A Pillar of Lies

Chapter 4: Just Formalities

A Pillar of Lies

Chapter 4: Just Formalities

Toshinori Yagi sat calmly in a chair beside the young Shimura. The room was bathed in the gentle afternoon sunlight, casting a warm glow on the surroundings. Sterile hospital scents and the distant hum of medical equipment filled the air. Tenko, seated on a wide blue hospital bed, nervously adjusted his new gloves. They were sleek and black, double-wrapped with a protective material that left the index and thumb fingerless, courtesy of the government. Despite his reassurances, Yagi could see the unease that had settled within the boy. The gloves were meant to restrain his quirk, to offer him control and safety, yet he did not doubt that the memories of young Tenko's recent ordeal still haunted him.

Yagi's eyes were fixed on the boy, his expression a mixture of concern and understanding. He offered a faint smile, accompanied by a reassuring squeeze of Tenko's arm. However, beyond the facade, his thoughts were a tumultuous swirl of old memories. In these quiet few moments, he couldn't help but reminisce about his mentor, Nana Shimura. She had been his guiding light, his hero, and his dearest friend. The weight of her legacy weighed heavily on his shoulders, and he was determined to safeguard the small remnants of her memory that remained. Yet, those cherished memories seemed to crumble like fragile glass in his grasp.

Nana's family, her very lineage, had been cruelly ripped into a thousand little pieces in a single unpredictable moment, their undoing brought upon by her own grandson. Yagi understood that it wasn't Tenko's fault, that the true malevolence resided in the unpredictable nature of quirk emergence. No one could have foreseen the tragedy, and there was little anyone could have done to prevent it. He grasped this truth rationally, but a persistent inner voice whispered doubts. It accused Tenko of being responsible, urging Yagi to abandon the boy when he had the chance. But... All Might was unwavering; he followed his heart, the same heart that had guided him to save young Tenko, and the countless lives throughout his career. He would stand strong.

Crreeeeaaak.

Yagi turned his head around to face the door which slowly crept open.

'Hello ...' a nervous voice spoke up, her bright blue eyes peeking from the side of the door and clipboard in hand. 'I- I'm nurse M-Mori sir.'

A drop of sweat trailed down Yagi's side. 'There's no need to be shy, miss! I'm sure you have important duties to attend to.'

Her eyes lit up in response, as if she just remembered something important. 'Yes! Of course!' she exclaimed, ditching the cover of the door, nervously walking in.

'I will be looking over Shimura Tenko for the remainder of his stay here!' she cried, bowing profusely before All Might.

He nodded in acknowledgment, his eyes shifting back to Tenko. The boy had gently pressed himself into the bedframe, an unmistakable nervousness lingering about him, although there was a gradual easing.

'I entrust his care to you, nurse,' Yagi stated with a reassuring smile.

Yagi took to Tenko's side, offering reassurance during the checkup and commending the young Shimura for bravely enduring the blood sampling. It wouldn't be too long now, he thought to himself. Soon the boy's checkup would be over and the detectives would arrive for some light questioning. A shiver crawled down his spine—was there something he had forgotten, perhaps? His thoughts were abruptly cut off by a buzzing sensation emanating from his pants pocket: A phone call... is here! A phone call... is here!

Acting on instinct, Yagi fumbled for his phone, hastily flipping it open to answer. Who could be calling him on his personal phone at this time?

The caller identity quickly popped up on screen, causing his heart to sink.