บท 78: Shame
__________ POV Narration__________
All of the people in the alleyway were shocked and terrified by Beru's display.
None of them was expecting something like that to happen, and they didn't know whether to be happy or not.
Manual, the hero Iida had interned with, was also quite shocked by the way Beru took down Stain.
The brutality of it surpassed what most villains were capable of. But none of them could really complain.
Stain was torturing children in an alleyway. His death wasn't exactly a regretful event in Manual's eyes.
But Izuku, Iida and Shoto were completely shaken by it. They weren't seasoned Heroes, they weren't used to brutality.
Stain's torture of Izuku was already a lot for them to handle, but seeing a perceived hero rip a villain apart was a bit much for them.
Iida almost vomited even, Izuku was too in shock to even respond. Shoto was faring a lot better than them, but he still found that 'crunch' sickening when the villain's bones snapped.
But what had shocked him more was the way Beru viewed Heros in general. Only he and manual were paying enough attention to hear the insectoid's conversation with Stain.
It was a strange feeling, it was almost as if Beru looked down on the notion of a hero. Maybe it was due to his upbringing, or maybe it was due to his undercover work. Shoto couldn't tell, but he knew that it wasn't that peaceful of a view on the world.
"I may have taken that too far~ Remember kids~ Holding back is a virtue that a hero should always have~" Beru's statement was basically 'do as I say, not as I do'.
And it somewhat brought all of the other people in the alleyway back to the present. It also reminded Shoto of how Beru usually is.
Even after committing such acts of brutality, it was as if nothing had changed at all. It was unnerving for the heterochromatic teen.
Beru arrived at Izuku's side and kneeled for a second. He looked at the injured teenager with a bit of pity.
"Kid~ What a mess you've gotten yourself in~ Don't worry though~ You aren't too seriously injured~" His attempts at pacifying the young man were quite unsuccessful.
Izuku seemed to still be in shock, but that was just in appearance, it was hard to tell due to his paralysed body. In actuality, he was responsive enough to give a basic answer.
"B-Beru? Why did you... Kill hi-" Izuku has somewhat regained his bearings, only to ask a question that Beru found quite confusing.
Why would that matter? The villain was just trying to kill Izuku. From Beru's point of view, such aggressions should never be left unanswered.
"Well~ He was trying to kill us too~ If he was stronger he would have~" Beru's answer made Izuku think for a second. The pain of his injuries seemed to vanish momentarily as light green energy seeped out of Beru's palm and covered his entire body.
"B-But we're heroes... W-we are supposed to capture them, give them a chance at rehabilitation..." Izuku's speech voiced the concerns of all three of the students in the alleyway.
But Manual knew the reality of the situation better.
'When you are a hero, there will always be people that you cannot save. People that don't wish to be saved.' It was a fact that all Pro Heroes needed to come to terms with eventually.
Beru wasn't aware of it. To him, killing someone that threatened the safety of those near him was normal. What was he supposed to do? To praise said person for trying to kill his friend/temporary pupil?
Manual, however, saw his actions as a representation of that unspoken 'rule' of heroism.
Even if Beru seemed to act on his rage, it was not taken out of proportion. Seeing as Beru was completely calm at the end of it.
Therefore, Manual found Beru's actions justifiable.
"We can talk about that later~ I should get all of you to the hospital~" The insectoid just sighed as he picked up Izuku.
Three large tails then sprouted out of his back and coiled around all of the living people in the alleyway.
After making sure he had a good enough grip on all of the students as well as the hero that was downed with them, Beru started flying off to the nearest hospital.
The flight took only a minute, and the hospital employees were already quite busy due to the strange villain attack. But the hospital staff still acted quickly and grabbed all of the injured people off of Beru's hands.
Beru then made a call on his smartwatch to get the police to collect Stain's body as he walked over and sat down in a random waiting room.
He could've gone back outside and seen if there was something to do to help the rescue effort. But, from what he understood, everything was under control.
So he didn't see a reason to make an effort to do anything. All he could think of currently was. 'How the fuck do I explain this to Inko?'
__________ POV Beru__________
I hope my previous overreaction wasn't that badly received by the kids in that alleyway.
I mean, I may have acted out of anger, but I probably would've done the same even if I was completely calm.
Still, I kinda forgot about Stain's existence. I did hear some stuff about him from both the teachers at UA and Oyama.
Oyama just mentioned him as somewhat problematic in passing during one of our last meetings, she didn't speak much about him.
But the teachers at UA did mention something about a student's relative being injured by him. And that he was supposedly active in Hosu City.
I made a mistake in even bringing Izuku there. But I guess some good things did turn out of it. I got to meet quite a few interesting villains, as well as that old hero.
And, if I hadn't come here, then Izuku's classmates would've been in actual danger.
The doctors already told me the extent of all of their injuries. Manual, the hero that was with them, was injured the worst, Izuku a close second, Iida the third.
And, to my surprise, the 4th and least injured student was Shoto Todoroki. Endeavor's son.
I already saw Endeavor rush into the hospital with a concerned look on his face. I had to calm him down a bit, and then the doctors took him to see his son.
It was pretty strange to see him so riled up about something. He did always try to look tough and all while on the field.
But the second his son gets into trouble he panics and paces around the room like a concerned mother.
It's kinda funny to watch really.
"Would you stop snickering?!" He can even shout at me.
"Gee~ Calm down dude~ Everything is going to be fine~ He barely got injured anyway~" Endeavor, or Enji Todoroki, finally sat down on a chair by my side.
"Yes... I know. But, he faced a highly dangerous villain while he was supposed to be under my supervision... It was my job to protect him." He stared at his fist for a bit. His usual flaming beard receded.
"Don't stress yourself out~ The situation was pretty grave in that place~," I said while stretching my legs a bit.
"I guess so... And I haven't forgotten what you've done! That was completely reckless!" He flared up a bit. But he doesn't actually seem all that mad.
"I wanted to finish things quickly~ I knew the interns were in trouble~," I sighed a bit while hoping there won't be any further issues to come out of that attack.
The two of us kept speaking for a bit. All until the doctors came and said that it was ok for us to go in.
Izuku looked fine, but he still seemed a bit shaken. He seemed quite surprised when I entered the room. He didn't make any eye contact though.
Iida also didn't seem to want to look me in the eye(not that I care about him or anything). But Enji's son seemed quite normal(stone-faced).
In a true idiotic fashion, his dad didn't show him any of the concern he had while in that hallway.
"Izuku~ How are you feeling?~" I asked while standing beside him.
"Well, I am quite fine. I'm not in pain, the doctors said that I'd recover in a day or two." He said while looking around the room randomly.
It's pretty clear that he also doesn't want to speak to me right now. (or look me in the eyes)
"Are you going to stay here for now?~" I asked while crossing my arms.
Endeavor was speaking to his son in the background.
"At least for tonight yes..." Jeez, I guess I'll visit Inko and talk to her. She surely got a phone call from the hospital.
I don't really look forward to explaining things to her. But, at least I get to see what she's up to.
Then, a man in a uniform walked in. I don't really recognize him, but he had the head of a dog. Wait, I think Toshi spoke about a man like that being the Chief of Police...
I guess it would make sense for him to show up.
"Well~ I'll be going~ Swift recovery kid~" I got up and prepared to leave.
I'm quite sure they won't get in any trouble for what they did. Even if they used their quirks unsupervised, they did so while saving someone's life. So it's excusable.
"Wait for a second..." Said the chief of police as he looked at me. I was just about to warp myself away. But it seems he's got some stuff to talk about with me too.
"What~?" I said while looking at him for a bit.
"The state you left the villain in was not something a hero should do. I'd advise you to watch yourself from now on." He said while giving me a side-eye and turning back towards the kids.
He started speaking to them, preaching about some stuff that I wasn't really paying attention to. Enji also left the room while the chief spoke to me.
I just rolled my eyes and warped away. I can tell that was the only thing he wanted to tell me, so there's no need to stick around.
Izuku will get better, and he needs some time to get his head out of the gutter.
I mean, they're kids, but with the profession, they've chosen they better get used to people being injured and killed in front of them.
I'm sure Izuku will regain his bearings after a while. For now though. I'll go speak to Inko for a bit.
I warped myself at her front door, I didn't even get to ring the bell twice before the door swung open and a concerned Inko stared me in the eyes.
"W-What happened? The hospital called me a few minutes ago! I was just about to go there!" She seems beyond stressed out.
I just put my arms on her shoulders and started walking towards the couch, dragging her with me.
"Jesus~ Calm down already!~ Didn't the doctors tell you how Izuku is doing?~" I asked while I made her sit on the couch and opened up the tv.
"The woman on the phone told me that he wasn't too badly injured... But still, I can't stand the idea of my dear Izuku getting injured in any way." I could see her tremble a bit.
"He's chosen this type of profession~ It can't really be helped~ I wasn't expecting him to come face to face with a villain so quickly...~" I looked at the television as they reported on the situation inside Hosu city.
'The identity of the attackers is still unknown, but the authorities assume that they are part of a much larger group or villain organisation. Thankfully the heroes acted fast enough-'
It rambled on about the situation, saying a lot, yet not having much concrete information for anything.
"Say... Weren't you supposed to help him? I understand that you want to train him, but he was injured." I can pretty much tell that she's doing her best to not snap at me.
"You're misunderstanding~ I was held back by something...~" I tried to avoid her gaze for a bit.
I awkwardly changed the channel.
'The recently announced Underground Hero, Beru was also present for this event. He reportedly took down a lot of the villains alongside the Nr.2 Hero Endeavor and a retired hero Gran Torino.'
It seems this news station does go into specifics. Inko also stared at the television for a second.
'A group of well over 100 villains were held back by the three while the other heroes managed to rescue and evacuate any nearby civilians.' This station didn't speak at all about the casualties.
I'm pretty sure at least a dozen people died(that I've seen with my own eyes). Many were injured too.
"I-I see... so the situation wasn't all that great..." She looked at the ground for a bit.
"It happens~ This one took us by surprise~ I was originally patrolling with Izuku, but I decided to deal with all of these villains without him~" Inko looked a bit embarrassed for a second.
"Sorry for blaming you... I'm just- I'm really not feeling well..." Shit, she's crying again. How exactly do I do this?
"It's fine~ I don't mind~ Part of the blame does rest on me~" Sometimes, it's better to have someone to blame when things go wrong.
It seems Inko is quite ashamed to have blamed me for this incident.
The two of us stood there in silence for a while.
Then we started speaking again. I ended up taking her to visit Izuku and even coaxing the hospital into letting him off already.
His injuries were already gone, healing quirks made his recovery almost perfect(a few scars left). He was only being kept for observations anyway.
And just like that. The Stain incident was over. At least momentarily.
____________________________________________
Hope you liked the chapter.
Oh yeah, and just so you ppl know. Endeavor was never a shitty person. He's barely any different from the original in this one. The show just tried its hardest to paint him as a bad guy at first(which I'm clearly not gonna do).
If u want to support me look up VeganMaster on Patr_eon.
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