Chapter 16
Killua, Jirou, and Mineta were instructed to go just outside the building so that the Pro Heroes could talk about some confidential matters. The seven of them together had been brainstorming ideas for the past half hour until it reached this point.
"I trust that you won't listen in on us," Death Arms told the girl with a very useful hearing Quirk who was interning under him. Jirou quickly turned her head around and nodded as she walked behind Killua and Mineta to the front entrance.
Once outside, Killua closed the door behind him and turned his head to his two classmates who were looking out at the street. The building they were in was located on a fairly quiet street with not too much vehicle traffic. Many people walked on the sidewalk, but nobody even noticed the three teenagers standing outside what was well known to be Edgeshot's property.
Well, this is awkward, Killua thought after several moments of silence. Jirou and Mineta had turned away from the street after having found nothing interesting to stare at. It was well past sunset, but it was still reasonably warm out. His classmates glanced at each other from time to time, mixed in with looking at their surroundings and Killua himself. They look kind of, uneasy. Wonder why?
"What's up with you two?" he had to ask.
Mineta's eyes widened in panic for a moment at the sudden sound before returning to normal once he realized it was just Killua. Jirou's expression was unreadable. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"You guys seem worried about something," the silver haired teen responded. The three of them had never interacted together, and it was rare for even two of them to talk outside of a few training exercises at U.A. where they were on the same team.
"You seem too normal," Jirou muttered and turned to the ground. "Way too normal."
Killua raised an eyebrow. What are they-
"Yeah, like, don't you feel weird at all?" Mineta asked, and Killua dipped his head down to look at the much shorter boy. Mineta's heart started beating faster even though his classmate looked at him with a very neutral expression. "After what happened at U.S.J., and after that too?"
Killua raised his head in understanding. "Ah, that's what you guys mean. I'm surprised you both thought about the same thing without planning it." He grinned at the two and darted his eyes between them. He could see the awkwardness as what he said settled in, and both Jirou and Mineta were surprised that they really were thinking the same thing.
He shrugged and continued, "Well, the whole thing kind of fell under the radar after a bit. The public doesn't know much. It was never revealed which student killed the villain, or what the cause of death was. I don't even know if the news said which class was at U.S.J. at the time. I'm sure a lot of people watching the Sports Festival were trying to figure out which student it was, but they had such little information it would be a blind guess."
"But still, it doesn't bother you at all?" Jirou asked the most pressing question.
Killua acted like he was pondering over it for a moment before shaking his head. "It was marked as an accident. Detective Tsukauchi even did a private interrogation on me, and he concluded the same." Well, that's not what actually happened. I'm pretty sure I'd get punished, but then I scared him into not doing that by declaring war on anybody who comes after me. Wow, there's so much stuff that behind the scenes that so few people know about. He resisted the urge to smile to not let his classmates get a clue what he was thinking about. People like Jirou and Mineta, and the rest of Class A, have no idea what's really going on with me.
"You got interrogated by the detective?!" Mineta exclaimed as Killua was still thinking. "How did we not know about that?!" Jirou shifted her eyes from the short boy standing next to her to her other classmate, also interested to hear the answer.
"For one, it happened over a weekend," Killua explained with a straight face. "Right after the Sports Festival, actually. And also, it was a private interrogation. I'm sure he relayed the information to Principal Nezu and the teachers, but whatever."
Jirou eyed the taller boy skeptically. "The detective confirmed your story? And now you're all free? No punishment?"
The silver haired teen shook his head while looking straight at Jirou. His eyes shifted lower to the much shorter boy next to her who was staring up at him with focused eyes. Killua spoke, "Yeah, it was an accident, I'm a minor, and I still saved Ojiro. All of those together lead them to just giving me a warning." Jirou and Mineta stared at him with their eyebrows raised and gaping mouths. "I was surprised too. I didn't think they would let me off so easy."
Mineta hesitated for a moment, and Killua was curious to see what he would say. "Well, I'm glad it turned out fine," he finally said. Jirou nodded in agreement. "By the way, Killua, your fights at the Sports Festival were awesome! You really schooled that Class B Monoma, and your fight with Todoroki was one of my favourites to watch."
Killua cracked a smile at the end once Mineta was done talking. "Thanks. Todoroki was a tough opponent, but I enjoyed my fights with everyone." At least, Todoroki was tough once I purposely weakened myself. "So, what's up with you guys? Liking your heroes?" Killua asked to change the topic. We can't go inside till one of the heroes calls us in, so we might as well talk.
"Yeah, it's cool, being with Mt. Lady and all!" Mineta exclaimed, and Killua smirked along with the short teen while Jirou rolled her eyes in annoyance. "What about you, Jirou?"
The girl shrugged and kept a blank expression. "Death Arms is cool. I've done some training with him, but we haven't done any patrolling yet."
As soon as she said that, the door behind Killua opened, and Mt. Lady's head popped out. "Well, we're done talking in here! You three can come back in." Killua walked in first and his feet stopped moving when he saw Kamui Woods and Death Arms right at the door as well.
"Are we leaving?" Mineta asked his Pro once he got inside and realized the counterproductivity of coming inside just to go back outside. The blond woman nodded.
"We've done our discussion for today, so we'll get going now," Death Arms informed Jirou.
Killua and Edgeshot waited for the heroes and their interns to leave before walking back towards the table they were sitting at for a while. "So, is the stuff you talked about with them completely confidential?"
"It is. I would have had you three sit and listen if it wasn't," Edgeshot responded.
Killua's lips curved down slightly. I couldn't even hear them. It was too quiet. I doubt it was about me…maybe just some Pro things about our plan they couldn't have us hearing. Maybe a backup plan to help us if things go badly. Regardless, I'll have to be leaving once Edgeshot is asleep…if he sleeps.
"You have some free time now," Edgeshot told the teen. "Do as you'd like here. We are both staying here for the next week, so make yourself comfortable."
He didn't put any emphasis on the word 'here' when he said I can do what I want. I'm still thinking he has to be the one who was tailing me. I should ask him if he wakes up early for any early morning training he does, so I know when to be back. No, that's not right. I should ask him if there's any early morning training I need to do tomorrow with him. "Is there any training we're doing in the morning? I like getting around eight hours of sleep, so I want to sleep accordingly."
Edgeshot raised an eyebrow, but then it lowered and a smile crept up to his face behind his mask. "Is there anything you would like to train for?"
Killua cracked a smile. "I have a goal in mind. We do the same training you made me do earlier today. I try to get a single hand on you, with or without my Quirk. Let's see if I can do it by the end of the week."
"Very well then. I will give you a few chances for that each morning and each night if you're up for it," Edgeshot offered with a small smile still on his face but not visible from what Killua could see.
The silver haired teen nodded. There are a couple other things I want to be sure of… After a brief pause where Edgeshot expected his intern to say something, Killua asked, "What about night patrols? Are we doing any of those?"
"We can try those, but I am unsure as to how well you work during the night," Edgeshot responded.
Killua looked into the hero's eyes for a few seconds before responding. "I'm fine with anything, as long as I know beforehand. That way, I can adjust to whatever I need to do."
Edgeshot accepted the answer. "I reconsidered my no fighting rule for you. After the display of your skill in the morning, I realized I do not have too much to worry about for you. I will allow you to fight villains if it comes down to it. I don't think you will be fighting in our attack on Stain's Followers, but you could against street thugs during patrols. Be careful not to use your Quirk unless I give you permission," he finished in a stern voice.
"Won't it put me at a disadvantage against street criminals if I can't use my Quirk?" Killua asked to press on Edgeshot. He was in the mood to get as much information as he could before deciding his course of action for this night and the coming days.
The Number 5 hero frowned underneath his mask, and Killua could see Edgeshot's eyes narrow very slightly as he did so. "It would…but that is why you only fight street villains." After a short silence, he added on, "I have confidence that you can deal with them."
Sounds lame, but whatever. He mostly does night patrols from what I understand, so he may be awake tonight…I'll have to message Giran with the new phone Kurogiri gave to me. "Well, I'm just going to do some night-time stretches, then I'll head to bed." He faked a short yawn and stretched his arms straight above his head. "What time are we doing our training tomorrow?"
"7 AM sharp. I expect you to be ready for it. I will not wake you up, and if you miss that time, I will have a punishment ready," Edgeshot answered simply but in a stern voice.
Killua huffed in annoyance and headed to the room over to do some stretches. I haven't done stretches in such a long time. I've been in peak condition for years, and I've never needed to do anything more because of all the fighting and travelling I've done. He began slowly touching the floor, and he could sense that Edgeshot was not watching him, so he was likely still at the table. I'll message Giran to meet up with him tonight, maybe around 3 AM or so.
The teen pulled his secondary villain phone out of his left pocket of his pants and opened his messages for the contact named 'Smokes a lot'. Currently, he had no messages with Giran, not even an introduction.
He began typing. 'Eel here. Can we meet tonight in the city? Anytime in the early morning would work.' Killua had not yet revealed his identity to Giran. He also did not want to use his hero name as his villain name in case someone knew about both sides and he got himself in problems because of that. Killua pressed the send button, and his phone showed that the villain on the other end had received the message.
Killua put his phone away and continued bending down and touching the floor for a few minutes before he felt the vibration in his pocket. Giran had responded with, '4 AM at the usual?' Killua was just about to respond with a 'Sure' before he received another message. 'You got something new?'
'That works, and yeah I got new info for our plan' Killua texted back immediately. He shoved the phone away and moved on to some leg stretches. He went 10 minutes with receiving any reply from Giran – he did not know if he should expect one considering he had not said anything that warranted a reply.
Killua left the training room and peaked into the room with the dinner table. Edgeshot was sitting on a chair and breathing deeply, so Killua figured it must be meditation. He did not want to disturb the hero, so he silently headed up the stairs to the second floor where his guest room was. He immediately lay down on the small bed, and his belongings were already on the floor around the room which he had placed there earlier in the day.
He checked the time on his phone. It was just past 10 PM. Got 6 hours to kill like this. I slept last night so it's not necessary to sleep tonight. Let's see. If Edgeshot checks this room for whatever reason in the middle of the night, and I'm not here, I need an excuse for that. I see a few scenarios here. He either is my tracker and may expect me to disappear at night, or he isn't my tracker and wouldn't know anything I was planning. He could still know what I'm up to without being my tracker, though. If Nezu asked him and explained the situation, but Edgeshot declined, then he could still know. In the case that he isn't my tracker, somebody else could be spying on this building at all times and I wouldn't have a clue unless I step outside and feel it.
Killua crossed his arms behind his head as he lay in the bed in the dark room. The room did not have a real door, but it was a sliding door made of some type of wood or something that Killua did not know. It was a thin material, and some light would enter if any light was on at all outside the room. I have to go outside tonight and meet Giran. Pretty sure Kurogiri will teleport him to the meeting spot then bring us to their hideout, and then we'll talk about whatever I have to say.
My reasoning to Edgeshot, if he finds out I left, will be that Gon needed help with something. I'll message him from my second phone to let him know to message me at around the time I'm leaving so that I have some "proof" of it too. Killua did exactly what he thought. He used the phone Kurogiri gave him to message Gon and let him know to wake up at around 4 AM and send a message asking for help with something. He also let him know the reasoning for this unusual request.
After he sent the messages and Gon reluctantly confirmed to wake up in the middle of the night to help out, Killua smiled and put his two phones away. I'll take a nap, he decided. He soon fell asleep and woke up a few hours later.
The time on his phone now read 2:52 AM. I was asleep for over four hours. That's a long nap, he thought with eyes that were wide awake. He rarely ever woke up groggy from his sleep unless he woke up soon from his night's sleep after an exhausting day. Edgeshot's room was on the third floor of the building, and he slid open his door to see that the lights on the first floor were shut off. There were dim lights on the wall that allowed for some visibility.
How should I get out? Front door is a no-no because he might have alarms set for that. I could leave through a window… He turned his head back into his room and looked at the window. He stepped over and analyzed it. Looks pretty easy to open up and escape from. He then scanned the window for any technology that could be a security system, but he could not find any sort of recognizable sensor.
Killua went back in his bed for another 45 minutes before getting up. He first changed his clothing to what he first wore when he saw Giran. He put on the black mask and darker coloured clothes that would help him be harder to spot and covered him nicely. He propped open the window and headed out into the night. He could not feel anybody watching him, and there was no sign of any human on the street or sidewalk.
The silver haired teen used small streets where he would have minimal exposure to any residential buildings. Most of the time, he preferred to walk between buildings when possible. He had no doubt that if he was spotted by an average citizen, they would get scared or suspicious and call the police on him.
After 20 minutes of walking, he found himself at the meeting spot. It was the original place he met Giran the day he was getting tailed, but Giran was not there yet. Killua darted his eyes around his surroundings to check for anybody watching, but he could not see anyone. He could not feel anyone's eyes on him. As he was looking around, the man he was waiting for appeared through a portal Kurogiri made.
Killua turned his head around very quickly and recognized the villain in the suit. "Let's go to the League, I'll explain everything there," Killua got right down to business. Giran nodded without saying a word and gestured for the warp gate that was still open behind him. First, Giran stepped through, then the silver haired teen followed behind.
He found himself in a bar with Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Giran. There was one other guest who regarded the newcomer as well. The man gave Killua the vibes of a real villain, much more than Shigaraki. He was hunched over with a visible sword sheathed behind his back. He wore torn scarves around his neck, bandages on his arms, and metal armour around his midsection. He had no nose as far as Killua could see. The villain studied the teen back.
Stain, the one word that went through Killua's head. Stain raised an eyebrow at the boy he did not know was a boy who was wearing a black mask that covered his face, a black hoodie with the hood up to cover his hair, and dark blue sweatpants.
"Who is this?" Stain asked and turned to Shigaraki and Kurogiri.
"He is also a member of the League," Shigaraki responded, smirking underneath the hand covering his mouth because he knew it would annoy Killua to be called a member. A vein popped on Killua's forehead, but he let it slide and rolled with it for now.
Stain turned back to the boy and shrugged. "Anyways, I think it's time I return to Hosu City. We've had our talks here, and we aren't the same in our ideals. There's no way I would join this pathetic 'League of Villains'." From Shigaraki's body language, Killua knew the man-child did not like Stain's choice of wording.
"I just got here, what's happening?" Killua asked. Giran looked surprised next to him that he would interrupt the Hero Killer, but the teen did not pay him any attention.
"Tomura Shigaraki would like the Hero Killer: Stain to join the League so we can all work together," Kurogiri explained as Shigaraki glared at Stain.
"You're just a brat trying to remove anyone you don't like," Stain spat at Shigaraki with calm eyes. Shigaraki began to tremble in rage and let out an ounce of his bloodlust. "Your ideals don't match mine. I'm here to purge all the fake heroes that ruin this society."
"How do you decide who's a real hero?" Killua interrupted, and Stain turned his head to the teen and paused for a moment before answering. Shigaraki cooled down, and the bloodlust faded.
"A real hero is one that doesn't have selfish desires such as money or fame," Stain answered with cold and piercing eyes. "And, most heroes aren't like that." He paused for a moment and looked at Killua in a way like he was studying the boy. "Why are you working with the League?"
Killua glanced over at Shigaraki and Kurogiri, and neither of them made any mention of anything, so Killua spoke the truth. "Contrary to what Shigaraki said, I'm not a member of the League. I'm doing some work for them because they have something I need," he explained simply without too much detail.
"Is it money? Tell me it's not," Stain demanded with a dangerous look in his eyes. Killua shook his head. "Good. You'd better have more solid ideals than that. Both heroes and villains alike who take their actions for money should be purged." Stain's mind raced through his thoughts before settling on something important. "What could this group of villains offer to you that others cannot? Does it feel right doing the work of a villain?"
Killua shrugged. "I don't really care. Whatever gets me my reward. I have no interest in heroes and villains or what they do."
Stain was baffled. The League "member" in front of him seemed very unattached to morals, which was unlike anyone he had seen. However, he could see there was a sense of being selfish underneath all that. He just wanted his reward, whatever that may be, and he did not care how he got it.
"I can see the flaws in the hero system here," Killua continued, although he did not know why he was even entertaining Stain. "Somebody makes the laws. But why do they get to decide what's right and what's wrong? I can see why a lot of villains exist, especially ones who want to change something in society, like yourself." Stain's eyes narrowed at the teen. "But I'm indifferent to all of it."
"I wonder how you were raised if you have reached the point where morals are irrelevant to you," Stain mused. "I suppose there would be some villains who don't care that what they're doing is considered to be 'wrong', but I have yet to run into any. Most villains accept it and go ahead with their plans. You're quite lacking in ideals, which doesn't leave me with a good feeling," he finished in a low voice. He slouched his back even more and the atmosphere in the small bar became a bit heavier.
"Can we get to what Eel came here for?" Giran interrupted, and the attention shifted to him. It was clear he did not mind the attention of all the powerful people around him because he was used to it. The heavier feeling dwindled away.
"Send me back to Hosu City, I don't want to be stuck here with you people," Stain ordered, returning to his normal hunched over posture. He shot one last look at Killua and Shigaraki before Kurogiri obliged and sent him back.
"Why are you here?" Shigaraki asked Killua once the Hero Killer was gone.
"A contact I have in the hero side of society told me Edgeshot and some other heroes are planning an attack on Stain's Followers," Killua dropped the story in a hurry. "Chances are, their attack may succeed. We need to move first and recruit the Followers before they get arrested."
"That's interesting, I didn't know you'd be so resourceful, Eel," Giran remarked with a smirk. "If you know where they're located, we can go there immediately and try to convince them. It might get dangerous, though," the villain added in a low voice.
Killua nodded. "I know where they are. I've scouted them out. You and I can head there in a couple nights, then, maybe? I'll message you and let you know."
Giran held his hands up in a hurry. "Hold up, just us two? And why do I have to come along? You know, I'd rather not threaten them and get killed for it. I need to continue making money."
Shigaraki waved his hand to the side as if he was disregarding Giran's concern. "You'll be fine. You can have Kurogiri watching your backs so you can be warped out if things go bad. What I want to know is what your plan is?" He cocked his head to the side and stared at Killua expectantly.
"Well, I'll try the nice way first. Since they are followers of Stain's ideals, I can say the League is aiming for a similar cause to disrupt and overthrow society. Or," Killua smiled devilishly from behind his mask which was not visible to the three men watching him. "I can be more aggressive," he finished in a dark voice that sent tingles down Giran's spine but also made him wonder how Eel was supposed to do that by himself against a group of powerful villains.
"I do believe they may join us if we show them how we are similar to Stain," Kurogiri agreed. "So, I think that should be the method. I will accompany you two, as Shigaraki mentioned."
"How do you know all of this?" Giran was stunned and asked Killua.
"I said it at the start. I have a contact in the hero side of things," Killua responded coolly. That contact is myself. But Giran doesn't know who I really am. I guess I slipped up a little while talking to Stain. I told him I'm not a real member, just someone working for a reward. Giran didn't know that either. He thought I was a member until now. But, whatever.
"I didn't know you weren't a true League member," Giran said with narrowed eyes and a voice that was a tad bit annoyed. "Why wasn't I told that? From any of you?"
Shigaraki shrugged without even looking at Giran. "It's not really important. Doesn't matter if he's a member or not."
"Giran, have you met Stain's Followers before?" Kurogiri asked. Killua and Shigaraki turned their gazes to the other villain.
"A couple times, actually," he admitted. "They wanted to recruit someone too, so I gave them help with that."
Killua yawned and stretched his hands out. "Alright, are we done here?" Without waiting for an answer, he looked next to him at Giran who had not moved a step the whole time they were in the hideout bar. "I'll text you tomorrow night and see what's up. I don't think Edgeshot and the others are going to attack within the next two days."
Giran nodded. "Sounds good. Kurogiri, can you return us?" A portal opened behind Killua and Giran, and they stepped through to appear where they met up. The teen checked his primary phone which he had not checked in a while to see the time. It read 4:32 AM, but what surprised him was that Gon did end up messaging him with something he needed "help" with. Killua read the detailed message that asked if Killua could help Gon's mother with some health and medicine stuff at her apartment in Tokyo since he was closer.
Of course, it was all a lie because Gon did not have a mother living in an apartment in Tokyo. Nonetheless, Killua appreciated the detail Gon put in the fake request. Killua himself had not responded to the message because he didn't know he received it, but if Edgeshot asked for proof, Killua would just say he knew exactly what to do and where to go, so he did not feel the need to reply.
"See you tomorrow," Killua mumbled to Giran. The silver haired teen darted his eyes as far right as he could see where Giran stood. The man merely nodded and opened the side door of the building and disappeared into the darkness with only a few lights on the wall to light up the inside of the entrance. Meanwhile, Killua decided to run back to Edgeshot's building in under five minutes. He snuck in through the same window and changed his clothes so he could go back to sleep for a couple of hours before waking up for Edgeshot's training.
I didn't feel any eyes on me while running here, so maybe my spy wasn't spying on me, Killua told himself as he got into bed.
Killua headed down the stairs to the main floor dojo-like training room. Edgeshot was already there, but the way his eyes looked Killua could tell he might be frowning. Killua gave a cheery smile to see if it would lighten his mood. "Good morning, Edgeshot," he greeted.
Edgeshot's eyes opened up a bit more and he nodded. The smile may have had some effect. "Killua, where were you last night?" Nope. It did not work as well as Killua hoped.
"What time?" Killua wanted him to be specific.
"Roughly 4 AM," the hero specified. "You were not in your room, so where would you be that late at night?"
Killua raised his head in understanding. "Ah, yeah, I see. My friend, Gon, the winner of the Sports Festival…his mom has an apartment here in Tokyo, and she needed help because she was feeling pretty sick last night. So, I helped her out with some medicine she needed and whatever else. Gon's at Endeavor's agency, but his mom lived in a different part of the city, farther from him than I am here."
Edgeshot raised his eyebrows at the very specific story. "Very well," he seemed to accept it, or at least that is what the teen hoped. "Let us begin with the training. Try and get a hand on me."
Killua patiently waited to see if the hero would do anything, but unsurprisingly, he did not move. The Class A student studied the hero and thought about what his course of action should be. He blasted off his feet without electricity and kept his right hand out. Edgeshot folded his body and moved to Killua's right, outside of his reach. Instantly on reaction, Killua slapped his left hand out, but Edgeshot brought his entire folded body down to the floor. He snaked around his intern for a few moments while Killua contemplated what to do next.
Killua knew Edgeshot was on the floor. In the blink of an eye, he turned around and bent over to grab the snake-like hero. Edgeshot moved out to Killua's left, but he was up against the wall. He reformed himself as he normally is while Killua was still recovering from his grab. "Why don't you use your electricity to speed up?" the hero asked curiously.
Without giving an answer, Killua activated Godspeed followed by his Whirlwind sub-ability. This would be his best chance. He slammed both hands forward to the wall in an effort to trap Edgeshot, but the hero remained calm and folded and moved under Killua's left hand to go behind his intern. With an instant reaction, the teen's left hand jerked back and grabbed onto Edgeshot.
"Got you," Killua said with a small smile. He let go of the older man. If his Quirk was a Nen ability, I think it would be a Specialist type. He's physically changing the shape and size of his body. It doesn't seem too strong by itself, but the speed at which he can transform is incredible. I haven't seen him in action yet, but I'm sure there's a reason he's the Number 5 Hero in Japan.
Edgeshot reverted to normal and had a small smile on his face beneath his mask. "Good job. Eat breakfast, and then we can go on patrol.." Killua nodded and began walking out of the room while Edgeshot stared at his back which the teen could feel. "However, I must ask. How did you react so quickly?"
I'm not telling him the real reason with how Whirlwind lets me bypass the nervous system and react automatically, Killua thought. He turned his head around to Edgeshot and replied, "The electricity makes me move faster, right? So, I just prepared for how you would react to me using both hands. I knew you'd dodge one way or the other. I just had to react and move quick enough, which my electricity allowed me to do." Good. Explain it in a way that's more believable. Edgeshot seemed to accept the answer.
Hi everyone, thanks for reading, and sorry for the delay. I finished my exams and now have 4 months off. I plan to finish this story in these next few months - I don't know how much is left, but it shouldn't be too many chapters. This one was really Killua-centric, but the next chapter will be much more focused on Gon. I wanted to have a scene at the end where Endeavor is training Shoto with his fire while Gon does some other training, but I wasn't sure what kind of training Gon could even do, so I left that out. Could've made for some Nen-Quirk analysis as well, but yeah, I wasn't sure what to write. Hope you all enjoyed! See you next time, which I'm hoping is going to be weekly updates from now on.
