Chapter 39: Freedom
[… following next, is the mysterious videos that have played in over 8 districts. These videos demonstrated a young girl named Himiko Toga being mistreated for her quirk. Here, we have a young man speaking with a well-educated doctor and Quirk Psychology expert…]
It was late at night and Akira, Sora's mother, was watching the news. Her face was as calm as always but there was visible tiredness on her face.
Behind her, Toga sat on a couch with red puffy eyes. Sadness covered her face and her entire body. They continued to listen to the news, confusion and surprise in their eyes.
"Since when has Sora been preparing this?"
"He's… been doing this… for me?"
They looked at the news, amazed at what they were seeing. Videos pieced together explaining quirks affecting one's desires and psychology before continuing to explain that Toga is a victim of this phenomenon. They saw videos of Toga suffering through this, simple and small videos of her seeing blood or injured beings.
It was supported by evidence of other heroes and Quirk holding individuals being affected by their quirks.
Akira and Toga looked at the television and Toga saw her face constantly appear on the screen. Yet what worried her wasn't her face being out there or her history being told on television, Toga thought about Sora. How he had gone out of his way to pull her out of her caged life.
Yet it came at the cost of Sora being taken away from her.
Now, she was free from her family that constantly restrained her and abused her mentally. She was free to now be who she wants to be without being ostracized by her parents. She didn't care about what rumors might appear because of what had happened, Toga wanted to enjoy the life Sora fought to give her.
Of course, despite the newfound freedom from constraints and her family, there are still many more procedures to go through, but Sora had everything prepared already. In his room, papers and documents were laid out and labeled, ready for them.
All they had to do was hand over the papers and everything will be resolved.
***
"Do I get recess time?" Sora asked with a smirk on his face as he looked at the huge building in front of him.
The cops surrounding Sora remained quiet as they urged him forward. Other guards with strength quirks and strength mutation quirks pushed Sora forward, forcing him to walk.
Thud…
Thud…
Each of Sora's was extremely loud due to the heavy iron bands on his ankles and wrists. He even had two more iron weights placed around his neck and waist. It appeared like they were vary wary of his strength and what he could do.
Yet despite how they restrained his strength, Sora was still able to move freely as if the weights were made of foam.
As Sora was dragged forward, he rolled his eyes as he realized that his questions weren't going to be answered. At least until he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Only select few get to enjoy 'recess' depending on their Quirk."
The tired cop appeared once more. He appeared next to Sora and was carrying a couple of documents in his hands.
"You are one of those lucky individuals who gets to enjoy this liberty."
Sora raised an eyebrow and asked another question.
"It must be based on the Quirk and how easy it is to restrain, right?"
The cop remained quiet but that was all Sora needed to know. He smirked and his eyes looked at the various cameras, sensors, guards and every security measure that Tartarus has.
Once Sora stepped into Tartarus, Sora felt the minute changes around him. His eyes squinted in amusement before falling to the ground unconscious.
Bang!
His body fell to the floor and the heavy weight of his restraints struck heavily. With a loud bang, the floor cracked and shook nearby guards.
None of them were surprised and moved swiftly to deal with Sora. They removed his weights and clothes before slipping him into a prisoner uniform and taking him to a special cell.
The tired cop watched as Sora was hauled away. He heard a couple of sighs of relief behind him and remarks about Sora.
"I'm glad he didn't make this hard for us…"
"With that strength, imagine if he went on a rampage."
"What I'm curious about, is how did he get so strong? Isn't his quirk a self regeneration one?"
"Enough."
A guards dressed a little differently to the rest opened his mouth and stopped them from saying anything more. His eyes scanned the crowd before turning to leave.
As he left, one guard couldn't help but comment.
"Thankfully the sleeping gas the scientists had created using Midnights pheromones is very potent. Without it, we wouldn't be able to restrain most villains…"
***
Inside a special cell, Sora finally woke up after sleeping for a couple of hours.
Stretching, he stood up and scanned the cell. Since he's going to be living here for the next couple of months, possibly years, Sora needed to get acquainted with his property.
As he moved, Sora's weight restraints clanked against each other. He checked his bed, the toilet at the corner of his room, and the small area he had to move around. Touching the wall and the door, Sora realized that they are made of a tougher material than the streets and buildings back in the city. It would be difficult to break the walls without the restraints but not necessarily impossible.
With the restraints, causing a crack would be difficult.
Rubbing his chin, Sora began to feel stubble.
"Hais~ all I can do is train," Sora muttered with a smile.
This was what he had expected since long ago. It was also what he was looking forward to when he thought of this plan of his. He needed a place to wholeheartedly focus on breaking his limits.
And Tartarus was simply an opportunity that presented itself to him.
Clenching his hands, Sora relaxed his entire body and moved around a little before stepping to the middle of the room.
Thud…
Thud…
"Alright… Let's begin!"
***
Sora's turn to villainy and arrest came to a surprise to everyone in U.A. Aside from Sora's three closest friends, the staff and students were all shocked.
They all recognized Sora in the news.
As the strongest in Class 1-A and his popularity with the teachers being really high, most students in U.A. have heard of Sora through either the teachers, students, or from simply seeing in person and finding him attractive.
…
Vacation soon ended and everyone had to return to school.
Everyone in Sora's grade moved up to Class 2-A, a moment that could have been joyous. Yet as they all entered their respective classes, they were all silent. Some whispered to each other, everyone talking about a single person.
Sora
Despite many weeks having passed since his imprisonment, it was like he had just been imprisoned.
"Haha! Good morning everyone!"
Suddenly, entering the 1-A classroom, Mirio burst in smiling. His loud voice startled a large majority of them and they turned to look at him confused.
They wondered how someone like him could still be so happy despite one of his friends being imprisoned.
Yet unlike him, the two people that followed behind him weren't as happy and chirpy like him. Tamaki looked as shy as always, but there was a certain downcast look to him.
Nejire on the other hand, the usual curious and cheerful girl, was now sad and out of it. Like her mind was elsewhere.
As soon as she sat down at her seat next to a window, Nejire's eyes drifted to the sky. Tamaki sat right behind her and Mirio sat right next to her.
"Nejire! Are you excited for this year?"
Mirio smiled brightly.
Yet he received no response from her as she continued to look out the window. His cheerfulness didn't diminish however as he turned to look at Tamaki.
"What about you Tamaki?"
Tamaki shuffled in his seat and pressed his lips together, a worried look on his face. He also did not respond to Mirio's question.
Mirio continued to maintain his smile, not minding the lack of responses from his friends.
"Haha! This will be a great year!"
…
Later after school, Nejire was walking home accompanied by Tamaki, her good friend. They walked together in silence, both of them thinking about their friend Sora.
"Guys! Where did you go?"
Running at them, Mirio waved his hands at them. Nejire continued walking as if she didn't hear him but Tamaki faltered at Mirio's voice.
"I was wondering if you all wanted to head to the arcade. I heard that they-"
Mirio was excited, telling them about a new machine that they had set up. Yet before he could continue, Tamaki interrupted him with a yell, his hands clenched from a sad infused anger.
"Stop it Mirio! Why are you acting like this?! Our friend-"
"He's not a friend…"
Interrupting Tamaki with a shake of his head, Mirio shook his head with a sad smile.
"He IS a friend. He always has been! Sora went out there to save someone!"
Mirio listened to Tamaki speak about Sora.
A friend? Friends don't backstab you in the back as they take the girl you like. Friends don't commit crimes to save a person!
Mirio felt his anger rise at Tamaki's words and it just got to him. The usual smiling and cheerful Mirio seemed to disappear as his face contorted into anger.
"He's a VILLAIN! He attacked heroes! He crippled many! He's NO hero! He never WAS and never WILL HE BE!"
Blood pumped to his head and grabbed Tamaki by the collar. He shook him violently and Tamaki seemed to look at him fearfully. Why?
Why is he afraid? Did Sora tell him something?
"Sora is no longer my friend! He's a Villain! I wish he never was my friend and I hope he stays in prison for-!"
SMACK!
Before Mirio could finish what he was saying, he felt a stinging pain on his face. Stunned, he let Tamaki go before touching his cheek. It felt warm and it hurt.
He turned his gaze and looked at Nejire.
"Don't talk about Sora like that! He went to save that girl! He defended her against those black hearted heroes!"
Nejire began to defend Sora. She knew that Sora caused all that destruction and pain because he went to save a friend of his. Sora isn't the type of person who would hurt another person for pleasure or for any other reason.
Yet what Nejire was saying simply ticked Mirio off.
'Why is she defending him? Sora's a villain… he crippled heroes… he fought against justice and saved a criminal… Why is it that she still has her eyes on him? What about me?'
Mirio remained quiet, his hands clenched as he stared at the floor in anger. Tamaki was helped up by Nejire and they both left without turning back.
Left behind and abandoned by his friends, Mirio felt himself slip away.
"Why him?"
He muttered to himself.
"Am I in the wrong?"
He doubted himself.
"No… Sora's a Villain. He went too far… it's all Sora's fault. He caused this…"
Hate was born.
"It's all Sora's fault! I told him I liked Nejire, yet he still got so close to her! It's all his fault that he couldn't hold back and hurt all those heroes! What does it have to do with me? Why am I the one hated here?! He's the VILLAIN!"
Hate grew and turned to madness.
"I'm the hero…"
He convinced himself.
"I'M THE HERO!!"
He shouted.
And shouted…
And continued to shout…