Alright. I just finished my chapter on Patreon and this is gonna low key put me back by a chapter. However I did promise that I would make it four on Sunday so despite the inconvenience and the going against my slight compulsive order, I value my word so, here's to keeping my promise.
Next time, I'll calculate better if there is a next time. Anyway, Hope You Have Enjoyed The Mass Release. Till The Next Chapter My Friends.
Don't forget to give me your feedback. I sincerely hope this arc has been satisfying and the payoff was worth it. Was it?
Oh, there will be no chapters tomorrow if I can't cover up so help with Powerstones if you have to spare.
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"Miss me?"
The silence that followed the name "Akutami" was deafening. Toshinori, who had been leaning casually against the railing, practically jolted upright. His sunken eyes widened, fixed on Aizawa's face, searching for a sign that this was a cruel joke. Aizawa gripped the phone so hard the plastic creaked. However, his physical reaction didn't go beyond.
"Repeat that," Aizawa commanded before All Might could verify what was going on.
On the other end, the sound of a passing motorbike and the distant chime of a bell drifted through the receiver. Then, that same voice chuckled.
"I said, miss me? Though judging by the funeral tone of your voice, I'm guessing the school already held the wake." Aizawa exhaled.
Heavily at that. "Wow. I'm almost upset of how little faith you have."
"Where are you?" Aizawa asked, his professionalism returning in an instant. "Status. Injuries. Give me a location now."
"Well, I'm alive, Sensei. As far as injuries go, I have a ridiculously high vitality so if I had any wounds, I probably healed before I even woke up." Yuta replied flatly as he scanned his surroundings. "As for where... I'm not in Japan. Not even close."
"Aizawa, is it really .... ?" Toshinori whispered, his voice trembling.
Aizawa hit the speakerphone button. "There's a teacher with me here Akutami. Talk. Now. What happened on that train?"
There was a long pause. The street sounds on the other end continued. Then,
"Everyone else is dead," Yuta said. "The entire train was warped away by the league of villains as you probably already guessed. Kurogiri dropped us from the sky into the Pacific. The impact... most didn't survive the initial hit. The ocean took those I could save that did. I tired as best as I could. I couldn't... I couldn't hold save any of them. Then the storm hit."
Toshinori bowed his head, his hand clenching into a fist over his heart. Whatever small hope he had was completely gone now.
"Seven hundred and sixteen people," Aizawa said, face darkening. "And you're the only survivor."
"Seems that way."
"How?"
"Apparently I can walk on water now." He uttered. "That and sheer dumb luck of being found before I could die of hypothermia."
Toshinori finally spoke. "Young Akutami... I know you have been through a lot but ... the victims. Their families Do you have any information that could help the search efforts? Any detail about where .."
"I don't know." Yuta interrupted. "I was swallowed by the storm and found on the ocean. I can't give coordinates for where the train was sent to or where I was before the storm. All I know was that I was a thousand kilometres from the nearest land when I woke up two days later."
He paused, eyes cold. "Even if I did know, there probably wouldn't be anything left from the wreckage. Any further search would probably be futile." Silence followed after that. "So ... How's everything back there?" Aizawa exhaled again.
"The passenger manifest was released three days ago. Your name is on it. You and everyone else on the train have been officially declared missing, presumed dead. The search was suspended yesterday."
Yuta clenched his fist. "And my mother?"
Aizawa's expression darkened. "She's in the hospital. Eri's quirk went out of control when the news broke."
Yuta's face changed drastically "What?"
Upon getting to land, he had been given new clothes before being shooed off the boat.
The first thing he did after was come to this very phone line and phone his home number. Obviously, there was no reply.
"What do you mean went out of control? What happened?"
"It would seem your sister's quirk was classified wrongly." Aizawa replied with a frown. "Her quirk does more than give her horns. It also allows her reverse time on whoever is affected by it. Your mother was caught in the rewind but luckily, I was able to neutralise the effect before it got dire. She's been at U.A receiving treatment ever since. Your sister's here too."
CREAK.
It was Yuta's turn to squeeze. "I .. I see. Thank you Aizawa-sensei. I can't rest assured now knowing they're safe."
Aizawa's eyes narrowed, finding something not quite right what those choice of words. "We are sending a retrieval team the moment we ping this signal. If you're out of the country, we'll coordinate with the local embassy and arrange extraction immediately. Stay where you are. Don't draw ...."
"No."
Aizawa stopped mid-sentence. "What?"
"I ... Don't think I'm coming back. Not yet at least."
Toshinori's eyes widened. "Young man, you can't be serious."
"Unfortunately I am sir."
Aizawa's brows furrowed. "This isn't a joke Akutami."
"Yeah. It's my life and it sucks, but there isn't much I can do about it like this."
"Explain yourself," Aizawa's voice dropped. On the other end, Yuta was sure that he had that intimidating glare he used whenever his eyes were red. "You are a sixteen-year-old boy in a foreign country with no legal standing and a target on your back. 'Not coming back' is not an option on the table."
"Sensei, look at what happened," Yuta's voice was unnervingly steady. "The League dropped a train into the Pacific just to kill one student. Seven hundred people died because Shigaraki wanted to prove he could reach me anywhere. If I walk back into U.A. tomorrow, I'm just giving him a reason to try for eight hundred next time. Or a thousand."
"We have implemented a dormitory system, Young Akutami!" Toshinori spoke up. "There is no need for your current actions. You don't have to hide away ..."
"Sorry sir, but seven hundred people just died because of me. As much as I want to believe that, I can't take that chance."
Aizawa gripped the railing of the dorm steps. "You're talking about a disappearance act. For how long? A month? A year?"
"Until I'm strong enough that I don't need to hide to keep the people around me alive," The wind swept past his hair, blowing a slight dust cloud alongside it. "Sensei, if I come back right now, what happens?"
Aizawa frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said. If I show up tomorrow, alive as the sole survivor of a tragedy that killed 715 people ... what happens next?"
Aizawa didn't answer immediately. For the first time since the call began, he didn't have a response ready.
The wind hummed faintly through the dormitory railings.
Then ...
"The media storm would be immediate," Aizawa said finally. "Every news outlet in Japan would descend on U.A. within hours. You'd be the lead story for weeks, possibly months. All the whole public reaction would be ...."
Aizawa paused, choosing his words carefully. "Mixed. Some would call you a miracle. Others would ask why you survived when no one else did. Conspiracy theories would spread. The families of the victims would be ..."
"Devastated," Yuta finished. "Because while they're burying empty coffins, I'm walking around alive. Some would be grateful I tried to save their loved ones. Others would hate me for failing. And all of them would want answers I can't give."
Toshinori's expression was pained.
Aizawa ran a hand through his hair, sighing.
"The HPSC would want a full debriefing. They'd put you under observation, possibly surveillance. Every movement you made would be monitored and documented to protect you."
"From the League right?"
"Yes."
"Which means constant security details, restricted movement, limited autonomy." Yuta picked up where he left off. "I'd be a prisoner in everything but name. And my family would wake up to find our lives dismantled. Nothing but endless supervision and the constant fear that the League might come for us anyway."
"The alternative is leaving you exposed," Toshinori interjected, his voice strained. "Young Akutami, I understand your concerns, but even if that is true ... running alone is not the answer. You are not meant to bear this by yourself."
"I agree." Aizawa uttered.
"Sir, with all due respect… I already ....." BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
"Akutami ..." Aizawa started. CLICK.
The line went dead. Aizawa immediately hit redial but the screen only flashed 'International Public Terminal: Incoming Calls Restricted.
"Dammit." He tried again. Same result.
Toshinori stepped closer. "Can you trace it?"
"It's a payphone. Even if I could get the HPSC to coordinate with the authorities, it would take hours." Aizawa lowered the phone. "And he'd be long gone by then."
"What do we do now?"
"I'm going to see Nezu." Aizawa frowned. "He needs to know. If not, it's entirely possible Akutami won't come back."
"What do you mean 'won't come back'?" The voice came from behind, rather than the phone.
Aizawa's head snapped around, his quirk activating on instinct. Standing side by side just inside the doors of the Height Alliance lobby were Bakugo and Todoroki.
"Did something else happen Mr. Aizawa?" Todoroki asked.
"Um ... Yeah Sensei." The voice came from above.
Aizawa's head snapped up to the second-floor windows of Heights Alliance.
Four faces stared down at them. Midoriya, Uraraka, Asui and Mina.
_
[MANILA, PHILIPPINES – PAYPHONE BOOTH]
Yuta stood in the booth, staring at the dead receiver in his hand.
"Your call time has expired. Please insert additional payment to continue." He'd run out of coins. Of course he had. He hung up the phone, and slammed his head against the glass.
'I'll call again later.'
He thought with an exhale.
He still needed to talk them. His Mom, Eri, his classmates maybe .... And of course, ... The Principal. They deserved to know he was alive.
'That aside though ..' He raised his head, sighed, and stepped out of the booth, running a hand through his hair. 'What am I supposed to do now?'
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