Chapter 40
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST I'll become a Hero]
By the time that Sora got home from the park, it was already dark outside again. He entered the Midoriya household and once he reached the living room, he noticed Izuku cleaning a dish, most likely his, and only noticed the Keyblade wielder when he spoke up. "I'm home."
Midoriya looked to where Sora was at and replied "Oh. Hey Sora. How was your day?"
"It went pretty well." Sora answered. "What started as a theme park visit, turned into a mission to reunite a little girl with her mom, twice."
"Huh? You ran into a lost child at the park?" Izuku questioned.
"She wasn't lost." Sora emphasized. "At least that's what she kept telling us. Either way, it was quite an adventure. If you want the details, just ask Tenya about it tomorrow."
"Heh. With the way he tells these things, it'll probably be like reading a novel." Midoriya commented.
"No better than you and your motor mouth Izuku." Sora teased.
"Eh...Y-Yeah, I guess." Midoriya admitted.
"But enough about me. How was that Hero exhibit?" The Keyblade wielder wondered.
"Oh man! It was really cool!" The hero fanboy exclaimed. "I got to learn all about the age before Heroes, and I managed to get that deluxe photo collection that I mentioned before! There were so many first age Pros that I didn't know about, I needed to use the rest of my notebook to catalogue them all!"
"Sounds like you had fun." Sora commented, before looking around for a moment. "Hey, is Inko here, or did she leave to do something?"
"Mom? She said she needs to do something really early in the morning, before she attends Parents Day. So she went to her room to sleep." Izuku explained. "She made dinner before going to bed though. Yours is on the table."
Sora then looked at the table to see that that was indeed the case. "Well, it would be rude of me not to eat that, and I am hungry for something other than apple pie." He sat down and began to dine on his dish while talking to his friend. "I might get some early shut eye myself. Theme park was fun, but also pretty exhausting."
"I can head to my room and let you get that rest you want." Midoriya offered as he finished his dish.
"That would be a bit appreciated." Sora said as he continued to eat his meal. "I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night."
"You too." Izuku said as he left.
[Play KH Re:Chain of Memories OST Namine]
Once Midoriya was out of sight, and his door was shut, signaling that he entered his room, Sora quickly finished his meal, did his dish, then got out a pen and paper and sat back at the table with those in front of him. He procrastinated long enough, and even though he didn't need to, he was going to make sure that Inko knows how much she's appreciated through this letter. After a few seconds of silence, he took a deep breath and then began to write.
Time seemed to slow down as Sora was writing, feeling like this was taking an eternity, when in fact it had only been a few minutes. He struggled to continue the letter, occasionally trembling when writing certain parts, but he pushed through it. Once he finished, he tried to read it out loud, but he couldn't do it. He could easily read the letter, but he couldn't physically say the words out loud, without cracking. He knew that Inko would know just how much he appreciates her, once he presents this letter.
After a few minutes of getting himself to calm down, he took a quick shower, got into some pajamas, got comfortable on the couch, then managed to go to sleep. Considering what was planned for him tomorrow, he really needs the early sleep.
[Play KH Re:Coded OST Wonder of Electron]
It was a peaceful morning. Sora had woken up to see two sets of breakfast on the table, and heard the front door open and close, most likely being Inko, leaving to do that 'thing' she had to do before the Parents Day event at school. Sora got himself up and ate his breakfast, then did his regular morning routine, albeit quicker than normal. Once he finished getting ready and sent out his daily message to his world hopping friends, he wrote a note for Izuku, stating that he needed to get to U.A. early and help out Nezu again with a project and that he would see him at school. He did actually need to deal with that project with Nezu before school, but it was mainly for another reason, that he will explain later.
The trip to U.A. was as normal as it could be, and when Sora entered the building, he went straight to the Monetary room and saw Moogle, ready to go. After a brief greeting, the two got to work once more, and continued making progress on this project.
[Silence]
Professor Aizawa, Toshinori Yagi, Power Loader and Midnight were all inside the Mock Cityscape, making the final preparations to their big plan for Parents Day. Power Loader was testing the contraption he created, to make sure that it was safe, but still convincing enough to look like a real entrapment. Toshinori was completely dressed in black, while also wearing a mask that had a mechanical voice changer inside it, rehearsing with Midnight and a group of adults that included Inko Midoriya, what they were supposed to do. And Aizawa was on the phone, talking to Moogle.
"He's roughed up enough?" The homeroom teacher questioned.
"Yes, and he just finished taking down another one of them, Kupo." Moogle replied on his phone. "I just got him out and I'll be sending him to you while I make the difficulty settings for this one, Kupo."
"Alright. We're just finishing up the testing phase and rehearsals are going better than expected." Aizawa explained. "Midnight is already here, so when he shows up, she'll be ready to assist him when he gets here."
"Gotcha, Kupo. I'll see you whenever you decide to talk to me again, Kupo." Moogle said.
"Understood." Aizawa responded before he ended the call and resumed watching Power Loader test the entrapment.
[Play KH3 OST The Afternoon Streets]
After testing was finished, Inko Midoriya, as well as the other adults with her were carefully put inside the entrapment with the fully costumed Yagi, and were continuing their rehearsal inside it. While this was going on, Inko couldn't help but smile for a moment, and the blonde haired woman beside her noticed. "I've never seen you this excited over something this crazy." She told her.
"Well, it's just that I get to see my little Izuku acting like a Hero." Inko explained. "I mean, we all get to see our kids acting like Heroes. I'm surprised that you aren't all giddy."
"Yeah, well you already know how my son is." The blonde woman said. "I just hope I don't break character if he does something stupid."
"Well, they are still in training." Inko reminded her. "You make mistakes in training."
"Considering what our kids' 'training' is going to be today, they might not want to make any, since we'll have a front row seat." The woman remarked, before noticing someone else coming into view. "Hey, who's that?"
Inko looked to where the woman was pointing and immediately recognized who it was. "Huh!? What's Sora doing here!?"
"Sora?" The woman repeated. "That boy who you told me lives with you?"
"Why is he here so early? And why does he look so roughed up?!" Inko questioned, very concerned.
Toshinori heard her and then explained the situation. "That young man had walked in on the teachers talking about this idea of theirs, so they decided to include him as one of the hostages, instead of just telling him to act scared when it was time to do this event."
"Did the teachers talk about it in the hallway or something?" The blonde woman asked. "If so, that's just stupid on their part."
"He was in the lounge." Toshinori answered. "But he looked just as exhausted and roughed up then too. I believe it was because of a school project that required a lot of physical exertion."
"Wait. Aren't you just some random actor?" The blonde realized. "How do you know this?"
"Well...I was there...auditioning for the role." Yagi replied, making an excuse on the fly. "He walked in during my audition and when I asked, the teachers told me that it was a physically challenging project."
While the blonde woman didn't totally buy it, she decided to drop it, go to the entrance of the entrapment and yell out to the boy. "HEY! YOU GONNA GET UP HERE AND PLAY HOSTAGE OR WHAT!?"
Sora, who was busy talking with Aizawa and Midnight at that moment, had heard her yell and then looked at the group, seeing who yelled that out and realized that he should probably explain the situation to them. The boy went over to the entrance and got in with the adults, seeing Inko with them. "Uh...Surprise." Sora sheepishly said.
Inko walked up to him and checked his body for any serious damage. "I wasn't expecting to see you here, let alone in this shape."
"Inko. I told you that I stay late every day for that project all the time." Sora reminded her. "You didn't worry back then."
"Yeah, but you didn't look this roughed up back then." Inko told him.
"Well, aside from me skipping the trip to the nurse's office, this last thing I just did for the project was really...really tough. Like, the second toughest thing I have had to do since it started." Sora explained. "Besides, if I look just fine, then it won't be that convincing when I'm unconscious."
"Unconscious?" Inko repeated.
"Oh yeah. You didn't know." Sora remembered. "My part in this is that I somehow found him..." He pointed at the costumed Toshinori "after he beat EraserHead, and then I tried to stop him myself. He beat me, then knocked me out and threw me here with you."
"Well then all you have to do is just keep your eyes shut." The blonde pointed out.
"Well, actually..." Sora started. "Midnight is gonna use her quirk to knock me out after Homeroom is over, so that way, I don't risk breaking character during the event."
"No wonder you didn't need to join us in the acting then. You just needed to get roughed up, then show up before your class did to play the part." The blonde stated. "So are you gonna stick with your teachers, or hang out here for a minute."
"I've got time to say hi to you and a few others." Sora stated. "It's nice to meet you by the way, ma'am. My name is Sora."
"Mitsuki." She introduced herself. "I'll let you guess who's mom I am."
"Well, considering that the two of you look the same, except you're a girl, while he's a guy, and the fact that you yelled just as loud as he usually does, I'm gonna say that you're Katsuki's mom."
"Ah, so he's still a loud mouth huh?" Mitsuki sighed, knowing her son.
"Short Fuse's temper doesn't really help him out that much." Sora told her.
Mitsuki slightly snorted when hearing that. "D-Did you just call my son 'Short Fuse'?" She was doing her best not to laugh. "Is that his nickname?"
"Well, it's the nickname I gave him." Sora told her.
"AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed at that, knowing just how well it fit her son's attitude. "I am so-ho...using that...w-whenever he gets on my nerves at home. Hahahaaaaaaaa!"
"Feel free." Sora accepted her using that. "Tell me his reaction if I'm not awake before that. Cause I really want to know what he does when he hears his own mom call him that."
"Oh. I will not be dropping that at any time soon." Mitsuki commented, finally managing to calm herself down. "You weren't joking when you said this kid was funny, Inko."
"You know Inko?" Sora questioned.
"She never told you about me?" Mitsuki replied. "Back when Katsuki and Izuku were really close, she and I would talk and hang out all the time. We still do, but it's more over the phone and occasionally running into each other while shopping."
"You two must be really close, huh? Even with Izuku and Katsuki not being as close as they used to be." Sora noted.
"Just cause my kid doesn't get along with Inko's kid, doesn't mean I don't get along with her." Mitsuki stated. "Besides. I know Katsuki's an overconfident brat. I'm just glad that he isn't getting totally praised, like he did during elementary and most of middle school."
"Well, most of the class feel the same way I do about his attitude." Sora pointed out. "Some are friends with him, but it's more because they sometimes don't mind his temper, or at least they don't care."
"It's good to hear that too." Mitsuki commented, looking genuinely happy at that statement.
"It's almost time for homeroom." Aizawa called out to Sora. "Get down here so that when Midnight uses her Quirk, it'll only hit you."
"Oh. Right. On it Mr. Aizawa!" Sora called back to his teacher. But before he left, he turned and politely bowed to Mitsuki. "It was nice to meet you Mitsuki."
"Likewise, Sora." Mitsuki replied. "If you wake up before this is over, come find me. I'll call my son his nickname in front of you, so you can see his reaction."
"Oh, that will be hilarious." Sora replied before he left.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Bright and Cheerfully]
Izuku Midoriya was by himself, walking into class 1-A, with his envelope in his pocket and a nervous expression. As the boy walked into the room, he heard Ochako and Tsuyu talking about something.
"And today I'm having curry mochi, so...Oh! Morning Deku." Uraraka greeted.
"Good morning, Midoriya." Asui also greeted him.
"Uraraka, Tsuyu. Good morning." He reciprocated their greetings, causing Ochako to warmly smile at him.
"So, it's Parents Day. Who's coming to see you Deku?" She wondered.
"My mom." Midoriya answered. "She seemed a little nervous actually."
"Oh yeah? My dad did too." Uraraka stated.
"Must be contagious." Izuku commented before leaving the girls to continue their conversation about various mochis, while he went to his seat. He briefly looked at his envelope and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Shoto asked, hearing the sigh.
"Oh. Morning Todoroki."
"Mhm." The ice user responded, still waiting for an answer to his question.
"O-Oh. Nothing's wrong." The One For All user assured. "Just feeling a bit embarrassed in advance about reading my letter."
"Uh huh." Shoto replied.
"You write yours Todoroki?" Midoriya asked.
"Yeah, for my sister actually." The flame user answered.
"Your big sister is coming today?" Izuku realized.
"Mhm." Shoto confirmed.
"Oh!" Tenya spoke up as he walked over to his friend. "Good morning, Midoriya. And happy Parents Day."
"Morning." Izuku replied before remembering something. "Ah. How was the theme park yesterday? Sorry again that I couldn't make it!"
"Think nothing of it." Iida told him. "Our day was anything but ordinary however. Though we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Wouldn't you agree Tokoyami?"
"...Sure." Fumikage said as he forced a nod.
"Don't you mean 'Bird Prince of the Dark Tokoyami'?" Denki reminded the bird headed boy.
Fumikage jerked his head towards Kaminari and grunted through his teeth. "DON'T call me that!"
"What's wrong with that title?" Denki teased. "You earned it after saving a young damsel in distress twice in a row."
"That DOESN'T mean it's a name that I'm okay with you calling me, Kaminari." Tokoyami told him.
"Ah. So it's reserved for her then? Or maybe just Sora gets to call you that?" The blonde asked.
"Nobody calls me that, nobody will remind me of that. That title gets forgotten." Fumikage threateningly pleaded.
"Speaking of Sora..." Tenya spoke up, deciding to change the subject. "I didn't see him walk in with you."
"He had to come in early to help out the Principal with something." Midoriya informed him. "He's probably still helping him out with whatever it is."
As that was explained, the bell had rung, so the classmates out of their seats went to their seats and everyone waited for their Homeroom teacher to enter the classroom.
[Silence]
The door to the classroom hadn't opened at all for most of the homeroom, and all of the students took notice of that. "Mr. Aizawa isn't here?" Toru questioned.
"Ribbit. Just late maybe?" Tsu guessed.
"A U.A. educator late on an exhibition day?!" Tenya exclaimed. "Why a situation this dire could shake the foundations of this very school!"
"Come on. Even Mr. Aizawa is only human." Hanta spoke up. "Everyone is late from time to time."
"But Sero! Heroes are locked in an eternal battle against the ticking clock!" The class rep retorted. "It can mean life or death for those needing to be saved, so even a single second of tardiness is a grave sin!"
Izuku was in his thoughts for a moment, then he muttered "I hope nothing happened to him."
"Quit your muttering, damn it!" Shouted Katsuki.
"Sorry Kacchan..." Midoriya apologized. "But...seriously."
The bell then rang, signaling the end of homeroom.
[Play KH1.5 Remix OST Hollow Bastion]
Back at the Mock Cityscape, Professor Aizawa looked at the clock and then began typing a message for his class. While he did that, he told Midnight "It's time to put him to sleep."
Midnight licked her lips then strutted towards Sora with an envelope in her hand. "You ready to inhale my aroma, little man~?"
Sora understandably shuddered at that. "Can you not say it like that?"
The R rated Hero just giggled at his response, then activated her quirk and let Sora inhale her naturally produced sleep gas and knock himself out. The boy fell forward and she caught him before deactivating her quirk and dragging him inside the entrapment with the parents, taking his letter out of his pocket and putting the envelope where the letter was. Inko took him off Midnight's hands and decided to wrap his arm around her shoulders, letting the boy's body lean on hers.
Aizawa finished typing the message and hit send. Then he moved from his position to hide and signaled for everyone to get ready.
[Silence]
Back at the classroom. Momo spoke up. "Isn't it nearly time for our parents to arrive as well?"
"Yeah. Not just yet, but pretty soon actually." Ejiro replied.
"But we haven't seen a single one." Yaoyorozu pointed out.
"Maybe they got lost?" Kyouka guessed.
"Yeah. cause U.A. is huge, remember?" Mina agreed.
Iida then stood up. "Attention all. As Class representative, I will travel to the staff room to check. Please wait here until I return." As he was about to leave, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Actually, everybody's phones vibrated in their pockets and Izuku spoke up, realizing who sent it. "A message from Mr. Aizawa!"
The message read "RIDE BUS TO MOCK CITYSCAPE. NOW."
"The Cityscape?" Midoriya read out loud. "But why?"
"I've got it!" Denki theorized. "Mr. Aizawa probably wants to hold the model class, the letter reading, and the facility tour all in one place! It's only rational."
Everyone could see Aizawa doing something like that, so they all decided to just go with it. "It doesn't seem like we have a choice. Don't forget to bring your letters." Tenya instructed as they left for the bus.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Professor Aizawa Theme]
Whilst on the bus, the class decided to chat. "Why not just have us meet up there in the first place?" Minoru complained. "This sucks."
As Mineta said that, Izuku was in deep thought. Then Tenya spoke up. "What is it Midoriya?"
"It's just...making us waste time like this?" Izuku pointed out. "Does that sound like Mr. Aizawa?"
"No it does not. I quite agree." Iida replied.
"Stop overthinking it Modoriya." Mineta interjected. "You'll go bald early at this rate. So Aizawa screwed up. So what?"
"Harsh." Ochako commented.
"Would you dare say that to Mr. Aizawa's face, Mineta?" Asui spoke up.
"Of course I wouldn't!" Minoru exclaimed. "So don't rat me out!"
"Perhaps this was intentional on his part?" Tenya theorized.
"How's that?" Izuku wondered.
"For Heroes, the call to action can arrive at any moment." Iida explained. "This could be an exercise designed to test our reactions."
"Yeah, that's possible." Shoto said. Then he noticed the class rep yawn. "Tired? That's not like you."
"Apologies. Something about rattling vehicles does this to me." Tenya stated. "Plus, I was up all night paring down my too long letter from 40 pages to 20."
"You wound up with a whole 20 pages?!" Midoriya asked, very shocked at how much the class rep wrote.
"I couldn't bear to eliminate another word." Iida told him. "Not when every last one was filled with my deepest gratitude!"
"That explains the bulge in your pocket." Todoroki noted, as there was indeed a pocket that was so stuffed, that it would probably burst at any moment.
"Wish my wallet had that much paper in it." Uraraka said to herself.
As the bus continued on its way, most of the students were starting to think about their letters and how they were going to read them to their parents. Some were excited, many were embarrassed, but all in all, they were ready to do it.
[Silence]
Once the bus arrived, the students exited the vehicle before it drove off, then looked around for their teacher at the entrance, only to not see him. "Mr. Aizawa must be further inside." Iida stated. "Let's move everyone!"
"Wait." Mezo stopped him. "...I smell something."
"D-Don't look at me!" Mineta spoke up.
"Not you." Shoji informed the class. "It smells like...gasoline?"
"Maybe there's a fake pileup in there?" Denki guessed. "You know. For training purp..." A scream was heard in the Mock Cityscape. "What the..." Kaminari started to speak again before even more panic induced screams interrupted him.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Robo Inferno]
The students immediately ran to where the sound came from, and they discovered the source to be a giant cubic cage that was Balanced on a slender tower and held in place by a small platform, held over a massive pit full of freshly poured gasoline. It was then that the children could hear the screams clearly.
"OCHAKO!" A male voice screamed.
"Dad?!" Uraraka looked, shocked to see her father in the cage.
"Shoto..." A female with white hair spoke out.
"Huh?!" Todoroki was dumbfounded to see his sister, Fuyumi inside the cage as well.
"TENYA!" A female voice shouted.
"MOTHER!" Iida recognized the woman and couldn't believe she was there.
"Izuku!" Another female voice yelled out, but this one was holding someone as she did so.
Midoriya looked to see the two of them and knew who they were. "M-Mom!?...A-And Sora?!" He loudly uttered.
Every single student ran to the edge of the pit, then saw what was down there. "Yech...It really is gasoline?" Ejiro questioned.
"What the heck happened?!" Ochako exclaimed. "How'd our parents get in there?!"
"And where's Mr. Aizawa during all this?!" Tenya realized.
"Aizawa is down for a nap." A mechanical voice spoke from inside the cage. "A nice dirt nap."
"A dirt nap…?" Izuku repeated.
"You're saying Mr. Aizawa is...dead?" Minoru questioned.
"That can't be...I mean, Har har..." Kirishima spoke up. "But April Fools Day was a while back, so show yourself! Whoever you are."
"Calm yourself." The mechanical voice spoke once more. "You're free to think this is a joke, but be aware that there are hostages in play."
"Hostages?" Midoriya repeated, barely able to keep up with the sudden crisis in front of him and his classmates. But then he, as well as the other students began to look around and scan the area for the origin of the voice.
"No. Not here." Mezo told them. "The voice is coming from inside the cage."
"Inside the..." Mashirao started to speak before he was interrupted.
"Correct! I am here with them." The person who was making the voice had slowly walked towards the edge of the cage to the student's view as the people trapped inside scurried to the corners of their prison. The man was tall, and wore a black mask, cape and cowl. Iida had pulled out his phone, but then the man in black spoke to them again. "I should mention now that contacting your school or the authorities will not be permitted. Oh and I'm afraid that little Denki's quirk cannot help you either."
"Seriously man?!" Kaminari responded, shocked that the man knew his name.
"Fleeing or seeking outside help is also forbidden." The man in black informed the students. "Attempt to run, and it will be your parent who pays the price."
Ochako's father shook the bars, but couldn't do anything to them. "Dang it!" He cursed. "Can't do a thing about these solid bars!"
"D-Dad!" Uraraka yelled out, feeling helpless to the situation.
"H-Help us, Momo!" Yaoyorozu's mother pleaded.
"You mustn't panic, mother...Keep calm!" A shook, Momo instructed.
Tsuyu's father let out a croak, and the frog girl knew what he meant. "That's croak means danger...Ribbit..."
"Mom..." Izuku uttered to himself, unable to comprehend just how much was told to him in such a short span of time, from Aizawa dead, to everyone's parents as well as Sora held hostage by a Villain and if they try to get help, their parents will get hurt or worse. "Why...Why is this happening?"
The man in black decided to answer that question. "I flunked out of U.A. High. Gaining entry in the hope of becoming a Hero was all I had wanted, but once an excellent specimen like myself was considered a failure, it was proof that this world was cruel and misaligned! Imagine that. ME! A DROPOUT! But if left to your own devices, a bright futures await you children! That is why I've..." He got interrupted mid monologue.
"So you put on that stupid black cape, just to throw a tantrum? You dumbass!" Katsuki insulted.
"Kacchan!" Midoriya exclaimed.
"I'm already bored." Bakugo spoke up again as he got into his fighting stance. "Let's blow this guy to kingdom come already!"
The man in black grabbed Katsuki's mother and then reminded him. "Slow down. Or did you forget about the hostages?"
Bakugo froze, seeming to have what could be panic, but only Izuku and Mitsuki would know that. Then the boy angrily said out loud. "Great job getting yourself caught, hag."
[Silence]
She heard that and screamed at her son. "I TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES NOT TO CALL ME HAG YOU LITTLE PUNK!" That sudden outburst drew all eyes to her, shocked that she just did that.
"Wow...I uh...see the family resemblance." Ejiro commented.
"That supposed to be a compliment, broom head?" Katsuki snapped at Kirishima.
Then Inko spoke to her, still sounding panicked. "Mitsuki. Please remember that we're hostages here."
"Oh...right...that's true." Mituki then remembered, before getting pushed back into the group of parents.
"Pipe down." The man in black suggested to the woman.
"That woman has nerves of steel." Iida stated.
"Yeah. She's one tough lady." Midoriya agreed. "Same as always." Thanks to that sudden outburst, Izuku had used that brief moment to recollect himself. He can't assess the situation properly if he's in a manic state. "What are you after here?" The boy asked, in hopes to buy some more time to think of a plan to save the hostages.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST People Always Reaching for the Top]
"What am I after?" The man in black repeated. "Only one thing. The utter destruction of you golden children, and your bright future. And slaughtering your parents is the best way to accomplish that."
"All this...just to get at us?" Ojiro said as he quivered.
"If you've got beef with us, then bring it!" Ejiro roared out. "But leave our folks out of this!"
"It isn't your bodies I aim to destroy, oh no." The man in black explained. "It will be much more painful for you all to watch as your parents suffer, while you would be Heroes can only blame yourselves for their agony."
"If you truly walked the path of a Hero once, then stop this Foolishness!" Momo demanded.
"Yeah!" Mina yelled in agreement. "And you're headed for the slammer when this is all said and done!"
"Hmph." The man in black scoffed at them, before grabbing Sora, causing Inko to hold the unconscious boy and plead, only to be pushed away.
"No. Nononono. No!" Inko said over and over as Mitsuki held her back from trying to get the boy.
The man in black dragged Sora to the edge and presented his body to the group. "Unlike him...and all of you...I have nothing to lose. I'm not intending on escaping this situation, so my final act will be to...what is this?" The man in black noticed an envelope in Sora's pocket and pulled it out, letting the entire class see it. "To Inko...from Sora...a letter for a parent?" He then looked at the group and saw similar envelopes in their pockets. "And from what I can see, multiple of you have envelopes as well. Did you all write a note to your loved ones and hope to present them?" The man let out a laugh. "Hahahahahahaha! Oh how perfect!"
"QUIT IT!" Ochako screamed at the man.
As this was happening, Izuku had ended up muttering to himself. "But it's not like we can free them without him noticing. The cage is too exposed. No blind angles, plus it's about ten meters to the platform. Dang it...I got nothing."
"Keep it down, Midoriya. He'll hear you." Shoto quietly told Izuku.
"Ah, sorry." The One For All User quietly apologized.
"No ideas then Midoriya?" Tenya whispered.
"Not yet." Izuku quietly replied to them.
"Very well." The class rep then whispered to the closest people to him. "Everyone, we need to find a way to distract the Villain somehow."
"Gocha." Kirishima replied. "We'll get the job done."
"And you think of a plan, quick." Kaminari added.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST U.A. Reporting For Duty]
As the two of them were about to start making a distraction, another student beat them to it. "Stand back friends. We need a distraction, non? Such is my experitze." Yuga quietly boasted before he winked at them and then pirouetted forward to make himself the center of attention. "This unsightly crime simply won't do! Besides, who could possibly commit such evil while looking upon my visage!? Wouldn't you agree, Koda?"
Koji couldn't respond to that, at least not at the moment.
"Why involve the soft spoken Koda?" Iida questioned under his breath.
"Don't mess with Koda like that!" Rikido defended his classmate.
"Come on guys, don't..." Izuku began, but got interrupted by Shoto.
"They all know we're in a tight spot." The ice user quietly told him. "Our only chance is a sneak attack from you."
"You think?" Midoriya whispered.
"You're good at that." Todoroki responded. "Smashing the unsmashable and all."
Izuku had felt some tears close to coming out from that kindness, but he stopped himself and went back to strategizing. It took him about ten seconds to figure out an optimal plan and he snuck his way through the crowd to where Ochako, Momo, and Toru were, then explained his plan.
"A stun gun?" Yaoyorozu quietly questioned.
"Mhm." Midoriya confirmed. "Small enough to stay under the radar, but with plenty of oomph. Can you make one?"
"An excellent idea, and yes I can." Momo answered as she proceeded to subtly make one with her Quirk and give it to Uraraka. "I made it brown so he's less likely to notice."
"Now I just got to make this thing and Hakagure float?" Ochako whispered.
"Yep." Izuku silently stated. "Since she's the perfect candidate."
"Hold on. Let me strip down then." Toru suggested as she took her clothes off, making Midoriya silently freak out while Mineta was having perverted thoughts about her, which made Asui use her tongue to slap him. Now the invisible girl was ready. "I'm ready to do this, kay?"
Ochako used her Quirk on her and the stun gun, "Be careful Hagakure."
"You can count on me." Toru assured them as she began to float towards the cage.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Evil of Psychology]
Once She was just outside the cage, the man in black had had enough of the 'arguments' going on in front of him. "I SAID SILENCE!" He demanded. "Do not make me repeat myself!" Hagakure got into the cage as he continued to speak. "Perhaps the most boisterous child's parent should be the first to die? Then you lot might see things differently." The man in black began to observe the area, looking around for Aoyama's parent, but then he heard a zapping sound coming from right behind his leg.
He swiftly turned himself around and then struck at Toru's body. "ACK!" she yelped in pain.
"It would seem an invisible pest had wormed its way in here!" The man in black announced before he kicked the weapon out of the cage, threw open the cage door, and took out a lighter and lit it. "I had hoped to set out individual doses of suffering...but no matter! We will all dine in hell together!"
"Don't do it!" Izuku yelled out.
The man in black smirked under his mask and then held Sora's letter over the lighter, crumpling it into a ball. "And what better and more ironic way to go, then this." The paper ball caught fire and he dropped it into the pit.
"NO!" Midoriya screamed. Then the paper hit the gasoline and the pit burst into flames.
The fire reached so high that it was at the same level as the cage. The parents were deep in despair, but enduring the heat for now. "IZUKU!" Inko called to her son, reaching forward.
"MOM!" Midoriya called back, instinctively reaching towards her too, before beginning to collapse.
[Silence]
Izuku then felt someone kick him and the person who did that, spoke up. "You really that stupid?"
"Kacchan?" Midoriya replied.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Here]
"This is the perfect chance dumbass." Bakugo told him. "Hey round face! Get me floating!" Ochako did what he asked, then used his quirk to charge forward. Then Shoto used his right side to freeze directly in front of them, making a bridge that caught the man in black's feet and briefly opened up a spot in the fire. "HEY! Watch it you half and half bastard!" Katsuki yelled as he had to dodge the ice before could get him too.
"Tch." The man in black struggled, but couldn't budge the ice.
"You like wearing black?!" Bakugo yelled out. "Try black and blue!" He tackled the man in black and straddled him, threatening to blast the Villain with his palm if he tried anything.
"Let's join him!" Tenya ordered as Uraraka began to use her Quirk on him, allowing him to float, then use his engine quirk to make it to the cage.
Izuku got himself back to his feet and then Ochako used her Quirk on him. "Thanks."
"Help my dad out. Kay?" She requested, praying that Deku could save her father.
Midoriya gave her a smile before he activated One For All and used it to propel himself towards the cage, with Todoroki and Fumikage following him there. Once the boy landed and Uraraka released her Quirk, he ran to Inko.
"Izuku!" She called him.
"Mom! You okay?" Midoriya asked her, then when he saw she was, he looked to where the man in black and Bakugo were. "Kacchan!"
Katsuki had the man in black pinned to the ground. "This shit eating punk's not so tough. Got him handled all on my own!" He boasted.
"Katsuki, don't say shit!" Mitsuki told her son.
"Stuff it you hag!" Bakugo retorted, which then made his mother go off on him again, much to his annoyance. While that was happening, the man in black used the opportunity to pull out a trigger.
Izuku noticed it. "Wait. That's..." He couldn't finish that sentence as the man in black used the trigger and set off explosives that made the cage rock around on the tiny spire that was holding it up. "What?!"
"What'd you do damn it?!" Katsuki demanded an answer.
"As I said!" The man in black reminded them. "The gates of hell await us all!"
"The fiend planted explosives in advance!" Iida realized.
On the other side of the cage, Momo had already made fire extinguishers to help out with containing the fire, but once the explosives went off, Mashirao saw the cage starting to rock and called out to the students inside. "Hey! The base is crumbling! You guys gotta get back here quick!"
"Dang it!" Ochako cursed. "We'll never get these flames out in time!"
"Rather than extinguish the inferno...perhaps a more traditional solution would...I've got it!" Midoriya figured out a plan, but before he could get it started, the cage began to tilt too far to one side, thankfully, Shoto got himself to the edge of that side and made a ice tendril to keep them upright for the time being, but it was melting quickly thanks to the fire.
Toru had Sora's arm wrapped around her shoulders and was quickly moving to the edge, while Tenya was getting ready to hopefully escort the parents on the ice tendril while it was still stable. Then Izuku spoke to his mother. "Please, grab a hold of me!"
"But.." Inko protested, seeing her son still in danger.
"It's okay mom." Izuku reassured her. "I'm here to save you."
"Oh Izuku." Inko responded, both proud and calmed down enough to have faith in her son.
Shoto made more ice over the tendril he made, but he couldn't expand the ice past this. "Damn...whatever you're gonna do, do it soon!" He requested.
"Ice bridge...slipping...sliding...that's it!" The green haired boy managed to make another idea on the spot.
"Stop joking around Midoriya! There's no time!" Tenya spoke up, not realizing what Izuku meant.
"A slide Iida!" Midoriya explained. "Like from our rescue training!"
"The evacuation chute?" The class rep realized.
Todoroki caught on. "Right. Just need a way to slide everyone across my ice bridge!"
"I don't know if there's enough time for Yaoyoyozu to create a tarp big enough though!" Izuku stated.
"It's nearly ready actually!" Momo called out to them and after a few seconds, a giant tarp bursted from her back, which ripped her school top off. "I've been working on this since a few moments ago. Uraraka, Sero, it's your turn!"
"Okay!" Ochako replied as she made the tarp float.
"Let's go!" Hanta yelled out as he used his tape to lunge the tarp towards the group.
"Grab it Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami ordered and his Quirk complied and managed to grab it and hand it to Midoriya.
"Thanks. Should have known you'd be on top of things, Yaoyorozu!" Izuku said as he spread the tarp out. "Everyone! Please climb aboard!" After doing as he requested, everyone except him, Fumikage, Shoto, Tenya, Katsuki and the man in black were on the tarp, gripping it tightly. "Iida! Use your engine to pull from the front, while the rest of us push from the back, and you keep blasting your ice until the last second, Todoyoki!"
"Got it." The ice user replied.
"What about the Villain?" Tokoyami pointed out. "We can't just leave him here."
Bakugo pulled the man in black to his feet. "Any funny business and you go boom. Got it?" He threatened. The man in black didn't respond, seeming to have given up as he let Katsuki put him on the tarp. With everyone in position, it was time to go.
"Go! Go!" Izuku ordered.
[Play KH BBS OST Black Powder]
"No holding back!" Tenya roared. "Torque over! RECIPRO BURST!" He used the full power of his engines and he along with everyone on the tarp went forward, and thanks to Midoriya, Bakugo and Fumikage pushing from the other side, the parents were launched forward.
"All Right!" Ochako cheered, but then suddenly, the ice gave in and Tenya, who managed to make it across, was now holding his side of the tarp. Thankfully the rest of the class managed to get to where he was and then were able to help him keep that side up. On the other side of the tarp, the three boys were dangling by the fire, along with Inko, the man in black, and a few other parents as well.
It was then that Midoriya's letter slipped out of his pocket and the boy noticed, but he couldn't do anything about it. His heart nearly sank when he saw it begin to burn, especially after he saw Sora's letter get burnt as well, but he had to focus on saving his mother and everyone else's parents as well. The boy saw the rest of the class manage to get a grip on the tarp and they managed to yank their side up, but the jolt of the force, as well as the sweat from the heat, caused Inko to lose her grip and she was airborne.
Before Izuku could even say anything though, the man in black had managed to grab her and pull her back to the tarp. Nobody except him had noticed that, because the rest of the people were too busy holding on to focus on anything else but that.
[Silence]
The class managed to pull together with all their strength and the rest of the people on the tarp safely managed to get out of there. Without a single moment to spare, Midoriya saw Inko go over to him. "Are you okay Izuku?" She asked.
"Yeah." He answered, just about to cry. "Just glad that you are too." The two had a deep embrace, but then Midoriya remembered the man in black. "Where'd he go?"
The man in black was standing a good distance from the group, before he announced to the class. "Congratulations. The exercise is over."
Before Izuku could ask what that meant, Tenya spoke up. "Somebody grab him! We have to contact the school!"
"And find out where he stashed Mr. Aizawa..." Minoru pointed out, but before anyone could mourn over their teacher…
"Me? I'm right here." Aizawa walked around a corner.
There was silence...then a bit more silence...then a collective "HUH!?"
[Play KH BBS OST Innocent Times]
"Excellent work everyone." Aizawa complimented the adults. "Good performances all around."
"Awe. You're making me blush. It was all thanks to your coaching Mr. Aizawa." Ochako's dad stated.
Momo's mom sighed. "That was nerve wracking I daresay."
"Didn't know what to think when you almost broke character Mrs. Bakugo. Croak." Asui's father commented.
"Sorry about that. I couldn't help it." Mitsuki apologized.
As the students were still trying to figure out what was going on, Aizawa spelled it out for them. "Still don't get it? Let me spell it out. This was all a set up."
Another even louder "HUH!?" was made by the entire class.
"Th-The Villain too?" Midoriya questioned.
"Yes." Aizawa answered. "We hired an actor from a theater troupe."
"A what now?" The man in black said, before realizing what he meant. "Oh! Right. Apologies for menacing you kids the way I did."
The man in black now acted so friendly and apologetic, that
"What the heck?" Denki replied.
"No wonder the mook went down so easy." Katsuki understood. "Just some back up player, huh?"
"What about Sora?" Toru asked, still holding the unconscious boy.
"He found out about it early, and instead of having him pretend to be scared and shocked, we asked him if we could put him to sleep and stuff him in the cage." Aizawa explained. "He agreed to it and after some before school training to rough him up, Midnight put him to sleep."
[Silence]
"Now wait a minute!" Momo protested. "Wasn't that a bit much? One wrong move and somebody would have gotten seriously hurt! Or worse!"
"We were prepared for the worst, so no. That wasn't a 'bit much'. Besides, Pros are no strangers to danger, so an exercise with lower stakes wouldn't do much good." Aizawa assured them.
"...I...suppose so." Yaoyorozu replied, still very unhappy with what just happened.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Supportive Heart]
Aizawa then asked her. "Were you scared? Scared for your mother?"
"Yes. Naturally." Momo answered.
"Words alone can't express your love for your families." Aizawa told her. "When faced with losing them however, this provided you that valuable experience." He looked at everyone as he continued. "A proper rescue demands strength, skill, knowledge, and decisiveness, but emotion can easily cloud judgement. Anyone hoping to become a Hero cannot be flustered by a family member in danger. This exercise, under the guise of 'Parents Day' was meant to teach you all just that."
"...Yes Sir." Yaoyorozu replied.
"One more thing." Aizawa continued. "It's not just about keeping a level head. The people you aim to save, their lives are more than just their own, as they too have families waiting for them to come back home. Take that to heart."
"Yes Sir!" Everyone said in unison, completely understanding the lesson
"Now, though every hostage was saved, this could have gone better." Aizawa critiqued, confusing the class. "You struggled far too much against this single opponent, wasted too much time, and the stun gun? Hardly the most rational option. Choosing to distract the Villain by talking to him was unrefined, and it meant putting all your eggs in one basket. I've got plenty more to say, but for now...you all passed...by a slim margin. I want a page of what you learned from this, due tomorrow."
Tenya then spoke up. "And what of our letters of appreciation? Another one of your 'rational deceptions' to disguise the true intent of this exercise?"
"Didn't writing that letter get you to think about your family more than usual?" Aizawa pointed out.
"Indeed it did." Iida accepted that reason.
But then Kyouka remembered something. "Wait, but what about Sora? Even though he found out early, how come he got to essentially sleep through this?"
Aizawa closed his eyes, and let out a small sigh. Then he answered her question. "Sora already had enough to deal with. When he found out about this, he was angry with us, implying that he already knew that struggle. I can't say for certain, but considering that his parents didn't show..." He stopped himself and decided to change the subject, facing the parents and respectfully bowing to them. "We're done for today. Parents, thank you all for your assistance."
The adults had returned Aizawa's kindness with their own bows. Then each parent went to their child, while Aizawa took Sora off of Hagakure's shoulders, dismissed the class when the bell rang, and let each student go home with their loved ones.
[Play KH3 OST Heroes' Gathering]
A few hours had gone by, and Sora had woken up in Recovery Girl's office. The nurse wasn't alone, as Midnight and Toshinori were there as well, waiting for him to wake up. Once the boy sat himself up, the two teachers went over to him. "Rise and shine little man." Midnight spoke first.
Sora groaned, still trying to fully wake up. Midnight's Quirk packed more of a punch than he realized. Maybe it was because he breathed so much in so little time, about a foot away from the source. "Ugh...is it over?"
"Parents Day? Yes." Yagi answered.
"How'd it go?" Sora asked.
"Well enough for them to get a passing grade from Mr. Aizawa." Midnight commented.
"Well that's good." Sora replied, sounding relieved. "Is there anything I missed while I was out?"
"Not really." Toshinori said. "Thanks again for doing this for us Sora."
"As long as you burnt the fake letter, and didn't give Inko a heart attack whenever you used me." Sora responded.
"From what I saw, neither had happened." Midnight stated as she took Sora's actual letter and gave it back to him. "But I must say, getting carried to safety by a stripped bare maiden. You are such a lucky boy.~"
Sora was able to understand what she meant and his cheeks turned red. "I-I'm guessing that...Toru was the one who saved me?"
"Young Hagakure assisted in your rescue." Yagi confirmed. "She made sure that you wouldn't fall off whilst everyone had slid across the ice bridge that Young Todoroki made."
"Well...that's cool." Sora noted, managing to quickly get over the fact that a naked girl rescued him while he was unconscious. "So I'm guessing that's it for today? Or is there homework that I don't know about?"
"The rest of the class has homework, but you don't." Midnight explained. "You've earned some rest, after what you've done for your class."
Sora let out a sigh of relief, before looking at his letter. "That's good. I already had something planned for later today anyway."
"You're going to read your letter to Mrs. Midoriya when you get home?" Toshinori guessed.
"Hey, I wrote this down yesterday." Sora informed them. "I know that the whole letter to them was another set up and all, but I put a lot of effort into writing this...and I really want her to know how much I appreciate all she's done for me."
"Well, I'll be on my way out, so if you want to accompany me, then we could leave the campus together." Recovery Girl offered.
Sora thought about it for a moment, then said "Sure. I mean, It'll give me time to thank you for the constant patch ups every day I help out with the project after school."
"While I don't mind fixing you up, could you please try to finish one of these unscathed?" Recovery Girl requested.
"Hey. Don't look at me." Sora defended himself. "I told you and Nezu that I had potions, elixirs, and the Cure spell when I did this back in the day. Moogle's doing his best to brew some stuff, but he said he wasn't the best at it. And since he doesn't have a Cure spell instruction sheet laying around, like he did the Thunder and Aero spells, I'm kind of stuck going in underequipped."
"The fact that you still manage to beat those with this handicap is rather impressive." Yagi complimented.
"I've dealt with them enough times before to not need my healing abilities and items." Sora explained. "Not enough to get unscathed, but still."
"Well there's only a few more left. I'd say in about three days time, you should be able to finish the project." Toshinori estimated.
"Good." Sora replied as he began to follow Recovery Girl out. "I'm getting tired of going back to Inko's exhausted."
[Silence]
With that the two left the room and exited the building. They were walking over to the entrance of the facility, but then Sora saw someone on the other side of it, who seemed to have a beard made of flames, fastly pace towards the entrance, only for the U.A. security system to activate.
Sora and Recovery Girl paused, seeing the system activate and then hearing some loud banging on the door as a man's voice was demanding for the gates to open up for some reason. After a moment of waiting, the pounding stopped, but the gates did not open. It was then that Recovery Girl went on ahead and opened the gates, allowing her and Sora to exit the building and see...Endeavor, holding a sheet of paper in his hand. Sora just decided to go, electing not to stick around the Flame Hero and let Recovery Girl do the talking.
One trip on the train and walking on the sidewalk later and Sora was now back home with the Midoriya family, just in time for dinner. It took some explaining but Sora managed to tell the two how he walked in on the teachers discussing the idea, how he was annoyed with them putting the stunt again, which prompted Inko to ask what he meant, making Sora and Izuku explain All Might faking being a Villain the day before the Sports Festival at U.S.J. Once that explanation was over and dinner was finished, Izuku went to his room, and Inko was about to leave, but Sora stopped her.
"Hey, Inko..." Sora started. "Um...there's something that I want to give you."
"A present? For me?" Inko replied, then she saw Sora's letter. "Sora, you don't need to..."
"I know." The Keyblade wielder stated. "I want to though."
Inko took the envelope in his hands, opened it up, took the letter inside it and read it.
[Play FF7 Remake OST Midnight Rendezvous]
"To Inko.
While I'm living with you and Izuku, it makes sense that you would be considered my 'Parent' during Parents Day. I put a lot of thought into what you told me, about how you wanted me to write only what I was comfortable with. Well, thanks to me knowing what is happening on Parents Day, I know that only you and maybe Izuku are going to be able to see this letter. That makes writing this much easier, because I had no idea how to express how grateful I am to you, without telling you what happened to my own parents.
When I first got the Keyblade, it was during when the Heartless were destroying my home. I fought as hard as I could to keep my home safe, but in the end I couldn't do anything. The islands were all ripped apart, devoured by the Darkness and everyone except me, Riku, and Kairi were taken as well. I never had the time to think about what happened, but essentially, because of the Heartless, I, as well as my friends became homeless orphans, scattered across the Worlds, left to fend for ourselves.
When I was stranded in Traverse Town, I was alone, scared, and I could only trust a bad mouthed shopkeeper named Cid, at least until I ran into Leon, Yuffie and Aerith, then later Donald, Goofy and Jiminy. Thanks to them, I was able to at least have some hope of finding Riku and Kairi, as well as restoring my home and everyone with it. Donald and Goofy, at the time, were the only emotional support I had to guide me through all that fighting. I was lucky enough to have them for most of my journey.
Eventually, after my battle with Ansem, and after that sealing the door to darkness and restoring many worlds, including the islands, then after a whole year away from home, looking for Riku, and later fighting Organization XIII, I finally made my way back to the islands. At first I was ecstatic, I was finally home and the worlds were at peace, but I couldn't stay long, as the King wanted me and Riku to take the Mark of Mastery Exam. I had time to think it over, but I wanted to at least check in with my parents, and let them know that I was fine.
But then I went to my home, and saw that there was nobody waiting for me. Kairi later told me that they, as well as her and Riku's parents, didn't come back. I just put on a smile and held out hope. The world was restored, and every Heartless that I slay with the Keyblade gets freed and then whoever I just freed will go back to their home, but even after I slayed millions more Heartless and hundreds of thousands of Nobodies, they never were restored.
I only recently accepted that they might be gone for the rest of my life, but I never had a time to grieve, and while I had gained a new family, in the form of my fellow Guardians of Light, most of them were more like siblings to me. Donald and Goofy were good role models that could fill the role of Father Figures, and Yen Sid was like a wise mentor who could easily fit the role of a grandfather to me. But nobody ever felt like a mother to me. Not Aerith, not Fairy Godmother, not even Aqua.
But then I met you. The way that you just accepted me into your life, even though you didn't know anything about me at the time, the way that you treated me during all the times we were together, even after you learned the truth about who and what I am, the way you cared for me the same way you cared for Izuku, the way you worry about me and my well being, even when it came to protecting others, the way you were proud of me for the person I am and who I was growing to be, even the way that you treated me like you did Izuku. Everything you did made me think of you as more than just a kind woman who lets me live in her house.
Even though I'm not your son by blood, you told me that you thought of me as one, and even though you're not my mother by blood, because of everything you've done and still do to and for me, I think you're the closest I'll ever get to having a mother. Thank you, for everything.
Your second son, Sora."
When she finished reading that, she looked to Sora, who had a sad smile on his face as he finally got that off of his chest. Inko had tears in her eyes. They were caused by many things, the sadness that she felt, learning about Sora being essentially an orphan, the pride she had in him for managing to keep a smile on his face and constantly hold out hope, as well as how emotionally strong he was when he accepted the fate of his parents, the joy of hearing how she essentially considered by Sora to be a second mother, and the fact that Sora was fine with Inko seeing him as a second son.
It was all too much for her as she dropped the letter, ran over to Sora and the two embraced. Sora had a few tears coming out of his eyes as well, but his were purely from the joy of telling Inko how much he appreciated her. They stayed like that for a while, only stopping when the two realized that Sora had to get ready for bed. Once they finally let eachother go, Inko took the letter and went to her room, allowing Sora to get himself comfortable on the couch and go to sleep.
And that concludes School Briefs Volume 1. As you can see, I'm starting to incorporate FF7 Remake OSTs into this, but that is only because I don't want to constantly repeat using the same OSTs from the KH series too much. I can't say the same about the MHA OSTs because the show constantly reuses its OST, and I'm doing my best to limit myself to the OST of the season that it is on and any seasons before it, so for now with the MHA OST, it's Season 1 and 2 OST, unless a track from a later season REALLY fits for the moment, then I'll make the acceptation. But enough about music. Now that Parents Day is over and Sora presented his letter to Inko, all that is left before I officially reveal the project (which is basically as obvious as Dabi's real identity at this point,) is the Zombie OVA, which conveniently still had the concept of family in it, as Asui talks about her family in that OVA, so it'll be a smooth transition to that. Also, Sora mentioned Moogle working on brewing in this chapter, so I want you guys to take a guess on what Sora's first item will be. It can be anything from a Refocuser to a Hi Ether, so pick an item that Sora could use and see if you're correct. Lastly, Sora and Inko's relationship has become basically familial at this point, and that means there will be quite a few moments of Inko worrying about Sora as much as she does for Izuku in the future. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and until I decide to upload again. ;)