Chapter 4

Panther in the Dark

Inmates hustled and bustled around him during lunch time. It was the norm at that time of day, for no one was satisfied with their food. Most of them were either big shot villains who got what they wanted by force or underdogs who tried to prove their strength. It was ridiculous how people, no matter what their rank in society, could measure strength by their ability to attain the best and most food. It was almost like humanity was at its dawn all over again.

He lifted his head from his plate and his eyes landed on someone at the far corner of the room, tied up with high-tech cuffs and being held to a metal board by metallic belts. The man smiled to himself and excused himself from the quiet table at which he sat.

He walked across to the tied up prisoner and became capable of making out his features, which is saying a lot. The man had no eyes and very little of everything else. The eyeless inmate was being fed by a machine, so as not to be freed of his restraints. When he arrived, the man coughed.

"Hello." Said the man.

"Oh. It's you." Was the eyeless man's reply.

"You know who I am?"

"Yes. I'm sure that you're not used to people knowing who you are, given how your history was quickly covered up by the government after your arrest, but I do. You see…. I am a man of many talents." The eyeless man replied, causing the other man to smile, his teeth clear and shiny under the fluorescent lights.

"That I know. Your Quirk helps you acquire these talents. Well, your original one, anyway. I'm glad I could talk with someone like you…. All for One."

"So, I guess we can skip the introductions then. What do you want with me?" Said All for One with a glare, and the conversation was reduced to a whisper.

"I want out of here. Someone's head belongs on my wall and yet it is not there yet. I need your help." Said the man, his face still concealed by the dark.

"And why should I?" All for One said. It was then that the man noticed that the tied-up man seemed to know where he stood exactly despite having no eyes, which made him that much more interested.

"Because you get to kill All Might….and Midoriya Izuku. With your own hand."

All for One looked at him for a while, pondering the deal. There he was, promised freedom if he helped this man achieve his goals, as well as a chance to kill the living bearers of One for All. He didn't know much about the guy, yet he didn't have much to lose. The eyeless man smirked devilishly.

"Come closer and tell me what you need…. Ex-Hero of the impossible."

Todoroki had woken up with a jolt that morning. Another dream? His patience was at an end as it was and despite the day he had spent with Yao-Momo, that dream still haunted his sleep. At that moment, he was training his left on a few special moves he had come up with on his way home the previous night, trying to get his mind off of it. He aimed at one of the metal weights from the training room, took a deep breath and held it, and finally fired at it. He released the breath he held and smiled; the weight didn't melt. His control over his fire seemed to have drastically improved.

The son of Endeavor glanced at the clock, and felt a little proud of himself. He'd been training for two hours straight and he could feel it pay off. Grabbing a towel, he made his way upstairs to take a shower, when his phone buzzed all of a sudden. He opened it to see a text.

Yao-Momo: Hi. :D

Todoroki: Hello, Yao-Momo.

Yao-Momo: How r u?

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. Was there a meaning behind her texting him, or did she just want to talk a bit?

Todoroki: I'm fine. Although, to be honest, I wasn't expecting a text from you, so I'm a little surprised.

Yao-Momo: Oh… hope I'm not interrupting anything.

Todoroki: Not at all. Anyway, how r u?

Todoroki made it to his room and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his towel. He watched as the creation heroine typed, and awaited her response.

Thirty minutes later:

Todoroki: Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Even her Quirk suggests that she's into that kind of stuff.

Yao-Momo: Ikr? Jiro also tells me that her band might perform at our school some time next year!

Todoroki checked the time on his phone and couldn't believe that half an hour had passed already; it felt like they'd just been talking for like five minutes. He stood up and decided that he needed to take a shower and go eat something.

Todoroki: Cool. Hey, look, I'm gonna go grab a bite to eat. Talk to you later, okay?

Yao-Momo: Sure. See ya later. :D

The son of Endeavor put his phone down and made his way into the shower, his mind racing with a lot of thoughts.

Yao-Momo put her phone down on the coffee table and took a sip of her orange juice. She had felt like she needed to talk to someone, but she never thought she'd talk, to Todoroki of all people, for thirty whole minutes. Knowing him, he'd usually try and end the conversation as soon as possible.

She smiled to herself. She felt happy that he was finally opening up to someone and even happier that it was her. She knew that people like Todoroki didn't feel that comfortable talking freely with others, unless they indisputably trust them.

The creation heroine made her way towards the balcony, a book resting on the table. Her juice in hand, she sat down, opened the book and enjoyed the soft breeze against her skin. Yet, she couldn't stop thinking about Todoroki.

Her mind drifted to the little thought she had the previous day about him being handsome and the rush of adrenaline that followed it. She never felt this way before… She couldn't properly translate it. Did she like Todoroki? No way. It wouldn't have felt like that if such was the case. Even if she did, he wouldn't be that thrilled about it anyway. Well, maybe she didn't like him, then. That also couldn't have been, he didn't do anything for her to feel like that. Exasperated, she closed her book and looked onto the horizon.

The trip was supposed to be about her having fun, but the new feeling worried her. She was afraid that it would drag out long enough to distract her from her hero training, so she needed to get it out of her head. She got into her room, changed, and decided to go for a walk.

The jet flied over lands, making its way through the clouds. The impossible's ex-hero looked out the window of the private vehicle, pondering several matters in his head. He looked at those accompanying him.

"Has our guest arrived?" He asked.

"Yes, for a couple of days now. I've been doing my part since." Said a white haired lady, young in age, but her crimson eyes spelt the venom of seasoned vipers hunting prey.

"Good. And what about our friend in Spain?"

"Awaiting your orders, sir." Said a bulky man dressed in a suit and glasses, looking as strict as a government official.

"Alright then, send him word. Also, will you notify our other friend in Japan of the start of our plan?" Said the man, his teal eyes shining in the darkness.

The lady bowed and left the room. The Ex-hero of the Impossible looked out the window and smirked in satisfaction.

"Your suffering begins now, Endeavor. And I'll make sure to hit you where it hurts."

Yao-Momo walked down the streets of Barcelona, taking in the scene at night. At that particular part in Barcelona, the locals seemed to never sleep, the city always bustling with life. She found that to be the perfect distraction from Todoroki…

…Except she wasn't so distracted.

She made peace with the thought that she may have had a crush on Todoroki. She was a teenage girl, after all. However, she still couldn't let herself be distracted by that for as long as it lasted. She was never gonna pursue anything, so it was only logical that she couldn't afford to be hindered by this.

Yao-Momo stopped in her tracks, getting a strange sensation, as if someone was following her. Turning around, she saw no one specially suspicious. Although, if someone was following her, they wouldn't be obvious about it, would they? She needed to open her mind up a bit more for that one. Maybe she could lure them?

Yao-Momo entered an alley, discreetly making a silent alarm with her Quirk and put it in her pocket, so that she would call for help in case her suspicions were real. The creation heroine may have had acquired her provisional license, but she was still forbidden from hurting anyone with her Quirk outside of Japan. She walked a bit into the alley and turned towards the entrance to see if her chaser would reveal their identity.

"Bold move, ponytail." Yao-Momo jumped at the voice coming from above her, as a man clad in black landed before her.

Someone was chasing her. A man wearing a black sleeveless trench coat, with matching pants and boots. He also wore a black mask to cover his mouth and nose, and a black cowboy hat to top it off. However, what intrigued her the most was the way his fingers were in the shape of sharp, metallic knives, ready to slice on command. The creation heroine took a few steps back and discreetly pressed the button in her pocket.

"I can't fight him, or else my parents will have to deal with the police. I need to buy time till someone who can fight him comes."

"So, ponytail, I'm here to play. Care to join me?" He said, sadism in his eyes.

"Sorry, but I have plans."

"Pretty please?"

"Leave now."

Unaffected by her firmness, the man chuckled.

"Ah, I do like it rough. In that case, I'll just have to show you… HOW MUCH PLAYING'S FUN WITH ME!" The man said as he lunged at her, his claws hoping to taste blood.

Yao-Momo narrowly dodged his attack and stepped on his foot. With the guy distracted for a minute, she ran away as far as she could into the alley. Moments later, she could hear him running after her. Then suddenly, the sound of his boots against the ground stopped.

She decided that she couldn't afford to stop; he might have had a trap set for her. Running onward, she was stopped in her tracks when he landed in front of her suddenly. She turned around and started running in the other direction.

"You can run, beautiful, but you can't hide!" His voice echoed as she ran.

She knew as she ran that he was easily following her, yet she couldn't stop. She needed to buy time till someone got there and the clawed man seemed to be quite cocky in his ability to jump up on people, so she was trying to exploit that particular weakness of his. She stopped when she met a dead end.

"Well, well, the mouse has no place to run to anymore, huh? Now you can neither run nor hide." Said the man, blocking her way back.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?" She asked, sounding as intimidating as she could muster.

"All that is for me to know and for you to not concern yourself about. What matters is that you're coming with me." He said, approaching her.

"Over my dead body!" She backed up till she hit the wall.

"Now, now, that wouldn't please the boss. I need you alive. And since I'd just hate to scar such a pretty face for life, I advise you to come with me the easy way."

"No way! Back off!" She said, watching as he approached her slowly. She needed to get out of that pinch, but how?

Finally, she had an idea. Once he was a suitable distance from her, she produced a tiny little ball and threw it at him, the ball opening up to become a net.

The man momentarily down, she made a run for it, hearing the sound of the fabric tearing behind her as she receded.

She stopped when she heard an exasperated yell from above her, seeing the guy descending from above, claws at the ready. Jumping back, she dodged and his claws got stuck in the ground instead. He turned to her, his eyes filled with rage and impatience. She turned to run yet again, but he angrily yanked his hands out and jumped in front of her.

"Alright, that's enough cat and mouse for one day. Time to finish the job." He said, preparing to strike her.

His claw never came down, though. Surprised, the man looked up and found his hand held still by... wood? He looked up and was met with the eyes of the seventh most powerful hero in the entire world, Kamui Woods.

"You're coming with me, dude." He said, pulling the clawed man to him before punching him into a wall.

The clawed man rubbed the sore spot and watched as Kamui Woods advanced. Realising he failed, he threw something on the ground as hard as he could.

"A smoke bomb?!" Yao-Momo exclaimed as the guy disappeared into the smoke.

Todoroki was sitting in the living room, flipping through the channels. Nothing was of interest to him, and he had nothing better to do. He stopped at the news, figuring something of interest might come up.

"…And Kamui Woods, the currently number seven hero, strikes again, saving a girl from an unknown attacker. Even though the girl has been returned safely to her home, it is advised to be cautious, as the villain managed to escape his encounter with Woods. The girl was in luck, as the time of the unexplained attack coincided with a visit from one of the world's top ten heroes to the renowned city of Barcelona. Not much is known about the attacker, unfortunately, but the police say that…"

Todoroki was interrupted by a knock on the door. He glanced at the clock. 9:43 PM. Who would knock on his door at that time? Keeping his guard up, he carefully opened the door, and found quite a surprise awaiting him...