MANIA - Katsuki Bakugou

the cure ━

chapter 67

"We bring you this announcement with a heavy heart... Nagano City is in ruins. We sit here only about three hours after the massive devastation that we have just witnessed in the Chubu Region. Thousands fled to safety, but there are still tens of people that have yet to be located. For everyone's safety, please stay inside and—"

Some news anchor was talking in the background on the single TV in the small meeting room. The sound fizzled in and out with the crappy connection that the old roll-out television had. At least a dozen heroes and doctors sat in the meeting room, talking in hushed voices with one another. It had only been a few hours after the devastating attack. Everyone was still recuperating and finding medical assistance.

Some heroes in the room sat with doctors and nurses by their sides, tending to their injuries while they talked in the meeting room. This discussion was mandatory. Deku said so himself. The hospitals were clogged up with people from all across the country who witnessed the earthquakes, but none more packed than those nearby Nagano City that hadn't been destroyed.

They got many civilians to safety, but there were still those that they lost to the Seijin. They were still lucky to stop the Seijin and the Wraith when they did, however. She was headed to other major cities to destroy and cause countless earthquakes until Japan was merely an island dissolving into the sea. Nagano City was only the start of her plans.

The destruction of Nagano City spread for miles around. But there were a few cities on the border of Nagano that still stood. They endured the earthquakes.

The green haired hero pressed an ice pack to his forehead, trying to drown the massive migraine he had from earlier. A doctor was currently trying to bandage his forearm, but Deku couldn't help but insist he was fine. He wished they would go tend to the civilians that needed their help more than he did. He'd broken hundreds of bones in the past, he'd be fine.

The announcer's voice carried over the heroes' every so often.

"Thankfully, the Wraith—the leader of the Seijin—has been stopped and we have word that she was defeated in a fight. In more news, the Emotion Hero: Sensima had taken sides with the Seijin and caused mass panic and cut down most every hero in Nagano City. However, she was brought down as well and is now in intense emergency care. We have no news on her progress but—"

Shimamura had survived Kimiko's attempted killing. Barely.

"We can't just put her in prison. She's still a pro hero," Kirishima fought with his fellow heroes.

Shoto crossed his arms across his chest. He sat in a chair with his leg bound in a cast and propped up on a stool in front of him. "No jail then. We can at least try to put her in a psychiatric facility. She needs help."

"Why don't we talk to her first? Maybe she was being mind-controlled!" Uraraka offered.

"She wasn't. We know she was a mole in the hero workforce after what Dabi told us. She was working for the Wraith and the Seijin for the past three months. We can't overlook the fact that she willingly turned on us. There has to be consequences," Deku shook his head sadly.

"Consequences?!" Shinsou butted in. He had a bandage across his cheek and a splint on his arm and shin. His purple eyes ignited with fury. "She came back to us in the end. She tried to fight against Miyazaki. That was the whole reason Miyazaki tried to kill her! We can't just imprison her for being blinded by the damn Perfect Manipulator. We all have been at some point! We can't punish her for that!"

Deku frowned at him, his eyes were saddened and dark. "They don't have to be dire consequences. But the public won't accept just letting her off the hook. We all know bits and pieces of what happened up there between Miyazaki and Shimamura, but not everything. It's not enough to convince the media that Shimamura was just being tricked. They want justice."