Chapter 79: ——~(73)~——

"For your own good...

is a persuasive argument that will eventually make a man agree to his own destruction."

-Janet Frame

---

The room was drenched in the stifling feeling of silence. Not one of comfort, but of schemes, and plots, and doubts - no one would take comfort in their story, in their innocence being called into question. Although in this case, it wasn't one of fear, but of irritation. There was no feasible way for him to have done it, after all. He was a patient with no access to his belongings, and her death was caused by a bullet; there was no way they could draw any other conclusion. He might have been in a pickle if he was outside and this happened (he'd ponder about how to justify a gun among his belongings later) but as it stood now, there was no possible way for him to be, rationally speaking, in the wrong in this venture.

That didn't stop the leader of the group from looking at him with a wrinkled brow and eyes full of suspicion and confusion, though. But it was still better than the previous look of confidence and cold, unfeeling wrath. Because this, unlike the last, could be reasoned with.

"Leader! S-She still has a pulse!"

'...She has a pulse still? How?! That bullet was fired right at her own temple, unless...'

He went up into a sitting position in record time, not having the presence of mind for his injury. What he saw confirmed his suspicions.

'...Look at that. I've heard of cases like this before, where the bullet follows the curve of the skull as that is the path of least resistance. It ultimately doesn't kill you, even if it looks bad. I don't know whether to call her fortunate or having the worst luck in the world...'

The leader spun around sharply, with the heel of her shoe screaming as it skidded along the tile floor, and barked out,

"If she still has a goddamn pulse, what are you waiting here for?! Send her to the ER! Put her under a suicide watch as well! The rest of you, stay here and keep an eye on this kid. I need to talk with the President, and Mr. All Might as well," Under her breath, she grumbled softly. "Why would he express an interest in this little kid? Sure, he looks a little starved, but one look at him and he immediately arranged for him to be sent here of all places. A ward for criminals and patients under protective custody. AGH. What's going on around here today..?"

Deku may not have Gray with him at this time, but his hearing had never been anything less than sharp.

And what he did hear made his face turn pale.

He knew he was in trouble when he was brought to the hospital as a registered person on the missing list, but to have All Might immediately notice and throw him into a secure ward..? This wasn't any good at all. He might have stood a chance at breaking out if Gray was alongside him, but he was just his weak, useless, little quirkless self from middle school right now, the one who could never do anything for himself, and-...

'First of all... I need to calm down. I've been through worse things than breaking out of a hospital. It can be done with time. For now... I need information. And I need to think this through. If I screw up once and let them know of my capabilities, then I don't stand a chance.'

"Miss, once you're done meeting with All Might, could you please ask him to come here for a brief minute of his time?"

You could tell the statement caught her off-guard, but she quickly put a mask of indifference on her face once more.

"Who knows what you might do? I'm certainly not arranging Sir All Might to meet with a little pint-sized pubescent kid who looks like a knockoff of a villain. He has better things to do with his time, with the glorious man that he is, than to bow to your whims-"

He smiled, a carefully crafted thing with no substance. (The amount of effort it took to forcefully string his muscles upward was worrying. He almost thought it wouldn't work, but it seemed that when there was a situation where it was necessary, he could still force it.)

"I believe that that is All Might's decision, not yours, Miss. Considering that he was the one who moved me here, I believe it would be best to notify him of the fact that I am, at the very least, awake. I cannot move at the moment-" He jiggled the chain wrapped around his bone-thin wrist to demonstrate his point. "-for a few obvious reasons. My injury is also a factor. It's not too big of a problem, is it, Miss?"

His tone was sugary-sweet, but the contents of his words were anything but.

The leader furrowed her eyebrows in pure, rich anger, before walking off with a huff; it was likely that she'd do it, considering her type. Deku was aware of how these types of people generally reacted. They were a bit prideful and stubborn, but if you challenged them in regard to a person they respected, they'd generally do the right thing if they were now convinced that they were in the wrong. Generally, that is.

But even if she didn't do it, it wasn't that big of a problem because he'd bet anything that All Might would be notified any minute now.

(But he wanted answers this second, so if he was to take a few extra measures, what was the big deal? If, in the case that the leader reacted not as how he expected, he would still be able to reduce her trustworthiness in the event that all the blame was going to fall on him. Despite it all, he was still a creature of cunning and manipulation when it came down to things. Even if it would be a serious black mark on her career.)

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(He just simply... stopped caring about simple things that he could do to wrong someone, he supposed. Callousness was a shield he put up to survive this wretched world.)

Thankfully, (or not so thankfully - he couldn't decide yet) it didn't come to that.

For less than three minutes later, he was face to face with the big man himself. All Might.

He then proceeded to shoo out all of the occupants of the room, including that overzealous team leader, leaving only the two of them.

A meeting with a bedridden, villainous boy, and a sickly man who masqueraded as the Symbol of Peace, of Justice.

He only had a single question for him, really.

"Why am I here?"

It was a simple question, but it had the possibility to mean so much more; for now, though, it was still quite literal.

All Might deflated in size - a spectacular display of trust, why? - and pulled out a rickety old chair for visitors before sitting down, quietly. He said not but a word for a few moments as if he were tasting each and every word on the tip of his tongue, but none felt quite right to say. Still, there wasn't any tension in the air, for once. Just a quiet, shared silence. Several minutes had passed when All Might opened his chapped lips and spoke, softly yet full of strength at the same time.

"Shounen, you are undeniably dangerous. Not that anyone isn't, these days. This was just the best way to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you. Don't let the handcuffs bother you; as of this moment, you haven't done anything wrong in the eyes of the law-"

He coughed. It was a sickly, garbled cough with the saturnine sweet stench of blood clinging to it in a death grip.

"-besides a few minor charges. Holding a gun on your person is one of them. But other than that, there is no other evidence that would reflect badly on you. Even if a few things did get unearthed, you could get out of it relatively scot-free by claiming coercion - which is what it was - and the whole incident would be settled without the media ever wiser."

He paused, a wistful sad look on in his eyes. But he still continued to talk, because while he might have caused it, he still had to clean up his mess. Self-guilt had no place here at this time and space. Only the young fellow's quality of life mattered now.

"...My point is, shounen, you can still stop this and live a normal life from now on. The rest of your life won't be spent cooped up in a jail cell, nor will you be left to rot there. You can live the life you deserve."

He was silent for a few moments, the quiet pleasantness of the room growing a tad bit strained.

But it was still there and it still existed, so if his reply was more bitter and sad than angry, well, that wasn't so impossible, was it?

"But that's the thing, Toshinori-san,"

He almost looked like he was about to cry, but it passed a moment later, with nothing but blankness left.

"The kind of life you're describing... I don't deserve it."

AN: I felt like that was a nice change of pace.

Nice tone.

Anyway. HERE'S THE CHAPTER I PROMISED. AND EARLY TOO. WHAT WITCHCRAFT IS THIS?

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