Codename: Quirk – Designation: Weapon

Chapter 3: So much to say, so little time?

Sorry for the long period between chapters. A lot of drama on my everyday life and this chapter was difficult to write as well (for those who don't know, I'm a Spanish speaker. English is a foreign language).

In this chapter, I address a scenario where trauma is involved. In case someone thinks i don't do it justice, my deepest apologies. Please don't let that impair your enjoyment of the story.

So let's get right into it, shall we?

. . . . . . .

A hand on the handle and another one against the door, Mina pushed. As the door opened, a dozen thoughts passed by Mina's mind. She felt the world was suddenly in slow-motion. She could hear the sound of metal scraping against metal, as the door hinges turned. Was she going to find Izuku Midoriya in a strait-jacket, like Shimura or Toga? Was he insane, maybe deranged, in the same way as the people who lived a couple of meters from his room? A crack of bright light escaped the room. How had he ended in the battlefield? How did Colonel Aizawa connect to him? The door started revealing the room inside, and Mina holds her breath in anticipation.

What was she going to find?

As her eyes scanned the room, she had every prior expectation refuted.

The room was completely white, meaning white walls, floor and roof. It was twice the size of the room where Mina had previously seen Shigaraki and Toga been kept. It was also spotless, with no sign of dirt or stain anywhere Mina could see. The surfaces were polished concrete, nothing like the asylum-like rooms she had seen from the hallway. And it wasn't empty either. Mina was surprised, but the room not only had a bed, but also a shelf full of books, a desk with more books in it, a TV hanging from the wall in its racket, and a lot of exercising equipment. Dumbbells, a mat, countless weights… it reminded her of her training days, except most weights were so heavy she would have a hard time raising them even now. It was a normal room.

Or at least a room that had enough to maintain one entertained if he was never to leave it, as was the case.

And sitting on the bed, only dressed in sport pants, with his back towards them, a dumbbell on one hand and a book on the other… was Izuku Midoriya.

Mina couldn't believe it. Why? Why was he here if he was going to be kept like this? How had they kept him a secret all this time? She was shocked to see this guy. She could see his bare back; muscular under all the scars, the scar that she remembered ran through the middle of his torso could be seen running over his left trapezius. He was here, and he appeared to be a normal teen boy. She had been so prepared to find a madman, or a prisoner, that this left her with no words…

"Ehem," Shoto cleared his throat, making Mina jump out of her thoughts, reminding her that he was also there, and making Midoriya lift his head and leave the dumbbell on his bed, now aware that he had visitors.

As Midoriya turned around, Mina could see some details on his expression. At first, he was genuinely curious about who had visited him. Then, he was surprised, a shocked look passing through his face at seeing Shoto, still in Brigadier uniform, here in his room, but it started turning into a smile when Mina's eyes met his. It was at that moment he completely turned around, happiness starting to fill his eyes, a happiness that warmed Mina. Happiness…

Happiness that went away as fast as it had come, when the green-haired teen realized he wasn't wearing a shirt in the presence of a girl. His eyes went wide with shock and his face started to go red and glowing as he stood still, frozen.

Mina found that really funny. As Midoriya regained movement capacity, mumbled and start looking for a shirt, she covered her mouth, trying to hide her smile and muffle her laughter. It was hard to believe this level of shyness could come from the guy. It was both ridiculous and amusing. He ended up fighting against a white shirt he picked up; making exaggerated gestures until it finally was in place.

"So… of everything that I wasn't expecting to see… this is something," she said, still trying to suppress her laugh, to Shoto, who was examining the individual in front of them from head to feet.

"This is the guy you said saved all of you?" it was less of a question and much more… doubt, of Mina's claims. Mina couldn't blame him. With his shirt on, Midoriya didn't look the part, to be honest, or at least he currently didn't.

"My name is Izuku Midoriya" he said, as he shyly approached Shoto for a handshake. For a couple seconds, one could say Shoto had left him hanging in the air. But Mina knew better. The officer was doing as they were all trained: analyzing everything like a battlefield.

When Midoriya's expression seemed to fail, and his hand started to drop, Shoto raised his and gripped it in a firm handshake. "My name is Shoto."

And with that handshake, Mina knew she had just witnessed the meeting of two weapons of mass destruction. Midoriya's power, although still unknown, had been of a caliber close to Shoto's own. And Shoto was no joke. Mina had seen him through his first phases of training, all the way to recordings of his current battles. The guy was a beast, able to lay waist on entire battalions by himself.

Turning to watch her, Izuku started to blush while a smile crept on his face, adding with a softer voice: "I'm so glad you're ok. Are the others ok as well? Are any of you hurt? I sometimes have a hard time controlling the power, and if I hurt anyone of you-" he continued a fierce, rapid-fire apology that made both of the guests take a step back. Mina could only stare at him with open eyes, mouth open in surprise. He WAS that selfless. Just… HOW?

"Oh! Emm… thank you. We are all fine thanks to you." answered Mina, trying to calm him down. She internally cursed herself. She was losing time. There were questions that had to be answered! Looking through the corner of her eyes, she met Shoto's. 'Help me,' she thought.

Catching the message, Shoto addressed the green haired teen. "Midoriya, we would like you to answer some questions. We would appreciate if you wouldn't lie" said Shoto in his most imposing tone, taking a step towards him, both hands on his pockets.

"Y-yes, yes, I will answer" said Midoriya, taking his eyes away from Mina and addressing Shoto.

"Thank you. Can we start from the reason you're here?" Shoto went straight to the point, Mina thought.

"I don't know why I'm here."

"What?" Mina didn't realize she had shouted those words out loud, and, as her hands flew to cover her mouth, both guys turned to look at her, Midoriya's eyes softening a bit.

"I'm sorry, but at least you have any idea where you are?" asked Mina.

"Well, I'm an Eriadu citizen. And the soldiers who rescued me where Eriadu soldiers, so… I would guess I'm in my country, even if I can't pinpoint the location."

'Well at least he isn't that lost,' thought Mina

"But you have no idea why you're being kept here?" asked Shoto.

Midoriya shook his head. "The only time I was let out was when I went to help her and the other girls. A non-quirked officer I had talked before, that went by the name of Aizawa ran here, and asked me if I was willing to help. Of course I was. He blind-folded me and next thing I know I was on a one-man plane going in your direction, without any mean of controlling it."

"You say you talked to him before that. Have you talked with anyone else? What did you talked about?" Mina knew where Shoto was going with this. By finding out who Midoriya had contact with, they could find the reason why he was in here.

Letting out a sigh, Midoriya answered. "I've been interrogated two times since the army took me" said the green-haired teen, addressing both of them. "The first time, I was interrogated by a quirked man, I-I remember him being huge in size, with fire on his face. He tried to get information about my power." Mina looked at Shoto, who nodded. The man Midoriya described was clearly his father. "I was tied up to a chair during the whole interrogatory. It was before I was sent here. The only people present were him, a guy that seemed to be the same age as me, and a couple other soldiers. But only he did the talking. He wanted to know about my parentage. He kept mentioning how my power was similar to someone's. But I didn't recognize the name."

That puzzled both Shoto and Mina. General Todoroki had questioned him because of his power? Why? Yeah, it was powerful, but there was no more to it. Or could there be?

"The second time I was questioned was by Aizawa. It was before he came asking for help. That time was here, in this room, and he was alone. He wanted to know more about me, about my life…"

"Wait" interrupted Shoto, making Midoriya look at him and close his mouth shut "Who did the quirked man compared your quirk to?"

Mina could see the tension clear in Midoriya's hands as he started fidgeting with his own fingers "He mentioned someone called Yagi."

General Toshinori Yagi. Mina had heard that name so many times in her life. The man, even amongst the army, was a legend. He had been a member of the wave of heroes that had surged in response to the rise of criminality that the appearance of quirks had caused. Going by the name All Might, he had rapidly risen to the top in popularity, saving the higher number of people. A lot of people, both locally and internationally, had called him the best hero in the world. Mina had only seen recordings of his feats as a hero, but she could never forget them. Surrounded by fire, debris and villains, he saved people with a smile and such strength he looked like a god amongst mortals. He had truly lived to the best standards that the word hero holds.

And, when he was forced by the situation of the world to join the ranks, he had stuck to his principles. It was there were Mina had met him. Always with a smile on his face when talking to the quirked youth, both to inspire and trying to shield them from the horrors they would eventually face. And, when he was on the battlefield, his presence created an atmosphere that gave everything a sense of calm, hope. He would deal with the enemy troops with a single arm movement, creating enough wind pressure to take care of them without killing anyone, and would battle head first with the quirked individuals in the other side. And he always won. It didn't matter the quirk, it didn't mattered the quirked. When All Might was fighting, he was unstoppable. His fists would hit where they needed. His arms would block attacks in the right way. And he would always rise victorious. He had won so many battles without a single casualty, just by defeating the enemy's quirked soldiers, just by saying "I'm here".

But that had been before his disappearance ten months ago. Before the day he had gone missing during a battle with enemy forces. Countless search parties had been sent to look for him, but none had been successful. The army had done its best to maintain his disappearance a secret from the public, our allies and our enemies. It had led to months filled with uncertainty. Eriadu, their nation, couldn't push the frontiers because it lacked his power. Its allies were asking for questions they could not answer. And their enemies had gone silent, with motives unknown. Their best and brightest could only guess what could be going on there, but Mina had heard rumors: either they were afraid that Eriadu was planning an offensive, or they were planning one.

And now one of their Generals thought that Midoriya had a relation with their missing General? Yes, his power seemed similar, but it made no sense. Unless he was related, but Midoriya had said that the General's name was unknown to him. He could be lying, but there was something in his voice, in his mannerisms, that made Mina… want to trust him.

"How were you there to save us?" asked Mina, with the question coming out in a whisper.

"Mr. Aizawa came running and asked me for help. He said that he needed me to save people he cared about. Although the General's… methods, would have made me reluctant to help, my previous conversation with Mr. Aizawa did showed him as a good man, and tried to help me, although he said his rank would make it difficult. I couldn't refuse if people were going to be killed. I had to save them." He said, looking down at his hands, as if they were ready to grab everyone who needed help and pull them away from danger.

Mina couldn't believe it. But… it was real. "All Might would have liked to meet you, Midoriya" she chuckled, not really addressing the guy but saying it out loud either way. That type of thinking… it was so similar to what the General had always stood for: fight not to win the battle, but to save people, to avoid bloodshed.

"What does All Might have to do?" she heard Midoriya asked her. Well, that was weird.

"All Might? General Yagi? He used to go by that name when he was a hero" said Mina. He didn't know?

"Wait, so are you saying…" Midoriya started talking when he was interrupted by Todoroki, who put his hand over his mouth and with the other motioned Mina to not talk. Silence fell over the room, and Todoroki's eyes focused on the door.

"There are people outside" he said, pointing to Mina to walk to the door. As she followed her superior's order, she tried to control her heart rate. They had been found. Todoroki was going to be ok, but he would have to pull a lot of strings to be able to get her out of this mess. They had talked about it. But a part of her hoped the doctor would remain quiet. It must have been the General. He must be searching for Todoroki when he discovered they were here.

As she closed to the door and the sound of movement filtered into the room, she started to count, trying to control her head. One. Inhale, exhale. She reached for the door. Two. Inhale, exhale. Three-

Before Mina reached the door, it flew open, hitting her hand, sending pain through her arm. Mina felt the adrenaline kick in, a familiar sensation that made time go slower. She hoped her hand wasn't broken. Some soldiers went inside the room, one of them placing a hand on her as he pointed his gun directly at her. The other one was raising his weapon, pointing to the inside of the room. More soldiers were waiting. They had fucked up.

Turning her neck, Mina could see it all as if it was frozen in a single frame. The soldier was pointing and shouting something she couldn't hear. The one that had placed a hand on her was pushing her off her feet with a lot of brute force, but for some reason her brain didn't register the pain. A second pair of soldiers was taking their first step into the room. But that didn't mattered. What mattered was what Midoriya was doing.

His face had gone white as paper, and he had a blank stare. His whole body was trembling, and, even with the rush of adrenaline that made the world go slower, Mina could see Izuku moving, raising his fist. Sparks of green electricity started flying around him, and his skin started glowing while red lines ran through his body. But Mina knew what that blank stare meant: trauma. His record had mentioned an involuntary response against fire weapons wielders. He wasn't conscious. He wasn't going to hold on. If he attacked, he was going to destroy the whole floor, with everyone present, she included.

Mina couldn't believe the irony of the situation. She came back from a mission where she had been close to death in at least two occasions, the last one being saved by someone, and she was now going to die because of that someone. She hated those soldiers. Why didn't they read the file? Why didn't they know better than to point their weapons at the guy that could kill them without been able to control himself?

Her eyes then shifted to Todoroki. The two of them hadn't been so close, but he hadn't cared and had helped her get here. It wasn't his fault. He deserved better, not the horrible life he lived as his father's weapon.

But he found him moving. Even faster than Midoriya, his movements were precise and decided. He had turned so that his right side was in Midoriya's direction, and Mina could see frost coming out from the place his foot met the ground, reaching towards Midoriya. But his hands were other story. They were pointing at Mina and the soldiers. Both of them were. He couldn't be thinking of attacking them, right?

With a single movement of his right hand, Todoroki took away all heat from the room. And in the same second, his right hand generated a white hot flame, making the cold air expand and blowing Mina and the soldiers out of the room by the door. Mina hit the corridor's wall hard, cushioned only by the soldiers that had hit it even harder. As her body started to process the pain, she raised her sight, and watched the result of Todoroki's strategy: as the door closed because of wind pressure, she could see the frozen interior, and a frozen Midoriya. He had stopped him. He had saved them. As he turned to look at Mina to see if she was ok, Mina couldn't thank him before the door shut close, and the frost appeared around it, showing that it was locked and only he could open it.

As Mina pulled herself up, the group of soldiers that had stayed in the corridor turned to look at her. A couple of them approached from behind and take hold of her arms, restricting her. Some came directly at her, one preparing some handcuffs. Mina started to struggle, trying to get free, but the more she struggled the more soldiers appeared to close on her. More and more until she had so little room to struggle, she was filling suffocated. She needed space. She wanted to get free.

"Hey, Ashido!" a voice called to her from his side. The only voice that referred to her amongst all the shouting.

"WHAT?!" she shouted, turning around.

And what she saw was a hand in front of her face. A pale hand, covered in purple veins that ran up the arm, reaching out to grab her. Its owner pushed the soldiers making his way between them, and looked past them directly at her.

"Sleep" ordered the teenager.

And Mina felt herself falling. She no longer could feel the presence of the other soldiers. She no longer knew where she was. She just felt herself falling into the dark of unconsciousness, with just a single thought in her mind:

'Fuck.'

. . . . . . .

"I… I really think he never cared, Momo" said Ochako, tears rolling down her cheeks, making a small puddle on the ground. "And I was so stupid, I actually thought he did."

The two girls were sitting down on Ochako's bed, in her room. As soon as Ochako knew that Bakugo wasn't able to see her, she had ran, tears flowing like waterfalls from her eyes. She had run until she found herself alone in her room, and just then had called her friends. Only Momo had been able to come, as Mei had been called to the Weapons Development Lab. She had said she would come as soon as possible, but knowing the lab personnel, that could be fast or an eternity later.

Momo didn't know what to say. Her friend was in a situation she hadn't ever experienced. How did people deal with breakup? How did a friend help other friends deal with breakup? She just sat there, giving uncomfortable pats on her friend's back while she cried all she had, with Momo constantly creating handkerchiefs for her to use. She had been crying for half an hour at this point.

"Maybe it's something I said? Maybe I wasn't strong enough?" Ochako asked herself out loud, only for her and Momo to hear.

"No, it's not that… Ochako, of course it wasn't you" said Momo as she pulled another handkerchief from her leg.

"Then it was him? He always treats everyone like shit… It was only a matter of time before."

"It's ok, Ochako, it its-"

"NO, IT ISN'T!" screamed Ochako as she stood up, making Momo jump and fall from the bed. Ochako wasn't exactly looking at her, though. Her anger was directed somewhere else. "The bastard only used me for his own gain! He never cared! And I put so much on the line to be at his side! I hate him!" She then placed her hand on her bed, touching it with her finger pads and with pure anger in her eyes pointed downwards. In less than a second, the bed had collapsed under its own weight, becoming nothing more than dust and the remains of the mattress.

Momo just sat there; watching her friend look at the debris of the former piece of furniture with so much hatred it was terrifying. In many ways, Bakugo had changed her. She had never been this fired up about anything before they started talking, and the guy's attitude had clearly rubbed off on her. She had become more driven to be stronger, to the point she volunteered for Augmentation, and it was all for the guy.

"What did I missed?" shouted Mei as the door sprang open and she came inside, wide-eyed at the sight of Momo sitting in the ground, Ochako standing there and what used to be a piece of furniture. "Uraraka, did you just… did you just destroyed your bed?" she asked as she ran to Momo and helped her up, not getting anywhere near Ochako at the moment.

"I-I… I just…" Ochako's broken voice made Mei turn around and see her friend's tears fall into the ground, and her legs giving up, sitting there in tears. Both girls ran to her friend, Momo hugging her tightly and Mei putting a hand on her shoulder. She wasn't Ashido. Ashido was much better at this than her. But she had to try something, right? "I just… I cared for him. I…"

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Mei couldn't take it anymore. She needed to say something. "We know, Uraraka, we know. Hey, how about you both come to see my new babies? Something to take your mind out of this mess." Mei's proposal was met with confused looks by both girls. "What?" asked the pink-haired inventor in confusion.

Only then did Uraraka let out a small laugh. Their friend could be so awkward at times, but still, she meant well. Nodding, she was helped to her feet by her friends. Enough crying. Enough weakness. She had to be strong, but not for a guy, but for herself.

. . . . . . .

Mina sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back on the chair she was sitting. She was pissed, not two ways around it. She had found herself in a pink space, with the only available ground being a chunk of land 10 meters in diameter. She remembered the first time she had ever been held in this space. She had been desperate to the point of tears, thinking she had died and that this was what eternity had in store for her. Yeah, this wasn't her first time here, which only made her more pissed about the fact that she was back, and that she was still being held here.

She was mad at her captor, who was sitting in a chair, at 5 meters in front of her. Easily recognizable from that distance, with his distinct purple hair, pale skin and the purple veins that run through all his body. Hitoshi Shinzo.

"Are we there yet?" asked Mina, shouting the question for what felt like the hundredth time.

Shinso rolled his eyes. He didn't particularly dislike the pink girl, but he found her slightly difficult to have a conversation with. She tended to be impatient, too direct and not exactly cared for any form of formalities. "No, Ashido, we are not there yet." At that moment, Shinso was splitting his focus on talking with Ashido in the mental space he had created, and actually controlling his own body back in the tangible world. The last thing he needed was to get annoyed by dealing with those clichéd questions. "So please, either don't speak or change the subject. We will get to General Endeavour when we get there."

So… was that a free pass to ask anything? She could try to get information of him, right? They had known each other for a long time; he was part of her group back when they were still training to be soldiers. They hadn't exactly been friends, but Mina had tried to be as friendly with him as she had been with everyone else, even after learning the nature of his power: Brainwashing. It was quirk that allowed its user to be able to assume control of its target actions by having a word exchange; powerful, even if a bit creepy, but they had learned to accept its wielder as one of their own. He had trained to use it in a pacifist manner, to help with evacuation processes. That had been, of course, before it got attention from General Endeavour, who took Shinso in a path that made Mina's seem like a dream.

Shinso didn't always had sport the purple veins all over his body. That was a small side effect of the Quirk Augmentation surgery, a process that, years after its creation, was still in experimental phase. It was based on a drug that had appeared 5 years after the surge of quirks. The drug enhanced all parts of a user's quirk, both the mutation and the quirk factor. But it was temporary. Even after the army had tried to weaponize it, usage of it drained the quirked individual of all his remaining energy, leaving him an open target. It had been deemed a last resource, until scientists had come with an alternative: the Quirk Augmentation surgery, which would allow a quirked soldier to access the power of the drug without the after effects.

He had been one of the first subjects, and an involuntary one. The General had used him both to test the procedure and because of the power it would give the army and him as his commander. Mina and her friends had been so happy once they knew he was alive, if only left with the purple veins that were now visible. Most of the other subjects hadn't been so lucky.

That was, until they had tested the results. To say that it was an augmentation was selling it short. Shinso's conditions for exerting control over his subjects had been expanded. Now he could do it with as much as a touch, or seeing someone eye to eye. And it hadn't stopped there. Brainwashing wasn't everything he could do. He could access someone's mind, control it, and have mental conversations with anyone. He had become a full-fledged Telepath.

After those discoveries, he had been taken to work directly under General Todoroki, being sent to make his errands and accompanying him in every diplomatic talk, military mission and secret meeting. He had become his personal weapon, as much as Shoto was. It was an existence Mina only knew from what Shoto had told them. It was violent, and eternally stained your hands with blood. No regard to them as individuals. And due to that, Mina couldn't help but wonder:

Did Shinso sometimes desire that the procedure had gone wrong?

"Shinso…" Mina started, addressing him.

"Huh?" Shinso looked directly at her. "What, Ashido?"

Taking a breath, Mina tried to user her more neutral tone while asking: "What was that underground floor for? What is the point of keeping those crazies in there?"

"What makes you think I know anything?" asked Shinso, with a near perfect poker face.

Mina, however, didn't fell for it. She already knew she was going to get that answer. "Because you were sent there, which means that either the General trusts in you, or you've been there already, and we both know he trusts no one."

A smile appeared in the purple-haired teen's face, and he started to chuckle. Mina had genuinely surprised him. "Well… to be honest, I don't know the full extent of the General's plans, but I can guess that floor exists… because of me."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I hope you read the files, right?" asked Shinso, to which Mina answered nodding with her head. "Most of them are complete psychos who betrayed us and should have been put down. Some of them are actual powerhouses who went crazy for some reason or other, and are not even from our own country, who we know only by codename. If I had to guess, and I've had enough time to think about it, they are there because the higher ranks hope that I would be able to control them and use them as brainless weapons."

Mina gulped. She knew it to be true. It all made sense. If Shinso trained, he would be able to use any of them as mindless soldiers, and any army would love to have it. But…

"What about Midoriya?" Mina asked.

Shinso looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Who are you talking about?"

"You know… freckles," Mina pointed at her cheeks; "green eyes," she pointed at her own black and yellow ones; "green hair curly like mine?" she started playing with one of her pink curls, holding it between her fingers.

"Oh, the plain looking guy! What, a new boyfriend?" Mina looked at him, clearly annoyed. Shinso mockingly smiled at her, but then returned to his serious, tired expression. "Yeah, I was there when General Todoroki interrogated him. The power that guy holds… It's incredible, but the problem is his clear trauma, as it would make him unfit to participate on missions or combat. I think he intends him to also be controlled, reason why he is down there, though the psychology tests have shown a small chance of him actually been able of overcoming said trauma." Shinso then repositioned himself, sitting in a position more inclined to Mina, and with his change in posture, the whole space of mental reality warped, the space between them getting shorter so that Shinso was now 2 meters in front of Mina. "And I think that is something you have to have in mind for what's coming."

"And what is coming, if you could tell me?" asked Mina, looking her purple-haired acquaintance directly in the eyes.

"Ashido… for what you have just done and discovered, General Todoroki will most likely want your head. Not even Shoto was allowed into the secret before you brought him into it. And we quirked are a resource, but we aren't indispensable. He will find a way, any possible way, to make it seem that what you did was either treason or conspiracy." As he heard him, Mina started sweating. She was in big trouble. "Shoto would most likely try to help you, but he was left behind to deal with Midoriya. I hope he can deal with that quickly. As for me or Colonel Aizawa, neither of us have the rank to talk in your behalf. So, Midoriya is your best choice. From what I saw in your memories, he actually cared for you when he saved you all. You and he have held normal tensionless conversations. And don't give me that look," he added, watching Mina's angry expression and her mouth half opened, ready to shout at him for overstepping boundaries. "I know you don't like me seeing your memories. Nobody does. But I had to if I wanted to find any way of helping you."

"I… We will talk about it later," said Mina, still angry at him. Her memories were her own, dammit.

"Ok, but right now, what we need to focus is in keeping you alive. So, as I said, play Midoriya as a card. Tell the General what he wants to hear. Make yourself be important." Shinso then looked up, as if he was hearing something Mina could not. After all, she was trapped in here until Shinso released her. "We are close" he informed her, as he stood up from his chair and straightened his pants. It was kind of funny to see him act so casual and still try to appear presentable, even if his appearance in Mina's mind wouldn't affect his own in the real world.

"Hey, Shinso… thank you" Mina smiled at the guy. Even if she was angry, she still was grateful for him worrying about her and wanting to help. "But… why?"

Putting his hands on his pockets, Shinso looked upwards and let out a sigh as he closed his eyes. The pink tone of the mental space started to brighten up, shining brighter bit by bit. Shinso then turned to her and looked her, with a tired expression in his eyes. But it wasn't tired of effort, or lack of sleep, or even tired of her, which she had seen a lot of times back during training when she was being silly or made stupid jokes. It was a look that told Mina how tired Shinso was of everything. How there was an inner depression in him, how he really needed help. Mina would have to talk to him after this mess was over, to make sure he was going to be alright.

"Ashido… I…" he looked like he was fighting against the words. "After I was Augmented, I didn't felt regret of it. I saw so many unlucky guys that didn't make it, and I thought ´This is my power now. I can use it as I see fit.' And even if that wasn't true, I would have used it to protect us. You guys where the only people to accept me, even if my power unsettled most of you. My old folks… they were happy they had the choice to throw me away to the military once they realized what my quirk was. But I haven't been able to protect us. So many are far away, so many have been lost… I just want to do what I think its right for once-"

He couldn't finish before Mina covered the distance between them and give him a hug. Yeah, they weren't the closest of friends, but Mina was the kind of person to hug people, either close or acquaintances. "Thank you. Thank you a lot, Shi… Hitoshi" she finished, with a smile on her face. This weird kid had given her a chance. "And I know that if All Might would see you now, he would say that you're a hero."

As the pink shined so brightly it was now white, Mina maintained the embrace, both to thank him and for herself. She was terrified of facing Endeavour. But she knew that, at least, she wasn't doing it alone. "Hey" Shinso added, as the light surrounded them to the point it was hard seeing. "What are friend for?"

Mina heard those words. Friends. He considered them their friends. As the space in her head disappeared as she was freed, Mina let out a happy laugh.

. . . . . . .

Her eyes opened, and Mina scanned her surroundings, dazed. She hated getting out of Shinzo's mind-prisons as much as she hated being in them. It was different than awakening. Her mind felt out of sync with her body. It was still dazed, but her body wasn't. All of her senses were at the maximum, trying to alert a non-responsive brain of what was happening. That all added up so that, when she finally returned, all the information hit her at once. It was a lot to handle, and she never liked it.

But it couldn't be worse than where she was. Sitting in an empty room, tied to a chair, four soldiers at her left, backs against a wall, with the weapons already at hand. At her right, Shinzo, his hand on her head as he released the mind-prison, which he then let fall as he walked away from her. Not even the slightest gesture of acknowledgement, as if their conversation had never happened. Back when they were kids, Mina would have been pissed by this. But she knew better. It was to hide the fact that it happened from the man in front of her.

Still in uniform, with all his badges polished and shining in a myriad of colors, General Enji 'Endeavour' Todoroki stood at nearly 2 meters tall. He was taller than anyone Mina personally knew, his figure casting a shadow that fell upon Mina, as a physical allegory to the level of authority he held over her. He even kept a tangible demonstration of the nature of his quirk and his level of proficiency with it: a beard made of pure fire, which danced over his face and sometimes over his uniform, not doing the slightest damage to it. Mina never knew if that was because of an anti-inflammable material, or just the fact that the General didn't will it to burn his clothes, but either way, what some considered a ridiculous accessory at the distance, was a threat when near it.

At the General's side where some Officers Mina didn't recognized. Did the General wanted to make her sentence official? Maybe he didn't, but he still had to. The General, as much as anyone, was still hold to rules.

Behind the General, Colonel Aizawa stood with an alert expression. That was rarely seen on his face. He tended to have a tired one. Mina didn't know what he was doing there. Was he going to help her? Or was he there only to know how it all went down?

"Quirk-holding Lieutenant Mina Ashido," said Endeavour, with clear disdain to the rank Mina hold. Or well, her Quirk holds. Quirk individuals tended to be given a high enough rank so that they would be cleared for the missions they had to perform. Mina had never escalated any rank in all of her life. If she wasn't quirked, she would be no more than a private. And it is clear the General would have preferred it that way. That way, he could have dispatched her on a mission with no chance of survival and nobody would have made questions.

Or worse: shot in the spot, and nobody would have bothered to look into it.

"You stand here after being found out unaccompanied in a place out-of-bounds for someone with your rank. Such actions could be taken as treason, and are believed to be as such. The punishment for such level of treason would be execution. Anything to say in your defense?" said the General with a booming voice.

Oh, the things Mina could have answered him if half of what he said was true. 'I'm not standing, I'm sitting' to start with. She would have loved to go all-out on insults to this asshole. The things he had put Todoroki, Shinzo and many others through were horrible. How he had wielded his rank had been bad enough before General Yagi's disappearance, but now? The guy held too much power and there was one less person to actually put a stop to him.

But right now she needed to think. What had he said? 'Unaccompanied'? So either he didn't know Shoto was there, or he wanted to go into the record that he wasn't there. Maybe her friend would be held accountable as well and be submitted to any punishment (or worse) that Mina was going to be put through, and the General wouldn't want that, as it could take away his favorite weapon of mass destruction. That, or Shoto actually DID held the rank, in which case she had been allowed to be there by accompanying him, but the General just didn't like that another person was aware of the secret floor, a person that he hadn't chosen to be in the known about it.

Her eyes drifted from the General to Shinzo. A single glance, just to tell him to read her mind. Less than a second to formulate a single thought: 'Guide Shoto here. We need him. He's one of my only chances.'

But she didn't know if he was done with Midoriya. They had left a complete mess when she was taken. Her thoughts went to the green-haired boy. One second, the kindest person she had ever met. With every word he directed at her full of care for her wellbeing. Damn, that boy… had truly left her speechless. What was she supposed to think? Not only was he not cut for the life of a soldier, but he would have hated himself if he lived one. And yet, he hadn't thought of that when he agreed to help Aizawa save them.

And the next second, he had become a mindless attacker. Full of so much pain and a traumatic past that his body acted on its own accord. He had attacked soldiers, even when she was in the middle. That was contradictory; she knew it wasn't a voluntary move. And she had seen his face. The face of someone who didn't know where he was standing or on what moment in time he was. There was much more to his past than just being a prisoner. There was something that still affected him. It was something that could have to do with General Yagi, given that Endeavour thought there was a connection. But she didn't know what.

But luckily, if her gut was right, neither did the General.

"All charges are untrue. I was there with a Brigadier, who ordered me to be there." That small part was a lie, but she wasn't going to tell anyone that. She would have to apologize to Shoto later.

"Is that so?" asked the General to one of the soldiers. The prick was going to actually act as if he didn't know what was happening? He was going to play that part, huh? Then Mina was going to beat him in that game. Luckily, she still had her ace under her sleeve.

"We didn't saw any Brigadier accompanying the Lieutenant" responded the soldier, as it was expected. The soldiers under the General always acted like he wanted them to. 'Fucking extras' Bakugo would have called them. And he would have been 100% right.

"So, now you're trying to lie?" said the General, turning to see Mina again.

"I'm not. I was accompanied by a Brigadier" she knew better than to say Shoto's name. It would just make her look more guilty, trying to use the General's own son as a piece of her defense. "I saw the prisoners, and I talked with specially one: I talked with Izuku Midoriya."

"What? How? What did he told you?" said Endeavour, clearly surprised by that fact the green-haired prisoner had talked. Bingo. Mina's hunch was right: he hadn't told them anything. "How did you make him agreed to talk to you?" The General was raising his voice.

"He is clearly under psychological stress, but he did hold a conversation with us," she felt all the eyes in the room on her. At least a two pairs of them were supportive. "However, he did attack the soldiers that pointed guns at him without a second thought. He is unstable, as his record says." Wow. She had to paint Midoriya in such a bad light for the plan to work? That disgusted her.

"But you want his power, am I right?" asked Mina, addressing both Endeavour and the other officers in front of her. "His power, a strength enhancer of possible Omega level; it's an invaluable resource, and it would make him an invaluable soldier, even stronger if he was willing to fight." She stopped there. They didn't need to know Shinzo had told her his suspicions. No, she just had to say enough to make them think that they thought of the idea: a mind-controlled soldier was just a machine with an on/off switch. It was as good as the controller was. But a willing soldier… it could think, move, plan. He was much stronger, much faster, and much more powerful.

She was selling them Midoriya as a soldier, in exchange for her life.

Or at least, that's what she wanted them to think.

"So what, Lieutenant Ashido?" asked Endeavour. She had his attention. She had their attention, and that's all she needed.

"I can give him to you," said Mina, looking him directly in the eyes. She took a deep breath before continuing. This was it. "I've already hold conversations with him. I know him, and he appears to be open to talk to me. I can use that as an opening to get information about him, as well as to handle his trauma and even convince him to act as a soldier."

She could practically feel Shinzo smiling at her. Because of his quirk, he knew the General's thoughts. And all was going exactly how she needed to.

Enji Todoroki stayed silent for some time as he pondered the idea. The other officers started murmuring between themselves. A minute passed before he walked forward and stood in front of Mina, with the fire in his face bigger than before, extending to his uniform. He was looking her as if he wanted to squash her. Like a man saw a particularly ugly bug. "You will report to me twice a week. At the first lack of information in your reports, you will face consequences." And with that, he turned around and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

As the officers and Shinzo walked out of the room following him, Mina let out a single tear. She had been so scared and frustrated. Even if she didn't show it, she was terrified of the General. And now she couldn't have the advantage of him not being aware of her existence. Now she had painted a giant target on her back, and he hated her for making herself important to him.

As Aizawa walked up to her, he cut the ropes that were tying her to the chair and placed a hand on her shoulder. It was his way of showing some support, so she didn't question it nor resisted it. It was what she needed. Every bit of strength she had held while facing the General was gone. She was so tired… she just wanted to cry and sleep, maybe for a week.

However, as she looked up to the door where Endeavour had walked out, she made a promise. She knew she would have to do as he said. She knew he would now have to find a way to both find out and reveal Midoriya's secrets. She will try to help him through his trauma, and maybe make him able to fight. She would be playing with the emotions of the sweet, caring boy that had saved her life, all under the orders of what she could only define as a monster. But there was one thing she will never do:

She will never make Midoriya their weapon.

. . . . . . .

Epilogue

Midoriya sat in his bed, a dumbbell in his hand, again immersed in thought as he exercised, and thinking about what happened that day.

When he stopped seeing red, he'd found himself frozen, unable to move, by the white and red haired guy. The pink girl… she was gone. He didn't know where she was. It all had happened so fast. The soldiers, they had pointed their guns at him. They had pointed their guns at her. He had to protect her, but it all had ended before he even realized it.

The teen had then explained. Izuku had gone into full attack mode. He had activated his quirk. He had put everyone in danger, and he had not only pointed his attack

Or better to call it what it was: his cell.

Leaving the exercise equipment on the floor, he stood up and touched the white wall. He had been told it was strong enough to hold him captive. That no level of super strength was going to be able to even dent the cell.

But they've been wrong. It nearly broke his arm, but he was able to create a little crack on the wall. However, after that he stopped trying. One of the reasons for stopping was that breaking his arm was too dangerous. And even if he managed to escape, what was the point? He was alone. The two only persons he'd cared about were gone. All Might was gone. His mother was gone. And he'd been unable to help either of them, not even with all the power he now holds.

The power he had been given: One for All.

All of those thoughts leave Izuku as his ears caught a sound coming from beside his bed. A scratching. He wanted to talk to him.

Izuku turned around, and using the smallest level of power from One for All, pushed the bed slightly away, revealing the wall behind it, and the source of the sound: a crack.

The other reason he chose to not try to escape was that he'd been told that it was better to wait.

The One for All holder sat down with his back to the wall and his ear close to the crack. "Hello?" he asked, with no fear in his voice. He was talking to a friend, after all.

"Who were they?" asked a rough, scruffy male voice. He had heard them.

"A boy and a girl. Both quirked. The girl wanted to say thanks. Then they started asking some questions, mainly about my situation."

"Soldiers?" asked the man at the other side of the wall with the kind of interest that made Izuku nervous. The kind that made you think that you had been doing something wrong.

"Yeah, they were," Izuku sigh, knowing the criticism that would fall over those two. "But they appear to be good people-"

"Soldiers nonetheless. They're living weapons of a mad general who only wants them for power alone. Quirked people used to be either heroes or villains, and you know on what side of the divide these killers would fall!" Izuku winced at that statement. Yeah, he had heard his arguments. And he had agreed to most of them. But maybe there was the possibility of him being wrong?

"I saved them…" he muttered. In response

"That says more about you than about them. You're a good kid, Midoriya, but naïve even at your best. You know what Endeavour asked about: your power. This army doesn't care about you. Your power is all they care about."

Izuku shook his head, so that the voice behind the wall wouldn't see his denial. After everything had gone down, Shoto had made sure he was calmed before releasing him. Izuku was so thankful he had been there. If he wasn't, he could have hurt people, or worst. The pink girl in particular, who Shoto had referred as Ashido, had been nearly caught between the soldiers and him. He didn't want to think how horrible it would have been if he actually proceeded with the attack. Shoto had left after making sure he was ok, promising to return some day.

And Ashido… Shoto had been clear that they being there was all her. She wanted to find Izuku. It was the first time in a long time that someone actually cared about his existence, other than them wanting something out of him. Information, muscle… it seemed that was the entire world cared. But they didn't. They actually went there to meet him.

"There's always an exception…" started Izuku, only to be interrupted.

"You knew the exception. And they will never be at his level. You talked to him. You told me his story. Do you think they haven't killed in cold blood? He never did. He never surrendered his principles or what he believed in. But they… they are no exceptions. Those soldiers are all the same. "

Izuku felt a tear drop down his cheek while he heard those words. A tear of sadness, sadness brought by the thought of his mentor, his friend. The one who believed in him before anyone else did; the one who gave him the means to achieve his goal.

All Might.

. . . . . . .

So I hoped you guys liked this chapter. Another backstory revealed! Whatever your thoughts, I would LOVE to hear about them in the comments. I cannot say how much they mean for us writers.

I thought being on vacation would mean more free time to write and/or draw, though that's not been the case. A lot of family needing help with taking care of siblings and lifting some weight jajaja it ends up eating most of my time.

For those who don't know, I have a Tumblr! Same name, same deal, mostly BnHA stuff. I have a lot of drawings there, so would be cool if you checked it out.

So follow, favorite and comment! And I will see you next time! Sarani muko e! Plus Ultra!