Kenji was at UA, THE UA. He never imagined he'd set foot here, not with how many times he had tried and failed to get in. Then again, he was only going to be here temporarily.
It had been about two days since he agreed to help them, even when he was told it might be unnerving. Apparently, the kid in the wheelchair was the "Deku" they were talking about. He hadn't gotten a good look at him before, and he was not at all expecting what he saw. The sight alone scared him slightly, making him nervous about what was to come.
I could just back out, he thought to himself, but no, that boy had something horrible happen to him and he had the ability to find out just what. Well, not exactly... as he explained to the group before. Living things are so complex, and so much happens to them daily, that his quirk just can't keep up. The only information he would receive would be limited to the exact space he touched. But according to the girl, that was perfect.
Information from the scars would work.
They said that they had to get some things set up before they would start. He didn't see what the big deal was, all he had to do was touch him.
He was taken into a room with a monitor set up and a device next to it. There were a few police officers and a man who he assumed was a detective which made him feel even more self-conscious.
"Don't worry about the weird-looking machine, it's so that we can see and record what you see," Eraserhead said from behind him.
Kenji nervously said, "That kind of thing exists? Are you going to hook me up to it?"
"I just said don't worry."
They hooked him up to it. He hoped he didn't look as stupid as he felt. The monitor was showing what he was seeing, which he had to admit was pretty cool.
The two students he met, along with the wheelchair kid, entered the room. They wheeled him over and put him in front of Kenji.
"Just a reminder, we don't even know what he's been through, so just brace yourself for some horrifying sights," Eraserhead stated.
Kenji nodded, feeling a bit of stage fright, "Where should I start?"
"I think we should start with the biggest ones, so let's figure out what happened to his legs first," Iida suggested.
Kenji reached over and placed his hand on the stump of his leg, awkwardly. Suddenly he was overcome with terror as he watched through the eyes of Deku, first his ankles being grabbed and disintegrated, then having to cut off his own legs before it spread.
He quickly retracted his hand, and breathing heavily he said, "I- I don't- I don't think I can do this."
Everyone else in the room looked equally disturbed.
"Please, we- we need you," Uraraka looked like she was going to burst into tears, "We need some clue- as to what happened to him. Maybe then, we'll know how to fix him."
"You need... me?" Kenji said, thinking that he might be the only person who could help this boy.
A silly sort of bravery emerged from within him, possibly having something to do with the tearful girl in front of him, or maybe thanks to that hero fantasy he'd always had.
"We aren't forcing you to stay here, so if you really feel that this is too much, you can leave," Eraserhead explained.
Kenji steeled his nerves and replied, "N-no, I can do this."
He held his breath and shakily touched the biggest scar on his body, which ran down his chest from his shoulder to his stomach. He was met with more terror as a man whipped him over and over and over. He was lucky he couldn't feel any of this.
"Shigaraki," Uraraka growled. That must have been the man's name.
Kenji breathed in deeply, trying to mentally prepare for the next one. He had a feeling this one was going to be even less pleasant than the whip. His eyes rested on the large patch of pink skin covering his hand. He looked around the room to be sure everyone was ready. Seeing all six eyes on him, he reached over and grazed the damaged skin. Barely catching the boy's eye twitch before he was plunged into the memory.
"4"
Oh no...
"3"
This couldn't be right...
His hand went halfway into the water, and then back out again.
"2"
How could anyone do this to another person?
"1"
His hand was violently yanked into the water and, although it was only for a few seconds, that scream would haunt his nightmares.
"Again."
He was pulled back out.
They went from scar to scar. There was a monster with blades for arms in a lot of them, along with that man holding various weapons. There was one specifically terrifying one where Shigaraki plunged a knife straight through his face, he couldn't see where exactly, but the scar the memory was from was on his mouth.
"I said no talking back," he said in a scratchy voice.
Uraraka gasped, "Was that- d-did he just stab through his mouth?"
She was already pale and shaking, holding onto a bag with the previous contents of her stomach, Iida was holding her hair back. They looked like a couple watching a horror movie.
Eraserhead sighed. He had already asked Uraraka if she needed to leave, but he knew it was futile.
Kenji moved on to the next one, on his shoulder, this one took them off guard. Instead of horrible torture, there was a little kid in front of him.
"Izuku! Izuku are you ok?" The little blonde boy asked, "I didn't mean to hit you."
A bloodied brick was held up by what he assumed was Deku's baby hand.
"Bakugo?" Uraraka said curiously from her position in the garbage bag.
"Looks like this one is just a childhood injury." Iida sighed
"Did he throw a brick at him?"
They hesitantly continued. There was one where Shigaraki stabbed him in the side while he was pulling on some chains, and another with the monster. They also seemed to have found the first part of the boiling water scar, it was a knife wound on both sides of his other hand that held him to the wall, forcing him to stand on legs that no longer existed.
"I am going to kill Shigaraki," Uraraka whispered in a tone that scared Iida slightly.
"Wait a minute," Eraserhead said, "what's that?"
He walked up and brushed away some of his shaggy white hair away from the back of his neck. There was a tree root-shaped scar stemming from a bigger scar below it.
When Kenji touched it, it was different from the other ones. It showed several things in sequence. They were all of electric shocks. In these, there were two other people shown besides Shigaraki and the boy during the fight with the monster. A teenage boy and a little girl.
Eraserhead commented that he had found the teenage boy, dead, next to Deku.
At the start he would shout or writhe in pain when he was shocked, then he would just flinch or whimper.
"Ulegh," Uraraka said when it was over, (Kenji assumed this sound was the result of another failure to hold her lunch) "How many more do we have to do?"
Eraserhead checked over him and replied, "I think that was the last one."
-
Mina knew something was happening, and now thanks to her, the Bakusqaud was also aware of it. They knew someone was visiting the school to help.
Mina was very good at finding things out, she was the source of gossip at her old school. Here at UA, she hardly ever had the chance to use this special power of hers. But today, she could stretch her wings.
She managed to spot a man who was not a teacher and was certainly not a student, strutting through the front gate with the look of someone who reads too much manga. After alerting her peers, they watched him enter the building and meet up with Aizawa at the door.
"Grrrr, it's gonna be hard to follow him with Mr. Aizawa watching," Mina said.
"Why would we follow them? I doubt our assistance is needed." Kirishima questioned.
"I want to go to my damn room." Bakugo inserted.
Mina let out a sharp, annoyed breath, "You guys don't get it, my senses are tingling. We have to follow him."
"Do we though?" Sero asked.
Mina pinched the bridge of her nose, "Just trust me, ok? What if it has something to do with Midoriya?"
"I don't know..." Kirishima muttered.
"Alright, alright, I'll go in and tell you if something important happens." Mina compromised.
"How about we video call?" Suggested Denki, surprisingly.
"That's actually not a terrible idea..." Mina said
"Why do you say it like that? I have plenty of good ideas!"
"How about we all go back to the dorms and we can call from there?" Sero said.
"Sounds good, just don't be loud. Alright, see you guys."
They went their separate ways and Mina hid behind a bush, waiting for her victims to go further into the building. She had kept her eye on them while conversing with her friends. When they finally did, she made sure to stay out of Aizawa's sight.
She pursued them to a random classroom that was close to the entrance. Peeking around a corner, with her phone positioned so that the callers could see the same thing as her. She could partly see into the open door, there were some police and strange looking machine.
"Hmmm."
She was about to progress further when she heard footsteps down the hall behind her. She quickly ducked into a classroom. Peering out from the dark room, she saw Uraraka, Iida, and Midoriya.
"Just as I suspected," Mina uttered into the phone.
"This is about Midoriya?" Kirishima whispered, "How did you know?"
"I'm just that good."
She saw Bakugo roll his eyes on the screen.
Once they went into the room, Mina leapt from her hiding place and peeked through the window.
The group on the other side of the screen waited patiently as she listened to what they were saying.
"It looks like some kind of thought translator machine or something, it looks like it's recording what that guy sees. He also seems to have an examination quirk, based on what they are saying," She told them quietly, "It looks like they're about to start. The new guy is putting his hand...on..."
They watched her expression morph into horror and started to panic.
"Mina! What's wrong?"
"Mina!"
"Oi, Pinky, what's the problem?"
She put her hand over her mouth and slid to the ground. She looked back at the screen, seeing the concern on her friend's faces. Shaking her head to clear it, she said, "I know how Midoriya lost his legs... It's much worse than we thought."
(1867 words)
Published: January 3, 2023
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Every once in a while I'll go back to chapters and edit some bits so hopefully one day this fanfiction will reach its FINAL FORM >:3
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Sorry for the long wait (again)
Christmas is a very busy time for my family and I also had some major writing block
Thanks for reading!