6. CRACK
One year has passed since Midoriya Izuku had been declared missing. The worry and stress the fact had brought mostly died down, many people simply moving on with their lives and some even forgetting this child had even vanished in the first place.
Bakugou Katsuki hates everyone. That's not news.
He scoffs at the thought of even living in this neighborhood, where the person he knew as 'Deku' had been forgotten, his disappearance a passing shower in their lives. Not his.
UA Academy. He had taken the Hero Course and magnificently passed with the highest scores on the entrance exam. He now has the opportunity to achieve what had been his childhood dream (and Deku's), to become the number one hero. He's already been in this school for a while, and he's actually pretty confident in his progress. Mock battles and Quirk tests were cool things they usually didn't get to do because of the police. He was glad he came to UA.
Bakugou Katsuki may not admit it, but another reason had emerged. Another reason he wants to become a strong hero, a hero that can do everything other people can't.
Deku, he doesn't let it get to his face, struggling to keep up a poker face. His fists clench.
I swear I'll find you.
And like, throw a punch in your face or something.
"Deku,"
Said boy looks up at the call, temporarily forgetting the little birds he had been feeding. "Yes?"
Over the year with the Villain Organisation, Deku had gotten a little taller, his hair had grown a little longer. His eyes looked a little tired, eyes sagging in dark bags. He now had three quirks, none of a combat-efficient quirk, and receiving these quirks had caused his complexion to look a little pale and his body a little on the thin side. But now, he was much more of a lively, happy child than he believed he could've been.
Shigaraki signals for the boy in a come here motion, "I got an idea," he said, "and I need your help."
"Sure!" Deku brushed off invisible dust from his pants, standing up quickly, his face stuck on his ever-present smile as he skipped over. "I'll do it!"
"I haven't said anything yet." Shigaraki sighed.
"BRING OUT ALL MIGHT!" a reporter yelled, pointing a microphone at the two teachers, "HE'S GOTTA BE IN THERE SOMEWHERE!"
"We told you, he's off duty!" Professional Hero Present Mic spoke up.
"JUST ONE COMMENT AND WE'LL QUIETLY LEAVE!" another added, speaking over the first teacher.
"And when we give you one, you'll ask for another and another. It's always like that. No means no." Eraser Head groaned.
Both Heroes were entirely helpless to the situation- as adept to fighting as they were these were civilians who hadn't the permit to use their quirks freely, so if the Heroes used their Quirks to intimidate them, they would just get scorns and false, exaggerated headlines that may ruin their career in return. It was a smart choice, but they had no idea when the police would arrive to deal with this mess-
Deku pulled his hood over his head. Something that gave him a casual, normal everyday citizen look. He followed the crowd of pressinto school grounds, subtly separating and drifting to the back of school. He had memorized the map- there was an emergency exit around herethat was used for evacuations. The door could be opened from the outside with a card identification or a top secret Password. The Password was 9116438129493728.
He easily slipped in. The students are-
They were crowded around the exit of the cafeteria. The alarms in UA Academy had probably gone off while they were eating. The alarms had last gone off in three years, Izuku remembers the notes he's read, because it means that something infiltrated and it was out of the teachers' control.
Izuku acted natural. He walked with slightly lifted steps to where he remembered the records archive were.
Deku sifted through the most recent records.
He flipped through All Might's schedule, springing the pages so he'd waste no time catching a glimpse of each page. His Hyperthymesia locked onto each page clearly, implanting itself somewhere in Deku's mind as he went through file after file of each Teacher's data.
Class 1-A. Deku views each page quickly, his face locked in a neutral, unreadable expression as his mind processes the information at the speed of light.
The noise outside was dying down, but he didn't notice.
"Deku," a voice spoke through his earphones, "Deku, Deku, DEKU!"
He finally noticed the sound. "Girigiri?" he asked.
"The police are here. Get out of there."
"Kay," he replies. He put the files back exactly where he found them, taking a bit of time as some were too high up the shelf. He begins mumbling. Mumbling at a low volume, but Kurogiri on the other end of the phone could make out that he was talking about the information he had just gathered. He spoke out the names of each teacher, their hero title, their quirk and year of service, then proceeded to the students, their quirks, their physical records and- he abruptly stopped.
"Giri, get me a portal." he said.
"There's some interference over there. The most I can make is big enough for maybe a hand." Kurogiri explained, understanding that Deku being hasty meant something unusual.
"That's enough. Take the phone. I'll follow the crowd out of UA." He said, pulling off his earphones.
Kurogiri sighed. No further explanation? Okay, then. He created a portal, barely enough for the phone that was quickly tossed through it along with the earphones. "Be back soon." he managed to tell the boy.
Deku had picked up a pencil from the table and scribbled on a piece of sticky note. He made a simple little sketch of- himself, hood and all. He then reached for an eraser. He erased the whole drawing and drew a cat over it. He huffed and said, "Alter!"
The sticky note glowed, the strikes of the pencil emitting a low light, then Deku exploded (not really, there wasn't like a huge BOOM or anything) into white smoke. The smoke quickly dissipated, and Deku was now replaced by a black cat.
Quirk: Alteration
The user can change his initial appearance, according to his imagination and the accuracy of his drawing.
He meowed. He jumped up to the table, pulled the sticky note out and swallowed it- gotta get rid of any evidence he was ever here. He jumped out the window, to the balcony, and made his merry way down to the ground. He couldn't do this to get in because he needed the communication device with him. He could change his appearance, but things like phones and all can't be included in his Alteration.
He bumps into a certain man on the way out.
A raggedy man, looking very tired and exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was buried in a strange white scarf around his neck.
"Eh? Even a cat got in?"
Oh, Deku realized, it's Eraser Head. The underground hero. Real name Aizawa Shouta. He has the quirk to erase someone's quirk by looking at them, but- Deku the cat felt himself get picked up by the scruff and placed on an arm as the man walked in a certain direction, bringing the cat.
"Man, what some annoying trouble." Eraser Head mumbles, walking the cat out of the school and placing it on the ground. "Go on now. Shoo."
Deku meowed with a bright smile, as if he was saying thanks! and did as told. He walked as a cat all the way back to the bar.
No hero noticed a villain sneaking through their records that day.
The heroes knew something was up. The so-called UA Barrier which always kept reporters at bay had been utterly destroyed, a feat no civillian reporter could really make. If they could, they wouldn't be working as a reporter!
"Do you think-"
"Yeah," Principal Nedzu clarifies, his super-intelligent brain telling him that there was no more answer, "Someone instigated this."
"Has some element of evil penetrated the grounds, perhaps?"
"Perhaps, this was intended as a declaration of war."