"Nothing travels faster than light, with the exception of bad news,

which follows rules of its' own."

-Douglas Adam

---

Quirk Daily Times:

Sunday, December 4th, 2068

Missing And Bullied Quirkless Attempted Suicide?

The victim, Midoriya Izuku (15), was just about to graduate from middle school when he reportedly tried to attempt suicide, as it has come to light from reports gained a mere few days ago. Before this, the young quirkless boy was thought to have run away from home despite the loving home environment owed to the single mother of one, Midoriya Inko (41), now unfortunately deceased from foul play as the notorious victim of the 'Bloody Mary' incident that took the world by storm but a few weeks ago.

In any case, the cause of the estranged attempted suicide has been confirmed to have been caused not by the young quirkless' home environment, but due to the actions of Bakugo Katsuki (15), once a childhood friend to Izuku, and a U.A. student on the school's Hero Course Program, in class 1-A. According to an illuminating interview with none other than Katsuki himself, the actions undertaken by Midoriya Izuku when he attempted were, beyond a doubt, something he had a primary influence in. The boy admitted to "...using my quirk on him, punching him, destroying his notebooks, threatening him, telling him to kill himself, and other such actions". (To see the full interview, please go to www.*******.com/interviews to get the full recording)

Currently. Izuku Midoriya is still missing; his body was not found anywhere near the site of the attempted suicide, according to eyewitness Bakugo Katsuki-

"Damn it. This came at the worst possible time," Aizawa crumpled the newspaper in his palm, the ever-present scowl on his face seeming even deeper than usual, somehow. "We've been getting enough calls for the phone to melt, and the outraged citizens outside our gate still haven't left. How long have they even been here?!"

Nezu drank a sip of his tea, as he was always wont to do, but there was something terrifyingly serious in little beady eyes of his.

"Given this paper was distributed to citizens around 7:30... I'd say 6 hours, now?" 

"It certainly feels like I've been answering phone calls for days now," He answered with unidentifiable mirth. "Not just six hours. That brat left a big-time bomb to deal with. How this didn't come up in the background checks for the new students is something I can't fathom. It's one thing if this is exposed in the first week of school, but it's been months now. No matter what we say, it won't look like anything but us knowing about Bakugo and ignoring it anyway."

"...That may not be far from the truth, Aizawa. Think about it."

Aizawa's eyes sharpened.

"...Are you implying what I think you're implying, Principal?"

Nezu nodded.

Aizawa's forehead crumpled like a piece of paper that had been folded one too many times.

"I'd like to say I have a decent understanding of you after working with you for this long. I can't say anything about ethics, seeing as those are fickle at best, but you're smarter than allowing a ticking time bomb into this building in exchange for something much more literal. No matter how amazing Bakugo's quirk is, you would have never taken the risk-"

Nezu held up one single paw.

"I am smart enough to know the sheer idiocy of such a matter, whether it be from an ethic standpoint or a pragmatic one, but you can't say the same for everyone, Aizawa."

"...You mean-..."

He took another sip from his cup, the slurping sound echoing throughout the room.

"Yes, I mean that. One of the screeners must have... refrained from mentioning such a thing. Even I can't read minds, Aizawa; if I never get any information that implies the contrary, I can't come to any conclusions along that vein either."

The ever-oppressing feel of silence drenched the room, weighing down the air in an almost imperceptible sense of tension.

It was only after the Principal broke it with that obnoxious slurping of his that Aizawa said a word.

"So... What are the plans for Bakugo Katsuki? Expulsion, obviously, but..."

For the first time, a hint of helplessness surfaced in Nezu's eyes.

"We'll expel him, obviously; even if there hadn't been a big outcry from the citizens, behavior like this is not suitable for a hero who is meant to protect. But... I'm afraid that there's nothing much we can do in regard to this incident now that it's out. The citizens aren't stupid. They can see between the lines, and whatever statement we bring out will be seen as us wiping our asses after the fact. Even if they accept it at face value, we could face lawsuits for negligence. On top of all the other incidents that have occurred one after another this year... I wouldn't be surprised if we get shut down. The most idealistic scenario is that the citizens will simply lose all faith in our ability as an institution. But that's just a slow death instead of a fast one."

The room was silent, and this time, no one broke it.

---

"Bakugo... Couldn't have... T-There's no way, right?" Silence. "Right?!"

Kirishima sunk into himself at all the angry (hurt) glares that suddenly fired at him.

In his hands, as well as all the other students' hands, was a copy of that infamous paper.

"Kirishima..! I know that you're friends with Bakugo, but the proof is all here," Uraraka shook the paper in her hands for emphasis, pure pain coloring her features. She didn't know him that well, but he was still her classmate, after all. And in an institution like U.A., something like this was a betrayal of the highest order. "Even if you don't believe this paper... The interview online is a video and Bakugo... Bakugo is saying all of it with his own mouth. You can't deny that, Kirishima."

Kirishima didn't seem to hear her.

"...H-He wouldn't do this... Not Bakugo. Maybe... No, he must have been blackmailed... Right, Uraraka?"

Kirishima looked like he was nearly in tears by the end of it, and Uraraka couldn't help but flinch at hurting the boy as much as she had, but...

It'd be worse if he simply kept denying it, so she soldiered on, although her voice was quieter now.

"...Are you defending him because it doesn't make any logical sense, or are you doing it because he's your friend?"

There was a moment of silence fueled by blatant disbelief as if the words that just fell from her lips were so unbelievable that you couldn't help but question your own ears. At least, that was what seemed to be the case for Kirishima.

"...What the hell do you mean, make logical sense?!" He was nearly yelling now. "Sure, he's my friend... But you can't say that this is... expected behavior from him, can you-"

Uraraka didn't back down.

"Can't I? He's brash, rude, emotional, quick to use his quirk, and more than anything else... He disdains people weaker than him. Honestly, I can't even say I'm surprised that this is what happens when you give him someone completely defenseless to sink his claws into and for as long of a time as I think they were 'friends', this Midoriya Izuku guy and Bakugo... It's not surprising if you think about it..."

Something about that last statement had her scratching her head, and it was so obvious, but she couldn't figure out just what it was that struck her as familiar, and-

She was thrown out of her reverie at Kirishima's blatant sobbing, with the teen hiccupping in place, snot dripping from his nose as he frantically tried to wipe it away with his sleeve.

Uraraka felt her heart ache and the edge of her eyes burn as well, for some reason, but she settled for awkwardly threading her arms around the red-head, the rest of the class joining a minute later, despite their silence in the confrontation.

...They weren't okay now, but they would be, eventually.

They all just needed some time to heal.

---

Dabi hit the young, brash teenager on the back with a quirky sense of reassurance that was a bit harder than usual for a back slap, but it was okay.

It was better than the time Bakugo had been an effective outcast in the group when they first started writing the paper and setting up the footage; Dabi had been the worse offender, but he seemed to have mysteriously calmed down the moment the papers hit the public's eye.

"You okay, kiddo? It's commendable to own up to your mistakes, but that sure doesn't mean it's easy."

Bakugo ignored the taunt.

Either he was just that mature now, or he was distracted-

"...Hey, what the hell did you call me, you fucker?!"

-nevermind, he was just distracted.

He may have only started being truly osterized when everybody in Deku's little gang realized exactly what they did to his boss, but it wasn't like his behavior was perfectly clean or squeaky either.

Regardless, Dabi laughed it off with an ease that only came with being a hardened criminal himself and simply not caring about crass words at this point in the game.

"Little old me?" The tips of his fingers pricked alit with the slightest hint of blue fire; a warning to drop it. Bakugo didn't exactly care about the threat Dabi posed to him, but he didn't care enough about the issue to pursue it either. "Whatever do you mean, Bakugo? I don't remember saying anything derogatory~"

He did nothing but utter a faint 'Bastard.' underneath his breath and he resumed staring out at the city.

Dabi was just about to playfully say that he never answered his question, but Bakugo beat him to it.

"Like he said... I don't feel guilty anymore, seeing as I've owned up to everything that I did all those years ago," He smirked, turning in Dabi's direction. "You asked if I was okay, flamehead?"

His smirk suddenly vanished as quick as it had come, and he was somber and quiet.

But he most certainly wasn't hesitant or doubting in his words; he believed in them without a doubt.

"I feel better now than I've felt in a long, long time." 

AN: Fun chapter, eh?

There might be a few more schemes to collapse the hero system in its' entirety, but we're, once more, fully focused on Itoku and All Might again, at least for a while.

And look at that, I'm not late for the first time in a while~! :D