Just A Person Like Us
Hello everyone and welcome to the season finale of Hailstorm Vol. 2! Class 1A faces one last obstacle before they can bring Midoriya home, how will they handle it? And speaking of handling, let me explain what's happening after this chapter. As before I'll be going on hiatus until the anime resumes. This means the story won't be updating for a while, but it is by no means discontinued. And if it takes too long for the anime, I'll use the manga and continue the story that way. I'll post the news on my Pat reon first so if you're a patron you'll get a heads up first. Now then, with no guest review questions this week, let's dive on into the finale!
Rainy Evening: The Courtyard of U.A.
Due to its status as the best hero training school in the country, U.A. was afforded a few privileges that ordinary schools wouldn't get. Chief among them being access to the latest in defense technology at wholesale cost. This is how the school was able to keep stocking itself with the countless training robots used by students and staff who also doubled as security. Naturally they also got the latest surveillance tech, security sensors, nonlethal and even a couple of lethal deterrents in the case of a major emergency.
These features were not exclusive to U.A. alone, however, as most hero schools were required to have some level of security in order to protect their students. What made U.A. stand apart from the other hero schools was that its security, like much of the school's curriculum, was on another level. Little surprise, given the number of villain attacks leveled against the school in the past year. Since the threat of an attack by the most dangerous villain group in the country was a practical guarantee, Principal Nedzu had gone the extra mile and had a massive metallic barrier constructed around the school with walls and doors made of several feet of pure reinforced steel.
What was even more impressive were the modifications the principal himself had made and paid for out of his own surprisingly deep pockets. A multilayered metallic shell rested beneath the school where special shelters had been erected in the event of a mass villain attack. The most impressive thing about it was how the layers could be moved upwards or downwards to determine whether or not they were in contact with each other. Even more impressive was the system of underground rail tunnels running from the school all the way to Shiketsu High.
It was an engineering marvel that should've impressed even those without backgrounds in engineering and/or architecture. So imagine Class 1A's disappointment when they walked through said heavily reinforced gates to find a mob of several dozen people shouting in opposition to Midoriya's arrival. "Don't let that kid in here! Isn't that the one All For One's after! Shigaraki will come! Wasn't U.A. supposed to guarantee our safety!"
"It appears the public is as incapable of rational thought as ever," Clay sighed in annoyance. He'd personally been opposed to giving the public any more information connected to Izuku and One For All but in truth it probably wouldn't have mattered. Rumors had been going around ever since Shigaraki had uttered the words 'One For All' and some less than bright heroes who'd quit due to the current harsh conditions and public persecution had unwisely told the press what little they knew.
So even if the people didn't have the full story, they knew All For One was after the green-haired boy and didn't want to be anywhere near him. Nedzu had assured Class 1A that he'd make them understand but it seemed he'd been unable to quell their fears. Understandably, Izuku was starting to have second thoughts about the current course of action and turned to leave. But Uraraka grabbed his hand.
"No, you belong here," she reminded before giving him a determined smile, "just let us handle this." The green-haired boy still looked uneasy but nodded in understanding.
"Slade, Todoroki," Clay signaled for his fellow classmates to step forward before pulling out his phone, "I need to make a call so buy me a few minutes. Shoji, you mind blocking the crowd's view of Izuku?"
"I can but what do you have in mind?" The dupli-armed student asked.
"Just a backup plan in case the crowd decides to do something stupid," the cloud wielder answered, "we've worked way too hard to let a bunch of panicking idiots ruin this."
"Hear hear," Sero commented. Slade stepped forward then with Todoroki close behind, his right hand ready to form an ice wall at a moment's notice. Conveniently, Present Mic had just managed to quiet the crowd down. He looked at the tall student questioningly as he held out his hand but complied after a moment and handed him the megaphone he'd been using.
"Ladies and gentleman," he began, "do not blame the pro heroes for this. It was not their idea to bring Izuku Midoriya back to U.A. It was us, his classmates, his friends who made that call."
"So take him somewhere else!" Yelled one of the civilians, "It's dangerous for him-."
"It's already dangerous here!" Slade shot back with narrowed eyes, "you all seem to think you've got a good argument for why our friend shouldn't be here but all I hear is whining and complaining. How appropriate, then, that we happen to be at a school because I've got a pop quiz for ya." He pointed to a nearby man with dark hair, "You, tell me the purpose of this massive wall surrounding the school?"
"To protect people," he yelled out, "what kind of question-?"
"Only half-right," the density shifter corrected, "this massive wall was originally erected for protecting the staff and students of U.A. High. In other words, Midoriya, a student of U.A., has more right to be here under its protection than any of you." He pointed to a brown-haired woman with a blue umbrella, "next question: why was such a gigantic defensive wall deemed necessary?"
"The school was attacked," the woman answered, "the League of Villains kidnapped the explosion boy."
"Correct, we actually do have some people here who can think," Slade gave a somewhat backhanded compliment, "that's right, this school has been attacked multiple times by the League of Villains at the behest of All For One or for their own goals, meaning they'll attack here for no other reason than they feel like it. Now, say you were a villain who happened to know what a hero cared about, what would be an effective way to bait them out?"
"That's villainy 101 baby!" A surprisingly enthusiastic man with long, messy blond hair exclaimed, "You go right for the thing they care about!"
"Isn't that your dad, Jirou," Clay noticed after getting off the phone. The friends he'd called would be in position in a moment.
"Yes," the earphone jack girl turned away in embarrassment, "even this mess isn't getting his rocker soul down."
"Excellent, yes," Slade praised, "so, we've established that it basically doesn't matter where Midoriya stays. Shigaraki's gonna attack if he's here, All For One's gonna attack if he's not here, the League of Villains is gonna attack in order to topple one of the most prominent symbols of hero society and because they just wanna destroy shit. So, what's the solution here? The solution is to deal with the villains on our terms, which means keeping Izuku in the safest place we can so that he's prepared to take down All For One because believe me he has one of the best shots at doing it. So, if you still don't like the setup, there's the door, otherwise, deal with it."
No one spoke for several moments as Clay stepped forward to join Slade and Todoroki. The size of the crowd didn't intimidate him, or rather, he had something far worse than them to fear. It was the reason he rolled his eyes instead of tensing up when another brown-haired idiot in a green baseball cap suddenly yelled the first thing on his mind. "So that's it, that's all you've got to say," he began while pointing at Slade, "We just have to sit here and take it?"
"I'm certain the principal explained that systems are in place to transport everyone to a different location, should the need arise," the density shifter answered, "like I said, you can stay here and deal with it, or you can leave. Whatever you decide to do, know this: Izuku Midoriya, my friend, is staying here so that he doesn't die of exhaustion trying to protect you ungrateful pricks. So grow up, quit throwing your juvenile temper tantrum and move." The man was clearly at a loss for words, no doubt surprised to hear someone so young speaking to him in such a way.
And under ordinary circumstances the crowd might've acknowledged Slade's point and moved on. But apparently pride, or some other illogical part of the civilian's brains didn't want to let the matter go. "Who….who do you think you are," another civilian asked, "you can't just talk to us like that. You're supposed to be a hero, you're supposed-GUH!"
The man was silenced by a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see a tall, bald man standing next to him. "You'll have to forgive my son," he spoke evenly but with a deep voice, "Slade's been out there running himself ragged dealing with villains, rioters and his friend's stubbornness. It's only natural he'd be a bit impatient right now."
"S-Son," a woman standing next to them stuttered out, "that boy is your son?"
"He is," a woman with greenish black hair appeared, or rather phased through a couple of civilians so that she could be seen more easily. Naturally more than a couple people jumped at the sight of someone phasing through them. Even in a society of quirks it's not the most common thing. "I'm Mrs. Mason and this is my husband."
"Pleased to meet you all," Mr. Mason greeted with a nod, "now I hate to be rude, but we'd like to get through to check on our boy and his friend. They've known each other since before getting into U.A., after all, so Midoriya's like a brother to him." Before anyone could answer, a smokescreen popped up from another part of the crowd. Several people scattered out of the vicinity, not sure if it was a villain attack or not.
"IZUKU!" Inko Midoriya and Mitsuki Bakugou came running out of the smoke, followed more slowly by Bakugou's dad along with Clay's mother and father, the former being responsible for the smokescreen. Shoji wisely moved out of the way so that the green-haired woman could embrace her son. "Oh my baby, you're so hurt," she sobbed.
"Mom," the green-haired boy hesitated for a moment before hugging her back. Other familiar, or semi-familiar faces started emerging from the crowd after that. Tsuyu's parents, younger brother and sister came out next, basically hopping over some of the crowd to get to their daughter. They were followed by Jirou's parents and then Mina's, whom Clay had never seen before. Uraraka's parents ran over and hugged their daughter.
An interesting development followed with several armed security guards coming out of the building escorting who they eventually figured out to be Momo's mother and father. Before long it wasn't just Class 1A standing against the disapproving crowd, it was a large group of people made up of all their families. And even though they were still outnumbered, the heroes and their loved ones stood tall and imposing, giving pause to the formerly angry mob. Slade raised the megaphone then, intending to ask what the crowd's next move was, but Uraraka stopped him.
"Let me speak to them," she asked. The Density Shifter nodded in understanding, handing her the megaphone. Uraraka then led Midoriya to the front, still being held by his mother. "Everyone, please take a look at him. This is the person you want to keep out of here." The crowd took a moment to study the battle weary boy and found themselves surprised at his condition.
After all, it was hard not to have sympathy for him, given how much of a wreck he looked like. Midoriya seemed so out of it that even standing there appeared to be exhausting him. "His name is Izuku Midoriya, he's sixteen years old and is a member of class 1A. He's a diligent student, has a habit of muttering his thoughts out loud and has loved heroes ever since he was little. The day he was accepted into U.A. was probably the happiest day of his life, a chance for him to put his special power to use."
"In fact it's a power so special that All For One considers him a threat," she continued, "that's why he went out there to fight, so that he wouldn't endanger other people. But, just because he has a special power, it doesn't make him a special person! He still makes mistakes, still has a lot to learn. He can laugh and cry and get hurt just like the rest of us and right now he's too hurt to continue as he is. But I promise you, give him time to rest, let him wash off the dirt and grime and he'll be ready to step up alongside all of us to protect you."
"I know it's terrifying right now and the truth is, we're just like you. We're nervous, we're uneasy. It's because beneath these costumes, we're just people too! We have our likes and dislikes, our strengths and weaknesses, our own friends and family!" She held out her hand to indicate Class 1A and their families, "so please, let him come home. Let this place continue to be his hero academia!"
Everyone waited then, waited to see who would make the next move and what it would be. The ones it turned out to be, were a tall woman with a head like a green fox and a familiar boy wearing a red hat with spikes poking out of it. "Mr. Deku!" Kota cried as he embraced the boy who'd saved him at the forest training camp. The tall woman revealed herself to be someone whom Midoriya had saved while he was out looking for All For One.
It was then the dam broke and tears gushed from the green-haired boy's eyes while he smiled weakly. The rest of the crowd seemed to understand the message at last: the heroes, the ones who'd remained through the pain and anguish and persecution, were all they had left. The people had at last realized that their time as spectators had ended and that moving forward, there was no difference between heroes and the common folk. Because they would all be fighting for a better tomorrow.
"I guess this means the backup plan is off," Honenuki's voice sounded in Clay's earpiece. He'd gotten in contact shortly after Clay called Pony and told her to get the Softening quirk user. If things had gone south, he would've softend the ground, pulled Midoriya under, gave him a breathing apparatus and the two would've swam beneath the crowd until they were safe inside the school.
"Thankfully, yes," the cloud wielder replied, "but I'm greatful for your help anyway. Tell Pony and the others hi for me."
"Sure, you just worry about taking care of your friend now," Juzo instructed.
"Will do," Clay responded with a small smile. The second hurdle had been cleared, now there was another process to take care of.
Some Time Later: U.A. Heights Alliance Dorms
"STEP ONE!" Yelled Kirishima as nearly all the guys in the dorm rushed Midoriya into the boy's washroom, "STRIP HIM!" The group's messy costumes were thrown off into the laundry area as they seated their friend in the center of the room. "STEP TWO!" Everyone pulled out a hose and sprayed the green-haired boy with warm water, "WASH HIM!" Kirishima, Mineta, Ojiro and Kaminari circled their classmate to ensure he was soaked all around.
"Now STEP THREE!" Kirishima yelled one last time as the group basically dunked their friend in the large main bath, "SUBMERGE HIM!" By that point, all the other boys had gotten in as Midoriya seemed mildly confused about the whole situation.
"Most things can be fixed if you just take a bath," Kaminari informed sagely while submerged up to the neck with everyone else.
"Hey!" Bakugou yelled, "You're getting the bathwater dirty! Scrape it off with steel wool and an undiluted industrial strength detergent!"
"You need to follow the directions and recommend amounts," Kirishima informed before the explosion boy scoffed and basically jumped into the main tub.
"It seems you haven't changed even after apologizing for your mistakes," Tokoyami observed.
"I meant it when I said I was sorry," Bakugou responded seriously, "but that doesn't mean I've given up on becoming number one and the fact that you're my rivals hasn't changed, either. Including you D-Izuku." He splashed the One For All holder in the face then. He simply responded by shaking his head to get the water out of his eyes.
"If it's impossible for you, you can still call me 'Deku', Kacchan," he offered.
"My dictionary doesn't have the word impossible in it!" Bakugou declared.
"I'm more surprised you even know what a dictionary is," Slade quipped.
"Shove it baldy!" The explosion boy shot back as the room pretty much devolved into back-and-forth banter while Midoriya sighed in contentment. He really had missed being with Class 1A. Speaking of which.
"Hey, Clay," he asked the cloud wielder who was currently leaning back against the edge of bath, "Where's Uraraka?"
"Passed out in her room at the moment," He answered, "apparently, she felt pretty drained after everything. Guess it can be a little exhausting when you're worried about someone. The rest of the girls have pretty much followed her example and gone to sleep too."
"Do you think any of them will wake up any time soon," Izuku asked, "I'd like to apologize to everyone."
"You kind of already did that," Clay assured while putting his hands behind his head, "you just worry about getting cleaned and rested up right now. It's been a long few days."
A Few Minutes Later: The Common Room
"Thanks again, everyone," Midoriya bowed from his spot in the middle of one of the couches, "and sorry for causing you trouble."
"I wish you had just told us about One For All," Mina commented, walking in wearing her purple short-sleeved pajama shirt and long pants before hugging Clay's neck from behind, "now thanks to you, I have to think of a way to punish my man for keeping secrets from me."
"Ditto," Jirou and Momo echoed, the latter of whom was preparing tea in the kitchen.
"I take it the fact we weren't dating at the time we discovered the secret will have no effect on the severity of our sentence," Slade jokingly asked.
"Nope," they all replied with big smiles on their faces.
"I still got a few questions," Ojiro spoke up, "what's it like using One For All? I mean you were breaking your bones left and right at first."
"How to describe it," Midoriya looked at his hand as he tried to find the right words.
"I think we should ask him all of our questions later," Todoroki entered the room with his gym shirt on while toweling his head off, "Izuku probably needs to sleep more than any of us right now. We brought him back here to rest, after all, didn't we?"
"It's okay, I can't sleep yet anyway," the green-haired boy revealed.
"Why not," the confused dual quirk wielder asked.
"I want to apologize to All Might," he revealed, "I acted terribly towards him the last time we talked. Are any of you able to call him right now? I haven't been able to get a hold of him." Instead of answering, Todoroki, Clay, Slade and a few of the others all pointed at one of the nearby windows. "HE'S RIGHT THERE!" It was honestly a bit creepy given that the skeletal frame of All Might was pressed up against said window.
The students let him in immediately and he launched straight into the reason why he was there. "I apologize for not being able to help, Young Midoriya!" All Might bowed.
"T-That's not true," he assured frantically, "you helped a lot!"
"If you're going to apologize then apologize to us too!" Mina exclaimed while punching her arms up in the air energetically, "don't just run off without saying anything!" The former number one hero waited for her to settle down before continuing in a serious tone.
"The day of the final battle," All Might revealed gravely, "is probably coming soon. Sorry for making you worry, I had already made up my mind that I wasn't an active hero anymore. But I've realized, I'm going to fight even if I have to crawl on the ground, in order to see where the flames burning in you all go with my own eyes. I won't go into detail but we've gotten information and we'll have answers soon. When that time comes we'll need everyone, even me."
He looked at his hand before clenching his fist. "I'm limited with what I can do with this body, but even so-."
"All Might," Midoriya interrupted, "those pork cutlet lunches gave me so much strength! And I'm sure I ended up the way I did because I distanced myself from you, so together-."
"Let's protect everyone!" Iida finished the declaration with a clenched fist of his own.
"Thank you all," the withered hero smiled. He would leave shortly after that, informing them that there were some things he still needed to do with the other pro heroes. Once all was said and done, Izuku finally fell asleep on the couch.
"It's good to see he finally feels at ease," Momo sighed in relief while Slade put a comforting hand around her waist.
"There are still a lot of reasons for people to feel unease," Todoroki pointed out, "laying down the facts and showing the people we still have support reassured most. But I'm sure others were just cowed into silence."
"So you're saying we still have people who might be against us in here," Jirou somberly realized.
"It's not that they're against us, they just need reassurance," the dual quirk wielder stated, "They won't have that until we start pulling out victories again."
"We can do that," the rocker girl suddenly smiled before her jacks reached out, pulling in Clay, Mina and Tokoyami on either side of her, "we've done it before, right."
"You mean like the school festival," Clay surmised, putting a hand around her waist.
"Yeah," she smiled, "people being uneasy was a problem then, too. But when we put the citizens on the same level as us, it's not so different from that time. So let's do what we promised, let's get it all back, no, lets make it even better than before!" It was hard not to be optimistic when looking at Jirou's confident, happy smile. As the climatic battle approached, Class 1A would stand united, prepared to give everything they had to grasp victory.
And that wraps up this season of Hailstorm Vol. 2! It's been a ride but thankfully a fun one. Of course this isn't the end of the story, it's merely time for another hiatus until the next season of the anime gets going. Worse case scenario if the wait for the anime becomes too much, I'll use the manga to continue this story. Naturally, I'll be posting updates about this story and others on my Pat reon, so look into becoming a patron to be first on the latest news and other goodies. Finally, stop in next time when this story resumes and the battle against All For One kicks off! 'Til then.