Chapter 41: Under the belly.
"Care to explain Haru-san?" Iida gripped my other shoulder with the force of trash compactor, chopping the air with his other hand in his own distinct style.
The class's eyes were all on me as I instinctively activated Laplace Junior to cope and find the right solution to the situation.
Own up.
Keep secret.
Take control.
Were the answers.
Alright then. I suppose people respect you more when you own up to it.
Let's do it.
I smiled and scooped Haruto up in my arms, before turning to the class.
"This is my son, Haruto!" I said.
"And I'm Himiko! Haru's girlfriend!" Himiko added, latching onto me, eyeing the girls of the class, as if to say, "Mine!".
I see that's why she's here. She's thinking that maybe I'll two time her.
Not that I wouldn't. If there was a large enough benefit that is.
Or if I felt like it.
"B-b-but Haru-chan! Didn't you just start dating her last month? And that kid looks at least 5 years old! How is that possible?"
"Yeah! Tell us!" Mina added, excited at the unexpected situation.
Having fun out of my misery are you, Ashido? We'll see about you later.
Uraraka, was shooting glances at Deku with a tomato red blush, as Sero and Mineta glared hatefully at me.
"Lucky bastard!" They muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
"We made him in a secret lab hidden deep underground. The thing about the kid is, he has a weird mutant hybrid quirk. He grew this much in like a week. It was insane. You should've seen it. Like one minute he's all blood and goo and next he's pulling himself together like an alien or something. And then he just grew like nothing I've ever seen before." I said jokingly.
The easiest way to make people believe a lie is to show them the phenomenally weirder truth first.
Like a CIA agent telling someone they work for the CIA, the person not believing them and then lying and saying they actually work as a clerk in the DMV, only to be believed.
"Stop joking! Just tell us the truth!" Mina insisted.
I looked at Mina with a mischievous grin.
"As I said, he's our son." I said with mock sincerity.
"But pregnancies take nine months?" Momo asked unconvinced.
I gave Himiko a look to stay quiet and agree with me.
Next, I muddled Haruto's conciousness with trance to make him forget the next few minutes of conversation, before answering.
I made a serious face, changing the attitude completely.
"Yeah. Fine. I was joking. He's not biologically ours. Let's just say, he didn't have the best parents." I said, lifting his shirt, showing the scars on his back from the reprogramming plug in, playing them up as bruises from abusive parents.
"So we're taking care of him for a while. Just until Himiko is sixteen and can adopt him properly." I added.
"Why not report them to the police?" Iida asked.
"Because the police can't, no, won't do anything. The system doesn't care what happens to the poor and downtrodden people." I said
"That cannot be true!" Iida insisted.
"Tell me Iida, why do you think Deku and me found Himiko before the police or the heroes? Are we that much more talented at detective work? Two amateur teenage jackasses armed with a shitty police scanner and one taser between the two of us? Are we more effective at searching than the entire police force? Better than 11 teams of heroes? No." I said, "We found Himiko because we were the only ones who bothered to follow her trail into the destitute parts of town. The slums where the poor and dirty people live. The police don't go there because they are afraid of being assaulted.
The heroes don't go there because there is no fame or glory to be had in helping the stinky and toothless citizens of our country. That's why you see all the hero agencies concentrated in the downtown and suburban sectors of cities. Because the heroes care more about looking good in front of the camera than actually helping people. People like Himiko and Haruto, stuck in the underbelly of society."
Iida looked to oppose my argument as Momo interjected, looking at her phone.
"He's right! How did I not notice this before? All the hero agencies are indeed in the suburban and downtown regions. There are almost no hero agencies in the poorer parts of town!" She said.
She was right. Only not completely. Since most crimes happen in the suburban and downtown regions, it's only logical that the hero agencies position themselves in the right places. Of course, I wasn't going to tell them that. Why destroy my own argument with the truth?
"What?!" The other students exclaimed.
"My point exactly." I continued, "Only vigilantes like me and Deku, and a few heroes like Aizawa-sensei, patrol the poorer parts of town. No one else cares whether the people there live or die. That's just the way the world works. You don't progress up in hero society by actually being a hero. You progress in hero society by appearing on camera and looking good.
That's why Aizawa-sensei isn't one of the top ten heroes, even with his awesome quirk. Because he doesn't appear in front of the cameras. He does his work, good work, whether there is someone to watch him do it or not. For all that I dig into him, he is actually a rather good man." I said.
A silence descended on the class.
"Why don't we ever hear of this then? Why did no one tell us about these problems?" Kirishima asked, concerned.
"Why would they? News channels are profit based enterprises. Ugly and poor people don't sell subscriptions. In fact, Kirishima, when was the last time you looked a homeless person in the eye? Really looked at them like people?" I asked.
Kirishima averted his gaze in shame as he realized the truth.
As did the others.
"See. That's why. Now don't beat yourselves up over it. It's not your fault. You didn't know. And hey, you can be better heroes now! You're the future of hero society aren't you? Be the change you want to see in the world and all? Deku's already doing it. So can you!" I said, smiling, and patting Kirishima and Iida on the back comforting them.
"Yeah. You're right! We will be better." Kirishima said with raging determination.
"Great. Just keep this a secret alright. Aizawa-sensei is already on my ass for my attitude. I don't want any more trouble." I said.
"Yes."
"Definitely."
"Sure."
They all nodded and agreed.
I breathed a sigh of relief. This went well enough, if only marginally so.
But this can't keep happening. Today, it was just Himiko. Tomorrow it could be anything else. Worse even.
I cannot lose control of the narrative. Not at such a critical juncture.
I decided then. No more holding back.
I had grown complacent and distracted over the past month of vacation.
No more!
I still wouldn't use my full power, but I would start using Remote Control alongside Immobilization Eye. And I'd use both with at least 20% of my power.
No more unforseen accidents and destined encounters.
It's time to become the chessmaster I'd planned to be.
The rest of the class returned home. All except Deku, who was taking the long way home with us.
As we walked through a backalley, Deku suddenly stopped.
"Haru-chan, the first story was the truth wasn't it? I know when you lie like that. Why didn't you tell me? Let me help?" He said.
"You know Deku, sometimes you're too smart for your own good." I sighed, activating my trance wire jacks, pondering whether I'd be able to wipe his memory before the seven others in his head tackled me out.
Guess we'll find out, huh?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
GoldFinger
GoldFinger phew! that was a close shave wasn't it?
btw. we're almost at 100 power stones. (61/100)
at 100 power stones there will be extra chapters!
thanks for reading. and thanks for 300k views. thats a the most view I've ever gotten on a fanfic or any fic.
*wipes tear* it's beautiful!
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