Chapter fourteen - Truth be told
At U.A, several pro-heroes and a detective were gathered around a conference table and were discussing the events that took place at the U.S.J. The pro-heroes were: Midnight, All Might, Eraserhead, President Mic, Principal Nezu and Detective Naomasa. The atmosphere was quite solemn and Principal Nezu held the meeting.
"Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for taking the time out to come here." said Nezu, warmly. "I will cut right to the chase. The League of villains broke into the U.S.J yesterday afternoon, supposedly searching for All Might and to kill him."
The heroes present nodded as the attack was still fresh in their memory. All Might kept a still expression. Nezu explained for a few minutes about the damage that was done to the building and the financial issues. He moved onto the villains that were at the scene and the students that were hurt.
"There were a total of 78 villains present at the invasion. 45 were captured, 30 dead and three had retreated and escaped before we could do anything. Majority of the students were not injured in any vital ways. However, Bakugou Katsuki was quite vitally injured by a villain I will discuss later on during the meeting." explained Nezu. The heroes nodded in understanding.
"Kurogiri is a known member of the League of Villains and has a warp gate quirk that can make a portal appear anywhere he wants. He is an A/B rated villain and is very dangerous. Tomura Shigaraki is the leader of the League and has a disintegrating quirk, letting anything he touches turn to dust. It is quite similar to 13's quirk and is extremely dangerous. He is an SS rated villain. Tezobi is also a known member of the league, though not many people have seen her. She is a villain that is skilled in hand-to-hand and short-ranged combat. She is S/A rated villain. Her quirk is a power enhancing quirk that makes her very, very strong. She is also dangerous, though not as much as Tomura." said Nezu. Midnight put up her hand.
"Nezu, wasn't there a fourth main villain?" asked Midnight. All Might and President Mic nodded in agreement while Aizawa crossed his arms and had a deadpan expression. Naomasa furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity.
"Ah, I was just about to get to that." replied Nezu. "The fourth villain is called 'Faceless' and seems to be a new villain and possibly a new League member." Naomasa stood up straight and his ears perked up at the name 'Faceless'.
"This new villain, unlike his allies, is sadly quite young. Most would say about as young as our first-year students at U.A." said Nezu sorrowlly. Many of the heroes were quite shocked to hear of a villain so young. Naomasa was the most shocked.
"This generation is going to shit..honestly.." brumbled Aizawa. The thought of his own students becoming villains is quite unsettling in its own way, now he had to deal with this!
"There's no way in hell a fucking teenager brutally killed three full grown adults. I can't believe it! I won't believe it…" thought Naomasa in frustration.
"Many would propose that this is Faceless' villain debut and his first strike of action. This villain possesses long, black hair, yukata, tabi and geta, bandages on his forearms a small but muscular physique and a samurai sword. His facial appearance is unknown as he wore a featureless white mask. Faceless was seen near Kurogiri and looking for someone specific. The person he chose was warped somewhere secluded and he fought Faceless, so to say. There is no concrete evidence to support this point but it should be fairly obvious to infer."
"It really and truly does sadden me to see a villain THIS young. Maybe if he is led in the right path he could be a hero." commented All Might. He was quite optimistic when it came to heroism but some could argue he was too naive.
"I agree." said Nezu but Midnight and Aizawa shook their head in disagreement.
"We aren't giving him the benefit of the doubt because of his age, if he acts like a villain and should be treated as such. Midnight agreed, Naomasa was deep in thought about Faceless and his theory that he was the missing quirkless boy.
"I agree, thank you for the input." said Nezu. "Back onto track, Bakugou was found vitally wounded and unconscious in the flatland area. He had second and third degree burns to his neck and arms, a fractured shin and skull, cut cheeks, broken ribs, and bruised skin to show that he was punched or kicked in that area. There are many smaller problems with his body but that is not significant."
Aizawa was fairly shocked.
"Bakugou is one of the most powerful people in my class. How was he beaten so easily? If Tezobi, Kurogiri and Tomura were at the main facility and the low-ranked villains were defeated...don't tell me.." Aizawa's eyes opened in realisation to who it was.
Nezu saw Aizawa's reaction and deduced that he had figured out who it was.
"So, you noticed too, Aizawa." thought Nezu with a concerned feeling.
"I have now come to a conclusion that Faceless was responsible for the damage done to Bakugou, as he was missing from the main facility at the time Bakugou was sent through a portal by Kurogiri." said Nezu.
"Young Bakugou…" whispered All Might with pity.
"To effortlessly do that much damage to a top student means this Faceless guy has a powerful quirk!" commented President Mic.
"I'd like to point out that when I was fighting the Nomu, I moved very quickly behind me and didn't notice that Faceless was there and he dodged me. A normal person would've gotten injured from the accidental hit but he dodged me." pointed out All Might.
Now everyone knew that Faceless was dangerous to a new caliber to rival All Might in speed.
"Oh my God.." said Naomasa.
"He can match your speed? Now, that's serious even in addition to what he did to Bakugou. The police have ranked Faceless as an SS or a possible SSS villain for his actions at the U.S.J but we have decided to keep it at SS." said Nezu. "Though we do know his power, his quirk is unknown."
Naomasa gasped.
"Wait, wait, wait. Unknown? That means he could be quirkless." thought Naomasa, he was connecting the dots of his theory.
"Maybe he was quirkless." commented Naomasa. Midnight shook her head and sighed at that comment.
"Can someone quirkless become a hero?"
All Might flinched at the sudden thought. Why was he remembering this now of all times? All Might contemplated about the boy.
"I'm sure not even I need to explain why that's impossible, Detective." said Midnight with an almost laughing tone.
"I wouldn't rule out that possibility of quirklessness." replied Nezu. This made All Might feel guilty.
"Was I wrong to say what I said to him that day? I didn't even get his name.." thought All Might.
"Please enlighten us, Nezu and Detective." said Aizawa.
"Well," Naomasa got up to the head of the table, where Nezu stood. He had files on the boy 'Izuku Midoriya', his disappearance and what he looked like. "There was a missing quirkless boy from around ten months ago and his name was 'Izuku Midoriya. His parents died from unfortunate circumstances and he was in Middle School during his disappearance and his parent's death. He had no friends or teachers that were fond of him so getting information on his life is fairly hard. He has long green hair, green eyes, fair skin and bandages. Just like 'Faceless'!" Naomasa handed around the files and photo of Izuku Midoriya. "We could maybe search for him, maybe even save him before he does anything else..!"
All Might's skin turned a ghostly white and his mouth was agape.
"T-Ten Months ago? That's when I told him he couldn't be a hero..the appearance of his face and body were similar and he their voices were similar..no..it can't be.." All Might covered his mouth in guilt. "Did I push him over the edge? Was I his last hope? What kind of pathetic hero am I?" murmured All Might to himself. Everyone noticed that All Might was clearly in distress. They were going to ask what was wrong until Nezu spoke again.
"It is just as Detective says, and with all this evidence, it would be daft to ignore the possibility." said Nezu.
"It is still a possibility, Nezu. This could all be coincidence. We don't know Faceless' name, appearance or age. We are just theorising at this point. Please don't act upon your feelings. If we are going to get serious then I would think we would need more evidence." said Aizawa, who was a slave to logic. The conference went on for another hour, before the classes started again and the heroes had to teach.
Bakugou opened his heavy eyelids with a calm, fixed face. He looked around himself and then at his body to find out he was in Recovery Girl's room. That could only mean one thing.
"DAMN! I lost to that fucking Samurai bastard! That doesn't make sense..I'm the best so what the fuck is happening?" Bakugou screamed. He was in denial that he lost to a villain, and so easily as well! Bakugou tried to move but his body was worn out, tired and ached to the bone. LIterally, to the bone.
"That bastard broke my bones and messed me up like I was some fucking smoothie in a blender! I'm the best and I will beat his ass the next time I see him." thought Bakugou.
"I'LL KILL THAT SAMURAI BASTARD THE NEXT TIME I SEE HIM!" shouted Bakugou. So loudly that Recovery Girl came to give him some calcium pills. He reluctantly took them as he has no choice. After that, there was suddenly someone at the door.
"Who is at the door when I never fucki-" Bakugou was cut off when he saw that familiar red hair.
"Yo, Bakubro" said Kirishima is a friendly, casual way. He walked towards Bakugou and looked at his injuries. His smile faded.
"Did a villain do this? My God..How strong they must've been.." said Kirishima, eyeing Bakugou's legs and arms that were currently encapsulated with bandages.
"Shut up! Don't look, I'll kill you!" shouted Bakugou in his usual aggressive tone. Kirishima's smile came back after witnessing his explosive-buddy was still the same old Bakugou.
"Sure, sure buddy." Kirishima patted Bakugou's shoulder playfully. Kirishima's face got a little serious, after.
"Seriously, though. Who did it? Was it a bulky looking villain? He must've been to cause this much damage because you're crazy strong." said Kirishima. He was genuinely concerned for Bakugou.
"I don't fucking know.. I don't want to tell you, damnit! Get out!" shouted Bakugou. He was angry, embarrassed and upset that he lost to a villain so small. And so easily, at that! The villain was short and fast, it was overwhelming Bakugou just thinking about it. The villain's height reminded him of..Deku.
Kirishima looked a bit hurt that he was being rejected like this. He just wanted to help his best friend in hard times but of course Bakugou being Bakugou, he wouldn't allow it. It would take a toll on his pride. Maye Kirishima was a little pushy? He liked Bakugou for how prideful, manly and powerful he was and really cared for him as a friend but he didn't like how he pushed everyone away and was excessively aggressive towards everyone.
"O-Okay. See you in class, then!" Kirishima flashed his notorious, happy smile at Bakugou with all the courage he could muster up, when in reality, he felt like crying. Bakugou noticed this.
He felt a small, very small pang of guilt when he saw Kirishima like this. He was always there for Bakugou when he was alone and looked a little helpless. He was nice to Bakugou without expecting anything in return.
"Fucking shitty-hair is making owe him." mumbled Bakugou to himself. He sighed after and went back to sleep.
"Brat! Get back here and listen to me before I cut off your fucking arms!" shouted Tezobi in the bar.
"Samurai-shit, you better listen to me, I'm the boss here. I don't give a shit how many people you've killed or defeated, you listen to me..!" screeched Tomura in a whiny childish tone.
"So damn noisy..what the hell do they want.." grumbled under his breath. Izuku ignored the two people shouting at him and walked straight to him bedroom.
Izuku lept straight onto his bed in his room and heaved a loud yawn. He had barely slept, as he was either training or going out on Sensei's missions. He then thought back to when he defeated Bakugou during the U.S.J incident. Izuku weakly smiled to himself in satisfaction.
"To think I was afraid of a person like him. He has a huge fucking ego and I refuse to inflate it." thought Izuku. He had successfully temporarily forgotten about All Might because if he had not, his adrenaline would have surged through his body and make him angry again. Izuku was not an angry person. He was calm and indifferent most of the time and he preferred it that way as it wasn't tiring or irritating. Izuku was getting drousier by the second and softly sighed before closing his eyes.
"This is my life now, huh…" he thought before drifting into a dream.
(Izuku's dream)
Izuku was in his villain outfit on top of a familiar building and a chaotic environment.
"I've been here before in another dream..Hosu..again." he thought. What was so significant about Hosu? He then remembered Sensei saying he had 'Make Believe'. Izuku just had to accept his quirk.
Izuku's hair moved gracefully in the wind and he looked around him to check if this dream was the same or similar to last time. He saw behind him that there was Stain about to kill what looked like Ingenium. But Izuku saw one person on the floor beside them on the floor.
Izuku squinted. "Is that..Native? The hero? Why does he look so helpless..why wasn't he there before.." he dismissed the thought and looked in front of him. He heard people crying in distress, pain and fear as the destruction was unfolding before their eyes. There were glorious, amber flames dancing around Hosu in power, as it stole the lives of many. Izuku found fire a beautiful thing. Gorgeous, even. He loved how it brought happiness and warmth to everyone but by the same coin, it would destroy, corrupt and cause havoc if the flame is not treated with care or attention. Fire was an envious woman of sin but had maternal tendencies.
Izuku then jumped down, only to meet Kurogiri and Tomura beside a Nomu.
"I remember this.." thought Izuku. The Nomu, however, was about to kill an innocent man. Izuku quickly remembered that in his last Hosu dream, he cut off the Nomu's head, but that proved ineffective as it grew back. But now that Izuku had knowledge, skills and strength, he could do something better.
Much to real life Izuku's surprise, Izuku jumped into push the man out of the way, saving him and telling him to run away. Izuku then realised what he did.
"I changed the future..and saved a bystander...what is going on.." thought Izuku in confusion.
Villains were bad, heroes were good, right?