Chapter 4: Me or you?

Dabi has never been a lucky guy, and he himself knew that.

What he thought to be a normal night ended up with him falling into an elaborate trap, and getting his ass saved by a strange girl.

Or at least he assumed she was a girl by her squeaky voice. He could be wrong, but she didn't seem to be denying it.

Okay, maybe strange was an understatement. Everything about her demeanor just screamed borderline insane.

He didn't think she would be easy to deal with, because contrary to what others think, Dabi was not insane. Yet.

Just dead inside.

Well, aside from her worrying behavior, she was like your average high school girl. Short blond hair, fierce gaze, and explosive personality.

If that high school girl was also a gangster, and even that was doubtful at best.

She was surprisingly skilled, and if her words were anything to come by, she took out 6 guys with synergizing quirks by herself. Of course, she couldn't have won in a straight fight, but that was impressive nonetheless.

And as much as it hurt his already inflated ego, she did kick his ass. And that was one of the most embarrassing moments of his life.

Granted, he was not at full strength at that moment, but she was fast and had an incredible instinct. If she had the jump on him, then he doubted he could react as fast.

She was unnerving in many ways, not just her behavior, but her manner of speech, the way she carried herself, how her sharp teeth glinted and eyes focused on him like he was some sort of prey, something to dissect.

The fact he knew nothing about her quirk but the sound of an explosion waking him up put him on edge somehow. This girl was a wild card, coming from seemingly nowhere.

Who could she be-

"Ouch."

"Stop moving. I haven't finished putting you back yet."

"Clear, Doc."

The doctor, he never knew her name, and frankly didn't care. At all. But he knew she was putting up with his shit, having to treat him on almost a daily basis.

Maybe one day, she will snap and stab him with a scalpel. Who knows?

Come back to the girl, she said her name was Kakiru. The fact that this wasn't a real name led him to a dead end. It would fit as a nickname, though.

The girl seemed young, about 12 to 15 if he had to guess. She was shrewd and didn't seem to be opposed to using dirty tricks in a fight. She wasn't the naïve type kind of girl, and under the façade of insanity, she was calculating his every move.

She must at least have some knowledge about how this worked if that was the case.

And now, he apparently owes her a favor. For saving his life.

As much as he wanted to disappear right there and then, he had a big asshole he had to eliminate. Maybe then he would be content to die.

Or to live.

But it would be regretful if he died without completing his goals.

Dabi could only sigh at his own growing negativity.

Damn it all.

Dabi has learned firsthand when he escaped the hell he called home, that the world was fucked-up and everything had a price. Everyone had ulterior motives for helping him.

However, that girl was an enigma. She didn't know who he was and still tried to save him.

That could mean she wasn't in deep with criminals or villains like he thought. Which was honestly relieving.

Perhaps someone close to her used to be active in the underworld? Or could she use to be one herself?

She seemed young, but looks can be deceiving.

No, that didn't seem to be plausible, either.

Not to brag, but in the underworld, Dabi was a reliable informant, and that earned him quite a reputation. So he could at least catch wind of someone with a distinguished appearance like this.

But nothing came up at all as she has never existed before any of this. And it scared Dabi because it was bad news if his information failed him.

Perhaps she was not from around here. It would explain her ignorant and lacks of record, but that raised a question.

What was she doing at this place?

For fuck's sake, he should be happy that he was saved, he was reckless and almost got killed.

But it worked out in the end, and at least he gets to live another day but he couldn't help the bubbling annoyance rising inside his chest. But he ignored it for the time being.

The point is, to an informant, information is power, and they don't like outside factors that hurt their odds. Kakiru was definitely one of those.

And she was definitely uncontrollable. If so, then he had to make sure that whatever it was didn't blow up in his face. He already got enough of that with his quirk.

Mysteries are meant to be solved, and Dabi could think of many answers and hypotheses.

But alas nothing concrete. He knew too little.

It could have something to do with this place, if so, perhaps this wouldn't be the last time he saw her.

Can't say he is looking forward to it, but Dabi never left a debt unpaid. And no stone unturned, taking into account this massive variable.

He needs information. Desperately.

If meeting a maniac is what it takes, then why not?

It hurt.

His entire body felt like someone just wrecked it with a hammer.

There is a 100% chance that something happened last night.

It didn't do anything to ease the ache, but figuring out what the hell happened would be a step in the right direction.

And so, Mikumo began to look into his own memory for any indicators of what happened.

Okay, first, he remembered yesterday night when he went to sleep before waking up here.

The point is, nothing seems strange then. In fact, he felt nothing until he woke up here.

But something definitely happened. His muscle was tense and his whole body was aching.

These were signs of strenuous activities, which should be impossible.

Second, he noticed dots of blood littering his jacket. There were also some pink marks on his arm and palm that resembled healed scars. It was unnerving just to look at it.

Lastly, the fact that he was somewhere else entirely was nothing to laugh at. Sleepwalking couldn't possibly take him this far. In fact, he couldn't believe he made it here without being mugged on the way.

In this area, crime rates were high, and also the nest of criminals and aspiring villains. No one felt safe even in the morning, not to mention at night when anyone could mug, rape, or kill you.

So without some sort of awareness, he couldn't possibly make it through these alleyways. And he knew better to avoid such a place.

But this did raise some interesting theories though.

What if this was not his, but someone else's doing?

There is a 67,67% chance for such a crazy theory to be true.

Izuku Midoriya most likely had D.I.D. A personality disorder that basically meant multiple people living in one body.

The fact that he might be one of the personalities had him thinking, but surely he wouldn't be the only one if that was the case.

Even so, he wasn't completely sure this could turn out to be true.

In fact, this was nothing but a shot in the dark. Factors are to be considered, but nothing concrete.

Especially when it involved theories about a dead kid that turned out to have a strange and volatile quirk.

Look like it's time for some information gathering, after all.

Okay, this alley is a mess.

There were dried-up bloodstains littering the ground, most likely from a fight.

Which wasn't that rare in this part of town. But what is exciting was the fact this should probably be a quirk fight.

Also, there were some sticky substances on the ground, most likely from a quirk. It has dried up and looked like glue. Perhaps this was used to restrain someone?

There was even a star-burst mark on the ground, which was no doubt from an explosion. It must be highly combustible if it caused this much damage.

If he had to guess, someone with an explosion quirk was fighting off the guy with a glue quirk, and possibly many others. He must be crazy to take on all of them but did it nonetheless.

The explosion guy didn't get out unscathed, but he managed to repel his opponents, it seemed. Violently.

But it didn't just stop there. He also found some very interesting information after asking people around.

Apparently, they heard the sound of fighting and explosion in the middle of the night, nothing too surprising considering the place they lived.

No, apparently, they heard the sound of laughter while they were at it. Many said it was delirious, malicious, and the kind that you only heard from a maniac.

That may be why the police decided to label her The Maniac.

Yes, her. Residents said that the aggressor's voice was high-pitched, so she must be a woman, or a teenage boy.

Or a teenage girl, whatever worked.

Police have been notified only to see at the scene 6 unconscious criminals. One of them woke up and tried to escape, only to be restrained by a hero before making it anywhere.

Information hasn't been disclosed yet, but nothing Mikumo couldn't get with internet access. Hacking into the database wasn't that much of a hassle at all.

Those criminals were skilled and worked for a major gang in town. After getting information about their quirks, Mikumo could see why.

They were a dream team that could put even pro heroes in trouble. A guy that quirk produced light strong enough to blind opponents, a guy that sprayed glue to restrain the opponent's movement.

A quirk that turned the user's hand into sharp metal, a quirk that made the user less noticeable, and a quirk that allowed the user to see through rough material.

Most dangerous of all was a guy that can paralyze people through verbal response. It took a while to reach its full potential, but it's nearly impossible to win once it took effect.

All of them were defeated by a little girl, or so they said.

She just came out of nowhere. A girl with blond hair, eyes red with yellow rings around her irises. She was skilled, hitting the target's weak points, and knocking them out almost immediately.

There were many girls in the database with similar appearances, but things weren't going to be that easy.

How surprising it seemed to be that she had some sort of explosion quirk. She fought off one of the gangsters with it. The explosion was strong enough to bend and melt metal, judging by the injury.

No one knows the catalyst for the explosion, but perhaps it had something to do with her body fluid. The chance is 70,34% because a lot of explosion quirks were based on catalysts to ignite and cause spontaneous reactions.

Either way, no blond girl was to be found with exactly similar eyes possessing a similar quirk. So this investigation has come to a dead end for now.

Or so Mikumo thought when he spotted a crucial detail.

Although wasn't clear, one of the criminals said he saw freckles littering under her eyes. A dead giveaway.

That made his theory getting more and more plausible. And if this was true, then Izuku Midoriya might hold one of the most interesting quirks.

Okay, so this may sound crazy without context, but Mikumo thinks he himself was behind all that.

Or rather, a part of himself? Another side of him? Another him?

He will go with one of the personalities of Izuku Midoriya for now.

He had a hypothesis for Izuku Midoriya's quirk. It was a quirk that created split personalities with unique quirks that resonated with their character.

He hasn't met any others personalities, and this was only a hypothesis, but he was 81,99% sure of it.

He noticed he himself had a problem. Noticeably his apathy.

He realized his drive was logical instead of emotional. He tended to analyze his surrounding to a terrifying degree, often ignoring what normal people often take into account for the best result.

Wouldn't it be a fitting attitude for a quirk that disregarded emotions for pure calculation?

Granted, he didn't think he was incapable of sympathy and basic human emotions but so far, other than his analysis and his thirst for knowledge, he didn't find anything worth caring about.

If that girl was also a personality, then this would be a problem. A borderline maniac that was insanely skilled and quirk could explode people into nonexistence was not reassuring at all.

But alas, as long as she didn't intervene with his control, then things would be fine.

It would be safe to assume that she couldn't be the only one, too. He should take note of the gap in his memory to determine further. After all, this quirk sounded like a carnation of chaos.

And perhaps this may solve the question of the year: "What happened to Izuku Midoriya?"

According to Mikumo's calculation, every personality could die like a normal person.

It would explain why he woke up at the morgue and checked the time stamps, he has never been awoken at this time before. So maybe when a personality died, their control went to a different personality.

And when a personality dies, the body resets to its original unharmed state. Semi-revival factor, it seemed.

That might explain why he only becomes dormant after Izuku Midoriya's death.

Basically, he became stronger because the main body died, thus lending him control. And it would be safe to assume he wasn't the only one Izuku's death affected.

Poor Izuku died not knowing he had a quirk his whole life, after being beaten down by society.

But in his death, Mikumo got to live, so it worked in his favor after all.

He should feel joy or disgust at his thought, but Mikumo couldn't feel anything.

Calculation overtook his mind by storm, and he couldn't find himself disregarding it. The potential of this quirk was endless.

Not knowing what your other selves were doing was a drawback, but nothing the analyst couldn't solve.

So gleefully, Mikumo began tinkering with his plan to communicate with the other personality. It should prove to be helpful to know more and helped this situation become much less unpredictable.

And most of all, he needed confirmation.

Setting up a board asking 'What's your name?' might not sound like much, but if he found out anything from what he heard then it would be safe to assume that this stupid plan was the most likely to succeed.

Well, the other personality was probably not right in the head. Mikumo would admit he wasn't, too, but at least he was rational.

Besides, if she was really a maniac, then this could work. Maniacs often did things they deemed as interesting, as long as they felt like it, the opposite of rationality.

As long as it caught her attention, she would have no problem revealing facts that she didn't find dangerous for others to know. If his intuition was to be trusted, then it had a 99,89% chance to work.

Even if this failed, it was no loss for him, either.

Suck that he still had to sleep in this glorified junkyard, but he would find accommodation somewhere else in the future.

Probably.

For now, he can only close his eyes and hope for the best.

Mikumo tried to say awake, but eventually, the darkness took over him.

Kakiru opened her eyes once again, surprised to see herself walking up again in the middle of the night. On the exact beach, and the exact old sofa.

But surprise soon turn into excitement.

Does that mean that this is a permanent thing now?

Well, she did rush things last time, fearing that there wouldn't be a second chance to experience freedom. But if this meant anything, then this kind of thing would be a lot more constant from this point onward.

Now that she comes back here again, she can't help but express her joy.

Suck that it happened only at night, but she wasn't complaining. It was better than the few hours of consciousness at the self-defense class anyway.

That was when she spotted the board with the line 'What's your name?' sitting opposite her.

Who wrote that?

Did that guy bring her here? If so, he must know her name, right? That was incredibly suspicious.

Wait, comes to think of it, she didn't even know her name. And she must be cautious of messages that seemed harmless at first like this.

But she was in the mood, so why not?

Grabbing the marker near there, she hastily scribbles the name 'Kakiru'.

It won't matter anyway. Kakiru was just a name she randomly thought and realized it was cool so decided to keep it. It shouldn't be something important. It wasn't her real name as far as she knew.

Or at least she thought so.

Anyway, who cares about that sort of thing, really? With that thought, Kakiru jumped off the pile of trash, starting her rampage once again.

Or at least tried to, before a grumbling noise overtook the silence of the night. Kakiru was undeniably flustered.

"...hungry." And wasn't that a bummer?

.

.

I tried to get rid of plotholes and bad grammar by fixing my other chapter. I didn't know much, so it was the best I could do. Anyway, have fun reading.