Today was the day! Garaki Kyudai practically jumped out of his bed and scampered to the bathroom to prepare for what would be one of the biggest moments for the advancement of science in recent memory. He would put on a show that would even make Isaac Newton quake in his boots! Besides all that guy did was watch an apple fall, right? Was he able to isolate quirk factors for a blood sample and then biologically re-engineer copies of said quirk factor?
I don't think so!
Garaki shook his head to himself as he spit out the toothpaste in his mouth and quickly ran some sink water through his hands before scrubbing down the top of his skull that was all but bald at this point. When was the last time he had hair? The man couldn't remember the date but remembered it being annoying and in the way. He liked being bald.
At that point he had realized the strange tangent he had went on and slapped both hands to his face and then finally left the restroom feeling refreshed and ecstatic for what the day would bring.
I can't be distracted today! I can't let this opportunity go to waste! I need to show them why I should be able to continue! Why our partnership is mutually beneficial!
Leaving his apartment, he saw that the neighboring two units had the lights turned off which meant that both of his assistants were already in the lab and preparing for the final demonstration. The sun was barely poking from above the horizon as he passed a gap in the building which revealed a pristine beach and the waves of an ocean. Garaki didn't like the ocean but supposed that there really wasn't much he could do about that at this point. The doctor didn't like that he didn't know everything about the ocean. He didn't like unknown factors. He liked solving unknown factors but even he could admit that the ocean might just be out of his grasp. It might be just too much to handle. Garaki was a smart man who knew his limits, not a dumb man who would chase after some incoherent dream regarding paths to the future. Kyudai grit his teeth when he thought back on what should have been the greatest partnership of all time.
~Revelations~
11 Years Ago
Garaki had been twiddling his thumbs for a while now. He hated waiting, he hated not being able to explore and create. To not be able to research! He felt like a bird stuck in a cage but in some sort of ironic twist, he was the one to build the cage. Putting all his faith in one man, putting all his chips on the man's hands and believing that he was the key to everything. That the man would lead him down a new age of experimentation and discovery. That the man would provide him support to push the boundaries of what was thought to be possible in terms of quirks and the biology of human beings. But for the past year everything had hit a complete stand still. His master still let him poke and prod to his heart's content, but it was like All for One's heart wasn't in it anymore. That his eyes were looking at something else entirely. It frustrated Kyudai to feel this way, to feel like some teenager that was abandoned by a friend after they teamed up together for some science fair project. He was over 100 years old for god sake, why the hell did he have these thoughts now?
Garaki rubbed his scalp again and thought back to where it all went wrong, where at the time everything had gone right. How was that even possible? A moment that was filled to the brim with promise for the future, a moment that should have had scientific papers written on it, a moment that should be taught in classrooms around the country!
The creation of Kurogiri.
Most days he would think about the time All for One had approached him with an idea. An idea that seemed so outrageous at the time that Garaki spit out the tea he had been drinking.
"I want you to create an artificial organism with a warp-based quirk and a mind of its own."
"You mean like Johnny?"
"Could you have a conversation with Johnny?"
"Well, no. For the brain to have the capacity to hold a quirk that is not its own, other functions of the brain must be shut down."
"I don't want a pet, Doctor. I want something that will follow me and the plans that I have for the future."
Garaki suppressed a wince as he noticed the violet eye becoming brighter again. It seemed whenever Shigaraki would go about the future or his plans the eye would respond with a glow or even a slight pulse. All for One refused to give him all the details regarding the eye, but he hoped one day he could learn the truth.
After the conversation with Shigaraki, Garaki got to work. It took almost a year for everything to finally come together. It was quite possibly the most fun the doctor had had in his life. He loved to tinker and build and research and this kind of project was like everything he enjoyed about the world rolled into one! All for One helped by providing two quirks that would help the organism grow and take shape in the form of a mist rather than an actual human body. They were quite literally in a league of their own when it came to the science of quirks and the work that they were able to accomplish was simply astounding.
Garaki remembered laughing maniacally when Kurogiri blinked for the first time and even All for One cracked a smile when the organism asked what he was. At that point in time All for One took the cloud into the other room and vowed to show him some things that should help educate him on who he was and who he was meant to be.
Garaki had drunk alcohol for the first time in fifty years that night and he started counting down the days for when his master gave him his next project. His next experiment! After a week, he finally went up to the man and asked him point black what the next move would be, and he remembered All for One replying with a shrug and simply brushing him off. He made an empty statement about being busy for the considerable future and told the Doctor to wait.
And the doctor did wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.
Now he finally found himself twiddling his thumbs and waiting for the man that he truly thought would be the person to bring about a new age of scientific discovery. Or maybe just someone that would provide him the resources to let him mess around with the concept of a "nomu". But alas it seems that he had misread his master and was now waiting in his office to have a proper discussion about the issue like gentlemen.
It was at that moment when a purple cloud began to open in the room and All for One walked back in mumbling something about trusting rats.
Garaki chose to not comment on that.
He had bigger fish to fry. It was time to have a proper conversation about his current frustrations.
"Hey Shigaraki, fuck you!"
Okay, maybe Garaki still wasn't an expert on having proper discussions like gentlemen. Perhaps it was a topic he needed to research more.
All for One, to his credit, merely blinked at the man as a reaction and proceeded to walk over to his desk and sit down. The man then pulled out a notebook and began to scribble profusely while mumbling again about someone named Revy before finally placing the pen and paper down and looking at the doctor.
"What can I do for you, Garaki?"
The doctor could barely contain himself when he began to answer, "I- I want to build more Nomu! Kurogiri was a huge success so why not start the process of building more! Imagine the quirks we could include! Imagine the experiments we could run! Imagine the RESEARCH WE COULD DO!"
The doctor was practically frothing at the mouth at this point and All for One had to lean back to avoid being hit by any spittle that was being launched by the man. After giving Garaki a few moments to catch his breath, All for One crafted the best response that he could formulate in his head at that current moment.
"No."
The Doctor shrieked. "WHAT? Why won't you pursue this plan further? Did I mention the research we could do!? Think of the possibilities!"
All for One remained calm, "I have thought of the possibilities, and I found them to be unsatisfactory. I asked for a warp-based quirk user, and you proved your worth. I'm not going to ask for any more of these so called 'Nomu' so drop it and move on."
Garaki gripped the chair he was sitting on tightly, "Move on? Are you kidding me? Move on after that success?! Move on after that triumph?! You give me the word I can make a soldier for you! I'll make an army for you!"
"I'll take one self-sufficient servant over one hundred mindless slaves."
"W-W-What the hell are you talking about?! Who wouldn't want a bunch of mindless slaves?! They're mindless! And they're slaves!"
All for One sighed and rubbed his temple with one hand.
"Doctor, I respect you and the work you have done for me. But when it comes to the Nomu matter I have no intention of adding more. When everything comes together, the Army that is being led by my name and blood will be comprised of mindless science projects. That's what will make it special. People rallying to a cause and uniting to fight against oppression! Fighting against injustice! Tearing the country dow-"
"Stop going on one of your weird speeches right now, it's just you and me here you know that right?!"
Shigaraki blinked once and rubbed his pulsing violet eye, "Thanks for cutting me off there. But as I have said and will continue to say, I want the project discontinued. I want you to give this up. I want you to move on."
Garaki stared blankly at his feet, "I can't do that Shigaraki. You can't just open this door of opportunity for me and then SHUT IT! I must keep pushing these ideas, these beliefs! For the sake of research! For the sake of science! FOR THE SAKE OF THE SINGULARITY!" The doctor paused for a moment to wipe his sweaty brow and then continued, "I can't stop Shigaraki. I can't stop! I CAN'T S-"
"Then leave!" All for One said exasperatedly while gesturing at the doctor in a fatigued manner. The man with white hair slowly put his hands down on the desk and looked the doctor in the eye.
"I have no use for these biological experiments anymore. Since you gave me Kurogiri, I'll give you an out instead of killing you here and now. But this is a one-time offer, Garaki. What's more important, my mission or yours?"
Garaki groaned and held his head tightly in his hands. This was not how he hoped the conversation would go. This was not the proper conversation that he had envisioned! He slowly pulled his head back up and looked at his master.
'It might have been more proper to call him former master at this point', Garaki added glumly in his head.
"That eye changed you, Shigaraki. The man I knew would never turn down an opportunity like this."
Shigaraki met his eye with a cold stare, "The opportunity that you speak of does not align with my plans for the future. If you have made your decision, be packed up by the end of the day and out of the lab for good." The man then proceeded to get up and walked out of the room in long strides.
Garaki gripped the armrests of the chair tightly. Even though All for One was letting him leave, he knew that he would be unable to continue the research without the man. The biggest obstacle in his obsession with Nomu is the transference of quirks from one person to the body that would be used in the experiment. He had tried in almost every way over the past year but there was no way for him to isolate what he needed in a subject's blood without AfO there to help push and pull everything into place. The blood would be useless without the man present. The blood-
Garaki was interrupted by a cracking sound, he looked down to see that he had split the armrest he had been gripping in half and watched curiously as his own blood slowly dripped on the floor. It seemed that there was a piece of wood that had wedged itself into his hand from the crack in the chair.
He then began to feel a small idea begin to flicker in his mind. An idea that would be considered suicidal at most times. But at most times Garaki Kyudai wouldn't be as desperate as he is now. The doctor simply had to continue the research that he had started. He simply had to learn more! He had no choice in the matter he thought to himself with a chuckle.
'My hands are tied! I must do whatever it takes! All for the singularity! All for research!' The man began to cackle loudly as he scurried to the laboratory. He knew what was in one of the freezers that was hidden by some machinery. He knew whose blood would be needed to achieve his goals. It was all coming together! This was the first step in his next journey and Garaki looked forward to where it would lead him in the future.
~Revelations~
Present Day
Garaki took one last breath as he stepped out of his office and glanced at the three suited individuals standing on the far side of the room. All three wore faces that betrayed no emotion and Garaki couldn't help but gulp at their presence. The man quickly shook off his nerves before waddling over to the center of the room where a subject sat sniveling in his own tears with his arms forced behind his back. The person looked at him with wide eyes and began to whisper to himself, but the doctor paid no attention to the pathetic individual. He then looked at the suits and began his shortly prepared speech.
"For ten years, I have been in this laboratory chasing after the elusive answer to the world of quirks. How they work, how the body is impacted by them, and how we can change them over time have all been questions that I have sought the answer to. And in a way, all those answers and more lie in my greatest creation to date!"
At this point, one of his assistants walked over and handed him a metallic briefcase while a second walked in with Johnny before placing the creature on the floor. With slightly shaky hands Garaki opened the briefcase and unveiled a clear mixture that had already been placed in a syringe. Garaki smiled widely to himself before quickly showing the object to the suits while walking around so he was now behind his test subject.
The subject seemed to notice a heaviness in the air and began to sob harder as Garaki placed one hand on the individual's shoulder. Garaki ignored the wailing and continued.
"In this mixture contains the isolated quirk factors of several different kinds of quirks. With one being from the famed villain All for One, I have been given the opportunity to allow the body to hold multiple quirks for a set amount of time before rapid deterioration."
The suits already knew this at the time, so none chose to comment on the matter.
Garaki took a breath and continued, "By injecting this mixture, the body will accept the quirks as its own and will lead to the terror and destruction that you are seeking. Keep in mind that for now, the body will only be able to hold up for roughly an hour before it completely falls apart and the subject will be unable to follow much direction other than destroy and cause chaos."
One of the suits raised his hand and voiced a question, "Will we ever be able exceed the one-hour time?"
Garaki nodded slowly, "As I am sure you are all aware, the high-end project is continuing to progress but again is still 1-2 years away. We will need more field testing until I can become confident in our understanding of Nomu and how they react in different environments."
Garaki took another look at the suits and noticed none had any raised hands or seemed interested in asking any more questions.
Time to start the show!
Garaki had trouble containing the smile that was threatening to burst from his face as he tightened his grip on the subject's shoulder and adjusted the syringe so he could hold it properly. The screaming intensified from the subject and Garaki felt a giggle fall from his lips as he lowered his mixture to the back of their neck. He placed the needle above where the brain stem would be before slowly injecting and pressing the plunger down slowly. The subject seemed to freeze up immediately before letting out one last whimper to the man.
"Why, Grandpa?"
Garaki began to cackle loudly at the question. Why, the Tsubasa boy is asking why he would do such a thing? The real question is why would he not do such a thing? The amount of data that will be learned from this subject will be beyond anything a computer simulation could provide him. The subject should be honored to be the first Nomu trial run! He was a part of history! He was a part of science! He was a part of RESEARCH!
The doctor was pulled out of his thoughts by his assistant, yanking him back from the subject and toward the wall near the suits as everyone watched with anticipation. Suddenly the subject began to howl, and the viewers watched with gawking eyes as the skin on the subject's body began to change color to an unhealthy yellow from the inflection point like a drop of paint in a glass of water. The howling quickly turned to screaming and then silence as the skin around the subject's neck began to crawl up and swallow the face whole as if it was some predatory animal. After the face was covered by the skin, two beady eyes ripped through and began to look around wildly.
The rest of the body changed rapidly as well, muscle becoming inflated as if they were balloons and the previously tiny wings becoming enormous and powerful. The monster couldn't make a noise since its mouth was covered but conveyed a crazed fury as it looked at the people in the room. Garaki quickly realized that the transformation was complete and began to cackle even louder than before as he bellowed, "Send him away Johnny!" and the Nomu responded with a gaping mouth and began to cough up an inky substance. The winged Nomu was then consumed by the substance and seemingly was taken away out of thin air which left a shocked laboratory that was only filled with the sound of Garaki Kyudai's hysterics.
Garaki had long ago convinced himself he had no grandson. He had no family. Any semblance of a man that cared about those close to him had vanished due to events that he still chose not to think about. Garaki knew he didn't need family, friends, or masters. They would all leave him. But science would never choose to leave his side. In his dying breath, Garaki was certain that science would be there by his side until the very end. That's why he chose to embrace the absurdity, the chaos of the world he lived in. By accepting the world, he could study. By studying the world, he could learn it. And if he learned it, he knew science would be by his side like a winged guardian.
Not like the winged monstrosity Johnny just dropped into the center of Tokyo.
Garaki slowly wiped a tear from his eyes as he finally calmed down and began to make his way out of the room with a beaming smile to check on the progress of his other subjects.
Let the games begin.
~Revelations~
One Year after the "Winged Kaiju" Attack in Tokyo
The sound of applause thundered in the indoor arena as a lone figure stood with an arm raised in the air. The individual glanced down at their opponent who was slowly rising from their back and glancing blearily around at the room and the people that were now standing and shouting.
"Need a hand?"
Shiozaki Ibara looked wearily up at the titan that stood above her and the hand that was now within reaching distance. She slowly nodded, reached out and then felt herself pulled up as if she was as light as a feather. Shiozaki knew there had been little chance in defeating her opponent, but still wished she had put on a better display than she had. As she found her balance on her feet, she slowly turned to the victor of their battle and bowed slowly.
"Once again, you prove you are leagues ahead of me, Shimura."
Shimura Nana scratched the back of her head bashfully at the praise and looked away for a moment before quickly gesturing to Ibara to rise.
"You're getting much better with the vines, Shiozaki! You almost had me with that first attack when you were able to enclose them around me like a cage!"
Ibara sighed, "Yes and then you proceeded to punch your way out of them as if you were trapped with scotch tape. Really Shimura, how strong are you?"
Nana looked down at her arms for a moment and then back up to Shiozaki, "Stronger than your vines I guess!"
Both Nana and Ibara broke out into giggles as the announcer asked for them to leave the stage to prepare for the next Quarterfinal Matchup of the u16 Heroics Tournament of Southern Japan (HTSJ). The tournament had been taking place in Ashiya and was one of the most prestigious of the year. Any aspiring hero that had connections in the industry could apply and the tournament itself would take multiple weekends, with constant 1v1 battles until there was only one person left standing. This was the final weekend of the tournament and there were only six additional people left along with Nana now that Ibara was eliminated.
The girls glanced at two upcoming contestants and Nana gave them a smile, "Good luck Iida and Tetsutetsu!"
Tetsutetsu nodded and gave Nana a thumbs up, "You know I'll be going all out to get a rematch with you Shimura! Our last fight was MANLY AS HELL!"
Iida chose a more reserved response by gesturing his arm at the girl as if he was shaking someone's hand, "Impressive as always Shimura and Shiozaki. I appreciate the well wishes."
The two boys made their way to the stage and Ibara took one glance at them before looking again at Nana, "You seem to be in good graces with both of them Shimura, are they good friends of yours?"
Nana shrugged, "After a while you begin to see the same faces again and again at these tournaments so I would say I know Iida fairly well at this point and am at least familiar with the metal head."
Ibara nodded and then bowed once again at Nana, "I wish I could stay and talk more Shimura, but I must begin my trek in a separate direction at this point. I pray we get a chance to cross paths again in the future"
"Ah, well I'm sure you will see me around, I'm at a lot of these tournaments."
Ibara gave a smile and then turned to make her way to the exit, "Indeed you are, but I suppose that's expected of the reigning champion."
Nana gave out a laugh and rubbed the back of her neck at the comment but chose not to respond as the girl was already on her way down a separate hallway. Shimura began to make her way toward her own room when she felt someone wrap their hand around her wrist tightly and yank her back toward the stage that she had just left.
She suppressed any bubbling feelings at the action when she saw that Kizuki Chitose was the one who grabbed her, and a camera already pointed at both of them. Kizuki pulled the 15-year-old closer to her and then gestured to the camera guy who seemed to flick a button on the device he was holding.
"Shimura Nana, what a fight, but I guess that's expected out of you at this point! Do you mind giving a quick interview?"
Nana tried to hide an eye twitch and then began to stretch her face into a wide smile as she nodded at the reporter.
"Great! What was your strategy when fighting Shiozaki, who had that impressive vine-like ability?"
"Well, I just wanted to do my best and continue to improve on my abilities!"
Chitose grit her teeth at the response and then pressed on, "How were you able to break out of the wrapping that she had you in early on?"
"Well, I just tried my best and was able to muscle my way out of it!"
Nana could almost see a vein bulge on the reporter's forehead at the bland response.
"The strength that you showcased was almost reminiscent of your grandmother, the former number 3 hero, Shimura Mai! What do you think she would say to you after a match like that?"
"Probably to get some rest and stop doing silly interviews!"
While Nana's words were harmless, anyone in person noticed the bite to her tone and desire to stay away from the topic of her family. Kizuki looked to push on, finally finding something juicy to talk about but was loudly interrupted by the announcer declaring that the fight would start in the next minute.
"Well, it sounds like they are about ready to fight, so I should get going!" Nana effortlessly ripped her arm out of the grasp from the reporter and finally made her way down the tunnel and out of the spotlight.
~Revelations~
"Cute interview."
The first words uttered when Nana finally made it to her private changing room were from the teenage girl that sat with her legs crossed on the single table that sat in the middle of the room. The girl gave a wicked grin as Nana let out a loud sigh and plopped on the chair opposite of the visitor.
"Did you like my answers?"
Tokage Setsuna let out a bark of laughter and turned her eyes back to the television in the corner of the room that was showing the current fight. The two girls watched Iida deliver a roundhouse kick to the raised forearm of Tetsutetsu that knocked both boys back. Nana then looked away and began rummaging in her bag that sat on the table between them.
"Your phone was going crazy with all of your 'fans'." Tokage mentions while still watching the TV.
Nana raises an eyebrow, "Really? I never get messages from anybody."
Tokage throws a piece of popcorn in her mouth from the bucket she appeared to have brought into the room, "Well it was buzzing like crazy after the fight was over so that has to mean something."
Nana tries to suppress a small smile from bursting from her face as she finally yanks her phone for the cluttered backpack that she had brought with her. She quickly raises the device to her face to check the notifications, but the smile quickly fades from her mouth and is replaced by a puzzled look.
"Huh."
Setsuna looks over from the TV back to the dark-haired girl, "Huh what?"
Nana quickly taps away at the phone for a second before responding, "They're all Instagram comments but I haven't posted anything, so I don't get why they're commenting."
Setsuna's eyes narrow as she pulls up her own phone, "You mean people are actually commenting on your boring pictures of dogs or the beach?!"
Nana frowns, "They're not boring pictures."
"Uh, for a rising hero star they kinda are! You never post anything about yourself Nana, what's up with that?"
Nana lets out a sigh, "I have heard that comment from literally everyone over the past two months. It's my account, why can't I post what I want?"
Setsuna takes a quick glance at her before looking back to her phone, "Well the picture you just posted certainly seems to be a bit different from that philosophy."
Nana scrunched her eyes as she finally pulled up her profile page. Her eyes widen as she sees a post from 5 minutes ago that contains a photo of her standing in the arena with her arm raised and Shiozaki knocked out beside her.
Nana's eyes widen as she begins speak frantically, "I didn't post this! Did someone hack my account? Did someone hack my social media?! Did someone hack my phone?! Did someone hack-"
Nana was interrupted by a bing on her phone and looked down to see a message from an unknown number.
'Hey Shimura, this is Yui from the HPSC Social Media team and you might have noticed that we posted a really awesome picture from your account! Feel free to delete it if you feel uncomfortable but your dad gave us the account information so that's how we got access. Good luck in the next round!'
Nana looked at the message for about a minute before groaning loudly and tossing the phone back onto the table.
"It was some social media strategist from the HPSC that posted it. Looks like my dad gave them my account info."
Setsuna frowns slightly as she puts her own phone away, "They posted from your account? That's strange, even for them."
Nana took another glance back at the TV, "The girl that posted it has been texting me like weekly about posting more. She keeps talking about how helpful it is to start branding so when we hit 18 it is easier to find sponsorships with companies."
Tokage sighed, "I guess it makes sense, but we still have so much time before we have to worry about that stuff. Also, how often are you in contact with HPSC people? They rarely message me and when they do it's usually only to confirm I'm around for these tournaments."
Nana pulled a granola bar out of her backpack and slowly opened the wrapping, "They've been popping up more and more lately. They also talk to dad a ton, but he seems to like the attention that he gets from them more than I do."
Setsuna smirked, "Yoshida is digging the attention, huh? He knows he's not the one these guys are after, right?"
"I hope so. He keeps getting invited to lunches with reps and tries to bring me along when I'm free. He's been meeting with this specialized trainer as well and wants me to start working out with her."
Setsuna snorted, "Don't you work out enough already? I mean Shiozaki's vines had no chance against you!"
Nana took another bite out of the granola bar she was eating, "Most of the stuff I do is body weight stuff, so push-ups, sit-ups, and running. I don't really do any serious weight training right now."
Setsuna almost choked on the piece of popcorn in her mouth, "You don't do any weight training?! What the hell?! I do weight training like three times a week and I'm no match for you!"
Nana smiles cheekily, "I mentioned before that I think strength is part of my quirk. It's like sometimes I can just pull on the energy within me and convert it into like a boost kind of." Nana paused for a moment and considered her words, "I know it sounds weird but that is the best way I can describe it."
Setsuna thought on the comment before responding, "So would you consider it like a secondary quirk?"
Nana shrugged, "We've gone to a couple of quirk doctors and they don't think so. They labeled it as some form of mutation that might run in my family."
Setsuna grabbed more popcorn, "Ah, that's right, your grandma was crazy strong right? I've seen some pictures of her, and that woman was built like a goddamn tank!"
"Yeah, she claimed she had some sort of mutation to her original float quirk."
"So, you really are following in her footsteps, same quirk and same weird strength boost."
Nana took another bite from her bar, "I mean her quirk was float compared to just pure flight for me and from what I've seen of some of her old villain fights, it seemed that her mutation affected more than just her strength."
Setsuna shook her head with exasperation, "What a cheat code of a mutation!"
Both girls turned back to the TV to see Iida finally deliver a knockout kick to Tetsutetsu and they watched the metal boy go flying out of the ring. Nana had to suppress a wince at the brutality of the finishing move but knew that the metal quirk user was simply too stubborn to give up during a fight. She hoped the medics on hand would be able to help him. Apparently there had been a girl with a telekinesis quirk that had her elbow dislocated a few rounds ago. Nana shuddered at the mental image.
"So, it looks like you're up against Iida again then, Nana."
Shimura looked over to her friend who was still watching the TV which was showing a commercial for some hair product that Uwabami was promoting. She watched the hero stand near a playground with some wind machine behind the camera to make her hair blow back as if she was riding a convertible. Nana was about to turn away and answer Setsuna when she saw three little children run around near a swing set that was behind Uwabami. She could feel her eyes glaze over as she focused on the children and heard voices in her head.
"No fair Tenko, you're always faster than us!"
"Let's gang up on him then Nana, he won't be able to beat both of us if we tackle him!"
"No chance Hana! You both are so strong; you would crush me!"
"Get back here Tenko! You think you can run forever!"
"Just wait until I get my quirk Tenko, then you'll never beat me again!"
"I still haven't even gotten my quirk yet Nana and I bet mine will be so much better than yours!"
"I bet not!"
"I bet so!"
"I bet-"
"Both of you shut up! We should get home soon. It's late. Are you staying over for dinner again Nana?"
Staying over again, Nana?
Don't you want to see us again, Nana?
Where are we now, Nana?
What happened to us, Nana?
"Nana!"
Nana was jared from her memory when she was assaulted by popcorn kernels that her friend had thrown at her from across the table. She quickly shook her head and turned to look at the greenette.
"You looked like you were in another world there! Did you hear my question?"
Nana dumbly shook her head and quickly reached for her water bottle to wash away the bitter and dry taste in her mouth. She took a long gulp and placed the drink on the table in front of her.
"Sorry about that," she said with a chuckle, "What did you ask?"
Her friend eyed for a moment wearily before giving a light shake to her head and gesturing back to the TV which showed the current bracket. Nana saw the names 'Fumikage vs. Honenuki' and 'Todoroki vs. Yaoyoruzo' remaining on the board.
"I asked who you think you'll see in the final?"
Nana smiled for a moment at her friends' confidence in her abilities before answering.
"Most are probably expecting Todoroki, but I think Honenuki will give him a run for his money."
Setsuna nodded, "Yeah that seems about right." Her friend pouted for a second before adding, "If I didn't get drawn against the goddamn son of the number one hero in the third round then I would be up there too!"
Nana gave her friend a sympathetic look, "I know girl, you just got unlucky this time."
Setsuna sighed and dumped the remaining popcorn in her mouth in a very unladylike fashion.
"So, you think Juzo could beat Todoroki?"
Nana nodded slowly while she thought about the bottle in her head, "Honenuki's area of effect attack should nullify the iceberg that Todoroki will send at him. It's really a matter of whose quirk can outmuscle the other when the fight begins."
"I hope Todoroki wins because you fighting Juzo in the final would be a joke."
Nana shrugged, "Yeah, flying is about as good of a counter you can get to a ground softening quirk. The last time we were matched up against each other he ended up trying to swim under the colosseum floor and I had to wrestle him out of there like a fish."
Setsuna giggled and grabbed the soda she brought in before raising it to her friend, and attempting to speak in a solemn voice, "Well let me be the first to congratulate you on another tournament win Shimura Nana. I look forward to the day we finally get to fight each other here so I can kick your ass."
Nana looked away from her friend and rubbed the back of her head. She knew that a comment like that felt premature, but she truthfully had little doubt that she would win the tournament. She had grown used to the success, but it still shocked her from time to time when she would see the media and heroes giving her shoutouts and saying she would surpass people even like her own grandmother. A woman who had been the first to ever crack the top five in hero rankings and someone widely regarded as one of the greatest heroes of all time before her premature death.
It seemed that the stars had aligned, forging a path for her to follow in Mai's footsteps.
With all of the media attention she received, Nana felt lucky that not too much digging had been done into her family history since people would start asking questions that even she had no answers to.
Like what happened to the family of Shimura Kotaro? How did the family die? What kind of villain would kill a family like that and what kind of quirk could even cause that destruction?
The craziest thing was that sometimes Nana got the feeling that there was still some piece of that family out there somewhere. She wasn't sure what this bittersweet pain meant and if it was even real, but that feeling always seemed to be what drove her the most.
The scarring on her heart from those that she had lost, like from the Shimura incident seemed to create an even greater weight on this desire to fill the jagged cracks that remained.
If her father thought that working with the HPSC would help, then so be it. If her father wanted her to train with someone from the HPSC then so be it. Nana figured that she might as well use every resource available to achieve her goals.
Nothing was more important to Shimura Nana than finding what she had lost.
~Revelations~
Looking back on these thoughts' years later and the path that was created due to these decisions, Nana was unsure whether to laugh or cry. Her future and the person she would become being built from the very same feelings she had that day in the training room.
How had she ended up in the situation that she had?
Was she just another game piece on the board?
Or was this always the person she would be?
Key Player Log:
Garaki Kyudai. Age: UNKNOWN.
Kizuki Chitose. Age: 26.
Shimura Nana. Age 15.
Tokage Setsuna. Age: 15.
Chapter Notes:
- Garaki steals AfO's blood in order to make Nomu's for his new benefactor. Garaki knows most bodies are unable to handle the quirk which is why he hasn't given it to himself or someone else so that they could have the quirk permanently.
- I wanted Shimura Mai (Nana in cannon) to be more widely recognized in this world. She might not have has the OfA abilities that All Might had, but I see no reason for her to not have been famous at the time.
- Nana has flight along with the strength booster which is what makes her into the powerhouse that she is. Similar to Tomura, the reasoning behind the boost will be fleshed out more in later chapters
- De-aged Nana will be a major character in the story so if that's not your cup of tea no worries but this might not be the fic for you
Thanks for reading and see you guys next time!