Disclaimer: I do not own Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
My Hero Academia: Entreri Gaiden
Chapter forty-six: Confession
Fuyuki Midoriya woke up to a well enough morning the day after his entire family had gotten together to tell him a truth that shook him to his core. All this time, Fuyuki (and to a lesser extent all of Japan) had been led to believe that it had been the late Rem Ojiro, who was killed in the siege on UA, that had been the one to frame Fuyuki as a lewd, panty-stealing pervert in order to get him expelled from UA, supposedly out of petty jealousy over how he got better grades in academics than she did.
...However, as it turned out, Rem was actually innocent. She had been offered as a scapegoat due to how the adults feared that should the truth get out that Entreri, the one who had asked to know and is Fuyuki's secret identity (not that anyone knew Fuyuki was Entreri), would kill the one who was truly responsible for the scheme that had resulted in the unjust expulsion from UA that had been forced onto Fuyuki. Given what all had been set as a precedent, even Fuyuki had a hard time holding it against the adults.
That's where the talk from the previous evening came into play. It was during that talk that Fuyuki had been told the truth by his family, that it had been his older cousin Inko who had been the one to ruin his life. As the son of Deku learned, Inko acted as such because she wanted to inflict some sort of hurt onto Fuyuki's dad, but she couldn't hurt him directly. As such, she had the idea to wound his heart, his pride, indirectly by screwing with Fuyuki. And all of this because Inko held what happened to her dad, Fuyuki's Uncle Katsuki, against the top hero.
Naturally Fuyuki was pissed to no end and, after blowing his lid at his older cousin and dealing a savage punch across her face to break her nose, Fuyuki had essentially disowned Inko as his family. He then went up stairs and turned in for the night. Thus things arrive to now, the morning after, where Fuyuki came down the stairs. When he arrived, he was rushed by his mom Ochaco, who threw her arms around her son. "Oh thank goodness you're still here, sweetie," Ochaco said, "I was afraid that you'd have run away again after what went down last night."
Fuyuki rolled his eyes dryly. "Just because I'm permanently pissed at my cousin for what she did in her bid to ruin my life doesn't mean I'm going to skip town." After Ochaco let go of her son, the boy looked up at her. "...I'm still upset with you, by the way." Ochaco had a twinge of worry cross her face, then it became a twinge of confusion when Fuyuki went on, "Just like I'm upset with dad, and Grandpa Masaru, and Aunt Pony and Uncle Katsuki. I don't really appreciate how I had been lied to about the truth ever since shortly before I came back home."
Ochaco watched as Fuyuki took a step back, then slowly shook his head. "...But circumstances being what they were, given how you and the other adults had every reason to fear for Inko's life, I can't exactly hold things against you."
"...Sweetie, I'm so sorry that you were lied to," Ochaco said sincerely, "It's just that given what all Entreri has done, if we gave him your cousin's name like he had asked then-"
Fuyuki held up a hand to stem off any further argument. "...Just please be willing to trust me more in the future, mom." Ochaco nodded in agreement and understanding right away.
As Fuyuki moved to the kitchen to grab something to eat, Ochaco said, "Oh, umm, Fuyuki, I need to tell you something." Fuyuki stopped, turned back to look at his mom. It was clear that the pro hero Uravity was nervous, worried about how Fuyuki would react. Even so, action had to be taken to ensure safety. "...Umm, given that Entreri is still loose, the other adults in the family and I are going to have to ask that you not tell anyone about your cousin being the true culprit in the scheme that got you framed and expelled. If word of it were to get out and Entreri heard it, who knows what he'll do."
Little did Ochaco know that word of the truth had already reached Entreri, given that the very teen boy who she was talking to, her own son Fuyuki, was that very assassin-style thug. Despite that, Fuyuki had no intention to act. He had no intention to get close to Inko if he could help it ever again. Still, given what the adults were feeling, were fearing, Fuyuki couldn't blame his mom or the other adults for acting as they were.
Giving a single nod, Fuyuki said, "...No problem, mom." Fuyuki then proceeded to go out to the kitchen to grab something to eat before he left to go to Faerun High so that he and his class and schoolmates from UA could have their lessons there. Fuyuki was not looking forward to school today, mostly because Inko was going to be there. The son of Deku didn't really care too much for his older cousin at the moment, and he would most likely never do so ever again.
It would take nothing short of a miracle for Inko to rebuild any of the bridge that had once been built between her and her younger cousin. A herculean task to be sure, and one that would need for the daughter of Dynamight to go through trials, sort of like how her actions had forced Fuyuki to go through his own trials himself.
Later that morning at Faerun High, a woman could be seen walking towards the front entry gate that led into the school. She was a beautiful woman to be sure, but she had deliberately styled herself to cover up her beauty by dressing modestly; she wore a baggy sweater whose sleeves ended at the elbows, a white long-sleeved dress blouse under said sweater (it was a bit nippy out so the sweater was excusable), a dress skirt that reached a little below her knees, white stockings that reached up and disappeared under and into her skirt, and simple dress shoes of shiny black.
Her long, dark purplish hair was bound in a simple ponytail worn down, she wore (somewhat big) horn rimmed glasses with purplish frames, and she had a very small beauty mark under her left eye. The woman carried a business bag, gripping the handle with her right hand as she made her way along the path connecting the front entry gate to the front of Faerun High's main school building. Eventually, the woman made her way inside and to the reception area, where she walked up to the secretary manning the counter there.
The secretary looked up at the woman, a curious look on her face as she beheld the visitor. "Is there anything that I can help you with, ma'am?" asked the secretary.
The woman nodded once in the affirmative. "Yes. My employer, Mr. Van Nicolas, wishes to discuss business with the pro hero Creati. He heard how Creati and a number of other pro hero women work in and around Faerun High as security to help with covering the UA students while Faerun High hosts UA."
"Oh! I actually heard of Van Nicolas!" the secretary said, "He runs that cubic zirconium creating business, doesn't he?" The secretary held up her right hand gently, showing the ring she wore on the right ring finger. It was a simple gold band that was adorned with a single well cut diamond-like stone that actually had multiple colors within it, making it look like something of a rainbow diamond if that made sense. "The stone on this ring that my husband got for me a few days ago anniversary gift was made in Van Nicolas's cubic zirconium plant."
The mystery woman, revealed to be employed by someone known as Van Nicolas, nodded in confirmation. "Yes. Mr. Nicolas hopes to secure some sort of mutually beneficial deal between his company and the Yaoyorozu family." The secretary nodded in agreement and proceeded to use the intercom system to summon Momo Awase, the pro hero Creati, to the reception area.
Meanwhile, with the school day starting, Shouta Aizawa was getting ready to start up the homeroom class for class 1-A. When all of the students had entered and sat back down, the underground hero saw that Inko looked beyond guilty as well as having signs of her nose having been broken recently, and that Fuyuki looked beyond steamed, especially whenever his eyes by chance landed on where his older cousin was sitting.
Shouta sighed internally. "...This cannot be good," Shouta thought. Letting out a tired sigh, the underground hero spoke up, "Alright class. Today you'll be receiving info packets on the history of UA, mainly covering notable staff that had worked there over the years, as well as notable graduates of UA. Sometimes a notable graduate goes on to be a notable staff member, in which case the notes on said person will cover both in one section rather than give one person two sections to themselves. Any questions before I hand the info packets out?"
No one said anything for a few seconds, prompting Shouta to say, "Good. Now, I'll need some help to hand out all of-"
"Actually, Aizawa-sensei," Inko spoke up, holding up an unsure hand. The underground hero turned to look at one of the few girls in the class when he heard her speak up. The daughter of Dynamight looked rather scared, but resolved to do what she had in mind. "I...I need to make an announcement to the rest of the class."
Shouta was curious, kept a wry eye on Inko. Even so, he allowed her to come on up. As Inko made her way to the front of the class, Fuyuki kept a firm, serious, wry look on her. He wanted to know what exactly his older cousin was up to. The son of Deku had a few suspicions, but it was not until Inko got to the front of the classroom and turned around to face everyone that one of said suspicions ended up being confirmed.
"It was actually me who had set Fuyuki up to look like a panty-thieving pervert to get him kicked out of UA," Inko said to everyone in class. She then proceeded to explain what reasoning she had for why she did what she did, as well as why their late classmate Rem was offered as the one who had ruined Fuyuki's life instead. Everyone in class was shocked to say the least by all that Inko was telling them.
Shouta sighed in an exasperated tone as he gently face-palmed. "...That all was supposed to be kept secret, Bakugo. But I suppose you have your reasons for telling everyone in class."
Inko looked down and away from her homeroom teacher, resigned shame on her face. "...They deserve to know the truth. They deserve to know how I had screwed up."
"Uhh, this goes beyond simply being a screw up, Inko!" Ragna called out, very clearly sounding unamused, "This is a Hurricane Shitstorm level fuck up!"
"Yeah! What in the cinnamon toast fuck is wrong with you?!" Marley snapped, "You fucked up Fuyuki's life over something he wasn't even responsible for! Do you have any idea how bad this is?! Things could have ended up way worse than they did! As it stands things still ended up in a rather shitty state for your own damn cousin!"
"And why haven't we been made aware of this up until now?" Tengoh demanded, "Our classmate and friend had been made to suffer through no fault of his own, and yet not only was he left in the dark until very recently, all of us are now expected to keep quiet on the matter ourselves!"
Shouta let out another exasperated sigh as he likewise face-palmed once again. "...The criminal thug Entreri is still on the loose, and we have sufficient reason to believe that, given how he had been asking about it due to being curious on the matter, he would be interested in killing Bakugo here. Despite what she had done, she doesn't deserve to die for it."
Samidare's sentient quirk Great Shadow popped out of the son of Tsukuyomi, gave Shouta a wry look. "...Are you sure about that, Eraserhead?"
"Great Shadow, we need to respect the decisions of the adults here," Samidare scolded lightly.
The class proceeded to get a bit roudy, but Shouta silenced the noisy students with a glare. "That is enough, all of you," the underground hero scolded, "I understand that you all are upset with all of this, but the adults are handling it. Let us work things out." Shouta then had Inko sit back down in her desk, although when she sat back down, Sigurd who sat on her right and Toya who sat in front of her tried scooting away.
After Shouta scolded those boys and ordered them to scoot back, he had Fuyuki come up and gather the info packets to hand out. After the packets were handed out, Shouta got started on leading the class through the packets, armed with his own copy of the material.
...
When the homeroom class ended, the students were getting ready for their next class when Marley, Ragna and Komaru got up to move to a far corner of the classroom, at least as far as the three of them could move. This did not escape the notice of some of their fellow guys in the class. "Hey boys, don't the three of you usually sit around Inko?" Goukazaru asked as he arched a wry eyebrow at Inko's posse.
Marley gave an incredulous scoff. "Normally yeah, but right now I'm just not feeling it."
"Yeah, dude," Ragna remarked to the monkey-esque boy in class, "Inko really crossed a line by fucking up Fuyuki's life for absolutely no reason. How can the lads and I be expected to sit with someone at least as bad as the ultra-thot?"
Inko looked hurt, even though she was expecting that her classmates would start rejecting her when she told all of them the truth. It still stung that her close circle of all people would be among the first to cut ties with her. "...Guys..." the daughter of Dynamight said, looking like she could be knocked over by just a light tap.
Surprisingly, it was Komaru who scowled at Inko. He gently shook his head, clearly disappointed in someone who he had trusted wholeheartedly. "...I thought that you were a really nice person, Inko. I mean, you protected me from bullies for so long. But then you turned out to be a worse bully than any of the ones you had protected me from. What you did to Fuyuki is unforgivable." Komaru gently shook his head, tears gently streaming down the sides of his face as he said the words that hit Inko harder than anything she had ever experienced.
"I don't think we can be friends anymore."
Marley and Ragna had similar sentiments, but the word choice that they had used wasn't as gentle as what Komaru had used (Marley and Ragna used harsh cussing). Even so, their words combined didn't have as much impact on Inko as what Komaru had said simply. The quiet, disappointed tone, the way he simply said things, it all helped to drive home the point that the son of Red Riot was trying to make. Things would be remaining that tense for the rest of the school day, where pretty much the rest of class 1-A kept their distance from Inko.
She was isolated, alone. Just as many of them, Inko herself included in that count, thought she should be.
While the homeroom for UA's class 1-A was going on, Momo Awase, accompanied by Ochaco Midoriya and Kinoko Kirishima, were walking through a warehouse work floor, following along behind a man wearing a brownish business suit. The man had fair skin, long yellow blonde hair tied back into a single men's ponytail, a small goatee that was neatly and stylishly trimmed, and a simple pair of glasses.
"As you ladies ought to know, cubic zirconiums are an affordable substitute for real diamonds," the man said as he led the tour, "While also having the extra benefit of reducing the need to get diamonds by any means necessary which thereby lowers the need for quote unquote blood diamonds from African mines."
Momo nodded in agreement to this. "Yes. Even most pro heroes today would be hard pressed to afford jewelry that uses real diamonds, thus they spring for the more affordable substitute of cubic zirconium if they ever have a need for jewlery. The wedding ring that my husband Yosetsu placed on me when we got married has a cubic zirconium stone, as even with his own earnings from being a pro hero it was all that he was able to afford." Momo looked to where her wedding ring was worn, offered a gentle smile as she looked down on it. "It's still more valuable to me than a real diamond would be, though."
"Indeed, the thoughts behind that symbol of love are always worth more than the cash value of the symbol itself," the man said, "But even so the symbol itself is rather pricy, even if it is the affordable substitute on the symbol rather than the real deal. Hence why I was interested in the talk I wanted to have with you, Creati."
Momo looked confused, while Ochaco and Kinoko both had their suspicions. "What does Momo have to do with anything, Mr. Nicolas?" Ochaco asked.
The man, revealed to be Van Nicolas, gave a light chuckle. "I was merely going to ask if it would be possible for my company to form something of a partnership with the Yaoyorozu family is all. Although she did take her husband's last name upon marriage, Creati is still a member of the Yaoyorozu family."
Kinoko folded her arms over her chest. "...You're after her birth family's money, aren't you?"
"Admittedly yes, in the short term," Van confessed, "It's purely to cover maintenance expenses, and especially to cover employee wages as well as hire new hands."
"You're looking to hire more people?" Ochaco asked, looking curious.
Van nodded in confirmation. "If I have the necessary manpower, then we'll be able to produce what we need in order to become self sufficient, eventually getting to the point where we will no longer require the Yaoyorozu family to cover paying our employees for us, thus allowing the two sides to stand on more equal footing in the partnership."
Momo looked like she was strongly considering the idea. "...That does make sense," Momo said. Looking up, the pro hero Creati asked, "Since my family will be covering certain expenses for your company in the short term should the partnership be formed, can I assume that we'll be receiving a share of the profits you make while we're partners?"
"Naturally," Van replied with a nod.
"Oh!" Kinoko said, sounding as if she had an idea, "I just thought of something that we might be able to do if the partnership goes through!" With all eyes on her, Kinoko said, "Would it be in the realm of possibility if we could arrange for some of the products that are made here to be used for making class rings for our kids and everyone in their homeroom?"
The other women lit up at that idea. "That actually sounds wonderful, Kinoko!" Momo said, "And it would help to show unity in the partnership between my family and Mr. Nicolas's business."
"It's a bit early for the kids to receive class rings, though," Ochaco pointed out, "Although I do like the idea myself."
Kinoko chuckled lightly. "Of course it's too early. I was thinking about the future."
Momo nodded in agreement. "Yes, and I saw that guide on the different stones made here. That one with the rainbow pattern looks especially lovely. I think it should be made standard on all of the class rings for the kids."
"Actually we're going to let the kids decide on the kinds of stones they want, rather than pick for them," Ochaco said, "We need to let them pick things themselves." Momo nodded to Ochaco in an understanding manner.
Kinoko was about to speak up when she was interrupted by two employees at the warehouse rushing over to where she was with the others. "Sir! The heroes here are needed in the city!" the first employee, a blonde mid twenties man, exclaimed, "The market district is being attacked!"
Right away, the three women all turned to face the employees. "Who is attacking the market district?" Momo demanded, "Do you know?"
At that, the two warehouse employees looked a bit worried, as if unsure what to say. "...You are not going to believe me," the second employee, a woman who was of a comparable age to the first employee, said in a troubled tone as she gently shook her head. The way that the women were told that by the second employee set alarms off in their head, telling them that there was no way things would be pretty.
They all had no idea just how not pretty things were going to be.
In the shopping district, a few people ran away as a hulking figure in a mostly yellow suit was wrecking stuff out of his way so he could get to a bag of white granulated sugar. He picked it up, tore it open, and began scarfing it down. As he did this, the pro heroes Chargebolt, Red Riot, Cellophane, Pinky and Dynamight (Bakugo and his old crew from their UA days) came running onto the scene.
"Alright, big mean and yellow!" Kaminari called out, making the figure stop in his sugar scarfing, "Drop the sugar if you...know...what's..." Kaminari trailed off, a look of horrorified recognition appearing on his face. Similar looks appeared on the faces of every one in the old Baku-squad when the hulking figure turned around to face them. When it did, Bakugo and his friends all saw a face that they thought that they wouldn't see again.
Rikido Sato, their old classmate from their UA days. Sato, who was killed during the siege on UA, was walking the land of the living once more. But the returned pro hero Sugarman clearly was not what he used to be; his eyes were nothing more than ovals standing on ends, and they were both stark white and completely blank. Bakugo and his friends weren't sure if Sato, or whatever this...this thing masquerading as Sato was, would even be able to see properly.
But apparently it could, as it proceeded to rush the Baku-squad. Immediately, Kirishima went into Unbreakable so he could fight the faux-Sato up close while the others got some distance. "This is crazy!" Kaminari exclaimed, "How in the name of Bahamut is Sato alive again?! Wasn't he killed by-"
"RUHHHHHAAAAAAA!" an inhumane crying roar called out, cutting Kaminari off before the electric quirk user was dealt a vicious tail slam attack that sent him skidding back a bit. Looking over, the Baku-squad saw that their old classmate Mashirao Ojiro, who was also killed in the siege on UA, had seemingly come back to life. But his eyes were blank white ovals, much the same as Sato's eyes.
To the horror of the Baku-squad, more and more of their dead classmates came out to surround them; Shoji, Koda and Aoyama all looked to have risen from the dead, their eyes those creepy blank white ovals. "...And here I thought that me and Mina's boy going on about zombies was a dumb thing," Sero said, "But I guess that I was wrong."
"These guys don't look like the kind of zombies you must be thinking about, Sero," Kirishima said, having backed away from the faux-Sato. The Baku-squad had no idea what was going to go down, only knowing that what happened here was going to make the news that evening.
END, CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Author's notes;
This chapter would have dragged on too long if I kept the sceen I had in mind for it, so I cut things off right here. Hell, I'm going to have to move that sceen, plus the chapter name for this chapter, into the next chapter. Even so, I got in the parts where Inko confesses to all of the guys (and Hikari) in her class, as well as some bits of all of the 'zombie' business that will be going down this part (please note that they aren't actual zombies; what they turn out to be will be a lot more interesting).
Anyway, stay safe.