"The detective taking the statements will be with you shortly, he just needs to finish talking with All Might."
Then, she left, leaving the teenagers and the alien, alone in the room.
...
As he heard the water being turned on as Mina began her impromptu hair cleaning, Izuku went to the window and looked out.
Below he could see dozens of policemen, all armed and patrolling the school ground.
He could also see students being escorted out of the school itself and either into police cars, or cars of what he assumed to be their families coming to pick them up.
He supposed it would be silly to think the rest of the school would just continue on for the day as if nothing had happened.
Everyone was being escorted home, not just his class.
With a pang of anger, he saw Mrs. Bakugou having come to pick up Katsuki, and after having given her son a worried hug, the blonde boy had seemingly gotten into a shouting match and argument with her as they walked to her car.
The anger of seeing Katsuki was quickly drowned however, by questions.
Questions he had put aside during the attack, and questions the attack had raised.
For one thing, there was All Might and his apparent limit.
What did that mean?
By itself, it was potentially devastating news for Japan's hero society as a whole.
But… there was Uraraka, a girl who completely changed everything. All Might had chosen to become a teacher here this year, almost certainly to train up his daughter.
Izuku had thought it was just to make sure she became the best hero she could be, and that wasn't exactly wrong.
But no, the reason he was here, wasn't just to make sure she rose high, it was to reach to the Top.
All Might had apparently suffered an injury that had permanently wounded him, and now limited how long he could operate. With that context, he now understood.
All Might was training his successor. A new symbol of peace to take over when he…
The thought of All Might retiring would have seen insane, ridiculous, and idiotic to Izuku just 3 months ago.
Frankly, it still did. But… He accepted it.
It was what it was, and he couldn't do anything about it. He had power beyond anything he had dreamed of two years ago. Power enough that he had actually beaten real, actual Villains.
And yet…
His grip tightened on the windows frame.
He couldn't do anything about it.
He and Mina had stood up to an incredibly dangerous pair of Villains, and they had won. But in the grand scheme of things, that wouldn't help All Might.
All he could do was become a Hero in his own right, and hopefully help Uraraka that way.
He could not become the next symbol of peace, he understood that much. No more than he could become All Might's son.
All he could become was a hero himself.
That was what he wanted to be. Someone who helped people. He did not need to reach the absolute top to do that.
Though… If there was one lesson he had to take from his battle today, it was that he needed power, or rather, combat experience.
Katsuki's ambition to be the strongest ever built on horrible, and awful motivations, but the wish to become a better fighter wasn't wrong.
He had won. He had also almost gotten himself killed by unintentionally jumping into searing hot steam.
He winced at the memory.
He had to become a better warrior, simple as that. That was the sort of easy, simple mistake that could get you killed, and he would need to be better.
Other than his musings on All Might and himself, there were also the questions the League of Villains attack had raised for him.
Morris had claimed the people behind the attack was All For One himself.
The greatest criminal in Japanese history, the man who had effectively been the ruler of Japan for the 3 decades between the appearance of quirks, and the rise of heroes.
He had sent his men to kill them. No. To kill All Might.
There were several questions and concerns that raised, both ones that sent shivers down his spine just thinking about them, and practical ones.
The most obvious question was, why now? Why had he chosen this mission here, where All Might could easily be backed up by a small host of pro heroes in the form of the other teachers?
There had to have been a whole host of other, earlier and better points to attempt this plan on, and seemingly he hadn't taken them.
Or had he?
All Might had taken a devastating Injury… Izuku hadn't considered how he had gotten it.
Of the Villains All Might had fought in public the specific timeline would line up best with his bouts with Toxic chainsaw, but somehow he doubted the Villain in question was responsible for it. The fact he had actually seen the battle in question was a large reason in that conclusion.
However, assuming he had suffered the injury in a battle with One for All, or his forces…
That still did not explain though why All For One had not come himself to this attack.
It made no sense.
There was very little footage of All for one, or his powers, but by all accounts, he was a titanic force in battle.
So why wasn't he here today?
It just didn't make sense to go through all this effort to set up this invasion, then leave your strongest player at home.
There had to be an answer here, but if there was, he lacked all the pieces to figure it out.
Then there was the other man in the shadows.
The Big Man.
Unlike All For One, Izuku had never heard of the individual.
That could be both an indicator of how big the Villain was, or how small.
If he was big, it was a sign of someone who knew how to keep a low profile. If he was small, then he was a nobody.
Except he couldn't be small.
The fact Rhino was working under him proved that well enough. According to the man himself, The Big Man, whoever he was, had beaten Rhino using the same kind of strategy that Izuku had applied.
That suggested great strength along with high intelligence.
Then there was all the rest of the things he knew about him.
Namely that Tel worked for his organization. And if she worked for him, then the guys in the forest did as well. The ones who had tried to make a bargain of trigger, for information to use to kidnap someone.
They had planned to kidnap someone in Japan, then just happened to invade Yuei a short while later?
Somehow he could not believe that was a coincidence.
That still didn't tell him anything about why, or who though.
Just like with All For One and his faction of Villains, he flat out lacked all information he needed to piece out this puzzle as well.
He knew that the second group wanted to kidnap someone, he suspected the person in question was here on Yuei, and probably someone in his class.
And he knew they also worked together for this attack.
And that was about it.
"God, this stuff is gonna be such a pain to get out."
He was brought out of his musings by Mina, as she was squeezing water out of her poofy long hair, now mostly free of blood.
Izuku stiffened, as she stood upwards, and turned towards him, her head turned sideways as she kept squeezing the water out, and into the sink.
She beamed at him, or more accurately her regular smile suddenly reasserted itself on her face.
It was at that moment, that Izuku suddenly realized that he was alone with a very cute girl. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.
Mina's expression changed to somewhat curious.
"You're kinda a shy guy aren't you Midori?"
Izuku's face turned even brighter.
"I… I suppose."
His mind screamed for him to pull himself together. He had been dealing with Mina for the entire time they had been separated from the rest of the class. He'd managed it just fine before now.
"Yeah, you were kinda like a totally different person when you fought. Like, you really knew what you were doing, just instantly taking the problem by the horns you know!"
Izuku just kept blushing, as Mina continued.
"I never really thought about it, but you were like this with the training match with Uraraka too. During the match you were like a total badass, then once it was over, you got really reserved when we asked you questions."
"I-I guess…?"
Izuku suspected Mina might think he was considerably less badass during either of his periods of battle if she had been able to see his face underneath his mask at the time.
"Yeah, like you were really kickass earlier. I mean, you essentially dragged Rhino down into the sewers, and you freaking beat him! All on your own too! Rhino! The guy who toppled the statue of liberty!"
If Izuku had been blushing before, his face now felt like an oven and looked like someone had painted it with red paint.
" T-Thanks, bu-but I… I wouldn't have been able to do it if you hadn't been there… I was completely stumped i-in what to do until the acid burned a hole in the ground."
"No need to try and be humble about winning Midori. Like I get it, I played a part, but really man, that was your win."
She scrunched her face for a moment, before asking.
"Actually… How… How did you win?"
...
If you want to read ahead of the public release, or just want to support me.
You can join my p atreon :
[email protected]/Huvnn