Chapter 9: To Fail to Protect Them (Ep. 28-31)
Izuku should've known from the beginning that something was off. Something within him just wasn't quite…right. It was small and festering, but he could tell it was sinister.
And when Shiro shot him with that beam, it came alive.
-.-.-.-
He hadn't exactly been lying when he told Shinsou what happened with Shiro. Because, really, all the man did was talk. It was just the words that were exchanged that he chose to keep secret.
He didn't remember much about being kidnapped by Shiro's men. The fog clogged his senses and the never-ending white noise that started buzzing immediately after Shiro shot him just grew louder and louder, and it hurt worse than anything he had ever experienced, worse than being poisoned, and his head felt like it was splitting into two and—
And the next thing he knew, he was being pulled out of the vehicle and thrown to the ground. Shiro stood before him, and an unconscious Itona was next to him, and the white noise kept roaring in his ears.
"It's strange," Shiro said, barely understandable with all the competing sound. "Of everything I've encountered in my line of work, you children are continuously proving to be the most…shocking."
The man began to pace and Izuku, bound in a net, could only watch. "You see, my quirk allows me to look at someone and see the potential they hold for a given situation. What that situation may be depends on which one is most pressing in my mind. As a boy, it was incredibly difficult to know what my quirk was trying to tell me; how was I supposed to know what on my mind was most important? As a grew, I learned to contain my quirk; to concentrate it so I would know for a certainty what it was telling me. The simple trick of obsessive behavior allowed me to always only have one situation on my mind. For a while, it was my research — discovering a breakthrough in science no other can match. Now, it's become killing the monster that's threatening to destroy everything."
Izuku didn't know where this was headed, but he knew he didn't want to find out. He struggled frugally in his bonds.
"So you can imagine my surprise when, in my efforts to annihilate your teacher, I came across a curious prospect reading 99%," Shiro drawled, and Izuku stilled. "Far higher than anything I'd ever seen; higher than even Itona." Shiro laughed. It was hauntingly hollow. "And to find he, of all prospects, is quirkless," he spits the word like it's a disease, "was by far the most amusing. This boy, defenseless and insignificant, has the greatest potential of us all to destroy the most powerful beast in the universe."
Shiro turned to him, and his purple glowing eyes felt like they were burning Izuku's skin. He struggled once again in the bonds and hated how weak he felt. It was like the evil man said — he was defenseless. He was a deku. And the way this man looked at him, so greedily, while Izuku could do nothing, made him want to scream.
"So I thought to myself, how do I guarantee victory? How do I make that 99% become 100?" Shiro chuckled. "Of course, the answer was crystal clear. The same way I made Itona go from 80% to 90% — tentacles."
The white noise was screaming and becoming increasingly more sensical, almost sounding like whispers at this point. Izuku closed his eyes and tried to push them out.
"Ah, you're starting to hear them, aren't you? The tentacles are trying to speak to you. You won't be able to understand them for a little bit; they're just barely starting to develop. You see, when I realized the potential you had, I injected the seeds in a more dormant form, knowing from experience they need to incubate for a while if the host is unwilling. The process typically takes a year, but unfortunately, we don't have that time, so I activated them with the blast. You'll have to stick to a strict regimen if you want to live longer than a few months, but you won't feel pain like Itona. Your quirklessness guarantees that.
"You see, the body sees tentacles as a virus; however, the first defense isn't the immune system like regular viruses; it uses the physiological existence of a quirk to fight it off. The average body interprets the tentacles as a threat to its quirk's power — which makes sense given the tentacles are another quirk — and will try to fight with it for dominance. The tentacles always win, of course, but it's excruciatingly painful. But since you're quirkless, well, your body just accepted it fully. It had no defense system."
Izuku gaped, barely processing what was being said. "You… Y-You mean—"
"Yes, Midoriya Izuku. Though it'll take time for the tentacles to fully develop, you too will soon harness the greatest weapon known to mankind."
He couldn't breathe. The whispers turned back to white noise and roared in his ears. He couldn't stop shaking. Shiro just seemed to find his shock even more amusing.
"Surely you recognized the signs of something within you changing? While the seeds were dormant, they weren't completely inactive. You're a smart boy, Izuku, you had to have noticed it."
Suddenly, his one question leaving summer break made perfect sense. "You mean…the tentacles kept me from feeling the effects of the poison?"
Shiro nodded. "Had they been active, they would have destroyed it completely. In their hibernative state, they did the best they could keeping it mild; something that, I've heard, ended up saving the lives of many of your classmates. I believe a thanks is in order."
It was Izuku's turn to laugh. "You think…" he rasped. "That I'm going to thank you for making me your guinea pig?"
Shiro sneered at the term. " You are not my guinea pig, Midoriya Izuku. You are not what my contractor paid me to create. You are simply my next tool in stopping that monster. Whether you choose to receive assistance from me or act alone is your choice. I've given you what you need to gain 100% potential as an assassin. It's up to you to use it correctly."
Before Izuku could retort, one of Shiro's men called out, "The Tentacle has been spotted and is on his way, sir!"
"Ah, yes," Shiro drawled, taking one last look at Izuku. "I'm afraid I have business to attend to. Keep my words in mind; when you reach your decision, you know how to contact me."
The man plunged a needle into Izuku's neck, and the world turned dark in seconds.
-.-.-.-
The white noise slowly turned to whispers again, and those whispers only grew louder and louder. Every day he looked in the mirror, expecting to find a tentacle monster staring back at him, only to find nothing. At least not yet. Shiro did say, after all, that it would take time for the seeds to fully awaken. So it was only a matter of time.
He thinks about telling someone; Shinsou, Korosensei, Nagisa. Anyone, really. They would help him, he knows that. They helped Itona even though the boy had done nothing but terrorize them. There's no doubt the class would lay down everything to save him from the ticking time bomb Shiro planted inside him. Yet every time he goes to tell someone; every time he tries to explain the kidnapping to Shinsou or confide in Korosensei, the whispers just get louder and louder, telling him to lie, telling him to stop.
And he's weak. Like Shiro said, he can't fight against this virus. There's no defense system for him.
So he listens to the whispers. He lies. He keeps it a secret.
The noise intensifies.
-.-.-.-
The day Shinsou finally got his sling off and was cleared for assassination again, the class wanted to celebrate. So, instead of walking down the mountain like usual, they decided to mess around and practice their parkour all the way to the train station.
Izuku vaulted himself from building to building with absolute ease. It was funny; a year ago, we could barely make it up the mountain without passing out. Now he was moving with speed and agility most Pro-Heroes would be jealous of. He was honestly starting to feel… strong.
You could be stronger, the whispers said, and suddenly Izuku wasn't having so much fun anymore. He tensed up at the sound, making him pause ever so slightly in his movements; unfortunately, his hesitation was just long enough for Shinsou to smack into his back.
"Ah, shit!"
They went down hard, rolling on top of each other for cushion as they hit the alleyway floor. Izuku could only groan as they landed as a heap of entangled limbs.
"Wow, that's embarrassing. Out for a month and my reaction time is crap," Shinsou muttered, pulling away into a seated position. He winced, and Izuku noted he was cradling his recently freed arm. "Ah, ouch. I don't think the doctor listed falling off buildings as acceptable physical activity."
"Shinsou!" Izuku stammered. "I-I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking, I—"
"It's fine, Midoriya," his friend reassured. "I should've been paying better attention and dodged. It's not your fault."
Izuku bit his lip. "But… I could've seriously hurt you."
"Yeah, well, you didn't," Shinsou snorted, standing up and holding out a hand for him. "Trust me, Midoriya. That incident on the island may have been a low blow, but it just means it'll be a hell of a lot harder to knock me down next time."
Izuku could only stare at his friend in shock and awe of his determination. He had literally been shot down; he faced death's door. But in the end, it only made him so much stronger. It was so admirable.
You could be like that.
Izuku tried to hide his wince as he took his friend's hand and was hauled up. Nothing felt particularly damaged. Shinsou was right, after all; they had felt way worse blows. He almost wanted to laugh. Who thought he'd become so nonchalant about falling off a—
Izuku was barely on his feet before he was being bulled over again. Well, not really, considering whatever came at him was much smaller and barely felt like anything when it hit him, but it was enough to make him flail. Only months of precise training, however, kept him from kicking out long enough to see his attacker was—
A small child?
The child — a girl, probably not even elementary school-aged yet, with white hair, red eyes, and a singular horn on the side of her head — clung to his legs like she was holding on for dear life. Izuku blinked owlishly, not quite sure what he was seeing. He glanced at Shinsou for guidance, but the brainwasher looked just as lost as he did.
"Um, hey, are you okay?"
The girl didn't respond, just held on tighter. Izuku gnawed on his lip and lightly touched her shoulder.
"Are you hurt? Lost? Do we need to call someone?"
Nothing. The girl just clung to him, almost helplessly, yet Izuku couldn't but feel like he was the helpless one.
Sighing, he tried to pull away, but that only made the child scream and flail to attach onto his pant leg.
"Please don't go," she whimpered, so quiet Izuku almost couldn't hear her (especially over the whispers that kept growing louder and louder by the second). Blinking, Izuku ever so gently crouched down so they were eye level, letting her cling to his arms in a desperate hug.
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere," he reassured her. "I just need you to tell me what's wrong so I can help you."
Still no response. Izuku was running out of ideas here.
We can give you more ideas.
Firmly blocking everything out of his head, Izuku took the girl's hand in his and held it tightly.
"Hey. Can I let you in on a little secret?" She peered up at his words, looking curious. He took that as a cue to continue. "One day, I plan on becoming a great hero. The greatest, actually, just like All-Might. And I can start doing that by helping you first, but I'm going to need you to tell what's wrong for that to happen. Okay?"
Her wide red eyes blinked up at him, and she finally opened her mouth.
"Eri. There you are."
The voice that spoke instead was hauntingly chilling, even worse than Shiro, and it had both teen assassins turning defensively at the sound. A man approached them calmly. He probably would've appeared unalarming if it weren't for the strange beak-like mask around his mouth and the clear bloodlust in his eyes.
"I apologize. I was not anticipating my daughter to run off like that," the man said, stopping right in front of him. The child in Izuku's arms trembled, which was more than enough to make him suspicious of the man. He calls this girl his daughter, yet she trembles at his presence.
"Sir, your daughter seems very distraught. Is everything alright?" Shinsou said, angling his body so he stood between the girl and the newcomer.
"Ah, yes, well I'm afraid tragedy has just struck our lives today. Her grandfather, whom she was very close with, has just slipped into a coma. The sudden horror of it has been maddening and made my daughter unbelievably upset, as I'm sure you understand. She ran away crying before I could stop her."
It sounded like a pretty reasonable explanation, and it didn't sound like something someone could make up on the spot. But it still didn't explain the trembling girl in his arms. Because she wasn't trembling because she was sad or upset; she was trembling because she was scared.
Shinsou seemed to sense it too, his expression reading increasingly unamused. He stared down the masked man in front of them. "Look, sir. I've been through more shit homes than years I've been alive. I know what it looks like when a child is scared of their caretaker," Shinsou stated, his tone blunt but his words slicing. "So tell me, what have you been doing to this poor girl?"
The man tensed and stared back, his eyes gleaming dangerously. "You're very perceptive for school children," he said, motioning to their mismatched Kunugigaoka uniforms. "It's quite burdensome, really."
The man tried to do it subtly, but Izuku's trained eyes locked on the moment the man began to take off his glove. Take into account the bloodlust that flowed off him in waves — there's no question what this man's intent was. It was the intent of a killer.
Both he and Shinsou reached for their weapons, not even caring if they were about to expose themselves. Whatever they had to do to save this girl, they would do it—
But then the girl unlatched herself from Izuku and ran the man's side like an obedient animal. The man had the audacity to laugh, though whether at the girl's sudden compliance or the boys' shocked faces was unclear.
"Done with your tantrum, are you? Let's go, Eri," he said, marching down the alleyway, the girl obediently sticking to his side with her head held low.
The noise in Izuku's head burst and cried out, and he jumped to run after the pair, to forcibly remove Eri far, far away from this man when something lashed out and stopped him. A few seconds of frantic struggling helped him realize that it was Shinsou's capture rings.
"Let them go. That's a fight we can't afford to get involved in," the brainwasher ordered, and Midoriya could only gape.
"But — But that girl needs our help! We need to save her—"
"That girl left to save us. She clearly knew that whatever would've happened after that man removed his gloves would be worse than her complying. We're over our heads here."
"But we could've fought him! We fight Korosensei every day, and he's the most dangerous man in the world!"
"Yeah, but we know him. We know his strengths and his weaknesses because he's our target. And you don't go after a target completely blind of their capabilities. It's basic assassination 101."
The world inside Izuku was rioting with screams, and he had never felt more furious in his life. How could Shinsou, someone who has openly said multiple times that he wishes to become a hero, let someone being hurt go back to their abuser? Not only that, but Shinsou said it himself that he knows the pain poor Eri is experiencing.
"You can't seriously be giving up so—"
"Izuku. Calm down."
And suddenly the world went eerily silent. The whispers, the white noise completely disappeared as if they had never existed in the place. Everything was quiet and normal and god how he missed it.
But then the brainwashing let up, and the noise came back. Izuku couldn't help but sigh in defeat.
"Okay. Let's leave."
-.-.-.-
It turns out, Shinsou and him were far from the only ones who ran into trouble during their parkour excursion. Okajima and Kimura hadn't been paying attention when they jumped down from a roof and accidentally landed on an old man riding his bicycle, breaking both his leg and the bike.
Which led to where they were now, standing as a class in front of a furious Korosensei and a disappointed Karasuma.
"I can't believe how reckless you all were," Karasuma growled. "Galivanting through the city where everyone can see you? Injuring that poor man? This class is a state-protected secret — not even the hero community knows of your existence. Do you know what we had to go through to keep the old man quiet about how the Earth's Number One Villain is teaching middle schoolers?
"And you two—" he spun, pointing at Izuku and Shinsou. "Shinsou, you just got off medical leave, and what do you do? Fall off a building?!"
The brainwasher winced and hung his head. Izuku bit his lip anxiously.
"It's not his fault, sir," he defended. "I—"
"Did nothing but encourage this situation?"
Izuku's mouth snapped shut hearing the pure spite in Korosensei's voice. His heart stuttered and could barely bring himself to look at his teacher and see how dark his face looked.
"You were careless. You took advantage of your abilities and you hurt not only yourselves but innocent people around you too," hissed Korosensei. The class unanimously gulped.
"We're sorry, sir," Isogai spoke up. "We were just celebrating that Shinsou could join back in during P.E. We really didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."
"No matter your intentions, you know your actions were foolish and dangerous. You know there are better ways to celebrate such a thing; you just went with the one that was the most fun."
"But, sir…we're under constant pressure," Nakamura spoke up. "We thought this would be a good way to sharpen our skill set as well as welcome Shinsou back."
"We didn't mean for this to happen, honestly," pleaded Okano.
Terasaka sneered. "And who cares if we chose the fun thing? We gotta unwind somehow, even if we're never allowed to completely with training and all — uwah!"
Faster than they could process, Korosensei struck out, slapping each of them with his tentacles — not hard enough to knock them down, but more than hard enough to get their attention. The class could only gape in shock, and Izuku carefully brought a hand to his stinging cheek.
"Will you report that as me causing harm to the students?" Korosensei hissed at Karasuma but refused to take his eyes off the class. The government agent sighed and shook his head.
"I'll overlook it this time," the dark-haired man said. "I should've been aware of the risks when I introduced such high-level training. I forgot that despite their prowess, they are still children and will act recklessly at times; something that's not a problem when they're not specially trained assassins. This is my fault."
Their P.E. teacher left, leaving them with the still fuming Korosensei. The room was unbelievably tense, and it felt so unnatural given that it was coming from Korosensei of all people. It was so deafeningly silent, not even the whispers spoke up.
"Korosensei...we're sorry," Kimura finally said, breaking the silence. The class immediately followed his example, bowing their heads and apologizing sincerely to their teacher. Izuku held his breath as they waited for a response.
"Perhaps I overestimated your humbleness as you kept growing stronger," the octopus finally said, his voice calmer but still very dangerous. "You got cocky, used your skills for your own gain, and were completely oblivious to how they may affect those weaker than you. You were no better than your main campus counterparts."
Izuku couldn't help but wince at the jab, and he wasn't alone. Getting called out sucked, but it was so much worse when it was by Korosensei; not only because they respected him, but because like always, he was right. They got reckless, and now someone else had to pay for it. Their behavior was far from a hero's. Thank goodness Shinsou stopped him in that alley; who knows how many more problems he would have caused if he went after Eri.
We could have done something about it, the whispers tried.
Izuku hung his head and ignored them.
-.-.-.-
As punishment, Korosensei forbid them from studying for their upcoming midterms, and they had to spend the next two weeks helping out at the preschool the man they hurt — Mr. Matsukata, they learned — was the principal at. All things considered, it was a small price to pay for the old man's silence. The fact that he agreed to keep quiet about the Tentacle being a teacher to middle school assassins was a miracle.
The preschool building was small and rundown, almost like their own building. According to the paid helper there, the school was a Quirk Preschool, meaning they took in children who developed quirks before they were old enough to go to primary school where they'd start Quirk Counselling. These institutions weren't uncommon, but were typically very expensive due to how destructive some children can be when they first get their quirks. Mr. Matsukata disagreed with such ideals and kept his rates low so he could help children from lower-income families. Unfortunately, it meant the school building took on a lot of damage, and they didn't always have the funds to repair it.
"You know," Maehara piped up. "With all 30 of us here for two weeks, I'm sure we could do a whole lot to help out. This place seems well overdue for remodeling."
"Huh. That's a good idea," Isogai said. "I mean, with my Merging quirk, along with Yoshida's expertise in mechanics and welding, Itona's Technopathy, as well as all of our training, I bet the process will be sped up tenfold."
The class cheered in agreement, and Izuku couldn't help but smile. They may have gotten in their heads and messed up, but you could never say E-class wasn't caring. Even Terasaka's gang seemed fairly enthused by the idea of building this place up.
"Well, Shinsou, looks like we've got some work to do," Izuku commented but froze when he realized his best friend was no longer in sight. "Huh? Shinsou?"
He eventually found his friend by the windows, buried under a pile of children who seemed quite taken with him and his capture rings, which he was using to grab random items around the classroom. Izuku couldn't help but beam at the sight; Shinsou looked so peaceful around the kids, which was a nice change given how agitated he's been since his injury. He almost looked soft; a sharp contrast from his indifferent persona.
"Never took you as someone who was so good with kids," Izuku said, walking up to his best friend. Shinsou jolted and even blushed, and Izuku wanted so badly to take out his phone and get a picture.
"Yeah, well, I guess I'm kinda used to dealing with big groups of children, being a foster kid and all," the brainwasher shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it. It only made Izuku smile wider. "Besides, I'm not good with all kids. That pink-haired girl tried to kill me, I swear. The only one who can seem to stop her is Nagisa."
The pink-haired girl, Sakura, was an angry child that was probably three or four years older than everyone else here. He wasn't sure why she was at a preschool, but when she threatened to weaponize the flower petals from the pots covering Mr. Matsukata's desk, he didn't dare ask why. It seemed Nagisa was the only one who could control her, though it was probably because he was using his quirk to keep her from getting so angry.
Izuku nodded and glanced around, wondering how everyone else in the class was doing with the children, only to stop short on the window. His eyes felt like they were bulging out of his head.
"Eh — Eri?"
He sprinted to the window to get a better look, and sure enough, there she was, cowering outside in the bushes. She stared up at the building, looking wistful. When her eyes landed on Izuku, however, fear covered her features and she ran away, disappearing in the green leaves.
"No, wait!" Izuku called out, slamming his fist on the window.
"Oh dear. Did Eri stop by again?" the female worker asked, peering over Izuku's shoulder.
"Do — Do you know that girl?" the quirkless boy asked desperately. The worker shook her head.
"No, not very well I'm afraid. She came here one day a year ago or so with her grandfather — he said she just developed her quirk and none of the other preschools would take her because they were scared of it. Apparently, she made her father disappear or something. Mr. Matsukata was more than willing to take her in — our principal can cancel out the quirk of anyone he touches, so he is never fearful of the children — but the grandfather ultimately decided not to enroll her. Said he had someone else that could take care of her."
The worker shrugged. "Ever since that day, she stops by every so often and just kind of watches. Mr. Matsukata has tried to invite her in before, but she'd always get scared and runs away. I'm surprised you even spotted her. She hasn't been around in a long time. I assumed they moved."
Izuku's mind was going a million miles per hour. If she made her father disappear, who was that man referring to her as his daughter? Is he the man the grandfather chose to take care of Eri? What is her quirk anyway? How dangerous was it that it made so many schools turn her away? Was Eri in danger again? Is that why she keeps escaping? Is she trying to find someone to help her?
Whatever the answers to these questions may be, in that moment, Izuku made a promise to himself. He was going to whatever it takes to find out more about this girl and save her.
Just like a hero would.
-.-.-.-
Two weeks passed and there still wasn't so much of a trace of Eri. She never showed up again; not at the school, not in that alleyway. It was like she completely disappeared.
They did, however, succeed in remodeling the preschool. They may have gone a little overboard in process, but they couldn't help themselves. Using wood from the mountain forest and tools from Yoshida's family garage, they turned the rickety institution into a preschool palace. Mr. Matsukata looked like he was about to have a heart attack, but as they constantly reassured him, it was the least they could do.
"What you're doing for these kids is inspiring," Kataoka said as the class stood in front of the man before they said goodbye. "Children shouldn't be turned away just because they don't have money, especially during such a pivotal point in their lives. On top of everything else you've done for us, this is the least we could do to pay it forward."
On the flipside, however, their results on the midterms were, well, as expected. That is to say, absolutely terrible. Long gone were their top spots and high rankings. Izuku looked down at his slip listing him as number 42. The lowest he's ever been ranked in his life. It was embarrassing, really. (In all honesty, he's just glad the school went back to only testing the five core subjects and not quirks during midterms. That's another humiliation he could not take again.)
To their shock, however, Karma happened to pull through and claim the second spot. Apparently, he had learned from last term that his quirk could only take him so far in academics unless he put in the work. The boy not only secretly self-studied over the past two weeks, but also the entirety of summer break to make sure he was prepared.
"It was an embarrassment, really, to have a quirk like mine and perform so poorly last time. It's not like I was about to let it happen again," the red-haired boy commented, shrugging. Izuku bit his tongue to keep himself from commenting on Karma's 'quirk' as his suspicion surrounding it grew larger. He resorted to scribbling in his notebook instead.
But by far the best thing that came out of this whole ordeal were the new uniforms they received from the government. Gone were the boring Kunugigaoka tracksuits; now they had fully equipped combat suits. Paired with navy skin-tight long-sleeved shirts (and leggings for the girls) was a blue-gray hooded combat-type uniform top and bottoms, made with impact-grade fabric and padding and designed to hold all sorts of weapons and equipment. And on their collar, in bold yellow coloring, was the letter E.
"Hey, Nagisa, Shinsou. You're wearing the wrong pants, sillies!" Nakamura teased. "The girl uniforms have shorts!"
The two bristled at the jab and Izuku held his hands up placatingly. "Hey, guys, it's just a joke…"
Of course, Karma did nothing but fuel the fire. He held up two pairs of shorts. "No, I think Nakamura is right. These will be much more fitting."
Shinsou sliced his knife at Karma's head, and though the boy easily dodged, it still made the class laugh, nonetheless. Izuku quickly approached his best friend before he could make any more murderous attempts.
"These are pretty sweet uniforms," he said. "I feel so cool suiting up in them; it's almost like I'm putting my hero costume on for the first time!"
Shinsou nodded. "I think I'm going to take inspiration from these when I design our hero costumes."
"Hey!" It was Izuku's turn to fruitlessly swipe his knife. "No way! I'm totally a better fighter! You don't stand a chance at winning our bet!"
"Hmm, our duel this morning says otherwise."
"Yeah, well, I beat you yesterday. Just you wait, I'm going to crush you at the end of the year!"
They were both laughing so loud, Izuku barely heard the whisper, We could crush him now. His smile was gone in seconds.
-.-.-.-
When Ms. Jelavić stormed off, Shinsou was the only one who went after her.
After the class realized they missed the English teacher's birthday, they decided to make it up to her by getting her the gift she wanted all along: a present from Karasuma. So, with some background deals and distractions, they convinced Karasuma to give Ms. Jelavić a boutique of roses they bought. But just when they thought their plot was going perfect, their forever stoic P.E. teacher had to ruin it by keeping it professional and making a point about how this would be the only birthday they'd ever celebrate together. Because one way or another, either the mission was going to end or the world.
It was a depressing thought, and completely ruined the romantic mood they were going for. Ms. Jelavić stormed off, leaving the flowers and the class behind. Shinsou watched the scene with a bored expression and sighed.
"She's a cold-hearted bitch to everyone else, but can't stand it when the favor is returned," Shinsou muttered before jogging off after her. "Don't get your panties in a twist, Bitch-sensei!"
Izuku immediately moved to go after them but was stopped by Korosensei's tentacles. "I think it's best we leave this to them," the octopus said. "With the way she left, I take it very few would be able to reach her right now. We should give them some privacy."
Izuku listened to him, feeling increasingly more uneasy with each passing moment. The whispers hissed.
-.-.-.-
When Shinsou didn't show up for their morning training session the next day, Izuku was justifiably concerned. He came up with reasonable explanations; Shinsou might've had to take the morning shift at work, or slept in, or was behind on homework and was taking the morning to catch up.
But when he didn't show up for school at all, that concern turned to full-blown panic.
"I'm sure he's fine, Midoriya," Nagisa assured him. "He'd notify us if he weren't."
Sugino nodded. "Yeah, he's probably just at home sick or something."
Izuku tried to let their words reassure him, but it only made him feel more frantic. If Shinsou was sick, that still didn't explain why he hadn't responded to any of Izuku's texts. He knew his best friend. Shinsou was on his phone at any opportunity. It just didn't make any sense.
He tried to push it to the back of his mind and focus on class that day, but to be honest, he didn't have the slightest clue what they learned about. He left school in a blur, feeling extremely uncomfortable walking home alone. His worried thoughts and the tentacle whispers filled the silence where conversation and playful banter would normally take place. He contemplated going to Shinsou's house to see if he really was there, but he ultimately decided against it. From what his friend has said about his foster family, even if Shinsou was home, they probably wouldn't tell Izuku that, much less let him inside. The whispers taunted him all night, saying we could find him, we could find him. It was much harder to block them out that night.
Once again, neither Shinsou nor Ms. Jelavić were at school for a second day. People finally started to talk.
"Do you think they're hurt?" Kurahashi asked, her concern palpable.
"Yeah, right," Hazama retorted. "I bet the bitch was finally able to overpower Shinsou with her quirk and kidnapped him to be her minion. She's always been a little obsessed with him since she learned about his brainwashing."
"Bitch-sensei wouldn't do that," Kataoka snapped. "Midoriya. Still no words from him?"
Izuku shook his head. That was the most response from him they got all day.
After school, Izuku decided enough was enough, and he set out to find his best friend. He stopped by his work — no luck there. Apparently, he didn't show up for his shift yesterday, which was very alarming. Shinsou never missed a shift. He went to Shinsou's house, opting for sneaking around outside undetected. He looked through every window in the house, but not a single sighting of the purple-haired brainwasher. He opted for tracking Ms. Jelavić next, and he went to where faculty members park their cars. He almost screamed when he found her car was still there, her handbag abandoned on the floor, right next to Shinsou's destroyed capture rings.
In a panic, he dialed Lovro, but the call went straight to voicemail. Damn it. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't been able to get in touch with his mentor since before summer break. He chalked it up to a long-term mission, but now…
"My, my, my. Isn't this a predicament?"
Izuku's whole world went cold at the voice. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this much fear.
"Shiro."
-.-.-.-
Izuku didn't even hesitate to fire his weapon.
Unfortunately, the only gun he had was loaded with anti-sensei BBs and was hardly effective. Shiro looked more amused than anything. Well. As amused as a masked man could look.
"So testy. What, has something got you on edge?" Shiro mocked.
Izuku sneered and drew his knife. "Get out of here, Shiro. I don't have time for you."
"Oh, but I think I have something you'd find quite useful. You're looking for your little purple friend, aren't you?" Izuku froze, the whispers feeding off his bloodlust. "Oh, don't give me that look. I didn't do anything to the boy. Don't get me wrong, he has great potential, and his quirk is quite fascinating. But alas, it wasn't me behind his disappearance. But I know who is."
The green-haired boy was positively shaking at this point. Shiro scoffed.
"Of course, if you're so dead set on making me leave, I can go. I'm sure you'll figure out what happened to young Shinsou on your own."
"Stop," Izuku demanded before than man could even turn away. He tried to ignore how pleased Shiro appeared because of that. "What do you know?"
With a muted laugh, Shiro reached into his robes. Izuku tensed, remembering all the disastrous instances that followed such an action; however, instead of pulling out some pesky weapon, Shiro held what looked like a phone.
"It contains surveillance footage of what happened. I believe you'll find it very useful," Shiro said, tossing it at Izuku. Before he left, the man paused and looked back at the boy. "Oh, and Izuku? Don't ignore the voices for too long. It'll only make them stronger."
-.-.-.-
Izuku called an emergency class meeting immediately.
"Midoriya? Why'd you call us here? Korosensei left this afternoon to terrorize the World Cup, so it's not like you can plan to kill him," Isogai said once everyone arrived in the classroom. Izuku stood in the front, his head hung low, bangs covering his eyes, and hands trembling.
"Midoriya…?" Nagisa asked, clearly concerned by his lack of response. They all were.
"I — I know what happened to Shinsou and Ms. Jelavić," he finally brought himself to say. The response was instantaneous.
"You do? Oh my god, are they okay?" cried Yada.
"Did Shinsou finally text you back?" pestered Mimura.
Okajima got up in his face. "Did him and Bitch-sensei run away together?"
Their shouts combined with the pain from the whispers and his pre-distraught state was too much to handle. He gripped his head in pain before slamming his hands on the table.
"Stop!"
The class quieted instantly, clearly not used to someone usually as timid as him to snap. He shakily rubbed his face before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the device.
"He didn't run away with Ms. Jelavić. They were kidnapped," he said. The class gaped. "It's all on here. Ritsu, can you pull it up?"
Ritsu complied, and her screen switch to the CCTV footage of the parking garage roof. From where it started, you could just see Ms. Jelavić come into the shot with Shinsou following her closely.
"ARGH!" Ms. Jelavić screamed, slamming her bag on her car roof. "I'm so pissed off! Karasuma is nothing but a piece of crap!"
Shinsou propped his elbow on the car from the opposite side. "Wow, you're really fired up about this, aren't you?"
Ms. Jelavić bristled. "Why are you still here, Shitsou?! I've been using my quirk all the way down the mountain! I bet every man is a five-kilometer radius has vacated the area at this point!"
"You forget. My brainwashing is stronger," Shinsou shrugged, which only seemed to piss the woman off more.
"Oh, I outta run you over with my car, you disrespectful—"
It happened so fast. You couldn't even see the assailant approaching. One second, the duo was there. The next, a smoke bomb was going off. Not even five seconds later, the smoke cleared, and Shinsou and Ms. Jelavić were nowhere to be seen.
"Wow. Whoever kidnapped them must be very good."
Izuku nodded and was about to explain his plan to save them when he froze. It dawned on him that while he recognized that voice, that person…wasn't a student.
Standing among the group as they crowded around Ritsu like he belonged there all along was the gray-haired florist they bought the roses from. He had managed to walk into a group of teen assassins without raising any alarms, as if he owned the place. The class jolted away as the man stepped back so he was standing in front of them, smiling widely.
Not even Korosensei's smile looked so sinister.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm the assassin commonly known as the Reaper. And I'll be teaching your class a fun little lesson today," the man said smiling. "I know what you're thinking — why disguise myself as a florist? Well, as you're about to learn, there's a reason flowers have such a wide fragrant variety. Ritsu, do you mind pulling up the image I just sent?"
The artificial intelligence complied, and her screen was replaced by something even more horrifying than the surveillance footage: Shinsou and Ms. Jelavić, bound, gagged, and unconscious. Izuku felt like he was going to throw up, but he couldn't tear his eyes away.
"The purpose is to draw in insects," the Reaper continued. "Now, here's what's going to go down. You can either play nicely, or —" the man began drawing on the board without even looking at it, sketching out pictures that vaguely reflected the captives. He then started drawing even lines through them. "— I can send them back to you in individually wrapped pieces. And trust me, I'm very good at taking the human body apart for parts. All you gotta do is show up when and where I tell you to without alerting your other teachers. Sounds simple enough, right?"
"Oh yeah? Who says we even wanna save the bitch or Turnip-Head in the first place? And what's stopping us from taking you down right now?" Terasaka roared.
The Reaper just laughed. "Don't kid yourself. It's no secret how close this class is; losing Irina would be enough to make you distraught, but losing one of your own? It'd just downright break you." The Reaper snapped his fingers, and slowly the man began to dissolve into flower petals. "And secondly, no man can take down the Reaper. The Reaper is the one who preys on man."
And before they could do anything, the flower petals floated away, and the Reaper was gone.
-.-.-.-
They complied with the terms and showed up at the location — after all, what choice did they have? — but not without creating their own terms first. When the Reaper tried to capture them right off the bat, they made quick work of escaping; Okajima distracted their opponent while Mimura found a hollow part of the wall. They planted an explosive to it, and Okuda set off one of her special chemical smoke gases. Right before the bomb went off, Okajima activated his Snapshot, but instead of freezing everything around him, he directed it only toward the area around the Reaper — a new trick he'd been working on with Korosensei's help. It let him freeze time for two seconds longer, giving them that much more time to escape.
They decided to break up; the main part of the class would stay behind in the sewer tunnels, while a small group of them would go off to find Ms. Jelavić and Shinsou. It was hard to locate them since Ritsu was hacked by the Reaper, but Kurahashi was able to speak with some cockroaches who agreed to lead the way. Unfortunately, it only got them so far. This was a game for the Reaper, after all, and he was more than happy to play.
Izuku went with the rescue team. They located and broke into the room where the captives were thanks to the bugs. Once they were in, Izuku immediately ran for his best friend. He cut down the rope that was hanging his arms above his head, and Terasaka helped him support the weight as Shinsou collapsed while the girls went after Ms. Jelavić.
"Mmm, wha?" Shinsou groaned as he slowly came too.
"Shinsou! It's us, we're here to save you," Izuku reassured him, but from some reason that just made his friend start squirming.
"No, no you gotta go — you gotta get outta here!" Shinsou slurred, trying to push them away.
"What the hell, Turnip-Head, we're trying to help you!" Terasaka growled. Shinsou shook his head.
"No, you don't understand. It's Bitch-sensei, the Reaper is—"
Suddenly the sound of a tranquilizer gun went off, and the girls all collapsed to the floor. They had just enough time to turn and find Ms. Jelavić pointing a gun at them before there was a sting in his arm, and the world became dark.
-.-.-.-
When he came to, he was back in a cell with his classmates, his hands bound behind his back and a strange collar around his neck. But at least this time Shinsou was with them.
"Ugh, what happened…" he muttered before it all came rushing back to him. "Ms. Jelavić! What — How could she?"
"It's what I was trying to tell you," Shinsou groaned from beside him. Just like everyone else, his hands were also tied behind his back and a collar donned his neck. "He's brainwashing her."
"Brainwashing?" Izuku echoed. "How is that possible? I thought his quirk had something to do with flowers."
"Yeah, well it turns out it's a lot more than that," Karma said, him and Nagisa walking up to them. "When we encountered him in the sewers, not only did he transform his body into some smoke form, but he also had an emotional manipulation quirk that beat out Nagisa's."
The blue-haired boy nodded, looking embarrassed and frustrated. "It was insane. I didn't stand a chance. I thought Korosensei was the only being alive with multiple quirks?"
"It's because the Reaper's quirk lets him take on other people's quirks," Shinsou spoke up, catching the entire classes' attention. The brainwasher sighed and leaned his back against the wall as he sat. His eyes stared up at nothing.
"He explained it to me during one of his little play sessions. His quirk, Frankenstein, allows him to easily and harmlessly remove parts of his own body and replace it with those of others. But if the body part he takes correlates with how the person's quirk works — that is to say, the person's quirk is activated by touching something with their hand, and he cuts off their hand and attaches it to his own body — then he gains their quirk."
It was probably the most horrifying quirk Izuku had ever heard of. The ability to not only replace your body parts with other human limbs, but to also get an additional quirk if he chose the right limb…Izuku wanted to vomit at the thought.
Hayami's eyes narrowed. "Wait. So, if you said that Bitch-sensei is being brainwashed, does that mean…?"
"Yeah," Shinsou croaked, and he sounded so broken yet so angry , and something inside Izuku felt like it was snapping. "The sick bastard pinned me down and pulled out one of my teeth." He paused to show them his mouth, pointing at where one of the back molars was missing.
The class gaped. Izuku's swallowed down bile. Kurahashi cried. Terasaka growled and kicked a wall. Nagisa sent a spark of pained emotion through everyone. Karma started to get that deranged look whenever he was planning his next torture victim. They were all thinking this same thing.
This monster hurt one of their own.
"Oh, c'mon Shinsou, don't complain so much," the annoyingly chipper voice of the Reaper called out. He stood outside their cell, Ms. Jelavić located obediently by his side. "You should be grateful for how lucky you are compared to my other victims. I was prepared to cut off your tongue or crack open your skull to get to your brain if the tooth didn't work."
Shinsou went concerningly tense, to the point where Izuku thought he might shatter like glass. He and many of his other classmates angled themselves between Shinsou and the Reaper, making the Pro-Assassin laugh.
"Oh, you're all no fun. I personally quite enjoyed my time with little Shinsou. I was planning on just snatching your teacher and using much more, well, barbarically persuasive tactics to get her to help me. So you can imagine my delight when I go to take her and find her accompanied by the boy who can make people do whatever he wants."
The Reaper downright giggled, and Izuku felt nothing but rage.
We can destroy him, we can make him pay. He deserves to suffer, he deserves to burn.
The voices roared in his head, but suddenly, what they had to say didn't sound like such a bad idea anymore. Before he could let that train of thought go any further, however, a ping went off on the Reaper's phone. He glanced at it, frowning.
"Oh, how bothersome. Looks like your watchdogs have found you," he sighed, making everyone in the class perk up. Did that mean —
"Korosensei and Karasuma-sensei are here!" Hara cheered. From where she stood in the cell, she had a clear view of the Reaper's device.
"Hmm. Yes, it'd seem so," the Reaper hummed. "C'mon, Irina. We have some stray dogs that need to be put down."
-.-.-.-
Izuku wasn't sure what he expected of the Reaper's confrontation with their male teachers, but Korosensei falling from an opening in the cell ceiling was not something remotely on his radar.
"Korosensei!" they cried out as he landed. The opening closed as quickly as it opened, but it was just long enough for Izuku to catch a glimpse of the Reaper standing in his shadow form above them.
"How did he catch you so quick, sir?" Sugino asked as the octopus rose from the floor. Their teacher ignored the questions and quickly got to work, testing the tip of his tentacle against the cell bars. Unsurprisingly, it melted away, meaning it was laced with anti-sensei material.
Okano whimpered. "How are we gonna get out of here?"
"It'll be quite simple, really. We'll work together to break out," Korosensei said. "Hara, use your Goat Bite to chew a hole in the cell bars!"
"Yes sir!" The girl said, leaning down to and opening her mouth to do just that.
"Yeah, I wouldn't do that if I were you," the Reaper drawled, making everyone jump. The man was sitting casually in front of them, Karasuma and Ms. Jelavić stationed behind him. "Any 'Goat Biting' and I'll make those fancy collars on the students' necks detonate."
That made everyone effectively freeze. Izuku heard Maehara lean over to Isogai and say, "Don't tell me he brainwashed Karasuma-sensei too!" and couldn't help but agree.
Thankfully, their P.E. teacher proved his free will very quickly, moving so he stood in front of the Reaper. "Okay, what's your play? You've captured him, now how are you going to kill him?"
The Reaper laughed. "So impatient," he said, sidestepping so he could approach the children. "Alrighty, boys and girls. So here's how this is going to work. When I send the signal to the control room, this drainage canal is going to flood with water, so fast that these bars will act like a giant noodle press. Isn't that fun?"
Karasuma jolted in shock, grabbing the Reaper shoulder and opening his mouth to respond.
"Don't answer him!" Shinsou shouted. "He's got my quirk; it's how he's controlling Bitch-sensei."
The Reaper tsked. "Always such a downer, Shinsou," he said, to which the brainwasher sneered.
"Karasuma-sensei, he can't do this, right? Surely the government set a policy to prevent us from being sandwiched in a psycho's assassination attempt!" Muramatsu howled. The sheer amount of time Karasuma hesitated, however, gave them their answer.
Honestly, Izuku knew they shouldn't be so shocked. This wasn't the first time someone threatened their safety to get to Korosensei. But the realization that the government really didn't care if they became collateral was a punch to the gut.
"Oh no," the Reaper teased. "Looks like the government cares more about saving the world than you little brats. What a pity."
Just as the Reaper began to walk away, Karasuma finally spoke up.
"I'll tell you the government's official stance," he said and kicked the Reaper using his quirk, sending the man flying backward with a wave of red light. "They gave me the power to decide on a case by case basis. And I say saving the world isn't worth the lives of 29 children. So if you wanna make these kids collateral damage, I'm going to put a stop to you."
The Reaper, who barely seemed even phased by the blow, frowned. "How very selfish and unheroic of you. No wonder you went on to become a government agent instead of a Pro-Hero. But nonetheless, I'm afraid my plan doesn't have time for nuisances like you."
The Reaper took off, Karasuma hot on his tail. Ms. Jelavić stood in front of them, staring emotionlessly.
"Bitch-sensei, please, you have to break free. You have to help us!" cried Yada, her gleaming eyes signified she activated her Persuasion. But it was no use. The shear strength of Shinsou's brainwashing was too much for any of them to break. Before anyone else could try their hand at freeing their English teacher, Ms. Jelavić raised her gun robotically and took off after Karasuma.
-.-.-.-
There was no way of knowing what had happened to their two teachers, but the explosion that shook the room did not forebode well for anyone. Korosensei whipped out a walkie-talkie from his robes and frantically asked Karasuma if he was okay. The whole class held their breath as they waited for a response.
After a few moments, much to their relief, the walkie-talkie crackled to life before Karasuma responded, "I'm alright. The bastard had Irina corner me and set off an explosion on both of us. With my quirk, it didn't do much other than give me more strength, but I'm afraid Irina is trapped under the rubble. I don't have time to save her."
Shinsou jerked. "No, Karasuma-sensei, you have to!"
Even Izuku was confused. "I'm sorry Shinsou, but she's too much of a liability right now," Karasuma replied, but the brainwasher was adamant.
"A significant hit like that should be more than enough to free her from the effects of brainwashing. There's no way the Reaper is controlling her anymore."
Kurahashi whimpered. "Sir, if that's true, you have to help her! Please! It wasn't her choice, nothing in her life has been her choice! She was robbed of her childhood… We can't rob her of a chance at the future too."
There was silence for a long before Karasuma sighed. "Alright. But in the meantime, it's up to you to figure out a way to stop the Reaper."
-.-.-.-
They got to work fast. Terasaka and Muramastu used their sharp animal teeth to break the bonds on everyone's hands. Itona 'talked' to the collars around their necks and discovered that they wouldn't detonate if they took them off, while Mimura deduced where the blindspot in the cell's cameras was based on the images he pulled up with his Record quirk when standing in the same places. From there, Sugaya pulled out a package of ink dye, and when touching it, he made the ink move onto their uniforms and perfectly match the coloring of their cell in seconds.
"Wow, I didn't know you could do that, Sugaya!" Kimura gaped, admiring the flawless camouflage on his clothes.
Sugaya laughed as he turned Takebayashi's blue uniform brown. "Neither did I for a while. I always thought my quirk was just made printed pictures come to life, but then Korosensei recommended I look into my control over ink as a whole. We're just lucky the fabric of these uniforms is perfect at absorbing ink coloring."
Izuku was almost drooling and started to pull out a quirk journal before Shinsou slapped his hands away. "Really not the time, Jolly Green."
-.-.-.-
In order to fit into the blindspot, they had to sit on each other's shoulders three people high. Shinsou, being one of the taller boys in the class, got stuck on the bottom, with Izuku on his shoulders, and Okuda on the top. Korosensei, on the other hand, had to strip down naked in order to fully utilize his camouflage quirk and was laying on the floor in shame.
"His blushing is gonna give us away," Shinsou muttered, glaring at the octopus.
A loud splash caught everyone's attention, and the class did their best to angle themselves so they could get a better look. The darkness made it incredibly hard to see, but they could hear.
"Your skills and quirk are impressive. Too bad you don't have an endgame strategy," Karasuma said before suddenly gasping. The Reaper laughed.
"Well, would you look at that," the assassin taunted. "I'm falling apart at the seams. Don't worry though, faces are a hassle in this business. Not only does my quirk let me accumulate powers, but it also makes disguises extremely easy. And while it may not give me access to your amazing quirk, I can't wait to add your face to my collection!"
Chiba, being the only student with good enough eyes to see, jumped back with a startled yelp, sending those on his shoulders toppling down.
"His…His face," the normally stoic boy said. "It's gone!"
Izuku's eyes widened, and suddenly he was very grateful he couldn't see anything. With the combined superior eyesight of Chiba and Korosensei, they provided a very nonsensical play by play of the fight. Suddenly, Korosensei went stiff.
"Sugaya, give me all of your red dye now!" he demanded, and the gray-haired teen wordlessly complied.
Ping!
The sound was quiet, but it seemed to resonate. "It's my secret weapon," the Reaper taunted. "It's how I learned my quirk let me take on other's powers. Met this man whose quirk gave him a microgun in his finger. He lamented how the microbullets couldn't do any real damage; his oversight disgusted me, so I chopped off his hand and gave it to myself. When I found I could use the finger gun, I discovered that while it was so small it would hardly cause any impact, a shot to the heart was more than enough to kill someone."
Izuku would've been terrified for his teacher's safety…if it weren't for the fact that Korosensei was chugging red ink and pumping through his extended tentacle.
"Nothing like a little fake-out," their teacher assured them. Izuku tried not to barf.
"Uh, Korosensei…how are you stomaching that much ink?" Nakamura asked. The octopus looked like he was about to cry.
"I don't know, it's so bitter!"
-.-.-.-
In the end, Karasuma took down the Reaper, they were freed from their cell, and Ms. Jelavić returned in control of herself again. Karasuma promised to guarantee that nothing like this will ever happen again and would set up a firm policy with the government protecting their safety.
Slowly their class began to trickle off, a large group of them leaving with Ms. Jelavić to comfort her; the woman was extremely ashamed and embarrassed of her actions, even if she was brainwashed. Soon it was just him, Shinsou, Nagisa, Karma and their two male teachers left, staring at the monstrous, skinless face of the unconscious Reaper.
Before anyone could stop him, Shinsou suddenly surged forward so he was straddling the Pro-Assassin and prying open his mouth with his knife. The brainwasher looked deranged as he reached back in the Reaper's mouth and yanked out a tooth.
"Sick bastard," Shinsou hissed, pocketing the molar. "Like hell I'd let a sociopath like him keep my quirk."
The brainwasher stomped away, shrugging off Korosensei's attempt to comfort him. The whispers roared so loud that it made Izuku's vision spotty as he ran after his friend.
-.-.-.-
Shinsou didn't want to talk about what happened with the Reaper, so they didn't. It's not like Izuku could really push; he, too, was keeping his own interaction with a deadly man a secret. And soon, they had other things to talk about anyway. November came, which meant it was time for them to start deciding their future. Korosensei gave everyone a Future Planning Survey, having them list their desired school and top two career choices, and also scheduled a career planning session with each student. Luckily for him and Shinsou, it was extremely easy to fill out.
"Hmm? Your backup career is social work? I figured you'd wanna go into detective work, given your quirk and all," Izuku commented when he saw Shinsou's paper.
The brainwasher shrugged. "Growing up, I always wished my social worker would try to actually listen to me and not be afraid of me. I don't want other kids to have to endure trash like her. What's yours?"
"Oh, it's hero support," he said, laughing awkwardly and scratching the back of his head. "If I couldn't become a hero, I figured the next best thing would be helping them."
"Or you could go into vigilantism," Karma commented, earning him a glare from everyone. "What? With your current skill, you'd probably be great at it."
Nagisa sighed and rolled his eyes at his best friend. "I wish I had my life as figured out as you guys. Not only do I have no clue what I want to become, but my mom also keeps saying she already has it picked out for me."
The group winced. It was no secret that Nagisa's mom put the rant in tyrant. Shinsou made a comment once that while his experience with foster parents was awful, it was nothing to the suffering Nagisa endures with his mother. It just made Izuku all that more grateful about his own mother. But it also did nothing but cancel out the sick feeling in his stomach as the pictured how she might react when she found out his desired school.
-.-.-.-
Her reaction went as well as one might expect. She held the Future Planning Survey, tears bubbling in her eyes.
"U.A. High School…" she whispered. "But… But I thought by going to Kunugigaoka, you'd find a different path…a safer one."
"Mom, a hero is all I've ever wanted to be. You know this," Izuku said, trying to calm her down. "Kunugigaoka has some of the highest U.A. acceptance rates in the country, and I've gotten so much stronger this past year. I feel…I feel like I can do it."
The tears streamed down his mother's face as she began to openly weep. Her knees gave out, and Izuku barely got there in time before she collapsed to the floor.
"I'm sorry, Izuku," she wept, and Izuku froze. "I'm so sorry. I-I should've done more to help you in school, done more with everything. I'm sorry."
Flashbacks to his childhood rolled through Izuku's eyes. Why was she saying sorry? Why was she always sorry? Was she sorry that she didn't encourage him enough to find a different goal? Was she sorry that she never fully crushed his dreams? Was she sorry because she thought U.A. was going to do it for her by rejecting his application? Was she sorry because she really had so little faith in him?
She thinks you're weak. We can make you strong.
He found his body pulling away, and he couldn't stop himself. Couldn't hear her cries over the screaming of the voices. Without looking back, he yanked open the apartment door, jumped down from the balcony, and just started running. He let his feet decide where he should go.
Evidently, maybe that wasn't such a good idea.
He first found himself outside Shinsou's house. The brainwasher was outside, but he didn't seem to notice Izuku. He didn't seem to notice anything around him. Shinsou sat on the roof, cradling his mouth with one hand, and in the other was his capture rings — or what was left of them. His friend's prized weapon was utterly destroyed; undoubtedly the work of the Reaper. Shinsou's eyes were so haunted as he stared at nothing, Izuku had to run away.
He ran to the alleyway where he met Eri. As expected, there was no sign of her. There probably never would be again. He failed to save her when he had the chance, and now she was gone forever.
He ran all the way up the mountain, straight to the spot where Lovro used to train him. The man had apparently been taken out by the Reaper, and no one even knew. He was eventually found alive but barely. It took weeks before someone even saved him.
And then finally, Izuku stopped running, and he looked up at the moon. The permanent crescent shape burned into his mind. He thought of all the people who would die if no one stopped Korosensei.
We can stop him, the voices — no, they were much too loud, much too strong now. The tentacles said. We can help you save the world.
Izuku listened.
-.-.-.-
As he walked into his scheduled career counseling with Korosensei, the octopus looked at him and grinned.
"Well, I know this is just a formality at this point for you, but tell me, Young Midoriya. What do you want to be in the future?"
Yes, tell us, the tentacles said. What do you want to be?
"We all know that answer," Izuku said, smiling to hide his pain. "I want to be a hero."
