Chapter 114

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*

Nezu, paws crossed over his plump belly, casually observed the sky stretching beyond his glass wall.

- The choice is yours, Endeavor. What will it be?

At the other end of the line, the hero inhaled sharply - then fell silent.

Nezu almost felt sorry for him.

His life had been in chaos ever since his son had been exposed as a murderer.

By now, the tension had subsided, and numerous official documents 'accidentally' found on the doorsteps of the country's largest news stations had proven that Shoto Todoroki was no innovator in this matter - quite the opposite.

For days, there had been talk of Quirk-related 'accidents', which were more common than you'd think - especially among very young children - and caused a huge number of injuries, even death in certain circumstances.

The curious case of Tenko Shimura was one that Nezu found the most interesting...

- How long before publication?

Nezu could hear the weariness in his voice.

- I'm afraid you only have until tonight.

A new silence.

The majority of the country had finally sided with Endeavor and his son, or at least stopped open hostilities.

People may have been too afraid of Endeavor's son to take to the streets and continue to demand the hero's resignation, but they weren't holding back online.

Extreme opinions were in the minority, but that didn't mean the general public was deaf to them - far from it.

The revelation that another of Endeavor's sons was an admitted criminal and wanted by the authorities threatened to return the situation to what it had been just after the training camp incident.

- I have to make an example of him, don't I?

Nezu nibbled on a biscuit.

- If you don't do anything, you'll be accused of being overzealous. Shoto has mitigating circumstances because he's a minor and the acts he's accused of were committed under stressful conditions, to say the least.

Many people thought he was too young and unconscious to really understand what he was doing in the shed. People may have been afraid, but they also felt compassion for him.

Which would not be the case for the other one.

- Dabi - Touya, sorry, is an adult and committed most of his crimes after he came of age. Trying to use the same mediatic approach as with Shoto will cause more anger and incomprehension than anything else.

Nezu scrolled through the villain's file on his computer.

The Heroic Commission always made a point of being exhaustive when it came to information on wanted criminals.

Terrorist group membership, terrorism, arson, assault, kidnapping, murder.

Threat level: A

Nezu smiled.

What did Endeavor give his sons to create such monsters?

- I can't send my son to prison. Not after he just came back...

The hero fell silent, took a breath and spoke again.

- What do you recommend I do?

Nezu licked the cookie crumbs from his snout.

He leaned over the speaker, paws crossed on his desk.

*

- Todoroki, we'd like to talk to you.

I smelled them as soon as they entered the building.

With a towel around my neck, I wiped my damp hair with one hand and silently scanned Inaza.

He didn't look the least bit scared.

- Please

I waved my chin at him to show me the way, even though I already knew where he wanted me to go.

The common area of the elite section was huge, with an open kitchen, a central island, and a living room with four couches grouped around an aquarium inlaid into the wall, just below a flat-screen TV.

A news channel was humming in the background.

Inaza turned sharply at the bottom of the stairs and walked to stand with the others, crossing the circle of sofas before turning to face me, arms crossed over his torso.

I moved forward with slow, almost shuffling steps, stopping at the edge of the living room.

All the students from the original 1-A - or what was left of them - were sitting here and there, scattered in small groups, whispering on couches that formed a 'U'. All the chatter stopped when they saw me standing in front of them.

Bakugo wasn't there.

Neither was the invisible girl.

My eyes stopped for a second on deku, who was sitting right next to the mutant.

Unlike the others, he looked straight at me, without blinking, a determined glint in his eyes.

I didn't like that.

- We wanted to talk to you.

I waited for him to continue, wiping my hair casually.

- About what happened in the training camp

Iida took off his glasses with a shaking hand and wiped them with the back of his sleeve.

He was sitting in a chair, his left leg in a cast.

- I'm listening.

Inaza stared at me, a myriad of veins throbbing at his neck, but his face an unruffled smoothness.

- You killed people.

- I did

A shiver of fear ran through the group.

I didn't let go of Inaza's gaze.

- Why did you do it?

- Because they deserved it

Hiccups of astonishment.

- They were people, Inaza insisted. They had family, friends. They were sons of, brothers of. By killing them, you took away their chance at redemption.

My eyes landed on Ochaco.

- They killed Kaminari, didn't they ?

She remained unmoved.

I looked at Inaza again.

- I've done nothing but pay them back for what they've done

A wrinkle crossed Inaza's forehead.

- We train to be heroes. Not assassins.

- Alike

Inaza frowned.

- That has nothing to do with it.

- Do you think that All Might has never killed anyone? That one day he didn't hold back enough and someone didn't-

- Heroes aren't murderers.

A light breeze blew across the room and I knew Inaza was losing patience.

The fatigue I'd accumulated for weeks and the frustration of my day combined into a ball of nerves that warmed my blood.

- You're all much dumber than I thought if you believe your own bullshit

I looked at them in turn, their big bright eyes and smooth skin that had never had to shed blood revolting me as never before.

- I've killed, yes. So what if I have?

- So you're a murderer, Inaza insisted.

I brushed his comment aside with a hand.

- You all will be one day, rest assured.

Inaza shook his head, but I wasn't talking to him anymore.

I read the fear and concern and understood that some were already having doubts.

- We live in a society where men are not born equal

I wonder how they would react if they learned Nezu knew about the attack and didn't do anything to protect them.

- All humans are equal, but some are more equal than others, Yaoyorozu muttered.

All heads turned to her, and the teenager sank into her plaid up to her chin, her knees pressed to her chest.

I pointed at her with my chin.

- You heard that ? You pretend you don't understand, but deep down you already do.

- How do you sleep at night? Inaza said in the most confused tone I'd ever heard, his eyebrows furrowed. How do you look at yourself in the mirror?

Anger buzzed through my flesh like a million scorpions trying to punch a hole in my skin to get out.

- Simple : I tell myself that if it wasn't them, it would have been me.

For a second, Inaza didn't know what to say.

But his judgmental face - as if, from his ivory tower, he had the right to express the slightest opinion about me or my actions - made me want to rip his eyes out.

- You make me laugh with your supposedly judgmental 'advice', I spat, But not one of you had the decency to thank me for saving your ungrateful asses

My skin prickled as if I would burst into flames at any moment.

- You know who pulled Kaminari out of those fucking collapsing dormitories? I did. You know who killed the guy who could clone himself ad infinitum and would have killed you all before the most insignificant hero decided to show up? I did. Who saved Kirishima, Sato, Hanta and Deku from being eaten? Who saved Katsuki when he was pissing blood in the desert? Who kept All for One busy long enough for All Might to show up? I, I and I again.

- You're just justifying yourself, Inaza said, shaking his head. You could have neutralized them without... .... (He inhaled sharply, his face flushed) Don't make us believe you had no choice.

The well of rage inside me went out like a candle.

- You're right. I did have a choice. And I chose to end the threat once and for all.

Inaza's face was serious.

- And what did you do? Because obviously, apart from crying and criticizing me, you did nothing more constructive

- You had no right to kill them, Inaza insisted. It's not our job to judge. Our duty is to bring the guilty to justice and nothing else.

- You're living in a fairy tale, Inaza. You're in for a rude awakening.

- If everyone acted like you, there'd be anarchy-

- Take away the guys in suits running around the streets, and I can assure you it won't even take twenty-four hours for this country to be fire and blood.

- It's by acting the way you do that people become villains.

A silence followed.

I remained dazed for a moment before a dry laugh shook me.

- Is that what you think I am? A villain?

Inaza held my gaze.

- That's what I think you're becoming, yes.

I looked at Inaza in silence, unable to answer.

Then a small smile appeared on my lips and I turned to the others.

- Is that what you think, too ?

Most of them looked away.

Kirishima said, his voice hoarse:

- I want to thank you for saving us the other day. I know I wouldn't be here today without you, and I know I can only speak for myself because I'm not sure what the others think, but thank you, thank you very much. I didn't really agree with the others to have this meeting like this, and I still don't agree with the idea of coming down on you as a group, but please understand.

He inhaled.

- You... took care of all those villains so easily when even as a group we had trouble handling them, and you did all those weird, incomprehensible things afterwards... You even helped All Might and Endeavor contain the giant in Tokyo and come out unscathed. But the way you did it... the ease with which you used that sword to hurt people...

His legs twitched nervously.

- You didn't hesitate for a second to use your Quirks to hurt people.

I let his comment pass over me like water and shrugged.

- It was Aizawa who told me to do that.

- Aizawa would never have told you to kill

I didn't answer and Inaza insisted unbelievingly.

- Look at yourself. You're not even remorseful.

I raised my eyebrows.

- Because I don't have anything to regret.

- Do you realize what you're saying?

- Killing is not something I've just brought into the world. It's been done since the beginning of time, and it will continue to be done, even if you refuse to believe it.

- You just don't get it.

- Heroes do it, soldiers do it - hell, even children do it. Quirks are just a tool.

- It's not your abilities that scare us, Shoto. It's you and what you will do with them that frightens us.

I blinked, stunned.

- I beg your pardon?

- We all thought your little violent outbursts, like at the championship, were just excessive irritability, but here...

- What's going on, Inaza? Did you all wake up this morning and think 'hey, how about we piss off the guy who saved our lives and tell him we all think he's a fucking psychopath who's going to freak out and kill us all'?

- I didn't say that, said Inaza. Don't twist my words.

- You ask me to get off, you call me a murderer, and you tell me you think I'm a fucking time bomb and you think I'm going to take it well?

Inaza exploded.

- You see?! That's your problem! You're incapable of realizing that your actions have consequences and that, yes, if you start killing people around you, no one will be on your side!

I crossed the distance between us in a few steps.

- Who's talking about 'side'?, I growled in a low voice, my forehead only a few centimeters away from Inaza's. The only thing that exists are people who get out of my way or who are against me. Tell me, Inaza, are you against me?

Inaza came closer, a wind cooled by the ice emanating from my skin enveloping us.

- If you become a threat to the others, then yes.

My left hand began to shake.

- Would you kill me to stop me?

The resolution in his eyes faltered for half a second.

- Answer me, Inaza. Would you kill me?

He clenched his fists, his lips forming two hard white lines.

He didn't answer.

I stepped back and looked at the others in turn.

- Would anyone here be willing to kill me?

They lowered their heads, avoiding my gaze.

- Yeah, that's what I thought.

Inaza, shaking, stared at me with bulging eyes. Blood viessels had exploded there.

- If I ever become a 'villain', I really hope for your sake that the answer will be yes - because if you - or anyone else here - gets in my way, nothing and no one in this country will be able to stop me from destroying you.

Even after I'd closed the door to my room, no one had still said a thing.