AN: Professor Donger: Damian wrote most of this chapter honestly, I just edited and made suggestions XD I'm getting ready for my two weeks of vacation at work so they're working me hard, so I haven't been able to write as much sadly... I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter though, brainstorming it and making sure it was up to standard was a lot of fun.
Damian02: Hey! What's this?! A new chapter within a week of the last one?! It must be Christmas!
But seriously, I had random bursts of hyperfocus, and I wrote a lot in single sittings, so this didn't take as long as other chapters, yet the length is no shorter, so no need to worry.
This fic is always a blast to write, and we enjoy seeing how people love it.
So, without further delay, we hope you enjoy!
Also, massive thanks to Professor Donger for helping me keep the chapter flowing smoothly. He, like always, deserves just as much credit as I do.
The next day was relatively tame for 1-A all things considered, they went to class, selected a class rep, and all in all it was a normal school day, the only noteworthy event being the rest of the class taking their turn against Flintlock, but nobody else won. So yeah, nothing out of the ordinary. That was saying something for a hero school, especially one as prestigious as UA.
The following day though was when things really started getting amped up and a bit insane. The students woke up and began walking to class, only to stop and watch as what could only be described as a mob of reporters swarmed UA's barrier, trying desperately to gain access to the school grounds and by extension the students and teachers who could give them the scoop of the century.
Namely, why All Might was teaching at UA.
It was a bit of a wake-up call for the students of UA about how much fame could really affect your personal life. All Might, being the Number 1 Hero, can't do anything without the press demanding answers. It was honestly a wonder how he could get anything done in his free time.
Luckily, the mob wasn't able to get past the gate. Flintlock and Aizawa were seen telling them to disperse, and a quick threat to their jobs and possible detainment seemed to have deterred any of the reporters from trying anything drastic.
And so the day went on as normal. Heroics class was less hectic, as Flintlock didn't even have them change into their costumes. The class just consisted of a lecture about proper rescue procedures, situational assessment, evacuation zones, communication, and prioritization in the event of disasters. Ochako was especially enthusiastic about the lesson, more enthusiastic than Tenya was, and that's saying something.
Even Katsuki was interested in the lesson, not nearly as interested as Ochako but enough to surprise most of the class, since he gave off the impression that he only cared about beating the crap out of villains. When asked about it, all he said was, "I'd be a shitty hero if I didn't know this shit."
Lunch eventually came around, and established friend groups sat with each other, but 1-A as a whole still sat in relatively close proximity with each other. Momo was helping Pony to translate notes from the lecture, as the American girl couldn't catch everything that was said and talked about.
"Why Japanese hard?" Pony pouted.
"It's, 'Why is Japanese so hard', Tsunotori." Momo corrected with a small smile, Pony repeating after her with a groan.
Ochako was busy stuffing her face with food. "I didn't know there was so much involved with dealing with disasters. I thought it was mostly just saving people, but it's a lot more complicated than you'd think."
Tenya, who was seated nearby, heard her and offered his own insight. "When working on such a large operation such as disaster relief, it is important to know all of what must be done to ensure the safety of those we as heroes must protect. It isn't simple, teamwork is a requirement, as one person alone cannot hope to carry the burden of saving so many people."
Mina pointed her chopsticks at him, and spoke with a full mouth, "Didn't All Might save like, over a hundred people on his own when he debuted?"
"Do not speak with a full mouth, Ashido!" Tenya chopped his arm at her, but before he could answer her actual question, Katsuki did.
"Even All Might didn't do all that shit alone. Yeah, he got the people out, but he couldn't treat all of them and go back for more survivors without wasting time." He picked up a piece of curry chicken and looked at it. "While he was busy getting people to safety, it was the other heroes on-site treating their wounds. Number One or not, he can't be in two places at once."
Ejirou, who was seated next to him, laughed. "Hard to remember that you're able to say stuff like that without yelling."
"Yeah," Denki butted in. "You're usually yelling some variation of 'die'."
"No, I fucking don't!" Katsuki yelled. "Go to Hell, Dunce Face!"
Denki pointed at him. "You just did it again!"
"No, I said go to Hell!" Katsuki gripped his chopsticks so hard that one of them snapped.
"It's basically the same thing!"
"No, it isn't!"
"Kinda is, bro." Ejirou chimed in.
"Shut it, Shitty Hair!"
"Bakugou, you are causing a disturbance! Cease this aggressive behavior immediately before we get into trouble!" Tenya reprimanded him. Katsuki merely growled before sitting back down and eating his curry. Tenya pushed up his glasses and continued. "But yes, Bakugou is correct. Even the best of heroes require the assistance of others in times of great conflict."
"You seem to know a lot about the importance of teamwork, Iida," Momo noted. "Even yesterday, you coordinated with Sero well during your match."
"Almost had her!" Hanta slammed his fist against the table. "I forgot she had a knife!"
"As did I." Tenya took a bite of his food before addressing Momo again. "I suppose you could say I have been exposed to individuals who know the value of teamwork more than anyone." He cryptically said.
"His brother's Ingenium." Katsuki bluntly said before continuing to eat.
That earned a shocked "What?!" from a few people at the table.
"Iida! You're related to Ingenium?! Like, The Turbo Hero: Ingenium?!" Ochako yelled out in disbelief.
"I… I didn't feel the need to flaunt my familial connection to him." Tenya admitted. "Honestly, I wanted to make a name for myself, with my own actions while here at UA. Being affiliated with my amazing older brother immediately would give me a reputation that wasn't my own." He explained.
"Ah, that's understandable." Momo nodded. "As the heiress to the Yaoyorozu family fortune, I understand the desire to make genuine friendships with peers."
Ochako blinked at her, then turned to Tenya, then back to Momo, and repeated the process a few more times, before looking down at her food with disbelief on her face.
"I'm surrounded by rich kids…" She said in a sort of daze.
"Ochako?" Pony nudged her, but her friend was still unresponsive. "Ochako?!" Pony, worried, started shaking her a little too aggressively. "Snap out of it!"
Ochako luckily did, then her eyes shifted over to Pony and narrowed in suspicion. She then grabbed the sides of Pony's head, and squished her cheeks together as she asked, "Pony! Are you a rich kid too?!"
"Waa?!" Pony said through her face being squished. "No!" She managed to shake her head a bit.
"Oh, thank god!" Ochako breathed a sigh of relief as she let her friend's face go, and slumped in her seat. "I was starting to feel way out of my league." Pony patted her on the back.
Ejirou, though, couldn't help but ask, "Wait, Bakugou, how did you know Iida was related to Ingenium?" Others seemed to have the same question as they paid attention for his answer.
Katsuki was halfway to taking another bite when he put his chopsticks down and took a deep breath through his nose. "Fucking dumbasses," he breathed out quietly, before saying in a normal (for Katsuki) volume, "I'm gonna list things I want you all to think about, and if you can't put the pieces together, then I'm honestly gonna wonder how you passed the written exam to get into this school."
He started listing, holding up a finger for every new thing he said. "His last name, his costume, his fucking quirk."
"... Oh!" Everyone realized at once.
"Idiots." He grumbled.
"You know," Tsuyu said from nearby, "If you keep calling people mean things like 'idiots' and 'dumbasses', then no one is going to like you."
"Piss off, Frogger! There are people here who like me!" Katsuki yelled at her.
"Flintlock-Sensei does not count. Kero."
Katsuki growled but went back to eating after giving one last retort. "Go fuck yourself."
Tsuyu put a finger to her chin. "You know, I did that once."
Everyone screeched to a halt with what they were doing, and everyone turned their heads to look at Tsuyu with wide eyes.
"Kero... I have a long tongue."
Tooru started choking on her food.
"You know, it was, oddly enough, pretty satisfying. Kero." Tsuyu just kept going.
"Too much info, Tsu!" Tooru yelled between coughs. "Too much info!"
"Oh please," Tsuyu said, "As if you wouldn't have tried it at least once if you could. Kero."
"What the…?" Ochako said, blushing heavily in embarrassment. "I mean, maybe I would, but I wouldn't just openly talk about how I did it. And during lunch, no less!"
No one noticed Minoru muttering something about keeping his promise to Flintlock-Sensei while plugging his ears…
Tsuyu shrugged, not feeling an ounce of shame. "I'm blunt, what can I say?"
"Nothing!" Katsuki yelled. "Say. Nothing!
"Hmm, I could… but I won't. Kero."
"Is Iida okay?" Pony asked, and everyone looked at the aforementioned man.
He was stock still, completely unresponsive, and didn't budge when someone tried to shake him out of it.
"I think I broke Iida." Tsuyu said.
"You think?" Kyouka tried poking him with her jacks, but they didn't work. "I'm thinking we should get him to Recovery Girl."
Before anyone could say anything else, a loud alarm went off through the speakers in the cafeteria.
"ATTENTION. SECURITY BREACH DETECTED. ALL STUDENTS PLEASE PROCEED IN AN ORDERLY FASHION TO THE DESIGNATED RENDEZVOUS ZONES. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."
The alarm had ripped Tenya out of whatever trance he was in, and he grabbed a passing 2nd year. "Excuse me! What is happening?!"
The student, looking panicked, shook his head. "I-I don't know! A break-in, maybe?! This hasn't happened before! Just get to the rendezvous zone for your class and let the heroes handle it!" And with that, he ran off.
"Uhm, didn't they say, 'orderly fashion'!?" Minoru yelled and was almost swept away by the rush of students before an arm grabbed him and pulled him up. "Wha!"
"I've got you." The calm voice of Mezo said as he placed Minoru on his back, above the rush of people. His size kept him from being swept away in the chaos.
Others weren't so lucky. Tenya got pushed and shoved and eventually found himself up against the windows. Kinda having nowhere else to look, he looked outside and saw that there was a large crowd of… reporters? The same ones that were mobbing the gate that morning.
"The press… they tripped the alarm!" He realized. He looked around, spotted Momo nearby, and yelled for her attention. "Yaoyorozu! We aren't under attack! The news reporters tripped the alarms!"
"News reporters?!" She yelled in disbelief. "Then- oomph! Then this panic is for nothing!"
"We must calm the crowd before someone gets hurt!" Tenya advised.
"On it!" Momo tried to lift her shirt just high enough to make a megaphone so she could be heard, but the pushing and shoving were making it impossible. She was once again swept up by the crowd, losing Tenya and getting the occasional elbow to her stomach.
Her hand, which was in the hair, was suddenly grabbed, and she felt weightless as she was pulled into the air. She looked up to see Ochako, who was being held around her waist by Pony, who was using her left hand to hold onto one of her horns.
Ochako had negated their gravity, allowing Pony to use one of her horns to easily fly above the crowds.
"Gotcha!" Ochako yelled as she pulled Momo higher. Another horn, courtesy of Pony, came around for Momo to grab.
"Thank you!" Momo thanked her friends, before proceeding with her plan. She made the megaphone and pointed for Pony to take them to the front of the mob. Once there, she activated the megaphone and yelled. "Everybody stop!"
Due to mob mentality, once a good portion of people stopped to stare at the flying girls, others followed suit. With their attention on them, Momo continued.
"Nobody is in danger! It's just the press! They broke onto campus and activated the intruder alarm. There are no villains! This panicking is all for nothing! Now, do as we were told, and calmly proceed to the rendezvous zones. Thank you."
Chatter spread amongst the student body, but they all complied and started to leave, much calmer than before.
The three girls sighed in relief, before Ochako spoke, a little queasy. "Can we get down now? I'm starting to feel nauseous… and I just noticed that if people wanted to, they could see up our skirts." She said quietly.
All three girls blushed at the realization, and Pony wasted no time getting them back down. Once down, Ochako returned their gravity before nearly falling over from using her quirk on herself right after eating. Luckily Pony caught her and kept her upright. Much to the gravity girl's embarrassment, but she smiled and thanked Pony, anyway.
"Everyone make sure nobody is hurt, then get to the rendezvous zone, hopefully, the teachers can get this all sorted out soon." Momo reiterated to her own class.
Mina patted her on the back as she walked by with a smile "See Momo! This is why we made you Class Rep and not Bakugou! He'd just explode everyone and call it a day!"
Katsuki didn't even deny it as he walked by, which concerned everyone but they let it slide.
Ochako was about to start walking when she realized Pony hadn't let her go yet. Shuffling nervously she cleared her throat, "Hey uh, Pony you can let me go ya know?"
For a moment it seemed like Pony wasn't even listening, muttering something about "Mochi" and softness before coming back to her senses with a blush and immediately letting Ochako go. Her eyes widened in realization as she muttered in English, "Oh my God…" With that, she rushed out of the building.
Ochako tilted her head in confusion, before looking toward Momo. "Can I get a translation?"
Momo cleared her throat. "It was… uh… nothing too important."
Minoru, who was walking by, snickered. "Sure it wasn't."
Ochako pouted. "You guys are unhelpful."
"You'll figure it out eventually," Minoru assured her with a thumbs up. "Just wait."
Ochako frowned at her friends (and who would have thought Minoru would count within that small list of people) but shrugged and moved to follow Pony.
She failed to notice Momo bending down and fist bumping Minoru's outstretched fist.
A few minutes ago
Izumi was in the teacher's lounge with the rest of the staff, talking with Toshinori and both homeroom teachers of Classes 1-A and 1-B. They were just going over what the plan for tomorrow's heroics class was, and how the USJ trip would take up half the day for each class.
"You know, it may be best to just cancel the other classes for the day." Izumi said. "We can have 1-A be the first half of the day, then we can have 1-B be the second half."
"Canceling all their other classes?" Toshinori raised an eyebrow. "Is that such a good idea?"
"Disaster relief is a long process, not one that can be properly simulated in under an hour," Aizawa told him with a disinterested shrug. "Not everyone can be you." He blandly said much to Toshi's embarrassment.
Vlad hummed. "Yes, it usually takes hours, hell, even days. Obviously, that won't be the case here, but I'm sure missing one day of the other hero course-based classes wouldn't hurt."
"Hm, I suppose you're right." Toshinori nodded. "And it will give us time for the students to get experience with every zone."
Before the teachers could deliberate more, the intruder alarm went off, and everyone in the lounge jumped to their feet.
Ch-Chk!
Aizawa barely heard the sound but looked to his left where he knew it came from, and nearly jumped back at the sight of Izumi holding an M4A1 assault rifle that she definitely did not have on her person before!
"Where the hell did you get that?" He quickly asked.
"I'm sorry, I've been here in Japan for how long now? You should know I have guns!" She responded with a grin.
"I know that, but where were you even hiding that?" He clarified gesturing to the gun.
"Concealed carry motherfucker."
Before anyone could question further, or move to secure the school, Principal Nezu fell from the ceiling, suspended and hanging from his tail.
"Not to worry! There are no villains!" He quickly explained, before pulling out a button and pressing it, which stopped the alarms from blaring. "It's merely the press, who somehow have gotten past the barrier."
Groans were heard around the room. Izumi sighed, "Seriously? They're that desperate for an interview with Uncle Might?"
"Damn vultures," Aizawa mumbled, then noticed that the assault rifle Izumi had was gone. "Okay, where did it go?"
"I put it away," Izumi said as if it was obvious.
"But where?"
"Concealed. Carry." Izumi slowly replied.
Midnight nearby put a hand to her chin in a questioning gesture. "Do you just… have guns on you the whole time?"
"Yes. And no, I won't tell you how many." Izumi answered.
"It's a lot." Toshinori chimed in helpfully, Izumi nodding along in confirmation.
"Aizawa, Yamada," Nezu called for the two's attention. "Would you kindly get those heathens off of my campus?"
"Sure thing, boss." Present Mic stood up. "Come on Shouta, let's go greet your favorite people."
As Aizawa walked by Izumi, he looked at her and asked, "Could I borrow that rifle?"
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Izumi gave an over-the-top laugh, before she paused and looked Aizawa dead in the eye, a smile on her face but a serious look in her eyes. "No."
Aizawa shrugged before following Mic. "Eh, it was worth a shot."
Everyone went back to finish up what they were doing before they went to meet their respective classes at the rendezvous zones. Izumi sighed and sat down, as did Toshinori.
He looked up at Nezu, still hanging from the ceiling and now drinking a cup of tea, and said, "I deeply apologize for the trouble my presence here has brought, Nezu."
"No worries, Yagi." Nezu somehow took a sip while upside down. "It was bound to happen."
Izumi smirked and asked, "How do you drink that without spilling any?"
Nezu slowly brought the cup to his lips, "Carefully."
Izumi chuckled and accepted that answer, before turning to Toshinori. "But yeah, don't sweat it, Uncle Might. It was bound to happen. It's not like you could have done what me and my Pa have had to do back in the States."
"Oh? You've had this issue as well?" Toshinori asked.
"Yep! When your dad is the CEO of a multi-billion dollar support company, and you're not just a quirkless hero, but the Number 10 in the whole United States, then reporters are bound to come knocking." She explained. "Luckily, the government helps by giving misleading tips and sources, so the press never really are able to find out where we actually live. They expect the Midoriyas to live in some high-end mansion, but we don't."
"Brilliant, Miss Midoriya," Nezu nodded, "But you're right. Once word got out that All Might is teaching at UA, it's not as if we could deny it or mislead them. I just wished humans weren't so stubborn and idiotic."
Before they could continue the conversation, Izumi's phone started ringing. The ringtone sounded… kinda Gothic, with the tone and the choir. Izumi pulled her phone out with a confused expression, before noticing the others and answering their unasked question.
"It's music from a game Himiko likes to play, about beasts and great ones and blood. I had it set as her ringtone as a joke. But…" She looked at her phone with slight worry, "She shouldn't be calling right now, I think."
"Hm, perhaps she just wants to hear your voice?" Toshinori guessed. "You said she's nervous about the new school. Maybe she thinks you can calm her down."
Izumi shrugged before answering her little sister's call. "Hey, Grem… lin… Himiko?" Izumi sounded worried, and though the others in the room couldn't hear what was being said on the other side of the call, they could barely make out panicked rambling and possibly crying.
"Hey, hey, Himiko, stop, slow down. What's wrong?" Izumi's tone was soft and comforting as she listened to the call. The others saw as whatever she heard seemed to make her… angry would be an understatement. She looked more enraged.
"Where are you?" She kept her calm and sisterly tone, already grabbing her stuff and moving to leave the lounge, before turning and looking up at Nezu, mouthing "I have to go" to her boss, who nodded and waved for her to get going. "Okay, sweetie, just stay on the line. Keep talking to me. I'm on my way." That was all they heard before the door closed.
The lounge was silent after that. No one really knew what to say.
"Himiko's her sister, right?" Midnight broke the silence. "I think I remember meeting her once. Sweet girl. I hope she's okay."
"Honestly? I'm concerned for the safety of whoever made Flintlock mad."
"Agreed," Toshinori said with a nod
In the short time, they've known her, everyone knew two things about Izumi Midoriya.
Never piss her off, and never hurt her family.
Someone managed to do both at the same time.
"... Well, I better get to my office and look into funeral services then." Nezu then disappeared into the ceiling.
"I hate the Press," Aizawa grumbled as the reporters continued to demand All Might, despite being told of their trespassing and ordered to leave.
"We could detain them you know," Mic whispered. "This is private property, and they're trespassing."
"As tempting as that is, you'll end up having your rep ruined by fake news. We'll need to wait for the police, or figure something else out." Aizawa groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Just then, they heard rapidly approaching footsteps. Turning Aizawa glanced behind him and saw Izumi speed walking while talking on her phone.
"Okay, just breathe, don't hyperventilate. In, count to four, and breath out." She said.
She pushed past Aizawa and Mic and went out into the crowd of reporters, not giving a damn about them. They all recognized her as the woman that had stopped them at the gate that morning, they were about to swarm her with questions when they caught the look of quiet rage in her eye, and wisely let her pass through without harassment.
Except for one reporter, who was so desperate for a scoop that he ignored his primal instincts screaming at him to maybe not. Seeing as no one was mobbing Izumi, He rushed up to the gunslinger and motioned for his camera guy to get ready. "Excuse me! Miss! What can you tell us about-"
Before he could finish, in a fraction of a second, the camera was snatched away from the cameraman and was held in what Aizawa recognized as Izumi's prosthetic hand. Wordlessly, Izumi crushed the camera in her hand and let the pieces fall to the ground. The reporter was about to yell at her for breaking his equipment but flinched back when he saw Izumi's lone glowing green eye glancing at him from the corner of her eye. A dark aura seemed to radiate out from Izumi, causing the mob to wilt under her glare, and if Aizawa didn't know for a fact that she was quirkless, he would have thought the intimidating aura was her quirk.
Izumi spoke, in a quiet voice that contained the fury of a thousand suns. "Go on. Someone else try to shove a camera in my face." When no one else tried, when no one else even dared to move, she continued. "Get the fuck out of UA right now, or you're gonna end up like that camera. Now move it!" She barked out that last order, before turning and continuing towards the parking garage.
She spoke into the phone again, this time in a more gentle voice. "No, no sweetie, I wasn't talking to you. It was reporters. Just keep talking with me, tell me what you want Jin to make tonight for dinner."
Everyone stood silently as she walked off before the mob turned back to Aizawa and Mic. Mic was just as shocked, his mouth hanging open and his sunglasses hanging off his nose, revealing his wide scared eyes, while Aizawa was less so. He shrugged and said, "Well? You heard the woman. Get out."
Every reporter listened to him after that.
Up in the windows of the building, A few straggling members of Class 1-A saw what had happened. Though they couldn't quite hear, they got the gist of what happened.
Pony gave a fangirl scream. "She's so badass!"
"Flintlock is scary. Kero." Tsuyu said.
"Tell me something I don't know," Katsuki growled out, before moving on and turning back to his conversation with Ejirou.
Izumi used her eye to track the call, specifically the GPS in her sister's phone, and quickly zeroed in on her little sister's location. She wasn't at school anymore; she was in an alley near it.
She quickly pulled her motorcycle to a stop at the entrance to the alley, and disembarked, taking off her helmet and roughly placing it on the seat of the bike. She rushed into the alley, checking behind every piece of cover she passed, not leaving a single nook or cranny unchecked. Eventually, she heard the sounds of erratic breathing and crying and sprinted towards the source.
"Himiko?!" She called out, and the crying got louder. It came from behind a dumpster, and Izumi quickly grabbed it by its corners and shoved it to the side easily, and gasped at the sight before her. "Himiko!"
Himiko, her little sister, was curled up in a ball, with blood all over her uniform.
Izumi crouched in front of Himiko and held her hands. "Hey, hey, Himiko. It's me. It's Izumi. Look at me."
Himiko slowly, shakily, lifted her head. As she did, Izumi could see the blood that was all over her face, the tears had left marks on their paths down her face as she cried. When she saw Izumi, she threw herself at her and hugged her tight, her crying going from a stifled sob to a full-blown bawling fit. She tried to talk, but her words were unintelligible.
"Shh, don't talk. Focus on breathing and calming down." Izumi told her, stroking her hair, which had come loose from the bun they put it in that morning. "I'm going to ask yes or no questions. Nod or shake your head, but don't talk. You don't have to talk, okay?"
Himiko nodded. Yes.
"Okay. Are you physically hurt?" She asked.
Himiko shook her head. No.
"This blood isn't yours?"
Again another shake No.
Izumi was about to ask if she had hurt anyone but thought better of it. Instead, she asked. "Is all this blood from your drinks?"
A nod. Yes.
Good, so she didn't hurt anyone or at least didn't make anyone bleed.
Before she could ask her other question, the sound of hissing reached her ears. She gripped Himiko tightly and looked around only to find nothing. She didn't relax. Instead, she looked up the side of the wall to see what looked to be a six-armed girl about Himiko's age glaring at her with eight multicolored eyes as she crawled on the side of the building.
"What are you doing to Himiko!?" The girl hissed and Izumi stopped herself from reaching for her gun and sighed.
"Don't do that intimidation shit right now kid, especially not with me." She grumbled as she went back to hugging Himiko. "I'm her big sister, and she called me. I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on and you trying to protect her, while adorable, isn't helping!"
"Sister?" The spider-like girl questioned, her eyes squinting before they widened in realization. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I threatened a Pro-Hero!" She skittered off the wall before standing up properly and fidgeting with her multiple sets of hands. "Am I going to jail? Shit, what will mom think!?"
Himiko, much to Izumi's surprise, giggled a little at the girl's antics, and Izumi smiled at her sister before looking at the new girl, putting the pieces together. "You're… Kumo right? Himiko's friend?"
The newly named Kumo nearly fainted at being recognized, though Izumi couldn't tell if it was from hero worship or fear. Maybe a bit of both? "A Pro-Hero knows my name…"
Just then a boy walked into the alleyway carrying Himiko's backpack, which had bloodstains on it, a worried look on his face. "Did you find her Kumo?" He called out, then his eyes widened when he saw Izumi staring at him. "Oh, hey Miss Flintlock. Here's Himiko's backpack. Sorry, it has blood on it." He handed it to her nonchalantly and Izumi squinted at him, "Is she gonna be okay?"
"I hope so… You're Samidare right? Tsuyu Asui's younger brother?"
He nodded with a cheerful grin. "Big sis has talked about you over the phone," before he turned serious. "Though from what I've heard from her and from Himiko, you're pretty scary."
Kumo frowned at him and started pounding on his back "You can't just call a Pro-Hero scary, Sami-Chan! And how come you recognized her, but I didn't!?"
"I'm observant, Kero."
Himiko's cry's had turned into happy giggles at this point and Izumi's cautious grin turned into a soft smile, happy that these two could get this response out of her sister. She was still trembling and breathing heavily from crying but she was on the way to recovery and that was all that mattered. Picking Himiko up she turned to the other two with a frown. "Can you two follow me to the Principal's office? I'm going to go find out what happened to my sister."
"No!" Himiko immediately panicked and gripped tighter onto Izumi. "I don't want to go back! Don't make me go back! I'll just hurt someone!"
"Himiko, you won't hurt anyone." Samidare said.
"Yeah!" Kumo nodded vigorously. "Okay, so maybe you pounced onto Sami-Chan when he opened that closet door, looking like a vampire straight out of a horror movie," Himiko whimpered, and Kumo quickly added, "B-but you didn't hurt him!"
"Closet door?" Izumi furrowed her eyebrows. She looked down at Himiko, who looked like she was attempting to merge her body with Izumi's to escape. She didn't want to go back to school, and forcing her to wouldn't help, but she couldn't be left alone either, even with friends. "Okay, you two." She ordered pointing with her free hand at Himiko's two friends.
Samidare ribbited and Kumo straightened up. "Yes, Ma'am?"
"Can you tell me what happened? Everything you know." Izumi asked.
A few hours earlier
"Kumo, you better have brought more than muffins for lunch this time." Samidare said as they sat down for class. "If not, then tell me now."
Kumo pouted as she sat down. "Of course I did! You and Himi-Chan got mad at me yesterday for not having any 'actual' food." She used air quotes when she said "actual".
"Muffins have never and will never be actual food." Samidare told her.
"Says you."
"Says a lot of people, actually. Kero."
Kumo rolled her eyes and got comfortable in her seat. One would think that having eight arms would make sitting at a desk awkward, but Kumo was used to it, so it didn't bother her. But there was one thing bothering her.
"Is Himi-Chan going to make it to class in time?" She asked.
"Kero. Hopefully. Maybe we should have waited by the restrooms for her." Samidare thought out loud. "Kinda feel bad for leaving her like that, even though she said she was fine on her own."
"Should we go check on her?" Kumo suggested.
Samidare shook his head with a croak. "I'm sure she's fine. If she's a little late from using the restrooms, Mister Fiji will understand."
"Yeah, you're right." Kumo nodded in agreement. "He's cool like that."
Soon enough class started, with Himiko not yet seated. Fiji continued on with the class, but Kumo and Samidare silently worried about their friend. The class just kept going, and hours later, when it was time for lunch, there was still no sign of Himiko.
"Okay, something is wrong." Samidare stood and motioned for Kumo to follow. The two walked up to Fiji. "Mister Fiji?"
"Hm?" The giant man looked down at them. "Asui? Takeuchi? Is something the matter?"
"Himiko never came back from the restroom," Kumo explained. "Is she okay? Did she maybe go home?"
Fiji looked at them in confusion. "Midoriya? She was here today? I didn't know, I thought she was absent. Though I suppose if she was, I would have been notified by the office."
His words only worried the two more. Kumo was the one to take initiative. "Alright, come on Sami-Chan. We're going to look for her." Samidare ribbited in agreement, but before the two could leave the classroom, Fiji called out to them.
"Hold on, you two. You can't go wandering the halls during lunch."
"But-" Fiji stopped Kumo by holding his massive hand up.
"Not without a hall pass, which I was about to give you. Let people finish their sentences, Takeuchi." He jotted them a hall pass before passing it to Samidare.
"Sorry, sir." Kumo apologized with a bow.
"Thank you, sir. Kero" Samidare also bowed.
"Make sure she's okay, will you?" Fiji requested, before motioning for them to leave.
"Yes, sir!" They both shouted out as they left.
The first obvious place to check was the girl's restroom that Himiko went to, so that's where they started.
"I'm not going in there." Samidare stated.
"Why not?" Kumo pouted at him. His response was nothing but gesturing with his hand to the sign that stated it was the girl's restroom. "... Oh."
"Let me know if you find anything. Kero."
Kumo went into the restroom while Samidare waited outside. Not too long after she went in, Samidare narrowed his eyes, and taking a guess at what Kumo was doing, called out into the restroom, "Kumo, you better not be crawling on the ceiling to look into the stalls! Kero."
"... I'm not… anymore." He heard her sheepishly reply.
"Kero…" He sighed in exasperation.
Kumo soon came out, shaking her head. "She's not in there." She said,
Samidare ribbited in slight frustration. Then, he smelled something, his quirk having given him a heightened sense of smell. Taking a few sniffs of the air, he turned to Kumo. "Do you smell that?"
Kumo looked at him confused. "We're in front of the bathrooms, Sami-Chan. You're probably gonna smell something."
"That's not what I'm smelling. Kero." He sniffed again. "It smells like… iron? This way." He quickly ran down the hall, Kumo right behind him.
The smell was strong and new. It wasn't much, but it's all they had, so may as well follow it. To their confusion, the trail led to the next floor up. They continued to follow the smell, and turning a corner, saw a familiar bag on the ground.
"That's Himiko's!" Kumo rushed ahead and kneeled next to the bag. She gasped at the red stains on it. "Did she get hurt?! Did someone hurt her?!" She started hissing as her eyes narrowed. "If someone hurt my friend, I'll-"
"Calm down," Samidare told her as he bent over, picking up a discarded box that seemed to have been stepped on, spilling out a strange red liquid. He sniffed it before he held it away, his face scrunched up. "A blood drink?"
"Huh?" Kumo looked over and saw the can. "Oh, I saw Himiko drink from those boxes a few times. That's blood?"
"Smells like it. Kero."
"Let me see?" Kumo took the can and gave it a quick sip. "Yep, that's blood."
"I forget that blood doesn't bother you. Kero." Samidare mentioned.
"Spider quirk, bloods a pretty tasty treat for me." Kumo reminded him, then frowned at the can. "Honestly, I'm surprised Himiko needs to drink blood since I thought her quirk was shapeshifting, but that doesn't matter right now."
"Right. Kero." Samidare looked back at the bag. "So the blood was from the can, and Himiko's bag is here… so where is she?"
Thump!
A noise coming from a nearby door made the two freeze in place. They both turned their heads to look at the door, which seemed to have been boarded shut.
"Uhm… correct me if I'm wrong," Kumo started, pointing at the door, "But I'm pretty sure a broom closet doesn't need to be boarded up like that."
"They're not. Kero." Samidare moved forwards. "Help me out here."
"Right." Kumo walked up, and using the strength of her six arms, tore the boards off the door, pretty easily too.
Samidare grabbed the door handle and quickly pulled it open. It surprised both of them to find nothing out of the ordinary in the broom closet. Definitely, nothing that would warrant it being barricaded. Releasing the breath they didn't even know they were holding in, Kumo walked back over to the bag.
"I don't get it!" She said in frustration, looking through the bag and finding Himiko's phone. "Where is she?! She wouldn't skip school!"
"Definitely not without her bag and phone. Kero." Samidare gave the broom closet one last scan, before turning to Kumo.
When he turned his back to the closet, however, a figure, shrouded in the closet's darkness, landed behind him with no sound. Glowing, yellow, cat-like eyes narrowed in on their prey, and the figure got ready to jump.
Kumo looked back in Samidare's direction just in time to notice and warn him. "Behind you!" She yelled in panic.
"Kero?!" Samidare turned around just in time to catch the figure as they pounced on him. The two fell to the ground just outside the closet, and the light of the hallway revealed who Samidare's aggressor was.
Himiko, with her teeth bared, baring sharp elongated fangs, had her eyes focused entirely on Samidare as she tried to scratch at him with her nails. Her entire demeanor screamed feral as she mindlessly tried to cut into him, but he was holding her arms back, though it was a struggle to do so, as she was deceptively strong. With her arms held back, she instead tried to bite him, but just as she went in for a bite at Samidare's head, four arms, two grabbing each of her shoulders, stopped her.
"Himiko! Stop!" Kumo yelled as she pulled the feral girl back. Her two remaining hands went to hold on to Himiko's arms. Himiko continued to snarl and scream and try to bite at the two, but couldn't while being held the way she was. Her crazed eyes darted around until they landed on her bag…
And the blood…
Blood…
Blood…
Blood!
She snapped her head back and hit Kumo square in the nose, causing the spider girl to yelp in pain and surprise, as well as let go of Himiko. Once freed, instead of trying to attack them again, she threw herself at her bag. She grabbed the crushed juice box of blood and held it above her head, letting its remaining contents spill out of it and into her mouth, and some of it onto her uniform as well.
But she wasn't satisfied. It wasn't enough for her. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out another juice box, but instead of opening it properly, she sank her teeth into the side and ripped it open, allowing the blood to spill out into her mouth, on her face, and onto her clothes.
Once the blood stopped flowing, Himiko dropped the box and panted heavily while on her knees. Her body slumped and seemed to relax, a smile of pure bliss on her face. Her eyes drifted around and landed on her phone, which had been dropped next to her bag. She lazily reached over and picked it up. As she brought it up to her face and was about to turn it on, she stopped at what she saw in the reflection of her black screen.
The sight of her with blood all over her face.
"What?" She reached a hand up to her face, and the reflection did the same. Her eyes widened as her breathing slowly became shallow. "No… no no no no."
"Kumo, are you okay!" Himiko heard from behind her, and she turned around to see Samidare checking on Kumo, who was holding her forehead and shaking her head to get rid of dizziness.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Kumo said. She then set her eight eyes on Himiko, and Kumo's eyes widened in fear when she noticed Himiko looking at them.
Seeing the fear in her eyes, the blood all over her… Himiko felt her own eyes burn as tears ran down her face, making their way through the blood. She opened her mouth and tried to apologize, to say sorry, beg forgiveness, anything, but nothing came out but strangled sobs and hiccups.
How could she when her only friends looked at her like… like…
Like she was a monster.
Fight or flight kicked in, and with her feral instincts gone, Himiko chose flight and ran. She had no plan or destination, she just knew she needed to get away.
Himiko ignored the pleas for her to come back. She just kept running. She ran out of the school. Ran across the streets. Eventually, she ran into the alleyway next to the school and took shelter behind a dumpster. Her breathing was erratic, and her body felt numb. She was having a panic attack, and she knew it.
She brought her knees up to her chest and cried into them. It was only then that she noticed her phone was still clutched in her hand. With shaking hands, she turned it on and scrolled through her contacts.
Izumi. She just wanted Izumi.
She needed her big sister.
"And that's pretty much all we know. We ran out here looking for her. Kero." Samidare finished explaining.
"Sami-Chan tracked her down by following the smell," Kumo noted.
Izumi, meanwhile, had her eyes closed and was busy trying to stay calm and not commit murder. Hell, she had to focus on keeping her own breathing normal, as with every detail from their story, she just became more enraged. Her blood boiled when she heard about how Himiko was boarded up and locked in a closet like some kind of animal. The recount of how she attacked her friends made Himiko once again start crying her eyes out, a stream of apologies spilling forth as well.
Instead of raging though, Izumi focused on the two other children in front of her. "Thank you both, for looking for her, and worrying about her." She stroked a hand through Himiko's hair. "I… I'm going to take her home and help her clean up. Are either of you hurt?"
Both Kumo and Samidare shook their heads, and Izumi nodded. "Good. Head back to class, and let your teacher know what happened, and that I took Himiko home."
"We'll tell Mister Fiji. He'll understand. Kero." Samidare nodded.
'Fiji? Fiji… Why does that name sound familiar?' Izumi thought, before shaking her head. She had more important things to worry about.
"Thank you. Both of you. Now get back to class before you get in trouble." She told them.
"Yes, Ma'am." They both bowed before leaving. Kumo, though, stopped and looked back. "She's… She'll be okay, right?"
"She will. I'll make sure of that." Izumi said.
Kumo nodded, gave one last worried glance at Himiko, then left.
Himiko's breath hitched, and Izumi once again stroked her hair. "Shh, it's okay. I'm right here. It's just us. You don't need to hold it in front of me." At her words, the dam broke, and Himiko let out a wail as she cried even harder. "That's it. Let it out, Himiko."
Izumi, not ceasing her comforting strokes, walked back towards her bike.
"Everything's gonna be okay. I'm here."
"Who the hell is Flintlock?" A pale-blue-haired man bluntly asked as he scratched at his neck.
"Tomura Shigaraki, please stop scratching at your neck." A man made of shadowy mist, dressed as a bartender, scolded him. "You'll make your condition worse."
"I didn't ask for skin-care advice, Kurogiri," Tomura growled out. "I asked who this random mob is." He gestured at the teacher's schedule, which he stole earlier that day. "I recognize Thirteen, Eraserhead, and All Might," he spat out the last name. "But who's this Flintlock guy?!"
"I do not recognize the name either," Kurogiri admitted. He then looked over at the TV, placed at the edge of the bar they were gathered at. "Sensei, could you perhaps provide insight?"
The TV showed no image, only the words "Audio Only." From it, a voice spoke. "Not a name I recognize. But the word… flintlock. Centuries ago, long before quirks, people would fight wars using firearms that operated using flintlock mechanisms to fire. It's likely the name is related."
"Doesn't matter." Tomura looked to the corner of the bar, where a hulking black figure with an exposed brain sat in the corner. "Nomu will crush anyone in our way, and with him… we'll kill All Might." A child-like giggle escaped his lips.
"Do not underestimate your enemies, Tomura." Sensei warned. "This will be a mission of utmost importance. You will be the one to do what none have managed before. You will kill the Symbol of Peace."
From his seat, Tomura bowed his head to the TV. "I won't fail you, Sensei."
The TV was silent for a moment before Sensei spoke. "I know you won't."
Without another word, it shut off. Tomura looked toward Kurogiri and gave a simple order.
"Let everyone know," a maniacal smile spread across his face.
"Tomorrow's raid day."