a/n this is about 9k of pure build up. any mistakes are mine ecause this is not beta'd but i will not edit any of it until im done w the next 5 chapters or smth because . research is exhausting an thhis is the 4th update this month

denki has implied adhd; if i misrepresent ti please lmk

anyway enjoy smile :]

===

Tsuyu hasn't been able to stop watching the news in days. Her mentor's worried, especially when she doesn't come down to eat sometimes because she thinks her fear will churn the food out anyway. Her peers are worried, too, knocking on her room's door to make sure she's even living. She's glad, sometimes, that everyone's internships are being lengthened due to this so that her family never has to see her wallowing away like this. It's not healthy, Tsuyu knows, and yet. And yet.

The newscaster's voice rings in her ears. Tsuyu can remember their every word: "Stain the Hero Killer was found dead in Ekou Street District Four during the Hosu Pandemonium, as people are now dubbing the terrorist attacks done just a few days ago. Police believe three of U.A.'s hero course students are at fault; specifically Iida Tenya, known as Tenya, Todoroki Shoto, known simply as Shoto, and Midoriya Izuku, known as Valor or Deku. As of now, they are recovering from the injuries they have sustained from the incident in Hosu's General Hospital, and—"

Because Tsuyu doesn't want to know more, she stops the memory there. Zoning back into the present, Tsuyu finds her eyes burning, for once, having been staring at the light of her phone so much the world seems too dark when she looks up. Her hands are shaking as they set her phone face-down; they have been ever since this all began, and it's only worsened with time.

She knows what will happen to them, anyways, from snippets of audio and lines of text weaving into her ears and infecting her mind. Iida, Todoroki, and Midoriya will be detained as soon as they are released from the hospital. Despite everything, they will go to court. Of course they will; they've broken the law, even though following the rules in their circumstances would've led to death, and their fates are in the hands of a judge.

Tsuyu has never felt this terrified for those outside her family in her life.

She isn't even close to any of them, she knows. Tsuyu knows the girls better than any of the boys. She's more accustomed to calmer nights spent visiting each other and painting their nails and talking about heroes than, than a fraction of anything Midoriya's been through. And yet. And yet...

God, Tsuyu's just so tired of her class being in danger like this. She's sure that her year is abnormal for U.A., even compared to other years, but she's also positive third years don't feel the same heartache she does. They've just—everyone, Midoriya especially, have been in danger several times in these first few months of U.A., most definitely more than what an average hero goes through in half a decade, and they're fifteen and sixteen, God, they're all fifteen and sixteen and they've all almost died and Tsuyu's heart hurts.

Tsuyu's scared. Tsuyu's terrified. Tsuyu wants nothing more than Mom to wrap her in blankets and Dad to make her favorite drink and her younger siblings to give them their favorite plushies, even when Samidere* says that he has no favorite and that he's too old for them, and for them all to hug her, and give hugs to everyone else, too.

(If this is what heroes feel constantly, she... Tsuyu feels a little less sure that she wants to be a hero.)

Tsuyu sniffles, hugging her own plush to her chest: a large frog with an oversized pastel cardigan. She buries her face in its head, breathing in the scent of home. And then she looks up with a face of determination, clutching her beloved toy closer to her, thin tear tracks drying on her face. Tsuyu squeezes it once, twice, and then sets it down gently on her bed, gets up, and starts walking out her room.

She hesitates when her phone buzzes, a familiar tune that'll alert her of another article about this all. But, firming her resolve, Tsuyu opens the door to her temporary room.

Tsuyu has two little siblings, but sometimes, she thinks that Class 1-A and her peers in this internship have become a part of it, too. And just like she would for her siblings, Tsuyu will not let her sorrow or fears get a hold of her entire being. In this chaos, she'll be strong for them all—if not for her own sake.

===

Denki knows he's a bit of a dunderhead sometimes. Most times, really, according to mostly everyone, but at least the Bakusquad and his class mean it jokingly—he hopes. And, well, thinking that the Hero Killer, of all people, is pretty cool is... somewhere at the top of the stupid things he's done. Besides siding with Mineta on bothering the girls, of course; that'll be number one for a while.

Denki's huddled up between pillows and a thick blanket right now, all lights off and fidget toy between his fingers. He's trying his damnedest to pay attention to the TV his mentor had in this guest room because, well, his phone will distract him from what's going on, and the TV's bright enough to captivate him, and at least the remote doesn't light up.

Get back on track. The whole point of him staying up despite it being so late into the night it's nearly morning is because the Hero Killer's dead, and Todoroki, Midoriya, and Iida are at the center of it. They were involved in actually murdering him, and it's... made Denki realize that this is a lot more... more than he thought. The Hero Killer wasn't cool, he was a murderer—and one that three of his classmates assisted in the death of.

There's already a ton of theories and conspiracy surrounding the entire thing, which was what initially led Denki to setting his phone down. He got sucked down a spiral of absurd what-ifs and hypotheticals these past few days, and some of them were actually interesting, like the one that said—

Something clicks in his hands. Denki looks down, seeing his thumb flicking a switch back and forth on the weird little fidget cube thing he has, and then he looks up to the TV again.

Oh. He... missed a bit of what the news was reporting: more stuff about the condition of Hosu, as well as—oh, shit, they've been detained?

Denki leans forward a little, the clicks from his fidgeting growing more constant, and tries to pay attention again.

===

Toshinori helps some heroes lift a few piles of rubble, grinning when they nod or say their thanks. He moves it to the side to where it didn't disturb the new infrastructure of once-broken buildings, courtesy of Tommy (do not think about his reaction, do not think about his reaction), and also to where any civilians won't be disrupted by it. It's... the least he can do, for reaching here right when the aftermath of this entire situation began.

The reason why Toshinori didn't get here as early as he should've is entirely his fault. It's not because the house he was in was far from Hosu, no—All Might can cover the distance between the two easily. It's that... well. He was wallowing, he guesses.

It's the exact same thing Toshinori did for Nana, the first few days after she died—after Gran Torino forced him to leave her behind. It's just. He felt a magnitude of loss and failure so large it swallowed him whole back then, and it's returned with a vengeance now, hitting harder after he first read Gran Torino's letter. Even now, days later, it pulses with his wound.

Back then, he knew that Nana would've wanted him to smile and try moving on, so Toshinori did. Eventually, it worked. But—this loss, this failure, is very, very different. It's to where Toshinori... doesn't know, exactly, what he is mourning. The bond between him and Izuku that was never really there? The dreams of a child he nearly killed, now patched up before Toshinori can even apologize? Or maybe the difference between how good he was in the past, and how he is now? All of that?

Doesn't change that Izuku (does he even get a right to call him that?) probably doesn't forgive him. Who would, even for someone as kind as him?

Toshinori hasn't visited Hosu's General Hospital for that specific reason. Izuku—Midoriya—he doesn't need to face him on top of everything he's already going through. (And maybe you'll never have this talk ever, so go speak to him now, you silly goose, Nana would say, he thinks. But Toshinori is not a good man, he is a coward, and so here he'll stay, helping to clean up the aftermath.)

But... even without that confrontation, there is something Toshinori can do: start trying, from here on out, even when Midoriya doesn't know he is.

Toshinori will try to be more honest about his past Quirklessness, should Midoriya ever want to speak to him in the future. Toshinori will try to not let these mistakes define him, even when everything still hurts. Toshinori will try to be better.

...That's not enough, for what he's done. Toshinori will be more honest, will grow from his mistakes, and he will be better, because he was late for this and too late for Izuku, too, and he won't let it happen again.

===

"Oi, Bakugo! Relax your face, won't you? It's scaring off everyone."

"It always fuckin' does," Katsuki grumbles, almost adding "and I like it that way, too." Because these fuckers are so damn needy of him, and he's dealt with those slimy fucks who tried to get into his good graces in Aldera. And honestly? Right now, he barely gives a damn about their shitty fucking opinions and fashion and whatever the hell they're upset about now, because not only has Katsuki currently deemed them worthless, but there's an extra sheen of gel on his fucking hair that is driving him insane, and he can't stop thinking about Hosu.

Specifically, he can't stop thinking about shitty Deku and Glasses and Icy-Hot, and how everyone keeps fucking saying they're all going to jail. It's even reached Best Jeanist's agency, of all fucking places, and these fuckers never stop talking about whoever the hell Ru Paul and his damn drag race and all about Katsuki needing to look good and nice and act polite and putting him in tight jeans that don't feel good for himself and for hero work and—

Fuck, he wishes the internships would end early, even if he had to go back to his mother. Their voices have infected him like little parasites in his mind, like back when Katsuki was more pathetic and actually listened to his mother during the fashion modeling shit. All of this is worsening his mood, because everything is fucking shitty here, it's shitty at U.A., it's shitty at home, and it's the shittiest at Hosu.

His hands fill with the beginnings of smoke. Katsuki clenches his fists shut subconsciously, waiting for the sparks of explosions he can feel simmering under his skin to fade. (He shouldn't be. In fact, doctors have told him that he should be using his Quirk so that he doesn't fucking die—something about his blood and nitroglycerin, he's too angry to remember.

But—nothing is in his control. Everything is shitty here, at U.A., at home, and it's the shittiest at Hosu, and Katsuki can't stop fucking thinking about Hosu. He used to be in control of the kids at Aldera all the damn time. This is different, new—unpredictable.)

Katsuki smothers the smoke until it turns into steam, and then, nothing. And, vividly, he remembers the first time Hosu was shown on screen, buildings burning and collapsing like something in a movie, and also of the aftermath, with vapors still rising into the air days later. It didn't feel real; doesn't, even now. And Deku, Glasses, and Icy-Hot being arrested doesn't feel real, either. Them killing the Hero Killer nearly doesn't compute in his head.

For the first time since he accidentally blew up an All Might figure out of excitement, Katsuki's hands start shaking in... in fear.

Holy shit. Katsuki is fucking terrified.

He's—he's not fucking sure if it's an amalgamation of everything, or some undecipherable fear for—God, Katsuki can't believe he's thinking this—for Icy-Hot and Glasses and Deku.

Shouldn't he be laughing or some shit about the irony of those three being arrested in particular? That fucking Deku, smiling and flustered and different, who charmed the damn class while still being a damn creep, is the first one out of him and Katsuki to be arrested? It should be funny. Katuski should be boasting. If he were back in Aldera, he totally would be.

So why the hell are his hands fucking shaking?

Katsuki closes them, steeling the muscles so that they fucking stop. And they do—for only a few seconds, before they go right back to, to trembling weakly, so Katsuki shoves them in his pockets (small, far too fucking small, with the leftover nitroglycerin-mixed sweat from the last few times he's done this still clinging to the walls of the fabric, why are jeans like this—) before anyone sees.

This internship drove him over the fucking edge. It has to be. Yeah. Katsuki's been stressed and pushed out of his comfort zone far too many fucking times this past—what, week and a half? He wants to wear comfortable shit again, wants to pop sparks whenever he wants, wants to curse the shit out of anything and everything he wants—but he can't here, and that's the thing that's making him so—so scared...?

Not scared. Uncomfortable, then. Maybe Katsuki fucking—maybe Best Jeanist's agency reminds him too much of the past and it's driving him crazy, like he thought before.

(But he's gotten over it all a long time ago...?

Katsuki seethes. He lowers his head and doesn't move until his hands stop fucking shaking, even when people call for him.

===

Shouta wants a raise. Actually, he thinks he deserves one.

He sighs tiredly in 1-A's empty classroom, nearly deciding to bring out his sleeping bag and nap here, but going against it at the last moment. U.A.'s other courses are still going on besides both hero courses—the hero they've interned with has been alerted to hold their students with them until this all blows over. If they were sent back to U.A., all concentrated in one spot, then the press outside would certainly devour them whole.

Shouta buries his head in his arms like a makeshift shield against the world. Though he desperately wants to see the state of all his students, at least like this the students' mentors and their peers can shield them all from the press... somewhat. Helps instead of U.A.'s staff being spread too thinly and families being bombarded and possibly doxxed—they've already got one less than they should, and the kids' families are already stressed enough from what's happened this year alone.

It's not... the best solution, but. It's the best U.A. has right now.

(How laughable. U.A. is meant to be—and always had been, until now—the safest place for kid-heroes on this side of Japan to grow up and learn, yet they're better off spread around so that no one can find them. Shouta is supposed to be a teacher, yet he's already failed to protect his kids four times. Once at the USJ, once at the Sports Festival, once post-Stain fight, and once right now, where his students are probably scared and isolated and Shouta is stuck... here.)

None of this changes the fact that the press have been outside for several days—increasingly at night, too—and at this point, they should be able to sue every single one of those broadcast stations, right? Shouta hopes they can—hopes that those in other courses will, too, because the press is blocking them from leaving as well. His migraine has been raging ever since the first crowds got blocked by U.A.'s defense mechanisms, as if they've not learnt from the last time they did this.

...Fuck. Surely there can't be an attack on them now. The villains are dealing with their own shortage of Nomus from their attack on Hosu, and the class that they want to attack is spread far and wide across Japan. Plus, they're after All Might, not after who he teaches, and the only reason they attacked Shouta's students in the first place was to get All Might out. It's illogical, for them to attack now.

Shouta doesn't have enough eye drops for this. He needs to buy another pack soon, but the press won't let him at this rate.

Shouta sighs again, straightening up. His chest pangs slightly at the sight of his still-empty classroom when his class should be here, laughing with each other, dragging Tommy into their shenanigans, still happy and carefree and children.

He can't think of that. All he can do is just—hold off the press like the rest of the staff, wait for the verdict of the trial, and hope this'll end soon. (Hope that, despite everything, things will turn to some semblance of normal. God knows they need it.)

===

Date: June 2, 2XXX (Tuesday)

Duration: 1 hr, 3 mins

Location: Hosu City Police Station

No. of Pages: 39

T: Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa

N: The Tribal Hero, Native

T: This interview is being tape recorded and there are security cameras in the corners of the room. I am Tsukauchi Naomasa, otherwise known as True Man, and I'm based at ████████. I use he and him pronouns, and I work in the Police Force. The date is Tuesday 6th June 2XXX and according to my watch it is 9:03. This interview is being conducted at the Tribal Hero, Native's Agency, specifically at his office. No one else is in the room at this time. What is your full name and pronouns?

N: My name is Toda Yasuhiro also known as Native. I use he and him pronouns.

T: For convenience sake you'll be referred to as Native. Is that fine?

N: Yes. For things like these I think I might prefer it

T: Alright. May I get your date of birth, social security number, and work phone number?

N: (hums) I was born on 3.11.XX. My work phone number is ███-████-████ and my social security is █████████

T: Alright. Where do you live presently?

MI: ██████████████████

T: Okay, thank you. Now before we begin I need you to sign this rights waiver which states... You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer prior to any questioning or making of any statements and have them present with you while you are being questioned. If you can't afford to hire a lawyer one will be appointed by the court to represent you before questioning if you desire one. You may stop questioning or make any statements at any time by refusing to answer further or by requesting to consult with an attorney prior to continuing with questioning or the making of any statements

T: Sign right here where it says, "I have read the statement of my rights and I understand what my rights are. I'm willing to make a statement and answer questions. I do not want a lawyer at this time. I understand and know what I'm doing. No promises or threats have been made to me and no pressure or coercion of any kind have been used against me."

N: Anything else I need to know?

T: Not much. Just that you are allowed to leave if you become stressed or overwhelmed at any point and if you say any lies I'm allowed to ask questions about them and press for answers

N: Will keep that in mind