The hallway was nearly quiet as Izuku and All Might, in his true form, sat on the bench right by the infirmary, waiting for Recovery girl to finish and give them the news.
So far there's been nothing, not a peep.
The only sound that could be heard was that of the dog, James (from seeing what his name was on the tag in English), sat by the door, whimpering every once in a while, wanting to be there at his mistress's side but couldn't, desperately wanting to know if she was ok, let alone alive, just begging to be let in.
This broke their hearts as they could see that he loved the girl dearly and felt helpless just waiting for the door to open to see her.
Neither knew how long they've been sitting out, waiting for the results but they knew it's been long enough to let the chill in the hallway really set in.
Definitely long enough for them to reminisce on what had occurred before this.
The two of them have been shocked when they heard her say their names (Izuku his first name and All Might his last name, to which also shocked Izuku even more from that in knowing that) and curious to know what she meant by the future being at stake, but before they could even ask her what she meant she lost consciousness, weak and thoroughly exhausted from everything.
Running on fumes alone can do that to a person after enough time has passed.
James began yelping in worry and became frantic in trying to get to his mistress but thankfully the number one hero kept his grip on the dog so he wouldn't accidentally drop him in mid-air, though he couldn't blame the German Shepherd because he just saw his mistress lose consciousness, that was very worrisome.
The men looked at each other in concern but also confusion in wondering how she knew their names and what she meant by the future being at stake, was it possible that she had some kind of future sight quirk like Sir Nighteye? Or was it something more? They didn't know but they knew that they wouldn't get answers now and would have to wait until later as for now they had to focus on the task at hand.
Soon enough they arrived at UA, as soon as All Might landed inside the campus he put down the German Shepherd who immediately went to the children as the dog nuzzled his snout against the girl, he even looked like he had tears in his eyes, which really surprised them but at the same time broke their hearts.
This dog, loyal to this girl, devoted in protecting her from harm, Caring so much to the point of actually tearing up (in such a way neither of them thought possible as far as they knew on dogs), seeing him in such a state as this was just gut wrenching.
It took some coaxing to get him to calm down enough so that they can get her to the nurses office immediately without him being frantic nor endangering the girls health any further.
Thanks to the number one hero's speed they were there in just under a minute, albeit they had to bypass a few staff members who were passing by and startled them in their haste.
It would have to worry about that later.
Upon entering and accidentally startling Recovery girl at having slammed the door open quite loudly, The old woman was about to lecture whoever came in but stopped when she saw who came in and why.
She immediately went into doctor mode as she told them to put her backpack by the bed, to put the girl on the bed and have her lay on her stomach, then told All Might to go find Nemuri and bring her there while telling the boy to help her find some towels and bandages.
James stayed by the girls side as he continued to nuzzle against her face softly while the veteran hero carefully, after lifting her enough to do it, unbuttoned her vest and pulled it off before pulling up her shirt only to reveal a heartbreaking sight.
Everywhere around her back except for her spine were numerous bruises and, more horrifyingly, scars ranging from small to big, some looked older and some looked relatively new but looked to be almost healed, and then there was some injuries, about four, that were covered in bloody bandages which the nurse hero carefully peel away, with her rubber gloves, to reveal that she had serious injuries and it looked like they have been closed shut by Staples, only now those staple stitches were broken and needed to be attended to before she either bleed out or they got worse.
This only made poor James whimper and cry even more, made Recovery girl very angry in knowing that this poor child was hurt and had obviously been through a serious case of abuse, made Izuku, who came back with the supplies, scared to the point of tears arising as he knew these signs too, and caused All Might and Nemuri, who just made it back, to show looks of shock and anger.
Eventually the older women told the boys to wait outside and take James with them as they didn't want him to get in the way or have to witness this sight any longer than he already had to, The dog was reluctant, and fought hard to stay but eventually, after some more coaxing, followed the men outside.
Leading to where they were now.
Helplessly waiting to receive the results, but no one felt more helpless nor worried than James himself.
The male duo looked to the other, both knowing that they'd need to do something to help him, but how?
All Might was the first to try something to distract him, if only to sooth his trouble even if momentarily.
"James?" He called gently, Which caught the dogs attention as his ears perked up before he turned his head towards the man as He padded his knees to try and get him to come over and said, "Over here boy."
After a few seconds the dog looked back to the door before turning back to the man before he slowly got back on all fours and walked over to him.
Soon enough James was in front of the thin frail looking man who offered his hand to him as the dog then sniffed it, Toshinori saw himself there that his look went from curious to... sad.
No joke.
It really looked expressively sad.
Even more so than one would ever think a regular dog could express.
He started to whimper for him now as he nuzzles his snout and then his head into his hand in comfort before pushing his way towards him enough to lay his head on his lap, looking up at him in sympathetic comfort.
"Hey it's ok boy," He reassured him gently, "You don't have to worry about me, I'm fine."
But James moarn in protest as he looked up to him more soulfully.
The number one hero himself once had a dog when he was very young, a french bull dog to be precise, and he had been told by his late parents that dogs as well as cats were able to see and sense things that most people couldn't, For the most part one would only be able to tell what they could if said person had A dog or cat quirk or if they had similar abilities to them in one way or another, while those who don't have them are left with more mysteries to decipher on their own.
Dogs and cats were able to tell how others were feeling and even tell if they were well or not, hence why both respectively made good therapy pets.
Especially more depending on the breed in question.
So it was very possible that James was able to tell that he himself had a very disconcerting injury/scar which led him to this frail state and now he was just as concerned for him as he is for his mistress.
"You worried about her?" He ask him softly.
James huff just as softly as the man could see tears ready to fall from his eyes, which he gently wiped away.
The dog, who he can roughly determine to be at least 4 years old give or take, has to have been through a lot with his owner, still he had never seen this much emotion on a dog before.
"It'll be alright." He told him as he gently rubbed behind the ears which the German Shepherd leaned into as he, seemingly, sighed in content.
Izuku, who had been quiet through all of this, leaned over to the dog and started to pet him, Which surprisingly didn't make him flinch but instead made him relax more as he sat on his hind legs and continued to lay his head on his mentor's lap, looking like he might fall asleep, but really was just basking in the comfort, as Izuku too gave him the same gentle reassurance that his hero was giving.
Curious though The boy assumed that the dog was aware that he was not in danger and thus was able to relax in their presence even though they were strangers to him, the dog himself could tell that they were friendly even if they've only known each other for a short while.
The two men looked to the other once more as their eyes met, silently communicating with the other as the other knew that there was more to this canine then meets the eye, and they equally hoped that they would get the results soon for the girl.
It was about a few minutes of this before all of them heard the sound of the door opening as they turned to the door of the infirmary, out came Recovery girl who looked to them and gave them all a reassuring nod meaning that all had gone well.
This was James' cue to go to his mistress as he was back on all fours immediately and ran over to the door, ignoring how he startled the men and made them spring to their feet as he avoided running into the old woman and ran inside.
As the youthful heroine was about to stop him, she, and the others, stopped when they saw the dog going from running fast to moving slowly as he soon came to her right side before gently getting on the bed to lay beside her as she laid on her stomach, unconscious, hair still braided but taken out of the bun to not cause discomfort and revealing to be insanely long as both braids were slung to the right side of the bed, and tucked into her blacket with an IV bag and heart monitor hooked up to her. The dog seemed to be very cautious as he did well to not move her, sniffing her to inspect things briefly before, to their surprise, he vocally sighed in relief before he yawned and gently nuzzles himself against her before falling asleep.
The 3, well 4 actually as they couldn't forget Nemuri (better known as Midnight) who was in her casual wear (hair in a high ponytail, wearing a long sleeve dark red cardigan with dark blue jeans and black heels) and on the left side monitoring the girl, could only blink in surprise at this.
"This only further proves that this dog is different from others I've seen." Izuku was the first to say.
"At this point I'm willing to believe that he might have a quirk like Nezu." All Might agreed with him, given everything he'd seen before now it would be foolish to believe otherwise, "Though it's probably best we wait until he's awake before even considering giving him a check-up too, he's been wrought with worry all evening not to mention that he must already be tired from running and protecting his owner. How he stayed awake after that is just a wonder in its own right."
Both heroines agreed before Recovery girl cleaning her throat, getting the men's attention as she told them, "As for the girl, she's mostly suffering from extreme exhaustion. Aside from needing to remove the Staples and restitch her wounds properly on her back she'll make a full recovery, thankfully she didn't lose too much blood so there's less to worry about there..." Soon the old veteran frowned as she then told them solemnly, "... There is one other thing however, not just on her back but also on the back of her upper forearms, everywhere but the spine and lower arms... She has numerous scars as you know, left and right, up and down, Most of which caused by what appears to be severe whiplashing to the point that they actually cut her up badly, and these latest 4, unlike the others, were made by a blade, judging by the angle and precision of them I can roughly say that they were done by a machete."
Both men paled in shock as their eyes widened in horror.
As if knowing what they were going to ask or imply, This time Nemuri answered for them saying, her face showing more seriousness then ever, "Without a doubt these are signs of severe child abuse, Especially as some of those wounds looked somewhat deep, while some of the others are not as deep, and are old enough to indicate that they've been there for years up until now, these new ones were only stitched up by staples no more than 3 1/2 hours ago. Most of her other wounds also showed that they too have been stapled shut in order to try and close them enough that it would be less concerning later. Probably not done by a doctor but perhaps someone she knew who knew enough first aid to be able to do a quick yet efficient enough patch job until she could be seen by a doctor... Though a part of us is doubtful that she ever did get to see a real doctor given that there are also numerous tiny scars of where staplers were for each of them. Not to mention that when we got her weight checked (Don't ask either of us how we did it) we realized that even though she looks for the most part physically healthy her weight on the other hand is less than it should be for somebody her age, Even if one her age were to attempt to go on a diet, how much she currently weighs now is low enough to be disconcerting, and upon further examination we saw that under her eyes she has some bags indicating that she hasn't gotten much sleep as of late."
The more she spoke the more their shock and concern grew, while for the number one hero he was angry, the boy on the other hand was more fearful.
To do such a horrible thing to a child the same age as Izuku was inexcusable, whoever was responsible was definitely going to be facing serious trouble.
Due to having less information they didn't know if there was anybody who would be looking for her, Good or otherwise, but the sooner they got the police involved the better.
"She's better off staying here until she is fully healed, we cannot risk her being recaptured by the people responsible for this." Recovery girl decided, "Besides, moving her now is not an option, she's in much need of bed rest and a good meal and the last thing we want to do is make things worse for her."
"Then it would be in our best interest to, in the meantime, call the police and notify them about the situation." Came the voice of Nezu, the hybrid and school principal, as his sudden appearance startled both of the men but not the woman as they were used to him doing that, Not paying any mind as The principal then said, "I saw everything on the cameras so I'm well aware of the situation here, and yes All Might I forgive you for not notifying me sooner given everything that was going on." This made the Blonde pale and blush at the same time before he started to cough up blood at his idiocy as the principal was already digging into the girls backpack, Ever nosy as He eventually pulled out a passport which he opened as he looked inside to see the information on there.
If the young green hair boy weren't freaking out over the principal snooping on the girls private information so abruptly he would have been geeking out over the fact that he was seeing The hybrid who was the only animal hero out there who has sentience and is the principal of The same school his hero graduated from or be surprised at how the principal knew his mentor was All Might even in his frail state.
"Concordia Jayden, Born July 20th, she's type O, The same age and blood type as your chosen successor All Might." He said aloud, casually as if he were speaking about the weather, blatantly ignoring how the blonde hero spat out blood once more in shock and the boys severe stuttering in flabbergastment as they hastily asked him how he even knew that as the principal continued like he didn't hear them, "She's from Manhattan, New York, A student at Lotus wood academy, has one relative although it's clear that she's not fond of him if the hastily crossed out name and angry frowny face next to it is any indication. This passport is relatively new given the fact that there's no sign of wear and tear and the fact that it's too shiny to be old. I can tell that this passport was only just validated recently, ran away from home most likely, If I were to wager I believe it's likely that her uncle, Martin Nathaniel Jayden, has been abusing her since she was younger."
The men only stopped freaking out when they heard the principal say this.
Basically confirming the child abuse, a runaway, a girl from the States who somehow was able to get from there to here, although given what the two of them saw earlier it was clear that someone with a portal quirk had abducted her (and All Might himself had deep feeling he knew who it was that could achieve such a thing). For it would have been impossible for her to be here so suddenly as a flight from New York to Japan would take maybe a day give or take If you were traveling on normal international flight lines.
"Oh! It appears that under skills, among all that's listed here, she's perfectly fluent in Japanese, sign language in English, Japanese and French, and French itself, so we don't have to worry about getting a translator for her once she wakes up." The principal stated, Which brought some bit of relief to the others knowing that this would make things a little easier, while all of them could speak English as well as Japanese, Knowing that she could do the same meant that they didn't have to worry about a language barrier in the future.
"Although this does leave me curious," The principal said as he closed the passport before turning back to the trio as he told them, "I've been recently doing research on schools in the states given that I've been given the notification ahead of time that we will have some transfers from there in the next coming year, I've only just finished looking up schools in New York and never once heard of Lotus wood academy. Perhaps the school is off the beaten path? A brand new one that hasn't been updated in the system yet? I won't know until I do research on this."
"Is there any emergency contact info we can get our hands on?" Recovery girl asked him, sternly stressing the urgency of the matter.
"There is. According to the passport there are only two people on it that we could get In contact with who could help us, Selene Jonathan And her daughter Ginger Lee Johnathan, with their numbers in here it'll be easy to contact them. All Might, call the police. Nemuri, see if you can get in contact with the contacts in the passport. Recovery girl, continue to monitor the girl. I'll look up on my computer to see if there were any incidents that may've happened recently there." The hybrid told them which they all nodded in understanding, inwardly sighing and relief at that as they went about their sighed tasks.
This left Izuku wondering what he should do in the meantime.
"In the meantime Mr Midoriya," The principal, who was showing Nemuri the contact info, then said which got the boys' attention, though this startled him a little, as he then told him, "You might want to think about calling your mother soon as she's probably wrought with worry by now given all that's happening tonight."
The boy paled deeply as he realized that he completely neglected to call his mother as he frantically pulled out his phone from his pants pocket, almost dropping it several times in frantically trying to dial the number before All Might, briefly, was able to calm him down enough so that he could do so without panicking.
Mentally face palming himself for having shut off the ringer as when he checked his phone he saw that he had a good number of missed phone calls and text messages on there from her, and nearly doing it physically too for accidentally putting it on silent rather than vibrate.
While the phone rang, the young fanboy can only hope that nothing else will go wrong tonight.
I just hope my writing isn't suffering from my plans.
Anyhow, I hope this wasn't a filter chapter for you guys, cause It wasn't my intention.
But a lot will go down in the next chapters, I can promise you.
Until next time, TTFN!!!