Chapter 107: ——~(99)~——

AN: Okay. So. Paying homage to our roots and updating on Sunday all the way to the end of the series. Yup.

Totally not procrastination, pfft.

---

"The world breaks everyone,

and afterward,

many are strong at broken places."

-Ernest Hemmingway

---

"How did it go, Dabi?"

"It went perfectly. You were right when you said that they were itching for the chance to undermine heroes, Deku. How did you know?"

Deku hummed mindlessly, the phone still in the crook of his neck as his eyes wandered over the devastation surrounding every inch of the landscape. It looked like the entire earth had vomited on itself, as grotesque as the description was, with debris and flying rock strewn about in craterous gouges. Or was it like acne and the puss that was squeezed out of forcefully unclogged pores? Either way, it sure wasn't pretty.

"Well, for one, politicians never pass up the chance to get more power for themselves. It's about as immutable of a law as death and taxes are. The fact that they feel into this kind of subservient position to the Heroes in the first place and don't have any of the cut in the first place is... absurd, to say the least. But besides that, well. You are aware of that time I was taken by surprise in the local hospital?"

Deku watched with muted amusement as some Heroes were punted to the wayside at the hands of a nasty fellow's quirk.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"That isn't something Nezu would do. Any experienced leader knows that the best way to calm controversy is to shut up and play dead. Anything that you say can and will be used against you; some lunatic will quote you out of context, some idiot will completely miss the point, and some smart ones will ignore it knowing full well what you meant, then send you to hell with a fruit basket for all your troubles."

---