I gotta stop writing these 10k words chapters with my hand half bandaged up…
-.
July 25th, Machibuse Residence, 0825.
Hakuba wasn't expecting to be back at his diminutive apartment in Shinjuku after yesterday's escapade, but there he was. He got up from the couch and stretched, for today was going to be a busy day.
Yesterday Momo had left him at the graveyard with the promise to do her best to earn his trust back, to earn him back. Learning the truth about the Murakumo surely shocked her; Momo barely talked as Hakuba recounted the events of that night, but her expression gave it all away… learning about his first desperate kill, about how he had watched the burning wreckage where his father had died, about how his godfather had apparently orchestrated everything as revenge on Hakame. It was clear however that what struck Momo the hardest was learning about how his mother had locked herself inside the Murakumo's cargo bay to fend off something Hakuba never came to see.
Her reaction to that seemed like as if she had something to say, but Hakuba decided to not press.
Regardless, today was the first day of Momo's trial and, according to Momo herself, the first thing to do was to ensure that everyone involved in the events of two days ago, that meant the four boys from the rescue squad and Bakugo, had at least some degree of understanding about the truth that they had been so harshly exposed to. This would not only prevent them from telling other people, but more importantly it would give Hakuba a chance to justify his actions and maybe, just maybe, regain his friends.
Momo said she would take care of bringing them to hear him.
First Hakuba would go through his morning routine, then to the grocery store. His grandmother had told him a proverb once: "One should never begin negotiations on an empty stomach."
He had absolutely no idea where she got that from, but it fell on his shoulders to take measures regarding that.
-.
July 25th, Machibuse Residence, 1125.
Being able to handle a blade was essential to any killer worth their salt; precision with each strike, perfect edge alignment, fluid motions that wasted no energy. Hand to eye coordination was also vital, and Machibuse was especially adept at that thanks to his intense archery training: he could throw a knife with dead center precision up to three meters away.
Yes, perfect skills for a killer.
But also for a cook.
His guests were scheduled to arrive in little over thirty-six hundred seconds, that gave Machibuse plenty of time to make sure every detail of that meal was perfect. Skillfully peeling and dicing the ginger was something he did without even thinking as he eyed the pressure cooker for a moment. He would drain the water in three hundred seconds, by then the pork belly would be tender enough to be cut.
Soon enough the ginger was reduced to thin ribbons and left to marinate on a mixture of vinegar and sugar. Nine hundred seconds would be enough to impart the flavor and sweeten the ginger.
Turning his back to the kitchen counter after turning off the heat under the pressure cooker Machibuse begun carefully filling a bowl with lukewarm water and flour. He rolled his shoulders and dug his hands into the mixture. A strong and steady grip was something else that made the difference in taking someone's life, be it by making sure a firearm or bow was held firmly for precise aim, by ensuring the target would not get away from his Chelicerae, or even in simpler actions such as snaping someone's finger to gain leverage in intel gathering or simply choking an enemy.
Grip was also very important at making soba noodles. Wedging and rolling the ingredients firmly was vital to ensure that there was no air trapped in and guarantee a uniform dough that not only was ideal for hand pulling but also firm as to not break during the cooking process.
More flour, he now rolled the dough into a thin sheet with care. One to two millimeters thin, ideal to ensure that the noodles cooked evenly.
Sure, he could've gone for the pre-made stuff if he was cooking just for himself, but this was a very special occasion. The ritual needed to be perfect from start to finish.
He folded the sheet of dough over itself twice and put his knife skills to work once more. Enough servings for him, his guests and then some for dinner. Besides, Kamihara was sure back to patrolling as usual and likely would stop by.
Taking a moment to now drain the pressure cooker behind him, Machibuse picked up the remaining ingredients for the broth: The sweetened ginger, brown sugar, soy sauce, honey and awamori liquor.
Sure, he was a minor, but that didn't prevent him from taking a sip of the liquor. Strong stuff. Good thing his Quirk made it impossible for him to get drunk.
The pork belly was now moved from the cooker into the cutting board. More chopping. Then back to the heat. Soon the sweet smell filled the kitchen.
All that remained was to prepare the daishi soup and sweep the floor clean of flour.
His cellphone buzzed inside his pocket, but he already knew what that was about. The walk from the Shinjuku central station to his apartment was just about twenty minutes long, and that fitted the time frame of his guests.
Now it was just a matter of boiling the soba noodles and setting up the table. Two servings at a time would be optimal, so in the meantime he picked up his cellphone to actually read the message. Only the rescue squad was coming, Bakugo apparently was asked by the police to stay indoors and would not be joining them.
That was a far more convenient result actually. Bakugo was the only one that knew about Machibuse's connection with the Hero Killer, so not having him present would mean that there only be one problem to discuss at the moment. Machibuse would make a point to speak with his fellow abducted classmate at a later date.
That wasn't the only message however… His grandmother had sent him something.
As it seemed tonight was going to be packed full as well.
The bell rung.
Machibuse took a deep breath.
"Welcome everyone, make yourselves at home… Food will be served in a moment." he greeted the five with a short bow and gestured for them to get in.
Tension was palpable in the air as Machibuse made his way back to the kitchen. The last two batches of noodles were just finishing to cook. No one dared to speak as they sat down at the table, Yaoyorozu visibly being the most apprehensive as she had been the one to bring them all together.
Machibuse closed his eyes for an instant to better organize his thoughts.
"Suppose I should start by thanking you all for saving me… You all have my gratitude even if I think that you were wrong in following through with that mission, after all I am alive because of it." he began, his eyes focused on the food he was setting up on the bowls.
"Ma'am, how much did you tell them?" he added as he turned his eyes towards Yaoyorozu.
"Not much. Suppose it is better that they learn it from you… brought the envelope with me, it's in my bag if you want." she responded as Iida, Midoriya, Todoroki and Kirishima exchanged glances. Yaoyorozu had only told them that the kills under Machibuse's belt were all made in self-defense during what effectively was a terrorist attack.
The scent of traditional Okinawan-style soba accompanied Machibuse as he made his way back and forth from the kitchen, each time bringing with him a serving.
The air was still tense, but now it was both tense and mouth-watering.
If Hakame really used food as a means to dilute tension then it was no wonder that the hag had become such a god at the kitchen. Tension was pretty much her middle name, even after she stepped down from her position as minister.
"Very well… I will spare you guys all the details I gave her, suppose it is better if we focus on what got this number onto my shoulder since that is what brought you all here." Machibuse spoke as he sat down across from Yaoyorozu, the rectangular table fit for four people a little cramped now. Good thing he remembered to ask one of his neighbors for a pair of chairs after coming back from the grocery store.
"What you all are about to hear is top security information. There was a lot of effort by the Ministry of Defense to keep everyone involved quiet, so I strongly suggest that you don't speak of it… with that out of the way, let me tell you the truth behind the incident that sunk the JDS Murakumo four years ago."
-.
July 25th, Machibuse Residence, 1315.
Took Machibuse about forty minutes to finish his tale. Differently from how Yaoyorozu remained in silence during the entire process yesterday, the four boys made a good number of questions and clearly had many more in mind.
Machibuse slowly got up to get another batch of noodles going. A shame that such a well-crafted meal had been tainted by that story, but he had skipped breakfast today.
And besides, it was about time.
"Machibuse-kun… does my brother knows about this?" Iida asked worriedly.
"Not as far as I am aware, but I can confirm that Tensei met with a few members of Squad Six, four of which I killed. My mother's last mission prior to the incident was handled by her, Bravo, Hotel, India, Juliett and Whiskey. I was never told the details, but I know that it was a search and destroy mission… the target was a smuggling operation led by a branch of some criminal group from China." Machibuse responded with some relief in his voice, it felt good to not hide for once.
That caused Iida to frown, his expression clearly troubled. One could almost hear his thoughts just by looking at his face.
"You can tell him if you want, Iida-san, but I honestly think he is better off without knowing. Were I able to forget what happened that night I would've done so." Machibuse sighed.
"I guess you are right…" Iida agreed after a deep breath.
"You think that All For One was the one pulling the strings? I mean, you said that people were trying to capture you, not too different from what happened back at the camp…" Midoriya pondered in a serious voice unfitting of the sauce stain on the corner or his mouth.
"I know for a fact that All For One wanted me because of my Quirk, but I don't really know why both me and my father were targeted at the Murakumo… Suppose that there is no telling when it comes to someone like All For One, but I don't think it was his work. He knew about it in great detail, which brings another slew of problems regarding information leaks, but Shigaraki wanted me as a member of his group and offered to help me find out who was the responsible for what happened four years ago if I accepted his offer. I don't think that Shigaraki would have made that promise without making sure that I wouldn't go after All For One at a later date." Machibuse responded, draining his second serving of noodles and setting a third one into the water.
"You saw what All For One did at Kamino and you still would go after him?" Todoroki rose an eyebrow curiously.
"I have killed people far more powerful than myself already, Hari Oji-san was easily on the same level as Ch-… the Hero Killer. Ingenuity paired with a Quirk that can kill someone in as little as a firm grasp makes that something near-impossible, yes, but not at all unthinkable. And besides, if I had accepted Shigaraki's offer and turned out to set my sights on killing All For One then I am hard pressed to believe that you guys would feel all that bad if died trying." Machibuse spoke, his eyes distant as watched the boiling water in front of him.
"But you didn't accept the offer… You are not a villain, Hakuba." Yaoyorozu stated firmly.
Machibuse eyed her for a moment, then he was back to where he was before. It didn't escape to the four how Machibuse was clearly giving her the cold shoulder since they arrived.
"Then the army never found out who set the attack in motion or why?" Kirishima asked, getting up from the table as well, he wanted to have seconds.
"Not by lack of trying, that much I can guarantee. The hag spent almost two years going back and forth from China and South Korea trying to piece everything together. She was away for so long that she had me living in the barracks of the Military Academy rather than at her place." Machibuse responded, now reaching for yet another serving of the soba.
"Going to eat two in a row?" Kirishima tilted his head.
"This one is his." Machibuse answered, casually pointing towards the balcony with his thumb.
As if by magic the balcony door immediately slid open.
Edgeshot had come once more.
"He is very punctual." Machibuse turned to the now stunned Kirishima.
"So you are still here. People from the government came to the agency after you yesterday." Kamihara spoke as he stepped into the kitchen.
Machibuse just opened his mouth to say something when Edgeshot whacked him on the top of his skull with a ridiculously fast karate chop.
"Don't go using what I taught you to flee from the authorities." the ninja chided his student sternly, causing a chuckle to escape from some of Machibuse's classmates.
"Ow… sorry, Sir…" Hakuba muttered painfully.
Edgeshot just took a short sigh.
"I'm glad to see that you are okay." he spoke calmly, bringing a small smile to Machibuse's façade for a moment.
"Just let me something with a tight lid, just to make sure that the soba doesn't leak." Machibuse gave the pro a small nod of appreciation as he spoke.
"Don't worry, I have something to discuss with you either way, so I there is no need for something packed to go." Kamihara informed.
Machibuse just quirked an eyebrow in curiosity before reaching for a bowl on the drawer.
"Albeit I don't think it would be appropriate for us to have this conversation with people listening." Kamihara added, turning his one visible eye towards the other people in the living room.
"If its about that night then there is no problem if they hear, just finished telling them the truth. They ended up learning about it during the incident at Kamino and I needed to explain myself." Machibuse responded as he filled a bowl with food and passed the extra one he had made for himself to Kirishima.
"I was told that some students from U.A. were at the site. The three of you are definitely pushing your luck, but all of you better be on your best behavior from now on." Edgeshot spoke as he turned, a piercing stare directed at Midoriya, Iida and Todoroki.
All the five members of the rescue squad gave a nervous bow while muttering some sort of apology.
"How is your father taking it? Finally achieving the number one spot after all those years?" Edgeshot changed his tone as he turned towards Todoroki in specific.
"Badly." the teen admitted after a short pause.
Edgeshot just shook his head and pulled one of the stools to sit at the kitchen counter, his back now turned towards the five in the living room as he pulled his mask down to eat.
That caused some very curious looks, especially from Midoriya. What did Edgeshot look like underneath his mask?
"Regardless, your grandmother contacted me yesterday. Now that the League knows your secret is just a matter of time before they begin using it to blackmail you, and since your image is tied to mine we need to prepare for the worse. Personally I don't care much about what happens to me, but if you are branded as a murderer before even getting your hero license you will be facing an uphill battle." Kamihara explained as he picked up his meal.
"Can't deny that the thought has crossed my mind. Biggest problem really is what happens to U.A. if the League makes the blood on my hands public knowledge. The school's image has already been dragged through mud since the attack at the USJ, and I am afraid that the fact that they kept my past hidden might be the final nail in the coffin." Machibuse admitted, seeming unfazed by speaking face to face with Japan's most secretive hero… he in fact wasn't aware that seeing Kamihara's face was such a big deal.
Now it downed to everyone in the room how bad the situation actually was, for better or worse U.A. knowingly housed an underage killer. And U.A. absolutely had no room to deal with more distrust from the public.
Machibuse and Kamihara kept discussing the possibilities for about ten minutes, but the biggest problem was that since capturing the League before they managed to spread the information was pretty much impossible, and that meant that all the strategies had to be reactive to their actions.
Then Midoriya suddenly shot to his feet.
"Tell everyone before the League does so." the greenhead spoke firmly.
"Excuse me?" Machibuse asked, leaning slightly forward as if he had misheard his classmate.
Edgeshot by now was just lowering the bowl from his lips, he was not about to waste the broth. Then he promptly pulled his mask back up and mimicked Machibuse's confused reaction perfectly.
"B-but, huh… y-you do it somewhere specific! U-u-use t-the Edgeshot Forums!" Midoriya's bravado completely escaped him.
"Last thing I saw from that site was when Hatsume-san showed me a thread that "proved" that he is my father." Machibuse observed ironically as he pointed towards the Ninja Hero.
"My favorite theory is the one that says that there are multiple Edgeshots across Japan as to explain how I make it from one place to another so fast… I just take the train when I need to leave Tokyo." Kamihara commented.
Then it clicked.
"If we say what the League knows as a theory in there before the League has a chance to speak…" Machibuse began.
"Then no one will take the League's words seriously… they will look like idiots that fell for a hoax." Midoriya concluded.
"Permission to break protocol?" Machibuse asked, clearly baffled by possibility.
People just nodded in accordance.
"Deku, you are a fucking genius." Machibuse praised, slowly clapping his hands.
People were about to comment on the plan, but the doorbell ringing called their attention.
"Bakugo-san maybe?" Yaoyorozu suggested puzzled.
"Hmm, dunno… pretty sure he doesn't have the address, and he would've asked me for it." Kirishima responded as he eye the door.
"The hag said she would come today, but it's far too early." Machibuse pondered, already on his way to open the door.
A familiar looking cable quickly whipped at him the instant he pulled the door open. It firmly embedded itself into his skin and delivered a throbbing painful sensation all across his body.
"I guess I deserve this." Machibuse gritted his teeth as Jiro and Shoji entered through the doorway. His Lieutenant now berating him about his stupid idea of running away while Shoji just greeted everyone as if nothing happened behind him.
His mask doing a good job at hiding his surprise about Edgeshot being amongst the people in Machibuse's apartment. He would never get used to that.
After about a minute of torturing her Captain, Jiro seemed satisfied and joined everyone in the living room.
"Suppose that I should take my leave, about time I resume my patrol. Keep me informed, White Rider… thanks for the meal." Edgeshot spoke as he got up.
"Always welcome, Sir." Machibuse responded, still mildly stunned, as he got up to watch the Ninja Hero making it towards the balcony and leaping off.
"So, what do we have here?" Jiro asked, not expecting to see so many familiar faces today.
"I told you that these five decided to go after him." Shoji shrugged as he made his way towards the kitchen and began pouring himself a bowl of soba.
"Jiro-kun! Good to see you in good health!" Iida quickly stood up with a hand held high.
"Divulging highly classified information." Machibuse responded the question Jiro posed.
"Oh…" she was quick to understand what he meant by that. The stack of papers stamped with the word "classified" on Midoriya's lap made it very apparent.
"Suppose that there is nothing stopping me from telling you two about… OW!" Machibuse began, but a quick whip from Jiro's Earphone Jack at one of his hands stopped him from talking.
"Honestly Captain, we don't wanna hear it. We know it is something bad that you just want to leave behind... So as long as you promise to not do anything stupid like you did yesterday both me and Shoji fine with just keep on keeping on." Jiro proposed, shoving her hands inside her pockets after a heavy sigh.
Shoji just gave a short nod as he made his way out of the kitchen.
"You two have my word, thank you for being here for me. Just wish someone else had been so understanding…" Machibuse responded with a visibly saddened smile, causing Yaoyorozu to turn her eyes to the floor and clench her fists.
For someone so proficient in being discreet Machibuse was sure to make his intentions clear with those words. Yaoyorozu had a long road ahead of her apparently.
"Besides injuring me, anything else that brings you two here?" Machibuse sighed as he meandered towards the kitchen to prepare one serving for Jiro.
"Actually she just really wanted to hit you, so nothing much… by the way, this was at your door. It's from U.A." Shoji responded as he sat down on the stool Edgeshot previously occupied, one of his extra hands holding out an envelope for Machibuse.
The cook just picked the package up and pulled it's contents out with curiosity. The postman must have come while he was telling his story.
Machibuse took to reading the thing twice, then for a third time just to be sure.
"What is it?" Yaoyorozu asked as she watched his confused reaction, somehow pushing that last bash.
"Apparently we will be seeing each other a lot more… U.A. wants to move their alumni to dorms inside the school campus as a way to keep the students out of the villains' reach. We are to expect a visit from someone of U.A.'s school board tomorrow, most likely Aisawa-sensei, to explain the dorm system personally and answer any questions..." Machibuse responded.
"…at least you guys should expect that. The hag apparently has already signed these papers, so I am on board already as it seems." he added after noticing his grandmother's familiar handwriting.
"U.A. wants us to move!?" Iida quickly rushed towards the kitchen in his usual attempt to not run as to have a look at the papers.
"THAT'S AWESOME!" Kirishima followed right behind, not bothering with not running.
"Suppose that it makes sense, we will be much safer within U.A.'s barrier. The last two encounters we had with the League were out in the open after all." Yaoyorozu concluded.
"Affirmative. Although it should be a bigger deal for all of you than it is for me or Shoji-san. If I remember correctly Uraraka-san, Koda-san and almost half of class B also live in rented places, so, at least for us who come from a long way from Tokyo this is much more convenient." Machibuse pointed out, now handing a bowl of food to Jiro.
It didn't escape Machibuse how Todoroki's expression shifted slightly, likely because of the prospect of moving away from his father.
The discussion about the ins and outs of having all of Class A under one roof went for about thirty or so minutes to varying levels of excitement. The idea of living with Mineta and Bakugo was troubling to say the least, but the positives far outweighed the negatives.
It was a matter of seeing how things would play out once the move effectively began in two days.
"I should make haste to my house then! I need to prepare to move and there is no time to waste!" Iida concluded, breaking the brief silence that had settled in the living room once everyone finished speaking about the news.
"Yeah, you are right." Midoriya agreed with a firm nod.
"I can't wait!" Kirishima was barely keeping himself in check.
One by one the students got to their feet to help Machibuse to clean the place up. Soon enough they were ready to leave.
"Machibuse-san… thank you for telling us. It's a lot to think about, but at least now I can try to understand why you did what you did. I guess that I… that all of us just need some time to think about everything." Midoriya offered nervously as he reached for the door.
"It will be hard for all of us, but all I can hope for is that things go back to how they were before." Machibuse responded with an honest smile as everyone turned to leave.
Everyone but Yaoyorozu.
"Hakuba, I need to speak with you about something still…" she spoke uncomfortably, afraid to hear a no.
"Very well. Everyone, suppose we see each other in two days then." Machibuse nodded before turning to close the door behind his friends.
Both of them could hear the comments about their situation coming from the corridor outside as they stood in silence for a moment.
"I apologize for being so rough with you in front of them, suppose that I am not entirely over it yet… You were right about telling them the truth to clear things up." Hakuba admitted as he made it back to the couch.
"It's not about that." Momo responded as she sat down by his side, not as close as she wanted to, but she promised not to push.
Hakuba just gave her a confused look.
"I found this inside that envelope… decided to keep it with me instead of showing it to everyone." Momo explained as she picked up a micro SD card from her wallet.
"What is that?" Hakuba asked as she handed him the diminutive artefact.
"There is a single file in there. An audio… you should listen to it." Momo answered, clearly apprehensive.
Hakuba picked up his cellphone and after a moment to exchange his card for the one Momo had just handed him he got the audio started.
The first sound he recognized was that of water rushing into an enclosed space.
Then someone breathing, painfully so.
Momo moved closed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. She knew that soon it would begin. He tensed up immediately, but not because of her touch. Hakuba knew that voice.
"Hakuba… hey…"
He tugged on Momo's clothing like a lifeline, his lips trembled as his eyes begun tearing up like they had never done over the last four years. He had never expected to hear that voice again.
Those were his mother's last words.
-.
July 25th, Maximum Security Prison For Villain Criminals – Tartarus, S-Rank Row, 1930.
"The hag said you wanted to speak with me, Chizome-san."
Machibuse slowly closed the door behind him, for the first time he was left alone with Stain. About two hours ago his grandmother had shown up at his apartment, telling him to get ready to leave for Tartarus. She had spoken to the Hero Killer prior to the assault on the League of Villain's hideout.
Something important came up during their conversation apparently.
"This will only take a moment, kid, but you might want to sit down." Chizome suggested, his tone intense as usual.
"Before you begin, I really need to ask you something." Hakuba spoke as he pulled the chair.
"What is it?" Stain inquired, noticing the teen's nervous semblance.
"The people you killed, Chizome-san… do they haunt you?" Hakuba asked frankly.
"No." the Hero Killer answered without a second thought.
A grueling silence followed that.
"That is what sets you and I apart… ahh… the lives you took still weight down on you." Chizome spoke, reading Hakuba's thoughts as an open book.
"So she told you…" Hakuba sighed in defeat, his shoulders slumping.
"It was clear to me that you were hiding something the last time we talked. Learning to just who you are connected to got me to make the right questions… ahh… but that is not why I asked to speak with you." Chizome spoke, his eyes clearly scanning every detail of Hakuba's face.
"I said to you on that day that your eyes were familiar to me. But you were not the first person to give me this sensation; there was a woman once, five years ago while I was still acting as Stendhal, you and that woman are connected. Very much so." the Hero Killer continued, earning a confused look from Hakuba.
"I came to learn her by a different name than yours, but I'm sure you will know who I'm talking about… ahh… Alpha Six, one of her subordinates, a massive old coot, called her "Honekawa"." Chizome concluded, still paying attention to every minor change in the boy's expression.
Not that he needed to.
"YOU MET MY MOTHER!?" Hakuba shot up to his feet, quickly pushing both his hands against the glass that divided both sides of the room.
The robotic voice of the security system immediately ordered him to move away from the glass.
Hakuba stepped back but did not sit down.
"There was a mark that both of us were after: I wanted the man dead, your mother wanted him arrested and brought in for questioning. The fight lasted for less than a minute… ahh… was the first time I missed a kill." Stain explained.
"Mom beat you." Hakuba mused, not all that surprised about that result.
"Nailed my foot to the floor of the truck we were fighting on after punching me in the jaw, next thing I saw was her jumping off onto a car with the mark while I was carried away. Last thing she told me was that if I was interested on a job at her squad all I needed to do was ask for her at the Ministry of Defense." Chizome laughed, amused by that memory.
Hakuba just couldn't find words to express himself.
"I learned about a year later that she had been killed… ahh… that was around the same time I got a tip about someone that needed to be cut down, some false hero tied to a Chinese gang." Chizome finished his tale.
"A tip from the former head of the Ministry of Defense." Hakuba concluded.
"I believe so." Chizome responded.
"So you avenged her…" Hakuba plopped down onto the chair once more. It was a lot to take in; Stain and his mother had fought, his grandmother used him as a means to get her own revenge…
"It would be naïve to think that the fake I killed was the one behind what happened to your mother, kid. He was too weak, too cowardly. There are still too many loose ends on that story… ahh… but I wanted you to know that at least some of the culprits are already dead and rotting." Stain offered with a toothy grin.
"You have my gratitude, Chizome-san… but why are you telling me this right now?" Hakuba questioned as he bowed down in respect.
"Because you swore to me that you will not strand from the path. You cannot allow yourself to fall for the same reckless revenge that got your friend Ingenium to confront me in Hosu." Chizome warned in a stern tone.
Hakuba gritted his teeth.
"Your grandmother tried to squeeze information out of All For One earlier today. If it wasn't his work then you need to be on your guard White Rider… ahh… someone might be hunting you right now, and when you two face off then you will have to prove yourself a true hero and do the right thing."
-.
July 27th, U.A. Highschool Heights Alliance, 1-A, 1300.
Class 1-A had been finally reunited for the first time since the attack at the summer camp. And all of them were clearly amazed by the sight in front of them.
Their new housing was massive.
"For now, I'm just glad that we were able to bring Class 1-A back together again." Aisawa greeted his students with a tinge of happiness in his monotone voice.
"Everyone was allowed to move to the dorms, huh?" Sero spoke with an enthusiastic tone.
"I had a hard time…" Hagakure slumped forward in relief.
"That's normal…" Jiro observed, trying to get the invisible girl's spirit back up.
"You two got affected pretty bad because of that gas, isn't that why it was so hard?" Ojiro pondered as he turned to the two.
"We were all able to be together again because of the teachers. When I watched that press conference I thought that we'd lose them, it made me sad." Asui now spoke as she turned her attention to their homeroom teacher.
"I was surprised, too… Well, I'm sure everyone here has different circumstances. Now, I'll explain briefly about the dorms, but first…" Aisawa responded to that, giving himself a brief pause before calling everyone's attention.
"For now we will focus on getting your provisional licenses, the training camp was to prepare you guys for that and we still have much to do." the teacher explained.
"Oh, so we can finally stop worrying about not being allowed to act as heroes." Machibuse thought with some relief.
"So much happened that I forgot about the licenses…" Uraraka admitted.
"Also, this is important. So listen up… Kirishima. Yaoyorozu. Todoroki. Midoriya. Iida. These five went to save Bakugo and Machibuse that night." Aisawa spoke coldly.
Tension immediately shot through the roof.
"Your reaction tell me that you all were at least aware of it… I'm going to set aside a number of issues and say this: If it weren't for All Might's retirement and all the commotion that caused, I would've expelled everyone but Machibuse, Bakugo, Jiro and Hagakure. Of course the five that went, but also the other eleven that knew about their plan and did nothing to stop it. You all betrayed our trust, no matter the reason. It's worth mentioning that Machibuse ran from the authorities after everything as said and done… it is something out of our jurisdiction, but he is also on thin ice. I would greatly appreciate if you could follow the proper procedures from now on in order to regain that trust." Aisawa's heavy tone caused all of the students to coil.
"That's all. Let's get inside. Have some energy!" he concluded, completely going around the situation he had created and making his way towards the building behind him.
All the twenty students just stood there stunned, uncapable of lifting their heads after that bomb.
Then Bakugo grabbed Kaminari by the collar and dragged him behind the greenery.
What followed, to everyone's surprise, was a massive electric discharge.
"Yay…" Kaminari's brain was completely fried as he made his way back.
Bakugo was doing his best to get everyone's spirits back up, the asshole did care after all.
"What? What did Bakugo do…?" Sero asked as people started to snicker.
The Lieutenant was losing it as usual.
Machibuse had to help the cause.
"He brought the great Stun Gun Hero: Chargedolt to protect us, obviously." he commented without losing his tone before turning to follow Aisawa.
Laughter broke at his back as Kirishima shouted something about buying food for everyone.
"Chargedolt, huh?" Bakugo asked mildly amused as he now walked by his side.
"The nickname is your fault for being a bad influence, Bakugo-san." Machibuse chuckled as both of them reached the doors.
With that problem properly dealt with Class 1-A finally entered the dorms for the first time.
"Everyone in Class 1-A will be housed in this building. Girls on the right, boys on the left. First floor is the common area: kitchen, baths and laundry are on this floor." Aisawa begun explaining.
Now the students were really pumped.
Machibuse mentally gave himself a high-five as he eyed the courtyard, he finally had a decent space for exercising., but his first stop had to be the kitchen.
"You and I are going to see this place a lot." Asui commented as she also entered the kitchen.
"Is it all that bad, Tsu-chan?" Machibuse asked, carefully studying the area he most likely would end up being responsible for.
"Call me Tsu…" Asui responded instinctively before realizing what just happened.
"Don't get too used to it." Machibuse spoke as he now begun heading out. Asui was hard to read, but it was easy to see that she took the news about the rescue very badly.
Machibuse's ears were greeted by Aisawa openly threatening Mineta over something regarding the bathrooms and laundry area.
Not unexpected from the pervert really.
"Rooms start on the second floor: Five floors in total with four rooms in each of them. That means that everyone gets their own room. They are spacious, equipped with their own air conditioning, toilets, fridges and closets." Aisawa explained as the group now reached the second floor of and made it in the first room on the girls side.
"There is even a balcony!" Midoriya gasped as he made his way to the exterior area.
Machibuse could only picture finally being able to use the lounge chair he brought for his previous home to bask in the sun.
Inside the room he could only hear Yaoyorozu commenting about how the room was about the size of her closet back in Nagoya while Uraraka was shouting something about now living in a mansion.
He easily sided with Uraraka on that one.
"Get to unpacking your stuff. We will discuss about what will happen from now on tomorrow and training resumes on the first of August." Aisawa called them all back to the corridor, holding out a plaque that showed who was in each room.
Fifth floor, last room from the stairs. Just above Shoji's and across Yaoyorozu's. Oddly enough the room that shared a wall with his was empty… Machibuse couldn't help but feel that someone was supposed to be there.
Anyway… he was on the top floor.
That meant that there was no balcony above his.
Every penny spent on that lounge chair became worth two.
-.
July 27th, U.A. Highschool Heights Alliance, 1-A, 2100.
Kirishima finally got back, that meant that all the boys were done. The redhead was given a late start on the unpacking job as he had to deal with buying the food for tonight.
"Done unpacking, huh?" Sero asked as he watched Kirishima slumping down into the couch.
"Yeah, finally… Machibuse is it really cool to leave you with all that cooking?" Kirishima grunted tiredly before turning his head towards Machibuse.
"Affirmative. I'm at least partially to blame for all that money you had to spend on that night vision gear. Homemade costs far less than ordering food, so if I can help ease the burden then I will do it wholeheartedly." Machibuse responded, most of the preparations were already done, just a matter of waiting for the meat to marinate.
"How things ended up this way was pretty bad, but it is kinda of exciting to live together, huh?" Kaminari asked away, the day of unpacking did nothing to his excitement.
"Yeah." Midoriya agreed.
"Living together… This is also training to help us learn cooperation and discipline!" Iida spoke firmly while sharply moving his arms around.
"Going all out, huh, Iida?" Kirishima followed up.
"Boys, are you all done with your rooms?" Ashido's voice came from the other side of the common area. All the girls but Asui with her.
"Yup. Just chilling now." Kaminari responded.
"Well, the girls were all talking now…" Ashido began. She was way more excited than she should be.
"…we got an idea!" Hagakure finished the sentence.
"This will not end well." Machibuse thought as he kept his façade.
"Want to have a room presentation contest?" Ashido suggested eagerly.
Mineta, Tokoyami, Midoriya and Machibuse all froze for a moment.
And then before they were able to protest everyone started moving to Midoriya's room.
The door openend.
And everything was All Might.
Figures, posters, photos and even the damn curtain was All Might themed.
"It's an otaku's room!" Uraraka shouted out.
"It's because I admire him… this is so embarrassing…" Midoriya muttered meekly as he refused to look towards the people in his room.
"Crap, they just started something…" Kaminari was doing his best to keep it down.
"But this is kinda of fun…" Sero joined in.
Next door was Aoyama's, but Tokoyami firmly holding his ground leaning against his own door just drew too much attention.
There was a brief struggle, but soon Ashido and Hagakure pushed him and ran inside.
There was no escaping now.
"Scary!" the two girls shouted as everyone began peeking in.
Skulls, dim purple lights, black cloths… Both Midoriya and Machibuse were much more amused than they should.
"I think I bought a keychain like this one on middle school…" Kaminari pondered as he picked something up.
"So boys like these kinds of things?" Ashido asked to no one in particular.
"Get out…" Tokoyami demanded.
"A sword…! So cool!" Midoriya gasped as he spotted something.
Machibuse could only quirk an eyebrow.
"GET OUT!" Tokoyami shouted.
Now back to Aoyama.
The contrast between his room and Tokoyami's was just ridiculous. The suit of armor was a nice touch, but the bad far outweighed the good in that room.
"This is getting fun! The last person on the second floor is…" Uraraka was now getting into the game, only to realize that the last person in the second floor was none other than Mineta.
Likely the creep was the reason why the girl's rooms were all on the floors other than the second.
"Come on… I will show you something amazing…" Mineta peeked from the slightly open door. Something foul was surely inside that place and no amount of holy water would cleanse it.
Everyone took the rational approach and decided to go to the next floor.
Ojiro was the next on the chopping block. And it didn't even seem like he had furnished his room at all. There was normal and then there was bland.
The group quickly moved to Iida's room after picking on Ojiro for a bit, and there were books everywhere. Every single speck of dust, of which there were very few, seemed to be well organized.
"There is nothing strange here." Iida proudly announced.
Then Uraraka noticed something and had to do her best to not break down into hysterical laughter.
"There are so many glasses!" she basically spitted the words as the class president explained the reason behind all the eyewear. It was a sound logic… but that still failed to justify why he had over thirty pairs of glasses divided into four shelves.
Another immense contrast kept apart by a single wall. What Iida's room had of organization Kaminari had in just plain chaos. The guy had literally a bit of everything in his room: License plates, a dart board, a basketball, winter gear, headphones, fedoras…
"It's just like he used everything he could lay his hands on." Jiro commented.
"My thoughts exactly." Machibuse agreed.
"What!? Isn't it great!?" Kaminari surely expected a different reaction.
Koda's turn.
The room itself was pretty simple, but apparently the quiet giant had an ace under his sleeve.
"A rabbit! So cute!" Uraraka and Ashido promptly began petting the small white ball of fur.
Machibuse curiously approached the pet while Kaminari complained about fair play.
The rabbit immediately took off, vanishing underneath the green curtain the instant it noticed Machibuse.
"Aw…" Uraraka moaned in dismay.
"Was it something I did?" Machibuse eyed the curtain confusedly.
"Animals know when a predator is near…" Mineta spoke, sympathizing with the rabbit. All five of 1-A's students that now were aware of Machibuse's secret came to a dire realization: Mineta was right about Machibuse all along.
Fourth floor was next, but before that there was a small gathering in front of the stairs.
"I am not satisfied with this…" Kaminari complained.
"What a coincidence. Neither am I." Ojiro agreed.
"Yeah." Tokoyami and Aoyama both spoke in unison.
"It's weird for the boys to be the only ones being picked on, right? You said this was a room presentation contest, right? Then of course we should also see the girl's rooms before deciding, right? We should decide who has the best amongst everyone in class, right?" Mineta came in with an ultimatum.
The air became heavy for an instant.
"Sounds good!" Ashido agreed immediately without a care in the world.
"Eh!?" Jiro wasn't very fond of the idea however.
"So from now on we will be deciding who has the best taste in interior decoration in the class! Who will be the Room King!" Ashido proclaimed with gusto.
Unfortunately that was enough to make at least some of the students feel competitive, and that meant that everyone there was about to be dragged along. Even those who simply didn't care about the contest.
Machibuse took a deep breath, things had taken a turn for the worse.
The show would go on.
"The ones on the boy's side of the fourth floor are Bakugo, Kirishima and Shoji, right?" Uraraka asked.
"Right, but where is Bakugo-kun?" Iida posed his own question now.
"He said, "This is lame. I'm going to sleep." and went to his room before we even began." Kirishima explained.
"That was an option? Well, I am going to the kitchen then." Machibuse spoke, clearly wanting out of the contest.
Ashido and Hagakure were quick to hook an arm each around Machibuse's elbows and drag him to the next room.
"Not escaping!" they both laughed at his situation.
"I don't really care… but I don't think you girl's will get it." Kirishima warned as he opened his door.
"This is manliness!" Kirishima promptly assumed a striking pose, clearly proud of his manly room filled from top to bottom with manly things.
Ashido just stared at her long-time friend with the blandest expression possible.
"This looks like something that would rank second in a contest of worst room for your boyfriend." Hagakure stated frankly.
Uraraka however…
"It's so hot! So hot and stuffy!" she praised, causing the already defeated boys to just feel even worse.
"Next one! Shoji!" Ashido called out as she turned to the tallest member of the group.
"Now this is going to be good." Machibuse did his best to remain stoic as Ashido and Hagakure dragged him back to the corridor. He knew what was coming next.
"There is nothing interesting here." Shoji informed as he reached for the doorknob.
"Nothing interesting!? There is nothing at all!" Ashido absolutely lost it.
"You got yourself a desk now. Twice as much mobilia when you compare it to your previous room." Machibuse commented, now finally freed from the grip.
"Didn't took you for a minimalist." Todoroki observed as he turned to Shoji.
"Never really cared about having a lot of stuff." Shoji responded was people began walking out.
"Fifth floor now! Next one is Sero!" Ashido regained her composure.
"Are we really doing everyone?" Sero whined for a moment.
It was all a ruse.
Sero had this one in the bag. Mostly southeastern Asian in style, albeit it did stroke Machibuse's pride a little to see a traditional pattern from Okinawa on the carpet.
"Well, I am flattered." Machibuse commented as he pointed towards the Kariyushi.
"Didn't knew you liked this stuff." Jiro praised the room owner.
"Always expect the unexpected!" Sero dismissed the praises but was clearly enjoying them.
"Next! Next!" Hagakure hurried everyone along.
"Next is Todoroki-san, right?" Yaoyorozu asked.
There was a brief moment of tension between the girls, Todoroki was high on their ranks.
"Hurry up and let's get this over with… I'm getting sleepy." Todoroki complained as he opened the door.
Shock.
"A Japanese-style room!?" Kaminari was baffled.
"Was it made differently!?" Mineta couldn't believe his eyes.
"I have tatami floor back at home, can't really relax on wood." Todoroki justified his choice.
"Who cares why!? How did you remodel the place in one day!?" Mineta wasn't having any of it.
"I worked hard." Todoroki responded plainly, making things even worse.
"Were we allowed to change the flooring?" Machibuse asked out of curiosity.
"Didn't ask about it, just went ahead and replaced it." Todoroki responded.
"Guess I should have done the same. I need to keep Quirk from tearing up the wood flooring from mine." Machibuse sighed in defeat as he headed out.
It was time.
"Now the last of the boys!" Ashido pressed on.
Machibuse took a deep breath.
"What? You left everything boxed in?" Yaoyorozu jabbed, noticing his very much displeased situation.
"Negative. I asked the hag to take most of that stuff back to Okinawa with her." Machibuse responded.
"Then what are you so anxious about showing?" Yaoyorozu pressed on, she knew that look.
Another deep breath.
"That is one bridge we are all going to cross now." Machibuse shook his head and opened the door.
Light gray walls dotted with a few shelves and the small rack where the shamisen rested on, divided by a dark red curtain sporting traditional Okinawan floral patterns. The half open door to the balcony gave access to a wooden lounge chair.
On the floor rested a carped much similar to the curtain that covered most of the wooden boards with a small wooden table resting in the center. Pressed against the right wall was a light brown couch that indubitably also served as Machibuse's bed given the size, just a matter of taking out the cushioning that made the backrest. On the opposite side of the room was a drawer with a thirty something inches television resting on top of it. A box containing about twenty of those really bad scare movies Machibuse was so fond of rested on top of the DVD player.
Besides the drawer was the finally unboxed desk, with the old notebook on top of it alongside some knick-knacks. The envelope with the dossier was nowhere in sight.
"Finally got rid of that box." Yaoyorozu commented, still not seeing what had him so apprehensive.
"Was about time." Machibuse responded as he watched the more invasive of his classmates studied the room.
Sero and Kirishima were getting dangerously close.
Yaoyorozu took to observing the shelves. There she could spot the portrait of his parents and the two stones with their names, the pair of tengu geta she saw him using during their time at the festival in Nagoya, medicine and chemistry books, cookbooks, about a dozen medals from the military, a first-place cup from some archery event… nothing out of the ordinary.
Then her eyes reached the very end of the shelf, near the far wall of the room.
"The hell you did to this sword, Machibuse?" Sero asked curiously.
In front of him and Kirishima was a heavily damaged katana, dark red hilt and no guard around the copper colored collar of the blade. The weapon rested on a rack that housed both it and the also dark red scabbard, somewhat isolated from everything else in that shelf.
Tokoyami now approached the weapon with interest.
Todoroki's eyes were shot open.
"Isn't that…" Midoriya muttered nervously.
"MACHIBUSE-KUN! WHY DO YOU HAVE THE HERO KILLER'S SWORD!?" Iida's voice filled the room.
The three boys closer to the weapon took a step back instinctively.
No one spoke a word while Machibuse calmly made his way towards sword. Picking it up with a heavy sigh. He stared at his distorted reflection on the chipped blade for a moment before placing it back onto the rack.
"I told you that I intended on keeping it." Machibuse offered, trying his best to calm Iida down.
"This doesn't answer my question! I saw the police taking that sword as evidence!" Iida spat back, walking towards Machibuse with heavy steps.
"It was passed down to me by Akaguro Chizome himself. I visited him in prison after the Hosu incident." Machibuse admitted.
"You what!?" Iida was really on edge now.
"Back then he said something that really troubled me: That we were alike. I went to Tartarus to know what he meant by that… this sword is a deterrent. To remind me that I am just one mistake away from falling off the path." Machibuse explained, those words ringing much harder to the five that had learned about his past.
"This sword…! That man almost killed the four of us. He almost took my arm… he took my brother's legs and the lives of many more people." Iida greeted his teeth now.
"Don't mistake the respect I have for Stain for admiration, Iida-san." Machibuse responded.
"Any more secrets I should be aware of?" Iida asked, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm himself.
"A couple. But not now… we have a contest to finish and we shouldn't taint our first night living together with this kind of conversation." Machibuse responded, gesturing towards the door with an honest smile.
People left the room in silence.
"Permission to break protocol?" Machibuse asked as he closed the door.
"Go on." Iida responded, slowly regaining his composure.
"If it makes you feel better, apparently my mother met with the Hero Killer around five years ago. Turns out that she had to beat the shit out of him once." Machibuse spoke, earning a very confused stare from everyone around him.
"It's just what I have been told by Stain himself, was as surprised as you guys are now when I first heard it." he shrugged unknowingly.
"Your family surprises me every time…" Yaoyorozu sighed as the group split, some taking the elevator down while others opted for the stairs.
Soon enough the group reached the girl's side of the dorms. By then their spirits had recovered from the sudden attrition that surged from Machibuse's room.
The Lieutenant was the first victim on the girl's side of the building.
"Honestly I wasn't expecting less of you." Machibuse was the first to speak as he took to counting how many different instruments were around the room.
"You can play all of these!?" Uraraka asked eagerly.
"Yeah… at least the basics." Jiro was visibly flustered, fiddling with her jacks.
"Not girly at all…" Kaminari spoke up.
"Unladylike!" Aoyama followed suit.
"Now, next room." Jiro spoke as she ushered everyone out, her Earphone Jack taking care of teaching the two some proper manners.
"Next is me!" Hagakure chirped in happily.
It was very… pink. Machibuse couldn't deny that he expected that from Ashido instead.
"It's like a normal girl's!" Kaminari pointed out, a little too happy with the experience of being in a girl's room.
That was followed by Mineta being Mineta. The creep was actually sniffing Hagakure's drawer. He froze immediately when a familiar hand landed on his shoulder.
"Sero-san, this might sound oddly specific but if you were to make a mummy about his size, how much tape would you use?" Machibuse asked as he carried the now asleep pervert back to the corridor.
That done they now proceeded to the fourth floor.
Ashido's room was… yes, very pink as expected. But whereas Hagakure's was on the more girly side, Ashido had a distinctly more mature air.
The room that followed was Uraraka's, who admitted that her's was the boring room from the girl's side. Midoriya took it surprisingly well about entering her room, Machibuse couldn't deny that he expected at least some stuttering.
Now on the fifth floor.
"Next is Asui-san…" Midoriya pointed out.
"Yeah, but where is she?" Sero asked, ignoring the floating mummy tied to his elbow.
"Oh, Tsu-chan said she wasn't feeling well." Uraraka explained, prompting everyone to now make it towards the last room.
Something felt odd about that.
Regardless, it was time to finish that contest. One room left.
"Then the last one is Yaoyorozu!" Kaminari spoke as the door opened half way.
"Well, I have to admit I miscalculated. Unlike your rooms filled with originality, mine became a little cramped." Yaoyorozu spoke before fully opening her room to the visitors.
She had brought the furniture from her house. Her massive furniture from her massive house.
"I didn't think that the room was going to be so small…" Yaoyorozu blushed as she explained how her room ended up like that.
Machibuse couldn't help but walk further inside. Just how did she managed to get a bed so big trough that door? Sure, she could have just assembled the frame, but there was no way for her to get the mattress inside without at least taking the doors of the balcony out. And she was on the fifth floor! How!?
At least she hadn't brought the piano with her…
"Well, if anything the bed sure has space for the two of you…" Ashido teased, throwing her arm around Machibuse's shoulder.
Machibuse just rolled with it, it was too late into the night for him to deal with that.
He was just about to leave when something caught his eye.
Resting on top of her desk was the photos they took together in I-Island. Both of them looked really happy.
"We had some good moments…" Momo spoke as she stopped by his side.
"We definitely did." Hakuba answered, taking one last look at the photo strip.
"You want to ask me about Stain, I assume." Hakuba added after a brief pause.
"I do, but I won't… I always felt like you got a nervous when we spoke about him, at least now I know why. But I told you before, only you four will ever understand what happened in Hosu. It is not my place to judge." Momo responded, motioning for them to leave before people began asking questions.
"Thank you for understanding." Hakuba gave her hand a tight squeeze.
"Thank you for being here." Momo enjoyed the contact for as long as it lasted.
They would make more moments like the one in that picture.
Soon Class 1-A, minus Asui and Bakugo were back at the common area.
"Now! Everyone cast your votes!" Ashido called out, handing pieces of paper to everyone.
"Do I really have to do this?" Machibuse asked as he stared down at the paper presented to him, his stomach was beginning to complain about the wait.
"Don't think that you are escaping this one like you did the vote for class president!" Ashido interjected, pushing the paper on his hands.
"Sure… Tokoyami-san has my vote. I will be at the kitchen if you guys need me, dinner should be ready in about an hour." Machibuse spoke, basically sidestepping around Ashido as to make his escape as fast as possible.
"Huh?"
"What? I named myself after a figure from the book of apocalypse... I like scary stuff. And don't bother voting for me, if I win then I'd be obligated to stop everything I am doing."
…
..
.
AN: Took me thirty-eight chapters to realize that I took Sato out. Let that sink in.
Regardless, we are just about to begin the second semester! That means we finally are going to have a break from all the tension regarding Hakuba. Or not.
Also, get ready for some more characters to become more frequent in the story now that we reached the dorms.
Until next time!