Soul Marked

Chapter Twenty-two

Start of Internship

So I completely changed up the role I had for Shigaraki, many of you had asked about him and my story took me in a whole new direction. I hope you all like this path as I'm quite enjoying all the plans I've come up with.

Also something new I don't have much opportunity to write especially here recently so I want you guys to expect an update once a month. That's what I'm aiming for and I know I can make happen, however if I can update more than once than I'll be extremely excited.

I was only able to update today because it's my birthday and I was given a few hours to finish this chapter without my daughter hanging off me :D

Thanks for sticking with me guys!

Edited by ICanHearThemToo

Izuka looked horrified at what she was seeing. Her hand moved to grab her phone, ready to dial for help. That was until she watched as the old man seemed to move, his face glancing up at her from the mess around him.

"I'm not dead, girl!" he hollered out as he began to pull himself up to his feet. Shaking her head from the shock that muddled it, Izuka darted forward to help him up. He smiled at her as he allowed the action of her trying to help. "I slipped and fell with a plate of sausages and ketchup. Oh, how clumsy of me." Izuka's eyes fell to the floor where she could now see that the substance was just ketchup. Glancing over at her, the older man gave her a curious look. "Who are you?"

Scrambling to stand straighter, Midoriya began to straighten her clothes as she took a step back. "My name is Midoriya Izuka, sir," she said hurriedly. "I've come from U.A." He gave her a blank look and cocked his head to the side.

"What?" he asked loudly causing her eyes to widen as she repeated herself a bit louder. "And who are you!?" This began to cause Izuka to feel panicked at the idea that this man had lost his mind. Her eyes were wide as she watched him plop back down, sitting on the ketchup covered floor. This man was old she knew that, but surely he wasn't old enough to be having memory problems. She had just said her name and he couldn't remember it.

"I'd like to eat lunch," he said simply. She nodded as she began to move backwards over to where her suitcase was. Perhaps she needed to let Toshi know what was going on with his old teacher.

"Maybe I should go make a phone call to Toshi," she said with a nervous look on her face. She barely noticed as he shot forward and crouched in front of her hero suitcase, instantly opening it to look inside. Aborting the search for Toshi's number she shoved her phone back into her pocket and moved forward quickly. "Hey, what are you doing?"

He ignored her, continuing to look at her costume and said, "Fire off an attack, I'd like to see your One For All. I want to know to what degree you can control it." Blinking, the young girl felt confusion sink in deeper at his sudden change in attitude.

"Um, right now sir?" she asked hesitantly. The man barely looked like he could dodge an attack, but she didn't like to assumptions based solely on how a person looked. Though if his mental stability so far was anything to go by she probably could safely assume.

"Nice costume," he said as he finished rifling around. "Put it on and come at me!" She stepped forward to do just that when his head shot around to stare at her, the blank look on his face once more. "Who are you again?" Izuka could feel the helplessness of the situation overwhelm her as she began to think maybe Toshi was wrong for sending her here. Moving forward, she crouched next to him and hung her head, her fists clenched tightly at her side, hoping to get through to this man.

"Sir, please," she began in a soft voice. "I need you to teach me. All Might said you helped him become great. He doesn't have much time left so I need to become better with this power. There's no time for me to fool around. So please, help me." The old man glanced over at her, a look she didn't see cross over his face as he stood to his feet.

"I said, come at me, neophyte." Her head moved up to finally look at him. The expression in his eyes made him look more alive and alert. She realized that what he was doing may have been a test, or just something the old man liked to do, unless he really did have memory problems. "The way you used it during the Sports Festival shows you've got some kind of handle on it, but you can do better. It seems that justice-obsessed fool, All Might, is just intermediate when it comes to being a teacher. It's my turn to look after you, and I expect you to grow while your here. So put on your costume."

As Midoriya moved to take her costume from the suitcase she couldn't help but notice how similar Toshi was to Gran Torino in how they talked. This man was definitely his teacher. Moving to the bathroom, she began to dress herself. She was hoping that Toshi would be here soon, even though she knew it would still be two days before he would arrive. Glancing in the mirror, she decided she was ready and moved to go meet Gran Torino back in his dining room.

"I'm ready," she said with more confidence than she felt. She was unsure about what was about to happen, but hoped it would be a learning experience that would prove to benefit her for the future. She had enough control over her quirk that not wrecking this tiny space would be easy to do, but she still worried about breaking something, accidents do happen after all, or breaking him. He looked fragile.

"Are you going to keep standing there!" he hollered out as he jumped out of her line of sight. "I'm growing impatient." Something flashed in front of her but it was too fast for her eyes to see. Off to her right there was another flash causing her to spin around and try to see what was moving so fast. Her green eyes darted around, trying to find even a glimpse of Gran Torino to track where his attack would come from.

Her whole balance was thrown off as a force barreled into her back and knocked her to the ground. The air was knocked from her lungs and she felt the mass that hit her leave within the next second. Groaning, Izuka's mind began to calculate what she needed to do to beat someone faster than her. She wasn't sure exactly what his quirk was but she didn't need to know to study it and predict what he would do next, and how to counter it. Trying to follow his movements she allowed herself to be hit again in hopes that it would show some kind of pattern.

He zipped around, barely leaving a trace as he jumped from wall, to floor, to wall again. She heard his foot bounce off the floor right next to her, causing her to spin around. Her ponytail whipped at her face from the force of her spin. He was gone again. Above her she heard the telltale sound of a foot making contact with the ceiling before disappearing. Another hit made contact with her back, this time only causing her to stumble forward. Regaining her balance she stepped forward and closed her eyes.

Straining her ears, she reached out with her sense of hearing to tell where his feet landed and how close she was to him each time. A footstep behind her caused her to stiffen but it wasn't close enough, and then she heard another one above her off to the right. All around her, she could hear him bouncing from place to place right up until she finally heard it. The footstep right behind her.

She knew he would try it again; he had done it twice. All she needed to be now was fast and time it just right. He was far more experienced than her but she had a knack for observing and using her knowledge to her advantage. Behind her came the footstep she had been waiting to hear, her body prepared to turn, her ears tuned into the man behind her.

There wasn't another step but she timed it, going by how long the second hit took to make impact after hearing him move behind her. Taking in a deep breath, she spun around in a second and her hands shot forward to grab at the hand that was reaching toward her. The older man smiled wider as he watched at how fast she reacted, but with a few minor adjustments, he had grabbed her hand and twisted it around. The action completely threw her off balance once more.

A surprised look crossed over her features at the speed at which he moved to avoid her stretched out hand. Her body was forcefully spun around and her arm was pinned behind her back, holding her in place.

"You did good for a whippersnapper," he said as he held her in a locked position. Izuka winced in pain every time she tried to move. "Your prediction skills are good, but they need some work along with your reaction time. Be a little faster and you could have avoided this." He glanced at her with interest, seeing the potential the kid had if it could be unlocked even more. "All Might did alright in picking of you, but you gotta loosen up some. One For All needs to be used uniquely by you."

"Uniquely by me," she said as he finally let his hold on her arm go. She winced once more before beginning to flex her arm.

"Your admiration for All Might can become shackles if you let them. You must become more than he ever was. Time, for you and your enemies, is not on your side. You've got the talent, now unlock it." Izuka instantly began to think over what he said as he moved away from her, his cane back in his hand. She watched as he moved to the door and stopped. "I'm going out to get some grub, are you coming?"

"Um, sir, shouldn't I change out of my costume?" she asked with wide eyes as she began to fidget.

"Come on," he said waving her on. "Consider it me teaching you how to patrol. Heroes stop to eat during those types of things." She began to nod as the older man walked out of the house no longer waiting for her to decide whether to follow. Scrambling after him, she shut the door and made sure it was locked, she began chasing after him where he was already half way down the block. He moved fast even without his quirk she found.

Glancing over at her, he smirked. "Caught up did you," he laughed. She sent him a hesitant smile as they walked side by side.

"I locked up," she said kindly. He nodded next to her, his eyes darting over to her from time to time.

"You like barbeque?" he asked as they made a right turn.

"Yeah, I don't mind eating that."

"Good, I know a place," he said as he began to speed up, causing her to have to speed up as well. Another look of surprise crossed over her face when she picked up her own speed, wondering how he could keep up this fast pace.

子猫

Bakugo stood in the middle of the office of Beast Jeanist as the man in question stood in front of him, looking him over with a sharp eye. "To be honest I'm not a big fan of yours," he said seriously. Blinking, Katsuki frowned as he stared in confusion at the man before him. "I'm sure the only reason you chose my agency was because I'm one of the top five heroes, am I right?"

His frown turned into a scowl as his gaze turned into a glare. Anger began to build up inside of him at the words Best Jeanist spoke.

"Why did you even want to draft me then?" he asked trying to hold in his annoyance at the situation. He was smart enough to know that an angry outburst at this man wouldn't be good for him. He could decide to end the internship early, and he had enough control to keep it inside.

"Lately, all I ever work with his do-gooders and you're the complete opposite. My job as a hero is reforming people like you. I know a challenge when I see one. Villains and heroes are two sides of the same coin, I can see it in that glare of yours. Can you tell me what it is that makes someone a hero?"

Huffing he walked into the room he had been given. He walked over to the bed and plopped down. Letting out a slow breath he stared up at the ceiling, overly angry at the day he had. Nothing had gotten done, at least nothing that he felt was helpful. It was full of that man trying to tame his hair, and his attitude. He scowled as his hands tugged at his hair, to no avail. It stayed straight even as his fingers caught on the gunk that kept it from going back to normal.

A low growl escaped through his lips as he let his hands fall back to the bed and curl under his pillow. As he laid there, unhappy. He couldn't help but let his mind wander to Izuka and the last time he saw her. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours yet, but he could feel the distance that separated them. This train of thought only seemed to piss him off more as he grabbed his pillow and flung it across the room.

Pulling himself up off the bed, he stalked over to the door and pulled it open before slamming it back shut behind him. He refused to think about her or anything else that pissed him off. Going and training was a better occupation of his time.

Right before the slam of his door his phone lit up, a soft bing filling the room as one single name appeared on his screen.

Koneko.

子猫

Izuka stared down at her phone as she laid in the bed that had been given to her. The room she was in was small but she wasn't complaining. It was more than enough for what she needed it for during the week. After having returned to his home the old man had gone straight to sleep while muttering something about being tired after all the food. Sitting on the bed, she stared down at her phone looking at the text she had just sent to Kacchan.

As soon as arriving in her room she had this overwhelming urge to speak to him. This was the first time she had ever been so far away from him before, and she wondered if the bond was causing her to feel the need to at least hear his voice. Deep inside her chest she felt this irritating feeling nag at her. She placed her phone on the bed by her pillow with a sigh. It didn't seem like he was going to reply back, and if she was honest with herself she figured he wouldn't. He was probably super busy with his internship and she felt bad for trying to take his mind off his training.

They were just starting to get to know one another outside of the relationship they've had for the past several years. She really couldn't feel disappointed in the silence her phone showed. Deciding that she couldn't just sit around and do nothing she got to her feet. Walking over to the closet that held the clothes she packed for the week she grabbed a sports bra and jogging pants. She threw her hair up into a high ponytail and grabbed a jacket before walking quietly through the house. She wanted to gain more control over her quirk. Being able to hold it longer than a couple minutes and using more power was her goal. Even just a little step forward would be enough.

This was her chance to do just that. Closing the door softly behind her, Izuka scrambled down the stairs before taking off down the street. Coming to an alley that had plenty of trash to cushion any falls, she decided this is where she would practise for the time being. Activating One For all throughout her entire body, she decided to try making it up to the top of the building. It would take a couple of minutes with how tall it was, and she figured it was above her actual limit. She might be able to get up halfway before having to abandon the climb. Izuka was determined to make it to the top by the end of the night. She was determined to push past her limits until she finally made it.

She had to be able to use it for more than just a few minutes.

With gritted teeth, she jumped and felt her power pushing her up higher than she should have been able to go. Her foot made contact with the first building and she pushed off angling herself toward the next building. Several jumps in she could begin to feel the strain of her quirk, the need to start thinking about turning back. But it wasn't until she hit the halfway mark that she knew she needed to go back down. The strain was beginning to cause actual pain to her muscles and she refused to cause any damage that would take too long to fix.

Aborting her upward motion she quickly began to make her way back safely down to the ground. It had been easy to go up the buildings that way, her work on her quirk having made it seem almost effortless, but it wasn't lasting long enough. She knew her quirk would have to be treated just like any normal muscles in her body. Repeated use would make it to where she could eventually make it to the top with as little effort as it did to make it halfway.

Leaning against the building she previously just fell from, she began to stretch her leg before doing the other one. She felt her muscles begin to ease up. After a few moments, she began to feel better and decided to try it again.

Over and over, she jumped up the sides of the buildings getting closer and closer to her goal, but it was always just slightly out of reach. Then, just as the rays of a morning sun rose above the horizon, she made it to the top. A satisfied feeling spread throughout her body as she stood on the roof of the building and looked out over the city. It had caused her lots of unpleasantness in the beginning and it still took a little pushing to actually make it to the top but she had done it. Making her way back down, a wave of drowsiness flooded her but a happy smile lifted her lips as she slid down and sat on the ground. Her head began to droop forward, but the sound of a text disrupted the quiet causing her to pull her phone out and glance at it. It was from Kacchan only saying he had made it, but the fact that he finally replied caused happiness inside herself as her eyes slid closed. The overwhelming feeling to just rest for a few seconds flooded her thoughts.

She would make it back to Gran Torino's house after a few seconds of blissful sleep. Her phone laid in her lap, the text from Kacchan left opened and unanswered.

子猫

A dark figure moved into the head of the alley his crimson eyes sweeping over the surroundings around him. A light crazed smile tugged at his chapped lips as his gaze fell on the person he had been looking for. All night he had watched her movements not once growing bored as the sky went from dark to light. Through the long hours of the night, he had sat on the opposite building while the shadows kept him out of sight. It was true the his newfound obsession with the girl was a little derailing and illogical to the few who knew about it. Even he found the need to question himself about why he was following her.

The plan was just to use her for the demise of All Might, just a pawn for the greater bad. There was little sense in the game he had been playing. The sneaking around, knowing that snatching her in those moments weren't smart as she was hardly ever alone.. Even now, as he leaned over her unconscious form, it would be so easy to grab her and start the beginnings of his plan. But he found himself hesitating

The last few weeks of playing stalker had been a fun little game. It had started out only needing to know her schedule, when she was alone, and the perfect place to grab her up. But that had quickly soured when he found someone was almost always escorting her around. He needed her to be alone. He had to take her when no one was watching since there would be less chance of a hero getting involved. He couldn't chance them getting her back before he could put his plan in motion.

A frown settled over his face as he crouched in front of her. So why now did he hesitate to take her away? It was a perfect opportunity. The old man that had followed her earlier had been gone for hours, and he was sure he wouldn't come looking for a while longer. Still, he hesitated. An irritated feeling emerged around him as he began to scratch at his neck. His eyes darted down to her own neck where he could see the pearl scars that littered her skin. It caused his mood to lighten slightly before his gaze rose back to her face.

He took in her features and the dark green color of her hair. The familiar sense of a tugging sensation pulled at the back of his mind. She reminded him of someone, another girl he wished could be buried deep in the dark depths of his mind. It was possible that was the reason he didn't just snatch her up now and take her back with him to the dark bar. It was startling how similar she was to her. Startling and infuriating. His long pale fingers reached out to clasp a strand of hair between two of his fingers as he gently twirled it between them.

This, he couldn't help but admit, was another reason he found himself wanting to use her in the plan. To have her close caused him to breathe in a memory that had been long forgotten. Emotions surrounded him, pulling him into another time when she had been alive. Dark red eyes flashed back to Izuka's face as his once gentle grip on her hair began to grow harsher. Sharing familiar looks was also a horrible reminder of what he no longer had, and he found himself teetering on the edge of peacefulness and hatred when looking at Izuka.

Dropping the strand of hair he held before he woke her up with the tugging, he rolled back on his heels and stood up. It didn't make sense for him not to take the opportunity now, just because of the reminder, so he shoved it back down and moved to grab the sleeping girl. Only in that moment he heard the noises of approaching footsteps and voices.

Growling he glared in the direction the sounds were coming from before looking back down at Izuka. "Soon." Turning, he fled and disappeared from sight before Toshi and Torino could spot him as they rounded the corner.

子猫

Toshinori took a deep breath as he walked up to the building that announced itself as the residence of his old sensei. A sigh tore through his body as he took to the staircase, the steps too few in his opinion. Sweat was building at his brow and he shakily wiped it away. He hadn't even thought of the man in years, but just his name caused him high levels of stress and fear. Shaking his head, he tried to gain some control back as his hand reached up to knock at the door.

Right before his knuckles made contact with the wood, the door was abruptly pulled open to reveal a short old man. Stepping back in surprise the younger of the two men stared wide eyed at him.

"Who're you?" Gran Torino asked in a huff. Toshi sighed at the familiar greeting as he stuffed his shaking hands into his pockets.

"It's good to see you too," he said, only barely keeping his voice from wavering. Torino began to smile wide at his new guest as he pulled the door closed behind him.

"I was hoping to talk to Midoriya," Toshi said as he moved to the side. "You don't mind if I go in, do you?" Torino waved his hand in a "follow me" motion as he began to move toward the first step.

"Won't do you any good," he said without turning to see if his old student was following or not. "She's not here." Toshi faltered at those words as he began to hurriedly walk after the surprisingly fast man.

"What do you mean she's not here?" he asked worriedly.

"Snuck out last night," Torino said with a shrug as they moved farther from his home. Toshi frowned at this, his protective instincts toward the girl beginning to wash over him.

"What do you mean she snuck out!?" he asked as he used his longer legs to come to a halt in front of the other man, effectively stopping him from moving forward. "You were supposed to be watching over her." Gran Torino frowned at the obstacle in his way as he eyed him. His cane whacked at his ankle to get him to move.

"I watched the girl!" he said as Toshi flinched away from the pain. "She didn't successfully sneak out without me noticing. I followed her to where she went and upon finding she was in no danger I went back home." This only caused the blonde male to frown harder as he never would have left the young girl alone in a city by herself, regardless of the lack of danger or not. It went against every instinct he had inside of himself and he had no troubles showing this outrage to his former teacher.

"You shouldn't have left," he said, his voice tight, as he tried to hold back some of his anger. Torino didn't let this bother him. He continued to move toward the alley he had left her in last night. All he did was wave off the man's concern with a flick of his hand.

"All the girl was doing was training. There was no need for me to worry over her. You shouldn't either." With those words he took a right and entered into the mouth of the alley she had been in last night. Ahead of them was a steel fence in the middle of the alley that was dividing the two halves of the alleyway. On either side of them, closing them in were two brick buildings, and bags of trash littering the open space between them. Over by the fence, lying between two garbage piles, was the girl in question. She was completely passed out from exhaustion.

Toshi let out a puff of air from his lips in relief as he saw her peaceful looking face. She was unscathed from what he could tell and seemingly unbothered during her time there. A small smile lit up his face at the sight of her but his feelings of happiness were interrupted as his companion whacked the side of his leg with his cane.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "Wake her up. We've got stuff to do. The days wasting." Toshi moved forward slowly, a habit to not wake the girl and one he knew wasn't helping the need to actually wake her up. Toshi leaned forward and lightly shook her shoulder. A light groan escaped her lips as she shoved at his hand and tried to roll over. With a sigh he shook her again but this time more forcefully.

"Izu-chan," he said loud enough for only the girl to hear. "You need to wake up." Izuka grumbled at the interruption of her sleep as she went to smack whoever was nudging her, not happy with the abrupt halt to her dreams. Green eyes blinked up at the blonde man as she tried to focus and clear away the haziness from her brain. It was obvious to her that she only managed to snag a few measly hours of sleep. It completely went against the schedule that Toshi had given her almost a year ago, but she didn't regret her progress last night.

Focusing on the face in front of her, she finally registered who it was she was looking at. "Toshi what are you doing here so soon?" she asked in confusion. He wasn't supposed to be here for another day.

"Finished my business earlier than expected so I grabbed a train down here early this morning," he said as he held out a hand for her to take. Reaching up, she took the offered hand and he gently pulled her up to a standing position.

"Come on you two, we've got training to do," Torino said as he turned to hobble back the way they came. Without another word, Izuka and Toshi followed after him, the former having completely forgotten about the text she needed to reply back to. Shortly later, they all crammed back into the now slightly crowded living room. Izuka yawned and blinked back the sleepiness that was trying to weigh down her eyes. Perhaps it hadn't be quite so wise to stay up all night even if she had reached her goal.

"I saw what you were trying to do last night," Torino said as he turned to look at her. Calculation sparked in his eyes as he took in her tired form. "I want you to show me what you learned." Remembering what had happened yesterday, she wondered if she had gained anything over her past self. She had knowledge on his fighting pattern and now she was able to hold her power for just a little bit longer. But logically it really wasn't much of a difference. If she had to guess, this fight would end like the last one did, with her on the ground, but she would give it a try. "I give you three minutes. Show me what you got."

The words barely left his lips before he was darting around, her eyes completely blind to him. The first hit came from the front, and her head smacked back at the force of his punch. Glowing arms swung forward to hit him back but he was already gone. He wasn't using the same pattern as yesterday but she knew that was a long shot anyhow. Izuka went back to relying on her hearing to figure out where exactly his position was at least for a split second. All around her she could hear the repetitive click of a foot on the tile or the walls. Then it would be gone in the, and the next instant it was sounding from the opposite side of the room.

Her foot swung around in a wide arc as the sound of him landing came off to her left close by. She could barely feel the scrape of fabric against his cape. She had missed him. Swinging around she easily fell back into a defensive pose as she tried to once again pinpoint his location. A second later, she was kicked from behind. Her body stumbled forward and landed against the ground. Her arms were thrown out to catch herself as she gasped and grumbled under her breath.

Then came the distinct noise of a foot near her. Eyes wide, she rolled out of the way just as his leg made impact with where she once was. Full of determination, Izuka rolled over and powered up One For All inside of herself as she tumbled faster than ever before. Her arm reached out to grab at his cape, the one thing she knew would be accessible for the longest time as he made his getaway. Her fingers brushed against the silk, and her hand closed around it. She tugged harshly back. His eyes widened as he stumbled to a stop and was no longer moving forward. With a grunt he stepped forward trying to yank the material from her grip but she held on tight refusing to let go.

Her arm yanked back dragging him with it as she made a show to go for his side wanting to land just one hit. That's all she needed. Another desperate attempt to dart forward had Izuka being drug along behind him, the speed of his quirk almost causing her to lose her grip. Feeling disoriented by how fast she had just moved, her only thought was to not let go as her head spun around violently.

She went to pull back on him once more wanting to close the space between them but he darted forward again. This time she wasn't able to hold on. His cape fell from her fingers as she was thrown to her knees at the force of being left behind. She let out an irritated huff. Izuka stood absolutely still, listening to every noise he made as she tried to visually draw the path that he was using. Narrowly dodging a punch toward her stomach, she skipped off to the side and rounded with a side sweeping kick. Neither of them landed a hit.

Starting to feel irritated and knowing she was quickly running out of time, Izuka searched for any opportunity. He was just a blur, but she tried to keep up with him with her eyes. Then she saw her chance. It was the last one she had. Time was almost out. He was off to her right but if he kept to the pattern he had been showing she knew he would appear right beside her but would dart quickly away without touching her. That would be her chance.

He pushed off from the wall and Izuka took in a deep breath.. As soon as the breath had left her lungs, she swung her arm out directly in his path.

Torino's eyes widened at the technique she had used. His feet went to desperately stop his flash through the air, but it was too late. She had timed it right at the point of no return. Her arm clotheslined him knocking the breath completely out of him. As he gasped for air, she smirked from above him with an excited look gleaming in her eyes.

"I did it!" she yelled out as she jumped up and down.

"Time!" Toshi announced loudly.

As he laid there forcing air into his lungs and back ou,t he couldn't help but look up at her with acceptance in his eyes.

You picked a good one, Toshinori.

"I think it's time for breakfast," Gran Torino announced as he picked himself up off the tiled floor. "Good job, girly. Didn't overthink things too much." Izuka basked in the small praise he had given her as she followed the two men into the kitchen to eat some kind of sweet pastry that Torino had downed after dinner.

子猫

Shigaraki glared at the man above him as two swords on either side of him pinned him to the ground. His right hand was sliced, and the mere thought caused anger to bubble up viciously inside of him. The stinging pain only made his annoyance for the Hero Killer stronger. His hot breath washed over his face as he glared down at the light blue haired man, determination and a tint of insanity in his eyes.

"To truly accomplish something, one needs conviction and will," Stain said as he darkly stared down at the man. He couldn't completely see his face due to the hand covering most of it. "Those without it, the weak ones, they'll be weeded out. It's only natural. That's why your about to die." He dug his boot a little deeper into the man's arm to drive his point home.

Wincing, Shigaraki tried shuffling around to dislodge the sharp weapons that were dangerously close to cutting up the hand on his face. The mere thought of it caused another rush of anger, annoyance, and worry to flood his body. None of which were welcome. He began to flinch and laugh, the sound twisted with the pain he felt.

"Ow, so strong," he hissed out as his chest rose with another round of forceful laughter. There was no real humor residing inside of himself in that moment, nothing but killer intent. "Kurogiri, send him way, now!"

Off the the side behind the bar he knew was where his right hand man resided but unmoving. "I cannot move," he said with some frustration. "It's probably his quirk. I'm of no help." He could feel the sting in his arm where the sword had sliced him only a few moments before. He wished to clutch at it to ease some of the pain but his body refused to bend to his will.

"The word 'hero' has lost its original meaning in this corrupt society," Stain said as his thought process moved to a rainy night. Blinking, he drove the painful memory away. It wasn't the time to think about such distracting things. "Full of fakers and scams. The criminals throwing their weight around too. You're all targets of my purge. To rid the world of your corrupting ways." Stain tilted the sword slightly closer to graze against the hand-like mask, just barely touching the odd skin-like material. At least, he assumed it wasn't real.

Shigaraki freaked as the steel moved against skin, the bucking to force Stain up and away becoming more desperate. "Whoa, hold on a fucking second. Don't touch that hand, not that one." His hand swiped out to grip the steel harshly, causing the cut on his hand to deepen but he didn't care. All five fingers connected causing the sword to begin to break away and crumble. "I'll kill you." The words were full of killer intent. It dripped in it, all because of the pure rage that filled him from thought of the hand having been touched. His ruby eyes swam with fury as they bore into Stain's above him.

"You sure talk about conviction a lot," Shigaraki said, feeling tired of listening. "Nah, I've got nothing as grand as that. But if I have to say what drives me I'd pick All Might. That piece of garbage and the society that worships him. I want to crush them all into dust. That's my conviction." The dust of the sword fell softly around them as Stain shuttered with the feeling that radiated off the man as he spoke. It was rage and a hint of controlled derange. The mixture was toxic, filling him with unease.

Shigaraki's body tensed as he bucked up throwing Stain up and off him as his arm went to swipe out ready to cause him to fade away. Stain, noticing the intent, jumped back and dodged his near limb loss. As soon as his hand didn't make contact, Shigaraki began to dig his nails into the skin at his neck. The feeling washing over him powerfully before he could stop the action. He was getting all worked up over this guy. Huffing, he began to fix his clothes before resuming the scratching.

"I'm still healing from my last wounds, we've got to healer you see, so why don't you take some responsibility for your actions. I've been driven back from my progress."

"You first," Stain said his tongue swiping quickly across his lips. Shigaraki stared at him in annoyed confusion. "Our goals couldn't be farther apart, but destroying the status quo, that's something we hold in common." Shigaraki sighed as he untensed and rolled his eyes.

"Get lost, or die, or something," he said with less conviction then before. He was growing tired of this conversation. "Since I'm the type you hate the most, or whatever."

"I was just testing you," Stain said with a smirk. "People show their true colors in the face of impending death. You're odd, but your will.. I can see the seed of some warped conviction within you. I wonder what that seed will yield. I'll deal with you properly at a later date, it might not be too late."

"You don't make sense. 'Deal with me.' I don't think I want you a part of our group. You're crazy." Kurogiri sighed as something within himself released and he was able to move freely. His arm moved to cup at the wound tightly trying to brush away some of the pain.

"Tomura Shigaraki, he'll add in some power that we are in need of. We were successful," Kurogiri said in acceptance. Stain look pleased as he turned his attention back to the blue haired man.

"We are finished here, send me back to Hosu so I can finish my business," he commanded. With a roll of his eyes, Shigaraki flicked his hand in a go away motion. He would allow the man his plan. He had one of his own that needed to be seen too. Midoriya Izuka couldn't keep slipping through his fingers. He hoped to see her once more in Hosu.

Guest: I didn't have them just knock down the pole because they wanted to show of their quirks and prove to any pro heroes that they had what it took the be heroes themselves.

This chapter does not have a bonus. There will be one next chapter!