16/05/2023

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The Emperor's Dragon
Emergence 73 - No Such Thing As Innocent News

Nishita didn't like to go online on her phone much so she usually reported what she'd heard at work once she got home. She much preferred the larger screen of her tablet and the keyboard when posting. And by not looking at things while she was at work, she avoided being distracted there which was good 'cos she liked her job and the access it gave her to the up and coming heroes.

She looked at her usual haunts but nothing interesting had happened today. Then she decided to find out if anyone had interviewed Mitei's mother. There was nothing online from a search and Nishita sighed and went back to her usual forum.

There were about 400 online at the time and it was the work of a few moments to make a new post. She kept the subject simple 'Has anyone questioned Mitei's mother?' and left it at that. Everyone on the forum would know who she was talking about. They wouldn't be here if they didn't.

Then she thought about what she had learned today by listening in. It wasn't much. The Hero students knew who'd taken their quirks - the entire world knew - but they didn't know if they'd be getting them back. Nishita grimaced. Candor compelled her to admit that she shouldn't consider it unusual. Adults did not tell children everything, even those training to be Heroes. There could be a lot of information generated from Daiki Yaoyorozu's press conference that they just weren't privy to.

Her tablet pinged. Someone had replied. Nishita clicked the response and felt relief. The reply was definite. 'Yes, NOUA. The Mustafa Police questioned her the day after the conference. Sir Nighteye was there. Here's a clip.' There was a link and Nishita clicked it. It took her to a news site. It wasn't a well known one. She clicked play.

The video showed a rather annoyed looking Sir Nighteye as he went down several stairs somewhere. It was probably the police station. Nishita didn't know what Mustafa Police Station looked like. He looked frustrated but that could be the result of many things. Sir Nighteye was not All Might with his endless smiles. Sir Nighteye was far more pragmatic. "No comment," he said preemptively.

"She said nothing?" the reporter asked.

At the question Sir Nighteye paused slightly. "Inko Midoriya's son was kidnapped when he was four and a half. It is distressing to her that he has reappeared as a villain," he said pointedly. "Given the years that have passed, she has no new information to provide," he added.

The clip finished after that.

It was about all that could be expected. Inko Midoriya had probably given some drivel about how she still loved her son. That might even be true. She would have the view of her son as a child, not as he was now. Nishita rolled her eyes. If that was the case, she could understand Sir Nighteye's frustration. Hopefully she'd come around.

Probably not though. Nishita hoped she was never that stupid about her children.

She put a thanks on the thread before going to one she'd started a couple of days before. The post was just an update on what she knew about the situation. 'I heard from some of the students today,' she started. It was sort of true. The oldest members of the forum knew that she worked at a coffee shop near UA. The newer members made up some weird stories. It was fun reading them, which is why no one ever explained to the newbies where she got her information.

'Bakugou is ready for round 2,' Nishita wrote. 'And like a true hero, he'll make sure the villain lover is questioned. Why hasn't she been questioned? Her f*cking villain friend took their quirks! There's no quirk more villainous than that, and all avenues should be pursued.

This villain is truly evil and while he's only struck at students, that's only for now… Who knows where and who he'll strike next. Removing this villain from the world is for the betterment of society and I don't think it's a misuse of hero and police resources to capture this villain.' She put in the last because there were times when hero and police resources did go to the wrong things. They had a thread for it.

Nishita clicked post and sat back. With the number of people online, she should get some responses soon. She wasn't disappointed.

Within three minutes she had her first reply.

'NOUA, what do you mean they haven't questioned the villain lover? WTF?'

Nishita smiled. Yeah, that was definitely something and it was something that should be outraging others. She should have been questioned. She should have been the first person questioned! And she should have presented herself for questioning the instant it was known something had gone wrong. That is, she should have if she had any decency. Except… As a villain lover, she had none.

'Seriously, she hasn't been questioned? I thought that would have been the first thing the heroes did!'

That was the next comment.

'Bakugou is ready for round 2? I'd like to see that!'

Yeah, she'd like to see that too but it wasn't going to happen. It might be nice if it did but that was a fantasy.

'So the villain lover is that girl who went up against Bakugou at the Sport's Festival? Ochaco Uraraka? Why have the heroes left her? Why is she even alive? F*cking villains.'

Nishita smiled at that and clicked away. The thread was started and she'd come back later to see how it went. It did seem to be going in the right direction. And the more people who saw the truth, the better.

And maybe, finally, they'd do something about that villain lover. She owed the world answers.

-ted-

Yakuni stepped back from Eri. She looked up at him with her red eyes. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Her lip trembled. "It's okay. You are better," she said softly.

He gave her a smile as he put the syringe away. He was better than the others who took blood from her. He'd had some training with the Doctor. Even though Nomu didn't care how skilled he was, the Doctor did. And he did. He wanted to be good. So now, he was good.

"Are you ready to practice?" he asked gently.

Back when Overhaul had decided he needed extra scientific expertise he'd worked with the girl. She was scared and hurt and he knew what that was like. She was scared of her quirk. So he'd begun telling her stories. At first, they were just to relax her, so that she got to know him better but as time went on, Yakuni realised that the girl desperately needed a friend. Even if he was far, far older than her. So he told her stories, and tried to make her more confident with her quirk.

He never revealed he had a quirk himself! But he could draw on his experience when learning to use that quirk. Yakuni always phrased it as memories from watching others learn to use their quirk. He couldn't risk her saying anything. He didn't think she'd do it deliberately but he still couldn't risk it.

Eri nodded shyly at him and Yakuni reached into his pocket and brought out a moldy apple. She'd been afraid of practicing until he made it very clear that he had no intention of letting her practice on him! Fruit, vegetables and bits of meat were great to practice on. It didn't matter if they ended up with seeds or… well, when she went too far with the meat they just ended up with a slush. Which wasn't too bad either.

She looked at the apple after he'd drawn back from it and Yakuni could tell she was focused on it. The apple was safe. She knew that she couldn't hurt it.

He knew what she'd done. The rest of the Yakuza had been happy to tell him. In fact some had relished the tale, as if they expected him to be her next victim when he 'started' with them. Really, Yakuni had no idea how they could use their own quirks! Did they not realise she just needed to practice in a safe environment? While she didn't have full control over her quirk, she was a lot better now. Quirk control was instinctive but not instantaneous. People knew how to control their quirks, they just had to learn. Those who were scared often couldn't but if they could work through their fear, then control came quickly.

Little Eri was no different. Yakuni watched the rotten apple plump up again. The rot receded and then the dried lines of wither pushed outwards. The apple became red again and shiny. He waited for her to stop using her quirk. It was part of the training. She had to sense when things were about to get to their perfect condition. That's why they were using rotten food. There was a good point and the consequences were never bad if she missed.

As Yakuni watched the apple sprouted a stalk and leaf and began to shrink but then it stopped.

Eri's red eyes looked at the apple and she gave him a trembling smile.

"Excellent!" he praised. She'd gone too far, but she'd stopped. "You almost got it done, and next time you'll do better!" That was the important part of his praise. People who believed they couldn't do something or couldn't learn something, were self fulfilling prophecies. People who were told they just had to try harder, or try again, eventually learned to do something. He'd seen it in school, though he'd always been the one told that he would never learn something. But he'd seen it often enough in school for others, the favoured kids, those with quirks. They were just told to try again. The Doctor did as well. He failed but he took lessons out of those failures.

"Could you feel it when the apple was good?"

She nodded.

"And?" Yakuni prompted. Little Eri already knew what he was asking. Why hadn't she stopped?

"I did but the power kept going," she told him in a small voice.

Yakuni nodded to show that he'd heard. "So, do you think you can sense it sooner? Or go slower, so that you have time to sense it?" he asked brightly. The trick was to make it a considered question, not one that was bad for her. And he'd seen her vary the speed of her quirk use before. Probably Eri didn't realise she had. She could be almost instantaneous but there were times when she could watch what was happening.

She frowned. On her child features it was kind of cute to see her thinking so hard. "Maybe…" Eri said uncertainly.

"You'll just have to try," Yakuni said as he rose, and picked up the apple. They never had a lot of time to experiment with her quirk but just the act of practicing had made her control so much better.

He'd have liked to tell her about Dragon and about how Dragon could help her by taking her quirk so that she couldn't hurt someone again but… If he did that, then Overhaul would be very upset. The man was already targeting All For One and… Yakuni shook his head. He couldn't make the connections! He couldn't. If he did… he felt a flicker of tightness in his throat. He knew what that meant and while he would welcome that outcome if it prevented him from betraying Dragon, it would be better for him to see this through. He had to. Because in the long run, destroying Overhaul, or at least controlling him would be better for Dragon.

Overhaul thought he was using him. He'd show the arrogant Yakuza that with Dragon, things were never what they seemed. The Dragon always won.

-ted-

"I know him!" Gatarui Kumou growled at the TV in the corner. There'd just been a replay of the interview from the other day.

Those in the room simply sighed. They'd heard this every time the interview played, and several more times each day. 'Him' was Mitei Chui, who Gatarui had known as Izuku Chui in his Middle School.

"What do you mean?" Nobasu asked.

That made the rest of the room groan. The room was in a building that was kind of like a halfway house, except it wasn't really. A couple of the larger brokers had worked out that sometimes various villains wanted muscle on short notice. Rather than trying to gather that muscle when requested, they did it preemptively, giving people like Gatarui and Shoshi a place to live. In exchange, for room and board, they worked when called upon. This particular place was run by a broker named Tsuku who'd told them all quite frankly if they had a quirk or brains worth relying on then he'd be working for them in a few years…. Then the man laughed and walked away. Tsuku had made it very clear that he didn't think any of them had much of a future, except as labour hire for those who paid him.

In truth, the place was a trap. While Tsuku fed and housed them, when they did get work, through him, he deducted the cost of keeping them from their pay. As a result, it was vanishingly unlikely that they'd ever be financially independent. The best they could hope for was to be taken in by a hero, and get some rehabilitation.

That didn't happen often.

"You had to ask," Igoto groaned but his complaint was lost as Gatarui seized on the question. Nobasu had come in last night. His quirk let him extend his fingers, putting in extra joints, but keeping their strength.

"I went to school with the fucker," Gatarui replied. "He was known as Izuku Chui then and… the fucker wouldn't fight fair!"

Those who'd been here a while had heard it all before. Though if they were fair, the revelations from the interview had given some substance to Gatarui's complaints. He'd apparently come here because he wanted to get strong enough to have vengeance on Izuku Chui. The revelation that Izuku Chui had a quirk that could take other quirks had given Gatarui answers.

"He did something when we fought! Knocked me out. Took my quirk!" Gatarui grumbled. It made sense. Even a passing glance at the image of Mitei Chui, Izuku Chui, Izuku Midoriya or whatever his name was, indicated that Gatarui outweighed him significantly. Gatarui knew how to fight. While his quirk was a mutant one, no one was prepared to say it was 'just' a mutant quirk. It gave him the abilities of a spider, though no spinneret and no poison. Or at least, he hadn't admitted to poison. He didn't need it, he was stupidly strong, as strong or stronger than someone with a strength quirk - a good one. And the chitin covering his body gave him inbuilt armour. For someone of Mitei's build, he'd need something to even the odds.

"Yeah, well I know that prick Katsuki Bakugou," Nobasu announced.

That actually brought a stir to the room.

"You do?" Igoto drawled. The older teen didn't appear that interested but, this was something to keep them entertained.

"Went to school with the arrogant twat," Nobasu announced. "He was always heroes this, heroes that but all he really wanted to do was beat the shit out of you."

"So you're happy he lost his quirk?"

Nobasu smirked. "It is kind of justice," he laughed. "If you were weaker, he treated you like shit. And to him, everyone was weaker. God, I'd love to go and give him a piece of my mind."

Igoto laughed. He didn't say anything but everyone knew what he was thinking. Nobasu was only willing to 'talk' to Bakugou now that he didn't have a quirk. He wouldn't dare say anything against the Hero Student to his face if he had a quirk still.

But then… they were here because they didn't have a place in the normal world. They were here because they liked to fight but didn't have a quirk or temperament suitable for Heroics.

"Bakugou would have been a great villain," Nobasu said. "That… What's his name?"

"Shigaraki?" Igoto supplied.

"Yeah, him," Nobasu agreed. "If Bakugou didn't have his head so far up his arse, and could actually think about things, he'd realise that he'd be a great villain. Shigaraki wasn't wrong to try to recruit him."

"Nah," Igoto disagreed. "Better to be a hero," he said, holding up one hand. "Then it's state sponsored."

At that Nobasu had to agree but before any of them could question why they weren't trying to be heroes then Igoto continued. "'Course, the pay off for us, if things go right, will be better," he announced.

That brought a couple of barks of snorted laughter. It was not an amused sound. Most of those here knew they would be lucky to be anything major. They'd given up their delusions of being master villains and were looking for the right crew to join. Others, the new ones, still had hopes.

"Yeah," Nobasu agreed. "Still… I'd really like to have a chat with Bakugou."

"So go do it," Gatarui growled. "I just want Chui to choke!"

The statement just got him some head shakes. Chui's documented quirk, and frankly, his connections already put him as a higher class of villain that they were. Gatarui's chances of ever choking his old school companion were slim to none. He'd be better off attempting to use the fact that he knew Chui to get himself better work but…

They wouldn't be here, if they had better options.

-ted-

Nobasu is meant to be the guy who appears on page 1 of the manga with Tsubasa and Bakugou attacking Izuku.

Anyway, so a bit going on. Nishita is still stirring up trouble, Yakuni is working with Eri but can't tell the little tyke too much and those Bakugou bullied are realising it's their opportunity.

My discord is on this code: TcBnRN7aDn FFN will remove links but you should be able to figure that out. There's a heap of other authors there, so come along and chat to us all!

-ted-

Loved it? Hated it? Found a spelling mistake? Let me know please!