BNHA: Dual Fates
Chapter 50: Uncanny encounter
"Mr. Aizawa?" Curious blue eyes met with darker ones as Uviel gradually sat up. Concern was obvious on her face, for she wasn't expecting her own teacher to come in and linger in the doorway.
"While you were unconscious, Kirishima ran to the school and told me about you. I thought you might have been taken control of; I guess not. Go ahead and get back to school, and attend the rest of your classes for the day. Your other teachers already know why you're not there, so there's no need to explain anything," A quick glance was given to Kirishima and the other students, excluding Haru, and the glint in his eyes nearly made them shiver. "Unless you have serious business with Saito and Yukimura, I suggest going back to your classes..." With a moment's pause, he glared at the kids and watched them awkwardly shift their feet, their reluctance only made him activate his quirk to intimidate them.
"I doubt you'd want extra homework tonight, so go back to your classes!" this time with a firm voice, Eijiro and Shinso both nodded with a little bit of unease on their faces and turned to the girls for a minute.
"We'll see you later, okay?" A toothy grin from the darker redhead made Uviel's cheeks burn like crazy, but he wasn't expecting a hesitant hug from the girl and couldn't help but return the favor.
"Okay... I will catch up to you guys soon, I need to ask Mr. Aizawa for permission and I think Har-Har needs to be distracted for a little while," her last words were softened at the mention of her best friend, the pain of seeing her in that state still remained and it only kept the anger inside, not once did it lessen. However, it was more under control now, thanks to her soon-to-be Dad using his quirk to restrain her before.
They all soon nodded and helped Yukimura out of the room, concerned over her well-being was an understatement at this point. They were worried about her mental state, her status as a student, and her lifestyle change after her whole incident. Wani watched as the kids passed him, but followed when he saw that the brunette was being escorted very closely.
That brat, he's trying to get closer! Anger, and envy, the Crocodile growled at the sight of Shinso who was really close to her side and tried to keep her focused on walking. However, a thought came to mind, making a smirk play at his lips and his feet move without hesitance.
Quickly, from behind and with his strong arms, he lifted her up with a swift triumphant grin directed at Hitoshi. "I'll carry her to the school, don't fall too far behind me," amused, dominant, he was when he spoke and couldn't stop his smirk. A challenge has been issued, for he watched a heated glare shoot his way from the violet-haired boy and a confused look on Kirishima's face.
"What are you... Hey-!" before Eijiro could fully speak, with an outstretched hand he reached for the beefy Crock after he sprinted away from them in a rush. "Haha, you're so on!" Now it was his turn to smile, bright and full of energy he raced after them.
Shinso couldn't help but groan and give chase, if anything he hated how Kyoshi was with his attempts to take her away from him. He wasn't kidding about what he said in that store! He'd do anything to get to her... He's too blunt for his own good. His thoughts, full of envy and frustration, echoed.
Back with Uviel, Aizawa never moved from his spot near Kamihara and lifted a curious brow. "Permission?" as calm as ever, he questioned. Now that they were alone, she felt she could ask them without too much trouble getting in the way.
"Yeah. I wanted to know if I could do some in-depth research, on the missing assistant? In my spare time obviously, but, I'd like to try and figure out who they are. The case that was never solved, I want to try and solve it myself," her determined eyes stared into dark ones across the room and carefully watched his expression change, from a bored one, to strict.
"No, I won't allow it. A case that hasn't been solved for years, doesn't mean it lacks the potential to be solved. I can't let a student that's in your kind of situation, delve into a case that could potentially harm you in the future. Whoever hid the evidence of the assistant and covered the case up nearly to perfection, would be a villain with very high skills that you are no match for," dangerous, adamant, Aizawa felt that there was no reason to put her life on the line for an old case that many failed to uncover in the past.
"He's right, Uviel..." This time it was Edgeshot's turn to speak up, for he stepped closer to her and patted her head reassuringly as any father would. "I wouldn't be able to stand the thought of putting you in danger, any more than you're in right now. It'd be best to avoid it altogether and let the pros handle the case," despite the mask hiding most of his face, he gave her a closed-eye smile.
"No! You guys already have too much on your hands... To me- it feels like I could get somewhere with that case and it feels somehow linked, to my past! If it's linked to my past, then it has a lot to do with me! Which means this is my damn case, not anyone else's!" Her hand swung to the side angrily at her soon-to-be dad and ground her teeth. With one glance over her shoulder to Hatsume, a wave of her hand goodbye, she ran past Edgeshot and Shouta.
Just when she was about to turn a corner, a stream of red thread snatched her forearm before she got to leave through the door completely. This surprised her, those blue hues glanced down at her arm, struggling to get it free, and behind her to see Kamihara watching her from the side. "It's our...case now, Uviel. As you've agreed to the idea of me being your father, which I've yet to sign any papers for, this would be considered my case as well. You are not to go about this alone, not while I'm going to be your guardian. I'm going to make sure you're safe... So, be patient. Remember what I taught you during our internship. Wait, for me to have some spare time so we can solve it together," hesitance, was what he saw in her, for he watched her avert her gaze and spent a few minutes pondering on his words until a simple nod was given. She certainly wasn't expecting him to call her by her first name, but she failed to remember that he'll be her Dad soon so it'd only make sense.
~~~Elsewhere~~~
"Two people... Are going to investigate it now? Saito and Edgeshot, eh? I'm also surprised that the girl, Hatsume, survived," lights from a lot of screens shone against his face, exposing his sharp teeth and red cybernetic eyes. Despite the light in front of him, his face was still barely exposed thanks to the shadows, however, it was clear that annoyance caused his frown and slight anger filled his gaze.
Behind him in the dark shadows of the room, stood the same villain who ambushed the pinky. His straight, robotic stare, remained glued to the other man's backside, and waited for him to say something. "Heatwave... Visit Hatsume, in the hospital," without hesitance, the villain shifted his feet with a nod and left through the blackness of the room; his glowing features nearly lighting up the path as he did so.
It was hard for the mysterious man to not grin at his plan, for he knew that Heatwave would know when to wait for a chance to strike. "Now- let's see if there's anything I can do, to delay their investigation!~" With a tap of his glowing red fingertip to his chin, slowly his hand rose and snapped it against another finger. Although the snap sounded more metallic than anything else, nonetheless two silhouettes still came over to his side.
"Go distract those two and lure them away from Hatsume's room. If she's looking for answers to the case, let's give her something to think about," Maniacal laughter soon echoed throughout the dark room as the two strange figures shifted in the blackness and left.
~~~Uviel~~~
"I guess... I'll head to school then. When we meet at my house later, do you wanna chill on Stargazers before searching for info?" A little awkward through her quiet voice, she asked and peeked at the awesome ninja with hopeful eyes.
"Sure. I'll be away for a while though, I have some matters to attend to. I'd love to join you, too, I'll even bring over my console tonight and plug it up," With a gentle nod of his head and approving gray eyes, she could tell he smiled warmly since his cheeks rose and his eyes gave off a fatherly stare.
"Okay, cool," a small smile soon replaced her frown and overridden the awkwardness she felt. It was a fact that he'd be busy since he's a pro hero and that he was just given tasks, so she expected him to say that. Regardless, deep down, she was very grateful that he was going to spend time with her on Stargazers. The girl knew she needed to relax and kick some crack for a while, as mentioned beforehand.
With that said, the cybergirl left the three alone with Hatsume, who watched the whole display as though she were an audience watching a drama. Later, as minutes passed and they conversed a bit more about the villainous hacker, Aizawa decided to go back to the school as well and check on his own hacker.
Back at the Academy, when the teacher walked through the door, he was awestruck by the sight of pieces of the dark-clothed man's computer all over the table and on the floor. "What... Happened?" his dumbstruck words reached his ears. He couldn't even guess what happened and his gaze went from the pieces to the hacker standing behind the table.
"My- computer literally exploded. I lost all access to your student and not much later a virus relentlessly infected my PC and made it overheat. I don't think I need to explain the shattered pieces," His aquamarine eyes soon moved to the floor and saw the metal shards that littered around his feet. "This has never happened to me before," lastly he spoke with his gaze meeting Shouta's, in hopes of receiving an answer.
"It must've happened when she woke up. The villain must be far more skilled than we thought if they're able to overheat and explode your computer... Do you perhaps have a spare drive of some kind, a copy to what you had on that?" questioned Aizawa, as he stepped closer and replaced his astonished face with a relaxed one.
"Yes, luckily. It's back at my house, I'll come back tomorrow with a spare laptop and see what I can do, it seems I underestimated this person," with a quick adjustment of his glasses, he stepped away and gave him a swift bow before he left.
"Underestimated? He made it sound like he held back. Huh, I guess even hackers can be arrogant," Aizawa nearly shook his head at the thought and sighed. All he wanted was progress, but to him, it felt like they were getting nowhere.
His hand lifted to pull the scarf over his nose, it was difficult to steel his nerves when a child's life was on the line and many others. Why do I have a feeling something bad is going to happen? His thoughts, full of concern, echoed, for his gut kept screaming at him that danger was afoot but his duties at school were unavoidable.
Alas, he left the room and continued his way back to his classes, as he wondered if both of his other students made it back unharmed.
~~~Uviel~~~
"Kamihara? I- I mean... Shinya?" Saito's quiet, hesitant voice, reached the pro ninja's ears as they strode down a sidewalk and made their way to the school. A simple, questioning hum indicated that he was listening and didn't even peek up at him to notice his attention on her. "I sort of forgot... After sleeping for so long, her throat must be very dry. I'm going to run back real quick and buy her a drink," considerate, she was, she didn't want Hatsume to feel as though everyone just up and left without care; so with a halt in her step, she gave Kage a contemplative stare.
"I'm going to hitch a ride, can you take me back to the hospital real quick?" It was as if she was asking permission from a selfless robot, she asked despite the fact that he's meant to be her friend and serve.
Many minutes later, she and her idol hero both reached the front of the hospital once more. However, at some point, she had bought a drink on their way since a grocery bag dangled from her wrist and the soda can sloshed lightly. "It'll only be a bit, I'll be right back," With a simple wave of her hand and a reassuring smile, she slid off of Kage's slick body.
"Alright, I'll stay with your robot then," His words reached Uviel from the short distance, and soon his own thoughts returned to their debate over the drink. Why didn't she buy her flavored water? It'd be more sustaining than soda. She'd be more dried out than she is already. The hum he let out, was laced with disappointment before he shook his head, at his own monologue. Though, something caught his eyes, which lit up with astonishment at seeing two strangely, rotted, citizens walk up to the cybergirl's side.
Just when her foot was about to go up some steps to the front doors, a voice made her pause and her breath skip. "Hunny?" Kind, worried, sweet, soft, it was a woman's voice to her left, and when those blue hues peeked at her...
She felt as though her whole world had stopped turning. In shock, she was, her own pupils shrunk at the sight of an auburn-haired woman with rotted skin and dead-looking, icy blue eyes. Next to her was a man, whose dark blue eyes, much like her own, had formed a sick grin on his dead expression. He too was decayed, a lot of their bones showed through and their hair was disheveled, they were both dead.
They were killed... They were killed! They're dead, right in front of my eyes! No, they can't be, they can't! Disbelief, astonished, dumbfounded, confusion, there could be many ways to describe the amount of unease and uncertainty in her heart at that moment. She had frozen in place and was too shaken to so much as speak; so much so that even the grocery bag in her hand had slipped from her fingers.
~~~Yukimura~~~
In class, where everyone returned and sat in their seats, Haru watched Aizawa go over the details of the next test for the upcoming week. After a while, he finally finished up and she heard him sigh near his desk, with the sound of stacked papers tapping against its surface.
Worried would be an understatement right now, even though she calmed down a bit since her meltdown in the hospital, she still couldn't help but feel concerned for her best friend's tardiness. Why isn't she here yet? She's never been late like this before. Her thoughts resonated as her lips tightened into a frown and not once did those blind hues look up towards Shouta.
A motion nearby, a few seats away, she knew by the smell and the subtle raise of his arm that it was Izuku. "Yes, Midoriya?" Tired, the Teacher questioned with a light yawn and put the stack of papers inside one of his drawers.
"Where's Saito? She hasn't returned, yet? I'm worried that something might've happened," a single bead of sweat stuck to the side of his face as he lowered his hand, pure concern was evident in his eyes.
"Max... Call UV-Ray," Just before Aizawa could speak, everyone's heads turned towards Haru who lifted her phone up to her lips and turned the speaker on.
"Yukimura, no phones are allowed in class unless it's for an emergency," The Teacher's now strict stare was directed at the brunette. Everyone could hear the phone ringing over and over after Max responded with a, 'Of course, right away', line.
It was eerily quiet, the longer it rang, the more anticipation grew and Ochaco rose from her seat the minute the ringing finally stopped. 'Your call has been forwarded to an automated voice-' before her phone could continue, with a shadow masking her blind hues, she redialed and heard it ring again.
"Mister Aizawa! We need to go find her! I agree with Izuku, something's not right!" With both hands slammed onto her desk, her chair scooted back and a determination shone brightly in her brown eyes.
"I'll search for her after class is over..." For a moment's pause, he trailed off and glanced back over at the blind student, concern began to fill his mind the longer she let it ring. "Yukimura, turn that off-" Abruptly he was cut off, the second her words overran his and venom could be heard in her voice.
"She's not picking up. She always- picks up, my calls," without another word, from the chair she stood and bolted out of the door with still yet, her phone ringing.
Aizawa frowned, for he knew that they were very tight friends and that Haru wouldn't lie about something like that. So, with his stern gaze now on the rest of the students, he sighed and gave them approval. "Go ahead, class dismissed," As if on cue, everyone, surprisingly even Bakugou, ran out of the room and left him alone behind his desk.
From a pocket his own phone was pulled out, so he could call someone and it was none other than Principal Nezu. With a friendly 'hello' on the other end, he didn't hesitate to state what he needed. "Sir... There's a situation. Saito may be in danger, I don't know Edgeshot's number so I was hoping you could give him a call instead," A hum in acknowledgment came from his lips after he heard the Principal's voice and soon, after a couple of minutes of talking, he ended the call; he made sure to give details of the situation during their short conversation.