The next day,
Because of the urgency of the situation, the officials had admitted injured students and Pros to a hospital in the nearest city to the training camp.
In a private room within the hospital, Midoriya lay on the bed, his arms covered in plaster. There were bandages all over his body, but it was his arms that had suffered the most, his bones shattering from within.
Presently, his eyes were flickering, as if he were dreaming.
That wouldn't have been wrong to say, per se, as, in a sense, it was closer to a dream than reality.
Surrounded by vast blackness, with foggy lights streaking past him, was Midoriya.
He was standing on a giant platform, like a broken room, floating in space. There were many high-back chairs in front of him, with a thin layer of black fog curling over the floor.
The same black fog also lingered on his body.
But something was different this time.
Midoriya still couldn't speak, but along with his eyes, his hands and legs were out in the open as well.
"Haha!" A man suddenly appeared in his vision, with a square jaw. "Who would've thought that you would unlock my Quirk next?! Haha!"
Midoriya mumbled out gibberish.
"Yeah," the man nodded. "I am Daigoro Banjo, the fifth user of One For All. And that black strand of energy you used before… That's my Top Grade Quirk — Blackwhip!"
Midoriya's eyes shook.
He suddenly remembered the time when something had shot out of his mouth, latching onto Shigaraki's wrist and pulling away his hand.
Midoriya had passed out right after that, awakening right in this place.
"You are damn lucky…" the black man praised, smirking. "Emotions fuel Blackwhip. Anger, specifically. Your emotions were pushed beyond helplessness by the thought of Shigaraki killing Luke, making your anger explode. Anger not at anyone else, but at yourself. I said you are lucky not because you managed to save your friend, but because… You managed NOT to kill him accidentally."
A chill ran down Midoriya's spine, disbelieving the Vestige's words.
"Haha!" Daigoro laughed boisterously. "It's not your fault, kid. Blackwhip is just that strong! Cough… I mean, with your uncontrolled emotions, Blackwhip should have gone out of control, wreaking havoc. However, you were injured just too badly, losing your consciousness before it could happen."
Midoriya fell into thoughtful contemplation.
Yes. Now that the Vestige talked about it, he remembered feeling a hotness within his chest, as if something wanted to erupt. It had happened when Shigaraki broke the strand of energy latched onto his wrist.
"But…" Daigoro said.
Midoriya's head snapped up.
"… this awakening of another Quirk couldn't have happened at a worse time," the Vestige told him. "Shigaraki would definitely tell All For One about what happened. And… All For One knows about Blackwhip, too."
As Midoriya's face blanked, the black fog surrounding him began pulling him back.
"Well, this was for good, I guess…" Daigoro said, smiling broadly. "No more hiding. Get stronger, kid. Get stronger fast! But focus on Float till you reach 20% of One For All. Blackwhip is… too awesome for you as you are now."
Then, with a jolt, Midoriya disappeared.
…
An hour later,
Midoriya looked at his bandaged arms as the doctor left the hospital room after giving him more bad news.
He had finally done it.
He had finally pushed his arms so much that if something like that happened again, he might permanently lose them.
If it weren't for Recovery Girl's intense healing, then he would have lost them already.
But… it was all worth it, Midoriya consoled himself, looking at the letter on the table next to him. It was a letter from Kota, thanking him for saving the boy.
"I must let All Might know about Blackwhip, Shigaraki, and All For One as soon as I can…" Midoriya thought aloud, remembering the Vestige's words.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened.
A swarm of students entered the room, all smiling at him.
Tenya, Kirishima, Kaminari, Mina, Uraraka, Tsuyu, Sero, Fumikage, Shoji, Sato, and Ojiro all filled Midoriya in on the news related to UA.
Midoriya's face fell, hearing all the mockery that UA was attracting from the media outlets. "… Where are the rest?" he asked after a while. "Did everyone from Class 1-A come?"
"Well…" Uraraka began, but couldn't put her thoughts into words.
"Mineta is bringing a melon for you," Tenya said, shifting to his left. "Bakugo's here, too."
Midoriya's eyes landed on the door, where Bakugo was standing, leaning against the wall with the back of his head toward the room.
"Aoyama, Jiro, and Hagakure have still not woken up because of the Villains' gas," Tenya continued, smiles vanishing off students' faces. "They are here, with more Class 1-B students. Also…"
"Yao-Momo woke up yesterday," Mina added.
"That's a relief," Midoriya smiled. That smile soon died when none of the others mentioned two more names. "Where are Luke and Todoroki?"
"We avoided a disaster," Fumikage said, keeping his head down. "So many people, including Pros, would have suffered major injuries… if it weren't for Luke and Todoroki, but…"
Midoriya looked at Tenya. "What's going on?"
Tenya looked up, his eyes matching Deku's. "They attacked a teacher…" he said aloud, hesitating. "They… have been suspended."
What?! Midoriya couldn't even blink, staring ahead like a statue.
"But Mirko gave them permission!" Midoriya suddenly shouted. "Fumikage, Shoji… you guys were there, too! Didn't you tell Eraser Head…"
"Deku… they did," Uraraka said, her voice breaking. "But they are not willing to listen to us at all."
"It's not just that…" Tenya said. "UA has not revealed that Luke and others went against the teachers' order to do that. Which means…"
"… they have planned more than just suspension for Luke and Todoroki…" Midoriya concluded, his fingers shaking to become fists.
Tenya and others nodded.
Suddenly, Mineta came rushing into the hospital room, falling on the floor as he ran right into Bakugo.
"You guys!" Mineta shrieked, carrying a large melon and dread on his face. "You need to watch this…"
Dropping the melon, he hurriedly switched on the TV.
"Breaking News!" the News Anchor was saying. "We have just received credible info that three of UA's students disobeyed their teachers' order to go out in the forest when Villains were still fighting the Pros…"
And colors drained out of the students' faces, thinking of the consequences.
********************
Note: Up to 60 more chapters are available in advance across three Tiers. [Use the link in my webnovel profile to access all options]
You can even subscribe Trial Tier for just 1 dollar to have an experience of exclusive chapters for an entire month. I hope a few of you will consider supporting the work.
100 Power Stones/day: +1 Bonus Chapter next day