Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 80:
Zach sat next to the window on a plane that was even emptier than the one he had flown to Hokkaido on. He thought maybe it just felt that way since he did not have Midoriya to talk to like he had on the way there, but he had texted his friend and found out that Midoriya's plane was much later in the day. He had headphones in and was listening to music at a loud enough volume to drown out the plane's large engines just outside his window on the wing of the plane. Zach found himself staring at the engine and the shaking wing, then his eyes rose up a bit and over the white sea of clouds below the plane on its way south for Tokyo.
The flight would not be too long, but he had spent a lot of time that morning thinking. On the way to the airport, sitting in the terminal, and now on the plane as well he had been lost in his thoughts. Staring out over the white clouds settled him down a bit and he let out a long sigh. I would've enjoyed a view like this once or twice a week, he thought. A small frown spread over his face and he leaned back in his comfortable plane seat, closing his eyes at the thought that made him uncomfortable.
Four Hours Ago…
"I can't thank you enough for this," Zach said, bowing again while holding the small laminated identification in his left hand. He smiled brightly while coming out of his bow but looked down from Bikergang and to his motorcycle license again.
"It's your own hard work that got you it," Bikergang said. "Wouldn't have let you take the road test if I didn't think you were ready." Bikergang smiled a bit more at the sixteen year old in front of him who was wearing his school uniform to travel in and had his U.A. costume box on the floor next to his packed bag. It was just the two of them, and Zach was about to leave for Rukasu to catch his plane. Bikergang continued to the student before him, "And it's not you who has to thank me. I'm glad you came to my agency Lifebringer. If not for you, well I don't want to think about it but Roady probably wouldn't still be here. A lot of people wouldn't be."
Zach smiled at the praise, and then he took a deep breath as there was something he had been pushing off but figured was a good time for it considering what Bikergang just said. "Well, if you want my help again, I'd be happy to come back to intern with, you," Zach trailed off and his eyes started to widen as Bikergang's smile lowered down. He got a confused look on his face, and he asked, "Is it, not okay?"
Bikergang frowned at Zach for a few seconds. He had avoided talking to him about this for the second half of the internship, and because of the raid he owed Zach to at least finish out the week-long internship he had offered. "No," Bikergang replied though. Zach felt even more confused, and Bikergang knew why. Since he had avoided talking about this so much, the kid in front of him must have had no idea as to why he would be denying him, especially after the gratitude he just showed. Bikergang wanted to raise a hand up through his spiky orange hair, but he just kept a serious look on his face instead and stared into Zach's eyes with that look in his eyes. "I need to be able to trust someone I'm working closely with, and I don't trust you."
Zach's lips twisted down and he felt his chest ache. That was like a punch in the gut from the cool hero he had been working with for the last week, and Bikergang could see the boy looked hurt over it even though Zach tried to flatten his lips out again fast. "Chemist said things before he was arrested, even though he wouldn't say a word again afterwards. He's been silent so far, probably because he thinks Shigaraki will come for him… but the night of the raid though." Bikergang stopped talking for a second as he could see a hesitant and nervous look forming on Zach's face, then he finished anyway, "He said things about Reaper."
"I, can explain those," Zach started. If it's the same things he said to Midoriya, and those two were together with him when we all ran into Dandy! That must have been when he heard it. "That was the name they called me, but the Chemist thought-"
"Before you continue," Bikergang started. His voice was serious, and he looked down with a cold look in his eyes that really unnerved Zach. "I'm going to ask you if you will tell me the whole truth, and if not, just say nothing instead." Zach's eyes opened wide as that choice was put out in front of him.
The look in Bikergang's eyes was what ultimately made the decision for him. He wanted to lie to Bikergang, to tell him only the things he thought would make Bikergang understand and let him stay. He could not think of staying there and working with Bikergang though, having gained his trust on lies. There was the chance that other villains would reveal more about him in the future, or new info would come out, but really he just could not find it in him to lie to the man who had just given him his gratitude, who had helped him get his license. Those were the reasons he told himself why he stayed silent, but Bikergang's eyes were what made the decision not much of a decision at all. Because he saw in Bikergang's eyes a look that told him if he did come out and say everything, Bikergang would arrest him. He could see it in Bikergang's eyes, a warning telling him that the two of them were on good terms now, but not nearly close enough that the pro hero would not take him into custody if Zach were to expose some terrible truths about himself.
Zach slowly nodded at Bikergang and he lowered his gaze to the floor. "In that case," he bowed his body again and finished, "thank you for all you have done for me." Bikergang's eyebrows lifted up as the boy did not try to come up with any other excuses. It unnerved him too, because the fact that Zach was so quick to accept defeat meant that the secrets he was holding back were ones Bikergang now thought he should have tried prying at for another few seconds. Zach un-bowed though and he turned around, grabbing his bags and walking to the red motorcycle with orange and black flames on the sides of it.
Zach smiled softly as he got to the motorcycle, even though he felt much darker as he tried focusing on the bike. He thought about how Roady reacted to the black paint in the flame stripes when he had come in on a wheelchair with Popfire, introducing her to Zach a couple of days ago. Roady had been upset with him for a minute, but then he just told Zach to 'take good care of her.' Zach had made the joke back 'you too,' while motioning at Roady's fiancé who had been talking with Daisy which got him the reaction he wanted from his older friend. Before they had left too, Popfire had invited Zach to the wedding and whispered to him that Roady told her what he had did for him. Zach thought about these things to distract himself from the reason why he walked to his new motorcycle so quickly after bowing to Bikergang. He did it because he knew how Bikergang felt about him saving Roady's life, and he also knew Bikergang would feel more suspicious after Zach decided not to say a thing to the man who looked like he might turn him in. Zach grabbed his helmet and put it over his head fast, because his expression matched how he really felt and would look like that his whole way to the airport.
Present
Zach's face started looking like it had when he had had a helmet over his head. He tried returning it to normal as he reminded himself that a flight attendant could walk by at any time, but he was feeling like crap. Manipulation. It doesn't always feel good. Using it on the media to get them talking about my report, which they started doing that very night after the press conference, I enjoyed that. I felt like I had done everything I could to get the discussion going. Who knows if it will start to actually make changes anytime soon? If it will actually gain traction? …But, manipulation of people I like is harder. When it's just to them, and not to everyone as a whole where I can't pretend like it's not as bad because… Well, it did keep Bikergang from saying anything.
Zach lifted his hands and put them behind his head. He rubbed them through his hair and scratched his head through his black glove on his right hand, then he quickly tapped his head with that hand with wide eyes as he realized he had slid his fingers out of his glove while scratching. That was stupid. I don't usually make that mistake with the gloves on. Is this glove faulty? No, I must have made the muscle movement. Check though. Zach focused on his hand that he lifted in front of him, and he tested sliding his fingers in and out of the glove as he had practiced thousands of times before. He knew better than anyone that accidents could happen, and he had spent years avoiding one.
As he watched his fingers slip in and out of his glove, he shifted his thoughts back to what he had tried pushing them towards when thinking about his own manipulation. What if the news doesn't make an impact on politics? Usually it does. Public support changes things, because the government is supposed to be run by the people. Plus, maybe there are people in the government who agree. Hero officials and such. Then again, those in charge don't really like change. Change is controversial. Keeping things the same usually doesn't make people think badly of you, since you can just say you're following "precedent" or sticking by "tradition." In a time where crime is through the roof though, officials might be able to see that people won't be satisfied by those answers alone. Zach hummed and he stopped doing his finger exercises to instead look back out the window.
Crime's higher than it's ever been. Musutafu and the Sports Festival, and the Tartaros breakout too, all in one day. It was not just a terrible loss for heroes, but it was a sign of a new era. I kind of thought it was the big event I predicted coming, but I didn't realize that the event on its own was a turning point. I thought the event would change citizens' perspectives more than it wound up actually doing. Even if it did make a lot of people lose faith in heroes, make people scared, I don't see the anger at the government and desire to change things as much as I thought it would. What I have seen though, is a much different change. Zach's eyes darkened as he looked down at the clouds they were getting closer to, and he heard the pilot announce that they were beginning their initial descent a second later. It was a catalyst, Zach thought. I finally realized it in Hokkaido. The people I saw in Musutafu who were scared to be outside, the empty streets, they weren't signs of what I thought. People aren't going to go out in the streets talking about change, because people are afraid to go out in the streets.
In Hokkaido I saw it in the eyes of people we saved, people on the sidewalks who were not surprised when we'd race by on motorcycles. The big event was the last time, the last time people are going to be really shocked by the villains. They know now, this isn't the world they were used to. They think… they know, just as I do. We're at war now. It's impossible to just push the villains down and pretend they're not a big problem. They're here.
Too many became emboldened by the villains' victories, Zach thought. He lifted up his phone and scrolled for a new song, and he picked one that he always thought well to. He was done trying to distract himself with the music which had not been working at all anyway. The new song came on and started slow, and Zach put his phone back in his pocket and looked out the window as they descended through the sky. When villains are winning, people who never would have considered it before can see becoming a villain as an option themselves. People just a little dissatisfied, people who lose jobs, or just losers who want to join the side that looks like they're winning which is much easier to do than join the side of good. It's easier to become a villain than a hero. How can that change?
Can it change? If my research paper ideas could come into effect right now because of the Sports Festival, would that change things? It would at least make people less likely to suddenly snap and become villains, if they know that it won't be as easy. They won't be able to get away with as much if everyone around them could stop them, and it would protect people too! Yeah, why am I doubting it? Zach tried smiling, but he frowned and hummed to himself more as he did not know what about his current thoughts was keeping him down. Is that enough though? he wondered. Will everyone training their Quirks really change society back to the way it was before? Is that alone, can it make things better than they were? Maybe. Maybe it can. But not alone. It's something too far in the future. Even if it comes to be quickly, even if those rules can change, the situation has already gone beyond the tipping point. The lines aren't parallel anymore. Allowing the use of Quirks for everyone won't stop Shigaraki. It won't stop the League, or any of the organizations that exist right now that are causing so much damage. My idea is something to keep the world peaceful once it is again, but it isn't a way to get it to that point.
So a two-sided front then. Push those things so the world is ready to handle a new peace and can sustain it, while at the same time destroying organized crime to get it to that point. I could do both. I will do both. Next time I have the chance, I won't let Shigaraki slip through my fingers. Or, Dabi… I won't let you get away again.
"Well that, doesn't look good." Zach sat on his new motorcycle just outside of Musutafu, after driving around for the past forty minutes freely for the first time. He had not been able to just go on a nice joy ride on his motorcycle yet, as he had been doing hero work in Feruchia and then had to drive straight to Rukasu that morning to catch his plane. The ride was a nice way to clear his thoughts especially since it was hard for him to frown knowing he was about to get to show this cool bike off to his classmates. The freedom was good too, though he knew his teachers would know when his plane had come in and would be expecting him back at school soon.
Right when he was deciding to head to U.A. though, he saw some smoke in the city he was heading for. He only stopped for a moment to look closer at it, before he twisted the accelerator again while turning the front of his motorcycle in the direction of that plume. Whatever's causing it, there's no point conjecturing about it here. It's on the way to school anyway! Zach sped off with a grin cracking below his helmet. Wish i had my hero costume on, but I'll manage.
A mile and a half away, Nemuri Kayama smacked her whip through the air and hit two of the three shuriken flying towards her. She still had to leap backwards though as the explosions from the first two did not stop the third from continuing its flight towards where she had been standing. Midnight crossed her arms and still let out a yelp of pain as the shuriken hit the street in front of her and blasted her backwards. She hit the ground and rolled back but came out of that roll on her feet with the hilt of her whip pressed into the ground. Her support weapon had survived the explosions and she stood back up wielding her whip, wiping the left side of her face with her other fist while glaring towards the ninja-looking villain on the road ahead of her.
"Nyak nyak nyak nyak!" A green-skinned female villain flying through the air cackled while green energy came out of her feet to keep propelling her around. She rose her right hand and threw down a ball of glowing green she made with her Quirk towards a man with wooden appendages and a strong muscular man near him. Kamui Woods dodged the attack and swung his arms up to extend his wooden appendages at the crazy woman. "No wonder the League picked this city!" She called out while spinning her body in the air, pointing her legs at the wood approaching her and making Kamui Woods yell out in pain as the green energy was as hot as flames which he already knew from the scattered green flames on the street.
"Kamui Woods," Backdraft called over. He stopped putting out normal flames covering a destroyed car, and he pointed his arms at Kamui Woods who called out a thanks for his help as Backdraft drenched him.
Two burly men who looked identical were sprinting down the road towards a blond pro hero and teacher at U.A. High School. Present Mic might have thought they were identical twins, if he did not just see the man split into two in such a slow way that for a few seconds there he thought the guy was just growing extra body parts. There was an empty street behind the man, but as Present Mic opened his mouth to shout at the man, he bit down and started running backwards at the sight of some people running out of a building they were afraid was too close to the fight. The people of Musutafu did not believe being inside a building was enough to protect them in a villain fight after the Sports Festival Invasion, and the ones who ran outside ignored the heroes who shouted at them to go back in.
"What chaotic madness," the leader of the villain group said, holding his arms out and laughing before lowering them and glaring at the woman hovering in front of him. He had long wings that did not have any feathers but were smooth instead, yet had sharp points on them in several places. On the top of the wings were two points, and at the bottom corners as well as one spot halfway in from the corners and to his sides on the bottom of the wings there were sharp needle-like structures that the muscular woman in all red had seen fire out of his wings before. He wore an orange bandanna similar to her red one, and that made Mother Russia glare at the villain in a much angrier way that she shared anything in common with him. He also had a lot more to his villain costume though, with two sheaths for the katanas he held currently in his hands, as well as a sidearm that he had not drawn but Mother Russia kept a close eye on. "Tell me, Caterina Makarov, the Flying Bear of Siberia, do you-"
"Do you think that saying my real name makes you more menacing?" Mother Russia questioned, her Russian accent lacing her voice thicker than ever. "You looked that nickname up online, to pretend like you know me on a personal level. You like making a grand entrance, an impression." Mother Russia scoffed at the man who started frowning at her with a bead of sweat on the side of his face. Her eyes narrowed, her expression darkening with her muscles tightening up all around her body pushing into her thin red costume. "I bet you know things about all the heroes in the area. I bet, you had smug little things to say to anyone who could have run into you. Because you like to play games." The man looking at her got another bead of sweat on his face and leaned his head back while the Russian woman glared deeper into his eyes. "I don't play your games," Mother Russia stated, and then she shot forward through the air with her fists clenching and punching in front of her.
The winged villain flapped but was not prepared for her sudden charge and he only pushed himself back enough that her right fist skimmed him instead of smashing him hard in the chest. He flapped away and fired sharp projectiles from his wings to keep Mother Russia back, but the muscular woman with long whitish-blonde hair kept after him while swerving around his attacks.
The ninja on the street sprinted towards Present Mic who finally got in a got angle to scream at the burly man who had split into two. Hizashi Yamada turned his head towards the man coming his way but could not scream on the narrow street and make his voice slam into the building past the ninja who chose his approaching angle well. Midnight started running back towards the ninja, but she snapped her head up and then pulled off some of her tight white uniform to fill the air with her knockout gas. The witch-looking villain flying over her had her hands pointed down with green flames shooting out of them to keep her up in the air though, and she pushed out more to get out of the range of Midnight's attack and counter the U.A. hero at the same time. Midnight dodged to the side and the witch let out a yelp as not only did Midnight dodge her attack, but using her Quirk was just a distraction anyway as she wrapped her whip around the witch's left foot.
Midnight swung down towards the ninja man who jumped up in the air and held a growing katana over his head. The blade of the katana glowed red as he slashed it down towards Present Mic, but he had to let go of the sword and pull his body away as the witch was thrown towards him. Present Mic leapt back to dodge the falling sword and the witch, then the ninja's sword exploded on the ground and made the green-skinned woman in the explosion scream, right before Present Mic yelled out in pain himself as one of the two charging identical guys slammed a fist into his side where he landed. Kamui Woods stretched out his wooden arms and caught Present Mic with one while wrapping up the villain who had hit him with the other.
The man wrapped up started to disappear in Kamui Woods' attack though, and then he faded completely and another version of him popped out of the burly villain who was farther back from where his clone had just hit Present Mic. The man who just cloned himself again smirked though, and another version of himself popped out of his other side. His Quirk, Hydra, made him and his comrades around him smirk as he only got stronger with Kamui Woods' last attack. Considering an eruption of green flames just came out of some smoke made the villains even more smug too, while their witch-like companion staggered up to her feet with her entire body enflamed now and a hypodermic needle falling off her arm.
The ninja man lowered the bottom of his black mask that covered most of his face. He dropped it and said in a low voice, "Wicked, you sure about-"
"Shut up," she hissed, turning her head and glaring back towards her comrade with a pissed-off look in her eyes. It was the ninja's explosion that had injured her and made her decide to use Trigger in the first place, even though she had hesitated thinking about something she saw on the news earlier that week. When she turned her head sideways to snap at her comrade though, she looked past him and then past the three identical men behind him with gray skin and bumpy bald heads. "What is-"
VvvvrrrooOOOOM! An engine whirred and got much louder towards the end as the one who twisted the accelerator of his motorcycle while in neutral was trying to get attention. The motorcycle was in the middle of the road down a block and in an intersection, and the person on the back of it was leaning forward with their helmet close to the windshield and their legs pushed back so they covered a lot of the bike with their body. Let's see if this works, Zach thought, while reaching up towards his chest and sliding his fingers out of his glove. He had black gloves on both hands for riding the motorcycle, and the way he was leaning forward none of the villains up ahead had seen what the rest of his body looked like so they did not see his school uniform unlike Mother Russia and the villain up in the air with her did when they turned towards the sound of that whirring engine.
A second after Zach touched his chest though, everyone on the road dropped their jaws while staring down it towards the motorcycle. I was hoping this would work, Zach thought, while grinning ear to ear inside his helmet that was starting to become transparent. His red eyes glowed through as his skull became translucent through the black aura surrounding him. That black aura did not just spread to cover Zach though, but it spread to cover everything that he was touching. With his body spread out like it was, purposely, darkness dripped down the sides of the motorcycle and around the front of it. It covered his handlebars and tinted the windshield, it wrapped around the wheels and over Zach's bags on the back of the bike. He had to force some more out to get it to cover that much, but he smirked as he saw the villains looking his way nervously at the skeletal rider on his motorcycle that revved its engines a couple more times.
Zach breathed out a heavy breath that made black smoke fill the air in front of his face, while smoke rose up under his tires that finally started spinning him forward as he put the bike into gear. He shot off from the intersection and rose his right hand up over the handlebar, and a black sphere formed there that he did not condense too much so that it flared like a flame in his grasp.
The three burly figures were going to split up, but Zach pulled to the left using only the left handlebar and he made it so the villain would be on his right side as he drove by. Wicked took a step back, but then she bit down hard and yelled out in fury before sprinting straight at that motorcycle while surrounded in her own aura of green flames. "Wait Wicked!" The ninja villain called out as she ran past, "That's Lifebringer's Ni-"
A wooden arm wrapped around the ninja's head while he was looking the other way. He did not get his warning out in time, and his arms were wrapped up to his body too before he could finish forming the exploding shuriken that he could throw at the motorcycle from a distance. Kamui Woods had been keeping back from Wicked because of the green flames that were his natural weakness, but when she moved to leave her ninja comrade farthest towards him and not paying attention, he was not going to let the chance slip away. He recognized the form on the back of the motorcycle too, and he smiled behind his wooden mask.
Zach swung his right arm around, whipping the sphere to his right while also extending his fingers into it before it slipped off his hand. He had just forced more Death into it, admittedly taking some from the motorcycle that had a black aura ripping off the sides as it sped down the road. He split apart his attack while throwing it at the villain's three bodies moving farther away on his right, and he flicked his wrist at the end to curve the breaking apart Death he swung from that villain and into the flaming witch too. She pointed her arms forward and fired green flames into the black smoke coming at her, and she actually stopped it unlike her comrade. The gray men tried crossing their arms or jumping back only for all three versions of him to collapse and two of them to disappear.
Then through the collision of green flames and black smoke though, Zach's motorcycle that had changed direction burst through and Zach had his left leg extended straight into the flames to kick Wicked who was not expecting him to get close. Zach felt the flames around his leg as he kicked, but they were not as hot as he expected them to be and he grinned that he had the foresight to focus his Nightmare form around the leg before kicking. The woman kicked by his leg gasped out in pain as he hit her around her left kidney, but as she stumbled and turned to glare after him furiously, she felt dizzy and started wobbling on her feet. Looking back she also saw her ninja comrade caught by Kamui Woods but lifting his right foot with a glowing red blade sticking out of his shoe.
Wicked crossed her arms slowly to protect from the coming explosion, while Zach yelled out at Kamui Woods, "Let go of him!" Zach's voice came out scratchy and deep, and Kamui Woods pulled his arms back right before the ninja villain kicked his leg up in almost a full vertical split that he would have hit Kamui Woods' arms with. Instead he did not hit anything, and the glow went away while he stomped his foot back down as fast as he could. As much as he was trying to get in a good stance to dodge though, the motorcycle speeding at him was too fast and too close already.
Zach had to grab onto both handlebars fast though and let the Death Grenade he was forming on his left hand explode around him instead of throwing it. He had to do this to maneuver his motorcycle better, as in the top of his vision he caught sight of sharp objects flying down at him. The projectiles fired from the villain above's wings spiked into the ground on either side of Zach's bike that he weaved in and out just barely avoiding. They were fast. His reactions were faster. He sped by the ninja villain who leapt the other way and threw the shuriken he finished forming at both Zach and Kamui Woods, then he did a backflip when he landed to dodge a blast of water from Backdraft and get farther from a charging Death Arms.
The flying villain up above started crashing out of the air as Mother Russia slammed both fists down onto his back after hitting him in the face with a roundhouse kick. He had taken his eyes off her for a second to try and save at least one of his allies, but although he succeeded he had overestimated his own abilities to keep away from the "Flying Bear of Siberia" at the same time. As he dropped, Zach maneuvered his motorcycle to the right just when a shuriken was about to slam into the windshield of his black bike. He pulled the whole vehicle to the right almost losing his balance, the wheels turning diagonally and barely holding onto the ground, yet he sped up anyway because the shuriken passing the side of his bike was also on a downwards angle that would hit the ground just behind him if he did not get farther.
The explosion went off behind his back tire, only speeding up Zach more towards the villain who had focused on a close Death Arms as he thought he would have taken out the motorcycle with his ranged attack. There was no help coming for him this time as Zach threw a half-formed Death Grenade in front of his motorcycle while spinning the bike itself in the direction the ninja started dodging to. The villain started getting ready to land and avoid or counter the boy chasing him to his next spot, but Zach clenched his right fist and the Death Grenade nearing the spot the ninja had just been exploded. The shrapnel flew out into the villain who just started looking back at it, and then Zach's motorcycle spun fully around and he looked back towards where the winged-villain flipped himself around just above the street and glared his way.
Between them and on Zach's right and the main villain's left, Wicked finally collapsed down to her face with the green flames around her disappearing as she failed to hold on despite the Trigger almost doing it for her. Zach revved his engines, and then wooden arms wrapped around the villain and pulled his wings to his body which made him fall the rest of the way out of the air. He slammed into the ground and let out a loud 'oof,' and then Mother Russia dropped out of the sky and landed hard on his back which made the other heroes all around gawk at her as the man was pretty clearly already captured there. His head and legs arched up and Kamui Woods even winced, though he unwrapped his arms a second later as there was no real point to keep holding on after seeing that.
Mother Russia reached down to the man unconscious below her, and she grunted as she saw his eyelids opened but his eyes rolled back. "Damn it," she muttered, realizing as everyone else already had that she had gone too far there. "Wanted to ask what you were doing here, but you seem like pretty simple-minded idiots," she tossed him towards Wicked and he fell right on top of the green-skinned woman's unconscious body. Then Mother Russia turned her head and looked towards the motorcycle with a boy on it covered in a black aura that all his bones were showing through. "Nice work," she said to a student of hers, then she turned and lifted off the ground to fly over to a police perimeter and let them know it was time for them to move in.
Zach turned off his Nightmare mode as she told him that, and he lowered his right leg down to the side of his motorcycle as the black aura disappeared from him. It faded off his bike again too to return it back to its red color though with black and orange flames striped on the sides. He had a motorcycle helmet on that kept the other heroes around from seeing his face, and Zach kept his engines on as he started looking around. He hesitated with a confused look on his face, and he was glad he had a visor over his face so he did not have to hide his expressions as much as he usually did. What am I supposed to do now? I kind of just want to get out of here. I did enough media stuff recently. I really don't enjoy it, as much fun as it is to see the stuff I try to manipulate actually working out-
"Is that you in there Sazaki?" Midnight asked while walking over towards the boy on a motorcycle who had made her cheeks go red when she first saw him arrive. After turning off his Nightmare form and just sitting there in his school uniform but with black gloves and a black helmet on too, it made the woman's heart flutter and she cracked her whip to the side while looking at him with a big smirk on her face. "Of course it is. What are you- are you allowed to be riding that motorcycle?" She got a confused look on her face all of a sudden as her excitement over the student's cool arrival had to be pushed aside for her job as his teacher.
"Oh yeah," Zach said, and he got off his bike quickly as he realized that was a question she might ask. His voice was his own again and not as dark and scratchy as it was when he had yelled out during the short fight. "I got my motorcycle license while interning with Bikergang. Do you need to see it?"
"No, I believe you," Midnight said, smiling again as she was pleased by that answer.
Zach started frowning though and he looked down at the floor. Midnight noticed his visor point down a bit and she cracked an even bigger smile as she imagined Zach looked disappointed under his helmet that he did not have the opportunity to pull out his new I.D. There was something she was more interested in though, and she looked behind him at the motorcycle he left standing but with the ignition still on like he was going to head off in a second.
"Where did you get that motorcycle?" Midnight asked. Or the money for it? She wondered to herself.
"It was a," Zach began, but he trailed off. If he finished with 'gift,' he knew that Midnight would question who would gift something like that to him. He just smiled behind his helmet and finished, "It's actually a long story. I'll tell you at school?" He asked like he would rather leave it for later.
This made Midnight smirk again with redder cheeks than before. Ooh! How mysterious!
"Hey Lifebringer!" a voice called out behind Zach, and he turned to see a man just stepped out the front door of his building where he had been hiding during the fight. "You definitely gave those villains a nightmare right there!"
Zach's eyes opened wide and his bottom lip lowered for a second, and then he smiled wide and actually laughed. "Ha, haha thanks!" Zach called back.
Police started running down the street towards the heroes and villains, and they called to the buildings on the sides for the civilians starting to move out to stay inside for a few more minutes. Some cops ran on the sidewalks just to make sure people stayed out of the road as they brought cop cars over to pick up the villains who some of the other heroes had started wrapping up. Kamui Woods turned his head and decided to leave the rest to Death Arms, while Backdraft was over with Present Mic helping out the blond man who had gotten a few more scrapes and bruises than the rest of them during the fight.
Shinji walked over towards Lifebringer who turned his way mainly because Present Mic called something over from behind him. Zach smiled at what his English teacher from last year said to him. Present Mic had become their English teacher again this year, but only after the Sports Festival when some teachers had been killed which changed up everyone's schedules. Zach smiled more than just because Present Mic complimented him even in his annoyed shout about showing up sooner, but also because the last time he had talked with the man he had felt like Present Mic was still really depressed over Aizawa sensei. He could not tell during class, but right there he felt like his teacher was at least close to back to normal. Then Zach focused on the man about to reach him though who he wondered when the last time they met was. Have I ever talked to him? Zach thought as Shinji Nishiya stopped in front of him.
"Lifebringer," Kamui Woods greeted, and Zach said the wooden hero's hero name back to him. The man with the Quirk Arbor glanced at Midnight who lifted her eyebrows only to turn and call out to the police to hurry it up and clear the street so the city could get back to normal faster. Zach was wondering what Kamui Woods had to say even more now, and then the Number 5 pro hero began, "I have never thanked you, for saving Mount Lady."
Zach's eyes widened behind his helmet's visor, and he thought, I heard those two are officially dating now. It was an entertainment, celebrity-watch kind-of show thing, so I didn't take it too seriously… though there were a lot of pictures of them together. I don't think they were trying to hide it but the news doesn't really follow relationships too closely… What am I thinking about? I just want to avoid it, don't I? Zach sighed and he rose up his hand to scratch the back of his head, though wound up just rubbing the back of his helmet instead. "Actually," he started.
Kamui Woods got a confused look on his face, and then Zach sighed again and lowered his arm as he stopped hesitating. "It wasn't me, but my classmate Neito Monoma who saved her," Zach admitted. I never told Mount Lady, mainly because I felt weird any time I looked at that letter with her phone number on it. Calling up an older, beautiful woman got me too nervous, though I thought it would be weird just to call and say I didn't deserve her thanks anyway. "Monoma Copied my Quirk and brought her back to life, just like he did for me," Zach said, then he mentally rolled his eyes as he imagined how Monoma would have reacted to hearing that praise.
Kamui Woods was surprised to hear this. His eyes widened for a moment but he nodded as he thought about the blond who he had seen in the last two Sports Festivals now and had actually sent an internship offer after this year's. He sent it this year not because of his performance in the first two rounds where he had come close to the top each time, but because of what he had seen in clips afterwards of that boy fighting against the villains during the invasion. Zach finished by asking, "Could you tell Mt. Lady?" He lowered his eyes to the street after asking, feeling a little sad that Mt. Lady wouldn't think as highly of him anymore.
As Zach was starting to feel bad about that though, Kamui Woods said, "Even if that is so, you saved her another time too." Zach lifted his eyes back up and his helmet shifted a bit as he stared confusedly at Kamui Woods. "When you brought back the civilian she had accidentally crushed," Kamui Woods finished. Zach winced and Kamui Woods opened his eyes wide, immediately apologizing as he thought bringing that day up hurt Zach. He remembered how he had brought a young girl to Lifebringer himself but had been so conflicted over what to do when he saw how much it had hurt the boy to just bring back the man Mt. Lady had crushed on accident. Zach had saved her too though, and he was about to thank him for that himself when he started apologizing after seeing Zach wince.
"No, it's actually," Zach started. "Totally fine," he smiled and leaned his head back with a more relaxed look on it now. He realized that Mt. Lady would still think highly of him with that, and he was relieved and glad Kamui Woods brought it up. He remembered why she had written him that letter that he had just thought about in the first place, and he chuckled that he thought things would change despite it being Monoma who brought her back. He actually felt better about it than ever knowing that she would know the truth now. "Thank you," Zach said, changing his tone as he realized he was talking to the Number 5 hero and shouldn't be using words like 'totally.'
For what? Kamui Woods thought, and he shook his head before thanking Zach back and mentioning the girl he had brought to him that day as well. Zach waved it off but thought about that girl too and how she had called out 'Lifebringer' at the Sports Festival when he had fallen in such a dark place. Thinking about saving her, Zach did not know if he could be in a better mood now that the man he just reminded himself was the fifth best hero in the country had thanked him for something he had done so naturally. Hearing these things right after stopping other villains and helping out his teachers, and the fact that he was about to get on his new motorcycle and drive it to U.A., the day was going so well all of a sudden compared to how he had felt all morning.
Zach started back to his motorcycle after finishing his talk with Kamui Woods, and he asked Midnight who was close to him if it was fine for him to leave. She said sure and then asked if he could give her a ride back to campus, which made Zach's face turn bright red under his helmet and his whole body to tense up in panic. He had been imagining his return to U.A. on his motorcycle for a while now, but suddenly he imagined rolling up to school and some of his classmates seeing him with Midnight's arms around him getting off the motorcycle… His cheeks turned even redder, and then his eyes widened more in panic, What if Momo saw me- "I-" Zach began, though then he realized, I can't say no! Something like- no, no it's just because she's my teacher and is asking for help. That's why I'll say-
"I am just kidding," Midnight said, and she put two fingers sideways up to the corner of her mouth in a V with a smirk as she had seen how tense he got there for a second. She was in her sexy hero costume after all and she thought she might get that reaction out of the young man she enjoyed teasing. Zach let out a sigh behind his visor that was mostly of relief and only 15 or 30 percent in disappointment. Then he shook his head that he had fallen for that yet cracked a smile while getting onto his motorcycle anyway. "See you in class, Sazaki," Midnight said to the boy in his school uniform and not a hero costume which she would have called him 'Lifebringer' had he been wearing one.
"See you, Midnight sensei," Zach said, then he raced off though kept in the speed limit considering the number of heroes and cops all over the street. This day is starting to look up! Zach thought, and he even sped up just a bit more once he was past the police presence and on his way back to U.A.'s campus which he could not wait for any longer. I really hope some people are outside when I show up.
In front of U.A.'s main building, a couple of students just arriving back from their internship together called up to a tall girl walking towards the school with her hero costume box in one hand, her heavy bag in another and a large heavily-packed backpack on her back. Momo Yaoyorozu turned and smiled at the shorter girl running towards her who had long earlobes that ended in earphone jacks. "Hello Kyoka, Kaminari," Yaoyorozu got a bit more polite while nodding at the boy moving slower after Jirou who had run quickly up to her.
Jirou's cheeks were slightly red and Yaoyorozu looked back at her best friend in Class A after nodding towards Kaminari with a smile. "What is-"
"We need to talk," Jirou said in a soft voice before Kaminari could get any closer.
Other students were arriving back at the same time, and Mother Russia landed down ahead of the three students in her homeroom who were talking out in front of the school. "Welcome back," she said in a gruff voice with a single nod towards the students who greeted the scary Russian woman back very respectfully. After enduring some of her training over the past month, they all knew to be very careful of how they talked to her even when they were outside of class. Mother Russia started to turn, but she paused for a second as she heard something that made her roll her eyes. She frowned but turned anyway with a sigh, Boys.
Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Jirou, a group of third-year business course students returning to campus from just a day trip out in the city, and two freshmen girls from the hero course who had just returned from their internships too, all stared towards a motorcycle that turned into the gates of U.A. The security guard back there stepped towards the motorcycle and looked at the rider in some confusion only to look down at the student identification the boy held out.
The security guard looked at the I.D. with lifted eyebrows and then told the rider to take his helmet off. Out of everyone outside of U.A.'s main building, three of them actually started breathing heavier and staring at the motorcycle with wide eyes before the figure reached up for their helmet. "No," Kaminari whispered.
Zach lifted his helmet off of his head and tried as hard as he could to keep a straight expression while looking at the security guard. He was trying not to smirk as he knew it would make him look less cool, but then he realized that his hair probably looked a mess after being in his helmet all that time. He rose up his left hand and pushed it back through his hair a couple of times before stopping as he reached back forward for his I.D. that the security guard handed back to him.
Zach turned forward and as hard as he tried, he could not help but grin at the looks of the three he had been so glad to spot through the gate. Oh man, Zach realized something and glanced out the corner of his eyes at the security guard but the man did not say anything to him about it. Am I allowed to have a motorcycle on campus? I should have asked Midnight sensei! He's not saying anything. I want to keep it here so I can ride to incidents faster, or the hospital on time! I have reasons. They'll let me keep it.
With the decision to just not ask for now on mind, Zach drove slowly up the path towards his three classmates from Class A and then dropped the parking stand next to his bike and hopped off. Yaoyorozu had taken a few deep breaths and calmed herself down quickly, though she had to force her thoughts away from how Zach looked pushing his hand up through his hair leaving it in a wavy way after pulling his motorcycle helmet off in such a… She started thinking about it again and had to quickly get it off her mind with a question, but Kaminari beat her to it. "Dude! What?!"
Zach started laughing, and he was really glad he had not texted any of his friends ahead about the motorcycle. "I know," Zach said, and then he fished out his wallet quickly that he had just put back in his pocket after putting away his Student I.D. "Look," he pulled out his motorcycle license and showed it off to the three in front of him.
"I didn't doubt you could get one in the week," Jirou began. She had known Zach to do a lot crazier things than get a license, so if he was putting his mind to getting one over the internship she believed it was possible. "But how in the world…" She just started shaking her head while looking back at the motorcycle which actually looked super cool to her though she was trying to hold back from telling Zach that.
"I would also like to know," Yaoyorozu started, and she gave Zach an expectant look as he turned to her. "Where did you get this?"
"I got a motorcycle license, so I mean, of course it came with a motorcycle," Zach said like it was common sense.
"Really?!" Kaminari exclaimed in shock.
Jirou rolled her eyes and then smiled with Zach who could not hold it back after messing with Kaminari like that. "Hey," Kaminari said, as he figured out Zach was messing with him and then actually felt pretty dumb as he realized it was a pretty crazy thought that everyone got free motorcycles when they got their licenses. Zach had just said it so confidently that he did not doubt it, and Kaminari started frowning at his best friend for that to which Zach held up a hand half-apologetically though he was still smiling as he did.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you, but I have to figure out where I'm going to keep this…" He glanced at Yaoyorozu and asked the girl taller than him by three inches, "What do you think?"
"Of what?" Yaoyorozu asked quickly, as what she was just thinking could not be what Zach was referring to, or so she hoped.
"About, where I could leave this?" Zach repeated, wondering what she thought he meant. She was the smartest person he knew so he thought she might have an idea. "I guess, the teachers must have a garage where-"
"Sazaki." Zach lifted his head and looked towards the school building to see none other than the principal staring down towards him from the top of the steps. "Would you please come with me?"
"Uh oh," Kaminari said, a smug look forming on his face as the principal did not have a very friendly expression on his face as he usually did. "Revenge? Or karma perhaps," Kaminari said in a teasing voice which made Zach feel dread as he could actually believe that after the joke he just played on Kaminari. It was just teasing- Zach started thinking, but then he shook his head as he realized there was no way the principal had come to talk to him just because of that.
"Did you not call ahead? Even to the school?" Jirou asked in a deadpan tone.
Zach sweatdropped more while glancing back at his motorcycle and then to the principal again. "Well," Zach mumbled. He started for the steps and muttered to the people behind him, "I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Oh don't worry, I'll watch after your ride while you and Mr. Principal have your talk," Kaminari assured his friend who sweatdropped more and wondered if that was actually okay.
"As will I," Yaoyorozu added, and Zach looked back gratefully at the girl who smiled to him. She wanted to talk to him more and hear the long story he had mentioned, and she also did not know how much she trusted Kaminari not to jump-start Zach's motorcycle with his Electrification and take it for a joy-ride.
"Thanks Momo," Zach said, and Kaminari lost his grin with a pout replacing it as Zach did not thank him too.
As soon as Zach turned back forward though, Kaminari grabbed the helmet on the side of the bike and put it up over his spiky blond hair. Then he took it off dramatically while looking at Jirou, and he put his hand up through his hair to spike it up again which had the short girl putting her hand over her mouth and laughing into it. Jirou turned to see if Momo thought it was as funny, only to sweatdrop as her friend had never turned away from Zach's back as he walked for the school, which just made Jirou roll her eyes before going red in the cheeks like she had when she first ran to her best friend after getting through the school's gates.
Zach followed the principal into the school, and once he knew he was out of sight of his friends he started apologizing. "I'm sorry about not calling ahead about the motorcycle. I was wondering if I could leave it somewhere here since I don't really have a place outside of school I could, and in case I need to get to a-"
"Bikergang called ahead and we worked something out already," Nezu said, and Zach's eyes opened wide. Zach half-smiled and calmed down a bit. He felt good hearing that but guilty at the same time, as he still did not know how good of terms he and Bikergang had ended on which had been bothering him all morning. He felt guilty because it had been so easy for him to push those thoughts from his mind with how good he had felt in the past hour, but he smiled anyway because the idea that Bikergang had worked something out with the school for him made him think things were better than he imagined. "This is not about your motorcycle, but about the Chemist."
Zach's smile wiped immediately and he froze behind the principal who kept walking ahead of him. "Come now, Sazaki. Do not dawdle. They are already waiting for you." Oh fuck they're not giving me time to prepare! Fuck that! All I need is thirty seconds. Thirty fucking seconds and I've got this. THINK! Don't panic! Think constantly. Don't let this ruin everything. Don't fuck up!
In a classroom of U.A. High School, the same room that Class 2-A had their classes in, Zach Sazaki stood in front of three people wearing suits who were glaring at him harshly. On his right side only ten feet away stood a man in a trench coat with a matching hat over his head. The man was a police detective who wore a pair of white gloves over his hands too, and he was staring at Zach as discerningly as the officials in the room in front of the boy and the principal on the boy's left side very close to him only a couple of feet away.
Underguard mentioned having to face a review board too for what happened. It's not unique to me. I can deal. I prepared in the last minute. I am ready.
"During your internship with the Racing Hero: Bikergang," the man in the middle of the three suits began. He was the only male of the three, wearing an identical black suit as the two blonde-haired women on his sides though. The man with short dark hair continued to the boy in front of him, "You passed information to your fellow heroes regarding the League of Villains' operations during your time between your first court case and your retrial. In your retrial you gave your word, under oath, that you were telling the truth and the whole truth."
Zach stayed silent and kept staring at the man who had a touch of gray to his dark hair but still looked like a young man. That man glared at Zach hoping to make the boy slip up, but Zach continued to stare back at him seriously without flinching or anything. "The weeks after the Sports Festival have been hectic, yet we have been pushing off a meeting with you for a long time now. There are many things you left out in your retrial which will be considered as perjured statements should you have withheld them intentionally. We refrained from setting this meeting because of the nature of your lies, however new information has shown that what you left out during your retrial is to an extent not predicted before."
Zach started frowning and glared at the man in front of him harder than the man was glaring back his way. The man continued without hesitating at Zach's look though, "The Chemist. Apocalypse. You knew about these things yet did not mention them at your retrial."
"I never knew who the Chemist was," Zach began quickly. "I only knew his face, and that's why, that's why I was able to point him out during the planning meeting-"
"Whether or not you knew his name, you should have reported all of the information you had to the committee reviewing your return to our society after your, 'escape,' from the villains." Zach turned his head a bit to the right and glared at the shorter of the two blonde officials in there with him. He glared into her eyes and his fists clenched at his sides before shaking so hard with his teeth clenching and then his eyes slamming shut. "Whether or not you feel regret for holding this information-"
"I was," Zach began. He turned to the right and looked at the detective near him, then back at Principal Nezu, then to the officials again with such an angry look on his face. "I, I wasn't…" he trailed off and bit down hard. The detective is watching me carefully. Why did they bring him here? Principal Nezu would be able to find flaws too. Just don't lie! As close as possible. "I, when I came back, I wasn't in the right state of mind," Zach said. His eyes were wide and he bit down on his bottom lip for a second while glaring so hard at the center of the officials before him. "The time of my retrial, was days after I had last been tortured. I, I wasn't ready- I," Zach clenched his eyes shut and he shook his head around while biting down even harder.
Nezu turned to his right and his beady eyes opened wider as did Tsukauchi's on Zach's other side while looking at the boy. "I was, repressing," Zach whispered. In his head he thought about the scenes he saw at the Sports Festival, to make sure that he was not just lying which the others might be able to tell. He thought about something that really did hurt him, about memories he really had repressed, and he continued, "I was repressing, so much. I, I couldn't have told you everything. Even if I had… I didn't know. The Sports Festival, it shook things from my mind." Zach lifted his gaze up to the officials questioning him and tried glaring at them again, but his gaze got softer as he tried to do so which made the people looking back at him soften their looks too.
Especially after Tsukauchi looked their ways and started nodding his head, the man in the middle of the officials got a bead of sweat on the side of his face and was starting to feel very awkward. "Things, just started coming back to me," Zach said. "It wasn't like I was holding back things that I thought would get villains arrested. If I knew- if I could have told you anything else that would have helped, I would have." And I couldn't, without getting myself arrested in the process. All I needed was to tell Webb that other stuff though. "But, back when I had that retrial I didn't know everything I know now. It's thanks to my school, my teachers, my therapist, and my friends that I've been able to come this far."
I'm so fucking good. Then again, I'm not really manipulating. Sure. It's a half truth. But at the same time, it's still the truth. They did help me. Softy, Aizawa sensei and all the other teachers, Kaminari, Momo, my friends. Zach tried smiling at the officials, but his mouth dipped down at the corners again and he just grimaced instead. He lowered his eyes for a second, then he rose them into the dark-haired man's eyes and said, "If I knew the Chemist's real name, or where the Apocalypse was, or even if I thought the Apocalypse would be used by normal villains, I would have said something. I would have mentioned it in my retrial, but even what I thought I might have known… it doesn't matter. I was just, I repressed a lot. My mind was scattered. Anything could have been…" Zach trailed off again, using that tactic a lot to avoid having to say complete sentences that might be considered as lies.
"Have you killed anyone since Atsuhiro Sako?" The taller of the blonde women who was also taller than the male official next to her questioned.
"No," Zach replied.
Tsukauchi lifted his eyebrows, and then he narrowed his eyes and took a step towards Zach who turned his way. Zach's heart started racing, while the detective looking at him questioned, "What about Spinner?" Zach's eyes opened much wider, and Tsukauchi continued, "Did you kill him? Yes or no?"
Zach stared at the detective who did not need to ask him a lot. The man seemed to have this question ready already, and the official straight in front of Zach began, "The angle was not clear, but Spinner fell directly after you got close enough to touch him. We had bigger issues to deal with for a while, but this was only pushed back. You do not escape it just because it has been over a month."
"I," Zach started. He looked to the official and then to detective Tsukauchi. He glanced over at the principal, and then around at everyone with his face twisting and him looking so confused. What do I say? How do I deal with this?! I didn't think, I didn't know!
"Did you kill him?" The shorter blonde woman repeated their question.
"I-" Zach started. "I- I- It wasn't like…" he looked around again and he pursed his lips at the expressions of the people around him. Then he nodded his head once, "I did."
"Spinner, was already in critical condition from what we have seen on the video tapes," the official straight in front of Zach began. He sounded like he had this ready already before Zach's response, and Zach lifted his gaze into the older man's eyes to see him looking sternly back his way. "Not only was he close to death already, but he got into that state by jumping in front of a shot meant for you. So our question is, why? Why did you kill this man? After promising not to use your Quirk in such a way again? After using-"
"I didn't want to kill him," Zach began.
"Then why did you?" Naomasa Tsukauchi questioned. Nezu looked towards the detective who froze at the look from the short mouse-bear-dog principal..
"What possessed you to-"
"How could you-"
"He was begging me," Zach gasped out towards the three in front of him. He took a step forward and his eyes were wide while his fists clenched at his sides. "Spinner, he was, he knew he was dying so… He wanted me to-"
Tsukauchi started frowning as he did not see the boy in front of him lying. "Even if that is so," Tsukauchi began. "That does not give you just cause to kill a villain. Even if a villain is asking you to kill them, as a hero it is not-"
"That wasn't why," Zach started, looking towards the detective with his eyes wide and a desperate look on his face. Zach stared pleadingly at the man and made Tsukauchi lean back at that expression in Zach's eyes. "I, I hated Spinner. I really, really hated him. But, but even if he had just asked me to kill him, even if he was just dying as slowly as he was… I don't think I could have done it." Zach bit down hard and he closed his eyes, thinking back on the Sports Festival and right before he had done what they were accusing him of. "But, but when he told me, that he wouldn't blame me if I didn't kill him. That, he would understand, if I wanted him to suffer." Zach started shaking his head and he brought his left hand up to his head with his eyes clenching shut harder.
"I couldn't," Zach whispered. "I couldn't do that. It would be like torturing him… I've felt death so many times. I, I've died now, so I know that the feeling I feel, every time I bring someone back. It's the same. Every time," Zach opened his eyes and stared at the three in front of him who were looking back at him wide-eyed now, just as Tsukauchi and Nezu were at his sides. "Dying, was the worst thing ever. And yet, I had felt it before. I've felt it, hundred of times. I know how much it hurts. I know, because I have felt what it feels like to die in every way imaginable. And, and to die in such a slow, excruciating- just, just any death that's like that!" Zach pursed his lips again even as tears welling in his eyes started spilling out the corners.
"As much as I hated Spinner, I couldn't do that- I didn't hate him that much-" Zach gasped and he bit down again before clenching his eyes shut as he could not take those looks of the people staring back at him. "I, I would have felt like such a monster, if I had made him suffer like that. Because there have been times when it's taken me so long to bring someone back, and I couldn't imagine forcing that pain on someone else. To, to make someone else die that slowly. That painfully. The slow, empty, quiet descent into darkness. It's haunting. And, and it's not that it hurts when it happens, but that exact moment of death. The, the one thing that I know better than anyone… It's so horrible," Zach whispered. "So I didn't want to kill Spinner. And, and I knew I shouldn't have even while he begged me to do it. But I couldn't think about making him suffer that much longer, make him die a slow and painful death. He had, just saved my life. I didn't know why. And I still hated him. But!" Zach paused and he pulled his head back as he did not think he could finish what he was saying right there.
"I'm sorry, if you think I did the wrong thing," Zach started again after a few seconds' pause. "But my Quirk is Death. I, I understand it better than anyone," Zach hesitated and pursed his lips again, and he sniffled while tears spilled down his face. "So, a quick death from my Quirk which instantly halts brain functions… It was better than Spinner was going to- It was quicker, and less painful, and no one would have been able to save Spinner with the injuries he had received. All I was doing was helping him. It wasn't for revenge. It, wasn't because I hated him. I just couldn't sit there and make him suffer, while he thought I was letting him die so painfully because I hated him, while he thought that I was putting him through that on purpose!" Zach bit down and clenched his teeth so hard, grinding them back and forth as he could hardly take this anymore. I'm not, I'm not just lying to get out of this. Actually, I'm not lying at all! I avoided it but- Spinner! You mother fucker! I hated you. I hated you so MUCH! So why, am I crying right now?
Zach lifted his arms and started wiping across his eyes, while at the same time Tsukauchi looked towards the review board and gave a small nod to them with a grim and sad look on his face. The man in the center of the review board lifted a hand to his forehead and rubbed it around, while the women at his sides got nervous and apologetic looks on their faces.
The review board started telling Zach they were sorry for calling him to this. They told him to call the police or tell his administrators if he remembered any important information from when he was with the villains that he may have been repressing. Tsukauchi apologized as well, though Zach snapped something about the police not supposed to be using their Quirks, right? Zach figured from the man's reactions to what he was saying that it was more than just being a good detective that let him know when he was lying. He had not said anything during the questioning which would have looked suspicious, and asking about it afterwards just made the group of them feel more awkward. Only one person in the room was staring at Zach differently though.
Nezu stared at the boy who had genuinely looked upset there, who had answered with what must have been truths for Tsukauchi to act this way, but who had avoided answering any questions too specifically the entire time. Not once did he claim that he did not remember the things he was originally questioned about. He claimed to be repressing and it seems that was true, but what exactly was the extent of his repressed memories? It is a touchy subject difficult to get into with something like this, especially if he believes he still has things he does not remember in which case he can avoid nearly anything by saying he is repressing more. But Sazaki, I believe you are a very manipulative person. At the same time however, I am glad you were able to escape from this easily so I will not push to help their case against you. They forced this on me. You held back the secret of One For All from Shigaraki even in that torture we saw at the Sports Festival.
The principal stared at his student with a soft and yet happy look on his face. You captured villains at VTS instead of helping them which you could have done. You had no allegiances. No one expected anything from you. Your own opinion of yourself, your own self goals, everything you do is for yourself… No, that's not true. At VTS you were willing to get arrested. You, forgave us faculty not because it was difficult for you to move forward like you said, but because of the way the teachers were taking your treatment which I saw you look guilty over. Nezu smiled at the boy next to him who just bowed at the others in the room to thank them for letting him out, and Zach promised to let them know if anything else important came back to him. It's not that what you do is for yourself, but you do it without anyone else needing to tell you to do it. It has always been you. Yet you, young man, have evaded the rules to get to the place you are now. I gave you the trust of U.A. again after the Sports Festival because of what I saw during your torture, because of your actions that day and the week following… And yet this entire meeting, you trailed off on sentences that looked to hurt you too much but also would have ended in ways that Tsukauchi could have fact-checked. You avoided getting specific on anything. You never mentioned what it is you were repressing, nor what you remembered…
The principal's the only one suspicious right now. High Specs is too good. How do I get around it? Don't change my expression at all while thinking about this. Is he that smart that he knows I'm thinking about him? Probably not. Zach came out of his bow and then turned fully to Nezu who smiled at him and said he was glad Zach had good reasons for what he had held back. Nope, he probably doesn't trust me here. He's too smart. No wonder he's the principal. Wait! I don't need to figure out the principal's weakness, because he's… Or, well what if he's the spy? Nezu told Zach that they would bring his motorcycle to a garage where the faculty's vehicles were, and Zach thanked him for it though still with a dark look on his face. He felt like smiling at what the principal said as he was actually happy about it and it made him not want to suspect him, but he kept his dark look for the strangers he had just broke down in front of.
Zach turned and left the room with a frown like he was partly angry at the officials for dredging all of that stuff up. He was also looking sad behind his angry frown, and hurt, not because of his own repressed memories. He made himself look that way because of Spinner who he had had the same look on his face when speaking on. Zach left the room and was careful in case anyone was watching him, so he did not smirk or even lift the corner of his lips up. Another review I've escaped. Chemist must really not have said anything after being captured, or what he said just wasn't substantial enough to call me out on it. I wasn't ready for all of that, but I react well. I always do. Zach kept his look dark but then wiped his eyes and put a smile on his face. Even if someone was watching him, he was about to go outside and talk to his friends again, so clearing up his expression was easier now as it could be seen as him trying to hide his look from them. The thought of this made Zach grin wider though, because going out to talk with his friends and smiling for them meant he wouldn't be hiding his real expression anymore.
A/N Thanks for reading! Zach returns to U.A. with a cool new motorcycle, takes on some villains with his teachers and other heroes, and reunites with his friends. He also gets denied by Bikergang who doesn't trust the boy Chemist spoke ominously about during the raid, and Bikergang wasn't the only one still upset at Zach over this as a review board comes after him... again. Zach evades trouble again though. Using the memories he learned he had repressed from his time in his torture, using the feelings he realized were genuine about what happened with Spinner, and using his unique perspective on Death that only he understands (though maybe Monoma gets it a bit too). Hope you enjoyed, and leave a review below telling me what you think!
Shade11224 chapter 79 . Sep 20
I have a love/hate relationship with this story, I love that it's so in depth and sooo consistent with past chapters, but I hate that it makes my nose start running because of emotional it makes me even though I'm usually pretty good at not caring. I honestly think if you complete it and keep up the quality that it will be one of the few fanfics that will be able to stand on its own as great.
Thanks for Chappy!
P.S. #Midzaki?
Thanks for the review! I'm always glad when I can incite emotions in my readers. I know I get choked up myself writing this and won't deny I've cried for Zach... But anyway, thanks a lot for telling me this as as much as I like the reasons you love it, I might like the reasons you hate it more XD. Glad you enjoyed, but get outta here with that Midzaki nonsense! We all know what I'm about...
An Average Jo chapter 79 . 7h ago
The day you reach a million words will be a great day. And Zach's kinda like Snape. Not many knew he was a spy but he still tried to do good stuff.
Oh it's coming. Coming soon. Soon! By October maybe? Lol maybe not that soon, but 3rd chapter in 3 days I'm back on a roll so we'll see! Thanks for the review, and yeah Midoriya thought about that last chapter, Nezu too for a bit at the end of this one. Snape. Snape. Zachary Snape.
Momozaki chapter 79 . 14h ago
HELL YEAAAAAH
GIMME MOOOOOORE
THANK YOUUUU
ALRIGHT! THANKS BACK AT YA! HERE'S SOME MORE!