Chapter 4
Katsuki was growing impatient. He couldn't sit still and listen to the banter of how it was possibly like out on the battlefield, the what-if scenarios, and the decisions they would have personally made.
"The report states that the Uravity was awake enough to decide for herself if this was right, but then contradicts itself in stating that if Uravity would have lost any more blood she would be on her deathbed, would anyone consider these statements contradictory, your honor?"
Katsuki felt his foot move of its own accord, rapidly beating against the floor. His lawyer, presented by Uravity's firm as one of their best, turned to him, "Sir, you're going to have to seem more open. And frankly friendlier, Uravity did fill me in on this is part of your personality, but they don't understand that."
Contradicting to his mind, his body reacted, sitting slightly straighter doing his best to uncross his legs. Uraraka was right, if his goal was to get Kirishima out, going in there wouldn't do any good for either of them. Likely it would only upset Kirishima more. His lawyer stood straight shuffling through papers, "On contrary, the report states that our client demonstrated his best with his lack of medical knowledge to make up for the resources they did not have or know where coming-"
"Your honor, if I may cut in! This man has been constantly battle-thirsty from even before he had his hero license"
His lawyer paused then looked at the judge again, "May I continue where I was before I was interrupted out of turn?"
The judge casts looks amongst them, stopping on Katsuki, likely remembering the night after Kirishima's case closed, a hand around his collar. "You may"
"As I was saying, the interruption only advancing my point, my client has the high tendency to make sure he's on the vanguard, after going to various battles he usually keeps his allies towards the back as he vanguards faster than he should be. I continue my point with the fact that in several interviews back a reporter had asked about women on the battlefield mentioning Uravity as an example-"
"Your honor that has nothing to do with this!"
The judge held up their hand, "It may not, but I wish to see the point."
The interview clicked on the screen. Katsuki in uniform just finishing the job looking beaten, bloody, and tired. "Sir, sir. A moment please!" The reporter scrambled their way up to him, one of the brave few to dare to approach him. After seeing several reporters draw away from him unless they wanted to make an article about his unnecessary and unhero-like attitude it made him curious and disgusted. The questions he was presented with surprised and intrigued him, he was the last person he would've thought to ask about the political nature of things going on during that time, "Sir, what do you think about female heroes on the battlefield?"
"Huh? What's the point of that question?" He snapped. Katsuki glanced at the video clip playing on the board for the whole courtroom to see, his heart sank. He didn't remember much after that.
The cameraman was shaking, clearly upset by his constant nature, the reporter held their ground a smile growing on their face, "Let me rephrase, what do you think about weaker heroes such as Uravity?"
"Huh? Weaker? Don't base your truths on something you've only heard."
The video cut out. "I don't understand how this relates to the case, your honor!" The other side of the courtroom stated.
His lawyer slammed his hands against the desk, silencing the courtroom, "the only reason Uravity was on the front lines with the other two means that she's acknowledged by both of these heroes in her strength."
Katsuki glanced towards the judge, bags under their eyes. They had grown older, concerned, and scared; like the rest of them.
The other side of the court began to argue again, "As I was saying this child, barely a man yet, is battle-thirsty and constantly the first to throw himself into battle, these decisions were not made with thoughts, they were made on impulses and we sit here today considering if he would do it again. What if it had been a bystander that got hit? How would he know exactly how much heat to use? The scar is likely at least a layer or two deep, what if he had hit one of the villains with such a powerful blast?"
His lawyer motioned to speak again, the judge nodded, "The opposing side wished to portray my client as a battle addict the way a drug addict would beg for the slightest cocaine, am I correct?"
The opposing side glanced towards the judge for permission to speak, "With more professional words I would say you are correct."
The lawyer flipped several pages on the desk, "In turn if you flip to page thirty-six of the report we received from not any of the heroes, villains, or companies, but the medical personnel that arrived at the scene because of several reports of a neighboring ruckus from the concerned campers you will discover that the hero titled 'Deku' is the one standing outside the cave. Now question why that is?" His lawyer paused, letting the information sink in and process in the courtroom. "That is because my client does more than thirst for battle, he thinks. Which is something that everyone in this courtroom should be doing right now. With the three who have been on a constant shift since their appearance being trapped in the courtroom for the world to watch I'm sure the police are running themselves ragged to keep up with every villain, robber, and treacherous deed that has popped into someone's mind."
"Please keep your personally worries out of the courtroom, Lawyer Hendrick."
"Sir, as I was saying, these were not decisions that were made without any thought."
The hero's right's activist lawyer spoke again, "Even if these decisions were made with thought your client had no idea what he was doing and if the hero Uravity developed an infection her life would've plummeted in more danger than it was previously."
His lawyer flipped another two pages, "After checking out of the hospital and into the new firm the hero of explosions, nicknamed explosion for short as he was not very good at picking names, requested additional medical training." His lawyer paused, his voice wasn't a constant raging noise nor was it ravenous, but it felt as though the lawyer understood exactly where to keep the tone, "in the medical training Explosion would occasionally ask questions that seemed off to the professor such as how to check for infections and how to treat burns of all degrees. The professor made sure to report each strange occurrence to the company in turn the company seemed to understand his concerns and requested special supplementary course that would not be available typically to a hero. My client has the medical training and licenses of a high-ranking doctor from one of the most prestigious hospitals in the state."
He glanced towards the other side of the courtroom, huffing their chests, "That was after his mistakes, fearing that he could get backlash."
His lawyer flipped another page, "Of course it was, he's not a stupid man. But most of all, I don't think you recognize this man's personality, he's fiercely overprotective of his previous classmates. And this in his personality is demonstrated all the way back in high school where you will find several reports of him pushing his classmates away and giving them chances to escape when he thought they were really in danger. If Uravity wound up with an infection that was possible his fault he was going to make sure to take care of it."
Katsuki felt himself open his mouth, his nature pouring out ready to deny the accusation, his lawyer continued instead "When this case was first considered being open, the police had managed to get a warrant for a raid by being provided with false information, instead of finding a large drug bust they had been hoping for instead they found a rather large bag of painkillers and various other products that were used to help people with infections, a rather long list of hospitals that treated infection well, our client asleep on a book highlighter in hand, and several paragraphs that were highlighted on how to determine infection and how to cure."
"He had burned the wound shut before this medical knowledge, how do you plan to defend that? Explosion had little medical knowledge and his personality traits are written in his name."
"My client had decided to save Uravity's life with the best of his medical knowledge and judgment, if we refer ourselves to the medical section of evidence B we'll find that the medical staff were surprised at both the lack of injuries on the villains and my client's ability to treat Uraraka's wound, she was unconscious but not dehydrated."
The judge held up a hand silencing the room, "I've heard enough out of the both of you, from my understanding Uravity is here herself." Katsuki felt Uraraka's presence shuffle, she was smart enough not to sit directly behind him, but make sure she was close enough she could hear the actions in the courtroom. "You may come forwards."
Her heels seemed to echo repeatedly through the quiet courtroom, he dreaded having them in here, in the place that took Kirishima from the world. "What is your perspective of this scenario?"
Uraraka took a breath, and in a moment she was no longer goofy Uraraka, she was Uravity. Powerful, strong, and exerting a presence that not many could argue with. "I've known him since we were in high school. Now he doesn't seem that easy to get along with, but he's always thinking, sometimes too much. But this court case isn't about him as I would like to think the room believes currently nor is it about advancing and protecting the rights and laws of heroes. No, this case isn't about either of those things." Uravity kept the judge's eye contact before moving to the person representing the heroes' right's group. "It's about me. If I were angry with him for making this decision I will talk it out with him myself, now I would appreciate if you wouldn't make my heroes license that I fought tooth and nail for less value than a piece of plastic."
A smile cracked on his face, there was no hiding away that this woman was a powerful hero. He had his bets in high school that she would become a great hero one day and he was reaping the money in.
The judge held his hand up nodding, before Uravity took her seat now behind him, where the rest of the audience mostly rubberneckers had been too afraid to sit. "I've made my decision." There was a pause, the judge that was letting Kirishima suffer in jail swept their barren wastelands over him, then glanced at Uravity, and back to the activist group. Which on the contrary to their title was pulling a hero in the court every couple months. Katsuki felt his heart drop unable to comprehend the words that slipped from the judge's mouth, "He's free to go."
An uproar of arguments exploded from the other side of the courtroom as he stared at the floor, he was already preparing a letter to send to his mother, a 'sorry but don't look for me' kind of letter, he couldn't hear anything. It was as though in that moment he had gone Deaf. Not a single word made sense, the irate argument from the activist group or Uraraka tackling the lawyer then excitedly telling him that he was going to be okay.
His ears rang the way they had when he once set an explosion off in a cave. He didn't remember walking out to the flashing lights or Deku moving next to him, his now slightly larger form blocking cameras that were praying for his arrest so they could get the big scoop.
And then he was there, a bottle of whiskey in hand, staring at the county graveyard of the school he had attended. Katsuki let his feet drag him up the hill towards the tomb, brushing it off, dirt and leaves removing themselves with a sweep of his hand. He set the whiskey down along with several other cups in front of the grave, "Here lies Aizawa Shouta, probably still in his sleeping bag."
Katsuki cracked the bottle open pouring two glasses, "I wasn't fucking scared, you know."