My Name is Shimura

by Nyarlathotep7030

Midoriya Izuku and Shigaraki Tomura are, at first glance, two entirely different children. However, they both unknowingly possess similar quirks and a relation to the deceased hero, Nana Shimura. These two do not know it yet, but their fates are soon destined to clash...

21. Chapter 19: Nighteye

Well, I'm absolute shit at trying to maintain a consistent upload schedule.

Sorry, once again, for the massive time in between chapters. I'm going to try to get better at it in the future, but I can't make any promises.

By the way, the one-year anniversary of posting my first chapter of this fic passed during November. It feels weird to think that I've been doing this for nearly an entire year and I still haven't reached the halfway point.

Now for some clarification about later stuff in this fic…..

*THE REST OF THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 253 AND BEYOND*

First off, Kurogiri will not be Shirakumo in this fic. It's too big of a change that I would have to make since I've already committed to making him his own character. It's not like Shigaraki's backstory where I had basically the same thing prepared and just had to slightly adjust it. This is an entire character-changing idea that I can't just maneuver the whole fic around this late in it. In a future fic, I may use the idea, but I won't for My Name is Shimura at the very least. So canonically within this fic, Kurogiri is his own person and Shirakumo was killed like how we believed he was when they showed it in Vigilantes.

As for the twist itself…I'm honestly not a fan of it, at least at this current point in time. For those who have just read the main series, this twist will have no impact considering most of them don't even know who Shirakumo is. Most people I asked for the opinions of after reading the chapter mostly just said, "It was fun for the first half, but I have no idea who this Shirakumo guy is and why he's important." The twist wasn't effective for them and caused nothing but confusion.

As for those who have read Vigilantes, this twist lessens the impact of one of its best moments. Shirakumo's death was a surprising and unique event that really made me connect to Aizawa even more as a character. Knowing what we know now, however, makes the moment feel cheap in retrospect. It also leads to confusion over how and why All for One changed Shirakumo into a pseudo-nomu. I'll reserve my judgment for now, but I feel disappointed with this twist as of this moment in time.

Without further interruptions though, please enjoy!

---

All Might stared quietly at the photo in his hand as he leaned back in his chair.

In the image, he was sitting with Nighteye and Gran Torino eating some Soba. He was in the center of it with his arms wrapped around his two comrades, laughing with gleefully with delight. Nighteye and Gran Torino looked slightly annoyed at his boisterous laughter, but they were still grinning nonetheless.

It was quite an old photo. From back when they had all been close.

All Might sighed.

Where had all those years gone? It seemed like only yesterday they had just been working alongside each other, and now all of them barely talked.

All Might sometimes wondered if he could've done a bit better; if he had really done everything he could to stop all of them from drifting apart. Maybe he could've been less dismissive of Nighteye and listened to him. Maybe he could've called Gran Torino more to check on how he was doing. Maybe he could've spent more time maintaining his connection with both of them.

All Might deflated in his seat.

There were too many damn maybes.

The past was a done deal and he couldn't change it even if he wanted to. All he could do now was try and fix his mistakes in the present, even though he was still making them.

All Might winced as he thought of the Arkham Psych Ward attack.

He should've been there to do something. If he hadn't wasted his time with One for All for the day on trivial things, he could've stopped Dabi's rampage.

But he did waste his time, and all those people paid the price for it.

Why was his life just one big mistake after the other?

All Might's mind drifted to Izuku, which made him let a smile across his face.

Well, maybe he didn't always make mistakes.

Izuku was the perfect successor in his mind. Sure he wasn't adapting to One for All naturally and he struggled with improving, but he was a damn heroic kid that would throw himself into the line of danger for others at a moment's notice. It reminded him so much of himself when he was younger.

Another frown drifted across All Might's face. His fists started to clench from discomfort.

Why would he let his mind drift to that? His biggest mistake had happened during his younger years. He hated to think about what could've been back then. If he had been a little bit stronger, maybe he could've changed what happened.

All Might felt a deep pit of self-hatred form in his stomach.

If only he hadn't been so weak maybe she would still be alive...

All Might's thoughts drifted back to his successor.

The next time he saw him, he needed to request something.

He wanted Izuku to tell Nana that he was sorry for failing her.

---

"I thought we were starting to make progress Bakugou."

Katsuki ignored the words of his therapist as he laid on the couch.

He had been going to this shitty extra's therapy sessions ever since his little blow up against Deku in All Might's first class. Apparently, he was "unsafe to be around" and "A threat to his classmates,'' which had resulted in an overall vote to have him take mandatory therapy sessions if he wanted to continue studying at U.A.

Katsuki snorted internally.

The teachers were idiots for not seeing how pointless this was. He didn't need some useless therapy, he just needed to be treated like the badass he was.

Katsuki smirked maliciously.

Letting him put Deku in his place would be great as well.

"Bakugou, are you even paying attention?"

Katsuki sighed and turned to look at his therapist with an exasperated look on his face.

"Would you just shut up already? I don't really care about anything you have to say. It's just psychoanalytic nonsense. No matter what you say, it's not going to change anything about me. Do something actually useful and pass me one of your cookies."

His therapist gave him an exhausted-looking expression.

"Bakugou, how many times do I have to say this? What you get in therapy is roughly equivalent to what you put into therapy. If you put no effort into our sessions, I can't help you in the slightest."

His shitty extra of a therapist was named Trussardi Tonio. He was some crappy, famous Italian chef that decided to become a therapist after he retired from cooking. He was a man of average height with brown hair and a white cooking outfit that he always had on no matter the occasion.

Trussardi turned in his seat and reluctantly grabbed a plate of cookies he had sitting next to him.

"Honestly Bakugou, I understand you were starting to put in some more effort recently. I was beginning to think that we were making progress. For the past two sessions though, I've been getting the impression that you don't want to be here. I really want to help you Bakugou, because I understand what you're going through more than you think….."

Trussardi moved to pass them to Bakugou before suddenly stopping and letting a smirk bloom on his face.

Katsuki growled and motioned for his therapist to pass him the cookies.

"Come on, just give me the damn things."

Trussardi's smile grew just a little more.

"I will in just a second, but I want to make a little deal with you before I do."

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"If you want me to participate more in this pointless session than you can keep your damn cookies."

The extra shook his head, a smile still on his face.

"No, I know that won't work. All I want you to do is listen to me talk about my own experiences for the remainder of the session. In exchange, I'll let you eat all the cookies you want. You also won't have to speak or care at all while I'm talking if you don't want to, but I just want you to listen."

Katsuki's eyes narrowed.

"What's the catch?"

He was starting to get irked by Trussardi's constant smirk. If the bastard thought that he could just look down on him without any consequences, he had another thing coming.

The extra seemed to notice Bakugou's malicious intent and let his smirk shift into a small frown.

"There is no catch, I just want to show you that I understand you better than you think."

Katsuki tried to think of a reason to reject his therapist's offer, but couldn't think of one. It was honestly a free pass to do nothing for the rest of the damn meeting, as long as he listened to this worthless extra's backstory. No matter how he looked at it, the benefit of this offer was far more in his favor than the extra.

Plus, as much as he hated to admit it, those cookies were really, really good.

Katsuki snorted arrogantly and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll listen to your stupid little story. Just give me the damn cookies."

The extra passed him the treats with a radiant smile, which Katsuki promptly ignored so he could snatch one of the cookies of the plate and plop it in his mouth.

Katsuki gave a rare smile as the taste of the cookie hit him. It was a unique blend of spicy and sweet that he could never have imagined would fit so well together. The texture was also perfect as well, being crunchy and thick just how he liked his treats. He had to admit, as shitty of an extra as his therapist was, he could really cook.

Katsuki suddenly felt energy start to fill his body and the pain in his muscles from his workout the previous day begin to disappear.

The extra little benefits from his quirk were nice as well.

Katsuki leaned back and popped another cookie in his mouth and motioned for his therapist to begin.

Trussardi stroked his chin in thought.

"Where do I begin?"

After a few moments, he shifted his gaze back to Katsuki and began.

"As you probably already know, I was not born in Japan. Instead, I came into the world within the beautiful country of Italy."

Trussardi took a moment to make sure Katsuki was paying attention. Surprisingly, he was meeting his gaze with his own, obviously keeping his end of the bargain.

Allowing himself another small smile, Trussardi continued.

"As I'm sure you learned in history class, Italy has not been in a good place ever since the rise of quirks. After the widespread collapse of society due to the emergence of supervillains and the violence that sprouted up between those with and without quirks, nearly every country worldwide fell into ruin for several decades. Eventually, while many countries stabilized and grew stronger than ever due to vigilantes, quirk regulation, and the newly created hero system, Italy did not recover nearly as well."

Trussardi paused for a moment to sip a glass of water he had sitting next to him.

"Italy had already possessed a massive organized crime problem prior to the collapse of society caused by quirks, which made it easy for criminals to seize power early on in the panic in order to give people some sense of stability. Due to the massive power acquired by these organizations, Italy never fully recovered and corruption is more widespread there than almost anywhere else in the world."

Katsuki raised his eyebrow.

"I agreed to listen to your story, not a damn history listen."

Trussardi chuckled.

"Sorry, I felt it was just necessary to give you some context so my own story made a bit more sense."

Trussardi cleared his throat and began again.

"I was born as the eldest son to a major crime family, specifically one that was heavily involved in the drug trade. From birth, I was taught that other people were less than me and that I was far above them. Since people were too afraid to speak ill of me, I never heard anything to the contrary and I believed what they said without a second thought. Everyone surrounding me were nothing more than dumb pollos (1) while I was a mighty falco.(2)"

Trussardi snorted.

"I was such a fool."

Trussardi was silent for a moment in reminiscence before he continued.

"Eventually, my father wanted me to start proving my worth to the family by earning money from the pollos at my school. He said that getting them addicted to our products early would make us a lot of money in the long-run. Not really understanding the consequences of what I was about to do, I obeyed without hesitation."

Trussardi pointed at the plate of cookies that Katsuki had in his lap.

"You are at least somewhat familiar with my quirk, correct?"

Katsuki shrugged.

"All I know is that it makes your food taste better."

Trussardi chuckled.

"There's much more to it than that."

Katsuki watched as the extra held out his hand. After a few seconds, pink, almost translucent, goo started to form in it.

"My quirk is called Pearl Jam, a name I changed it to in tribute to a band I've taken a liking to in recent years. It allows me to create a jam-like substance from my hands. When I infuse it with food, it changes the taste and texture in order to tailor to the individual who eats it. It also helps with minor ailments like sleep deprivation and headaches."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes.

"So the stuff I'm eating right now is made from your body?"

Trussardi gave him a knowing smirk.

"Does that make you want to eat it any less?"

Katsuki responded by grabbing another cookie a plopping in his mouth, albeit with more anger.

Trussardi gave a small laugh at his reaction and wiped the goo on the counter before continuing. Oddly though, his voice now had a more somber tone.

"To tell you the truth though, that wasn't the original purpose of my quirk. It used to be more like a..."

Trussardi looked suddenly uncomfortable.

"...drug."

Katsuki spit out the cookie in his mouth.

"WHAT?! WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME DRUGS?! AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO PREVENT THAT KIND OF SHIT?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BAD THAT'LL LOOK ON MY RECORDS!"

Trussardi held his hand up.

"Calm down Bakugou, let me explain."

Katsuki quieted down but continued glaring at his therapist.

Trussardi quickly continued to try and alleviate his concerns.

"My quirk allows me to control the composition and properties of the jam I create. As a result, I was able to produce a version of the jelly that lacks the addictive and damaging properties of its normal form. That's the version I use for my cooking."

Katsuki's glare intensified.

"You could've started with that information."

Trussardi ignored him and continued.

"You see, my family all possess quirks that allow them to create substances similar to narcotics. All of our quirks can create these substances quickly and the products we created not only dissolved within 24 hours, making them impossible to steal or analyze, but they were also all several times more addictive than most other drugs, such as cocaine. It's how they stayed in power for so long. My family is one of the few in the world with this kind of quirk, meaning that junkies can only buy from them. The police can't exactly bust our operations either since the evidence always disappears before they can analyze it."

Trussardi took a second to take another sip of water.

"As a result of everything I just said, there was very little risk in me selling our narcotics to the pollos at school. Within a few weeks, I had several of my classmates treating me like a god in order to get another taste of what I could produce. My belief in my own superiority grew more and more ingrained within my psyche."

Trussardi looked down at the floor with an expression of guilt clearly on his face.

"Until something happened that I hadn't anticipated. Several of my classmates could no longer afford my products. They begged me for another taste, but I refused, believing that I didn't have to listen to mere pollos who couldn't pay for what I made."

Trussardi fists clenched and the expression of guilt on his face grew grimmer.

"Within a few weeks, several had committed suicide due to the severe withdrawal symptoms the absence of my substances triggered in those who went without it for too long. When I realized what was happening, I gave those I had been denying some of my narcotics, but by then the damage was already done."

Trussardi shivered.

"Can you imagine the trauma that I felt at that moment? Knowing the fact that several people were dead, and you were the only person to blame? Realizing I had ended a life before it had truly even begun? I guess that's when it really began to hit me. As I went to the funerals of all the children that had died because of me, as I watched mothers cry over the remains of their sons, and as I saw my father roll his eyes and grumble about lost profit each time I told him about a new suicide, I realized just how disgusting of a person I was."

Trussardi looked up at the clearly invested Katsuki with pain in his eyes.

"I had been treating my classmates, each of whom was a person with their own lives and dreams, as nothing more than pollos . I had crushed children who didn't deserve to die like they had been nothing more than ants. I hadn't been a falco in the slightest. I had just been a miserable teenager poisoning those around them for his own benefit."

Katsuki suddenly looked very conflicted.

"W-what did you do then?"

Trussardi laughed mirthlessly.

"The only thing I really could do, I tried to fix things. First, I secretly helped my classmates off of their addiction while stealing money from my father just to pay it back to him so I could keep up the illusion. Then, I stole more money from right under his nose to make anonymous payments to the families of my victims, before passing the blame onto one of my father's subordinates. After that, I instilled in my brothers a distaste for using their quirk for narcotics use. Finally, I studied Japanese in secret and disowned my family on my eighteenth birthday. I moved to Japan before they could catch me and I changed my name to make it harder to find me. Last I heard, most of them had been wiped out by a larger crime family."

Trussardi gave Katsuki a sad smile.

"I've dedicated my life to cooking, therapy, and charity work. I want to help the people I've hurt and those like them. I'm happy to say that my work has been very successful overall. Though I must admit, that the guilt I feel never seems to go away."

Trussardi placed his hand on Katsuki's shoulder.

"Bakugou, I don't want you to make the same mistakes I have. My arrogance got people killed, and I just don't want you to do the same. I know that you don't care for what I have to say and that you think it's just nonsense, but I have been where you are."

Trussardi gave Katsuki a small smile.

"So please, just try to work with me."

For a second, Trussardi thought he saw a hint of understanding in Katsuki's eyes, but that quickly disappeared.

"What was the point of this?"

Trussardi felt some amount of surprise.

"Bakugou-"

Katsuki cut him off.

"I'd never do any shit like that! I'm far better than some extra like you! I'm the person who's going to be the number one hero after all!"

Trussardi held up his hands.

"Bakugou, I'm not saying that you're going to hurt someone, but you have gotten very close in the past. You've admitted to me that you tried to push young Midoriya to suic-"

Katsuki sneered.

"He should've done it! All he ever does is look down on me! That extra should've learned his place if he didn't want me to hate him!"

Katsuki stood up.

"You know what, I don't have to listen to you! Our time is up for today! Goodbye!"

Before Trussardi could respond, Katsuki ran out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.

He walked away seething with rage.

How dare that scummy extra insinuate that they were even slightly similar?! He was far better than a piece of crap like him!

Katsuki paused.

Deku looked so afraid….

Katsuki smashed his fist into the wall, leaving a large crack in it.

Why the fuck did he keep thinking of that image?! It was just the shitty Deku being taught his place! There was nothing wrong with it!

Katsuki grit his teeth.

So why did it bother him?!

Due to how deep in thought he was, Katsuki walked right past a figure with a familiar head of red hair as he left the building.

"Are you just going to pretend you didn't see me?"

Katsuki glanced behind him and saw Ejiro leaning against a wall. Right beside him was a grocery bag from a nearby convenience store.

"What are you doing here, Ejiro?"

Ejiro smiled teasingly.

"Oh, so we've moved to a first name basis now. How intimate."

Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to answer my question, Kirishima?"

Ejiro rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Well, I came over to visit but you weren't there. Your mom said you would be here so I thought that maybe I could…"

Ejiro grabbed the bag next to him and held it out with a nervous smile.

"...eat some chocolate with you?"

Katsuki gave him a deadpan stare.

Ejiro laughed nervously and put the bag down.

"Who am I kidding, you probably don't even like chocolate. This is probably super creepy as well since I just showed up out of nowhere like a stalker. I'll just walk home-"

"Follow me, there's a nice park nearby."

A surprised look formed on Ejiro's face.

"R-really?"

Katsuki sighed.

"Hurry up before I change my mind."

Katsuki shifted his gaze forward and started walking away at a brisk pace.

Ejiro surprised expression slowly grew into a wide grin as he hurriedly grabbed the bag by his side and tried to catch up with his friend.

Katsuki let the tiniest smile show on his face as he heard Ejiro run up behind him.

It was weird. As soon as he had seen Ejiro, all of his anger and stress had just disappeared.

---

Tenya sat alone on the subway to his internship with Manual.

He beat himself up as he stewed in his thoughts.

He had gotten careless.

Tenya was silent as he stared across the table at his homeroom teacher.

Aizawa met his gaze with a tired one of his own. He looked immensely frustrated and stressed out, with bags under his eyes and his hair looking even messier than normal.

"Tenya, do you know why you're here?"

Tenya shook his head.

Aizawa let out a sigh at his actions and his expression grew annoyed.

"Tenya, several of your classmates have reported that you've seemed out of focus and angry ever since the festival. You've yelled at several of them, ignored others, and overall just haven't acted like your usual self."

Tenya swore internally as he remained silent, refusing to acknowledge what his teacher said.

Aizawa's expression grew even more frustrated at his student's silence.

"Tenya, whether you like it or not, I am your teacher. My primary job is to make sure that my students are safe. I won't interfere if it's something they can handle on their own, but I will if I believe their action will threaten the safety of either themselves or those around the-."

Tenya interrupted his teacher.

"What's the point of this sir?"

Aizawa let out a small snarl at his student's disrespect.

"The point, Tenya, is that many of them believe you're going to get yourself hurt. Based on the evidence, I'm quite inclined to agree."

Aizawa pulled out the hero agency internship paper Tenya had filled out.

"It's well known to underground heroes like me that the Hero Killer is believed to be operating in Hosu. You got several great offers from different agencies, but you happened to pick Manual, a low-ranking, newbie hero that you wouldn't learn much from. That didn't make sense at all to me until I realized that Manual was the only hero who offered an internship to you that works primarily in Hosu."

Tenya averted his gaze from his teacher.

"What are you going to do?"

Aizawa let out another sigh of exasperation.

"Tenya, I can't legally prevent you from interning at Manual's agency unless I have better evidence that you're going to do something stupid. What I have is circumstantial at best and you have no prior history of such incidents. I can't prevent you from doing what I think you're about to do from a legal perspective. As your teacher, however, I have to at least try to get you to see reason."

Aizawa reached across the table and squeezed his student's shoulder comfortingly.

"So please, don't throw away your future or even possibly your life over this. As a person who's been in your kind of situation before, I know how angry you must be at the Hero Killer. Getting yourself killed fighting him, however, won't fix anything. It's too late to change anything about your internship, but please just promise me one thing."

Tenya let his gaze drifted back to his teacher's now softer face.

"Promise me you won't go after Stain."

Tenya put on a fake smile.

"I promise."

Tenya clenched his fist.

As much as he respected Aizawa, he didn't know what he was talking about. The Hero Killer had crippled his brother, so he had to be the one to take him down. He couldn't let anyone else be hurt like his brother.

"I'm sorry Aizawa-Sensei-"

Iida's voice came out barely louder than a whisper.

"-But, I'm going to have to break that promise."

---

"Shoto, do you need anything?"

Shoto didn't visibly react to his sister and continued staring ahead blankly.

Fuyumi winced and rubbed his back.

"It's going to be alright Shoto. I'm here for you."

Shoto continued staring at the wall.

He had been given a clean bill of health yesterday to come home from the hospital. While his injuries would have been rather serious if he hadn't gotten medical attention, the various healing quirks applied to him by the doctors at the hospital had fixed him up rather quickly. The various medical professionals had assured his father that nothing was wrong with him.

Physically at least.

Shoto felt numb as he stared ahead at the wall. He didn't feel sorrowful, he didn't feel angry, and he didn't feel afraid.

He just felt numb.

He distantly noticed Fuyumi move away from him to go to the kitchen but didn't visibly react.

She passed by Natsuo who was leaning against the wall.

"You're wasting your time Fuyumi, he probably isn't even processing that you exist."

No, that wasn't right. He was very aware of the world surrounding him, he just didn't have enough energy to react to it. He just felt…...drained, like his body lacked the power to do more than breathe.

Fuyumi glared at her brother.

"You could at least try to have a little empathy Natsuo. He was at the epicenter of the disaster Natsuo, he probably thinks that everything that happened was his fault."

That was wrong too. He didn't think that Dabi's carnage was his fault.

Shoto for the briefest of moments clenched his fist as he felt a few tears fall down his face.

He knew that it was his fault!

If he had been just a little bit stronger, he could've caught Dabi! If he had just been a little bit faster, nobody in that ward would've died! If he had just been a little bit better, his mother would still be alive!

Natsuo rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't change the fact that he's been like this all day. Has he even moved since we brought him home?"

Fuyumi's glare grew a bit more intense.

"That's not the point Nat-"

Natsuo cut her off.

"Oh, it's not?! Then what is the point?! He's not moving anytime soon and you babying him isn't going to help!"

Fuyumi scowl grew more fierce.

"His mother just died, Natsuo!"

Natsuo met his sister's scowl with one of his own.

"She was my mother too! Do you think I don't feel like shit right now too?!"

Shoto thought his brother was right. They should focus on their own feelings above his. He was the one who failed to save mom, and he didn't deserve any comfort or sympathy from them.

Fuyumi jabbed her finger in her brother's face.

"I'm not discounting your feelings, but Shoto was the only one of us to visit her for several years! He by far had the most connection with her! Even ignoring that, he was there when she died! He probably blames himself for all of this, and you lashing out at him and I isn't going to change anything!"

Natsuo slapped his sister's finger out of his face.

"Yeah, well maybe he should blame himself! After all, he couldn't do anything but stand there as mom was murd-"

Fuyumi slapped Natsuo hard across the face.

The room was silent for a moment.

Fuyumi grabbed her brother by the collar and pulled him down to eye level.

"That was way too fucking far and you know it."

Natsuo stuttered for a moment.

"Wh-what?"

Fuyumi squeezed harder on his collar.

"I know your angry, hell, I'm angry too. For all your talk about me forgetting that she was your mother too, you seemed to have ignored the fact that the same is true for me. I feel terrible right now and I'm barely holding myself together."

Fuyumi's voice had an unusually dangerous edge to it that shocked Natsuo into silence. He had never heard her talk like this.

"But don't you even dare blame Shoto for what happened! Grief doesn't give you the excuse to hurt those around you just to make you feel better about yourself, especially when that person is probably already feeling worse than you are! Now you are going to shut up and let me help our brother. If you say something like that again, I'm going to rip your balls off."

Ice started to form on Natsuo's collar as Fuyumi stared angrily into his eyes.

"Do I make myself clear?!"

For just a moment, the shock of hearing his kind, quiet sister snap so viciously at Natsuo brought Shoto out of his numbness.

He felt some amount of warmth at seeing her stand up for him, but that was quickly smashed under the crushing weight of his guilt. Her anger was misplaced.

Natsuo hadn't gone too far. He was completely right. He had been too weak to do anything and he had no one to blame but himself. He had every right to lash out at him as much as he wanted.

Once again, Shoto felt the numbness consume him and he went back to staring at the wall.

Natsuo nodded fearfully at his sister's words.

Fuyumi let go of his collar.

"Good, now I'm going to make us something to eat."

Just as Fuyumi took a step away, however, the door to the room opened.

Endeavor stood in the doorway.

He looked around the room and noticed the eyes of his two older children staring at him.

Shoto avoided looking at him.

He would prefer to avoid getting yelled at right now.

His father stood there for a moment more before he turned around to leave.

"I'll come back later."

Natsuo mumbled angrily under his breath.

Endeavor paused.

"What was that?!"

Fuyumi glared angrily at her brother in the hopes that he would shut up, but she was ignored as he glared angrily at their father's back.

"I see that you're just going to pretend nothing is happening, like the coward you are!"

His father turned around slowly and deliberately, anger shining in his eyes as he stared at his son.

"Speak to me like that again boy, and I'll kick you out of this house."

Natsuo ignored the dangerous tone in his father's voice and ignored Fuyumi's quiet pleas for him to shut up.

"Oh, so I've been downgraded to 'boy' now! Why is that?! Can you not even remember your own son's name?!"

Endeavor's flaming beard started to grow bigger as he started to walk towards his third child.

Natsuo ignored him and continued his rant.

"Why are you back now anyway?! Have you finally gotten tired of ignoring your grieving family so you can go play hero?! You haven't even bothered to check on us the past two days, so why are you even here now?!"

His father's hair started to burn as well, with it growing larger and larger with each step he took.

Natsuo's screaming continued, increasing in volume with each word.

"Shoto's a fucking vegetable who hasn't said anything in over a day, Fuyumi is trying to help him as much as possible, and I'm more pissed off than I've ever been in my life! Despite all that, you can't even be here to help any of us! Is it because you don't fucking care?!"

His father now stood in front of the almost incoherent Natsuo. He towered over the much smaller teen with anger visible on his face.

Natsuo foolishly jabbed his finger in the older man's face.

"You can't stop playing hero for one fucking second to help your fucking family! In fact, I think you're probably glad mom is gone! She was just a loose end to you, wasn't she?! Hell, maybe you hired Dabi to get rid of her so you could have one less problem to deal with! You probably got her killed just like you killed Touy-"

His father smashed his fist into Natsuo's face, sending him flying into a nearby wall. Natsuo slumped against it for a moment, before he stood up in a daze, struggling to stand up straight.

Fuyumi stepped towards her brother.

"Nats-"

His father pushed right past her and grabbed his son by the throat. He lifted Natsuo into the air and slammed his back against the wall.

"Listen here you ungrateful little shit."

Their father's voice was quiet, but brimming with barely restrained rage. His eyes made it very clear that he wanted to burn the boy in his hand into cinders. Shoto was so unnerved that he actually felt himself stand up involuntarily. He reached out with his hand momentarily before pausing and pulling himself backwards out of uncertainty.

It would be pointless to try and fight him. All he would be doing is shifting father's anger onto him.

Fuyumi rushed over and tried to pry her father's hand off of Natsuo's throat

Their father ignored both of them and squeezed harder on his middle son's neck.

"I have spent the past day looking for the fucker who killed your mother. He is still out there right now and he could choose to kill even more people at any moment. He needs to be stopped as soon as possible."

Their father ignored how Natsuo was gasping for air and intensified his vice-like grip on his son's neck.

"I have a fire quirk, which means I'm one of the most effective people to deal with Dabi right now. The more time I waste with you three, the more time he has to plan his next attack. I only came back to sleep for a few hours so I don't completely wear myself out. If you want someone to help you with your grief, go talk to a therapist, one of your friends, or even Hisashi since he's back in town. I really don't care what you do."

Natsuo's face started to change color as Endeavor glared into his fearful eyes.

"But let me make myself clear."

Endeavor brought the asphyxiating Natsuo's face closer to his so that he could see just how close he was to burning him alive.

"If you ever so much as dare to suggest that I killed Touya or your mother ever again, I'll make sure that there won't be enough left of you to bury."

His father threw Natsuo to the floor and turned to look at the trembling Shoto. As Natsuo tried to get his breathing back under control, Fuyumi moved next to him and tried to make sure that he wasn't injured.

With Fuyumi occupied for the moment, his father moved towards the still standing Shoto who was just staring at the situation in shock. Within moments, he was standing over his youngest son.

Shoto tried to formulate a response as he stared numbly at his father, but found that he could do nothing but blankly look at him.

His father looked down at him, anger still visible on his face.

"You have one more week to get out of this state before I send you back to UA to continue your education. I'm not going to treat you with kiddy gloves just because you won't stop throwing yourself a pity party."

Endeavor moved to turn around but paused when he saw the defeated look on his younger son's face. He gazed at him quietly, not letting his emotions show on his face.

"Talk to someone."

Shoto's eyes shot up to his father's face in surprise. For the first time in nearly a day, Shoto let out a word.

"Wh-what?"

His father's gaze was still hard and unreadable, but it had softened just the smallest bit.

"I've found that talking to someone about your grief helps you deal with that numb feeling in your soul."

Shoto nearly fell back onto the couch.

"Y-you know what it feels like?"

His father turned around fully, refusing to acknowledge his question. He silently walked past the glaring Natsuo and worried Fuyumi to the doorway. He hesitated for a moment as he stood in it, taking one quick glance at Natsuo, before he walked fully out of the room, leaving his three children to mull over what had just happened in silence.

---

Shigaraki looked at his father with fear and anger in his eyes.

Yes, at that moment…..

Before either of them could process what was happening, Shigaraki screamed and lept onto his father, slamming his hand against his face.

…...while brimming with unimaginable bloodlust….

Cracks spread from the point of contact across his father's face, which was currently filled with regret and fear.

…..he had killed his father.

Shigaraki screamed incoherently as tears of joy streaked down his smiling face.

At that moment, he was filled with pure, maddening ecstasy.

Shigaraki continued smiling happily, not even noticing that his father was already disintegrated as his surrounding crumbled all around him.

Looking back now, this had been what he had truly yearned for.

Shigaraki stood panting in the middle of the ruins of everything, hands soaked in blood and dust with a maddened smile that was unnatural on the face of a 5-year-old.

For just a second, the itch was finally gone.

All was silent. Nothing moved in the wasteland that had once been his house. Someone must have called the heroes by now, but no one had come to check on him or his family. He was all alone.

The young Shigaraki noticed something on the ground beside him. With a ghoulish smile still on the young boy's face, he picked up a severed hand, unconsciously doing it with four fingers. It was bigger than his own but much smaller than that of a normal adult. For a second recognition shone in Shigaraki's eyes.

Everything was quiet. Nobody had come to save him yet. Hell, he was sure that no one was coming to save him. He was all alone.

Out of nowhere, the boy began to chuckle. It started off quiet for a few minutes before it got gradually louder and louder until it was full-on laughter.

The boy fell to his knees and kept madly laughing, oblivious to the world around him. His laughter grew downright hysterical as fell to his knees and tears started falling down his still smiling face. Whether they were tears of joy or sadness, even he didn't know.

It was hitting him now, what he had just done. He had killed them all, leaving nothing left of them but dust and hands. He was truly a monster. He was truly a villain. He was truly all alone.

Shigaraki heard footsteps behind him and turned, still laughing and crying, to look at the person approaching him.

He looked at the man standing there with his still murderous eyes.

"P-please-"

The words being let out between his sobs and laughs were barely audible as he crawled towards the stranger.

The stranger didn't reply

"-help her…"

Shigaraki held out the severed hand of his sister.

The stranger looked down at him silently.

"Help her…."

His quiet voice grew louder.

Still, the stranger did nothing.

"HELP HER! DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN STAND THERE! HELP HER!"

The stranger stared silently at the child.

Shigaraki's laughs started to disappear as he screamed louder and louder at the stranger.

"HELP HER, PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO ME, JUST HELP HER!"

Shigaraki sat down and sobbed, setting his sister's hand aside.

The itch was returning in full swing. The itch to destroy, the itch to kill, the itch to give everyone the pain he was feeling.

No one was coming to save him. Even the person right in front of him wasn't going to help him. He didn't deserve assistance after all the things he had done to his family. If only someone would reach out and save him, maybe that itch would be gone for good…..

Shigaraki cried intensely.

The itch was his punishment…..and his crime was what he had done to his family…..

"Please…I'm so sorry…..."

"The world shouldn't be so unforgiving…..."

A misty, black hand was suddenly in front of his face.

"You didn't do anything wrong"

Shigaraki looked up at the stranger's face in shock, surprised that he was being shown sympathy.

The stranger's yellow eyes stared down at him softly.

"It's fine now. I'm here for you."

Shigaraki tentatively stared at the hand for a moment, before he reluctantly reached out and grasped it with four fingers.

Without warning, the stranger pulled him into a hug and whispered sweet nothings into his ear as he rubbed his back. His embrace was surprisingly warm for a man made out of mist. It was so…...comforting. Shigaraki's hand fell to his side.

Shigaraki sobs intensified as the stranger held on to him.

The itch was fully gone.

Shigaraki jolted awake in his bed. He was slightly trembling and covered in sweat.

What the fuck was that?

He looked down at his hands to see if they were covered in blood and dust, but they looked like they normally did, with the only thing on them being his gloves.

Shigaraki started taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

This was the fourth or fifth time that he had dreamt about something that he didn't remember. This was starting to get unnerving.

What was going on? Who was that man he called father? Was that hand from the girl named Hana he had seen in one of his other dreams? Where had he heard those words from the stranger before? Why did that stranger look so much like K-

The door to his room opened and Shigaraki's gaze darted up.

Kurogiri was standing in the doorway quietly.

"Stain will be here in one hour for his meeting, master. We need to make preparations."

Kurogiri turned to leave.

"Wait."

Kurogiri paused in the doorway and turned back around.

"Yes?"

Shigaraki stared directly into his parental figure's eyes.

"Can you make me a promise Kurogiri?"

The misty man nodded without hesitation.

"Your wish is my command, master."

Shigaraki looked directly into Kurogiri's eyes to make sure he was listening.

"Promise me that you'll tell me the truth about these dreams after I talk to Overhaul tonight."

Kurogiri seemed conflicted for a moment before he let out a sigh. He avoided Shigaraki's gaze as he let out his next words.

"I promise that I'll tell you everything I know. For now though, let's focus on the sociopath that I'll be letting into the bar within an hour."

Kurogiri stepped out of the doorway and grabbed the handle before pausing.

"Shigaraki."

Shigaraki looked up at his parental figure.

"Yes?"

Shigaraki couldn't shake off the feeling that Kurogiri was smiling.

"I love you."

With those three words, Kurogiri closed the door, leaving Shigaraki to prepare for his meeting with Stain.

---

Stain groaned as he stepped forward through the portal.

He was not looking forward to this in the slightest.

As soon as the black mist around him finally cleared up, Stain finally got a chance to take a good look at the room he had teleported into.

It was a surprisingly neat and tidy bar with dim lighting and a warm feel to it. It looked quite nice and seemed like the kind of place that he would've frequented when he was younger.

Stain heard someone clearing their throat and turned to look in the direction of where the noise came from.

Sitting in front of him was what appeared to be a young man of around 20 with bluish-gray hair. His skin was deathly pale and looked as dry as sandpaper. Skin was peeling off around his neck and a few crimson streams of blood flowed down it. He wore a pale severed hand on his face and his only visible facial features were his bright red irises that were visible between the fingers of the hand.

Stain held back a sneer at the sight of the man in front of him.

This was the powerful leader of the League of Villains? The boy hadn't even put in the time to look presentable to a guest. A villain with true conviction needed to set the best example for those around him and an unkempt appearance like his sent a very bad message to subordinates.

Stain lowered his eyes to the relatively thin frame of the younger villain in front of him.

That wasn't even mentioning the wiry frame he called a body. He looked so thin that a strong wind could blow him over. If he truly had conviction like him, he would be constantly working to make himself a shining pillar of strength. In comparison to himself, the boy looked weak.

"Are you done observing me yet?"

Stain moved his gaze back to the young villain's eyes.

Those eyes were the only thing stopping him from just straight-up killing this little upstart.

As someone who constantly tried to improve at learning about people from just their appearance, Stain had gotten good at figuring someone out from their eyes alone. That's why he felt a little bit shocked at just how much power and intelligence this seemingly weak boy's eyes gave off. It felt like the boy had easily learned everything he needed to know about him before he had even started observing him. It was honestly unnerving and made him want to leave as soon as possible.

Stain noticed the bartender cleaning a shot glass out of the corner of his eye. While he pretended to be focused on the shot glass, it was clear that his eyes were on the vigilante.

Escape would be impossible as long as that monster of a quirk user was here. The moment he tried to run, that man would bisect him between two portals.

Stain refocused his attention on the ruby-eyed villain in front of him.

"What do you want?"

The younger villain rolled his eyes.

"Let me introduce myself first. It's rude to jump straight into discussions over our partnership."

The young villain held out his hand and the bartender quickly dropped a glass of Vodka in it. The boy took a sip of it before setting it down.

"My name is Shigaraki Tomura, leader of the League of Villains. It's a pleasure to meet the infamous Hero Killer."

The Hero Killer growled in anger at the insolence of the boy.

He was already proving himself to be an irresponsible and disrespectful person with just a few words and a sip of alcohol. It was already beginning to feel like his eyes were just a fluke.

Stain's eyes narrowed as his glare intensified.

"What do you want?!"

Shigaraki sighed and closed his eyes in frustration at the Hero Killer's hate-filled voice.

"For you to give me a blowjob, WHAT DO YOU THINK I WANT?!"

Shigaraki raised a hand and pointed at Stain.

"You're a powerful villain who has proven to be a powerful fighter on more than one occasion. You seem like the perfect person to be in my League, so I want you to join me."

Shigaraki held out his hand.

"Do you accept or not? My time is a precious resource and I don't want to waste it by making pleasantries with a psychopath like you."

Stain held back a snort.

As if he'd ever follow this convictionless fraud.

"What is your goal? I won't follow you until I know what I'm fighting for."

Shigaraki smirked and pulled back his hand.

"I'm glad you asked."

Shigaraki took another sip of his Vodka, before standing up in one quick, fluid motion.

"Society today is imperfect in every way. People are always so complacent in their lives, believing that heroes will always come to save them, that they're always safe from harm..."

Shigaraki gripped his fist tightly in rage.

"Every last one of them could walk out of their homes at any moment and murder people by the hundreds if they really wanted to, but people still act like there's no danger at all. There are people out there who can flatten a city into nothing or burn down a building full of people with a single thought, but still, the sheep continue to just act complacent. Is it because they're idiots? Is it because they're naive? Is it because they would rather just ignore the reality around them?"

Shigaraki sneered angrily.

"No, it's because of the damn heroes that hold up this fragile society. No matter what goes wrong or how many people die, people are just fine with ignoring whatever happens like little fucking sheep because the heroes will just deal with it. It doesn't matter if it's a person bleeding to death on the ground or a child lost on the street, people will just ignore them and let the heroes handle the situation."

Shigaraki suddenly reached out to the side and laid five fingers on the vodka glass he had been drinking from. Stain felt a small amount of surprise as he watched the cup disintegrate into dust before his very eyes.

"IT'S INFURIATING! THOSE STUPID HEROES THEY WORSHIP CAN'T SAVE EVERYONE, BUT THEY WOULD PREFER TO IGNORE THAT FACT SO THEY CAN SHAKE OFF ALL RESPONSIBILITY! IT FUCKING PISSES ME OFF!"

Shigaraki painted quietly for a moment to regain his breath. His body started to tremble in rage as his rant started to continue.

"And he's the worst offender of them all…."

Shigaraki growl started to seep into his voice.

"All Might just stands there every day with his infuriating, fake smile. He looks down with that accursed grin, breeding compliance and apathy into people with meaningless words. Always promising them that it'll be alright, as if there's no one he can't save, as if there's no one he hasn't saved. It fills me full of so much rage..."

Shigaraki turned his infuriated gaze back to Stain.

"Which is why I'm going to turn this society into dust. I'm going to tear everything down until there's nothing left to recover. I'll kill All Might, destroy the hero system, and finally disintegrate the complacency and apathy of the foolish everyday man. In those ashes, I'll rebuild my own, better society, one where people like me and everyone I care about aren't treated like necessary casualties of this flawed system."

Shigaraki walked up to the older villain.

"I'm going to change this world, which is why I'm only going to ask this one more time."

Shigaraki offered his hand to the Hero Killer.

"Are you with me, or against me?"

"No."

Shigaraki frowned.

"Excuse me?"

Stain growled.

"No. I refuse to follow a pompous little prick who can't even show the villain he invited proper respect. You're a rude, disrespectful piece of shit that is very easy to hate. Your asinine logic and reasoning certainly doesn't help either."

Stain's sneer grew larger.

"Even ignoring all of that, your speech was an utter lie. You obviously didn't believe in anything you just said, because it didn't even feel like it came out of your mouth. It sounded like you were just parroting the ideals of a man with far more conviction than you could ever hope to have."

The Hero Killer's glare intensified

"Besides, All Might is the only true hero. The fact that you're too self-centered and arrogant to realize that shows how unworthy you are. I would never follow someone like you, a failure of a villain with no conviction."

Shigaraki met the Hero Killer's glare with one of his own.

"Well then, I guess we're just going to have to disagree on this. Personally,

I'm starting to think similarly negative thoughts about you. How about you prove to me just how much your conviction is worth?"

Stain's hand flew to the hilt of his katana.

"Try your best, if you truly believe that you can kill a man with as much conviction as me."

The two were in a deadlock as they stared hatefully into each other's eyes, waiting for the other to make the first move. Both wanted to go straight for the kill, but neither was sure that they could do it without injuring themselves in the process.

After a tense three minutes of the two staring at each other, Shigaraki smirked.

"Kurogiri, teleport this m-"

In one fluid motion, Stain unsheathed his katana and slashed through the flesh of Shigaraki's torso.

Except it wasn't flesh that he cut through.

The Hero Killer's eyes widened as Shigaraki started turning into some kind of viscous liquid before his very eyes.

Shigaraki smile remained as he started to turn into the black liquid.

"You fucked up."

Before Stain could even process what was happening, he was suddenly waist-deep in a portal with three fingers on top of his head.

Stain heard Shigaraki laugh maniacally directly behind him.

"Wow, I really need to thank Twice for creating such an exquisite duplicate of myself. It was so convincing that I nearly believed that it was really me. Judging by your trembling, it probably tricked you as well."

Stain felt more anger fill him than he thought was even possible.

"YOU INSOLENT, CONVICTIONLESS CUR! YOU'RE PETTY TRICK JUST PROVES HOW BELOW ME YOU ARE! A TRULY GREAT MAN WOULD FACE ME WITH HIS OWN-"

Stain immediately shut up when he felt four fingers touch his head.

"Shut up before I decide that turning you into just would just be more convenient. You are so damn annoying to listen to, with all your nonsense about conviction and greatness."

Shigaraki let out a dark chuckle.

"Face it, you're just the same as me or any other villain out there. None of that conviction drivel changes the fact that your just some psycho in a mask who goes around killing people he doesn't like."

Stain could feel Shigaraki's condescending stare against the back of his head.

"But I will give you one thing. You were partially right about my motivations being a lie. Well, less of a lie and more of an omission of the truth."

Shigaraki tapped his pointer finger on Stain's head.

"You see, I fully believe in what I said, but I left out the whole story. Besides society and All Might, I also want to destroy everything I don't like. Whether it's people, societal constructs, or organizations, I just want to get rid of everything that I feel shouldn't exist."

Shigaraki's voice suddenly took on a dangerous edge.

"Which doesn't make me any different from you. You're exactly the same kind of person I am, but you just tell yourself meaningless crap to justify your actions. You honestly disgust to me."

Shigaraki grip on the Hero Killer's head started to grow stronger, causing him to let out a small hiss of pain.

"At least I'm transparent to myself about what I want. You mislead yourself with utter nonsense in the belief that it makes you better than me, better than other villains doing the exact same thing you are. It's fucking infuriating and it pisses me off!"

Shigaraki's grip on his head slackened just a little bit.

"Which is why I'm going to prove your stupid ideals wrong and accomplish my goals! I'm going to go far higher in this world than you could ever hope to reach! Then, when I finally reach the top, after I've destroyed everything I hate and convinced the one person I want by my side to stand there, I'm going to rub in your face how wrong you are!"

Stain felt Shigaraki remove his fingers from his head.

"Put him back where you found him Kurogiri."

Kurogiri let out a noise of surprise.

"What?!"

Stain fell fully through the floor and landed on his feet right where he had started in the bar. Shigaraki was back in the seat his clone had been sitting in, leaning back against the countertop.

"Let him go. There's no reason to keep him here any longer."

Stain watched as Kurogiri moved closer to his master.

"You can't be serious! This man is a sociopath who just proved that he wanted to kill you! If we let him go, he'll just come back to tie up a loose end!"

Shigaraki's casual smile remained on his face.

"That's where you're wrong. Stain's not going to try anything like that."

Shigaraki glanced at the surprisingly quiet serial killer in the corner.

"Am I wrong, Hero Killer?"

Stain's expression now held some amount of respect.

"No, you're not."

Shigaraki lazily broke their gaze.

"There you go Kurogiri, I think I just proved my point. Get rid of him already."

Kurogiri did not move for a few seconds before he silently created a portal in front of the Hero Killer with a slow-motion from his hand.

Stain stepped towards the portal but paused to throw one last look at Shigaraki.

"I look forward to your pitiful attempt at proving me wrong."

Without another word, Stain stepped into the portal and disappeared.

As soon as the portal closed behind the serial killer, Kurogiri turned to look curiously at his ward.

"Why did you let him go?"

Shigaraki's docile smile was still on his face.

"My explanation didn't fool you, did it?"

Kurogiri remained silent.

Shigaraki let out a sigh before continuing.

"It's pretty simple honestly. It doesn't matter if Stain is a part of our organization or not, he'll continue to kill heroes. Whether he likes it or not, his continuous murders benefit our goal immensely. Letting him go will benefit us in the long run, even if he's not a member of our team."

Kurogiri cocked his head.

"And how are you so sure that he won't do anything to interfere with our operations?"

Shigaraki waved his hand dismissively.

"Freaks obsessed with a cause like him want one thing above all else: validation. I challenged his ideals in our fight just now, and due to his utter fixation on his philosophy, he wants to feel vindicated about himself again. If I fail, like he's expecting me to, he'll be able to feel like he had won the moral argument between the two of us. If he kills me, on the other hand, he won't get the validation he so desperately desires. Of course, there's always the small chance that I could succeed, but under his ideals, that should be impossible."

Shigaraki glanced back at his mentor.

"Speaking of success, how are my allies doing?"

Kurogiri bowed his head slightly.

"Toga and Twice reported to me that they have scheduled a meeting between themselves and . They believe that they can convince him to come to our side. Dabi will be going to investigate the Mutant Exclusionist Committee tomorrow."

Shigaraki's grin grew at the report of his teammate's progress.

"That's certainly good. Tell them that I'm proud of how they're doing so far."

Shigaraki stood up from his seat and stretched.

"Well, I need to go meet with Overhaul now. I guess I'll see you in a bit."

Kurogiri was opening the door for Shigaraki before he had even finished stretching.

"Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you? The Yakuza are not easy to negotiate with."

Shigaraki patted his mentor figure on the back as he passed by his mentor.

"I'll be fine Kuro. I'll be back before you know it."

His pats turned into a hug as Shigaraki wrapped his arms around Kurogiri.

"I love you."

Shigaraki let go of Kurogiri and gave him one last glance of assurance before stepping out the door and beginning his long walk towards his destination.

---

Izuku stared up at the large 5-story building in front of him.

Wow, this was a bit more than he was expecting.

Izuku resisted the urge to scratch at his neck out of nervousness.

What was he doing just sitting outside here?! He needed to enter already so he could meet Sir Nighteye! He needed to do this!

Izuku reached his hand out to the door...before instantly pulling it back.

You know what, he was just going to wait out here a while. Calm his nerves and everything.

"So are you going to go inside or…"

Izuku jumped and quickly turned to the source of the voice.

Mirio was standing about off to his side leaning against the wall.

Izuku blushed upon seeing the upperclassmen.

"How long have you been there?"

Mirio checked his watch.

"Twenty minutes."

The two sat in awkward silence for a few seconds before they both burst out in boisterous laughter.

Mirio gave the smaller teen a playful punch.

"Come on, let's go see Sir now."

Mirio opened the door Izuku before quickly following right behind him.

Izuku looked to his side and smiled at the larger boy.

"So, how have you been? I haven't had a chance to talk to you since the festival. Thanks for getting Endeavor off my back during it by the way."

Mirio shrugged with his trademark care-free smile on his face and continued walking.

"It was no problem, anyone would've done the same thing in my situation. As for myself, I haven't been doing anything of too much interest. Mostly I've just been hanging out with my friends Nejire and Tamaki and working on my biceps a bit more."

Mirio flexed his left arm at the boy walking beside him.

"I think they're looking pretty good if I do say so myself."

Izuku couldn't tear his eyes from Mirio's bicep.

"I definitely agree."

Mirio gave a small laugh and rubbed the younger boy's head.

"Thanks."

Izuku felt his phone rumbling in his pocket and paused to pull out.

It was a text from Uraraka saying that she had reached Gunhead's agency. Apparently she was going to be working hard with him for the rest of the day, so she just wanted to make sure he was doing alright before she turned her phone off.

Mirio glanced over his shoulder.

"Who are you texting?"

Izuku smiled.

"Uraraka, she's a friend of mine. She just wanted to check in with me."

A playful look suddenly crossed Mirio's face.

"Well, you should probably answer her. I'm sure your girlfriend will get worried if you don't respond quickly enough."

Izuku rubbed his head and let out a small laugh.

"Yeah prob-, wait what?"

A fake nostalgic expression crossed Mirio's face.

"Oh, they grow up so fast."

Izuku's face turned as red as a tomato.

"She's not-"

Mirio patted him on the back and chuckled playfully.

"Relax, I'm just teasing you. Text her back already, we're almost to Sir's office."

Izuku, face still blushing beet red, quickly texted a response back and shoved his phone in his pocket before following Mirio to a nearby flight of stairs.

Before Izuku even knew it, the two of them were standing in front of a large door.

Mirio turned to Izuku and gave him a wink.

"Good luck with Sir. I have some stuff I need to take care of so I hope you're ready to deal with him."

Izuku nodded, face full of determination.

"I've got this."

Mirio gave him a thumbs-up and moved to turn around before pausing mid-step.

"Oh yeah, before I forget, Sir has a trial for everyone who joins his agency. You need to pass it if you want to work here."

Izuku felt a sudden shiver down his spine.

A trial! Shit, why didn't All Might tell him about this?!

Izuku felt the itch in his neck begin to flare up again but forced down the urge to scratch it.

"W-what is the trial?"

Mirio gave him a deathly serious expression.

"To make him laugh."

…

"Excuse me, what?"

Mirio's expression remained serious, indicating that he wasn't joking.

"Sir values humor greatly. If you want to work here you'll need to make him laugh."

Izuku let out a sigh of relief.

"Is that all? I think I've got this handled."

Mirio gave him a slightly skeptical look.

"Are you sure? It may be harder than you think it is?"

Izuku waved dismissively.

"I got this, go do whatever it is you needed to do."

Mirio shrugged.

"Good luck!"

With that, Mirio walked back to the stairs.

Izuku turned back to face the door.

Alright, he could do this. All he had to do was prove to Nighteye that he could be a valuable asset.

Izuku took a deep breath and entered the room.

The area he entered into was less of a room and more of a large gym. There were training mats everywhere, several pieces of weight training equipment, and a treadmill in the corner.

In the center of the room was a small, elderly man in a yellow and white costume leaning against a cane.

He turned to look at Izuku as he walked in.

"Took you long enough. I was beginning to think I got called all the way out here for nothing."

Izuku cocked his head in confusion at the senior citizen in front of him.

"Do I know you, sir?"

The elderly man scoffed.

"You will soon enough."

The man threw his cane to the side and began to stretch out his arms and legs.

"What's your name kid?"

Izuku was beginning to feel even more confused.

"Uh, Midoriya Izu-"

The man shook his head.

"No, your hero name. Seriously, it's not that hard to understand my instructions."

Izuku hesitated before continuing.

"It's Shimura, sir."

The man froze mid-stretch.

"Did you just say, Shimura?"

Izuku nodded slowly.

"Uh, yes. It was my grandmother's hero name."

The man stopped his stretches completely and straightened up before taking a good look at Izuku.

His eyes traveled to the gauntlets on Izuku's hands, before moving to the scars on his neck, to finally looking at the red eyes and dry skin of his face.

The man seemed to be stunned into silence for a few moments.

"Nana…..Hōkai….."

Izuku was startled at hearing Nana's name.

"Did you just say, Nana?! Did you know my grandmother?! Also, who's Hōkai?"

The man shook his head.

"Never mind that, let's get back to business."

The elderly man gave Izuku a slight bow.

"My name is Torino Sorahiko, better known by my hero name, Gran Torino. I was All Might's mentor figure back when he was just learning to use One for All. Nighteye requested that I come here to help with your training."

Izuku's eyes widened and excitement grew across his face,

"YOU TRAINED ALL MIGHT?! THERE'S SO MUCH I WANT TO ASK YOU! WAS ALL MIGHT AS BAD AS I AM AT USING ONE FOR ALL?! HOW DID HE LEARN HOW TO CONTROL IT?! WHAT WAS HE LIKE WHEN HE WAS MY AG-"

Gran Torino held his hands up.

"Whoa there, we can handle all of that later Hōkai. For now, we should probably begin your first test."

Izuku felt some amount of confusion fill him.

"Test? What test? Also, why are you referring to me as Hōk-"

Before Izuku could finish his sentence, he felt something fast and powerful slam into his gut, causing him to fall backwards and skid across the floor.

"Stop talking and start fighting!"

Izuku blearily stood up and looked around in confusion.

Izuku watched as some kind of yellow and white blur streaked all around the gym.

What was going-

Izuku let out a small screech as another powerful hit slammed into his back. He barely managed to maintain his footing as the blur once again dashed out of reach.

So this was probably the test Gran Torino was talking about. That blur was likely the elderly man, so he needed to figu-

Izuku's thoughts were interrupted when a particularly strong kick to his back sent him back onto the ground.

"Stop thinking and just start fighting! Taking too much time to think leaves you at a disadvantage!"

Izuku felt blood begin to trickle down his face.

Shit, that had actually hurt.

Izuku looked back up and rolled quickly to the left to avoid another blow.

"There we go! Start doing more of that!"

Izuku watched the blur that was Gran Torino as he rocketed around the room.

In terms of speed, he stood no chance against this guy. Gran Torino must have known that before they started. So this test was likely not about his own strength. There had to be a pattern or something he could exploit.

Izuku ducked his head just in time to dodge a kick from Gran Torino. It was such a close call that he felt the elderly man's shoes brush his hair.

Izuku grimaced.

He needed to figure out the pattern fast.

Izuku watched as Torino went for another dash around the room.

"Left wall. Right wall. Floor. Left wall."

Izuku leaped to his feet right before Gran Torino slammed into the ground where he had just been kneeling.

"Right Wall. Floor. Ceiling. Floor. Right wall."

Izuku was smashed into the floor as Gran Torino slammed into his back once again.

"Stop mumbling to yourself and hit me!"

Izuku gritted his teeth and looked back up as Gran Torino continued blurring around the room.

"Left wall. Right wall. Floor. Left wall."

Izuku channeled 5% of One for All into his arm and blocked a kick from Gran Torino.

Before he could counterattack though, the elderly man was already back on the move.

"Good job, now actually hit me next time!"

Izuku smirked.

That wouldn't be a problem since….

"Right Wall. Floor. Ceiling-"

Izuku opened up his gauntlets and disintegrated the floor in front of him. The floor opened up within milliseconds, creating a hole leading to the next floor.

"Floor."

The blur that was Gran Torino, already in mid-motion flew down into it, Izuku jumping down after him less than a second later.

Izuku smirked upon seeing that Gran Torino had paused beneath him, slightly confused about what had just happened.

Izuku channeled One for All into his arm, closed his gauntlets and fell towards the old man.

He finally had him!

Gran Torino seemingly vanished from sight.

Izuku's face blanched.

Crap. Well, this was going to hurt.

Izuku barely had a second to process what was going on before Gran Torino slammed him back through the hole in the ceiling back into the gym.

Izuku landed with a hard thud on the ground.

Izuku coughed up a bit of blood as he lay in pain on the ground.

Everything hurt so badly. His body was covered in bruises and scrapes, he had a swollen black eye, and it felt like he had 3-

Izuku coughed out some more blood.

4 broken ribs.

A shadow fell over him and Izuku looked up with a grimace at the elderly man standing above him.

"I might have gone a bit too far."

Izuku would've responded to his statement, but currently, he could barely even stay conscious.

Gran Torino sighed and motioned someone Izuku couldn't see over.

A very concerned man in a doctor's outfit stood over him.

"Excuse me, but can you tell me where it hurts?"

Izuku only let out a groan in response.

The man winced and gave Gran Torino a dirty look before he put his hands on Izuku's chest. They started to glow a fluorescent white and suddenly Izuku felt his injuries begin to numb before disappearing. Within seconds he was back to his usual self, albeit far more tired.

Izuku sat up with a bleary noise of relief.

"Thanks, sir."

The doctor smiled at him.

"No problem! Just let me know if you need anything else!"

Without another word, the man left the gym.

Gran Torino grunted as he watched the man leave.

"He's a nice guy, isn't he? Nighteye paid him to be on standby for the duration of your stay to guarantee your safety. He's really worried that something might go wrong."

Gran Torino turned to face Izuku.

"As for you, I'd overall say that your performance was-"

"Laughable."

Izuku and Gran Torino turned to face the tall slim man standing in the corner.

Izuku instantly recognized the thin man and quickly bowed his head.

"Sir Nighteye! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Nighteye glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"It's a shame that I can't say the same."

Izuku felt relatively awkward at his response but chose not to say anything.

Nighteye cold gaze remained on him.

"Your performance was utterly detestable. You barely used One for All during the entirety of it and you spent most of the fight getting knocked around by Gran Torino. I guess you're even more disappointing than I thought you'd be."

Izuku bowed his head lower.

"I'm sorry Nighteye-Sensei."

Gran Torino held up his hand.

"Now hold on Nighteye, I think Hōkai did pretty well. Sure he clearly thinks too much while he's fighting and he barely used his greatest asset, but he came up with a clever tactic that I wasn't expecting. It didn't work of course, but is that really a surprise when going up against me?"

Izuku noticed that Gran Torino had called him the wrong name once again.

Nighteye gave Gran Torino a considerate glance.

"I suppose you're partially correct, but I still feel underwhelmed by what I saw. Even you have to admit that he needs improvement."

Nighteye gave Izuku a withering glance.

"Stand up!"

Izuku quickly stood up but continued to keep his head bowed in respect.

Nighteye observed him for a moment.

"Why did you barely use One for All in that fight?"

Izuku considered his next words carefully.

"To be honest sir, I'm not particularly adept at using it yet. The best I can do is channel 5% into my limbs, and even that leaves me sore and weak afterwards."

Nighteye's glare intensified.

"How utterly unacceptable. Are you really the successor All Might chose? You can't even use the quirk he gave you right."

Izuku kept his head bowed.

"With all due respect Sir Nighteye, I haven't had this quirk for very long. I came here because I wanted to learn what I was doing wrong and I was hoping you could help me."

Nighteye kept his glare on Izuku for a few more moments before shifting it onto Gran Torino.

"Do you think we can teach him?"

Gran Torino took an evaluative glance at Izuku.

"Probably. Hōkai looks rough around the edges, but I think it's doable. We'll have to be quick about it though considering our limited time."

Izuku was starting to get annoyed.

Why did this old man keep referring to him by that name?

Nighteye closed his eyes in deep thought for a few moments before asking Izuku another question.

"Do you have any ideas on what area you want to focus on when it comes to mastery of One for All?"

Izuku scratched his head.

"Well, I've been thinking that maybe part of the problem is that I'm only using one part of my body at a time. The recoil from using One for All in only one part of my body, like my arm for example, probably takes up a lot of my stamina. It also is quite time-consuming to switch One for All from limb to limb in the heat of battle. So I thought that maybe if I channel One for All through my entire body at once, it would significantly reduce the recoil and remove the time-consuming process of switching it between my limbs."

Nighteye opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Have you attempted to do just that?"

Izuku nodded his head.

"I have, but One for All just doesn't seem to want to listen to me. I keep trying to force it all over my body, but it just stubbornly refuses to do what I want."

Nighteye nodded.

"Then I guess that'll be the first thing we work on."

Nighteye's gaze grew intense once again.

"Just for the record, by the way, I wanted All Might to choose Mirio as his successor, but he ignored me and chose you anyway. Based on what I've seen so far from you, it definitely seems that Mirio would've been the vastly superior choice."

Izuku was struck silent by Nigheye's words and looked down with a wince.

Gran Torino moved to say something.

"Nighteye, there's no nee-"

Izuku held up his hand, making Gran Torino pause.

Izuku gazed back up at Nighteye.

"I know at this current point I'm nowhere near Mirio's level. Hell, I haven't even seen him fight and I can tell he's probably way better than me. But that's to be expected since he has an entire two years of schooling over me."

Izuku's gaze grew more determined as he looked into the older man's eyes.

"I'm going to give it my all to improve and get better. I'm going to grow stronger, get better at using One for All, and be the best damn hero you've ever seen. I don't know if I'll ever be able to surpass All Might, but I'm sure as hell going to try."

Izuku clenched his gauntlet-covered fist.

"I'm going to do my hardest to prove you wrong."

The two remained in a deadlock stare for several more moments before Nighteye let a small grin cross his face.

"We will see about that."

Nighteye without warning tossed Izuku a key, which he barely caught.

"This is for the room you'll be staying in. I hope you're fine with the idea of rooming with Mirio."

Nighteye walked closer and handed Izuku a paper.

"This is your schedule. I expect you to be punctual for everything you have on the list. Do I make myself clear?"

Izuku nodded his head.

Nighteye let out a yawn.

"Either way, it's getting pretty late. I'll let Gran Torino escort you to your room. Have a nice night."

Nighteye turned around to leave.

"Wait."

Nighteye paused.

"Yes?"

Izuku smirked nervously.

"Last year a friend of mine died when no one could remember his blood type in time to get him a transfusion."

"...what?"

Izuku shot a pair of finger guns at Nighteye.

"As he was dying, he kept insisting that we 'be positive', but it's really hard without him."

The room was dead silent for a full minute.

"That was a horrible joke."

Without another word, Nighteye left the gym.

Izuku visibly deflated.

"I didn't think it was that bad."

Izuku glanced down at his schedule and groaned at seeing how early he had to wake up.

Well, he did say that he was going to give it his all.

Izuku felt a pat on his back and turned to see Gran Torino giving him a smirk and a thumbs up.

"I think he likes you."

Gran Torino stepped away and motioned for Izuku to follow.

"Come on Hōkai, we need to get moving. I have sleep to catch up on tonight."

Before Gran Torino could turn around, Izuku held up his hand.

"Wait a minute, I have a question first."

Gran Torino smiled and motioned for him to continue.

Izuku gave him a curious look.

"Why do you keep calling me Hōkai? 'Collapse' is a weird thing to nickname someone."

For just a moment, a pained expression passed over Gran Torino's face, but it disappeared as quickly as Izuku saw it.

Gran Torino turned around and motioned for him to follow.

"Forget I said that name."

Izuku followed the elderly man with confusion evident on his face.

Who the hell was Hōkai?

---

Sorahiko struggled to keep looking forward as he walked the young hero behind him to his room.

He honestly almost couldn't believe it. The resemblance was too uncanny. He looked so much like his old friend.

Sorahiko gave in to his desires and looked backwards to confirm what he already knew.

His eyes stared at the young hero's face, being almost unable to process his red eyes, his light freckles, his unkempt hair, and his dry cracked neck.

The young hero ignored his staring and paused for a moment to scratch at the irritated skin of his neck. After a few seconds of this, he lowered his hand, revealing that he had opened up old wounds and scars all over his neck.

Sorahiko felt a shiver go down his spine and quickly turned back around.

The boy even scratched his neck like his friend used to. This was beginning to feel like the universe was taunting him at this point. There was no way that the boy could be so similar, even if he was their grandchild.

Sorahiko clenched his fist.

Everything about him was like looking at a ghost. Everything from his height, to his face, to even his mannerisms were nearly identical to his old friend.

It felt impossible for him to be like this.

It felt impossible for him to be so much like Hōkai.

Sorahiko let out a sigh of relief as the finally reached the room the boy would be staying in.

He opened the door and motioned for the boy to enter the room.

"This is where you'll be staying for the next week. Go ahead and lay your stuff down here."

Sorahiko glanced inside as the boy walked past him.

"It looks like Mirio's not here right now. He sleeps on the bed to the right, so you'll be sleeping on the bed to the left. I'll come to get you in the morning so we can begin training."

Sorahiko turned to leave.

"Excuse me, Gran Torino?"

Sorahiko winced.

His voice made the situation even worse. It was like listening to a male version of Nana speak. His voice was as uncannily similar to Nana as his appearance was as uncannily similar to Hōkai. Everything about the naivete and hesitant kindness in it sounded just like her.

Sorahiko forced a smile into his face and turned his head to look at the young hero behind him.

"Yes?"

The boy hesitated for a moment.

"Do you think you can tell me a bit more about your quirk? I don't have an entry for you in my hero journal, and I wanted to get some specific data."

Sorahiko winced.

He even had a fucking hero journal? The universe really did hate him.

Sorahiko felt conflicted as he stared at the boy in front of him.

Honestly, he wanted to just say no and walk away. Just looking and listening to him was like having the deaths of his two oldest friends rubbed in his face. It hurt just to be around him.

But….

Sorahiko felt uneasy as he looked at the boy with the face of his dead friend. His eager smile was maddeningly happy and his eyes were bright and full of life. The boy sincerely just wanted to know more about him.

…...this boy was one of the last remnants of both of them. He couldn't just ignore him.

Sorahiko let out an internal sigh.

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

The boy seemingly pulled a journal and pen out of nowhere and quickly jotted a few things down.

"First of all, what is your top speed?"

Sorahiko tapped his chin.

"Back in the day, I could reach just a little over Mach 10. Now, however, I can only go just over Mach 3."

The boy's jaw dropped.

"Mach 10?! That's insane."

Sorahiko snorted.

"Please, All Might could reach Mach 25 back in his prime."

The boy froze for a moment, before furiously flipping over to a page near the front of the book and jotting down something.

Sorahiko snickered.

He really was Hōkai's grandson.

His face fell into a frown as he thought Hōkai's name.

His frown deepened as he observed the boy's frantic scribbling.

The boy had asked earlier who Hōkai was. It wasn't surprising that he had never heard of him, considering Nana's daughter never got the chance to have significant interaction with her father.

"NANA! DON'T GO IN THERE ALONE!"

His friend promptly ignored him as she crashed through the front door of her house.

Sorahiko cursed as he tried to catch up to her.

Damn it all, she wouldn't be able to handle All for One alone if he was still there. They needed to wait for backup.

Sorahiko smashed through the window of his friend's house.

But if she was going to go in before reinforcements arrived, he had no choice but to follow her.

Sorahiko frantically blasted through the halls of the house to find his friend. He was going so fast that he almost passed by his friend as she frantically looked through the nursery.

He felt a pit form in his stomach.

There was no way. Not even All for One could be that cruel.

Sorahiko halted himself mid-blast and ran into the room.

"Nana! What's wrong?! Are the children ok?!"

Nana didn't even respond as she suddenly dashed away from the crib she was standing over and leaped up through a hole in the ceiling.

Sorahiko rushed over to the crib and felt a sigh of relief when he saw little Inko and Kotaro peacefully sleeping as if nothing was wrong.

They were fine. Now all they needed to do was find H-

Sorahiko froze.

Hōkai had been home watching the children. He had wanted to take care of them while Nana was receiving her new ranking. He should've been in the house.

So why were Nana and him the only ones here?

Suddenly, Nana's screams rang out from the hole above him.

Sorahiko wasted no time in blasting up into the hole in the ceiling.

As he landed on his feet and looked in the direction of where Nana's scream had come from, he froze.

Nana was sitting on her knees in the middle of a pool of blood and gore. She let out a few small whimpers as she held something Sorahiko couldn't see closer to her chest.

Sorahiko slowly walked closer to her, all the while being unable to take his eyes off of the puddle and the all too familiar bits and pieces lying all throughout it.

He stared at a severed hand that looked like every bone in it had been shattered.

He stared at a clump of grayish-blue hair scattered throughout the puddle.

He stared at the wedding ring that he had helped his friend pick out just under a year ago.

Sorahiko stopped just behind the still crying Nana, being unable to do anything but stare at her.

She clutched whatever she was holding close to her chest. Sorahiko almost wanted to look at what it was, but a voice inside him promised that he would never be able to forget the sight if he did.

"N-Nana-"

"I'm going to kill him."

Sorahiko almost didn't hear her quiet whisper due to how small her voice was.

"What did you sa-"

Nana shuffled whatever she was holding under her right arm and smashed her left fist into the floor.

"I SAID THAT I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Sorahiko took a step back.

"Nana, I know how you're feeling right no-"

Nana whipped her head around. Her normally kind and care-free eyes were full of anger and grief.

"YOU CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND HOW I'M FEELING!"

Tears started to stream down her face.

"HE MEANT MORE TO ME THAN SOME STUPID RANKING, AND BECAUSE I LEFT HIM HERE ALONE, HE'S GONE!"

Nana closed her eyes and clutched the thing under her right arm tighter. Her next words came out with a whimper.

"This is all my fault. There's barely even anything left of him."

Sorahiko was quiet for a moment before he put his hand on her shoulder.

Her sobs rang out throughout the room.

"Nana."

His friend looked up towards him, the grief on her face even more pronounced than before.

"I swear to you, that I'll do everything in my power to help you kill him. I'll stand by you no matter what."

Nana let out a choked sob and leaned against him.

"Thank you, Sorahiko."

Sorahiko glanced up at the young boy in front of him to see that he was still jotting down notes as fast as he could.

He had made a huge mistake that day. He should've tried to convince just how futile fighting that monster was. He should've tried to help her through her grief. He should've done everything he could to stop her from challenging that unholy abomination.

But he didn't, and now both of his best friends were gone.

As much as he told himself that it wasn't his fault, it really felt like it was. He had been their friend, and he had failed both of them by encouraging her to fight All for One. He was a failure as a hero and as a comrade…..

Sorahiko kept his gaze on the excited young boy that resembled his two biggest regrets.

…..which is why he refused to fail him as well.

As he stared at the boy, Sorahiko made an oath to himself.

No matter what happened, he refused to fail the boy like he failed both of his friends.

---

Shigaraki let out a small breath as he walked closer to the entrance of the hideout.

Out of nervousness, he once again took a quick glance over his outfit.

Since this was a more formal meeting, he had decided to wear his civilian clothes instead of his normal villain outfit. He had also chosen to forego wearing his hands to make a better first impression. He needed to impress Overhaul after all.

Shigaraki scratched at his neck anxiously.

Still, it felt weird to leave the hideout without at least one of his hands. He felt almost…..naked without one of them covering his face.

Shigaraki lowered his hand quickly as two guards came into view.

He winced as he felt a few streams of blood trail down his neck.

He really needed to get rid of that habit. It did not help him make good first impressions.

"Halt!"

Shigaraki paused and looked at the guards in front of him in annoyance.

"The password is 'You are all sick, and I am the cure.' Take me to Overhaul."

The guard on his left shook his head.

"I'm afraid that I'm going to need to search you first sir."

Shigaraki sighed in exasperation.

He briefly considered just turning the two men to dust, but something told him that it would piss off Overhaul. Besides, Kurogiri would be upset with him if he got himself hurt just because he got impatient.

Shigaraki held up his hands.

"Fine, just hurry up and get it over with."

The guard on his left slowly approached him and kneeled on the ground. He started to pat around Shigaraki's body for hidden objects, much to the latter's annoyance.

Shigaraki felt himself grow more and more irritated as the search continued.

He already didn't enjoy being touched, but this guy was going out of his way to be as slow as humanly possible. He was beginning to reconsider the option of just turning the two men into dust.

Finally, after far too long, the guard backed off and nodded at his companion.

"He's clean."

The man turned back to Shigaraki.

"Please follow us, sir."

The two men led Shigaraki into the building and down several hallways.

As the three of them walked through the halls, Shigaraki practiced and repeated his speech in his head.

He needed to land this. If he failed in swaying Overhaul, Sensei would be disappointed in him. He couldn't afford to upset the man who had done so much for him.

After a few minutes of walking, the three of them finally reached a set of double doors.

The two guards politely bowed to him.

"This is where we will leave you. Please, enjoy your meeting with Lord Overhaul."

Shigaraki ignored the two of them and pushed past the double doors into the next room.

As Shigaraki entered, he took a quick look around the room. It was surprisingly lavish for such a small organization. Paintings decorated the walls and art pieces were everywhere.

Shigaraki snorted.

It seemed like Overhaul liked to be extravagant.

Shigaraki heard the clearing of a throat and turned his attention to the man sitting across a table at the other side of the room.

The man was slim, yet tall, possibly being even taller than Shigaraki himself. Despite his height, the man would be unremarkable if it wasn't for two things. The plague doctor mask on his face that seemed to be straight out of a medieval book, and his cold, almost dead-looking, eyes.

Shigaraki locked eyes with him and smirked.

"Hello, Overhaul."

---

Hisashi's Quirk Files:

Code Name: N/A

Real Name: Shimura Hōkai

Quirk Name: Psychic Decay

Quirk Description: Hōkai's quirk is similar to that of Midoriya Izuku and Shigaraki Tomura with one big key difference: Hōkai could control and maneuver the dust created from his disintegration. In addition, the dust he controlled with his quirk would decay whomever it touched. However, the effect from the dust was far weaker than that of his normal touch, mainly just causing irritation and drying of the skin. It was notably most effective in blinding his opponent since the dust would cause massive damage to the eyes. It is also notable that his decay was reportedly far slower than that of both Midoriya Izuku and Shigaraki Tomura.

Strengths: Hōkai's quirk allowed him to be great at incapacitating and harassing opponents from a long-range while stopping them from getting closer due to the risk of his quirk's quick kill effect. Hōkai was reportedly very skilled at using the harassment part of his quirk. He was also noted to be far faster than expected for someone without a speed quirk, similar to the villain Shigaraki Tomura. On top of all this, he reportedly had an above-average intellect.

Weaknesses: Hōkai was ultimately not a fighter. While he learned how to use his quirk well-enough to defend himself, he was reportedly very poor at defending himself without using it. He avoided fights at all costs possible and kept mostly to himself. While he was very fast for someone without a speed quirk, he reportedly had very low stamina and very low strength. He could not control his decay quirk, having to constantly wear specially-designed gloves to avoid disintegrating things by accident. Finally, Hōkai could only send his dust a maximum of 10 meters.

Recommended plan of attack: If he was alive, staying outside of his radius and attacking from a distance would be the easiest way to kill him. His speed is a problem, but nothing that couldn't be handled at range. Surprise attacks would be very effective against him. Defeating him quickly would be important, as he gets more dangerous the more time he has to make dust. Removing his hands from the equation as soon as possible is the most optimal move.

Personal notes: Most of the information I gathered on Hōkai had to be extracted from the quirk database. He died not long after Inko and her brother Kotaro were born. Apparently, he died defending the two of them from All for One. His remains were later discovered by his wife, Shimura Nana, and his best friend, Torino Sorahiko. From what few pictures still remain of the aftermath of All for One's attack, there wasn't much of Hōkai to recover. It's a shame, I would've really liked to meet the guy.

---

(1)Italian for chicken.

(2)Italian for falcon.Well, I think it's about time for the build-up for Stain and Overhaul to pay off, don't you?

Kudos to anyone who knows what Tonio is a reference to.

Pearl Jam makes some fucking good music and no one can convince me otherwise.

First off, I wanted to go ahead and acknowledge that Natsuo was intentionally a massive asshole in this chapter. My reasoning for him being such a massive dick is simply that he's an angry person experiencing grief. In my experience, people act one of five ways when they're grieving. They break down emotionally and won't stop crying, shut down emotionally and won't acknowledge anything (Shoto), focus on helping others to avoid dealing with their own grief (Fuyumi), focus on their work to avoid acknowledging their emotions (Endeavor), or lash out angrily at everything to feel better about themselves (Natsuo). Honestly, from the kind of things I've witnessed, Natsuo's reactions here were relatively similar to those of people I know in real life. It also doesn't justify Endeavor's choking of him, even with how much those comments were designed to piss him off.

If you figure out where the lines Kurogiri says to Shigaraki in the flashback are from, it'll become pretty obvious what's going on there. For those who thought I was going to have Shigaraki just be entirely brainwashed and that All for One killed his family…I decided as early as chapter 3 not to do that. The thing is, having All for One be the person to kill Shigaraki's family kind of takes away from our dusty boy's agency as a character. It would also give Shigaraki an easy "out" for what he's done, which would just be lazy writing in my opinion. That's not to say All for One didn't do anything to make Shigaraki easier to manipulate, but when it comes to his family, Shigaraki is unambiguously the person who killed them.

One thing I rarely see expanded upon when it comes to Nana is the fact that her husband was likely murdered by All for One. For such a massive event that was likely a contributing factor to her giving up her child, it's rarely ever mentioned. When you also consider the fact that Gran Torino most likely knew whoever Nana's husband was, and had quite a high chance of being his friend, it gets even more surprising that he's rarely mentioned.

Just to be clear, Nana's husband and Tonio are similar to Magnetar from the previous chapter, where they exist primarily for worldbuilding and character development purposes. Both of them are characters that will have minor roles in the grand scheme of things. I just wanted to establish right now so that people don't think I'm just going to throw in a ton of OCs as main characters or something like that.

To leave off this chapter, I'm curious to hear the answer to two questions.

1. For my manga readers out there, what do you think of Endeavor's character arc currently? Personally, I have very…..mixed opinions when it comes to what they're doing with him. On one hand, I don't hate the idea of what Horikoshi is trying to with Endeavor, and honestly, it could've really worked for me if just a few things were a bit different. On the other hand, there is a lot that could've been done to make this arc work better for me. Fuyumi and Rei probably should've been more reluctant to forgive him, Shoto being on the fence so quickly felt out of character, Endeavor's redemption would've been more believable and agreeable if the abuse wasn't as intense and realistic as it was, and the list just goes on. Almost any plot point can work with enough time and effort, but I feel like a lot of mistakes were made for me when it comes to Endeavor's arc.

a more light-hearted note, what is everyone's favorite villain in My Hero Academia? My personal pick is a tie between Shigaraki and Gentle, albeit for different reasons. I feel like out of all the villains, Shigaraki is the best as a character. He's as well-developed as Midoriya, serves as his perfect foil, and has had some of my favorite moments in the series within the most recent chapters. I really hope they don't screw him up considering how well built up he's been. Gentle on the other hand touches at my love for comic books. Anyone who pays attention to my story can tell how much I love comics by just how many references to them I throw on the page. Gentle is literally the perfect mix of the quirky antics of a Silver-age villain and the more serious storytelling of a Bronze-age villain. It's amazing to me to see a villain so perfectly blend these two eras together in such a unique and fascinating way. All of this is without even mentioning his awesome quirk, how his fight is one of the best in the series, and the way that he serves as an example of what Izuku could've been so well. I would say that Shigaraki is the better character, but I enjoy Gentle just as much as him.

Please comment/review if you enjoyed this chapter. They help in encouraging me to keep writing.