A/N: Wow. This chapter got way more political than I thought it would. I considered cutting huge chunks, but in the end I kept it for the same reason I wrote it. It shows the boys facing some really difficult concepts and how they worked their way through them, which is a big part of growing up…. so… yeah… I really hope it's not tedious to read…

Interrogation and Ethics

For a few hours, everything was chaotic. Izuku and Katsuki were taken to the nearest hospital. Their parents were called. Ms. Midoriya was frantic, but the Bakugous were calm. After about five hours and at least half a dozen tests, they were deemed well enough to be discharged - with a lot of stipulations and warnings to rest. However, the police asked them to stop by the station for questioning before heading home.

Ms. Midoriya was surprised and worried for Izuku's health (and his secret quirk), but it was ingrained in her not to deny a police officer, so she agreed. Mrs. Bakugou was not so accommodating. "Are you accusing Katsuki of something?" she demanded sharply.

"No, ma'am, but we found some disturbing evidence and we want to make sure we take their official statements while it's still fresh."

"What disturbing evidence? What does that have to do with Katsuki?" she growled, arms crossed.

The police made it very clear to Mrs. Bakugou that they didn't think Katsuki was involved in anything (the yet was heavily implied). She was within her rights to take Katsuki home and have him not give an official statement…

However, that could implicate Katsuki should they find inconclusive evidence that might link Katsuki to a situation that according to him he had nothing to do with… It was in Katsuki's best interest to go ahead and follow procedure willingly… The police were only trying to help and were working for the best interest of all involved…

Mrs. Bakugou was forced to give in, especially when Katsuki himself said he didn't have anything to hide.

Naomasa Tsukauchi had only been promoted to senior detective three years go, but he'd already solved some pretty important cases (and was good friends with All Might himself). He worked hard and was unfailingly loyal to justice, which was why he had been given the Alleyway Child-Killer case. The whole situation was a serious time bomb of messy proportions. Several veteran detectives had passed the case up because closing it or not closing it would probably derail their careers either way due to bad publicity.

Naomasa felt differently. If what the initial evidence suggested was true… All the more reason to take the case and do everything exactly right… For the safety of the people… For justice… Toward that goal, he had the two witnesses placed in separate interview rooms. He had carefully extracted the boys from their guardians and so had a few minutes alone with each of them to get a feel for the truth.

He already had a report with a quick background check on both of the kids. On paper, they were ordinary children - well, maybe they were on the exceptional side. They scored in the top percentile nationally, and the Bakugou kid had a very powerful and eye catching quirk. The Midoriya boy was remarkable in that he didn't have a quirk at all.

Outside of their excellent academic record, the two boys were polar opposites of each other - dark haired vs fair haired, introverted vs extroverted, considerate vs impulsive - Naomasa couldn't see them getting along. In fact, he would have guessed they'd have an adversarial relationship. And his guesses were rarely so far off the mark as it apparently was in this case. The boys claimed to be best friends.

Naomasa couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something… non-congruent here. And if he was going to close this case, he would have to put all the pieces together. Starting with Midoriya and Bakugou.

Midoriya looked tired. He had dark circles under his eyes. His face looked a little pale. Four perfectly symmetrical freckles or very small moles sat high on each cheek in the shape of a diamond. He had large, emotive green eyes and messy green hair. He was slender, perhaps on the too-thin side, and was about four and a half feet.

As Naomasa entered the interview room, Midoriya looked at him with a trepidation normal for such an intimidating environment. It was a small room, the size of a large closet. It fit a small table and two chairs with not much more room to spare. A huge mirror covered one wall. The other walls were unadorned and painted a slate grey color. The floor was white tile.

"Good morning, Midoriya-kun." Naomasa gave him a genuinely friendly smile as he shut the door behind him. "I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. How are you feeling? Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

Midoriya gave him a shy smile, twisting his hands in his lap. His body language was timid, head slightly ducked, shoulders curled in, subconsciously making himself a smaller target. "No, th-thank you, s-sir," - was his timid, polite response.

Still making his expression open and friendly, Naomasa pulled the remaining chair away from the table, letting it grate against the floor. He didn't want the kid frightened, but he did want him off balance. He sat and set the closed files he had carried with him into the room on the table in front of him. He folded his hands on top of them.

"I just need to ask you a few questions, but, before I do, I want you to know that my quirk is called True Man." He gave a casual laugh. "Nothing too fancy. I just have a feel for when something's not true. Also, it's standard procedure to record interviews. If at anytime you would like for your mother to be present, you can call for her. Okay?"

He pretended not to notice the way Midoriya had tensed at this information. It didn't necessarily mean anything. Most people were uncomfortable when presented with his quirk. That was because people were rarely honest with themselves let alone others. More importantly, he hoped that the offer of "calling for" his mother would injure the boy's pride and make him more resistant to actually doing it.

"O-okay…"

"Great!" Naomasa flashed him a big smile. He opened the top folder and pretended to reacquaint himself with the report on top. It was the initial report from the scene. "It says here that you were at Good Day Bookstore yesterday morning. A store clerk reported you were there with your friend from about noon the previous day until closing, bought a few magazines, and came back shortly after the store opened up the next day. A few hours later, at eleven twenty-six am, your friend, Katsuki Bakugou, called emergency. Can you walk me through those two days, please, so I can get a full picture of what happened?"

Midoriya stared at him with wide eyes, but he didn't look around nervously or swallow a lot like most people did when they were trying to think something up on the fly. It was clear the boy was thinking, but that was what Naomasa had asked him to do.

"Kacchan and I bought some magazines to read over summer break. To better our English," Midoriya began. He was frowning in concentration and his eyes drifted naturally from Naomasa's face to the file and back again, which was normal and expected. Prolonged eye-contact was unusual and uncomfortable - especially for a child when facing an authoritarian adult, no matter how friendly Naomasa was trying to be.

"It was really hot and it was nice and cool in the bookstore… We looked through the magazines and Kacchan picked three to take home… It was a good place to be, so we went back in the morning…"

Naomasa sensed no lie in these words, but he also felt like Midoryia was being very deliberate with what he said. His account was very succinct. Most people - and especially children - over explained things, giving a flood of extra and unneeded detail and exposition. Not so with Midoryia, which was unusual, but maybe it was a normal idiosyncrasy for the kid.

"We were looking at the magazines again - the rack is by the front window - and saw a boy about our age cross the street with a little girl following him."

As soon as Midoriya got to this part of the story his body language shifted. It became more direct and forthcoming. His voice became stronger with less thoughtful pauses. Naomasa found that interesting, but he didn't interrupt.

"The girl was young and she didn't seem to know the boy. It wasn't right, so Kacchan called emergency. We saw them go into an alley and we followed them. The boy shoved the girl into this hole in the ground and jumped in after her. I heard these sounds… thuds… whacks… The sounds of someone hitting someone else and she was crying. The police weren't there yet. We waited as long as we could, but I was afraid he was really going to hurt her. I jumped in the hole to help and saw her lying there. The boy was standing a few feet away. He had a red container and it smelled like gas, so Kacchan leapt at him to get it away, but then the kid threw it at Kacchan and his quirk ignited the gas. There was an explosion. Smoke and fire were everywhere. That was when the police officer got there…"

Midoriya paused and gave Naomasa a puppy-dog look that was truly impressive. "I asked at the hospital, but the doctors said because of patient privacy they couldn't give me any information… Can you tell me… Is the girl going to be okay?"

The genuine concern in those large green eyes softened Naomasa. "I can't reveal any details, but she's going to make a complete recovery."

Midoriya's eyes shone with tears as his whole face lit up with a smile. "Thank god…" He covered his face with shaking hands for a long moment, still smiling. "I'm really glad to hear that."

Naomasa cleared his throat. "Thank you, Midoriya-kun, for explaining what happened again. I know you've been over this with the police a few times already."

"It's okay…" Midoriya's hands dropped and his smile wavered as his nervousness returned. "Is that all you wanted to ask?"

Naomasa kept his voice light, smiling casually. "Almost. There are just a few more things I'd like to have clarified." He looked down at the file for a minute, drumming his fingers along the table. "Have you ever met the boy in the red shirt before yesterday?"

Midoriya's eyes widened. "You think we knew him?… I swear I don't know who he is…"

Naomasa made a humming noise and reached into his jacket for a pen. He wrote something down on the inside of the file folder. Midoriya hadn't lied, but… something felt non-congruent. He looked back up at the boy. Midoriya looked unsure, his timidity was back full-force. He shifted his weight anxiously in the chair.

Naomasa asked his next question. "When exactly did Bakugou-kun make the call to emergency?"

Midoriya stared at him for a moment before answering softly, "You said eleven twenty-six."

Naomasa laughed. "Good memory, but I meant did he call before or after you left the bookstore?"

Nervous green eyes held his own for a beat before Midoriya answered softly, "… Before."

"On the transcript of the call, Bakugou said…" Naomasa pulled out one of the reports in the file and held it.

"Hello. This is Katsuki Bakugou. I'm at Good Day Bookstore. I just saw a kid take a younger kid into some alley. I thought it was weird, and when I looked in, I saw him push her down into some hole and jump in after her. I think I hear her crying. They didn't look alike, so I don't think they're siblings. I really think someone should come check this out. Someone really good because I think he's going to hurt her. A boy with black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a red t-shirt with Endeavor's logo. About my age. Twelve maybe. A girl. Five or six. I don't know. Long purple hair. Look. Please hurry. Something is really not right."

Naomasa looked across the table to see Midoriya looking anxious. He was paler than before and there was sweat along his hairline. His hands churned restlessly in his lap. Naomasa pretended not to notice and affected an innocent tone. "At what point did you leave the bookstore?"

Midoriya bit his lip. He didn't answer right away and he wouldn't make eye contact. He stared at the tabletop as if it had the answers. "… W-Will I get in tr-trouble if I get it wr-wrong?"

Naomasa paused before answering, letting the boy stew a bit. "Just do your best, Midoriya-kun."

The kid nodded and lifted his head to take nervous glances at Naomasa's face. "I think… after Kacchan said he saw them go into the alley. You can see the alley from the bookstore window if you lean close to the glass."

Again, there was no lie in this answer, but it didn't ring completely true, either. "So you left the bookstore after he said 'I just saw a kid take a younger kid into some alley' and then walked to the alley and looked inside in the space of time it took for Bakugou-kun to say 'I thought it was weird'?"

Midoriya swallowed and very faintly said, "… I guess so?"

Naomasa shuffled his papers and smiled brightly. "I see." He put the files back in the folder and stood. "I'll be back in about ten minutes. I have to talk to your friend, but I'll be back. Did you want me to send someone in with a drink while you wait?"

"… W-water? … If you don't m-mind…" - came Midoriya's hesitant response.

"Of course." He flashed another friendly smile.

Bakugou looked annoyed when Naomasa entered the room. He had fluffy, ash-blond hair, was tan and athletically built for a twelve-year-old. There was an untamed air about him, like he was a wild thing pulled off the street, but that was countered by the sharp intelligence that shone in his bright red eyes. The kid had been rocking back and forth as he tilted the chair on its back legs. He let it drop loudly as Naomasa entered.

"For someone with questions, you took your goddamn time," the kid growled with an impressively fierce scowl.

Naomasa lifted his eyebrow, letting amusement color his expression. He shut the door behind him. "Good morning, Bakugou-kun. I'm Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. How are you feeling? Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

Bakugou gave him a very unimpressed look. "You make me wait forever and now you're going to do small talk?" He folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on top. "Wake me up when you actually want to do this."

Naomasa laughed and put the hand not holding the files up in surrender. "Okay. I'm sorry. I'll get straight down to business then, shall I?" He pulled the chair out from the table and sat, setting the files down in front of him. "I need to ask you a few questions, but, before I do, I want you to know that my quirk is called True Man. It's nothing fancy. I just have a feel for when something's not true. Also, it's standard procedure to record interviews. If at anytime you would like for one or both of your parents to be present, let me know."

Bakugou sat up with dramatic exaggeration. "If you're recording this shit, that means I don't have to do this again, right? Because I gotta say, I'm sick of answering the same questions over and over again." He crossed his arms over this chest mutinously. "What's the deal, anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Naomasa asked, tilting his head curiously.

Bakugou shrugged, his eyes shrewd as he sized Naomasa up. "People are being really serious and quiet about what's going on. Like the nurses and the officers who brought me here. Then you make me wait in this shitty room forever after just getting released from the hospital. Seems like something big is going down."

Naomasa smiled. "You're pretty observant, Bakugou-kun. What do you think's going on?"

Bakugou huffed and rolled his eyes. "If you're not going to be straight with me, then let's just get on with this. What do you need to know?"

"That's too bad. I'd love to hear your theories." Naomasa opened the top folder and took out the initial report from the scene. "It says here that you were at Good Day Bookstore yesterday morning. A store clerk reported you were there with your friend from about noon the previous day until closing, bought a few magazines, and came back right when the store opened up the next day. A few hours later, at eleven twenty-six am, you called emergency. Can you walk me through those two days so that I can get a full picture of what happened?"

"What's my personal life have to do with anything?" Bakugou scowled, his posture becoming angry.

"Do you have something to hide?" Naomasa asked curiously, surprised at the pushback.

"No, I'm just sick of drawing this out!" Bakugou snapped.

Naomasa lifted his eyebrow again. "Then I suggest you answer and get it over with. Of course, you can refuse, but we already explained how that could possibly implicate you later if…"

Bakugou cut his hand through the air sharply and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah yeah. Heard it the first time." He glared at Naomasa like he was personally offended by his presence. "I looked up English bookstores and Good Day popped up. It was only a few stops down from our neighborhood and we decided to go. It was alright. At least it had fucking air conditioning. So we went back again the next day."

Naomassa hummed and looked down at the file. That pretty much matched Midoriya's account - barring Bakugou's added profanity. He moved on to his next question. "Have you ever met the boy in the red shirt before yesterday?"

"Never," Bakugou said strongly without hestitaing. That rang true, which was interesting because when Midoriya answered it had felt a little gray. "He seemed like a fucking freak. Not exactly someone I'd hang out with."

Naomasa titled his head. "How so?"

Bakugou frowned and looked off to the side. "He was too fucking… clean looking. Like a kid off a tv show. Not real, you know? Holding that stupid leash like some creepy pedophile luring away a kid…"

Naomasa was genuinely surprised. "You know what a pedophile is?"

Bakugou sneered at that. "It's not in your fucking file there? When we were eight, some sicko substitute teacher tried to rape some of the kids in class while he gassed us to sleep. Izuku and I weren't completely out. Izuku got hurt trying to stop him and I trashed the place when my quirk went out of control. Mom made sure I knew what a pedophile was and how they'd try to sucker kids into going with them after that."

Naomasa was impressed and curious about why that wasn't in the file he'd been given. Probably because they were minors and the case had been sealed. It did, however, set him more at ease as it explained how these two very different boys had such a strong friendship. A shared traumatic experience had a way of bonding people together.

"I see." He gave Bakugou a thoughtful look. "Like I said, you're a very observant kid. Are you thinking about becoming a hero?"

A fierce grin lit up the kid's face. "Not just a hero. I'm going to be the number one hero in the world!"

Naomasa couldn't help smiling at that boastful claim. "If you work hard, I'm sure you will be." He looked back down at his papers. "Can you tell me when exactly did you make the call to emergency?"

Bakugou tilted his head, mirroring the exact gesture Naomasa had made a few minutes before. It was likely subconscious, but it was interesting because mirroring was a technique to make you more relatable to the other person. It was a good manipulative strategy. Police interviewers used it all the time. "When I saw that freaky ass kid leading a little girl across the street…"

"While you were still in the bookstore?"

"Yes when I was still in the bookstore," Bakugou answered impatiently. "When else?"

Naomasa easily ignored the flashes of attitude. "At what point did you leave the bookstore?"

"When they moved out of sight," Bakugou drawled slowly, as if Naomasa were particularly stupid. "That's when we followed them."

Naomasa took out the paper with the transcript of the emergency call and read it back to Bakugou the same way he'd read it to Midoriya. When he was finished, he looked up to see Bakugou's expression set in the same annoyed scowl as before.

"At what point did you leave the bookstore?"

"You expect me to remember that?" Bakugou growled. "I was too busy watching this fucking creepy kid lead some little girl off into a dark alley! I called emergency and followed them. He pushed that girl into a hole in the fucking ground and jumped in after her. Then there was the sound of someone being hit and then that girl started fucking crying. The police were taking their sweet time and Izuku fucking jumped in after them! So I had to jump in, too. You know the fucking rest." Bakugou pushed up suddenly and stood. "If you don't have anything actually important to ask, I'm going home."

Naomasa didn't have anything to say to that, so Bakugou stomped past him and flung open the door, disappearing into the hallway beyond.

He was truly impressed. Nothing Bakugou and Midoriya had said had been a lie, but his quirk told him that the Truth hadn't really been spoken. There was something off about these two… They were hiding something. And they were actually good at it. Even against his quirk. Naomasa would certainly remember them, but for now he'd let it go. Whatever it was they were hiding, it didn't directly impact the Alleyway Child-Killer case and that was his top priority at the moment.

Katsuki sat in his bedroom with his phone in hand. He was so fucking tired. The last few days had been a shit show and Izuku hadn't helped. It wasn't like Katsuki blamed him. Shit, those fucking visions were awful! Izuku had to experience dying over and over again, and this particular case was really fucking gruesome and disturbing. And then to have two visions so close together… It was no wonder Izuku had snapped! So it wasn't like Katsuki was mad or anything, but the truth was… He was almost at his limit.

He couldn't handle much more of this, and with his mom and dad on top of it… He wanted so much to fix his fucking family! Being gone so much and then everything with the hospital and police station, it was putting too much pressure on his parents, pressure they didn't need right now…

Katsuki felt like he was suffocating. He need some room to breathe. Unlocking his phone, he pulled up his text with Izuku. He paused, thumbs hesitating over the tiny touch-screen keyboard. Then he wrote:

.

Katsuki:

I can't see you tomorrow

I'lll see you after break

.

Deku:

Are you in trouble?

.

Katsuki:

Just need some time alone

.

Izuku didn't write back right away, but after about a full minute, the three dots appeared to indicate he was typing.

.

Izuku:

Okay. Love you, Kacchan.

Thank you for everything

.

Katsuki's hands tightened painfully around the phone. With a scowl, he tossed it onto his desk and flung himself at his pillow. Screaming made him feel a little better, but it didn't erase the guilt. A knock sounded on his door. He sat up quickly.

"Yeah?"

His door opened and his mother stood there. Seeing her made Katsuki's stomach churn with a sharp mix of anxiety and hope. She gave him a flat, neutral look, and said, "Dinner."

"Coming." Katsuki followed her, shutting his door firmly behind him.

Izuku stared down at his phone, realizing Kacchan wasn't going to text back. The screen eventually went black. He was sitting on his bed in his room, but it didn't feel like his room. It felt empty, but maybe it was Izuku who was empty. He had no right to cry about Kacchan not wanting to see him over break. They both needed some time to deal with everything that had happened. He knew that… but it still hurt.

Wrapping his arms around his chest, Izuku toppled sideways. He shoved his face into his pillow as he felt the sobs well up. His mom was exhausted and worried enough as it was, so he tried to be as quiet as possible as he cried himself to sleep.

"… Breaking news. Police have uncovered the body of Taisho Yazawa who went missing a few days prior. Cause of death is unknown at this point. Police state the investigation is on going…"

"… More details about the death of Taisho Yazawa. The police have confirmed the little boy was murdered after being abducted from a local park. One source states that his body was found underground in a basement-like enclosure under an alley not far from the park where the boy was abducted. The perpetrator has been dubbed the Alleyway Child-Killer…"

"… It has been confirmed that along with the body of missing Taisho Yazawa, the police found the mutilated remains of eight dogs, twelve cats, and four rabbits…"

"… Although the police have yet to release the name of the Alleyway Child-Killer, they have confirmed that the suspect has been arrested. The Child-Killer was caught in the process of hurting and attempting to kill another abducted child. Sources say an anonymous call to the police led to the Child-Killer's arrest…"

"… Twelve-year-old Utamuro Aomine was officially charged and arrested for the death of Taisho Yazawa, two counts of kidnapping, assault with the intention of murder, animal cruelty, and illegal quirk use. The date of his trial has been set for this fall…"

The end of August marked the end of summer vacation. For Izuku, it had been three very long weeks of trying to avoid the news, which had been a herculean task. It was all anyone could talk about! But the self-enforced isolation was actually good for him. He used the time away from Kacchan, tv, and the computer to really think about what he wanted.

He'd been a huge burden on Kaachan and had involved both of their families. He'd been the weak link at the police station, too. Quite frankly, Izuku was sick of it. He HAD to get stronger. And that meant things had to change.

For one thing, he leaned too much on Kacchan. They had started out as equals, but somewhere along the way Kacchan had begun to hold more of the burden during rescues and became responsible for making the plans. Izuku wanted to be Kacchan's partner, his equal! He never wanted to be deadweight again!

That meant he was going to work on his visions more on his own. He was twelve now. Some of them didn't need to involve Kacchan at all. He also used the time alone to look up techniques to help him deal with feeling so terrible after what he felt in those visions.

He had to practice staying calm and not freaking out no matter what! Or, just like Kacchan had said, he'd be no help to anybody! The technique his mom had taught him - making a list of things that make him happy - worked for nightmares and a depressed mood, so there had to be other things he could do that would help. And there were! He actually found quite a few things that he thought would work.

Izuku also decided that getting stronger meant that he needed to pay more attention to his best friend. Kacchan wasn't invulnerable. He needed support, too, and Izuku hadn't been doing a very good job of that. He took it for granted that Kacchan was so strong and smart, but he knew better than to be fooled by the loud and abrasive exterior that Kacchan presented to the world.

So when break ended, Izuku returned to school with determination burning like a fire in his chest. He was even prepared to face all the gossip about the case. Good thing, too, because when Izuku walked into his classroom, he was immediately bombarded… Had he heard about the Child-Killer? … What did he think?…Could one of them be secret killers, too?…

Izuku did his best to change the subject when he could and avoided the conversation when he couldn't. Most of his attention, however, was on Kaachan. The blond had made no move to talk to Izuku. He was quieter than normal and looked tired.

Izuku decided maybe space wasn't what Kacchan really needed and decided to corner him during break, but Kacchan wasn't in the classroom during lunch or in the cafeteria, so Izuku went looking and found him out on the school roof. He was lying on his back, his arms crossed under his head for a pillow, but his eyes were open as he stared up at the clouds.

"Hey," Izuku said softly, keeping his distance.

Kacchan didn't look over, but he didn't scream for Izuku to leave him alone, either.

Izuku sidled closer. "You want to share my boxed lunch?" He held out the black, two-layered box in offering.

Again Kacchan didn't say anything.

Izuku crossed the distance to his best friend's side. He set the lunch down and sat, gently nudging Kacchan's arms away and slipping his thigh under the blond's head instead. Izuku said nothing as he began to run his fingers slowly through the blond's hair.

After a few minutes, Kacchan finally met his eyes. "Why are you so happy?"

"I'm with you," Izuku answered simply. "It's nice." He glanced up at the clouds that Kacchan had been looking at. "The weather's nice, too."

They sat in comfortable silence for almost thirty minutes. The bell for class rang, but Izuku didn't move to get up. He wouldn't until Kacchan did. Red eyes caught his. They were calm, resigned somehow, but there was hurt in them, too.

"Mom's moving back in."

Izuku said nothing, waiting. He continued petting the coarse blond hair.

Kacchan looked away, back up at the clouds. "She won't hit me again. I'm too old for that now."

Izuku's hand stilled, resting gently on Kacchan's head.

"She thinks she was right to discipline me or else I could have turned out like Utamuro Aomine. If I become a hero, it's because she made it clear how wrong it was to be a villain."

Izuku bent forward. It was awkward and his back gave a twinge at the stretch, but he managed to bring his mouth down softly on Kacchan's. Izuku kissed him until his friend responded in kind. Katsuki's hand reached up and threaded through Izuku's hair, helping to hold his head in place so their lips could slot together and their tongues could touch. Blood rushed to their cheeks, turning their faces red.

"You could never be like that kid," Izuku's voice was fierce for all that it was a whisper. "I promise you that. No matter what she did or didn't do." He reached down to caress Kacchan's face - over his cheeks, down his nose, across his lips. "You're so beautiful and strong. No one made you that way. It's just who you are, who you've always been. Even before your quirk came."

Kacchan wrapped his arms around Izuku in an almost painfully tight upside-down hug. Then he released him and climbed to his feet. "Come on. We're late for class."

Izuku smiled as Kacchan offered him a hand. He took it and the blond pulled him up. As they made their way back to class, Izuku made a mental note to invite Kacchan to spend the night at his house more often.

Things settled down about the Child-Killer at school if not in the media, but it all got stirred up again during the second week of October when Utamuro Aomine's trial began. They even had a formal debate about it in class. They were given two excerpts of opposing speeches made about the case and were told to pick a side:

Source 1:

"A twelve-year-old boy cannot be held accountable for their actions in the same way an adult can. They haven't developed enough mentally or physically to understand the world in the same way an adult does. Aomine's actions were horrific, however something led to this behavior. Aomine needs treatment not punishment! I find it unconscionable that the prosecution is pushing for a life-sentence without chance of parole for a twelve-year-old child! I'd like to remind people that our system was not only founded on the principle of Justice; it was also founded on the ideal of Mercy!"

Source 2:

"Let's face facts here people! Regardless of age, Aomine shows a complete lack of empathy. During his trial, he demonstrated no remorse and freely admitted to torturing and killing Taisho Yazawa. He also admitted to abducting and beating six-year-old Eka Nishihara. Police found gasoline and matches at the scene, and Aomine told the entire court that he planned on setting her on fire while she was still alive. He stated and I quote, 'I was just playing with them. It was fun.' The mutilated animal corpses date back almost two years! When he grew bored, he moved on to bigger prey: small children! This is a clear case of psychopathy, which we know is not curable by any current treatments! Aomine should be incarcerated without any chance of parol!"

Those who stood on the left side of the classroom agreed with Source 1. Those who stood on the right agreed with Source 2. Izuku caught Kacchan's eyes and moved to the right side of the room. Kacchan followed him. There were thirty kids in class. Only eight, counting Izuku and Kacchan, supported Source 2.

Izuku sighed. Kacchan shot him a worried look and Izuku gave him a sad smile to reassure him he was okay. He was already resigned to Aomine's sentence being reduced because of his age. He wouldn't let it discourage him. Like Kacchan had said, if he had to, he'd keep tabs on Aomine for the rest of his life. He wouldn't let another kid suffer and die at his hands.

"Alright, you extras!" Kacchan exclaimed, taking charge of their group. "I'm winning this thing! So you better pull your weight because I will fucking end you if we lose!"

Izuku gave a firm nod of agreement.

One week later, they won the class debate while Aomine's verdict didn't come until the end of November.

Aomine was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to spend the entirety of his minority in a hospital for disturbed and dangerous youths. Upon his eighteenth birthday, another hearing would be held to review his case and evaluate his progress. The result of the hearing would determine if Aomine would be moved to a prison or freed.

End -

What do you think? Should I have cut the stuff revolving around the trial, the news, and the debate for class? Did it bog the chapter down? How many of you found yourself skimming because it got boring?

Also, I have some good news - and some unfortunate news…

Good news: Next chapter we'll have reached the anime timeline! woot! :D

Unfortunate news: I'm going out of town, so I'll be offline for at least 4 days, maybe more. Sorry guys!