Chapter 14: New Obsessions
Ochako
Glass shatters all around them, U.A.'s emergency alarm light flashing on and blaring to life in the background.
"Get down!" Izuku orders Uraraka, only to see her already ahead of him, maneuvering shards glass to wood out of their field as best as possible before taking cover under the table.
"So it's finally happening." She notes softly aloud when she glances Izuku's way again and she can tell by his stern look that he isn't too shocked by this all happening.
The League had given warning after all they were coming, just not exactly when or where.
"The emergency exit is to the left." Izuku determines, using Infliction to enhance his vision to check the surrounding tables.
Any other students nearby have already evacuated or are hurriedly making their way in the direction of the stairs or main entrance before they're completely cut off. In the darkness it will soon be hard to tell who is student and who is villain.
She feels a shard slice the side of her hand and shoulder, ignoring the pain that shoots all around her arm as she shifts a set of toppled bookshelves out of their way.
They need to get going as well.
"Deku, you can't stay here for much longer! Aren't you one of the people they're looking for?" She questions, swerving back to look at him when sees him hanging back.
His face mirrors her concern before the flickering of the alarm's lights cuts off, tumbling them back into another blackout.
"Go on ahead Uraraka! I want to make sure the main entrance is all clear." He directs her, pushing her forward towards the stairwell before she can argue as he kicks off in the direction of the front of the library.
'What is that smell?' Ochako clenches her teeth, calming her breathing to stay focused.
The scent grows stronger the closer she gets to the stairs until it is right by her nostrils once she starts descending.
Blood?
And then a hand loops around her a second later that is saturated with it, Ochako twisting out of the hold before whoever this is can whisk her off.
She elbows them straight in the chest, catching a glint of something sharp now that a bit of light comes in from the upper windows of the stairs.
'A needle?'
"Aww, now don't play hard to get! You wouldn't want to end up like the others below, would you?" A teasing feminine voice whispers in her ear and Ochako shivers stepping back, following her gaze to the students below.
Their bodies are littered with cuts and growing bruises, tiny rivulets of crimson forming along the stairsteps where they lay.
Her stomach coils in on itself at the sight, forcing herself to look away at seeing the shiny point of her needle returning.
"Don't worry, they're not dead! At least not yet on the boss's orders, unfortunate some managed to get away before we could chat more. I'm hoping anyways the boss will hold off a bit longer; more than just your quirks you all have such unique blood." She purrs out licking her lips and now that Ochako is getting a good look at her this girl is around her age.
And she is on the villain's side.
She dodges once more both her needle to her knife, looking for the right moment to strike.
"Who are you?" Ochako questions, earning her a giggle. Her cheeks are flushed with pleasure despite not having managed to land a hit on her yet as if this is all a game.
"Wow, you're a quick one; my name is Himiko Toga. Though you already knew that from the news, right?! I mean, that's how I already know all about you Ochako! Anyways, I guess it shouldn't surprise me you're so fast on your feet being Izuku Midoriya's girl." She chimes out, grin widening at finally being able to see a hint of pink warm her face.
She slows just enough seeing her reaction for her to move forward though, tripping her up before lunging and pinning her to the ground. She kicks her knife out of reach as it clatters to the ground vibrating out, glaring down into her golden orbs.
"You're wrong." Ochako hisses to her earlier statement, though it does nothing to the delightful grin etched upon Toga's face.
"Since we're friends now we should be able to share secrets with each other, so don't try to deny it! I've seen the way you've looked at him during all those news broadcasts and the way he looks at you. It makes sense to me to want to be like the one you love, to look strong in their presence, to have their blood running through you..." She trails off with a hum though she winces just slightly at the pressure she exerts on her neck wanting her to stay quiet.
'She's not making any sense! Her quirk must be connected to blood in some form or fashion though.' Ochako determines, hoping none of her earlier cuts from the shards of glass have gotten into her range.
In the distance she hears the sound of Ectoplasm approaching or at least one of his clones scoping the halls and she calls out to him hoping her voice echoes into his reach with how scratchy it comes out.
This isn't over yet though.
'Deku has to be safe or at least gotten out of the library. But he was left alone...' Ochako curses herself.
She should've forced him to come with her or at least scoped out the rest of the library with him.
"You know, the boss may be only interested in Izuku, but I'm interested in you both." Toga smiles getting her attention once more just as Ectoplasm approaches the stairs seeing them both.
-X-
Katsuki
'They would choose the fucking school to attack.' Katsuki sighs.
And even more they waited until the school day was basically over, when most students would be either at the training halls, studying, or doing whatever extracurricular activities U.A. offered to help get their students one step closer to being full-fledged Heroes.
He is in the gym.
Or what is now left of it.
Despite the blackout he is in an area that has enough natural light, sun highlighting the shattered windows to strewn weights and machines crumpled from the impact of the blast's shockwave.
"It looks like it was a direct hit on the main wing!" Kirishima mutters by his side and Katsuki feels his scowl deepen.
He's sure Deku is somewhere within that all, most likely the library going by his usual habits.
'That nerd will be fine on his own.' He's certain.
But he is a target too and he swallows his nerves that neither of them truly knows what these villains are fully capable of just yet.
"We need to get going. I'm not going to sit here like an idiot waiting for them to come to me." He gripes, pushing past Kirishima to go on ahead only for him to pull him back.
"Whoa hold on! You're one of the people the League is looking for. You can't say you aren't either; all of us have seen the concerned looks the faculty has been giving you and Midoriya as of late! You should be laying low to prevent them from finding you so that the teachers have one less thing to worry about." Kirishima reasons.
"In case you haven't noticed, they aren't going to politely wait around nor am going to give them the fucking pleasure of seeing me hide like some coward!" Katsuki snaps back.
Anyways, it's too late to try and stay low or out of sight.
He already feels someone's eyes on him, watching him carefully; waiting.
"Get ready." Katsuki grunts out lowly just as the gym's roof now begins to give way, the groan of metal bending and tearing slicing across the room.
Kirishima immediately hardens his body as pieces begin to tumble around them, Katsuki blasting away any of the ones he can't get to in time to push away. The shadow of a figure looms above them blocking out the sun, dark skin and modified muscles, those vacant eyes he's seen before from his television screen...
A Nomu.
"Shit, it's one of those creatures from the news!" Kirishima curses, but Katsuki bursts himself up atop a pile of crushed steel glaring the creature down.
"What the hell are you doing?! We need to get out of here!" Kirishima yells from behind him.
Katsuki barely gives him a glance back, gesturing instead to the back exit not completely obstructed yet by pieces of cracked metal or equipment. "No, you're the one who needs to get the fuck out of here! This thing is going after me and I'll be the one to distract it."
He can tell this one is a bit smarter than all the braindead ones that have been circling throughout the news and social media. Those ones only acted on command from an individual nearby and otherwise were nothing more than a drooling zombie.
But this one smiles at him, as if recognizing him and he bites down the sharp twinge in his chest as it begins to form out words.
"...Found you." It pronounces out slowly.
"Move your head to the left Bakugo!" Kirishima abruptly orders and a second later he feels a whiz of air zoom by his ear, watching as a jagged metal spike pierces straight into the Nomu's right eye.
Even with it bleeding though it's grin remains, letting loose a burst of fire scorching the hand that reaches for him.
He leaps back out of range, gritting his teeth.
"We're taking this thing on together! Besides, what type of Hero or friend would I be to let you take all the credit in this?" Kirishima jokes and Katsuki can't find it in himself to retort his claims.
'This idiot.' If anything he could've at least gone to get help from one of the faculty.
Though that would've left him alone with this creature and none of his attacks seem to faze him.
"What's this? 2 on 1 isn't very fair!" A voice interrupts from behind the Nomu, a man leaping forth giving a bow for the pair.
'What is this; a magician?' Katsuki questions himself looking over his attire. A top hat and cane were far and away more elaborate and flashy than what any of the other villains he had seen broadcasted regarding their identities.
He ignores then this twinge in his chest, the beads of sweat forming on his brow.
Unlike so many of the other criminals associated with the League this man is a show off, reveling in their attention and complete focus on him.
A mask obscures his face, however he can tell he's smirking at them both.
He turns his head towards Kirishima, tone slipping into one of boredom regarding the new features his body has taken on. "Well, the orders were only to capture Katsuki Bakugo, but I suppose getting two for the price of one isn't bad either! Not that interesting of a quirk though from what I've seen so far unless you have some more tricks up your sleeves. Maybe you should've left when you were first told to; oh well."
He lifts up two marbles then, crystal blue showing their distorted reflections in each.
"So, ready for my first act?"
-X-
Izuku
'His eyes; burn until he's blind.'
And as soon as Infliction activates, he stops in place hearing the burst of blood vessels, watching as his fingers crawl and scratch where his eyes sting.
As Recovery Girl said, the eyes are the best way to stop any villain. Losing one of the major 5 senses especially sight should halt any villain big or small.
"Just remember as time goes on, people will find a way to counter Infliction's abilities or maybe not be affected by it at all. The human body is quite resilient in that way, if one body part or sense is lost/broken, the other senses or systems kick in to try and compensate for it." She explains.
To further demonstrate she points to the Nomu's hands, how the right hand is more mangled and smaller in appearance than the left. "This misalignment could've been the result of an injury that occurred during death or after it was transformed and sent out to perform various tasks. The metacarpal and carpal bones didn't heal properly leading to the crooked appearance and most likely infection and nerve damage. It's left hand in this case appears bigger due to the right's decreased use overtime."
Chiyo looks back up to Izuku then, strands of her silver hair loosened out of her bun by this autopsy. Even though it's death has long since passed the body's pungent odor spills out into the room making them have to pause.
"The most important thing I want you to take from these lessons Midoriya is just how deep Infliction's ability can go into a person's major systems: Nervous, Circulatory, Digestive, Cardiac, etc." She notes after their short break.
"And don't assume no matter what system you affect it can stop your opponent, especially if they've done their homework on you." She finishes.
She's right.
Because this man only a few feet away is immune to such pain it seems.
"You think a little injury like this is going to stop me? Trust me, I've been through far worse. However, now I know why Sensei is so interested in you. This is just an example of why you belong on our side Midoriya; a quirk like that will get rejected by society if this is what it can do to others in just a short span of time." He chuckles.
It's him, it has to be. The one who sent the original emails or at least instructed the hacker to break into U.A.'s messaging system. The hand that he has smoothly gliding against the railing of the stairs causes it to immediately deteriorate with rust before collapsing apart, reduced to nothing in only seconds.
All Might warned him there was a quirk amongst the League that was especially lethal that had been popping up more and more as of late according to their most recent intel. This is the one he described and he can finally put a face now to that name.
Tomura Shigaraki.
"Relax, I just want to talk to you for a moment, at least once I find where you're properly hiding. You see, my decay quirk here can keep going until there is nothing left of U.A. to really call a school. I don't need my vision to tell you that." Shigaraki remarks casually.
At his lack of a response he continues on, humming lowly to himself.
"Tell me something Midoriya, that's your name, right? What happens when you say burn out a so called villain's eyes like this in front a child? Or better yet the person you're trying to rescue? What happens when they think you're the villain instead and try to run away? Because that's what your quirk does, it causes a lot of people to be scared; nervous."
A knot wedges in his throat, these are the very questions he ignores or keeps burying to the back of his thoughts.
How will he react down the line when someone is too afraid of him? When the seconds matter between life and death?
Shigaraki's laugh echoes, gruff and wild. "Can't answer it, can you? Yeah society can be quite the bitch and you'll see it for yourself too someday soon."
'Stop listening to this; tune him out.' Izuku warns himself.
His footsteps grow closer, shattered glass crunching under his feet. A dull ache pounds at the back of his head, growing louder in rise with the tempo of his heart. Staying behind this broken pillar for much longer is pointless.
'Damn it. Think! What else can I do?' His thoughts race.
He could activate One For All, channel enough energy to his legs to kick him downstairs but there would be no element of surprise and with watching how easily his ability works in close range it would be bad to rush in.
But he refuses to keep sitting here.
Scarlet eyes blink through the pain to stare at him in amusement when he is just a hair's breath away from him hearing the cracking of glass approaching him now instead. He can't see him properly yet he's sure and his eyes roam down then for his neck.
Respiratory.
'Crush his neck; his larynx.'
Coming to me now, huh? That makes things easier-" Shigaraki begins before his voice abruptly withers and his fingers move up to scratch and dig at his neck, leaving tracks of red until he draws blood.
And pain meanwhile bursts and slides across his head, stepping back from him. "Stay out of our school, everything you did today was a waste if you thought it would make us change sides."
He sees the switch in his eyes then from earnest interest of his quirk to a malice that arises like a storm, thunderous and dark.
"Young Midoriya, move away from him!" All Might yells out before he can say anything more, swooping in.
A flash bomb erupts then, All Might shielding him from the light and encompassing smoke as Shigaraki slips away.
But not before he was able to read his lips, to see his parting message.
'We'll talk again soon.'
-X-
All Might
19 seconds.
It's exactly how long it took for the series of bombs to go off all around U.A.'s campus.
And too late were he and so many of his fellow co-workers able to stop this attack, stop them from injuring the students who are supposed to feel calm and protected within these walls as they learn to become Heroes themselves. All student's have been accounted for, but he knows some of them are withholding things, of how their encounters with some of the League's most prominent members went down.
"One of them disguised themselves as student over a period of weeks setting up each detonator it seems." Principal Nezu reiterates as they rewind back through the cameras.
The images are clear as day showing doubles of various students, their peers none the wiser to what was going on until it all was too late.
Nedzu's eyes roam across the room, lingering a second longer on him. For once his tea sits untouched despite it being known to be of his favorite blends.
"We've jeopardized our student's safety and of course each of their parent's trust. As well, the public's opinion of how safe a school U.A is going to be scrutinized by all major media outlets in the coming weeks now. For a series of high-rank villains to come in like this means there has been a hole in our safety protocols all this time so I open the floor now to everyone on what ideas we would find best moving forward." Nezu concludes.
The room remains quiet, the last few hours still looping through everyone's thoughts.
'Would Young Midoriya have killed him if I didn't get to him in time?' Toshinori wonders.
The vindictiveness was there, so obvious in the way his green eyes shined with a blend of hatred and disgust for the man who is apparently All for One's successor. Just how long he has been under his wing he doesn't truly know, but he has taught him much or at least is guiding him on how to be a proper leader.
How to recruit others for the League.
He pinpointed on Young Midoriya though, as if he knew somehow that he was the one he passed down One for All to.
'This isn't good. I need to ask Gran Torino to start working with sooner for him to better control One for All as well.' He notes.
"Yagi, what is your opinion on this?" Nezu asks and he forces himself to pay attention to the conversation at hand.
"I'm sorry, you'll have to repeat it." He sighs, knowing despite Nezu's smile he is feeling less patient today.
They all are.
"The suggestion was brought up of having the students stay here, dormitory style. At least with their parent's permission." Aizawa states, bringing him up to speed.
"Well, I think the idea has it's pros and cons. More pros than cons really. We lower the risk of any incidents occurring during the students coming to and from school, but on the other hand it doesn't stop the potential of an attack happening while out on a patrol." Kayama mentions.
"What about the students whose parents say no to this idea? They're all still minors after all and we can't blame them for having reservations with these latest incidents." Yamada asks back.
Toshinori coughs, raising his hand just enough to get everyone's attention.
"For now I think it would be best to raise this topic during homeroom, have all the students be able to go home and discuss it with their families before we then meet with their parents one on one to further go over the idea of dormitory living. Our goal at the end of the day is to ensure not only that our students have faith in us, but that the public does as well."
Nezu claps his paws together, pleased by the discussion so far.
"As usual, your words have a calming effect Yagi! I believe we're all in agreement the dorms are a good idea, let's move forward now on plans to discuss this with each class and year!"
It's hard to focus again, words on the screen becoming a blur. Nezu typically goes for bright PowerPoints to try and keep them entertained, but none of the bright splashes of blues or yellows are sinking in.
Because he needs to check in with Young Bakugo who had been missing for hours before suddenly reappearing with an equally battered Kirishima in the cafeteria, neither talking of where they were.
He needs to figure out when All For One will make his next move.
And truly he needs to speak with Young Midoriya again before he does something reckless...
-X-
Izuku & Ochako
'Just knock already!' Ochako orders herself.
Still, her feet stay rooted in place right outside Deku's hospital room. Gamma would laugh at her for freezing up like this after so much of the morning hours were spent attempting to create the perfect katsudon bowl.
"He can't read your mind Ochi! He won't know you're offering food unless you go over to him!" She huffs with Gamps nodding in agreement beside her to get a move on already, both practically pushing her out the door instead of listening to her yammer to herself and literally float around the kitchen in an endless pattern of uncertainty.
It's better that Deku can't read her thoughts, of how ridiculous and silly they are.
Unnecessary distractions, unnecessary feelings...
Even Nishimura-sensei questioned why she had lingered at his room for so long when they both knew she didn't have much updates for him.
After everything, they both just have minor injuries and it feels wrong in a way to be visiting him when their fellow classmates suffered far serious wounds.
As it stands from what Mrs. Midoriya told her over the phone, Deku is only here for observation and will most likely be discharged this evening. The relatively positive news didn't stop the note of upset, fear, and pure frustration over her only son's behavior from pouring into her voice though, a cycle she isn't sure her body or heart can continue to handle.
"Maybe you can get him to open up a bit more, he's been so quiet as of late receding into his thoughts. I want to figure out what's going through his mind to confront these villains like this time and again." Inko sighs, barely hold in a sniff as her voice wobbles.
"Don't cry Mrs. Midoriya! Deku I'm sure put Infliction to the limit for good reason. He analyzes a situation before he acts, I've seen it before with my own eyes." Ochako relates, hoping to calm her down just a bit.
She can't promise she'll get all the answers she wants, but she will go to check in on him.
As soon as she gathers her nerves!
The hallway is thankfully quiet with only the faint smell of cleaning products, to medicines, and perhaps get well soon flowers for patients lingers altogether in the air.
And after two deep breaths she knocks, sliding the door open. The window is open, letting cool afternoon air in. This cloudless day reminds her of summer, of when she was still adjusting city life, homesick at night for Mie, and bounced off topics together with Deku of how life would be like once they were at U.A...
Those days seem so long ago, darkened and muddied now by the reality of what a Pro-Hero deals with.
'Oh, he's sleeping.' Ochako realizes as she steps closer seeing his eyes closed and even breathing, placing the packages down against the table as quietly as possible.
The table groans from the pressure though and she winces hearing the sheets of the bed shift from the noise.
Stupid old table!
"Uraraka?" Izuku blinks, moving up off his pillows. He hadn't been resting for long, voice not holding the familiar scratchiness that comes from a deep sleep.
She walks over to his side, over the line of the IV drip and scattered books. "Hey! Sorry if I woke you, I wanted to drop off lunch if you hadn't already ate."
The words come out jumbled and fast, but Izuku nods in understanding.
And then he reaches his hand out, pulling gently on her arm until she is tumbled into a hug so much like the one he gave her when she first found out about the bankruptcy of her parent's business.
When she was hurting, attempting to hide that pain.
It's happening again now, only to Deku this time.
"You're alright." He breathes by her ear just as she slowly begins to hug him back.
"I'm alright." Ochako confirms, scooting properly into the bed while hoping he doesn't feel the heat burning from her face down to her neck from his sudden affectionate gesture.
'He's trembling.' Ochako frowns.
But whatever is weighing on Deku's mind he can't bring himself to say aloud just yet, lips set in a firm line as he buries his head into her neck. The TV overhead buzzes with breaking news again that is starting to become a pattern, of another Hero that has been critically injured related to the Hero Killer who remains at large.
His latest victim: Ingenium.
-x-
I hope I got Toga and Shigaraki's personalities down, particularly at least how I feel they would act given the new situation created from Deku's quirk. Some espionage next time for Izuku and Ochako doing some investigating! Let me know your thoughts as always or any questions/ideas. Almost to 100 reviews; let's get to it!
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