The next few days were spent healing up, which meant I missed the majority of the I-Expo, but at least I finally got to give Mina her Pokémon stuff while my mother and Toshinori gave us a few minutes of privacy.
"So... it wasn't a bad vacation, right?" I joked as I set my Pikachu plush next to me.
Mina didn't seem to find it as funny, setting her plush next to mine before sighing.
"Shush." She decided, pushing her hand against my face, a laugh erupting from me and making me stop almost immediately, pain racking my body.
"I said to "shush." She told me, sitting on the edge of the bed, on the right side.
I stuck my tongue out at her, grinning like a madman as I offered my hand to her, pulling her against me as she took it.
"I'll hurt you." She protested, but I wasn't worried about being hurt, just running my hands through her hair.
"I'll live. Besides, I'm using blackwhip to protect the area." I told her, closing my eyes and letting out a deep breath I hadn't noticed I'd been holding, stress seeming to melt off.
"You're such a corny nerd." She mumbled softly, making me have to suppress a chuckle.
"It's a good thing you like corny nerds." I replied as I played with her hair until I fell asleep.
The best part of being at the most medically advanced place in the world meant I only spent a few days in the hospital before i got to go home, a gift box waiting on me the morning I left.
Mellisa made me some nifty braces for my arms so I could push my arms even further without hurting myself later. That meant I could go even further beyond.
Going even further beyond. That's what I said I'd do at the USJ. Hadn't I done just that? How much further could I go?
These thoughts consumed me over the next few days, all the way to our special training that was supposed to take place at summer camp. Now, it was at a boring combat zone at one of U.A.s stupid facilities. Which meant going to school early just to shore up the places I was weak. My lack of combat skills was a huge weakness, one that nearly ended me on I-Island. If All Might hadn't arrived, I'd have died.
The thought made me almost shake with anger. I was supposed to be a hero, the best hero. The strongest. A new symbol of peace and prosperity. But now that All Might was so weak, it was only a matter of time before it came down to me because I knew the kind of man Endeavor was. And if he was so awful, the rest of them had to be just as bad, if not so much worse.
That thought hurt. The heroes I'd come to idolize were all so terrible. It made sense. How could anyone be as good as All Might?
"Midoriya, are you paying attention?!" Aizawa yelled, and I remembered what exactly was going on. I was in the middle of a combat lesson, still training for the future where heroes would be more than prideful, arrogant, money-seeking fame addicted false gods. Which meant that Stain wasn't wrong in theory. The term "hero" had become as fast and loose as the morals they were shoveling down our throats.
"No." I finally managed to get out as I sat on the ground and thought about it. Was it futile to dream of heroes free of corruption? Did I become just as bad as Stain or the League of Villains? I just wanted a better tomorrow, and if I did, it started with me, right? But how did we get here? How did so many heroes fall into their own darkness?
Aizawa didn't say anything, just watching me with those eyes of his. Was he as corrupted as the rest? I thought I knew heroes, I thought i knew myself. But it turned out I was just a fool.
Standing and taking a deep breath, I pushed those thoughts away. For the time being, I was still just a teen who needed to get stronger.
The next few days were hell on earth, not using my quirk to learn how to fight someone who was so much better than I was at fighting, but I was slowly improving, even if I knew I'd continue in those lessons I signed up for so long ago. I'd continue to improve, even when I reached the next peak and the next. I'd never stop growing a hero until I could save everyone who needed me.
But I endured it until the time came to get new school supplies, the entire class going to a shopping center together. The time away from U.A. and my family was nice, giving me a chance to think about something other than the future and my growing dislike of heroes as a whole. Well, mostly. I did need clothes that didn't remind me of the idols I'd worshiped as a stupid kid.
"Oh! Aren't those the U.A. first years!? Good going at the sports festival!" A group of young men, maybe teens at most, called out, and I flipped them off. What a stupid thing to still be thinking about.
"Woah, cool off, Midoriya. We just got here." Kaminari told me, Iida giving me a lecture that I brushed off and grumbled about, not really listening as everyone split to find different things.
"What's got into you? You've been kind of moody the last couple of days." Mina asked as I bought two cans of tea from a vending machine and offered one.
She took the can, but she didn't open it, just looking at me weird.
"I'm not moody." I replied, opening my can and sipping it. I was full of secrets and anger and kind of tired. I hadn't been sleeping as well as I should have.
"You are moody... but I'm not gonna force you to tell me."
I was silent for a minute, looking at my can before I spoke again.
"Am I moody?" I asked her. I didn't mean to be. I just didn't want to pretend that I understood what I felt right now. Everything felt confusing, and I didn't know how I was supposed to handle it.
"Yeah, kind of. But I wasn't really concerned until you gave those guys the bird. You're sweet and kind, not mean and hateful." She told me, and I wanted to cry. Why did I want to cry?
"There's been a lot on my mind lately. I-I just don't know what im doing. Maybe puberty finally caught up, or maybe I've just grown up. I don't know." I told her, feeling like I was lying even when It was the truth. There were so many conflicting feelings and thoughts that I didn't know what I thought anymore.
She just took my hand, smiling at me. Maybe I was thinking too much about it all. Endeavor was bad. David Shield had done something awful. But all heroes? There was no way they could all be bad, right?
"We all get mixed up sometimes, and I know you. You'll end up figuring it out in the end. Just give it some time." She told me softly, more kindly than I felt like I deserved.
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say, but I decided the emergency credit card All Might had given me would be put to good use today, whatever she wanted. She deserved a day out on the number one hero's yen.
"I'm taking you shopping."
Leaving no room for argument, or maybe she didn't want to, I led her into a store, hoping they had clothes that would match her... unique style, watching her model things she tried on and trying not to be biased. She looked good to me no matter what she wore, even managing to make lime green work.
There was nothing else I needed here, I had school supplies and plenty of clothes. I should let a few days and a couple of doubts change my entire stance on heroes. I didn't want to have to get rid of all my stuff anyway.
"So maybe the purple hat could go, but that's mostly because I like your horns. They're cute." I told her, the closest thing to a constructive criticism I'd given her since she started modeling outfits.
"Yeah. If I'm wearing a hat, you can't play with my hair." She teased lightly, stopping me from thinking clearly until a scream came from somewhere else in the mall, the screams getting louder as people joined in, and ran past the shop we were in, jump starting my brain as I ran. Whatever was going on, I couldn't use my quirk, but that didn't mean I could just run away.
There was the sharp pain in my head, and one of the people running grabbed my arm.
"There you are! I wanted to ask you this question in private, but I guess this works too." The hand guy from the USJ spoke, his hand wrapped around my neck, one finger millimeters from my skin.
"Okay. And then everyone can go, right? You won't hurt anyone?" I asked him, standing perfectly still. It would suck to die when I just
"Well, I won't hurt anyone." He spoke, his voice raspy as he leaned in, his words right in my ear.
"Our attack on the U.A... the nomu I unleashed on Hosu... it's all been overshadowed by Stain. Why?" He asked me, getting right to the point as more point as a black portal dropped a blonde girl in a school outfit, a man with a grey and black costume, a person i couldn't tell the gender of with some stubble and an open button up with a white shirt underneath, and a man with a mutant type quirk that gave him a reptilian appearance, and most disturbing, a man with what looked like patches of burnt skin all over his body wearing a long black coat over a white shirt with black pants, the portal closing to reveal the same well dressed mist villain from the USJ.
"We're finished!" The blonde girl sang to Shigaraki, who didn't acknowledge her yet.
"There hero killer is different. He stands for something besides just killing All Might that he's willing to die for it. And his methods might be... wrong, but I agree with his ideals. Heroes have gotten to be soft and lazy, and they're only in it for money. But they got that way because of All Might. I don't entirely disagree with your group, but I draw the line at killing, at attacking innocent people. And that's why."
I paused for a moment, black whip covering my throat and giving me a moment to elbow Shigaraki in the stomach, jumping back with a cocky grin, powering up.
"That's why I'll take you all on, right now!"
Shigaraki held up a hand as his group got ready for a fight, turning away and walking towards them.
"We'll fight sometime later, Midoriya. Right now, I'm not supposed to harm you." He told me before he and his group warped away, leaving me grasping at the air as I tried to catch them.
Once I'd told the police what happened and found my classmates, I noticed one of us was missing. Was someone hurt?
"Where's Kacchan?" I questioned while Sero, Kaminari, and Kirishima looked ashamed, bandages on their faces and arms.
"We tried to stop them, but some guy in a white mask and a girl with a knife jumped us and took him. We were inside of marbles and then bam! Suddenly we weren't and he was gone!" Kirishima told me, the world spinning even as I stood still. They'd taken him? They'd taken Kacchan, and I was standing there like an asshole answering a question for that pasty-faced, dry skin, son of a bitch?
Everything blurred from there, police escorting us home, the anger I felt numbing me from anything else as I opened the door, turned right, and slammed my door shut. Where were the heroes then? Why couldn't they find this group of wannabe villains and stop them? Why did teens keep getting put in life or death situations?
The next few days were spent full of rage, leaving my room long enough to eat and ask Toshinori what he knew of the situation, not getting enough sleep or answers as I searched the internet and kept my friends informed of what was going on, until one night Toshinori didn't come home. Which meant either he was out late fighting crime, or more likely, they had a lock on where Kacchan was.
Good thing he never turned off his phone, and mom's password was my birthday. I'd never been so sneaky, checking his location before I left through my bedroom window. Whatever was happening, I was going to be a part of it.
Even if it cost me the world, I'd save Kacchan.