AN: This chapter was reformatted on 9/26/2021.

This chapter was over two years old and was in need of some editing. If you are a prior reader, don't worry, the content is the same plot wise. I have just made corrections to character delivery and narrative voice. If any discrepancies strike your eye as a reader, please let me know and I will be sure to correct them.


For a second, everything was black and then she emerged into a large room. Across one wall, were a series of screens, each displaying different places; one, she noticed, displayed a view of the bar, while another showed a row of tubes, inside of which floated big, purple, muscular, bird faced, humanoid, things.

"Ahem-" a voice came from her right.

Chisaki spun around. Now with her back to the screens, she properly surveyed the rest of the room, and saw the hulking curiosity that filled the rest of that space.

Against the far wall, facing the screens, was a large throne like seat, behind which rumbled a mass of machinery. Sitting in that seat, looking at her expectantly, was a man. His face was so heavily scarred that he had no eyes that she could see, nor any hair. Protruding from his throat came a long dark pipe and small IVs jutted out from his arms and the sides of his neck. Her eyes followed the tubes and wires back to the amalgamation of machinery.

For a moment, she could only stare at the array, shocked; almost terrified. She wasn't sure how she should react.

She thought for a moment about how this man looked and how she had gotten so excited to see that 'Sensei' man again.

Her heart fell. So, she was not here to meet her 'Sensei' after all. The man she had met all those years ago certainly hadn't looked like this…

The man before her cleared his throat. Chisaki jumped, startled, her face turning red in embarrassment.

He must have caught her staring.

"Um…" She began, awkwardly.

"It's nice to see you again, Chisaki Midoriya." The man said with a warm smile.

Her heart stopped in her chest and her eyes flew wide with shock and wonder.

"No! It can't be…"

"It's been six years, if I remember correctly."

"I— It is you! B-but you didn't look like this." She sputtered in confusion.

He gave a small laugh. "Yes. I can understand your confusion. At the time I had to use a quirk to hide my face. As I'm sure that you can imagine, my appearance is not very… ah… palatable. Unfortunately, if I were to be seen like this on the street, I would be locked away faster than you can blink."

"Oh… I see." Chisaki said, nodding numbly, still trying to reconcile her hopes and memories with reality. Her eyes fell on the colossal tangle of machinery around him. "Um, what about all of this? Where'd this come from?"

Sensei gave a little laugh. "A bit of a spectacle, I know. I wish that I didn't need it, unfortunately all of this is vital to keeping me alive and healthy."

Chisaki's brows nit in worry and she leaned in as if the proximity would reveal some evidence to his situation. "Are you okay? Do you have some kind of condition?"

"Ah…" He gave a small chuckle. "Not quite." Sensei seemed to watch her for a second, although she couldn't quite tell since his eyes were obscured by those nasty scars. "Would you like to take a seat? You've been standing for quite a while." He motioned her towards the center of the room, to the empty air.

"Oh, um, sure." Chisaki said, startled, she hadn't realized how long she had been standing for. She looked around for a chair or somewhere to sit.

To her amazement, the man before her snapped his fingers and the ground to which he'd pointed began to spark with strange lightning. Suddenly a rectangle of ground rose up to about her waist and a slate of stone shot off from the ground, and rose higher than the first piece to form the back of a chair. The lightning stopped and Chisaki had to take a moment to make sure that the ground wasn't going to shift again.

"How does it look?" Sensei asked kindly.

Chisaki circled around from the back and sat down gingerly. "It-It looks good. Who knew that the ground could be so comfortable if it were just reshaped?" She said with a polite laugh.

"I am glad to hear that." He nodded and paused thoughtfully. "So, what was I saying before? Oh yes, I don't really have a 'condition' in the sense of an illness. You see, I am simply very, very, old, and a couple years ago I was seriously hurt. It just seems that my age is catching up with me and a true recovery has become… well impossible."

"Is there anything that I can do?" Chisaki asked in concern.

Sensei threw his head back and gave a deep, throaty, laugh. "Oh, God, no! I've already done everything there is to do to try and extend my life. Besides I don't have anything else I want to do here-" He paused for a moment. "Well, except for that…but that's not really my job anymore, I will be leaving my dream to my protégé after all. I have finally relinquished my claim to this world." He sighed. "I've come such a long way too. This world has come such a long way, albeit not entirely in the right direction."

"What do you mean?" Chisaki asked, curious.

Sensei tilted his head at her thoughtfully. "I don't want to impose my ideals on you…they're not the most socially accepted."

She smiled a small smile. "I mean no offense Sensei; but I'm quirkless, my existence itself isn't socially accepted."

Sensei let loose a barking laugh. "Well I suppose that a history lesson wouldn't be too nefarious…"

He paused for a moment while Chisaki got comfortable in her chair, she had a feeling that this was going to be a long story.

"I was born in a time when the majority of people were still quirkless… It's kind of ironic to think that the majority is now the minority…Back then, there was widespread unrest. Society couldn't adapt fast enough to accommodate the new development of the supernatural. At first everything was great, people were ecstatic to think that the comic book stories had come true. Things that only existed in fiction were now possible with quirks; we got Heroes and legends, but, inevitably, we got the other side of that coin. Villains and people with their own agendas rose as well. The world became exponentially more dangerous. 'Villain' groups began to form, each seeking their own stability and gain amongst the turmoil.

As time passed, more people gained quirks and society adapted to account for the masses. A new system arose to protect the civilian people, the hero system…But the problem was that the good and the bad got thrown in together. Heroes aren't pure and infallible, they're just as human as Villains..."

Chisaki cocked her head. "You said that you were born at the beginning of this." She began slowly. "The way that you talk about it, I can't imagine that you just stood by. What was your part in this 'revolution of social order'?" She watched him curiously.

Sensei's thoughtful frown dissolved into a sly, nostalgic smile. "Well, I created one of those independent 'villain' groups, I was looking to create a new order. I didn't agree with these heroes and simply moved to assert myself as a new power in that tumultuous world. I maintained my influence in the underground for a while, until I was recognized as a 'villain' and targeted by those newborn 'heroes'. My own brother opposed me, even until his death… that last bit pains me even now, it's a heavy regret of mine, not seeing him off while on good terms… Even to this day, my brother's successors are after my head… Even the Hero Association has me classified as a high-level threat." He concluded with a bitter laugh as he tugged at the wires that buried under his skin. "It's funny how life twists like this, huh?"

"Are you still…a villain?" Chisaki pressed her lips nervously. How could he admit something so earth shattering so easily?

"I suppose so…Though I've been hiding for the last ten years or so, so maybe I'm retired or something like that." He said with a dismissive laugh, doing that thing where he looked like he was looking at her.

"I-I need to process this for a moment…" She said turning away from him.

So, Sensei is a villain

Sensei is a Villain.

Sensei Is A Villain!

No…stay calm…She can't freak out, not in front of him.

She took a deep breath.

The only person to ever support my effort of becoming a hero is a villain, a big villain too. This was just too bizarre…Should she be hurt? Angry? Betrayed?

How did people react to something like this? What kind of a reaction was he looking for?

He mentioned a protégée and a 'dream'? Who was this protégée? What dream?

What was his goal? Why did he want to talk to her in the first place?

Did he still believe that she could be a hero? Did he ever believe that at all?

He obviously thought that Heroes and Villains weren't very different… Is that why he said that to her that day six years ago?

Chisaki took a deep breath and set her shoulders, deciding on a single question.

She turned around to face the man who had just shaken her world. "With all due respect, Sensei… why did you bring me here?"

He chuckled in amusement and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands in front of him, as if he expected the question and found her response predictably entertaining. "Well, I wanted to see how you were doing, Chisaki."

"You could have seen how I was doing just fine from those screens." She said coldly, motioning over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed. "Why bring me here?"

"Are you still hoping to be a hero?" He asked, his tone equally as cold, ignoring her previous question.

Chisaki flinched, taken aback by the change in his tone and his dismission of her question. "Yes." She responded icily.

"And how's that going for you?" He asked with a small grin, as if he already knew the answer.

She sat up straight but spoke as if her dangerous conversation partner were nothing more than the most suspicious stranger. "Just fine, thank you. I'm going to apply to UA."

"Oh, UA? Don't you think that you're setting your sights a bit high? Do you think they'll admit you? A quirk less little girl?"

She flinched, but quickly recovered and stood tall.

—She couldn't show him how much that hurt. But, he had hit too close to home. How had he hit her insecurities so precisely? Why?—

Her eyes slid aside guiltily. "No, honestly, I don't think they will. My chances of being accepted are slim. But I have to try. If I don't even try I'll never have any hope of succeeding."

"That's an admirable mindset…But unfortunately the world does not run on positivity. What would you do if you were given the opportunity to gain a quirk?" He asked, his voice still cold and matter of fact,devoid of that earlier cheer.

Chisaki's mind sputtered. Gain a quirk? That hadn't even occurred to her as an option? Was that even possible?

"How would that happen?" She asked dubiously.

"Well, for now, let's just play a game of 'what ifs'. We can think about how later." He said with a grin.

"Well," She began in a slow and cautious drone. "I would apply to UA and hope I get accepted. If I did get accepted, I would follow that path until I graduate. Then I'd become a real hero and, well, save people."

He tilted his head to the side. "Save people from villains?"

She didn't respond.

"And how do you feel about us Villains? I'm sure that you must have some opinion."

"I don't like you…you're unpredictable and dangerous."

"Dangerous because we're unpredictable?" He asked quizzically. "Aren't you sure that that sounds like something everyone out there would want you to be thinking, not something you've seen for yourself? Because we're deviants? Because our only way to survive is to work outside the system?"

"No!" Chisaki exclaimed, before remembering herself and reeling herself in. "… I can't read you, predict you."

"We're human aren't we? I can read human beings like open books. You for example, You're a smart girl, good natured and quick witted. You're naturally curious and know when to follow and when to lead. You hate it when people talk down to you, but you can recognize when to take shit.

Your whole life you've lived at the bottom of the food chain. Nobody wants to help you and everybody loves to step on you. The few people who genuinely care about you are too caught up in their own messes to see you hurting. You've suffered betrayals and deceits, so you're overly cautious and analytical. As a result, you can hold up a mask and smile along with anything short of bloodshed." He gave her that look without eyes to look with. "How was that?"

"Spot on." She said begrudgingly, quickly shaking her head. "But the biggest difference between heroes and villains is what they fight for. Heroes don't fight for themselves, but for the people; people like me, who can't fight for themselves."

Sensei leaned forward. "I have something to tell you Chisaki…Heroes don't fight for others, they're only interested in their own gain; just like villains."

"No. There are heroes, like All Might, who are ready to sacrifice themselves for the people. They're completely selfless." She shot back defensively.

"People like All Might are keeping secrets while smiling for the camera-"

"They have a public image to protect!"

"Exactly. It's all about their public image. Meanwhile people like you and me are being trampled underfoot!"

Chisaki's eyes went wide in shock, feeling like someone had just slapped her. He just lumped the two of them together…He was acting as if she had been oppressed by society!... …. ….. b-but hadn't she? Hasn't she been stepped on by everyone at school. Kachaan and his friends might be the only ones directly going after her, but everyone else was laughing and standing by while she got hurt. All because she didn't have a quirk and didn't fit into their archetypes.

Someone cleared their throat behind her.

"What is it, Kurogiri?" Sensei asked curtly.

"Sir, it's almost seven. It may not be my place to say this, but Chisaki's parents are going to begin to wonder where she is. We should get her home before they alert the authorities."

Sensei sighed. "You have a point." He paused for a moment to asses Chisaki's reaction, she was still looking numbly at the hands folded in her lap. "Chisaki, why don't we leave our discussion here for today? We can resume our debate another day."

She looked up and nodded, still dazed.

Kurogiri began to prepare a warp gate.

As her exit formed and her departure became a concrete reality she was struck by a thought and found her voice.

"H- how will I contact you?"

Sensei smiled, amused, before he reached next to his seat and grabbed a pad of paper, scribbled something on it and then ripped the page out. "You can call for Kurogiri at this number." He extended the page to Chisaki with a kind smile.

She stood and took it deftly. "Thank you, Sensei."

"The portal is ready." Kurogiri announced.

Chisaki stood to leave, reaching down to pick up her backpack. She felt really awkward, leaving just like this; only seconds ago, she had been arguing with this imposing man. She took a few stiff steps towards the portal.

"I hope to hear from you soon." Sensei said from behind her.

She turned and let loose a small smile. "I will do my best, Sensei."

With that she was ushered through Kurogiri's portal, gone.

When she had left, Kurogiri watched his master cautiously. "What are you planning to do with her, Sir?"

"Do with her? Nothing. What she does is up to her. I simply find her entertaining, such a curious, despairing, mind." For a moment there was a long pause. "Kurogiri, how do you think she would fare as a villain?"

Chisaki stepped out from the portal, setting foot in a familiar park.

So, she had been taken to Sakura Park, just as promised…

God, what had just happened? Did she really just spend the whole afternoon talking to Villains? No, even before that, she'd gotten attacked and rescued, by Villains!

After that one thought, panic struck her.

Wait a minute? What time had Kurogiri said it was?

She fished her phone out of her backpack in trepidation. She turned it on (thank god it was okay) its display read 7:22.

"Shit!" She exclaimed.

It was way past dinner time! What was she going to tell her mom?