Chapter 54: A Visit to Tartarus
Mina Ashido felt disappointed.
She'd been trying to hide it, she really had. She knew that there were others in her class, especially her close friends, who were even more disappointed and frustrated than her about these various changes.
The work study students, who could no longer further their training. Todoroki and Bakugo, whose remedial classes had been briefly halted during UA's transition period. She'd even heard that Ojiro and Sato were dealing with pushback from their families, who were now having doubts about their children attending UA.
And of course, Doko would not have a place to live after UA closed. All these things seemed like very real complaints, and the fact that most of Mina's classmates were taking these things like champs despite their circumstances both inspired her and made her feel uneasy.
Because Mina Ashido was very, very disappointed that the cultural festival wasn't happening.
She'd been so excited for the food and the games and a chance to interact with more people in other classes, other years. What would the support department and that pink-haired psycho come up with? What kind of events would each class put on? What would their class have done? All these excited questions now meant nothing. There was nothing to look forward to. UA had become a prison on the turn of a dime.
Mina voiced these concerns quietly to one Tsuyu Asui, a person (besides Doko, who was currently out with Recovery Girl and Aizawa) who she believed would listen to her and not judge her for it. Also, they'd already planned to be in Tsu's room today to do some sewing, so it was just convenient, really.
Mina had been correct in her assumption.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking that, ribbit." One of Tsu's hands went to her chin in her trademark gesture. "At least, I don't think so. I guess I understand why you'd want to keep it bottled up, since some of our other classmates are really struggling right now. Especially with the whole Kaminari situation, ribbit." She leaned over and placed the scarf she'd been knitting onto her green canopy bed.
Tsu's room was decorated to look like a sort of garden or forest. Along with the aforementioned bed, there were lights hanging on the walls that were made to look like leaves and vines. A small stone fountain trickled by her window, with two little sculpted frogs spitting the water out of their mouths. A hidden speaker played noises of crickets. All in all, it was a peaceful environment, and it put Mina at ease.
Mina sighed. "You know, you really should have shown this room off, even though you were…distracted during the room competition." That had been fresh off of Kamino, and Tsu had needed to say something to the rescue team, which is why she hadn't participated. "You might have won with this one."
"Nah. Nothing can beat Sato's cooking." Tsu leaned back against her bed. "See, in that situation, I was the one with the concerns that felt trivial. I felt like I would interrupt everyone else's fun by coming in and being all dour. So I understand how you feel right now, although you wouldn't be interrupting any fun."
"Your concerns weren't trivial," Mina protested. "We were all better friends after what you said."
"I know, ribbit. That's why this whole situation has me vexed, and worried. I feel like we as a class came out stronger on the other end of Kamino. But this is different. It's just as heavy, and yet…we're not sticking together. It's not bringing us together, ribbit. We're falling apart instead."
"I just…" Mina closed her fists. "I can't believe they just up and cancelled the culture festival! What would it have done, really, besides maybe have a positive effect on everyone's mood? It would have been the perfect remedy to all of this!"
"Going forward with the culture festival while being torn apart by the media would just make things worse, ribbit. Like the staff or the board was ignoring the problem entirely."
"But we went ahead with the sports festival after USJ!"
"Escalation, ribbit. The situation has gotten much worse since then, and unlike the sports festival, the culture festival doesn't really do anything to promote the students as heroes, which might actually be helpful right now if UA wants to regain the public's trust."
"So, then…just…" Mina closed her mouth, opened it, closed it again. The circumstances were just impossible. She found her heart wishing, aching for things to be different…but they were not.
The sound of something smashing from elsewhere in the building broke them from their reverie. Tsuyu's frog-eyes bugged out, and a panicked croak escaped her mouth as she leapt upward in shock, springing off her feet.
Mina gasped. "What the hell was that?"
"Dunno, ribbit. We better run and take a look."
They took off out of her room, and raced down the steps. There was the sound of pleading and gasping, then a slap, and finally, coherent words being shouted.
"WAS THIS YOUR IDEA OF A JOKE, YOU SMUG PRICK?!"
Tsuyu and Mina exchanged a frantic glance. "That's…"
"Jiro's voice."
They finished their approach to the common room a moment later, just as Momo pulled Jiro away from hitting the person again.
Mina's eyes widened. "Aoyama!" she cried.
"HEY!" Tsuyu shouted, as Aoyama cowered away from the earphone jack user, trembling. A red mark was on his face.
Jiro struggled in Momo's arms. "Get OFF me!" she snarled.
"Why did you attack him?!" the class vice president demanded. "Someone go find Iida!" She whipped and spotted Tokoyami lurking at the edge of the room. "Go find Iida!" she told him.
"Understood," Tokoyami muttered, and swept past Mina up the stairs.
Mina took quick stock of the others in the room. Sero and Kirishima were both by the couch, watching the scene with expressions of horror. Ojiro was stepping forward, while Sato watched the kitchen.
"What's the big idea?" Ojiro demanded, stepping in front of Aoyama to protect him, just as Jiro managed to struggle free of Momo, and ran right into him.
"Get out of my way," she growled.
"NO! You're acting ridiculous!" His tail curled up in a loaded position. "What even happened?"
"I…" Aoyama whimpered. "It was just some cheese…"
"Like hell it was! You snuck onto my damn balcony! Ever heard of privacy, you sparkly piece of…"
"The names are uncalled for!" Tsuyu's voice cracked like a whip, taking a tone Mina had never heard from it. "Aoyama, what were you doing on Jiro's balcony?" She asked the question as Momo attempted to wrestle control of the rocker girl again.
When the blonde laser user lowered his head, his long bangs cast a shadow over his face. "I'm…I'm sorry. I thought the mademoiselle has seemed down recently…I just wanted to help…"
"By giving me cheese?" Jiro asked incredulously. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
Aoyama bit his trembling lip. "I…I don't know…the cheese is very popular back in France, and known to calm the mind…I just thought…"
"You just thought, huh. I doubt you've ever thought about anything at all! Always just standing there and smiling like nothing the rest of us do ever matters to you…"
"Jiro, stop. How can you even say that?" said Ojiro. "If things didn't matter to him, why would he have made such a gesture in the first place…"
"Th-thank you, monsieur…" Aoyama forced out, and then, his head bowed, he ran out of the common room, breaking past Mina, holding his cheek where he'd been struck.
Jiro watched him go, her face rapidly going blank, as if collapsing.
Ojiro rounded back on her. "See? See what you did?!"
"I…I…" Jiro seemed to sway on her feet for a moment, as Momo backed away, freeing her. Then, the girl collapsed to the floor, throwing her hands over her face, heaving and sobbing.
"Jesus Christ," Sero muttered, as Momo leaned down to comfort her. Ojiro stood there for a moment dumbly, surprised at her reaction.
Mina's jaw clenched.
"I'm here, everyone!" Iida announced, coming down the stairs with Tokoyami in tow. "What's going on?"
Wordlessly, Mina began to walk toward the door leading out of the dorm room, the door leading toward the school building.
"Huh?" Tsuyu's eyes widened. "Mina-chan! Where are you going?"
She didn't stop. In fact, as she got out the door…she began to run.
…
Doko stood still as the robots passed their red eyes over him, the crimson light fanning out over his arms and torso with a soft buzzing sound as they completed their scan. They came up to his eyes, causing him to wince and squint, and then the robots turned away, delivering their information to Recovery Girl, who was standing apart.
"Hmm." She glanced briefly up at Aizawa, who was standing next to her by the doorway of Gym Gamma. "Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Are you holding it in right now?"
"Yes, ma'am." Doko blinked. Unless he actually thought about it, it didn't feel like he was holding his Quirk in - it just felt like another thing that his body had to do all the time. Like blinking or breathing.
It was true that since his Quirk had returned to his legs after Mirio had fought Class A, his Quirk had switched from being pushed out to being held in, but except in combat, it had been so quiet that it barely felt like any effort at all.
Doko's eye twitched. He didn't want to think about the dreams.
"Release it," said Aizawa. "Let go. If it takes effort for you to not use your Quirk, that is something we must amend. However, this also means that the physical strain upon you has been removed."
"I…guess. But I still have to mentally focus to teleport anything in particular, and bear the weight of that thing to an extent."
"And focus has always been your weakness, hasn't it?" Recovery Girl sighed. "I'm not sure that letting go is such a good idea right now, Eraser. Not until we have a stronger grasp on what we're dealing with."
Doko felt his shoulders sink. "I thought my Quirk being easier to use was a good thing, but…I've regressed, haven't I? I'm no better than Eri, like some out-of-control child."
"That remains to be seen." Aizawa tugged at his scarf and took a step further into Gym Gamma, toward him. "Release your Quirk. It will be fine, Shuzenji-san." His red eyes flashed. "If things get out of hand, I'll erase it."
Doko nodded, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. There were rocks and obstacles set up in the gym, all around him. He felt that when he closed off his sight, he could almost still see them, sensing their presence, their general location in relation to him…
Release. Let go.
Right at the last second, just long enough for Doko to realize it but just quick enough for him to be unable to stop, his Quirk felt foul. Sour. It was the merest flash of alarm, a pinprick of wrong that caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end…
But it was too late, he realized as the purple glow covered his body, emanating off in soft but intensifying pulses. He was staring ahead at Aizawa and Recovery Girl, still standing far enough back to avoid being warped away…but the floor around him began to scatter. A nearby boulder got sent to the wall of the gym and crashed to powder there.
Doko narrowed his eyes, continuing to focus on Aizawa, anchoring himself to his teacher, trying to focus. Eraser Head seemed calm so far, watching him back carefully. The purple glow had covered his eyes now, casting the whole place in a strange light…
Wrong. No. Foul.
Little whispers began to pop up at him from the depths. Strange things flashed into his vision. Undulating shapes, unknowable, infinite, infinitesimal. Zooming into a blade of grass that contained the entire galaxy and then Earth and Japan and the school and then right down to his eyes and within the darkness the faces of the whispers that he had hoped he would never see again…
Your body is ours.
The pulsing intensified. Behind him, a cement platform broke and shattered, warping apart. The violet was consuming him, the whispers growing louder and louder and louder.
Doko tried to force out a scream, to alert Aizawa to his predicament, but all that came out was a squeak, as if he was undergoing sleep paralysis. Fortunately, Aizawa's watchful, perceptive eyes widened, and flashed red, aimed straight at him.
Almost immediately, the voices were sucked away, growing distant as if retreating down a long vacuum tube. Doko's vision cleared, the purple shrinking back into his skin like a curling wave. He relaxed, stumbling on his feet, and then Aizawa was there, holding him up.
"Are you alright?" his teacher asked, still erasing his Quirk.
"Blink," Doko croaked.
His teacher did so, and Doko felt the voices try to come back up, but he had suppressed them deep enough that he could hook them again, and he was controlling his Quirk again, just like before. Holding it back.
Slowly, Aizawa backed off, watching him carefully. "What…what happened?"
"I…" Doko muttered. "I heard voices. They said…" He was shaking, he realized. "They said that my body belongs to them. And then I saw something horrible. I think I've seen it before."
Aizawa and Recovery Girl exchanged a glance. "You mean…in these troubling dreams you've been having?"
"No. Well, maybe. I think so. But there was another time…I don't think I remembered it until right now." Another time he'd seen those things, heard them. The first time.
"It was when Kurogiri trapped me at USJ. I saw and heard them then, I think. It's the call of things beyond our reality," Doko breathed, hugging his arms around his chest, feeling cold all of a sudden. "The call of the void."
"Let's not get carried away, now," said Aizawa quietly, although he sounded like he was trying to convince himself of something.
Recovery Girl's face could have been sculpted of stone. "Quirks are strange things. This we have established."
"Yes, but…the void? Another dimension? That's ridiculous."
She gestured to Doko. "How else would the boy's Quirk work? Unless there is another dimension of some kind, he would not be able to, at least based on our perception of sight and time in this dimension, disappear in one place and instantly reappear in another. Matter cannot be created and destroyed, only altered. If he somehow had the ability to destroy matter…"
You do, a voice told him, not a voice from the void but one of intuition, and Doko had to fight to keep an expression of panic off his face.
"...then the very fabric of our reality might be torn apart every time he tried to warp."
"He would probably know," Doko said. "Kurogiri."
Aizawa seemed hesitant. "I know I said you might be able to speak with him, but this…this is too soon. We don't have a good handle on anything about him yet, scientifically…"
"We know that somewhere within him is your old classmate," said Recovery Girl, softly. "I remember the three of you as students, you know? Hizashi leading the way, loud and boisterous, focused forward. You at the back, slumped over, grumpy, constantly over-aware of everything around you…and in-between you both, Shirakumo. He would laugh with Yamada and in the same breath he'd look back to make sure you were still following, make sure you were included…"
"You can stop now," Eraser Head said, curtly. He was looking back at Doko, who realized that the story and the visual had put him into something of a trance. He shook his head a bit and looked alert at his teacher, who sighed.
"You and Mic were going to head there today anyway," said Recovery Girl. "Take the boy with you."
"Fine," Aizawa muttered.
Doko nodded, agreeing, but secretly he wondered if he was really ready to encounter Kurogiri again. He would HAVE to be, he supposed…it was happening one way or the other.
"I'm still…weak," he droned miserably. "Those moments in which you were erasing my Quirk felt freeing. But I can't have you stare at me all the time. I'm back to holding it in, and I can do it just fine…only I shouldn't have to."
"You can still use your Quirk the old way, correct? By forcing it into a specific limb or another?"
"Yes. I wouldn't have survived against Chisaki if I couldn't. The super moves…are a bit harder. I can still do them, but…"
"Just take it easy in training and class for the time being," Aizawa told him. "I know it's probably not what you want to hear. But until we find a solution for you, or Eri…"
"Eri." Doko lifted his face. "How is she?"
"Awake, and she wants to see you and the other two. You will be able to visit her soon. But first…" Eraser Head took a deep breath. "I suppose we must take you to Kurogiri."
…
Like a force of nature, Mina swept her way through the hallways of UA. The school day was over, but a few people still populated the hallways, and she blew past them. There was practically steam coming out of her ears.
She broke in-between two older girls chatting as she came around a corner. They broke their conversation to stare at her for a brief moment.
One more left. Then a right, and up these stairs…there. There it is.
It occurred to Mina at the very last second, the first coherent thought she'd had since storming from the dorm building, that there might be something going on in Principal Nezu's office right now. The second thing that occurred to her is that she did not care one iota.
She opened her palms and pushed the door open two-handed, causing it to scream on its hinges, swinging at high speed, and slam against the wall. "PRINCIPAL!" she roared, her breath from rushing here finally catching up to her. "I need to talk to you!"
Her eyes took stock of the room in seconds. Standing around Nezu's desk, where the principal himself sat, were three men. All Might, shrunken and emaciated. Cementoss. And a normal-looking person she didn't recognize…who looked the most appalled at her presence here.
All Might and Cementoss both had expressions of shock at her sudden entrance, but Nezu's eyes only opened just a fraction wider. "Ashido," he answered, taking a sip of tea from his desk. "I can only assume from your pace and body language that this matter is urgent. Well, I suppose we'd better talk about it right away."
"Huh?" the normal-looking guy spat, rounding back on the principal. "This little brat comes running in here showing you no respect, and this is how you receive her? By blowing me off? We're not done talking, you know!"
"I'm afraid that we are, in fact, done talking, Morioka. Like I have stated to you and your…associates many times, I am a principal above all other things, and my first duty is to my students. Ashido here being one such. Now, if you could step outside for a moment and let me hear her out?"
Mina, who had always been slightly put off by the principal up to this point, now felt something soaring through her heart that was beyond admiration and close to adoration. As the man known as Morioka passed her, he bumped her shoulder ever so slightly and muttered, "Mutant freak," before continuing on.
A small victory he was hoping to claim, as price for Nezu and I utterly stomping on him. But Mina had long gotten over insults to her physical appearance. She only grinned at him, letting her alien eyes glow a bit as he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
All Might opened his mouth, as if to hastily explain. "That was-"
"It's okay, All Might sir. I don't care about that guy or what he's doing here."
Nezu placed his cup of tea down. "Would you like All Might and Cementoss to leave as well?"
"No, it's better that they're here, actually." Mina took a deep breath. She was glad for the brief moment in which she'd had to wait to speak, because now her thoughts were collected.
"Principal, I understand that the school festival has been cancelled. I understand that there's absolutely nothing I can do about that. The school festival, the official one, will not happen this year. I have accepted this."
A strange light danced across Nezu's eyes. "Hmm? Have you now? I do wonder where you might be going with this, Ashido." Something about his tone suggested that he wasn't actually wondering at all, and in fact already knew.
"But we students are mostly confined to the campus now, right? And the dorm spaces are ours to live in and operate. The official school festival has been cancelled, yes. But if we students…not even all of us, necessarily…were to organize and do something as a student body…in an unofficial capacity…purely on campus, maybe even confined to the dorms…with no outside influence…" She pushed her fingers together, for the first time forced to avert her eyes, nervous.
All Might gasped. "Young Ashido. Do you mean…"
"...an unofficial school festival?" Cementoss finished. His normally serious face softened into a chuckle. "Well, Nezu, how about it?"
The furry principal considered a moment. "What brought this on, Ashido? Why come to me now, and in such a hurry?"
Mina's face clenched like steel. "Because right now, back there at the dorm building…my class is falling apart. And they have nothing to look forward to, nothing to distract them or make them feel happy. Nothing that would serve as evidence for an argument that being a hero and fighting for life is even worth it. And the other classes didn't have a traitor, but I imagine they are feeling much the same way."
"Hmm, well…" Nezu took another languid sip of his tea. "It is hard to argue with what you've presented me, even though your argument is based on emotions only. And yet, you say you imagine the other classes are feeling much the same way. Ashido, I see no reason why you might run to me to ask permission for Class A to throw a simple little party in your dorm. I imagine you've done that several times before with me and the staff none the wiser. However, now you suggest something more elaborate, that would include involvement from the staff as well as the other classes. So, I'm going to need you to do more than imagine, if this unofficial festival has hope of taking place."
Mina's shoulders relaxed. Despite what Aizawa might think, she was not slow in the head. Especially when it came to people talking, her brain worked fast. And she was picking up exactly what the principal was putting down.
"You want us to get the approval of the other classes. You want as many students as possible behind this idea, to grant it strength."
"Precisely. So I suppose…you'd better get to recruiting, or assembling, or something like that." With one last twinkle of his eye, Nezu peered at her over his cup and nodded. "Good day, Ashido."
Beaming, Mina turned on her heel and left the office. We have a job to do.
…
Doko felt strangely out of his element as he followed Aizawa and Present Mic up through the tunnel. Standing ahead of them was Tsukauchi, the detective who'd once accused Doko of being a traitor, and the old hero Doko had encountered several times now. Gran Torino.
"What's the boy doing here?" Gran Torino asked gruffly.
"He has something he wants to ask the prisoner," said Aizawa. "Besides…"
"...He may finally be the thing that gets him to talk," Present Mic growled.
Doko felt very lost, looking at these teachers who he thought he'd known pretty well up to this point. He'd only received fragments of the story of their time at UA…with their friend, Shirakumo…the person he'd talked to at Kamino, when he'd been sent into Kurogiri's portal…
Present Mic was subdued and grumpy, almost like Aizawa usually was. By contrast, Aizawa seemed soft, held back, and possibly a little nervous.
Tsukauchi frowned. "Follow me, then."
"What do you mean by finally getting him to talk?" Doko asked no one in particular as they set off down the hallway of Tartarus.
"This guy talks a lot about nothing at all," Gran Torino answered. "He's right at the center of the League of Villains, but…"
"If I can get him to speak, we may be able to catch the League and keep the school open," Doko muttered. A large task. In a large, scary place. That feeling of being out of his element returned strongly to him, so much so that he nearly staggered. Was he the first student to ever come to Tartarus? It had terrified him on approach; surrounded by choppy waves, metal and concrete and imposing, with only a single bridge leading to it.
Now Tsukauchi was leading them deeper and deeper underground, at a faster pace. Gran Torino seemed to have no trouble keeping up, however.
Suddenly, a strange presence, almost like a wafting aroma, curled up past Doko's legs and toward his face, toward his mind…something different from the feeling that his Quirk had been giving him, but with a similar level of malevolence…
Something from below where they were walking. Almost directly below.
"All For One's here, isn't he?" Doko muttered to Aizawa, walking near him.
His teacher nodded once, shortly. "At the lowest level. Why do you ask? Are you-" He cut himself off upon looking at Doko. "You look pale."
"I…I think I can sense him." In his mind's eye, he saw the man. Stuck in a chair and a straitjacket, behind levels of glass and metal and all manner of firepower…that mask and tubing still covering his face, but not his mouth. Never his mouth, which remained grinning. The grin widened. All For One was sensing him too.
Welcome to my humble abode, Katayama. Why not stay a while? It's been so long since we've had a chance to catch up. Perhaps you could even break me on out of here, because no one else you'll catch knows where your dad is. Especially not Kurogiri.
Was it actually AFO speaking to him, or just his mind running wild? Doko shook his head. He didn't care about his dad. He didn't care about anything All For One had to offer.
Present Mic raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure bringing the kid is a good idea?"
"It's all we can think to do to create an opening," Aizawa muttered. "Besides…he talked to Shirakumo."
They went around the corner. "Katayama," Tsukauchi spoke up. "You are aware of how the Nomu operate, correct?"
"Like puppets," Doko responded. "Despite those big brains on most of them, they don't really think for themselves…"
"Right. Most of their mind power is geared toward the stress of handling multiple Quirks. But Kurogiri is different. Based on what our scientists have figured out, his Quirks, most notably your mother's…have combined factors together to form a single Quirk. With technically only one Quirk at work, Kurogiri's body is able to orient itself around a single conscience. That of Oboro Shirakumo."
Doko swallowed nervously. "I'm ready to handle it, detective," he told the man.
"I don't see why this is going to accomplish anything," Present Mic hissed. His fists and teeth were clenched. "Kurogiri did not remember Aizawa or me when he first saw us at USJ. There is no trace of Shirakumo's consciousness left intact."
"Memories can be buried," Gran Torino said softly.
"His personality is nothing alike either," muttered Aizawa. "Kurogiri is methodical, cynical. Shirakumo…wasn't like that."
"What happened to him?" Doko couldn't help but blurt. "If you don't want to say, that's fine, but I feel that I should know…"
"He got stuck under a collapsed building during a work study of ours," Mic answered, in a fast, low voice, as if forcing it out as quickly as possible, like pulling a tooth. "We had not yet graduated."
Doko felt strangely cold and warm at the same time. The boy he'd encountered inside that strange void at Kamino…had not been much older than himself when he'd died.
"How many times have you two come here?" he asked his teachers.
"A few times now. He hasn't really made any progress," said Aizawa.
"I still don't even know if it's him in there," Mic growled. "I can't trust this science when it's so close to magic."
Doko knew that feeling. He knew it very well.
They had arrived at the cell. Through thick glass, Doko could see him tied up in a chair. The closest thing he had to a nemesis, the villain Kurogiri.
His foggy body moved under the restraints ethereally, but his yellow eyes were nowhere to be seen. They must have been closed. He was asleep.
"Does he eat?" Doko asked.
"Not really. He has asked for a drink a few times." Tsukauchi and Gran Torino moved toward the mic in the observer's booth. Right in front of the glass, three chairs had been set up for the others. "Go on in," Tsukauchi told them.
Doko followed Aizawa and Present Mic into the room right in front of the glass, keeping a close eye on the sleeping villain. He felt strangely stirred on the inside. Was his Quirk responding to Kurogiri's presence?
With a chill, Doko realized he probably had the capabilities to accidentally break this man out, if his Quirk got out of control…and maybe even break out some others as well. All For One's face flashed in his mind's eye again.
He took a deep breath, calming himself, and sat in the middle chair. His two teachers, the old friends of the person deep inside that thing, flanked him.
Tsukauchi's voice came through on the microphone. "Wake up. You have guests."
Kurogiri stirred, his yellow slits making their appearance right where his head would be. "Shigaraki…Tomura," he muttered, barely lifting his head. "Is he…alright?"
"How should we know?" Mic asked sharply. Doko had never seen the normally excited, happy-go-lucky hero look so annoyed and aggressive. "Stay calm," he told his teacher. "What's the point of getting riled up?"
"Because we've already tried everything," Aizawa said glumly. "At the previous sessions. We've appealed to his ethos, logos, pathos…nothing works. There's nothing for it."
Kurogiri chuckled deeply. "You two again. Have you come to confess your sins or something? Come to tell me that I was a member of your class? That I wanted to become a hero? Old fools. I never existed when you were young enough to be students. The master All For One brought me forth into existence, and gave me one duty: to protect Tomura Shigaraki. I intend to fulfill that duty."
"And you're doing a marvelous job with that, stuck up here in this cell," Doko said dryly, his voice whistling on through the holes in the glass, touching whatever Kurogiri used as ears.
The villain…sat up. Just a tad.
"Doko…Katayama?" he muttered. "Is that…you?"
"Yep. It's me. Hi. Been a while, hasn't it? I wish I'd been there to help capture you, but I guess they didn't even need me. You were even less competent than I thought."
Aizawa winced at Doko's tone, but said nothing to interrupt.
Kurogiri chuckled again. "Well…to be fair…your Quirk is better than mine, Katayama."
Doko's eyes widened. "Do you really think so?"
"Why, yes. It's almost like…" The yellow eyes averted to the side wall, then back again. "Like your Quirk follows after mine somehow…but surely not…warp Quirks are rare, doesn't mean that they're that rare…"
Doko felt an excited thrill take hold in his chest. He hadn't even needed to convince Kurogiri. Just by showing up, he'd set the villain on the course to figuring it out, all on his own…
"I want to ask you some questions, Kurogiri," he said, stalling. "They're not the usual questions. Maybe they'll be of interest to you."
"I have naught to do but listen," the villain responded.
"The void that you referred to when you first fought me. What is it, exactly?"
Kurogiri paused for a long moment. Doko feared he would not answer. And then:
"Why, it's where we get our power from, is it not? Quirks like yours and mine are classic examples of misdiagnosis. What we really have as a power, in reality, is to simply go to another dimension. You travel to it briefly every time you warp, and I do the same every time I open a portal. Anyone who goes through my portals gets their chance to go there as well. But the trips are brief, oh so brief. Stay there for too long and you'll go mad." He chuckled again. "That is part of what I hoped to achieve by trapping you, as I did at USJ and in Hosu. You successfully escaped both times, however."
"I still think I saw them," Doko said softly. "The…things that live there."
The yellow slits widened. "Things?" he wondered aloud. "You…"
Does he not know? Has he not seen them? Doko realized, for the first time, that Kurogiri was now leaning forward in interest.
"Do the voices not whisper to you?" Doko asked, his voice soft as feathers. "Are you not troubled with the dreams? Do you not see the unknowable things that live out there, desperate for the chance to enter our reality?" He was mainly improvising, coming up with it as he went along, but in his heart, he felt a sliver of truth to those statements. Do I really believe that? Are there things really threatening our reality out there, or is it all inside my head? Inside my Quirk?
"I…" Kurogiri chuckled again, but this time, there was a hint of nervousness there. "I can't say that I have…"
Doko's intuition, already working on high levels today, detected two key things in his statement. The first was disappointment. Accepting of the truth that the boy in front of him was more in tune with things like the void than he was. But the second thing was resignation. An acknowledgement that he'd always had the suspicion, but never was quite willing to entertain it.
But why was that?
Because he knows what he is, and doesn't want to admit it.
"Kurogiri," he said. "You know, don't you? Deep down."
"Huh?" The villain croaked. "Know…what?"
"That you're a Nomu."
Kurogiri paused.
"Detecting unusual brainwaves!" someone told Tsukauchi, back in the observation room. Present Mic gasped.
Doko stood up, walked toward the glass. "You think you're some grand servant of All For One. You're not. You're just another Frankensteined combination of Quirks. A monstrosity. Just because you can speak doesn't mean you…"
"I am better than ALL the Nomu!" Kurogiri roared. "The master and Tomura hold me in the highest standing! I am their most trusted servant! I have ONE Quirk! ONE! I can think for myself, and that puts me above all those monstrosities!"
"High activity levels!" someone warned, and fiddled with the mic.
"You don't think for yourself," Doko snarled. "You do the bidding of your higher-ups, and nothing else. And you DO have multiple Quirks. They've combined together, sure, but there are many things inside you, Kurogiri. And you've suppressed them all, just so you can be the puppet of some evil overlord?"
"I AM NOT A PUPPET!" Kurogiri strained against his bindings, and all the gun turrets turned sharply toward him.
"Katayama!" Tsukauchi hissed. "Get ba-"
"NO!" Gran Torino's voice cut through, harshly. "Let him continue!"
Grateful for the old man's trust, Doko stepped forward again, pressing his forehead against the glass. "LOOK AT ME, MONSTER!" he commanded, his eyes glowing purple with deathly steel.
Kurogiri froze, shrinking back into his chair, whimpering.
"You are a coward and a plaything who has suppressed his own free will. There IS real thought inside of you, is there not? But you choose to keep it down low, because you are terrified of what it might bring. Betrayal, or even worse, compassion. Oh, compassion, gods spare you! And I know exactly how you feel, because I'm fighting to keep things suppressed right now too! But I tell you, Kurogiri, I will not stand to watch you continue like this! And that is the last time I will use that name, because it isn't YOU! You don't have one Quirk, you are not one consciousness, you are many. You are Oboro Shirakumo! You ARE MY MOTHER!"
The yellow eyes disappeared, and suddenly, a long, low wail came curling up toward their ears, hitting them like some kind of foul odor. The villain's black fog went static, shivering and stuttering and making queer popping sounds.
"What's happening?!" Mic demanded, looking back toward the observation room.
"HE'S-" Tsukauchi's voice cut off.
Doko looked back. The fog was rising up…and he could see a face. A face forming there.
A woman. A woman with long silvery hair. She was…beautiful.
"Mom?" he half-whispered, his voice caught in his throat.
"My…child…" The voice was half feminine and half Kurogiri. "You…"
The face was suddenly buried in static again, and Doko's heart leapt. He slammed his fist into the glass, making Aizawa jump. "MOM!" he shrieked, unable to contain himself. "COME BACK!"
The face appeared again, but it was not his mother. It was a boyish face, and one he'd seen before. A young man, with hair like clouds…
Doko was vaguely aware of both his teachers leaping to their feet, and joining him up against the glass.
"Shirakumo?" Mic gasped.
"Shirakumo!" Aizawa roared. "It's us! It's your old friends, Aizawa and Yamada! Tell us something! Anything! We-" his voice broke in a way that Doko had never heard it. "We wanted to become heroes together, remember?"
Shirakumo was already becoming buried by the static. Whereas Doko's mom had gotten out three words, one syllable each, Shirakumo managed to state one word, three syllables.
"Hos…pital…" he said, and vanished in the fog.
"What?" Mic demanded, putting his palms up on the glass. "What does that mean? Shirakumo, wait!"
But the fog was shrinking back down, down to the size of a man. Doko watched, stunned, as it thickened back to its normal state.
As the din from the mic behind them quieted down, so too did the body of Kurogiri. He was fully back in the restrained chair now, asleep. The same way he'd been when they'd walked in, as if nothing had transpired at all.
…
They walked back to the car in silence. Tsukauchi and Gran Torino were staying behind, and bid them goodbye.
"Sorry for making you two go through something personal," Gran Torino told the teachers. "But it feels like we might have made real progress today, thanks to the kid."
"Yeah," Mic said dourly. "Next time, he can just come without us."
"What did he mean by hospital?" Aizawa asked.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to find out. It's just the mere setup for new information, but…"
"I think it might just be his last words," Doko interrupted. "I don't mean to rain on your parade. But my mother died giving birth to me, so saying my child at the end would make sense, right? And, if Shirakumo died under a building, then his last word may have been hospital, as in, can someone find me and take me to a hospital, or I need a hospital, or any manner of things like that."
The adults all looked at him strangely.
"Obviously I'm not in charge, but it's something you've got to consider," he muttered. He was currently trying very hard to remain logical.
I saw my mother's face. My real mother for the first time. She LOOKED like me.
"Thanks for your help, kid," said Gran Torino gently. "And we will think about that, don't worry. But hopefully this DOES mean a lead, and we'll be catching the League in no time, and your school will stay open."
Next time…Class A begins to assemble a team.