Work Text:
The tape recorder is turned on.
- Hello! I've been told that you are the Archivist that we are to meet with?
- Yes, I am. You are Iida Tenya, correct?
- Indeed! Midoriya told me about you, as did Uraraka!
- Erm... what exactly did they say?
- Oh... well, they actually advised me to skip this meeting entirely, however! It would not be very heroic of me to simply skip a possibly important investigative meeting because of mere gossip!
- Gossip? You don't need to tell me, of course, I'm just curious about what they're saying about me and my interviews.
- Nothing that you need to concern yourself with!
- Of course. Would you like to begin?
- Certainly!
Statement of Iida Tenya, regarding the stars. Statement direct from subject, recorded 3 November, 20XX. Statement begins.
I know that I'm well-known by my classmates as being somewhat of a stickler for the rules. I know that none of them, save for two, have seen me break a single one. I know that there are betting pools around whether or not I've always been like this; I know that there's quite a bit of money and pocky riding on me reciting various laws since the time that I could speak.
The truth is, I wasn't. I wasn't particularly fond of rules in my formative years, not until I found out the hard way why, exactly, they were in place.
Of course, I wasn't popular in the first place, because I still insisted that my classmates respected objects like toys or desks, even when they didn't want to. However, before I was in middle school, I didn't care for things like curfews or anything limiting me from doing what I wanted, as long as there was no real harm to anyone.
I was seriously considering becoming a vigilante upon my entry into middle school, actually, out of the purview of my parents, of course. All in the name of becoming a better hero when I was in high school, all because I knew that I couldn't wait for years to begin heroics.
My parents and brother were busy people, while I was in primary school. They still are busy people, but for the purposes of this story, they were even more so when I was younger. They trusted their security system to keep me inside past my curfew, when really, I was a small child with incredible amounts of determination and spite.
So, I found flaws in the security system at my house, and often snuck out.
Really, I didn't even sneak out to do much. Most of the time, I ended up going to a nearby park and watching the stars. They utterly fascinated me, when I was younger. They still do, to some extent, but I am wary at best of going to see them again.
I'd memorized constellations and star placements. I could point out Sirius, Polaris, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, all without issue.
I remember sneaking out to see the stars just before the beginning of my first year of middle school. I'd decided that that would be my final "frivolous" trip; from then on, I was going to start being a vigilante, start helping people, even if I didn't have a hero license quite yet. I was old enough to, I'd decided; I was in middle school, that was old enough.
Needless to say, I never did become a vigilante.
I'd snuck out to the park nearest my house, bringing nothing but a particularly heavy flashlight. I went to my usual place, a clearing in the woods towards the outer edge of the park. There was nothing unusual as I looked up to see Polaris, first.
I kept watching, for a while, identifying to myself the constellations that winked above me. I thought that I should look towards the horizon to see if any constellations were making their way onto the night sky, or if I could still see some that were supposed to have faded away.
I looked out to where the horizon was supposed to be, expecting to have to try to angle myself to see beyond the trees, but they were gone. The horizon was gone. All that I could see was stars.
Constellations, galaxies, nebulas, they all sprawled above and around me, like I was floating in the vast inner depths of space. I was mesmerized, at first; stars that I had never seen before, stars that I knew had died and disappeared forever, all of them were there before me.
Eventually, I tried to turn around and go back home, but there were only stars. I turned around and looked some more, until I realized that I had no idea which way was up anymore.
I wasn't even standing on flat ground. I don't know how I hadn't noticed sooner, but I was simply floating in a field of stars. I felt like the sky had swallowed me whole.
I thought that I was going to be trapped there forever, in the cold expanse of space, where my only company was the endless field of stars. They went on forever; there was no way that I could even find my way home, even if I found some form of propulsion.
Where was Earth, in this vast expanse? Where was the Milky Way? Where- where was anything that I could recognize?
They were all different, every time I turned, it was a new star, a new constellation- were they even constellations, when they were never visible from Earth?, something new, nothing that I could recognize.
I don't know if I was flying or falling or just floating still, while everything moved around me. Every time I looked in a new direction, or even blinked, I got a horrible sense of vertigo, like I was just about to overbalance, but there was nothing to overbalance on. I was, for all intents and purposes, completely and totally still.
Then, it was like gravity suddenly returned. I knew, then, that I was falling, as the stars blurred past me as I approached terminal velocity, as my glasses flew off of my face and my flashlight flew out of my hand. My hair, short as it was, whipped about and on my face, and the wind was strong enough to make it sting.
Suddenly, I was on the ground again. I didn't actually make an impact, I was just suddenly there, like I'd never been falling at all.
My flashlight and glasses were both gone. I couldn't see anything, couldn't even look up and identify which stars were where so I could tell what direction I was facing. Not that I would want to, of course; I could hardly bare to glimpse at the sky for a moment as I stood up. I couldn't trust that they wouldn't take me again, that they would let me go after another taste.
I simply wandered in a random direction, and kept walking until the world brightened up with the sun. Then, I thought that it was safe enough to look at the skyline of the city, to see if Idaten tower was in the correct direction in front of me.
It wasn't. It was far off to the right, almost behind me, but I was still able to turn towards it and correct myself, and quickly enough that I could put my head back down and not look at the sky.
I walked for ages. I was unwilling to run, because I might tire myself out too quickly, or pass the tower entirely. Then, I heard news broadcasts from television screens around me, reporting on my own disappearance.
They thought I'd been taken for ransom, kidnapped by someone with a warp quirk. I heard people muttering around me, felt their eyes turn to me, and quietly ask themselves, "Is that him?"
So many times, I heard "no," in response.
"No, that kid's got blue hair, Iida kid's got black."
"No, look, see, his clothes are kinda floating, he's got a gravity quirk or something, kid on the news has engine-legs."
"No way, kid's covered in glitter! He was probably at some sleepover or some shit, not getting kidnapped!"
Eventually, I came across a woman with a frog quirk who asked me if I was lost. I probably did look lost, and I was, so I nodded. She asked my name, and I told her. She asked if I had an address that she could bring me to, and I told her that my brother worked at Idaten. She introduced herself as Asui Beru, and asked me if I would be alright with going in her car with her to the tower.
I nodded, and she guided me to where she was parked. She was apparently out doing some shopping, and talked about her kids a lot. I wasn't really listening, but I appreciated the chatter. I think she knew that without me saying it.
Eventually, we ended up at Idaten, where she brought me inside and told them that she had found me wandering around and looking lost. I remember my brother running towards me and hugging me tightly, and everything after that was a bit of a blur.
I don't remember what my family's reaction was to my new hair color. I don't remember my explanation for what happened. It all bled together into a mess of emotions.
I do remember, a few months later, when my mother noticed that all of my hair was still blue, even though my roots should have been black at that point. I looked at my reflection in a nearby mirror, and I saw that she was right.
I was taken to the doctor, and I was told that while there was no apparent medical explanation for my sudden change in hair color, it also appeared to be causing me no harm. It would continue to grow blue for the rest of my life, supposedly, which has held true up to this point. It wouldn't impact my future reputation, as "unnatural" hair colors were becoming more and more common with quirks. All in all, it was odd, but benign.
I know what it really was. A calling card from the stars, making sure that I would never forget their power, never forget the way that they kept me up in the sky, the way that I was entirely at their mercy.
Statement ends.
The tape recorder is clicked off. It is clicked on again, seemingly a moment later.
- So it appears that Iida Tenya was marked by the Vast, which in turn influenced him to... follow the rules? That's what it seems like from his comments around it. This Statement has provided no other information about his classmates, however, I now know that they are talking about all of this in a less than positive light. Of course, the effects of the Beholding that they do feel are the ones that cannot be helped; I have done my utmost to keep the dreams at bay and to limit compulsion, however, anything beyond that is beyond my own abilities. I can't keep them from saying more than they'd like on these Statements, simply by nature of what I am.
- In searching for older photos of Iida Tenya, which should depict him with black hair instead of the blue hair that he currently has, I've also stumbled across photos of his older brother, Iida Tensei, otherwise known as Ingenium. Currently, the man has dark blue hair, but prior to his high school years, Tensei appeared to have jet-black hair. I'll have to arrange an interview with him as well, if he is willing.
- I am going back to England soon, as my last visit was too short for me to really get my bearings back. I feel ill enough that I fear if I took another Statement, I would cause nightmares no matter what kind of preparation I did. It is unfortunate that I was unable to interview either Endeavor or Hawks before I left, again, however, barring some massive event involving the both of them in the near future, I have tentatively scheduled interviews with the both of them when I am back.
- End recording.
The tape recorder stops recording for a moment. It restarts itself a moment later. It is unknown if it is the same recorder, but it is a different place.
- Can't believe I have to go to a fuckin' payphone for this... ugh. Shigaraki better buy me a new goddamn burner, that shit doesn't grow on trees, bastard needs to keep his fuckin' hands to himself and his own shit...
The clink of change being inserted into a slot, and then the sounds of buttons being pressed, are heard around the grumbling.
- Birdie. It's me.
- ...
- Yeah, I know you know the plan, that's your whole thing, whoop-dee-fucking-doo. Bossman wants me to remind you anyway. Besides, it's not like he knows all about you, yeah? Bring another hero, the noumu's goal is to cause chaos, be a hero but not too much of one, blah blah blah.
- ...
- I'll be watching, birdie. Though be decent, my sister's gonna be there too. We'll have a regular meet-the-family, how about that.
- ...
- Keep that attitude up and I'm not buying you karaage tonight.
- ...
- That's what I thought. Be at the usual place, usual time.
- ...
- Disgusting. You disgust me. I'm gonna fuckin' puke, you're so fuckin' sappy, go be gross at your fans, you asshole.
The sound of a phone being hung up is heard.
- Idiot.
The sound of footsteps walking away is audible, and the tape recorder clicks itself off.