Chapter 7 - Aftermath

Since that incident, the day that more than 1,000 people died and 400 officers died from a crazy man and his child, three months have passed. The HPSC spent a lot of time and money cleaning up the mess they made during their escape, paying the family who lost their loved ones handsomely.

To hide their incompetence in underestimating Kuragari, HPSC and the police force pushed the blame on Ankoku. They told the media that he is a mentally ill man who found a child with a powerful quirk, manipulating the child and using said child to kill all those lives to make a name for himself.

The masses raged, fearing for the man to attack the company they work at, prompting the HPSC, the police force, and even All Might himself to speak up, promising they would capture the two in time and bring them to justice.

The security footage of what transpired in the HPSC building that night mysteriously disappeared, leaving how it all happened a mystery to everyone except Naomasa. Due to his mental state after what happened in his family's house that evening, they couldn't question him.

"Finally. Things are calming down." The Public Safety Commission President sighed, leaning back on her office chair. She sat in the board of directors' meeting room, sitting on the seat she always sat at. She had a laptop in front of her, with Kenji and Nezu seated diligently in their chairs. She glanced at the two quiet men, speaking, "Do you two still think we shouldn't pluck the grass before it grows too big, or should we let it grow?"

"If the puppet master leaves, the puppet becomes useless." Nezu replied, adamant about his decision. He looked at the president, "Kuragari is a misled child. It is Ankoku we need to silence." His voice and eyes were calm but held a lot of malice.

The table was silent for a while before the president turned to Kenji. "What is your decision?"

"I agree with both ideas." Kenji solemnly said hand clasped on the table. "We need to remove the one holding the leash on the pup, but if the pup acts up, we will inject it with anesthesia to calm it down." They all knew what he meant by that and silently agreed to his decision.

"Let's get down to the main topic." The president said, changing the subject as she tapped a key on her laptop, the two smart boards turning on to display two character profiles, Ankoku Kijima and Kuragari. "How do we capture these two?"

"It's difficult to find them since they've been so quiet," Kenji explained, looking at the two profiles. "All my officers are keeping an eye on them, and they are told not to engage if they spot them or look alike. But it is impossible to continue hunting for them as there are other crimes and villains to take care of."

"U.A. High School staff, teachers, and third-year students are also watching out for those two." Nezu nodded, gesturing to Kenji with his paw. "And as Kenji said, it is impossible to focus all our manpower on looking for them."

"Haah." The president sighed, defeated while rubbing the bridge of her nose. "If Kaina wasn't sent to Tartarus just one month before that day, those two would be history by now, and we wouldn't have to worry about them." She then mumbled, "And hawk is not yet skilled enough." Which the others didn't hear.

"That won't happen." Nezu shook his head. "Ending Ankoku, yes, but not Kuragari. We don't know the limit to a child's immortality. And the third function of Kuragari's quirk, the negative ghosts, is unavoidable, immune to physical attacks, and affects the person's mentality. They are the most dangerous ability in the pup's arsenal.

"Although those with a stronger mentality, like Hypnotic, can survive long enough to start receiving therapy to heal, it is impossible for the common folks and most pro heroes to stay alive under the kind of mentality they put on you."

"Agreed." Kenji nodded, looking at the president. "Kaina is a capable assassin, but there is still not enough information on Kuragari's quirk. The pup is a vessel of horror. Who knows what else might be summoned?"

"Horror Vessel. That's a very creative quirk name." The president smiled, typing away on her computer. "At least we solved one problem, naming Kuragari's quirk." She chuckled, pressing enter to change Kuragari's profile.

"My pleasure." Kenji chuckled along with her.

"Now," Nezu clapped, drawing their attention. "How has Hypnotic been doing with the therapy? I haven't heard his response of coming to teach at U.A."

"He has been doing well." The president noticed Nezu's attempt to change the conversation between those two criminals and played along, disconnecting her computer from the smart board. "He is still depressed, but at least now he isn't trying to kill himself at any chance he gets."

"That's okay." Kenji smiled, "Tell him his packs are waiting for him. I am sure that would motivate him."

The mood had lifted, but it soon dropped after one question, "How is Naomasa?"

The room was silent for a while before Kenji sighed. "Well, he is..."

At the same time, in Hiroshima city, Solitude Gardens psychiatric wards. It is the largest psychiatric ward in Japan. It specializes in taking and treating patients with villainous quirks or those who have been mentally affected or changed due to their quirk or someone else's quirks.

"Thank you, nurse, for bringing that to the group." A doctor spoke, writing down in his notebook. He wore a brown wool blazer with a matching tie, a white dress shirt, blue slacks, and black dress shoes. On his lap was his notebook, which he used as a table, and he held the pen in the other hand. "Who else wants to shear?"

The doctor was sitting in a circle of eight, seven of whom were patients in the psychiatric ward, dressed in white shirts, pants, and sneakers. Out of the group, one wore a white sweater, while another wore a sleeveless white undershirt.

"No one?" The doctor scanned the group, his eyes stopping on a man. "Garrick. You have just been discharged from a mental hospital to our humble home. How are you feeling? Do you still feel the urge?"

Hypnotic, real name Garrick Fernsby, was one of this group. He has grown a head full of hair and a thick side beard, and his sharp red eyes have lost most of their light. He is the one who is wearing a white undershirt, white pants, and sneakers.

"...Yes..." Garrick replied, looking to the floor. "But I now understand that I have people I need to protect, like my wife and daughter, so I can't die now. I might not be the best now, but I will try better in the future..." He paused, giving the doctor a weak smile, "I will try my best to become better."

The doctor noted his response. "That's great, Garrick! With that attitude, you'll be on your way to recovery in no time." He turned to another man, "You haven't spoken since you joined the group therapy program, Naomasa." What has been in your mind? Why can't you sleep without your injections?"

Naomasa became a hanged man with messy long hair, messy facial hair, and a food-deprived body, and developed deep eye bags from a lack of sleep and rest. "Doctor, why don't I ask this question?" he asked, looking at the doctor. "You have a loving family, right?"

"Right." The doctor responded, confused at what he was getting at. "A wife and a nine-year-old son."

"Perfect." Naomasa smiled, "Now, imagine you get home one day, and you see them crucified on the wall because YOU made an enemy with a crazy man. Their stomachs ripped open with their insides on the ground. Their eyes bulged with blood vessels, their faces twisted in horror and despair." He noticed the doctor's expression, causing him to grin as he crossed his legs.

"Every time you sleep, you enter a dream where they curse you, saying it was your fault. Which it was. They cry as they are being tortured by this crazy man. When you close your eyes for a long enough time, their faces will flash in your mind." He kept staring into the doctor's eyes, "Even sometimes, just looking at a wall will give you the image of their crucifixion." He then pointed at the ground in the middle of the therapy circle, "And when you look at the ground, you sometimes see words written with your family's intestines, 'A promise---'"

"That's enough." The doctor cut him off in a calm tone. "It seems you will need more therapy."

"I know I need therapy, doctor." Naomasa agreed, "At this rate, I will turn mad, like him." He pointed at one female in the group therapy, constantly scratching her neck, looking at the ceiling, and muttering something. "I am sane for now, so I need to use this chance to kill those two."

"That isn't something you should say." Garrick cut Naomasa off, looking at him. "I know you've been traumatized, but try to calm down and heal. If I can, I will definitely help you."

"See? A friend is willing to help you." The doctor smiled at Garrick. "Why don't you let him help?"

"Of course, you can help me, Garrick." Naomasa smiled at him, causing Garrick to shiver. "Why don't you erase my memories? Use your quirk to make me forget that day. That would definitely heal me and take away my need for therapy."

"...Sorry..." Garrick shook his head, "I can't do that, and it isn't heroic."

"Heroic?" Naomasa chuckled, "A man who became a hero for fame wants to talk about heroic? You got jealous of All Might fame and followed him from the USA to Japan to try to beat him in popularity and only showed your face when you were sure acting heroic in that situation would bring you fame."

"Stop it, Naomasa." The doctor spoke in a calm tone, closing his notebook. "Group therapy has ended---"

His voice was cut off by Naomasa continuing to speak, "You are a villain, Hypnotic. A fucking Trash!" His face contorted in rage, "Do you think your family wants you to return to them? Why don't you drop that heroic act and embrace my memories!"

"Naomasa Tsukauchi! Stop it!" The doctor shouted, shooting from his seat and causing his books to drop. The other patients in the circle started shouting at each other, some fighting, with the crazy woman activating her quirk, which caused her eyes to glow green. "Emergency! Call the security!"

"Right. I am not a hero." Garrick whispered, covering his face. "Why did I think I could change? My family won't accept me."

"They won't if you don't do something heroic and erase my memories!" Naomasa shouted, standing up. "Say it, Hypnotic. Say, 'I heard a rumor!' Say it---" Before he could continue, a team of doctors sedated him, causing him to fall to the ground.

Garrick gripped his hair, his eyes unfocused. "Why did I think therapy could fix me? I will still be a trach." He chuckled, "Yes. What is the point of all this---" He was similarly sedated by a group of doctors.

The doctor who was in charge of the group therapy slammed his pen to the ground, looking at Garrick. "He was getting better. Three months of therapy has gone to waste because of him!" He shouted, pointing at Naomasa. Calming down, he sighed. "They are both troubled. I need to help them. There isn't any need for me to get angry."

He turned to the doctors and security, "Return them to their room. Let them rest for today."

- - - - - - - - - -

Tokyo, Thriller Bark St. The tallest building on this street, the massive skyscraper that is the headquarters of Blush Technology. It is a massive company with multiple branches that focuses on creating home appliances all over Japan.

But in the shadow, it is a dark, twisted company that rules the underworld. All criminals in Thriller Bark work under Blush Technology in one way or the other, be it assassins, thieves, murderers, and many more. They earn almost half of their revenue from the underworld.

Inside the CEO's office, there were seven dead bodies, two females and five males. It seemed like they had all had a quick death, two of them having their heads blew up and the others dying in a quick, suicide-like way.

"Who would have thought the deadly seven would be this easy to take care of?" A man laughed, his chin up as he looked at the seven dead people. He is in his early thirties with long neat dark hair styled in a man bun, dark brown eyes, and a lean yet fit body. He stood at 180 cm with a goatee and a luxurious black suit. His iris had dilated so much that the sclera was clearly visible above and below it. "Right, 'the CEO?'"

A man in his late seventies served as a footstool for him, stripped of all his clothes. "Y-yes, master Ankoku." The man replied with a trembling voice.

After that day three months ago, Ankoku spent almost three months hiding out with Kuragari in fear of being recaptured, living in an apartment building that had been abandoned during construction. Although he was confident that Kuragari could kill any hero with its negative ghosts, he wasn't confident in himself.

After all, he is just a quirkless man. He knew he could be killed by any random hero or even a civilian with a quirk, and he didn't want that to happen.

A few days ago, he got tired of living in hiding and decided to capture the organization he once worked for and gain control. He could have just walked in and used Kuragari's quirk to kill everyone in the skyscraper. However, the company's worth would be destroyed, and attention would be drawn to him.

He ended up walking into the company with Kuragari, gave the secret code, and was immediately allowed to meet the CEO. He has always been too confident in his seven dolls' ability, allowing anyone to meet with him though they were assassins after his life.

In the end, that became his downfall. All they needed was three negative ghosts phasing through them. This brought back all the memories that the CEO had erased for them to become dolls, causing them to become chronically depressed, which led to them committing suicide. He won in less than 30 seconds.

"Kukuku. In one day, I rose from a homeless man to the big boss of the underworld and the owner of Blush Technology." He chuckled, turning to Kuragari, who had four ghosts floating around it. "You are truly a blessing, Kuragari." He uttered, ruffling the child's hair, causing them to smile and nod.

"Ahh~" Ankoku stood up, walking to the window and dramatically gazing out the window. The sun was already high in the sky, shining over the gray city below. "What could be better than this?"

The door to the office suddenly opened, and from the window's reflection, he saw Richthofen dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit. "Damn. You really did become the CEO." He mumbled, looking at the dead bodies and the former CEO on all fours on the ground. "When those men came to break me out of prison, telling me it was the newly appointed CEO, Ankoku's order, I couldn't believe it. In one day, you became the CEO and freed me."

"Now you do." Ankoku smirked, turning around and opening his arm wide. "From a peasant to a King in one day. Isn't that amazing?"

"Yeah..." Richthofen mumbled, also amazed by how Ankoku could do it. His attention turned to Kuragari, who he knew was the cause. Kuragari stood beside the chair Ankoku was once sitting on, dressed in an elegant black dress for kids and silver shoes with four ghosts blowing raspberries at him. "What are those?" he asked, staring wide eyes at the four ghosts.

"Oh, those are another of Kuragari's summons." Ankoku quickly recounted what had happened from the day they were arrested to now, explaining the effect of the ghosts.

"That is..." Richthofen paused, staring at Kuragari. "That's a scary quirk. It has no weakness..." His eyes turned to the dead bodies on the ground, now understanding how Ankoku won over the CEO seat. "So, what are you planning on doing now?"

"What do you mean?" Ankoku tilted his head, confused. "I have all the money I ever need, a godly doll beside me, and the entire underworld below my feet. What else could I need?"

Richthofen's disappointment was visible on his face, but Ankoku didn't notice because he turned back to the window. "I will live the rest of my life enjoying this money." He grinned, his eyes filled with ecstasy. "This is all I ever wanted!" He roared into the air, swinging his arm open dramatically.

"That's a shame." Richthofen mumbled, too low for Ankoku to hear. "You could do more and reach higher, but you don't have the eye to see what you can become."

He looked to Kuragari, realizing that the child was useless in Ankoku's hand. Even the former CEO, now acting as a footstool, would have realized his true potential and how to utilize it. It possessed a godly quirk of immortality and negative ghosts. World domination and the destruction of the hero's society may not be far-fetched if Kuragari is used correctly.

He sighed, turning his attention back to Ankoku. "So, what was the reason you freed me?" He asked, getting to the point. "We aren't close in any way, so I would like to know."

"Right." Ankoku turned around and walked to Kuragari, standing behind it. "I need to understand my child's quirk. It is getting dangerous for me to be around it."

"What do you mean?" Richthofen squinted, noticing the ghosts were currently flying around Ankoku like a dog that reunited with its owner. "What seems to be the problem? I don't see anything wrong."

Ankoku used his two hands to cover Kuragari's eyes. "I understand why you acted how you did when you looked into Kuragari's eyes."

He quickly recounted the day, some weeks ago, when they were still living at the abandoned construction building. He had woken up in the night, when the moon was high in the sky, to take a piss and found Kuragari standing beside him, staring down at him.

He has since gotten used to Kuragari acting that way due to the child refusing to sleep when he is sleeping, scared of being separated while it slept. But that night, a bit of Kuragari's right eye was exposed due to its hair fluttering in the wind.

Only a glimpse sent him into a trance. Ankoku felt like he was being pulled into that black void of an eye, and no matter what he did, he couldn't move. He remained to stare and was soon sucked into Kuragari's eyes, finding himself falling deep into a black sea.

He began to forget his memories the deeper he sank, feeling like he would soon lose himself. If not for the wind stopping and Kuragari's hair falling back to block its eyes, he was sure he would have forever been lost in the void if he stared longer.

"From that moment on, I can't look Kuragari in the face." He released his hands from blocking Kuragari's eyes, resting them on his shoulder. "I don't know the limit of its quirk, and I fear it would destroy me."

Richthofen was silent for a while, remembering that last time all he felt was being in a trance. No matter what he did, he couldn't move and kept staring into Kuragari's eyes, but he never fell into the black sea. "...Why don't we see what happens when you lose yourself in the black sea..." He mumbled, looking at the old CEO.

"No. No, no, no." He cried, crawling away from Kuragari. He heard every bit of their conversation, so he knew what it meant. "Please let me live. I will help you run the company! This company will fall in less than one day of letting you rule it!" Once he finished his sentence, he realized what he had said, covering his mouth.

"What the fuck did you say!" Ankoku shouted as the ghosts seemed to react to his rage, glaring at the CEO.

"Calm down, Ankoku." Richthofen said, walking forward, "But the CEO is right. If you rule, your cover would be blown. Why not let him continue to be the face of the company while you remain the owner in the shadows?"

Ankoku thought about it for a while before calming down. "Right. So we should use someone else."

Richthofen nodded, turning to the door. He opened it, looking at one of the guards, "Come with me." The guard entered the room, not reacting to the dead people and the former CEO sitting on the ground since he was one of the few that knew the new CEO was Ankoku.

He has the mutation quirk that gave him the appearance and ability of a minotaur, standing 7 feet tall. This gives him the position as the top guard of the former CEO, only below the seven deadly.

"Knell in front of the child." At Ankoku's command, the guard gulped down hard. Knowing the child was the one who killed the deadly seven, who were the seven strongest members of the organization, he couldn't help but shiver in fear.

The guard, scared for his life, obeyed and knelt in front of Kuragari. "Stare into its eyes." Ankoku commanded as he moved away Kuragari's hair.

As they had expected, the guard became frozen, staring as if hypnotized. No one spoke as they all started, including the CEO. They waited, and after thirty seconds, the guard fell lifeless to the ground, his body sucked from all its life force.

"...So that's what happens---"

Ankoku's word was cut short when Kuragari suddenly let out an ear-piercing shrill, holding its head. The scream froze their bodies became frozen and they could only watch as black aurae flowed out of its body, similar to how the black phantom forms.

The aura quickly gathered, but this time it formed into a minotaur made of bandage, similar to the black phantom.

Chapter End~~

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Word Count: 3821

Thanks [Tsugikuni_Yoriichi] for giving me the idea to name Kuragari quirk Horror Vessel. I like it and I used it. I hope more people give me ideas. I will be sure to look through them and decide if they would work in my fanfic or not.

Now, what do you think is the new effect of Kuragari's quirk?