Chapter 25

"So, this is the place?" Izuku asked Reiko as they stood outside an admittedly worn-down looking ramen shop.

"Indeed. I find myself attracted to this place deep into the night when my stomach yearns for sustenance, as the owner has a quirk that lets him stay awake as long as he eats at regular intervals, and therefore he has taken a fancy towards keeping his storefront open day and night." Reiko replied. Izuku had to admit, that was a very niche quirk. But it seemed to make the man happy, if he was willing to run a ramen shop all hours of the night.

"It actually seems pretty full for this time of night" Izuku pointed out. And indeed, despite it being 10:00 PM and with traffic in the area almost completely dead, he could still make out 6 figures all eating at a table together. Reiko hummed, eyebrows furrowing.

"That is quite a strange occurrence. In my general experience, customers rarely appear past the hour of 7:00, so for 6 to be here at a time nearing midnight is quite the surprise." Reiko replied. She shrugged it off, however, and decided to walk in with Izuku right behind her, and as they entered, they heard the group of people talking.

"I'm just sayin' what're the chances we can even meet this guy? They ain't exactly openly advertising!" A reptilian guy seemed to be arguing a point with someone in the group, an argument he seemed quite sure of. A man in formal dress with a rather plain face replied, twirling some marbles absent-mindedly in his hands.

"Now, now, Shuichi, we must not lose faith! I know the absolute perfect person to introduce us! He goes by the name of Giran and is considered by many to be a most superb middleman! I do believe he will be able to introduce us tonight!" The man was rather theatrical and reminded Izuku of a more light-hearted version of Reiko with how he spoke so elegantly and verbosely.

"I'll believe it when I see it," A bored-sounding voice drawled, a voice Izuku figured belonged to the man with spiky black hair, who was covering the bottom-half of his face with a surgical mask, "There's a whole damn country we have to search, and if this Giran turns out to be a liar, then we'll probably never find them."

"Oh, I doubt Giran will fail us. Giran knows everyone." The theatrical man replied ominously. Before the bored man or lizard man could say anything else, another occupant of the table spoke up in a harsh whisper.

"Hey, ain't those two UA students?" Izuku stiffened. Were they about to get harassed? He really hoped not, seeing as he and Reiko had been having such a good night. Reiko nudged him, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"What ramen would you prefer, Izuku?" She asked, looking over at him. Izuku panicked for a moment before spitting something out.

"W-Whatever you're having!" Izuku felt his cheeks redden as he said that, but what was said was said, and Reiko provided his request along with hers to the guy running the restaurant, allowing Izuku to return his attention to the people behind them.

"It is! That's the guy who won it and his girlfriend! Shut up, brat, that's just a ghost and a house plant!" Izuku was confused at whatever the fuck that man just said, as he'd seemed to completely contradict himself in every way imaginable. The bored guy just sighed at it, so Izuku suspected that was normal. Izuku glanced at Reiko and caught her looking back at him at the exact same time. They quickly looked away, and Izuku swore he heard one of them coo at the table.

"Here ya go, two bowls of ramen." The owner handed them their takeaway bowls and disposable chopsticks, and the two of them quickly left the restaurant.

"Those people seemed…interesting…" Izuku commented, looking into his steaming ramen bowel.

Yanagi hummed, "They truly were every part of the word interesting. It eludes me as to what they could have possibly been conversing about when referring to finding a group of people and a man of the name Giran. They did appear quite theatrical to myself, so I am partial to believing they are searching for employment as wandering actors." Izuku chuckled. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. Either way, all Izuku could think of now was how everything seemed to be trying to make him realize the potential idea of dating Reiko.

To distract himself, Izuku took a bite of the ramen. Izuku's eyes widened as he slurped up the noodles, and he let out an appreciative grunt.

"This is delicious!" Izuku remarked once he finished eating a mouthful.

"I suppose one will become quite talented at creating ramen if he creates it every day." Reiko observed, eating her own ramen as well. There was silence between the two of them, but it was a comfortable silence. One where they could just co-exist and enjoy each other's company. It was…nice. It was a feeling that Izuku wanted to feel for the rest of his life, he was sure of it.

Eventually, the two of them made it back to her apartment, disposing of the now-empty bowls along the way. As Reiko opened the door to her apartment, she let out an audible yawn.

"Oh, I guess it is getting late," Izuku mentioned off-handedly, glancing at his phone to see it was currently 10:38 PM, "We should probably be going to sleep now. Even if we have the entire weekend off, we should still at least attempt to get an early-ish sleep." It took Izuku a moment after he said it for him to realize the fact that he didn't have anywhere to sleep to his knowledge.

"Oh, I shall retreat to the couch. You may inhabit my own bed." Reiko offered. Immediately, Izuku shook his head.

"No way! I'm not kicking you out of your bed! I'll take the couch!"

"I insist! I have absolutely zero negative opinions of sleeping on the couch! You will take the bed, end of the saga."

"Reiko, if you sleep on the couch, I will forcefully make you sleep on the bed and I'll take the couch." Reiko sighed at this before responding.

"…Alright, I believe I have come up with a compromise that shall suit both of our agendas." Izuku relaxed, tension in the air leaving as the argument de-escalated.

"Cool. What's your plan?" He asked.

All things considered, he was not expecting the plan to be 'we share the bed'. However, he would admit that this was an excellent compromise, as nobody would need to be dragged into the bed. It still didn't take away from the fact that it was extremely awkward, both of them facing away from each other and painfully aware of how their backs were slightly touching.

Izuku was grateful that he had pajamas…even though he didn't remember packing them. Eh, it was probably Kurono. He'd been meddling with everything thus far. Hell, Izuku wouldn't be surprised if he orchestrated the whole idea of a study session.

"…Is it just myself, or does it feel tremendously chilling tonight?" Reiko asked, sounding hesitant, as if she were afraid of repercussions for whatever she said. Izuku raised an eyebrow; it wasn't cold at all, It was just an average temperature, in his opinion, "P-Perhaps it would be best to get c-closer, so as to prevent it from getting any colder…would you agree?" On second thought, freezing, it was absolutely freezing. It was so cold that his face was doing a stack overflow and was heating up.

"Y-Yeah, that…that makes sense." The two of them backed up a bit more, their backs fully connected. They were closer, sure, but…but Izuku still didn't feel closer.

"It would be warmer if we turned around." He suggested. To his surprise, he could hear Reiko moving around beside him, and he was fairly certain that she'd flipped over. So, following her lead and his own advice, Izuku also flipped over, allowing himself to look into Reiko's face, which was coincidentally also burning up. There was a silence between them, one that told a tale of wanting to get closer while also wanting to run away and never talk again. Then, Reiko did something unexpected.

Out of nowhere, she put her head under Izuku's chin, and wrapped her arms around him, effectively tying them together.

"Wha-?"

"You were my first friend, Izuku." Izuku paused as Reiko said that. That…surely that wasn't true, right? How could someone like Reiko not even have one friend?

Izuku asked that, and Reiko sighed.

"Izuku, I- sigh, imagine this: you go to a regular public school. You just relocated from Hokkaido, and you cannot call a single person in that school a friend. You introduce yourself, and you are already aware at how they're whispering to each other on the topic of my speech mannerisms. As such, you have zero prospects of even making friends. Any groups shun you, and as such you are left to bury yourself inside a piece of literature.

"Eventually, simply talking about you behind their backs is no longer satisfactory. They begin to pester you day in and day out, ridiculing every single trait you possess. They steal your belongings, destroy your books, anything and everything that they could possibly think of doing to make your life hell. Imagine dealing with such horrible events for almost 7 years. The loneliness…it was…I thought…" Reiko trailed off, but Izuku understood what she was saying. Really, he'd never realized how blessed he was to have someone like Kurono in his life. Someone who kept him company through all the years, in ups and lows, through thick and thin. If it hadn't been for him…Izuku had no idea where he'd be right now, but it probably wouldn't be here.

"W-Well, you have me now. And not just me, but also Itsuka, Kurono, Momo and Tokoyami, we're all your friends." Izuku responded, a sympathetic smile on his face. Reiko simply buried her face into Izuku's chest, and he instinctively brought his arm behind her head lightly patting her hair.

"…I don't deserve any of you." Reiko muttered finally.

"Bullshit." Izuku retorted instantly.

"No! Izuku, why do you believe I wanted to become a hero?" Izuku was stumped. He genuinely had no idea why she joined UA, he just assumed she was there just to become a Hero, like Itsuka and Momo and Tokoyami and himself, "I did not join for the noble reason of saving lives or any other respectable ideals. No, I joined for the simple fact that I wanted to be liked, and I had a feeling the only plausible way to complete this dream was to be a hero." Oh. Izuku genuinely hadn't been expecting that. Although now that he thought about it in the context of Reiko's childhood…it made sense. Basically any hero who made it into the top 50 were popular, and there was even potential for heroes below that to become at least a local celebrity of sorts. He could see how someone as starved for kindness as Reiko would look at that at decide that they wanted to do that.

"But then, something quite unexpected happened on one fateful day…I met you," Reiko continued, which shocked Izuku, "You did not brush me off, even when I engaged you in conversation on the bus. I…still do not quite know why I chose to commune with you that day, but I do not regret it. And then, we became friends, and as we progressed through the weeks, I soon noticed how you did not ever seem to be training as a hero for fame or money, but for a genuine wish to save people. And that…it truly inspired me, Izuku. It made me want to save people due to it being the moral thing, not because of some silly thing such as popularity." Izuku hummed.

"That's…a lot to take in, Reiko," He muttered, "I never expected to inspire anyone." Reiko seemed to hesitate for a moment before sighing, as if she had made a difficult decision.

"I used to think I was aro/ace, you know." She stated. Izuku, unfortunately, had no idea what that meant.

"I'm sorry, what does that mean?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"Aromantic/Asexual. In other words, I believed that I did not have romantic nor sexual fantasies for anyone." She clarified. Izuku raised an eyebrow.

"This is all in past tense. Does this mean you're not aro/ace now?" He questioned. A part pf him was praying that she'd say yes, and he couldn't ignore the fact that he knew it was because he wanted to date her.

"You…you would be correct. Because I…I…" Reiko sighed as she seemed to let every inch of hesitance out of her body, "I like you…"

Izuku froze.

What- did she- like- love- huh?

Thankfully, she continued.

"I can't exactly specify when it happened, all I remember is that I came to terms with the fact after the conclusion of the Unforeseen Simulation Joint attack, when Itsuka teased me for thinking of you, and I especially confronted the fact after you saved me from that hideous beast called a Nomu. I know that you probably think I'm weird, and that you want to leave, and if you do, I shall not stop you. I simply wanted to finally get these feelings off my chest so that they may never harm me again." Izuku looked down at Reiko once she finished saying that, and his heart froze as he saw her face. For the first time ever, her other eye was uncovered. It wasn't abnormal, or injured, or anything. It was just a regular eye. But the emotion it held along with her other eye…it was beautiful.

Izuku didn't even think.

Without any hesitation, he slid down the bed a bit and kissed Reiko on the lips. It was a bit messy, and they were both surprised by it, but the feeling of their lips connecting with each other was just…it felt right. As if this had been destined to happen from their births. They held it for a moment before finally letting it go. When they pulled away, they stared into each other's eyes, small smiles creeping onto their faces.

"I feel the same." Izuku replied simply. Reiko sighed, a melancholy look on her face as she looked back into his chest.

"You could find someone far superior to myself, so I really don't understand why you would settle for an F-class such as myself."

"Reiko? Do me a favor and stop talking down about yourself. You're a wonderful person, and I chose to like you. If I didn't want to do this, then I wouldn't. So, stop worrying, I'll never leave you for as long as I live." Izuku swore. Reiko was silent for a moment, and Izuku was worried he'd done something wrong. But then, Reiko's hug tightened, and she looked back up at him with a relieved smile. She didn't need to say anything, Izuku already knew what she wanted to say. The unsaid words stayed in his head, repeating again and again until he finally fell asleep.

Reiko woke up to hear Izuku groaning. Immediately, she jumped out of bed, looking for her- boyfriend? She wasn't really…oh god, they really kissed last night! No! Bad Reiko! She had to focus on Izuku and whatever may have caused him this much pain!

She quickly located him, sitting with his back against the wall as he glared mournfully at his phone. Was someone cyberbullying him? If so, then there would be dire consequences to whomever decided to be mean to her Izuku. Wait, her Izuku? She shouldn't be thinking like that! The internet said that was unhealthy…it had also reminded her of how lonely she was when she randomly came across the fact but that's neither here nor there.

"Izuku, is everything quite alright?" She called out. The teen jumped as he realized that Reiko was awake, and a spark of life returned to his eyes as he set them on her.

"Oh, Reiko! Good morning! Yeah, everything's fine, it's just…Kurono…" Well, that wasn't concerning at all. Her face must have shown this opinion, as he held his phone out for her to look at. Using her quirk (which was theoretically just invisible arms) she picked up his phone, seeing that it was on a messaging app, showing the messaging history between Izuku and Clock Bitch…huh, that must be what he saved Kurono as. Interesting.

Yesterday, 10:42 PM

Izuku: Is it a good idea 2 use my quirk 2 make it so I don't get a bonr 1/2way thru the night

Clock Bitch: izuku what the fuck

Izuku: too late gotta go by

Today, 1:09 AM

Clock Bitch: Slams open door I accidentally joined another terrorist group

Reiko blinked.

"What."

Kurono yawned as he walked down the street.

Currently, he was figuring out what to do, as the Kuronomobile had actually broken down without his assistance and he wasn't sure he wanted to head back to Ibara's right now. He figured he'd probably just go to a hotel for the night or something. But first, he would-

GROWL

Dinner. He should probably have dinner.

"Alright, Yokohama, let's see what you've got for Daddy Kurono." Kurono muttered, chuckling to himself as he said it. Nothing was really tickling his fancy right now, as most of the restaurants were either closed, looked fishy, or weren't restaurants and were actually some other kinds of shop. So, he continued wandering down the street until he reached a sign that piqued his interests.

"Lords of Vengeance Bar…" Kurono read out loud. Now, to most people, a bar would fall under the genre of 'do not touch', but Kurono had a fondness for the stuff; it reminded him of a kind burly biker guy who owned a bar and gave Kurono the leftovers when he was younger. So, after shrugging, Kurono walked up the stairs and opened the door that styled itself as the entrance to the bar.

The first thing he noticed was how empty it was. Practically nobody was here. But there were people. Behind the bar was a man made of mist in a fine-tailored vest, and sitting on stools were two men, one with messy blue hair and the other with short brown hair. Both were in the middle of eating some sushi, whilst the misty bartended worked on a cocktail of sorts. Kurono took this as a sign that the place was open, so he opened the door and stepped inside.

"Uh, hey?" Kurono called out to the two men sitting at the bar. Both looked at him, and they were equally surprised. Jeez, was it really that uncommon for folks to come around to the bar?

"Ah, welcome to this fine establishment, sir," The bartended responded, a cold politeness in his voice, "Please, take a seat, I will be with you in a moment." Kurono did as he was asked, making sure to sit a considerable distance away from the other two, as he wasn't sure what this bar's etiquette was. The brown-haired one looked at him for another moment before looking back down at a book. The blue-haired one, on the other hand, kept looking, and eventually spoke.

"Aren't you one of those UA students?" He asked. Kurono swelled with pride at the question and responded smugly.

"You bet!" The man seemed to contemplate this for a moment, but before he could ask anything more the mist man finished with the cocktail and turned on Kurono, emotionless golden eyes flickering, mingling with the contrasting-coloured gas around them.

"And what shall you be ordering? Our special for tonight, as requested by the owner, is the Tempura Shrimp with Miso Soup, and I rate it highly despite its humble description." Kurono hummed for a moment before nodding and giving his approval of ordering the special. The bartender nodded and left the bar, heading into the back.

"So, anyways, what's your name?" Kurono asked, turning back to the blue haired man. He seemed to consider it for a moment before responding.

"Tomura Shigaraki."

'Kurono, you fucking moron, how do you keep doing this?!' Was among the many thoughts that rang through his head, and one of the few that did not consist of the many different ways you can creatively use 'fuck' to signal your despair at a situation. 'Okay, keep calm. He probably doesn't know you're friends with the guy who took his arm off.' And indeed, now that Kurono had a second look, he now noticed that one of Shigaraki's hands was metal. 'So, that must mean that the guy next to him is Kai Chisaki, and the bartender is Kurogiri…hmm.' It was then that a devilish idea came into Kurono's head. A crazy one. A stupid one. Some may even call it a Kurono Idea. 'What if I…just so happened…to turn double agent against the League!' With that idea in his head, there was no going back. He slammed his foot on the imaginary gas pedal of the Kurono's Stupid Ideas Express, chugga chugging straight towards either imminent death or a lucrative opportunity.

"Cool. I'm Hari Kurono, but I guess you knew that," Kurono didn't give Shigaraki a chance to respond before he sighed, theatrically deflating in his chair, "Sorry, just had a long week. Honestly, I swear you can hear All Might and his stupid voice halfway across the school sometimes." Kurono grinned inside as he saw Shigaraki light up at what Kurono had said.

"You hate All Might?" He asked, almost disbelievingly, "In this day and age, where every damn noob seems to think he's top shit, even when he's not?! Maybe you and I have more in common than I thought!" Chisaki seemed to ruffle at that, and Kurono had the feeling he wasn't completely convinced. Oh well, as Kurono always said, half is better than nalf. Or was it Hone is better than None? Eh, who cares, it's not like anyone can read his mind right now.

"Sure. He's just so annoying, and loud…he's everything I hate about this hero society…yeesh, I just hate hero society in general." Kurono was honestly pulling shit out of his ass right now, and yet somehow Shigaraki was lapping it up. Chisaki still looked unconvinced, but there was intrigue in his eyes now, which was definitely a step in the right direction. Suddenly, a knock rang out from the entrance, distracting Shigaraki and Chisaki. The door opened, revealing a face Kurono was quite familiar with.

"Giran-San?" He called out, surprised to see the broker. Giran was equally surprised to see him.

"Hari, I didn't expect to see you here! Finally moving up from a Yakuza, huh?" Giran asked. Kurono panicked for a moment but calmed as he realized that this might actually boost his credentials with Shigaraki. A yakuza at UA who despised hero society? It would be a dream come true!

"You bet! Heard about this League of Villains and decided to trial them out, see if our ideals match, you know?" Kurono certainly didn't know, and he was praying these quick-time events would stop soon enough. Thankfully, it seemed there was another distraction behind Giran.

"Giran-San, I do love a good reunion, but may we move on? My friends and myself are dying to meet the illustrious League of Villains." A theatrical voice declared. Giran sighed.

"Right. Anyways, Shigaraki, I got some recruits for you. Damn good selection as well, might even have more coming depending on the situation," Giran explained before stepping to the side, allowing 6 people to enter the room, "The blonde there is young Himiko Toga. Deadly with a knife and on the run for the past couple of years. Then there's Mustard, even younger than Toga. No hero has come close to catching him, literally and metaphorically thanks to his quirk. Next to him we have Twice, a bit nutty but reliable, his quirk lets him duplicate anything! Next on the list is Dabi, mysterious and dangerous, he's responsible for multiple accounts of arson and the deaths of who knows how many! Our next one is Spinner, and what he lacks in skill he makes up for in loyalty to Stain and his ideals. Finally, we have Mr. Compress, a bit older than the rest, but he's still fast, agile, and his quirk allows for easy thefts and kidnappings!" Giran panted as he finished, having taken only a single breath before he started his recital. Shigaraki looked at the recruits, but Chisaki beat him to the questioning.

"You, Twice, was it?" He asked, pointing at the man in spandex, "You can duplicate anything, right?"

"You bet! I can duplicate anything as long as I know it's exact measurements, and I can't make any more than two at once! Also, I refuse to duplicate myself for personal reasons! You guys look stupid, I should have just stayed home!" Kurono got whiplash from the sudden change in opinion, but the others seemed used to it, or at least didn't care. Chisaki hummed.

"Alright, as far as I can tell you're all useful in some way, welcome to the League." Shigaraki whipped his head to look at Chisaki.

"Hey! I get to make a fucking choice too! It's my League, not yours!" He hissed, glaring at Chisaki.

"You'll either try to kill them or send them away. I'm taking initiative and letting them in." Shigaraki looked like he wanted to argue, but at that point Kurogiri had returned with the food, bringing him back into the conversation. He quickly placed Kurono's order at the table, and if Kurono was being honest, it looked shockingly delicious for a dish made by villains, especially villains whose hideout is apparently a bar.

"Ah, I see we are receiving some new recruits? Sensei will be pleased." Kurogiri noted. Shigaraki seemed like he wanted to object, but the mention of this 'Sensei' seemed to make him calm down, although he was scratching his neck.

"Alright…I suppose I'll let you into my guild. We'll test your level later, see if you've been ranking up PvP or just PvE. Giran, you'll receive your pay by tomorrow." Giran nodded, leaving the bar. As the door closed, Kurono jumped as the girl, Toga, he was pretty sure, appeared beside him, eyeing his food.

"That looks so good! Can I have some? Please, please, please?" She begged. Dabi sighed but made no attempt to stop her.

"You just ate dinner, Toga, stop bothering him." Mustard said angrily. Kurono simply waved it off.

"It's fine! Here, you can try a bit if you want." Toga grinned, showing off her fangs before she grabbed a piece of shrimp and chowed down.

Oh.

Oh no.

She was cute.

"It's good! But it'd be better if it were drizzled in blood!"

Okay, a bit weird, but not the end of the world.

"Hey, you're kinda cute! You'd look even cuter if you were covered in your own blood!"

"Toga!"

…

He could fix her. Maybe. He knew that there was a quote that said, 'don't stick your dick in crazy', but he'd make an exception.

"So, you joining our guild or what?" Shigaraki asked, glaring daggers at Kurono. Kurono grinned, biting into a shrimp and holy shit this tasted fucking magnificent.

"When do I start?"

Extra (NOT CANON)

Koryu Denryu blinked a couple times as he woke up in a white void. Jumping to his feet, he erratically looked around, trying to find a way out.

"Koryu Denryu!" A booming voice called out, startling the teen as he turned around to face the person who said it. He was confused to see…

"Mitsudo?" The man who looked like Mitsudo facepalmed.

"No, I am the Author, basically your god. I just look like Mitsudo because he's my favourite and his history fanaticism is based off of myself, especially the whole 'not caring much for history beyond 1920' part." Koryu just looked even more confused, but he shook it off.

"Uh, alright then. So, god, why haven't I been present in the latest chapters?" Koryu asked. Without any hesitation, god replied.

"Because you were unpopular, overpowered, and boring." There was silence between the two as Koryu looked down at the ground.

"Oh."

"Yeah, have fun waiting to come back."