Chapter 26 - U.S.J. [Aftermath]

"This is..." Nezu, sitting on the shoulder of Vlad King, mumbled, "...Horrible..." His voice quivered as he looked down at the body in front of him, the decapitated body of Mashirao Ojiro.

"Fuck." Vlad king cursed, looking away. He knew this was the least that could have happened to the students of class 1-A. After all, they were villains that managed to cause so much damage to the U.S.J., built to handle multiple strong quirk attacks and injure All Might. As a matter of fact, he expected more death than one, but seeing this child's body made him clench his fist in rage, cursing the villain who did this.

Anyone wouldn't want to die at such a young age, and he was sure the boy didn't. He had a dream. That's why he came to U.A. He strived to enter class 1-A with such a basic quirk, surpassing people from his class like Kendo or Tetsutetsu. He had a future.

"At least he doesn't look like he died painfully." The third person said, staring at the boy's face. "He looked like he died rather quickly, not even experiencing discomfort."

The third person is a slightly tan-skinned woman in her late thirties and rather tall, standing at around 5'10", and with a moderately muscular and curvaceous build. She has a stern, emotionless face, chin-length black hair hanging loose, light bangs falling over her forehead, brown eyes, and a vertical scar across her left eye, the eyes having a milky appearance.

She wore a black suit with matching trousers, a white dress shirt, and a red tie. She wore a dark overcoat over it, left unbuttoned, and ankle-high black boots.

"I empathize with both of you, but there was nothing you or anyone could do about that." The woman declared, looking at the body of the student. "Warping quirk is insanely rare, so rare that there is no defense against them..."She paused, thinking of what she said, "Well, there is one, but that is a special case."

"I know that, and I wholly understand where you are coming from, Miss. Shiratori." Nezu sighed, covering his face with his paw. "But I, no, U.A. had gotten so comfortable that we let our guard down, leading to the needless death of an innocent student."

Shiratori sighed, understanding their feelings but not feeling comfortable around two emotional men. "Mr. Nezu, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to investigate the entire campus, especially the U.S.J." Shiratori said, wanting to use this chance to escape.

"Go right ahead!" Nezu replied, clenching his right paw. "I understand that police are often baffled by the less than civil comments these days, but we recognize that your expertise and jurisdiction over this matter are much more substantial than ours! Please, by all means, conduct yourself as usual."

"Thanks for the approval. I will be on my way." She thanked him and walked away.

At Recovery Girl's Nurse's Office, All Might, now in his true form, lay on one bed. His body was wrapped in bandages, but there was no visible injury, courtesy of Recovery Girl's insane healing quirk.

Izuku was on the second bed. He, too, had no visible injuries but was connected to a blood transfusion machine to give him back some blood he had lost after breaking his legs.

"Because of the circumstances, I will overlook it this time." Recovery Girl said, sitting in front of her desk and staring at the pair.

"I was... too reckless with my time limit." Toshinori sighed, clenching his teeth. "If only I had another hour. No, thirty minutes for me to use my quirk. I would have handled those villains quickly."

"All Might..." Izuku mumbled, wanting to comfort his mentor but having nothing else to say.

"Well, there is nothing you can do about it now." Recovery Girl asserted, shrugging. "Now, I assume you've learned your lesson."

Toshinori stayed silent as the two wondered what he was thinking. After a while, he spoke, "Recovery Girl, can you call me Nezu? There is something critical I need---"

The door swung open as Shiratori stood at the door, staring at Toshinori. "*Tsk* Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous." She said, closing the door behind her. "To think you will constantly put yourself in this state. I can't say I am surprised."

"Shiratori! Is that you?!" Toshinori shouted, coughing out blood. "So you showed up, huh?"

"All Might!" Izuku shouted, staring at the woman. "She...She knows about your true form?!"

"That's right. It's a-okey! Why you ask." Toshinori gestured at the woman, "For she is Shiratori Yoshiko, the police officer with whom I am best friends!"

Yoshiko leaned on the door, folding her arm and inspecting Toshinori. "Look at you. If you listened to my instructions, you wouldn't be in this position, Toshinori." She said, glaring at the man. "You wouldn't have wished you had more time to use One for All if you didn't take off on your 'morning run' as I told you to."

He was about to say something, but she cut him off and continued. "At 7:55 am, you took down a villain called Habit Headgear. I can understand this since the heroes in the scene were an incompetent bunch." She started tapping her elbow. "Then you proceeded to stop a robbery. Seriously? Robbery?" She asked, squinting at him.

She didn't allow Toshinori to speak again and carried on, with Izuku looking on in shock as the Symbol of Peace, All Might, was getting lectured.

"There were five heroes who were seconds away from the bank and would have taken care of it. Yet you decided to waste your time for that?" She asked him again, not letting him answer, "Then you continued with your spree of heroism before finally heading to U.A. If you didn't waste your time with those measly acts of heroism anyone could do, you would have stopped those villains before they could cause any real damage---"

"Wait, hold on." He finally broke off her rant, "Are all the students okay?" He paused, "And Aiza-- Erasahead and No.13?"

"... At the moment, the teachers are not in any life-threatening danger and might recover within a day or so." She replied after a short pause. "As for the students, only three of them suffered major injuries. The rest only suffered scratches and wounds that could be treated by Recovery Girl." She said, gesturing at the old nurse, who nodded.

"Who are the three...?" Toshinori asked, forcing himself to sit up.

"Obviously, one is the boy beside you, seat no. 18, Izuku Midoriya." Yoshiko said dryly, glancing at Izuku, who flinched. "The other two were also boys, and I believe their names were seat no. 6 Mashirao Ojiro and seat No. 7 Denki Kaminari."

"What..." Toshinori asked, guilt building up within him, "what happened to the two students?"

"Well, one had both his arms ripped off, leaving him armless." She replied monotonously, causing Izuku to gasp, covering his mouth. "And the other?" She paused, wondering if she should say it with a child in the room, but noticed Toshinori's eyes urging her to say it. "The other one, seat no. 6 Mashirao Ojiro, was killed through decapitation."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Garrick entered the office he was much more familiar with than his room, closing the door behind him. "Your daughter is in the hospital, and you are coming here." The President said, not looking up from the document she was reading.

"Dinah won't let me enter the room, so I decided to pass the time here while waiting for her to calm down." He sighed, slumping down on the couch. "She says she will divorce me, but I know she is joking."

"And if she isn't?" She asked, flipping the document.

"Then I will gain custody of Theresa. It won't be a problem with my position." Garrick shrugged, letting out another sigh. "She is mad because I had a job to do. I even cut my time in South Korea short to return to Japan for Theresa..." He paused, "and my plan failed miserably."

"Your plan was flawed and loose, leaving multiple weaknesses." The President said, putting the document she was reading in the shredder beside her desk. "Your plan was too focused on the destination rather than the path that would lead to said destination."

"I know." Garrick groaned, covering his face. "Fuck. I am not fit for this planning thing. I'd rather be the executioner than the King."

"Don't worry. Time would breed experience, and experience would make you better." She said, picking up another paper and shredding it after a glance. "Maybe you should change your mentality. Instead of seeing only certain people as valuable for your plan, see everyone as a chess piece in the world, which is a chess board. They would be assigned different roles on the chess board based on their worth, being either a pawn, knight, bishop, rook, or queen, and you will be playing chess with your enemy, using your pieces."

"...That's a fucked up way of viewing the world." Garrick mumbled, causing The President to look at him, smiling. "Says the one who almost got his daughter killed."

"Yeah, yeah." He waved her words away, asking, "So what am I in this world of yours?"

"You are nothing." The President replied, "If you are just another piece on the chess board, you cannot become the King after I die. But if you are curious, you were once a pawn before being promoted to a queen, then losing a place on the chess board."

Garrick was silent for a while before saying, "I am not sure if I should be happy or not..." He mumbled, staring at the President, who shrugged.

She was about to say something, but then her phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she said, "My current queen is calling." With that, she picked up the call and put it on speaker.

"President, I am sorry." A quiet male voice came, "I..." He paused, "I entered U.A."

At this, Garrick rose from his seat, with The President frowning. "Why? Didn't we say you shouldn't enter that hell hole?" She asked, holding back her rage. "Nezu filled that place with enough security to find a stray spider. Why the fuck did you do that?" She asked, her voice getting louder.

"It was a suitable time since they were distracted by the villain's attack. I snuck in with the men you sent to assist the police force in the investigation because I thought it was time to end these years of spying and find All Might's secret." The spy said, breathing heavily. "And I did, President. I found All Might's secret--fuck!" He suddenly shouted, an explosion ringing out in the background.

Garrick came closer to the table as The President asked, "What is it?"

"I have sent you the recording. I made sure they wouldn't be able to track it. Please, President. Delete the video in about one minute." Another explosion rang out as he screamed out in pain, cruising. "Security bots are chasing me, and at this rate, I will soon be caught. If they capture me, they will use the truth drug on me, which will make me expose you. So I will be killing myself, President. My job is done." He cut off the call.

The President didn't even show a reaction to his suicide note, instead turning to her laptop. Garrick walked to stand beside her as she navigated to the video, watching the thirty-second video.

The video was a short conversation between a woman, who they recognized as Shiratori Yoshiko, who was once HPSC's most effective interrogation officer before defecting to join the police force as a detective, and an injured Toshinori Yagi at Recovery Girl's Nurse's Office.

The video was taken from a standing position beside Yoshiko, who didn't notice the spy standing beside her. Though the video and the conversation between the two were brief but sufficient.

"Well, shit." Garrick mumbled, giving a forced smile. "Holy shit."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A portal opens up at the League of Villains' bar, with Tomura and Kurogiri exiting it. "Oww...They shot my arm and froze me...." Tomura moaned, holding his right hand and severing it. "We were completely defeated. We turned from the hunter to the hunted... Even Nomu had no chance! Our underlings fell instantly... Even the kids were strong." He paused, "And the 'Symbol of Peace' did not falter..." He clenched his fist. "You were wrong, sensei."

"No, I wasn't." Shigaraki's voice came from the monitor with a white screen on the bar's counter. "I was simply overly optimistic."

"Now, what has become the joint work of sensei and mine?" Kyudai's voice came through the monitor. "Has Nomu's body not been retrieved?"

"I am afraid he was sent flying, and if we don't know the precise coordinates of his position, I would not be able to search for him no matter how many times I warp." Kurogiri replied, "We just didn't have that kind of time. We had to escape with the opportunity given to us by one of our underlings."

"Even though I got as far as loading him with powers that could rival All Might's..." Kyudai sighed, "Oh well... That can't be helped. What a shame."

"Power like All Might..." Tomura mumbled, "That reminds me... There was one kid... There was a kid whose speed was comparable to All Might."

There was silence before Shigaraki uttered, "Oh?"

"And if he didn't interfere, we could have killed All Might..." Tomura gritted his teeth. "It was that kid... That kid!"

"There is no need to cry over it. After all, it's not like today was entirely vain." Shigaraki instructed in an affectionate voice, "We are weak right now. We can't move freely, or we will crumble with no effort.

"That's why a symbol like you is required, Shigaraki Tomura!!" He preached. "Next time, you must show the world the true horror of your existence and be the leader of the League of Villains! Gather villains! Build a team that would bring fear to the world, Tomura!! I am sure you will be able to achieve your goal with enough time!"

Tomura grinned at Shigaraki's encouragement. "I will, sensei... I will build the right team that will kill All Might, the 'Symbol of Peace,' and ultimately destroy the society he represents!" He roared, bursting out in laughter.

At an unknown location, Shigaraki smiled, watching Tomura laughing in encouragement. "His hate for All Might is taking him down the right path. He will become a worthy leader soon enough."

"As much as I believe in your judgment, sensei, I honestly think this is a waste of time." Kyudai grumbled, changing the blood bag plugged into Shigaraki, pumping abnormal black blood into his body. "Kurogiri is already being laid to waste in his hand after we took over two decades to create his quirk. He would bring the League of Villains that you built to ruins."

"An understandable argument, doctor." Shigaraki agreed, staring at the screen with Tomuea laughing crazily. "But Tomura is still a young child. This mistake would make him grow, and one day, he would be worthy to succeed me as the leader of League of Villains." He paused, "Besides, his failure brought us something of equal value. Now, we know All Might has a successor in U.A. class 1-A. We just have to tell our snake to find the person, and we can begin our decade-long plan."

"*Sigh.* You are right, sensei." Kyudai sighed, massaging his wrinkled forehead. "If only I had created the Super Regeneration quirk sooner or cracked Kyoki's revival quirk quicker, you wouldn't be in the position. You would still be in your prime and be ruling the world by now." He grumbled, feeling worthless. He couldn't save the man who saved him, yet the man still trusted him. 'I don't deserve this...'

"Don't talk down on yourself, doctor. What you accomplish is something no one else would ever be able to do. You are a special being in this world. Someone--" He paused, turning to face the doctor. "Wait, you cracked Kyoki's revival quirk!?" He asked, almost shouting.

"Yeah. A few hours ago, exactly." Kyudai replied, chuckling.

"Why wasn't I informed of this!!?" Shigaraki roared, a happy smile on his face. "This is amazing, Kyudai! You are a SPECIAL being in this world. You aren't lucky to have me by your side. I AM blessed to have you by my side."

Kyudai smiled brightly, his face wrinkled. "Haha! It's nothing!" He laughed.

"Have you tested it out?" Shigaraki asked, like a child who just got a new toy. "Did it work?"

"Yeah." Kyudai nodded, "When I blew it up, the Nomu managed to revive and regrow its entire body from the largest piece of its body part. Although it took 47.331 seconds, much slower than the original, Kyoki."

"Hahahaha!" Shigaraki roared in laughter, coughing and choking soon after. Kyudai quickly slapped him extremely hard on the back, causing him to cough. "I will never forgive what All Might did to my body. Even my tongue is a threat to my life." He grumbled, gasping.

Kyudai clenched his teeth at this, his excitement from before disappearing as he lightly patted his sensei's back. Shigaraki can barely live by himself as his body needs constant nutrients to stay alive. These nutrients are the black blood being pumped into his body. And now, he could only get oxygen into his body via injection since he has no nose. There were many other injuries and disabilities that Kyudai didn't want to think about, making him angry at himself.

"But cracking the revival quirk is great news, doctor." Shigaraki said, massaging his throat as Kyudai stopped the patting. "Now, we can create a much stronger Nomu." He smiled, turning to the screen. "Now that I remember, why don't we see how Kyoki is doing?" He asked, tapping the arm of his chair, with the monitor screen switching to Kyoki's room.

Kyoki was crawled up in the dark corner of the room, his scarf covering the upper half of his face, mumbling incoherently to himself. The room was a mess, with all the pictures of All Might that once covered it ripped to pieces. Different claw marks marked the walls, massive fist marks on the wall, and some blood.

Kyudai was stunned at what he saw, wondering silently about what went through the man-child to destroy his beloved poster of All Might. Shigaraki couldn't see, so he didn't notice Kyoki's state and asked in a hopeful voice, "How was today?"

"It was scary!" He cried at the screen. "Everyone was frightening, and Brother was scarier than ever... He was trying to kill me..."

"All Might terrified me!" he said as he clenched his head. "He isn't like the TV. He terrifies me! Just thinking about him tears me apart! His bright blue eyes. Face. Voice. It terrifies me, master!! What should I do? What can I do!?"

"When I met him, I wanted to cry. I felt so unsafe. He terrified me. I removed my mask and acted powerful and confident as you told me to, but I was still terrified, master. I wanted to hide, but there was nowhere to hide."

His nails turned into shadow claws, ripping the scarf from his face and cutting deep into his face. Even with the deep scars, he didn't react in pain as his void-like eyes stared into space, his body trembling.

"I can still see his smile, master. I can't deal with him." He cried, tears flowing from his eyes. "I thought I could kill him. You told me I could kill him, master." He covered his face, a black aura flowing out from his. "But you lied. I can't kill All Might. I am terrified of him. I don't think I can face him and act unscared again, master. I can't kill him..."

After a long silence, Shigaraki said. "I expected that, Kyoki."

Kyoki looked towards the TV, his void eye creeping Kyudai out. "Wha...?"

"You are too weak. Even with the negative ghost, you wouldn't be able to kill him." Shigaraki continued, tapping the arm of his couch. "His spirit is too strong to be broken by weak tricks like that.

"He is the Symbol of Peace. The embodiment of peace in this world. A bright lighthouse in a dark sea. A mighty pillar holding up society from falling into the chaos of crime and villainy, inspiring hope in the hearts of the masses that allowed them to live in comfort." He paused, "And you? You are just a grain of sand trying to bring down such a massive pillar. It will never work."

Kyudai turned to his sensei, wondering what he was doing as Kyoki mumbled. "Then what am I supposed to do, master?" He asked, covering his face. "He terrifies me. I can't deal with my fear if I don't kill All Might, but I can't."

"As you are now, you will never kill All Might. Evolve into something that can bring down that pillar." Shigaraki answered, "I tried to embody that something, but only managed to crack the pillar. Using the crack I made, grow stronger and bring down the pillar that All Might represents. If he crumbles, the society he supports will collapse without their Symbol of peace. You wouldn't have to fear anymore. Kyoki."

Silence overcame them as he finished, "Become the Symbol of Fear, Shigaraki Kyoki."

Chapter End~~

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Word Count: 3740

You might have noticed, but Shiratori Yoshiko replaced Naomasa Tsukauchi. If you didn't notice, which I am sure most of you didn't, she was introduced at [Chapter 5 - Interrogation and Choice]. She is the female HPSC agent present when Naomasa was interrogating Ankoku.

Yep. She wasn't just a one time character.

Also, now The President and Garrick knows about All Might/Toshinori Yagi secret, how do you think things will change?

Fun fact: The U.S.J. arc was 12527 words long and it was only three chapters!

*Spoiler*(I know you guys would continue on reading, but just want to give a warning.)

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And finally, Kyoki. From this point on, he won't be controlled anymore. Also, should I make a chapter explaining his quirk and how it has changed these past years, or let the story explain it?