Chapter 44:

As the principal made his way to the commentator's booth, the three heroes in question were chatting away nervously.

They were the troublesome trio in UA's teaching faculty, and their boss reminded them of it every meeting he could through listing their repeated misdemeanors throughout their careers, alongside their actions during their time as students as well.

It was nervewracking for them to be singled out for something 'urgent'. Their boss was always vague, but to have singled them out, and it lead to their thoughts racing, wracking their brains to find an answer.

Mic came to the conclusion that a parent may have filed a lawsuit for him potentially damaging a student's eardrums during class.

Nemuri could only imagine it was the HPSC hounding Nedzu for an answer for her incompetence during the speech, which would be easily explained on her behalf.

She was frozen in time for god's sake! The footage even showed her clear surprise after being released from the silver-haired demon's quirk.

Aizawa, however, came to the more logical conclusions out of the trio. It just happened to be the scarier of the lot.

"What if we're on the list? Did any of you check the website? I was too busy reeling from how she snuck a dinosaur into the stadium and busy restraining those who were on it to check." he suggested to the loud duo in front of him.

"Don't joke about that Shota, it's not the time!" Mic couldn't help but yell in frustration.

"I'm not joking, Hizashi. Why else would we be singled out from the others right after the speech finished? I doubt it's just to reprimand us about letting it go on. If that were the case Nedzu would do it after the festival, instead of delaying the events and letting the crowd soak in the information."

That line of reasoning was enough to silence all those in the room.

They rapidly unlocked their respective phones and frantically began typing in the address, hoping that they weren't on it with all their resolve. It was the biggest hit to society since the quirk wars were fought.

It will arguably become more infamous than those years due to the absurdity of the situation at hand. A UA freshman has dealt a bigger blow to their society than most villains could ever dream of, and they did it in a few minutes tops!

It wouldn't be a shocking development if the future speeches will have to be vetted by the staff, in hopes of avoiding people using the sports festival as a platform to gain a following, by following in Sakuya Izayoi's footsteps.

'Damn problem child… adult? No, she can't be an adult, mentally at least, with how she acts most of the time.' Aizawa reasoned with himself as he scrolled down the list.

After finishing reading through the [A-B] section he let out a sigh of relief.

'At least I'm not on the damn thing.'

"Looks like I'm not on there. Are you two listed, or not?"

"I'm not! But, guess who is?" Nemuri answered with a smug face.

"Takeyama-san?"

"Bingo~! The brat demolished an entire office block by resting her fat ass on its roof during a photoshoot! She didn't even fill in the proper compensation paperwork, and fled the scene immediately too."

Seeing her 'rival' as the media likes to call Mt. Lady, she prefers the term 'attention whore', being on the list was at least a bright side to today. It helped calm her down immensely, knowing that she wasn't the only one that might be hounded by the HPSC today.

"You're too excited to hear about a fellow hero demolishing an entire office building. I assume there were no casualties?"

"Hero? Who? Her? I get you're tired Shota, but you can't be this delusional already. She's nothing but an attention whore glorified giantess fetish in spandex."

"Says the BDSM fetishist in spandex. I would still prefer an answer to the question. I've had enough people dying from loose rubble for one lifetime, and I'd rather not know a colleague caused it to happen either." Aizawa rebutted seriously, remembering Oboro's death vividly.

"Ouch! And, no, there weren't any casualties. Any luck on your end Mi-"

"Wooohoooo~! I'm not on the list!" The loud blonde interrupted.

"Guess that answers my question."

A tense silence covered the room upon realizing that they were no closer to the answer to why they were there, singled out. Luckily for them, their answer would come soon enough as the door was now opening.

What the door revealed could only be called an omen. Whether it was a good or bad one depended on what came out of the being's mouth. What was the being that had the three pro heroes on edge? It was their boss, the secret eldritch abomination that paid their cheques, Nedzu.

The observant rat did something unexpected, he smiled.

'He never smiles, what is this damn rat up to?' Aizawa grit his teeth, and firmly fixed his gaze on his boss.

"Now, now, Shota. There's no need to be so tense."

"Sir! What's the urgent thing that required us to be here for? Surely the other teachers should have been called due to the emergency." Midnight started, hoping to gain some semblance of control in the situation.

"There is no emergency for you to worry about, Nemuri. This, however, is an urgent matter that concerns you three more than the others by a large margin."

The trio's momentary lax attitude upon hearing there was no emergency was immediately ruined by the words that followed soon after.

'''Am I getting fired?''' was the common thought between the three.

"You are not being fired." The chimera calmly stated, clearly seeing right through them.

"W-Why are we here then? I want to start rocking out on the mic already." Mic questioned, clearly perplexed.

The chimera ignored the question and moved over to a nearby seat. He was letting them brew in their thoughts, drawing out the situation for as long as he could, clearly enjoying their emotions.

"Now, I have called you three - or rather - four here today because of one thing that connects you all. Some recent discoveries have been made, and it's time that you are brought into the loop on them."

"""Four?"""

"Anyway," the white-haired rodent opened a portal and retrieved some files, "here are some of the discoveries on one of the perpetrators of the USJ incident. Specifically, the warp quirk user."

He passed them all out before speaking once more,

"You will need to read through it in its entirety. I will, however, inform you that what is written in that file will shock you. However, Naomasa himself has questioned the author on its content and has found it to contain nothing but the truth.

This information will not be allowed to spread outside of this room, and any leaks will lead to immediate termination. It is a matter of national security, and I can't stress this enough, DO NOT act on your emotions. I would hate to have to attend three funerals, I'm a busy animal after all."

The trio already knew the situation was serious as soon as the shutters to the window closed alongside all the doors being locked.

Then their boss began speaking, and their feeling of dread only worsened. They had no idea of the contents of the file, but it suddenly felt heavy in their hands, as if their entire lives rest in its contents.

Then there was the threat of 'termination', and mention of funerals. It didn't take much to connect the dots. They wouldn't even have the HPSC to rely on to back them up due to it being a matter of national security either. It would be a miracle if Nedzu wouldn't be watching their every move as soon as they finished reading.

Seeing their hesitation to open the files, Nedzu spoke up once more,

"You do not have to read the file."

"But, it's probably in our best interests too, right?" Aizawa questioned in a heavy tone.

"Yes."

They collectively took a deep breath and braced themselves. They opened the folder and were met with a sight that they were dreading. It was a picture of their deceased friend, Oboro Shirakumo, right next to the mist villain, Kurogiri.

The title which confirmed their fears?

[ B - Rank villain: Black Mist/Kurogiri/Oboro Shirakumo]

"D-Don't fuck with me Nedzu… If this is one of your games, I don't wanna play anymore!" Aizawa shouted with sheer disbelief lacing his voice.

Nedzu didn't deign to answer him, letting him continue on ranting instead of replying.

The normally boisterous and loud Hizashi was no longer present. He was deathly silent, staring down at the file. It listed every single thing that Oboro went through during his time after his 'death'.

His, and Nemuri's, tears kept hitting the paper the more he read. The torture, nomufication process, slavery, crimes he committed, and went through, were all listed here in explicit detail.

Their vision grew blurry as the tears kept building up, the desperate shouts of denial coming from Shota didn't help them either. There was too much detail for this to be something fabricated for a 'game' as Shota kept saying.

It was horrifying for the duo. Their friend was suffering through all of this while they were joking about, enjoying their lives. Survivor's guilt was coursing through their system at a rapid pace. Images of the cheerful Oboro were being replaced by the scenes of his torture ground and crime scenes.

Being the English teacher, Hizashi finished the document first. His experience in reading/grading essays came in handy when reading lengthy word-based documents. He wiped his eyes and set the now wet file aside.

After steadying himself, he looked dead into his boss' eyes, and asked,

"Nedzu..."

"Yes, Hizashi?"

"H-How did you get this information? W-"

"The method of obtaining the information is something even I do not know, Hizashi. What matters is that the information listed is all the truth."

"N-Nedzu..." he started once more in his hoarse voice.

"Yes, Hizashi?" Nedzu replied once more.

"W-Who gave you this file? W-Who is the person that has given me some form of hope that one of my best friends is still alive out there?!" his tears ran down his cheeks once more, gradually pooling on his leather jacket below.

"I'm sure you can figure it out, Hizashi. Who has recently shown information gathering abilities, to the point it shocked the world?"

"Saku-" he started, only to be interrupted.

"You can't be serious, Hizashi! We saw his corpse that night! HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD!" Aizawa shouted at his friend, clearly trying to convince himself more than anything.

"Shota..." Nemuri said, finally paying attention to her friend who's going through some serious denial issues.

Her makeup was now running down her face, even staining her suit in mascara. She wanted to be on Shota's side, but the evidence was too in-depth to be anything but the truth. It also helped answer some of her own questions regarding the behemoth at the USJ.

"No! H-He's dead!"

"Shota... READ. THE. FILE." Hizashi said, clearly having enough of his friend's denial before even finishing the file. Shota was meant to be the logical one here, yet he was acting without any right now.

Seeing that nobody was having any of his attitude, he calmed down enough to read through it with gritted teeth. He was desperately hoping to be proven right. To believe that his friend wasn't turned into a villain that would attack his class.

As he was begrudgingly reading through the file, tears were streaming down Oboro's face. He was finally going to meet up with his friends again. He didn't think that his death would affect Shota as much as it did.

Hearing his friends in turmoil hurt him, it wasn't a nice feeling. To hear his friend screaming in denial with the only barrier separating the two a singular unlocked door. He wanted to go in there right now, to calm them down, to help them.

But, Nedzu was very clear with his orders. He was only to come out on his signal, when he's determined that they have calmed down enough from the discovery, so they wouldn't deny his existence as soon as he turned up.

It was painful waiting, but Nedzu was super smart, so he trusted him on this. He just hoped that he wouldn't regret that choice.

Nedzu, upon seeing that Shota was finished flipping through the file, began speaking,

"I would hope that you have calmed down enough to accept the reality of the situation, Shota."

He only earned a grunt in, what he would assume to be, affirmation.

"Nedzu, where is he? His entire life has been detailed on these pieces of paper, but his current location wasn't listed, why? I would like to know what jail Oboro is being detained at."

"He isn't being held at a jail due to a certain someone potentially discovering his location."

"Is he at UA? Is that why there was that new building with a keycard scanner built?"

"He is, and has been since the USJ attack. The building wasn't built for him, no, but rather to appease Sakuya, and keep the Nomus and her other things within the school's ground. I didn't want her taking them to a place out of my view." he answered the stressed-out homeless man.

"Why weren't we told about it? Did you not trust us enough with the information?" Nemuri questioned.

"Correct. You weren't told because, at the time, I didn't trust you enough."

"""Wha-?!""" before they could go on a tirade, he silenced them with a lift of his paw.

"If I told you, you would have tried to enter the building.

After realizing that you needed the keycard to enter it, you would have gone after the only person who has it, Sakuya. You would try to convince her, only to fail miserably because she wasn't finished with her experiments yet.

She would tell you no, and you would have let your emotions take the better of you.

It would have lead to you trying to use force on a nigh-omnipotent being such as herself. If you tried another way, like getting Momo or Eri on your side, she would be even angrier with you for putting her family against her.

If you would have survived that, it would have been a miracle. Sakuya is no saint, or a goddess as her cult would have you to believe. She does what is best for her, her family, and whatever entertains her. If you don't fall into those categories? She doesn't care.

But, let's say that you somehow convince her without being completely erased from every timeline possible.

You would be granted access to the building to see your friend, frozen in time, and still completely insane. That's not to mention all the other crazy things going on in that building. It's nightmare fuel.

The treatment only finished yesterday in terms of his mentality as well, which is why you received the file today.

Sakuya would naturally find this hilarious, especially the looks on your faces, and maybe even have mocked you relentlessly. It would play into her despair fetish, and sadistic tendencies. You would then ask her to 'fix' him, which she would also use to mess with you, as in her eyes, he was probably meant to be dead.

In short, the only reason I didn't tell you was to protect you. Why do you think I, and the HPSC, acquiesce to almost all of her demands and leave her alone to do her thing? It's because agreeing with her is far more favorable than being on her bad side.

She may not be a saint, but she is definitely not a villain, otherwise, this society would have already been in ruins. She has billions of quirks stocked up in her body, and all she would need is her original one to do it.

And, because I let her do her thing, she gave you your friend back in tip-top condition. Shota, you're lucky she lets you call her a nickname, I dread to think what would have happened if she didn't care for you." He explained coldly, to help get the point across.

Nedzu got up, portalled the files away to an incinerator, and made his way to the door. Just before leaving, he turned around, and started speaking in a much more chipper demeanor,

"I do hope that you keep everything a secret, especially the next part. Oboro, it's time!"

Just as he said that the janitorial closet was kicked open. It revealed Oboro Shirakumo, clad in his hero costume, with tears streaming down his face.

"Hey, guys! I missed you all so much!"

As they ran up to hug their friend, Nedzu called out once more,

"Oboro, you need to come to the teacher's box afterward. You are not allowed anywhere near a microphone.

You three, you aren't allowed any pictures of him, you aren't allowed to discuss him, and everything is to remain a secret from everyone else. The only reason he is coming to the teacher's box is to be portalled elsewhere.

You have five minutes to catch up before the events start back up, the crowd is getting rowdy!"

And just like that, he strolled out of the room with a huge grin on his face, leaving the four friends to catch up with their previously missing link. He could hear their lively chatting, and tears from down the corridor.

'What a time to be alive!' he thought, heading back to the person who made this all possible, Sakuya.

(A/N: Wrote this in like 1 hour, I think I found this mythical zone I hear others speak of, not entirely sure. I hope that this is a good enough scene for the Oboro reunion. I left their catching up offscreen due to me not knowing enough about the vigilantes manga, which showcases their dynamic.)