Chapter 21

"Isn't that the mean guy from the Sports Festival?" A kid whispered (although was it really whispering if he could hear it from here?)

"Yeah! He's got a dumb haircut!" Another kid laughed, pointing at his hair. This, of course, was considered peak comedy by the 6-year-old children (at least, that's how old Katsuki thought they were. Surely only a 6-year-old could be as tall as that) and they all laughed. Katsuki growled, but a hand landed on his shoulder.

"You must remain stoic in the face of ridicule, Bakugou," Best Jeanist chided, looking at Katsuki with stern eyes. Katsuki grumbled for a moment before dropping the subject and continuing to follow after Best Jeanist. All things considered; he wasn't enjoying his time with the man. Surprisingly, his main problem wasn't the lack of fighting. No, it was the fucking weird rules. Ok, Katsuki could maybe let the combed hairdo slide, seeing as that didn't affect much. But jeans? Nuh-uh. No way. Jeans are just not compatible with- with- with anything about Katsuki's costume or fighting style! Honestly? Katsuki wished he'd gone with someone like Miruko, who'd also sent him an offer, but whatever, he couldn't change that now.

Wouldn't stop him from hating Jeanist from here on out.

Katsuki mentally slapped himself. The whole 'hating everyone' thing was literally the main reason he'd come to Best Jeanist anyways. A Hero who's main thing is public service and being cool and collected? That's exactly what Katsuki wanted to learn now that he was trying to put his 100% violence mindset behind him. Not that he'd ever stop doing combat, he just figured a good place to start with becoming less of a…a bully, as De- Izuku had called him, would be with Jeanist. Oh, how wrong he was.

"You are already becoming better at remaining silent when targeted verbally. That is good," Best Jeanist commented as they continued their patrol, "At this rate, we can expect great progress from you, Bakugou," Katsuki muttered something similar to agreement, mixed with a bit of annoyance. As they walked past a café, Katsuki could hear a radio playing.

"-And in other news, Hero Killer Stain has reached an all-time high in search results, as word of his name spreads with every Hero he strikes down in the name of his mysterious cause! What do you think this psychotic villain's goal is, Ishigami?" One of the radio hosts asked, clearly asking his peer who was also in the studio with him, "Well, Shirogane, I'm personally more worried about the influx of people who have been turning up quirkless recently! And I don't mean born quirkless, I'm talking people with quirks just losing them out of nowhere!" Oh, now that was interesting. Katsuki had always heard tales of the quirk boogie man, usually by his parents trying to stop him from flaunting his quirk.

("Katsuki Bakugou! You stop that this instant!" Mitsuki barked at her misbehaving 9-year-old as he used his quirk to explode a flower while they walked.

"Or what?" Katsuki sneered. Mitsuki's face reddened with anger; they'd said raising a kid would be difficult, but she highly doubted that this was what they meant.

"Or else All for One will steal your quirk!" Mitsuki replied. Katsuki looked at her for a moment before bursting out into laughter.

"Yeah, right! He ain't even real! Otherwise, I doubt those extras at school would be calling him literally all kinds of names but that one you just pulled out of nowhere," Katsuki retorted. Mitsuki breathed through her nose. How had she talked herself into having a kid again?)

Of course, he'd always simply brushed off the idea of a quirk-stealing villain. It just didn't make sense to Katsuki how someone with a power that OP would stay out of the news. Surely if you could steal quirks, you'd be flaunting the shit as much as possible, right?

Katsuki shook his head. He was being stupid. There has never been, nor will there ever be, a quirk that can steal quirks. And if there was a chance it could happen, well, Katsuki was sure humanity would send themselves to extinction before they reached that point…

Kai hissed as the Hero Killer's blade went into his shoulder. He wasn't even trying to recruit the guy! That was Shigaraki! Honestly, this was the last god damn time Kai would bring his research down into the bar for a change of environment; next time he'd probably just get Kurogiri to warp him to some museum in Greece.

Suddenly, Kai felt his entire body seize up, and he began to panic as he realized he couldn't move. Nothing terrified him more than someone having power over him, and right now this person with the power had the ability and drive to kill him here and now. No, he couldn't die. If he died, everything he had done would have gone to waste. He didn't care so much about dying, he knew he deserved it more than most people, especially after…well, basically everything post his 18th birthday. But if he died without completing his ultimate goal, all that bastardry had been for nothing. He'd be no better than Shigaraki. And didn't that just make Kai feel sick?

"Kurogiri, take him away!" Shigaraki spat from the ground as Stain kneeled over him, absent mindedly licking the blood on his blade again. Maybe it was related to his quirk? Wait, why was Kai thinking about this now of all times? There were far more dire things happening to worry about!

"Tomura Shigaraki, I am afraid I cannot move," Kurogiri replied, pausing as he seemed to attempt to move. Suddenly, Shigaraki's prosthetic arm shot upwards and smashed into Stain's jaw, surprising everyone, even Shigaraki himself. But…how could Shigaraki use his arm? He seemed to be paralyzed in every other sense of the…

Wait a minute…

"Shigaraki, can you move your other arm?" Kai asked. Shigaraki grunted before replying that he couldn't, "I see. I remember reading an article a couple years ago that victims of paralysis can use prosthetic limbs, so I think that's what's happening. And considering how he seems to be licking the blood off his blade for seemingly no good reason, I can conclude that his quirk operates by ingestion of blood, which causes full-body paralysis," Stain was silent for a moment.

"You're pretty smart, especially compared to this idiot," Stain commented, gesturing towards Shigaraki, who was berating Stain for calling him an idiot, "Why're you running around with him anyways?" Kai chuckled a humorless laugh.

"If I had the choice, I'd ditch him in an instant. But I work with Sensei, I just have to tag along with the League to make sure nothing bad happens," Kai explained. Stain let out a hum of satisfaction before turning back to Shigaraki. Kai was glad he didn't prod any further, seeing as the reason he was still here was a bit more complicated than that, to say the least.

"As I was saying, you and I are completely different. I stand for true heroism, for heroes to become paragons of virtue, truth, and hope, instead of greedy sleazeballs only in it for the fame and fortune. You, however, only want to destroy what you hate, like a child throwing a tantrum," Stain monologued, pointing a katana at Shigaraki, "Now, once your warper is unparalyzed, send me back to Hosu, I have unfinished business there…" The talking died out after that, and after a couple minutes Kurogiri was able to warp Stain away.

"I didn't like him…" Shigaraki mutters, finally able to stand up. Kai had been the first to move, with his A type blood seemingly giving him better resistance to Stain's quirk, if his theory was correct, "I really don't like guys like that! People who think they're better than everyone just because they have some stupid goal! I have a goal as well! No, actually, you know what? Warp us to Hosu, Kurogiri," Shigaraki ordered, pointing at Kurogiri, "I'm not letting him off that easy! He wants to call me a kid throwing a tantrum? I'll show him a fucking tantrum! I'll fucking enjoy killing him later!"

Little did Tomura, Kai, or even All for One know, there was one other person with her eyes on Stain…

Izuku flopped onto his bed in the guest room of the Pussycat's Agency. They had a while until they were going to head into the city, and they'd been gracious enough to grant Izuku a break from practice (he still had some dirt in his fingernails, even after using Overhaul to remove it). Sighing, Izuku pulled out his phone and decided to see if anyone else was on break.

Overhaul: Daddy Midoriya just landed in the group chat baby

Yaoi Hands has muted Overhaul

Ghosty has unmuted Overhaul

Yaoi Hands: fuck you

Ghosty: I fucked your mum

Not Todoroki: But how would that work? Aren't you both girls?

Izuku had forgotten that Kurono had added Todoroki to the group chat before the internships started. It was kind of funny watching Todoroki think he was only talking to Kurono thanks to his abysmal understanding of technology. Momo, bless her heart, was the only one to explain that it was a group chat and not just Kurono.

Yaomomo: Lesbians, Todoroki, they exist

Chronostasis: And they could be any one of us

Chronostasis: It could be you!

Chronostasis: It could be me!

Chronostasis: It could even be-

Yaoi Hands: ANYWAYS

Yaoi Hands: How are everyone's internships?

Not Todoroki: I am trapped with Monoma who is also interning under Edgeshot

Yaomomo: Is he being troublesome?

Not Todoroki: No. He's messaging someone named 'Sleepy Boyfriend 3'

Not Todoroki: I have no idea who that is though.

Chronostasis: I was right! He was gay, not European!

Overhaul: He could be both

Chronostasis: Izuku, I need money, and you don't make money by telling the truth.

Ghosty: Truly, the greatest paragon of virtue is you, Kurono

Overhaul: Oh, right! Anyone else in Hosu tonight? The Pussycats are going to meet Water Hose and I'm tagging along.

Chronostasis: Can't, I'm in Deika and definitely doing legal things

MEANWHILE, IN DEIKA CITY:

"Femboy Gang?" Kurono asked, holding a hand out to Geten, who had revealed his femboy form. Geten took his hand and shook.

"Femboy Gang," Geten replied.

Yaoi Hands: I think Miruko wants to head there for the night to go hunting that Hero Killer guy.

Ghosty: I would love to, but Ryukyu has shoved me off a building and onto a ledge until I teach myself to fly with my quirk.

Yaomomo: Fat Gum really only sticks to the same city, so I won't be anywhere nearby.

Not Todoroki: Who knows. Edgeshot is all over the place depending on the occasion.

Overhaul: Oh well, maybe I'll see you and Kendo there!

Izuku switched his phone off before his mind began to wander. So, Yanagi was trying to achieve flight with her quirk? Interesting…

Hm, maybe he could try and theorize about her quirk? Maybe there's some other reason why she can't fly easily with her quirk? Well, it was certainly something to do, Izuku reasoned. And so, he grabbed out a spare notebook and began writing possible theories on Reiko's quirk. He also added a little sketch of her as well, just because he felt like it, and for some reason he felt his chest tighten at the drawing of Reiko's face.

"Shino!"

"Koatsu!"

Mandalay and Water Hose (the girl, not the guy) embraced, patting each other on the back.

"Sup, Mizu," Tiger greeted, shaking Water Hose's (the guy, not the girl) hand. Ragdoll and Pixie-Bob waved, also greeting the 2 heroes. Suddenly, Water Hose (both the girl and the guy) noticed Izuku, and a look of recognition flashed across their faces.

"Oh, you're that kid that won the Sports Festival! Nice job!" Mizu said, "The name's Suisosuisomizu Kota, but everyone just calls me Mizu!" Izuku decided not to comment on how he could see why people called him that. Izuku was Japanese and even he could barely comprehend how to say that name! It's like some god-like being gave him that name on purpose just to fit some weird naming convention!

"Ah, Shino told me about you! I'm her sister, Koatsu," Koatsu stated, smiling at Izuku.

"Anyways, anything interesting happen today?" Pixie-Bob asked before her eyelids half-closed, "Any new bachelors?" She purred. Koatsu sighed while Mizu just laughed.

"Nah, nothing really!" Mizu replied. Izuku was starting to pin him down as the loud, social type, who sometimes gets a little passionate about stuff.

"It's actually been a rather boring day, now I think about it. Oh well, that just means we'll be less tired, and we can spend some time with Kota!" Koatsu cheered. Ragdoll hopped in place.

"Oh! How is Kota-Chan?" She asked, excitement in her eyes. Mizu chuckled.

"He's been learning math at school now. Thankfully, he's got a great teacher!" He laughed.

"Yes, because you are god awful at it," Koatsu said, glaring at Mizu, who practically shrunk under her glare. Just as quickly as it happened, it was over. Izuku, who had previously pegged Koatsu as the type to just be all friendly, quickly scratched everything he knew out and simply noted that Koatsu is the type to remember anything and everything, which was something that kind of scared Izuku. Suddenly, Ragdoll's eyes narrowed, and she began sniffing.

"Do you…is that smoke?" Ragdoll asked, looking up in the air. Everyone, including Izuku, also looked up, and sure enough they could see plumes of smoke spiraling up into the ground. Soon after, the sounds of screaming civilians could be heard, and the Pussycats and Water Hose immediately switched from a casual stance to a battle-ready one.

"Revolutionary!" Mandalay commanded, looking at Izuku, "Seeing as you're a student without any kind of license, I order you to not engage with any villains. You will simply help any civilians that require it, understand?" Izuku nodded, and the 7 of them ran towards the smoke. Izuku hadn't seen the Pussycats so serious before, but it was ridiculously easy to tell that they were. There were no smiles on their faces, and their friendly aura had been replaced with one of urgency. Even Ragdoll, who Izuku hadn't seen without a smile since he first met her, looked resolute and focused.

They turned a corner, and their eyes shot wide at the scene before them. The streets were burning, and there were at least 3 Nomu. 2 of them were a grayer colour, and were thin and lanky, whilst the 3rd one had the same black skin as the USJ Nomu, with a bulkier and more muscular build. The biggest question here, however, was how the hell were there more of them?

"HEY, THIS LOOKS FUN!" A loud voice yelled, and everyone turned their heads to see something crashing into a building. The dust blocked their body, but Izuku caught a glimpse of blonde, spikey hair and writhing pink things that looked like muscle fibers almost. The building they had landed in had caught fire, one even stronger than the ones the Nomu had caused. Water Hose turned their full attention to the man in the building.

"Go, we'll deal with this guy!" Mizu shouted. Koatsu nodded and looked back at Mandalay.

"You guys just focus on helping the people down here, okay?" She said, smiling slightly. Mandalay nodded, and the two groups separated, Water Hose using their high-pressure water quirks to scale the buildings and the Pussycats + Izuku rushing towards the battle.

"Kid, you've dealt with these things before, how do you beat them?" Pixie-Bob asked. Izuku shrugged.

"I, uh, kind of zoned out when All Might beat it?" Izuku said, "But, er, I could probably take them out by-,"

"No," Mandalay said sharply, "You will not engage, not unless your life is in immediate danger, or if a civilian is being attacked and you see no other way to help," She looked at Izuku, staring right past his eyes and boring into his soul. Begrudgingly, Izuku nodded, and the Pussycats continued. Eventually, they reached the Nomu, and Pixie-Bob immediately got to work, sliding over to a nearby tree and using the exposed dirt as ammunition. Tiger began stretching himself around the lanky 4-eyed one while Mandalay and Ragdoll began checking on civilians. Izuku decided to check on the opposite side of where Mandalay and Ragdoll were looking and began helping civilians.

"Are you okay?" Izuku asked, offering a hand to a man who had been thrown to the ground by an explosion. He grunted, taking Izuku's hand in his massive one. The man was tall and broad, wearing a tight white shirt that detailed his chiseled physique. His hair was auburn and wild, slightly covering his striking yellow eyes.

"Tch, yeah. These things ain't nothin', I could probably take one," He growled. And before Izuku could even realize what was happening, the man was running at a Nomu. Panicking, Izuku used his quirk to overhaul the ground below him, restraining the man and bringing him back.

"Sir, I can't let you do that, leave this to the heroes," Izuku scolded, to the annoyance of the man, "If you're okay, then I need to go look for other civilians," And with that, Izuku was off down the street to look for more survivors. However, Izuku skidded to a stop as he saw a flash of metal in an alley, and the barely audible sound of someone yelping in pain. Izuku looked back and saw that the Pussycats were preoccupied, so he couldn't call them.

"Alright, let's see what this is about," Izuku sighed before running into the alleyway.

"You call yourself a hero, child?" Stain questioned, pressing his boot into Iida's head, "You're nothing more than a temperamental fool looking for revenge," Iida cried out in pain as Stain's katana sliced clean through his armor and into his flesh, and he winced as he felt his shoulder bone break from the blade. Either Stain's blades were high quality, or Iida's armor just sucked.

Personally, Iida hoped it was the former.

"Now, to rid the world of yet another fake hero," Stain muttered, removing the blade and licking it, causing Iida to lose all control of his limbs. Oh god, this was such a stupid idea! Why did he have to do this? Now he thought about it, wasn't it insulting to imply that he could beat Stain but not his brother? As if he was saying he was better? Because he wasn't! Tenya Iida was nothing but a stupid idiot who was a stickler for the rules! And he knew it! It was all his-

"Hey, asshole!" A familiar voice called out, distracting Stain, "Stop that!" Izuku stepped out of the shadows, a dangerous look in his eyes…not that Iida could tell, as he was currently unable to move. Stain considered his new quarry for a moment, his tongue flopping out of his mouth on full display.

"You…you're the kid who won the Sports Festival," Stain stated, pointing his bloodied katana at Izuku, who nodded.

"Yes, I suppose that is me, isn't it?" He replied cautiously, "Anyways, can you let my friend go and turn yourself in? You know, the easy way?" Stain grunted.

"This boy is a fake hero, and I will never turn myself in until-,"

"What?" Izuku asked. Stain, undeterred, repeated his speech.

"This boy is a fake hero, and I will-,"

"What?" Izuku asked again. This time, Stain's eyes narrowed, but he repeated nevertheless.

"…This boy is a-,"

"What?" Izuku asked. Suddenly, Iida remembered what happened during the Entrance Exam, and his mouth gaped open in shock.

"That lunatic…he's doing it to a serial killer!" Iida muttered as he looked at the ground incredulously. At this angle, however, he couldn't see how Izuku was using his phone behind his back, and luckily for Izuku, neither could Stain, who at this point had had enough of Izuku's shit and threw a kunai at the boy.

"Enough!" He yelled, eyes blazing with fury, "If you won't let me kill this fake, then I'll just have to kill you too!" Izuku smirked uneasily.

"I'd like to see you try,"

Extra 1

A couple days after the Sports Festival

Kendo was walking through the lingerie section of the shop. Truthfully, she hadn't meant to go here. Actually, she was here to get some new socks. However, she couldn't help but wonder if there was anything that Momo might like to say.

Yeah, even she knew how weird that sounded.

As Kendo walked around a corner, however, she saw possibly the last person she would expect to see in a place like this.

"Shiozaki-San?" Kendo called out to the vine-haired girl, who turned around and confirmed that it was the same person, "What are you doing here? I wouldn't expect someone as religious as you to shop for lingerie of all things," To her surprise, Shiozaki just laughed before a devilish smile lit up her face.

"Oh, please, that's just a façade," Shiozaki replied, waving her hand a bit, "I just do that to lure in boys who think I'm an easy girl. They never expect me to whip out a strap on as soon as we get back to my place," Kendo paled.

"Strap…on?" She parroted, and Shiozaki's smile turned into a smirk.

"Oh yes, I will fuck that Kurono boy's bussy like the femboy he is,"

On a completely unrelated note, Kendo now had a severe fear of Ibara Shiozaki and her mental manipulation.

Extra 2

"I've played around with this 'Europa Universalis' game, and I believe I am ready for a multiplayer campaign!" Saiko Intelli announced to herself as she slid into her desk chair. She quickly loaded into a multiplayer game (unlike older versions of the game, the current version (Europa Universalis 77) allowed players to que into completely random multiplayer games), and found she only had 3 opponents.

"RatGod and ShiryokuGaming, huh? Well, prepare to be dominated!" Saiko declared, immediately picking England. She flashed a smile and salute at her photo of the Queen (who would have guessed she had an immortality quirk?) and began to play.

"HOW IS HE BEATING US?!" Saiko yelled as Byzantium began to push onto the British Isles from France.

"I DON'T KNOW?!" Nedzu yelled, as his Japanese Empire was also getting wrecked by ShiryokuGaming's Byzantium. Honestly, Saiko had been surprised that RatGod was the almighty principal of UA, but that was heavily dampened by the feeling of fear as they had been forced to ally and join a voice chat just to stand a chance at beating ShiryokuGaming.

"SURELY HE HAS AN INTELLIGENCE QUIRK AS WELL? LIKE, A REALLY STRONG ONE?!" Saiko suggested frantically as the Byzantine forces pushed all the way to London.

"Wow, these guys suck ass," Mitsudo Shiryoku commented as he casually finished yet another World Conquest starting from the Eastern Roman Empire, "Even with my right arm tied behind the chair and while wearing sunglasses. Alright, chat, what should I do to limit my skills next?"