A different kind of Villain

17. Ingenium Stalls

('Thinking')

"Speaking"

~~~~~~~~~~Izuku POV~~~~~~~~~~

('Deafening silence....... Apparently thats a real thing. The tension is so thick in here I'm surprised the grapist isn't trying to fuck the air.') I thought to myself as I watched what could best be described as a walk of shame or a death procession. Considering how pale the youngest of the Iida clan was, its probably closer to the latter.

Its been a pretty rough week for the Hero world. So I was having a great time, I got so excited I almost broke my girls. The 'Stain cover-up' incident that was exposed by my interview definitely shook things up once again.

Like two of the most promising 1-A students being on probation, just a single misstep away from being demoted and added to the rehab dorms. However the real treat out of all this was......... The expulsion of Iida, Tenya from UA.

 After 'Deku' asked the reporter what she thought Iida answer was the interview suddenly ended without the answer being heard. After which, the reporter who interviewed Deku reported that she was given a package containing another video of Deku. However it seemed to be sealed with no way of opening it. She explained the Deku said it would automatically open when the time was right.

Needless to say the police attempted to confiscate the package. Keyword, attempted, as the reporter was warned by Deku they would do so. So she, not wanting to miss the scoop of the century, hid the package in a location know only to her.

The police and HPSC attempted to force her to turn over the package as evidence and threaten to have her arrested for obstruction. However, once again Deku had informed her on how to dodge the issue. As no crime was committed, they had no ground to stand on legally, and thus they could only resort to scare tactics.

However that scandal paled in comparison to the one caused by Tenya's little revenge trip caused. Not to mention the cover-up that involved a top ranked hero, and several up and coming heros-in-training. Hence the situation currently unfolding in the dorms.

UA had no way of protecting Iida, not that Nezu wanted to in the first place. He was one of the very few who was against the cover up to begin with. Under normal circumstances he'd have gone along with it as this kind of information would be very damaging if it became known.

However, the second Deku became involved Nezu instantly knew things would backfire and voted against the plan to cover up the incident. After all Nezu was starting to understand how Deku thought and operated, but not his motivation. Either way this outcome was to be expected.

Rather than attacking the heroes directly and uniting the public opinion against him as most villains do, Deku undermines the government itself.

Normally this method would be next to impossible. However with the information Deku was releasing the people's faith in heros as a whole was declining. After all Deku was exposing alot of dark secrets, while he hadn't done anything to the general public.

In fact many had started to see him as a true hero. Simply because there was no benefit for him in exposing the corruption. After all, the only thing that had happened was that he was labeled a villain by the government.

He wasn't getting any special treatment or deals. He wasn't getting paid, so as far as the public was concerned, Deku was doing all this out of the kindness of his heart.

Nezu wasn't buying it, not at all. Deku's main focus had always been the same. The Yagi family, even this incident Nezu was convinced had only happened due to Izumi being involved.

Whatever was going on with him, it inevitably happened because of the Yagi's and it scared Nezu. Just what had Toshinori done to create such a villain?

(' Now then.... how else should I stir the pot? Oh! I know!') I slowly walked up to tenya as he was walking by.

" I-im s-s-sorry Iida.... I w-wish t-this w-wouldnt have happened to you."

Iida hung his head down in shame.
" No Izuku-kun..... this is all my fault. I shouldn't have gone on a quest for revenge in the first place.... I'm just paying the price for my actions."

Glancing behind him as Aizawa was getting ready to hurry him along I locked eyes with him and gave him a smirk. Causing him to become confused, I whispered so only he could hear me.

"It's such a shame Tenya.... you could have been a great hero. You should have taken me up on my offer. If you had, you could have had your revenge and I'd have even fixed your brother. Alas you chose poorly."

His eyes narrowed in confusion " What are you talking about Izuku-kun?" My smirk only widened

" Forgot me already Tenya? I guess I'm not the 'useless' one here. I told you, they'd turn on you Iida-boy."

"You!?"  "Finally put the pieces together after I basically told you huh? Man if you're the top of the class that explains alot about the heros. Now before you do something stupid again, stop and think about what happens next."

He lowered his arm that he had raised to strike me, apparently having learned to think abit, before acting.

"Good boy, even if you started shouting and screaming about me being 'useless' who would believe you? You are an established liar and criminal. Nothing would come of it."

"Why are you doing all of this?"

" Fishing for useful information? Quite a loyal hero aren't you? No matter, it's not like you will tell anyone about this anyway." Tenya stiffened up at my words

" You didn't really think that I wouldn't know of your plan? Bitch please, I'm playing this game on a much higher level than you could imagine. Now I'll tell you why you won't snitch willingly."

"I'll never help you, you vile villain." He spit out through gritted teeth. Wanting nothing more than to attack me right here and now. However he must have realized that if he did, things would backfire as he had no proof and no one other than his friends would believe him.

" Oh you will, that is if you want your brother to return to active duty."

"What?!" He shouted in surprise

" I wasn't kidding about being able to heal your brother. I can restore him back to his prime. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut and run some small errands for me."

"Hell once I'm done with what I'm going to do, I'll even let you arrest me and even give you evidence to clear your family's name."

He just grit his teeth as he considered my words if not my offer. He hesitated before asking

"Why?" This time it was a genuine question and not him simply fishing for an answer.

"Not yet Tenya, we're out of time. So consider my offer and I'll contact you soon...... and remember breathe a word of this to anyone and deals off, besides no one would believe you anyways."

Before he could say anything Aizawa who had gotten impatient forced him to move along.

"You sure that was a good idea Izu?" Lily whispered from behind me as she had witnessed my whole interaction with Iida.

" It's a bit of a gamble, but I'm sure the odds are in my favor. Even if I were to lose the gamble it's not like I'd really be affected. It's like I said who'd believe him? And now more than ever the heros need hard evidence to prove anything."

" Not even a direct confession like I just did can be used as evidence. Thanks to people with quirks like that general course guy. It could easily be said that I was forced into confessing. And they'd have no way of disproving it, after all as part of the defense it's not up to me to prove I'm innocent. It's up to them to prove I'm guilty, and not to mention the backlash they'd get for accusing an abused victim who was held captive for a decade. That's a PR nightmare that no one would even try to touch. Much less when my heritage comes to light."

"Now then, I've played my hand. What will you do now Nezu? How will you try to protect your students and my father?"