Disclaimer: Boku no Hero Academia characters and plot events belongs to Horikoshi Kohei.
To Be a Hero
unforeseeable events
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"Tsukauchi-kun!" All Might, in his emaciated form, greeted his detective friend as he walked into a quaint cafe. It was early in the morning and the hero was called to meet up. "How are you, my friend!"
"The task force picked up on what we believe is underground villain movement after the capture of Stain, so we've been busy sniffing out trails while continuing to work on locating the League of Villains," the man explained and beckoned for the hero to sit down. He had already ordered a cup of coffee for the both of them. "But that's not what I called you here for today. Remember when you asked me to talk to your student with the missing brother?"
After that day he revealed both the knowledge of Shiro's brother and his true form to the girl, All Might had enlisted Tsukauchi's help to find the missing brother. He knew he could trust his friend as he was good at his job.
"Ah, I trust you got something?"
Tsukauchi nodded slightly as he pulled out a file for the hero to view, "We have someone on the task force with a kind of photographic memory Quirk working as a sketch artist. With Aisaka-san's permission, she was able to find the image of what her brother looked like in her memories and photographed a perfect replica. Aisaka-san's memories are still hazy, but she was able to provide enough characteristics on the missing boy to form a complete picture."
Opening the file, All Might took in the appearance of a young boy. He was probably no more than eight years of age, with messy black hair and ruby eyes. His complexion looked sickly, but the most striking feature was that mole under the right of his lips and in this memory picture, the boy was grinning shyly.
Seeing the familiar characteristic reminded him of his deceased mentor and it brought a sad expression on his face.
"All Might?"
The hero blinked out of his trance and realized that he was staring a little too intently. "Oh, sorry!" he apologized with sigh. "I was thinking if I have seen him anywhere during that fire. I think I would have noticed if he was around..."
"Don't beat yourself over it," Tsukauchi comforted just as a waiter came by to set down two aromatic cups of coffee. He thanked the guy before continuing, "I'll have this picture run through a software to age it up to this year. It's not 100 percent accurate, but it'll give us some idea of what the boy would look like as a young adult if he is still around."
"Thank you, Tsukauchi-kun. This is a great help," All Might smiled as he slid the picture back to the detective, but then he paused briefly, "Do you mind if I keep a copy?"
"Not at all," the man waved. "Actually, that is a copy. Our sketch artist made a few after Aisaka-san requested to keep one for herself as well. She seemed very happy to be able to see the memory of her brother more clearly in a picture. I'm glad we're able to help even just a little for now."
Shiro stared at the picture in her hands for a little while longer before tucking it back safely into the small clutch wallet in her backpack. She was no longer feeling sad or lost; even if the picture wasn't proof that her brother may still be around today, she somehow felt confident that he was.
There were very few memories that she can remember of him, but the feeling of warmth and sibling bond lingered.
Tenko...
"The hell are you spacing out for?"
Shiro turned to her side and saw Bakugou with his hands shoved inside his pockets and his usual scowl on his face. She realized that he called out to her because she was sort of blocking the way into U.A.'s security gates. On a normal day she would be snarky back, but today she was in a good mood and knowing what happened to the blonde during the exam yesterday (he was beat up good by All Might already), she decided to be nice.
"Good morning to you too."
Bakugou looked startled for half a second before he scoffed. "Whatever," he said, attempting to walk past the girl so he could get to class.
Shiro followed behind naturally. She wanted to asked about his arms, but she figured the peace would probably be ruined if she mentioned anything related to the practical and so she kept her mouth shut. It was always like that with the blonde and anything can set him off. Even at the internships...
I still have his shirt, she groaned internally. I was suppose to return it.
"Hey..."
"What?" he replied with a lack of interest.
"We have a day off tomorrow. Do you mind if I come by or whatever..." she said in a hushed tone due to being embarrassed that she was requesting to go to his house in the first place, "...so I can return your stupid shirt."
Bakugou blinked for a moment before registering her words. "The fuck are you talking about? What shirt—" he stopped midway because he remembered. It had been so uncharacteristic of him to lent her a shirt to let her sleep undisturbed in the first place... Being so nice gave him the chills and now being faced with the girl wanting to return his shirt because she knew of his good deed was embarrassing. It was like he was caught red-handed.
"I even washed it. Just... Give me your address, alright?" she muttered lowly.
Did she wear it?
Imagining the girl wearing his favorite shirt did something to him.
Wait, why the fuck do I want to know anyway?!
"Why are you giving me that look?" Shiro's eyes narrowed slightly when the male's expression was morphed into a mixture of emotions that couldn't quite be deciphered, and she didn't like it. "If you don't want it, then just say so. I'll throw it out or something."
"Do—Do whatever you want with that shit!" he shouted and stomped away to avoid the hot blush to be seen on his face. He left the girl with a confused scowl on her face as his stomach did somersaults. "Fuck!" he shouted after he was a distance away. He did want that shirt back.
"Everyone... I'm looking forward... To hearing your stories... About training camp..." Mina sobbed in front of the class.
That was how Shiro walked into the classroom. The air was heavy around the dejected looking students and she could see why. As promised by Aizawa, Kirishima, Sato, Kaminari and Mina wouldn't be able to go with the rest of the class to the training camp since they failed the practical.
"W-We don't know for sure yet!" Midoriya tried his best to console the depressed group. "There might be a last minute twist!"
"Stop, Midoriya. If you say out loud, it'll probably jinx it," Sero set a hand on the male's shoulder.
"If we failed the exams, then we'd have to skip training camp and be in summer school hell. And since we didn't pass the practical exam... If you guys still don't get it, then you're dumber than monkeys!" Kaminari exclaimed with depressed anger as he jabbed Midoriya's face. "It's hell!"
"Calm down," Sero sweat-dropped and pointed to himself. "I don't know, either. My team passed thanks to Mineta, but I was just sleeping the whole time. Anyway, since we don't know how they're scoring it..."
"If you feel bad for us, then I dunno, just bring me back lots of stuff!"
The door of the classroom slid open abruptly as Aizawa entered. His face was grim like usual as the students scrambled away from the door. "Get in your seats once the bell rings," the hero ordered in monotone. The classroom became dead silent as he walked up to the podium. "Morning. Unfortunately, there are those who did not pass the final exams. Accordingly, for the training camp in the woods..."
The four held back a tear and prepared to hear their verdict.
"...Everyone's going!"
"A last minute twist!" they shouted with relief.
"We can go, too?!" Kirishima asked excitedly. Gone were the tears and depression.
"Yeah," Aizawa explained. "No one failed the written exam. In the practical, Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, Sato, and Sero failed."
"I knew it..." Sero covered his face with shock. "Just because my team passed didn't mean I scored high enough to not fail..."
"For this time's exam, we on the villain side made sure to leave a way for the students to win while watching to see how you all will take on the task at hand. If we haven't, most of you would've gotten stuck before you started."
Ojiro looked confused, "So when you said you were really out to crush us..."
"That was to make you feel cornered. In the first place, the training camp in the woods is one to increase strength. So those who failed need it the most. They have to get stronger," Aizawa said before he gave the students smug grin, "It was a rational falsehood."
'A rational falsehood'? Shiro thought with sigh. She was happy for her classmates to be going on the trip, but she should've expected the hero to be so deceptive. She didn't blame Iida then, for expressing that his faith in the hero would waver for being lied to twice already. Aizawa didn't seem concerned but placated the class president.
"I'll consider it. But I wasn't lying about everything. Failure is still failure," his eyes narrowed and the five that were celebrating paused midway with unease. "We have prepared a separate time for extra lessons for you five. Frankily, it'll be tougher than the extra lessons you'd get if you stayed at school."
It was as if the five turned into dust that that moment. A small breeze could carry them away.
As school let out in the afternoon, the students of class 1-A gathered around to talk about their excitement to all be able to go to camp. They had the day off tomorrow, and many of them needed to start looking over the things listed on the pamphlet so that they can be prepared to live in the woods for a week.
"Let's all go shopping together as a class!" Hagakure suggested with a cheerful tone.
"Good idea!" Kaminari was on board immediately. "Wouldn't this make the first time we all hung out together?"
Uraraka nodded happily as Shiro thought over the prospect of going to the mall together with the entire class. She didn't need to get a lot of things since she owned a lot of camping stuff. Aizawa has taught in U.A. for a few years already, after all. She was only thinking if the whole class went, including Bakugou, then she can give him back the shirt without making it too obvious.
"Hey, Bakugou!" Kirishima called out to the blonde who was about to walk out the door. "You're coming, too!"
"Like I'd do something so irritating."
Or not, Shiro frowned.
"Will you come, too, Todoroki-kun?" Midoriya walked up to the dual-Quirk user with hopeful eyes. However, the male shook his head.
"I go visit my mom on our days off."
"Shiro-chan!" Hagakure tugged on the girl's arm to gain her attention. "You'll go, right?"
"I'll think about it," she replied.
"Don't be party poopers!" Mineta complained. Well, he didn't quite care if Bakugou or Todoroki went, but Shiro should go because she was a girl! It would be so nice to be surrounded by all of his female classmates and see where they went shopping. They'll try on cute clothes and maybe even go to an underwear shop! He couldn't wait!
"You're not thinking about something dirty, are you Mineta-chan?" Tsuyu asked.
"No!" he denied immediately and pumped his fist in the air. "So we'll all go to the mall tomorrow!"
Ding dong!
Bakugou Mitsuki was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for her lovely husband and son when she heard the doorbell ring. Letting out a small huff since she knew both of the males were upstairs and her son would die before doing something as nice as opening the door for someone, she shut off the stove and walked over with a spatula in hand.
"Who is it—!" she demanded before growing silent to take in the sight of a pretty girl with silver-blue hair who was around her son's age, wearing ripped shorts and a thin, green utility jacket over a white crop top. Mitsuki blinked several times in confusion since she thinks she's seen the girl from somewhere. Katsuki's classmate?
"Is this the Bakugou residence?" the girl inquired, the bag in her hand crinkled slightly due to her tight grip.
"That's correct... Oh, I recognize you now!" Mitsuki realized with a brighter look. "You're the girl who won third place at the sports festival. You also went against my son, right?"
"Yes... I'm Aisaka Shiragiku. People usually call me Shiro," Shiro introduced herself to the older woman. It was a surprise to see such a youthful looking woman open the door for her since she half-expected to see Bakugou's scowling face, but she could definitely see the resemblance between mother and son. "I just stopped by to return something to Prick—ehem, Bakugou. I'll take my leave after this."
Mitsuki peered at what looked like a black shirt inside the bag before she caught the girl who was trying to leave. "Wait!" the woman grinned. "You came all this way to return something to my idiot son, so stay a little. I'm making breakfast!"
"I shouldn't—"
"I don't want to hear it! Come!"
Shiro found herself being ushered inside unexpectedly by the demanding woman. She had only gotten the address from Midoriya to quickly drop off the article of clothing since Bakugou looked like he wanted the shirt back despite his rude disposition and was planning to head to the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall to meet up with the rest of the class by noon... But now, it seems she will be eating breakfast with the Bakugou family.
"Katsuki! Get your ass down here!"
"DON'T SHOUT AT ME IN THE MORNING, OLD LADY!"
"SHUT UP! GET DOWN HERE BEFORE I SMACK YOU DOWN THE STAIRS!" Mitsuki shouted angrily up the stairs, startling the girl even more as she realized who the blonde male must've inherited his anger/shouting issues. The blonde male appeared at the top of the staircase in just his boxers and a toothbrush in his mouth. When he saw Shiro, his eyes widened and the toothbrush nearly dropped on the ground.
"Why're you at my house, Pigtails?!"
"Put on some clothes, dumbass!" Mitsuki's anger flared seeing her son being so rude to a guest. "And greet your classmate properly! She came all this way to give you back your shirt! You better not have been sleeping around!"
"What the fuck?!" Bakugou shouted with an embarrassed scowl at his mother's accusation. "Of course not! I'll kill you, old lady!"
"Let's all calm down," Bakugou Masaru, after hearing his wife and son yelling at each other, immediately came out to clear the air. He was soft-spoken and kind, the complete opposite of the two. He pushed his rabid son towards the bathroom with an apologetic look at Shiro, "We'll be down for breakfast in a few minutes. Please make yourself at home. We always love to have friends of Katsuki's coming over."
No, I was going to leave... Shiro could only think helplessly to herself as Mitsuki ushered her towards the kitchen with a bright grin in place. The food that was already on the table gave off a nice aroma, and it looked like the woman had prepared an American-styled breakfast for her family with pancakes, bacon, and a large bowl of fruits. She was making eggs, too, before Shiro rang the doorbell.
"How do you like your eggs, Shiro?"
"Scrambled," Shiro replied since she didn't get much of a chance to ever have an American-styled breakfast. Mitsuki was kind to her (even if Shiro had only seen the woman's raging side with her son) and she felt that this was what it felt like to have a female parental figure... It really seemed nice to have a complete family to eat breakfast with every morning, but she was content with eating breakfast with Aizawa. He was a whole family to her.
"Katsuki likes his eggs scrambled, too!" the woman smiled and got to work. "So, I take it you and my son are friends?"
Shiro tilted her head slightly at the question. Were they even friends? "Sort of...?"
'Sort of'? Oh... Mitsuki looked thoughtful; the returned shirt made sense now. "Who would've thought with his attitude problem..." she turned back with a small smirk. "Well, I'm glad. Be patient with him, okay?"
"What shitty nonsense are you saying now, old lady?!" Bakugou stomped his way into the kitchen after he was done cleaning up and put on proper clothes. There was a tinge of pink on his cheeks as he roughly pulled out a chair and sat next to Shiro. "Gimme my eggs! I'm fucking starving!"
"Ungrateful brat," Mitsuki slapped the blonde upside the head with a mutter. She first served Shiro a glistening plate of fluffy scrambled eggs before setting one down for her son. "See? This one requires a shit ton of patience."
"Thank you for taking care of our son. I know he can be a bit rough at times," Masaru sat down at the table across from Shiro with the morning newspaper in hand and smiled slightly. "Please feel free to come visit often, now that you two are... Hmm wait, they are, aren't they honey?" he turned to his wife.
"Yeah, I just asked!"
"Ah, then that's wonderful!"
Shiro blinked a few times, wondering if the parents had misunderstood something or if she had missed something crucial since she had no idea what they were talking about. Bakugou only grumbled angrily as he scarfed down his food, deciding to tune everyone out because they were annoying him on this shitty day off.
"So, are you two planning to do anything fun on your day off?" Masaru asked like a proud father.
"I was going to head to the Kiyashi Ward," Shiro supplied after swallowing some pancakes. It was so light and fluffy, it was amazing! She looked at the time and thinks that she can still make it, even if she was going to be a little late meeting up with her classmates.
"Oh, that big shopping mall!" Mitsuki's eyes lit up and she rubbed her son's head roughly, "That's great that Katsuki's going with you!"
"Let go of me!" Bakugou glared, swatting his mother's hand away. "Who said I was?!"
"Ha?" the woman's gaze was even harsher than the boy's as she gave him a feral grin. "You're going to let Shiro go by herself? What kind of man are you? A shitty one?"
"What the fuck!"
"Don't worry. He acts like that, but Katsuki will go with you," Masaru smiled at Shiro in reassurance, though she didn't know why. She had done her task in giving the blonde back his shirt, and there was no point for him to go shopping with her and the rest of class 1-A if he didn't want to.
She thinks that Bakugou's parents definitely must have misunderstood something...
Why did he come with again?
Shiro really couldn't figure out the blonde. One moment he was shouting at his mother and the next moment she found him grabbing her and storming out the door. Now, his irritated expression was scaring kids on the streets as they walked towards the large shopping mall after getting off the subway. She didn't get to say much during the ride since she got motion sickness, but now she was adamant to know.
"I thought going shopping with the class was too irritating for you," she remarked.
Bakugou shoved his hands in his jean pockets and pouted angrily, "If I go back now that old lady's gonna kill me. What the hell did you say to her? Why does she like you so much?!"
"How should I know?" Shiro shot back with a frown. Though she felt happy that the woman apparently liked her so much; to think of it, she got a similar response from Todoroki's older sister. Both women had great hospitality and manners, though Mitsuki was unfiltered around her son. "It's not my fault you have a terrible attitude problem."
"You wanna say that to my face, Pigtails?!"
"I just did, Prickhead."
"Die!"
However, Shiro was no longer paying attention to him because she caught sight of an ice cream stand in the vast outdoor mall. Bakugou cursed and followed suit since he didn't like being in a crowd of shoppers alone. It was annoying. It was nearly two already, and he doubted that the group was still waiting for people to show up. They will just be walking around on their own.
But for some reason, it didn't feel so bad now that it was just the two of them.
"Here you go, young miss!"
Shiro paid the vendor for the strawberry ice cream and a small grin stretched on her face since she loved the flavor. The man handed her change and she juggled the cone on one hand while stuffing the money back into her wallet. As she was doing that, someone bumped into her left shoulder and caused her to drop the wallet. It sprawled open on the ground and the picture of her missing brother that she got from Detective Tsukauchi dropped out.
"Oh no," she frowned and immediately went to pick up the picture, brushing off the dirt before slipping it back into the wallet with care. Her eyes landed on the person who bumped into her on accident. He was wearing a black hoodie, and his head was hung low so she couldn't see what he looked like but he was frozen in his spot for a moment after her wallet fell. "Hey, I'm sorry—"
Her voice fell flat when the male quickly walked away and blended into the throng of shoppers.
That was weird, she narrowed her ruby eyes with curiosity, but shrugged a moment later to finally enjoy her ice cream. At least she didn't drop that; it would've made a huge mess and she would've wasted her money.
"Oi, don't just walk off like that," Bakugou came up behind her and glared at her ice cream with a ticked off look. She left me for fucking ice cream!
Seeing him eye her ice cream like it was his mortal enemy, Shiro found it a little funny and waved it around the male's face to see what he would do. Bakugou shot her a daring look before chomping down on the cold treat like a barbaric caveman.
"What the hell!" Shiro yelled in surprise and retracted her hand. There were visible teeth marks and a large chunk missing from her ice cream. "Why did you take a bite! And who eats ice cream like that?!"
Bakugou didn't show any signs that he got a brain-freeze or tooth pain from what he did and smirked at her with an arrogant look. "Don't wave food in front of my face if you don't want it eaten," he licked his lips. "Strawberry's such a shitty flavor, too."
Yet you took a giant bite... Shiro felt her anger bubble as she pouted like a child. If it wasn't for his mother so graciously feeding her a good meal, she would've thrown the leftover ice cream at his face. Instead, she decided to lick the part that wasn't bitten and glared at him with spite, "Maybe you just have shitty taste."
He was almost mad at her for that remark but found that he couldn't when she was making a cute face like that while licking the ice cream. Of course out of all the people he could like, it had to be her. "You're..." he grumbled.
"I'm what, Prickhead?" she challenged. Bakugou scrunched up his face and turned his back to her.
"Attention shoppers. The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall will be temporarily closed. Please head to the nearest exits to be checked out by security. We are very sorry for the inconvenience."
The two raised their heads up towards the intercoms with confusion and alarm.
"I think I see Midoriya-san—" Shiro barely caught sight of the head of curly green hair before a large group of shoppers headed her way. Bakugou latched his hand on hers and pulled her over towards him so that they wouldn't be separated.
"Oi, stay close or you'll get trampled!" he grunted. This was why he hated shopping malls. "Something big must've happened if the whole mall is going to be closed and people have to go through security to leave. They must want to conduct some investigation without civilians present in case of danger. We're not involved so let's go, Pigtails."
"But..." she found that there was no fault in the male's logic and it was the right thing to do. "You're right."
"I always am," he scoffed.
As they walked towards the exit together, they didn't speak about how their hands were still intertwined.
Shigaraki was grinning like a madman as he slipped out of the mall and into a dark alleyway. He was so excited that he could barely contain his body from shaking. The encounter he had with Midoriya was so useful because he got his answer.
It was like he had originally thought. Everything was All Might's fault! The reason why Stain was so popular and gaining attention when his league had to piggyback on his fame... It was caused by All Might as well. People may think that he has an unjustified hatred towards the hero, but it was more than justified. Just how many times will the hero get in between and ruin his life?
But now... That won't happen anymore because Shigaraki will make sure of it. He'll even take in as many of those little shits that Giran introduces him to make that possible. He clawed at his heart and laughed, the sound echoing dully in the empty alley. Today, he was also finally able to see an error to his hatred for his sister.
He thought she forgot all about him after being saved by All Might and associated herself with the Pro Heroes... He thought she abandoned him and so he cursed her existence. But she hadn't forgotten about him at all! Even back then, back at USJ—that's right, she merely didn't recognize him because she had been torn away from his side for so long!
How else can he explain seeing the picture of him in her wallet? She cared so much about him to be carrying it on her always!
Shigaraki dug out the torn picture of Shiro he kept with him all this time as well and grinned like a maniac. They were the same. They were still connected. He wasn't mad at her anymore; he didn't want her to die on sight. She wasn't a mini-boss that needed to be defeated, she was the treaure!
He wanted her to come back to his side like she used to, to tell him that she loves him.
And he will make sure of it!
"I'll destroy everything that gets in the way of me and Shiragiku... Hah..."
"You seem happy, Master," Ujiko Daruma noted. "Is it because the League of Villains is growing steadily?"
All For One found the doctor's words hilarious and let out a small chuckle. He was watching the screen that showed his charge and successor, Shigaraki, who had returned to the makeshift headquarters and got Kurogiri to bring in Giran once again. It seems that he had made up his mind correctly after some time being outside today.
"It's because Shigaraki Tomura has conviction now," he said. Even though most of his face was badly scarred and he had to be hooked up with multiple medical equipments due to his battle with All Might six years ago, he let the smile grow on his face undeterred. "The League of Villains needs people who approve of his convictions. I will have him decide everything. If he asks for help, then I will save him, of course. I've even been preparing for that time."
Ujiko glanced at the rows of containers of submerged Nomus and nodded. "I was worried that Shigaraki Tomura would have some trouble because he's so unstable. It seems I was wrong."
"He won't let anything stop him now. It was perhaps a stroke of luck that he saw his sister today, and she did all the convincing needed for me," All For One grinned. "The motivation to get her back to his side will allow Shigaraki to grow and get stronger. He will become the next me."
Is Shigaraki creepy? Yes, yes he is. Do I still love writing about him? Yes, yes I do. Please leave a review on what you think about this chapter! We'll soon be getting into the thicket of the plot.