Cover-Up and Support

__________ POV Narration__________

The day proceeded like normal, but Oyama's work had just started.

After Beru warped away to an undisclosed location, she was left to wonder what methods she could use to clean Beru's name.

She was certain that most of the people bandwagoning the hate directed towards Beru weren't going to give up so easily.

This is why she decided to tell Beru that clearing his name might take some time. She didn't actually know how long it would take herself.

She just knew that it was possible. Yet, after looking a bit deeper into the issue, she found out that most of the public had a positive opinion of Beru.

But there was a minority, most likely supported by the people trying to further vilify Beru, that kept trying to dirty his name further.

This news was like having a load taken off her shoulders.

She realised that all she had to do was snuff out the hate by giving more publication to the positive things that Beru had done in the past.

And, to her surprise, she had quite an extensive catalogue. As most of the things he did consisted of hunting down certain villains or gangs.

His portfolio was really in line with some of the underground heroes that the world knew about. Then, a course of action started becoming clearer and clearer in her mind...

What if Beru was never a villain? What if he was just a Spy?

Recruited as an agent since young(adoption scandal/disappearance), trained and sent to infiltrate All for One's base of operations.

All for One was, after all, the most powerful villain in Japan. And she was going to make sure everyone remembered that.

She was going to publish some of All for One's past, to make people realise the type of threat that Beru was dealing with.

Now, in this instance, Beru would technically be an unfortunate Hero, a person that protected everyone from the shadows, even if the world hated him and resented him.

If that information was to be 'leaked' by a righteously angry coworker that grew sick and tired of seeing his friend be treated as a villain...

Well, she would not be able to punish such a righteous act now, would she?

The people interested in him would be forced to back off. Then, with the 'truth' come to light, his actual supporters will become more outspoken.

And his reputation as a villain will be snuffed out. Being replaced by that of a powerful underground Hero.

By doing so, she would also raise the reputation of the Hero Public Safety Commission. As they would've been the ones that contributed most in training Beru to take down All for One.

But, Oyama was aware that this was nothing more than a temporary fix. This move was bound to cement Beru as a Hero in the minds of the public.

But the forces behind the scenes weren't going to buy into any of that. She might even receive pressure from all of them for pulling such a stunt.

Therefore, she needed... Leverage. A bit of 'pull' something that she could hold above their heads and threaten them with.

Thankfully... Oyama had also just gained a powerful ally. She was certain that Beru wouldn't mind helping her clear his name.

After that, she hoped that those people would just give up. They had little to gain from this point forward, but a lot to lose.

For now, though, she was going to have to get to work. She would inform Beru about the proceedings after everything was put in place.

It wasn't even going to take all that long. She didn't need to sway the public's opinion in his favour after all.

__________ POV Beru__________

What a long day.

It was already evening when I left the meeting with Oyama. I warped myself on a random tall building to get some alone time.

Oyama turned out to be a pretty chill person. A bit manipulative, but that's what you'd expect from someone in her position.

Any interaction between us after the deal was made to strengthen any 'bond' between us.

It's kinda reminding me of my relation with Vlad(old boss). We were both great actors after all. The guy might've acted as a friend sometimes, but he was a manipulative asshole at times too.

Which is why I didn't trust him in any way. Oyama gives me the same vibe, but in female form.

She's also a lot colder. I'd even call her opportunistic.

She is a government official, so she would obviously have to be that way. Oh well, enough thinking about her. I'll have more time to judge her personality later.

I don't think repairing my reputation is going to take over a week. But whatever, I've been hiding for a few years now. What's a week or two more?

I wonder how Shigaraki's doing right now... I think he turned out to be related to All Might somewhat(or something like that).

Apparently, All for One was training him to flaunt him in front of All Might's face or something like that.

Regardless, his mind turned out to be quite fucked up. When he woke up, he refused to believe that anything happened at all.

All until he was showing some footage of my fight with All for One. He kind of remembered everything about our conversation.

But the psychiatrists said that it would be difficult to ever restore his mind to a healthy state. Toshi was quite devastated when learning of it.

And it seems that Shiggy still holds the same disdain for everything that involves heroes. So he's not exactly willing to talk to any of them.

Hmm, maybe I should visit him? Even if he hears shit about me becoming a hero he would never believe any of it.

Oh well, I'll think about it later. I kinda wanna see how Toga is doing right now.

Nezu said that he will try to transfer her into the general course, as she isn't exactly keen on becoming a hero.

But she might become after learning that I also am technically one.

Oh well, let's see what she's up to. I warped myself back to my room, she was just laying on the bed and playing on the phone Nezu gave me.

"What are you doing?~" I said as I looked at her. She was supposed to be transferred today, which means that she's supposed to have classes now.

"Present Mic didn't show up to school. I figured I'd spend my time here..." Oh yeah... I hope Nezu doesn't blame me for that...

I mean, it's that guy's fault anyway. Why would he get so drunk on a workday? Both him and Midnight should be missing now that I think about it...

Snipe was also drunk, but that guy must have a good stomach for it because he was just a bit tipsy by the end of the night.

"Why always my room?~" I asked with a questioning tone.

I sometimes think that Nezu didn't even give her a room. I mean, he always knows she's here. So he might've just 'done her a favour' or something.

"How did the meeting go?" She asked, perfectly ignoring my question while still pretending to be enraptured by whatever shitty mobile game she was playing.

"It went well~ Could've been much worse~ Still a shady organisation~" Toga just raised an eyebrow at that.

"Then why don't we just leave? It shouldn't be that difficult for you." She finally put her phone down and stared at me.

"Toga~ I'm tired of this 'crime-filled life'~ Maybe it was exciting when I was younger, but the older I got the more boring it became~ It has nothing to offer for someone like me~"

She looked a bit confused after hearing me say that. But that might just be because she doesn't know how old I am. My body may be 17 at most, but I am mentally in my early forties/late thirties...

I've lived a life of crime for well over half of my lifespan. I know just how meaningless it becomes in the end...

Money? I already have enough. Underworld Influence and Reputation? More insignificant than used toilet paper.

The Thrill of it? After each thrilling moment, you are only left with an empty feeling.

Each dopamine rush gets shorter and shorter, your body and mind become accustomed to it, the excitement slowly dies down.

It's impossible to live in a constant thrill, so you might as well not even waste your time pursuing it.

Toga is likely scared of being around too many people. I think enrolling her in school might've been a bit too much too soon...

Well, she's not scared of people. She should just fear their perception of her. This seems to be the problem for most people with a 'villainous' quirk.

"Toga~ You don't have anything to fear~ You don't need people to accept you~ You are strong, you will manage~" I am not great at comforting people.

But I also don't want her to rely on me all that much. I will be here for her, but I don't wish to become her one and only pillar of support... But that might be needed.

"Yeah~!" She suddenly jumped up and hugged me. "At least I will always have you!" Exactly what I thought I would hear...

Maybe it's better for her to have something to rely on at this stage... So, I'll just pat her back.

I will become her support. At least until she grows up to stand on her own two feet.

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