Narrator:- Grey
Izuku sat in his temporary office inside a building in the Okayama Prefecture as they had completed gaining control and stabilizing as best as they could over the past few days that had passed. Their citizens of the Hyogo prefecture border towns all had returned to their homes with only a few destroyed since most of the fight was pushed into Okayama and Tottori prefectures which then spread to the other orange prefectures as well.
"Poor souls, hope their insurance covers the cost of their house repairs," Ochako said.
"I don't think insurance covers wars or bombing," Izuku said with an awkward smile.
Izuku was reviewing the reports of all of the dead and the damages that had been caused to the large-scale battle. Overall, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't horrible compared to other wars since Izuku was focused on keeping death counts down as best as he could but it still hurt to see the numbers in front of him.
"Grieving for the victims you created," Nighteye narrowed his eyes, "how poetic."
"Does he even know what poetry is?" Momo whispered in Jiro's ear who looked at NIghteye for a moment before replying.
"I don't think so."
The death counts including all sides in this war had now surpassed 100,000 as the entire death count which is still being counted at this point was sitting at 171,500 an estimate. This was the death count for the entire war but for this individual battle for the orange prefectures, it was a total of 135,300 deaths for this segment of the war.
"These numbers are most likely due to the fact that this time neither side was holding back," Nezu said, "only time will tell how many more will die this war."
Overall, those numbers are amazing since this was a war for an entire nation but it still was haunting to see the numbers themselves right in front of him.
"There is nothing amazing in all of this," Mirio clenched his fist, "there is nothing positive about people dying."
The government military side and little heroes had suffered a massive death count since they had around 50,000 troops or so. Of the 50,000 troops deployed by the government only around 13,500 troops remained alive but that wasn't really what bothered Izuku the most of the numbers nor was the uptick in deaths on his side which overall death count rose from 200 overall in the war to 15,000 by the end of the battles.
"Oh we lost many people too," Himiko said with a sad frown.
"It was inevitable," Dabi said, "we can't expect to stay unharmed after poking a hornet's nest."
No, the fact that around 84,000 civilians had died due to the fact that the government didn't order their civilians to retreat. That fact annoyed Izuku greatly and made him pissed with the government since it only took starting the sirens spread across the prefecture and going over the intercom system connected to it to start ordering people to flee which would have caught on but no. Due to the fact that the government didn't order their civilians to flee until about an hour or so into the conflict... a lot of people died when they didn't need to.
"Why didn't the government just evacuate people earlier if they knew that there is going to be battle in those areas?" Toru asked.
"Because they wanted to look strong," Aizawa replied, "the public's trust in the government and heroes is already wearing down so in their head telling the public to evacuate their houses means showing weakness which they don't want."
Izuku sighed and sat the reports assigned and started reading the reports on the new member counts as they didn't have them done until recently even though they had taken over the underworld before the fight had started.
"Heh!" Himiko smirked at Dabi, "looks like someone slaking off."
"Shut up! And who said it was my job?" Dabi growled.
"I don't know but amongst all of us you are the one who slacks off the most," Himiko said with a shrug.
Their new member count was 1,695,000 members with combat-able forces standing at 820,000 members which were amazing in Izuku's mind as they were close to having a million-strong fighting force. These numbers of course never included the public supporters across Japan which had only increased with time.
"That's great," Izuku said, "having the public's support on our side is much more important."
Izuku had also received word that foreign governments had reached out to Verdant and asked if there was any way for the war to come to an end since the international community was freaked out after the Military Defense Line battle.
"Ok so now they interfere when they get confirmation on how dangerous this organization really is," Nighteye said with venom in his voice, "and even then they are reaching out to the criminals instead of the national government to help them. I guess it was my fault for expecting so much from spineless cowards."
Izuku had a message sent back to all of them that was simple. "We are here to stay as the only way for this to end is for the government of Japan to surrender or for Verdant to be killed off or imprisoned." said the message Izuku had delivered to all foreign governments that contacted them.
"Was it really a good idea to tell them that your death is one of the options?" Momo asked.
"I don't think that's such a big deal," Izuku shrugged, "at this point, Verdant is not a person instead it has become an ideal that will carry on even if I am not the one leading them," Izuku explained, "besides killing me won't be that easy. I have my merry band of Teletubbies with me all the time," Izuku said with a smirk while Verdant guards groaned in the offense.
The media had been reporting none stop on the aftermath of the battle and showed the devastation. Izuku had made sure to leak information to the Media that was under his control and even to media that wasn't under his control of the fact that the government of Japan didn't order the civilians to retreat until an hour in of the battle.
"Shit! I don't see the public taking it too kindly," Midnight grimaced.
Izuku laughed at the government's reactions as they tried to put all of the blame on the Verdant group but it didn't really work well as Verdant was quick to get information out there about what happened in the battle as well as the fact that TV crews were on site the entire time which didn't help the government in trying to control the narrative.
"You know, at this point accepting their flaws will bring them more positive support instead of denying it," Ochako said.
Though we can switch to others' viewpoints such as the viewpoint of those at UA as all of the students were sitting in the auditorium.
"Hey look most of us are sitting in the same place as our counterparts," Mina pointed out.
"Wow! So trippy!" Toru exclaimed as well.
Principal Nezu had an announcement to make in regard to the war.
"I hope whatever he is going to say is not headache-inducing," Aizawa said.
"Me too Aizawa... me too," Nezu silently added.
"I wish we were here for better reasons but the government has announced that they will start pulling people with Provisional licenses into the war. This means that you have a high risk of going on the front lines and being involved in the conflicts that are going on right now." Nezu announced and everyone was stunned.
"Shit! Those bastards are already pulling students into this conflict," Aizawa growled under his breath.
"But the decision to join or not still lies with students," Nezu pointed out.
"I hope most of them understand that this is not their battle and sit this one out," Nemuri said, "battlefield is not a place for children... heroes or not."
They knew that there was the risk of this going on but to think the government was actually doing it was shocking and scary. All Might who was sitting on the stage gripped his hands because he didn't like the fact that the students would be involved in the war.
"I don't see why it is such a big deal to let hero students get involved in a war," Nighteye said, "you allow them to fight giant robots in the entrance exam, make them fight like gladiators in the sports festival, and allow them to do hero work on their internships but then you draw a line at going to fight a war," Nighteye scowled, "hypocrisy at it's finest."
"At this time I can offer you a way out as every year we have to renew your provisional license paperwork but I've delayed doing so and the timeline for it to be submitted happens to be next week. As such, if you don't wish to be sent to war then I will let your provisional license expire but if you wish to keep them and risk your life in the combat zones then please let the staff know and we will renew your paperwork. I honestly advise against renewing your licenses." Principal Nezu said shocking them all.
"Sir you are the principal of a hero school. Shouldn't you boost students' morale and encourage them to be heroes?" Mirio asked.
"While your argument is valid I do not want to send children to a battle felid that might be the death of them," Nezu replied.
Nezu was being honest as he didn't see the government winning at the rate it was going. No matter what they did it appeared that they were going to lose since the Verdant now had more than 25% of the country under their control and it would likely only expand.
"And the funny part is that Nezu is making this assumption without even knowing the real control the Verdant has," Momo said.
A discussion broke out among the students and most third-years decided to renew while only half of the second-years decided to renew.
'It must be Miro's influence,' Izuku thought to himself.
Nezu sighed and wished they would all refuse to renew but he knew that wouldn't happen.
"I am glad that true heroism still exists amongst the new heroes," Nighteye said.
"And real stupidity too," Aizawa remarked.
Nezu informed them that he would renew for those that had decided to and let the others expire to prevent them from being shipped off to the front lines. Soon he dismissed the students back to their dorms and called a staff meeting.
"I was kind of hoping that Nezu will let us relax as well," Nemuri sighed, "there is no rest for teachers I guess."
Nezu found himself in front of his staff as he looked at all of them. "It's only a matter of time before the government loses..." Nezu said.
"Glad to see how little faith you have in the governing institutions of this nation," Nighteye said.
"Can you really blame me Miria," Nezu said with a chuckle, "because from where I am sitting, all I can see is a bunch of idiots doing everything in their power to save their face while Verdant is taking over the country without them realizing it."
They all asked how sure the odds were and Nezu said it was a 70% chance they would lose. They asked what allowed for the 30% chance to win and Nezu said if the government got even more brutal in their methods and attempted to bomb the Verdant leaders with a missile if they were ever out in the open like at the park.
"Still think it was a good idea to take me to the park?" Izuku asked his Mom.
"Yes," Inko replied without batting an eye, "people need to know what kind of person you are. Trust me that will help you in the long run."
"If he shows his face in public for long enough or they know he's in a building for long enough then you can bet that the navy will likely be ordered to shoot a missile at his location to try and take out the leadership," Nezu said and they all nodded their heads and asked what if he was in a highly-populated area.
"As if that has stopped them before," Hawks muttered under his breath.
Nezu chuckled and spoke up. "The government won't care as you can see from the battle at the military defense line. They didn't even evacuate the civilians and they still dropped missiles near civilians to take out the verdant members that they could." Nezu said and they all paled in the realization that it was true. The government wasn't carrying about the death count on their side as long as they could wipe out the Verdant group which is proving near impossible due to the clones.
"But how will they justify bombing a civilian-filled area just to take out one man?" Kirishima asked," aren't they presenting themselves as good guys?."
"Spiky hair, do you really think they care?" Bakugo asked, " besides, they know that once they win this conflict they can easily push all their crimes under the rug."
"Bro...they can't possibly hide something so big," Kirishima argued, "and even if they tried people-"
"People will forget and move on with their lives," Bakugo said, "and if you don't believe me just look at the two biggest and most historical cities of our nation."
Nezu also suggested that the government might try to put an assassination team together to kill Verdant Emperor. "All Might, LeMillion might be pulled on a mission to do an assassination of Izuku Midoriya due to Mirio's quirk. He would be one of the best candidates for the mission and he had chosen to renew his provisional license." Nezu said and All Might paled at that statement and said he would warn mirio of the chance of it happening.
"And what are you going to tell him? Not to put down a criminal?" Nighteye asked.
"No, I will tell him to make the right choice," All Might replied.
'I don't mind if the One for All user operates in a grey area but acting on someone else's orders is not acceptable.'
Izuku fanatically looked around as he heard a deep male voice in his ears.
"Zuku what happened?" Eri asked while looking at him with curious eyes.
"Did you hear someone?" Izuku asked.
"No," Eri shook her head.
"Oh... ok," Izuku said still trying to figure out where that voice came from.
All Might soon found Mirio and sat him down for a talk. "Nezu wanted me to warn you that when you are pulled by the government for the front lines that there is a chance you will be used as an assassin to kill high-level officials on the Verdant side. One person, in particular, would be Izuku Midoriya since the government wants him dead."
"Well someone is famous," Himiko said.
"What can I say, I often leave a strong impression on people," Izuku said with a grin as well.
"Sadly Mirio this isn't your hero duties like you think it is. You will be a soldier of war and not a hero as this isn't a hero vs villain fight. There are big differences between them and you are going to be using your quirk to kill and not to save people. This stopped being a villain and hero thing the moment Verdant Emperor solidified his ideas and vision in the minds of the people. Right now it's projected that half of the country supports him and that is only growing by the day. He isn't a villain because he is a political leader of an opposing faction. This is not a villain uprising but a civil war. Do you understand?" All Might said since he didn't want Mirio to confuse being a soldier and killing with being a hero and saving. Heroes have to kill every so often but it should be a last resort and that isn't the case here as this was a war of kill or be killed.
"Wow Toshi, I am surprised. You said you won't tell him what to do and now you are sitting there influencing his mind just to save that boy," Nighteye said, "but at the end of the day it will be fruitless. Because realistically what can a powerless person do against someone like Mirio who has ultimate attack and defense."
"Oh, I won't sell powerless people short if I were you Miria," All Might said while giving a side eye to Nighteye, "they often archive unbelievable feats."
"I will believe in them when I see them doing something worthwhile," Nighteye replied.
LeMillion looked stunned as he looked at his mentor and nodded his head as he gritted his teeth. "So, we're not heroes anymore?" he asked and All Might nodded his head.
"How..." Mirio asked, "How are you all ok with this? Didn't you all dream of becoming a hero too?"
"Yes we did and I won't lie it is disheartening to see the hero system getting demolished but at the core of it, we all wanted to help people with our gifts," Momo replied.
"Well said Yaoyorozu," Aizawa said with a proud smile.
"Indeed, the hero system will likely end even if the government somehow won. The public doesn't really support it that much anymore due to all the information that came out. It will likely end up in a system similar to what Verdant is implementing in his controlled prefectures with the police having people similar to heroes but under stricter rules and transparency which I actually like as it is forcing people that truly only want to save people into the field."
"Toshi you are really naive if you think the public can handle the truth... the things that happen behind the scenes," Nighteye chuckled, "and before you answer remember that these are the same people who freak out over some stupid conspiracy theories."
"I will be honest with you... I don't support our government anymore. I wish the government would surrender in all honestly to spare the people that will die the longer this keeps going." All Might said shocking LeMillion at the fact that All Might had given up on their government.
"Is it really tho?" Nejire asked, "I mean why would anyone ride a sinking ship."
He asked if it was because Izuku Midoriya was leading the other side and All Might shrugged and said he didn't know but he would admit that Izuku Midoriya had broken his faith in the government and system so much that he can't support it with everything he's been learning.
'He is not the only one,' Momo thought to herself 'growing up in the privileged environment had made me oblivious to many of the problems around us.'
"The government allowed a lot of people to die in the recent battle since they didn't order the civilians to retreat until an hour into the battle... After everything and the more, I learn about what they are doing... the less I can see myself supporting them. As such, I want to see what type of country Izuku Midoriya will lead." All Might said.
"Don't worry I will make you proud," Izuku said.
"I don't have any doubt about that," All Might replied.
He stood up and prepared to leave but before he left Mirio asked if he would be willing to see what government Izuku Midoriya lead even if he was an emperor of Japan as his name applies.
"Huh?" Mirio was startled by the sudden question that was thrown at him, "I..."
Meanwhile, Nighteye narrowed his eyes at Mirio who was struggling to answer the questions.
All Might paused at that and shrugged, "I don't know what true form of government he would have but I think it would be similar to what we have right now. We do have an emperor right now but he has zero political power but I don't know how involved Izuku Midoriya would be in the government. If you get a chance then you could ask for both of us." All Might said as he walked away leaving Mirio there to sit in his thoughts.
"Let me tell how good All Might is at telling people things that give them existential crisis," Izuku snickered as he remembered when All Might first told him that quirks can be passed on.
Indeed, LeMillion aka Mirio had a lot to think about since he didn't know what to do as the 9th user of One For All because he didn't know if the quirk was meant to stop someone like Verdant Emperor when he was more or less fighting for a lot of people of Japan against a government that seems to be more corrupt.
"Mirio, it is not that hard," Nighteye said, "as the future symbol of peace you have to preserve peace by any means necessary."
Then the screen turned black and the words appeared on the screen. Ep.26. 'Battle Aftermath.'
To be continued...