Hello I am back! Sorry for the really long wait again. I really thought I would have time to write a lot after my midterm exams finished in November, but that didn't end up happening. I realized my finals were going to be really hard and take up a lot of time, so I started preparing for them early, almost immediately after my last midterm. I didn't end up writing much, but now I am home and it'll be a bit more chill for the next few weeks so hopefully I get more writing done. I did say that before, so don't expect many updates, but I will definitely try! I haven't given up on this story.
With that said, hope you enjoy the chapter! A little shorter than usual, but I'll try and compensate with a quicker update for the next chapter.
Chapter 7
Gon was sitting at his desk during homeroom and chatted with his classmates while waiting for his first class to begin. He was currently having a three-way conversation with Monoma to his back left and Tetsutetsu to his front right. He constantly turned his head from his friend in front of him to his blond friend behind.
"You guys heard the news, right? A Class 1-A student was kidnapped by the League of Villains at the U.S.J. attack. That same student supposedly killed a villain too!" Tetsutetsu whisper-yelled his second sentence in a hushed tone with surprised wide eyes.
Monoma looked away from the two in disdain. "Unacceptable. How can a hero student, at U.A. nonetheless, commit such a horrible crime? It's unfortunate that he or she was kidnapped, but killing a villain? Maybe the villains are torturing the student as we speak as punishment for killing one of their own."
Gon frowned at the way his friend were bashing Killua without knowing who it was. He is waaaaaay off! Monoma doesn't know what he's saying! "I'm sure it was an accident. If a student comes to a hero school, surely they want to help people, right?"
Tetsutetsu nodded and gave a toothy grin, showing off his sharp teeth. "For sure! Heroes are respected for their efforts!"
"You guys talking about the 1-A student, right?" Honenuki lazily put himself into the conversation. When he was met with a chorus of nods, he continued. "I actually find it kind of hard to believe that a hero student killed a villain. It would've had to be a really dangerous Quirk. I don't understand how a student is capable of that without a dangerous Quirk."
Monoma frowned, a dark look spreading across his face. "Maybe the Quirk was dangerous. If you ask me, this person needs to be punished."
Tetsutetsu and Honenuki both nodded, but Gon wanted to defend his best friend. "Even a 15 year-old gets punished? That's kind of mean, especially when we don't know the full situation." Well, I know the situation, but they don't. Hope you get some luck for us, Killua!
"Gon do you not know that anyone would get punished for killing a person?" Honenuki asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh, no? I've never heard this happen before, so I didn't know that even a teen would get punished…" He sat back in his seat and felt small.
"Well, teenagers do get punished for crime," Monoma broke it to him with raised eyebrows. "Surprised you didn't know. It's happened before. A 17 year-old hero student accidentally killed a villain on an internship a few years back. It was pretty big, but eventually, he lost his trial and wasn't allowed to graduate to become a pro hero."
Tetsutetsu winced, remembering the trial and how heartbroken the student looked on TV. "Yeah, the media broadcasted the whole case, it was crazy! The guy looked so…sad, the whole time. You didn't hear about that, Gon?" The normally loud and energetic boy looked at the green haired teen with a curious look.
Gon shook his head. "No, I didn't know that. That must be pretty hard on the student."
"It was," Honenuki almost whispered. "I wonder what he's up to now. I doubt the media still covers him, unless he's doing something really big and cool."
"But if he was, chances are we would have heard about him again," Monoma countered. "So I doubt that."
Wow, Killua, you might get in real big trouble for what you did…but we'll be fine, I know it, he thought with a big, bright smile. He snapped out of his thoughts when Kendo announced the teacher would be coming soon.
Killua had been touring Yokohama for about 20 minutes now. He had searched relentlessly through several dark alleys and jumping from one roof to the next to try and find the bar hideout the League of Villains was in. He had not thought much of remembering what the surroundings looked like, but now that he was in the position where he needed to know, he kept cursing himself in his head for his stupidity and lack of foresight.
I wasn't thinking of coming back here, but here I am, one week later. Better be worth my time, behind-the-screen man, or I'll be pretty mad, the silver haired teen thought with a dark look on his face.
While jumping over another building, he briefly saw something unusual far beneath him. Not having enough time to fully check while in the air, he silently landed on the next building and turned around to the ledge. Peering down, the unusual thing was easily recognizable. It was Kurogiri standing still – possibly waiting for someone or something. Him, most likely, Killua thought.
The former assassin did not want to jump straight down in front of the warp villain. That would be weird, and bring too much attention to me from him. Although, if he does suspect I'm from a different world even though I never confirmed it, he might not think too much of it. He doesn't know what I can do. Still, Killua abruptly finished his internal conversation and walked to his left and glanced down. The building he was on was located on a fairly small street. Sensing no one too close, he jumped down and landed on the sidewalk.
He made his way over to the small alley Kurogiri was standing in. Upon his entrance, the villain looked over at the newcomer. "Good, I am glad you came here. Come, I will take you to our hideout."
Killua narrowed his eyes to show he was still suspicious of the villains. I am suspicious of them, a bit, but they need to think I'm not going to believe everything they say. And I need to make them believe I don't need them. I guess I'll figure out the latter today. Hopefully.
He entered the portal Kurogiri created and immediately found himself in a bar – but this one did not look quite the same as the one he was at last week. The layout was a bit different.
"Wondering if this is a different place than last time?" a new but recognizable voice entered the conversation. Killua glanced to his immediate left where Shigaraki sat on a sofa with a newspaper in his hands. "To answer that, yes this is different. We couldn't have you ratting our location out, now could we?"
The silver haired teen kept an emotionless face up. He had to admit: he was impressed by how easily Shigaraki deciphered Killua's thoughts. I'm supposed to be a pro at not letting people read my expression. I slipped up there. Been a while since I had any assassin training or missions. Won't happen again, though.
"So, where's that guy who was speaking from the TV last week?" Killua broke the silence. Shigaraki put down his newspaper, and Kurogiri made his way to Shigaraki's side.
"You won't be meeting Teacher. You will get to talk to him, but you won't meet him. Not yet. You need to show loyalty first. Only then, will Teacher think you are worth meeting."
"Do not make our guest so uncomfortable, Tomura Shigaraki," a new voice boomed from what sounded like the television. It did not sound authentic, as if the person the voice belonged to was muffled by something. Killua searched the room and found the screen on the ceiling at his right. "KIllua, I am glad you came here. I thought you may not have. But, in any case, today I will explain some things to you – perhaps give you some answers, and you can give me some answers as well. I will let you mull over the important things. But I do not need your loyalty today."
"Alright, then. Who are you?" Killua immediately fired off his first question.
The voice gave out a chuckle. "Who am I? I will just say I am Shigaraki's teacher, and the leader of the League of Villains."
"Okay, so no name?"
"I will not disclose that information so easily, Killua."
Killua's eyebrow twitched. "You know my name, why can't I know yours? What am I supposed to call you?"
"You may call me teacher as well." That was the only response the voice from the screen gave.
The teen proceeded to roll his eyes. "Alright, whatever. Also, what exactly do you mean when you say you are Shigaraki's teacher?"
"Well, it is simple, actually," the voice replied. "I am training him. What I am training him for, I am sure you could easily guess."
Killua nodded, but he was unsure if the person, who he assumed was a man, could see him. This guy is probably Shigaraki's mentor at being a villain. Which means, this screen man must be pretty powerful. Maybe even influential.
"So tell me, Killua. I have answered two of your questions. It is only fair if you answer at least one of mine." The silver haired teen froze for a moment before slowly nodding. "If I recall correctly, when you were here last week, you were asking Kurogiri about a Quirk that could transport you very far. Where do you plan on going, or where do you need to go?"
Killua bit his tongue. The thoughts raced through his head as he thought of what to say. He had known this was going to come, but he had not decided if he would tell the truth or lie. Well, they're villains, and telling anyone about me probably doesn't serve a purpose. I don't see why they would really care, to be honest.
"Fair question. If you want the truth, here it is. A Quirk sent me here, to Japan, from my own world. Now, I need a Quirk like that to go back." He paused for a moment and wondered if he should say, "And my friend as well", but decided against it. He would bring Gon up later if necessary.
"That is quite a new story. I cannot say I have heard that one before," the voice said in a tone that meant he was still analyzing the story for its possible truthfulness, or lack thereof. Kurogiri was only a bit surprised, seeing as how he came to that assumption last week without Killua telling him.
Shigaraki, on the other hand, was not buying it. "What a liar. This is some stupid story, isn't it? You want to learn about Kurogiri's powers, and Teacher's, so that you can tell the heroes?"
Killua gave the villain a cold stare. Shigaraki stared back at him, completely unphased.
"Do not worry, Shigaraki," the television voice interrupted the stare-off. "I think this is the truth. It does not sound like something anyone would make up." The teen was pleased the man was not being skeptical about it.
"However, I do wonder – how did you get here? You said it was a Quirk, but I am curious about the specifics of this story."
Killua put his hands up. "Sorry, I didn't come here to tell you everything about me. I need to know how you can help me. I'm missing my classes for this, not that I really care, but my teachers will. If you don't have anything to offer, I'm out." He could see Shigaraki glaring at him from the corner of his eyes, but he did not care. This was a waste of time if they had nothing for him.
There was silence for a long moment before the man gave any answer. "I do have something to offer. First thing you should know about me is my Quirk. My Quirk allows me to have multiple Quirks which I can receive from other people. I will not explain in detail how it works, but just know what I am able to wield multiple Quirks." Killua's eyes widened at the statement. That sounds incredibly powerful.
"Over the years, I have amassed many useful powers," he continued without missing a beat. "Two of these are teleportation-like Quirks. One allows me to strictly teleport people or objects to and from my location. The second one is a lot less restrictive in the location aspect, but I cannot use it on myself. I do not know if either of these Quirks could you send you to your world, if that is indeed true. That sort of situation has never been necessary to think about."
Killua absorbed the information in a few seconds. "So you don't know if you can teleport something or someone to a different world," he repeated, and there was silence for a moment until be broke it himself. "But how would you know if you could?"
"That is a good question, but I do not have an answer. I do not know if this second Quirk allows that. Even if it does, how would I know? Theoretically, if you were sent to a different world, I may not have any way of knowing whether you are on Earth or in a different world. And you may not know if you are still on our planet or a different one, either. It is a good question, but one I personally do not have an answer for as yet."
The former assassin grit his teeth and frowned. Think. How could he know if I got sent to another world? Even if his Quirk allows that, what are the exact workings of the ability to get me to a different world? How would he know which world I'm getting sent to? Does he choose? You can't know these things without trying!
"In any case, Killua, now that you know what I am offering, I think you should hear what I want from you-"
"Hold up," Killua put up a 'timeout' sign with his hands to signal an interruption. "You're just going to tell me about a random Quirk you have that might be able to send me back where I want to go. You don't know that for sure, but you still want something from me?"
"If I am going to spend my time to help a child like you, I would imagine it is fair for you to spend time for me. I do not do things for free, or without purpose."
Killua felt his blood boil and he glared at the screen. "Fine. Tell me what it is, and I'll think about it."
"I need your loyalty," he answered simply. "I believe you could be useful for our cause. You killed a pawn Shigaraki brought to your school the other day. You should give up on becoming a hero here. Many people in the public will oppose you, and some already do. Helping our cause could be a better use of your time."
It sounded tempting, and Killua knew he was right. The public was against him. They did not think Killua deserved to be a hero, even though they were never told the name of the student who killed the villain. But Killua was, unknowingly, who they were thinking of. "You're right. It sounds reasonable. But if I disappear from U.A., the heroes will wonder where I went. That doesn't sound too great, either."
"Then what will you do?" the man prodded. "Not becoming a hero. Not helping us. If you do not help me, or us I should say, then you have closed the door for my potential help."
"It's a gamble," Killua declared plainly, and the man replied with a quick sound of agreement. "If I help you, and you can't help me, it's a waste of my time. It's back to square one. But, it seems, you'll only try to help me if I help you." Shigaraki was grinning at the teen, but he ignored the villain with hands all over his upper body. "I don't particularly like your cause either. Nor do I know what part I would have in it. Mind explaining that?"
"Yes. I would like if you would recruit more members for our cause. And perhaps, some other missions we think of."
Killua raised an eyebrow. "What kind of missions?"
"I have not thought about that yet," he answered. "It will be on an as-needed basis."
"This sounds like it'll go really poorly in my favour," Killua declared with a scowl. "You don't even know how to test your Quirk! How am I supposed to agree to this crap?"
"Do you have any better options?"
"No." His response was immediate. A bit too fast, more than Killua would have liked. But it was already done.
"Then I think this might be worth your time, if you have no other leads."
"Okay, sure, let's assume it is my best choice, to support you in your…mission. I need some type of assurance you won't be a waste of my time."
"Alright, Killua," the man began steadily. "I will give you a free…trial, I will say, of this Quirk I have. We will test it out, and I expect nothing from you in return. Does that sound fair to you?"
"How are we going to test it out?" he fired another question.
"Come back in another week, after that Sports Festival event your high school hosts. I will think about it in the meantime. I also expect you to have an answer for me next week. Before or after testing my Quirk, it does not matter to me. But you must have an answer for me. However, if you refuse my offer after our experiment, I will expect you to do one thing for me, which I will decide later."
Killua snorted. "Not really a free trial if I still have to pay you back for declining." He nodded regardless. "I'll be back in a week, then. See you then."
Without another word, the teen turned to leave the bar, but Shigaraki's voice stopped him momentarily. "Kid, we still don't trust you. When you come back here next week, you'll have to find Kurogiri again, and he'll bring you to our new hideout."
He turned his head halfway so he could see the hands villain in the corner of his vision. He barely dipped his head to show he understood. That's a lot of potential hideouts they must have…wonder how long before they run out?
The silver haired teen left the hideout and headed towards the train station. He had to resort to pickpocketing to pay for his train fare, but he managed to take a little bit from several people, which left him with little after paying for one train ride to Musutafu. Most people wouldn't notice they're missing a bit of their money…and I doubt anyone could even tell they were getting robbed of some change.
The former assassin paid his fare and sat quietly on the ride to his destination, all the while thinking about the meeting he will have with Shigaraki's teacher next week. Think…he said he will think of a way to test his Quirk. In case he doesn't get ideas, I need to have at least one. I can't tell him to send an object to a random location. 1. We wouldn't know where it went, and 2. Bringing it back might be impossible. Would he need something from my world to send it to my world? Or can he send anything anywhere? That's assuming he can send across worlds. And if he can, how does he know which world he's sending it to? This is complicated…I'll ask Gon too. See if he has any ideas. He often sees obvious things I don't.
"So, as I am sure you all know, and are excited about, the Sports Festival is less than a week away," Kan spoke slowly. Both Gon and Kan could practically see the spirits in the class rise with excitement and competition. "That means you all will have to work hard in these remaining few days and show the heroes watching that you are worthy for a week-long internship with them."
Gon nodded along and got excited with his class. Luckily, Killua had given him an explanation of what the Sports Festival was a month ago. It was a competition that U.A. held every year for students in all the departments. Historically, the events favoured hero course students because the competitions involved the use of Quirks. Students from other departments were not allowed to use their Quirks in any of their classes, while hero students had a specific course dedicated to combat and Quirk usage.
The green haired teen was very enthused about the Sports Festival. Fighting against his classmates and other students would be a blast, but Killua had already warned him they needed to hold back.
Based on their classmates, they knew that with their own Nen training they had done in the past three years, they could effortlessly beat any student. But that was not why they enrolled in U.A., according to Killua.
But Gon did not care. He was itching to fight someone, and the opportunity would soon come – even if it might be boring. However, he could make it fun and challenging by holding back, which is what he was going to do, and what he had to do to keep their secret low.
I'm excited to fight against more people with different Quirks! he thought as Kan continued to talk about training over the next week. It'll be like fighting people with different Nen abilities – like a Nen tournament! Gon smiled wide at the thought of a unique tournament. And, Quirks actually use Nen…we still need to figure that out… Gon's smile dropped and flattened itself into a straight line as he began to think deeply. That's right. Killua and I should really find out how Quirks really work. I think that, because the people in this world don't know about Nen, they don't where the energy is coming from. Sure, Quirks may be genetic, and like a new muscle, but it's very different from every other muscle. The energy needed to use a Quirk comes from somewhere, and it seems that "somewhere" is their life energy. Their Nen.
That would make Quirks dangerous for us to be hit by if we don't have any Nen protecting us. But then, how do these people not get severely injured by Quirks? He flashed his eyes around the room and looked at his classmates. Maybe Killua knows. I should ask him later.
Homeroom had just ended, and Tetsutetsu knocked Gon out of his thoughts about Quirks and Nen. "Hey, Gon, think you're ready for the Sports Festival?"
"Yeah, I'm excited! It'll be fun to compete with everyone, not just you guys!" He raised a cheerful fist into the air with a wide smile.
Tetsutetsu grinned at him, but Monoma huffed from behind Gon. "Do you think the Sports Festival is a game? It's a competition to show ourselves to the pro heroes that will send us offers for internships. Take it seriously, both of you."
Gon frowned at the reprimanding Monoma gave, but nodded nonetheless.
Later during the day, Kan returned to the class along with Present Mic for hero training. The students were already in their P.E. uniforms. The plan for the class was simple: one versus one sparring with the use of Quirks.
"Historically, the Sports Festival has had, without fail, at least one round of one versus one combat," Kan explained to the Class 1-B students. "That is why it is important to practice such a scenario. The combat round is the only round you can be sure of that will be in the event, although the exact rules may vary from year to year. As such, you all should take some time now to become better fighters."
"ALRIGHT, let's go to a training area!" Present Mic shouted out. Kan winced at the shout his fellow hero let off next to him. "Follow us! We'll be headed to the combat arena at U.A."
The two teachers and pro heroes led the class to the arena. Inside the building, there were many areas that looked like wrestling rings although they were bigger than an average wrestling ring. They were led to one of the rings, and Kan scanned the class. "Kendo, and Freecss, please enter the ring and demonstrate to the class your combat skills. You both are well-suited for the task."
Both students glanced at each other through the classmates blocking them. "Uh, Mr. Kan, what do you want us to do? What is the purpose?" Kendo asked.
"The goal would be to make each other touch the rope that lines the ring," he responded. "If you can do that, you will be the winner. Essentially, touching the rope is like being knocked out of bounds."
Gon and Kendo nodded and entered the closest ring. They stood across on opposite ends from each other and waited for a teacher to signal the start. "Start!" Present Mic shouted out.
Kendo made the first move. She enlarged her fists to double their normal size and punched the air four times in rapid succession using both hands. It stirred up some wind at Gon, but it felt like nothing more than a breeze that rustled through his uniform.
He scrunched his eyebrows at the lack of effect the attempt had on him. Kendo was surprised too as her eyes widened that Gon did not even budge.
I wasn't exactly expecting him to hit the boundary that easily, given his Quirk, but, she thought with a small, growing smile. Thought he might move at least a bit. Try harder now!
Without giving Gon much of a chance to act, she rushed forward a few steps and fired more punches. She hoped that closing the distance a bit would hinder any of his movements, but he stepped forward through the wind like it was nothing.
Behind Gon and through the ring, the teachers and the remaining 18 students could feel the breeze, but it did not feel like much to them either. Tetsutetsu had his lips curved down as he watched Kendo punch the air in succession multiple times. Wonder why Mr. Kan didn't pick me? Whatever, hopefully I'm next! The frown turned into a grin as he saw Gon run a few steps forward and tried pushing his opponent back into the boundary.
Kendo caught Gon's hands and held them sturdily. The boy's eyebrows briefly rose when he felt how strong Kendo's enlarged hands were. She pushed him back, and Gon stumbled a few steps because of the sudden power.
After regaining his footing, he shot forward off one leg and aimed a powerful punch at Kendo's hands. I want to put enough power into this to win right now, he thought as he continued moving.
However, he was not expecting to be met with so much resistance from his classmate. She stumbled back on the impact, more than Gon did, but she was still a bit away from the ropes lining the ring.
She regained her balance, but Gon was already charging at her again. With a quick thought, Kendo sidestepped to her left from his shove in hopes of Gon being unable to stop and put himself out of bounds.
It did not work. Gon easily stopped his feet and changed directions to face her. He frowned slightly at his two failed attempts to win their spar immediately. Let's see, if I used my full power in one punch using Ko…I think I would break the wall with just the wind, Gon thought comically. Well, that's why I have to keep my power low.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a huge blast of wind knock him backwards. He was still unsteady when he saw Kendo rushing at him with a look of determination. He knew he could not block the attack while being unbalanced, so he purposefully fell to the floor so that Kendo would miss her attack.
The green haired teen sprung back up by lifting off his arms and kicked his right leg into both of Kendo's fists. He aimed his kick there because he figured it would be stronger than the rest of her body, so it would not hurt too much. The powerful kick launched the ginger haired girl into the ropes of the ring. For a moment, everyone, including Gon, thought the kick would send her through the rope and out of the ring. Thankfully, that did not happen because it was strong enough to keep her body weight within.
"Ah! Kendo! I'm sorry, did I hurt you badly?" Gon asked in alarm. He did not mean to kick that hard. Well, on second thought, maybe I did? I wanted to win, so… He took a breath and waited for his classmate to reply.
She looked up and gave a small smile. "Yeah, don't worry. It was your leg that connected with my hands after all. If it was your foot, that would've hurt a lot." She pushed herself off the floor and walked towards Gon with a regular-sized hand held out. "That was a good spar, Gon!" She gave a bright and friendly smile that did not hold any grudge towards him.
Gon smiled back and shook her hand. "Same to you!"
"WOW, what an impressive showing by Gon! That kick will take down so many villains in the future, I can just feel it!" Present Mic screamed out while everyone else covered their ears.
Kan nodded while giving a wary glance at Present Mic after the Voice Hero finished his yelling. "That was a good display of your combat skills, Gon, Kendo. Room for improvement in the future, but I think that is quite good as a start. Now then, since they have shown a bit of what you could do in a close-quarter fight, the rest of you will be split up amongst the rings to practice with the same rules as well…"
