Chapter 25: in the shadows

It was relatively easy to get in. With Yotsune hacking into the security system and the buildings being abandoned for the night, chances of running into anyone were slim. With the cap and hood on her head, the surgical mask covering her face and the gloves on her hands she wouldn't be easily recognizable. Aside from that, she knew Seishin Academy from the back of her hand. Finding her way around the basement wouldn't be that hard.

Neko snuck down two more sets of stairs. She had been on both of these floors before, although not in this exact section, but there was nothing unusual. The one below, on the other hand… She glanced over the railing, seeing three more levels. That was definitely weird. She had studied the blueprints, knew most of them by heart and there shouldn't be that many floors. She quickly took a few pictures with her phone, then proceeded to sneak a peek through the exit door at the bottom of the stairs. It was almost pitch-black inside, just like in the stairway, only illuminated by the few exit signs. Driven by curiosity, the girl decided that looking wouldn't hurt.

The silence inside was overwhelming. Her steps echoed through the hall, the rustling of her clothes was as loud as a crackling fire. From what she could see, the walls had a different design from the ones above. She took another picture of the plain and clean grey surface. Despite feeling endless in length, there were only few doors lining the corridors. Doors without windows, some even without handles but card readers as locks. They were all marked by numbers with no reference point to what could be stored inside.

Neko stopped in front of the closest one, pressing her ear to the wood. Nothing. She took more pictures of the card readers and the numbers, until a sound caused her to freeze. Those were unmistakably steps, even though they sounded weirdly light and jumpy. Like a kid running, but that was absurd.
Waking from her trance, Neko rushed back, turning around a corner to hide-

Wrong corner. The Seishin student froze, taking in the small silhouette in front of her. It looked humanoid, but it barely reached her bellybutton, there was something strange on top of its head. It dawned on her. Neko gulped before she hunkered down to get a better view. It was as she expected. Apparently, the rumours about the child shaped ghost with horns were more than just a ghost story. In front of the teenager stood a girl, about eight years old, with silky white hair and a horn on her front. The child looked terrified, eyes wide. The little girl took a step back, but before she could run, Neko whispered, "Hey, little one! Don't run, I'm not here to hurt you!"

Obviously taken by surprise, the little girl stopped. Her big eyes wandered over Neko's frame. The Seishin student pulled her surgical mask down and her hood up, so the girl could at least partially see her face. Lastly, she reached into her pocket.

"Hey there," Neko said with a soft smile. The girl still looked wary, her eyebrows drawn together in a frown. This wasn't an expression a little girl should wear. Neko kept her friendly face up, talking to the her again, "What are you doing down here that late?"

The little girl didn't answer.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I liked to sneak out when I was younger, too. I still do, actually, or how else would I be here?"

The horned girl tilted her head. Only now Neko realized that she wasn't wearing a white sheet, but more of a hospital gown. Her tiny arms were wrapped up in bandages. Neko couldn't help but think of Hikari, and her face fell. The girl noticed. She hid her arms behind her small back and began walking backwards.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare," Neko began, "you don't have to hide them from me! I have a friend, she often wraps up her arms, too. She's been hurt when she was your age."

The little girl stopped.

"Does it still hurt?"

The girl hesitated, then nodded.

"Do you want me to help you?" It was a long shot, but the sight angered Neko more than she liked. She wouldn't let that girl end up like her best friend.

"Who did this to you? Please, I want to help."

The girl suddenly shook her head. "Dangerous," she whispered, "he'll hurt you."

"Who will?" Neko pressed on, taking a step to the backing down girl which only caused her to stagger backwards even faster.

"No, leave," the girl pleaded, "Papa will hurt you."

Oh god, it was her father. Families could be so cruel. Gulping down all her anger, Neko reassured, "Don't worry, he won't. Not if I'm smart about this, and believe me, I am very smart. I want to help you. What's your name?"

The horned girl stared at her in disbelief. "E-eri…"

"Alright, Eri-chan, I promise I'll do everything I can. And, by the way, I'm Ne-"

Somewhere, a door shut. Neko startled. Heavy, fast steps were approaching. Suddenly, Eri pushed her back.

"Go," the little girl pleaded, "they'll hurt you."

Neko wanted to protest, but there wasn't anything she could do right now. She needed more info and a plan. "Don't worry, Eri-chan, I'll come back. Just hang in there."

Eri pushed her back once more before the little turned and ran back to where she came from. Neko dove around the closest corner. Her steps were too loud to get any further, she had to wait it out. She pressed her back against the wall and listened.

"There you are," spoke a muffled voice. It was a man's and he had to be wearing something in front of his mouth.

"You know you shouldn't run. Your father's not gonna like this when he hears about it. Now come."

Eri didn't protest. Neko waited even after she heard the door shut. It took minutes before she dared to really breath again. Deciding she had enough for one night, the Seishin student marched back to the stairway, taking more pictures along the way. She just hoped the recording device in her pocket worked.

Dragon watched the whole encounter with bemusement. With the purple tinting his vision as a side effect of his lackey's quirk, the warehouse looked even more run down than it already was. He was glad not having to physically be there.

The beaked Yakuza leader standing a few meters away was far younger than he had expected, but he wasn't naïve enough to let himself be deceived by looks. The League of Villains members though, looked as ludicrous as he had heard. All young and inexperienced. They hadn't even noticed him watching them from his hideout.

Dragon listened to the young Yakuza leader, Overhaul, as he explained his point of view. It almost sounded like the young man thought he could take All for One's place as the new "emperor of darkness", as he called the now imprisoned super villain. How laughable. Few times had Dragon seen villains taken so seriously by the media behave so immature. He counted the seconds until the fight broke out and claimed its first victim.

He had seen enough. The man sunk back into the shadows. Screams echoed through the warehouse as he calmly turned his back to the scene.

It didn't take Overhaul long to get out. Blood stained his face and jacket, but it was not his. Dragon watched as one of the henchmen handed him a disinfection wipe. He waited until Overhaul's face was clean before coming out of the shadows.

"What a nice play."

Overhaul and his men stopped. The Yakuza seemed more annoyed than impressed. "And who would you be?"

Dragon only laughed. "Bold of you to assume I would underestimate you, my young Yakuza friend."

Something flashed over the visible half of the beaked villain's face, "I assume you're here to propose a deal. I'm not in the mood for your games, Dragon, so make it quick."

Hikari called in sick the next day. She didn't even make it out of bed. Her head was spinning, her body felt weak. There was no way she could face anyone today without breaking out in tears and she couldn't have that. Aizawa-sensei luckily didn't push for details, just ordered her to pay a visit to Recovery Girl. She wondered if someone had tipped him off about her breakdown yesterday.

She had been woken by the alarm in the morning, tucked into her fluffy blanket despite not remembering falling asleep. She still had to thank Midoriya for everything. Speaking of the devil… The second time she awoke about an hour before noon, three messages with his name on top flashed on the display of her phone. They left a weird, warm feeling in her chest. She quickly texted him back that she was okay and going to see Recovery Girl, before pulling the blanket off. Getting up, putting on clothes and brushing her hair was exhausting. She felt lethargic. A look in the mirror revealed dark circles and pale complexion that made the greenish brown bruise in her face stand out even more. Not particularly moved by the observation, Hikari made her way out of the abandoned dorm. She had about half an hour left until the ground would be flooded by students enjoying lunch break. Enough time to get to the infirmary, even with her slow pace today, before anyone could spot her. The girl crossed the school grounds, climbed up the stairs of the main building and knocked at the desired door.

"Come in," came the voice almost immediately. Hikari stepped in, closing the door behind. Recovery Girl didn't spare her a glance as she commanded, "Sit down, dear."

It was an odd feeling coming here without being physically hurt. At least not to the extend she needed the heroine's help. Recovery Girl turned on her chair, not impressed by the slightest to see the ex Seishin student here.

"Aizawa has informed me you would be visiting today."

Hikari took a deep breath.

"He also told me that you would be visiting every second day after your extra classes from now on, as well as whenever you feel like you need it. Orders from the principal."

Hikari blinked in confusion. What was this all about?

"It is my duty to care for the students' well-being, physically, as well as mentally."

"I'm really sorry!" Izuku bowed to his friend. Iida had been the one to clean after him yesterday after he ran off. The blue haired teen adjusted his glasses.

"I-It was kind of an emergency," Izuku tried to explain, not sure how much he should tell.

"The same emergency you went to Aizawa-sensei to talk about?" Iida guessed right.

"Yeah..." Izuku took a look around. There weren't many students in the hallway, most had gone down to the cafeteria for lunch. The boy was torn. He needed to tell someone, but he also didn't want to say too much. Iida seemed to notice his strange behaviour.

"Midoriya, if it's something you can't talk about-"

"I don't- It's not about me. And I don't want to hurt that person's feelings by telling anything without their permission, but…"

"There surely is something, you can say," the class president suggested. Izuku sighed and made sure no one he knew was around, before he began, "It's about Hikari. I, uhm, I kinda found out some stuff about her and… Well, she's dealing with a lot and she's dealing very badly with it. She tried to do something really stupid yesterday and I was able to stop her, but I'm afraid she's going to try again…"

That had to be enough. It was all he could tell without mentioning certain things. Izuku looked back up at his friend who wore a contemplative look. It took Iida a moment to gather his thoughts and remark, "To be honest, I was expecting something like this."

"Eh?"

"Her behaviour has troubled some of our class, Yaoyorozu already came to me a few days ago." Of course, they had noticed.

"Neither of us knew what to do, because we don't have a clue what's going on."

Izuku took the hint, but he wasn't so easily convinced. "I tried to convince her to tell you, I mean, she was able to convince me to talk to you about… My…. You know… But I just can't get her to do it, I don't know how!"

"Are Shikogane's parents villains?"

The accusation hit Izuku like a bomb. He stared at his friend wide eyed. Iida visibly wasn't very comfortable with the subject as well, but he continued, "We guessed after we saw how similar your situations were, and how fast the two of you became close. She also was the one to tell Todoroki to cool your burns when you had your..." He didn't have to say it.

"We realize that it is a bold assumption, which is why Yaoyorozu didn't want to ask her directly without confirmation."

Izuku's heart sank. She would be so mad at him, but he couldn't let Iida go to her with nothing more than presumptions. So, he said the only thing he could, "It's her brother and mother."

Iida had nothing to answer to that. Judging by his expression, complex thoughts were running his brain.

"It-" but before Izuku could say more, a familiar face appeared at their sides. With sparkling blue eyes, Mirio Togata greeted them, "Hello, lively first-years! Your classmates told me I might find you here!"

Izuku and Iida exchanged a look, unsure how to react.

"Midoriya-kun, right? All Might-sensei wants to have a talk with the two of us!"

It was more than simply awkward to sit with Togata in All Might's office. Izuku had been here often enough to feel somewhat comfortable on his own, but with his senpai, one of the strongest students in all of U. A.? He had to stop himself from fidgeting with everything his fingers could reach.

"Young Togata, young Midoriya, thank you for coming," All Might began.

"It's no trouble," Togata beamed, "it's an honour to be called here by you!"

All Might chuckled. "You flatter me, but I'm not the man I once was."

"But you will always be an inspiration to all of us, right Midoriya-kun?"

"Eh? O-Of c-course!"

"So, what can I do for you? This is about Sir Nighteye, isn't it?" Togata guessed. Izuku looked up at his mentor, eyes wide. Sir Nighteye had been All Might's sidekick years ago, hadn't he? As far as the boy knew, Nighteye had his own office by now. Did that mean Togata-senpai was interning with him?

"You guessed right, young Togata. There's something I have to ask of you, and I apologize in advance." The previous Symbol of Peace folded his hands in his laps. He wasn't comfortable with what he was about to ask. Togata though, smiled as brightly as ever.

"It's no problem, I really don't mind! How can I help?"

"I would like you to introduce young Midoriya to Sir Nighteye. From what I've heard, he is the perfect candidate to intern at your agency. His insights are very valuable, especially regarding the case you are working on right now."

Something flashed over Togata's face. Whatever it was, it was gone in an instant and the older U.A. student smiled again. "That sounds promising. I'll see what I can do!"

"But," Izuku cut in, "the, uhm, internship… I don't even know if…"

"We called your mother this morning." Izuku stiffened. There was no way she would have simply agreed to this.

"She wasn't ready to give a straight answer…" Of course, she wasn't. "She asked us to send you home for the weekend. Principal Nedzu agreed and has taken precautions. But young Midoriya," All Might's voice suddenly turned soft, "please don't feel pressured. If you or your mother decide it is best if you don't take part, we will accept that decision. There is no shame in going easy about this."

If Togata-senpai noticed the change in the atmosphere, he didn't show it. Izuku gulped, a sneaking suspicion creeping over his conscious. Could it be that All Might didn't want him to go…?