Chapter One:
It had been another ordinary day for Izuku Midoriya. He sat with his back against the railing of the school rooftop, studying for his college entrance exams. At one point, Izuku had dreamed of developing a quirk so that he could become a professional hero. But even among the second generation after the dawn of the age of quirks, people with quirks still made up only a small percentage of the population. Izuku had long ago passed the normal age for quirk development, so he'd given up. He planned to apply to Coruscant College, renowned for the production of support gear.
Turning a page, Izuku whispered to himself, "I'd like to see a hero and villain fight up close, just once."
Below, a man wearing a robber's mask ran toward the school, screaming, "You'll never take me alive, police!" He punched the school building, and it collapsed.
As Izuku plummeted toward the ground, he screamed, "I take it back!"
A teenage boy dressed in a hero costume shot forward, freezing the school in place. Izuku kept falling with a strangled shriek.
The boy caught Izuku in his arms and dangled the robber from one hand as he landed on the ground. Gasping for air, Izuku stared into the heterochromatic eyes of Shouto Todoroki, the darling young hero of Japan.
"Are you all right?" Shouto asked, flipping back his hair. The light glinted off his smile.
"Gah," Izuku said, flushing bright red from his neck to his hairline.
Izuku's bare ankle touched the robber, and he accidentally stole the robber's strength quirk. But he wouldn't realize that until much later. Izuku was too consumed by his first crush.
Izuku joined the Shouto Todoroki fanclub. The next time the news reported Shouto dealing with a villain attack, he ran to watch. Izuku wanted to meet Shouto again and thank him for saving his life as he should have during their first meeting. At the time, he'd been too nervous. Then Izuku would confess his feelings. He had absolutely no expectation that a celebrity would be interested in dating plain, ordinary him. Izuku merely wanted to deliver his sincerest admiration and promise to cherish the life that Shouto had saved.
Unfortunately, Izuku had absolutely no luck getting close to Shouto through the thick crowds of fans and the police barricade. Izuku kept tracking Shouto around the city. During an attack at a train station, Izuku got hit by poisonous gas that left him bedridden for a week. But he refused to give up.
It appeared getting close to villain attacks was too dangerous. But when Izuku tried to approach Shouto after an arrest, he got taken hostage by a criminal who leapt up from the floor. That was when Izuku stole the villain's teleportation quirk, which unfortunately activated right away before he had a chance to talk to his hero.
After two years of stalking, uh, discretely following around his crush, Izuku had a notebook full of plans. He was ready for anything. He donned black body armor and a gas mask, then headed out to confess to his crush.
A crowd surged toward Shouto Todoroki, cheering, after he defeated a mugger and saved a hostage.
Immediately, Shouto pasted on his smile for the cameras. His father, the number one hero Endeavor, had taught him well. Shouto was part of the Todoroki dynasty and had been training as a hero since he'd been in diapers. Carefully, Shouto froze the feet of the crowd to stop them from mobbing him, but not hurt them. They cheered even louder.
Katsuki Bakugo got out of a police car. "Ugh, am I too late?" He scowled. "Shitty Half and Half, did you defeat the villain already again? One of these days, I swear I'll beat you!"
"It's not a contest," Shouto reminded his fellow hero. Katsuki currently wore a police uniform because all his costume designs kept being rejected as too edgy. Powered heroes were very rare, so they were considered a special branch of the Japanese police.
"One of these days, you'll meet a villain stronger than you," Katsuki grumbled as he turned on his heel and stomped away.
Shouto said, "That isn't going to happen." It was merely a statement of fact, but it made Katsuki's scowl deepen.
A figure dressed in black and wearing a gas mask appeared in front of them with a pop of displaced air. A teleportation ability? He wore a hoodie with rabbit ears. A menacing aura radiated off him despite his short height.
Both ice and fire crawled on Shouto's skin. Someone dressed so imposingly could only be a villain.
The black figure moved in a flash, hand reaching for Shouto. Katsuki leapt forward, but he was easily shoved away. Katsuki hit a trashcan with a furious scream.
Shouto had never seen his rival fall so easily. For a moment, he was frozen in shock. A question escaped his lips: "Who…are you?"
The masked figure radiated icy silence.
Shouto got ahold of himself. Forcing his usual cold attitude, he said, "I'll find out after I remove that mask." He formed an ice cage around the black figure.
The man in black smashed through it with one punch. A shard of ice slapped against Shouto's cheek. He might be in shock. Strong quirks were so rare that he'd never, ever seen one like this before. Shouto had always been easily stronger than any petty criminal.
In that moment of surprised, Shouto left himself vulnerable. His father had taught him that those who were vulnerable, died.
But instead of killing him, the black figure teleported away.
Back at home, Izuku ripped off his gas mask. "I got to see Shouto Todoroki's quirk up close!" He reached for a notebook, rapidly scribbling down every last detail.
Izuku still did not understand a lot about quirks. For example, he did not yet understand the true nature of his quirk. He had both strength and teleportation, suggesting some type of hybrid ability. That was another thing he and his crush had in common.
Only after Izuku finished did he remember, "Oh! I forgot to give him my love letter."
Sitting at the head of a metal table in the police station, Enji Todoroki folded his arms. "From now on, we'll begin this emergency meeting to discuss the new villain. The media refers to him as Black Rabbit."
Sitting to his father's right, Shouto tried to concentrate. Instead, he kept seeing his brush with death in his mind over and over again. He placed his hands in his lap to disguise their shaking.
Enji said, "We'll be assembling a team of heroes to handle him. Shouto, you stay away."
"But!" Shouto cried, already envisioning his comeback. He needed to face the villain again in order to regain his confidence.
Enji delivered his blow mercilessly. "You already failed to deal with Black Rabbit once."
Across the table, Katsuki snickered. With his feet propped up on the table, he checked his phone. Katsuki had never been into social media before joining the heroes, but now he was obsessed with obtaining a larger fanbase than Shouto.
Flashing a thumbs-up, Inasa Yoarashi said, "The rest of us will handle this villain!" Inasa had been aggressively befriending Shouto since he'd joined the team, which was sort of nice but also confusing. Shouto had never had a friend before. He almost felt more comfortable with Katsuki's aggression.
Enji fixed his son with a glare. "You should move back home, where it's safer."
Shouto flinched. His father had never been happy about his son moving into his own apartment. Distance made it harder to train together. But as far as Shouto was concerned, that was a benefit. He'd saved every last yen of his salary to escape as fast as possible. Shouto raised his head. "I refuse. I'll capture Black Rabbit, then there won't be any danger." Shouto was ready and willing to risk his life to ensure he didn't have to move back in with his parents.
"I'm ordering you to step down from this mission," Enji said. "You seem to be the villain's target, so it's better if you keep a low profile."
Shouto could not argue. He'd failed. He stared at his hands. All his life, Shouto had tried to be perfect. His father had raised him to believe that he was the sole hope of Japan, the Todoroki with the strongest quirk. He had a duty to become a hero and protect everyone. There had never been any other path. Shouto could never show fear in public, or it would become a vulnerability for the entire police force. He always had to win.
Once, when Shouto had been a child, he'd been caught in a fire too big for his quirk to control. A very tall blond man with two hair tufts had rushed in, punched the rubble away, and saved his life. Shouto had never seen the man again. Apparently he was not a registered hero. Not all people with quirks became heroes, although it was the only way to get any training for their powers and Japanese citizens were only allowed to use powers on the job. Shouto had never told anyone about his rescuer for fear of getting the man into trouble. The public still had only a shaky acceptance of quirks. Discrimination was more common than most would admit.
Shouto touched the scar on his face, left from the house fire. He wondered who would save him if Black Rabbit came to kill him again.
Izuku's love letter read:
Dear Shouto Todoroki,
My name is Izuku Midoriya. If not for you, I would have died two years ago when my school collapsed. I promise that I'll cherish the life that you saved. I'm a fan.
Yours,
Izuku Midoriya
It was not exactly a love confession, but it was as bold as Izuku was willing to get. After two years of being nearly trampled by Shouto's fanclub, Izuku had come to know his place. Besides, Izuku didn't want to burden Shouto with his feelings. Such a handsome and popular hero must get confessions all the time. Izuku only wanted to express his gratitude and his admiration.
Izuku teleported over to the bank as soon as he heard word of the robbery. Perfect as usual, Shouto already had arrested the robbers and pushed them into a police car. It was a cold, rainy day. When Shouto looked up, pellets of rain rolled down his face and froze to his white-haired half.
Izuku's heart pounded. His crush had looked in his direction!
When Shouto took a step forward, Izuku swayed. No matter what, Izuku had to maintain control of himself and confess.
Izuku shouted, "I like you!"
But the combination of the rain, sirens, and the gas mask completely drowned out his words. Fortunately, he had his letter. Izuku's love letter was jet black with blood red letters. According to his dad, it was romantic to use the blood of enemies to court your crush, but Izuku only had a red sharpie on hand.
Shouto gestured at the police siren. "Can someone turn that off?"
Izuku felt encouraged that Shouto wanted to communicate with him. He stepped forward, pulling the letter out of his pocket.
Inasa Yoarashi, a newbie hero with wind powers, shot out a blast of air. Izuku gasped as his letter was ripped out of his hand. He assumed by accident—maybe Inasa didn't have control over his powers yet? But then Inasa lunging and snapped handcuffs around Izuku's wrist, fastening them together.
Uh…was this an accident? Was Inasa that inept? Poor Shouto's back must hurt from carrying the police force all by himself. Izuku snapped the handcuffs with one flick of his finger. Politely, Izuku placed the broken handcuff into Inasa's hand. Over the roaring of the rain, Izuku tried to say, "I'm sorry for breaking your handcuffs," but he didn't think he could be heard. Izuku bowed, hoping to convey the same sentiment. Then he teleported away.
Back in his room, Izuku wondered if his love letter had been delivered successfully. It had fallen on the ground, but perhaps Shouto would pick it up. Did he dare hope? Izuku fell backward onto his bed, clutching his pillow and giggling.
Shouto had frozen again. How could a trained hero have frozen in front of a villain for a second time? Crimson tinged his cheeks. An ominous black letter floated to the ground next to him. Shouto snatched it up before the rain destroyed it. He very much wanted to know what Black Rabbit had to say to him. He started to open the letter.
"Stop!" Inasa screamed, rushing forward. "Destroy that letter at once! It might be poisoned." He held out his palm, showing a broken handcuff. "Look what that monster did to solid steel! Then he left me with a toss of his head, as if to say I wasn't even worth killing." Inasa grabbed the letter.
"Wait!" Shouto cried. "I haven't read it yet!"
"It's definitely a death threat! And the envelope could be full of anthrax!" Inasa ripped the letter to small pieces. "Oops, did I just spread the anthrax? Noooooooo! Doctor, call a doctor!"
But Shouto wasn't so sure. Black Rabbit could have killed him when they'd first met. Shouto had felt it in his bones. When he'd embarrassingly frozen, Black Rabbit could have grabbed his neck and twisted it like the handcuff. Hadn't Black Rabbit been trying to talk to him? Perhaps there was something more complicated going on?
Kneeling down, Shouto pieced together the wet, torn fragments of the paper.
Three words had survived: "cherish" "life" and "die."
Rain dripping down his face, Shouto stared. It was definitely a death threat!
Back in his office, looking over old files, Enji trembled. Black Rabbit couldn't possibly be him, right? That terrifying existence who had terrorized Japan with multiple quirks? That handsome devil who smiled with teeth stained by blood?
Then reality reasserted itself. Black Rabbit was way too short to be him. That was almost as good a proof as if he'd worn a tie.
Nevertheless, just to be on the safe side, Enji decided it would be better if his youngest son took a leave of absence. He filled out the paperwork to enroll Shouto in Coruscant College.
Izuku received a text that his parents were visiting only an hour in advance. He rushed around his apartment, straightening it up. His parents were very protective and had only reluctantly agreed to let him live away from home while he attended college. In order to preserve his freedom, he must make sure that everything looked perfect.
At the sound of the doorbell, Izuku ran to open it. "Mom, Dad, and Papa! Good to see you again."
Inko was through the door first. She yanked Izuku into her arms with her powerful telekinesis ability. "My baby! How have you been doing? Are you eating properly? I brought food. The boys are carrying it."
"That was kind of you, Mom," Izuku smiled. "I miss your home cooking."
Hisashi ducked his head to get under the doorway. He carried a bundle wrapped in strawberry printed tissue. "Your mother made a dozen kinds of sushi."
Toshinori entered last, also ducking at the doorway. "How have your classes been going?"
Izuku had three parents, and he always had for as long as he could remember. Who was biologically related to him didn't matter. Either way, Hisashi was his Dad and Toshinori was his Papa. Smiling, Izuku said, "I love college. All my teachers have been nice."
Sounding a bit disappointed, Hisashi said, "If you found it too much trouble to do chores and study, you could always move back home. You can teleport to school, after all."
Inko elbowed him. "Let our boy have some freedom."
Toshinori chuckled. "You must forgive us. We all miss you."
Izuku knew that. His parents had always doted on him. In fact there had been some incidents in his childhood, such as when a dog that bit him went missing and a teacher who had given him a bad grade moved to another country. Sometimes his parents could be a bit too much.
Sitting around the dining room table, Inko served the sushi between plates.
Izuku took a bite of chicken tempura sushi. "Mmm, Mom, you made my favorites."
"Scrumptious," Hisashi said. Idly, he threw his chopstick at Toshinori's eye.
Toshinori caught it and threw it back. "Did the holes in your hands slip, All for One?" The chopstick embedded in the wall hard enough to leave a crack.
Hisashi smirked. "I just like to see you show off that beautiful quirk of yours, love. Ah, sometimes I still regret failing to steal it, but at least I stole you instead."
Izuku was not bothered. A bit of friendly fighting was how his fathers showed their love for each other. All for One was his dad's pet name. On second thought, Izuku was a little bothered by the crack in the wall. "Both of you two are either repairing that or paying for it."
"Sorry, ducky." With a flick of his fingers, Hisashi floated over the chopstick. Another quirk repaired the crack in the wall.
Inko sighed and placed a hand on her cheek. "Both of you boys are still only good for breaking things—like that time you destroyed my dictatorial regime. I'd only gotten to rule over Japan for two weeks!"
"Sorry, dear," Hisashi said. "If only I'd been married to you back then, I would have offered to let you rule together with me. I still regret that I let the army regain control while we were fighting each other."
Unrepentantly, Toshinori said, "Your reign of terror needed to be stopped, but I still love you, dear."
All three of Izuku's parents were former villains, though Toshinori was more like a vigilante. Izuku didn't care. They'd retired now. Mostly retired. Toshinori would stop the other two from doing anything too evil.
Inko pointed at the gas mask lying on the counter. "Is that a project for one of your support gear classes?"
Izuku shoved the mask under the table. "More of a personal project."
Hisashi's brow furrowed, his eyes tracking the mask. Recognition glinted in his gaze.
The next day, Izuku arrived at school to a buzz and murmur of excitement. He picked up the whispers in the hallway—Shouto Todoroki had enrolled in Coruscant College.
Although Izuku wanted to see his idol, he couldn't even catch a glimpse through the crush of fans following Shouto everywhere and trying to take pictures. Honestly that must be pretty annoying for Shouto. Especially with how everyone was pushing him. Some rude person had even grabbed his hand. Izuku stepped forward, wanting to help.
Over the crowd, Shouto looked straight at Izuku.
Izuku blushed. Then he realized why Shouto was staring his way—the window behind him exploded.
Enji Todoroki was watering a potted geranium in his office when three people teleported over: two tall, handsome giants with a short green-haired beauty between them. It couldn't be—but it was. Japan's three most notorious villains. The Unstoppable Empress Inko, who had conquered Japan for two weeks. All for One, the deadly spider who controlled the economy and had blackmail material on all the most powerful figures in Japan. All Smite, an extremist for quirk rights who had once lifted up the Diet building and held it in the air until they agreed to revoke the law demanding that everyone with quirks register and join the military. The only reason none of these three ruled Japan was because they had been too busy fighting each other. Two decades ago, they had vanished at the same time. What could have possibly brought them all here together?
The watering can slipped from Enji's hand to the floor. His throat felt dry. Just as he remembered from years ago, all three of them had a magnificent radiance that inspired such a complicated feeling of envy in him. Seeing them again brought back those days in his youth when his heart had pounded in the presence of any of the three villains. They were the mistakes of his past…not mistakes exactly since he'd never gotten a hint of interest from any of them, which was a good thing, or so he'd told himself late at night. It must be the influence of the Todoroki family curse to fall in love with villains. Enji had to get ahold of himself.
Inko raised her fist, and Enji was jerked over. He did not activate his fire—he knew he would not win this fight, and he planned to at least try to negotiate for the sake of all the lives in the building. Trying not to sound afraid (or worse, aroused), Enji asked, "What do you want?"
Inko demanded, "Don't chase Black Rabbit."
Enji hadn't expected that at all. "Is All for One backing him?" His gaze jerked to the white-haired villain. "Did you give him two quirks?"
Coldly, All for One said, "He's our son."
Enji choked and sputtered. He looked between the trio. "Whose son?"
"All three of ours," All Smite said, his face a stone mask.
Enji felt faint. If these three had teamed up, they could crush Japan! His nation had only survived this long because they were too busy raising a child. Furthermore, the son of these three monsters wanted to kill his beloved youngest child? This was a catastrophe! How could Shouto have attracted the wrath of such a deadly villain? Enji's knees trembled in fear.
"You get one warning to stay away from him." Inko picked a pen off Enji's desk, and threw it straight through his window. The blow, empowered by her quirk, shattered the glass.
"I have an even better warning," All for One purred. He ripped out the entire back wall of the office. Dirt sprayed everywhere. All for One threw it.
"You both go too far." All Smite sighed, picked up both his partners, then shot away. Sadly he did not leave without kicking the computer containing all data on Black Rabbit, smashing it beyond recognition.
Shouto leapt forward, knocking the green-haired college student to the ground. Before the glass could hit them, Shouto formed a shield of ice. "Are you all right?"
"Y-yes," the green-haired boy stammered.
Shouto set the student on his feet. "Please evacuate." He braced himself, his quirk heating up the air. "I'll take care of this." For some reason, a pen lay amongst the glass shards. Didn't that pen belong to Enji? Frowning, Shouto leaned down to take a closer look.
A giant block of stone—an entire wall—flew at him. Shouto couldn't dodge. There were students behind him. He had to stop it from hitting. Shouto raised a wall of ice outside.
The building smashed through. Shouto barely had time to melt his own ice splinters before they ripped him apart. He couldn't fail! Not with everyone in the school counting on him! He had to be the perfect hero!
Shouto was all out of ice, but he summoned a wave of fire, hoping he could melt the wall. It wasn't enough. Half the wall turned to cinders, but the flaming remnants were coming straight at him…
The green-haired boy leapt forward and punched the wall. The blast knocked Shouto backward. Gaping, he landed on his bottom.
Turning around, the green-haired boy smiled. There was a smudge of dirt on his cheek. The flames of the wreckage cast flickering light on his hair like a halo. A single line of red ran down his cheek. "Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked.
Shouto's heart pounded so loudly he could barely hear, but he had one thought: Beautiful.
OMAKE TIME!
Omake: In the Support Department
Enji: Can you get data off this broken computer?
Mei Hatsume: That's not a computer, that's a metal pancake. Haven't you heard of backing up your files to the cloud?
Enji: All for One has a hacking quirk, I don't dare.
Mei: True, we can't let a villain obtain access to police files.
Enji: …Yes, the police files are what I'm worried about.
Meanwhile:
Toshinori: Can you hack Enji's computer and see what he knows about our son?
Hisashi: Last time I broke into Enji Todoroki's office, I found way too many newspaper clippings with pictures of us. I don't want to find out what he has on his computer.
#
Omake: Hereditary Yandere
Hisashi: Ducky, I'm proud of you! You've become a villain, just like me!
Izuku: Huh? I'm just trying to confess to my crush.
Hisashi: Ducky, I'm proud of you! You've become a stalker, just like me! Let me know if you need a bank vault to confine your lucky target.
Author's Note: I created this AU based off the plot of Pure Villain, a webcomic where the female lead gets mistaken for a villain. You don't need to read Pure Villain to understand this fic since I'm just borrowing the basic premise, but I highly recommend the webcomic for being amazing and hilarious. This fic takes place in an AU similar to canon. However, for the sake of following Pure Villain's plotline I have changed up the universe so that 1. Quirks are less common; and 2. Quirks are less socially acceptable.
Thank you so much to Gentrychild for brainstorming this AU with me, betareading, and of course for introducing me to Pure Villain in the first place. Gentrychild contributed some of the funniest lines for this fic and the ending that I can't wait to share. This fic will update once a week on Fridays.
The beautiful cover art for this fic is a commission from Possiblycringe (tumblr) / BucketOfMud (Ao3) / Popsicles (discord). Just look at those amazing facial expressions and brilliant colors. The cover art got cropped on fanfiction dot not. Delete the spaces to get the link to the full image:
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