"Absolutely not, Tetsutetsu!"
Setsuna rolled her eyes, watching Monoma throw a fit, yet again, about 1A. Ever since she lucked out in getting Momo's help in finding them a cozy place to study for the exams, the biggest task in the classroom was convincing their errant Phantom Thief to actually join them. It wasn't like with Kamakiri who preferred studying on his own – Monoma didn't mind a group session. It was the particulars that ground his gears, instead. (not that Tetsu was easily stymied)
"Dude, they won't bite you." Kaibara rolled his eyes along with her. The blond scoffed at the words, throwing out a dramatic pose.
"You cannot possibly know that!"
"Besides, it's not like we're going to be competing with them forever." Rin pointed out from over his desk. "I know there are hero rankings and all that, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't mind having someone like Uraraka or Shoji help out with disaster relief."
"Kodai and Tokage are literally right here!" Yui was the third to roll her eyes, obviously wanting nothing to do with this conversation.
"Yeah, no offense, Lupin the Fourth" Monoma winced at the sound of his rejected hero name coming from Setsuna's mouth. "but I can't exactly grow more hands than two. Now please excuse me." It seemed Kinoko wanted something from her, judging by the light tug on her blazer and a gesture to come outside. They still had some time before the homeroom began, so…
The mushroom girl looked positively antsy once they came out to the hallway. "What's up, Kinoko?"
"Okay, so, um… I meant to ask Maria that, but she's not here yet… and, well…" The shorter girl fiddled with her fingers nervously for a bit, taking a moment to gather her bearings before she continued. "...how much do you know about… this whole Mensis business?" Setsuna blinked, surprised at the question. Out of all of her classmates, Kinoko struck her as about the last one to probe for such details.
"Uh, mostly what Maria told me… and what we saw on TV."
"Can you… tell me more? I… well, I don't know how, but… I'd like to help." The lizard girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. This wasn't the kind of knowledge she could just share all willy-nilly, not without Maria or Kan-sensei's permission – and even if she did get such a permission, just how much would she be allowed to divulge? Kinoko guessed her doubtful thoughts soon enough. "If… that's fine, I mean."
"You're… probably better off asking her once she gets here." Setsuna shrugged helplessly. "I don't know if I'm verbose enough for explaining that stuff."
"Maria won't be in class today." The voice of Vlad King reached them both; their teacher had a rather somber look on his face. Setsuna blinked before a realization hit her.
"...sensei? What… happened to Maria?" Kinoko asked quietly, eyes wandering to try and find their tall peer behind him, somehow. Vlad King sighed.
"...get inside, you two. I'll explain everything there."
Maria became intimately familiar with yet another hospital bed. A second one in a span of two weeks.
Apparently she only came back to consciousness once the doctors were already finished pulling the bullets out of her and then fixed whatever happened to her throat. She had vague recollections of her stitches reopening once she got heated up. No small wonder she did, considering the Executioner got away with the girl.
There was a young girl somewhere nearby. A subject of horrific experiments so inured in them, she would rather accept them as reality than endanger anyone else. A girl under direct watch of a bloodthirsty butcher who, unusually for his kind, seemed to treat her as an actual person rather than a mere piece of meat to conduct science with. That might have honestly made it all worse.
Maria's fist clenched. She got taken off-guard by the butcher's honesty – and eight bullets he shot into her. Not mere lead or iron; quicksilver. Effective against those taken by the scourge of the beasts, and some of the more eldritch happenings. She was neither, but for an Executioner no doubt she was worse than the two combined.
...of course, she still got shot eight times. A wooden sword could kill as readily as one made of steel.
At the very least, Fourth Kind wasn't upset with her. If he were, her position at the school could have been in jeopardy; as far as he was concerned, she did as a hero would and only got surprised by the villain's sudden appearance. It seemed his anger rested squarely with the journalist harpy, though Kizuki pleaded gleeful ignorance. "I only found her after the fact, of course", she claimed without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Were Maria not strapped to the bed – mostly at her own insistence, so that she wouldn't get restless and start wandering around the hospital and give exasperated doctors scares – she would probably throw that woman right out the window.
Master Kan visited her earlier, both to check that she was okay and to exchange information with her. The presence of the Healing Church was a fact now, and it seemed they were already off to nefarious plans. The Executioner's earlier appearance at Hosu fighting off the efforts of Mensis and the League didn't mean he wouldn't turn on the good people of the Hero Society given enough provocation. Villains fighting each other were villains still.
She already received a phone call from Setsuna, too. Some of 1B and Momo would be visiting her later to check on her. Nice of them to do that; this time Maria's hospital location and circumstances could have been disclosed, at least. She could use a warm company, honestly. At first, she thought she would have settled for another bout of solitude, but that just made her vulnerable to dark thoughts and that blue-skinned harpy prowling outside her room, just waiting for an opportunity to capitalize on her weakness.
They would see the scars covering her arms, but at this point, perhaps Maria kept a few secrets too many from them.
Another group of visitors was the police, interviewing her about what befell her. It turned out to be the same detective she reported her first meeting with Stain to. Small world. He was accompanied by a plain man in a suit, a rather dull-looking personage with only sharp pointy ears to distinguish him. After the detective was finished, the suit remained. It seemed he had something to say. Maria's eyes narrowed as they followed his and found them regarding the layer of scars covering her arms.
"Ah, apologies. I didn't mean to stare; it's just that injuries like these are rare on a hero hopeful." It didn't sound like he was much apologetic, but Maria was willing to accept that for now. "Either way, I would like to take a bit more of your time, if you don't mind."
"A private matter? Something that you would rather not let a detective hear?" The man laughed, shaking his head.
"Oh, it's nothing quite like that. I just find discussing such matters eye-to-eye to be a preferred alternative." Ah. Well, that wasn't ominous at all. Maria wished these people voiced themselves directly and to the point instead of dancing around things with a ballerina's grace.
"Matters being?"
"I believe we might have found the ones housing your enemy." Maria's back straightened up in an instant. The man couldn't help but smile. Predictably, the girl's attention was fully on him and his words now, as it should be. "I'm not at a luxury to reveal too much to you yet, since I'm but a messenger; it was however agreed upon that you should be informed."
"And who seeks them out?"
"The Hero Public Safety Commission, of course. My name is Takahashi, and I was appointed your aide for this endeavor." Takahashi smiled. Maria couldn't help but feel there was something sinister behind that grimace, considering the man's introduction. "We shall keep you updated on the investigation while you recover. After that, we would like to ask for a favor in return."
"...and what could you possibly want from a student like myself?"
"Information, naturally. You appear to be the most informed about both the School of Mensis and this Alfred among our numerous sources, having already offered assistance on them after the USJ incident. This, no doubt, comes with experience, yes?" Maria's lips were a long thin line. Her silence seemed to be enough for the man. "I understand you might not be too keen on revealing something so important to a stranger such as myself, so I will not rush you. However, if what you said to Detective Tsukauchi is true, then there is a young girl out there who's yet to be saved from the clutches of her captors."
Maria closed her eyes, slowly, and mentally closed to five. "I shall visit tomorrow, Muradasilova-san. I hope you will be able to answer at least some of our questions then. Now then" Takahashi smiled and bowed. "I shall be off."
She didn't watch him go, mulling over the choice of his words. She didn't need to be reminded of her failure to save the girl from the Executioner's clutches, yet that man was insistent to rub salt into her fresh wound. Was it to spur her on to act? She heard of the name of the Commission in passing as the administrative organ behind the heroes. To hear it be involved in such a delicate operation…?
Not that she knew much at the moment.
Shigaraki stared at the giant rotting brain. The giant rotting brain stared right back.
For a supposed "Great One", the creature seemed only great in size. Its entire decaying body was covered with eyes, some of them rotten, some of them mismatched. Some were too big, some were too small. It lacked any other organs; no mouth, no ears, no nose, no nothing. Well, it had a pair of spindly arms, emphasis on "had"; something all but pulverized the right one into nothing, and the left one was bent and broken as if the Brain fell from a great height. Its six fingers twitched weakly, unable to grasp anything but the solid ground beneath them. Shigaraki wondered if perhaps the thing was dropped into this pit.
Odd, considering how much the old Cageface gushed about this disgusting thing.
His first instinct was to dust it, but Toga pointed out the Brain seemed to be the only thing giving out light in this pitch-black darkness, however dim that light was. They actually found it by following the sound of its chipped breathing, though Tomura didn't want to dwell too much how the thing breathed to begin with. Considering the broken arms and the thorough rot all over its body (matter?), it must have been suffering.
The realization that the Brain was a prisoner of Mensis rather than their, well, brain… now that put everything about the School in a new light. Made all the much more sense that they saw fit to get rid of them like that.
So now they were stuck here, with only a giant eye-covered brain for company. No sight of Kurogiri, either; Shigaraki supposed that asshole four-eyes killed him beforehand.
Sensei told him to trust Cageface. Sensei wasn't wrong. That just didn't happen.
...but what if he was? Could he be wrong? Maybe he was just taken off-guard by the Mensis's bullshit? Anyone would be caught flatfooted by these crazies, even him.
None of this made sense. What was the Mensis's plan to begin with? What did they seek to accomplish? Cageface kept prattling about those two bimbos from UA, but what would even happen should he get his mitts on them? Not like it mattered to Tomura much, but it just felt off…
The brain blinked, slowly. Its eyelids – now that was a thought Shigaraki didn't want to think too much about – made a heavy sound, like a carpet being beaten off the dust in slow motion. "...what's the time?" Toga asked weakly, sprawled on the ground nearby and staring up into the unending void.
"Three seconds since it blinked." She made a disgruntled noise, kicking up her legs. "Don't ask me dumb questions, you won't get dumb answers."
"I'm just… you know, trying not to go crazy in here, Shiggy. Still can't believe Mico-san would just… do that."
"You've heard the four-eyes, "no love lost" for us. They ditched us like a used-up rag." Toga stirred on the ground again, slowly curling up. Right. Guess this was more of a shock to her than it was to him. He recalled how the two made their entrance into the cell where he was held, all sunshine and smiles like a pair of friends. "Sorry about that, I guess."
"I guess... it was too good to be true. Mico-san… Micolash seemed to just enjoy having me around, though. Didn't want anything from me, either." A pause. Shigaraki idly felt at the itch growing on his neck. "I'd just… go out, make friends, and he'd always welcome me back in here… there… wherever this place is."
"Cageface talks a lot about blood. You drink blood. Maybe he wanted to keep you around for science or some shit…"
"I mean, not really, not even that. Never had to use my Quirk or anything…" Shigaraki hummed, aware he didn't actually know the girl's power. The itch to scratch at his neck subsided as he reclined in his own spot. Nearby them, the brain blinked again. "...what's your Sensei like?"
"Huh? What's that about?"
"You know, when we were busting you out and then he spoke up on the phone. I was kinda sorta listening some of it." Himiko shrugged. "Was just wondering if he's… cool? I dunno. Told you, I'm trying not to lose it in here, even if Brain-san's alright—"
"You're definitely losing it if you're thinking that." Shigaraki groused, tenting his hands together. His earlier attempt at decaying the ground to see if they could slip out of here found no purchase; whatever the ground was even made of – honestly, he wasn't sure if there was any ground under his feet right now – it resisted his touch. "...Sensei's… Sensei, I guess. He basically picked me off the streets when no one else would, and raised me and stuff."
"Oh, so he's like… your dad?" Shigaraki hissed, feeling a sudden headache manifest. What was that all about?
"...yeah… I guess, yeah." He grunted once the feeling abated. "...I'd probably rot in some ditch if it wasn't for him. Guess he can't save me out of this one though…" For a moment no one said anything. The brain blinked for the third time. "...what about you?"
"People don't really accept my way of life for some reason, parents included." Toga shrugged. "It's weird, you know. Quirks are part of you, right? But what happens if they tell you to never use yours, ever?"
"I think I'd go nuts." Himiko flinched slightly.
"Mhm… so I was told not to use my Quirk, because it wasn't cute, because it was creepy… but I wanted to, really really hard… and so I used it when I just couldn't hold it." She smiled dreamily, looking as if she recalled a pleasant memory from the past. "And ever since then… I've just been living a normal life." Shigaraki hummed, refraining from a snarky response. "And Micolash seemed to get it, you know. I don't really get a lick of the things Mensis is about, but…"
"I get it, I think." To think Tomura would be playing therapist for a crazy schoolgirl with a knife fetish... well, no matter who she was, she was someone like him; rejected by this putrid society, someone who just wanted to live to what her heart told her. She might not have wanted to destroy everything like he did, but at the end of the day, those were just semantics.
Both of them – and that stupid brain – were just prisoners, waiting for a chance to bust out of their cages. "...well, none of this really matters if we can't get out of here." Himiko hummed in agreement, sprawled flat on the ground yet again.
The brain blinked for the fourth time.
It was decided that Maria's second internship would be adjourned prematurely.
While this meant that she was back to having free time – just in time to perhaps join her peers for that class-wide study session Setsuna and Momo mentioned – she couldn't help but feel strangely apprehensive. Was it really alright to let her go so quickly, specifically because she failed to uphold what being a hero was all about? Despite the glowing recommendation from Fourth Kind, it felt hollow. Unearned. It didn't feel right.
Her hunter self fought fiercely with the hero self that had yet to establish itself in her conscious in earnest. She tried to save Eri because in her she saw the countless patients of the Healing Church that she didn't save, not because it was the right thing to do. And conversely, would she react with such hostility if the man presented before her wasn't the ancient enemy of Cainhurst? It was a perfect storm of a situation, where her hunter self fed her hero self.
How would she react should the situation be different? What if the girl was "merely" bruised and her caretaker "merely" a surly father about to discipline an unruly offspring? Then again, Maria reasoned, she would probably be able to deal with a garden-variety scoundrel – even if that could possibly give her trouble. Putting such a thug through a wall would no doubt get her a dishonorable discharge from her internship duty, even if done in good intention.
And to top it all off, something told her that Aizawa just wasn't going to be satisfied with such a recommendation.
For now, she had to deal with Takahashi's arrival. Her wounds were mostly healed by now. This time, at least, her throat was back to normal. Good. Hearing a different voice come out of her lips after living with hers for so long… that just didn't feel right. "The group housing Alfred is a yakuza organization by the name of Shie Hassaikai, or Eight Precepts of Death." He explained, offering her a paper document describing some details of the organization. "Are you familiar with the term "yakuza", Muradasilova-san?"
"The old rogues of Japan, dating back to a world without Quirks. In decline, from what I have heard."
"That's the gist of it. Hassaikai is one of the remnants that survived both the Quirk onset, the tumultuous era of unease, and even All Might himself. It stands to reason they're a cautious sort." Takahashi nodded. "The group has been under our notice for quite some time, but there was nothing criminal we could investigate… but, with your meeting with the girl, perhaps we have finally found a beachhead."
Maria blinked, not sure if she understood the meaning behind the words. The knife-eared man opted to continue. "Now, you said that Alfred and his group answer to another organization during the earlier questioning. The Healing Church, yes?" She nodded. "What can you tell us about it?"
"The Mensis split off them. They are both a religion and a scientific endeavor, much as you can call their transgressions against another "science"." Maria sighed, taking a slow breath. Just talking about it was making her antsy. "To my understanding, their primary draw was using special blood for ministration to cure ailments and woes." Takahashi's eyebrow rose as he checked something in his little leatherbound notebook, not just at the information, but also the odd tense switch. "To that end, I fail to understand what they would do here in the first place, let alone allied with petty rogues."
"Define "special blood", if you will."
"I do not know the specifics. My old master… he believed it to be the blood of extraterrestrials." Takahashi scoffed behind his notebook. Maria hated to tarnish the First Hunter's name like so, but there were certain things that this world was not ready to know yet. Thus, she used this diversion beaded in truth to change the topic of the conversation; to her success, judging by the man's annoyed look. "I would wager that any particularly potent blood, not necessarily one used for the purposes of the Quirk, might have attracted them to this realm."
"Judging by our records on Micolash, it seems Mensis seeks such Quirks as well. He was reported meeting with the Hero Killer some time back." Takahashi tapped the notebook with his pen. "Back to the topic at hand… do you know the girl's Quirk?"
"No, she did not use it during our meeting."
"It is likely that it fulfills the requirements you outlined for a Quirk this Healing Church would take an interest in. The girl does not figure in an official Quirk registry, though the right investigators are on the case to figure out the whereabouts of her parents for information."
"One thing eludes me, Mr. Takahashi." The official raised an eyebrow in a silent question. "The Executioners are among the least qualified of the Church's servants when it comes to these blood rituals. Their skills are to destroy, not to create." Maria looked out the window, a thoughtful expression dancing on her face. "Let alone to be a guardian of a young ward – unless the Church fears something might necessitate killing the girl."
"What are you saying, Muradasilova-san?"
"...perhaps it is the Hassaikai who conduct these revolting experiments, whatever they might be. It would be unusual for the Church to support them indirectly like this, but perhaps they seek to keep a lower profile after the Mensis's arrival." A curious notion, but perhaps not an implausible one, Takahashi thought. Shie Hassaikai had a background in drug smuggling, so perhaps whatever the products of the experiments on the girl were were used to generate income. Now that was a vile thought. "And should the Hassaikai prove too troublesome, the Executioner can simply kill the girl and leave."
"So, to wit, you believe that it's the yakuza who are behind the experiments and the Healing Church is merely offering them assistance, whatever it might be." Takahashi hummed, writing down another thought in his notebook. "Presumably, they get the results of these experiments out of the deal."
"Whatever that is, it must be a miraculous formula. The Healing Church I was familiar with would rather burn rivals and their work to the ground than let them conduct these experiments." Maria hummed, a slight, almost hopeful smile, slipping onto her lips. "Perhaps they are struggling too much to afford such wastefulness… so perhaps, at least, there is no fear of the girl dying any time soon."
"That's a comforting thought." Takahashi rose from his seat. "That will be all for now. Your insight has been very helpful to the cause, Muradasilova-san." Curious that she would flinch at the word "insight", however slightly.
"As long as it helps you in freeing that girl."
"I'll return to ask some more questions. Perhaps the next time we meet, you'll be out of your hospital bed." He smiled, offering a bow. "Best wishes to your recovery."
This wasn't Setsuna's first time in the Yaoyorozu mansion, but it didn't make walking up to the giant brass gate any less impressive.
This was, however, Monoma's first time, and he was obviously struggling not to say something positive about his rival class right now. It certainly didn't help that 1B was much appreciative of the effort Momo put in educating them for the purposes of the coming exams. "I've never felt so smart in my entire life", Setsuna heard Tsuburaba say the other day, and barely resisted an urge to burst out laughing.
...just how rich the Yaoyorozus were to begin with?
This was also Maria's first time here, fresh off the hospital bed. She wore long sleeves again, the only one out of their whole group. "Now this is a place fit for a queen." For someone like her, this was no small praise. Monoma made an anguished sound in the background.
"Right? I'm pretty sure Tokage's jaw fell off when she first came here." Kaibara commented idly. Setsuna shot him a dirty look, and he only had the weakest of shrugs for her in return.
"Don't worry about it, Setsuna." Yui patted her on the shoulder. "Mine would fall too if it could."
"Awright!" Manga pumped his arms into the air before approaching the intercom. "I'm stoked to kick Prince Ganji right in the taint, show him right up!"
"It's "Prince Genji", Fukidashi-san." Bondo helpfully corrected his short classmate. Manga's speech bubble turned into a stormy cloud as his shoulders slumped dejectedly.
"Honestly, probably a good thing that we're taking turns with 1A." Awase muttered, eyes wandering over to Monoma for a moment. In Kendo's absence, he was the next go-to for pacifying their errant Phantom Thief, should the need arise. "And even more honestly, Yaoyorozu's a saint, willing to humor all of us like that."
"I think she's just in her element like that." Setsuna smiled as the gates opened before them. It probably helped her distract herself from bad thoughts too, though the lizard girl didn't say that out loud. Maria hummed in vague curiosity. She was the last to enter the estate grounds. Setsuna opted to wait for her. Yui shot them a questioning look as the rest of the group ascended the stairs to the mansion, but didn't wait; it seemed the two had some private discussion to attend to.
"...apologies for bothering you like this—" Setsuna immediately hushed her with a detached finger.
"I'll remind you that you got shot eight times like two days ago. You're the last person who has to apologize for anything right now." Maria looked like she disagreed with the assessment, but Setsuna wasn't planning on relenting yet. "I'll say it however many times I have to; none of this is your fault. You're my friend. You're their friend." She gestured vaguely towards the mansion. "You're a good person, Maria."
"...well… I meant to ask something less dire, actually." Oh. Way to read the room, Setsuna thought with a light slap to own forehead. "...although thank you. It… is good to have that reassurance." For a moment, no one said anything before the lizard girl groaned, hiding her face in her hands.
"Sorry for ruining the mood."
"...honestly, this awkwardness might lend itself to a more natural conversation about… matters of the heart…" Oh. Right, that. Maria called her a few days back about something that sounded like someone asking her out, but didn't specify the details and then stated she will continue later on, once she summons enough courage for it. To listen to her stutter and backpedal was a surreal experience for Setsuna. "...I realize this is paltry compared to other pressing issues, but…"
"It's an issue altogether, and one I can actually help with somehow. So…" Setsuna's lips quirked in a smile. "Who's the lucky person?" Maria made a face.
"Mei. She confessed her feelings to me." So that went beyond a simple crush and into full-on real territory. "And I was insolent enough to weasel my way out of answering with claiming linguistic ignorance."
"You think it's serious on her part?"
"It looked so to me." Then again, Setsuna was willing to bet that Maria's understanding of romantic nuances might have been lacking. Maybe if Hatsume courted her in a more antiquated fashion, but the lizard girl couldn't imagine her speaking in such a manner. "I will have to give her a response sooner than later."
"I, uh, I'm guessing this is not a two-way street?"
"...I don't know. I have not even… it was not even on my mind." Maria looked vaguely uncomfortable when admitting to this. Setsuna could certainly understand why she was slow to engage in such things; she had plenty on her mind already. "I value her friendship and her craft, and… I suppose I could see myself in a position of her sweetheart, somewhere in the future." The lizard girl shifted slightly in place, feeling a strange sensation of… jealousy? spreading throughout her body. Surely she wasn't jealous… r-right? "...perhaps."
"...you know, there's probably a non-insignificant amount of people in this school crushing on you." Setsuna hummed. "Hatsume just went for it first. You might have to let quite a few people down in the process."
"...no hunt can prepare for such a challenge."
Do you ever feel like what you're writing is a pretty blatant filler chapter?
Turns out, the brief departure from the canon path bogged things down a bit, not just in terms of inexact timeframes, but also general sequences of events. We'll be returning to a regular schedule before long, though we'll hear of the Hassaikai yet beforehand. Coming up next are the final exams, both theoretical and practical. We'll see how that goes along, though Maria will be joining Monoma among those of 1B who failed the latter. On the villains' side, Shiggy and Toga will be coming back for Round 2, though not all of the upcoming Vanguard Action Squad's members will be there. OC villains? OC villains. Meanwhile, Edgar and Alfred are up to their own independent stuff. The former in particular will involve the finer mechanisms of the Healing Church - and get in the way very soon.
Thanks for putting up with me and this haphazardly written fanfic though. c: It's nice to know my work, even if probably not all that good, finds readers. Stay tuned for more to come. :)