A/N: Surprise! Today is Izuku's birthday, so I decided to give you all an epilogue. Thank you for all the love you've given my story, and happy birthday my son.

Warning! Graphic description of injuries and violence. Read at own risk.

Epilogue

As sunny and sweltering as it was during the late summer, Principal Nezu was still dressed immaculately as ever. Although the air was thick with humidity, the mouse-dog-bear head of U.A. High School didn't bother with turning on the air conditioning in his office. It wasn't unusual for the rector to be seated at his desk and have his head turned towards the humongous window in his office as he was presently. It was, however, unusual for him to completely disregard the beeping of the intercom resounding from his desk.

Nezu prided himself on always thinking calmly and rationally before making any decision and always weighing the pros against the cons. Facts always outweighed speculation and there was a solution for every problem encountered, it was only a matter of finding it. Those were the reasons behind the principal's quiet nature. As it had turned out time and time again, having a considerate, thoughtful and logical approach to life had served him great – especially in times of crisis – and being the person in charge of an institution as big as UA required such skills. He needed these skills now more than ever.

A series of knocks sounded on the doors and brought Nezu out of his reverie. He looked away from the window and sucked in a deep breath, willing his worries to disappear so he could portray himself as the unmovable principal of the most prestigious high school in Japan.

"Come in." He called and turned in his seat to sit properly at the desk. He had been expecting them for a while now, but their presence didn't bring him the calm he had hoped.

"Pardon the intrusion." Detective Tsukauchi entered with Recovery Girl in tow. The elderly nurse wore a grim expression and was silent, testifying to the feeling of dread in Nezu.

"Please have a seat." Principal Nezu gestured to the plush chairs opposite of his desk and waited while his colleagues seated themselves. A huff of effort left Recovery Girl as she hopped onto the chair and settled down.

"I'm afraid we come bearing bad news." Tsukauchi's back was straight while he spoke, but Nezu knew the stiffness of his posture was a worrying sign. He had worked with the detective on numerous occasions and never had a ramrod straight back been good news. Coupled with Shuzenji's silence, Nezu could almost guess what they were here to tell them.

"It is true then? That she was one of ours?" The principal sighed sadly. It had been on the news all morning after all. The detective shuffled around papers that he had pulled out from his bag and nodded.

"A second year student." Tsukauchi confirmed and pushed a file towards the principal. Nezu placed a paw on top of the file and pulled it closer. He flipped it open and his eyes fell on a small picture attached to the corner of the first page. It was a young girl with long black hair wearing U.A.'s uniform. Nezu recognized the girl in the picture immediately. She had been a candidate for a position in the student council and would always politely greet him if they crossed paths on campus.

"Her condition?" The principal asked as his eyes swiftly scanned the information on the paper in front of him. He felt his fur stand on edge when he flipped to the pictures that the police had taken of her injuries.

"She is out of surgery and resting, but showed signs of heavy trauma." Recovery Girl finally spoke. Chiyo had seen much during her lifetime, but she would never get used to seeing children being beaten bloody. The state they had brought the girl in had the nurse's blood boiling, even now.

"The extent of her injuries?" Nezu dreaded the answer, but knew it was his duty to ask. Tsukauchi signaled for the nurse to go ahead and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Recovery Girl took a deep breath and started listing the endless injuries discovered on the girl – both old and new. Broken wrist from being shackled for days, bruised ribs from being kicked, countless fractured bones, bruises around her neck from attempted strangulation, cuts all over her body, puncture marks from needles and countless, old scars on her back and many, many more.

"The poor girl." Nezu exhaled slowly and put his paws together in front of him. He felt rage bubbling in the pit of his stomach upon hearing all of his student's injuries.

It was beyond him how anyone would do something so horrible to an innocent, young girl. It was a small consolation that the villains responsible for her kidnapping had been caught and faced severe consequences. Despite his desire to punish them himself, Nezu would let the authorities deal with the perpetrators accordingly. What he could do was to ensure that his student would get all the help she needed and make sure she was safe at all times.

"Since she was involved as a civilian, U.A. doesn't face any backlash despite all the scrutiny lately. I do think, however, that it would be wise to release a statement with regards to how you will help her. It will increase your credibility if people know you are actively trying to help one of your students." Tsukauchi ran a hand down his face. He hadn't gotten any sleep these past two days and was in desperate need of a shower. The rescue operation had taken all of his focus, but he wasn't relieved of his duties yet.

"No. I refuse to use her as an example. What happened to this girl is beyond horrible and we should do everything in our power to ensure that her name stays out of this." Recovery Girl looked at the detective with a fierce glint in her eye.

The elderly nurse had been sent in after the initial rescue to tend to the wounded. At the time they had only known that there was one girl being held captive, no that she was a student at UA. Where she attended school didn't matter, of course, but Chiyo would fight tooth and nail for this girl's identity to be protected. She couldn't forget the state they had found her in. She had been starved, beaten and was barely coherent by the time the heroes and police arrived. The poor girl had been somewhat responsive until Chiyo arrived, but once she recognized the school nurse, she had smiled and thanked Chiyo for saving her with blood, tears and dirt smeared over her face. Recovery Girl would not forget that look of relief on her face for a long time.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like you should use her as an example. I still think it would be beneficial to take a stand publicly and show that she will get the help and support that she needs from her school," Tsukauchi explained. He had not intended to sound insensitive or selfish, but there was much to gain from the publicity. An image of All Might at his strongest flashed through the detective's mind, but he quickly whisked the thought away. All Might was not going to solve all their problems; they had to solve them on their own.

"I will not allow it." Recovery Girl's tone was calm and without any fire, but she was determined. She was not going to let any repercussions damage the girl any further.

"As much as I understand your points, Tsukauchi-kun, I agree with Recovery Girl. The young lady has been through a highly traumatizing experience, and we should focus our efforts into supporting her recovery. Until she becomes stable enough to talk to us, we should continue to investigate her background and find out what caused the scars on her back. I think we should handle this with utmost discretion for her sake." Principal Nezu looked from one colleague to another as he spoke. Chiyo looked pleased and the creases on her forehead diminished slightly. While Tsukauchi nodded his agreement, he didn't look less worn out.

"In that case, we should consider moving her to a safe-house or special clinic of some sort for safety reasons. The girl lives by herself and I think it would be unwise to leave her unsupervised until she is cleared by the doctors. Not to mention she'll have to undergo physical therapy and receive counseling to cope with the incident." Tsukauchi straightened up once more and leaned over the desk to look at her file. There were a number of things he had to investigate, but first they had to settle the matter of the second-year student's safety and recovery. Glancing at the picture of the victim, Tsukauchi felt a stab of sorrow. She was a pretty, young lady whose life was now in shambles.

"She may be an aspiring heroine, but that doesn't mean she'll have no help to deal with her trauma. We will of course ask her consent if she is coherent when she wakes up, but UA's resources are at your disposal." Principal Nezu told the detective, who nodded gratefully.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"I will be heading back to the hospital she is admitted in after our meeting. I'll keep you posted." Recovery Girl hopped out of her chair and slowly made her way to the doors. Tsukauchi gathered the file from the desk and bid principal Nezu goodbye. He still had to submit a report at the police station, and exhaustion was catching up to him fast. The door closed behind him and silence once again filled the room.

A couple of minutes after Tsukauchi and Recovery Girl left his office, the principal reached for the phone on the corner of his desk that he had been ignoring before. Pushing the button to call the administration, he waited as patiently as possible while a plan formed in his mind.

"Call for Aizawa-sensei, please." Nezu told the secretary at the other end of the line and leaned back in his chair. The principal replayed his conversation with detective Tsukauchi and Recovery Girl in his mind and picked apart each bit of information they had given him.

A few minutes later, a knock sounded on the door and Aizawa entered looking as indifferent as usual. If one looked carefully, they would be able to see the slight crease between his brows – a telltale sign of stress.

"How is it coming along?" Nezu asked, skipping the formalities and cutting straight to the chase. Aizawa didn't need any explanation, but sighed before replying.

"I've compiled a list of every student and monitored them for the past month. It is exactly as we feared. There are several students who show signs of distress, but no one has reached out to any of the teachers." Eraserhead tugged at his scarves and scratched his neck.

"I am sure you've already heard about the kidnapping of a teenage girl on the news," Nezu asked and Aizawa nodded, "as it turns out, she is a second-year student here at U.A." The twitch in Aizawa's eye indicated that he had suspected it, but hadn't gotten it confirmed before now.

"She looked familiar." Although his voice sounded detached, Nezu knew how much it pained Aizawa when any of the students got hurt. This incident was one of the worst in many years, hence Eraserhead's stony expression. His self-control was admirable, but Nezu was not fooled by his mask of indifference. Aizawa's own class had been struggling for a while, so the homeroom teacher was likely at wits end, but to hear of another student being kidnapped and tortured for days probably didn't do him any favors.

"Please sit." Nezu gestured to the chairs that had been occupied minutes before. As Aizawa took a seat, Nezu couldn't help but notice the shaky exhale that came from one of his most trusted staff members. The principal felt bad for Eraser, but ultimately they had to come up with a solution to this problem, so there was no use procrastinating. Very quickly, Nezu filled him in and marveled at how Aizawa's expression hardened, yet remained emotionless when hearing about the victim's countless injuries.

"Has she regained consciousness?" Aizawa finally asked, his voice gruff. The pro hero didn't slouch, but if one didn't know any better, it would seem as though he was slouching in his chair.

Nezu shook his head, "No, not yet. Recovery Girl is headed to the hospital and will let us know."

"Have her parents been notified?" The pro hero scratched his chin, contemplating.

"Yes, detective Tsukauchi is currently trying to meet up with them." Nezu placed both paws on top of the table, a habit of his he had developed over years of addressing taller people.

"I see."

"The reason I called you is actually related to today's incident. The victim will be placed under police protection and will have to undergo therapy for the foreseeable future. Although her kidnapping wasn't related to U.A., we will be working closely with the police and the doctors to assist in any way." Nezu started slowly and opened the drawer on his right, where he pulled out a file.

"There is something I have been considering for a while now and I think it is about time we implement something new at U.A. What you are telling me about your students only enforces this idea." Nezu pushed the file in front of Aizawa, who opened the very first page and raised a brow.

"And what idea would that be?" Eraser scanned the page quickly and pushed the file back. He already had a hunch, but wanted the principal to confirm it.

"We call in the experts."

I hope you're all enjoying your summer (=w=)/