Bright Flames, Dark Shadows: My Hero Academia

"You can't be serious," Mr. Takeda said, looking at the file in front of him. "There's no way she'll succeed here."

"Why shouldn't she?" Sunbreaker asked. "Because her father is a villain? Are you truly this narrow minded, Takeda?"

Takeda gritted his teeth. The other teachers were chattering loudly.

"She has passed the test like anyone else," Titanium said. "In her interview, despite her… twitchiness, she has shown a great deal of warmth and kindness. She genuinely wants to be a hero."

"The orphanage is for children with quirks too dangerous for society," Takeda said. "Even if her quirk isn't as volatile as others, there is no way we can let her near other students—"

"It's also for children the state doesn't know where to put," Sunbreaker said. "Quirked children of criminals who nobody else can take responsibility for. The government expects them to turn out like their parents, so they put them there."

"And half the people there become villains!"

"Filth like you is what makes them such!" Sunbreaker said, standing up. His fist smashed into the table, causing cracks. Takeda flinched back. Every other teacher was stunned into silence. Titanium didn't stop him. "This self-fulfilling prophecy you set out, treat these children like villains and villains is what they shall be! And yet here we have the perfect example that no matter who your parents are, your path is not theirs!"

"I believe I've made my decision," Titanium said. "Jousho Nido's application has been accepted. Consider this a trial. If possible, I would like to invite more people from the Jousho Orphanage, and show them a righteous path if they wish to take it."

"Sir," Takeda said. "I urge you—"

"We're done for today. We'll talk more about the recommended students tomorrow."

Takeda leaned back in his seat. Sunbreaker sat down again. Neither teacher said a word.

"And Takeda," Titanium spoke up again as he stood in the doorway. Takeda's back straightened immediately. "I do hope that you'll treat this student with as much kindness as you show any other."

"Yes… sir."

###

The Jousho Orphanage, officially written with the kanji for "superior" and "home", was one of the oldest orphanages for quirked individuals. The reason for its name was initially that it was supposed to be a safe haven for children during the growing darkness of discrimination, in the decades where quirks first spread.

That was the idea, anyway. Someone who went and visited the orphanage might have noticed that the homely kanji read suspiciously close to 'punishment'. It was a glorified asylum, not a safe place for children to be raised.

Jousho Nido woke up to the sound of an alarm. 6AM. Breakfast would be ready in one hour. School started in two. It should have been more than enough time to get ready for anyone else, but the mad dash towards the too few bathrooms often meant that she, who liked to take it slow, was the last to make it to breakfast.

Two kinds of children were here—the first kind were the ones with 'quirks too dangerous for society', meaning they were supposed to be trained by staff to properly understand the limitations and dangers of their powers.

'Supposed to be', because being told to reject a part of you wasn't the best way to deal with it. Because being told day in and day out that you were 'wrong' somehow due to how you were born, being told that you were somehow 'disrupting society' with your mere existence, was a difficult concept to grasp for children of various ages.

Didn't stop some of the carers from saying it anyway, though. Didn't stop most, if she was honest.

Nido knew many of these children. Some of them were her friends. Not one of them was wrong for being born. Quite often, some of them ran away. The police always ended up bringing them back.

Though discrimination based on quirks (or quirklessness) was outlawed, the letter of the law and the spirit of it were often in juxtaposition. Some people might, and did, say that sending children to a specific orphanage based on their quirks would be against it, but the excuse was that all of them were being raised here to understand why they should never, under any circumstances, use their quirks—all for the good of society, of course, and wasn't that what the law was all about?

Without any physical marks left, nobody would believe those children when they called it abusive. At least, nobody who mattered. No: the daily grinding down with words was left to fester inside. Wounds nobody could see to heal.

Nido had once considered stabbing one of the caretakers who shouted at her friend until he cried. In the end, she'd decided against it, because she didn't want to prove them right. After all, she had her own stigma.

See, Nido was the other kind of child.

The ones with villainous parentage. Quite often, they were sent here upon the arrest of their parents, once the investigation into their lives revealed their existence. Only one in twenty children weren't rejected by their relatives when approached.

Nido was one of the unlucky nineteen. Her mother had died when she was younger, none of her relatives wanted to take her in, and her father was a villain, or so they said.

While the children of villains weren't quite as targeted as the 'dangerous' children, they had their own struggles. The constant suspicion. The times where the caretakers whispered among each other thinking nobody could hear them.

When she'd said she wanted to be a hero, one of them had given her that look. That look that said 'you'll never amount to anything'.

Her quirk came with a certain dissociation. It was difficult to keep her mind focused. Attempts to medicate the attention deficit had been unsuccessful. The stronger the drugs they gave her, the worse it got. She stopped taking them a while back, throwing them out of the window when the caretakers weren't looking.

This wasn't an orphanage. This was more a jail. Nobody who wasn't at Jousho's would understand Jousho's. But that was fine. She'd become a hero and make them understand.

People didn't see what they didn't want to see. They focused on the glitz and glamour of heroics, the good they did. At Jousho's, once they were eighteen and kicked out, unable to live in a normal society, many turned to villainy not knowing what else to do.

So she'd shine light on the mess that was this place. She'd show society the ugly underbelly they were ignoring in favor of their narrow worldview. It wasn't some disposition or genetics. Evil was born from people, and how they treated each other.

Joushou's was Nido's people and Nido's evil both.

And when she became a hero, she would do what heroes did: help those people, and destroy that evil.

You already knew the general direction of where they were, which meant you had a lot more time than you usually might have. Considering Sekai's combat prowess, he must have chosen the top floor knowing that even in the case of being found, winning a fight against you was going to be easier than escaping with the hostage.

They weren't wrong.

Considering your own knowledge of the school's layout, and your powers, any floor was going to be an issue for them. The rooms in Shiketsu might be large, some too large for the amount of students and staff in the school, but the hallways were more on the narrow side of things.

Yuri's snakes were capable of giving you more moisture to pull towards you, as well. In a straight fight against Sekai, she also had a better chance than you. You might be overthinking things. If Nido was unwilling to fight, Sekai would have to do all the heavy lifting and you might be able to take him down together.

Step one was simple. Top floor. Yuri followed you without question. You took it slow, trying to make as few noises as possible. The earpiece you'd received earlier gave off some static. Nothing else.

You took each door one by one, Yuri holding some snakes ready each time. Whenever a room ended up being empty, you sealed the door shut with ice. When you reached the second to last door of the floor, though, not far from the second set of stairs that led down, you didn't have to open it.

Kind of hard to open something when it's exploding in your face. A large tree burst outward, pulping the doorframe and blocking off the hallway, catching the both of you by thankfully-unharmed surprise. You were next to the stairs, but so was Sekai, who stepped through the brush that had slammed into the wall. Through the lush green, you could see Nido run off with Mika.

"That confident you can take us both?" you asked. He smiled softly. Not an arrogant grin, not amusement. He was as friendly as he always was, even in this exercise where you all were enemies.

So why was he not rushing you with another tree?

"He has a limit," Yuri said, as if reading your mind. "He can't create too many in succession, I think. It's why he avoids using them defensively, it's a waste to limit his own space to block an attack when he can just overwhelm you."

Stamina, then. Snakes slithered along the walls and ceilings, slowly creating a wall of thick ice.

"Get Nido," Yuri said, taking the lead. "They still have two minutes before the front gates open, don't let her hide."

You nodded, jumping through the gap before it closed. Something slammed into the ice, but it didn't budge. Multiple classes with Sunbreaker have taught Yuri a few tricks. You took some of the ice with you just in case.

The loud steps were unmistakable. You rushed after them, Nido and Mika running towards the ground floor. If you had known their plan was to split up, you would've sealed the stairs off, but Sekai was a constant threat. It'd be more a 'locked in with him' situation than vice versa, so this development wasn't too unwelcome.

But as you turned the corner, Nido ran around it as well, giving you a wide-eyed stare as she darted past you, towards the set of stairs you had just come from. Mika wasn't with her.

If she had stowed Mika somewhere, they couldn't win. It'd end up in a draw, if anything.

And Sunbreaker hated draws.

Then two more Nido's followed after.

You stopped, blinking.

Illusions? No, you could feel air rushing past you as the three Nido's ran. Something relating to clones? More likely. The fact that she was using her quirk was peculiar, given she'd, uh, forfeited every previous match rather than use it before.

That didn't really matter, though. You could always just ask her when you found the real one, if you cared enough to—because it was obvious those were diversions. The original was surely still with Mika, probably about to carry her out of the front doors. Putting more into your sprint forward, you slathered the floor in front of you with ice, then stopped running. That would only make you slower.

The ice continued forward as you slid over it like you were figure-skating. Lowering yourself down, you sped up. You reached the other set of stairs, a glimpse of Mika's hair in the corner of your eyes before it vanished. You had caught up.

"Nido!" you shouted, stopping the ice and running down the stairs. You only hit the wall slightly too hard as you tried to slow down, then turned around and took the next flight of stairs to meet your opponent.

Nido's knuckles were bleeding. One of her hands was around Mika's wrist.

She didn't look very twitchy anymore. Her eyes were sharp. Focused. The blood made her look intimidating, small drops creating a thin sheet at her feet.

You took a step forward. Nido crouched, then launched herself at you. She had no grace, no specific stance you could recognize. Nido's fingers dug into your clothes, pinching at your skin. You drove your elbow at the top of her head. The grip loosened.

Two Nido's now stood in front of you.

"It's such a cool quirk," Mika said. Static in your earpiece.

"The hostage isn't supposed to talk," Sunbreaker's voice came through. Mika shrugged. Sunbreaker's sigh came through, another static noise, then silence.

The Nido's rubbed their heads. Their knuckles were still bloody. Were the knuckles of the other Nido's bloody as well? You hadn't seen that they were, which meant the injury must be more recent than their creation.

You quickly took several steps back. Two more Nido's, bloody knuckles included, stepped down the stairs. Had you not moved, they would've surrounded you.

"I don't disagree," you said. "It is a cool quirk."

Outnumbered. Each Nido seemed capable enough to move on autonomously. The only difference between them were presumably the injuries, which were quirk-related by the look of it.

"The more you're hurt, the more clones come out? That seems a bit harsh," you said. Nido—one girl in four bodies—raised her bloodied fists, glaring at you through the gap of her hands.

"I-it's an appropriate quirk for someone like me," she said. "W-with my p-pain, I'll be justice."

Not a 'hero'. 'Justice'. The word was enough to send shivers down your spine. The conviction with which she spoke came with the sort of force you'd only heard from Sunbreaker before.

You grinned. "Alright, villain who spouts justice, show me what you've got!"

The more you hurt her, the more clones would show up. You would end up overwhelmed eventually—but if you could disable them without causing pain, you might have a chance. Or if you were willing to go all out, any clone she made might be in too much pain to actually move.

Static. "The doors have been opened."

Unimportant. Two Nido's attacked. You caught the shoddy punches, then pulled them down to the ground and froze them in place. It seemed to work well enough—unless she was willing to dislocate her shoulder for more clones, that'd be enough for them. Your ice was cold enough to cause numbness more quickly than pain, you hoped.

How far could you go? How far were you willing to go? She'd avoid easy to grab attacks now, which meant you had to be on the offense if you wanted to lock her movements. You ran forward, jumping over the leg of one of the frozen Nido's who tried to trip you up.

You threw your hands forward, ice flowing over them. You grabbed her arms, but the other Nido slammed into your side with her shoulder. Dragging the first Nido along, you tried to force her arms into a wall.

Her forearms now in ice, she ripped them out of your grasp, then slammed both of them together at your head.

You managed to melt it fast enough, meaning it was her bones which caused most of the hurt. Still better than brain trauma. Two more Nido's stood there now, bruises forming at their arms.

She punched, and you found yourself dodging rather than trying to catch her. Her fist left blood on the wall. Another Nido appeared.

At least you had your answer to how she created the first clones now.

There was no way you could afford to hold back.

You dodged the next punch, grabbing the arm and pulling it up as hard as you were able to. Nido screamed in pain, you winced, realizing how badly it must have hurt. Yuri was more dignified about it, refusing to show anything back when you had done the same to her.

Creating ice under you, you spun on it, using the lack of friction to throw Nido into a wall. The next clones appeared, but immediately clutched their shoulders.

Now was your chance. You grabbed Mika, then ran. Ice behind you to trip up anyone who would follow. Two clones from earlier were in front of you now, trying to block your way. These were the unhurt ones.

"Run," you told Mika, pushing her forward. The Nido's didn't stop her, probably because another Nido was waiting at the stairs to catch her. That was fine, you wouldn't take long.

Ice at your feet again, you repeated your earlier slide down the hallway. The Nido clones didn't have time to react, your arms wrapping around their necks and throwing them to the ground. You held back the word that you wanted to shout in response to the move, catching Mika and wobblingly holding her in your arms as you slid down the hallway.

Static. "Yuri of the Hero team has been captured."

That wasn't good. The last clone at the stairs decided to play it smarter—rather than wait at the top, she waited halfway between them, meaning you had to slow down and deal with her.

If Nido knew how to fight, she would certainly be an unstoppable monster. You could understand Sunbreaker's frustrations at her lack of dedication to combat training.

You slammed the clone into the wall, leaping from the stairs. Two clones appeared, the one you rammed nowhere to be seen. The clones held you down. Mika watched, taking a seat at the top of the stairs. Useless hostage.

If you let Sekai catch up, you were never going to win this. You had to win. You needed to show the class that no one stood above you, so you would be picked as class rep.

Drawing all moisture from your surroundings, you wore your ice like armour—like you were a yuki-onna who'd decided to be a samurai. The Nido clones couldn't hold on for long before their hands started freezing. You stood up. They tried to grab you again, but their hands slid off. Mika followed you further down.

The large and imposing steps that came from above you were the sounds of defeat. You felt cold already. The heating device in your uniform wasn't optimal when it came to freezing the entire thing at once; the support team had suggested gradual increases until the sensors were properly calibrated.

You didn't have time for that. The door was in sight. You ran, unable to produce more ice to slide as your armor slowly crumbled on its own, your body refusing to keep it up due to your approaching hypothermia.

Looking behind you, you saw Sekai, riding a tree that was sprouting out of the wall and rushing towards you. Mika was nearly at the door. Would it count as a win if she went alone?

Did that matter? Your body moved on its own, your armor snapping back in place even as your body screamed at you that you were freezing. The tree slammed into you, stopping it in its tracks. It slammed you out of your half-forged armour and onto the ground with a sickening thump. Mika stood in the doorway.

"Go," you mouthed. She did. Static in your ears.

"The hostage has escaped the premises, the hero team has succeeded in protecting her, sacrificing everything they had. Excellent. Villain team, your mistake was splitting up. Rise from this loss and fight again."

Sekai jumped off the tree, nodding. He approached you, holding his hand out to help you up. You raised your own, unable to lift it far. He bent down, helping you to your feet.

"Is Nido okay?" you asked. "I didn't want to hurt her that badly."

"She'll be fine," Sekai said. "One of her has been sitting in the nurse office the whole time, she'll get treatment immediately."

You smiled. That was good, at least.

########

That was an enlightening experience. Hopefully asking Sunbreaker for advice will be similar in that regard.

Still, no matter what he says, you're not going to go straight from talking to him to confronting Shoto. You'll need some time to process his words afterward. What, exactly, will fill that time?

The conversation with Sunbreaker will not take up the whole of the next update, so take this chance to do something else with that space before things get serious.

[ ] Yuri's Invitation.
Yuri's family have taken note of her friendship to you due to your recent shopping trip in one of their stores. They might want to learn more about your family and your mother from you.
[ ] Nido's Justice.
Nido is still in the infirmary. You could try to talk to her there and find out more about what she means by 'justice'.
[ ] Inasa's Grudge.
Inasa was hanging around while you were talking to Sunbreaker. Usually he went home rather quickly. Now might be a good time to confront him.