363Chapter 3: Fire in the hole
A/N: Thanks for the follows and favorites and I hope you like this chapter.
Izuku and Watanabe reached class after the bell rang. So the two of them just took their seats, sitting next to each other. Bakugou seemed to give Izuku a threatening glare even though he had been saved by him just yesterday. Watanabe really wanted to punch him right there.
"Ok, so we have a new student starting today." The teacher announced and then pointed his finger at Watanabe, "Please introduce yourself."
Watanabe stood up, "Hello, my name is Hattori Watanabe. I am Midoriya Izuku's cousin. My quirk is eye-color changing." Watanabe noticed nearly half the class snicker at his quirk and saw Bakugou grin and stare at him, "Wow you are as useless as fucking Deku, at least you have a damn quirk though." The class laughed. Watanabe noticed some of the students forced themselves to laugh, clearly afraid of Bakugou. Even the teacher seemed to smirk.
"Not as useless as you Bakushit," Watanabe said. The class grew quiet, plunged into shocked silence.
"HUH! What was that you fucking shit?" Bakugou exclaimed, explosions forming on his palm. Watanabe didn't flinch, instead he dodged Bakugou as he tried to tackle him and hit him over the head. "That's enough! Watanabe, detention for attacking Bakugou." The teacher called out.
"What the fuck! He attacked me first!" Watanabe protested.
"I saw you attack him. Now sit down quietly before I punish you further," The teacher threatened.
"Whatever," Watanabe said as both students sat down; Bakugou was clearly still angry but he seemed to wait for later to confront Watanabe again. Meanwhile, Izuku was sweating bullets at the confrontation. He couldn't believe Watanabe was unscathed and had landed a hit on Kacchan. However, Izuku knew that lunch would be a disaster.
Watanabe and Bakugou kept glaring at each other for the remainder of the classes until lunch. Everyone could feel the menace rolling off of both of them. Even the other bullies seemed to back off from jeering Watanabe, especially after one of them had suffered a bloody nose from Watanabe, something that added another detention onto his tally. Most of the class breathed a sigh of relief when the lunch bell rang. Bakugou and Watanabe remaining inside staring at each other, but Izuku pulled Watanabe away, "Come on, we'll get lunch."
Watanabe allowed himself to be pulled away. Once outside, Watanabe growled in anger and punched the wall beside him breaking a part of it. Izuku stared in surprise at the damaged wall. "Sorry," Watanabe apologized, "I am just mad at the damn teachers and fucking Bakushit."
"Please don't start anything with Kacchan," Izuku pleaded.
"Izuku, for god's sake stop calling him Kacchan like he's your friend. Open your eyes! He hasn't been your friend for a long time. Why do you still care?" Watanabe asked Izuku.
"I think he can still change if he is guided properly."
Watanabe stared at Izuku pondering over his answer. He was quiet as they got their lunch and sat down to eat it. He finally spoke after finishing his lunch, "Izuku, you are right, people can change. But the way Bakugou is, he needs a wake-up call, and the next time he pulls something, I am going to beat the shit out of him, no matter what, got it?"
"But, you'll get into trouble, and Aunt and Uncle Hattori will be mad and-"
"They will understand if I tell them. Well, mom won't be too happy but they will understand. I am just telling this to remove your delusion of thinking that Bakushit is your friend and the fact that you think that just because he's powerful he can do anything. With great power comes great responsibility."
"You just added the last line from the pre-quirk era movie Spiderman to be 'philosophical' and look smart, didn't ya?" Izuku asked with a laugh. Watanabe smiled, "Made ya laugh though, so I see it as a win. We have time, so are we allowed to go to the football grounds?"
"Yeah, but Bakugou is there, so..." Izuku started. "So what?" Watanabe asked loudly, "Let's just go and check it out. Someone might be willing to let us play."
Izuku sighed as Watanabe headed out to the field. He knew he had no other choice to follow him. " Barely two days and already he's learned of all my secrets. Guess I might as well go with him."
Izuku stepped out of the cafeteria and saw that Watanabe was already talking with Bakugo and the others. Izuku hurried to catch up with his cousin.
"Why should I let a useless shit like you play with us. You are probably as useless as your quirk." Bakugou sneered.
"If I remember correctly, this 'useless shit' just kicked your ass in the morning," Watanabe countered.
"HUH! You want me to use my full power to fucking murder you? COME ON THEN!" Bakugou screamed as he set himself into a stance. Everyone else backed away in fear. "FINE WITH ME!" Watanabe shouted back ready to fight.
"Watanabe, Kacchan don't!" Izuku said.
"STAY OUT OF THIS DEKU! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE SPINE TO STAND UP TO ME! BUT NOW I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT I WILL DO TO YOU IF YOU TRY TO SAVE ME AGAIN!" Bakugou screamed as he shot forward with explosions at the ready.
Watanabe switched to infrared vision and saw that Bakugou's palms get redder. His eyes widened as he realized that Bakugou was going to use both his hands to blast him with full force. Watanabe dodged to the right and ducked beneath another explosion aimed at him. He swiftly switched to X-ray vision and jabbed at Bakugou's arm joints to dislocate them. Bakugou screamed in pain as he felt his shoulders dislocate. In rage, he turned towards Watanabe and released a blast. This time Watanabe couldn't dodge. He was hit with full force but Bakugou screamed as he felt his dislocated shoulders break. The recoil of the explosion tore through his already damaged shoulder and broke his bone. Meanwhile, Watanabe got up immediately and took out Bakugou's legs from under him. Bakugou yelped and as he fell. Watanabe took the chance to aim a well-placed kick to Bakugou's head knocking him out cold. He was just about to take another swing when a teacher arrived and knocked him out.
Watanabe woke up from unconsciousness in the principal's office and saw that Izuku, Aunt Inko, and his parents were there. He wasn't surprised, even he knew that he had gone a little too far. Watanabe knew that his mom was angry but Aunt Inko seemed a bit puzzled. Fortunately, Ryuzen was the first to ask him, "Watanabe, is it true that you broke Katsuki's arms in a fight."
Watanabe nodded, "Yes, but it was only because Bakugou started it-"
"That's a lie, all the teachers said that Watanabe started the altercation." Said the principal.
"I guess they just simply forgot about how Bakugou and his lackeys insulted everyone because they were 'weaker' and the fact that Bakugou used his quirk to beat up other students including Izuku," Watanabe said.
The principal became red and stuttered, "Wh-why you, Bakugou is one of the finest students of this prestigious-"
"Ya-ya sure," Watanabe interrupted, "He did the same with Izuku because he's quirkless. Izuku, show the marks."
"What, there aren't any wounds." Izuku lied panicked.
"See, the boy is just using a far-fetched lie, I assure you-"
"Izuku, is Watanabe telling the truth?" Inko asked ignoring the principal. Inko knew that Watanabe was quite truthful. He did lie but not about something so serious. Izuku simply bit his lips and didn't reply. "Izuku, please," Watanabe asked.
Izuku bit his lip harder and drew up his sleeves revealing several burn and scorch marks. Inko and Natsume gasped. Ryuzen meanwhile grew very angry and turned to the principal in a fury, "You knew about this and lied! For what, to keep this Katsuki's record clean. Just to help a few students, you neglected the rest? You are a shitty school and I am going to sue you and shut this damn place down. Come on Natsume, Inko. You too Watanabe and Izuku," Ryuzen said and got up.
The family stepped up to leave, but not before Natsume slapped the principal across his face, "You are living scum! You didn't even take Watanabe to the hospital to see if he has a concussion even after Katsuki knocked him out!"
"Well, Katsuki didn't do much to me. It was a teacher who knocked me out," Watanabe said with glee, clearly to add fuel to the fire. Natsume's eyes grew red, "First we are going to the hospital and then to the police!" She screamed and left.
Everyone got into the car and Ryuzen drove to the hospital. The ride was silent, the only sounds were of Inko sobbing over Izuku and Natsume's muttering on different plots to run Aldera aground. Izuku seemed like he was blaming himself for making Inko cry.
However, Watanabe was slightly smiling, "Phase 1 success," he thought. He had planned for an altercation to take place so that their parents had to be called. And if he pressured Izuku in front of them, he'd be bound to tell everything to Inko. Watanabe knew that the first part of his plan couldn't work without them being pulled out of Aldera. Not that phase 1 was done, he was already thinking of ways to start phase 2.
Ryuzen pulled up to the hospital and everyone got out. Inko took Izuku up to the reception, "Excuse me, but could we meet with a burn specialist?"
"Of course!" the receptionist replied, "May I ask, what is the issue?"
"Oh, my son got burnt by a quirk," Inko replied quietly. The receptionist narrowed her eyes but nodded, "Fifth floor, I'll call in advance to let the doctor get ready. Could one of you fill up this form"
"Thanks," Inko said and filled the form. The five then got into a waiting elevator. They got out on the fifth floor and headed to the clearly marked burn specialist's room. He was the only one who seemed to have a degree in burn specializing on the floor, so it made it easier to find him. The two families entered.
"Ah, I have been expecting you. One of you must be Midoriya Izuku, am I right?" the doctor asked.
"Yes, the boy has suffered several burns from a quirk and we were hoping for them to be treated," Ryuzen said.
"Of course, of course." The doctor, Mezushi Hitame said. Watanabe found it odd that the doctor immediately started to treat his cousin without interrogating about the wound's cause or origin. However, Watanabe just passed it off as the doctor being professional. He couldn't have been more wrong. Soon after, the door to the doctor's chamber was pushed open and three policemen entered. Natsume shrieked in surprise. Ryuzen meanwhile just stared, wide-eyed.
"Is Midoriya Izuku here?" A man wearing a long white coat entered and asked. Inko nodded. The man continued, "I am detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. We got a call about possible quirk-related child abuse and were directed here,"
Watanabe knew he shouldn't but he just couldn't stifle his laugh at the misunderstanding. Fortunately, it was only a quiet giggle that left him, but that was still enough for the detective to stare at him like he was crazy.
"Child abuse? What, no! He was bullied!" Ryuzen exclaimed.
"I will judge that," Naomasa said and took a step forward towards both Izuku and Watanabe, "Have you faced child abuse?" he asked both of them.
"Yes!"
"No,"
Watanabe and Izuku replied respectively. Naomasa registered Watanabe's statement as the truth and Izuku's as a lie. "My quirk says otherwise," he addressed Ryuzen.
"Woah, your quirk is lie-detector or something? That's amazing." Izuku said unable to hide his amazement over his quirks. Realizing his outburst, Izuku clapped his hand over his mouth and sat back down sheepishly. Naomasa chuckled at Izuku's energy, "Yes, for now, we will take you with us. Guys arrest the adults." Naomasa ordered.
Izuku looked shocked and was unable to speak but fortunately, Watanabe interjected, "Why, they are innocent."
"They abused you," Naomasa said shocked that the child was trying to defend them.
"No, they didn't,"
"You just said, they did,"
"I said I was abused, but not by whom," Watanabe said cheekily.
Naomasa was going to reply but then realized that Watanabe was right, "Real funny kid." Watanabe cackled in response
"OK, so who abused you?" Naomasa asked again.
"Well, Aldera high school, although I only went there for one day, my previous school was better... Anyway, Izuku is worse off from that abuse and also child negligence. I suppose since Bakugou is of the same age, it doesn't count as abuse so I guess bullying, quirk relate bullying actually." Watanabe said in a steady stream.
Naomasa's mouth hung open as all of it registered as a truth. He looked over to Izuku for a response, who just nodded. Truth, it registered. Anger filled Naomasa's mind at the sudden statement of such facts, not to mention it came from a child, without the slightest tone of sadness. "You guys can go, I'll wrap things up here and come," Naomasa said. While Naomasa had not let any anger enter his voice, the policemen knew that the detective was extremely angry.
After the police had left, the detective turned his attention back to the two families, "Ok, can someone please explain further?"
Inko nudged Izuku and motioned for him to speak while giving an encouraging smile. Izuku breathed in deeply and began explaining everything that had happened to him, how he and Bakugou were friends but quirk differences caused him to be bullied, how Aldera had neglected him and countless other students, how Bakugou had suicide baited him, and finally, the altercation between Bakugou and Watanabe.
"Ok thank you. Before I discuss this, I would like to question you first, Watanabe. Did you use your quirk?" Naomasa said.
"Um no..." Watanabe said rather unconvincingly.
Naomasa sweatdropped and said, "I don't even need to use my quirk to know that's a lie. So, explain yourself, what is your quirk and how did you use it?"
"Fine," Watanabe groaned. Izuku snickered and Watanabe glared at him but only got a grin in reply. Sighing, he began to explain, "Well, my quirk is eye-color change which is pretty useless but it also has the power to change my vision to other visions like infrared or X-ray. I used my X-ray to find Bakugou's weak joints and dislocated the bones there."
'Truth,' Naomasa's quirk registered. The detective rubbed his head, "I am sorry Watanabe, but it seems I have to charge you with Vigilantism."
"Why?" Watanabe asked straight away.
Naomasa blinked, "Excuse me?"
"Vigilantism is when quirks are used to harm people in the name of good but without a pro-hero license. The way I see it, I did use my quirk to beat up Bakugou, but only indirectly. My quirk itself didn't harm anyone." Watanabe said with a grin.
Naomasa opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. Technically he was correct... Naomasa smiled, "Well, you are right, so I won't charge you but let this be a warning. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Hattori and Mrs. Inko, I advise you not to sue right away. It seems Aldera has neglected many other children, so I would like to investigate further. When everything is in order, I will call you to sue."
"Of course, that would be much appreciated. Please do update us regularly," Ryuzen said.
"Ok, I will be visiting the Katsuki family now to charge Bakugou," Naomasa said and got up.
"No, you can't!" Izuku spluttered. Everyone stared at him like he had gone mad. Naomasa replied, "Izuku, Katsuki's actions need to be punished."
"But I believe he can still change,"
"Izuku, if you let him get off scot-free, he won't change!" Watanabe replied angrily. Izuku went quiet.
Naomosa switched to a gentler tone, "You are very kind Izuku, to care about the person who abused you, but Watanabe is right, he needs to face the consequences of his action. I hope I have been clear to you,"
Izuku nodded.
"Good, I will be going then," and with that Naomasa exited the hospital room. "That Izuku really does have a kind soul to care about the person who has tortured him so much. Perhaps he could be the All Might's Successor," Naomosa thought as he waited for the elevator. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. He entered it and resumed his thinking, "That might be a bit far-fetched but the kid does have a good mind. Heck, he tried to save his fucking bully just yesterday. Half the children his age would have gladly ignored the situation. Watanabe too seemed to have a good mind... but he was a bit too rash. Watanabe will do well too but he would be a better underground hero or like Eraserhead than the symbol of peace. Not to mention that Toshinori will probably instantly connect with Izuku because he was quirkless too. Argh, I'm thinking too much about his, I will call Toshinori about this tomorrow in the morning." Naomasa thought as he got into his car, ready to drive off.
After the doctor had finished treating Izuku and had made sure that Watanabe wasn't suffering from a concussion or any other effects, he had let them leave. The two families exited with Inko giving Izuku a kind smile to make him feel better. Inko was surprised when she exited from the room as she saw, "Mitsuki?" she asked.
Mitsuki got up from the seat she, Katsuki, and her husband was sitting in. "Inko, Detective Naomasa informed us about everything while Katsuki was being treated. I am sorry that I never realized that he was doing this. It's my fault." Mitsuki said modestly and bowed.
"Th-thank you Mitsuki. I know it must have been hard for you to apologize given your... strong personality, so your apology really means a lot," Inko said with tears in her eye.
Mitsuku smiled slightly and nodded, "Oi, brat get here and apologize to Izuku!"
"Shut up you old hag!" Katsuki replied. He opened his mouth to continue but Masaru glared at him sternly. Katsuki immediately shut up knowing that something that angering his normally calm and silent father would have bad consequences for him. "Tch, fine!" he growled.
"I am sorry, ok Deku!" Katsuki shouted reluctantly. Mitsuku slapped him over the head, "Properly," she warned.
"Fine! I am sorry, Izuku," he said keeping his voice lower but anger clearly still in his voice.
"And?" Mitsuki said.
"And I am sorry Watanabe," Katsuki growled.
"Thanks Kacchan," Izuku replied meekly. Watanabe coughed into his hand to cover up his snort. Natsume glared down at him and smiled, "Watanabe, I think you should apologize too,"
Watanabe spluttered, "What, why? What did I do?"
"You took it too far. I know for a fact you purposely chose to dislocate his shoulders to maximize damage." Natsume said.
Watanabe's eye twitched, "Fine, I am sorry Katsuki-san," he said mockingly to Kacchan
"Well, I didn't want you to apologize to him, considering I thought he was right to beat this shithead, but thank you, Watanabe," Mitsuku said with a small smile. None of the adults seemed to care that the tone of their apologies wasn't forgiving and carried on with their conversation, but Izuku just glanced nervously between the two as they glared at each other with malice. Clearly, neither had accepted the other's apology.
"I'll see you later then Inko," Mitsuki said. "Sorry again for Katsuki," Masaru said as the families parted ways to head to their respective homes. Izuku and Watanabe sat together in the back.
"Can't you forgive Kacchan please Watanabe?" Izuku asked hesitantly.
"Not a chance, unless he changes drastically. However, I will leave him for now, I am going to start on another project." Watanabe said.
"Another project?" Izuku asked anxiously. "What project?" Izuku asked further, knowing that he probably wouldn't want the answer.
"To take down Aldera of course,"
"Shouldn't we leave it to Detective Naomasa?"
"Obviously, but that doesn't mean I can't help take the school down," Watanabe said with sadistic glee.
"You know what I don't even want to know," Izuku decided in his mind.
"Actually scratch that," Watanabe said quietly, careful not to wake up Inko or Natsume, "We will take down Aldera," Watanabe said with a grin.
Izuku almost wanted to jump out of the car at the sadistic glee and unhealthy amount of happiness behind the sentence.
A/N: Aldera bashing will start in the next chapter. I will also update once or twice weekly. Please review, follow and favorite.