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A New Existence Chapter 3
🕑 Added 2023-08-02 13:48:28 +0000 UTCWhile I wrote this chapter, at least in the beginning, I was listening to In the House, in a Heartbeat by John Murphy and Desolation by Tom Player which just gave me other ideas for some epic scenes down the line, for both this story and another that is in the works.
Chapter 3: Deku’s Debut
“Man, that was great!” Ashido fell onto the sofa behind her, a relaxed happy smile on her face as Bakugo closed his front door after having let them in. As they had agreed, they had done to the water park to relax and unwind after their week-long training camp and had great fun. She especially found it funny that Kaminari tried hitting on not one, not 2, not even 4 but 9 separate girls and struck out with all of them.
She had to hand it to him, he had confidence, except for that last one he tried who had a boyfriend who did NOT appreciate him doing that, the guy being as tall as Shoji made her friend back off real fast and hide behind Kirishima.
“We so deserved that; we should totally do more of them!” Kaminari, despite having had zero luck with girls while out, didn’t even care as the rest of the trip had been so fun that he couldn’t stay sad for more than 5 minutes at a time. Ashido on the other hand had much better luck as she had at least 10 guys approach her but she turned them all down, as she wanted to enjoy their time together as a group.
“Agreed!” The affectionately nicknamed twin stooges of class 1-A high-fived as Katsuki and his mother, Mitsuki, Shinso and Kirishima watched on with either amusement or annoyance. Kirishima was in just as good a mood as his two friends. He went out with friends and stuck with it, even after a couple of girls asked him to join them, having recognized him from the Sports Festival. He didn’t even mind that they confused him with his class 1-B counterpart.
“It’s been a while since I last went to a water park, I forgot how fun it was, it even got old grump in the mood.” Kirishima pocked Bakugo, who looked ready to jump him but he knew that he wouldn’t try it…maybe, he hoped he wouldn’t as Baku-bro could be nice when he wanted to. After all, he was the one that dragged along their 4th member who had looked like a fish outta water for most of the trip.
If Kirishima was a betting man, he would have wagered 10K on the idea that Shinso had never gone to a water park before.
“The hell it did!” Katsuki glared at the redhead who laughed it off as Kaminari slyly pulled out a picture from his pocket.
"This picture says otherwise," Kaminari said as he showed the group the picture which got Mitsuki to laugh so hard she bent over while Katsuki went white.
In the picture, the group were in one of the rides, a log-themed one taken right as they plunged down a 30m drop. In it, Shinso looked like a scared cat, Kaminari had been facing away, and Ashido was clinging onto Kirishima-both with big smiles on their faces but it was Katsuki who drew their attention as in this one image, in a moment when he must have thought none of them would see it as he was in front, he had the biggest smile any of them had seen.
“Where the hell was that taken?” Katsuki demanded, little explosions popping from his palms, which he knew the old hag didn't like him doing in the house, but she wasn't stopping him-her attention was on laughing which only made him angrier.
In the face of this anger, Kaminari faced him with a sly smile on his face as he waved the photo around. “You look pretty happy to me, I don’t know, Mina, am I wrong?” He asked Mina, handing her the photo.
“Nay, you’re right. He looks super happy!” She agreed with him before tossing it back at Kaminari right as Katsuki jumped for it.
“Give me that!” This led to their host chasing the two of them around his living room like they were 5, much to the confusion of their friends as Shinso turned to the mother of the home.
"Sorry about the mess, Mrs. Bakugo." She finally ceased her laughter, waving his words off as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"You kidding me, this is entertaining as hell to watch. Brats needs to get his ego checked now and then before it can get overblown again." He didn't know what she meant by that or understood how she could not even react to the yelling but he chose to follow her example.
Snapping her fingers as she recalled something, Mitsuki turned to Kirishima. “Are you staying for dinner?” The redhead and functional head of their group, no matter what Katsuki said, paused to think about the offer.
“We wouldn’t want to impose…” Mitsuki gave him an encouraging, if heavy-handed pat on the back, the boy being surprised by how much strength she had.
“I insist, it’s been a while since the knuckle head’s brought friends over.” Mitsuki seemed genuinely happy about that, a fact that confused the two boys as they would have thought Bakugo was crazy popular in middle school, but now that Shinso thought about it, he did also mention he fucked up big then as well but he never how.
Ignorant of the confused thoughts in the two's heads, the mother turned to her child as he chased his friends around like an enraged and very hyper Pomeranian. “Katsuki, you’re going to help me cook tonight!”
Pausing, the boy turned his angered red gaze to his mother. “What, why the fuck would I?”
“I didn’t bust my ass teaching you how to cook for you to be lazy! Or did you expect me to cook for 4 extra mouths?” She yelled back at him.
“They can leave!”
“Don’t be a shitty guest, Katsuki!”
Watching this exchange turn into a screaming match, the 3 didn’t quite know what to make of it but it seemed to be a regular thing as a man, Katsuki’s father just popped his head from around the corner. He just took in the sight, waved at them and went back to his office. ‘I was wondering if he got his attitude from his dad since he gets his looks from her but…’ Shinso thought to himself.
‘He’s just a boy version of his mom, Mineta should never see her.’ Kirishima and Kaminari thought as one.
'Mineta should totally see her, little perv might have some decency scared into him.' Mina on the other hand, was hoping for such an encounter as Mineta had proven to be both perverted and stubborn he had tried to get a peak on them during their first night at camp, but only stopped because the teachers had placed little Kota on the wall to prevent him. It made things a little awkward them they accidentally showed him more skin than his 4-year-old mind could handle and he fell, but lucky for them Tokoyami caught him with Dark Shadow.
Not wanting this to continue, Kaminari reached for the remote for the flat screen, one way larger than the one he had at his house, and turned it on to the first channel he could pick. “What’s up?”
Their attention shifted from each other and to the distraction, Katsuki grunted in annoyance but took the bait. “It’s the news, you moron.” Kaminari put the volume higher so that they could hear it better.
“-yakuza group formally known as Shie Hassaikai was arrested last evening in a raid conducted by the police with the aid of the pro hero Big 5. According to the reports, around 8 men were taken into custody with little in the way of injuries. With their capture, the police are officially classifying the Shie Hassaikai as defunct.” The news anchor stated the image changed to a video of the 8 yakuza being led into the back of police cars in hand-cuffs.
Watching this, the group had varied reactions though none were good as the Bakugo’s looked towards the screen with visible ire, being the most informed of the group of the events being reported on, as well as being close to it.
“I heard about them; didn’t they get busted for kidnapping?” Ashido asked, having heard about this vaguely but always in passing as she wasn’t the type to actively watch the news. Besides, at the time, she was often busy or drained from their lessons leading into the exams.
“Yeah, it was all over the news. 2 girls but they didn’t release much else.” Kaminari pointed out. His folks had talked about it a few times during dinner. If he wasn’t mistaken, the leader that they showed was still in hospital though they didn’t say why.
“Monsters got what coming to them. I hope they lock them up till they’re old and pissing in bed-pans.” Mitsuki stated, crossing her arms as her ire only grew. The three looked towards her and were caught off guard by how brutal she sounded, but said nothing about it as Katsuki looked to be in agreement, which left them to write it off as the two merely hating villains with that Bakugo passion.
“Sticking with this story, we are bringing to you an exclusive live interview with one of the girls that were kidnapped, who are agreed to come forward and give her side of the story and explain her experiences from her time in captivity.” This surprised them, none more so that the two Bakugos who didn't waste time in taking a seat. The announcement even drew out the father of the house who took the spot next to his wife.
“Turn it up.” She ordered Kaminari, not even taking her eyes off the screen.
“Wha-sure…” Kaminari did as he was asked before placing the remote down, eager to listen in. The feed swapped to that of a late-night show-style stage. With a couple of seats and a desk for the presenter. The presenter was a familiar blue-skinned woman.
Line Break
“Hello, everyone. As you might have guessed, I'm not your usual host, don't worry, his family has paid the ransom,” The woman joked, getting some laughs from the audience. “For those of you who don’t know, which I’m guessing will be more than a few, I’m Chitose Kizuki and I’ll be hosting this special episode of Weekly Recap," Kizuki explained.
“Now, normally we cover the events of the week but we're not going to do that as today we have something special. We have an exclusive interview with one of the two girls that were taken by the now-defunct yakuza group, Shie Hassaikai. Ladies and gentlemen, won't you all give a warm welcome to Midoriya Izuku!” Kizuki directed the cameras, and their eyes towards the side and to the applause of the studio audience, Izuku walked out.
However, the sight that met them was unexpected to put it lightly as Izuku walked out, wearing a white black-stripped shirt with a green overall-shorts, her normal red shoes gone and replaced with a pair of green and white high tops. This was all second to what caught the Bakugo's off guard as Izuku looked different. Who would let a captive keep in shape, never mind get into better shape than when they were taken?
It wasn't just the fact she looked like she had hit the gym for months on end, but it was her attitude. Sure, she would get excited whenever the topic was a hero or quick related, but outside of that, she was as quiet as she was shy and struggled in most social interactions. That wasn't on show for them as she walked into the stage, waving towards the audience with far more confidence and poise than any of them had ever seen from her, even if she still had a rather nervous smile on her face as she approached and started shaking the host's hand.
‘What the hell?’ Katsuki wondered to himself, having so many questions and no answers.
“Izu…where did she get all those scars?” Mitsuki asked her husband, her eyes never leaving the girl’s limbs which displayed a damn swarm of scars, many appearing to have come from knives which cut deep.
“I have a pretty good idea…” Masaru answered though he dreaded the answer, same as the rest of them as you didn't need to be a rocket scientist to guess even Kaminari had a look of discomfort as he no doubt visualized how one would acquire such marks on their flesh.
“Welcome, Ms. Midoriya.” Kizuki’s words brought them back to the action.
“Please,” Midoriya started, letting go of the woman’s hand. “Just Midoriya. This is nerve-ranking enough as is.”
With a gesture from Kizuki, Midoriya took her seat, followed by the host. “Got it, not a fame of the cameras.”
“More like the general attention, never had so many people happy to see me before," Midoriya replied, and while she tried to make it sound like a joke which got some chuckles, Katsuki couldn’t help but feel like it was a punch in the gut, it didn’t help that he felt the Old Hag’s eyes on the back of his head before she turned back to the TV.
“Don’t worry about that here. We are extremely happy that you’re with us.” Kizuki told her, waving towards the audience with clapped in agreement, getting a little blush to form on Midoriya’s face.
“I hope that I don’t disappoint then. It’s taking all I have not to freeze up as is.” Midoriya nodded while crossing her legs, with Kizuki chuckling as she leaned in closer to her, gesturing for Midoriya to meet her halfway.
“Little secret between us, the cameramen are easily frightened too. The other day one of them dropped their phone and they all jumped for cover.” She joked, getting more laughs from the audience and an angry objection from off-screen, while the feed zoomed in closer on Kizuki’s forehead for a moment.
“I think they don’t appreciate that last comment, Ms. Kizuki.” Midoriya picked up on this, with the camera nodding like it was a person before moving back into focus.
“Don’t worry, I have a water bottle. If they don’t want to melt, they’ll behave.” She retorted, getting the last laugh before they got into things.
“Before we do get into things, let me thank you again for agreeing to this. I know that it wasn’t an easy choice.” Midoriya nodded at this, as some of that earlier confidence seem to bleed out of her.
“Thank you…it was,” Midoriya started, but took a moment, getting a little too flushed by the interview. “But I felt like I had to do this…say my piece while I can. At least to ensure that Inoue gets her justice.” That got Kizuki to raise an eyebrow in interest while the Bakugos suspected that this Inoue was the second girl. It would make sense that Izuku would go out of her comfort zone for someone else.
“Inoue? That would be the other girl, correct? Your sister?” Kizuki asked.
“Not quite. She’s, my daughter.” She said it like it was such an accepted fact, that it took a moment for it to register with the audience and when it did, they broke out in shock.
“What?” Ashido asked, confused about the entire situation.
“She’s a teen mom?” Kirishima scratched his head, just as lost as Ashido but for the Bakugos and Shinso, their faces lost color as they thought about ways for a captive girl to have become a mother and for Mitsuki, she nearly threw up as she thought of the implications.
“What the-no she isn’t!” Katsuki jumped to his feet in protest, his face pale and sweaty. "She didn't have a kid when she was in middle school! I'll bet 100k she hadn't even gone on a date, never mind lost her V-card!"
“Can you explain that? The audience is as confused as I am.” Kizuki asked of her, looking like this piece of information had been a surprise to her as much as it had been to them.
“Hmm? Oh!” Midoriya looked around and only just caught onto what she said, looking a little embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry about that, it’s become such a fact of life for me that I tend to forget that I need to explain it," Midoriya stated.
“Inoue, which isn’t her real name, was under Chisaki…care,” Midoriya looked like she wanted to say more about it, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it. “Longer than me even. She’s a sweet little girl that has been through far too much. We bonded in our time together and I adopted her while we were captive, it’s been official for the last month now that I’m her legal mother.” There was a sigh of relief from them, with Mitsuki leaning more into her husband as she thanked God that it hadn’t gone to that.
Though that left Mitsuki with another question, namely how the fuck did little Izuku adopt a kid? She had just reached the bare minimum to consent, but sure as hell was still too young to adopt. She hadn’t even finished school for crying out loud.
“Her biological parents?” Kizuki asked, either not seeing the issues with Midoriya’s previous statement or not caring enough to question the legality of it.
“Father is sadly deceased while her mother is out of the picture, so I stepped up and haven’t regretted it ever since, but she’s shyer than I am so I didn't think bringing it onto TV was the best idea. She is watching though! Hi, sweetie!” Midoriya explained, her face down in the beginning as she relayed how her new daughter didn’t have anyone else before it perked up in the second half, with the girl even waving towards the camera.
Kizuki shook her head at how Midoriya was acting like every other everyday parent that got on TV. “Just horrible, for there to be such people in the world that would take a little girl like that. I can’t imagine that your time with them was anything pleasant.” Midoriya nodded, losing her cheer as she thought back to her time kept in captivity.
“Chisaki…he liked to be called Overhaul, treated us like processions, not people. He was extremely strict and brutal in enforcing his will.” She explained, with the audience listening in to every word she said.
“He had his thugs attack the two of you?” Kizuki asked, getting an unexpected bitter laugh in return.
“Sometimes I wished he did,” Midoriya replied, her gaze drifting to her arms for a moment jumping back to Kizuki. “His quirk, also called Overhaul gave him the ability to break down things and rebuild them as he saw fit. I don't need to tell you how one could use such a power to ensure that people followed…or that they couldn't disobey.” There was a gasp, not just from the audience but from the group watching in the Bakugos' living room. The hero students knew more than most how dangerous quirks could be when carelessly used or in the hands of villains.
To them, hearing this and seeing the wounds allowed them to paint a picture in their minds that they didn’t like as Ashido and Shinso looked sick, Kirishima looked appalled that something like that could ever happen as he imagined that this Chisaki had a quirk that operated a monster fusion card from that old card game he played as a kid, while Katsuki looked like he was going to murder someone, anyone with how enraged he appeared, his mother not far behind.
“He’s the source of your scars?” Kizuki asked, her gaze lingering on the exposed scars but Midoriya didn’t shy away from it, remaining strong even as millions now looked at her like she was a thing to pity.
“Most of them, but these,” She touched some of them on her arms, ones that seemed to have come deep cuts, some of which appeared like small sections were cut into, with the blade taking bits of her when it was removed. “That was all him. When he wanted something…and what he wanted from us was something he couldn’t just take once.”
“I suppose the next question, as horrific as it is, would be why? Why would he do such a thing? What could he possibly want from you?” Kizuki asked, giving voice to their questions.
“Our cells. He had some training in medicine, but I refuse to ever consider him a doctor, not after what he did to us.” Good for her, Kaminari didn’t even want to consider his family’s doctor ever treating him or his folks like middle schoolers treated frogs in biology. “Anything he could get from things like nails, skin to hair…to blood, muscles, bones, organ tissue…anything and everything for his twisted experiments and drug manufacturing.” Here, Katsuki felt as sick in the stomach as he felt pissed, with Ashido nearly throwing up while Kaminari did, the boy barely making it to the guest bathroom where they could hear him lose his lunch.
The studio audience was just as disgusted, sickened and horrified as they were, but Midoriya wasn’t done. “He would use that harvested material…our flesh and blood to create his biggest breadwinners. From my body, he created the street drug that has been giving police and pros all over some major headaches.”
“Venom? He made it using your DNA?” Kizuki looked flabbergasted by this. For the students, once more they found themselves with context that the average person lacked as they had heard that the league used it, so they knew that it was partly to blame for Tsui and Mineta needing to be rushed to the E.R, that Venom played a role in why their uptight class rep wasn’t with them anymore.
Midoriya laughed once more, but it was just as bitter and resentful as they were as she clenched her fists so hard; they turned white. “Shocking, isn’t it? It took me a while to accept…knowing that a part of you was being used to create something used to do so much harm and evil.” Kizuki placed a comforting hand on hers.
“You can rest knowing that he can't use you to make more of it. you should have control over yourself, you and no one else.” Midoriya nodded there.
“Yes, mam.”
“So, the new and hopefully soon-to-die Venom was created with you as the main ingredient, but what about your child? I hate to have to ask, more to have to think about it, but the question is there.” There was a sense of dread here as if this monster had abused one like he did Midoriya, what could he have done to the other one?
Midoriya seemed to pause and considered how to answer the question, looking just as displeased by the line of questioning as they were at the potential answer before she spoke. “I won't give away details, as the police think that villains shouldn't get any ideas, but all I can is that it had something to do with quirks.”
“Revolting. His trial hasn't happened yet, it is scheduled for early September but I hope that they throw the book at him, with his lieutenants sent to jail right along with him.” Kizuki voiced, with the audience agreeing wholeheartedly with her.
“Trust me, I’m hoping that he never leaves whatever hole they throw him into…not after what he did to us," Midoriya growled.
“Those scars must drudge up some unwelcome memories then?” Kizuki asked, and when Midoriya nodded, she continued. “So why not cover them up? Out of sight, out of mind as they say?”
“In the beginning, I wanted to…I wanted to. Even considered getting plastic surgery done to get rid of them.” Midoriya admitted, looking at her arms.
“What changed?” Kizuki asked her.
“Because they're a part of me. They're indeed proof of what happened to me, to my daughter. But we're still here. We're still alive.” She explained, before a smile, a real one made its way onto her face.
“Besides, my daughter also has scars of her own. But I don't want her to look at them in fear or shame. I want her to know these things,” She raised her arm, with the camera focusing on it. “They aren’t our fault; they aren’t something to be ashamed of. That they can be beautiful.” There was applause from the audience who found her answer quite mature for a girl her age, happy that she had found a way to make peace with them.
“Wise words, Midoriya and if I may give my opinion, you’re quite the catch. You must have been beating the boys back with a stick.” Kizuki joked, getting the girl to blush up a storm as she stammered out a response. “Well, I hope that you can get back to normal life now," Kizuki asked once the laughter died down.
“Not quite, as I-my family have decided to make a new start for ourselves. I was kidnapped from our apartment so I didn’t quite feel right returning to it, never mind with Inoue.” Kizuki nodded.
“Oh, are you keeping in contact with friends, I’m sure that they must have been worried for you.” Midoriya frowned at the question, and the Bakugos knew why.
“I wasn’t really popular before all this. Most kids barely paid me any time of day, and when they did…it wasn’t fun.” Kizuki seemed shocked at this.
“Bullying?” Midoriya nodded, with Katsuki leaning closer to the screen, wondering what she’ll say, who’ll she’ll name.
“It had gone on for years, but it picked up in middle school. Our teachers didn't seem to care, why would they when it was the quirkless girl with her head in the clouds?” Midoriya explained, upset about her past as the rest of the teens present reacted in their ways to the news. Ashido couldn't believe that bullying could get that bad, while Shinso’s eyes narrowed, having experienced such throughout his life thanks to his ‘villainous quirk’.
“They just stood there and watched?” Kizuki looked upset.
“Sometimes. Other times the staff at Aldera seemed to encourage it, punishing me instead." She replied, and with that name, they all figured that their old school was about to get a lot of complaints, "It wasn't…the best time, not the kind of place one can make friends.”
“Well, at least our viewers know what school to avoid then.” Kizuki nodded to this.
“Hey, Bakugo, didn’t you go there? Did you know her?” Kirishima asked, missing how Mitsuki and Masaru shared a look at the question.
“I did.” Katsuki’s response was strange, being very muted and lacking his normal irritation but Kirishima decided to back off there, thinking that the story might be getting to him Shinso kept his gaze on the blonde, as he didn't have enough to prove it, but Katsuki seemed less surprised by these accusations then he should be.
“I try not to think about that place, not point bringing my mood down when I can focus on other things.” Before he could think about it, his attention was directed back towards the TV.
“Such as?”
Midoriya smiled at the question as if the topic made her happier. “Helping people. I want to ensure that everyone can be given the space and freedom to live their best lives, to express their authentic selves.” Her smile was infectious not just Kizuki but most of them joined in on it, with Mitsuki being happy that if nothing else, that part of little Izuku hadn't changed one bit-always the go-getter when it came to helping around.
“Kinda hard to do that when you spend most of your time studying.” Kizuki teased, getting Midoriya to swat at her playfully.
“Cut me some slack, I just recently finished everything I needed to complete junior high.”
“So, you’re finally a high schooler?”
“Yes, but that’s a whole can of worms. But I am serious about helping people. People need to be more involved; we need to stop relying on others to do something and actively work for a better society for everyone. I learned that the hard way.” That statement seemed to be layered.
“What do you mean by that?” Kizuki asked her, an intrigued smile on her face.
Midoriya didn't answer immediately, which drew concern as they wondered what could she have to say. She already accused her old school of mismanagement when it came to bullying. “When we were captives, Inoue and myself, we didn’t think we could do much and instead, we did what everyone would do, which was wait for the heroes to come, wait for help to arrive and one day, it did.”
“You mean the raid?” The fact that Midoriya shook her head in denial made no sense.
“Excuse me?” Kizuki asked, as the audience was just as lost as by now, most knew the story.
“Before I was taken, I run into Inoue. She had, through some miracle managed to escape from Chisaki and bumped into me. Before we could get somewhere safe, he appeared and took her back under the threat of violence. I didn’t like it but well,” She seemed to fall into her seat, looking towards the overhead lights with eyes that spoke of defeat and anger over the past. “What was the quirkless girl going to do?”
“You did something, and that counts.” To her credit, Kizuki did her best to comfort her, something that Mitsuki appreciated as she heard about this from Inko, but never got the chance to tell the girl herself that she did the right thing.
“After the incident, my mother and I reported this to the police, but because I was the girl that run into a villain, they didn’t believe me. But I didn’t stop there as I wrote this down and handed it to a…classmate,” Katsuki felt his heart skip a beat there as he recalled how she brought up her rushing in to save him when those pros were fine with letting him suffocate thanks to that slime fucker.
“I hoped that if I went missing, he would be able to hand this note to the police and they’ll take it more seriously.” Ashido thought about it and saw that it was a smart move on her part.
“Did he do that?” Kizuki asked, as if she had no friends and the other kids tended to bully her, it wouldn’t have been wrong to assume that whoever she passed the note to threw it away or simply forgot about it.
“They did,” Katsuki wondered how the hell she could have known that. “Because Chisaki knew about it. He had people in the force, I don’t know how but...all that I know is that he found out about it, and the note vanished.” He now has his answer as he jumped to his feet, enraged as he finally knew what happened!
“That is a serious accusation, Midoriya.” Still, despite his and his mother’s extremely visible anger, Kizuki remained calm and serious.
“I know, but there was no way he could have known about it, and it wasn’t like him buying out cops was the most insane thing that happened.” Midoriya ground out, her fury as being dealt such a bad had bubbling close to the surface.
“What? Did he have pros in his pocket too?” Midoriya remained silent and Kizuki caught on, along with the rest as there were audible grasps from the audience. “You’re kidding.”
Midoriya didn’t look happy about the situation, or her accusation but she still replied, speaking her truth. “A month in, there was a gap in our jailors, I didn’t know why, all I knew was that I might not get this chance again, so I took it. I grabbed Inoue and ran as fast as I could, right into a pro-Lady Mystery.”
“I explained what had happened and begged for her help and you know what she did?” Midoriya looked ready to jump to her feet and pace about. “She returned us to Chisaki!” Kaminari nearly fell out of his chair when he heard that, that was insane! It didn’t make sense, no way a pro could be bought out…right?
“We met with Chisaki and she bought his story that Inoue was his daughter and I, their cousin, and how the both of us suffered from mental issues and were prone to coming up with 'wild stories',” She added air quotes, her frustration apparent. “It didn't matter if she had evidence that we were being mistreated and abused. She ignored that, our pleas, and even my demands to speak with the police. She left us with him and walked away.” There was silence after this, as neither the presenter, the staff nor the audience knew what to say, what to think about such a serious accusation.
But it only lasted a moment, before it all exploded in confusion, shock, denial and rage. This was clear within the Bakugo household.
“What the hell?” Katsuki yelled.
“She wouldn’t!” Kaminari tried to speak in defense of the boy, but the words felt hollow and bitter.
“But…she wouldn’t lie about something like that…right?” Ashido asked, not knowing what to think about this.
“Even if she’s wrong, no way in hell in competent pro could have missed such clear signs of abuse.” Shinso crossed his arms, glaring at the screen but he wasn't seeing them, he was seeing all the times he had been ignored, all the times teachers and adults sided with his bullies no matter what he plead. If that could happen, what to say that a pro wouldn't also turn a blind eye? He hated to consider it, but this kind of shit gave credence to that murderous monster Stain and no doubt his supporters were going to eat this right up.
With the adults, Masaru was trying to keep his wife from breaking something, though he felt just as let down and angry as she did about this. They had been there, seeing how much Izuku's disappearance affected Inko. It wasn't like she had her husband as that bastard all but left them years ago, never calling them to ask about the search for his missing daughter. She only had them and that hadn't been enough as while she put up posters, offered rewards and constantly went to the police, she had been falling apart, so much so they worried that if she hadn’t been found she would have wasted away if not gone down a dark path.
To hear all of that wasn’t just the police not caring, but actively sabotaging the search? It made him want to strangle one of those mockeries to the uniform while his wife looked like she actually would, hence why he had to keep a hold on her as she raged. “Those fucking cops…I knew there was something off, I fucking knew it!”
"We can launch a complaint after this, though I doubt we're the only ones." He took some joy in that, knowing that there was no way that they’ll be getting away with it after this. Not if a public investigation could find some illicit payments as he was sure that any accountant worth their salt would be able to figure out that if they had been taking brides.
“Like I give a crap, heads will roll for this, I’ll make sure of it!” He didn’t doubt his wife on this, and he was going to be with her the entire time, ensuring that she had the biggest, sharpest knife to ensure that those involved spent at least the next decade in a cell.
“I can’t even imagine how that must have felt, heroes are meant to protect people, not work with criminals," Kizuki stated, utterly disgusted that such an event could ever happen.
“I thought about it for a long time afterwards, a lot of cold nights just wondering…why. I eventually concluded that pros like Lady Mystery do what they do because they can because they have too much power. Even if we complain, it's not like our current system has any alternatives.” Midoriya replied.
“So, I had to go for the unconventional route, through you.” She smiled at the blue-skinned woman. “You read about my kidnapping, you didn’t follow along with what the cops were saying about me and how I was just some ‘quirkless girl that ran off’.” Midoriya started.
“You did something when everyone else was content to do nothing when people like my mother were too weak to do something. You used your connections and skills to track me down, people that had never been pros used their meta-abilities and other skills to help however they could, and because of that…we made it out alive.” Inko had mentioned something like that, but now Mitsuki had a better idea of the situation and if she could, she would kiss the woman and thank for her ensuring Izuku came off safe.
The rest of the interview seems to pass on by after that, with no other bombshells to speak of, only thankfully more light-hearted conversation topics like favorite foods, places they would like to visit, people they'll like to meet, alive or dead.
The group almost didn’t realize that a full 25 minutes had passed till Kizuki started to wrap things up. “Before we go, one last question. Why did you refer to quirks as meta-abilities?” Oh yeah, they had noticed that she used that term whenever she discussed herself and what she could now apparently do, though she didn’t demonstrate it.
“Because I’m still quirkless, but I have a meta-ability. The doctors were right that I didn't have the Quirk gene like you or everyone else here, but instead, I have mutated cells which thanks to circumstances from my escape.”
Line Break
Later, Midoriya sat in the dressing room set aside for her, flustered as she tried to comprehend what she had just done. She had gone on TV….and didn’t freeze up! “How did I do?” She asked the other occupant in the room.
“Spectacular, my dear!” Curious hugged her close, making her blush even more, but it was a happy kind of blush. “It’s only been 45 minutes but the internet is already blowing up. Pros, the police, and even most schools are all under fire as people are questioning their every move. The HPSC has already come out and announced that're going to have a conference tomorrow and how Lady Mystery’s hero license has been suspected pending an investigation.” She seemed more excited about this than she was, but she couldn't blame her as part of the reason she did this was to attack the heroes by going after their credibility. Their entire interview had been planned for it; the talking points were decided before the camera ever started rolling.
“It was only thanks to Trumpet’s tutorship that I managed to say half of that without falling apart.” She looked towards the tablet that had been placed on the beauty stand, one which had the smiling face of Trumpet on it as he had been contacted to speak about this.
“Well, I for one enjoy your stuttering, your nose wiggles like a cute little kitten.” Curious’ teasing only made her face turn into a human tomato, much to the amusement of the two adults.
Deciding to save from this, Trumpet quite his chuckling and spoke up. “The master is only as good as the student, you took to your lessons well, Midoriya.” She nodded in response, having sat with him before the actual interview as he gave her notes on how to act, what to say, when to say it, and even on word choice but he had been careful to make it clear that she had to come up with the appropriate responses, to keep them genuine.
"It seems like you find new ways to prove how much of a valued member you are, with this, we can make some serious headway without drawing any serious attention, not when the HPSC, pros and cops are busy dealing with your bombshell report." Curious told her, making her happy that she had performed so well on her first task but there was an issue with it.
“Shouldn’t we be worried about them? From what you said about them, they aren’t going to like me making pros look bad on a national stage.” Curious waved off her concern, it was smart that she had them but they were largely unwarranted.
“I won’t but they can’t do a damn thing to you as you didn’t do anything wrong, morally or legally. If they tried well,” Izuku didn’t need to know much about her to know that Curious would enjoy retaliating. “If people being reminded that pros can be bought out is bad, then it getting out that a government agency went after a whistle-blower, well that’ll be a PR disaster for them. So, for the moment, you’re practically immune from their surveillance and scrutiny, use this time well.”
Midoriya nodded her head. “I will.”
