Dreaming of Stars

by Gushy48

Sanji Inochi, a selfless man who is unable to use his Quirk—Dreams, being considered Quirkless. Through luck and seemingly-impossible odds, he finds his way to U.A. High School in Class 1-B. With what Life brings to 1-B, the society that they live in—the Hero Society—will forever be altered. (x-posted on AO3)

57. Day Three - Our Beginning

Prologue: Mugazuki

"Care for a story, Mister Ikumoto?"

Gin glances over his shoulder. The mayor's seated at a mahogany table, a decorated ceramic cup is in her hands' embrace. Strange, isn't it? Most days, she'd roam around Mugazuki and spend her day mingling with her citizens. Well, she doesn't consider them as "citizens", simply "friends", "grandchildren", "beloved sons" or "daughters".

Whenever she is in the manor, she loves to make small, almost meaningless conversations to ward off silence. Chatter about the weather, the forecast for tomorrow, or debates about the best ingredients to use for various dishes, even discussions in regards to current events like that Rikiya Yotsubashi—Gin hated him, he made sure Kakoe knew. Yet, she stayed here, watching Gin work. He heard not a single word until now.

It doesn't take a genius to know that it's about him.

It hasn't been too long since Kakoe's revelation. Gin racked the information in his head. It was negligence, wasn't it? Being aware of Sanji, even before his entrance into U.A. and his subsequent "popularity" spike, she had years to adopt him. However, it's the will of the "last elder of the house" to leave him be and prepare for the boy when he eventually returns. There are hints of good, solid reasoning, but it betrays all pretenses of basic morality.

None of it made sense. The last elder supposedly predicted his own death, however the hell he did that. Any information about this elder, he didn't have access to. There is that cemetery near the Mugazuki Shrine in the eastern part of town. He visited it often to trim the bushes, yet not a single time did he find a notable grave belonging to a prestigious family.

Especially a family whose manor rested on a flight of a hundred stairs.

Fortunately, it doesn't seem like the family is a thing of the far past. Kakoe refuses to tell Gin the entire story, either diverting the conversation and putting it off for another day, or talking about another topic altogether. However, she's not the only one who recalls their grace. Other elders within Mugazuki remember them, and just like her, they love to talk.

"...Sheesh, I was planning to do some work, Auntie." He turns, rubs the back of his neck, and shrugs. "From the look on your face, this isn't a story for kids. How depressing is it?"

"Sit, sit. Have some tea." She gestures for him. He sits across from her, arms rested in his lap. Kakoe pours him a cup. He cradles it in his palms, humorously noting how small it is compared to his large hands. Blowing the steam off, watching the near-transparent cloud whisk and fade, he takes a small sip. He taste nothing but its temperature; at least his core is warm, and at least he didn't burn his tongue.

"So…?" Gin leads, mind racking in preparation.

Kakoe pauses, her eyes peeking at the open window, then meets Gin's. "What do you know about the family who resided here? You're not a lax man, Mister Ikumoto. Surely, you've done some digging on your own time."

"The weeds, definitely. The family? Yeah. Your friends gave me the bare minimum, I'd say. It was hard trying to piece together what was relevant and what were, err, nostalgia roadtrips." Gin laughs to himself, not fully believing that he survived all those conversations. "Let's see… About fifteen-odd years ago, the family of the manor left for an unknown reason, leaving you, their honored caretaker, in charge. They all up and vanished, never establishing contact with anyone from that point on.

"Except for you."

"Except for me one time, yes…" She nods. "I was a part of them; I cherished them; I loved them. It's a shame it had to end. Sadly, the past always has a way to resurface itself. This mountain village just off the coast, it has historical significance, you know. Great historical significance. Yet the ancestors of this family aimed to keep it secret, so no one, both Heroes and Villains, would be aware."

"You're being vague again, Auntie. Must be a well-kept secret since no one mentioned that. Hell, in terms of first impressions, that'd be last on the list." Gin looks around the room to gauge whether or not this appears to be a cultural stronghold for heroism. It doesn't, not a single bit. Mugazuki is a quaint little place. There's no Heroes or Villains here, no politics, no crisis. It's peaceful.

"I don't fault you for thinking that. Mugazuki doesn't look so fancy, does it? That's by design, I'd say. When you first joined us, I gave you a single rule in regards to your vocation. I hope you still remember."

Gin frowns. "No drinking."

Kakoe laughs. She sounds like she expected that answer. "Well, yes. Congratulations on kicking your addiction, but I'm referring to the master's office."

"I know, just pulling your tail. 'Do not go inside the master's office.' That's the rule. You even put up a sign there." Gin rests a hand on his cheek, still confused why she put a heavy emphasis on that particular room. It's situated at the top floor of the manor, noted with a distinct gold inlay within the double doors.

"Correct. It's the office that the head of the family uses—well, used. You can say that Mugazuki's facade is fairly unimpressive; inside its heart? There's a wealth of knowledge stored there, ranging from historical texts to manuals of techniques meant to be inherited from heir to heir. It has a treasure trove of artifacts from antiquity. I take it upon myself to tidy that room, maintaining its secrets."

Gin clicks his tongue. More questions. Each time Kakoe elaborates, he's left more confused. "How does this relate to your story?"

"In order to begin, you need to read the prologue." Kakoe places a worn journal onto the table. It's a fairly thick journal, at least a hundred pages. The cover's made of leather, dyed a navy blue, bound with a formerly-white-now-beige vertical strip that maintains its form. To Gin, whose eyes are untrained in regards to historical texts, even he realizes that the journal's age is most likely older than he is.

At the center of the cover is a kamon, a family crest. A small indentation is made in the leather, lined with gold foil—remnants of gold foil, to be exact. Time wore the gold down, but Gin's still able to make out the shape. A solid ring, which is a couple centimeters thick, surrounds the center piece: a five-pointed star, and at each end forms another star, resembling a snowflake.

Gin whistles, impressed. He puts down his tea, eyes raking over the cover for any more details. "The prologue? I've never been much of a reader, but I know that this is one long prologue, Auntie."

"I'll annotate for you," she says, motioning him to pick it up. "And we have the entire day. I suspect that we will need every single hour."

"Well damn…" Gin takes a deep breath in, prays that his filthy hands won't soil a precious treasure, and takes the journal in his hands. He cradles it like a bomb, padding the cover with his fingers to ensure that it won't crumble upon the slightest touch. It's cleaner than he expected. Unwrapping the leather strap, he's more surprised that everything is still held together. It's far from the best condition, yet just as far from the worst.

Kakoe really did maintain this journal. Not only that, it was maintained throughout the passage of time, ensuring that it would never spoil. This is a result of tens of years of work, perhaps hundreds.

Just what kind of family did I get myself into…? Hope to God that it's not some weird cult, he thinks to himself.

He opens the front page and reads it out loud.

"For the people of Japan in the future, I catalog here the experiences of the hell that was brought upon their ancestors. It's a time of strife, the destructive 'Meta Abilities' are merely the instigator to humanity's sins. The vile exercises their magliance, and the virtuous desperately combats as both strength and honor wane.

"Specifically, I catalog here our story that took place here in Mugazuki. When my father donned our family's haori, and when his allies returned possessing only that.

"With my grief behind me, I will admit that my actions were not the wisest, but I pray that our family makes it to the new modern day. I pray that the new modern day is filled with dignity and a newfound hatred for all that is evil.

"That is the reason why my father fought. That is the reason why countless others fought. Even to their dying breath, they fought. They fought and died. Many of them in vain, many of them sacrificed. They had no reassurance that there would be readers of my journal, yet they have faith.

"That is all they had.

"This is the story of their rebellion against Shigaraki, and how I, Kakeru, came to write these very words.

"This is the story of my father's passing, a man greater than life.

"Let all who read this know his name: Yorushiki…"

---

Sanji Inochi

"…"

"You lost again, Armory." Edgeshot crosses his arms, contempt hidden behind his mask. I dismissively look away, hands in pocket, rather watching the wind picking up the fallen leaves. They drift. I'm envious of them. "It's the truth, so tell me: why do you adamantly wear that expression?"

"Would you believe me if I said it's teenage angst?" I joke. Why not? We both know the reason why. He's maintaining formality at this point.

"It's no joking matter." Edgeshot steps forward, I hear him. "You do not want to become like Hawks. Heroism carries the lives of innocents on its shoulders, so they should never move in a fit of laughter, lest you wish to witness them fall."

Sheesh, I can't make jokes? Humor is the few things I have left, and he equated it to reckless negligence. Call me a mass murderer. "Okay, would you believe me if I said it's teenage rebellion?"

"…Armory," Edgeshot hissed, his tone a reminder of what he just said. Or maybe it was me defying his authority.

"Are you still trying to 'teach' me?" I ask. In a show of my angst, I kick the dirt. My leg springs in pain, oh well. "You said you loathe me—despised me, whatever word you used, I dunno. You and Midoriya know how much I fell behind. I lost yesterday's challenge and today's too. As we speak, he's eating lunch with Doctor Shirabe and Sage. What do you have to gain?"

"In the most miniscule of hopes, perhaps a capable Hero who will do what's right," insists Edgeshot, both in his dogma and his lies. "I gave you plenty of opportunities to prove yourself to me, yet you failed at every turn. My generosity is never this abundant. In spite of my personal feelings, I am ultimately your instructor acting in benevolence."

"Benevolence…" I mutter. Coming out of his mouth, he taints its meaning. "...Are you sure you wanna run with that excuse? Your ulterior motive is my Quirk. We know that. You're not trying to convince me at this point; you're trying to convince yourself that maybe you aren't a freaking psychopath."

Edgeshot steps up, a distance of about five meters between us. His hands are at his back, head tilted down to me, the hunched-back boy. "Do you want to argue with me now? Perhaps you were right about going through a teenage rebellion, acting against all notions of authority that you place no trust under. Have you any faith, you wouldn't receive this treatment."

I laugh to myself. "What's that called...? Juzo mentioned it to me before… Right right, that's an appeal to authority. That's a logical fallacy or however you put it. I'm not an expert in rhetoric, but I don't need to be one to tell you that you're full of it."

In a flash, I find a hand gripping my throat. He's not choking me out, just uncomfortably holding me. My back's straightened—painful—legs extended—also painful. He says, "Why are you so defiant against the Commission? If you weren't enrolled in U.A. High School, I would've mistaken you as a sympathizer for evil."

"Hah…" I do my best to breathe. He isn't choking me, but my injuries feel like he is. My throat's scratched up from the past few days. I did too much coughing. But in spite of that, in spite of him, I meet his eyes and grin. "...Wh-what's my special training, teacher?

"..." Edgeshot lets go of me, going a few paces away, back turned. "Your family, what recollection do you have of them?"

"That's not training, just an interrogation." I clutch my throat, feeling the rawness inside.

"The first night, you told me that you missed them." He angles his head to the side, glaring at me. Some of his inhibitions are gone. I can tell from the weight in his words. Hah, guess that's my fault. I challenged him directly. "The President is correct: you're hiding a wealth of information. I wanted to confirm the theory, and now I have. Just what do you know, Armory?"

"Some Korean," I sarcastically answer. Well, it's not a lie. "My mom taught me a few words. Lucky for you, I dunno how to curse in Korean, else I'd be rattling off like a sailor."

"...Pointless," muttered Edgeshot. He looked away, face contorted in disgust. "This conversation will go nowhere. You will give me nothing but sarcastic, empty answers. Even when in tears, this fire of yours refuses to be extinguished. Nothing will forward our progress, not by my hands."

"Does this mean you give up?"

He shakes his head. "Do not be so hopeful. It simply means I need to employ other measures."

"Like what—?!"

—WHACK!

"Ah…" I collapse, my vision fading. I felt Edgeshot's hand cracking against my neck. My consciousness oozes like an open wound. My senses disable one-by-one. The last thing my eyes see are Edgeshot's legs, and the last thing I hear is his faded voice. I can't make out his words, but they're making a mockery of me.

Then darkness.

---

"Ugh…" Fluttering water hits my ears, both in sound and touch. Then, the chirping of a bird rattles my head, and following that, a few leaves and branches tumble onto my forehead. My hands pat just below my collarbone, missing my forehead by a mile—evidence that my brain is rattled, great. They gradually pat up until they reach my head, swiping the wet items off.

"Nng!" I instinctively groan, lifting an arm up to shield my eyes from the light. Light sensitivity, if I didn't need more evidence that I'm in a bad shape. They peek through the gaps between the branches and the swaths of leaves dangling from their homes. So I turn my head to my left, seeing that I'm inches away from a small pond.

Doesn't help either. Light bounces off of water, I forgot that. Said light hops into my eyes. Because of my moment of forgetfulness, I flinch, scrambling away from the light like a vampire. I roll to my right, away from the pond and any illuminated spots, and glance around. I can confidently say that I'm still in the same place I've been for the past three days.

It's a forest. There's trees. There's a pond. I'm alone. Thanks Edgeshot. This is his special training. I didn't hear him before I went unconscious—

—CRACK!

I crack my neck. Yup, that's how he did it. Thank God he didn't paralyze me. Back to the main point: this is his test. Since there's no one around, no GMs in sight nor sound, he wants me to go back to camp without any help.

Yup, that's it.

Find the mobile research center on my own. No food, nothing to hold any water, just my wits.

"Crazy…" I rub my head. My vision's blurry. I can't make out the wrinkles of the tree trunk ahead. Lightly slapping my cheek, it's a silly attempt to get myself operational. It doesn't work because it doesn't work like that. Anything to get me to cheer up and outta my head. After twenty seconds, my eyes work as intended.

As I expected, nothing but trees. The quickest way back "home" would be following the track Edgeshot might've left. His departure, I'm certain he left nothing behind being the shinobi he is. While he was carrying me to this location, that would be impossible. He can't hide his tracks, least not as effectively while solo.

Looking for any breaks in the bushes or grass… I see a few. That's where my knowledge of tracking ends. I don't know if they were made by a human or a wild animal or any other causes I'm forgetting. Following one of these paths is no better than going blind.

Gosh, dumped in the middle of nowhere, forced to find my way back with no way to store food or water. Edgeshot wants me to suffer. I don't have a guarantee that he's watching me, so who knows… Acting dead might give me a savior, or alternatively, make me realize that I'm truly alone.

Might as well bet that someone's watching me, right? That's the most reassuring thought I can have. Think positively and nothing else…

But when I take a deep breath in and look around, how can I be peppy? Not when I'm filled with spite and pain.

"…" With no other choice, I drink as much water from the pond before approaching one of the breaks. Broken branches, some of the bush is pushed aside. The others follow the same description. I don't have the eye to tell apart the nuances, or the instinct to tell me which is the right way.

Yeah, there's nothing else for me other than hope. Hope and nothing else. Not a soul to rely on, only this body battered and bruised by that bastard. Nothing else, other than my thoughts that can easily turn against me.

If I admit that this "training" can and will make me go insane, then I'm already losing. This is just a psychological test, straining a person in the simplest way possible: a test of solitude.

I sigh. Let's walk forward, Sanji. Walk forward and don't look back. Within an hour or two, you'll find civilization. Avoid the sun, don't go too fast or else you risk overpacing yourself. Always be on the lookout for surprises.

I take a step forward—

"—Ah?" My head buzzes. I place a hand on my temple, standing there as the sensation floods my mind. It's not painful, just overwhelming, like something vibrating my skull like a tuning fork on glass. It lasts for about ten seconds—

"—We meet again, dreamer."

It stops. I look to the trees and see a familiar figure sitting on a sturdy branch, a man engrossed with white, and a single eye with a golden glow.

Yoru.

"What took you so long? I'm not in a good spot, y'know." I laugh. Yeah, I laugh a lot. I'm glad I have someone to talk to. It might be a voice in my head, a figment of my imagination, but that's better than no one.

Yoru disappears in a puff of white mist, then reappears in front of me. "You did not want to lose your sanity, correct? As your ancestor, I ought to take care of you as if you're my own son. Come now, let's not waste any time. Let's walk."

He phases through all foliage without a care. I have no other way to go, so let's go forward. I might be heading to my doom, but I won't be alone. "Good to see you again, Yoru."

"Hmph. Aren't you afraid of that so-called Hero, Edgeshot, possibly listening in? You can reply inside your thoughts, if you forgot," he reminds me.

I shake my head. "He already thinks that I've gone mad. Let him hear me talk out loud, I don't care."

"So be it." Yoru nods. "We have a long way to go. Are you prepared?"

I shrug. I'm far from the best shape; in fact, this is literally the worst shape I've ever been in. "No. I gotta have hope that I'll make it, right? We might get lucky and find a camp, or wait long enough until Ragdoll fetches me. That'll be a dream."

"Optimism is good. Many would mistake this as a test of your endurance; however, this is torture for the mind. Isolation is a killer. In your state, unable to defend for yourself? It is clearly that Hero's intention."

"Yeah… The Commission is a special bunch. Allies of heroism, some are Heroes themselves, you name it. This is just bureaucratically-mandated training—officially, I mean. What do you think, Yoru?"

"Long-standing bureaucratic entities were never my favorite. Though, in my time, they were all destroyed. Of course, some remnants laid about and tried to chant their former power to everyone's pity. Whether or not that's a blessing, that judgement will be yours."

"Heh… Who knows at this point? Who knows…" I look down while we walk. Yoru's here. I had a lot of questions last time I checked. Yet I don't feel like asking them, not one bit. I'd rather not have a conversation that challenges what I know, or what I don't know.

"Dreamer, do you have anything entertaining to discuss? Perhaps manga, your peers, even politics. The most mundane will be enough to stave off loneliness. It gives your mind sensation."

"Nothing pops up. Can't even stop and take a moment to admire this forest. All I can remember are the lessons that were beaten into me."

"I see… Impressively, you've hung on."

"Knowing that I had a light at the end of the tunnel, yeah. 'Just endure,' I said. No matter what Edgeshot does to me, he can't take away my friends. I refuse to let them go just because of a single Hero's will."

"I see. In that case, you can entertain me, dreamer. Would you like to hear how?"

"Hit me. Err, not literally. Had enough of those."

"Tell me about your life leading up to this moment. I believe it'll do you some good."

"My life?" I pause for a second. "Y'know what? Why not? Since this trip started, I did nothing but contemplate. Question is: where do we begin? There's a lot of points I can pick from."

"Where do you think your story should begin?"

"You tell me!" I say in amusement. My chest flares up in pain, it didn't like that. "From the moment I moved to Musutafu? Or when I wanted to be a Pro Hero? Maybe when I woke up in the hospital when I was five? Even, well, my first memory of my biological family? Do I start there?"

Yoru glances over his shoulder. "The hospital. Imagine the doctors' shock when a five-year old boy was brought in. An officer found him slumped against a dumpster, immediately bringing him in for care. Upon questioning, the boy's memory was shot. He remembered his name and only that. Knowing nothing about the cause of his charred clothes, nor his biological family or relatives, nothing. Unable to find them, unable to determine his Quirk, he was a mystery. It was not completely atypical, others like him existed. A mystery, I elaborate; one of the forgottens. Rare, yes, but far from one of a kind.

"'Another lost child destined for the streets,' they whispered. Having no other choice, they put his life in the hands of the government. Then, they moved onto the next child in need. Their concern began with his arrival, then ended with his departure."

I rub my mouth. I think that's how the story went. "They're doctors, who could blame them? The atypical happens all the time for them. Thinking back on it now, all I can remember is waking up in a hospital bed surrounded by a team of 'em, that's it. Next thing I know, I'm off surrounded by faceless men and women. In the back, other kids like me were there, just as faceless as they were. It's hazy."

"I suppose the years after are just a blur too?"

"Yup. They kinda just... What's the right word? Merged. They merged into a single year. I can't recall the faces of most of my foster parents."

"Well, as you said, you were transferred to a group home. It was your first experience. Do you remember anything?"

I shrug. "Not really. It was an in-between from institution to household. I'm assuming I didn't stay long. Asking if I remember anything important… The words, I guess. Actually, not the words themselves, just the tone. They weren't good. Mocking. Belittling. The other -ings. Didn't matter in the end. The first one who picked me up was, well, I don't know. I can't remember them."

"I see. In my time, Japan wasn't particularly advanced—culturally—to further their child care of orphans or any children in that status. Group homes were prevalent rather than foster care. Though, after the Origin of Quirks, I can reasonably deduce that there were now tens of thousands of those traumatized, and exactly so, tens of thousands of parents heartbroken."

Has child care improved since the Origin of Quirks…? I don't know. I never did any research on it. Juzo might know something like that. Actually, maybe not. He focuses on politics with an emphasis on heroism. I doubt he has an in-depth understanding…

I clear my throat. "The logic makes sense, but you'd need to ask a child psychologist or anyone in that field. Shouldn't ask me either. I experienced the short end of the stick. The foundations may have improved, but I dunno if everything is better, y'know?"

"Very well. Let's move onto your childhood years, then. You were passed between guardian-to-guardian. Was there anything of importance?"

Shaking my head, I gesture that I don't have an answer. Instead of staring into Yoru's back, I let my eyes roam around the forest. "Well, I spent a lot of time outside. Didn't have any friends. Uh, yeah, no friends. I was that weird kid with a weird upbringing, so my classmates in elementary school stayed away from me. About my time in foster care…"

I stop. "...I was withdrawn. I wasn't exactly an upbeat little guy. It was hard for me to act normal, but heh... Many of my guardians didn't take too kindly to an abnormal kid. I wasn't like the others, I didn't have a Quirk that could flash and pop like fireworks, I was confused, bumbling around.

"There was something in me that others abhorred. The peculiarities, the oddities, the silly things that children mock and make a big deal out of, the scorn from adults, the bewilderment in their eyes, the feeling of inferiority—it's, hah, not good. In that single year of my childhood, if there's anything I remember from that… It could be summed up in a single sentence: I hated myself."

Yoru's silent. He marches forward, unwavered by my words, not faltering from the implications underneath. We push through the bushes, making our own trail through the unending forest. Civilization is nowhere near, only the sound of our voices are evidence that we exist. After a few minutes, he says, "You carried that sentiment in your adolescence."

"...Yup." I scratch the back of my head, smiling. "I hated myself! Second verse is worse than the first. Those years were exactly like my childhood, except with older classmates and with a greater understanding of my surroundings. Little kids will make fun of you for small things, but when you hit junior high, the insults get more...personal. What they're willing to do, that's a lot personal.

"Before you ask, I didn't reach out to my teachers for help. Didn't place much trust on them anyway. You would do the same in my position."

"During that time, they had to genuinely consider their future prospects, correct? You had to decide if you wished to attend a Hero School in place of your high school education. Else, you had to enroll in a Hero University after graduation. How many of your classmates were Hero-hopefuls?"

"Most. They adored All Might; they wanted to be as strong as Endeavor, as fast as Hawks, as beautiful as Ryukyu. Initially, I didn't. I kept my head down as they shot off to their friends about how great they'd be. When they boasted about their Quirks, they always give me the side-eye as if to say, 'Yeah. We'd be better than him at least.'"

"Little did they know, you're standing here as one of the most powerful individuals on the planet."

"So what? It doesn't matter. Didn't matter to me back then. I hated myself, remember? I wanted the days to tick by without incident. What made life bearable was the few people who cared."

"Sasori from Nabu."

"He made sure I was taken care of, yup. He's a criminal, but he's not heartless. After that, I ended up in the care of a man named Gin Ikumoto in Kibo. Guess that's where I started. Ironic, isn't it?"

Yoru chuckles. "You found your hope in Kibo." [A/N: "Kibo" can mean "hope" in Japanese.]

I laugh too. "Not at the start. I had guys like Karisuma Suzuki torment me. He terrorized me when we were younger. I still remember some of the things he did to me. He won't apologize for them, but it's not like I'm looking for an apology now."

"You still have grievances. You're not satisfied."

"I do, and that's right. It'll take a lot for me to forgive him, or at the very least, forget. But I'm not tied down by his actions. I have more concerning things, like for example…" I gesture around us. "...Anyway, I'm glad that Suzuki wisened up to his behavior. He's changing. Slowly, I mean. He's still a jerk. Completely a jerk. But he isn't near-psychopath anymore. Who knows… If he keeps it up, he might actually join the Hero Course. I mean, not sure if joining the Hero Course now is the best choice…"

"For your information, I knew many men who wouldn't say that. They hold onto their resentment for their entire lives. You still do, yet you're able to admit your feelings about Suzuki's development. You are more mature than many would led to believe."

"Heh… Mature, right. Kinda funny since I'm not even a legal adult yet. We were far from mature back then. 'Kids will be kids,' as they say. Heh, if I believed that. Just because he was immature, it doesn't excuse his behavior. Kids are awful—and ignore the fact that this is coming from a teenager. Personally, I'd rather not bury the past so easily, but I don't wanna act like a child, holding onto grudges like my life depends on them. That's what he did, and that's why he's moving on."

"You moved on too. In reference to your previous stance on heroism, I mean. You cared very little. That is, until that day. It was an average day like no other. You. a boy in junior high, wandering at his lowest, mind entrenched by your loathsome thoughts. You experienced bullying, ridicule, utter worthlessness, so you resorted to roaming outside with no purpose. That was when you came across a news segment with All Might. He said that anyone could be a Hero. It was his words that took you.

"Only a few, yet they were enough to lift you out of your spell."

"..." The sun spottily shines on my body as we move through the forest, rays of sunlight peeking in and out like we're at a disco. My black and white hair bounces at the top of my vision, caked with dried blood.

"You buried your past."

I clench my fists. "Why would I feel the need to rehash my depressing life? If I wanted to be a Hero, do it and nothing else. Save others and nothing else. Fight the bad guys and nothing else."

"You rejected your life as Sanji Inochi."

"Just let me live as a Hero and nothing else. My life isn't worth living. Its value is in the dirt. If I despise myself, then why not contribute something to society? Countless people were awful to me, but I could never be awful back—I could never be a Villain like Stain or Catharsis, even the Meta Liberation Army."

"To devote yourself to heroism, no one can deny your determination. All the while, you denied your experiences, focusing on the present."

"Because nothing else mattered. I trained so hard to get where I am. With my Adoptive Muscle Memory, it became easy. It's my one saving grace, the foot in the door that was locked like a bank vault. You can say that it was stupidly dangerous of me. In my defense, I never cared about myself in the first place, so it's not like heroism will make me start caring."

"Your efforts bore fruit, let's not deny that. Gin Ikumoto, a former Pro Hero by the name of 'Vilemouth', offered you a place in the home of the Kendos. You met your mentor, Master Kendo, your mother-in-heart, Hayami, and your partner, Itsuka."

"Heh, yup. I moved there. I moved to Musutafu…" I can't hide the smile on my face. It's the best part of the story. "In my new school, I made new friends: Yui Kodai and Setsuna Tokage. Mashirao Ojiro too, but unfortunately, I haven't talked to him as much as I liked lately. It's a little sad; hope that changes soon.

"Itsuka was bitter with Setsuna because she lost the U.A. Recommendations Exam to her. Or did she lose in general? Either way, she didn't like her. Despite her feelings, we needed to focus on the Entrance Exam. We studied hard, trained hard, and we were ready when the day came."

"The day came it did. Let me offer you my congratulations, dreamer. You passed."

I awkwardly look away. "...Yeah. I passed. Absolutely. Ahem, let's move on. I was accepted into Class 1-B, the craziest class there is. Thankfully, Itsuka, Yui, and Setsuna were there with me. For the next three years, the twenty-one of us were stuck together whether we liked it or not. And hell, we loved it. Now, I mean. At the beginning, it was rocky."

"There was the Battle Trials and Operation Dragon Fist."

"Let's make Itsuka and Setsuna reconcile. During the operation, Togaru Kamakiri, son of a serial killer-slash-Villain, lashed out and wanted to drop out. Our teachers convinced him to take some time to reconsider."

"However, you had Golden Week—"

"—Where I was informed that my acceptance was due to a scheduling error by Setsuna's father, Fuyushiro. Ended up rescuing him from a bullet one time, it was nerve-wracking. That's in the future though. During Golden Week, we had an event at U.A. where multiple Pro Heroes preemptively scouted out students before internships. Guess who was there? Suzuki in Class 1-D. We had a game of capture the flag, he got really angry, 1-A handled it, I got injured. Long story short, it wouldn't be the last we'd see of him."

"You refocused your attention on your friend, Togaru. Through a party at Ibara Shiozaki's house, he was ultimately convinced that he should stay. His internal conflict was not properly resolved, yet through your efforts, delayed an irrational decision until later."

"A while after, Class 1-A was attacked by the League of Villains. The leader's name was Tomura Shigaraki. He had the audacity to do something that literally no one did before: assault the Hero Students and try to murder All Might."

"...Shigaraki."

I nod. "Yes, Yoru. That's his name."

He clears his throat. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to distract us from our conversation. Let's carry on though. In order to maintain your place in Class 1-B, you needed to impress at the annual Sports Festival. As you were legally Quirkless, the odds were stacked against you."

"They were. I failed the first stage, yet it was enough to gain the approval of the investors, not to mention the public. For them, err, I've gained positive and negative attention, mostly negative. Suzuki struck again during the Sports Festival, creating rumors that spurred incredibly vindictive students from other classes to harass us. I confronted him and we fought."

"You're more of a delinquent than I thought."

"...I'm not that much of a delinquent. If anything, I think that adds to my charm. Itsuka seems to like it."

"..."

"Please say something, Yoru."

He moves on. "Catharsis, a lackey of the League, just a teenage boy with a Quirk and an unstable mind. He forces those with traumatic memories, intensifying their negative emotions to the point of suicide."

"..." This time, I'm not the one saying anything. A hole begins to form in my stomach as I begin to remember him. Him and all of his words. The people he killed for his own amusement. What a sick bastard…

"You interned under Grandmaster and The Count with your friends: Manga Fukidashi, Setsuna Tokage, and Togaru Kamakiri. The gunman who almost assassinated Fuyushiro Tokage had a daughter. Her name was Hifumi Osuhashi, and Catharsis killed her. It was a message to you, specifically to an acquaintance of yours."

"Shojo Fukidashi, a previous victim. His first, actually. Hifumi's death was blamed on Setsuna at the time but was cleared up after his arrest. To this day, some people still blame her. Could you believe that? Look, I've met irrational people, but they continue to shock me. Think I'll always be surprised.

"Regardless… That time was tough on all of us. We had to catch Catharsis no matter what.

"And we did at the Fukidashis'. He ambushed us there, diverting the attention of Grandmaster and Count to Nabu. Me and Catharsis got into a brawl. He attempted to use his Quirk on me but failed; after that, we had a knife fight. A few lucky hits was all it took to get me down on the ground, saved by Shojo, rescued by Manga…

"Itsuka was really mad at me when I woke up at the hospital, heh. I regret worrying her so much. Despite the spilled blood, a lot of good came out of it. Shojo stopped being a hikikomori and came to school in the Support Course, Manga found his stride, and Togaru left his father's shadow."

And Setsuna… I shut my eyes. When this trip is over, I'm going to bother her so much.

"During your time with Catharsis, a few members of 1-A fought the Hero Killer as well. They had an eventful internship just as you did. The same cannot be said for those in the General Course. That is where the Hero Course Tutoring program came in where General Course students could enter your classes, preparing themselves for future transfer."

"It wasn't that big. It was more for them than myself. A few exercises here and there, I got punched by Hiryu, Suzuki was Suzuki…"

"Suzuki exposed you for your absurd philosophy."

"...He did. It didn't matter though. We had our Final Exams coming up. Everyone but Neito passed, he sacrificed himself to let his friends go in his place. Me and Itsuka had All Might. Believe it or not, we defeated him. Genuinely defeated him. We got lucky, but we won. We could have rode on the high for as long as we wanted. We could brag about it to the entire world, but…"

"I-Island."

"I-Island. Do we need to go over what happened there? It was only a couple of weeks ago if I remember right. Less than that, maybe."

"Do you want to? It's where you met many influential figures, where you were informed of your possession of an Origin-type Quirk, where I emerged…"

"...And where my life as a student began to take a turn. The M.L.A. showed up, then Hassan-i Sabbah, then you. Back home, we were roped into a scheme to defeat the evil corrupting Japan by the roots. This training camp is an example of their resolve. Don't confuse it for mine because I never asked for this."

"That is where we are today. You, Sanji Inochi, traversing through a forest without a guide nor indication of a sure path. It was a brief recounting of your journey, but it's adequate enough. So what do you have to say for it? You yearned to be a Pro Hero, truest in the sense, in order to banish your mortal self and live under the badge of heroism.

"You had no concerns over your health. You insisted on the concept of self-sacrifice as a necessity. The same boy, taken away to foster care, suffered through constant abuse and neglect, what do you have to say for yourself now?"

What do I have to say for myself now? That's a good question. That's a damn good question. There's so many things I can say. These memories are ever-present. I can't forget them. There's no way I can forget them now. Impossible, really is impossible...

Clearing my throat, rubbing my nose, wiping my mouth… I'm stalling. I take a second to suck in a breath, then I tell him: "...Everyone who chided me, their jaws would drop if they knew my potential. But I never intended to prove them wrong. That kind of rhetoric is saved for underdogs, the guys you least expect to make it big. You can consider me one as long as you want, but I never saw myself as that. I didn't want to live for spite. Living as a Hero was everything because I had nothing.

"My life was nothing, but I hate dying for nothing even more. If I could donate my body for heroism, then it'd be a satisfying conclusion. My beginning was uninspiring, so let's just end it big. That's the answer I resided on. I carried that well into my months into the Hero Course. My philosophy, a selfless man acting like a true cape. On the outside, it sounds beautiful, doesn't it?"

"There's a distinct beauty about it, yes. It's the ideology that many fantasize, yet one in a generation could achieve it. To strip yourself of all unnecessary articles, pushing for attainment, that is the lifestyle of a monk. Heroism is a modern-day subset of that practice."

"That's right… Too bad it was all a sham. That wasn't what I wanted. I've always been a selfish man, Yoru. I'm the most selfish man I know. I fixated on one thought..."

"..."

"...I wanted to die."

"..."

"There was no reason to harbor on the past when I knew I will die in the future. Instead of joining the others in a forest, or lay sunken in an alleyway, I could die bleeding out on the street after a job well done."

"..."

"On the surface-level, yeah… Honestly, I just wanted a reason to go on."

"Is that so?"

"Yoru, I never wanted to be a Pro Hero—I wanted to die, and I wanted to live. How crazy does that sound? It doesn't make sense; to me, it does. I became a Hero because I wanted to die, and it inadvertently made my life better. I did that, and now, I realize how much I wanted it.

"Hindsight is one hell of a thing, you know! Did I want to die? I did. Did I want to be a Pro Hero like All Might? I did. However, behind those thoughts was a dream: 'I want to be happy.' All Might helped me pursue it, that's all. Heroism is a means to an end. That's my representation, exclusive to me.

"I only knew the feeling of being unwanted for most of my life. 1-B changed that. And like hell I would give that up. I don't wanna give up my friends, or Master Kendo, or Hayami, or Itsuka, no one! They have no idea how important they are to me! They never knew how starved I was to get a taste of that connection! Or—or just—y'know! They knew I had it rough, but never to the most extreme extent they can imagine!

"They are everything to me! All I had to do was open my eyes and look around!"

Yoru stops at my exclamation. I stop too. The wind breezes through us. A few leaves flutter and phase his body. My shaggy hair is gently swept to the side. Without a word, he turns, stares at me directly. His gaze is burning. From his posture, he's risen himself above my station, waiting to see what I'm going to say next.

I suck in a breath. "I don't wanna die, Yoru."

White wisps begin to burn off his figure. "You have a fiery resolve, dreamer."

"Huh...?"

"I did an excellent job of facilitating your emotions, did I? I could escort you to your destination, yet I believe traveling with that dream of yours will temper you."

"Are you sure…? Once I find my way back, I wouldn't be as sound as I am now."

"Maybe not. It may be a guarantee, but your sanity will remain, won't it?"

I steady my heartbeat. "If you trust me, then I have no choice but to follow."

His head lowers. He doesn't have lips, but he smiles. "As you wish. This is not the last time you will see me. I will appear again in another time of need, perhaps sooner than you might think, perhaps later. You, by your own might, must survive this forest. You have my luck, Sanji Inochi."

"That name seems foreign to me now."

"Could be." Yoru's beginning to dissipate. "Nevertheless, if you wish to live, then live. Many will impede you from your dream, but you are solely responsible for it. No one else is relevant, only yourself. Live, no longer for the grandiose death, rather for a grandiose life. I pray that you will find what you are searching for.

"For now, go on. It will be difficult, but I have faith. If not today, then tomorrow."

And just like that, he's gone.

Alright.

I might scream and shout at the end of this challenge. Might wanna punch everything in sight as revenge for what'll happen, but I definitely won't resign myself to death, like hell I will.

Let's do this.

"Let's live, Edgeshot."

---

Itsuka Kendo

"What's up?"

Setsuna slaps a map of the forest, then a couple more times for good measure. We're in our sleeping quarters off in the corner with Manga, Togaru, Hiryu, and Yui. Guess this is what they've been up to during our afternoon rest?

Setsuna answers, "Planning, that's what. I stole this bad boy from the faculty lounge when you asked us to find Edgeshot's camp."

I raise an eyebrow. "Uh, actually—"

—POP!

Setsuna pulls a black cap off of a permanent marker, drawing a circle in the western side of the forest. It's about six to seven inches in diameter. Looks small on paper, definitely not small in real life. It's too easy to get lost. Way too easy. During our first day, we're lucky that we had to go forward and that's it. Don't wanna imagine anything more complex than that.

"Guess how I found out the location?" Setsuna asks, knowing full well that no one asked her and no one cares. "I counted the seconds between the time you and Mister Kan left then came back on the first night. After getting this map, I did some funky math and calculated the rough location. I'm a genius, but I'm not an anime-level genius. I narrowed it down to a certain radius, however, it's impossible to determine its exact position. That's just crazy. Though, we can more than deduce it using common sense."

"It's impressive that you found its general vicinity, I give ya that. While you can use common sense—" I take the marker from her, "—please use your ears too. You misheard what I said."

I color in a dot within that circle. Yeah, that's the exact location.

"..." Setsuna stares at the dot. We stare at her. She puts a hand over her mouth, makes small tilts with her head from side-to-side, hums a few times like she's mentally doing the math, then sighs, putting her hands on her hips. "...What the hell, Itsuka. How did ya find out? And why did none of you stop me?!"

Yui shrugs.

Hiryu winces, putting a hand on his head. "You were 'in the zone'. I decided against, err, bothering you."

Togaru says, "I let ya do your thing, I didn't give a fuck. Why should I stop a prodigy?"

Setsuna looks at Manga. "Okay, hurtful. But Manga, really? I'm disappointed."

"...No one can stop you whenever you're on a mission," he argues. Can't say I disagree. When Setsuna gets going, she gets going. Not like a speeding sports car, but rather, a boulder rolling down a hill with a house at the bottom. God knows what's gonna happen, and it ain't pretty.

"Will anyone ask how Fists know the location anyway?" Togaru asks with his arms crossed, finger tapping away at his elbow. "No offense, but think y'didn't do the math like the resident big-head here."

"Trust me, I don't wanna be Setsuna's kind of genius." She pouts, I smile back to show that I'm joking. "But anyway, yeah. I visited the faculty quarters, found Ragdoll, asked her where the camp is, she pointed it out on the map, that's that. I knew they would tell me, which is exactly why I didn't tell you to find out."

Setsuna takes the marker from me and whacks it against my forehead. "I did all that math for nothing, Itsuka! What do you want us to do anyway?"

"Stall. Midoriya was able to come back yesterday, but I'm certain that the same luxury won't be afforded to Sanji today." I point to the dirt roads shown on the map. "Tonight, we'll be doing an exercise of sorts—don't ask me what it is 'cause I got no clue. But us and 1-A will be in the woods close to camp. While that happens, me and a few others will take a gander over to Edgeshot's. Ragdoll is our biggest threat because she has Search. That is why I'm gonna ask some of our other friends to raise hell. She can't focus on two things at once."

"I see… Who are you taking with you?" Hiryu puts a hand under his chin. His eyes dart from the roads I'm talking about then to the scale on the bottom left corner. "And who's staying here?"

Togaru cracks his neck. "Y'not gonna ask if this plan will work? I ain't raggin' on ya, but these guys are experienced Rescue Heroes. Dealin' with a hundred different problems is kinda their shtick. Someone gotta make a bomb or set a fire; hell, that ain't gonna work either. If that happens, Ragdoll's gonna pop her Quirk off right away."

Setsuna nods. "He makes a good point. Our diversion can't be so big that Ragdoll will use her Quirk, but not so small that it's ineffective. Wild, not chaotic, you know what I mean? Kinda like Kagesuke running around the dorms wild, that's what we want. But this is assuming we aren't underestimating their competence."

"I don't have any other ideas." I quickly glance at the open doorway, spotting a few of our friends outside doing whatever. Don't see a teacher in sight, that's good. "Mister Kan and Aizawa aren't planning on visiting the Commission's goons any time soon, so it's up to us to make sure Sanji's okay. We don't hafta talk to him. Just see what he's doing then get out."

"You'll get in trouble," Manga says. "It's a long walk from here to there. By the time you're heading back, our teachers will definitely know that you escaped."

"Hehe, what's the worst they can do? Not like they can suspend me or expel my ass. Better a scolding than being oblivious. Hell, we might fail right off the bat. Togaru's right, I admit it. The Pussycats are incredibly capable. I don't care though. I wanna try, and I hope you guys are with me. Feel free to poke holes in my idea. I can always adapt anyhow."

I leave it at that. I let my friends fester over my insane plan. They deliberate to themselves, knowing full well about the consequences. A few times, they look at the map to remind themselves. I catch them trading wordless glances that carry an entire conversation. Manga's obvious 'cause of his head. Dots line up to form a segment of three, then disappear back to one like a loading screen in a video game.

Yui's the first one to give me her answer. "Okay. I'll help."

I rub her head. "Thanks Yui. I knew I could always count on you."

Setsuna raises her hands and shrugs oh-so-casually. "Well, if the beautiful Yui's in this, I might as well. Can't call myself a Hero if I abandon my friends, can I? Let's check up on Sanji. He'd better be kicking ass."

Manga hums, nodding. "I owe him one. This time, he needs us. But uh, count me out of the hike there. I'm not walking there with these legs."

"Same here." Togaru nudges Manga with a shoulder. "Not the legs part, just don't feel like doin' more exercise. Y'better knock Quirkless over the head with a branch though. Make him more of a dumbass."

Hiryu sighs, combing his hair back with his hands. "Well, I guess I'm joining too. I doubt any of our friends will protest, Itsuka. It's just a matter of assigning jobs at this point."

God, I love these guys. I was worried for a second that they might blow me off. Look at me, having a lack of faith in my friends. And look at them, shooting a smile that can make the world go 'round. Even Togaru! Kinda. Half-smile, half-frown. Besides from his goofiness, think this plan isn't so hopeless after all.

I take a second to compose myself. "Alright. First of all, I think Setsuna should be in charge of the diversion."

"Moi?" She puts a hand on her chest.

"Mhm, dunno the French 'you', but yeah, you. You're..." I move my hands around like an artist framing his piece. "...a great example of both wild and chaotic. You're smart enough to create organized mayhem. The others? Mayhem, yes, organized, no."

"Heh, here I am wanting to see my knight again." Helplessly, she shrugs her shoulders. "Oh well, not the end of the world. Count on me. Unless anyone wants to protest to Itsuka's delegations."

No one speaks up. They're fine with Setsuna being in charge for this half. Next decision I need to make is, well, who I'm bringing with me. "For my group, it's dependent on what the Pussycats are doing for our exercise tonight. We'll definitely be split into groups, but I dunno if we can choose 'em."

I tap a small clearing about a few inches from a bend in the westernmost dirt road. "I'm planning on making this our meeting spot if that's the case. If we do pick our own groups? Hurray, that saves us some trouble. As for the specific members, I think you, Hiryu, is a good choice."

"Me?" Hiryu points to himself.

I nod. "Yeah. Like what Manga pointed out earlier, I need someone who's physically capable of making that walk—there's no way we can slow down for a second. I could pick Yosetsu, but he's too impulsive. You're the right balance of fit and collected."

"Guess I'm chopped liver, eh?" Togaru argues, but I can tell he's joking. "Think I'm pretty damned collected, ain't I?"

Setsuna pats his shoulder. "You're the calmest guy I know, Togaru. Pony loves that about you."

He drops his arms. "...Shut the hell up or I'mma decapitate you."

"You can do that. Won't kill me, but you can."

"...Fit and collected, just like I said." I let Setsuna handle Togaru, it's not my problem. Hiryu accepts my reasoning and doesn't say anything else, so he's signing on. I think one or two more will be good. "You guys think Ibara and Juzo would be good?

"For Ibara, as much as I admire her strength, she doesn't have much in terms of cardio. She'd be the slowest one, but she has Vines. In case we need to, we can use her Quirk as camouflage to blend in with the trees and bushes. Edgeshot is a Top Ten, but I bet it's difficult even for him to catch us when it's dark out.

"And Juzo, he'd be the smartest. I think I can do a pretty good job of staying on track, but I'm not a prodigy like this one here—" ("I'm flattered,") "—so Juzo will help out on that front. I don't wanna get lost in The Beast's Forest, especially when it'd be difficult to see five feet in front of me."

"So Catholic's a back-up plan if shit hits the fan, and the comedian's making sure that shit doesn't hit the fan prematurely," Togaru sums. He claps. "Don't see how that fuckin' plan can go wrong."

"You got any better ideas? I thought about bringing Jurota, but uh, he's kinda big." I move my arms to his approximate size. "Not exactly what you'd want when sneaking 'round."

He shakes his head. "Nah. When y'mess up, bet your ass that I'd be laughin' the whole way through."

Manga sighs. "Would it hurt to, uh, I dunno, not laugh if the plan fails? You know Setsuna will make you do something crazy."

Setsuna points at Manga. "He's right, y'know. You're my slave, Jack Mantis."

"I'll bury you in the dirt," he grunts. These guys… Always so argumentative. Can't go a single sentence without some snark or banter.

I nudge Yui. "What do you think, Yui?"

"Mmm." Sounds good. I didn't wanna walk for kilometers anyway.

"...I don't have any complaints on my end," says Hiryu. "The only thing left is to inform the others, if I believe."

Setsuna clicks her tongue, raising the black marker. "Hold on, not yet! We're missing one thing! A name for this operation. None of you are leaving until we come up with a fitting name."

"...I'm leavin'." Togaru tries to walk away, but Setsuna's hand breaks apart and holds him back by the collar.

"Give me a name."

"How 'bout 'Bitch'?" he suggests while trying to yank her hand off.

"Operation Bitch is not a child-friendly name!"

"...Itsuka," Hiryu whispers, gingerly eyeing the two, "why does this happen all the time with these two?"

"Don't ask me." I watch 'em bicker like brother and sister, tossing words back and forth like a snowball fight.

"At this point, I decided to let them go at it. It takes too much energy to fight them…" Manga resigns, deciding to stay in the back. Yui too.

"Sheesh..." I whistle, getting 'em to stop their shenanigans. "Oi, let's get back on topic, alright? Let's come up with a name so Setsuna won't bug us."

Setsuna relaxes. It's a perfect opportunity for Togaru to snatch her detached hand and hurl it into her face. It hits her clean on. Technically, you can say she slapped herself. She yelps, head snapped back. Fuming, she grabs her hand with her other hand, the muscles tensing, before deciding to be the bigger person and drops it. Retaliation, I mean. Not her hand.

"Hmph, thanks for returning my hand." She reattaches her hand to her wrist. It pops right in there. "So Cap'n, got an idea for a name? Since you wanna end this quickly, end it. Well, if I like it."

A name… Everyone's counting on me to come up with a good name… Why do I feel a lot of pressure pushing down on me now? Y'know what, let's say the first thing that comes to mind.

"Starcatcher." I cross my arms, confident in my ability. Really, I hope they don't laugh at me. First ideas are always awful. "Whaddya think?"

Setsuna points her marker at me. "That's a great name! I like it!"

"Actually?"

"Mhm! Maybe there's hope for you after all, Battle Fist!" Triumphantly, she writes Operation Starcatcher on the top of the map. "There! Let's get this started, shall we?"

---

We split our group off, everyone (except Yui for obvious reasons) gathered small bunches of our friends to inform them of Operation Starcatcher. We couldn't simply call everyone up for a class meeting 'cause that's too suspicious. It took more time than I initially wanted, but everyone's in the know and ready to do their part.

Juzo and Ibara agreed to sign on, so I went over the map and the route we'd be taking. The four of us will go through The Beasts' Forest and eventually come to Edgeshot's station that he has set up. We do a little looksie, then head back knowing our teachers will meet us in the middle. Getting caught is a guarantee, yet the actual punishment will be minimal.

Besides that, I gotta trust Setsuna to do her part. Whatever the hell she's doing, it's gonna be, uh, something. Who knows what ideas she has cooked up inside her lizard brain? For sure, pandemonium will happen. Let's just hope no one gets hurt.

Guess right now, we have to wait. It's around six o'clock in the afternoon, but we're right in the middle of summer. Got daylight still, probably won't see dusk until about half an hour from now. It's dinner time, and for the third day in a row, we're eating curry. Not like I'm complaining. It's good curry, but I would've liked some variety.

I already finished. Got nothing but time to kill…

I look around.

My class is in their section, divided amongst themselves, savagely eating their dinners. Setsuna's at the far end with a few others, dramatically proposing her insane Frankenstein-esque idea to them. Neito seems to be eating it up, good for him. He's been enjoying supplementary classes too. Surprisingly, other than harassing 1-A, he hasn't done anything big. This is his big chance to change that.

The rest of 'em… What can I say? Talking, chatting 'bout whatever until the exercise comes, nothing outstanding to report. The Pussycats are outside the dining area, standing underneath the awning of their faculty quarters with Kota, the little kid with the red hat, sitting down and digging at the hard dirt with a pointy stick. I saw Mister Kan and Aizawa head in there earlier. That's where they are.

1-A… After Midoriya came back, he visited them. From what I know, they were worried about his bruises but he reassured them that it's a part of his training. Today, they got fired up. Naturally, Neito said something like "Are we going to let them beat us?! As if!" then everyone else got fired up too.

Ah damn… I'm bored as hell. Bored, thinking 'bout Sanji, the same old same old…

It's been a long time, and we still have gas in the tank. Nothing's stopping me from going further.

Behind the utility shed, a flock of birds grab my attention, fluttering outta there like their life depended on it. Wonder what got them worked up? "Heh…"

"...Kendo!" a voice calls out. I see Pixie-Bob waving her paw at me. Looks like they need me.

I walk up, passing Kota, who gives me the stink-eye. "What's up? Is something wrong?"

Pixie-Bob leans against the concrete wall with innocence twinkling in her eyes, the same innocence I find in Neito a lot. "Nah. We're just wondering about something! Earlier, we double-checked our supplies and found a couple of our maps missing. Do you know anything about that? We asked Yaoyorozu earlier and she didn't know. Well, she didn't actually answer us, Jirou did for her."

Missing maps? Plural? As far as I know, Setsuna stole only one…

I shake my head. "Nope. Not a clue. D'ya think they got lost during the past few days?"

Pixie-Bob tilts her head from side-to-side, pondering it. "Maybe, it's not out of the question. As Rescue Heroes, we need to maintain stock just in case irregularities are about. The smallest things can spell doom for the entire operation, trust us."

"Hehe, I wasn't doubting you in the first place." I tug at my sleeves. "...I got the scars to show for it."

She frowns. Suddenly, she bounces around me, patting my head and arms like I'm a housecat. "You're still gorgeous the way you are, Kendo! Even with your scars, you're a beauty that can drop any man dead! Your boyfriend's a lucky man!"

"I tell him that all the time…" I laugh to myself. Heh, feels kinda nice to be reassured though…

Mandalay sighs. When Pixie-Bob hops herself back to the front, she feels a claw clinging onto her collar. "Let's focus. I know how much you can excite over beauty and all…"

Pixie rubs her cheek with the pads of her gloves. "Hehe, sorry! Regardless, take it from an eternal, youthful girl like myself—you'll turn out stunning!"

"Thanks Pixie…"

"No problem! Stun the bad guys with your beauty and your fists! A one-two knock out in the best way!" She poses, lifting a single leg up and imitating a fiesty cat. I can definitely see why they're ranked high up in the Billboards. They have the aesthetic and the appeal. "A Pussycat like me says so—!"

—BOOM—!

"—Eh?" Pixie's eyes widen.

Mine too.

Everyone's.

At the utility shed, something blew up. I could see the explosion happen from where I'm at. Behind me, a gust of air rushes out. Flickers of Hero Costumes come up at my peripheral, belonging to none other than Mister Kan's and Aizawa's.

"What the hell was that?!" Mister Kan shouts. "A Villain attack?!"

"Whatever it is, stay here, Kendo!" Aizawa grabs onto his scarf. "Watch Ko—" From the smoke, a charred Denki Kaminari walks out holding two thumbs-up, "—ta? Kaminari?"

"Hey hey! Hehe!" Kaminari mumbles like a bumbling idiot. So this is his idiot side. I heard all about it. It's not a Villain attack, it's a Kaminari attack. God, that scared the hell outta me. What the hell did he do…?

I glance behind me, and pretty much everyone is outta their seats, watching Kaminari. He approaches me and the teachers like an explosion didn't just happen! We're aghast, silent, no idea what to say or do. This kind of stupidity is what I'd see with my guys…

Mister Aizawa relaxes. Well, not really. He's not about to fight someone, but he's more than ready to slap Kaminari. Letting go of his scarf, he asks, "What did you do?"

Kaminari giggles, cackling like a little kid on a sugar high. His body wobbles 'round before pointing to the smoke coming from the utility shed. "Generator go boom!"

"..." Mandalay turns to Aizawa. "Eraserhead…"

He rubs his dry, bloodshot eyes. They peek from his fingers, burning holes into Kaminari, more burns than he already has. "I can deduce what happened. Kaminari, after his Quirk Training, revisited it. For what reason? I'm not quite sure. But he accidentally pushed himself too far and caused an electrical explosion."

"I swear, these kids will kill me…" Mister Kan says. "At least it's not a Villain attack. Last thing we need. Anyway, I'll get the medkit. Uh, give him a lollipop or something to make him sit down."

While Mister Kan goes and does that, the Pussycats and Aizawa force Kaminari to sit against the wall, still making a fool outta himself. Think I should leave them be. They have more important things to worry 'bout than a couple of missing maps.

I head back to the open dining area. Everyone's slowly going back to normalcy, murmuring 'bout Kaminari's incident and all that. Think Setsuna has to re-evaluate her plans now considering someone else caused an accident. Just unlucky, I guess. I should check up on her.

I peek at 1-A's side of things to see how they're reacting, and it's about what I expected. Some of 'em are laughing, some of 'em are disappointed, the usual. Bakugo especially—Wait, where's Bakugo? I don't see Kirishima either. They're usually inseparable. Kaminari is apart of their clique too, so why weren't they here? Uraraka isn't either…

"Yaomomo!" I call out to her. She startles, burying her hands in her face. Weird reaction… "Have you seen Bakugo, Kirishima, and Uraraka? Thought they'd be here."

"Erm…" Her eyes peek out of her hands. "...W-Well, they're, uhm…"

"Yaomomo? You—"

"—Bathroom!" Jirou, who's sitting across the table from her, cuts in. "They're in the bathroom and happen to be together."

"Bathroom? Three of 'em out at once? I mean, guess it could happen but…" I glance at the direction where the bathrooms are. "...They're outhouses. They can hold a single person at a time, that's it. Bakugo and Kirishima wouldn't both be out; one of 'em would stay here and wait for the other to come back."

"Uh, they needed to have a private conversation…?" Jirou says, starting off strong then going down to a mutter. Okay, something's up. She's refusing to make eye contact, she doesn't sound confident, and I don't need to mention Yaomomo's strange behavior. Hell, why does Jirou know that the three of them are absent? She's not that attentive. Only Setsuna has that sort of awareness.

The details aren't adding up… They definitely aren't going to the bathroom…

What the hell could they be doing…?

"..." Think, something's bugging you, Itsuka… Something's off, figure it out…

"Kendo," Jirou chimes, "it's not that important."

I ignore her. "..."

"Kendo—"

"—Oh my God. You didn't."

They did not...

"..."

"..."

Fuck.

"Setsuna!" I yell across the tables. Everyone stops what they're doing to gawk at me. "Pop an eye out and check the outhouses!"

Without question, she does exactly that. Her left eye flies outta her socket and away to the bathrooms. She stares at me though, acting like I've gone insane. "What the heck's going on?! I don't see anyone there! No one's inside either!"

Yup, that confirms it! God fucking dammit, I can't believe this is happening! After I just returned from the faculty quarters, I'm going back! The teachers heard me screaming at Setsuna, heightened. Mandalay runs up. I nearly collide into her. She holds out her arms, her soft paws cushion against my shoulders. She holds me there, making sure I don't fall over. "Hey hey, what's going on?! What's going on in the bathrooms?!"

"Have Ragdoll use Search!" I peer over her shoulder, making sure Ragdoll heard me. "The explosion wasn't just an accident! It was a distraction!"

"Wha—? You know what, I won't ask!" Mandalay snaps to Ragdoll. "You heard her!"

"Right!" She pulls down her headset. Her eyes flicker a spectrum of colors, darting 'round like bullets ricocheting off walls. Then, her visor shows various dots over a grid map—her jaw drops. "Mandalay! Bakugo, Kirishima, and Uraraka aren't here! They're heading west!"

"West?!" Mandalay lets go of me. "Where could they—? Oh no."

"Yeah…" I knew that was their destination. After all, it was our plan first: Operation Starcatcher. But 1-A beat us to the punch. Bakugo's way too impatient to wait until tonight to visit Midoriya. After hearing the special training he's getting, there's no way he can sit 'round and do nothing. "...They're going to Edgeshot."

Ragdoll analyzes what she sees. "Kirishima and Uraraka are falling behind! Bakugo's incredibly far ahead of them!"

Mister Aizawa says, "He's using his Quirk. Dammit, we focused too much on Edgeshot. We let this slip under our noses. Mandalay, we need to delegate—?!"

"—C'mon!" a guy cries, a ton of running follows after. I know that voice. It's Sero's. "Bakugo's counting on us! We know the way there, so let's go!"

Sprinting past us is…

RUMBLE RUMBLE!

...The entire class of 1-A. In a blink of an eye, they just fucking ran. I hear them shouting amongst themselves, apologizing to Aizawa even, saying they'll make it up to him later. And Kaminari? Sero tapes him up and the gang carry him off. Doesn't even hinder them from going off into the forest, exactly where Edgeshot's base is. The Pussycats, Mister Kan, Aizawa, they try to stop 1-A any way they can, but there's sixteen of them. They caught not a single one of those guys…

Holy shit, did that just happen?

They knew our teachers would be flabbergasted at the news, but a follow-up assault after that? They'd be floundering. 'Cause of that, they're home free, chasing after Bakugo and the others. Without hesitation, Aizawa chases after them, yelling, so does Tiger and Pixie-Bob. The rest of us are here trying to conceive any sense of rationality.

Ragdoll and Mandalay exchange a look, the one that only your partners can understand.

"What the hell are we doing?!" Mister Kan asks, his voice cracking from the stress. "A whole class literally up and left!"

...I think I need to take control. It'll be bad news if Mandalay and Ragdoll order us to stay here. I don't want that. If 1-A's going after Midoriya, then we're going after Sanji. Before the remaining Pussycats can give us their judgement, I cut in: "Before you say anything, you know how I feel 'bout this. If we're going after 'em, then let's do it on our terms."

"..." Mandalay doesn't respond. She's thinking.

"Bakugo's too far ahead. He'll reach Midoriya before we can reach him. Even if Mister Aizawa catches some of his students, he needs to catch Bakugo. That makes Edgeshot's camp the rendezvous point. It'll be better to have everyone at a single place instead of being fractured with a swarm of trees in-between."

"..." She rubs her forehead. "What about Kota? We need to take him along too. I refuse to make him walk that distance."

I look behind me. My classmates are out of their seats, standing together, waiting for us. "Ibara can handle that. Her hair might have thorns, but they're soft. She can make Kota a carriage or something so he can sit inside."

"Alright, I guess that works. Vlad King." Mandalay looks for his consent. "Your call. Do you want 1-B to follow?"

"I think Kendo made that choice already." He crosses his arms, impressed, a fang sticking out of his lips. Heh, was that something so extraordinary? "Like she said: she wants to see Inochi. If we force them to stay, they might run away anyway. So let's follow 1-A on our terms."

Kota kicks the dirt, not happy with this decision. "Ugh…"

Ragdoll's up and ready to go. "On you, Mandalay."

Mandalay raises her paw, signaling to everyone that we need to follow. Together, we start heading towards the western section of the forest. Ibara starts making that carriage too. Some of us moan and complain, not wanting to start a marathon, while others are pumped up, excited to see Sanji again.

"Class 1-B, listen to my orders," Mandalay commands. "We'd be going through a thick forest, so buddy up and make sure no one falls behind. Consider this your nightly training! You kids hijacked our plans, so let this be your punishment! Do you understand?!"

"Yes ma'am!" we reply in unison.

"Good! Let's go!"

---

Sanji Inochi

"Hey kid…"

"Huh?!" Midoriya jumps back upon seeing me, startled as heck, eyes bouncing up and down from the state I'm in. For a second, I think he mistook me as a Villain or something. He has his arms raised ready to punch me, lowering them a second after.

I wave my arm up and down like a ghost, or maybe a homeless beggar. "...You got food and water?"

"Inochi, where were you?!" Okay, maybe Midoriya doesn't have food and water. Just ignore me, yeah. "You were gone for hours! Edgeshot didn't tell me what happened!"

"Heh…" So Edgeshot really did dump me in the middle of nowhere and abandoned me. I should be horrified, but now? I'm not so shocked. "...Speaking of which, where is he? And the good doctor and daughter?"

Midoriya points to the edge of the clearing. "He's talking with Doctor Shirabe in private, and Sage is in the cabin doing a report or something along those lines! But look at you! I didn't think your lunch session would take so long! What in the world happened?!

He looks so concerned about me, genuinely concerned. He's not faking his worry. No, Midoriya's never the kind of guy who'd fake his emotions. He's a nice man, isn't he? Didn't he just say that he asked Edgeshot and didn't get an answer? How kind. Asking about where I am, questioning his teacher, I guess he did everything he could to help me out. Everything in his ability. He knew me well enough that I could ace his challenge, and I did.

I did. I made it here. Alive even. Trucking through bushes that scratched me, through mud, looking back and forth wondering if I'm going the right way… That was nothing. The hardest part was maintaining a cool, calm head. I stayed sane. Yoru said I would, and I did. It was easy, a piece of cake. Easiest thing I've done.

When everything looked like everything, where left was indiscernible from right, forward looked like backwards, I could count on Midoriya for helping, right? Just count on him…

"...Get me some food and water."

"Inochi—"

"—Please?" I hiss out, my tone in-between pain and anger, body half-slouched over like a corpse. "It's the least you could do."

"Not until you tell me what happened!" he pleads, walking up so we're a few steps apart. I can see his muddy, comically red shoes. I look at mine. They're sneakers, black and white. Used to be anyway. They're brown. My socks are soaked too. Gross. Everything about me is gross. So disgusting and unsightly…

"Haha…" It hurts to do a fake laugh. "...Now you wanna know?"

"It's different—"

"—No no, don't give me that. Don't you dare give me that. I thought you said you didn't have enough time nor energy to worry about my business. But now, judging by that look in your eyes…"

I stare directly at him. His eyes shimmer, containing the selfless glint that great Heroes have. "You wanna save me, don't you?"

Midoriya clenches up. Not from my words, I feel like. It's from my attitude, I know it. He doesn't appreciate how I'm acting. Everyday, we had a conversation just like this, didn't we? But this is different. "You look horrible, Inochi…"

"I looked horrible yesterday."

"This is different."

"Different, you keep saying that, acting like I know what's different and what's not. Answer my question already. Who do you see? Do you wanna save me? Poor little me?"

"I…" He gulps. "You need some hel—"

"—Go fuck yourself."

"What…?"

"First!" I throw my arm out towards where the food and water would be. "Didn't even give me what I wanted! I'm parched, I'm famished! I'm dying here, yet all you can do is stand with your mouth open! If that isn't enough of an indication that this is a goddamn nightmare, then look around and tell me if this entire set-up isn't the biggest red flag in existence!"

"Inochi—!"

"—Let me finish—!"

"—Not when you're acting like this—!"

"—I'm not the FUCKING unreasonable one here!" I shove Midoriya away. Too bad I'm so weak that I barely push him; the shock of me doing it did more than my arms. And pathetically enough, I almost fall, clutching onto Midoriya's clothes to hold me up.

"Inochi…"

"Stop saying my name…" I growl. "…Stop saying my goddamn name already! Is that all you can say when Edgeshot dropped me in some random fucking place and said, 'Go ahead, find your way back! Like I'd care if you die!' Then, I lucked out and managed to crawl back. Then then, hearing you go, 'Oh Inochi, Inochi! What happened?!' like the good, concerned Hero you are?!

"Suddenly meddling in my business when I don't want you to, you said that's what Heroes do, right?! To save anyone who needs fucking saving, am I that pathetic to have you look at me like that?!

"You wanna know why I look like this?! I spent hours in that hot forest, drinking water from any ponds I found, not eating a single morsel of food since breakfast! Here I was thinking that you at least did your best, did something other than being passive, but shame on me for getting fucking angry!"

"Good God, I held onto my sanity by telling myself that I wanted to live in spite of that psychopath! Spending that much time alone, in the worst possible conditions, in the middle of a forest where no one can hear you scream, it was never a cakewalk, thank you very much!"

"I…" Midoriya stutters, paralyzed truly. "I…"

"And and…" I let go of him, rubbing the sweat and dirt off of my face. Too bad my hands are covered in exactly that, so they don't help at all! "And I can't help but think about what I got myself into! This Hero business! Getting treated like trash, like—like I'm nothing! But contrary to what everyone thinks, I'm special, aren't I?! Our Quirks make us unique, but clearly, some people are more unique than others! You get praised, I get nailed in, over and over and over and over and over, over over over! You see it, Midoriya?! Over, over, and over again?!"

Making sure he looks at me, not shying away, he needs to look at me. With his horrified, timid eyes, they shiver at the cheerful smile I'm making, the one when I wanted to replicate All Might's glow. "No wonder I wanted to kill myself so much."

"…" His face contorts. I don't recognize the emotion he's displaying. Pity? Sympathy? Shock? Or is he so overwhelmed that he doesn't know how to deal with me? I don't know how to deal with myself. This anger, this despair, this hope, what can I do with myself other than shout at the first person I see?

"That's in the past now, that's what I tell myself. It'd be good to live, right? With people who actually care about me. I…" I breathe. "...I wanna live. I can't stand being alone anymore. Don't tell me to be a Hero like you or All Might, I'm not like you, never like you…"

I get quiet. "Never… I'm never like you…"

"…" Midoriya creates some distance away from me. He lets me stand alone, breathing heavily, watching me heave, breath quickening…

"The hell's going on here?" a voice appears to my right. I lift my head up to…? What…? Is that Bakugo?

Midoriya turns to him, astonished as I am. "Kacchan?! Why are you here?! How did you…?"

He scoffs, walking over and grabbing a piece of dirt stuck to his clothes. No, that's not dirt… It's something electronic. He flashes the device then tucks it into his pocket. "I convinced the heiress to pin a GPS tracker on ya. Think a nerd like you will get away from me? As if. The Commission bastards are a special kind of stupid if they gave you personal training from a Top Ten and not me. Or maybe, they're so afraid of me passing you that they had to accommodate?"

"…" I stare at him. I dunno how I look, but I bet I look defeated. The one person who could've sneaked in… It had to be him. It just had to be him.

Midoriya scratches the back of his neck. "It's not what you think, Kacchan…"

"Really? Y'really gonna say that to me? Pfft, fucking hilarious, Deku!" He laughs, busting his gut over the funniest joke in existence. "Don't try n'lie to me, nerd. You wanna be as strong as All Might right? So stop telling me this bullshit, it's training, what else could it fucking be? Here's what'll happen next: you're gonna convince Edgeshot to let me join, or I'll blow everyone here to kingdom come! I don't give a shit 'bout the politics going on, but thinking I'm gonna let you surpass me… I oughta kill you for thinking I'm an idiot!"

"Are you…?" I stumble back, shaking my head. "Are you serious?"

Bakugo leans his head over. He sees me in all my glory, from head-to-toe, from shoulder-to-shoulder. His expression loosens, in awe that I'm in this state. "Holy shit, the hell happened to you? I was ignoring ya earlier, but damn. Did ya get hit by a bus or something?"

I inhale, trying to keep myself steady. "Edgeshot. This is his training in the flesh..."

"Eh?" He stops. The arrogant grin disappears. Bakugo glances at Midoriya to confirm what I said, he nods. He sticks out a finger at me, wagging it slightly. "You seriously look like that after his training? What kind of a wimp are ya?"

"I'm a what?" I say just above a mutter.

Midoriya interrupts, "Kacchan—"

—But Bakugo nudges him away. "Pfft, this is fucking rich, isn't it?! Did you forget 'bout what you said back at I-Island?! You bragging that you beat All Might with your girlfriend?! You're just like Deku here, tryna be as great as he is! Now look at you, covered in mud and smelling like dogshit! Having these puppy eyes, wanting other people's pity, like hell you're gonna get it after the talk you've been doing!"

I mutter, "Shut up…"

"Why the hell did the Commission set you'n'Deku up with Edgeshot anyway?! Huh?! Y'gonna answer me, big guy?! Shoulda been me, dammit! They're sayin' that not only Deku is stronger than me, a Quirkless guy like you is too! You can barely stand as it is, dumbass! I can knock you over with a single finger!"

"Just shut up…"

"Must be one weak bastard when even this nerd looks like a supermodel when compared to you! Why be a fucking' Hero in the first place when you can't even handle training from a Top Ten?! I gave you the fucking thought of maybe bein' able to fight me seriously, but now?! Forget that! You're just an extra whose luck finally ran out! So drop out so I—?!"

—BAM!

I headbutt Bakugo. I hit him directly in his nose. I'm weak, but my skull is hard. Nothing's changing that. My forehead cracks his nose wide open, causing blood to pour from it. He exclaims, shouting from pain, a hand covering the middle of his face. A brief flash of shock runs across his eyes. I guess even he can be surprised.

I don't hesitate to go further. So I grab him by the shoulders and headbutt him again, directly in the same spot. Bakugo trips on the second go-around, causing both of us to fall to the ground with me on top of him. His nose is battered and bloody, matching the same shade as his eyes, which are glaring up at me, still stunned from what just happened.

"Shut up…" I mutter. "…Just fucking SHUT UP! What the hell did I do to deserve this?! What the fuck did I do?!

Midoriya comes up from behind, tugging on my arm. "Inochi, get off of Kacchan—!"

"—Get the hell off of me!" I push him away just barely. "I don't—!"

—BAM!

Bakugo throws an uppercut, nailing me in the chin. I don't have the resilience to take the hit. Each muscle attached to my jaw whine and groan; it feels like they'll snap from the tension. Gravity overtakes my strength, my body falling backwards. At the bottom of my eyes, I see the volatile flare of his palms. "You fucking bastard—!"

—BOOM!

He sends his open palm into my side, perpendicular. It feels like a shotgun just blasted a ton of concussive force into me, let alone the potency of that explosion. It's strong enough to launch me, back-first, into the mobile research center, my back cracking against the hard metal sheets. A small dent is punched in, and I get punched out, falling flat on my stomach, groaning, grabbing at the dirt like that'll make a difference.

"...Uuugh… Hah…" I hear someone running up to me. Before I know it, I'm lifted up and held by my throat. A flash of blonde runs through my vision, then complete darkness as my head slams against the research center. The sound of yelling drones in my eardrums, but I can't make out what Bakugo or Midoriya are saying…

SLAM!

I get slammed into the metal again. Color and light flicker off and on like a light switch. Sometimes, I see Bakugo ready to kill me, then Midoriya's green hair, then back to Bakugo. Despite the fact that they're so close to me, their voices are a canyon apart. Not a single word is translated to my ears, just random noises that vaguely sound human.

My consciousness can't hold up.

Before my body tells me to, I shut my eyes so I can take a quick nap.

---

"...Where's Edgeshot?! Where the hell is he?!"

"Don't fucking touch me, your best friend nearly killed mine!"

"Ragdoll, can you find them?!"

"In what world is this acceptable?!"

"Stop yelling! Everyone calm down, we can't—!"

"—Auntie, these are what Heroes are: just idiots killing other idiots…"

"Don't say that, Kota! I—Oh, dammit!"

"..."

"...It's chaos, isn't it?" someone says. Their hand is soft, yet gripping onto mine so tightly. It's like they're afraid of letting go. "Hasn't been that long since you blacked out, y'know. I blinked once, we found you. I blinked twice, this happened. I probably would've joined the fighting if I didn't see you lying on the grass."

"..."

"Everyone's arguing against everyone. Some of us are ready to tear the heads off of 1-A 'cause of what Bakugo did. Our teachers can't keep order. So much for being Japan's next hope against the M.L.A.; just look at us."

"...Yeah," I weakly say, dehydrated. "Water, please…?"

Without a word, she tips a water bottle into my mouth. I drink it down, savoring the tasteless flavor. Best water I've had.

"Thanks Itsuka…"

"No problem."

I stop looking at the carnage in front of me, instead turning to the sky. Would you look at that, it's night. I see a hint of color, remnants of the sunset that must've occurred about ten, maybe fifteen minutes before. It's not completely black out, not completely orange either. It's enough for a few stars to come out of hiding, being the first ones confident enough to stand without their crowds' backing.

I can't just lay here, can I?

"Let's get up. I don't feel like lying down," I tell her. I hear her tsk.

"Jeez, really? You don't know when to stop, can you?"

"With this 'round? They'll never stop, so don't see why I have to stop either."

"You're gonna die at this rate, but fine. Can you stand?"

"Help me up so you can find out. I managed to stand this far."

"Alright. Up you go." She wraps my arm around her shoulder, picking me up onto my feet. It's surprisingly a smooth process. I'm surprisingly more stable than I thought. Maybe Edgeshot's training did something good for me. "Where to?"

"Sage," I tell her. "The robot."

"I know."

Without anything else to stop us, we let the screaming go on in the background. I might be the source of the conflict, but no one notices us leaving. They're too focused on each other. We head around the back of the mobile research center, finding Sage there with Pixie-bob. I guess she's tasked with getting anything out of her.

Pixie sees us first and gasps. "Inochi, you shouldn't be—!"

"—Missingno!" exclaims Sage, turning the monitor on her robot towards me. Her eyes are red and puffy. I'd bet. This is her first time truly meeting people other than the Commission's, and this is what she gets? Screaming and yelling, blood ready to be drawn further? I'd be crying too. "I'm sorry I didn't stop that blondie from—!"

"—It's fine. Nothing you could've done," I assure her. I didn't see Sage before I passed out, but I can assume she was watching Bakugo pummel me. It doesn't matter. I don't blame her for anything. "Your mom and Edgeshot haven't shown up yet?"

She shakes her head. "No! I don't know where they are! They got up and disappeared!"

Pixie nods. "Ragdoll's trying her best right now, but with all the distractions, she's having a difficult time focusing. At any moment, a mass brawl could start. That's when Eraserhead and Vlad King have to pull out all the stops. We can't control your classmates, Inochi. Not right now."

"They're the ones who want revenge," Itsuka adds. "Trust me, I want revenge too, but they're instigating a fight, especially Yosetsu—even Togaru if you believe it or not. Everyone's heated, including our teachers. While they're trying to wrangle both classes, keeping themselves in check, they're also watching out for Edgeshot, not to mention what's going on inside this tin can here."

She raps her knuckles against the mobile research center.

"...Are you guys saying that this is my responsibility?" I ask them.

Pixie-Bob lowers her head. "The conflict happened because of you. It sounds harsh, but it's definitely true! As a Rescue Hero, I don't want you to take responsibility for this. You shouldn't be able to stand. Trust us, we can resolve this without anyone getting hurt."

Do I wanna stop this? Me? After getting put through the wringer? No, not really… I'd rather do anything else than controlling a crowd. It was easy on the first night, but this is different.

"Alright," I resign. "I'm sorry I brought this on you."

She shakes her head. "We should be the ones apologizing. You should've never gone to Edgeshot."

"..." I go silent.

"Missingno…"

"Sanji—"

"—Do you think you can talk to them?" I ask before Itsuka can finish. "I'll be fine, don't worry. You don't have to look after me anymore. I'll just hang out here with Pixie and Sage."

Itsuka gives me that look.

"Y'know, maybe I'm lying about being fine, but you know what I mean. Please?"

She sighs, rubbing her head. "No promises. I—?"

—Ragdoll appears from the corner of the mobile research center, disorientated. She has her paw to her ear, frantically turning, spinning around, focusing on the edge of the forest. Her visor… I can make out the dots. They're representations of the people spotted by her Quirk.

"Ragdoll?" Pixie runs up and shakes her out of her trance. "What's going on?"

My head starts buzzing.

Sage lets out a gasp. "Guys…"

Chills run down my spine.

I look at Ragdoll's visor again. I see the visual clearly. We're a cluster of dots, bunched together like peas in a pod.

But there's a ring of dots surrounding us.

Pixie's pupils dilate, realizing what it means. "Oh God… Tell me it's not an error, Ragdoll."

Terrified, Ragdoll slowly shakes her head. "It's not an error… We need to—!"

—THUMP!

Something lands behind us. We turn around. A masked man wearing a top hat and a beige trench coat stands on top of the mobile research center, certain in his stance. With a cane in his right hand, he taps the sheet metal, however, everyone is already looking at him. There's no more arguments, no more yelling, no more screaming; all eyes are on him.

We're his audience.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Or as they say in France: 'Bonsoir!' This is the first time we have met, pleasure to make your acquaintances. I would shake your hands, each of you truly, but I'm a germaphobe, you see. I am—"

"—Quiet," Mister Aizawa says from the other side of the center. His capture weapon coils out to wrap around the mysterious man, only to have him throw a blue marble into the air.

And the man turns into a mud-like substance when Aizawa's scarf just slightly tightens around him.

POP!

Out from the marble is the exact same man, replacing the first one. He dusts off his trench coat, then taps the roof once again. Did that just happen…? I think it did… Who the hell is this?

"What the hell…?" Itsuka mutters. "That's the same guy…"

"He can clone himself?" Pixie says, but Sage shakes her head.

"No…" Sage's eyes begin to glow green. "...That's not his Quirk."

The man clears his throat. "Wow, that is awfully rude of you, Eraserhead. That serves as an example if any of you interrupt me. I can simply finish my introduction with another me—after all, the cast of this show is none other than me, myself, and I—so regardless of what you do, you have to stay and listen to the end."

As far as I know, no one takes the chance.

"Where was I? Ah yes, the germaphobe." He paces back and forth in an exaggerated manner, throwing his legs out, each stride a taunt. "I am a germaphobe, you see. I'm afraid of the bacteria that thrives on your skin. The blood, sweat, mucus, even your disgusting snot, I'm afraid of getting a single bit on me. You Heroes are poisonous in everything you produce, and I am inclined to avoid getting sick, thank you very much for your understanding.

"'What do you truly want, masked man?' you may ask, and I may answer. I simply want to combat the foolish system you constructed. That is my purpose in this life I'm given! Much as it is yours to propagate the values instilled into your brains! You war against villainy!

"I wish to war against the wastingly wealthy wenches and well-off warriors wading through wastelands of wanting and wages warping walls where the weakened and wobbly watch and wait in woe, walk wearily, warded like wasps!"

THUMP!

He thrusts the tip of his cane into the metal so hard that he pierces it. Realizing that he did, he groans, solidly gripping the shaft just underneath the handle before pulling it out. Spinning it around his hand, he begins pointing it ahead. "War, as I said. I wager that I am a waker, and you are sleepers. You dream of heroic sheep, I have nightmares of bloodthirsty hounds.

"What will happen next… It will be my wail, our declaration, our beginning!

"Haha! Thank you for being patient and listening to this old soul.

"I respectfully admire you, genuinely as true as this body so—" He takes off his hat and bows, "—do me the pleasure and refer to me as 'Mr. Compress', a member of the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains! Adieu!"

League of Villains?!

Before I can react, he reaches into his side pocket—!

—TOSS!

And throws multiple of those strange balls.

"Compress!" yells Sage. "He can compress anything into those marbles! Watch out!"

Sage's words are drowned out. The shouting starts again, and a fight's breaking loose. A laser goes through Mr. Compress's chest, and just like before, he collapses into mud, laughing as he "dies". That man is a fake just like the first one. He's not doing the cloning, someone else is.

Itsuka grabs my wrist. "Sanji, we need to—!"

"—Itsuka." I stare ahead. A thick purple gas slithers in like the wind, blowing towards us. Mr. Compress was a distraction. While he monologued, he allowed for the gas to surround us. When we realized what was happening, it's too late to counter it.

Pixie-Bob, whose eyes are stricken with horror and reality, mouths: Run.

DRRRR—!

—SKEWER!

Behind us, white lines of I-really-don't-know impale and pierce the mobile research station, shooting at least fifteen meters into the air like electrical pathways on a motherboard, jagged and sharp. So strong and sturdy that the entire thing is lifted off of its supports, held up by the lines themselves.

It's going to fall on us.

"RUN—!"

—SLAM!

Pixie-Bob and Ragdoll. They move in a blink of an eye, grabbing me, Itsuka, and Sage's robot and throwing us ahead, nearly at the border where the gas meets clean air. I don't look back. I can't look back. I don't know if they're okay. The center nearly crushed us all, and it would've. A second later and we would've been smashed into paste.

But…

But Pixie-Bob… Ragdoll…

They…

Oh God...

I don't wanna look back…

I'm afraid that… That if I look back, I would see their corpses. I would see their corpses, and I would stop. I would see them, mangled, broken, nothing but bloody corpses. Knowing that just a second ago, they were alive and talking, and next, they ended up like that.

I can't look back.

I have to run.

Me and Itsuka exchange a wordless glance. Don't focus on each other. Just get out alive.

I suck in as much air as I can, covering my mouth and nose, and rush into the gas. It stings my eyes. Only a few meters in and my visibility is awful. I know there's open fields ahead for a good while, but I haven't gone in that much. Already, I know that I wouldn't be able to see a thing if I continue for a few more seconds.

It'd be impossible to find Itsuka, let alone Sage—at least she's stuck in a robot.

I can't focus on them.

I need to survive. If I stop for them, if I stop for Itsuka, we would both die.

Just run. Don't look back, don't turn around, don't wait for anything. The moment I breathe in this gas is the moment I collapse. I'm lucky that it isn't toxic to my skin; otherwise, I'd fall down dead in an instant.

Just run. I'm beyond the border of the clearing, diving into the forest. I need to pray to God. If I hit a tree or trip just once, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from gasping for air. I need all the luck in the world.

Because I can't see. The gas is irritating my eyes, so thick that it might as well be a natural disaster. It's swirling too, almost like a typhoon. As I go in deeper, the sound of the swirling gas gets louder, drumming against my ears. I take another step in and my fingers and toes begin tingling. It's taking my senses away, dizzying me.

My lungs are reaching their limit. I don't know how far I ran, but I'm gonna run out of air soon. Running for this long without taking a breath in, I should've passed out near the beginning.

My vision's going hazy again. I feel like going to sleep. I can't. That's the gas talking. Just keep running.

My shoulder grazes a tree. That's a close call. A centimeter over and I would've bumped into it and fell. I need to count my blessings.

I run, sprinting with no sense of direction. I'm not focused on anything else, just the mere act of running. I can't tell if I'm running straight or in circles, I just am.

I'm at my limit. My body's telling me to stop. My legs, abused by the treatment from the past few days, can't take any more. My lungs feel like they're spasming, ready to burst outta my chest like the monster in that one space movie.

—But just as I'm about to drop and crumple, I emerge from the gas. The clean air stabs at my skin like small acupuncture needles, ridding the toxic chemicals I bathed in. For a second, my body doesn't register that I'm free, still holding onto my breath. But that's when I trip on an exposed root, rolling with the momentum of my marathon, tumbling through and over other roots and bushes. I'm scratched beyond relief, bleeding all over the grass.

But I'm alive.

Barely.

I take a good breath in as proof of my effort. Then another, because I can't get enough. And another—I cough afterwards because I got too greedy. I cough again, going into a fit. I lay there like that, alternating between breathing and coughing, waiting for my body to readjust to normalcy.

It takes about a minute or so. After it's done, I reach up and grab the nearest tree, using it to hoist myself back onto my ruined feet. I can't stay here. I might've escaped the gas, didn't escape the Villains.

There's an unknown amount with an unknown amount of clones.

I can't fight. I'll lose within the first bout. I need to get as far away from here as possible.

Using all of nature as a support, I limp away from the fog of gas behind me. I get as far as fifty or so meters, trekking through the dark by myself. I stop there. My feet feel like they're bleeding. Gotta take a small rest…

Just—

—RUSTLE!

I stiffen up.

"Hero or Villain?" I crack, trying not to sound miserable.

"Villain," someone says. They're using a voice modifier, so they sound more like a computer than a human. They emerge In front of me, about seven meters away. I'm greeted with man in a mask shaped like a plain sheet of printer paper, but he doesn't have a top hat or a trench coat like Mr. Compress. He's in all black. I can barely make out his jacket and pants, maybe a glimpse of a bodysuit underneath all of that.

Shit.

"...Just my luck," I mutter, shaking my head.

He stands there, unmoving. "I tracked you, Armory. It's not your luck, only me."

"What's the difference?" I ask, pushing myself off a tree. I meander a tiny bit ahead, wobbling, falling to my knees for a second, but able to lift myself upright without needing something to lean on. He doesn't seem to be intimidated. I wouldn't be either.

The Villain reaches into his jacket and takes out a pistol. Can't tell the make or model, but it's definitely modified with various attachments. Like a suppressor and extended magazine for one, well two to be specific. He steps forward, and almost instantly, he lowers his head like he's wincing. "...What did Edgeshot do to you?"

I laugh. "Is it so bad that someone like you is asking that?"

"Apparently." He raises his pistol, holding it with a single hand, barrel pointed to the sky. The moonlight emerges, shedding luminescence on the rims of his mask, the suppressor gleaming with an edge. "I'm an assassin like the Commission's Nagant. I'm here to see my contractor's will through. Yet seeing you like this? Makes me believe that all of this is worth it."

"Are you really gonna say that before you shoot me?" I clench my fists.

"...Fair point. It's nothing personal, Armory. In America, your funeral would need to be closed-casket." Swiftly, he moves. His movements don't waste any microsecond on needless deviations, utilizing each moment to their last. He presses the barrel against the middle of my forehead.

My heart skips a beat.

"Before I pull the trigger, I have a couple of questions: Do you know the name of your ancestor? My contractor's interested in your Origin-type Quirk."

...He wants to know about Yoru? No wonder I'm marked for death. Whoever his boss is, he wants me dead. Being the descendant of a Vigilante, it must've mean that our bloodline is infamous where even Villains are afraid.

But here I am, a pistol to the brain, a finger away from death.

"No," I answer. I'm not giving up.

"Alright." He pushes the barrel against me with a bit more force. "I wasn't ordered to do this, but I'll make a judgement call: Do you want to join us? As a Villain?"

I pause. "What kind of a question is that?"

The assassin leans his head to my right a small bit, his navy blue hair swaying in the gentle breeze. "A Hero did this to you. I wouldn't be surprised if you said 'yes'. Regardless of your answer, it wouldn't hurt to ask."

"I pass." I fidget. It's not that comfortable having a gun pressed against my head. It's not comfortable knowing that I'm seconds away from death against a professional assassin. The odds aren't in my favor. Even then, I grit my teeth, breathing. "Do I get any last words?"

"If you want." At least he's polite. It's now or never. I need to at least try. It's impossible to win or escape, I know that. But if I hold out long enough, then someone will come.

Sucking in, I tell him: "I regret wanting to be a Hero."

"So be it."

He inhales.

POP!

I'm not dead. I used his breathing to mentally time his actions. When I see his finger ready to pull the trigger, I jerk my head to the side, moving outta the way of the firearm's trajectory. I avoid getting shot square in the head, but my hearing's shot—pun not intended. It might be a suppressed pistol; however, it's still incredibly loud when it goes off next to your ear.

WHIZZ—THWIP!

The bullet picks up dirt behind me.

I close in, wrapping his main arm with my own, straightening it out and trying to put it in a bad position. I'm not skilled in jiu jitsu, but this is the best I got. His gun presses against the side of my right thigh. I yank his arm down further, bend my knees, and wrestle for control, ensuring that his arm is immobile. At least, that's what I believe. He's not struggling against me, like he's letting this happen.

The assassin sighs. He sounds disappointed. "You want to die fighting? So be it."

"Huh—?!"

The assassin overpowers me. He drags his arm back, forcing me to be pulled along with him. My hold is utterly ineffective. Why? I can point to everything and I wouldn't be wrong. As a result, I can't stop myself from overstepping and losing my balance. I—!

—POP!

"Gah? Ah—!" A bullet tears through my right thigh, almost point blank. He managed to lift his arm high enough, just enough to do that.

The burning sensation is unbearable. My legs almost give out.

Desperately, I pull out my Plan B: while I was pushing myself off of the tree from earlier, I managed to snag a good-sized rock from the ground. I untangle my left arm, right hand firmly grasping his main wrist, and let the rock slide down my sleeve and into my palm. The assassin tilts his head, and that's when I slam it into his mask.

"Urgh!" he groans, head snapped back. The jagged edge and weight gives me enough wiggle room, stunning him for a brief second.

I push his gun hand off, the barrel pointed nowhere near my body, and aim.

—SLAM!

With the rock, I smash his fingers curled around the grip, trying to break as many inner joints as possible. Taking out his index, his middle, anything I see. I use every ounce of energy I have to break them. A loud crack echoes from the impact, a cry of pain from the assassin soon after.

It worked.

His fingers are jammed. I knock his gun out of his hand, happening easily actually. His weapon falls to my right, within a few steps of us. I—!

—WHAM!

"Guh!" He shoves me with the weight of his body. I let go of his wrist, hand instinctively clutching the rock. His ponytail flickers as he spins, the sound of a whip clashing the air, and finally the impact of a sledgehammer striking my chest. He kicks me squarely. It's overkill in my state. The hole in my thigh, how weak my legs are from the get-go, it's more than enough to tip me over.

THUD!

I fall on my back, my nerves singing.

"Ah… Dammit…" I refuse to give up. When my legs are gone, I'll use my hands. That's what I do: clawing through the dirt, pulling on each blade of grass, grabbing onto anything to leverage myself away. Yet, in the corner of my eye, I see him.

He's checking his hand, shaking it. He's in no rush.

I'm here, feeling the blood pouring out of my leg and soaking my pants. In the span of ten seconds, I traveled a few inches. I don't have the strength to pull the full load of my body. My forearms spasm at the thought.

My heart's racing. It's bad. I can't race, because if it does, then it means I'm pumping blood faster. If I pump blood faster, then I'm bleeding more. If I bleed more… If I continue to bleed, I'll die.

But I can't get it to stop. I can't hear anyone. I can't see anyone.

I—

—CRACK!

THUD!

A bullet hits the left side of my skull at an angle. It ricochets off.

I stop moving.

My heart rate slows.

I go limp, simply staring at the night sky covered by the trees. A darkness darker than the night begins to creep into my vision. That is, what remains of it. I can't see out of my left eye anymore.

"Hah… Hah…"

Can I… Can I get myself outta this one?

"Ah—hah… Gah…"

My luck really did run out…

"Uuuu…"

This is how I'm gonna die…

"…You're still alive," he says. He appears. Pistol in hand, the smell of gunpowder, and the taste of blood in my mouth. "I told you it would be closed-casket."

He aims his gun.

Somehow, I lift my right arm, hand extended. I reach out, trying to grab it. Too far. Or I'm not reaching far enough…

POP!

In the chest. My arm drops.

POP POP!

Two more. I can't feel the burning sensation anymore. The pain too.

POP!

Last one. I can't move.

"I have nothing against you, Armory," he says.

I'm dying, aren't I?

I'm...dying…

Feels like my control is slipping away…

Everything's leaving me...

Ah… No one's gonna help...

This sucks, doesn't it…?

Itsuka… Hayami… Master Kendo…

I blink. I'm back home. "Hey you two. Dad's over at the dojo, waiting for ya. Don't keep him waiting for too long; don't keep me waiting either. I splurged and got us a hearty dinner for tonight."

Setsuna… Yui… Manga… Togaru… Everyone...

And I'm back at the dorms. "Heya handsome. Need some company? Let me regale you of one of my masterfully-crafted stories from a prodigy herself. Well, more like a manga I stole from Shojo recently… Besides the point, I love it and I need to rant to someone. You're my victim."

"Oi, the hell you want? Just tryna study for the fuckin' test we got in Ectoplasm's. You wanna help? Pfft, Fists rag 'bout you bein' awful at Calculus, but why not? It'll be hilarious seein' you fuck up."

"Hey dude! Me and Kosei are gonna game in the commons, wanna join? Really though, I need someone on my side 'cuz I know that asshole's gonna cheat. Once I catch him red-handed, it's not gonna be the only thing that's red."

Yoru…

I don't wanna die…

"Little one, I'm sorry."

Lemme take it all back…

"Sweetie, forgive me for not being a better mother…"

I don't wanna be a Hero anymore…

Just let me go back…

"...We could've ran away, y'know? If I didn't get cold feet, we wouldn't be here. I could've defied our fate. I could've damned Japan without a care. And I wouldn't. I wouldn't care..."

Just let me do anything…

Anything to live…

"...Heroism. Villainy. Why do they matter when we're trying to live peacefully?"

Please…

I'm begging you, God...

"...But someone has to, right? That's why I wanted to be a Hero. I needed to be your Hero. But I can't. I didn't defy destiny. I will never become a Hero."

Give me a second more…

Let me see everyone again…

"...You won't understand…"

Mom… Dad…

"Farewell, Armory."

"...You need to be a Hero."

He...ro…?

POP!

---

Author's Notes

Holy shit, did Sanji just die?

Anyway, let's talk about this chapter. This is the pivoting moment in the story for *very* obvious reasons.

For one: We have the starter scene with Gin and Kakoe, revealing that Yoru *fought* against All For One and perished. The reason this scene happens in this chapter is because it occurs in the same day as the rest of the scenes. Which leads us to Sanji, the main focus. Edgeshot makes him go through a forest alone because isolation is one hell of a thing, especially when you feel like shit, and trust me, Sanji feels like shit. It's hot, he doesn't have food, water is random, it's only natural that he will feel *some* sort of mental break. That is, until Yoru popped up. He was there to essentially act as a pillar of support, which lead him to his conversation topic: A summary of Sanji's life.

If you don't know already, then this is pretty damn important. Sanji himself is finally narrating on what happens with his life from the moment it "began", that moment in the hospital. It serves as a recap for him to realize his own progression and for him to realize what he truly has. Especially when he confesses to Yoru that his selfless act was, in the end, a ploy to sacrifice himself in the name of something good. It's suicide. He wanted to be as selfless as possible in order to die with satisfaction. He did it for his own gain, which ironically enough, made him selfish. It's the sole reason for his character in the beginning chapters, and the reason why he wanted to console in no one about his past: he wanted to forget about it precisely because it wasn't relevant. Sanji essentially recognized that heroism can be a suicidal ideology, and due to his mental health at the time, brought into it.

But the story happened. Like what he said, Sanji wanted to die for heroism, and that inadvertently made his life so much better. Living in a better environment, now being able to look back in hindsight with new eyes... Really, he was begging for someone to bring him out of that state. Thankfully, he has a ton of people who did exactly that. All it took for him was to open his eyes and see it.

Really, he never wanted to be a Pro Hero to save others. He wanted to be a Pro Hero to be happy.

Unfortunately, that leads us to the rest of the scenes. Operation Starcatcher is meant to show you that 1-B isn't remaining idle, but then 1-A performed their own trick. That transitions back to Sanji, yelling at Midoriya and fighting Bakugo. He did maintain his sanity, but he didn't maintain his composure. Of course he would be pissed, and Midoriya was the first person he saw. Midoriya didn't give him good answers, so he snapped, ranting. Then, Bakugo came in, the one person who could make this worst. It's not Bakugo's fault for not understanding the nuances, but of course he'd be adamant on joining the training. Given from the previous beef as referenced in I-Island, it naturally resulted in Sanji assaulting Bakugo.

And then the Vanguard Action Squad Invasion... Mr. Compress introduced himself, and feeling confined with no other options, Sanji and Itsuka ran into the gas. Sanji encounters Incognito, and you know what happens.

What the fuck will happen next?