I paused for a second at the corner of the building, out of sight of the sports field, long enough to collect my thoughts and the memories of my last clone that had just dispersed.
The hum of the cars faded as if the volume had been turned down in my ears.
I ran a hand over my face, lowering my mask for a moment to wipe away the icy sweat that clung to my skin.
I felt exhausted, my muscles recovering from the fatigue of the day's umpteenth chakra-starved clone dispersal.
I instinctively raised my right hand to my body, a very faint green glow surrounding my fingers before stopping abruptly, remembering where I was.
I let out a grunt, straightened up, and reached into my pocket for three granola bars and a bottle of water, which I devoured in seconds.
Below my stomach I could feel that my chakra reserves were dangerously low, barely enough to keep me conscious and out of trouble until I dispersed all my other clones.
The exhaustion numbed my mind and made it difficult to do anything but eat and sleep, but I'd held out for weeks - I wasn't about to give up now.
Besides, it wasn't like I could give up, so...
I took a deep breath, just enough to keep the world around me from swaying.
Then I lifted my chin, squared my shoulders, and walked to the gym where the first lesson of the Elite Class would be held.
The door creaked as if its hinges hadn't been oiled in centuries.
aizawa paused, his eyes as big as saucers, and the other students followed suit.
The air was heavy with hostility.
All their eyes were on me, as if they saw me for the first time. I saw their shoulders stiffen, felt the tension that made their energies feverish.
My eyes swept the room with an uninterested flutter, barely lingering on Uraraka, who was sitting on the floor next to Bakugo.
The boy met my gaze and waved me over with a short gesture of his chin.
aizawa continued his speech as if nothing had happened.
I crossed the room with slow steps until I was lying on the floor on the other side of Katsuki.
The floor was surely covered with germs and microbes and other unspeakable things, but I was too tired to really pay attention.
At first glance, I'd said almost a year. But at the rate I'm going, maybe seven or eight months...
I felt the students getting more agitated than they looked.
Monoma met my gaze, smiled and gave me a little wave.
Tokoyami nodded his chin in my direction, slowly, cautiously, as if greeting a beast that might jump at his throat at any moment.
Inaza gave me a piercing look, then turned back to Aizawa.
Jiro and Yaoyorozu were pressed together, shoulder to shoulder, as if they were a single building that might collapse if one of them moved even a quarter of an inch.
They didn't turn around, but I could hear them whispering.
I wondered how many of them had received the special invitation to become All Might's successor - my letter had only included admission to the elite class and my room number.
Bakugo had his arms casually resting on his knees, his shoulders slumped. My eyes went above his head and landed on Ochaco.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
She glanced at me, focused on Aizawa, then, as if her brain had just realized, she looked at me again, more slowly this time, and gave me a prolonged look that was meant to be intense, but slightly cautious.
- ...intensive courses. The purely academic workload will be reduced and kept to a minimum: it will be your duty to work in your free time to supplement the lessons provided by the teachers.
Aizawa remained silent, watching us in turn.
- You are the first students in the new system set up by the headmaster. Great hopes are pinned on your abilities and your future. You are the Heroes of tomorrow, all of you.
His eyes met mine.
- Try to prove yourselves worthy
*
Daisuke Kazama was a respected reporter in the business.
His methods might have been questionable at times, but he always got results - and that's what mattered most in the crazy world they lived in.
What made Daisuke an admired peer - or at least someone no one would deliberately try to harm - was his impeccable ethics.
He hand-picked his sources, always double-checked every piece of information before releasing it to the public: and when he did release it, he always made sure that the form was as neutral as possible, although he was sometimes terribly keen on adding a little bias here and there if the facts were particularly shocking.
Daisuke was one of the very few independent journalists with an audience as large as the best press companies, and his constant neutrality was what was most appreciated about him, after his quality scoops.
Daisuke would find the carcasses and the scavengers would butcher them for him.
Daisuke's cigar froze above his lower lip.
He raised an eyebrow, his tired eyes sweeping over the list of documents on his tablet with a rare astonishment.
Because Daisuke was neutral, he was sometimes sent information that could harm Hero's career, knowing that he would always publish it, even if it might challenge the social order of the country.
- Karen, come take a look at this
A ponytailed brunette, bent over a handout as thick as her arm, came to meet him.
- We haven't finished the special file on 'Schools for Children of Heroes' yet," she began. Haru says he can get us an undercover interview with a former S and W teacher, but...
Her voice died in her throat when she saw the photo Daisuke showed her.
She scrolled down the page and new photos appeared, even more incriminating than the first.
- Is this really...?
There was a blurry photo of three white-haired people rushing into a police station.
A few shots of the cracked walls inside the building, then of the firemen stationed at the entrance, presumably to secure the area.
And - most damning of all - the world's most notorious teenager standing in front of an armored van as two equally notorious villains were led away.
- Our inside source said Endeavor was there for his kid, whom they'd found.
Karen opened her mouth.
- Kid ? What kid ? Since when does Endeavor-
Daisuke, this time, slid a physical photograph in Karen's direction.
The photo was shaky, as if whoever had taken it was afraid of being caught in the act: it showed a keyboard and a multitude of screens, as if they were in a control room.
On one of them, with surprisingly good resolution, you could see Endeavor and the three other white-haired people gathered around a fourth, seated, covered in burns and scars closed with staples.
Karen fell back in her chair.
She looked at Daisuke, speechless, a hand over her face.
He looked just as serious.
- We can decide not to publish them, he began. But the guy who sent it to us also mentioned an inside video to prove that it's not made up. And he wants $15,000 cash by tonight.
Karen continued to stare at the photo of Dabi in amazement.
Because of Daisuke's special status as a journalist, the police used to call them for special investigations or to gather information about dangerous people they couldn't locate.
They had been asked to cooperate in the investigation of the USJ incident, to try to find traces of the League's villains.
They had come across two of their most dangerous, Dabi and someone called Twice.
- This could destroy his career
Daisuke looked serious, his chin almost buried in his neck.
- I know
- But even if we give him the money, he'll still send it to other media, right ?
The lure of money, the desire to do harm, or the desire to be famous even if no one knew you were the one everyone talked about - it didn't really matter.
The fact was, once they had a bomb in their hands, these types of individuals never stopped.
They wanted more. Always.
- We can contain the fallout.
Karen looked up at him.
Daisuke bit his lips, his look unfathomable.
If this had been All Might or any other hero, Daisuke wouldn't have hesitated for a second to expose their blunders.
But this was Endeavor, and whatever broke out in his hands would inevitably splash over his son, Shoto.
And Daisuke - although he knew that the feeling was illogical and best nipped in the bud to prevent him from making mistakes like the one he was making - felt indebted to the boy.
It was because he'd redirected the villain with the Quirk of Gigantification who was wreaking havoc in town, a few weeks ago, that Daisuke still had grandchildren.
Daisuke exhaled loudly, his shoulders hanging loosely along his body as if making that decision had just drained him of all his energy.
- Call Nezu
*
Author's note :
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250 power stones = sunday bonus chapter
See you in the next update everyone !