Author's Note: From here on out, we'll be moving more away from following the plotline of Pure Villain because 1. At the time I was writing this, I'd reached the end of current content; and 2. I have my own planned ending for this story. I hope everyone enjoys it!


Chapter Six:

In a swift motion, Shouto froze a purse-snatcher to the wall. His mind was entirely somewhere else. Why did Izuku lie to me? Why did he say he has super speed if he has teleportation?

There was an obvious answer, but Shouto didn't like to think about it, so he kept looking for a different one.

Hanging on the wall, the purse-snatcher squirmed. "You caught me, now can you let me down already? I'm freezing my ass off."

Shouto looked up. "Hmm? Why do you think someone would lie about having a weaker quirk?"

The purse-snatcher said, "There's still a lot of prejudice against people with quirks even today. Especially stronger powers. Besides, not everyone wants to be aggressively recruited by you pigs."

Shouto slammed his fist into his palm in an ah-ha gesture. "Yes, exactly! He might have had a completely harmless reason for lying to me. Don't you think one or two lies are normal in a romantic relationship?"

"I dunno, man, I don't recommend trusting liars. You look like the overly honest sort of person who gets scammed by my kind."

Shouto stiffened. "That's not true. Someone as caring as him wouldn't play around with my heart. I don't have much romantic experience but I believe in him. Just because my entire family is destined to attract villains doesn't necessarily mean it will happen to me. Oh, no. This is exactly what Natsuo and Fuyumi tried to warn me about." Shouto clutched his hair. "What if my family's curse is so strong that it transforms anyone who I like into a villain? What if even if I fall in love with someone sweet and gentle, they'll be destined to pick up a criminal record because of me? Then this is all my fault! I turned an innocent angel into a terrorist! What am I going to do?"

Stolen purse dangling from one frozen hand, the criminal stared wearily. "I don't know what you're talking about. Can you let me down from this wall already? I'll let you put handcuffs on me. Don't you have any friends to talk about this with?"

Shouto flinched. "I thought I had a friend, but if he didn't tell me the truth, that means he doesn't trust me."

"How about a psychiatrist? Maybe you could get a psychiatrist to talk to."

"If he doesn't trust me, then he must have a good reason! He's very smart. Ah, but if he has a good reason, then…" Shouto looked up. "Criminals don't trust the police, do they?"

"My opinion of the police is rapidly going down." The purse-snatcher glared. "I give this arrest a rating of one star."

Gears in Shouto's brain turned, dancing around the obvious conclusion but refusing to reach it. Slowly, he asked, "What if Black Rabbit isn't a bad person? That's the only possible way this can make sense."

"Are you crazy?" the purse-snatcher yelped. "Even I think that he's the worst! He's a terrorist! He tried to destroy a school full of innocent people! Why are you defending someone who's been hunting you down to kill you? Did you hit your head while chasing me?"

"I don't have a good explanation for the death threat letter," Shouto muttered. "But Black Rabbit hasn't killed me, and I know he had opportunities. He even apologized after he ripped off my shirt. It was so soft I could barely hear, but I think he said he was sorry. I still don't understand why he apologized. Ah, wait, the school! My Izuku couldn't possibly be Black Rabbit because he was at my side when our college was attacked. He saved me." Shouto laughed from relief. "Silly me! I don't know what I was thinking. Thank you so much."

The purse-snatcher asked hopefully, "If I helped you out, then can you let me go?"

"This and that are two separate matters." Shouto loosened his ice just enough to drop the thief from the wall, take away the purse, then slap handcuffs on him.

Inasa leapt out of a police car and ran toward Shouto, waving. "Another great arrest! You're amazing!"

The purse-snatcher groaned. "Finally, someone else is here. Hurry up and arrest me if you must as long as I don't have to listen to this weirdo's problems any longer."

Shouto felt a little hurt, but not surprised. Now even criminals thought that he was a weirdo. He'd already known there was something wrong with him.

Inasa embraced Shouto with two hands on his shoulders. "I can't believe you didn't tell me that you're dating! As long as you're happy, I'm happy for you."

A little goofily, Shouto smiled. "Yes, I am happy. I had a great time last night. Wait, how did you know?"

"Because the picture is all over the news." Inasa forced the purse-snatcher into the police car.

"Huh, I didn't think anyone got a picture of us," Shouto muttered. "Maybe we didn't escape fast enough."

Inasa flashed a thumbs-up. "I always knew that you and Bakugo's rivalry came from belligerent sexual tension deep down. Congratulations! You two are going to be a hero power couple. Ah, but maybe you should be less bold about letting him take off your clothing in public. The heroes have a reputation to maintain, after all."

Shouto's eyes turned empty. Ice spikes shot out of the ground around him. A spike impaled the police car and shot it up into the sky. The thief inside screamed, cursed, and—judging from the smell—wet himself.

Inasa leapt away, his wind deflecting a spike. "Todoroki? What are you doing?"

In a voice infused with a howling winter storm, Shouto demanded, "I'm dating who?" Swirling snowflakes ripped the police car to shreds.

As he fell from the sky and landed on his face, the thief cried, "I give this arrest zero out of five stars!"


After the news, Hitoshi had tried to talk to Izuku, but Izuku barely even heard. Although Hitoshi meant well, Izuku couldn't bear to see pity on someone else's face. Without a word, Izuku got up and left. He took the train back home. Today, Izuku wouldn't be able to pay attention in class—and he couldn't risk running into Shouto.

Izuku felt so stupid for getting his hopes up. From the beginning, Izuku had known that he was merely a fan. He'd only wanted to express his gratitude and admiration. He'd never dreamed his idol would return his feelings—and he'd been right. Shouto wasn't the type to play someone. Izuku must have mistaken a friendly outing for a date. A celebrity so kind, cool, and loved by everyone was far out of reach of an ordinary person. Just look at Katsuki: a confident extrovert with a heroic quirk. Katsuki Bakugo was a much better match for a top hero.

Sitting on the train, Izuku texted Shouto: I heard about you and Katsuki Bakugo. Congratulations! I'm happy for you. Then he turned off his phone because he didn't want to look at the response right away.

It was very important to Izuku that he not cause Shouto any distress. He had to hide his true feelings no matter what. Hopefully they could stay friends. Izuku just needed a little time to get over his feelings.

After getting off the train, Izuku turned on his phone again, but he didn't have a reply. His heart sank. He'd turned into a mess of contradictions—he wanted to hear from Shouto but didn't want to. Any reply would hurt him, but he could not bear not knowing either. He trudged home.

When Izuku pushed open his front door, he merely wanted to curl up in front of the television with a bowl of ice cream and cry. Unfortunately, Inko and Hisashi were sitting on the living room sofa.

Izuku blinked. "What are you two doing in here? Dad, did you use your lockpicking quirk? I told you not to break into my place!"

"My poor ducky!" Hisashi cried, sweeping Izuku into a bone-crushing hug. "How dare that pathetic Todoroki brat cheat on you?"

Inko said, "I have tissues and comfort food prepared." She held up a box of tissues and a Tupperware full of chocolate chip cookies. "If only I was empress of Japan, no one would dare cheat on my son! At least I have the strength to help you take revenge." She vibrated, every item in the room shaking. "I'll rip out each of Todoroki's organs individually."

Hisashi growled, "Don't let him die so easily! I'll boil his eyeballs, chop out his tongue, and break every bone in his body while using a healing ability to keep him alive and conscious."

"Stop!" Izuku screamed. "Shouto didn't cheat on me. We weren't dating. I…I was never in his league to begin with."

Hisashi and Inko exchanged murderous glances. "How dare some hero brat make you feel inferior," Hisashi snarled, red sparks dancing down his body. "He's dead!"

Izuku growled, "If you harm one hair on Shouto's head, then I will never forgive you. That is not a bluff. I'll fight you myself if need be to keep you away from him."

"But, ducky—" Hisashi began.

"I SAID STOP!" Izuku screamed. Tears poured down his face. "You're not making me feel better, you're only making me feel worse. I can't handle this from you right now. Just stop."

Wordlessly, Hisashi and Inko pulled Izuku into a hug. Inko mopped his face with a handkerchief. Izuku kept crying until his tears ran out and his chest heaved.

Toshinori pushed open the front door with a magazine tucked under his arm. "Hisashi, Inko, you need to read this article before you jump to any conclusions—" He froze as he took in Izuku's condition. "Oh, my boy." Toshinori gently patted his son's head.

Izuku sniffled. "Yeah, we all know about the article. I don't want to talk about it. Can we just watch TV and eat junk food for a bit?" Actually Izuku would prefer to be alone, but he was afraid to let his murderous parents out of his sight.

Toshinori said, "Of course I won't force you to talk about it if you don't want to. But did you actually read the news article? Your mother and father didn't before they ran over here. They just saw the picture on television."

Izuku rubbed his eyes. "I hope Shouto is very happy with Katsuki, but I don't want to know any details." Except he couldn't truly wish for their happiness. He must be a bad friend.

"After reading the article, I'm not convinced it's true." Toshinori frowned. "The article only says that they might be in a secret relationship, solely based off this one picture taken by an unidentified civilian. Neither party has officially claimed to be in a relationship."

Hisashi cried, "Because the Todoroki brat is a cheater!"

"Or because the paper is avoiding getting sued for libel." Toshinori shook his head. "I'm not saying you can't murder the cheater who broke our baby's heart—"

"You're not?" Izuku asked, very worried because his papa was supposed to be the sane one.

Toshinori continued, "I'm saying you should make sure it's true first. Back during the height of my fame, the media created fake scandals between me and just about everyone except you two. Legitimate historians are still convinced I had a torrid affair with Enji Todoroki. The press lies about the love lives of famous people to make money. That's nothing new."

Tapping her foot on the ground, Inko muttered, "He's got a point. When I was dark empress, half the male heroes lied about sleeping with me. I couldn't even murder them fast enough to keep up." The objects around the room started to settle down.

Toshinori said, "Pictures can be photoshopped or misinterpreted. Izuku, I think you should give your young man at least one chance to explain himself to you. Then you can decide based on what he says."

Izuku bit his lip. "Let me see the article."

Toshinori handed over the magazine.

The article was indeed very vague and full of speculations based on a single photograph. Izuku flipped to look at the picture. As promised, Katsuki Bakugo was clearly lifting Shouto Todoroki's shirt over his head. It seemed damning.

Then Izuku took a closer look. Shouto's facial expression was flat—and not his usual flat neutral but flat uncomfortable. Only someone who knew Shouto would be able to tell the difference. Shouto's face was bright red. The article author had clearly taken this for a coy blush. But Izuku picked up on the details—Shouto was sweating heavily and his pupils were dilated. He looked either drunk or drugged. His body was limp, neither resisting nor helping his shirt get removed, but in the corner of the picture, partly cut off, his fist was clenched.

"I'm despicable," Izuku said.

Toshinori frowned nervously. "My boy? Why would you say that?"

"I'm the worst." Izuku's hands clenched, crumbling the magazine. "I was so focused on my own insecurities that I didn't even question the article or take a close look at the photograph. I leapt to conclusions without even hearing Shouto's side of the story. Even though anyone with eyes can see this isn't a picture of two people in a romantic relationship—this is a picture of a semiconscious person barely able to fight back while his clothing gets removed." Izuku threw the magazine hard enough to dent the floor. Then he grabbed his black costume and changed into it, heedless of the other people in the room.

Inko knelt down to look at the magazine picture. "Oh, no, he's right—this photo gets sketchier the longer I look at it. It's like a game of 'Spot the Difference' between this picture and a healthy romantic relationship."

"Where are you going?" Toshinori cried as Izuku headed for the door.

Izuku stopped to grab his gas mask and put it over his face. "I'm going to find Katsuki Bakugo and have a chat with him." Izuku's voice was eerily calm. Blue sparks danced around his body, the crackling of a spark about to erupt into a forest fire. "I need to know exactly what happened and how far it went. Then I'll know if I should kill Bakugo quickly or boil his eyeballs while I break every bone in his body."

Hisashi cheered and clapped. "Baby's first torture! I'm so proud of you. Knock him dead. But slowly and painfully!"


Shouto pushed open the door to Enji Todoroki's temporary office, dragging Inasa by his collar behind him. His footsteps frosted over. His eyes blazed with fury. "Dad, why haven't you done something about these vile lies? I demand a press conference! Don't we have a publicity team? Or how about lawyers? I want to sue for slander!"

Enji looked up from a massive pile of paperwork. His eyes had bags. "Is this about the picture of your chest? It was taken in a public location, I don't think there's much we can do about it. I've looked into options, but I'm also rather busy repairing headquarters. Let it go and the fuss will die down in a few weeks."

Shouto shrieked, "I'm talking about the rumors of me dating—" he shuddered "—Katsuki Bakugo!"

Enji burst into flames, igniting the paper in his hand. As the fire spread to his desk, he barely seemed to notice. He stuttered.

Shouto extended a hand, using his ice to put out the fire. "You didn't know?"

From the floor, Inasa asked, "So you and Bakugo aren't dating?"

Shouto glared witheringly. "Inasa, you were at the bar. You know when that picture was taken. You were the one who provoked Bakugo to try and take off my shirt by telling him that he should make my abs into a commonplace sight."

Inasa scratched his head. "I was very drunk. It's all a bit of a blur."

"This is all your fault to begin with!" Shouto growled, in no mood to be charitable. He froze Inasa to the ground. "Dad, please, we have to fix this. I just went on my first date with the love of my life. Who knows what he might think if he sees this article?"

All color drained from Enji's face. "Shouto, did you go on a date with the same…individual…we spoke of earlier?"

Shouto crossed his arms. "So what if I did? My love life isn't under your control."

Enji moaned. "You don't understand! It's bad enough that you actually went on a date with their kid, but now you've cheated on him! They're going to kill you!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I didn't cheat." Shouto pointed at the frozen hero on the floor. "I'm holding Inasa prisoner until he publicly testifies to my innocence."

"I wasn't trying to run away," Inasa protested.

Enji said, "Shouto, you're in grave danger. You must come home immediately. I'll stay by your side 24/7."

Shouto shuddered at that prospect. "Absolutely not. But I did invite my crush to come stay at my penthouse, so I won't be alone. You can rest assured. It turns out my crush has difficult parents too, what a coincidence."

Enji rocked back and forth, his eyes pointing different directions as he mumbled to himself.

Shouto whispered to Inasa, "My father's lack of a no means yes. He approves of my cohabitation!"

Wrapping his arms around himself, Enji muttered incoherently about death, destruction, and despair.

"I hope Iz—he hasn't seen the news yet." Shouto checked his phone. His face paled. "Oh, no! No, no, no! He's congratulating me! Does that mean he has no feelings for me? Did I completely misread him? Fuyumi told me all my life that I have a beautiful face! Was she lying?" Shouto dialed the contact. "He's not picking up…my call is going to voicemail…he doesn't even care at all. The news meant nothing to him. I mean nothing to him." Shouto's shoulders sagged. Sad snowflakes fell down to his feet. "Forget the press conference. It doesn't matter if he doesn't like me back."

On the floor, Inasa played with his phone. "Um, boss? We've got bigger problems. Black Rabbit is attacking the city."

"Oh, no!" Enji leapt to his feet. "We are having a press conference at once! We must prove this scandal is fake! The fate of Japan hangs in balance."

Shouto kept dialing the same phone number over and over again. "Come on, please pick up." He finally gave up and left a message. "The news article is fake, I swear. If you'll just let me explain—"

Enji grabbed his son and Inasa and hauled them away by their collars. Shouto dropped his phone, then used an ice spike to pick it up. He dialed again, swearing as he got voicemail. "I would never date Katsuki Bakugo! His face, his voice, and his costume all annoy me. Please believe me!" Shouto kept protesting as his father dragged him away.


Downtown Musutafu looked like ground zero. The surroundings had been incinerated by a wave of blue flame. A black figure stood in the smoking crater. Fire crackled around his body, casting shadows on his rabbit hoodie and gas mask. Black Rabbit was so small that he looked like he might be consumed by the inferno raging around him. Except a massive pressure radiated off that short frame. Cementoss had been a hero long enough to remember the height of All for One's power. Only the King of the Underworld had ever exuded such soul-sucking darkness. Cementoss was only able to remain standing because he'd experienced it before. The other police and heroes around him had passed out. Fuyumi Todoroki had gotten special treatment—when she'd fought back, she'd ended up buried under a pile of mattresses. The rest of the authorities were collapsed in bruised heaps.

No one had died, yet, and Cementoss had no doubt that was only because the enemy had gone easy on them. Black Rabbit had crushed all resistance before him as easily as swatting a fly. It was painfully evident that he'd been holding back before. To start with, he'd never even used his flames in the previous fights.

Funnily, Black Rabbit's phone kept ringing. The annoying jingle interrupted the terrified silence around the crater. Black Rabbit made no move to pick up his phone. He didn't seem to notice it.

Blue fire swirling around him like a hurricane, Black Rabbit screamed, "KATSUKI BAKUGOOOOOOOO!"

Cementoss also had no doubt that if Black Rabbit found Bakugo, then Bakugo would die.

Crouched behind the cement wall next to Cementoss, Katsuki said, "Heh, Black Rabbit has changed targets from Todoroki to me. That means he must have realized that I'm the stronger hero! I'm awesome!"

Cementoss hissed, "Run, you fool! I'll hold Black Rabbit off!" As an older hero, Cementoss considered it his duty to die to protect the next generation.

Black Rabbit's head shot up at the sound of Katsuki's piercing voice. As the villain turned, his feet left cracks in the ground. One flick of his fingers incinerated the wall they hid behind. Then Black Rabbit teleported over in a flash.

Using all his power, Cementoss threw up a cement box around Black Rabbit, layers upon layers. Black Rabbit busted out with a single punch, then picked up Cementoss between his pinched fingers and tossed him aside. Throughout all of this, Black Rabbit's phone kept ringing.

Katsuki puffed out his chest. "I'm here to stop you, villain!" Explosions shot off his gauntlets.

Black Rabbit teleported behind Katsuki, then slapped him to the ground as easily as a cat pinning down a bug. Katsuki fell, his shocked cry intermingling with the sound of the phone still ringing.

Kneeling down, Black Rabbit crooned, "Katsuki Bakugo, I have some questions for you." He easily held the struggling and swearing hero down with one hand. A dark, murderous light gleamed in his eyes behind the gas mask.

Cementoss stood up, fingers scrabbling as he tried to climb out of the pit where he'd landed. Katsuki…he had to save Katsuki from the unstoppable force of darkness…

A helicopter flew overhead, the loudspeaker sounding. "Attention! We have an important announcement." A ray of light shot from the helicopter, projecting a video across one of Cementoss' many failed walls.

In the video, Enji Todoroki stood in front of a crowd of reporters. He declared, "Japan's hero team has an official announcement to make regarding the recent rumors. We would like to make it clear that Shouto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo are not dating. This misunderstanding was caused by a drunken outing where Bakugo got dared to expose my son's abs in public. There was nothing romantic about it. Bakugo will receive a stern lecture and be forced to undergo sensitivity training." Enji's glare promised this experience would not be pleasant. "The picture was misinterpreted and blew a minor incident out of proportion. Isn't that right?"

Next to him, Inasa squeaked, "It's true, I was there. We were all drunk and Bakugo passed out right afterward. Absolutely no shenanigans were going on. Also, for the record, I didn't dare Bakugo to take off Todoroki's shirt, I just said that the media would have cared less about it if it happened more often."

On his father's other side, Shouto was trying to call someone on his phone. His expression became more and more upset as each call failed to connect. He shouted into his phone, "I'm definitely not dating Katsuki Bakugo! I have zero interest in him. Please, you have to believe me!"

From the ground, Katsuki spat out a bloody tooth and growled, "Huh? Who the hell dared to say that I'm dating Shitty Half and Half? I wouldn't touch him with a two foot pole!"

Black Rabbit gazed down, his face indecipherable under the mask. "Huh, you really didn't know. And you mean that. Hmm. It's not good to harass your coworkers, but it's not worth the death penalty." Black Rabbit flicked Katsuki on the forehead, sending him five feet deep into the ground, then vanished.

Lying spread-eagled in the dirt, Katsuki shouted, "Black Rabbit ran away from me! That means I won."

Crawling over, Cementoss growled, "Like hell."

Katsuki said firmly, "I won, so I don't need to fight Black Rabbit ever again." Then he passed out.


In a distant hospital, Dabi lay on a bed in a full-body cast. Upon watching the news of Black Rabbit's rampage, he twitched and thrashed. The movements sent the slings holding up his casts clamoring. Sweat dripping down his forehead, Dabi screamed, "That's my quirk! Mine! He stole it!"


At home, Izuku sat on his bed, staring at his hands. He'd used Dabi's fire. He hadn't even thought about it in his shock and rage, but now events were catching up with him. Izuku must have the All for One quirk. Before, he'd always assumed that he had an ability similar to his papa. But now that he strained his memories, he could recall touching villains with super strength and teleportation during his early attempts to confess to Shouto.

It was all a lot to take in. Izuku felt light-headed, imagining what he'd done. He couldn't deny that he was a real villain now. He hadn't even been thinking. Rage had consumed Izuku to an extent that now terrified him, when he'd thought that Shouto might have been…

Izuku wasn't sure if he'd been about to kill Katsuki Bakugo. He feared the answer. There was something inside him that was more like his parents then he cared to admit. Even now, Izuku knew that if someone ever actually hurt Shouto then his unstoppably fury would return.

He'd messed up. He should have talked to Shouto before acting. He'd lost control in a way that someone powerful could not afford.

Izuku was very, very relieved that it had all been a misunderstanding. Shouto didn't deserve to be hurt. His hero career put Shouto through enough stress and suffering already. Shouto was always trying to save everyone. He deserved to live a happy life.

When Izuku checked his phone, he had half a dozen voicemails, all from Shouto Todoroki. His hands trembling, he scrambled to hit play.

In the first message, Shouto sounded close to tears. "The news article is fake, I swear. If you'll just let me explain—" It cut off abruptly.

Izuku played the next message. Shouto shouted, "I would never date Katsuki Bakugo! His face, his voice, and his costume all annoy me. Please believe me!" The message ended with static.

The third message said: "Listen, we're holding a press conference to explain. Please tune in to watch it—Dad! Stop trying to take away my phone! This is important!"

In the fourth message, Shouto continued, "I don't like people who are hot-tempered or destructive. My type is shy, sweet people. Someone I want to protect. Bakugo is too violent for me, he's basically a villain, I don't approve of him at all."

"I don't like villains, the Todoroki family curse isn't real! Hey, please pick up. I have something important I need to confess to you."

"Izuku, can we talk? I had a lot of fun with you last night. I want to see you again." Shouto's voice turned soft and fond in the sixth message.

Izuku stared at his phone. He wanted to be happy about this, but he couldn't be.

Because when Shouto talked about not liking destructive people, Izuku remembered the rampage he'd left across Musutafu.

When Shouto had insisted that he didn't like villains, Izuku had realized that he had no chance with his crush. He could no longer say that his villain title was all a misunderstanding.

Even if Shouto had basically admitted that he liked Izuku, he liked an illusion. Shouto would be disappointed if he ever saw the real Izuku. And after what Izuku had done today, he knew beyond any trace of doubt that he would never be good enough to deserve Shouto Todoroki.


OMAKE TIME!

Omake: Bitter Personal Experience

Izuku: Whoa, it sounds like Papa and Mom dealt with a lot of crazy media attention.

Inko: I should have worn a scary black mask like you and your dad. It might have spared me some grief. Everyone was too frightened to make up rumors about All for One.

Toshinori: A research paper was published in a legitimate journal last year about if quirks caused nymphomania, using both of us as examples. Every single one of our so-called relationships was fake and the journal author made up half of them personally.

#

Omake: Endless Revenge

Katsuki: I finally dug myself out of that hole where Black Rabbit put me.

Shouto Todoroki Fanclub President: How dare you date our idol? Rotten tomato attack!

Katsuki: Hey, didn't you hear the press conference? I just pulled off his shirt to embarrass him!

Fanclub President: How dare you attack our idol? Fans, more rotten tomatoes!