—Hey, I'm sure you can't just interrogate a minor like that!— Toga Himiko complained with disdain, looking at Yagi with exasperation.
She continued ranting for a while about the abuse of authority and the creeps it gave her to be alone in an office with a strange old man. Yagi hardly heard her.
He didn't know how to feel about this girl. On one hand, she was responsible for inhumanely torturing his student Sero, participated in the events that took the lives of Ojiro and Tsunotori, as well as stabbing Kamakiri in the stomach.
Violent, sadistic, a true threat to society, a criminal. And she was only a child.
—Are you finished?— the man asked with a serious expression, already accustomed to Himiko's eccentric ways.
She smirked, trying and failing to cross her arms, as the chains binding her to the table wouldn't let her reach that far. —Honestly, Gramps, I should be asking you that. Could you stop harassing me, please?— she requested in a weary tone.
Yagi shook his head, studying the girl's smug and shifting expression. It didn't take much for him to guess the true thoughts crossing her mind.
Toga was angry, scared. The betrayal of the criminal organization she was starting to get used to had clearly affected her, but she hid it all under that facade of... whatever this behavior was.
—Sheesh! Don't you have a life? Students to teach? Mortal battles to participate in for the sake of ungrateful idiots!?— Toga lashed out again, veering off completely into another insulting tirade toward Yagi.
—You can stop right there— he raised his hand, silencing the girl. —Young lady, you were already captured once, and sending you to a real prison instead of a juvenile detention center was seriously considered.
Your escape, your association with the League of Villains and That Man put you in a much worse situation now. Are you capable of understanding the trouble you are in?— Yagi contextualized, his stern and concise tone causing the girl, for once, not to fire back with another piece of nonsense.
He took it as a sign.
—The only reason Tartarus isn't being shuffled as your destination is because of the ease with which you can be contained, not your age. But if you don't provide us with information... No one is coming to save you like last time, Toga Himiko— the Hero concluded.
Yagi rose from his chair and left the interrogation room, leaving Toga to reconsider her decisions. He wasn't joking or merely trying to scare her, as those consequences were indeed real.
Toga hadn't said a single word regarding the League or its members. No one understood why.
Hadn't her own comrades betrayed her? Why, then, was she so reluctant to reveal the slightest shred of information?
Tsukauchi thought there was a catch to all of this. That it was part of some plan by the League and that Toga Himiko had been left behind as part of a scheme they couldn't see.
Yagi didn't have that feeling, but no other possibility occurred to him either.
He shook the thought from his head as he left the headquarters, finding Aizawa waiting for him in his car.
—Any news?— the man with the exhausted gaze asked.
—Nothing, for now— Yagi informed. Aizawa nodded stoically and started the vehicle, setting the course for their next and most important destination: Saitama General Hospital.
After an arduous period of waiting and recovery, the moment had arrived when it would be decided if Class 1-A would lose another two members.
*****************************************
Iida Tenya took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the window of his hospital room, watching the busy city with a complicated expression.
He tried to maintain a straight posture, firm as he always had. His weight shifted constantly, discomfort invading him despite his best efforts to ignore it.
He moved slightly, looking for support, for something natural. He did it again and felt incomplete.
An almost imperceptible hiss pierced his ears, a light pressure on his knee instead of the sole of his foot. There was no longer a foot he could feel.
With a slight quiver of his eyelids, he shifted his weight off the high-end prosthesis that replaced his lost leg, unaccustomed to the sensation. He tried and failed not to look down again, finding a metal rod that his family called a masterpiece of bioengineering.
He didn't know how much had been invested in this device, nor did he feel entirely convinced that it could replace his lost leg or work in harmony with the remaining one.
Even if it could, Iida wasn't sure he wanted it to work. High technology or not, this limb didn't belong to him; he didn't grow up with it, he hadn't trained it, and he didn't know it.
Things had changed for him. Many things had during this period of eternal reflection.
—Is this a good time?— a familiar voice came from the doorway. Iida turned awkwardly, finding his recovery partner Sero leaning against the frame, watching him without that characteristic smile of his. He had changed too.
—Would you leave if I said no?— Iida asked with a half-smile.
—No— Sero replied calmly. —I see you haven't finished packing your things— he pointed to the messy bed and the books strewn haphazardly across the small table resting beside it.
—They're just books, Sero-san, not heavy luggage— Iida countered.
—To you, they're even more valuable than an erotic magazine. It's strange for me to see them like that— the boy remarked with a sarcastic smile, earning a grimace from Iida.
—What about your things? I don't see you bringing anything with you— Iida commented, setting himself to the task of making the bed.
—I travel light, buddy. Dad took my changes of clothes yesterday to wash them and drop them off at UA later. Right now, they should be waiting for me in the dorms— Sero boasted with a smug look.
Iida didn't respond. The mention of UA caused his mood to plummet once again.
Sero noticed his companion's slight flinch and sighed, scratching his head awkwardly.
—They're waiting for both of us, Iida— he said after a moment. Iida huffed, turning his back on the boy.
—The clothes?— he asked in a mocking tone.
—Our friends— Sero replied naturally, as if it were obvious. —Do you know those bastards already have their Provisional Licenses? They even went up against Gang Orca and Ryūkyū! Mineta hasn't stopped bragging about it for some reason.
Iida remained silent once again. He wasn't aware of what was happening in his classmates' lives, as they hadn't come to visit him since they returned to classes.
He was aware that Midoriya and Uraraka were bombarding his phone with messages, likely updates on the things they were learning and wanting to know how he was doing. Iida hadn't looked at a single one of those messages.
He didn't answer calls, he didn't check notifications. He hadn't wanted to tell his good friends while they were visiting him frequently during those first few days, but he truly needed space for himself.
The start of classes was a relief for the young man. It allowed him to breathe, to think, to reflect. He even went as far as asking his family to scale back their visits.
It wasn't that Iida was ungrateful toward all of them. He could more easily accept the presence of his classmates, as they had gone through the same thing and understood the pain that haunted his chest with Ojiro's death.
The mourning hadn't fully passed. There hadn't been enough time for that, but there had been enough for another worry to take its place: his leg, his performance, and his future.
How could he go back to UA and represent the class again? He didn't protect his friends, he didn't protect his own brother, he would no longer be as fast, and he could no longer demand the same from himself.
He would no longer be the Hero he always wanted to be. One that his brother could be proud of.
—... Why do you want to go back, Sero-san?— he finally asked, turning to his companion. Sero held his gaze, and Iida found neither hesitation nor doubt in his eyes.
—Because of you, Iida. Because of me, because of Tsunotori-chan, because of Kamakiri-san, because of Tokage-san. Because of everyone who was hurt, physically and mentally. Because of those who are no longer with us, like our friends, like the Heroes and students who fell in the fight against everything that is wrong in this world.
You and I saw what Villains are truly capable of. What cruel people do without worrying about the consequences, without thinking twice about the lives they ruin to pursue stupid ideals, or to achieve irrational or selfish goals.
There is evil out there, Iida. And there are people like us who try to do the right thing. There are people who try to live their lives in peace, work honestly, and spend time with their loved ones.
People who can lose everything just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. By crossing paths with uncontrolled maniacs who consider everyone beneath them— Sero moved toward the window, gazing out at the city with a stern but determined expression.
Iida didn't know how to respond. If he had to be honest, Sero's pessimistic words didn't lift his spirits at all. If his goal was to convince him to return to UA with motivation, he was failing miserably.
But the once mischievous and cheerful boy wasn't finished.
—Why do I want to go back? The truth is, I don't want to, Iida. I'm afraid. I fear for my safety, I fear for my family. Do you know the League raided Tetsumaru-san and Mei-chan's house again? If Mei-chan hadn't been there, her parents would have been murdered.
What if the same thing happens to my dad? What if I fall into the hands of those lunatics again? What if one of my classmates does and I can't save them?
That terrifies me... but it also motivates me. I want to go back because I refuse to give in to fear, Iida. I want to go back because there, I can become the wall that protects everyone else from the bad things, from the horrible people out there.
I want to go back because there, I will become a Hero. And if you want to be a Hero too, then come with me— Sero concluded, turning toward the door.
Iida followed his gaze and found a smiling All Might and a serene Aizawa waiting, observing them in silence.
The painfully thin Symbol of Peace took a step forward and nodded to Sero with visible emotion, approval and pride flashing in his sunken eyes.
—Well said, Sero-shonen!— he congratulated enthusiastically.
His gaze then settled on Iida—kind, understanding, and encouraging—filling the boy with a sense of security he hadn't felt in a long time.
Despite no longer having his strength or imposing physique, All Might still invigorated Iida with his presence alone.
—Iida Tenya... Are you ready to return?— the greatest Hero in Japan asked, extending a hand to him.
Sero turned his gaze back to the window, already knowing his companion's answer.
A smile formed on his lips, slight and sincere. But it began to widen more and more, twisting his features.
His eyes looked out at the city with madness, looking even beyond it. Sero genuinely believed in what he said. Almost all of it, at least.
He would become a wall that no Villain could ever scale; he would protect innocent people from the wicked ones.
He would do it, no matter the cost.