Chapter 81: Tornado Warning
Mashirao Ojiro turned the corner in the dorm hallway and nearly ran right into Tsuyu.
"Whoa! Sorry, Tsu…"
She turned and blinked at him, brushing herself off. "I'm fine, ribbit."
"Ah, yeah…" Ojiro's eyes darted to the door at the end of the hall, where he'd been heading. Uraraka's room.
Tsuyu followed his gaze. "Ojiro, were you going to talk to her?"
"Ah…I thought it would be good to fill her in on what Aizawa-sensei said, and to see how she's holding up…but if you were already going, then!"
"No," Tsuyu interrupted him flatly. "I was going, but I think she's quite tired of me, ribbit. It'll be better if it's you."
He raised an eyebrow. He had a hard time believing such a statement, but Tsu always seemed to know best.
"Well, okay…if you're sure."
He walked past her and toward Uraraka's closed door. Behind him, he heard a soft, "Good luck, ribbit…" and then Tsuyu's fading footfalls meaning she was leaving.
Ojiro took a deep breath and knocked on the door. "Uraraka? It's um…it's me."
He waited five seconds. Ten. He was certain she would not open the door for him…but then she did.
He straightened himself a little upon meeting her gaze. The light had gone from her brown eyes. She appraised him flatly, with no trace of any emotion at all.
Ojiro flared his nose. Originally, he'd planned on starting by telling her what she'd missed at the downstairs meeting, but that flew out the window immediately. "Uraraka," he said. "I thought you'd been feeling better. What the hell happened?"
She blinked. "Did Tsu send you up here?"
He bristled. "As a matter of fact, no. I came on my own decision."
"What's with that tone? You lookin' for a fight or something?" Just a trace of her country accent.
"Maybe. If sparring would make you feel better, then…"
"Ugh!" Uraraka whirled, and stormed back toward her bed, but left the door open. "That's what I hate! Everyone wants me to feel better! Everyone thinks I should be different than I am, but I'm not! And everyone thinks they know how to make it right…"
"I don't, actually," Ojiro insisted. "I have no idea. I don't understand at all."
She stopped, and looked at him.
"This pain you're in…I don't get it. You say you want everyone to stop worrying about you, but that's just not gonna happen, Uraraka. You have to take responsibility for how you make everyone feel when you storm off like this. It's happened multiple times at this point, and drags the whole mood of the class down. We're going to battle in a matter of weeks. This is the last thing we need right now. So either pull yourself together, or explain to me what's wrong so I'll pull you together." Without realizing, he'd stepped fully into her room, closed his fists, curled up his tail, and arched his eyebrows down, his chest heaving with frustrated, angry breath.
Uraraka raised an eyebrow. "You…don't feel…pity? You don't feel bad for me?"
"Should I?"
She ran the palms of her hands together, as if mulling it over. "...No. That's not what I want at all."
"Then what do you want?"
"To understand them, Ojiro! That bastard who betrayed us, Kaminari. Himiko Toga, who stabbed me. Shigaraki, who did permanent damage to my throat. Do you remember the mall incident, when he kidnapped me? He asked me about Stain. I told him people like Stain because they understand him. He was a murderer but he was trying to fix…stuff. But these others…I don't get them at all. They complain about society and yet they actively make it worse by killing and stabbing and decaying…are they just crazy? Why do I have to deal with people like that? It's so…frustrating! It makes me so MAD!"
She punched her bed, hard enough to discharge the springs. Ojiro jumped. "But…why?" he asked. "Why does it upset you so…I mean, yeah, they're crazy. That just makes it simple. We have to stop them."
"No, no, it's not simple at all." Uraraka pulled at her hair. "You weren't there, Ojiro. I wish you had been. Kaminari…he…he laid down against a wall and cried. He begged us to capture him just so he could have somewhere warm to sleep. I can't stop thinking about that. He did that to himself, and yet…why do I feel bad for him?"
"Because you're human," Ojiro said, sitting down next to her. "You feel empathy, of course."
"But not for the likes of them. I can't, because…then…they'll get away with something else. The second we let our guard down, they'll…" She was trembling. Ojiro wanted to hug her, but he was terrified out of his mind to do so.
"That guy Dabi. He's way too far gone. You can see it in his eyes in that video. All he has left to keep him going is the idea of completely ruining the world. Ruining it for good and normal people. It gave him pleasure to kill Hawks in front of millions, because he knew how it would make everyone feel. They are ACTIVELY TRYING to make the world worse. And I cannot stand that. I'm sure that he and all the others and even Kaminari have some…tragic…backstory…" She spat out the last two words with venom. "But my parents are dirt poor and here I am, being a hero. So I don't get it. I don't get it at all."
"Well…" Ojiro said, doubtfully. "Have you tried to?"
"Tried to what." It was a question, but it fell flat in her dejected tone.
"Tried to get it, I mean. We're going to come in contact with these people again whether you want to or not. Are you going to try to understand? Or will you be blinded by this rage you feel? Going off like this…is exactly the kind of fuel that guys like Dabi are looking for. I can see it already, Uraraka. If you see, for example, Himiko Toga again…"
Uraraka stiffened up like a length of wood.
"...And go too far in the fight, then…what?"
"It's way too late," she muttered. "We have to get our hands dirty at this point in order to beat them. There's no way around that."
Ojiro managed a smile. "I think you're giving up before the bell's been called. And that's not something I know you to do."
She lifted her head, and looked directly at him.
"It may be that you're right. That it's too late to both beat them and stay better than them…stay as morally upright heroes. But I'm still going to try. I'll still try as hard as I can to show them that their way is misguided. And I hope that…you'll be with me. With us." He coughed, blushing a little.
Ochaco Uraraka sniffed. "Of course I will be there. Ojiro, I, umm…"
"Hmm?" He looked right at her. Right into her eyes, which seemed a little brighter.
"Well, you…ahem." She averted her gaze with reddened cheeks. "You probably already knew that I had a crush on Deku for a while."
"Everyone knew that. But he is dating Hado-senpai now."
"Right, well…I just wanted you to know…that I don't have a crush on him anymore. I still respect him a lot, don't get me wrong! In fact, I think the reality you're talking about…where we try our best to show the villains a better path instead of just defeating them…I think he'd be at the forefront of such a scenario. That's the kind of guy he is. But…I don't have romantic feelings for him anymore."
Ojiro smiled a little. "And why is this relevant to me, exactly?"
"Because!" She snapped her mouth close, and frowned at him. "Jerk. Are you going to make me say it?"
"Say what?" He blinked, all innocence.
A beat of silence between them. Uraraka's eye twitched.
"Ojiro. I have decided I want you to get out of my room now." She closed her eyes and smiled, the killing intent behind the expression very poorly veiled.
"Ah! Okay." He squeaked and moved back toward the door. "Well, if you change your mind…"
"Out! You ruined it." She was pouting now.
"Sorry!" He turned tail, literally, and ran.
Inwardly, he was relieved. Uraraka was going to be alright. That was all that mattered.
Meanwhile, Ochaco herself was all astir with feelings. She DID feel better. Ojiro had that effect on her. Usually it was in the form of a nice long practice fight, but today he'd known just what to say, as well. She recognized that same feeling she'd had as she'd started to get to know Deku…but nevertheless, she wasn't certain. She'd tried to hint to him that if he felt something for her, and she was pretty sure he did…then she would say yes. Just to see. If it could work. Because maybe now, with this storm on the horizon, it wouldn't work at all.
But Deku and Nejire are still together. And Sero and Shiozaki, and Shoji and Toru…and Mina and Katayama.
Katayama.
Goosebumps crawled up Uraraka's spine, and suddenly, a stray bobby pin on her bed began floating up.
She frowned. That's funny. I don't remember touching that.
…
Doko walked into Nezu's office. It had been a while since his last visit here. So much has changed since then. For one, he'd had an entire battle with the fuzzy little principal. A battle where he gained an understanding of how Nezu thought. I'm confident he'll listen to me. And believe me. And maybe even know what to do.
Inside the office were a lot of staff members. Besides the principal himself, Aizawa was here, along with Vlad King, Midnight, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, Cementoss, Snipe…and perhaps most notably, All Might and Recovery Girl on the far left.
Doko bowed. "Thank you all for agreeing to listen to me."
Nezu smiled from his desk. "Don't worry about formalities. I know you, Katayama, so I can only assume that this is urgent, and of utmost importance."
"What's going on, kid?" Snipe asked gruffly.
"Well…I suppose this is something that should be well known. It should be told to the medical community, the scientific community, the Hero Commission, to all the pros…but right now, I am a ward of this school. Time and time again, at the USJ and in all the classes and exercises over the past year…it has been all of you that have been here for me and for my classmates. It's like you're my parents, almost."
Midnight coo'd, and Cementoss chuckled. Vlad King shifted uncomfortably. "Don't make it weird, kid."
"No, I have to set it up. I have to explain why you all are the first people, and as of now the only people, I can trust with this information. It is nothing short of world-changing."
All Might's eyes widened. His voice sounded hoarse. "What is it, Katayama?"
Doko took a deep breath. "For the past few months now, I have been in contact with a parallel dimension by which my Quirk is able to operate. A void which exists in the space between atoms in the real world. I guess, physically, it's probably outside our universe, if that's easier to visualize."
Ectoplasm's eye twitched. "We haven't even gotten to theoretical physics in the curriculum yet…"
Aizawa nodded, twirling his finger to get Doko to continue. "This was already known to some of us. What else?"
Doko looked at Recovery Girl, knowing she would hate to hear this. "I have also been in contact with, umm…life forms? That live in that dimension?"
Silence. It seemed that the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Doko realized that for several people in the room, they were hearing for the first time what was basically evidence of alien life.
"You don't have to believe me," he said. "But it is true. There are beings living in that place. They're very old…and intelligent…and, umm…they told me, that…"
"Told you what?" Nezu leaned forward in his desk, clinging onto every word. "Katayama…"
"...That they created Quirks," he finally got out. "They…they baked them into the genetic code…a disease which spread through humanity…they were the catalyst."
Recovery Girl gasped. "My God," All Might half-whispered. Even Aizawa's eyebrows had gone up a mile high.
"Now hold on just a second!" Snipe scoffed. "On top of everything we have to deal with right now, there is no reason to believe this…"
"There is every reason," Nezu interrupted him, sharply. The principal's usual kind demeanor was long gone. "Katayama, why did they create Quirks? For what purpose? Did they tell you?"
Doko looked down at the floor and hugged himself about the chest. "To start wars like the one we're about to have. To turn humans into gods but keep all the worst parts of their humanity. To make us hurl thunderbolts at each other until we're so weakened that…that they can easily come and…kill everything."
"But…how?" Present Mic asked in disbelief. "Does this have anything to do with Kurogiri and Shirakumo?"
Doko nodded miserably. "Their goal was for Quirks to mutate until a power like that came about. A power that can open portals into the void. They got close with my family, I suppose…then All For One came along and muddied things a bit." Doko looked at All Might. "I don't know how much All For One knows about this. But his schemes certainly threw a wrench into things…in any case, I'm still here. And the creatures of the void seem to consider me a sufficient vessel to use to begin their invasion."
"Invasion," Aizawa muttered. "Invasion."
The room was spinning with disbelief. "This is madness," Vlad King claimed. "We simply cannot deal with this right now."
"We can't even afford to take this story seriously!" Snipe claimed.
"We must," Nezu insisted. "Think about everything you've seen in your life. All the villains that are created just because their Quirk gives them mad impulses. Look at me, for goodness' sake…I was experimented on and turned into what you see before you all because I was born with certain gifts that other animals did not have. And now look at what we're doing…walking into a war with the Paranormal Liberation Front. A war that will tear this country in half, no matter how well we do in it. How can you look at all that and not believe that it was started by some…malevolent forces?"
"Because this is just human nature," said Cementoss doubtfully. "Things happen randomly. Things spiral out of control. Coincidences, entropy, mutation, natural selection…all these things have been around forever."
"And it's exactly that which the creatures are weaponizing against us," Doko said. "That's why I was…why I was created."
"Can we defeat them?" Aizawa asked bluntly.
Doko looked straight at his homeroom teacher, eyes wide. "Can we…"
"Defeat them. Katayama, you are the only one in this room with sufficient intel on our enemy. You have come to us with a problem. Do you have a solution? Can. We. Defeat. Them?"
"I'm sorry, sensei. I don't even know. I can barely even tell you what they look like. All I know is…every time I come into contact with them, my body is wracked with such fear that I can barely move or think. They wield…unimaginable power. Far beyond any Quirk I know." He looked at All Might again.
"Well, we know a temporary solution, at least," said Recovery Girl. "We have to bench you in the war to come."
Doko's eyes widened. "What?"
Midnight sighed. "It does make sense…"
"No…wait!"
"Do you have a better idea?" The old woman asked him. "You say these beings will try to access our reality through you. I can only assume that means when you activate your Quirk, you blur the line between their dimension and ours. The last thing we need is for these creatures to break through while we are fighting the Paranormal Liberation Front. We will deal with one enemy, then the next. But for now, you must stay hidden and out of the fight."
"No," said both Aizawa and All Might.
Nezu raised an eyebrow. "You two rarely agree on anything. Might I inquire as to the reasoning?"
Doko looked back and forth between them wildly. His heart was racing. Benched…stuck here while the war happens…I wouldn't be able to stand it. His whole purpose for existing, for being at this school, was to use his Quirk for good. It was the first and last thing to drive him. Without that…he would be nothing but what they feared him to be.
All Might looked grim. "All For One is planning something. I just know it. With the boy, with anything else…it's impossible to know exactly. But the solution is not to keep the boy out of it. That may end up having the opposite effect, such as pulling the fight to a place we do not want it anywhere close to."
"I see," said Nezu. "Does anyone else agree?"
Cementoss and Ectoplasm both nodded. Midnight, Vlad King, and Snipe all remained silent, however.
"We may not even have the authority to bench Katayama, I'm afraid," Nezu told the dissenters. "It's in the Commission's hands, and they will absolutely want someone as powerful as him helping in the war effort."
"And for once, they'd be right." Aizawa's eyes narrowed, but did not break away from Doko. "We cannot defeat the Paranormal Liberation Front without Everywhere. A blanket statement, I'm aware, but it is the most logical path. We will lose without him. It's that simple."
Doko felt his eyes well up with tears. "Sensei…" he murmured. His heart stirred with an emotion he couldn't even identify.
"I hate this," Midnight muttered. "I feel such a sense of…dread."
Nezu turned away from the desk and looked out the window. "We are without choice at this point. We'll fight to defeat the Front and then deal with this void problem accordingly. And we must accept whatever wild cards get thrown our way. Speaking of which, Katayama…isn't there something you were planning on doing for the war? Something very essential?"
Doko's eyes widened. How does he know…oh, fuck it. He just knows. Sure. "Yes," he said, quietly. "I need permission to leave campus this weekend. I'm going to see…the family I used to live with."
…
Bakugo launched toward Sato with two small explosions. The bulky boy crossed his arms in front of himself to block the attack, but Bakugo launched up and over him and swept an underhanded explosion into his back…
Sato slid sideways to dodge, but still got grazed.
"You're getting faster, sugar moron. But still not fast enough!"
Bakugo launched himself sideways to dodge a punch…and then felt someone land on top of him.
"Huh? The fu…"
He felt legs wrapped around his neck, but could not see them. It was Toru.
"Hey, invisible chick! What are you, insane! Get off…"
Bakugo tried to launch himself into the air, but Sato dive-tackled him, and Toru spun in midair, using her legs to pull him into a takedown.
"Alright, you fuckin' asked for it!" Bakugo sent an explosion up behind himself, to where he knew she was…
She punched him in the face.
"OW!"
Another hit. And another. Bakugo tried to blow himself upward and free, but Sato held him down. Toru kept pummeling him, over and over again.
"Jesus, what the hell did I do to you!"
Toru was breathing really hard, like she was extremely angry about something. He couldn't recall ever doing anything to her, so this annoyed him.
Finally, Bakugo slammed both his palms into the ground hard, setting off two explosions powerful enough to launch all three of them into the air. "Oi, Aoyama! Get them off me, dammit! Make yourself useful!"
He'd ended up getting paired with the laser boy for this particular 2v2, which was less than ideal…but here came the boy's attack now, straight as an arrow toward Sato.
"Errrggh!" Toru screamed, and activated her own Refraction ability. Bakugo threw a hand in front of himself, blinded….
…Aoyama's laser curved through the air.
Everyone went silent. Everyone watching from the sidelines' jaw dropped.
Sato lowered his fists. Aoyama stood there in disbelief, having seen what just happened. His laser had been diverted away from the other boy.
Bakugo looked back and forth between them. "Was…was that on purpose…?"
"I did it," Toru mumbled. "I…I bent it. I bent the light."
"Whoa!" Sato exclaimed. "That's awesome!"
Bakugo hissed breath out through his teeth. "Jesus."
Aizawa had stood and was running over to them. "Hagakure. Did you just say that you curved Aoyama's laser?"
"Uhh…yeah." She responded in an oddly distant voice.
"Do it again." He nodded at Aoyama.
Aoyama fired his laser again. Toru activated her Refraction ability. Once again, the laser was diverted, like a flowing river, off to the side.
Aizawa blinked. "From this point forward, you two are training together. Hone this ability. Learn to control exactly where the laser goes. This will turn you both into far more effective heroes."
"Understood, monsieur!" Aoyama saluted, seeming happy enough with the circumstances.
Toru remained silent.
…
For the next few days, Class A continued to go through intense training. It was reminiscent of the Quirk training they had done at the summer training camp. Repetitive, intense, exhausting.
Midoriya worked on honing his new black tendril ability, with the help of Sero and Tsu. Uraraka and Ojiro continued to spar often. Mina used her Acid Queen move over and over again until activating it became almost second nature.
Doko practiced with Warp Shield, as well as the training that Mirko had instilled in him. Being able to warp things faster, react faster, remaining focused…turning fighting with his Quirk into even more of a dance than it had been before. And he and Tokoyami continued their meditations, though they carried a certain weight of anxiousness now. Tokoyami didn't talk as much now; he was still mourning Hawks.
Momo and Jiro had picked a few things up at their work study that they worked on together; in fact, the two seemed nearly inseparable, now. Momo had learned how to create certain sound equipment that Jiro could use briefly to power up her Quirk in any situation.
Shinso trained with Koda on voice techniques. They both learned to throw their voice without the assistance of any equipment, as well as other ventriloquist skills. Shinso also occasionally sparred with Ojiro and Uraraka to improve his hand-to-hand combat. One day, he didn't show up to the day's training, and everyone wondered where he'd gone, until he arrived at the dorm late that night covered in bruises.
"What happened?" Kirishima asked.
Shinso sighed…and then let out the first genuine smile many of them had seen from him. "I passed," he said. "I have a provisional license now."
That had led to some applause and celebration from the whole class, despite their very tired state.
And throughout all these days, Toru and Aoyama continued to work on her light-bending ability. While they were doing that, Aoyama also worked more on a technique of stopping his laser in a point just a little ways out of his belly, creating a sword of sorts. He called it Navel Saber.
On Friday night, Fumikage Tokoyami was walking back up to his room when he overheard what he could only describe as yell-whispers. Toru and Shoji were talking about something under their breaths, but their voices were raising with emotion, and he could almost make out what they were talking about.
He turned the corner, and they both noticed him, shutting up quickly.
Fumikage frowned. "Is something wrong?" He would be really upset if Toru and Shoji were fighting. Shoji especially was who Fumikage would consider one of his best friends.
"Fine," Toru said quickly, and stalked off before Shoji could say anything.
The taller boy wilted, all his limbs sinking to his side at once.
Without warning, Dark Shadow swept out from Tokoyami's side. "Are you two gonna break up?" the creature blurted.
Fumikage winced. Normally he would tell Dark Shadow to shut up, but the creature was so often a reflection of the worst-case scenario that he himself was imagining.
"I don't think so," Shoji muttered in response. "She's upset, but not with me necessarily…though I guess, she probably is upset with me now."
"But why? Everyone's been worried about you two lately, you know."
Shoji turned, and walked into his room. "I'm sorry, Tokoyami. I cannot tell you. It is classified."
"Who told you that? The Commission?" Fumikage pushed the door open before Shoji could close it between them. The masked boy's room was as spare and minimalist as usual.
Shoji looked at him with concerned eyes. "I…Tokoyami, I know you're still upset about Hawks, so I don't think you should burden yourself with…"
"They got him killed." Fumikage clicked his teeth. He could feel Dark Shadow stirring, a reflection of his own anger. "I have no respect for them or their wishes. They swept my mentor up in their schemes and made him take on an impossible task."
"I…I still can't tell you…"
"It would make you feel better. I know it would. I can keep a secret. What will they do if you just tell one person? They'd have no idea."
Shoji paced back and forth doubtfully. "Tokoyami, if you hate the Commission that much…what I'm going to say will just make you more upset."
"Fine. I'm prepared to take that on." He'd been doing all this control training with Katayama for a reason.
Shoji was silent for a long, long time. He sat down on his mattress.
After a minute, Fumikage joined him. For a while, they just sat there. Honestly, this was fairly normal for them. They had first become friends because they both were men of few words. But they always had the others in the group to balance that out.
"You know of the villain Twice," Shoji began quietly.
Fumikage swallowed, and nodded. "You could call him the reason that the villains got away from us on the train in the first place. He made a double of that giant…it's so irritating. Any time we fight our enemies, we can never be sure if it's really them we're fighting."
"Right," said Shoji. "According to the Commission, his Quirk has evolved. He can make infinite copies of basically every villain in the Paranormal Liberation Front. All capable of using their Quirks. They'd get less and less durable, but…it would still swell their offensive numbers to something…ghastly. Beyond comprehension. Practically infinite, and impossible to stop."
Fumikage realized the weight of what he was saying. They have a point. With Twice on the side of the villains, would they even be able to win?
"Which is why…" Shoji swallowed. "The Commission asked Toru and I…to sneak into their mansion and…eliminate him."
Fumikage's mouth went dry. "El…eliminate? As in…?"
Shoji nodded. "On the day of the attack. They think that the Front will keep him back and hidden. So it's up to us to…to get in there and…"
"Don't they have anyone else?" Fumikage breathed, taken aback by the sheer callousness of the order. "Why does it have to be kids? Why does…"
Shoji shrugged miserably. "Toru is the only person in Japan with a hero license that has an invisibility Quirk as perfect as hers. And I have to act as her lookout, I suppose…"
"Fuck," Fumikage swore. "At the very least, they shouldn't make you go…"
"Do you think I would leave Toru to do it by herself? No, if she's going, I will accompany her. However…"
"This is crazy," Fumikage shook his head. "Madness. Mad darkness. They can't ask you to kill a man. Even putting aside whether or not you'd be able to bring yourself to do it…you'd both be killed long before you'd even get there…going into that mansion by yourselves is suicide."
"That's what Toru thinks. She does not want to go at all."
Fumikage raised an eyebrow. "That implies that…you think differently."
Shoji averted his gaze. "That's what we were just arguing about. I do not want to kill Twice. But…the Commission is right, Tokoyami. We lose if we don't do something about him. So something must be done, and they think Toru and I are the only ones capable…so we must do something."
"Which is?" Fumikage asked. "He's mad, Shoji. You remember what he was like in the forest. Babbling, contradictory. You can't talk him down. You don't even have an inkling as to what drives him to do what he does."
"And yet I have to try," Shoji said, closing his five fists. "Or else the villains destroy Japan. And I can't do it without Toru."
…
"Doko, are you sure?"
He looked back at Mina. She had come with him all the way to the train station. But from this point, he had to continue alone.
"Yes. This is the fastest way to find out where the doctors are hiding. Where they're hiding Shigaraki."
"But…why does it have to be you to go…anyone can just go to their house and ask…"
"I couldn't ask someone else to do that. Even a pro or something. My folks are annoying to deal with. Plus…I need to see my sister again." Even if they weren't related, he still thought of Akane as his sister.
Mina's golden eyes swam with uncertainty. "Then…why can't I come with you, at least? To this day, I've still never even met them…"
"And I intend to keep it that way. Go back to school, Mina. It's not safe out here." The entire way to the train station, the streets had been quieter than usual, ever since Dabi's message was broadcast. And one couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.
"Okay. Well…" She leaned forward, and kissed him on the corner of the mouth. "Good luck. I love you."
"I love you, too." He turned and boarded the train.
…
It was only twenty minutes to his home station, but it was like going backwards a year.
He thought about frequenting these residential streets with his old middle school friends. Or sometimes, he'd go with just Akane down to the corner shop. That park there…he'd take walks there sometimes. Occasionally, he'd notice a cute girl. But it would never go beyond admiration from afar. He remembered Toru and her friend group being on the periphery of his daily awareness at school.
But as the train inched closer and closer to his old house, he remembered worse things. Falling off a ladder while trying to do a repair on the roof by himself…and being forced to keep working without knowing whether or not he'd just fractured his back. Being locked outside in the back garden to mow it, and then being forgotten about so that he got critically sunburned. His mother backhanding him. His father slapping a belt across his legs. His fingers being slammed into a door after he'd used his Quirk on accident.
Doko took a deep breath, and disembarked.
It was a five minute walk back to his house. The route creeped back into his memory like an unwanted guest. It disturbed him how quickly he settled right back into his surroundings, like no time had passed at all.
But at this time of evening, the street would usually be far more active. The house on the corner had three children, and they would usually be playing outside right now, backlit by a burning, setting sun. But there was nothing. He couldn't even hear anything besides the wind blowing through the clotheslines.
Like the whole country was holding its breath.
Doko stopped at the path leading up to his front door, and turned to look. The house seemed dark. His heart was racing something fierce.
They can't do anything to me. I have a license to use my Quirk against anyone who threatens or attacks me. Not that I would ever try to hurt them, but…
He took the last few steps up to the door, and knocked.
Five seconds of terrifying nothing. Ten. He felt like he was about to vomit.
Then, the door swung open, and his heart practically jumped out of his chest…
His eyes angled downward. It was Akane. Her jaw was dropped.
Quickly, Doko threw a finger up to his lips, telling her to be quiet. She threw her own hands over her mouth, and nodded frantically.
"Who is it, dear?" Their father's voice, drifting from the living room. They were watching television, Doko realized. That gives me more time to talk with her before I go face them.
Akane slowly lowered her hands from her face. "Just a package for delivery," she called back…and then stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
Doko opened his mouth. "Akane, I…"
She threw her arms around his waist, nearly knocking him over.
"I'm…I'm sorry," he muttered. He brought his arms up to return her hug. She sobbed silently into his chest, heaving with breath.
"I've been so worried," she cried. "I saw the news, and realized that you were on that train…and before that, you were part of that building flip thing…I get so scared for you all the time. I kept thinking you were gonna die before I could ever talk to you again."
"I'm sorry, Akane," he repeated. "I would say I've been too busy, but that's not really an excuse. I wanted to come visit you, but I didn't know how I could even do that…I was scared to try. I'm still weak."
She backed away from him and shook her head furiously. Tears went flying off her face. "You're not. You're stronger than anyone else I know."
"Well, I still don't think you'll be happy with me. I'm not even here to visit. I actually need to talk to them. I need to know something very important."
Her eyes widened. "Important…how? Like, for hero stuff?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I guess you could call this a business visit. I'm sorry again."
Akane's shoulders slouched. "I mean…I'm not really surprised. I never really expected you to come back. Why would you? They've always been horrible to you. I still tolerate them, but…I've been thinking a lot about my future. The second I graduate and am able to move out, I want to remove them from my life and bring you back into it. If you'd let that happen."
"Of course I would," Doko said. "But that's still a long way off. You have plenty of time to decide what you want to do, Akane."
She turned her head to look out at the street, which was being bathed in sunset glow. "Do you remember when we climbed onto the Serizawa's roof to watch a meteor shower?"
Doko nodded. "Yeah. You kept checking the forecast all day, worried that it was going to be cloudy. Then Mom and Dad almost didn't let me go, but then they both fell asleep in the living room because it was so late."
Akane kept staring. "I've gotten a scholarship for volleyball," she said quietly. "I'm gonna go to Miyamura High and be on their team."
"That's wonderful," he told her honestly. There was a sickly bittersweet feeling in his chest. Talking about the future had that effect on him.
"There's so much I want to say," Akane continued. "So much I want to tell you. But…"
The door opened again behind them.
Doko and Akane whirled.
"Akane? What's taking so lo…" Their mother's jaw dropped, her arm falling away from the door, letting it swing on the hinges.
Akane threw her arms up frantically. "Mom, wait! It's not what you thi…"
"You…how dare you…" she was trembling, unable to tear her eyes away from Doko. "How dare you show your face here…"
"Mom," Akane continued, starting to cry again. "PLEASE listen to me, at least…"
"Get lost! Or I will call the police!"
"That won't be necessary," Doko told her, trying to keep his voice level. They would do everything they could to cause a scene, to get the neighbors to notice. "I have a question to ask you."
But it was too late. Their mother turned her head, and screamed back down the hallway.
Their father approached. Doko winced with anticipation. He could hear the man's angry footfalls, and then…he materialized out of the darkness, behind their mother.
"You!" he roared, pointing at Doko. "You think you can just come walking onto this property and talk to our daughter…"
Doko took a step forward, matching him. "I came here to talk to you, actually…"
"SHUT UP! GET AWAY FROM MY HOUSE!" he screamed. "IF I EVER SEE YOU HERE AGAIN, I'LL KILL Y…"
Doko flared his Quirk up, wreathed with violet light. His father fell backward, eyes widening. His mother froze there, her arms trembling at her sides.
"You'll do what?" Doko asked, warping his voice a little. "You claim you're gonna call the police, but I don't think they'd take kindly to an attempted murderer of a pro hero."
"You're not a pro hero. You're a brat who's still in school," his mother forced out, stammering.
"I have a license. If I discern that you're threatening myself or Akane, I have authority to use force upon you. But that's not what I came here to do. I don't want to hurt you. I have something important to ask."
He turned his Quirk off, and his former parents seemed to relax slightly, though their faces were still marked with naked fear. That's what drove them the whole time. They were always afraid of me.
"Where was I born? What hospital?" he demanded. "That's all I need to know, and I'll be on my way."
His father had gotten back to his feet, and his fists closed. "You mean the hospital where you were switched into our lives. A Quirked boy. With no relation to us."
"Yes," Doko said, feeling more and more exasperated by the second. "That would be the one."
His mother raised an eyebrow. "Why would you need to know?"
Doko's eye twitched. "Because the whole reason the switch happened is because villains wanted me in your household. To turn me bitter and into a villain myself. Luckily, that didn't happen, though not for lack of trying on both your parts."
"I don't understand," his father said, eyebrows furrowed.
"Villains run this hospital. Or at least, they have connections there. The same villains that are planning on terrorizing the country in a matter of days. Records of my birth were erased from the Internet. So now I'm here to ask you: where was I born? The villains have a base at this place. It is imperative that the heroes know where it is."
His former parents exchanged a glance…and then his father nodded.
His mother looked down at her shoes. "This is oddly timed. I was just shredding papers earlier today in the office room…and saw your physical birth record in the stack. It was going to be shredded tomorrow. Better to just give it to you, then."
She turned, and walked out of the doorway, presumably to go get it.
His father looked back to Akane. "Get inside," he told her.
Silently, Akane trudged back into the house. Immediately once she was inside, the man stood in front of her, putting himself between her and Doko. Maybe you could have been a hero in another life, old man. Though I doubt it.
"So where was it, then?" he asked.
"Iwate Hospital," the man answered. "About fifteen minutes' train ride from here."
Doko swallowed. This whole street, this whole area of the city, the place where he'd grown up…it was uncomfortably close to where the battle would happen. We must shut it down quickly. I've got to get back to the heroes.
His mother returned to the doorstep, and threw a file at him. It got caught in the wind, but Doko warped it into his hands. "There's your evidence," she told him. "Now, fuck off."
Doko nodded. "Goodbye, Akane…" he called to his sister, now stuck behind her mother and father, watching him with a heart-tugging expression, somewhere between despair and hope.
"Goodbye," she whispered. He didn't hear, but could tell what words she mouthed.
Doko turned and took two steps down the path…but then turned back. The people who'd raised him were still standing there, watching him go.
"I don't forgive you," he told them. "And you don't deserve what I'm about to say, but because I'm a nice guy, I will say it anyway. I'm sorry that your real son was taken from you. If the villains hadn't done what they did, we would all be happier people. With what you've given to me today, we're going to take steps to ensure it never happens again. To anyone. There will be no more repeats of the hell you made me suffer. For any other children. I'll ensure it." He turned away from them then, warping the last words to them back over his shoulder. "The war is coming soon. Prepare yourselves. You won't be safe here."
He returned to the street, and walked away from his old home, not looking back.
…
Sorry for the long wait. Next time…the war begins.