Chapter 14: Hiding Things Will Only Make Things Worse
Mezo in his rather sparse room went to bed. He was a little on edge after hearing what Bill did to Shoto, but he wasn't sure if he would appear.
That was when everything turned back and white. HE was warned if this happened that means Bill was there.
"So they're getting smarter Tenatcolino… good to know." Said Bill appearing behind him.
"Cipher…" he said.
"Yes, yes… I torture and I'm untrustworthy." Said Bill, "But you know they're hiding something big from you."
Mezo narrowed his eyes as the triangle.
"Is this about Stan being a criminal?" asked Mezo.
"No… as amusing as it is to show you that, I'm talking about something else their hiding you." Said Bill.
"What?" asked Mezo.
That was when he found himself at a playground, Bill was nowhere in sight (he was behind him however but he could see him) and he saw the child versions of Izuku and Katsuki. With Izuku protecting a boy from Katsuki, he didn't know how long but he watched as Katsuki bullied, bilittled and outright abused Izuku.
With the last thing being Katsuki telling Izuku to kill himself.
Once he found himself back in his room, he turned to Bill who was smugly there.
"How do I know you're not lying?" asked Mezo.
"How do you know I am?" countered Bill, "Oh and FYI, I'm not going to be coming back… I've done my job…"
With that Mezo woke up, unsure if Bill was lying or not.
At the Todoroki house, Shoto was eating break with his sister when they heard his father scream from his bedroom.
They looked at each other and ran to the room wondering wat could get their father screaming.
They found his bedroom was a mess… and written on the wall in what appeared to be blood was "I know what you've been doing".
He looked at his two children, he knew that neither one of them would be the ones to do it.
"Where's Natsuo?" he asked them.
"He already went to school." Said Shoto's sister Fuyumi.
"I see…" mutter Endeavor.
Shoto looked at the message written, it was as if someone used a pen filled with blood to write the message.
"They have to be the ones behind it…" thought Shoto.
Sometime later at school before class started Izuku was staring at Dipper.
"What did you do last night?" he asked.
Dipper and Stan were gone from the apartment during the night for some reason, and Ford and Mabel were there but wouldn't tell him what the two were up to.
"It's not important…" said Dipper.
Izuku grew concerned. If Stan was up to something it would be one thing… if Dipper was up to something it was very worrying.
"It's fine Izuku… we didn't do anything illegal…" said Dipper.
That did not make Izuku feel better.
"Good Morning Midoriya." Said Tenya, "Did you do all your homework last night?"
He couldn't do his homework the night before due to having to save Shoto from Bill, but he did explain to the teachers why he hadn't done it and they gave him an extension… as it was Bill involved.
"Oh yeah." Laughed Izuku, "I finished it all."
"Good because you are a student of UA and even if Bill is important you still have things to do as a student." Said Tenya.
"Don't worry I got caught up…" said Izuku.
"As a student you also should make sure you get plenty of sleep." Said Tenya.
There was an awkward silence.
"I can't sleep…" pointed out Izuku.
"He needs a body to sleep." Pointed out Katsuki.
"Oh I apologize I didn't know." Said Tenya.
That was when Mezo entered class.
"Midoriya…" he said.
"Hey!" said Izuku.
Then saw the look in his eyes.
"Cipher appeared in my dreams last night." He explained, "But he said he wasn't going to show up again."
"Really? Why?" asked Izuku.
"He showed me something that he felt could be done in one night." Said Mezo.
"You sure about that?" asked Katsuki, "The triangle bastard tends to lie."
Mezo glared at Katsuki.
"What got you looking at me like that…" demanded Katsuki.
But before anything could happened Shoto showed up.
"Midoriya, is Dipper or Mabel here?" asked Shoto.
"Yeah…" said Izuku, "Why?"
"Last night a supernatural phenomenon happened in my house…" said Shoto, "Blood was written on the walls of my father's bedroom and the entire room was messy beside where he slept… I think they were behind it…"
"Dipper…" said Izuku.
Dipper just laughed nervously.
"Grunkle Stan…" thought Dipper.
"I'll be there at lunch…" said Stan.
"Wait… how do you know it was Dipper?" asked Katsuki.
"He and Stan did something last night." Said Izuku.
"Wait he did…" said Katsuki.
He wasn't surprised by Stan, hell he would have expected Mabel getting into some sort of shenanigans.
But Dipper…
"Can you tell him I'll explain later…" said Dipper.
Izuku stared at Dipper. However it was close to Home Room starting and Tenya got everyone to sit down.
Through the day, Mezo looked at Katsuki who noticed the weird looks he was being given.
When it was lunch.
"Bakugo, there's something we need to talk about." Said Mezo.
Katsuki narrowed it his eyes at him and figured that it had to whatever Bill showed him the night before.
The two found a place in the hallway to talk.
"So what did the Triangle Bastard show you?" asked Katsuki.
"What?" asked Mezo.
"I'm pretty sure he showed you my life story…" muttered Katsuki.
"You did bully him?" muttered Mezo.
Katsuki didn't answer.
"Let me guess you hate me…" muttered Katsuki who gave off a bitter laugh.
Mezo didn't answer with his words but he was clearly glaring.
"Figures he'd pull this shit! Thought it would be Leg Day or Round Face..." Muttered Katsuki, "But no! It had to be you!"
Mezo looked at Katsuki and told tell he was close to another break down.
"Of fucking course!" yelled Katsuki, "It figures! That's how wins!"
"What?" asked Mezo.
"We really have to show you…" muttered Katsuki, "You want to know something I hate myself!"
Mezo stared at Katsuki.
"I fucking hate myself! I was such a fucking moron! I thought Deku looked down on me! Thought he needed to be taken down a peg! Especially since he was Quirkless! But no! He admired me so much and he just wanted his friend back! Let me guess he showed you that thing about going to the roof!"
"He did…" muttered Mezo.
"Did you show you what happened later that day?" asked Katsuki.
Mezo stared at Katsuki.
"Damn… he didn't show you how after school he got to Deku!" he laughed bitterly, "That it was my fault! That it was all my fault! He didn't take that advice but he was so desperate that he trusted the bastard…"
"Are you serous…" said Mezo.
"And you want to know the saddest thing! All Might was the one that beat the villain that attacked him… meaning All Might was there when he made the deal… he knew something was wrong with Deku's body but he reached his time limit! He blames himself when it wasn't even his damn fault! It was mine!" yelled Katsuki, "It's my fault that the world's going to end!"
"Kid! Shut up!" snapped Stan.
They both looked at him and Dipper and was there too.
"Come on Katsuki, I'll calm you down…" said Dipper motioning over to Katsuki.
"I'd smack you." Said Stan looking at Mezo, "But I used up my corporal time today messing with Endeavor's stuff."
"What?" asked Mezo.
Dipper led Katsuki away knowing that they would have to calmed down.
"I ain't explaining it." Muttered Stan, "And I get it! You know about his relationship between and him and Green Bean… and trust me… I wanted to throttle him many times."
"Wait what?" asked Mezo.
"That not important." Muttered Stan, "What is important is that you don't have to like him but you do have to work together with him…"
"I don't know I can…" muttered Mezo.
"Well you have to." Muttered Stan, "Especially since you two are next to each other on the Zodiac."
Mezo's eyes widened.
"Which is why exactly Bill told you…" said Stan, "If you two can't get along enough to hold hands when it's important then how are you beat Bill…"
"I should have known." Sighed Mezo.
"Yeah…" sighed Stan.
"Look I'm not saying like him…" said Stan, "But just learn to work together… Trust me… there's plenty of heroes you have to learn to work together with that you're going to hate…"
Mezo sighed.
"I don't like it." Said Mezo.
"You don't have to…" muttered Stan, "You can hate him… just don't let that hatred get in the way… just do it like the way girls do it…"
"Hate each other silence?" asked Mezo who had heard that advice many times... don't ask why...
Stan nodded.
"Glad we could nip this in the bud…" said Stan, "Because letting build up wouldn't have been good… trust me I've seen it happen plenty of times where anger and hatred is allowed to fester like that. "
"You think Bill will do that to others?" asked Mezo.
"Air out their dirty laundry?" asked Stan, "Doubtful… right now Ochaco's standing alone, but Green Bean has to hold hands with both Tenya and Shoto… and he's squeaky clean not counting breaking into houses to fight Bill and that doesn't count."
Mezo grumbled…
"Like I said I don't like what he's done either, but remember this people change." Said Stan, "Well most people…"
"What?" asked Mezo.
"I really have to talk to Shoto and explain why I'm haunting his dad." Muttered Stan.
"I'm sorry but what…" said Mezo.
"You don't want to know kid…" said Stan.
Elsewhere Dipper and Katsuki talked.
"You might need to see help about this…" said Dipper.
"It won't change anything…" muttered Katsuki, "Hey because of me Deku pretty much sold his soul and it's my fault!"
"It's not your fault!" said Dipper.
"That's easy for you to say…" said Katsuki.
"Mabel would be better at this…" muttered Dipper.
Katsuki snorted.
"You can't blame anyone but Bill! This isn't your fault! This isn't Izuku's fault! This isn't Toshinori's fault! This isn't my fault! This isn't Ford's fault! It's all Bill!" said Dipper, "Please understand it…"
"Why the fuck would it be your fault." Said Katsuki.
"Just never mind…" said Dipper, "Look… Bill was going to go after him anyways…"
"On a day I told Deku to kill himself." Said Katsuki.
Katsuki froze as he realized what he just said and looked at Dipper.
Dipper sighed.
"I already knew that…" said Dipper.
Katsuki's eyes widened.
"Did…" said Katsuki.
"No… I overheard when Bill taunted you after rejected his offer…" said Dipper, "Ford knows too, Mabel and Stan didn't arrive until after he said it… we haven't told them. You know how they are with Izuku…"
Katsuki grumbled.
"Apparently after we left yesterday she made herself known as the ghost haunting the class." Said Katsuki.
"Yeah… I heard… apparently she punched a genral education student in the chest while not corporal…" laughed Dipper.
Katsuki snorted.
"Just be ready though… I wouldn't put past it Bill to show the others in the future." Said Dipper, "Especially to whoever Question Mark is…"
Katsuki just nodded.
"Also we do need to tell them more about the Zodiac." Said Izuku.
"Yeah…" muttered Katsuki.
"Anyways… I really have to go talk to Shoto." Said Dipper, "I'm not going to enjoy the conversation."
"What did you do?" asked Katsuki.
"Well it's my pens… and I might have the ability while corporal to not only write but also what the ink is made of…" said Dipper.
Katsuki stared at Dipper.
"I don't want to fucking know… do I?" asked Katsuki.
"Probably not…" said Dipper blushing a little, "Go eat lunch…"
Katsuki just stared at Dipper horrified realizing that Dipper could write in blood.
Not too long later Stan and Dipper met with Shoto. Shoto stared at the two… and neither looked apologetic.
"Okay… Dipper refuses to explain his reason and I can't blame him. Its messed up but I'll give my reason…" sighed Stan, "I know what's it like to be abused…"
"What?" asked Shoto.
"Not physically well boxing was close." Said Stan, "But I know what it's like… my own Pa was emotionally abusive. Treated me, Ford and our older brother Shermie not like people but something he could make use of."
Shoto's eyes winded in surprise.
"One day I screwed up… like really screwed up… it's a long and personal story but the gist is Ford could have made a ton of money, I ruined it and pa kicked me out of the house when I was 17… and this was New Jersey in the 1970's… so you know how bad it was…"
"What?" asked Shoto.
"never mind.,.. forgot that's would be obscure to you." Said Stan, "But my point is the guy kicked me out and even had a bag prepped for the day I screwed up too badly! He wanted a "Kid" named Stan when were born and didn't want to give us a unique name… I can tell from the way he looks that he's just like pa if not worse."
Shoto looked at Stan.
"If you want to know you can talk to Ford… he's honest though he didn't get the brunt of it until later." Said Stan.
Shoto looked at Dipper.
"I still refuse to go into details…" said Dipper.
"That person's parents treated them like a dog." Said Stan, "I mean that literally… they trained them to obey a little bell."
Dipper glared at Stan.
"Hey he should know why you hate Child Abuse." Said Stan, "Granted it's child abuse… but still…"
Shoto looked at Dipper.
"How did you do it?" asked Shoto, "And I don't mean the part where you messed up his room…"
"I discovered that I can write in any substance sing my pens.,.." said Dipper, "And well…"
"I don't want to know…" said Shoto.
Actually the reason why Dipper found out was through experimentation and other things… and the other spirits had similar abilities with the parts of their bodies that weren't parts of their body when they were alive.
"Do you plan to do more?" asked Shoto.
"We're not going to do it all as once…" said Stan, "Just do occasionally… you know make him paranoid."
"Do…" said Shoto.
"They're in on it..." said Dipper before he could even finish their sentence.
"It was just us too because they want to save their corporal time." Said Stan, "I don't know about Mabel but I understand with Ford because he's constantly helping build Green Bean the robot bodies and helping fix his main one."
"Sorry about it…" said Dipper.
"Honestly I never liked the guy." Muttered Stan.
"You don't have to tell us, that person I was close lied about what happened with the bell when I found out… I know it's personal…" said Dipper.
"Can you tell me next time you do it." Said Shoto.
Stan gave an evil smile.
"If you want to help out in any way tell us." Said Stan.
Shoto nodded.
It was clear, he was all for it.
He did despised his father after all.
Sometime later after school.
"Hey Shoji…" said Izuku as everyone left school.
Shoji sighed knowing that it was something they would have to talk about.
Izuku decided to accompany Shoji as the way to talk.
"Kacchan told me during lunch…" sighed Izuku .
"How can you forgive him?" asked Shoji.
"It's complicated…" sighed Izuku, "I know it's wrong but I always admired him, even if he was a huge jerk…"
"You're too nice." Said Shoji.
"I know…" sighed Izuku.
"The things he said…" said Shoji.
"He regrets everything…" said Izuku.
"How can you be sure?" asked Shoji.
"His breakdowns… if he wasn't filled with guilt he wouldn't be having them." Said Izuku, "And he told me that he had one when talking to you."
Shoji didn't answer.
"He's trying to stop us…" said Izuku.
"I know." Said Shoji.
"We really need to explain the Zodiac better." Said Izuku.
"You do." Agreed Shoji.
Izuku sighed.
"What is it?" asked Shoji.
"Bill isn't just torturing you with nightmares… he's trying to tear us apart in other ways." Said Izuku.
"Do you think there's other things we should be worried about." Said Shoji.
"Yeah…" sighed Izuku.
Meanwhile Bizuku crossed out the Six Fingered hand while growling.
He can see many possibilities, back in 2012 one possible future he saw was one where he was able to start Weirdmageddeon with the rift. The Zodiac was almost formed in that possibility. But due to Stan and Ford still fighting they couldn't complete it… he was hoping to create that here…
But nope! They didn't like each other but they were going to be civil enough to work together when it really mattered.
And he couldn't exactly tear apart the others who were going to hold hands.
If anything he brought Izuku and Shoto closer together and Tenya greatly admired Izuku.
However that didn't mean that he didn't have any more plans.
He eyed the Shooting Star symbol.
"Everyone has their price…" said Bizuku with an evil smile, "And I know yours Gravity…"
With that Shoji learned the truth about Katsuki and Izuku… he didn't like it, like at all, but he knew they had to work together. And thankfully he knew he had to put aside…
After all Bill was still a threat… and he had more plan up his sleeves for the others.
Next Time: As the Sports Festival approaches, Izuku begin to feel more and more depressed, especially since almost everyone gets focused on it, but he might comes up with an idea that might make him a hero, but at terrible cost... what is it? Also Bill attempts something with Ochaco, the key word being attempt... what will happen? Find out next time!