Chapter 6
The next morning proved just as chaotic as they feared.
After school UA had announced the cancellation of the Sports Festival, citing a decrease in school morale following the USJ attack, murders, and a few students dropping out. In an ingenious twist, Nezu had managed to also partially pin it on the media, citing how the increased presence of reporters every morning only added to the students' stress levels.
"The students are faced with enough stress after recent events," he'd explained in his statement. "There is always a heavy amount of scrutiny of students' performances after the Sports Festival, and with how coverage of the recent tragedies have gone, we fear that media will use this as an opportunity to further criticize our school rather than report on the event. While UA accepts any and all criticisms, it is unfair to subject our students to such heavy scrutiny over circumstances beyond their control."
It had been an artful and scathing critique of the media's presence, leading to an outpouring of online support from public.
It also did nothing to shrink the crowd of reporters waiting at the gates.
The horde surrounding the gates that morning was even more massive than the day the alarm went off. Cementoss ultimately had to make giant walls to give students privacy to pass through the gates without being badgered. Hearing the reporters' outraged squawks muffled by the cement walls had been the only part that Hitoshi found remotely gratifying about the experience.
Despite today's crowd and the tension yesterday, no one was absent, not even Mineta. In fact, he, Hagakure and Kouda had all arrived early to take the secret test. The other desks already had containers on them, and even before homeroom started Present Mic began popping in and out to grab them as more and more students arrived.
By the end of homeroom the results were in: everyone checked out again.
"In the future, I advise you all arrive a bit earlier than usual if possible," Aizawa told them. "We'll refrain from doing any announcements until the results are complete. Onto more pressing matters, you all saw the reporters today. We're doing crowd control, but given we've canceled the Sports Festival entirely, we don't anticipate them being gone by dismissal. If we can't thin out the crowd by then, we may have to construct an underground tunnel for you to go under them."
Everyone kind of stared, uncertain how to respond to that. Was that a joke? Hitoshi genuinely couldn't tell. Aizawa's poker face was on full display again without the bandages and just as unreadable as ever.
(Later that day he would find out Aizawa was deadly serious, and UA happened to own a building about three blocks away, but in the present it was irrelevant.)
"In the meantime," Aizawa continued, "we'll be having classes as normal. The curriculum has been messed up a bit by recent events, so we'll be doing double-time to try to make up for lost time." Even as he spoke the door opened to reveal Ectoplasm, his intimidating figure feeling even more menacing than usual for some reason. A collective shudder ran through the room, and then they flinched as Aizawa grinned.
"As our motto goes: Plus Ultra."
"I never want to look at another math or science textbook again," Hitoshi groaned at lunch, and everyone could only moan in agreement. True to Aizawa's word, the teachers had doubled down on their subjects, making it the most intense morning yet. He didn't realize that mental exhaustion could translate to physical tiredness like this. It was absolutely exhausting, and he was actually glad they wouldn't have hero training or physical education today.
On the downside though, they'd have another math class after lunch instead. And then world history.
All Might have mercy, just kill him now.
He decided not to think about it and just focus on lunch for now. With everyone's identities reaffirmed they'd returned to the cafeteria and scattered around with various classmates beyond the "safe" groups from yesterday. Today his table included Ojiro, Hagakure, Asui, Satou and Shouji. Iida and Yaoyorozu had left with the class representatives from 1-B, probably for an emergency meeting or something like that, while Mineta and Jirou joined Ashido, Kaminari and Sero.
Most of today's tablemates were on the quieter side, but Hagakure made up for it plenty. "So, what's it like living together?" she asked teasingly, leaning towards Hitoshi and Ojiro. Neither of them rose to the taunt, Hitoshi mostly ignoring her as he ate.
"Crowded, I guess," Ojiro said with a shrug. "My apartment only has one bedroom, so we have to share. We don't have enough drawer space for all of Shinsou's stuff, so he's living out of his suitcase. And I only have one futon, so he ended up sleeping on the floor."
"We're buying a sleeping bag after school today," Hitoshi commented, dead serious. Yesterday he'd been joking about it, but after sleeping on the hardwood floors with only a few blankets, he'd already resolved to spring for one. He planned to ask Aizawa for recommendations after school ended. Ojiro had a therapy session today, so he'd have to stick around for a while anyway. Safer to stick to Aizawa than wait alone.
Asui nodded in understanding. "If you want, we should have a spare sleeping bag at home," she offered. "My family likes to go on camping trips in the spring, kero, so we have a few spares. I'm sure my parents won't mind you borrowing one for a few days. I could bring it tomorrow."
"Thanks." Hitoshi nodded gratefully, while Satou hummed.
"Think you got a second spare?" he asked. "Shouji and I are bunking together at Kouda's place and he's only got one bed too. Shouji brought his own futon, but I just crashed on the couch last night. It's... not the most comfortable," he added with a small frown. "It's kinda old so it's really lumpy. And it's also too short for me."
"Huh, so you guys grouped up in a trio," Hitoshi murmured with a nod. "Smart." It'd be harder to attack three people than just two.
"Yeah, but I think it's kinda overwhelming him though," Satou commented. "He, uh, doesn't seem used to being around people constantly, and seemed kinda flustered since thereʼs not much space at his place. He doesnʼt even have a separate bedroom." That explained why he'd chosen to stay in the classroom instead of coming to the cafeteria today. Tokoyami had volunteered to stay with him so he wouldn't be completely alone.
"Then why do you stay at his place?" Ojiro asked curiously.
"Because he has a pet rabbit, and our apartments don't allow animals," Shouji replied bluntly, Satou nodding in agreement. Hagakure gasped, half-rising from her seat to lean towards them.
"A pet bunny? Is it cute? What's the name?"
"It's Yuwai," Satou answered. "And, I... guess he's cute?"
Hagakure slapped her hands on the table. "Pictures, now!" she ordered, and Satou reeled back with a surprised look.
"Uh, we didn't think to take any?"
"You can't just see a pet bunny and not take any pictures! That's like a cardinal sin!" As Hagakure whined Shouji glanced to the side.
"They're staring at us," he murmured, and Hitoshi side-eyed the other tables. Sure enough, several students from other courses seemed to be staring at them and the other hero students, clearly whispering about them. It made him frown and quickly avert his gaze to his food.
The others had become similarly quiet and wary, even Hagakure sitting back down. "What do you think they're talking about?" Ojiro wondered.
"Probably same thing as everyone else, the Sports Festival," Satou commented with a shrug, much to Hitoshi's surprise. His first thought was honestly just the murders and multiple missing students. Sure, not many people knew Kirishima had been replaced by an impersonator on Monday, but he was still missing, and so was Kuroiro. And beyond that, Fukidashi got murdered, and Bakugou had been missing since the second week.
Bakugou, whose parents got murdered.
Yeah, if Hitoshi was in gen-ed, he'd be staring at them too. Satou's comment about the Sports Festival had him frowning though, his mind wandering to his original backup plan to enter the hero course. "Some of them are probably mad it got canceled since it's their big chance to transfer," he muttered.
"Huh?" Hagakure asked, leaning forward. "Whaddaya mean?"
"If a gen-ed student does well in the Sports Festival, they can transfer into the hero course," he explained with a shrug, and glanced at them curiously as he asked, "Didn't you guys know that?"
Judging by the blank looks he received, none of them had.
"Honestly, I didn't even think about what would happen if I failed the entrance exam," Ojiro admitted after a few moments passed. "I mean, beyond applying to other schools of course." The others nodded.
"I felt relatively confident I could pass," Shouji agreed. "My Quirk is well suited for most physical activities."
"I just figured I could pound whatever I faced," Satou said with a shrug. Given he'd obliterated a wall during the Battle Trials, Hitoshi fully understood his confidence. And given Hitoshi's own Quirk, he figured they would all understand why he'd have a backup plan.
"I have been wondering how you passed, Shinsou-kun," Asui said, finger on her chin. "I don't mean any offense, but your Quirk isn't suited for fighting robots, kero."
"Luck," Hitoshi replied flatly, thinking back to his conversation with Aizawa last week.
"I think it'd take more than good luck to pass," Ojiro said. Hitoshi thought back to the rubble crashing down on the spot that one girl had been before he'd rescued her.
"I don't know if I'd call it good luck," he murmured, and then turned to Hagakure. "But what about you? You're just invisible."
"Yeah, which is really good for sneaking around!" she replied energetically. "I was able to spy on them to find their weak points and then use my Toru-fu! One chop to those, and wham! Down they went, like a stack of sticks!" She chopped through the air for emphasis (kinda like Iida), and the others just stared.
"Are you serious?" Satou asked after a moment.
"Hah, nah, I'm kidding!" the invisible girl laughed. "I'm not that strong, and I'm not even sure they had weak spots. Someone in my site managed to kill one right by the entrance, and it left some really jagged chunks of metal. Mostly I just used one of those to take out their legs and joints so they'd fall down, and bash in those red eye thingies. That, and rescue points!"
"Thank All Might for rescue points," Hitoshi murmured, and a few of the others snorted in amusement at his choice of "deity."
The mood felt considerably lighter after that, and the rest of lunch proceeded peacefully. Still, he couldn't help noticing all the eyes staring at them until the bell rang.
"We do plan to have the festival happen before summer," Aizawa told Hitoshi in the classroom after school. "So if there's any talent in the gen Ed this year, they'll still have a chance to stand out before the hero students get too far ahead in training."
"That's good," Hitoshi sighed in relief. He'd been worried about it after talking to everyone at lunch. While he'd gotten (debatably) lucky by passing the entrance exam, if he'd been in gen-ed like he'd expected, he'd probably be pretty pissed. The only reason he'd have a chance in the first year sports festival was because the hero students wouldn't have had much time to train yet. He felt pretty bad for any other hero hopefuls with similar plans.
"For what it's worth, we're also keeping a closer eye on them than usual," Aizawa commented. "Since Aoyama and Uraraka have formally withdrawn, we have two guaranteed openings in Class 1-A anyways. It's only logical to look for other students to fill the spots." Hitoshi nodded, but then realized something.
"Wait, didn't Bakugou technically withdraw too?" While he might be missing, it had been Bakugou's withdrawal that started this whole mess and led to the discovery of his parents' murders.
Aizawa frowned, seeming to debate answering. He glanced briefly at the empty classroom and open door before apparently reaching a decision. "Close the door." Hitoshi felt a shudder, but did as told. Only when it closed did Aizawa resume speaking. "We hadn't finished processing it yet, and right now, we're not sure if we should finalize it. There's too little information, and some details of the case are too unclear to make a formal decision until he's found."
Hitoshi abruptly remembered his conversation with Todoroki the other day, about how the bodies' parts had been in different stages of decomposition. A cold chill hit him. "You don't know if they were alive when he was withdrawn," he whispered, and Aizawa shot him a sharp look.
"No, we don't," he confirmed after a moment. "Shinsou, what, exactly, do you know about the case?" There was a certain edge to his voice that had Hitoshi freezing. It wasn't exactly accusing, but there was a hint of suspicion that he'd occasionally heard over the years. After all, it wasn't too weird to suspect the kid with the brainwashing Quirk when someone did something out of character, though he'd quickly be proven innocent every time. It was pretty obvious when he actually used it and kids were just lying after all.
In this case though, he knew his Quirk had nothing to do with it. UA had someone pose as one of the students to sneak onto campus, copying them down to their Quirk. And while they had that test every morning, it was only natural to be wary, even after Hitoshi already gave Aizawa his chosen codeword after the rest of the students left for the day.
He released a heavy sigh as he realized what he had to do. Right now, it was best to just tell the truth. "The week after Fukidashi got murdered, Todoroki asked me a bit about what I saw at the Bakugou house," he admitted. "He'd overheard his dad talk about it at home, and was worried that one guy from the League was behind it. He told me the bodies got dismembered and... decomposed at different rates..."
The weight of what he was saying hit him mid-sentence, feeling a bit queasy as his mind flashed back to that bloodstained bathroom. With everything that had happened since then it felt like so long ago, but also so ridiculously fresh. More than that though, talking about it made him realize something else, something he dreaded thinking about.
Aizawa's eyes flashed darkly, though he seemed to be angry for a different reason now. "I told everyone not to talk to you about that," he growled under his breath, and pushed back his chair to get up. "Come on, open the door. I need to talk to Nezu."
Hitoshi startled, remembering Aizawa's threat to suspend anyone who asked about the murder. "You don't need to punish him," he said quickly. "I chose to tell him, and he gave me the option to refuse from the start. He was just worried because of what happened at USJ, he saw that hand guy up close and heard his dad mention a severed hand or something. We haven't even talked since then."
His voice took on an almost desperate edge, pleading with Aizawa not to do anything. He barely knew Todoroki, but he didn't want the boy to get in trouble with everything else going on right now. Aizawa glared at him for a moment, but after a few seconds he sighed and finally nodded.
"Fine, I wonʼt suspend him this time. I will be talking to him though. He's not supposed to discuss details of ongoing cases like that, especially if he learned them through eavesdropping." Hitoshi slumped with relief as he nodded.
"Thanks, sir." With that concern out of the way, he now had nothing to distract him from his other revelation though, making his frown return full-force. "Aizawa-sensei, I just realized. Bakugou... Was he...?"
He trailed off, unsure how to even ask this. Aizawa seemed to understand his intent though, mouth pulling into a thin line. "No, we don't know if that was the real Bakugou Katsuki," he said after a moment, and Hitoshi's heart sank at the confirmation of his fears.
"Shit," he whispered, face pale. With the chaos after the fake Kirishima had fled, he'd honestly forgotten about the whole Bakugou case for the most part. Or rather, he didn't want to remember it. Once he did though, the connection seemed almost too obvious, staring him right in the face.
"Obviously I don't want you repeating that to anyone," Aizawa said. "I don't think many of your peers have made the connection yet. I'm only confirming it to warn you not to tell anyone. I suspect they'll start to figure it out soon enough though, and they have enough stress without worrying about that."
"I won't," Hitoshi promised with a solemn nod, and then hesitated. "Is... Is there any progress yet?"
"I can't answer that." He sighed but accepted the answer for what it was. Frankly, he was surprised Aizawa had said as much as he had about the case. It felt like he was breaking some of the very rules he wanted to lecture Todoroki for breaking.
Still, he had some other questions now. "Did Uraraka and Aoyama really withdraw?" he asked, part of him wondering if they had also been imposters. He didn't know if his suspicion showed or not, but Aizawa nodded.
"Yes. Uraraka spoke to me the day before Fukidashi's death to inform me she planned to return home after school that weekend. Her parents called to withdraw her the next day before the discovery, so that delayed the process a bit. We finished the paperwork by Tuesday though."
That was news to Hitoshi; he hadn't realized she'd withdrawn before the mugging.
"As for Aoyama, we visited his apartment on Monday to do an emergency wellness check, and that's when he told us about his intention to withdraw. We haven't finished formalizing it yet though. His family lives in France, so contacting them about the paperwork is difficult due to time zones. Either way, neither will be allowed back on campus since they're no longer enrolled."
Hitoshi frowned, but felt some of his unease lift. Aizawa seemed pretty certain they were the real deal, and as he said, neither would be allowed back on campus now that they'd withdrawn. Posing as them would serve no purpose at this point.
"Enough about that," Aizawa said. "You're waiting on Ojiro to finish his appointment, right? We still have a good twenty minutes. Let's go check your request at the support department." Hitoshi nodded, pushing down the momentary flicker of panic at the thought of visiting there again given how the last two visits had gone. Maybe this time wouldn't be so bad. Third time's the charm, right?
(No, it was not. At least Power Loader offered to pay for his uniform replacement after they had to throw it in the incinerator. Hitoshi had no idea what that fluid did, but he'd rather not find out. At least Cementoss's underground tunnel meant only Ojiro would witness his shame as he left UA in a school sweatshirt and gym pants pulled from the lost and found.)
Meanwhile, miles away from UA, a person sobbed inside a bathroom. Chain links rattled as they trembled in a bathtub, legs tied together and one hand cuffed to a pipe high above their head. The other was strapped down to a wooden board, small strips of leather nailed into it to hold each finger spread apart. Two fingernails had been torn off, the fingertips coated in blood as the teenager tried to stifle their sobs.
"Please, d-don't... Not any more. Please—!"
A sharp whine escaped as the bloodied pliers drew closer, their shaking growing more erratic as their breaths became faster. The person holding the pliers just laughed at their terror, pressing down on their wrist with the hand not holding their newest nightmare fuel.
"Don't move so much. You'll make me mess up and it'll hurt even more, silly!"
"Please, just stop!" the victim wailed. "I-I don't—I can't—!"
"You want me to stop, you know what you have to do," their tormentor sang, and maneuvered the pliers to grip the end of a third nail. The victim's breath caught in their throat as they went dangerously still, eyes wide with horror. No more, two had been bad enough, not another one!
"It's hair!" they screamed. "They test us by taking our hair! There's a container on our desks every morning! That's all I know, I-I swear! Please, just don't!"
A broken sob escaped them, head bowing shamefully. They just sobbed even harder when the pliers loosened and fell to the floor with a clatter, a hand ruffling their hair.
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Thank you so much!" Even as they spoke they yanked a few hairs free, but compared to fingernails that pain meant nothing. "You've been so helpful! Good job! Now I've gotta get to work, but I'll be back later with dinner, okay?"
The trapped student could only hang their head and continue sobbing as the bathroom door opened and closed, leaving them alone. Flashes of their classmates' faces ran through their head, making them cry even harder as guilt crashed over them. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry..."
And so the hair test's main flaw comes into play. Also my condolences to anyone who recognizes the last scene's inspiration.
Taking bets on who's been kidnapped and replaced~