BNHA: Undying (Ch 17) (Patreon)

(Shoko POV)

I glare at the room filled with the bastards, frozen fury in my eyes as an icy mist floats off of my right side.. Not only did they drive Izuku to suicide, force him to live like that, and also snoop in his room, but they had the nerve to act like everything is normal!?

When I first attacked Toshinori- All Might- I just needed to see it for myself to believe it. Now? Now I’m so tempted to turn the remaining Yagis into a pile of ash. The mother doesn’t even look sad! Just uncomfortable!

And the biggest bastard, Katsuki Bakugou, doesn’t even have that. He just looks angry at everything going on. I know I didn’t expect much when I attacked him earlier, but it really is disappointing that he reacted so fast.

It wouldn’t have killed him or anything, but an ice spike to the shoulder definitely would have made me feel better. At least until I entered Izuku’s room. An issue that’s currently being exacerbated by the Yagis not saying anything.

A small flame appears on my left shoulder, contrasting with my right as my emotions rise. “Well?” I ask.

They exchange glances before the bitch daughter speaks up. “None… I don’t think any of us have gone into his room.” She shakes her head. “I always thought of it as being his safe space.”

My quirk flares even more at her explanation. That is considered a safe place!? Before I can tear into her- whether physically or verbally, I can’t tell anymore- Toshinori speaks up. “What do you mean a safe space? I could understand for when Katsuki is over, but why would he need it when he’s not here? And I’m sure one of us has entered his room at some point. Right, Honey?”

It’s at this moment that I come to a realization. Izuku’s note only mentioned Bakugou specifically. But as for Izumi? He only wrote about his family as a whole, there was no mention of her bullying him along with the blonde. Actually, there was no mention of the bullying at all. And apparently it didn’t come up while I was getting the notebooks either.

I glare at her, waiting for her to answer her father’s question. Waiting for her to reveal the truth. She looks away from her father, meeting my eyes and flinching away, looking at the ground instead. She peaks at the room, waiting for her to answer. She opens her mouth, hesitates, closes it, and opens it again. She starts to speak, but the Detective’s return stops her.

I sneer at the look of relief clear on her face. But the shock that replaces it when the Detective speaks almost has me smiling.

“Toshinori,” he says in a cold tone. “If you can’t explain to me why your son’s room is like that, then I’ll have no choice but to bring you down to the station, consequences be damned.”

The abject shock that appears on the face of everyone actually does make me smile. Then I get an idea. “Detective, I doubt that he’ll be able to tell you anything. At least, if Izumi’s words are true and nobody here has ever been in his room. So why don’t you show them all?”

My glare encompasses all of them as I speak. “It will also tell me which one of them decided to snoop in his room.”

He hesitates for a moment, but nods his head at the suggestion. Waving his head, everyone, not only the Yagis, rise to see his room. It makes for a cramped walk in the hallway, but me and my father have room due to nobody wanting to accidentally brush either of our quirks. But the reactions I see when they reach his room are… upsetting. Like none of the Yagis have been inside it before. Which leaves me with the question.

Who put the notebooks on his desk?

(Nezu POV)

I have to admit, this trip started out as an idle curiosity, but has rapidly turned into a rather serious issue.

Toshinori Yagi- known to the world as All Might- neglected his quirkless son while favoring the boy’s twin sister. And then he caused him to take his own life.

The blame does not rest solely on his shoulders of course. But a great deal of it does. Much of the rest of it rests on the shoulders of the boy, Katsuki Bakugou, who applied to my school. Honestly, getting the three children’s applications was a delight! Izumi Yagi had been All Might’s recommendation, and I had no doubt that she would have gotten in without any trouble.

As for Bakugou, his records speak for themselves. A powerful quirk. A top tier intelligence as shown by his high grades, matching point for point with Yagi and Todoroki. And according to his records, a determined child who pushes ahead through any adversity. An overall stellar student!

Evidently, that was a lie.

Most of it I can still believe, but any notes on his character are clearly suspect. Though few of the others have picked up on it, I feel as though Yagi falls under the same category. She was not mentioned in her brother’s letter, but then again, why would he?

It is clear to me that the letter was intended purely for Todoroki. So why would he even bother mentioning anyone else? Even the boy was barely mentioned, only a passing thought to explain why he jumped. But things are rarely ever the fault of a single person, and I’ve been watching her closely.

But that is something for me to deal with soon. For now, I must convince the Detective not to arrest the Symbol of Peace. The repercussions when the knowledge gets to those who know of his identity would cause chaos in the government. And while I normally wouldn’t object to teaching those filthy humans a lesson in humility, they are also known to react badly when negatively surprised. So I must ensure he is not imprisoned.

But seeing Izuku Yagi’s room, I make myself a promise that he will be punished. The entire Yagi family will.

The walls are covered in dust, with only the spots hanging with All Might poster having been cleared. As if that was the only thing they cared about being clean. But even those are faded, clearly having been hung long ago. Other than the old mattress sized for someone much smaller than a middle schooler, the only thing is a desk with splinters peeling off of it. Honestly, it feels like the room at an orphanage of a child averse to cleaning.

If it wasn’t for the waste basket filled with bloodied bandages.

I step inside as the others look on with horror. For those who haven’t experienced many hardships, I’m sure that the state of the room shakes their already disturbed mental states. I also find it upsetting, but my own experience has hardened myself against such things.

My nose twitches as I follow a scent. Right to the closet. “Detective,” I ask without turning away. “Did you by chance look inside here?”

Hearing him reply in the negative, I pull it open and see four contraptions made of what looks like wood and rope. I tilt my head, wondering as to what they could be before my eyes alight on the labels on the floor.

“Left leg. Right leg. Left arm. Right arm.” I read them out loud, and after taking a closer look realize what they are.

They are splints. Commonly used to secure a broken limb and prevent it from being jostled while moving. But these are more compact, easily hidden under clothes. Normally they’d be altered depending on where exactly the break is, but these also seem to be modular.

I sigh. It truly is a shame.

Especially since I was looking forward to meeting the boy myself.

His application to UA had caused a small uproar with some of the teachers. The fact that he was listed as being at the top of his school academically was nothing of note, we get many applicants like that. But his own had been accompanied by several notes that could be split into two categories.

He was a horrible student that was always picking fights with others, and likely cheated to obtain his scores. Though they were unable to determine how and as such unable to dock his grade.

The other, much lower quantity of notes warned that his school attempted to artificially lower his grade due to his status as a quirkless individual, and that we should test him ourselves to verify how intelligent he was. They also claimed that he would be able to get the top score for our written test, which I took as a challenge and as such made the test much harder.

A shame that I will no longer be able to test the one the change was intended for.

I turn to the group, who’s since started glaring at the Yagis with accusing glares. But it’s Todoroki’s confused expression that I choose to address. “Is there a problem, young Todoroki?”

She hesitantly nods. “Izuku said that his notebooks would be hidden under his bed. But when I came to get them, they were on his desk. And his other ones were missing.”

Alarm bells ring in my head. “Are you saying that he had more notebooks along the veins of the one his suicide note was written?”

She grimaces at my callous phrasing, but nods all the same. “That one is number thirteen. The three he’d written for me aren’t included in that.” She looks down at the ones she’s been clutching since she returned from this room with a small smile. “He even filled one with costumes and possible hero names for me.”

I nod absentmindedly while meeting Aizawa’s eyes. I see that he understands as well. “If the Yagis haven’t entered this room before, then it means someone else did. And they now have a great deal of information on many active heroes.”

The pros and detective tense up, understanding the seriousness of the situation. But this provides me with a perfect opportunity!

“Detective, please contact the station and attempt to get your best tracker here as soon as possible. We need to find this person before villains get their hands on the information. If they haven’t already.”

He hesitates, looking at Toshinori with a conflicted gaze. “Do not worry, I will ensure that they are punished.”

Taking my word, he nods to me before rushing out, already dialing a number on his phone. Meanwhile, I look to Endeavor and Aizawa. “Would it be too much to ask for both of you to begin a search of the area?” Aizawa shakes his head while Endeavor crosses his arms.

“I have a feeling that you plan for me to be involved with the punishment somehow, so I’ll be staying to find out what it is.”

“And though I didn’t know the boy, he helped my daughter, so I would like to know the end result for this fiasco as well.”

I nod, surprised at Endeavor. We all return to the living room where I lay out the punishments. “Now,” I say with a clap of my hands. “All Might, your family’s punishment is the revoking of Izumi’s recommendation, as well as having your and your wife’s pay severely docked and being donated to organizations that provide aid to the quirkless.”

He looks like he wants to object, but at the mention of quirkless aid he falls silent. I can see his daughter gritting her teeth, but oh well~. This is simply a part of her own punishment~! I turn to the Bakugous.

“As for you,” I say to the boy, seeing him gulp. “From now until the end of the school year, you and Izumi will be attending therapy to work out the various issues the two of you have. Of which I am certain there are quite a number of them. If your therapists do not report adequate results to me, neither of you will be allowed to enter UA. In fact, I will blacklist both of you from all hero schools.”

“THAT’S TOO FAR, NEZU!” All Might enters his buff form to object, but I simply wave him off.

“I assure you that is far from enough, All Might. They should be happy about not being arrested! In fact, the only reason they are not is because I am positive that you would attempt to pull strings to get them off with a clean record.”

He nods as he powers down, a determined look in his eyes. “And the only reason I’m allowing them to apply to UA with such light conditions is because I worry about them becoming villains otherwise. At least at UA I’ll be able to keep an eye on them.”

I tap my chin. “Which reminds me! I hadn’t finished listing your punishments! In addition to the therapy, both of you will be required to perform mandatory community service a minimum of twenty-five hours a week. Aren’t I generous, leaving you time to study, train, and go to school!”

I don’t wait for a reply, hopping up Aizawa’s body and nestling into his scarf. “That concludes the first phase of punishment. Should the two of you get into UA, you will learn of the second. Until then, we must locate Izuku Yagi’s remaining notebooks.”