped up energetically to pull down the handle, and exited the room.
Several minutes passed before the bickering teachers came to their senses. They looked around to find that both Detective Tsukauchi and the Principal were gone, leaving only a few other teachers diligently preparing their lesson plans...
"Wait, what were we discussing?"
Seeing All Might still sitting and pondering something, Vlad King, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-B, clapped him on the shoulder and offered a comforting smile. "You're worried about your students, aren't you? They were strong enough to hold on until you arrived. They'll be fine."
"You're right." All Might looked up, a blue flame flickering in his deeply sunken eyes. "There's nothing to worry about. The enemy was foolish. They gave these students a taste of the terror of the hero world in their very first year. Has any other class of first-years ever experienced that!"
"They experienced their own powerlessness, and they experienced the power of unity... They... the kids of Class 1-A... will surely grow into powerful heroes!"