Chapter 4: Chance at Hope


*Izuku's POV*

I was woken up by the sun shining directly into my eyes and a warm breeze washing over my face. It made me think of the rare days when my dad could take me to the beach and we would sit on the sand and breathe in the refreshing sea breeze. Except, the breeze didn't smell like the sea. It smelt like pollution and sewage, reminding me that I was in the bad part of town. I manoeuvred myself off of the bed and gently sat in the chair which looked out onto the city. The neighbourhood we were in could only be described as rough. The streets were littered with rubbish. There were quite a few burnt cars. The buildings were decrepit and covered in all sorts of graffiti, from street art to rude words. I think I even saw a blood-covered ginger cat being eaten by a pack of rats. That sight alone caused me to gag slightly and push myself as far away from the barred window as I could be. 

As I was pacing around the small prison I was being contained in, I noticed that there was a small screwdriver on the floor. How I hadn't noticed before was beyond me, I was probably in too much of a pain-filled daze to notice. I picked it up and looked at it in contemplation. It wasn't very sharp so I wouldn't be able to use it as a weapon. I doubt it would even draw blood if I were to stab someone with it. I sighed before flopping onto the bed, screwdriver in hand. I laid there for what felt like half an hour, just staring at the ceiling and scratching at my wrist. The quirk suppressing bracelet they had given me agitated my skin. I blame the fact that I hadn't been given any food or water on the fact that I didn't realise sooner. It was as I was scratching my wrist and thinking of ways to sharpen the screwdriver that the idea suddenly occurred to me. I could use the screwdriver to break the cuff. If I did that then I could escape on my own. When I finally thought of this, I was severely disappointed in myself for not thinking of it earlier. I sighed and sat up, looking at the cuff intently. It was completely smooth, I couldn't see and grooves which I could try to pry open. I didn't want to just start stabbing at it seeing as it could electrocute me and kill me. I continued to appraise the cuff until I found it. 

There was only one bit on the device which could possibly be opened, and it blended in so well that I missed it several times. When I finally saw the tiny square of metal, I nearly squealed from excitement. I quickly set to work. I tried to use the screwdriver to pry the metal square up. It took a lot of patience and I was tempted to give up on several occasions, but I persevered and managed to lift the square of metal up ever so slightly. Once the metal was raised, I found hope. I kept going and going, through the day and into the night. By the light of the moonlight, I finally managed to pry the square off of the quirk suppressing cuff. In the silvery light, I saw that the hole which was under the metal square was full of wires and (very conveniently) a blue button which I could only assume turned the cuff on and off. I took a deep breath and steadied my shaking hands so that I wouldn't accidentally kill myself trying to reach the blue button. I carefully inserted the screwdriver into the square hole, being sure to avoid all of the wires. I pressed the small blue button and closed my eyes in anticipation. I wasn't electrocuted. Nobody burst into the room. I was in the clear. There was only one way to test whether I could use my quirk. I took a deep breath and pictured a cat in my mind. I felt myself shrink and my clothes melt into my body as I shrank into the familiar and comforting form of a cat. I could hardly contain my joy as I rolled around on the bed and took in the fact that I was able to transform. After a minute, I got a hold on myself and focused on the bars. I could escape. I was about to launch myself up onto the window sill when the sound of footsteps marching up the stairs reached my ears. I was back in my human form within a second. I put the metal square back onto the quirk suppressing cuff and threw the screwdriver under the bed. I was sat upright and had a neutral expression on my face just in time for the locks on the door to click and the door to open.

Kurogiri gracefully glided into the room and looked at me. It was hard to actually see when he was looking at me. His face was always waving about. "Come here." he warbled. I ducked my head and shuffled over to the living portal. He grabbed me by my arm and started dragging me down the stairs. I let him guide me so that I didn't appear suspicious. I had to find the perfect opportunity to escape.  

When we arrived in the bar, everyone was sat around, staring at a TV which showed an empty table filled with microphones. It looked like the layout for a press conference. "Ah, there you are, son." Hisashi smiled 'kindly'. I'd believe that he didn't have a bad bone in his body if I hadn't been beaten by him only the day before. I held my tongue when he called me his son. I wasn't his son and he wasn't my dad. My dad was walking out onto the stage at the press conference.

*Shota's POV*

I took a deep breath before I walked out onto the stage to face the media vultures. I didn't want to be at a fucking press conference, I wanted to be out looking for my son. I had no choice though. We were using the press conference as a cover. Whilst we were talking to the press, two groups of heroes would raid two locations which had been associated with The League of Villains. I wanted to be on the front lines, fighting to get my son back, but I was required at the press conference. I took a little comfort in the fact that Hizashi, Nemuri and Emi were all out trying to get Izuku back. "Aizawa, we need to go out onto the stage now." Sekijiro (Vlad King) muttered. I nodded and mentally prepared myself for the anger I would no doubt feel at the media's prodding questions. 

Sekijiro, Nezu and I all walked onto the stage and bowed to the swarms of media in front of the stage. Their camera's flashed in my eyes, only succeeding in agitating me further. The three of us took our seats and the reporters immediately began shouting out questions. "Over here! Do you fault yourself for a student being kidnapped and the countless other injured?" "Mr Nezu! How do you plan on combating the rising attacks targeted at your students?" "Mr Eraserhead! Who are you?". I tried my best to keep my anger at bay as Nezu placated the buzzing crowd. "Please stay calm everybody. We will be answering questions in an orderly matter." Nezu hummed in his calming voice. The media buzzards settled down and waited patiently to be chosen. Nezu pointed towards a tall dark-haired male, who then nodded and stood up. The man looked down at his notebook before he looked up and asked his question. "Mr Eraserhead, we have been told that you told your students that they were permitted to use their quirks, is this true?" the man asked in a snotty voice. "Yes, that is true." I replied simply. Several reporters scribbled into their little books. "And why did you think that was a good idea. Surely you put your students in more danger by encouraging them to fight villains such as Moonfish and Muscular." the reporter continued somewhat smugly. "I think you've jumped to a conclusion which is not true. I did give the first-year students permission to use their quirks however I did not encourage them to fight. I gave the students permission to use their quirks so that if they should encounter a villain they could defend themselves sufficiently. If the students had not been allowed to use their quirks, there is no doubt in my mind that students would have lost their lives and we would not have been able to apprehend three of the seven villains who attacked." I answered levelly. 

The next question was from a stout woman with coffee colour skin and pointed ears. "As we're all aware, a student name Izuku Midoriya was kidnapped. However, this isn't the first time he had been in the news. Roughly 9 years ago, the same Izuku Midoriya was in the papers after his father Hisashi Midoriya murdered his mother, Inko Midoriya, is it safe to assume that Midoriya was targeted by his father who escaped from prison in March?" the reporter must have done a lot of digging to churn up that information. "It is hard to say at this moment. The students who were present when Young Midoriya was kidnapped have said that he saved another student from being kidnapped, effectively sacrificing himself. However, we have been told by the apprehended villains that there was a list of desirable students that the League wished to take and Young Midoriya was indeed high on that list." Nezu answered the woman. The woman nodded and sat down as she took some notes. 

"How has the kidnapped student's legal guardian taken this event? Midoriya's middle school records show him as being registered under the name Izuku Aizawa-Midoriya. Why was his name altered when he entered UA?" a baboon faced reporter asked. I froze in my seat as the reporter spoke. Why had they gone to his middle-school? This seemed totally unethical. "Disregard that last question. Do you hold yourself accountable for the kidnapping of Aizawa-Midoriya?" The same reporter asked me. I held my breath for a second before breathing out to answer the question. " I do indeed place some of the blame on myself. As a pro hero and Midoriya's homeroom teacher, I should have been there to save him. However, I can't take full responsibility as I wasn't the one to kidnap him." I answered. The reporter seemed to be content with that answer. On the outside, I was calm and collected, but inside I was on an angry rampage. He had just exposed the fact that Izuku was my son. Whilst any normal civilian wouldn't understand the significance of Izuku's hyphenated name, my class and colleagues certainly would. I had no idea how I was going to make it through the rest of the press conference. 

*Shoto's POV*  

I watched on one of the many public screens as Aizawa, Nezu and Vlad King spoke at the UA press conference. I could see the anger burning in Aizawa's eyes as questions were fired at him. Katsuki, Momo, Iida, Kirishima and I were all stood in a public square staring up at the screens. Ochako had said she wasn't going to come and we should just leave it to the pros. Kirishima had tagged along with us more on accident than anything. He had seen us leaving the dorms and followed us. Iida was only with us so that he could stop us from doing anything stupid. "We should move on." Momo whispered, ripping her gaze away from the screen on the side of a building. We all nodded and were about to move on when a certain question caught our attention."How has the kidnapped student's legal guardian taken this event? Midoriya's middle school records show him as being registered under the name Izuku Aizawa-Midoriya. Why was his name altered when he entered UA?". 

I could see the anger simmering in both Katsuki's and Aizawa's eyes at the reporter's question. "Woah, what? Aizawa-Midoriya? Like Aizawa Sensei? Is Izuku Aizawa's son?" Kiri asked in a confused tone. "Yeah. He adopted him when Izuku was 7." Katsuki answered briskly through clenched teeth. I placed my hand on his shoulder to bring him out of his angry haze and get him back in the right mindset. "It doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that we get to the location on that tracker as soon as possible." I whispered in a hushed voice so that the people around us wouldn't hear. The others nodded and followed after Momo as she led us to one of the places my boyfriend could be. I could feel the tension in our group as we moved through Kamino ward. I think we all knew that something monumental was going to happen.  

Thank you for reading Chapter 4 of Phenomenon. I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.

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