A/N: Hey guys. Just wanted to put this here to check in with you before you read the chapter. If you wanna skip it go ahead. I just wanted to say I hope you're all doing alright today. Hope your families are well, and for those of you who are sick already I'm praying you get better. I decided to go home and stay with my family during this time instead of my previous plan of moving to Alaska. There's no escaping it at this point. I also know that with everything going on right now this story probably isn't really needed for as much of an escape from the boring real world, when the real world's getting more crazy and chaotic by the hour. Quarantine is gonna start to suck though (already getting a bit boring for me). I've been working through this anyway, driving around and delivering food to people's houses as my new job to keep me afloat until checks from the govt arrive to help out. Went shopping today for a few people, and grocery stores had empty shelves, rationing supplies with limits on certain goods, etc. I was wearing my mask and goggles and gloves, and some people were coughing and arguing with each other. Things are only going to get worse here in NY in the coming days and weeks, and I don't think it'll be long before I catch it myself. When that happens I'll update and let it be known, just in case I don't post again after. With that sobering note, please enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia
Chapter 219:
"Be careful with it." Zach held out a vial of blood he took from himself. He warned the woman in front of him who sighed and nodded at the boy who she rolled her eyes at from behind her medical goggles. The old woman in her hero costume and nurse's outfit took the vial and walked around the table on Zach's left over to a machine she put the vial into a round opening of. The tube stuck out for a moment and then sucked into the machine and disappeared inside.
Recovery Girl looked at a loading bar that appeared on a screen attached to the side of the blood test machine. "Shouldn't take long," she said, but she turned back from the bar showing the progress had just started to look back at her patient's body instead. Shuzenji Chiyo walked around the side of the bed that Zach sat on with his legs dangling off. She used a syringe-shaped cane to walk around and then lifted her gaze up to the hazel eyes of the boy looking down at her in a relaxed way with a small smile, somehow different from the one she had seen from him the week before. Her eyes shifted down from his eyes to his body though.
Zach was shirtless where he sat on the side of the examination bed. Attached all over him were small white stickers with wires connecting them to two different beeping machines, one on either side of him. "Lift your arms over your head," Recovery Girl started. The teenage boy did as she said and lifted both arms over his head. She frowned and continued to him when he started bending and flexing his right arm. "I didn't say joke around."
"Sorry," Zach apologized, giving a small nod to the old woman and just lifting his arm straight up as she told him to do.
Recovery Girl sighed again and he lowered his arms. "You still should not have removed your cast until I told you to."
"My arm was fine."
"But you-"
"And you didn't say anything about it on Friday," Zach added.
Recovery Girl frowned at the child for interrupting her. "There were bigger concerns at the time," she reminded him, and Zach nodded back with a knowing and apologetic look. She did not bother asking him how his control with his Quirk had been, considering he had none on him right now unlike the other day. It seems he managed on his own. As he said he could. I didn't know if that was just talk though. "Hmm," Recovery Girl looked to her right at one of the machines, then to the left one that made her grimace at the sight of the numbers there. His arm's recovery is not alone in the miraculous behavior today.
"What is it?" Zach wondered of the old nurse's expression.
Recovery Girl shook her head for a moment before hearing a bing noise over at the blood work station. She walked over with one last glance back towards the scar-covered teenager whose body already seemed to deny the laws of nature, and she stared at the screen she walked up to with her eyes opening wider behind her goggles at the numbers that came out in the report. "This is…" Recovery Girl whispered at the sight of them. He's far healthier than the last time I checked him. Healthier than the healthiest people I've ever seen.
"Good?" Zach wondered, suddenly behind the woman who jumped at his stealthy approach she had not noticed. She frowned with a look over her shoulder, but it was hard to be too distracted from what she was seeing.
Recovery Girl tapped a button on the screen and then grabbed the paper printing out below the monitor. She lifted it up for closer inspection, and then she shook her head in amazement and started mainly to herself, "There's healthy and then there's… I don't even know. These levels of- what have you been eating?" Recovery Girl wondered it to him, looking back fully at the boy whose health regimen must have been amazing. Is his diet-
"I haven't really eaten much of, anything, for the past few days. Or slept," he added, in case that information helped. It's foolish to think I alone understand it. She's an experienced health care physician. A hero who wants to help me. There's a chance I can get something out of this. "I don't think I need to anymore," Zach added, though his focus was less on the woman down below him now.
It's like the Void except time is still passing. How much stronger will I get? How much stronger can I get, before my eyes are red all the time and so time comes to move at a crawl for me? Then stop completely? Leaving me in the real world only stuck, omnipotent and timeless, free of hunger or thirst, immortal- Zach's eyes widened and he cut his thoughts off there. A small smile reappeared on his face and he chuckled at the mere idea of it, shaking his head while looking back at the woman in front of him who stared back with huge eyes of her own. "Actually, I think in the next couple of days I'm going to come down from this crazy weekend."
"Come down?" Like what, like from a high? …That may, be what you are saying to me, Recovery Girl realized. She nodded slowly back at the student in front of her though, He didn't need any medicine or drugs. His body recovered on its own, and his body shows perfect levels of cholesterol and blood pressure. He doesn't eat? Or sleep? Sazaki, Recovery Girl thought when the boy in front of her just gave one more relaxed smile while taking off the stickers. He put his long-sleeved shirt back on and chuckled again before making a joke to her that she nodded along with, though she found it too hard to smile at him. What am I going to do with you? Chiyo thought with her face looking older as Zach gave her a grateful look then waved his right hand in its glove at her.
Zach turned away and his expression turned violently dark in an instant. Stuck forever in this world like Ares- He pushed it out of his mind again. It's unimportant now. Saving the world now comes before imagining a future that lasts… Now. Focus on today. Kaminari, Gondorhan, Shigaraki, AFO. What else? Momo, Zach's mind wandered and he rose his eyebrows up at the thought of the girl. He was heading down the hall away from the nurse's office, and he wondered to himself, What is there left to do there? I just want that to be unfinished, don't I? I said something to Shoji this weekend. Something stupid.
There are other things too. Jirou. Graduation, post-graduation. What am I supposed to- Not yet. Hold off. Survive half a term at U.A. first before assuming you'll graduate. It's going to be tough. Zach felt a buzz in his pocket and pulled out his phone to see the ongoing conversation in Class A's groupchat that he was happy to be a part of. He smiled but lowered his lips at the conversation on Gondorhan that everyone was very serious about. As I should be, he reminded himself. Something crazy happened there and we still have no leads as to what caused it.
Sero: "The Freedom Fighters haven't ever pulled anything as big as this."
Ashido: "We're supposed to be focusing on Yamagucha guys"
Midoriya: "Just because it is the first incident of this size does not mean it isn't them. The worst tragedies never have preceding incidents of that magnitude. The Freedom Fighters' MO is violence against the United States' government, and they have targeted civilian targets before if it meant taking out heroes or officials too."
Koda: "Did you hear people are suggesting the recent deaths to that unknown virus in southern China are related to Gondorhan?"
Zach: "I think that's just speculation. The Gondorhan Incident is different as there were no warning signs for it." Zach sent his message and there was a longer gap than there had been between other classmates' messages. He started typing again, "It's unlikely they're connected, though I am coming up blank on other reasons for Gondorhan too. Wish it was related to China's problem just so we could get more information on it."
Zach went to Class A and was surprised to see two of his classmates inside looking down at their phones at the message he just sent in the hall. "It's still way before school starts," Zach told the boys in there with him. Todoroki and Mineta glanced at each other and then Mineta turned back and rose his eyebrows at Zach for saying that so hypocritically. "I have to make up half a dozen tests today," Zach explained with a raise of his eyebrows right back at the short boy who did not have that same course load to deal with.
Mineta cleared his throat and nodded, "Oh yeah. Well, TyreFire sensei wanted to talk to me and Todoroki before class today."
"I think I failed the test on Friday," Todoroki admitted.
Zach looked back towards his classmate with half white and half red hair in surprise. "You?" He wondered, then he looked back down at Mineta, "And you?" The way Mineta reacted made it seem like his, 'wanted to talk,' that he used first to describe what Tyrefire had called them for was an optimistic outlook. "Are you having trouble with calc?"
"Are you not?" Mineta wondered. How smart are you at-
"I hope not," Zach replied, finishing walking over to his seat and sliding his backpack off his back. "I've got to take that same test now though. Or maybe the same makeup exam you guys will be taking. It'd make more sense, since Tyrefire probably doesn't trust me and might think I asked you guys what the questions of the last one were while I was sick."
"Tyrefire sensei wouldn't just, assume that," Mineta started. "We're all heroes here."
Todoroki shifted his gaze back to the back of Mineta's head and the purple balls there, but he did nod when Mineta looked back for confirmation from him on what he just said.
The three boys were quiet for a few seconds, then Mineta's eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, "Wait! You think we're taking a makeup-"
"Mineta, Todoroki," the two spun to the door that Zach was already looking at when Mineta exclaimed that towards him. Zach cracked a grin as Mineta spun back the other way and sweatdropped as Tyrefire finished, "I'm disappointed in the showing from you two. What happened on Friday?"
"I was distracted," Mineta said quickly, giving his best excuse which was not very good.
"Sorry sensei," Todoroki apologized to the dark-skinned teacher with silver teeth, dark gray eyes, and long silver hair falling down to his shoulderblades. "I didn't take the time out to study. It's my fault."
Mineta sweatdropped hard and slouched in his seat. You were so busy with your dad last week! That's too good an answer, Mineta lifted his gaze back up and opened his mouth, but Tyrefire was not going to give him a chance to come up with a second excuse.
"I don't usually do this, but you've all been busy lately and we need you out there keeping up your good work." The two students looked at their teacher in surprise at the statement, but then they each got more focused as he continued, "Now once you heard that you were coming in early to see me, I hope you refreshed yourselves on last week's work. If you don't pass this exam, I'll be keeping you in from your internships as you take makeup classes because apparently you weren't listening during my last classes."
"We'll pass," Mineta said enthusiastically, nodding assuredly at the teacher to show he had no doubts about that. I hope he didn't make it harder just to get us! He shouldn't have, if he really does like that we're out there and doing… Okay, okay that's hard- but I know that one! Mineta got the sheet of paper in front of him, but he grinned and started writing immediately.
"And how are you feeling?" Tyrefire asked when he walked to the third student he was about to hand a copy of this new exam he had made up for the three of them.
"Better now. Thanks sensei for asking."
"Sensei?" You're Lifebringer. Don't act so much like a, like a- student? "Alright," Tyrefire placed the sheet in front of the teenager who frowned and looked thoughtfully at the first question on the exam. Does he actually not know?
Really don't see where I'd need to know this stuff in the real world. Math is so dumb. It's not useful in the least. I mean, numbers are important. I can do the kind of quick math I need though. Or, sometimes I couldn't. But if you surround yourself with smarter people in fields you're not good at… Man, I should have studied while Shoji was in my room. I was already distracted. Could have spent those last six hours at least! Or last night. Or whenever. I have 8 more hours than everybody else in a day to get stuff done. Can you even keep your mind on one thing at a time for ten seconds? Zach concentrated back on his test paper and let out a deep breath before turning his eyes a low glow of red.
I'll need some more time for this one, Zach thought, grinning internally as black tendrils raced in and out of his brain tissue. His whole brain pulsed with it, his red eyes glowed brighter, and he rose up his left thumb and put the end of it between his teeth. His eyes scanned back and forth on the paper, then his eyes closed and he imagined his notes and everything. Mineta was going to give me notes. Those notes wouldn't be for this test anyway. Farther back. Mineta hasn't even been thinking about how I had to control my power. Guess he believed me. Not everyone is able to figure it out every time when I'm lying. I told him I was fine and he accepted it, and now here I am proving that it was true.
Calculus. Why am I struggling? Take ten minutes out and study with my mind like this. I don't want to know everything. That's dumb. Everything could help. Knowing it all saves the time it would take to ask someone else or look it up in a moment I actually need it. Know the history. Know the science and the math and the psychology of everything. This is school. Practicality isn't necessarily important. Anything I learn may come to matter, so that's why they teach us it all. Give us lessons on everything we could possibly need. Keep all out options open. Then I'll branch out from each subject to all the specific majors leading to even more specific careers. Learn everything about every one of them all. Master their techniques and crafts. Make it so any infiltration I ever need would be perfect. Learn all the languages. Speak in perfect dialects. Explore, all possibilities.
And study some calculus so you don't fail the next one of these, it had only been a second or two, but Zach's mind was racked with way more information that had nothing to do with calculus than an actual answer to the question he was struggling on. Not a great start to the tests today. Right after this one finishes, I'll study all the other subjects hard. Ace those other tests. That should, actually be pretty tough. The right corner of Zach's lips curled up and he tapped his pen on his desk with an intrigued look appearing in his eyes. Alright. Things can still be exciting. The fact that things can be exciting is what's exciting. Or is it the fact that something could be difficult- No! It's a task I know is possible for me to complete and then get good grades, but that if I don't do it I know I'll fail. I can't just BS my way through these courses. If I don't know information I can't just suddenly have it.
I'm no God! The smirk on Zach's face rose a bit more but he held off the scoffing laugh he almost let out at himself. Not omniscient. Not omnipotent. Yeah, I'm really strong. And I'm sure Midoriya's got ways he's been planning to fight me for years. Shigaraki too. And Kaminari… Zach's smile flattened back out, his eyes darkening and then getting sadder as he looked back down at his test page. He stopped flooding so much Death around his brain and slowed his thoughts back to normal speeds. He's going to give it everything he's got. It's his purpose. It has to be. Above all other things. It's killing me. Was he holding back against Fantasma?
He looked like he was losing. That doesn't make sense. Which means it could have been to trick everyone. He must have known that I would know he had more up his sleeve than what he showed there. Was it just because of her resistance to Electrification that she… No, his speed was quick but- it was quicker than in the Enudora Forest. He was faster, but not as fast as I know he's progressed to. Maybe I just hope he got that strong- No. You're not hoping that just to have a good fight.
He's strong. Kaminari is the most dangerous person in the country. Because defeating me could have as many meanings as he determines it to have. I don't fully know what your definition of "Victory" means, Kaminari. I just hope it doesn't involve killing too many people. Zach's heart clenched up and he stopped writing some calculus answers on his paper. He was struggling, but showing his work was a big part of getting partial credit and he went hard putting every bit of useful information he could remember down. His pen started moving faster too with his shift in attention away from thoughts of a certain spiky-haired blond he did not want to think about right now.
Now that looks like Zach, Todoroki refocused on his test when he saw Tyrefire look his way with a frown that his head was up and not in his test. I heard you struggled with controlling Death this weekend. I'm glad that's not the case anymore. I doubted I would see you again if it was still true. You're in this for the long run though. I can see that. Can you make it? Todoroki frowned at his test paper he found it hard to concentrate on at all. Going from what you were to what you want to be here? Death, to a hero? It's too hard. I counted you out too many times now though. I've been wrong every time I did.
Zach spent his morning taking half the tests he had to take through the day, but his teachers did not want him missing new information so he had to leave some of his tests for the afternoon. Zach paid attention during the morning instructions rather than studying for the next three tests he had to take after lunch, but when lunch came he had two textbooks out on his lunch table that he was reading while picking slowly at Lunch Rush's bland-tasting meatloaf. The sauce was dry. The beef fell apart in his mouth and the potatoes were hard to get down. He ignored the taste and the lack of satisfaction he felt while eating, as he was well-distracted by the information he was absorbing.
He was the first to go sit at a table of the class, and Class A's gradually came and sat around him. Shoji looked over towards Zach but then walked over to the table Tokoyami had just sat down at. He did not feel bad about it seeing as Sero, Ojiro, Mineta, Sato, and Hagakure had all gone and sat around him already. He was glad to see Sato sitting down normally just on Zach's right side without any awkwardness seeming to be between them anymore.
"I didn't see you yesterday," Tokoyami mentioned to his six-armed classmate who sat across from him. Shoji looked back at the dark boy with a beak who started eating but mentioned, "I saw Zach. Did you, help him get back to this point?" Tokoyami knew Shoji had been in Zach's room all weekend, but he had no idea what had gone on up there.
Shoji nodded though and Tokoyami's eyes widened a bit in surprise at the answer. I thought Zach wouldn't want the help, Tokoyami thought while glancing back over towards his black-haired classmate.
"I'm sorry, Tokoyami." Tokoyami turned back quickly and looked at Shoji in confusion. "That no one helped you, when you were struggling with control. That I didn't help you."
"I had help," Tokoyami admitted after a moment of surprised hesitation. Shoji gave him an odd look, and Tokoyami paused again before admitting in a lower voice, "Hawks, helped me. Trained Dark Shadow with me, and he vouched for me to get Tsukuyomi's hero license reinstated."
"Control it!"
"RRRAAAAA- I CAN'T!" Tokoyami could see in his head nothing but red, and his limbs thrashing around. Then he saw those same limbs getting redirected down into the floor or in safe directions, further infuriating a roaring Dark Shadow whose body completely engulfed his own. "Turn on the lights- GRRGRAAAAAHH-"
"Not a chance kid…"
"There's nothing to apologize for," Tokoyami assured his good friend in Class A. He thought of all the red feathers needed to prevent Dark Shadow from escaping or creating mass damage during their training sessions. "Hawks was the only one who could help me, the way I needed help."
Over at Zach's table, Sero stopped chewing and just stared across from him at his friend who had barely looked up during the conversation they were having. Zach had chimed in asking questions about their internships over the weekend that they were discussing, but his eyes had not left his books for more than a couple of seconds at a time. When they did raise up though, Sero and the others had noticed the red tint in his irises. It was not hard to tell he was doing something with Death in his head already though.
Zach flipped a page of his textbook, then he flipped the next page in the chapter. He flipped another page and took a bite of his bland food. "What's up?" He wondered as the others had gotten quiet and were looking at him. He darted a look up at Sero and then around at each of the others sitting around him just staring at the moment.
"Does using Death like that, really let you read those whole pages that quickly?" Mineta wondered.
"Yeah." He stopped with just that, but then continued on as he flipped another page, "Kaminari can shoot his electrical signals between synapses to speed up his mind. I needed to do the same thing in order to think as fast as him."
"So-" Mineta started.
"How fast can I think?" Zach finished the question that Mineta had started. He glanced up at his classmate too and gave him a look before looking back down at his study prep. Mineta froze with his mouth open and then his eyes opened wide after a second as he realized from that look that Zach was answering his question by finishing it for him. "I know, it's annoying," Zach added with a nod to his right side at Sato who just started to frown and was in the middle of thinking that thought. Sato's eyes bulged and then his expression started to get more annoyed. He found it difficult to be too mad though when Zach seemed to be apologizing for it right there while doing it again.
"But I think I bombed that Calc test I had to make up this morning. I can't do badly on any of the others today and still have all of these piling up on top of new work." Zach flipped another page and took another bite out of his lunch.
Ojiro relaxed and gave a look at Hagakure who smiled back at him which he could always tell from her posture alone. Zach talking about taking tests, struggling with managing his time, and not getting everything piled up were all relatable to his classmates who couldn't help but smile at the reminder. Zach was just another student of Class A again. His problems were their problems. And as crazy powerful as his Quirk was, that was nothing new to Class A students surrounded by monsters like Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki.
"How are things with Ape Man?" Mineta wondered to his side at Sero. "You guys all good now?"
Sero darted Mineta a look, then he shifted his gaze across the table to Zach who continued reading and did not react to the question. Sero gave him a questioning look, How would he know? He shook off his suspicion that Zach was playing dumb about not knowing that he had gotten in some hot water with his pro hero for going against the order to report on Zach's behavior and actions back to him. "Yeah, nothing's changed with post-graduation plans."
"Ah! Mashirao got- I mean," Hagakure stopped herself, but she was leaning out of her seat and could barely hold it in. "NNnn- Mashirao you tell them."
I'm really not supposed to, Ojiro thought with a sweatdrop, but he doubted Toru could hold it in for very long if he tried to keep it from his classmates. "I got accepted at a hero agency near Incognito's. Same city, and this hero has a program for new interns, sidekicks, and support staff. Agency housing, at a much discounted price-"
"Mashirao asked me to live with him," Hagakure added excitedly, making the other four boys at the table all turn to Ojiro who glanced away and scratched the side of his chin with one finger.
Sero sighed and leaned back in his seat after a second. He put his hands behind his head and interlocked his fingers while looking up at the ceiling. Man, am I ever going to have something like that? One girl… Eh, I've got time. He grinned and laughed at the idea as it was not something he very much wanted at the moment.
Ojiro you bastard, Mineta glowered at his classmate with eyes of jealousy. His eyes shifted past Ojiro though in the direction he saw Zach looking up from his book. Mineta's eyes shifted to Zach again and then over to the next long table that had most of the other girls at it. Even Ashido was sitting down over there and whispering to Yaoyorozu rather than sitting with them, and her whispers were for some reason annoying Jirou across the table from them.
Zach's eyes shifted back to Mineta who he found not looking at the same person he had just looked over towards. As much as Mineta noticed the girls he had looked towards, Zach saw his eyes shift past to a shorter girl with dark green hair. He only shifted his gaze to Mineta to see where he was looking though because the pink girl and girl with black hair he had been looking at both glanced his direction. His eyes shifted to Mineta first and then went back towards that table as if he was just looking to see what Mineta was looking at. The other two girls looked away when Zach was shifting his gaze in their direction, and Zach sighed internally as the black haired girl just continued eating her food and dismissed what Ashido had been telling her.
"What about you Zach?" Sato wondered, making Zach turn back the opposite direction to the tan-skinned teen on his right side. "What are your plans for after graduation?" Sato asked. "Not even a month left now."
"Really?" Hagakure whispered, and she got a sad look on her invisible face. She looked around the cafeteria she had eaten lunch in for three years, and the nostalgia rose up within her quickly.
"After graduation," Zach repeated. He stopped turning pages and found his fingers leaving the pages. Part of him wanted to brush by the question and keep studying, but then again. His eyes rose up, These guys. Zach looked to his left at Ojiro, then across the table and at Mineta and Sero who he also remembered there at the time. "Do you guys remember a talk we had our freshman year?" Zach started.
He sat up and specified to remind them of what he was speaking about, "Kuroiro had just told me that when I brought his grandma back to life, some health problems she had were fixed."
"I remember," Mineta said quickly.
"Same," Ojiro added, as that whole conversation had shocked and unnerved him.
"What about it?" Sero wondered.
"At the time, I didn't know what I was supposed to do with that information," Zach explained. "If anyone I revived was brought back at peak physical condition, and mental condition, then why should natural causes stop me from reviving them? Even old people I brought back would still live decades longer with all the past damage that accumulated in a 'natural' death erased, letting them start from scratch and a youthful body and mind."
He paused again, then he added in a lower voice, "Kaminari told me then…" Some of the others frowned but they continued listening along and felt more pity than anything as they watched Zach reminisce about this. "That I should just save whoever I can. It was a good idea." Zach smiled softly, then he added, "And it took the pressure off for a while. I couldn't leave campus easily. My Quirk had a time limit too short for me to save most people. I couldn't get to them quick enough. There were so many reasons keeping the people I could save at a low number. A low enough number, that it was manageable."
"And that's not true anymore," Sero admitted with a tilt of his head to the right side.
"Not at all," Zach responded with a head shake of agreement. "When I left U.A. I no longer had the restrictions on my movement. To add to that though, I taught myself how to fly in order to reach villains even faster. Stop my enemies and get around as fast as possible." He stopped for another second and then added in a lower voice, "And as I grew stronger and stronger, my time limit got so much longer too. Hours after someone dies I can still revive them. I've tested it, and I can fly across the Earth in under my time limit."
Others around Zach remembered a news report they had heard about Zach going to Romania and saving some kid. That was only a few weeks ago on the same night as his late show appearance. A few of them nodded as they followed along with what he was saying, though the topic he was discussing was a really hard one to think about. "Unfortunately, being able to save everyone means I can't save anyone. It can't just be at random. It can't be a certain number a day. It can't be a choice of just a certain age and below. And it can't be everyone," Zach repeated while giving a look to his right side at Sato who opened his mouth to mention something. "Sorry," Zach added when Sato looked pissed this time as Zach predicted what he was going to say.
"Too many people die a day. I'll always miss people." And I don't want to spend every day dying nonstop. Don't mention something so dark. "And the more people I revive, the more the people who I don't feel left out. Feel like they're abandoned. If they think I'm going to come for them, and I don't? Their families and friends will despise me. They'll curse my name as they die that I chose everyone else but them." Zach stopped and he let out a sigh before looking back down at his book. "I still don't have an answer for it. Anything I do after graduation that doesn't have anything to do with revivals will always be considered a waste of my time. It'll piss everyone off if I don't revive anyone. But it'll piss almost everyone off if I do revive people."
That's, Jirou disconnected her earphone jack from the bench next to where she was sitting. She had drowned out Mina's frustrating conversation with Momo to listen instead on the focus of their discussion who appeared to be telling something to the people around him. She thought maybe she would catch all of them knowing about something that they should have revealed, but instead she listened into a conversation she had once been a part of too.
Jirou remembered that conversation and how unnerving it had been at the time, but she also recalled how surprised she had been when Kaminari was the one to come up with the answer. Whoever you can save, you should. To most heroes it's as simple as that. It should be that simple- It is. You're complicating it as you always do. Except, he tried it. He's been trying it for months. He just described all the different attempts. Going across the world and saving someone. Saving those 200 people in one day. Saving at random. Saving when they're right in front of him even, like with that girl on Kipper's, he knew it. He knows because his Quirk is that complicated.
Good, Jirou frowned and went back to eating her food. It shouldn't be easy for you. Life shouldn't just be a breeze when you've done the kind of things that you've done. You better not use that difficulty as an excuse not to revive people anymore though. You may not want to revive anyone else, because you don't want them to rely on you and then get let down, but people already rely on you. They already expect it when you graduate. Get ready for it, Zach. It's part of being a hero to save as many people as you can. You're not a hero if you don't figure that- He's not a hero anyway. He's, still lying…
And they're going to catch him on it. We're going to, Jirou corrected the 'who' to include herself, thinking back on another meeting she had taken part in this past weekend with Ms. Clue. They have so much circumstantial evidence. Motive. No alibi. All we need is one thing to complete the puzzle. All we need, is one thing of proof.
When lunch was ending, Class A headed back towards their classroom but Zach stopped as he noticed someone looking his way. He turned and looked towards a classmate who did not look away this time when Zach faced him. Weird. I didn't think he'd confront me. Zach held back and waited because the look in the straight-haired blond's eyes was requesting a moment with him.
"Zach," Aoyama Yuga started as he walked out into the hallway with Zach and stopped so it was just the two of them. Two general studies' students walked out of the cafeteria right as Aoyama started talking, and he paused and glanced their way while the two stared at Zach with big eyes for a few seconds. Zach nodded at them in greeting and then looked back at Aoyama, and the other students rushed off as they were staring too much. Just the way Zach nodded at them in a friendly way made them speed out of range of their own accord, giving Zach and Aoyama some space so the blond could speak freely.
"I'm afraid of you," Aoyama whispered.
Zach stared at his classmate with his eyes widening in surprise. Well, that's… Zach nodded his head slowly.
Aoyama pursed his lips after saying it aloud, but he had gotten this far and knew he could not back down from it now. "It's frustrating though, because we're the same."
Zach's eyebrows rose even higher. What? He gave the dazzling boy a strange look imploring him to explain himself there.
"I mean," Aoyama continued again. "Your Quirk hurts you, just like Midoriya's used to. Midoriya gained more control and his Quirk doesn't hurt anymore," Aoyama added with his voice starting to get softer as Zach continued to give him an odd look for this.
"Didn't you also-" Zach started asked.
"I still can't go for very long with my Navel Laser without hurting myself." Aoyama said it quickly and paused right after as he had cut off Zach. Zach just nodded though at the explanation and continued looking at the blond boy with a semi-confused expression at what the point of this confrontation was. Aoyama hesitated again but then wondered, "Don't your revivals hurt less now too, but it still does hurt a lot when you do it, right?"
Zach nodded with his head partially tilted to the right side. "That's true," he began.
"See?" Aoyama asked quickly with his eyes lighting up for a moment. Then his look returned to the hesitant but also shameful one he had that forced him to come do this in the first place. "That's why I'm berating myself, because I am familiar with what it's like having a Quirk that hurts you- and I know that mine is nowhere in comparison to yours!" Aoyama got an anxious look on his face but was smiling now, his face only partly dazzling though Zach's expression started to shift too.
It's like he's walking on eggshells around me. Aoyama acts so much differently near me. I'm scary. I know that. Just because you're my friend, doesn't mean I don't scare you. Of course I do. There's no avoiding that. Zach looked at Aoyama in an appreciative way with a genuine smile spreading across his face that his classmate recognized it. Zach's look made Aoyama sweatdrop as he realized that for a few seconds there Zach was just humoring him while internally thinking about how different it really was, which Aoyama then admitted as he had cut back.
"I couldn't handle that kind of pain," Aoyama admitted. He paused and added softer, "I never would have kept using my Quirk, let alone continued trying to be a hero where I'd have to use it all the time. Seeing you do it though, it makes the stomachaches hurt less." Aoyama smiled brightly at Zach after saying it, and he finished, "It has for a long time."
"Thanks, Aoyama," Zach started. I'm really glad you opened up to me like that. Say it aloud. Be friendly. Just because he's scared of you- He's trying right here! He only didn't before, because he's been afraid. He didn't say anything last time I was here either because of how badly I must have scared him in the training forest, the court case, joining the villains- I've always terrified him. He's facing his fears. I'm what he's afraid of. I'm a terrifying creature. "Ever since I heard how you defended my actions in the training forest that first summer," Zach continued to his classmate who just opened up to him.
Zach rose the corners of his lips a little higher in appreciation and continued to his classmate with huge eyes, "I wanted to thank you. It couldn't have been easy with all I did that night, but what you said kept everyone from losing faith in me. I was glad when I heard about it that you were still my friend- or at least, I always thought of us as friends. When I came back from being with the League of Villains though, I had no idea how to deal with my fabulous classmate. Wasn't really the kind of person to thank you for that…"
Because I failed at the VTS, Aoyama thought with the pain in his torso coming from a bit above his stomach this time. I could have fired a beam. If I was only a little faster- "JENNY! NOOOOO!" "AAAHHHHHH!" I wasn't even brave enough to come and apologize until everyone went to your room together. And then, I was just going with the crowd. Just like when I pulled out of the Sports Festival. And just like, when I gave you space after Raijin. Aoyama's eyes shifted to the floor as he found it hard to maintain eye contact as he could feel the guilt seeping into his expression.
In Aoyama's mind flashed back a few days to sitting in his room alone. Barely anyone else in the dorm at all. And he could hear a scream come from several floors above him. The scream turned into a roar, a bloodthirsty and animalistic roar. He remembered the phone he had out in his hands and the message he had written to Midoriya already. His thumb hovering over the 'Send' button, and then Aoyama remembered moving his finger down and deleting the message instead. I didn't do it though. I'm here now! I'm being a good friend- a good hero! He got a grip.
"Anyway Aoyama," Zach started and turned his body to start walking. Aoyama started walking too and they headed back for the classroom together, and Zach continued in a relaxed voice and one relieved that Aoyama had come and talked to him like this. "I guess we are the same, in a way. I've got to keep training Death so it doesn't hurt anymore at all when I revive anyone, and you've got to fire that laser as long as you can hold it for."
"I'm up to ten seconds right now," Aoyama replied. Zach nodded with a curious look, and Aoyama explained, "None of my Super-Dazzling Moves include firing it for more than three seconds so…"
School ended for the day, but Zach requested once again to reserve one of the training grounds. It was not a single gym he had reserved out this time but Training Ground Mu. Out of all the grounds on campus, Zach had never actually trained in the battle-torn training facility meant to look like a post-incident environment with lots of damage everywhere. Villains could take advantage of the preoccupation of heroes with recovery, rescue, and rebuilding efforts during times like these and attack while the environment is already destroyed. Damaging it further is a problem for heroes though when some of the structural integrity of buildings is already spotty, so to mimic that U.A. had random places on these grounds that were brittle and could fall apart from a touch.
Zach stepped on one of the traps in a lightly forested area between two rubble piles that looked like they had once been buildings. There were leaves all over the ground in the area that had trees with broken branches and burn marks on them, but those leaves had "covered up" a hole made in the ground during the imagined villain attack. Zach's right foot touched down on the brittle fake floor underneath the leaves and made the ground shatter for a circle around him. It was intended to make him fall ten feet into the hole, but Zach just stopped himself from falling any further when the ground was dropping below his foot.
He looked down under his foot that had black coming from its sole that kept him in the air. Need to be careful where I step. He tapped down with that foot and finished stepping over, before darting his eyes over to the right where a robot drone popped up and pointed the paintball gun at him. It fired and Zach opened up his body allowing the small ball of red paint to fly through him and then splat on the opposite wall of rubble from the one the robot just appeared behind. Shouldn't allow that. Need to prevent all collateral damage too. Another shot was already coming out of the barrel of the paintball gun as Zach was thinking it, and he appeared in front of the barrel in an instant with his left hand forward that he curled around the ball emerging from the barrel.
He also stuck one of his fingers of his left hand into the barrel while catching the second paintball, while at the same time raising up his right hand and pulling a grappling gun off his waist where it was clipped. He was only in his blue gym uniform but he did have a grappling gun he had made in the lab the other day. As the paintball gun of the first robot jammed and broke, Zach fired his grappling hook back at where the other robot was popping out of to fly his way.
Ectoplasm stared closer at the monitors watching his student who he no longer actually had any classes with. When did he see that one coming? He was moving before I even… Did he predict, how I would attempt to stop him? He's never used this training ground before. I remember Class A coming here the first time was fall of their second year. Based on the villain attacks and outbreaks that would occur after the Army of Death left Saudi Arabia in ruins and with no protection.
Death did make that speech though. He told them it was coming, and that prepared them. We made this in preparation for what we saw coming there, but it never got as bad as our simulations. Ectoplasm tapped a button on the console in front of him. "Making it more difficult, Sazaki."
"Alright!" Zach called out to let his teacher know he heard.
No secret cameras anywhere. Nezu wouldn't do that again. Not after the risk they brought after VTS. All of campus is pretty safe to move around freely. The robots can record me but they're not everywhere. Not aboveground at least. Nezu probably has security robots all over underground. Ones he's in control of directly. Kaminari took ANTs. He's a genius. His invasion force will be on the more extreme of the most pessimistic projections. Zach ran down a road of crushed-up concrete and then used a wobbly piece near the end as a springboard.
He leapt in the air and flapped a set of wings out of his back as four robots attacked him. Twin turrets also emerged out of the ground ahead of him too and aimed straight ahead of him as soon as he started to fly. U.A.'s tech is definitely a notch above Shiketsu's. All-Terrain made for more freedom in destroying all the training grounds over there, but their robots could not keep up with these. Still not as unique or intelligent as a smart villain or your average hero. Pretty good though, Zach broke his right wing apart while flapping again. The way he was flapping made it seem as if he was going to fly forward, but by losing one of his wings he fell into a spiral instead when he only flapped the left.
Zach spiraled down to the ground and rolled through his hard landing without breaking his speed. The right wing he had broken apart wrapped around the flying robots, but they shot out of his darkness and continued chasing him to the confusion of Ectoplasm. What was the point of that?
So they don't need to see me, Zach thought while glancing to his left and back over his shoulder. The robots were on a perfect trajectory after him despite him having changed his direction of movement twice after cutting off their view of him. Or maybe they're all on the same network. Attempt 2. Zach did a similar move but made sure that the turrets were blocked from his sight, as well as Ectoplasm's long side window and the really obvious cameras he was monitoring from. The cameras were sticking out of corners on the walls and were clearly not part of the environment but little black bulbs the monitoring teacher could grade and assist students with.
Ectoplasm was having a hard time figuring out what it was Sazaki was trying to train here. The student seemed to have purpose in his movements though, so he attempted to keep up with Zach and give him as intense a training session as he could handle. The kid is very strong, there's no denying that. I remember when he first made his Super Move. The Death Grenade was an impressive attack back then. His power now is incomparable to then.
But, Ectoplasm watched the kid tackle one of the robots out of the air and press a button on the side of it. He gently dropped it off to his right side while leaping up and to his right at the side of a broken skyscraper in a new part of the battle zone he just entered. He grinned when his feet were about to touch the glass frame so he could bounce off it. Instead of doing that, he flapped a pair of wings behind him and shot into the glass twice as fast.
The kid smashed through the window and shot out the other side of the building. He posted up against the wall above the next broken window while an explosion of Death was still pushing away from the building and forming the shape of a person. He was shrouded by thinner Death where he actually was, but the first robots that came out chasing him were separated from the two still inside the building that had yet to make it out after the others. Zach appeared in front of them and sped at the one on his right that exclaimed a shout of surprise and panic at his approach.
These robots also have a sense of humor, Zach thought while spin-kicking the one that yelled out a human-ist insult into the other that tried reeling back and turning its rifles. The two robots collided and rolled away from the teen who shot back the direction he first came from, with another four robots flying back in behind him. They were chasing him while also fleeing from the mass of darkness Zach used as a decoy that had turned into four thick arrows pointed at them with very sharp points.
Ectoplasm watched the teen fly out the building and spin, attacking the school's training robots with a look of focus, purpose, and like he was enjoying himself all at the same time. He isn't Death, Ectoplasm thought. Doubt filled him as he watched the masterful movements of a teenager only eighteen years old who was taking everything thrown at him in stride and without struggling in the least. Ectoplasm's glowing white eyes narrowed more and the teacher in a dark costume shook his head again. He couldn't be.
It's the guy in that video from Sueguon. Jirou and Bakugo both seemed to believe it was him, but I don't think any amount of evidence would change their minds. Some of them never doubted it once. Even when footage came out of him at that gas station in the U.S. Ectoplasm scratched his chin for a moment before shaking his head again. It's not him. There is no "mask" that allows for someone like the kid to look like a Caucasian middle-aged man- the expressions were too smooth for there to have been a mask. The subtle movements Death's face made luring the villains in that casino into his trap. Sazaki's good, but Death, Death's on a whole other level.
The kid is lying about where he was though, Ectoplasm added to himself while he zoomed in on the teenager he was watching train. His eyes locked on Zach's neck and the red marks that wrapped around it. A collar once rested there, Ectoplasm shifted his eyes quickly from the neck to the boy's face and back again. It's impossible to tell just by looking at him. He hides it so well. Everything that's happened, Ectoplasm's expression softened but only for a second before hardening and getting much more intense at the sight of the kid's masterful skills using his Quirk against robots going all out against him to no avail.
What Sazaki's done is more legend than truth. The anti-hero stuff All Might talked about the night of the Lifebringer Incident, the Pit, the Army of Death maybe… His involvement with the Italian mafia, which I even heard a few of my students talking about before. I only understand with the context now, Ectoplasm's white eyes narrowed more at the screen and the boy who stopped in the middle of eight deactivated robots. He took in a deep breath and then looked towards one of the cameras, "Think you could turn it up a notch, Ectoplasm sensei?"
Ectoplasm tapped a button on the console in front of him. "I'll try," he replied. Should get Maijima in here. Power Loader was the master of using this equipment, and other than the principal, Ectoplasm figured he would be the only one who could give Sazaki a run for his money. He's a good kid. Not good, he's a… I don't know. He's, complicated.
But he's not Death. He couldn't be, Ectoplasm reminded himself. Not when Death is still bringing people to life out there. A few recent reports the last couple days even of revivals in Turkey and Greece. First time they've reemerged since Endeavor stepped down from the Anti-Death Task Force. Their sightings have become so rare nowadays. After that last failed attempt, I don't see them coming out and getting trapped again. Star-Spangled Man's got his work cut out for him. Especially if he keeps running down this dead-end Lifebringer lead with Lemillion. A lot of people are working against you, kid. Ectoplasm typed onto the control console in front of him and continued helping the young hero-in-training. It shouldn't be your teachers you have to worry about though.
Zach sat on the common room's center couch with the tv on in front of him. On his lap he had a textbook opened with another book opened on the inside of it. The very old God Book he had opened was barely disguised but he did not care much if anyone saw it. What he was reading was barely legible and that was in the languages it was initially written in. If anyone were to look over his shoulder and see what he was actually reading, they would see nothing but illegible gibberish.
Even being able to actually know what he was reading, Zach found the information much more difficult to comprehend and accept. '…In a time of rebirth in the near west, once again the clergy lost power and led rise in many regions to studies long buried and condemned by the Holy. Long hidden tomes unearthed by these cultists and daemonologists revealed truths forgotten to time. Daemonologie, necromancy, black magic…'
Zach hummed to himself and glanced over the top of his book to the tv for a moment. It was still before nine o'clock though and still before the press conference he was waiting for that would start at one p.m. in Berlin. Did it take Ares that long to understand science? If Enzo's the one writing here, it must have been thousands of years they were still in the dark. I'd imagine they would have come to understand a lot more by then. They should have been the smartest in the world. Zach looked back down at the book and continued deciphering what Enzo wrote a thousand years ago.
Zach read slowly but without hesitation as Enzo continued on the same track. His heart rate did begin to speed up a little though, as Enzo's tone started to change as time progressed and different languages were used showing a different point in time that a passage was written. '…I know it is something my master has been intrigued by since before meeting my father, and thus it is something of great interest to me as well. I wish to understand these so-called demons that one cannot deny the existence of, when one is imagined by so many to be a demon himself, just by his own existence. Who am I to deny that these supposed brethren of ours exist? And if they do exist, where do they come from?'
'This "Other World" that many knowledgable about the subject have discussed is not a conceptual existence. It is a "concept" devised by too many religions and peoples to ignore the possibility that…' What is he saying here? Zach stared closer at the book, his breathing speeding up a bit more as he continued to struggle but still make out what Enzo was writing.
How long was the gap here? Zach saw little drawings on one page that he flipped and saw the back of covered in more scribbles and words that he did not understand. He admits that many of these are lost languages. Languages even in his time that were so old, that there was nearly no way for him to figure out what they said. Yet he did, Zach read further down the page and then onto the next. 'Eighty five years since beginning my search, I brought my findings to my master. He joined me for the next expedition…'
'An expedition that brought fruitful results. The affinity for contacting or even summoning from that world is an ability few possessed, however the necessity for having that affinity is lowered with the right tools and rituals. Blood from the unborn calf of a goat. Phoenix feather. The heart of an innocent, the more afraid the innocent in the moment of passing the more powerful the heart…' Zach's heart was beating faster but his eyes got darker and angrier as he continued to read for a few more seconds. He gulped though as he read just a little farther down, and his breath came out panting as he went on, '…The ritual for summoning was as simple as drawing from memory. Similar signs and circles that had appeared once before me could be drawn in blood, opening a hole from whence he emerged. A different, more powerful being than the shamans of Kardungo produced with their inferior resources gathered too quickly.'
How far did they get with their research? Zach wondered to himself. Having that much time, even the most radical of ideas can be looked into so thoroughly to find the truth that created them. Zach's eyes shook as he read the next lines, flipping the page again and then seeing the pages of the book themselves getting darker. The fabric was different and the writing was red, and for some reason he did not recall ever seeing these pages before when he had flipped through. Nothing could stop him from reading farther though, even the ominous dread that filled him with every word he read.
'…This being spoke cryptically. Refused to answer us despite our commands. He denied my master's Godliness. Called us both 'humans,' so I suppose they did not see us as kin as I once imagined they would. Ares was not one to be spoken down to. The barrier around the pentagram kept him from escaping, however it also prevented my master's attack from reaching this beast. Yellow teeth. Horns all over. Skin as red as the blood we sacrificed. The ritual did not last long. I was not finished with him though.'
'As he began to retreat back into his domain, I forced my way through the barrier and stood in the circle with him. To the surprise of Ares, but also to Kargonn himself, red lines came up from the floor over my own legs.' Kargonn? Zach gulped again but continued reading, his eyes darting back and forth while glowing red, needing to decipher what he read as quickly as he could in order to keep this story coming as fast as possible into his head. '…Ares stepped in as it began to drag me down, and we entered into that world with our new slave who came to understand that we were no normal men. We made him watch, as we ravaged that world…'
Zach flipped the page of the God Book. He became so engrossed in the pages that everything else faded from his mind. His bottom lip stayed lowered as he read through the pages describing horrors and things he wished he could imagine were not true. He flipped another page with his eyes so wide and his expression solely focused on the words he was reading, and he realized as he read the story in his hands, I can't tell Midoriya this.
I know I promised but, Zach lowered the book and had to stop reading midway to take in a huge breath. But some things the world shouldn't know about. No one should know about this. It can be fiction as long as I allow it to be. I can imagine it as such too, he looked back down at the pages and calmed himself down as he read the story Enzo had so much more of for him. Lee was scared of his own summonings. He had an 'affinity' for it, as Enzo would have said. So was it really a Quirk? What are Quirks?
I was wrong to think of them as oblivious even thousands of years later. They were smarter than we are. Science is only superior because we look back on those before us as wrong. I know that! I believe that, and I know that we are ignorant not to accept that those things could be possible. I just wish I could fit these things into a scientific reasoning. Other dimensions can exist- they do! I know that. But, this world? The one Enzo is describing here… It can't be revealed to the world that such a thing exists. No one needs to know. There's an extent to how much knowledge can help. This knowledge, I should just allow to turn from truth into fantasy. To fade to time…
"Hey Zach," Zach lifted his head back up and looked to his left where Shoji was standing behind the couch there. He started around it while nodding at the television, "Do you mind unmuting it?"
"Oh yeah," Zach lowered his textbook down cover-up on his lap over the book he was really reading. Leave the rest of that for later. I'll finish deciphering the book tonight. I need to know every last thing and then, then I'll just stop being able to read any more of it. Too difficult. Languages lost forever. He'll accept it. He'll believe me.
He rose the remote and turned back up the volume of the tv. "Do you know what this-" Shoji began, but he stopped himself when Zach nodded in response and continued looking at the screen where a press conference was just starting.
Shoji focused in on the screen too just as the first person who came up to the podium introduced the hero who was going to speak today. The woman with short blonde hair stepped aside and allowed for the pro hero she worked for to move right up behind the podium. He wore a mostly red costume, though with black highlights on his torso and shoulders and with yellow stripes on the side of his pant legs. His costume looked a lot like a German flag, but with some brown as well including the sausage-link necklace around his neck and brown bracelets around his wrists dangling a few links from the firing contraptions he had there.
Jedenwurst cleared his throat after stepping up to the podium. The German hero with short brown hair paused for a second as flash photography went off from reporters trying to get better pictures on a day with overcast disturbing the lighting of the outdoors press release. "Today I am here to inform you about the newest developments and final results of my joint investigation with German, French, and British heroes."
Zach and Shoji both knew about this investigation. It had been seriously discussed on the news for weeks now, though other incidents had taken precedence more recently that kept it out of the limelight. Jedenwurst continued though and made this into the main story now, "French President Chuvreaux has been removed from office today following the resignations of many of his senior staff over the controversy that he has fought allegations of. The legislature's impeachment process went quickly, with a unanimous vote to remove him from office of the presidency. My colleague Clueseaux is now working to see what charges fit the penalties Chuvreaux and other French politicians who knew of the illicit weapons' labs should receive. Governor Dengar is leading the efforts to do the same with United Kingdom officials knowledgable about the weapons' facilities funded using money from taxpayers who were in the dark to their government's crimes."
"As for here in Germany, as of noon today, I placed Prime Minister Dornquell into custody as I uncovered proof of his involvement with the conspiracy as well." Immediately, reporters all over the lawn in front of where Jedenwurst was speaking from started shouting as this had been kept from the press remarkably well until now. Zach cracked a smile and sweatdropped at the same time that Jedenwurst left that for after mentioning the French and British efforts, though it made sense as no one would be listening anymore if he started with Dornquell's arrest.
All of them are arresting their executive branches. No one is above the law, I guess, Shoji watched in amazement as Jedenwurst quieted down the press and started to say those exact things. "…The kinds of weapons we discovered were being produced by our very own governments are the same kind of weapons they decried publicly because the entire world has decried them for ages. I decry the use of these weapons. Any of the technologically advanced weaponry being produced would have been misused by those in power who would keep these kinds of secrets from the people they were meant to represent. They would be in danger of being sold off to villains by those already dwelling in illegal dealings where there is no accountability for their actions from law and order. The authority of heroes is not under the direct control of any government or single leader. We are public servants of the people, and the people alone."
Zach leaned forward on the couch and stared at this German hero with his eyes widening a bit. "Whoa," Zach whispered. That's, a crazy thing to say right here. It's no time for any politician to disagree with him though. Any who do would be accused by their people of trying to cover things up. Is this a power grab? No. Jedenwurst is a good hero. A great one, if he's willing to risk everything by saying this.
"The people of the world have long declared their unanimous agreement that weapons of mass destruction and death have no place in the future we want to have. They have no place in the present either. And yet their development was paid for through the money of everyday people who had no idea what they were complicit in. It is crime, clear and simple. Villainous actions taken by those who we are supposed to be able to trust and put our faith in." Jedenwurst paused then spoke louder and firmly to the people before him, "It is the central government's responsibility to protect its people. That responsibility does not supersede international law, nor our own laws. Whether they claim to have been doing it in the best interest of our nations or not, they broke the law. And it is my job- all of our job as heroes and as citizens of these nations to stand against these actions and not to accept these leaders' excuses."
"These laws are put in place to protect the people. All people," Jedenwurst added intensely while the crowd in front of him was quiet now and just recording the hero giving this speech. "The actions of a few leaders who decided on their own that these weapons were needed again is not the voice of the people I serve. They made that choice without a vote. Without the public coming to a decision to change our laws at the core. And Durnquell and the other government leaders did not push to change those laws as they could have, then create the weapons legally if they saw fit for their own national defense. They did not do this because it was not in their interests to, as they understood that the people of these countries do not want those weapons to return to the world!"
"The reason nations may feel the need to have these weapons is because other nations have them. They're afraid that other nations may have them and are keeping them in secret, which is why it is up to each of us as heroes to hold our nations responsible. The United States and China with the weapons' laboratory on the Exonbaba, Germany, France, and the UK's with the labs found here in Europe. We cannot be leaders in the world if we allow these things to go unpunished. Others will follow in our footsteps if we show that even the most powerful governments cannot get away with these actions. So we will not be lenient towards those who risked everything. They geared up stronger and stronger to 'protect' themselves while ultimately getting everyone around us to start arming and racing to have the strongest weapons. If the leaders of our countries show that they are willing to ignore the rules and laws that prevent these weapons from being made, then how should we expect any other country to stand by these rules?"
"They are international laws for a reason. And," Jedenwurst paused and took in a deep breath before staring straight at the reporters in front of him as seriously as he could. "Heroes are not just weapons of the nations they represent. We are public servants. Especially servants to our own communities and nations, but in the existence of heroes there is an underlying fact across all countries and ways of life: Heroes are not heroes only to the people we deem fit to save. Heroes must save everyone."
"Innocent people in every country deserve the same safety from villains, and that is why heroes across the world have worked together closer than ever over the past year. Despite any confrontations our home nations may be having with each other through trade and policy and environmental concerns, healthcare and Quirk education- it doesn't matter. International law is upheld by all heroes. It must be." Jedenwurst said that definitively and his eyes were locked on the camera lens as if he was speaking to every hero around the world. "Because when just one country ignores these laws put in place to protect the entire world as a whole, it puts every country in danger. The oil rig and the Europe labs are only the start. Governments will no longer be allowed to get away with ignoring international law. They are not above the law. And any workers at such illegal facilities should not be mistaken into thinking that because they work for a government, that they will not be tried as criminals and villains when we heroes discover such places."
"To the German, French, and British legislatures and court systems: Do not go easy on our leaders who broke the law so brashly. Follow the lead of the American Congress that heavily punished General Kathers and former Secretary of State Franklin. To China, do not allow these three European nations to pass judgement on our criminal leaders and those few hundred people involved with the facilities and their funding, before you finally declare those who were involved with the Exonbaba oil rig's weapons' production as criminals. Try them for their crimes before we try ours. To the people of the world," Jedenwurst paused once more. "It is up to you to show support for what I am saying."
"Governments are supposedly run by the people, for the people, but too many times these past few years it has been revealed that they have ulterior motives and interests. Interests that they believe above the will of the people." Jedenwurst curled his hands into fists over the podium. "Those in government do not hold any power. They are representatives of their people. And should they fail to represent the people, they have failed in their duties. If they have intentionally broken laws believing themselves above said laws, then they will be stopped the same as were they any other person. I repeat:"
"No one is above the law."
Zach grinned big and pulled out his phone. There was a bar on the bottom of the screen sliding across talking about breaking news stories around the world but the current one about China had nothing to do with this. It's eight in Beijing right now. Any live feeds of- there we go. Oh ho ho, not looking very good for you Mr. Feng. Zach smirked even more, I bet the Chinese government is wishing they still used draconian CCP tactics of censoring the media right about now, though admittedly they won't be the Chinese government for long. The fact they didn't do much shows the ones who knew about Exonbaba were probably so high up that they couldn't start pushing people out or those people would reveal how everyone knew.
Man this is going to be a major overhaul. It will take up a lot of the Chinese heroes' time, thus distracting them from what else might be going on in their country. Luckily with the assassins out of the way I doubt anyone will be smart enough to realize this quickly and make moves. That's too hopeful. Someone might already be taking advantage with that unknown virus in the south. Five casualties today? At least it seems tracing efforts in the epicenter are working. Hopefully someone fixes- It's not like Gondorhan. Way too many conspiracies to separate here. Could be manmade though, Zach thought while looking at more news in Mandarin about China that was directed about the disease he had been hearing about and not what Jedenwurst was currently talking about that had not become big news yet.
On the floor one up from where Zach and Shoji were watching this press conference that questions finally started at, a redhead stood on the platform of the stairs looking down them with his arms crossed and his eyes dark as he leaned against the wall. A piece of his spiky hair was drooping in front of his eyes and shadowed over them as he glared down the stairs. He blew up his nose and the strands moved but fell right back and even more in his way. "Rrrr," Kirishima uncrossed his arms and pushed up the spike before returning to his glowering position.
I should have done something back then. What have I been waiting for? Ever since fight day, the frustrated teen got even more so with his fists curling under his armpits at the memory of that frustrating experience. I didn't get a single moment to talk to Zach about everything, but it's too late now. Too much has happened since he came back.
Zach's been making moves this whole time. Kirishima bit down behind his lips and curled his fists even tighter. I thought when my friend came back, he would explain things to me. The longer it got the clearer it's become that isn't going to happen. And now Zach's… Zach's- Kirishima had to slam his arms down as he was Hardening them in his armpits and it was starting to hurt. I defended him! The whole time he was gone! I was angry yeah, but I lost my cool on Dendo last year because of that green-haired bastard's insults towards you. And now he- he's-
I just remembered all the good times though, and I hated what Dendo said about him. I see Zach back though. Everything he once had back to him, even after what he did that night. Bakugo wasn't wrong. He killed Kurogiri when he had captured him. Kirishima's expression darkened more. Killing five other people, and running away from us!
When I voted for Nikko it was so Zach could get out and face up for his crimes, Kirishima thought while leaning back on the wall again. And he started to do that, but it didn't make me satisfied- It doesn't! Because it doesn't make things right. Not- not with us. With me. You fucking- You left.
Then you come back here and everything's supposed to just go back the way it was? Why can't it? Because it can't! Kirishima gripped his own thighs and felt his heart pounding as it filled with rage. It's not okay! NOTHING IS! Kirishima loosened his grip on his legs when he saw Shoji at the base of the stairs about to head up. He eased up, then his eyes narrowed and he started down the steps himself. Shoji began up the stairs and glanced to his side but Kirishima's focus was far past him. I tried to be okay with it for Ashido's sake. I wanted to just let it go, but you can't just- you can't act like it doesn't matter! Like what you did, is forgivable!
I won't forgive you. I don't. Kirishima stepped to the entrance of the stairwell and glared into the common room where Zach stood up after packing his things back into his bookbag. He looked back towards the stairs and Kirishima's teeth ground in anger at the look on that face as if somewhat surprised to see him glaring over. You knew I was coming- How would he? I don't know. I DON'T KNOW YOU! Kirishima's fists balled furiously at his sides and he marched out of the stairwell towards his classmate whose expression turned from that confused mild surprise into something much more serious.
Zach walked around the edge of the couch. He looked at Kirishima and then over at the front door. Kirishima stopped near the door himself and nodded back at Zach, "Yeah. Let's take this outside."
"Alright," Zach walked over to his shoes and started putting them on. "Follow me. I know a place we can talk." In the corner of Zach's eyes he saw a pair of fists balling so hard they were actually Hardened. Or a place for something else, if that's what it's come to.
A/N Thanks for reading. I really hope you guys enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter which I'm already halfway finished with (I got excited by the end here and just kept writing yesterday). Anyway, it's late Monday night on the 23rd of March, 2020 right now. Things are really bad everywhere. I just hope you can have fun with this and, and well I'm going to try and get out the next chapter as soon as I can. Thanks everyone for all your support. All of you reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing this story makes it what it is. I hope you're safe out there... and review response:
Guest chapter 218 . Mar 18
Love love love it. So thankful you're doing ok for now Mr. Author
I'm feeling fine right now. Thank you, and thanks for that review. Hope you're well as well, XD Mr. Reader. And I'm glad you're still enjoying the story even in these hard times!