MosesArk Reborn2000
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Chapter 23: Aftermath
🕑 Added 2024-05-01 16:52:59 +0000 UTCYou know, with the 1st anniversary of me opening the my Patreon account so I wanted to do something exciting for it, that being writing and releasing my very own story. I was and still am going with a comedy/harem deal that will have the smut scenes in it, but while I started writing out the essential plot points that would lead to said smut, I realized that I also had a lot of ideas for jokes and character moments. I'm not angry, quite the opposite, as just writing down the ideas seems fun for me, and it's only for one girl so far; I haven't even touched what would happen with the rest. And while it would be something that's mainly for my 'early readers', that first chapter will be posted both on Ao3 and Fanfiction.net.
Also, for some reason, I felt lethargic as I was writing this, which slowed me down considerably. It cleared up today. As you can tell, it meant that I was slow to upload because I had to work overtime to get this done.
Chapter 23: Aftermath
With the clean-up of a USJ mostly done and work to be done filing the paperwork, detective Tsukauchi was leaving when one of his men approached him. "Sir!"
“What is it?” The detective turned to the uniformed officer, who saluted him.
"We located one of the villains that All Might sent flying." He reported that Tsukauchi was surprised that they found it so quickly, having assumed that the villains would have retrieved it or that it would have fled in the confusion.
"That fast, do you need backup?" Tsukauchi asked. From what they were told about it, they might need heroes to step in and help with this.
“N-no, that’s the weird part, sir. It didn’t offer any resistance to arrest, whatever it is, it’s not even responding to whatever the officers say.” The officer reported, sounding as confused as Tsukauchi looked.
Regardless, he wasn't going to take risky bets with the lives of his men if he wasn't mistaken; he had 15 officers out looking. “Make sure it’s secured and ready for transport. Just because it’s docile now doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way.” He'll assign another ten and have them bring heavy restraints to keep that monster in check. Perhaps even request Midnight in case they needed to knock it out.
“Sir!” The officer saluted again and followed those instructions, leaving the detective to ponder what he had just learned.
'So, it's unresponsive, but if what Kirishima, Shiozaki, and All Might said was true…was it designed to only move ordered, and with its master gone, it’s like a tool in a box.' He didn't like to think of a living creature like that, but it was appropriate considering the villains bragged that it 'made.' However, that wasn't the only thing that the villains said it had going.
'But it has more than one quirk, that shouldn't be possible unless….no, he's dead, All Might killed him. this could just be a remnant of his works or someone else doing.' He shook his head. He refused to consider that the monster was somehow still alive after all this time, not till he had proof. No, there was a reason that he was one of the few that knew about him. The last thing he wanted was to spark paranoia among his men. Besides, two other villains were present that he could focus on.
“Oh, I’m so glad I caught you before you left.” He left his musing to see Nezu approaching him, followed by Snipe and Midnight.
“Principal, is there something you need?” He removed his hat as he addressed him, as while law enforcement like him held greater authority, Nezu had done more than enough to garner his respect over the years.
"I just wanted to inform you that our staff have cleared the entire USJ, not a villain left," Nezu informed him.
"That's good news. But I would still like to have officers continue to inspect the rest of the school grounds to ensure that this break-in was an isolated incident," he said, the principal opening his arms wide.
"Of course, I understand that many would chaff at such a move, but police like you are essential to our jobs. I'm counting on you." He smiled, glad he wasn't fighting him on this, as he turned to give orders to his people before returning to his cruiser.
Line Break
Hours later, with the sun setting in the distance, All Might rested in the nurse office. Considering the situation, his injuries had been minor, but he had still pushed himself over his limits to deal with that Nomu. Recovery Girl was looking through some of her papers before she turned to him, a frown on her aged face. “I would scold you, but given the situation, I can’t find fault in your actions.”
“And my time?” All Might asked.
"I can't be sure how much, but you most likely shaved off more of your time. We'll have to do some tests once you've recovered," Recovery Girl replied, giving the man more reasons to frown.
Then, there was a knock at the door. "Excuse me," Tsukauchi said as he opened the door and entered, closing the door behind him. I'm glad to see that the story of your injuries being minor was true." He smiled, seeing that All Might, while in his weakened form, only had some bandages around his torso.
"Of course they were. I wouldn't lie about that." Both the detective and the school nurse snorted at that response.
"No? I seem to recall you having a bad habit of downplaying your injuries and consequently getting your skins beaten by a certain nurse when you finally do appear in a much worse state than what you claimed." Tsukauchi stated, getting a sheepish look from the number one.
“It was one time.” He tried to defend himself as Recovery Girl raised an eyebrow.
“Do I need to bring out my folder on those events, All Might?” That shut the man up, as he knew that Recovery Girl had his medical records, including his statements, before finally checking himself in. Frankly, she was both stunned and infuriated that he could so flawlessly lie about something like a twisted ankle or broken arm and call it a hurt ankle or bruised arm.
Sadly, as fun as it was to make fun of all the times All Might downplayed his injuries, there was a much more serious reason why Tsukauchi returned to U.A. “I came for someone else as well. I figured you'd want to hear about the students."
When he heard that, the number one bolted up in worry for his students. "Are they?" Tsukauchi raised a hand to stop him before he worked himself up and upset their resident nurse.
"Most are fine, physically. I wouldn't be shocked if they need time to decompress after this, maybe talk to someone. Tokoyami, Bakugo, and Todoroki were rushed to hospital, but the doctors say they'll be back on their feet in a few days." He told him, and the man was happy about that. However, he left out the part where Tokoyami suffered 2nd degree burns on 60% of his body while Todoroki had been minutes away from frostbite taking fingers from him. Bakugo, out of them, nearly died by those emerald flames, but even without that, he still looked like he went six rounds with a heavyweight boxer and lost each one.
"The rest managed to fend off the villains admirable, quite the showing from first years with little training, but U.A. does have a habit of drawing in the very best," Tsukauchi added as All Might relaxed on the bed again, but his mind was still racing.
“That is because they didn’t fight…” All Might wondered how things could have gone so wrong.
"Midoriya? I was informed that he and his partner, Hasaki, were present. They were the ones who defeated Tokoyami and Todoroki, respectively. It's also because of his encounter with him that Koda was left terrified and barely coherent." Tsukauchi frowned as the boy already had a reputation before this; he and his quirked snake, which, according to Shoji, fought in tandem with its master and nearly killed Bakugo if not for the blast of air that came from All Might sending the Nomu packing.
"He also fought against young Bakugo, but that wasn't what I meant." All Might noted, getting Tsukauchi and Recovery Girl to wonder about that.
"After I bested the Nomu, I had nothing left in the tank. It was taking all my power just to maintain my muscle form. Young Midoriya knows that I'm weakened and most likely figured out that I was close to that limit, and yet, he pushed for them to retreat when any one of them could have done me in.” He recalled how panicked he was, wondering if that was when he would finally be defeated. Their leader seemed to want to fight him again, and he bluffed to keep him back.
But then there was young Midoriya; he could see it in the boy's eyes. He knew he was in no shape to fight, yet despite being a villain, he still chose to leave him be. Why? No, he had a reason, the boy said as much earlier. He wished to change the world, but he didn't want to kill people to do it; he'd only take lives if necessary. So it would seem that killing him there or letting Shigaraki or Kurogiri do it was unnecessary.
While All Might saw that as a glimmer of hope for the boy, his detective friend had a different outlook. "Even if he did choose to spare you, that doesn't excuse his crimes, All Might. He still injured two students, nearly killed one of them, and helped in the break-in. Not to mention the dozen other pros he alone has put in the hospital either because they tried to stop him or he actively targeted."
As much as he appreciated how his friend liked to see the good in people, that wasn't something they could do now. Not with Midoriya nor his gang, whom the media had come to call the Thunder as combined, they had defeated over 60 different heroes and many more police.
“What’s the response to this then?” All Might asked.
"We still don't know much about this League of Villains, but when it comes to the Thunder, their villain rank is sure to increase after this. I would argue that it should have gone up sooner, but this can't be ignored." Tsukauchi replied, which was bad news for both of them. A villain's rank meant greater prestige and compensation to heroes to take them down, which meant stronger heroes would surely go after them and could easily join the others who had tried.
Line Break
A couple of days later, Tsukauchi frowned, as he didn't have much good news to share with the U.A. teachers. With school still out for the investigation, it is important to give the students time to sort through their feelings regarding recent events. "We've dug as deep as we can go regarding this 'League of Villains' and turned up nothing. It would seem that this attack was their first action under that name."
"We tried to dig into the ringleaders of this new villain group, but we came up empty regarding the names Shigaraki Tomura or Kurogiri. Not just police reports, but we couldn't locate anything, medical, educational, quirk registration, or even a birth certificate." He went on to say how they tried to search for individuals with similar quirks in the suspected age ranges for the two villains but didn't find any matches
"In other words, their ghosts who were never properly registered through one shortfall or another?" Vlad asked, and when Tsukauchi nodded, the hero’s frown grew more prominent.
"They could be using assumed names and changing their appearances. After all, we don't know for sure what they look like, as Shigaraki was wearing a hand for a mask and Kurogiri was covering himself with his quirk," Midnight suggested.
"That's not the case when it came to the other two important names. Midoriya Izuku and Hasaki Kiruka. We have plenty of documentation about them and can trace their lives up to today." Tsukauchi handed them the files on the two, one of which included their last school pictures, which were both their middle school photos. Along with that were pictures of what they looked like at present, taken from their recent crimes.
"Aren't they part of another group that's been causing a ruckus?" Snipe asked as it was hard to avoid the news about those five.
“That's correct, but we learned from the arrested villains that they were brought in as hired help. The rest were recruited for the chance to defeat All Might." Tsukauchi replied that villains sent to zones with them were more than eager to reveal that and how dangerous the two were in how easily they handled themselves.
“I would say that was a smart choice on their part, and those two proved that they were dangerous." Present Mic noted a frown on his face as their apparent skill was the reason three students needed to be hospitalized and many more were traumatized.
"It has been here that Hasaki and Midoriya have families. Have they been contacted?" Cementoss asked.
The detective flipped through his papers. "Hasaki's mother left her daughter and husband when she was seven and remarried around nine years ago. She's had no contact with her former family and seemed surprised, but not when she learned her child became a villain."
“Was she a violent child?” Nezu inquired, only for the detective to shake his head.
"Quite the opposite, but in her words and said, and I quote, 'My pathetic excuse for a husband couldn't take care of a hamster, nevermind our daughter. She was bound to snap sooner or later.'" He had spoken with the woman himself, and she seemed…like a character when it came to insulting her first husband. "She also added that she tried to get custody but was rejected by the courts."
“And what of Midoriya?” Vlad asked.
"His father works abroad, but his mother is around. However, after a run-in with All Might last year, he fell off the map for months, only to reappear in some small mountain town around December.” Tsukauchi informed them, his frown growing prominent, which seemed to have been the turning point as the days went on.
"I heard about that. It was a villain attack, right?" Present Mic asked.
"Yes, he seemed to have taken up residence in a local temple then but got involved in town when a gang of villains appeared. He fought them off, but the townsfolk and local police turned on him. It's after that we believe that he had a run-in with his future teammate known as Nine. As it was with the aid of a storm that gathered out of nowhere that he escaped." Tsukauchi replied, cursing the fact that the police on site overreacted.
That was shared among the rest, as while the boy broke the law by using his quirk to fight against villains, most cases like that were handled with a stern warning, not an active assault! "After that, he would next appear south in Fukuoka, most likely to recruit Hasaki.”
"What we could dig up about her was that she didn't finish middle school and has been working small jobs since she was 13. Her father was killed in a drunken street brawl around three years ago, but all evidence points to the two not having contact since she vanished when she was 10." The staff frowned at that, as while none were parents, they were all heroes and teachers. The idea that a parent could be so absent and neglectful of their child that they could turn out like this was just appalling. If the man wasn't already dead, they would have indeed had words for him.
"What of her former employees? Are there any issues to report?" Nezu, despite his anger at the utter failure of the system and adults to help these two, still had to focus on the fact that both were active threats.
“Most cited behavior issues or refusal to abide by quirk regulations as the reason she was fired, as she had a habit of using her quirk to handle her duties and resented being repeatedly warned not to.” Tsukauchi replied, though many of those former bosses did admit that she wasn't a bad worker, just that they couldn't afford to have a staff member so openly defy quirk law.
That seemed to be backed up by the facts he managed to build about her life as the detective went on. "By all accounts, while living off the grid, she didn't have any legal issues until 2 villains running from the authorities stumbled upon where she was staying. Both Midoriya and Hawks got involved, but the two managed to give the hero the slip before they robbed a clothing store the following morning and skipped town."
Afterward, he managed to give them a quirk run-down of their new group's crimes, from the failed operation to arrest Kon Chōjūrō, known as Chimera, to their double heist sometime afterward and their other crimes, with a focus on the two villains in question. By the end, the entire room had grown grim as they realized just how out of depth their students had been while Midoriya is their age, it was clear that his and his partner's experience and quirk made him a threat that none could have hoped to handle.
That was made apparent when the detective got to the details of the attack that the police had been able to piece together by studying the evidence, interrogating the villains captured, and interviewing the students. However, something was troubling when both the detective and All Might confirmed that Bakugo disobeyed All Might's direct order to remain back and instead chose to confront Midoriya. From what he learned from the boy, the two had known one another nearly their entire lives, so they could assume that this connection made him reckless.
Regardless of that, he had still chosen to fight an opponent he couldn't win and nearly died for it, even when he used an attack that was far too strong to be used on a living target, with Midoriya only not being killed or cropped thanks to his quirk's inherent healing factor. There was also some folly to be found in Todoroki's actions as most of his most dangerous injuries were self-inflicted because he refused to use his fire to heat himself, which they could make an educated guess was something his opponent, Hasaki, was betting on.
By the end, they were all relieved that no one was seriously hurt but rightfully worried about how easily that could have changed. "This could spell trouble for us if those two, or worse, the entire group worked with the League again," Snipe noted.
"I would say the odds of that are rather low, as from what we could piece together, while the League was paying for their services, it wasn't a healthy dynamic as Shigaraki was overly demanding, trying to get them to kill despite that being against the terms of their contract," Tsukauchi noted since the students reported that the villains seemed less willing to follow than they were willing to do the bare minimum to earn their pay.
"That would keep them back if the League has the funds." Vlad snorted.
“What of their ranks after this?” Present Mic asked.
"Slice and Pyre, the villains' names for Hasaki and Midoriya, will see their ranks increase from Mid to High C." Tsukauchi replied, which was something of a surprise to them as while officially, there was a letter-based ranking system, which most didn't know was that the system was further broken down into low, mid and high for each grade. The higher the grade, the harder it was to move to the next.
“Is that necessary? Villains with a B rank of any kind are extremely rare.” Cementoss asked, as the only other B-ranked villain he could think of would be Hikiishi Kenji, otherwise known as Magne. They had quite the rap sheet, including 2 murders and 22 attempted murders.
Nezu had a different view of the situation. "I think that was the right move, as while villains ranked B or higher are incredibly rare, these two are proving themselves to be worthy of that. It seems with every attack they carry out, they grow stronger and bolder. After all, could you imagine the people they were a mere four months ago being bold enough to attack U.A? Who can say what they'll be capable of in another four months?"
His question got the room to think, as it wasn't a foolish notion. Their students have proven time and time again that, given the chance, they could make great strides in a fraction of the time it would for them when they got older. A big reason for that was that they were young, adaptable, and not yet set in their ways. The oldest member, at least the one they could confirm, was Kon, and he was only 22. No, getting them a higher rating would be better, so more pros would be out on the hunt for them.
"I wonder if that's the case for Shigaraki." All Might mused as Nezu turned to him.
“Explain, All Might.”
"He didn't strike me as the type that grows from his mistakes, as that first the majority to understand and accept that you were in the wrong or made the wrong choice. Shigaraki spent the time bragging about the strength of his Nomu like a child would a new toy. When things didn't do his way, he got visibly upset and nearly had to be forced through the portal when they retreated." All Might explained that while dangerous, Shigaraki was more like a child throwing a fit.
In fact, now that he has considered it, it does remind him of whenever he interacted with younger fans. "Frankly, if I had to describe him, he was a man-child."
"Did he not go through quirk counseling as a child?" Midnight asked, wondering how this could get any worse
"There is always the chance that he never did, more so since he's not in the system," Cementoss noted as Snipe asked another question.
“I’m sorry, but what’s the point of discussing all this?” The cowboy themed hero asked, as they were discussing a lot of theory, but they not only had detailed files on 2 of the villains, but nothing on the other two.
Tsukauchi answered that one: "We arrested 80 people from the USJ attack, but they were all small-time gutter punks. Even though they should have known better, they still chose to follow along with Shigaraki's plans. We believe it's because they believed in his plan and the simplicity of his evil. That sort of attraction can grow into a greater force—one comparable but the complete opposite to the aura that All Might has."
"And the last thing anyone wants is for the underworld to have a unifying voice, a rallying figure. But if it's capable of growing, he will develop his skills, and his plans will only grow more comprehensive and complex." Nezu picked up from there, as this wasn't something they could ignore, but they'd need to crush it now while it was still in its infancy.
Line Break
While the teachers of U.A. had their little chat, Midoriya was in the kitchen helping Makihara make the group dinner. They had returned to them around an hour after the attack and reported all that they saw and heard, with Nine and the rest being less than pleased when they heard that All for One might know more about them, they realized. Just to be on the safe side, they packed up and moved to another safe house in an entirely new prefecture.
When it came to the fact that he knew All Might and how he hid that, he admitted that he did do that, but because he didn't see how it would help their cause, as plenty of people met All Might, it wasn't like he knew anything vital about the guy which the group bought. Koharu asked why he lied again, and he didn't have an answer. Maybe he just didn't want to see All Might die, or perhaps he didn't want to see anyone die; he wasn't sure about it.
Regardless, when it came to the rest of their report, the group wasn't too shocked that the Nomu had lost, partly because the grunts the League brought it weren't able to do their jobs and keep the students back, but also because, as much as the Nomu could have bested him, they didn't buy that something made in a lab could stand up to All Might. Midoriya did admit that he knew one of the students, Bakugo, and went into detail about their past and why he believed the guy tried to fight him.
The others, mainly Kon, looked ready to rip the boy limb from limb. Still, Midoriya wasn't on that train as he noted that he could have been great, not just because of his quirk. Still, if he had been taught the suitable lessons, he could have become a true hero, someone who fought for the weaker, for the forgotten, for those who didn't fit the mold…but he didn't, because he was told the wrong lessons and he believed them.
Nine praised his mindset towards it, as while they sought to change the world that didn't mean that they should hate the people who benefitted from it, as most were taught nothing else. Most that even upheld the system weren't to blame as it takes a lot to shake someone from a mindset they believed in their entire lives. Their report ended with the group's opinion of Shigaraki still being abysmal. Still, their caution around his unseen master, who they believed to be the old King of the Underworld, only grew as they needed to keep their cards close to their chest as if he suspected that they planned to create a world that had no place for people like him, he'll slaughter them all.
Makihara asked if they could steal one of these Nomu things, but Nine called that fruitless, as they were nothing but mindless monsters made to serve nothing more.
Two days later, the news was still talking about the incident, but while he would have normally been eating it all up and writing in his books, his mind was elsewhere, on his battle, if one could even call it that, with his old friend. He was angry with him, which he expected, but his rage seemed…different; it carried hints of disbelief and betrayal, which he couldn't understand. Was it not Bakugo and the others who always said he would become a villain that his urges were villainous?
Then, there was the betrayal in his eyes. That was the only thing from their encounter, bar his lethal attack, that made his blood boil. What right did he have to feel such a thing? Was he the one who was called weak, called evil? Thrown to the wolves and treated like dirt all because he saw the world differently than others? He wasn't the one who betrayed Bakugo; he betrayed their friendship when he led the charge that made his life hell.
Chopping the greens for their dinner, his irritation over his old friend's emotional response to him was forgotten in favor of his words. When did he last speak with his mother? It was the day he left for school, which was close to a year ago. He knew the press had been hounding her, but that was it. How was she taking his choices? How were they affecting her? He thought that if he avoided contacting her once he joined Nine, he would be helping her, but maybe he was wrong.
What about his father? Did he return to speak with her? Was he calling more often? Or did he just keep to his schedule? Somehow, he suspected it was that last option as that man he called father didn't feel any love towards him, and he suspected it was mutual as he hadn't seen him in person since he was 6. Not since he got that job in Goiânia, he hadn't been home since. It took him till he was 10 to realize that he could have been the reason as his father often traveled for work, but he always made time to call and return. However, not even a week after his quirk appeared, he changed.
He hated that about him, but he hated the effect it had on his mother even more, who had to raise him by herself, and the stress that put on her while his father could have run off and got a second family for all he knew. No, that man was unimportant; as cruel as it was, he wouldn't care if he dropped dead tomorrow; all he cared about was his mother and how he did the same thing to her by leaving.
"Hasaki is resting at the moment, and Kon has something to do," Nine noted as he walked into the common area, a book in hand. Midoriya set down the knife to address him.
“Nine, may I have some days away?” He asked, with the man pausing to turn his way.
“What for?”
"I'd like to check up on my mom. Not visiting her would do more harm than good, but just…see how she's doing with my own eyes." Midoriya answered, his eyes on the floor as he felt conflicted
.
"Do you realize that the cops must be watching her? If you get close to her, they'll be on you like white on rice." Despite agreeing with Makihara, he still took a breath and faced Nine head-on. The man studied his features for a moment before he made his decision.
“Take Kon with you. Just in case.” Midoriya smiled at them.
“Thank you.”
Line Break
I hate head colds; my roommate figured out what I was suffering from and spent most of the day laughing at me as sure I'm not feeling like a corpse as I was yesterday, but my nose has been running, and I keep coughing. I'm lucky I didn't need to physically attend classes today and could do so from home; I would not have made friends with how bad I look.
