"So how was your first weekend all to yourself, Inko? Masaru couldn't stop worrying about Katsuki and I couldn't help but think you were having a similar reaction about Izuku."
"While I don't think I'll ever stop being worried about my son's safety, I wasn't drowning in uncertainty like how you described Masaru." she took a sip of her tea.
Mitsuki had to fight the urge to spit her coffee out of her mouth. Inko being reasonable about her son? Her son that was across the country and had a tendency to attract all kinds of trouble? This was unbelievable.
"I'm sorry, but who are and what have you done to Inko?"
Inko let out a hearty laugh "I'm serious Mitsuki! Izuku knows what he's doing and it's not like he's alone out there. Iida and Todoroki are like brothers to him, and they would never let Izuku do something brash alone. My son's also friends with the heir to the Yaoyorozu Dynasty and I'm sure her folks will make sure her and her friends are well protected."
"Damn Inko, look how many connections your son has!"
"I also didn't have time to worry about my son, I spent most of the week worrying about the guests that I had last Saturday…"
Mitsuki raised an eyebrow "Oh? Who did you invite over this weekend?"
"Oh, just one of Izuku's old teachers from UA that I made acquaintance with and some of his friends" Inko tried to play it off as casually as possible.
"One of "Izuku's old teachers" translates to "pro hero" Inko. You mean to tell me that pro heroes randomly decide to hang out with you?"
"Well he did say he was retired from the hero scene…"
"Retired from the hero sce- OH MY GOD! It's All Might! You mean to tell me that you had a celebrity in your house and you didn't think it was a big enough deal to tell me about it?! Come on girl, you got to spill the beans! How was he like?"
"Well, uh...he was actually pretty shy, nothing at all like what you've seen on television. My guess is that he spent so much time being a hero he never got the chance to live his life. It's actually really sad when you think about it...devoting your life for a cause and once you can't do that anymore you have nothing much to do."
"Hmm, that kinda reminds me of a certain devoted single mom who no longer has a son to worry about…"
Inko chided her friend "Stop it, Toshinori lived a much more difficult life than anyone I've ever known."
"Toshinori?"
"Oh, that's All Might's real name."
Inko noticed the incredulous look her friend was giving her "What? Did you think that he didn't have an actual name?"
An idea formed in Mitsuki's mind. She thought back to all the times her brat complained about All Might supposedly favoring Izuku. Back then she thought it was her kid being an idiot and to be honest she still thought that to an extent but maybe he was on to something? Maybe he was right? Katsuki was a lot of things and observant and honest were two of them. What if All Might paid close attention to Midoriya and had an ulterior motive for doing so? He did pay a visit to the Midoriya household to personally tell Izuku's mother what was going on after all that shit happened in the training camp. And now Inko apparently is chummy enough to invite him and his pals over to her house? That sly dog
"So Inko, is All Might gonna again visit anytime soon?"
"Hopefully... Oh! Why don't you and Masaru come over when they visit again? I bet Masaru and All Might's detective friend, Naomasa would get along great together!"
"I'm gonna have to take you up on that offer."
It had been two weeks since Uraraka's best friends had left UA and after struggling with schoolwork without their help she seemed to have gotten her grades up to par. Although she didn't think that she will ever let go of her sorrow regarding their departure she was happy that her life became settled into (relative) normalcy. Things were looking up for her!
Which was why she was lying awake in her bed at five in the morning on a Sunday. Usually, Uraraka would revel at the chance to sleep in but today her internal clock was on the fritz.
I have nothing else to do, might as well take a walk around the campus
Even though she now technically lived in UA for the most part, Uraraka never really explored the campus on her own volition. There was a freaking park there! Sure, it mostly served as a jogging track but there were still trees and benches there to give it a more "inviting look". As she was walking, she spotted a figure on the outdoor training facility. It wasn't much, just some weights, a couple of pull-up bars, and some punching bags on a patch of sand but it was a good place for someone to go if they wanted to be alone.
Upon closer inspection, Uraraka noticed that the figure was none other than Bakugou and by the looks of it, he's been here for a while.
"Bakugou? It's five in the morning how long have you been here?"
The blond stopped punching the sandbag to glance up at and answer "Why the fuck do you care?" before focusing on the punching bag once again.
Uraraka was annoyed that her classmate went straight into hostilities before calming herself down. "Maybe because it looks like you've been at this for hours and there's barely any daylight outside?"
Bakugou answered back instantly "If I want to be number one I have to be the first person to rise and the last person to rest. Any other questions?" He was lying. He couldn't manage to get any sleep, and he was taking his frustrations out on these punching bags.
Uraraka was impressed by Bakugou's seemingly indomitable work ethic "Wow...that's actually really inspiring Bakugou!"
The blonde however, didn't take the compliment "Alright, since I answered your question, you answer mine- why are you up so early?"
Uraraka shrugged her shoulders "I guess I couldn't sleep…"
"Why? Too busy moping about fucking Deku?"
"Okay, so what if I did still miss Deku and Iida? They are some of my closest friends? Are you saying you don't miss Kirishima?"
The mere mention of Kirishima seemed to set Bakugou off "We both know you miss that fucking Deku way more than you miss Four eyes! It's because of that stupid crush you have on Deku! Aren't you friends with Raccoon Eyes? How do you deal with the fact that you're in love with her boyfriend?"
"I told Ashido that I think Deku is cute, she's fine with it" It was Uraraka's turn to lie. While everything she did say was true, she didn't just think Midoriya was cute. Her feelings ran much deeper than that, but she wasn't going to let Bakugou walk away with a smug sense of superiority.
"Wait, you did?" The look on his face was priceless
"Yeah, I'm not like you Bakugou, I don't hide things."
"Bullshit you don't!
"What are you trying to say?"
"You're not the open book you claim you are! I overheard the phone call you had with your folks after our match and you sounded completely different!"
"Y-You spied on me?"
"I didn't spy on you; you were pretty fucking loud and I could hear you next door when I was warming up against my fight with the Goth. You completely changed your accent once you got here didn't you? What's the matter, wanted to be popular so much that you became just like everyone else? That's the difference between you and me! I'm the real deal and you will never catch me changing myself to fit in!"
"Fuck you Bakugou!" The blonde flinched, Did...she just curse at him?"
"You know what your problem is? You think you're some tough, macho man but you don't what anyone else had been through! Do you know what it's like to be brushed off, to be made fun of because you sound different? Have you ever been called a "hick" or a "country bumpkin"? You talk about never changing because up until high school, everyone loved you."
"I practiced speaking like you city folk because every time somebody laughed at me because of my accent, I felt like shit! And if that makes me weak to you than go ahead, call me an extra or loser! Yeah it hurts being called those things, especially by someone as successful as you but it'll never hurt as much being mocked every day for just being me!"
"Goodbye Bakugou, sorry for wasting your precious training time." She walked away not wanting to hear Bakugou's inevitable counter points but what she didn't realize was that her explosive classmate was stunned silent.
"Fuck" was all he could say. He never thought that Round face had a different reason for hiding her accent. He knew what it was like being judged like that. The League of Villains thought he could have been a great villain because of his temper, hell most of his classmates didn't like him even before he got kidnapped because they thought he was an ass. Round face had to deal with shit since she was a kid just because of the way she talked. He wanted to apologize but how could he? He never needed to say apologize for anything he had done because he never felt like he needed to but this was different.
He had to apologize to Uraraka
It had been almost a month since the "UA Five" arrived to Shiketsu, and they were fairly acclimated to their new surroundings. Their new classmates (for the most part) were great and were always willing to help them out and answer their questions whenever they were needed. Seiji and Nagamasa spent one weekend showing the around the sights and sounds of the west. The former UA students no longer considered themselves "tourists" after taking a thorough tour of their new city.
But right now, none of them were working. They all wanted a lazy afternoon to just relax and enjoy life. It was the Saturday, and they had a fairly difficult exam the day before and all none of the students were in the mood to get out and do something.
Nagamasa and Midoriya were teaching Todoroki how to operate the pinball machine that just was added in the recreation room along with other arcade cabinets. Nagamasa was stunned that Todoroki never played pinball before but Midoriya knew that his friend never had much of a childhood. Thankfully, Todoroki got the hang of the game quickly and seemed to be having the time of his life.
Kirishima and Iida were busy having an extremely competitive Garou: Mark of the Wolves match. Kirishima was surprised that his bespectacled friend gave him such a run for his money in a game that he played since he was a kid.
"You sure you don't play that many SNK games Iida?"
"I assure my experiences playing these games are fairly limited compared to my understand of Capcom fighting games. I'm sure I could dominate you in the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 cabinet we have."
"Is this your idea of shit talk?"
"Of course not, I would never imply that I could sweep you in such a competition" there was a smug tone in his voice.
"Alright, when I kick your ass and then Inasa's; I'll kick your ass in your game. Hope you could back that trash talk!"
In contrast to their classmates, Seiji and Yaoyorozu were having a fairly civil game of chess.
"Is it always like this?"
"Unfortunately, Inasa is quite hot headed and now he has found two kindred spirits In Kirishima and Iida."
Yaoyorozu chuckled "Well, at least Todoroki is deriving some enjoyment out of this!" Both of them looked at the scene going on at the pinball machine- Todoroki just beat Midoriya's high score and was pumping his fist in the at his victory, right before getting embarrassed at his overreaction and trying to hide his shame from the other two.
"Hah! I beat you fair and square Iida!"
"Very well, I'll accept my defeat. Inasa, it's your turn to duel with Kirishima."
On his way from the couch to the arcade cabinet Inasa tripped and hit his head on the edge of a table, eliciting a "Damn it" from him.
Seiji voiced his concern for his boyfriend immediately "Are you alright? You need any help?"
"I think I'm fi-what the hell?" Inasa was blindsided by Camie running up to him and examining his face. His odd classmate swept her fingers across the place where his head made contact with the edge of the table, covering two digits in blood. "You're bleeding Inasa"
Inasa pushed his classmate away from himself and got up "Yeah, I could see that. What the hell is up with you? Ever since you became sick like a month ago you've been acting like a completely different person. You're stalking Midoriya like a freakin' creep, your grades are slipping super hard, and we no longer need to use urban dictionary to figure out what you're talking about! And now you're really into blood! Are you doing drugs or something?"
Unbeknownst to everyone else, the five UA students were putting their guards up and grouping together. They knew that Inasa's rant described a certain villain they faced, particularly the "obsessed with Midoriya and blood parts"
"Inasa, you should get away from Camie right now."
"What are you talking about Iida?" the students who've been at Shiketsu high since the start of the year just now noticed the look on the transfers. Midoriya had energy coursing through him, Todoroki's left hand was set ablaze, Yaoyorozu had a metal staff in her hands, Iida was revving his engines, and Kirishima hardened his arms. "Are you guys going to attack Camie? We're not gonna let you! Even if she's acting weird, she's till our classmate." Inasa activated his quirk in response.
Midoriya tried to calm everyone down "Inasa, we think Camie isn't who you think she is…" Todoroki noticed that "Camie" was backing away slowly and let his impulses take over him.
"EVERYONE, GET DOWN!" he spouted flames at Camie's direction expecting Inasa to dive out of the way, but he instead activated his wind quirk, causing a fiery updraft that threatened to engulf the entire building.
"Both of you stop this before we all get hurt!" Yaoyorozu yelled try to get some sense into her classmates.
"I'm not gonna let you hurt any of my fri- ARGHH!" A sharp pain in his side interrupted Inasa's declaration. He turned his head and saw Camie sticking a knife in his side. The pain caused him to deactivate his quirk and collapse on the floor
Camie ran out the door while dodging and cutting Nagamasa hair tendrils; as she ran, Nagamasa pursued her. Seiji ran up to Inasa to check on him. Inasa was clutching his side and gave Seiji a weak smile so his boyfriend wouldn't worry "It's okay, she didn't hit anything vital…"
"Shut up you idiot, you got stabbed" Seiji was on the verge of breaking down before Yaoyorozu materialized some first aid materials and applied them to her injured classmates.
"What the hell just happened?"
"Who you thought was Camie was actually a League of Villains member- Himiko Toga. She disguised herself as Camie and infiltrated the school. You told us that Camie's quirk created illusions, and she frequently disguised herself as other people during quirk training, right? Well it looks like she was the perfect disguise for Toga…"
Nagamasa returned, having lost Toga but gained the assistance of their homeroom teacher. "Alright, what happened here?"
Iida repeated what he said to Inasa and Seiji to Mr. Bernal. "So what you're saying is that this villain was masquerading as one of my students for a whole month?!"
"I'm afraid so, Mr. Bernal."
Nagamasa was terrified of that implication "Does that mean that Camie is…?"
Iida crossed his arms and sighed "All evidence points toward that conclusion…"
"Hold on Iida" Midoriya spoke up "Toga only kills people she falls in love with, and she needs to continuously drink the blood of whoever she's disguised as to keep up her disguise."
"What are you saying, Midoriya?"
"I'm saying there's a chance that Camie's still alive, Mr. Bernal! I know this is overstepping our boundaries, but we would like to help you try to find Camie."
"Alright."
Kirishima's ears perked up "wait, what? Really?"
"Yes really. All five of you know more about this Toga girl more than anyone else here so the authorities would want to hear what you five have to say. Just don't expect to use your quirks or anything, you kids are there strictly for information purposes."
"Yes sir!" if they were to be honest, All of of them were surprised that Mr. Bernal and the school were allowing them to help.
Mr. Bernal then turned towards the students attending to Inasa's injuries. "Nagamasa and Seiji, you two get Inasa to the nurse and make sure he recovers"
The three students nodded their heads before turning to their new classmates "Make sure you guys bring Camie home, got it?"
The police Headquarters they were led to was already busy looking for the missing high schooler. Apparently, Shiketsu high doesn't waste time when they want something done. The police chief welcomed the five with open arms. "It's good to see the future is in capable hands! I'm Chief Sagara and we'll need all the help we can get tracking this missing person. If any of you have any information, please feel free to speak up. Don't be intimidated by any of us, in fact I bet most of the workforce here is star struck with you all here!"
Todoroki crossed his arms as remembered the last time the last time he had a conversation with a police chief "I already like this guy more than that mutt…"
"Focus Todoroki, we mustn't dwell on the past" Iida reprimanded his friend for taking a shot at someone who was just doing his job.
"Damn Iida, what's gotten you on edge?" Kirishima was surprised to see his classmate be so harsh
"It's because we could be the ones that could potentially save our classmate's life if we could give the authorities valuable information." Yaoyorozu was also adamant that they help immediately.
The five were lead to a room full of police officers, forensic analysts, detectives, and others. All of them were doing their hardest to search for the missing girl. Some officers were communicating with the recently dispatched field operatives, while some were piloting drones that were scouting the skies. The kids told them everything they knew about the Himiko Toga and how Camie would likely be in an abandoned building but that only narrowed the search down so much. Everyone's brain was wracked with the extremely wide area in which Camie could have been held captive. Finding a girl inside a building in such a metropolitan country was like finding a needle in a needle factory...that had gone out of business for sixty years and had been converted into two different types of buildings since then.
A thought popped into Iida's head that he hoped would cause a breakthrough "Midoriya, you said that Toga need to consume the blood of her victims regularly to maintain her disguise, yes?"
"Yeah"
"If she needed to Camie alive, she must have used the prerequisite equipment for intravenous therapy such as infusions pumps, hypodermic needles, cannulas, and drip chambers!"
"How is all that medical mumbo jumbo supposed to help us Iida?"
Iida ignored Kirishima's question and spoke to the Chief Sagara "Officer, can you track all any shipments of illegally obtained medical equipment? I assume any large criminal organization would buy them in bulk but The League would only have use one of each item for their sole captive"
The Police Chief gave the orders to his underlings and they quickly found a small shipment delivered to an abandoned building ten miles north. A dispatch squad and Mr. Bernal booked it immediately to the location while the five UA students went back to the campus and wait for the results.
Three hours later, Mr. Bernal arrived in the dorms to reveal what they discovered. The teacher had his usual calm expression so the students couldn't decipher his thoughts. They all expected the worst such as Himiko Toga or any of the League killing Camie after they deemed her a "liability".
"First of all, I would like to apologize for taking so long to address what happened to you all. I know you would all like to know the situation regarding Utsushimi but I had to discuss this matter with the school board, the board of directors, and the news"
"JUST TELL US WHAT HAPPENED TO CAMIE!" Inasa bellowed out, shocked that his teacher would open up with something so inconsequential to them."
"Ah yes, we found Utsushimi in a relatively stable condition and bought her to a hospital to give her a full check up. She had a few stab wounds around her shoulder and midsection but she wasn't as atrophied as we feared, indicating that the League of Villains fed her. She was chained to a bed and knocked out when we found her and she'll need to answer some questions for the police regarding what she experienced. Regardless, the only thing that matters is that she is safe.
The entire class cheered in elation. Inasa, Seiji and Nagamasa profusely thanked the five students that knew about Toga for helping rescue their close friend. While all this was happening Todoroki noticed Iida drag his hands down his face in relief and sigh in exhaustion. The hybrid smiled upon seeing his friend so alleviated
He hoped that his friend would get to know the real Camie soon.
*The actual story didn't cover how Camie was rescued from the League so I had to make my own explanation on how she got rescued.
As always, reviews keep me going.*
