Sounds Like a Hero

Ch 25 - Sounds Like a Reprimand

"What's this all about?" Neon asked grouchily as she rubbed her tired eyes, "Did you need an audience for a public flogging?"

"Your imagination knows no bounds," Edgeshot replied dryly. He had pulled her out of her hospital bed and practically dragged her to the next room where the boys were recovering in. If he had any sense of pity for her wounded leg, he did not show it in any way, "Just take a seat."

Neon pursed her lips and sat on an empty bed to the left of the room, closest to the door. She leaned her crutch against the bed frame and waved to the other patients in the room. Tenya sat at the edge of his bed, next to Neon's, with both arms wrapped up in thick bandages. Midoriya was in the bed on the other side of the room, across from Neon with Todoroki in the bed beside his.

"Morning..." she mumbled, "Did you guys have a terrible night's rest like I did?"

"Yeah..." the boys said hesitantly back and cast a confused look at Edgeshot. What was this all about and so early in the morning too?

"Oh! Are you kids all awake?" Gran Torino asked, entering the room as well with Manual by his side. The old man glared at his intern, "Kid! I've got a lot of complaints for you."

"Is he here yet?" Edgeshot asked his fellow pro heroes and Manual nodded.

"Who's here?" Neon asked.

A man walked into the room, looming as large as All Might. However, instead of a winning smile and blonde hair, he had the head of a sullen hound, complete with brown and white fur.

"This is Hosu's chief of police, Tsuragame Kenji," Gran Torino said.

"Tsura-san?!" Neon gasped.

"You know the chief of police?" Todoroki asked.

"You know...you visit an establishment a couple of times, you get to know the owner," Neon said with a wince.

"As a criminal or as a victim?" Midoriya couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Do you even have to ask?!" Neon shot back, "Of course, a victim."

"R-Right...The kidnappings..." Midoriya said.

"Nis-No..Nagano now, correct? We can exchange pleasantries later, woof!" Chief Tsuragame replied.

Midoriya's jaw dropped and Neon chuckled. That woof always made a great first impression.

"You must be the UA students who brought down the hero killer, right?" the chief asked.

"Yes," Todoroki answered.

"Regarding the hero killer we arrested...He had fairly serious injuries, with burns and broken bones, and is receiving treatment under strict guard. Woof!"

"Since you are UA students, I'm sure you already know that when Quirks were still being introduced as the norm, the police attached high importance to leadership and standards and made sure Quirks were not used as weapons...And then, the profession 'hero' emerged to fill that gap. Woof!"

"Well, yeah. If I could use my Quirk freely, I wouldn't have to enroll in the hero course," Neon grumbled and earned a withering look from Edgeshot.

"For an individual's use of force and power that easily kill others... ," the chief continued, "Actions that normally would be appropriate to denounce...to be accepted officially is thanks to early heroes who followed the ethics and rules of the profession. Woof! Even up against the hero killer, for uncertified individuals to cause injury with their Quirks without specific instruction from their guardians or supervisors is a clear violation of the rules. Woof!"