Worthless Necessity [HitoZuku]

Chapter 186 - Chewing through the ropes

Midoriya stared blankly at the screen.

His classmates had put on another movie after a long day of training, and the greenette could hear his classmates excited chattering and laughter as something happened on television, but it was all muddied, as if he were underwater and his ears were stuffed with cotton.

He knew what Sasaki's quirk was.

What had he seen? What kind of future had caused the stoic Pro Hero who liked jokes and humor to look so scared, so fearful.

Midoriya could barely register the light snores of the boy whom he was sharing a bean bag with, Shinsou having deemed the show too boring for his tastes and deciding that a nap was in order.

The green haired boy lowered his head.

He already had his suspicions.

The destruction of Deika City with what seemed to be a widespread version of Shigaraki's disintegration quirk, all the training with the only goal being to get stronger. The lack of any proper news regarding the League of Villains, the most dangerous and oldest villain in Japan getting arrested with a seeming lack of resistance. The cryptic ways the Pro Heroes addressed them and the strangest, pained expressions the teachers had on their faces when they looked at each other, silently communicating.

The haunted expression on Sasaki's face.

Something big was going to happen; something so big that even the government had to step in directly instead of just pulling the strings. Something that the Pro Heroes and even Nezu weren't allowed to tell them, even if they really wanted to, presumably because if the students knew the truth, they would be vehemently refusing to participate.

No sane sixteen-year-old wanted to be involved in a war with the very group of villains who had tormented them through their entire first year of high school, after all.

And no Pro Hero would want the blood of first, almost second year, students to be spilled.

Midoriya refused to allow this to happen. His friends and classmates were precious to him. If Sasaki had foreseen their fate through his eyes, that meant that Midoriya had a chance of stopping it.

He glanced back at his friends. Todoroki was staring at the television screen, almost like he were a detective trying to solve a crime. Iida was yelling and chopping his arms around, presumably scolding a character in the movie. Uraraka and Koda were just chilling quietly along with the others, enjoying the chaos, along with their popcorn, as Bakugou started yelling at Iida for some reason.

The Hero Commission had no right to play with their lives like they were nothing but defunct puppets, whose strings could be cut with no consequences whatsoever. All of them would be promising Pro Heroes soon, using their powers to save others. Their hearts were all in the right place, even if they were a little odd (Midoriya really hoped Mineta could rein in his more... infamous side), and it was unjustifiable of the Hero Commission to cut those careers off before they even began.

They didn't deserve to die.

Not like this.

--------------------------------

"I'm sorry. I've tried to reason with him, but I really have no more leverage once he started threatening the livelihood of my employees."

"No need for apologies, Nighteye. You tried your best, and we all know what a scumbag Akuto can be when other people's interests don't align with his." Nezu scowled, "You take care of your employees. If we can't get the Hero Commission to cooperate with us, we'll just have to find some other way to protect the children."

"If only Migawari had-"

"Don't blame her. I was there when they did the voting. She was the only one who voted against the idea." Nezu muttered, "Anyways, I have scheduled a parent-teacher conference to talk to the parents about the children's progress so far, and the plans we have regarding their future."

The animal principal couldn't see the other pro hero, but he could imagine Sasaki raising an eyebrow in confusion before realising what Nezu was talking about, "I see. Understood. And as for that... issue regarding Midoriya... do we tell him?"

"I... I don't know." Nezu admitted. On one hand, surely Midoriya deserved to know that going into this war could potentially result in his death. On the other hand... if they had no choice but to let Midoriya go... would he be too distracted by the revelation to potentially do something to change his fate? Nezu knew that there was no way Midoriya would go down without a fight, but he didn't want anything else to be on his pup's mind while on the battlefield.

Regardless, Nezu hated being in this situation in the first place, and in turn, the Hero Commission, or more specifically, Akuto, who had forced his hand.

"We will discuss this later. This isn't something that can be taken lightly. Even if we cannot allow the students to not take part in this... situation... we have to prioritise their safety." Nezu stated decisively, and Sasaki replied, "Understood."

Nezu put the phone down, and scowled.

He wasn't fond of stupid politic games, and blatant manipulation tactics that the higher-ups were using to force their cooperation. He was tired of his students getting involved in so much fucking shit with the League that they probably had more PTSD than most of the heroes out there.

And not being allowed to tell the parents that their beloved children were going to be involved in a fucking civil war with one of the most dangerous villains in Japan's history as their mastermind!? What were they thinking!? He didn't need to have a child to imagine the pain and heartbreak that the parents would be going through...

He felt like throwing up.

His precious little Izuku could very well die in this altercation. The child that had originally been so guarded against everything in his life, but now was finally learning after so many painful years that people loved and cared about him.

The boy that he had taken under his wing...

Nezu wanted to cry.

But no tears would come out.

He couldn't afford to waste time crying.

Not when there were so many lives at stake.