Evening
Life in the academy started to return to a semblance of what it was like before. Training for the students still took priority while they awaited the authorities to come back to them with any new information regarding Bloodsoaked. The clock was ticking in the back of everyone's mind with their impending fight against the seemingly indomitable mass murderer that had this nation as well as the rest of the world in the palm of his hand. Nobody said it, but there was a healthy amount of fear for those who wanted to bring this man to justice. Everything about this person indicated that if he didn't want something to happen, it wouldn't happen. No question about it.
Class 1-A completed another rigorous day of training to improve their combat abilities. These intense training sessions were starting to get easier for the students with every passing day they endured the stresses of pushing their limits. When they felt like things had a hold over them all, those who could spare the support gave their fellow heroes a leg up in any way they could.
Now that the training had concluded for the day, everyone inhabiting the dorm once again went straight into the showers and ate promptly after washing the sweat and grime off their exhausted bodies. Some of them could spare time and energy to hang around the commons for a little while as the greater majority of the class went to bed.
Aoyama had his nightcap on with his favorite sleeping position finally adjusted enough for him to start dozing off into the realm of dreams. Sleep washed over his eyes little by little as he surrendered himself to the sweet embrace of slumber.
"Aoyama, we need to talk."
He didn't hear the door open or shut to let someone into the room. His closet had been left open with no room for someone to hide in there when he checked it to get into his pajamas. Aoyama almost leapt out of bed with how quickly he turned over to see a familiar face seated in his desk chair with his arms crossed and their right ankle perched upon the left knee. This individual had a deathly serious look upon their face that only grew more serious with his outfit being made of black pants and t-shirt matched with black boots.
"N-N-N-Nakamura-san?!"
The rooms being soundproof let Haru remain calm at the questioning outburst from the navel laser user. He allowed Aoyama to collect himself before he gave the boy the opportunity to ask his questions about the unannounced visit.
"Wh-why are you here? None of us have seen you for days. Is everything okay?"
Silence greeted the boy. The moonlight shining through the balcony window illuminated Haru from a side profile and cast shadows upon his face that strengthened the serious look in his expression. Not getting a vocal response put Aoyama on edge for a few moments before Nakamura spoke out loud.
"... Aoyama, I know it was you who had leaked info to him in the past."
His blood froze in his veins as the truth slowly sank in for Aoyama. Panic, fear, anxiety, sorrow; all these emotions overloaded the nervous teen's mind as now he felt like the world was crashing down all around him. Everything he had done for that monster wasn't a secret anymore.
"I told you this in the forest several months ago. There was also something else I said that I'm now waiting to receive from you…"
Rather than the panic of being found out as a traitor, confusion intercepted Aoyama's thought process with his brain struggling to recall what it was he said to the boy in a forest setting. The last time he and Nakamura were in a forest setting while talking was back at the summer camp. Nothing stuck out to the boy from their interactions that would warrant such a bizarre visitation from this usually transparent person.
Haru had retrieved something hanging from his right hip. Bringing it up to his face, the hand obscured most of the object from Aoyama's prying eyes. From where the teen sat upon his bed, the edges of the object were still visible enough for him to start recognizing what Nakamura was lifting to his face. He saw the world go into slow motion when the realization hit him that the thing in Haru's hand had both a visor and breathing filters sticking out of it. His suspicions were only confirmed as the man placed the item onto his face and a series of clicks and hisses started to lock the mask around Haru's head. When the hand finally got out of Aoyama's way, he couldn't believe his eyes that the one person the world wanted gone was also the one who took care of him and his friends for the past few months.
Bloodsoaked had been Nakamura Haru this whole time.
"Calm yourself, Aoyama. I know it's a lot to take in-"
A quick flick of his thumb against a button located on the side of the mask disabled the voice modulator. Nakamura's real voice came out of the speakers installed into the mask.
"-but we have a lot of important things to talk about. More importantly than anything else, your future here at UA."
Keeping the conversation flowing kept Aoyama from becoming overwhelmed from all this shocking news. If he allowed the teen to get hung up on one point of the conversation for too long, he would lose the young hero before he could discuss the thing he wanted Aoyama to know about.
Their conversation mostly consisted of Haru informing the boy of the information leaks that he committed to help the league out from the very start. There wasn't a single thing that he had done that Nakamura didn't know about. Every little thing he told the villains was now out in the open between himself and his dorm mother. He wanted to vomit with guilt over how much danger he thought he put his friends through. For how much danger he put Izuku through.
"You didn't. Not after the DSA incident, at least."
"... Huh?"
A heavy sigh escaped Haru before he disclosed how he hacked Aoyama's mobile in order to intercept any messages or emails exchanged between the league and the teenager. This cloned profile of the phone had been used by Nakamura to lure the villains out into the open for him to launch a preemptive strike against the villainous group that inevitably led into the shit show it eventually became.
"You're not the one who put everyone's life in danger that day. I was."
It filled Aoyama with relief and horror that it hadn't been him that caused that incident which hurt his friends. Elaborating his decision that day, he shared with the stunned boy that he wanted to end the group and also get closer to All for One by taking his organization members hostage. The game that the teachers allowed to happen put a serious breach into his plan, since it gave the villains a better angle of approach while dividing the students all across the forest. All of it fell apart and left Haru the one responsible for the mess.
In his own headspace, Aoyama felt something in the back of his mind nagging him regarding how Nakamura looked as he explained all of this. Had he not known better, he could swear that his dorm mother looked ridden with guilt with how his body subtly tensed along with the trace of stress in his voice the more he spoke.
From there, Haru disclosed how none of the information leaks that were given to All for One were in their original forms. Those messages were heavily altered to give completely false information on what Aoyama reported on Midoriya. None of the leaked information was remotely helpful for the villain trying to leech his way back into society. Hearing this released something that Aoyama couldn't hold in anymore.
Tears welled up uncontrollably as the teenage hero finally felt the greatest weight on his shoulders disappear. His classmates and friends were not in great danger because of him anymore.
"... Here, use this."
Nakamura passed the teen a blue silk handkerchief for him to clean his face. Giving Aoyama his space to let it all out left the square of expensive fabric soaked with tears and snot a sad mess. When it was returned to Nakamura, he tossed the handkerchief into the laundry basket in the boy's room without looking. Continuing their discussion, Nakamura disclosed to his student that he was not obliged to respond to All for One or anybody else for that matter. Still, what the man did want from Aoyama required him to answer the question asked by Bloodsoaked all those months ago.
"As much as I would like to say that all of this has no consequences for what you did; you still put the lives of your friends on the line to protect you and your family. It may have been an unfair situation, but that doesn't change the fact that you did something that put other people in harm's way."
It didn't fill Haru with any sort of positive feelings to watch a bright young boy like Aoyama look so pitifully beaten by his situation. As much as he wanted to make this all go away, letting Aoyama not face his consequences would only warp the damaged parts of his heart into something truly unhealthy. For now, all he could do was offer the boy some control over his life.
"So now comes the time for you to choose the path you must now walk…"
These choices were offered to the boy with a heavy heart. Much like how Haru offered Aoyama's parents their decision on how they would direct their family's life in the future.
Months Ago
"Yes, yes, yes; who is it?"
The old Aoyama estate had been passed down for generations of the family's existence. They were wealthy from old money passed down from parent to child for decades on end, to which they lived comfortably and happily with little trouble coming their way. Years of easy living had suddenly changed after Aoyama was discovered to be completely quirkless.
Answering the doorbell, Mrs. Aoyama was greeted with the sight of a well groomed man in a dark blue suit paired with a black dress shirt with no tie accompanying the opened collar. His white hair and beard made him look older than he looked without it, though his kind smile still found its way through all that facial hair.
"Good day, Mrs. Aoyama. I'm your son's dorm mother, Nakamura Haru. I believe we've only met once in the past, if I recall."
She could recognize him now from the few times she saw him around UA as well as the one time he came over for home visits from UA Academy teaching staff. The gears were finally starting to click together as she greeted her son's caretaker, recognizing his photo in the paperwork she signed when giving her son the dorm lifestyle away from home. They shook hands at the doorway with the blonde woman giving the man permission to enter their home.
"Oh, yes. I recognize you, now. Please, do come in."
"Thank you, ma'am. Pardon the intrusion."
Inside of the family estate, Haru could see the classic French architecture open up the interior with columns and archways expanding the hallways. Scanning the walls revealed how little the family home actually possessed in the ways of decorum. A painting here and a side table there left this building feeling more empty than spacious.
"I apologize for the lack of hospitality. I wasn't aware that the school was sending one of their own to pay us a visit."
As a good hostess, she placed slippers for Haru to wear for indoor purposes. He slipped his heels out of his expensive dark brown leather shoes to equipp the slippers so graciously given to him.
"Actually, I am not sent by the school. There is something I needed to discuss with you as well as Aoyama's father regarding your child. Do not worry, he's doing just fine as a student."
Prefacing their child wasn't in any sort of trouble helped put the mother at ease. Guiding Nakamura to the family living room, she offered her guest a cup of tea to which Haru accepted. Mrs. Aoyama entered the kitchen and returned with a tea set with a teapot filled with hot water and a jar of tea leaves. She set the refreshments down to then expertly assemble the tea she and her guest would be partaking in as they discussed the reason why Nakamura paid the family a visit out of the blue.
By the time she had finished steeping the tea leaves, a decadent smell of fresh tea wafted through the living room. Both cups were filled properly with Haru taking his tea black. The mother poured milk and sugar to enhance the hot beverage as these two began talking about the tea itself.
"This is lovely. You seem very competent in knowing how to steep leaves as well as managing temperature to extract the ideal flavors."
She took the compliment in good stride and humbled herself by telling the man she had a grandmother who taught her so much about the art of tea making. Complimenting her family history with the beverage, Haru then moved the conversation into a completely new direction.
"It's a shame though really. With your skills, something like Golds would greatly benefit from your fine skills."
That comment made the woman almost uncomfortable. had a sharp mind for details, which Aoyama got from her as her son. Nakamura's comment didn't feel like a jab at her family's financial situation. He seemed far too polite to make such an underhanded comment so carelessly.
"How is it a shame, may I ask?"
Bringing the tea cup to her lips, Haru went for another sip of his own cup as Mrs. Aoyama let her eyes wander down to the hot drink in her cup.
"That he took most of your finances to give your son his quirk."
Shock didn't do the feeling she had justice in how completely off guard she had found herself at the comment. Her hands went limp for a split second; just long enough for her piping hot drink to come crashing down on her long skirt.
Instead of burning herself with the tea, she found the cup intact and still holding all the tea she thought had been spilling out the cup when she dropped it. Tracing her eyes from the cup and up the arm holding the drink, she looked up at Nakamura like a deer in headlights as she realized he not only caught the falling cup, but the top button of his suit jacket had been refastened with his other hand tucked away in his pocket. He somehow had the reflexes to even make himself proper on top of preventing the mother spilling on herself.
All Haru did after saving the woman from her spill was place the cup back in front of the woman on the coffee table. He returned to his seat and unbuttoned the jacket for him to sit down.
Only the sound of the antique clock ticking down the seconds echoed across the deathly silent home. One minute passed before Haru cut the tense quiet with what he wanted to discuss with the stunned parent.
"As you can already tell, I'm not quite the person who I claim to be in front of others. I am aware of the deal you had with All for One for him to give your son a quirk. I also know that he has left you in near financial destitution with millions of yen in debt for years to come. Just know that I'm not here to make things worse for you or anybody else in your family. In fact, I am here asking for something from you and your husband regarding your only child…"
Although extremely cautious of Haru, the mother found herself unable to think of anything else to say or do in the current predicament. Here was a man who showed up as her son's caretaker while they attended school and claimed to know her family's darkest secret, and now he claims to not want anything from the people already on the breaking point of misery. Whatever he had to say filled her with dread as Nakamura continued with his point.
Pulling his mobile phone out of his inner jacket pocket made the mother just a bit. Being more gentle with his speed, the black mobile phone he kept on him at all times came to life as Haru opened up something looking like a spreadsheet. He placed the phone on the table upside down so that it was right side up for Aoyama's mother after he slid the device across the reflective marble table with just the right amount of force for it to stop directly to the right of her tea cup.
"Have a look."
Hesitantly, she followed his instructions and carefully scanned the screen with her eyes. Each little bit of data on the spreadsheet all connected in her head until she put together the fact that what she had been reading was a financial report on her husband's as well as her own credit. Everything looked to be as expected until the most recent entry on the charts. She thought she was just seeing things when her eyes met Nakamura's.
"You can give them a call, if you don't believe what you see."
Immediately heading for her phone, the dumbfounded mother quickly searched through her contacts to find the phone number she needed to contact to confirm if this wasn't all just a truly cruel practical joke. She couldn't take it if this was just that.
"Good day to you. How may I assist you regarding your financial needs?"
"Hi yes, I need to check up on my family's current loan payments."
"Of course, just one moment while I get some additional information from you…"
Waiting for her bank to check her balance due, the mother paced the hallway next to the living room like a nervous school girl waiting for her crush to exit their class. Thankfully, Mrs. Aoyama didn't have to wait long for the financial agent to pull the woman off of hold.
"Hello, Mrs. Aoyama? Are we still here?"
"Uh, y-yes!"
"Thank you for your patience, ma'am. I checked your account and there doesn't seem to be a balance due. I double checked with my managers and it seems that there isn't anything we could reference that would indicate you even applied for a loan with our bank."
If this was all just a dream, she would happily live in this fantasy till the end of her days. She ended the call with the bank employee and hung up. Now she wanted to know how much of this was real.
Call after call, she called her creditors as well as the loan offices that she and her husband borrowed money from to buy their son his quirk. None of them could seem to even reference the couple even having an interest in being loaned money in any of their records. It felt like she had awoken from an endless nightmare and could finally breathe again. Mrs. Aoyama fell to her knees with her face in both her hands as she and her family were finally free of the debt that All for One had trapped her family with. Entering the family home to the sounds of his wife sobbing, Aoyama's father raced to the source of the crying to see his wife bawling her eyes out on the floor.
"Dear?! Sweetie, what's wrong? Are you hurt? What happened?"
Her crying prevented her from speaking coherently for a few moments. The husband held his wife as she collected herself in his arms.
"She's perfectly fine, Mr Aoyama."
Looking up at Nakamura behind him, the father immediately got defensive by throwing threats at the man he thought made his wife cry. In a way, he managed to be half correct.
"You bas-"
"N-no, honey! Don't! H-he didn't do a-anything wr-wrong. Look…"
Presenting the phone to her spouse, his eyes scanned the rows of information to then find himself just as stupefied as his wife had been earlier. He went back and forth with the mother of his child over how valid this seemed to be. Telling him that she called their creditors, banks, and loan offices all but cemented that they were no longer obligated to feel strapped for the rest of their lives. This time, it was the father who started to weep happily for his family's good fortune.
Haru just returned to sip his tea while the parents had their moment of utter happiness. Eventually, he would need to speak to them in regards to how he needed their son to be in the dark about this situation. How he required their discretion in this meeting ever happening. He needed the parents to realize this act of charity wasn't so generous to start with.
What Nakamura needed from Aoyama was to suffer as an agent for All for One who thought they were endangering their loved ones for the foreseeable future. Using Aoyama to control his enemy with the information he wanted the villain to know was the path that had the least amount of risks to put people in danger. It made him sick, but the alternatives were all riskier with more opportunity for things to go horribly wrong.
He didn't want to treat this boy as a tool for warfare. Reality just couldn't give enough of a fuck about how Haru felt as he commited himself to the decision to keep Aoyama in the darkness of his personal torment.
Present Time
Entering the commons in the early hours of the day was none other than Izuku, ready to go on his morning jog in his windbreaker and sweats. There were already platters of hot food set out on the table, much to Izuku's disappointment. His eyes then drifted to the one other student besides himself that was down at such an early hour. Their blonde hair in its usual part clued in Midoriya that this person was the eccentric Aoyama.
"Morning, Aoyama. Sleep well?"
"Huh? What?"
Turning to the sound of the new arrival, Izuku saw Aoyama look quite haggard in comparison to his usually sparkling demeanor. In comparison, this version of his friend sparkled like dry piece of driveway gravel.
"You okay? Is there something wrong, Aoyama?"
Brushing off Izuku's concerns as he was just having a bad nightmare barely managed to get his friend to stop pressing too much. Aoyama simply agreed with Midoriya to skip training that day to rest up for tomorrow.
So many things went through the boy's mind as Izuku turned to leave the dorms. One thing stuck out to him that he wanted to know from the ignorant young Midoriya.
"Izuku!"
Startling Izuku a little, he stopped to turn back at Aoyama with a slightly confused smile.
"Y-yeah?"
There had been so much swirling inside of Aoyama's head. It hurt Aoyama to know that the secrets he held against his friend would destroy him if he ever knew what they were.
"... Sorry, I forgot what I wanted to say."
They bid each other farewell for now. Returning to bed with some of his doubts being put to rest, sleep quickly swallowed the distraught student over what he knew now. Before blacking out into a dreamless sleep, his mind replayed the last thing he was told before Nakamura left the boy alone in their room.
The Night Before
After Aoyama made his decision regarding his future here at UA, Nakamura told the boy to keep mum about their meeting. Aoyama knew better than to reveal what was shared here to the other students. He agreed with Haru implicitly to remain silent.
Right before Haru leapt down from the balcony with his mask off, Aoyama leapt out of bed to look at Nakamura's moonlit outline. Out of anything else, he just wanted to know one thing more than anything. Something he felt would be important in the coming future.
"... What will you do if he finds out?"
Silence like time itself paused caused Aoyama to even feel his heart beating in his ears as he watched Haru perched completely still on the balcony handrail. Nakamura knew exactly who it was that the teenager was referring to. The answer he got only served to upset the boy worried for his friend.
"Don't worry Aoyama, it's not a secret you have to keep for very long."
With that, the man disappeared. Looking over the edge of his room's alcove, Haru walked by a patrolling officer who clearly had the hero's room in eyesight. Despite his questions, what Haru told him just now made it difficult for him to sleep. He would end up awake for the entire night until he faced Izuku, the one who's father figure was the world's greatest villain, again in the morning.
Even after sorting through his head, it all still felt like a violent avalanche of confusion that Aoyama found himself lost in.