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Chapter 4: Do You Believe in Ghosts?
🕑 Added 2024-04-22 15:13:45 +0000 UTCThere's not much to say personally, so we'll skip to the stuff about this. Growth has been slow, I admit that so was for Emerald Furnace, and you can see that the project's going strong right now, so I'm confident that we'll see the numbers continue to climb as I earn more readers. Another thing I'm aiming for here is less build-up, as in More Than You Think, it took me 10 chapters to get to stuff in U.A.; this time will be different as it's just this chapter and the next that will serve as the prelude to it. That being said, just because we'll get to it doesn't mean the plot will go down the same way. There's more good news, as Songbird's second chapter will be posted this week. It took a little longer than expected as I had to decide.
This chapter contains references to material that might disturb certain people, so be prepared for it.
“Text” – Normal speech
‘Text’ - Thought
“Text” – Radio/Communication lines
“Text” – None Japanese speech
(text) – Subtext/meaning behind a spoken word
Chapter 4: Do You Believe in Ghosts?
Midoriya softly yawned into his hand as he and Aoyama walked down the halls of their new school, Rothana High, one of the best technical schools in the country, but also one where Midoriya knew from the moment he stepped in; he was an outlier. Aoyama said at first that it was just freshmen jitters; after all, the spring semester had only started a month ago, but he wasn't so sure about it as even he could feel the gazes of these rich kids on his back, wondering why he was there, judging him for daring to intrude on their world.
That feeling was confirmed by Faunalution whenever she crossed into the human world from his inner world. He had been worried at first but recalled that quirks couldn't be seen by anyone, so he could go about his day with her popping in and out to talk or laze about without anyone being the wiser. But it meant he never had to worry about bullies since she was like an early warning system. If need be, she could mess with them like the mischievous little pomeranian girl she was.
"Midoriya, did you remember to pack lunch today, or will you request my generous aide?" Aoyama asked him, making him groan as he held up his book bag, which carried his lunch.
"Oh, hardy, har-har. For your information, I did bring some leftover buta no kakuni, which I added to with a couple of boiled eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, and peanut butter." He listed off the stuff he managed to add that morning, humming as he couldn't wait to get a bite. Meanwhile, Aoyama pictured that meal in his head and nearly gagged.
"My god, sir, you have a dangerous pallet." He replied as Midoriya rolled his eyes.
“Like you have any room to talk, last I checked, most French meals don’t include tender shoots, apples, and grasshoppers." Others heard his comeback and looked at Aoyama like a weirdo, while some went a little green in the face at the idea of such a meal.
"I've improved upon the recipes of my homeland, which might seem impossible to you, but it can be done with the right hands." Aoyama flicked some of his blonde hair over his ear, utterly unphased by the judgement of their peers.
It wasn't something they could understand, but one side effect they learned early on about artificial quirk spirits was that their users developed rather strange tastes. In their case, they added foods or ingredients favoured by dogs and peacocks, respectively. Now, if that was because their quirks took the form of those animals, they couldn't be sure, but it didn't hurt them to try the foods, and they quickly found that they enjoyed them.
“And yet you have no sense of adventure. I tried your stuff; the least you can do is try mine—" What Midoriya was about to say was cut when they crossed a corner, and he bumped into someone, nearly knocking them over. Hearing that person let out an eep as they fell, his hand shot out and grabbed them around the waist while his other reached for their shoulders. “My apologies! I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
Looking at the person he held in his arms, he saw that it was a classmate of theirs, someone whose periwinkle hair and cat-like lavender eyes made her hard for him to forget. He just realized that he had nearly knocked down Intelli Saiko and that he was holding her in a rather romantic and intimate way. With his face going red, he heard Faunalution teasing him, calling him bold as he quickly let go of the girl after ensuring she had balance.
If Intelli noticed his rather imitate catch of her or his embarrassed face, she didn't say as she yawned, covering it with her hand. “The blame is shared; my mind was elsewhere.” She stated that as he and Aoyama could see, dark circles under those lavender eyes always made Midoriya's heart skip a beat.
“Might I ask where that was?” Aoyama asked her as she yawned again.
“Just some local delinquents messing around my neighbourhood at all odd hours of the night. I’ve barely gotten any sleep.” She answered as students went to and fro around them as they made their way to class before the morning bell.
“Well, we hope that the situation is handled soon enough. A maiden such as yourself requires her rest.” Aoyama bowed his head to her, to which she rolled her eyes but smiled all the same as she had known the two since middle school when she transferred in their second year. Aoyama lived up to the image of the French with his confidence and romantic gestures. Still, they understood that he was merely playing around and never meant to really attract girls, at least most of the time.
“Always quirk with a retort, Aoyama. But one of these days, your mouth might write a cheque you can’t honour.” She turned on her heel and walked off, and despite being sleep-deprived, she still carried herself with the grace and dignity of a swan gliding over a calm lake’s surface.
“One of these days,” Midoriya was knocked out of that image by Aoyama’s vague statement as they followed after her.
“When the sun turns into a Red Giant, maybe. You blew it with her in middle school when you stood up her best friend at the culture festival.” He reminded him as that was the first time he saw the boy blush a little as he recalled the incident and how less than pleased his date had been when he showed up 2 hours late.
“I was a different man then.” They both knew he had a good reason to be so late, but it wasn't a reason that they could just tell people, so he had to just suck it up and let her dunk her food on his head and leave.
“That was less than a year ago," Midoriya replied, but he frowned as he remembered how tired Intelli looked. Still, there was something off with her."
"You heard her. Late-night escapades by unseen actors disturbed her sleep cycle." Aoyama didn't look that deep into it. It wasn't like she had reason to lie, and villain attacks happened almost every other day. Even if not a villain, some people seemed to enjoy being public menaces. That was as true here as it was back in France.
“Yeah, but doesn’t she live in a part of town with little villains?” Midoriya asked as he recalled hearing her mention it once or twice during the first couple weeks of school. It stuck out to him since she, too, didn't come from money, being the daughter of a working-class family who only got in thanks to a scholarship.
Still, with no additional information, the matter was dropped as they continued towards their class. Getting there, Intelli was already seated and reading through a textbook as the two settled into their seats. As he did so, one of the other boys approached him.
“Hey, Midoriya, could you help with the homework?” He asked him. Looking up, Midoriya saw that it was only Tanuma. He wouldn't say they were friends, but he was one of the few who didn't seem to care that he was a pauper compared to them and treated him well enough.
"It's 5 minutes to homeroom bell; what could you need my help with?" Midoriya asked him as the boy laughed, but they could tell he was nervous.
“About pages 23 through 28?” Midoriya’s face went from confused to unamused when he heard that reply.
“That was the entire thing.” Tanuma winced at that but clapped his hands together and bowed to him.
“Oh, come on, I didn't have time to finish it. We had baseball practice that ran late, and I still needed to finish math and history." He quickly explained to him, only for another to burst that bubble with extreme prejudice.
"He's lying. Baseball ended at the normal time, and he decided to spend over 2 hours at the arcade." Another classmate, Kazamatsuri stated.
“Dude!” At how Tanuma responded, Midoriya suspected that Kazamatsuri wasn’t lying, not when he was also on the baseball team. When he looked back at Tanuma, his narrowed eyes made the taller boy sweat.
"Is that right? I'm sorry, Tanuma. It looks like you're on your own," he told him.
"Oh, come on, you can't leave me to drown! I'm a dead man if Mr. Hatake finds out I didn't finish it." Midoriya knew he wasn't lying, as their homeroom teacher was also their science teacher, and Mr. Hatake had earned a reputation for how flippant but strict he could be on a dime. But that didn't mean he would support someone choosing not to do their work.
"Then we shall prepare the eulogy and some flowers," Aoyama joked as Tanuma turned to him and pointed out.
“Like you have any room to talk, I bet you got half the answers wrong!" Aoyama didn't fight the accusation, as while he wished to attend a technical school that put more emphasis on the sciences, he wasn't suited for it; his grades would never break the top ten of their class, never the top 100 of their grade, which was only 180 students.
“It’s true that for all my talents, the sciences are not my strong suit, but unlike you, I did put in the effort to handle it.” Aoyama could still take pride in that, despite his challenges, he tried to tackle them nonetheless.
"Midoriya, please help a brother out?" Tanuma begged him, but he merely gave him a not-so-apologetic smile.
“Sorry. Maybe next time you’ll finish your homework before gaming.” He told him as the boy groaned in despair, made all the worse when the door slid open, and their white-haired teacher walked in.
"Alright, class, settle down. Homeroom's about to begin. As always, we'll start with roll call…" The mask-wearing man reached for the student roaster on the podium and started to read through it.
Line Break
Later, the group of 4 sat in the school gardens, enjoying lunch. “Dammit, does he have to go that hard with Physics?” Tanuma asked, as his mind was almost fried, and it wasn't even halfway through the first semester!
"Maybe if you did the homework, you wouldn't be so far behind," Kazamatsuri suggested.
"Let the past stay in the past, will ya?” Tanuma replied as the boys pulled their bags open and pulled out their bentos, the tree shade creating a calm, pleasant atmosphere.
“Just be happy that it’s lunch period. Maybe we can go over some work while we eat?” Midoriya suggested with an amused chuckle out of Aoyama and nervous ones from his acquaintances.
“Not all of us see studying as fun, Midoriya.” Kaxamatsuri reminded him not even a month in, and Midoriya proved that he earned his spot at the school more than once. The only one who seemed to be a bigger bookworm than him was the class resident tea addict, Intelli.
"Maybe he wants to become a big-shot researcher like his mother," Tanuma suggested, nudging Midoriya. The boy blushed a little, happy that his mother was seen in such a positive light even now. Still, she had recently accepted her PhD in Biochemical engineering. The firm she founded was making real headway in genetic research and developing drugs that could better treat people, especially those with extreme heteromorphic traits.
“Her work is interesting,” He relented as he opened his lunch box, salivating a little at the look of the food and the mix of pork, spice, boiled eggs and peanut butter floating upwards. He could hear Faunalution just as excited for the meal as he was, the quirk forming next to him with a wagging tail as he clapped his hands together. “Thanks for the meal!”
While the food smelled and looked significant to him, his two friends looked at the butchered mockery of Japanese food with concern and mild disgust. “Dude, what the heck is that on your food?” Tanuma asked, looking to see Aoyama eating an equally unappealing meal that nearly made the two lose their appetites. "I wonder how your digestive tract handles the weird things you feed it."
"A healthy growing body needs healthy foods," Midoriya answered after swallowing a piece of his meal.
“Are you sure you’re not trying to find something to add to your height?” Kaxamatsuri joked, hitting Midoriya in a sore spot.
“I’m perfectly sized, that’s all! You’re all just giants! He decried them, as in the group of 4, he was the shortest by nearly an inch, just 2cm, but that was enough for people to give him grief.
"Dude, you're like the second smallest guy in our grade," Tanuma told him, which only made him all the more down. He needed to eat more of his food to feel better as Faunalution petted his head.
“Giants!” He mumbled through his chewing, his quirk not making it any better as she took full advantage of the fact that only Aoyama could see her. Still, he was too busy taking joy at his expense, along with his quirk, Luminance.
"Don't worry, my little human. I'm sure you'll grow big and strong in no time." She teased him, as he had received many things from his mother, things he would forever cherish. Height wasn't one of them, as she had never been the tallest woman out there. As the years went by, the stress of work meant she put on weight and seemed to shrink a little. He was taller than her, but that wasn’t saying much.
Then again, he didn’t know where Faunalution got off as while she had grown in the 5 years since he met her, she wasn’t any bigger than him in human form. Did she like to point out that she had curves for which to die for? Yes, but it wasn't like most people could see them. Her dog form wasn't much better as she was only the size of an exceptionally large Pomeranian. Luminance had a better reason to be smug about her size as the rainbow peacock was the size of a horse.
“Maybe he can ask Hinata?” His musings were interrupted by Kaxamatsuri.
"Dude, that's just a story to scare freshmen like us," Tanuma replied.
“Whose Hinata? An upperclassman?” Midoriya asked as he was sure he would recall a girl in their class with that name, but he was only drawing blanks.
Tanuma rolled his eyes but still answered the question, even if he thought everything was stupid. "She was a student here around 12 years ago. She was one of the best in her class, and she was even in the running for student body president despite being a first year."
Kaxamatsuri picked it up from there. “The story goes that she was the life of the school, well-liked by students and teachers alike, but then one day she changed.”
“Changed how?” Aoyama asked, sipping his grape juice like it was 20-year-old wine.
Kaxamatsuri shrugged. “That's the thing. No one knows; it was like a flipped switch, and she went from the school's sunshine to the rainy day in human form. Each day, she got worse till she vanished like smoke. They searched for weeks but never found her, but they did find a suicide note." That was enough for Midoriya to pause in his meal, which the two other boys didn't notice.
“She took her own life?” He quietly asked.
"That's what the authorities concluded, though they never found a body, it was pretty rainy in the days after she vanished, and folks say that the nearby river can carry away a body to sea," Tanuma replied since the school was built on land that was close to the river. As gruesome as it was, if someone went in when no one was around during the rainy months of June-July, they'd be long gone before anyone even noticed.
Now that he thinks about it, the school had been pretty clear during orientation that they were to never go close to it, even building a fence a couple of years back, according to the principal.
“Was the note found near the water?” Aoyama asked, any semblance of humour gone.
“I mean, I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask one of the 3rd years.” Tanuma replied.
“At least according to the 3rd year I heard it from, her 'vengeful and sorrowful' ghost haunts the halls of the school, and whenever you're hit by a sudden and unexplained bout of sadness, that's her," Kaxamatsuri added to it.
“I think it’s all just a made-up story to scare us and explain anxieties around exam times. Who doesn’t get a little jumpy around them?” Tanuma returned to his food; the topic dropped, but Midoriya had questions.
"Have there been any weird events around campus?" He asked, and the two looked at him confused as he shrugged. "I'm curious. What can I say?"
Deciding to humour their classmate and his endless thirst for knowledge, Tanuma thought of other things he had heard. "Well, there's the whole 'passing dread' thing, but they say rooms are unusually warm even when the thermostat is set low."
"I heard that smoke alarms sometimes go off even when there's no fire," Kaxamatsuri recalled one story he heard from a 3rd year, which he thought felt like a stretch.
Aoyama pursed his lips as he discussed the topic; he recalled hearing something in passing: "Speaking of smoke, I heard that smoke just appeared in one of the classrooms last year. The school thought it was an electrical fault, and the entire place was evacuated."
“And we never found an issue.” A new voice stated as the boys turned to the source. "People chalked it to a student playing a prank, but we never figured out who." Their teacher smiled at them, and the handsome middle-aged man appeared jovial.
“Mr. Mizuki.” The group were about to stand to greet the man, but he waved them off with a smile.
“At ease, boys. I’m not here to rain on your talk. I just wished to see the son of Professor Midoriya for myself.” He stated, his eye shifting to Midoriya, who seemed slightly flustered to be under it.
"I'm not much to look at, sir; being plain is a family trait." He told him as the man laughed.
"Nonsense. You look just like your mother, and if what I saw of your entrance exam is any proof, you're just as sharp." He complimented the boy, who recalled scoring around 92% on the entrance exam, enough to earn a partial scholarship to pay for the more insane fees and trips the school hosted.
But he paused to think over their teacher’s choice of words. “You know my mother, sir?”
"Well, of course I do. We attended this very academy together, though I admit we were never close, but I was more than happy to see her succeed in life. It does make me feel a little small when I compare myself to her." He revealed, which was surprising as he hadn't had the chance to meet any of her old classmates, well, other than Uncle Masaru, and they hadn't really spoken in person in years.
"I wouldn't sweat it, teach; you're the head of the Language department and on track to getting a sweet promotion?" Tanuma complimented the man in return.
"You're too kind, but I'll likely turn it down." He replied, which shocked him as he was being offered a job at Tokyo University if the rumours were correct.
“What? Why?” Midoriya asked as the man closed his eyes and hummed pleasantly.
"Well, the pay would be better. I feel more at home helping you youngsters with my own hands rather than from a desk two towns over.” Their teacher replied, which made them laugh as, of course, he would say that.
"That's a relief. Your classes are the best, and I can tell that I will enjoy them for the rest of the year." Kaxamatsuri gave the man a thumbs up.
"Make sure that's just a year. I wouldn't want you to fall behind on your studies and need to repeat the grade." He told them that while he was a fun teacher, he wasn't about to let them just lack off in his class. Well, I said my piece; I'll let you, young man, return to your meal."
Midoriya noticed Intelli watching the man from a picnic table set up under a tree as he walked off, being stopped by one of the girls. If he didn't see things, she was glaring at the man.
Line Break
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Aoyama muttered as the two looked through the empty halls of the school, still in uniform and holding flashlights.
“I’m not forcing you to stay, you know.” Midoriya retorted as they continued their search. While most would have written off the story they heard, they knew better than ever since they got their quirks; their eyes were opened to a whole new world where they saw quirks' spirits everywhere. It wasn't just them either; when others got artificial quirks of their own, they reported the same, with even the lenses developed for research purposes allowing people to see them.
Now, most were non-issues; those were either ones still attached to their users like their teachers and classmates or belonged to the recently departed; that second group rarely lasted more than a few days before they faded or passed on if they wished to phrase it better. Both categories they had come to call Ha(Fragment).
But that was just the first of 5 classes, as there was a second level to quirks, Jitsunagi(Earth-Bond Fragments), which typically belonged to the departed who had a solid attachment to somewhere, thing or one. Lucky for them, most were peaceful and reasonable when approached, such as the spirit of an elderly man that they found in the nearby park. He and his wife met and spent a lot of time there, and because he wasn't hurting anyone, they left him to his devices.
That being said, the peaceful ones were always the ones who had a positive connection; those that had a negative one tended to make a nuisance of themselves at best, and neither entertained that someone who took their own life would have a stellar opinion of the place they did it. Made all the worse when a quick search revealed that she had a fire quirk in life, which explained the unexplained fires and smoke.
"And who will be around to save you like the damsel in distress you are, such as the Pizza incident?” Aoyama asked, getting Midoriya to turn to him in irritation and embarrassment.
"I seem to recall that happening very differently." He replied but didn't say more as Aoyama laughed at his shame before the two returned to searching.
“Anywhere in particular we need to check?” Aoyama asked after a few minutes of quiet between the two, as they just cleared their 3rd classroom.
“I didn’t hear anything about that from people. As far as they’re concerned, it’s just a morbid tale. But we can try the 2nd year chem lab. That was where the fire incident happened." Midoriya replied, keeping his eyes out for any disturbance,,, but the place had been as quiet as the grave.
“I doubt any evidence would still be around.” Aoyama started as Luminance formed beside him, her form smaller than usual to fit in the halls.
“That might be true for others, but if there was a Jitsunagi(Earth-Bond Fragments), they'd be some sign." Midoriya reminded him, though it would have been nice if they had a larger team and gear. Sadly, they were the only field agents in the area, as the closest other person in the prefecture was away. In contrast, the second closest was close to three hours away and busy with an assignment.
“Let us pray that it was only an ill-behaved Jitsunagi. This school is not a proper place for a containment procedure.” Luminance's feathers fluttered with unease.
“Agreed, and it wouldn’t be proper to wreck the place when we’re not still green," Aoyama replied in French.
“Hold,” Midoriya held his hand up. “We have company.” He informed the two, pointing towards the corner where he swore that he saw a light.
Nodding towards it, he and Aoyama slowly approached it, their lights ahead and ready to defend themselves. “Whoever you are, come out right now! You’re on school property after hours.” There was silence, but they could hear something or someone moving.
"Get out now, and we won't report you to the teachers in the morning!" Midoriya called again.
"I could say the same about you." A familiar feminine voice said as the person walked out, a light in their hands. And I doubt you got permission to be here." She flashed a permission slip, one that they didn’t have.
“Intelli?” Aoyama asked, as of all the people to find snooping around. “What are you doing here?” He asked her, as she wasn't in uniform anymore, but in what he could only assume was purposely chosen dark clothing, with even her hair tied up and hidden under a dark beanie.
Despite looking like the cartoon depiction of a robber, sans the black and white striped shirt, she was the only one who snorted at the question. "I should be asking you that? You left something but would have noticed before the sun went down since neither of you is in sports. Even if you weren't, you would have waited to retrieve first thing in the morning instead of risking disciplinary action for entering school grounds so late." She started analyzing them with the same proficiency and accuracy that made her a capable student.
Midoriya started to sweat as she continued, the girl locking onto him, seeing him as the weak link. "So that tells me that whatever you're after is valuable enough to risk it or something you don't want people to know about." Getting closer, the boy tried to look away but only made himself look all the more suspicious as she backed off but got what she wanted. "Going by how pale you are. I'm betting it's both."
Aoyama reached for the bridge of his nose, massaging it as he said, “Midoriya, you should never play games like poker. You’re the world’s worst liar.” He told his friend and ignored his flustered denial. He turned to Intelli, wondering how they were going to spin this, as Midoriya couldn't lie to save his life, and even if he wasn't terrible, Intelli wasn't stupid. "You're right; we're not here for something school-approved."
“Then what are you are?” She asked them, a mild glare in her eyes as she reached for her back, where he suspected she carried a weapon if they didn’t give her a suitable answer.
“We’re looking for the ghost girl.” He answered, keeping it vague but also truthful, though her glare grew stronger.
“If you think that will fool me-”
Midoriya stepped in, finding his nerve. "He's not, we're not. We're searching for the ghost—for Hinata." She looked at him but saw that he was sincere in that belief.
“Do you actually believe that nonsense?” She asked, but her hand retreated from whatever weapon or tool she carried.
"We've seen strangers. And besides, it doesn't hurt to check, right?" Midoriya replied, Intelli chalking up the statement to quirks. This wasn't wrong, but the context she was thinking of was very different from the truth. She would have asked more questions, but Aoyama raised a hand.
“Do you smell smoke?” The blonde asked, pausing to take a whiff of the air. The two picked up the smell as well, and it was strong. They all shared a look before they ran to find the cause of it; as they got closer, the smell only got stronger, as they could now see smoke floating overhead.
Coughing into her sleeve, Intelli asked. “Why aren’t the alarms going off?” The school had just had them tested because of the random unexplained fire last year. Maybe a few could have got through despite being faulty, but there was a fire detector every few metres overhead, so there was no way all of them were defective.
“We can worry about that later; we need to find the source before it can burn the school down," Midoriya said as they turned the corner and saw the entire place was burning. The smoke was the worst, as it escaped through the shattered windows. Squinting, they tried to see through it and maybe find the source.
“Help…” Midoriya heard something through the flames.
“Wait.” He called out. Not a moment, a person broke through the smoke, trying to escape the flames. But it was like the flames had a mind as they collected into a massive, fluffy-looking rabbit that glared at them. Rising a fiery paw, they were about to smash them into the wall.
“Help!” At that cry, Midoriya moved as he jumped into the fray, his belt flashing as he called upon Faunalution’s power, taking on some of the attributes in the form of the ears and tail as he pointed at the man and concentrated.
“Shelter Aura!" With that command, a large green and brown dome appeared around the man, right in time to save them as the strike smashed into it. Midoriya gritted his teeth as if that wasn't soft. The dome cracked from that single shot. The fire, or quirk spirit, paused at that, surprised to see that it didn't kill the man as Aoyama rushed in. Grabbing the man, he pulled him out as Midoriya created a dome around the flames to contain it, but it shattered through it with just 2 hits.
The quirk seemed angered by this, staring at them before letting out a roar that sounded like an inferno before he faded away as if it was never there. Looking around, neither Midoriya nor Aoyama could see the quirk, but they couldn't be sure with so much smoke lingering. As they backed away from the place, Aoyama tended to the injured, coughing man and recognized him. “Mr. Mizuki!”
"Thanks for rescuing me. I thought I was a goner." Through his coughing fit, he said that Aoyama had helped him to a window to breathe in some fresh air.
“Sir, what were you doing here so late?” Aoyama asked him while Intelli watched.
“I was…looking over some papers for an upcoming test. Before I knew it, the place was on fire.” Their teacher replied, and when both pictured a school map, they recalled that Mizuki's office was on this floor, not far from where that blaze had just been.
“Do you have any idea what started that flash fire?” Intelli asked, though she suspected there was more to it as flames didn't look like animals or strike like one.
Having somewhat collected himself, their teacher fixed his jacket before answering, "Your guess is as good as mine." She didn't seem pleased with that statement. Still, Aoyama noticed that they weren't alone when he saw someone dressed in the girl's uniform standing near the other end of the hallway.
“Hinata.” He sounded confused to see her for only a second as Midoriya turned and saw her, both realizing that this wasn't good.
“What was that?” Mr Mizuki asked them as he and Intelli looked in the direction and saw nothing.
The ghost girl didn't look at them but at the teacher with silent murderous intent as she started approaching them. Her footsteps, echoing like eerie gunshots, jolted their classmates and teacher as they looked around, trying to see where that sound was coming from. “We need to run. Now.” Midoriya grabbed onto Intelli’s arm while Aoyama went for their teacher.
“What, wh-” He saw a flash in his side of his vision and didn't hesitate, throwing Intelli to the ground and getting on top of her as an inferno raced overhead, the girl terrified that the flames had formed from nothing once more, and were trying to take them all out.
“That’s why, now move!” He yelled, pulling her to her feet and racing down the halls as the flames chased them down. Aoyama pulled along their teacher as they barely made a corner, avoiding another blast that would have left no way to dodge. The two freaked out, and it appeared like living flames had it out for them. Not taking a moment to breathe, they raced down the halls, flames never far behind them as Midoriya and Aoyama heard the spirit screaming in a fury about how she'd kill Mr Mizuki and them as well if needed.
“Oh my god, oh my god!” The teacher in question was a nervous wreck as they descended some stairs, skipping several steps to cut the time. Aoyama barely avoided a blast of fire that hit the bottom of the stairs, leaving the wood charred and cracked.
“What is happening? Why is fire chasing us?!” Intelli yelled at them, barely keeping her beanie on as they fled.
“Talk later, run now! Aoyama!” Midoriya yelled as Aoyama nodded.
“Got it, Luminance!” He pushed Mr. Mizuki towards Midoriya before he turned to the coming threat. Calling his quirk, like Midoriya with his, he gained some of her attributes. In his case, that was a rainbow feathered tail and rainbow plumes along his forearms, floating just over the surface of his sleeve. “Reflect.” He sent out a blast of concentrated light, which flew right for the incoming wave of fire, only to burst into a giant glass wall.
When the flames hit it, they were sent right on back against the quirk spirit, but while they caused even more damage to the school, it wasn’t nearly as effective against the creature that made it. But it was a pause as the quirk seemed to regain some sense through its fiery rage.
“Why are you stopping me?” It asked Aoyama, the boy taking the time to catch his breath.
“You’re willing to talk?” He asked back.
“I am. But he needs to pay for pushing me and hurting me. It hurt so bad, and it didn't stop hurting.” The quirk then blasted the barrier with an even stronger fireball, the orange and crimson ball smashing into his barrier and destroying it.
“Crap, this has changed. Reflect!” He created another as he ran off, and when he saw that it was nearly finished, he used another move. “Mirror!” This time, the light shifted in front of him, creating a broad, thin plane which projected an illusion. While he could see just fine, the Jitsunagi, which he realized was better classed as a Gekiha(Enraged Fragment), saw him rushing down the opposite hallway and followed. He waited for a moment to ensure that it wouldn't double back before releasing the illusion, taking a breath as he ran down the path the rest had.
It didn’t take him long to find the rest, who had taken refuge in a classroom. Softly closing the door behind him, Midoriya was already on him. “Did you?”
He shook his head. “She’s still after us, but I managed to trick her." He replied.
“Her?” Intelli asked as this started to get to her. Okay, what the hell was that? How do you know so much? You acted war too calm out there for this to be anything but a regular thing." She demanded as their teacher, frazzled by their near-death experience, looked at them as they had to quickly explain the situation in a way that wouldn't make things worse.
"It's a villain; they just look like a ghost. You just didn't see them with all the fire and smoke they're putting out. I know how to handle stuff like this since I study heroes." Aoyama responded, as close to the truth as he dared.
"Did she say why she was here? No one attacks a school for no reason," Midoriya asked, trying to shift attention away from their shoddy explanation.
“They said they’re here for you, Mr. Mizuki. That you hurt them.” Aoyama replied, which confused Midoriya and the teacher. Still, Intelli turned her gaze back to Mizuki, remaining silent for this part.
On the other hand, their teacher was more than willing to share his thoughts on the situation. “That’s insane! I can’t even remember the last time I got into an agreement, never mind hurting someone. Is this some student who's upset and gave them a failing grade?”
“Midoriya,” Intelli asked, drawing Midoriya’s attention as he turned to her. “You said Hinata earlier, right?” She asked.
“I mean, yeah.” He replied, confused that of all the things she could focus on, she chose that.
“Did they look like Hinata?” She pressed, making him step back as she approached him.
"I think so. I've only." He raised his hands to try to explain, as he had only seen photos of the girl in the newspaper articles they had found online and on the school's website.
“Midoriya.” She cut him off, her eyes offering no quarter as he sighed and relented.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, but what has this have to do with anything? Hinata has been dead for a decade.” Mr Mizuki asked as they should focus on getting out of there.
Turning to him, Intelli couldn't hide her disgust with the man any longer, reaching for the baton she had brought. "You would know you were the last to see her alive?" Both boys blinked in shock at that statement, looking between the two.
“I’m sorry.” Their teacher seemed confused by the statement. Yeah, he was the last person who saw her, as he told the police all those years ago; what did that mean now?
“Intelli?” Aoyama reached for her, but as he did so, Midoriya felt the temperature spike; instinctively, he turned to the door and saw something on the other side as he tried to warn them. "She's-!" That was all he got out before the door exploded. Behind it, a jet of flames flooded the room, sending them all to the ground as Midoriya got the worst of it, being knocked to the other side of the room by the door, where he slumped to the floor in a heap.
Squeezing into the room, the giant fire rabbit looked at the destruction it caused before its eyes landed on Mr. Mizuki. “Found you.”
“Midoriya, get them out of here. I'll distract it—" Aoyama moved to give his friend time, rushing the quirk, but it evaded his strike by shrinking into a smaller form. Before he could recover, it kicked him in the side, the Frenchman hearing a crack as he was sent barrelling into the desks before crashing into the wall.
With the two biggest threats down, the quirk smiled as it could finally do what it longed for. "No more waiting. I waited too long. I've been hurting too long." It spoke, yet neither still-standing humans could hear her. Despite the situation, Intelli tried to defend herself against what she thought was a villain. Still, her strikes didn't even phase it as her baton passed through the flames as if they were natural.
She saw the fire extinguisher in the corner and rushed it, but so did the quirk as it knocked her aside. Landing with a pained yelp, she hit her head on one of the remaining standing desks, but that knocked her beanie off and let her long hair out.
Seeing that, out of everyone, seemed to be enough for the quirk to stop in its murderous assault. Midoriya looked up, and instead of seeing her getting attacked because he got sloppy, the spirit was watching her with what could only be…recognition? Its fiery form faded away, leaving the pretty look spirit of a long-dead girl's quirk in its place.
“Little Genius, is that…really you?” The spirit of Hineta's quirk asked, seemingly shocked, happy but fearful all at once, its early anger gone, but when Intelli didn't respond to it, its desperation only grew as it reached for her shoulders, only for her hands to go through her.
Turning back, the quirk raced back into Intelli's unseeing line of sight, waving her hands about, trying to elicit a response. "Little Genius, don't you recognize me?"
"It's useless; she can't see or hear you right now." Midoriya drew its attention, irritation blooming on her face as he slowly got up, his entire body in pain from that impact, to be frank, his legs like jelly. Still, he soldiers on as he reaches into his pocket to grab something. “But this can help.” He held out a small toy, the type one would hang off a keychain before he tapped a button on its back, resulting in the small ornament growing to the size of the average teddy bear; written on its forehead was the label 'Spirit enters here'.
“Why should I trust you?” She asked the obvious question; he would have to because this seemed like a poorly concealed trap, but a trap nonetheless.
To answer that, he smiled and stated honestly. “Because…you look like you need saving. And she might be able to do that.” The quirk seemed surprised by this honestly, he had been told that he had a habit of looking as genuine as gold as he wished to help people, and as the years went by, that had extended to wayward quirks because they shared their user's emotions, and so often, their pain. And even if he failed most times, even if he ended up disappointed more often than not, everyone deserves someone reaching a handout.
She still seemed sceptical, even as the two normal humans remained silent and confused as they watched him converse with nothing. But she made her choice and started approaching the offering doll. “If you’re lying,”
He smiled, his teeth a tad bloody. “Then I’ll happily let you burn me alive.” The quirk at least looked apologetic for how badly hurt he was as she entered into the doll. Immediately, it started acting out, spasming and cracking, and then it fell silent.
Then it got up, dusting itself off like it was a person.
Looking at her new body, temporary as it might have been, the quirk tried feeling things like the table. It was one, but he got nothing before he realized that it didn't feel anything. This was merely a doll, not a proper body, but she could look past that part. “Little Genius?” She spoke again, and this time, it wasn't just Midoriya and the slowly rising Aoyama that heard her.
“Who…who are you? What are you?” Intelli asked, freaked out over this doll, but more than that, it was that name. She hasn't been called that in years, not since-
The doll pointed to themselves, excited and worried at the same time. “It’s me, big sis, Hinata! Don’t…don’t you remember me?” She asked, fearful as Intelli wondered if this was real. She knew it had to be fake, that this couldn't be real, and only one person called her that. She was dead, had been for years…but, the way she called her Little Genius, it was just like her cherished memories of her, then there were the flames, they were random before but…
"Her quirk…she, she could make flame bunnies," Intelli whispered, as Hinata's flame quirk used to do that; it wasn't close to this powerful, but she loved to make little rabbits bounce around to the amusement of a much younger Intelli and the other kids.
The doll Hinata seemed so happy by that, nearly dancing as she rushed her, jumping into her surprised arms and hugging her the best she could. “Yeah, yeah! That’s me! You remember, I’m so happy!” Intelli also started to cry, as she never thought she'd ever see her again or hear her voice. While this was happening, the two managed to collect themselves, at least enough not to fall over again after being taken down embarrassingly quickly.
They watched the reunion, though it was bittersweet for the two for more than one reason. But it soon ended as a question that had burned in her chest for so long finally came out: "What happened to you? Why are you like this?"
“I…” Hinata seemed scared to speak, her doll from shivering, but Intelli hugged her close, offering whatever comfort she could to the quirk she believed was the soul of her dead…the two didn't know what they were to each other. “Hinata. Please. You can tell us.” Intelli encouraged her before the doll sniffed as if she could cry in her present form before she pointed to the sweating and shivering teacher.
“He killed me.” She stated that the man's face was going pale as a corpse at that accusation. It shocked them all but made Midoriya and Aoyama hostile towards him as they moved to stand guard.
“Mr. Mizuki did that?” If Intelli had noticed their shift in behaviour, she didn't act like it as she focused on the little doll in her hands.
“Yes.”
Their teacher looked as scared as a pig about to be slaughtered and tried to defend himself. “I-I don’t know what’s happening-” He was stopped when Aoyama grabbed him, keeping hold of his side and arm, which, thanks to his heteromorph trait, was covered up to the elbow with thick steel-like armour.
Doing the same with his other side, Midoriya glared at the man with growing disgust, thinking that this was someone worth admiring. “Sir, with all due respect. Shut up and let her talk.”
“Hinata, could you tell us what happened?” Intelli asked as the pieces fell into place in her mind, but she needed to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Hinata was scared and nervous, understandable in the situation as who could testify to their own murder without some nerves? "I…He made him happy. He saw me around July during debate practice…he was nice and sweet to me. He said I was smart, pretty, and destined for great things." She explained, painting a picture that only further buried the terrified man in their grasp.
"He asked if I wanted to spend time with him outside school," Hinata continued, ignoring him before she froze up. We went to the movies and dinner a few times. It was fun…" She continued, some nostalgia bleeding into her words. "He even won me a necklace at the fair. He had something engraved in it, a little secret between us."
“For even if the sea keeps us apart, know that you’ll always hold my heart," Intelli stated, which made the doll look up at her in surprise.
“How did you know?” She asked, to which the watery-eyed Intelli pulled it out and presented it, revealing that she had been wearing the necklace the entire time. The sight of which made Mizuki all the more nervous as he recognized it, a fact that both boys picked up on.
“I have the necklace now. I wear it every day to remind me of you," Intelli told her, holding it out for the doll to grasp. While she couldn't feel it, she also could…in a way, as one didn't need nerves to pick up on memories.
"That's nice. Those days were nice. I thought I was in love…" She whispered, shivering as the illusion of the past broke; the harsh reality of her situation hit her. “But he started asking to spend more time with me, to do things that I didn’t like and got upset when I said no.”
The three were teens. Intelli had just turned 16 close to the end of April, but that didn't mean they couldn't pick up the subtext of the situation that Hinata had the misfortune to have been caught in.
Again, their teacher and apparent groomer tried to defend himself, but Aoyama's grip on him only got stronger; holding out a hand, he flashed a ball of pure light, bright but one he could make as hard as steel with a thought, a fact that their…teacher would know well. “Unless you want to be knocked out, you’ll remain silent.” He whispered to the man in French, which he knew he would understand as Midoriya glared at the man, as he wouldn’t stop Aoyama from following through with that.
Hinata continued as Intelli soothed her. "Things got tense, but then he called and said he was over it, apologized, and set up a date for us. But it wasn't a date; it was a motel." She said.
“Hinata, did…did he?” Intelli didn't want to use the word but refused to diminish what had happened. "He did have sex with you?" Hinata nodded, burying her head into Intelli's chest, shivering as her soul cried, even if her body was incapable of it.
"He said it wouldn't hurt, that I would like it after a while, but it didn't stop hurting. I cried and told him to stop, but he didn't listen; he just kept going." She recounted the experience before breaking slightly as Intelli soothed her, told her that she wasn't at fault, that she was a victim and that her word wouldn't be ignored. All while, the two moved their guilty party to a desk, picked it up from its side and sat him down, making sure that he remained silent and understood that if he tried to flee, it wouldn't end well.
"I didn't go to school afterwards because it hurt. Even when I took painkillers, it didn't stop hurting." She eventually picked up where she left off.
"I went to school to talk to him about it, to break up with him but…but he didn't like that either. He got angry and started hitting me. He grabbed me and held my neck, I scratched and bit and fought, but his quirk made it impossible and…and then I was like this." She ended it by gesturing to herself, recounting her final moments before she was strangled to death by the man she was fooled into thinking loved her.
“You didn’t jump into the river?” Intelli asked, to which Hinata fervently denied.
“No, I would never! I…I wouldn’t want to hurt my friends and family.” She stated, which Intelli quickly apologized for. But with that said and done, they turned their attention to the groomer and murderer in their midst, who looked at their rage and saw the gallows.
“B-boys, surely you can-!” Midoriya slapped the man across the face in a rare emotional outburst, sending him to the floor with a red cheek. Midoriya knew that was wrong, but he had met enough quirk spirits to know they rarely lied. The idea that one would have such an intricate lie prepared was just ludicrous.
"Save it, Aoyama." He turned to his friend, the two still injured. Still, they'd be more than happy to power through to keep Tobi in check, with force if needed, as a small voice in his and Faunalution egged him to cut out the provocation and jump straight to the forceful response.
“I’m already calling the police.” Aoyama was already on his phone, with the fire alarms having been shut. It would have been up to locals to call the fire department, but as there weren't sirens in the distance, it would seem like the fires hadn't been noticed. That could be easily corrected as the longer that he stood next to this scumbag, the more disgusted he felt.
“Hinata, do…do you remember what came after that?” Intelli asked.
Hinata took a moment to think about it. “He took my body downstairs to get rid of it. He looked scared, probably because he didn’t want to get caught.”
Downstairs was the boiler room, generally restricted to students. Looking at one another, Intelli turned back to Hinata. “Could you show us?”
Line Break
20 minutes later, the school grounds were swarmed with law enforcement and firefighters; the latter rushed about ensuring that all the fires had been put out while the former handled the body recovery as Hinata led them towards the boiler room, the school being an old one, it still had old coal burning boilers, though they were inactive. At least, that was what they thought, as when they opened one, they found charred skeletal remains that could only belong to a human.
They led the police to it when they arrived, and they quickly started documenting the scene before they moved the remains for identification. In the meantime, they took their scumbag teacher off their hands, the two-faced man, one side pale and sweaty, the other red and swelling from Midoriya's strike, was cuffed and put into the back of a police car to be taken into holding.
Of course, as great a deed as what they did was, they had been questioned by the police as to why they were on campus and how they figured out a decades-old cold case. Intelli had explained her case to them, from how she and the murdered girl came from the same neighbourhood and that she used to be babysat by her, how she noticed her acting strange back then assumed she had a boyfriend, and how her behaviour started to change, concerningly so in the days leading up to her death.
She only managed to link all this to the mysterious boyfriend years later when Hinata's older brother gifted her his sister's necklace. She saw the Greek inscription on it. She realized that there was only one person who could have given her, and that fit all the clues Hinata had left in life, with her finishing her statement on how she spent the last 2 years digging into the man to try and prove it, with tonight being the smoking gun. The police praised her for her efforts but lamented the fact that she had to be the one to do it before promising that they'll get justice for her friend, with Intelli telling them she'll hand over any evidence she managed to dig up, all legally of course and that she'll swear to in the stand.
Of course, she gave her statement away from the two, so when it came time to explain the finer details of the night's events, including the cause of the rampaging fire. She could have been honest and told them what she knew. Still, she had decided to trust Midoriya when talking about the finer details, as he had asked her to before the police could arrive. So, she left out any details about Hinata, despite holding the doll in her hands that still housed her quirk, and framed it as a break-in from a villain that escaped in the chaos. They all claimed that they heard the person confront their teacher as well.
Nothing said was a lie, but they had made sure to leave this vague as possible or allow common knowledge to fill in the blanks. An hour later, all three were seated on the curve of the road, the two having been checked by the paramedics and told that they'd be heading to the hospital first, where they could finalize things while Intelli would be taken to the police station. Waiting for their parents after such an experience, holding a high-tech doll that housed what Midoriya said was not the soul of her friend but her quirk, Intelli finally asked.
"What happened last night?"
After the night they had, neither had it in them to lie. They explained the whole situation.
I can’t help myself. I have a problem. Even with an extra 1000 words, I STILL exceeded the limit, this time by nearly 2500k words. And to think, this is the cut-down version, as the first draft was over 10K words, but most of that was pointless fluff which could be cut. I could have pushed those final bits into the next chapter. Still, that chapter has its own story, which is very different to this. I didn't want to write a short chapter either as if I cut stuff to fit into that 7K limit, it would have been a really awkward ending, would it?
I have to be frank that I didn't think I did the best job here, I tried my best, burning through 4 different drafts of that scene, with one even having her explain her past to the two after the incident with the cops in the distance, but that would have stretched things on way too much. But I also didn't want to diminish the story being told as shit like this is serious, and if you're going to play it straight, you better do it well, so I went in with that approach. While it's not gold, I would say it's not bronze either.
And yes, I know that there is some creep that’ll point out that Japan’s age of consent is 13, but that was changed last year to 16, but since MHA takes place over 100 years from now, and Japan is so closely linked to the US, I’m making the assumption that it was raised to 18 to match their partner. That is part of why I aged up the cast as I might write smut scenes and using teens for that felt extremely dirty.
