Paradosi
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The Abyss (chapter 3)
🕑 Added 2024-09-10 16:04:17 +0000 UTCInterlude: Midnight at Noon
Nemuri rubbed the bridge of her nose as she listened to her colleagues bicker. It was just the five of them, the others either preoccupied elsewhere or taking a well-deserved vacation like she should be, instead of dealing with this mess.
Her baby brother had well and truly outdone himself this time. Though maybe it wasn't all bad. She did get an apology from Aizawa for her trouble, and that was worth her weight in silver.
"Who do we have screening our applicants? Yuga Aoyama was born Quirkless, and we somehow missed that?" Present Mic complained, interrupting her daydreaming. Even without his Quirk, he was so very loud.
There were frowns all along the table, besides Snipe who for all she knew could be trying to touch his tongue to his nose behind his mask.
All Might's was by far the most miserable. If the man bemoaned one more time how he had been taking a bath while all this happened, she might seriously consider strangling him. Hmph. If he wasn't painfully asexual, Nemuri might have been tempted to do it anyway. Taking her whip to the No. 1 hero would have tickled all her funny spots.
"He was most certainly not listed as Quirkless," Principal Nezu insisted softly. "We would have seen that. More disgraceful is how none of us noticed any of the signs. How we handle psych evaluations will have to be rethought." One of his furry ears twitched. "I will appear for a public apology with Eraser Head and Vlad King to try and stem the bleeding."
All Might banged a suddenly muscled arm on the table. "I need to speak with Young Aoyama. If it really is All For One, then it isn't his fault. This is what that monster does."
Nezu looked at him calmly. "While it does appear to be him, we cannot say that for certain yet, All Might. The League of Villains could simply be using his reputation to their benefit."
"You don't understand…" The rail-thin man paused, staring at the table like he was remembering something. "I always suspected that he survived. I have only let myself hope otherwise."
"Your phone is here! Your phone is here!" He looked embarrassed as his phone rang, as he should. What a lame ringtone.
"I have to take this," he told them, giving a nervous laugh before he left the room.
Nezu turned to her after a moment. "You're very subdued today, Midnight." She could practically hear the 'as opposed to usual' in his childlike voice.
The blabbermouth picked up the slack. "Yeah, our screw-ups aside, he handled himself admirably. Normally it's impossible to get you to shut up about him."
She flipped her mane of hair with a smirk. "It wouldn't be a good look to brag now."
"Why was he there in the first place?" Snipe asked in his synthetic voice. "While we allow our third-year students more freedom, he shouldn't have even known to convince you to allow him to attend."
Nemuri crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't tell him if that's what you're implying, Snipe. Nobuto could give Aizawa a run for his money with how nosey he is, and that isn't even counting his Quirk."
"That is not always a bad thing," Nezu commented. "Indeed, I think I would like to bring him in after he graduates to help with our psych evaluations, or even sooner."
All Might popped back inside in his muscleman form, trying to blind them with his smile. "There is some good news," he boomed. "A contact in the Police Force told me that they had located at least one of the League of Villains' hideouts. There is an assault being planned as we speak."
"I suspect Yuga Aoyama's parents were not the source?" Nezu asked him.
The big man rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "No. They're insisting they have no way to contact All For One, having only received instructions." He sat down again, deflating. "But if Shigaraki can be apprehended, we still may be able to divulge under which rock All For One's crawled under." His piercing blue eyes looked around. "Where were we?"
"I am considering bringing Nobuto Kayama on as a counselor," Nezu broached.
"That is an excellent idea! Young Kayama has shown that he can peer into the hearts of our students." Such a ringing endorsement from All Might himself. She should definitely tell him.
"The kid's a wiseass," Mic complained, at least until she sent him a look. "Though I guess he's mellowed out since his first year at U.A."
"His grades are impeccable," Snipe assessed simply.
Nezu's mousy eyes however were still on her, and she shrugged, tapping her nails on the table. "He would tell you no on principle if you asked him. He's still nursing a grudge against you." Still, Nemuri knew full well what he was angling at. "Oh, fine. I'll speak to him."
He brought his paws together happily. "Thank you all for being here on such short notice."
All Might was the first to leave, a purpose to his steps. She stuck back, pulling out her phone. She ended up pouting when Nobuto hung up after she tried to get him on video.
A few rings later, he finally answered. "Hey."
"That's it? Hey?" The worst thing is he couldn't see the look she was sending the empty air in front of her.
"I spared you an awful sight. Aizawa insisted I adopt his poor sleeping habits."
She hummed. "You do sound appropriately tired, so I'll forgive you. Where are you?"
"I'll be at U.A. soon. Fifteen minutes, maybe. The Police Force got tired of me eventually and let me go."
"I'll meet you at the entrance," she told him.
He made a sound of acknowledgement. "Love you, Sis."
"Don't try and butter me up!" Even if it was already working. "Aizawa already told me about you picking a fight with a Nomu." Unfortunately, her baby brother wasn't admitting guilt, so she let out a sigh. "Love you too."
He chuckled softly before ending the call, and she put the phone to her chin thoughtfully. Maybe she should drag him back home to visit their parents, if only so he would get some of their nagging for once. He would deserve it.
She stood up after a few moments to grab a quick snack from one of the break rooms. One of the worst things about U.A. was that they had barred her sidekicks from the grounds. Some nonsense about her dumping all her work on them. What else were they for?
Fortunately, Nobuto didn't make her wait under the hot sun too long. She immediately opened her arms and looked at him expectantly.
He let her hug him like a dutiful baby brother. "I missed you too, Nemuri," he breathed out.
She looked up into his sunglasses. She had tried to disabuse him of the tacky things, but he was stubborn. The last time she hid them, he wouldn't talk to her for a week.
She eyed up the burns on his arms with a frown, and he noticed. "I got off easy," he assured her.
Taking his arm, she had him walk her back inside like a gentleman. "Hopefully they'll serve as a reminder for you to not stick your nose into everything," Nemuri said with a sniff.
"Maybe for a few days," he snarked.
She ignored that as she glanced at the gates. "You saw the reporters outside?"
"Some of them were setting up tents. This is going to get very ugly if those two aren't found soon."
She tutted. "Our heads aren't the only ones on the chopping block, and the Safety Commission knows it. We can only hope all of this lights a fire under them. All Might has made them complacent."
He adjusted his sunglasses. "Still holding a grudge about them telling you exactly how much skin you could show?"
"You're going to lecture me about holding a grudge, Nobuto? But yes," she admitted easily. Nemuri moved his arm closer to her chest, but he just sighed again. "You used to get the cutest blush when I hugged you. Now you just sigh like an old man. You want your big sister to think she's lost her touch?"
"I can assure you that you haven't."
"It doesn't mean all that much when you say it so clinically!" she complained, but her callous brother just brushed her off. After a short walk together they took the elevator up to her office, where he immediately made himself at home.
Taking a seat opposite him, she put her chin in her hands. "What did you think of Aizawa's newest students?" she asked curiously.
"They were alright." Nemuri stared at him until he gave her a real answer. "Also very loud," he added, getting her to roll her eyes. "It's not like I had much time to get to know them before everything happened," Nobuto finally said in a poor attempt to defend himself. He clicked his fingers then, a funny smile on his lips. "There is one thing. Alien Queen."
Her response was immediate. "No. Her second choice will market a lot better than a ghastly name like that."
He crossed his arms. "You're so uncultured, Sis."
Nemuri's eye twitched. "Don't push it. You should count your lucky stars that I approved your poor excuse for a Hero Costume. Should we go back to my first choice?"
He blanched. "You win."
"It wasn't that bad," she said, pouting. "It fit your Quirk."
"It was that bad," he deadpanned.
"Hmph. You would be surprised how many female villains just need a big, strong hero to sweep them off their feet. You could have saved them from a lifetime of bad decisions."
"I can do that just fine without trying to make myself out as a discount Casanova," he insisted.
There he went trying to make that out like a bad thing again. Two years later and she still had her work cut out with him. She should have spirited him away from their parents sooner.
"It isn't the same," Nemuri insisted, tapping her nails against the wood of her desk. She might as well broach the subject now. "Principal Nezu suggested bringing you on as a counselor to avoid another situation as with Aoyama. All Might even gave his own ringing endorsement," she teased.
"And suffer that furball as my boss? Pass." He adjusted his sunglasses again with a grin. "Besides, the Police Force offered me something similar after I leave U.A."
"Oh?" she sounded with a raised eyebrow. "U.A. would still double if not triple whatever salary they offer."
"You know they say money can't buy happiness."
"Let's hear you say that after I stop letting you mooch off of me," she shot back.
He gave an exaggerated pout. "You drive a hard bargain, Sis."
"Only because I want you close by," Nemuri easily admitted. "I'll even approve Alien Queen if Ashido's still sore about it."
"I'll think about it." He continued before she could narrow down a better answer, "Class 1-A is going to be down a student."
Nemuri shrugged her shoulders. "That's up to Aizawa. He may just keep the class size smaller." An idle memory came to mind. "Though I do remember him taking an interest in that boy from General Studies; the one who made it far in the Sports Festival."
"Shinso?"
She snapped her fingers. "That's the one. Hitoshi Shinso. He's a cutie, isn't he?"
"Not for me to say," he snarked. "Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Tall, Dark and Grumpy took an interest in him."
"If you don't want me to cast aspersions, maybe you should stop playing so coy?" she teased. "Do you even need your Quirk to tell you that Hado—"
"Nejire's touchy-feely with everyone," Nobuto insisted, interrupting her.
Nemuri held his stare for a few seconds before someone energetically knocking interrupted them. "The door's open," she called out.
As if they had summoned her, Hado pushed into the room with her long mane of periwinkle blue hair trailing after her. Amajiki and Enkh-Altan also entered the room, though they didn't look too keen to follow Hado's example by practically jumping into Nobuto's lap so as to hug him, her skirt poofing out as she did.
Nemuri gave him a knowing look.
"Don't," he muttered, glaring at her under his sunglasses.
Hado retreated, looking at him. "Hmm?"
"Nothing," he said evasively. "I'm not hurt, Nejire. Just tired." She still looked him over, giving him a frown when she found the burns. "Well, mostly unhurt," he corrected.
"Ah. I shouldn't have jumped on you…" she admitted.
"You shouldn't jump on anyone," Amajiki grumbled. There was another boy who could do with a nice, or maybe not-so-nice, girl to get him out of his shell. At least he seemed to be less of a nervous wreck than he was two years ago.
Enkh-Altan stepped forward, placing a large taloned hand on the back of Nobuto's seat, some of his colorful feathers peeking out of his sleeves. "Mind if we take our classmate, Midnight? We have much to catch up on, and he hasn't been answering his phone."
"I was a little busy interrogating and then being interrogated…"
Nemuri leaned back as she watched them, the way the feathers crowning Enkh-Altan's head moved whenever he spoke being as distracting as ever. U.A. had a few students from abroad, even if they weren't too common. She still remembered how he had turned down her suggestion of Genghis Khan for his Hero Name, saying he wasn't worthy of it.
"If you're going to bicker, you can take him," she finally told them.
Nobuto shot her a look of betrayal as his classmates dragged him away, which she returned by blowing him a kiss. That they had barged into her office at all showed that they cared.
She wheeled her chair around to face the window, her worries coming back to haunt her now that there was nothing to distract them.
All Might was practiced at hiding it, but she had been able to tell for a few years that he wasn't the same indomitable figure he had been for decades, and not just because the years were catching up to him. And while she couldn't say she knew all that much about this All For One, she could see which way the wind was blowing, and it wasn't in their favor. What happened last night wasn't just going to lose them the public's trust, it was also going to embolden every villain out there.
After so many years of relying on All Might to keep the peace, longer than she had been alive, she didn't know if they were ready if he was no longer up to the task.
Nemuri spun back around to glance at the papers strewn across her desk that needed grading. It took her a second at most to decide that wasn't the distraction she was looking for. After the last couple of days, she deserved a little pampering at an onsen.
And if some of the press followed her there, then even better. She would be sure to give them the inside scoop on her shampoo.
Interlude: Spy Games
Momo couldn't help feeling guilty as she fiddled with the device in her hands. While her classmates were keeping Midoriya company as he was still recovering, here she was spying on someone and feeling worse each time she listened in and caught nothing that could justify her actions to herself, let alone the others.
Most of them were there when the police had confronted Aoyama about what he had done and the circumstances that led to it. She still felt the painful sting of betrayal even now, but also deeply sad.
Aoyama had named himself the worst of villains, and he had even cried. Momo couldn't even say what she would have done were she in his shoes.
The detective in charge of the case had seemed disappointed, certainly, but not surprised that neither Aoyama nor his parents could help them locate the villain that had given Aoyama his Quirk and threatened them into compliance. And with how helpless she felt about everything, Momo might have put it out of mind completely had she not by chance seen Kayama speaking with one of the Police Force after giving her report.
She remembered having to bite down a gasp when she saw him quickly copy something to a thumb drive as he distracted the cat-headed man with what had to be his Quirk. Even if he intended to try and see if he could find out more himself, doing it in such an underhanded way couldn't be very heroic, she thought.
And yet, the fate of two of her classmates was on the line, and hadn't he risked his life to protect her classmates from the League of Villains? She just couldn't confront him and make a scene after all that.
Though maybe that would have been better than her being equally underhanded by slipping a small listening and tracking device inside his trench coat after…
It wasn't like her at all to do something like that. But Momo could stomach worse for her classmates, so with a heavy heart she turned the device on again.
After a bit of static, she made out with some surprise a new voice, high-pitched and full of bravado. "Well, well, Hero, how the tables have turned!"
Momo furrowed her eyebrows as she heard Kayama respond. "Not this again, Manami."
The other voice seemed to huff. "Call me La Brava! You, Hero, had no choice but to approach a villainous mastermind like myself for aid, so you must play by my rules!"
Was Kayama cavorting with a villain? Though Momo would admit that this La Brava did not sound very intimidating. She turned over the device to look at its other side and saw that he wasn't at U.A., at his apartment, or even at Midnight's Hero Agency.
"I might have caught you red-handed, but I can still admit that you have me beat when it comes to these kinds of things," she heard him say.
"As is a villain's prerogative!" Momo made out something that sounded like shuffling. "So, what are you trying to—"
"Yaomomo?" Momo jumped, finding Mina's black-and-gold eyes in half a panic staring into her own. She had been listening so closely she hadn't even noticed her classmate. "Listening to some music?" Mina asked.
Momo blinked rapidly as she tried not to give herself away. "Yes. Exactly."
Mina narrowed her eyes. "You're not the best liar, Yaomomo."
Momo tugged at the sleeves of her blouse awkwardly. Even if she could, she didn't honestly want to lie to Mina. Instead she offered her one of the earphones, and Mina took it without much complaint, plopping down on the poorly padded settee next to her.
Mina's eyes found hers again as she listened. "Is that Kayama?" Though the way she smirked, Mina might have gotten the wrong impression about what was going on here. "Are you spying on him, hmm? And here I thought you were too much of a good girl to do something like that."
"T-That's not what-" she started, but Mina interrupted her with a giggle.
"I'm kidding. That's the last thing you would do. Right?" Her cheeks felt hot, and she rushed to explain herself. She felt relieved when Mina's expression turned slightly more serious. "Ah. There's the Yaomomo we know."
Momo gave a nervous smile before she focused again. "Dead drops like that are almost impossible to trace back," she heard the supposed villain comment. "But this kind of stuff gives villainy a bad name! I'll try, but you will have to do something for me, Hero!"
Mina snickered, biting her thumb like she was watching a drama.
"Fine," Kayama replied, "I'll bite."
The sound of La Brava clearing her throat could be heard. "Simple, Hero; in return for my aid, I ask that you aid Gentle Criminal and myself in exposing the true wickedness in our society! A-And people might watch if you show up," she continued in a quieter voice.
"People are going to be more on edge with everything that's happening." Kayama's voice was also quiet now, making him harder to make out. "Danjuro has a good heart, but if things deteriorate further…"
"That's Gentle Criminal to you, Hero! And while it is suitably heroic for you to worry about even us villains, well, you shouldn't. We can take care of ourselves!"
There was another short pause before he spoke again, this time in an exaggerated voice. "It seems I have no choice, La Brava. I will do as you ask." He made a sound like he had been tackled after. "You know, it doesn't seem very villainous to hug the hero like that, even if you're trying to break a rib or three."
"That was just an attack to show you your place!" The tremor in the supposed villain's voice made her sound even less like any villain Momo had ever seen. "Let me get to work."
Mina giggled again as the sound of someone tapping away at a keyboard furiously. "She sounds so cute."
"Maybe she doesn't sound like it, but she did still call herself a villain…"
"He's working with a small-time villain to try and catch a bigger, badder one!" Mina exclaimed, twirling her bubblegum pink hair around her finger. "I think I'm starting to understand what he's like. You know what he said when we confronted him the night before it all went bad?"
Momo didn't get the chance to say anything one way or another as Mina powered through.
"I made him admit that he already suspected that it was one of us," she boasted, "and when Toru asked him if he really thought any of us could do something like that, he said you could get someone to do almost anything by threatening their loved ones."
Momo bit her lip as Mina finished. "He already had Aoyama figured out?"
"Yup. Aoyama didn't want to do it, but he didn't think he had a choice. He…" Mina paused, frowning at something. "He was scared. That's what heroes fight against. People who make others do such awful things by threatening those they love and cherish closely." Mina's eyes had teared up some, but she wiped them away hastily. "But what do you think about Kayama, Yaomomo?"
The sudden change in direction left her feeling whiplash.
"He's kind of hunky, isn't he?" Mina asked again. "Which isn't a surprise when Midnight's so pretty."
Momo felt her cheeks heat up again. "That isn't something you just ask someone…" she protested softly.
"Sure it is! I just did, didn't I?" Mina teased, her tears forgotten.
Thankfully, Momo was saved from having to answer by La Brava speaking again. "I can tell you it came from Kamino Ward in Yokohama," she said, still typing away, "but let me see if I can narrow that down."
"Yokohama?" Kayama mused. "I didn't expect he would be in Japan, right under All Might's nose. Though maybe that's exactly why."
"You said earlier that you didn't want me and Gentle to be careful. Don't you think that applies to you as well, Hero?" La Brava asked him. There was a tremble to her voice again. "The things I found about him after you asked me to take a look were very ugly. People with Quirks like ours can't stand up against someone like that."
Momo bit her lip again, thinking. Was that the same villain who had given Aoyama a Quirk when he was a child? A villain who could take and give Quirks at will, who could have stolen any number of Quirks, it did sound like an impossible opponent. But he was afraid of All Might, wasn't he?
"Point taken, Mana-"
"La Brava," she corrected immediately.
He sounded exasperated as he continued, "I have a plan, and it's not picking a fight."
"Then here, Hero. My part of the bargain is complete."
Kayama hummed as if he was looking something over. "Over three hundred instances? Is that accurate?" He continued after a short pause, "All For One's been a busy, busy bee. I don't suppose we can see where any of this correspondence is going?"
"Not a chance," she shot him down.
"Ah well. Thank you, Manami. Really." She didn't try to correct him this time. "You know how to reach me." Momo turned the device off when all she heard was Kayama's footsteps.
She saw Mina was looking at her expectantly. "I didn't really have a plan," she admitted with some embarrassment.
"You always have a plan, Yaomomo. It's why I voted for you for Class Rep." Her classmate's honest admission had her heart soaring. "Or I would have if I hadn't voted for myself, I mean." And just like that her heart fell back down to earth. "I just didn't know how clever you were yet," she was quick to add after the fact.
Momo huffed at her, crossing her arms, but Mina was looking down at her open hands.
"I'm not unhappy with Ida," she continued, "but he wouldn't have even thought to come up with something like this, you know? We have to get Tokoyami and even Bakugo back any way we can."
Momo nervously pulled on a lock of her hair. She knew that she had to stir herself to action, if only to justify her own unscrupulous actions. Standing up, she put on a determined face. "All of our classmates deserve a say," she said. Momo would be a coward if she couldn't even face them, even if she would prefer to leave it to the Pros lest she lose more of her friends and classmates.
"Yeah!" Mina cheered, and she fought to keep the blush off her cheeks this time.
Pushing forward, she left the quiet room. Strangely, they couldn't find any of their classmates. It wasn't until she decided to check Midoriya's room that they found them all huddled outside.
She smiled at him, trying not to stare at the bandages around his arms. "You're awake, Midoriya."
Ida adjusted his glasses, having turned to them. "Where have you two been?"
Momo steeled herself. "I might know how to find out where Tokoyami and Bakugo are."
That got them all talking, but she found herself looking into Midoriya's eyes. There was a fire there that reminded her of All Might for a moment, and as she listened to her classmates argue, the more her nerves grew.
Even the ones who were against it weren't talking about the elephant in the room; her deeply villainous actions! What would she even say to Kayama if they went after him!
She took a deep breath, her cheeks hot as she forced herself to calm down.
If it came to that, Momo would just have to start with the worst and hope for the best. Yes…
