Chapter 33
Beta: L33t Horo
Cover: LousGndiner
The train ride to Hosu was largely uneventful.
However, that didn't mean there weren't any delays, mostly in the form of recognition. To get to Hosu as soon as possible, they rode the earliest bullet train. Unfortunately, it was rush hour so that meant a lot of people were on board, who had recognized them both.
As a result, neither of them could avoid the many fans asking for autographs. A majority of the attention was focused on Yu, but Shirou was honestly surprised that a few of them wanted his. Not really having prepared for a situation like this, Shirou simply wrote his name down and nothing more.
He was beginning to see why Aizawa disliked the attention and committed himself to avoid this occurrence in the future.
What happened after they departed was simple, head straight to the outer edges of the city, where Angra-Mainyu was sighted. Coincidentally, it was where most villains act out. It made sense, as there are fewer professional heroes able to react to them in time, which made for cleaner crimes. Only amateurs caused a commotion in the center of the city.
Unfortunately, as soon as they were about to leave the main part of the city, an amateur appeared.
"Don't get any closer, heroes!" A man who seemed to have a boar head screamed. "Don't underestimate me! Leave or this whole block is going up in smoke!"
From atop a building, Shirou winced as he watched the villain expand slightly, his upper body becoming rounder and rounder until he was as large as a small house.
Apparently, the local heroes were doing well in subduing him, but one of them had underestimated the villain's quirk, which led to the current situation. At first, they thought that all the villain could do was release a shock-wave in a single direction, but it would seem that he could hold the shock-wave in to create a more devastating area of effect attack.
Which led to a more rapid response, with a few police cars surrounding the area and evacuating a few nearby citizens. No one was willing to approach what was essentially a bomb.
To think that a jewelry store robbery could devolve into this mess. At least Yu was down there, having forbidden him from entering the scene. He vehemently disagreed with the idea, but in Yu's own words, 'We have no idea if hitting him with swords or knocking the guy out would set him off.'
Between hurting hundreds of people around him if he interfered or staying out of it and keeping the situation stable, the answer was obvious.
"So, do we have any idea who this guy is?" Yu asked with a frown, which Shirou noticed by reinforcing his eyes and ears.
"We've identified him to be one Butashou Gekiha," an officer replied. "He has a criminal record of robbery and assault. He also appears to be one of the escapees from the prison break last month."
"It took him that long to act out again?" Yu muttered in mild irritation. "What's his range?"
"From past records, a thirty-meter radius."
"And how many times can he let one loose?"
The officer thumbed through a file quickly. "It doesn't say. We haven't seen this villain explode before, as previous heroes simply restrained him before he could use his quirk."
"It's good that those guys were good at their job, but… I really wish we had more to work with," Yu bemoaned. "Alright, let me handle this. I got an idea."
From the way the officer grimaced, he wasn't sure about the idea. "Um… an idea?"
"Yeap."
As if waiting for further explanation, the officer paid attention, only for Yu to rush towards the villain like a bull.
"Hey! Fatso!"
Butashou, still as large as a house, peered down to try to see the hero rapidly approaching him. It was hard, due to the incredibly large belly in his way, but managed to catch the sight of her disappearing from his view.
"What're you doing!?" The villain shouted. "I'm not messing around here! I'm going to blow!"
Yu simply smirked. "Go ahead!"
The villain widened his eyes as a shadow rapidly covered his body.
One second he was ready to let loose.
The next, he was high above the sky watching as a bird squawk in surprise.
"Eh?"
"I said, go ahead. Let her rip!" Yu said, her voice echoing across the city block. She held him up like an offering to the sky, but quickly clenched her fingers around his enlarged body. "Though, I'm not sure you can hurt anything from up here."
Butashou– or pig as Yu undoubtedly labeled it in her head, squealed like a pig and deflated in an instant. Shirou winced slightly as he felt the resulting shock-wave travel outward. However, Yu maintained a solid grip. She raised her hand above her head, clamping down with her other hand, and violently shivered as her body took the brunt of the shock.
However, Shirou knew she'd be just fine.
Once the shock-waves stopped Yu shifted her grip so that only the villain's head popped out. "Are you going to try that again?"
Evidently, he would. However, Yu's tight grip prevented him from expanding any further than an inch. Subsequently, the villain's following shock-waves did absolutely nothing to her.
"Alright, time to take a nap," Yu stated. She kept her grip tight as she stuck her arm out. She immediately swung her arm like a windmill for a solid five seconds. One second later, she stopped. "You still awake, little guy?"
She only got a gurgled response.
Well, Shirou mused. That was taken care of quickly.
Afterward, Yu placed the villain down gently in front of the waiting officers and shrunk back to normal. Butashou was dizzy and passed out, so restraining him was incredibly easy. Yu gave him a lazy grin and waved, but was immediately swarmed by the people who stuck around to watch, otherwise known as her fans.
Yep, it was smart of him to scale a building just to watch from above. Much better than being down there, but he supposed that he should hurry back down. The sooner he and Yu got going, the better.
His phone vibrated and Shirou looked to see who sent him a message.
He barely withheld a frown as he saw it was from Archer.
At least the bastard replied.
After reading Archer's reply, Shirou sighed.
It took a bit, but he eventually made his way to Yu. He was glad to see the crowd around her had disappeared, which left a slightly haggard Yu leaning against a police car to glare at him.
"You sure took your time to get down here, didn't you?"
"After all that, do you honestly blame me?"
"No, but I can hold a grudge," she mumbled out in weak spite. "Anyway, we should get going. I don't want to deal with any more amateurs until we finish with you-know-who. Also, we have to meet with the local police force before we go on our little escapade. Not right now, but later tonight. Probably at six."
Shirou nodded in agreement and made his way down the street. "By the way, Archer responded."
"Oh really? Was it a yes?" she asked, practically dreading the answer.
"No, he refused."
"What!?" she shouted before reigning herself in. It wouldn't do them any good if she lost her cool. "I mean, that's great! Getting civilians involved wasn't a good idea anyway… but wasn't he a magus like you? I thought he'd jump to help out."
"He did, at least a little. He filled in what I was missing when it comes to actually constructing a bounded field," Shirou started, but sighed as he reexamined Archer's message. "But you're right. It isn't normal for him to decline."
He wouldn't be coming with them to Hosu. He was sympathetic in the sense that he also wanted Avenger dead and gone, but wouldn't help. For the life of him, Shirou couldn't figure out why.
Sure, the bastard obviously wanted to help– if the tips and tricks on how to construct a bounded field he had tacked on to the message meant anything, but was unwilling to do it himself. That was uncharacteristic and outside Shirou's expectations…
… Unless something was keeping him from aiding. Was there something Archer was keeping an eye on back at Musutafu?
No, don't jump to any conclusions. Archer might be an unrepentant asshole, but he was reasonable. There should be nothing to prevent him from helping out. What other reasons would keep a Servant from joining the fight–
Magical energy. Where was Archer getting his magical energy?
Wait, did he even have magical energy? A stupid question. Of course, Archer did. If the training he went through meant anything, the bastard could trace weapons and fight… except that he never used Noble Phantasms. He had only traced Torashinai, and that was it. Even then, he didn't dismiss the construct and kept it aside for future sessions.
Unlike Shirou, Archer was conserving his magical energy. As a Servant, he could not gain any magical energy without a Master to supply it to him. The only other alternative would be devouring souls. Archer would never do it, and if he did, Shirou would strike him down or die trying.
Was Archer just low on mana?
… It made sense. When they were both pulled into this world, they were exhausted and weak after the battle. However, Archer was much worse off than Shirou was. Archer won their battle but was severely low on mana. He survived a surprise attack from Gilgamesh but didn't have Rin supplying him mana. This meant only his Independent Action was keeping him alive.
Archer wasn't losing any magical energy by simply existing in this world, but he wasn't gaining any either.
"I know that look," Yu muttered as they turned a corner. "What is it?"
"… I can guess as to why Archer isn't directly helping us," Shirou said. "I didn't really mention this yet, but Archer isn't human. In essence, he's a spiritual being of a hero who once lived."
Yu paused in her step for a second before resuming. "You really have to learn to stop dropping bombshells like that."
"Sorry, it wasn't really relevant to what we were talking about before," Shirou apologized. Obviously, that wasn't the case now, hence the explanation. Luckily there weren't any civilians nearby, as this was one of the more empty streets, Shirou could simply explain. "Anyways, Archer is what we call a Servant. All seven participants of the grail wars, generally called Masters, had summoned one to fight by their side. I was one of them, as well as Rin. Archer was her Servant."
"You know, when you called it a war, I thought there would be more people in it," Yu questioned. "Just seven? It feels a lot less… impactful."
"In the previous war, just seven were enough to destroy half a city in the aftermath, and that was when they weren't actively trying," Shirou reminded, to which Yu swiftly reprimanded herself with a gag. "What you must realize is that one Servant is at least ten times stronger than your average human. To put it into perspective, All-Might, as he is now, is considered average for a Servant."
"Average–!?" Yu covered her mouth as she sighed in frustration. "Bombshells… Never mind. And you're saying that the cafe owner is one of them? Someone strong enough to contend with our number one?"
"With some of the feats I've seen Archer perform, I have no doubt he could," Shirou admitted. That Archer could defeat All-Might was left unsaid. "However, therein lays our problem."
"Why an overpowered dude like that isn't helping?" Yu reiterated in silent realization. "That much power has got to have some kind of drawback, right?"
"Exactly," Shirou answered. "Servants cannot exist without a Master to supply them magical energy. If I had to guess, Archer is low on mana right now, which would explain why he hasn't been as proactive as I thought he'd be."
"Couldn't you help him with that?" Yu asked. "Like, you could transfer some mana or something."
Shirou mentally suppressed the urge to gag at the horrifying image he assaulted himself with. "While that would work… Archer doesn't exactly like me. He'd probably choose death over making a contract with me." Once again, he wasn't going to tell the protective woman that Archer nearly succeeded in killing him.
"Stubborn son of a–" Yu took a calming breath. "Okay, let's forget about that for now. If the dumb cafe owner knows he has an issue, and how to fix it, but actively chooses not to fix it, then that's his problem. Come on, this alleyway's a shortcut."
Not seeing the need to continue the conversation, Shirou obliged. However, there was still one question left on his mind.
Archer should have ample reserves of mana left when he entered this world, enough to help them out in taking down Avenger.
What exactly did he use his mana against?
Shirou was extremely tempted to message the Servant for an answer but refrained from doing so. If Archer wasn't explaining himself now, then that meant he didn't want to explain it. Trying to get an answer out of him would be like crawling through mud; humiliating, aggravating, and most importantly time-consuming.
The sooner he and Yu built a bounded field, the better. He could get his answers after that.
"So, how's it going, Tetsutetsu?"
Aggravated silence greeted him.
"Come on man, we got shacked into the same agency," Kirishima bemoaned. "We could at least get along!"
"Have you gotten your guts back?"
"Did I ever lose them?"
"Yes," Tetsutetsu definitively said. "You did."
Kirishima simply sighed.
This guy isn't making this easy at all.
After the sports festival, Kirishima had taken to hanging out with more Class 1-B students, mostly because he wanted to get to know more about what his future hero colleagues were like.
It didn't really go so well, but that was probably because he tried dragging Bakugo along with him the first time. The arguments that Baku-bro and that Copy guy never seemed to end, and it didn't help that Tetsutetsu kept trying to pick a fight either. The only reason they didn't end up in an all-out brawl was that that Shinso guy was there. He seemed like the voice of reason in the class, kind of like Iida, but more silent?
The second time he tried getting to know them all went a lot better, having brought Kaminari, Mineta, and Sero along. However, Tetsutetsu still had his issues with him.
The worst part about it is that Kirishima knew exactly why.
He didn't at first, back during the sports festival, but he only noticed when Baku-bro pointed it out to him.
Oi, spiky-hair. When did you start walking away from shit?
Like any normal person, Kirishima didn't realize it. However, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
He would subconsciously take a step back whenever it looked like a fight started when he would normally put his best foot forward. He would shout a lot less when everyone else was cheering. He would flinch whenever he saw Tokoyami's quirk.
It hurt realizing that he had issues, so he went to ask Recovery Girl for help, because asking for help when you need it took guts, right? But even when he did, Recovery Girl said he needed to work out the root cause of it himself before they'd get anywhere.
Of course, the only cause he could think of was that… that day in USJ.
The moment the Beast attacked him, drowning him in hatemurdergreedloathing– Kirishima bit his cheek to stop himself from going down that mental road.
Even when he knew what the problem was, he had no idea how to solve it.
"Alright, are you two ready to move out?"
"Yes sir!" Tetsutetsu shouted with his stance rigid and tout. It took a moment before Kirishima did the same, which only his schoolmate noticed.
"Good," Four-kind, the professional hero whose request they both accepted, grumbled out. "Fortunately, we don't have to wait any longer. The station has finally prepared a room for them to debrief us in. You two will stand at the back and not cause any trouble. Is that clear?"
They nodded and followed him, but inwardly Kirishima wondered what they were doing.
When they arrived in his office this morning, the pro-hero had been in the middle of a very heated phone call. Not wanting to be disturbed right then, he sent them out to get changed into their hero outfits and get him tea. When they returned, they found the poor office phone being slammed back down.
What followed was a stream of, what Fourth-Kind himself called, regurgitated information that they were obligated to tell them during their internship.
The problem with that was he had speedrun it, so both he and Tetsutetsu only got the general gist before he moved onto something else.
Apparently, he had been called out by a higher-up to assist with an arrest. He didn't go into detail about who they were supposed to arrest, but he had a grim look on his face, so it probably wasn't anything to take lightly.
What followed was a short thirty-minute trip via a private car into Hosu. It was within those thirty minutes that Kirishima finally realized who had called Fourth-Kind and what they were after.
The Hosu police force and Hero-Killer Stain.
Due to Stain's presence, having taken out a few prominent members of Hosu's local heroes, the city had encountered an unprecedented rise in crime. Most of the local heroes were busy in their own districts and as a result, they couldn't be called to deal with the root cause of their problem, Stain himself.
This led the police force to call in heroes from nearby cities to help deal with the threat. Luckily, Fourth-Kind had other sidekicks to handle his area while he was gone. He could've gotten sidekicks to deal with this, but he said that was a coward's way of doing things and that he had to set an example to the youths watching him.
Which probably meant both him and Tetsutetsu.
"This is kinda exciting, right?" Kirishima tried making small-talk, as he had done for the past few minutes. "Our first day into an internship, and we're already neck-deep into an official case!"
Tetsutetsu begrudgingly nodded along. That was good. At least they were making some progress.
"Fourth-Kind, a pleasure to finally meet you!" An officer greeted him. From the looks of it, he was one of the higher-ranked officers. "I will guide you to the debriefing… and these two are?"
"U.A. students on their first internship," he replied cordially. "You two, introduce yourselves."
"Yes, sir!" Tetsutetsu shouted. "Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu! Hero name, Real Steel!"
"Kirishima Eijiro! Hero name, Red Riot!"
"They certainly got spunk," the officer commented. "But, are they going to be participating?"
"I intend to let them see how heroes operate behind closed doors," Fourth-Kind replied.
"Is that wise?" And if Kirishima wasn't feeling the pressure before, he was certainly feeling it now. "This is sensitive information."
"These two are the future of Hero Society," the professional hero said with confidence. "True, I don't intend for them to take part, but merely watching from behind should be a good learning experience."
"Understood," the officer muttered. "Very well, please follow me."
Kirishima simply let out a shaky breath. Whether that was from excitement or nervousness, he had no idea. It was probably the latter. The reality of the situation was slowly starting to sink in.
They were two high-school students allowed into a secretive meeting room. This was so cool!
But also frightening.
Kirishima swallowed some saliva as he made his way into the meeting room, which had two officers standing outside. If they were even guarding the meeting room within a police station, then that says something, doesn't it?
When they entered the room, the first thing Kirishima noticed was the large table at the center. It was surrounded by comfortable office chairs, but they were all swiveled towards a whiteboard. A projector was above the table and linked to a laptop beside the whiteboard by a long cable.
The equipment here was old. Really old. Why haven't they updated to something like a flat-screen TV? Kirishima blinked as he realized he already knew the answer from one of Aizawa's lectures. The national budget for prisons and hero training went up as time went on, but police officers remained pretty much the same as time went on, mostly because they were inefficient against villains.
It was something that Aizawa called, an irrationally dumb decision, but nothing about it was changing, not unless the proper stimulus arrived. For some reason, Kirishima felt that the stimulus would appear sooner rather than later, especially with the… the Beast, still running around.
"Oh, Tetsutetsu! Over here!" a vaguely familiar voice called from the back of the room, away from the flat whiteboard. "And Kirishima too, I didn't expect to see you guys here!"
"Kendo?" Tetsutetsu muttered in surprise. "Was your hero called here too?"
"Yup, Uwabami," she replied as she confidently crossed her arms. Her hero outfit looked nice, very manly. "Shinso and I have the same advisor, but he went to the toilet, so he'll probably be back in a bit."
"His quirk would be useful in capturing villains. Therefore, it wasn't a hard choice to bring him here," another familiar voice called. Kirishima turned around to widen his eyes as he recognized her. "Good evening, Kirishima. It seems we are both here to play a part."
"Yaoyorozu!" Kirishima exclaimed. "Sweet! Looks like the U.A. gang is here! Do you think any more of us will show up?"
"It'd be pretty crazy if every student from U.A. had their internship advisors called, but so far it looks like that's the case!" Yaoyorozu suddenly found someone patting her back. "Yo, Yaomomo!"
"Jiro, too?" He said with a smile. "Come on, is Baku-bro going to be here too!?"
"Please no…" Jiro lamented. "If he were, this would be a tough internship."
"I see you are all acquainted," Fourth-Kind said from behind them, finally entering the room after talking with the guards outside. "I trust that I won't need to remind you all to keep your mouths shut whilst the debriefing is ongoing?"
Kirishima and Tetsutetsu immediately nodded.
"Good," he turned his eye to their classmates. "I may not be your advisor, but I trust that whoever the heroes were that brought you here, that they know what they were doing."
"My little interns won't cause any problems, I'm sure," a woman said as she entered the room. She wore a formal dress, much like how Fourth-Kind wore a suit and strode into the room to take a seat. "Isn't that right, Kendo-chan? Shinso-kun?"
"Yes, Uwabami-sama."
Kirishima blinked as he noticed Shinso had already taken a seat next to Kendo. Damn, he didn't even notice him.
The Class 1-B student with a Brainwashing quirk wore a mask with several openings upfront, which probably helped do something for his quirk. He was also wearing a black cape that hid his body, kinda like Tokoyami, but Kirishima caught a glimpse of a stun baton and some supplies tied to his chest.
Fourth-Kind merely humphed and took his own seat, two arms resting on the chair seat and two more crossed against his chest. That looked kinda cool, actually.
"Who else will be arriving?" Fourth-Kind asked the nearby officer, who had taken to standing by the laptop. "Might as well have a heads-up."
"Let's see…" the officer muttered. "That's going to be a tough question to answer…"
"And why is that?" Uwabami added on. "There was a reason you picked us, right?"
"Mostly," the officer admitted. "To be honest, we weren't sure if anyone would willingly leave their district to aid us, so we sent requests to numerous agencies on the off-chance they'd comply."
Eh, requests?
Kirishima blinked as he eyed his advisor. From the way the man sounded on the phone, you'd think he was ordered to come here. Was Kirishima's initial guess wrong?
"Those that are already here are of course you two, Death-Arms, and Yoroi-Musha." Ah right, Yaoyorozu was interning under him, the top eighth-ranked hero. That must mean Jiro was under Death-Arms. "However, we have others confirmed on their way, but busy at the moment. There is the Hero team, the Wild Pussy Cats– who will be needed for coordinating a large group such as this, Mount Lady, and Endeavor for–"
"The number two?" Uwabami grimaced. "Is he going to be taking lead for this operation?"
"That's not the problem," Fourth-Kind interjected. "The number-two and number-eight have both deemed it necessary to come, despite the goal of just going after one single villain. Is the Hero-Killer worth such attention?"
"All will be explained in due time," the officer offered. "Just five minutes until everyone will have arrived and we can proceed."
Fourth-Kind merely huffed in surrender. Uwabami, on the other hand, stretched the stiffness out her back.
"This is pretty intense, isn't it?" Jiro whispered.
"We're pretty lucky to be seeing something like this so early," Kendo added. "But the pros were right, this is weird."
"Endeavor… then that means Todoroki will be here too?" Yaoyorozu noted. "Not only him, but Mount Lady, which means–"
"Emiya," Shinso unwittingly interjected. His voice kinda sounded muffled from the mask, but it somehow didn't even sound like Shinso. Did it distort his voice? That's awesome! "He will be here, won't he?"
"Certainly sounds like it," Kendo said. "Aren't you lucky?"
"Uwabami-sama will certainly be pleased," he stated before closing his eyes in momentary respite.
"Is he sleeping?" Jiro asked.
"He said he didn't get enough sleep last night," Kendo laughed out. "He was too excited, probably. He's interning with the hero who gave him his recommendation, you know? Anyone would get restless."
"Oh yeah, he was a recommended student," the earphone girl muttered. "Not to pick a fight or anything, but he really didn't seem like it."
"You expected him to do better in the festival?" Tetsutetsu questioned. "I think he did great! A true manly performance, especially his last fight!"
"Quiet down you fools!" Fourth-Kind's berate came out swiftly. "You can whisper and gossip all you want, but officers are working outside!"
Uwabami chucked. "Pot, meet kettle."
The Chivalrous Hero didn't rise to the Snake Hero's taunts and reclined into his chair once more.
"Oops, sorry guys," Tetsutetsu apologized.
"No problem, man," Kirishima said.
A damn, he was grumbling at him again.
"You've got to get over that, Tetsutetsu," Kendo scolded. "Whatever beef you two had, you can deal with it back at U.A. Not now, when we need to be serious."
Like a child scolded by his mother, Tetsutetsu turned away but nodded regardless. She wasn't called the big sister of the class for nothing, right?
"Anyways," Jiro said. "Yaomomo, what's it like under the eighth-ranked hero? I'd imagine he's pretty intense, right?"
"I suppose you could say that," Yaoyorozu admitted. "His teaching is very… unorthodox, but enlightening."
"In what way? I'm interested," Kendo asked.
"He's been teaching me sword stances, despite the fact I don't use bladed weaponry at all," Yaoyorozu began. "When I brought that up, he asked why I couldn't master more than one, I couldn't answer."
"It makes sense to master one weapon before moving on to another," Kendo said. "Although, I'm sure it's different for everyone. Some people like learning different things at once while others like to take it one at a time. Which do you think fits you?"
"I think Yaoyorozu's going to do great at learning two things at once," Kirishima chimed in. "I mean, you know. Her quirk requires a lot of concentration, right? The fact she can use it really good when fighting, means a lot, right?"
Like, think about it. Kirishima's quirk was nothing compared to hers in complexity. All he had to do was focus on being hard– wait that sounded wrong – and he'll be fighting with a hardened body. There weren't any extra steps, but with Yaoyorozu's quirk? Having to think up how each atom interacted with each other and construct complex items on the fly like a grenade?
That was impossible for him. He wasn't stupid, but he definitely wasn't smart enough to do that, or have the multitasking skills to do that in the middle of a fight.
"I hope you're right about that, Kirishima-san," Yaoyorozu said.
"Drop the -san, we're all friends here, right?"
She merely smiled. Eh, that was good enough for him.
The meeting room door opened and a new hero stepped in. "Forgive my tardiness, I was using the restroom."
Eighth-ranked hero, Yoroi-Musha, was here.
"A good day to you both, Fourth-Kind and Uwabami."
"A pleasure," Uwabami politely said. She was snarky with Fourth-Kind but didn't appear to be so with the elderly hero. "No worries, you aren't late at all."
"He was cutting it close though, despite his little intern arriving faster than him," Fourth-Kind pointed out. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Did you meet any more heroes on your way here?"
Yoroi-Musha merely snorted and went to his seat. "Yes, one Manual and his own intern."
"What is this, bring your U.A. student to work day?" the officer upfront sighed. "Well, as long as they're just watching. Hey, do you kids want some seats, or are you alright withstanding?"
"I'd like a chair," Shinso jumped on the offer.
When just about every U.A. student agreed with him, the officer left the room and brought back a solid stack of plastic chairs. The fact he could carry that weight without breaking a sweat meant he probably had some kind of strength or stamina quirk.
A minute passed and Death-Arms, Jiro's advisor, finally took his seat.
Another minute faded as a group of heroes, all with a cat motif, also took their seats.
Finally, the last minute passed by as the hero Yoroi-Musha had mentioned before, appeared. Manual, and his intern, Iida.
"Tardiness is unbecoming of a hero," Yoroi-Musha suddenly stated. "Where has Endeavor gone off to?"
"Probably late," Uwabami muttered. "His agency is pretty far from here. He might've opted to walk and take out villains on the way."
"Considering how high villain activity is these past few days in Hosu, I'd imagine he's pretty held up," Manual muttered.
"Should we proceed without him, and the others?" Fourth-Kind prompted. "I do not want to waste any more of my day."
"Sorry, sorry!" the door opened up once more. "Now, I know it seems like we're late, but I definitely know we have two seconds to spare!"
A woman was there, wearing a leotard and horns sticking out of her mask. To her side, was the ever-familiar sight of their classmate, Emiya Shirou.
"Mount Lady…" A voice behind her groaned. From where Kirishima stood, he couldn't see his face, but he was wearing a wooden mask anyway so his identity was a no-brainer. "We wouldn't have gotten sidetracked if you didn't spend so much time teasing our interns."
"Well… Oh, look, more interns! Go and say hi Shirou, Shiozaki-chan!" Mount Lady said, diverting attention as elegant as a landslide.
"Oh, Shiozaki!" Tetsutetsu called. "Over here! Kendo's here too. And Shinso!"
"I appreciate the afterthought," Shinso muttered. "Welcome, Shiozaki. And of course, Emiya."
Emiya, as usual, just nodded and took a seat.
Might as well greet the Class 1-B girl. "Yo, you doing good?"
"I am as well as I can be surrounded by shepherds of the Lord's will."
… Right. Forgot about this girl's… quirkiness.
Shiozaki Ibara, the girl from Class 1-B whose hair is completely made out of vines. Her quirk in action was amazing to see, but the person herself is a bit intense in her devoutness. But hey, Kirishima was fine with it. You believe what you believe in, you know?
"I trust this is all of who will arrive?" the officer at front rhetorically asked. "Very well. The turnout was greater than expected, yet a pleasant happenstance."
"So we're finally getting down to business," said the blonde woman in a blue outfit in a catty tone. "Finally, my bum was starting to get sore."
"No need to be so crass, Pixie-Bob," her red outfitted companion berated.
"But we were getting bored, Mandalay," the yellow one cheekily added with a wide smile.
The lead officer coughed once more for attention. "Very well. As Endeavor seems to be preoccupied, we will have to debrief him later. For now, we shall explain what we are all here for."
"The special treatment of the top~" Mount Lady lamented but sat straight up as if she felt some sort of glare sent her way– Ah, Emiya was glaring. That made sense.
Oops.
Kirishima mentally berated himself for getting distracted and focused on the Debriefing. He might not be there to take part, but Fourth-Kind was gracious enough to let them stay and listen, which he didn't have to do. Kirishima was sure his intern advisor would make them wait outside if he wasn't paying attention.
Well, it was better than thinking about… more bestial things.
The lights turned off and the projector turned on, displaying the entirety of Hosu with red markings around the outer districts.
"Let's start with introductions," the lead officer said. "My name is Genkita Iryoku, but you may call me whatever you wish. I'm sure you are all wondering for what purpose we've selected each one of you, and I guarantee that I will be explaining it soon. For now, we shall focus on the main reason this gathering was called."
Arrows extended out of the red areas and a new image was slapped onto the side.
"Hero-Killer, Stain," the officer introduced. "For months, he has been a thorn on Hero Society, yet he has not been caught yet. His victim count is at seventeen murders and twenty-four beyond the point of full recovery. One such recent victim is the hero known as Ingenium."
Kirishima widened his eyes.
Wait… isn't that?
"As of late, the Hero-Killer's activity's have been at an all-time low," the officer continued. "However, this does not mean we cannot take him lightly. As a result of our department's negligence, he has gone unpunished for far too long."
Kirishima couldn't help but ignore the talk while he focused on Iida. Their class president seemed alright, but there was a determination that wasn't there before… or rather, it was always there, but he didn't notice it until now.
What had he been doing this past week!? He had issues, true, but there was a friend right there who was suffering too! And he didn't even notice!
Was this the kind of hero he wanted to be!?
"Let's not forget that Stain isn't only active in Hosu," the rather bulky individual of the Wild Wild Pussycats reminded. "From Musutafu to Deika city, he has claimed lives and futures of promising heroes."
"Which is precisely why we are tackling this problem now before it can become a larger one down the line," the officer added.
"Why now? Why not earlier?" Fourth-Kind reprimanded, as Kirishima thought he would. "As you said, he has gone unpunished for far too long. Then why have we, both heroes and the police, allowed this to slip by? Are we so inept?"
"Stain is hardly the only villain trying to make a name for himself," Uwabami berated. "While I'm sure we would all like to be rid of this Stain, the number of heroes actually capable of responding to his appearances in time are very few in number."
"They would need to track him down as soon as possible, from the first hint that he'd appear," Death-Arms added with a grimace. "Which is easier said than done. Stain has proven himself elusive. He will strike only when his target is alone and vulnerable, when they least expect it, which leaves little to no time to even react."
"Then why was it that we didn't try to anticipate his attacks in the first place?" Kamui-Woods asked. "Had we determined his targets beforehand, we could have prevented–"
"Rookie," Yoroi-Musha interrupted. "That is not the solution. The blight has never chosen a target in the same city. Once he strikes, he is long gone from the premises, and we have to determine which district he will be at next."
"And it isn't by elimination either," Mandalay replied. "He doesn't move from one city to the next in any sort of order. It's almost random which city he goes to. If he goes after someone in Fukuoka, after defeating someone in Detnerat, then we cannot rule out the possibility he'll be back at Fukuoka."
"As you can imagine, this spreads our efforts thin, even with optimal cooperativeness with other departments," Genkita reiterated. "However, there is always a pattern. We have deduced that Stain will only strike at night and always one week apart, which is enough time for his trail to go cold."
"Not even investigatory quirks helped?" Mount Lady asked. "Isn't there one that could easily track him?"
Yoroi-Musha sighed.
"They were all among the first targets. The youngin' may be a vile excuse of a human being, but he is not stupid."
"Without an ideal quirk to track him down, we have to rely on more conventional methods," the lead officer continued. "This was why we had called the rescue team, Wild Wild Pussycats, or more specifically…"
"Me," the yellow outfitted cat named Ragdoll. "And my quirk, Search."
"That is what we hope, yes."
"And why hasn't Ragdoll been targeted by Stain yet, if her quirk is so useful in tracking him down?" Fourth-Kind retorted.
"She's never alone, four-arms," Pixie-Bob replied. "We, the Wild Wild Pussycats, are always together."
"Yes, that is one of the reasons," Genkita confirmed. "As a result, the rest of the Wild Wild Pussycats are here. However, that does not mean they will be useless. Pixie-Bob's Earth Flow will help create Earth Beasts to spread our search further. Mandalay's quirk can help coordinate a group as large as ours, and Tiger can serve as additional muscle."
"Additional muscle…" Fourth-Kind muttered. "I take it that I will handle fighting Stain, alongside the absent Endeavor, Yoroi-Musha, and Death-Arms?"
"Your power will be appreciated in pressuring the Hero-Killer should he try to fight back," Genkita replied. "However, we believe he will be too preoccupied fleeing instead, as he has never fought more than one professional hero at a time."
"And I'm going to be helping them track him down?" Uwabami asked as she pointed to the Pussycats. "As frustrating as it is to admit, I'm not that good in a fight. Tracking down the Hero-Killer is all I can do, which seems redundant considering Ragdoll's quirk is plain better than mine."
"Not true," Ragdoll herself argued. "I may be able to observe up to a hundred people at a time, but I can easily lose track of them if I'm not careful. Your quirk can help pick up his scent where my eyes cannot reach."
"This is all splendid, however," Yoroi-Musha's voice took center stage. "I cannot help but notice how we are merely speaking of how to handle the Hero-Killer after we've found him. And we have not exactly found him yet, have we?"
"Thank you, Yoroi-Musha, for bringing that up," the lead officer nodded. "As you all know, his attack interval is a week, which means we know his latest attack is coming soon. These red areas marked on the map are where we believe Stain himself will be most attracted to."
"And the reason?" Yoroi-Musha once again asked.
"The combination of ideal conditions and bait," he answered. "These are all areas set for demolition and reconstruction. As a result, villain activity is at the highest here, due to the fact they serve as hideouts for the recent prison escapees. When villain activity is at its highest, hero activity will also rise in accordance. The rise in hero-activity will surely attract Stain to it."
"Then why have we highlighted areas around the hot spots?" Kamui-Woods asked. "Would it not be prudent to highlight the entire area instead of merely the boundary?"
"Stain is elusive, and thus, will stay out of the limelight," Tiger surmised. "If he were to appear at the center, where hero activity is at its highest, this will also mean it will be hard for him to make a quick escape. The edge, where he can pick up stragglers, heroes who are weak or tired after dealing with villains, is where he will be."
"Our exact reasoning," the officer confirmed once again. "As a result, we've narrowed down the areas to these few. However, this does not mean we are guaranteed in locating him, especially if we are open about it."
"So this is also a stakeout mission?" Uwabami muttered. "I like it. My kind of deal."
"Then this means the 'heavy-hitters' must sit back until the time arrives?" Fourth-Kind muttered. "Fine. I still have things I need to drill into my interns' heads. I know that one of them has been daydreaming."
Kirishima resisted the urge to shiver.
"You mentioned bait?" Kamui-Woods. "I thought Stain's targets were generally random."
"Mostly," the officer admitted. "However, from all the public posts he has made about his cause, we have surmised that there is one hero he would gladly take down if given the opportunity."
"… I see," Yoroi-Musha muttered. "To use that little firebrand as bait, you people have a lot more guts than remembered."
"Endeavor as bait?" Pixie-Bob muttered in disbelief. "Would that even work? Like, would the big man himself agree with it?"
"If it's as a job, he just might," Tiger replied. "However, I have my doubts that an elusive villain such as Stain would allow a personal vendetta to cloud his judgment. If anything, Endeavor's presence should prove to be a deterrent."
"Well, it is just as a secondary measure. We can just as easily have Endeavor sit this out until the climax," Genkita amended. "The plan should go as well without the number-two acting as bait, but having a vastly smaller search area would be appreciated."
"And if the Hero-Killer does avoid Endeavor, we can just have him handle the other villains while we comb wherever he doesn't go," Fourth-Kind said. "That should save us some time. I presume Manual is here to act as a local guide?"
"Yes, that is right," the lead officer confirmed, to which Manual merely bowed in respect to his fellows. "Manual was the only hero available to help with this mission, but that does not mean he will be dead weight."
"I've been in Hosu ever since I was a little kid," Manual added with a smile. "There isn't another hero who knows more than me about this city than me, you can trust me on that. And I can at least run damage control whilst you all fight."
"Not confident in your combat ability?" Mandalay curiously asked.
"As ashamed as I am to admit, without a source of water around, like a fire-hydrant, my quirk won't be much use," he admitted.
"And what about Mount Lady?" Uwabami suddenly asked. "Her quirk is neither suited to tracking or fighting, especially in an urban area such as Hosu."
"True, it feels like she wouldn't be able to pull her weight," Fourth-Kind supplemented, despite the glare he got from the spunky woman. "I suppose she could be useful in restraining the Hero-Killer."
"Mount Lady will not be partaking in this operation."
Wait, what?
Shinso grunted from his chair.
"Pardon?" Uwabami muttered. "Then why is she here at all?"
"She has elected to run interference," Genkita replied. "You see, it is not just the Hero-Killer that was sighted here in Hosu, but the Beast as well."
Beast.
Kirishima froze.
The Beast was here.
He took a deep breath.
The Beast was somewhere in Hosu, while his pro-hero advisor was going to be too busy to supervise properly.
Where was he? In the red areas of the map like Stain? Or was he somewhere else? How could he avoid that thing? Would he end up fighting him again? Would he end up–
"Kirishima!" Someone roughly whispered behind him. "Cut it out. Turn off your quirk!"
Kirishima could only blink in response, but when he did, he gradually noticed that the eyes of his schoolmates were on him. Him, and his hardened arms and chest.
Shit.
"Sorry, I think I ate something bad," Kirishima lied. It was the most blatant lie he had ever told, but he said it with the brightest smile on his face. "Don't worry, I just need to take a dump or something and it'll go away."
Reluctantly, they begrudged him. However, he could still feel a few stares his way. Yaoyorozu, Jiro, Emiya, and even Tetsutetsu. They knew something was wrong with him, just like Bakugo instantly did.
"The Beast and interference?" Yoroi-Musha muttered. "I see. She is to track and deal with the Beast, so he will not interfere with our mission."
"But Yu will need help tracking him down," Uwabami argued. "Maybe I should help her out–"
"No, it's fine, 'bami-chan!" Mount Lady instantly shot down. The resulting confused look from her friend was telling her that something was off. "The local officers gave me full authority to recruit heroes as I see fit. You guys are needed for this mission, let me handle my own corner."
"Are you sure?" Kamui-Woods asked. "I'm certain that some of us here would gladly help, should you request it."
"No worries, we'll be fine," Yu replied.
"How can I not worry," Uwabami retorted. "Yu, you might be one of the better rookies out there, but you're still a rookie. You need backup."
"If the girl wants to go it alone, let her," Yoroi-Musha grumbled as he stroke his beard. "However… we, you say? Do you already have a team of your own?"
A smug look of confirmation graced her face.
"Is it that weird that I have connections of my own~?" Mount Lady mused. "Don't worry old-timer. The new generation isn't as weak as you think."
"On that, we agree…" he muttered, but narrowed his eyes. "Though, I'll have to withhold my judgment on if this 'new generation' can handle leading the 'newer generation'."
Newer generation? Kirishima blinked. What's that about?
"We're getting off track. Settle this later," Uwabami interrupted swiftly. "As long as Yu has a capable team behind her, I have no issues."
"Well, so long as she does as instructed and does her best to prevent the Beast from interfering, I have no complaints," Fourth-Kind stated but narrowed his eyes. "However, what makes you think the Beast will interfere at all? I was under the impression that the Beast and the Hero-Killer are opposed to one another."
"We cannot disclose our sources–" which meant they had moles in the villain underground, maybe. "–but we have reason to believe that Stain approached the League of Villains with the intent to join them. Should that be a reality, then the League will undoubtedly send aid in the form of Kurogiri and his warp quirk."
Oh yeah, that warp guy.
Kirishima frowned. Just thinking about that guy's overpowered quirk–and that day–frustrated him.
"Then isn't this mission damned from the start?" Fourth-Kind berated, fury in his eyes. "If that Kurogiri guy appears, whilst we are in the midst of capturing Stain, then all of our work would have been for nothing!"
"Which is why Mount Lady is running interference," Genkita reiterated. "Between saving the Beast, their long-time comrade, or Stain, a recent member, the choice is obvious, isn't it?"
"You're betting that they'll cut their losses and just rescue the Beast?" Fourth-Kind replied. "Betting on a villain's lack of comradery… I see, but that has its own flaws. What happens if they choose to cut the Beast loose instead?"
"Then we capture the Beast," Genkita confirmed. "Should this operation succeed, we capture either the Hero-Killer–who has tormented hero society for months or the Beast–who is one of the hard-hitters of the League of Villains."
"Win-win, eh?" Pixie-Bob mused. "Why not? Seems like a great idea."
"There are still some details to work out…" Fourth-Kind muttered. "However, we can tackle that when our absentee appears."
"Especially since he seems to be somewhat integral to the plan," Tiger added.
"So we are all in agreement?" Genkita asked to confirm. At the nods from everyone in the room, he closed the laptop. "Very well, let us disband for now. We can begin the operation tomorrow."
"To the professional heroes, thank you for attending." He cleared his throat. "And to the students, please don't forget to stack the plastic chairs. Thank you."
Shirou watched as the professional heroes, who were all varied in specialties, funneled out of the room. However, a few of them told them– the students, to wait outside for them. Apparently, they had some more personal business to oversee.
Which probably meant they were going to talk to each other and hash out details ahead of time, despite the debriefing having ended. That was diligent of them.
Although, to see Yu stay behind in the conference room with a few other heroes brought up some warning signs in his head. He could've stayed behind to eavesdrop, but the officers had all but ushered them out of the station.
Luckily, it was already night outside so they weren't bothering anyone by loitering outside the station, but Shirou still found it a bit awkward realizing that so many of his fellow schoolmates ended up in Hosu.
He had planned to be in the shadows so that he could set up the bounded fields ahead of schedule. He still felt that he could pull it off, especially when the police had so generously revealed a map of the city with Stain's hypothetical locations.
Those were locations that he and Yu were to avoid, which narrowed down the search area for Avenger greatly. It was pretty much either the southern or south-eastern districts that he could be hiding. All they had to do was cross-reference the map data with his own findings today, then they would be set.
Although, Shirou might have to spend time adding minor bounded fields, ones that merely sent him an alert, just in case Angra-Mainyu was detected. It would be easy to key into as well, as all Shirou had to do was trace Tawrich and Zarich, which shared Avenger's aura and presence.
If they got the location wrong, then all it would take is a minute to make his way to the secondary site if he reinforced himself.
"Emiya? Were you listening?"
Shoot, did he get lost in thought?
"Sorry, I wasn't listening," he apologized. "What were you guys talking about?"
"I don't blame you for that, especially since what we just heard was pretty insane," Jiro muttered in perceived solidarity. "I mean, the Hero-Killer is pretty dangerous."
"Which is why students such as ourselves shouldn't preoccupy ourselves with this," Yaoyorozu said. "Remember what Aizawa said in class? We aren't supposed to fight villains until we have our licenses, which is at least a year away."
"We were just there to listen, though," Kendo, the Class 1-B president, pointed out. "I don't think they want us to do anything while they're tackling the case. We might be handling some office work by that time."
"Ugh. Death-Arms is already running me ragged by jogging everywhere. Do I have to be mentally exhausted too?" Jiro complained. However, she eyed their other, more silent, classmate. "Kirishima, you alright? You seemed kinda freaked out back there?"
"Yeah, don't worry about it," he said. "I think it passed. I took a dump before we left, so it should be fine!"
"Gross," Jiro bemoaned. "Whatever. Hey, Emiya, how's your internship going so far? Is Mount Lady also making you jog everywhere?"
Considering his internship so far consisted of him scouting areas for a bounded field, it basically meant he was just moving around. "We encountered a villain on our way here this morning, but other than that, it's been uneventful."
"Ah, I heard about that," Jiro idly said. "It was that explosive pig, right? How was he compared to Bakugo?"
"Woefully underwhelming," he honestly said. "Although, I didn't really do much. It was Yu who took him out."
"I still can't get over the fact you chose your mother over the number-eight," she muttered. "I mean, they both ended up here at Hosu in the end, but still."
"Wait, he rejected an offer from one of the top ten?" Tetsutetsu suddenly shouted. "Why'd you do that?"
Because Yu would let him try to take out Avenger.
"I trust her more than some face on a magazine," Shirou said. "Speaking of which, how's the internship with Yoroi-Musha going, Yaoyorozu?"
She sighed. That probably wasn't a good sign. "That's the second time I've been asked that today."
"She said it's been enlightening," Kendo filled in for her, seeing that she was too exhausted to say anything more. "Speaking of which, I didn't know you and Mount Lady were related."
"I'm adopted," Shirou admitted, which caused a few of those who didn't know to momentarily wince. Why was it always that people gave that reaction? Might as well steer the conversation away from it. "It's fine. What were we talking about again?"
"The Hero-Killer and the internship," Kirishima muttered. "Speaking of which, Iida? You alright… and he's gone. Where did he go?"
"As soon as Manual left the building, he left to follow him," Shinso answered from behind them. "I'd say he looked a bit too determined."
"That isn't a good sign," Kendo muttered. "I heard something happened to his brother. Is that the reason?"
"Since his brother was paralyzed from the waist down because of the Hero-Killer, I'd wager it is," Jiro groaned. "He's going to get himself involved, isn't he?"
"I'd trust his advisor won't let that happen," Shinso mused. "However, you never know."
"Not a vote of confidence, Shinso," Kendo softly berated. "What about you, Emiya-san? I heard you were hogging the gym with him and Midoriya-san last week, along with Uraraka-san. Were you doing extra training?"
"It was more sparring than training," Shirou admitted. He left out the part where Iida basically used him as a sparring exercise against Stain. "You can ask Yaoyorozu. She was with us the entire time."
"Which certainly helped me earlier today," she admitted. "Before Yoroi-Musha even attempted to train me, he made me spar with him."
"That's brutal. Was it anything like Emiya?" Jiro asked.
"He was certainly much kinder than Emiya was," Yaoyorozu said as she sent a glare his way. "Apparently smacking each other with Shinai until your body learns how to adapt is a, and I quote, reckless way to train."
"Emiya…" Shinso sighed.
"That's a little…" Jiro scratched her head.
"… I don't know whether to be impressed or not," Kendo muttered. "On one hand, it sounds effective, but on the other…"
"What's wrong with it?" Shirou honestly asked. "It was how I was always trained."
"I'd say that your previous trainer either didn't know how to train you or secretly hated you," Kendo honestly said. "Right, Tetsutetsu?"
"I'd understand if you had a quirk like mine," Tetsutetsu said as he turned his arm into steel for a short second. "But otherwise, that's just weird."
"Says the sinner who does the same to others."
"Shiozaki, why?"
"You do train by getting hit by your friends a lot," Kendo supplemented. "Like, not even a spar. You just let them hit you with your quirk active. Is that really training?"
"Not you too!"
As his classmates laughed at his misfortune, Shirou noticed a familiar presence appear in front of the police station. One who was supposed to be there earlier. Luckily, he wasn't the only one who noticed.
"Oi, Todoroki!" Kirishima shouted. "You're late!"
"I know," he muttered. "Endeavor had to deal with five villains on his way here."
"He did, did he?" Shinso mused. "Then where is he right now?"
"He went ahead and told me to wait outside. Why?" He asked.
"Oh, there's a lot you need to get caught up with," Kendo chuckled. "Anyways, here's what's going on. You see–"
"Wait, is it wise to talk about it in the open like this?" Shinso suddenly said. "If you want an explanation, ask your father later. I'm sure he'll provide one."
Todoroki frowned heavily but simply nodded in agreement. What they were just told was sensitive. If it got out then the chance that the operation would fail increases astronomically.
However, as the students got back to gossiping with each other, Shirou couldn't help notice the frosty glare he was receiving. Although, it lacked the edge that it had before, back during the Sports Festival.
Shirou knew that they got off the wrong foot, especially after USJ, but you'd think he'd forget about it already. Although, in some twisted way, Shirou found that he understood the condemnation he got.
From an outside perspective, defeating the Nomu in such a brutal manner was unnerving, but it was the only way that Shirou could see at the time. Sure, hindsight told him there was a lot he could've done, but it was too late to change the past.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the sooner they began setting up the bounded field, the better.
Once everyone disperses, when Yu comes back from her impromptu meeting with her colleagues, they'd be able to continue.
If all went well, they'd be able to finally get rid of Avenger.
As long as nothing outside their predictions happens.
Shirou sighed.
Somehow, he felt that he had jinxed it.
Vomit and bile covered the alleyway. A vile trail of bile led any wondering eyes deeper into the darkened corners of the city.
Fortunately for said wandering eyes, their curiosity had been left unsated. Had they followed that itch for a thrill, their bowels would've been spilled across the barf-encrusted floor.
Or at least, that's what Stain kept repeating in his head.
He couldn't afford to be found, even if it meant he would be purging an innocent civilian. His goal, his sole virtuous purpose in life, was far too important to be risked by foolhardy passersby.
He sat hidden behind long-forgotten wooden crates. The night and lack of shadows did well in concealing his form. However, he had a clear view of his surroundings.
Should mindless sheep find him, he would cull the herd…
A knife sharply clattered on the floor.
… if he could, in his present state.
Despite his vigilance, he rested at an abandoned zone. The surrounding buildings were due for demolition, and as such, only construction workers and other criminal elements would be out and about. And even then, they would only be here by day, and the pathetic villains have already learned to avoid him.
Stain was practically safe to hide here.
And yet, he could not help but remain aware.
Perhaps if he wasn't in his current state, he could be more laid-back, able to take the time to stalk out his next target and plan accordingly. However, his scuffle with those fools, the League of Villains, did not go according to plan.
Stain was not a fool. There were limits to what one single man could do to push forth an ideal. His voice could only reach a few people at a time, and not all of those people would even give him the time of day. Even if he tried to push for an online presence, society at large would deny and call him a fanatic.
Fools. They were too entrenched in today's facade, too complacent to reach for a better tomorrow, one free of false idols and full of truly heroic souls.
It was one of the reasons why he switched to his current modus operandi, a more violent yet attention-grabbing solution. It was the only way he could find, one that utilized his talents far more than his past attempts could ever achieve.
Yet it still wasn't enough.
The media, controlled by false heroes, portrayed him in a light worse than some villains of today. It provided a platform for him to espouse his ideals, garnered some like-minded individuals online, but just like he assumed, they were spurned as soon as they made themselves known, leaving the truths he showed to be nothing more than an empty boast.
No. None of them took him seriously. His attempts at bringing salvation to society were so small, so minuscule, that they were overshadowed as soon as a more dangerous threat made itself known.
The Beast.
Unlike him, whose actions had purpose, the fear in the media chose to focus on an insignificant gnat! A fool who butchered innocents without a hint of higher purpose! It was a mockery of his sole purpose in life, that something like that vagrant overshadowed his efforts!
It spat in the face of everything he knew. Without purpose, what meaning was there in action? He needed a new angle, a new method to espouse the truths that society insisted on hiding away, but as a lone man, could not find anything.
So when a new villainous organization made itself known by aiming at U.A. High, capable of attacking and dealing with what amounted to an attack on the heart of society itself, Stain decided to at least try and seek them out. Should their purposes align with his own, then he would've supported them without hesitation.
But it wasn't meant to be.
Their leader, if he could truly be called that, was a man-child without a hint of vision, merely lashing out at what society had done to him. His advisor was even more of a disappointment. Despite having such strong quirks, the aura they exuded was of nothing more than jobbers, grunts trying to strike it out on their own.
Stain wasn't blind to the possibility that that was exactly the case. Their hideout seemed shoddy, yet the Hero-Killer could tell that much more lurked beneath the surface. Their strong quirks were assets that no crime lord would ignore, especially that advisor.
Someone was pulling their strings from behind, one whose intentions clearly did not align with his own, especially if he didn't bother to show up.
But, he was willing to give them a chance. He was willing to cut them some slack, perhaps after giving them a sharp wake-up call by tearing into them for a little bit. With enough force, a person's will and drive would make itself known.
He was willing to try, to bet that the League of Villains would eventually become something that would push forth his ambitions.
He was willing…
… was.
They had the audacity, the sheer stupidity, to have something like the Beast in their ranks!?
Stain felt his gut wrench before doubling over. Once again, he had painted this alley's walls with putrid bile.
It made him want to cry out in rage, to stain this soundless night in a symphony of condemnation.
If it wasn't for that psychopath, his message and purpose would be more widespread! Buffoons constantly drew lines connecting them due to their similar methods, but they were surface level at best! Nothing that Stain did would ever emulate that charlatan!
Overtaken by rage, Stain sought to eliminate him.
Yet he underestimated the buffoon.
Stain's quirk worked on them all, which allowed him to knock out their so-called 'leader' early on in the fight, and the advisor shortly after.
But the Beast was a different story. Whatever damage he would deal against him, even in a crippled and unmoving state, would simply heal as if it never even happened. A regeneration quirk.
Normally, Stain would simply employ his own quirk and keep the regenerative quirk user down, which proved effective versus countless professional heroes before him.
But the Beast's blood, something about it just made him feel the instinctive urge to hate– hurl in disgust.
Black like tar, it was hard for his quirk to even decode and use against him. It was almost funny realizing that the Beast's quirk, one of multiple he had realized, was something that easily countered his own.
However, that realization did not come quickly. As soon as the opening presented itself, he had fled like a dog with his tail between his legs. He wasn't a fool. He knew that defeating that particular idiot would take too much time and effort, which should be used in reforming modern society.
Stain spat a disgusting amount of lingering puke and started to make his way deeper into the alleyways, hidden from prying eyes. His stomach lurched once more, but Stain opted to hold it in. He had to reach his safe house quickly and prepare to track down his next target.
The longer he stagnated, the sooner his message would be lost to the masses, and that was not something he could afford.
Something bled through his teeth. Stain thought that it was merely more stomach sewage, but the texture was familiarly… tar-like.
Once more he decorated the alleyway, yet the stain he left behind was not green bile, but instead, blackened tar.
Stain grit his teeth as he darted away from the alleyway, and landed on the often ignored rooftops.
The Beast had done something to him.
That worthless nobody had done something to him.
That thought made Stain tighten his fists in rage. A myriad of emotions hid beneath his steely exterior, yet there was no denying the maddened hate in his eyes.
What Stain felt for the Beast, for the League of Villains, was unadulterated hate. He wanted to rip their throats out and gorge his knives on their greedy entrails. He wanted to hear their worthless bellows of agony as he rightfully destroyed everything those prideful hacks had–
Stain stopped and spat out another fat glob of black tar.
… Something was wrong with him.
But he had no time to learn what.
Manically driven eyes focused on the shrouded moon.
All that mattered was his next kill, his righteous game.
And once that was done, the Beast was next to hunt.
Next Chapter: Late March
A/N: I blame February for being a short month. This chapter was actually completed yesterday, but I ended up falling asleep while trying to post it. Whoops.
I decided to also mention that what I planned for with Gilgamesh is a long way away, technically post-PLF raid, but plans always change. A lot of what I planned for this story has turned different than I expected, after all.
For those wondering where the chapter for my other story is, it's 99% complete. I just need to wait for Worldbringer's reply, but it didn't help that I basically sent him the chapter on February 28, because I basically didn't finish it until then. Once again, February is an obscenely short month. I think I can actually post something next month, on time. Baby steps.
Also, I did not like this new year for FGO, mostly because I lost all my SQ trying to get Vritra on Christmas, then Muramasa showed up, followed by a Rerun of Space-Ishtar's banner, and then Caren Hortensia appearing to suck what's left of it. I got none of them, by the way. Nothing but an NP5 Diarumuid (Saber) to show for it, but I already have Karna (Saber), whose arguably much better. In other words, I am one salty boi.
I don't think I have much else to mention in this A/N, except maybe subscribe to Ookami Mio, because she said she'd release an Oppai Mousepad at 1 million. That is all.
Until next time,
Kappa
A/N 2: Some of you seem to think I mentioned Shirou would beat Archer in a fight, and got extremely confused as to how that misunderstanding came about. So, I went back to the scene where Shirou thinks about him and probably found the misleading quote. I played a game of 'he' and 'him' so it wasn't clear that I was referring to 'Archer' being able to beat 'All-Might', and looked like it was saying 'Shirou' being able to beat 'Archer. Apologies in advance.
And because I'm still poisoned by fanon, I removed the mention of Gaia's presence affecting projections and whatnot. I'm nipping this at the bud because I don't want to see ten more reviews mentioning it again.
Also thanks to Rakkis157 for pointing out the grammar error.