Villain or Hero...?

Chapter 22: Not Every Pain Is Physical

5 minutes prior; with Hisashi and Kurogiri

"Uh-oh." said Hisashi after a long pause, realization dawning on him.

"What's the matter?" asked Kurogiri and squinted his eyes, not liking the tone that Hisashi used one bit.

"...He might have accidentally activated one of his quirks."

Kurogiri sighed heavily. "Alright. At least we know now where it comes from. I suppose it has something to do with the hero and Izuku's quirk?"

Hisashi nodded. "Take me to him now, Kurogiri."

Kurogiri looked at the door to the hallway. "I don't think that that is such a good idea."

Hisashi furrowed his eyebrows. "Why not?"

"You see–" He was interrupted by a scream. "They are here."

Hisashi was torn. He was Izuku's father, no doubt about that, but first he was the League of Villains' boss. He couldn't just show his face everywhere he wants. It would endanger the League and Izuku. The fewer people knew his identity, the better.

"I'll go into the surveillance room then." Kurogiri nodded and created a portal to the surveillance room and Hisashi went through it.

Kurogiri turned around, walking into the hallway and intending to find out who screamed and why they did it.

- - - - - -

5 minutes prior, with the others

"Is he going to be alright?" asked Akane with a worried look on her face and her cousin sighed.

"As I already said, there's no real sign of suffocation. Just the lack of oxygen. Maybe it was a quirk, maybe he held his breath, for whatever reason."

"I don't think Izukun would do this to himself..." answered Akane, eyebrows scrunched together worriedly.

"Anyways, the good thing is that Izuku's gonna be alright, right?" tried Vincent to reassure Akane, without much success.

"I guess you're right..." she said, "I can't help but be worried though! Right, Kaji?!"

Kaji answered with a simple nod after Akane turned to him.

"A-chan, calm down. He's fine."

"I can't!"

"A-chan."

"No!"

"... A-chan, I understand that you're worried, I might not know who he is to you, but–"

"You understand nothing! You didn't care one bit when mom died and she loved you like you were her own daughter! Don't talk like you know how I–"

"Akane!"

Akane recoiled. "... Sorry. My quirk..."

"Don't mention it." Aoi said with a sigh.

"Wait, so the reason for your emotional outbursts sometimes is your quirk?" asked Vincent curiously.

"Something like that. It's–" Akane was interrupted by a agony-filled scream. Everyone immediately turned to the sweating and screaming Izuku.

"Shit!" cursed Aoi, "I should've noticed that!"

"What's wrong with him?!" screamed Akane yet again.

"He's in pain! Why?!" screamed Aoi frustrated, activating her quirk to search for the cause. "There's no source!"

"How is there no source?!" screamed Akane desperately.

"I DON'T KNOW! I'M NO MIRACLE WORKER!"

"What is going on here?" said Kurogiri upon entering the room and seeing and hearing Izuku scream.

"I DON'T KNOW, MIST MAN! HE JUST STARTED SCREAMING FOR NO REASON AT ALL!"

"Guys, you should calm down!" shouted Jishin annoyed, "Panicking isn't helping!"

"Maybe a nightmare?!" suggested Vincent, being more calm then Akane, but not as calm as Kurogiri, Jishin or Kaji (the latter who still looked tense and worried).

"A nightmare shouldn't cause something like this!" denied Aoi the idea.

Then, suddenly, Izuku stopped screaming and slowly opened his eyes. "G-Guys...?"

"Izukun!"

"Buddy, you alright there?"

A sigh from Jishin could be heard. "You see? Everything's just fine," he said.

"W-Where am ... I-I?" Izuku asked as he looked around the room, recognizing his surroundings rather quickly. "W-What happened?"

"You collapsed." answered Aoi softly, smiling at Izuku with kind eyes. "But it's alright now, you're fine."

Akane's eyes widened. Who had switched her cousin with this angel? Directly after she thought that, she immediately dismissed it and ran to Izuku's side. "Are you feeling okay Izukun? Does anything hurt?"

"I-I'm–"

"Alright, everyone. Please let Izuku rest for now. He needs to rest." interrupted Kurogiri, opening the door to the hallway.

Everyone, although quite a few of them reluctantly, left the room after saying goodbye to Izuku.

Right as Izuku wanted to ask what happened, Kurogiri beat him to it. "Before you ask, we believe that you fainted because you accidentally activated your quirk on yourself. Nothing else would make sense, regarding you did not get enough oxygen."

"E-Excuse me... b-but who w-was this g-girl?" asked Izuku as he slowly sat up.

"A doctor, she 'treated' you."

"A-Ah," Izuku said and sighed tiredly, looking to the side.

Izuku remained silent for a while, so Kurogiri did not say anything either.

"K-Kurogiri?" asked Izuku quietly after a while, but it was barely above a whisper.

"What is it?" Kurogiri answered with a kind tone in his voice.

"I-Is my quirk... r-really t-that e-evil?" Izuku asked, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes like waterfalls, but he could hold it back for now. "A-Am... I... r-really that e-evil?" he added, remembering what the villain he killed said, what was confirmed by.. himself(?) too. Remembering what Sugita-san went through. Remembering the pain, he flinched back and he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. "K-Kurogiri... I-I k-killed! T-Tortured them to death! A-And I-I c-casted it aside l-like it was n-nothing!" Remembering the faces of Sugita-san's dear family. 'I'm sorry,' were the last words Ryoichi thought before he died. He wanted to apologize to his family, even if Izuku was the one who killed him! He didn't even get the chance to say goodbye! "I-I'm a monster, Kurogiri, a monster!"

"You're not a monster!" shouted his father close to his ear and he flinched. Since when was father here, hugging him? "You're not!"

"F-Fath–?"

"You are not!" His father sounded close to tears himself. Both of them cried for quite some time, before eventually, Izuku somehow fell asleep due to exhaustion.

- - - - - - 

"You never show emotion like that, Hisashi. You really love him, don't you?" asked Kurogiri as he closed the door behind them, letting an exhausted Izuku sleep in peace.

Hisashi wiped away the remnants of his tears. "Shut up."

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