Inside Your Mind

65 - Hizashi Yamada

It seems no one has their own eyes

It was a mess. It was a complete and utter mess. On the one hand, Yamada was glad he wasn't caught up in this and had only been called into this meeting, because he was teaching at the university. But on the other hand his friend Shouta being involved somehow made it worse.

Of course the press was having an absolute field day with this. It was like a damn riot out there, which Yamada normally had no trouble with. It wasn't his favourite thing in the world to deal with, but he didn't usually think it was too bad. But right now? He hadn't planned on being in the university this early for the entire week.

Sure, having a part-time job as a DJ was fun, but it was also extremely exhausting and difficult to combine with all his other projects. He was juggling three jobs and it was a complete nightmare. And now this thing happened - something else to worry about, something else to cause some sleepless nights.

At least in here they were all safe from the press (and the smoldering summer heat that hung heavily over the city). It was quiet, the room was at a nice temperature and there was coffee.

Yamada wondered whether they had taken Aizawa's and Kan's statements the same night or whether they had been called into the police station early in the morning. He knew that the two TAs had been called in as well, which meant once they were all done they'd probably have another meeting to get a statement ready for the press. Which meant they would send Aizawa to a press conference. What a disaster.

Yamada had known Aizawa since high school, they had been to university together and he loved the man to bits. But when it came to the press, he really didn't do well. It was easy to rile him up and then use whatever he had said impulsively against him. And there were already talk shows on air taking every little detail apart and telling people that the students at U.A. weren't safe.

"We established the training camp to prepare for the fight against organized criminals, and then they attacked it. The irony of that is embarrassing. This whole 'revival' of terrorist organizations and organized crime... we took it too lightly. They've already begun their mission... their mission to undermine trust in our society." Principal Nezu concluded his thoughts.

Yamada always had a somewhat hard time listening to him. The Principal was a small man with gray hair and a deceivingly youthful spirit. For whatever reason he reminded Yamada of a mouse. A small, gleeful mouse in fancy clothes. Maybe he was way too sleep-deprived after all.

"Even if we'd taken it more seriously, could we have prevented all these attacks? Most organized crime has been eliminated since Yagi's prime and the years when the police force focussed on that. All that's left now is the best of the worst." Kayama chimed in. She had her glasses up on her head, trying to relax her eyes from the strain of having to look through them all day.

Yamada and Aizawa had been friends with Kayama, since their last two years in high school. She had been in the year above them and at some point they had started hanging out. She had taken in a stray cat another one of their friends had found back in the day and since then the four of them had been a thing.

She always had the aura of a femme fatale around her, with her long black hair, tight-fitting clothes, the cat eye glasses and the skirts that were just a little too short and the cleavage that was just a little too much. But Yamada knew that in private, she really was more like an old cat lady.

"So, basically we got too complacent in this peaceful era. Otherwise we'd have no need for preparations once we realized what was happening." Yamada commented. Why wouldn't they all just admit it? It was true.

Yagi, who had been awfully quiet all morning, pinched the bridge of his nose with both his thumbs and looked down, staring at whatever void he was seeing in between the edge of the conference table and the carpet. He had been looking gloomy and unhealthy a lot lately, but today was a new low.

"I'm just mad about how useless I was... I was relaxing in the bath while they were out there, fighting for their lives!" he muttered. Yamada raised an eyebrow. Was he... was he actually seriously feeling bad about that?

"I reckon we can't pretend to be undaunted any longer - like how we went and held the Sports Festival just after that other attack. Letting a student get wrangled is one serious failure for U.A. Wasn't just Bakugou those varmints stole. They took away the trust in us as a public institution." Snipe replied.

Snipe's case was very strange. Since Yamada could think everyone had just been calling him that. Obviously that wasn't his real name, but it seemed like people had simply forgotten his name for whatever reason. Everyone only knew him by Snipe.

"And the media's having a field day censuring U.A." Nezu agreed and held up a newspaper that already had a large report on the situation. On the front page. Great. Absolutely fucking great.

"We can assume that they intentionally targeted Bakugou, because that crazed, violent image of him at the Sports Festival was widely disseminated. If they are actually able to win him over, then this educational institution is finished." Nezu added. Yamada wasn't sure whether now was the right moment to say it, but it had to be said. It had been on his mind, since he heard of this whole thing.

"Speaking of lost trust. This seems like the right time to bring something up. It's absolutely clear at this point. We have a mole."

"A mole?" Kayama asked with a raised eyebrow. Yamada took a deep breath and got ready to explain his theory.

"Only we teachers and the trainers knew about the training location! But we have to consider other suspects. If a student used the GPS function on his or her phone, then..."

"Cut it out, Zashi." Kayama interrupted him. Of course, she clearly didn't want to hear it. Yamada wished he had never thought of it. But it had to be said, didn't it? They had to be aware that they might not be able to trust anyone.

"Like hell I will! We have to take care of this, here and now!" he protested. Snipe turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Can you even cough up proof that you're in the clear? We can't even declare that one of us ain't the traitor!" he said. Yamada was about to start defending himself when he realized that he really couldn't. Sure, he had an alibi for the night, but there was no way to prove that he hadn't leaked any information.

"Uhm..." was all he managed to say. Snipe just nodded, as if he had known this would be his reaction.

"Once we start suspecting each other and jumping at shadows, we'll destroy ourselves from the inside. If we're searching for a mole, we shouldn't do it in a panic." Snipe told them. Principal Nezu nodded.

"For what it's worth, I happen to trust all of you. That said, I have no clear way to prove my own innocence. Anyhow, the task at hand is to ensure the students' safety. In light of this potential mole... there's something that I've been considering for a while now." he said. Everyone was leaning forward, anxious to hear his theory.

"That is..." he continued, but was promptly interrupted by a mechanical voice that kept saying 'A phone call is here! A phone call is here!' Yagi jumped up from his chair and scrambled for his phone. He checked the screen and then bowed slightly, backing out of the room quickly.

"Sorry, gotta take this!" he excused himself.

"We're in a meeting! You're supposed to turn that off!" Yamada complained. Kayama leaned over to him.

"What a lame ringtone..." she whispered.

"I know, he's had it for years." Yamada replied and rolled his eyes.