Chapter Text
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Early March
Misaki had been left to her own devices since California, waiting for Hawks to get back from the mission, her assisting remotely from Japan whenever he called. She was at the mall now, however; earbuds in, eyes down, steps matching the beat of the drums pounding in her head. Her hair was split-dyed today, half green and half white, eyes highlighter yellow and skin covered in sparkles. She wanted to look as touristy as possible, it helped keep her noticeably unnoticeable.
She stopped at one of the cafes in the middle of the mall, the skylights above them clear and the LED lights not needing to be turned on anywhere but in the stores. She ordered a chai latte and fried donuts, waiting patiently as the barista made her order. Glancing to her right, eyeing a store with kawaii and anime merchandise, she spotted familiar faces that made her feel sick with guilt.
Mina was with Momo and Jirou, looking at the new books that had come in. They were smiling and laughing, almost like nothing had happened, like they weren’t on the verge of being sent out to risk their lives for no reason. Like she had never existed.
Misaki took her drink and pastry bag from the barista, thanking her and retreating to the other end of the open space. She didn’t know how to feel, the relief of seeing them okay only slightly out-weighted by the fact that they were happy without her. She felt abandoned, had she so easily been forgotten? She was happy that they were happy, but she resented it at the same time.
She wasn’t hungry anymore, ditching both the drink and pastries on a table and walking towards the back entrance of the mall.
“Let’s go this way,” Mina said, not noticing the girl she was on track to knock over.
Misaki made a tight left, also not noticing the incoming collision, and collided with another person, knocking them both to the ground. “Geez-” she started, pushing herself up to sit, “Are you okay-?” her words trailed off, mouth growing dry when she realized who it was.
“I’m sorry!” Mina said, pushing up to her knees and bowing to Misaki. “I’m so sorry,”
“Hey- you’re good,” Misaki said, “My bad,” she got to her feet, holding out a hand to help Mina up.
Mina looked up at her then at her hand, hesitant for a moment before taking it.
Misaki helped her up, watching her. “Are you hurt?”
Mina was searching her face, “No~” she said softly.
“That’s good,” Misaki said, giving her a small crooked smile.
Jirou grabbed Mina’s wrist, pulling her hand from Misaki’s. “Sorry about her,”
Misaki looked at her, eyebrows slightly raised. “She’s fine,”
Jirou took a pause, also looking at Misaki as if she knew her.
Did they?
Misaki had looked at herself and not been able to tell who she was looking at, how could they possibly tell with all the changes and modifications she’d had to make to herself, when she couldn’t even tell? She was taller, thinner, darker, sharper; nothing about her was the same, not her name, not her eyes, not her smile. Everything they had known about Misaki Aizawa no longer existed, what they were looking at wasn’t Misaki, not anymore, not yet.
“You sound familiar,” Momo finally said. “Did we meet you at the provisional licensing exam?”
Misaki tried to look confused. Damn it. She never thought to change her voice. “The what?”
“Are you from another hero school?” Mina asked.
Misaki shook her head slightly, “I’m not in school,” which was painfully true.
“Oh,” Momo said, “Sorry, we must have mistaken you for someone else,”
“You are really familiar though,” Mina said, “Sorry- that’s probably weird,”
“Not hardly,” Misaki said, “I’ve dealt with weirder,”
“Are you a sidekick at a hero agency?” Jirou asked, “I swear we know you from somewhere,”
Misaki pressed her lips together, shaking her head slightly. “No, sorry,”
Momo looked at her watch then back up at Misaki, “I’m sure we’ll remember eventually and it’ll all make sense, but the cars coming in an hour so-”
“Oh yeah, totally,” Misaki said, “I gotta get going too,”
“Sorry again,” Mina said, bowing again.
“You’re totally okay,” Misaki said.
“Bye,” they said.
“See ya,” Misaki said as they left, then paused, pursed her lips, then began speed walking in the opposite direction from them. “Damn it,” she muttered, shaking herself off.
“Such a pity, they were right there too,” Hearsay said lightly.
“Shut up,” Misaki grumbled.
“You know when I was your age-”
“Keep talking and I’ll end us right here,” Misaki spat, “I don’t have the willpower to deal with your shit,”
“Sorry?” said a voice and Misaki turned.
“Oh,” she said, “It’s just you. You’re back, how unfortunate,”
“I’m hurt,” Keigo said, “Truely,”
“She’s talking again,” Misaki said, waving a hand by her ear, “Like an annoying ex, or yourself,”
He put a hand to his chest, “Cut me deeper,”
“Easily,” Misaki said, “Where should I start?”
He made an X on his chest, “Autopsy,”
“Right,” Misaki said, raising a hand and making an X in the air, “From here to here, is awful, I suggest consulting a plastic surgeon, a new stylist, and trying again,”
“There it is,” he said, almost happy that she was speaking to him almost normally again, “Perfect,”
“Oh my gosh it’s Hawks,” whispered a girl that neither of them noticed.
“Who’s with him?”
“Who cares?”
Misaki continued, both of them pleasantly unaware of the crowd slowly growing to notice them. “I’d happily be able to point you in the direction of a great plastic surgeon, you know Dabi’s face, they did it,”
He guffawed, “And you expect me to come out looking better after?”
She shrugged, “Maybe you could claim to be some sort of severe accident, people love a good sob story,”
“I would know, huh?” he said, slightly sarcastic as they began walking back down the length of the mall towards the main entrance.
“Would you?” Misaki said, trying to fake her surprise, “Well- maybe you would,”
“Ha~” he said sarcastically.
“Hero?” asked a voice and they both turned. “You are, aren’t you?” said the woman.
Misaki glanced at Keigo then back at the woman, who was looking at Misaki. “No~”
“Can you fix him?” the woman asked, watching Misaki with wide eyes.
“I’m not-” Misaki started again.
“My boy, can you fix him?” she said with a shaky voice as she unwrapped a bundle in her arm, two halves of a five year old boy falling out of the blanket and spilling onto the floor. The crack of his skull against the tile as his brain bounced across the ground drilled like nails into Misaki’s ears. The blanket he had been wrapped in was soaked in blood, along with the woman’s front, and the tiles turned slick as the red of his body’s fluids ran across the floor. His intestines rolled onto the floor, attracting bugs much sooner than was necessary. His eyes were looking in two different directions, his tongue rolling out of his mouth as all the parts of him that were supposed to be inside were shown to the outside.
Misaki gagged behind her hand, taking a step back as she covered her mouth, looking away from the body.
“Oh shit,” Keigo muttered, in his civilian clothes, unable to do much of anything while off the clock.
“My boy~!” the woman wailed, her hands out to either side as she looked down at the body, arms and front soaked with blood. “He did this to my boy!”
“Who?” Keigo asked, looking around.
“That would be my handy work, impressive huh?” said a man with a split tone suit, who was standing on the second floor balcony above them, making both Misaki and Keigo look up towards him.
“Someone contact the police-!” Keigo started but the man tisked with a low chuckle.
He took a deep breath before shouting for everyone to hear him, “If anyone moves, this child gets the same fate as that young boy down there!” he said, holding an eight year old girl by the hair, forcing her to sit on the railing of the balcony.
Misaki had mostly recovered from the initial shock and was looking stoned faced at the man. “Why don’t you come down here and deal with someone who can actually defend themselves?” she taunted.
“Like the hero?” the man laughed, “I’m smarter than that!”
“I meant me,” Misaki said, “Would you prefer if I come up then?”
“Why?” the man said, his eyes wide and face clear with obvious insanity. “You’re not a hero-”
“Maybe,” Misaki said, “But I will be, someday,”
“That’s no fun then,” the man whined, “If there’s no shock then I’ll never get my name on the news,”
“Shock?” Misaki stated, horrified that that was the reason he was doing all of this. She looked at Keigo, “I’m gonna do it,”
He looked confused for a moment, “You- what?”
“The world is going to know,” Misaki said softly, “I’m going to make sure everyone knows,”
He still looked confused, “What are you talking about?”
“Misaki Aizawa is alive!” she said desperately, “It’s time, isn’t it?”
He understood then. “I- if you think it’ll be okay,”
“I’ll do everything right,” Misaki said, “I’ll follow all the rules,”
He set his face, “Only if you’re ready,”
She looked back towards the man and the girl, who was crying. She looked back at Keigo, “Get these people out of here.”
He nodded.
“You want a shock!” Misaki said, turning back to the man, voice sharp, her hands out away from her sides, “I’ll give you your shock,” she let the form she had taken fall away, revealing the form she had been born with underneath. “The name is Misaki Aizawa, and I lived bitch!”
The man cackled, “Now that is a shock! Who would have expected it!” he said right before shoving the girl off the railing of the balcony, letting her fall towards the ground.
Misaki shot forward, catching her before she hit the ground and teleporting her out of the building through a wormhole. “Someone get the police in here!” she yelled, jumping up and ghosting through the balcony to meet the man face to face.
“You really her, huh?” he said, grinning sickly. “How many times is this? Three? Ready to die again?”
“Not if you can’t catch me,” Misaki said, raising her hands.
“I like this guy,” Hearsay said, “We can use him!”
She wouldn’t let Misaki use her telekinesis, and Misaki stumbled back as the man lunged for her. “Let it go, Hearsay!” she grumbled.
“You know how useful for the cause he would be-”
“I wonder how good you’ll look in half, should I go up and down or crossways?” the man cackled. “Although- you don’t look very symmetrical,”
Misaki jumped up onto the rail of the balcony, fighting against Hearsay for control of her quirks. “You’re a bitch,” she said, trying to make her powers come to her.
“Not the first time I’ve heard something like that,” the man said and brought his hand back.
Misaki clenched her jaw, forcing her power to her hands but it was too late.
The man struck her in the gut and something exploded as she flew back, falling and hitting the tiles of the mall ground, cracks spider webbing from the crater under her back. She rolled to her side, coughing as she tried to force the air back into her chest. She felt whole but she had learned to not prematurely judge.
“Wh-what the hell happened?” said the man as Misaki struggled to her hands and knees, looking over her shoulder at him. “There are two-”
She looked to her left, spotting a second figure laying on the tiles. “Are you okay-?”
The other girl sat up, her hair so light it was silver. “What- the hell,” the girl said, her accent foreign to Misaki.
“You should get out of-” Misaki started but the girl turned and she stopped. “Hearsay,”
Hearsay glanced Misaki up and down, “You- how?” she looked up at the man. “He-”
“He split us in half,” Misaki said, also realizing what happened.
“What a strange feeling,” Hearsay said, looking at her hands.
“We were never the same,” Misaki said breathlessly, elation hitting her as she realized that she was innocent. “I’m innocent,”
Hearsay guffawed, looking over at her with a skeptical smirk. “Whatever makes you feel better, love,”
Misaki flopped back onto the floor, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes, laughing slightly as she let herself feel relief from all the guilt she had been feeling. “I didn’t do it,”
“This is shocking indeed,” The man continued, riding the escalator down to them.
“You- tiny man,” Hearsay said, standing and starting towards him, “I want to recruit you-”
The man laughed, stepping off the escalator and doubling over. “Recruit-! Ha ha, ha ha ha!”
Hearsay’s confidence deflated and was replaced with unamused displeasure. “Well, I suppose you wouldn’t have done well anyway,”
Misaki stood, shoulder and back aching but not painful.
“Recruit to what?” The man asked, whipping at his eyes, “The little girls club?”
“The League of Villains,” Hearsay said, “But I see it’s not in my best interest-”
“I’d say not!” The man said, continuing to cackle. “You’re funny, little girl,”
“I’m twenty three,” Hearsay said and Misaki frowned.
“Wha-?” she started but was grabbed and dragged back from the scene.
“Who is that?” Keigo asked, looking up over the top of the stone planter he had dragged her behind.
“Hearsay!” Misaki said, the surprise evident in her voice.
He looked at her, “How?”
“The man’s quirk split us up,” Misaki said, also rising slightly to look over the planter at the two who were still bantering back and forth.
“What do we do with them?” he asked.
“Stop them,” Misaki said, as if it wasn’t obvious.
He gave her a look which she interpreted to mean ‘no shit Sherlock.’ “I meant before then,”
“Maybe they’ll tire each other out,” Misaki said, “We might not have to do anything,”
“If you take Hearsay I’ll get the other guy,” he said.
“What about the cops?” she asked.
“There a couple heroes coming, meaning you should probably-” he waved a hand in her direction, “I don’t think the rest of the world should know yet,”
“Why not?” she asked, glaring at him.
“The Corp has a plan to fight Humarise the day they plan on attacking, we wouldn’t want to deter their plans with your return, especially if we plan on talking them out of sending your friends there,” he explained.
“They what?” She said indignantly, then bit down on her bottom lip, face scrunched in conflicted anguish.
“I know it’s not what you want to do-” he said, “But-”
“Okay,” she said quietly, melding into a simple form, red hair and green eyes, freckles all over her face. “I’ll wait-”
“I’m really sorry,” He said at the same volume.
“I’m doing it for them,” Misaki said, “You get them off of that assignment and the Humarise case and I’ll stay hidden, if you can’t get that to happen I’m coming back and there’s nothing they’ll be able to do,”
“I’ll let them know,” he assured her.
She looked up again, Hearsay and the man at each other’s throats.
Hearsay quite literally had the man by the neck, his face going red then purple as she shook him. “How fucking dare you! Disgusting, that’s what you are! I can’t believe I thought about letting you around my darling Toga!”
“We should stop her,” Keigo said but didn’t move in the direction to stop the altercation.
“But we didn’t notice,” Misaki said, looking back at him. “I can’t believe she killed him so quickly, we looked away for a moment!”
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Who were we talking about?”
“I’m not sure,” Misaki said, frowning slightly, “And why are we in this mall?”
He shrugged, “Couldn’t tell ya,”
“Misaki! Get the hell out here!” Hearsay screeched, dropping the body of the man at her feet.
“Oh!” Misaki said, hitting her temple lightly with her hand.
“That makes sense,” Keigo said, “I almost forgot she was here,”
Misaki tried and failed to suppress a crooked smile. “It’s almost like she’s completely irrelevant,”
“Almost,” he agreed, nodding slightly as Misaki stood, facing Hearsay.
“Why the hell are you over there?” Hearsay sighed, crossing her arms, “I thought you ran away,”
Misaki made a long face and stepped out from behind the planter. “You underestimate me,”
“Do I?” Hearsay said, raising an eyebrow. “You watched me kill a man,”
“What man?” Misaki asked, eyes wide, “I don’t see anything,”
“You’re so childish,” Hearsay rolled her eyes.
“I am,” Misaki said, “A child I mean,”
“Well now we have a problem,” Hearsay stated, making Misaki stop, lips pursed. “There can’t be two of us,”
Misaki pressed her lips together, frowning, “Why not~?”
“What makes it worse is that I’ve grown slightly attached to you,” Hearsay continued.
Misaki clasped her hands in front of her, tapping her toe behind her against the tiles, “You have? Shucks,”
Hearsay rolled her eyes slightly again, “Meaning that I don’t want to kill you easily, you see,”
Misaki stuck out her bottom lip, “Why I gotta die at all though?”
“Because I’d rather not be stuck fighting you all the time,” Hearsay said, “Understand?”
Misaki tipped her head side to side, “Might,”
“I’m glad we have that sorted out,” Hearsay said, “It’s easier to kill someone when they know the terms they’re dying on,”
“But I’m just a baby,” Misaki said, bringing her shoulders up near her ears. “I’m so cute lookin’,”
Hearsay blinked at her slowly. “Keep telling yourself that, honey,”
Misaki gave her a cheeky smile, “You know I’m right though, we are the same, you and I,”
“I wear it better,” Hearsay said, then let out a breath, “I’ll make this quick,”
Misaki swallowed, putting up a hand and blocking just in time as Hearsay threw another planter at her from across the mall with her telekinesis. “And I’ll make this difficult,”
“I appreciate it,” Hearsay said, looking pained. “But I can out last you, I always have, your weakness never affected me the same way it did you,”
Misaki felt a slight wave of panic then, doubting herself for the first time in that moment. What if she really wasn’t strong enough to survive a test of endurance.
“He’s still alive,” Hawks said, holding the man behind Hearsay by the arm as he dragged him towards the entrance.
“You-” Hearsay hissed, “When did you get back?”
Misaki took that as her chance to attack, using her telekinesis to lift Hearsay off the ground and throw her across the mall in the opposite direction from Keigo.
Hearsay stood slowly, breathing ragged, nursing her shoulder. “That’s a cheap move,”
“But it worked,” Misaki said, raising a hand and walls sprouted from the ground around them, blocking them in to keep the destruction to a minimum.
“You think walls will stop me?” Hearsay chuckled.
“They aren’t for you,” Misaki said, “They’re for the insurance company,” she tisked, “You never let me think practically before, but now that you’re gone I can use my god given critical thinking skills and put my training to use,”
Hearsay guffawed, “How stupid,”
“But if it works it’s worth it, right?” Misaki asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Hearsay shook her head, rolling her eyes. “This is childish,”
Misaki swung her arm and shot a bolt of condensed air at her. “And your constant monologging is taking too long,”
Hearsay blocked, “I’m not monologging!”
“Save it,” Misaki said, throwing another bolt at her, this one was made of condensed electricity.
Hearsay blocked again, the sound crackling as the electricity dispersed.
Misaki wasn’t about to give her any time to think, throwing bolt after bolt of air, energy, and electricity at Hearsay.
Water bubbled up around their feet and began filling the box they were in.
“I believe you can swim,” Hearsay said, “But you can’t use electricity,” the top of the box sealed itself off and Misaki took a calming breath.
The water turned to ice under her feet, Misaki turning it into ammo. She threw chunks and slivers and needles of ice at Hearsay, forcing her to lose concentration on the water and focus all her energy on blocking Misaki’s attacks.
“How do you have so much energy,” Hearsay muttered. “You should be exhausted by now!”
“Maybe you didn’t know me as well as you thought,” Misaki said, the air swirling around them as she took control of their arena.
The air was cold, snowflakes buzzing around them, getting stuck in their hair and making their skin wet as steam poured off of their bodies. The ground shuttered, cracks etching their way towards Hearsay from where Misaki stood.
“You can’t use that many!” Hearsay yelled, still blocking the bolts of energy, fighting the wind, and trying to stay standing.
“Watch me!” Misaki shouted, reaching out one hand and grabbing for Hearsay’s heart with a quirk.
Hearsay choked, grabbing for her chest and Misaki slowly clenched her fist. “Sto- awk!” She keeled over, smacking the ground with a crack and thump and Misaki let go of the powers, the box going still and quiet.
“There’s no room in the inn,” Misaki muttered to herself, “Which is a shame for you, maybe you’d have a place in prison if there was,”
Hearsay was staring with sightless eyes at the ceiling of the box, mouth open, hand still clenched in her shirt.
Misaki wandered over to her and crouched, putting a hand to her chest and disintegrating her.
The box fell back into the earth and Misaki stood and looked back towards the entrance, the cracks in the tiles sealing themselves closed.
The mall looked like nothing had ever happened.
Keigo looked up from his phone from where he was sitting on a bench. “Done?”
Misaki nodded, “She’ll never bother anyone again,”
He glanced behind her once at the urn that was materializing itself out of the pile of ashes that had been Hearsay. “Right~”
Misaki stopped in front of the body of the boy, still unable to look at him fully.
“You can’t raise the dead,” Keigo said, “Can you?”
“Never tried,” Misaki said honestly, kneeling and putting her hands out over the pieces of his body.
“Don’t over do it-” Keigo started, walking towards her but she had already begun the process.
Misaki’s eyes were open but she wasn’t seeing what was in front of her. Her inner eye was searching through all the tangles and complications of sewing the body back together.
Both sides of the body began to glow and floated slightly as they pulled back together from the inside out, his organs and nerves and blood vessels knit themselves together. Electricity danced around the rooms, air flowing as the rest of the body was joined together, the skin sealing itself together perfectly, not a mark in sight. The boy breathed but when he was lowered to the ground again he was still dead and Misaki sat back on her ankles, gasping.
“What happened?” Keigo asked.
“I can’t bring him back,” she said softly. “His soul’s already ascended,”
Keigo looked down at the body of the boy. “At least he’ll be buried whole,”
Misaki swallowed, hurting slightly on the inside.
“You did what you could,” Keigo assured her, taking the boy in his arms, “You’re not god, don’t take it too hard,”
“But I can do everything else,” Misaki said sorely, “Why is this different?”
“Because science and magic and spirituality, they’re all different, they exist on different planes of paradox, you’ll never be able to bring people back. You aren’t supposed to,” he said. “But I’m sure the mother will feel better knowing her child will have a good afterlife with a whole body,”
Misaki tisked slightly, “It doesn’t feel like enough~”
“Nothing ever will,” he said, reaching forward putting a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently, “But that doesn’t mean it isn’t,”
She searched him quickly before letting out a breath and looking over her shoulder at Hearsay. “Should I have saved her?”
“We don’t know what would have happened if you did,” he said, “I think- this time- you did the right thing,”
She looked back at him and let him help her up as they started to move towards the entrance.
“They’ll know it’s me,” Misaki said, “People have already seen me,”
“Maybe we can gaslight them into believing they misheard,” he suggested.
They emerged into the light of late after noon, the air cool but the sun high and bright over their heads.
The cops had made a perimeter around the front of the building, keeping the onlookers back. The hero that had been called still wasn’t there yet and Misaki tried to imagine what could have happened if she and Keigo hadn’t had been there.
He left her to deliver the body of the boy to the cop that was talking to the mother. She burst into tears again as he explained to her what had happened, the body being taken by a paramedic, the cop and mother following.
Misaki wandered down the steps towards a less crowded part of the police tape, preparing to duck and run.
“Don’t wander yet,” Keigo said, grabbing her carefully. “We have to file a report,”
Misaki groaned, “I hate reports,”
“I’m aware,” he said, leading her towards an unoccupied cop.
“Can’t we do it later at the station?” she asked.
“Not gonna happen,” he said, “Might as well get it done and over with now,”
“Excuse me,” said a voice, which made Misaki glance to her right. “They said something about Misaki Aizawa,” Mina said to the cop she had interrupted to question, “Why are they saying that?”
“Some people say that someone claiming to be Misaki Aizawa confronted the villain inside the mall,” the cop said to her.
“That’s awful,” Jirou said, consoling a wrecked Momo.
“That’s so fricking insensitive,” Mina spat, shaking her head.
Misaki had slowed to a halt, watching them through the crowd and Keigo glanced at her before looking up at the other girls.
“Whatcha thinkin’?” he asked.
“I’m glad they still miss me,” Misaki said, “It makes me feel a little bit better,”
“Makes you feel ready to get back to them?” he asked, leading her back towards an unbusy cop.
“Yeah,” Misaki said, “I’m ready to go home,”