Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 236:

Five Minutes After Zach Sazaki's Sentencing Was Handed Down…

Nikko Kaizo sat in his office behind his desk. His wife stood at his side and had her left hand rubbing up and down on his back. Enri was looking down at the top of his bowed head though in an uncertain way at the words he was muttering under his breath, "What is it, Kaizo? Tell me."

The Prime Minister was hunched forward in his seat. The room was empty other than him and his wife. His tv was turned off now though. They had been in the room watching the trial together through it all and kept watching television for a couple of minutes afterwards as Nikko searched for word on what had happened to Lifebringer after he left. Trying to keep his mind focused on all the breaking news though came to be impossible. Instead of thinking about what happened after Lifebringer left the court hall, he thought of those videos that replayed over and over in his mind.

"And it's not going to be easy. I am going to ask you to follow me the depths of Hell and beyond! To burn out every shadow! To free all those in the chains of monsters! To create a free world, a peaceful world, a world where those we left behind can live in peace and happiness!"

Why is it that I freed Lifebringer? Nikko parted his fingers and slid his hands away from his eyes. His frown deepened even as his heart raced in fear. What does that matter?! Enri and I will be killed if… and even if I can get heroes to protect us, my life is over. I'll be sent to prison for the rest of my life-

"At this moment they're still as strong as ever. If we fall, those villains who have been fighting us all this time will be too powerful for those remaining heroes to stop. It's all on this…"

Nikko grit his teeth at the sound of Lifebringer's voice ringing out in his head. Prison? Is that so bad a punishment, for doing what's right? Even if I'm too late. Even if I've done so much wrong already! Why was it, that I left Osaka? I was a nobody! A representative from a tiny district. No one even knew my name. And that wasn't why I started talking about Lifebringer, was it? Did I just do it for myself? For my own popularity… "The fights to come will be bloody! They will be brutal!" Nikko's eyes clenched shut, but he could still see the tattered and torn-up body of that teenager who screamed these things at his surviving soldiers. "And we will fight every day. And I will fight, a dozen battles a day- two- I will fight as much as I need to. I will fight as hard as I can- I will fight! Until my last breath…"

That was the Lifebringer I remembered. The one I didn't think should be punished for what he did, to save us. I didn't use Lifebringer to get into this office! I, used getting into office, to get Lifebringer out of jail! Wasn't that it?! Wasn't that the point of it all?! Nikko's teeth clenched harder and his jaw shook as his eyes filled with water. And instead I got heroes killed? I got him out, but then I turned on him? I turned into a villain for… for the League of Villains. A pawn for Shigaraki Tomura, and Raijin, and- and I can't do it anymore! No matter the cost!

"I will fight! I will fight in the oceans and in the skies. In every hemisphere. In every nation and every city- Wherever villains are, I will hunt them down! I will not stop- I will never stop- I will FIGHT! Until I can't anymore…"

Like Lifebringer was willing to. Nikko rose his head up. He moved his right arm and wiped across his eyes with an intense look spreading over his face. "Enri, I'm sorry," Kaizo said in a soft but steady voice to his wife next to him.

"For what?" Enri asked back softly.

The Prime Minister reached over his desk, and his wife moved her hand to his wrist quickly. "What are you doing? Tell me, Kaizo! Explain what's going on-"

"I will," Kaizo whispered back. His face covered in guilt and he hesitated as he imagined what this conversation was going to lead to. I have to explain why it is I accepted the blackmail. It was all for you, Enri. Them revealing to the public my shame and threatening to make the blackmail look like they were the ones who put me in office, was nothing compared to the thought of losing you. I barely remember that night. I remember the shame when I woke up next to that woman though. The worst mistake of my life, and now it's time for me to make up for it. Or to at least, accept the consequences of my actions.

"Akemi," Nikko said after pressing a button on the telephone on his desk. "Can you send Electro in here, please?"

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister. He's coming in now." His secretary released the button that she pressed down to respond to the man in the office behind her. Then she looked to Electro and nodded back into the room that he was standing just outside of.

He couldn't handle it. Lifebringer fought as hard as he could, but he couldn't keep going. Is that why he voluntarily went to prison? Nikko tried to rationalize the hero's actions, but he still just frowned deeply as he considered his smiles and confident speeches encouraging the population since he got out of prison. Sazaki never gave up. He didn't stop until the Age of Villains was over, and now he's here. He came here. Why? It doesn't matter! Even with all attention on him, even put on trial, that was the final thing he said? It was to stop more villains! To save more people! And me? On the other hand, I've abandoned all my goals and ideals since becoming the Prime Minister. All I've concerned myself with now is avoiding my secrets from being released, and then preventing my corruption from being discovered, hiding things from my wife, from everyone around me! I got heroes killed by leaking information!

No longer, Nikko's expression was firm and intense as he stared at Electro who walked in and closed the door behind him. No longer will I assist the League of Villains in what I know will be the end of our country.

"What is it, Nikko-san?" Electro questioned the nation's leader.

"I have information I need to tell you. Something, I am certain will assist in the capture of the League of Villains," Nikko started. His wife looked at him in surprise at how Kaizo started that, while Electro himself gained a more discerning look and narrowed his eyes slightly, like he was suspicious but trying to give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt.

"And how would you have obtained information like that?" Electro questioned seriously.

Nikko looked at one of the top heroes in the country. The muscular man in his yellow hero costume had black hair that spiked over his head in odd patterns that gave it a horizontal slant before sticking back up. His dark hair was spiked in the shapes of lightning bolts, going up then sideways then up again in several distinct spikes. His yellow costume was tight to his body but also had white stripes crossing in an X over his chest and lines of black going down his arms through the darker gold color of his sleeves. His pant legs were also darker gold and had black lines cutting through them, and he had a white belt around his waist matching the X over his chest and his white gloves. He also had a pair of twisty white earpiece-like devices on either ear that could be used in coordination with his Quirk. Electro was in his late twenties, but his intense look appeared as a veteran hero's as he stared down the Prime Minister.

"Because," Nikko started to respond while looking back into Electro's eyes, no longer hesitating to say this aloud. "Shigaraki Tomura has been blackmailing me."

Enri's eyes bulged on her husband's side and she took a step back while lowering her bottom lip. Nikko glanced her way, then his eyes shifted down and slowly back towards Electro who he continued at, "For months now."

"What have you done?" Electro muttered. Shit. That was an amazing call. Too amazing…

"You…" Enri began. She stared at her husband in shock and horror, "Why- how could you? What are you even… You can't be serious! He's not-" she continued, looking to Electro to try and convince a hero whose eyes got much darker while staring down her husband.

Kaizo looked to his wife in pain and he lowered his gaze from hers for a moment as she stared desperately at him like he was just losing it from the stress of the office. "They had pictures of me, in a hotel room with a woman," he paused while his wife's face pulled back more in shock. She was stunned, but her face also appeared furious- enraged, and then the tears filled her eyes. "A woman who I didn't know at the time, was Himiko Toga. It was a trap."

Kaizo shamefully looked away from his horrified and furious wife who started to cry next to him. He looked to Electro who also looked frustrated and muttered under his breath, "I didn't see this coming so close. I wouldn't have been prepared for it. Kid's way too fucking smart." I don't like this. He's 1000 moves ahead of everyone. Had this bitch Nikko pinned under his thumb long before he even knew he was going to run for office. And before the trial even ended he was on my ass to get ready for this. How does he know, everything?!

The Prime Minister stared at Electro oddly and started to feel a little confused. Electro's movements, Nikko's eyes shifted down from Electro's face to his body. They're, off. Something is… The posture of the hero, the way he moved, his voice, it all started to shift. In seconds, Kaizo's heart was racing for a much different reason than it was a moment ago. "Prime Minister Nikko," Electro started, his tone much different as he frowned back at the man but without the glare of a furious hero disgusted by him. "Take a look at your computer-"

"What are you-"

"Excuse me," the door of the office opened and Nikko spun towards his receptionist who looked inside confusedly for a moment.

Enri Nikko stared towards the door and then stepped closer to her husband's seat, reaching out and grabbing him by his left shoulder. She gave it an anxious squeeze while staring towards the secretary who looked inside in confusion for a moment only until Electro glanced her way and made her lose the facade. "We're done, huh?" Akemi questioned, and she cracked her neck to either side while stepping into the room. Bloodhound walked up behind her, and he reached inside with a dark glare towards the Prime Minister who pulled even farther into his chair as the red-haired hero just closed the door after giving him a dark look. Bloodhound shut the door without entering into the room, and Nikko's face turned pale at the sight of what was going on.

"What's going on, Kaizo?" Enri asked in terror.

"I- I'm not…" Kaizo's voice shook as he stared at his secretary and Electro who both looked down at his face in ways that made him freeze to his seat. He had just reached to his desk to push down on it and get up, but he froze and his eyes turned to his monitor that suddenly turned on without him doing anything.

"What did you do?" Enri whispered, though she got closer to her husband and looked nervously at the computer screen from the pair of disguised villains in the room with them. "How could you do this to us-"

"Enri, please," Kaizo whispered back at her. What's going on?! Electro isn't- is he working with the villains?! And Akemi- that can't be her. Is she a villain, or are they disguised- what's happening… Nikko stared at his computer screen and watched as Kaminari Denki appeared on a video screen that emerged in a fresh window over his monitor.

Raijin was off on his own somewhere fairly dark. "Mr. Prime Minister, I figured you might be having second thoughts after what you just saw. To tell you the truth," Raijin continued with a chuckle. "A lot of villains here are proving Zach right at this very moment. They're all cowards, Kaizo." Raijin paused and then he cracked a bigger grin at the Prime Minister, "But don't think that you're not, just because you're having this one moment of strength."

That's not what this is. I won't- I can't let them intimidate me again! "I will not help you anymore. I am turning myself in, and you cannot-"

Raijin lowered his camera and pointed down next to his own legs. There was someone on their knees next to him, hunched over and whimpering. The woman was in a ripped white shirt, and one could barely tell that it was supposed to be white in the first place because of all the dirt on it. They were in some kind of cave somewhere and the ground below the two of them was dirt. No one else was around Raijin at the moment. Only this one person down on the floor whimpering next to him who he aimed his camera at. And Nikko's heart skipped a beat.

His mouth felt dry, and his eyes slowly shifted to the right corner of his vision. In his peripherals he could still see his computer monitor. He could see the hunched-over woman with disheveled brick-red hair messed up over her bowed head. Kaizo turned his head after his eyes had already looked to the right, directly into the eyes of the woman next to him who was holding his arm tightly and already staring back at his face. Crouched next to him, staring into his eyes from a foot away, was the same woman on the computer screen who was crying at Raijin's feet.

Nikko jumped up from his seat and pulled his arm out of his wife's hands. "Wha- I don't-" He snapped his head back to the video and looked at the woman who rose her head up as his voice came over Raijin's speakerphone louder now so that she could hear him. Enri Nikko's head lifted up, bruised, bloodied, and with a terrified look on her face that Nikko stared at in absolute horror. "Wh- I- I… Enri!"

"Shh," Raijin pointed the camera back at himself and put a finger over his lips.

"Kaizo!" his wife's voice screamed from just out of frame. "Pl-Please! What did you do?! Save- I… Just save me, please. Please! Ahh, please! KAIZO!"

"You hear those screams?" Raijin wondered to the Prime Minister who stepped farther back from his desk.

His eyes darted towards Electro and his secretary. He snapped his head back to Raijin on his computer. Then he looked to his right at the woman on his right side who smiled apologetically back at him. "Got ya again," she teased. Nikko gagged at the implication, and his whole body pulled backwards as the teenage girl in front of him started laughing with his wife's voice.

How long has she been my wife- Nikko's legs felt weak, and his back pressed up against the wall next to his office window. His head turned to the side and he glanced at the window, I could just jump out-

Electro grabbed Nikko by his left forearm and yanked him forward closer to him. Electro glared straight into Nikko's eyes that filled with terror, then Electro shoved Nikko towards his chair in a way that made Nikko fall right back into it and caused the chair to roll backwards into Toga. Toga's hands reached down over Nikko's shoulders and slid down his chest. Then she put Enri's face right next to Kaizo's and looked towards the computer screen where Raijin had showed what was going on on the other side to the woman on her knees who stared back at herself in horror. When the villains had taken blood from her though, Enri suspected the worst and watched as her worst fears came true by the look in her husband's eyes over the screen.

"What could have possibly come over Kaizo to make him do something like this?" The fake Enri wondered. "What could possibly, make him consider betraying this country?" Toga slid her hands back up Kaizo's chest then to his shoulders that she twisted to the right and made his whole chair spin around. By the time he spun 180 degrees, Toga was ten feet away from his chair. Her words were laced with malice, and Nikko watched as his wife in front of him started to walk back towards his chair with a particular saunter that he recognized. She leaned forward over the front of Nikko's chair and put her lips next to his left ear, "Why stop at prefectural governor? When you could be, prime minister?" Her whispered suggestion into his ear was something he had heard before in a distant blurry memory.

Nikko slouched in his chair. How big is this? Did I get here, just because of… Is Bloodhound too- Is everyone in the whole world fake?!

Nikko's face covered in panic. His eyes darted around the room, Are there hidden cameras here- Could they hear inside my head? They knew this was coming! That's why they took Enri. They knew I was having doubts!

"The Prime Minister was just confessing his treasons," Electro said towards the computer screen.

"Well, that's perfect timing actually," Raijin admitted. "I was worried the trial might've given Nikko some cold feet, so it was good to have some motivation prepared. You really, really don't want to cross me, Nikko Kaizo. Because I own you."

Nikko's eyes bulged at that sentence. "I own your wife. I own her life, just like I own your life. Do you understand?" Raijin pointed his hand down and shot electricity off the frame of Nikko's monitor, making the Prime Minister jolt and then slam his head forward at the scream that came from his wife.

"EEAAAHHHH!"

"Enri!" Nikko yelled.

Electro slammed his right fist down and into Nikko's left side. Spit flew from Nikko's mouth as he hunched over and nearly fell from the chair. "Make sure to keep the bruises somewhere no one will see," Raijin mentioned, though Sonic's first punch already assured him of that.

"What should I do with you?" Raijin wondered, lifting back up the hand he had used to shock Enri and scratching his chin with it. He had some golden stubble on his chin and a wider grin spreading over his face while his eyes shifted back to the woman at his feet. "I don't know if I can trust you anymore. Maybe, I should give you some more motivation. Some, disincentive, to get all goody-two-shoes on us now."

"W-Wait." Nikko held up his right hand. He had just been grabbing at his left side with it, caught off guard by the punch that definitely left a bruise and took all the wind out of him. He was gasping for breath still, but he held up his shaky right hand and hissed, "I won't- I won't say a thing. Don't hurt her. Please, don't hurt her."

"Kaizo…" Enri whispered next to Raijin's legs. Her face was covered in fear, but she clenched her eyes shut for a second and then whispered louder, "Don't, do it-"

Raijin muted his phone using his Quirk when she spoke against him helping them. He did let her husband hear her whisper his name in pain though. And he smirked at Nikko on the other side of the screen who started babbling about how he would do anything. "I'm going to make things very simple for you, Prime Minister Nikko. We have people everywhere." Kaizo's eyes darted around his office again. "Everyone around you. Heroes. Police. Every villain, is with me now. It's already too late to stop it. Too late for these second thoughts and regrets."

"I offer you, freedom," Raijin said. Kaizo's shaky expression got even more confused and fearful at that offer of some hope in this hopeless situation. "By now you've realized that you're already a villain like the rest of us. Your moral code means nothing. Don't forget you got Fantasma killed. You helped me kill her. You helped us kill all of them." Raijin smirked more and chuckled to himself, "And, I am grateful for that assistance. If you try to betray me again, my gratitude won't hold. But as of this moment, I am willing to give you freedom in the world after. You and your wife will be allowed to live on, granted life and freedom in the world we create."

What is he talking about?! Is it really too late- It is! I can't do anything if they have Enri. It's not my own life. I can't trade hers, for- for a lost… How deep in the system are they? Everywhere!?

"All I ask for, is that you continue to live on with your normal life. Continue your work as the Prime Minister. And in a week's time, I will return your wife to you if you can hold out as normal for that long. Then I will grant you more freedom as things progress. You have to show us that you're willing to work with us though, or we cannot make these concessions to you. One week, and I'll allow her to return to you. Show me you can do that. Show me, that I can trust you again. Okay?"

Enri opened her mouth to scream at Kaizo not to listen. Her eyes rose though and she stared at the sparking fingertips just off the frame of her husband's screen so he could not see Raijin threatening Enri into silence. She fell silent, frozen in fear. And she slammed her eyes shut in pain and shame herself as she heard her husband's voice speak up.

"I accept. I- I accept! Please, I'll do it." The instant Enri is brought back here, I'm going to come clean and warn the heroes. I'll have to find a moment. Endeavor or Hawks, Deku or, Lifebringer! No matter how horrible what Sazaki might do to me is, I know he'll save Enri! "Just tell me what to do. I swear, I won't betray you again." As soon as she's safe, I have to get out of this! The way he's talking is insane! I can't let that "world after" come!

Nikko's next move is obvious, Sonic thought while looking down at the Prime Minister making his false promises to Raijin. The kid's far too smart. He knows offering her back so quickly will keep Nikko quiet for just as long as we need. If you were smarter you'd realize that the kid is lying. We won't be giving Enri back in a week, when the world's going to turn upside-down before that.

"Alright guys, what do you think?"

"About what?" Kasami responded to the man sitting on his left side in the middle of the table.

Rashi smiled at the coy response from his co-anchor who acted oblivious to get Rashi to say it aloud. "About the only news we're reporting on today," Rashi replied. He looked away from Kasami to the other side of the table. "Lifebringer's acquittal. Bob, I know you had your suspicions about Lifebringer for a long time." Bob nodded while still quiet and Rashi held up his left hand closer to Bob, "Well, how did you feel about the verdict? Do you agree with Judge Yuranama that there was not enough evidence-"

"I don't-" Bob started. He began but closed his mouth for a moment, then he continued slowly, "...Know, if I believe what we saw in that second series of videos. It's very, difficult, to say," Bob spoke carefully. He chose his words specifically and gave pause after speaking in a way that almost made Kasami and Rashi both think he disagreed with Yuranama because of how he started. "Yuranama's points were sound at the end of the trial. Those villains portrayed in- many, of those villains we saw get taken down by Death, or Lifebringer, were not taken down in that way."

Kasami's smile lowered down a little but then he just nodded in agreement with Bob. His smile was lower but he nodded along and hummed to what Bob was saying. Bob saw that thoughtful look on his younger colleague's face and glanced to Rashi next when the more moderate and usually the moderator between him and Kasami seemed more confused there by Kasami's mild agreement with Bob. "Too many villains we witnessed Zach Sazaki supposedly fighting in that video were, just, not captured in such a way. And Lifebringer made good points as well, I must add. Because of how famous he is, anyone in the world could have made that video to attempt to convict him. If there's even just one person in the world with the kind of Quirk to edit a video like that, any villain around the world would use them if it could help get rid of Death… I suppose."

"As Lifebringer said, it had happened before," Kasami agreed with Bob and nodded again in a more confident way. "In Saudi Arabia, Mongoloid tricked everybody! No one doubted it back then, just like I'm sure a lot of people didn't doubt those videos about Lifebringer being Death until we look back on them afterwards and see the inconsistencies for what they are."

Rashi looked to his right side at Kasami with his right eyebrow risen even higher at the response of his co-anchor. Kasami continued to smile for another second but his expression did appear serious at the same time, and he looked at Rashi to see if he agreed with his points here. Rashi stared right back into Kasami's eyes for a second and his eyes widened briefly. Then he rose his right shoulder slightly before lowering it down, "It's true. The judges at the trial could tell, and I understand the ruling as well that if a video that was hours long could all be faked, then the one before it could have been altered as well to show Zach Sazaki's face where it did not belong."

Bob was suddenly the most confused person on the set. He did not know if he believed the video. He could not believe much of it when he was watching it. Bob was not expecting Kasami's strong agreement though. In Class A's dorm, Yaoyorozu Momo watched the screen with wide eyes and then leaned forward and hummed at what she was seeing. She put her elbows down on her knees and rested her chin over her knuckles that were interlocked as she stared down the television in the common room. Will this happen on a wider scale? If so, then it is possible…

Asui gazed towards the middle couch with more of a confused look on her face at the extremely thoughtful expression on Yaoyorozu's. She turned back to the tv herself and watched like Jirou was on her side in more confusion at what those three men in the news room were discussing. I don't get it, the frog girl thought while trying to piece together whatever it was that Yaoyorozu was realizing. I don't think there is a question of it is true or not. We saw the truth, so why are they not reporting on it? Is it for the judges' sakes? Or, are the Army of Death involved and trying to make everyone, think they weren't… I don't understand.

It appears as if Bob truly does not know if he believes the video, Yaoyorozu analyzed the expressions of the hosts she was watching. Kasami is agreeing though because he thinks Zach wants to keep it as a myth. He thinks Lifebringer doesn't want that video to have any proof behind it. That's why Zach denied it to the very end. The people who cared more about Zach beforehand and wanted him freed, are the ones who would only back him more after all they saw. The ones who cannot believe that the Army of Death were really a force for good so easily, are going to continue doubting the legitimacy of that video. Those who believe that it was surely that kind of force for good will also claim to doubt it though, even if they believe it. And thus there won't be an argument. Even the people who don't know if they believe it or not won't be able to argue with anyone, because everyone will be on the same side whether or not they believe it.

Everyone's in agreement that what we saw wasn't real. Yaoyorozu frowned as she considered it on a deeper and more philosophical level. A global effort. A consensus everyone has come to at the same time. To not look into the court's decision. To not investigate whether or not all of those arrests happened the way we thought they did. We just don't want to do it. Because people still remember un-peaceful times. It's too vivid in our minds. Seeing the state of the world in the videos played in court showed the difference between Japan and the rest of the world. The Sports Festival Invasion might have been what kicked off the Age of Villains, but Zach did not come back to Japan for more than just because he knew we were here protecting it. Japan was safer than the average. Far safer.

No other country would have gone after Death as hard as Japan did. And although his guilt was proven, even we freed him. Yaoyorozu lifted her right index finger from her interlocked fingers and rubbed it on her chin and then scratched her cheek. I know that I am happy he was freed, but I agree with his philosophy too strongly. Zach, people are accepting all you've done. The fact that you were let go suggests a lot more than just acceptance though. The fact that Kasami and Rashi are both clearly acting like they don't believe in those videos, while also clearly believing in them, shows that they are willing to spread misinformation to the public in your defense. The government and the media are both willing to look past what you did, and you know as well as anyone how dangerous that is.

On a Sunday afternoon in Class A's dorm, Kirishima stared at the television with his bottom lip lowered and a baffled expression on his face. "How do they all really think it wasn't real?" He muttered the question and sat back on the couch to Yaoyorozu's right. He looked dumbfounded, but he shook his head back and forth and then tilted it back to stare at the ceiling. I don't really get it, but it doesn't bother me that they're saying they don't believe it. Zach sounded so upset that people would think it was the truth.

"They don't," Jirou muttered back, though she was quiet enough that only Tsuyu heard her. Yaoyorozu glanced that way though as she partially heard though and saw Jirou glaring at the tv screen with a more frustrated expression each second. "At least, call him out…" Jirou bit down and her forehead furled more.

Asui looked to her side with a similar look though her eyes widened a little more at the insanely conflicted expression covering Jirou's face. Kyoka-chan, are you alright? Asui wanted to ask but she could not read Jirou's expression well enough to even know what her friend was feeling like right now. She thought it was the same way she was feeling, but Jirou's fists were clenched down at her sides in more anger than Asui felt right now.

The whole country is trying to get behind him, Yaoyorozu thought while looking back to Rashi who just mentioned something about how the American heroes who captured the Villericans had held a press conference. They reiterated how they had captured Redfox and that the Army of Death had nothing to do with it. Bob was nodding along with that and added how it would be crazier to think all those heroes lied than the single video did, which Kasami emphatically nodded his head in agreement with too though he failed at suppressing his grin as he did. Yaoyorozu held back a sigh at the way Kasami was agreeing with Bob to the point that the older bald man was frowning at his younger colleague suspiciously. I wonder if it will last very long, or will Zach's lack of revivals re-emerge as the main concern? And if that happens, will those people hiding the truth for him lose that faith they recovered after what they saw in the trial? I don't know.

"…Whatever happened during that, crazy trial," Kasami said with a laugh as he paused before describing the event they were speaking on now. "I for one am just happy that we are past it now, and that Lifebringer is free and back at U.A. It was wrong to charge him for being something he wasn't, and I know a lot of people are glad to have Lifebringer back on the streets. I'm relying on him to stop the League of Villains like he's been stopping all these other villains since getting back, more than we even knew before the trial."

Kasami looked to Bob as he said it, raising his left palm to see if Bob could agree with that. Bob hummed and did agree though he was not as happy to speak on the subject, "Knowing what we know now of Lifebringer's actions since he returned, something should be said about Lemillion who had been following him around. If Lifebringer really was acting outside of the bounds of just a provisional license, a pro hero such as Lemillion should have done something about it sooner-"

"Oh come on, if Lemillion did not do anything about it, then it's because Lifebringer knows how to keep all of his actions inside of the law," Kasami argued back.

"He is good at finding loopholes," Rashi added to agree with Kasami more than Bob on this one. "Even with the proof- or what Lemillion thought was the concrete proof he had this time, Lifebringer still showed us that it wasn't really proof at all. So had Lemillion tried anything back then, it wouldn't have stuck."

"Still, the public should have known."

"Well I do think that's true. Lifebringer did not just stop the Subspace Devils as many of us in the media have been saying since he returned. It sounds like he's been doing a lot more than we know, and pro heroes have known it this whole time but kept quiet to the Japanese people…"

Zach stood on the first floor of his dorm and stared over the couch closest to the stairs he had just come down. He had silently approached in a way that no one else noticed him standing there. He had on a pair of black pants and a black hoodie with the hood down though and showing his wavy black hair unkempt around his head. Zach stared at the reporter always more sympathetic to him than anyone else, and Kasami continued speaking positively about him when he started watching. Have I really been doing that much more? Most of my time is just spent dealing with my own problems.

Kirishima lifted his head while nodding to something Kasami just said about them all taking Lifebringer for granted. His eyes snapped across the common room though and over the couch Jirou and Tsuyu were sitting on. He noticed Zach, which in turn caused Momo to turn left as she spotted the change in his expression. Asui turned her head around, though Jirou kept glaring at the screen for another second before turning as she already expected who was behind her. The two girls on the closer couch to where Zach stood looked back towards him. His eyes shifted from the screen to Kirishima first when his friend looked his way, but he looked closer and down at the dark-haired girls closest to him.

Zach glanced into their eyes for a moment then averted his gaze from the two who stared back at him. He turned his head partially towards the front door of the building, "I'm going to go get some lunch." He spoke in a low voice but loud enough for them to all hear where he was going and not get suspicious of anything.

Kirishima scratched the back of his head and admitted, "I just came back from it, but I-" his hand started lowering as he wondered if maybe Zach was asking one of them to come.

"I still need to eat," Yaoyorozu cut in. She got up from the couch and smiled over towards Zach who turned back her way and gave a small nod to her. He tensed up more though as Momo looked down from him and wondered, "Kyoka, Tsuyu, would you like to join us?"

Jirou frowned up at Momo and then shook her head and looked back at the tv. Tsuyu croaked softly once then just said quietly, "I'm not very hungry."

"I could come-" Kirishima continued, pushing his hands down on the cushion next to him to get up.

Yaoyorozu frowned and scolded the boy behind her, "You said when you sat down that you were only going to watch for a few minutes before starting your studying." Kirishima sweatdropped then pulled his head back as Yaoyorozu turned with that scolding look on her face. "Finals start in three days. You must take it seriously, Kirishima."

The bead of sweat on Kirishima's face slid down, and Zach looked over Momo's shoulder and gave him a grin and a nod showing it was fine. Kirishima looked back at Yaoyorozu and nodded his head, "I understand, Ms. Vice-Rep-san. I was, just about to get to that," Kirishima stood up and he sighed as he had a long day of studying ahead of him.

Yaoyorozu walked around the couch closest to the door with Kirishima right behind her. The other girls she passed by on her left turned their heads sideways and watched as Yaoyorozu went by and started talking to the boy behind them they each avoided the gaze of. Tsuyu frowned in a partially hurt but also mainly confused way at the way the two walking by her were acting. How do you treat him like Zach-chan, when we all saw what happened to him? All he's done. He is not the same person you think you know. Gero… But, even so, Tsuyu shifted her gaze to the side and looked at Kyoka-chan. Jirou's fists were shaking over her legs as she bit down to keep from saying anything to the three talking right at the door behind her. Even if he's not the friend we once knew, I don't understand how you can hate the person he's become so much.

Only once the door opened and closed, did Asui turn her head back around. She could see Kirishima heading into the stairwell across the first floor, but she stared at the door that the other two just walked out of. He is not a hero. But, Asui closed her big eyes and pictured the terrifying form sitting over her and laughing madly. Then she saw a dark soldier that Death was grabbing by the shoulders, and a bullet flying through that man's head to splash blood all over Zach's. She could picture the slow way he lowered his comrade to the floor, and then she imagined him standing on the road holding a minigun in his hands that he unloaded hundreds of bullets from while screaming at the top of his lungs. Tearing up buildings and all those inside who had been shooting back at him, while at the same time his Death was pouring out behind him and reviving a fallen soldier at his back whose weapon he had grabbed. And Asui saw it as lightning slowly broke across the sky above him, and he brought up a dark sword over the neck of a massive dragon. She watched as Zach cut the head off a villain who had been claiming to be one of the most powerful in the world. It sent shivers down her spine as she imagined it.

He may not be a hero, but he fought harder than anyone to stop villains, Asui thought. I don't know how you can hate that man for that…

After walking out of Class A's dorm, Zach lifted a small smile and looked closely at the girl walking next to him who was still talking about the last calculus test that Kirishima asked for her help reviewing afterwards where he had shown her the grade that he got on it. It had her shaking her head at him though Zach could also see the worry on her face that he would not do well on the coming final later that week. "And how about you?" Zach wondered at the tall girl next to him who was still four inches shorter than he was. She turned and looked into his eyes, and he wondered at her, "How have you been doing on catching up before finals?"

"I do not think our time in China will hinder my ability to, ace, the written finals at least." Yaoyorozu paused during her phrasing of it, but she still claimed that she would 'ace' it in a confident enough tone that it seemed to make her smile more at the belief in her own confidence. "From what our upperclassmen the past two years have told me though, I do know that the practical final examination for third years is the hardest of them all."

"Well, I think everyone will be able to do it," Zach said without concern in his voice. "As for the written tests though, I know they're going to be tougher for me. So I'm going to spend tonight studying all the subjects I'm not feeling so confident on."

"Don't stay up the whole night," Yaoyorozu suggested. Then she finished in her head, Again. I came over that night for an hour or so. You talked about your old friends until the sun rose. "You're still keeping your body's organs all where they're supposed to be, right?" She wondered at him, her voice teetering on stern though she was giving him the benefit of the doubt before scolding him.

Zach smiled at her brighter though, and he ignored the looks from other people on the road to the main U.A. building who just gasped and stared in awe towards him. "Yes, I've been fully, not Death-"

"Then you need sleep," Yaoyorozu said simply. She turned back forward and continued, "If you need to study to catch up, then do so during the day. I will be holding a study session in the library this evening with many in our class and the Class B students as well-"

"I'll be there," Zach said. He looked softly at the girl next to him, Did you just come up with that on the spot? It sounds legitimate. Are you only now going to send out invitations- or am I just thinking too much into it? It has nothing to do with me. Momo's concerned about everyone's studying! She just scolded Kirishima… though, maybe she just wanted to have lunch, just the two of us? That's stupid. And what am I even thinking about? There's a reason I can only study in the dead of night.

Nothing will ever happen between us. I hurt her best friend. My friend. And I need to fix this during the day- I need to help her. Before… Before! Zach's teeth clenched behind his lips that remained in a small smile and hid his expression completely from the girl next to him and the other people on campus around him. One week, and then I have to leave here. Then, I have to decide- There's no time left! I can't push it back any more! How am I supposed to focus on Jirou, let alone finals?! Next week I literally have to… What? What am I going to do? After graduation, they all expect me to fix the world. To legally change mortality. Be a hero that they all think I can be now? That video gave them way too much faith in my ability. I'm not that- I'm not, someone who can, keep dying…

I don't want to die anymore.

A/N Thanks for reading! Nikko decides to come clean, but unfortunately Raijin's a step ahead at every turn. Enri's been replaced by Toga, while everyone else around the Prime Minister has already been replaced by other villains... On the news, different sides all seem to be coming to the same conclusion that the court came to during Zach's trial, even if most people understand the truth. U.A.'s third term is coming to an end. Finals week is here, and then it's all over. Graduation. Moving on... And what does that mean for Zach? How will he handle the final days of school? Will they be able to deal with the League? Can he juggle everything even as the pressure of the world bears down on him?! Find out soon, in the coming final arc of Death.

Yamajiji chapter 235 . Oct 21

Great chapter as always. I never get tired of reading this. I loved Zach's stories, seeing him break down in front of his friends was fuckin powerful, and when he finally could talk about it without them judging him, just listening, man that was awesome. I can't wait till the next chapter.

Thanks a lot! Glad you're always enjoying, and hope you liked the new chapter too!

Discord Jester chapter 235 . Oct 21

Me: Well I work in 7 hours better get some sleep.
Email: Death has been updated
Me: Sleep is for the weak

XD Hope that 50k chapter didn't keep you up all night! Thanks for the review!

Misfiredmayhem chapter 235 . Oct 23

I have a complaint, dont get me wrong i loved the chapter but there's one thing I really hated.
Are you really doing Lavamander dirty like that? Like seriously since he was introduced he was supposed to be this op antihero and yet we never saw him do anything apart from a minor scuffle with zach...

Well, can't please everybody. Going to cut most of the review here just to keep word count more legit. Lavamander never joined Zach's army, and during Wampajawa he just wasn't in Gentle's visor cam enough. We knew he was long dead for a while. The battle was 150k already, and the final scene of it was in another chap that was 50k. And as much as I'm glad you guys get invested in all these side characters that I've made, it is impossible for me to flesh out every single one of them as much as you want. This story's nearing on 4 million words. Lavamander was a very powerful guy. So were a lot of Zach's comrades. Seraphim got killed by some dude pretending to be knocked out at the end of the battle. They were exhausted after fighting all day. And the First Capo was one of the strongest guys in the world to be able to run the City of Villains. He set up that final push, and as much as Zach called them cowards and weak, we watched him kill a bunch of AoD soldiers. Zach just killing Switch wasn't going to make him strong enough to take the Disintegrator down. Lavamander sacrificed himself to give Zach the moment he needed. He knew he was probably going to die, and he rushed in anyway just to give Zach an opening. As strong as he was and despite everything he'd done, he rushed straight into his death just for that moment. That was pretty epic to me. Just because he didn't get any long drawn-out battle scenes in here, doesn't mean he wasn't having them. There isn't much to gain from me writing out how strong Lavamander is though. We've already established that, as you wrote in your own review. You knew how strong he was. Comparing himself to Endeavor. Taking down Faith. Surviving Raijin. And without him, the City of Villains would have survived and the Army of Death would have lost. (Guess I messed up that word count just trying to justify this). We did see Lavamander in a Cee flashback I believe, or he had flashback thoughts himself to Ganji and Ms. Calico... Anyway, it's disappointing that someone who liked Lavamander a lot didn't enjoy the way he sacrificed himself for the victory. Just, imagine some of those other fight scenes on your own. You know he was there in Wampajawa. He was fighting all day. I'm sure you can come up with something yourself. Other than that, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter otherwise. And thanks for reviewing.

cartoonfan9 chapter 235 . Oct 24

He's still going to try fixing things with Jirou huh...I bet there's a whole chapter for that coming up, just like there was for Kirishima. Zach will probably have to talk to several others before Jirou, though. There was no Yaoyorozu in this chapter, so I'm sure she's coming up soon even though she knew Zach's secret. Uraraka maybe too because he lied to her and Sato a while ago, and she wasn't here either.
One week left. No clue what will happen, but I hope you don't spend much time on writing about their classes/studying/exams. I'd be very bored of that, mostly because I'm going through that in real life right now haha. I want to read a villain POV at some point before the attack. It's been a while since we last saw them.
Great chapter, hope the next one comes soon!

Zach for sure still has Jirou on his mind. He's managed to fix a lot since he came back, but every time we've seen him go for it with Jirou it never works out. He's got a lot else on his mind too though. Yaoyorozu bigger in this chapter (though it was a much smaller chapter). And we'll see how Zach's final week goes. Good luck on your own finals and everything, but I won't say how the next chapters are going to go... no spoilers! XD But bam! Nice call on a villain POV, as we get some of that this chapter as the League solidifies their control over the head of Japan's government. We don't see everyone, but Raijin's on top of it. The plan is coming to fruition! And the next chapter has come sooner again! Haha, thanks for the review and hope you enjoyed the shorter chapter! I know it must be surprising to all of you when the last 4 chapters together averaged 70,000 words, for this one to be in the 4 digits!