บท 33: Foggy clarity
In the hours that followed, news of the latest attack on UA spread across the country like wildfire; each news and media outlet swarming the hospital and school like mosquitos, desperate for that new piece of inside information to leak out into the public.
When the remaining students had settled as much as the traumatic situation would allow them, both Nezu and Aizawa agreed that no one else in class
1-A or B was to be made aware of who Midoriya was. Formally addressing them that they were not to give any information out on the attack during the night to anyone, parent/ carer or media alike; covering the ground than needed to protect, whether the students knew all of the truths revealed tonight or not.
Their note of discretion was enforced by members of the police and Detective Tsukauchi alike, working together to ensure the students of UA were aware of the consequences of leaking confidential information.
Much to Aizawa's relief, none of the students had any hesitation agreeing to the terms set out by the police, thankfully that the few who were left understood how dire and grim the situation was; even if it was just the threat of being arrested, at least that was a small load off his mind...
For now, he had other things to worry about.
The hospital was bustling with staff and patients, doctors sprinting around as they rushed to rooms they were needed in. Aizawa could only wince at the chaos that had happened late last night, into the morning as he arrived at the hospital, his students getting rushed to the ICU and Uraraka's pale body getting pulled straight into the emergency room for surgery.
He could remember seeing the blood transfusion bags hanging off the side of her bed, the sight itself leaving him fretting fearfully with worry.
Her surgery was long and grueling, the emergency light flickering above her room for over fives hours before it had flicked off, allowing himself, Nezu, Detective Tsukauchi, and Todoroki in to check on her as she laid unconscious in her bed; giving them a chance to discuss the topic which they couldn't afford to hold off for any longer.
Aizawa and Nezu sat down in the two chairs beside the wall, Tsukauchi deciding to stand by the door as he listened in silently as Shouto sat in the chair adjacent to Ochakos bed; looking over at her worriedly as Aizawa began to ask him questions.
Shouto looked down guilty as he slowly turned back away from the bed towards the floor which separated the three of them, his expression plain apart from the underlying anxiety only a heroes trained eye or therapist could see.
"...During the Stain attack, there was a short moment between when he had been eating Stain and when the heroes arrived that I was able to recognize his face.."
The two heroes sat respectfully in silence, listening to the terrors Shouto had faced as his voice shook nervously, revealing them for the first time in full detail since that day; two long months ago...
"…..My father's quirk had lit up his face just enough for me to see him, but everyone else had been too far away at the time to see who it was before he ran off, and with lida and Native being unconscious; was the only one who saw..."
Aizawa leaned forward on his knees, his voice unusually soft as he spoke, trying to keep the situation as relaxed as it could be, "Todoroki, why didn't you say anything while you were in the interview with one of the detectives..? Or sat with me in the station..?"
There was no point pressuring and shaming him for holding information now, it wouldn't help anyway.
Shouto brought his hands together in his lap as he lowered his head further to them, sighing as he shut his eyes, settling his nerves.
"…..At the time, I was scared..? In Shock?" Shouto questioned himself, leaving his teachers to watch patiently as he continued on, "I don't really know how to describe it... I couldn't believe what I had seen...
Aizawa nodded silently, only the sound of Nezus handwriting breaking the silence between them as they gave Shouto a chance to pause.
" just wanted to know what the hell was going on, I wanted to confirm it for myself before telling anyone..."
The subtle scratching of pen on paper paused at that as Aizawa sighed simultaneously.
"Todoroki... I hope you realized how dangerous that was, cornering him like that..."
Shouto peeked up offering him a short look of offense to that, not getting a chance to retort as Aizawa continued on, " I'm not saying that Midoriya himself is dangerous, we both know what he's like in class, we both know he wouldn't hurt anyone in our class without reason."
Aizawa subtle peaked over to where Urarakas unconscious body slowly moved up and down with each, living, breath she took.
"But going after anyone whose quirk and volatility work against them is dangerous, you couldn't have predicted how he could have reacted, please don't do that again; at least not without backup, alright?"
Shouto nodded softly, his expression taming itself once he had realized his sensei wasn't treating Midoriya like the villain so many saw him as.
"I'll do that next time, but I don't regret it"
Aizawa could only wince faintly, sighing again as Nezu chose to speak up, "Todoroki-Kun..? Could you please tell us what happened..? How he got this quirk in the first place..?"
The hero student eyed them both carefully, internally debating his options before nodding cautiously.
"…I He paused, "From what he told me, it was his friends..
Both the heroes shifted at that, leaning forward subconsciously, intrigued at where this was going.
Shouto lifted his head towards them, the seriousness of the situation set on his face as he watched their reactions very carefully.
"After I had confronted him, he asked me to go back to his house with Uraraka-san. He'd said that one of his friends had tried to kill him, but they had been caught up in an explosion."
Shout furrowed his brows slightly with confusion,
"I don't really know anything about why the explosion happened, I'm not sure if he knows either.. All I know is that she was killed and because of an injury he had sustained her stomach had been transferred to him.."
Nezu nodded, Shoutos words lining up with what All Might had said, as he jotted down some notes.
Shouto sighed tiredly, fatigue showing under his eyes as the stress of his friend going missing and the villain attack took their toll, "I don't know much at all of what happened, I think Uraraka-san may know more but..."
Shouto trailed off as Aizawa spoke up, "Don't worry about it, kid.."
Nezu nodded with agreement," It's quite alright Todoroki, you've been a tremendous help!" The small mammal offered him an understanding smile, "I've just got a few more questions to ask if that's alright?"
Shout nodded wearily, causing the mammal's expression to soften before he seemed to delve back into his interrogation mode.
"Could you tell me how you felt about Uraraka-san going to Midoriya's house too..? Do you know how she found out?"
Aizawa gave Nezu a confused yet weary look, as Shouto stilled slightly before slowly answering, looking towards where she laid asleep in her hospital bed, "..I was shocked to learn she had known about it for longer than I had, she told me that she was in the ruins zone during the USJ attack when she discovered his quirk, but I'm not sure what happened...
Shouto thought back to the document that Nezu had written, remembering the notes he had left subconsciously as he spoke the facts that he knew; he wouldn't tell them that he had seen the document though, that would get him into more trouble than it was worth.
He didn't notice the way the detective's hand in the corner of the room twitched.
Nezu nodded thankfully for his answer as Aizawa spoke up again, "Do you happen to know what Midoirya has been eating over the last month.?"
Shouto paused with his answer, unsure how to answer as he thought back to the day he and Uraraka had been introduced to Kaneki and Hide, two of the kindest and wholesome people he had ever met.
He couldn't expose them, he couldn't risk another Ghoul's future the way he already was trying to save Midoriya. It wouldn't be fair to them after everything they had done for the three of them, for everything they had done to help Midoriya into the happier, brighter person he had seemed to have become.
"No... No, I don't know what he's been eating for the last few months..
Shouto shook his head as Nezu nodded understandingly, not noticing the detective shifting again by the door.
Aizawa sighed, slowly getting up as he moved towards the door, "Thank you, Todoroki, even though you're only giving us this information now, it's going to be very useful to us"
He offered Shouto a small honest smile as he ruffled his student's hair before turning to leave the room where Nezu and Tsukauchi were standing beside the door.
Shout turned to face Ochako, looking sadly down at her still form as a thought rushed through his head.
"Hey, Aizawa-sensei! Wait!"
The Hero paused at the door along with Nezu and the detective with a questioning hum, "Mhm?"
Shouto had gotten out of his chair prepared to chase after them if he had needed to as he spoke,
"Do you think Mioriya was kidnapped because of something the league wants with him.?"
The desperation in his voice for an answer was clear, the heroes giving him a confused look as he quickly reworded his question clearer.
"The Nomu, it had multiple quirks, didn't it..? I remember!" Shouto's eyes widened with fear as he spoke, "Is that why they wanted him..? Because he has two quirks to use him..?"
The trio of adults all stalled at the implications of Shoutos words, Nezu one step ahead as he took a moment to think it all through in the process.
They had suspected the Nomu were related to All for One... No one else that they knew of held such power over the average kind of quirk, but they hadn't thought about the possibility of All for One wanting to use the ghoul quirk for himself.
The only theories they had were that the Ghoul had been a part of the League, not that the League was using them. Had the league been behind the explosion which had caused Midoriya to have his stomach transplanted in the first place..?
Why had Midoriya been chosen? What made him special..?All for one loved quirks... Was it because of One for all but then... That wouldn't make sense, One for all couldn't be stolen..?
Then it clicked...
Midoriya had been quirkless during the explosion, a blank slate...
But that couldn't be made public knowledge, at least not without Midoriya's express permission...
"No, I'm afraid we don't know..."
The walk down the corridor was held in silence, only the pattering of feet disturbing the peace as the sun slowly began to set through the passing windows.
"Tsukauchi did Todoroki lie at any point during that..?"
The detective nodded stiffly, "He did a few times," The heroes turned to face him as they paused in their stride, looking at him seriously as he spoke,
"when he spoke about what Uraraka-san supposedly told him, about her being in the ruins zone and while telling us that he didn't know what Midoriyas been eating; that too was a lie..."
The two heroes shared a suspicious look as the detective spoke, unsure of what to make of it.
"How did he know she had been in the ruins zone if she hadn't told him..?"
Nezu took a moment to think, "I'd assume that Midoriya must have told him, since Uraraka saw Midoriya during the attack, they would both have been fully aware of each other's presence at the time. Though, it was an odd way for him to put it…
Aizawa nodded while sighing deeply, rubbing the side of his face tiredly, "Fuck... I remember seeing how Todoroki reacted after the Stain attack in Hosu, I don't think I want to imagine the amount of trauma she's gone through after seeing what was left of the USJ incident and even now...
Nezu could only hum in agreement, as Tsukauchi spoke up again, "Nezu, do you have any ideas about what he could be hiding with regards to what Midoriya's been eating..?"
The small mammal nodded clearly, "Yes, while a little concerning, I don't think it's anything we need to worry about."
The detective and Aizawa turned to look a little surprised at that, "Wha-?"
Nezu turned to face them as he started walking ahead, "If he lied about not know what Midoriya was eating, it seems to me that Todoroki-san doesn't seem too concerned about it. If he didn't feel the need to tell us what he's been eating, then that means they have found some way to sustain him without worry."
Tsukauchi looked at him conflictingly, "Can we really trust him? I mean, he's already withheld information before, it's it possible that he doing it again-"
"Todoroki may have withheld information before, but I doubt he will do that again, I suspect he is just weary of the police still and doesn't quite trust Us yet."
"Withholding information from the police is a crime, Nezu. He will end up going to jail if he-"
"Todoroki had lived and grown up under the household of a pro-hero," Aizawa interpreted, a little aggressively as he defended his students' decision, "He would know what something needed to be reported to the police, when it's best to tell heroes useful information, he's already given us far more information than we previously anticipated and knew before.
The hero paused as the detective turned to look a little guilty.
"Besides at least if Shouto knows that he's eating, and there been no reports of attacks on anyone in the last two months, it means its more than likely that they've found someone to help them willingly," Aizawa sighed again, scratching at his head weakly, " I haven't got a clue how they managed to do that thought..."
Nezu hummed, "Once we've gotten Midoriya back, We'll have to keep him on a new highly regulated, and supervised diet but I intend to find who's been feeding him. Not just anyone could feed a ghoul their body weight in flesh a month.
Agony, that's all he could feel...
Running up and down his body in pulses as he flinched at the slightest change of air, his stomach slowly eating away at himself inside out as he laid motionless on the cold cell floor, his bloody arm was held tightly within the grip of his teeth as tears of fear and despair ran continuously from his eyes.
All for One had changed his approach once he had realized the power that he was holding, decidedly torturing him to amend the mistake he had made over a hundred years ago, each session leaving Izuku writhing with pain.
His screams of agony haunting his thoughts as he laid broken on the floor, spasming under torture he had faced after each broken bone he'd been greeted with.
The continuous cycle of pain was starting to make him go crazy, wearing him down harsher and violently, each moment of anguish and torment trajling on for longer and longer...
Again and againand again... Crying for help, begging desperately just for the pain to stop, for it all to just end, p-please... Please Just Stop It.!
His sob went unheard, the four corners of the room confining his pleads from the oblivious world surrounding them.
He'd felt as if he was truly dying... A long, slow agonizing death.
Izuku's stomach growled as he was pulled from his trauma-filled thoughts, his insides burning him alive as the next wave of tear slowly caught up with him, his silent wails only heard by the silverfish and spiders which scattered the bloody floor.
He ran his hands through his hair, grabbing at it painfully as he felt the last wisps of his energy fade as his forearm rehealed again; losing count of how often his bones had rehealed...
In some ways he felt relieved when the small gaps in between the torture that came, giving him a chance to bite down on his arm and allow the warm, honey taste of his own blood to soak through to his mouth, mutilating his own arms into shreds of muscle, flesh, and tissue. The blood soothing his raging mind as the stumps of his finger and forearms all that was left of his arms, his regeneration slowly starting to shut down.
In some ways, he despised the wait, with nothing to do but think about the next time the hard metal door would open, the next time he would be powerless against the agony he would face and the darkness of death he would crave to consume him.
Izuku silently shook the thoughts away, clamping his eyes shut with a whimper as he chewed down harder on his forearm, time blurring together as he tried to figure out what was real and fake; having passed out each time All for One had finished with him before waking up alone in the stone-cold room he now resided in.
How much time had actually passed..? Were his friends alright? Had Kacchan been saved already?
Was anyone even looking for him..?
Izukus' sobs grew a little louder as he curled up into himself.
No, why would anyone bother after what he had done... He was a murderer, he was a villain. Why would anyone care if he died..?
All might probably would, given that Izuku still held One for All, that was the only hope he had of getting out alive... There was no point trying to escape on his own in the condition he was in, was there even a point of escaping anyway? To be left to rot in prison?
Maybe it was just better to let All for One take what he wanted... Maybe that way he would finally be free from the pain and torment he had faced throughout his life.
Maybe he could just finally be at peace..!
God, what was he thinking...
Izuku slowly pushed himself off the floor as his thoughts caught him by surprise, how could he even think of doing that? Giving All for One his quirk?!
Were his will and conviction finally starting to break..?
He rubbed the weariness from his eyes with the bend of his wrist, avoiding the bloody stumps of his fingers from contaminating his eyes. The taste of his own delicious blood keeping him relatively calm, not thinking about how disgusting it was to cannibalize his own flesh as he tore chunk after chuck out of his arm.
At least the flesh he was eating was going straight back into healing his joint that hung limply off his other arm which he had demolished a little while agorehealing just enough so he could switch back without the scars it would create reaching past his shoulders.
At least his own flesh tasted nice, soothing, unlike what normal ghouls supposedly tasted like...
At least this way he was alive, alive just to give All Might back the gift he never should have accepted in the first place...
He shuffled his back up towards the wall behind him, supporting his weight against it as he silently cried, eyes glistening with tears as he looked down at his arms which laid limply above his knees that he'd brought up to his chest for support.
Was this all his life was ever going to amount to..?
He was brought from his depressingly dangerous thoughts at the sound of one of the iron bars on the other side of the door, snapping open, causing him to flinch back with fear at the realization of what was coming through.
Izukus' body froze with terror at the thought of All for One coming to take him, to have another go at torturing One for All from his grasp again-When a smalled figure was thrown onto the solid concrete floor only a little way away from him.
He sat back motionless with fear, not daring to move as the figure slowly started to push themselves off the floor; only revealing the tame shade of blond he'd known all his life as they got up and began pounding onto the door with the thick looking bracelets (which clearly weren't for show) which hung heavily around their wrists.
"OI! YOU FUCKING BASTARDS, LET ME OUT, OR I'LL BLOW YOU ALL TO HELL!"
Izuku didn't know whether to cry from joy or indescribable horror as the dark laughs of someone else came rattling from the other side of the now locked iron doors, locking him and Kacchan into the same room, together...
Why had they brought him here..? Locking him in the same room as him? As food? As Bait..?
The fuming blond pounded angrily on the door, not noticing Izukus petrified, blood-splattered, form on the floor behind him.
"HEY, I SAID OPEN THE DOOR BASTARDS!"
The silent reply left Bakugous angry punches at the door weakening as his fists began to hurt, only the silence after he had stopped and settled down alerting him to the sound of someone breathing heavily behind him...
Bakugous form stiffened violently at the sudden sound, turning his head around with fear glazing his eyes as he did so, only to come face to face with the bloody, mutilated, stumpy hands of Izuku staring straight back at him.
The only thing Izuku heard was the sharp intake of breath as his classmate took in the sight of him with abhorred horror.
Izuku's voice shook with terror, a sad broken smile painting his eyes and mouth, as he spoke to his classmate who looked at him with horror; only the sharp intake of breath indicating his reaction to seeing him.
"H-hi-Kacchan.!"
Bakugou stared in horror at the sight before him, the puddles of blood and missed pieces of flesh scattering the ground as he looked down at the weak, frail form of his greatest annoyance, Deku.
The two multicolored eyes staring at him with fearful hope as the stumps of flesh and blood which mangled the ends of Midoriya's arms slowly identified themselves in his mind, leaving him frozen with shock; watching the flesh slowly entwine its self back together as it healed.
But it wasn't just Midoriyas arms that shook Bakugou to his core with their appearance...
His grim smile leaked with blood, which messily smeared across his face, and the light tuffs of grey hair which peeked out from underneath the majority of his bloody, matted, green; leaving a less disturbing but non the less horrifying sight to see...
Bakugou couldn't control himself from letting out a whisper of disbelief.
"..Deku..? What the fuck..."
The once fully green-haired boy let out a choked sob as his eyes looked up to him with a dim sparkle of relief and terror.
"Kacchan..! You're Alive..!"
Bakugou ignored Midoriya's sob, too distracted by the concerning tuffs of white hair which drew in his wide-eyed attention, "Deku... What the fuck happened to your hair..?"
Midoriya muffled his sobs as he pulled down on his hair to try and get a better look, utterly confused about what Bakugou was looking at...
"Wha-"
"Deku, What the fucks happened to you?! What the hell have you done to your arms?! What the fucks going on?"
His angry persona was quickly starting to break, fear and horror shining through as his panic began to settle in at the state that his classmates' arms were in, leaving Midoriya looking up at him with confusion and concern, "Kacchan, I-What-"
Bakugou didn't give Midoriya a chance to answer him, his concern quickly being replaced and hidden as he spoke.
"You've been hiding a lot of shit from me Deku, you think it's funny ha?"
Izuku pushed himself further up into the cold wall, backing away knowing that even though he wasn't bound by quirk restricting cuffs, he wouldn't be able to stop Bakugou from lashing out at him in this state of despair...
"N-no! I-" His voice cut off with shaky wobble,
curling into himself as he flinched at the harsh voice attacking him in an attempt to close himself off.
Why was Kacchan not scared of him? He was hungry! Why wasn't Kacchan trying to kill him before the joys of his own blood got too boring for his tastes?! When he wouldn't have control over his body anymore..?
Couldn't he see the monster he was talking to!
His yells just seemed to continue on as the mental strain of being locked in a room with his Food grew worse and worse on his mind..
"You've got a lot of explaining to do! Bastard!"
Bakugou stomps closer towards him set fear shooting down his spine, causing him to shove his weak down further away down the wall and into the corner of the empty room, as he quickly began to have a breakdown; sobbing loudly as visible drops of salty tears splattered and mixed into the pools of blood below.
"…OK! OK!P-pLease Stay away from me! J-jUst stay AWAY! please..! I beg you! I promise I'II explain everything but don't come any closer!" Midoriyas sobs of anguish grew louder and louder... "don't want to hurt you!"
Bakugou seemingly got the message as he froze, realizing that he was facing a monster that would eat him if temped enough...
And with that, he began to explain...
"There's a villain here... Called All for one, who wanted my ghoul quirk for himself, I think he was the one behind the explosion which Akuma and I were both caught in a year ago which caused me to have my stomach replaced." His rapid spluttered sentences were broken by a quick choke, "He wanted to take it for himself, his quirk allows people to steal others quirks-"
The anger in Bakugous face once again morphed into horror, no longer switching back as the expression plastered itself to his face.
"-and he wants to take my ghoul quirk, he was using me to make it grow stronger without it merging with other quirks but-"
"Wait wait wait, What! He used you to harvest Akumas quirk..?" His face twisted into something doubtful, "Why the fuck did he give it to you then?!
And what the fuck do you mean stealing other people's quirks? That's not possible-"
Izuku was starting to get desperate, his anger taking over for once, "It is! Kacchan! Please just listen to me for once..!"
He flinched once he realized what he had said, but with no violent reaction, Izuku continued speaking;
not one to try and push his luck with him anymore.
"All for One wanted to use me to develop the ghoul quirk from a two-eyed ghoul to a one-eyed one, one much stronger than a normal one for its regeneration and kagune..
Bakugou sat back stunned on the floor, listening tentatively wide-eyed in silence as he took in the otherworldly information Midoriya was telling him.
Someone who could steal quirks..? What the fuck..?
That shouldn't be possible... How could someone like that exist without the world knowing who he was.?
Was the history from two hundred years truly that blurred.?
"How the hell do you even know that All for One exist? How do you know that much about him? Are you working for the league or something?!"
Izuku looked offended,his mouth moving before he could think, "W-what, no! Why would I be locked in a cage, eating my own flesh and blood, if I was working for All for One! All Might told me!"
As Midoriya spoke his attention was brought back to the two alternating coloured eyes staring deeply towards him, the conversation beginning to get heated; Bakugou unable to control the anger he felt whelming beneath him.
"What the fuck do you mean 'All Might Told you'?
And If All for One exists, why do you still have that fucking ghoul quirk ha? I can see your fucking eye!"
Izuku jerked back slightly at that, falling into silence as he realized what he had revealed and what he had almost said. He wouldn't be able to get around without lying about One for All...
There was no way to get around lying that
Bakugou wouldn't pick up on...
Izuku sat in silence for a minute, sniffling softly as he rubbed his tear strained eyes, debating his options. Did it really matter if he told Bakugou about it..?
They had been trapped in a room with pools of blood scattering the floor, with no windows or fresh air, locked in a cold dank cell together; was theYe even a chance of them both getting out of here alive..?
The longer they spent here, the more exhausted and hunger he would get... If they spent more than a few days here together, he was sure that even if he managed to escape, there was no chance of Bakugou coming out of this in one piece, let alone
alive..
So would it really matter if he told him the truth..?
For all of his life he had known Bakugou, and while he was an asshole, he wasn't one for spilling secrets; and well, since everything else about him was in the air (and he was probably going to prison and there was a good chance they were both going to die. Here... alone in this room...
Whether they choose to admit it or not...) so would it really matter? Did he really have anything to lose?
In some ways, he felt guilty pulling Bakugou into this mess in the first place. In some ways, he felt as if he owed it to him after all of the lies he had kept over the years.
Maybe this was just his way of making his guilt go away...
"…..The part of my quirk which produced the static electricity….. It's not part of my Ghoul quirk..."
He watched motionlessly as he saw Bakugous eyes widen with surprise.
"All for One couldn'ttake it because of the other quirk that I was given called One for All. It cant be taken unless I choose to give it away..!"
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