Midoriya Izuku was classed as missing.
Midoriya Izuku was classed as missing as Katsuki Bakugo was telling himself that he didn't care.
He hadn't been the nerd's friend for years. He shouldn't matter. He didn't matter. He was just a weak, snivelling Deku.
So why did his gut twist with guilt and something that was almost like worry every time the missing boy was so much as mentioned.
"Your eyes... They looked like you were calling for help."
Deku had been ridiculous. As if he would call for help. If that stupid Deku had known anything about him, he'd have know this: he didn't need help. He didn't need saving. The sooner the stupid Deku got it though his head, the better.
So why did he feel so guilty? None of this was his fault. If Deku couldn't take a few insults, well, that was nothing to do with him.
"If you want a quirk so badly, why don't you take a swan dive of the roof? Maybe you'll be reborn with a quirk in the next life!"
It... It wasn't his problem!
But... But the case of Izuku Midoriya was a big mystery. It was unclear as to whether or not it was a kidnapping, him running away, or... or a suicide.
Either way, Bakugo didn't like it one little bit.
To say Izuku was surprised when he woke up would be an understatement. The first thing he became aware of was that he was lying on something soft... a little too uncomfortable to be a bed, but too cushioned to be the floor. It took him a moment that he had been laid on a sofa.
But it wasn't the sofa he had at home. That had springs prodding him in the back every time he so much as moved. This was far too comfy. This was strange and unfamilair and wrong.
Then, in the brief moment it took for him to notice that he was on a sofa, he realised there was a dull, pounding ache in the back of his head.
He struggled to remember anything that could possibly explain where he was... But all he came up with was his walking home, a flash of black and then nothing.
The smell was unfamiliar too. It took him a while to recognise the bitter stench as alcohol, and the sharp odour dragged up hazy memories of a tall man and the arcid tang of smoke.
Finally, beginging to panic slightly at not having a clue where he was, Izuku wrenched his eyes open, wincing as the sudden light made his head throb.
What had happened to him?
Peering around, he could only gape as he stared around a cozy bar, of all places. He didn't have a clue where he was, never having seen the place before in his life, and he certainly didn't have any bright ideas on how he'd ended up here.
"Ah, Izuku, you're awake." A pleasantly surpised voice said, and Izuku whirled around to stare at what had to be the strangest man he'd ever seen, with his features covered in what appeared to be flickering, black mist, with a pair of yellow eyes glinting merrily at him.
"How do you know my name?" To Izuku's surprise, his own voice didn't sound suspicious, only mildly curious.
"Hmm... You see, Izuku, there's quite a long story behind that." The man said with a tired sigh. "I'm Kurogiri. I work as a bartender here. Would you like some water? It may help with your head."
"I..." Izuku winced as his head gave another particularly painful throb. He could hardly think properly, he had too many questions and his head just hurt. "Okay, thank you."
The water was cool, and his hands trembled as they closed around the glass. Thankfully, with each sip the ache in his head faded slightly.
"Kurogiri," He asked carefully. "How did you know about my head?"
"Ah," The bartender laughed sheepishly. "That too is a long story. I'm sorry to say that your wound is entirely my fault."
His fault... The lack of memory. An unrecognizable place.
Izuku's worst suspicions were instantly confirmed. His stomach clenched and suddenly he felt like throwing up the water he'd just guzzled.
He was very, very aware that his back was to the only exit. He was very, very aware that the man almost definitely had a quirk and some form of combat training.
He was also painfully reminded that he was just a weak, quirkless Deku. He didn't stand a chance.
Kurogiri seemed to notice his tension, because the man shook his head.
"Honestly, Izuku, we're not going to kill you. If we wanted you dead, it would have been easy enough to finish you off while you were unconscious."
But Izuku only thought of Bakugo's cruel smirk and of narrowed red eyes and of the taunts of 'useless'.
There are some things worse than death.
Instead, he didn't speak instead studied the bar, looking for any clues as to what Kurogiri's quirk was.
He caught sight of something like dust, swept neatly into one corner. From years of practice, his mind scanned the room for any irregularities that could explain the pile of dust, and his eyes caught on the odd number of chairs.
Dust. Chairs.
Now that he thought about it, the dust looked suspiciously like wood grains. That could only mean...
Izuku glanced back at Kurogiri. He could destroy things, then?
He froze and stared at the man in horror. Either Kurogiri was capable of horrible things, or someone who had been in this bar (probably recently) was.
A laugh jolted him out of his thoughts. Kurogiri was laughing, his yellow eyes crinkled happily and glinting with mirth.
"You really are good, if you pieced all of that together so quickly. Of course, I already had some idea, as I've seen your notebook. Most impressive, Izuku."
Despite how wrong the entire situation was, Izuku couldn't help the sudden, small, happy glow that blossomed in his chest at that. No one had ever praised him for his quirk analysis before.
Suddenly, there was a rapid sound of footsteps, sounding remarkably like rolling thunder. A young man with glaring red eyes stormed into the room, sitting heavily at one of the bar stools.
Meanwhile, Izuku tensed to run. Something about this man was wrong. Something about this man spoke of power. Something about this man just screamed 'villain'.
He had to get away. This was bad. Very bad. If he could just-
"Oi, Kurogiri! Who's the little shit? The one that looks like he's about to shit himself." The man snapped, and his voice was almost hoarse, like he either screamed all the time or hadn't spoken in a while.
"Please, Tomura Shigaraki. Refrain from using such vulgar language-" Kurogiri stared, but was interrupted.
"I asked who he was, not for a lecture on language." The man now revealed to be Tomura Shigaraki snarled quietly, the menu he'd been folding into a paper airplane suddenly crumpled and disintegrated into an untidy pile of ash, the flakes settling like snow on the glossy counter.
So this Tomura guy was the one with the disintegrating quirk? That meant that Kurogiri's quirk was unaccounted for. So he was up against an unknown element, outnumbered, was still injured and had no clue where he was.
Izuku's heart sank as he realised how little his chances were at getting away were.
"That's Izuku Midoriya, the one sensei requested." Kurogiri said, politely ignoring the way Tomura's eyes lit up like a child that had just been given a new toy and the way Izuku was eying the only exit frantically, like a caged animal.
"Ah, so he's awake." The screen, the one Izuku had previously assumed to be broken due to the static it was displaying suddenly crackled with noise.
"Sensei!" Tomura cried out, delighted.
Kurogiri nodded. "He woke up a little while ago. I thought it would be best to give him something to ease his headache before we started explaining things."
"Ah. Thank you, Kurogiri." The man said approvingly. "Now, Izuku. I'm inclined to believe that you'd like an explanation."
Not trusting himself to speak, Izuku only nodded warily.
"We're villains. We know your name because we hacked our way into the list of government doucments of the lists of quirkless people."
Izuku had known they were villains. Everything about the shady place just screamed 'villain'. But if they had the resources and skill to break in to those kind of records, then they were far more dangerous than he first though.
"The security was laughable, really. But then again, I can see it from their way of looking at things. Why place high security on a list of quirkless people?"
And Izuku's stomach tightened as he was painfully reminded of all the times he'd been bullied, attacked, burned, all because he was quirkless.
"But I digress... Anyway, we took you because we needed help from someone who was not in posession of a quirk. At the time, however, we were not aware of your abilities."
"My abilities?" Izuku asked before he could stop himself.
"Yes. Your notebooks. They're very detailed. You're certainly talented." The screen crackled with static, but the man's voice was smooth.
Even though he was being complimented, Izuku couldn't help but feel uneasy. Something about this didn't sit well with him. It was just-
"So we'd like to offer you to join us. You'd like the chance to show off your abilities, right?"
Wrong!
"W-what?" Izuku wondered if he'd misheard that. This was a dream. A really, really horrible dream. He'd wake up the next morning, and he'd go to school, and everyone would laugh at him. He'd get beaten black and blue protecting some kid that had run off long ago and everything would be normal.
"We could give you a quirk, if you really wanted. If you join us, Izuku, you could show the world that you're more than just quirkless. You could show them all that you're more than just Deku."
Give him a quirk? That was impossible. But neither of the other two looked surprised, so maybe...Just maybe...
"You saw how the heroes treated you because you did what they couldn't. Ridiculed, and you did more than they did in the face of danger. You could prove them all wrong, if you agree to join us."
It was tempting. This man was speaking all of his darkest thoughts. All of the times he'd wanted to give up, all of the times he'd hated...
He'd thought about all of this before. Proving them wrong. Seeing the looks of shock as he proved them all wrong.
"You're villains." His voice shook.
"You can't still want to be a hero. Everyone you've saved has run away. You've never been thanked. Face it, Izuku. You'll never be appreciated as a hero."
How did they know this? It wasn't written down anywhere, and Izuku sorely doubted that anyone here had a memory reading quirk. He could only conclude that they were guessing.
Well, it wasn't far from the truth.
It was tempting. He could leave Deku behind. He could stay here, and not get killed by the villains with all the dangerous quirks.
He could watch as the heroes he'd so admired were forced to eat their words, and he could prove his worth here more than as a quirkless boy with dreams far above his station. Here there would be no limits.
But...
But he remembered what it was like to fear for his life as he gasped for air, knowing that he would only suffocate. He remembered what it was like to claw desperately, and get weaker with each attempt. He remembered what it was like to know that no hero was going to come and save him.
If he even indirectly made anyone suffer through that...
"No." He said, for the first time sounding confident.. He knew he wouldn't get away from this. He knew that he'd probably die here. But he had a choice, and for once, he could be brave.
It'd cost him, but after a life of always being pushed down, always being told he was pathetic, being able to say 'no' despite all of that meant something to him in that one moment.
"That truly is a pity." The man on the other side of the screen almost sounded genuinely sad.
Tomura burst in to laughter.
"But you're lucky, you know." The man continued.
Kruogiri sighed almost sadly.
Izuku suddenly felt cold.
"Because you'll be far from quirkless when we're done with you."