Being in the hospital was surprisingly boring. The repetitive beeping of equipment, the sounds of nurses and doctors going about their rounds, even the distant screams and cries of patients became routine when you heard it nonstop. Unfortunately, being confined to her room gave Mina plenty of time to do the one activity she was desperate to avoid: thinking.
'I wonder if anyone's left already?' It was Friday, the last day of internships. Her classmates would be making their way home today. 'Most of them anyway.'
She had asked about Tenya, desperately when she'd first been brought in, then more calmly as time passed and she composed herself. Initially, the nurse treating Mina's cuts had said she didn't know anything, but would tell Mina what she could when she had more information. The next time Mina had seen her though, the nurse hadn't had any answers. In fact, she hadn't answered any of Mina's questions at all. All she'd done was give the pink haired student a look of terror and horror before hurrying out of the room as fast as she could.
Mina hadn't seen her since. It was a different nurse who came into her room next, a burly man who hadn't so much as glanced at her simply setting her food down and leaving. Time passed, and the monotony (ooh that was a big word) of counting ceiling tiles was eventually broken when her door opened, and of all people, Todoroki came in, a scowl marring his princely face. "Todoroki?" Mina sat up, "What are you doing here?" While Mina had been forced to get medical attention for the cuts Stain had given her, Todoroki had been cleared and released into Endeavor's care.
"My dad," Class 1-A's prince grumbled. "He was called in to discuss something and brought me along. Said I might learn something."
"Cool," Mina muttered distractedly, "Have you heard anything about Tenya? They won't tell me anything."
"You mean you don't know?"
"Know what?"
"I believe that is enough, Mr. Todoroki." A new voice squeaked cheerfully. Standing in front of the hospital door was a small rodent-like creature in a suit. Behind it, Endeavor and Manual stepped into the room followed closely by-
"Aizawa-sensei?" Mina asked "What are you doing here?"
Her teacher didn't answer, instead merely stepping aside to let in two more people, who closed the door behind them after they entered. The first was a lanky, tired looking man in a black suit with beige hair. The second was tall and wore a similar suit, though his most distinguishing characteristic was that he had the head of a beagle.
"Hello, Miss Ashido," the rodent spoke, "Mr. Todoroki. I am Nezu, U.A.'s principal. Normally, I would introduce myself to your class at orientation on the first day of school, but Aizawa's insistence on holding his little test means this is our first time meeting. Truly unfortunate it had to be under these circumstances."
"Circumstances?" Todoroki frowned, "What circumstances?"
"Quiet, Shoto." Endeavor ordered. Todoroki frowned, but obeyed.
The tired looking man sighed as he stepped forward, "Mina Ashido?"
"Yes." Mina confirmed hesitantly.
"I'm Yokumiru Mera of the Hero Public Safety Commission." Mera introduced himself before gesturing to his dog headed companion. "This is Kenji Tsuragamae, Chief of the Hosu Police Department."
"Woof."
'Woof?'
"If you don't mind, we'd like to talk to you about the events that occurred two nights ago. Is that okay?"
"Sure," Mina tried to smile, doing her best to suppress the sinking feeling forming in her stomach, "what would you like to know?"
"W-Will he wake up?"
"Unfortunately, we can't say at the moment. Your father's medical history is complicated to say the least. Some of his injuries were professionally treated, but others show clear signs of self-treatment. That's not to say he didn't do a good job, but-" the doctor sighed, "even with how durable modern bodies are, they can still only handle so much. Right now, your father needs time. Time to rest and recover. The coma might be his body's way of handling it."
"So he'll wake up, eventually?"
"Like I said, it's too early to say. It might be a way for his body to recover, or all the injuries both present and past might prove too much for him. All we can do is wait, but I promise we'll do everything we can for him."
Tamao began to sob as the doctor made his exit. Moyuru hesitantly rested a hand on her shoulder while Rapt leaned against the wall. All three could feel the missing presence in the room, a Soga sized space that would never truly be filled.
"Your dad's strong," Moyuru said finally, "He's tough, a fighter. He'll wake up eventually. All we have to do is wait."
"This is all kinds of fucked up." Rapt muttered, shaking his head. "Soga's dead. Dead! And the old man almost died too. They say he would have, that the Nomu was targeting him specifically."
Tamao began to cry harder, "Rapt," Moyuru warned. Rapt opened his mouth, but after a moment, shut it with an annoyed grunt. Grabbing the door, Rapt stepped out into the hall and, tilting his head back, let out a subdued scream. Soga was gone, his best friend had died right in front of him, and as much as he wanted to mourn him, even avenge him, he couldn't because Tamao needed them.
At least her old man was still alive. Rapt and Moyuru didn't have the same relationship with the vigilante that Soga did, but they knew him all the same. When they'd first met, the three had been picking on Koichi, but Knuckleduster had taken it upon himself to get them to behave by punching it through their thick skulls. Rapt still found it hard to believe that he had been a hero, but apparently in a past life he was. Rapt didn't know what made him quit, but apparently the relationships he'd built had been strong enough to get someone to save his life.
From what the investigator who'd questioned the three of them at the hospital had said, a detective had come across the unconscious Knuckleduster and Majokko with a Nomu standing above them. The Nomu had tried to attack, but the detective's Quirk had allowed him to rush forward and pull the two out of danger. The Nomu pursued and, in a heroic display, the detective had gotten its attention, luring the creature away by donning Knuckle Duster's mask ultimately at the cost of his life. After he'd died, the Nomu had calmed down standing there mindlessly until it'd been captured by Best Jeanist, not even putting up a fight as cables bound its body.
"Did Mr. Oguro have enemies?" The investigator asked, "People that would want him dead?" Of course he did, he spent his free time beating up thugs in alleys, but the three young adults couldn't say that. All they could do was mumble feeble denials until the man moved on.
Rapt clenched his fist; someone had been targeting Tamao's father. Someone had released those monsters on his city and killed his best friend. Their conversation about jobs from a few days ago filled Rapt's mind as a new determination swelled within his chest. "I'm going to catch whoever did this," the mutant vowed. "For Tamao, for her dad, and for you, Soga. I'm going to become a hero."
With purposeful steps, Rapt turned and walked back into the hospital room. He was going to be a hero, and the first step of that was being there for his friends when they needed him.
"So even in death, you somehow push your paperwork onto me."
"Sir?" Officer Sansa Tamakawa blinked at his superior, cocking his cat head to the side.
"It's nothing." Reaching into his pocket, Detective Naomasa drew forth a cigarette, giving the stick a considerate look before stowing it away. Nodding towards the medical examiner waiting by the door, Naomasa began to head towards the morgue exit, Sana following loyalty after. Behind them, the medical examiner moved to stow the body of the late Detective Eizo Tanuma away.
When news of the Hosu attack had broken, Naomasa had rushed to the city as fast as he could. As the lead investigator of the League of Villains, that was his responsibility: lead the investigation whenever the League acted. Unfortunately, while they had three more Nomu to study, the only other takeaway they'd gotten was a link between the League and the Hero Killer. That news had made its way to the press and they'd run wild with speculation, questioning whether the man was a new member, an ally, or if he'd always been involved, his killings a precursor to the League's eventual reveal.
Then the very next day, there'd been another attack in a different Tokyo city district. The use of Nomu had made many initially believe it was another attack by the League, but now it seemed there was a new party involved. "Ragnarök" Naomasa wondered aloud. It was possible they were nothing more than an offshoot of the League, but Naomasa was skeptical. The League had never hesitated to claim responsibility for their acts. Naruhata though was different; a new player had claimed responsibility, one that also had access to Nomu.
That was the most concerning news. The investigation was doing their best to keep that specific tidbit quiet, but the news had already found the declaration and was running with it. Theorists were cranking out theories online and there was no suppressing the use of Nomu in the attack. It was bad enough when one organization had access to mindless monsters capable of wreaking havoc, but now another organization had gotten their hands on Nomu, or at least the means of making them.
It was a terrifying possibility, and the reason why the scene of the attack as well as the department itself was crawling with suits. The HPSC normally was happy to leave investigations to the police, but for extreme cases of villainy, they took charge in investigating themselves. Unsurprisingly, the Nomu qualified for such a scenario, though Naomasa suspected he knew the HPSC's true fear. If two different organizations had access to Nomu, then it likely meant either one group was supplying the other or, more frighteningly, neither was creating them.
The latter was the true fear, that there was a third party involved. One producing and distributing the Nomu for others to use as they pleased. That, Naomasa suspected, was what made the HPSC decide to get involved. If the Nomu weren't confined to the League of Villains and were now being supplied to other villain groups, then it was in the best interests of everyone to shut down the Nomu production as soon as possible. Naomasa imagined every low level gang with a Nomu or two at their disposal and shuddered at the chaos that came to mind.
Normally he disliked working with the HPSC; many of their operators were arrogant because of the power their position granted them, looking down on the police and even low ranking heroes. But they were efficient, and at the end of the day, they were all working to keep the peace. Naomasa could work with that. Eventually the villains would be caught, and society would continue on just as it always did.
"So, in summary: Tenya Iida sent a message to your class group chat containing his location. Believing that he was in trouble, you went to the location he shared where you found him and Pro Hero Ingenium at the mercy of Hero Killer Stain. You sent your location to your class group chat just as Tenya did and only intervened once Stain not only expressed his intent to kill your classmate, but appeared ready to follow through on his threat. Through luck, you managed to hold the Hero Killer off until Mr. Todoroki arrived."
"I wouldn't call it luck," Mina interrupted, but a glare from Tsuragamae cowed her, allowing the police chief to continue reading from his notes.
"Mr. Todoroki had, upon receiving your message, alerted his father to the possible situation and told him to come as soon as he could with reinforcements. When Mr. Todoroki reached you, he managed to temporarily capture the Hero Killer, though he escaped while the two of you were distracted by a severely injured Tenya who'd been injured due to the acid from your Quirk. Once Endeavor arrived with other heroes and first responders, he took control of the situation and the Iida brothers were transferred to the care of medical professionals as were you. Is that correct?"
"Yes," Mina confirmed. She'd had to walk the adults through her version of events three times now and had quickly grown tired of having to repeat herself. She knew they were doing this for a reason, although she couldn't figure out what it was. Making sure she didn't miss anything maybe?
"Very well, thank you for your cooperation." Tsuragamae said as he closed his notepad.
"You're welcome. But… um, can one of you please tell me how Tenya's doing?" Mina asked hesitantly. "I've been asking since I got here, but no one's been giving me any answers."
"That might be because of patient confidentiality." Mera said, idly scratching his throat.
"Of course, considering your involvement, I believe an exception can be made on this occasion." Nezu added with a smile. "Unfortunately as Stain said, Ingenium's career has come to an end. He was stabbed between the T6 and T8 vertebrae and has suffered complete paralysis to his lower body. Unless a Quirk able to heal him is found he will likely never walk again under his own power. Fortunately his injuries are not life threatening, and while he is currently receiving emergency treatment, he is expected to recover.
"What about Tenya?"
"The younger Iida brother has been put into a medically induced coma." Mera answered coldly. "Since he was brought in, he has been receiving continuous treatment for both the damage done by your acid to his face and body as well as the contaminants that entered him from his melting armor. It is unknown whether he will wake up." Mina was frozen in bed, but Mera continued on uncaringly. "Of course he wouldn't have needed this level of care if you hadn't gotten involved."
"Mera!" Tsuragamae barked, shooting the HPSC representative a glare, one he returned with a flat look. "That was uncalled for."
"But true." The man countered before turning to look at Nezu. "Do you want to break the news to her or should I?"
The principal didn't blink as his black beady eyes turned from Mina to his inquisitor. "Oh, I believe you fully intend to tell her regardless of my request to push this to a later date."
"And you'd be right." Mera confirmed. With a sigh, he turned to the bedridden girl, "Mina Ashido, for Uncertified Quirk Usage, disobeying the orders of your mentor Manual, and vigilantism, you are hereby expelled from U.A. High School."
"W-what?" Mina croaked weakly as the pit in her stomach turned into a black hole; her voice drowned out by Todoroki.
"What!? Mina saved Iida's life!" Todoroki shouted, anger clear. "If she hadn't intervened, Iida would be dead!"
"Would he?" Mera asked, cocking his head to the side. "Can you say that he truly would have died in that alley? Stain himself said he doesn't kill kids and loathe as I am to admit it, for a serial killer he's proven to be extremely faithful to his beliefs and code of conduct. Do you think he would break that for a mere boy who just watched his brother and hero suffer a debilitating injury right in front of his eyes? How do you know he wasn't just threatening him? Driving a point home?"
Todoroki didn't answer, only glaring at the lanky man with gritted teeth. "Exactly," Mera nodded, "There's no way to say with certainty, which means all we can do is act based on what did happen. We cannot afford to speculate on what could or might have been."
"Unfortunately, Mera is right." Tsuragamae sighed, " Even if you were facing off against the Hero Killer, at the end of the day, Mina Ashido disobeyed the orders of her mentor and her actions, while performed with the best of intentions, resulted in life threatening injuries to a classmate. Frankly, she is lucky to simply be expelled, depending on our questioning and the consistency of her testimony, we were prepared to arrest her for the laws she broke and charge her with battery, if not attempted manslaughter."
"I-I was just trying to help." Mina whispered.
Tusragamae shot her a look of sympathy, "Which we took into account. Be that as it may, you made your choices and must take responsibility for them. Without accountability, the law is empty and meaningless. In addition to your expulsion, fines will be leveled against both you and the Normal Agency."
Mera turned to Todoroki, "You aren't in the clear either. Be thankful you informed your father of the situation. As it stands, you will be suspended from U.A. for a week and upon your return will receive further punishment as decided by the school."
"That's all?" Todoroki snarked. Endeavor laid a hand on his son's shoulder but Todoroki shook it off. "This isn't fair. You all know that. Mina just wanted to save Iida and his brother. Isn't it a hero's job to save people?"
"That kind of thinking is why you are not a full-fledged hero yet." Tsuragamae sighed.
"Todoroki, it's fine." The heterochromatic boy turned to the pinkette clearly ready to argue, only to recoil as he took in her wobbly smile and watery eyes. "I-it's not like this is the end of my dream. I can apply to other Hero Schools: Shiketsu, Seiai, Isamu. I-I'm sure one of them will take me."
"Unfortunately that is not an option, woof. As part of your punishment, your name has been added to the list of students blacklisted from attending any school with a heroics course in the country of Japan." As Tsuragame delivered the news, Mina's barely suppressed tears began to run down her cheek and she buried her head in her hands.
"Additionally," Mera added emotionlessly, "you are forbidden from taking the Provisional Hero Licensing Exam."
"I truly am sorry," Tsuragamae apologized. "I recognize you were only trying to help, but the rules must be followed and the consequence enforced." With an unseen bow, the dog headed man made his way out of the room followed closely after by Mera.
"Ashido." Todoroki whispered hesitantly, holding out a hand. A touch upon his shoulder caused the boy to turn and see his father standing above him. The #2 Hero didn't say a word, only shaking his head before guiding his son out of the room. After a moment's pause, Nezu followed, and with a final glance at his former student, Aizawa left last, shutting the door behind him. But even as he walked down the hallway, the insomniac hero could still hear the broken hearted girl's sobbing carrying through the air.
"You were unusually quiet." The squeaky voice of his boss offered a welcome distraction that Aizawa eagerly latched onto.
"There was nothing to say. The decision had already been made."
"Yes, it's truly unfortunate. Miss Ashido had such potential, I believe with her charisma she could have eventually made the Billboard Top 100. Still," the chimera sighed, "Hopefully her punishment will protect her from the Iida family's wrath. As a generational Hero family, they carry quite the influence. It's bad enough the career of their prodigal son was cut short by Stain. The news that Tenya is now in critical condition due to a fellow classmate will stir them into a fury."
"Do you think Ashido's in danger?"
"No, they're heroes, they wouldn't do anything so blatant. At most, they'll use their influence to make her life a little harder, but at the end of the day, as much as they dislike it, they'll recognize that what happened to both Tensei and Tenya were risks of the profession."
"Even if you know something was an accident, it's still easier to pin the blame on someone." Aizawa said morosely. Nezu nodded, offering his teacher a sympathetic pat on the leg. "Iida, Ashido, Todoroki, everything would have been different if the three of them only had the good sense to act a little more rationally."
Stepping out of Narita International Airport, Koichi Haimawari leaned back and took a deep breath, savoring the smells of his homeland. After years spent in the U.S working as the sidekick of America's former #1 Hero, he had finally returned home. His departure had been rushed; the Naruhata Blackout had left a pile of debts and lawsuits aimed at him, and with an arrest warrant issued for the Crawler, Koichi had needed to skip town – or rather country – quickly.
Thankfully Makoto Tsukauchi, the general manager of the Captain Celebrity Corporation, had worked her magic and managed to convince the necessary people that Koichi's Crawler persona was actually operating as Captain Celebrity's sidekick, meaning his vigilantism was actually legal, if you looked at it from a certain angle while squinting really hard. That had gotten the arrest warrant dropped. Over the following years, Makoto had steadily managed to get the lawsuits and debts dropped as well with liberal use of the CCC legal team.
That meant when Koichi had received Soga's call for help, he was clear to head to Japan without the fear of a police squad waiting to arrest him upon landing. It'd taken a day or two to get everything packed for an extended stay and submit his time off request, but his work record and friendship with Chris and Makoto got it approved in record time.
Now he was back and Koichi couldn't wait to see his friends again. Soga hadn't responded to his calls, but had said when he'd initially called that he'd have someone waiting to pick Koichi up when he arrived. "Koichi!" As if summoned from his thoughts, a familiar voice shouted his name, and Koichi couldn't help the wide smile that broke across his face.
"Pop!" Running forward, Koichi wrapped his pink haired friend in a hug, spinning her around with a laugh while she giggled at his enthusiasm. Setting her down, Koichi took in Kazuho's appearance; she'd matured and now wore her hair down, long bangs covering her missing left eye that'd formerly housed Queen Bee. She flushed under his attention, nervously shifting before hitting his shoulder.
"It's good to see you again." Pop mumbled.
"It's good to see you too." Koichi smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"Picking you up, dummy. Don't tell me all the hamburgers and pizza clogged your brain?"
"No, just my arteries," Koichi laughed. "It's been a while since we've talked. Tell me, what have you been up to? Are you still singing?"
"No," Pop sighed, "After everything that happened, it felt like that chapter of my life was over. I decided to become a manager; coaching wannabe pop stars, training them, you know, helping them fulfill their dreams."
"I bet you're amazing," Koichi said earnestly, unaware of how Pop's face was reddening at his words. "You were always an amazing performer. They couldn't ask for someone better than you."
"I'm not that good," Pop denied, waving away his compliment, "Besides, we need to get going. I only have temporary parking, so we need to go before my time expires."
Sitting in Pop's car, luggage loaded in her trunk, Koichi couldn't help but smile as he watched Tokyo fly by through the window. 'I can't wait to see everyone again,' he thought with a smile, 'I hope everything's been going well for them.'
-End of Arc V-
Brewing Storm
Next:
-Arc VI-
The I-Island Incident
Author's Note:
Hello everybody, another arc is officially completed. After the Interlude where we see the fallout of Mina's expulsion we're moving on to I-Island, the first MHA movie which I must say I appreciate being able to watch on Netflix since it keeps me from having to use the shady sites I've been watching anime on since middle school. Man my school computer probably had so many viruses.
In other news OMFG someone made Rival Heirs a TV Tropes page! WTF! Thank you whoever you are! It's like seeing the YouTube video readings of my stories, a moment where I just pause and appreciate how far I've come. Of course that wouldn't be possible without you, my dear readers so thank you all supporting me as I grow as a writer. Only fault I could find on the TV Tropes page was Lady Nagant supposedly working for U.A. which I'll clarify here as being wrong. She's still working for the HPSC, Aizawa just knows her true job because he helped her capture a target with his Quirk and after he later died in custody guessed her true job as a government cleaner.
As always you can get early access to chapters by subscribing to my P-atreon. Follow, favorite, all that stuff, and leave a comment since reading them keeps me motivated to write. Also special thanks to my $5 demon level Patrons:
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Until next time this is the demon who can't get enough of the new Helluva Boss episode Mastermind. Seriously go watch it it's great. And the fact the new TADC ep is coming out on the 13th. I know what I'll be doing.
- D'yavol Lucifer 3:)
*IMPORTANT NOTICE*
All the cover art for my stories are ones I found online. I am really interested in using fanart provided by you the readers to replace them. If you're interested draw something up and pm me so I can send you the details on where to send it or pm me and I'll give you some details so you can draw one. As I say in my bio if I use it I may add you as an oc in one of my stories! Isn't that exciting!
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