Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. I think I own my OCs though.

Timeline: 5 months 3 Weeks to Entrance Exam

Kaneshiro Daiki opened the door of his apartment. His school uniform was rumpled, and his shining gold skin was covered in sweat and grime. "Mom, I'm home."

His mother looked over the kitchen counter - she must have just gotten home since she was still in her work clothes. Her eyes lit up as she saw him come in. "Oh, hello dear. How was school?"

Daiki ran a hand through his spiky black hair. "Uh, school was alright mom." He flopped onto the couch.

School had sucked like it always did. At least Mastermind had been helping him get his grades up to a decent level.

"Big bro!" Daiki got a moment's warning before his eight year old sister crashed into him. He grunted, eyes bulging as she gripped him. "Hey big bro! Guess what I did at school!"

Daiki grinned. "What did you get up to, Akari?"

His sister grinned. "I went on the playground with my friends, and I did really well on my English test, and I got a photo of a dog!"

Daiki's smile took on a mischievous light. "A photo of a dog, huh? Wow, you gotta show me!"

Akari laughed, trying to get out of him suddenly lunging at her to tickle her. "Nooo!"

His mom sighed wistfully as he wrestled with his sister, pointing a finger at the pot on the stove. A bright beam of light shot from her nail, hitting the stew inside and starting to heat it up. "I remember when school was 'alright' as well." She smiled, her eyes tired. "And how has your work been?"

Daiki froze. "Well, uh... it's been..."

A few hours ago...

Golden Grin ducked under Death Arms' sparking fist, furiously scuttling backwards. Mastermind had tracked down some unusual expenditures that had been coming from a high rise skyscraper, but as hard as he and La Brava had tried, they hadn't found what was being spent. They also didn't know what happened in a certain room.

So of course, Mastermind had decided to rob the place. Him, Mastermind and Inkblot had decided to do the job - Mr. Compress had bowed out due to a cold, and Gentle and La Brava were investigating something else. Stitch had said he was working on a critical patient in his back-alley clinic.

They'd grabbed some money and were trying to leave when the Heroes had arrived. Golden Grin and Inkblot had taken point, Mastermind supporting with blasts from his freeze ray. Inkblot was grinning like a maniac while swinging her mallet around, hitting the walls and leaving sizeable dents.

Death Arms spun his arms around, the buzz of electricity building up. "We've got you now, Villains!" He shouted, preparing to deal a mighty blow-!

At the last moment, Mastermind rolled out of the way, Death Arms' fist smashing through the wall and revealing-

Golden Grin stared. Mastermind stared. The heroes stared.

He couldn't remember the guys' name off the top of his head, but he was some really conservative politician. All about 'family values' and that other shit. He was just the most prominent one he could remember.

The room they were staring into was made up like a typical preschool. Light blue walls with white fluffy clouds, bright yellow sun, balls and toys, the works. And a bunch of grown-ass men in their fifties or sixties with attractive young women, frozen.

All of the grown men were dressed like kindergarteners. The politician was on a tricycle with a giant lollipop in hand and a propellor beanie on his head.

Golden Grin was never more aware of the fact that Mastermind's helmet had a camera and was streaming this to La Brava, going by the confused screaming piercing his ears.

For a moment, everybody stared at each other. "I-uh..." Death Arms trailed off.

Collectively, the League of Supervillains backed off while the Heroes were frozen stiff. The money they'd grabbed was divided between them, and they had video material at least. Daiki had taken the train back home, trying desperately to forget what he'd seen.

Now...

Daiki just shrugged. "I've met a whole lot of weird customers." He shuddered - he never wanted to see something like that again. "But... I mean, I love working with my new boss and the other guys. We're all friends, kind of."

His mom just smiled. "Well, it sounds like you're enjoying it better than your last one."

Daiki nodded. Those early days of being a villain were still a bit raw.

"Come on, the pig's basically Quirkless. Just blast his head off already!"

Yeah, never going back to those assholes. He smiled at his mom, getting up. He looked over at the photo of his uncle before sitting at the table. His uncle smiled at the camera, a bright blue beam shooting out from his navel. His mother looked over at the photo, her expression tight.

"...I think he would have been proud of you, Daiki."

Daiki felt a knot in his throat. He knew his uncle was still alive - he had to be. His mother smiled kindly. "Could you get the bowls out for me?"

"Sure thing, mom."

His uncle was alive. He'd find him, whether by himself or by his private detective.

Timeline: 5 months 2 weeks to Exams.

Sumi checked her tight white dress for any shed hairs. When you're covered head to toe in black fur, you tended to be particular about any leftover hairs. Idly she checked the straps one more time, then checked herself out in the bathroom mirror one last time. Inspection finished, she left the bathroom to meet the rest of the League of Supervillains. "Well, I've got a date for tonight! What do you guys think?"

She'd been trying to get a date with somebody who was somewhat decent. Most of her dates were either those kinds of weirdos, or were assholes. At least a couple of them had actually been in the closet.

Mastermind looked up at her from his workbench, where he was fiddling with one of the drones. "It's a nice dress Sumi."

Gentle nodded, having changed to his more comfortable clothes. "You look stunning, Anime. Go knock your paramour dead."

Sumi's smile widened, giving a little twirl to show off the dress. "Aw, thanks! And I really hope the guys' decent. Not like the last guys I've been dating."

Aiba gave her an encouraging smile. "You're gonna get this, Sumi! I got a good feeling looking at the guy's profile!"

Sumi grinned at the shorter woman. "Aw, did you hack his Facebook or something? Not everybody's got a friend who's willing to do that."

Mastermind gave her a thumbs up. "Well, I think it'll go really well, Sumi! You look fantastic!"

Sumi's grin widened. Trust Mastermind to say something like that. "Hah, well, of course it will! Nothing can go wrong!"

Two hours later...

Pretty much everything had gone wrong. Well, not everything, the restaurant itself was nice - at least she could afford to go to better places than when she was just an extra in some small movie studio. Sumi and her date - Hayate Maete - had gotten through most of a bottle of nice wine and a pleasant meal while they'd talked. He was handsome, with a strong jaw and intriguing yellow eyes.

Just a shame that he proved to be an asshole.

"-It's pretty interesting what's in that redone Destro book." He glanced around, obviously annoyed. "Hello? When are we getting some service?"

Sumi's eyebrow twitched. Hopefully he wouldn't be too bad. He was one of those guys with a strong Quirk who thought that they were owed everything, so kind of business as usual. "Well, they're pretty busy here-"

"Wasn't asking you," he sighed, trying to get his smile back. "But it's interesting, what Destro was trying for. You know what, he was completely right about Quirks. Those with strong Quirks like you and me, we should really be running this place, getting better service."

Sumi's hand twitched. She knew she wasn't going to be happy with the answer, but she felt she had to ask. "So what about people without Quirks?"

He smirked. "What about them? They've tried to drag us down to their level for so long, so- hey!"

Sumi had gotten up, looking down at him coldly. "Thanks for the dinner, but I'm not putting up with your shit."

She left the restaurant as he spluttered, idly scrolling through her contacts to get to Aiba.

"Hey, what's up Sumi?"

She sighed. "My date's a bust and I kind of want to get smashed. Are you down?"

Aiba paused. "...I'm sorry to hear that. I honestly didn't think-"

"Hey, it's fine. Not the first time, I'm just angry and want to get a drink."

Aiba paused. "I'm could meet you at Bīrukami's? I-it'll be nice to go out like this, even if it sucks your date didn't work out."

Sumi knew that place. It was a bit out of the way, but it was worth it. "Great. See you there Aiba-chan!"

Later...

The bar was dark, classic records decorating the walls. The pair of villains sat at the bar, the dark red leather seats adding to the atmosphere.

"I guess I don't have any luck with guys," Sumi grumbled into her beer. "They're either weirdos, condescending pricks or gay."

Aiba stared off into the distance, her own drink something violently pink in a cocktail glass. "I kind of get it. The only guy who wanted to date me in high school only wanted me to be a 'legal loli.' Then I tried ask out another boy, and, well..."

Sumi gently tinkled their glasses. "Well, here's to finding a good man someday!"

"Already found one!"

They both knocked back their drinks, waving for another round.

Aiba patted her on the shoulder. The bartender had raised an eyebrow at her ID, but it was still legal. "Cheer up, Sumi! You'll find somebody for you, like I did with Gentle!"

Sumi put on a slight smile. "Yeah, you and Gentle work well together." She lifted her mug to her lips. "Besides, we're two gal pals! We should talk about something else other than love."

Aiba looked slightly offended. "Yeah." She took a sip of her own drink before a wicked look entered her eyes. "So, when are you going to ask Mastermind out?"

Sumi choked on her beer. After some frantic coughing, she managed to recover. "What? Why would I-"

Aiba let out a short laugh. "I knew it! You started teasing him but now it's real, huh?"

Sumi shook her head. "No, no! Come on, let's talk about something else! Do you really want to fail the Bechdel test? We could be talking about, I don't know, philosophy or something!"

Aiba poked the taller woman in the ribs. "Come on! You like him!"

Sumi stared at Aiba for a few moments, then sighed. "Alright, fine! I do like him. Happy?"

Aiba grinned, leaning on the bar. "Yep. So when did it start?"

Sumi waved for another beer. "Probably it started with that whole declaration thing. Then..." she remembered talking with Mastermind a couple of months ago, during the gear trials. The self-proclaimed Supervillain had been nice, really nice. "Well, that was when I tried to go with Kei, remember?"

Aiba wiggled her hand "Vaguely. Was he-?"

Sumi sighed. "Incredibly in the closet, yeah. But Mastermind..."

She'd shown off her dress then, mostly to Aiba and a little to the others. Mastermind's compliment was really sweet, and somewhat unexpected given how timid he could be when not out in public.

"W-well, Sumi, I think you look wonderful! It really brings out your eyes! You're going to have a great time with anybody!"

Most guys were interested in her being a 'furry,' or looked at her breasts or butt exclusively. Her smile grew fond. "And then I remembered those eyes of his," a surprising shade of mossy green, "and then, well..." she trailed off.

"And he's always so kind! He treats me like a princess, which I am!" She chugged her second glass of beer, letting out a loud burp.

Aiba stared flatly at her.

Sumi huffed. "What? I can be princessy and I can also bench a fridge! I'm not compromising on either!"

Aiba laughed. "Sure, whatever." Her expression turned more serious. "Have you thought about it?"

Sumi glanced at her glass. "Okay, so you can NEVER tell him this... but a few nights ago, I had a dream." She took a deep breath. "With him in it."

It had been... nice. She'd been in a classic princess dress, he'd been in a classic nobleman's outfit, and a bit taller than he actually was. They'd danced, in a masquerade that mostly comprised of various Heroes that she'd fought. The dream had ended just as he took off his mask.

Aiba's eyebrows raised and she leaned in. Sumi stared at the shorter villain, then knocked back her drink. "H-hah! Got you!"

Aiba looked at Sumi oddly. "I mean, I'm not going to-"

"Too late, it's a Friday night and I'm not talking about this any more, alright?" She stood up, slightly unsteadily. "There's a karaoke joint nearby, let's hit it up!"

She'd gone there with her former co-workers many times before. They'd had a few drinks, enjoyed themselves, relaxed, sang badly. It had taken the sting off of not getting good parts somewhat, of being stuck with only a minor change in salary for bullshit reasons.

Then, well, the studio head had decided to can the project she'd been cast as the lead in, citing that, "Nobody would want to watch a film with a mutant heroine anyway."

Prick.

She shook her head. "Come on, Aiba! Trust me, it'll be fun!"

Aiba shook her head. "I-I'm not good at karaoke-"

"Don't worry, I'm bad at karaoke as well!" She picked up Aiba one handed, slapping down her card. "Let's go!"

Karaoke was as fun as it always was. Probably more fun, with her and Aiba consuming more beer and singing a dreadful version of Lovers again, with no work to get in the way.

Timeline: 5 months to Entrance Exam

The back alley clinic in Naruhata was a small, poky place. Just a typical small, practically abandoned building in a shadier part of town.

Tsuchiya Hideo glared at the light as if it had personally offended him. With a weary sigh, he peeled himself off of his bed, turning on his shower to clean himself up.

His personal room looked like a bomb filled with dirty clothes and beer cans had gone off. The cleanest things in the room were a framed picture of a younger and happier Hideo on his graduation day, the others being a set of scrubs hanging up in the wardrobe, scrupulously clean. A collection of newspaper prints were on the walls, pictures of Hideo at various stages of his career, one of them covered in small dart holes.

He grabbed a cup of coffee, swilling it down. Sooner or later he'd have a client. There was always one. He pulled on his Villain outfit for the minor protection it would give him then slowly descended, enjoying the quiet before a patient.

Sure enough, there was a knock on the door. He sighed, going to the door. He opened the door, his tired eyes scanning over the caller. A young man with red hair and spiny skin stood there covered in blood. "Come in." He pointed the teenager through the place with its horrible brown walls, to a small room with a bench. "Please, have a seat."

The teenager sat on the provided bench as Stitch snapped on his gloves. This room was incredibly clean, the supplies almost what you would find in a regular hospital. "What's the problem?"

The teenager took a moment to get his breath. "I, uh, got in a fight, Real bad one."

Stitch hummed, looking over the damage. It looked like the patient had been clawed by a bear all over his chest. The bleeding had stopped for the most part, but he had lost a fair amount of blood. "Right."

He moved quickly yet methodically, pulling out several different antibiotic creams. "Are you allergic to any of these, and are you on Trigger or other substances right now? Because if you are it could have adverse effects."

"N-no!" The teenager coughed up some blood. "I-I don't think I have any allergies to that stuff."

Stitch pulled out several antibiotics and a piece of cloth. "Bite into this, because this is going to sting."

A purple blade flickered into existence on his finger. With an elegant movement, the shirt the patient was wearing fell into pieces. Stitch carefully cleaned the wound, then applied antiseptic, causing the teenager to grip the edge of the bench and let out muffled screams. When he was finished, he carefully wrapped the wound up. "There."

He pulled out a small tube of antiseptic and a roll of bandages and pressed them into his hand. "Come to me or have somebody help you change those bandages for the next couple of days. Make sure you wash your hands before trying anything with the wound."

The young man smiled. 'Thanks! So, uh, what do I owe you?"

Stitch looked him over. The kid didn't look like a gang member - probably just some kid who got in over his head. "That depends, how much can you afford?"

The teenager pulled out his wallet, looking through it. "Uh, I don't have too much money."

"As I said, what can you afford?"

He pulled out a handful of yen, only finding 5000 yen. "I- this is all I have on me."

Stitch snatched the bills. "That'll be enough then."

The teenager stared at him. "I-) can come back tomorrow with more money-"

"You've paid and that's enough." Stitch stared the teenager down. "If you want to pay me more, then get injured again. As far as I'm concerned this is over."

He shooed him out, sighing.

The next few clients were Villains, a small gang that had gained some notoriety for robbing a jewellery store. The leader, a large man with a bull's head, laughed as Stitch painstakingly cleaned their wounds. "Come on, doc! You should be working for us, as our personal surgeon! We can pay you good money!"

"Sorry, but I treat anybody who comes through my doors. I'm a doctor after all," Stitch muttered, needle and thread flashing as he stitched up the two Villains on. his table.

The bull head's smile slipped. "You sure about this? It'd be a bad idea to make me angry."

Stitch's finger lit up with a purple light. The Villains tensed as he gestured at the thick lead pipe that one of the members had. "As I said, I'm a surgeon. I treat anybody who comes in. I may not have a medical license right now, but that was part of the oath I swore."

Quicker than they could react, he slashed the pipe in the thug's hand. After a moment, the top slid down onto the ground, jangling loudly. He looked them in the eye as they flinched back. "So do you want me to continue treating you, or do you want to leave? Your choice."

Shakily, the Villains allowed themselves to be treated.

Stitch idly flicked through the channels on the television as he waited for clients. One of his patients had paid him in a bowl of ramen as payment for a tonsillectomy, offering that and lunch for a week. Stitch had accepted this offer in lieu of money, warning the man that he would expect to be paid in full.

"-And Doctor Garaki's revolutionary treatment was used today by Doctor Kirikuchi-"

Stitch turned the television off. "Bastards!"

He stomped off, glaring at one article on his walls.

BRILLIANT YOUNG SURGEON STRIPPED OF MEDICAL LICENSE.

Memories came back of that time. An older man in critical condition, and he was operating when another one came in - a younger man, barely younger than he had been at the time.

"Kirikuchi, I need you to treat the new patient! This man's a higher priority!"

"He'll die anyway! This kid? He's a VIP! We need you on him right now!"

"I trust you to do that procedure. This man will die if he doesn't get treatment."

"You didn't operate on my son when he was called in? I'll see you never work as a doctor again!"

Furiously he picked up a dart and threw it at the article, the dart thudding into the wall. "Bastards!"

More darts flew, punctuated by the single word. When he was finished, he stood there, breathing heavily, before he heard the door open downstairs. Coming down, he saw Mastermind entering with Mr. Compress, the pair battered but not looking seriously hurt. "Oh, Mastermind. What happened?"

Bitterness over his stolen work would have to wait.

Mastermind paused as Stitch came closer. "Mastermind-" KRAKATHOOM "-is in need of some medical assistance. I got burnt pretty badly." The younger man's posture was sheepish.

"Some fire based Hero caught him on the side. It's not a bad burn, but it will probably need treatment."

Stitch sighed. A doctor's work was never done. "Let's see the wound."

Timeline: Four months three weeks.

It didn't look like very much - a small house covered in ivy next to a hardware store. If you didn't know about it, or you didn't travel near it and smell the delicate fumes coming from inside, you wouldn't know that it was a teahouse.

Gentle Criminal breathed in the rich aroma of the pot coming closer. "Ah, Golden Tips Imperial tea." The Kazura teahouse was known for its Golden Tips Imperial tea, subtle yet refined.

Mr. Compress nodded. "Nothing like it."

The pair of villains sat in the cafe in civilian clothing, the elderly proprietor setting the pot down between them. Without his mask on, Mr. Compress was just another face in the crowd. Gentle Criminal had styled his hair differently and wore a pair of thick black sunglasses with a subdued collared shirt and pants.

The rich, golden-brown liquid was poured into the gentlemen's cups, Gentle pouring the pot without his typical flair. When Mr. Compress commented on this, Gentle simply smiled. "Waste Golden Tips Imperial? No, no. That would be a far worse crime than what we are planning."

Mr. Compress nodded. "A fair point." They gently tapped their cups together, inhaling the delicate aroma before sipping.

"Ah, delightful."

"Quite."

Mr. Compress put his cup down. "What an exquisite place. I must admit I had never heard of it before."

Gentle chuckled. "I found it when I was researching a corrupt business in the area. Though I did not have sufficient funds at the time to visit, I memorised its location."

Mr. Compress took another sip. "Kazura-san has undeniable talent." He looked around subtly, lowering his voice. "It'll be good to relax before we go for the next job. Mastermind seemed enthusiastic about it at least."

Gentle's expression softened slightly. "Mastermind? Truth be told I worry about him slightly. He's..."

"A kind soul. Very kind."

Gentle sighed. "I won't deny I see myself in him. I... before one bad day, I truly wanted to be a Hero."

Mr. Compress nodded. "I can't blame you, though I never had ambitions like that."

Gentle looked slightly surprised, then frowned, taking another sip of tea. "I've no taste for violence. Most villains are so brutal. But Mastermind... he's a gentle soul. And he's smart enough that he really shouldn't be in this business."

Mr. Compress' cup stopped before it came to his mouth. "You think so?"

Gentle's expression turned bitter. "I... I'm not really anything special. I never had the grades to make it anywhere in Hero school. Mastermind though - he doesn't have to be a Villain."

He chuckled. "I mean, he is a friend, and I wish him the best. But I honestly wonder why he's a Villain at all."

Mr. Compress paused for a moment. "Everybody has a reason for doing what they do. And I feel that Mastermind and myself are very similar."

When Gentle looked at him, he waved a hand, a bunch of roses appearing. "Even without my Quirk, I am a master of prestidigitation. I'm a fully accredited magician with and without Quirk. If I didn't want to be a Villain I wouldn't be here."

He stood up dramatically, cup delicately balanced. The elderly proprietor dully stared at him before shaking his head, leaving the room and closing the door. "So why? My reason... I want to expose the corruption in the Hero world." He sipped his tea. "I wager that his reason is similar."

Gentle thought for a moment, then nodded. "I guess it's been weighing on my mind. I suppose I have to live up to the Phantom Thief's example and keep on with it, don't I?"

Mr. Compress chuckled as he sat back down. "Yes, I think he would approve of that."

Gentle looked at Mr. Compress with an odd expression before shrugging. "Still, I hope that the other villains out there stay out of our way..."

A while ago...

The shady room above the abandoned bar was bare of furniture, save for a variety of television screens and consoles. A laptop in the corner was plugged in to the wall, displaying various screenshots. The futon on the ground was messy and unmade, and there were dirty clothes and empty cans scattered everywhere. A neat figure with black and purple smoke coming off of his body sighed, starting to tidy the clothes and detritus away before glancing over at the other inhabitant as he tapped away furiously on his handheld console.

"Shigaraki, I don't suppose you want to read the newspaper or watch the news? There has been an interesting development-"

"Not interested Kurogiri." Shigaraki didn't even look up from his console.

Kurogiri tried again. "It might help you plan your next move."

Shigaraki looked up, red, bloodshot eyes staring at Kurogiri's. "Why should I waste my time with this Hero Society's biased media when I could be spending it doing something productive like gaming?"

He hunched back over his console. "Now I've got to get back to this. Breeding a shiny Ralts with perfect IVs so then I can start EV training to beat that fucking bitch Cynthia."

Kurogiri stared ahead with the expression of a man who was already dead.

In a shaded lair, a small, fat bald man looked at the television screen displaying the antics of a certain figure. "So, my lord... what do you think?"

The figure that sat in the chair leaned forwards slightly. Scarred, sightless sockets locked onto the figure on screen, loudly proclaiming its status as a Supervillain.

"I think this moron is hilarious," All for One commented, a wide grin on his face.

An: This is a bit of a toned down chapter, since the last one was pretty high energy. That, and I wanted to go over most of the other characters' backstories. I hope I got across why each of these characters became a villain in the first place.

So we're moving through the timezones at a reasonable clip! There's a few major events before we'll hit canon, then we'll see!

Without sufficient comments I sleep like a baby - I wake up and cry every two or three hours. Also, criticise, tell me what worked and what didn't. I will get to you eventually.

Next time... Damsel in Distress (?)