AN: I want to give a shoutout to my friend, CarmenPony for beta-reading each of my chapters. They inspire me to keep on writing. They have also written some stories on ArchiveofOurOwn, so feel free to check them out. I've also added my story to Archive. I'll still update on .
I'll be introducing another two students before UA this chapter. One, most people probably don't know about. More notes at the end.
Trigger Warning: Attempted rape. Nothing too graphic, but I figured I would give a warning anyway. If you want to skip this scene, I'll put spaces and a "XXX" at the beginning and ending of the scene. It does start at the beginning of the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia.
Chapter 8
XXX
"P-p-please. Just l-l-let me g-g-go." A woman quietly pleaded and trembled lightly against a dirty alley wall. She was trembling from fear and pain. Her arms and legs were pierced by four pointed, gnarled, black tendrils. They were like something out of a nightmare. The tendrils originated from the fingers of the man grinning wickedly in front of her.
Everything had been normal about an hour ago. She had gone out bar hopping with her friends having a joyous time. At some point, she had lost track of them when she walked away from the dance floor to get another drink. The inebriated girl was about to go looking for them when a handsome man complimented her looks. Due to her carefree state, that had won her attention easily and she stayed to chat with him. After a half hour of charming pickups and idle conversation, she had agreed to come over to his apartment.
The man had led the woman to his car helping her along the way. She hadn't noticed that he had barely touched his drink while they were talking. She started getting nervous when she noticed he had driven to a rough-looking neighborhood. The area she and her friends were hanging out in had been relatively safe. They had been driving for an hour and this was definitely not the same city. It was late and she didn't see many cars or people out. Her gut feeling just told her this was bad.
The car stopped in front of a run-down apartment building. As the man opened the passenger door for her, she shoved it back with all her might and scrambled out of the car. It was hard since she was still disoriented. She saw an alley in her blurry vision and against her better judgment ran toward it.
"Aaaahhhh!"
She was halfway down the walled area when a striking pain took over her lower right leg causing her to face plant. She lifted her head and looked back to see her leg pierced by some black tendril. She looked further back and was horrified to see the angry look on the man's face. She had tried to resist, but that resulted in her getting pinned to the alley wall at this moment.
"No can do girlie. I've spent too much time on you. I've earned my snack." The vile man moistened his lips as his eyes drank in her exposed stomach and legs.
'Nooo! Anything but that!' It was clear now that this wasn't merely some robbery. Why?! Why did this have to happen to her?!
"Keep your mouth shut and I won't stab you anymore."
The lady kept silent. She was too frightened to utter another word anyway.
"Good." The man said in a satisfied tone. The drunk lady gritted her teeth in agony as he retracted his monstrous appendages from her limbs and back into his fingers. She collapsed clumsily to the ground since those tendrils had been holding her up.
The frightened woman squeezed her eyes shut unable to look at the predator closing in on her. She swore she could feel his wretched hand inches away from her face.
XXX
A whooshing sound nearby knocked her out of her scared state. She hesitantly opened her eyes to see that the man had stopped and was looking off the side. She turned her head as well and was surprised to see a huge, swirling, black void further down the alley.
Before she could properly question its existence a large man and a…
Ok, she has to be having a nightmare!
A small boy covered in dismembered hands walked out of the vortex out of the portal along with the bulky man. Then, the vortex seemed to condense into a more vertical shape. Wisps were coming off it like a mist. Two yellow, vertical slits appeared on top that seemed to be eyes.
'Is that thing human!' The drunk lady was too distracted by the mist thing to notice the mysterious man snap his fingers while walking towards her and her attacker. She also missed the feeling of some force enveloping the space around the alley. It was hard to when her brain was overstimulated by all of these other worldly sights. That's saying something when you live in a world with mutant-type quirks. She once saw a man with a venus fly trap as a head! She briefly pondered who was scarier in this situation. She soon got her answer.
The fear she had been feeling suddenly got ten times worse. Something just made her feel like she was already dead. She slowly turned his eyes back over to the red-eyed man. That dreadful aura was coming from him. She took in his features more.
He had luminous, red eyes, and white hair. He was wearing a high-quality black suit that looked tailored to his figure. Tremors shook the foundation of her body when he turned his attention to her. The rush of adrenaline made her forget about her wounds for the moment. He had a neutral expression on his face. He only looked at her for a few seconds before turning his attention to the man that was about to violate her. She couldn't bare to breathe a sigh of relief. Though, she was curious as to why that violator hadn't said a word either.
She turned her head some more and was shocked to see him shivering in his boots as well. Was this presence the other man's quirk or was it just his natural presence? She couldn't tell. All she knew was he did not come here to save her.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have something I want." The new arrival finally spoke. Despite his menacing aura, his voice was quite suave.
"It looked like you were about to take something you want from this woman, no? You must understand then."
"Stay the Hell away from me!" The frightened criminal shot his finger tendrils at the other man. He merely watched unbothered. Before they could reach him, a flash seemed to spark from his eyes. The spikes stopped inches away from gouging his eyes out. In fact, the attacking man seemed to be frozen. Not from fear this time though. It was as if someone had hit pause and he was just stuck. His face still had that fearful expression.
The red-eyed man grinned at the fearful insect before him. "Huh? I guess you don't. Not that it matters." He side-stepped the pointy spikes and casually strolled towards the other man leaving his little hand-covered protégé behind to observe. The lady continued to observe as well since she was too scared and injured to do anything else. Part of her was grateful this other man had stepped in, but she couldn't shake the feeling of his malevolent aura.
Once the red-eyed man had reached his frozen target he carefully placed his right palm over their face.
"Aaaahhhh!"
The man spasmed out of his still state in agony as red energy emanated from his body and his veins glowed red. The energy and glowing veins began moving up his body towards his head and around the arm of the man clutching his face. His elongated fingers swiftly retreated into his body. Once all the energy was out of him, the other man quickly withdrew his hand and replaced it with his left one. The victim didn't even have to catch his breath as red energy was flowing inside him now. The experience was just as painful. The person performing this didn't seem bothered by the process though.
Once the procedure was complete, the sharp-fingered man collapsed to the ground. That statement isn't entirely true though.
Those spider-like appendages were sprouting out of the larger man's finger now! Both the woman and the man that attempted to assault her a moment ago looked in shock.
"Magnificent." The mysterious man said in wonder. "It will take some practice, but it will prove to be quite useful." Unlike how the previous man used them, the tendrils were out in a disorganized pattern. Clearly, it took an effort to aim them properly.
The man on the ground shook once more when those red eyes focused on him again. "If I may ask, what do you call this quirk?" The man that had just stolen his power sounded polite.
A realization hit him. The experience he just had and the man's mannerisms brought him back to an old memory. A memory of sitting around the campfire at summer camp listening to another camper tell a ghost story. "I-I-I-It can't be," He pointed his finger at the man towering over him, "Y-Y-You're just some urban legend! Y-Y-You can't be real!"
The other man let out a chuckle and gestured with his hand like he felt flattered. "A legend, am I? You have no idea how happy that makes me. Political leaders have worked hard for nearly two centuries to censor me in any history books or news. It brings me joy to see there are still people that spread my stories through word of mouth."
'Two centuries! That's impossible! Who? What the Hell is this thing before me?' The drunk lady thought as her mind was going a mile a minute. A man that can steal quirks that has lived for almost two hundred years! This is insane. This nightmare just kept on getting worse. She resorted to hitting her head against the alley wall in a desperate attempt to wake herself up.
"If you don't want to share the name of your ability, so be it." The white-haired man appeared to be in thought. "Hmmm. Ah! How about finger tendrils!"
'Wake up damn all!' She pleaded. The blood loss from her wounds compounded with the lingering effects of the alcohol could be contributing to her fractured mental state. Hard to tell. It was probably both.
"Nah that's stupid. Hmmm. Ah! Spider Tendrils. Now that sounds cool."
'Why doesn't this world make sense' The man on the ground thought as he watched this all-powerful being come up with a name for the quirk, they just stole from him (He had called it spear fingers. Curse the quirk stealer for coming up with a cooler name!).
The quirk stealer looked back down to see the pathetic man looking a mixture of scared, angry, and confused. "Now, now. No need to be upset. I didn't leave you with nothing."
"Huh?"
"Here. Let me show you." With strenuous focus, the white-haired managed to move the tendrils and find their home in the downed man's chest.
"Aaaaahhhhh!" Man, Karma's a bitch. How have no heroes shown up yet with all this screaming?
"Forced Quirk Activation."
Those red veins from earlier were now running down the tendrils leading into the man's chest. The victim was thrashing around now from the pain from his wounds and whatever else this monster was doing to him. Then, his fingernails started growing. It wasn't like the quirk he just had though. The nails themselves grew longer and pointed until they were about six inches long. They weren't dark like Spider Tendrils. Also, it was only his nails, not his fingers.
The injured man gasped again as the tendrils were ejected from his chest. It was likely only fear and adrenaline keeping him conscious. The same for the women watching in horror. Though, she had taken some grim satisfaction at her attacker being hurt by his own quirk.
"See? I am not so cruel. I take your quirk and I give you one of mine. Equivalent exchange if you will." The courteous man said like he had not just left four holes in the other man's chest. "Never mind. You probably don't get that reference anyway. Forgive me. I did not mean to injure you that gravely. I'm not used to your quirk so I put a little too much force in. Though, I am pleased to see your ability can be used in conjunction with Forced Quirk Activation. One of the reasons I sought out your power." He also wanted it for nostalgic reasons in a way. This power reminded him of The Fifth's quirk.
The man bleeding out on the ground couldn't get up with those injuries. Though he had felt his nails grow. He slowly lifted his hands up to his face. This was insane! He looked at his pointed nails in disbelief. He's bleeding out on the ground and this monster just forces a similar quirk on him like some consolation prize! What was the point! What's his angle! Just to toy with him! He can't even stand up.
The older man finally turned his attention to his young grey-haired student. The boy looked like he was about thirteen years old. He hadn't said a word or done anything but watch during this whole ordeal. It seemed like he had taken some delight when the man had been pierced in his chest. It was hard to tell with the hand covering his face. In another circumstance, it would be hysterical.
"My apologies, Tomura. I know you were looking forward to getting some practice in, but it appears I have damaged the target too much. You may still do with him as you wish."
The drunk lady watched the boy look up at the man through the slits of the hand covering his face. His eyes were piercing red just like his supposed master. "It's ok, Sensei. I know we here more for your business." He said obediently. He turned his head back to the man still staring incredulously at his nails. She couldn't see his expression, but she had a feeling he was smiling with glee. Those eyes seemed to brighten. Like a predator looking at prey. His body spasmed from excitement as he ran towards the downed man and lunged at him like some spider monkey.
The man saw the kid come into his vision and shrieked in a high-pitched voice. He pointed his nails up in defense. The deranged boy landed with his legs on either side of the man and his hands now grasping the man's hands. He sliced his fingers a bit from the sharp nails, but still managed to interlock their fingers without losing any digits. The man was astounded at how the kid just threw caution to the wind and nearly impaled his own hands to get to his.
"Aaaahhhh!" He screamed once again as the skin from his hands began flaking off. His muscle tissue was starting to show. He looked in horror as cracks formed where the kid was touching him and they were spreading. His hands were now falling apart in dry chunks on top of his face. Some chunks were falling into his gaping mouth.
This was way too fucked up. The scared lady watched as the young boy slowly turn the man into dust. It was slow at first, but it was speeding up now. Once his hands and long nails had crumbled, it went down his arms into his shoulders. She watched her attacker fall apart piece by piece. He finally stopped screaming once the trail of destruction made it to his neck. His head simply fell off when there enough neck to support it. The boy made sure to get all of him. He finished the rest of the guy's lower body first. Then grasped the head in both hands to finish him. The last to go were the eyes. She still saw fear in them. Fear in the man that had nearly raped her.
The sadistic boy stood proudly on the pile of dust he had created. He now turned his attention to the woman. He seemed to hesitate though. The woman's vision was getting blurry. The blood loss from her wounds was finally catching up with her. She could still make out the boy's figure somewhat. Was he scratching at his neck?
"Remember. Do as you wish, Tomura. The choice is yours." She faintly heard the white-haired man say. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was an outstretched palm.
Izuku was extremely thrilled and nervous about today's event at school. At the moment, the thrill was masking his nervousness. So, that was good. He was currently outside with the rest of his class scribbling away at his brand-new quirk analysis notebook. This one was exclusively for his classmates.
He and the rest of his class were watching what appeared to be a pink alien with horns secreting acid from her hands. Izuku had heard the teacher call her, Mina Ashido. Yes, the alien over there was actually a student.
Ashido was actually another student to happily welcome Izuku to their class back on his first day. He hadn't spoken to her much, but she always said hi to him every day. He was a little frightened by her appearance at first (The black sclera and yellow irises were off-putting), but she had quickly shown to be quite friendly and outgoing like Mirio. He had seen her and Mirio talking and playing during recess on a few occasions.
"Nice work Ashido! That's enough though. I can't have you burning through the ground too much." Their teacher, Mr. Sanso called out as he took some notes himself.
"Oh!" The pink girl looked down and saw all the smoking holes burnt into the ground. She didn't realize how much more potent her acid was this time. "My bad teach! At least my quirk is getting stronger!" She may have been apologizing but she still grinned excitedly at her work.
This is why they had these weekly quirk assessments at school. They were allowed to practice and demonstrate their quirks to the class near the playground. Every elementary school had these lessons to give children a chance to explore their quirks in a safe and controlled environment. The teachers documented their progress and the school's quirk counselor gave suggestions on the various ways to utilize their quirks for future careers. Of course, none of them bothered listening to hearing about any occupation besides pro hero. At least not until middle school, when they actually need to start caring about adult stuff.
Izuku had shyly walked up to Mr. Sanso earlier and politely asked if he may take notes as well. The teacher had been happy to oblige him. None of the other students seemed to mind either. Some had even asked to look at what he had been writing about them and were impressed by how detailed he was. Midoriya had been embarrassed at first but figured he owed them that much since they were cool about him taking notes on them. Some even seem flattered.
Ashido began jogging back to where the other kids were gathered.
Suddenly, A blue blur jumped in front of her.
"Oh, come on not again!" Ashido said in an exasperated tone.
*A wild Nejire appeared*
"Hey, I thought it was so cool how you can secrete acid from your hands. Can you secrete it from other parts of your body? Can it come out of your horns? Can I touch your horns?!" Nejire asked rapidly with a manic expression.
"For the last time, no!" Ashido began running in the opposite direction. Nejire quickly gave chase.
"Pretty please with sugar on top! I have to touch you! I promise I'll be gentle!"
"Would you cut it out!"
Mr. Sanso threw his clipboard down and pressed his hands to his forehead already feeling an oncoming headache. "Miss Nejire, how many times do I have to talk to you about personal space! Back to the classroom!"
Izuku could see Nejire pouting at her desk in their classroom from the window. She had been sentenced to the punishment of missing out on the rest of the demonstrations and filling out a worksheet she had to complete.
"Well. She's certainly made her mark here already," Mirio spoke from next to Izuku.
"You're not wrong I suppose. Though, the way she harasses people makes you forget how apologetic she was on her first day." Izuku replied as she remembered being embarrassed by the girl prostrating before him.
"That is weird. Maybe she was just worried about making a good first impression that day. Now, she seems unapologetic about her curiosity and urges to touch people. I get that loves learning new things, but this is not making her look good. I feel bad for Ashido."
"You're right." Izuku nodded. "I'm worried next time Ashido might try to melt Nejire with her acid.
"I'm considering it." Izuku heard from over his shoulder.
"Gah!" He turned his head slightly and saw Ashido hovering over him to get a peak at his notebook which he still had wide open. Ashido grinned at him.
"What? I may be upset, but I'm curious as to what you wrote about me."
"Oh. R-r-right." Izuku tried to settle his nerves. He felt kind of naughty for taking notes on the girls. Good thing he hadn't sketched any of their figures like he usually did with people in his notebooks. He had spent a long time on his Pussycat sketches. Those entries were safely hidden somewhere now.
"Wowzah! This is really good! You've written stuff about my quirk I haven't even thought of." Ashido shouted with excitement.
"T-t-thanks! I've had a lot of practice." Izuku had been saying that a lot this morning. He couldn't believe it. So many students thought his notes were cool. A lot of them were just noticing him for the first time today. Izuku had been content with having Mirio, Nejire, and Amajiki (sort of) as friends. He hadn't considered reaching out to the rest of his class. Honestly, he may still get nervous, but he was thinking less and less about his old life. He was most proud of how he had hit off so well with Mirio.
"Oh, and to answer some of your written questions, not everything about my looks is related to my quirk. Acid is why my skin is pink. That's also my dad's quirk. The horns and eyes are things I got from my mom.
"Really? So, that's how your parents' quirks combined. Interesting! I think the horns and eyes go good with your pink skin." Izuku turned red when he realized he had openly complimented a girl.
Ashido's face lit up and got closer to Izuku than he would have liked. . "Aww! You're so sweet! You're a cutie yourself! I'm happy you think that. Some people are creeped out by eyes," she then got an irritated look on her face, "There are other people that try to touch my horns."
Izuku's blush went down. Somehow, he felt responsible for Nejire's behavior. He, Mirio and Amajiki were the only kids she has spent time with for the one week she's been at their school. Her constant questioning and wanting to touch the kids with mutant traits weren't helping her. "Sorry about Nejire. She's really not that bad. She's just too curious for her own good."
Mirio walked over a bit so he was standing next to Izuku and closer to Ashido. "I'm sorry too, Ashido. She seems to not be good with personal space. We'll try to talk to her."
Ashido smiled at the two boys. "Thanks, guys. I hope she listens. I don't want to have to do something I'll regret."
Izuku shuddered a little while imagining Nejire not showing up to class one day. He knew she was probably kidding, but he pondered how potent Ashido's acid could be.
"Anyways, we should play together Izuku! Don't feel like you have to be left out. You can join me, Togata, and the other kids we play with." Ashido beamed with friendliness.
Izuku smiled at the girl. "That sounds nice, Ashido. I'd like that." He didn't stutter.
"Great! Until then, good luck!" She ran back down to the end of the line of students where she was supposed to be him.
Mirio clapped Izuku on the back. "You see man! You're a natural. I told you people would think your note-taking was cool.
Izuku's smile seemed to grow wider. "Yeah….yeah. You're right."
Izuku and Mirio watched the rest of the students go. Izuku was still watching each one with interest. His classmates had a variety of interesting quirks.
There was a boy with dog ears who could transform into a dog. Somehow his clothes seemed to meld into his body as he was transforming. Izuku felt that was a little unfair.
There was a girl that could make drawings come to life. She drew a simple circle with sunbeams around on a small piece of paper. She then slapped the paper on the ground and a small orb of light floated up from the drawing. Izuku was excited about all the possibilities with her quirk.
There was a boy that excrete some kind of purple sludge from his body much like Ashido could excrete acid. Not only that, but he could also control the sludge telepathically.
There was a girl with reddish hair that could fire blue electric arrows from her hands. Mr. Sanso allowed her to fire her quirk at some balls he tossed toward her to test her accuracy. The balls she managed to hit exploded into pieces. 'So powerful!' Izuku thought.
Finally, it was Izuku's turn. He took a deep breath and walked up to the designated spot. He had been dreading this moment since he got to this school. He had convinced the teacher to let him skip the demonstration the first two weeks he was here. The teacher had insisted that he participate today. Obviously, that filled Izuku with dread. Now everybody would know what his quirk is. They were going to see him naked and start laughing at him! It was going to be his old school all over again!
At least that's how he felt earlier. Mirio had approached him earlier with an idea. Izuku couldn't believe what Mirio was willing to do for him.
He was in position now. He turned around and looked at the audience. He saw Togata giving him a smile and thumbs up. He was clutching a red sheet in his other arm for some reason.
Amajiki was standing next to Togata. Izuku was surprised to see him also give a thumbs up and a wobbly smile. It was probably the only acknowledgment he had gotten from the purple-haired boy so far.
Something on the classroom window caught his eye. He looked past the students and saw Nejire pressed against the glass looking at him. She was hopping up and down in anticipation.
All three of his new friends were cheering him on. Those were his only thoughts as he let his body fall and turn into water. His eyesight was ground level now. He could still make out his friends though as he looked straight ahead.
Why was Mirio jumping up and down? Also, why was he getting closer? Wait! How could he see straight ahead? He could only ever see straight up when he was in his puddle form.
Was he. Was he moving?
HE WAS MOVING TOWARDS THEM! HE CAN MOVE!
Not only that he didn't feel like he was flat on the ground either. He could feel that the water had taken on the shape of an orb. He could feel its shape like it was his own body. It was his body! Water is fluid though. So, he can change it into whatever shape he wants. He just had to treat it like his own body! He couldn't believe it! It finally worked.
Now satisfied with himself, he turned his body back into its solid form.
Mirio and Amajiki sprang into action. Mirio opened up the red sheet he was holding, and Amajiki grabbed onto the other end. Right before Izuku's nakedness was exposed, the two boys brought up the sheet to shield him from the class.
"We gotcha buddy. Now hurry up and get dressed." Mirio spoke while looking away from Izuku. Amajiki did the same while trembling nervously.
Izuku let out some tears at his progress and his friend's compassion.
AN: For those who don't know, The girl with the electric arrow quirk is called Yuyu. she is also a third-year student in the anime along with the Big Three. She appeared briefly in the Culture Festival Arc helping Nejire with her beauty pageant dress.
Thanks for the read!
