Chapter Fifty-Five: Aftermath

The sound of her breath rasping through her mask was too loud amidst the eerie, ringing silence of a catastrophe that had ended mere moments ago.

Himiko squinted through the clouds of settling dust, sweating from the heat pervading the area. They'd lost sight of Izuku and Chisaki completely after the teenager had utterly crushed everything in his immediate vicinity. After that, there had been a few subsequent explosions, then only silence.

She was desperate to find him. If Chisaki had won their final clash, Izuku would be near-death or dead.

In fact, even if he'd won, he was probably still dying. Izuku's body wasn't meant to handle this sort of power output. She'd seen firsthand what happened when he pushed himself too far.

She had to find him quickly. Her eyes flitted to her right as she picked up some movement, but she recognized Hisashi and she dismissed him, continuing her search. He was just as frantic to find his son. Even if he didn't know the circumstances, they both knew the situation was dire.

Himiko spotted another shape amidst the chaos and focused on it for a moment, recognizing the figure as Tomura. He was standing stock-still, seemingly fixated on something. She felt her gut clench with trepidation and made her way over to him.

She reached his side and soon caught sight of the focus of Tomura's uncharacteristically wide eyes. The uneasy feeling in her gut became a terrible black hole.

The silhouette was undoubtedly Izuku's back. She felt a lump rising in her throat as she took in the ragged shape and how wrong everything about him looked. His costume was in tatters and what she could see of his limbs were badly distorted. Snagged in the grip of his right hand, slack and lifeless, was…

The dust settled just enough for her to get a good look, and then it hit her. The smell. The pervasive, choking scent of charred flesh sent Himiko's belly roiling violently, and she barely got her mask off before she threw up.

Chisaki—what was left of him anyways—was ruined. His signature plague mask had been crumpled like a soda can and jammed through his face. The lump of smoking, bloody flesh and bone was being held up by what was left of the Yakuza boss's singed hair, gripped tightly in Izuku's fist. The blood on the ground was already baked and blackened to a crisp.

She had no doubt Chisaki was dead. Nobody could survive such a wound. Well, maybe All for One, but even then…

Shakily, she wiped her mouth clear of the bile she'd spewed onto the ground and started to approach Izuku, who had still not moved. She felt like she was going to throw up again, despite her stomach having already emptied itself. The smell was just—she couldn't stop gagging on the foul, sickening aroma.

When she was close enough to really see the damage he'd done to himself, a strangled sound tore out of her throat.

Izuku hadn't let go of Chisaki because he couldn't. His arm had been reduced to splintered bones and the remnants of muscles and flesh that had been seared away by his own, terrible power. Only the tightening of rigor-mortis was keeping his grasp on Chisaki steady.

Overhaul sparked at her fingertips. She didn't want to see what expression had been on his face when he'd—when he'd died. She only dared to hope that she could bring him back.

Her hands pressed against too-bony shoulders and she winced at the searing heat burning her palms before she triggered her borrowed Quirk. Chisaki's body slumped over with a meaty thump as Izuku was forced to relinquish his grip on the remnants of the villain.

She watched as Izuku reformed, his body once again whole, and gasped when he fell back into her. Himiko almost tripped and fell, but then Tomura was there to catch them both and helped her lower Izuku carefully to the ground.

He looked like he was asleep, and she prayed that was all as she leaned over and pressed her ear against the left side of his chest, trying to detect some sign of life…

The steady, if slow pulse of his heart reverberating through him sent waves of relief rolling over her. Himiko closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath that she didn't realize she'd been holding.

"He's alive," Tomura murmured. She lifted her head and realized that the Heir to Darkness was holding Izuku's wrist in his uninjured hand, careful not to touch him with all five fingers as he felt the thrum of life.

"Y-yeah," she choked out, swallowing. The sour taste of bile still prominent in her mouth was barely noticeable to her.

Tomura pressed a finger to his earpiece and started muttering quickly. Undoubtedly calling the rest of the League to their location.

Hisashi was there in an instant and took Tomura's place as the younger man backed off. The Chimera pulled Izuku away from Himiko (who frankly was too beside herself with exhausted relief to immediately protest) and tucked his son into his arms, eyes wide as he stared at the limp form of the child. His fingers ran shakily through the curly mess of hair on Izuku's head, cradling him like an infant.

Kurogiri teleported the rest of the League to their location and they all took in the final scene of the fight with wide eyes. It wouldn't be long before they'd have to flee, as the heroes were no doubt regrouping and preparing to search the ruins themselves, but they had a few seconds.

Dabi laid eyes on Izuku and his brow furrowed. "He's not hurt?"

Himiko looked up at him. "Not anymore."

Realization filled his eyes and the scarred man focused on her. "How bad?"

"I…" She swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I don't want to talk about it."

Thankfully, Dabi did not press the issue.

Tomura had moved to stand in front of Chisaki's corpse, although he was the only one who bothered to stare at it for more than a second. Spinner's scales had gone an unhealthy shade of green and Compress seemed like he was tempted to shove the body into a marble just to get the damned thing out of his line of sight. Twice was holding his nose through his mask, coughing in response to the stench that had made its way to him before he had cut it off.

And then Tomura turned to Himiko and spoke.

"Fix him."

She blinked at her leader owlishly as they all processed the order. Hisashi had just set Izuku back down onto the ground and stiffened for half a second before he shot to his feet, whirling on Tomura with fire sparking along his body and death in his eyes.

"What?"

Tomura met the incredulous, wrathful glare of the Chimera steadily, utterly unmoved by his disbelieving rage. The rest of the League stared with wide eyes, as if their leader had just asked to die.

"I want him alive."

"Would you like to die with him?" Hisashi snarled, fingers clenched like a dragon's claws.

"Himiko needs his blood to make herself useful," Tomura replied, still unnervingly, outrageously calm. "The heroes think she's on their side—it'll look good on her part if she helps out here. Overhaul is the best chance she's got for that, and in case you haven't noticed, her reserves are almost empty. She needs more of his blood."

"And why should I not disintegrate him after she's drained him dry?" Hisashi demanded.

Tomura's eyes became glacially cold. "I'm not satisfied with just his death. I have…other uses for him."

"Which are?"

The Heir to Darkness had the brass balls to walk up so he was in Hisashi's face. Then, regardless of the terrible heat he was still giving off, leaned in enough to mutter in the Chimera's ear.

There was a pregnant pause as Tomura leaned back and waited for Hisashi's reaction. The older man seemed to be debating whatever plan his charge had in mind, clearly still tempted to just atomize the object of his ire on the ground.

Finally, his flames dissipated and he turned back to Izuku, scowling. "Fine."

Tomura glanced at Himiko. "Fix him. Compress, capture him once he's been repaired. I've had enough of this jackass being awake."

"Sure," the other villain grunted, readying himself.

Himiko really didn't want to touch the foul corpse, but she set one hand on the dead villain and Overhauled him. Once she was done, she jammed the needle of her syringe into the limp shape's arm and drained enough of his blood to be useful. As she turned her focus back to Izuku, she heard the sound of Compress trapping Chisaki in one of his marbles.

At least the smell was gone after that. Mostly.

Good riddance.

Satisfied, Tomura looked at Hisashi again. They were starting to hear shouts more and more frequently. "We have to go. The heroes will be here soon."

"…I know," Hisashi muttered, holding a hand against Izuku's face. He stood back up, eyes flinty, and stared at Himiko. "Get him out of here safely. We'll talk later."

She just nodded, tired and uncaring of his volatile state for the time being.

Kurogiri's portal warped the League out of the area, leaving Himiko sitting on the ground amidst the destroyed Yakuza compound with Izuku unconscious beside her. She lifted his head carefully so he could rest in her lap, hoping that might make him just a little more comfortable.

Her fingers ran shakily through his hair as she waited, listening to the sounds of the heroes closing in on their position.

Nighteye wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to see when he finally got back to the surface, but the chaos he emerged upon was definitely one of his worst nightmares. The whole place looked like a war zone, destroyed so thoroughly that for a moment, he feared the situation was as badly off as the Kamino Ward following All Might's final clash with All for One.

His training kicked in. His mind steeled itself with a practiced professionalism.

Once he was assured that Eijirou could keep Yu immobilized with Fatgum, Centipeder, and Bubble Girl, (along with the other Yakuza that had been captured) he strode along the perimeter of the devastation until he finally spotted Nejire, who was just descending from an apparent scouting of the area from above.

"What's the situation?" He demanded.

She touched down and turned to him, all of her bubbly personality replaced with the stoic control Ryukyu had taught her. "It looks bad, but it seems like most of the damage was restricted to the Yakuza compound and the buildings immediately surrounding it. The area was sufficiently evacuated—the police chief told me a few minutes ago that none of the civilians were badly hurt. A few of the officers were injured by the fires and explosions, but nothing immediately fatal. They're waiting to be received by incoming ambulances. Should be here any second."

…That sounded a little too good to be true.

His voice lowered. "Fatalities?"

Nejire's eyes dimmed. "I floated into that underground pit a minute ago—well, what's left of it. From what I can tell, all of the Yakuza members you guys didn't recover are dead. So are the ones Chisaki brought up here. There's…nothing to retrieve."

"The League of Villains intercepted the ones we didn't immediately fight when we cornered them down there," he told her. She inclined her head slightly before he continued his questioning. "Chisaki?"

"Gone," she said, and Nighteye immediately feared the worst.

"Deku?"

"Alive. As far as we can tell. He was unconscious."

His brow furrowed and Nejire shook her head. "Just…come see for yourself. There's still a situation. I needed to do…something else. I didn't want to keep looking."

"At what?"

"Uravity."

That hollow tone was one he was too familiar with. "I see. Where are they?"

Nejire turned in silence and led him towards the (now annihilated) gate to the Yakuza compound. As they got closer, he quickly spotted a gathering of people, most prominently Ryukyu, Froppy, Eraser Head, and Himiko. On the ground were two prone shapes. One he recognized immediately as Izuku. The other…

As they got closer, the damage became more apparent and Nighteye's iron control was tested. Severely.

Ochako was dead. There was—there was no way she could have survived the injuries he laid his eyes on. He could tell even from here that her spine had been utterly shattered, and the gaping wound on the left side of her torso spoke of internal damage that couldn't be survived.

She was badly burned, on top of that. Even if the wounds hadn't killed her, the sheer degree of the burns covering her body were…

He knew what that kind of damage meant. There was no coming back from it.

Ryukyu was sitting beside her intern's cooling body, shaky hands clearing the hair from the lifeless face. Froppy looked despondent as large tears rolled down her cheeks, crouched over the empty shell of her friend, and Eraser Head—

Nighteye frowned and stepped in between Eraser Head and Himiko, the former of which appeared to be giving the latter a scathing dressing-down for…something. The hero's capture tape was being clenched tightly in his hands, as though he were barely resisting the urge to wrap Himiko up and throw her into the nearest police vehicle he could find. Himiko, for her part, looked shaken and kept flinching at the heated words Aizawa was snapping at her.

His approach jerked Aizawa out of his focus on Himiko and Nighteye barely repressed a wince at the bloodshot, grieving eyes of a man who had lost one of his precious students.

"What's going on here?" He asked quietly.

"What's going on?" Aizawa hissed back, evidently on the verge of losing his temper for the first time that Nighteye could remember. "What's going on is my student is dead and your—your spy wants to desecrate her body—"

"Stop," Nighteye ordered, holding a hand up. Aizawa's eyes narrowed dangerously, but when he opened his mouth, the older hero looked at Himiko, who lifted her nervous gaze hesitantly. "You didn't leave with the rest of the League."

"No," she replied quietly.

"Why?"

She swallowed. "Tomura—he asked me to repair Chisaki with Overhaul after…after the fighting was over. I extracted more of his blood before they took him so I could…"

He felt a surge in his chest, but didn't dare to do more than hope, even slightly. "You think you can repair her."

Himiko bit her lip and glanced at the lifeless body. "I—I don't know. Izuku was only dead for a few—"

Her voice cracked and ceased, and Nighteye paled as he realized suddenly why she was so uncharacteristically subdued. He set a careful hand on her shoulder for just a moment to ground her, removing it when she stiffened uncomfortably at the touch. "Breathe. Then continue."

Himiko did as was asked of her, then looked at him. "I can…I can try. I don't know how long she's been like—like that. It might not work."

"The longer we wait, the more likely the odds are she can't be resuscitated," Nighteye reasoned. "Try."

"Nighteye," Eraser Head growled, bristling at the idea of a villain laying their hands on—

Nighteye shot him a rare glare, a stern expression that even now would put Toshinori's unruly attitude in its place so he could speak. "This is the best chance your student has. If nothing else, at least you won't be sending her back to her parents like…like that."

For a moment, Aizawa eyes filled with a kind of righteous fury, but as quickly as it blazed to life, it dimmed into dying embers. The man seemed to age in front of him, too exhausted to do more than continue glaring at the other hero.

Nighteye nodded to Himiko, who stepped around the grieving teacher and slowly approached Ryukyu and Tsuyu, who remained in place beside Ochako's body. She crouched in front of them hesitantly and they both looked up at the other girl warily.

"I can…" She swallowed and tried to steel herself with what little energy she had left in her. "I might be able to…I might be able to help her. Maybe."

Tsuyu looked uncertain, and it did not help Himiko's confidence to remember that this was one of the girls she had attacked at the Training Camp all those months ago. Ryukyu was a new face to her, and though she seemed wary, she looked from Himiko to Ochako and nodded slowly.

"Do what you can," the older woman requested, sounding as though all the light had been drained from her soul.

Himiko took a breath as Ryukyu carefully shifted Ochako's body so it lay flat on the ground. She cast a glance at Izuku, who was still unconscious.

She had saved him. She could—she could do this.

Hesitantly, she shifted to sit beside Ochako—next to Tsuyu—and lifted both of her hands to frame the corpse's face. Overhaul tingled at her fingertips, and she willed the borrowed Quirk to do the only good she had managed to find in it.

Reset.

She tried to make the process as clean as possible, but there was really nothing pretty about a body exploding in a spray of blood. At least Ochako's body reformed intact, as though she was merely sleeping. The terrible wounds and burns had disappeared, but…

Himiko and the heroes paused, hesitating, afraid to see if the girl had actually been brought back to—

Ochako suddenly convulsed, then her eyes flew open and she gasped, her body seizing up in shock. She started coughing badly and the frozen shapes around her flew into action.

"Ochako!" Tsuyu cried, helping her friend sit up with Ryukyu's assistance. "Ochako, breathe—"

The girl's voice was strangled as she tried and failed to reply, coughing more. Himiko stood up and backed up, looking stunned.

"Fuck," Nighteye heard Aizawa mutter under his breath in a daze. He glanced at the younger man, who just stared at Ochako with a shocked expression.

He felt much the same, but he was a little more emotionally distanced from this. Nighteye left Aizawa to slowly approach his student while he focused on Himiko. She blinked when he stepped up to her, looking at the tall man uncertainly.

"Well done," he said quietly. "You saved her."

Himiko opened her mouth, then closed it, not sure how to reply. She chose instead to look at Izuku, who was still unconscious, and crouched beside him, setting a shaky hand on the teenager's face. "He didn't wake up as fast as she did."

"His vitals are steady?"

"That Rock Lock guy said they were, yeah," she murmured.

"We'll get him checked out at the hospital to be safe," Nighteye assured her. He paused a moment before going on, studying the shaky form of the girl. "Let's find a quiet spot and have Kurogiri warp you home. You need to rest."

She looked up at him and as he searched those drained, amber eyes, Nighteye was reminded exactly how young she was. Villain or not, despite everything she had done, she was still barely more than a child.

She was only a year older than Izuku and Ochako.

He made a mental note and cocked his head to the side. "You can't do any more good here. If you stay, there will be questions. The public will find out you've been here. It's not time for that yet."

She nodded and took one more second to study Izuku's face before she stood up and let Nighteye lead her away from the scene. Once they found a sheltered alley devoid of people, Himiko texted Kurogiri and the other villain was ready to warp her quickly.

She looked at Nighteye. "Tell me if…"

"I will," he replied. "Go."

Biting her lip, Himiko cast one more glance at where Izuku still lay, then retreated through the darkness, the gate closing behind her.

Nighteye took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose. What a mess. What an absolute mess…

He heard some panicked shouting and immediately steeled himself again, returning to where Ryukyu, Froppy, and Eraser Head were trying to help Ochako calm down. The girl hadn't settled at all. If anything she looked more panicked.

"What's happened?" He asked, frowning.

Ryukyu's face was bloodless and Aizawa's expression was stone. Ochako just stared at her feet in horror and muttered what almost sounded like a mantra, voice shaking and desperately scared.

"I can't—I can't feel my legs! I can't feel my legs!"

Nighteye's blood ran cold.

Today had to fall somewhere in the top ten most emotionally draining days Toshinori had ever experienced. Maybe even the top five.

Not only had it literally started with him escorting Inko to U.A right as Eri was taken by an unknown assailant, they then got word that the raid on the Eight Precepts was going terribly wrong. Initial public reports were saying that Hisashi and the League of Villains had come out of nowhere, seemingly to exploit an opportunity to attack their hated Yakuza rivals when the heroes mounted an organized raid on the compound.

It had all happened very quickly. From the time when Eri was kidnapped to the end of the battle at the compound, roughly twenty minutes had passed.

And in that time…he wasn't even sure where to begin organizing his thoughts.

The teachers from U.A that were sent to retrieve Eri with Momo's tracking device encountered Mirio escaping the Yakuza compound and were quick to escort them to safety. That part of the operation, though completely unplanned, had been about the only part that actually went smoothly.

To say Nezu was furious was like calling the sun hot. Toshinori had rarely seen the diminutive Principal angry, but when he had, it was always a cold fire that sent Nezu into a frenzy to solve whatever problem had been laid out in front of him.

He expected the genius animal to figure out whatever weakness the kidnapper had exploited within a matter of hours and seal it permanently, likely also bolstering the defenses at U.A even further. To what extent, he had no idea.

The damage had been done, though. The public hadn't found out, but that didn't mean things weren't bad. U.A's current security was almost as airtight as that in Tartarus—or as tight as it could be without turning the institution into…well, a prison. Toshinori didn't know how much more secure the school could become, but he'd leave that to Nezu and Power Loader.

Inko had been horrified, and until they got answers to explain how that damned woman managed to kidnap Eri in the middle of the campus, there would be no peace of mind for her.

This was compounded greatly by the fact that Izuku was in the hospital—again.

For once, he wasn't injured, but Nighteye had told them exactly what had happened. Or, at least, what he knew had happened. There were gaps in that short time frame that he hadn't witnessed, but what he had seen was…well.

It painted a picture of how graphic and horrible Izuku's fight against Chisaki had been. And Toshinori was pretty sure Nighteye was keeping some things out for the sake of the boy's mother. Inko had grown paler the longer he explained what had happened.

She was currently sitting in his room at the hospital with Eri, who sported a bandage on her leg where Momo's tracking dart had struck her. The dart had been easy to remove, (clever Momo, creating a device like that in the heat of the moment) and the incision, the doctors had told them, would heal in a matter of days.

Izuku was here for observation. The fight had been savage enough that even though he was physically fine in the end, Nighteye insisted he be monitored for at least twenty-four hours to ensure there were no problems.

The primary reason for that, Toshinori knew, lay with the girl in the room next to Izuku's.

That sick feeling in his stomach hadn't left since Nighteye told him (after Inko retreated with Eri to Izuku's room) that both Izuku and Ochako had—had died in the battle. Izuku had essentially killed himself whilst on a Trigger high with All Flare and One for All's supercharged outputs, and Ochako's body had been crushed by a ceiling when she was saving a civilian.

Himiko was the sole reason either of them were alive.

Toshinori had no idea how he could possibly thank her for that.

But Ochako was facing complications despite the healing, and no one was sure why—not yet.

Her parents were here, waiting outside with Toshinori, Aizawa, Ryukyu, Nighteye, Tsuyu, and Nejire, most of whom still donned their ragged hero costumes. The rest of the heroes and police that were involved in the raid were still at the ruins of the Yakuza compound, having called in reinforcements to deal with the situation.

It was…it was a mess, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Not for the civilians, anyways. Cementoss was already on the scene, working to help repair the damage to the buildings and their foundations. The Hero Association already had teams out there to assess the best place to start repairs. It would all be fixed in a matter of days with their not-inconsiderable resources. The civilians would be provided with housing until their homes were repaired, and damaged and/or lost property would be reimbursed.

It wasn't a second Kamino. It was bad, but not a disaster.

There was a general air of tension in the waiting room, one borne of concern for Ochako, who was still being checked over by the doctors. Recovery Girl was here, too, assisting with the checkup to see if she could help in any way.

When at last, the little old lady left Ochako's room, they all stood up as one. She waved them back down with her walking stick, and they hesitantly obeyed.

The girl's mother, Yuriko, squeezed the hand of Ochako's father, Teshima. "How is she?"

Recovery Girl took a seat and let out a sigh, looking at her patient's family. "Physically, she's in perfectly good health. I don't know exactly how Overhaul works on the human body, but given what I heard of her injuries before it was used on her, to call her lucky is an understatement. Her life is not at risk any longer."

That released some of the tension, but not all of it. The old woman tapped her stick. "That being said, it makes her current state all the more…confusing.

"Ochako's body is functioning completely normally," Recovery Girl went on. "We've taken a number of scans and run several tests on her, and preliminary results are telling us so far that there's nothing wrong with her spinal column or nervous system that could explain why she can't feel any sensation in her legs. At this time, my best guess is it has something to do with the time delay between her being injured and Overhaul being used on her. She was technically dead for several minutes before she was healed."

Yuriko let out a strangled sound that caused her husband to squeeze her close. Neither of them really wanted to grasp how close they'd come to losing their only child, but they needed to know what had happened to understand what had to happen next.

Toshinori swallowed. "Is that also why Izuku didn't wake up immediately?"

"I can't say," she replied, shaking her head. "His situation is similar, but the reports I've heard about his injuries before he was Overhauled…he was even more badly off than Ochako was. I don't know if that's affecting him, if that's why it's taking more time for him to wake up and if there will be complications in his recovery when he does regain consciousness, but it's a possibility."

Recovery Girl looked up at Yuriko and Teshima. "I suspect that what's happening to her is simply a delay—that her body is still trying to process that all the damage she took is gone, and eventually it will catch up and let her regain full function of her legs again. How long that could take, I have no answers at the moment. It could happen five minutes from now or in a week. We just don't know."

She let her gaze fall to the floor. "Which is why, as her doctor and Izuku's, I'm formally requesting they're sent to a specialized recovery facility for Quirk-related injuries."

"You think it's that serious?" Teshima asked.

"I'd rather be safe than sorry," Recovery Girl admitted, frowning. "If our theory is correct, both of the children will recover with time, but we don't know how Overhaul affects the bodies of individuals who were…recently deceased. I want to be sure."

"We…" Teshima swallowed hard, looking down. "Of course we agree with you, it's just…I'm not sure we can afford sending her to—"

"You will not pay a single yen of expenses for this," Recovery Girl rapped her cane on the floor sternly. "The facility I have in mind is funded by the Hero Association, exclusively for heroes and heroes in-training—it's an international operation that specializes in cases like this. Any expenses in this case are covered by the school of said student. Your child was injured rescuing a civilian in an official operation and she will be treated by the best doctors the world has available."

Her parents bowed their heads, quaking with emotion, but Ryukyu was having none of it. "Please, don't. This…this was our—my—fault. She should never have been injured under my watch. She was my responsibility."

The woman shifted to stand in front of the sitting parents, falling to her knees and bowing her head to the floor. "I am so sorry your daughter was hurt like this."

They both looked startled by the sudden display, exchanging a glance with one another before Yuriko addressed the heroine. "We accept your apology. This—it wasn't your fault. She was hurt trying to save a civilian, wasn't she? It was an accident."

Tsuyu looked down at her feet. "I was with her. She threw the kid to me when the ceiling came down—"

Aizawa, who was seated next to her, reached up and set a hand on her shoulder, cutting the girl off. "It wasn't your fault, either. You both had a duty to prioritize the survival of a child. The situation escalated beyond what anyone could have anticipated. By rights, none of you should have been anywhere near that place if we knew the villains involved were that dangerous."

Toshinori looked up at Nighteye. "Do we have any idea who it was? The villain with the lava bombs?"

"I told Centipeder to comb the database, but last he contacted me, there was nothing," Nighteye told him grimly. "I'm beginning to think that Chisaki's Trigger dealings went further than we anticipated. International."

Aizawa's spare hand clenched. "Foreigners, then."

"Most likely. There's no record of an individual with the abilities we saw today—not in Japan, anyways," Nighteye admitted. "Whoever they were, they were new to our shores. Chisaki must have panicked after his organization went bankrupt and summoned any allies he could rally to his cause."

The hero adjusted his glasses, stood up, and regarded Ochako's parents. "We will ensure your daughter recovers, and in the meantime, we will be looking into the identities of the individuals responsible for bringing her to such harm. There will be retribution for this. I know that's not much consolation under the current circumstances, but that is all I can offer myself."

"We appreciate it," Teshima replied, his voice still strained. "Thank you."

Nighteye nodded, then walked off. Toshinori stood up after a moment and went after his old sidekick, falling into step beside him.

Before they got very far, however, Recovery Girl twisted her head and called after them. "Nighteye, contact me later. I need to discuss your…spy."

The man paused briefly to regard the old woman, nodded, and continued on.

Toshinori muttered quietly to his old friend as they set off with a purpose in their step. "How can I help?"

"Compile a report for Himiko's involvement in the raid," Nighteye replied, never slowing down. "Anything we can use to help her case, up to and including delivering vital information for an official operation and saving two heroes in-training from certain death. I want it in the database and I want it on paper for good measure. I have a feeling I already know what Recovery Girl wants, and I need as many positive records for her recent activities as possible. Try to pull up her old medical records, as well. Whatever you can get."

Toshinori raised an eyebrow at that, but if he was catching his friend's drift right, he understood where he was going with this. "Very well. I'll have it compiled by this evening."

"Thank you," Nighteye said brusquely, though not unkindly. "I'm going to be otherwise occupied for a long time, sorting this out."

"I know," Toshinori admitted, falling silent briefly. "Mirai, about Izuku—"

"I'm not sure," Nighteye cut him off, visibly deflating despite never losing the speed in his step. "I don't know if any cameras caught him in the heat of the battle, and my testimony should be more than enough, but Overhaul removed any and all traces of Trigger from his system. And Chisaki…"

"Is gone."

"Regrettably."

"The facility Recovery Girl is sending them to," Toshinori went on. "Olympus, right?"

"Yes."

"The Sisters?"

"They're our best bet to clear Izuku of any criminal charges that might be pressed on him if word gets out about how much damage he caused."

Toshinori opened his mouth, but Nighteye beat him to it. "This isn't Kamino, and you know it. You weren't drugged up in the middle of the fight and you weren't responsible for the majority of the collateral damage. More importantly, you were the Symbol of Peace, and he is not. Izuku needs this to keep standing his ground against the dissenters amongst the public. Even if no legal action is taken against his decision to battle Chisaki while he was influenced by Trigger—if he was even cognizant enough to make that decision in the first place—he needs a third party that isn't close friends, family, or associates to speak up for him."

His former sidekick let that sink in for a minute before he went on. "And they can help all of them."

Toshinori considered that as they walked down several flights of stairs. Then he nodded. "Izuku and Himiko—they need that."

"I suspect Ochako will, too," Nighteye sighed. "She—"

"—died," Toshinori finished. "Her psyche is undoubtedly fractured."

"Yes. So Mind-Healers."

The former Symbol of Peace nodded in acceptance. "Mind-Healers."

Kai Chisaki awoke in hell—just not the one he was expecting.

His mask was gone, and as he came to, he realized he was bound tightly to…a table of some kind. He became aware of a number of tubes injecting some kind of liquid into his body, though what exactly, he couldn't say. Whoever was doing this, they were a medical professional.

He frowned briefly, eyes opening only to immediately squint against a bright light held over his face.

"Ah, I see you're awake."

An old man with thick glasses and a bristling mustache leaned over the right side of the table to study Chisaki. He briefly shifted the overhead light to flash a smaller one in the Yakuza's eyes, no doubt testing his optical reactions. "Good. I did wonder if there would be any side effects of using Overhaul on you after you'd died, but perhaps your delayed awakening was all there was to it. I'm sure further tests will confirm or deny that hypothesis."

"Where am I?" Chisaki muttered, wincing at how dry his throat felt.

"Hell."

He stiffened and jerked his head as much as he could to the left, although now he realized there was also a strap on his forehead to prevent much motion. It was still enough to let him see Tomura Shigaraki standing there, looking down on him.

"You didn't think I'd just let you die, did you?"

Chisaki's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"Your Quirk is useful, but you are not," Tomura answered. "Without my Teacher, I can't just snatch Overhaul and shove it into a Noumu for safekeeping, so we'll have to make do with the next best thing."

"Which is?"

The Successor to Evil smirked at him cruelly. "Use your imagination."

Chisaki tried to use Overhaul on the table, the straps, himself—anything, but nothing came of it. The doctor seemed all too amused by his attempts. "I wouldn't bother. There are enough Quirk suppressants in your system as can be administered without dealing bodily harm. This is hardly the first time I've performed this particular procedure on an unwilling subject."

Chisaki scowled, aware of a heartbeat monitor picking up on his accelerating vitals. The constant beeping only managed to stress him further.

He watched as the doctor offered a pair of earmuffs to Tomura. "I suggest you put these on. This part of the procedure can be rather…noisy."

Tomura waved him off, still staring at Chisaki with pure malice in his eyes. "That's not necessary. I want to hear this."

The doctor shrugged, hanging the muffs around his neck. "As you wish."

Chisaki kept struggling futilely as the doctor hooked up a number of instruments to his head, ignoring the desperation of his subject.

"We'll prepare your body first while my database searches any matches in the archive that will collaborate properly with your Quirk. This may take some time. The initial procedure requires that you stay awake so I can monitor your brain activity properly, but afterwards you'll be sedated."

"Not that you'll need to think about being sedated at that point, anyways," Tomura sneered, lowering his face to stare Chisaki dead in the eye. "You belong to me now. The next time you wake up, you'll be following my orders. I'm looking forward to it."

"Now, Tomura, please don't antagonize the subject further," the doctor chastised. "His stress levels are already peaking. Although I've refined this procedure, there is always the possibility of failure."

"I trust your work, doctor," Tomura replied, although he pulled back from Chisaki's face.

The old man shifted the muffs to cover his ears, reaching over to a nearby computer and typing a few things in before he turned to face his subject. "Are you ready?"

"Fuck you!" Chisaki snarled.

Despite being unable to hear him, the doctor snorted. "I don't need translation for that. Very well. Three, two, one—"

Lightning seared his flesh, piercing his skull and burning every nerve in his body like live wires, and as he screamed until he throat felt like it would bleed, Chisaki learned there were fates worse than death.

A/N: Hey, would ya look at that! Chapter came out pretty quick this time, huh? I'm hoping to get my schedule back up to par as soon as possible, so (fingers crossed) we might start getting new chapters once every couple of weeks! Well, that's the hope. Bear with me, guys!

I really appreciate all the support I got from you guys following my uncle passing away. That means the world to me and it helps more than you know. Thank you, everyone.

As some of you might have already figured out, this upcoming arc is not going to be the Culture Festival. That won't be going on in Viridescent, or at least not in year one. Perhaps year two? You'll have to wait see!

Now, onto the review responses for Chapter 54!

William0312: Hello, I was curious about what kind of figure Izuko is going to be for Eri is he going to be a father figure or a mix between brother and father figure or just a brother. I also want to give you credit for the Ochako incident and to be honest I really hope that she dies. Not because I don't like her but I think it really would make for some really great character development.

-Izuku fills up a couple of voids in Eri's life! He doubles as both a father and brother figure to her. Katsuki is sort of an uncle, as well! Killing Ochako permanently might've made for some good character development in a different setting, but in this case, I think it wouldn't have had the impact I'd be going for had I decided to kill her off permanently. Which may still happen sometime in the future. Like I've said, nobody is safe in this story.

Quasi11: I'm glad to see you back, and I'm glad that you're doing okay with everything going on. It might seem hollow to offer condolences for your uncle, but I'm very sorry for your loss. As for the chapter, wow this was a stressful read. The Chisaki fight was just spectacular. It's awesome getting to see Izuku learn to use all of his quirks more effectively together. I'm nervous for Ochako. I love that you have the balls to kill of (or at least seriously endanger) her, but I also really don't want her to die! I've said this in the past, but I feel like she's just the more healthy choice for Izuku. Great chapter! Please don't feel the need to rush in the next one, take all the time you need. We'll still be here.

-I'm happy to be back at it! I appreciate your condolences- it means a lot to me. This chapter was stressful to write, so I'm glad that translated over to reading it, as well. You'll see as time goes on that I really don't mind killing people off, but I prefer having a proper build-up to such events. You'll see what I mean eventually lol. In regards to ships...who knows? This upcoming arc is going to complicate things ;) Look forward to it!

Vanessa Masters: She froze as Izuku unleashed another Pyroclasm, almost as powerful as his father's. Ras observed the raging child shrewdly. "Watch closely. We must tell the Mother what we are seeing," he ordered Mugetsu. "This one must be dealt with before he grows up. Anything less than allegiance to us is grounds to kill him."
She nodded mutely. If that child ever gained full control over his Quirk...
Well. Mugetsu would keep her blades sharp and at the ready for when the order came down.

Oh, that's adorable, you think you could kill him? And I have no doubt he'll be unstoppable even before he grows up. Hahaha.

-Remember, Mugetsu is one of the Chimera! Her speciality is in infiltration and assassinations. There aren't many individuals out there that can survive her once she sets her eyes on them- often times because they don't know she's coming. Even then...well, you'll see in time. Just keep in mind that Mugetsu is extremely dangerous.

TheOperaticSquirrel: My heart was pounding the entire time. The fight was so fast paced and brutal. I loved seeing how Izuku and Himiko were able to fight side by side with such lethal efficiency. Fight scenes can be really hard to write so usually I don't care for them much in fanfiction, but you have such an engaging style. You provide enough detail for actions that make sense that it's so easy to visualize without being bogged down by too much description. Most of the time, if my thoughts varied from the action at all, it was only to think "That's so freaking cool!" on repeat. The dread I felt when Izuku was jabbed with Trigger was only mitigated by light cackling when Eijirou described Chisaki as fleeing like bat out of hell. My enjoyment was a bit reminiscent of that felt every time I remember Orochimaru was terrified of Itachi. Maybe I'm a tad mean spirited, but I find it amusing when the big bad realizes they picked on the wrong kid. The picture you painted at the very end of the chapter was absolutely crazy. I'm really excited to see the fallout of everything.

I'm sorry to hear about your uncle. I can't imagine having deal with loss and the stress of a funeral and making other arrangements on top of everything this pandemic brings. Take as long as you need. Readers stick around because this is quality work and that's not going to change even with a gap in updates. I hope you're able to stay safe.

-I'm glad I enraptured you so much! Just imagine, this was Izuku and Himiko's first time fighting alongside one another. Could you imagine what they could do if they were used to teaming up? I personally live for writing fight scenes. It can be tricky at times, but I usually just need the right music and tone for the fight and it just comes along. It's taken a lot of practice to get the fights to this quality, and I hope I can keep improving over time!

That's all for now. As ever, please review and thanks for reading!