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The tape recorder turns on.
- Mineta has been banished from our esteemed place of the light, for his inner darkness consumed him, and led him too far astray.
- Erm... right. This means that he left, correct?
- F̴u̷m̸i̸ ̸m̶e̴a̴n̷s̶ ̵t̵h̵a̴t̵ ̷h̶e̴ ̵g̵o̵t̸ ̸e̷x̸p̴e̵l̶l̴e̵d̶ ̵f̷r̷o̵m̵ ̷U̶A̷.̵
- Ah, yes, that does make more sense. I've seen that your principal has sent me a new schedule, with everyone moved ahead by one place, except for your teacher, and with the addition of a new student in the final student slot. Am I correct in assuming that this Shinsou Hitoshi is the student who has been chosen to replace Mineta?
- Shinsou's inner darkness harms only himself; he has taken up the space that Mineta has left behind and already, we who remain can feel a great weight has fallen from our chests.
- S̵h̴i̷n̵s̷o̸u̸'̵s̷ ̴w̴a̶y̸ ̶b̶e̸t̷t̸e̵r̴ ̶t̴h̶a̶n̸ ̴M̵i̶n̷e̵t̶a̷!̴ ̴H̶e̷ ̷g̸e̷t̷s̷ ̵m̵y̴ ̷p̸r̷o̶n̸o̵u̴n̸s̸ ̶r̷i̶g̷h̶t̶ ̴a̴n̵d̶ ̵k̵n̸o̸w̴s̷ ̶t̵h̷a̶t̶ ̷I̸'̸m̶ ̵n̷o̴t̷ ̸F̵u̴m̷i̷!̶
- ...I'll take that as a yes, then. I assume that your classmates have informed you of the procedure in these interviews?
- You draw out the darkness that they have seen and feed it into your winding tapes, like extracting webs from a spider, even when it prefers to remain hidden.
- Essentially, yes. Though- may I ask why you used that particular analogy?
- W̴e̶ ̴r̶e̴c̶e̸n̴t̸l̴y̴ ̸s̸p̶e̴n̸t̷ ̸t̴i̵m̵e̵ ̵a̵s̵ ̴H̷a̵w̴k̵s̴'̸ ̵i̷n̶t̸e̸r̴n̷ ̵a̸g̷a̵i̵n̸,̴ ̷a̸n̸d̶ ̶h̵i̵s̷ ̵a̵g̸e̷n̶c̴y̶ ̴h̴a̷s̷ ̵a̶ ̶b̸i̸t̵ ̷o̴f̸ ̶a̸ ̸s̷p̸i̸d̴e̴r̷ ̷p̷r̷o̷b̴l̷e̶m̶.̷
- The evidence of their presence is clear, and yet the culprits of the webbing remain elusive. They have good reason to fear, of course; Hawks-sensei is merciless with their brethren.
- ...Ah. He kills them, then?
- H̸e̷ ̵e̷a̴t̶s̵ ̷t̷h̵e̴m̸.̵ ̴W̵e̴'̶v̴e̸ ̴s̵e̸e̷n̶ ̶i̶t̴.̴
- Oh. That's... probably by nature of his quirk, of course. I am fairly certain that many species of birds prey on spiders. Anyways, now that we're sufficiently off topic- would you like to begin?
- D̴o̷ ̷w̷e̷ ̴g̴e̶t̸ ̴a̷ ̸c̵h̷o̸i̸c̴e̴?̴
- You always have a choice. Although, I can sense that you've seen something that may end up being useful.
- What a mad banquet of darkness.
Statement of Tokoyami Fumikage, regarding the woods behind his childhood home. Statement direct from subject, recorded 7 October, 20XX. Statement begins.
I have always lived in the house that my parents do now, since even before "I" became "we." I remember running around those halls, those woods, truly and utterly alone.
When Dark Shadow eventually formed, they joined me in my adventures, and soon the woods behind the house became "ours," instead of "mine." We ran around the great trees, whose shadows were long and all-encompassing. The branches were sharp, sharper in winter, but we continued to search for new places to hide, new things to see.
I was never afraid of the dark. Those woods were the darkest place to be; and we were the only powers within them. I still don't quite fear the dark, even now; I fear losing control of Dark Shadow, and I fear the harm that they may bring onto others. There is nothing in the dark that could harm us, but we pose a threat to the dark.
My parents kept an eye on us, of course, but by the time I had turned ten, they allowed us almost unmitigated freedom in the backyard, which included a sizeable amount of woods. We were to be back in the house by sundown, which is a rule that we only broke once.
I was twelve at the time- we both wanted to see the sunset from our woods. It was autumn, nearly winter; it had not yet snowed that season, but the trees were bare and lifeless. We decided that my parents would not be too upset if we were to come back just past sundown, instead of before or during. We would not be running amok in the pure, unabashèd darkness. We would simply watch as the sun came to rest, surrounded by our trees.
It was beautiful. As the sun fell, the shadows of the trees grew longer, more pointed, reached out almost as if to ensnare us in their grasp. The light grew weaker and weaker, and the stars were not yet alight.
There was a single, perfect moment, where the sky and the earth were both absolutely, magnificently black. It was silent, before the first star was to break the darkness.
The moment continued to stretch, further and further, until I was sure that my parents should have been calling for us. I didn't hear a thing, not from the house, not from the woods. Nowhere.
There was still no light from the stars. I tried to turn around, to try to lead us back to our house, but my sense of direction was askew from the darkness. Dark Shadow could not tell where we were, either.
Dark Shadow knew those woods just as well as I did. Dark Shadow can also see in the dark. For them not to see anything- that was the first sign that something was wrong.
My parents live in a house that, while it has woods, is relatively close to the suburbs. There should not have been any wild animals in those woods, besides the occasional rabbit.
As we began to walk in a random direction that we hoped would lead back to the house, there was a low growl from ahead of us. We stopped, and I hoped that it was my imagination. Then it sounded again, closer this time; it was hungry. It wanted blood.
I turned tail and ran, and I felt rather than heard it give chase. There was no sound but for the initial, intimidating growl. We ran into trees, and it was no longer the shadows trying to trap us, but the branches themselves.
Somehow, I knew that it was gaining on us. I knew that soon, it could reach out with a clawed limb and pluck me up from the ground, take me whole. The fact that it was so impossibly dark that even Dark Shadow could not see did not matter; it always knew where we were. The shadows thickened behind us, as the monster pulled itself closer and closer.
"Fumi," whispered Dark Shadow, as my lungs and legs burned to get away, "Fumi. I can stop it. I can keep us safe, but it will come at a price."
I could barely gasp for breath, let alone form words, so I let my thoughts bleed into our telepathic connection together.
"What price?"
"I am already powerful in the dark, but if you do this, it will be limitless. I will be limitless in power, but I will lose control of myself. The only thing that could bring me back is light. Once you take my limits, you cannot give them back. You cannot go back. I will always be all-powerful and wild in the dark."
I had no idea what to do, but the scrape of claws against tree limbs behind us made that decision for me.
"Do what you need! I hereby relinquish your limitations, and with it my control!"
All at once, Dark Shadow grew into a towering, snarling beast. They were as tall as the trees, with claws more vicious than the dried and reaching branches of the leafless trees. They turned to face the creature and leapt at it, forcing me to slide to a halt. Trees crashed into the ground around us, I heard them strike the ground as their branches cut at my face.
I don't know how much time passed before I began to smell something that reminded me of one day in primary school, when a friend of mine had come back from his trip to America with a fistful of pennies for souvenirs to bring to school. It was wet and coppery, tinged with the sickly sweetness of overripe fruit.
I realized that I was smelling the monster's blood as Dark Shadow roared in triumph.
I turned tail and ran. Slowly, so slowly, the outline of the trees began to be outlined against the dark blue sky. Stars began to emerge above us, as I ran on the path that I knew to be nearing our house, and Dark Shadow screamed and scraped at tree bark, leaving a long trail of destruction in their wake.
When we finally broke the tree line, my parents were standing outside, looking like they had been yelling for ages. They might have been, I don't know. The only things that I could hear were the blood pounding through my head and the animalistic sounds of Dark Shadow rampaging behind me.
I screamed and screamed for them to turn the floodlights on, bring out the flashlights, anything to stop Dark Shadow. My mother ran inside to turn the floodlights on, while my father stood there, as still as the dead, staring up at Dark Shadow in mute horror.
The backyard was flooded in stark white light. Dark Shadow gave one final screech, before shrinking back to their normal size.
I stumbled into the house, where I realized that the cuts on my skin were stinging without the rush of adrenaline that I'd had. My mother guided us to the bathroom so that she could wash and bandage them, and I idly looked at the clock to see that it was just past midnight.
Neither of my parents got mad at us for that night. I think that they knew that we didn't want to break their rules; I think that Dark Shadow truly scared them. I think that they knew that something terrible happened in those woods.
We still struggle with the consequences of that night. We need a night light in our room so that they do not grow out of control. We can no longer roam in the dark like we used to.
I do not fear the dark; I fear the monster that it makes us. Darkness is beautiful, yet it brings out the worst in us. Soon, I hope that we will be able to recover what we have lost, and roam freely in darkness once again.
Statement ends.
The tape recorder stops and starts recording, with a moment of silence between.
- This interview was very... informative. Not only has the Statement been useful, but a few comments from prior to the Statement were notable as well.
- Of course, there is the obvious: Mineta Minoru has been expelled from UA, with an additional note on his file strongly advising his next school to bar him from their Hero Course completely. As UA lacks the power to ban him completely, this is the most stringent measure that they can take against him in his future of heroics; even if his next high school ignores this note, the HPSC will see it and be able to take action, including being able to withhold a Hero License entirely. There are multiple reports of sexual harassment on his file, in fact, the number is so high that it is a wonder that he was not expelled earlier. The mystery disappears when you take into consideration that his uncle is on UA's Board of Directors, but I digress.
- The news about Hawks' spider problem in his agency is discomfiting at best. Not to mention, Tokoyami said that the only evidence of the apparent infestation was the webbing, while the spiders themselves remain unseen. This is a very bad sign in terms of the involvement of the Web- and don't even get me started on what it could mean that Hawks eats the spiders. This may be a bird trait, indeed; though it may point to something more sinister.
- Tokoyami and Dark Shadow have clearly had an encounter with the Dark. However, with the way that he spoke of darkness, I wonder if Tokoyami is falling to it himself. He called it beautiful, and stated multiple times that despite his experience, he does not fear it.
- There are still no leads for the whereabouts of Todoroki Natsuo. I am beginning to fear that he is dead due to an Avatar or Entity; that, or something much, much worse.
- My homesickness appears to have evolved into a physical illness. I believe that my ties to the Institute are pulling me back, so, despite my better judgement, I will be leaving for London later this month. It will not be long; just enough for me to regain my bearings, but I can still feel something looming closer. It is almost as if the moment I leave, something is going to happen, something that I may have been able to prevent. Call it paranoia, if you will. Too much has happened in recent years for me to be content with peace.
- End recording.
Welcome back to Musutafu Tonight at 6 with Yamada Kaori. Less than an hour ago, former UA Hero Course student Mineta Minoru was reported missing after leaving his home yesterday evening and not returning at all today, with no contact with his parents or his friends. All attempts to reach him via his cell phone have been met with dead air.
He was last seen on a security camera at 12:47 AM this morning, near UA campus; he appears to have been muttering to himself and acting erratically. Police currently suspect that he has run away from home following a stress-induced psychotic break, with his recent expulsion from UA having been the final straw.
If anyone has any information as to his current whereabouts, or has seen him at all today, you are encouraged to call the police hotline at (XXX) XXX - XXXX.
Now, to the weather with Enatsu Azami. Enatsu?
Thanks, Yamada. I hope that that boy is found soon.
The unexpected fog that rolled into downtown Musutafu yesterday evening seems to be dissipating as we move towards the weekend, with predictions of a bright and sunny Friday and Saturday...