heroes of the dark

by ohmytheon

Uraraka has spent almost a year grieving the loss of Deku, the greatest hero and her love, but life is slowly moving on. She's got her job, her family, and even a strange friendship with Bakugou. Things are looking hopeful. Until Deku comes back and he's not what he seems. Something is wrong with his mind, but Uraraka will be damned if she lets him fall again. (Villain!Deku)

27. Chapter 27

Notes: I honestly didn't realize that it had been almost three weeks since I updated this. I thought it had only been a week? Wow, I can't believe I lost track of time that much. Oops. Anyway, this is a slow chapter - I'll admit it - but try as I might, I couldn't work to where I could just skip it. The reactions of the heroes and police felt too important. I didn't do an entire recap at least. Using the sprint bot on discord, I was able to whip this up really quick! I'm lowkey proud. I've skimmed through it once for editing, but I'm sure I missed quite a lot. Uh, I didn't get to the see that I originally planned on writing, but I still brought in some new characters.

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After being held captive by a group of villains and her ex-boyfriend for a little over a week, Uraraka felt as if shouldn't have been intimidated by anything. However, when she walked into the conference room for her interview and caught sight of just how many people were in there, she hesitated. She had known that there would be a mixture of both police and heroes, but facing them all at once suddenly felt daunting.

What had happened to her this past week had been one of the most difficult and upsetting times of her life on a deeply intimate level. How would they judge her for it? The last thing she felt like doing was telling a bunch of strangers that Deku had kissed her. Leaving anything out wasn't on the table though. She had to be upfront about everything just in case it helped. She'd watched too many films where someone left out a piece of information out of embarrassment or because they thought it was unimportant, only for it to bite them in the butt.

This wasn't a movie or a tv show where the good guys defeated the bad guys and things were neatly wrapped up in the end and they would all go back to living their normal lives. To be honest, nothing had been normal since Deku had sacrificed himself for her almost a year ago, but she'd been close to rebuilding a new normal. If they somehow won, if they got Deku back, if they saved Todoroki, how long would it take her to do that again?

Honestly, Uraraka wasn't sure she had the strength. Bakugou would scoff and said she did if he knew what she was thinking. He had a lot more faith in her abilities. Having been at Deku's mercy and unable to help Todoroki had shaken her resolve in herself though. That had probably been a part of Kyōmu's plan in breaking her. If Deku wouldn't allow him to use his quirk on her, then he'd get in her head another way.

She couldn't deny that it had worked.

"Uraraka?"

Blinking out of her thoughts, she glanced up at Bakugou, who was staring down at her with what looked like an annoyed look on his face. She knew it wasn't the case. That was a look that said he would tell off every single of these assholes if she wasn't ready to do this.

Taking a deep breath, Uraraka nodded her head, letting him know that she was okay, and pushed on into the room. She took the seat that had her facing everyone. When Bakugou moved to sit down against the wall where he would no doubt glower at everyone, she blurted, "Wait," and he hesitated. His eyes flickered from her to the empty chair next to her and he walked back over to sit in it without saying a word. He didn't even question her need. If he thought her weak for needing support, he didn't voice it, only leaning back and folding his arms across his chest that told everyone that he dared them to fight him on this.

Luckily, no one did. Maybe a few people glanced at each other curiously, but most people didn't even blink. Whatever it took to help her explain her story.

"I, um…" Uraraka dropped her hands into her lap and began to wring them nervously under the table. "I'm not quite sure where you want me to start."

"Wherever you're most comfortable," a man she recognized as Detective Tsukauchi told her. She hadn't seen him since Deku's funeral, but she'd heard that he had been promoted. It made sense that he was here. They had to be sure that she was telling the truth. She wondered if his quirk, Human Lie Detector, would work if she had gone under Kyōmu's quirk. Deku truly believed what he had told him and tricked him into thinking it was reality. It wouldn't be lies to him. "Would you like a glass of water or…?"

Uraraka shook her head. "No, I'm fine, thank you."

Water would've probably been a good idea, considering how dry her mouth would get when discussing certain topics, but for some reason, she hesitated on asking for anything. She couldn't have said why. Maybe she didn't want to add to the problem more than she already felt like she had. Once she started, it would be easier, but with everyone staring and waiting for her to say something, she felt herself closing up. Couldn't she have maybe been interviewed by one or two people and had them record it for the others to review?

When he noticed that she was struggling, Tsukauchi offered, "Why don't you start right after you were taken through the warp gate?"

The decision having been made for her, relief washed over Uraraka and she visibly relaxed in the chair. She hadn't even noticed how tense she had become. "Of course." It made sense. Talk about things in chronological order. If anything of interest came up, they could pause her story and ask questions. "The first person I saw was Kurogiri, but we already know of his involvement. The weird thing was how...fond he seemed to be of Deku and vice versa. They joked around with one another. He said that they had become something of a family. It's all part of this illusion that they built up for Deku."

At her side, Bakugou scoffed, but he didn't say anything. She shrugged her shoulders. Some of the heroes looked troubled while many of the police officers appeared confused. She knew that it sounded incredibly weird. How could the villains be anything other than villains? It was easy for pro heroes to forget that they were people too, some of whom were capable of living normal lives outside of the crimes they committed. They had friends and friends, ate breakfast and dinner, slept like the rest of them. They could do every day things like have people in their life close enough to be like family.

But that was what Deku needed. He'd created a family in the friends he had come to cherish upon attending UA. He had made sure to keep in contact with everyone, even if it was just an email once a month. It was important to him - they all were. He admitted that he hadn't had many friends before UA, most of them not wanting anything to do with a quirkless kid. The person he'd considered himself closest with had been Bakugou - and well, look where that had gotten them. Close had nothing to do with actual friendliness.

It was hard to see past his cheery smile and innate warmth, but Deku had been a pretty lonely kid. For most of his childhood, after he was left in the dust when everyone's quirks manifested, it had just been him and his mom. He never dismissed all that she had done for him and how close they were, but Uraraka had been able to read between the lines that not even Deku seemed to notice. His friends from UA meant the world to him because he'd never had any friends like that before. Of course they became like a second family. He thrived on having close bonds with other people.

The League, in their bid to keep the illusion up, had become just that for him. She had a feeling that, despite their wariness of him and the sometimes fickle nature of the quirk he was under, that even they had come to accept him. It was hard not to when it came to Deku. Even with Kyōmu's quirk messing with his head, it was still him on some level. He liked the same things, craved the same contact, pulled people in with his natural gravity. It pained her to remember feeling his warmth and how his smile was still the same, a little anxious and full of hope.

"Shouto started to wake up, but before he could fully return to consciousness, one of the villains came up from behind and injected him with something," Uraraka continued, touching her neck to show the injection site. "I was as well right after. It's some kind of quirk inhibiting drug. I don't know how it's created, but it was the same stuff that was on the knife Deku attacked Aizawa with."

Aizawa, who was sitting in the background, leaned forward in his chair. "How long does the effect last?"

"I don't know," Uraraka admitted. She brought her right hand out from underneath the table and touched the microphone recording her words with all five of her fingers. It didn't lift. She had a feeling that it would come back soon. The relief when her quirk returned to her would shake her. "A day? Sometimes more, sometimes less? I think it depends on the quirk, but I'm not sure. I know they had to dose Shouto more than me, but that might have been because of the stress he was under."

At the end of the table, Endeavor glared at her, although she didn't think he was necessarily angry with her. It just seemed to be his permanent expression. His eyes narrowed behind his mask of flames when they connected eyes and she looked away. It was not going to be easy for either of them when she went into more detail about what Shouto was going through. Everyone's dirty laundry was getting thrown in the streets. As the recently ranked number five hero, Shouto was already more adored by fans than his father. She couldn't help but wonder what the public would say if they knew what the number one hero had put his family through.

What would the public say if they knew how Bakugou had treated Deku for so long?

Uraraka turned her gaze back to her former homeroom teacher. "Is your quirk…?"

"It's returned," Aizawa confirmed. "Midoriya did say that the effects wouldn't last as long."

"I think, instead of the body becoming resistant to the drug, the effects strengthen with more use," Uraraka said. Being left alone without the use of her quirk had left her a lot of time to think it over. It had embarrassed her to think of how scared she'd been without it, especially when she thought of how Deku had been quirkless for over the first fifteen years of his life. "The time in between getting dosed grew longer each time. It's been almost two days now." She frowned. "It's a sedative too. Each time I was knocked out for at least an hour after being injected."

Aizawa nodded and leaned back in his seat. "I felt my energy drained almost immediately." That explained why he hadn't been involved in the fight with Dabi as much after being cut by the knife.

Gripping her left arm, Uraraka rubbed a thumb over the skin next to the band-aid a nurse had put on after they'd taken a few samples of her blood. With her quirk still being inhibited, it stood that the drug was still in her veins. The idea was that they could isolate it and perhaps create something to counter it, but she knew something like that would take time. Even then, it might not work if the drug was somehow created using someone's quirk.

"So you passed out after being injected," Tsukauchi said, pulling them back on course. "What happened after that?"

Even though it was a very serious situation, Uraraka blushed. She had not been looking forward to this part. To be honest, any part of the story that involved hers and Deku's relationship was humiliating, but she couldn't afford to hide anything. This was not the time for embarrassment. Yes, it would be awkward, but Deku's relationships with the people in his life and how he viewed them now could provide some sort of key to helping him. Judging from the way Kota had been able to snap him out of it for a moment when he'd unintentionally recreated an important moment in Deku's life, it wasn't too far-fetched.

Still, it would be easier to talk about how a villain had nearly killed her than how Deku had turned on their song and slow-danced with her before kissing her sweetly.

Beside her, Bakugou stiffened in his seat, as if he somehow knew what she was about to say. He had reacted in a similar way when she'd told him about how Deku had kissed her in her apartment. He was uncomfortable, to say the least, but not in a combative way. When she peered at him, he huffed lightly, displeased with things already but not angry.

Slowly, Uraraka talked through the first day with them. She still wasn't sure how long she had been out, the drug and the exhaustion from the fight combining, but she did her best to fill in the gaps. It was uncomfortable to the point where she had to look at the ground as she talked about Deku's behavior. It was one thing to tell Bakugou about it or even their friends, although she had admittedly skipped the kiss when telling the group in Bakugou's apartment, but quite another to sit in front of a bunch of professionals and glaze over the fact that Deku had missed her. She didn't specify what that meant exactly, but she had a feeling they got the picture and it made her feel sick.

This was her life with Deku. She told them everything, not holding a single thing back, even how he had brought up the fact that he'd planned on proposing to her. She could sense Bakugou getting tenser by the second and they were only at the beginning. How was he going to handle it when she went into deal about watching Todoroki being forced under Kyōmu's quirk for the first time and being held back by Deku who thought he was doing good? What would he do when she explained just how brutal Deku had become or his volatile reaction to Bakugou's interview on the news with Aizawa?

She didn't know. None of them knew. She could talk about every single, little detail and it would still not fully encapsulate what she and Todoroki had gone through.

By the time she reached the part where Deku had taken her to see Todoroki, everyone in the room sat with the distinct air of discomfort around them. It was nothing like they had expected. All Might sat next to Aizawa, his head in his hands. It would've been easier if Deku had acted like a pure villain, evil and full of contempt, but there were too many bits of his real self to reconcile his actions. It was him but it wasn't. The conversation about him looking at rings had been so normal that she'd almost let herself forget that she was being held captive in the League of Villains' stronghold.

"How many villains outside of the ones that we know of did you see?" Tsukauchi questioned.

Uraraka brought her hand to her mouth, biting on a fingernail but not chewing as she thought back. "Well, only two of the villains besides Deku and Dabi came back from the fight outside Kaminari's apartment. I never saw them after that. Um, there was Ikeda and Mizumi, the one that…" Her hand moved to her neck where the bruises were still apparent. "Compress is back out of hiding, at least three that I didn't get names for, and… Kyōmu. There was Kyōmu."

Tsukauchi zeroed in on that last name. Even if he didn't know who he was, the detective could sense the significance in the way that Uraraka talked about him and began to tremble. "Kyōmu." He snapped his fingers and a detective behind him began to look up the name. She highly doubted anything would come up, seeing as how she didn't think it was his real name. "Is he…?"

"He's the one that made Deku what he is," Uraraka confirmed, her throat constricting painfully. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Bakugou squirm in his seat and then her eyes dropped down. Underneath the table, so that no one could see him, he was holding his hand out. To everyone else, he'd leaned over the table with an elbow propped on top and a cheek resting against his fist. To her, he was doing so much more. She placed her hand in his and he grasped it tightly, giving her the grounding that she needed.

When Tsukauchi glanced back at the detective doing research, she shook her head. "Nothing, sir."

Tsukauchi frowned and turned back to Uraraka. "Is he the leader?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure," Uraraka confessed sheepishly. "The other villains deferred to him and one of them did call him the boss, but he didn't come off the leader type to me. He seemed like he had his own agenda or did things on his own. Maybe he's just using them; I wouldn't put it past him. I didn't see anyone else in charge exactly, so he probably is."

"If Compress is back as well, do we have confirmation on other past League members' whereabouts?" Tsukauchi asked the detective behind him.

She did a quick search on her laptop. "Shigaraki is serving his sentence prison. Luckily he was placed in a different prison than the others. Bubaigawara is still in the hospital where he's been undergoing therapy since his capture. Spinner is out on parole, but has been checking in regularly with no incidents. The others appear to be clean too. There hasn't been any suspicious contact."

A young woman who looked similar to Tsukauchi added, "I questioned Shigaraki after we became aware of Kurogiri's involvement and then the prison break, but he didn't want anything to do with this new League and proclaimed to have no knowledge."

"You said that Kyōmu turned Deku into a villain," Tsukauchi continued, threading his fingers together on top of the table. "Do you know how his quirk works?"

"Yes." Uraraka swallowed, but it was suddenly difficult. Without looking at her, Bakugou squeezed her hand, his unwavering strength bleeding into her. "The second day, after asking him again, Deku took me to see Shouto, but it was actually so I could meet Kyōmu and understand what was going on. I think it was mostly to intimidate me and put me in my place, although Deku didn't see it that way. He's started going back to him willingly for reconditioning when he starts getting confused or maybe the illusion wears off. He thinks he's doing Shouto a favor - that Kyōmu's quirk will help him understand things clearer."

That was what got to her the most about the whole thing. She had no doubt that Deku had gone to Kyōmu after falling through the warp gate. Maybe it wasn't right away, but he had done it. The confusion scared him. He didn't know what to do when his actions and thoughts started to clash with one another. If the reality that he lived in wasn't real, then what was he doing? Kyōmu had to keep using his quirk on him. Deku had been tired, but looked so relieved after he'd gone under reconditioning and then come back to nap on her.

"Get to it," Endeavor snapped, impatient as ever. This was his son she was talking about. Of course he wanted to get to the bottom of things as fast as possible in order to save him.

However, instead of being cowed, Uraraka shot him a glare. Shouto wouldn't be so vulnerable to Kyōmu's quirk if not for that man. If it wasn't for the fact that he was the number one hero and they would need all the power they had in order to stop whatever Kyōmu and Deku had planned, she would've requested that he leave. Either way, he wasn't going to like what she had to say, which she took a sick sort of satisfaction in.

"As best as Shouto explained it to me, the quirk works by manipulating memories," Uraraka began carefully, thinking back to what both Kyōmu and Shouto had told her on top of what she'd witnessed. It stung to remember how scared Shouto had been. He'd tried to hide it, but she could tell that the quirk was unsettling him, unraveling him and stitching him back up into someone else. "He can add something or take something away or tweak things about it - emotions, reactions, anything involved in the person's memory. It's like…" How had Shouto described it?" "It's like he can sort through a person's memories, pick one specifically, and show it to them like a picture, except everything is heightened. He can even bring up repressed memories."

"So it's not a brainwashing quirk?" Tsukauchi asked. "He's not being told to do anything?"

Uraraka bit her lip and shook her head. "Maybe he's followed certain orders, but not out of force. Everything he's done so far has been his own decision. It's still him in a sense, but then it's not. It's him if...certain things hadn't happened or others did. The quirk can essentially change a person's reality and have them follow a different path, one they might've take under different circumstances."

Shinso, who had spent most of his time here looking uncomfortable at being in the room, frowned. He must have been brought here because of his quirk. "That's much worse than I thought. It sounds more difficult to get a person under their control, but what's it's done, they don't even realize what they're doing is wrong and stop fighting. Deku was able to break free from my quirk, but he wasn't in control. How are you supposed to snap a person back to reality when this is his reality?"

"How long before the changes in memory fully set in?" All Might questioned in a quiet voice.

Uraraka shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I imagine it varies since it's a slow process of changing specific details. When was the first villain kill that we confirmed was done by Deku?"

"Approximately six months ago," Tsukauchi answered. "That doesn't mean it took that long though. There's a chance we missed things before he escalated to murder."

In order to impress her, to make her happy, to help her. I killed them for you! He had been so excited to unveil that surprise that he'd missed the horror on her face. She'd thought it was bad then.

"I don't know how long it took for Deku to give in, but he's been going under it again since resurfacing, probably because seeing people from his life brings things up," Uraraka continued. "The quirk is a really painful process if you fight it and apparently not everyone can take it. Some people have died. I don't know why. Shouto looked and sounded like he was in excruciating pain the two times I witnessed the quirk being used on him and it was physically draining to the point where he passed out. All I could do was watch. Deku was holding me back. It was like something out of a nightmare."

"Shouto is strong," Endeavor said, although he looked stiff as he crossed his arms over his chest. "He can take it."

"The thing is, I don't think resisting the change is about strength," Uraraka said. If that was the case, then surely the quirk would've killed Deku instead. He was the strongest person she knew and Shouto had to be strong in order to have survived what he had in his life and still come out kind and good. "It all depends on the person's past. Some are easier to manipulate than others" - her eyes flickered back to the number one hero - "especially if there is already something bad in their history."

She could see the exact moment when Endeavor realized that she knew. The two of them held each other's gaze, excluding everyone else in the room for just a moment. Shouto was vulnerable due to his history of Endeavor's abuse. He'd had Shouto with the intentions of creating the strongest hero to take the number one spot, but he had also paved a path for one of the strongest villains ever if the League had their way or if he had simply gone to the other side in the first place.

This was not something that Endeavor needed or wanted to be aired to the public. Uraraka didn't want to either. It wasn't her place to tell others. It was Shouto's past, one that he should be free to tell if he wanted, but she knew that he would not want people to know. It wasn't about protecting Endeavor. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was important to her. Endeavor knew what he'd done and how that might affect Shouto and the outcome of going through this quirk. He could tell the others.

Uraraka turned back to face Tsukauchi. He was easier to talk to than a man she wanted to punch in the face. "After only two sessions, Shouto said that he could feel the change and that part of him didn't even mind it. He was...angrier, more prone to violence, upset, and scared. He'd forgotten things and was confused about others. It's hard to fight because you honestly don't know what's real and what isn't, so you either stop trusting everything you remember or you accept it all as the truth. He knew that, but the quirk gave him a sense of relief too."

"So what you're saying is that you have no idea how long we've got before we're stuck fighting two people ranked in the top five heroes," Hawks, the number two hero, drawled. He had kept his number two position since being announced years ago, except for the year he'd been number three. The drop in rank hadn't seemed to bother him at all. Besides, he got his position back when Deku was officially announced dead and they had to do another tally. He hadn't seemed to care about that either. "Well that's fantastic. This is gonna be a blast."

"It's not like I had the chance to get all specifics while being forced to watch my friend get tortured in between being trying not to set Deku off," Uraraka retorted, a burst of anger energizing her. They had no idea what it had been like. They could sit there and question and judge her all they wanted, but none of them would know what it had been like to watch Shouto getting mentally torn apart or tread the delicate line of placating Deku and trying to figure out if she cold help him. "Sorry for not doing a better job of getting information while being held captive."

Ryuku held up a hand. "No one is suggesting that." She spared a glance at Hawks, who shrugged his shoulders, but didn't apologize either. "None of us can imagine how terrible of an ordeal you went through. The fact that you're able to sit here and speak with us is nothing short of amazing." She laid his hand over top her other on top of the table, a picture of compassion and strength. She was the number four hero now, which was why she was here, but Uraraka was grateful to see her old mentor. "We're just trying to get a feel of how we should prepare."

"Anyone Shouto might target in particular if he's turned so we can anticipate his moves?" Hawks asked. "You know, like how Midoriya has locked in on Ground Zero."

His tone was flippant, like he honestly didn't care, but his eyes were too sharp behind his glasses. He kept his gaze on her, but she had a feeling that the question wasn't solely directed toward her either. The top two heroes had worked together on several occasions, but there was a cold air between them right now. What with his carefree personality, Hawks had a way of bringing people in like Deku that Endeavor did not possess, but he hid a sharp cleverness behind that attitude.

She highly doubted that he knew about Shouto's history with his father, but it was obvious to everyone in the hero circle that the two of them were not close. Things had gotten better between them over the years, but it would never be good or completely end the tension. Even Bakugou shifted in his seat. She wasn't sure how much he knew of Shouto's history, if any, but there was no way he'd missed the cold treatment she was giving Endeavor. In retrospect, she would be embarrassed over acting out like that, but right now, she was laid bear and it was too tiring to hide how she felt.

They wouldn't be in this position if Endeavor had been a decent human being from the start.

"He'll probably focus on me," Endeavor suddenly said, not sounding so arrogant or tough. She wasn't sure what he sounded like. Guilty? Ashamed? She couldn't reconcile those emotions with him. Like Shouto, he was the kind of person who accepted things. He'd done what he had done and now he had to face the consequences. All he could do was move forward.

Instead of questioning him further, Hawks sighed. "Well, it's a start."

"Let's get back to where we left off," Tsukauchi piped up, reigning them all back in. Uraraka didn't know whether to be relieved or not. She was on day two of her story and it only went downhill from there. She didn't know if Bakugou would want to keep holding her hand or not, but as long as he didn't let go, she wasn't going to either. Without her quirk, she may not have been able to float, but she still needed something to ground her. "I'd like to learn more about how this quirk has affected Midoriya's behavior and anything you can give us on the League members you encountered or their goals."

How the quirk had affected Deku. She thought of him tossing grapes in the air and catching them with his mouth in his bid to show her that he'd been thinking about her. How he'd snuggled against her in bed to sleep in search of comfort that the other villains couldn't give him. The way he'd carried her to his room and carefully wrapped her ankle, which was still sore and had bruised. She hadn't needed Recovery Girl for a simple injury like that. And then she thought of how he'd brutally murdered that villain for hurting her and the way Ikeda had shriveled and trembled with fear when he blamed her.

It was a mess.

Throughout the rest of the interview, Bakugou stayed silent except for a few scoffs and trademark "tch"s, but he shockingly didn't say a word. She couldn't remember a time when he'd been so quiet and still. Sure, she knew that he was capable of him, but it was in his nature to always be loud and on the go. It was like he'd taken a page out of Todoroki's book. She was fond of him the way he was, but she couldn't deny that she had needed this kind of support right now.

Near the end, when Uraraka could feel herself losing steam and drifting, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Still holding onto her hand like his life depended on it, Bakugou had started to float. She noticed it before he did, as it was only a little, but when she ripped her hand out of his grip to cover her mouth to stifle a cry, he jolted and grabbed the table to keep himself from floating to the ceiling. A few people in the room were startled by the sudden shift, but didn't say anything when she pressed her fingers together and said, "Release," so that he could plop back in his seat.

Both of their cheeks were dusted with blush since the implication of what had happened was obvious. Her quirk was activated by touch. Thankfully, no one said anything to question it. In fact, once settled again, Tsukauchi appeared as if he'd forgotten it already. She mumbled an apology, but with her quirk back, she found herself struggling even more to think straight. The urge to cry in relief was so strong that her throat kept closing up and she had to take a few breaths to stop the tears spilling from her eyes. It took every last bit of her strength to hold herself back, but she was at her limit and knew it.

The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of everyone. She'd had to combat it so many times during this interview, but she was beyond tired and she wasn't even done with what she had to do today.

She knew what Bakugou would say when she told him her plan for after this ( You need to fucking rest or you're gonna lose your shit and be worthless ), but it had to be done. If she hadn't been sure before, staring down Endeavor had strengthened her resolve. Besides, she wouldn't be able to rest until everything was off her chest. There were a lot of things she'd never said before, but she'd started to realize that keeping them to herself wasn't worth the fight.

Having noticed the way she kept tapering off and losing focus, Detective Tsukauchi set his pen down and closed his notebook and said, "Why don't we end it here? We know what happens next."

Even though it was unprofessional, Uraraka slumped in her seat in relief. She'd reached the end of her story more or less, leaving off right after Deku had taken her through the portal to meet Kota. She wanted to talk with All Might about her discussion with Deku centering around him and hero society. It was private and she wasn't sure if he'd told people the truth about One for All. It was such a highly kept secret, but with Deku using the quirk to wreak havoc, he might have been forced to tell the truth.

Tsukauchi waved a hand and an officer turned off the camera recording her. "I'd like to revisit this though, see if we can pry out any specific details that might help."

"Of course," Uraraka replied immediately, "anything I can do."

She had known that it wouldn't end with this. They'd only gone over the basics. Uraraka had told them everything that had happened, but there were details that could be drawn out of her memory with the right questions. Right now though, she was becoming more useless by the second as her exhaustion won over.

As everyone began to file out of the room, Uraraka caught eyes with Bakugou. Although he looked as resilient as ever, she could see the question in the way he held himself back. What did she want to do? Uraraka sighed. There were a lot of things that she wanted to do, very few that she could actually do. She pushed the chair away from the table and then eased herself up to her feet. How much longer did she have before she could rest? How much more did she have in her before her body couldn't take it anymore?

Uraraka supposed that she was about to find out. Emotional exhaustion was different from physical and she was going to go past her limit today.

Before she could say or do anything, a hand on her shoulder and someone saying, "Uravity," in a low rumble stopped her short. She didn't need to turn around to see who had held her back, but she was still a little surprised to find Endeavor standing before her. He was so massive and tall, imposing with the strength that he radiated, especially with his quirk activated for his hero costume.

How terrifying he must have been to a child. Kyōmu was having a field day with Todoroki's memories.

"Hands off," Bakugou snapped, stepping up next to her and scowling so furiously that it looked like he might actually fight the number one hero in the hospital.

Endeavor didn't look scared in the slightest, not even bothering to soften his expression, but he pulled his hand away. "I meant no disrespect." He had gotten a lot better over the years. Before, he had been known for his callous behavior and even indifferent treatment of his own fans. He was an incredible hero, but he didn't have the same idolized presence as a hero like All Might or even the inspirational aura that Deku had exuded. As far as popularity came, even Bakugou was liked more.

None of that seemed to matter to Endeavor, but Todoroki had told her of how his father had started to cool down and make the actual effort to be a better person. Despite his fire quirk, he wasn't the kind or warm type and he never would be. He wouldn't be comforting or gentle. He could be professional though and he could admit when he was in the wrong. Todoroki said that he wasn't letting his pride run everything.

"He even got me something for my last birthday and it wasn't just money like usual," Todoroki had mumbled in the cells just two days ago. They had been talking about his past so that he could remember the effort his father had made to be better. It wasn't enough to make up for what he'd done, but Kyōmu had been slowly erasing or scribbling over them. If he didn't talk about it with someone, he would eventually forget the past few years. "It was weird."

"What do you want?" Bakugou demanded coldly, folding his arms across his chest, his arm muscles strained with tension. "Haven't you done enough?"

Uraraka blinked in surprise. How much did he know and how? She couldn't picture Todoroki opening up to Bakugou of all people about his past. It had taken him a while to tell Deku the whole truth and her even longer. She had figured out that his childhood was rough and different from hers, but she hadn't known the extent until their late night discussions after Deku's death. Bakugou was smart though. There was a chance that he didn't know the specifics but had been able to put two and two together after overhearing or witnessing things.

"What you said about Shouto…" Something besides anger or pride burst through. Endeavor was uncomfortable. She couldn't imagine much was capable of making him feel like that. He might have been working on repairing things with his family, but having an outsider know the truth was different. "About how some people are more vulnerable to the quirk… I want to know what exactly is happening to my son."

On one hand, Uraraka didn't want to tell him anything. What right did he have to act like he cared about Todoroki now? On the other, she thought that he was concerned, even if he didn't know how to show it. His son was a pro hero, one of the strongest and would surely pass him, but he was still his son.

"From what I gathered, bad memories are easier to exploit," Uraraka explained, "and we both know that Shouto had more than a few. Kyōmu said that he had a lot to work with and barely had to change anything about his past." She bit her lip. "Like I said, I don't think resisting the quirk has much to do with strength. I know that Shouto is strong. Even though he was severely weakened and didn't have his quirk, he tried to protect me." He'd been slashed at, threatened, and most likely struck a few times when he put up a fight. "But I think he'll be easier to turn than Deku - because of you."

"Are you saying this is my fault?" Endeavor asked. He didn't sound angry. He didn't sound like anything, just a man assessing the damages.

Uraraka looked him in the eyes. "I'm saying that in your bid to make him strong you also made him weak."

Endeavor clenched his jaw, almost reacting as if she had smacked him. She had been waiting for him to get furious over her being presumptuous or thinking she understood what had happened between them. Honestly, she didn't. When Todoroki had opened up to her about his past, she had been shocked and horrified. She didn't know how anyone could treat their child like that. It had been her dream to become a hero in order to help her parents, but he had forced his goals on Todoroki's shoulders.

"I promised that I would be there to help him keep his head straight. He was scared - he was tired - but more importantly, he was angry. That quirk is capable of turning him into a weapon more than you ever could. You need to watch your back and that is not a threat." Uraraka hated talking about Todoroki this way. Of course she wanted to believe that he could withstand the mental torture, but she'd seen what he was like after a handful of times under the quirk's influence, her hopes were admittedly low. "He talked about wanting to kill you for what you did and I don't think Kyōmu changed much about his history with you to make him feel that way."

Despite the fact that she had just told him that his son potentially wanted to kill him, Endeavor didn't blink or pale. All he did was nod his head in understanding. He must have figured this was coming. Judging from what she had talked about concerning Deku's violent and powerful grudge against Bakugou and his indifferent behavior towards the rest of his friends, he had probably come to the conclusion that something similar would happen with Todoroki.

He held himself back. Todoroki had the sort of power that could destroy and easily kill even at a young age. When the USJ had been attacked by the League, he'd captured a handful of villains on his own. She remembered gawking when Hagakure had talked about how Todoroki had casually threatened their lives in order to get information. He had only been fifteen then. What kind of destruction was he capable of now if he didn't hold back? He'd done so when fighting Deku the first time.

If he was turned, Todoroki would not have the same reservations. He would be free to go all out and do whatever he pleased, just as Deku promised the quirk would let him.

"What of the rest of my family?" Endeavor asked.

Uraraka shook her head. "I don't know, but I don't think it'll be good." She was worried about that. Todoroki hadn't talked about them much, but that could prove to be an issue later. Kyōmu had started to work on changing Deku's view of Iida, All Might, and the others. "You spent years abusing your son, but the truth is you just made it easier for a villain to take advantage of him and corrupt a good person into something he fears the most."

Bakugou shifted on his feet. He wasn't used to seeing her so confrontational. The contempt and anger that had risen in her tone probably caught him off guard. It sort of surprised her as well, but she was upset. Todoroki was scared and alone, but it wouldn't be long before the quirk gave him the illusion of freedom with Deku at his side goading him along. Kyōmu was right. Keeping Todoroki alive would help them better in the long-run. No longer feeling alone, Deku would only fall further into the dark.

"Unfortunately for you, Deku has also built up a grudge about false heroes. He doesn't have a high opinion of you. I wouldn't be surprised if they target you together." It was her duty to warn him. She'd begrudgingly realized that she would have to tell Endeavor one way or another that his life was in danger. She had to protect even him. Plus, no matter what the quirk did to change Todoroki, deep down, he would not want to kill his father. She didn't want that guilt to be laid at his feet. "Deku said a lot of things that didn't make sense, but I think he was right that there is something wrong with hero society - and it starts with people like you."

With that said, Uraraka turned on her heels and walked out of the room, not even bothering to fully end the conversation. She'd done what needed to be done. Endeavor had been warned and given a piece of her mind. It wasn't nearly what he deserved, but, as much as she wanted, she couldn't go off on him in public. She thought she had been furious with him before when Todoroki had told her the truth, but seeing Endeavor in person, listening to him question her judgement or decisions, she wanted to float him to space and never release her quirk.

"Oi, Uraraka!"

She glanced back to see Bakugou rushing to follow her, but she didn't fully stop. He didn't need her to slow down in order to catch up with her. She'd kind of forgotten about him at the end there and left him in her rush to get away from Endeavor before she said or did anything she might regret.

"Sorry, I just-" Uraraka rubbed her temple, trying to smooth out the headache that had started to build. "I had to get out of there."

"You really did a number on Half and Half's old man," Bakugou noted. "You ripped him a new one. I'm sure he'd be proud."

"Maybe," Uraraka mumbled. She was pretty sure that it wouldn't be long before Todoroki would want to do more than just tell of his dad. "To be honest, I'm kind of embarrassed. I shouldn't have talked about it so upfront. It's not my…"

It wasn't her story to tell. It wasn't her history or her memories being messed with. She had to bring it up in order for the others to know how the quirk worked, but she should've showed more discretion. Instead of going off on Endeavor with Bakugou right beside her, she should've told him to wait for her outside. There were so many things that she "should have" done and the list was only growing.

"I knew enough already to piece things together," Bakugou told her, like he'd somehow read her mind. That used to be a comforting thought, making her think they were on the same page, but now it reminded her of Kyōmu and her stomach flipped. "I remember seeing him in action for the first time and realizing he was stronger than me. I hated it. And then the Sports Festival, I knew I was going to lose, but then that dipshit only used half his power. No way he could be that strong without some training. I just didn't know how much until later."

Uraraka dropped her hand from her temple so that she could punch the down button for the elevator. "It was awful, Bakugou. There's no sugarcoating what he went through and Kyōmu is making him relive it all over again in excruciating detail and making it worse ." The doors opened and she stepped inside, slumping against the wall even before they shut. Bakugou followed and pressed the appropriate button for her. "If he's turned, 'horrible' is going to be an understatement."

"Worse than Deku coming after me?" Bakugou asked, somewhat dryly. He was trying to give her comfort with his confidence.

As much as she appreciated it, the sentiment felt flat when she replied, "I think it might be. Deku was still… I don't know - he was still light and playful."

"Threatening to cut off my hand didn't sound so playful to me."

Uraraka's cheeks reddened. "I know, but he… He still acted familiar with you. Even when he talked about how much he hated you for what you'd done to him or had to kill you for getting in between us, it was… I don't know. It's hard to describe. He held back though. He didn't kill you outright."

Bakugou leaned back against the wall next to her. "Endeavor's not gonna get a harsh warning, huh?"

"I don't think we're going to get warnings anymore," Uraraka said, turning to gaze up as the numbers counted down to the first floor. "Todoroki isn't going to hold back and neither will Deku. The next time we see him, he's not going to leave when it gets inconvenient."

"Tch," Bakugou scoffed, sounding like his old self-assured self, like he could just say something and make it so out of sheer stubbornness and willpower. "I'm not going to let anyone die. Not again."

Oh you say that, but do you really believe it? Uraraka wanted to ask, but she didn't. Her silence was probably telling as it was. It wasn't that she didn't believe in him - he was one of the few people she trusted in this - but this had grown out of their control. She didn't know what it would take to get Deku back and make him believe in the truth or if it would do any good if they did.

The doors opened and they stepped out into the reception hall. "C'mon, let's get you home." Bakugou buried his hands in his pockets and hunched over, as if he could hide. He couldn't. Even when subdued like this, his presence was too explosive, like he was one second away from blowing up. Maybe he was. "Your place was cleared for you to stay tonight until they set you up at the safe house again. Don't bother arguing. I'm stuck too."

"I won't," Uraraka said, "but I've got one more thing to do before I can rest. Is your car here?"

Bakugou huffed. "You're gonna run yourself ragged, Uraraka.."

"Please, it's important."

She stopped to face him and look him in the eyes. He wore that unreadable expression again, the one that made her feel like a thousand walls had been put up between them again. She didn't like it, but then she knew that she was doing the same thing. Every time she got close to him alone, her mind would jump to Deku and how hurt he'd been when she had told him the truth about why he'd gone with her. Why was everything so messed up and confusing right now? It hurt . She was supposed to be safe now, but all she felt was alone.

"Alright," Bakugou said, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "Where to?"

Uraraka anticipated the grimace flickering on Bakugou's face when she said, "Todoroki's apartment."

"Great," Bakugou muttered, although he didn't argue even as he stomped out of the hospital with her trailing a step after him. "I get to do this shit again."

Suddenly, he looked as exhausted as she felt, but she was grateful that he didn't fight with her on this. She didn't know what to expect when she got there, but she owed it to Todoroki to take care of his family. It was the only thing she could do right now to help him.