Chương 21: Unaccounted For

The room where Nezu waited was too small to be accidental. Ren Akiyama noticed that first. Not the principal sitting on the table instead of behind it. Not the reinforced glass pane set high into one wall. Not the emergency medical cabinet by the door. Not the two chairs placed across from a third at an angle too informal for interrogation and too precise for comfort. Not the fact that Recovery Girl was already there, cane resting across her lap, eyes narrowed before anyone had said a word. The size came first.

A large room would have implied distance. A conference room would have implied process. An office would have implied hierarchy. This room gave none of those things. It was private, secured, and deliberately small enough that everyone inside had to share air. Nezu sat on the edge of the table with a cup of tea beside him. Of course he had tea. Kurose entered first. Ren followed slowly, because his ribs had learned to punish optimism.

Shinso came beside him with hands in his pockets and a face that said he had already decided he disliked the room, the table, the tea, the principal, the walls, the day, and possibly furniture as a concept. The security officer closed the door behind them. The click sounded final. Ren did not like that. Kurose pointed to the chairs.

"Sit" Ren sat. Shinso sat beside him, though with visible resentment. Recovery Girl looked between them.

"Better than the alternative" Shinso said "What alternative?"

"Me making you sit" He became quieter. Ren stored that. Threat model: Recovery Girl effective against Shinso. Nezu smiled.

"Thank you both for coming" Kurose crossed her arms.

"They were escorted here after a villain attack while injured" Nezu's smile did not change.

"Thank you both for being escorted here" Shinso stared at him. Ren decided not to react. That was probably what Nezu wanted. Maybe not. That was also probably what Nezu wanted. Difficult. Recovery Girl tapped her cane once against the floor.

"I will be very clear before anyone in this room starts pretending this is merely administrative. These two are medically exhausted. Akiyama has rib trauma, a forearm laceration, a facial cut, shoulder impact, old injuries still recovering, and a physiological response around an older scar that I do not like. Shinso has acute stress response, probable Quirk strain, fatigue, and is acting like boredom counts as treatment" Shinso opened his mouth. Recovery Girl lifted one finger. He closed it.

She continued "You get limited questions. No pressure tricks that make children think they have to prove usefulness to justify care" Nezu dipped his head.

"Agreed" Kurose looked at him.

"Define limited""Three areas. Factual sequence. Quirk use and injury assessment. Akiyama's prior and current security assessments""Two areas" Kurose said Nezu looked interested.

"Which one are you removing?"

"The one you disguised as three" Shinso made a quiet sound. Ren looked at the floor to avoid almost smiling. Almost was becoming a problem. Nezu folded his small paws over his lap.

"Very well. We will proceed carefully" The principal's gaze moved to Shinso first. Not Ren. Interesting.

"Hitoshi Shinso. During the incident, you used your Quirk on hostile actors" Shinso's posture did not change, but something behind his eyes went flat.

"Yes""How many?"

"Three confirmed. Maybe four if the first one counted before he got punched""Did you control any student, staff member, or non-hostile civilian?"

"No""Did you attempt to use your Quirk on any teacher or hero?"

"No""Did anyone order you to use it?"

"No""Why did you use it?" Shinso looked at him. The answer should have been simple. Because villains attacked. Because people were in danger. Because it worked. Instead, Shinso's jaw tightened.

"Because they answered" Recovery Girl's eyes sharpened. Nezu waited. Kurose said nothing. Ren looked at Shinso from the corner of his eye. Shinso stared at the floor. Then added "Because they were going to hurt people and I could stop them for a few seconds" Nezu nodded.

"Did you want to?" Shinso looked up sharply.

"That's a stupid question""Yes" Nezu said pleasantly "Many useful questions are" Shinso's hands curled against his knees.

"No" The room stilled. He looked angry enough to make the answer heavier.

"No, I did not want to control people. I wanted them to stop. That is not the same thing" Kurose's expression shifted by a fraction. Recovery Girl watched with something like approval hidden under irritation. Nezu's smile softened.

"I agree" Shinso blinked. Nezu continued "That distinction matters. I wanted to hear whether you had made it" Shinso looked away.

"I made it before you asked""Good" The word landed again. Simple. Dangerous. Shinso swallowed. Ren looked down. This moment was not his. He had learned that once already. Nezu reached for a small tablet and made a note.

"Your Quirk was effective in conditions the entrance exam did not measure" Shinso's shoulders went rigid. Kurose watched him. Nezu said "That is not a promise of transfer. It is an observation" Shinso's mouth twisted.

"Of course""It is also not nothing" That stopped him. For a moment, Shinso looked younger. Not weak. Just young enough that the day reached him before anger could. Then he said "Robots don't answer" Nezu nodded.

"No. They do not" The room held the sentence. No apology came. Perhaps none would have helped. Then Nezu turned to Ren. Ren's body prepared before his mind did. That was annoying. Nezu noticed. Of course.

"Ren Akiyama""Yes""Before we discuss your assessment, I want your sequence of events from placement in the Ruins Zone to Shelter B. Concise, but complete enough to identify any students or staff who may still require follow-up" Ren nodded. This was easier. Facts had handles. He spoke slowly because speaking too quickly made his ribs complain.

"Placed in Ruins Zone as disoriented observer with minor mobility limitation. Staff member assigned to R-2. Other students placed nearby included Kenta, Nana Fujita, Fujimura, Tamura, Reina, and at least one student later taken by a hostile from mannequin placement three. Black fog appeared in central plaza. Villains entered. Staff member attempted radio communication, then was displaced or taken through a spatial opening. Radio dropped" Nezu did not interrupt. Kurose's arms tightened. Ren continued.

"West evacuation corridor was initially selected. Door jammed. Cleared mechanically. Two students came through from corridor reporting hostile inside and Okamoto-sensei down. Hostile pursued. Corridor compromised. We closed door. Shifted north toward maintenance route. Encountered knife-wielding hostile holding Reina. Used Fujimura's flash Quirk, thrown pipe, and Kenta's physical intervention to free her. I sustained forearm and cheek cuts.

Entered maintenance passage" Recovery Girl's face did something unpleasant at the word used. Ren noticed. He corrected himself.

"Fujimura voluntarily activated after I instructed him" Recovery Girl's expression did not improve. Maybe slightly.

"Continue" Nezu said"Entered maintenance passage. Encountered two additional hostiles in service area. Used flash, environmental obstruction, door control, storage room, emergency equipment, crowbar, and Kenta's reinforced impact to bypass locked door. Descended to lower corridor. Encountered hostile from west corridor wearing Okamoto-sensei's jacket. Used deception and environmental distraction to pass.

Shinso's group arrived from central transition corridor and used Brainwashing to stop one hostile and delay another. Joined groups. Followed unstable radio instruction from Kurose-sensei to Staff Shelter B. Door access restricted. Opened emergency override. Hostile pursued. Shinso used Quirk. Entered shelter. Contacted Principal Nezu via red phone. Fourteen students sheltered" He stopped. The room was quiet. Nezu said "You left out your injuries""I listed sequence" Recovery Girl tapped her cane. Ren adjusted.

"Injuries occurred at knife encounter, door engagement, baton impact, wall impact, and final shelter door closure""And" Recovery Girl said Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Ren looked at her.

"And possible exacerbation of prior rib injury""And" He knew. Old scar.

"The burn scar on my left forearm reacted during several stress points" Nezu's ears shifted. Not much. Enough. Kurose looked at Recovery Girl. Recovery Girl leaned forward slightly.

"Describe reacted" Ren wanted his notebook. He did not have it. Maybe that was intentional.

"Heat sensation without external heat. Tightness. Increased sensitivity. It felt connected to the nearby laceration and impact stress, but not identical to pain from either""Duration?"

"Intermittent during the incident. Continued through triage. Reduced after your Quirk but did not disappear immediately""Any visible change?"

"I did not examine it fully" Recovery Girl looked at Kurose. Kurose raised an eyebrow. Ren said "There was insufficient opportunity""Good" Recovery Girl said "That is the closest you have come to common sense all day" Shinso muttered "Low bar" Ren said "Accurate" Kurose said "Both of you" They stopped. Nezu watched the exchange with too much interest. Ren disliked that too. The principal set the tablet down.

"Your sequence matches several partial reports from extracted students and staff. It also indicates that both of you acted under emergency conditions to preserve student life. That will be recorded" Shinso looked away. Ren said "Not alone" Nezu's smile widened slightly.

"No. Not alone. That will also be recorded" Kurose's gaze flicked to Ren. Approving? Maybe. Tired? Certainly. Nezu folded his paws again.

"Now, Akiyama. Your security assessment" The room changed. Not dramatically. Enough. Ren felt every adult become more focused. Recovery Girl's cane stilled. Kurose's posture settled into something sharper than protection. Shinso leaned back and stared at the ceiling like he was not listening while listening intensely. Nezu continued "Before today's exercise, you reported concerns to Kurose-sensei regarding USJ as a target""Yes""Those concerns were forwarded to administration and security" Ren looked up.

"They were?"

"Yes" Kurose said "I told you I would report them""You did not tell me what happened after""You did not need another variable to obsess over" Fair. Annoying. Fair. Nezu said "Your concerns were judged plausible enough to increase visible and internal security, but insufficient to cancel the exercise. In hindsight, that judgment was incomplete" No one spoke. That was not an apology. It was almost more dangerous. Institutions rarely admitted incompleteness while the floor was still wet.

Ren said "My information was incomplete""Yes" Nezu said "And yet it was directionally useful" Directionally useful. Not accurate. Not proven. Not safe. Useful. Ren felt the word enter him and did not know where to put it. Nezu tilted his head.

"You also provided real-time tactical assessments during the attack""Yes""You identified the black-fog villain as the mobility and division element""Yes""You identified the hand-covered individual as likely command or symbolic leadership""Yes""You assessed the heavy combatant as a specialized countermeasure meant for All Might""Yes""You recommended removing witnesses, prioritizing extraction of immobilized staff and students, avoiding direct ordinary staff engagement, and considering displacement over damage if the heavy combatant resisted impact""Yes" Shinso looked at him again.

Hearing it summarized made it worse. Ren knew that. Nezu's voice remained gentle.

"At least two of those assessments were later supported by observed developments" Ren said nothing.

"Several were made with less information than you should have required" There. The door. The question. Ren kept his breathing shallow.

"Yes" Nezu asked "Why?" Kurose said "Principal" Nezu did not look away from Ren.

"I will stop if medical staff determines he is unfit to continue" Recovery Girl's eyes remained on Ren.

"Answer only what you can answer without making your body worse" Ren almost said the body was not the relevant part. He did not. Progress, maybe. He looked at Nezu.

"I told Kurose-sensei that I have memory fragments without a verifiable source" Shinso went very still. Nezu did not. That was worse.

"I was informed" Nezu said Ren nodded slowly.

"These fragments are inconsistent. Visual more often than verbal. Emotional more often than sequential. Sometimes names arrive without context, sometimes only images, sometimes only fear attached to a shape. I do not consider them reliable predictions" Nezu's expression did not change. Kurose listened carefully. Recovery Girl's face had become unreadable. Shinso was no longer pretending not to listen. Ren continued "Most are not actionable. Some are probably ordinary pattern recognition misclassified by stress.

Some may be memories from media exposure, overheard information, or dreams that I later attach to real events. Some do not fit those explanations" The room stayed silent. Good. Bad. Ren said "USJ was one that did not fit" Nezu asked "What did you remember?" Careful. Careful. Names were dangerous. Over-specificity was dangerous. Under-specificity was useless. Ren chose images.

"A dome. Multiple disaster zones. Water. Fire. Ruins. A central plaza. Black fog. Students separated. A teacher fighting too many enemies. A heavy shape. All Might arriving late. A feeling that the event was not a drill" Kurose inhaled slowly. Shinso whispered "You knew" Ren looked at him.

"No" His voice came out sharper than intended. Shinso's eyes narrowed. Ren forced himself to continue more evenly.

"I suspected. I did not know. Knowing implies confirmation. I had none""You knew enough" Shinso said"Enough to do what?" The room went still. Ren looked at him fully now.

"Cancel the exercise? With no evidence? Accuse an unknown future villain group? Explain black fog before seeing it? Tell U. A. that a fifteen-year-old General Studies student had a bad feeling about a dome?" Shinso's jaw tightened. Ren regretted the sharpness immediately. Not because he was wrong. Because Shinso had almost died too. And people who almost died were allowed imperfect questions. Kurose said "Akiyama" Ren looked down.

"I reported what I could defend" Shinso did not answer. But his anger changed shape. Nezu said "That was likely the only course administration could have acted upon" Likely. Not forgiveness. Not blame. A knife with a handle. Ren nodded once. Nezu leaned forward.

"Have you had fragments about current students?" Ren's blood chilled. Kurose's eyes snapped to the principal. Recovery Girl's cane tapped once. Shinso looked between them. Ren said "Yes" Nezu asked "Do those fragments suggest immediate risk?"

"Yes""Specific?" Ren closed his eyes. Izuku's bones. Bakugo's hands. Todoroki in a stadium. Iida and a stain of blood in an alley? Maybe. Not yet. Not clear enough. Hands reaching. A mall. Exams. Camps. A blade. A child with red shoes running toward danger. Too many images. Too much risk.

"Yes. But not all immediate" Nezu's voice softened.

"Names""No" The word left before fear could edit it. Everyone reacted. Kurose's eyes sharpened. Recovery Girl sat back. Shinso stared. Nezu's smile faded by one degree.

"No?" Ren looked at him.

"If I provide names without context, you may alter their treatment based on unverifiable fragments. That could create harm. If I provide details, you may change behavior in ways that make the fragments worse or produce different risks. If I provide nothing, risks remain unmitigated. I understand the problem" Kurose said quietly "Do you?" Ren looked at her.

"No. Not fully" Good answer. Painful. Nezu watched him for a long moment. Then said "Give categories, not names" Ren breathed. That he could do.

"Hero Course students with high self-sacrifice risk. Students with volatile aggression and poor cooperation under emotional trigger. Students with family trauma affecting Quirk use and combat judgment. Students likely to seek revenge after authority failure. Students whose Quirks attract villain interest. Students whose bodies are not prepared for their power" Silence. Shinso's eyes had sharpened at students whose bodies are not prepared for their power. He knew one. Everyone did, now.

Nezu asked "Are you included?" Ren stopped. That was unfair. Efficient. Unfair.

"Yes" Kurose's expression shifted. Recovery Girl muttered "At least he knows" Nezu asked "Which category?" Ren looked at his bandaged forearm.

"High self-sacrifice risk. Poor bodily boundary maintenance. Possible villain interest if fragments or physiology become known. Unstable relationship between usefulness and self-harm" The words were clinical. They still hurt. Shinso was staring at him now, not with suspicion. With recognition. That was worse. Nezu said "That is an unusually honest self-assessment" Ren said "It is incomplete""Most honest things are" The principal reached for his tea and took a small sip. The absurdity of it almost broke the tension.

Almost. Then he said "Do you believe these fragments are part of your Quirk?" Ren hesitated. That was the question beneath several questions.

"I don't know""Do you believe your adaptive physiology and your memory fragments are connected?"

"I don't know""What do you believe?" Ren looked at Recovery Girl. At Kurose. At Shinso. At Nezu. Adults who could help. Adults who could measure. Adults who could confine. A peer who had heard too much and might understand the shape of being wrongly measured. He said "I believe my body remembers damage strangely. I believe my mind remembers danger strangely. I do not know whether those are the same phenomenon" Recovery Girl's eyes narrowed.

"Say the first sentence again" Ren looked at her.

"My body remembers damage strangely" She leaned forward.

"Not adapts?"

"Adapts is the observed result. Remembers is what it feels like" The room changed again. Quietly. Nezu set down his tea. Kurose's arms unfolded. Shinso looked at Ren's bandaged arm. Recovery Girl's face became very still.

"Your official report says possible passive physiological adaptation to repeated stressors following exposure and recovery" she said"Yes""That language is sterile""Yes""Yours is not""No""Why?" Ren looked at the bandage. At the place beneath it where new cut and old scar existed close enough for the body to confuse them.

"Because it is not sterile" Recovery Girl did not look away.

"What would you call it if you were not trying to sound like a medical form?" He had not expected the question. That made it dangerous. The answer was already there. Maybe it had been there since the first burn. Maybe since the first notebook. Maybe since the fever. Maybe since every time he wrote cost paid and pretended naming the cost made it acceptable. Ren said "Scar tissue" No one spoke. The words did not sound like a hero name. They did not sound like a Quirk registry term.

They sounded like a wound after the body stopped bleeding and decided the event still mattered. Recovery Girl's expression softened. Not kindly. Seriously.

"Scar tissue is not stronger in every way""I know""It is less flexible. It can ache. It can restrict. It can remind the body of damage long after the danger has passed""I know""Do you?" Ren's throat tightened. He did not answer fast enough. Recovery Girl nodded once, as if the silence was data. Nezu said "Scar Tissue" Ren looked at him sharply.

"I did not mean as official""I know" The principal's smile returned, smaller and more thoughtful.

"Names have a way of becoming useful before they become official" Ren did not like that. He also did. That was worse. Kurose said "We are not naming a child's Quirk in an emergency interview""Of course not" Nezu said Recovery Girl snorted. Shinso looked at Ren.

"Scar Tissue" Ren did not answer. Shinso leaned back.

"Sounds unpleasant""It is""Accurate then""Yes" The word settled. Not official. Not complete. But something had changed. Adaptive Physiology had been a form. Scar Tissue was a truth. A dangerous one. Nezu looked at Recovery Girl.

"Medical recommendation""Observation. Rest. Nutrition. No unsupervised testing. No deliberate injury. No combat training disguised as research. No using my Quirk repeatedly just to see how the scar responds. Full follow-up with his Quirk specialist and U. A. medical staff. Psychological support whether he asks for it or not" Ren said "Psychological support is not" Recovery Girl pointed the cane at him.

"Finish that sentence and I will make the appointment twice" He stopped. Kurose said "I support the recommendation" Traitor. Correct. Traitor. Nezu nodded.

"Academic recommendation, Kurose?" Kurose looked at Ren. Then Shinso.

"Neither should return to normal class schedule tomorrow. Both need rest and incident debrief. Shinso needs supervised documentation of emergency Quirk use so it does not become rumor before becoming record. Akiyama needs limited access to controlled reporting channels if he experiences future security-relevant fragments, because otherwise he will either hide them or attempt independent action" Ren looked at her. She did not look away. Nezu's eyes brightened.

"A controlled channel" Kurose said "Through me""Protective""Practical""Both?"

"Yes" Nezu seemed delighted. Kurose seemed annoyed that he was delighted. Ren felt something inside his chest loosen and tighten at the same time. A channel meant adults could act. A channel meant adults would watch. A channel meant responsibility had somewhere to go. A channel meant he no longer had the excuse of being alone with it. Shinso said "What about me?" Nezu looked at him.

"What would you like to ask for?" Shinso froze. That question hit harder than all the others. He looked briefly at Ren. Then at Kurose. Then at his own hands.

"I want my Quirk use today documented as rescue support" His voice was flat. Too flat. Not boredom. Protection.

"I don't want rumors deciding what it was" Kurose nodded immediately.

"It will be documented" Nezu said "And reviewed under emergency conduct standards" Shinso's mouth tightened.

"Reviewed sounds bad""It means examined" Kurose said "Not condemned" Shinso looked at her.

"Promise?" The word left him before he could make it smaller. Kurose's expression changed. For a second, she looked almost sad. Then she said "Promise" Shinso looked away quickly. Ren pretended not to see. That seemed kind. Maybe. Nezu took another sip of tea.

"Then we have immediate steps. Medical follow-up. Parent contact. Written statements after rest, not tonight. Controlled reporting channel through Kurose-sensei. Documentation of Shinso's emergency Quirk use. Continued investigation into the attack. And later, Akiyama, a longer conversation about fragments, categories, and what remains unaccounted for" Later again. Less threatening now. No. Still threatening. But structured. Ren could work with structured.

Recovery Girl stood with surprising force for someone her size.

"Enough. Both of them are done" Nezu inclined his head.

"Thank you" Kurose moved to the door. Then stopped.

"Akiyama""Yes""Your parents" Ren's stomach dropped. Right. Alive before functional. He reached for his phone with his uninjured hand, then realized it was still in his bag and that his fingers were shaking. Not much. Enough. Kurose noticed. She held out her hand.

"I can place the call with you present" Ren looked at her hand. That should have felt humiliating. It did. It also felt like help. He handed her the phone. Shinso stood.

"I'll go" Kurose said "You will sit outside with Recovery Girl until your guardian contact is made" Shinso stopped.

"My foster placement won't answer fast" The words came out too casually. No one in the room treated them casually. Nezu said gently "Then we will keep trying" Shinso's face shut down again. Ren wanted to say something. Nothing available was not stupid. So he said nothing. Kurose dialed Hana. The phone rang once. Twice. On the third ring, Ren realized he was more afraid of his mother answering than he had been of the door opening in the shelter. Then Hana's voice came through.

"Ren?" One word. Broken open. Ren's throat closed. Kurose did not speak for him. She held the phone closer. He forced air in.

"I'm alive" A sound came from the other end. Not quite a sob. Not quite speech. Daichi's voice, distant and urgent, asked something Ren could not make out. Hana said "He's alive. He's alive" Ren closed his eyes. The room disappeared for a moment. There had been villains. Blood. Aizawa broken. All Might late. A monster with no name. Nezu asking questions that had no safe answers. Scar Tissue.

But his mother was on the phone, and for one second, the only thing in the world was the fact that alive had needed to be said before anything else.

"I'm injured" Ren said because hiding it would be worse "Not critical. Forearm cut. Rib injury. Cheek cut. Shoulder impact. I'm with teachers and medical staff" Hana made a sound that was half relief and half horror. Daichi came onto the line.

"Ren""I'm here""Can you breathe?" Ren almost smiled. Doctor? No. Father.

"Yes. Painfully, but yes""Good. Painfully means yes" Kurose looked away. Recovery Girl pretended to examine her cane. Shinso stared at the wall. Daichi's voice shook.

"We're coming""U. A. may not allow immediate access""We're coming anyway" That was fair. Ren swallowed.

"I'm sorry" Hana returned, voice suddenly sharp through tears.

"No" Ren stopped.

"No" she said again "Not first. Not now. You do not give us sorry before alive" His chest hurt. Not ribs. Or not only.

"Okay""Say it again" Ren opened his eyes. Kurose watched him. Nezu too. Recovery Girl. Shinso. Everyone saw too much. He said it anyway.

"I'm alive" Hana cried then. Fully. Daichi spoke over her, voice thick.

"We'll see you soon""Yes" Kurose ended the call only after Hana had repeated she loved him three times and Ren had managed to answer once. She handed the phone back. Ren held it in his uninjured hand. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Recovery Girl said "Good. Now he looks like a child instead of a damaged report form" Ren did not know what to do with that. Shinso muttered "Brutal""She's right" Kurose said Ren looked at her. She did not soften. That helped. Nezu hopped down from the table.

"Today was not a measurement any of you should have had to pass" The room held still. He looked at Shinso.

"Your Quirk saved lives" Shinso's face tightened. Nezu looked at Ren.

"Your preparation saved lives" Ren could not accept the sentence cleanly. Preparation had also taken him toward the danger. Fragments had warned him and failed to stop it. Useful was not innocent. Nezu seemed to know he would resist. So he added "And neither of those facts converts what happened into something acceptable" That landed differently. Ren looked at him. Nezu smiled sadly.

"Children surviving well is not proof that adults planned well" Kurose's face changed. Recovery Girl's expression went sharp and approving. Shinso looked down. Ren felt the sentence enter the same place where Kurose's civics lessons lived. A society that depends on heroes will forgive systems for failing as long as someone photogenic arrives afterward. Children surviving well is not proof that adults planned well. Both could be true. Both hurt. Nezu moved toward the door.

"We will speak again after rest. For tonight, be students. Injured, frightened, angry, confused, alive students. Leave analysis to adults for at least a few hours" Ren said nothing. Nezu looked back.

"That was an instruction, Akiyama" Ren nodded.

"Yes, Principal" Shinso said "Does it apply to me too?"

"Yes""Annoying""Very" Nezu left. Recovery Girl followed after ordering both of them to wait for transport to medical observation. Kurose remained long enough to look at Ren and Shinso one more time.

"You did not fail today" Neither answered. She sighed.

"Of course. Too tired to believe useful things" Shinso said "I believe annoying things fine" Kurose looked at him.

"Good. Believe this. You will both rest, both write statements tomorrow, both attend follow-up, and neither of you will decide tonight what today means for the rest of your life" Ren stared at her. That instruction was harder than not opening the shelter door. Kurose knew it.

"Understood?" Shinso said "Yes" Ren said "Understood" She left. The door closed. For the first time since black fog opened in the plaza, Ren and Shinso were alone without immediate task. Not safe. But alone. Shinso leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

"Scar Tissue" Ren looked at his bandaged forearm.

"Not official""Still accurate""Yes""You hate that""Yes""Because it sounds like damage stayed" Ren's throat tightened. He looked at Shinso. Shinso still stared upward. Ren said "It did" The silence after that was not empty. Somewhere outside, USJ continued to be cleaned, counted, locked down, investigated. Somewhere, All Might was probably bleeding where no camera could see. Aizawa was alive because alive had become the minimum miracle. Students were calling parents. Teachers were writing reports.

Villains were being restrained or hunted or named by people who had earned the right to know their names through evidence. Ren had fragments. Not prophecy. Not certainty. Not enough. Enough to hurt. Enough to help. Enough that Nezu now had a file with a growing number of lines that did not connect cleanly unless one was willing to draw impossible shapes between them. His body ached. His scar was quiet. Not healed. Quiet. Shinso said "Robots don't scar either" Ren looked at him.

"No""So maybe they missed both of us" Ren leaned his head back carefully against the wall. His ribs objected less than expected.

"Maybe" Shinso closed his eyes.

"Sports Festival is going to be awful""Yes""Good" Ren almost smiled. Almost. Outside the room, footsteps approached. Medical observation. Parent calls. Written statements. Later conversations. A controlled channel. A name that was not official but had already found the wound it belonged to. Scar Tissue. Ren breathed in. Painfully. Alive. Then out. Still moving, but for once, not alone with the cost.