Demonic [Bakugou X OC]

Chapter 23

Asami's POV

When I walked into the room, I immediately noticed Kenji's shit eating grin as he looked past me and out of the closing door before turning his attention to me. My stomach turned as I tried to figure out what could possibly be going through his stupid head.

"Asami! Welcome! Sit, sit," Nezu greeted cheerfully as he offered me a seat next to my dad, breaking me out of my thoughts. It seems my dad also noticed Kenji's creepy grin because he gave me a quick pat on the back as I sat down as an attempt to comfort me. "Now that everyone is here, we can begin discussing the matter at hand. It appears that the media has taken notice that Asami has enrolled here at UA. Although we did not expect this to come so soon, us teachers have already planned how we would handle the situation since it was going to happen during the Sports Festival either way," Principal Nezu began. His positivity always seemed to take a weight off my shoulders somehow. 

"I'm assuming, however, those plans did not involve Ms. Emi speaking directly to the journalists," a sharp voice cut in from beside Kenji. "Due to the nature of her quirk and the public's perceptions of her, this seems to be the worst case scenario."

Before I could ask how the hell that could possibly be the worst case scenario, Principal Nezu chimed back in. "I hear your concerns loud and clear, Mr. Sasaki. However, I believe our Asami here handled the situation beautifully."

Daichi Sasaki is the head of the Hero Association's department of public affairs. For obvious reasons, he hates me. "Although your words are comforting, I cannot be certain of such a claim without any proof," he respectfully disagreed, making me bite my cheek. "Due to the low profile Ms. Emi has maintained for several years under the direction of HQ, it is incredibly unlikely for the media to recognize her without having obtained a tip announcing her enrollment or without Ms. Emi herself making her identity known." Now I see how Kenji snaked his way into coming. "Because you have also informed us that the only other witness to Ms. Emi's interaction with the media was another first-year student who has not even received public image training, it would be irresponsible to move forward without getting an accurate assessment of the situation. For these reasons, I have brought along Special Agent Ito so that we can obtain an accurate account of the interaction."

Is this motherfucker insinuating I walked up to the journalists being like 'ayo it's me, the cursed orphan' or some bullshit?

"That's completely unnecessary," my dad cut in from beside me. "Midnight managed to obtain one of the reporter's tapes from this morning so you can see for yourselves that this wasn't some conspiracy of defiance," he stated bluntly. My saviors. I owe you two my life. 

"And what if this so-called tape is altered?" Kenji asked with his usual stupid grin, causing my fists to clench. It was so obvious that he was only here for his own entertainment and to get me to return to HQ to join the Special Operations Unit. 

"I hear your concerns Special Agent Ito," Principal Nezu chimed in as he jumped down from his chair. "But, I can assure that the contents of this recording are absolutely unaltered and obtained through the consent of the journalist recording. To further ease your concerns, I suggest that we watch the recording together and if you both maintain your concerns that said tape has been altered after the fact, we can discuss our options once again."

"Although your reassurance is appreciated," Mr. Sasaki began, "we still cannot fully trust the individuals closest to Ms. Emi to provide us with unbiased information. I acknowledge that you all are well-respected heroes and therefore are less likely to interfere with an investigation or evidence. However, it would be unwise to not be cautious as a fox is known to be sly and manipulative," he finished, shooting a glare my way. 

"Are you insinuating that a criminal investigation is occurring?" My dad asked irritatedly.

"If you remember correctly, Eraserhead, one of the stipulations of Ms. Emi's emancipation from HQ's custody states that she will not use her freedom to bring harm or fear to the public. Therefore, a violation of this contract renders your guardianship over her null and void," Mr. Sasaki argued back almost threateningly. "As a representative of the Japanese Government, it is my duty to ensure the safety and security of our citizens."

Before my dad could bite back, Mr. Nezu had turned off the lights in his office as a screen began descending from the ceiling. "I am positive, Mr. Sasaki, that you will agree with my earlier praise of Ms. Emi's handling of the situation after watching the recording," he emphasized as the television screen came to life. "We shall watch the recording from beginning to end to further assure you that the tape's contents are, indeed, not altered."

Immediately after, Principal Nezu pressed play on the recording. The first few minutes of the recording showed the journalists ruthlessly interrogating every student about All Might as they tried entering the school gate. After several minutes of this, the camera finally turned to show Bakugou trying to make his way through the crowd and quickly getting recognized as the boy from the sludge villain incident. As the clip continued, I could hear my dad muffle a chuckle as we watched me step in to shut down the journalists harassing Bakugou, having to use both of his hands to cover his mouth as I'm seen putting Bakugou on display. 

At this moment, I couldn't help but notice a skinny man walk through the crowd in a black hoodie with the hood up and his hands in his pockets. It was obvious that he was not a journalist, so it was odd that he chose to walk through the crowd of reporters for no reason. Immediately after he brushed past the brunette, female reporter leading the sludge villain questioning, she accused me of being the 'cursed orphan'. 

"Wait a sec," I interrupted, standing up from my chair and causing Principal Nezu to pause the tape. "Who is that guy in the hoodie?"

Suddenly, the school's alarms began blaring, announcing a security breach and directing all students to evacuate the building. 

"Asami, leave with Sasaki and Ito while we secure the building," my dad ordered, visibly panicked. "Don't leave them under any circumstance. I've got a bad feeling about that hoodie guy," he finished as he and Principal Nezu exited the office to begin searching campus.

"Asami, you lead, I got the back," Kenji directed, giving me a pointed look as we instinctually took on the roles of Mr. Sasaki's security detail. 

"You trust her to lead us!?" Mr. Sasaki questioned Kenji in a panic. Irritate me one more time and I'll be the security threat.

"Absolutely," Kenji replied without hesitation as he began ushering Mr. Sasaki behind me and out of the office. "And I suggest you don't give an attitude to your security guards Mr. Public Affairs. Don't you also have plenty of enemies?" Kenji added ominously, immediately causing Mr. Sasaki to shut up.

"The far staircase has a security exit door at the bottom but the stairwell is likely crowded," I stated as we jogged down the hall, matching Mr. Sasaki's lame pace. 

"So, window?" Kenji asked.

"Probably," I responded, quickly turning around and seeing Kenji give me the go ahead before activating my quirk and throwing Mr. Sasaki over my shoulder as Kenji opened the closest window.

"ARE YOU TWO INSANE?" Mr. Sasaki screamed as he began flailing like a toddler having a tantrum. 

"You hold him," I stated bluntly as Kenji climbed up to stand on the windowsill, engulfing both of them in my aura as I passed the worm man over. Just then, I sensed a dark, almost psychotic presence coming from down the hall where we came from. Kenji seemed to pick up on it too as both of us shot our heads to look down the hall. "Someone's coming," I said quickly, opening the window beside Kenji and Mr. Sasaki's.

Kenji only gave me a quick nod before we jumped out of our fourth story windows as Mr. Sasaki screamed.