The 9 Millimeter Kiss - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

"This just in, another series of disappearances have been reported in the Kansai region. Ten people from ages 7 to 32 have gone missing. Police reports say neither of the missing people have any sort of connection to those of last weeks missing in Okinawa and are urging all to be more aware of their surroundings and follow the buddy system as much as possible."
"Scary..." Tenji shivered. The thought of not only adults but children, going missing without a trace was just unthinkable to him.
"Turn that off." Takumi walked into the living room, a jacket in his arms. "We have to get going. Yuki! Hurry up and grab your things!"
Tenji compiled and turned off the tv. "Taku-kun, we're going to the amusement park. Not to catch a flight." he yawned.
"The earlier the better." he replied. "Yuki! Are you ready?"
"I don't even think he's out of bed. It's only 6." Tenji smiled laying on the couch.
"There's a 4 hour drive. And with traffic it'll take longer. Yuki--"
A small boy shuffled into the living room. Trying his best to rub the sleep out of them. "I'm rweaaady..." he yawned.
His shirt was on inside out, his shorts on the wrong way, mixed matched socks, and from the looks of it-
"Did you brush your teeth?"
"Taku-kun~ Look at the poor boy." Tenji chuckled, getting up and walking over to half-asleep Yuki.
"I'll get the birthday boy ready, you can try to pack some snacks or breakfast while you wait." Tenji gently picked up Yuki, who instantly laid his head comfortable on his shoulder.
"I can do it--"
"No. I got it."
"Are you sure?"
"Takumi." Tenji turned around giving Yuki's dad a look. "I got it."
"Shin..." Yuki mumbled.
"Come on Yuki-chan, let's get you properly freshened up and dressed. We're going to the Amusement park! Remember?"
"Park..."
Takumi smiled softly as he watched the interactions with his partner and his son.
Yuki had gone ahead and changed back into his uniform before the exam was completely over.
His hand was beginning to bruise and a part of his mechanical glove was cracked.
He was lucky his classmates wouldn't push it if he simply said it happened during the exam.
As for Aizawa, he could probably play it off as having sprained it. Probably. So for now he's just trying to hide it with bandages and his sweater's sleeves.
Oh! Yuki-kun! There you are!" Midoriya smiled at him.
"Yo! Didn't break anything, did'ja?" Yuki smirked, shoving his hands in his sweater pockets.
"No! Not this time!" the greenette beamed up at him.
Yuki raised an eyebrow, amused at how his friend's reaction was similar to a child's. "Good to know."
"Yuki-kun!" Iida shouted, making his way over. Trying to not hit people with his hero costume.
"Hey, think you passed?" Yuki asked, grinning as his friends seemed to be uninjured.
"Where have you been?" Iida chopped. "You are out of your hero costume and nowhere to be seen when the villain's attacked during the exam!"
Yuki lazily shrugged. "I was around. You just didn't see me."
"Yuki-kun! Oh, thank goodness!" Uraraka cheered upon seeing him. "I thought we lost you."
Yuki's smile faltered a bit. "N-no. I was still around."
"If everyone could please meet back here in an hour. We will have all points tallied up and will be announcing the results...."
"I'll wait for you guys here." Yuki smiled at them. "I'm sure you all did great."
"It was difficult..." Uraraka sighed. Feeling the wave of exhaustion beginning.
As Yuki waited, he thought back to the conversation he had with Watanabe. If it was true he was trying to reach out to him, it would be impossible. Dr. Young and Mr. Watanabe had made sure of it. If. and only If. did he manage to get in touch... Yuki didn't know what would happen. What he would do if he heard from him again...
"You should probably be on the lookout, expect a visit from my Dad." Watanabe had told him.
"Has he contacted Dr. Young?" Yuki asked. He didn't want to keep his guardian away from his work. Especially not with this again.
"I don't think so. But if he keeps trying to bargain, he might."
Yuki's face turned sour.
The bright flashes. The white snow he'd so missed. A gentle hand guiding him though what felt like millions watching him. The warm coat and boots that felt too big on his thin figure. And the bandages under all that clothing.
"Keep your head down." the kind man told him. Pulling down on his hood.
The way the dark sunglasses would fog with the mask. His body felt numb yet light.
"We're here outside the building. The trial has finally ended and with almost a decade of living in constant fear, the Country of Japan can finally rest."
The cheers and applause muffled as the child continued to walk and be guided to a vehicle.
"--He was sentenced to life in prison and charged with the kidnapping and Murder of 15 known cases. Reports say he confessed to only 5, but forensics were able to tie the other 10 back to him."
'It's so loud...'
"Thank you! Thank you, you brave soul!"
The crowd cheered as all eyes in Japan watched the unknown child get into the car, followed by his unknown guardian and their lawyer.
"...thank you for all your hard work...Yuki-kun~"
Yuki snapped his head up. Looking around.
"Now, I will announce the results,"
"Yuki! We're over here!" Uraraka's voice sounded ever so distant.
Yuki returned her wave. Calming himself as much as possible, walking over.
"I will tell you about the scoring system before that, Between those of us at the Heroes Public Safety Commission and H.U.C. we had a two-fold demerit system we used while watching you."
Yuki quietly stood near his class. His thoughts not entirely there...
"In other words, we were evaluating you on how few mistakes you made in a crisis situation. Anyway, the names of those who passed as listed in syllabary order. Please check the list keeping words in mind."
Yuki mindlessly glossed over the names from the end of the list. Sure enough his name was there.
"How unfair..." he whispered.
"URARAKA!"
He glanced over to his dear friends. Their hard work seemingly having paid off...
"It's not there!"
Yuki turned to the constipated voice. So Bakugo failed....
"We did it! Yuki-kun! We passed!" Uraraka cheered jumping on her toes as she tugged on his arm.
Oh well.
"Yeah!" Yuki matched her excitement.
"Um, next we will pass out your results. They will have the breakdown of your scores, so please look over them carefully."
Yuki got a hold of his and much (not) to his surprise, it was a perfect score.
Chiyo-sensei... I appreciate this but...
He glanced over Uraraka's shoulder. I don't want special treatment.
"The cutoff score was 50 points. We scored based on a demerit system. You can see how many points were taken off for which actions all listed out on the printouts."
"64 points... I barely made it."
"I got 84!"
"Yaomomo, you got 94?!"
Yuki quickly began to fold his paper in attempts to hide it.
"Iida what did you get?" Midoriya asked.
"I got 80 points." Iida stated proudly. "What about you?"
"I got 71 points."
Yuki cautiously tucked his much folded paper into his pocket. No reason for it to be shown.
"What did you get Uraraka?" he asked.
"I got 78." she smiled showing him her paper.
"Wow... you did pretty good." Yuki smiled ruffling her hair.
"Um, for those of you who passed, from now on, during emergency situations only, you may exercise authority the same as that of the pro heroes."
O-oh... is that what Aizawa meant....
Yuki technically did already have authority for emergencies and rescues for the past 3-4 years...
"In other words, fighting villains, saving people from criminal acts or accidents-- You may act on your own judgement in these cases without the direction of a hero. However, this means that each and every one of your actions carries with it a responsibility towards society. I'm sure you all know that the great hero, All Might, has used up all of his power. HIs existence played a large part in suppressing crime. With that pillar gone, impudent people will definitely appear. The balance will be destroyed, and as the world changes greatly, you young people will someday become the center of society. Next, you all must become exemplary heroes and become great enough to suppress crime yourselves."
Suppressing them won't do any good...
"This time, all you have received is your provisional license to perform hero activities. I would like you to think of yourselves as fledglings had be even more diligent in your studies at your respective schools. And for those of you who did not pass--"
Yuki threw Bakugo a quick glance who seemed to only be paying half attention.
"There is no time for you to feel dejected that you didn't have enough points. There is still a chance left for you all. After you attend a 3-month-long special course and pass an individual test, we plan to issue a provisional license to you all, as well."
A sigh of relief and awe came from a couple of students.
"In order to deal with this 'future' that I just spoke of, we need as many good heroes as we can get. The first test was to weed out people, but we would like to grow the hundred selected in that test as much as possible. That is why we watched all of you until the end. As a result, we saw that it wasn't that you didn't have promise. Rather once your inadequacies are corrected, all of you have that potential to be even greater than those who passed."
It feels like they're trying to send out as many new heroes out there as fast as possible.
"I think it will keep you pretty busy doing this concurrently with your studies, and you may also choose to retake the exam in April instead, but--"
"OF COURSE!"
"YES, PLEASE!"
"Yuki-kun what did you get?" Uraraka asked, tugging lightly on his sleeve.
"Get what?"
"Your score,"
Yuki blinked and thought of where he might have placed had he taken the exam fairly.
"Uh... 9-- 90."
"Wow! You placed second in our class." she beamed.
"Yeah. I made a few rookie mistakes." Yuki lied.
It felt like eternity as everyone waited for the actual license to be processed, made and handed out to them.
"The sun is setting." Yuki pointed out to no one in particular.
"I blinked when they took the picture!" Uraraka shrieked.
"Let me see." Yuki quickly snatched her license and held it up.
"NO!"
Yuki smiled down at her. "You don't look bad,"
"Liar!" she whined snatching it out of his grasp, having floated up a bit.
"Wanna see mine?" Yuki asked in hopes of making her feel better.
She pouted as she put hers away but nodded anyway.
"Yuki..."
"Yes?"
"You look too serious."
"Thanks."
A small cry of joy was heard.
"Deku, are you crying?" Uraraka asked.
Midoriya quickly changed his expression. Now bashful.
"Well, it's... you know..."
Yuki gently took his license from Uraraka, placing it in his wallet next to his school ID and the special medical I.D. that was given to him during the week of their internships.
"I was helped by so many... and caused trouble for so many..."
"Damn right you did." Yuki imputed playfully.
Midoriya gave him an apologetic smile.
"So... how do I put it... it kind of feels like I've matured a lot and it makes me so happy."
Yuki smiled at his no-longer self destructive friend and was about to say something when he recalled not even a year ago did he have a quirk.
"I want to show it to Mom and All Might as soon as possible!" the greenette shrieked as he began to take more than one picture of his license.
Yuki's smile fell. He'd let himself completely neglect the fact that Midoriya was in fact once a quirkless boy.
Yuki sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. I need to get back to doing research.
"Yuki-kun are alright?" Uraraka asked.
"Yeah just--"
"What happened to your hand?"
"Huh? Oh! Kind of sprained it during the exam. It should be fine by tomorrow." he casually told her.
A little ways away stood Aizawa who had noticed the bandaged hand. And he knew for a fact it wasn't there during their little chat earlier.
As much as Yuki wanted to celebrate along with his classmates he decided to call in early for the night. He made sure to wash up but the majority of the time he spent in a daze. Letting the water run as he stood under it. Only finally getting out when he grew tired of standing.
He made sure to apply his lotion on his scars. Yuki couldn't feel the injured tissue when he ran his fingers over it. But he'd certainly remember what it was like when he did get them.
Yuki wondered if Bakugo would be coming over. He kind of wished he didn't.
Not today. There was just too much going on in his head.
It was fairly early into the evening when he went to bed.
Caladrius... that was his hero name now on his license.
"I wonder how she would be like today..."
"I can't remember."
"Come on, son--"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"Ok, okay... is there anything you can remember from this person then?"
Two detectives.
Only Two detectives were allowed to see him. And they made sure to spend as much time giving him pictures of missing people from the past decade to look at.
The grey eyed boy wanted to help but as much as he tried to recall their faces, names, or voices... it just wouldn't happen.
With a shaky sigh he looked at one last picture being held up to him.
"I--" a gasp left his lips. His eyes widened.
"You recognize her?" the detective exclaimed. Finally making some sort of progress.
Slowly, he reached up to take the picture. "Mai."
"Yes, that's right. Okamoto Mai." the detective let the boy hold the picture.
"Mai... is missing?"
The detective frowned. "She was found a month--"
"Is she okay?"
"Well--"
The boy sat up from his bed, "She's fine, right?!"
"Yuki-kun, don't strain yourself." the Doctor warned.
"He didn't get her, did he? Right? She's fine?" the boy's voice growing desperate.
The two detectives looked between each other.
"How do you know her?" the woman asked.
He looked at the photo.
"We were friends... when I moved to a new house. She was the reason I found out I had a quirk."
"This was before you moved here...?" one of them asked.
The boy nodded eagerly. "Yes! She's fine though, right?"
The grip on the photograph tightening. "RIGHT?!"
"I think that's enough for today."
"No. Tell me she's okay! She's okay right?!"
"Yuki--"
"NO! PLEASE NO!"
"Nurse!"
"NO! PLEASE! MAI'S ALIVE! SHE HAS TO BE!"
Three nurses came in as the two detectives took their leave.
"Retrain him."
"NO! STOP!"
"You need to calm down." the Doctor told him as he forced the boy on his back.
"NO!" a sob left the boy's lips.
"She's going to be a hero! She can't--
MAI!"
He shot up gasping for air. His phone ringing.
Yuki quickly slipped out of bed and violently snatched his phone off of his desk.
"What."
It came out a bit more harsh than intended.
"I'm sorry for waking you up but do you mind coming down to the school's nurse office."
Yuki started at the wall. Processing what was going on. "S-sure. I'll be there in a bit."
"Thank you."
Yuki looked at his phone screen. Aizawa had called him.
Sluggishly rubbing his eyes he grabbed a sweater and threw it on. Hoping it was enough to keep him from the cool night.
Yuki opened the door to the nurses office only to see Aizawa holding Midoriya and Bakugo captive while Toshinori stood apologetically to the side.
"What?"
"Satori, you'll be receiving extra credit for healing them enough for them to move."
"Uhh--"
"Who hit first." Aizawa threatened.
"Me." Bakugo confessed.
"I also went in, hitting pretty hard." Midoriya followed.
What is going on...
"Bakugo! You have Four days of house arrest! Three days for Modoriya!" Aizawa scolded.
Yuki slowly closed the door behind him and went to sit on one of the beds in the meantime.
"For your injuries! Satori will be in charge of them."
"I am?"
"But don't rely too much on him or the old lady's quirk! Injuries you got on your own should be healed that way! Unless they're broken bones!"
Yuki sighed. Again?
"That's all!"
Yuki watched as Aizawa walked out the nurses office, calling it a night.
With a very tired look and voice Yuki turned to the three who remained.
"So... what exactly happened?"