Chapter Text
Yuuga’s head swims, his face stings, and his wrists hurt, all before he even opens his eyes.
And then he does open his eyes, with great effort.
He’s handcuffed to a table. In an interrogation room.
Shit.
He shuts his eyes again. Maybe everything will go away-
“Aoyama? Are you awake?”
Note: “Shit” has been upgraded to “fuck”
Detective Tsukauchi sits across from him. He looks tired, but detectives are probably always tired.
“I have some water here for you, you’re probably thirsty. Then we’re going to have a chat.”
They can’t make him talk, can they? Doesn’t he need a parent or a lawyer present? Someone?
He says nothing, but he takes the water. He cried so much he’s probably dehydrated. No one can reach Midoriya levels, of course, but water would never hurt. It’s like Kaminari says: Hydrate or Die-drate.
He glances over at the mirrored wall and watches his reflection make a face. Ugh, he looks disgusting, all rumpled and puffy and smeared with eyeliner and mascara. His cheek is scraped too, probably from when Hagakure tackled him. He neatens his hair, somewhat, but he doesn’t ask for anything to wash his face. Wasn’t that one of the rules of being interrogated, that you’re not supposed to say anything?
The Detective studies him the whole time. He sighs.
“I don’t think you’re a bad kid,” he says.
Well, wasn’t that novel!
“I think you got put in a bad situation. But I need your help. I need to know what you know, and that way, we can get this all sorted out.”
Yeah, right. Yuuga glares at him. Wasn’t there supposed to be a bad cop as well?
“Let’s get started,” Detective Tsukauchi says. He opens his notebook and readies his pen. “Your name is Aoyama Yuuga, correct?”
Yuuga nods.
The Detective sighs again. “I’m gonna need a verbal answer for these.”
“Yes.”
“Good. Your parents are Aoyama Akio and Aoyama Claire, correct?”
Yuuga winces. Did he have to bring his parents into this? His parents that he probably doomed?
“Yes.”
The Detective writes something down. He frowns.
“Was it them who put you up to this? To working for All for One?”
“No!” He covers his mouth, but the damage is already done. That single word is basically a confession. “No,” he says again, “they didn’t put me up to anything. They’re good parents, and they love me.”
“I never said they didn’t. Parents can be complicated people, and I think we both know that.” He writes something down. “I don’t think that was the whole truth, Aoyama. Do we want to try that again?”
“They didn’t put me up to anything,” he says again. “They have nothing to do with this.”
Detective Tsukauchi puts his pen down. “I need you to work with me, Aoyama. I know that’s not true. Midnight said you mentioned them as you succumbed to her quirk. How do they fit into this puzzle? A good kid like you doesn’t just start spying for a supervillain all on his own.”
What the hell did he know?
“They just did what any parents would,” Yuuga says. “They wanted me to be happy. They didn’t know what it would cost…”
“So there was a deal, then. They went to the man that could give them anything, and in exchange, they offered your service.”
“They offered a favor. They thought it would be monetary, or something tangible. They didn’t-” Tears stream down his face.”They didn’t know -”
It wasn’t their fault, and they were the ones who were going to get punished for it.
“You have to help them, Detective!”
“Help who, your parents?”
“They’re in danger! He said- he said if we ever went to the heroes- he’d-” he couldn’t even finish the sentence, but it seemed the Detective knew anyway.
“That’s why you were so intent on not getting arrested-! Shit.” The Detective says something into his walkie-talkie, but Yuuga can’t make out what. Everything is too loud, too bright, and there are hands grabbing his own and stopping him from scratching his arms.
He looks up to see Aizawa-sensei’s face right in front of him. He says something, but Yuuga can only shake his head. Sensei unlocks Yuuga’s handcuffs. He leads him into another room, one with a leather armchair and couches instead of cold hard metal. A plastic cup of water is thrust into Yuuga’s hands. He doubts he can sip it without spilling. Someone settles a blanket over his shoulders.
What has he done ? Now the police and heroes know so much. He didn’t mean to tell them that much. It just came pouring out and when he tried to put a hand over the leak everything exploded. His parents are probably dead, they’ve probably been dead the entire time he was asleep. It’s all Yuuga’s fault. His parents are dead and he’s going to rot in prison until someone comes to finish the job.
He looks up from his water. Sensei is still right next to him, trying not to stare. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t make any false promises like “everything is going to be okay,” and Yuuga appreciates that.
Nothing is okay, and anyone who thinks it will be is delusional. Aizawa-sensei is rational enough to know the truth.
Yuuga’s life was over the moment he got caught.