Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Bakugo Expelled
Chapter twenty-five: The video leak that threatens things
Bakugo was sitting on a sofa in the main area of the Heights Alliance dorm, watching something on the television while Mina, Sero, Akuma and Sakaki sat around him. The explosive teen thought about what all was going on at U.A. right now, mostly among the hero course students such as him due to the recent developments in hero society, that being Endeavor being officially recognized as Japan's number one hero.
He scoffed at the notion of Todoroki's father deserving being in that position. The ashy-haired boy knew, he really knew, just what that man was really like, understood why Todoroki hated daddy dearest so fucking much. Endeavor got away with brutally training all of them back when the school was panicking over the arrival of the American team for the team battle event, as well as straight up assaulting his own son, no less.
To make matters worse, Endeavor had set up an arranged marriage that would see Todoroki married off to Ryoga Yaoyorozu's daughter Momo. This was a union that neither Todoroki nor Yaoyorozu wanted, but trying to get that point across to their respective fathers was like trying to convince a solid brick wall to grow legs and get walking. It just simply wasn't happening. The explosive teen didn't know that things could be so bad for the two-toned boy and their rather wealthy classmate.
Bakugo staunchly agreed that Todoroki and Yaoyorozu both should have the freedom to be with who they want to be with, not let others make that decision for them. Granted, Bakugo was more or less indifferent towards them as people, but he wasn't completely heartless towards the two of them; if IcyHot wanted to date Ghost Girl and Ponytail wanted to be with that welding guy who had just confessed to her last week, then they should be allowed to pursue those paths.
The channel that Bakugo and his squad were watching was currently on commercial break, so he spoke up to get their attention. "…Hey guys. I want to get your opinions on something." The squad all turned to face Bakugo before he said, "Yes or no, do any of you think that IcyHot and Ponytail should have the freedom to choose who they want to be together with, regardless of what a small handful of old farts think?"
"Well hells yeah I think they should have the freedom to choose who they love," Mina replied, being the first to speak up from the squad, "But why would you, of all people, bring this subject up, Bakugo? You never struck me as the kind of guy who'd ask questions about the romantic relationships of others."
Bakugo gently shook his head. "…I just think that IcyHot and Ponytail were both given a raw deal, is all. I mean, I'm having an awesome time with Pony, and we're both okay with being with one another. Hell, Deku and Round Face are both living it up as an item together. So why the hell are IcyHot and Ponytail being forced into something that neither of them wants? Why is it that they aren't allowed the freedom to choice, unlike me and Pony, or Deku and Round Face?"
"That's the problem that comes with being the offspring of powerful, wealthy, influential individuals," Akuma remarked in a grim tone, "As far as their parents are concerned, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu aren't so much their own persons, so much as they are pieces to be used on the game board that's known as moving up in society." The satanic hero-in-training turned to look at Bakugo. "…It's part of why I'm not all that partial to associating with the upper crust."
Bakugo nodded a few times in agreement with Akuma, feeling very much the same as Akuma was talking about. The ashy-haired boy worried about what all might happen if things continued on the path that they were heading down right now. Sure, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu were both going behind the backs of their respective fathers to date those who they respectively want to actually date, but it was only a matter of time before things blew up in the faces of everyone.
If Bakugo could have his way in the matter, then the use of one's children as pawns in the game of social climbing would be a crime punishable by being chucked directly into the fucking sun. He wasn't quite sure why, but Bakugo felt sorry for Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. Maybe it's due to how he's able to be with who he wants to be with, and he feels that everyone should be entitled to have such a right. Finally scoring his dream girl must have put a lot of things into perspective for the explosive teen.
The squad saw that the news was resuming, but their interest was piqued when the first thing that the news anchor said was that the studio just received a short recorded video clip that supposedly showed Endeavor being harsh on some students that he was training over at U.A. Bakugo and the others all perked up at the mention of that, all of them instilled with the hope that it was a video of all of the bullshit that the Flame Hero got away with doing while he was training all of them for the then-upcoming team battle event.
…Sadly, all that the clip showed was Endeavor barking at them as he had them go through drills. Bakugo and his friends could all tell full well that this was all from the training they had to do under Endeavor a while ago, but it didn't show anything that would prove what a horrible man the Flame Hero was; at most, the five second clip only showed Endeavor being a harsh trainer, but ultimately doing nothing really worth calling him out over.
To the further shock of the students, the news confirmed that the five second clip was the entirety of what the party who recorded it was able to get. Bakugo and his friends knew full well that a video that showed Endeavor only being slightly harsher than the average pro hero overseeing some training would be nowhere near enough to stick it to that bastard of a man. They all cried out in frustration, with Bakugo wishing that whoever had recorded that video was able to get more than just five measly seconds of footage.
Mt. Lady, Mirko, Ryukyu and Pixie-Bob were all pissed off as they watched the five second video clip on the news that showed what they saw of Endeavor but nothing that would damn the man. Ryukyu was especially pissed, given that she was able to get at least four minutes of the Flame Hero being an abusive, horrific bastard to the students. She sent a copy of the video clip that she recorded, thankful that she made that copy and kept the original in case something were to happen to the copy she sent in.
Which turned out to be the case.
"My guess," Mirko said, "Is that persons who didn't want Endeavor's dirty laundry aired were able to get to the recording and edit it to show none of the bad stuff. That bastard must have a lot of friends in very high places."
Pixie-bob nodded a few times in agreement, her arms crossed over her chest. "Yeah, I got it that Endeavor in now in bed with the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate, given that I got it from Todoroki that he's being forced by daddy dearest to marry Ryoga's daughter Momo." The member of the Wild, Wild Pussycats gently shook her head in disappointment. "I'm guessing that Ryoga wanted to have the name of Japan's number one hero associated with his companies. Hey Ryukyu, didn't you say that Ryoga tried approaching you in some capacity while you were the tentative number one hero in Japan?"
"Yes, but I had a feeling that I would be in no mood to hear him out," the Dragoon Hero remarked, a bit of a bitter scowl on her face, "My instincts turned out to be true when he told me that he wanted me to let his company 'give my name greater selling power' as he put it, but he wanted me to drop my association with the autistic children's academy first, saying that there was no need to 'lend my name to those not worthy of the boon', as he said it."
The other three lady heroes all had cringing, revolted looks on their faces as Ryukyu explained her story, told them what all the wealthiest man in Japan had said to her. The four lady heroes all let out resigned sighs, their moods down over how Endeavor was not only getting away with the horrific manner in which he acted, but Ryoga was apparently going the distance to make sure that the Flame Hero's messes were either covered up or swept aside.
As the four female heroes looked at the TV, Mt. Lady had a look of epiphany on her face, springing up from the sofa she sat on as if struck by inspiration. "I got it, girls!" With all eyes on her, Mt. Lady explained, "I know just what to do! Or rather, just who to go to." Turning to look at Ryukyu, Mt. Lady asked, "You ready to help blow the lid on that abusive assfuck that dares to have the audacity to call himself a hero?"
The Dragoon Hero had a look of mildly piqued interest cross her face. "…What's the plan?"
The following morning, class 1-A was having homeroom with Aizawa. The underground hero was going over what the lesson plan would be for the day, and that they would be joined by a special guest visitor who would be acting as a sort-of assistant to Aizawa to help him run things in class for the day. Aizawa was just about to tell his class who the guest was, but he was cut off at the last second by Hizashi suddenly barreling into the room.
"Hey everyone!" the cockatiel-haired pro hero exclaimed hysterically, "Hey everyone! Shut the fuck up and turn on the tv! There's a breaking news report about how a whole bunch of crow has just blown up in Endeavor's face!"
"I'm turning that shit on right now," Aizawa said, the hint of eagerness in his tone making it clear he wanted to see it whenever Endeavor was being burned by the news media. Aizawa was able to find the channel with Hizashi's help, and the class was able to see the vast majority of a news report that was highlighted as 'Endeavor brutalizes and physically abuses students at U.A. High School'. The news report showed far more than the measly five seconds of footage that was shown on the far more gentle towards Endeavor news report from the previous day; it showed the Flame Hero bellowing at the U.A. students as he demanded that they all respect him or else, it showed him sending Todoroki stumbling a good dozen feet or so after striking him with a fire attack, and other various instances of his overall abuse.
The news report then finished off by saying that Juko News was the one who released the video clip, saying that it was the full length recording and that the previous one had been edited down to not show anything bad that Endeavor did. "Hey, I remember Juko News," Izuku spoke up, "That's the newspaper office that Taneo Tokuda works out of." Crossing his arms over his chest, the green-haired cinnamon roll said, "But how did Juko News get ahold of that recording?"
After he saw Aizawa turn the TV off, Hizashi turned to face the students and said, "The good people at Juko News say that an anonymous source was able to film a four minute plus long video of the training you kids did under Endeavor and had tried to send a copy of the recording in to the regular news, but all that was shown of that clip was the five seconds that was seen on the news. That's why the anonymous source went to Juko News, who have no bias and shows whatever juicy details that would get them the most attention."
"Well hot fucking damn!" Bakugo exclaimed as he clapped his hands together, "The tabloids save the fucking day!"
"I'm going to start subscribing to them," Todoroki declared, sounding immensely grateful to Juko News for bringing more of his father's abuses to light than anyone else ever had.
Aizawa had to get his class to settle down for a bit, given that he needed them to be calm for what he had to tell them. "Listen, brats. Given what has just been exposed about Todoroki's father just now, there's going to be a lot of repercussions. For example, who it was that was able to get that video recording." Crossing his arms over his chest, the underground hero went on, "Because they recorded footage of the goings on here at U.A., getting that video out, even if it exposed the crimes of Endeavor, is a major breech of security. Now, we're going to have to do an investigation to find out which member of the media was able to sneak onto U.A. grounds."
Hizashi nodded briskly in agreement with Aizawa, a little bit as if it were forced on his end. "Yeah, kids. The media being able to sneak onto U.A. grounds is one of the worst things that can happen to us. There's a reason why we let only those who we explicitly permit onto U.A. grounds…well, onto U.A. grounds." There was a slight hint in Present Mic's tone that suggested he had an idea of what was truly going on, but nobody in the room, not even Aizawa, was able to pick up on it.
A few moments later, Aizawa and Hizashi were leading class 1-A through the halls of U.A. They were met up by Edgeshot and, to the surprise of the students, Sengoku. The Samurai Hero was staying in Japan to help clean up the last major blots on society, mainly in regards to finding out who the Mysterious Benefactor that had provided funding to the villains is. Aggro was doing all of that as part of what he's calling his penance for what he had done a while ago when he, due to being blinded by rage at the now expelled Mineta, had attacked and killed five 1-A boys during a field trip that the class took to Aggro's home town.
Aizawa even explained to his class that Sengoku was the special guest that he was going to have come in, but the thing that had cropped up due to what was exposed about Endeavor had thrown a rather large monkey wrench into those plans. "…Yeah, Sengoku and I saw that news report as well, Aizawa," Edgeshot remarked, "It was my student Juzo who first caught wind of it and told me what was going on. Naturally, I turned the news on so that all of my class could see it."
"Are we going to look into the apparent breech in security on U.A. grounds that resulted in a member of the media being able to film that video clip?" Hizashi asked as he addressed the other pro heroes that were in the hallway.
Nodding a few times in the affirmative, Aizawa said, "Knowing him, I bet that Nezu is already looking into the matter to find out who it was that was able to sneak onto U.A. grounds to record a video clip of the goings on here."
…
"I didn't have to do any investigating," Nezu remarked when Aizawa, Hizashi, Edgeshot and Sengoku met him in his office, "Ryukyu told me that it was her who filmed that video clip and sent a copy to the news station, only to then send another copy to Juko News when it became clear the main news station edited the clip that she had sent them in order to cover up all of Endeavor's dirty laundry."
The three Japanese pros and one American quirked hero all looked surprised by the quirked animal principal's explanation. Nezu took a calm sip from his yunomi teacup before setting it back down. "…Oh! Before I forget, we're keeping Ryukyu's involvement here a secret. She's done a lot of good by exposing Endeavor's crimes, so I'd hate for her identity as the one who sent in that video clip to get out. It could get her into a lot of trouble."
The three pros and one American all let out relieved sighs. "…At the very least it's good to know that no one from the media was able to sneak onto U.A. grounds," Aizawa remarked, "I just wished that Ryukyu had informed some of us of what she was doing before now. She caused a lot of panic over what she did, as good as her intentions may have been."
"There are times when one's involvement in sensitive matters has to be kept a secret," Nezu pointed out, "This is simply one of those times." Nezu took another sip from his yunomi teacup. "Now then, all we have to do is wait and see what will come of Juko News doing the expose on what Endeavor had done while he was training the students."
The others all nodded in agreement with the quirked animal principal of U.A., deciding that waiting to see what would come of the rather bold move that Juko News had done by airing the dirty laundry of the Flame Hero. Given what he had done, what actions of his were going around the news all over the nation as they all spoke, surly there was no possible way that Endeavor can get out of the sticky situation that he undoubtedly was now in.
As it turned out, Endeavor's friend in a high place was rather creative, not to mention merciless.
First off, Ryoga Yaoyorozu straight up bought out Juko News, retracted what all statement the newspaper office made on the video clip that was shown, and fired all of the staff that the company had before replacing them with people on his payroll. He would have gotten the name of the person who gave them the unaltered video clip, but Taneo and everyone else there had a little something that others in the media were lacking; integrity.
They refused to sell out who it was that gave them the unaltered video clip, which was part of why the whole of the Juko News staff was fired from the company. The firing of the original Juko News staff was able to get out, but Ryoga's reach was able to cover up a lot, mitigating a lot of the damage that otherwise would have shaken Japan during a time when enough had taken place to shake the land of the rising sun up rather terribly. But damage was still done all the same, thanks to Taneo having a friend or two over at U.A.
At the moment, Ryoga was having men of his try to clean up the mess that was made by the original Juko News staff, as the wealthiest man in the nation did not want any stain on his efforts to associate the name of the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate with the number one hero in Japan. That included having to do a lot of pro-Endeavor campaigns to rally as much support for him as could be attained; this was necessary since Endeavor's approval ratings took a severe plummet after that video clip got out.
To rub more salt in the wound, some of the 1-A and 1-B students gave anonymous interviews where they confirmed that they did indeed suffer the abuse from Endeavor that was seen on that video clip, and those anonymous interviews, showing all of the interviewed students being shadowed so as to perfectly conceal their identities, made it out to multiple news outlets, making the job for Ryoga and his men all the harder.
Yaoyorozu was one of said U.A. students who gave an anonymous interview, as was Todoroki.
Two days after the beginning of what has been dubbed by Japanese national news as 'Endeavor-gate', a number of men who worked for the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate came to U.A. in an attempt to 'convince' the hero course students that Endeavor had done nothing wrong, and that those who had erroneously spoken up about their training under the Flame Hero were simply blowing things all out of proportion is all.
The 1-A and 1-B students did nothing to work with Ryoga's men. Yaoyorozu was especially active in working to make the job for her father's men as hard as possible. Soon enough, a riot had broken out after one of the men struck Sakaki in the face, inciting not just all of class 1-A and 1-B into rioting, but many, many of the other classes at U.A., regardless of year or course, joined the first year hero students in their rioting.
Soon enough, the whole of U.A. High School's student population had erupted into rioting over the vast injustice of what all had happened involving Endeavor's fucking up and Ryoga's trying to cover up said fucking up. Aizawa tried to get Hizashi, Edgeshot and Sengoku to help him and the other U.A. staff members to help get the rioting students to calm down, but only Edgeshot and Sengoku were helping him, as Hizashi was one of the ones that was leading the rioting.
Aizawa, Edgeshot and Sengoku were some of a very select few who were actively trying to get everyone to calm back down, while most other U.A. staff members were also rioting; Nemuri, Gang Orca who had replaced Power Loader, Cementoss, Snipe, Nezu, Thirteen, the four female pro heroes who were all hired temporarily. Really, the only sane ones during the rioting were Aizawa, Edgeshot, Sengoku, Hound Dog and Toshinori. And Sengoku isn't even a teacher.
"Wow," Hound Dog remarked, shocked into mild dumbfoundedness by what all he and the few others who were able to keep sane were observing, "This is just…just wow."
Crossing his arms over his chest, Aizawa remarked, "I know that what all Endeavor had done was completely inexcusable, and that Momo's father trying to help cover it all up made things a hell of a lot worse, but isn't all of this overreacting a little overkill?"
Nodding in agreement with the underground hero, Edgeshot remarked, "They'll probably just tire themselves out eventually, Aizawa. We should just let them-"
Edgeshot was cut off when one of Ryoga's men struck Kinoko in the face, bruising her left eye rather terribly as the staggering punch sent her reeling back. This incident incited all of the rioting persons of U.A., student and faculty alike, even more than they already were. Edgeshot let out a resigned sigh, having a bit of a knowing feeling that at this point, the rioting was most likely going to spread beyond the gates surrounding U.A. "It…could be worse, I suppose," Edgeshot sighed in a resigned tone.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
"BRING ME THE SKULL OF ICYHOT'S DADDY! I WILL DRINK BEER FROM IT!"
All of those who were able to remain out of the rioting due to keeping themselves calm turned to look at one another. "…At times like this," Toshinori said, "I shudder at the prospect of a large mass group of rioters throwing up a storm, even more so since all of the rioters have quirks." The others all nodded in agreement with the former Symbol of Peace, hoping that the rioters would tire themselves out soon.
Eventually, the rioting did calm down, but a good few hundred had to be admitted to hospitals all over the city. The mass rioting that took place at U.A. had no chance of not making the news that evening; not only that, but it was one of the leading headlines, along with what all was still going on about what had been exposed about Endeavor. When everyone was resting at their respective dorm buildings, Bakugo and his squad were watching a news report about the riot.
The news anchor showed a picture of Nezu on the news as the news story was being wrapped up. "…Leading to no less than five-hundred and fifty-five billion yen in damages," the news anchor said, "Coming up next, we have a live exclusive interview with Endeavor about what all he has to say about the video showing him abusing U.A. students getting out and circulated around by various news outlets." Bakugo got up from where he sat on the sofa between Sero and Akuma.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm turning in for the night," the explosive teen remarked, letting out a yawn as he turned to move for the stairs leading up to his dorm room.
"I'll come get you if there's more rioting to be had," Akuma remarked with a smirk, drawing a smirk out of Bakugo in return. The ashy-haired boy was glad to have the friends that he had, and his only wish was that all of them were here to enjoy the show that was Endeavor's slow and steady crashing and burning. Bakugo also was willing to bet that both Kirishima and Kaminari would have both enjoyed the rioting.
They were awesome like that.
END, CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Author's notes;
Umm, yeah. Sorry if it got a bit crazy at the end, but this is a major turning point in the arc; the dirty laundry of Endeavor has been exposed, people are scrambling to do damage control, and the hero students of U.A. are not only present to witness history being made, but also present to take part in said history being made. Things will be taking another sharp turn in the next chapter, which will also show another hint at something that has been hinted at previously.