It was easy enough to gather information on Toga, Magne, Muscular and Moonfish. Kurogiri had told Toru she didn't need to do it, but she still felt like she should be over prepared with information about the League's new recruits.
All it took was some computer access on Kurogiri's computer before she started her stalking. All four of the villains had very public records due to their crimes.
All for One had made it clear that it was an essential skill of a spy to be good with computers so that one could successfully research their enemies. So, it was the easier part of gathering information.
Muscular and Moonfish I don't need to be suspicious of because they were supplied by Master. Toru reminded herself.
Toga was pretty easy to verify information about too. A video of her parents being interviewed about her crimes was currently circulating around.
"I don't understand! She was such a normal girl. She was perfectly normal!" The mother cried.
"She stuck a straw into a classmate's body before she escaped." The interview reminded.
The mother cried harder. "What did we do wrong? How could we give birth to such a monster?"
If I recall from some quirk research, people with certain quirks are more likely to exhibit different personalities. Blood quirks are one of those kinds of quirks, it makes the person fascinated by blood. Toru double checked her research.
Yeah, that all seemed to check out. After all, if someone had a quirk that had to do with drinking blood, and they never drank blood how would they find out they had such a quirk? The evolution must have been wired into the brains to try out their quirk very young. That was likely what motivated Toga, to just be herself and be able to drink all the blood she wanted.
Hope she doesn't get any diseases. Toru thought briefly.
Magne was harder to look up online. Toru had to use the web archives to go to older sites. Eventually she found a hit from a few years ago of several GoFundMe posts on social media for transitioning. Sometimes Magne would post for her friends, sometimes for herself. The replies were almost always negative, and not many donated to the funds.
"Why should we fund you when we could be funding heroes that are actually helping people?" Was one of the less explicit mean replies Toru noticed on her old social media account.
So, a hatred of heroes and a desire for money mostly motivates her. Toru thought. She wondered if All for One was paying Magne to be here or if she was just working with the League of Villain to upgrade her villain resume. There had been plenty villains before who had done that for a need of money.
She confirmed Dabi's criminal record, and that Mustard really existed and was who he said he was.
Spinner did have a current social media account that didn't take her much effort on her part to find. It was under the name 'Spinner'. It was a mesh of a lot of things, like video game news and thoughts on fantasy tropes as well as, like Shigaraki described, a Stain super fan page.
It looks…exactly how he was described. Should I waste precious time scrolling down it to try to get his motives? Toru wondered. From what it sounded like Dabi, Compress, and Twice would be taking all her time. No, it's important to be thorough. The bar opens at 12pm because it stays open late, and Kurogiri needs some time to clean it. I have time to sneak back to the bar counter with him.
The stakes weren't as high as Toru's previous work to scrub a nerd's social media, but she needed to do it. Those were her orders.
Shigaraki kept looking up from the couch he was now laying on to see keys on the computer click down with nobody there, but he tried to ignore it.
Toru continued her social media search. She went several years back, before Stain was as big as he was.
Spinner: People suck. Just cuz they have flat faces and smooth skin doesn't mean they're better than anyone else.
The first post that was negative was about how people who didn't look like mutants weren't better than mutant types. After that about once every three days it looked like Spinner had made posts about how hard it was to be a mutant type. The posts got more and more mopey and sad as time went on.
Spinner: I'm quitting school. If anyone regrets what they did, they can SUCK IT.
Spinner: Maybe now I'll have more time to play video games.
Spinner: I'm worthless. I couldn't even make it through basic high school. Where are the heroes now? I clearly don't matter.
All his tweets painted a clear picture that Toru would have been more confused about if not for Shoji.
He's mentioned several times that mutant types get bullied for their appearance. There's a clear prejudice against us. She had noticed it somewhat in her year of middle school, but it was just a year. It wasn't a lifetime like Shoji and Spinner.
The bullying definitely got too much for him and sent him into a depression. He quit school and lived as a shut in for…Toru checked. 5 years? And then Stain brought him out of his funk.
Weird that Stain had been the thing that made him decide to leave his room, and now he wanted to dedicate his life to Stain's message, but some people got swept up by the weirdest charismatic people.
Either way Spinner seemed legit too.
Toru did one last search for Twice's real name online, but found nothing. She'd have to do her investigations of Twice, Dabi and Compress in real life.
Toru walked out of the secret room with Shigaraki when it was close to opening time. She then waited to see the new recruits for the first time.
She sat on the table farthest from the entrance, so that it would be easy to move somewhere else if need be.
The first person to enter the bar was Twice, as predicted.
"Hey! Hey! Shigaraki!" He opened his arms as if to hug him.
"Uhh…Twice…Do you recall that Tomura can not touch anyone because of his quirk?" Kurogiri reminded.
"Oh. No, I didn't. Yes, I did!" Twice put his arms down. His conversational skills did conflict with itself.
He gabbed and babbled until Toga came in. Then he greeted the girl.
"Toga! It's nice to see you!" He waved.
"Yeah! I hope we have lots of fun today too! Is Tomura going to tell us a fun plan yet? I want to start toying with UA!" Toga wiggled excitedly.
She is exactly how Shigaraki described her. Too friendly. Toru realized.
"No. Not today. Kurogiri and I are ironing out the finishing touches." Shigaraki said.
The TV turned on with an icon that said, 'voice only'. Likely All for One had been attending the new League's meetings. From what it looked like he didn't ever talk though, just listened in. No one really acknowledge the TV either.
Dabi entered the bar. "And why does Kurogiri need to help you plan things? I thought you were the boss here. Is it too hard for you that you need your babysitter to help?"
Shigaraki growled. He got up as if about to attack.
"I'll just portal you away." Kurogiri reminded.
"He's lucky you're here, or else he wouldn't be." Shigaraki snarled.
Doesn't look like they get along. Toru realized. But Shigaraki clearly knew of Dabi's strength and had some trust in him to load him up with a Nomu.
Twice continued to babble excitedly, unaware there was any malice between the two.
Spinner was next, followed by Magne and Mustard.
"Sorry I'm late! I was watching Stain's video again. You know the one with his capture? Man. That glasses kid and Todoroki really tick me off for contributing to his capture! When will we attack UA, Shigaraki? We were promised another USJ incident!" Spinner reminded.
"Be patient. I'm sure our boss has a timeframe of when our skills are required." Magne scolded.
Mustard nodded. "This is the famous League of Villains after all. I'm sure Shigaraki's just waiting for the perfect time to strike."
Compress entered the scene. "Exactly!" He responded as if he was there for the whole conversation. "I understand your impatience but rushing things won't help. UA's on higher security after USJ, so attacking them right now wouldn't do any good."
"That and they're on summer break." Dabi reminded. "Won't that really bother them if we attack an empty school. I'm sure that will really grind the heroes' gears."
"Huh? Summer break? Really? Is that why we're sitting around? Just sitting around is boring." Without missing a beat Twice added, "I'm good with friendly bonding and sitting!"
Shigaraki narrowed his eyes. "And how did you know UA's schedule?" He asked suspiciously.
"I assume he just went on the web." Compress pointed out. "It's no big mystery when UA goes on breaks. They're on break for four weeks now."
"Yeah. All schools have a summer break around this time." Toga nodded kicking her feet wildly and excitedly in the air as she sat on a table.
Spinner and Twice looked horrified because they hadn't known.
Shigaraki bit his nail. Dabi had won this argument.
"I assume that's why we're sitting on our butts and waiting, right, Boss?" Dabi asked with a smirk.
"Yeah. That's why." Shigaraki still had the upper hand. Dabi didn't know summer break only lasted for a week for hero students.
The rest of the day mostly went about the same. Some arguments. Some friendly chatting (mostly from Toga and Twice, although Compress was happy to participate) At one point, Spinner started playing games in the corner. Eventually Shigaraki joined him to play Mario kart, careful not to destroy any consoles.
Magne and Mustard eventually left to do other things. Magne came back an hour later.
It was a slow day, but Toru was perfectly fine just observing the dynamic and behaviors of the new recruits. She kept her eyes on Dabi, Compress, and Twice in particular.
She wasn't sure where Compress was looking, thanks to his mask. He'd take it off every now and then to eat or drink a beverage meaning he wasn't totally hiding his face. The black mask under his mask covered everything except his eyes and mouth.
Dabi kept his attention on Shigaraki and Kurogiri as if he didn't totally trust them yet. He was one of the few who kept looking at the TV screen. He was also one of the few to ask about the Leagues long-term goals and looked like he wanted to do more planning right now. Compress seemed interested in listening in as well.
Twice was mostly just there to hang out. He kept trying to start up social games like twenty questions or truth or dare like he was at a sleepover.
Once the day ended, Toru decided it was best to start her stalking with Twice, since he'd likely be the easiest. He didn't look like the type to hide anything big after all.
She followed him home, knowing that when Kurogiri teleported him back to his motel room he'd teleport her too if she tapped on his shoulder. He did as asked.
Once Twice was out of sight of Kurogiri, he took off his mask and started trembling. Toru saw his face for the first time. He had a big scar down his forehead like an axe had tried to slice through it.
So, his other selves did try to kill him. Unless he got the injury elsewhere. Toru confirmed.
As Twice walked home he tried his best not to talk to himself. He covered one eye with his hand but every so often his inner thoughts would leak out.
"I want salad for dinner." Twice mumbled under his breath. "NO! I want a Burger!" He yelled. He started shaking, apparently talking out loud wasn't what he had intended to do.
People avoided looking at him. They hurried to get away from him.
He eventually got to an old motel building. By that point a police officer on the street was pointing to him and gossiping with his co-worker.
"Just move on and he won't be a problem. He's never around much so just look away now. He's just some freak." They whispered audible enough for Toru to hear.
Twice might have not heard though. He was covering his head with his hands. "…Just a l-little longer until I'm home."
He rushed into the motel, avoiding eye contact and eventually getting to his place.
So, he definitely wasn't lying about being mentally ill and ridiculed for it by society. But is that any reason to trust him? Toru thought to herself.
She followed him into his motel. It was a dirty mess, trash all over the place.
I wonder if there's anything like journal clippings or newspaper clippings that paint a better picture of him and give us more to work off of for his identity. Toru wondered.
Twice just looked out of the window, blankly. There was no glass. He was a lot quieter once he picked up a cigarette and started smoking it.
Even if Toru made some sound trying to wade through the trash, Twice likely would not notice it, but she tried her best to be quiet anyway.
Twice let out a low whimper as he looked at the sunset. "I've got friends now. I'm sure the real me would have been delighted."
"Well, you're not!" Twice responded.
Oh. He's having a conversation with himself. Toru realized.
"Trust no one, not even yourself, huh? But…That sounds lonely. I can trust my new friends. I just can't trust you." He was talking about himself.
Shigaraki was right. He's very desperate to prove himself to us. His mental issues aside, Twice seemed like the sort of person who bought into the power of friendship and it was clear that it was because he was afraid of being alone.
To be not useful to anyone…Is a horrible fate. Maybe Twice was offering every part of himself he could so he could be useful too, like Toru.
Maybe that was why Shigaraki had suggested trusting him with her identity, because he knew both tools might relate to one another.
Tools don't need someone to relate too. We're just tools in a toolbox. Twice wants friends. I want to do what Master tells me. Toru reminded herself. We're very different.
She couldn't afford to feel companionship for him. That was a human emotion. And if All for One required Twice's sacrifice, Toru would watch it with not an ounce of emotion.
If Shigaraki had suggested letting Twice into their circle because he saw something similar between him and Toru, well then, he was wrong.
Eventually sifting through the trash did net results, she found an old newspaper clipping. 'Bubaigawara couple killed in villain attack leaving 14-year-old child orphaned.'
The small newspaper clipping wasn't detailed. It just went on about how a nice couple in the community had died in a recent villain attack. It mentioned their son would be all alone, but then it went into detail about the grief the hero felt about not being able to save someone. It didn't talk much more about the boy.
Toru knew quite a bit about social welfare programs. They were pretty non-existent. Why give money to orphaned children when the government could be supplying it to heroes so they could prevent orphans?
Twice was probably left all alone and discarded at 14…It's probably what led him to feeling alone and desperate for connections. It's clear the incident still means a lot to him since he brought a newspaper clipping with him to a motel. It wasn't a strange story, being alone could lead people to desperate things.
If the heroes had spent time helping children instead of ignoring them, perhaps Twice wouldn't be a villain. But the damage had already been done now.
He wasn't the usual sort of person that Shigaraki or All for One would suggest trusting. He wasn't clever, observant, or incredibly strong on his own power. He was just a very lonely man, desperate for friends and thoroughly betrayed by the hero obsessed society.
Shigaraki's turned the power of friendship that the heroes boast about into his very own weapon. Perhaps that's why he trusted him. All heroes talked about the power of bonds and friendship being the strongest force in the universe.
I suppose then…If Master approves, I can agree to meeting him. Toru decided.
He seemed exactly how Shigaraki had described him. She continued to observe him for the rest of the day and night to try to get a better feel of his mental quirks.
Toru had to wait until day 2 to follow Mr. Compress home.
Shigaraki said he was mysterious so stalking him to gather information will probably take a while. Toru thought. She was prepared to do stake outs and never let him leave her eyes.
When she followed Mr. Compress though he wasn't nearly as guarded as Shigaraki made him out to be. He lived a few cities away from Kamino, so he had to ride the train home. Toru wasn't sure why he didn't just let Kurogiri teleport him.
On the train, he of course took off his mask, both, so he looked less suspicious. He kept the top hat and coat though.
"Mommy! Mommy! It's Mr. Sako! The Magician! Do a trick! Conjure doves!" A young child pulled at his mother's skirt.
"Kentaro, please. It's rude to bother famous people. He's probably tired." The mother told her son.
Compress smiled at the child. "It's no bother! But I can hardly conjure doves on a train, can I?" he reminded. Instead, he pulled a coin from behind the child's ear. "I hope this pleases you instead."
The little boy laughed and smiled. Compress smiled kindly as well.
So, he really is a stage magician. He could've lied about that. Toru thought to herself. And a stage magician with the last name of Sako. If he was truly famous a search online would provide his full name.
Why did a stage magician join the league of villains? If he was as beloved and valued as the child and mother acted like, why would villainy benefit him? He was probably already rich after all.
Toru grew more and more suspicious of 'Mr. Compress.'
Mr. Compress walked a long way to get home. He went through alleys and other detours that weren't necessary.
He's a little guarded. After visiting the league of villains, he knows that there's a chance police could follow him home. But his identity was already exposed on the train. Why go to all the extra trouble? Toru wondered.
She followed him anyway, careful to keep some distance between them so he couldn't compress her.
Once he arrived at his home, it confirmed things for Toru that he was rich. It wasn't a mansion like Yaoyorozu likely had, but it was a rather nice and large house that he owned.
Compress entered his house and closed the door quickly. Luckily Toru noticed an open window and climbed up the wall of the house. Before she could infiltrate, Compress jumped out of his house from the open window with his mask on, jumping to the next rooftop.
What is he up to? Toru wondered. She followed him as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Under the cover of night, he appeared shadowlike.
Compress traveled far that night, to a museum. Compressing a section of the roof to allow himself an opening, Compress expertly slipped into the museum with his agility.
Toru followed. Ah, I get it. A thief, huh? Many villains were made due to a love of extravagant objections and a desire to possess it themselves.
Compress passing the expensive artwork and statues though. Instead, he went straight for the cash registers at the entrance and compressed any cash he could find. When that was not enough, he went into the 'jewelry' exhibit and compressed those as well.
Then he uncompressed a grappling hook in his pocket and exited the museum from the hole he created. Before Toru could follow, he put the roof back into place.
Crap. Toru ran to the entrance, past a sleeping security guard. No security cameras or alarms caught her. She unlocked the entrance door and ran out of there.
She had lost a little time, but when she paused, she could see Compress jumping away in the distance. She ran as quick as she could to catch up to him.
When she caught up to him, Compress had arrived at some homeless slums. Likely no heroes monitored this section of the city, since the heroes didn't seem to care about helping the homeless population. It had many little cobbled together buildings where the luckier people lived.
He jumped into the air and uncompressed the money in his pockets, raining cash down onto the streets.
People who were still awake noticed the money and ran for it, picking it up.
Compress landed gracefully on a rooftop. He made a few more jumps to be on street level so he could uncompress the jewelry as well.
Toru climbed down a bridge that shielded the homeless slums from prying eyes instead of taking her luck with the buildings.
"Thank you! Thank you! Now I'll be able to pay off my medical debt." Someone cried.
"I'm giving this money to my daughter. She needs it more than I do…" Someone else said.
There was a lot of crying and thank yous.
"Please, ease your sobs." Compress requested. "We want to keep the noise and celebrations down." He put a finger to where his lip would be under his mask. "A gentleman thief has visited you tonight! And it would be best if you kept this a secret so that this miracle doesn't, uhhh, get confiscated."
The people nodded, hurriedly, knowing what this meant.
Compress tipped his hat and then jumped away. Toru continued her pursuit.
So, he's the gentleman thief type. Toru observed. He's no hero then…But why join the league of villains? We're known for murders, huge violent events, the USJ event which involves trying to kill actual children…It just doesn't fit.
Was Compress dumb? Or did he have some other goal?
More observation was necessary.
Compress had been up a good portion of the night stealing, but once he was home, Toru waited for him to leave his house. She staked things out from outdoors.
Perhaps his home would offer insight to his secrets.
Compress didn't leave home until midday. He locked his house up securely, it had 7 different locks.
This was no challenge for Toru. If she couldn't break into anything she was practically worthless after all. She found some trash to use as a lockpick and quickly unlocked the house.
Walking in there were no great surprises. She did notice Compress's mail, mostly junk mail stacked up on a little table. On the mail she learned his full name; Atsuhiro Sako.
I could have googled that once I was back in the bar, but it's good to know. Toru continued her investigation.
Once she walked down the long hallway out of the entryway into the rest of the house, Toru noticed something. The floorboards didn't match the entryway floorboards. Looking at the wall she noticed a net set up as well.
Ah. I understand. His house has booby traps. A lot of the decorations were magician gear. Chains, coffins, dangerous weapon, but they doubled as traps.
Does he suffer from paranoia? This seems extreme…. The traps got more elaborate as Toru continued inching her way through the house, and hidden away. She had to be more and more careful. No, he's a criminal, it makes sense to trap his house in case police investigate it.
She eventually made it to Compress's library and home office on the second floor. It had the window Compress had jumped out of last night.
This is his base of operations. I better be extra careful. Toru thought. She did notice lasers protecting the room. Compress had likely put his security system on before he had left.
There was a tight squeeze in several places, but Toru managed to acrobatically move around the room until she made it to the bookshelves. She noticed there were several security cameras around the room.
I assume he used his plethora of funds to make this. Still with this level of security there must be many secrets here. Toru thought.
She had seen worse traps and security system elsewhere. Compress should have spent more money installing things to make it harder.
She forced the cameras to blank out by localizing her light quirk. They'd just show a white screen. She then browsed the spines of the books on the shelf, eventually pulling out a book labeled 'family album.'
There were many pictures in the album, but not many of them big reveals. A child Compress, his family, pictures of his grandpa, grandma…
Memorize these faces. You might need to investigate them and their names to see who they are and their connections. Perhaps one of them was a hero, or perhaps Compress had a tragic backstory that fueled him joining the league.
It was lucky the pictures were labeled with names.
Eventually Toru stopped flipping through when she noticed a face that she recognized.
Oji Harima: The picture was labeled. By the way the book was put together this seemed to make him Compress's great-great-grandpa.
I know this guy. Where? Toru wracked her brain. All for One had never shown her a picture of him. Where had she seen this person?
She eventually recalled. It was in UA's history class. It was during a lecture of famous villains (not including All for One) Oji Harima. He was one of the biggest gentleman thief villains, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Eventually in his later light he had been captured and brought to justice by the heroes. It had been a legendary battle to capture him as he ran from any hero who tried and hid away expertly.
So, he's related to a famous villain? Toru realized. Perhaps that was what motivated Compress. Revenge on society for capturing his Great-Great-Grandpa? Or was it perhaps similar to Iida and Todoroki's motivation to be heroes?
He comes from a pro villain family. Toru realized, flipping through the family album again. Remembering history class, she now recognized most of these people, although they had been in costume in the pictures she had seen in Midnight's class.
He's like a pro-hero kid. He's doing this because it's his legacy. He's trying to get fame and recognition like the rest of his family. Toru realized.
If pro-hero legacies existed, couldn't there be villain families too? Of course, there could be.
The realization made Toru pause, but then her eyes noticed something bright yellow on the desk next to the bookshelf. She backflipped over, careful to avoid the lasers. It was a sticky note.
"This is for the Nomu or Agent sent to investigate me:" The note read. "I appreciate that the league sent someone to investigate me! If you are reading this, Congratulations for making it this far!" The note read. "On the other hand, if you're just some random person and nobody's investigating me, I am disappointed."
So, he knew the league would send a spy and he was prepared for it….Or he was very egotistical and hoped he would be investigated. Toru thought.
A giant hammer swung from the ceiling just as she finished reading. It had probably been timed to fall after a few seconds of someone standing there to read the note.
Toru back flipped again and avoided it.
I'm going to have to climb the desk and put that back, aren't I? Toru inwardly groaned to herself. Lots of work ahead.
She noticed another note close to where she landed to avoid the hammer.
"If you have survived, Congratulations! You're pretty strong! I applaud you for making it through my death house."
Toru back flipped again on impulse before another swinging blade got her.
Is he trying to prove he's better than the spy the league sent? Or did he just set this up to enjoy himself? Toru didn't know, but it was unnecessary. She'd uncover all his secrets.
There was another note.
"Okay, I've had my fun. No more booby-traps here. I promise. The code to disengage the lasers and traps is 52367. The keypad is under the desk." The note read.
Toru wasn't going to fall for it. Disengaging the traps would tell him I was here too. And revealing my identity to him isn't part of my orders. She'd maneuver around the lasers as much as she needed.
As promised though there was no trap. She leaned down and pulled the sticky note up to see another sticky note.
"There is nothing to worry about. I am not going to betray the league. I have pride in the person I am. I would never betray an organization I am part of. That isn't very gentlemanly." The next note read.
It seemed like there was a stack of sticky notes so Compress could monologue his own motives.
If he wanted to talk to someone, he could have told this all to Kurogiri and Shigaraki. He didn't need to have his entire backstory hidden in his house waiting for a spy to come. Toru thought.
"Do you wonder why? Why is Compress loyal to the league? Is he a Stain fan like Spinner, Toga and Dabi?" The next note asked.
Toru flipped to the next one.
"The answer is No! My motives are simple. I am after fame. Shigaraki is likely wracking his head to figure out who I am and why I have joined the league. It's not nearly as complex as he thinks."
THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD HIM. Shigaraki just thinks Compress is a weird magician dude. Toru found herself annoyed and frustrated. She could have avoided all of this if Compress had been open from the beginning.
It was so villain-y though to be so eccentric that one couldn't have a normal conversation and instead put sticky notes all over their house to monologue to perhaps nobody.
"My family is a famous villain family. We've all been villains. Most of us have been caught thanks to the era of Peace that All Might has brought. I still wear my legacy with pride though. Oh! Don't worry! Whenever someone of my family starts doing crimes, we change our last name so we can't be connected to the others. So, I have no public criminal history." The next note shared with a little doodle of Compress giving a thumbs up.
He certainly is…a character…Was the doodle really necessary?
"I simply want what every son wants. To bring fame to his family. I also want to make my own mark, of course. Allying with the only person more famous than my great-great-grandfather only makes sense. Yes, before you ask, I do know about All for One. I haven't met him, but I've heard of him from stories. I know he's always listening to the league's discussion and is the one really in charge."
That's not…Common knowledge. Toru thought. Likely the new recruits knew about Shigaraki's Master since the TV was always on and he was listening, but she was unsure if all of them knew who he was. Perhaps Shigaraki had introduced them while she was at school though.
"I know All for One has a pupil that he plans to make the next lord of crime. I wish to aid his pupil, Shigaraki and bring about a new age of villainy. That's why I joined the league." The note read.
There was one last note in the stack. "Now, for the person reading this. I'm flattered about the league sending a spy to investigate me. But please in the future just ask me questions. I think we should learn to trust one another. Us Villains are so used to mistrusting each other and competing and setting elaborate traps to impress other villains-You get the idea, but we don't need to do this. And honestly all the traps were very expensive. So, let's start anew and talk to one another?"
Easier said than done. And he's the one who set up the traps in the first place! He could have just told Shigaraki and Master out right that he knew of All for One and wanted to help for the fame instead of pretending to be secretive and mysterious! Toru found herself thinking.
She didn't even need to stalk him for longer, she had gotten all she needed about his personality from the notes.
She repaired the traps that she had triggered before leaving. She put everything back in place. She locked the door before leaving.
Unfortunately for him it wasn't in my orders to reveal myself to Compress. So, he won't know that a spy was actually sent to him.
That might change in the future. Perhaps All for One would be impressed by a villain legacy, especially since Compress knew about him and wanted to aid him into bringing about a new age. But for now, things would remain secret to him.
There was one last person to investigate: Dabi. If Toru finished this mission early like the others, she might have some free time to actually spend with the league- Kurogiri and Shigaraki and go over plans. Or All for One would give her another mission.
She followed Dabi home the next day just as she had done with Compress, arriving in the early morning, listening to the league's discussions politely until Dabi left. Kurogiri offered to teleport him, but he refused and went his own way.
Dabi didn't take the train home like Compress. Likely a man with burned skin and stitches would cause people to gawk. He spent some money to pay a taxi to drive him home instead.
Following cars was harder than hitching a ride on a train. The human body just couldn't reach their speeds, so Toru delicately climbed on top of the taxi's top, gripping the sign to keep herself on it trying to keep herself as inaudible and unobvious as possible.
Sometimes she'd jump from car to car to try to keep track of someone, but that was louder than just riding on the top. She just had to be careful.
The taxi drove for an hour. Then another. Toru bobbed her head down to look at Dabi to make sure he was still in the car during one of their stops. He was listening to something on his phone and had earplugs.
Once the taxi finally stopped to let Dabi out the taxi driver asked for payment.
"No way. I don't carry that much cash on me. What do I look like? Someone made of money?" Dabi hissed reaching out a hand.
Toru knew what this was gearing up for. She jumped off of the taxi and quickly ran to behind Dabi. Dabi then sent his blue flames flying into the taxi charring the unsuspecting driver to a crisp along with the dash cam and anything that would let the car drive.
He then walked away, hands in his pockets, like it was just another Wednesday to him.
So, he kills for minor inconveniences. A lot like Shigaraki, honestly.
Toru continued following, but put distance between them. Dabi kept walking a fair way, eventually going through a narrow alleyway.
There's no doors or windows…He doesn't live down this alley so why go here? Toru wondered. It was barely wide enough for someone to walk.
Dabi kept walking, keeping up his pace.
The narrowness...This would be a death trap if someone entered it with his flames-Toru realized it quickly. She could not go down this alley. Dabi must be waiting for someone.
She climbed the wall instead. It was made out of bricks and was easy enough to climb. She'd watch him from a safe distance from the rooftops.
Dabi turned around very quickly once Toru was watching him from above the rooftops. As she predicted he shot out his flames to cover the alleyway behind him.
It was hot. Even from atop the rooftop it felt warmer than Todoroki's flames. Toru did not make a visible sound though. Even if she burned to a crisp, she would not make a noise. That was what All for One taught her.
Dabi frowned and sniffed. There was no smell of any corpse.
"…Just my imagination?" He asked aloud, scratching his head. "…I had some sort of hunch I was being followed…" He mumbled to himself.
Ah. So, he's one of those types with good instinct. And he follows his gut. Those types of people were dangerous, but luckily, they could be manipulated into questioning their instincts if they were gaslight into believing those instincts were wrong. As an invisible person it was easy enough to make things seem different than they appeared.
She tried to follow Dabi, close enough that she could see him, but far enough away that she had an exit strategy from the 'blast zone.'
He kept walking, hands in his pockets, a slow pace. Eventually he reached a beat-up building that looked abandoned. Likely it was where he was currently living.
The place looked like it could fall down at any moment.
That means Dabi won't randomly shoot flames or else his hideout will fall down. Toru climbed off of the rooftop so she could sneak into Dabi's hideout when need be.
Dabi stopped right outside the door, staring at the other side of the street which was some sort of factory. The smoke from the factory was thick so Toru had to get very close to see what Dabi was staring at.
"ENDEAVOR AGENCY RECRUITING! Apply now at www. Endeavorfornumber1. com " It was a poster with Endeavor doing a thumbs up sign.
Well, that's not very rare. Agency recruitment posters are everywhere. Especially for bigger agencies with larger amounts of sidekicks like Endeavor's. Toru thought.
It didn't warrant Dabi pausing. But he walked across the street to be closer to the poster. In seconds he pulled it off the wall.
"Endeavor…. Why is that man wherever I look? To hell with him! I'll crush you eventually." Dabi crumbled up the poster and then tore it to pieces. He threw it to ground and stomped on it, then conjured a tiny amount of flame to burn it to a crisp. Then stomped on the ashes again for good measure.
He…Really hates Endeavor. Toru observed. A personal vendetta perhaps? Perhaps he was rejected from Endeavor's agency, and he joined the league to get revenge. Dabi had a flame quirk. That couldn't be a coincidence with his hatred towards Endeavor. Endeavor practically collected flame quirks. If he had seen Dabi he would have definitely tried to recruit him.
Dabi turned around and for a moment Toru forgot to jump back to avoid him walking forward. She was close to him, closer to his face and with the context that he hated Endeavor she finally saw something that she hadn't before.
T-todoroki? It was a bizarre question in her mind.
She dodged Dabi's ongoing path before he could run straight into her.
She had seen something that the rest of the league definitely wouldn't have seen. She had only noticed it because she was in Todorki's class.
Todoroki and Dabi had very similar facial features- of what skin hadn't been burned away. The same jaw line, the same nose, a similar bone structure and build. There was something very similar between them.
Could it be…? A hatred of Endeavor, looking like Todoroki with a similar quirk, good instinct that could also be called extreme paranoia, combined with Endeavor's history of abuse…Could Dabi perhaps be a Todoroki?
But how? Or was I just jumping the gun?
Surgery is finally over! I have 3 chapters in my backlog that I just need to edit and post. Don't remember how many chapters the 'week of summer break' arc part of the story is going to be. But after that it'll be the start of season 3.
In my original edit there was a bit more investigating Toga/Magne/Mustard/Muscular (not Moonfish though I accidentally forgot he existed), but I cut that because the chapter was getting a little long and besides Toga the other 3 aren't that important although I wish Magne had more in the actual series. Would love to get to know her.