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Chapter 2

A Diverging Path

When Kei Shirogane woke up in Theldesia for the first time as Shiroe, there had been a strange sort of detachment involved. He had been . . . calm. Collected. Not himself.

Because he was too tall, and he gripped the magic staff as if he had grown up with one in his hand, and his ears twitched and it was normal -

If Kei Shirogane had been just Kei Shirogane then he would have probably curled up in a ball and sobbed from the sheer pressure of other echoing back at him from his own mind. But he wasn't just Kei, he was also Shiroe, level ninety half-Alv Enchanter, and at that moment his instincts had told him to be quiet, listen, observe. Then act.

And in that moment, he had listened.

While the other Adventurers collapse under their own grief, Shiroe gathered allies, formed alliances, and moved forward.

Maybe if he'd had a moment to himself, a moment to really consider what had happened and not just on the what happens next - maybe things would have been different. Maybe Kei Shirogane, socially awkward, shy Shirogane, would have bent under the expectations that fell on his shoulders. But then, at that moment, he couldn't be Shirogane. He had to be Shiroe.

And Shiroe wouldn't falter. He couldn't.

At that moment, at that time, he made a decision, and Kei Shirogane was buried somewhere deep inside of him, tucked away out of sight with all of his insecurities and faults. In his place, Shiroe became a pillar of strength, a legend both before and after the Apocalypse.

Because in that moment, the Adventurers hadn't needed some hero to follow. They already had plenty of those scattered among them: Strong, capable warriors that fought and lead their troops through battle, but not necessarily off of it.

No, they hadn't needed a strong hero.

They'd needed someone smart. Someone who could outthink their opponent rather than just throwing more bodies at it. They'd needed a villain.

And even if they never asked for it. They got him. The Villain in Glasses.

He'd taken this new world by storm. Underhanded tactics, politics, spies, information networks, he had them all, and he used them like no one else in the game was capable of. He was truly a villain to be feared.

Because by their third year in, the very mention of his name had enemies running scared.

"The Villain in Glasses," they said, "Can tear you into little pieces, chew you up, and spit you out alive. And he doesn't even have to be there to do it."

Just like he'd done to anyone who opposed him in Akihabara. Just like he'd done to Plant Hwyaden. And no one wanted to mention what happened to the Genius after he figured out their tricks.

Shiroe was, in essence, the perfect villain.

And so, when the ground around him suddenly burst into a miniature glowing circle that looked suspiciously like disabled transportation circle in the center of Akihabara, he didn't panic.

Okay, when the circle flared and swallowed him in a cloud of pale blue light, he might have been a little freaked out.

But they had planned for this. He wasn't the only one to fall victim to a transportation circle or fairy ring, and he wouldn't be the last. It may take a while, but his guild would find him. He just . . . had to figure out where he was first.

For several moments, everything was white around him. And silent. The kind of silence that sends shivers down your spine. Even if it had only been a few seconds, it still felt like hours, as if time itself were of no consideration.

For all he knew, it might not be.

Deep breaths. One step at a time.

Shiroe shifted, and felt his feet slide over solid ground as the white dome around him began to wisp away in long, trailing strings that flew outwards, revealing more of his surroundings.

Shiroe had landed in a slight crouch, his knees bend and his staff held lightly in his hand, ready for action. You never know what you might encounter on the other side of a fairy circle, and Shiroe was not about to be caught unaware.

The first thing he noted . . . was a wall.

A . . . perfectly normal wall. One you might see in any of the small apartments in Akihabara, if a little more chipped and faded then what he was used to.

It was also dark. Shiroe had to blink several times before his enhanced vision kicked in and the details of the room around him sharpened. After several moments he shifted and carefully stood. His ears twitched slightly under his dark hair as he picked up the sound of several other people breathing in the room. There were still some whisps drifting around his feet, but he paid them no mind as he shifted slightly, looking over his shoulder -

And locking eyes with a young man with startlingly familiar features.

Shiroe felt his own face go blank as he gazed at himself, tied up and frozen in shock on the ground.

Well . . . this is a little odd.

The boy was in a uniform, one that would not be uncommon in his own home world if he were still a highschool student. But Shiroe had spent the last six years in Theldesia, and no one wore clothing like that anyone. It was too impractical for fighting.

This . . . might be a little more complicated than I expected.

He clicked his glasses back up on his nose as he tore his eyes away to examine the rest of the room. There were two others in the room as well. One man was dressed all in black with a . . . scarf floating in the air around him and almost mummifying the second man.

His eyes narrowed.

The boy is a hostage, clearly a victim in all of this. The men are fighting each other, -

And he was obviously not going to acknowledge the obviously not normal powers being displayed in front of him right now.

- and there is some sort of circle drawn around me. This is reminding me oddly of a summoning circle . . . no, it is a summoning circle. Did I honestly just get summoned into yet another world? Please don't tell me my luck is that bad . . .

The second man somehow managed to wiggle out of the restraints around him, and danced away from the second attempt to catch him again as he spun toward Shiroe. Shiroe himself tightened his grip on his staff and felt his back go ridgid. He did not like that smile . . .

The man stopped a few feet in front of Shiroe, and his grin became impossibly wider. Shiroe could see the madness festering unchecked behind the other's dark eyes. It reminded him of the guild who purposefully got themselves killed over and over again just so that they could see brief glimpses of the world they had left behind.

(Soon enough, they'd had no memories left to give, and no reason to really continue. They had lost what they so desperately pursued due to their own foolish actions, and there had been nothing Shiroe could do but stand aside and watch.)

The man didn't even seem to notice Shiroe's own wariness as he bowed deeply, One arm crossed over his front and the other gesturing out grandly to sweep the room around them.

"I welcome you," the obvious crazy man began, "to our world."

Shiroe's eyes narrowed further. So, this was planned.

"Villain in Glasses."

Ice. In his lungs. Grk. How in the world(s) did this crazy know his title?

From the shock on the other's faces, this was certainly a surprise to them, too. So, just the crazy again. Shiroe tilted his head slightly, disguising the slight shift in his body as he carefully tightened his grip on his staff.

"Well," Shiroe spoke calmly, keeping himself from any obvious tells, "This is certainly unexpected."

The crazy's grin became impossibly wider. "It is a pleasure to meet you, My Lord. The rumors are undoubtedly true. Your very presence is enough to shake these false heroes existence. It is truly an honor to greet you-"

Shiroe lashed out with his staff so quickly that even Akatsuki would have had a hard time following its path. Within seconds, the hard wooden curve at the end impacted the man's head, cutting him off with a choked gasp and sending him spiraling into the white cloth that had lunged out to grab the man in that exact moment.

The crazy dropped into his new nest of bandages without a sound, eyes rolling into the back of his head and grin slackening slightly but still there. The second set of bandages that had been aimed directly at Shiroe were easily sidestepped as he carefully jumped back out of the summoning circle. Turning, he gave a lazy shrug at the man in black and clicked his glasses up on his nose again.

"Now that that's taken care of," Shiroe began, his voice gaining a slight hint of irritation, "Can someone please explain what in the world is going on?"

The black haired man with bandages floating around him stared Shiroe down with narrow, squinting eyes. There were scars around the edges, as if at one point his entire face had impacted the ground. Repeatedly. The man's eyes flickered between Shiroe and his identical copy still tied up on the ground, and then he grunted.

"Problem child," The man spoke to the boy still tied up on the ground in a tired, gravely voice, "This is your fault."

0~o~0

Villain in Glasses.

Honestly, on its own it wasn't a name that inspired fear. Aizawa had faced hundreds of villains with names that echoed their personalities perfectly. Cruel, dangerous, insane, he'd faced them all.

He might have even laughed if he'd seen this name on a police report. Who calls themselves the Villain in Glasses?

He wasn't laughing now.

The leftover blue glow highlighted the cloaked figure in an ominous light, and sharp cheekbones were thrown into stark shadows as the white cloak flapped lightly in the dispitating wind.

Glasses, hiding the sharp, calculating gaze that had swept over him and left him paralized the second it had been resting on him.

The last time he had felt something like this . . . the last time . . .

The last time, it had been All for One.

And the way that the other had reacted had been trained. He'd landed in the middle of an unknown situation, analyzed his surroundings, deduced what was going on and how they fought, and then picked a side by taking out the weakest link. If it had just been the gaze, or the reaction to the villain, Aizawa might have been able to write it off but -

"Now that that's taken care of," the voice was cold, emotionless, "Can someone please explain what in the world is going on?"

The cloaked figure had dodged his capture scarf without even looking, planned for it, even. All within the few seconds that he had existed in this world.

This . . . he wasn't paid enough to deal with this.

At least this Villain in Glasses didn't look like he was going to attack them at the moment, though that might have something to do with the curious glance that he kept shooting Iida out of the corner of his eyes.

After several moments of silence, Aizawa forced himself to relax slightly as he backed down from the silent standoff he and the villain were in. Unlike someone else he was familiar with, he knew when to pick his battles. And right now? His instincts were telling him to back down. Without taking his eyes off of the figure before him, he grunted irritably at Iida.

"Problem child," Aizawa could feel the exhaustion in his own voice, "This is your fault."

Aizawa was an underground hero. He didn't get paid enough to deal with this.

0~o~0

As an important part of the police force, Naomasa Tsukauchi had run into a lot of interesting situations. All Might himself was a headache to deal with. Friend or not, the retired hero somehow managed to land in the middle of the craziest situations Naomasa had faced.

His friendship and connections with the heros had also made him the person every time there was a situation.

And, well, the last time a UA student had been kidnapped . . . yeah, the police force wasn't taking any chances.

Thankfully, the information he had been provided with when he arrived on the scene indicated that this attack wasn't an organized strike from the League of Villains. Still, he hadn't really been sure what he expected from the situation. Eraserhead had crashed through the upper window without warning, sending the force into radio panic as everyone tried to figure out what was going on. There had been shouting over the comms then what sounded like wind.

And then there had been a pop comm went silent.

Naomasa had told the police to hold back for the moment. They had no real idea what they were dealing with, but he was confident that Eraserhead would be able to handle the situation. That man was one of the only heroes that Naomasa had full trust in to take care of any situation that he ran into.

Even so, the detective did a double take as he saw the figure walking out the front door of the apartment building.

"Iida?" he whispered, then shook his head as a shiver ran down his spine when the other locked onto him the moment that he saw the police force in front of the building. Naomasa didn't the speed quirked UA student well, but he did know that this wasn't Iida.

Moments later Eraserhead appeared in the doorway with the real Iida leaning on his shoulder and the villain they'd identified being dragged behind them. Naomasa hesitated for a moment before stepping forward, keeping a sharp eye on the cloaked figure as he walked toward the underground hero.

"Eraserhead, I see the mission was a success . . ?" he asked with a lightly questioning tone as he tilted his head slightly to their unexpected addition.

Eraserhead scowled, "A success. Sure, let's call it that."

The perfectly bland smile that he got back from the unfamiliar figure put Naomasa on edge, and he shifted half a foot to the side without even realizing it. Softly he cleared his throat to cover his unease as he turned to face the unknown man. Regardless of his looks and - costume? - outfit, Eraserhead didn't seem to be treating him as an enemy, which meant he was probably a civilian that got caught up in all of this.

"I am sorry, but this is a private police matter. I don't know how you got involved, but if you would give your statements to one of my officers we will let you be on your way . . ?"

"Detective," Eraserhead spoke up, and Naomasa glanced over only to blink in surprise as the tired hero straightened from his slight slouch and look him dead in the eyes. "I wouldn't go letting that one go just yet."

"What . . . ?" Naomasa frowned, and then felt ice shoot down his spine as he glanced back at the figure that he had just been talking to. The man's face was perfectly blank, but his head had tilted just enough for the detective to catch the look in his eyes, and his breath hitched in the back of his throat.

Dark eyes watched his every twitch, like a snake watching a mouse, ready to strike at the first show of weakness.

"Hello Detective," the voice was smooth and calming, but Naomasa felt anything calm pinned under the calculating gaze of the other figure, "I was told that you might be able to answer a few of my questions? My name is-"

"The Villain in Glasses."

Naomasa almost jumped as Eraserhead appeared next to him, keeping a wary eye on the stranger, but it was his words that made him freeze.

Villain . . . ?

"Ah," there was a soft click as their guest pushed his glasses up slightly on his face. Glass flashed bright, memorizing white, and it almost felt like the very air around them dropped ten degrees, "I really need to stop being introduced like that. It might leave the wrong impression."

His smile was cold cold cold -

"Let me restart. Hello Detective, my name is Shiroe, and I seem to have found myself summoned into your world."

0~o~0

Aaaaaand I could have gone on, but I am tired, and dizzy, and I just really want to post this. Please let me know what you think and where you think this is going! I am still trying to get into character for Shiroe. I am not sure if I am portraying him right yet.

Home you all like it! Please let me know what you think!