TAINTED (Izuku M.)

Chapter 40: Story Time

"Oh, so the other wounded kids are awake." Gran Torino stated as he noticed all three boys up and awake.

I followed after him, Midnight, and Manual. We walked into the room where the three had stayed overnight.

I stayed in another room, since I'm a girl.

But we are at Hosu General Hospital, the day after Stain was arrested.

We got checked in and fixed up pretty quick thanks to someone's quirk.

My right arm was bandaged up while in a sling and my side was bandaged as well.

"Gran Torino! Athena!" Izuku smiled at the sight of us.

I didn't have the heart to smile back, fearing the man who was following us here.

It's not like he can see me anyway...

"Manuel!" Iida's eyes widened.

"Kid, I have a lot of complaints for you." The old man walked towards Izuku with a scary expression.

"S-Sorry—." Izuku was cut off.

"But before that, you have a visitor." He said as I sat on the fourth bed that was unoccupied.

My shoulders were tense as I watched the chief of police walk in.

I panicked and made eye-contact with Midnight.

Midnight smiled at me reassuringly, but that didn't help either.

"Hosu's chief of police, Kenji Tsuragamae." The dog-man walked into the room, just as tall as All Might.

He's scary...

Shoto, Iida, and I stood up in respect for the new comer. Izuku shuffled to stand as well, but was stopped.

"Oh, you can just stay seated. Woof." The Chief told Izuku who's eyes widened slightly at the phrase.

I sat back down, no longer having the energy to stand.

"You must be the UA students who brought down the hero killer, right?" He asked as he glanced at each one of us.

"Yeah." Izuku answered for us as we all stared anxiously.

The head of police is here... what if we're punished!?

I can't be punished!

"Regarding the hero killer we arrested... he had fairly serious injuries, both burns and broken bones and is receiving treatment under strict guards. Woof." The chief told us.

So he's going to be okay... I knew that, but I'm glad to hear it.

"Since you are UA students, you already know that when superpowers were still becoming the norm, the police attached high importance to leadership and standards and made sure quirks weren't used as weapons. And then the profession 'hero' emerged to fill the gap. Woof." His paws were in his pocket as he stared at us with a stoic expression.

My heart raced slightly as I noticed where this was going.

He's saying what we did was bad.

We were unsupervised as well as unqualified for the things we did... even if it meant saving a life...

We were heroes yesterday.

We saved each other as well as Native.

But we'll be punished for it.

"For an individual's use of force and power that can easily kill others, actions that would normally be denounced— to be accepted officially is thanks to early heroes who followed ethics and rules of the profession. Woof."