Chapter 33: Backstory

A/N: I'm playing with a plot idea you see.

Also to the guest who commented on chapter 7. If you are reading this, Stain redemption arc will happen but will take some time to get there.

Aizawa slammed Recovery Girl's door open and placed Mineta on a bed.

"What the hell happened?" Chiyo asked rushing over.

"Mineta was peeking the girls' locker room and Watanabe got angry and beat him up," Aizawa explained.

Chiyo rolled her eyes, "Good riddance," she muttered under her breath, "But you went too far," she addressed Watanabe, "And what about all that blood on you? Where did you get hurt?"

"Umm, none of it is mine," Watanabe stared at the floor intensely.

Chiyo stared at him but didn't say anything. She put Mineta through the X-ray machine and monitored his injuries. Once she had gotten an understanding of his injuries, she wheeled Mineta into another room, leaving only Aizawa and Watanabe in the room.

Aizawa exhaled deeply. He wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, Watanabe's action was justifiable but he went too far. Not worth an expel but what about suspension? But it seemed too harsh considering he probably would have done the same thing with someone like Mineta.

Suddenly, the door flew open in, "Nedzu, what are you doing here?" Aizawa asked. Watanabe spun on his heels and watched with mouth slightly agape. Nedzu was here. He knew he did go way too far this time but he hoped Nedzu wasn't too mad.

"Am I a rat, or a bear the answer is-"

"Chimera, you're a chimera," Watanabe replied.

Nedzu smiled, "Indeed I am. How did you know?"

"Not me, Izuku theorized that when we met you in court," Watanabe said, "I'm getting expelled, aren't I?"

Nedzu laughed, "No. You will see it in due time. For now, I called Mineta's parents and explained the situation to them. They're coming here with their lawyer to press charges of assault,"

"Were you spying with your cameras again?" Aizawa asked.

"Hardly spying as opposed to surveillance," Nedzu said. A knock was heard, "Ah, that must be Tsukauchi. We need a police presence you see. Come in,"

Tsukauchi entered and sighed, "What did you do again?" He asked seeing Watanabe, "And how are you just standing there with all that blood!"

"It's not mine," he replied.

Tsukauchi twitched and massaged his head, "Let me guess. There was a bully or abuser or something and you beat them up,"

"You know, you only know about the time I beat up Bakugou so your presumption is baseless,"

"But am I wrong?"

"...No,"

"With all that blood, I'm guessing it was an abuser or harasser?"

"Yeah, how did you-"

"I read your file," Tsukauchi replied, causing Watanabe to almost hide, "Don't worry, I think you were perfectly right in what you did, especially considering the circumstances,"

Watanabe nodded but he still seemed shaken that somebody knew about what he did. Aizawa was curious to know what but be let it slide for now.

Soon, Mineta's parents entered along with their lawyer, "What is the meaning of this? Who beat up my son!?" The mother demanded.

"Now, now let Watanabe's defendant come," Nedzu said with glee. The parents looked to retort but the lawyer stopped them and made them have a seat. Soon after Inko came in, and Mineta's parents and the lawyer's face turned pale. Inko had built up a reputation in the past year on winning abuse cases. It surprised the other lawyer that she was representing some kid.

"I'm here, I'm here. Watanabe, what did you do this time?" Inko asked.

"Ah, she knows him personally,"

Nedzu took the moment to explain, "The case as it stands is that Mineta was caught red-handed harassing the girls of his class and had made improper advances. He also peeked on them in their dressing room at which point other students warned him. When he didn't listen, Watanabe took physical action,"

Realization seemed to dawn upon Inko's face, "I see that's why. A harasser,"

Aizawa remained perplexed. Why were so many people getting hung up on Mineta being a harasser, like it changed things?

"As I see it, we can settle out of court," Inko said, "I doubt you would like the fact that your son is a sexual harasser to become public. On the other hand, Watanabe's actions are defendable," Inko explained.

"That seems to be the best case, shall we discuss terms now?" The lawyer concluded. He really didn't want to go up against both Inko and UA. And Nedzu was sure to have incriminating evidence.

"No, I'm sure they want to see their child," Inko replied, "We can settle later,"

Mineta's parents looked to retort but the lawyer discreetly told them to keep quiet, "Can we see him now?" Mineta's father asked.

Nedzu shook his head, "Recovery Girl is still treating him. Make yourself comfortable, she'll be out soon I think. Aizawa, Inko, and Watanabe, could I have a moment outside?"

Inko nodded and ushered Watanabe outside, "I'm really sorry," Inko apologized, "It's just that Watanabe-,"

"I am well aware. As principal, I do have to run background checks so I'm well aware of his past," Nedzu said warmly. Watanabe looked down in shame, "You can go home now. School is over anyway. I just wanted to let Watanabe know that I will have to tell Aizawa about his situation since he is his homeroom teacher,"

Inko looked to Watanabe who nodded reluctantly, "Yes sensei," he said quietly.

Aizawa stood to attention, he was finally going to get the answer. "Oh! You will still be getting punished. Such behavior is unheroic and your past does not provide an excuse. You will have to go to mandatory anger therapy sessions like Bakugou and will have detention for 3 weeks starting tomorrow," Nedzu said.

Watanabe nodded without a word.

Aizawa frowned, it was rarely Nedzu waived off his punishments, so there must be a good reason behind it. Once Inko and Watanabe had left, Nedzu turned to Aizawa and ushered him to follow him to his office,"

"Denki, why did Watanabe go so ballistic on Mineta?" Izuku asked his best friend. They were all sitting in the class waiting for Aizawa to come for their last class.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, he never goes that aggressive on bullies. He almost never breaks anyone's bone unless they were threatening me either. Mostly it's just getting back at them with words or one or two punches. So why the sudden pummeling?" Izuku asked.

Kaminari sighed, "Shit, he still didn't tell you,"

"Tell me what?"

Kaminari sighed again, "Might as well tell you since he had already made up his mind to talk to you about it. But not a word to anyone about this. As far as I know, his parents and your mom are the only other ones who do know,"

This got Izuku's attention. What was Watanabe hiding?

"Alright, firstly, tell me honestly, what do you think of Watanabe's school life, before you met him?"

"Well, he had you and Musutafu general school had good teachers and everything so he wasn't exactly bullied or discriminated. I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly jealous and it also makes me feel like that he can't understand my experience," Izuku replied embarrassedly. Normally, he would never have told anyone this, but after spending a year with Kaminari, he trusted him with his life.

Kaminari nodded, "No need to be ashamed, I figured you'd feel something like that. But don't you think it's suspicious that he still hates bullies? Wouldn't you think that there would be no reason to go that strict on bullies since he didn't have to deal with much of them?"

"Well, yeah, I guess," Izuku said, worry seeping into his mind, "What about it?"

"Musutafu General School wasn't Watanabe's first school. In elementary school, he had a classmate like Bakugou who used to torment him and a couple of others. Well, back then, he didn't fight back against the bullies. Just let them do whatever they wanted, kind of like you," Kaminari said while Izuku smiled slightly, "Anyway, they got up to primary school, still getting called useless cuz of his quirk, but he did make a friend,"

"Who was the friend?"

"I don't know. All he told me was it was a girl. Apparently, she had a villainous quirk and used to get bullied like that. Then one day... she just vanished," Kaminari said.

"Vanished?" Izuku asked.

"Yup disappeared. Watanabe got worried and the police went over to her house. Her parents hated her because of her quirk too and the police thought she ran away. But after questioning the parents, the police got suspicious of them because they seemed to hate her a lot. They tried to track her down but they never found her. The police had a feeling the parents killed her or she committed suicide because they never found a trace of her. But they didn't have any evidence, it's still a cold case,"

Izuku's eyes widened, "What did Watanabe do after?"

"He pretended to not care, went and learned martial arts, and quietly gathered information. Then one day when he was cornered again, he beat the crap out of all the bullies, stole the tapes of the school cameras, and sent them to the police. He even got the parents charged with abuse." Kaminari said getting up since the bell had just rung.

"The police didn't get the tapes before?"

"They could have. But the police thought it was a normal case of a child running away and didn't want to waste resources. Pretty messed up, I know. The only reason the case went through is because Ryuzen-san used leverage. I don't know how though,"

"How come Watanabe never told me?" Izuku asked.

"He did want to. He just didn't know how to integrate, "Hey my childhood friend is probably dead," into a conversation," Kaminari said sarcastically.

Izuku's face was still in confusion, "When did he get to Musutafu general?"

"In middle school. He was at another primary school before which was just as bad but he built up a reputation there. Ogawa, Shisui, and the others used to go there too. That's why they knew each other. Watanabe always got along with the bullied ones because they weren't stuck-up assholes," Kaminari explained, "Once he got to Musutafu, he was still untrusting. But then after he broke the turtle guy's nose and the teachers actually supported him, he opened up a bit more. And then he got along with me. I had a 'strong' quirk but wasn't like the bullies, so he decided not everyone was like that,"

Izuku stayed quiet for some time, "But he always looks so happy..."

"That's because he is now. Like you!" Kaminari smiled warmly.

Izuku chuckled, "Yeah I guess. He's still a good actor to hide all that. I doubt anyone except those he let know knows about this,"

Kaminari nodded, "You're right about that. And that's also why he didn't forgive Bakugou. He didn't want to lose someone again,"

Izuku smiled.

"I was going to tell him myself you know," Watanabe appeared behind them suddenly.

"Ahh! When did you get here?" Izuku yelped.

"Just now. Man everyone's finding out about that today. Nedzu and Tsukauchi and then Aizawa-sensei,"

Kaminari raised his eye, "You ok?"

Watanabe nodded, "Yeah, I moved past that, mostly..." Watanabe replied with a slight pain in his eyes.

"...Well you don't know for sure she's dead," Izuku tried to comfort.

"No. In fact, her quirk would let her slip past too but still, there should have been some news about her," Watanabe sighed.

"What was her name?" Izuku asked.

Watanabe smiled sadly, "Her name was..."

A/N: Pretty sure you guys guessed who it is. Let me know who you think it is.

Also 100,000 Words! Whoo!