Anonymous - Villain Deku AU

Chapter 17 - The Media

After he pushed the door shut while walking back to his room, he looked out his half-opened window. The same one he used as an exit in order to partake in the Training Camp Raid.

He was three stories up. From there, he saw the two policemen already rushing towards their vehicles.

He studied the exterior further, poking his head outside.

The pipe against the wall was a fair distance away from it.

He already knew these things of course, but he wanted a proper visual. After a good 10 seconds, he pulled his head back inside; now with a clearer reference.

He wasn't worried about the alibi; they'd most likely ask the front desk, which had no memory nor footage of him exiting the building that day. For all they knew, he never left his room that day.

He looked in the mirror, inspecting parts of his hair. It still had trace of the black hair dye he used, which he couldn't entirely scrub off due to prioritizing the hours of sleep he could get.

He looked at the time. There was plenty.

"I might as well walk around," He mumbled, shoving his device in his pocket, and exiting through his door.

There were newspapers stacked in the front of the building, with people crowding around to purchase one.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" An elder greeted.

He stayed in the next room over from Deku. Since day one, he socialized with him pretty often.

"Good morning," Deku smiled slightly, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. "Why is everyone trying to get a newspaper?"

"Some incident involving that school.. Yuuei?" He scratched his head. "That's at least what I heard."

"...Wouldn't there be articles online?" Deku tilted is head, confusion written on his face.

"They keep getting taken down before anyone can actually read 'em!" A woman who also lived in the building chimed in.

She was much younger, most likely only in her 20s.

She pointed her pinky finger, which lead straight to the person who was responsible.

"So now some people resorted to earning a quick buck by printing the information to be on physical ink."

"Ah, that makes sense. It's that serious?"

"I'm not sure myself, but I hope the police stops this from escalating. It was hard enough for not only me to exit the apartment complex!"

He saw what she meant. Residents that arrived after him couldn't exit due to the door practically being barricaded. Those trying to reenter couldn't even reach the door.

"Hey! You there!" A cop yelled. "I'm going to have to inspect whatever you're selling. There have been several complaints because of the ruckus!"

The man that the cop had called out started bolting the other direction, after taking a big chunk of the newspapers he couldn't sell.

"Hey! The rest of you, clear the area!"

Some people were able to get a copy, before starting to go in split directions. Interested, Deku decided to take one as well, and read it along his walk.

Everything. The accumulated number of the injured, the number of pro heroes involved, and even the amount of damage that was done to the area had been captured for shady dealers to publish. Last and definitely most of all, was the name and face of the missing Yuuei student.