Chapter 10: Fallout of an Explosion

Nezu sighed as he got off the phone. This was a complicated matter, and he needed to talk to a number of people before he could address the problems of 1-B's two problem students. Now, finally, he could address the matter. At long last, he pressed his intercom, "Send her in."

As soon as he said so, the word "FINALLY!" erupted from outside, and through the door stomped a short, plump woman with light-green orbs for hair, styled to look like a bunch of grapes. This was someone Nezu unfortunately knew well from board meetings, Karen Mineta.

"I apologize for the delay, Mrs. Mineta," Nezu lied. "I've had two students involved in messy incidents today, and I had a number of officials I needed to speak to. I couldn't spare a moment beforehand."

"Don't you dare patronize me," Mrs. Mineta spat. "I have been waiting for two hours!" It had been forty minutes. "Now, tell me what you think you're doing, expelling my precious little boy!"

"We have video evidence of him using a classroom spar between hero classes as an excuse to grope a female student," Nezu said simply.

"That is a lie!" Mrs. Mineta screeched. "My Minoru is an angel! This was all just a misunderstanding!"

"I'm afraid that you're mistaken," Nezu said calmly. "We have several security cameras trained on the field in question. Your son was openly leering at the victim and the other girls of the Hero Course. It also recorded audio of him claiming he was, and I quote, 'going to take a feel of those heavenly peaches'."

It was bizarre hearing the furry creature say that in a professional tone with a straight face.

"Well, if those harlots are dressed in that way, you can hardly blame a young man for a few youthful indiscretions," Mrs. Mineta countered, not caring about being provably wrong.

"We are training young men and women to be heroes, Mrs. Mineta. If your son is such a slave to his whims that he cannot control himself upon seeing a tempting outfit, he's not fit for polite society," Nezu countered.

"As if you would know about polite society," Mrs. Mineta huffed. "And if anyone should be punished, it should be that little succubus who tormented poor Minoru after his minor accident! So should Recovery Girl, since she refused to heal him afterwards!"

"Recovery Girl's Quirk would have done little to help the boy at the time, as he was still covered in the material. He needed to be decontaminated by the hazmat team," perhaps they didn't NEED to spray him down with a high-pressure hose, but it was an effective treatment. "We have given him appropriate medical treatment. He is going to make a full recovery, even without use of a healing Quirk."

"And the little tramp? Chemical warfare constitutes a war crime!" Mrs. Mineta howled. "If anyone needs to be expelled, it should be her!"

"Rest assured, she has been penalized for her first-time use of excessive force against a classmate," Nezu replied. It was true, even if all that amounted to was saying "Don't do it again."

"This is an outrage! My poor Minoru will not be treated this way! I'll go to the board with this! We'll have your job! We'll have your head! And we'll take down that little whore and her entire family for this!"

And now, Nezu grinned sharply, "Oh? You'll dismantle the Yaoyorozu Group?"

And suddenly, Mrs. Mineta stopped dead in her tracks. After stammering for a bit, she squeaked out, "What?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The girl in question is Momo Yaoyorozu. Sole heiress of the head of the Yaoyorozu Group. The reason you had to wait is that I just got off the phone with her father and his legal team," Nezu stated cheerfully.

All of the color drained from Mrs. Mineta's face.

"He was VERY interested in the evidence I had gathered that Minoru had been accused of this behavior in the past and that this was all scrubbed clean from his record," Nezu added. "I have managed to convince him to not press charges against U.A., though I did have to tell him that the only reason we allowed him in the Hero Course at all was that we were concerned about retaliation if we denied him entry…"

Mrs. Mineta began to shiver and sweat as Nezu continued to talk.

"Thankfully, I have a good rapport with him, as he's one of U.A.'s most generous donors, and he has a way with the rest of the board as well," Nezu's smile only grew. "However, he is still going to pursue this matter against Minoru in both criminal and civil court. I would prepare yourself. The Yaoyorozu lawyers know how to make something like this hurt. They mentioned something about your son being lucky if he can get a job scrubbing toilets to pay off the debt you'll owe."

And that was the point where the woman fainted.

Nezu sighed, "They never learn. There's always a bigger fish." Nezu then paged the school's medic bots to remove Karen Mineta's unconscious body.

Now, it was time for the second issue. Katsuki Bakugou was in one of the student guidance rooms and, well, it wasn't pretty.

His hands were encased in Quirk suppressant cuffs. He was strapped to a chair with chains, and the chair itself had been bolted to the floor. His face was covered in a muzzle. Even now, after over an hour of waiting, he was still struggling to break free, garbled profanities trying to escape his blocked mouth.

Nezu walked in, and tutted as he walked up to the young man. "I'm disappointed in you, Bakugou. Disappointed, but unfortunately not surprised."

He pressed a button and the muzzle was released. "You can't do this to me, you fucking rat!"

"I can, and I have," Nezu responded, fur bristling. "The terms of your probation were clear. Regular therapy and anger management sessions, and any disciplinary action would result in expulsion. In a training match, you used a potentially lethal attack against another Hero student. You disobeyed a direct order from All Might to not use your gauntlets. Your response showed that you were cognizant of your actions, and your words to Midoriya before the fight indicated that this was premeditated."

"I didn't even hit her!" Bakugou yelled furiously.

"Either that wasn't covered in your Heroic Law and Ethics classes yet or you weren't paying attention," Nezu shook his head. "An attack against another person does not have to actually hurt them in order to legally count as assault. If the attack injures the other person, it becomes assault and battery. Use of a deadly weapon further increases the charge to aggravated assault."

"You assholes don't get to do this! This isn't right! I'm supposed to be the number one hero! You need me!" Bakugou flailed.

"We absolutely do not need you in this school, Bakugou. The only reason I brought you into this school was out of the vain hope that I could turn you away from the path of villainy," Nezu said sadly.

Bakugou was even angrier, "THERE'S NO WAY I'D EVER BECOME A VILLAIN!"

"Here's the problem with that statement, young man," Nezu said, taking out a folder. "You already are a villain."

And that, finally, caused Bakugou's temper to break, his anger replaced with shock, "What."

"Tell me, Bakugou: What is a villain? Not what you personally think a villain is. Tell me what the legal definition of a villain is," Nezu said, still a teacher in spite of everything.

Bakugou blinked, and snarled, "Some idiot who uses their Quirk to commit a crime."

Nezu nodded, "Now, I had told you that the Desutaru Agency, a Hero agency that I've put together when I need to investigate an issue but cannot attach U.A.'s name, was investigating the Aldera school district. That investigation has been completed as of yesterday. Through use of some advanced technology and forensic quirks, we've managed to restore a lot of security footage that your old schools deleted. We've even managed to provide audio for instances where it wasn't even recorded!

"We have overwhelming evidence of assault, harassment, destruction of property, and in one case, incitement of suicide," Nezu said grimly. "You have over two hundred incidents while in middle school alone, and the majority of them involve Quirk usage. And there's an interesting legal loophole in the Quirk usage law that hasn't been rewritten. Any crime committed by a Quirked person against a Quirkless person automatically increases the perpetrator's villain ranking by a letter grade. And, since Midoriya was registered as Quirkless when these crimes were committed…"

Nezu showed him a paper. It was a warrant for his arrest, "After your stunt today, I've submitted everything to the HPSC. The decision was swift. As of twenty minutes ago, Katsuki Bakugou, you are now an A-ranked Villain."

And with that, Bakugou shattered. It wasn't possible, this wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

"If it makes you feel any better, a large number of your former schoolmates are in the same boat. They haven't received a villain ranking, but the incidents were recorded, and if any of them get into legal trouble at any point in the future, this will come to light. Most of the staff of your school district have been arrested for aiding and abetting villainy, or for villainy themselves. The media hasn't released the details just yet, but your school district has now dissolved. As a treat to myself, I'm going to take out my wrecking ball and personally demolish your middle school tonight," Nezu said cheerfully.

It was almost like the sludge villain incident again, because Bakugou felt like he was drowning on dry land. He managed to mumble out, "Deku…" before his train of thought was cut off.

"Oh, you should know that initially, Midoriya vouched for you," Nezu interrupted. "He said that he knew what it was like to have one's dream destroyed by someone else, and had no wish to inflict that pain on anyone. It was one of the main reasons you were allowed to attend. Rest assured, his only role in your path to villainy was being the victim of your crimes. You were given every opportunity to do the right thing. And you squandered it."

And then, for the first time in forever, Bakugou began to cry. Tears, actual goddamn tears, welled up in his eyes. And he said, barely a whisper, "What happens to me now?"

Nezu exhaled, "The immediate next step is going to be your arrest. We do have to follow the law as Heroes. Your parents have been contacted. They're on their way here, and will be informed of your predicament. We expect your trial to be quick, and you will almost certainly be found guilty. After that… you'd almost certainly go to prison..."

The tears fell, and Bakugou sobbed like a baby as he knew his life was over.

"Though there is one possible option…" Nezu mused.

Bakugou looked up, eyes red and snot pouring.

"While they're known as a Hero school, and unfairly as a mediocre one, Ketsubutsu High School has a number of programs available. One of those is a rehabilitation program for villains. I could easily contact the school to let them know about you, and recommend that you be remanded into their custody following your sentence," Nezu offered.

Hope blossomed in Bakugou's chest. This was it. This was his lifeline. He could do it. He could show them all he was a hero, just like everyone always said, just like he knew…

He stopped. He considered. And finally, he resumed crying. As he wailed, he managed to choke out, "I'd want that to happen. But it's pretty fucking obvious now I can't make decisions for shit. Do whatever you want with me."

"I see," Nezu said evenly. "Well, shortly, a staff member will come to escort you to the police. Goodbye, Katsuki Bakugou."

As he collected his things and left the young man, Nezu considered the two emails he had drafted for the staff of Ketsubutsu High. One recommending Bakugou for their Villain Rehab course, the other discouraging them from considering him.

"You've failed every other test I've given you today," Nezu said, opening the drafts folder on his phone. "At least you've managed to pass this one." He smiled as he sent the recommendation.

All Might accepted the request to take young Bakugou into police custody. He had enough time for it, and to some extent, he wanted to be there. He wanted to see off the young man who tormented his unofficial stepson for so long.

But, when the boy was released from his restraints, still in Quirk suppressant handcuffs, looking utterly and totally broken, All Might found himself ashamed. He looked exactly like young Izuku did that afternoon on the rooftop.

As All Might led him to the officers, young Bakugou was utterly compliant. Finally, the boy worked up enough nerve to say, "Look, you don't owe a shitty villain anything, but… I could tell you didn't like me from the moment I first stepped into your classroom… and I wanna know why."

All Might was silent for some time. Finally, he said, "Once, there was a Quirkless boy who wanted to be a hero. He was constantly mocked and derided for his dream, but he didn't care, because all he ever wanted to do was save people. To be someone that people on the street would see and know that everything was going to be okay. Once, in middle school, he got caught up in a villain attack. Many people derided him for interfering, powerless as he was. But there was one hero who saw potential in that boy. Saw that he had a power brimming beneath the surface. And so, the boy became the hero's apprentice. He worked hard, unlocked his Quirk, and managed to defy everyone who mocked him by earning the record on the U.A. entrance exam."

Bakugou didn't even have the energy to scowl. "So it's all because of Deku. Midoriya, I mean."

"It is," All Might said. "But you misunderstand me. In that story, I wasn't the hero. I was the Quirkless boy. That is the story of how I met my own mentor. That is why young Midoriya means so much to me. That is why someone who would torment a Quirkless person infuriates me."

And at that, Bakugou stopped short.

All Might grew up thinking he was Quirkless? All Might grew up being told not to be a hero?

All Might was once a deku?

Someone like Deku could grow up to be someone like All Might. If Bakugou and All Might were kids at the same time, he would have treated his hero the same way he treated Deku. He'd tried to perfectly craft his backstory to be the number one hero, but All Might's backstory was the same as Deku's. He just never told anyone.

Bakugou always thought Deku was just an extra in his own story, unimportant except maybe as a minor villain who always looked down on him as a kid… but Deku was like All Might. Deku's story was as important as Bakugou's. Maybe more. And, if the story was told from Deku's point of view, then he… then he...

And it finally, FINALLY dawned on Bakugou that Nezu was right. He really was a villain.

He had to be dragged, nearly catatonic, to the officers waiting for him. It was a harsh pill, but he had to swallow it. Part of Bakugou still wanted to be a hero, but right now, that goal was so far in the distance that it seemed unattainable. Everything he'd done up until then had been wrong.

For now, he'd forget about being a hero. At that moment, he decided that his main goal was learning how to stop being a villain.

In the immediate aftermath of the joint training session, after All Might, Eraserhead, and Vlad King all removed Bakugou from the field, Cementoss and Recovery Girl directed the students to change and head to class.

While in 1-A's locker room, Izuku returned his hero outfit to its case. He had a lot on his mind. Particularly thanks to the chorus in his head.

"So, just to be clear, you admitted to yourself that you're in love with Ochako, and then the bond grew stronger and she was able to move at extremely high speeds," Hikage stated plainly.

"I'd think that'd be obvious," Daigoro scoffed.

"I'm just making sure he didn't lose track of it," Hikage insisted. "There's a lot going on."

Guys, let me freak out about that later, Izuku thought.

"You doing all right, Mido-bro?" Tetsutetsu asked.

Izuku turned to look at them, "Honestly, I feel a little drained, you know?"

"Dude, your girlfriend smacked the crap out of your old bully," Denki stated. "And he got expelled! That's gotta be satisfying."

"Denki, first off, Occhan and I aren't dating," Izuku said.

"Yet," En interjected.

"Yet," Denki said at almost the same time.

"Second," Izuku said, ignoring them, "it doesn't feel satisfying at all. It just feels hollow. Like, it doesn't erase the horrible stuff he did before. I'm mostly just glad that he didn't hurt anyone."

"That's a pretty manly way of looking at it," Eijiro grinned. "No need to stoop to a bully's level, just let it go!"

"Yeah, though I do regret how I acted towards Bakugou in the past," Izuku said. "I spent so much of the time he was being a jerk to me trying to be his friend and encouraging his dream of being a Hero. It just feels like a waste now."

Eijiro's eyes were practically on fire now, "Hey, Mido-bro, it's fine. The past is in the past. You shouldn't forget it, but you can't let it consume you. Learn from it so you can live a manly life without regrets!"

Izuku blinked, "Wait, is that a Crimson Riot quote?"

"All right! I should've known you'd recognize it!" Eijiro pumped his fist in the air. "Yup! Crimson Riot is my inspiration. Well, one of 'em… Anyway, besides him, anyone have any opinions on 1-B? Kamakiri was a badass. He seemed kinda like a jerk at first, but as we were fighting, something just kinda clicked, you know? Like, our Quirks were the opposite, and he and I were giving it our all just to reach a draw!"

"I know the feeling!" Tenya said, with a chop of his arm. "Shishida-kun was intriguing. He was the picture of propriety and calm, but once transformed, he went on quite the rampage. It was an interesting dichotomy at play."

"I must say that I found Kuroiro to be cut from the same mold as myself," Fumikage said.

"Still can't believe we found another chuuni!" Dark Shadow commented.

"Most of 'em seemed all right, though that may just be in comparison to their worst," Tetsutetsu said. "You know, I'm still shocked 1-B is all dudes. Didn't think there were so few girls in the Heroics department."

"Think there's a reason why they weren't distributed more evenly?" Eijiro asked.

"What, do you want to put them in the same class as the grape-headed potential rapist?… Hmm, that's too long, I'm just gonna call him the Grapist," Denki responded. "I mean, I love the ladies, too, but that guy was just a total creep."

"Nezu couldn't deny him entry for political reasons," Izuku said. "So he put all the girls in one class to prevent any direct incidents."

"Hmm, and here I thought it was a complex social experiment of some kind," Tenya put his hand to his chin.

Izuku shrugged, "Knowing Nezu, it could very well be both."

Momo took a few breaths to calm herself down. She had changed into her normal school uniform and was holding her first Hero costume. She would absolutely have it returned to the support company who made it, letting them reuse its materials. Or perhaps she would burn it. Either would suffice, really.

"Ribbit, Momo-chan…" Tsuyu appeared out of nowhere. "It's going to be all right."

"I'm fine, Tsu-chan," Momo lied gracefully.

"I know you aren't. And you know I know that, ribbit," Tsuyu said mournfully.

Momo attempted to keep her composure, and resorted to hugging herself, "I did this on purpose. Nezu asked this of me, and I knew why. He was only let in because of family connections. He had to have a victim who, for lack of a better term, outranked him. I set myself up as bait. I wanted to do this on my terms…

"But I still feel… wrong," Momo struggled to find the words. "I can still feel his hands on me. And I know I overreacted with that attack. The taser should have kept him down, but I wasn't thinking of that. I just wanted to keep him from putting his hands on me again and I didn't want to take any chances."

Tsuyu was quiet for a bit, "Ribbit, I think that's a good instinct for a hero to have. A villain who isn't completely taken down is a villain who can potentially kill you."

"And if a hero used a chemical weapon like that, there would be legal consequences and, probably, media outrage," Momo countered. "We already had an expulsion for use of excessive force. There could be another."

"It's not the same thing," Ochako interrupted, walking into the conversation from the other side. "You weren't on probation for a history of violent behavior. And you didn't disobey a direct order from a teacher."

"And you realized what you did was overkill," Tsuyu added. "I still can't believe that guy was in disbelief, like he didn't do anything wrong."

"How are you doing after all that, Occhan?" Momo said, taking the opportunity to shift focus away from herself.

Ochako shivered, "Not gonna lie, I'm still a bit on edge. If that… thing didn't happen when it did, then I don't know what would have happened."

"Do you know what it was?" Momo asked.

Tsuyu looked around, the rest of the girls were out, "It has to be Izu-chan's Quirk, right? I could feel something from him right before you moved at superspeed."

"Yeah, I think the bond gave me some kind of powerup? It felt like adrenaline, but cranked up to eleven," Ochako said.

"Could you detect anything else that might have preceded it?" Momo asked.

"Well, I know I was in big trouble, and I had a lot running through my head. Then I heard this DING in the back of my head, and then I felt all WHOOSH, and then everything slowed down," Ochako said. "Other than that, I couldn't tell you anything."

Tsuyu put a finger on her chin, "That sounds kind of like what happened when we formed a bond, ribbit. Izu-chan and I both heard a rhythmic thumping, then a loud click, and then we were bonded."

"I don't remember that," Ochako said.

"Oh, ribbit, I should probably mention this because Izu-chan may not, but the bond formed when I realized I was interested in him romantically, ribbit," Tsuyu said offhandedly. "I told him when he asked if there was anything that may have caused it."

The color completely drained from both Ochako and Momo's faces.

"Lemme guess, you two as well?" Tsuyu said, still nonchalant.

Slowly, they both nodded.

"Ribbit. Probably Mei-chan, too. Speaking of, we should get going. Izu-chan's probably waiting for us, ribbit," and with that, Tsuyu began to walk off.

Momo looked agape, then said, "You can't just walk away after that!"

"Izu-chan needed to process it, ribbit. He still hasn't followed up with me," Tsuyu said with a shrug. "Thought maybe you did, too."

"And you don't care that there are three other people… competing for him?" Momo said, having gone from completely pale to scarlet red in record time.

"Who says we need to compete?" Tsuyu stated. "I mean, ribbit, I like the three of you, too. I'm on board with turning this into a polycule."

Ochako still wasn't speaking, her mouth open, but no sounds coming out.

Momo stammered, "I… It is legal, after the population drops from the Dark Age of Quirks and the MLA Uprising… but it's not something most people do…"

"I'm not most people, ribbit," Tsuyu said. "I'd be sad if you weren't open to it, but it's entirely your decision, ribbit."

Momo put her hand to her chin, "Well, I suppose that I could… I will need to think about the implications of being in a relationship with four other people."

"Up to eight."

They looked to Ochako, curious as to how she knew that.

"Look, Izu-kun's Quirk has some secrets to it, secrets that I wasn't supposed to learn, but I stumbled upon," Ochako said. "I'm not going to reveal them without his consent, but the way his Quirk works, he can have up to eight people bonded to him."

There was another pause. Tsuyu said, "Are you okay with that, ribbit?"

Ochako nodded immediately, but she didn't elaborate.

"Ribbit. That's good to know for the future," Tsuyu said. "We should get going."

"What have I gotten myself into?" Momo asked as she got up to leave.

Ochako made a sympathetic noise, then asked, "Do you want out?"

Momo paused, then said, "No, I don't think I do."

The Hero Classes had to report to homeroom before leaving for the day, or, in the case of Izuku, Toru, and anyone else joining, leaving to go to the Support Department.

"If I had my way this would be the end of that support company's U.A. affiliation," Izuku muttered as he was writing out ideas and sketches. "There are only three possible reasons for this. One, they didn't know that DNA-based fabrics were a thing, which would mean they were incompetent. Two, they chose the option that required less effort on their part, which would mean they were lazy. Three, your designer was a pervert who liked the idea of a teenage girl running around naked, which means that we should probably treat them like Yaomomo treated Mineta…"

"I never thought one of Midori's mumble-storms would be so intimidating," Setsuna commented.

"Yeah," Mina agreed. "He sounds like he's getting plans ready to go to war."

"Well, it's a decent casus belli," Momo said, entering the classroom along with Tsuyu and Ochako. "Although I had forgotten that chemical weapons constitute a war crime, so maybe don't use me as an example."

"Hey, Yaomomo," Izuku stopped his scribbling and looked at her with concern. "That was rough. Do you need comfort or space?"

"For now, space, please," Momo confirmed. "I'll still be accompanying you. I just… need time."

"I understand completely," Izuku nodded. "How about you, Occhan? I know firsthand how intense a one-on-one fight with Bakugou is."

"I'm definitely gonna need to relax tonight," Ochako said.

"I'll be sure to get some mochi for tonight's dessert," Izuku replied.

"You're my hero," Ochako said.

"So, hero," Yoichi said, "We're going to have to have a discussion with her about the Bond progressing to a new stage."

I'm aware of that, Yoichi-jii-san, Izuku thought.

"And, you know you have to confront your feelings eventually," Nana added. "Especially given that the trigger was you admitting to yourself that you're in love with her."

As Izuku tried to avoid a blush, there was another voice in his head.

"Wait… who's saying that? Who's saying that Izu-kun loves me back?"

Izuku stared at Ochako, who just spoke to him in his own head, like a deer in the headlights of a truck.

"Uraraka-san, you can hear us talking?" Yoichi said with alarm.

"Apparently so! Who are… wait, you're the vestiges Izu-kun talked about!" Ochako was now just as frozen as Izuku.

"Guess this is a product of the bond reaching the next stage," Yoichi surmised.

"And you just said that Izuku 'loves you back'... I think we can count that as a confession, don't you think?" En said. Despite not being visible, both Izuku and Ochako could feel his smug grin.

"Man, there hasn't been a dull moment since the little guy got our Quirk," Daigoro said with a belly laugh. "Wish we could still eat, I'd have a big ol' tub of popcorn right now."