MHA: Undying

“While physical injuries to the students were mostly limited, we cannot dismiss the fact that villains managed to infiltrate UA grounds.” Nezu starts the meeting with what is arguably the most prominent point. Though All Might is quick to object to his dismissal of the damage of the attack, given the state his daughter was left in.

“How can you be so casual about this!? Look at what they did to Izumi!”

Recovery Girl sighs. “Yagi, she’s unconscious. Other than that, my examination confirmed that she’s only suffering from quirk exhaustion, admittedly to a greater degree than normal, but quirk exhaustion nonetheless.. At least physically. Given Aizawa’s account of the situation, I’d definitely recommend she meet with Hound Dog.”

All Might growls at the reminder, buffing up momentarily as he slams his fist through the table. “HOW DARE THEY TRY AND USE MY SON’S IMAGE TO HURT HER. I’LL MAKE SURE THEY ROT IN TARTARUS!”

Nezu and Aizawa share glances, still unsure if their previous decision to not inform All Might of the possibility of him being his biological son is the right one.

But without his body, and the blood on site being too contaminated by Izumi’s own DNA to be accurate, there’s no certain way to test if they were. So it would be best simply let the man believe they were a fake. If the consequence of believing wholeheartedly that the League of Villains utilized Izuku’s likeness is him dedicating his time to hunting them down, then that’s all the better.

Aizawa, of course, initially objected, but eventually conceded to the principal’s reasoning. That’s not to say he’s happy about it though, considering the boy had likely saved his life. He would have liked to honor him properly, but he supposes he’ll just have to help him rest in peace by taking down the League of Villains. Especially since they lack a body to bury.

“While the enthusiasm is appreciated, I would appreciate it if you refrained from destroying school property.” Nezu’s cold look causes All Might to deflate, crossing his arms with a huff of frustration as he falls back in his seat.

“Now then, I believe the most salient questions to address is how they managed to infiltrate school grounds, as well as how they knew to attack the USJ specifically.”

“Well the first one is obvious,” Kayama says as she leans back in her seat. “There’s really not much we can do to stop a warp quirk. Especially since we don’t know anything about how it works. At most, Power Loader can set up sensors to detect if they come back, right?” She looks at the man in question to confirm, getting a nod in answer.

“The only way to block a quirk like they used would be to know how it works, and develop countermeasures specifically for that quirk. Though it should be simple enough to rig something up to detect sudden changes in mass that I can put around campus. But a student’s quirk that changes their size would prove problematic… Maybe key them into the system? Or something that…” He devolves into silence as he tries to tackle the problem, and everyone familiar with the man knows that they’ll have a solution by the end of the day.

Of course, that doesn’t really change the core problem regarding the warp user. And there’s still the issue of how they knew about the exercise.

“It’s clear that they used the break in from the media to obtain the information. Whether by design, or by plan.” Aizawa explains, resting his broken arm on the table. “I’m leaning more towards it being part of their plan, given that someone warned Mirko that the League of Villains would be attacking us.”

Nezu nods. “Indeed. But why would they have warned us? And, out of everyone, why would they send Mirko and young Todoroki to…” he glances down at the paper to check, once again, “...a fancy dinner.” He shakes his head. “Given that Midosagi was present at the attack but Chusagi wasn’t, it is possible that she is not in agreement with the League’s goals.”

“What exactly are their goals, though?” Yamada questions, crossing his hands behind his head. “I know Shota said they wanted to kill All Might, but is that really it? If it was, why couldn’t they have just attacked him while he was on patrol, or staged an ambush at Might Tower? No offense!”

He quickly realizes how his words might sound to the number one hero and hastily apologizes, which gets waved aside while everyone ignores Midnight’s claim of “It’s love~!”

“It’s quite alright,” he sighs. “Honestly, I would have preferred that as well. At least then Izumi and the other students would have been left out of it.”

Aizawa clears his throat. “Actually…they might have been after your daughter, specifically.”

All Might’s head shoots up to stare at him with wide eyes, and the others are the same. Nezu is the only one not surprised since he’d already gotten a short report on the key events of the incident. Aizawa sighs before Nezu takes up the explanation, causing their attention to shift to him.

“According to Aizawa, when the villain who covered themselves in severed hands -Shigaraki, correct?- left, he reportedly told the warp villain -I believe he was called Kurogiri- ‘Don’t forget to grab the psycho’, moments before a portal opened up beneath young Izumi. He pulled her away, and the villains seemed to decide against pursuing. Possibly because they worried he’d use his quirk to prevent them from fleeing.”

“Hey, why didn’t you do that? You might not have stopped all of them, but keeping that Kurogiri guy trapped probably would have been a problem for them.” Yamada points out, but Aizawa shakes his head.

“It wouldn’t have mattered. My eyes were too dry from over-using my quirk on all the other villains to keep it active for long. Plus everything was blurry due to the injuries the Nomu gave me, otherwise there would have been a chance.” He grimaces. “As much as they overestimated how strong it was, it was more than enough to cause permanent damage. I’m going to have trouble keeping my quirk going as long as I have before.”

His friends put reassuring hands on his shoulders, getting a grumble in reply. But they’ve both known him long enough to understand that he’s grateful. He just doesn’t show it. Because all three know it’s not really his injury that they’re comforting him about. It’s the people he might not save because of the injury. And the knowledge that, had it not happened, he might have deprived the League of one of their most potent resources.

“But why would they have gone after the youngin?” Snipe asks the question on all their minds. “Do they know she’s All Might’s kid?”

That they didn’t think about. But as they wonder, it makes sense. But then again, it doesn’t. If they know Izumi is All Might’s daughter, then they could have planned her kidnapping for any number of reasons. Blackmail, ransom, threats, etc. But if they’re aware, why wouldn’t they have gone after her in a more secure setting?

After she’d left school grounds, while she’s out with her friends, or even while sitting in the classroom. It’s not like they would have been able to stop her from being warped somewhere else before their attack! But instead, they launched a full-scale attack on an off-site facility during a school event. They might have wanted to simply achieve both their goals at the same time, but they can all agree that they would have had a higher chance of success if they’d been done separately.

And that’s even ignoring the most important part of that assumption.

If they’d been aware she’s All Might’s daughter, they would have been aware of his civilian form. In which case why not target him at home? Or while he’s out and about but not doing hero work?

Nezu shakes his head. “No, the theory that they are aware of her identity does not fit the circumstances. But then, why target her? There is likely more to the situation than we are aware of. But it will do us no good to try and guess at their intentions. Instead, we must create safeguards to prevent them from succeeding.”

“Why do I feel like you’re about to suggest something that will give me a headache?” Aizawa asks rhetorically. Whenever the principal does anything, it’s a near certainty that someone will be getting a headache. Aizawa has just gotten adept at figuring out when it’s him.

Nezu claps his paws. “Since Power Loader will be implementing a system to detect Kurogiri’s quirk, UA grounds will be most suited to provide protection to its students! Far more than even the number one hero’s home, unless he wishes to advertise that he lives there.”

“Uh, but they attacked the school? Not while the students were out, but while they were here. That doesn’t really scream ‘safety’, ya hear?”

Nezu waves off Yamada’s objection. “That was before we implemented protections for the students! Now we can ensure that, should they attempt the same, we will be prepared. It will take time to obtain the services of an individual who can lock the school grounds from warp access, after all.”

“...”

There’s silence as everyone stares at the aptly named Rat Satan. Power Loader’s judgmental stare is the first to give rise to voice. “...So you’re telling me that you know someone who can stop him from just showing up? Why wouldn’t you lead with that?”

The principal just chuckles. “Now, now, how would any of you grow if I simply presented a solution on a silver platter? Speaking of, I will require both you and Cementos to begin construction of dorms for both students, and any staff that may wish to live on campus. We do not know how the League of Villains will react to their attack’s failure, after all.”

`~`

(Izumi’s Dream)

I’m at home, playing heroes with Izuku. We both cheer as we take down the pretend villain, some pillows stacked on top of each other with a pot for a head. I turn to my twin with a happy smile on my face, only to freeze.

We aren’t at home anymore. We’re somewhere dark. And he’s older. I’m older. But he’s no longer smiling, he’s crying. “Why, Izumi? Why didn’t you help me?”

I stumble backwards, raising my hands to object. But the words don’t come out, because I can see them. My hands are covered in blood. Izuku’s blood.

I stare at them in horror before he grabs my shoulders so tightly they should hurt. But there’s no pain, instead he winces, but he doesn’t let go. Bloody tears force their way past his eyes. “Why? All I wanted was to be a hero! I didn’t have to be the best, or even well known! All I wanted was to help people! Why was that wrong!?”

I shake my head, trying to tell him that it wasn’t wrong, that he can be a hero. But again, the words refuse to leave my throat. I’m crying now, my hands clawing at my own throat in an effort to free the words I want to say, that I need to say. But with each movement, Izuku winces, blood flowing from his skin. It takes me too long to realize what’s happening, and by then it’s too late.

My hands are covered in his blood as he falls to the floor, his accusing gaze focused on me as the light fades from his eyes. “Why? This wouldn’t have happened if you had cared. If anyone had cared. Why did you hurt me? Why did Mom hurt me?” He coughs out blood, falling still as flames erupt around us, his words seeming to echo in the darkness.

“Like mother, like daughter…”

I drop to my knees, my silent cries shaking my frame as I try to bring him back. But there’s nothing I can do, not with his blood on my hands.

When I wake up in a hospital room, my screams are finally heard.