December 24 - Day 12
The entirety of yesterday went relatively normal. Aside from a few incredibly tense moments in which Chitose had to quickly make things up just to answer Inko's questions as to the reason why she left early, as well as the events surrounding Takoba Beach and All Might, everything went smoothly. At multiple points throughout the day, she was half-expecting Izuku to suddenly tell his mother and explain what really happened. But to her surprise, the young man actually played along with all the lies she said, even going as far as to genuinely and realistically react as if the both of them really just encountered a petty thief (as to her made-up excuse) instead of a Nomu. And whenever Inko would press for more information, he would consistently butt in and tell stories about all the supposedly amazing things All Might did the night he appeared.
"That was… very nice of you to cover up for me. I-uh… I didn't expect that to be honest…" Chitose muttered, her voice trailing off as she placed a single ice cube on her warm coffee. She did one quick glance towards the nearest wall clock, and after seeing the time is just around a few minutes before 9am, she turned her attention back to her coffee and put another one from a small pile sitting on a plate beside her mug. "You're really something…"
"Kizuki, this is like the fourth time you said that since yesterday." Izuku replied as he walked over and levitated the scalding coffee mug from the table towards him. "Anyways you seem a little swirly back there when Mom asked you about what really happened at the beach so I just played along. But why deliberately omit the Nomu encounter? That's pretty badass if you asked me. I think you should've told her about it."
"I don't think your mother would react nicely if ever she heard about her son having a close encounter with a Nomu. But seriously, thanks for playing along."
"Consider that as my payment for you for bringing in All Might. I never thought in my entire life I would actually have a real face-to-face meeting with the guy himself! Imagine the SYMBOL of Peace… right in this very room… pretty good feeling huh? And he talked to me! To us! Without any annoying fans!" Izuku quickly re-composed himself, pinching the bridge of his nose afterwards. "But seriously, the speedboat-to-Nomu thing is very suspicious. A little too suspicious…"
"I thought about that too," Chitose lightly nodded, remembering how the Nomu (that came in suspiciously pre-equipped with extra blade-arms) slashed the area she is supposed to wait in.
"If it weren't for that date, you wouldn't even be here right now."
"Midoriya I don't even know if that Nomu is even designed to take me out!" Chitose replied before taking a huge gulp of her coffee, indirectly exaggerating it as to not have her mind once again swirl with thoughts about her little so-called date with Izuku that night, that might have just saved her. "It might just be a coincidence! A very suspicious coincidence, but still very much just a coincidence."
"Heh, whatever it is, with All Might currently curious about whatever's going on at Hokkaido and wants to chat some more, that technically means that we're currently under personal protection from him," Izuku said as he slowly walked off, casually blowing green fire from his mouth straight to his cup even with his fingers still holding onto it, "we're untouchable! Invincible! Neither Nomu nor villain can get within 500 meters from us! How does it feel to be personally protected by the Number One? Very good! Very darn good! Damn I feel good this morning!" he added as he lightly re-enacted the same pose All Might did yesterday when he first entered the room.
"Thanks for playing along…"
"Kizuki… that's the fifth time you said that- No wait, I think sixth now. Darn I lost track."
"Thanks for playing along…" Chitose muttered again, snickering to herself before quickly taking a sip of her drink.
"You're fooling around with me, aren't you?"
"Thanks… for… playing… along…" Chitose said once again, deliberately emphasizing her every word, before snickering to herself once more.
"You know what? Good for you. At least you're having fun. Having friends is nice, right?"
"Are we friends now?"
"No. I'm just playing along," Izuku quickly replied with a snicker. But just after two seconds he immediately planted down his cup and apologized profusely, saying that he didn't really mean it and that he'll be her friend. "I'm sorry but uh I tend to lose track of things when I joke around. With all the things that happened to you so far, up until getting slammed by All Might, it was very rude of me. I apologize."
"I-uh… okay I guess?" Chitose stammered out a response, not really knowing how to actually process an apology – which is now even more pronounced as her younger self is taking over. "I-uh don't really know how to deal with apologies. People don't really apologize to me that much uh… I don't think even All Might apologized to me after slamming me to the ground that night.
"You're a strange one." Izuku picked up his mug again and took a sip.
"Yeah I know I'm a weirdo."
"No not that! I mean-" Izuku cut himself off, placing his mug back on the table and facepalming hard. "I meant that as a neutral 'strange' not a 'strange' strange strange okay? It's uh… it's not an insult and more like a 'strange' in a sense that a pink basketball is strange. Dammit I need to be more careful with my words…"
"I'm sorry…" Chitose replied weakly, feeling like a nuisance in that she just forced out an apology from the young man in front of her for the second time now.
"No-no-no-no that one's on me. No sorries needed here." Izuku took a deep breath and sighed, before taking back his mug from the table again and taking a sip. "So anyways, in a scale of one to ten, with all the events so far, how-uh… how much of a fish out of water are you right now?" he asked in an attempt to continue the conversation.
Chitose shrugged. "I guess eleven? I haven't even gotten a single hint as to how am I even back in this age again, not to mention I'm apparently dead… on top of a whole lot of things… and the Nomu… and now All Might is interested in my birthplace… what the hell is even going on?"
"So you're like an alien with no knowledge of- Ugh DAMMIT!" Izuku suddenly slammed the mug onto the table. "That was a slip. That's not an insult. I repeat that's NOT an insult."
Chitose just stared on, one eyebrow raised as she gently placed her own mug back to the table and added another ice cube on it. "Well since I'm not sick anymore and I can fend for myself now and I think I'm just forcing you to walk on eggshells. I can leave-"
"No, you can stay! I promise! I'm just trying not to offend you considering all the things you've been through and uh…" Izuku sighed, doing another facepalm gesture as he walked off to a nearby wooden cabinet holding his mug of coffee. "I really want to meet All Might again… and I really wanted to know more about my Conjoined Quirks… Look, I'm not saying I'm just keeping you around because you're useful. I'm just… I'm just-uh… I'm… I feel bad for you really and uh… I'm just trying to be nice. I technically did save you from being sliced in half by that Nomu that night."
Chitose sighed as well. "Well I guess you got me there… so when will I leave? Next week?"
"I'm not putting you on a time limit. You can stay until you really get everything sorted out. No more Nomus and trash heaps, okay? That sound good enough to you?" Izuku asked. But before Chitose could respond, he added, "Oh and by the way, about all the other things you said on that beach, about the whole being lonely and getting abandoned? It's really concerning. Should I tell Mom about it or…?"
"I'd rather it stay private, I don't want it wandering around… can I trust you with that…?" Chitose asked weakly, slightly embarrassed that she's making demands. "You won't really tell anyone about it, right? That was uh… my young self's insecurities talking loudly… and she's uh… very very insecure…" she added with a few awkward laughs.
"Yep you can trust me on that. Notice how no one's even asking you about it? Not even All Might?" Izuku gestured towards the area where All Might sat yesterday. "I haven't told it to anyone. And since you don't want anyone to know about it, then no one will know about it. Your secret's safe with me."
Chitose slowly nodded. "Well I guess I can sorta trust you… so uh… what should I do whenever I start feeling guilty of freeloading?"
Izuku shrugged in response as he turned to face her. "Well I guess you can just continue on your article work and help us pay rent?"
"Is that… all? You being overly nice to me is making me feel… nervous… I'm getting a weird feeling like it's going to be more than just paying rent…" Chitose said, averting her gaze from Izuku and setting it back onto her now-cool coffee mug. "I need to take the weekly 50 000 Yen challenge now, don't I?"
"No that won't be necessary, unless you want to I guess?" Izuku said as he awkwardly glanced away for a second while scratching the back of his head. "Or you can help me with my Quirks? I mean there are a lot of things you could do. You don't need to go overboard with anything, really."
"I… I don't know…" Chitose said with a sigh.
"Okay, I'll let you ponder on that for a bit- oh would you look at that!" Izuku said as he happened to glance towards the general direction of the nearby wall clock, seeing the time is almost half past 9 in the morning. "Better get ready! Can't keep All Might waiting you know?" he said before hurriedly planting down his mug onto the sink and going straight to his room afterwards. "By the way if you start feeling strange guilty stuff, feel free to let me know, okay?"
"Okay now I'm feeling a strange heartwarming feeling I can't understand…"
"It's probably just the coffee," Izuku said as he closed the door to his room. "Have you seen their commercials? Their tagline is literally the Heartwarming Coffee! Man I wish I'm also feeling strange heartwarming feelings right now… only that I cannot feel heat under normal circumstances…" he continued mumbling despite his voice being muffled from within.
Chitose eventually just brushed the indescribably feeling off, thinking it's probably just caused by a person being nice to her. Finishing her coffee, she stood up and placed the coffee (alongside her small ice cube plate) into the sink. She was about to walk towards her suitcase to pick out a rather presentable jacket to meet All Might with but a thought entered her mind.
'Can I trust you with that?'
Chitose paused, her mind replaying the small conversation she had about Izuku supposedly promising not to tell anyone all the things she whined about back at the beach. While one side of her thinks it shouldn't be a problem considering all the Midoriyas have acted towards her have been very nice, but another side is worried deeply about the now-exposed vulnerabilities. People have heavily exploited it in the past, in which the memories of it are now way more vivid because of her current younger state.
In the middle of her thoughts, the memory of Inko telling her about her transactional way of thinking suddenly resurfaced.
Chitose shook her head. Why does she even care about the now-exposed vulnerabilities anyway? She's going to get her issues solved soon enough and she'll be back to her adult self in any time now. She should not be-
'Can I trust you with that?'
"Dammit…" the young woman muttered to herself as she walked towards the suitcase, trying to get her mind off of thinking about trust and other similar nonsense. She is going to meet up with All Might today and all her thoughts should just be about that. No more trust thoughts, no more transactional thoughts, and no more emotional thoughts, at least for the time being.
Taking a deep breath, she continued walking towards her suitcase, trying to override her mind with some more 'up-to-date' thoughts such as what jacket color would look more in line with her dress and other similar things. If she's going to meet up with the country's Number One, then her first priority is, of course, to look presentable. She may have a face that can make babies cry, but at least she looks elegant… and presentable…
Chitose sighed as she reached the suitcase. At least the trust thoughts went away for now. Zipping it down and opening it, she scanned through all the available jackets there and picked out what she thinks is the best to compliment the current dress she's wearing. But as she was zipping it back up after taking her wallet as well, she caught a glimpse of her original salmon orange colored jacket – the one she wore during the Deika City Revival Party. Almost instantly her gaze froze upon landing towards the specific clothing, her thoughts immediately going back to the supposed (and promised) speedboat – and lack thereof.
Did no speedboat really arrive that night? Or is it just late? Did All Might just somehow catch it? But he didn't say anything about it nor was it reported in the news. So what really happened that night?
Chitose sighed. She needs to talk to Skeptic again. And obviously that means it's back to Cybersleuths-
'Don't worry, come this evening all your issues will be effectively cut in half.'
The memory of Skeptic's words on a screen suddenly flashed inside her mind, alongside the image of the slasher-Nomu effortlessly cutting the trailers in half. The two thoughts persisted for quite a while, slowly getting more and more vivid over a few seconds.
Slight nervousness welled up within Chitose, making her glance both directions sideways for any large humanoid monster with an exposed brain peeking out from the corners of the room. She knew the Nomu is just a coincidence. It HAS to be just a coincidence! Skeptic is NOT trying to kill her! She knew him for over a decade now!
But try as she might, she just couldn't shake off the feelings that Skeptic literally just tried to kill her – with a Nomu out of all things. Did he use a Nomu so that it couldn't be tied to him if ever he did it? But where in the world did he get a Nomu? Aren't those just property of the League? How-
"No, Kizuki, the MLA is not trying to kill you, calm down… it's just a coincidence…" she whispered to herself as she put on her chosen jacket and stood up, taking multiple deep breaths, yet it did nothing to ease her thoughts. "You are Curious, top lieutenant of the Liberation Army, second-in-command after Re-Destro… publisher of the Holy Bible of-
"Okay I'm done, now let's go meet All Might!"
Chitose turned her attention to wherever the voice came from. It was Izuku, exiting his room now wearing, once again, multiple latyers of winter clothing, in the exact same thickness as the one during their little dinner at a Sukiya restaurant just some nights ago "You're going to meet All Might in that…?" she asked.
"I'm not good with cold weather okay? This is as comfortable as I can get," he responded as he was checking the contents of the wallet he's holding onto.
"How about where you work? Do you have to wear those too or is the entire place heated?"
"Actually I don't really know since I can't really feel heat most of the time, everything is chilly for me. But I routinely turn off all the fans in my area every time I work so I can maintain my temperature!" Izuku said in a triumphant manner, placing his mittened hands on his hips. "But anyways, to answer you question: yes, I plan to meet All Might in this, because it's really cold outside and I want to keep warm," the young man added as he walked towards the door, spinning the apartment keys around his fingers.
"Hmmph, here I am thinking there would be a more complicated reason..." Chitose shrugged before walking up to the door while Izuku is unlocking it, but not before picking up her sunglasses and face mask from the living room table first. As she was waiting for the door to be unlocked, she happened to turn around the soon-to-be empty apartment room. "Your mother left very early today huh?"
"Christmas is just right around the corner. Sweaters are in peak popularity right now. Didn't you hear yesterday? She'll be receiving special daily bonuses until New Year's if she goes to work early."
"What about you?" Chitose asked as Izuku finally unlocked the door. "Do you get bonuses too?"
"Well technically yes, if I'm working. But since I'm not working, so no. And in case you're wondering, no I will not get fired from it. Mom personally knows the owner of the supermarket I work in and and already told him about our very special lost guest and how I have to keep an eye out for her for a while. Sometimes you just gotta have a the right connections," Izuku said as he walked out of the door and waited for the young woman to leave as well before locking it behind him. "I'm fireproof! Get it? I'm fireproof and fireproof – okay I'll stop."
"Your mother hasn't really told anyone my uh… supposedly dead mother, right?"
"Nope. Why would she tell them such personal things? That would be rude!" Izuku nodded as he made his way through the narrow corridors of the apartment, carefully managing himself from bumping into the numerous potted plants along the way. "You know all this talk about work is making me miss work already."
"Ah yes… the co-worker…" Chitose said with a joking grin, fully remembering Izuku's words about a particular co-worker he is supposedly smitten with. While she felt a tiny tinge of jealousy, but in the end it got all washed out by an unusual feeling of ease, in that she finally has the perfect reason to stop herself from getting attracted to Izuku at random intervals.
"Yeah right… pffft…" Izuku jokingly muttered in response as he continued on his path to the exit.
Chitose just stayed behind, making sure to not make any eye-contact with any of the other tenants of the apartment that come within range, although she can still hear some comments about her – or so what she assumed were about her based on the light whisperings coincidentally happening as she walked past. Is it because of the way she hastily put on her sunglasses and face mask or something else?
"By the way, Kizuki, what about your trip to Yamate Hills, Yokohama?" Izuku asked right after they exited the apartment.
"I'm swirling with confusion right now. I'm not understanding a single thing. I'll just have to postpone the Yokohama trip for some time," Chitose said as she kept up, shrugging. "So where's the nearest KFC here, anyway?"
"Just a short bus trip over there, a few minutes tops," came Izuku's reply, accompanied with a simple pointing gesture at a particular direction. "When you see a whole line of people, we're already there."
"But where would All Might be-?"
Both immediately blanked out, with both just remembering now that All Might didn't tell them the exact location he's going to be.
The next one minute is just awkward silence between the two.
"Why would All Might, out of ALL people, pick a place where there are tons of people?" Chitose randomly asked. "But on the other hand, if we see a massive clump of people cheering at a corner then that's our cue? Sounds stupid, but definitely an All Might thing."
"Maybe he just made a mistake? Maybe he went against a villain yesterday and he's still kinda dizzy? Maybe he hit his head somewhere?" Izuku muttered in response, followed by even more muttering about all the types of home accidents an 8-foot tall behemoth might be experiencing at home that might have caused him to hit his head on things.
"No that can't be right, he's always- wait a minute…" Chitose suddenly stopped, her eyes narrowing into the distance. "I think I get it now… It's the assistant…"
"The assistant?" Izuku asked as he walked on, but not before taking one last glance towards their apartment. "Who?"
"Six years ago All Might hired a personal assistant for whatever reason. The guy he hired? Tall lanky idiot who doesn't even know what a straight posture is. Not only that, he's so darn full of himself that sometimes he thinks he's All Might! In fact he's so into his 'AM's Personal Assistant' thing that he sometimes answers my interview questions in first person! As if he's the one who saved a literal boat-load of people off a sinking ship! He even styles his hair the same way as AM and has this weird 'sunken eye' look to match the dark eyes…" Chitose said as she followed, rolling her eyes upon fully remembering the highly annoying antics of All Might's personal assistant who kept on interrupting her interviews in the past. "I'm a hundred percent sure he's filling in for the big guy right now."
"Oh that guy huh? Yeah I knew about him…" came a response from the young man, accompanied by a nod. "So about your interviews and your whole 'getting younger' schtick… are you already missing your job too?"
"What I'm missing most right now is my verbal sense of professionalism. I swear ever since I'm turned into this age, I'm back to speaking the way I used to back when I was at this age."
"So how did you use to speak?" Izuku asked as the both of them reached the road.
"Oh I used to be… I used to be… uh… I…" Chitose suddenly found herself at a loss for words, her voice trailing off as she followed Izuku along. How did she use to speak again? Was she adept at heavy language? Does she randomly insert random English words into her sentences? Was she annoying? What were her actual speaking mannerisms? "Wait uh… I think it's uh… oh crap…" She tried to remember her past interviews, but for some reason all her memories of them are somehow her talking to her interviewees in the same manner as her twenty year-old self, as if her old memories fused with her current speaking mannerism. "Oh crap… I think my memories just merged together… I… I can't recall how I used to speak…"
"Hey I have an idea! What if you watch old footage of your interviews on the internet to see how you used to speak? You did a ton of interviews, right? – if what I can remember about the Chitose Kizuki is correct."
"Midoriya… I don't interview people the way you're thinking. My interviews don't get video-taped. I don't even have a camera crew," Chitose said as she pinched the bridge of her nose, slightly annoyed. "All I have for that is my voice recorder… which I must have broke during a little stunt at Deika City." Chitose pinched the bridge of her nose again as she sighed, this time with a bit more force than she wanted to, "if only I wasn't so frikkin' butt-ugly and didn't get shifted from live reporting into offscreen journalism in just a span of two days, then I would have tons of actual recent videos to see how I used to talk!" she said out loud, immediately leaning onto a nearby wall and breathing heavily as emotions of frustration surged within her, intensifying further upon realizing she can't remember anymore if she had any voice recorders with possible records of her voice left.
She stayed still for a few seconds, but eventually managed to cool herself down enough. "Dammit… all I want is to know how I used to speak, and here come my ugly issues full-on projecting again…" she whispered with a few awkward laughs.
"I could uh… I know a good therapist…?" Izuku said weakly while he fidgeted with his fingers.
"No-no-no-no, let's move, you wouldn't want to be late, yes?" she said with a smile, trying to lighten up the mood again. But basing off of the young man's reaction it appears she didn't successfully hide her frustration. "By the way I don't really like therapists," she added. "My experiences with them have not been great."
"…"
"I do apologize for my sudden outburst back there. My older self has long since accepted I'm ugly and beyond repair. It's just that I'm back to being my annoying easily-irritable past self and she's not that good at dealing with ugliness," Chitose said with a few awkward chuckles, her thoughts immediately focusing on Izuku's odd silence. Is he already regretting telling her that she could stay at their apartment as long as she wants?
'Yes he is. Leave him alone, you're just bothering him,' a voice to spoke in her head as they continued walking, in the same pessimistic tone as the one who continually spoke to her two nights ago. This time, however, she found herself immediately agreeing to them. 'One week,' the voice continued, 're-contact Skeptic within that timeframe, and just leave. Stop forcing unnecessary emotional burden onto the poor boy.'
Chitose sighed. The voice is correct. Some more pessimistic thoughts continued to echo for at least a full minute, and then another, until she's finally convinced she shouldn't waste any more time and should just re-contact Skeptic this evening so she can finally leave.
'But what about the Nomu-?'
Well that doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that she stops being an annoying nuisance for the Midoriyas once and for all-
She shook her head, the pessimistic thoughts of inferiority suddenly stopping and almost immediately being replaced with questions and feelings of annoyance at herself. Why is she suddenly being so negative again? Why is she over-reacting and feeling depressed just because Izuku decided to stop responding for a bit? Izuku already told her she can stay! Everything is fine! There's literally nothing to worry about! He obviously just didn't respond earlier because he just doesn't want to offend her! That's just literally it!
Chitose rolled her eyes, further getting annoyed at her past self and how its numerous mental issues are affecting her current state. Focusing for a bit and repeatedly mentally telling herself to stop worrying at her current standing with the Midoriyas, she finally got the negative thoughts out of her head. Mostly. But still, if there is one thing the pessimistic voice inside her head is right, and that is re-contacting Skeptic is very much a top priority as of now.
Maybe tonight would be a good time to re-contact Skeptic again? With All Might within the general vicinity, the chances of her being harmed by a villain (or another Nomu), is very low (to almost zero). And even if All Might leaves, studies have consistently shown that the general lack of villain attacks can persist in the area for up to two days. If there is any perfect time to safely re-contact Skeptic, then that is within that particular timeframe.
She will re-contact Skeptic tonight.
Slightly nodding to herself, Chitose then noticed that Izuku is still terribly quiet. "So anyways, Midoriya. Since it's December 24 and all. Got any plans to ask out that co-worker of yours?" she spoke out in an attempt to remove the awkward silence between the two of them as they continue to walk.
"Well to be honest, Kizuki, I don't think she likes me that much."
"Hmmph. A one-sided crush…" Chitose said, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "I've had tons of those back in the day…" she added, her voice trailing off noticing the lack of enthusiasm from Izuku. Is it because he is still guilty about making her talk about how horribly unattractive she is? Or simply because the person he likes doesn't like him back? Whatever the reason, Chitose decided to not push any further and potentially make things even more awkward.
The two eventually reached a bus stop and caught a bus ride towards the nearest KFC restaurant. And as expected upon arrival, with the trend of KFC Christmas Chicken Buckets in Japan, there is an absurd amount of people around.
"Well this is… totally expected. Now where could All Might be?" Izuku asked, his tone sounding like his mood is back to normal. "If he's here then there should be way more people, and way noisier. This looks like an average KFC Chicken Bucket line to me."
"I'm a hundred percent sure it's the assistant. A big celebrity like him obviously wouldn't be here at the risk of being-"
"Oh there you are!"
Chitose turned her attention directly towards where the sudden voice came from. And there it is, the man himself.
Tall. Lanky. With no sense of good posture, and still sporting a similar hairstyle of the person he's serving: All Might's personal assistant himself, Toshinori Yagi. Chitose involuntarily narrowed her eyes at the approaching suited individual, remembering all the times where All Might would suddenly excuse himself to leave and then him barging in demanding he answer all the remaining questions in the Number One's stead. Chitose never really understood why All Might consistently lets this annoying person stand in for him. She recalled all the times (at least the fragments she can remember) she asked All Might about it, yet all the Number One hero would answer her (alongside other reporters with the same question) is that Yagi knew him well enough to able to act as a stand-in for him in regards to interview questions.
As Toshinori continues to approach, looking all too embarrassed for whatever reason, Chitose couldn't help but automatically cross her arms. This specific person just fills her with insurmountable amounts of annoyance.
"Oh! You two actually came!" Yagi said as he got near, profusely wiping some sweat on his forehead with his oversized All Might-branded handkerchief. "I do apologize for my boss's actions yesterday. I hope he didn't run into anything unwanted?"
"N-no! Not at all!" Izuku stammered. The person in front of him might not be the Number One himself, but the personal assistant is close enough to warrant the same reaction as meeting the actual Number One himself – at least for him.
"Your boss is acting odd yesterday-"
"Once again I apologize for my boss's actions!" Toshinori said with a nervous bow before quickly gesturing for the two to follow him to his car, which is a simple black sedan parked just nearby.
"You're acting a little too shifty today, Mr. Yagi," Chitose commented as she followed, noticing the man's consistent confused look and sweaty forehead that he keeps on wiping the sweat off. While the man was always a shifty nervous person as far as she can remember, he never really acted like what he is acting now.
"I apologize again for my boss's rude actions yesterday. I really do," came the reply, in which Chitose just shrugged off. Toshinori had always acted guilty whenever All Might does something inappropriate – no matter the level. Maybe it's just the reason why he's being so unnecessarily shifty? Maybe it just is.
All three soon entered the aforementioned vehicle, with both Chitose and Izuku sitting in the back seat, before it drove off with Toshinori at the wheel. After two more apologies and more nervous wiping, the driver adjusted the rear view mirror so it gave him a good view of both the passengers at the back, and adjusted it further to account Chitose's absurd height, in the end he just tilted it to one side. It looked a little off, but it is the only way for the driver to have direct facial contact with his passengers. "So, Kizuki Chitose, my boss got really worried that you'd leave after he barged into the apartment yesterday! Good thing you actually stayed, or else it would just be embarrassing for me just waiting back there for nothing!" he said, followed by a few awkward laughs.
"So he already told you the full story, I presume?" Chitose asked, slightly raising a hand towards Izuku to stop him from speaking as she wanted to say more. "Where are we going anyway?"
Toshinori slowed down the car as he looked through the rear view mirror. "All Might already told me the full story, yes. The Age-regression, the Nomu, and the speedboat, Deika City, everything. And speaking of All Might, he's currently at UA. Would it be okay to you if we go there?"
A light surge of nervousness welled with Chitose, hearing the word UA. On one hand, there is nothing bad about it since no one really knows she's part of a terrorist organization anyway. On the other hand, something is telling her that they knew about how she's a part of a terrorist organization and the heroes are probably aiming to trap her there, hence All Might's odd visitation yesterday. She quickly dismissed the second thought. If the heroes knew she's part of the MLA, one swift strike from All Might is already more than enough to take her out, yet the Number One didn't do it, and instead just mostly asked about her birthplace for reasons she still can't understand.
"Yeah sure, no problem. Do the folks at UA have a cure for whatever's going on with me?" she asked. Since she's nowhere close to the MLA as of yet, might as well just have the heroes figure out what's wrong with her and maybe they have a better and more fast-acting cure.
"Most certainly!" Yagi responded as he sped up the car once more. "They can and will figure out the problem in no time!"
"Any idea why your boss is asking me about the city I grew up in yesterday? He did it, like, several times…"
"Strange. He does mutter about Hokkaido a lot since your meeting yesterday. But whatever the reason for it, he kept it private," he replied. "I suggest just asking him later."
"Hey Mr. Yagi!" Izuku suddenly spoke out, with the same level of glee and enthusiasm as he had back when he met All Might yesterday. "Forgive me if I sound rude but, how come All Might can end crime from anywhere in Japan, but he always fails to catch the League of Villains?"
Chitose couldn't help but nod to Izuku's question. "Yeah, I've always wondered about that. For a 6-member villain group that does pretty much all their crimes in broad daylight, they always seem to get away from literally any hero. Something just doesn't add up," she said, shaking her head in her light confusion. In fact this utter inability for heroes to catch just a small villain group is the biggest reason why Re-Destro specifically picked the League as their main target in their Revival Party – to show the country that heroes aren't needed and even simple civilians could have caught the LoV if only they're allowed to use their Meta Abilities…
… And they actually managed to call the LoV in… just as simple as sending them a picture of their supposed recruiter and taunting them to rescue him… no more other proof needed, no more anything… and they actually arrived. Chitose remembered saying to Re-Destro that day that they could've literally prank-called the League with nothing and they would still arrive in time…
All Might and the rest of the top-ranking heroes somehow cannot find the League for months on end since their debut and yet the MLA simply 'prank-called' them into arriving…
?
'Something's definitely not right here…' Chitose thought to herself. She was about to ask about it when Izuku suddenly spoke up.
"All Might has brought down far more powerful villains before," Izuku continued, his face looking confused. "Hyperlens, Mechanizer, PhantoMime, the Baloney Balloon Platoon. Those villains can level entire islands if they decided to, not to mention operate in far bigger groups, and All Might still managed to best them all. How come the League is still active despite having only six members? How come even Endeavor, Hawks, Edgeshot, and the rest of the top ten somehow can't get them?"
"That is where you're wrong, kid. The League is so much worse. There's so much more than meets the eye." Toshinori spoke, his tone low as he maneuvered the vehicle through traffic. "I don't know how much I can trust you two with this information but… things aren't always what they seem. The League is much more powerful behind the curtains. Know of Spinner?"
"The lizard guy?" Chitose asked, one eyebrow raised. Why out of the six, why did Toshinori pick out the least known (and the least interesting) member?
"Correct. He possesses inhuman strength enough to bat All Might from Hokkaido to Hateruma Island-"
"Nice fairy tale you got there, Mr. Yagi. Iguchi can't do that," Chitose said, barely holding on a laugh as to what Toshinori just told them. She definitely knew what Spinner can do, and bat All Might from north to south of Japan? No, he can't do that. Not even close. He can only cling on walls and nothing else-
'But what about the damage in Deika that seemed as if a giant stampeded into the city? Could that be Spinner?' A thought suddenly popped into her mind. To her defense she didn't really see the rest of the battle anyways. But since the overall damage is somehow not reported in television, maybe the 'stampede' is just part of Deika City's illusions that day? Maybe there are also other illusion spells that functioned inside the dome…?
"Well yeah but if Spinner can do that, then shouldn't there be way more chaos than what we have right now? But there isn't, is there?" Izuku asked the driver, genuinely curious. "Normally super-powered villains are massive airheads and want to beat-up heroes as soon as possible. If Spinner is that powerful like what you said, then he should have beaten All Might a long time ago, or rather waging war against him every day. But there's nothing. All reports of the League have just been 'they escaped this' and 'they escaped that'."
"I have been wondering the same thing for quite some time now, kid. But do believe this, the League is immensely powerful. Japan is lucky they hadn't mobilized yet. Now I'm not the one to say this normally but, in my humble opinion, they could wipe out the country within seconds if they decide to…"
'If they're that immensely powerful, then how come they're starving in a mountain in the first place…?' Chitose thought to herself upon hearing Toshinori's words, her green eyes automatically narrowing at the back of the middle-aged man's head as she crossed her arms, fully remembering (luckily without her memory fragmenting) the first time Skeptic tracked the LoV down via satellite after Re-Destro decided they would be their target. Literally none of Toshinori's words are making sense to her, but since Izuku seemed interested enough, she decided to just keep quiet. She may not like Toshinori at all for butting into her interviews in the past, but he does tell good fairy tales.
But on the other hand, at the level of absurdity his tales are getting (Spinner can somehow instantly regrow torn-off limbs), she wouldn't be surprised at this point that once they get off the car, he would turn around and tell them everything is just a joke.
The three of them eventually arrived at UA. And contrary to what Chitose is expecting, Toshinori told Izuku that all the things he said about the League are definitely real and NOT a joke. Naturally it got a raised eyebrow off of her.
What she also didn't expect is that the car going straight into UA's underground parking lot, one that is normally reserved for the staff, instead of the normal above-ground one.
"Why here?" she asked as she got off the vehicle, glancing around the dark and quiet underground parking lot. It made her slightly nervous for a brief moment, but quickly went away as Toshinori led the two of them to the exit, which in itself led to a well-lit lobby of some sort, with people in uniforms walking around and greeting the tall lanky man in front of her.
Chitose kept looking around. As much as she had been to UA numerous times, she had never been in this particular place before. While yes it is nondescript and as basic as it can get, she couldn't help but feel a looming sense of dread.
She kept quiet as she walked along, wondering if ever they are walking in a formerly hidden area that is why she had never seen this lobby-like hallway before. In the midst of her nervous observations, her pace naturally became slower, making her end up walking behind Izuku and Toshinori, with the former seemingly not even noticing she is not beside him anymore as he kept on rapid-firing random questions towards the latter.
Chitose's eyes drifted upwards to the ceilings.
'There's just so many cameras…' she thought to herself, involuntarily gulping in nervousness. There's two on the left, there's two on the right, and now there's three on the left and – didn't she already count those earlier…? Chitose began fidgeting with her fingers. What if they really knew she's a villain? What if that's the reason they did not go in the main entrance and went towards the underground parking lot instead? What if that is the reason they're walking in the-
Chitose caught sight of the main UA building through one of the huge glass windows of the building they are in. It is only then she knew that they are walking at some sort of an area not normally accessible to the public, basing off of the angle she can see the building at.
"Uh… I think we need to go…" she muttered at the same time stopped walking, instantly getting the attention of the two in front of her. She was about to speak more when Toshinori quickly slid over to her right (or at least she thought he slid over to her).
"Hey hey hey don't be nervous now! We're just about to get to the good part!" he said, clearly looking uncomfortable and with sweat already forming on his forehead. "If you don't leave right now I'll, I'll uh… I'll convince All Might to give you a full one hour interview without me interrupting!"
"I'm uh… I'm not really in the mood for some interviewing today and uh-"
"C'mon Kizuki! You don't wanna disappoint All Might!" Izuku walked closer, gesturing towards the path ahead. "He's literally within reach! We must press on! Go forth! Plus Ultra!"
"The boy's right! I am- I mean All Might is within reach! You don't want to miss this moment!" Toshinori patted Chitose twice on the back. "He's going to give out limited edition merch today!"
"Sweet!" Izuku hurriedly went to Chitose's left side and gently gave her a light push, getting the young woman to finally continue to walk again. The entire scene got a few stares here and there, but are generally ignored by the uniformed UA staff.
"Onwards!" All Might's personal assistant gestured for the two to follow him. And with that, the three continued their walk.
"I really think we shouldn't meet with Mr. Might today…" Chitose awkwardly whispered loudly as she kept walking, with Izuku right beside her with one hand placed on her back and lightly pushing her along. "I'm uh… I'm-"
"Relax, it's just All Might, what's the worse that can happen?"
Chitose was about to respond when Izuku suddenly walked forward to go ask Toshinori about the sudden small peculiar cuboid object that is now floating around him. It was white and outlined with rounded fiberglass-like edges and about the size of a balled fist, and within the outline making up the sides of the device are holographic panels displaying what seems to be a constant flow of energy towards one direction, changing ever so slightly every few seconds.
'VECTRE phone…' she thought to herself, instantly recognizing the device. She very well knew of those floating cubes that are capable of transforming into standard phones and back again with just a certain hand gesture from their owners, and their 'colorful' history of once being manufactured with a built-in special Artificial Intelligence that gave them limited independence. It may be years ago from now, but she could still remember the public uproar in response to the devices being recalled back by the company that made them because they started developing complete AI personalities. The people apparently liked it, especially the accidental ability of the AI to develop its own unique personality, yet the CEO still followed through – citing the entire thing as a defect. Nowadays, all VECTRE phones, while still having built-in AI, have numerous other built-in fail-safes so that they will never develop a digital personality ever again. And as for those that 'survived' the recall? Word is that they're now being sold for millions in the black market.
Chitose stared down the device levitating on Toshinori's shoulder, immediately noticing it staring back at her through the one dot in the middle of one of its screens functioning as its 'eye'. If there's something that VECTRE phones are definitely good at, defective AI or not, is their ability to track faces within a pre-defined database. 'Oh crap it's analyzing me…' a thought crossed her mind, making her lightly shiver.
"Is that phone the one with the defective AI or not?" Chitose was snapped out and went back to the present at Izuku's rather loud question directed towards Toshinori's VECTRE phone. "Hello there!" the young man called out to the floating cuboid object.
"Sorry kid, it's just the regular fully-functioning phone," came Toshinori's reply.
"Oh that's too bad. I've seen those with defective AIs on the internet. And I have to say, the way they speak is very… unsettling… it's making me feel like an impending robot apocalypse-takeover is imminent… Damn I want one. I already have a name for it – Sam the Sidekick!" Izuku said before a brief pause and then continuing shortly after. "Oh and by the way is it true that All Might wants to get one of those so he can have an actual sidekick?"
"Unfortunately I'm not the right person to answer that. But since you two'll be meeting All Might in a short while, you can just go ask him instead."
Their conversation continued, meanwhile Chitose just silently followed behind them, carefully wiping out sweat forming on her forehead every minute, and making sure no one is noticing it. 'Do they really know I'm a villain…? But All Might could've caught me yesterday, or earlier this morning, or now… But no that's impossible! They DON'T know I'm a villain! I've done a good job hiding it for over a decade now!' Numerous thoughts about her getting found out kept swirling inside her mind, as well as thoughts countering them back in an attempt to put herself at ease. Yet no matter how hard she counters the random thoughts, the feelings of dread just kept on looming over her.
Something will happen…
"Young Midoriya. I have received word from All Might that he wants to meet up with Miss Kizuki alone. May I suggest going along for a short walk for a while?"
Chitose was once again snapped out of her thoughts at the exact moment her ears picked up that All Might apparently wants to talk to her alone, making her nervousness skyrocket even further. She was about to request Izuku to not leave her alone for a while but the young man immediately left after just saying a quick 'good luck with All Might!' quote… or something similar… she can't remember.
And after that it was just her and Toshinori going straight towards a peculiar building just right beside the clinic. It was rather short and boxy in its general design, yet it was painted in various shades of brown, giving it a more 'organic' feel than the rest of the other buildings nearby.
A quick unlock of the door and a gesture for her to come inside, Chitose entered the building. The interior is relatively normal, all things considered, and looked like some sort of multipurpose hall. It had a large rectangular wooden table in the center and chairs placed all around it, complete with hanging lamps attached to multiple ceilings fans overhead.
Chitose found it a little too spacious for her liking. Why would All Might want to speak with her here out of all-
"Now go sit on one of those chairs for a while, All Might will be here shortly!" Toshinori said before quickly closing the door behind him as he sprinted off – or so what he sounded like.
Legs trembling and sweat seemingly raining down her forehead, Chitose walked towards one of the chairs, hurriedly taking off her jacket and instinctively tying it around her waist before sitting down and placing her hands on her lap, but not before wiping off the sweat first. Eyes wide, she then scanned her surroundings. It was only then she saw the odd grooves on the walls around her.
"Soundproof… walls…?"
"I AM HERE! NOT LATE AT ALL!" came the loud voice of the Number One hero just as he burst open through the doors. He immediately started flexing his muscles once, and twice, and then a third time before sheepishly re-attaching one of the doors because he accidentally broke it off its hinges. After repairing it in a matter of seconds (somehow), he then closed it properly before jogging towards the part of the table opposite of where Chitose, who's still just sitting quietly in her seat visibly trembling, is sitting.
"FORGIVE ME FOR APPEARING UH… A LOT EARLIER THAN WHAT I SAID YESTERDAY!" All Might said with the usual bombast in his voice. "AND NOW THAT WE'RE HERE, I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS!"
Chitose gulped down hard as the Number One made his way to sit on one of the chairs in front of her. He didn't fit well at first and had to combine two chairs just to make himself comfortable. "CHITOSE KIZUKI, RIGHT?" he asked as he placed both hulking arms onto the table and interlocked his fingers as if an attempt to look professional.
"Y-yes…?"
All Might paused a bit and looked around, looking unsure what to say next. After a few head-scratching, sweat-wiping, and general all-around looks of confusion, he finally said, "CHITOSE KIZUKI, CODENAME: CURIOUS, OF THE META LIBERATION ARMY, CORRECT?"
Sweat immediately started raining down on Chitose's forehead upon hearing the words, thoughts spontaneously swirling inside her mind. How did the heroes know?! HOW DID ALL MIGHT KNOW?! She was secretive about it in all these years! There's literally no reason the heroes suddenly knew! And now she's all alone in a soundproof room, inside the most prestigious HERO SCHOOL of the country, alone with the NUMBER ONE of all people, and he's asking if she's really-
"NO!" She indirectly shouted, immediately biting down her lips with enough force to draw blood. The resulting pain indirectly caused her fingers that are currently on her lap to grab downwards, making her accidentally claw into her own lap as well. She doesn't know if she managed to dig into them, but she definitely felt excruciating pain. "I-I'm-" she cut herself off.
If she lied when already caught, then she would just get into EVEN BIGGER trouble-
"WOAH! TAKE IT EASY THERE!" All Might said loudly, raising his hands up. "I'M JUST…"
Chitose trembled further, her pounding heartbeat flooding her ears and made her unable to comprehend anything All Might said, on top of the pain from her accidental injuries. Amidst the sweat in her eyes, she rapidly looked around, finding possible ways to escape. But how would she escape when the literal NUMBER ONE is right in front of her? Is there even a point of escaping-
Letting go of her lap, Chitose slammed her hands onto the underside of the table and primed the table to explode. Rapidly switching over to her Mine Vision, she then immediately detonated the entire thing, resulting in her getting blown backwards by her own explosion and slamming the back of her head onto the marble floor. She quickly rolled over and slammed an already-painful hand onto the ground and was about to plant another Landmine when she suddenly lost consciousness just right after a balled fist came slamming right into her face.
…
Notes:
MHA Chapter 383 showed scenes of two reporters with their respective cameramen. It made me wonder, how come Curious doesn't have a cameraman and only has a voice recorder?
...
Because she's too ugly for TV!
(100% FACTS)