Chapter 31:
"Three days left until the end of break," Hanta Sero leaned forward over the table he had just finished lunch at. "Didn't feel long at all," he said.
"Twelve days really isn't a lot," Sato agreed from across the table from him. "It's longer than usual though. In my middle school we only got off ten days, less some years."
"Yeah, guess that's true," Sero said, stretching his arms up over his head then leaning back on his seat. "So at least we're not back already then? I can go with that," he grinned ear to ear, then turned to the right and said to the guys sitting next to them at the next table down. "How you guys want to spend it?"
"I'm going to train my ultimate move," Kirishima said, finishing up his food and standing up after the final bite. He picked up his plate and silverware and headed quickly towards the kitchen to wash them off, while Sero watched him go and sighed.
"Guess I should get to something like that too," Sero said after his long sigh. He reached his arms out in front of him, and he stretched them in front of him, moving around his cylindrical elbows full of his Quirk: Tape to warm them up. "Don't want to get back on the first day and have Aizawa make us do something crazy, without refreshing on some stuff first."
Kaminari looked to his left at Sero, then he put down his phone he was messing around on and shifted his thoughts onto what he was going to do today as well. He had gotten up late after all, so he still had his entire day ahead of him. Kaminari's phone buzzed and he looked down at the screen, where he saw 'Mom,' and a text message that he had to open his phone to see. Sato started talking about how he was going to spend the afternoon trying out some new cake recipes and seeing if the girls wanted to taste test them, which made Sero start complaining at him for having such a desirable secret talent.
Kaminari dropped his phone. More specifically, it bobbled in his hand three times and then fell out of his hands and bounced on the table, before falling on the floor. Kaminari pushed back from the table fast, reaching down and hitting his head on it as he was not paying close attention. "Ow!" Kaminari yelled, while Sero started laughing at the chain of events that just kept getting better.
"What are you doing?" Sero asked, while Kirishima was walking behind Sato to head out after cleaning off his dishes.
"I-I," Kaminari lifted up onto his seat again and then he stood up completely while holding his phone with a shaking hand. Kirishima turned back at the look on Kaminari's face, and Sero and Sato both got more confused as Kaminari tried holding his phone steady with both hands. He zoomed in on the picture his mom sent him, after reading the line of text she had sent him with it that made him drop his phone. "I- don't under-" Kaminari started reading, and he gulped twice in the next few seconds.
"Hey Kaminari," Sato started. "What is it? Are you alright?"
"'Alright?'" Kaminari asked, lifting his gaze towards the larger boy. The others were looking at him in worried ways like Kaminari had just read that a family member had died or something. Kaminari started shaking his head at those looks of theirs. "That's not…" he started, then he looked down at the picture on his phone, tapping it again as it had started to dim. "My mom, got a letter from U.A."
"You getting kicked out of school?" Sero asked, as that seemed like something that could cause Kaminari to have that kind of reaction.
"No," Kaminari said, shaking his head again. "'Dear parents and/or guardians… This letter is to inform you, that, Zach Sazaki,'" Kaminari paused and gulped again, while the other three's eyes were opening wider. Kaminari lifted his gaze from his phone, and he whispered, "Holy shit."
Two floors up, Tenya Iida stood from his desk that was covered in notes. He lifted his phone and stared at the letter his mother just texted him, and then he saw another notification pop up at the top of his phone from Kaminari. Iida lifted his phone again and continued to read what he saw before but had to jump out of his seat at the sight of. "…that Zach Sazaki, will be returning to U.A. freshman Class-A…"
In the girls' locker room five minutes away from the dorm at the main campus building, Ashido and Hagakure stood on either side of Jirou in only their underwear, looking down at Jirou's phone in shock as the girl in the middle continued reading. "'…At the start of the final term following winter break.'"
"I don't understand," Hagakure started, leaning back from Jirou and turning to look at the other girls in confusion. "Does this mean- I didn't even know Zach was back."
I didn't even know if he was alive, Ashido thought while turning towards her invisible friend. How did he get out of that? Mina thought about Zach getting tackled towards that portal, and the one glimpse of his face she saw before he disappeared, for what she thought would be forever. Her mouth started curling up, and her eyes filled with water as she said, "He must be!"
Jirou kept reading the letter for a few seconds, then she lowered her phone and said, "I have to go tell Momo." She turned to run off, then she froze after a few steps and looked don at her body, still only clad in underwear and a sports bra.
"Forgetting something?" Ashido asked with a laugh, a teary-eyed but happy laugh.
Hagakure sniffled and she wiped her invisible eyes while Jirou rushed to put on her gym clothes, forgetting about putting on her hero uniform for now. "When was the last time we saw him?" Hagakure asked. The other two looked towards her, and she said after sniffling again, "I think, it was before the test of courage in the forest. He looked so upset that Aizawa-sensei made him go to extra lessons."
"Ha, haha," Ashido laughed. She shook her head and said, "He was disappointed. I guess that was the last time you two saw him." Ashido's smile lowered down a little, as she thought about later that night. Then she thought about the more recent time she had seen him, back at VTS. In her head she saw him stepping out of the portal, looking like a monster, and then she saw him "killing" Kirishima. I should have known it was a lie from the start. After he brought Kirishima to life right in front of me, Ojiro and I should have seen that trick coming from a mile away! I have to apologize. She thought about how furiously she had yelled at Zach when she ran towards Kirishima's body. He was my first new friend at U.A.
Across the campus at Ground Beta, Tokoyami walked out of the stairwell from the basement of one of the skyscrapers in the urban zone, Todoroki walking out behind him. Both of them sported a few bruises but nothing too serious after the training they had been doing. They stepped out onto the street that had been plowed of snow so that students could train here with permissions from the main office, which both of them had acquired. The two of them were talking about their training, when they turned seeing Tsuyu Asui hopping out around the corner of another building near them.
She looked to be heading farther down the road, but she turned towards them when they looked her way, and she stopped. Tsuyu turned her body and hopped over towards them before standing up and walking forward with her arms curled forward in front of her and her tongue sticking out of her mouth a bit. "Did you two hear the news?"
"What news?" Todoroki asked.
Tsuyu reached down into her costume's pocket that she had kept her phone in. She did not expect that she was going to do hard enough training today that it would be risky to have it there instead of leaving it in the lockers. "Here," she said, "read it for yourselves."
Todoroki grabbed the phone, and Tokoyami stood at his side and leaned in to read what the taller boy was looking at. Tokoyami's eyes grew huge, while Todoroki's wide eyes just started returning to their normal size. "…following winter break. If you have questions or concerns regarding this matter, feel free to contact the school administration office at 46…" What is going on? There was nothing on the news about this. Is this being done in secret?
"Do you think, they rescued him?" Tokoyami asked, leaning away from the phone himself after he finished reading the letter. "A secret operation, in the dead of night last night, perhaps."
"It could be," Todoroki replied, nodding his head once. "Which is why the media hasn't gotten a hold on the story yet. The teachers probably knew about this for a while though," he said, while handing the phone back out to Tsuyu and nodding at her in thanks.
"They might not have said anything, in case the operation did not go well," Tsuyu said. The boys looked down at the girl who continued, "They would not want to bring our hopes up for nothing." Tokoyami nodded his head in agreement, and Todoroki hummed wondering if that was what it was.
"In any case, it will be good to see him again," Tokoyami said. "I was afraid something had happened to him, with the long absence of news on his whereabouts."
If the teachers knew something, they should have told us. You're not the only one Tokoyami, Todoroki thought while nodding in agreement with the dark boy next to him. I've thought he was dead, for months now. I wonder if my dad knew something about this.
In the school cafeteria, Izuku Midoriya held his phone shakily in his hand, and he lowered it back down before staring across the table at Ojiro who was just finishing up the message himself. Ojiro lifted his gaze to Midoriya, shaking his head with his bottom lip lowered. Is this real? Midoriya thought, and Ojiro's expression was telling him it was. He died. I- I accepted it. I cried. Tears were welling up in Midoriya's eyes again as he thought that. He looked like, he thought he was going to die. How did he- they must have saved him. The heroes. All Might, we talked about Zach. You told me that he was probably… you agreed that he- but you must have known this, right?!
In the teacher's lounge of U.A., All Might spit out his tea at something the principal just told the room that a number of teachers were gathered in. All Might dropped his jaw and stared forward in shock, his cheeks sucked in and his chin pointy, his body skinny and weak. He shook while looking towards the short mouse figure who had a small smile on his face after that announcement.
"Are you being serious?" Aizawa questioned, his voice dark as he looked over from his chair.
"Very," Nezu replied, and Aizawa's eyes opened wider again after they had narrowed in disbelief right after the first time Nezu said it. "The letters were sent out to Class-A's families yesterday and will have arrived today. The students are all sure to be informed shortly if they have not learned of this already."
"Why are you just telling us now?" Present Mic asked, his shocked look settling down a bit but a confused one replacing it. "Shouldn't we have known before-" Hizashi Yamada stopped himself. He looked around the room of other teachers, then back to the principal and muttered, "Oh."
"It was decided that everyone would learn of this at the same time," Principal Nezu said. "By powers over my head. But yes, Present Mic, you are correct in what you are thinking."
"You've been moving around behind the scenes, yeah?" Snipe asked, leaning back in his chair. "Well, I don't mind it. 'Specially if you got the kid back."
"Yes," Nezu said, though his mouth did lower down into a flat line as he spoke. He turned to All Might for a moment, then he continued, "Zach Sazaki was given a retrial. As well as being found innocent of previous charges, all suspected charges were filed against him and then subsequently dropped. Only a select group of officials, police, and myself were involved in this."
"The media won't take long to catch wind of it," Aizawa muttered, his distaste for the media clear in his voice.
"Before they do, the League of Villains are sure to," Nezu said. His voice got more serious and his mouth lower down, and he continued, "Which is why Zach Sazaki's location is to be a secret until the first day of classes when he moves in. We must prepare for an attack on that day, but if there is not one," Nezu took a pause, then he continued, "that is not a sign that we can relax. We will need to stay constantly ready for an attempt to capture Sazaki. The villains have already attempted to get him back once since his escape."
"Escape?!" Most of the teachers in the room thought at the same time.
There's no way he could have escaped that situation on his own. If he really did, or that's really his story, then there's a more likely situation in place here, Aizawa thought darkly. They released him, after completely turning him against us. He could be a second spy. Use Death on everyone when we're not ready. I have to be prepared to erase his Quirk at all times.
"All Might, may I speak with you for a minute in private?" Nezu asked, his mouth smiling again as he turned to the former top hero and Symbol of Peace.
"Yes, of course," All Might said. He stood up and followed after Nezu as the principal started leading him away, leaving the other teachers in the room with more questions than answers at the moment, and all with a sense of anxiety over the situation.
All Might followed Nezu into an adjacent room. The principal walked over and suggested All Might take a seat, but when All Might said he would rather stand, Nezu nodded his head as that was just as fine. Nezu turned to All Might and he put his hands behind his back before he started in his high-pitched voice, "All Might, did you happen to have anything to do with Zach's appearance safely in the hands of the police?" All Might's eyes widened at Nezu's question, then they widened even more and his bottom lip lowered.
The mouse-dog-bear creature in a suit and tie nodded his head at All Might's reaction. His Quirk, High Spec, told him about as much when he first brought up the announcement in the other room. All Might's reaction made him wonder many things, and he spoke as it was confirmed by All Might's second reaction, "I did not know you had such contacts."
Webb! He really did it! All Might thought, his smile reappearing on his face.
"All Might," Nezu said, and the former hero in front of the creature got a more confused look at the still dark tone of Nezu's voice. He started to get worried that he was going to be reprimanded for his anti-hero contact, but that was not where Nezu was going with this at all. "As you know, I had my hero license suspended for a period of time after the VTS incident. Many people in high places insisted that I be relieved from my position as U.A. principal as well. However, Zach Sazaki provided information on the League of Villains and a member previously unknown to us, named Hackerman."
"Hackerman," All Might repeated, a sweatdrop on the side of his face.
"Yes," Nezu said. "The suspicion that I was not a mouse, but a rat, has been lifted." He attempted to make a joke, but All Might continued frowning as he could see a sad look on the principal's face. "Sazaki did not know the extent of this man's powers, but they are unsettling and we will need to continue to upgrade security protocols…" Nezu hesitated, then he spoke in a lower voice to All Might. "Sazaki was tortured. Severely." All Might's eyes widened again, but Nezu continued without pause, "He did not give details, but Recovery Girl was the first hero of our staff to meet with him. He had several recent injuries that she said were close to causing permanent damage. However, it was the injuries he had already received that she informed me of the nature of. He claimed to her that the scars were caused by accidents, but they were not. All Might, this is truly, U.A.'s greatest failure, but it will be swept under the rug."
"I don't understand," All Might started.
"Sazaki has cooperated fully yet would not confirm anything on his injuries. The judges accepted and the matter is to be kept private. We will give a press conference as soon as the media catches wind to confirm his return, but say nothing of his time with the villains." Nezu paused and this time the small creature lowered his gaze down. "It was my failure as a principal that allowed this to happen. He has been left in our care in order for us to educate and protect him as he is made into a hero who can protect himself and fight the villains. In the next two years, I wish to make fix my failure. Will you help me? I know you have a-"
"Of course," All Might said, answering before Nezu could finish. "I doubted him," All Might said. "I- for a minute I truly, hated-" All Might grit his teeth and he lowered his gaze down just as Nezu had before. "And I will live with that as I have been, but if I am now granted the opportunity to fix my mistake." All Might smiled at the principal who still had a depressed expression, and All Might said in a determined way, "I will take that opportunity, and save Young Sazaki."
On January sixth, Zach Sazaki stood outside the front of U.A. High School. People were not walking by him towards the school building at his sides. Most of the students were coming in from their dormitories five minutes from campus but on the other side of the school building. Even students who had gone on vacations with family over the break had made it back to their dorms already before ten minutes until homeroom on the first day back. The press had been kept away from the school which Zach was grateful for, but even if they were there, he was barely recognizable in his outfit.
Zach wore a puffy black jacket and a baseball cap with the rim pulled down. His hair was not as short as when he had it in a crew cut, but it was only a few inches long and messy under his hat as he did not fix it up that morning. I was told that my things from the training camp in the woods are at school. That includes my phone- which I'll have to throw out. I don't know if Hackerman can get into my phone camera, but I need a new phone and new number. My wallet's there too though, and some clothes. Officer Haga Tonari, Zach thought about the green-skinned man who had horns sticking out of his face. He thought about how the man had been nice to him after the USJ event, and how shocked he was when the first time he was saving someone in public as Lifebringer, that cop was one of the two people he had to save. It made sense they put him on the detail. But I wish he didn't ask if I wanted anything from my apartment. I guess the whole complex must not have burned down after that. How long did it take the fire department to get in there? How long after… Zach lifted his left hand and dragged it down the front of his face under his hat's rim.
Zach started walking towards the building in front of him. He was five foot four, over two inches taller than he was the last time he entered this building half a year earlier. As he walked towards the front doors, his eyes narrowed and his breathing steadied. Who is the spy? Someone in Class-A, Class-B, or one of the teachers? Is it someone I know well? Someone who I was friends with? Zach walked up the steps towards the door, taking one at a time at a slow but regular pace. Anyone can be evil. People I thought, might have good sides to them… in Zach's mind appeared a taller man with big spikes of black hair and a patched-up appearance. Zach froze and his teeth ground so hard behind his lips, his chest aching at the thought of him.
I know now, it was stupid to try and look for good sides of villains. Thinking that it was unfair for Toga and Twice just because they're insane, or that Spinner and Dabi really did just agree that fake heroes… It was all stupid. Zach walked up to the doors, and he paused after he reached out to grab them. He turned his head sideways and looked behind him. He was wearing a black glove over his left hand but a specially-made different black glove that would work similar to the one he had with his villain costume over his right. No one behind me, Zach thought while his left hand was on the handle, his right hand close to his body just in case someone tried attacking him at this moment where they might think he was the most off-guard. I got them to let me have this glove, because I wouldn't accept coming back here otherwise after the heroes let me go the first time. I need to be able to save myself, but that's not the only thing I told them.
Zach opened up the doors and he stepped inside. He looked around to see if there would be a teacher there to escort him to Class-A, but no one arrived to greet him. I'm still a little early, but they should have known exactly when I got here. Zach shook his head and started walking forward towards the locker room at the front of the school where he could take off his exterior layers to reveal his school uniform beneath. He was careful as he took them off, ready for someone to ambush him as soon as his right hand was occupied. His eyes darted back and forth as he removed his puffy jacket and shoved it in his locker. Then he took off his hat and pushed it in too, before shaking his head around some more to even out his hat-hair.
I said all the right answers at that retrial, he thought as he closed the locker. It was all bullshit. "Of course your honor." "Exactly." "I never hurt anyone." "I told the police as much as I can remember." I said, exactly what they wanted to hear. I told them how I wanted to return to the U.A. hero course. Even though, I would have rather gone to any other hero school. This is the only place that can protect me though. It's the only place they would sent me to. I agreed with them before they could even tell me what they wanted. I told them, what they wanted to tell me, so they felt like we were all on the same page. But I gave half-responses. I didn't tell them everything. I kept secrets. I gave the right responses, because it's the only way I'm going to survive. Then again, there's another reason for coming to U.A. Besides the top-level security measures, besides the possibility of a spy I could root out, anywhere else I went would become a target right away. Can't let that happen. I'm at war with the League of Villains, and who better to fight them with than the ones they've declared war on over and over again?
Zach stared down the hallway towards the 'Class-A' sign sticking out of his classroom. There was no one from his class outside it in the hall, but there were some people hanging around outside the door of the room next door to it. He walked down the hall and a couple of the boys standing there turned his way. They looked towards him and their eyes started widening, but as one of them took a step in his direction, he froze at the sight of Zach's face. Zach looked at the blond boy, and the thoughts he had about the villains whose good sides he tried to look on returned to him. Zach's eyes narrowed down, and he kept walking forward while taking his gaze off of Neito Monoma and facing his classroom's doorway instead.
Shihai Kuroiro stared down the hallway with wide eyes and his mouth opened a bit after that look he just saw Zach shoot Monoma. What was, that?
Zach stood outside Class-A, and he frowned at the doorway in front of him he heard a lot of noise behind. Here we go, he thought, and he reached his hand out for the handle.
A/N Short chapter this time. Zach re-enters the hero society and gets left in U.A.'s care as he returns to Class-A. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to Zach's return to school life. Leave a review below telling me what you think!