Beyond Ultra (a MHA story)

Chapter 23

Horoki was quickly taken to Recovery Girl and fixed in a matter of seconds. "Might I ask, if you're feeling better?" Recovery girl asked. "I'm ok. Thank you." Horoki said as he nodded at her and walked out of the office. Jiro, Bakugo, Todoroki and Kaminari waited for him to get out of the office and approached him. "What did she say?" Kaminari asked. "She told me to take a few days off class and relax." Horoki said. "Also, what happened to my head? Recovery Girl said there was a burn mark." Horoki said as he scrubbed where the burn spot used to be. "That was me. Only reason I did was to make sure the parasite left your body." Todoroki said. "Oh, well then thank you. I don't like getting burned but that's an exception." Horoki said, cracking a smile. "Anything else?" Jiro said. "'Nope, that's pretty much it." Horoki said smiling. Horoki was then escorted home where all of Class 1A was. They surrounded Horoki and asked if he was ok and if they hurt him. "Did you see the villains lair?" Sato asked. "Is it true you got tortured?" Momo asked. "Did you see the guy hand guy again?" Shoji asked. "Are you ok?" Uraraka asked. "I'm fine!! I just need rest please?" Horoki said, clearly getting agitated by the question. He walked towards the stairs and went to his room. The group looked at each other, "is he really?" Mina asked. "Yeah, he went to recovery girl and she patched him up." Jiro said. "I sure hope he rests. That was a lot to take in for a single person.l Todoroki said. "He's fine. Let the man rest." Kaminari said. "He says he's fine but we don't know what happened to him." Liam said crossing his arms. "I've known Horoki the longest. He acts like he's ok and that all is right in the world but he's probably rattled up and just keeping a strong image." Liam added. "It's best if only one of was really talked to Horoki." Liam said. "Jiro." Todoroki said. "She's the only one that will pretty much have Horoki open up." He said. "I'll talk to him when he's ready." Jiro said.

Few Days Later

Horoki was cooped up in his room, drawing the figures and shadows he saw in his nightmare. While Horoki isn't one to talk about his problems, he will draw them and figure out a solution. His brain flashed images of the torture he endured, the pain his suffering his body went through. He continued to draw and get lost in his thoughts until he hears a knock, quickly interrupting his train of thought. "It's Jiro." The voice said Horoki opened the door and let her in, "here's the class notes you missed. Also Lincoln wanted me to give you this." Jiro said, she handed a hot, freshly made bowl of beef ramen with a note saying that he's hoping that Horoki recovers. "Gee, thanks mom." Horoki said as he read the note, tossing it aside and slurping the ramen down. Jiro then noticed the drawings and commented, "what is that?" Horoki quickly put them out of sight. "Just some doodles." Horoki said, putting the bowl of ramen down and smiled. "Horoki." Jiro said sternly. "I know way too well that you're hiding your emotions. Please talk to me." Jiro said. Horoki then looked at her worried eyes and sighed, he took the drawings out and handed them to her. She looked at them and noticed that it was her classmates surrounded in blood, along with her, being choked by Horoki. Her eyes widened with fear and she looked up at Horoki. "The bug that I had amplified the nightmares." Horoki said simply. "What did they do to you...?" Jiro asked as she looked at him, tears swelling up in her eyes. Horoki didn't want her to worry, so he decided that she should know a small bit. "They water boarded me, that's pretty much it." Horoki said, quickly dismissing the method of torture as if it was a casual day. He suddenly felt the warm embrace of Jiro's hug. He then heard her sniffling, Horoki realized that he couldn't just simply tell her everything or she would breakdown and have him talk about the thing Horoki fears most in this world. Feelings and Emotions. Jiro looked at him, "was that all they did...?" Jiro asked. "W-Well, I would s-say so! That's pretty much it." Horoki said, fumbling at his words, Jiro wiped her tears and promptly gave a pout and crossed her arms. "Just cause you try to act like everything is fine doesn't mean you are fine." Jiro said. Horoki looked at her angry face, admittedly, it was kinda cute. The problem is Horoki knew that Jiro wasn't gonna let this go. He simply sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "ok ok I'll tell you what happened. They just beat me, threw cold water on me and that was pretty much it. Nothing too harsh." Horoki said. Jiro narrowed her eyes, "is that all?"

"What else is there to say?" Horoki said calmly. Jiro continued to stare at him until Horoki finally broke. "Ok...so there is something I haven't mention." Horoki said as he scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah?" Jiro asked. "I might've sorta been conscious when I was mind-controlled." Horoki said quietly as he looked away, not making eye contact with Jiro. "You were...?" Jiro said, taken back at what she heard "what was it like..?" She asked. "You ever just sit in the passenger seat of a car? And just watch everything although you can try and stop it?" Horoki explained. "Not following." She asked. "Well, it's like I was watching everything that was going on, but I couldn't control it. I tried to stop myself from beating those guards. I couldn't do it. The only time I broke out of control was..." his sentence was cut short as he thought about his next words carefully. "Yeah..?" Jiro asked. Horoki realized how much danger Jiro was in. When Toga has her mind dead set on killing someone, one way or another, they will die. Horoki shook his head, "nothing. I thought I remembered but I couldn't quite catch it. I'm sorry." Horoki said. Jiro then got up and kissed his cheek. "You're safe Horoki." She whispered with care into his ear. Horoki felt his heart beat fast and felt his eyes water a bit as he heard those words. Horoki wasn't one to cry but hearing her words of safety, feeling her soft lips touch his forehead, it made him feel safe. Jiro then pulled away and smiled, "you should try and rest. You've had a rough few weeks." She said as she walked towards the door. "Wait." Horoki said. "Do you...mind sleeping with me tonight? I-I don't think I w-want to be alone again." Horoki said, almost sounding like a scared little kid, which was incredibly uncharacteristic of him. He's usually the strong and calm headed one of his friend group, but to see him get scared? That was a new side to Horoki that Jiro never saw before. "Yeah, I'll get some blankets from my room." She said, she then hurried to her room, got some blankets and headed back. The two got into his bed and cuddled up, Jiro's head on Horoki's chest, hearing his heartbeat. A lullaby of sorts for her. Horoki rested his head on top of hers, taking in the scent of her hair and holding her close. The two felt their eyes get heavy and slept.

Todoroki brought the bug sample to the teachers of U.A and they examined it in a little glass jar. "So this is the bug that Horoki had implanted in him?" All-Might asked. "That's what he said." Lincoln said as he crossed his arms. "A little thing did all that?" Midnight asked. "I believe this person has a quirk can control any living being." Aizawa said, "a quirk that powerful could spell disaster if he were to control a hero like All-Might, Endeavor or any one of us." Nezu said. "It's important we try and find this individual at once." He added. "The kids said he was seen with Dabi and Toga, two other individuals that are with the League of Villains." Lincoln informed. "We must take massive precautions. We must make sure the students are protected from this fiend." All-Might said. Lincoln was lost in thought when Midnight snapped him out of it. "Are you ok?" She asked. "Yeah. I'm just thinking how lucky Horoki is to be back." Lincoln said with a smile under his mask. Suddenly Present Mic noticed the bug fell on his back and began to twitch. "Guys look!!" The teachers saw the bug twitch and move erratically until it eventually stopped moving. "Well, there goes our lead." Lincoln muttered. "Doesn't matter, we know to keep a watchful eye out for this villain." Nezu said. The teachers nodded in agreement and left the room.

"I don't like having to kill my creations because you two got careless!!" Puppet Master said angrily. "We're sorry." Toga said looking away. "We had to get out. They were pressuring us." Dabi said. "They did what had to be done." Shigaraki said. "I understand but we couldn't kill the girl!" Puppet Master said, clearly agitated. "You sometimes have to regroup in order to beat the boss." Shigaraki said. "So we just wait around?" Compress said. "Of course. We hit them when they least expect it." Shigaraki said. "I recommend you guys go out, give yourselves some time to reflect. When I call you, then you head back. Take your time and go be yourselves." Shigaraki said. Everyone looked at each other, "are you sure?" Spinner asked. "Of course. I'll let you know when I need your assistance." Shigaraki said. The group shrugged and left, Kirigiri looked at Shigaraki, "that was rather kind of you." He said. "I want them at 100%, we need the heroes off our trail anyway. Once they have their backs turned, we will strike." Shigaraki said ominously.