"Sayako are you okay?" Surprised, Sayoko jolts up at the voice hunched over her hospital bed, perking up at Tenya, noting his furrowed frown.
"Huh? Oh Tenya yeah just fine." Sayako bows her head, placing her hand on her bruised bloodied knuckles.
"Your hand begs to differ." Gently, Tenya points out, his brow furrowed when seeing her knuckles.
"This…? Nah it's nothing." Aloofly, she brushes him off.
"It doesn't look like nothing maybe you should get a nurse to look at it." Tentatively, Tenya advises.
"Maybe…" Sayako glances to the side sorrowfully.
"Do you…want to talk about it?" Tensely, Tenya smiles sadly.
"Not really no." Sayako sighs leaning back on her bed.
"Oh…" Tenya's blues turn away.
"I fucking hate my family." Exhausted, Sayako whispers shakily, placing her head in her hands, feeling her fingertips apply pressure to her face, trying to deal with it all.
"You don't mean that." Tenya asserts, furrowing his brow at her.
"And you know that?" Scoffing, Sayako shakes her head at him.
"I know you care about your brother and father, back at the sports festival you clearly cared for your brother's absence and I'm even going to mention seeing you panic for the first time ever." Gently, Tenya shuffles forward smiling softly at Sayako leaning towards her slightly.
"That's not my first panic." Pained, Sayako sighs
"I know its just rare to see you panic even when you mess up." Tenderly, Tenya smiles.
"When you've messed up as much as me you learn not to panic." Tiredly, Sayako sighs slumps, sliding her fingertips off her face.
"You don't always mess up you know?" Optimistically, Tenya offers making Sayako furrow her brow.
"Don't I? I'm paranoid as heck, I think anyone who is remotely nice is a backstabber, I think people hate me, I…I nearly slit the throat of Momo." Horrified, Sayako whispers, her fingertips combing through her brownish blonde roots, her glassy green stare down at the floor below.
"You weren't going to do that." Tenya tells her as Sayako feels her fingertips tug at the strays stands of both blonde and brown.
"How do you know that? I could have…" Pained, Sayako bows her head pained, feeling the guilt gnaw away at her.
"Sayako." Softly, Tanya furrows his brow at her, clear concern marred into his facial features.
"Shit. My family isn't normal Tenya, they aren't." Hurt, Sayako places her hand flat over her mouth, her voice cracking briefly breaking as she tries to steel her voice, trying to be strong despite the tears threatening to fall when it sinks in.
"Losing a parent can affect you a lot I may not understand how you feel but you can talk to me about this sort of thing. You asked me how I was it's only fair I return the favour." Firmly, Tenya tells her, smiling shyly at her.
"Don't Ida." Scowling, Sayako places her hands up flat to Tenya.
"Huh?" Tenya blinks baffled by her words.
"Don't feel indebted to me I don't want your pity." Poisonously, Sayako seethes, crossing her arms over her chest, her blood boiling, bubbling, burning. She closes her eyes trying to brush aside the tears trying to escape, trying to freely flow from her sockets.
"It isn't pity you're my friend Sayako. I don't want you to suffer along if there's something you want to say you always say it so why are you hesitating now?" Tenya questions Sayako making her grimace, flinching from his words as she feels her arms tighten around her form, bowing before him.
"…It's complicated Ida. I'm…complicated." Hurt, Sayako whispers, her voice cracking making Tenya's features falter sadly.
"Isn't everyone?" Meekly, Tenya smiles shrugging sheepishly making her sigh.
"No Ida I mean…I'm complicated." Groaning, Sayako pinches the bridge of her nose, furrowing her brow exhaling shakily, trying to communicate, trying to gather her thoughts trying to explain herself only to find her tongue tying up, finding her voice failing her.
"And that should dissuade me? Sayako you're my friend I want to help you." Tenya confesses to her.
"…You're an idiot you know that." Exhausted, Sayako groans, her head down, furrowing her brow at him.
"After what I did, you can call me the king of all idiots." Tightly, Tenya smiles making her furrow her brow.
"I guess we all make mistakes." Meekly, Sayako offers reaching up to scratch the back of her neck, feeling her nails scrape against her neck.
"You're right and what matters now is making up for that as your class rep I will show you that." Proudly, Tenya declares doing a small salute of sorts bringing a small smile to Sayako's lips when seeing his robo cops making Sayako chuckle causing Tenya's beady blues to widen when hearing Sayako's soft snicker bringing a small smile to his own lips.
"I'm sure…" Sayako snickers unaware of Tenya stopping in his steps briefly stopping himself, simply staring at the chuckling Sayako, oblivious of the genuine soft smile crossing Tenya's lips at her laugh.
"Is there anything I can do to make up for it?" Tenya asks her after a brief moment of him just staring, simply watching her laugh.
"Well you could give me your phone number." Casually, Sayako offers making Tenya's eyes widen when hearing her words.
"I-I beg your pardon?" Blushing, Tenya squeaks out his voice cracking briefly from her words, a raw red tint to his cheeks as he sputters it out.
"Well I have Midoriya heck I even have Todoroki's." Lazily, Sayako reveals her phone.
"You do?" Tenya exclaims.
"Yeah. We mainly talk about how shitty his dad is." Snickering, Sayako smiles just as the door slides open.
"Or you send me strange questions." Huffing, Todoroki trots in.
"They are interesting questions." Defensively, Sayako argues as Todoroki sits down on the bed.
"I doubt why do we eat frogs legs but not toads legs is an interesting question?" Todoroki huffs.
"To you maybe not but others would understand I mean I can't ask Tsuyu! So Tenya can I have your number?" She asks Tenya who for a moment freezes form the question confusing Sayako, her greens narrowing noting the faint ruby red to his cheeks but brushes it off.
"S-Sure!" Eagerly, Tenya smiles only then for the door to slide open making them turn to the nurse who comes inside as the soft smile on Tenya soon falters when hearing the grave news of his arm...
"Oh hey Ida I just talked to Uraraka." Midoriya slides the door open smiling at the others.
"Midoriya…Ida just got his test results back." Grimly, Shoto greets Midoriya.
"My left hand might have damage that's permanent." Tenya reveals to Midoriya.
"What? Permanent?" Midoriya's eyes widen when hearing the news.
"Both of my arms were pretty torn up but the injury to my left arm was especially severe the damage was to my brachial plexus which just means I'll have trouble moving my fingers and my hand might have some numbness. Apparently, there's a chance it can be healed with a nerve transplant surgery." Tenya explains to them.
"Hey and I know just the guy to do it." Perkily, Sayako offers optimistically.
"No…you've done enough for me. When I came across the hero killer I stopped thinking rationally the first thing I should have done was call Manuel. But I got lost in my own anger. I hate him so much but I can't deny he spoke the truth. That's why until I'm able to call myself a real hero I'll leave my left hand as it is." Tenya tells the three.
"Are you sure?" Todoroki furrows his brow.
"Yeah my dad wouldn't mind…" Sayako argues.
"This is my decision." Tenya exclaims.
"Alright if that's what you want." Sighing, Sayako slumps her shoulders.
"Ida I feel the same way. Let's get stronger together." Determined, Midoriya offers his fist to Ida staring down at his scarred hand.
"I feel kind of bad." Todoroki confesses staring down at his own hand.
"About what?" Midoriya turns to Todoroki.
"Whenever I'm involved someone's hand gets all messed up is there something wrong with me? Am I cursed?" Shoto ponders to himself.
"Whaaaa…no, no that's uh…wait…" Sayako scoffs waving off such a notion only then to falter for a brief moment, her eyes dilating in horror when remembering her sorry state after the sports festival.
"Hahahaha!" Cackling, Midoriya and Ida's laughter snaps her out of her brief lapse down remember lane.
"Todoroki I didn't know you had a sense of humour!" Merrily, Midoriya smiles at him.
"This isn't a joke I'm like the hand crusher or something." Todoroki insists.
"Pfff the hand crusher!" Both boys chorus while Sayako stares in still silence, connecting all the pieces.
"Wait guys…I think he may have a point he broke my hand and I mean look at Midoriya's…" Sayako begins but…
"The hand crusher!"
"You know it's been hard lately to find people to do business with. My buddies all complain about not being able to sell stuff. It's a real pain." Annoyed, the arms dealer huffs as he and his friend reside in a empty bar, a disco ball looming over them both.
"That's because it's a serious crime to develop self-support items and costumes if you don't have a license. On top of that there's been rumours of legit support companies that have actually been selling extra gear on the black market to people who aren't certified heroes." Smirking, he fires the gun in his hand lighting his cigarette.
"Urgh man I miss the days before All Might and I was still small time back then. Remember when villains were wild and impulsive, I remember villains like Scorpius, he was something else. They say one look in his eye and you'd be in a realm of nightmares, I remember hearing heroes having peeled their own flesh off from his power. I reckon he could have taken out All Might back then before disappearing like that. Everyone though he could take over the world." Disappointed, the arms dealer sighs sadly at the memory, having heard of the rumours of his child army, of his protégé, of his power that could rival All Might's maybe even One for All's…the two gods of the world.
"He could have taken over the world if he ever wanted to." Confidently, the male enjoys his cigarette.
"Then why didn't he?" Confused, the arms dealer argues.
"Where would the fun be in that? Taking over the world sounds like too much hassle for him, I wonder if he's still rotting away in Tartarus. I think he chose to go there." Truthfully, the male confesses to the arms dealer.
"No doubt about it. I remember parents warning their kids to behave or else he'd swoop them away to join his merry band of thieves, the boogieman of the silver age. Still it was a real good time. But when All Might showed up everything changed and got so damn boring. Can't have any fun with that pillar of justice around. Maybe its finally time for me to call it quits." Deflated, the weapons dealer sips his drink.
"Don't be rash. Listen just between you and me I know of a way to make some real cash. Keep this on the down low I'm only telling you because you guys give some quality goods to sell. Have you seen this yet?" Curious, he takes out his phone.
"Huh? What's that?" Confused the eyepatch fellow narrows his one eye at the device before him.
"It's a video of the hero killer he's hot right now." He grins revealing his phone.
"The hero killer Stain real name Chizome Akaguro as a child he was greatly inspired by All Might's debut. He enrolled in a private hero high school but was dismayed by what he viewed as educational as some skewed understanding of what it meant to be a hero. Throughout his teenage years Chizome advocated for a return to the early days of heroism but quickly realized words had no power. For the next ten years he trained in killing techniques in order to fulfil his self-appointed duty during this time his parents passed away which the police ruled as a tragic accident. His focus was on the old days he believed heroes should not seek compensation that one should epitomise the idea of self-sacrifice. He believed everyday pros to be frauds. Through his violent purges he had hoped society would side with him." The voice over explains revealing some snippets of Stain.
"These streets must run with the blood of hypocrites! Hero I will reclaim that word! Come on! Just try to stop me you fakes! There's only one man I'll let kill me, he is a true hero All Might! All Might is worthy!" Screeching, Stain roars as the video ends leaving the stunned scared eyepatch male shaking.
"This keeps getting uploaded and taken down online. But they can't stop it. It's not hard to see this guy is really stirring something in purple with villains with countless convictions to felons on the run. All the major players including me are watching. It's infectious. Do you feel it? I don't think the heroes realize what's awakening…" Smirking, the male explains to his business partner as elsewhere a young girl with blonde hair squeals behind her is a splatter of ruby red smeared upon the wall before skipping away heading to who knows, where while the giant figure from the forest slowly stands, grinning.
"The evil that was once quiet and scattered now has a rallying cry, calling out to it. Individuals are reaching out the organisation that the hero killer Stain was connected to. They are all headed to the league of villains…" The male concludes his conclusion as the slithering snake leant against the wall of the alleyway pushed himself off the wall turning to smirk, baring his feral fangs at the bored blue eyes male staples piercing all over his skin as a still silence wafts in the air. Basil beams quirking his head to the side hearing the crisp crunch of bone. His eyes flare up to a pinkish hue before turning on his heel, slowly guiding the male down into a familiar bar below where Shigaraki awaits…