Angel on my Shoulder

by TealeafCustom

What if Izuku unknowingly possessed a "sentient" Quirk like Tokoyami's Dark Shadow? Enter Midoriya Izuku, a young boy thought to be Quirkless who subconsciously controls the number one vigilante in Japan; an entity powerful enough to rival even the strongest villains. There's only one small, tiny problem: the entity thinks of him as a big brother. Good luck, Izuku-nii-chan!

6. Thy Will Be Done

Chapter 6

---

Being a hero was hard work. In between patrolling the streets, aiding police operations, fighting villains and endorsing their own products, a pro's schedule was nearly always packed to the brim with events. Many heroes simply got overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work, opting to take a week off at least once a month.

Endeavor was not one of those heroes.

The man was currently patrolling the streets as usual, on the lookout for any sort of unusual activity. The number two hero dedicated himself to one thing, and one thing only: to surpass the colossal wall known as All Might. The sea of people that inhabited Musutafu City parted for him as he walked through, many civilians pointing, chattering and some even taking pictures of the respected pro hero. Despite the relative peace in recent times there were still rare cases of villains popping up unannounced, such as the assault on U.A's USJ facility yesterday. And to think Shoto had been there, too…

Endeavor clenched his fists. It was pure luck that the boy had had not been harmed. The audacity of those villains… if anything had happened to his progeny there'd be hell to pay. Not just because Shoto was his plan to finally surpass All Might, but also because the boy was his son.

Truth be told, despite his proficiency at Hero work Endeavor knew he wasn't the best parent. There simply wasn't time to coddle the boy; defeating All Might would require tremendous amounts of skill, talent and prowess… something that he nurtured into Shoto since the tender age of five. The boy was to be his legacy, a being capable of wielding his fire and his wife's frost. The best traits of both parents bred into the perfect warrior, resulting in overwhelming power—well, it would be except the boy only used his right side like a damned fool.

Didn't he realize this was how the world worked? Power was everything. In this world strewn with superpowers, people were not born equal. Might makes right—just as the powerful controlled the world, the powerless were controlled by it. Law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, and that the weak should fear the strong. That was what Endeavor believed in… so why was it that Shoto still refused to use his inherited power?

The hero's train of thought was derailed when a low whine followed by a monstrous roar split the air, something screaming across the sky overhead in a flash of green. It sounded like a fighter jet, complete with Doppler effect as it rapidly covered distance. A second later something else sped past in pursuit in a blur of white—the Buster Hero, Air Jet.

While the nearby civilians cowered and looked on in awe Endeavor snarled, tapping at his earpiece communicator to contact his own hero agency over a priority line.

"Endeavor-san, sir! We've received reports of a flying—" a panicked voice began.

"Send strike package Epsilon-one to my location," he barked, chasing after the trail Air Jet and his quarry had left. "And patch me through to the Buster Hero, Air Jet!"

"Roger, Epsilon-one en route! Patching you through!"

Endeavor cursed, knowing the package would take at least a minute or two. That thing Air Jet had been chasing… some sort of missile? He had a bad feeling about this.

"Endeavor-san, this is Air Jet speaking," the Buster Hero's friendly voice crackled over the comm channel. "Good to have you. Reports of an unknown bogey flying over the city came in from the local police only minutes ago. I'm in pursuit. No idea what it is, but it keeps on circling around the city, almost like it's looking for something..."

"Give me more details. Any identifying markings or anything of the sort?"

"I see—" There was more crackling as the connection fluctuated. "A streamlined profile, green armor plating. Bright green exhaust, two plumes. Need to get a little closer…"

"Epsilon-one has arrived at your location," a computerized voice chirped. Moments later a riderless motorcycle screeched across the street in front of Endeavor, patiently waiting for its owner. The number two hero wasted no time and hopped on in one smooth motion, his flames fueling the infernal high-tech machine and bringing it to life. The heavy vehicle roared and bucked like a live animal as Endeavor shifted into gear and revved the throttle, his signature orange flames flaring along its wheels.

"Talk to me, Air Jet," he barked, swerving around traffic and blazing a literal trail behind him. "What does your Radar show?"

"Minimal Radar cross-section."

"A stealth aircraft?"

"No, it's… tiny compared to conventional craft," Air Jet replied hastily, clearly struggling to keep up with the unknown bogey. "I think it's an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. I'm going to try for visual confirmation; activating afterburners!"

"Tell me what you see!"

"I'm still chasing it; this thing's speed and maneuverability is insane; it can turn on a dime! No wings, too small to fit a pilot, silhouette does not match anything in the JASDF database. It almost looks like a missile…"

"Do you have radio contact?" He could see them now, the bright yellow emission of Air Jet's thruster pack chasing a comet tail of green energy. His eyes tracked their forms as they bobbed and weaved through the air like a pair of dragonflies, the unknown making directional changes that were nigh-impossible for aircraft. It almost seemed to slide and shift mid air, bleeding off speed in tight turns.

"Non-responsive. Wait, what the—"

"Say again, Jet?" Endeavor frowned at the bewilderment in Air Jet's voice and the abrupt cut-off, tapping at his earpiece twice to send two mic clicks his way. "Jet, do you copy?"

"I—I copy. It's a… man," Air Jet said incredulously. "And he just flipped me off!"

"Tch, cocky bastard," Endeavor's voice sizzled through the mic. "Shoot him down. Try to ground him in an uninhabited area."

"But Endeavor-san—"

"Do as I say, Air Jet!" he ordered. "Or are you doubting my decision?!"

"No, Endeavor-san. I just think that we should at least try to talk—"

"I don't care what you think, that man is hereby considered a criminal and you are a hero! Do your bloody job!"

"Alright… but I'm firing a warning shot, flashbang payload."

A missile shot out from Air Jet's pack and burst mid-air like a firework, resulting in a blinding blast of light. That certainly got the unknown's attention—it reversed its heading to slam into Air Jet with a ear-splitting explosion of green, sending the Buster Hero spiraling to the ground. Endeavor cursed and revved the throttle, accelerating to where he predicted the downed hero would land.

Only moments later a distant crash was heard, the hero coming across a scene of panicking civilians. He advanced forward and issued a command to his hero agency to begin evacuations and form a perimeter around the crash site as a crowd of civilians rushed past him to safety.

A shallow crater had formed in the middle of the street, Air Jet sprawled spread-eagle within it. Atop him was the unknown villain, his armored boot resting upon the Buster Hero's head.

"Can't get a hint, can you? Piss off." the villain said, grinding his heel against Air Jet's armored helmet. The downed hero let out a painful groan, indicating he was at least alive. "You shoot at me again and I'll shove that jetpack so far up your ass you'll shit exhaust for a year."

"Hey, you!" Endeavor shouted, the flames along his shoulder flaring out. "That's right, punk. I'm talking to you! What the hell do you think you're doing in my city, huh?!"

The villain whirled around to face Endeavor, presenting a green rabbit-like mask with long ears and dark eye-lenses, coupled with a metallic respirator that protected his mouth. The unknown man's head tilted to the side curiously, surveying his soon-to-be opponent.

"You… you're Endeavor, aren't you?" he grunted, almost sounding confused. "In the flesh."

"That's right, scumbag. And I'll be the one to bring you into custody," Endeavor growled. "Just another notch on my belt for some good-for-nothing, spineless nobody in a silly costume."

"Don't diss the costume—that's rich coming from someone whose head is on fire. I've heard of you— a real hothead..."

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way—though I'm hoping you'll resist so I can put you into the ground. So what will it be, asshole?" the hero's eyes narrowed. "Surrender or run?"

"That's an ultimatum. I don't do ultimatums."

Now that Endeavor was closer he could take in the villain's form in more detail—he was clad in a green jumpsuit with plated armor that protected his forearms, hands, torso, and shins. A dark utility belt with pouches circled his waist, a pair of heavy boots completing the outfit. He kind of looked like a hero… but the way he spoke was similar to a villain, rude and uncouth.

"Blame it on your friend here"—the villain gave Air Jet a light kick, prompting another pained groan—"for trying to shoot me down. Is this how things work around here? In my time anyone could use their Quirks whenever they wanted to as long as they weren't hurting anyone. You people are so backwards."

"Those who utilize their Quirks outside of what is permissible under the law shall be perceived as villains, and dealt with as seen fit," Endeavor recited, growling. "This iron rule has not, and will not change. This is your last warning—if you continue to resist arrest we might have an accident that will leave you in excruciating, burning pain."

"The only accident I fear will be your head being blasted off with me wearing your fucking moron face as a party mask," the villain said nonchalantly, beginning to take off. "Leave me alone hothead, I've got work to do."

"You're not going anywhere!"

An inferno flared from Endeavor's fingertips, the orange conflagration forming a fiery net to ensnare its unlucky target. The man cocked his head, an explosion erupting from his torso and shredding the encircling net apart effortlessly.

"Tch. I need to find him and you're wasting my precious time. Look, I'm not trying to terrorize your city or anything like that… But I can see reasoning with you is no longer an option. So if it's a fight you want so badly, then that's what you'll get."

"You goddamn villain punk—"

"Save your breath, you'll need it when I make you scream like a pussy." He pointed his armored fist towards Endeavor, crackling and popping with energy—

"Lacquered Chain Prison!"

A series of thick branches shot through the air and crashed into the attacker with a crunch, twisting and sliding over each other to bind him in a tangled ball of wood. Kamui Woods stood atop a gigantified Mt. Lady's shoulder, accompanied by Death Arms who flanked from below.

"Endeavor-san! We saw the commotion and we're here to help!" Mt. Lady called, giving him a thumbs up and reaching for the captured Villain to hold him down. "I just need to—"

"Stay back!" Endeavor shouted.

An eerie emerald light flared from within the gaps of the overlapping branches—Mt. Lady barely managed to withdraw her hand when the wooden prison exploded into a thousand splinters, revealing the villain within.

"All these distractions, all these obstacles..." the armored man hissed, his voice strangely distorted—almost like two people speaking at once. Emerald energy crackled from his entire body, flaring out in concentric waves and forcing the heroes back. "Get away from me, you fucking ghosts."

"Surrender, villain! There's no escape; you are surrounded!" Kamui Woods yelled bravely.

"All I am surrounded by is ignorance," Green motes of light glowed behind dark lenses. "—and dead heroes."

[x]

The sweltering afternoon heat bore down on Izuku like a blanket of discomfort, the blazing sun hanging high in bright blue sky. Glancing at his watch the boy noted it was already 1:00pm.

He was currently taking a short break to catch his breath and get something to eat, buying some Takoyaki and gulping them down as they walked through Musutafu's Uptown Park. On his shoulder Kiri was eating one too, nibbling at the snack hungrily. He was still considering the current situation he had found himself in.

Johnny had mentioned the last two were villains… but it didn't make any sense. Izuku scratched his head, his mind struggling to comprehend that. Why would villains be in possession of One For All? Theoretically it was possible but… he wondered what kind of circumstances would result in such a thing happening. One For All could only be given, not taken. The only explanations he could come up with were that one of the previous wielders went mad whilst in possession of One For All, which would lead them to become a villain... or a dying wielder made the choice to pass on the legendary Quirk even to a villain to prevent the flames of hope from being snuffed out.

Izuku suspected it was the latter, remembering that little tidbit Johnny mentioned before he faded away—someone by the name of "König". The old hero had said that she was the one who killed him… and that she was the one who probably caused the breach that allowed them to escape. She… killed Johnny and got One For All? And her name... The boy brought up his phone and typed it into the search bar, eyes widening slightly at the result.

''König' is the German word for 'King',' the device displayed in neat little letters. Well that was encouraging; just wonderful. A quick look through the online global hero/villain public database showed no such record of anyone prominent bearing that name—there were two or three small-time heroes and villains, but they were all male, not the one he was looking for.

The implications were frightening, perhaps a little too much to think about at this time. Izuku felt a shiver creep up his spine at the possibilities before squashing the thought. Johnny also mentioned she was 'fast as hell', which he interpreted as her having some kind of speed or mobility capability—a Mover-type Quirk? Mover-type metahumans were notoriously hard to capture and contain, with speedsters like the hero Ingenium being a prime example of their sheer versatility and potential. Then there was the remaining unknown villain, the one he had no information on… he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Regardless, things weren't looking very good at all. He had no idea what he was dealing with, or how these villains would act…

For a moment an image of the thin, sickly-looking villain from USJ resurfaced in his mind again like a monster from the deep, gnarled ghostlike fingers reaching out towards him. He imagined his classmate Tsuyu falling into pieces, cracked and withering away, Nomu's tar-black muscles rippling and coiling as Aizawa-sensei's arm snapped like a cheap toothpick—

Izuku shivered and gulped, swallowing the fear that threatened to well up and spill forth from his mouth. He locked up that terrified part of himself into the detention cell of his mind, imprisoning it for the time being. Now wasn't the time for fear, to let that part of him out. Kiri poked at him in concern, letting out a worried murmur while eating away at his negativity.

"I-I'm… I'm fine. The next one's somewhere around here, Kiri-chan?"

"Nn." The little construct nodded, pointing in the direction she wanted him to go.

"Okay." Izuku breathed, scanning the park for any unusual activity. "Let's see…"

He reminded himself to be extremely cautious when approaching. Still, there was nothing out of the ordinary here. The few people in the park were relaxed as always, not a hint of fear nor alarm on their features. Izuku focused, his eyes taking in every detail in the surroundings no matter how insignificant. One of the two villains was here somewhere.

A jogger blurred past him, huffing and puffing with effort. A family of four strolled down the main path, enjoying the fresh air. There was a camera flash as a pair of tourists took a picture of the nearby fountain. A man walked alongside his dog leisurely, the animal panting in excitement. A policeman cycled by, patrolling the area with vigilant eyes.

Why here, in the park? There was nothing of use here besides the fresh air. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people walked through this park on their way to and from the city… but it wasn't anything special. Just the normal greenery, along with the cherry blossoms that bloomed beautifully when the Spring came. He struggled to think of why a villain would come here, factors like human traffic and the surrounding plant life taken into account. Nothing came to mind—he didn't have enough info to form a solid theory or hypothesis.

Izuku sighed. He still didn't see anything unusual… perhaps this villain had some sort of camouflage or stealth-based Quirk that allowed them to hide amongst the human traffic or lush greenery? But then again there weren't many people around at this time of the day either. Kiri continued searching as well, eyes closed in focused concentration. The boy took another bite of Takoyaki, contemplating what he would say when he inevitably met him or her.

"Step aside, you pheasants!" a bright young voice called out cheerfully. "Make way for the King!"

"It's 'Peasant', Sat-chan. Pheasants are a type of bird," another voice corrected. "Also, shouldn't it be 'Queen' instead of 'King' since Yui is a girl?"

"Are you questioning my royal authority as the King's Right Hand, Minister Kotoha?! To the dungeons with you! Ten Years dungeon, no trial! What say you, your majesty?"

"Forward, my mighty steed!" a third voice squealed with childish delight. "Mush!"

"Wan, wan! Woof!"

Izuku whirled to face the source of the commotion, eyebrows rising into his messy hair as he witnessed the strange scene.

A trio of kids were parading down the wide cobblestone path of the park, nearby commuters parting for them with amused smiles. Among them was a little brunette girl riding atop her large black-and-tan dog like a horse, giggling. She was flanked by two of her friends: one with blonde hair and the other with blue. They were apparently having the time of their lives in a game of pretend under the afternoon sun. All three held long sticks that they brandished like swords, waving them back and forth in the air happily.

Izuku smiled, briefly reminded of his childhood adventures with Bakugo. Well, the good parts, at least. Ahh, youth…

"There," Kiri chirped, pointing at the trio. "It's them."

"Eh?" The U.A student blinked… then did a panicked double take at the kids.

Wait, what?

"The Villain we're looking for—it's one of them."

"EEEEEHHHH?!"

It couldn't be… the villain was one of those kids?! But they looked so ordinary, their behavior matching that of what would normally be seen in children their age. They looked like they were around ten years old—he never could judge ages correctly. The gears in Izuku's head spun like pinwheels, his young mind trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

"But... I can't tell which one because they're standing so close together." She continued tracking them to make sure, nodding.

When it came to Quirks one needed to think out of the box: things weren't always as they seemed. If he thought about it rationally it was probably some sort of disguise or stealth-based Quirk in action, maybe one that allowed the villain to take the form of a child. But what were the activation parameters and effects? The possibilities were practically endless, but there were already some clues that he could guess just by observing.

The fact that they looked entirely ordinary was already a clue; this villain had to have some kind of stealth-based ability that let them hide in plain sight or disguise themselves. Possible Stranger/Changer rating. The boy began to think of possible scenarios, diving into his extensive knowledge of metahumans.

Why take the form or body of a child? The Villain could be using the form as a disguise like Kiri did to avoid detection… or perhaps for a more sinister purpose like luring people towards them. For a moment Izuku's wild imagination conjured up the image of an invisible Villain floating behind the trio, tethered to one of the girls via an equally invisible fleshy cord and using the child's form as a puppet, a lure to attract prey—much like how an Anglerfish uses its glowing lure in the dark ocean depths.

As freaky as the image was, it was completely ridiculous… yet the boy shuddered, reminding himself that he was dealing with a villain here. Going in blind without any info was foolish, even suicidal. The only upside would be that the unknown villain would understand that killing him would result in their demise as well.

With a nervous sigh Izuku made his decision, slowly trudging forward. No choice but to approach and see if one of them showed a reaction to him since they were unlikely to separate. He hoped he didn't look like a creep due to approaching a group of little girls, but then again he wasn't much older than them.

Squaring his shoulders the aspiring hero moved towards them, lowering his hood to show his face while Kiri hid inside his disheveled dark green hair to observe. He gave her a command to hide in silence, just in case.

"You there, plain onii-san!" The little blonde girl noticed his approach, drawing her 'sword' defensively. "Stop right there, criminal scum! You have violated the law!"

"I… I have?" Izuku stammered, holding both hands up nervously. "In what way?"

"You're in the way and still haven't paid tribute to passing royalty, matey!"

"What."

"Yar har, ye scurvy dog! Part with a hundred doubloons or ye be the talk of the town," The girl's eyes glinted with mischief, lips curling into a cheeky smile. "And the talk will not be merry."

"Ehhh..." Izuku blinked slowly, now being subject to a mix of extortion and piracy by a bunch of brats.

"Are you a pirate now, Sat-chan?" The brunette remarked curiously from atop her mount. "I thought we were playing royal knights."

"Oyaji told us to be careful whenever a suspicious-looking guy approaches us." the blue-haired girl piped up, munching on a skewer of roasted meat. She plucked off the last piece and fed it to their dog, the delighted pet gobbling the morsel in a flash. "But you look harmless, onii-san."

"Uhhh… thanks?"

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Riiiiiight." Izuku said awkwardly. Okay, time to be blunt. "Um, have you three seen anything… weird happening around here?"

He hoped to get a reaction out of that but the three kids simply tilted their heads, eying him with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.

"What are you talking about, onii-san... Are you perhaps sick in the head?"

"Uwaa, d-don't tell me— m-m-maybe you're one of those c-creeps that mom warned me about? T-the kind that goes around talking to little girls like us…"

"You're weird. Does that count?"

"Woof!"

Ouch. Well that was a critical hit to his self-esteem. He should have just got Kiri to turn into her child form to approach them instead.

"Fear not, my King! I'll defend you from this miscreant." the blonde girl interrupted and raised her makeshift weapon in challenge. "Prepare to face our wrath, weird onii-san! For I am the Holy Knight Sat-chan!"

"I am Kotoha." the passive blue-haired girl said simply, wielding the stick at her hip in an Iaidō stance like a samurai.

"A-and I am Yui!" the mounted rider squeaked, raising her own trembling stick.

"Together, we're Colors!" They announced in unison, striking a pose. "Protectors of this town!"

"Wait, I just wanted to—"

"Take this, Divine Smite!" Sat-chan cried playfully, lightly whacking Izuku on the shin. "You take 2d8 points of damage."

"Be purged from this World." Kotoha adjusted her hat in a way that she clearly seemed to think was cool, her stick slicing through the air in a practiced, chunnibyou-like motion. "Aero Slash."

"U-um... um!" Yui looked around timidly, then patted the dog she was riding on. "I'll use my mount to attack! Sic' em, girl! B-but don't hurt him, just b-bark at him or something!"

"Wan, wan!" Her dog barked happily, tongue lolling out and panting. "Wan!"

At that final statement Izuku's eyes widened in alarm; he was in no mood to be attacked by a dog, especially one without a leash. He automatically assumed it was some sort of guard dog for the girls with its size and fearsome aesthetics. In fact, it almost looked like a wolf.

He raised both arms high into the air in surrender, which caused the girls to stop 'attacking' and give each other high-fives.

"We did it! Once again, the day is saved thanks to Colors!" Three 'swords' were raised skywards into the air triumphantly. "Victory is ours!"

"Uh… okay." Izuku sighed. He still didn't see anything out of the ordinary, the three kids behaving as kids should.

"However." The blue-haired girl, Kotoha, suddenly stepped aside to join him. "It is clear that a change has to be made around here."

"Minister Kotoha, what do you think you're doing?!" Sat-chan gasped in mock horror. "That is the enemy!"

"With this onii-san's help," Kotoha eyed Izuku, giving him a knowing nod. Izuku's eyes widened—was she the villain or still playing? "I can finally overthrow the corrupt monarchy and free the people from your oppression. Vive la révolution."

"Look girls, I don't really have time to be playing around with you—"

"E-eh, what's happening?" Little Yui's head swiveled back and forth in confusion. "A c-c-coup d'état?"

"In the name of the Royal Senate of Colors," Kotoha drew her stick, pointing the tip at her previous ally. "You are under arrest, Holy Knight."

"Are you threatening me, Minister Kotoha?" the blonde whispered, her voice low and dangerous.

"The Senate will decide your fate."

"I am the Senate."

"Not. Yet." Kotoha said carefully, her eyes narrowed to razor-thin lines.

Sat-chan straightened, her stick twirling in an arc to come into a ready stance at her side. It began to glow with amber electricity along with her body, demonstrating her power… she was using her Quirk! Was that One For All's lightning effect? No… this was clearly different; taking a closer look he realized she was imbuing objects like the stick and her clothes with the strange power—it didn't extend to her own body. This wasn't One For All.

"It's treason, then." the blonde hissed. She charged with an intricate spin attack, a high-pitched battle cry upon her lips. "Auuuuuugggggggh!"

"Girls, wait!" Izuku called, only to be completely ignored when Kotoha leapt into the fray as well, her stick clashing with her opponent's when she launched herself forward with a blast of air: she was using her Quirk as well. "Hey, don't use your Quirks—"

They completely ignored him and began play-fighting, darting around with impressive speed and sending loud cracks into the air when their 'weapons' clashed. Izuku groaned, exasperated. So this was what an elementary school teacher felt like everyday. Well, at least nobody was around when he took a quick look at the surroundings.

"Our Imperial glory will shine forever more! To think that you would stoop to relying on foreign aid... Fall, rebel scum!"

"Sic semper tyrannis. Your so-called 'royal' prerogative gives extensive, unaccountable power… and with that power you have committed atrocities. You've earned a place at the guillotine for your crimes."

He looked between all three girls, gauging their behaviors carefully. One of them was the villain disguised in another form, but which one... Was it excitable Sat-chan, who seemed to be unafraid of anything? Or was it calm Kotoha, who was unusually fluent and articulate? Or perhaps it was the timid Yui, who had shown extra caution when he approached?

The boy hummed, deep in thought. If he thought about it rationally the first two kids had already shown their Quirks which ruled them out as the Villain. Atop his head Kiri tugged on his hair, making him turn towards the brunette girl. She wanted him to… talk to her?

The brunette, Yui, let out an small squeak under his gaze. Was this the 'Yui' that Kendo confused for Kiri earlier? No, this little girl was obviously too young to be confused with Kiri's teenage form and looked nothing like her, her short brownish-red hair bobbing from side to side as she brandished her stick at him. It could be her… she looked a little reluctant to join her friends for some reason. Also, they had called her "King" earlier...

"Aren't you going to join them?" Izuku asked, trying to garner a response to determine if she was actually the villain. "They're not serious, just play-fighting."

"I… I can't. And m-mommy told me not to talk to strangers." she said defensively, heels tapping against her mount in an effort to get it to reverse. The dog didn't budge an inch, staring at Izuku happily with its tongue lolling out.

"Well I'm,"—he patted his chest and gave her a friendly smile—"Midoriya Izuku. Now we aren't strangers, are we?

"U-um… I guess not." the brunette looked around nervously. "Won't we get in t-trouble for using our Quirks?"

"Well, not really. After all, you're just kids." An old memory of an explosion splashing across his four-year-old face along with the scorching heat and subsequent pain resurfaced, causing Izuku to cringe internally. "Yeah, adults don't really care about that sort of stuff when you're young."

"B-but I don't like to use mine because s-sometimes people get scared and confused when I do." The little girl hung her head sadly. "I wish I got a simpler Quirk. I wanna play along with them but I can't… I wanna be a hero, too."

For a moment Izuku sympathized with her, reminding himself of the days where everyone doubted him, when nobody believed he could even amount to anything. Yet here he was, currently attending U.A and in search of a villain. His heroic spirit shone once more and the boy decided to again meddle in affairs that didn't concern him.

"Now, now… don't be like that." Izuku knelt down to look her in the eyes, giving the girl a warm smile. "Your Quirk is a part of you, after all. There's nothing to be ashamed of. You can still be a hero."

"Woof!" the dog agreed.

"No, you don't understand!" Yui shook her head. "My Quirk, it… it can be d-dangerous when I use it around people."

Should he? A part of him thought he had finally cornered the Villain and was taking a gamble… but another part of him just saw someone who needed a little help, just like he did in the past. Who knows… a few words of encouragement can go a long way, especially for a child who was chasing their dreams. He knew that from firsthand experience.

"Show me." Izuku inched closer to her, unafraid.

"But onii-san—"

"Don't worry…" the boy flashed her a reassuring grin, warm and full of trust. "It'll be okay."

Now or never. Either little Yui would reveal herself to be a delusional villain in hiding or just a normal kid who was just afraid of her own power… Izuku gulped, bracing himself just in case things went awry.

"A-alright. If you say so." she mumbled shyly and closed her eyes. "It's not as flashy as theirs, but… you'll know when it happens."

For a moment nothing happened, Izuku's brows rising in puzzlement—then he felt it. The surrounding air started to turn… cold. The moisture in the air began to freeze, creating a light mist that shrouded the girl like a ghostly veil. Some sort of temperature altering effect that ate away at the surroundings? That wasn't so bad. Izuku tried to touch his hands—

Something was wrong. Everything was moving so… slowly. The two girls play-fighting in the background now looked like they were moving in slow motion, their swift momentum grinding to a halt with looks of alarm. Izuku's movement, his breathing, even his thoughts slowed to a painful crawl. The boy began to feel dreadfully lethargic, almost as if he was losing the will to do anything at all. The strange effect ended abruptly a few seconds later, Izuku letting out an explosive gasp at being freed from its grasp. The dog let out a sneeze, shivering a little before shaking its head rapidly.

"Uwaah, it's cold!"

"Brrr."

Sat-chan and Kotoha shivered and shook off the effect quickly, continuing their play-fighting once more.

"I-I'm fine!" Izuku quickly held out a hand to reassure the little brunette, who looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Don't worry, I'm fine. That was—"

"S-s-sorry, onii-san!" Yui wailed, looking miserable. "I tried to make it as small as possible..."

"—Awesome!"

"E-eh?" she blinked.

"At first I thought it was some cold generation effect but your Quirk affects the mind, too!" Izuku brought out his Hero Notebook and began scribbling while mumbling to himself almost incoherently. "A Quirk that robs the surroundings of heat, while also taking away the opponent's will to fight? Think of the applications... it's perfect for neutralizing threats! Your Quirk is amazing!"

"R-really?" the girl turned red in embarrassment. "O-only my parents and nee-chan have ever said that before…"

"You should try out for U.A High when you're older if you wanna be a hero, that's where I'm studying now." Izuku smiled. "With a formidable Quirk like that, you'll be sure to earn a spot if you work hard enough… that torpor side-effect sure is powerful."

"I, um… don't know what that word means." Yui admitted timidly. "I still haven't picked a name for my Quirk so the doctors are temporarily calling it: Fimbulwinter. I'm still learning to control it properly, but basically I can create an area around me that makes everything inside, uh, slow and cold. Fast things become slow, hot things become cold, and active people become tired. They're saying I might be able to reverse the effect when I'm older."

Izuku's scribbling on his notebook intensified. A Quirk that affected the surrounding environment and people, but not the user. Shaker rating confirmed. If he was understanding it right her dampening effect caused moving objects to lose inertia, surroundings to lose heat… and humans to lose willpower. It was fascinating, if a little hard to control—but ultimately it wasn't what he was looking for. She had basically proven she was not a villain, just a normal kid who had some trouble controlling their Quirk.

"Your Quirk is amazing, and so are you." Izuku flashed her a wide, encouraging grin. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, Yui-chan."

"O-okay." the girl blushed at his praise, the corners of her lips tugging upwards almost unnoticeably. "T-thanks, onii-san."

He nodded in assurance, closing his notebook. Right, time to refocus. Now it meant that the villain wasn't taking the form of one of the girls, which hinted at a more esoteric explanation for why Kiri had thought he or she was one of them. For all he knew the villain could be invisible or even worse, intangible. Izuku turned to look at the two kids still play-fighting happily without a care, deep in thought.

"Ah, it's the Colors. Oh dear, are they playing 'revolution' again? Those two, really..."

"Shiozaki-nee-chan!" Yui exclaimed, her mood instantly brightening. "Hello~!"

Izuku looked up to see a teenage girl around his age gazing down at them with a patient curiosity, wearing a pristine white sundress and plain brown sandals. The most eye-catching part of her appearance was her hair; long, vibrant thorn-covered vines that cascaded down from her head and ended at her waist like a lush waterfall of green. Lovely acorn eyes gazed down at them, a small smile forming on the girl's face.

"Hello, Yui-chan." Shiozaki greeted calmly, before turning her attention to Izuku. "And who's this?"

"Um, this is, uh..." The little girl squeezed her eyes shut and tried to recall his name, before giving up completely. "Weird onii-san!"

"W-w-weird?!"

"I-In a good way!"

Shiozaki giggled, bringing a demure hand to her mouth. Izuku meanwhile began to blush helplessly, his shyness around girls flaring up once more. It didn't exactly help that that she was pretty attractive, her graceful and soft-spoken demeanor giving the impression that she was one of those pure, innocent girls that were way out of his league. Somehow, he felt as though he had seen her before…

"My apologies, where are my manners? I am Shiozaki Ibara." she bowed politely. "Thank you for playing along with them. As you can see, these three can be quite the handful."

"I'm M-midoriya Izuku." Izuku stammered, bowing back awkwardly. "Um, it was no problem, really."

Naturally, he didn't tell her about his true intention which was to look for a Villain that had escaped from within his head and was now possibly disguised as one of the three kids. Yeah, no. The last thing he needed was the neighborhood police on his case.

"It's nee-chan!" Sat-chan and Kotoha stopped playing when they noticed the older girl and scrambled over excitedly. "Yahallo, onee-chan!"

"Salutations."

"Hello Sat-chan, Koto-chan." Shiozaki smiled warmly, an air of quiet tranquility around her. "Were you two playing around with your Quirks again? Just be careful not to hurt each other..."

"It's fun! And look, we met this onii-san just now!"

"He's financing my rebel operations to destabilize the region for long-term war profiteering." Kotoha said simply.

"Um, is one of them your little sister?" Izuku ventured curiously, noting that the four girls were color coded in red, blue, yellow and green. Maybe Shiozaki could help gauge their behaviors to spot if something was wrong.

"No, but I helped to babysit them when they were younger." the teenager reached out and pat their heads tenderly, which elicited a bright laughter from the girls.

"Midoriya-nii-san goes to the same school you do, Onee-chan!" Yui mentioned helpfully.

"Wh-what?" Izuku turned to the vine-haired girl in bewilderment. "Wait a minute. Don't tell me—you're from U.A?!"

"Ah, no wonder I found you familiar. You're that plain-looking boy from 1-A, are you not?" Shiozaki tilted her head curiously. "Yes… I'm from Class 1-B, Midoriya-san."

'Plain-looking boy'. Kendo had used the same term to describe him earlier, too. The two girls were in the same class as well… Izuku groaned internally, feeling a little depressed. Was that how everyone's first impression of him was like? Gah. At least now he knew why Shiozaki looked familiar to him: he had remembered seeing her distinctive thorn-vine hair around in school from time to time.

"That's me." Izuku sighed. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere… so this is our first time actually speaking to each other. Not a bad introduction, considering the circumstances."

"I suppose not." she giggled. "What a coincidence, or so it seems. What brings you here to the park? Not many tend to come here at this hour..."

"Um, I'm, er, enjoying the scenery!" he lied through his teeth, trying to throw her off his trail. "Y-yeah. I guess you could say I'm quite the nature-lover."

"Oh my. It seems we share similar interests... I too, enjoy appreciating the beauty of mother earth. Though I suppose you can see why from my appearance." Shiozaki hummed and gave him a demure smile. "I have a feeling we'll cross paths again, Midoriya-san. Especially if you frequent this place in the afternoons."

"M-maybe." He was talking with a girl! A cute one! Casually!

"I must say I'm impressed by how well-disciplined your dog is. To be quite honest I was rather worried when I saw them playing with it, but I can see now it has been trained to be around children."

"My… dog?" Izuku said blankly. "This… this isn't my dog."

"It's not?" Shiozaki frowned, turning to her little charges. "Girls, where did you find this gentle creature?"

"Here in the park! She came to us when we were eating earlier and looked really hungry, so we fed her some meat! And then we took her to Oyaji and he fed her some doggie biscuits, and then we had a lot of fun playing fetch and stuff. She's really nice... she even lets us ride on her back!"

"Oh dear… I wonder where the owner is."

Kiri suddenly began pulling on several strands of his hair like reins while hidden atop his head, forcing him to look back at Yui. His little sister was trying to tell him something about the girl? But she'd already shown her Quirk, and it clearly wasn't one that allowed her to change her form…

The little fairy hidden within his hair began to pull in different directions and he responded appropriately, looking up when she yanked his hair back, and down when she yanked it forward. Shiozaki blinked curiously, starting to look a little worried.

"Is there something wrong, Midoriya-san?"

"I'm, uh, just stretching!" Izuku answered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Y-yeah!"

What was Kiri trying to tell him? She couldn't exactly speak due to him ordering her to hide herself, but she was clearly trying to convey some sort of message to him. She made his head go up and down several times, repeating the process to the point where Kotoha and Sat-chan got interested began to point and laugh at him.

"Hahaha, look at this weirdo! It's like he's at a concert." Sat-chan giggled and thrust out her hand to form the sign of the horns. "Rock-on, onii-san!"

"You're super-weird, onii-san." "Kotoha remarked, reaching into her bag. "I'm gonna take a picture to commemorate your weirdness."

"Wan!"

He ignored them, thinking hard. Up… and down. Kiri was trying to tell him something. His head jerked skyward, then down towards the ground with a little more force. She was telling him to look down? There was nothing to look at unless the villain was the size of an ant or something, it could be anything. But that would mean that his earlier theory still stood, that the villain was some kind of—

Izuku head jerked downward to stare at the large dog Yui was riding.

Shape—

His eyes widened just a tiny fraction and the dog… smiled, revealing a row of gleaming white razor-sharp teeth.

—shifter.

"That bitch is fast as hell and will be halfway around the country if you startle her,"

Izuku paled visibly, realizing what was currently happening in front of him. He'd been looking for the wrong target all this while... The villain had taken the form of a dog. Shapeshifting into an animal form! He got careless and focused too much on one thing when he should have been thinking out of the box, he should have thought of that in the first place!

That little girl was riding on top of a villain! He wanted to scream, to warn her of the immeasurable danger that she was in but the words just wouldn't come out, his brain simply unable to comprehend nor process the sheer ludicrousness of the situation.

"Are you okay, onii-san? You're looking a little off-color." Kotoha's features twisted into a smug grin. "Don't tell me… you're afraid of dogs?"

"N-no, that's not it." Izuku said shakily. The large canine continued smiling at him, its tongue now hanging out and dripping with saliva.

"Oh!" Yui pushed herself off the hound's back, stroking its head carefully. "Maybe you wanna play with the doggy—"

The moment the dog heard the word 'play' it lunged at Izuku, bowling him over much to the shock of Shiozaki and the three kids. They immediately went over to pry the large canine off him in fear that he was being attacked but all it did was lick his face happily, causing the boy to cough and sputter.

"Wha—hey!" Izuku cried, defenseless against the playful animal. "C-cut it out!"

"Aww, she really likes you!" Sat-chan giggled.

"Oh… oh my." Shiozaki said.

"Gah!" the boy protested, feeling drool all over his face as the animal licked him endlessly. He still didn't know what the villain's intentions was, why was she behaving like this?

Then he saw it. Upon her neck was a simple leather collar, and hanging from it was a small, silver dog-tag that bore a name and details in bold capital letters. Now that he was this close, he could actually read the minute script.

KÖNIG, [F]

POLIZEI

K-9 EINHEIT

ID: [GS-1203]

DEUTSCHER SCHÄFERHUND, DEA [6]

That all but confirmed it—he could only read the first sentence which described her name, the rest were in what he supposed was in German. This was the villain Johnny had mentioned, the one who had killed him and received One For All as a result. But still, it didn't explain why she was acting this way, perhaps she had gone mad or it was a side-effect of her Quirk? Or maybe she was committed to deceiving the kids as well.

"K-könig-san!" he tried, raising his arms in defense. "Stop!"

She stopped, alright... but what happened next was rather unexpected; Izuku couldn't believe what was happening even while it was taking place right before his eyes. König transformed without a sound in a flash, limbs lengthening and fur receding to form the lithe yet toned body of a girl in her early twenties…

And now she was straddling him, not a single scrap of clothing on her form.

"Nice." Kotoha was the first to react, bringing up her portable game console to take a quick snapshot. "This'll make good blackmail material."

"KYYYYAAAAAAA!" Yui squealed, turning a bright shade of red and covering her eyes. "It's super-lewd! W-what do you think you're doing, onii-san?!"

"Hahahahahaha!" Sat-chan laughed. "Not only is he weird, he's also a big pervert! Unacceptable, hentai-nii-san! To the dungeon with you, one million years dungeon!"

Shiozaki said nothing… though her lovely pale cheeks turned bright red. Her eyes were wide before snapping themselves shut, clearly much more uncomfortable than Izuku despite being a bystander. The innocent maiden was much too pure to have experienced any lewdness in her life, and now she had a front row seat to the scandalous perversion taking place. She was unable to stop blushing, hands wrapped around her own graceful body protectively.

"H-how lecherous! Look away, girls!" Shiozaki cried, eyes scrunched shut in a mix of disbelief and overwhelming embarrassment. Unfortunately she couldn't stop herself from peeking, her blush intensifying tenfold. "I… I can't believe you, Midoriya-san! And here I was beginning to see you as such a sweet guy! You… you… deviant! You heathen! T-to think that you're one who c-c-c-consorts with beasts! Giving yourself over to shameful l-lust!"

"N-no wait, i-it's not what you think!" Izuku said frantically, his cheeks burning and struggling under the dog-girl's superhuman grip. It was useless, her wrists were bands of iron that pinned him down firmly but gently. "Let go of me!"

His eyes couldn't help but travel up his captor's feminine figure where strips of thick, velvety black fur clothed lined her tan skin in tribal patterns to form a natural costume, just barely protecting her modesty. A youthful face was framed by short, tomboyish dark hair that parted above her head for a pair of cute, pointed ears that were alert and twitching with excitement.

She looked like a perfectly normal human with the exception of her limbs; her arms and legs ending in large, mitten-like paws that pressed softly against Izuku as he struggled. A long, bushy tail extended from her tailbone, swishing from side to side rapidly. She kept on licking his face which caused the poor boy to blush even further, thanking his lucky stars that nobody was around to witness this aside from the girls.

A pair of brownish-red pupils surrounded by black sclera locked onto his, wisps of ghostly red energy flowing outward like flames. Gazing into those eyes Izuku realized he had jumped to conclusions once again; within there was a small spark of humanity nearly overwhelmed by pure animalistic glee and primal hunger, the look of a predator who had cornered her prey and was ready to devour it… or one that had found a new chew toy to play with. She was practically salivating over him, her hot, panting breaths tickling his face. Now he finally understood why she was acting this way.

She wasn't a human who could turn into a dog.

She was a dog who could turn into a human.

"Oh no." Izuku whispered.

"OH YEEESSSSSS!" König howled, tendrils of crimson lightning crisscrossing and arcing off her body like a Tesla coil's discharge. She snatched him into a princess carry, powerful legs tensing to jump. "WAN, WAN! WAN FOR ALL!"

[x]

All Might was not having a good week.

Just yesterday USJ had been attacked by a group of villains, which resulted in them learning about their sinister secret weapon: the artificial human known as 'Nomu'. Not only that, a new mystery had arisen in the form of the vigilante; Valkyrie, who displayed abilities and power that nobody had never observed from her before… most notably the form and fighting skills of the late Shimura Nana. Then earlier this morning he'd gotten reports of the U.A teachers encountering and battling an unknown individual who'd gotten away with the help of another unknown at the grounds near USJ. To escape not one, but four U.A teachers… how troubling.

But right now he was focused on his current task. Only minutes ago he had received a call from Tsukauchi that Endeavor and a few other heroes were facing down an unknown opponent that had been flying over the city, and that the situation wasn't looking good. All Might grit his teeth in worry. Endeavor was an extremely powerful and talented hero that he respected, but the man could be rather overzealous when in combat. The fact that he was having trouble with fighting the unknown? That sent his alarm bells ringing.

Leaping across multiple city blocks with a single leap the hero finally found the cordoned-off combat zone… and his eyes widened at the sight. Several heroes were lying unconscious in the broken street, defeated by the unknown villain. He quickly checked up on them and was relieved to see that they were still breathing, if a little bruised and battered. Air Jet, Kamui Woods, Death Arms, and Mt. Lady were all down for the count. The villain was someone who could take on five heroes all at once? Incredible.

Continuing onward All Might finally found his fiery comrade still in combat with the unknown. Endeavor's right arm hung limply by his side while he rocketed forward down the scorched street, the villain doing the same. A miniature sun flared and throbbed in Endeavor's hand while his opponent chambered an armored fist, a lance of green flaring from his elbow. All Might's eyes widened, recognizing that technique. Though it was slightly different with the additional elbow-rocket effect, that was one of his trademarked—

"Iowa…"

"FORBIDDEN SUN!" Endeavor roared, a tsunami of fire flaring from his palm, the sphere of flame growing exponentially as it screamed down the street, its blazing core grossly incandescent.

"—smash."

Scorching orange and immolating green clashed in a single moment before the colossal sphere of condensed heat and flame was torn apart by a gargantuan emerald explosion, the pressure wave shearing through the curtain of flames. Endeavor cursed as the spiraling torrent of burning viridescent energy rumbled towards him like a speeding train, roaring and surging. The hero's boots ignited to thrust himself backward, ready to launch a counterattack until a blur of yellow and blue darted into his line of sight.

"TEXAS SMAAAAAASH!"

All Might's hefty fist impacted the oncoming blast and split it in two, sending twin blasts of green spinning to his sides while he stood in front of his comrade, his massive back presented like an immovable wall. "Are you okay, Endeavor?"

"All Might?!" the Flame Hero snarled. "Get away—this is between him and me!"

The tall, armored man tilted his head, gazing at the new arrival with curiosity. Endeavor growled and stood beside his rival, features twisted with rage. Despite his broken arm he kept pushing on without a care, determined to take down his opponent. Such unbreakable willpower was admirable.

"You're… All Might." the villain whispered reverently, pointing at him with a steady finger. "You're the Symbol of Peace."

"That's right! Now I suggest you surrender!" All Might said. "I appreciate all my fans, but I don't take to kindly to you hurting my fellow heroes."

"What?" Another tilt of the head, the villain's voice laced with confusion.

"That was one of my signature Smash attacks you launched, was it not? I can tell you're a big fan. Now let us settle this peacefully, I'm willing to talk things out. Let's just all calm down now, young man."

"All Might, you can't possibly be serious! How can you get soft on this goddamn punk?! He's in direct violation of—"

"I've gotten a sitrep from the Hero Association; he was just flying around the city when you ordered Air Jet to shoot him down." All Might held out a hand slowly. "Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. Violence only begets more violence."

"Wise words from a great hero. Your fiery friend never could reach your level…"

"Who the hell do you think you are, you little shit?" Endeavor hissed. "I'm going to make sure they lock you up and throw away the key—"

"I don't have time to listen to the nonsensical ramblings of some washed-up old man." the villain shot back, beginning to hover into the air as flickering bursts ignited under his boots. "Especially one so blinded by ambition that he abused his own wife and child."

For a moment no one spoke, digesting what had just been said. That moment soon ended when Endeavor's face twisted into a snarl, his muscular frame seeming to expand with volcanic rage. Towering flames erupted and flared from his massive back, a wave of heat rising off him and distorting the air.

"You son of a—" Endeavor roared, fists aflame with wrath.

"I'd suggest you spend some quality time with your family, hothead. It's not too late. And All Might, you really shouldn't be here. You're looking a little…" the villain tapped three fingers along his own ribs. "...bony."

He knows.

The number one hero's eyes widened slightly, which went unnoticed by Endeavor when a torrent of fire erupted from his palm. The villain simply dodged the attack gracefully and flew off, blasting into the skies once more. In his shock All Might didn't pursue, simply staring at the rapidly diminishing dot in the sky.

"Tch, he got away… and my bike was trashed in the battle." Endeavor tapped at his earpiece angrily, though he seemed a little shaken. "I need a recovery team for Epsilon-one—"

"Wait, Endeavor. Your arm!"

"I'm fine. He landed a lucky shot, that's all." the Flame Hero growled, shoving All Might away roughly. "Get out of my way. I didn't need your Goddamn help."

"Everyone needs a little help sometimes, Todoroki." All Might gazed at the horizon. Something about that guy felt… wrong. "Sometimes a little help can make all the difference in the world."

The hero kept watching the sky for a few more seconds before turning away, deciding to let the aerial-specialist heroes to go after the unknown. There'd be time to ask questions if they caught him. The biggest question was… if that villain knew about his true form, why hadn't he told anyone yet?

Just before he flew off All Might had gotten a good look at him: his costume seemed eerily familiar, a heavily warped distortion of something he once saw before. It was at the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't remember where. Despite not being able to see his face, the hero seemed to get a feel of that villain's current emotions from his body language alone. Beneath all that indifference and anger that man had looked incredibly…

...sad.

[x]

Midoriya Izuku screamed incoherently, hanging on for dear life.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" König screamed along with him, her voice thrumming with delighted glee. "You found me! You found meeeeee~"

The villainess had leaped into the air without a word earlier, leaving Shiozaki and the kids behind in bewildered confusion. Now Izuku was currently being princess-carried by an overexcited dog-girl, the wind rushing past his face as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop with dizzying speed. Kiri was still hanging onto his hair, holding on tightly.

This was insane; the girl carrying him was traveling at a speed much too fast for him to get used to. The surroundings were a blur of light and sound, König clearing multiple city blocks in a single bound. He had to stop her before he blacked out and wasted even more time.

"König!" His yelling was barely audible over the rushing wind. "S-stop!"

"Don't wanna!" she yelled back, kicking off a nearby water tower and almost parallel to the ground. "I wanna play! I wanna have fun!"

"No!"

"YES!"

Izuku's mind raced. Maybe he could get Kiri to turn into her adult form and drag her down—no. That wasn't a very good idea in hindsight; König could drop him, and then he'd have to go on a wild goose chase to look for her all over again. There had to be a way to stop the dog-girl without startling her, a way to make her listen to him.

Listen to him.

It was absolutely crazy and he doubted it would actually succeed, but all he had to work on was the little existing information he had. König was a dog… a dog who once had a master, as indicated by her collar and tag. And the fact that she could speak Japanese meant that the other wielders within his head must have taught her at some point, which ultimately meant she could perhaps understand and respond to him as well.

"König…" Izuku cried out, making his voice as authoritative as possible. "HEEL!"

The dog-girl twitched, but ultimately obeyed his command. She slowed down, decelerating until they were now traversing at a comfortable speed instead of her earlier breakneck pace. Now he had to look for a place to set them down… he spotted a wide-open concrete rooftop of an apartment and chose that as their landing zone.

"There!" he commanded. "Stay."

König complied and stopped at exactly where he'd indicated, reluctantly letting him out of her arms. Izuku sighed and took a deep breath, glad the ordeal was over. Now that he finally had a moment to think, he turned towards the girl and—

Woah.

It took all it had in him not to back away… he didn't realize how huge König was in her human form until she stood upright in front of him. The girl was as tall as All Might's hero form and had the body of an elite gymnast or athlete, all lean muscle and tan skin. Thick, fluffy fur covered her limbs up to her elbows and thighs, giving the impression that she was wearing evening gloves and thigh-high socks. More fur lined her shoulders like a pair of fluffy pauldrons, making her torso look bigger than it actually was. He took a moment to thank his lucky stars once more; all that fur across her body formed a 'costume' to clothe her so nobody could actually see anything important. She stared at Izuku expectantly, her eyes hungry. He noticed the jagged line of lighter scar tissue running horizontally across her face… an old wound?

"U-um. König-san?" he tried nervously, not sure what to call her.

"That's me! But everyone calls me Koko!" she introduced herself excitedly. "You can call me that, too! I like exercise and eating, and my special skill is eating a lot. Also, I can turn into a human. Sort-of."

"Alright, um… Koko." This had to be one of the weirdest moments in his life, period.

"You're the new host! New friend!" Koko gushed, towering over him and twitching sporadically. "New master, Ja?"

"N-n-no, I'm not—"

"Don't worry, master! It's a doggy-dog world, and Koko is top dog!" The girl ignored his protest and smiled widely, gazing down and examining him from all angles.

"Actually, it's 'dog-eat-dog'—" he began.

"Koko no eat doggies!" she exclaimed defensively, aghast. "Bad!"

Izuku sighed exasperatedly. "Nevermind. You recognized me earlier? Why didn't you try to get my attention or something?"

"I was looking for everyone because I was lost, but then I got hungry, then I went to play with the children! They gave me food, yummy food! Then I found you, then we played hide and seek in plain sight, and then you found me!"

"Right…"

As he looked at her the boy blushed; her 'costume' was nothing more than strips of her own fur that somehow made it onto her semi-human form and barely preserved her modesty, but it made her look like something out of an adult anime or eroge. In fact, she reminded him of one of those 'monster-girls' that were popular in Japanese manga, inhuman yet gorgeous.

Right, he really shouldn't be thinking about that. Her very existence was an unusual phenomenon… there had been documented cases of animals with Quirks, but they were extremely rare.

Only two such examples had been seen in Japan in the past few decades; the first and most notable was U.A's very own principal Nezu, who appeared to be a possible combination of several different animals including a dog, mouse or a bear. His Quirk; High Spec, granted him superior intelligence that surpassed humans. Despite being an animal, Nezu's Quirk enabled him to live in society like a normal person.

The second was a cat that had 'possessed' a bus in Tokyo some time ago with its Monster Cat Quirk and caused it to go out of control, but luckily no one was hurt thanks to the combined efforts of the Turbo Hero, Ingenium, and a local vigilante known as "The Crawler".

He supposed König… Koko, was such a creature; an animal that had somehow developed a Quirk. Then it sunk in and the boy could barely believe what his mind was telling him. A literal dog used to wield One For All?! Things just kept getting crazier and crazier. Damn it, why didn't they tell him about this… he supposed they'd been living with her for so long that they completely forgot how abnormal it was for an animal to have a Quirk. A dog that could turn into a human… well, mostly human. It was almost beyond belief.

Izuku brought his hands to his face, breathing in deeply to calm down. When he removed them Koko was standing right in front of him, looking rather eager and still twitchy. She then picked him up effortlessly and pressed him against her sizable bosom in a warm, tight hug, causing the boy to turn red once more.

"H-hey!"

"You don't look like master." Koko hummed, scrutinizing him carefully.

She sniffed and pawed at his messy hair, breathing in his scent thoroughly. Kiri emerged from within, staring up passively.

"You don't smell like master."

Finally the girl gave Izuku a long lick on the cheek, sending him into a fit of embarrassed sputtering.

"You don't taste like master." she scratched her chin with an extended claw, thinking hard. An imaginary lightbulb seemed to turn on above her head, the girl's face lighting up. "I know! Koko will call you: new master!

"Please don't." he sighed. "Put me down, Koko."

"Ja, new master."

The dog-girl put him down carefully, still looking at him with expectant eyes. She… wanted something from him? Beside him Kiri transformed into her adult form, staring at the much larger female with an almost challenging gaze.

"Friend!" Koko chuffed, examining Kiri intensely. "New friend~!"

"Nn." the projection grunted, unimpressed.

"For starters, can you not call me "new master"? It's a little... embarrassing." Izuku murmured.

"Wan?" Koko tilted her head, before nodding rapidly. "Ja, master."

He clearly wasn't going to get across to her. Nevermind then. He had to focus on getting her back within his head, but judging by her behavior so far she was rather harmless despite being called a villain… she clearly had no intention of hurting him whatsoever. If she really wanted to, the girl could have just squeezed and popped his head like an overripe grape.

"Um, Koko. I need you to go back inside my head—"

"Nein. Don't wanna."

"E-eh?" Izuku blinked. "Why not?"

"Nobody plays with me anymoreeee~ Koko wants to play!" She grabbed his left arm, her gaze pleading. "Play with me!"

"U-um. Sorry, but we don't really have time for that right now—"

Kiri squeezed his other arm, expressionless. However, he could feel a sort of… jealousy flowing off her?

"That's… mine." Kiri said quietly, her tone low and dangerous.

They glared at each other for a second, their gazes clashing like thunderbolts. Both girls tensed, each daring the other to make the first move…

Uh-oh.

Usually it would be a teenage boy's dream to have two beautiful girls fighting over him. Izuku felt as though he was in a waking nightmare as they began to pull in opposite directions, threatening to split him in two. Blood rushed to his face and left the poor boy's cheeks alight with embarrassment, the sensory stimuli almost too much for his young, hormonal mind.

Don't think about it, you're not supposed to think about them that way! One's a dog, and the other's your "sister"! And they're both projections, so stop thinking about it! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—

"No fair! I wanna have a turn!"

"Onii-chan's mine. My onii-chan, doggy."

They continued tugging at him, though not too forcefully to avoid hurting him. Both were controlling their strength carefully: if they went at it with full power he'd be torn to pieces, and they knew it. The girls moved to hug his arms tighter and closer—

"Okay, that's enough!" Izuku exclaimed quickly, his cheeks glowing bright red.

They immediately let go of him, worried. Sighing, the boy put a hand to his chin and thought about his options. He couldn't afford to waste time playing around when one of those villains was still out there… but few choices were left, and he highly doubted Koko could be reasoned with using logic.

"Look, Koko." he said reluctantly. "I'm on an urgent mission mission to retrieve those who escaped, so I can't really play around that long, okay? No playing any long games like fetch or whatever. Just a little bit."

The dog-girl's face lit up with delight at that, while Kiri folded her arms and puffed up her cheeks. He sent and apologetic look her way and shrugged, right before Koko barreled into him with another warm hug.

"Master's so small, so cute~" Koko grinned, baring a row of gleaming, pointed teeth. "It makes me just wanna eat you up~"

Izuku gulped. That was just a joke... right? She was a villain, but he could see that she meant no harm. Offhandedly he wondered what earned her the title of villain in the first place, before pushing it to the back of his mind. Still, better safe than sorry.

"A-alright. So what am I supposed to do?" Izuku asked. He never had a dog before so he was at a complete loss on how to play with one.

"Pet me!"

The boy blinked, then his eyes widened comically.

"W-w-w-what?" he stammered. She couldn't mean—

"Pet me!" She sat down and presented her back towards him as a sign of trust. Her long, bushy tail wagged back and forth rapidly in anticipation. "Rub my back."

Oh. That wasn't too bad, but still...

"C-can't you change back into a dog for this?" Izuku blushed. "It, um, would make me feel a lot less embarrassed."

"Don't wanna."

The boy sighed in defeat, accepting his fate. What a stubborn dog. Without a word he began massaging her back, feeling the warmth of her skin. Izuku was no stranger to back rubs; he would sometimes give them to his mother to help stop her from stress eating too much, the circumstances of her life building up an unhealthy level of stress. She had often commented and joked on how Izuku was an expert at it… Though he was no chiropractor or masseuse he had looked up on the internet on how he could help his dear old mom. Now he got a chance to test his learned skills.

But this was the first time he was giving one to someone else besides his mom, and to someone without clothes, at that. It felt so different when there wasn't a layer of cloth separating his hands from skin, he could feel the knots in her flesh with just his fingers. Koko's back was practically a canvas of rippling muscle, not too much to be overly masculine but clearly that of someone who was extremely fit. A perfect example of a peak human female.

Her lightly-tanned skin was marred with numerous lines of ugly scar tissue from old wounds all over her body, the largest one being a long, uneven gash that ran down her back like a grotesque fin. What kind of life had she led to amass this horrific amount of damage? The poor thing… perhaps this was the least he could do to make her feel better. Izuku pressed onto her firmly but gently, pushing his thumbs into specific trigger points on her back and muscle knots.

"Oooooh." she moaned, tail sweeping across the ground. "Feels… good."

"Please don't moan like that." Izuku sighed, feeling rather embarrassed at what he was doing. "You're making this really weird. Nobody's done this for you before?"

"Only when I'm a doggy." Koko glanced back at him with a toothy grin. "This feels much better."

The boy was doing his best to think of her as a dog, rather than a person… but there were limits to how much he could delude himself. This was a girl, a human female that he was touching rather inappropriately. He couldn't help but feel flustered as he rubbed his hands along her back, feeling every curve along her supple flesh. His fingers ran across silky skin and rough scar tissue, a strange contrast of textures. He moved to her lower back and pressed near her tailbone... which suddenly caused her tail to stiffen, the girl letting out a high-pitched yelp.

"Ah, sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"N-no. Keep going."

Izuku made sure not to touch there anymore, for it seemed a little too sensitive to the point where the girl had to bite her lip whenever his hands brushed near that particular spot.

Don't think about don't think about it don't think about it. Just pretend she's a dog...

She flipped over without warning, lying on her back this time. Izuku raised an eyebrow, already expecting what she was about to ask of him.

"N-no. There's no way I'm gonna—"

"Rub my belly!" Koko exclaimed, her eyes gleaming with completely innocent intentions.

"You can't be serious." Izuku said flatly.

"Rub meeee~" The dog-girl started rolling from side-to-side like a spoiled child. "Or I won't move, master."

The teenager groaned, closing his eyes and mentally calming himself down. What had he done to deserve this… Yes, she was attractive in a rough, primal sort of way, but she was also a dog who could turn into a human. He felt as though he had crossed some line he shouldn't have.

Mom… forgive me for my degeneracy. I won't mind if you erase my name off your will. Forgive me, ancestors. Give me strength!

Koko squealed in delight when he put his hands on her stomach and began to rub slowly and tenderly, his eyes shut tightly in embarrassment. Ironically closing his eyes only had the opposite effect: he could trace and feel every inch of her toned abs, along with the contracting and relaxing of her diaphragm. Her patterned strips of fur was soft and velvety, contrasting against her smooth, silky skin. Naturally, he steered clear of her bosom but the rise and fall of her chest was increasing... She was breathing harder and faster with each passing second.

He feared that something had gone wrong and that he was hurting her, but opening his eyes revealed it was in fact quite the opposite. Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was ragged, hot breaths escaping from an unstable mix of growling and giggling as he ran his hands over her warm skin. Her clawed toes were curling back, brownish-red eyes completely glazed over and lost in a haze of rapturous ecstasy. At one point they even rolled to the back of her head, demonstrating that the intensity of the stimuli she was experiencing was worlds apart compared to a regular human.

She was now putty in his hands, practically melting at his touch. To have a girl this powerful completely at his mercy felt… somewhat good. Izuku quickly began thinking of something else like mathematical equations to get the intrusive thoughts out of his head, certain that he would develop some troubling fetishes if he continued down that slippery slope.

"Ooooooohh…"

"Okaywe'redone!" Izuku yelled frantically, quickly throwing his hands off her.

"Hah… hahahaha… hahaHAHAHAHAHA—ha."

The dog-girl stopped laughing maniacally to refocus her gaze upon him. Within those flaming ruby eyes there was that primal hunger once again, pupils dilated and twitching erratically… her human instincts had been completely overwhelmed by her animal ones. The beast in her had been rattling at its cage and now Izuku had unlatched the lock.

"Hahahaha…"

"Koko… sit." he ordered nervously. "S-stay!"

She didn't listen, completely ignoring his commands. Wide eyes locked on to him, bone-white canines glinting in the afternoon light as Koko grinned inhumanly, a low, predatory rumble emanating from her throat. The ancient prey instincts dormant within every human triggered within Izuku, causing him to flinch. He gotten too overconfident; no matter how well she was trained he simply didn't have enough experience to control her.

She… wants something. Don't tell me; she wants to eat me?!

Kiri advanced forward to restrain the other girl, but was quickly stopped by a mental command from Izuku. This was bad. Really, really bad. For a moment it looked like Koko was either about to devour him or assault him in ways he wasn't old enough to understand. He had to stop her somehow, but startling her would only cause her to run away, which meant Kiri couldn't attack. There had to be a way to calm her down, but he needed to know what she wanted.

His vision blurred without warning, allowing him to experience another memory that didn't belong to him. This was clearly Koko's memory... he felt a strong dissonance when looking through her eyes as the memory wasn't made in a human body.

She was in her dog form and barking furiously at a pair of men, one cuffing the other with a pair of metallic handcuffs. A policeman at work, Izuku realized. She was, or rather used to be... a police dog? Then how'd she become a villain? His thoughts were interrupted when Koko tugged at her leash wildly, surging forward and snarling.

"Easy, girl. Easy." A tall, well-built man came into view, kneeling down and rubbing her head gently. "You did good, Koko."

Izuku seemed to realize who the man was. He was Koko's old master… her partner back when she was just a normal dog. She didn't even know that she had a Quirk at that time, content to serve as a part of the local K-9 unit. He continued rubbing her head and scratching gently behind her ears, getting her to calm down.

"Shhh. Shhh, it's okay. Easy..." the blonde man spoke softly in German, holding her tight to his chest. "It's okay. Good girl… Heheh, you always get so overexcited when you're hungry. Feeling calmer now, girl? Good doggy."

"Wan!" Koko chuffed happily, licking the man in the face.

"Heh. Come on, girl." He opened the door to his police cruiser for her, the dog hopping in easily. "Let's go home for dinner."

The world shuddered and spun—Izuku broke out of his daze, back in reality. Koko was mere inches away from him now, hot breath tickling his face as she opened her mouth to reveal a maw full of razor-sharp teeth that could rip his throat out in a flash. Kiri stood only inches behind the taller girl, fist drawn back and ready to tear her into pieces if she tried to hurt Izuku. He now realized Koko wasn't just hungry for food… she was also hungry for affection. Her intentions had been completely innocent: all she wanted… was for somebody to hold her and say those words again.

He didn't hesitate, grabbing ahold of the dog-girl's head and pulling her close. In one smooth motion he hugged and held her tight to his chest, just like how her old master had done to get her to calm down. She twitched violently and shuddered with volatile energy until the boy began rubbing her head and scratching her behind the ears gently, replicating that sensation that she'd been looking for all this while. She began to feel… safe. Contented. The ever-present gnawing hunger that accompanied her transformation started to dissipate.

"Shhh. Shhh, it's okay. Easy..." Izuku whispered softly, feeling her breathing gradually stabilize. Her tail stopped wagging rapidly, slowing down and beginning to relax. "It's okay. Good girl..."

Koko whined, the coiled tension in her body finally loosening. With Izuku using the exact same words and holding her in the same way her old master did, the dog-girl began to experience a deep sense of nostalgia, something she hadn't felt in a long, long time. When the boy slowly let her go she seemed… more composed and collected now, no longer in a state of perpetual excitement and hunger.

"I'm… Koko is… good girl?" she tried timidly, her gaze flickering between him and the ground. "Good doggy?"

"Yeah." Izuku reached up and ruffled her hair, feeling her fluffy, twitching ears. She nuzzled against his hand, her pupils slowly returning to normal. "You did good, Koko."

A low rumble rose from the girl's throat, followed by her hugging him again. He should have guessed it from the start. She had probably woken up all alone in this strange new world, lost, hungry, and confused. The first thing she sought out was food, followed by love. No wonder she went to interact with those kids… they would have provided her both of those in abundance. She had been wound up like a spring, pent up energy within her threatening to burst. The only thing missing was for somebody to calm her down and tell her that everything was alright, and Izuku had finally fulfilled that role.

"Sorry to cut this short, but I really need you to return back to my head so I can go look for the last one. Can you do that for me, girl?"

"O...okay. Will…" she looked hesitant for a moment. "Will I see you again, new master? New master is… ist freund. Friend. Koko… I... want to see you again."

"I..." Izuku hummed, then pat her head tenderly. "I don't know. But I'll try."

The dog-girl nodded obediently and then turned to face Kiri, who had shrunk down into her miniature form after realizing Izuku was safe. Koko gave the little fairy a long, loving lick along the entirety of her tiny body and began to smolder, returning the borrowed power. The simulacrum looked rather unamused, doggy drool slicking down her form before she shook it off.

"Master… be careful." Koko warned, fading away. "Last one is… powerful. Let us out."

"Let us out?" Izuku repeated blankly, then his eyes widened in realization. Johnny had made a mistake... Koko wasn't the one that had caused the breach. It was the last escaped villain. "I-I need more details! Why did they let you all out? What's their goal?!"

"Don't know. Is… fast, faster than me. Strong, very strong." the dog-girl murmured and turned translucent. "Very angry… but also very sad."

"Give me a name! What was their name when they were a villain?"

The amazon closed her eyes, recalling the one who had inherited One For All from her. The one who explained to her what it was and why they needed it. One For All must always have a wielder.

"Aftermath."

Her form dissolved into a flurry of crimson particles, swirling in the air like a storm of rose petals before diving into his forehead. Izuku braced himself, knowing what was coming next: a memory that belonged to her, not him. He should be able to distance himself from the memory and view it as an observer now since their minds were so different—

The first thing he saw was blood. Dark red and maroon pooling around an unmoving body… the man he had seen earlier. Koko's old partner and master. She pawed and sniffed at him pitifully, crying… and then she turned into a human for the first time in her life. The first time she used her Quirk.

"That's what you get for messing with the Wild Hunt!" somebody outside the building screamed, followed by the cacophonous noise of at least a dozen engines roaring to life. "Let's ride, boys!"

Around her the police station burned, a raging inferno consuming the place she called home. Dead officers and personnel lined the hallways, her master among the bullet-ridden corpses. No matter how much she nudged at him and wailed, she knew he was dead. The light in his eyes was gone and she screamed and sobbed and howled, her heart shattering into a million pieces as the world around her turned to embers and ash.

Her master was gone. Her human friends were gone. Her brothers and sisters were gone. Even the old caretaker was gone. Everything she loved was gone, the police department building going up in flames... all because they protected the people in the name of justice.

And so for the first time, Koko spoke.

"I find who hurt you."

Razor-sharp canines glinted in the flickering firelight as the girl's features twisted into an enraged, beastial snarl.

"I kill."

Hot tears rolled down her cheeks, burning blood-red energy flaring out from crimson pupils surrounded by black sclera.

"I good doggy."

Izuku lurched back into reality, feeling bile rise up in his throat. He barely stopped himself from vomiting, tears streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably.

He had felt what she had felt in that short memory. There had been so much grief and hate within her at that time… he supposed she had made good on her promise and gotten her revenge, which was probably why she was classified as a villain. Heroes didn't exactly take kindly to vigilantes killing even criminals, often just putting the two groups into the same category.

But he didn't have time to stop and cry. The last one was still out there. Izuku grunted and pushed himself up unsteadily, Kiri helping him to his feet. He shoved his current feelings to the back of his mind, putting them away for later thought.

He had to keep moving forward.

[x]

Koko manifested back into Izuku's mind with a whirl of noise, the air displacing around her with a whoosh. She spotted the still-tiny Nana and immediately bounded over with uncanny speed, clearly excited.

"Hey Koko, I'm glad you're alri- oof!" Nana cried out as the canine knocked her over began licking happily. "It's good to see you too- gah! Easy! Down, girl!"

"Nana!" Koko thought-spoke, somehow able to speak inside Izuku's mind even as a dog. Like the other wielders, she too could use her Quirk here if she wanted to. "Nana became small! Cute! So cute!"

"Get- get off me!" the little girl squawked. "Bleh!"

A moment later Nana got up, wiping the drool off with her cape. Koko was running circles around All Might, Toshinori, now.

"Friend!" Koko gasped, delighted at the prospect of meeting someone new yet again. "New friend! Big! Funny face."

"Um... Hello, Koko. I am Toshinori Yagi, also known as All Might."

"Hallo!" she barked, darting around his legs energetically. "Schön dich zu treffen, Amerikaner!"

"What's she saying?" Toshinori whispered, leaning over to his mentor.

"'Nice to meet you, American'." Nana grunted. "I'm glad you didn't eat anyone, Koko. Good girl."

"Wan!"

"But what have we said about using your human form?" Nana frowned, hands on her hips.

"...Wear clothes when I'm human?" Koko said slowly, tilting her head.

"And what did you do?"

"Didn't wear clothes." The dog seemed to think about it for a moment, then quickly decided she didn't care anymore. "Wan!"

"Gah… nevermind. Here, fetch!"

Nana threw the red soul orb high into the air and Koko lunged up to catch it, disappearing once she made contact. Her companions buzzed and flickered upon Toshinori's halo to welcome her back.

"Unbelievable… she really is a dog." the blonde muttered. "I still can't believe it."

"Let me give you a bit of context, then… König, aka Koko. Villain name: Hellhound. Quirk: Human." Nana explained. "Well, it's pretty much as it says on the tin; she can turn into a super-human with incredible speed and strength. She was an absolute monster back in the day, a brute in every sense of the word. The German heroes deemed her a villain after she began killing the members of a metahuman villain gang known as the Wild Hunt, but she always managed to get away thanks to her inhuman prowess and the fact that nobody realized she was actually a dog."

"Why was she killing them?"

"Revenge. Poor girl used to be a police dog but that changed when the Wild Hunt killed her master and burned down her home. She managed to keep surviving her battles because of the secondary effect of her Quirk: her 'stored' form heals way faster so she can swap between forms to fix injuries. The downside is… well… I think you can guess it by now."

"Her human and animal instincts don't mix well." Toshinori hummed. "Which is why she eats people?"

"Partially correct. Swapping between forms and healing takes a ton of energy—her caloric intake skyrockets as a result. She also regenerates faster when consuming more biomass… so she used to eat the people she's killed, only bad guys though. Yeah, I know. I was pretty disgusted by that at first. I was worried that she would get confused and fight some heroes out in the real world, and that one thing would lead to another. Glad to see that didn't happen."

"Wait a minute." Toshinori frowned. "How did she get One For All in the first place?"

"Oh, that's a long story. Short version is that Johnny crash-landed from space, got chased into the forests by the local heroes who thought he was a insane Metahuman who had lost control of his Quirk, which technically he was—"

"Crash-landed from space?!"

"—so he lived there for a while like an animal and met Koko by sheer chance, lots of stuff happened after they fought the first few times, yadda yadda, Johnny later gets eviscerated so he passes her One For All in his last moments when she ate him so the flame doesn't get snuffed out, yadda yadda yadda."

"You just yadda yadda'ed over the most important parts!"

"No, I mentioned the part where he was insane." Nana shrugged. "I'll let them tell you the story."

"Fine… One last thing, why did Johnny and Chen address her differently? They called her 'König' instead of 'Koko'."

"Johnny got eaten so it's no surprise that he's still wary around her. Chen isn't comfortable with dogs due to a childhood incident when she got thrown into a dog-fighting pit to be torn apart—"

Toshinori winced.

"But I digress. The last one is still out there, but why cause the breach? It just doesn't make any sense… Why, especially after being content to spend that much time in hibernation... why now?"

The sky turned blood-red without warning, causing the two Heroes to look up in alarm. Lighting up like a screen it showed what Izuku was currently seeing: an armoured figure hovering in the air, flickering bursts of green energy blazing beneath heavy boots. It turned out that Izuku didn't have to look for the last one after all.

They had been looking for him.

[x]

Young Izuku's heart was thumping madly in his chest like a jackhammer, beating against his ribs with a steadily increasing rhythm. He hadn't even managed to get off the rooftop Koko had landed on when this new individual showed up, hovering in the air menacingly. Kiri pointed at him with a quiet finality, confirming his fears. This was the one Koko had spoke of; the villain known as Aftermath.

For a moment they just stared at each other in silence. The boy's mind tried desperately to analyze the villain's capabilities, starting with his costume. The man didn't dress like a villain, wearing a mask with dark lenses that ended in long ears, coupled with a metallic respirator on his neck that shielded his mouth. Green armour along his torso and limbs, along with a pair of heavy boots. The outfit looked somewhat familiar, yet completely alien to him. The man was slightly smaller than All Might but he looked leaner, younger...

"I've found you. I've finally… found you." An armoured finger pointed at him shakily. "Midoriya... Izuku."

Kiri transformed into her combat form, ready to fight—she could go at a 100% now after retrieving the power Koko borrowed from her. The villain still held the remaining surplus power she kept in emergency reserve to manifest himself.

"Who are you?!" Izuku yelled, standing his ground despite the crushing fear. "Y-you caused the breach? Why?"

"You… construct. Valkyrie." Aftermath growled, still hovering in the air above them. "You stole something that's supposed to be mine. Are you willing to fight for it? Because I sure as hell am."

"W-w-what?" Izuku stammered, genuinely confused.

Beside him Kiri tensed, taking up a stance. She already knew from the villain's tone alone that Izuku wouldn't be able to change his mind. She had seen something similar before; the man's voice was ice and granite and raw, bloody rage but controlled... taut like a guitar string and ready to snap.

"I won't use One For All against you like I did with the hothead… only my own Quirk. I'll prove my worth… I'll beat you with my power alone. You against me, me against you. Show me your conviction."

"Wait!" the boy cried out frantically. "Wait, just hang on a minute! We can just talk this out—"

"No. We can't." Aftermath entered his own stance, his palms facing backwards. "So stop waiting—"

Kiri's fists tightened as his opened, the armoured man rocketing forward.

"—and start fighting."

The simulacrum jumped and crashed into her new opponent with a gut-wrenching crunch, her adversary taking the blow and dragging them both into the sky. Below Izuku gasped, running for the rooftop door and barreling down the stairs to follow them.

Finally exiting the building he looked up… and wished he hadn't. The clear afternoon sky was dotted with bright emerald flashes like fireworks, and Kiri was in right in the middle of that relentless barrage. Nearby civilians were beginning to point, taking pictures and recording.

He watched in horror as his little sister got bracketed by a flaring burst, followed by a vicious kick to the midsection that sent her spiralling backwards. Though their mental link he felt her shock… and pain. What? She was supposed to be invulnerable! How was Aftermath doing that?! Izuku grit his teeth, feeling helpless to do anything.

Think, Izuku! Think!

Flight, Mover rating confirmed. Ranged offensive capability, Blaster rating confirmed.

Izuku narrowed his eyes, analyzing how Aftermath strafed Kiri and peppered her with concussive energy blasts on each fly-by. No… it was different applications of the same ability. Omnidirectional movement via explosions.

Kiri managed to close in to land a solid hit… and the spot where she had landed her attack exploded. A blast that didn't come out of his hands or feet, activated via impact.

Some sort of reactive armor. Brute rating confirmed.

That had to be the most troubling thing to deal with… landing a strike would also result in the attacker taking damage. It seemed to be dependant on whether the villain chose to react, Kiri managing to land a few blows without the hit area detonating. Aftermath's mobility and maneuverability was incredible, his attacks employing a mix of melee combat and energy bursts from both his hands and feet that also helped him to fly in irregular, unpredictable patterns… a frighteningly powerful combination. Izuku cursed, his mind spinning. There had to be a way to help her, if only he could see what she was seeing—

Wait a minute. He could do that… but it had happened only in his dreams via their mental connection. The boy closed his eyes and focused hard, trying to ignore the sounds of combat and commotion from people observing. He had to help her. He had to… A big brother had to be responsible for his younger sibling! There was a flickering behind his eyes followed by an itch in his head, and then—light.

He was looking through her eyes! His right eye now glowed an ethereal green and displayed exactly what she was seeing in real time, while his left one remained normal as usual. The overlapping images began to make him dizzy so he closed his right eye, focusing on what Kiri was doing.

A deafening boom echoed in his head, followed by a wave of energy splashing across the projection's face. So he could hear what she was hearing, too. Kiri was at a massive disadvantage... she could only float and boost herself using the recoil of her attacks, while Aftermath could fly freely.

"I bet you're curious why I can hit you though your invulnerability." Aftermath's fist met her jaw with a thunderous crash, snapping her head sideways painfully. "Simple, really. It's because we're on the same wavelength. We're practically the same thing…"

Kiri sent a punch backward, which in turn sent her forward using recoil. Her shin slammed into the area under his torso with inhuman speed, right where the kidneys would be. Dazzling green flames erupted from the impact, sending her sprawling back... But Izuku saw it. For a moment the spot that had exploded was empty, resembling a hole in a porcelain figurine. Aftermath was… hollow?

"See, that's what sucks about being Invulnerable." A point-blank blast to the face that blinded her like a flashbang grenade, followed up with a knee to the solar plexus which Kiri caught just in time. "You never really have to learn how to fight properly."

The girl flipped and rotated mid-air to land a high kick on Aftermath's temple, sending her opponent pinwheeling into a nearby empty construction site. She struck like a meteorite, ramming head-on and driving him through multiple floors of steel and concrete in a series of pandemonic crashes. Dust and debris rushed out of the construction site in a hazy cloud of grey, sending nearby civilians panicking and scrambling for safety.

"Which is why I'm surprised when it turns out you're not that bad… it shows that you're not just some brainless puppet." Aftermath hissed. "You can think for yourself, can't you? Under different circumstances we might have been friends. Perhaps in a different world."

Kiri's fist impacted his face with a sound akin to a car crash and was flung aside from the resulting explosion from his reactive armor. She snatched an I-beam off the wall and stabbed it into the ground to halt her momentum, launching herself forward to swing the massive chunk of steel like a baseball bat. The back of Aftermath's head exploded, snapping his skull forward as he headbutted the beam, creating a massive blast that sheared the makeshift weapon into countless pieces. Armoured fingers wrapped around her throat like a vice, the girl still a little too stunned to react.

A blinding corona of green streaked into the sky as Aftermath rocketed from the destroyed construction site, Kiri struggling in his grip. There was a monstrous roar as he increased his speed exponentially, twin jets blazing beneath his boots, a pristine white cloud starting to form around them like a disc. The cloud narrowed to a sharp point, turning into a vapor cone with supersonic expansion fans... resulting in an earsplitting crack as the armoured figure broke the sound barrier.

Izuku gasped, watching them through his own eye. Kiri executed an armlock onto her opponent mid-air, sending the pair spiralling into a tight corkscrew maneuver as Aftermath tried to regain control. They were headed to the forested outskirts of the city… Izuku began running towards it.

Twin juggernauts impacted the forest grounds at seven hundred and forty one miles per hour, sending a giant plume of earth and broken wood into the air. A burning discharge sent Kiri flying out of the crater, the girl correcting herself mid-air and retaliating with a bone-shattering elbow drop. Izuku was still looking through her point of view with his closed right eye, his left eye focusing on the road. He had 'borrowed' a nearby bicycle along the way, cycling with all his might.

"I can unleash explosive energy at range but I choose to engage up close in melee combat, and you know why?" An armoured fist rammed into her stomach with the power of a freight train, sending the simulacrum crashing through a dozen trees. "Because it feels good."

Aftermath cocked his arm back in a specific fashion, chambering a clenched fist. A lance of energy erupted from his elbow, the effect resembling the afterburners of a jet engine. Izuku's eyes widened. That stance! That was... All Might's—

"Iowa smash."

Kiri received his mental warning just in time, arms x-ing to shield herself from the massive rocket-boosted corkscrew punch, the attack detonating with the force of an artillery salvo. There had been enough raw power in that attack to demolish multiple city blocks, the forest behind her parting like the red sea as she split the blast in two with her own body. It was like she'd been hit by a tidal wave… A warped distortion of one of All Might's attacks.

This guy's a fan of All Might?! It… it doesn't make any sense! Why would somebody who admired All Might become a villain?! No, he clearly predates All Might... What the hell is going on?!

Milky-white knuckles cleaved through burning energy as Kiri punched her way into the massive conflagration, her fist slamming against the villain's palm. He just barely caught her other incoming hand by the wrist, only for the girl to brace two fingers against her thumb to launch a vicious, point-blank—

"Delaware Smash!"

Her invulnerable fingers impacted Aftermath's face like a pair of .50 BMGs, the brutal strike snapping his head back and sending him flying. Gravel and soil ruptured under heavy boots as the man found his footing, boosting back into the fight.

"That's right… just like that. It feels good when you let loose, doesn't it? The thrill, the sheer power within? Not against the squishy little people, but people like me who can fight back. It's that feeling like you wanna scream, and when you do it feels great. Alive. I've been hiding and holding back all these years for my chance."

"Nn." Kiri answered, sidestepping a jab to grab his wrist and the back of his neck, slamming the man's face into the dirt with a crunch.

She stomped on the middle of his shoulder blades, twisting his arm like a drumstick with a sudden, sickening snap; nearly tearing the limb off until Aftermath detonated his own arm to escape the hold. A wave of white-hot agony surged over her mental connection as she got flung back from the massive blast, recovering quickly with a kip up. For a moment the villain's right arm was gone… until white particles rushed together to reform the limb.

That was… how?!

Their fists clashed, driving into each other with inhuman force. Aftermath's was clearly weaker than her in terms of physical strength, but he made up for it with his relentlessness and those fiery green energy blasts. He was all aggression, aggression, aggression; always going on the offensive and never defending, never giving her time to think, to plan, to retreat.

But Kiri didn't need to retreat, and she knew it. Just as Aftermath was focused on offense she was the opposite. She was slower but stronger, her infamous defense a shield for the innocent, built to stand and deliver.

And she intended to do so now.

Kiri tanked his assault to get in close, switching her fighting style to strike between the lapses of Aftermath's offense with counterpunches, exploiting the openings in his attacks. A heavy right cross hurtled towards her—the girl deliberately accepted the punch, her retaliatory haymaker left already crashing into his jaw with the added momentum.

She then brought her arms together like a boxer, maintaining a tight guard and shifting her weight to weave and slip under his blasts, executing a near-perfect Dempsey roll to launch a flurry of savage hooks.

Switch.

Her opponent immediately adjusted his own strategy accordingly to combat her fighting style, initiating the unorthodox acrobatic maneuver of an air-flare like a breakdancer, his legs sweeping wide to become a cyclone of viridescent flames.

Switch.

Kiri swapped to a different style again, her movements now graceful and flowing to redirect incoming attacks with minimal effort, using his own momentum against him. Her roundhouse kick scythed through the air and into his temple.

Switch.

Aftermath responded by changing styles as well, legs braced and stomping into the earth with a heavy, angular stance. He attacked with elbows and knees, the effects amplified by his blasts. A lightning-fast palm strike crashed into her jawline.

Their fighting styles and attacks were adapting to each other like pieces on a chessboard…

"You don't get it, do you?" the villain snarled. "This is all happening because of you. You were never supposed to happen... You're a fucking accident, an abnormal irregularity!"

What? She paused in confusion, leaping back to create some space between them.

"Everything had been planned out… but because of you—" his voice became distorted, seeming to overlap with another. "You ruined everything."

They moved simultaneously, landing a ferocious cross counter on each other.

"If it wasn't for me there wouldn't be a One For All in this world! It was me who retrieved it from Koko, me who forced it onto Chen! All that gruelling hard work… and this is the thanks I get?!"

Aftermath was starting to get emotional, his earlier calm demeanor giving way to unrestrained fury. She could hear him gradually losing it from his voice alone, distorting like two people speaking at once. His tone was slipping like tectonic plates, inch by inch and any second now the fault line would snap and send him cascading into overwhelming rage. Izuku dodged past a group of policemen setting up a safety barrier, ignoring their alarmed yells. They didn't bother to run after him, too busy helping to evacuate nearby civilians. Emergency sirens blared in the background.

"Everything I did, I did it for him! And I'd do it all over again! You'll never understand how much I sacrificed, nor will you be able to make the hard decisions that matter. All because you follow those stupid fucking ideals of being a goddamn hero!"

Kiri snarled, her expressionless face now contorting with wrath. The tip of Aftermath's boot ignited as he flipped overhead, flaring like a rocket engine to send his armoured leg downward in a vicious axe kick, speeding towards her neck like a falling guillotine.

"Manchester—"

Dodge it! Izuku screamed mentally. Kiri obeyed his command and backstepped just in time, the bootheel missing her face by millimeters...

"—Smash!"

A thunderclap of energy, followed by blinding light and intense pressure as the ground shattered into enormous chunks, buckling beneath that rocket-boosted heel smash. Izuku was still looking through her eyes… and now he saw yet another oddity. There it was again! Whenever Aftermath launched a heavy blast the origin point seemed to disappear for a moment; if he used his right arm to launch a larger-than-average blast, his right hand would disappear for a second. Now that he used that axe kick, he could clearly see that his foot vanished for a moment before reappearing. And the fact that he could blow up his own arm earlier... was he combusting his own body to fuel his attacks? What kind of Quirk was this?!

"I won't use One For All against you because this form is all I need. It's all I've ever needed to hurt you, to beat you and anyone who stands in my way. My 'truth' versus your 'ideals'. And the truth is that you'll compromise. When shit gets real, there'll be a time where you'll have to choose between what you believe in and what you truly desire. Unlike you I won't hesitate, not even for a single fucking moment if it means I can achieve my goal… That's what makes us different. That's why you're a hero—" Aftermath's fist exploded, sending a torrent of emerald energy cascading into the ground. "—And I'm NOT!"

The very earth erupted around Kiri, disorienting her for a second with a smokescreen of debris and uneven footing.

But only for a single second. Her reply came in the form of a jaw-breaking uppercut that seemed to hit through Aftermath, the trees behind him shredded from the sheer force of her attack like shrubs in a hurricane. The projection caught his next attack with an open hand, their battle pausing for a brief moment.

"Never compromise." Kiri whispered. "Not even in the face of armageddon."

They let go at the same time, hammering at each other with concussive force, bludgeoning and pummeling with fists and elbows, legs and knees. Emotion against logic, two poles of human nature face-to-face, fighting it out.

Izuku was finally closing in on the spot where they were fighting, bobbing and weaving between panicking civilians who were running the other way. Aftermath had abandoned all semblance of calm and was seemingly going berserk, teetering on the edge of rationality like an acrobat over the chasm of his own rage. He wasn't making any sense, nothing he said made sense... Kiri on the other hand was thinking logically and trying to come up with a way to take him down, going for limb locks, throat strikes, anything she could think of and exhausting her entire arsenal against the seemingly unstoppable force. If she couldn't outspeed him then she'd outlast him, beating him in a battle of attrition.

They were turning into the opposites of each other… no. They already were from the beginning. Their battle wasn't so simple as good versus evil. More like ideals versus truth; need versus want; cool logic versus burning emotion.

Angel versus Devil.

Kiri sent a piledriver right into her opponent's jaw, sending him reeling back before he countered with an exploding knee to her ribcage. A devastating left hook downed him temporarily, snapping his neck sideways so fast a normal human would have gotten beheaded. She got atop him and tried for a pin, but it was like trying to hold down a volcano as Aftermath erupted, tossing her back into the dirt like a toy. Izuku could feel Kiri getting exhausted, draining more of his emotions as she was almost out of power… but so was Aftermath. Long, jagged cracks were now snaking along the armoured man's entire body, and within those cracks was hollow emptiness with the exception of the torso...

Theories and speculations spun and churned within Izuku's mind, the boy taking into account every single detail. It couldn't be.

"I will be the one worthy enough to walk by his side, to be worthy of his attention! For that is my purpose, my raison d'être. This is all I have left, I don't have anything else to live for... I've waited for nearly a fucking century for my chance! Who are you to take it away from me?! This feeling I have—you know it too, don't you Valkyrie?!"

Izuku huffed and puffed, his lungs and muscles screaming in protest. He could feel exactly where Kiri was through their mental link. What was Aftermath talking about… a wave of dread sent shivers down his spine. Was he an All For One loyalist that had somehow infiltrated One For All?! No… there was no reason to pass it on if he was. It just didn't make any sense. He was almost there… almost there!

"This feeling I have… could only be called love!"

"Love?" Kiri asked in bewilderment, momentarily stunned by the declaration.

"But if you go beyond love, it turns into hatred! Just as people turn on each other when they take their ideals too far... this fucked-up world is a result of that! Lunatics running around in ridiculous costumes, bringing violence and escalation wherever they roam and for what?! Justice? Power? Recognition? These people get caught up in their own beliefs and prejudices and lose sight of the truth... this leads to misunderstandings, followed by discord and then by conflict. They would bring ruin upon humanity for the sake of satisfying their own inflated egos or to further their own deluded cause!"

"If you know that…" Kiri began, fury boiling up within her. "Then why do you still fight?"

"You're asking for a warrior's reason to fight?!" Aftermath roared, his vicious rocket-kick just barely missing and sweeping over her head. "That is nonsense!"

"Then you're a hypocrite, a contradiction. No better than the people you are cursing."

"Maybe I am!" A dodged counter, followed by a two-handed overhead swing that split the earth. "You made me this way! Humans are capable of committing atrocities in the name of love, and I am no different! So what if it's selfish?! So what if there are consequences?! SO FUCKING WHAT?!"

He burst and roared and careened into her like a missile gone haywire, an exhaust trail of burning green and caterwauling noise chasing them into the woods. His back flared once, twice, then it was no longer explosions but a constant jet of emerald plasma, sending them barreling through the trees like a magnesium-tipped tracer round through cheap plywood. She drove her feet into the ground to halt his charge, carving a deep gouge into the landscape and scarring it for decades to come. His torso exploded to separate their destructive embrace, the two fighters staring down each other in the clearing they had made. This was it.

"I won't let you take him away from me... I'll defeat you!" he howled, his distorted, overlapping voice full of rage… and despair. "I don't care about the rest of the world anymore—this is my own will!"

"You're part of the world as well!" Kiri howled right back.

"Then consider this to be the will of the world!" Aftermath screamed. "My world!"

"No…" Kiri recalled her conversation with Pixiebob about balance and needs of others, to not just focus on yourself. "All you're doing is selfishly forcing your own distorted wants on others! You only have your own interests and goals in mind, not even considering that people have their own needs! Now I'm coming… to SMASH that distortion out of you!"

"WELL SPOKEN, VALKYRIE!"

Aftermath rocketed forward, his arm wrenching back in preparation for a monstrous right swing. Vibrant energy blazed like flames from ragged, uneven cracks splintered along the limb. A jet of emerald plasma burst from his elbow, shock diamonds and concentric rings blossoming along its length in a visual display of colossal power. Green motes of light sparked within dark lenses.

Kiri accelerated, her arm cocking back just like how she remembered from Izuku's memories and her own. A special technique that belonged to All Might, ingrained within Izuku's mind since he was four... an attack that the boy was now capable of using for himself with the power of One For All. The blaze of green energy within her eyes intensified.

Two opposing forces, two sides of the same coin. The power to protect, and the power to destroy. Green against Green… Their ragged voices screamed the exact same words.

"DETROIT SMAAAAAAAAASSSSSHH!"

The right side of Izuku's vision turned white.

A blinding flash was accompanied by a monumental explosion of pressure and force as the forest exploded, lighting up the entire area like a second sun with its brilliant radiance. A pillar of shattered debris climbed into the sky like a mushroom cloud, the gale winds of a typhoon chasing the blastwave into the nearby area. A localized earthquake followed, the earth cracking and splitting open with a groan. Izuku was buffeted by the immense wind, thrown off the bicycle and onto the broken ground painfully. He got up and ignored the bloodied scapes on his knees and elbows, running towards his little sister with his mind clouded in overwhelming panic and worry.

That blinding white light dissipated… and he saw through Kiri's eyes again. She was standing tall while Aftermath was falling backwards in slow-motion, his right arm missing… his body lined with cracks like a broken mirror and starting to dissolve into smoke and particles. His armored, muscular chest cavity twitched… and something within moved.

"—we're on the same wavelength. We're practically the same thing…"

Izuku's mind spun into overdrive, analyzing all the clues he'd gathered.

The overlapping distorted voice, like two people speaking at once. The use of his own body to fuel his attacks. The way his limbs regenerated after his energy blasts. The cracks in that hollow form. The way it was now dissolving into smoke and particles like the combined form of Shimura Nana and Kiri had…

"Not yet…" a small voice whispered.

The man's torso shattered and that same something exploded out of his chest, an ethereal, translucent right palm overlapping a solid smaller one and pointing towards Kiri. A small, female figure clad in a tattered cloak tore her way out of Aftermath, her brightly illuminated, wavy hair rippling wildly in the wind.

Aftermath was a mental projection.

"NOT YET!" the girl roared, firing a luminous blast that struck Kiri dead center—depleting the last of her power in a desperate final attack. Izuku's little sister doubled over in pain and ran out of energy after receiving the blow, shrinking back into her child form as she fell back and unable to fight any longer.

Izuku finally pieced all the clues together at the last moment. This girl was the villain's true form! Just as Kiri was his projection, Aftermath was the girl's... their Quirks were similar, yet complete opposites. An explosive projection instead of an invulnerable one, offense instead of defense. She had been hiding inside that projection, 'piloting' him like a suit of power armor. But unlike Kiri, the armored projection seemed to be non-sentient… a shell, a telekinetic puppet that she controlled. It faded away into nothingness behind her, like dust in the wind.

Izuku ran into the forest; or what was left of it, and finally saw them with his own eyes in the massive crater they had created. Aftermath's master snarled and raised her arm to launch another blast… only for nothing to happen. Her palm sparked and sputtered when she tried again, completely out of power. Kiri recovered painfully, stumbling and disoriented.

"N-no… no, NO, NO!" the unknown girl cried in horror. "I… I failed? I lost..."

Kiri noticed her brother had arrived and scrambled over to his side unsteadily, still intent on protecting him in her weakened form.

Aftermath, or rather her true form that had been piloting the projection... broke down completely. A pitch-black scream of despair and anguish tore itself out of her lungs, the girl wailing and sobbing uncontrollably. It wasn't a bratty or frustrated sort of crying; she was devastated, completely heartbroken by her loss. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her figure curling up into a shivering ball, clawing at herself with grief.

"No… NO! T-this wasn't supposed to happen!" she choked, her voice cracking with agonizing sorrow and fear. "I'm so fucking useless…"

Looking at her Izuku couldn't help but feel overwhelming pity. He didn't see a villain… just a trembling and vulnerable girl, completely terrified and utterly alone. She looked so young... so awfully small, sitting on the ground and clad in her oversized, tattered cloak and crying miserably. She was pulling at her hair now, her small hands shaking.

"All that hard work, planning, and sacrifice… Why can't I do a-anything right… I'm s-sorry! I'm so sorry..."

A strange feeling started thrumming in Izuku's blood as he slowly made his way to her. He could feel the itching uncertainty within him, the ice-cold fear that still surged through his veins, even the white-hot adrenaline that still circulated his bloodstream. But this strange feeling buzzing through his being was something new. Something resonating deep within, something about this whole affair that his heart had realized before his head.

He hugged her gently, holding her close.

The girl gasped before slowly acknowledging him, crying into his shoulder. Small fingers clutched at his back weakly as her slim arms wrapped themselves around him, her body shaking violently with sobs. She felt so fragile, like she was about to break apart at the slightest touch. Kiri stood behind him, cautious but understanding. She too had once cried like that. The unnamed girl's shivering fingers reached out and touched hers, finally returning the borrowed power in her defeat.

Lovely emerald eyes gazed up at Izuku, shimmering with tears.

"P-please… don't leave me..." the girl whimpered weakly, a trembling hand brushing against his cheek. "I don't want to be alone."

Before Izuku could say anything she wailed and disintegrated into countless emerald petals, dancing in wind. The miniature storm of energy dived into his forehead in a stream of glittering light, the boy bracing for the incoming mental jaunt.

The world shifted and blurred with kaleidoscopic color and noise. Izuku was now looking through another's eyes yet again, this time from the perspective of Aftermath, or rather, the girl that had been controlling him. She was trudging through a sunless blizzard, shielded from the most of the unrelenting cold by staying inside her projection. He could feel her exhaustion and despair, yet at the same time there was this determination within that flickered and waned like the flame of a dying candle.

Izuku could feel her desperately hanging onto the last vestiges of hope in that swelling sea of shadows, holding onto that lifeline like how a drowning man clings to driftwood, refusing to let go. For here, deep within that darkness, was a thread that led back to what she had travelled so far for. A single spark of hope.

"Don't worry," she whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek. "It'll be okay. No matter how long it takes."

Ice and gravel crunched under her projection's boots. Howling, frozen wind bit into her but she continued to advance, step by step. Inch by inch. She had to keep moving forward.

"No matter how long it takes."

The memory twisted sideways like a whirlpool of vivid colors and wild noise, spitting Izuku back into cold reality. He gasped, clutching at his chest in complete bewilderment. Kiri rushed to his side, worried. His vision was back to normal now, right eye no longer glowing.

Nothing made sense anymore and that strange girl; she had felt… familiar, yet somehow foreign. Like she didn't belong, but at the same time she did. The way her Quirk was also a projection… it was too frighteningly similar to be just a coincidence. Even though he had successfully retrieved the four lost souls, he didn't feel any relief at all.

A new mystery had risen from its decades of slumber, a conspiracy hidden within One For All for nearly a century. Despite how he reassured himself that the worst was over dread started to pool in his gut, a feeling that something was terribly wrong. No matter how hard Izuku tried not to think about it, the image of that young girl's tearful, green eyes remained as if branded into his mind.

Those lovely green eyes…

...that looked just like his.

[Chapter 6 End.]

---

Thank you for reading!

Special thanks to Walk The Max Planck for beta reading this chapter and helping to develop more of the story. You're awesome, dude.

The three little girls, "Colors", are not OCs. They're cameo characters from the anime "Mitsuboshi Colors".

During the battle between Izuku and Shinso during the tournament arc of the anime there's a small scene where Izuku "feels" the previous OFA users and sees shadowy silhouettes of them in the doorway. Skinny All Might can be seen at the bottom left, but take a look at the rightmost figure in the middle row. It almost looks like someone with pointed ears... and if you squint he/she kind of looks like a dog or wolf.

That's where I got the idea of Koko, haha. She kinda looks like a mix of Polt and Tio from the Monster Musume anime if you watch that. Fully human face, monster-girl features (paws, ears, tail). Also I have nothing against Germany so please don't misunderstand. She's only German because she's a German Shepard, a breed of dog which I think is totally radical.

As for Aftermath... well. She's a complicated person whose goals will be explored in the next chapter. But if you look back at the shadowy silhouettes she's supposed to be the bottom right figure. I kind of think it looks like a smaller girl, with long wavy hair. Basically I tried to look at the canon figures to come up with ideas when creating the first drafts.

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, my bad. To be honest this one went through many revisions, both in my head and on a word doc because I was really worried about how people would react to it. I'm cool with constructive criticism, though. Plz no bully.

Stay tuned for the next chapter!