32 Delusions and Mending
(Bakugou)
I scowl as I throw another punch, the bag swinging on its chain. That shitty therapist I'm forced to go to kept blabbering on about how I'm too angry all the time and suggested going to the gym to try and 'work out my aggression with a healthy outlet'.
As if I didn't work out all the damn time. If I didn't work on my muscles, especially the ones in my forearms, then I wouldn't even be able to use my own damn quirk!
Does that dumbass not realize that explosions produce shockwaves!? Or that 'resistance' doesn't mean 'immunity'!? "It's like he's a goddamned IDIOT!" With a shout I slug the bag like I would someone's stomach and it bends as it rises a bit. The chain causes a racket as the bag yanks it back down, making me scowl at the noise.
"That kid really has some strong arms. He'd make a great boxer!"
"Dude, don't bring it up with him. Last time someone did that he nearly broke their arm!"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah! Don't you know his nickname? It's-"
I whirl around, barely holding back the urge to let out some explosions along with my irritation. "I CAN HEAR YOU DAMN EXTRAS WHISPERING BACK THERE!!"
Hearing my shout, the two idiots scramble away, running out the gym's doors. I scowl, turning back to the bag in front of me with a huff of annoyance.
"Damn pansies can't even stand up to a bit of yelling and they think that they can talk smack about me?" I start wailing on the bag, my hits coming hard and fast. "As if I'd settle for becoming a shitty boxer. I'm going to be the number one hero!"
My punches start hitting harder, matching the rage rising inside me as I vent about the shitty stuff that's been happening.
"That shitty principal decides to make my life harder because that shitty Deku decided to give up on his shitty life! My shitty therapist tells me to do the same shit that I already do all the damn time as if it would make any kind of damned difference AND TO TOP IT OFF, THAT SHITTY IZUMI DECIDED ALL THIS SHIT WASN'T ENOUGH AND GOT OFF EASY BY PLAYING THE FUCKING VICTIM! MEANWHILE I'M TOLD THAT THE ONLY REASON I'M NOT BEING ARRESTED IS BECAUSE I HAVE ALL MIGHT HIMSELF BACKING ME!!! WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS EVEN GOING ON ANYMORE!!!!"
I give out a wordless scream as I put one hundred percent into my punch, the bag swinging with such force that it hits the ceiling. I take a step back, catching my breath as it falls, the chain supporting it somehow still not having snapped. But that just pisses me off more, like it's mocking my punches. Saying that they're too weak to break it.
Too weak to break that shitty nerd's unattainable dream.
With a scowl, I turn around, snatching my towel and water bottle before leaving the empty building. Obviously I knew it was empty before I started shouting. Despite what those damn extras think, I'm not an idiot.
I know that I can't go around talking about All Might like I personally know him. Not only would that invite questions, not even just including those crappy vultures who call themselves news teams, but also villains.
All Might's personal life is on the level of a national secret, so any slip up and I can kiss my entire life goodbye. Maybe even literally. I know that my shitty parents won't try to stick up for me. They've made that clear ever since Deku jumped.
The old hag has been bitching at me more and more, nitpicking everything I do. Even when I was leaving for the gym to work out at least a bit of my irritation, she wouldn't shut up about being back at some random ass time. Before, she'd just tell me to be back before dinner. Now? I'm lucky if I can go out for more than a couple hours without the two of them threatening to throw me on my ass.
Not that I even have anyone to hang out with anymore. With Aldera closed down, most of the extras who I let be my lackeys have gotten sent to other schools than me. Finger Freak even got arrested!
The few who ended up in the same school as me avoid me like the fucking plague, and the new bastards are too fucking stupid to see how far I'm going to go! There's even some shitty extra with a bird head that says he plans to go to UA! And he's always speaking in damn riddles and saying 'revelry in the dark' all the damn time!
WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?!?!?!
The worst part is that I don't even have someone to vent to! Normally Izumi would listen when I describe how irritating all these shitty extras are, but she FUCKING BETRAYED ME!!
She told the fucking cops that I nearly killed Deku on a regular basis, and that he had all kinds of scars from it! As if that were true! No matter how badly I beat that shitty nerd, he'd always show up the next day like nothing ever fucking happened!
Like he was saying I was too weak to stop him! He was looking down on me, and it pissed me the fuck off!
That bitch better watch her back in UA. Because she's on my shit list.
`~`
(Shoko)
I sit at the dinner table, observing Fuyumi as she serves the meal with a happy smile on her face. Across from me, Natsuo looks at her with a fond expression. A far cry from the scowl he directs at our father sitting at the head of the table. Still though, he'll stay for the whole meal and won't pick any fights. He's come a long way since father gathered us all together five months ago.
`~`
(5 months ago)
Father has gathered all of his children (who aren't dead) for a family dinner. The first that I can remember. Fuyumi seems happy about it, though Natsuo looks like he's on the verge of flipping the table.
As for me? I… don't really care. Does it really matter if we eat together or separately? For me at least, it's not like it will make me feel better or worse. Ever since… it… happened, I haven't really felt much of anything. Like the world, previously made of color, has become monotone shades of gray.
Not literally of course, I'm not colorblind. Izuku always told me that I need to work on separating the metaphorical from the literal, so I've been working hard on it. My siblings have helped me a bit with this, but it's difficult. Sometimes when I think someone is talking metaphorically, they're talking literally, and vice versa.
Sometimes I wonder why I even try, but it's something Izuku said to me, so I'll keep going. Just like I'll keep on my path to becoming a hero. To make sure I'm the light for those who need it. Someone who will bring them warmth in the cold, or cold in the heat.
'I'm not sure that came out like I meant it…'
Father enters the room, looking at us all imperiously even if he isn't using his flaming facial hair. He sits at the head of the table with crossed arms, moving his gaze over the three of us. He clears his throat.
"I am aware that I have not been… the best father." He ignores Natsuo's snort, keeping a stoic expression as he continues. "While I know that I cannot simply apologize and expect forgiveness, I will still do so. I am sorry." He bows his head, causing Natsuo to look at him with his jaw hanging open and Fuyumi holding a hand to her mouth in surprise. I simply raise an eyebrow.
"Recent events have caused me to realize how important family is. And how much my goal of surpassing All Might has blinded me. It is not worth tearing our family apart."
"WHAT!?" Natsuo shoots up from his sitting position, his hands clenched into fists. "You have the nerve to say that after everything that's happened!? Everything you've done!?"
Father says nothing, keeping his head bowed as my brother shouts his grievances at him while Fuyumi has her hands raised to try and calm him down, to no effect.
"You sent Mom to a mental hospital! Touya is dead! And you have the nerve to realize that your stupid rivalry wasn't worth it now!? What about us!? How do you think it feels to hear that!?"
Father raises his head, seeing the tears flowing down Natsuo's cheeks for the first time. But he makes no move to get up, no move to comfort him. I'm not sure he even knows how to comfort someone. What he does do, though, is speak.
"I'm sorry. I have no other words to express just how deeply I regret my actions. But I will be taking steps to at least try to help us become a family. The first of which is hiring a family therapist, as well as having your mother moved to a facility where they focus more on treatment for patients rather than simply caring for them."
Natsuo is shocked into silence, which I fill with my own question. "Where would she be moved? Will I still be able to visit her?"
He nods. "You will. In fact, the person I'm hiring for us has already recommended that all of you visit her once she's moved as the first step in trying to bring us together."
I raise an eyebrow, taking note of what goes unsaid. "You won't visit her?"
He looks away. "I… don't believe that seeing me would help her. It might even make things worse."
"But you want to. And I'm guessing that the therapist said you should too?"
Silence again, this time with my siblings staring at me with wide eyes. Eventually, father chuckles. "You've become quite observant, Shoko."
I nod as I frown, my eyes looking down. "Izuku analyzed everything that he could, and had a tendency to mutter his thoughts out loud. I guess I picked up some of his skills."
`~`
As we eat, I realize just how far our family has come. Father even worked up the courage to go and see Mom two months ago. Yes, he came back with a bandage wrapped around his shoulder because she panicked when he walked through the door and shot an icicle at him, but after that they did manage to talk through a closed door. With several people keeping watch to make sure there were no more incidents.
I've finally managed to make peace with what happened to Izuku, and the world has color to me again. I won't ever drop my hate for the Yagis and Bakugou though, no matter how much the therapist says it isn't healthy. It's not the type of thing you can just forgive.
But for our family? There's no fighting at the table, no snide remarks, and even Natsuo's scowl has mostly faded away. There's no laughter, and Fuyumi is the only one with a smile, but Father never smiles anyways, and I'm told that my facial muscles aren't very responsive. Still though, the dinner is nice. We're not there as a family yet, but we're on our way.
`~`
(3rd, UA)
Nezu frowns as he stares at his computer. Obtaining police records while leaving no evidence is a simple matter for him. Not even worthy of being called a chore. But the police's poor defense against the hacking of the so-called 'rat-satan' or 'rat-god', depending on if he's decided you will be entertaining to him, is not why he's frowning.
Instead, it's the report on the death of the pro hero Slugger. It's not his death itself that has the principal worried. As much as he wishes it were otherwise, these types of things do happen from time to time.
No, it's how efficiently he was taken down. There was no signs of a struggle, from either him or his sidekick, despite how brutally the sidekick was killed. He doubts that it's very pleasant to have one's heart torn out of their chest. Which means that they were both taken down in a single blow, which means that two villains made plans to kill them in advance.
Additionally, there is what he presumes will be their signature. A childish break up of the word 'midori', meaning green, and doodle of a rabbit. Likely in reference to their name, Midosagi.
What's most concerning to him is how there was no sign of them appearing beforehand. Usually villains like this would start off making their mark on civilians, then target a hero when they've built up their confidence and skills. For example, he is aware of how the formerly labeled 'Stendhal' worked as a type of mercenary for various organizations before donning the 'Stain' persona and targeting 'the stains on hero society'.
But this 'Midosagi'? There is no sign of them before they targeted Slugger. No oddly adept assassinations, no markers that one could take to represent either 'midori' or 'usagi'. Nothing. It makes him worry that the person in possession of Izuku Yagi's notebooks has finally decided to make their move.
