Sekijiro Kan walked into Nedzu's office, immediately taking note of the atypically chaotic state of the room. Stacks of papers were scattered across the table, alongside empty teacups.
The rat-like Principal himself sat on his specially elevated chair, animatedly talking into a phone with a half-filled cup of tea in his off hand.
"No, we will not be holding a public press conference until friday and that is final. Our first priority is to the students and their families. No, I am not open for interview, nor is All-Might. Yes, we will be reviewing our security protocols to be better prepared for future incidents. No, I am not going to make any further comments. Goodbye."
Kan settled down, patiently waiting until the Principal finished the call, before clearing his throat.
"Ah, Kan, did you need something?"
He raised an eyebrow at the principal's ragged appearance, but said nothing of it. "I'm here for the meeting. Detective Shinshaku should be here soon."
"Ah, of course, of course. My sincerest apologies I have just…" Neezu blinked once, then twice. "Well, I won't lie to you, in between handling the fallout of the USJ attack it slipped my mind completely."
"Understandable." Kan said, his expression neutral. "Artificial Humans, an attempt on All-Might's life, children forced to fight for their lives…."
"A greater tragedy does not erase the lesser. What happened with 1-B could have been so much worse." Nedzu said, adjusting his glasses. "If he'd gotten inside…"
"But he didn't. Our security protocols proved adequate."
"That's the kind of statement I expect to see from you in the press release tomorrow. I want to hear what you think about all of this."
Kan sighed. "What can I say? My students shouldn't have had to deal with that on their own. They weren't prepared or trained to come face to face with a villain. But I can't help but feel glad that at least they weren't at USJ. I've read the interview manuscripts, some of Aizawa's students were seconds away from a painful death. Seconds."
Kan ran a hand across his face. "But all in all, my class is doing as best as could be expected. No injuries, and while everyone was obviously shaken there should be no lasting issues, though I will be monitoring the situation. With any luck they will emerge stronger for the ordeal, having seen the face of villainy firsthand. But there is one of them that gives me concern."
"Tatsuma? She did well in handling the situation yesterday, did she not?"
"Concerning the circumstances, yes. I could not have expected more out of her. Yet I cannot overlook the fact that she almost had a breakdown in the middle of the villain attack." Kan sighed, rubbing his temples. "Academically and physically she's been doing very well, but psychologically, what she's already been dealing with, and now this… Nobody should have to have that much on their plate at once, least of all a child."
"You fear she'll crack under the pressure?"
"Only time will tell, but I fear she'll find it all too much to deal with." Kan nodded glumly. "She's a good kid. She's adapted to her condition surprisingly well, and she knows what she needs to do to improve herself. Just the other day, she impressed me when she stepped up to the title of Vice Class-President. It wasn't what I expected, but I think it's just what she needs. But we can't ignore the warning signs either."
"What would you suggest we do then?" Nedzu asked. "She is already attending therapy."
"Nothing. We'll continue to give her all the help that she deserves, but this is something we cannot do for her. But if things take a turn for the worse, we may have to start considering alternative options."
"Dropping her from the Heroics Course?" It wasn't often that Kan got to see the principal shocked. "From everything that I know of her, it would devastate her."
"It would." Kan agreed. "The hardest part of being a teacher is knowing when to let go of a student, even if it's for their own good. But sometimes it must be done. I've seen it before. Just because I can understand what she's dealing with does not mean I can ignore the reality of the situation. Our first duty is to her health and wellbeing."
The two of them sat in morose silence for a moment.
"This is, of course, still just a hypothetical scenario." Kan added after a while. "The first warning signs are there, but the picture is not yet complete. She deserves the chance to prove she can make it."
-----
Ryutsuki Tatsuma was a tall woman, only half a foot shorter than Kan. She was the spitting image of her older daughter, with long white hair in a neat ponytail and sharp, blood-red eyes.
Nedzu took charge, greeting her with a curt handshake. "Welcome, welcome, Miss Tatsuma. This is Sekijiro Kan, and Detective Shinshaku."
"Thank you for coming on such a short notice." The Detective was a portly man with a thick moustache, a pair of ram-like horns jutting out the sides of his head. He bowed respectfully as he shook her hand.
Tatsuma nodded curtly. "My eldest elected to remain with her sister, as did my husband. Ryuuzaki was… a little shaken by yesterday's events."
"Absolutely understandable, though I hope to talk to them at a later date." Shinshaku nodded as he sat down. "I'll cut to the chase then, we're here to discuss the events of the villain attack yesterday, specifically in relation to your daughter. Though it was part of the larger attack, a separate investigation has been assigned due to the sheer scale of the event, as well as to avoid it being buried underneath the events that took place at the USJ center."
He looked around the table, but seeing that nobody had anything to add, he opened a folder and retrieved several documents, laying them down on the table.
"Katsuke Fujiwara, age 25. Expelled from UA's Heroics Course ten years ago on account of disruptive behaviour, repeatedly neglecting to complete assignments, and failing the first term final exams. Moved on to an educational career, until he was fired from the position of Assistant Teacher at Himeji Middle School two years ago. Convicted of attempted murder and several lesser charges soon after. The victim of the crime was Ryuuzaki Tatsuma, a former student of his whom he viewed as having been responsible for his firing. She survived, but with crippling injuries."
Kan noticed Tatsuma's jaw tighten at the mention of her daughter, but she held her silence.
"Fujiwara was incarcerated at Rodia Penitentiary, and was logged with several incidents of bad behaviour and fights. Two days ago, Rodia Penitentiary came under attack by a previously unknown group of villains which we now know as the League of Villains. Eight guards dead and seventy-two convicted villains disappeared, all of whom were recaptured yesterday. As of present, seventy-one of them remain in custody."
"Are you saying-"
"Miss Tatsuma, the reason we wanted to speak with you was because yesterday, Katsuke Fujiwara disappeared from detainment without a trace soon after his capture." Nedzu stated grimly.
"You cannot be serious!" Tatsuma shouted, springing to her feet and slamming a hand on the table. "You lost him?!"
Kan flinched. "We have no concrete evidence, but we believe he may have been extracted by the League's teleporter."
"You knew they had a teleporter and didn't properly guard him?" Tatsuma seethed.
"Please." Shishaku began, bowing his head. "I will not seek to make excuses, but simply explain the circumstances. Seventy-two villains were arrested yesterday, as well as the creature that fought All-Might. Given it's power we expected it to attempt to break out, or for the League of Villains to attempt to retrieve it, and so the officers on the scene made the call to prioritize it's guard detail. We did not expect the League to risk their teleporter for the sake of the rank and file villains."
"So what are you going to do about this failure?" Tatsuma questioned, still clearly furious. A thin wisp of smoke had slipped out as she spoke, dissipating into the air.
"That is what we are here to discuss today." Shishaku said firmly. "We will, of course, be dedicating our resources to catching the League, but what we wanted to speak to you was about what we can do for you and your family, Miss Tatsuma."
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"On two occasions Katsuke Fujiwara has attempted to attain revenge against your daughter, and we have no reason to believe he intends to stop. After direct physical attack failed, he attempted to get at her through indirect methods. The logical next step is to go after family. We need to consider the appropriate security measures and contingencies to ensure your safety."
-----
"Again."
The white-skinned Nomu lifted the prisoner off the ground with one hand before slamming him face-first onto the floor again. The first few times he'd tried to resist, but now he simply lay limp and took the blows. Whether that was because he'd resigned to the futility of struggling or simply couldn't muster the effort to, Kurogiri wasn't sure.
"Careful now." He said to the only other occupant of the bar, laying down on a stretcher, bandages wrapped around his arms and legs. "The floorboards were just replaced last month."
Shigaraki Tomura responded by throwing an empty soda can at his head, which passed harmlessly through the black mist. "You're useless, you know that?"
Kurogiri elected not to point out that without him, they'd all be sitting in Tartarus already. Tomura was in an irritable mood, and it was best to leave him be.
"Can't even follow simple orders." The younger man grumbled.
"I did my best to retrieve the Nomu, but he was surrounded by twenty police officers and half a dozen Pro-Heroes." Kurogiri explained for what felt like the twentieth time that day. "I was lucky to be able to retrieve the traitor."
"Yesss…" Tomura drew out the word, returning his attention to his current victim. "Traitor. Such a nice word."
Katsuke Fujiwara coughed blood onto the floorboards, his face a mass of purplish bruises. The Nomu had not been gentle in it's ministrations, under Tomura's instruction. His hands were still bound with handcuffs and encased with blocks of hardened blood, after Kurogiri had snatched him from a police transport.
"You know, I didn't give two shits about any of you. You're nothing more than bottom-feeding trash. The others, they failed, but at least they had the decency to follow orders and get captured trying. But you?"
Tomura pointed a finger at the man, powering through the pain from the gunshot wound in his shoulder. "You ran away. Did you think I wouldn't notice? That you could just betray me and walk away?"
Technically he hadn't noticed. Tomura hadn't even bothered with a headcount of the thugs they'd recruited, it had been Kurogiri who had taken note of the disappearance and notified the other villain after their escape, which he had latched onto.
"I gave you the chance to participate in the greatest villain attack in recorded history, and you threw it back at my face. I don't appreciate that." Tomura's features twisted into a snarl. "I don't appreciate that at all."
Before the younger man could go on, however, the video monitor mounted on the bar's wall flickered to life, displaying a blank "Sound Only" notification.
The change in Tomura's attitude was instantaneous. His flippant smirk was gone as he turned face the monitor, bowing his head respectfully. "Master."
"Shigaraki Tomura." An old, gravely voice sounded from the speakers, though distorted. "Have you given thought to my suggestion?"
"Yes, Master. You're right. Relying on chaff like this is not going to work." He said, giving a contemptuous glance to Fujiwara before returning his gaze to the screen, with something approaching reverence in his eyes. "I will rebuild the League, with real villains this time, stronger than ever before."
"Oh? This is the man that has had you in such a frenzy all day? You took quite a risk sending Kurogiri after him."
"Traitors can't be allowed to walk freely." Tomura sneered. "It would set a bad example for the others to come."
"But of course." There was a crackle of distortion that might have been a laugh. "Now, have you any candidates in mind for recruitment?"
"Yeah, I had Giran snoop around and he found two that I liked. The first one's a real nutcase, but he killed three Pro-Heroes and was only taken down by Endeavour and Ryukyu working together. We'd need to bust him out of the deathrow, but that shouldn't be too hard."
"Indeed, it seems Kurogiri here is quite adept at jailbreaking! And the other?"
"He's the one who killed the Water Hose couple years back. I think he goes by the name of Muscular, or something like that. Giran said he'd get in contact with him but it'd take a while."
"I see. Both are quite excellent choices for recruitment. But tell me, Shigaraki Tomura, do you have candidates of your own? Giran cannot build your League for you."
"Yeah, I have." Tomura scowled at the scolding tone of the voice.
"I think one of the kids we fought yesterday might have had the right attitude… well, we'll see. But in the meantime, I wanted to find and recruit the Hero Killer."
"Oh? He would be quite a catch, but Stain is known for being quite hard to get a hold of."
"Yeah, well Ku-" Whatever Tomura had been about to say was interrupted by a rasping voice speaking out down from the floor.
"...S-stain?"
Kurogiri was surprised Fujiwara was still capable of talking, with the Nomu still pressing his face against the floorboards.
"Y-you want to find Stain? I can- I can help. I can h-help you find him?"
"You?" Tomura said, sneering down at the man. "You're nothing more than the trash of society."
"I f-follow his path. I can lead you t-to him."
"You're one of his disciples?" Kurogiri asked, curious. The Hero Killer was known to work alone.
"What does it matter?" Tomura asked, clearly irritated. "He's a traitor."
"Come now, there's no harm in hearing him out, after all the trouble you went to to bring him here." The voice spoke out from the screen.
Tomura scowled again, but acquiesced. "Nomu. Bring him here."
The white-skinned Artificial Human lifted Fujiwara off the ground with one hand and held him out to Tomura, it's four eyes staring vacantly into the distance.
"Here's how this is going to work." Tomura said, putting a thumb onto Fujiwara's neck as he hung limply from the Nomu's grip. "You're going to tell me everything about Stain and how to find him, and I might be persuaded to let you live if you're useful enough."
"How- How do I k-know you won't just kill me afterwards?"
"You don't." Tomura replied, laying his index finger on the man's neck. "You can always choose certain death by refusing, of course."
"I-" Fujiwara hesitated, only for Tomura to lay down his middle finger.
"The question you have to ask yourself is, are you the kind of person who can do that?" Tomura said, bringing his ring finger on contact with skin, leaving only the pinky. "Are you ready to die?"
"Alright, alright!" Fujiwara yelled out, his eyes wide with fear.
"Didn't think so." Tomura leaned back, his cracked lips curving into a grin.
"I don't, I don't know how to find Stain." Fujiwara began, before hastening to add. "B-but I know somebody who does!"
"Looks like you've had your stay of execution." Tomura said. "Let's hope that your usefulness lasts."
BEGINNING OF SCHOOL ARC END