Assassins Can Be Heroes Too || Todoroki Shoto

|66| The Media-Hating Hero

"Now... let's get down to business... wannabe Heroes," Shigaraki murmured as the pair were brought in, his eyes lingering on each teenager, "Katsuki Bakugo... and Rie Hassake... won't you join us?"

The blond was the first to find his voice.

"Shove your offer and go to hell," he sneered.

"What about you, Dart?" the man turned to her.

"I hate working with others," she snapped, whipping her head up and glaring at him. His face remained calm, turning to the Warp Gate.

"Turn on the television, I'm bored."

He did as he was told, the screen flickering as three familiar figures showed up on the screen. The teenagers' eyes widened, hearts clenching painfully.

"We will now air a segment of U.A. High School's apology press conference, which took place earlier tonight." The pair could only watch in disbelief as their homeroom teacher was the first to speak up, the three staff members sitting down.

"I regret to announce that our unpreparedness was responsible for the harm that came to twenty-seven of our first-year students," he admitted, the students watching in disbelief, "though ours is an institution for Heroes-in-Training, we were nonetheless negligent in our defences against Villains, and we understand that this has made many of you uneasy."

"We apologise for this deeply and sincerely," added their mammalian principal, "there is absolutely no excuse for what has occurred."

The pair shared a slightly mortified glance, certain that their thoughts were the exact same: What is the infamous media-hating Aizawa doing up there? Nonetheless, they continued watching.

"Question! Villains have confronted U.A. a total of four times now," a reporter stood, "given that some were injured this time, what explanation do you have to give to their understandably concerned families?!" Throughout the reporter's short rant, Aizawa remained poker-faced, his eyes staring into the camera. "Furthermore, please tell us in concrete terms what measures you've taken to prevent these sorts of incidents in the future."

They're... treating U.A. like they're the bad guys...

"We've increased the surveillance of the surrounding areas and revamped our school's security system," responded Nezu, placing his paws on the desk, "and we've explained to the parents that our strong stance against Villany will guarantee the students' safety."

"It's pretty weird, if you ask me..." Shigaraki spoke up, drawing their attention away from the interrogation, "why are they criticising the Heroes, huh? Their only crime was doing too little too late! It's their job to protect people, but anyone can screw up now and then, right?! I mean, we're all human! Why're people expecting them to be perfect, and why are they living up to those expectations?! Heroes today sure have it rough, I'd say... am I right, Bakugo, Dart?"

"The minute that protecting people started coming with a paycheck, Heroes stopped being Heroes," the reptilian-like Villain - whose name they later learned was Spinner - spoke from his position on the wall, "this is what Stain has taught us!"

"Save someone, you get money. Save someone, you get fame," the man with patchworked skin - Dabi - drawled, "in this society, where the precious rules are everything, the people aren't cheering for the losers, telling them to fight another day. They're blaming them."

"Our war is based on a few simple questions: What is a Hero? What is justice?" explained Illumi monotonously, "is this what society's really like? Once we've got people thinking about this stuff, that's when we've won..." He eyed the students. "And I know both of you love to win."