Darkest Before Dawn - 134

Chapter 134

[Shota Aizawa]

He was no stranger to failures, not really.

As a hero, one was bound to fail. Not even the most powerful, most impressive heroes succeeded all the time. Eventually, you would be late to a site. At some point, you’d have to choose the least shitty of two options and someone else would probably be the one to pay the price. One day, you’d arrive and everything would be done and innocents would be miserable, if they were even alive.

He’d seen it all, from the elderly to the young, from men to women and from strangers to friends.

He’d never failed a student quite like he had that day though and he could safely say that he didn’t care for the new addition to his list of failures, nor the uniqueness of it. In a way, it was like every other time, admittedly. There was that hole carved in his chest and the hollowness in his emotions that he was unfortunately familiar with, sure. It was also, however, completely different in some way he couldn’t quite place yet, but Inui probably would.

And as the student counselor appeared in his mind, Shota realized that he’d need to tell the man. Inui could act professionally all he wanted, but he loved the kids. He loved them dearly, which was why he went above and beyond trying to help them, support them. Endo was special though, because he always visited Inui, sometimes for important things, sometimes for inane ones. He always did and Inui would never shut up about him in turn.

Shota had to tell him that Endo had been kidnapped by villains.

He’d have to tell Nemuri too. The woman that everyone was joking had adopted the kid, what with how she always was around his apartment, helping him with cleaning, meals, homework and probably other things too. They’d even seen her be borderline motherly while in the halls of UA. She gave encouraging words in the corridors. She made small talk whenever they could take a minute. And…

And now Shota would have to tell her.

He almost considered playing dumb with the third person, Maeda. He considered just not telling her. Technically, she was nobody to Kazuki. She wasn’t a part of his pseudo-guardians arrangement for his “parole”, nor was she his mentor anymore after that one week… But that would have been unnecessarily cold, heartless. Because everybody knew how she’d taken Kazuki under her wing, helping him face a world that hated him with a passion.

Shota would have to tell them all.

Somehow, the prospect wasn’t as bad as riding the bus that had been sent to pick them up all the way back to the city. Looking at his students hurt. Shota had never seen them so subdued, the atmosphere so cold and silent. Most of them were looking down, pale and fidgeting. Even those that hadn’t been close to Endo were affected, deeply upset about what had happened, because that was a classmate of theirs.

It was like the Aoyama situation all over again, just worse. It’d been more time since then, and this wasn’t a betrayal, however, and both things just made it much, much worse. Shota could see it in all their faces when he checked on them. Bakugo’s cold and bitter anger when it was usually a burning explosion like his Quirk’s. The tears perpetually in the corners of Midoriya’s eyes as he fidgeted, as if itching to grab something and do something.

Shota almost didn’t have the heart to check on Endo’s circle of friends. He had to though, and he hated every second of it. There was a hurt, a fear there that he was deeply familiar with and he’d never wanted to see in a student. A part of him found itself deeply thankful for the fact that Hagakure was invisible, because he couldn’t even imagine what she might have looked like considering what he’d been told after everything was said and done.

How were any of them going to recover from this?

Even if Endo was recovered – ‘Please, please let us get him back.’ –, the entire thing would stay with them all the same. It was the kind of lesson that only life could teach, much as Shota tried to deliver it to his students. There was only so much that he could tell them that it was reality that they lived in, not a manga or a game. Whatever he said would lack substance, would lack that little bit of credibility that actually living through something could give.

The world was full of unfair things like that, and now his students were dealing with one such event.

His students… and himself, Shota was aware enough to realize. Because he kept coming back to that, to how absolutely unfair it was that these villains were targeting his students. They were kids, all of them. They were in their first year to boot, when they had no idea about anything and suddenly they were facing situations that’d overwhelm even graduated students and new heroes.

Why did the world refuse to be fair even once?

Shota could hardly believe it, really. It’d been an hour since the whole disaster went down and he felt like it’d just happened still. He couldn’t process it, if he were honest. It’d happened in a matter of what? Five minutes, if that? They’d been fine, coming back from a productive training week where they’d managed to get a lot done. And then, the next second, everything had gone to hell and Endo…

‘Fuck.’

Endo, who had been on that trip because they couldn’t leave him behind, but had taken it just to relax. He had been coming back from a nice vacation where he trained a bit, but mostly just unwinded, playing his violin, talking with friends and enjoying nature in the middle of a forest with no negativity around. He’d been coming back from a true break, and he was the one that was kidnapped by villains, now having to be who knew where, with injuries that Shota had been told about and sounded concerning all on their own.

The world was so unfair Shota sometimes felt like trying to use his Quirk on it and seeing if it would help even a little.

[}-o-{]

[Minoru Mineta]

They were all sent straight to the hospital, which he found hilarious.

Kazuki was the one that needed a hospital the most, after all. A stab on his shoulder, blood drained out of him like someone was slurping up soda from a straw and a knife to the gut that he hadn’t even been able to take out before… Before he disappeared, before nobody else saw him again. They’d patched the story all together as best they could, because… because they couldn’t not talk about it, and every single detail made Minoru want to punch someone, preferably himself for being so fucking useless.

He’d done pretty well, he’d thought back in the moment. He kept trapping villains and doubles with just single throws of his Quirk. After feeling absolutely useless all week, Minoru had felt on the top of the world, really. Every single time one of his targets proved to be a clone by dissolving, he’d get a boost to his confidence.

Until it all came crashing down, that is.

Because while he’d been throwing his spheres around to trap clones and third rate villains, someone had almost stabbed and bled out Kazuki. While he was feeling good about himself, his friend had been lying against a tree, bleeding out. While he had been mentally mocking the villains for failing miserably again, his best friend had been kidnapped.

So, Minoru was feeling like absolute shit, if he were honest. He was far from the only one too. Toru barely talked and when she tried, she’d just burst into tears that nobody could see. There was no missing the sobbing and the shaking of her body though and somehow that made it all the worse, because he had to imagine how bad she must have looked under her invisibility.

Momo and Kyoka were doing their best to comfort the girl, but they were pretty inconsolable themselves. Minoru kind of expected that from the former, admittedly, but the latter? Kyoka was usually pretty grounded, or so she appeared. Minoru was then reminded that everyone had their limits and their friend had apparently reached hers. Nobody blamed her for that.

Tsuyu and Shoto were sitting next to each other off to the side, having their socially dull version of helping each other. They didn’t say anything, they barely expressed anything, but they were there. Neither would leave the other alone and he was pretty sure they were leaning on each other a little bit.

“I told them it was nothing,” he heard someone hiss and he turned to see Kirishima helping Ashido limp their way. He might not like them very much, but that didn’t stop him from being happy that they were alright. The boy looked like he would any other day and other than the bandage on her calf, Ashido looked to be in perfect health too. “And I told you that I can walk on my own.”

“Could have fooled us, Ashido,” Minoru commented and he grimaced when he saw the girl flinch. Right, he was supposed to call her Mina. The surname slipped past his lips more than he cared to admit, but that was also because he didn’t care for it most of the time. That was not a time when he wanted to seem hostile. His annoyance with the two aside, none of them needed more shit to add on top of what they were all already dealing with. “Just take one of the seats. We have nothing but those,” he added, trying to soldier through the awkwardness as he gestured to the rows of chairs arranged on the sides of the hospital corridor.

They’d been told to stay inside the hospital for the moment, although none of them knew why. It didn’t take a genius to know that there was going to be a lot of shit to deal with considering what happened. This was the second time UA students were attacked while under the supposed care of the school. The media was going to have a field day with the entire thing.

And this time, there wouldn’t be a Kazuki to help them trudge through the interviews like in I-Island.

“Wonder if they’ll make more noise or less because it’s Kazuki that was taken,” Minoru thought and he didn’t realize he’d said that out loud until everyone turned to look at him. Once he did, he grimaced, but that was something that did cross his mind. The media was not fond of their friend. They didn’t always talk shit about him, but they all knew how much effort Kazuki put into appearing good and all that…

And it felt like so little came out of it, like he was fighting tooth and nail to get neutral coverage and maybe a few compliments. Minoru was no expert, not even close, but sometimes it felt like the news only spoke well of Kazuki because they had to talk about him and they had nothing bad to say, not because they wanted to say good things. It was incredibly unfair and if he saw one news station talking shit about Kazuki for what happened, or god forbid being happy about it, he was liable to reenact what had happened with Shinso after the Sports Festival.

“I’ll join you,” Kirishima commented and Minoru blinked, realizing that he’d spoken out loud his thoughts again. He was very out of it, evidently, but he didn’t even know why. He wasn’t tired or anything, if anything, he was too awake.

“Tiny,” Kyoka called, poking at him with her ear-jack. “Sit down and breathe for a moment, alright?” she told him, pointing at an empty seat by their side with the aforementioned appendage.

He’d have protested, but as soon as he opened his mouth, she gave him a flat stare that made him reconsider.

It didn’t help much though, admittedly.

He doubted anything would.

[}-o-{]

[Hina Maeda]

“What?”she asked, her voice coming out somewhere between a whimper and a wail. A part of her mind wondered, with morbid curiosity, if she’d ever made such a sound before in her life. Most of her mind was too busy feeling her heart freeze, shatter and then fall to pieces.

“I’m sorry,” Aizawa told her, as if that fixed anything. But she was a hero, she knew that “I’m sorry”. Every hero worth anything had said that a million times, to families, to friends, to the public. She knew he meant it, and that it was all he could do and say, and that he hated it.

And yet, a part of her raged, because that wasn’t enough.

“I-I…” she stuttered, not even sure what she wanted to say. Something about how Kazuki couldn’t have been kidnaped. Something about how Kazuki hadn’t even wanted to go on the thrice be damned training trip. Something about how they’d ruined his school trip for something that had landed him in villain hands. Something about how their security measures hadn’t been anywhere near enough.

She wanted to say a million things and also nothing at all.

In the end though, Hina’s training kicked in, finally. Hina stepped back and Uwabami took over. Hero Uwabami at that, the version of her that she was the most proud of. The one that walked into disaster zones with her back straight and her eyes focused. Because things needed to get done and someone had to do them, and that might as well be her.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, and if he tried to tell her to step away from the whole thing, maybe something about how UA had it handled or some such bullshit, then she’d ruin them all. She could pull the strings to get Kazuki back. She could pull even more to get him somewhere else other than UA. She could… She could…

“Officially, we’re looking into things,” Aizawa told her and she grit her teeth, waiting. “Unofficially, we have a source or two we’re looking into. We are looking for him, Hina.”

They weren’t helpless and useless, good. That was good. Not enough though, not even close. But it was something and Uwabami had worked with less. She could work with that much.

Kazuki needed her to work with that much.

“Tell me more, Aizawa, or so help me, you’ll realize that I can have more PR power than UA if I want to,” she hissed, eyes narrowed. “I’ll talk to Nezu if I need to, but-”

“Maeda,” the man interrupted, there was some steel in his voice, but mainly there was weariness. “You know I can’t talk about this kind of thing over the phone. Look, you can contact Nezu if you want, but it’s likely it’ll be the same with him. We’re not going to sit on our hands though, I promise you that. We’ll work to get Endo back-” He called him Endo, which meant he wasn’t close to Kazuki, didn’t care as much. Hina suddenly wished it’d been Nemuri on that trip instead of him, maybe then- “-, but as it is, I need to take care of the rest of my class. The media will be hounding us all down for this story and it’ll be a mess.”

Boy was it going to be a mess. Hina grimaced at the mere thought. UA was going to be in some trouble, that was for sure. Guiltily, she realized a part of her wanted them to be in trouble for the mess. Kazuki had paid the price for the entire disaster that had happened. Most of it was on the villains, sure, but the school had failed Kazuki too.

The media would absolutely roast UA… but they’d likely try and throw some mud onto Kazuki too, somehow. Maybe they’d “theorize” that he was part of the whole thing, a member of the villain group or some bullshit. Some of the bold ones might comment on how it was a good thing that it was Kazuki and not someone better that got taken.

The whole thing made Hina’s blood boil.

And the poor children would have to face the vultures?

“I mean, yeah, Minoru is… something, but he was the first person that gave me a chance like… ever. And he’s never let me down. So, yeah, he’s my best friend.”

“I don’t know how Toru manages to be so bright while also being invisible, honestly.”

“Momo was telling me that she wants me to play in one of her parent’s parties, can you believe it?”

“Kyoka recommended some more songs to me and I’m checking them out. You should, I think you’d like some of them.”

“I guess Shoto and I are always going to struggle to fit in, but at least we have each other, right?”

“Yep, she delivered that with a straight face, no hesitation. Tsuyu’s bluntness is definitely something.”

She remembered all that and more. She could almost hear Kazuki telling her all those things as if it were happening right then and there. Those friends were the reason he was half-sane after so long thinking everyone would hate him, friends that he didn’t think he’d ever have. There were Ashido and Kirishima, but while Kazuki was eager to forgive them, she could tell there was a scar there and she didn’t think she disagreed with that rift, even if she also understood why things had happened the way they did.

So, as Uwabami considered all that, she came to a decision.

“What hospital are you at? I can help with the vultures,” she asked, because those kids needed help. She could provide that help. It was something she could do. They’d helped Kazuki, even without realizing, and she could pay them back in his stead. Besides… “And then you can tell me more in person, Aizawa,” she added sharply, because if the man thought he could push her away from this, then he had another thing coming.

Her boy needed help, and she’d be damned if she did nothing.

[}-o-{]

[Kazuki Endo]

It was all kind of blurry to him, for a good bit.

First, there was a battlefield after the attack, with him trying his best to stay conscious and help his class against the villains. Then Kazuki had noticed one of his Grimm, the one guarding him, that disappeared from his awareness immediately, like it’d never been there. After that, he turned to look and check what’d happened while making a new one.

That’s when he saw a red glove reaching for him.

The next thing Kazuki knew was a lot more blurry, which was saying something. It was flashes of darkness and light too bright. Then pain in his shoulder, but especially in his side. Idly, he’d later realize that it’d been where his injuries were, but that knowledge wouldn’t come for a bit. He’d passed out at some point during that.

And then, awareness came to him once more. He stirred weakly, blinking bleary eyes as if trying to procure more consciousness from somewhere. The first thing he saw was a bright light, and the first thing he felt was his body stiff and pain here and there, especially when he moved. His shoulder and his side flared like crazy when he twisted the smallest bit, but his whole body felt off.

A second later, Kazuki realized that probably had something to do with the fact that he’d been sleeping on the most uncomfortable chair in the history of chairs. He’d even had his head resting back and looking up, which was not great for his neck, that was for sure. None of that mattered much in his mind though. No, he was more preoccupied with the fact that, as his shoulder and side reminded him, they’d been attacked by villains, and one of them got to him.

And now he was in a place that was most definitely not a hospital.

“Hi~” a voice greeted him and he shivered, his stab injuries feeling all tingly all of a sudden. In his mind, he could almost hear it again. He could almost hear it, could almost feel the blade twisting inside him.

“You bleed red~!” he heard in his mind.

“Awake, are you?” a scratchy voice asked while Kazuki looked around. With every glance, he caught sight of something else that set him more on edge than he already was. Most of the people around him were, for one, villains that he’d seen during the attack or at the USJ. First of all was the hands guy, front and center and looking down at him with bloodshot eyes. The purple mist villain was standing behind the bar counter cleaning a glass as if everything were normal. There was a scarred man sitting on a stool and leaning on the counter. Next to him was the blond girl that had played serial killer with Kazuki and almost killed him.

More and more faces, all of them scary, all of them driving home the situation he was in. He was strapped to a chair, in the middle of a bar filled to the brim with villains. He took a deep breath in, noticing how his side’s wound seemed to have some kind of plaster covering it, same as his shoulder. It didn’t hurt as much as before either, but it still very much hurt.

“Or is he? Of course he is!” the clone guy said, his voice shifting midway through after a spike of panic that left Kazuki very confused. Not that he allowed much thought to that random thing. Instead, he shifted slightly and locked eyes with the hands villain. He seemed like the leader back at the USJ and he seemed like the leader now. “He’s awake, boss! Might be a sleepwalker!”

“Shut up,” the hands villain hissed and the clones guy did, indeed, shut up. “You kept us waiting, Kazuki Endo,” he continued then, turning towards him.

What was he supposed to say to that? What was he supposed to say about any of what was going on? What was he supposed to say in general? He didn’t know. He had absolutely no clue and his brain kept drawing blanks.

“I don’t appreciate loading screens, at all,” the hands villain grumbled and Kazuki almost got whiplash with that, because… what the fuck was that? Loading screen? Like a game? Actually, didn’t the guy have some kind of game gimmick to his speech? He thought he remembered something about that from USJ, but he didn’t even know if he himself had heard him or if someone had told him. It’d been a while and a lot had happened. “Won’t say anything?” the villain asked him and he took another deep breath in.

He needed to say something, but what?

“Take your time,” he remembered one of his classes with Hina then and there. It almost made him laugh, because those had been for dealing with reporters, not villains. “Think about what they want to hear, what you want them to say, and find a way to get both.” She had said that, and, considering it, Kazuki thought it wasn’t the worst advice ever to apply to his current situation.

Not like he had anything else, really.

“Sorry about that,” he said, because challenging the guy wouldn’t help him at all. Still, he kept his voice firm, pushing the fear away through some channeling, and keeping himself focused. He could play ball, but if he showed too much fear, they might get worse. The excited giggling from the blond girl really wasn’t helping him decide if that was the right approach, admittedly.

“At least you’re polite,” the hands villain commented, but there was a tinge of mockery in his voice. “Not the worst thing to be,” he continued, tapping on the bar counter with his finger. “Now, tell me,” he added, shifting to turn the stool he was sitting on at the bar counter fully towards Kazuki. “Wouldn’t you like to become one of us?” he asked, tilting his head and Kazuki felt his already pretty high nerves and fear spike further.

Somehow, the situation had gotten worse.

Because of course it had.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Well, ain’t everybody having a fun time? These last few chapters have just been delightful, haven’t they? I mean, let’s be real, think about the story you’ve been reading and tell me you didn’t expect shit to hit the fan at some point after all that fluffy goodness? If you were surprised, that’s on you.

Why are you guys looking at me like that?

What’s up with the pitchfork?

Anyway, yeah, I hope you guys, er… enjoyed the chapter.

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: What color is the sky? That’s a trick question, by the way. Like, for example, right now, over where I am, it’s grey. It's been cloudy all morning.

See you.