Chapter 5
"Moving on, the biggest news story of today: U.A. High School's Hero class, Class 1-A, was attacked by a villain group called the League of Villains while they were having a training lesson at a more remote location on the school's campus," a male news reporter spoke for a channel as he sat at a table next to a female reporter. "The League of Villains' goal was to kill the Symbol of Peace, All Might, but he was not there at their initial entry into the school's facility."
"The students of Class 1-A were scattered around and forced to defend themselves against real villains at such a young age. Fortunately, none of the students were injured by the villains. One student had a self-caused injury but is expected to be fine. The two most concerning things in this villain invasion is that a student was kidnapped by the villains, and this same student is also suspected to have been the cause of a villain's death during the attack. U.A. staff has not said anything about the matter, and the student's information is being kept confidential."
"What kind of hero student would kill another person, even if it is a villain? There has been a recent rise in villain attacks. Is this news going to make daily life harder for heroes and civilians? The last thing we need is hero students acting like villains," the female reporter finally added her own words. "This is not something that should be forgiven by U.A. He or she must be punished. Granted, we do not know any specifics about this situation, so it may be a little more complicated than punishing the student so quickly. However, in order for the student to be punished, the student must be taken away from the grasp of the villains first. There is no word from U.A. or the police as to what will be done for that, but we believe there will be a group of heroes who will be on this job to recover the abducted student…"
Mashirao Ojiro turned his television off with the remote in his hand. These reporters, don't know anything. They're just saying whatever will grab people's attention the most. Although, they're not wrong. Killua needs to be punished for what he's done, but the prerequisite for that is to get him back. The heroes don't know where the League of Villains are. It could be a while till that happens.
But, Killua, I've calmed down now. I got over what you did. Ojiro took a deep breath as he sat on his sofa with one leg propped up on top of his other crossed leg. Obviously, you saved me. But you killed the villain. Could you have saved me without killing the villain? Probably. You could've knocked him out like you did to the rest of them. But in your hurry to save me, you forgot to hold back on your Quirk. I get that. It makes sense. But, the blond teen bit his tongue with a look of frustration on his face. I don't like what the result was. I might never think of you the same way now. I do hope you're safe, though. His face softened as his mind raced of the possibilities Killua could find himself in at this moment.
"Well, this is wonderful," Shigaraki groaned through grit teeth and several hisses of pain. "These gunshots hurt. Kurogiri, fix me up. At least we got a prize for all that trouble."
Killua scowled at the villain covered by hands. "Who's running this show?" he asked Kurogiri before the warp villain could grab supplies to help Shigaraki. "There's no way it's that clown. Is it you?"
If Kurogiri could raise an eyebrow right now, he would have. Shigaraki, on the other hand, was trying to claw his hands onto Killua's face. "You stupid brat! I'm in the charge of this! Wait till I'm better, I'll squeeze your face and destroy it!"
The silver haired teen rolled his eyes and snorted, which only served to anger the villain more. "Like I'm scared of you," he retorted with narrowed eyes and a low voice that sent chills down Shigaraki's spine.
The villain covered in hands calmed down and faced Kurogiri. "Get the stuff, whatever you need. Make the pain go away, and cover these wounds. It'll take a while for this to heal, and before I can fight again." The smoke villain obeyed and opened some cabinets to get what he needed.
While Kurogiri was helping Shigaraki, Killua observed where he was. For one, it was pretty dark. A few dim lights on the ceiling lit up the place. He looked to be inside a bar because there was a countertop with a few stools in front and several alcoholic drinks behind it. Kurogiri quickly finished wrapping Shigaraki's wounds.
"You're a bartender?" Killua asked Kurogiri and Shigaraki.
"Yes, I do bartending quite often," Kurogiri replied vaguely to the boy's question.
Killua took a seat on a stool and put an arm on the counter so he could lean on it. "So, Shigaraki, what do you want from me?" he asked.
"Did you kill one of those pawns I brought with me?" The villain cut right to the chase.
"Yes," Killua replied with no hesitation.
"Very good," Shigaraki applauded the boy. "That's what we need. Tearing down this hero society would be fantastic. What better way to do it than to convert a hero student into a villain?"
The silver haired teen rolled his eyes again. "Sorry, I don't take orders from people anymore. I have a different proposition, though."
"What makes you think you can get away with not listening to my orders?" Shigaraki mused.
"For one, you're injured, so you'd hardly be able to enforce your orders by using force. Two, I'm not really feeling threatened by either of you." He scoffed after his second sentence to show he was confident in himself.
Shigaraki glared at the teen with one visible eye through the hand on his face. "Heh, you're pretty stupid if you think I wouldn't be able to handle a kid. But, to truthfully answer your first question, I actually don't run the League of Villains. My teacher hides in the shadows and orders us what to do."
Killua raised an amused eyebrow. "I thought so. Who's your teacher?"
"I have no obligation to tell a cocky brat such as yourself," he spat in response.
"But you told me there is someone else who runs this…organization," Killua countered. "Why can't you tell me who?"
"Teacher would rather remain anonymous," Shigaraki answered, wincing at a sudden jolt of pain he felt from his wounds. "You don't need to talk to him yet. Right now, you need to show your loyalty to us."
"Is that a bad joke?" Killua asked with a raised eyebrow. "Loyalty to you guys? You literally kidnapped me. How do you expect to have my trust? And plus, I'm not scared of you, so, I don't think I'll ever show loyalty to you or your cause," he added because he knew it would infuriate Shigaraki.
However, everything Killua said, it was all a bluff. Killua needed the villains more than the villains knew, but he could not let them know that just yet.
"You brat, I'm really going to kill you," Shigaraki threatened with a hiss of pain.
The teen ignored the villain and turned back to Kurogiri who had not said anything in a while. "I need to talk to you. Alone. Tell this man child to go play with his toys."
Shigaraki began scratching his neck to contain his rage. "You are my toy. And anything you need to tell Kurogiri, you can say in front of me too."
Killia continued ignoring the hands villain, which only served to fuel his anger. "How about it?" he asked Kurogiri.
"No way, you're staying here and speaking in front of both of us, or neither of us," Shigaraki growled but was ignored again by the teen.
The warp villain darted his eyes between the boy and Shigaraki. "Tomura Shigaraki, please excuse me. I will talk to the boy in private and see what he wants."
"Fine! But you'd better tell me what it is afterwards," Shigaraki ordered.
Killua snorted. "Fat chance." He followed Kurogiri to a different room in the bar and closed the door behind him. He was not worried about Shigaraki creeping up to the door and eavesdropping. After all, Killua would be able to sense if someone was coming.
"What did you want to say?" Kurogiri's voice was apprehensive.
"Your Quirk is some sort of teleportation?" he cut straight to the point.
"Yes, why?"
"Do you know the full extent of the powers your Quirk has?"
Kurogiri thought for a moment before answering. "That is an interesting question, but my answer would be I believe so. However, it may be possible that I am missing something."
Killua nodded, happy with the honesty. "Like what? What do you think you could be missing?"
The villain thought carefully about his answer again. "I am not sure if I should tell you. You are a U.A. student, training to become a hero. I would be giving away my powers to someone who could potentially capture me. You tell us you cannot trust us, so how can I trust you?"
The silver haired teen frowned and his eyes narrowed. "You make a good point, but I don't really care about you or the League of Villains. And if you can't trust me, why go through the trouble of bringing me here?"
"Well, those were Tomura Shigaraki's orders, and I followed them," he responded honestly.
Well, in any case it doesn't matter." Killua paused for a moment. "I don't care to become a hero either, though."
The villain was silent for a few moments, thinking about what Killua's thoughts and rationale could be. "Then why join U.A.? In the Hero course, no less?"
"I'm not from around here. I live far away. Really far. If your Quirk could send me back to my home, that would be fantastic," Killua stated in a low voice. The tone in the boy's voice confused Kurogiri a bit. Perhaps the boy was from a very far place he could not travel to? In that case, how did he find himself in Japan?
"Airplanes travel to most countries in the world, as do ships-" Kurogiri began before stopping himself at the shake of Killua's head.
"I can't travel in a standard way to my home. A Quirk brought me to Japan. I need to find either that Quirk, or someone else's, who can send me back," Killua spoke in half truths. Alluka did not really have a Quirk, but it could be considered one by the people in this world.
"A Quirk brought you to Japan…?" Kurogiri was so lost from the boy's explanations. "And you cannot travel home by airplane or boat? This must be a very remote area. Where do you come from, boy?"
"Really far," was Killua's only response.
Kurogiri narrowed his smoky glowing eyes. "That does not explain anything. Stop trying to beat around the bush here. I cannot tell you if I can send you back without you telling me where you come from. The way you are talking right now, leads me to think you are an alien of some sort. Are you suggesting I believe that?"
Killua's heart froze. Kurogiri hit the nail on the head with that one. His outer facial expression remained neutral thanks to the years of practice he had during his assassin training. What do I say? This is such a hard situation. Maybe, the truth? They're villains, and now they've made themselves known. There's no way they would go to the media and tell the world that I'm not from here. No way, right? I should just tell him the truth, or…nah. "You can interpret it however you want. But I need to go far."
"That's…not helpful. But, I am sure you have a reason for asking all these questions, so I will take what you say with my own interpretations because you give none yourself. But, young man, if you are somehow from a different world, I do not think my Quirk is capable of sending you there."
Killua nodded, expecting as much. "That's fine. I didn't say I was from a different world. You're only assuming that. I'll be on my way now." He opened the door and spotted Shigaraki sitting at the countertop of the bar and watching the news. The media outlet he was watching was talking about the dead villain who was found at U.A.'s U.S.J.
The villain chuckled when he saw Killua. "The news is already on you, kid. Forget your dream of becoming a hero. Join us now, before you become my enemy."
The teen yawned and put a hand to cover his mouth. "Nah. Kurogiri doesn't have anything for me. My work here is done." He began stepping towards the door, but Kurogiri warped himself in front of the boy.
Shigaraki began cackling from his seat. "Kurogiri, what did our guest say to you behind that door?"
Killua shot a glare that promised death at Shigaraki, and then he showed the same glare to Kurogiri. "Don't you dare…" he trailed off as Kurogiri ignored him and began speaking.
"He wanted to know the extent of my Quirk and its applications. He may be from a different world and requires a Quirk to send him back to his."
The hands villain got off of his seat and stood up with bad posture due to his wounds. "That's almost impossible to believe, kid. Out of all the lies you could tell, you told that one to figure out his Quirk?! Well, in any case, you are still a kid."
"What's that supposed to mean? I didn't even say I'm from a different world! You understood him wrong, Shigaraki." Killua stated in an annoyed voice. If Kurogiri had nothing to offer him, he wanted to leave and return to his room where Gon would most likely be waiting.
"If it's a Quirk you're after, Teacher has many of those," Shigaraki ignored Killua's attempt at riling him up. He hid a smile behind the hand on his face. "If you do what I say, I will let you meet him, and he might be able to help you."
The silver haired teen was about to retort with a rude response, but he noticed the television screen flicker and turn fairly dark on its own, a colour akin to dark grey. Complete black would mean the screen was off entirely, but dark grey meant it was on but nothing was playing. A voice was heard, but Killua did not know who it belonged to, or whether it was the person's real voice or if it was modified.
"Greetings, young one, Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri," the voice greeted. "Boy, what is your name? I would rather address you properly."
Killua could tell the voice was a no-nonsense person. It had to be someone powerful – perhaps Shigaraki's teacher? He did not feel the need to lie. "Call me Killua," he responded.
"Very well then, Killua. You may have your suspicions about who I am. I will not confirm or deny them. But, I may be able to help you. I cannot talk to you much right now. I would appreciate if you come back to us at a later date, perhaps in a week? If you agree, you may leave whenever you wish."
"And if I don't agree?"
There was a moment of silence before the voice spoke up again. "Well, I do think you would be useful for our cause. Tomura Shigaraki, you did well by bringing this boy here. You have made a good decision."
"Thank you," Shigaraki replied happily.
Killua raised an eyebrow. In these past minutes, he had never heard the villain be so…excited? Maybe that was the word the ex-assassin was looking for. Whenever Shigaraki spoke, it was like he was constantly mad at me, or something else. But when this guy from the TV praised him, his demeanor became different. This TV guy is definitely, Shigaraki's 'teacher'. "What exactly is your cause?"
"To kill All Might," Shigaraki stated plainly before the voice on the screen could reply. "That's our goal. And you will help us in it."
Killua snorted for a third time since he was at the villains' hideout. "Yeah, no, that's a terrible goal. You could never kill him."
The silver haired teen felt a flare of killing intent directed his way. He internally scoffed at the show. I could do waaaaaay better than that, he thought with a smirk.
"I will disintegrate-" the villain began but was cut off by the voice from the screen.
"Shigaraki, do not hurt Killua," the voice commanded. The killing intent vanished from the atmosphere. "He will be useful for us. In exchange, Killua, I may have a lead that can help you in your struggle."
"How do I know I can trust you? I can't even see your face."
"Believe me, you do not want to see my face!" the voice let out a small chuckle. "But if you do not wish to trust me, that is fine. It is your loss, after all, for giving up some information that could prove useful."
Killua narrowed his eyes and glared at the screen. "Isn't it your loss, because I am apparently useful for you? And there's no guarantee you can help me, so I'm not really losing anything, am I?"
"That's a foolish way of looking at it," the voice countered right back. "But I will leave your foolishness up to you. Now then, I must get going. If you want to come back here and talk to me again, come back in exactly one week. No earlier, no later. Farewell, all three of you." The screen turned off and went completely black.
There was silence for a few moments before Killua spoke up. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys when I see you." He made sure to be vague about his decision to come back here or not – he would talk to Gon about that first.
"Are you coming back?" Kurogiri inquired.
Killua shrugged. "Told you. See you when I see you." Without another word, he silently walked towards the door as was usual of the assassin's quiet footsteps. He exited the bar and found himself face to face with a lot of cement. The tall buildings around him indicated that he was obviously in a city, but he had no idea which city he was in or how to get back to Musutafu, if he was even outside of it in the first place.
Strolling around for a bit, he found out he would have to take the train to Musutafu – an option he could not take because he had no money. He checked the distance between the cities on a computer in a public library, and he estimated it would take him about an hour to run back if he used Godspeed as much as he could. But, there's probably not a path for running that much…I don't think this world imagined someone would want to run hundreds of kilometers. Threatening someone to take me back would be a piece of cake, but that wouldn't go so well if other people were around. Law enforcement, and society as a whole, is a lot more strict here than at home. I don't care about them, but I'd rather not make things harder for myself in the long run.
In the end, Killua decided he would run back. Not on any road, but off the road, through forestry and random buildings he would pass by. Buildings were very common along the populated area of southern Japan, but Killua sped through and people did not even notice someone had ran by at inhuman speeds.
As expected, the teen reached his motel in roughly an hour. Gon had been waiting in the room for a while and threw a fit when Killua came back so late.
"Where were you? You didn't come to our meeting spot after school…" he asked as he trailed off.
Killua raised both eyebrows in surprise. "Did the school not say anything?"
"Say anything? About what?" Gon peered with his huge eyes. He put a finger to his chin. "All they said was something bad happened at a U.A. building. Was it at that rescue training place you went to?"
"Yeah, villains attacked the place and stuff happened. You want to why I was late?" Gon nodded enthusiastically. "Well, there was a villain who had a warping Quirk. A teleportation one, kind of," he added when noticed the confused look on Gon's face. The green haired teen nodded in understanding. "I thought he could maybe teleport us to our world, if his Quirk allowed that. So I hatched a sick plan to get their attention. I killed an amateur villain and then I let them take me back to their base. I figured they might like a hero student who killed one of their own. I don't know, I just had a feeling about that one."
"Ohhh…so what happened to the teleportation villain? Can he help us?" Killua's best friend asked, completely ignoring the talk they had a bit over a week ago where Gon did not want to associate with villains.
Killua shook his head. "Nah, it doesn't seem like it. He said he can't go super far."
"Wait, did you tell them we're from a different world?"
The silver haired teen leaned back and plopped onto the bed. "No. I just told him I come from a really far place. I think he assumes I'm from a different world. Or at least, I think he had that idea," Killua added as an afterthought.
"Hmph, and you yelled at me for telling Principal Nezu that we're from a different world," Gon frowned at his best friend.
"Hey, I said the villain might think that I'm from a different world," Killua defended. "There's only a chance he thinks that. At least I left it up for his interpretation." The teen closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Unlike someone else who straight up told Nezu the truth." He opened one eye and peered at Gon to watch the green haired teen's reaction.
"Okay, fine," Gon sighed and threw his hands up in the air. "But what happened with the villains? While you were with them?" He took a seat on the chair.
"Well, some voice from a TV, I think it was the leader of the group," Killua began. "He said he might be able to help me. If I want to find out, I have to go there in exactly a week. Otherwise, I threw the chance."
Gon was beaming at his friend. "Then go! He can help us!"
"Idiot! How could you trust someone you don't even know, or haven't even met, so easily?"
"Well, if he can help us, why not trust him?"
"I don't think he'll do it for free, Gon." The silver haired teen shook his head. "He definitely wants something from me. He said I was useful for his cause, whatever his real cause may be."
"Wait, you don't know the villains' cause?" Killua shook his head for a no. "Then why did they attack U.A.?"
"Oh…" he trailed off as he thought back to earlier in the day. "Yeah, well, they want to kill All Might. They failed at that. Maybe that's what the TV guy's plan is. I don't know, I don't care. Not my world, not my problem." Killua laid back on the bed and folded his arms behind his head.
"Killua…that's not how you should be thinking…" the green haired teen frowned again. "It's actually really cool that we came here! I miss home, but I don't mind this!"
"Yeah, well, you don't genuinely have something…or someone, actually, waiting for you at home," Killua muttered, thinking about a certain someone. "Your Aunt Mito knows you go off on adventures all the time."
"You're thinking about Alluka, aren't you?" Gon asked softly. "And Aunt Mito would miss me! I haven't wrote anything to her in so long! She's probably so worried!"
The ex-assassin fondly smiled at the mention of Alluka. "Yeah, she gave me purpose in life. I had something to do. The rest of the time, I was really just following you, or Kurapika, and helping you guys in your goals. Never had anything for myself, until protecting Alluka and exploring with her became a reality."
"Don't worry, Killua! We'll get back home! And I'll help you save her, just like I got you back from the Zoldycks four years ago!"
Killua smiled again. "Thanks, Gon. I don't know what I'd do here if I didn't have you for some entertainment. So, how confused do you get in class anyway?"
Gon groaned and started talking about how much of a pain math was while Killua laughed at his friend's suffering.
The next week, Killua arrived to U.A. at his typical time – 10 minutes before class. Classes were cancelled for a couple of days after the events that transpired at U.S.J., but they now resumed in the next week.
A few people were already there when Killua arrived: Kirishima, Ashido, Midoriya, Iida, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Mineta. His classmates froze when they saw him – some in utter shock, some in fear, and some in a mix.
"KILLUA?!" Kirishima shouted out so loud Ashido had to cover her ears since she was standing directly next to him. "BRO! HOW ARE YOU HERE?!"
Killua raised an eyebrow, not understanding Kirishima's surprise. "Why wouldn't I be here…?" Then the realization hit. Oh, he thought. Crap. Did I screw this up? They weren't expecting me here, because I was "kidnapped" by villains.
"B-but you were…captured by villains!" Mineta screamed out with a finger pointed at the silver haired teen calmly standing there.
"How are you standing in front of us?! This must be a trick! Yes, that must be it!" Iida declared his own conclusion. "The real Killua would be feeling shame for what he did. Such a vile act would not be forgiven by society!"
The silver haired teen raised the same eyebrow again. Really? I used to be a professional assassin, you think killing a petty amateur villain means anything to me? Not that you know that, though, so I don't blame you. Especially with how the society you grew up in is way different than mine. "Uh, I am Killua, actually. Killua Zoldyck. I escaped from the villains and came back here."
A collective gasp of shock escaped from everyone's mouth. "You…you escaped from the villains? By yourself?" Ashido was the first to ask.
"But…A-All M-M-Might and the others w-were supposed to r-r-resc-cue you…" Midoriya stuttered out. "Unless that happened in secret!" he yelped out in possible realization.
"Uh…no, there was no rescue team who saved me…I escaped. Or actually, they let me go. That's the truth." And it was. They technically did let him go, even though Killua knew he could have escaped on his own whenever he needed.
"They let you go? That's pretty strange, coming from villains who were able to plan an attack on U.A.," Todoroki mentioned with eyes that bore into Killua's soul. "And they got away with it. And kidnapped a student."
"If they let you go, then that is fine. But if you escaped, Killua," Yaoyorozu began. "If you escaped, then that was not the right move. You should have waited for the professional heroes to save you. You were in a dangerous position, after all. A team of heroes was put together to rescue you and capture the villains. How would they know to stop their efforts at saving you if you came back here unannounced?"
Killua shrugged. "I don't know. If they're able to track down the place, they could still capture the villains. Not like saving me was their only priority, as you said yourself."
Yaoyorozu hesitated and looked defeated at the other teen's good counter, but Kirishima always had something to say. "Yeah, that would still be good! They could still get the villains!"
"Stop trying to defend him, Kirishima!" Iida bellowed at the red haired student who looked up in surprise. "Killua!" The taller teen with glasses marched up to the silver haired teen. "What I said before still applies. You committed a crime. You killed someone. The media does not know that, but we do. It is sad to say, but you will need to be punished for that."
Killua merely stood there, stone faced as he gazed up into Iida's eyes.
"Do you not feel any shame?" the dark blue haired teen inquired. He adjusted his glasses by raising them. "Did your parents never teach you the value of life and living beings?"
That struck a nerve deep within Killua's chest. His eyes widened and he immediately turned his head down to the floor and stared at it so that the other students could not see his face. "No," he whispered, barely loud enough for Iida to hear. "They didn't."
Iida was taken aback, clearly uncomfortable at this unexpected revelation. He had said it rhetorically, thinking Killua's parents surely would have taught him that as he grew up. "Then…perhaps someone else did?" he offered lamely.
The silver haired teen did not respond. He walked over to his without another word and slumped into his seat. Damn, that really got to me, Killua mumbled internally. And I don't even know why. Is this world, getting to me? No way. That's way too fast for me to be attached. I had to be acting, right? Yeah, that's what it was. Acting. Lying. The usual. Just keep it up.
Other students began trickling in, and all were surprised to see Killua but none made a mention of it. Ojiro glanced at the silver haired teen for a split second before turning away and never making eye contact again.
Aizawa soon entered the room and was speechless at Killua's appearance, but he did not make a deal out of it. Instead, he said, "Zoldyck, Principal Nezu would like to speak with you. Go see him. Now."
Hello everyone again, thanks for reading! Sorry for the very late update. I am back at university now, and man am I busy. October is killer for me, so expect one update if even that in the entire month. However, November is much more free for me, so I should be able to get a few chapters out before finals start in December. Bit of a shorter chapter today, but hope you all enjoy it regardless.
Also, thank you all so much for the support last chapter! Really means a lot that you enjoyed it, I really appreciate it. Hope this chapter lives up to your standards, I wrote so much of it today because I decided it was about time I update. But yeah, don't be surprised if I disappear for a month. I'm telling you all that right now so that you don't think I've abandoned this story.
In future chapters, you'll find out what Killua does about the League of Villains. And also...what's Principal Nezu going to talk about? What's going to happen regarding the villain he killed? Well, you'll find out, someday when the next few chapters come out...
Thanks for reading!
