Chapter 73
[Play KH BBS A Fragmentary Passage OST Forest of Thorns]
Far from Kamino, inside a dense forest, a doe and her fawn were fleeing from many unnatural predators that were pursuing them with an unrelenting intent to catch them. These predators closed the distance and descended towards the pair, swiping the legs and tripping them both to the ground. The fawn called out to his mother, only to be silenced by one of the predator's black jagged beak, burrowing into his chest and pulling out a crystalline object that was in the shape of a heart.
The doe struggled in an attempt to escape, but she too was subjected to the same fate as her fawn. However, hers was more cruel, as her body was larger, making multiple of these black aerial predators burrow info her to find that same crystalline shaped heart and remove it from her body.
The two hearts that were forcefully removed from their bodies were surrounded by darkness until that darkness took the forms of two Shadow Heartless, who looked at the Flutterings that had just created them, before they all turned their attention towards something just arriving in the forest.
A dark corridor opened up above the ground and out of it came a wounded and 'bleeding' Vanitas Remnant, who hit the ground and then began to writhe in pain. "GAH! AUGH! AH!" He could easily heal himself, but he was too distracted with what had caused him to end up like this to care about undoing it at the moment. "Damn you...Damn you!"
The Heartless watched as the dark remnant forced himself up to his feet, slowly surrounding him and waiting for the right moment to pounce and potentially take this strong heart of Darkness. He spoke up again. "First it was at the graveyard...and now you do it again, here. Why is it...that every time I'm on the verge of getting what I want, every time that I'm 'this' close to achieving my goals, YOU get back up after your beating, AND RUIN EVERYTHING!?"
Vanitas' dark aura exploded, creating a shockwave of Darkness that quickly attracted the attention of the Heartless that had infested this once beautiful and thriving forest. As he was in this state of rage, he summoned Void Gear and used Curaga on himself, before he took a deep breath and growled out. "Get a grip, Vanitas. Blind rage isn't going to help you achieve your goals, nor will whining about your failure." He then saw hoards of Shadows, Flutterlings, Neoshadows, Darkballs, Earth Cores and Water Cores approaching him, all spotting the Keyblade he was brandishing and deeming him as a threat.
One shadow pounced towards him, but the dark remnant decapitated the Heartless when it got close. He then got into his combat stance. "So let's let all that rage out on these guys." He blitzed towards the hoards of Heartless, more than willing to vent out his anger on them. "And besides, this'll also be a good way to see how much stronger I got." He reached the first hoard and began to let loose, cutting through body after body, quickly and brutally tearing his way through the first of many groups of Heartless that were unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of his fury. "Just you wait, Sora. The next time we face off, I won't make the same mistake twice."
[Silence]
Over at Kamino, as Sora was being taken to the hospital, he was being treated in the back of the ambulance by the EMTs with him, receiving water and checking the boy's body for any potential injuries that weren't miraculously healed by the Megalixer. They found none. "Whatever that medicine was. It's made our job a lot easier." The male EMT said.
"The fact that he hasn't gone into Hemorrhagic Shock is staggering." The female EMT spoke up. "From the looks of it, he's lost at least 4 units of blood."
After Sora finished drinking the water he was given, he spoke to them. "That medicine that All Might gave me is still in effect. It VERY briefly energizes me, but once it stops, I might actually go into that thing you said earlier."
The two EMTs looked at each other before the male one spoke up. "If that's the case, then we need to do a blood transfusion immediately when you get to the hospital. What's your blood type?"
"It's...it...oh no." The Keyblade wielder passed out in front of the two, greatly alarming them.
"Kid?!" The male EMT quickly checked his pulse. "His pulse is getting weaker."
"The medicine must have just worn off!" The female EMT realized, seeing Sora's body show more symptoms of Hemorrhagic Shock.
"Tell the driver to step on it! Check this kid's record! His name is Sora!" The Male EMT told her.
"On it!" The female EMT did as she was told and told their driver to step on it, before looking into Sora's medical records from U.A. and finding his blood type. "Oh crap. He's listed as O negative."
"Call our place and see if they still have at least 2 units to spare." The Male EMT instructed.
"On it." The Female EMT did so as the ambulance's sirens rang while it sped down the streets.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST I Absolutely Won't Use The Heat]
Back at the destroyed section of the city, Naomasa was there, looking around the wreckage of what used to be the Nomu storage warehouse, seeing if he could salvage anything from this mess, only to find metal scraps, and shattered slabs of concrete. He took his leave while other members of the police force continued search and rescue operations with the Pro Heroes that were present. As he was about to enter his car, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
Tsukauchi saw what looked like a cell phone about a dozen meters away, and approached the device. When he got closer, he ended up recognizing the device as Sora's gummiphone. He picked it up and noticed that it was unlocked. He looked at the screen and saw 'message sent' on display, in front of what looked like a video of Sora and Vanitas. He then looked into the phone's message history and saw what was sent. Three videos that all showed Sora going through some form of struggle. He returned to his car and began watching them while on the way to the police department, in hopes that he could maybe find some evidence and clues in these recordings.
Meanwhile, in the not destroyed section of Kamino Ward, Izuku, Tenya and Ejiro managed to find Shoto and Momo, and noticed their sorrowful expressions on their faces, which was made worse by the fact that they had seen the videos that were sent by Vanitas, using Sora's phone. The six of them made their way to the police, making sure that Bakugo got to the station before leaving his side. During the trip there, and even when he was taken to the police department, Katsuki was silent.
The five students then made their way to the hospital that Sora would have been most likely taken to. They saw that Sora was saved by All Might on the news, but that didn't stop them from yearning to see their friend in person.
[Silence]
The five of them made it to the hospital and saw that it was quite crowded, which was expected, considering that half of the city was destroyed and many survivors of that were being taken here to get treated for their injuries. As they were about to reach the front desk, the medical receptionist was on the phone with someone. "I just got confirmation from our head of Hematology. We're out of O negative." The person on the other end replied to him, then he responded. "We can ask some of the residents or other patients here, but there's no guarantee that we can get two units in less than a few hours."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Three Secrets]
"He may not even have a few hours." The female EMT inside the ambulance with Sora spoke up. "He's gone into Hemorrhagic Shock due to losing at least four units already. If he doesn't get at least two units inside him before that, he'll go into a coma."
"I thought All Might gave him some miracle medicine and he was fine. That's what it looked like on the broadcast." The receptionist said, catching the attention of the five students.
"The medicine closed up his wounds and gave him a temporary energy boost, but the effects wore off just after we were explained how it worked." The female EMT explained.
"You've gotta be kidding me." The receptionist replied.
"Look, just start going through the lists of our resident staff and patients, and see if you can scrape up two units by then." The female EMT ordered.
"Alright, alright. I got it. I'll start looking." The receptionist understood before he hung up and noticed the five kids in front of him. "You kids better have an emergency to report."
"That guy that you were talking about on the phone." Midoriya spoke up. "Was that Sora? The one that was rescued by All Might earlier?"
"Yes." The receptionist answered as he quickly began to look up medical records of the resident staff members here.
"What's happened to him?" Kirishima asked.
"We're friends of his, and came here to see if he was doing well." Iida explained.
"But, judging by what we heard, it sounds bad." Yaoyorozu noted.
"He's alive, but he's gone into Hemorrhagic Shock, due to blood loss." The receptionist told them. "He needs a transfusion as soon as possible, but there's a big problem with that."
"What's the problem?" Todoroki questioned.
"His blood type is O negative, the universal donor." The receptionist stated. "That means that his body will reject any blood that isn't O negative."
Tenya then remembered something. "Wait, Midoriya. Isn't your blood type also O?"
"Yeah but...it's O positive." Izuku told him. "That won't work."
Shoto then immediately spoke up. "Mine will. Look up my medical record if you need the proof. Shoto Todoroki." He told the receptionist.
As the receptionist looked up that record, the other students looked at the flame user, who had a determined look in his eyes. He couldn't save Sora from Vanitas back at camp, and he failed to save him from Vanitas again just moments ago. But now, at one of Sora's most desperate hours, he could finally step up and save him, even if it isn't the way he had in mind. The receptionist found Shoto's medical record and looked at his blood type. "O negative. Okay, that's one unit."
"Take two." Todoroki told him, surprising the others. "We don't have time to find another donor right now, not while Sora is in the state you say he's in."
"I mean, we can do that, but it'll affect you a bit, seeing as you're a teenager." The receptionist warned him.
"Anything to save him." The ice user was adamant about this decision.
"Wait, hold on. Look me up too. Ejiro Kirishima." Ejiro requested. "I know I'm type O, but I don't know if it's negative or positive." He hoped that it was O negative. He managed to make up for his inability to help Bakugo, and he now potentially had a chance to make up for his inability to help Sora. If he can, he will take this chance.
The receptionist found Kirishima's medical record and found his blood type. "O negative. That's two. Talk about a miracle." He got onto the phone and then made an emergency call. "Get a room available for multiple blood donors, and another room set up for a transfusion of that blood." He then spoke to the students again. "Find a spot and wait there for me to call you up."
The five students did as instructed and waited near the entrance to the hallway, close to the front desk, but out of the way for anyone who needed to get through. Both Ejiro and Shoto looked at eachother with the same determined look in their eyes. They both were going to do their part and help their friend in need get through this.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Surpassing You]
The ambulance arrived and Sora's body was on a stretcher, as he was being taken inside by the pair of EMTs, and quickly escorted down a hallway and given to an Anesthesiologist, a Cardiologist, an Allergist, a Physician, a Nurse, and a Hematologist. The five students had managed to catch a quick glimpse of Sora's physical state, and were genuinely taken aback.
Unlike what they saw at U.S.J. during their first encounter with the League and Heartless, Sora had no open wounds, but even so, his condition was much more dire. His body was much skinnier than it should be, his skin had lost some of its color, going pale with his lips and fingertips looking blue. He looked like a shriveled up corpse.
Izuku, Tenya and Momo all shared the same frightened expressions on their faces, while Todoroki and Kirishima only got more determined to give their blood to Sora. Once they heard their names, they immediately made their way towards the receptionist, who told them where to go and which room they needed to find. They both quickly walked down the halls of the hospital and towards the room they were assigned to.
When they entered, they saw two Phlebotomists, two Primary Care Doctors, two Hematologists, and two Nurses. The Doctors explained that they needed to do checkups on the pair, before they begin removing any blood from them, which the two quickly accepted, as to get this done as fast as possible. The checkups took place at the same time and lasted five minutes. As they were doing the checkup, the Doctors asked about their health history, their travel history, if either of them take any medications and other things, to which they both answered accordingly, and mainly had the same answers for most of the questions.
A small sample was taken from each of them and the Hematologists examined the samples, checking them for any kind of aberrations or diseases, only to find none. They also confirmed them both to be blood type O negative. Even though the students already knew this, it was still good to hear that from a professional.
Now the Phlebotomists took over and laid the pair down on cots, before cleaning the pairs right arms and inserting fresh needles into their veins. In a few minutes, the pair had each donated the unit of blood they planned on giving to Sora, and after the needles were removed, some pressure was placed on the spots that the needles were to help the blood clot, before they had adhesive strips put on those spots.
The Nurses wasted no time taking the blood over to Sora's room, while one of the doctors spoke to the two donors. "Thanks to you two, that kid might actually wake up before the sun sets today."
Both of them had a thankful look in their eyes and Ejiro spoke for both himself and Shoto when he said. "As future Heroes there was no way we were gonna ignore someone in trouble."
"Well, then you have our thanks, future Heroes." The doctor replied, before handing them each a bottle of water and a bowl of rice. "Now get yourselves refreshed and rested. Considering what happened outside, everyone here has had a rough day."
Meanwhile, in Sora's room, the Nurses arrived with the two units of blood and immediately gave them to the Physician and the Nurse that was there, who began to set up the IV tube and needle, while the others kept monitoring Sora's condition. Once the tube was set up and the needle was inserted into Sora's right arm and vein, the blood began to enter his system.
[Silence]
As a police car was driving down to the station, Namoasa was in the back seat, watching the last few seconds of the third video that was sent on Sora's gummiphone, taking in what he saw and doing his best to approach this logically and rationally.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Tartarus]
Once the car reached the station, Tsukauchi exited the vehicle, and met up with Sansa, the pair walked inside and the detective explained what he saw to the cat headed police officer. "I recovered Sora's phone and found three recorded videos that showed events prior to his capture in the forest, an event that happened during his time imprisoned with the League, and what happened prior to and during our counterattack against the Villains."
"Did you find anything in the videos that could be used to trace any other locations for the Villains?" Sansa asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Naomasa answered. "The Villain responsible for recording these videos was smart and made sure that when he sent these videos, they wouldn't compromise any information. The videos mainly focus on Sora and whatever condition he is in, or whatever pain is being inflicted on him. The assailant also made sure to never show his face during the recordings, as it was covered by a full head mask. The only thing I could gain from these videos was a glimpse of the Villain's quirk and fighting style, which is still useful, but not as much as I would have hoped to gain from watching what was essentially a boy getting tortured and assaulted."
The cat headed cop sighed before asking something else. "Did these videos get sent to anyone?"
"They got sent to everyone that Sora has as a contact on this device." Tsukauchi told him. "His classmates from 1-A, some from 1-B, three third years in the Hero course, one from General studies and one from the support course, The teachers at U.A., his legal guardian Inko Midoriya, his forign friends like Melissa Shield, Moogle, and others too."
"That's a lot of people." Sansa noted. "At least we can look at the footage on the phone and see if anyone else can find something that you might have missed on your first viewing."
"We'll have multiple devices to look through." Naomasa stated. "I'm one of his contacts, so my phone should have copies of these videos on them as well. And as All Might will no doubt have received the messages too, he will probably be doing the same while he recovers in the hospital."
"Hopefully most of the other people who got the message don't subject themselves to watching them all the way through." Sansa said. "Aside from your summary already sounding bad, I can't imagine how the kid's classmates and friends would react to seeing those."
Elsewhere in Japan, Yuga Aoyama was alone in his room, viewing the last few seconds of the last video that was sent to him by Sora's phone. He looked like he was about to vomit from what he just witnessed. Seeing Sora's Rage Form nearly kill a Villain and save some of his classmates from Heartless were the only highlights of the first video. The second video showing Sora be robbed of his first kiss and having his blood sucked out of his mouth by Himiko had made him sick to his stomach, and the third video of Sora's first beating made him cry, and even when he got a boost in power from the announcement of how he planned to fulfill his promises to his friends, Yuga still felt horrible, and that feeling only got worse, as Sora's new power boost didn't save the boy at all, and he witnessed an even worse beating, practically begging for the video to be over. Once it was finished, he laid on his bed stuffed his face into his pillow to muffle his cries.
This same series of events happened for multiple other students as well, but the reactions sometimes varied. The girls all had the same feeling of overwhelming sadness, seeing their friend and classmate getting tortured and robbed of his first kiss, with Tsuyu and Ochako feeling a bit worse, as they remembered Toga from the camp attack.
Mezo and Fumikage were struck with immense guilt when they saw the first video, with Tokoyami feeling responsible for unleashing that brutal and monstrous form of Sora when he couldn't rein in dark Shadow, and he felt equally as responsible for weakening Sora to the point where he was captured and subjected to those horrors in the first place, while Shoji felt guilt for being unable to recover Sora back at the camp.
While others couldn't even watch the videos all the way through, refusing to view the horrors that their friend was forced to endure. They didn't need to see them to the end to know what happened though, and it still made them feel horrible.
[Silence]
A few hours had passed by, during which, the Pro Heroes that had partook in, and were injured during the hideout raid, had arrived and were receiving medical attention. Some, more serious than others. Jeanist was priority, due to the hole in his body, while others who suffered less serious injuries were treated later. Mount Lady regained consciousness during that time and when she was finished being treated, discovered that Sora was also being treated in this hospital, and told the doctors giving her some food, to instead give her portion to him, when he wakes up.
Ragdoll was being checked up on in another room, while Tiger was receiving medical care. When she had finally managed to regain consciousness, the doctors told her what had happened, and how she had lost her quirk genes somehow, meaning she was now quirkless. They had already called Mandalay and Pixie Bob, who were on their way to see her and Tiger now.
Gran Torino also received medical care for his multiple broken bones, but while his procedure was rather straightforward, his former student's procedure wasn't, as All Might was being treated and taken care of, like he was dying, even though he wasn't. After having many tests and treatments done on him, he was patched up, bandaged and told to rest. He earned that privilege after all he did today.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Supportive Heart]
As the blood transfusion for Sora was finished, with both bags successfully entering his system and being accepted by it. Color had returned to the boy's skin and the blue in his fingertips and lips began to fade. The Nurse put a hospital gown on him and kept a very close eye on him, to see if any side effects or reaction symptoms were starting to show on him, but there wasn't any that could be seen right now. Sora's body was still a bit skinny, but that was more likely due to the fact that he hasn't had any food for days, and had burned through most of his reserve body fat and lipids to keep fighting until the end.
This problem would be solved once the food that Mount Lady requested to give the boy had arrived, but before the Nurse could recommend tube feeding him, Sora's stomach growled and the boy flinched, as the sting from his hunger pain woke him up. "Ugh...wha? Huh?" He realized he wasn't in the ambulance anymore.
The Nurse immediately took the food and set it on his lap. "Easy now. You've been through a lot. " She told him.
Sora groaned before asking her. "Where am I?"
"A hospital in Kamino Ward." She answered. "You were brought in an ambulance after All Might fed you that medicine that closed your wounds." Before Sora could ask any more questions, his stomach growled again, making him flinch and grip it for a moment. The Nurse then gave her the food. "Here. Eat up. Take it slow though."
Sora nodded and began to eat the food in front of him, starting with the Miso Soup. He took the Nurse's advice and paced himself while eating. As he was eating, the Nurse explained what had happened when he arrived, and how he received an emergency blood transfusion. Once he was caught up on how he was saved from entering a coma, the Keyblade wielder spoke up. "Whoever those two people were that gave their blood. I need to thank them somehow."
"If you want, you can write two thank you notes and I can send them to the donors." The Nurse replied.
"That would be nice." Sora was ok with that for now.
"Well, before you do that, I recommend you finish your food, hydrate, then get some rest." She listed off his necessities.
The Keyblade wielder sighed before replying back to her. "Yeah." He then took a sip of the Green Tea that came with his food, before continuing to eat. As much as he wanted to get out of here and tell his friends that he's okay, he needed the rest right now. Especially after what he just endured.
After a half an hour of slowly getting Miso Soup, Rice, Konbu Salad, Green Tea and water into him, his helping of food was now empty, prompting the Nurse to take the tray and allow him to lay on his bed. Even though the sun was up, he couldn't care less about that. He needed to sleep, and he was not going to wait for nightfall to do it. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off.
Over in the front, the five students were sitting together, waiting for someone to give the receptionist a report on Sora's progress. Shoto and Ejiro had already finished their bottles of water, while they, along with Izuku, Tenya and Momo were watching the clock tick in front of them, as they silently waited for that update.
Their patience was rewarded when one of the Nurses spoke to the receptionist for a moment, and left. The receptionist then flagged the five students over to him. Once they reached him, he relayed them the news. "Sora's recovery is going smoothly. Color returned to his skin and he woke up hungry. We gave him some food and drink, and now he's resting."
"Oh, thank god." Kirishima sighed in relief. "Can we see him?"
"I just said he's resting." The receptionist repeated. "If you want to see him, you're gonna have to wait for him to wake up. That'll probably take the whole day though, so I recommend coming back later."
"What if we wait here?" Midoriya asked.
"You can do that, but don't you kids have families that are worried about you?" The receptionist told them. "The city is half destroyed, and most people who aren't injured are checking up on their families right now. If you're gonna stay, at least call your families and tell them you're ok and where you are."
That last statement made the five of them realize something. They were so preoccupied with their friend's condition, that they forgot about the fact that they didn't tell their families where they were. Not only that, but if they say they're at Kamino, or don't don't go home right now, then they would risk getting found out. As much as they didn't want to, they had to leave now. "You're right." Tenya said for everyone. "Checking up on our families would be a good idea. We'll check up on Sora after he's gotten his rest."
As the five of them hesitantly began to leave the building, the receptionist noticed their hesitancy and offered them each a blank slip of paper. "You can each leave a note for him though, if you want." The five students took him up on that offer, and before they left, they each wrote a note for their friend to receive when he wakes up later today, which one of the Nurses placed in the resting boy's room.
[Silence]
Elsewhere in Japan, at a Metropolitan Police Department, members of the safety commission were gathered together for a meeting, discussing the events that had transpired the night before, as well as the video footage that was sent to them by Naomasa. "The Nomu that we captured are just as unresponsive as the last ones. They're basically mindless animals. We haven't gotten any new info from them. The warehouse they were kept in was completely destroyed. The only thing that has been recovered from there was three videos that were recorded with one of the kidnapped students' cellular devices, but they were deliberately recorded in specific areas that would not give away any information or potential clues about the Villains. We'll continue our investigation of course, but we don't know how much data we can collect."
"And we haven't gotten any worthwhile information from the bar at all?" A chairman asked.
"We're still looking into that sir." The first chairman replied.
"We apprehended all the Nomu, sure. But we let most of the perpetrators, including Shigaraki slip through our fingers." Another chairman pointed out. "Honestly, even though we captured their boss, I'd say this whole thing was a draw."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Evil Of Psychology]
"Don't be stupid." Another chairman spoke up. "Our country just lost the Symbol Of Peace. All Might's weakened body has been exposed to the world. Everyone knows the indestructible Hero can be defeated now. The citizens and the Villains."
"It's what we get for relying too much on one Pro Hero." Another chairman said.
"People now know they can raise hell with just a handful of thugs. Hate to think what that might inspire." The previous chairman added on. "Our initial profile of Tomura Shigaraki described him as childish and prone to tantrums, but that's obviously changed. His plans are growing more strategic. He now appears to be focused on how he can mold our society. His thought process has evolved, matured. And since All Might is out of the picture, we've lost our biggest deterrent to criminal activity. Each time the League fails, they come back MUCH stronger. And now, Shigaraki can greatly expand his sphere of influence."
"Are you suggesting that all of this was part of the League's plan?" Another chairman questioned.
"That does sound like quite a leap." Another chairman was skeptical of that.
"We don't know entirely, but that brief interlude with that masked member of the League points in that direction." The previous chairman replied. "His actions that he purposefully leaked to those connected to the kidnapped student he tortured and let get molested, prove that at least he is not to be taken lightly, and his brief display of power in those videos and the brief altercation he had with All Might and the other Pro's show that the League has allies that are as strong as some of our best Heroes."
"It sounds like that this Vanitas person was treating this as a debut and demonstration of what's to come from him and the League." Another chairman theorized.
"Whatever the reasoning is, there's only one thing I can say for certain." The previous chairman spoke up again. "We must capture the league of villains no matter what. As the police, we need to be more proactive in apprehending Villains. We are not just backup. It's time we implement changes."
[Silence]
Back at the hospital, while it wasn't as crowded as it was last night, there were still some new faces coming in to speak with some of the patients. One of these new faces being Tsukauchi, who along with Gran Torino, was in Toshinori's room, speaking to him while he was resting in a hospital bed. "The embers inside of me have been snuffed out. The mighty Symbol Of Peace is no more" Yagi said. "However, I won't just sit here. There's something I must do."
"Tomura Shigaraki." Gran Torino spoke for him. "Shimura's grandson, yes?"
"The only proof we have of that is what All For One said. It's not much to go on." Naomasa pointed out. "The two of you didn't have any interaction with Shimura's family, even though you were so close to her?"
"No." The elder Pro answered.
"But why not?" The detective asked.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST I Absolutely Won't Use The Heat]
"It happened soon after Shimura's husband was killed." Gran Torino stated. "Concerned, she put her child in foster care to shield the youngster from the Hero World. She told Toshinori and me, that she didn't want us to have any contact with the kid, even if something terrible were to happen to her."
"And in the end, your promise backfired, huh?" Naomasa understood. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Yagi clenched his fist. "My master gave up her heart, so that her family might know a life full of peace. I must track Shigaraki down as soon as possible. I'll find him and then..." He was interrupted by Gran Torino.
"Then what? Give him a pat on the head? You're not looking at him like the Villain he is anymore. That's dangerous. Remember that no matter his lineage, he's still a criminal." He bluntly told his former student. "Tsukauchi and I will investigate Shigaraki and the League without you for now. You stay at U.A. You have many responsibilities there. Even if you cannot be the Symbol Of Peace that you once were, don't forget that All Might is still alive."
As Toshinori let that sink in, Naomasa then brought up one more thing. "On that matter. I think it would be wise for you to check up on your student, the moment you're able to." He was referring to Sora, who was still resting in another room in this hospital. "Even though you saved him from critical injuries, he was still dangerously close to falling into a coma, due to what was done to him. I doubt I need to tell you what happened, as I'm sure you've seen the videos that Vanitas sent to Sora's contacts via his phone."
"I'm aware of what happened, though I didn't see the videos myself." Yagi replied. "I was given a summary of the events that happened by Gran Torino, who had watched the videos on my phone, while I was still being treated." He slumped forward a bit. "Such horrible atrocities were done to him in such a short time. I have to make it up to Young Sora."
"The best thing you can do for him is just what Gran Torino said." Tsukauchi stated. "Sora will no doubt want to return to U.A. and continue to build his strength there. Make sure that you're there to help him reach his potential. The same goes for the other students. Help them grow and become the best Heroes they can be."
Toshinori nodded to that, before he saw Naomasa give him Sora's gummiphone. "What?"
"Give that to Moogle, when you return to U.A." The detective instructed. "We don't know how much the phone has been tampered with, but given the sensitive information that is on it, I'll only allow Moogle to check the device and fix it."
"Understood." Yagi replied, keeping the phone in his hands as he watched Tsukauchi and Gran Torino leave him to rest.
[Silence]
As the day continued on, the five students had managed to leave Kamino Ward and split off to go back to their families. Shoto reached his house and when he arrived, Fuyumi was there to greet him. "There you are, Shoto. I was afraid something had happened to you." She said. "After you visited mom, you stopped responding to my messages, so what was I supposed to think?"
"I'm sorry, sis." He apologized.
There were crashing sounds in one of the rooms in his house, and Fuyumi explained what was going on. "He's been like that, ever since he came home." She referred to their father. "Feel free to go say hi."
Shoto walked towards his father's training room, coming to the realization that now that All Might can't be the hero he once was, then Endeavor was now the Number 1 Hero, by default. He took a peek inside the training room and saw his father's training equipment thrown around and burnt, while small fires were burning in the room. His father was near the back, furious at how he became the Number 1 Hero. "I don't accept it. Not like this. I should have earned it myself. NOT by him FAILING." He growled.
Over at the Midoriya household, Izuku had made it home and reunited with Inko. "Oh honey. I just can't believe what a hard time All Might's had lately." She said. "Things must have been difficult for you too, but at least your home."
"Yeah." The young Midoriya responded, noticing that his mother seemed to be in a much better state than he would have guessed. It was probably because of the fact that he was home, and that she would have seen Sora being miraculously healed on the news that she wasn't a complete wreck right now. Though he still needed to ask one thing. "Hey, mom?"
"What is it?" She replied.
"Did you...receive any messages from Sora?" He asked.
Her smile faded before answering. "...Yeah."
"Were they...videos?" He added on.
"You got them too?" She inquired.
"Yeah." Izuku confirmed. "Are you gonna be okay, mom? We both know that you see him as a second son and..."
"I know." Inko said before taking a deep breath. "I'm just...saving that topic for him when he comes back home. For now though, I'm going to focus on you. I'm going to make some dinner. You go get some rest."
"Ok." The One For All user did as she requested and went to his room to rest. After what he went through, he honestly needed it. While he was on his phone, he soon passed out on his bed.
Ejiro, Momo, and Tenya also made it to their homes and their interactions with their parents were similar to Midoriya's, although without the mentioning of the videos, as none of them really wanted to bring that up.
[Play KH 2.5 Remix OST Dearly Beloved ~reprise~]
It was now nightfall, and back at the hospital, Sora woke up. It took him a minute to push himself up, but once he did, he noticed a Nurse was there, waiting for him with another tray of food, drinks, and something else that he couldn't quite tell from where he was. The Nurse saw him get up and then brought him his refreshments, which he humbly accepted.
As he looked at the food in front of him, that being more rice, miso soup, green tea, water, etc., he could see five slips of paper on the tray as well, which caught his attention. He took the sheets and saw the names on each sheet. 'Midoriya' 'Todoroki' 'Iida' 'Kirishima' and 'Yaoyorozu' were written on each one respectively. As he slowly replenished himself he read the notes.
Izuku's was first
"Sora,
I'm so glad you're safe I wish that I could see you, but I have to go home and make sure Mom knows I'm safe. When you can, please come home and see her too. I'm sure she'll want to see you alive and well.
Izuku Midoriya."
Next was Shoto's
"To Sora,
Get well soon. I hope to hear from you after you've recovered.
Sincerely, Shoto Todoroki."
Next was Tenya's
"To Sora,
As I need to check on my family, I am deeply sorry that I cannot be there to wish you well, but I hope this letter will suffice. I hope that we will see eachother soon, and under much better circumstances.
Your friend, Tenya Iida."
Next was Ejiro's
"Sora,
Glad to hear that me and Todoroki's blood donations made it to you. Hope that you're doing better now. When I see you, I'll say this to you again in person.
Ejiro Kirishima."
And lastly was, Momo's
"To Sora,
Get well soon. Once you're able to. I wish to talk with you. I can't fit what I want to say to you on paper, nor do I want to. I need to say this to you directly.
Momo Yaoyorozu."
At a time like this, Sora having his gummiphone would have been really helpful, but after Vanitas had taken it and used it to record what had happened, he had no idea where it was. It could be destroyed, from getting hit during the fight. It could be lost under some debris. Vanitas might have even held on to it for future use, or someone else could have found it and decided to keep it. Either way, he didn't have it, which really sucked.
After he finished his food and drinks, the Nurse took the tray while Sora placed the sheets of paper on top of the drawer that was next to him. Even if he wanted to, there was no way that he was going to fall asleep again. So, as he sat up in his hospital bed, he decided to think about what to say to everyone when he eventually sees them again. He had plenty to think about on that front, as there were a lot of things that happened.
Knowing Vanitas, he no doubt sent those videos before escaping the Heroes, so Sora had to reassure basically everyone that he has ever contacted on that phone that he is okay. Another thing is that he still needs to actually thank Izuku, Shoto, Momo, Tenya and Ejiro for helping get him and Katsuki out of there, even though they almost got way too close to the action. Not to mention that he would have to see the others from 1-A, and the other U.A. students that he's made friends with, as well as the teachers.
There was one thing that was extremely important though. Once he can, he has to talk to Moogle. Now that Vanitas is back and even stronger than before, Sora will have to get stronger, as fast as he possibly can. He'll need to get used to fighting Vanitas, so using the datascape back at U.A. will be an absolute must.
[Silence]
There was a knock on the door to Sora's room and the boy responded to that. "Come in."
The door opened and from it came, Naomasa. "Hello Sora." He said. "I see your recovery is going well."
"It has its ups and downs." The boy replied. "Nice to see you again, Detective."
"Likewise, though I wish it were under better circumstances." Tsukauchi spoke to him. "I have a few questions that I was hoping you could maybe answer."
"Sure. It'll give me something to do." Sora accepted.
[Play FF7 Remake OST Shining Beacon of Civilization]
Naomasa then got to the point. "Let's start with Vanitas, and your relationship with him." Sora was already expecting this to come up. "Shortly after the Training Camp incident, I questioned the students that weren't being treated. Some of them were present when you were captured by Vanitas. During that time, they all said that they heard Vanitas call you his brother."
"We're not related by blood." Sora told him.
"So you are brothers?" Tsukauchi noted.
"In the loosest of terms." The Keyblade wielder stated. "Our only tie to each other is from Ventus. One of the people I told you about back after you questioned me at U.A."
Getting the idea that this would have to be explained in a more private place, he mentally noted that Sora's connection to Vanitas was some otherworldly type of one. "Understood. Now about him in general. What can you tell me about Vanitas?"
"He's the embodiment of negativity, and exists only to spread it." Sora summarized. "He also hates me for keeping him alive."
"Excuse me?" Naomasa was slightly confused at that last part.
"Vanitas wants to stop existing, but thanks to him being fueled by negativity. Even if he dies, he doesn't stay dead." The boy explained.
The detective sighed and realized that this is some more complicated otherworldly stuff that he can't pry about here, so he stopped the questioning here when it came to Vanitas. "Let's change the topic. Just after you were rescued by All Might, we discovered that Vanitas had sent three videos showing events that happened during the forest training camp, and during your time captured by the League."
"Wait, he recorded something during the training camp?" Sora repeated. "What did he record?"
"The footage showed you, looking like one of those Heartless creatures, attacking and nearly killing one of the Villains, as well as violently tearing through other Heartless." Tsukauchi told him.
Sora sighed and shook his head. "He recorded my Rage Form."
"You're Rage Form?" Naomasa repeated.
"It's a form I can take when I'm extremely angry, or close to death." Sora explained. "It happened because I was trying to calm one of my classmates, Fumikage Tokoyami's quirk, Dark Shadow down. I got stuck and Dark Shadow hit me hard. After that, I remember attacking anything and anyone that wasn't from U.A."
"So you can control this form, somewhat?" Tsukauchi said.
"I can direct it on who to attack and not to attack, but that's it." The Keyblade wielder stated. "I can't control any other aspect of it."
"Ok then." The detective understood. "Let's move on to the next video. The second one shows you getting assaulted by Himiko Toga, the female Villain that looks like a schoolgirl. Aside from demoralization, was there any other reason why she did what she did to you?"
"She wanted to drink my blood." Sora answered. "Vanitas cut me on the tongue on purpose so she could suck up my blood from there. That Toga person was enjoying the taste of my blood when she got to it. Aside from that, Vanitas did it to try and break my spirit. But it's not going to work."
"How so? If I remember correctly, he stated that that was your first kiss, and that would be a rather traumatizing first kiss." Naomasa said.
"Yeah, and that sucked." Sora told him. "But just because I lost my first kiss to that, doesn't mean that I'm going to let it keep me down. If anything, it just makes me want to take down Vanitas even more, so nobody else goes through what I did."
Tsukauchi respected that, and then moved on. "Now for the third video. That one shows your extended brawl with him, up until he defeats you and stands over your body in front of All Might. During and before that fight, do you remember seeing any potential key items or objects in your surroundings?"
"I was trapped in a dome in the dark." Sora replied. "Before that, I was in a bar before getting knocked out, and after that, I was fighting him in a destroyed section of the city."
"We know of the bar. We're looking into that place, but you didn't see anything else?" Naomasa questioned.
"I was too busy trying to keep up with Vanitas to pay attention to anything else." The boy said regrettably. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You had your priorities set on survival, which is only natural." The detective reassured him. "Can you tell me about Vanitas' strength and abilities?"
"He has my quirk, but amplified with Negative emotions." Sora stated. "And some new techniques that I can't put into words. If I had my gummiphone, I could show the moves to you, but..."
"I recovered that while searching for evidence." Tsukauchi told him.
"You did?" The boy said.
"Yes, but I'm having it sent to Moogle for him to check for any alterations made on it." Naomasa stated. "We don't want it to be bugged or tapped, and I know of the sensitive information on it."
"Oh...thank you." Sora sadly said, realizing that he can't use it to tell everyone that he's okay right now.
Seeing that this is all he'll be able to get for now, the detective got up. "I think that's enough questioning for now. We'll continue this after you've recovered, and in a more secure place. Get well soon, Sora."
"I will, thanks." The boy said as he saw Tsukauchi take his leave.
[Silence]
Another hour passed by and Sora was given a third helping of the same stuff. After taking twenty minutes to slowly eat and drink his helping, he began to no longer feel fragile. He could move his body and not feel tired, and even though it wasn't obvious, his body wasn't as skinny anymore. He wasn't fully refueled, but he was fueled up enough to be able to stand up and walk around without getting tired.
After receiving a physical check up from a Doctor, and then getting permission from the Nurse, he was allowed to leave his room and walk around the halls of the hospital, so he could work out his legs for a bit. He just isn't allowed to go too fast, so he slowly moved about the halls, until he noticed one room in particular with the door cracked open. He heard a familiar voice coming from the room, and when he went to peek, he saw who it was.
Ragdoll was in there, and she was in the middle of being comforted by the other members of the Wild Wild Pussycats, as they came to see her. Having no idea what had happened to her, and feeling concerned, he knocked on the door. He heard Tiger speak up. "Who is it?"
"It's Sora." He said. "Can I...come in?"
After a moment of silence, he heard Ragdoll's voice. "You can come in."
The boy did so and entered the room, seeing the Pussycats in normal attire, and all in a rather somber state. "I saw that you were here so...I wanted to see how you were doing and...what had happened."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Self Analysis]
After a moment of silence, Ragdoll answered the question, keeping her head down. "I was ambushed by Villains in the forest, knocked out, and taken to the same warehouse you were." Her voice then became a little shaky. "When I woke up I was restrained and I saw...I saw you, fighting and struggling to stay alive. I tried to free myself but..." She finally looked at Sora. "I'm sorry that I couldn't save you."
Sora could tell that she was feeling partially responsible for what happened to him, but before he could say anything, Tiger spoke up next. "I'm sorry too. As one of the Pro Heroes assigned to protect you back at the camp, and as one of the Pro heroes assigned to rescue you from the Villains clutches, I failed to do both."
Mandalay and Pixie Bob both had regretful looks on their faces, but stayed silent. They all felt responsible for failing him back at camp, and the former two felt even worse for being unable to save him from Vanitas. Sora then approached Ragdolls bed and said to her. "Do you mind if I sit here?" She meekly gestured that he could, so he sat next to her. "Thanks." She nodded. The boy took a moment to think about what he wanted to say, and when he was ready, he spoke up again. "You shouldn't beat yourself up over that."
"Sora, you got beaten within an inch of your life." Tiger pointed out. "As Heroes, it's our job to make sure things like that don't happen."
"And you also had to do the same for the other 40 students of Class 1-A and 1-B." Sora pointed out. "I wasn't the only person you had to worry about. You had your hands full protecting dozens of other students, and fighting against Villains who had the jump on us. That's why Mandalay gave us permission to fight to defend ourselves, as to lighten the burden that you already had." He then faced Ragdoll. "And you said that you tried to free yourself to help me, right?"
"That doesn't excuse that I failed." She stated.
Sora then hugged her, much to the yellow Pussycat's surprise. "Fail or no, that doesn't make a difference to me. You still did everything you possibly could to try and help. That alone is already way more than what I can say for most people, who just sit by and let these things happen. And that doesn't change the fact that you are a genuinely good person."
This stunned the Pussycats. All their time as Pro Heroes, all their missions, all their experiences, successes, failures, they had never met a person like Sora, who was so forgiving and even grateful of their attempts to protect him, even if they both ended in failure. The most affected was Ragdoll, who had some tears roll down her face before he reciprocated the hug, gently wrapping her arms around the skinny Keyblade wielder and snuggling his body on hers.
The other three pussycats were close to tears as well, but they held them in. Mandalay and Pixie Bob hugged Sora and Ragdoll as well, while Tiger hugged all of them. The red Pussycat then spoke up. "Sora. Don't ever change."
"You're purrfect the way you are, you little lion." Pixie Bob said.
"You'll become a fine Hero in the future." Tiger stated.
"Thank you." Ragdoll told him.
Sora accepted the affection and once the group hug eventually broke, he stood up and began to leave. "Thanks again for all you've done."
"You're welcome, young Hero." The four of them said together.
And with that the Keyblade wielder exited the door to continue his walk around the hospital.
[Silence]
Sora continued to walk through the halls, staying close to the wall. As he was about to pass another room, the door to it had opened up and out came a female patient with a patch on her nose. "Jeez. Doctors may be life savers, but they never shut up about how you got hurt, explaining every little detail, even when you know what happened."
"Uh..." The boy didn't really know if she was talking to him, or just out loud to herself.
"I mean, I don't even understand half of the stuff that guy said back there." The woman continued. "All he had to say was 'You almost broke your nose. Just rest up and don't put any pressure on it.' Doctors, amirite?"
"Uh...yeah...I guess." Sora replied to her.
"Hmm?" She noticed the boy. "Oh, sorry I was talking to my...wait." She recognized him. "Sora?"
"Wha?" He was surprised she knew him.
"You're up and moving already?" The woman commented with a smile on her face. "You're one really tough cookie."
"Um...thanks?" The Keyblade wielder replied. "Sorry but...who are you?"
"Hmm?" She seemed surprised before she seemed to remember something. "Oh, right. I'm not in uniform right now, so you wouldn't recognize me. Here, I'll give you a hint." She placed the tips of her index fingers onto the tips of her thumbs, then placed her hands on her face with her eyes peeking out of the openings between her index fingers and thumbs. She made herself look like she was wearing a mask with horns sticking upwards.
[Play KH2 OST A Walk in Andante]
"I could just eat you up. But then I wouldn't be able to enjoy the sweets you bought me." The woman quoted herself.
Sora then realized who it was. "Mount Lady?!"
"Hi." She replied with a cheery smile.
"Eh...hey. I haven't seen you since the Sports Festival." The boy said.
"For you, maybe." Mount Lady said. "I saw you last night."
"You did? When?" Sora asked.
"While you were trapped in that purple dome thingy." She answered. "I was with a team of Pros assigned to go there and capture the Nomu, but..." She stopped there. "Let's change the subject. I see you're walking around now. Did you get some food in you?"
"Yeah. A few helpings." The boy confirmed. "I think after maybe one or two more, I'll be good."
"Well I'm glad to have helped in that regard, at least." She spoke up. "So how was my dinner?"
"Huh?" Sora was confused for a moment before he put two and two together. "Wait, did you...have the doctors give me your food?"
"Consider it payment for the Sports Festival." She told him.
"Wait, but...I said that you didn't need to pay me back for the sweets." The Keyblade wielder remembered.
"Well, too bad. I did it anyway. That's just the kind of friend I am." She said, this time quoting what he said to Shoto back at the Sports Festival.
Sora was actually really surprised that she remembered that, of all things. "Heh. I guess I can't argue with that." As he let out a chuckle, Mount Lady joined in and the two laughed together. Then Sora asked her something. "So, how'd you hurt your nose, anyway?"
"Oh, this?" She pointed to the patch on her nose. "I shielded some of the kids that grabbed that Bakugo kid and got hit in the nose by one of the VIllains."
"Ouch." The boy understood what happened. "Well, if it means anything, thanks for taking one for the team and keeping the Villains from reaching my friends."
"It's what Heroes do." Mount Lady told him. "And that means a lot coming from you."
Sora smiled at that before he was pulled into a hug by the Heroine, slightly catching him off guard. He soon hugged her back and after that brief exchange, the two went their separate ways.
[Silence]
Sora once again ventured through the halls of the hospital, minding his own business. When he took a turn down another hallway, one of the Nurses saw him and approached him. "Excuse me. Sora?"
"Yes?" He answered.
"All Might would like to see you in his room." The Nurse said.
"Oh. Uh...ok. Lead the way." The boy replied.
The Nurse guided him towards the room that All Might was resting in and after knocking and hearing the Pro tell them to enter, the pair did so. Sora saw Toshinori in bed with many bandages wrapped around his body and a sling for his right arm. There were two trays of food there and a seat was set up next to him. "Take a seat, Young Sora. And eat up."
"Huh?" Sora was a bit confused by this.
"I asked the doctors to inform me of your condition, and was told that you're recovering very swiftly." Yagi explained. "After one or two more helpings, you'd be good to go. Eat the first helping here."
As Sora began to eat his food, he spoke to Toshinori. "Are you planning on taking me somewhere?"
"Yes." The Hero answered. "I'm planning on taking you back to your home in Mustafu."
That answer actually surprised the boy, and he looked back at the Pro. "Wait. You're going to take me there?"
"I have business there that I need to attend to, at Dagoba Beach." He informed Sora. "I figured I'd drop you off at your home while I was there."
The Keyblade wielder understood what Yagi meant and continued to eat his food. He ate it a little faster than he did the previous helpings he had, but once he finished up that helping, he followed Toshinori to the entrance of the hospital, and waited while the Pro Hero discussed to the receptionist and other staff members about how he was going to take Sora to his home to finish his recovery there. After some debate, the hospital staff conceded and allowed the pair to leave together. Before heading to their destination though, they both got some sets of clothes to wear.
Over at Mustafu, Izuku was asleep in his bed, with his phone still in his hand, on the news page about All Might's weakened form. He was peacefully resting on his bed until his phone began to vibrate in his hands, causing him to stir and barely open his eyes. He could see a message on his phone pop up for a brief moment, and he read it. He recognized who sent it and his eyes shot open, before he quickly got off his bed and out of his room.
Inko heard this and looked to see her son putting on his shoes and leaving in a hurry, "Hey, where are you going?" She questioned. "Dinner's ready."
"Sorry, I can't!" The young Midoriya hurriedly left through the front door.
After a long run to the place, Izuku made it to Dagoba Beach. He quickly got to the stairs and saw Toshinori standing alone on the beach. He ran down the stairs and towards the Hero, failing to notice someone else sitting at the base of the stairs. "All Might!" He called out to him.
Yagi turned back to see his successor. "Ah, you finally made it."
"Are you okay?!" Midoriya worriedly asked him as he kept running towards him.
"It sure took you long enough!" Toshinori called out as he began to run towards the boy.
"All Miiight!" Izuku called his name as he almost reached him.
"Texas..." Yagi said before landing a punch on his student's face when they reached each other. "Smash!" The boy fell to the ground. "You made a promise, but as it turns out, you can't keep your word. If you kids had gotten hurt, it would have all been in vain! You've got some bad influences." He sternly pointed out.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Each of Their Goals]
As the current One For All user rubbed his cheek, the former One For All user spoke to him again. "Young Midoriya, listen. I'm officially retired as a Pro. It's clear that my body isn't going to allow me to fight another battle." To prove his point, he bulked up and began to punch the air in front of him, only to lose his bulky form after a single second of being in it. He coughed some blood out before continuing to speak to his student. "The last sparks of One For All have left my body, and my muscle form won't last for any significant amount of time. I can't protect you when you put yourself in danger now, and you're always rushing in to help no matter what I tell you, destroying your body, over and over!"
He turned to Izuku and approached him. "Yet back there, you managed to…" Midoriya flinched, expecting some more harsh words, but that wasn't the case. "...rescue your friends, without being injured, or getting into a fight. I'm so proud of you." The boy then felt Toshinori hug him. "From here on out, I will devote myself to training you. You're stuck with me, so let's both keep working hard, together."
Tears began to flow out of Midoriya's eyes as he replied to that last sentence. "Thank you...Nothing would make me happier...All Might."
As the boy let the tears flow, Yagi spoke up. "What'd I say about keeping your word, you little crybaby?" He let out a tear as well. "I thought we agreed that you'd stop it with the waterworks." He felt Izuku hug him back, rather tightly, but he didn't mind. The two of them stayed like that for about a minute or so, before they separated.
Meanwhile, over at the bottom of the staircase, Sora was sitting on the bottom step and quietly watched those events unfold. He wasn't even annoyed that Midoriya didn't notice him there, chalking it up to Izuku knowing that he was fine, but not knowing entirely how All Might was doing.
[Silence]
When the two of them broke the hug, Sora stood up and walked towards the pair while Toshinori helped Midoriya off the ground. "Now go back home, and take him with you." The former Pro told his student, who at first was confused at that order, until he looked to see who was now about a dozen yards away.
[Play KH3 OST Ventus Awakes -cutscene-]
Sora stood there and smiled, allowing his friend to process the fact that he's actually there, and not in a hospital room. He spread his arms out, inviting Izuku to come and give him a hug. Midoriya did not hesitate and ran over to him, tears flowing out of his eyes like always, and almost tackled Sora when he reached his location and wrapped his arms around him and hugged tightly. "SORA!" The One For All user bawled into his friend's chest.
"Hey, Izuku." The Keyblade wielder said as he happily returned the hug.
"I saw what had happened, and then when you were taken to the hospital, and about how you had lost so much blood, and I wanted to help, but my blood wasn't compatible with yours, and I was so worried that you were going to go into a coma, and I wanted to see you, but the doctors didn't let me, and even though I wrote a note, I still wanted to see you, but I had to get back home to..." Midoriya was interrupted from his muttering spree when Sora tapped him on the forehead with his index finger.
"Thanks for getting Katsuki out of Yagi's way, and for giving me an opening to get out of it too." The Keyblade wielder said, while still hugging his friend. "And while what you did was really dangerous, I'm glad that you and the others came when you did. I honestly don't know how we could have gotten out of there without you."
Midoriya kept crying in his arms, while Toshinori watched this from the shoreline. The current One For All user then replied to what was just said to him. "I-I'm glad that I helped."
Sora then stopped hugging him and faced the stairway that they came from. "Come on. Let's go home." He said. "I don't know about you, but I could really use some of Inko's cooking and a nap on the couch about now."
Izuku wiped his tears and replied to him. "Yeah. Let's go. Mom's going to be so surprised and happy to see you, that she'll probably break down more than I did."
"I can see that." The Keyblade wielder agreed with that prediction. "You better be prepared with the tissues when that happens." The two boys then walked together in the night sky, both heading back to their shared home, while Toshinori took another route to head somewhere else.
Over at the Midoriya household, Inko was pacing about. She hadn't touched her food, even though it was set up on the table, along with Izuku's. She was too worried about how her son had just run off again in such a hurry, but before she was about to head out herself, she heard the door open and she went to see if her son came back home.
When she saw who was there, she was frozen in place, processing who it was that came back with Izuku. She recognized the spiky brown hair, the blue eyes, and the oh so familiar warm smile he would have on when he was here. Sora saw her and when he took his shoes off, he spoke to her. "Surprise. I'm back."
Inko did the same thing Izuku had done, racing over to the Keyblade wielder and tightly hugging him, whilst crying waterfalls from her eyes. As her blood related son went to go get the tissues, her surrogate son hugged her back and let out a few tears of his own, but didn't bawl his eyes out like she was doing right now. "I'm so glad you're home." She said to him.
"I'm glad to be home." Sora responded to her. "The hospital beds aren't as comfy as your couch."
Inko let out a little laugh whilst still letting her tears flow. "Well, dinner is ready. If I knew you were coming, I would have made an extra batch. But for now, you can have mine."
"Are you sure that's okay?" Sora asked her. "We could split it, or I could split with Izuku."
"You need your food." She persisted. "I can tell that you're skinnier than normal, even though it's just a little."
"Really?" The Keyblade wielder was a bit surprised that she could tell. "How'd you know?"
"Motherly intuition." Inko reminded him, before she let go of him. "Now go eat, and then rest. We'll talk after breakfast."
Sora nodded and said "Sure thing." before heading over to the kitchen. The Midoriya Mother watched him go to the dining area, before closing the entrance to their household and following him there, overjoyed to see both of her boys back home with her, safe and sound.
And here we have the recovery and the first of two, maybe three reunion chapters. I don't know. Sora is friends with freaking everyone, and I know that he'll talk with a lot of people when he sees them again. Fumikage, Katsuki, Moogle, Tenya, Ejiro, Shoto, Momo, and that's just to list off the obvious ones. And I can't even do that yet, because I have to write the dorm room talk, thereunion of Sora and the other students, and then finally theprocess of getting the students into the dorms, before I can even have those talks. Aside from that, yeah this chapter covered the recovery process, which I took my time to research. I was suprised to discover how easy it was to not only donate blood, but how fast you can receive it too. Pretty cool. Anyways, that's all for this chapter, and until I decide to upload again. ;)