"Something about the White Fang." The reaction was instant.
"Oh."
Several expressions changed. Midoriya blinked.
Iida adjusted his glasses.
Todoroki looked over from where he'd been drinking water.
Even Tokoyami raised an eyebrow.
Yuta immediately regretted opening his mouth.
Apparently this was a topic.
'The Illusion of Monopoly: Efficiency in the Vacuum.' Midoriya seemed to recognize something. "I see. That's the recently released article about the White Fang Vigilante?"
Iida looked at him. "You know about it Midoriya?"
"Oh .. um, yeah. I was actually reading that exact article before morning homeroom!"
"Oh, you mean that stuff I saw you looking at earlier?" Momo asked.
"Yeah." Midoriya said while scratching his head.
Bakugo who was walking over scoffed. "Nerd. Who the hell are you guys talking about again?"
"Um ... Well."
"It's the White Fang Vigilante." Tokoyami cut in before Midoriya could explain. "You know. The one from Hosu who crippled the Hero Killer last month."
That seemed to jog everyone's memory.
"Hold on. You mean that guy who saved Endeavor on the day Yuta made his first appearance?" Kaminari stood up, eyes shining. "Yeah, I remember him. That guy was so cool."
"Cool? Wasn't that like .. his first appearance or whatever? There was barely any footage of him when that happened and all that was seen was just an image before he disappeared and the police put out a search warrant?"
"Exactly. It's the same person." Tokoyami nodded. "But this time he's a regular Vigilante that's active throughout Japan."
"Wow," Sero added. "Sounds like you know a lot about this guy?"
"That's natural. I've been following the news ever since the chaos started."
"Heh, what a waste of crap. Who the hell reads articles anyway?" Bakugo scoffed, clearly uninterested in this topic as a whole.
"Well, unlike you, some of us are actually interested in the state of the country." Tokoyami huffed. "We are going to be heroes after all. It is expected of us to be well informed on such affairs."
"So? What does it have to do with this guy anyway? Did he do something big or is there something special about him?" Shoji asked from the side.
Midoriya lowered his head. "Well, sorta yes. Just probably not in the ways you might think."
"Huh? How exactly, Ribbit."
"Well, It's kinda hard to say .." Midoriya lowered his head, wondering how he was going to explain this. However, Tokoyami spoke up before he could.
"Ever since All Might's battle with All For One, everything's no longer the way it once was. The loss of several heroes ... And the release of thousands of villains has put tremendous pressure on the hero system. .."
"Stop telling us what we already know nerd." Bakugo growled. "Get to the point already."
"Um .. right Kaachan. Basically, the White Fang started showing up after that. In that time, he's captured two hundred and thirty escaped convicts and even more criminals all over Japan. Many are strong offenders that would give most Pro Heroes a headache and some say the casualties would be a lot worse without him. He also works almost everyday and has no set location, helping wherever he can."
"Well, that doesn't sound so bad." Mineta uttered looking clearly bewildered.
"I agree." Asui placed a finger on her chin. "Actually, it sounds pretty heroic."
"I know. I would have thought it was heroic as well if not for the methods he uses."
"Huh?"
"Yeah." Midoriya nodded. "Apparently he breaks the spines of any criminal he captures just like he did to the hero killer a month back. There's speculation whether it's something like his signature or he does it to make sure the criminals can't do any harm ever again. Most of his victims are permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Others are unable to move again for the rest of their lives "
He said. "The controversy was intense. Eventually, someone wrote an article about it."
The atmosphere changed instantly.
"What?" Kaminari blurted. The previous casual tone vanished. Several students stared at Midoriya.
Even Bakugo stopped walking. "Hold on." Kirishima frowned. "You're serious?"
Midoriya nodded.
"That's what the reports say."
"Every single one of them?" Momo asked quietly.
"Most of them."
Mina's face had gone pale.
"Wait, wait, wait." She waved both hands. "You're telling me this guy permanently cripples people?"
Midoriya nodded awkwardly.
"That's the allegation. The medical reports were exposed."
"Holy crap..." Kirishima scratched the back of his head.
His expression had become conflicted. "Two hundred people?"
Nobody knew what to say. Because the number was absurd.
One person? That was horrifying. Five people? Still horrifying. Two hundred and thirty?
That crossed some invisible line where the human brain stopped processing it properly.
"That's..." Hagakure hesitated. "Really extreme."
"Ribbit." Tsuyu nodded. "I thought he was just arresting people."
"So did I. Paralyzing someone is kinda..."
She struggled to finish the sentence.
Because nobody wanted to defend violent criminals. At the same time... Nobody wanted to imagine spending the rest of their life unable to walk.
On the side, Yuta resisted the urge to smack himself as a slight chill went down his spine. How the hell did he let this become a topic?
"H-He can't seriously do that every time, right?" Uraraka whispered.
"Not really. Apparently only half of them or so ..." Midoriya answered.
Yuta immediately wished Midoriya would stop talking. Forever.
If this went on, his classmates would see him as a Maniac.
Tokoyami sighed. "His actions are indeed brutal. My initial analysis was a dark past or a darkness hidden in his soul. As for why he targets some and not others, the writer argues it is part of why his capture rate is so high."
Several students frowned. "I don't get it." Hagakure said.
"Then think of it like this. If a villain knows they'll spend the rest of their life in prison if a hero catches them, then they're scared." Tokoyami replied. "That might be scary, but if they think they'll never walk again if White Fang catches them..."
Nobody needed the rest explained. "Oh."
Now they understood. That was terrifying. "So he's trying to reduce the crime rates by ... making criminals more scared of him than they are of prison?" Mina murmured, her voice trailing off as the concept settled over her. She hugged her elbows, a visible shiver running through her frame despite the thick U.A. gym uniform.
"Instead of a symbol of peace, he wants to become a Symbol of... Fear."
"That's insane." Jiro muttered.
"It's simply fear as a systemic deterrent," Tokoyami added, his arms crossed tightly across his chest as he stared down at the shadowed earth. "It replicates All Might in the exact opposite way. A grim methodology. He has essentially turned himself into a living omen. Reveling in the darkness."
Uraraka smiles awkwardly. "It's kinda scary when you say it like that."
"As if." Bakugo scoffed. "There's no way anyone's replacing All Might like that."
Several students looked over. Bakugo rolled his shoulders.
"Fear only works until somebody stops being afraid."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You think villains are gonna stay home because they're scared? Some will. Most won't. The really dangerous bastards? They'll just try harder. Tons of villains aren't afraid of some nobody. Just scaring weak idiots is one thing."
He clicked his tongue. "Eventually, the real monsters are gonna come out. Scaring them is an entirely different story. Only someone like All Might can do that."
Nobody immediately disagreed.
Tokoyami considered the point. "A fair observation I suppose."
"Of course it is."
"Bakugo is right" Iida cut in, adjusting his glasses. "Heroes apprehend criminals. We do not determine punishment. Such brutality has never been the way we achieve things."
Several students nodded. That sounded reasonable.
Then Kaminari raised a hand. "Okay but..."
Everyone looked at him. "If they're escaped murderers and stuff..." He scratched his cheek. "...am I a bad person for not feeling that bad? I mean, no one innocent is getting hurt right?"
"That is not the way to think about this. The legal system doesn't function that way, and allowing someone to dictate the law is never a good option. Not even if they do it with the best intentions."
Iida shook his head.
"But .. I-I mean, it's effective, right?" Kaminari muttered, rubbing his arm. "If I was a low-level thug and I heard some ghost was going around snapping spines, I'd probably pack my bags and move to a different country. It's messed up, but... it works."
"Regardless of whether it's right or wrong, his actions have probably saved a lot of lives. Or would it have been better to have those two hundred and thirty escaped convicts completely free to do whatever they wanted?" Shoji uttered through his mask. "The heroes are short-staffed everywhere right now. If those villains hadn't been stopped, how many innocent people would have been hurt instead?"
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the clearing. Nobody wanted to explicitly defend a rogue actor who paralyzed people, but looking at the alternative made their chests tighten.
"That's actually really messed up," Mina said softly, her voice barely carrying over the wind.
"It is,"
"From a purely practical standpoint, however..." Momo frowned, her fingers resting against her chin as her eyebrows knit together in deep thought. "I can see why the article gained so much attention. With the regional sub-agencies actively consolidating their forces due to the current state of emergency, the general public feels entirely defenseless."
"Yeah. And when people are desperate, they consider every possible alternative, don't they?"
"That's exactly the problem." Tokoyami uttered. "The argument isn't that his methods are good. It's that they appear to be working."
The words hung in the air. "Seriously?"
Midoriya nodded. "Exactly." He rubbed the back of his neck. "The article spends most of its time comparing results."
"Response times. Arrest numbers. Criminal activity. And similar statistics like that."
"Apparently several repeat offenders surrendered without resisting after learning he was operating nearby."
A few students stared.
"They surrendered?" Sero asked.
"Voluntarily?"
"That's what the reports claim."
Kaminari looked horrified. "Okay, that's insane."
Mineta shook his head. "No. What's insane is that I believe it."
The group fell silent. Because unfortunately... So did they. Nobody wanted to spend the rest of their life in a wheelchair.
"I still don't like it." Uraraka said with a sigh. "I mean, intentionally doing it is a bit ... Much."
"A bit?"
"I mean, don't some villains get injured when being captured or something?"
"I still don't like it. It's a bit scary is all."
"Neither do I." Midoriya nodded. "But that's kinda why people keep arguing."
He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Because if he was just a villain, it'd be easy. And if he was just a hero, it'd be easy."
"But he's..." Midoriya struggled to find the words.
"Somewhere in the middle."
"Or nowhere in the middle." Iida suddenly said.
The class turned toward him.
"I can understand where you are all coming from. I genuinely can." He let out a breath. "Most of you might not know this, but my brother encountered the White Fang before he made his first appearance."
"Huh?"
The admission surprised several students.
"Indeed." Iida nodded. "During the sports festival, he had gone on a mission to subdue The Hero Killer. When he got back, he told me the whole process. The only reason my brother came back alive that day was due to his intervention. If anything, I owe him a debt, same as my brother."
His hands tightened slightly. "But my brother told me that even with that, that does not make his actions correct."
Nobody interrupted.
"Heroes do not decide punishments. The courts do. The law does." His gaze swept across the class.
"If one individual decides who deserves permanent injury and who does not..."
He paused. "Then what exactly separates that person from the criminals he hunts?"