Bab 16: The weights in the back of our minds
Toshinori twitched panic and fear at the sight of a familiar contact flashing up on his phone.
Gran Torino.
Why the hell was he calling him?!
Fumbling with his phone, Toshinori quickly ran into the staffroom and answered the call. Before he could utter a word, the voice of his former teacher rang out through the room, attracting the attention of Cementos on the other side of the room.
"Are You Gonna Tell Me Who Your Successor Is Or
Am I Going To Have To Work It Out For Myself!" Torino's voice asserted through the phone loudly, making Toshinori wince, "You told me in your letter that you had passed on One For All, but I didn't see anyone using a power similar to it during the sports festival!"
Toshinori panic quickly morphed into a weak smile, waving away Cementos's confused look. He quickly lowering the sound setting on his phone before lifting the phone back up to his ear to hear his former teacher's grumpy voice.
"Hello Gran Torino, i-"
"Don't Gran Torino me, Toshinori. Are you gonna tell me or am I going to have to come back to UA myself and find out who it is for myself?!"
Toshinori grimaced at the thought of his former teacher barging his way through the door demanding to have all the students lined up for him to inspect, "Ah yes, his name is Midoriya Izuku.
Green hair and-" He slowly trailed off at the sound of keys tapping from the other side of the call.
"The boy who lost in the first round of the finals?
Against the kid with the brainwashing quirk?" Gran Torino asked, much more calmly than before.
Toshinori hummed, noticing Aizawa walking into the staffroom, "Yes that's him, he was feeling quite ill on the day of the sports festival and hasn't been doing well too recently, I haven't had a chance to talk to him face to face yet."
Gran Torino grunted seemingly uncaring, clearly busy looking at something else, making Toshinori almost want to roll his eyes if it was not for the fact he was scared Gran would see him doing so.
"As long as you don't think you've made a mistake choosing him. Everything will be fine, I trust your judgment, even if you are a moron sometimes."
Toshinori smiled weakly again at the light insult, somewhat happy to see his former teacher hadn't changed over the years they hadn't spoken to each other.
Offhandedly, he looked up and saw Aizawa looking down at Cementos computer as he pointed at something on the screen.
"I believe he's the perfect person for it, he knows the true meaning of what it means to be a hero."
There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line with only the sounds of a mouse clicking in the background.
"Good"
Gran Torino hung up the phone and Toshinori dropped his phone from his ear to his lap, sighing deeply. That was scarier than it should have been...
Slowly, he got up from his seat and walked over to where Aizawa and Cementos were still crowding around their computer. Noticing him approaching,
Aizawa looked up at Toshinori and moved backward out the way slightly for him to take a look as Cementos continued scrolling through the list of requests for the 1st year's work studies.
"Anything interesting?" He asked as he approached.
Aizawa stood in silence as Cementos spoke up,
"Not other than expected, but a late request just came in for Midoryia."
Toshinori pushed forward a little bit to have a look only to deadpan at the sight of the name on Midoryias list.
Gran Torino
"Well he doesn't wait for anything, does he?" He mumbled out, deadpan, not looking forward to explaining the situation with Midoriya.
Izuku waited patiently at Urarakas desk as she packed up her stuff for lunch.
"So who are you planning to intern with Uraraka?" He asked kindly as she shoved her pencil case into her bag.
Uraraka paused and look up at Izuku with a smile,
"Well since the sports festival, especially after fighting Bakugou, I've been thinking a lot about what I could do to become stronger in fights!"
Izuku tilted his head as he gave her a light but confused smile, "But I thought your main goal was to become a rescue hero?"
"It is! Well, that's the main goal at least!" She began, looking back down at her back and continuing to put her stuff away, " But if I want to be any kind of decent hero I need to be good in more than one area of work!" She finished determinedly. "That's why I've decided to go to the martial arts hero, Gunhead agency!"
"Oh I see, that makes a lot of sense I guess." Izuku agreed as Uraraka zipped her bag closed.
There was a slight pause between them before
Uraraka spoke up again. "So Deku, do you want me to help you with your hero name?" She asked, knowing full well why he hadn't thought of one.
Izuku furrowed his brows, "Well, I was thinking of using Deku but i-" He grimaced, not really knowing what to say.
Uraraka looked at him understandingly, "Well, I think Deku would be a great hero name!" She said happily, " There's no reason why you shouldn't use it!"
Izuku looked at her weakly, Ochako, not to be deterred, beamed at him confidently; finally causing him to give in.
"Alright, I'll use it." He said with a weak smile.
"Good!" Ochako declared, "Your gonna be a great hero and I know it!"
Izuku knew deep down all she was trying to do was boost his confidence, but he still didn't know how to feel about having a hero name.
"Anyway," Ochko continued, turning around, "lida want me to help yo-"
There classmates desk was left empty behind them.
"Oh!" She said slightly surprised that lida had already left.
Izuku stepped up next to his friend, "Hu.? Maybe he's already gone to hand in his internship form."
Ochako oohhh-ed understanding, before bobbing around to face him "Oh! That reminds me, who are you planning on interning with, Deku?"
Izuku laughed slightly and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "Well i-"
Suddenly, the door slammed open.
"Hello! I'm here in a bizarre position!"
The two hero students jumped at the loud noise the number one hero made.
"Ahh! All Might, what are you doing here?" Izuku asked quickly, eyes wide in surprise.
"I need your help, young Midoriya! That only you can help me with!"
Izuku straightened himself out, "Oh, ok sure!" He turned around to face Ochako who was looking at him with surprise.
"I'll meet you outside school later and we can walk to my house," He said with a smile before quickly following All Might out and leaving Ochako in his dust.
As he rounded the corner, he followed All Might down to where one of the private meeting rooms
where.
Izuku walked in and watched as All Might quickly close the door and turned into a poof of smoke, revealing a shaking small might in his place.
"All Might? Is everything ok?"
"I'll get straight to the point, you've received an offer of someone who wants to take you on." All Might told him, shaking in fear.
Confused at the number one hero's strange behavior, Izuku quickly asked, "Uhh, really! Who is it?"
All Might walked over to one of the couches in the room and plopped himself down onto it, sagging slightly by the sudden comfort.
"It's one of my former teachers, Gran Torino." All Might began, looking over at Izuku who slowly began walking over to the chair opposite him, "He knows about one for all, and taught at this school when I was a student here even if it was only for one year." All Might paused. "In fact, he was my homeroom teacher"
Izukus eyes widened in shock, "Woah! Your teacher wants to take me on for an internship?
This guy sounds awesome!" he squealed in excitement, his inner fanboy coming out before dying down quickly.
'It's a shame I'm going to have to give it away soon before it affects my ghoul quirk too much.
Everyone going through so much hassle and trouble because of me...'
Izuku was shaken from his thoughts as he noticed
All Might beginning to shake.
"Ahh he told me he saw the sports festival, he probably thinks my teaching is inadequate!" All Might muttered, shaking in fear.
Izuku furrowed his brows, feeling guilty at his mentor's fear, "But that wasn't your fault, it's mine for not being at my best during the event." he said honestly.
All Might look up from where his face had been resting in his hands, "Oh it's alright young Midoriya," he began reassuringly, "It's not your fault, these things happen. Don't worry about it." He smiled sincerely before looking at Midoriya worriedly, watching him carefully "Though, I should ask, are you feeling ok now my boy?"
Izuku paused to think for a moment.
"...I'm feeling better now, thanks," Izuku said offering a weak smile. It wasn't a complete lie, while he still felt a little bit ill, the food he had eaten after the sports festival had helped greatly.
All Might smiled back warmly at Midoriya, "That's good to hear..." he began before standing up and walking over to where Midoriya was sat, "I was beginning to feel a little worried, but I guess it was for naught. Still..."
The hero lent over and wrapped his arms around
Midoriya causing the boy to freeze slightly in panic, not sure what to do. "Uhh, All Might.?"
All might pulled away from the short hug and smiled down at his successor warmly, "I'm glad you're ok."
Izuku, surprised at the sudden unexpected physical touch, smiled back lightly. Not sure what to say, the boy sat in silence as the number one hero pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him while beginning to shake again.
"Anyway, If-f you choose to go there, this-s is his address." All Might said as he handed him the piece of which Izuku quickly took looking slightly nervous from the fearful way his mentor was talking about his teacher.
"…Thanks!"
Geez, how scary is this guy...!
Aizawa was sifting through the pile of internship paperwork from his class when Snipe walked past.
"First-year internships already?" He asked through his mask causing Aizawa to hum in agreement.
"Yea and I've gotta go through and find out where one of my students is interning..." he trailed off.
Snipe, now being in the know about the case with his class and their habits nodded in understanding and left him to it. As much as Aizawa tried to hide it, they all knew he had a soft spot for his class.
He flipped through his class forms, making a mental note of lidas choice to intern in Hosu for later when he stumbled on the form he was looking for.
[Uraraka Ochako]
-Machida City, Tokyo: Battle Hero Agency
-Battle Hero: Gunhead
Sighing, he placed the other sheets down on his desk and walked into Nezus connecting the office off to the side of the staffroom. Walking in, he saw the principal drink tea at his desk who looked up at his arrival.
"And what do I owe the pleasure to this time Aizawa!" He said in his normal, cheery voice.
Aizawa walked up to his desk and handed the piece of paper over, "She's interning at Gunheads agency, the martial art hero."
Nezu hummed, placing down his tea as he reached over to pick up the paper. "It seems a bit strange for her to choose to intern there, considering how well she can use that kagune of hers. Though, i suppose it's all part of the act."
Aizawa pulled his hand back and shoved it into his pocket, "That's if it is her..." he grunted.
Nezu nodded in agreement, "Yes that's true, but for now she's our only suspect!" He placed the paper back down onto his desk before picking his tea up again. "That is unless you think you might have more suspects to add to the list!" he said, sipping his tea.
Aizawa sighed "we can rule out the kids with mutation quirks, the tall ones, and Mineta. That leaves the rest of them. All though..." Aizawa paused, "Hagakure, Midoryia, Todoroki, and Uraraka all put down that they were in the landslide zone."
Nezu places his tea down, listening to what his coworker had to say carefully.
"I'm not sure what happened there, but I'm sure if Midoriya had been there too, he would have followed Todoroki to the center of the USJ."
Nezu nodded in understanding but remained silent, allowing Aizawa to continue.
"From what I've seen Uraraka and Midoriya have both been quite 'buddy' with each other since the beginning of the year, even more so since the attack, they never seem to leave each other's side."
Nezu took a sip of his tea, "And you're sure that isn't just the beginnings of their teenage romance of sorts?"
Aizawa looked at Nezu disappointedly, not being able to tell if he was being serious or not.
"No I don't, but I also don't know what's happening."
Nezu sighed and placed his tea down again before pushing it away slightly to look at his paperwork again.
"As much as I doubt the son of the number two hero in the villain in question, ill add the three of them to the suspect list with Uraraka. assume during the internships you will be hovering around her placement?" Nezu asked, Aizawa nodding in response.
"Yea, the new routine they seemed to of established since the beginning of the school year is about to come around again next week." Aizawa paused, before widening his eyes in realization,
"You don't think it's the work they do in the hero course, which has caused the increase in murders?"
Nezu paused, "To be honest with you, I was beginning to wonder that myself."
Aizawa grimaced.
"If the internships don't provide us with any information, ill begin reforming the lessons to include less physical work." began Nezu, "This is a difficult game to play Aizawa, we cant put all hero course lessons on hold for everyone as it would bring too many questions. The media cant find out about our little problem.."
Aizawa nodded silently before turning to walk out of the room, "I'll keep you informed...
With that he walked out of his office, lowering his face into his capture weapon as he looked out the window towards the front of the school; noticing both Midoiya and Uraraka walking together away from the school down the end of the roads.
The situation really was beginning to put a strain on the school of UA...
After All Might had shakenly handed Izuku the piece of paper with this hero's address, he quickly walked down to the school entrance to catch up with Ochako. He grimaced slightly at the conversation he had agreed to have with her that morning when Hagakure had lunged at him, and wrapped her arms around his neck happily, talking about the time they had spent after the sports festival.
If it wasn't for the fact that Ochako had known what he had been up too, and had been around his house the day after to see if he was alright, he would have assumed she was being jealous. All though that didn't matter now, she was expecting answers over his strange behavior towards their classmate. Izuku didn't even know how to bring up the subiect or to even mention what had happened at all.
Hagakure had him blackmailed and while he had her at a stalemate, he didn't want to bring Uraraka into it. She was already in enough trouble just knowing about him and keeping it a secret. If he told her about the mole in the school and had to keep her quiet to save his own skin, she would get in a lot more trouble than failing to report a villain.
She would get in trouble for allowing the endangerment of everyone at UA to continue.
'God,' He thought, 'it was moments like this he hated himself for being such a coward and not handing himself over! He could solve everything in a matter of minutes but not he was too afraid to go to Tartarus, too afraid of when his mother would think, too afraid of what All Might would do with him. It would be so easy to just hand himself over, just to walk up to the staff office and tell his homeroom teacher 'hey, I'm the serial killer who gave you that scar!' Uraraka would never have to know what he was doing if he turned around now-'
"Hey Deku! What did All Might want with you?" Ochakos' cheery voice knocked him from his dark train of thought, making him jump as he saw his friend waving at him as she ran over.
"Oh, he called me to tell me that someone gave me an internship offer."
Ochakos' face lighted up in surprise at the news,
"Oh really, that's good news! Who was it?"
The pair continued to conversate with light topics on their journey to his house, both silently acknowledging the agreement to not mention anything more till they reached his house. As they approached the steps leading up to his apartment the pair both fell quiet. The air between them suddenly growing awkward and tense.
When his apartment came into view, Izuku dug into his pocket and dug out his keys. Opening the door, he walked in, holding it open for Uraraka behind him as they took their shoes off.
"Mum, I'm home. I brought a friend around" Izuku called out, getting nothing but silence in return. He quickly sniffed out the air to see if he could smell her.
"Good, she's not here..." He muttered to himself aload.
The pair silently walked towards his room, where they both dumped their bags into the floor before moving to sit on his bed.
Once they were sat down, Ochako crossed her legs and twisted on his bed to face him. There was a moment of silence before she spoke up worriedly.
"Are you alright Deku?" She asked, concern, "I didn't see anything on the news, and when I came around the day after the sports festival your mum said you had been in bed the whole day because you weren't feeling well?"
Izuku blinked in surprise, not expecting that to be the first question she asked.
"oh..! Yea I'm fine. I- uhh..." he paused guiltily and looked away slightly, "...I ate someone who had already been murdered..."
Ochako nodded understandingly, "but why do you seem so much more affected than normal..." she trailed off before grimacing at how unthoughtful what she had said sounded, making him sound as if he wasn't bothered by the people he killed and ate. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you of not caring, I "
Izuku winced, looking at Ochako feeling hurt at her words even if she hadn't meant them that way.
"It's fine" he interrupted, wanting to get through all of this before his mother came home.
Izuku took a shuddering deep breath before looking back at Ochako, who was watching him worriedly.
"Something happened and I ended up panicking and attacking a hero," he said guiltily, sighing deeply as he looked down at his hands.
Uraraka gasped, "What? who, there was nothing on the news about it."
Izuku sat in silence, taking deep breaths as he tried to calm himself. Noticing his panicked state, Uraraka leaned forward slightly and hovered her hand in front of him; not knowing if she should touch him.
"Deku-kun-"
"It was Aizawa sensei..."
Ochako froze, her eyes widening in shock.
"What.."She whispered out in shock, her eyes widening dramatically.
Izuku curled in on himself.
"...I left that scar on his face, the new fresh one on his cheek." He murmured.
"Oh god... Deku, he didn-"
"No, he didn't see me. He used his quirk on me but I managed to escape... That's where he got that scar.
Ochako eyed Izuku in shock, tears slowly beginning to form in her eyes and she shifted forward to bring her friend into a comforting hug, Izuku immediately going stiff at the contact before slowly relaxing a bit.
"Deku, that's so scary..!" she said wobbly as Izuku slowly moved his hand to awkwardly pat his friend's back.
"I'm sorry..." He murmured back, eyes tracing the edge of his carpet, looking away from Ochako I didn't mean to worry you.
Ochako remained silent, only pulling Izuku closer into their hug, knowing full well that not accepting his apology wouldn't get them anywhere.
"At least you are ok..." she whispered to him.
Izukus hand paused on her back for a second before he lowered his head next to hers for comfort, humming in return.
They sat like this in each other's arms in silence for a few minutes, soaking in each other's comfort before Ochako pulled away from him, leaving Izuku feeling slightly disappointed at the loss of contact; even if it made him feel uncomfortable, to begin with before becoming accustomed to it.
"Deku, there's something which has been on my mind since this morning. What-" Ochako gulped slightly, "What was Hagakure talking about when she said she enjoyed hanging around you this morning?"
Izuku slowly tensed up as he tried to think of a suitable answer which would protect his friend from whatever that girl was planning. He paused slightly, realizing that lying would do him no favors; his only friend who knew the truth about him would work it out instantly.
"…I can't tell you-"
Uraraka sat back in surprise, "What, why? Deku I told you we would work anything out together-"
"No this is something different, Uraraka. I can't tell you, it could put you in danger."
Uraraka furrowed her brows, growing angry at her friend's constant dismissal of her offers of help.
"What? And you don't think I wasn't in danger before, knowing about your ghoul quirk?" she whispered angrily, making sure no one else could possibly know what they were talking about.
Izuku frowned back at her. "This is different, Uraraka. It's not o do with my ghoul quirk. If I tell you, you'll get in more trouble than just failing to report a villain!" He stated seriously, not allowing her to interrupt him.
Uraraka slumped down as her face relaxed into something more worried, awkwardly waiting for him to continue.
Izuku sighed deeply and rubbed the exhaustion away from his eyes. He felt so tired... He just wanted all of this madness to stop so he could relax and not have to worry about such things.
A fit of deep anger simmered in the depths of his mind where it usually resided. If only he hadn't been so trusting of the first person who had decided to show him happiness in years... None of this crap would have happened…..
He looked up from his hands towards his only friend. He still couldn't understand why she hadn't handed him over to the police.
"Just be wary of her. You don't need to worry, ill deal with her in time..."
Ochako nodded her head cautiously. "...You make it sound like you might eat her..." She laughed nervously causing Izukus eyes to darken.
"If that's what it takes to deal with her, then so be it. I won't have her causing any more trouble..
Ochako spent the rest of that evening trying to imagine what her class mate had done to cause such a dark and sinister reaction from her friend.
She subconsciously began to distance herself from the invisible girl. Her invisible body watching from the distance slowly beginning to put her on edge, causing Uraraka to slowly begin avoiding her.
The next day at school, Ochako watched the uncomfortably cheery girl start to talk to Midoriya again; only for him to harshly shove her off when no one was looking and glare at her with all the hatred in his heart. A hatred that she had only seen while he had spoken about the girl who had once tried to murder him. The glare he gave the invisible girl reminding her of how he acted during the attack on the US as he sliced and tore at the villains who had intended to kill them...
It was as if he wasn't afraid to do that again to protect them...
The flashes of blood and screams plagued her mind from that day.
It was safe to say Ochako would never see Hagakure or Midoriya the same way again...
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone