Chapter 5 - Warning

The next time he awoke, Tomo was in a bed. He tried to remember the last thing that happened to him but all he could remember was intense pain. His entire body and mind just felt weak. He winced in pain.

"Oh, are you awake?" the voice of an old lady spoke to him. "How are you feeling?"

Tomo turned to the voice and carefully opened his eyes. The light from the window was blinding enough to make him shut them again.

"Oh, sorry. Let me fix that," the voice continued. He heard the drawing of curtains and tried opening his eyes again. "Better?"

When he finally regained his vision, Tomo saw UA's Recovery Girl looking at him. He opened his mouth to answer her question but all that came out was a harsh and painful croak.

"Your throat has been quite damaged. And you suffered from quite a lot of cuts and stabs. None of it was serious though, thank goodness," Recovery Girl explained. "I would recommend resting your voice for a while."

Tomo nodded.

Recovery Girl handed him a tablet for communication. "Is my sister okay?" was the first thing he wrote.

"She's fine and waiting outside for you along with the rest of your family to wake up," the nurse replied.

Tomo mentally sighed in relief. He wrote on the tablet again. "What happened at the USJ?"

Recovery Girl sighed sadly. "It's more like what didn't happen? Your class was attacked at the USJ by villains. From what I learned, the students were scattered around the area and forced to fight against villains. All Might even ended up sustaining injuries from one of them. Luckily, no one was too severely injured. You and your classmate Midoriya seemed to suffer the worst."

Tomo nodded, temporarily putting aside the fact that he had no idea which one of his classmates was Midoriya, and the fact that All Freaking Might got injured. He would get those details later when his body didn't feel like he just ran a marathon. Then, on the tablet, he wrote, "What happened to me?"

"That's the big question dearie," Recovery Girl replied. "No one knows what happened to you. All I know is you went missing after it was all over when the teachers did a headcount. Then, one of the officers heard screaming from inside one of the zones when she was investigating and found a visible half of your body, injured and barely conscious, by a building. You can only imagine how relieved we were to see that you weren't abducted but also frightened at the state you were in."

Tomo nodded. "I," he paused his typing as he tried to think. "I don't remember much. Sorry."

"It's alright dearie. We'll talk to you later when you're feeling better. For now, you should rest up while it's still daytime. We can talk more after sunset. Drink this here to help soothe your throat. I'll let your family know you're awake but about to rest."

Tomo nodded again and took a sip of the strange, yet soothing liquid before laying back down on his bed. He fell into a dreamless sleep within a few seconds.

His body's natural clock woke him up right before sunset.

"Tomo?"

Tomo looked to his right to see his mom's worried expression looking at him. Toru's floating clothes sat in another chair next to their mom and Miyu was curled up against her arm asleep.

"Hey, Mom, Toru," Tomo croaked. His voice was still hoarse, but much better than it was before his nap. He was engulfed in a hug immediately.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright," Fuyuko spoke with so much fear in her voice as she choked a sob. "When they told me you went missing… I…"

She ran a comforting hand through Tomo's hair. Tomo felt the sadness and worry radiate from his mother's body. "I t-thought it was Toru all over again. I didn't want a repeat of what happened with her and your father. A-And then to hear that one of my babies was injured…"

The sounds of quiet sniffles joined their mom's sobs. Toru looked like she wanted to join in on their family hug but couldn't because of their little sister using her arm as a pillow. A small nudge of her arm was all it took to wake Miyu up. She looked around sleepily, then, never one to miss out on a hug, immediately joined in on the family hug even if she didn't fully realize what was going on.

The sound of the door opening interrupted their moment. All four heads turned to see a doctor walk into the room. "Excuse me for interrupting the family moment but I'd like to run a final check on Tomo before we can clear him for discharge."

"Of course," Fuyuko replied, wiping her tears away as she got up. "Come on girls, let's go out and buy your brother and ourselves some food."

"Okay!" Miyu exclaimed with energy like she didn't just wake up from a nap. The cheery innocence in her voice helped raise the mood of the room a little bit. "Can we eat something nice? Please? Just one time!"

"Maybe just for today," Fuyuko declared with a small smile. "Come on, let's go,"

"Yay! I want a burger! And fries! With a drink! And a toy!" Miyu jumped up twice in excitement.

"Okay," Toru replied at the same time. Before she left the room, she turned to Tomo with a wave. "Talk to you later."

Tomo waved back and then looked at the doctor, who began inspecting him. After several quick tests, the doctor spoke up, "Everything seems to be fine with your body but we would like you to stay overnight, just in case something happens with your Quirk. You should be fine to leave tomorrow morning."

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, Tomo was ready to leave the hospital with his mom and sisters only to be stopped by the police.

"We need Tomo here to come to the station with us for some questioning and to give his account of the events from two days ago. Sorry," one of the officers told them sympathetically.

Fuyuko shrugged. "Nothing we can do about that, I guess. Very well, we'll go with you and wait until you're finished. Then, we can go home."

Some time later, Tomo was taken into a small room with a single table and two chairs in it. A tall man in a tan overcoat walked in.

"Hello, I am Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. I have been charged with leading this investigation on the attack. I just want your story on how the attack went for you. This is something we've already asked all of your classmates. It's just to get a complete story with all the details. First of all, how are you? Are you feeling okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Tomo replied without much conviction.

"Alright, can you tell me, at your own pace, what happened during the attack. Let me know if anything becomes too hard or uncomfortable to recount."

Tomo nodded. "Um, I was with my class. A bunch of villains appeared in the facility. The portal guy blocked our escape and I assume he scattered a bunch of us throughout the facility. I was in the Squall Zone. It's the one with the rain and everything. Seven guys…no, villains, were waiting for me…" he paused.

The detective chose to not say anything and continued to look at Tomo patiently.

"Uh," Tomo continued. "I think they weren't waiting for me specifically. They seemed disappointed that I was the only one sent to them. And the details get a bit fuzzy for me here. I remember that I fought them but I don't remember how the battle went. I won, I guess. I do remember them saying they wanted to kill me and then find my other classmates to kill, so I couldn't just run away and hide. They weren't strong enough to put much of a scratch on me, I think. And then… I think that's the last thing I remember."

Tsukauchi nodded at him. "I see. Thank you for telling me that. It clears up a lot of the assumptions we made and clears up some of the holes in our information. Were none of your classmates with you?"

Tomo shook his head. "Not that I was aware of. I think I was the only one."

"Okay. I'm sorry to hear that you were put in such a situation that required you to use such… force to protect yourself. I promise you we'll find the ones responsible for this and bring them to justice."

Tomo looked at the detective confusedly. Wait. They didn't catch the ones responsible? And why did he put so much emphasis on the word force? He decided to raise a finger to interrupt him, "Is there something else you're not telling me?"

The detective paused for a few seconds before nodding slowly. "You said you don't remember many of the details of your fight with the villains?"

"Yeah?"

"Hm. Are you sure?"

That made Tomo pause. A growing feeling of dread filled his stomach. "What? Why? Did something happen that I should be remembering?"

Tsukauchi slid his board across the table towards Tomo. "Do you recognize this man?"

Tomo looked at the picture. It was a picture of a blue person with many nonhuman-like features. A mutant type. He shook his head.

"This man is one of the villains we arrested after the attack. Currently, he is in Musutafu General Hospital for Villains. The reason he is there is due to excessive blood loss from losing both of his arms. They were found nearby his body, cut cleanly off. Are you sure none of this rings a bell?"

"O-Oh," Tomo said weakly. The dread he was feeling was getting stronger and stronger. "Now that I look at him, I think I do remember fighting him. His Quirk… let him turn raindrops into sharp needles?"

Tsukauchi nodded. "That does match with the data we have on him in our database. Okay, Hagakure, I'm going to be more direct with you. While we completely understand that you students were acting in self-defense, this…" he gestured towards the villain's picture, "...this was too much. I know you are new to the world of heroes and this situation was highly unfair to you. But… excessive force is something heroes are forbidden by law from engaging in. Heroes do not maim and heroes do not kill. These are two among the many fundamental rules of hero society. We understand that sometimes, there is no choice but to do those things, but in your own words, the villains were not strong enough to justify excessive force." He paused to let the information sink in.

Excessive force? I… ripped his arms off? I don't even remember doing that. It must have been when I gave in to Total Darkness. "Oh," was all Tomo managed to say in response.

"Once again, I am very sorry to be having this conversation with you. It is totally unfair to you since you are a victim in the attack. However, if you really want to be a hero, this is something that cannot happen again."

Tomo's eyes widened.

"We won't be punishing you. Consider this your only warning. If you are ever found using excessive force, or worse, on a villain ever again, you will be barred from UA's hero course, and any hero course across Japan, and forbidden from getting a hero license. Do you understand?"

Tomo could do nothing but nod weakly.

"The only reason you are warned and not immediately banned from the hero course is because you have been the victim of extremely unfortunate circumstances and because you are only quite literally a week into your education. We will trust UA to guide you and your classmates towards being what society expects a hero to be. But remember, one warning is all you are getting. Quirks are powerful, yours especially. Using it to fight villains is a privilege only allowed to a highly select few people in our society. That is why UA's hero course is so selective and that is why getting a hero license is even more selective. If you want to be one of those select few people, you will have to learn just how far you can go with your powers to dispense justice."

Tomo nodded again.

"One last thing. According to our files, your Quirk prevents you from properly sleeping at night?"

"Yes, sir," Tomo replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, is there a reason you don't use any Quirk suppressing drug or any other sedative to remedy this?"

Tomo looked at the detective with narrowed eyes. I actually do mind. Is he even allowed to ask that? Do I have to answer him? What does this have to do with anything?

"There is a reason and it is personal and I would rather not share it if it is not relevant to your case," Tomo eventually responded.

Tsukauchi nodded. "Fair enough. I am only asking because we believe it to be related to your… outburst against the villain. Your family's history with your Quirk is a point of concern for us. If your Quirk poses a threat to yourself or those around you, then it is important to have that information shared so that we can provide you with the relevant resources. If you cannot sleep at night because it is just a byproduct of your Quirk, then fair. However, if there is some other, more dangerous reason, then it is a valid point of concern for us."

"Darkness... speaks to me," Tomo answered quietly. "It whispers to me from the shadows and sleeping at night..." He trailed off, not wanting to say the next words aloud.

"Sleeping at night…?" Tsukauchi pressed.

Tomo gulped, not liking where this was going. "Sleeping at night makes me afraid that I'll give in to its desires and act under its control. So I stay awake at night to control it."

The detective nodded as if that's what he expected. "I see. So it wouldn't be a far reach to say giving into Darkness is what led you to ripping the arms off the villain?"

Tomo grew angry. "It was in self defense! That's a law, right?! I didn't see any other way to decisively end the battle without wasting more time. I didn't know if he would get more backup or if my other classmates needed help."

"So, you're telling me, at the first sign of a struggle, you decided that the only way to win your fight was to rip the man's arms off?"

Tomo almost screamed "YES!" before he realized the point Tsukauchi was making. He slumped in his chair in defeat.

"The reasons you gave were totally valid. That is why you are getting off with only a warning. By the look on your face, I think you realize why we have to warn you, though, correct?"

Tomo nodded, eyes trained on the table in front of him. He knew what to say and didn't really want to say it, but he did anyway. "I shouldn't have been so fast to decide to maim him. A hero wouldn't do that. I should have just punched him unconscious or something. And I will work harder to get my Quirk under control so I won't do anything I regret. I am sorry."

Tsukauchi gave him a sympathetic smile. "That is why you go to hero school. That will be all. You are free to go."

"T-Thank you," Tomo said as he got up and left the room. Everything about that conversation frustrated him.

Toru stuck around in the living room of their home with Tomo longer than usual that night. Their mom and little sister were already asleep in their rooms while the twins lounged around lazily on the couch. The silence between them was a familiar and comfortable one. Toru was watching some pre-Quirk era superhero movie while Tomo browsed the Internet on his phone.

"Hey, Tomo?"

"Hm?"

"Were you scared?" Toru's voice rang out quietly. The question was asked nonchalantly but her voice was so vulnerable that Tomo put down his phone to look at her.

"Not much for myself. I was concerned about you and everyone else though," he replied honestly.

There was a long pause after his comment.

"I was scared," she admitted after a while. "I got lucky that Todoroki took out all the villains around us by himself but… they wanted to kill us, Tomo. How could you not get scared at that? A group of grown ups wanted to kill us. We're just a bunch of kids. We haven't even done anything to them."

Tomo nodded slowly, seeing her point. "All the more reason to get stronger. I'm not letting myself or anyone I care about be taken down by villains. Villains like that can't scare us if we're stronger than they are. That's why we're at UA, right?"

Toru sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if this whole hero thing is even worth it if this is the world we're signing up for. How strong can I get and defend myself when my Quirk just turns me invisible? I'm still just a normal teenage girl outside of that."

"Toru, look at me." The collar of her t-shirt turned to face him. "You can do it. Learning how to be a hero and getting strong enough to protect the ones we love. UA will show us how to do both those things. That's why we chose this school, right? I'm sure you'll find a way to improve. And if not for yourself, then for Mom and Miyu, okay?"

"For Mom and Miyu…" Toru repeated the mantra, testing the words on her tongue. Then, she added, "For Dad, too."

Tomo gave her a sad, knowing smile. "For Dad, too."

The quietness in the air after that felt heavy and suffocating.

"And besides," Tomo continued in a lighter tone. "I'm sure we can figure out a way to get you stronger. Physical training would be the first logical step so maybe it's time to hit the gym? Start looking up All Might's workout routine."

"Of course All Might is the first one you would mention. There is no way that All Might's workout routine can apply to me! Have you seen him? And have you seen me?" Toru replied in protest while holding up an invisible arm to flex her nonexistent muscles.

Tomo smirked. "No, I actually can't see you. Who knows? Maybe you're already jacked and hiding it from me."

Toru groaned more out of obligation than annoyance at his joke. Tomo knew she loved invisible jokes.

"Hey, I really do believe in you," he continued with a bit more seriousness. "I think you can do it. And when have I ever been wrong?"

"I can think of many, many, many, many times," Toru replied with a huff.

"Ouch, I was just trying to help... Fine, if not All Might, then how about Mirko's workout routine?"

Toru groaned, a small smile was audible from the way she spoke. "Tomo, can you really imagine me looking like Mirko? Just an invisible jacked girl knocking out villains in a single punch? But at least Mirko has her Quirk to give her strength! What do I have?! The element of surprise? Maybe?"

Tomo chuckled at the image. "A punch you aren't prepared for can really hurt!"

Toru hummed. "That's a start, I guess. But I still can't ever reach Mirko or All Might levels of strength. Can you imagine yourself training that hard?"

Tomo felt tired just at the thought. "Okay! Maybe we don't aim for Mirko but you should still get physically stronger. Find someone more reasonable to follow. Then maybe you can work on your Quirk? I dunno. Maybe Mom can help you since her Quirk is light-related, too."

"Yeah, maybe she can help me. But she doesn't like to talk about fighting. So maybe I can just ask her about the technical side of her Quirk?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Like how light works and stuff. Refraction or reflection or something? I dunno. Ask her."

"Wow! Something the great Tomo doesn't know but I do?! What a crazy day!" Toru exclaimed playfully.

Tomo groaned. "Listen bucko, I just make things dark. I never bothered looking up the light stuff because it doesn't apply to me. In fact, that's the nerd stuff! Knowing what refraction means and stuff!"

Toru just laughed at him in response.

The air felt a lot lighter for the rest of the night.

The first day back at school following the attack, Tomo was swarmed by his classmates with questions as soon as he entered the room.

"Hey, Tomo! Are you alright dude?"

"I heard you went to the hospital! What happened?"

"Where were you after the attack?"

"Can you guess where I was during the attack?"

Tomo eyed all of them slowly. It's too early in the morning to have the energy for this. "Fine. Overdid it. Hid myself. No," he answered their questions rapidly before walking to his seat.

His entourage followed him to his desk, seemingly unsatisfied with his answers.

"Dude, you passed out from fighting? Is that normal? I guess you're alright since you left the hospital but… are you alright?" Red Hair asked him in genuine concern. The thought that he should really learn some of their names crossed Tomo's mind. Red Hair was Kiri-something, he was pretty sure.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry about me," Tomo replied dismissively.

Red Hair still seemed unconvinced with his answer but before he could press Tomo harder, Toru intervened. Like the blessing of a sister she was when she wasn't tormenting him, she struck up a conversation about the news coverage of the USJ attack. It quickly shifted everyones' attention from Tomo to the news as they all started discussing their own experience with the attack. Tomo gave her a grateful look before slouching in his seat, arms crossed and eyes closed.

He was awoken by the shouts of his classmates minutes later. He turned to the source of their surprise to see Mr. Aizawa at the door, wrapped completely in bandages. He was apparently extremely injured in the attack, but was well enough to continue teaching. Their teacher explained to the class how the school would still be holding the Sport Festival and that they should start preparing to make an impact at the event.

A/N: Thanks for reading. A bit of a transitionary chapter. Hopefully it made sense why Tomo had to be warned even though he was placed in a very unfortunate and unfair situation. Giving in to the powers of Darkness is not something he can just easily rely on without consequences. Sports Festival up next. Any thoughts, comments, or feedback are always appreciated. See you next Friday.