Chisaki held the phone in her hand with a loose fingered grip. Her legs were now shaking so bad that she was afraid that they would give out completely.

W-what is wrong with me?

I-I probably just need to sit down.

She staggered her way over to a bench along the side of the park and collapsed onto it. As she sank down onto the bench, her phone began to vibrate. She spared a glance at the screen, it was her mom.

She let it ring.

It began as a prickling in her chest as the shock of the situation wore off and the gravity of the revelations sunk in.

All Might is not All Might…

All Might is a crippled, stick, of a man…

My whole world has been a lie…

My hopes and dreams of heroism, a simple fanfare for an actor and a fraud.

Chisaki frowned and shook her head, revaluating her thought; Well maybe not afraud, he has genuinely succeeded in protecting the people and seems to care about the people he serves; at least enough to know how the reality would break their hearts.

In the same way that its breaking mine?

She gave a groan of regret and pulled her knees up to her chest, her throat began to close up, as it often did before a panic attack. She was beginning to shake now too.

Why did I follow him? I should have just left All Might alone…I wish I'd never met Tashinori Yagi. I want my naïvete back! I want to go back to thinking that everything would be fine just as long as All Might was the number one hero…

I want to go back to thinking that I could be a hero!

Chisaki's eyes stung with tears and she buried her face in her arms.

I want to believe in heroism. That if I could be selfless like All Might, I deserved to be a hero. That just as long as I kept a steady heart and thought about other people that it would be possible.

Tears streamed down her face.

But to be a hero, you have to be strong, pretty, and popular. I can't be any of those stupid things.

I don't have a quirk! I'm not anyone important! My dream of becoming a hero was justified only by the thought that a good person makes a good hero.

I was such an idiot! Such an idiot!

I still am…

Chisaki jumped as something buzzed against her leg. She picked up her head cautiously, wiping at her eyes and her nose as she dragged her gaze to the bench.

Her phone was ringing again.

I should really answer that…

She picked up the phone cautiously, wiping at her nose again and giving a sniffle. It was her mom, yet again.

Chisaki cleared her throat and tested her voice.

"Good, I probably look like a mess, but at least I don't sound like I've been crying." She whispered to herself with a pitiful little chuckle as she swiped at her nose again.

She sat up straight and took a second to collect herself, before sliding her finger across the screen and picking up.

"Hey mom…" She said slowly, unsure of how her mother would respond.

"Honey? Are you okay? You didn't go near the fight by the train station, did you? The news stations are broadcasting footage from the scene. It looks so horrible! Oh! You didn't get hurt right? Why didn't you pick up? I was getting so scared, thinking of you trapped in one of those burning buildings." She paused for a moment and Chisaki just stared, dazed, at the gravel around her feet. "Honey? You are okay, right?"

Chisaki blinked and drew herself out of her daze. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I didn't go anywhere near the burning buildings. B-besides, when I got there, the f-firefighters had already put out most of the fires." She lied.

Her mother gave an audible sigh of relief. "Thank God! I almost had a heart attack. Just pick up earlier, I think I lost a year or two of my life just now." She said with a flippant laugh.

Chisaki sent back a feeble chuckle. "I-I'll see you soon mom. I'm already on my way home."

"Great. Are you hungry? I can warm up some soup if you want some."

"Sure mom, that sounds, um, great."

"Okay then, see you soon."

"Bye."

"Bye Honey."

There was a click and the line went dead.

Chisaki sighed and rubbed her eyes, before standing up, ready to drag herself home.

Fifteen minutes later, she was opening her front door, perfectly composed and smiling.

"Hey mom, I'm back." She said as she walked into the entree-way. "Is that soup still warm?"

"Of course, Honey." Her mom called from inside the house.

Chisaki found her mom in the kitchen, smiling as she stirred a warming pot of soup. Inko turned away from the stove at the sight of her daughter, beaming.

"Welcome home honey. You were in such a rush earlier that you didn't get breakfast, and since its almost lunch time, I thought that you must be ravenous."

"Thanks mom, I am pretty hungry." Chisaki said, smiling as her mom served her a bowl of soup.

"You were so excited earlier. So, did you do what you needed to do?"

"Yes." Chisaki said, taking a stiff bite of food. "I just wanted to get some notes about the fighting."

Her mother's face brightened as she took a seat across from her daughter, a bowl of soup in her own hand. "I heard that All Might showed up. Did you see him?"

A cold shock ran down Chisaki's spine.

Why did she have to mention him?

A lump rose in her throat.

What do I say?I shouldn't let her see that I'm nervous about All Might.

Chisaki smiled extra wide, so much so that it forced her despondent eyes closed, and she set her voice into a high pitch of excitement, making sure to move her hands in an exaggerated motion. "He was so cool! He was only there for a few seconds, but he defeated both the villains and then he just disappeared. It was just amazing!"

"I'm so glad to hear that. You just love All Might so much, I can only imagine how happy you are." Inko said with a smile.

"I'm really glad that I saw him today!" Chisaki exclaimed childishly. Then she looked down at her soup, and felt her stomach turn in revulsion.

"Mom, you know what? I'm not all that hungry anymore. I think I'll go take a shower." She said in that same forced elation as before.

"Okay, honey." Her mother said, still smiling.

Chisaki stood and did her best to hide her shaking hands as she walked past her mom, I need to get away from her, I can't take any more questions. I just need to get to my room, to my safe space, where I can relax.
Chisaki was just a step from her room, two feet from safety, when her mom's voice came from behind her.

"Honey?"

Chisaki's heart jumped into her throat. Did she notice that I was faking my smiles? Does she know that something is wrong?

"Actually, I'm going to head out in a minute. I'm going to meet up with Katsuki's mom, I probably won't be back before dinner. Are you going to be okay on your own?"

Chisaki looked over her shoulder and forced a smile. "Of course, mom."

When Inko didn't respond immediately, Chisaki took the opportunity to dart into her room.

She closed the door behind her and let her smile drop.

God Damn It! She thought in anger, her legs started to shake and a sob began rising in her throat. I can't take this. Of course, I can't show her how upset I am, she would get worried and start pestering me and then she'd ask about All Might, and I can't even bear to hear his name right now, much less talk about him. I mean, I don't want to talk about All Might, but I need to. I feel like I'm going crazy bottling these thoughts up.

She took a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself.

I just need to wait until four. Yeah. Then Kurogiri will pick me up and I'll be able to talk to Sensei again. He'll understand how I'm feeling. He'll let me get these thoughts out to someone, even if he is a questionable character.

When four p.m. rolled around, Chisaki was at Sakura park, waiting on a bench and feeling quite anxious. She looked around curiously, expecting a black portal to materialize suddenly before her, but no such thing occurred. For a moment, she worried that Kurogiri would simply never come to pick her up. Then, her phone rang.

She picked up immediately. "Where are you?" She asked in a forced calm.

"Its nice to hear from you." Kurogiri said in that polite way he had. "If you would please look to your left."
Chisaki did as she was instructed, very much confused.

"Now. You'll see a wood shed."

"The one with the broken window?" She asked.

"Yes. Go behind it on the left side, that's where you'll see my portal."

Chisaki stood and walked over to the shed, around the left side, and there it was. The, rather intimidating looking, swirling pool of black.

"Found it. I'll see you in a second." Chisaki said as she hung up and stepped through the vortex.

When she emerged, she attempted to reorient herself. She was in the same bar that she had been in yesterday but Sensei was not there, nor was Kurogiri. The only soul was a figure in a black hoody, perched on a stool, he was hunched over the bar, fixated on a phone which sat on the bar top, leaning against a cup of steaming coffee.

Is that Giran? No, Giran doesn't sit like that.

Chisaki thought, surprised by this strange character.

Then who else could it be?

Oh, there was a fourth guy yesterday, the one who didn't want to look at me. What was his name again? Um, Shashagaki kamura? Right?

No. That doesn't sound right.

Shigariki? Oh! Shigaraki! There we go.

Chisaki looked at the man again, he hadn't stirred, but was now tapping irritatedly at the phone, and had not seemed to notice her entry or inactivity in the least.

For a moment she just stood there dumbly, unsure of what to do with herself in the presence of someone who had before expressed such disinterest in her that she could have easily believed that he hated her.

"U-um, Sh-shigaraki, right?" She began awkwardly, in an attempt to test the ice.

The man stopped his tapping and stiffened, but made no further acknowledgment that he had heard her.

"I, um, thought that I was supposed to be meeting with Sensei," Chisaki started, as she began to fidget nervously with the sleeves of her shirt. "W-would you happen to know where I could find him?"

Shigaraki gave an agitated, almost angry, growl of impatience. He turned towards her suddenly and shot her a glare. For a moment Chisaki thought that he was going to shout something at her, but then he stopped himself, looked away, and instead said, in a very calm voice, "I have been instructed to entertain you while Sensei takes care of something." He said through gritted teeth.

"Oh." Was all Chisaki could say, taken aback.

A moment of awkward silence passed between them, Shiagaraki staring at some point off to his left, his posture stiff, and Chisaki's eyes wandering around uncomfortably.

"Well, m-may I sit next to you?" Chisaki asked, trying to gage Shigaraki's reaction.

Shigaraki gave no perceptible reaction, but after a second he gave a grunt of assent and turned around, back to his phone.

Well, now what do I do with myself? He obviously doesn't want me anywhere near him, but I can't keep standing here. So, I guess that I'll… just sit down. I mean, he gave me some kind of 'ok', so he won't get mad at me. Right?

She approached the bar stiffly. She eyed a stool a seat over from Shigaraki, and sat down gingerly.

For a moment she expected this man in the hoody to explode again, but when he didn't even acknowledge her existence, Chisaki relaxed, content to wait until Sensei was ready.

This Shigaraki kid seems like a pretty angry guy. Explosive personality and all that. He's kinda like Kachaan. This thought brought a wave of revulsion up her throat.

Na, Kachaan has his own level of…douchy-ness.

Chisaki let her eyes wander to Shigaraki's face as her thoughts drifted.

The longer she looked at his face, the more she noticed certain things. He has scars. She thought in startled wonder, seeing a faint scar going over his right eye and a more noticeable one bisecting his lips. I wonder what those are from. Is there a story there? Should I ask him?

No, he would probably yell at me.

I wonder if he's getting enough sleep? His eyes are so sunken in and his lips are absolutely shredded. Those are definite signs of stress. She gave a sigh. He looks like he could use a good night of sleep and some chapstick.

So…I guess…well…, never mind, he's nothing like Kachaan. Kachaan is always so egocentric, it's always his care above everyone else's needs. I'd say that this guy is definitely carrying his own baggage and some kind of responsibility.

Didn't Kurogiri mention something like that yesterday?

Sensei also mentioned a protégée to carry on his dream, Shigaraki couldn't be his protégée, right? If he is, then he has a really long way to go to being a good leader. He should start with being nicer to people…

"What are you looking at?" Shigaraki asked with a cold anger, making Chisaki jump.

She didn't know what to say to him, and when she didn't respond immediately he gave her a deep glare.

"What? You think I look like a monster, don't you?" It wasn't really a question, it was an accusation. "You think I look like a freak." He was looking at her now with such revulsion that Chisaki's mind was sent reeling.

Where did this come from? What did I do?

"Yeah I thought so." He scoffed at her and turned away. "Your just a spineless, conformist, nobody. I really don't understand what Sensei sees in you!" He said with a disdainful shake of his head.

Chisaki's expression hardened and anger boiled up from her gut, indignant. "I may be a nobodyb-but am nota spineless conformist! In fact, I didn't think that you looked like a freak at all! Instead, I was just thinking that perhaps you were someone who had been through something. That maybe you could use a break from some stress I couldn't see. But, I guess that I'll just be taking that back then! If your going to make a judgement on mycharacter, after only having spoken twowords to me, then don't expect me to make a kind judgement on yours!" She spat at the boy.

Shigaraki stared at her in narrow eyed suspicion, fury bubbling just under his skin.

"Oh, and what makes youthink that you're any more worthy to pass a judgement on me, than I on you?" He said in a barely contained rage.

Shit! Now he's angry. Why did I even open my big mouth?

"I…I'm not saying that." Chisaki said slowly, before looking away, attempting to avoid a further escalation.

I shouldn't have said anything! Now he's angry and I'm stuck here with him.

"Then what areyou saying?" He spat at her. "If you don't even know that, then how can you expect to convince me?" He watched her with cold and spiteful eyes.

"I-I was just thinking, th-that," Chisaki shifted nervously and looked down at her shaking hands, before clenching them into fists. "I-If you j-judge me, then you should also be prepared to receive judgement. Likewise, if you wanted to avoid harsh judgement then you should first be inviting and kind."

Shigaraki gave a snort of disdain and watched her for a second, scrutinizing her with his little bloodshot eyes.

"L-look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you!" Chisaki exclaimed nervously, trying to fix any damage that she might have caused.

"Whatever." Shigaraki said with another snort and a rolling of his eyes, before turning around.

"I guess that you really are just a wimp."

Chisaki watched him turn away, confused and hurt.

The silence returned, now thick and menacing. Shigaraki and Chisaki sat side by side, the first entertaining himself gleefully and the second resigned to a suffocating sense of helplessness.

This was how Kurogiri found the pair a few minutes later.

"Chisaki," Kurogiri began, while he observed the two apprehensively; Shigaraki hadn't bothered to turn around and Chisaki had turned around at a blinding speed and was already half way off her stool, impatient to get away from the bar. "Sensei is ready to see you." He finished, motioning towards the portal behind him

She jumped down quickly, smiling in relief.

"Thank you, Kurogiri." Chisaki said before rushing past him and disappearing.

A silence now hung between the bartender and the young man.

"Well?" Kurogiri asked expectantly after a moment, breaking the silence. "What did you think of her?"

Shigaraki sighed, set his phone down, turned around, and rolled his eyes. "I think that Sensei's made a mistake. We can't use a naïve, inexperienced, child. Especially not one who spouts such flowery things like 'if you want people to be nice go you, be nice to them first~.'" He said in a cheesy falsetto before giving a snort of contempt. "Send her back to her 'hero pep-rallies' or wherever you found her."

Kurogiri didn't respond for a moment, then he sighed and turned away, walking towards the hall.

"I think that she'll really surprise you, Shigaraki." He murmured over his shoulder.


AN: Well, first of all, hello.

I know that I've been gone for a good while, tho I doubt that anyone has missed me much. I just needed some time to reevaluate this story and my plans for it. I hope that you haven't given up on this story yet, I know that its slow and inconsistent but please stick with it, I have a lot of plans.

I would like to mention, just before I go, that I would like to make a shout out to Saark, thank you for commenting and for your encouragement, it means a lot to a fledgling writer like my self.

Lastly, have a good Easter(if you celebrate it).

See you again soon,

OptionA