꧁༒𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊༒꧂ ~𝓜𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓶𝓪

🌸 Chapter 18 🌸

This chapter includes dark themes.

Mirio's pov~

Head down. Eyes down. Don't look and they might forget you even existed. You're not there.

First slam of the hammer unleashed a murmur that festered and grew in the crowed. Second slam of the hammer and everyone was reduced to silence, the judges voice ringing clear as day "Silence in the court!"

I kept my eyes fixated on my clenched fists, the individual knuckles slowly losing pigment as my fingers curled deeper into my palm.

The hero commission had not been thrilled about our 'little' embarkment. In the three days of my disappearance the hero society had spiraled into frenzy as speculation sparked that the soon-to-be pro-heroes were being picked of like pesky flies. Their precious Big Three snuffed out like mere candle wax lights.

Ringlets of wispy periwinkle brushed my view, the sugary aroma of bubblegum becoming overwhelmingly present as Nejire Hadou slumped into the plush witness box next to me. She too, kept her eyes down but even her sapphire bangs sweeping gently over her face couldn't conceal her bloodshot eyes and puffy cheeks. "Toga, you son of a bitch. I thought you were dead" despite the harsh words her tone was thick and nasally, there was no pazazz, just a well of despair bloating in her voice.

"I changed out of my hospital gown today" She continued after my lack of input.

"You were in hospital?" I asked, my voice as small and weak as my mentality.

"No," I found myself flinching at the icy coldness of the the bitter anger laced within her tone, "They, locked me up... in a... special facility. According to them, it was for my own safety " she spat, clasping her hands tightly in her lap. She whipped her head around so violently I was bewildered it didn't roll of its hinges, her periwinkle locks swaying to cup her face as a frown bore fine crease lines between her brows. "I may be third after you and Amajiki, but I had every right to go on that mission. I care about him just as much as yo-"

"He's. Dead." My voice came out stern and vicious, like a general sending his troops into battle instead of the broken soldier telling the wistful tale of a deadman to a grieving friend. Two words, that's all she got, 'He's. Dead.' The soft murmur of those two prickly words lingered long after in my mind, like a nightmare becoming reality.

"Oh" she whispered, her doll eyes glazing over with swelling tears, tears that she blinked away with a flutter of her cobalt lashes.

"The accused may rise", the judge spoke out, her voice feminine and even, yet with the severity of a lion staring down its prey.

Past a sea of hushed chatter a familiar mustard haired male bobbed into view dressed in the same ragged clothes days prior to the trial. "Hi", the man ruffled his hair with a grimy hand, not at all phased by the countless eyes and cameras glued on him. Warily he glanced around him In a hazy daze, like he was merely a spectator to this jumbled and crowded dream.

"Tei," a man in a dark tailored suit accompanied with a pair of matching shades emerged from the swarm of people, "I am here to represent the wishes of both Hadou Nejire and Togata Mirio, witnesses to the supposed kidnapping and murder of Amajiki Tamaki. Let me remind you you are under oath, breaking this oath is a criminal offence and we have Simon here to determine if your lying. Don't you just love truth quirks?". The man clasped his hands together, the distinct slap of flesh on flesh reverberating through the stillness of the room, as he strode onto the stand. "According to the allegation of Mr. Togata you refused to accompany them peacefully and they were forced to take you in physically. Is that correct?"

There were two muffled raps at the microphone sending shrill high pitched sound waves throughout the room, before Tei bent forward and skeptically agreed in a husky crackling voice "Yes, that's correct."