MANIA - Katsuki Bakugou

━ a way out

chapter 56

PRESENT
JULY 12TH, 8:23 AM

Japan's resident number one stood in front of a sea of heroes, facing the anxiety of public speaking and directing the people that he usually fought beside. These meetings weren't normally his job to lead, but given the current circumstances and the information he had tucked away in his brain, he had to be in charge.

Deku swallowed and organized a stack of uneven papers in front of him. The room had quieted by the time he stepped up to the head of the room. Some stared at him with nervous glances while others were simply determined and ready to start the mission he was going to present to them today. There were at least 20 heroes sitting or standing somewhere in the room with him. Most were his friends from his graduating class while others were older pros that knew the ropes of these sorts of high-stake missions. Sitting around the table he could name heroes like Ground Zero, Shoto, Mindjack, Uravity, Mirko, Edgeshot, Suneater, and others.

Deku cleared his throat and leveled his gaze with his audience.

"We've recently received valuable information regarding the Seijin's next steps. The earthquakes that have struck Japan as of late have all been moving closer and closer in epicenters to Morioka in northern Japan. As we all know by now, the earthquakes and tremors have been a result of the Seijin and one of their member's quirks. They want to cause as much destruction as humanly possible in as short amount of time as they can manage. And so far... they've been pretty successful."

Someone scoffed within the crowd of heroes at Deku's explanation. He frowned and continued, trying to weed out who had ridiculed him.

"Regardless, we have a plan to combat these attacks. The Seijin's next big attack is going to be Mount Iwate itself. Like in Kagoshima, we believe they are targeting the mountain range in hopes of causing another volcanic disaster. They're targeting the mainlands. We have just shy of 3 weeks until they launch such an attack, and by then we'll be ready to stop them once and for all. If you're sitting in this room, that's your invite to the battle. You are the heroes that I want fighting by my side when we bring down the Seijin. We have the upperhand here because we know their plan. This is how we win." Deku announced.

The crowd was silent for a moment before they clapped for the pro hero. Most of them clapped anyway. Some were skeptical. Only Deku, Shoto, Gorgon, and Mindjack knew of the spy that they have within the Seijin. It made sense that the others would be suspicious of how they had such information. But to keep Dabi safe within the Seijin and to make sure they have the information they need from him, they had to keep his allegiance a secret.

Deku's eyes wandered across the many eyes of heroes, until he locked onto a set of blue ones. His heart skipped a beat out of fear and shock. A cold shiver went down his spine.

The white haired pro smiled kindly at him as she stood behind Bakugou's chair. She put a hand on his shoulder and Bakugou glanced up at her before glaring back at the table again. He didn't get her gesture. Midoriya returned the polite smile before ripping his eyes away from her.

Just like Dabi's secret, those 4 were the only ones that knew of Shimamura's deceit. Midoriya bit his tongue and looked around the room to find Shinsou.

She acted so normal... so like herself. It only made him more nervous about how long she's been hiding such a secret under their noses so effortlessly. Of course she didn't look suspicious. What reason did she have to suspect that they knew her secret?

Shimamura looked down at Bakugou, holding the same smile she had given Midoriya. Bakugou didn't look up at her but somehow he felt her eyes on the back of his head. She leaned down and whispered in his ear as the other pro heroes began chattering around them as well.