My Hero Academia: The Next Symbol
Ichiro awoke to the sound of beeping. His whole body felt completely numb, especially his arms. The boy lay in a bed, with his body completely submerged under the thin covers, and his head lying on a single pillow. Attempting to get up, Ichiro felt a tingling feeling in his right arm; he kicked the covers off the bed and onto the tiled floor. He sat in a hospital bed, in some sort of infirmary. Next to him was a heart rate monitor, although it wasn't connected to him. 'Is this the UA infirmary?' Ichiro thought. Ichiro recalled the events of the day, had they won? Both his arms were wrapped tightly in bandages so much that Ichiro couldn't see a speck of the damage done to them, although he was glad that was so.
"So you're awake at last." A woman said, "You know, this is the second time you've been in here, both times with broken arms." A lady in her middle ages poked her head from around the curtain isolating Ichiro from the rest of the room; her hair was a deep shade of red, and her eyes were crystal blue. The lady's skin was weathered, but with no blemishes. She gave a warm smile, "I'm recovery girl. We've actually met twice, but you were unconscious the whole time during our first meeting."
"Is this is the UA infirmary?" Ichiro queried, slightly confused,
"Yes. After the outing against the villains at the government archive building, you were returned here. You were the only one with serious injuries, so your buddies were taken somewhere else after I patched them up pretty easily using my quirk." Recovery girl explained.
Recovery Girl
Quirk: Heal
Descendant of the original recovery girl, she can use transfer her own life force to others in order to heal them. If their blood type is the same as recovery girls, the effects are greater.
"Our blood type is both B, so I was able to speed up the healing process for your arms. Although, the right one was really messed up, what happened?" Recovery girl inquired, curiously. 'Oh yeah. I used One Hundred Percent with my right arm twice.' He recalled, without a hint of fondness,
"The villain I was fighting was pretty strong." Ichiro replied, stressed that he may give off the secret of One For All.
"Anyway kid, I don't think the UA staff are too happy about what you did today, they're probably dealing with your friends right now." Ichiro's heart skipped a beat, could he be expelled, on his second day! He put his head back on the pillow, trying to distract himself from the astronomical worry that had just presented itself.
"Oh crap." He murmured,
"You should probably get some rest." Recovery girl recommended, "Your body needs it." Ichiro managed a slight nod, and then cleared his mind. Roughly twenty minutes later, Recovery girl once again came through the curtain, "A woman is here to see you. How do you have connections to Hanako Midoriya?' She asked, bewildered,
"She's a family friend." Ichiro replied, a little too swiftly,
"Well, I'll give you two some alone time." Recovery girl then sauntered through the gap in the curtains and turned right toward the rest of the infirmary.
"Ichiro!" A worried voice yelled. Hanako charged through the curtain. Her dark brown hair was messy, and her eyes looked worn, "Thank god you're all right." She then hugged him tightly. Ichiro smiled,
"I'm fine honestly." He reassured,
"You really are stupid." Hanako cried, her voice changing from loving to angry then angry to sad, "You could've died."
"I know, but I wasn't gonna let a good person die. Then I'd be a fake hero, and a hypocrite."
"Why would you be a hypocrite?"
"Because, I told you that I hate heroes who do the job just for fame and money, they're fakes, so how could I judge them if I'm just like them." He declared, adamantly,
"Oh Ichiro." Hanako said, "Just because you condemn fake heroes doesn't mean you have to risk your life on the second day of school!"
"It does to me!" Ichiro exclaimed. Hanako paused, and studied the boy. He had the determined glint in his eyes once again, despite looking like he just fell out of a train.
"What am I gonna do with you." She chuckled, lightly. "No matter what happens, just promise that you'll be more careful." Ichiro wasn't sure what to say, but he didn't want to upset Hanako,
"Ok." He said,
"I'll wait for you outside, you should probably come stay at mine tonight. It's Friday, so you don't have to worry about getting to school." Ichiro nodded. "Ok, see you soon." Hanako once again put on her calm face, and left the room. Once Ichiro could no longer hear his mentor's footsteps he called for recovery girl.
"You done?" She asked,
"Yep, and I'm ready to leave."
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"All right then, I'll get you into a cast and give you some painkillers, then you have to head to the principal's office." Ichiro's worry was restored, and he had to stop himself from shaking as Recovery girl put casts on both of his arms. Once she was done she helped Ichiro out of the bed,
"Good luck, Ichiro." She nodded,
"Thanks." The boy said, drily, dreading the next conversation. With both of his broken arms Ichiro exited the infirmary and took the lift up to the fifth floor, where the principals office was located.
Ichiro knocked on the double wooden door,
"Come in." A hoarse voice sounded,
"Got two broken arms here." Ichiro grumbled. Seconds later, the door opened and Ichiro was face to face with Mr Iwasaki, who was covered in bandages. His teacher nodded, slightly, then sat on a chair at the far right of the room. The principal sat behind a desk cluttered with paperwork, stationary and an old computer. Bookshelves stood behind the desk and so did paintings of the sky and ocean. Ichiro had to resist the urge to laugh at the room's innate seriousness. The principal himself was an older man, with greying hair and a slightly plump figure. His hair was slicked back with gel that shone slightly in the sunset's radiant light; the principal wore a metallic grey tweed jacket and a tie, as well as an expensive-looking watch.
"Sit down Kanzagi." The principal said. Ichiro moved toward the seat situated in front of the mahogany desk and sat down, making direct eye contact with the man,
"Your friends have been excused until further notice." He said, "Your place in this school all relies on your answers here. Now answer truthfully." The principal cleared his throat, which slightly sounded like a frog croaking,
"Did you acknowledge that you were putting your friend's lives in danger,"
"Yeah, but it's not like I forced them to come." Ichiro replied, fiercely,
"Do you regret what you did?" The principal asked,
"No. If we didn't help then Mr Iwasaki could've died."
"Can you confirm this, Mr Iwasaki?"
"Yep. I was in a bad spot, facing four powerful villains at once. I would probably be a goner if my students didn't show up." He confirmed, a hint of respect for his students in his voice.
"Interesting." The principal said, "What you did, Ichiro, goes against everything we've built as a society. You're not even permitted to do small hero work until you've acquired your license, let alone defend the government archives against a group of powerful villains possibly working for an underground organization." There was a hint of venom in the principal's voice, although Ichiro assumed it was toward the villains. "If I did, theoretically let you remain in this school, can I trust that something like this will never happen again?" Ichiro took a moment; he remembered the amount of people counting on him to become a hero, but he also he remembered his conscience. He took a deep breath,
"No… you can't." He replied, calmly. The principal was utterly stunned by Ichiro's fearlessness,
"What kind of hero am I … if I simply leave someone in trouble just because some people think it's not allowed. This is another one of the reasons I don't like heroes. They condemn saving people, because why?" The principal was lost for words,
"So no. If someone is in danger and they need my help, I'm going to give it to them, end of. He declared, fiercely. Mr Iwasaki had to resist the urge to burst into applause, and he couldn't help but smile. The principal didn't know what to do.
"Mr Iwasaki, I'm going to ask for your judgment on the matter." The principal muttered,
"Ichiro, what you did was stupid, foolish and dangerous." Mr Iwasaki began, as Ichiro began to feel shameful, "But what you did was also thoughtful, heroic and brave. You've once again showed me that you have what it takes to be a hero, even if you are a bit rough around the edges." Ichiro's eyes lit up, "Sir." Mr Iwasaki said, turning to face the principal,
"I think we should keep him and his friends, they've all shown the qualities of heroes today. The principal, who had developed a slight admiration for Ichiro after his speech, sat back in his chair,
"You win again, Mr Iwasaki." He grunted, "You can remain at this school Kanzagi, "As long as you are more cautious." There it was, the question, the same one Hanako had asked him,
"Yes sir." He replied.
"All right then Kanzagi, you're excused. We'll make sure to notify your friends that they're fine as well."
"Thank you sir." Ichiro uttered. "See you on Monday, Mr Iwasaki." The Pro nodded as Ichiro left the room. The day school day was long over, so he used the lift to reach the bottom floor then walked out to the gate. He could see Hanako's limo parked on the road outside, and, of course, Haruto was driving. His mentor opened the door for him to get in,
"So, what happened?" She asked. Ichiro smiled, brightly,
"I don't know what that means, you smile when you're happy and sad Ichiro." Hanako pestered,
"I'm still in." Ichiro laughed. Hanako took a sigh of relief, closed the car door and sat back,
"Good." She said, "Well then, let's head home." The car started and thundered down the road. Suddenly, the fatigue of the day caught up with Ichiro and his eyelids began to droop. Ichiro let the wave of exhaustion hit him full force, and, for the first time since receiving One For All, drifted into a completely calm sleep.
End of Part One, Act One
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm terribly sorry for how late this one is and how short it is, but I've been swamped with exams recently and needed to put my full attention on them. Just because it's the end of Part One, Act One doesn't mean I'm taking a huge break. The next chapter will be out within the next few weeks. The reason why this chapter is so short is because it was simply the end this arc and is just meant to tell you guys the aftermath before the beginning of the next one. The upcoming chapters will return to the normal length. 1B, Pro, teacher and Villain submissions are still open.
Thanks again,
VHC