Yay! *wipes off sweat dramatically* The exams are over!
No big notes here, so go ahead and enjoy!
"Christopher Skyline was a man few understood, and fewer still, liked. I myself believe he was not solely responsible for Midoriya taking such a radical path. Per Midoriya himself, 'There were many reasons why I decided to embark on my path, and none of them outweighed any other'."
"But you do believe that he was one of them?"
"Absolutely."
- Momo Yaoyorozu, speaking in the documentary, THE TRUTH ABOUT IZUKU MIDORIYA
Columbia National Hero Cemetary,
Washington D.C, United States Of America.
Funerals are the worst. Naomasa Tsukauchi grumbled to himself, smoothing the coal black tuxedo he was wearing for the occasion.
He had tried to get out of attending, but the Americans were insistent. And when they got Toshinori on their side, he had no choice but to agree. Now he regretted it, sitting on a chair that dug into his butt, and making him shift uncomfortably in an attempt to relieve the pain. And it certainly didn't help that the ceremony had been going on for hours! Beside him, Toshinori -in his gaunt civilian form, acting as All Might's secretary- too seemed quite tired of the priest droning on and on about how distinguished of a hero Christopher was, how big the loss was for America, and the Hero society, how badly he would be missed, blah, blah, blah.
"Such a waste of time..." he grumbled quietly too himself.
"I am truly sorry for dragging you to this Nao." Toshinori apologized profusely. "Please bear with this for just an hour or so more.."
"That time could have been well spent investigating his death!"
"Sorry!"
Thankfully, the ceremony quickly finished after their chat, the priest no doubt noticing the slight annoyance in the two men's faces, and realizing that this was dragging on for far too long.
"Atten..tion!" cried a soldier, dressed in a regal military uniform, decked with medals and golden shoulder pads. At his command, 17 soldiers, all dressed similarly, and each carrying a gun, stepped forward.
"Ready!" They all cocked their guns.
"Aim!" The guns were raised.
"FIRE!" A thunderous sound echoed across the cemetery, reflecting off the graves of countless other heroes interned in Columbia.
The soldiers repeated this action two more times, before ordering their guns. The flag draped over the coffin was folded in the traditional way, until it was a triangular cloth with three stars visible on a blue background. That done, it was given to Pamela, his wife, who only nodded blankly as the officer who had done so intoned the usual condolences and gratitude for the services the Hero had rendered and so on. Her son was sleeping in her arm, completely unknowing of the ceremony.
The coffin was lowered into the ground by a man with a telekinetic quirk, and covered by another one with an earth manipulation quirk.
That done, everyone split away, leaving only Pamela staring at the ground beneath which her husband now lay.
Her free hand was clenched tightly.
"FBI?" Tsukauchi asked confusedly.
"Indeed." Toshinori whispered. "The Americans are not happy that they lost one of their nationals on our soil. They'll be sending over their own investigation team."
"Goddamnit!" Tsukauchi grit his teeth. "This won't work! The last thing I need is some foreign team to interfere with our investigation!"
"You can't blame them for wanting to investigate, Nao." Toshinori said. "They did just lose their top hero. I would want to send my own team if I were them."
"I..I see." Tsukauchi sighed heavily. "It can't be helped."
"I am truly sorry for putting this on you, Nao!"
"No, no. It's not your fault. Anyway, when are they coming over?"
"The very next flight."
Tsukauchi felt a new headache coming on. "Great...I haven't even informed my colleagues. And I have no office for them to work from or anything..."
"They can stay at the airport lounge." Toshinori suggested.
"Great, then do that." Tsukauchi waved dismissively. "I'm going to go get some sleep."
Somewhere in Musutafu
The alley was musty with an odor of rotten fruit and garbage, surrounded on two sides by tall buildings that cast it in a near permanent umbra, with walls of faded brown, splattered with similarly fading graffiti, and lined with trash cans and chutes leading up to the various rooms.
The only occupant of this charming locale, however, was unperturbed by his surroundings. To someone who couldn't take a step in a public road or place without being avoided and ridiculed, and probably forced to leave due to his disheveled and beggarly appearance, this alley was Heaven itself, with furry, slit-eyed angels, as his sole companions, and dirty cardboard boxes as his blankets to cower under.
He still flinched whenever a police car passed the alley, or a hero sauntered along outside. He wondered if he would be noticed one day, and then dragged out before the cruel eyes of the world, and held to charge for the murder of one of the most prominent heroes in the world.
But as time passed, and this did not happen, he became less afraid. Even if he were to outright declare in public that he was the one who killed Skyline, no one would believe him. Why would they? A six year old, sickly beggar child, taking down the Captain Celebrity? Absolutely impossible!
But he knew, that one day, they would find out. That was the problem with this world. Quirks were unpredictable and erratic things. And one could never truly know what quirk one could get. Sure, it could be a combination, or maybe an evolution, of one, or both, of your parents' quirk. Or it could be something completely different and unknown to the Quirk Science world.
Or it could be none.
And Izuku knew that at some point, they would probably find someone with an appropriate quirk, (perhaps a quirk that let the user see the dying moments of a dead person?) and immediately figure out just who was behind the so called, 'dastardly and wicked murder of a beloved pro hero'.
And when they did,..there would be no fair hearing. There would be no justice. Such things did not exist for people like him. And even if he were not sent to a juvenile prison, he would have to live with the stigma of not only being quirkless, but now also being the murderer of a hero. A villain, for all intents and purposes. And he probably wouldn't get any sympathy from other quirkless. In fact, they'd probably hate him, for making their situation worse, and heightening the prejudice against them by his actions.
Izuku knew all this, and accepted it with stoicism. He didn't feel the least bit depressed, or sad. On the contrary, his heart was absolutely overflowing with a locked up rage one would be horrified to find in such a tender young child. Rage, against a cruel and unfair world. One that denied him a chance from the moment he was born.
His convictions were only bolstered by heroes who passed by the alley without a single glance, or if they did, simply looked away in disgust. Aren't you meant to be heroes?! He wanted to scream.
They are heroes. His mind told him. That is their job. Not their belief, not their conviction, not their heart. They are heroes, because they took the job for the money and the fame. They are heroes because they fight flashy villains, and use flashy quirks.
What about All Might? retorted Izuku. Even then, he had had some faith in hero society.
All Might is an exception, not the rule. Reminded his head. Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that even he is not perfect.
No! That's not true! Izuku furiously denied.
Believe what you will, Izuku. I am merely stating the facts your heart refuses to accept. I am not called the brain for nothing, after all.
Across Musutafu, beneath a cardboard box in an alleyway mirroring Izuku's, Eri was having thoughts similar to the greenette.
The cardboard box beneath which she had hidden herself had fairly large air holes, which gave her a good view of the outside. And wherever she looked, she saw billboards and posters about heroes. People who defended, and protected the meek and saved those who needed saving.
Except they didn't.
Back in his lair, despite the torture she was forced to undergo, her captors had provided her with some modicum of a normal life. If a scratchy blanket on the floor, a bucket for her to relieve herself in, and a couple of dolls and comics could be called normal, that is.
And in those comics, she had read about heroes. Heroes such as this Celebrity person, who had died just some time prior to her escape from the Hassaikai, the Dragon Lady Ryukyu, the glamorous Uwabami, and of course, the Number One Hero, by far her favorite, All Might. His smile was often the only thing she stared at for hours. Even on paper, it brought to her a comfort nothing else could. It conveyed strength and confidence, and told the person who looked at it, "It will all be fine now!"
But after years of waiting for him, Eri was a little skeptical of that smile, that now assaulted her in every direction she looked.
Where were you? She thought. Where were you, when he tore me apart? Where were you when I was abandoned?
Where were you?
Something suddenly patted the box. Eri stifled a scream, and scrambled, back, shaking the box as she did so, and causing the one inspecting it to mewl in horror.
Wait..
Eri moved carefully, and lifted the box to look out..at a cat. It's eyes were bright yellow, with black slits. It's fur was white, albeit dulled after years in the grimy streets of the metropolis. It's tail, however, was the wierdest part. It was split in two, and each one wagged separately.
Who are you?
Eri gasped in shock, and went back under the box at the voice suddenly resounding in the alley.
Hey, hey, it's all right! I won't hurt you.
The blunette refused to believe this. She had been hurt far too much to ever believe that she wouldn't feel pain again.
"S-s-stay away!" she managed to stammer.
Look.. The box was suddenly lifted up and away, exposing her to the harsh sunlight. She screamed a little in fear, and scrambled even further away, causing the box to drop back down, enveloping her in the comforting darkness once more.
Except now there was a pair of piercing feline eyes sharing that darkness with her.
Hi! PLEASE DON'T SCREAM!
Eri stifled herself once again. And belatedly realized that the voice wasn't coming from outside. It was coming from her mind.
"Wh..wh..what?"
Much better!
"Is..ar..are..you...th-th-the c-cat?" she shook her head, not believing herself. Yeah right! Animals can't speak!
Yes they can. And who do you think you're calling an animal?!
Eri did scream at that.
Fucking hell, kid..I'm just a cat! My ears are sensitive, goddamnit!
"Y-y-y-you c-c-can t-talk!"
The cat responded by nodding his head.
Eri's mind simply shut down at that. The last thing she heard before darkness took her was,
Ah shit, here we go again..
Present Day
"Ne, Izu." Himiko called, snapping her pale fingers in front of her companion's face.
The greenette woke up with a start. His tired emerald eyes gazed down at her, nestled against his right side with her head on his shoulders, and one arm wrapped around his chest, in some irritation.
"What is it, Himi-chan?"
Himiko shivered, as she always did, upon hearing his voice. It had a whispery cadence to it, like a soft breath of wind. To anyone else, it would have been a cold tone, yet to her, it was warm and comforting. Telling her that it was all right. That it would all be fine.
That he was here.
"Will we really win?" she asked, her own voice shaky and uncertain. Her eyes were downcast, not wanting to look at his face. At his disappointment at her lack of confidence.
"A little late for second thoughts now, Him-chan." Izuku chuckled, amused. "We've been working towards this for so long. If you had doubts, you should have expressed it a bit earlier, no?" he added.
Himiko nodded. "But it all seems so much like...like a dream!" she exclaimed, her feline eyes now turned up to his face. A slight blush colored her cheeks.
"Same here too." Kamahashi Sukui spoke from under her hoodie, as she sat on a red velvet sofa, to the side of the couch on which Izuku and Toga were lounging. Her bare legs were pulled up, knees almost touching her forehead, and her face was buried in her smartphone, her fingers moving rapidly as she played some game. Her eyes were obscured by opaque sunglasses that let her see out, but no one to see in.
Her eyes were the source of her quirk, after all.
"Himi-chan is right, I would never have thought that I'd be here, with people I could call my friends. Never thought I'd enjoy the past week so much, either. It's really like a fantasy. I wonder if I am in The Matrix right now, in fact. Maybe I am. OH HELL TO THE FUCK NO, DIE MOTHERFUCKER!"
Both Izuku and Himiko blinked, their conversation forgotten, as Sukui's brow furrowed in a glare of concentration, and she proceeded to presumably murder whatever player had dared to scorn her. Himiko really only got the last bit, as Sukui's previous words had been said in the incredibly fast, rapid fire form of speech the green skinned girl seemed to favor.
"What?" They both said simultaneously.
"Oh sorry, Izu-chan." Sukui didn't even pause to consider the honorific she had added to Izuku's nickname, though in her defense, it wouldn't bother the latter, as he had gotten used to her weird personality. "Just some shitty ass noob called ExxplosionKing5548 attempted to swipe some of my loot. I fucking sniped his bitch ass, lolz." she grinned madly. "He ain't coming back."
"Oh...that's good." Izuku smiled, though inwardly, he was still wincing at what she said.
It never failed to creep him out whenever she said 'lol', and 'lmao' out loud.
Heights Alliance, UA High School
Musutafu, Japan
"SCREW YOU, YOU FUCKING BITCH!" roared a boy with spikey blond hair, as he sat on a couch, a menacing glare on his face, aimed at the screen that he held between his hands at the moment, it's lights reflected in his crimson red eyes. Sitting beside him on the couch, was another boy with spiky hair, this time dyed a bright red, reminiscent of the hero Crimson Riot.
"KATSUKI BAKUGO! Such language is not appropriate for a student of this prestigious school!" shouted another boy. This one had dark blue hair that was slicked back without a single errant strand, and a very...straight face, as immaculately maintained and kept clean as the formal white shirt and black trousers he wore at the moment, even though they were all gathered in the common room of their dorm at the moment. He wore glasses with a blue rim similar to his hair, and his hands made robotic chopping motions as he berated the blonde.
"FUCK YOU TOO FOUR EYES!" screamed Katsuki.
"My name is Iida!"
"Yare yare, what is it now Bakugo?" sighed a girl with a very unique appearance, that being none at all, since she was completely invisible. The only thing that signified her presence was a bunch of clothes floating in mid air.
"Let me guess..SniperQueen53?" asked the redhead, smiling, showing off shark like teeth.
"WHO THE FUCK ELSE?"
"Aaah, I feel bad for you too, bro!" called a boy from the other end of the room. He had blond hair, with a black lightning streak visible across it. He was lying on the floor, playing on his own phone. "SniperQueen is a goddamned demon, that's for sure!"
"I think I'm the only one watching the news we all came here to see..." spoke arguably the most beautiful girl in the room. She was quite tall, and had onyx black eyes, and matching hair, tied in a spiky ponytail behind her head, and a solitary bang hanging over her face.
"Is your family particularly involved, Yaomomo-chan?" asked a girl with a distinctly frog like appearance, sitting beside the girl now identified as Yaomomo. She had one finger held up to her chin, sea green bangs of hair framing a face devoid of any expression.
"I..I'm not sure, Tsu-chan.." replied Yaomomo. "The Kuat Board did reach out to us at one point, but it was through representatives. They justified it as them being on vacation, so they weren't able to physically attend."
"Given what we know now, I don't think they were on vacation, kero." Tsu replied bluntly. Yaomomo merely nodded in agreement.
"Just what was the cooperation about though?" asked the redhead, curious about what exactly Yaomomo's family had to do with the now defunct Kuat Corporation.
"Well, they were reaching out to us about a possible cooperation between our respective companies. A temporary one, in the wake of Kamino. They felt that with the sudden increase in crime, that the demand for good quality support gear would skyrocket, and they wanted to make a deal." Yaomomo explained. "They would lend us their incredible wealth of knowledge, and in exchange, we would provide them with the manufacturing capacity to put said knowledge to use."
"That sounds very much like a monopoly style agreement!" cried a shocked Iida.
Yaomomo nodded. "That's why we turned it down. We were already big enough to cause a lot of competition to just fade away. Kuat only rose to our level due to the sheer genius of their engineers and scientists. If we ever worked together, the East Asian market for support items would be entirely cornered by the combination."
"In hindsight, it was a good descision, kero." Tsu complimented, as she turned her gaze from her friend to the television screen, showing a sweeping shot of a hero army the likes of which had never before been seen. A multicolored sea of humanity, all of which were moving about like ants, interspersed with what appeared to be tanks and airfields.
"A good descision indeed.." Yaomomo muttered.
Wooow...so it's November, and I am so tired.
Like, for real, the exam drained me of any energy. Which is why I took so long to return to this.
And yeah, no notes here either, just an apology for taking so long!
Cheers!
SpectreOfMars