Chapter 33:
Three days after school at U.A. had started back up, Zach felt like he was starting to get less and less stared at constantly. He could even sit down and eat lunch in peace without people asking him a dozen questions which he had recently done a much better job of deflecting with short, one-word replies or just straight-up ignoring. Zach sat there eating his lunch that he savored every bite of, Lunch-Rush's food is so good. How did I never notice it before? This shit is fucking delicious! Zach chowed down, and he chuckled to himself while taking another bite. I figured out the best expression. Whenever they ask the questions I don't want to, or can't, answer. I just gotta do the pursed lip, eyes down to the right, then half-smile only to lose it like I was trying hard to force it. They fucking apologize before I can even say a thing!
Zach put his fork back down into his vegetables and pushed them around a bit. Was I really malnourished? Sometimes they'd go days without feeding me, over a week that other time- but it felt like Shigaraki always wanted me strong enough. I guess at any time he might have felt it was enough, but when that woman was captured. "Damn it," he muttered, lifting his hand and rubbing the side of his head while pushing around his food some more. "Why do I keep thinking about her? I, left her behind. But I don't really care about her. She's…" he trailed off his mumbling, and he closed his eyes as he thought about the terrified look on the woman's face as he, while in Nightmare, dropped the gun at her feet. I would have heard something about her.
The boy with messy black hair lifted some veggies up to his mouth, then he noticed the boy on his left side looking in at him oddly and with lifted eyebrows. He put his vegetables in his mouth and started chewing, while thinking, I wasn't being- his gaze shifted in front of him, and he saw some others looking back at their food. The boy on his right was not as quick to look away though, as Kaminari had heard part of what Zach said even if he was mumbling quietly. "'Her?'" Kaminari leaned forward and asked, grinning wide at the question. "You stuck thinking about a girl, Zach?"
"Shut up," Zach muttered, shaking his head and looking back at his food.
This time though, Kaminari could see Zach was trying to use the same kind of usual deflection to try and get out of the question. "She cute?" Zach lifted his eyes up and let out a mental groan as Kaminari leaned towards him more. "Ooh, don't tell me, I bet it's Jenny huh?"
Zach had just looked back down at his food to just try and ignore Kaminari, but he froze as he put his fork in the vegetables again. He froze and stared down at his food, and his eyes opened wide while he leaned up and turned his head to Kaminari. "What did you just say?" Zach asked.
Kaminari leaned back at that look, and he said, "I might have gone with Kuroiro." He scratched the back of his head while a couple of others looked at them in confusion. Kaminari glanced around wondering if he should keep going while people were looking, but Zach kept just staring straight at his face darkly. "He didn't know your address after all. We all, read the letter together. The three of us."
"You were sending letters?" Ashido asked from across Kaminari, a look of surprise on her face as she leaned diagonally over the table. Her eyes widened more, and she said, "To a girl?"
Zach's harsh look at Kaminari started to lower back down. Why? That's, that's not fair. He knows her? And, he didn't hear? Do people think it was just a normal house fire? Would it have made the news? No, no VTS was the only thing being talked about probably. Zach stared at his food in front of him, and Kaminari said while trying to shake the uneasy feeling he had, "So, she said she wasn't your girlfriend, but I didn't believe it. Blushed so hard, her whole face turned pink when I asked."
That, sounds like her Quirk, Zach thought, while he kept staring down at his food. "I don't know what you're talking about," Zach said. Kaminari got a confused look on his face, then he wondered if he was not really supposed to be saying stuff like this after all. "I wasn't able to get any information out while I was with the villains. Or communicate with anyone," Zach said, and he turned his head and gave Kaminari a death glare. Then he looked back down to his food, Can't just sit here now. Zach stood up and picked up his tray. God damn it! JENNY! Zach turned from the table right before he heard the screams in his head, before he knew there was no way to keep a straight face anymore.
Zach went and dumped his tray off, then he put it back with the other dirty ones and headed out of the cafeteria. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK! He screamed in his mind, to try and drown out the screams he heard in the back of his head. Zach walked down a hallway back towards Class-A, but they had time before they needed to return. He turned and walked down another hall, though wondering where he was going as he just walked off randomly. Everyone's staring at me. They're always staring at me! I have to steady my expression. Stop looking angry, or sad. Steady and normal. Just fuck FUCK! There were a lot of people in the hall, and Zach turned and started heading towards the boys' bathroom.
Am I really going to hide in the bathroom? Zach thought as he neared the door. No fucking way. But, I guess I'll just take a quick piss since I'm here.
He walked into the bathroom and pissed, then he walked over to the mirror that he stared in while washing his left hand. Zach stared at his own blank expression, the long scar under his right eye, his split ear. Can I really do this? I, it's not like I'm in some life or death situation right- no. No I'm always in one. Think constantly. I can't let my guard down. I can't not hide my emotions from everyone. But, but this isn't an intense situation I'm in right now! I'm just, using the bathroom, and I'm still hiding my face? Zach's mouth started twisting down, and his eyes filled with fear and started watering up right away. He stopped himself and returned his expression to normal, Shit. Is that how I'm really feeling right now? I want to just let my guard down, just for a little while. It's been so long- well, not while I was being tortured I guess. But, but not since August, not since the training camp, have I been- or maybe at the hospital after it- or on the stand? No, even after that. Sometimes, when I was with the villains, I wasn't really pretending was I? They saw my true face sometimes, and I had to try and hide it again, even when I realized my true face was something they were happy to see. They saw me, enjoying it! Being a villain! IT WAS FUN!
Zach lifted both hands to his head, then he kept staring into the mirror with wide eyes, though he was happy the glove on his right did not fail and transform him while he rubbed his temples. "It was fun," he whispered, lowering his hands and putting them back at his sides. He walked back out of the bathroom, wiping his damp hand on his pants a few times before heading back for his classroom. Was it fun? I enjoyed it. Did I? I hated some of the stuff they were doing, things I witnessed, things they made me take part in… But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed training my Quirk, training with weapons, and the real combat was- no, don't even think about that. Don't risk any of that coming to light. I didn't kill anyone, but, that's not all that matters. That would have gotten me arrested for real had I answered wrong at the retrial. He walked back towards his classroom, and he refocused on keeping his expression straight as he got close to the door.
Zach stepped into the classroom, and he saw a couple of others in there still. He looked left towards Sato, Sero, and Mineta, gave the group a small nod when they looked his way and made eye contact, then he walked for his seat. Would I have just walked up to those guys and talked first semester? Maybe. What are they talking about? Doesn't matter. Don't make friends with them. Zach sat at his seat and looked towards the window as soon as he sat down. I didn't eat everything, even though I was thinking about how good Lunch-Rush's food was. An annoyed look formed on his face and his gaze darkened. He stared out at the dark clouds in the sky, Will it snow today, or rain? I needed to see the sun right now. How long without seeing the sun? How long was it? It felt like…
The black-haired teen pulled out his phone and opened it to the weather app. "Oh hey Zach," Sero's voice was behind him, closer than he knew the group of three had been in the room with only five people in it.
"What's up?" Zach asked without looking up from his phone, his expression still dark but now with some annoyance in it too.
"I heard you broke your phone," Sero said. "Need our numbers again, right?"
I didn't ask for that. Zach turned and gave the taller teen a small smile. "I'm back in the group chat. So I have everyone's number."
Sero nodded as that made some sense, but Mineta spoke up, "How do you know whose number's whose though?"
Zach looked down into Mineta's eyes. They both realized in that moment that neither had talked to each other since Zach had gotten back. Zach thought about the last time he saw Mineta before he left. He remembered the terrified look of the short boy with purple balls for hair who he saw through the wall of blue flames, and he did not know if Mineta had been more afraid of the villains or him at that moment. The look on his face now, makes me think it was me, Zach thought. "I figured it out," Zach replied after a brief pause. "From the messages. I caught up."
Zach turned back the other way, indicating that was the end of the conversation. I caught up. Now, what can you ask that starts with 'hey did you hear?' I heard everything. I scrolled up, and I saw everything. You should have made a new class group chat, instead of leaving me in it all of last semester. Why'd you do that? You talked about me enough that someone should have brought up the idea. Zach stared at a snowflake falling past the window. As it said, he thought, imagining the weather app he had pulled out at the start of that conversation. No one even mentioned starting a new chat without me. I'm a part of this class. Even last semester? I only saw them, once. I showed up at U.A. once the entire term. I wasn't on the roster. I was a villain. I had left on my own accord. So why? Why leave me in the chat? Why didn't anyone in here, give up on me? Did one of them, but they're just keeping it to themselves since I was let back in? Keeping it quiet because the general consensus seems to like that I'm back? Who would be against me being here? Who in this class thinks of me as a villain… but if there was one, why didn't they bring up starting a new chat?
The sixteen year old lifted his left hand and he rubbed the side of his head with it while watching snowflakes fall slowly out of the sky. He heard other students returning from lunch, but he did not turn from the falling flakes. Am I a snowflake? I've thought that before. Where was that? It was recently. Must have been after I escaped actually, since it was barely a week into November when… when it started. That was only two months ago? Two months. A full two months? It's all a blur. Except, it's not. It's a blur, but it also felt like it was forever during it. VTS until now, everything that happened was… just focus on the final week before I got back. Escape. Survival. Hunter. Webb. Turning myself in. The retrial.
"Hey Zach," Jirou started, leaning forward and saying the boy's name. Zach turned his head and looked at Jirou, then she motioned with her head to the front of the room. Zach looked to the front, and he saw Cementoss standing there, in front of the entire class who were sitting in their seats on his right, in front of him, and behind him. Modern Lit already started? He wondered, while reaching down to get his books out. Snow's falling faster now. Guess I should have realized, time was passing. Time moves so quickly now. Or did it always move this fast. Damn it. How could two months feel so long, but also like they just passed me by? It feels like VTS was yesterday, which means between yesterday and today, all that stuff happened. All that stuff, Webb said it's okay to bury. Well, he talked about snapping, but I've been doing well so far. Just gotta, keep it up I guess.
Zach sat on the couch of the common room of his dorm. He had his right hand on his thigh, pressed there gently so he could pull it up fast if need arises. There was no longer a bandage under his clothes there or on his left arm after Recovery Girl's most recent treatment. He was staring at the tv that had the news on, but he had to start thinking about something else as he saw a report on an accident up in Hokkaido. If I was still with the villains- he stopped those thoughts right away. Will Aunt Maye pay for my phone plan? If she stops supporting me, will the government start to? I said goodbye forever and don't plan to give her my new number, but I was able to pull out money from the ATM. I can't believe she'd been supporting me all that time. My mom and dad didn't leave me a lot? Dad must have lost a lot in the scandals, and spent a lot on booze…
Zach leaned back into the sofa and tried clearing the dark thoughts from his mind. Making up with Maye and Tsura was the best thing to do. Even if they heard that conversation, it was clear I was cutting off ties at the end. They'll know that I'm doing that so I don't feel too close to them, so they can't use them against me. They are my family, but I still barely know them. I wouldn't kill for them. Even if there were guns to… Thinking about putting guns to heads made an image appear in Zach's mind. I wasn't going to shoot her. I never would have. Why was the gun shaking so much? It was just to trick Spinner and the others. I knew it. I knew I couldn't even be thinking about it, because they might catch me. So I just had to make the decision in the moment, which is the only reason I pointed the gun at her head, with my finger on the trigger! I LET HER GO! There's no way she escaped. Why, is she plaguing me? Because I can only think about my escape onwards. I know it. That's the worst thing I did, since I started my escape. But I hadn't escaped yet. Why, do I have to think about her as after the fact? Or, even during the torture, was that still the worst thing I've ever done?
Tsura. Aunt Maye. I shouldn't think about them, but I have to bring my thoughts back to something good. Something good, that I'll never see again. Zach let out a small sigh and lowered his head to stare down at his right hand on his lap. "How am I going to do this?" he whispered, staring at his fingers that he curled a couple of times. He then straightened them out fully and snapped his wrist out, pushing the tips of his fingers out of the glove. He pulled his fingers back in, then pushed them out, doing it rapid-fire to keep his muscles ready for it at a moment's notice. "It's not as easy as the glove on my villain costume was, but the heroes want to be-" Zach saw movement out the corner of his eye, and his head snapped to the left while his expression turned dark and both hands clenched.
Zach glared next to the couch a few feet away where someone was standing. The spy? He thought, though he calmed down after a second when he saw who it was. Shit. That's twice now. I muttered in front of the others at lunch today too. Have to remember to keep it in my head. "What are you thinking? No hiding things from me!" "AhhhAAHHH!" Zach winced and thought about a scar on his left arm. He had me saying every word that came out of my mouth. Still wasn't used to conversation when I talked to Webb, wound up saying a lot of stuff I shouldn't have. Making a blind joke, to a blind man? But is he though?
"Zach," Midoriya said to the boy who lifted his gaze back up to him. The green-haired boy had wet hair and he held a towel over his shoulder since he just came from the bath. He walked towards the couch though as he could not stop himself after Zach's expression just changed from threatening and suspicious, to relieved and annoyed, to pained and far-off, all the matter of a few seconds. Midoriya stepped closer to the couch, and he glanced around to see if anyone else was around, but they were alone in the common room for now. Midoriya looked back at Zach and he clenched his teeth in a way that made Zach sweatdrop and lean back himself. It was the same look Zach saw whenever Midoriya was looking towards him for too long since he got back. "I'm," Midoriya started, but he found it hard to get it out. "I don't have the right to say it, but I'm- sorry."
Zach's eyes opened wide and he leaned back farther while staring at Midoriya's pained expression as he finally got the words out. It had been three days now and he realized that Midoriya had been holding this in the entire time. "I'm so, sorry," Midoriya whispered.
"Whoa, what?" Zach started shaking his head. Midoriya looked into Zach's eyes, and the darker haired boy frowned at his classmate's expression. "Why are you sorry?" Zach asked. Out of everyone. You're like the only one I know for sure isn't the spy. Well, one of the only ones, but Shigaraki told me all the time how much he wanted you dead, how much he wanted me to help kill you. "You have nothing to be sorry for," Zach said, waving a hand at Midoriya before cracking a small smile. "And sorry for looking towards you like that. Guess I must have picked up on your habit of talking to yourself. Sometimes my own rants that I go on in my head start to seep out now," again he thought about the reason for that, and his mouth dipped down as he finished, "I should fix that."
"Zach," Midoriya started, his voice hoarse. Zach frowned deeper that Midoriya did not relax after what he had said. "You don't have to- do this," Midoriya said, and Zach's eyes opened wider. "Pretend like everything's alright. It's okay, if you want to be mad at me. I messed up-"
"Midoriya," Zach said, his voice firm as he narrowed his eyes. He got the other boy to shut up, then he said with a serious look on his face, "You, are the only one who has nothing to be sorry for." Midoriya's eyes started growing wider. "The only person, who, in that room full of heroes, came to save me. Yeah you failed, but you tried. You came to Camino Ward. You were at the courthouse, and you never said that you saw me walk through, even though I know you did." Midoriya's eyes opened even more, and Zach said to him while getting up from the couch, "You never have to apologize to me. So don't, okay? I don't want things to be weird between us." That's right. I was thinking about this all wrong. I don't need to hide from everyone. I don't need to isolate from everyone. There's someone Shigaraki is already trying to kill. Someone who he'd try to kill whether or not I'm friends with him.
A bigger smile spread over Zach's face as he stood in front of his classmate who was still just a little taller than him. "Okay?" Zach asked.
"Okay?" How am I supposed to be okay with this? I spent the last two months, thinking I had let him die. And now he comes back, all those scars… and he wants things to be normal?
"I just want, to not be treated the way you're looking at me," Zach said, and Midoriya lowered his bottom lip as his face must have been showing his thoughts. "Everyone looks at me the same way. I just want one person to treat things like they're normal, because this is my normal now. Does, that make any sense?" Zach asked, a nervous look on his face as he realized he was acting weird again. He looked around to see if anyone else saw him, then he looked back forward as Midoriya's expression started to change.
"Y-Yeah," Midoriya said. "That makes sense," he assured, swinging his hands up as he could see Zach felt awkward about what he just asked for.
"Really?" Zach asked, his eyes opening wide. "It did?" I don't even know what I just asked for. How do I act around Midoriya now? I can't just, tell him stuff. Can I act normally around him and still keep everything I've done for the past five months a secret?
"Yeah," the green-haired boy replied.
"Cool," Zach said, a relieved look on his face as he leaned away from his friend. "Thanks Midoriya," he said. "For this, and for fighting that Nomu. I never forgot about it."
Midoriya opened his mouth to say how he failed again, but he stopped himself because of what Zach had just told him. Instead he could only nod his head, while thinking, "Never?" He never forgot? That makes it sound like it was so long ago. Zach, where did you get those scars? Why- can't I ask him?
In Izuku Midoriya's room on the first weekend since Zach got back to U.A., Zach was sitting at the foot of Midoriya's bed and looking towards the chair his classmate was on. Zach was tossing a ball up and catching it as they talked, and he was talking with little restraint. "…You should have seen it Midoriya. You ever see two people with Gigantification Quirks going at it? It was a good thing we weren't anywhere populated. Those two giants were wrecking everything!"
"Giant battles," Midoriya whispered, leaning back in his seat. He had something he wanted to ask Zach, but he also knew what things Zach would and would not talk to him about. So instead he reached over to his desk and quickly pulled out a notebook that he flipped open to the earliest free page he had. "How big were they? Do you know their villain names?"
"Neither were as big as Mount Lady," Zach started. He smiled a bit as he mentioned the female hero giant, then that smile lowered down. Monoma. He healed her, not me. But he used my Quirk. He used my Quirk to save her even though it hurts. And he also, told everyone in the world what I did. If he didn't, would any of it have happened? Maybe the spy didn't even know until he released it. Maybe, I never would- Zach shook his head around as Midoriya started to get wider-eyed at his expression. "Sorry, what were we- oh yeah," Zach nodded and smiled again as he leaned back on the foot of the bed. "One of them, not the one with the League of Villains, was at least fifty, maybe sixty feet tall. His name was Tower-guy." Midoriya lowered his pen to the paper, but he caught the tense of Zach's sentence and stopped himself. "The other with the League, was a little shorter, but Skyscraper was much stronger. Skyscraper crushed Tower-guy-"
"Did he," Izuku started. Zach lowered his smile down, and he hesitated before nodding his head. Zach looked away while Midoriya put his notebook back to his side. "How often, are the villains out there, killing each other?" Midoriya asked after a few seconds.
"I know you guys saw it during your fall internships," Zach started. He looked to the wall on his friend's right, where there was a giant All Might poster over a shelf covered in All Might figurines. The sight of all that All Might made Zach frown and continue, "Things have kept getting worse since All Might's been gone. But it's not all flashy stuff that everyone knows about. And it's not like they're all secretly preparing for these huge attacks either and that's why they don't show up so much. There's, a dark world hidden under this one." Midoriya's eyes widened while Zach turned back and looked him in the eyes. "The underworld," Zach said quietly. "It operates parallel to hero society, and when it stays parallel and doesn't collide, no one does a thing about it. But those two lines, the hero society and the underworld, they can't run parallel all the time. Sometimes, the underworld's line bends in and bumps against regular society's which is always straight," Zach lifted his gaze to another visage of All Might again. "Even though those occasional bumps are getting more frequent, it still won't be a huge problem. But the underworld's line is getting thicker. And when it gets too thick," Zach said, his voice getting softer and his eyes narrowing at All Might's face. "That it can't run parallel to hero's anymore, there's going to be a clash that bends both lines off course."
"You're talking about, an upheaval of hero society," Midoriya whispered. "Why do you think-"
"There are more villains than ever," Zach said. "The League of Villains," he continued, looking towards Midoriya again. "It's not a small collection of villains anymore. They have command, structure, different businesses and operations all running under them. It's a society in itself, with competition," he muttered the last part, and his eyes got darker. "And when villains clash, sometimes other people get drawn into it. In other situations too, wherever there are more villains, there are more victims of villains. And there are more villains than ever, at least in our lifetimes."
Izuku Midoriya leaned back in his chair after a few seconds, and he had a nervous look on his face, but one that grew more determined the longer he thought on what Zach said. "Next, it's your turn."
That look of determination spreading on Midoriya's face made Zach lose his dark one too. "Hopefully that clash never comes though," Zach said. Midoriya locked eyes with him again and his face filled with surprise as he had just readied himself for this ultimate situation it seemed they were heading to. "It might be farther away than I hope, long enough for you to master your power," Zach grinned and then finished while Midoriya leaned back with wider eyes and his bottom lip dropping, "Long enough for you to become the Symbol of Peace."
"Wh-What are you…" Midoriya started, only for Zach to look into his large eyes with a serious gaze. The green-haired boy started breathing heavier, then he asked in a softer voice, "Zach, do you really think-" Midoriya paused, and he clenched his teeth hard. "Becoming the Symbol of Peace, I- I thought I couldn't do it, because I let a friend get taken from right in front of me. I couldn't do anything to stop it."
"That's why you need to master that power," Zach cut in. Zach darted his gaze around, then cupped a hand to his mouth and whispered, "You'll be as strong as All Might, right?"
Midoriya hesitated and looked around too, even though it was only the two of them in his room. I'm not supposed to- it's a secret, but All Might said Zach kind of figured it out. How much, All Might didn't know. "Stronger, hopefully," Midoriya finally said, then he looked down and lowered the small smile he had just gained. "Hey Zach," Midoriya started, as the boy in front of him had lowered his jaw in amazement that 'stronger' than All Might was even possible. Zach's mouth closed though at the tone of Midoriya's voice, making him think it was going to be a question he would try and avoid. "You didn't, tell the villains about my Quirk," Midoriya started, and he lifted his gaze to Zach's face only to see the boy in front of him staring back with huge eyes. Midoriya opened his mouth to say something, but then he stopped from immediately apologizing and got a more serious look again, "Did you? It's a secret-"
"I didn't," Zach said, and he turned his head away and closed his eyes. If I did, I might have been able to get a short reprieve. If I had told them I had some information important to them. But, but I couldn't do it. Even at my absolute lowest times, I have faith in you Midoriya. To become that Symbol of Peace. And, if I took that away, or helped them at all with stopping you, it would be the absolute worst thing I have ever done. I would have, destroyed the future. If I had done that I never would have been able to change the answer. The only time I would have, is that night.
"Okay, just checking. Sorry," Izuku said quickly some sweat rolling down the side of his face though afterwards.
"Yeah, it's no problem," Zach said, though he was getting up as he did. He lowered the ball he had been tossing up and down to his left side and walked for the door. "I'm gonna head back to my room."
"Zach, I was just-"
Zach turned and he half-smiled at the boy behind him. "It's really not because of that. I get why you have to be secretive about it. I just thought of some things I need to do tonight. Talk to you tomorrow, yeah?"
Midoriya's lifted hand lowered down, and he frowned but nodded his head at his friend. "You know, you can talk to me?" Midoriya said as Zach opened the door.
Zach froze with the door half-open, his mouth lowering into the deepest frown while his forehead scrunched up. Can I though? I want to talk to someone. But so much of it was illegal. So much, people will look down on. And so much, will just make you look at me in pity for the rest of our lives. Zach smiled, and he turned his head sideways to look back at the boy behind him, "I know."
Zach left Midoriya's room and headed up three floors for his room. It really isn't about you suspecting me Midoriya. I don't think so, at least. I just… He squeezed on the ball in his left hand and let out a deep breath as he turned out of the stairwell onto the fifth floor. I really need to vent, and I can't do it. It's the most frustrating thing in the world. Being in this place where it seems like I'm at least a little safe. I know I have to be cautious of Kurogiri, or Hackerman watching me, but Principal Nezu assured me they have better countermeasures in place now. All school systems don't accept signals from the outside, but what about students' phones? Is there a barrier around the school campus that keeps radio signals specifically from Quirks out? Were you intentionally unspecific because you still don't trust me?
The boy walked into his room and he tossed the ball in his hand over towards his bed. He stood in his room and looked around it, but he was too uneasy because of what he was just thinking about. They probably know this is my room by now. Why'd I walk in here so confidently? I used my right hand to open the door, because the ball was in my left. That would have been a perfect moment for them to grab me. Stupid. He lifted his right hand for his chest, pushing his fingers out of his glove and preparing to change modes. He stopped though, and he thought, What will it do? Just make me feel safer, but I'll still be in here. I have to come back here though. Fuck. I'm so uneasy right now. I need to calm down- but there's no way I can do it in this cramped space where villains can pop up and attack me at any time!
Zach spun and he opened back up the door to his room. He stepped out and looked both ways on his hall, then he started walking down the hallway towards a door he saw at the end of it. He passed Sato's room, then Todoroki's. He reached Sero's and froze as he heard noise on the other side, but it was just Sero listening to music, not him stepping out of the room like Zach was worried about. How would I explain that? Standing in front of his door. I could just knock and hang with him. Damn it, no I can't. Midoriya's the only one I can hang out with like that, and I just left his room because I wanted time to think! Right? I just needed to be alone. Except, I needed to vent. To be alone and to vent. That's just venting to myself, which is I guess what I'm doing right now. It sucks though, when you're the only one you can talk to.
Zach walked up to the door at the end of the hall, the first door out from the staircase. His room was closer to the curve in the hall that cut over to the girl's side on the opposite end of the stairs. Next to the steps over here though, there was a doorway between Sero's room and the stairwell. Zach looked towards the stairs, then he turned back to the door and pushed the bar to open it up. I could probably get in trouble for this, he thought. He ignored the doubt though and stepped into the stairs leading to the roof.
Back down the hallway, at the curve in the hall, Yaoyorozu stepped out from behind the corner and stared down to the other end where a door just closed. Isn't that door the roof access? We are not allowed to go up there. Why, is Zach going up there? Momo Yaoyorozu started walking down the hallway, glancing nervously to her right as she passed Zach's door, then looking down towards the roof access door again. "I went to the roof and jumped off instead of trying again!" Yaoyorozu's eyes shot open wide and she started speed-walking down the hall, then jogging. No, what am I thinking? She thought, slowing down before she reached the door. I'm just worried for nothing. He's, not going to… I saw him talking to Midoriya today and smiling, but, was the smile real? Is he really, hurting? I need to go!
She shook her head, scolding herself for slowing down and trying to convince herself otherwise. If it's nothing, if I am being paranoid, I will just scold him for going up on the roof anyway. But, what other reason could he have?! Yaoyorozu opened up the door and she started running up the narrow staircase to the roof. There was a door at the top with a push bar on it, but instead of rushing into it and shoving it open, she slowed down and pressed her hands on it slowly. What am I doing? I- I just don't want to spook him, if he's on the ledge. That's why I'll, open the door…
Zach stood on the side of the Class-A's dorm roof. He was a few feet back from the ledge, staring out into the dark sky ahead of him without looking up. He just stared straight out, past other dorms, past Musutafu City that he saw ahead of him and on his left a bit. Zach had his hands in his pockets and was breathing a little calmer than he was before coming up to the roof. Most of the roofs of Heights Alliance were slanted and shingled, but that was over the two sides of the building with the halls inside them. He was farther back on it, where beneath him was the main stairwell and end hallways. He stood on the west side of the back of the building, twelve feet from the back-left corner if someone was looking at it from the front.
…That would be weird though. While we're all still students, everyone's supposed to be thinking about having their own agencies and being the best heroes they can be. Plus, it would just start a weird dynamic if I told him, I wouldn't mind being his sidekick. But I think it would be kind of cool, once he's the next All Might. And I want to help him get to that point. I want to help, save this world. Before it's too late. Still though, not gonna say anything about it. I want to be my own hero anyway. Instead of a sidekick, maybe I can just work with him as equals. Or, if it takes too long for him to master that Quirk, I'll take some of the share. The way I do things, the way I've been doing them and how I plan to from now on, it doesn't match the hero style. But if I have to do it, I will. And whether or not people at the top of society complain, I know why they let me back in so easily. People, trust me. They don't know me, and they know I've killed people, know I joined the villains, but they trust me. I saw them talking about me on the news last night. People want to see if I'm really at U.A. They want to know where I've been, why I stopped healing people… It's not that I don't want to-
"Zach?"
Zach's head snapped so hard to the right that his neck hurt. His eyes were huge, and he said after a second of his bottom lip being lowered, "What are you doing here?"
Yaoyorozu took a step past the door and let it start closing behind her. "I saw you going up," she started hesitantly. She stopped walking and kept a large gap between them, as she asked in a nervous tone, "What, are you doing up here?"
Why did she follow me? I guess, anyone could have. It doesn't mean anything. This is Yaoyorozu! Shindeki Buda almost killed her- not that Shigaraki would have told everyone who his spy was, if he even had one back then… But why did she follow then? "I," Zach started, trying to think up an excuse while also figuring out why Yaoyorozu had that strange look on her face. She doesn't look like she just came to scold me for being on the roof… the roof. Oh man. She heard, and she- she thinks I- Zach turned his head back forward, looking off the roof. He leaned forward a bit to look down at the drop, then back at Yaoyorozu who had an even more nervous look on her face. He almost felt like smiling and laughing at her unwarranted concern, but instead he just felt a warm feeling inside him that made him frown more.
"It's not that," Zach said. "What, you're thinking," he specified, and Yaoyorozu's eyes widened as he could tell, and apparently it was not it which made her start feeling worse that she let him see she was expecting it. "My room just felt a little, stuffy," he said, his voice softer as he turned and looked back out over the campus again.
"Stuffy?" Yaoyorozu asked, taking another step towards the shorter boy. He had not spoken much at all to her since he returned, and as relieved as she was that he was not thinking about jumping, she did not want to go back inside with just that. "Are the dorm rooms not to your liking?"
"I like it," Zach said, shaking his head as that was wrong too. He froze for a few seconds, then he looked back and said, "Do you, have your phone on you?"
Yaoyorozu's eyes opened wide. "No, but I can go get it-"
"No don't," Zach said just as quickly as she was speaking. She got a confused look on her face, wondering why he asked if he wanted her answer to be 'no.' "I don't-" Zach started again, then he frowned and started shaking his head at her again. He opened his mouth, then he looked around and out in different directions. What am I afraid of? We're alone. There are no phones! There's no need, to be so afraid! "I just, needed somewhere, where I could think," Zach said, looking hesitantly at Yaoyorozu to see if that made sense to her.
"And your room, is not a good place for that?" Yaoyorozu questioned. She got all of her best thinking done in the confines of her own private room surrounded by her things. She did not see how someone's own room could feel 'stuffy,' but she wanted to know.
"No," Zach said, and he shook his head again. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "I'm afraid-" he stopped and cursed in his head, lowering his gaze from the shocked girl in front of him.
"Of what?" Yaoyorozu asked, taking another step closer to Zach so the gap was only ten feet now.
"I- I know, better than anyone," Zach started while looking at the roof below his feet. "How Kurogiri's power works." Yaoyorozu's eyes got even wider, while Zach muttered, "All those accidents, all those times he sent me to locations to save people, I understood what his power was like. I know, he needs to see the place he's creating warp gates in, or have the exact coordinates. And I know it's difficult to get the exact coordinates. It's why I was too late sometimes. Or why I had to appear in certain hospital rooms, and leave out those same rooms, but run across the hospital to the room where the person actually was. But he could find a way," Zach whispered, and he shook his head while lifting it a bit to stare back at the girl in front of him. I shouldn't be telling her this. It'll only scare her. It'll, only make things worse.
"Zach, you think, they are going to try and kidnap you?" Yaoyorozu asked in realization. He nodded his head after a second of hesitation, since he had already confirmed it with what he was just saying anyway, or at least that's how he reasoned it to himself. "U.A.'s security is too-"
"I don't have enough faith in it," Zach interrupted, shaking his head at her and then turning and looking off the roof again. "It's been bypassed before. And, and with Hackerman-" Zach paused and he looked back at Yaoyorozu. "As hard as going around saving people was, it got easier whenever we could get Hackerman to help us. He's another villain," Zach explained to the confused-looking girl in front of him. "But, I almost never saw him. And I never figured out how his Quirk works. I know it has to do with signals, or electrical waves, and he has to be touching some form of electronics. But he can hack into things. I don't know what he can, what he can't. I don't know if he has a range. I know, he hacked secret cameras at VTS, but I don't know where he was during that. He could have been teleported by Kurogiri right up to the building, or he could have been a hundred miles away. And if he was a hundred miles away, if he has no range, couldn't he have hacked into my old phone? Used the location settings on GPS to find my exact location?"
Yaoyorozu's breathing started picking up as the boy in front of her spoke faster. "And I've already started giving people my new number, after I- after my phone broke," he whispered, though as he looked into Yaoyorozu's eyes, he could tell she did not believe the story he gave for his phone breaking anymore. "And what if he can hack just by having a phone number? It's why I, have black tape over both cameras on my phone," Zach whispered. "But just having it in my room, makes it hard to do work, sleep… relax." He added the last part because it was the reason he was up here on the roof right now.
"Zach," Yaoyorozu began. His eyes squinted shut and he lowered his gaze from hers as he thought, Why'd I keep talking? I should have just kept my mouth shut. "You do not have to worry so much. The teachers know that VTS was hacked, and they have taken countermeasures to prevent it from happening again. I am sure we do not need to worry about our phone cameras watching us." How could you know that? I know they are checking signals coming in and out, and I know there are supposed to be blocks… "And as you said yourself, this Kurogiri, the one with the Warp-Gate Quirk, he cannot just create portals anywhere. If you have taken the precaution to tape your new phone, I will not try to tell you it is unnecessary, but it is surely enough."
"How do you know?" Zach asked, lifting his gaze back into her eyes. He was really searching for an answer, and she could see that and came up with one fast.
Yaoyorozu lifted up her left palm and offered, "Even if the worst case scenario was true, and the Hackerman could find out your new phone, hack it, and find your position, how would he know what floor you are on? Is your phone's location so exact, that he could be sure he is not opening a portal straight into the floor, or the wall? Would he risk sending someone into a wall? And how would they know if you were in your room at the time? If he cannot observe what is going on as well, how can he know how long to hold his portal open for, unless he risks coming through himself, alone into the school that has been preparing for him to arrive again since the first time they saw him?"
Zach's eyes grew wider with everything she said, and he started nodding his head along with her. His mind tried to come up with ways that the villains would counter each of the things she said, but she was speaking so fast that his mind could not keep up, and there were so many risks he realized the villains would have to take that it seemed crazier to him that they would try each second. But, there are still ways. When I walk around with my phone out of my room, in a street or something. Or if I pass in front of security cameras- if Hackerman really can just hack every security camera and use facial recognition to find me whenever I pop up. That would be an OP power for sure. He has to have more drawbacks. I hope he does, but I can't rely on hope!
"Anyway Zach, I think you should question whether or not you are being, just a little paranoid," Yaoyorozu suggested. He lifted his gaze to her again, and he slowly started nodding as he had considered that himself several times. She smiled at his nod, and she said with that small smile on her face, "Perhaps they are not even trying to locate you at all. Maybe, they are not trying to capture you." She offered it up and smiled at him, but his nods stopped and his expression darkened again.
"They're trying," Zach whispered.
She thought he was talking about right now, and that he was not just on the roof because he was paranoid, and she started shaking her head at him. "You don't know that-"
"I do," Zach said, his voice louder, then he closed it fast as she looked at him with wider eyes. He gave an apologetic look for that outburst, then he opened his mouth. They'll never stop… "You will never go back. You are one of us now. You are going to be one of us, forever." No! No no, don't think about that stuff. Only, only recently. Zach's mouth that opened, his face scrunching up in pain as he did, closed again. He pursed his lips and shook his head, then he said while looking her in the eyes, "They're chasing me. They're trying to get me. Because I escaped."
Yaoyorozu had heard that rumor that all the guys in class had apparently heard straight from Zach, but she still shook her head at him again. She wanted him to feel better, safer, and she could see he still looked way too paranoid. Her head shake made Zach bite down harder though, and he said, "I know it. I'm not just being- sure I'm being a little paranoid, but-" he stopped again, and he shook his head while closing his eyes in pain, and anger because of the look she was giving him. "I heard you all had a party on New Year's."
The girl in front of him got a sadder look on her face, and she thought about how much that must have hurt him knowing they had a party even while he was gone. She opened her mouth to speak, but Zach continued as she did, "Want to know where I was?" Yaoyorozu froze, then Zach turned from her and looked out off the roof again towards the bright lights coming from the city they were in. "Just, a few miles away. Running through the streets, getting chased, by the Hunter." Yaoyorozu's eyes opened huge behind him, and she stared in shock at the boy who reached his right hand up to his left arm, grabbing it in phantom pain and squeezing the top of his long sleeve so tightly. "He wanted to bring me back. He was going to- so I tried fighting him, but I had no idea where he was. He'd come out of nowhere. He almost got me, so I turned into R- I used my Nightmare form. I, I still couldn't do a thing though. I fought, and ran, and got chased and attacked, for hours. All of New Year's Eve… and when I heard the countdown, when I heard the cheers for the new year, while stumbling around and covered in my own blood-" Zach gasped and he leaned his head back, taking in a huge breath of cold air to clear his throat, not wanting to get choked-up here.
After taking that pause for a breath though, he realized what he was saying and who he was ranting to. It was after. It was after I left. I, I don't need to keep that stuff a secret, but… he turned his head to the side and looked back, then he turned his body fully and his eyes opened huge at the girl behind him. "I'm sorry," Zach whispered, gritting his teeth and lowering his right hand from his left arm. "I didn't mean to, say all that," he whispered, hating himself because of the tears he saw in the corners of Yaoyorozu's eyes. "But I'm not, just being paranoid for no reason. I didn't have a lot of options. I didn't think I had any… But coming to U.A., was not the safest path I could have taken. At least I don't think it was," he muttered at the end, wondering if the other choice would have been any safer than this. "And I'm just, nervous," he said, deciding against saying 'afraid.' "But I'll be alright," he said, shaking his head again. "Thinking about those things you said, I feel like my room's, probably safe."
"Zach," Yaoyorozu whispered, and she lifted a hand and wiped off her face just below her eyes. "I had no idea…" She stopped herself, then she started while taking a step closer to him, "I'm sorry you feel like- no, I'm sorry that they are still coming after you. But we won't let you get taken this time. As long as you don't, go with them-"
"Heh, don't worry about that," Zach started, but his laugh was cold and dry. "I'll never go back with them again. I'd rather- do anything else," Zach finished that sentence, and he felt relieved at how close he got there to making her even more worried. Zach started walking forward, moving a little to the side to go past the girl towards the door. "I mean it Yaoyorozu," Zach said, when he got right up next to her and she turned in towards him. "Thank you," he said, turning partly and smiling at her out the corner of his right eye. "You're one of the smartest people I know. So I'm glad you think it'd be nearly impossible for them to get me in my room. Makes me feel better."
Yaoyorozu's breathing sped up but Zach turned straight forward and kept going for the door back downstairs. She was frozen where she stood for a few seconds, her cheeks red and feeling shivers from something other than the cold air around them. "You all can call me Zach. I don't go by my last name." What Zach told his class on the first day of school the previous spring came to Yaoyorozu's head, and she thought about what he just said, before saying, "Zach." She started walking towards the door back downstairs too, but she looked down and to her side as she continued, "You can call me Momo, if you'd like."
Her first name? Zach thought, his hand stopping before he touched the handle of the door. His eyes were wide, and he thought in surprise, I don't think any of the guys in class call her Momo. Maybe, things changed since- no, no I've heard them call her Yaoyorozu since… Then why- Zach turned his head sideways and glanced back at Yaoyorozu again, and his heart clenched up, and his face scrunched, and he turned back to the door with a frustrated look on his face. No one calls her Momo. If I did, people would know- think, we were close. I, can't do that to you. "That's fine Yaoyorozu," he said, his voice flat and making Momo lift her eyes up at his back in surprise, and a bit of hurt at how unaffected that voice sounded. "Let's get back inside. Thank you, for talking to me." I can't, put any of you at risk.
"You're an idiot," Jirou said, rolling her eyes at the boy next to her she was walking away from U.A. High School with.
"Or, am I a genius?" Kaminari asked, lifting his eyebrows and bouncing them a few times when the shorter girl glanced back his way.
Kyoka Jirou thought about earlier that day when Kaminari short-circuited his mind, and she put a hand over her mouth and laughed into it. "'A genius?'" Kaminari lowered his bottom lip at how funny she seemed to think that was, but then he crossed his arms and kept grinning anyway.
"It's a good idea. Just because it's boarding school, doesn't mean we have to spend every weekend cooped up here. And didn't you say you snowboard when we were doing the avalanche training?" He asked.
Jirou's eyes widened a bit and she turned back to Kaminari as they were nearing their dorm. "What? Do you not?" Kaminari asked at her strange look.
"N-No I do," Jirou said. She turned back forward and thought, You remembered that? "You never said anything about it then though."
"Wasn't really focused on snowboarding when there was an avalanche coming towards us. I can't believe you wanted to ride that thing-"
"Oh, can you only handle the bunny slopes?" Jirou teased.
"No! Double blacks, all the way," Kaminari assured, crossing his arms to eliminate the doubt that he was anything but the best. She rolled her eyes at him but he kept looking at her like he was serious, then as she opened them wider and was going to ask if he really was, his head turned more to look behind them. Kaminari's grin lowered and he frowned, before turning back forward towards the dorm with a scrunched-up face.
Jirou glanced back before looking up at Kaminari's face. "What's up with you?" She asked.
"Why's," Kaminari started, then he stopped and just pouted for a second. They reached the walkway up to their dorm's front doors, but Kaminari slowed down and said, "You go in ahead. I'm gonna, stay here for a minute," Kaminari said, in the weirdest way that made Jirou sweatdrop at his annoyed expression. He seemed to forget all about what they were just talking about, even though she was actually starting to give the idea some though, and she frowned before shrugging and walking for the building.
Kaminari stretched both hands up in the air like he was just standing there for no reason, then he turned his head and looked back at the two walking towards him. "Oh, hey guys," Kaminari said, and he walked back and stepped next to Zach's left side while Midoriya walked on his right. The conversation he saw them having as they walked towards the dorm stopped and both looked towards him. "I'm wiped after today. I think I bombed that test."
"Really?" Midoriya asked, leaning forward to look past the boy between them. "Are you having trouble with math Kaminari?"
"Yeah, I should probably ask Yaoyorozu for some help again," Kaminari admitted with a scratch of the back of his head. "How'd you do, Zach?" Kaminari asked.
"Good," Zach said. "I think," he added, as they stepped onto the walkway up to the dorm's doors.
Kaminari narrowed his eyebrows down, as Zach responded without looking away from those doors. His short response, his attitude, it was rubbing Kaminari the wrong way. Midoriya looked over towards Kaminari with a nervous expression that Kaminari caught, and Kaminari just frowned at him too. "So, you two are like besties now huh?" Kaminari asked, his tone half-joking but his lip flat after he asked.
"Wh-What do-" Midoriya started as he and Zach stopped from the weird question.
Zach turned and looked Kaminari in the eyes with an annoyed expression on his face, but that only made Kaminari's expression even more annoyed itself, and Midoriya to lean back nervously. "You mad at me for something? I said I was sorry for mentioning the letter dude, but I barely said anything about it anyway."
"I'm not mad," Zach started.
"Then why're you being like this?" Kaminari asked.
Midoriya glanced to his left back towards the road to check if any of their other classmates were returning, and he spotted Shoji and Mineta walking just into sight. "I'm not 'being like' anything," Zach started. His voice got lower and he said, "I'm just not-"
"I see you having these long conversations with Midoriya," Kaminari said, and Midoriya looked back anxiously, feeling really awkward about this current situation. "But you say like two words to me and walk off." Zach's eyes widened a bit as Kaminari's narrowed, but instead of annoyance, the blond just looked hurt. "If I didn't do anything to piss you off, then why are you," Kaminari shook his head once, then he stopped and grit his teeth more. "No," he muttered to himself, as he was about to just say 'forget it' and head inside. "It's not okay man. Thought we were friends, and I know this isn't just the 'new you,' or whatever, because I see you talking to Midoriya without holding back so much. So unless I did something, you're just making me feel like I did something for no reason."
"It's not for no reason, but you didn't do anything," Zach started, shaking his head at the blond teen. Kaminari, it's not that. I want to be friends. I, really do.
"Then what is it?" Kaminari asked. "If you're gonna keep acting this way, which it sounds like you are, then at least give me a good reason. If you don't, you're just being a di-"
"Midoriya's already on the villains' kill list," Zach said, and he narrowed his gaze at Kaminari in a cold way. Kaminari's eyes widened, and Midoriya's did at Zach's back too. Zach glanced back in a hesitant way after saying it, but he shook his head and then turned back to Kaminari. "So I can make friends with Midoriya without feeling like it's my fault when- if the villains kill him." Zach clenched his eyes after the pessimistic way in which he almost said that.
"Zach, I don't get it," Midoriya started behind the boy who he was confused hearing this from.
"You're, wait- so you're…" Kaminari was not getting it either, and he looked at Zach in such a confused way as Zach's eyes opened back up.
"The villains, are going to kill everyone I care about," Zach said. He pursed his lips, then he returned to an uncaring expression at Kaminari's huge eyes, "So I have to distance myself. Plus, Midoriya was the only one who tried to help me," Zach continued, turning back to the door of the dorm with an annoyed look on his face. He realized he just made it sound like he was only sticking by Midoriya for that reason alone, and that annoyed him since it was not the only or even more important reason. "In that room full of heroes, none of them did a thing, while Midoriya fought the Nomu and tried to save me." Zach had seen Shoji and Mineta reaching the start of the path, but he pretended like he never had and that they were just ending their conversation as he opened up the dorm and walked inside, leaving the door open in hopes the other two would move in fast to prevent the cold from getting in while also stopping Mineta and Shoji from asking questions outside.
Zach continued towards the stairwell after taking his shoes off, and his eyes were dark as he clenched his fists at his sides. Damn it. Damn! Why didn't I come up with a better reason- a lie? Telling him the villains are going to kill him. I guess, that will scare him into staying away from me though. Maybe. I hope he doesn't go off telling everyone… though actually, I guess that would be a quick way to get everyone to avoid me. Do I really want that? "Zach!" Zach's eyes clenched shut as he walked up the stairs towards his room, thinking about the first thing everyone shouted at him last week. Are they already telling the others? How many will know soon? How many of them are going to stop talking to me? These people who I live with, my classmates, my- I want to call them friends. I want to just be normal and live here like a normal person. I want to enjoy this place like I know I would if I wasn't worrying all the time.
The boy opened his room, got inside, and he slid his fingers out of his right glove with a flick of his wrist. He smacked his hand into his chest and his exposed fingers touched him and turned him pitch black, before his bones showed through the front of his black veil. Zach's vision started tinting red, and he walked over to his desk and sat on his chair. His blinds were drawn, and he never turned the light on in his room. Not worried, Zach thought, lowering his elbows to his desk and putting his left hand under his chin. He stared at the closed blinds, the cracks of light getting in that he felt the urge to cover up. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and put it on the desk, and the black veil on it seeped off in little wisps after a few seconds of it resting there. Zach stared at the tape over the cameras, then down at the microphone which he had broken intentionally a few days ago, just in case Hackerman was always listening in to everything he said. Afraid, Zach thought. I can't call this freedom. I'm here at the safest place in the country for me, and I'm still terrified. I'm still trapped, by Shigaraki. He's in my head. Zach started shaking and he lifted his left hand from under his chin up to the side of his head. And that means, I'm still his prisoner. Damn it, he thought, clenching his left fist into the darkness around his head that felt like a mix of a gas and actual touchable Death. The only way I can protect myself, is to get stronger on my own. Zach lowered his hand and turned, getting up from his chair and then dropping into a push-up position on the floor. I got weaker during that… but, I can be strong. I can, protect myself. On my own. Because no one else can protect me.
"Alright class, you may start lunch now," Cementoss said to Class-A as his Modern Literature class came to an end. "Your Hero Studies course this afternoon will be led by Aizawa sensei, by the way," Cementoss added.
The students getting up from their seats gave the teacher a thankful look, reminding themselves to get back from the cafeteria earlier than usual. Zach stood up and started out of his row, but when he turned to walk towards the door, Cementoss stepped his way and spoke to him. "Sazaki. Would you mind coming down to the teacher's lounge?"
Zach turned towards Cementoss and stared up in the gray figure's slits of eyes. His flat lip dipped into a frown and he glanced to his right to see a couple of classmates looking back at him wondering what this was about. "Do I have to?" Zach asked, thinking on the wording and polite tone that Cementoss worded that.
"Some other teachers and I have something we need to speak with you about," Cementoss replied.
Is he dodging the question? I said I wanted to avoid this. Zach frowned deeper but nodded his head, "Okay."
Cementoss and Zach walked out of the classroom after the rest of the students had gone, and they walked the other way down the hallway. Zach saw students from other classes walking by him on the other side of the hall, but he kept his gaze straight on Cementoss's back. Everyone still gawks at me. Some of them probably haven't seen me yet, but still. Get over it already. Damn, why is Cementoss doing this? Zach's fists clenched hard at his sides but he released them a second later, trying to calm his expression.
"Principal Nezu. That thing you guys did after USJ, don't do that. If you're planning on having all the teachers meet up with me or something, please don't." "I am not sure I understand-" "No one's going to like it. They won't. I won't. Please, just don't do something like that." Zach's expression got darker as they reached the teacher's lounge, and Cementoss opened the door for Zach to step in. He walked into the room, and he glanced around to see four other teachers in there.
Vlad King, Snipe, Present Mic, and All Might were all standing in the room and turned as Cementoss led Zach in. He walked in with a dark look on his face he could not hide, a look many of the teachers in front of him had seen in the last week and a half. The principal probably did what I asked, but these guys just couldn't help themselves. The door closed behind Zach and he took a few steps farther in while the taller men all faced him. "You don't want to do this," Zach muttered under his breath as All Might stepped forward.
All Might got a confused look on his face, wondering what Zach thought they were about to do. "Young Sazaki," All Might began. The thin teacher with pushed-back blond hair over his head pulled back as Zach started shaking his head at him, his lips pursed and like he was holding himself back. "We called you hear because each of us has something that we need to tell you."
Present Mic scratched the back of the head. He could see the look on the boy's face saying that he did not want to be there, and neither did he. He lowered that hand though, and he thought about VTS and running up the rocky area from the side closer to the muddy slope, seeing the kid and dropping his jaw, freezing in place. Present Mic's lips twisted down, and he started, "We shouldn't have let you get taken away."
Zach turned to Present Mic and started shaking his head, such a frustrated look on his face. "Don't," Zach started, looking around at the others who were all opening their mouths.
"We were so close," Vlad King began, his teeth clenching after it came out. This is the second time, Sazaki…
"It was our job to protect you," Cementoss added in.
"But, we failed," Snipe completed. "And for that, we are sorry."
Zach looked towards Snipe, then he looked back into the middle at All Might who searched Zach's eyes to see what he was pursing his lips so hard for. Zach finally opened his mouth, and he asked in a strained voice, "Is that all?"
Most of the teachers in front of him got even more frustrated looks at the expression on the kid's face and his attitude. "Hey Sazaki," Present Mic started. "What's with that reaction? Can't you-"
"Do you want me to forgive you?" Zach asked, and his eyebrows pushed down while his eyes glared up at Present Mic. A furious look spread over Zach's face, "You, pro heroes, who let me get taken from right in front of you?" Zach hissed, and all five of the men in front of Zach opened their eyes wide. "I despise-" he started, then he bit down hard and he clenched his fists at his sides to stop saying it. "I had come back," he snapped, his voice getting louder while he balled his fists. He glared back at All Might whose jaw was dropped and his eyes were huge, then he shot his glare to Cementoss who he had tried to warn. "I came back, to the only place I thought I would be safe. I, I made the opportunity for myself- because I had faith that once I was surrounded by heroes, the heroes I trusted the most! There was no way I would fall back into the villains' hands."
"Sazaki," Snipe started softly.
Zach shook his head while darting his gaze towards Snipe, then he looked back at Present Mic and whispered, "You couldn't have shouted?" His eyes darted to Cementoss, "Or, made a wall blocking the portal? Or something? Anything?!" Zach shouted, looking into Cementoss's eyes desperately, and the teacher could see the boy truly searching for an answer. "I- surrounded by all those 'great' heroes, I got captured, and I got…" Zach's lips started trembling, and he bit down on his bottom lip hard. He bit down so hard with shaking eyes and a panicked look rising on his face, that a trail of blood came out the middle of his lip and seeped down to his chin while the teachers all stared in shock at him.
Zach gasped, and he reached a hand up and wiped the blood he felt, then wiped his eyes fast too before spinning around. FUCK! That's why, I didn't want to have to talk to them. Talk to, my fallen heroes. I hate this. Zach took a step towards the door, then he froze as his hand grabbed the handle. "Snipe sensei," Zach started, his voice low and his eyes darting to the floor. "Thank you, for trying to shoot the Nomu," Zach said. He slid open the door, then he continued, "Next time though, if it happens again, aim for the head."
Snipe's eyes widened behind his mask, then he spoke to the kid about to walk out, while the others were all still too shocked or frustrated to speak. Vlad King's fists clenched so hard he broke the skin of his palms through his gloves, and Present Mic's jaw was dropped as he saw that going a much different way. Snipe started before Zach could walk out, "Even if I had done something like that, the Nomu's head and its arms are made of-"
"Not its head," Zach interrupted. Snipe got confused, and then he and the other teachers all realized what Zach was saying. "If one's pulling me through a portal again, and you see it," his head turned sideways and he had a pained look on his face as he whispered, "aim for mine."
A/N Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Leave a review below!
Nightsky of FlameClan chapter 32 . 9h ago
Yay, Zach's back. I hope he opens up to the others again soon. And why do I sense a sort of romance blooming? I get the feel Yaoyorozu and Jirou are beginning to develop a crush on our protag.
Anyways, hope you update soon, can't wait for more!
Zach back in the school swing, not a very happy camper though. Zach and Yaoyorozu have a moment this chapter, but he's still against putting anyone in harm's way by getting close- except for Midoriya whose a target already! Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reviewing!
D-Koy24 chapter 32 . 8h ago
Hmmm I defiantly wanted Tsuyu to be there as Mono walked to Zach's room.I imagined her still thinking about not running into Tsu and out of nowhere she hears "Momo-chan" and has an awkward staring contest with her (involuntary)
~D-Koy,No one can deny my sparkle, MERCI!
Lol would've been a funny moment, should add some more of those considering the amount of angst in this chapter. Sparkle! Thanks for the review!
Carzysgt chapter 32 . 9h ago
Aww man! I can understand the paranoia for Zach, but I think it's a bit late to be worrying about a potential spy figuring out who you care about in the class since they've been able to observe who Zach associates with since the start of freshman year! Idk about how potentially effective the "countermeasures" against Kurogiri and Hackerman are, but you can't live and be on guard 24/7, Zach.
Honestly, I just want to see Zach talk about what he went through and how he feels about it with someone like Denki, Momo, Jirou, or Izuku. No man is an island Zach! Ya can't do this to yourself, you need help!
Zach's gone full paranoia here. I think as long as he pushes back from everyone, whoever the spy is might not think he still cares for the same people from the first semester, it has been a while after all and he's acting like he's meeting them all again for the first time. Then again he's finding that pretty hard as some people (Kaminari and Yaoyorozu) keep butting in... Kurogiri and Hackerman are pretty OP though, at Zach's own words even though he's not too sure on Hackerman's exact powers. Some good talks with Denki, Momo, and Izuku this chapter, so thought it was pretty funny you mentioned that XD Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reviewing!
Guest chapter 32 . 9h ago
Yes, Zachary. Do it! Execute order 69. Leave no cock unblocked!
I am... pretty confused. Lol nice review though!
Guest chapter 31 . 20m ago
Awesome-ness
Thanks!