บท 24: Our happy circle of friends
The days slowly began to flutter by into weeks and soon summer was on the horizon. It had been just over a month since the last time he had gone without murdering anyone to survive, all thanks to Kaneki and his friend Hide; who he visited consistently twice a week since their first pivotal meeting.
It had been the longest he had gone without killing anyone in a little of a year and a half, the longest he had gone without the cloud of fear and terror which slowly formed and ate away at him every time he knew he had to eat.
It was liberating.!
He didn't really know how else to explain it. The guilt was still there, the fear that one day Hide or Kaneki would disappear, the anxiety that the police would catch him. Thankfully, over the course of a few weeks, those fears slowly began to fade.
Of course, after the expected time of his next kill hadn't been reported to the news, Uraraka and Todoroki came asking questions. In the past Ochako had never once asked him about where he got his food from, she knew what he had to do to live and she knew how often he had to do so.
So Izuku explained to them one day after school what had happened the night and day after they had last all spoken together. He had to explain about Kaneki and Hide, it was the only way they would even think of accepting what he had to say.
When he had finished explaining himself Uraraka has sighed in relief, the reaction causing him to furrow his brows with confusion. She had explained herself in the end after some much-needed persuasion from himself and Shouto, looking rather guilty and shameful with herself.
"I-i was just concerned that you were doing... something..." She began with a small stutter, her words slowly drifting off at the end.
Izuku had narrowed his eyes slightly at her words.
"What do you mean by something, Uraraka..?
Please just tell me, as much as appreciate your concern, filtering your words for me won't make things any worse than what has happened in the past."
Uraraka has watched him closely after that, debating her options in her mind as her eyes flickered over to him. Izuku caught her stare and felt a little heat of embarrassment build up in his cheeks; that was odd, why was he doing that... He quickly moved his eyes away from her trying to ignore the feeling he felt inside.
"I..." she let out a deep sigh before pausing, the actions quickly catching both Shouts and Izukus attention.
"…..I thought you might have been starving yourself.
The fluttery feeling he had felt only seconds ago was stomped out at the somber topic as Izuku grimaced at her words. The thought of such a possibility hadn't even crossed Todorokis mind, that much was clear from his jaw-dropped expression.
Todoroki's eyes quickly flicked back and forth between the pair of them in shock as the two close friends watched each other wearily in silence.
Uraraka had lowered her head in shame as the silence was cut through by her apologies.
"…..I'm sorry, I know I should have more faith in you to know what you are doing.." She began as tears slowly formed in her eyes, the teardrops quickly catching Izuku and Todoroki's attention once again.
" I have just been so worried... Ever since you mentioned it once before, you mentioned how dangerous it was for you, just couldn't help myself..."
Now Todorokis eyes were on him as Izuku kept his eyes locked onto his friend's seemingly small form as she rubbed away the tear in her eyes.
Todoroki began to break the silence between them, "Midoriya, what is she talking-"
His words were cut off by lzukus movements as he slowly shuffled across the floor next to Ochako, pulling her into a hug, for the first time having her own head on his chest as she cried.
Izuku grimaced as he felt her tears soak through his shirt, not paying any attention to Todoroki who had seemingly shuffled away into the other room.
This was what Midoriya had wanted to avoid, putting more mental toll on his friends than necessary, right from the very beginning...
As her tears slowly began to fade, she wrapped her arms around him and tightly hugged him back, Izuku not once flinching at the movement; a seemingly huge improvement from the first time they had ever had contact for something so small.
"Uraraka, please don't worry about me ever starving myself..
I know so many more people could be put in harm's way if I did that instead of what I used to normally do if I ever did such a thing. Even if I may have thought about it in the past, I know better than to ever force myself through it, even if I felt it was the only option...
He paused slightly and lowered his head, subconsciously smelling Urarakas' hair below him.
"I don't want to hurt any more people than I have to. Being a hero is the only thing l've ever wanted to do with my life, and I promise you with all my power I will never deliberately put anyone in harm's way in that way, ever..!"
Izuku felt the pressure on his chest lift slightly as Ochako pulled away, to look at him with tear-stained eyes.
Izuku closed his eyes and gave a small but reassuring smile toward her.
"Besides with Hides personality, I doubt he would let me go even a week with nothing to eat. Thanks to them l've finally had a whole load of weight lifted off my mind and I haven't felt so calm in over a year. So there is nothing to be afraid of, I promise I will never starve myself. I know Kaneki, Hide, you, and maybe even Todoroki would stop me before it could escalate to something like that.!"
His smile seemed to be contagious as she offered him a small one back, slowly she opened her mouth to speak when Todoroki cut the pair of them off. "He's damn right we'd stop him before it got to that.!"
The pair of friends looked up at him in surprise as he stood leaning by the door with his arms crossed, a half-determined look stuck on his face.
Izuku off-handedly realized that he must have been sitting around the corner listening, all the while giving Uraraka and his the space they needed to discuss what needed to be said in peace.
Uraraka had looked over to the two-tone-haired boy with surprise, missing the grateful smile Izuku was sending his way.
Uraraka had let out a quiet chuckle at his sudden rare display of care and determination, causing both the tension in Izuku and Shouto to relax.
"Yea, you're right..." She had begun with a bright wide smile this time, grinning up at Izuku with shared determination, "You're going to be stuck together with us through this. We'll always be there to help you!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Todoroki speak up, Uraraka nodding in agreement at his statement, "With that said, if we want to work effectively together we should probably meet Kaneki and Hide too."
Somehow, Izuku wondered, the conversation had turned into a pep talk for him; when had that happened.?
He looked back towards the girl who sat right in front of him again, the small embarrassing feeling slowly glowing inside again, as she beamed up at him.
Izuku could only chuckle nervously, "Hehe alright l'll bring you two next time I go, but thank you though I appreciate it! "
It had been over a month since the Bloody stain had last been spotted, and while the rest of the police station was getting more stressed and annoyed by the day, Aizawa couldn't help but feel a sense of relief; even if it should have felt more of a concern for him.
It was time to go back to Nezus office for his personal weekly update, being one of the only main heroes to have ever found and gotten up close with the villain in the past.
As he shuffled slowly down the corridor, yellow sleeping bag in hand, he walked up to the principal's office and knocked twice. He only had to wait a moment for Nezu to come and unlock the door; preferring to keep it locked while he was preparing or working with the Blood Stain case.
"Ahh, Aizawa, glad to see you finally decided to pop by; I've been trying to contact you for half the school day, I assume you must have been asleep."
Aizawa grumbled out a quick apology at the principal's response, walking towards the desk in the center of the room before hunching over slighting as Nezu jumped onto his seat.
"I assume you've noticed the lack of reports in the news of late, Aizawa-san" Nezu began as he handed his work colleague a cup of coffee which he had seemingly pulled out from nowhere.
Aizawa nodded with agreement, "Yea I have, it's not hard too when the Bloody stain is all the media has been talking about recently. There haven't been any reports of similar murder cases reported anywhere in Japan, let alone Musutafu." the hero brought his hand up to push the hair up out of his eyes, "It almost as if they've vanished into thin air, that or they've reverted back to their original eating schedule of only one body a month."
Nezu remained silent as he listened carefully to the facts Aizawa was confirming for him.
"If that's the case they should have eaten someone last night or in the next couple of days, am I correct?" The small mammal asked thoughtfully.
Aizawa nodded again, "Yea that's about right." He shifted out of his slumped position and looked more intently towards the principal, wanting to know the intelligent animals' thoughts on the matter, "Why, what's your thoughts.?"
Nezu shifted in his seat as he thought deeply, holding his cup of tea still all the while.
"Honestly, I'm all rather unsure of what to make of this situation myself.." He paused slightly, lowering his teacup onto his desk before clasping his hands together, "I'll agree, from the outside it seems like a good thing with the lack of murders but I find it rather concerning that nothing has changed within the task force since the USJ attack."
Aizawa hummed quietly, silently agreeing with the white animals' statements; apart from the unused Quinques, nothing had changed.
"We also haven't changed anything with the school's curriculum since the attack either. This sudden change should have happened when the physical workload was lowered to all hero course students." Nezu began before sighing and lowering his head slightly, "I'm afraid to say Aizawa, but Ghouls don't just disappear; they depend on human flesh for survival."
Aizawa furrowed his brows in thought, "What are your thoughts on it then..?"
The rat-like creature looked up at the hero with a serious stare, " I'm afraid there are too many things to list, but I will give you some of the main possibilities I've come up with." He began with a pause, taking in a deep breath before carrying on,
"It could mean that they have found another way to source food. Someone, somehow, has managed to kill them and they are now laying dead somewhere undiscovered or there starving themselves..."
Aizawa could only blink as his eyes widened in shock at the suggestions, "... Do you have any more information on any of these theories..?" he managed to speak out with a sense of urgency.
The principal sighed deeply, "Unfortunately, nothing factual yet; but I do have some ideas.
"At the present time, we have no confirmation whether the Bloody stain and the league of villains are working together; however with the Nomu power displayed during both the US and the Hosu attack we can assume they have quite a few Nomu saved up with Regeneration quirks, that would be an easy source of food.
"There is also the possibility that the Ghoul has a captive somewhere which has a regeneration quirk or knows someone who is willing to work with they for food; however I do not believe this theory myself, seeing the Ghouls hero complex and fear of anyone else around them."
Aizawa just listened silently to his boss's ideas, too many thoughts going through his head at that time to give a legible response; still slightly grossed out at the idea of the League of villains willingly feeding them.
"There is also the idea that someone may have managed to kill the Bloody stain, but at this point, I believe the Bloody stain is too much of a threat to be taken down quietly. If it was a hero, it would have been on the news, we would have known about it. If it was a villain, well, that has to come with some sort of bragging rights, doesn't it..?"
Nezu lifted his teacup once again and slowly took a sip, contemplating how to word his next theory.
"And finally we come back to starvation... When I did my initial research on ghouls, I spent a lot of time researching how people used to deal, or shall I say 'kill' them. As this was around the surge of the beginning of the Hero age, many people were wanting to become heroes or vigilantes at the time.
And while it was very rare and usual, i found some reports of 'Ghoul suicides' or starvations; and while it takes a long and apparently excruciating time, it's the only way they can because of their virtually indestructible body and digestive systems-"
Aizawa's mouth moved before his mind did, "Are you saying there's the possibility of the bloody stain locking himself up, bloodthirsty somewhere in the city..!"
Nezu paused, looking back towards the shocked pro-hero before slowly nodding; seemingly unsurprised at the hero's early comprehension.
"Yes, that's always a possibility.."
Aizawa could only rub his face with the build-up of sudden stress which had fallen upon him, he had seen the ghouls reaction to his own quirk being used on them, the agony they had been in; he could only imagine the agonizing pain they must be in, "But why would they put themselves thought that..?"
"Because even though it is dangerous, and agonizingly painful. The Bloody stain has heroic tendencies, even if they are twisted in some sense.
It may be as simple as it all becoming a little too much for them to cope with."
Aizawa could only sigh stressfully at the thought,
"Is there anything at this point we can even do to try and help them and stop this madness, this has gone on for far too long now..!"
Nezu nodded slowly in agreement, "With the knowledge we currently have, there is nothing we can do... I recommend putting the task force and all the heroes in the city on high alert if in the unfortunate case the last theory is true, but until then, all there is to do is sit and wait..."
Aizawa didn't like the sound of that idea at all...
Things passed as normal for a while after the conversation the three of them had shared at his House. Izuku and Ochako had invited Shouto to their small bubble of friends, quickly becoming inseparable with the pair; all the while keeping a close eye on Hagakure in the process.
Nothing much was happening now Izuku wasn't having to kill people anymore, in fact, he almost got the feeling the Hagakure was starting to become stressed at his lack of murder cases. He almost found that amusing.
It was only a couple of days after the last conversation they had after Urarakas' small breakdown, when the trio was traveling to Kaneki's city, that Todoroki came to them with news that his fathers' copy of Nezus' document had been updated.
"It was updated a few days ago but I only managed to access the computer yesterday. My fathers been at home in his office a lot more recently; he mentioned something about having to redo a load of staff patrol areas to cover a wider region."
Izuku nodded in understanding, "That's alright, what did he write..?"
Shouto could only sigh as he spoke up, the trio quickly getting onto the bullet train which had only just arrived. "The only thing which was added was the granted permission from the Hero Association to allow these things called Quinques. It didn't mention what they were but I assume they're some kind of tool they plan on using to catch you next time you would have gone out for... you know.
Izuku grimaced slightly at the connotation, "Yea I get you, but l've never heard of Quinques before."
"Did you look on google to see if you could find anything, Todoroki?" Uraraka asked curiously.
Shouto nodded, "I did, but nothing really came up about what they were. I saw them mentioned in a few places but apparently, they were kept secret from public eyes. I assume just like what they're doing now; there hasn't been anything mentioned of them in the news, even though the police promised to give press updates on everything that's happening. I assume they're trying to take you by surprise."
Izuku felt grinning at that little comment, "Well I guess it's a good thing l've got you around isn't it.
I'm sure they aren't too bad, I'll mention it to Kaneki and see if he knows anything about it once we arrive."
His two friends seemed content with that.
The train ride was spent in comfortable silence, with the occasional conversation started by Uraraka, who was much more sociable than the two boys; not that either of them minded the small talk. It only took a little while after they had left the train station in their stop to make their way to Kaneki and Hides' apartment.
They knocked on the door and were soon invited in by Hide. Kaneki had been sat in the other room when they had entered but soon enough he decided to join them. To begin with, the conversation was awkward and tedious; with no one really knowing where to begin. Talking about Hide's quirk and getting confirmation that what Izuku had said the other day was top priority to Uraraka and Todoroki and soon after that was done, Hide and Izuku left Uraraka and Todoroki alone with Kaneki as they went off to 'do their thing' as they out it.
His two friends had almost instantly understood what he meant and left the pair to it.
"So have you ever met any other Ghouls in the past?!" Ochako asked enthusiastically, excited to meet someone else who had the same quirk as her best friend.
Kaneki gave her a small sad smile, "I haven't seen any in a long time, apart from Midoriya that is.
Before that the last ghoul I knew was my mother before she died.
Urarakas' smile faded, "Oh... I'm sorry... I didn't-"
Kaneki quickly waved her concern off as she began to apologize, "It's alright, it was a long time ago. I was surprised when I saw Midoriya on the tv from the Kamui Woods incident."
This time, it was Shoutos' time to speak up, "That was before school had even started, that was the only piece of footage the police had at that time and it was horrifically blurry, how did you manage to work out what Midoriya was.?"
Kaneki directed his attention towards the two-tone-haired boy, pausing slightly, " Instinct... I guess.? You're his friend who has friends on the police records right?" He asked, Todoroki nodding silently at his question. "I see, I don't know what information the police have on how ghouls smell works, but we can smell individual people and ghouls out very easily. At least I know I can, I'm sure Midoirya can too."
The two friends nodded slightly unsurely, not aware of Midoriya having such abilities; knowing how much their friend never liked disclosing things about his quirk. They were both aware of how the situation where it would be very useful is discovering things about Midoriya's quirk, even if he didn't really want them knowing all the grim details.
"To us," Kaneki continued, referring to himself and Izuku, "Ghouls don't taste nice, from what I was told really foul actually. Surprisingly we're meant to be able to digest it, not that l've tried. Humans all smell nice in general, and we can smell any kind of bleeding from anyone."
Uraraka felt herself flush red at the comments, thinking back to the one incident before the sports festival; she was glad Midoriya hadn't mentioned it since then...
"What does Midoriya smell like to you then.?" Shouto asked, his interest getting the better of him, unaware of Urarakas growing inner turmoil.
Kaneki paused for a moment and began to seemingly sniff that air, it took a while for both Uraraka and Todoroki to realize what he was
doing.
"Well, he doesn't smell like a ghoul, that's for sure." He began after a few short moments, "He doesn't smell entirely human either."
Kaneki sat back in his chair and hummed in thought, "I haven't smelt what his blood smells like, but l'd assume it would smell more human than anything. All though even if he did I wouldn't want to eat another ghoul, that's just asking for bad things to happen."
Shouto furrowed his brows slightly, "What do you mean by that?"
Kaneki paused and looked over towards where he was sat, mentally thinking over the pros and cons of telling Midoriya's friends something that Midoriya himself might not even know.
"Ghouls can gain power from eating each other. It affects their RC count which can trigger a mutation that would affect the strength and appearance of their kagune; and for a half ghoul like Midoriya, I don't even want to think about how powerful he would become..."
Uraraka and Todoroki sat in stunned silence as they took the other ghouls words in, so much knowledge about their friends' quirk which they didn't even know, information Midoriya probably wouldn't even know himself.
"..So kind of like how chickens can eat eggshells to make their own eggs stronger.?" Shouto pondered aloud, finally breaking the silence.
Kaneki chuckled lightly at that, "Yea, something like that."
Their conversation eased up from there as they talk about loads of different things to do with their quirks. Kaneki had even offered to show them both his Kagune when Shout had asked what kind he had, learning about the different kinds from Nezus document, much to the excitement of the pair of them; turned out that Kaneki had the same type of Kagune as Midoriya.
It was halfway through their conversation when
Hide came back missing half his arm. Uraraka and Todoroki had both been partly shocked, their hero sides both coming into play, both getting up to see if he was alright. Hide quickly calmed them down, chuckling as he waved the healed stump in front of them.
They hadn't realized what Izuku had meant when they said he healed almost like a Nomu.
It only took a few minutes after Hide arrived for Izuku to re-enter the room. He didn't say anything as he walked up to them to join in their conversation, only offering them a nervous smile.
They continued on their conversation till the topic of how Shouto had managed to get his hands on the police document came up, (which by the way, who knew breaking into Endeavors computer would be so easy..?! Why had no one thought to do that before.!) Izuku remembered something he had meant to ask.
"Umm Kaneki..? Todoroki mentioned something to us earlier on the way here I just remembered I need to ask you."
Kaneki paused his small conversation with Hide before looking at Izuku curiously.
"Todoroki told us that the document had been updated recently, something about getting permission from the hero committee to use Quinques." he began slowly, looking over to Todoroki for confirmation; not missing Kaneki's eyes narrowing at the last word mentioned, "We were wondering if you knew anything about them..?"
Kaneki kept his serious gaze plastered on Izuku, causing the younger boy to tense; wondering why they had caused such a reaction in the other Ghoul user.
Kaneki remained silent for a while before slowly taking a deep breath and gave them all a serious look.
"Quinques are not something you want to mess with... I'm sure you've realized most weapons or attacks, apart from fire, don't do anything to us.
That is, of course, apart from our own Kagune, it's very easy to break ghoul skin with them." He began slowly, ensuring that each word sunk into each of their minds, hoping they would realize the seriousness of the situation they could be in if they ever faced them.
"…..Quinques are tools made from Kagunes harvested from other ghouls..."
Izuku paled slightly as Kanekis words set themselves in his mind, the thought part of another humans' quirk being harvested for use in such a way; it made him feel sick, a fark reminder of the situation he had been placed in.
Even with the help of Hides quirk, he wasn't safe; he never truly would be...
"I've only heard about them in the past, mostly tales from my mother when I was younger. There have been no cases of them being used in any way since ghouls were all assumed extinct, no need for them, as far as I'm aware at least."
It seemed as if Uraraka had picked up on Izukus' sudden change in emotion, placing a hand on his back to try and comfort him as she looked towards Kaneki with determination.
"Well in that case we'll just have to work together to ensure that they never see him again. I don't want to risk Deku-Kun getting caught, so we're going to have to work together."
Kanekis' eyebrows raised slightly in confusion at the nickname, unsure at the connotations of it, but didn't say anything, "The police won't get a chance to Ise them, Hide and I will always be here to help you three, so don't worry too much."
Izuku felt a small smile form, through the groggy feeling he was dealing with, it was good to know all the people who knew of his darkest secret wouldn't abandon him..!
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