Chapter 22

Chapter 22

This enemy attack incident ended up with two teachers and one student seriously injured, and one student's Quirk going berserk, leaving that student unconscious.

Aizawa Kirisame lay in the hospital bed, her high fever had gone down a lot.

The two-toned hair pretty boy who brought her in hadn't had time to change out of his battle costume; he just sat by her bed, spacing out.

...Actually, he didn't want to, but his ability came in handy for her current condition, so Recovery Girl asked him to stay and help.

Recovery Girl said she had lost control of her Quirk, and the injection worked well, but it was extremely difficult to administer because his classmate's unconscious self-defense mechanism was terrifyingly strong. In the end, he had to help freeze her onto the bed to get it done.

Lying quietly in bed, she looked completely different from usual—very fragile, as if a slight touch would make her curl up into a ball like a pill bug, the complete opposite of the way she had saved Teacher Aizawa and Midoriya in the square earlier that day.

At this moment, Shoto Todoroki sat by her bed, realizing that his prejudice against her, because of Endeavor, had already mostly faded.

Due to her fever, the girl's cheeks were pink from the fever, looking like a peach that looked soft to touch. When the boy came to, he realized his fingers, holding a wet towel, were just inches from her face.

Just as he hesitated and thought about pulling his hand back, Kirisame, sensing the cold temperature, reflexively nuzzled against it.

With a crack, the towel froze into a chunk of ice and landed on Kirisame's forehead.

"..."

The girl frowned, not minding it, and happily hugged the icy towel and rubbed it a couple of times, and fell back asleep.

The boy stood outside the door, leaning against it, thinking about the red spot on her forehead, feeling a bit guilty.

When Kirisame woke up, it was nearly evening.

Next to her, Midoriya had already woken up. In the next room was her dark-haired guardian, who had multiple fractures and a scratched-up face. Thanks to Kirisame's timely treatment, there were no serious aftereffects.

Kirisame checked her arms and legs; her body was basically back to normal, except for some reason her forehead hurt a bit.

Seeing her awake, her classmates swarmed in.

"Are you and Midoriya alright?" the class rep asked worriedly. "If only I could have been faster..."

Midoriya waved his bandaged paw to reassure him: "No no, thanks to Iida, we were able to call for backup!"

Ashido pounced on Kirisame's bedside: "Kirisame, you're finally awake! How do you feel? Does it still hurt? Recovery Girl said your Quirk went out of control. Where were you teleported to earlier? What happened?"

"Little Mina, one question at a time. She just woke up and is still weak, kero."

The pink-haired girl scratched her head sheepishly.

Seeing the calm look in Asui's eyes, Kirisame knew she couldn't get out of this today.

"I was unlucky and got teleported right to the cliff of the mountain field. Maybe I already had a slight fever before. When I came to my senses, I found myself falling and got startled."

As she explained, Kirisame reached out to try activating her Quirk but was lightly tapped on the hand by Recovery Girl's cane. She quietly stuck out her tongue and put her hand back.

"Then for some reason, I suddenly pulled out my new sword. Since I'd just pulled it out and my body wasn't feeling right, I couldn't control it," Kirisame said, a bit embarrassed. "And that's how it ended up."

"Speaking of which, I did see you on the cliff face back then..." Yaoyorozu said guiltily. "At the time I just thought something was off, but if only I had pulled you away right then."

Kirisame imitated Midoriya's earlier gesture and waved: "It's okay. Even if you had stopped me, I probably couldn't have controlled it anyway. I'd have just caused you trouble."

"Kirisame, did you feel anything strange when your Quirk went out of control, kero?"

Hearing this question, even Midoriya, who had been talking to Uraraka on the side, turned around.

"Yeah, you were really scary at that time—" Mineta was cut off by Asui, who pressed his head down.

Kirisame looked confused: "...What?"

"It's nothing, maybe I was overthinking it..." Asui lowered her head.

[Somehow... at that time, Kirisame's personality seemed a bit different too.]

"Forget about that. Look! We bought you and Midoriya some yuzu! Isn't that great?"

Kirishima dragged a grumpy-looking spiky-haired boy to the front: "Bakugo paid half!"

"Shut up, you shitty hair!" The boy pushed Kirishima's head away impatiently, then after holding it in for a while, blurted out: "Get better soon!"

Figuring it was a nice thing to say, Kirisame smiled and nodded at him.

"Hmph!"

"The patients still need rest. Don't stay too late." Recovery Girl left a reminder and walked out.

Separated by a wall, everyone didn't dare speak too loudly, afraid of disturbing the unconscious homeroom teacher, but the atmosphere gradually became more relaxed.

Having encountered villains for the first time, no matter how scared they might be thinking back on it, for now there was still a lot to talk about.

Kaminari had snapped out of his dumb state and was happily boasting to the girls who weren't in his group. Jirō immediately shot him down, and he quickly got all depressed.

Aoyama was going around giving people meaningful, glittering stares. Bakugo, feeling creeped out, wanted to punch him but was held back by Kirishima, his hair bristling in annoyance.

Kirisame quietly listened to Mineta telling Yaoyorozu and the others what she had done on the square, feeling a bit awkward under Kirishima's "Kirisame, you're so manly" gaze.

But... it was kind of nice.

On the other bed, the green-haired boy looked at the girl's expression, his gaze soft.

Back at the hideout, the atmosphere between Kurogiri and Shigaraki was different again.

The two leaned silently against the wooden bar counter, one standing, one sitting, neither speaking.

Shigaraki was probably angry. Kurogiri...

Kurogiri didn't dare to speak now.

...Who knew how long that state would last!

All For One and his ally waited for a long time, only hearing Shigaraki's dissatisfied curses. Both were a little confused.

"Heh... heh," the gray-blue-haired young man's nervous laughter rang out, laced with malice: "Sensei, today I almost got killed by some little brat."

"Oh?"

At this point, Kurogiri had no choice but to speak. Steeling himself mentally, he said: "It's the kid you asked me to keep an eye on, the one named Aizawa Kirisame."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he was surprised to find his voice was back to normal!

In an instant, life was worth living again. He was so happy that even Shigaraki seemed like a thoughtful boss.

"Huh... You know her, Sensei?"

“A little trinket I lost many years ago. I’ve found you now. What, Tomura, are you interested in her?”

“Ah… I’m pretty interested.” Shigaraki stroked his wrist where Kirisame had grabbed him, recalling the indifferent gaze in those brilliant golden pupils and the careless way her blade pointed downward—both pleased and irritated. “How can she be on their side?”

…She’s so much like me.

But the way she smiles is just like those brats from U.A.

It pisses me off.

I want to kill her.

“If it bugs you that much, wait for the next time. Be patient, Tomura. There will always be an opportunity.”

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes and nodded.

And that kid who looks like All Might…

Having survived this terrifying day, Tsurumaru Kuninaga finally returned to the citadel.

Almost as soon as he appeared, he was surrounded.

The old tachi, who always loved spinning tall tales to trick others, used his years of accumulated skill to explain the day’s events with a mix of truth and fiction. He repeatedly assured them that neither he nor the Lady was hurt, finally passing the scrutiny of his colleagues and getting off the hook.

In the dead of night, the swords who had been greatly frightened during the day had mostly fallen into deep sleep. The white-haired tachi found Mikazuki Munechika sitting serenely on the porch.

The two tsukumogami, one standing and one sitting, wore no trace of a smile on their faces.

Tsurumaru reached out and grasped Mikazuki’s left hand hidden in his sleeve.

Ominous black patterns extended from deep within the sleeve, almost covering his entire hand. The red that symbolized corruption dyed the originally golden crescent in his eyes into a shadowed shade.

“How long has Lord Mikazuki been like this?”

The tachi, whose beautiful side profile showed no readable emotion, replied: “From the very beginning.”

Tsurumaru shut his eyes.

“When I was by her side, when I wasn’t fully conscious, I seemed to recall many things. When I woke up again, only a vague impression remained.”

The white-haired, golden-eyed tachi tsukumogami took off his half-finger gloves, revealing startlingly the same corruption patterns as Mikazuki’s, albeit much lighter: “And that's how it ended up.”

“I’ve wondered from the start—no matter how remote this citadel is, how could the government not have found us after so long? Even when we don’t go on sorties, resources for repairs keep showing up near wherever we go on expeditions, as if they know what we’re doing.”

“Mr. Mikazuki, do you know why?”

“Hahaha—” Mikazuki handed him a cup of tea and gestured for him to sit: “Perceptive as always, Lord Tsurumaru.”

“So there really is a reason?” Tsurumaru blinked. “You really caught me off guard there…”

Mikazuki Munechika’s face still bore his usual calm, gentle smile, with an unusually sincere touch: “Forgetting is a good thing.”

He held out his hand—already half-black—and gave it a little wave: “You will know eventually.”

Tsurumaru stared at his outstretched fingers, seeming to understand a little of what he meant.

“Then I’ll get straight to the other matter.”

The white-haired tachi thought of the Young Lady he desperately wanted to surprise—the one who, while he was out of control and dragging her recklessly through the sky, called out to him in a voice that trembled with pain yet stayed steady and gentle, even as she trembled from the hurt.

“I know it was the black fire of corruption.” He met Mikazuki’s eyes directly.

“But why… was that fire able to hurt her?”

Yes, a tsukumogami’s corruption fire cannot harm a human.

So what's the reason for that?

Mikazuki Munechika was at a loss for words.

From the very first decision, to the first time he pulled this desperate little girl out of danger; to getting her to promise to live on, to burden her with responsibilities that weren’t her own; to watching her stumble and grow, giving it her all to keep that promise; and then to seeing her gradually find herself, a faint light flickering in her eyes.

Scene by scene passed, then stopped at Tsurumaru Kuninaga's question.

Under the cold moonlight of late spring, the tsukumogami with the crescent moon in his eyes gripped his teacup so tight his knuckles went white. The indescribable shock and pain welled up from his chest mixed with blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth.