Chapter 5: New Sensations
White whisps of heavy breath escape from the mouth of a black-clad jogger into the brisk night air as his feet hit the ground at a rhythmic pace.
The figure wore a black neck gaiter that covered most of his face and a red beanie with matching shoes.
On this cold night, Izuku Shigaraki was out for a run; he couldn't sleep, so he resorted to exercise to clear his head.
It had been about two weeks since the failed assassination of the symbol of peace, and the League of Villains was still recovering from their massive loss of resources and manpower.
Turning a corner and quickening his pace as he strode down the dark empty street, Izuku thought of his brother.
Tomura was still recovering from his gunshot wounds; with the doctor's treatments and physical therapy, AFO's right hand was scheduled to be ready for return after another month or two of recovery.
However, the wounded man was becoming increasingly frustrated with his current condition, as he was unable to perform his usual duties. He even struggled to do mundane tasks like feeding himself.
Tomura was especially upset when AFO announced that Izuku would have to take on even more responsibility while the decay villain recovered. Because of this, the older Shigaraki was forced to use the rogue to fulfill the many tasks required to begin rebuilding their crippled organization, although Izuku felt like he was barely more than an errand boy.
These errands, however, mainly consisted of information gathering for recon and blackmail purposes, under-the-table negotiation, and assassinations of very minor public and private figures.
Still, these opportunities allowed the boy to show his teacher he could get results.
That he was ready for his own role in the League of Villains!
As his thoughts continued to wander and his breath became more and more haggard, the inconspicuous exterior of the bar came into view in the distance. He pushed through his growing exhaustion as he approached it.
Ever since the beating from Eraserhead and Kachann, Izuku had drastically increased his already rigorous training regimen to build muscle and increase his stamina.
He had to improve every aspect of his physical abilities if he hoped to keep up with their combat prowess.
He also was training on using his quirks more effectively, making some progress as he was starting to be able to use them simultaneously for a few moments at most.
As his pace quickened again for the home stretch sprint, Izuku also recounted his discoveries about his enigmatic quirk, Empathy…
Thinking back to his infiltration of UA, he pondered Aizawa's outburst. Somehow, Empathy had allowed the boy's own anger to amplify the teacher's emotions and influence him to an extent…
What could be the application of this power?
He also thought back to his fight with Kacchan; his quirk seemed to have the ability to not only project his pain onto his opponent but remove it from himself as he did so, even if it WAS only for a brief moment.
The more he used this ability, the more he questioned his master's interpretation of its true nature. There seemed to be much more to this strange quirk than he or AFO could have known.
Perhaps if he was able to utilize the full spectrum of abilities that Empathy seemed to encompass, he could begin his journey to becoming stronger.
Somehow…he would shape this quirk into a weapon that he could use to overcome the seemingly invincible Symbol Of Peace.
As his lungs burned and his feet slowed him to a stop at the bar's entrance, Izuku swore to himself that he would investigate and learn all the secrets of his quirk in order to use it to the fullest.
Entering the quiet bar, the boy could hear clicking and grumbling coming from the main lounge; walking over to see Tomura seated in his wheelchair, playing away on his PD5.
"So your back, huh?" the gray-haired man groaned as the teen passed him on his way up the stairs.
"I was going to save this till tomorrow, but since you are still awake…" the wounded man coughed, pausing his game before reaching down into a bag slung over the wheelchair's armrest and pulling out a small phone.
This caused the white-haired boy to stop his ascent, turning and listening to his brother.
" I've got a new mission for you…" he explained, tossing Izuku the device, "There's some idiot disrupting our Trigger distrubution routes in Hosu."
"Trigger, huh…" Izuku had heard Tomura and the doctor discuss it before. He knew that the master's empire was funded by a multitude of income sources, drug distribution being one of them.
Still, the boy didn't know much about the chemical specifically other than that it increased quirk output to unnatural levels. He had heard from Tomura on other occasions that the secret ingredient for this illicit substance was provided by a mysterious supplier who supposedly had ties to the master, but that was the extent of the information he had.
Flipping on the phone, the white-haired boy scrolled through the loaded document that depicted sightings of a black and red-clad vigilante. His eyes go wide in recognition.
"He's called Hero Killer Stain. As the name implies, he's currently been reponseable for the deaths or injury of multple heroes," Tomura sneered, returning to his game with a grunt. " You'd think that a man that shared our hatred of heroes like that would be on our side, but no… for some reason he also seems adamant on disrupting the Doctor's lucrative side business."
Izuku was still silent, staring at the documents as the seated Shigaraki continued the debrief.
"I want you to make your way to Hosu and find out as much as you can about this man… we need a way of resolving this issue. With this guy's growing infamy, I wouldn't mind if he joined us; we could use both his skills and his fame." Tomura asserted, a small smile appearing on his face.
"But if he refuses to stop being a problem, I want you to determine the best method of eliminating him!" He finished, turning to look at his brother in his empty, emotionless eyes as they looked up from the phone. "We own an apartment building out there that always keeps a few rooms empty; use that as your base of operations. Got it!?"
"Yea…I'll handle it." The young boy replied, nodding to his brother as he continued up the stairs, "I'll leave in the morning with Kurogiri; I need time to prepare…."
As he turned the corner, making his way to his room, Izuku chuckled to himself as he peeled off his drenched clothes and entered the bathroom.
"It's HIM!?" Izuku thought as he showered and prepared to go to sleep, an eerie grin sliding onto his lips.
"It's been almost nine years…I wonder if he would recognize me now."
Early the following day, the young villain was ready.
He had his supplies, weapons, and gear hidden within a large guitar and briefcase, along with a duffle bag full of simple clothes. He did not know how long he'd be stationed in Hosu.
Tomura couldn't see him off as he had been on the doctor's operation table since before Izuku woke up. The boy just hoped that his brother would recover quickly…
There was so much to be done!
With a nod from Kurogiri, the young Shigaraki was enveloped in darkness before appearing in a dark and empty 1-bedroom apartment. Izuku assumed he was now in Hosu; his mission had already started.
Before the boy began unpacking, he quickly looked out one of the blind-covered windows. Now he was sure this was somewhere new, looking out to see an unfamiliar cityscape.
Smiling blankly to himself, Izuku took his time setting up the space. He also brought supplies for his new hobby, along with his villain gear and weapons.
Being primarily self-taught with some help and tips from Dr. Ujiko, Izuku had begun learning how to create his own devices and mix simple chemicals. Currently, he had a few remote explosives and smoke bombs already made, with material to make a few more with him as well.
After he had spent a few hours setting up the apartment and adjusting his supplies and gear, the boy headed out into the city. He wanted to get a feel for his new environment. He would be hunting the hero killer here, after all.
Sporting his usual jogging clothes, Izuku leaves the safehouse, beginning his run around the city in the warm afternoon sun.
The boy took in his surroundings as his feet hit the sidewalk at a harsh starting pace. Hosu was a bustling city, but judging by the shops and establishments that litter the area, the nightlife around here got crazier than back home.
As he made his way through unfamiliar streets and neighborhoods, Izuku noticed a large number of hero patrols. It seems like the Heroes were not taking Stain's actions lightly…
Subtly, the boy activates Presence, cloaking himself from the attention of the passing heroes as he continues jogging through the city streets. If he remembered correctly from the document he was given, Hosu was home to many major heroes like Ingenium, Endeavor, and Manuel.
His memory was proven correct as out of the corner of his eye, a bright burning man walking with purpose strode out of view.
"Endeavor, huh…" The boy thought, pulling his beanie down and brushing some of his hair into his face as he slowed and shifted his course. After a couple of blocks, Izuku turns into a park, deactivating his quirk and bending over, stopping to catch his breath.
Straightening up after a moment, the sweating boy reached a park bench a few feet away, plopping down into it.
As he sat, controlling his breathing and slowing his heart rate, Izuku allowed an empathic wave to surge out from him, scattering through the quiet greenery and into the surrounding city.
Slowly…steadily…his quirk spread out further. The range of Empathy wasn't fixed; the sharper his concentration, the farther he could sense, although it became increasingly exhausting to do so.
As the invisible wave reached its furthest length, its direction reversed instantly, swirling back into the boy as he sat motionless.
With a gasp, Izuku accepted the emotions of the hundreds nearby, and although he knew that this was only a tiny percentage of Hosu's population, the rush was overwhelming nonetheless.
Continuing to regulate his breath, Izuku slowly began combing through the array of sensations flooding his mind, separating each emotional node and pinpointing their relative locations. He began to notice that each node carried a slightly different "frequency," allowing him to distinguish between individuals and match each to the emotions they possessed.
It seemed like the heroes were doing all they could to reassure and comfort the public, pacifying the demure people of Japan into continuing to allow them and the other caped thugs to play judge, jury, and executioner.
He could sense the sickening complacency, comfort, and security oozing out from many of the hearts and minds around him.
The boy gritted his teeth as he stood, stretched, and began running again.
His brother's words rang in his ears.
"Do you know who's to blame for both our suffering...?!"
Calming down and retuning his focus, Izuku pressed deeper into the city's consciousness as he ran through the streets heading back to the safe house using a different route.
After a moment, his twisted smile spread across his face.
He could feel it!
Building below the surface, stirring in the hearts of those who move through this city…there was an underlying fear, uneasiness, and doubt swirling up.
The fear and uncertainty caused by Stain's 17 confirmed victims birthed this unrest…this is the feeling he had been searching for…
'What a beautiful sensation…!" He thought, his broad but hollow smile stretching wider and wider.
Suddenly a ping of pain blipped across the boy's ribs; it felt distant and foreign…again he felt another painful tingle, this time across his face and more intense.
This pain wasn't his…
Stopping in his tracks and closing his eyes, Izuku concentrated on the multiple pings of sharp pain appearing over his body. He was sensing someone's injuries! Slowly he began to detect an intense fear that spiked in tandem with the stinging pulses; the source of both was one and the same.
Snapping his eyes open, the boy looks around him, scanning for the source of these sensations. He had felt this before…it reminded him of his time as a Midoriya.
Fear, pain, hopelessness, and a defeated acceptance…this heavy rush of information from Empathy stunned Izuku before another painful pulse brought him back to the moment.
Something within him caused his to take off, dashing at full speed toward the distant source…
–
As early afternoon becomes early evening and the sun begins making its way to set, darkening the sky a bit.
Izuku continued ducking into alleys and rushing across busy streets, eventually approaching an alleyway near a school. He saw a group of teenagers in a semicircle around something on the ground.
Using Presence to cloak himself, the young villain made his way closer to the group, hiding around corners as he observed.
A girl was leaning on the wall a couple of feet away from the group made up of three burly-looking boys and a lump of something at their feet.
They all seemed to be around his age, but the tall bald male looked a bit older. From his position, the young Shigaraki couldn't make out the shape on the floor, although he could see some red stains on bright blonde hair.
This is where the familiar pain was coming from…it was emanating from this figure sprawled out at the feet of these students.
Abruptly the person on the ground coughed and sputtered, rolling to their side; the bald teen reached down, gripping the prone blonde by their locks and lifting them up from the floor.
" Oi! Freakshow!" the gruff older boy barked, yanking on the crumpled person's matted and bloodied hair. As the head lifted, Izuku caught a glimpse of golden irises hidden behind swollen eyelids of a fair-skinned girl who looked up with a face covered in bruises.
"You ready to explain yourself?!" the bald teen spat, slapping the female across the face as he held her tightly. " Why did Kuzuo-chan find you sucking on her bloody bandages!? What the fuck is wrong with YOU!"
With a heavy grunt, the teen emphasized his question with another hard slap as the other two boys laughed. The boy hidden in the shadow heard a strange *clink* as the backhand smacked into the girl's face, causing blood to dribble from the corner of her mouth.
"What's next?! You gonna want to lick her tampons or something?!" the bald teened spat louder, chuckling at his own jest.
The girl leaning against the wall rolled her eyes at this; she didn't seem interested in anything happening as she immediately returned to scrolling on her phone.
As the boys howled and laughed, a low, raspy voice escaped the battered mouth of the young girl in their clutches.
"I…K-K-K…" the voice stammered, gasping and coughing from pain. Suddenly the two lackeys of the bald boy stepped back, visually shaken as the bloodied girl's face twisted into a deviant smile.
"Kuzou-chan is…so cute and popular…I love her sooo much," She coughed out, her wicked smile becoming increasingly manic, displaying her sharp lacerating teeth.
"I just wanted to get to know her! I just wanted to be like HER! I WANT TO BE HER! I HAD TO KNOW WHAT SHE TASTED LIKE!…hehe." the blonde giggled madly in a cheerful but chilling tone, her face slightly orgasmic as she glared over at the young girl leaning against the wall with smiling but hungry eyes, licking her lips.
A definite chill ran down "Kuzuo-chan's" spine as her shaking hands dropped her cell phone to the floor, followed by her weak legs giving out as she tried to back away, causing her to fall backward onto her butt.
The fear emanating from all four students as they stood petrified at the girl's response was detectable by Izuku without needing his quirk.
However, Empathy did pick up on the pure unadulterated adoration and the wholehearted glee that emanated from the injured girl like a fluffy pink cloud, stimulating Izuku's quirked sense with a blissful feeling…
She meant every word she said… the hiding villain could still sense the pain and hopelessness coming from her, but her shining love overshadowed all other emotions.
Even in the terrible situation, her smile was completely and utterly genuine…something Izuku could never do. The boy could feel something in his chest tighten, but this wasn't any sort of pain…
It was a strange feeling… indescribable even…his stomach felt uneasy. The young teen suddenly felt hot and started to sweat as he continued basking blissfully in the girl's overwhelming emotions, content to just experience them.
However, the boy was ripped from his daydream when he saw the bald teen rear back his fist, screaming at the girl as he did.
"FUCK IT! YOU WANNA TASTE BLOOD, FREAK!? TRY SOME OF YOUR OWN!" He growled just as he began swinging into the cheerfully smiling girl as her head slumped back down.
The hiding boy instantly pulled his gaiter over the bottom of his face, flipped up his hood, and stepped out into the alley.
"Hey…" he called out, keeping his head low as he addressed the teens. He was about 20 feet from the nearest one.
The startled group jumped at the sudden voice, all turning to see the hooded and masked figure standing in the open. The darkening sky cast a shadow over the alley, obscuring the face of the appearing stranger.
"Beat it, pal!" The rotund lackey snarled, making his way over to Izuku and standing before him. "This is none of your business! Get loss!" The overweight teen gripped the smaller boy's shoulder with surprising strength; the hooded boy quickly deduced that he possessed some kind of strength quirk.
No matter…
Izuku twisted his body in a flash, slipping out of the boy's grasp, leaving him holding only the hoodie. Continuing to rotate with his momentum, the rogue lifted his leg as he spun, delivering a hard spinning heel kick to the underside of the fat kid's jaw, impacting with a loud snap as the blow sent the thick boy slumping to the ground unconscious.
The alley was silent for a brief moment as the other three standing students stared at Izuku in disbelief. The previously hooded teen was now standing in a tanktop, displaying his muscular arms and chest covered in scars from his past and present.
The fearful warcry of the other lackey was first to break the silence as he raised his arm at Izuku. Two thick purple tendrils sprout from his arm and shoot toward the white-haired teen as he dances backward to avoid them.
As the tendrils stretch and lash out at him, Rogue dodges to the right before running up the side of the alley. Pushing off the wall into a backflip as the tendrils slam into the brick, smashing it, the airborne boy tucks into himself as he rotates, pulling two throwing daggers from his socks.
He never leaves the house unprepared.
As he rotated in the air, Izuku threw both daggers into the wall he just pushed off, pinning the tendrils to it and restricting their movements.
The frantic aggressor attempted to free himself, but it was useless; the white-haired boy was on him before he could even turn to face him.
The last thing the trapped teen saw before crumpling to the ground in a broken heap were the empty pools of emerald, staring at him listlessly.
Suddenly he was floating in the air as a lightning-quick leg sweep took him off his feet before a vicious axe kick bashed his head into the concrete with a crack.
As the unconscious boy's scream is cut short, the remaining teens stare daggers at each other. However, the girl named "Kuzuo" was cowering on the floor, stammering in fear as a puddle of clear liquid spread around her on the ground.
Releasing the blonde's hair from his grip and letting her fall to the ground, the bald teen turned to face Izuku, a smirk appearing as he cracked his knuckles with a metallic click.
"Sooo, someone's trying to be a hero, huh!?" He asked coyly, spitting to the ground before him as he took a boxer stance. "Why bother? You know she's a fucking freak show right?! She like loves blood and shit…with tastes like that, she'll definitely be a villain, so what the harm in treating her like one?!"
The masked boy's fist clenched at these words as he looked up at the continually darkening sky.
"Damn…Tomura really was right…." He thought as his sadistic and empty smile split his lips,
"...Nothing but a villain, huh?"
With a smirk and a roar, the bald teen dashed toward Izuku with his guard up, closing the distance between him and his distracted foes.
Stepping into range, the boxer shoots off a double jab, hitting the air twice as the masked figure weaved both effortlessly. Grunting in frustration, the baldy throws a twisting right cross, followed by a tight left hook, then a digging right uppercut.
Rogue managed to dodge the cross by a hairs breath, stepping into a counter with a hard right of his own that smashed into his opponent's jaw before Izuku ducked the hook and stepped back from the uppercut.
The masked boy hissed as his blow had no effect.
The bald teen continued chasing the retreating assassin, peppering him with blows and managing to land a few shots to Izuku's guard.
After blocking a few unavoidable strikes, the rogue's arms were bruised and throbbing. His foe's fists were heavy and solid, like he was blocking blows from brass knuckles or a metal bat.
He also noticed that the hand with which he had thrown his counter hurt like hell and was beginning to swell.
With medical knowledge instructed to him by the doctor, Izuku recognized that he had probably fractured some of the phalanx bones in his right hand.
Noticing the masked figure wincing at the pain in his forearms, the bald teen smirked, releasing a hardy laugh as he again charged Izuku.
"You like that PUSSY!?" He screamed, throwing a barrage of blows at the evading figure as they danced around the alleyway. "My quirk makes my bones like iron so you have no chance against me!" He laughed as his target finally stopped running, rearing back his right hand for a devastating haymaker.
"HAHA, finally accepted that you can't win, PUNK! Don't worry, I'll make this quick!"
As the bald teen's fist careened toward the masked figure, the smile on his face vanished as the cold eyes of his opponent stared into his before disappearing in a blur of motion that flashed across his body.
"Silently Sunset…" the masked boy whispers to himself as he slowly stands from kneeling behind his confused foe, whipping off the blood caked onto one of his hidden tanto blades.
Suddenly the bald teen cried out in pain as long gashes began splitting open his body on his right wrist, chest, and left thigh, causing him to fall to the ground with blood pooling around him as he gasped for air and struggled to move.
His right wrist had been slit vertically in a single stroke; a curved line was carved through his abdomen with enough precision to miss any of his iron ribs and other protective bones, and a deep cleavage was traced across his femoral artery.
As the assassin stared down at the boy with his listless, bored expression, covered in the other teen's blood, he smirked from underneath the mask.
He had never got to try out that form on a living creature… he hadn't tried to strike fatally, but the older boy's words struck his cold heart.
However…he was glad his training was bearing fruit.
Through his increasing experience in combat and using Empathy, Izuku had observed that a combatant was most vulnerable when they were on the verge of landing a decisive blow.
Their anticipation for the impact, hope for victory, and relief that the fight would be over builds in them and reaches its peak at that exact second, causing them to lower their guard completely
By reading his opponent using Empathy, Izuku had trained himself to sense that moment, discerning those few seconds of momentary relaxation that washed over the attacker's mind and taking advantage of it.
By activating Presence and ducking down into a foe's blind spot at that exact moment, the rogue is able to temporarily vanish from his foe's perception, allowing him to land critical blows in a silent counterstrike.
Deep in thought, the masked boy stood there looking down at the expiring teen and analyzing their fight and the outcome of his experimental technique, he could hear sobbing coming from the floor a distance away as the girl called Kuzuo tried to scramble away, but she tripped over some trash and debris.
Paying her no mind, Izuku walks over to the beaten and bloody blonde lying motionless on the ground, her breathing ragged and labored.
"Hey! Are you alright?!" He asked her, shaking her gently until her eyes fluttered open. The girl's golden eyes squirt up at him at first with a curious and confused gaze as her vision clears, but suddenly, they go wide as an enormous smile breaks across her face.
"Savior-dono…" she whispered, wrapping her weak and shaky arms around the rogue's neck, pulling him close.
"Your eyes are so pretty…."