Unchained

Chapter 27 - A Talk About All For One

Tomura glanced over at Nezu semi-curiously, tensing a little. He glanced back to Daichi apologetically, and gave a lighthearted sigh. "Alright, then..."

Nezu watched the occupants leave, giving a grateful nod, before turning to his protégé. "Well again; congratulations on a job well done, first, Tomura-kun. I've checked with the hospital; Miyazaki shouldn't be facing any long-term consequences either. I think we can count that as a clean record..." He said, somewhat joking.

"I'm sorry I wasn't available any quicker. Some issues popped up that I couldn't set aside." The principal's eyes looked strained from fatigue, as he approached Tomura's bed. He did his best to keep a friendly demeanour.

"That's something we need to discuss, I'm afraid... But first. How are you feeling? Anything you'd like to talk about?"

Tomura looked a little concerned as he turned to Nezu fully "Not really, if Dai already told you about my headache... But you look really tired, are you okay..?" He was still talking fairly quietly, probably because of said headache. Noise doesn't really help that much.

Dismissively: "It's been a bit more hectic than I'm used to. Nothing to worry about." Nezu perked up, concern showing "Anything... you could see as a possible origin for that? The headache, I mean... If it could be related..."

"I suppose there's little purpose on delaying this any further."

His tone was suddenly hushed, as he gauged the boy's reaction. "Your mentor... All for One, has escaped from Tartarus this morning."

Tomura was about to say something about his headaches, but froze at the last sentence Nezu spoke. The majority of his face didn't show much reaction, but his eyes narrowed.

It seemed like he was conflicted on his own reaction, unsure of whether he should take it as a positive or a negative "S-Sensei...?" He stammered, somewhat shakily, more of an expression of dread forming on his face. He brought a hand up to his mouth slowly, somewhat in disbelief. "A-And... That's why security is upped here...?" His voice cracked as he whispered.

The principal smiled wryly "Yes. And also why you're going to be here, for the time being. We expect him to target either you, or the school, in the near future... Consolidate our defensive positions, if you will."

He nodded a little, seeming to have trouble processing the bombshell that Nezu just said to him. Tomura looked down, his eyes watering slightly as he couldn't hold back the urge of scratching at his neck.

After a few minutes, he managed to stutter out "H-How long...? How long a-am I going to be here..?" His voice was in a more squeaky, unstable tone that one would expect while someone was crying. Obviously, he was having a hard time keeping himself composed.

"Until we deem it safe." Nezu said, unconvincingly

"I'm, sorry Tomura-kun. I, clearly haven't given the situation sufficient attention... And now you, and many others, will be exposed to the consequences.

We will do our utmost to keep you outside of harm's reach. But, there just isn't much I can guarantee, for someone that has already escaped the most securely guarded location on the planet..." Nezu stared at the floor, blankly.

Tomura quietly nodded, looking back up briefly with a more blank, dreading expression. He spoke with a shaky whisper "H-He got out by himself...? I-I... I didn't think that was even possible..." He curled himself up into a fetal position against the bedframe "I-If that was this m-morning..." His scratching started to intensify, as his voice entered a more horrified tone "S-Sensei must already be with Dr.Garaki..."

"There's a lot of things that your sensei can do that shouldn't be possible, Tomura-kun..." The principal sighed.

"Doctor Garaki, you say... That's the man that did the, testing on you, I suppose? What kind of things did he do to you..." He said, carefully "Regarding that headache of yours, specifically. Do you think it may have been possible that some kind of, mental connection to All For One had been imposed onto you, at any point? The timing seems to fit rather well..."