Chapter 42

… The next morning at UA High School inside Nezu’s office…

Nezu was seated in front of his computer, having spent the entirety of last night working on the preliminary incident report of the ambush for the Sarumai Municipality Police Department. The result was a document filled with red redaction covering the majority of the text inside.

Across from him sat Detective Naomasa, who was currently rubbing the bridge of his nose. If someone who wasn't familiar with his appearance were to enter the office right now, they would have thought he was Aizawa, simply by looking at the dark circles under his eyes and his tired expression. On his lap rested two folders, one being the physical copy of the folder on Nezu’s computer and the other being the official police investigation report. Both were unmarked except for a single stamp: *LEVEL-5 SECURITY CLEARANCE ACCESS ONLY*.

"I think this is more than enough; all the forensic reports had been erased from the record, and all the damage in the alley has been attributed to one of the villains using a high-performing derivative of Trigger, which has forced Endeavor to use his quirk to stop the chemical reaction produced by the villain's quirk from spreading," Naomasa said, looking at the report, his voice raspy from also spending last night working on the police report from his side.

Nezu nodded, then stood up to make some tea to fight off his own exhaustion. Passing a cup to Naomasa, who accepted it with gratitude. 

"What about the official casualty count? Did you also erase it?"

"That's what I wanted to do at first, but unfortunately, even without a forensic report, something could still appear later if someone decided to go through the files. I decided to keep it at five. One died due to a drug overdose, and four others fell victim to their allies' quirk, all incinerated by Endeavor to avoid further contamination." 

“That's good. I suppose you also handle the statement for the media?” Nezu asked while taking a sip of tea,

"Yes, I also took care of that. The story we are feeding the media and the district attorney should also be clean. What happened was that a young hero candidate from UA on his internship was targeted while separated from his supervisor. He was able to defend himself until the Pro Heroes Mirko and Endeavor arrived to get him out of danger before dealing with them. One of the assailants, seeing they were about to be arrested, used an illegal Quirk amplifier and suffered catastrophic consequences, resulting in self-inflicted casualties." Naomasa replied, while opening his folder to see the story prepared for the press release.

While reading the report, his thumb paused over a photo that showed what was left of the alleyway after Endeavor burned all the evidence. Even in this state, it was still possible to see traces of Arata quirk rampage if one looked close enough.

“It's perfect. With this, I believe we can all call it a day.” Nezu said with a smile, glad that everything was over, which meant that he could finally rest, but all he received as an answer was a groan from Naomasa

"I don't like this, Nezu; it goes against my quirk and principles. The only reason I'm still participating in this is that the boy was killed, not executed, in that alley. He shouldn't be punished for what happened after.” Naomasa added, before frowning, recalling Arata’s interrogation.

“What scares me, however, is how he walked out of it without showing any sign of being disturbed by what he had done. Even during the interrogation, he didn't look nervous; it was only after he was forced to reveal the truth that his attitude changed. That kid has a serious problem." 

"You are right; this is cause for concern, which is precisely why we need to protect him and make sure he doesn't go on the wrong path. Look at it this way: this time the incident happened because he was pushed to his limit. Can you imagine what could have happened if he was a villain and did it deliberately?" Nezu asked softly, his expression warm and peaceful as if he wasn't speaking about the potential massacre of multiple civilians, before placing his cup down. Hearing his question, Naomasa froze, his eyes widening in horror. 

"Arata-kun chose to be a hero, admittedly not totally for the best reason, but he has always been upfront about it. Our duty is to guide him on this path and make sure he stays safe. Unfortunately, we've already failed him twice now; if, on top of that, we let the Hero Public Safety Commission suspect that U.A. is housing an individual who possesses not only immortality but is also capable of causing such destruction, Arata Seiji will no longer be a student. They will mandate his immediate transfer to a black-site research facility, where he will spend the rest of his existence being dismantled and experimented on, all in the name of 'public safety.' We can't let that happen."

Naomasa grimaced, closing the folder with a snap. "The Commission is already asking why Endeavor decided to do a full purge of a crime scene before any forensics team arrived."

"I suppose I have to thank Endeavor for his foresight and acting so decisively. I will speak personally with the Chief of Police; you won't have to worry about the HPSC. As far as the press and the public are concerned, Arata Seiji is simply an exceptionally talented student who survived a violent ambush through luck, training, and the timely intervention of his seniors." Nezu replied, in amusement, as he closed the documents on his screen. 

"Now, all that's left to do is to wait and see who among our enemies is clever enough to look beneath the surface."

….

Inside a bar in the Kamino district, sat Giran, the underworld info broker, who was currently smoking a cigarette while his eyes were focused on the hand trembling on top of the table in front of him.

Across from him was Shigaraki, whose limbs had been healed with the help of his teacher and the doctor. To this day, his joints still burned every time he recalled the moment when his limbs had been cut off; what was worse than the lingering pain was the humiliation eating at his gut when he thought about the fact that he was rendered helpless, unable to even scream while a kid he was looking down on mutilated him. 

"So what was the result of your little joint operation with the Hero Killer?" Giran spoke first, while blowing the smoke of his cigarette toward the bar ceiling. 

"Word on the street is that he vanished from Hosu without leaving a trace."

Even though he saw the news report about the incident, he had never been the kind of guy who would believe what they said. More often than not, they spread false or inaccurate information. Take this case, for example: at the end of the day, there was no mention of the League of Villains or even Stain.

"Tsk, don't talk to me about him. Not only did they fail; he escaped after I had him rescued." Shigaraki spoke with irritation; what was annoying him wasn't only the fact that his operation failed or that Stain escaped; it was the fact that he did so by injuring him, leaving him paralyzed again, which reminded him of those hateful kids, but he also dared to promise to come back for revenge for his betrayal. 

"Damn him and his ideals. We offered him a path forward, but the self-righteous bastard decided he wanted nothing more to do with the League.”

While they were talking, Kurogiri silently materialized behind Giran, the fog that enveloped his body casting an unnatural shadow over the broker. 

"Tomura. You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the hero killer's usefulness. His presence within the league could have helped us gain more members; as things stand now, the only image the public has of the league is that of a failed attack at USJ. Even if we announce that we were responsible for this attack, all it will do is add another layer of failure to our name."

Kurogiri said with concern, not only about the league's image but also about the obsession that Shigaraki was showing toward Arata.

"Let the public believe what they want; as for having more members, I think I can help you with that," Giran interjected, tapping the ash of his cigarette into a rusted tray. Before taking out a tablet 

And showing what was on the display to Shigaraki and Kurogiri. There was a series of anonymous texts from various dark-web forums, filled with crude words, blurred photos of police barricades, and leaked audio reports from low-level spotters, all linked to the incident.

"Most of the people that we want to reach out to barely, if ever, watch the news. Most of them get their information from unofficial channels like this."

Hearing Giran's words, Shigaraki grinned widely, having found an idea to accomplish all his goals at the same time.

“That's exactly what we need. We can make use of UA’s own propaganda to hurt them. All we have to do is spread the news that the first-year sports festival winner  is responsible for the death of all the villains, and the top hero and UA are covering him."

Giran stared slightly dumbfounded at Shigaraki; a smile spread across his face. "You certainly have a great sense of humor. Hearing you, I could almost believe that UA’s actually breeding a monster. People are going to see the heroes for the hypocrites."

"While it's true some may think that," Kurogiri added, as he leaned forward. 

"Others could think the kid became a target after the sports festival. And the people that we would end up recruiting could only be joining us because they want to challenge him."

Far from finding the remarks annoying, Shigaraki's grin spread further, as the pain in his limbs disappeared. 

"That's even better, to think that after foiling my plan, he would become the reason for us gaining more followers. If they challenge him later and he also kills them, that will only prove our point," he says, his voice dripping with pleasure at the irony.

"Either he dies fighting them, or he proves to the whole world that U.A.'s precious hero candidate is nothing more than a murderer.”