Chapter 9: Prelude to Disaster
Bakugo sat in the first seat on the bus and immediately pulled his phone out. Others were filing in, some taking the bench seats, others heading for the back. He didn't miss the way Sato and Koda glanced at him before walking right on by. If they were still sore about his victory, that wasn't really his problem.
He was just beginning to think he might be lucky enough to have some extra space when their class rep and her friend stopped in front of him.
"Excuse me, Asui," Their class rep asked, "could you move over please?"
"Call me Tsu," the girl croaked and shuffled over.
"Thank you, Tsu, I'll try to remember." Melissa gave the girl a smile and sat down next to her. Then Midoriya sat down next to him. They exchanged a glance and Bakugo returned to his phone, trying not to think too hard about him.
There was something about the guy that made him anxious, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. His attitude didn't help, in every Heroics course they'd been in he wore a smug smile.
At least Ojiro had been able to wipe it off his face during the battle trial, but it had returned even though he lost. And he couldn't have been the only one who noticed All Might taking a long moment before confirming that Midoriya had been captured, far longer than he did when calling Sato and Koda's captures. And while his own victories had been decisive, it wasn't like Tail was struggling to keep Midoriya pinned.
No. There was something else there, he could feel it. But what could it be and why it's importance eluded him.
And that just pissed him off.
Trying to piece it together without more information would just irritate him more, so he did his best to ignore him for the moment, along with the rest of the idle chatter. He was doing a fairly good job when Tsu spoke up, "I've been thinking of something. Melissa, that power of yours, isn't it a lot like All Might's?"
There was a pause as they waited for a response. Bakugo subtly sat up straighter as the moment dragged on, noticing how still the class rep was.
And then Kirishima had to ruin it, by drawing attention away from her, "Wait, hold on Tsu, you're forgetting that All Might doesn't cover himself in electricity. That makes a huge difference." He leaned forward on the opposite bench looking at Melissa, "Still, I bet it's cool to have a simple augmenting type of quirk. You can do a lot of flashy stuff with it. My hardening is super strong and can destroy bad guys in a fight, but it doesn't look all that impressive."
It was the break Melissa needed, "You shouldn't look at it that way, Kirishima, it'll be amazing if you need to protect civilians."
Kirishima abashedly ran a hand through his hair, "Thanks, that means a lot."
Aoyama looked ready to speak up when Iida leaned forward, looking curious, "I don't mean to pry, but you do know All Might."
Melissa blushed slightly, "My father was All Might's sidekick when he first started in America. I've known him since I was a child."
Midoriya snorted, "Oh don't hold back Melissa, they'll figure it out eventually." She turned and gave him a look, but he didn't seem to care, "It looks like it's his quirk because she's All Might's secret love child." The blood drained from their class rep's face as all conversations ceased at once. Out of the corner of his eye, Bakugo was sure that even Aizawa-sensei sat up a little straighter.
A smile spread across Midoriya's lips, "Yup, David Shield is her father and All Might is her mother."
There was a pause, and the class began to pelt him with whatever they could throw. The smug grin never left his face though, even when a pencil smacked him in the cheek.
But Bakugo didn't really pay attention to that. Instead, he watched the look of relief flash across Melissa's face before she gave her friend a dope slap.
Momo squirmed as she watched Midoriya get pelted by detritus. If she trusted her voice at all, she'd ask them to stop, but she didn't. Since getting on the bus everything had gotten too real. She couldn't help but look around at the rest of the class, the people she was betraying.
The fact that she was walking into the same trap as them was no comfort.
She swallowed the hard knot in her throat and grasped at the linked rings that connected the top of her costume. She had to remember why she was doing this. She didn't have a choice, her parents' lives were on the line. All for One had shown her what would happen to her parents if she didn't help him.
But here and now she was surrounded by her classmates who would be hurt, or worse, killed. She was weighing the lives of her parents against them. It was all she could do to keep herself from vomiting.
Uraraka placed a hand on her shoulder, one finger raised to avoid removing her gravity, "Are you okay?"
Momo cringed.
Was she really so obvious? How would she avoid suspicion if she couldn't hide her emotions? She steeled herself and looked over at her seatmate, "Just an upset stomach, breakfast didn't agree with me." The partial truth helped her tell the lie, she had barely been able to eat anything at all since Aizawa had offered up the opportunity All for One was looking for.
Uraraka's eyes widened, "I have just the thing," She flipped open a small compartment on her belt and pulled out a bottle of pink medicine, "my quirk can give me an upset stomach, so I keep something with me to help." She unsealed it and poured some into the small plastic cup that came with it before passing it over, "It works great, just give it a few minutes."
"Thank you," Momo murmured miserably, accepting the medicine and contorting her lips into a smile. This was a girl she was endangering, whose life was at grave risk all because of her. Her hand threatened to tremble as she brought the pink concoction to her lips and she drank it down before she could spill it.
"If it doesn't get better, you should talk to Aizawa-sensei." Uraraka leaned in conspiratorially, "Trust me, throwing up in a bathroom is much less embarrassing than in front of everyone."
Tell Aizawa? The idea flitted through her mind before letting it go again. She couldn't. He'd stop the bus, and they would never arrive. All for One would know why, and her parents would die knowing she'd betrayed them.
She couldn't stop this, not now.
She just had to hope that her classmates were as talented as they were kind.
Toshinori's phone buzzed again and he had to restrain himself from pulling over and checking it immediately. Skipping even one call was anathema to him, and this was the third. Instead, he gritted his teeth and kept driving. If it were a true emergency, the police would call, so it was probably just another low-rank villain alert.
It still rankled, but he had to trust that other heroes would handle it. He simply couldn't go haring off after every two-bit villain anymore. One for All was getting harder and harder to hold onto, he could feel it slipping through his fingers like fine grains of sand, and it had only gotten harder since passing on his quirk to Melissa. He no longer had the time to act in the field and function as a teacher.
He was reminded, not for the first time, of what Mirai had told him. One way or another his time as the Symbol of Peace was coming to an end. Society needed someone ready to take up the mantle, and that meant he had to prepare Melissa to succeed him. She had the mind for it, and the attitude for it, and she was picking up One for All quicker than he'd hoped possible.
Of course, she'd been very good at picking up quirks. That had been a deciding factor in choosing her. Her time with Izuku, and the quirks he passed to her, her father's, his mother's, the quirks he'd taken during the incident… She showed remarkable skill in understanding them, even more so than Izuku himself did at times.
Even still, she needed proper Heroics training. It hadn't been available on I-Island, though David had set up a number of robots for her to train with (Izuku too, as much as it had frustrated him at the time). She was getting stronger every day, just as he was getting weaker. But strength alone didn't make a hero. She had to learn how to properly protect and rescue civilians.
Izuku would too if he intended on staying in the hero course.
Thankfully the boy was putting in more effort since the battle trial, but Aizawa had all but said that he was still on thin ice. If he didn't take rescue work seriously, he'd be out. Of course, he'd said that right before inquiring why Izuku had thrown his battle trial match, so the boy wasn't the only one on his homeroom teacher's shit list.
He sighed and pulled into the USJ's parking lot.
Author's Notes: So, walking into the USJ, but with All Might there with time to spare? That should change things a fair bit, I think. And unlike the canon traitor, Momo looks almost ready to crack. Poor girl, having her parents kidnapped and All for One using her as a puppet. It should prove interesting.
Also, I do so love making Izuku a troll. It is very fun.
I've got some longer projects I'm working on so I've slowed down the pace on this quite a bit, but I am still working on it. Some my be pleased by what else I'll be putting out soon enough.
