Chapter 26: Evaluation!
Izuku found himself back in the USJ, although he was unsure of how exactly he had gotten there. He walked forwards for he was at the top of the stairs near the main entrance forwards to the rest of the facility. He surveyed the area before him. There were no teachers, no other students, and gladly no villains.
It was then that Izuku looked down at himself. He wasn't wearing his hero costume, but rather his red and white UA PE Uniform.
"Hello!" Izuku cried out, but he got no answer back. Unsure of what to do, Izuku decided to walk down the stairs down towards the central courtyard. The facility was eerily silent as Izuku looked around, every step he took echoing throughout the empty facility. Even the fountain was silent. He tried calling out to the large empty void once more and got no response again.
Deciding to leave, Izuku turned back around towards the stairs when something felt off causing his heartbeat to increase rapidly. He turned around and what he saw caused his rapidly beating heart to stop and his body to turn to ice as chills filled his body. Littering the entire courtyard were the bloody and dismembered corpses of his classmates. Students in bloody green, orange, and red PE uniforms laid piled on top of one another. Izuku's blood froze as he recognized the owners of some of the faces.
"Well, well, well. Look who came back for more?" said a voice that sparked terror in Izuku. He looked up at the top of the pillar in the middle of the fountain and saw Blackflame.
"Enjoying my artwork?" Blackflame asked as words failed Izuku as he became rooted to the spot. "I would call it a living sculpture, but you know… it isn't exactly living anymore. My bad, got carried away."
"Wh-Why?" Izuku managed to get out, "Why would you do such a thing!?"
"Because it's fun. Because I wanted to. Because I got bored. Because I just had one bad day and I needed to vent some extra aggression." Blackflame nonchalantly said as he counted off the reasons on his fingers, "But most importantly, to send a very personal message to you."
"Why me?!" Izuku cried out, terror in his voice as all of his courage had left him, "Why hurt all of these people? Why did you have to go after my friends?!"
"Because I knew it would hurt you!" Blackflame cackled, "If you haven't quite got it, I don't like you very much."
"What do you have against me?!" Izuku squeaked, his entire body shaking, if he killed all of his friends so easily, he stood no chance on his own.
"Don't you recall humiliating me?! Don't you remember making me an embarrassment?! All For One doesn't take failure quite so well! Do you have any idea how much it fucking hurts to have your quirks ripped from your body?!"
"No." Izuku whimpered.
"Well of course you fucking don't!" Blackflame growled, "But you will, and this time I won't fail in bringing him to you so he can finally have One For All and get rid of the only threat in his way!"
Blackflame instantly vanished from where he was on top of the fountain. Izuku instantly looked around to see where he could have gone. However, he found himself hit in the back and violently fell face forwards towards the ground. Izuku attempted to activate his quirks, but none of them seemed to be working as though he was under Aizawa's quirk.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Izuku cried out, his heart attempting to beat out of his chest as he struggled to get back on his feet. He attempted to run towards the stairs and the main entrance, but his legs felt like they were made of lead and marshmallows at the same time. He struggled to get towards the stairs, legs shaking violently with every slow-motion running step. He managed to get to the base of the stairs only for black flaming whips to surround his torso as he was violently yanked backwards.
"Did you honestly think I would just let you escape?" Blackflame sneered as he pulled Izuku towards him, all wrapped up in his flaming whips, "You really are thick."
Quirkless and defenseless, Izuku spat in Blackflame's helmet. Blackflame stood there for a few moments before he began shaking with fury.
"Do you have any FUCKING idea what you have just done?!" Blackflame growled, "This helmet is precious to me! Nobody desecrates it! NOBODY!"
"Why?!" Izuku taunted, sounding braver than he actually felt. "Afraid of how you look? Hate your ugly and hideous Nomu face?!"
"If you wish to face All For One alive, I highly suggest you shut your mouth. I don't take well to your taunts." Blackflame snarled as he tightened the restraints as Izuku felt the air being squeezed out of him.
"I'd rather die than give One For All to All For One." Izuku wheezed out as he out as he was being crushed. He felt like he was going to pop.
"Such a pity I can't make that wish come true." Blackflame mused as he created a portal of darkness.
"Did they give this monster that mist villains quirk too?" Izuku though to himself in fear.
Blackflame began to drag Izuku towards the darkness. Izuku struggled to get out of his bindings, but the more he struggled, the tighter is bindings became.
"Let me go!" Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs. However, Blackflame merely ignored him as they got closer and closer to the portal.
"Just relax." Blackflame said in a voice one would use if they were addressing a child. "My father is a very hospitable host."
"Get! Away! From! Me!" Izuku roared as his full cowl finally activated and he finally broke free from his bindings, smashing the glass plate on Blackflame's helmet in the process. Izuku jumped away, ready for a real fight now that one of his quirks was finally responding to his desperate calls.
"YOU BASTARD!" Blackflame hollered out as he ripped his now broken helmet off and chucked it, "NOBODY BREAKS MY HELMET AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"
Izuku once again felt as though he was covered in Todoroki's ice as he saw Blackflame's unmasked face.
"NO!" Izuku cried out, "No! It's simply not possible! You can't possibly be—"
"Why not?!" an unmasked Blackflame roared out, still in a rage. "You'll just have the rest of your short and miserable life to understand and cope with me looking like this!"
"NO!" Izuku cried out again, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Izuku cried the last bit as he violent sat up in bed. He was panting rapidly, seat pouring off of his body.
"No no no no no no…" Izuku whimpered as he violently closed his eyes as the last image from his nightmare seemed to be burned into his retinas.
He eventually opened his eyes and saw that the sun was beginning to rise across Tokyo Bay in the distance. He aggressively ripped his sheets off of him and sprinted into the bathroom. He ripped his clothes off his body and rushed into the shower, frantically turning it on and begged for the rushing water to strip the sticky sweat from his nightmare off of him.
"I couldn't save them. I couldn't save them. Useless! Useless! USELESS!" Izuku cried out as he pounded his fist against the marble. He then for the second time in the past twenty-four hours curled up in a ball and began crying and muttering to himself.
"He can't look like that. There is simply no way. It is simply messed up dream logic. A nightmare, just a stupid nightmare." Izuku kept muttering to himself as he rocked back and forth as the water kept pouring onto his head and down his body. "Just a dream. Just a dream. Just a nightmare. You have no idea what he really looks like under that helmet. It is just a stupid fucking nightmare. IT IS NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL!"
It was after about five minutes of sitting there for Izuku to regain composure of himself. Legs still shaking slightly, he managed to stand himself up on the slippery and wet shower floor as he took a deep breather before counting to ten before releasing it.
"It is just a dream. That is all. None of it was real. Calm down and relax." Izuku thought to himself as he tried to further calm himself down. Afterwards, he finally managed to scrub himself down. By the time he had finished drying off and getting himself dressed, he felt finally calmed down enough to go into public. He went back out of his closet and while he made his bed, he made sure to keep his mind focused on happy thoughts. Thinking about how he had a full week to spend with his brother to relax and have fun with.
Deciding that he was probably the only one awake this early with no school, he'd get started on breakfast. Leaving his room and heading downstairs through the deserted and quiet penthouse, he made his way to the kitchen where he ran into somebody who he wasn't expecting to run across in his home, at least not at the moment.
"Sky!" Izuku shouted, instantly activating his full cowl, grateful that it responded right when he requested it to. "What are you doing in my home?! How did you get in here?!"
"Your mom let us in late last night after you and Hiro went to bed!" Sky cried out, immediately raising his hands in the air, "I swear I didn't break in! Since, Felix, Alex, and I are international students, we didn't have anywhere to go when they made everyone move out of the dorms! Nezu called your mom and asked if we could stay the week with you guys! I swear I'm the real Skyler Springfield! I swear!"
"That is exactly what a villain with a shape-shifting quirk would say!" Izuku retorted, not yet turning off his full cowl, "Tell me something only the real Sky would know about me!"
"We haven't known each other that long to have told each other too much personal stuff!" Sky shot back but cowered as Izuku approached him as though ready to strike. "Okay! Okay! You once told me that it was after encountering Hiro for the first time on the subway it was the moment you asked All Might if he felt if and or how, I don't remember the exact phrasing, if he could save everyone he wanted to and he said no."
Izuku began to relax, but then tensed up immediately. "Hold on! I told you I said that to my mom's boyfriend who would then ask All Might!"
"Who is the same person!" Sky shot back, backing against the wall. "Felix and Alex saw him deflate on the monitors in the main control room of the USJ! Nezu swore them to secrecy but confided in me the knowledge after your mother agree to host us! It's me I swear!"
"A likely—" Izuku began to growl, but then he heard a voice that made it seem like a bucket of ice was dumped on him.
"Izuku Midoriya! You stop this behavior right this instant!"
Izuku slowly turned around and saw not just his mother and Hiro, but Felix and Alex as well, all in their pajamas and all looking grumpy.
"Is there a reason you are making such a racket this early in the morning that you have to wake everyone up?!" his mother berated him, "Is this how you treat guests, let alone your friends in this house?!"
"Mom I can explain!" Izuku cried out, it was his turn to be backed into a wall.
"I certainly hope so!" his mother shot at him.
"I didn't know he was staying the week with us! I thought he could've been a shape shifting villain with the intent on causing us harm!" Izuku hurriedly and panickily explained as he rapidly waved his arms out in front of him.
"I see." Inko sighed, "But still—"
30 Minutes of Grumpy, Pre-Coffee Mom Rant Later…
"Yes mom! I won't be excessively loud in the morning or rude to our guests!" Izuku said very fast while bowing his head.
"Good! Now cook us all breakfast as punishment!" his mom huffed as she went back upstairs. The rest of the boys had already ran back upstairs so they didn't have to witness his mother's rant, so he had no help when it came to prepping everything.
"Not much of a punishment given that is what I came down here originally to do." Izuku mumbled in his head as he started searching for where all the equipment in the kitchen was given that this was his actual first-time cooking in here.
About fifty minutes later, everyone else had come back down for breakfast, all changed and ready for the day. They'd gathered around the table, Sky choosing a spot as far from Izuku as he could politely be without being openly offensive.
"So, what are you boys planning on doing this weekend?" Inko asked the boys after swallowing a bite of pancake.
"I was hoping to go out for a run." Izuku tried to supply, but his heart fell once more when his mother reminded him that he was not allowed to leave the house given that there was a major villain that wanted to kidnap him.
"Who would want to kidnap you?" Alex asked, looking genuinely surprised and concerned, Skyler pausing before taking a bite of egg as he curiously looked at Izuku.
Izuku simply looked down at his barely eaten food on his plate as he remembered the events from yesterday and then against his will the nightmare he had before he had woken up. "While I was at the USJ yesterday, I ended up being forced to fight the same villain that hurt Kaito's cousin…"
That response drew an intake of breath from the other boys at the table. Although Izuku, Hiro, and Tenya were the first that he had told about the attack, the others soon found out. It was first Alex and then the Springfield brothers. Kaito had yet to explain exactly what Blackflame had done to his cousin, none of their theories were good, hence why they discussed them without Kaito's knowledge.
"Have you told him that you've fought Blackflame at the USJ yet?" Felix asked, shuddering at the memory of watching the villain toy and beat Izuku up till he ordered the zero pointers and other robots to intervene.
"I haven't found the right or appropriate time or moment yet." Izuku answered softly, still downcast in his demeanor. "I thought about calling him last night when I was struggling to fall asleep… but the more I thought about it… I think it would be best to have that kind of conversation face-to-face."
Izuku then made to get up and excuse himself, but his mother told him to sit back down, commenting that he had barely touched his food. When Izuku tried to argue that he wasn't all that hungry, his mother refused to accept that excuse and ordered him that he had to finish at least half of his food before he could get up.
Breakfast was far quieter after that, only talking when asking someone to pass something down the table. Inko tried to make the boys have idle conversation with one another, but she didn't have much luck. Alex and Izuku were still too shaken up from the events from yesterday. Hiro was far too worried about his brother and planning his next conversation with Kaito when he learns the knowledge that Blackflame wanted to capture Izuku. Finally, there was Felix and Skyler, still reeling from the events of Izuku thinking that Sky was an imposter and nearly attacking him.
This behavior continued when they were washing up all the dishes. Not a word was said between the boys in their awkward silence as they cleaned and put everything away. Inko tried to suggest that the boys all go hangout upstairs in one of the many recreation rooms upstairs while she cleaned everything up. However, she had no luck. When everything put away, all the rest of the boys went their separate ways. Izuku and Hiro to their individual offices, and Skyler, Felix, and Alex heading back to their guest rooms. Frustrated and uneasy, Inko went back to her room to send a message to Toshi for his advice on the new turn in events at Might Tower.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT SHIZUOKA GENERAL
"You need to be more careful in the future Toshinori." Ryuga Yanagi sighed. Currently Recovery Girl was unavailable because she had to go to the villain hospital where all the villains who were injured by the students were being treated. Despite being villains, they were still entitled to treatment. Difference being Recovery Girl chose to treat her fellow UA faculty and students first before the villains who attacked them.
With Recovery Girl unavailable, All Might had to settle with Dr. Ryuga Yanagi, father of his successor's girlfriend, Reiko Yanagi, and the same doctor who helped nurse his girlfriend's foster child Hiro Fuji back to health after being rescued from Twist Orphanage. Since Reiko already knew about his thin form, he thought he could trust her father who agreed with the secrecy, even though it didn't matter because of doctor-patient-confidentiality. He did keep his quirk a secret however, saying it was a state secret, kept secret from even the HPSC, which was technically true.
"As much as I can understand the secrecy behind your quirk Toshinori." Ryuga Yanagi grumbled, "You should be informed that your quirk factor levels compared to your last check-up when you joined UA's faculty have dropped drastically. If this decrease continues at its current rate, you are in danger of becoming clinically quirkless. The best time-frame I can give you is several months at the shortest to just over a year and a half at the longest. I've never seen anything like this in my professional career before."
Toshinori for his part smiled and nodded at the news that would have send an ordinary person into a state of panic or depression. It was news that he was already aware of and expected to be brought up. In fact, his nonchalant reaction caused Dr. Yanagi to raise his eyebrows.
"What you have told me, I'm already aware of." Toshi said with a reassuring voice, "It's part of the secret nature of my quirk, that is, the falling numbers for my quirk factor that is, is perfectly normal." Toshi stumbled over his words as he attempted to reassure the doctor that something that should alarm someone normally, shouldn't be of concern.
"But All-Might." Ryuga tried to protest, "You'll be forced to retire if this trend continues!" Toshi for his part smiled.
"I was planning on retiring soon anyways." Toshi waved him off, and Ryuga looked shocked as he tried to reassure him. "What? We all can't be like Yori Musha. I'm at or approaching the age that most heroes retire anyways. Hero work is a game for the young and youthful. My successor and your daughter will be able to pick up when I hang up the reins. After so much, don't I deserve a quiet life of peace and relaxation?"
There was then a knock at the door and Toshinori called for them to enter. Coming in was Naomasa Tsukauchi and Riku Sakura, the pro-hero Empathy who fought with him by his side at the USJ. They immediately took seats on the sofa next to his hospital bed.
"Riku, Naomasa." All Might said cheerfully, "What brings you to this poor sick old man's bedside?" that got chuckles from the rest of the men.
"We were informed that you were being released today." Naomasa supplied, "And we are your escort home."
"But I don't need an escort." Toshinori attempted to argue, "I am more than capable of defending myself. Even if I am down to one hour a day."
"And we need that hour available to you in case you are attacked in your own home." Sakura countered, causing Toshi to deflate. "Besides, both the detective and I have business with Izuku Midoriya and Hiro Fuji. Although the detective doesn't have business with Adachi, or the Springfield brothers unlike myself because he interviewed all of them yesterday." This was news caused Toshinori to spit blood in surprise, and sent Dr. Yanagi in a frenzy, examining him to make sure he was still all right.
"I had no idea they would be staying at my place—" Toshi started, but Sakura forestalled him by placing a hand up.
"Principal Nezu thought it was for the best to send the boys to your place to stay with their friends." Sakura explained after Dr. Yanagi finished his quick examination, "Since they are all international exchange students, they had nowhere to go when we were forced to close the dorms. Since the three of them are both and/or business and/or support coordinators for both Fuji and Midoriya, it only made sense to send them to stay with their friends. Also, I should inform you that Koichi Haimawari, Felix Springfield, and Alexander Adachi saw you deflate into your normal form on the camera feeds while in the control room for the USJ. Before you get concerned, all three agreed to take vows of secrecy, understanding the reasoning why. That was also another factor in Principal Nezu's decision to send them to your place. Although Principal Nezu did decide to let Skyler Springfield into the secret as well since we would be the only one in the dark during the week. Nezu said he hoped you understand, and finally your girlfriend agreed to take them in anyways."
"I'll be having words with Nezu." Toshi grumbled. He had no problems with hosting his successor's friends for the week. The thing he had a problem with was Nezu telling someone his secret without at least discussing it with him first. That being said, he held no ill will against the boy. He just needed to drive the point home with Nezu later.
It was then that he got a text from Inko and everyone in the room cringed at the goofiness of the text alert. The text message was very long, never a good sign, especially since it was his girlfriend who sent it, and he knew she was still very angry with him, not without reason he knew. The more he read however, the more his heart ached for his successor who by every day, felt more like a son.
"Riku, I better think you give a good therapy session to Midoriya first, and we leave as soon as possible." Toshi calmly stated, even though inside he was feeling anything but.
"What has my daughter's boyfriend done?" Ryuga groaned, "Did he attack anyone?"
"Almost," All-Might started, causing the rest of the men in the room to go wide-eyed. "Not knowing that his friends were staying with him when he came down early this morning and ran into Skyler Springfield, he nearly attacked him, thinking he was a villain with a shape shifting quirk. As soon as Young Midoriya saw him, he activated his quirk that drastically increases his strength and started shouting at the top of his lungs. Young Springfield reportedly according to Inko was absolutely horrified during the entire encounter and afterwards. This behavior continued into breakfast where the atmosphere at the table was colder than the arctic between all the boys. Even after breakfast, all the boys split up, and went their own separate ways."
"Looks like I got my work completely cut out of me for this week." Sakura sighed as he slumped on the couch, losing all semblance of posture.
"If that's the case, mind if we swing by my place and pick up my daughter?" Ryuga posed to the group, "I'd personally appreciate as a father knowing my baby girl's mental health is looked after. Mind if she spends a few nights at your place Toshi? I trust you to keep the two separate when it counts."
"Not at all Ryuga." Toshi sighed, not looking forward to the trip home. "I know Inko would have no problem with it given it gives her an excuse to constantly tease her son."
Izuku was laying on the floor in his office. He tried distracting himself in every way he could possibly think of. He had first tried by looking up heroes on the internet. That worked for a time till he found an article again attacking UA for the USJ disaster, which made him upset even more. He then went on to read some of his hero notebooks till he got bored and then his negative emotions took over once more. He found himself in the same self-deprecating cycle he found himself yesterday.
After pausing for a bit, he had thrown himself back onto the rug in front of the gas fireplace after turning it on, despite it not being cold enough to warrant using it. He had no idea how long he laid there on the ground, his mind stewing from the events that transpired earlier this morning and his nightmare before.
It was when he found himself crying once more as guilt of how he acted to Sky that he was disturbed from his thoughts by a rap from the locked door. Steadying himself as he got to his feet, quickly wiping his tears as he desperately tried to remove evidence of his recent crying, he also took a few deep breaths before he walked towards, unlocked, and opened the door to see his mother on the other side waiting for him.
"Izuku." Inko said softly as her heart sank as she saw the redness in Izuku's eyes, the one think he couldn't hide, "Everyone is gathering in the main living room, if you could please—"
"I'm good." Izuku interrupted, not really in the mood to talk to anyone. His mother however stood her ground.
"This isn't a request Izuku." His mother said sadly, "Please don't force me to make a scene."
Sighing, he stepped out of his office, closing the door behind him and following behind his mother as they walked towards the living room. There sitting in what Hiro affectionally called the conversation pit was Hiro and their friends, and a handful of newcomers. They included Sakura, the detective, and Toshi, but the final person was what really finally managed to brighten Izuku's mood for the first time that day.
"Reiko?" Izuku called out as he walked over and sat next to his girlfriend, "What are you doing here?"
"My father asked Yagi-San if I could spend a few nights here." Reiko explained. This caused Izuku's brain to short circuit.
"My girlfriend's dad actually wants her to spend a few nights with me?" Izuku thought to himself in a high-pitched squeal, "What is going on with the world?!"
"He also wanted me to talk with Sakura-Sensei." Reiko supplied, nodding in the teacher's direction.
"Oh yeah. Why is he here?" Izuku thought to himself, looking at the pink-haired teacher's direction. It was then that the man in question began speaking.
"Now that we are all here, we can begin." Sakura said in his cool and calm and collected voice, "The administration at UA has come to the decision that everyone who endured the events of the USJ incident yesterday must undergo a psychological evaluation. Dr. Maruki and I have selected which students we will be evaluating and giving psychological counseling to and have split them up accordingly. I have been assigned to each of you. Normally an evaluation is standard only for the hero course students and those in the police academy course, usually first taking place in the weeks in between the Sports Festival and your first internship. However, we as a school have decided for obvious reasons, one is warranted at this time. I'll be speaking with you individually from anywhere as long as an hour to as short as twenty minutes. It all depends on how the events of yesterday affected you. While your waiting, you can each get started on your homework for the week that I've just dropped off."
"Fuji and Midoriya." Tsukauchi piped up after Sakura's speech, "After your talks with Dr. Sakura, I need to speak with each of you individually. You two are the only ones left to give your statements to the police."
"Midoriya, we'll start with you first and then we can move next onto Fuji before asking for volunteers. That way the detective doesn't have to sit around for too long." Sakura stated softly, causing anxiety to flood Izuku at being called up first. "Toshinori, could we possibly use your office?"
"Of course Riku, it's no problem."
With fear in his heart, he slowly followed Sakura towards Toshi's office where he sat in the chair with Sakura behind his idol's desk.
"No need to be so nervous." Sakura chuckled, "I'm not here to take away your hero license, because you don't have one."
"You could do that?!" Izuku called out, surprised at the information he didn't know. "You have the power to revoke someone's hero license?" Sakura for his part nodded solemnly.
"You do remember the scandal that Endeavor endured several years ago?" Sakura asked and Izuku nodded. Around eight or so years ago, Endeavor was the center of a scandal that spread out of Japan and became an international sensation. It turned out that he had been abusing his family. The public would most likely have never found out if it wasn't for one of Endeavor's older children sneaking out and running away from home, and there was no way it would've blown up the way it did if it was anyone other than the number two hero.
Endeavor was arrested and his hero agency was shut down and raided. The trials were aired on public television for an international audience. There was outrage when it was found out that his hero license wasn't permanently revoked, but only suspended for five years and he escaped a prison sentence. What also angered the public was what happened to the four kids was that their fate was never revealed to the public after it was revealed that his wife was abused to the point that she needed to be committed to an inpatient psychiatric facility. Izuku and some of his fellow hero course students had not summed up the courage to ask Todoroki about his home life, but when the boy in question wasn't around, he had heard whispers from the other student's theories.
"Yes." Izuku answered numbly, "I think you would have trouble finding anyone in the world who follows the hero industry who hasn't heard of that scandal."
"As a direct result of the scandal, public outcry resulted in the HPSC actually getting off their privileged butts and actually doing something productive." Sakura said with sarcasm dripping from his voice, causing Izuku to snort. "Sorry, that was unprofessional of me. We as heroes should respect our HPSC overlords."
"Are they really that bad?" Izuku asked, not sure if he should be laughing or not.
"Let me just say that the part of my job that is ensuring heroes are mentally healthy would be much easier if they didn't have the habit of… no I shouldn't say it." Sakura grumbled, "But anyways, back to business. When I was at the hospital waiting for All Might to get discharged so I could escort him home, he got a disturbing message from your mother. Would you like to talk about it?"
Izuku felt his body shiver as shame and guilt flooded his system as he instinctively remembered his behavior once more this morning towards his friend. He had no desire to really discuss what happened and feel more uncomfortable, but he felt like he had little to no choice in the matter.
"Well… I didn't know he was staying with us till my mother explained everything… after I started shouting and had woken everybody up." Izuku said, his words slow and deliberately chosen.
"That yet doesn't explain as to why you nearly attacked him." Sakura supplied, "What encouraged you to take up such a defensive and fighting stance?"
"I thought he could've been a villain with a shape shifting quirk." Izuku answered, "I even asked him questions he would only know the answers to if he was really Skyler Springfield." Izuku thought that would satisfy Sakura, but he had his next question ready within seconds.
"Shape shifting quirks are extremely rare." Sakura said with his dark pink eyebrows raised, "Those that have them are all registered from the moment they first develop their quirk. It is not uncommon for the government to regularly check-up on individuals with these quirks to make sure they are not tempted to fall down the path of villainy. They even have dedicated and extra government funding to make this possible. What makes you think that someone would be after you in particular?"
Izuku gulped as his mind was now racing. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about All For One with Sakura. This was because if he started talking about All For One, then he knew the conversation would then go into talking about One For All. That was something he didn't want to discuss. All he knew about Sakura till now was that he was a well-known pro hero in the bottom of the Top 100 and that he was Alex's homeroom teacher. Sakura's next words were creepy to Izuku because he might as well have been reading his mind.
"You know by law everything that is discussed between us is kept confidential. Nothing gets reported to anyone outside this room unless I'm 100% certain that you are an immediate danger to either yourself or a particular individual, or if you give me permission. Again, nothing gets reported to anyone otherwise. Not your mother. Not your friends. Not All Might. Not Principal Nezu. Not even the HPSC has the right to know what is discussed between us."
Izuku wanted to fiddle with his fingers or tap his foot repeatedly up and down. However, he didn't want to give or send any visual signals to what he was thinking in his head. In fact, Sakura was not fooled at all, and Izuku realized that and as much as he didn't want to talk, he knew his mother would throw a fit if he walked out in less than ten minutes of the beginning of the session. He really didn't want to deal with an angry Inko Midoriya twice in one day.
"I had… a bad dream last night…" Izuku said slowly once more, "About the USJ."
"You had a nightmare about the events of the USJ last night?" Sakura reiterated what the viridian haired teen had just said, "Midoriya, if you were the only one in the hero industry who had a nightmare the night after dealing with a major incident, you would be the weird one. You will never find a licensed pro hero, or even a police officer, firefighter, or any other type of first responder who doesn't or hasn't had nightmares about traumatic things they've seen while on the job. Having nightmares about what you encounter during your patrols is part of what you sign up for in becoming a hero. That is part of the reason why we have myself, Dr. Maruki, and Hounddog on staff at UA to help with the required bi-weekly therapy sessions that are now required by the HPSC again as a result of the Endeavor incident."
This made Izuku feel easier, but not at the same time. He still really wants to be a pro hero, but he didn't want to have another nightmare like the one he had last night. He wasn't sure of what he should actually say next. Thankfully Sakura had questions ready to move the conversation along.
"In your nightmare of the USJ, was it a repeat of the events yesterday or a continuation from where the fighting left off?" Sakura ask, twiddling his thumbs, carefully taking in Izuku's micro expressions in response to his question.
"It was more like a part two of the events from yesterday." Izuku started explaining with longer pauses between his words than he normally would have, resigned to the fact that he would have to describe the nightmare after all.
"I was… No… I started at the top of the stairs of the USJ. I wasn't in my hero costume, but my PE uniform. It appeared that I was all alone in the entire facility. I tried calling out, but I got no response. I went down the stairs, but when I got to the bottom, I decided that I should leave." It was then that Izuku violently shuddered, and it was a while before he got the courage to begin speaking once more, Sakura waiting patiently.
"It was then I turned around that everything felt wrong. I turned around again I saw… I saw… I saw." However, Izuku had difficulty getting the words out. His throat felt tight as though it was trying to prevent the words from coming out, his body began to feel hot all over and he got dizzy causing his face to turn slightly green as the image he saw in his dream was pictured clearly in his head.
"What did you see Midoriya?" Sakura calmly asked, despite his own personal reservations.
"I saw all of my classmates dead. Their bodies were all twisted and mangled, and bloody… and… and… and... I felt fear take over my body, and that is when I heard his voice…"
"Whose voice did you hear?" Sakura prodded as Izuku was bent forwards slightly and his arms were now wrapped around himself.
"Blackflame…" It came out barely as a whisper, but just saying the name sent a wave of chills throughout his body again as he said the name of the villain. Sakura for his part twitched and grabbed the pen he was holding onto harder than he was before. He hadn't yet been told the name of the villain that Izuku fought.
Sakura was familiar with Oguro's death, given that it was Kaito Nakamoto's cousin who he had raped in the same incident. After reading the report that Tsukauchi had filed after all statements had been taken, he had to have a couple glasses of sake right afterwards. And here now was this fifteen-year-old boy who had just fought the same villain.
"I asked him why he did it, in short he said it was because he was bored and wanted to create a 'living sculpture' as a form of entertainment." Izuku continued after another momentary pause, "But also as a message to me personally."
"Why would he want to send a message to you in particular?"
"Because he failed in kidnapping me and bringing me to his father All For One." Izuku then clamped a hand over his mouth, he really did not want to mention him. Now Sakura was definitely going to ask questions about him, which was warningly proven as his eyebrows shot up into the air at the mention of the name and clear look of shock on his face.
"That's not possible…" Sakura all but whispered, "All For One never had any children. His quirk made him infertile." Izuku for all his part, could simply open and close his mouth as he struggled to find words for the millionth time that day. He wasn't expecting Sakura to have intimate knowledge about All For One. All Might made him seem like some Area-51 level of government secret.
"You know about All For One?" Izuku asked against his better judgement. Sakura for his part gave him a calculating look.
"What do you know about All For One first? There is a very good reason as to why he has been kept secret from the general public." Sakura asked, his normally warm eyes now gone cold.
"Only what All Might told us yesterday."
"Us?"
"My mom, Hiro and I." Izuku answered quickly, nervous at Sakura's change in demeanor.
"Why now would All Might be discussing All For One with you?" Sakura asked, leaning forwards, his magenta eyes piercing into Izuku's soul.
"Back at the USJ. Blackflame said that All For One specifically asked him to bring me to him." Izuku hastily explained, sweat now showing up profusely and visibly on his face as he started trembling once more.
"Why would All For One want to kidnap you specifically?" Sakura asked the nervous teenager.
"I don't know." Izuku immediately and automatically responded, and when Sakura gave him a disbelieving look, his words came rushing out once more. "Perhaps he wanted to experiment on me because I have multiple quirks."
"Possibly…" Sakura mused, "Is there perhaps any other possible reason All For One would take a personal interest in you?"
"Why does he keep asking me? I already gave him an explanation. I'm running out of ways to dodge talking about One For All. Wait… It is almost as if he keeps circling around… unless…"
"Sakura-Sensei, are you perhaps Toshi's personal therapist and/or mental health counselor?" Izuku asked, and Sakura smiled for a brief moment.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to reveal the identities of the other heroes I see for mental health counseling." Sakura replied nonchalantly while casually leaning back in the tufted maroon leather chair he was sitting in.
"Are you leading me on?" Izuku asked a smug looking Sakura.
"Leading you on? I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about." Sakura answered, his lips twitching upwards for a second, "But may I remind you that I'm legally required to keep anything discussed her secret unless you sign a release or give me verbal permission to discuss it with certain individuals."
"Why do you keep saying that?" Izuku asked and Sakura simply smiled again.
"I'm simply reminding you of your extremely extensive right to privacy." Sakura roguishly implied, "Is there something you don't want to reveal?"
"Many things…" Izuku grumbled as he swore he heard Sakura try to hide a quiet chuckle, "Do you know something about me that I think is secret?"
"Possibly…" Sakura implied, leaning his head back, "But I'm not a mind reader, so I won't know till you confirm it. So I'll ask you one more time, is there anything special about you that would make All For One take an extremely personal interest in you?"
"He definitely knows about One For All, but Toshi never said he was one of the few who knew the truth about his quirk. However, he is required to have and see someone for his mental health checked up by law… And he said his fight with All For One left him shaken. Then taking into account the fight was after the Endeavor Scandal, thus after the mental health legislation was passed."
"There is only one other reason I could think All For One could possibly be personally interest in me…" Izuku said, choosing his words with extreme care before speaking them. He continued after an encouraging nod from Sakura. "When I met All Might… I mean the day I met him… He told me the truth about his quirk. I mean some of the truth… He finally told us what I think… what I hope is the rest of the truth about his quirk."
"Us?" Sakura asked, sounding surprised, "Who is us? Who else knows?"
"My mom and my brother. My brother found out about it last night. He didn't take the fact that it was being kept secret from him well… at first. However, he forgave me later that evening after I told him I planned on telling him after he legally became a part of the family."
"And what exactly is 'it'?" Sakura finally asked. Izuku gulped and there was a long moment of silence again before Izuku finally acquiesced and said the one thing that he had avoided saying since he sat in his chair quietly.
"One For All…" There was what seemed to be the hundredth pause of the session. Izuku felt a heaviness creep over his body which felt wrong after revealing his most guarded secret. "That is the only other reason I can imagine All For One would want to kidnap me…"
"Despite the fact that All For One can't steal One For All." Sakura stated, causing Izuku to stare at him. He knew all that he had One For All, and yet no one had told him that he knew.
"Why didn't you tell me from the start that you knew about One For All?!" Izuku cried out, getting angry.
"Because I wanted you to be the one to tell me you had it." Sakura shrugged.
"Why was it so important that I be the one to tell you?!" Izuku asked, trying to keep his voice down, but failing. "That would've made things easier on everyone and wouldn't have wasted anyone's time beating around the bush!"
"You would need a degree in psychology to understand." Sakura chuckled causing Izuku to groan. "How do you think All For One knows you have One For All?"
"I don't know!" Izuku shouted, throwing his hands in the air, "I only found out about All For One yesterday!"
"Toshi didn't tell you about him before giving you the quirk?" Sakura asked, looking genuinely shocked.
"NO! He didn't!" Izuku confirmed and Sakura made a mental note for his next session with Toshi.
He took in a deep breath and cursed in his head as he imagined the next session with Yagi in his head. "Anyways, we've gotten off our original topic, our nightmare about Blackflame. What did he do after taunting you?"
Gulping, Izuku shifted in his seat, "He was sitting atop the fountain, but he vanished. Next thing I knew I was hit in the back. None of my quirks would activate, it was as though he had Eraserhead's quirk. He beat me up and it felt more humiliating than how he treated me at the USJ yesterday. We… I mean I struggled against the bindings he used on me. It felt like the air was all forced out of me. Eventually I was able to activate One For All and I broke free from him and I smashed his helmet to pieces in the process…" It was then that Izuku gulped and started to shake violently as he remembered exactly what was underneath his helmet.
"Izuku look at me…" Sakura said in a calming voice. He had gotten out of his chair and quickly walked around to the other side of the desk to place his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Look at me… Take a deep breath and count to ten before exhaling slowly… One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten… and now out slowly. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One… Now relax. What ever happened to you in that nightmare, whatever you saw… is not real."
Izuku's breath rattled as he chocked on his words, and tears were falling down his reddened face. Izuku tried to get his tears under control while doing everything he could to get rid of his panic as well. "He was so scary. The most terrifying thing I've ever seen. He was so livid that I destroyed his helmet. He said it was precious to him. Then I saw his face… his face…"
"Did you recognize his face?" Sakura asked quietly, still holding onto the shaking boy's shoulders, and Izuku nodded with a whimper. "Whose face did he have?"
"Mine…" Izuku breathed out, "He had my face… but it was all wrong…"
"How was it wrong?"
"His hair and eye color were all wrong… and his face… it just looked like it wasn't right… it was so livid… I screamed and then I woke up… I felt so disgusted I ran into the shower and tried to wash the dream off of me."
"And you were still in a state of shock when you unexpectedly ran into Skyler Springfield down in the kitchen." Sakura said as he walked back behind the desk and sat back down and Izuku nodded. "Why do you think you dreamt Blackflame having a face similar to yours?"
"I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" Izuku shouted at the top of his lungs, his vocal cords hurting with the effort. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!"
"Izuku, I really need you to calm down." Sakura said quickly as moments later there was a knock at the door. "I can't keep things confidential if you are screaming loud enough for everyone to hear."
It was then that All Might opened the door and peaked his head inside, "Is everything all right?"
"Yes Yagi. Everything is going well. We will call Fuji in when we are done." Sakura said coldly as he motioned the man to leave. For his part All Might winced as he shut the door. Sakura only called him Yagi when he was upset with him. "It's okay Midoriya, there is no way Blackflame could have a face that looks like yours. That is just your subconscious at work, showing you what would scare you the most."
"Why would it do that?" Izuku croaked, his vocal cords strained from shouting and crying so much that day.
"There are many theories out there." Sakura sighed, "However none of them have been definitively proven."
"That doesn't help me." The teenager whined.
"That's psychology for you." Sakura shrugged, "It's a field where it is harder to prove things than in other fields of science. That being said, dreaming of yourself as a villain and being forced to fight it is a common dream that most heroes have in their career at one point or another. You just had it at the very start of yours. The most commonly accepted theory and explanation as to why most heroes have this particular dream is that you are having to face your inner demons. Are you familiar with the concept of Yin and Yang?"
"Yes, sir."
"Everyone has darkness in them, and that is not a bad thing. Part of being a hero is keeping one's inner darkness in check. We have to make sure our darker emotions don't control us when we are apprehending villains who have done heinous things. We apprehend villains, we don't' administer justice. The main difference between your dream and the dream most heroes have is that your face was placed on an existing villain. What you experienced last night was something you were inevitably going to face from the moment you signed up for a hero career."
"Are there more dreams like this one that I'll experience down the road?" Izuku asked uneasily, anxiety written all over his face.
"There are several other dreams many heroes experience." Sakura confirmed, which didn't help Izuku's composure, "And I'm afraid to inform you that you'll most likely have a repeat of the dream you had last night. Just with variations in scenery and such."
"That doesn't help me much." Izuku deadpanned.
"Sorry about that." Sakura muttered as he reached down and ruffled through his briefcase. "Moving on, for the next part of this short evaluation."
"Short?" Izuku repeated, "Feels like this has gone on forever."
"If I had my way it would take several hours per person involving a brain scan and the lot." Sakura sighed as he laid out a thick stack of papers in front of Izuku. "However, I'm pressed for time given that I have so many students I need to see this week while they aren't in class. Now I need you to fill out these forms and answer all of these questions."
"How many questions are there?" Izuku asked, eyeing the very thick stack of papers as he took the offered pen.
"It'll seem to go on forever…"
30 MINUTES LATER
"I thought it would never end. It was like the written portion of the entrance exam all over again." Izuku grumbled as the pen clattered onto the desk as he started to massage his wrist. "Please tell me we are done."
"Nearly." Sakura nodded. "I'll be going over the answers you just gave me, and we'll discuss them in our next session. There is one thing I need to discuss with you before I have you send your brother in, and in fact it concerns your brother. A trial date has finally been set for the Zu'Kuvma operatives who were arrested during the Twist Orphanage raid. As the one who made the whole raid on the villain base possible, you will be expected to testify and possibly at the end of the trial, give a statement to the media. Given that this is a current and major local event, both the hero course and business courses will be having joint classes discussing what went down before, during, and after the trial. What your job will be is making sure you do your part in keeping Hiro Fuji mentally healthy and ready because again, both of you will be going from one stressful situation into another, that being the Sports Festival which is scheduled to begin a couple days after when we expect the trial to be over. The pair of you and Tenya Iida will be getting private lessons with your hero course teachers, and Tōsui-kan. I'll be busy with the mental health of the school and Yotte-Sensei is taking care of things for the business side of the sports festival, not to mention the homeroom teacher for Class-D is busy with his own troubles at the moment. So those staff members will be helping you prepare for everything."
"I'm— I mean, we are getting special private lessons?" Izuku asked, unsure of exactly what he had just been told.
"We normally teach you the necessary material over the course of many months." Sakura explained, "Normally hero course students don't have to testify in court till late in their second year or even in their third year. We have to make sure all of you are fully prepared for the onslaught you will experience in the courtroom. I'm also afraid this will also be another reason you have to stay on UA's campus or here in Might Tower for Zu'Kuvma will finally learn about your identity and most likely will go after you before you testify. Welcome to the hero industry, where you'll anger enough people and organizations that some heroes are always on alert when outside."
Izuku could only groan as he was guided out of All Might's office and back to the living room where the rest of the boys were waiting for him, and he was then escorted to a separate room to talk with the detective while Hiro walked slowly away with Sakura. Thankfully the meeting with the detective was much shorter than the interrogation Sakura made him undergo.
"You were in there forever." Felix whispered as he rejoined the group of boys and his girlfriend who all had their homework out, they were just given completely spread out across the large coffee table.
"Is everything okay Izuku?" Reiko asked, worry and concern written all over her face.
"I thought things would be better after our talk, but after what he informed me of at the end… made me… anxious." Izuku answered as he sat down on the couch next to Reiko, looking down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs, "I don't want to talk about all of it, but…"
"If you don't want to talk about it that's okay." Alex said as he closed the textbook he was reading. "But you can talk to us about anything." Both Springfield brothers and Reiko nodded at this statement.
"I'm more worried for Hiro." Izuku said quietly and then went onto explain. "A trial date has been set for those who worked at the orphanage he used to live in. Both of us will be required to testify... I'm not sure he's mentally ready to face the people who used to abuse him every day and nearly… no, definitely tried to kill him. Only to directly right afterwards jump into the Sports Festival."
The room got awkwardly quiet after Izuku's announcement. They looked at one another, waiting for someone else to say something. Eventually Skyler broke the silence.
"Anything Hiro needs help with, we'll help him with."
"Like we were going to do anything else." Alex coarsely whispered, "He's been in there forever, and we all thought you were in there for a ridiculously long time."
"I just hope he is okay…" Izuku muttered, looking at the floor, "He wasn't okay for a time when we got home yesterday."
"Where you any better?" Reiko asked as she rubbed his back which felt good.
"Not really." Izuku groaned, "I thought I was better by the time I went to bed, but when I woke up thanks to the dream I had, I felt worse. That's why I was on edge this morning. Sorry Sky. I didn't mean to freak out when I saw you in the kitchen."
"It's okay—"
"No, it isn't—"
"Listen Izuku, I understand. I had time to think about why things happened the way they did. At least you got some sleep last night."
"Thanks Sky."
"No problem, just don't make it a habit."
It was then that they heard the office door open, and Sky was called in as Hiro exited. His eyes were puffy and red, then there were tear tracts all over his face. Izuku immediately jumped up and rushed towards his brother who embraced him and began crying into his shoulder.
"I'm not ready! I'm not ready! I'm not ready! I don't want to go there! Into that room where they are! I don't want to see them again!"
"It's okay Hiro…" Izuku whispered over Hiro's tears, "You aren't alone this time, and you'll never be alone again. We'll get through this together."
