Death

by tmb1112

Death is a Quirk that can only kill. A perfect Quirk for a villain, but what if the boy who manifested that power just wanted to be a hero? Enrolling in U.A. might not be enough when all your Quirk can do is kill people. Follow Zach Sazaki from his first day in Class A on a story that spans years, as he learns to be a hero, finds out more about his Quirk, and too much to summarize!

14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia. Enjoy the longest chapter so far!

Chapter 14:

"5:30, is just, way too, early- awwww," Kaminari stretched an arm up while grabbing it by the elbow and then he slouched again.

Zach rubbed his eyes and then smacked his cheeks a couple of times to wake himself up. He saw Aizawa walking over in front of their class and he started stretching, just in case they were about to be thrown into another trap of an exercise right at the start of the day. Stretching his sore legs out hurt, after the eight hour trek through the "Forest of Beasts" the day before. He had considered using his Quirk against the monsters, but he was afraid just touching them would actually work against Pixie Bob who had created and controlled them and not on the monsters themselves, so he refrained. Instead all he could do was act as a distraction for others who had more powerful Quirks that could destroy them.

The night before had been pretty uneventful too, though he had had a talk with Midoriya later in the night after they had bathed in the hot springs. A kid named Kota was at the summer training camp with all of them and the instructors, and he had fallen off the dividing wall between the girls and guys' baths and fainted after stopping Mineta from peeping on the girls, when he got a look at them himself. Midoriya had caught him and got him back to the instructors, but Zach had felt like something was bothering Midoriya since then. Zach had shifted the conversation towards that kid when Midoriya tried talking to him about All Might, but he started to wonder during it if that was the right move.

On the morning of the second day, Zach glanced over towards Midoriya who was getting ready for Aizawa to say something unreasonable like the rest of them. Sorry Midoriya, but I don't feel the same way you do. That kid, I don't like it. You say you feel bad, like he is right to see heroes this way because of how his parents died? His parents died in action as heroes, something as heroic as that, and even their own son doesn't think they're heroes?! I just, I don't get it. He's not, that young. Zach frowned and looked back at the building behind him where he wondered if that kid was still asleep.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Today we will begin training camp to increase your strength in earnest." Aizawa began and everyone straightened up, losing their tired looks as they prepared themselves. "The goal of this training camp is to increase everyone's strength, and with that, for everyone to obtain provisional licenses. It is to prepare you all to face hostilities that are becoming more real by the minute."

Like Shigaraki at the mall, Zach thought. Would Midoriya have gotten in trouble, like with the Stain incident, if he had done something to stop Shigaraki then? He doesn't have a license, but the guy attacked him in broad daylight! If people really get arrested for things like that, if they get arrested even- something's wrong with the system, not with them. Zach shook his head and refocused as Aizawa told Bakugo to throw a ball as he had in the first test they took after getting to U.A.

Everyone was surprised to see Bakugo's throw distance had barely improved at all in the past three months. Aizawa started talking about how they had all improved, but in their mental and technical levels as well as in stamina. Now they were going to be training the strength of their Quirks. Alright then, Zach thought as Aizawa was getting motivational, telling them it was going to be so hard they'd feel like dying. Soo, what am I going to do? He thought.

---

By mid-morning of the second day of the Training Camp, Zach was already feeling the exhaustion. He did not think they would be able to work him as hard as all the others because of his lack of a usable Quirk, but his was as intense as anyone's. He could hear Koji Koda shouting into the sky from the cliff face up above him, working on his Anivoice's range and his shy nature. No one else was around Zach though, as he worked his body to the limit.

The pro hero Ragdoll's Quirk- Search, gave her the ability to watch over the entire camp at the same time, so even though no one was around him, he could not slack off for a moment. If he did… Tiger's face appeared in his mind as he slowed down, the muscular guy who wore a cat uniform like the rest of the Wild Wild Pussycats. His personality and scary appearance did not match the rest of the group, and it scared Zach thinking about the man who had taken time off from Midoriya and the Class B muscle augmentation types to yell some new training requirements at him.

Zach's left fist was already bloody, his legs were exhausted from all the running, and he did not know how much more strength and stamina training he could do before running out of gas completely. Around midday though, the homeroom teacher of Class-B, Vlad, brought a student of his over to where Zach was training on his own. They wanted them both to get more practical fighting training in, and figured it was better against someone they had not faced before too. Zach and the boy brought to him were both surprised though when they saw who it was they were going to be training with. "Kuroiro?" Zach asked as Vlad walked over with the pitch black boy behind him.

"You two continue the training we gave you together, but include sparring with each other into it," Vlad said. The muscular teacher in a red costume turned and left the boys in their blue gym clothes covered in dirt, Zach wearing a new set after "losing" his old one after the Sports Festival. Vlad headed back to do the rounds walking around his students and making sure they were all treating the camp as seriously as possible.

"Sparring? You can't train your Quirk?" Zach questioned the boy in front of him who frowned and looked away in annoyance. Zach held up his hands apologetically, "Sorry, it's not like I can either. That's why I'm, over here," he added in a voice that got quieter towards the end.

Kuroiro looked back and he said, "It's not that." The boy from Class B's face was pitch black except for his eyes and his mouth, even his lips just blended in with the rest of it, though Zach did not know if he even had lips. The boy's hands were black as well, so dark that Zach figured he would disappear completely if the lights went out. In contrast his hair was white and wavy, but it did not make him look any less dark, especially considering that when he closed his mouth and blinked, his entire face disappeared into complete darkness.

Zach opened his eyes wide as Kuroiro blinked after starting to speak, then he cut it out quick while the other boy continued, "In the Sports Festival, I lost to your classmate, Kirishima. Even though I consider myself good at close combat fighting, my Quirk doesn't help me out much with that. Black doesn't help much in fighting at all," he said, looking down at his dark hands in annoyance at the thought of his first match loss back in the tournament.

"Mine neither," Zach said, making Kuroiro look up from his hands to his new training partner. "Alright," Zach began, lifting his tone and turning to face Kuroiro completely. "Let's go a couple rounds, then do the training routines Tiger gave us again, yeah?" Zach suggested, lifting up his fists into a fighting stance.

Kuroiro nodded at him, but he kept frowning as he lifted his hands. His teeth showed while he frowned and Zach had to admit it was a little intimidating. He focused though and curled his fingers up, sliding his feet apart on the dirt beneath him. Kuroiro remembered the reason Zach chose to be on top of their horse in the cavalry battle, and he thought about the first fight Zach had in the tournament too. He was going to take it seriously, even against someone who could not use their Quirk for some reason.

The two of them fought each other for a while, light sparring while also keeping it intense. Neither wanted to hurt the other only to be forced by the teachers to keep training the entire day, so they wound up apologizing each time the other person had a hard time getting back to their feet. Zach was surprised by Kuroiro's skill, though not so much by his power. Zach already knew Kuroiro was strong, as he recalled how he and Kaminari had been able to carry him for that whole cavalry battle on their own, and he did not think Kaminari was one of the stronger boys in their class. Still, when the first hit knocked him down, Zach coughed a few times while rubbing his chest where he was hit, surprised by the force of it.

The idea that it was someone who did not even have a power-enhancing Quirk that hurt him that much, made Zach even more intense in the training. He imagined villains whose powers would make them physically stronger than him and how he would have to get in fights with them in the future. Then again, Zach thought while leaning his body fast to the side after a second feint, making Kuroiro's fist fly over his left shoulder inches from his face, and for Kuroiro's eyes to open wide since he thought he saw through the feint only for it to have been just the first one. Zach reached his arms forward while Kuroiro's fist passed his head, wrapping under his extended arm and behind his back, and he tackled Kuroiro to the floor in a tight hold. The Hero Killer's Quirk, Bloodcurdle, it had nothing to do with strength.

Zach released his partner and got back up, holding a hand down for the other teen to take. He lifted Kuroiro up and they stepped back, then nodded at each other to show the next round was on. They started circling each other, and Zach's thoughts were split between the fight and the Hero Killer. He fought Iida, Todoroki, and Midoriya, three of the four who Pixie Bob said were the clear best of our class. That made me a little annoyed at first, but those three have really amazing Quirks on top of their convictions and all. Despite it all though, they told me the Hero Killer wasn't even taking them that seriously, and that he was dodging all their attacks or brushing them off. How he managed to get to Midoriya ahead of all those heroes, kill that Nomu… all with a rib about to puncture his lung!

Zach had to refocus fast as Kuroiro shot towards him, making a quick distraction with his Quirk where his entire body including his clothes turned dark for a second. Seeing him go dark actually alerted Zach though instead of distracting him, since he was already distracted in the first place. He dodged the grapple, ducking under and popping his arms up to open Kuroiro's body for an attack. He slammed his left fist out but opened it into a palm at the last second, hitting his fellow student in the stomach with an open palm instead. Kuroiro still gasped out some spit and staggered backwards, but he did not fall and he only got the wind knocked out of him.

Kuroiro stopped after staggering back, and he looked at Zach's right hand that Zach lowered back to his side. The boy who just knocked his classmate back froze as his thoughts almost immediately went back to Stain. He lifted up his right hand and it started shaking as he stared at the glove, imagining how he popped both of his hands up into the bottoms of Kuroiro's arms in order to get that clear shot on his body. Kuroiro had been so surprised by it that he did not even think of a way to dodge Zach's next hit, even if he had been able to. "Sorry," Zach apologized, looking back up with afraid eyes into the student from Class B's. "Let's, do a run," he said, and Kuroiro nodded back at him, losing his surprised look and getting a more thoughtful one at how Zach reacted.

The two of them continued their training for hours. All their classmates were working out their Quirks, but unlike them, Kuroiro said his was not really one he could train. It was similar to the girl in Class A, he told Zach during one of their runs through the forest, Hagakure Toru. He said that unlike her Invisibility though, which would work at any time of the day for stealth, he could only get away with using his Quirk like that at night. Vlad had considered sending him into the dark cave to work on stealth against Tokoyami who was practicing control, but Aizawa told them that it was a really, really bad idea to try that. Zach thought of how Tokoyami looked when Aizawa told him what his training was going to be earlier that morning, and he nodded as he remembered the sounds that came from the cave after Tokoyami went in.

They started doing weight training together using weights Pixie Bob created with her Quirk, Earthflow. They had popped up near them right as they finished their run, and they figured Ragdoll who was watching all of them was telling them through Pixie Bob what to do next. They sparred again after it, but they were tired and they both knew it. They figured maybe it was worth it to see how they could fight in situations when they were already exhausted, but both of them were too tired to really pick anything up from it. When they all finally headed back to the base camp at the bottom of the mountain, both of the hero course classes were dragging their feet, slouched over and groaning in pain and exhaustion.

Unfortunately, the teachers and supervisors were not going to help them with anything. They had to make their own dinners, (which Iida got really into), and though they were tired both classes worked hard together in order to make the meals. While they were cooking, Zach stopped cooking curry with Uraraka and Todoroki for a second as he saw someone walk by right behind him. He only spotted the person's hair, but he turned his head and watched as the blond boy walked off. Weird, I haven't seen him that much at all. I thought he was all 'Class B is better,' and would be yelling that the whole time. What's, Zach watched as the boy walked over to some classmates and started talking, and Zach saw them turn and look at him, answering him, but none of them smiled and they all just got back to working on dinner pretty quick.

Serves him… Zach frowned as the boy turned away and started walking to a different area with some of his other classmates. He's such an asshole, Zach thought, turning back to his curry with an angry look on his face. He glanced next to him as he spotted someone staring, and he looked at Uraraka bent down right next to him, giving him a curious look at his expression. Zach glanced the other way and saw Todoroki looking back at him after looking the way he had. What's that look? Is he expecting something from me? No, that's not it at all… so am I expecting something from me? I don't want to- to that guy- Zach furrowed his brow and just got back to cooking. Stupid Monoma, I really hate that guy, so why does seeing people giving him those looks… looks, like people are judging him…

Zach rubbed the side of his head and he let out a small sigh. But I'm not that nice a guy, he thought, refocusing on curry and pushing the other boy out of his mind. They all finished up the curry, and it was one of the best meals of Zach's life. Admittedly, it was not that good. None of them were master chefs after all. But considering their exhaustion, and the fact that it was a meal they all worked hard to make, it tasted amazing to them.

They went to bed early, at least most of them did. Zach had to stay up late with the others who failed in the extra lessons, then they finally were let out at 2 a.m., only to have to wake up as early as they did on the second day. Once again, they began their strength training. Aizawa came over to Zach and Kuroiro as they were starting this time though, and he gave them a short lecture on weapons. He talked about the hard cloths he used to capture villains, and how his Quirk like their own cannot on its own capture villains. Zach admitted that he had tried using knives before, thinking that maybe training with them would be smart. Then he slid the left sleeve of his gym clothes up and showed off a nasty scar on his upper arm he got when he was eleven years old, and he said he had not tried teaching himself how to use weapons since. Kuroiro just said that he had not thought about it.

Aizawa then gave them some more specific directives than he had the day before, sending them through the forest to a huge hill that Pixie Bob created early on. There was a single earth beast up there that they needed to defeat and then make it back before nightfall. Both of them were hesitant and anxious about it, considering both had relied on their classmates in taking down Pixie Bob's monsters two days earlier. They left on their journey though, and the hill was far enough away that they had to run from the start if they planned to make it back in time for the "Test of Courage" that everyone was looking forward to that would occur that night. Zach made a quip about how Class A was going to win it at the start of their run towards the hill, but his lively spirit after hearing about the fun events of later that night was quickly replaced by exhaustion setting back in from the day before.

He and Kuroiro stopped caring about the future battle between their classes, as they needed to work together in order to reach the hill, fight the monster, and even make it back for that fun event. It took them a couple of hours, but they reached the bottom of the hill and stopped to take a break. The monster they knew to be somewhere on it was not something either of them thought they could handle while wheezing, and they stopped to get their breath and prepare for a fight against something neither were confident they could defeat. "Maybe, it'll be, a smaller one," Zach offered as a consolation.

"Has, Aizawa, ever given you, a break?" Kuroiro wondered darkly, thinking about their own homeroom teacher's rough tactics. He looked at Zach, then frowned deeper as Zach grimaced and looked away. Kuroiro sighed as he heard his partner's stomach growl, and he reached down into his pocket. "Hey," he said, and Zach turned his head back while leaning against a tree. Zach's eyes opened wide and he reached a hand up, catching an energy bar the darker teen tossed him.

Kuroiro unwrapped his own, while saying, "Ragdoll shouldn't be able to see us all the way out here. Though one of the teachers might be following us," he added, then looked around.

So if they do see us and get annoyed by this, they'll call us out and we don't have to worry as much about the monster knowing we have a pro watching our backs, Zach thought, opening up his own power bar. He took a sniff of it and let out a famished breath. "Did you," he took a bite then spoke while chewing, "bring these, in your bag?"

Kuroiro frowned his way and Zach chewed quicker before swallowing as it looked like the other boy was annoyed at his manners. Kuroiro replied after Zach swallowed, finishing his own bite before speaking, "Yeah. You didn't see them giving them out back at the camp," he added, as it was a stupid question. Zach nodded his head, thinking about how it would have been smart to bring snacks along with him. Kuroiro continued, "I thought they might starve us or something out here, to simulate some disaster, or something."

Vlad sensei sounds as serious as Aizawa sensei, Zach thought with a sweatdrop. The two of them finished off their energy bars and they refaced the hill without breathing as deeply anymore. "I'd say it's almost noon," Zach said. "Maybe only eleven," he added, as they had woken up early for the day's training.

"Let's do this," Kuroiro said, not sounding very intent on going in, especially since no teachers called them out on breaking and eating which meant they might be on their own out here.

The two started walking up the hill. They had strategized a bit on their way to it, but both were feeling nervous about their chances. Still can't risk touching it with my right hand, Zach thought. I know as much about my ability- no, more, than anyone else. I know everything about it, well- as much as I've figured out. Still, that means if I don't know if it will kill her, no one else does either. The fact that no one's told me anything about it, just means the teachers trust in my judgement here. I won't take the risk just for a training exercise.

"Does it feel like the tree cover is getting thicker?" Zach asked as they rose farther up the hill. Kuroiro looked around and they both noticed the trees around them looking thicker than usual, and there were strange-looking trees mixed in as well now that they checked. Shihai Kuroiro nodded, and Zach narrowed his eyes at a tree that curved towards the top to try and make it seem like the brown branches and leaves around it could have been coming out of its trunk, but they were coming out of others around it. "She's giving you opportunity to use your Quirk," Zach mentioned as he thought of the reason for it. "Which I can only assume, means that the monster is going to be as hard as the others."

Kuroiro darted his gaze to his partner, as he had hoped the help meant that they were taking it easy on them. "Then I'll be the bait," Kuroiro said, and they both nodded. They were only going to try fighting if they came up against a monster smaller than the ones they had already seen.

The two of them walked farther up the hill, and Zach pointed when he saw what looked like the summit. "There's a mound. Aizawa said it would be near the middle, so if we get up on that we can look around and…" Zach noticed some small rocks rolling off the mound at the middle of the hill that they were approaching. The highest point. It's really, at the exact center, Zach swung his right arm out, stopping Kuroiro on his side as the dark boy was about to take another step. Kuroiro's thin eyes narrowed in even more and focused on the mound up ahead, the mound which started shifting as soon as the boys stopped.

A large brownish, dirt-colored hand lifted out of the ground. It had four claws at the end of its large arm, and the two boys took steps back at the sight of it. "As large?" Kuroiro muttered.

"Because there's only one," Zach began, while another huge arm shot out of the ground and hit the floor in front of the mound. The arm slid back, its dirt claws dragging through the dirt and leaving scars in the hill where it tore up the ground. Zach gulped and continued, "She must, be able to make it bigger." The head of the beast shot out of the ground and both of them stumbled backwards at the sight of its menacing face, sharp teeth, and eyes that darted towards them. "ROOOAAARRRR!" Both of them dropped their jaws and stared in terror at the monster in front of them as it rose out of the ground on its back legs, standing tall in front of them right in the center of the hill.

Koji Koda was standing on a cliff overlooking the forest, and his voice cut off while he was in his second day of shouting loudly into the sky. He froze and his eyes opened wide, while Aizawa who had come to check on him turned back as he had just started walking away. The teacher grinned while looking out there, while Koda's face covered in sweat at the sound of that roar. "Looks like they found the beast," Aizawa said with a small laugh. His eyes narrowed in and his mouth lowered back down into a flat lip. Zach needs to see more of the things he can't do. His attitude is too similar to Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugo's. He needs to change the focus of what kind of hero he wants to become, but just telling him that wouldn't be enough. How many times has he probably thought it himself, only to still be here right now?

Aizawa turned and started walking away, frowning more as he thought on the boy far behind him. All Might tells me he lives alone. When no one tells you what to do, all your decisions are made by yourself. So there's not much I can tell him, but we can at least show him… there are things he can't do.

Zach and Kuroiro stepped back again as the beast that just rose in front of them. "What are we supposed-" Kuroiro began.

Zach's feet planted down hard at his sides and his fists clenched in front of him. He brought his elbows in at his sides, and he snapped his head back, "RAAAAA!" Kuroiro spun to the boy next to him like he was crazy, while Pixie Bob stopped snickering from the tree branch she was watching from to instead drop her jaw as the boy started sprinting forward. "Same plan for the big beasts!" Zach yelled as he ran forward. "If it's this big," he continued, while sprinting straight towards the monster. Please be right about this.

The beast lifted up its right claw, and Zach sprinted to the left. The beast followed him with its eyes, and it brought down its right claw hard after him. It crossed over, Kuroiro thought, staring at the beast that was now standing with its front legs crossing each other. It turned and moved its left a second later to reached after Zach who dove to the side at the last second to avoid being pinned down. Kuroiro sprinted towards the beast, yelling out just like Zach had. Screw it. We have to do it, he thought, pushing the fear from his mind as he charged at the beast that turned its head to him. As soon as the beast looked back, Kuroiro spun and he started sprinting back into the woods.

Zach had gotten up and ran into the forest as well, only a hundred feet away from the part that his partner had ran into. Pixie Bob started grinning ear to ear as the two kids split off and ran past her on her sides. She looked back and forth from her tree branch, then she smirked and turned back Zach's direction. The beast that had turned towards Kuroiro turned and it started charging after the boy with spiky black hair. Zach looked back with wide eyes, then he yelled out, "That should be cheating!" The woman smirking from her tree branch opened her eyes wide behind her visor, and she leapt to another tree branch where she knew she would be out of sight. Did he see me? Or he just knows I refocused it based on their moves? Either way, he shouldn't have any idea that I'm close enough to hear him. I could have done this from a distance. She started grinning again as she thought he was probably just shouting that in frustration.

Pixie Bob's messing with us hard. Are we really supposed to win this fight? It seems like this is intentionally harder than ever. Even the semi-darkness of being under this thick canopy, it doesn't mean a thing if Kuroiro's camouflage doesn't work against the beast. And if Pixie Bob is watching us, she'll be able to follow Kuroiro and keep the monster after him. But then why give us this extra darkness in the first place? Zach started serpentining around trees to make the beast have to slow down its charge at his back, as it was too bulky to make as quick darting movements. I can think of one reason… Zach thought, his eyes narrowing and his mouth dipping into a lower frown. Is this just some ploy, to make us realize our weaknesses and accept them? I could see that. It makes sense to give us the notion that victory is possible, so that we don't leave thinking there was nothing we could do. They want us thinking that if we were someone else, there would have been something. But so what?! That's not training!

Zach slammed his left fist out to the side as he ran past a mud mound attached to the side of a tree to make it thicker. He punched the hard wall hard and winced as he bruised his knuckles. "Damn it," he hissed. Forty one people, and we're the only ones getting this treatment. "Kuroiro!" He called out, turning to the side his comrade ran into the trees in. "Stop! The plan won't work!" Zach got right behind a tree and panted there for a second with his back against it, listening to the beast charging from behind him. He leaned to his right when it got close, then he did a spin-dodge back the other way and came out of the other side of the tree, right as the beast charged onto the other side of the tree and reached a claw around to grab him. He sprinted straight up and between the legs of the beast that had to turn its head while skidding to a stop.

"What do you mean?" Kuroiro called out, and Zach turned to see where the other student was.

We're not supposed to win. If I shout that though, it will just seem like I'm making excuses for when we lose. And if a teacher is watching, they might change it up to give us more of a chance so that they can still lecture us afterwards. I'm not having it! "I have a new plan, but I have to whisper it, Pixie Bob's watching!" It was too quick for Mandalay to have told it to her, Ragdoll told us the limit of her range and I doubt they would have taken her away from watching the rest of the class. Pixie Bob must really be around here, unless she can just see us fully through that visor and not just information about us. Whatever it is, if she can hear us right now, I need to make it so she can't.

Zach sprinted straight towards Kuroiro, ignoring the beast behind him that was charging their way and making the tops of the trees shake with every one it bumped into on the way towards them. Kuroiro leaned back from Zach after the other boy whispered fast to him, and then he nodded his head quickly as there was no time to think while Kuroiro could see the terrifying face of the beast behind Zach. "We can do this," Zach said, before nodding back at him and splitting off to the left, making Kuroiro run the other way.

They're tired down there, and they can't keep weaving my baby forever, Pixie Bob thought. She leaned off the branch though and licked her lips, staring at the boy with spiky black hair. You've got no moves strong enough to beat it, but Aizawa tells me you've got a sharp eye kid. I want to see what you try- huh? Zach stopped running, spinning back and facing the beast when he stood in a more open area than any in the forest around him.

Zach looked towards the monster that was getting better at getting around the trees. Its mobility was improving, as if Pixie Bob was more used to moving around the large earth monster. It ran at a tree and stepped both legs to the left, then its back legs, and it barely slowed down its run at all, barely bumping into the tree at all as it passed. But it did bump it, Zach thought, taking a step back and lowering his mouth into a deep snarl. His fists clenched at his sides and then he rose up his right fist and brought it in front of him. He opened his palm and pointed it at the creature in front of him, while Pixie Bob's eyes opened wide.

I'm supposed to stop him from taking his glove off, but that's all Aizawa said about it, Pixie Bob got a bead of sweat on the side of her face as Zach started yelling out again.

"HAAAAA- TAKE THISSSS- Do it Kuroiro!" He shouted, and he started sprinting to the side while the beast charged faster at him.

Kuroiro jumped out from behind a tree on the beast's right side, over at the edge of the clearing right where it started getting darker. Pixie Bob had lost sight of him behind some trees a few seconds ago, and her eyes opened wide as she spun towards the darkness he emerged from. But, his power is just- she stared at the kid and her eyes started growing much wider as he swung an arm forward, as if throwing something. There was nothing in his hand though. A bluff?! Pixie Bob's eyes darted back towards her beast and her bottom lip dropped.

She was too attentive of the trees all around to do what we planned at first, Zach thought as he looked towards the beast that tried slowing its momentum. It was too late though. But when I confirmed she was there, it was clear her "baby" wouldn't just mindlessly sprint into an obvious trap. So we couldn't just stand in front of trees and dive out of the way hoping it would crash into it. But! Each time one of us did something while the other had the beast's attention, it took a few seconds for the beast to change direction or continue chasing! She makes decisions fast, but she's still supposed to be watching both of us and checking our progress. If he jumps out of nowhere, then she had to turn away from me, even if I didn't make my standing there out to just be a distraction for him.

Kuroiro stared with wide eyes as the tree the beast slammed into shook so bad that leaves fell off and branches cracked. Then, a loud crack echoed through the woods. The beast that's head partially broke apart when it hit the tree started lifting back up on its fallen legs, making both boys open their eyes wide. It slowed at the last second- Zach thought in panic as his sure-win strategy was falling apart. Then another crack came out of the tree, one much louder than the last one that made the two boys worried they had done something wrong. The tree started falling, and the beast tried scrambling up faster, only to be pushed down, and then smashed into the ground by the tree it had just sprinted into at full force. The legs crumbled beneath it, and the tree broke the beast right down the middle of its back.

If I was too close to the tree it would have been too obvious, so I had to stop in the middle and then just step back as if nervous, Zach thought, while the smile on his face grew more and more. I didn't think she'd assume I was trying to make it charge the tree if I was that far away. I hoped she would be focused enough on my yelling and my mysterious hand, that Kuroiro's shout surprised her into turning away for a few seconds. I assumed everything, and it worked!

"I can't believe that worked," Kuroiro said, walking towards the middle of the clearing and looking over the top of the thick trunk at Zach.

"Better, than I thought it would," Zach added, snapping his gaze up to Kuroiro with a big grin on his face. "I never thought the tree would fall, I hoped the collision would be enough to break it apart, but it wasn't."

"You didn't pick that tree specifically?" Kuroiro wondered, sweatdropping since every other part of the plan seemed so well designed. Zach just shook his head and started laughing, and then the boy with the Quirk, Black, lifted up the corners of his mouth too.

Zach stopped laughing, because that smile actually looked scarier than when Kuroiro frowned usually. Kuroiro stopped smiling after a few seconds, and then Zach darted his eyes away. "I guess, we should start the trek back," Zach said, glancing around the trees as he said it. His eyes narrowed as he looked around them, not just like he was looking for Pixie Bob, but in a daring way.

It's like he's telling me to send another monster their way, because it will prove what I was trying to do, Pixie Bob thought, frowning while crossing her arms in front of her chest. I wasn't going after them with intent to stop them from the start, it had to be a learning experience after all. But still, I didn't want them to succeed. He- they, beat me.

"Let's go," Kuroiro agreed.

Zach got around the tree, and the two of them started walking down the hill. They were too exhausted after that fight to start running right away, so they walked for a while even after reaching the bottom of the hill. Their walk started off pretty quiet, even after the victory they just had.

It was an hour into the walk back, with the suns high above their heads and beating hotly down on them, when Zach started talking. "You're Quirk," he began in a hesitant way, and Kuroiro glanced to the side at him without turning while they continued on. "It's called Black, right? So at night you'd blend in well." Kuroiro nodded, not really getting what this conversation was leading to or the point of it. He continued walking while frowning with his teeth showing, which to Zach was a less threatening look than when he was smiling or had his mouth closed. "Do you, ever get treated weird because of it?" Zach asked.

Kuroiro turned his head and his narrow eyes widened a bit. He was surprised, as that was a personal question to ask someone. Kuroiro kept frowning for a few seconds, then he looked back forward and mentioned, "It happens." Zach glanced at him in surprise now, but not that much of it. Kuroiro continued while Zach looked at the side of his pitch black face. "It's not so bad, because so many people have Quirks that make them look not-human, or at least what normal humans used to be considered."

Zach nodded his head, and he added on himself, "In my earlier schools, the teachers talked about how discrimination was bad when Quirks were first getting started. 'Monster,' was thrown around a lot. But now, it's more like those without Quirks are the ones discriminated against. The 'Quirkless.'" Kuroiro nodded, but he frowned deeper when Zach finished.

"It may not be institutional anymore," Kuroiro started. He stopped himself, but Zach turned towards him waiting for him to continue while they walked. "But, it's not possible for it to go away completely. When I was younger I didn't notice as much, but around middle school I started to realize, whenever I was out at night people would ease away from me. I'd come around a corner, and I'd always unintentionally scare people. I tried smiling to make it not as bad-"

"But that didn't work?" Zach asked while cracking a small smile. Kuroiro frowned towards him, and Zach just added, "I've seen you smile." He kept grinning, and after a few seconds Kuroiro just sighed instead of getting annoyed by it, turning away from the other boy.

"Class B has a few others like that in it though, more than A from what I've seen," Kuroiro mentioned. "So everyone in my class was quick to get used to it. Your class too, surprisingly," he muttered that quieter as if he was expecting it to be different.

"Yeah, they're pretty great like that," Zach said, though he sounded hesitant as it came out.

"Why did you bring it up?" Kuroiro questioned. He froze after asking, and then his look got darker. "Oh, sorry," he muttered. At first he asked because Zach looked normal to him, but then he realized why people might give him nervous or even afraid looks, and he felt like it was not a cool thing to bring up. "Monoma's a di- he went too far that day," Kuroiro muttered, cutting off his curse in case a teacher really was following them around.

"Isn't he your friend?" Zach asked.

"'Was,'" Kuroiro muttered.

Oh man, Zach thought, reaching up and rubbing the side of his head. He stopped while in the middle of doing it, and his eyes opened wide while looking back at his right hand he scratched his head with. He froze and brought his hand back down, and he whispered after a second with a nervous look on his face, "But, that's not actually why I brought it up," he said. He figured Kuroiro thought he was asking because of the way people had been looking at him ever since the Sports Festival, but he had seen those looks from long before then. He lifted his right hand in front of him and Kuroiro looked at the tight black glove on it closely, wondering what was beneath it that could kill a villain, that was so dangerous they could not risk Monoma copying it.

"Your hand?" Kuroiro questioned.

Zach hesitated for a second, closing his eyes and imagining something in his head. He shivered and then nodded while opening his eyes, responding, "Yeah." He balled his right hand into a fist and then brought it back down to his side as they continued to walk. "I told people I was Quirkless until High School, because of the looks I get from people who know what it is."

"And what-" Kuroiro started, before cutting himself off. He just said it was a personal matter, and Zach nodded thanks at him for not asking.

Zach paused after Kuroiro stopped himself, and he looked down at the floor at how cool the other boy was about that. He lifted his head and looked around in the trees above him while coming to a stop. Kuroiro stopped next to him, then Zach called out, "Hey Pixie Bob, if you're there could you tell us?" He waited for a few seconds. "I know a really young suitor who had a lot of money," Zach called out, cupping his left hand to his mouth. He waited a few seconds, then he nodded as it seemed they were good. "She probably went back to tell Aizawa sensei," he muttered, a small smirk coming to his face as he imagined their conversation of how he and Kuroiro managed to beat the beast.

"What are you doing?" Kuroiro asked.

"It's about my hand, but, it's also not," Zach said, turning back to the boy next to him and saying it in a hushed voice. "The reason I ask, that is," he specified, and Kuroiro nodded his head though he got a hesitant look on his face at the way this conversation was going. "Did you ever, have you ever," Zach's breathing got heavier, and he closed his eyes while thinking far back. His body shook, and then his eyes shot open and he shook his head. "Actually," he said, some sweat on the sides of his face. "Nevermind."

"Huh?" Kuroiro said in a deadpan voice. After that build up, he was expecting something big. Zach sweatdropped as he realized this was a really weird thing to do only to not actually follow up with anything. It's like I'm being intentionally mysterious. Probably looks like I'm a dick. "Actually, yeah," Kuroiro started, and Zach looked at him in a confused way. "If you're that nervous about it, then better not," he said, nodding his head like Zach's decision to hold back was a good one.

"Oh… yeah," Zach said, nodding back at him. "Thanks," he said, then turned back the way they were heading before. "Let's start running, yeah? Feel like I got my breath back right there," he mentioned. Kuroiro thought about how Zach had started panting worse than ever as he started bringing up… whatever it was he was about to bring up, but he did not say anything about it and just nodded. The two of them started running at the same pace back through the forest towards the training ground.

When they finally made it back to the camp, the first person they saw was Koji who stopped shouting when he looked down at them. His eyes opened wide and he lifted his head back from the cliff out into the distance where he had heard a roar and seen a tree fall earlier. He had a bird go check on them and return, so he knew they were okay, but he did not expect them to look that unharmed. Neither of the two nearing the cliff had any severe injuries, and they just looked exhausted after their run, coming to stops at the base of it and panting with their hands down on their knees. The sun was still pretty high in the sky, but it was later in the afternoon. Still, they arrived long before nightfall and the two of them turned and grinned at each other after the arrival. After the first day when they were told to make it to the camp in three hours, only for it to take over eight, to arrive long before the time allotted felt like they had done more than win, but win a total victory.

Aizawa came up to them after a minute of them breaking, and he told them 'good job,' and that was it. He then had them get back to some of their exercises from the day before, saying there was no slacking off during the training camp. Zach got annoyed by that, feeling like there should have been more of a talk about what they had done. It annoyed him a little, but when night came, he became a lot more upset as Aizawa announced to Class A right before the start of the Test of Courage that the extra lessons students needed to come with him.

He tried complaining, as did the others (especially Ashido who was shocked as Aizawa took them away from the fun event), but Aizawa wrapped them up in his special cloths and led them away against their wills. They were led back through the dark forest after gathering with everyone else, and Zach thought as they neared the camp building, They could have told us earlier. Instead they gave us the hope that we could do the Test of Courage. That's just, mean, he thought, frowning and glancing back over his shoulder as he imagined the rest of the class having fun tonight. Couldn't my fight against the beast have replaced by final exam? It wasn't as hard as facing Midnight though, I guess…

They got into the extra lessons' room and Zach once again avoided the gaze of the member of Class B who also failed the test. His classmates also avoided his gaze, which Zach noticed and frowned at as it happened for the second day in a row. I have good reason to be annoyed. I mean, as aspiring heroes they'd all be annoyed at what he did, but this is excessive. I don't think, he meant for things to go that far. Kaminari told me angrily about how he didn't get in trouble from the school, since it was just "a confirmed source" who gave the information to the media. Still, if he's in the hero course, then he's probably not, all that bad a person. Zach looked back across the class from where he took his seat and stared at the blond boy who went back to staring at his desk with an annoyed look on his face, yet Zach saw sadness behind the frustration.

Aizawa had told them on their way back to the building that they would be learning about the proper way to act during an emergency, and they all took their seats and prepared for the lecture. Aizawa walked to Vlad who was already in there with his fists on his sides as he watched Monoma work on the papers he had given him, and he started, "Vlad, I want to add some practice maneuvers this time."

"I was thinking about that too, you don't have to tell me-"

Vlad was cut off as every person in the room heard a voice in their heads. "Everyone!"

"It's Mandalay's Telepath," Kirishima said, lifting his gaze as it sounded like the voice came from above him.

Zach looked towards the windows, while he heard Ashido next to him say, "I like this, it makes me jump."

Kaminari added, "It only works in one direction though, so it's kind of annoying…"

"Quiet," Aizawa said, lifting a hand over his ear to drown out the students.

Why would Mandalay talk to us all like this? Zach wondered, putting his palms down on his desk with a nervous look growing on his face. Did someone get hurt?

"We're being attacked by two villains!" Mandalay called out into everyone's heads.

Zach's chair slid back and he shot to his feet with wide eyes. The other students in the room all had wide eyes but looked too shocked to register what was happening, looking around at each other as if wondering if this was part of the training camp. They had just been about to learn about emergency situations after all. They wouldn't joke about this! Zach thought though, spinning towards the windows and staring outside in fear.

"It's possible that there are more! Everyone who can move, get back to camp immediately! Even if you come across an enemy, retreat, and do not engage!"

Retreating is the safest option, I know that, Zach thought while tightening his fists on his desk and looking down at them. But what happens when they're attacked and can't run away?!

"Huh why are villains…"

"I don't get…"

"Isn't this place supposed to be a secret?" Sato asked, while everyone spoke over each other, including their homeroom teacher.

"Vlad, I'm leaving this place to you," Aizawa said, running out the door without hearing any argument. He said as he ran through though, "No one leave this room!" His eyes darted back in and Zach swore he saw them focus on him for a second.

"Everyone stay in your seats," Vlad commanded in a loud, harsh voice as he turned back to the students. "And keep quiet, we need to be listening for more of Mandalay's Telepath."

"Vlad-sensei, how did the villains find us?" Monoma asked, his face covered in sweat and fear.

Vlad looked down at the boy, then back around the room at the other students. Zach slowly lowered back down to his chair, but his fists were shaking on the desk in front of him. Kaminari, Sato, Sero, Ashido, and Monoma all looked afraid, while Kirishima's fists started clenching like Zach's and his face got a frustrated look to it. "We don't know, one of them might have a power that allowed them to," Vlad suggested.

Oh man, Zach thought, his fists unclenching as he saw that look on Vlad's face. He doesn't believe that, but that's one of the only options. The other possibility… that's why he looks so angry. A pro hero would be composed in this situation, in emergency situations, unless they think someone betrayed them?! Who knew where we were? All Might never came, because he's a target, but the other teachers… Did the school only send two, because they wanted to keep the rest of the staff in the dark? Was that the real reason? Then the amount of people who know, are the people here and a couple of others. Someone in this camp, someone in Class A or B even… Zach's eyes shifted over to Monoma, but the boy looked genuinely afraid and Zach frowned deeper, annoyed by his reaction.

"We have to help them!" Kirishima shot out of his seat and slammed a fist down on it, leaving a mark as he yelled.

"Sit back down," Vlad ordered firmly.

"Even if we don't go fight the villains," Kirishima said, holding his hands up in front of him. "We should at least go out front and make sure everyone knows-"

The group heard a blast outside and they all spun to the windows, only for every one of them to open their eyes wide at the explosion of blue flames racing past the windows. "They're already here?" Ashido asked, as she got out of her seat and stepped away from the windows with terror on her face.

"Not good," Kaminari said, getting out of his seat too and sparking lighting off his fingertips.

Vlad ran towards the windows and called out, "Everyone back!"

Zach took a step backwards as he thought about all those blue flames. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't get close enough to a villain like that…

"You guys!"

Zach spun around after hearing Kirishima's shout. The others all spun back too to the door, where Iida threw it open to reveal Iida, Mineta, Koda, and Ojiro all standing there.

"What about that fire?!" Zach shouted towards them, as he had not seen any more since the initial blast.

"Did you see Eraser Head on your way in?" Vlad questioned.

"He was fighting a villain," Iida reported. "He looked to have defeated him before he ran- Sensei!" Iida shouted.

Vlad had turned from the windows to look towards the students, but seeing the four students near the doorway go wide-eyed, he started turning his head back around. All the students facing towards Iida started turning as well, and with their heads half-turned towards the windows, every single window shattered in along with most of the wall. "Get down!" Vlad shouted, jumping towards a chunk of debris flying straight for his student.

Kirishima hardened his body and threw his arms out to the sides while getting in front of Ashido whose eyes went from squinted shut to wide at the sight of the back of his spiky-red-haired head. Kaminari yelled out and dove for cover, while Sato crossed his arms in front of him, and Iida pulled back the others in the doorway with him while spinning around. Iida felt a shard of glass hit him in the back of his right knee and he let out a yell of pain while falling. Ojiro called out for Iida, then he pushed past and got in the doorway as the room in front of them was full of dust from whatever just smashed down the wall. He was one of the only ones who got a good look at it, and it had him shaking where he stood even as he curled his tail and lifted his fists.

Zach lay on his back while staring up at the ceiling in a daze. He lowered his gaze down to his left arm and saw a gash in his sleeve near his bicep, and the sleeve was getting darker and wet. He did not feel much pain though, and he sat up while looking towards the wall, his adrenaline pumping so hard that he could not hear his classmates behind him or even his own loud breathing. He looked through the shattered mess of what was a wall covered in windows, towards the broken glass and turned over desks, and chunks of wall. In the right corner of his eye he saw Monoma run to his teacher's side and start yelling at him with tears in his eyes, while the pro hero coughed up blood and reached up a hand, grabbing a large piece of glass and sliding it out of his chest. He heard yelling of pain behind him that he thought might have been Sero, or Sato, but he did not turn around. He couldn't.

"Zach!" Ojiro shouted across the room. "Zach!"

"Let's… see…" a voice spoke slowly in the hole in the wall, as a silhouette moved through the smoke.

Vlad punched a fist down hard on the ground in front of him and tried getting up, but he coughed again and blood seeped between his teeth. Monoma put a hand on his teacher's shoulder and Vlad looked at him in surprise, then shouted at him as Monoma nervously stepped forward. "I've a-always wanted to try out your Quirk, sensei," Monoma said in as brave a voice he could muster, even as his legs trembled and the top half of his face turned blue at the sight of the figure walking through the wall.

Where'd Aizawa sensei have to run off to at a time like this? Zach thought while standing straight up, farther forward than anyone else in the class as he stared at the shadow that was becoming clearer as the dust shifted away. The figure behind it was almost as dark, his body dark purple to a shade that it was almost black. A smaller figure walked over the debris at the side of the monster next to him, spiky black hair and a creepy appearance that had the four still hesitating back near the door looking over in shock. Mineta and Koda had bent down to try and help Iida with his leg, but all three of them and Ojiro standing in front to protect them looked terrified as they saw the same villain Aizawa had supposedly defeated outside standing there next to the hulking beast.

"Hey Ganeshi, you went overboard," Dabi said, the thin villain smirking despite the words coming out of his mouth.

The giant next to him was three times his size, and he stepped into the room on all fours. His arms then lifted off the ground as he stood up, making him even taller while something waved in front of his torso. The students in the room stared at the giant figure with nervous or scared expressions, and the four in the back were staring at the thick trunk swinging like a pendulum in front of the villain's body. The one called Ganeshi said in a deep voice, "Sorry, Dabi. But let's… see…" he lifted his right hand that had thick, fatty fingers and he stared at something he was holding. "I don't, see Mido-riya. That's, a shame…"

I knew it, Zach thought as he stared at the slow speaking villain. They are trying to capture him for some reason-

"I wanted, to crush him," Ganeshi said, and all the students in the room opened their eyes wide with sweat all over their faces. "Shigaraki… would have, praised me…"

"You shouldn't look for praise from a guy like that," Dabi said, then he darted his eyes to the side and up with blue flames sparking from his hand at the dark look the hulking man gave him. "Not the time," Dabi warned, seeing a dangerous look in his comrade's eyes.

"…Yeah," Ganeshi said.

"Students," Vlad said, pushing his hand on the floor as hard as he could. The wound on his chest was not bleeding, despite how bad Zach thought it was. And Zach saw the blood between his teeth was gone too, making him wonder what the hero's Quirk was that he was managing to stand up after such a wound. "Get out of here," Vlad said, while Monoma looked back at his teacher with wide eyes.

"You can't!" Monoma shouted. The other students who were in Class A all looked at the blond boy with surprised gazes, as they had all judged him differently than this.

He's right. Vlad sensei can't take them like that. Zach was looking for some way he could help out. Don't consider taking the glove off. Not yet. Try and come up with another strategy first-

"I don't, see Bakugo, either," Ganeshi said slowly, moving another picture in his fat hand to the side while looking around the room below.

"Why do you want to kill Bakugo?! And Midoriya?!" Kirishima shouted, stepping forward so he was up on Zach's right side.

One of the villains Kirishima shouted at looked towards him, while Vlad shouted at Kirishima to get back. Dabi smirked at the kid with red hair, "Hmph, wouldn't you like to know."

At that moment, a voice started shouting in each of the students and Vlad's heads. "Everyone in Class A and Class B!" It was Mandalay's Telepath again, and their eyes all opened wide as she continued shouting at them. "In the name of the Pro Hero, Eraser Head, you are granted permission to engage in combat! I repeat! Everyone in Class A and Class B! You are granted permission to engage in combat!"

Is it really that bad out there, Eraser Head? Vlad thought, while focusing hard on his Quirk, Blood Control, to try and hold himself together. Although the wound on his chest was the worst though, and the one he had to focus his powers on, he had other shallow wounds on his arms and legs. And what was worse, he knew he could not start attacking the villains to push them back, without losing control over his punctured lung and letting it fill with blood.

"Villains," Vlad began, taking a step towards them. "You have made, a very big mistake."

Ojiro stepped forward, his resolve hardening after what he just heard. Mineta looked back at Iida who was struggling to try and stand but could not do it, then at Koda who looked terrified while trying to help him. Mineta turned and tried to stand back up, but his legs were shaking too much at the sight of the two villains standing at the edge of the classroom. The shorter one called Dabi covered his right hand in blue flames and reached down, igniting the floor around him with flames that started igniting the desks and the wall on one side of him.

"Keep those, away from…" the other villain continued, before noticing another picture in his hand. "I'm not good, with faces," he continued, while lowering his hand and dropping the pictures in it. "But…"

"We have discovered one of the villains' targets!" Mandalay shouted in all of their heads, right as the giant villain in front of them started turning his head and lowering his gaze. Dabi also smirked while turning his head back forward, focusing on one of the people in the room he had already noticed. "It is one of the students- Kacchan!"

Iida lifted his bowed head and let go of his leg with both hands, "It's Bakugo?" He had been farther away and growling in his own pain when it was brought up before, when Mineta and Koda were trying to get him to hold still and stop moving while pulling the glass from the soft part on the back of his right knee.

"Sazaki… Zach," Ganeshi said. Zach's face was already full of fear and covered in sweat as they both looked towards him. "You'll be, coming with, us too."

Zach's terrified expression stayed that way, but his eyes opened wide and his mind started racing while everyone in the room behind and around him spun his way. "Targets." "Coming with us… too?" "Crush him." What's it all mean? What is the situation?! Think think, there's no time- do I take off! NO! Don't think about that. Come up with another idea. As soon as you consider it an option, you won't be able to think rationally. Now focus. Midoriya, they don't want to capture him. They must, Shigaraki must just want him dead. I was wrong. They don't know about his connection with All Might, or they do and he's too dangerous to try anything except kill him.

Kirishima stepped forward on Zach's side and the black haired boy went wide eyed. "Get back Zach," Kirishima said. "If you're their target, you need to get away."

He's right, Zach thought, and he jumped backwards, then did it a second time while Vlad stepped to the left, blocking the villains who both moved in at that moment. Kirishima lifted his arms and his whole body hardened, and then he and Vlad both ran forward at the same time. "Kirishima, don't!" Zach started yelling, reaching forward. Tape wrapped around his chest and pulled him back, and Zach looked back to see Ojiro sprinting past him, and Sero holding his right arm up. Sero had his other hand down on his stomach, a pained look on his pale face as he pulled Zach away with the tape from his right arm.

"Don't do- something stupid," Sero said, unwrapping his tape and then dropping back to a knee, making Sato drop next to him and yell about him holding still until the glass was out.

Everyone, is fighting, Zach thought, spinning back and watching as Kirishima ducked down and Vlad rose his arms, splashing blood out at the trunk swinging towards him. The amount of blood that appeared there was more than Zach imagined the muscular hero could spare, making him wonder even more about the man's Quirk. Vlad hardened his blood as the trunk hit it, then the trunk pushed through and hit the man behind who gasped in pain and shock at the villain's power.

"Vlad sensei!" Kirishima shouted, losing focus and turning toward the teacher who flew towards the front wall of the classroom and hit it so hard that he made cracks break out on all sides of his back.

"Kirishima!" Ojiro shouted, reaching an arm out which Kirishima saw out the right corner of his eye, since he was facing towards the front of the room and not the outside wall, where the villain he just turned away from should be. He did not see Dabi standing there anymore though, as the man should have after he jumped back from Kirishima's first swipe. Kirishima started turning his head, his eyes darting down, while the man popping up behind him lifted his hand a little more right up against Kirishima's back.

He hardened his back.

It wasn't enough.

Dabi's hand glowed blue on Kirishima's back and Kirishima started yelling out in pain, but the yell cut short in under a second. The front of his chest glowed blue too, and then the explosion of blue flames blasted out of Kirishima's chest and into the other side of the room towards Vlad who just slid down the wall leaving a blood trail behind him. The flames hit the teacher, blasting that wall and making cracks form all over the ceiling. Dabi pulled his hand back and then he instantly jumped away, while Kirishima's body was still falling forward into the disappearing blue flames.

"KIRISHIMA!" Ashido and Ojiro shouted at the top of their lungs.

Dabi leapt out back from the wall, away from the burning section on the side he had ignited first. A trunk swung after him and a deep voice growled out closer to the side that just burst into flames. "What did, I say…" Ganeshi turned his head and he stomped down so hard that the classroom next to him shook, though his step was away from the class.

"Vlad sensei!" Monoma yelled, running towards the wall that had burst into flames. He leaned back from the hot blue fire, then he yelled out and ran forward, spreading his blood out around him using Vlad's Quirk. He grabbed his teacher and dragged backwards, while Ojiro dropped down and caught Kirishima right before he hit the floor.

"Come on Kirishima," Ojiro started, turning the boy over to see Kirishima's face. "You're-" Ojiro began, then his eyes opened wide and his skin paled. His hands were getting wet on Kirishima's back, and he stared at the front of his shirt at the big hole in it.

While the fight had been going on, in the five seconds leading up to Kirishima getting blue flames blasted through his torso, Zach's mind had been racing nonstop. They want to kill Midoriya, but Bakugo's another target. He said "too," so they want Bakugo, and they want me. Is it, is it because of the Sports Festival? The villains think because I was shunned, because just because I killed someone- and Bakugo, he had to be restrained on the podium. If they could turn students from U.A. against the hero society, it would collapse in an instant. Death. The heroes raised a student with that Quirk, only to have the student they trained turn into a villain. It would destroy the public's faith in the heroes, in U.A., even in All Might as one of my teachers. The Symbol of Peace. They want to capture me, in order to crush that. That's it. That's what, I would do if I were them. Zach's teeth clenched, and then he let out a gasp and his mind started to blank. He reached forward but he had no breath to shout, not like his classmates.

A blue tint covered Zach's face as he stood there staring at the mortally wounded. Flames were on the edge of the ceiling farther from the door to the hall, as well as spreading farther back on either wall so that on both sides of him he could only see blue flames. There was fire scattered on the floor in front of him, leaving little space to move through to the outside where both villains were standing. The shorter one who used the blue fire was telling the other one to wait until later to argue about this, suggested they could even fight it out if Ganeshi was not satisfied by then. The larger one slammed his trunk on the floor and made cracks split out on either side of him, and the whole classroom shook again as it turned its head in.

"Then… let's get… him," Ganeshi said.

"I'll come with you!" Zach shouted.

He shouted it, then his eyes opened wide and he froze where he stood. Everything he just thought rushed back to him. All the terrible things that could come of the villains taking him. But when he shot his gaze from Kirishima up to those villains, only one thought crossed his mind. He sprinted forward before anyone in the class had even spun towards him. Ojiro started lifting his head from Kirishima, and he rose his hands only to stare at them in shock at how red they were. He heard a thud and snapped his head back down since he had been holding Kirishima up a little, meaning when he pulled his hands away, the red-haired boy fell to the floor.

"I'll come! Just don't hurt anyone else!" Zach yelled, panic on his face as he darted in between the flames. He froze though, right at the edge of the fire but before he reached the villains. He swung his arms out to the sides and ignored the shouts of his classmates behind him. He ignored the class rep who ordered him as the class rep that he return and retreat. He ignored Ojiro, and the teacher who called out in a raspy voice, though unable to move more than just lifting his head a little.

I should have known, with the power to break the wall- damn it! "Kid, get back- ack," Vlad had to focus his whole body on keeping himself alive, but his gaze shifted over to another child. A student. He stared at the kid who ran forward with him, who he did not send back right away because of what Aizawa told them through Mandalay's Telepath. Vlad King grit his teeth so hard at the sight of the boy's unmoving body.

"Alright then," Dabi said, smirking as he looked at the kid standing there between them and the others. "That's a pretty brave decision-"

"There are two conditions!" Zach yelled. The villains who were about to head back in anyway to take him by force did not feel like they needed to listen to these conditions, but as Zach saw the larger one's mouth opening, he shouted quickly before the slow man could, "The first, is that you keep true to your word and leave here with me! We all walk away, leaving this classroom and my classmates behind!"

"Zach!" Kaminari shouted, running closer and up to Ojiro who stood next to Kirishima with a look of rage growing on his face.

Before either of them could move closer, Zach screamed, "GET BACK!" He lifted his right arm and he grabbed his glove while everyone stared at him with widening eyes, including the two villains. Zach ripped his glove off, and a dozen people stared at his hand with confused expressions. Even Kaminari had never seen his hand use its Quirk, though he was not as confused or shocked as all the others when Zach's hand turned out to be a normal, light-skinned, unimpressive hand.

"Well, that's disappointing-" Dabi began.

"The second condition!" Zach yelled.

4 Years Ago

Thud

Zach slipped in the shower and he yelled out as he fell to the floor. He reached his hands up and grabbed his head with both hands in pain. He winced, then his eyes opened wide. He trembled as he got to his feet, looking towards his mirror outside the foggy glass of his shower. He moved his right hand away from his head, feeling his heart pounding as he stood there with a headache. Zach lifted his hand to his chest and felt his heart, and he waited for a few seconds as it slowed down.

What was that? He thought. He opened his showed door and grabbed a towel, drying himself off while stepping out onto the rug. He did not turn off the water, as he had only just stepped in a few minutes ago. The eleven year old boy tried evading his gaze from the fogged-up mirror, but when he looked towards it he relaxed and then looked left and above his toilet at the window there. He saw a shadow on the other side of the glass, and he hesitated before reaching for the window latch.

His eyes shifted to the top part of his toilet, where his special black glove rested waiting for him to put it on. Putting it on wet is hard, he thought, drying his hand better while reaching up with his left towards the window. I'll just check, he thought. He opened up the window, and he stared out in surprise at what he saw on the small ledge outside his window. There was an old flower-pot with dead flowers in it sitting on one side, and right in the middle was a small black lump of feathers.

"What the-" Zach muttered. He put his towel down and then stepped up on the toilet lid. His feet almost slipped and he wobbled his arms out to the sides to keep his balance, still letting out a breath of relief as he did not fall. No one would have been there to help him, if he did get hurt. He glanced at his left arm which still sported a nasty scar around his bicep. I don't want to have to call Aunt Maye again for something like that. He looked back towards the window, and he reached out his left hand while using the window's edge to hold himself steady, grabbing it with his right hand. Zach hesitated as his left hand neared the creature lying there still, and then he poked at it.

It must have, broken its neck on the glass. Stupid bird, he thought, though he felt bad as he turned it over. He tilted it on its side and looked at its face, and he shivered at the look of the dead creature. The dead, don't look that much different, the face of his mother appeared in his mind, a peaceful expression on it, tears on her face. He bit down on his bottom lip, then he reached up his right hand. If it's already dead, he thought, and he used his left to hold him in place, reaching with his right and touching the creature. His eyes opened wide as he felt his fingers touch, then he thought, What am I doing? The boy started pulling his fingers away, then he winced and pulled back faster. He lost his balance on the toilet and he slipped off backwards, but his eyes opened wide as he fell for a reason other than the fear of falling head-first. His breath caught and he gasped, as he spotted his poking fingers had turned black. Then his vision cut off…

Present

"My second condition, is you let me go to Kirishima!" Zach shouted. The villains looking at him, as well as all the students behind him, got confused looks on their faces at Zach's request.

"If you want to check if he's alive, I'll save you the trouble," Dabi started, while taking a step forward to show that Zach did not have a say in this, and his demands did not need to be met.

"MY QUIRK IS DEATH!" Zach roared at the top of his lungs. The villain in front of him froze, and Zach saw Ganeshi's trunk ease back as well. All the students in the room behind Zach stared at him with growing eyes, while Zach's voice got lower, but even more threatening as he continued, "If I want to, I could kill everyone here with a snap of my fingers." He lifted his right hand, a hand that looked so normal, but one that both of the villains were staring at hesitantly.

"Let me go to him, and I'll come with you," Zach said. "Just stay there, for a few seconds. And don't do anything," Zach said. He turned and he walked back into the classroom behind him, not looking back to check on the villains. He figured the longer he stood there, the higher chance of one of them calling his bluff.

"Zach-" Kaminari began.

"Ojiro, Kaminari, back up or my hand will kill you," Zach said, his voice cold and his eyes colder as he walked forward with his head partially bowed.

Mineta backed up so his back was against the wall next to the door. Iida stared out towards Zach with his bottom lip lowered, his eyes huge as Zach clenched his right fist in front of him, then darted his glare to both of the students he just snarled at. Ojiro leaned backwards, but Kaminari's eyes just softened and he whispered his friend's name.

When I woke up that day, Zach thought, his gaze shifting back to Kirishima's body. "Move away," he said, and Ojiro backed up from the boy who looked like he had really snapped this time. The bird was gone. I thought, it could have been a hallucination, from slipping after I came out of the shower, but the window was open. I was paranoid. I knew my Quirk was Death, so I tried ignoring it, but I couldn't just let that go. I felt pain in my fingers, I saw them turn black, and then the bird was gone. Zach reached Kirishima and he bent down over the boy's body without hesitating. So I went to the pet store, and I bought a guinea pig. I named him Charles, Chuck for short. I got connected to him because I waited so long, because I had second thoughts, third doubts, fourth hesitations about touching him. I was horrified at what I was considering, with such an innocent animal. One that I had come to like. I got connected to it, but that's why, when I finally told myself I had to check, I was so broken up by the results. I killed him, then I touched him again, but nothing happened. I waited longer, because the bird had been dead for a little before I touched it… if it was even there… NO! It was there! It had to have been. Please, let it have been.

Zach lowered his right hand. He hesitated over Kirishima's body, while everyone in the classroom and outside looked at him in silence. Their eyes were huge, and no one knew what was happening as the boy whose face was tinted blue by the flames grabbed Kirishima over his open wound. I tried again though, because I wanted to be thorough. I got another guinea pig, and I killed it right away this time, but it didn't make me feel any less terrible. I thought maybe because I touched it too early, and I had to wait the amount of time as with the bird, but again it failed when I just tried the same time. I tried with a bird too, thinking maybe it was the species but that didn't work either. I almost gave up, but I thought there was a chance. A chance that it could still work, but only if I wasn't the one who did it! But then- a few months later I got my chance. I ran even more those days, trying to come upon an accident, or something terrible. I felt so horrible looking for bad things to happen, and then I found it! I found a dog surrounded by people, people who were sad and crying about how it got hit by a car. I ran to it, and I took off my glove while yelling at them to get back. They looked so hopeful, but it didn't work. Then I had to scream at them as they got angry and tried confronting me, yelling that they would die if they touched me and sprinting away while putting the glove back on. But, as much as I had decided that it was a trick of my mind, I always had doubt. I doubted, because there was one more possibility. A mixture of the two things I thought were wrong with my experiments mixed together!

Zach ground his teeth and he shut his eyes so tightly as he pressed his right hand harder against Kirishima's body. It couldn't be me who killed them, and the time limit couldn't have expired. I wasted time talking to the villains, it's my fault they're here and my fault Kirishima's dead. But still, there is the chance I was wrong- Zach felt a pain in his chest like no other. He thought it was the grief, the acceptance that he had failed and he was just stalling for time, holding a dead classmate's body while everyone stared at him like he was an idiot. He felt like he was being cruel, doing this to a friend who he had gotten killed, who had died trying to protect him. When he had just listened to Kirishima and backed up, not thinking about how his classmate was going up against a real villain, he had gotten him killed. Zach screamed out in pain, tilting his head back at the agony he felt inside him. He screamed, and his eyes shot open as this sharp a pain could not have been from grief. His head struggled to lower down, and he brought his left arm over and grabbed his right by the elbow as his mind tried telling his body to pull it away.

"NO!" Zach yelled, holding his arm there despite the pain in his chest increasing. "It's going to work!" He shouted, his eyes wide, his mouth twisting up at the corners while tears started spilling from the corners. Everyone in the class was staring at Zach with wide eyes, eyes that were filling with hope as Zach's hand had turned black. The black color was ominous, and terrifying, but as it spread up Zach's arm and he started to scream in pain, the boy started smiling. "KIRISHIMA!" Zach yelled, while the black reached the top of his arm, and his chest reached the maximum amount of pain Zach could imagine. Despite all the pain though, he started laughing, because the eyes of the boy lying in front of him were opening up. Tears spilled out of Zach's eyes and onto the body of the boy lying below him, while the pain started to subside, while Zach's body stopped shaking and the black color on his arm lowered back fast to his hand before vanishing.

Zach lifted his hand from Kirishima's chest fast, afraid of what would happen if he left it there for too long. He stared down in shock, at the closed up wound on Kirishima's chest. He stared at it, while Kirishima's arms started moving at his sides.

"That's, impossible," Dabi said, his eyes narrowing down afterwards while a bead of sweat rolled down his face. "Death? That Quirk, seems to be the opposite," he said it in a voice raising in volume, and Zach's eyes shot open.

"Zach?" Kirishima whispered, staring up at the boy who rose and turned away from him. Eijiro Kirishima pushed down on the floor at his sides, looking down towards his chest because of the last thing he remembered. He stared at his chest, in the middle of his torn-up uniform, at the skin that looked pristine and undamaged. "Wh-What just…"

Zach turned towards Dabi who stopped walking back towards the classroom. "Let's go," Zach said, and he ran back towards Dabi before the villain could take another step.

"Zach!" Iida shouted after the boy.

"H-Hey," Kirishima tried getting up, but he felt exhausted and he collapsed back down after a second. "HEY!" He shouted, turning his head while down on a knee, "Where are-" his eyes opened wide as Zach slowed down just in front of the villains.

Zach lowered his gaze to the floor. That's one, he thought, but his lips did not lift up. He looked left at Dabi, then right and up at the monster glaring down at him. His hand was still out of his glove, but he clenched his left hand tight around his glove which he kept with him the whole time. He had not even dropped it while steadying his right arm over Kirishima's chest before. Zach turned his head back and he glared at Sato, at Mineta, and Kaminari. He looked at Ojiro behind them who stood next to Kirishima, letting the red-haired boy use him as a crutch to get up. They wouldn't just let it go that easily, he thought, while the corners of his lips lifted and his head started leaning back. He looked down his nose towards his classmates who all leaned back at the look, all of them freezing with their mouths open, forgetting what they were about to say.

"You kids, stay here," Zach said, smirking more as he stared them down. They're too strong. Bakugo's going to be taken too. I can't just kill these two and accept that I didn't get taken. Saving myself, isn't what this Quirk is for. I'll save him, but I'll save these guys first. "Every last one of you, looks down on me for killing that villain."

"Zach! What are you-" Kaminari started shouting.

"Shut up!" Zach snapped, glaring at Kaminari without holding back. "At the Sports Festival, you heard what the masses think of me, didn't you? 'What's he doing, trying to be a hero?' 'Killer.' 'Murderer,'" Zach hissed the last part, then he bowed his head and looked up towards his friends, smirking in a terrifying way that had Mineta and Sato each stepping back. "And you know what, they were right? I am one. And it wasn't just once…" Zach faded off, stopping himself from going any farther even as his face twisted in rage, using his own self-hatred as help for this. He started backing up until Dabi and Ganeshi were on his sides, and he continued while stopping between them. "Aizawa sensei even sent me off today on a training mission that he expected me to fail."

Vlad's eyes opened wide while he lay on the ground, as for the first time he thought the kid might not actually be doing this as a trick to the villains. "Stop him," Vlad whispered, and only the boy closest to him heard it. Monoma looked down with wide eyes, then the boy on his knees next to his homeroom teacher turned back to look out at the kid outside between the terrifying villains.

"Zach," Kirishima called out. "Don't do this! We can fight them-"

"You can't," Zach said, lifting his head and just glaring their way with an emotionless expression this time. "If you try, you'll die. And I won't bring you back this time." As if to prove it, Zach lifted his right hand and he slid his glove back on. "Aizawa sensei doesn't believe I can be a hero. All Might told me the same, pretty much. And Grappler too," Zach muttered lower, his eyes darting to the floor. This time, Dabi glanced in at him and the villain's eyebrows lifted up a bit. "Everyone's been trying to get me to give up. The civilians of this society, call me a monster. I don't know why I've spent so long, trying to be a hero for those people." Zach's hands started shaking at his sides, and he snapped his head back up after staring at the ground for a few seconds. "Well if everyone wants to think of me as a villain, then I can go ahead and play the part! This society overgrown with fake heroes…"

Iida's eyes shot open huge, and Kaminari took a step back at the words he recognized well. The villains on either side of Zach could not help but grin. Zach faded off and he turned away. "Someone must be dyed in blood," he hissed. "I don't belong, in the type of society you guys do. But Stain was right anyway. Something about it, is rotten at the core. I don't know what that is," Zach started walking forward towards the forest ahead of him, the forest with blue flames rising in the distance over it. "But with the League of Villains, maybe I can find it."

"Zach!" Kirishima yelled, pushing himself forward and forcing his Hardening as he moved through Dabi's flames.

Dabi lifted his hand though, and Zach spun his head back with widening eyes as the man pointed his hand at the building. Zach opened his mouth, but Dabi's hand was pointed down a bit, and the flames he shot out made a huge line of blue flames separating the group in the classroom from him. He heard them shouting his name. He could partially see them through the flames. He looked a few of them in the eyes as the flames flickered in such a way to allow him to, then he turned and started walking away. Around ten. That's, around ten more. Eleven total? Still, nowhere close…

"Zach Sazaki!" A voice shouted over all the others.

Zach paused while walking in front of the two villains who narrowed their eyes at the boy's back as he was taking too many pauses.

The two of them heard a voice, and Dabi put a hand to his head to respond to it. "The second target is also acquired. Let's go."

So they got him, Zach thought, though he did not change his expression as he had already expected it, and he did not want the villains to see.

"I'M SORRY!"

Zach's eyes opened wide. The students of Class A stared at the back of the kid with blond hair who now also had to be held back just like Kirishima. Ojiro and Sato were struggling to hold Kirishima down, as even in his weakened state he was trying to get through the flames while yelling Zach's name. Koda had run forward to grab Monoma though when Vlad yelled towards him to stop, and Koda was telling him not to as the blond boy screamed again, "You're not a villain! Don't do this- because of me!"

Damn it Monoma. This sucks so much. This really, really sucks. But to save Bakugo, I'm going to make it even worse for you. "Fuck you," Zach called out. It wasn't a yell, but it was loud enough that he knew it reached. Zach turned his head and he smirked towards the flames back behind him, "But it is because of you," he said, then he turned and kept walking through the forest. What a villainous thing to say to someone whose truly remorseful. I'm knocking one off for that. Back down to ten.

Dabi walked up to the kid's side, while Ganeshi on the right said in a low voice, "I'm still… taking credit, with Shiga-raki."

"Go for it, you deserve the credit big guy," Zach said. "Wouldn't have done a thing if you weren't there."

"I don't believe you, you know?" Dabi said, while he walked next to Zach. "Pretend as much as you like, but you're just saving-"

"Believe me or not, I don't really care," Zach said, turning and looking up into Dabi's eyes as he said it. The other man was over a head taller than him, but Zach stared up with a serious and unafraid look as he continued, "I saved them, because they were my classmates. They're comrades of mine, who were willing to sacrifice themselves for me. I don't know if you villains get the sense of camaraderie, caring about people, but I do. That doesn't mean though, that I didn't mean what I said." He looked back forward and narrowed his eyes into the dark forest ahead of him. "I'm fed up, and you guys came to get me. I don't have any family. I don't have any reason to stay in a school that doesn't want me." He said it and bit down, because these were not just lies he was telling the villains. "I don't, belong here," he finished.

"Hmph," Dabi lifted his gaze from the kid's. "Stay here for a second," he said. Zach looked towards him in confusion, and then both of the villains at his sides started melting. Zach felt shivers down his spine as they started seeping away.

In a few seconds, he was all alone in the forest. He stood there, and he looked over his shoulder back towards the camp building. If I went back now, Aizawa or one of the Pussycats might have shown up. Other students too, who could handle these guys. I wouldn't have to go with them… Or they could follow me, and kill more of them. If I do go back, and Vlad sensei has died though, I could save his live too. What the hell- I can really bring people back to life? What is this Quirk? Wait- what am I doing? …Bakugo. That's right. They already have him. Which means, I have to do it. They are starting to trust me. Even if Bakugo wasn't, they're going to bring me to their headquarters. They'll bring me to Shigaraki… and maybe even, his boss. From what they've talked about his personality, he doesn't seem like the type to be able to put this all together on his own. It terrified me thinking someone was pulling the strings, especially if that guy planned on Shigaraki and the Nomus and Stain all being seen on the same night. I ignored the possibility because it was crazy, but I have to accept it as one now, and not kill Shigaraki as soon as I see him. He might not be, the final boss.

"Oi kid," Zach spun his head and he saw Dabi walking out from between some trees. "So you actually stayed put?"

"Whoa! What a weird kid! Nice job new comrade," a figure in an all black outfit who jumped out next to Dabi stuck a thumbs up at him after calling him weird. His personality seemed to switch, and then Zach's eyes darted away from them to the larger figure he saw coming out from the trees next to Dabi. He was not as large as before, Strength enhancing, or a transformation? His trunk is still there, but it looks really weird when it's not thick. All shriveled up…

"Don't stare," Dabi warned while he started walking towards the kid. "And come on. We need to get to the rendezvous point. If you fall behind, Ganeshi will knock you out." Zach darted his eyes to the large man with dark brown skin and a long trunk sticking off his face who glared at Zach like he really wanted to knock the kid out and present him to Shigaraki himself. Dabi continued while walking past Zach, "The power you saw of his earlier, was only a fraction thanks to Twice's power. Same with mine. Don't think about trying anything," he warned.

"I won't," Zach replied instantly, turning and following after Dabi quickly, as it seemed like they were in a hurry. The Twice guy started talking to Ganeshi as they moved faster too, and the four of them were making their way through the forest to an unknown extraction point. Zach kept his breathing steady, and he calmed his thoughts as well, I just, became a spy. Ten. My number of saves, is at ten. Mom, dad, how many thousands could you have saved in the past eight years? I don't know, but I've made my start. I made up for a few. And I didn't kill anyone to do it. I saved them, using my head, not my Quirk… except for Kirishima. This Quirk, Death, it's not just to kill people. It's the control over Death. It's like, I actually am Death. The Grim Reaper, like I considered my hero name to be. The one who decides, who lives, and who dies… Death.

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A/N Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think in a review below or predictions for upcoming chapters. Hope you enjoyed!