After the police had taken all the villains into custody, their attention turned to the students. One by one, Class 1-A was escorted back to U.A., and the next day the officers carefully gathered testimonies from students, piecing together the chaos of the attack to form a clearer understanding of what had occurred inside the USJ.
It did not take long for their focus to settle on Junsei.
The student who had rushed from U.A. on his own. The one who had arrived on his own. The one responsible for the heaviest injuries among the captured villains, injuries so severe that many of them would live the rest of their lives with permanent disabilities. And worst of all, he was the one who had delivered the killing blow to the black, bird-headed monster.
Junsei found himself seated across from Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, a man well known within the police force for his lie-detecting quirk. Present Mic sat to one side, Cementoss to the other. All three stared at Junsei with varying degrees of concern.
Cementoss broke the silence. "What you did was reckless. You put your life and the lives of others in danger. You should have informed the staff first."
"I informed the staff first," Junsei replied calmly.
Present Mic leaned forward. "But you rushed in alone! That was reckless!"
"I am fast and strong," Junsei said. "And you arrived after everything was over."
Tsukauchi narrowed his eyes. "What you did was a reckless use of your quirk and could have led to serious consequences. You didn't have permission to do any of that, in other words it was illegal. Do you understand?"
"No," Junsei said.
The detective exhaled slowly. "No matter how gifted or powerful your quirk is, you can't act as a hero. This requires extensive training to prevent harm to yourself and others. It's not just about how hard you can punch a villain, or how noble you think your intentions are."
"I am not a hero," Junsei said evenly. "And I won't act as one."
Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me, why did you rush to the USJ?"
"Momo was in danger."
"That," the detective said, "is an act of heroism."
"No," Junsei replied. "I went there only for her."
Tsukauchi paused. "If she hadn't been there, what would you have done?"
"I wouldn't have known about the attack."
Present Mic stepped in. "He's asking if you did know about the attack, and Momo wasn't there. What would you have done?"
"Nothing."
Silence fell over the room.
To the three men, it was a far more troubling answer than anything else.
"Others could have been hurt," Cementoss said quietly. "Killed. Wouldn't you care?"
"No," Junsei replied. "It has nothing to do with me."
Tsukauchi studied him carefully. "Did you hurt the villains that badly intentionally?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To eliminate the threat."
"And if you had killed them?" the detective pressed. "Do you understand what that means?"
"It would have been unnecessary trouble."
Tsukauchi's gaze sharpened. "What about the thing called Nomu? Did you kill it intentionally?"
"Yes."
The tension in the room thickened. With every answer, alarm grew more evident on the faces of the two heroes and the detective alike.
"Why kill that one," Tsukauchi asked carefully, "but not the others? Was it too dangerous?"
"That abomination couldn't be allowed to exist."
Tsukauchi hesitated. "Our analysis shows it was a person, modified somehow into that state."
"It was not," Junsei said.
"We are confident in our conclusion."
"That thing," Junsei replied, his voice low, "was not a human."
"Why do you insist on that?" Tsukauchi asked.
"I felt it," Junsei said. "It radiated suffering and foulness unlike anything else. Even the worst humans don't feel like that."
His fist clenched. As the image of the Nomu surfaced in his mind, his eyes began to glow faintly blue.
"Whoever made that," he said, hatred unmistakable in his voice, "must be killed."
It was the first time he showed even a trace of emotion.
Tsukauchi watched him closely. "If you encountered it again," he asked, "would you do the same?"
"I would never allow that thing to exist," Junsei replied.
The glow in his eyes only intensified.
"I see," Tsukauchi said quietly. "That's all I needed to know."
Junsei stood, turned, and left the room without another word.
The detective leaned back in his chair and looked at the two silent heroes. "I need to speak with the principal, that student," he said grimly, "can be dangerous to everyone around him."
Present Mic and Cementoss nodded in unison.
——————
Back in Class 1-A, Aizawa stood before his students, one hand wrapped in thick bandages. The room buzzed with discussion, the events of the attack still fresh in the students' minds. He didn't stop them. Students weren't meant to face villains until much later in their training, and after what they had endured, he allowed them this brief moment of relief.
The attack had been dangerous, far more than anything they should have seen. Even he had to admit he had been lucky to escape with only a broken arm. When he had thrown himself into the crowd of villains, he had accepted the possibility that he might not walk out alive.
"Momo," Kirishima said suddenly, "how come you didn't say your cousin was that strong? He fought on par with All Might. Do you understand how insane that is?"
"I actually didn't know that," she admitted. "I knew he was stronger than the Rabbit Hero, Mirko, but I didn't know he was that strong."
A brief silence followed before Mina tilted her head. "Wait, why Mirko specifically?"
Aizawa glanced at Momo. He knew. Years ago, Junsei had fought Mirko and had taken her down.
"During the summer," Momo explained carefully, "he sparred with her. He won, but he didn't show strength or speed anywhere near what he showed yesterday."
The reaction was immediate. Gasps, murmurs and even Aizawa stiffened.
"He sparred with Mirko during this summer?" Aizawa said sharply. "She's a pro hero and he's a student. Even putting aside such sparring is illegal. That was irresponsible, fighting a minor? Many things could go wrong!!"
Momo froze, realizing too late what she had said. "A-actually," she added slowly, "they did it in a forest where no one could see them, and no one was harmed… I think."
Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is that muscle-head thinking?"
The students, however, looked more impressed than concerned with the legality of what was being said.
"That's amazing!" Uraraka said. "To think he was that strong! And he was the first to know about the attack thanks to Dola."
Iida straightened. "I encountered him while I was running to call for help. It pains me to admit it, but I couldn't even register what ran by my side. His speed is worthy of admiration and shows how much I am still lacking."
Tsuyu added thoughtfully, "He is probably the strongest student in the entire school. It's a pity he's not in the hero course."
That left the class unusually quiet.
Bakugo stared at the floor, teeth clenched. He had walked into U.A. brimming with pride, certain of his own greatness. Since then, reality had chipped away at that certainty. Midoriya had suddenly gained a powerful quirk. Todoroki stood in a league of his own. And now even the weirdo he had mocked, the coward from Class 1-C had proven himself far above him.
Midoriya, too, was lost in thought. He remembered the events vividly: watching his teacher overwhelmed, nearly killed, while he hid fearfully in the water. He remembered Junsei, someone who claimed to have no desire to be a hero, rushing in and doing what he himself couldn't. Even after All Might arrived, Junsei had fought beside him without hesitation or fear, while he, the inheritor of All Might's power, had been frozen by fear. He couldn't keep being a failure like this.
Around the room, each student wrestled with their own thoughts.
——————
In Class 1-C, Junsei's desk had become the center of the room without his consent. Students crowded around him from every side, voices overlapping as each asked a different question, how he had known about the attack at USJ, why he went there alone, what he had done once he arrived, whether the rumors were true.
And despite the noise overwhelming him, he said nothing and kept his expression flat as more classmates swarmed him.
Eventually, he tried answering a few questions, hoping that would satisfy them enough to make them leave him alone. It had the opposite effect. Each short reply only fueled more excitement, more curiosity, more voices clamoring for his attention. He hated it, every second of it. The stares, the admiration, the endless talking. Finally, he said plainly that he didn't want to answer anything and that he wanted to be alone.
No one listened.
From his seat, Shinso watched the scene unfold. At first, a faint sting of jealousy crept in. Junsei was being cheered, admired and everything Shinso had never received. But as the moments passed, that jealousy drained away and was replaced by pity. He saw Junsei trying to push people away, saw how his words were ignored, how the attention seemed to annoy and distress him.
For the first time in his life, Shinso thought that being lonely might not be so bad after all. If someone didn't enjoy talking too much, didn't want eyes constantly on them, then they might end up just like Junsei now.