36. Revelations

Following a small interview by the police, and all 70 or so villains were arrested, the hands I stole from Shigaraki were confiscated.

Except the one hidden in my shadow subspace of course.

No way was that going anywhere.

Soon, we were dismissed, and let go for the day.

After changing back into the uniform, I was met by the entirety of the two hero classes, waiting by the gates.

"What's up? Did something happen?" I asked, concerned.

"Remember on the first day, you warned us that something would happen. That the villains would rise up again." Kirishima answered.

"Did you know that the attack was going to happen?" Iida stepped forward and asked.

I looked around to see all eyes on me.

Oh boy, what a pickle. I sighed.

"No. Of course not." I explained, "But I figured something would happen. What, I didn't know. Nor when, for that matter."

"I see." Iida muttered, loosening up.

"You were right, though." Itsuka continued.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" I asked, turning to her and class 1B.

"I'm Itsuka Kendo. Class representative of 1B. Nice to meet you." She said, extending a handshake.

"Likewise." I said, shaking her hand.

"So how did you know?" She asked.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." I dismissed her question.

"Believe me, I do. We all do." She insisted, with a steely resolve.

The others nodded in agreement too, alongside her.

I sighed again.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked my class.

"Yes." Iida replied almost immediately.

"100%." Kaminari assured.

"Very much so." Momo added.

"Fine." I said, appearing to relent to their demands, and pulled out my phone.

"How many of you come from poor families? The lowest strata of society?" I asked, to confused listeners.

No one replied. Of course.

No one likes to admit that they're poor.

And so I continued.

"No one? Well then, I'll tell you.

Shoji, Uraraka, and ...." I said, flipping through their books, " ....Kamakiri."

"You three. And not by a long shot. Your families are still in the light of society. Not in it's underbelly.

Now consider, how many pro heroes you know that come from poor families? From the slums, crackhouses and drug dens?

I can name only one such hero, offhand.

Rank 3 hero Hawks.

Out of the over 5000 pro heroes, less than a handful come from the underbelly of society. That's how hard it is to climb out of the well of poverty and into the world you and me call home.

Heroes are shining beacons of hope and heroism. But only for those like us. For the millions who live in destitution and abject poverty, heroes are worse than the police.

Self righteous assholes who destroy their families and livelihoods. Break apart their homes. Like monsters.

They see heroes, the way ants see us, when we stamp out their little anthills and burn their friends alive with magnifying glasses as children.

And we don't even think about the ants when we do it.

It's the same with heroes and the poor.

Now imagine what it's like for the millions of people, men, women and children who live in the slums, on the fringes of society, through mostly, no fault of their own.

Think about what they feel when they see their kind being persecuted just for existing, seeing their children starve and die of curable illnesses. And when they try to make it out? To get a better life?

The system is out there, waiting, watching, for the moment they step.out of the darkness to stamp them out.

The symbols of this system, of their helplessness, their sorrow, ate the heroes, standing high and mighty, forever looking down on them.

And so the resentment builds, slowly and steadily.

We have had nearly three decades of peace. That's three generations of people who have been born, grown up or lived their whole lives under the boot of the winners. Of course this was going to happen. If not today, to us, then to someone else." I finished.

There was a brief silence in the air, before Tokoyami commented.

"Surely, it's not that bad?"

I let out a breath, and looked at him.

"Tell me Tokoyami, what do you think happen when Mt. Lady kicks a villain through a building?

What happens to the people who live there?

Their homes get destroyed, and theyvare left to scrounge off of what little goevrnment benefits they get till Mt. Lady's agency uses their government bailout to pay for the prices of their homes.

Except their homes aren't all these people lose.

They lose their time as well, not to mention items of sentimental value, other practical appliances.

And what of their living expenses while they wait for their homes to be rebuilt?

Of the medical expenses?

Mt. Lady's agency is in perpetual debt. And even then she can't repay everything her reckless actions have taken from those people. And that's just one hero, a rookie at that, who has been on the scene for less than a year!

Imagine the devastation that has been caused in the lives of such people over the last 30 years?

We worship heroes like living gods and we are happy to look the other way to the price many have to pay for their actions, so long as it doesn't happen to us.

For our security. And we are happy to damn the rest.

I'm surprised this didn't happen earlier!"

I continued, rubbing my forehead, "To be honest it's far far worse. And there are so many problems it'd take a week just to introduce you to them!

Suffice to say, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that there's a revolution budding in society, one that is vehemently anti-hero and anti-hero society.

The reason most people haven't realized this is because they choose not to.

They and you, for that matter, choose willingly and everyday to be blind to your surroundings. And I don't.

That's how I knew."

I took a deep breath, stretching my hands, till a pleasant cracking sound emerged from my fingers.

Now, there was more to it, with the fact that mutations on quirk inheritance pushing towards a quirk singularity, resulting in the chance of a child with a power so strong that it could be comparable to a nuke being born anywhere and anytime in the world having more to do with it than any systemic oppression bullcrap or whatnot.

But I wasn't about to sour my thrashing of the students with a dose of statistical probability.

"This.....you've given me something to think about." Iida muttered.

"Yes. Think up a storm bud. Not gonna help you one bit." I snarked.

"Is there anything we can do?" Kirishima asked.

"Yeah! There must be something we can do to help change this!" Itsuka added.

"Yeah, you can. Be better. Better heroes and better people than we have today.

Nothing more to it. No special solution to this problem.

Just good old decency." I said, spinning around and walking backwards.

"Now, I'm hungry and WcRonald's has a spring promotional All Might figurine that i want. So.... toodles!" I ended, walking away, disappearing behind the gate.