The atmosphere in the bar was suffocating.
The TV screen remained dark, a silent monument to their retreat from the USJ.
Suddenly, the monitor flickered to life. The familiar "ADIO" logo appeared, and the room temperature seemed to drop several degrees.
"Report, Tomura," the voice of All For One echoed through the speakers
"The symbol of peace still breathes. The 'Anti-Symbol' Nomu is gone. Tell me... what did we gain from this venture?"
Shigaraki slammed a hand onto the bar, the wood beginning to crack under his palm.
"It was a glitch, Sensei! The pros got there too fast, and the kids... those brats were more of a nuisance than expected"
Kurogiri set the glass he was holding down,
"It was not entirely a loss, Master. While the primary objective failed, we encountered a variable that warrants your specific attention. A student from Class 1-A. Haruto Akagi."
The respirator on the other end hissed.
"A student? You know I care little for the fodder of the hero course unless they possess something... unique."
"He does," Kurogiri continued. "During the skirmish, he sustained an injurie that should have been fatal. Yet, the wound closed in a seconds."
There was a long, heavy silence from the monitor.
"Regeneration," All For One finally whispered. "True high-speed regeneration is a rarity, Tomura. Most 'healing' quirks are taxing, requiring time, nutrients, or external energy."
Shigaraki looked up, his eyes narrowing.
"He looked like one of your pets, Sensei. The way the skin crawled back into place... it was disgusting."
"An astute observation," All For One replied.
"The Super Regeneration we gave the Nomu is a patchwork of multiple factors. If this boy possesses a singular, natural quirk that mimics that efficiency... he is a treasure beyond the USJ's failure."
"Should we move on him?" Shigaraki hissed, his fingers twitching. "I can go back. I'll bring him to you, Sensei"
"No," All For One commanded, his tone sharpening.
"A fruit that is plucked too early lacks the proper sweetness."
The screen began to dim as the mastermind's parting words echoed in the bar.
"Observe him, Kurogiri. If his quirk is as durable as I suspect... I will eventually have a very special place for him in my collection."
********<>********
All Might walked back and forth in the small room before stopping. He turned to Nezu, a weary expression on his face.
"I talked with Recovery Girl after the USJ incident"
Nezu tilted his head holding a tea cup in his paws.
"And what was her assessment? She is usually quite blunt about the students' limits."
"She was unsettled," All Might said, coughing into a handkerchief.
He leaned over the desk, his sunken eyes wide.
"She's seen every 'healing' and 'regeneration' type in the book. But she told me she has never seen anything like this. Usually, a body uses its own stamina to knit together, leaving the patient exhausted. But Young Akagi? Chiyo said his cells were replicating"
"Nezu," All Might began, his voice dropping to a low, gravelly whisper. "I can't shake this feeling of unease. I saw the boy. He had gashing wound on his chest"
He turned, his sunken eyes burning with a mix of pity and anger.
"But by the time the paramedics reached him... the wound was just gone. Not a scar. Not even a faint mark."
All Might slammed a fist lightly against the wall.
"I've seen what All For One is capable of, and those monsters he stitches together... What if Haruto isn't just a student? What if he's an escapee? A 'success' that fled a lab before they could break his mind?"
"A heavy theory, Toshinori," Nezu said softly
He took a slow sip of his tea and said,
"The data I have is... inconveniently clean. His records from birth are consistent. There are no missing years, no mysterious gaps in his history."
"But a Quirk like that...If he is not some kind of an experiment, Nezu, then nature has played a very strange trick on that boy."
Nezu set his cup down.
"Then we must be very careful with how we frame his story"
**********<>***********
The tension in Class 1-A was no longer the energy of the first week. It was heavy silence of twenty people who had seen a hole in a classmate's chest.
In the back of the room, Haruto sat with his feet up on the desk, staring at the ceiling. He was playing with a small, heavy coin, flipping it over his knuckles
clack-clack-clack
"You're going to give yourself a migraine if you keep staring at the lights like that," a voice muttered from the desk over.
Haruto tilted his head. Jiro was leaning back, her earphone jacks twining around her fingers. She wasn't looking at him, she was staring at the doorway.
"I'm just meditating," Haruto said, the coin dancing over his ring finger.
"You're a real ray of sunshine, Akagi," Kaminari said, leaning over the back of his chair. He looked unusually pale.
"But seriously... are you okay? Like, actually? The doctors at UA are good, but I saw what happened at the USJ. You're acting like you just tripped and skinned a knee."
The room went quiet. It was the question everyone had been wanting to ask since the bus ride back.
Even Todoroki, who usually treated the rest of the class like background noise, shifted his gaze toward the back row.
The coin stopped mid-air. Haruto caught it, but he didn't tuck it away.
He looked at Kaminari's twitchy hands, then at Jiro who was looking away despite her jacks being angled toward him.
Lastly, his eyes shifted to Kirishima, who had just joined the small circle around his desk
"Actually," Haruto said,He let his feet drop from the desk, sitting up straight.
"Thanks. For the worry, I mean it"
The shift in the room was subtle but immediate. Kaminari blinked, his nervous energy smoothing out into a surprised silence. Even Bakugo, who was halfway out the door, paused with his hand on the frame.
"I spent three years being a 'case study,'" Haruto continued, looking down at the coin in his palm.
"I'm not used to having a team, let alone one that cares if I crack a rib. So, yeah. I appreciate it."
He glances at the "camera" with a panicked look.
"Don't worry, we're not turning into a 'power of friendship' trope. But I can't be a jerk to people who actually give a damn if I breathe."
Kirishima's grin widened, his teeth sharp and bright.
He slammed a fist into his palm.
"Hell yeah, Akagi! That's the spirit! We're all in this together, even if we're trying to kick each other's butts tomorrow!"
"Just don't get sentimental on us, it'll ruin your edgy commentary vibe" Jiro muttered
The sliding door of the classroom groaned open.
Aizawa stepped in, his face was still heavily bandaged from the USJ incident making him look more like a weary mummy than a teacher.
The room fell deathly silent. Aizawa scanned the room with his one visible eye.
He walked to the podium.
"The Sports Festival is a battle of reconnaissance as much as physical ability. Every pro hero in the country will be watching you. Some will look for raw power. Others will look for strategy"
"Go home. Rest. If you show up tomorrow with your head in the clouds, you'll be out in the first round. I don't teach losers."
"Understood, Sensei," The students shouted in unison.
"Good," Aizawa muttered, "Class dismissed."
The classroom emptied quickly after Aizawa's dismissive grunt.
Haruto was already halfway through door with Toru's invisible presence following him, when Aizawa's voice cut through the silence
"Akagi. Stay behind. A moment."
Toru's sleeve brushed Haruto's arm,
"Go on, Ghost-chan. The Sensei probably just wants to lecture me on my posture again."
"Don't be late," she whispered, and left the classroom.
Aizawa didn't speak immediately. He stayed at the podium, his bandaged hands sorting through a stack of papers with mechanical movements.
Haruto just leaned against a desk, crossing his arms.
"If this is about the 'Stockpile' theory, Midoriya's notes are probably more accurate than my own memory," Haruto said, with a flat tone
"Don't play games with me, I don't care what you told the class, tomorrow, you're stepping onto a stage in front of the entire world. The media, the villains, and every Hero Agency in Japan will be dissecting your every move."
He stopped a few feet from Haruto, the white bandages around his face making his gaze even more intimidating.
"If your 'regeneration' is as infinite as it looked back there, you're going to have a target on your back larger than All Might's. People kill for immortality, Akagi."
Haruto smirked,
"I'm aware of the stakes, Sensei. I've been a target since who-knows-when."
Aizawa's one visible eye narrowed.
"That kind of arrogance is what gets heroes killed, Akagi. Overconfidence is a flaw."
"Don't worry. Nezu probably took care of the paperwork.", Haruto said
Aizawa let out a long sigh,
"Paperwork is just paper, Akagi, those villain saw what I saw"
"Well," Haruto said, pushing off the desk
"We can't exactly revert time and redo the scene, can we?"
He paused, and looked at the "void" with dramatic sigh,
"Man, I really miss that little time machine watch."
"Well, take care of yourself, Sensei. Try not to trip over your own bandages."
With a casual two-finger salute, Haruto slid the door open and stepped out into the hallway
He caught up to Toru near the lockers, her invisible presence a warm constant in the cooling evening air.
"You're late," she whispered,
"What did he want?"
"Just a technical check-up, Ghost-chan. He's worried I'll break the equipment tomorrow. Let's go. My mom's making katsudon, and I need the calories. We've got a long season ahead of us."