Chapter 85: ——~(79)~——

"Lingering, bottled-up anger never reveals the true colors of an individual.

It, on the contrary, becomes all mixed up, rotten, confused...

It forms a highly combustible chemical compound that explodes as something foreign,

something very different from one's natural self."

-Criss Jami

---

Gray was zipping through the air, like usual. There was nothing overly different about her flying method, the distance, nor the company, and yet... She felt a little nervous and anxious, like something bad was happening just until the tip of her nose but she just couldn't figure out what it was. It was a feeling that grew stronger and stronger the closer she drew to her master's location, like the slow beats before the drop in a song. Unconsciously, she pushed her electrical body faster and faster, almost turning into a flash of light that Dabi and the rest couldn't follow, but she retained just enough logic to remain visible to them.

In the case that it was a threat like she believed that it was, it was best to have backup, after all.

She and the others quickly arrived (thanks partially to Dabi's willingness to violate traffic laws), and with a dawning sense of horror, the previous pit in Gray's 'stomach' grew larger still as she realized exactly what that building was. It certainly wasn't the hospital she had arranged for him to be sent to, no, it was widely recognized as the center for criminal treatment; if you wanted to be technical, they also provided a place for people that needed to be protected for whatever reason, although everyone viewed it as a criminal treatment center. Even the nurse and staff. If you brought in someone that needed to be protected, they'd be surprised instead.

But if Deku, her master was being brought in there was only one answer to be found; they had figured him out. It made no sense, as her master had always had a knack for dispersing his trail and leaving no evidence behind for anyone to find. Hell, even that bastard Yuganda Itoku, despite his best efforts in searching day and night from the murderer of his wife and to be told by that son of a bitch Shigaraki, and by extension, All for One. She truly couldn't think of a single instance that could have betrayed her master and revealed who he truly was once upon a time (associating him with a villain now was absurd... well, he was more of an out-for-revenge type of guy now), but now wasn't the time for that.

She had to get him out of there right now.

"How do you expect us to break him out, little missy?" Gray looked in shock at Twice as he spoke; one because he never took the initiative to talk with anyone other than Toga, and two, he said a coherent sentence without disagreeing with himself immediately afterward. "That's the best criminal hospital in the region. No chance that we can break through that all by ourselves. There are too many people there with some of the best quirks. They ain't suitable to be heroes, but that doesn't mean they got any less powerful powers. In fact, they might actually be more powerful and destructive in some cases. Take the leader, for example."

He paused and shivered as if he was remembering bad memories.

"That spunky lady can melt a 20ft hole in reinforced concentrate in under a second. Humans would last even less."

Gray was taken aback, just the slightest bit.

"Isn't this just a hospital? Why does it seem more like a prison? Or even a goddamn mini Tartarus."

Dabi suddenly appeared behind her like a ghost, and if she wasn't a lightning spirit, but a normal person with no way of seeing behind them, she would have been scared within an inch of her life.

As it was, she was just irritated by his presence.

"It does make sense, Gray-chan. Since it's for criminals. Once they're healed up and ready to be shipped off to their trails and/or prison, what's to stop them from running wild before they are taken away? They're all given a taste of what the guards can do, as soon as they're all nice and healed. They don't let the guys with the really lethal powers go at it, but it still doesn't hurt any less— or at least, that's what I've heard."

His eyes were sharp like a sword but also muted in a way. Because the thing he was about to speak of was the truth, and that hurt.

Or at least the implication of it did.

"No one's ever gotten out of there. Word has spread because there's no such thing as a soundproof wall, but... I don't think we can forcefully get your master out of that place..."

Just when she felt the situation truly sinking in and a sense of despair blossoming-

'Gray. Go ahead and come up here yourself. I see the others are down there as well, but don't let them come in; I'll be out soon enough. Just be careful not to be detected by anyone, okay?'

-she heard that within her mind.

"Yes... There's no way-... Gray, what the hell are you doing! Storming the place won't do anything-!"

Alas, the lightning spirit was too fast for their mortal flesh to keep up with, and none of them had a speed quirk or any other variant.

They could only wait in silent, anxious anticipation for the hospital to be thrown into chaos.

On the other hand, Gray had no intention of causing a ruckus; she simply flew at the max speed her electric body enabled her to go, which was... quite fast, but that was beside the point. The real point was that her master was okay and even more so, he had a way out of this prison of a hospital. She didn't doubt that Dabi wasn't exaggerating, but Izuku had always had a way of pulling miracles out of thin air. So she didn't even bother to cause destruction and mayhem on her way in out of some belief that he was exaggerating himself and truly didn't have a way out.

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She never even thought about that, to be honest.

And so, when she busted through the door to the room he was staying in, it was with great enthusiasm.

Although that enthusiasm turned down a notch at the sight of his thin frame draped in white; it seemed so small and dainty in comparison to the bed he laid on. The dark circles around his eyes had grown deeper if that was even possible, and his hair looked brittle. Stressed, too; barest hints of white that peeked through the mess of green, but they were still most certainly there. His dead eyes, the hue of magenta borderline black that they were, had gained an extra touch of melancholy to them that hadn't existed before. All in all, it didn't seem like his condition had deteriorated as much as she had feared, but the parts that did show through broke her heart.

"I'm alright. My injury healed days ago. I'm just waiting a few days before I go at the doctor's request. But I can get out at any time, really."

Doubt surfaced in her mind for the first time.

{You do know that this is a criminal hospital, right? They-... They won't just let you go-}

"I'm aware, yes. But they have no evidence on me. Just the word of one testimony and no evidence; that's not enough to convict someone with. Besides, I'm sure that this witness of mine doesn't want to say anything in the first place... The moral side of me certainly wouldn't mind that fate, but I still have to have my revenge." The room was quiet for a moment. "Speaking of which, where were you, Gray? You even had those three with you... Did something happen?"

She laughed, an almost unnoticeable shake to the tone of it.

{Well... I called them over to help you to a hospital - not this one, I don't know how you ended up here - and they ended up needing help. There were some technological problems that they needed me to sort out. By the time I had made up my mind, the ambulance had already driven away... Ah, but the plan was... almost successful... But! The plan was perfect; it's just that the target didn't take the bait.}

"You almost lured him out? How?" He softly spoke as he stood up, jiggling with his handcuff until it fell off his wrist casually. "And don't be hesitant on my account. Just speak your mind."

{We... kidnapped his remaining family members. He didn't show up at the appointed time, so we-}

"Killed them? Good. He deserves that much for being a hypocritical little bastard. Although you didn't draw him out, you did cause him mental anguish. I'd say that's a win all on its own..." He threw off his hospital gown, showcasing a scarred six-pack of a stomach before flipping on his regular clothes (a nice velvet red and black suit with a faint undertone of green) as quick as a... flash of lightning, pun intended. "Are the others still outside?"

All that answered him was silence.

He chuckled.

"Did you expect me to react badly? If it were any other people, if they hadn't been related to that man, my answer would have surely been different. But as it is, I'm as much of a hypocrite as he is. I don't feel ecstasy or anything, but... It doesn't disgust or make me sick either. I suppose I've truly fallen down the rabbit hole at this point. Feeling nothing when innocents die because of me... How ironic, wouldn't you say so?"

Gray truly didn't know what to say to that.

It was true that it was ironic; very much so, in fact.

For the thing that he had been most upset over his time as a villain was precisely that. Killing innocents.

Now, he felt nothing about it. They were simply related to Itoku Yuganda, but that was enough to justify it to him.

It was rather... sad.

"Oh, and if you could notify those three that I have... a present for them, that would be great."

{Eh? Why?}

"For a job well done, of course. I'll help them out with those little goals of theirs now." His scarred hand swung open the door. His face was still indifferent and nonchalant, even with the bombshell that he had yet to drop on the tip of his tongue. "Destroying the hero system... It's certainly accomplishable. And since they've been voluntarily obedient dogs this whole time, it's only right to help them along some."

...For some reason, as Gray stared at the back of Izuku Midoriya, she felt that he had changed imperceptively in the little time that she had been gone, and well...

That change scared her.

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