[78: The Press Conference]
(Tokyo, Japan)
"Move aside! Stay behind the line! Anyone trespassing will be detained!" A senior HPSC agent commanded the large crowd with a megaphone. Multiple HPSC agents used their arms and hands to force the people back if they got too close.
It was a hostile crowd. The only ones relatively calm were the reporters and journalists who were at the front to ask questions, but that was only a professional courtesy. It was a mix of opinions among them.
On the podium, a few HPSC agents started to set up bulletproof covers in front of the podium where the HPSC president would be standing. The reporters and journalists were already taking notes about it, making their own interpretations about what this means.
More agents started to set up the background on the podium as well as some cameras to broadcast the press conference live. The security started to increase noticeably as more agents came in, some armed with pistols and SMGs. The reporters and journalists also took note of this.
"Stay back. This is the last warning at this time!" The senior agent used the megaphone to alert the crowd, but it didn't do much.
Just a few minutes later, the crowd went into an uproar as multiple agents came out, surrounding a woman as she entered the scene. Perhaps the most eye-catching among all of this was the Winged Hero: Hawks. And even he wasn't immune to what was happening.
"You're complicit, Hawks!"
"You're a part of them!"
"She doesn't deserve protection!"
"Go to jail!"
"You're a crook and a liar!"
"Resign!"
The crowd threw multiple insults and words at the woman and at Hawks, but she didn't show anything on her face. She was stoic and serious.
She finally came into view as she stood at the podium, setting a stack of papers down. She wore a black suit and a dress. Middle-aged, with ashy blonde hair and blue eyes.
Hawks stood aside. Though he was doing what he was assigned, he was conflicted. The leaks hadn't mentioned any names, but he knew. He knew all too well that he was in there somewhere, spared by a black bar on the papers. It was cruel in a way. One single color was saving and protecting individual people, but it was also the source of dread and anxiety for people in the HPSC.
He had no idea what would happen if another leak dropped that started to reveal names.
The president of the HPSC finally spoke up. "We will take questions later. For now, I'm going to put forth the official stance of the commission regarding the leaks and accusations towards us."
⁂
"Well, this is a bit of a pickle, Kaina. But it's alright."
4,500 meters away from the site of the press conference, a cloaked aircraft was hovering. It blended in seamlessly with the environment.
"I don't think the glass will stop a bullet like his, Eleanor."
"You're right, Kaina, but the bullet should hit her without the bullet having to penetrate anything. You can adjust for it easily. You're just going to shoot at a steeper angle of depression."
The aircraft started to rise. Through the scope of the Anzio 20mm, Lady Nagant could see the president of the HPSC lower. She had to adjust the rifle to compensate for the increase in height.
She controlled the smart scope on the rifle. She tagged the president of the HPSC. With every little sway of the rifle, the numbers on the scope would change. The Coriolis effect, temperature, humidity, distance, crosswinds, weapon orientation, and much more.
A red dot would appear that would predict where the bullet would land if she fired, but it's not like she could. With the target tagged, the rifle wouldn't fire until it lined up perfectly to hit the target.
Once the aircraft finally stopped, Lady Nagant readied the rifle. The smart bullet was loaded into the rifle, cocked and ready to shoot.
"Here it is, Kaina. Don't waste it."
⁂
"We are now going to take questions." The HPSC president said after giving the official statement.
The reporters and journalists all raised their hands, shouting over each other as they tried to get the president's attention.
The HPSC president pointed at one reporter. The rest quieted down. "Madam President, will you be stepping down or resigning?"
"No, I will not be doing anything like that. Next question." A very simple answer delivered coldly. She pointed at another reporter.
"Madam President, what specific steps are going to be taken to avoid similar events from happening again, and if these steps haven't been taken yet, why not?"
"What I can say is that we have launched an internal investigation into the commission. The investigation showed no wrongdoing."
"But Madam President, the leaks have been verified by experts! There is clear wrongdoing happening in the commission!" One of the reporters spoke up, but the crowd quickly also let their dissatisfaction be known.
"You're avoiding accountability!"
"That's a load of bullsh*t!"
"All of you are untrustworthy!"
The HPSC president was unfazed by the hostility of the crowd and their words. "This is the stance of the commission after the internal investigation." She doubled down.
"You'll pay for this!" This particular shout from the protester seemed louder than all the others. And by some cruel humor and coincidence, it was perfectly timed.
No one heard it, or even saw it coming, but they certainly saw the aftermath. The crack couldn't be heard over the noise of the hostile crowd.
In a brutal and gory instant, the entire torso of the HPSC president blew up. From the left shoulder down at a diagonal angle, her entire torso split open. Her neck grossly extended upwards, her skull coming out in a mess of brain matter and blood. Her organs, or anything left of her organs, fell out of her body in an explosion-like mess.
Blood and matter splattered across the bulletproof windows, the background behind her, and on some of the agents. Only her legs were the only thing left to show that there was a person there. Blood, organs, and intestines littered the ground around her.
The president of the HPSC was dead. And it happened on live TV. Millions of viewers saw the gory and gruesome death.
Everyone in the crowd quickly ran away in a panic, screaming and scared. The HPSC were paralyzed for a few seconds before they jumped into action. They tried to stop the people from leaving. To them, every single one of them was a suspect.
Hawk slowly brought a hand up to his face. Drops of blood spilled onto his face. He touched it and looked at his finger. He was paralyzed for a second. It was too sudden.
"Hawks, help us out here! Stop these people from leaving!" The shout from an agent took Hawks out of his stupor.
"Y-yeah, I'm on it."
Due to the chaos, everyone ignored their phones, all of a sudden receiving alerts at the same time from multiple news sources. And it was way too early to receive a full report about what just happened.
⁂
"Target down." Lady Nagant said calmly and coldly after successfully assassinating the HPSC president.
"Good job, Kaina." Eleanor knelt down and patted Lady Nagant's shoulder.
'Whoa, softer than I thought. I wonder…' Eleanor's eyes looked at Lady Nagant, seeing her figure as she lay down. 'Older women are the best.' Eleanor shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. 'Stop it! Now isn't the time!'
"Let's get out of here." Eleanor stood back up.
The aircraft left the area. Letting the people below handle the chaos and aftermath.
⁂
(UA School)
A pin could've been heard clearly in the room if one were dropped. Nezu and other UA faculty had been watching the press conference. They had been talking amongst themselves, giving their thoughts and opinions about the answers the HPSC president was giving, but they were all quiet now.
No one was able to say a single word.
Midnight had a hand over her mouth and looked away, unable to watch the scene.
Nezu seemingly stared blankly at the TV.
All Might clenched his fists hard, smoke coming out of him.
Aizawa took a deep breath, trying to calm down. His eyes were closed, but the image was still so vivid in his mind.
Other faculty members had similar expressions. They had to process what they saw.
The feed on the TV was quickly cut away, but the footage would've already been seen by millions, and already recorded and downloaded all over the internet.
The only thing that knocked everyone out of their stupor was the sound of their phone going off at the same time.
Aizawa was the first to look. His eyes widened at what he saw.
Nezu still looked at the TV, his mind going into overdrive at the thought of the entire situation.
Aizawa walked up to him and leaned down to whisper into his ear. "Principal, another commission leak has been reported."
⁂
(Deika City)
"Things are only getting better for us. Have you had any luck in finding the person behind the leaks? I have a feeling that whoever is behind it is also behind the assassination of the HPSC president, or maybe partnered closely with someone involved in it."
Re-Destro and other MLA leadership had also watched the broadcast.
"No, sir, I haven't found any leads. It's very difficult." Curious responded to Re-Destro.
Just then, their phones and other devices received notifications at the same time.
"Are those the newly published leaks?" Re-Destro asked.
"Yes."
Re-Destro already knew in advance. Slightly, at least. Curious would tell him about any newly delivered leaks that she received from the mysterious leaker.
"Don't stop trying, but don't worry if you find nothing. Because we're going to move soon. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up."
⁂
(Dark, hidden room)
"How do we take advantage of this?"
"This will be very interesting to watch unfold."
"Should we make any moves?"
"It's too uncertain. There are multiple actors involved in this 'little' event."
Two figures in the shadows talked to each other. They were also looking at the broadcast and saw the moment the HPSC president was assassinated. They didn't react too strongly to her death; they were more concerned about what would unfold. They were content to be spectators. For now, at least.
"Any progress on our little spy in UA? How sure are you that it's him?"
"Very confident. He sends out messages almost at the same time he receives anything from us. Just now, he has been sending multiple messages to whoever is on the other side after what just happened. And the location lines up with him as well."
"Give him false information from now on. And continue to intercept any messages. I'll acquire you a machine that can help you break the messages faster."
"Thank you, sir. I'll store all the data on a physical storage module."
⁂
(Eleanor's Hideout)
"Well, damn. Two assassinations carried out quickly. We are on a roll, Kaina. So, how does it feel? Want to talk about it?"
"It feels…I don't know. I can't put it into words. I feel satisfied that I assassinated her, but will this really change anything? Sure, I killed the top leader, but the other management is still alive. They'll just replace her with someone like her."
Lady Nagant vented her feelings. She sat down in a chair. Eleanor sat down next to her. She put an arm around her, trying to calm her down.
"You're right, Eleanor. It's all rotten to the core. It needs to be stripped from the roots and wiped clean, so something new can grow from the ashes."
Eleanor raised an eyebrow, a small smile on her face. "Look at you. You're kind of thinking like me a bit."
Lady Nagant chuckled slightly. "I guess I'm getting a bit of you on me, Eleanor. Looking back, we've been through many things together, and I don't think it's stopping anytime soon." Lady Nagant looked up at Eleanor's face, into her eyes.
Eleanor's violet eyes were looking at her directly. Those eyes were like hers.
Eleanor's smile softened as she looked at Lady Nagant's eyes as well. Her voice got softer and a bit intimate as well. "Yeah, we've done a lot of things together. And I hope we go through many more, no matter how bad it may seem. Just as long as we have each other's back, we can go through anything, fire and flames, and anything else."
"Yeah, I guess so." Lady Nagant focused on Eleanor's face, noticing things that weren't there before. She saw her eyes also look at different parts of her face.
Eleanor's eyes looked at Lady Nagant's lips.
Lady Nagant picked up on it. It was only now that she realized that Eleanor's arm was around her, and her hand rested gently on her shoulder.
Both of them continued to look at each other. It suddenly seemed a bit too quiet between them.
Eleanor's other hand slowly started to move towards Lady Nagant. It gently rested on her thigh, slowly moving up and down.
Lady Nagant twitched slightly, but it felt…nice in a way.
'Wow, that is…thick and firm. Hell yeah.' Eleanor's thoughts were running all over the place, but they were a bit enthusiastic.
'Okay, this is perhaps getting a touch too much.' Lady Nagant, on the other hand, was being more reserved.
Lady Nagant cleared her throat. "So, uh, Eleanor. We should probably, uh, take care of other stuff, you know?"
Eleanor jolted a bit. Her eyes blinked rapidly. Her hand stopped. She finally realized what she was doing. "Oh, uh, y-yeah. We probably should. Actually, I'll go do something right now." Eleanor got up way too quickly and left the area.
'What the hell is happening?' Eleanor asked herself as she left.
'That felt a bit weird. But kind of good? This…this can't be. Right?' Lady Nagant also questioned herself.
'This is just a weird moment. It won't happen again.' Eleanor thought to herself.
'It's just a one-time event. It won't happen again.' Lady Nagant thought to herself.
Yes. They both thought the exact same thing.
If only they knew.
⁂
End of Chapter
A/N: Alright, alright, alright! We're getting somewhere! We're finally getting somewhere with these two! They were so close! So close! I wish I could just force their heads together so they could kiss! Why is the author stalling on it?! Just give it to us!