After a long day full of questions and disappointments, UA opened the premises for students on the third day.
The first day of the School Festival had attracted an insane number of people.
So, when UA suddenly announced that it would be canceling the rest of the planned events over the next two days, the downpour of anger and backlash was insane as well.
Not only that, but the media personnel kept buzzing around UA, trying every means possible to learn what could have forced UA to cancel the School Festival, which generated a good amount of their annual funding.
But, like everyone, the media was bound to be disappointed, receiving silence at best.
Even the students didn't learn anything substantial until they were allowed to attend classes once again.
However, in the one day between the School Festival and their return, UA went through a massive overhaul, increasing its security.
Even from outside, one could tell that something grand must have happened for UA to turn itself into a fortress-like structure.
…
In Class 1-A, as Erasure Head entered the room to take attendance, everyone bombarded him with questions.
"Enough!" Aizawa said, his hair flailing up. "… Sit down, Midoriya. Sigh…"
Nezu had advised everyone not to talk about Dr. Blessed, as they could hardly confirm it was indeed him, acting as the Magician.
The sheer fact that a threat like Dr. Blessed was entertaining people at the School Festival, unknown to UA, would attract ridicule from not only Japan but from all over the world.
Not only that, but it would also hit the students' morale.
So, sighing once again, Erasure Head told them about Shigaraki's presence at the School Festival and UA's inability to pinpoint how he managed to go past the high security.
One by one, all faces gained a pale, horrifying look.
Sitting at the back, Luke eyed Yuga, who was seated at the very front.
Contrary to what Pros believed, it was Yuga who had helped Shigaraki avoid the security personnel initially. Of course, he had already let Luke know that Shigaraki would be coming to the School Festival to kill him.
Luke knew Shigaraki was unhinged and had some screw loose.
But even the Villain wasn't as unhinged as deciding to kill random people.
If he was coming to kill Luke, then he only meant to kill Luke and had the means to run away right after.
Analyzing this, Luke had taken advantage of the situation.
First, he swindled Midoriya to let him play Nomu instead of All Might against everyone's wishes. Then, he borrowed the actual Nomu from the Blue Site, replacing it with a prop. He had to hypnotize a few scientists monitoring the Nomu, including adjusting the timing with the Play.
This way, even if Shigaraki somehow had ended up touching the Nomu, he would have only brought about his doom, getting caught by the Pro Heroes on the spot.
Of course, this was only one side of the coin.
Luke's true purpose for doing all this was to give himself enough time to stage a great Magical Performance.
With two back-to-back events, he had already digested much of the Magician Potion.
However, when the Pro Heroes arrived, and Erasure Head used his Quirk on him, canceling Bioalchemy, it became the source of the greatest feedback for Luke.
Even those who had remained skeptical of Luke's magic tricks suddenly began believing that he was a genuine magician.
Combined with the awe of the audience and shock of the famous Pro Heroes, Luke had all but digested his Magician Potion.
The best thing about staging a public performance was that some from the audience had played it live over internet.
Now, as Luke's performance attracted more and more views online, his spirituality kept receiving more and more stimulus, digesting the Potion further.
If this kept going on at the same pace, it wouldn't take long for him to completely digest the Potion.
"… Focus on school activities," Erasure Head said, finishing the speech. "Let the Pros handle this mess."
Luke raised his hand. "Sir," he asked, "… is the Hero Site Visit canceled?"
"No!" Kaminari and a few others gasped.
"Tch!" Erasure Head tsked, seeing the downcast expressions. "No. Hero Site Visit is still on the table, but… you might not get the full timetable of the event. I will let you know about the details when they are given to me. Not sooner or later."
Luke's eyes narrowed.
Not only him, Midoriya, Shoto, Momo, and even Bakugo's eyes shook at that info.
Because, by mentioning the matter of not sharing the timetable, Erasure Head had all but confirmed that there was — a traitor in UA.
…
Hero Killer: Stain entered the bar, eying Shigaraki and Kurogiri.
For a moment, Shigaraki stared dead at Stain, his eyes lingering on the dead Nomu's head at his waist.
Shigaraki's hands shook as he tried to hold himself back from killing the man who had shadowed his Nomus during the Hosu Incident.
Stain lifted his bare, noseless face and looked into Shigaraki's murderous eyes.
Strange murmurs bombarded Stain's mind, making his eyes glow red. Slowly, the Hero Killer gained a twisted smile. "I have no business with you," he said, looking away from Shigaraki. "I want to talk to your Master."
Both Shigaraki and Kurogiri looked at Stain, stunned.
Giran had told them an hour ago that Stain wanted to meet them once again.
They had thought that after getting defeated during the Hosu Incident, Stain had changed his mind, asking for assistance.
But, for Stain to ask for Shigaraki's Master, did he know…
Kurogiri hurriedly placed his hand on Shigaraki's arm. "Don't…" he said, stopping Shigaraki from lunging at Stain. He then looked at Stain. "We have no…"
Stain scoffed, cutting them off. Stroking the shriveled Nomu's head, he said, "I don't have patience for this… All For One."
Suddenly, a buzz rang in the room, making Shigaraki and Kurogiri snap their heads toward the TV screen behind them.
And, through the darkness, they saw the outline of a man's face, smiling.
******************
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