Hiding The Pain || MonoShin [BOOK 1]

Chapter 13 - Harsh Truth

(I got too impatient to update so here's an early Chapter 13)

The rest of the festival went smoothly.

Class A, had, in fact, gotten more money, but Class B had passed their given amount and had a higher rating than them, so Monoma called it a win. Some of his dates had been a bit awkward, but they had all been nice, so Monoma wasn't too bothered by them.

Feeling tired, Monoma made to go to bed, but a text to his phone stopped him.

It was his father, and his father never texted him. It must be serious.

Opening the notification, the message was short and just three words.

'Check the news.'

No other context was given, but Monoma shrugged and decided to check it out.

'What could have possibly happened anyway?' he thought, walking out of his room.

Monoma trudged down the stairs and into the common room. He contemplated using his phone, but he didn't know what exact news his father wanted him to see and checking different news channels on his phone was way more annoying than doing it on the television.

Mentally apologizing to whomever he would wake up, Monoma turned the television on and changed it to channel NNC, the most popular news channel of them all.

And he was shocked by what he saw.

The headline's captions was filled with this message: "No. 10 Pro Hero Re-Arrange Father of both U.A Student and Villain? Possible Child Abuse? Student is U.A Traitor?"

The entire segment goes on for what feels like hours, and Monoma is just, frozen in place as the reporter rambles on.

"An unknown source gave us true video and audio proof that Number 10 Pro Hero, Molecule Hero: Re-Arrange, is father of Himiko Toga, murderous villain who has killed approximately 500 people and counting, and Neito Monoma, a U.A Student who is currently a second year."

The screen switches from a recording studio to a video of Toga and Monoma talking that morning in the clearing with the lake.

"Neito Monoma has been seen with this Himiko Toga and conversing with her, showing that even as a hero - in - training, he completely disregarded all rules and did not report the occurrence."

"The Molecule Hero will also be questioned on his past actions, as rants from both Toga and Monoma have been sent to us, talking about their father's abuse towards them."

"This is the NNC Hero Breakthroughs of the Month, and we'll be back with more news after a word from our sponsors."

As the ads roll, Monoma then hears the sound of someone's breath hitching. Monoma turns to look, and there is Awase, looking a bit like a combination of shocked, surprised, betrayed and scared all at once.

'Fuck.'  is the first thing Monoma thinks, because he's really fucked now, isn't he.

He gets up and makes a dash for the door, because he needs to get out, he needs to get out because his friend now knows the truth-

Unfortunately for him, Awase was closer to the door and stood in front of it, effectively trapping Monoma inside. Monoma gritted his teeth as Awase took deep breaths.

"Monoma-kun, why are you trying to run away?" Awase asked, eyes begging for an answer. 

Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, and the sleepy voice of Rin cut through the increasing tension in the room.