the end of a bloodline, a maquia - when the promised flower blooms/さよならの朝に約束の花をかざろう fanfic

Preface

The End of a Bloodline
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/39119358.

Rating:
Mature
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Category:
Gen
Fandom:
僕のヒーローアカデミア Boku no Hero Academia My Hero Academia
Relationship:
Iida Tenya & Midoriya Izuku & Uraraka Ochako, Sensei All For One & Shigaraki Tomura Shimura Tenko, League of Villains & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Uraraka Ochako, Iida Tenya & Midoriya Izuku, Ashido Mina & Midoriya Izuku, Jirou Kyouka & Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Todoroki Shouto, Aizawa Shouta Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Nedzu, Todoroki Shouto & Uraraka Ochako
Character:
Midoriya Izuku, Original Characters, Uraraka Ochako, Ashido Mina, Jirou Kyouka, Aizawa Shouta Eraserhead, Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Iida Tenya, Todoroki Shouto, Todoroki Enji Endeavor, Bakugou Katsuki, Shigaraki Tomura Shimura Tenko, Sensei All For One, Yagi Toshinori All Might, Yamada Hizashi Present Mic, Ojiro Mashirao, Uraraka Ochako's Family, Tsukauchi Naomasa, Yaoyorozu Momo, Usagiyama Rumi Miruko
Additional Tags:
Quirk Trafficking (My Hero Academia), Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Telekinesis Quirk, Sadistic Midoriya Izuku, Genius Midoriya Izuku, Uraraka Ochako is a Good Friend, Protective Uraraka Ochako, Iida Tenya is a Good Friend, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Villain Midoriya Izuku, used to be at least, Blood and Violence, Graphic Description, Graphic Description of Corpses, Blood and Gore, please do not read if you hate gore you will regret, Midoriya Izuku is So Done, Midoriya Izuku is Bad at Feelings, Self-Worth Issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Mentor Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Smart Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Nedzu is a Little Shit (My Hero Academia), Chaotic Nedzu (My Hero Academia), Nedzu Training Midoriya Izuku, [more tags to come I'm new to this lol, Chaotic League of Villains (My Hero Academia), Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have All For One Quirk, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bakugou Katsuki Has Feelings, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki Has One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has Issues, Mental Health Issues, Suicidal Thoughts
Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of
My Bloodstained Mind
Stats:
Published: 2022-05-20 Updated: 2023-03-05 Words: 153,845 Chapters: 35/?
The End of a Bloodline

by time_for_mango_showdown

Summary

Izuku's quirk is too useful for his own good

He's suffered because of it

He's killed because of it

He ignored those irritating emotions of his and got the job done

Until it became too much

Too much guilt that slowly swallowed him whole to the point where he almost drowned

Too much desire for a dream of freedom that would get him killed

Dreaming is dangerous, he shouldn't do it

But he did it anyway

And one day, it wasn't a dream anymore

An overpowered 14 year old assassin with the ability to control a person's blood leaves his past behind. In order to subdue the guilt of killing, Izuku pursues a career in heroism. Simple, right? He just had to hide his true intelligence and skill and his SLIGHTLY villainous nature when it comes to battle from people who were trained for years to uncover the secrets of the villain world.

Besides, becoming a famous hero would make sure that THEY couldn't get him.

RIGHT?!??!!?

(updates end of the month)

Arc 1: New Beginnings - Chapters 1-9
Arc 2: Sports Festival - Chapters 10-15
Arc 3: Combat Training - Chapters 16-20
Arc 4: Stain - 21-N/A

Notes

See the end of the work for notes

New Beginnings

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

Izuku turned to stare at the robotic teenager behind him. The kid was larger than him, with navy blue hair and perfectly square glasses hiding what Izuku assumes are glaring eyes. He looked down. There were tubes – exhaust pipes resembling an engine sticking out of his thigh. "A running quirk" Izuku thought but quickly refocused on the teen's face. He had bigger problems right now than just studying this kid's quirk.

"I'm walking forwards." he replied simply, as if he was stating the obvious.

"YOU WERE GOING TO DISTRACT THE GIRL OVER THERE WEREN'T YOU? IF YOU ARE NOT TAKING THIS EXAM FAIRLY AND SERIOUSLY YOU SHOULD JUST LEAVE BEFORE YOU STAIN UA'S HONOR!"

Izuku just stared at this kid's face, not really knowing how to respond to that. Because he was, in fact, not taking this exam seriously. He was going to walk over to the girl in question to thank her for catching him when he fell at the front gate with her quirk, but he wasn't going to distract her. And then he was going to silently wait for the signal and calmly walk through the gate while everyone else rushed ahead and hopefully: got injured. He didn't particularly care if he passed this exam or not. He signed up last minute on an impulse decision. Honestly he's not even sure why he showed up.

So yeah. He wasn't taking this exam seriously.

But before he could even think about his response, an audible click came from the speakers resting on the pillars of the giant gate before the crowd of freshly graduated middle schoolers. Present Mic's voice came from them, with a "BEGIN!" ringing through everyone's ears like a nuclear bomb. They all seemed stunned by the fact that the exam had just begun and the small amount of pain that was left in their ears. No one moved as the gates slowly began to open.

Well, one person did.

A green-haired and green-eyed boy who was a little under average height calmly walked through the now-opened gate. Not ran. Walked. With an aura of confidence that could kill.

He wore black boots that seemed very similar to hunting boots as well as black pants, a white turtleneck sweater, and a leather black jacket. The sleeves were baggy and he had gloves that went to his elbows that were tucked inside the sleeves. He looked – weirdly enough – like a plain kid. As if he wasn't just strolling along a giant fake mock city, while taking a test at one of the most prestigious hero schools in the world. Like this wasn't a big deal.

Izuku glanced behind him and sighed as he realized his plan to stay behind the crowd immediately failed.

Aren't these people trying to become heroes? Why the fuck are they hesitating?

"WOW THAT'S THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED. USUALLY THERE'S ABOUT 3 PEOPLE WHO IMMEDIATELY RUN. WELL WHAT ARE THE REST OF YOU WAITING FOR? GO!" Present Mic's booming voice had not calmed down in the slightest in the past 3 seconds.

This woke the crowd out of whatever daze they were in as people started rushing into the mock city, hundreds of quirks being revealed as Izuku got absolutely trampled by the crowd.

For fucks sake… he thought as he picked himself from the ground and started to lightly jog, letting the rest of the crowd to take on the robots.

He watched as they all took down the robots in the city, which – hold up: WHY THE FUCK DOES UA HAVE A GIANT MOCK CITY!? He already knew the exam details as he may or may not have hacked into UA's servers and learned about the exam so he could plan ahead ( to be fair there wasn't an exam rule that prohibited that – other than the law) but actually seeing the test site in person was a different story.

Izuku was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a scream come from his right, and he immediately broke his jog and sprinted for the origin of the sound.

There was girl with black hair and greenish colored skin laying on the floor while clutching her leg next to the corpse of a 2 pointer robot. It looked like when she took down the robot some shrapnel impaled into her calf.

Izuku ran up to her while shouting "Hey are you ok?" with his most concerned "I give a shit" voice he could muster.

"I'm fine it's just a scratch I'm ok to continue." she responded as she tried to pull it out.

Izuku glanced at the injury and frowned. "Like hell you are, that is really impaled deep. You're definitely going to need stiches but for now just wrapping it up is good. It'd be better to leave it in there than take it out at this point." he said as he pulled out the first aid kit he brought for this exact scenario.

The girl just nodded as she was in too much pain to respond and watched as Izuku treated her wound quickly and masterfully. He's probably done this a million times.

"There. Can you stand?" Izuku said, still putting on his voice of concern.

"Mhm. Yea I can. Thank you dude I owe you one!" the girl said as she ran off with a slight limp. She was definitely going to either get an infection or have REALLY painful stitches. Probably both now that he was thinking about it.

With that done Izuku continued this exact same scenario over and over again, running up to the injured and treating them before moving on to the next. Each of them were very surprised when he came, since helping them gave Izuku nothing in return. Well, his actions didn't give points in THEIR eyes.

During the instruction conference the school held, it was implied that the only way to gain points were to smash the different point valued robots and to avoid the 0 pointers one. Which means every student would be focusing on fighting since that was the only way they were going to get points that were dubbed Villain Points. Izuku had OTHER plans however.

Due to his… outside knowledge – he learned the existence of a second type of points you could get in the exam. Rescue Points. They were exactly as they sounded. A secret point system that no one knew about and therefore the competition was non-existent.

Oh Izuku was going to abuse the hell out of that.

Sure it was annoying to pretend to actually give a shit when a person was crying over a fucking dislocated shoulder ( like come on. He's has done that on purpose a THOUSAND times! It's nothing to cry over), but the only other option is to use THAT side of him.

He doesn't trust THAT part of him.

It's not like he hates his quirk, no in fact he ADORES it. It's the fact that he loves it so much is why he's hesitant to use it. He's scared to get lost in the thrill he gets when he maintains absolute control of his ~~victims~~targets. He's done bad things with his quirk, things he absolutely hated doing. But it would be a lie to say that he didn't enjoy that feeling a ~~lot~~a tiny bit.

He paused as he felt rumbling in the ground and started to take note of his surroundings, before promptly having a brain malfunction as he laid his eyes upon the newest enemy.

WHAT THE FUCK IS UA'S BUDGET!?!?!?

Izuku swore to himself that he would hack UA again just to check because HOLY SHIT IS THIS THE 0 POINTER? He knew it was going to be big but he didn't know it was going to be THIS big.

And as if god had planned it, Present Mic's voice boomed once again through the contestants' ears, saying "2 MINUTES REMAINING. AND HERE COMES THE BIG GUNS!" followed by a cackling laughter.

…

New plan: RUN.

The 0 pointer was a military green with a typical box structure similar to the other robots. It had one red eye that was glowing along with a claw for a right hand and a gun for its left. Oh yea, it was also ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FUCKING METERS TALL.

Now ordinarily, with his actual outfit and the mental strength to actually focus on the thing, Izuku probably could have defeated it. Hell, he wouldn't even need his quirk. All he would have to do is climb up to where he knows the control panel is located ( from totally not the blueprints he memorized when he totally did not hack UA) by jumping from a nearby building, and slamming anything sharp down as hard as he could. Technically he'd need his quirk for the slamming part but-

DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER. RUN.

He paused, however, when he heard a small cough coming from the direction of the robot. He turned around to see a girl with short brown hair and round eyes trapped under a rock while god's personal mech suit marched towards her.

…

Great.

Now he certainly had a conundrum. God, he shouldn't have come here. He already knew god hated him so it was basically guaranteed something bad was going to happen so why the hell did he come in the first place?

The smart thing to do is run and leave her behind. Natural selection exists for a reason. On the other hand, he has been getting points by rescuing people nonstop, so leaving her behind would seem really suspicious to the graders of the test. On the other other hand that is formed by a quirk, unlike the other people he "saved", this girl could actually be sent to the hospital if Izuku doesn't do something.

Time slows as Izuku starts to focus on the scene he was now fully facing, not even noticing the fact that people are bumping into him as they run away from the robot. This always happens when Izuku focuses. It's not a part of his quirk, but it's always an odd sensation to say the least. He won't be able to make the distance in time to actually do anything. Even then, her leg is trapped under a rock, which Izuku won't be able to lift up unless he used THAT. But then again, if he uses THAT from where he is, he could bring her to safety. She's definitely going to feel an extreme amount of pain, even more if her leg is broken, but she should've been more careful if she didn't want to get hurt.

Izuku hesitates though. In the past, when uses his quirk on someone, it was either to knock them out or to…

The world started to spin as everything fell away and time seemed to fully stop. He could feel his brain go into overdrive trying to push away the memories from his mind. A radio's cracking sound filled his ears and a crackling voice from the depths of hell climbed its way to the top.

"I need you to make this one suffer… all you have to do is pull… don't you love your quirk?…"

He shakes his head and himself out of it and locks his eyes on the girl, specifically the trail of blood coming from her head. He feels the small buzzing connection grow stronger with his focus. Wasn't he here in this city to get away from his past and actually try to be someone better? Using his quirk to get someone out of danger definitely contributes to that goal. And besides, it wasn't like he was fighting someone. He was getting her out of the way.

He was helping her.

He was saving her.

This is a hero exam isn't it?

This is what he's supposed to be doing, not playing as a damn medic-

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

His thoughts freeze as the girl flies towards him, being pulled by the connection his quirk formed with her blood. Did he hurt her? She must've had a broken leg. He didn't accidentally do IT to her… did he?

Did he do IT again?

No he told himself he wouldn't.

He said he wouldn't.

He promised himself he wouldn't.

But that scream was exactly like the people he did IT to –

"HEY! THANK YOU FOR THAT BUT WE NEED TO GO!" the girl next to him shouts. She sounded grateful but at the same time very scared.

Izuku jolts awake from his ~~demons~~from his thoughts and immediately turns to the girl who landed next to him. He now realizes she's the same girl who stopped him from falling flat on his face this morning when he came in. He just nods silently, staring at her for a few more seconds before saying, "Do you need me to carry you or –"

"AND THAT'S IT LISTENERS. TIME IS UP! RETURN TO THE MAIN GATE IF YOUR UNINJURED. IF YOU ARE HURT, STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND OUR MEDIC BOTS & RECOVERY GIRL WILL BE COMING TO HELP YOU OUT. THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING AND GOODLUCK!"

… That's it?

Present Mic needs to learn something called volume.

Izuku sighs as he allows himself to relax. The 0 pointer had stopped moving at this point, probably deactivated from the remote control system that was programmed into it. He closed his eyes trying to think about the amount of people he "rescued", hoping that it'd be enough since the points weren't given by any set rule.

He stood there for a good 10 seconds before realizing that there was still a person next to him. He opened his eyes and immediately looked at the girl as she stared back.

Should he ask for her name?

That's probably the right move, he did just save her after all.

It'd be weird to not interact with each other after this –

"My, my, I've got to give Nedzu a piece of my mind after this. Putting a bunch of stupid egotistical, nervous kids against a bunch of fancy robots and especially that stupid 0 pointer! Someone could have died, are you ok dearie where is your injury?"

His eyes snapped to the old woman that was coming towards them, someone he immediately recognized as Recovery Girl. God he was losing touch… he should've been able to hear her coming from a mile away with that loud banging of her cane.

"Oh I'm mostly fine! I just broke my leg –"

"A broken leg is serious! Stupid kids downplaying their injuries, and what about you kid –" she said as she turned around to face the green-haired kid, only to find him completely gone and out of sight. She shook her head and focused on her patient. Right now, there were about 50 kids who need to be healed.

She was in for a long night.

Chapter End Notes

Hello! This is my first time writing on AO3 (or any fanfiction website) so excuse my poor tag use. I'm still trying to get the hand of this.

Anyway, I want to reiterate at the top just in case people don't get the message: DO. NOT. READ. THIS. IF. YOU. HATE. GORE.

You will most definitely be traumatized by the image my descriptions will put in your brains.

Moving on, about the fanfic, this is really just something I can use to distract myself with from work. So it's going to contain a lot of sass and funny moments I've had in my head. But we all love making characters from anime with no truly heartbreaking backstory and just dumping a shit ton of trauma onto them and forcing them to put themselves together in a storyline to entertain ourselves. So of course, I will be doing exactly that.

If you have any suggestions, criticism, or comments, let me know! I really appreciate honesty!

Neophobia

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"ETSURI IZUKU. THIS IS YOUR HERO ACADEMIA."

The hologram flickered for a second as the number one hero All Might disappeared from existence. Izuku laid back against his wall just staring at the message for a few seconds before promptly letting out his biggest groan and slamming his head on the desk.

He actually got in.

To most that would be an incredible feat.

UA was in the top 3 of hero schools on an international level. To get in is essentially a dream come true for anyone who wants to be a hero.

…

And that was exactly the problem.

Izuku didn't WANT to be a hero. The only reason he applied to UA at all was because... well, he wasn't exactly the most moral person out there. Helping people wouldn't free him of his crimes but maybe it'd lessen his sentence in hell.

So he applied to a school, despite him already finishing high school online when he was 10. To one of the biggest schools for heroes. When he hates heroes.

…

WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

He could've just applied to a NORMAL HERO HIGHSCHOOL. Sure, they'd be a bit thrown off by the fact that he was a just-turned-14 year old who technically graduated high school and already had multiple degrees in quirk analysis but STILL. He could've just done what he did with UA and hack the Japanese government to create a new identity from scratch and turn that into the school while faking his age and the level of school he was at!

WHY THE FUCK DID HE APPLY TO UA?

He abruptly stood up, so fast that he scared the cat on his lap as he walked over to his kitchen trash can. It hissed as he had betrayed the sacred pet sleeping treaty. Normally, he'd feel guilty but today was a bitter day, so he just hissed back.

He'd just throw away the acceptance letter and not go to UA.

He could still apply to other high schools after all.

There were plenty of other options.

…

But it was kind of a waste wasn't it?

He took someone else's spot.

To just throw away this opportunity kind of felt… disrespectful.

Oh god he was sounding like that robot kid. Now he really wanted to die.

He stared at the message hologram device while hovering over the trash can. He sighed while he carefully placed the device on the counter and took the moment to look at his apartment.

His apartment was quite the scramble to find. Since he had to go into hiding due to… THEM, he had to choose very carefully on where he'd reside. But he was a broke 13 year old at that point who's only income was writing mini essays on people's quirk at the time, so he couldn't chose one of the nicer places with actual security and safety. So he picked the cheapest place that wouldn't ask questions and contained the most amount of exits. 5 windows in his entire apartment was a good number for him. He also had access to the fire escape through his room, which initially made him question the sanity of the building designer but decided not to judge. He used it more than his front door.

The inside of the apartment was quite rough. There were dried blood stains on the roof from who knows god what and the walls were broken in some places. It took him about a week to kill the population of bugs in the kitchen. Despite having the ability to cut off blood flow to the head, those fuckers were persistent. The kitchen itself had only 4 cabinets, a stove/oven, and a place for a microwave. The living room was the dining room, and only a small couch could fit with a small coffee table sitting in front of it. A narrow hallway leading to his room and the bathroom right across from it completed the layout.

Overall, not the worst thing ever. His previous house had been huge, but he was only ever allowed to exist in his room. He wasn't allowed to walk around the house unless someone told him he could. He'd stay in his 10 by 10 ft room for weeks sometimes. His bathroom was connected directly through the bedroom. So being able to walk around and change the scene was something Izuku could appreciate.

What was really weird though, was the amount of weapons and stuffed animals that were placed all around the apartment.

A year ago, once he ~~escaped~~left that place, he was pretty much…

What's the best way to describe it…?

Oh yea. A fucking bitch.

He was in a constant state of fight or flight mode, nervously looking over his shoulder every second as if THEY would pop out of nowhere and take him back. He would have panic attacks/crying sessions every day and he was feeling so goddamn exhausted to the point where it physically hurt to breathe or move.

After weeks of this torture, he decided waiting to die from heart and lung stress was too long a wait and googled how to handle his situation.

From what the internet said, teenagers with backgrounds like his should be encouraged to explore interests and hobbies that they never got the chance to explore. Even if it's something really childish.

Soft things were really interesting to him. He loved soft things. Stuffed animals were soft. Sue him.

That did nothing to quell his paranoia though. He needed to be prepared, which in his terms, meant a LOT of blades. He had brought the majority of his weapons that THEY made for him and removed the trackers that each of them had.

But it wasn't enough. He needed MORE. So he went down to a blade shop that definitely wasn't an illegal gambling ring/info broker place and bought a fuck ton of throwing knives since they were the cheapest things that could be hanged on the wall.

So now his apartment walls was covered in throwing knives and the floor was covered in a sea of stuffed animals.

…

Maybe he should've gone to that mental hospital's free therapy no questions asked service he found 3 months ago.

Whatever, his methods worked well and he was feeling significantly better than he did when he first got the apartment.

Izuku grabbed the device from the counter and made his way back to the couch, with Lynx trailing behind him. Lynx was an alley cat that appeared one day at the window facing the fire escape. She wouldn't stop screeching an ungodly sound until he opened the window. She strutted in like she owned the place and immediately took a nap on Izuku's couch.

He doesn't feed her since she can find food herself, but he does give her water and sometimes bathes her to get rid of fleas. She's a grey cat with a lot of fluff, and most importantly, she's soft.

So Izuku doesn't mind it when she hops on the couch and lazily starts rubbing herself against him. He usually hates physical contact but Lynx is the one exception.

He turns back to the acceptance letter he's been squeezing the life out of ever since he sat down.

If he goes… he'd have to fight eventually.

And Izuku does well in fights.

He's TOO good at fights.

Fighting makes sense though.

It's the one thing that makes sense.

Winning is the objective. Staying alive is victory.

That is and will always be the case with fighting. To win.

And Izuku ALWAYS wins.

It's like a curse.

Because no matter how bad the battle can get, he can always win.

If he lets go, and does IT.

He'd win. Guaranteed.

He doesn't want to be in a situation where he has to do IT again.

And if he goes to this school there's a chance that he'd have to do IT again.

He said he wouldn't.

He promised.

He will never do IT again.

Would doing IT even be bad anymore?

Izuku jerked suddenly at that last thought, which angered Lynx again as she hissed and darted towards the fire escape window.

He frowned. Of course doing IT was bad. Why the hell would he even think otherwise? It's the main reason he left THEM. They always made him do IT. He didn't want to do IT anymore. So he left.

But back then he did IT because he was told to. Now, he would do IT to save someone else or stop a villain.

He paused again at that ~~truth~~thought. It is true, he did only ever instigate IT when he was told to. No matter how small of an enjoyment he got out of IT, he never did IT for himself. But now, he'd be doing IT out of his own volition. And IT wouldn't be to further THEIR interests anymore. IT would be used to save others and stop people from hurting each other.

Does that make IT good?

Did that make ending a life a good thing?

Izuku stared intensely at the device. On the back of it, there was a small URL that students were told to use to submit their costume requests to support companies. He grabbed his laptop from the coffee table and opened the link, staring at the forum for a bit. With a heavy sigh, he started to fill it out. He had already brought his normal fighting gear when he left so he didn't need anything major. He asked for a few support items and a helmet that he'd always wanted to make and submitted the forum.

He'd never get anywhere in life if he didn't try anything new, would he?

Chapter End Notes

The trauma is revealing itself :D

And yes, Izuku is a cat person. And no, I'm not just saying that because I like cats. I'm actually a dog person. But Izuku gives off cat vibes and I will fight anyone who disagrees.

But seriously, I love writing this character. In my opinion, it's the small things that count. The way Izuku just processes everything so logically when emotions are supposed to be the literal option of that makes me sadistically happy.

Because conflicting mental states means I can make readers SUFFER.
Building up innocence in this little panic ball before the monster reveals himself.

Anyway, I've technically written 10 chapters already so I'm editing and posting them all at once. So imma keep doing that. As always, gimme criticism. I thrive off of improving my writing.

See ya!

Side Note: Yes, I purposefully wrote Izuku as 14 to try and accentuate his immaturity. I've decided he was born 2 years after every Class 1-A member was born. So don't point that out in the comments.

Those Who Know Too Much

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku stared at the giant door of class 1A while preparing himself mentally. He'd already gone over his planned backstory when people eventually start asking him to talk about himself.

His name was Etsuri Izuku, but they can call him Izuku if they want. In his home country it was common to use given names so he's never felt weird about people calling him Izuku. He's 16 years old, same as everyone else. He likes to jog/walk long distances as he finds it relaxing. His only family member died so he was put in a foster home and is living by himself in Musutafu. He took school online for the majority of his life.

Oh and he is not a quirk analysist with 4 degrees, 2 of which are PhDs, and is totally not an ex-assassin who is trying to learn how to be a decent human being.

Perfect.

He even gave himself the tragic backstory of a villain killing his mother so he could use that as an excuse to become a hero. Pity stories always work.

He has a near perfect photographic memory so he was able to quickly memorize the entire backstory he wrote for himself quite easily last night. So as long as he doesn't fuck up the social part he'll be fine.

Remember: he was here to redeem his soul. Nothing less nothing more.

He took a deep breath before finally pushing open the door. As long as that robot kid wasn't here…

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? PUTTING YOUR FEET UP ON UA'S DESKS IS HIGHLY DISRESPECTFUL. PUT THEM DOWN AT ONCE!"

"Oh shut it damn nerd. If you want me to do something make me."

"WHAT KIND OF SCHOOL DID YOU GO TO THAT MADE YOU TALK LIKE THIS!?"

"Aldera you pompous bastard. What middle school you go to that made you such a studious bitch?"

"THAT IS RIGHT. WE HAVEN'T DONE PROPER INTRODUCTIONS. I AM IIDA TENYA FROM SOMEI PRIVATE ACADEMY –"

"Somei? So you're a rich dickhead!"

"HOW CAN SOMEONE LIKE YOU BE TRYING TO AIM FOR HEROICS?"

…

Izuku regrets.

Just in general.

And suddenly he feels as if it's a good time to go hide in the bathroom until class starts. But just as he's about to back away from the door, the robo-kid shouting at the blond gangster turns to look at him. Robot's face shows that he recognized Izuku ( thanks god glad to know you're on my side as usual) and he starts to walk towards Izuku.

Izuku is trying everything he physically can do to fight the urge to throat punch this kid and run away when Iida does something unexpected. He bows.

"I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAY I TREATED YOU BACK AT THE EXAM. YOU WERE SMARTER THAN ME AS YOU CLEARLY FIGURED OUT SOMETHING I DIDN'T WITH THE POINT SYSTEM. I WAS WRONG TO ACCUSE YOU OF NOT TAKING THE EXAM SERIOUSLY." Iida straightened up and spoke in a softer voice. "My name is Iida Tenya from Somei Private Academy. And you are?"

Izuku just stares for a few seconds as his life flashed before his eyes while he tried to figure out what sin he's being punished for before finally responding, "Just call me Izuku. And you don't have to apologize. I didn't really take offense nor did I care really." ( Also you weren't wrong) but Izuku decided to shelve that sentence and walk over to an empty desk.

He ignored the way blond gangster was staring at him.

As he settled in his chair, he began to watch as more and more of his classmates arrived. He was especially surprised when the girl that saved him – or no wait he saved her… wait they kind of both saved each other…

THE GIRL AT THE EXAMS was in his class.

When she saw him she smiled and started to try to move towards him but she got pulled into another conversation. Thanks god.

He looked back at the door only to notice a yellow beanbag against the door frame. He shifted his head so he could see better only to be surprised when he recognized Pro-Hero Eraserhead was sitting inside of the bag. Eraserhead looked at him, and for a moment they locked eyes. The sleepy adult just nodded and turned to the rest of the class clearing his throat.

The entire class made a "Yelp!" sound before turning around to face the sleepy monster.

"A whole class of future heroes and only 1 of you noticed me? Seems we have a lot to work on."

Everyone watched as the man slipped out of his beanbag and walked to the front of the desk. People started to take the hint and returned to their seats while the man waited for everyone to settle down.

"My name is Aizawa Shota. I'll be your homeroom teacher for however long you last here."

He was blunt and to the point. He wore a black jumpsuit with something that was similar to a large scarf around his neck. His hair and eyes were also black, and he was speaking in such a lazy tone that Izuku thought he was going to fall asleep mid-sentence.

He held back a grin. Izuku really liked this teacher.

"Meet me outside in Field 1 after changing in your gym clothes. You have 10 mins."

Everyone got up and headed to the locker rooms.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" the whole class screamed. Izuku squirmed inside. He hated loud noises.

The teacher grinned maniacally, "Oh I can. I have and will expel the student who come in last during this basic physical test."

Izuku just sighed as he looked around the training area. There was a place for parkour, long jumps, weight lifting/grip test, a track for running, a baseball area for throwing balls, a mini fighting arena, and so much more. He wasn't particularly worried about coming in last. He's been trained in parkour for most of his life and he is by no means out of shape. He was fairly confident that he could beat the whole class in the hand to hand combat section. No, in his opinion the only thing he has to do is ensure he does better than that invisible quirk girl since she'd be doing this basically without her quirk as well.

He knows the whole point of this is to use his quirk for better scores but he's still not confident that he will control himself well if he activates it. He closed his eyes. He could feel all of his classmates' blood getting pumped to every single corner in the body. It would be so easy to just stop their heart…

He opened his eyes. This is why he can't trust himself. Because he thinks of stupid statements like that one.

"Bakugo, in middle school how far was your throw?"

The blond gangster – now Bakugo – grinned. "32 meters."

"Try it with your quirk." the teacher said as he tossed the ball to Bakugo.

Bakugo grinned as he got into position and began to throw it.

"DIE!" he shouted as he an explosion at the base of his palm launched the ball into the air with a deafening boom.

People gasped as the ball launched out of site immediately, and some started to realize what this test was REALLY going to be like.

Izuku, though, was staring at Bakugo with a hint of excitement and curiousity. So an explosion quirk? That probably means he has some form of explosive material in his palms but the question is how does he ignite it? I wonder if-

"Uh are you ok?"

…

Fuck. That scared him so bad he almost killed the person behind him. Glad to know he's made 0 progress on his killing instinct. Great job, him.

"Sorry! You were mumbling so intensely I thought I'd break you out of it…"

He looked at the person speaking to him and – OH MY GOD WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE EXAM GIRL!?

He just quickly responded, "No, no, you're fine. I just mumble whenever I get curious don't worry about it."

He'd panic over his natural instinct to kill everyone here later.

"So using our quirks huh? This is going to be so fun!" a pink colored girl exclaimed. The whole class started to agree with her before Aizawa-sensei cleared his throat which immediately shut them up.

"Fun huh. Let me remind you that if you come in last place, you'll be expelled. So let's see how well you can do, future heroes." If the tone of his voice could kill, Izuku would have died 5 times.

And so the day proceeded. Everyone was trying their best using their quirks. The exam girl – who he now knew as Uraraka Ochaco – made an impressive infinite score on the ball throwing. She apparently has a zero-gravity quirk that can basically make anything weightless and float, and if that wasn't the coolest thing Izuku has ever heard of then he'd be surprised.

All in all, everything was going well. They were all pushing themselves to the best of their abilities and using their quirks in such innovative ways.

Well, everyone except Izuku.

He didn't want to absolutely crush the invisible girl at everything so he always paced himself just slightly ahead of her. It was better to pretend to be average then excel and get attention.

For example, if she got 250 on her grip score, Izuku would coincidentally get 265 on his grip test. If she did the long run in 12 seconds, Izuku did it in 9.

Just little stuff like that. As long as he isn't last, he'd be fine. So there wasn't a need to try and push himself during this test. There wasn't a point in using THAT part of him. Why waste extra energy and focus?

The problem arose when teacher started catching onto what Izuku was doing.

Too many coincidences of his scores made the teacher suspicious. He had started to make sly comments like "You look like you can run faster…" or "that grip score's oddly low…" Izuku really likes this teacher, but if he could just fuck off for this bit that would be greatly appreciated.

The main event came in the mini arena. Izuku was put up against Ojiro, a guy with a tail quirk. Sure, he could stop him immediately by just freezing his blood flow and immediately restrain him but that would be kind of mean. He wanted to give Ojiro a chance at least.

So as the 2 got into position and the signal was given, Izuku just watched as Ojiro immediately went into attack mode. Idiot, you're supposed to wait for your opponent in a situation like this Izuku thought as he immediately abandoned his "giving Ojiro a chance" strategy and spun to dodge him. He lowered himself and swiped his legs at Ojiro's ankles just as he landed, causing Ojiro to fall. Izuku didn't waste the chance and immediately pinned Ojiro down, with his knees on top of his tail so that there was no chance of recovery. He stayed there until the signal to end was rung, to which Izuku immediately got off of Ojiro and began walking to the exit.

He'd never make it to the exit.

"Don't you think you could've ended that fight earlier, Etsuri?" the teacher said with a deadpanned voice.

Deep down though, Izuku could feel a slight annoyance in his voice.

He shrugged, "Yes I could have, but then Ojiro wouldn't have had a chance. And my quirk's backlash is painful so I didn't want to use it." It was technically the truth. Those were all of his minor concerns in the use of his quirk. He'd just refrain from saying his main reasons.

Aizawa's eyes narrowed as he studied the kid before him. "You haven't been using you quirk this entire time. Didn't I say at the beginning to use it? Get back into position, you're going to fight Ojiro with your quirk."

…fuck.

Izuku does not like this teacher anymore. He's smart. That's dangerous for people like Izuku, who have a 1000 things to hide.

He glanced at Ojiro who looked slightly confused and walks back to his position in the arena. He can feel the eyes of his classmates burning into him. They both wait for a second, with Ojiro in a fighting position and Izuku just standing.

A couple seconds pass by before the ringing of the bell signals the start.

This time, Izuku was the one who charged Ojiro, moving at an incredible speed that Ojiro could barely react to. He went for a quick jab which was promptly blocked by a tail. He moved himself using the tail to swing Ojiro around him and slammed him to the ground, just hard enough to break some skin. Ojiro laid on the ground for a second before bouncing back up and resuming a lower fighting stance, a small trickle of blood running down his head.

The 2 locked eyes and everyone tensed as they awaited the next barrage of attacks.

But no one moved.

Ojiro's face turned to slight pain as he tried to move forward. But something was stopping him. He tried even harder but found that the pain grows when you fight back. He winced as he kept going, kept trying to move. The world was starting to spin. He was panicking. Was he dying? What the hell was this guy's quirk? He felt himself fall onto the ground as his view became covered in black spots. He could feel his consciousness slip to the back of his mind.

And suddenly he was released from whatever the hell was killing him as he gasped for air. Did he stop breathing or something?

The memories of what just happened were too foggy to remember. Ojiro looked up at his opponent who was staring back at him with a neutral face. Was that a hint of disgust in his eyes? He couldn't tell.

Eventually, the teacher ordered the 2 off the arena and the next pair began to fight.

Ojiro glanced around, hoping to catch the kid and ask him some questions about what he just did. But the kid seemed to have disappeared entirely. He shrugged as he turned back to the fight that was happening. He'd have all year to ask the green-haired boy questions.

Chapter End Notes

yay eraserhead being pog

this chapter was mostly set up to tie in the canon events at the beginning of UA and also show what it's like to be on the receiving end of Izuku's quirk.

I'm sure that won't lead to anything at all whatsoever...

Killer Quirk

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Well Izuku just lost his breakfast.

He was currently in the bathroom, throwing up while having a panic attack.

He almost killed Ojiro. How the fuck do you move past that?

When he got his quirk, he was trained to use it to its fullest potential. In other words, cut off brain flow to the brain. Control people's corpses like puppets by forcing their blood to move. Make them drown in their blood. Literally any possible way to kill someone that involved blood.

In other words, he's not used to holding back. He's never had to before.

So when he restrained Ojiro, he forgot he needed to keep his blood flow going. He needed to stop him from moving but still let the blood cycle through his body. So he doesn't, you know, DIE FROM LACK OF OXYGEN.

The fight lasted for almost 3 mins, with Ojiro just barely moving every 10 seconds while Izuku just stepped back when he got too close. He couldn't stop people completely, blood is a liquid after all it can't stop that much physical force, but he could slow them down considerably. And the pain that came from moving was a great motivator too.

He had to hand it to Ojiro, that guy's pain tolerance is insane. Izuku wasn't completely stopping his blood flow, just his chest, and yet the guy STILL kept moving. It was about 2 mins and 45 seconds in that Izuku realized something.

The brain can only go 3 mins without oxygen.

Ojiro has been barely getting enough oxygen to stay awake this entire time. He could suffer brain damage if Izuku doesn't stop.

And right after that thought, Ojiro collapsed on the ground, like he had suddenly gone brain dead.

FUCK.

Izuku immediately let go of his control and sighed in relief once Ojiro's chest raised as the guy gasped for air.

Thank fucking god he didn't kill the tail guy.

But now that he had a chance to calm down, Izuku was disgusted. At himself. He almost killed someone! ~~He almost ruined his streak!~~

Is his quirk that volatile that the only way to use it is to bring his enemy's at death's door and sometimes even through it!?

So now here he is. In the bathroom. Losing his food and beating himself up over what just happened. He almost killed someone and ruined the progress he was making on his ~~purpose~~on his habit. Is he just so used to death that it's become the baseline for him?

Is it possible to use his quirk and not immediately get someone killed?

Izuku cleaned himself up and stared at himself in the mirror. He looked the exact same as when he left, so there shouldn't be any questions to his disappearance. He sighed. Well if there was any way to gain some sort of control over his quirk it would be here. Maybe coming to UA was a blessing in disguise.

He walked back to where everyone else was gathered in the field. Luckily no one seemed to realize he was gone. The final scores were plastered on a large screen near the front entrance of the field. He came in second to last place, and as he expected, the invisible girl came in last.

The bare minimum tactic always works.

"Oh and by the way, I lied about expelling the person who came in last. I was just giving you an incentive to push yourselves harder." the teacher said.

The invisible girl collapsed in relief while the class erupted with anger.

Honestly, this surprised Izuku. He was 100% sure the man was being serious. Maybe he just read him wrong? But he is usually pretty accurate at this kind of stuff so that doesn't seem likely.

By this point, school had just ended, so they all returned to the lockers room to change into their normal school uniform. Izuku headed to the bathroom though, he didn't need the people to question him about his scars.

He was just starting to walk out of the gate when he heard running behind him. He glanced around and – WHY THE FUCK IS IT ALWAYS EXAM GIRL – Uraraka was running towards him. When she saw that Izuku had looked at her she started saying, "Hey! Exam boy! I've been meaning to talk to you all day!"

He almost laughed when she said "exam boy" as he had given her the exact same nickname.

She slowed down and caught her breath once she reached Izuku. "You're name is Etsuri right? I am Uraraka Ochaco! Thanks for saving me back at the exam. I was certain I was going to die for a second." she said with a laugh.

Izuku just nodded and gave a fake small smile. "It was no problem. I mean you saved me from falling on my face that morning so it was the least I could do. And you can call me Izuku, I rarely use my family name."

"Izuku huh? That's such a cute name! Anyway do you want to walk home together? I really want to ask you about your quirk."

Izuku cherished the compliment to his name for a second. After all, he spent a literal month agonizing over it.

He doesn't actually know his real name, if he ever had one in the first place. His memory only starts with when he was still with THEM, so he doesn't remember his actual parents. THEY never gave him a name, only ever referring to him by his code name that he used for business. Either that or just insults. So he never actually had a true name that people could call him by.

When he left though, he decided that his name situation needed to change. He was a person now, not a tool, so he should have a name fitted for a person. After weeks of laughing at the stupid top 10 boy names lists that came up on Google, he finally paused at a really simple one: Izuku. It wasn't that common of a name from what he knew. It was simple and short. But for some reason, it was oddly familiar to him. He couldn't think of it but he swears he had heard that name from somewhere. That feeling sealed the deal with his name choice.

Izuku.

He liked it.

For his family name, he just chose a really common one. Etsuri.

He could've used THEIR last name but figured that would link him too much back to them.

So hearing someone else say that they liked his name made him slightly happy. He made the right choice.

The two of them walked in an oddly comfortable silence as they headed towards the train station. Izuku wasn't actually going to take the train because he preferred to walk but he figured it would be the nice thing to do.

Eventually, Uraraka broke the silence, saying "Soooooo, your quirk causes people to get tired right? Ojiro looked really exhausted and out of breath back there."

"Well not quite. My quirk actually allows me to control people. It's called organic telekinesis."

~~Liar.~~

"Oh I see! So you were restraining him with your quirk and he was trying to break out of it then?"

"Yeah. I was really surprised when he kept going. Most can't handle it since there's quite a lot of pain that follows. It's why I hate using it." Ok, only half a lie.

When he "registered" his identity in the Japanese government's files, he decided not to put his actual quirk. There were 2 reasons: one was because his quirk never got a good reaction out of people since it was a bit volatile and villainous and two, he didn't want THEM to recognize him.

So his quirk was legally organic telekinesis. He could manipulate only organic matter as long as he sees them once. Even though telekinesis is quite common, this form of it was rare. Most people can't manipulate alive things, or move anything that was bigger than the size of a person. So for Izuku being able to manipulate something alive and large sticks out like a sore thumb, which is an unfortunate but necessary sacrifice.

His real quirk is actually called "Aimakinesis", using the Greek word for blood since "bloodkinesis" sounds weird and stupid. He can essentially manipulate blood in any form and in any place, including his own. The only activation requirement is a single moment of direct eye-contact of blood, but he can move his own blood without that prerequisite. He can even move it unconsciously. He can also constantly feel everyone's blood in about a 20 meter radius but he can't control it unless he meets the activation condition.

He can feel people's blood get pumped by their hearts. Sometimes he'd match his heart beat to theirs. He found it calming.

His quirk was strange as most blood quirks were usually orally activated. Even then, it was weird to be able to manipulate it like he could. Most people just used blood to activate their real quirk. And the rare ones who could manipulate blood could only use their own blood. Vlad King was a prime example of that.

So to have a telekinesis quirk specifically focused on blood that allowed him to manipulate something beyond his own in any state whether it be solid, liquid, or gas was pretty rare. When he "researched" quirks through the government files there was only one person who could do similar stuff to him, but that person had to see the blood constantly and they could only control it when the blood was a liquid.

So his quirk was special. It was powerful too. He was strong because of it.

He hated that.

"Wow that's a really powerful quirk. I wish mine was a little more battle oriented like yours."

The 180 degree spin Izuku did made his head hurt.

"I'm sorry. What!? Your quirk is 1000x times cooler than mine! Mine just manipulates matter while yours literally changes one of the greatest forces in the universe with just your hands! I mean imagine if you could completely change the gravity of the Earth, do you know how much that would change? Sure I can toss people around when I look at them but yours can –"

He stopped talking once he realized she was looking at him with a bit of shock. He stepped a few feet away from her.

"Oh sorry I didn't mean to go into a rant it's just that your quirk is really interesti –"

"Wow I never actually thought about it like that!" The girl was smiling. "Did you think about all of that on the spot even though you've only seen it one day? That's really cool!"

"I- you're not… mad?"

This was… a new experience.

"Huh? Why would I be? You just spent 30 seconds full on complimenting my quirk!"

Izuku just shook his head. He had no idea that someone could actually like it when he does that.

"Anyway, my train is going to arrive in about 2 mins so I have to go. It was nice talking to you." he said with a fake, ~~sincere~~smile. Too much just happened in this moment and he needs time to recuperate.

"Oh ok!" she said, completely oblivious to the brainfuck state she just put Izuku in. "I'll talk to you tomorrow then! Bye!" She turned to start walking towards her platform to board her train. Izuku waited until she was completely out of sight before turning around and walking out of the station. It was only a 15 minute walk to his house and he kept his usual neutral composure as he walked.

He lived in technically the worst part of Musutafu so it was essential to not draw any attention.

As soon as he walked in his house, however, Izuku collapsed. He managed to crawl to the living room and onto the couch before finally letting out the anxiety of the day. He didn't even notice Lynx sleeping and accidentally mistook her for a pillow.

Lynx did not like that.

He didn't cry, but he did just hyperventilate for a good hour and half.

Once he was emotionally drained enough to actually function he sat up and opened his laptop. He had bills to pay after all.

He went to his website where people submit requests for him to analyze their quirks. A brief description was necessary and his price was cheap. Sometimes people would ask him to do it for free since they are too poor to pay for it, which he usually accepted as long as they weren't a bigot about it. He really loved analyzing quirks anyway. If he didn't need to eat or sleep or actually pay for shit he would be doing this for free.

To the digital world, he was Deku, a genius quirk analyst who is supposedly 22 years old and is completely anonymous. He got his degrees secretly when he was 12, and he started working as Deku soon after. He needed money if he was going to escape after all. He's done jobs for countless pro-heroes (he even did Edgeshot, a top ten hero). He sometimes gets paid by the Hero Commission to analyze villain quirks for the police/heroes to use during arrests.

So… he's kind of a genius. Then again that should've been clear already since he's hacked the literal fucking government and even UA, whose security was designed by the smartest person in Japan. Then again, Principal Nedzu was probably an animal with a quirk rather than a human with a quirk, so his actual title should be the smartest animal in the world.

And Izuku doesn't even have an intelligence quirk.

Wow. He never realized how smart he was until now.

Izuku just kept mindlessly blazing through the requests that came in. He's learned how to type fast so he's able to complete these fairly quickly with a lot of information still packed into them. Lynx had forgiven him and was sleeping in his lap, the bastard. It was about 9:00pm when Izuku, for the first time in 4 hours, stopped typing.

An interesting request came in, from a very interesting person. A person with a zero-gravity quirk that could change gravity's effect on an object/person. The person also wrote that they were attending UA. That all seemed VERY familiar for no particular reason at all.

Izuku grinned at the request. She had asked that he analyzed her for free since most of her family's money is being spent on her attending UA and the money she made was going to her apartment.

Now THIS would be fun.

Instead of 30 mins, it would take 2 hours to complete her request.

Chapter End Notes

Hello people of the internet with nothing better to do that read a random story from a random person on the internet who is only writing this shit because they're bored.

I'm spoon-feeding Izuku and Uraraka friendship to you guys so you better appreciate it.

Attention Universe

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"ARE YOU READY TO START?"

The whole class shouted yes at that, everyone clearly excited for this training operation.

Izuku just sighed as he tried to figure out how to deal with this.

It was only the 2 nd day yet All Might appeared at the door instead of Aizawa-sensei and told them to collect their hero gear and move out. They arrived at ground-beta, the same mock city he and some of his classmates fought in the entrance exam. The rules were as follows:

Each team would consist of 2 students. The teams were randomly picked and were randomly chosen for either the hero or villain roles. The villains had to protect a bomb in the building and stop the heroes from reaching it by either lasting the time limit or defeating the heroes. The heroes had to touch the bomb once before the time limit ended. So the odds were stacked against the heroes.

This wouldn't really matter to Izuku though. He could just stop the movements of his opponents and either knock them out or walk past them. He should be ok as long as he didn't go against any long distance fighters, since they were his weakness. But he had ways to counter that, like his throwing knives or guns.

His outfit was very simple. It was mostly black, obviously meant for stealth-type missions. He had the same boots on from during the entrance exam. This time, though, he wore a body suit instead of regular black pants. His gloves were different as they were one of the support items he requested. He stole the idea for them from an old video game before the time of quirks. If he squeezed his palm and hit a button, a blade would pop out from his wrist. His knuckles were a bit more protected so that he could punch easier. This was hidden by the baggy sleeves on his jacket, another support item he requested. This one extended longer than the leather jacket, reaching his knees. Inside the jacket were a plethora of weapons: throwing knives, an extendable spear that could double a quarterstaff, daggers, poison darts, and normally guns. He couldn't bring his guns though since they were technically illegal in his hands. He'd have to ask UA to "train" him for a gun license before he started using them. A sword sheath was on his back as his main weapon. He was pretty good at all the other weapons he has, but swords were his favorite. Besides, he needed the blades to activate his quirk, relieve blood pressure, as well as to torture.

And a sword was pretty fucking terrifying when you're being tortured.

He had a motorcycle looking helmet on that would protect him against head bumps and would hide his face, something VERY essential to his outfit. If his face ever gets leaked on the news…

The entirety of his outfit had gold and green highlights on them. Just little slivers of color to combat the boring black. All in all, he looked like a badass. At least, he hoped he did.

"SINCE THERE ARE 19 OF YOU TODAY BECAUSE OF YOUNG MINETA'S ABSENCE, ONE OF YOU WILL HAVE TO PARTICIPATE ALONE, OR YOU COULD REQUEST FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO JOIN YOU THAT I WILL PICK."

And the choosing began.

Izuku sort of zoned out for this part. He just waited until he heard his name to zone back in. He was too busy trying to decide the best way to do this. Or more specifically, to fail this.

How does he lose on purpose without looking like too much of an idiot in the process?

Like he said before, he wants to be average rather than excel. As long as he's ranked in the middle of the class, he'll be ok. Losing this battle will definitely lower himself in his classmates' eyes. The only problem is how will he lose when he has a partner who will no doubt want to win –"

"BAKUGO KATSUKI & IIDA TENYA VERSUS ETSURI IZUKU! BAKUGO AND IIDA ARE THE HEROES WHILE ESTURI IS THE VILLAIN!"

…

Wow, he never thought he'd see the day. God did him a favor.

He turned to All Might. "I don't want a partner. I don't work well in groups and I don't want to tire the person who would partner with me out any more than they already would be."

All Might seemed a bit shocked at his response, but nodded.

"ALL RIGHT. TEAMS 1 AND 2 HEAD TO YOUR RESPECTIVE AREAS. EVERYONE ELSE COME TO THE OBSERVATION DECK. VILLAINS, YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES TO PREPARE!"

Izuku could almost smile while he walked to the observation deck. Everything was going perfectly.

It went so perfectly. Something was wrong in the world. Nothing ever went perfectly in Izuku's life.

HOW THE FUCK DID THIS WORK OUT SO WELL?

He quickly memorized the blueprints he was given. Normally, he would've walked around the exterior of the building first but since no one else in the class did it he wouldn't either. The first thing he noticed about the building was that there were vents the blueprints didn't describe. He figured he'd use those as a way to show the class he wasn't the stupidest person in the room.

When you're going in solo, the best way to fight is hit and run tactics. Everyone knew that. He'd use the vents as the run part of that strategy and annoy the heroes, trying to split them up.

As Bakugo and Iida entered the building, they would get hit with the occasional throwing knife that would just miss their head, or a tripwire that would cause an explosion. Eventually, the 2 got separated after dodging the fuck out of the stuff Izuku threw at them and running after him while he scampered in the vents.

Overall, it served well to prove to the class that he wasn't stupid, but his plan had one fatal flaw that showed he wasn't brightest person either: he couldn't be in 2 places at one time. When he was busy distracting Iida, Bakugo took the opportunity to full on blast his way up to the top floor, where the bomb was hidden. Izuku realized this with his 20 meter range and made a show of panic. Iida just took the opportunity as his chance and kicked the shit out of Izuku, causing him to release Bakugo and securing the Hero's win.

A girl called Yaomomo was quick to point it all out and explained it in a way that was kind of insulting and made Izuku slightly regret his choice of failing on purpose but in the end, it doesn't matter.

He lost. They won. It was just an exercise.

It went so well. Which means something bad was going to happen. The world isn't fair, it has to balance out one good deed with one bad one.

Which brings him to lunch time. He was barely paying attention as he was trying to figure out how the fuck he managed to pull it off when someone sat down next to him and in front of him.

He snapped back into reality just in time to hear "Hey!" coming from Uraraka and Iida.

"Uh, hey." he responded quickly as he was still trying to refocus his mind into socializing.

Iida started the conversation. "You did really well in that exercise Izuku. Honestly there wasn't a lot you could do since you were alone and were going against a pair. The fact that you managed to last until 8 mins was pretty good."

"Oh. Thanks." Izuku bit his lip.

He could've won easily if that was a life or death situation…

Suddenly, Uraraka squealed so loud that made both Izuku and Iida jump and snap their attention onto her. Uraraka realized what she did immediately and went into apology overload.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry! I just noticed that I got a reply from someone that I really thought I wasn't going to get a response from!"

"Who responded to you?" Iida asked, cautiously.

Uraraka smile grew even wider. "Deku!"

Izuku feigned shock while Iida gasped in real shock. "You mean the famous quirk analyst? My brother got one of his reports once. It was immensely detailed and the quality was astounding."

Uraraka just nodded excitedly as she continued to stare at her phone. "I seriously didn't think I was going to get a response. I asked him if he could do it for free since I don't have much spare money so I seriously thought I was going to get ignored. But he apparently sent it just 2 hours after I sent a request!"

Iida continued to fawn over this newly revealed information while Izuku reveled in the atmosphere. He was really glad Uraraka sent a request. Analyzing her quirk was very fun. Plus, the happiness it gave her was a great bonus too. He put a lot of effort into making it so it was a lot bigger than the other ones he normally writes. Speaking of big…

He placed his giant lunchbox on the table which drew the attention of Uraraka and Iida, who almost forgot this was actually lunch and that they were supposed to be eating.

They got their own lunchboxes out while Uraraka asked, "Hey Izuku, why is your lunchbox so big?"

"Oh well my quirk affects how many nutrients I use. I tend to go through my resources faster than other people so I have to eat more to compensate it." Which wasn't a lie, he did have to eat more since his blood flow was naturally faster than other people's, so his nutrients were transported faster and therefore used faster which meant he had to eat more. He started to open his lunchbox.

"I usually just eat a big lunch and have little snacks between breakfast and dinner. It's nothing too life chang –"

He stopped midsentence as he stared in disbelief. Inside of his lunchbox was 2 crushed sandwiches, a lot of crushed snacks, oh and how could he forget. A bastard of a cat sleeping inside.

The 3 of them stared not really sure what to say until Iida finally broke the silence.

"Uh… Izuku. Why is there a cat in your lunchbox?"

Lynx lazily opened her eyes as she stared at Izuku, as if she wasn't in his lunchbox crushing his food.

"Bastard." was all Izuku could say before he turned to Iida and Uraraka.

He sighed. "This is the alleyway cat that always comes inside of my apartment. I tried to kick her out multiple times but she always comes back. Her name is Lynx, and she's a bastard. She must've climbed into my lunchbox last night."

Didn't he used to be an international assassin? How the fuck didn't he notice a cat in his lunchbox!? God he's going soft.

Uraraka immediately lit up as Lynx turned her lazy head towards her. She picked Lynx up and put her on her lap. Lynx immediately started snuggling and purring as Uraraka started petting her.

"She's really fluffy." Uraraka was clearly trying to hold her excitement in while Iida just stared curiously. Izuku started to inspect the dead bodies of what used to be his food in his lunchbox.

Suddenly, everything went red as alarms started ringing. Speakers dropped down as a blaring message, even louder than Present Mic, started ringing, "LEVEL 3 ALERT. VILLAIN ATTACK. LEVEL 3 ALERT. PLEASE EVACUATE."

See. He knew something bad was going to happen. God hated him.

Immediately, students started flocking towards the giant hallway that led to the cafeteria as panic set in. It started to get crowded and Izuku could see people getting trampled over as he, Uraraka, and Iida stayed in their seats. Even the fluffy demon woke up and looked at the commotion as well.

"Wait what is happening!?"

"Level 3 Alert is a villain attack. It hasn't happened in 2 years!" someone rushing by answered as they headed to the hallway entrance.

Izuku immediately stood up and headed over to the window. He squinted as he tried to understand the situation outside, cupping his hands to narrow his perspective. Once again, time seemed to slow around him as he focused on the scene.

There was a mob of people with cameras and mics all crowding around the entrance of UA, past the gate that usually remained closed after school started. In its place was what looked like a giant metal gate, clearly made to withstand physical attacks. But the entire middle section was gone, as if someone had blown it away. He focused his attention back onto the crowd. Had they destroyed gate and set off the alarm? They almost looked like –"

His eyes shot open as he turned to Uraraka still holding her phone looking at him.

"Uraraka can you check the news right now?"

She didn't question it and immediately opened a news app. Izuku assumed his guess was right when her eyes widened and she flipped her phone to show Izuku the main headline. " ALL MIGHT BECOMES A TEACHER AT UA" with a news reporter screaming at Aizawa-sensei at the front of UA's entrance.

Izuku turned to both of them and the cat bastard. "It's just the media. There's no villain attack. They must've found out All Might was teaching and came to get their answers."

He could see both of them sigh in relief before glancing back at the mess at the hallway entrance.

"But what do we do about them? Someone could get injured from the trampling. We should tell them that it's just the media." Iida said.

Izuku nodded as he cupped his hands to try and shout. He quickly realized that it was pointless however to scream over the noise and lowered them.

"The question is how to get their attention…" he said. And just like that, an idea popped into his head.

He turned to Uraraka. "Hey can you give me Lynx for a second?" She nodded and handed the cat over to him, who was still looking as lazy as ever despite the chaos.

"Iida could you get ready to shout the news?"

"Uh yes but how are you going to get their attent –"

And at that moment Izuku pinched Lynx right behind the ear, in the one spot he knows she HATES being touched.

An all-too familiar death sound that came from hell itself echoed throughout the hallway, causing everyone to shut up and turn towards the origin. Lynx's screaming worked like a charm. He wasn't lying when he said her screaming is ungodly.

He's pretty sure Lynx has a quirk despite being an animal. This just confirmed it. It's a voice amplifying quirk similar to Present Mic's quirk except one key difference: her quirk makes her voice go low. So instead of a high pitch screech that can make you pass out or your ears bleed, you get an angry deep-throat voice that belongs to death himself. It's the fear factor that counts.

And while the strategy worked, Lynx became very angry at the purposeful pinch and began scratching at Izuku, who did his best to hold her away but still ended up getting covered in scratch marks.

Everyone was sort of silent watching this cat with deepest voice anyone's ever heard scratch this short green-haired kid until Iida finally spoke up.

"EVERYONE. IT IS JUST THE MEDIA OUTSIDE. THERE IS NO VILLAIN ATTACK. PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR SEATS AND ACT MORE PROFESSIONALLY AT UA."

People took that as a cue to start returning to their seats, everyone mumbling as they continued to watch Izuku get absolutely destroyed by the devil cat.

He managed to semi-throw her at Uraraka who did her best to restrain Lynx by making the cat float, which only caused even more deathly screaming and staring.

Eventually, lunch ended and the trio still had no idea how to deal with the still-screaming demon cat until Midnight approached them. She quickly put the cat asleep and told Izuku to get it out by the end of the day. He could hear the snickering in the hallways as he headed towards Recovery Girl to deal with the cat scratches he got from Lynx.

So much for no attention.

Stupid cat bastard.

Chapter End Notes

So how we feeling about how no one knows how special Izuku really is?
I've always loved the concept of hiding in plain site, because there is some truth to what Izuku said.

People don't notice you when you're average, they only notice you when you're stupid or smart.

I should know, surprisingly I'm a smart kid at my school.

Anyway more chapters to go.
Also why the hell have there already been 51 clicks when I literally posted this story an hour ago?!?!!?

Secrets Beware

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"So where we heading Teach'?" a red haired kid named Kirishima Eijiro (quirk: hardening) asked as the class walked towards the buses at the front of the school.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Aizawa-sensei responded, clearly not fully awake at the moment.

The class all shuffled into the buses, with a mix of curiosity and anxiety in their heads. On one hand, they were going to a new place they've probably never been before. On the other hand, this is Aizawa-sensei. Whatever he has got planned was probably going to be very unfair and difficult.

Izuku decided to sit in the back 3 seats with Iida and Uraraka, since they kind of always bring him along to where ever they go. The 3 of them had started to walk home together to the train station, with Izuku always seeing the 2 off before he turns around and walks home. He hasn't told them that his home is in the complete opposite direction from the train station yet, but it's fine. He's willing to make the walk.

Throughout this time, he's learned that Iida and Uraraka are very kind people, with Iida being a more studious kind of person and Uraraka having a more relaxed and bubbly personality. They do share one common trait though: they're both fucking weird.

They haven't asked Izuku ONCE to do one thing for them. They speak to him and include him in conversations and DON'T insult him. They're just so unbelievably and slightly annoyingly so fucking KIND.

Izuku isn't used to KIND. He's used to screaming and exploitation and brainwashing and torture and pain and fear and –

…

Ok maybe HE'S the weird one but STILL.

Talking and hanging out with them has been really strange. He keeps waiting for them to do something "immoral" but they never do! How can anyone be THAT nice!?

…

Is this what being a person is like?

What a weird phenomenon.

He was talking with Uraraka and Iida about where they were going, each of them making bets on where they thought the mystery place was, when Ashido Mina, a pink girl with an acid quirk, said something that took Izuku's entire willpower not react to.

"Holy shit they made a movie about Bloodline!"

That totally wasn't one of the top ten scariest phrases Izuku has ever heard in his life. His attention immediately snapped to Ashido, who was sitting in front of him, as Uraraka and Iida turned their attention as well.

"Who's Bloodline?"

"What!? You seriously don't know!? The guy is fucking famous WORLDWIDE!"

Uraraka just shook her head while Iida tried to remember.

"The name sounds familiar, are they an underground villain of some kind?"

Ashido nodded enthusiastically as she dove into an explanation.

"The guy is fucking powerful! They once did a 40 man raid on a place he was targeting and he killed ALL of them! He's ruthless too! Apparently, with certain mob bosses, the police only found guts blood and bits of skin scattered over the room. He's one of the biggest mysteries out there!"

"It was actually 65" Izuku thought but quickly shook his head. Not the time to think about the finer details.

Uraraka had pulled out her phone during Ashido's explanation and started reading an article about ~~him~~about Bloodline.

"Bloodline is an international criminal that is mostly involved in assassinations in quirk trafficking. He has been estimated to have killed over 30 world-level figureheads and 300 smaller gangs/criminals."

Oh come on he's killed way more than that at least get it right if you're going to talk about him.

"His targets mostly benefit the international human trafficking group Quantum, led by an unknown amount of individuals."

5 on their council but he's sure they've added more since his disappearance.

"Although it is likely that he is a victim of Quantum's business, it is more probable that he is a mercenary or business partner due to the nature of his kills. His most gruesome method of killing has been the literal explosion of human beings. This suggests that his killings are fueled by personal rage rather than the simple ordering of an assassination of Quantum."

God he wishes that was the case. If he did IT out of his own volition then that would've saved him countless nights of wondering whether or not his crimes were his fault or not. He's still not sure actually.

Even if he said no they would've just forced him to anyway. He hates ~~his owner's~~that Man's quirk. It hurt so goddamn much that he couldn't take it anymore. If he didn't kill their targets they'd just force him to kill any useless "products" as punishment. At least the people he was ordered to kill deserved it in some small way. But then again, he was the one who did IT. He could've just killed himself but no; he had to be selfish and keep on living by doing whatever ~~his owners~~whatever THEY said.

It was too late to do anything about it though. He didn't deserve to have the sweet release of death anymore. His crimes were too big for a punishment as small as death.

"That's pretty gruesome. Why would they ever make a movie based on someone as evil as that?" Iida asked.

Izuku wasn't mad at that comment. He deserved it for what he's done.

"Because he's disappeared! There hasn't been a kill linked back to him for over a year! He had a full reign for 6 years straight, dodging cops and heroes left and right, collapsing international villain groups like it was nothing, and then he suddenly disappears!?" Ashido exclaimed.

She makes it sound like he was some sort of anime protagonist.

"You make him sound like an anime protagonist." Jirou said, a girl with ear jacks for a quirk.

Is he unoriginal or something?

"I mean, he kind of is in a sense." Ashido said, clearly thinking about it in a much deeper sense than everyone else.

"What I don't understand is why he stopped. Or why he even started. Do they not know anything else except for the fact that he kills?" Uraraka asked nervously.

"Nope. He's just that good at hiding his crap." Ashido responded.

"He probably lost the will to keep killing."

Everyone turned to Izuku, a bit caught-off guard and confused by that statement.

"What do you mean?" Iida asked.

Izuku shrugged. He wasn't going to say anything, but their blatant and immediate judgement on who Bloodline was made him slightly irritated.

"I mean, clearly the guy isn't alright. You don't kill without a reason. You all don't understand him because you're just seeing him as if he was born evil. If you think about what could drive someone to do the stuff he does, it suddenly makes it a lot clearer. He either found a way to move on from whatever was causing him to kill or he got out of a bad situation. Or he died." Izuku noted that last part hesitantly.

He sighed as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

The radio's crackle started to echo in his ears as memories from that ~~prison~~that place came into view.

He could hear the screaming coming from the halls.

His neck itched as the collar dug into his neck.

His wrists hurt from being constantly chained together.

His legs were weak from not being able to walk around.

The room smelled like the putrid smell of corpses and blood.

His body ached from the beatings from his ~~torture~~from his training.

The blood was drying on his face and hair. It would be hard to get it out.

The door's creaking became some sort of a bad omen to him.

He opened his eyes. The static in his ears started to vanish.

"If he managed to leave behind whatever was holding him back, then there wouldn't be a point in continuing anymore."

Ashido, Jirou, Uraraka, and Iida were all staring at him, with a hint of confusion until Jirou broke the silence.

"I guess that makes sense. If he was able to find the closure he needed there wouldn't be a point in working with Quantum anymore."

The others nodded in agreement and turned back to their conversation about the movie and started to guess what Bloodline's quirk could possibly be – everyone except Uraraka.

She leaned closer to him and whispered, "Hey are you ok?"

Izuku just looked outside the window. There were people passing by. Normal people who lived normal lives and will continue to do so. They won't have to kill anyone, or make people explode by forcing their flesh apart. They wouldn't have to fill a person's lungs with blood and watch them drown while begging for mercy. They will never live the life Izuku lived.

"Yea… I'll be ok."

That wasn't a lie.

It was just half of the truth.

Chapter End Notes

I am so making them watch that movie at some point. I'm not sure when but it is 100% happening.

Anyway hello fuckers it has been 2 hours since I posted this fic and it already has 72 clicks and 3 bookmarks. Do you guys like have nothing better to do than read MHA Fanfiction because my god I feel like this is a lot.

Also you got some more Izuku lore. Hope it's up to your expectations. I'm not good at writing anxiety stuff so you guys are just going to have to bear with the terribly written panic attacks/PTSD moments that are coming in the future.

Anyway to you 72 ppl who are maybe reading this, leave a comment. I'm having fun and I'm not going anywhere until my pizza is delivered.

OH
Almost forgot.

Guess what's coming up next~~~

The Average Hero

Chapter Summary

WARNING: Panic Attack/PTSD

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Turns out that mystery place was USJ, a rescue-disaster simulator, something Izuku was very glad about as that means he won the bet.

They met up with Space Hero: Thirteen, followed by an excited squeal from Uraraka.

And what happened next can really only be described as torture.

Izuku should know: he's an expert on being the torturer and the torturee.

They probably did a 1000 rescue drills that day in probably the worst environments that anyone could ever be in. Specifically, everyone could smell their insides burning in the fire city. Half the class couldn't swim so half of them were constantly drowning in the shipwreck section and were constantly saved by a very annoyed Aizawa-sensei with his scarf. Overall, everyone wanted to drop dead by the time it ended.

Well, everyone except Izuku. He just walked back to the front as if he was well relaxed which got him playfully insulted by his classmates.

Now THAT was something he was used to.

The next few days were very similar. They learned Math, History, English, Japanese, Science, etc., all of which Izuku breezed through since he had already taken these classes a while ago. Of course, getting perfect 100s on every single assignment would be too eye-catching and strange, so he made sure to always barely pass with a C every time. They continued to do hero training, doing hero combat when All Might was in-charge, and getting tortured when Aizawa-sensei taught.

Everything was going well.

Everything was good.

…

Which means something bad was going to happen.

And his suspicions were proven correct when in the middle of English class with Present Mic, Aizawa-sensei appeared at the door asking for Izuku to follow him. The usual "ooo's" and "someone's in trouble" rippled throughout the class as Izuku stood up and started to follow Aizawa-sensei out the door. The 2 walked silently down the hall until Izuku decided to be an extrovert for once.

"So where are we going?"

Aizawa-sensei just glanced behind him and responded, "The principal's office. You're not in trouble, we just both have some concerns over your performance."

Well that is another one in the top 10 scariest phrases list he had to start making once Ashido mentioned Bloodline.

He's getting expelled isn't he? They found out he hacked the exam and now he's going to get arrested for it.

Oh well. Goodbye progress. It was nice to actually start working towards a goal. It was fun while it lasted.

He didn't respond as the 2 fell back into the silence they had before. They paused in front of the principal's door as Aizawa-sensei gestured Izuku to go first.

Inside that room is the smartest man in Japan, and the smartest animal in the world.

That isn't mildly terrifying. Nope. Not at all.

Izuku took a silent deep breath before opening the door.

Let's see what God is throwing at him this time.

Aizawa is a good teacher. He takes pride in it. He's brutally honest but he tells his students exactly what they need to hear. Sure, his methods may be a little rough, but in the end, they work better than the normal methods.

He also takes pride in his ability to read people. He knows exactly what his students are thinking all of the time. He watches them closely to dissect their minds and try to figure out the best way to cultivate all of them.

He's good at reading people.

He's good at his fucking job.

So why can't he read Etsuri?

The kid obviously has some sort of intelligence to him. The confidence that practically radiates off him assures that. It's probably not confidence in his physical abilities since he doesn't have a quirk to help with that. No, it probably comes from his intelligence.

He was the only one to notice him on the first day of school. It means he's very aware of his surroundings.

At USJ, he didn't even break a sweat doing all of those exercises, even with his helmet.

So why is he so damn persistent on failure?

He lost the Day 2 training battle on purpose. He'll admit it, the kid almost slipped past Aizawa's bullshit radar. On the camera footage he reviewed, you could just barely see Etsuri passing through the vents at the exact moment Bakugo started to blast towards the bomb. He didn't try to stop Bakugo from going to the bomb. He LET it happen. Which meant he WANTED to fail.

His grades are testimony to that too. Not a hint of his hidden intelligence in them. They were always exactly AVERAGE.

And the kid's quirk usage. It's so strange. His quirk causes pain yes but Aizawa seriously doubts that's the reason for him not using his quirk. Considering every single time one of his classmates touch him he looks like he's about to kill someone for a second led Aizawa to that conclusion.

Why is this kid even in the hero course if all he's going to do is the bare minimum?

Aizawa refuses to let someone slack off in his class. He was hoping USJ would force maybe even a little effort out of the kid but nope. Not even a second of quirk activation. Not even a drop of sweat.

So he did what no sane person would ever do. He asked Nedzu for advice.

Normally Nedzu wouldn't care about this sort of thing but ever since Aizawa brought it up, it peaked the scheming rat's interests. Very rarely does Nedzu get like this, and whenever he does it always means the rat is trying to get some sort of amusement. So when the rat asked for Etsuri's tests Aizawa didn't even bother asking him why. He already trusted that the rat would tell him in some sort of torturous way.

Even he's confused as to why he's bringing Etsuri to the rat's office right now.

Did his teacher actually figure Etsuri out?

When Etsuri opened the door, the main chair inside swung towards the front door, with a certain rat sitting down. "Hello Etsuri-san! You're probably wondering why you're here. Please sit down. Could you close the door Aizawa-san?"

Aizawa closed the door and sat down a little away from Etsuri and the principal. Etsuri's neutral expression wasn't wavering the tiniest bit.

The rat cupped his hands together. "So! Etsuri! I would first like to tell you that you're not getting expelled." The most silent sigh of relief could barely be heard escape from Etsuri's mouth as the rat continued. "The reason why you're here is because I know your secret!"

Dead.

Fucking.

Silence.

Etsuri's neutral expression didn't change the slightest bit.

"The kid is good" Aizawa thought.

Well this went exactly how he thought it would.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

WHICH ONE.

THE FACT THAT HE'S AN INTERNATIONAL SERIAL KILLER ASSASSIN RUNAWAY?

THE STATE OF HIS APARTMENT?

HE HAS TOO MANY FUCKING SECRETS TO BE TOLD "I know you're secret!" IN SUCH A CHEERFUL FUCKING TONE!

Fortunately, Izuku's face remained his neutral expression. He's had enough practice bluffing. "What secret?"

He was really considering snapping his own neck right now.

Nedzu's smile grew even bigger. "You know, the practical exam isn't only to just test people's quirks and mindsets. It's also to test people's creativity. You know, like cheating?"

Oh great. The law breaking one.

Izuku just sighed. How the hell was he caught on that one? He made sure he couldn't be traced, but then again this is one of the smartest beings in the planet. Of course he'd get caught by him. "How did you find out?" he asked sheepishly. It was better to come clean in situations like this instead of playing the fool. It's far more efficient.

"You only got in because of rescue points, and also, by you telling me right now!"

…

FUCK HIM.

Izuku just let out a bigger sigh.

"I'm sorry, but what are you saying?" Aizawa-sensei asked in the background.

Nedzu's smile never wavered. "Well you see. I always arrange the security details of the practical exam in a way that could be hacked if you're that good. And I always receive a notification when someone does, including their information. So imagine my shock when I got a notification and there was no information that came along with it. This meant the person had to be really good if they managed to evade my counter-program." He glanced at Izuku, who was currently looking down at his knees in shame, not even bothering to keep up his neutral expression.

Nedzu continued. "I figured it was Etsuri-san considering he only got in because of Rescue Points and nothing else. But there was no way to prove it! I couldn't just launch a full investigation into a student for no particular reason! Until you Aizawa-san gave me a reason too! A student not trying his best to reach his fullest potential is obviously a concern that I can use!"

Izuku spared a betrayed glance at Aizawa-sensei before returning his gaze to the floor.

"So once I looked at his tests, I realized that there was always a small dot right next to the ones he got wrong. Nothing too obvious at first glance but they always appear next to an incorrect question. I'm assuming that those are marking ones you plan to get wrong, correct Etsuri-san?"

Izuku just nodded. Right now, talking or lying would give him 0 benefit in this already tight situation. He might be going to jail for the hacking.

"So he's been hiding his intelligence this entire time~~" Nedzu exclaimed

He could feel Aizawa's burning gaze at the back of his head until the silence finally ended. "But why?"

Izuku swallowed. He could tell the truth in this situation, as long as he didn't reveal TOO much. Or he could just refuse to answer at all, which means he will always be on the 2 teachers' radar.

It was better to just be honest.

"I don't… like attention. I also like appearing dumber than I actually am, because that makes people more likely to lower their guard around me. I don't really care about success. I just kind of want to live in the moment."

There. Honesty. Not too bad, right?

"Well, Etsuri-san, even if I designed the security of the practical exam with hackers in mind, you still technically broke a law. I won't get law enforcement involved, that wouldn't be fun! Instead, you will come here at normal school-time tomorrow and take a test to prove that you belong here since you cheated during the practical! If you choose not to take it, I'll just move you to Gen-ed and you can go from there. So, what's your choice?"

Izuku looked up at the principal, recomposing his neutral façade. On one hand, he could take it, stay with Iida & Uraraka and not abandon his progress of his self-worth, or he could start from scratch but not have to deal with pressures from Nedzu-san or Aizawa-sensei.

A tough choice indeed…

Iida and Uraraka would be sad if he left. They'd ask him questions and once they found out he cheated, they probably will reject him. He didn't want to lose them. He had really started to enjoy being in their company.

He sighed. "Normal school time? Wouldn't that overlap with my classes?"

Nedzu grinned. "Yep! But in this case you would be excused from them so you could take the test with me~~~." He sang that last word.

Izuku looked at Nedzu. Looked at Aizawa-sensei who he had no doubt was the reason he was here in the first place. Then back at Nedzu.

"I really don't want to start from scratch so I'll be here tomorrow. Is that all?"

"Yes that's all. Thank you Etsuri-san and see you tomorrow!"

The rest of the day was kind of a blur. Izuku was emotionally drained and still very much panicking over the conversation he just had with the principal. He deflected any questions or concerns from Uraraka and Iida over his well-being and managed to walk with them to the train station and back to his house.

When he got inside of his apartment, he stood there for a second, not really sure where to have his mental breakdown of the day. Lynx was on his couch, staring at him as he walked to the kitchen to drop off his school bag.

He decided to retreat to his room since he has a feeling he's going to pass out very soon. Lynx followed him down the small hallway and shoots through the door as he opens it.

His room is very simplistic. There are probably 1000 stuffed animals on the bed but that's the only odd thing inside. There's a desk tucked away in the corner and a small chair that barely fits. His shelves are filled with books that range from quirk theory and quantum physics to fantasy genres. A small dresser fits across the bed. Little figurines varying from anime characters to the structure of the atom rests on the top. There's even a plant on the side that he's kept alive for about 7 months now.

He doesn't shut the door behind him. He likes the fact that he can escape the room whenever he needs to. Closing the door makes him forget that.

He changes into something comfortable before finally collapsing on his bed. Lynx was waiting for him, and she immediately jumped up onto the bed too and curled up between him and the 1000 stuffed animals.

He could feel his eyes slowly start to close.

He was so fucking tired. A little nap would hurt.

He could panic later.

…

[…]

The boy is really cold.

He didn't like being in that place. The Man said it was his home, and homes are supposed to be good.

But being there didn't feel good.

He knows he's not supposed to run away. They told him he wasn't allowed to. So he never did.

But he's so cold.

And he hates that place.

He wants to be warm.

So he left.

Does that make him bad?

You can't be a villain at 5 years old can you?

He shook his head as he continued walking down the empty street.

His clothes were a mess from today's ~~hell~~training. They still had blood leftover from his ~~victims~~from his practice.

He was clutching his stomach. He didn't eat before he left. Stupid him.

The street he was walking down was mostly empty. The adults that were walking down avoided him by blatantly walking around him. ~~Why weren't they trying to help him?~~

"Hey kid are you ok?" someone said.

The boy looked up. His eyes were barely open at this point. He was so hungry. He wanted to sleep. He was still cold.

He recognized the person talking to him. The person was a hero by the name of Firefly, his quirk allowed him to create flashes that could blind his opponents.

The boy just shook his head. He was too tired to respond.

The hero frowned. "Hey little guy, are you hungry? I know this great ramen shop a few blocks down that you would really like."

The boy just nodded. He couldn't really process what the hero was saying. They were a hero, so he trusted them.

"Ok great. Here why don't you take my hand?" Firefly reached to grab his right hand. As soon as he touched the boy's palm though, pain shot up his arm. He flinched backwards, causing him to finally collapse on his weak legs as he clutched his hand.

They told him that they needed to make sure people would recognize where he belonged to so that if he ever got lost, he could be returned.

The boy didn't like it.

It hurt when they burned that symbol into his hand.

It still hurts just a week later.

Firefly got curious, however, and held out his hand to take a look at whatever was causing the boy pain. He held his hand out, and that's when Firefly immediately backed away.

~~That's when things went wrong.~~

Firefly was just staring at the boy with this conflicted blank expression on his face. He didn't understand why though. It was just a marking. Why was Firefly acting this way?

Eventually, the hero knelt down and took the boy's other hand and pulled him to his feet. The boy didn't have the energy to resist, not that he would anyway. The hero was going to help him. That's what the average hero would do.

They started walking down the street, back to where the boy came from. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he was too tired to care.

He trusted the hero.

He trusts heroes.

Eventually, the boy started to hear other footsteps coming from behind him and Firefly. They both turned around, only for the boy to gasp and see The Man coming towards them. He tried to back away but Firefly kept him from leaving. That's right, the hero will protect him. How could he forget?

The Man glanced at the boy, then at Firefly.

"So you found my kid?" His voice was always sincere. So, innocent. It was hard to say no to such a voice.

Firefly swallowed. "Yes. I found him walking around the street. I have no intention in meddling with your affairs. It just happened to be a coincidence." Even the boy could hear the fear in his voice.

The Man simply nodded and held out his hand. The boy was confused. Why wasn't the hero fighting him? The Man isn't a good person, the boy was old enough to be able to understand that. So why wasn't the hero fighting him?

Things became clearer once he realized he was being handed to The Man.

"Please…don't let him take me… I don't want to go…" he whispered. He didn't want to go back. It was so cold. It was so loud. It was so… miserable.

"SHUT UP! DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WOULD BE RISKING TO HELP YOU?" Firefly screamed. He looked… scared. Why was he so scared? What did the boy do wrong?

Why wasn't Firefly helping him?

Heroes are supposed to help the innocent.

They're supposed to punish the villains.

Why wasn't Firefly doing that?

Was… the boy a villain?

No, a 5 year old can't be a villain.

But then why was Firefly not helping him?

He didn't understand.

Why wasn't he being saved?

Why was Firefly scared?

The world started to go black around him.

Weren't heroes supposed to help?

If an average hero like Firefly wasn't helping him…

Then what would happen if…

The void was growing deeper.

He can't… trust heroes?

Then who can he trust?

Can no one help him?

Is he –

"That's what happens when you try to run, Bloodline. Heroes will just take you back to me. They're too scared of the consequences that occur for the people who try to steal my tools away from me."

He can't… leave?

But aren't heroes… brave?

Why would they be scared?

…

He didn't understand.

H̸e̴ ̷d̷i̸d̵n̷'̸t̶ ̴u̶n̴d̵e̶r̵s̵t̸a̴n̷d̸.̷

H̶͚̿ë̸̜ ̷̗̉d̵̜͑i̴̥̐d̸͎͛n̶̪͛'̴͔́t̸̘̃ ̴̟̑u̷̖͌ň̶̡d̸̞͝e̵̢̔r̴͚͝s̵̰͛t̵̰͌ḁ̷͆n̷̫͆d̶͇̉.̷̮̚

H̴̼̾͛̋̐e̸̗̪͐͘͝ ̸͖̻͈͐͐̿ḍ̴̖̓̒̈i̵̛̠̞͖̼͊͐̇ḍ̵̢̬̩̽̐ņ̷̬͚͖̎'̷̤͚̅͒t̸͈̋͋̃̽ ̷͍̬̥̕û̶͍n̵̺̾̎d̶̳͙̼̅ë̶͇́͐ȑ̴̜s̷͇͕͔̀̋ț̷̳̃̎̐̿a̶̠͈̟̮͊̆̀̃ñ̴̼̘͈͕͗d̴̞̹̓̈́̚.̷̧̮̝̪̔͛

̶̧̻̣͗

H̴̥̠̤̭̫͓̉̈́̾̐̋̈́̿̎ḙ̴̫̟͉̝̔̀̐̀͝͠ ̶̳̊̂̄͋d̵̨̻̩̘̳̹̼̩̿̃̾͝ỉ̵̧̧̲͓̙̑͂̍̍͝d̴̢͎̠̝̬͊̓̃̓̒͛̚n̵̡͛̈́'̵̟̫̳͍̗̳̀̎͗t̷̪̆̔̃̓ ̸̗̬̘̦̜̻͈͖̈́̀͋̒̕͝u̵̹͈̒́͋̈́͂̓͌n̸̦̮̙̰̖̍̅̂̒͋̀̀d̵̢̢͙͈̓̆e̴̼̤̮̠̻̹̻̍́̆̕ŕ̵̢̨͍̟͖̦̂̑̉ͅs̶̛̻̜̘̉̐͊̍͌̌͝t̴̢̠̮͈̬̲̹̄͛̄̈̆͂͑̊a̷̤͕̝̜̟̔̚͝n̵͇̤̹̄̂̑̀͆͜d̴̖̱͖̣͎̺̪̀́͜.̵̢̣̫̘͕͕͍͑̈́̓̈́̾͛͐̚͜
̶̟̩̰̾̍̏̂͝

Ä̴̡̝͈̜́̔̀͊̏̊͛̊̕r̶̫̦͚͚̮̣̠͕̃͗͌̿͘e̴̡̞̖͇̫͚̘̞͈̊̇̄̀̿͛̓̈́̓ ̶̡̧̛̣͚͉͙͚͙̮͚̙̳̦̆̓̂́͋̅͜ḥ̵̻̃̋̉̃ḙ̶̢̣̼̥͕̪̥̥̜̉̂̇̾͂̋̅̿̏̊́̕̕r̶̪̃ǫ̷̨͓̖̰̣̣̟͕̙̱̮͊̑̈́̉͐̏͛͛̃̈́̈̌̇́e̷̡̫̦͓̼̼̅͗̊̃̕͠ͅş̶̛̛̮͊̔͛̏̏̓̄̒̒̒̅͝ ̴̜̲̙̫͚̞̝̯͚͎̤͖̈́̽̽̌̆͋͌̽́͛͝ͅȩ̴̲͔̐̍͆͘͠͝v̵͙̀̃̽̓̃͊̈́͛̀̏͐̆̀̕e̴̡̖̬̭͖̣̺̭̼̦̠̦̳̎͂̋̏̐̋̒͛̒̃̐̓̕̕͝n̶̫̹̞̣̤̺͚̙̗̟̟͎͆̀̓̽͜͠ ̶̤̗̽͛͑̿̉͂̈́̒͜ŗ̷̘̦̺̙̯̪̼̻̔̌̚è̵̢̱͕͔̄͘å̷̝̳͉̫̻͕̋̾̈́̌̿͑̐́̽͗̓l̶̡̧̨̦͎͙͎̯̮̥͓̝͖̩̫̊̈́̈́͝?̷̩̩̟̞̭̙̱̳̲̻͔̂̄͒̊̇̋̈́̃̀̈́͂̚͝

"SHUT UP!"

Izuku jolted awake. He could barely breathe or see anything. He could feel himself laying on something hard but he couldn't tell what. His vision returned a few seconds later, and he realized what happened.

He had jumped from his bed so hard he fell.

He burst up from the ground and ran to the bathroom. He grabbed one of the throwing knives hanging on the wall and just collapsed on the ground. He was shaking, badly. He was so cold and he still couldn't breathe.

He violently tore off the glove on his right hand and stared at the symbol branded onto it.

A simple circle made out of triangles with a blank empty square in the middle.

A simple design. A simple design for a simple organization. For an evil organization.

It was covered in scars from the amount of times he cut into it.

Izuku gripped his throwing knife even harder at the sight of it. His blood began to boil, his gasps for air more sporadic.

The image of Firefly's face made him want to puke. The coward who decided to save his own skin by throwing a 5 year old kid into the abyss.

That was the day he lost his faith in heroes.

That was the day he hated heroes.

That was the day he loved wearing gloves.

Without warning, Izuku just swung the knife with his left hand into his right, destroying the already ruined symbol even more. He couldn't tell if he was screaming or not, his lack of oxygen wasn't letting him hear.

Cut after cut after cut, the blood went everywhere. But he NEEDED to do this. The branding still linked him back to THEM. It meant that he still belonged to THEM. He didn't want to belong to THEM anymore.

When Izuku finally felt satisfied, and slightly dizzy from the blood loss, he looked at his ruined palm. The symbol was even less clear now. He started to laugh. Maybe because he was too dizzy to cry.

He tugged on the invisible connection with the blood that had sprayed everywhere and pulled it back through his hand.

He started to try and calm his breathing down. He really needed air so that his brain could function once again.

Once all the blood had gone inside, he took a closer look at the mess he just made on his palm, tracing his fingers over the newly added cuts he just made.

A small meow made him look up for the first time. Lynx was standing in the doorway, with her lazy demeanor as usual. She strutted up to Izuku and snuggled into his lap.

Bastard.

Exploiting the fact that he cannot stand right now to take a nap on him.

He used his left hand to grab the bandages he kept on the floor for situations like this. He slowly began the process of wrapping up his right hand, there wasn't a need to rush.

Thank god Nedzu didn't find out about this secret. Otherwise he would be on his way back to THEM again.

Because that's what Firefly did.

So that's what the average hero will do.

Chapter End Notes

WHAT'S THIS!?!??!

NO USJ ATTACK!?!!??!?!

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD HIMSELF I HAVE DIVERGED FROM THE CANON STORYLINE!!!!!!

Don't worry though, there's still going to be AFO and LOV lore that comes into play. I just wanted to get spicy and do something else other than USJ attack. It won't be all love and peace and healing forever.

And more Izuku lore! I think I did pretty good on the panic attack at this part. And now we get to Nedzu which is the BEST character of MHA and you can't change my mind.

Anyway I'm gonna keep editing my chapters and posting all night. Cya!

Tests & Trust

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Nedzu was a pretty smart guy.

He was one of the smartest beings on the planet.

He could recognize someone on par with him.

And Etsuri was no doubt very close to him.

Etsuri arrived 5 mins early to his office. Nedzu gave a warm welcome and immediately handed him his test. He could see the confusion form on Etsuri's face as he realized that this was just a normal standardized testing.

Well, it would be hard to call it "normal".

This test was designed by Nedzu himself.

The world says the answers to it hold the "secret to the universe" with how complex the questions are.

The required test Nedzu told Esturi he would have to do to make up for his practical exam was a lie.

He just really wanted to know how smart Etsuri was compared to him. So Etsuri was actually taking Nedzu's personal IQ Test.

For a normal person, it would take the entire day for someone to finish that test.

For Etsuri, it only took until lunch time.

Holy shit, Nedzu could barely keep his excitement in as he started to grade the test.

He stopped holding back when he got his answer.

Etsuri's score was 289.

For the record, Nedzu's was 318.

Only a 29 point difference. And Etsuri didn't have an intelligence quirk.

Etsuri had already left for lunch by the time Nedzu got his answer. He was squirming in his seat while he read through Etsuri's answers, when Aizawa walked into the room.

He looked confused at Nedzu's strange behavior. The confusion turned to dread once he realized that the strange behavior was excitement.

"What did you do now rat?"

"Why do you assume it's something I did? I'm not a mischievous criminal Aizawa-san."

"You're a scheming rat and you know it."

Nedzu laughed but didn't deny the statement. "For the record, all I did was switch Etsuri's exam with an IQ Test. The one I made."

Aizawa shook his head at him while sitting down on one of the couches in the middle of the office. "That poor kid. What he get?"

Nedzu grinned. "289."

Aizawa's head immediately snapped towards Nedzu. "What?" he said dryly.

Nedzu just nodded as he continued to scan the exam, throwing Aizawa the questions he already looked at. Aizawa scrambled to look, his eyes growing wider as he read each answer to the question. "Great. Now I've got the number 2 hero's son, an exploding egotistical brat, and another version of you." He said that last part while pointing at Nedzu with built up frustration.

Nedzu shook his head. "Not necessarily. He still refuses to use his intelligence during class and during hero exercises. The answer he gave us seemed true but I have a feeling there's more to it than that."

Aizawa nodded in agreement. There was something else this kid was hiding but none of them could figure out what.

"Have you stalked him yet?"

"Yep! His school records are extremely average, just like they are here. He was put on online school at the age of 3 when his mother died in a villain attack."

"So that's probably the reason why he wants to be a hero, but it still doesn't explain why he refuses to push himself."

Nedzu just nodded in agreement as he reopened his files on the student.

Etsuri Izuku. A 16 year old kid with a deadpan neutral resting face that doesn't have a care in the world.

He enrolled into the most commonly used Premier Academy as his online school. His grades were always exactly C's and he always barely passed the class/exam.

Every. Single. One. All 24 quarterly tests for 6 subjects every single year.

"Wait a minute."

Aizawa's attention refocused back onto Nedzu. "What?"

"Premier Academy always makes their students take an entrance exam leading up to middle school on the first day of class. Anyone who doesn't pass it usually gets kicked out. But it's so easy and people can cheat that most people pass it. That test isn't anywhere in Premier's records or website but it does show up on the student's transcript."

"And that's important how?"

Nedzu's smile grew larger as he turned his monitor around for Aizawa to see. "There's no score on his transcript."

Uraraka kept glancing at the hallway that serves as the cafeteria's exit and entrance. Izuku hadn't shown up at all today and she was getting increasingly worried. She could tell that something was wrong with him when he returned to class yesterday. He wouldn't say what though so Iida and her decided to not push it.

Still, it bothered her.

Izuku was a really nice person, don't get her wrong, but he can be slightly… weird.

There. She said it. Sue her.

For one, he was really smart. He always helped her with the math homework and seemed to know the answer to every single problem on their worksheets. Yet for some reason he always gets a C on every test.

She also got the sense that Izuku didn't trust them. Or anyone for that matter. It can mostly be displayed whenever someone touched him. She had grabbed his shoulder to try and wake him up from his mumbling at the basics test on the first day and immediately regretted it. It was like her organs were being squeezed and her skin was being torn apart from the amount of adrenaline that shot up her body. All for a split second, and then it disappeared, along with the look on his face that screamed murder. It was carefully sculpted back into his usual neutral expression and the rest of the day carried out. That was another thing too. He never showed any emotion other than nervousness and neutralism.

He also never talked about himself. Anytime she would ask he would find some way to change the subject. It annoyed her. Was she doing something wrong that made Izuku not want to trust her?

She was pulled away from her thoughts when she saw Izuku walk into the lunch room with the rest of the crowd. She smiled and waved at him as he waved back and started heading over to the table they usually sat at. Iida was gone today because of something with his family so it would be just Izuku and her.

"Hey!" she said with a smile. Maybe if she was friendlier he would open up to her.

"Hey." was all he said back, as he opened up his lunchbox. He seemed to be lost in thought.

"So where were you? I thought you weren't going to be here like Iida for a bit."

"I got called to Principal Nedzu's office again. He wanted to test me on something."

"Oh? How was it?"

"It was… really weird. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. It wasn't hard it was just…" He paused for a second trying to find the right words. "Time-consuming. The questions were long and you had to do a lot of work for them. They were the type of questions where if you make one mistake a chain reaction of incorrect solutions occurred."

"Interesting." was all Uraraka could say as she started to eat her sandwich. She was really hungry because she decided to wait for Izuku.

They both fell into a comfortable silence as the 2 of them submitted to their hunger and ate their food. It was one of the things she really liked about Izuku. He always managed to make the atmosphere relaxing and tension-free with nothing but his presence.

"How come you always get C's on tests?"

Uraraka didn't even know the words were leaving her mouth until after she said it.

She looked up from her sandwich only to find empty green eyes staring at her.

"What do you mean?"

She swallowed the food in her mouth and put her sandwich down.

"I mean, you're really good at all the courses. You've helped me more times than I can count on homework and assignments. You've even taught me some of the content. So why do you always get a C when you should be getting an A?"

He stared at her for a second before ~~fake~~smiling a little bit. "Yea, I guess it's because of test anxiety. I get so nervous when I take tests I lose the ability to use the content." He started to continue eating.

Uraraka frowned.

"Why are you lying?"

His empty eyes shot upward as he stared at Uraraka with a lot of intensity. She could back down and relieve the tension but she decided to push forward. She needed answers.

She looked down. "You don't trust us. And I can't figure out why. I mean, aren't we your friends? You can tell the truth around us you know?" She tried to say it as confident as she could but her voice was weak. This was something that has been bothering her for a while.

"Friends?"

The way Izuku spoke made Uraraka's eyes shoot upwards to match Izuku's. His voice sounded so… desperate. And a little surprised. She just nodded. "I mean yeah. I consider us to be friends. I know Iida feels the same."

Izuku's eyes lit up in a way Uraraka has never seen before. He turned his head to the window and stared at it for a few seconds. After what felt like an eternity, he finally responded, "Sorry."

That was not what Uraraka was expecting. She was expecting full on denial but nope. He just said it bluntly.

It was hypocritical for her to say this but that was another part of what makes Izuku special.

His honesty.

He turned to her. "I... don't really have a good experience with people. So it's hard for me to trust. I didn't realize you considered us friends. I'll try to be better in the future."

And with that he returned to his food like nothing happened.

Uraraka just stared blankly for a bit before returning to her sandwich. She trusted Izuku – again, she knew she was a hypocrite for saying that. But when he says he's going to do something, he always does it.

So if he said he was going to try trusting her in the future, she knew he would do it.

There was nothing more to be said.

Izuku's walk back to Nedzu's office felt like an eternity.

On top of the confusion he had gotten from the remedial test, Uraraka had to go and drop that brain bomb on top of him.

Fuck. He was actually tempted to let himself smile.

Not yet though. Baby steps.

Uraraka had said that she and Iida were his FRIENDS.

Tools didn't have FRIENDS.

They only lived to get the jobs done.

People had FRIENDS.

Which meant that if Izuku had FRIENDS, he wasn't a tool.

How the hell could he not be excited at that!?

He was really glad the hallway was empty. He accidentally activated his quirk a few times while walking to Nedzu's office from his sheer happiness.

On top of that whole mess, Izuku also discovered that Uraraka was a people-smart person. She was able to read people as good as he could, though in drastically different ways. He could only tell who was a threat and who wasn't. She could tell who was lying.

It wasn't anything too special but it was cool to think about. Also worth noting for future secret-hiding.

He finally arrived at Nedzu's office and knocked on the door. He heard a muffled "Enter!" and opened the door. Aizawa-sensei was sitting on one of the middle couches and Nedzu-san was sitting in the main chair.

"Ah hello Etsuri-san! Take a seat, I want to talk to you about your score."

"Did I fail it?" he thought as he sat down in front of the principal's desk.

"Now, I do have a confession to make. This wasn't a remedial test. You never needed to take one. What you did take was an IQ Test. Purely for my curiosity!"

…

It's been a while since he strangled someone to death. Maybe he should start doing it again. Specifically to SCHEMING RATS.

"Oh." was all he could manage to say in his neutral façade. All of that stress, FOR AN IQ TEST!?!?

HE ALREADY KNEW HE WAS SMART HE DIDN'T NEED TO TAKE A TEST TO FIGURE THAT LOGIC PUZZLE OUT!

Nedzu grinned. "Well I graded it and I have your score. Would you like to know it?"

Izuku nodded. There was no point in not knowing his score. He took the test already, might as well know the result. He was probably above average, somewhere in the 220-230 range –

"289."

…

Even he couldn't keep his neutral face for that one.

Wasn't Nedzu's 318? So that meant he was only –

"29 points behind my highest score. It is quite an impressive feat Etsuri-san."

Wow. His thoughts really were unoriginal weren't they?

He narrowed his eyes at Nedzu-san. Was it possible that he was just lying to try and get a reaction from him? Probably not, the rat made it clear he was doing this for fun. If his score was actually in the above average range then the rat would've just let him move on with his life and never bother him again.

Which meant he really was 29 points behind the smartest animal in the world.

Well… damn.

What now?

"There is something else I would like to discuss with you."

There was apprehension in his voice. Izuku felt the urge to run but he resisted. Whatever the rat was about to say was important.

"I noticed something weird about your transcript files. You came from Premier Academy correct?" Izuku nodded. "Well, you see, Premier Academy actually holds an entrance test on the first day of middle school, nothing too hard but just enough to weed out the incompetent kids. It's not mentioned anywhere on their site, nor is it ever mentioned publicly since the students will get in trouble if they say anything about it, but it always shows up on a student's transcript."

Nedzu's smile dropped for the first time. He looked serious.

"You don't have that score, Etsuri-san. Would you like to tell me why?"

…

… he should've ran while he had the chance.

He KNEW he should've hacked into Premier Academy to get more details to fake his transcript with. But he didn't think it was FUCKING necessary.

God he's such an idiot!

How can a moron like him have a 289 IQ?

Ok, panic later, excuse NOW.

Because right now he was royally fucked.

Time once again slowed as Izuku focused and thought through every possible answer he could give.

The teachers would probably be able to tell if he was lying. They already saw through every other lie he made with his transcripts. No, the only way to do handle this is to tell the truth. He'd just have to choose his word choice VERY carefully.

If they realize who he is… they'll send him back.

He doesn't WANT to go back.

He doesn't want to be back with THEM.

He doesn't want to be in a room with The Man again.

He can't afford to mess up here.

The world seemed to go back to normal as Izuku took a breath. He exhaled slowly, looked the principal dead in the eye, and said, "That's because I hacked into the government to change my record details to make it look like I graduated with everyone else."

Nedzu looked taken aback with the blunt answer, and he could tell Aizawa-sensei had the same reaction.

Silence filled the room before Nedzu finally spoke up. "Could you elaborate on that?"

Izuku nodded.

"I'm actually 14. I technically graduated high school when I was 10. I finished college with 4 degrees and 2 PhDs when I was 13. I've been working as a quirk analyst called Deku ever since then."

Again, the bluntness of the answer caught the teachers both off guard. Exactly what he wanted.

He continued. "I changed my records so that I could attend UA once I realized I wanted to be a hero. I couldn't see any other way around it since I graduated high school already."

Silence filled the room as the rat tried to think about what to say next and Aizawa-sensei tried to figure out who his student really was.

He tried to make his tone seem as innocent as possible so that way they wouldn't ask any more questions. Besides, he didn't exactly LIE. He might've created a whole new identity instead of just changing his official record like he said but the reasons were still the same. Except the hero part. He still doesn't want to be one despite how kind heroes like Uraraka and Iida are.

He just didn't talk about how the fact that he actually did all of that to escape an international human trafficking organization that was ordering him to kill their enemies in one of the most painful ways possible.

secrets = secured

"Well. That is certainly shocking." Nedzu said as he rested his head on his arms. He seemed to be studying Izuku's blank expression.

"I think we should probably discuss how best to proceed with this."

Izuku sighed but gave a small nod.

This was going to really hurt his brain, wasn't it?

Chapter End Notes

Secrets have been revealed!

I really want to build the idea of how smart Izuku actually is for future plot so I decided to make him reveal the details to characters. Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Also I wanna clarify that I don't ship Izuku and Uraraka together (or anyone), this entire fanfic has no shipping in it. I'm not the type to focus on lovey dovey stuff.

Sorry but you getting PAIN.

Promises Upheld

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"So, what you're saying is, you're actually 14, you graduated high school 4 years ago, you finished college in 3 years, and so that you could attend UA, you hacked into the government to change your record to make it look like you didn't ever do any of that?"

"… Yeah."

Uraraka and Iida were both staring at him with a mix of confusion and amazement. A better reaction than what Izuku was expecting. Well, they wanted more trust right?

"I mean, I'm glad you trust us enough to tell us this, but WHY are you telling us this?" Uraraka asked, hesitantly.

Izuku sighed. He looked up. The weather was really nice. They were all sitting outside for lunch instead of inside so that way he could guarantee no one could eavesdrop.

"Well Nedzu managed to figure it out and confronted me with it, so when I told him the truth we figured out a plan to balance my hero training with my education level. He said he won't get me in trouble but it bothers him that I'm just relearning material I already learned, something about 'wasted potential.' So we decided to pull me out of all the normal classes and I'll work on college-level education that I was going to pursue after UA with him."

He scratched the back of his head. "So I'm telling you now so that way you don't panic every single time I don't show up to class."

It was silent for a few minutes while Uraraka and Iida collected their thoughts on the matter. He was really hoping they would forgive him for lying. He didn't want to lose his first 2 friends. They are an important milestone for him to become a person.

Uraraka was the first to break the silence.

"So that's why you always got C's on tests? You were faking so that way you didn't stand out?"

He nodded. Turns out faking it gave him the opposite effect. Of course it would, god hates him.

For a moment, he thought the suspenseful silence would return, but Iida spoke before it could fully settle.

"So what degrees did you get?"

Izuku sighed. He promised himself he would tell them about his job if they asked him that question. He was seriously dreading it though.

"I got it in quirk analysis. I work an analyst online." He took a breath and exhaled. "I'm Deku."

Uraraka flinched so hard she fell off the park bench they were sitting on.

Relatable

"Y-You're Deku!?" she screamed from the ground.

"Don't scream it!"

"I-Isn't D-Deku supposed t-to be t-twenty – two years o-old!?"

"That was a lie!"

Both confusion and amazement returned to his friends' faces.

He hated this.

"Please don't be mad! I didn't tell you guys because I hate attention and I really didn't want to risk the secret getting out! I'm so sorry I lied to you guys but I'm really not good with trust and I know that isn't a good excuse but –"

"It's ok."

Izuku's head snapped to Iida's. "What?" he choked out.

Iida offered a smile. "While what you did wasn't right, we don't really have the right to judge your situation. We don't know what caused it. Isn't that what you said on the bus to USJ?"

Oh shit. That conversation actually benefited him in the future.

Maybe he should do that more.

Izuku just gave a fake smile. "So you guys don't hate me then?"

They both shook their heads and Izuku felt a weight being lifted off his shoulders.

Finally, he didn't have to worry about keeping THOSE secrets from everyone by himself.

He's starting to realize he really hates secrets and lying.

How the fuck did he last as an assassin if he's this bad at keeping secrets?

…

Oh yeah. It's because he just killed whoever found out.

He's kind of glad that that method is unusable right now.

The 3 of them walked back to their classroom after lunch ended. They had spent the entire time asking Izuku questions about his work as Deku. Uraraka thanked him relentlessly for the report he gave her while Iida praised his work quality.

Fuck, these people were REALLY testing his ability to hold back a smile. A REAL one.

When they got back to the classroom, Aizawa-sensei was staring at them, or more specifically Izuku. He quickly stopped though and turned his attention onto the rest of the class, slamming his papers down to get their attention.

The class went dead silent in a heartbeat.

Izuku can confirm, he feels heartbeats every day.

"Ok. There's two things we need to cover. First off, the UA Sports Festival is coming up."

The class erupted into cheers, with everyone clearly over the moon with this news. A swift slam of papers against a speaking stand silenced the class once more.

"We'll be pushing you even harder for preparation for that. Remember, this is your chance to make a reputation for yourself and show yourselves off to Pro-Heroes. It will determine who you will go to for internships."

He paused to take a sip from the juice pouch he was holding.

Apple-flavored. Disgusting.

"The second thing is to pick a class representative to lead you guys into the stadium. They'll also represent your class in other events as well. I don't care how you do it, just do it by the end of class."

Immediately, the class erupted into "I want to do it!" with everyone shouting at each other. Izuku just sank into his seat.

He really hated loud noises.

A loud clap silenced the class once again, and everyone turned to Iida. "Everyone! We should hold a vote for who will become the class representative! Even if people will vote for themselves, the ones who get the most votes will surely be the best person for the job!"

Everyone started to mumble in agreement while someone found notecards to use as ballots.

Izuku didn't have to think twice about writing "Iida" on the notecard, not even bothering to look at it while he wrote. He closed his eyes, enjoying the silence once again.

Sweet, calming, peaceful silence.

…

"HOW THE HELL DID THAT BUSH HEAD TIE!?"

…

Ok. First off, rude.

Second off, what?

Izuku looked back up only to realize that he had gotten 2 votes. If he had voted for himself, he would've won.

He didn't have to look around to know who voted for him. It was obviously Uraraka and Iida, they must've thought he was the best person for the job because of his true intelligence. Fuck. He should've waited until after school.

The person he tied with was Yaomomo, the same girl who was able to pick out all of Izuku's flaws in the battle training exercise on the second day. She had a creation quirk that let her make whatever she wanted using her lipids and fats, which by the way, is an AWESOME quirk. She certainly was smart enough to do the job. Perfect.

"Yeah is Etsuri even that smart? He always get's C's and he's pretty average in battle training…"

"Who even voted for him?"

"I'm not sure about this…"

"Did he cheat somehow?"

Great. He was getting the worst kind of attention. Negative attention.

He turned to Yaomomo. "You can be the representative. I don't want to be one. But as vice representative, I'd like to offer my position to Iida. He was the one who came up with the election in the first place, and we all saw what he did during the media invasion on Day 2."

He tried to speak loudly so that the rest of the class could hear.

"I guess that makes sense…"

"Sounds good to me!"

"Oh yeah, that was Iida who did that…"

"He looked so manly in that moment!"

In the end, Yaomomo became the Class Representative, and Iida became her right hand man. He looked really proud, and was probably taking this position way too seriously than everyone else was.

Izuku smiled inside. He knew Iida was the right person for the job. And at least he wouldn't have to stand awkwardly behind Yaomomo every morning while she read the announcements of the day.

The alarm ringing signaled the start of Izuku's day.

He usually debated whether or not he should cut off his blood flow to his brain the second he wakes up but today was a different story.

Today was the Sports Festival.

And by GODS was he fucking excited.

He had always watched it back when he was with THEM, since they would watch it in front of him. He never got to actually SEE anything though, he'd just hear it through his ~~cage~~through his door.

Now he actually got a chance to watch the festival. And even better: he was going to be able to cheer on Iida and Uraraka while they fought for 1 st place. And even better than that: he wasn't going to be on TV at all!

A week ago, during the preparation period for the festival, Nedzu called him to his office so that he could discuss something. Basically, Nedzu wanted Deku to create quirk analysis reports for every single student who made it into the final round. This would benefit the commentary and also publicizing that THE Deku was involved in the festival will draw even MORE attention than it already has. Izuku decided to agree on one condition: he was excused from having to participate in the competition in any way. Nedzu was very confused from Izuku's statement but agreed nonetheless.

Perfect

Izuku grabbed some casual wear: his regular boots, gloves, turtleneck, and pants, as well as a hoodie and a mask instead of his regular leather jacket. He was still paranoid at being caught by one of those side cameras that sometimes turned to the crowd so he wanted to cover his face. Better safe than sorry.

Lynx was watching him get ready. She seemed unusually awake today. He took that as a sign that she wanted to come with him to the festival. As long as she didn't scream or use her quirk, he should be fine. He also knows that she will serve as a great distraction for Uraraka, who was no doubt pacing her room with utter fear right now.

He grabbed a lot of snacks he kept in his kitchen and started to make his way to the door.

He was so excited.

He couldn't wait to see how well Iida and Uraraka were going to do.

It was going to be such a good day –

He stopped just as he was about to grab the fire escape door's handle.

…

Today was going to be a GOOD day.

…

But there is no such thing as a GOOD day.

Because God hates him.

Because balance in the universe always causes things to go downhill.

Izuku NEVER has good days.

Which means…

He shook his head.

He was just being paranoid right?

Nothing BAD was going to happen.

It was UA after all, their security is top notch.

…

That gate was blown away though on Day 2

...

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to bring a FEW of his weapons.

Just in case.

Chapter End Notes

filler chapter but I think it was necessary. It really shows how much Izuku has changed in terms of his social life. He's actually caring about his friends which was a completely different attitude from the first chapter. Also, the goal of this one is to make you laugh. So if you didn't I suck. But if you did, yay.

NEXT UP!

Sports Festival

I wOnDeR wHaT wIlL hApPeN!!??!!?

To Be the Best

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"OH MY GOD IT'S ALL MIGHT!"

"HE LOOKS EVEN STRONGER IN PERSON."

"STOP HIM ALL MIGHT!"

All Might studied the situation he was in, never keeping his eyes off of the villain in front of him. It looked like a robbery gone wrong, with All Might just passing by at the right time.

The group, for some weird reason, actually decided to fight back against the Number 1 Hero. Most petty criminals gave up immediately when they saw him. Guess these guys were tougher than they look?

2 of them ran up to All Might, both of which had identical facial structures and costume designs. They're probably twins with the same quirk, as both grew to massive sizes, almost double that of All Might.

So they think they can out power the Number 1 Hero?

Idiots.

As the 2 giants slammed their fists down, All Might simply dodged by quickly moving around them.

"Do you really think you can outdo me in power, zygotes?"

The 2 twin criminals immediately turned to face him, going in for another swing.

Ok, that's enough playing around with them. Time to end this, he had a Sports Festival to get to.

2 swift punches into one of the twins causing them both to crash to the left, somehow knocking them out. He didn't even use more than 25%...

The rest of the robbers gave up after that, clearly learning from their mistake. All Might waited for the police to show up to make sure the criminals wouldn't try anything stupid before finally leaving the crime scene.

He probably only had about 30 mins left until his time limit was reached for the day. There was just so much crime today that he couldn't help but get involved. It was really unusual actually, for so much crime to happen on the Sports Festival of all days –

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! VILLAINS!"

"SOMEONE CALL A HERO!"

All Might stopped dead in his tracks and immediately started running towards the screams.

He was going to get in trouble for being late…

"I think I'm going to puke."

"Don't puke on Lynx, or she'll start screaming again."

"Are you even allowed to bring her inside?"

"No clue. But no one stopped me, so…"

"What if I mess up in an embarrassing way? You and my sister would see it. And she traveled all this way just for me…"

"Even if you did I think she would still be proud of you. The fact that you're even here at UA and participating as a hero course student is a big accomplishment."

Izuku helped Uraraka and Iida as they were preparing for the festival.

Mostly just with their nerves, though.

More specifically, Uraraka's stomach.

"You should relax, Uraraka, we've spent the last 3 weeks preparing for this. Izuku also helped us marginally with our hand to hand combat. We are at our best and should perform at a level of UA's expectations!"

Iida was acting more robotic than usual.

It meant he was nervous.

During the 3 weeks between the announcement and the festival, Aizawa upheld his word and pushed the class to new lengths.

It was pure pain, for literally everyone except Izuku, who still managed to bullshit it somehow. The only thing he didn't skip was the quirk training. He needed to figure out how to not kill someone immediately and just incapacitate them, whether that be changing their blood flow or controlling blood externally. He couldn't do that last idea in front of anyone though, since his quirk is legally organic telekinesis limited to solids. So he had to practice at home and shot his own blood at Lynx, which caused him to go tone deaf from the amount of screaming for a bit but was well worth it. The bastard deserved it.

Uraraka had mentioned learning how to do martial arts and Izuku was practically dying inside every single time he saw Iida's form while doing a kick. So he offered to teach them how to properly fight using martial arts.

Izuku didn't want to BRAG, but he was fucking good at hand to hand combat.

How else would he have killed 65 trained professional quirk fighters in one raid?

So by kicking the shit out of Uraraka and Iida again and again, they eventually got to the point where their basics were above average. Iida's kicks were far more powerful and Uraraka was able to get a lot more 5 touches landed on Izuku, who started to go easier once he realized he was going too hard on them.

And 3 weeks of teacher torture and getting slammed into the ground by Izuku later, they were now at the Sports Festival.

Uraraka was rocking back and forth on a bench while hugging Lynx so tightly, he was surprised the bastard hadn't lashed out by now. Iida's movements were stiff as he stretched, occasionally losing his balance and falling into the ground.

Ah. The epitome of confidence.

Izuku just shook his head. He couldn't understand why they were worried right now. They were definitely going to make it to the final round, they were strong enough to do that. He had already written their quirk reports ahead of time because he was THAT confident in their abilities.

Suddenly the buzzer rang in the waiting room, and his classmates all started to head to the door. They're faces looked murderous, but not in a killer type of way. They were determined, ready to win it all and prove themselves right here and now.

He turned back to Uraraka and Iida. Both of them had adopted the same face, albeit coated with fear. He held out his arms to take Lynx while Uraraka and Iida stepped out of the room.

Izuku didn't need to wish them good luck. He already knew they were going to get through to the finals.

Unsurprisingly, the festival is a LOT more fun to watch than listen to.

Izuku understood why the festival was so popular now. It was so fucking SUSPENSEFUL.

The first round chosen was an obstacle course, filled with robots from the entrance exam, a bottomless pit, and smoke bombs. Not all of his classmates managed to make it through but it was still fun to cheer them on. Everyone used their quirks in such innovative ways and Izuku was practically drooling at the possibilities that were swarming inside his head. He would have to re-watch the footage and create analysis reports on every single thought he had.

Bakugo – the blond gangster from Day 1 – got first place, a close tie with Todoroki, a boy with 2 quirks of ice and fire. He never used his left fire side though, not even in class. They were definitely making it to finals, so Izuku quickly finished their quirk reports and sent it off via email to Present Mic & Aizawa-sensei who were giving the commentary.

Iida got 4 th and Uraraka got an impressive 17 th for not having a quirk that boosts speed.

Some of the gen-ed students and a lot of the support course students managed to squeeze their way into the ranks, but most of them got filtered out in the 2 nd round: Cavalry Battles.

Uraraka and Iida stayed in the same team, along with Yaomomo and Todoroki (who was the leader).

There was a big twist on how the rules work, though. The top 4 teams would proceed to the final rounds, and points were given based off headbands with different numbers. However, the person who got first in the last round had the most points, following second and third and all the way down to number 40.

The entire round was played very defensively by the top 4 players, all except Bakugo, who immediately went on the offensive, wiping out lots of smaller teams in the process. Izuku was especially fond of a moment where Uraraka used one of his moves he showed her. It was a one arm jab that could help the person get out of another person's grip. Jirou had grabbed onto her arm to try and bring their cavalry closer to Todoroki's team to try and grab their headband. Uraraka immediately thrusted her elbow as hard as she could in Jirou's direction, causing Jirou to let go and for the team to get away.

Time ended and Iida & Uraraka's team got 2 nd place over all.

Izuku typed up his mini reports quickly on Yaomomo and all of Bakugo's teammates throughout the whole thing. He already knew they were guaranteed a spot.

Only 2 non-hero course students remained: a lavender-haired boy from gen-ed (Shinso) and a girl with pink-hair and crazy eyes from the support course (Hatsume).

He looked up both of them in the school database and started to type out his predictions of their abilities.

The last round was a tournament. The top 16 were to face each other in duels:

Bakugo vs. Shinso

Todoroki vs. Sero

Iida vs. Shiozaki

Kaminari vs. Hatsume

Aoyama vs. Kirishima

Ashido vs. Tetsutetsu

Uraraka vs. Asui

Tokoyami vs. Yaomomo

And thus, predictions began.

He didn't plan on telling anyone this, but Izuku was going to make a LOT of money from betting. Because he's so good at analysis in general, he's able to predict who was going to win and who doesn't stand a chance. So betting is a safe risk for him to take. Like that Todoroki fight. He was going to make serious money from that.

He was walking back from the betting stands and the break room at the moment. He had to make sure Uraraka didn't pass out and Iida didn't short circuit. Lynx was walking to his left, both being more quiet than they usually are.

Probably because of that horrible feeling Izuku has been feeling all day.

Something was wrong.

He just couldn't figure out what.

He just had a feeling that something wasn't right.

He's really glad he brought his guns and extendable spear with him.

He tightened his grip around the weapons in his giant hoodie pocket.

Maybe he is overthinking it.

But Lynx is acting less bratty than usual today.

Does she feel it too?

It's like world's holding its breath before it releases the storm.

But this is UA, one of the most secured places in the world.

Not to mention the security is even greater than it usually is because of the Sports Festival.

Nothing THAT bad could happen, ri –

"I will NEVER use my left side!"

"Stop acting so childish, Shouto, if you hold yourself back all you're going to end up doing is hurting yourself. How else are you going to become the Number 1 Hero –"

"It's simple. I'll become one without YOUR power!"

A heavy sigh came as Izuku heard a person walk towards his direction. He quietly pressed himself against the corner of the hallway so that way the mystery man could pass him without seeing Izuku.

A large man in a blue body suit with flames coming out of his shoulders and face like a beard. His actual hair was a red that seemed dull against the bright burning flames.

It was the Number 2 Hero. Endeavor.

As soon as Endeavor was out of sight, Izuku turned the corner to face the other mystery person. Todoroki Shouto. So he WAS Endeavor's kid.

Another bet won. Uraraka and Iida should really learn to stop betting against him.

Todoroki's gray and blue eyes locked onto Izuku's, as he realized what Izuku just heard.

"How much?" His face was neutral but Izuku could see the anger in his eyes.

Amateur.

Doesn't even know how to hide his emotions.

"Just that last part. Look, I'm willing to say I didn't hear a thing in this hallway. If you don't want to say anything I won't get involved. This is clearly a you problem and I'll respect that."

He really didn't want to get involved.

But he didn't want to sound like he doesn't give a shit ( even though he doesn't) so he's making it sound like Todoroki has a choice.

Todoroki just sighed and moved towards the wall to lean on it. He seemed like he was really putting some thought into Izuku's offer.

After about 20 seconds of silence, Todoroki said, "Do you know what quirk marriages are?"

Great. He chose to talk to Izuku. Now he HAS to give a shit.

But this would be great practice for future situations…

Part of being a person is learning how to comfort people with their bad stuff.

He might as well try right now on a ~~test subject~~on a person he doesn't care about.

"No, I don't."

Todoroki shifted his stance to face Izuku.

"Basically, someone marries the other person only because they want their quirk. They keep having children until the desired quirk is created."

Izuku shifted his weight uncomfortably. He could already tell where this was going.

"Ice quirk to stop yourself from overheating?"

Todoroki eyes widened, probably at the fact Izuku got the concept so quickly.

"Yea. You thought of it that quickly?"

"Yea. I'm smarter than I look." was all Izuku said. He didn't want to give away TOO much.

Todoroki looked back up towards the ceiling, the two of them standing in a comfortable silence as they organized their thoughts on the matter.

"I won't use my left side. I'll become the Number 1 Hero without my father's help."

"That's stupid."

Todoroki's head snapped to Izuku's, shocked at his blunt answer. "What!?"

Izuku just shrugged. He could understand Todoroki's feelings. The whole reason his upbringing was so terrible was because his quirk was useful. He knew what it was like to be seen as a quirk and nothing more.

"I mean, it's not your dad's power. It's yours. If you don't use it, it's kind of a waste."

The vibrations echoed throughout the halls as the speakers shouted in Present Mic's voice "TODOROKI SHOUTO TO THE MAIN ARENA IN 5 MINUTES. YOUR FIGHT IS NEXT!"

Izuku started to walk back to the seating area. He spoke in a louder tone so that Todoroki could hear him despite the distance.

"If you want to be the best, you have to give it your all. You can't only give it your right half."

Chapter End Notes

YOOOOO

Sorry I would've posted this chapter last night but I literally fell asleep while writing so...

Anyway this is the last pre-written chapter I have right now, so the next updates your going to see are going to be posted next week Friday/Saturday. The way my update schedule works is that I write a LOT of chapters and edit them while I post the ones I write. For some reason I can write with high quality while working fast so I'm using it to my advantage people.

Anyway, see ya next week!

I Told You

Chapter Notes

I highly recommend you go back and reread Chapter 10 just to continue the story a little bit better.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Ojiro was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to be in the final round but accepted it nonetheless. He had willingly opted out of the competition so he really only had himself to blame. He just didn't feel right about continuing in the competition when he didn't do anything out of his own free will in the second. That Shinsou Hitoshi had a scary quirk indeed.

He was sitting down watching as the purple-haired kid braced himself for Bakugou's explosions when he spotted Etsuri Izuku out of the corner of his eye. Actually, now that he was thinking about it, he still hadn't talked to him after Day 1's basic training. Maybe he could do that right now. So Ojiro waved Izuku down to get his attention and stopped once the green-haired kid started walking towards him. He noticed a large, gray cat following him as well.

"Hi. You prefer your given name right?"

Izuku just nodded as he sat down to the left of Ojiro, barely acknowledging his existence. Ok so this conversation isn't off to a great start…

"I never got to say this but you're quirk is really powerful. On Day 1, I didn't even realize what you did until I found out what your quirk was later on the roster. It can be mistaken for a 1000 other different quirks if you use it right."

Again, another nod. Ojiro could see Izuku's eyes narrow at the mention of the Day 1 Basics Test. Maybe he shouldn't have brought it up…

"A-Anyways, who do you think is going to win? Shinsou has some sort of mind-control quirk that activates when you answer him and we all know how Bakugou is. He can end the fight quickly with his overwhelming physical attacks so I'm leaning towards him."

"You're wrong on that part." Finally, Izuku actually spoke to him. He still wasn't looking at Ojiro's face though, only watching the arena below them.

"Bakugou's a loudmouth who takes insults very seriously. It won't take much to make him answer a question from Shinsou directly."

Ojiro hummed in agreement as the buzzer rang and the crowd cheered. Midnight cracked her whip and shouted "Begin!" into her microphone as the crowd's cheers died down to fully immerse themselves into the fight.

Ojiro could see the 2 students saying something but no one but Midnight knew what the conversation detailed. All he knew was that, in less than 10 seconds, Bakugou seemingly willingly walked off the platform and Shinsou was declared the winner. Damn, it went exactly as Izuku said it would. Maybe Izuku was smarter than he acts…

The next few matches proceeded similarly, with Izuku and Ojiro discussing who was going to win, and Izuku being right every single time.

Todoroki absolutely destroyed Sero, who had the ability to shoot tape from his elbows, by sending a massive iceberg in his direction, trapping Sero inside.

Shiozaki managed to barely scrape by in one of the most exciting matches of the day. Iida's speed helped him dodge the luscious vines flowing from the girl's head but it didn't last. Iida's stamina was decreasing every time he had to dodge while Shiozaki could remain still and cover large areas with her quirk. In the end, Iida failed to defeat her quickly and became trapped in the vines, ending the match.

Hatsume ended up using Kaminari as an advertisement campaign, eventually stopping once Kaminari fried her equipment with his electrical quirk and she stepped out of the arena willingly.

Aoyama and Kirishima's match was also exciting. Aoyama had a long ranged quirk that allowed him to shoot lasers out of his bellybutton and Kirishima's hardening quirk made him excel in close-quarters combat. In the end, it came down to mobility, which Aoyama lacked since all he did the entire time was make flamboyant poses while Kirishima slowly inched closer and closer.

Ashido vs. Tetsutetsu was as exciting as Kirishima's match. Ashido could shoot acid from her skin and Tetsutetsu could turn his whole body into iron. However, Ashido was far more mobile and her quirk took a toll on Tetsutetsu's durability, letting her win.

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow managed to push Yaomomo out of the arena by attacking long ranged, securing their win as well.

But things got interesting during Uraraka's match.

They were in the middle of discussing the outcome of the last match when an older woman, probably in her late 20s rushed up from the stairs leading to the common rooms of the stadium, close to where Ojiro and Izuku was sitting. She wore a navy blue tank top and beige cargo pants with a yellow cap. A small, red utility belt was fitted on her waist. She had black work boots that came up to her knees.

"Shit. Thank god they haven't started yet. I don't know if I could look Ochako in the eye if I were late to her first match." She was panting while talking to herself.

Ojiro spoke up, "Um, excuse me, you know Uraraka?" He was a naturally curious person, and something about this lady peaked his interest.

The woman nodded, "Yeah. I'm her older sister, Hana. Are you two her classmates?"

Ojiro nodded. "Would you like to sit with us and watch?"

The woman smiled and went to sit next to Izuku, who was staring at her with an uncomfortable intensity. It looked as if he were trying to find every detail of this woman with his mind.

A stadium buzz and a crack of a whip started the match. Ojiro and Izuku had both decided that if Uraraka could get one touch the match would be over. The question was whether or not Asui, who had a frog quirk, could control her power enough to avoid getting touched. Ojiro figured that Asui, or Tsu, had more advantages and would therefore win, but Izuku thought otherwise. All he really gave as an explanation was, "Uraraka is a person of surprises." and nothing more. Nevertheless, Ojiro was excited to watch.

Uraraka immediately charged forwards, running at Tsu with her hands readied at her sides to strike. Tsu moved backwards, shooting her tongue out at Uraraka to try and throw her out of the ring. It seemed she was taking a long ranged option like Ojiro and Izuku assumed. Uraraka managed to dodge with ease and continued to run at Tsu, who had just landed from her long jump. She was about 6 feet away when Tsu jumped again, probably trying the same strategy as last time. This repeated again and again, with some very close calls happening on either side. It wasn't until the 6 th time that something changed. Unexpectedly, Uraraka followed. She had used her quirk on herself to make herself float towards Tsu's blind spot, who was still in the middle of the air facing the opposite direction. Uraraka just barely managed to touch her and Tsu began to float away, slowly out of the platform's marking lines. Uraraka released her quirk and Tsu made one last attempt at rejoining the fight by shooting her tongue at the platform but ultimately failed.

Uraraka won the match.

Hana jumped out of her seat while Ojiro cheered. Izuku and the cat were the only ones who didn't seem affected by the outcome. Uraraka spotted them as she headed inside and gave a small wave then ran out of the stadium. Just then, Izuku abruptly stood up and started walking towards the stairs Hana had just run up a few minutes ago, the cat following closely behind.

"Where are you going?" Ojiro asked.

"I forgot to do something." Izuku said, finally giving a glance at Ojiro and Hana before disappearing down the stairs.

Wow, that was awkward. Ojiro just had an hour long conversation with someone who didn't look at him the entire time.

Socializing freaking sucks.

The darkness of the old abandoned factory seemed very fitting to house the type of people inside. Murderers, petty criminals, gangsters, anyone with a narcissistic side that the rest of the world would refuse to tolerate. They were the ones who thrived in the shadows, some more than others.

They busied themselves by double checking their gear, running through a list of supplies that needed to be thoroughly checked. They were about to attack one of the biggest strongholds of heroes in the world, of course they needed to be prepared!

But it'd all be worth it in the end. With this, they lose one more annoyance who was after their freedom and pride. It was worth dying for. But they wished that the leaders of this movement would at least lend a helping hand.

The 3 men on the platform never moved, silently watching as their army readied themselves for battle. Waiting for the final 2 to be chosen through battle and blood.

One could hardly think at all. It only knew what its purpose was and who it was for.

One was slowly moving as the mist that covered its body flickered like the flames of a match. It also knew its purpose and its master, yet it knew so much more than the 2 of them combined.

One was impatient. He wanted to go now. The imaginary moment he had dreamed of for so long was a few hours away. And now it was the final homestretch. No more waiting. It was coming. But it wasn't coming fast enough.

He knew though, that he would have to wait. To be tortured by the clock just a LITTLE longer. In the end, the perfect moment would arrive. The final boss would finally be in front of him.

He just had to wait.

"Ah All Might, you finally arrived!" Nedzu sang, drinking his tea without a care in the world.

All Might grimaced. It was taking everything in his power to not collapse on his knees. His depowered form was quite pitiful and broken.

"Yes, but I'm afraid I have some bad news. I may have overdone it today and used up my limit."

Nedzu swung his chair around, his smile less bright than usual. "All Might, I know that you are a professional hero but you should really take your teaching duties more seriously. First you run out when you were supposed to be at USJ and now this? Who's going to give the medals out now?"

"Sorry, Nedzu-san, that's all I can really say. I can't just IGNORE crime."

Nedzu waved him off. "Oh well, too late to complain now. I'll figure something out. You should probably go rest, you look like you're about to pass out."

All Might just nodded and walked out of the viewing room. He'd retire to one of the common rooms and watch the Sports Festival from there.

He was walking down the hallway to the common room when he heard a familiar grunt come from his destination. He turned the corner only to find his successor, Bakugo Katsuki sitting on a bench, angrily staring at the TV screen displaying the matches, eating a banana.

Bakugou simply looked up at All Might, shouting, "What do you want, Scrawny-sensei?"

All Might chuckled at the name and went to sit next to Bakugou.

"So what happened to work you up so much?"

"Eye bags managed to win against me in less than 10 seconds. Stupid bastard."

"Oh really? They must've been a very good fighter if they managed to overcome your skill."

"No! They aren't! They just fucking insulted me and when I responded, I was under a fucking mind control quirk. The bitch won by using a cheat quirk."

"Ah." was all All Might, or Yagi Toshinori in this form, could say. He could understand how frustrating it would be if he lost that way. The two sat in silence, watching the matches take place while Bakugou finished his banana.

"Do you remember the day I gave you my power?"

Bakugou looked up, loosening his death grip on the poor yellow fruit. "Yeah. Why?"

All Might turned to him. "You were attacked by a sludge villain in an underway passage. However, you managed to dodge before it fully trapped you in its grasp. You defended your two friends from the danger but it proved to be too much. It eventually captured you and started to flood your body with its sludge."

"I just said I remembered Skinny Jeans!"

"And then I had to save you from the villain. But I was impressed with your skill and how you defended your two friends, and after a bit of talking, I decided you were fit for my power."

"Are you deaf or something old man!?"

All Might chuckled. "My point is, you would've drowned if I hadn't shown up then. You aren't invincible Bakugou. No one is. My legacy is a testimony to that."

Bakugou just stared at his teacher for a bit before turning back to the television with a scowl.

He knew All Might was right.

But that didn't mean he liked it.

Nothing.

Goddammit NOTHING.

Izuku was pacing the hallways, looking through storage rooms and supply closets for something. ANYTHING. Anything that would confirm or deny his suspicions.

That feeling of wrongness nearly tripled when Uraraka's sister, Hana, came up and sat down with them. There was something off, something unnatural about her and the atmosphere, but he didn't know what. He couldn't put it to words. All he could really say was that he had a bad feeling about Uraraka's sister AND the festival. He tried telling Iida and Uraraka when he went down to congratulate them on their efforts (not the sister part), but they waved him off as being paranoid.

Bullshit!

Izuku is the least paranoid person he knows!

…

Ok, that was a lie. But STILL!

Usually Izuku is right to be paranoid and THIS WAS ONE OF THEM.

So instead of watching the quarter-finals, Izuku was here. Pacing through the empty stadium grounds as he tried to find… well, you know. The bad thing. Except he has found NOTHING.

30 mins went by as Izuku could hear each contestant winning and losing. Uraraka won against Kirishima, to which Izuku did a small fist bump. Shinsou managed to win against Shiozaki, he can only imagine the strange conversation that would have led to that outcome. And Todoroki must have used the same strategy as last time against Kaminari, since the announcement came seconds after the start. Ashido's and Tokoyami's/Dark Shadow's match went on the longest, lasting 10 minutes total. Eventually, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were declared as the winners. Izuku could only imagine the rollercoaster of a match that took place.

Still, no matter where Izuku went, he found absolutely nothing.

Lynx would occasionally walk inside a room, sniff the air, and turn around.

But still, nothing.

And Izuku's anxiety was growing even more. By the time the semi-finals started, he had already searched the half of the building that contained the waiting and resting rooms for the contestants. He only paused when he heard Present Mic shriek about how Todoroki used his fire against Dark Shadow in an effort to lower their strength. Guess Todoroki took his advice and started to give it his all.

Uraraka managed to win against Shinsou (she must have figured out his quirk), which Izuku was sorry to miss but didn't regret. If Izuku's pacing and searching meant that this stadium and the people inside were 1% safer, he would do it a 1000 times.

His friends were here, goddammit.

He was going to make sure whatever demons God was sending wouldn't ruin their day.

He could hear Present Mic's voice as he hyped up the crowd for the final match. He desperately wanted to watch but resisted the urge. He had to find out what was wrong. So he walked the empty, grey halls alone, with only his slightly-suicidal thoughts and a cat with the devil's voice to keep him company.

You know, like a typical Monday afternoon.

He silently sent a mental "good luck" to Uraraka as he listened to the countdown Present Mic was doing with the crowd through the speakers. He braced himself from the siren's booming voice as the fateful "one" was shouted.

But it never came.

Instead, everything went dark, the electric hums of the speakers slowly dying into pure silence. Present Mic's voice was gone along with the crowd. Izuku stood there, motionless, with his hands in his pocket. He gripped his weapons as tight as he could, his knuckles turning white as his bone began to show through his skin.

He stood there and listened. Waiting. Waiting for whatever hell monster was coming.

He heard a small click come from behind him, and the creak of a door that he had just opened moments prior.

Izuku wasted no time, pulling out his gun and firing. The bullet's takeoff echoed through the hallways, replacing the loud noises that were just present moments prior.

He heard a loud "oof" sound as someone crashed onto the floor, most likely the person who just got shot. Though it was extremely dark, he could feel the newcomers' blood being pumped throughout their body. 14 in total, and there were probably more. You don't raid a hero stronghold with just 14 villains.

"What the hell!? There wasn't supposed to be anyone in here! Quickly take the kid out!"

See.

Izuku's paranoia was right.

He's ALWAYS right for fucks sake.

How many bets has he won against Uraraka and Iida!?

They should KNOW that he is always right!

He grit his teeth as he took a strong punch directly into his forearm.

"I TOLD YOU!" he shouted to no one as the inflow of quirks came at him.

Life fucking sucks.

Chapter End Notes

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It has been a week since I've last posted and I am excited to say that you guys are getting 2 chapters today and tomorrow! If I can finish editing a third I may post it tomorrow night but that's still a maybe. Anyway, you guys have no idea how much I've rewritten this Sports Festival Arc. I have completely different save files that diverge the plot in so many different ways. So I really hope you guys like the one I chose. Also thanks for the comments for telling me how tags work and how to generate views by posting more distantly, because I literally have no fucking idea what I'm doing.

Anyway, see you tomorrow!

good luck...

Something Else

Chapter Notes

DO. NOT. READ. IF. YOU. HATE. GORE.

THIS CHAPTER IS LITERALLY THE DEFINITION OF GORE. PLEASE LISTEN TO ME.

but if you don't... L

See the end of the chapter for more notes

He carefully aimed his guns at the intruders' heads as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, staying perfectly still as the two enemies studied each other, waiting for one to strike. They had already tried landing a quick attack of their own, to which Izuku easily dodged and counter-attacked. Now, they were all at a standstill, each side acknowledging the threat they both possessed.

From what Izuku could tell, each of the intruders were able to see him almost perfectly based on that last attack. They were probably wearing night vision goggles or were being influenced by a quirk. Their increased visibility meant nothing to Izuku, though. He could still feel their blood, so as long as they were in range, he would know where they were.

Finally, Izuku grew impatient and decided to be the one to break the silence.

"Tell me why you're here then leave. If you do so, I won't break every bone in your body."

He couldn't kill them but that didn't mean he couldn't do some good old fashion torture.

He didn't have to see to know that the villains were sneering at him with a look of superiority and disgust in their eyes.

A coarse, feminine voice responded.

"You think we're going to listen to some kid!? No way newborn! We are powerful villains who have a weapon that could kill All Might himself! And you're tiny ass isn't going to get in the way of that!"

Izuku's eyes widened at this new information.

A weapon that could kill All Might!? Is that even possible? He had to know more, and he definitely had to defeat these villains quickly. These guys definitely weren't the final boss of this dungeon, and Izuku had to find them. FAST.

Without warning, the group moved as a unit, surrounding Izuku as a flurry of quirks flew at him. A woman with 4 arms of stone barreled towards Izuku, smashing the ground where Izuku previously stood. As he was moving backwards, he could feel string slowly start to tighten around his limbs as a man with 8 spider-like eyes moved his arms. Izuku twisted his body around midair, sending the insect flying towards the wall, breaking the strings in the process. He dropped down to dodge a fireball that was sent directly at his head and rolled forward to avoid the 4 armed woman once again. He managed to gain some distance away from the front line attackers, buying himself enough time to turn around and fire his guns at the villains. The stone-armed woman took the hits as the bullets uselessly hit the rock.

"Don't you think it's a bit pointless to fire those things?" the coarse-sounding woman said, her voice sounding oddly familiar.

She charged Izuku again, to which Izuku prepared to dodge, but found himself stuck to the floor. He turned his head to see a dark figure just outside of his range holding his hand out towards him, their eyes glowing an unforgivable yellow. They must be sticking Izuku to the floor. He lifted his gun at them only to be punched directly in the face with 500 pounds of stone, sending him flying to the wall. He could feel his skull crack and his brain hit against his skull. His vision and hearing went null for a few seconds.

He definitely got a concussion from that attack.

That was going to be a bitch headache in the morning.

The world was spinning as he was grabbed by his shirt and slammed into the floor, his arm being twisted against his back. He knelt down trying to control his breathing as his bones were being slowly crushed by the stone grip of the girl.

"See? I can't believe a newborn like you actually thought you could take on 14 villains at once!" She was cackling as she slowly broke Izuku's arm.

He stayed silent. He didn't want to give the woman the satisfaction of hearing his screams.

Besides, he could handle pain. He's had to dislocate limbs on purpose to get out of particularly tight spots. A broken arm was annoying but nothing he couldn't take.

"Hey Rocky, hurry up and kill the kid. We have to get to the main stadium with the others and actually accomplish our goal."

The woman squeezed his arm harder.

"Yeah, yeah we will. Just let me have fun with the kid. We have plenty of time. I need to make this one suf fer ju st a l it tle b it mo re."

Time froze like a deer in headlights.

He could feel the call of the void from afar, begging him to retreat to the back of his mind before the flood of memories.

Suffer.

Someone needs to s uf fer.

She needed to make him suffer.

"̵̗͇̱̈̾͂̌͛̚͠I̶̦͒̆ ̸̛̭͖̼̫̿̔͜͠n̶̛͖̳̙̟͚̺̟̉̆͛ē̷̮͔̠͔̑̀ę̴̆͐͊̽̕̕d̵̙̟̯̀̔̉̓̀͐ ̴̣̞͂̑͂ỳ̵̦͔̬͉͍̙̻̉̉o̵̡̗͉̳͋ǘ̸͒̉̂͂̿̽͜ ̸͕̬̹̘͜͝t̵̡̰̠͕͝ȏ̸̮̥̤͋ ̷͓͎̼̇͗m̷̧̡̦͚̖̹͂̂̌̉͠a̵̫̐̈́̀̂̈́̓͝k̸̋́ͅė̸̢͕̹̪͍͍̬̓̚ ̵̫̑̚͝͠t̴̢̗̹̟̣̔̌̈́͋͝h̴͚̪̍̏̇̊ĭ̵̛̜̥̱̝̆̅s̷͓̩̲͌̎̇ ̵̧̱̜̖̩̎̕͝ͅȏ̷͕͖̠͈̈̀͠n̴͔̮̠̟̥͐͜ẽ̷̼̃̌̂̏̕͝ ̷̨̛͙̝̞̭̔͛̍̏s̵̘̬͖̜̉u̴̮͖̳̬̫͊̐̆́f̷̛͓̓̎̈̿f̵̛̝͐̈́̎̀̾̆e̷͎̼̼̓̈́́r̷̖̞͖̩͕̳͆̊͊̒̊́͝.̶͎̝̙̞͒̌̽̎̑̌"̸̙̹̦̠͍̍͜

Static filled his ears.

He couldn't breathe.

He was suffocating.

He looked up.

His neck started to i̷͚̒̔͌t̷̢̞͗̈́͝c̷̨͈͐̾h̴͉͇́͑.

His vision blurred as something began to change.

The hallway slowly dissolved into his all too familiar c̵̜̣̜̋à̶̡̟̅̀g̶̩̖̰̐̈́ę̴̌͒.

It was dirty.

It was cold.

A small hook with c̴̨̣̹̀h̴̤̒͌͝ắ̴͖̩͝ͅĭ̴̥̻͝͝n̴̼̗̍͜s̴̜̳͔̀͐attached to it that led to Izuku's wrists hanged from the ceiling.

A small mattress on the floor was the only place to sleep.

The light from underneath the door was the only light source there.

Why was he here?

Screams filled his senses as the s̴͈̫̯̙̋̓̌ͅt̶̞̗̤̜̅̈́͌͐ȃ̷̼̣̫̇͘ṯ̵̋̍̾̑̂͘͝i̴̤̺͘c̴̜̫̽͑̉́̈͂̚ ̸̱̞̩͝g̷̨̭̻̱̼͒̾̅͆̓̅r̷̨̡͎̖̥͌͐͜ȩ̷́̃w̵̦̭͚̤̹̓͘͜ ̸̛̯̖͓̲̠͓̮͊͆̕̕ l̶̠̥̔̽͘͜͠o̴̦͓͈̘̍͊ứ̵͓͙̼̹̃͝d̶̩̤͛̈́͝e̸͕̗̫̙̜͊͝ŕ̵̼͂.

Familiar screams and begs of m̷̩͓͚͓̾́͘ę̷̡͍͖͇͔̾͒͗͝r̷̛̬̙̳̫͕̫͐̏̿͝c̷̻̹̈́̾ẏ̴̨̠̉̽̒̏.

~~Innocent~~ laughter rang through the halls that belonged to The Man.

The static grew louder.

I̵̲̝̍̀͗̀̓̒̑̃̈͋̈͘͝ ̷͇͎̏̂́̾͐̒̽͘n̵̗̳̂̐͐ḙ̴̜̒̋̾̌̄̑͌̊͗͋͝e̸̡̬̪̲͚͇̗̼̪̫̋̽̈́̓̒̋͑̀̑̚͜͝d̴̨̤͍̺̖͚͈̜̼̖̠̪̻̈̈̿̽͗̿̍͋́͜ͅͅ ̵̡̡̛̬̦̥͕̖̗̺̦̤̫̪̓̈̅͒͒́̐͑̈́͗̾͝ͅỷ̷̡̤̻̟̠͓͈̉̈͆̑̀͛̃͒̒̑͝ò̵͔̝͉̍̓̈́̊̐ứ̸̛̫̘͙͔̼̤̥̦͖̮̎̒̃͗̄́̓͋́̓͝͠ ̶̡̰͖͖̑̌͑̾͌̈́̽̓̊̎̋͆̚͘͠͝t̶̮̻̓̈́̀̿͌̇̄͘͝ő̵͇̫͎͇͕̿͗̑͑͗͌̄̾̂ ̴̪̗̞̫̰͓͉̤̗͌̆̐̐̀̀̏͆̅͒̌͘͜m̷͈̺̹̞͙̱̾a̸̛̞̓́́̐̂͒̇̃̈́̓͘͘͘͝͝k̵̰̠͈̞̮͖̚e̸̡͈̼̳͍̽͌͗̇͘ ̴̨̨̯̰̩͍̆̔͑̌͝t̵̨̮̖̦̞̤̹̼͈͑̍̾̂̉͘̚͝͝ḩ̴̠̹͍͍͔͎͎̯̉͑̀̄͂͂̔̈́̈́̏̍͘͘į̸̻̻̘̗̲̘̮̍͌̊͊̓́̊́s̷̤̋̿̍͗͌̑̀́͘̚ ̶̛̗̐͂͑͗ơ̶̙̿̎̆̽͋̓̍̋̎̑̽͝ņ̵̡̹͙̦͓̙̯̟̣̙̪̻̹̫̉̏̔e̵̡̧͔͍͙̹͇̯͔̼͐̀͆͂́́̃́̀͊͂̕͘ ̴͎̫̥͍̗͆̇̾̿͛̌͆̇̎͝ş̷̈́̋͘u̶̢̡̘̭̞͚̯̙͈̺̜̣̦͓̫̖̽͗̄͆̔̃̃f̵̧̨̨̨̘̰̭̪͚̞̰͈̫̌͋͒̂̇̅̒̿͘͜͜ͅf̵͓̅̀͒͒̓͂̔̈̀̃́͠͝e̵͔̟̞̰̠̭̞̳͉͉͍̤̼̳̾͆̓̃͋͒̓̀̃̀̓͛̚ŗ̶̢̧͓̝̩̽̎̑͗̃͂.̶̪̥̀́̕"̴̡̻̹͔͕̞̺̞̰͇͇͕̥̈̊̽̅̚͝

Was The Man here?

No Izuku had left.

He was safe.

He left.

He wasn't there.

"̴̡̢͎͉̦̘̝̰̗̗̯̩̘̭͚̰͍̬̝̞̫͚̜̅͌̔̈́̃̉̋͊̃̍͗͛̄̇̒̀̏͂͘̕͜͝͝I ̷̡̡̝̖̜͇̩͕̗͔̫̺̻̹̺͖̫͇͉͕͉̏̏͌͒̑͐̒̈́̈̋̋̿̈́̋̅͌̕͝͝͝͝n̷̛͕̭̠̜̠̟̙̤̗͉̤̗͓̫̗̱͍̼͎͚̹̗̽̾̓͊̒́́̂̓̒̃̉̆̔̅́̚͘̚͝͝͝ͅȩ̵̪̺̞͓͖̦̝͚̇͌̾́̂̿̾̓̔̀̍́͂̏͋̚͠͝͝͝ȩ̵̢͈̻̘́̿̑͒́̊̓̆̐̓̆́͂̚̕d̸̛̛͎͙͚̳͉̫͉͓̞͔̍̀͌̎̏̑̊͊̿́̏͘ͅ ̵̡̩̻̔͒͑̇͝͠y̴̩̳̖̜̾̀́̑̅̈̓̄̆̒̄͘̚õ̴̘̒̌̊̀͐͆̚ͅủ̷̢͚̲͙̣͓̰͍̲̯͚̺̥̹͎̓̀̾̿̎́͜͜ ̸͚̱̗̤̜͖̎̀̒͐̂͠t̴̺̎̂͂͐̈́̑͑́͗̏͋̄̀̿̉͝ơ̶̮̠͔̝͙̮̺̼̮͓̤̟͂͑́̂̍͋̚͘̚͠ ̴̨͉̣̳̭̠̰̼̰̻̜̳͚̞̜͒̿̔͆̈́̃̋͆̉͆͐̅̉͊͌̓̄͒̃̋͊̚̕͜͝m̶̛̙̼̻̱̜͈̘͖̮̟̼̜̝̙̈́̓̈̐̆̋̋̀̇̽̌̓́̉̒̒͒̽̍̕a̵̡̡̰̳͕̱̣͉̠̭̤͓̪͚̞̲͍͎͖͎̞̳̳̭͈͛͊͊̈́̽͗̾̂̃k̴͉͙͈͙̟͍̰̠͙̒́͐̇͂͂̔̈͂̔͂̔͘̚͝͝͝͠ẻ̴̡̨̘͍̭̹̱͖̞̺̻̖̝̓̄̆̏̀͒͘͘ ̶̢̢̧̧̧͉̣͍̳̟̭̬̞̝̼̱̲̗̹̖͓̅̀̒́̋̏͊͌́̈͊̓̐̀̊̐̊̕͜͝ͅt̶̹͇̥͇̱͙̦̅̉̒̿̆͒̈́́͑̊̕͝ͅh̷̨̡̛̘̠̭̦̱͈̖̤̮̫̯̺̭̜̜̞̝̳̲̫̲̖̩͑̀̀̍̇̇͌͆͒̆̚͠î̴̛̼̦̦͍̩̯͎s̸̢̨̭̼̳̭̯̝̩̼̙̪̮̳̯̝͇̦̭͔̗̺̑̀͊̋́̇̄́̕͜ ̶̡͖̫̥͚͔̙̪̗͓̯̀̈́̈͊̊͐̓̈̌͑̈́̀͌̑͐̀͊͝o̴̪͕̹̪̝̮̬̺̐̆̈́͐̈́̑̾͂͆͗̓̈́̀̓̀̏́̀̀͑͑̕͠͠ͅñ̷̪͓̼̼̇͑̏ę̵̢̭̪͓̠̦͗̃͛͒̈́́͆̈́͌͆͒͋͐̕͘ ̵̛̛̱̖̰͎̩͐̔̆̈́͆͌̑͑͗͛͂̎̇̄́̔͂̈͠ş̵̢͉̫̱̺̲̖̝̭̰̤͔̹̮͈̩̻̠̩̖̫͕̿͐̓͘͜͠u̴̬̲̯̎̿̑͒̌̄̋̏̌̎̄̒̐͛͑̽̇f̶̘̭̆̂̆̈́̓̈́͑̓̕f̵̡̢̤̤̤̝̬̗̫̪̑̀̽͋̀̂̽͋̇̆̍͐́̚̕͜͝e̷̢̫̪̯̘̻͔̩̗̗̪͑͑͆́̂̇͐̕͜͝ͅr̶̡̡̡̛̛͎̭̝̯̭͚͚̫̘͉͍̜͈̖̙̬͚̰̟͓̀̀̈́͗̒̐̌̃̋̋̀̓̈́̃̚ͅ.̴̢̞̱̰̣̯͎͚̞̮͙͈̝̣͔̩̟̭̹̅̚"̶̢̨̧̝̩̱͈̺̣̦̳̖̬̂̐̃͊̽̉̌̓̓̓͑̕

He was at UA.

He had friends.

He wasn't alone.

He wasn't t̸̨̝͖͈̾̃̓͂̓̐̈̌̕͘ȟ̷͔̹̃͌ȩ̵̤̼̻̹͇̳̹̀r̴̻̺̘̠̯̝͎͍̽͑͆̅͗̊ͅḙ̴͙͕̦̮͝ͅ.

I̵̡͈̥̥̜͍̳̘̥͔̙̤̮̩̭͇͔̞̙̼̲̟͎͓̓̍̽̃̈́͜͜͜ ̴̡͖̙̦̺̩̔͐̀͐̐͛̔͂̌̽͌̉͂͂͋͗̅̈̀̌̒̈́̚͘̕̚͘͝͝ͅņ̴̧̨͕̜̳̘̲̞͖͖̣̗͙̥̬̠̱͔̲̖͉͂̆͆̔̃͘̚ę̴̧̨͖̣̗̮̻̹̦͎̬͚̻̲͕̙̲͔̃̊͛̉̿̄͗e̶̢̛̬͎̹̥̼̪̗͈͇̝̩̟̥̘͚͉̘̝͚̠̯̗͖̥̝̖͐͒̓̌̔̂̀̔̀̉͂̂́͘͝d̸̨̨̨͎̦͉̩̯͈̫͎̭̖̦͎̰̗͓͕̬̳̙͓͔͙̼̅̓̇́̄̌̈́̒͊́͐̎̃̃̎͛̓̓̈̚͝͝͝ͅ ̴͖̼͕̩̱̘̗̬͙͉̺̭̺̦̪̫́̂̌̓̓͐͊̓̅̆͘͜͜͝͝y̷̨̢̛̛͇̰̜͉̼͕̭͈̦͓͉͚͈͋̈̈́̄̃̊̈́̿͜͜ŏ̴̡̨̧̬̮̪̣̣̞̭̱̱̘̩̟̭͖̩̟̯͚̞̲͙̪̬̰̩ͅũ̴̝͖̯̙̬̊̈̏̋͌̑͛̀͊̎͊̑̈́͐̾̂̚͝͝͝͝ ̶̜̲̘̦̫̞͔͕͕̻̐͘ͅt̶̮͙̲̲̑̓̐̈́̈́͊̓͊̍̋̂̈̕̚ͅo̸͚̳͈̐̓̈́̊̀̎̈́͆̈́̀ ̴͈̔̓͆̒̓̆͋̐̒͝m̶̨̨͎̲̯̞̪̻̺̮̳̭̳̯̦̻͔̙͎̝͙̳̀̾̈́̌̈́͌̓̃͑̃̑́̈́͋̇̀̆̇̅̕͝͠͠ȧ̴̢̡̡̛̬̮̻̯̝͔̦͚͙̺̱͔͔̮̘̞͖͍̼̤͑̂̋͗̅͂̿̇̒͗̈́͝͝k̴̡͈̮̬͙͕̩̹̪͉̘̍͛̾͐͑̈̄̐̂̿̂̀͒̈́̀̓̈́̂͊̕͠͠͝e̴̡̛̟̩̰̮̹̭̮͍̲̠͉͋͂̈́̓̓͝ ̸̨͙͈̪̯̜͕̖̥̠͙̺͈͈̖͈̣̣̱̞̣̈́̔́͌̈́̍̓̿͜͝͝t̵̡̰͖̩̰̲̦̬͔̺͕̱̊̑̆͋̿̓͂͆̈́̍̉̎ͅẖ̷̨̡̪̹̰͈̗̟̙̮̤̝͈̥̙̜̦̪̠̺͉̳͓̙̰̏̔̓̓̓́̐̈͗͆̂̐̎̕͜͜i̶͐̉̾̅̀̾̀̏͘͘̚͠͝ͅs̷̢̧̳̝͓̱̬̣̩̱̼͙͍͈̘̠̯̝̩͒͗̒̾̒̈́̽̄́͗͗̇̆͗ ̷̦̻̱̠̟̱̬̠̞̺̘̬͔͔̓̓̂͜o̵̡̨̡̨̞̫̟̞̬̞͎͙͍̘̝̥͕̥̫̮̩͖̙̻̯̩̰̍́̐̏̔̈́́͌͋̂̊́̂͆̆͝͝n̸̛̲̺͛́́̏̃͊̓̒̂̈́̇́̋͛̏̾̅̂͘e̴̢̧͇̭͔͎̥̓̋͒̐́̓̐̐̊̀̕͘̚͘͜ ̵̨̡̡̢̢̛̺̩̥̖̦͓̯̭͕̜̔̃͑̋̾͊̽͑̿̃̿͌̀̇̏̒͗̾̈́̈́̑̒̃͘̚ͅs̶͖̜̖͙̖̭̙͋̋͑͛̓͋́͒̓́̾̉́͗͐͐̾̌͐̐̅̅̆̓̆̚̕͝ǘ̷̧̨̠̼̮͕̫̬̙̫͚͓̫̬̽̓͂́͜͝f̵̨̢̱̻͉̣͉̒̄́̿̎̏̕͘f̴̧̧̡̛̪̻̤̰̝̺̹̄́͐̍͛̄̈́͒̃̑͂̈́̏̍̅͌́̀̔͐̚̚͝͝͠è̴̪͗̐͂̉̊̎̉̚͝ŗ̸̿̅̎͐̋͛̀͊͜͝.̸̢̰̙͉̜̮̠̲̦͖̭̑̈̈́̎͗̂"̷̧̢̡̢͖͈̬͕̱̘͇̮̤̫̝͓͎̣͓̫͆͆͛̍̕ͅͅ

He didn't ṵ̶̺͍͆̂̚ͅń̴̥̼͎d̵̨̛̜̹̖ͅė̸̡͍̻̬́̓͘r̴͖̬̉͂͒s̸̡̫̠̮̭̎̇t̷͖͈̦̹̅̽͋̈́a̵̜̮͛̓ņ̵̹̭͚̊̑ͅd̵̡͖̭̐͂́̾.

He ḑ̶̫̻̣̤͋̋̈́͛̿́̈́͜i̵̧̮̞̒̓̍͆̚d̴̗̳̂̾̓͗̒͝n̸̫̫̩̟̩͚̖̓̐́'̶̨̤̑̂̓̇̎͘͠t̵̜̝̝̰͆̊͋̓̒͂͘ ̶̗̥̯͉͍̈́ǘ̷̳̖̖̖̇͜ǹ̴͔͚̔͑͂̑̏̄d̶̨͓̮͚͕̓́̀͋̄̀è̷̢̗̩̦̪̓r̵̭̝̜̀̇̾͒s̸̨͕̼͗̈̂͑͘͘͜ţ̷̗̞͔̄́̐̋͘a̷̹͚͎̲̔̚n̷̯̲̿̆̓͋̓͝͝d̸̯̞̼͙͔̏̄.

Why did his neck itch?

Why was he in his cage?

He had to leave.

Suddenly his voice was joining the screams.

He didn't understand.

What was happening to him?

The static grew louder as the void swallowed him whole.

"̸̧̢̙͍̲͈̘͈́̒͆̆͆̾̈́͐̍̓̏̂̑͘̕͝͝͝

I̵̧̢̠̞̜̠͐͆̓́̿̄̓͌̎̚̚͝͠ ̵̞̺̱̾͒̀̔́͑͒͋̾n̶̨̨̪̣͓̤̱̗̤̲̻͌̅͋͠e̵̻̔͆̽̃̽̿̐̑͒̌̎̊̔̚̕͘͘͘͝ȩ̵̡̟̬̯͚̗͙̟͖̹̰̊̀͗̋̋͊d̷̢͖͎͎̜̪̝̞̩̱̦̆̂͂̊̅͗͒͒͛́̃͑̔̀͐̆͂́̕̚͝ ̴̦͈͕̬́̎̑͋ͅy̷̡̥̳̻̗͗͗̃̿̇͑̎͛͘͝ơ̴̛̯̹̪̲͖͂̏̆̃̇̇̆̀͆̊̑́̊͋̓̍͛͘͝ͅȗ̷̡͕̦̤̙͓̫͙̖̹̳̱̫͔̙̹̣̪̐̐̈͂̈̍̀̀̊͒̒̂̆̀̚̚͠ ̶̬̠̝̾͒̂͆̑͝ṯ̸̨̧̨̲̫͈̼͖̦̭̠̫̜̰̻̺͓̯̄̉o̴̤͆̈́ ̵̧̛̘̰̱̟̰̝̩̞̯̫̜̱̰̮̄̍̿̀́͐̓̍͒̕͝m̷̡̛̪̦̖͉̻̲̥̦̗̤̥̋͐̂͒̓̅̋̔͑͂́͐͒̈͘͜͜͝͝͠͠à̴̫͇͇͈̰̮͖̳̯̳̲̈͂̏͋̄̽́͜͠k̸̨͇̠̖͙͚̙̞͍̆͆̐̆̈̌̃̕̚͝e̶͓͈̮̜̰̤͚͆͠ ̸̛̛̺̳̱̌̇̏̏̊̍͛̉͋͗̈́͒̈t̴̻̙̫̳̬̫̺̫̮̑͂̀̎͂͆̓́̈̚͘̚̚͝͝h̴̨̨̛͎̝̜̼̎̈̚̚ï̷̠̣̱̝̾͑̐̈́͋̏̎̏̌̆͒̅͘ͅs̴̨̨̛̜͈̦͖̞͚̹͖̟̠̺͗͑̾̑̋̀͛̈́̀̔̄̏̈́̅͊̚͘͝͝ͅ ̷̧̀͗̽̒͂̌́̔͋̊͊͋̋̄̽̀̔̒̅̓ͅồ̴̡̢̱̥͇̯̟̱̩̼̥͘͜n̴̡̙̤̱̻͔̓̂͜ē̵̙͇͍̲͍̲̦̲͍̪̻̲̪͕͈̯̺͉͒̉͋̊̇̉̔͋̉̈͠͝ ̴̮͇̙͙̪́͗͆̔́͑̏̃̿̈́̀̃̋̎́̆́͐͠ş̷̢̛̟̻̯̺̞̰͔̟̝̮͙̺̘͙͍̈̊̋͑́̈́̃͑̑̓̄͋͊̚̕͜͜͝ͅư̴̢̘̩̲͇͙̜͓̪̠̯̩͒̆͂̆̋̇̽̊͂̕̕͝f̴̟̘͚͔̦̗̘̀f̸̢̤̖͎͚͖̑̈́̅͂̑͗̃͆͋͊̓̽̐̄̾͘e̴̢͓͚͎̙̜͆r̵̡̧̨̧͚͉͉̘͈̫͎͎̱̈̃̊̀̓̏.̵̡̖͈̳̳̲͙̬̅̀̈̅̐͐͆̋͆̓̆͒̈́̈́͌͠"̵̩̖̣̟̹̦͉̥̯̯͌̀̒̓̉͆̀̿͛̔̉̇̀

"̷̖̰̊͠I̶̲͎̘̝̣̾̆͒͝ ̴̟̩̾̄̊̽̈́̄͋̀́̏̈̄̓̎͊̀̓̐̈́̽͒̕̕̚͝͝ņ̸̡̛̯̻̪̤̠̼̝̰̘́̒̉̏͊̃̀͋̉͒̓͆̀̂̀̍͘e̸̜͎̱͙͓̠͖̦̤̞̪̠͉͌̌̋͋́̂̿́̃̌̆̍̂̑̅̉̍͑̕̕͘͜͠͠e̶̜͙̩͌̑̎́̿̀̃̀̿͆̀̉̎͐̋̏͆͌͝d̸̡̧̛̗̞̹̩͙͉̙͙̲͉͈̳̹̊̈́̒͋̌̍̎̉̄̈̌̒̈́͒͗͒̏̑́̈́͐̋̚̕͜͜ͅ ̶̡̧̯̼̜̭̘͙̟̲̥̳̲͙̣̭̘͈̤̭͇̹̩̐̀̆͗̂̉̿̈́̉̕y̶̢̺̬̬̩̦̥̻̦̗̼̰̘͈̺̞̲͊̂ͅͅơ̸̢̺̲͙̼̘̫̩͍͂̓͐̍̅̃͂̉̍͋͆̐͂͝u̴̧̘̮̺̹̞͕̪̺̱̼̣͚̝͉̲̠͊̉̓̌̓́͛͑̒̾̃̈́̎͋̾̽̄̏̚͘̚͜͝ ̴̧̲̜̠̭̦̙̫̩̣̰̯̇͋͑͑͂t̴̥̫̲̹̍̌̆̿͛̈́͐̑͗̃͛̈́̿͌̆̆̑̏̃̈̌̚͘͝o̵̗̙͈͈̭̬̳͕̍̋̄͊͛̓͒̒̀́̂̒͊̀̈́́̌́ ̴̰̮̪̝͇̬̠̪̮͓̪̜̟̻͙̥̳̫̖̲̻̿̈́̂m̶̡̟̥̙͖͍̰̟̥̥̪̭̅̒͒̂͋̉̐́̈́́͛̽̾̇̊̓̀͋͐͝a̵̛̯̖͚̻̿͑̃̓̽̆̐̉̉̿̈̓̐͐̚͜͝ķ̵̡̲̯̹͎͓̙̀̀̌͗͘̚͜ę̸̡͍̹̦͖͔̥̱͍̗͉̣͖͓͙̗̼̭̘̣̗̞̘̑̓͊͌̾̅̋̓̑͗̔̓̎͐͂̌̏̀́̄̌́̈̈́͗̑ ̸̢̛̛̹̣̫͙͕̼̗̼̜̘̼͇͍̤̮̭̿́̅̌̃́̏̐̌͒̑͛͗̈́̎̅̊̎̕̕̕͘͝t̶̡̡̛͔͍͓̥̙̰̞͈͇̰̯̰͕̗̱͓̐͊͌̓̐̕ẖ̵̨̪̟̺̖͊̽̾̎͆͂̇̿̉̈́͒͐̂̔̿̈́̾̓͊̀̆͝ḯ̸̮͕̉͂̎͋̉͒̐̃͠s̸͕̰͎̟̙̮̒͆͐̆̎͘͜ ̶̧̢̧̖̣̦̻̩̞̭̣̣̪̝̪͎̂͐̃͂͋̎̍͌͊̒̒̈́͛͑̓͋̚͜ͅo̸͔̤̞͚̼̹̝̻̞̗͂͌̋̄̕ñ̵̖͇̣̼̒̇e̸̡̨̛̘͙̦̻̯̝̩̞͕͍̬͂̅͌̈́̅̇̍͋̀̅̀̌̀̂̂̋̎̓͂̕̕͝ ̸̧̛̪͈͈̓̄̏̂̀̾̌̏̉́͜s̴̡̱̭̞̼̰̬̫̯͚̼̤̈́͐̃͗̎͘ų̵̞͎̬̞̖̜̞̻͚̥̮͈̖̱̍̉̉̅̀̇̓͜f̷̹͓̩͎̈́̕f̵̢̛̲̘̫̟̹̪̳̥̟̣̙̼̟̯̙̀̋̽̇͊́͊̇͛͌͌̕̕͘͝e̸̱̣͔̅͒͆̚r̵̢͖̹̈́͐͑̌͊̈́̿͐͑͂̓̍̉͂̚͝.̴̧̧̡̢̮̪͍̮̼̞̱̫̻̯̬̦͍͎͍̱̈́̆̓̉̈́̉̽̉͑͛̃̆̽͂̓̈̈́͠"̵̢̡̡̱̼̙͔̬͛̑͑̒̀͒̽͋͂̿͌̈́̈́͐͘͠͝

"̸̢̢̨̨̼̟̜̱͖̣̤̼̱̘̮͔͇̯͚̟̩̫̠̱̯͍̙͎̤͚̪̺͒̎̏̽͛͊͒̓̋͗̓̒͗̋̕͝͠͝I̵̧̢̜̭̪̹̗͉̲̩͖̱͈̝̙̳̥͚̞͈̳͛̓̃͛̽̌͂̊͑̉͐͐̆͋͋̐̈́͐̏̾͘͘͝ͅͅ ̶̡̛̦̙͓̱̙̪͎̰̪̞̳̱̦̠̲̣̱̜͎̗̯̮̪͍̼̞͈̿̀̔́̽̒̆̿̎͗͊͘̚̚ͅͅn̸̛͚̬̘̻͉̯̪̲͎̟̰̘̹͔͓̱̩̖͈̰̣͙̜͎̟̍̍͆̌̓͊̋͐ȩ̶̡͇̜͍͙̝͈̜͙̰͆̈́̔͛̇́̈́̂͗̔͂̃͂̀̈́̃͋̂̈́̓̔̕͝͝ͅę̶̧̺͍̘͓̬͕͕͖͚̞̳͓̞͂͑d̸̡̨̨̪͙͍̬̠̩̹͕͚̱̻̮̬̮̥̖͚͇͕̓̽̃͐̿̄͆͑͋͒̅̀͊ ̸̢̡̢̱̮̱͎͖͓̞̰̬̘͕̮̼͙̙̱̫̮͎̳̗̼̲͂́̑̇͐́̃͒̓͜͝ȳ̸̨̨̨̨̹͈̫̠̥͓͔̲͚̠̠̬͍̠̬̗̩͙͈̫͌͌͛̀͜͜ǒ̷̢̡̢̲̼͇̗̥̟̻̦̜̼̄̒͐͂͂̇͋̍̈́̐̈́̈͒̚͘ų̷͈̻̲̹̦̩̔̀͆͊̅̋̑͛̋̍́ ̴̨̛̤̰̰̲͉͎̳̻̤̩̻͇͓͕̙̭̣̳̻̱͙̗̞̼̫̐̉̈́͜͝ͅͅt̵̩̩̰͎͚̜̺̖͍̗̮͌̀͛̏͌̐̃̾̀̾̓̃̈́̐̊̿͛̃́͘͘͜͠͠͠ͅở̸̢̧̨̝̤̘͙̯̻̳̩̘̠̝̭̯̩̰̰̼̈̈́̓̃̅͋͛͆̌͆͘͝ͅ ̴̺̼͇̬͚̯̯͓̉̇̄̉͆̌̐m̶̛͈̫͚̺͓͚͕͗̈̍́͒͐̾̒̀̏͗̀̅̇̿͑̿̃͌̓͘̚̚͘͝͠ͅa̵̡̢̛̫͙͙̤̼̩͙̲̽̋̏̐̎̉̇̽̓̔̓̑̆̉͂͑͌̈́̽̀̉͗̆̕͘̚͝͝͝ͅk̴̨̳̱͔̜̲͍̯̘̗̤̲̗̞̪͈̜̭͉̣̦̭̙̙͔̲͉̈́̈̆̐e̵̡͑͛̓ ̷̧̧̬̰̜̰͖̙̘̰͎̟̤̄͛̂t̴̞͔̤̦̼̟̘̘̬̲͎̫̭̭̗͓̖͈͓̜̝͉͉̲̪̮͖̆͂̌̂̚h̶̡̛̬͈̦̹͐̀̏̀͗̾͗̐͋́͒͑̈́̌̍̍̎̄͌̚̕͝i̵̪̺̲̹͇̜͙͉͉̖̦͔͙̹̣̭̬̯̟͆̓̽͒̍̊͊̐̍̆̊̽̅̈͘͝ͅṡ̴̢͙̖̣̺͚̗͍͔̟͈͕̬̒͒͌̅̒̀̕͜͝ ̵̨̢̨̨̛̺̦͍̬̖̻̩̯͍̬̪͇͍̞͙͈̜̘͊̆̍̌͊̏̈͗̓̓̎̄̈́̐̊̍͘͝o̷̧̡͚̬̮͚͒̀͊̏̈́̃͊̃̈́̀͂̃̚̕̕͝͝͝ň̵̹̥̯̱̲̘͉̤͓̌̉͂͊͊͆̄́̂͜ȩ̶̢̹͔̳̤͍̺͖̟̣̠̰͉̔̏̀͗̕ ̷̧̛̝̪̥͕̪̦̻͙̱̳̤̜̝͉͇̪̱̳̺͕̰̟͓̼̲̜̲̫̟̅̀̉̅̊̾̊̇́̆̏̒̇̃̈́͑̊͑͘͜͜͝͠͝s̵̨̙͓̹̝͕͓͇̅̌̀̍̓̏̚͘ư̴̧͉̞͕̯̮̥͔͈̼̭̣͔͔̯͚̭̻͛̍̉͑̎̽̈̀̆̑͋̈͊̈̏͋͊̋͊͗́́̇̾̄̅̽̄̔̉̕͜ͅf̷̧̡̧̧̛̫̙̮̱͇͇͇̱̰͍̣̗͔̪͂̀̈́͗̍̆͌̃̇̓̿͗̇̾̑̽̈́͒̽̋̐͆̌̍̕̚͠f̷̨̡̡̥̘̖̪͉̳̩͈̼̗̱̬̫̥̺̝̩͍̻͙̟̥͉͗e̶̜̖̬̩͖͚͕͚̭̖͔̥̞̭̪̰̾͊̏́̀͐̋̌̿̈́̇͆̄̂̎͂͑̾́́̈́̽͆̈̕͠r̵̡̧̨̮͉͉̺̪͎̖͇͚͖̘̲̬̲̹̹͉̙͑̈́̏́͂͂̽̆͐̾͛̈͝ͅ.̴̛͇̥͈̥̘͎͍̮͊̿̋͗̔̾͊̆̀̀̂́͐̄̿̔́̎̍̏̍̉͘̚͝"̷̡͙̙̰̯̖͇̙̪͓̮͔̫̼̘̜̝̻̳̻̺̥̫̞̮̻͓̂̉̔̅͆̽́̊̀̒̒͛̓͗͛́̎͂̍̄̈́̽̒̄͘͝ͅ

His ļ̶̰͖̭͚̣̤̦̱̮̠̍̄̂͐̋̅̽̈̄̕ḯ̴̩̭̞̠̼͛͆͘f̵̨̲̥̖̻͚̼̹̺͚͔̤͐̽̉̇͆̎̓͆̒̒̊̀͝ͅe̴̲̣͋̈́'̴̢̯̭̝̝͗s̴̖̈́̕͝ͅ ̶̡̞͉̳̫͌̀͑̑̈́̀͌̎̈́̚̚̕͝p̵̡͚̘̺͚͍̲̪̩̬̹̖̂̃͂͆̎̇̏̓̂͐̒̓͠ű̵̟͖̱͈̋̉ŗ̷̝̮̖̜̻͚̒̍͗̿͆̑̎ͅͅp̵͚̄̑͛̄̏͛͊̋̅͌͌͒ȍ̷͉̼̬̱̘̺̌͒͐̓̏̔͆ş̷̛̣͎̫̙̮̤̩͔̣̝̏̀̂̏͐́̇̃̌̎̕͜͝e̸̡̛̅͛́̅̎̍̔̓̿̌͑chimed in his ears like a grandfather clock at noon.

He didn't want to make anyone suffer.

He DOESN'T want to make anyone suffer.

His pleas ringed in his ears.

"̱̍ͤ̈̃ͨI̎ͪ̍͛ ̓ͣ̏ͩ͋̈́d͎̠̮͓̖̩̆ͦ̇̈́o̰̺̺̗̳̲ͅn̦̯͎ͧ̆͒ͨ͊̚ͅͅ'̼͂ͬ͌͗̈ț̳̰̜ͬ̐ͭͮͧ̾̚ ̑̽w̪̝̻͙͕̎ͭͤả̬ͬͩͤ̅n͖͕̺̂͛͊ͧ̓t̠̘̹͖̜̠ͧ̅͒͐ͮ̌̇ ̻̺ͮ͂̈́ͯ͗t͉̼͓͙̪͖̒̒ͮô͚̯…̖̠̜͔̯̒ ̰̖͇̬̒̈́̄ͭ͗̽Í͔̻̻̈̐'̟̣͈͇́̔ḷ̱͎̠̱͔̠̈́̓̃̍l͖̺͎͇͂̈́̈́ ̦̫d̟͖ͥ̌ͬͮͩo͙̯̹̹͑̿ͥͨ ̜̗̞̹̭̳͐̀s͈̆̂ͦo͉̬̥͍̘̫͒̊́̃̋ͫm̻̭̟̻̤̰̥͊ȇ͆t̽̂ͩ̒͂̋ͩh͈̯̲̭͇̮͑͑͂̚ͅi̭̔́ͣ̈̍n̩̙͈͗̉ͥ͑g̹̣͂ͨ͗̀̆ ̬̓̎̾ͥ̚̚̚e̯̤̤͍l͉̦͉̤̹̤ś͈̻̘̟̺̞ͪ̌ͮ̉̓ͅe͂͊̓̓ͤ̽…̜̤̘͔͊ͭ̓ ̩̫D͓̞ͩ̒́̾̚̚ó̱͉͓̋̂ͫ͛ͫṇ̰̣̰̬ͅ'͌̇t̮͚̥̻͈͒̊̏̇ͭ ͇̠̼̯̦̤͔̃̎m̞͉ͭͧ̍a͌̒̋ͮ̃̑ͯk̰̝͎̩̻̞ͬ̆ͅe͓͕̟ ̤̝ͮ͒̉͋̽ͥͪͅm̩̞̘̤̦ͪ̒̀ͬ͊ͤe̞̠͇̰͗ͦͦ̅̑̐̈ ̿ͫ̉d͖̱̳ͅo͚͓̜͊͋̏̚ ̗̠͕̞̠͚͋̑i̦͙̭̠̲̹̮ͩ̽ͬ̑̆t̖̲̻̙ͭͭ…̉ͮ̑́ͪͣͪ"̼̱̙̖ͦͮ̔̀ͅ

The sound of a 6 year old boy in hell.

The cruel smile that grew on The Man's face.

The comforting touch against his back that in reality was cold and uncaring.

It all came back to him like a brick through a window.

"̶̫͈̻͉̺̩̭̠̇̀̍̎̿͜͝I̵̛̬̯̬̘̎̿͊͆͗̄́̿̒͝͠͝t̵̼͈̗̖͖͓̮̲͛'̷̡̲̝̮̙̯̯̬̺̆̂̃͋́͛̏͘̚ṡ̸̢̛̹̱͔̲̺̟͛̆̐̏̀͋͠͠ ̵̨͙̺̃̋̒͒̋̈́͂̃͒̈́s̶̨̲̤̰͗ì̸͕̳͕̚͝m̵̡̢̦̯̥͎̯̺͓̥̙̬͖̊̃̈͒͊̐̈́̚͠͝p̸̮̱͉̿̔̎͊́͜͝l̶̛̛̛̳̬̱͉̼̐̔̏̈͑̀̀̓̍e̷̞̹̪̦͔̜̤̙͇̕͜ ̴̡͖̫͓̻͉̿͆̊͆͋͊̅̋B̵͈͇̞̞̪͉͇̗̲̩̫̹̦͐̂̐̿̿̎̿́̕͝͝͝l̴̠̀̆̅͑̋͑̀̆͑̚͘͝ò̷̤͇̜͙̱̮̬͋̓̓̚͝ŏ̶̧͉͇̼͖̳̼̰͇͓̩d̶̻̼͈̗̮̯̊͐̑ļ̶̠̝̰̥̖̰̣̱̔̽ͅį̶̡̛͙̥̀̋̈́̐͒̋̆n̵̯͍̪͓͉̓̒̿͜͝ͅe̵̢̧̦͈̣̰͚̺̭̊̚…̴̨̧̛̠̭̥̼͉̙̜̙̠̈͌̉̐̑͆̈́̂̉̊ ̶̫̦̯͍͖͈̱̣͚̣̠̬̻̂I̷͕̙̐͐̍̐̓̈̃̽̈́̈́͘͝ṱ̸̮͚̱̹̲̼͚̂̊̔́̚'̷̧̨̢̫̣̪̪̳̲̠̫̮̀̏͛̄̀̃̕͘͝͠s̶͎͈̙̲͌̈́̃͒̀̀̀̇͊̊̚͘͝ ̷̺̻̙͕̪̿̏̿̆̍ͅw̶͈͖͚̭͎̖̽̍͜h̸̫͒̑͐̈́͝ạ̷̧̯͉̟̞̺̫̪̰͎͒̏̌̿̈̄̈́͂̒͘t̴̜̝̹̼̞̣̾͌̒ ̶̼̰̳̉͌͐̂͆͂̈́͋̄͂̕̕y̸̡̺̬̞̺̗͎̬̥̮̩͚͊͗̽͛͊͘͜͝ö̴̼̜̑ṳ̸̳̮͉͓̫̠̓̿̚͝ ̶̛͇͔͔̰̞̀͗̇̋̔͆̽͘͠ẃ̶͙̿͂͆͌̉̾̔́̽͑͠e̵͇͓͙͇̝͛̆͋̌̾͛͠͝r̴̘̫̻͂́̅̾̇̐̿͘͝e̷̡̧͉̜͗̅̾ ̴̪͛́̿̀͘̕͝b̷̝̗̖̙͎̹̥̗͌͊̀̃̎̏̈́̌̚͝ͅö̵͖͙̩̠̻̣̜̻́͝ŗ̶͍͎͍̭͙͍͉͂̒̒̚͝͝n̷̨͎̯̦̻̣̼̅̉̍̈́͛̈́̍͘̕͠ͅ ̷̧͙̗̼̼̣͚̠̥̦̗̄͗͠t̵̨͇͇̮̖͔͓̰͕̻̯̲̿̒͛̈́͗͑o̶̡̡̩͔̙̬͓̘̰̔̒̄͋̌̓̽̓̐̚͝͠ ̵̡̛͍͔͎͖̫͇̄̽̔̇̆́d̴̫̦̪̭̬̙̰̆͌͗̂̐̕͠ͅͅö̴͕͔͉̼͎̙̪͕̝͖̺̤̞͋́̊̐͋̀̎͘…̸̤̦͚̯̏͋̈́͆̃̄̾͗͐͠͝ ̷̛͎̺̊̎̋͋Y̵̦͈͈̹͉̗͚̏̊͋̎͊̓̐̇ơ̴͉̲͈͓̙̮͍̖͚̦̑̅̒̋̂͗̈́ͅu̴̡̢̼̮͖͙̭͈̰̅̒̐ ̷̯̳͒͆͑͗̌́̐̚͘h̴̨̛̜͈̘̜͋͋̒́͗͜͝͝͝ͅã̴̢̡̧̨̫̠͕̫v̶̮̿̑͛̑͘ȩ̸̝̯͚̩̠̠̩͇̫͙̠̰́̓̑̑̄̇̏͝ ̷̧̧̼̱͖̰̠̜̫̼̤̗̱́t̴̟̟̻͎̑̏̓̀̃͊̊́͗͝ö̶̢̭̯̠̣̹̦́̿͠ ̶̢̧͙̜̞̦̰̩̼̳̘̱̈́͑̑͂̚d̷͉̫͈͖͍͕͉͉͍̬̱̦̓̈̒͋͝ō̴̢̮͇͕͈̼͐̂͗̃͌̅́́̽͜͝ͅͅ ̶̘͙̩̞̟͑͂̏̋͠ḯ̶̧͓͙̜̗̺̍̋̌͛͋͂̂̏t̶̡̛̺̯̱̭̟͕̟̋̈́̆͋̆͝ͅ.̷̦̗̲̼̮͈̤͎̳̥̰̰̓̆͝ͅ.̷̛͈̝̣̏̉.̵̛̤̯͉̓̆̊́̆̄̕͝ͅ"̷̡̱̞͉̩̻̮͈̌̍̄̂̿̉́͛̊̂̕͜͝

But he doesn't WANT to do it.

It's why he left.

So why is he here?

Didn't he escape?

He couldn't tell what reality was anymore.

Fiction and time seemed to intertwine and I̖̤͙z͙̘͊̒͗ͭu̾̋͒͋k̮͂ͩu̜̘̱̯̲̅̿̃̒ ̰͉̰̖͉͓ͭ̔co̱͙ͣ͛u̻͙̝̞̣̫ͩ̈́̋̌̑ͤ͊ͅl̥̼̰͔͈̘ͨ̋̍̈́d̞͉̖̼̐̒ͬ̾n͈'̥̹̯̱̋̂̔̓̈́̊̿ͅṭ̞̭̠̑̆̅͒ ̯͑̍f̏̿ͩ̎̒u͈͔̜̩͑̒̄̇̔ͅc̖̥̬̥k̝̿ͥ̾͌ͫ̋̃i̫̝͙n͇̬̻̙̭̏͗̀͂͒g̯̫̻̪̽ͨͣͣ ̟͆ͧ͛̄ͧb̠̙͇̠̭͇̣r̮̹̈ͥ̏̎́͐ͥe̪̟̗̱̯̫a̠͔̒ͪ̌̒ͥ̃t͂̑ͬ̓̓h͋̔̃̓ͮ̔̚ȇ̤̣̜ͤ̒.

He had to leave.

Leave.

His demons chanted from the depths of his mind, yearning for the power locked inside of him.

"̶̧̻̙̠̰͕̮͍͆̐̄͑͌̉̓͜ͅY̴̧̡̢̧̟̤̲͎̞̼̯̣̪̙̰͔̩̱͎̥͇͗̈́͂͂͑̽͂͒͂̑̿ó̴̺͕͉̝͚̝̫͔̙͕̹͎̺̩̪̞͓̓̃̊̋̀̽̀̆̄̊̋̆́̊̕̚̚û̷̡̨͇̫̯͖̱̻̖̣̪̤͖̦͇̏̀̆͛͊͋̒̔̀͂͊͋̾̇̄̆ ̷̦̣̪̹̅͐͗͋̆̇̕͘͝c̴̖̫͈͓͓̥͋͑̑̍̕͘͝a̵̳̫̺͓̟̻͚̣͔̞̎͐̀̾̀͗̉͋̽́̾̍̓̌͒̆̓̈́͐͠͝n̶̨̡͇̘̳͍̐̐̀̀̒̀̍̓̚͝'̷̩͎͕̺͕̼̝̳̙̫̺̠͉͇͇̞͉̆̈́̏̓̀͂̐͝t̸̥̐ ̴̡̨̡̛̛̟̰̭̺͇̞̻͉̪̟͇̣̦̜͑̋̒͐̉̎́̋̏̈͒̍̂̊͌̎͛͘̕ļ̶̤͆̓̾̓ë̶͎̳̒̑͗̍̊͊̿̕͝ͅa̴̡̡͖̫̠̼̻̻̱͍̤̲̫̜̰̤̅̈́̓̒̀͒͊̀͛̿̉͘͜͝͝v̶̨̡͉̙̳͍̞̱̩͖̦̗̩̳̭͉̠̯͖͈̭̯̈́̓͗̒͠ͅe̴̡͔̻͎̜͙̺̻̼͚͇̟̯͎̗͎͕͈͕̘̦͇̩̓̉́̑̐̀̂̈̈́͑͊̊̚̕͝͠.̴̡̛̛͉̤̺̺̝̗̹̻̰͕̙̙͙̏͒̂́̓̀̐̐"̷̢͙̪̥̔͑̔̐̓͛̊͘

He was running down the hall now.

The sound of his sporadic breathing getting lost in the intense ś̸̺̽t̵̺͛̈́a̵͍̤̔t̶̨̢̯͝ȋ̵̬̩̺͘c̶̰̗͛.

He heard heavy footsteps behind him as his ǫ̴̫̹͇̟̟̟͛͊̅̐͌̃͐͗͘͠w̸̞̏̽n̵̥̠̮̹̝̬͒̃̿̆̂̈́̈́̂͠è̶͖͇̫̗͛̀͆͊͗̓̄̇̿̆͝r̸͓̟̍͊̐s̴̠̬̰̟͈̔́̈́̑̒̌̀̓͐͐̕͘͝chased after him.

Were they trying to bring him back?

He couldn't allow that.

He can't go back.

He's dreamed of freedom for far too long.

He needed it to be real.

He NEEDS it to be real.

The s̷̙̱̝͍̗̻͓̪̱̩̣͒̿̓t̴̨̠̖̙͉̤̻̣̮͆̈́͆͜a̷̭͐̄̒̃͝ẗ̶̛̙͈̟͎͙̞̼́͗͂̆͊̑́͌̽͑̔̄i̴̞̘͙̻̰̮̦̪̥̇͂̀́͊͛̃͗͋͂̐͜͝͝c̴̥͈̥̩̝̳͍̳͂̓͆̓̏̇͐ was overwhelming his senses.

He could feel himself slowly raise his guns as the figures ran towards him.

Was time slowing down?

It didn't matter.

He has to leave.

He has to run.

He has to get back.

He has to be free.

He blinked.

And he was back.

Izuku felt his knees give in as he collapsed to the floor, shaking uncontrollably.

He immediately shut his eyes.

He was scared to open them.

Scared to find out that the past few months were nothing but a dream.

That he's actually been in his cage the entire time, dreaming up a perfect world for himself.

But he needed to.

He needed to know if Uraraka and Iida were real.

He needed to know if he was still a tool or if he had grown into a person.

He needed to open his eyes.

And after about 2 minutes of fear, he finally opened his eyes. An uncontrollable sob of relief came as tears overflowed that blurred his vision.

It was still dark around him, but the emergency lights had kicked in, making everything a dark shade of neon red.

But most importantly, he was in the stadium's hallway.

He wasn't back in his cage.

He had friends.

He didn't belong to The Man anymore.

He was free.

He carefully stood up, his eyes still locked to the emergency lights near the ground. He was shaking badly so he stumbled a bit as he rose to his feet. He mumbled the word "free" over and over again in an attempt to bring himself back to reality.

Like saying it over and over again would make his wish even truer.

He felt his comforting buzzing connection grow stronger as his vision came into focus. He looked at the ground curiously, noticing a large puddle of some type of liquid.

Was it… blood?

He took the moment to look around. Wasn't he fighting some villains before… that … happened?

And suddenly, HE was the deer in headlights.

To put it in simple terms, there was blood. EVERYWHERE. The dark, thick liquid coated every surface of the hallway. Heads and limbs had been torn apart and laid miles away from the original bodies. Some were simply a pile of bones with little bits of flesh still barely attached. Guts, flesh, and blood littered the walls and ceiling, falling to the ground as gravity took over and returned them to whatever was left on the floor.

Something fell right in front of him. He took a second before looking down. A girl with black hair and green skin stared back at him. Blood dripped down her face like tears. He could tell her mouth was open despite most of her lower jaw being ripped off from her decapitated head.

So she was screaming.

She was in pain when she died.

He had done IT.

He had broken his promise.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Normal people go through their entire lives without killing.

Normal people don't even throw a punch.

He only lasted a year.

What was wrong with him?

His eyes stayed locked to the decapitated head. The eyes staring right back at him, as if she was taunting him to do it again beyond the grave. The edges showed a pale red, a different shade than the familiar dark scarlet.

He turned around.

Some small, sensible part of him grew scared at how calm – how used to the aftermath – Izuku was.

He didn't want to be there anymore.

He didn't want to be anywhere anymore.

Everywhere he went, someone died.

It was the golden rule back when he was with The Man.

And it was the same right now.

Wasn't that hilarious?

He had escaped The Man to stop killing only to kill 14 people in one moment of weakness!

The irony of it!

He giggled at the prospect of his newfound paradox. His manic laughter filled the muted halls like wildfire. Anyone who heard it must have thought a monster was lurking in the shadows. But they didn't matter right now.

He did.

He really was something else, wasn't he?

He was a sword without a samurai to hold him.

He was a bullet without a gun to propel him.

And yet he still managed to kill people. Despite lacking the resolve to do so.

Isn't that hilarious!?

He just wanted to do good.

He wanted to be good.

He tried so desperately to hold onto the idea that he could change.

That he could become something other than a means of destruction.

And all it took was one moment to toss that idea down the drain!

The whole situation, no matter how you look at it, was just so fucking funny.

And suddenly, Izuku the day's events flashed before his eyes, as if his brain was trying to find anything that could've prevented this from happening.

God fucking dammit he was so happy this morning!

He wanted to feel like that again.

He hated feeling sad.

He wanted to be happy.

But his friends weren't here to tempt Izuku to smile.

No one was.

He was alone.

Just like before.

Surrounded by static in the darkness of the halls.

But he didn't have to be in the static.

He didn't have to be vulnerable or scared anymore.

If he just let out THAT part of him, it would all go away.

It would disappear.

And Izuku wanted it to disappear. So fucking badly.

He fell back to his crutch, the familiar buzzing feeling that would chase away the radio's cracking. He looked at the blood on his hands and held onto the connection that never failed to ease his mind.

The buzzing connection gave him confidence.

It had taught him long ago that it could be used to save himself from any situation.

If he just used his power, he would win.

He needed that assurance right now.

He needed the comfort of being away from The Man's static.

He needed something he loved to be there for him.

And his quirk would always be there.

Waiting to be used.

He loved it.

He adored it.

Every second he used it was pure and utter joy.

Izuku was sad right now.

He wanted to be happy.

So he'd manipulate the situation to make himself happy.

His quirk would let him do that.

He felt the blood lift from his bloodstained clothes as it fell to the floor, leaving a clean Izuku to roam the halls.

As if nothing had ever happened.

He was okay with that.

He was ok with pretending.

Because if it never happened, Izuku would be happy.

If the villains had never come, Izuku wouldn't be sad.

He had emotions now.

Not a merciless tool for The Man to use as he deemed fit.

He liked having emotions.

He liked being happy.

And right now, Izuku wasn't happy.

He was sad.

Angry.

Something needed to pay.

SOMEONE needed to pay.

Before he pretended, justice would have to be served.

No one interrupts his peaceful life and gets away with it.

The laughter that echoed the halls suddenly stopped. A wide grin grew onto Izuku's face. His first, real smile.

He could already picture what he was going to do to the cunts that DARED to enter HIS domain.

His mouth was practically drooling at the prospect of it.

Best of all, he would get to use his quirk.

He'd been refraining from using it because of the promise he made.

But now?

Now it didn't matter.

He couldn't start pretend that his promise was still staying strong right now.

Not when he had to get revenge.

His slow walk turned into a light jog, evolving into a fast run.

He wasn't fast enough. He had to get to the battles NOW.

He NEEDED to fight.

He NEEDED to use his quirk.

He NEEDED to let his demons free.

The thing that lurked the halls wasn't human, despite its appearance.

Its nervous nature was a trick to make it seem kind.

Its short stature and bouncy, green curls were a ruse to make it seem young and clueless.

Its eyes were wide and it wore a cruel smile on its face.

It had a smile that displayed both pure hate and pure joy.

The kind of anger that only comes from those broken beyond repair.

The kind of happiness that only comes on the brink of insanity.

No, the thing hunting in the halls wasn't human.

It was something else.

Chapter End Notes

HELLO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

I PRESENT TO YOU FUCKED UP SHIT

nah but like this was so frustrating to write I literally have 6 versions of this chapter. It was hell to write so you better like it. Or don't. What am I gonna do?

You have no idea how hard it was to resist just posting all of them and letting you guys decide because MY FUCKING GOD THAT WAS HARD.

Anyway I forgot to mention this yesterday but how the hell have I already gotten 1500 hits!?!? I was expecting only like 500 ppl to read this max but nope!

Anyway Ch. 13 isn't going to happen becuz instead of actually being productive last night I went "what if I just stay up until 3:30 am reading literal TORTURE while laughing maniacally (not joking I was laughing) at the images being described in my head for ideas for future torture?" And logically, I did just that. So now you guys are suffering because of it.

Haha losers.

Anyway see ya next week!

Happy Massacre

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Uraraka was nervous walking up to the platform during the finals. Honestly, it'd be weird not to be nervous. She was in the finals of THE UA Sports Festival. That was being broadcasted to literally millions of people. Including her family. And her teachers. Not to mention all of the people in the stadium. And she was going up against Todoroki. Who literally did a one hit KO multiple times against his opponents.

Yeah. Clearly, there was 0 pressure on her.

Izuku never came with Lynx so she was feeling a lot more nervous than she normally would have. Iida got a phone call during the semi-finals and hurriedly left while briefly mentioning a "family emergency", so she didn't get any support from him either. Uraraka would have to prod Izuku on why the hell he didn't show up, but that didn't matter right now. She had a fight to win.

And she was determined to win. For her sake. For her sister's sake. For her friends' sake.

And for the sake of those 3 weeks of pure torture not going to waste.

She would be very mad if she did all of that suffering just to fail at the final stretch.

She locked onto Todoroki's eyes with determination. She could see the same thing reflect back at her from Todoroki. She curled her fists as tight as she could.

Bring it.

The crowds' cheering and Present Mic's booming voice radiated into her heart. She had a strategy in mind and if she managed to last, then she'll just MAYBE win. Every number shouted increased her determination tenfold. The 2 contestants stared each other down until the number "one" was finally said, each ready to strike as soon as the buzzer rang.

It never did.

Instead, a black mist started to form at the middle of the stadium. The edges were purple that danced like flames while 2 yellow eyes emerged from the center. Uraraka bit her lip as she backed away. Something was wrong. VERY wrong.

People started to enter from the black mist. Small time thieves Uraraka recognized from the news that were arrested by All Might came first. There were some she didn't recognize who wore cruel grins on their faces. After what felt like an eternity, the flow of people finally stopped. The last 2 seemed especially important.

One was covered in hands – literal hands, what the fuck – with one on his face and multiple on his arms and waist. He had sickly pale skin and light blue hair. He wore a black t-shirt and jeans and was hunched over. The other wore a blank expression as if it didn't really know where it was. It was a basically a dark blue muscle bird with a brain poking out of its head and no wings.

"Finally. I swear to god I was about to start killing the dogs out of boredom." the hand man said, his voice hoarse and deep. "Kurogiri get rid of the damn NPCs. I'm tired of waiting. I want to find the main boss."

The black mist – Kurogiri? – nodded, and Uraraka could feel herself being swept away as the black, purple mist surrounded her. She put her arms up and closed her eyes, expecting an immediate attack but after a few moments, nothing came. She opened her eyes.

She was in a dark locker room, one that definitely wasn't for the contestants. It was dark, it seemed as if someone had shut the power down. If that were the case, then all the security defenses would be off right now, so that's probably how the intruders got in –

"Urara–"

She immediately grabbed the arm that had touched her shoulder, using her weight to fully throw the stranger over herself and pin them to the ground. Izuku had made her do that move a 1000 times, so she was pretty damn good at it.

"WHO ARE YOU –" she started to shout, before cutting herself short. Right below her was the bi-chromatic teenager she was just about to fight moments before.

"Oh Todoroki!? I'm so sorry!" She immediately got up and let Todoroki sit up straight. He groaned as he stood, obviously hurt from Uraraka's pin.

"It's ok, I probably should've expected you to be on edge." he winced while flexing his arm.

Uraraka could only nod as she tried to calm down. The 2 stood in silence for a second before Todoroki finally spoke up.

"We should probably get out of here. Do you have any idea of who those people were?" His voice was oddly calm in this precarious situation. How he wasn't freaking out was beyond her comprehension.

"Yeah. They were villains. I recognized some of them as ones All Might took down. Their pictures were on the news." Her voice was a poor attempt at his neutral tone.

Todoroki simply sighed.

"Well if they're villains, and they managed to break into UA, that means they must be very organized. And they must have someone powerful backing them up. Which means we should definitely try to avoid them as much as possible."

"Yeah. I agree" Uraraka responded as she opened the door for Todoroki, who was still clutching his right arm. She'd have to apologize later for that…

The two walked in an uneasy silence in the dark hallways. Both of them were watching the shadows intensely, as if daring the hidden danger to attack. At the same time though, Uraraka's mind drifted off to her memories of the day, searching for a clue that could explain anything that was happening right now.

"Don't you guys have a bad feeling about this? I can't help but think something bad is going to happen..."

She shook her head. Goddammit, Izuku was right. Why was she even surprised at this point? He always was!

"It doesn't make sense though."

"Huh?" Uraraka said. She turned her head towards Todoroki, waiting for him to explain further.

He narrowed his eyes but didn't turn to look at her, choosing to focus on the darkness before them. "Why attack when All Might is here? That's basically a guarantee that you're plan is going to fail. So why would they do it?"

Uraraka faced forward. He did have a point, it didn't make sense to plan an attack where basically All Might was a guaranteed enemy. Whatever goal they might have, they would fail immediately if All Might joined the fight, which, he obviously would. So why attack anyway-

She stopped walking as the answer popped into her head. Todoroki turned around confused, his eyes growing wide at the fear that had etched onto Uraraka's face.

"What." he choked, his usual neutral tone sounding unbalanced. It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

Uraraka looked up. "It makes sense to attack… when you have something to counter All Might."

They both fell into a stunned silence as they both tried to imagine a weapon that could possibly have a chance against the number 1 hero. Their minds failed to comprehend a power that could go beyond the strongest man in the country. It seemed impossible to raise the bar from where it had already been raised. And that lack of knowledge scared them.

They both fell into an uneasy silence as they continued to walk, their fear increasing as they thought about the idea more. The whole scale of quirk power seemed to tip when adding that kind of variable.

Their fear of the unknown developed into paranoia, and the dark, silent halls didn't help with diminishing it. Each of them were watching the halls like a hawk, waiting for whatever monster that lurked in the shadows to show its face. Both Todoroki and Uraraka jumped into each other and let out a weird
"eep" noise when the emergency lights from a backup generator kicked in, flooding the hallways with a red tone. They both silently promised to never speak of this moment before continuing down the hallways.

They both lowered their pace when they heard what sounded like a faint, manic laughter echoing from the halls.

…

That totally wasn't creepy as fuck.

Nope. Not at all.

They were strong, brave heroes ready to fight at any time.

Who would be scared of a literal child laughter coming from the fucking abyss while everything was a highly saturated, dark red?

Not them!

The giggling was quiet enough for them to realize that whoever was laughing was moving away from them, which was probably a good thing in this case. Still, if they managed to catch the villain off guard, maybe they could get some answers as to what was going on.

They both crept on after the silent laughter until they reached a corner. The laughter had suddenly stopped. An odd smell and gushing noise came from the beyond the corner. Uraraka held up three fingers at Todoroki, silently counting down the moment where they'd both jump out and attack.

For a pure, bliss moment, silence was the only comfort that was offered. As if the world was giving them a small, merciful moment to process the sight before them.

Red.

The passionate color that sat between pink and orange.

Red lights.

Red liquid.

Red was the only thing that could be seen.

They had both seen it in their lifetimes.

Simple papercuts.

Scratches from falling onto concrete.

But never had they seen THIS MUCH red.

Suddenly, laughter wasn't the only thing filling the empty void of silence.

There was screaming too.

Limbs and heads hanging from the ceiling. A fucking heart laid splattered against the corner wall next to Todoroki's head. The unnerving stare of a yellow eyeball on the floor that they had only ever seen in movies.

Organs.

Flesh.

Blood.

A human anatomy class gone wrong.

A nightmare come to life.

She couldn't stand looking at the hallway, so she moved her eyes down in order to escape the horrors being burned into her mind.

An even worse display laid out before her.

Sitting in front of her was the broken body of a cat. One of its legs were missing and her body was bent in an odd shape, as if it was hit by a truck on its right side. Its grey fur contrasted nicely with the scarlet, thick liquid that humans called blood. Its mouth was slightly open and its eyes were closed.

She could feel bile rise up her throat as she turned her head to puke, a flood of tears stinging her eyes as her mind raced to make any sense of what she had just seen.

Uraraka really hoped that Izuku was safe. He hadn't visited her when she won the quarter or semi-finals.

She hoped the laughing demon that did this didn't get him.

She wouldn't know what to do if it did.

Bakugou and All Might were just talking, enjoying the show when suddenly, everything went dark.

They were even more confused when a black mist suddenly appeared, dropping 10 people from the midst of nowhere right in front of them.

And they stopped being confused when the shadow group started to attack them for seemingly no reason.

"WHY THE HELL ARE VILLAINS HERE?" Bakugou shouted, blasting one of the villains into 2 of them standing near the wall. He had already taken down another pair, and with this there were only 5 more left.

He felt someone grab his arm in a deathly grip, and he spun around to try and face the intruder. He only got a glimpse before a large fist struck the villain's face. He looked to his right.

All Might had gone to his muscle-form.

Shit.

Fuck.

Curse words galore.

This was bad.

This whole situation was royally fucked up.

Bakugou had seen the news about All Might's 3 hour debut of villain takedowns so he knew the man had used up his limit. He watched as All Might took down the remaining villains with incredible speed, worried about what this will do to him in the future. He was already coughing blood and he could barely stand when he had initially walked into the room. But right now, it didn't matter. They had to get to the center court and find out what the fuck was going on.

Without a word, the pair started to run down the halls, climbing up several flights of stairs in an effort to make up the lost time from fighting the surprise group.

Those guys definitely weren't the leaders of this scheme.

The final boss was still waiting, ready to unleash its bloodlust on whoever got in the way.

The hallways were filled with a strange, scarlet mist that few could identify. The shouts of people reverberated through the passages, the sound waves bouncing off the walls, the floors, the bodies.

They babbled uselessly as It approached them, spitting out silent begs of mercy and a variety of loud insults. The way people react to death itself was an interesting concept. Some simply accepted it, while others found themselves drowning in regret. The stupid ones reacted angrily, as if death had somehow violated their personal space. As if they hadn't been given every chance to not go the route they chose.

Fucking bullshit.

No matter the reaction, It always found it hilarious to watch people scramble for the first time in their lives. The prospect of death was a great motivator for people to carry out their subconscious goals. It loved it when their eyes grew wide once It raised It's spear above their heads, holding it just long enough to torture their minds.

How It wished It could see their reactions when they woke up in the hospital alive, bruised and battered beyond recognition. It wanted to watch them slowly realize that the only reason they were there was because It decided to let them live. That It was in control of their lives now.

It didn't want to kill, no, these people didn't deserve the sweet release of death. That can only be reserved for the people who suffer the most. The people who deserve to be at peace for once in their lives.

No, these people deserved the worst form of torture.

Being alive.

And It would make sure they would suffer immensely. They, who DARED to trespass ITS territory, who threatened ITS friends' safety by simply BEING HERE. There were 4 limbs that could be crushed. 206 bones that could be broken. 7 trillion nerves to set on fire. It would break their bodies to the point of no return, turning them into useless sacks of flesh who wouldn't even be able to feed themselves.

This was the only thing It was good for.

This was the only thing It was made for.

This was what It was meant to do.

It laughed as the buzzing connection grew ever more powerful, satisfying Its bloodlust just a little bit more. It reveled in the feeling as It forced Its victims to move their limbs in unnatural ways. Pulling their blood out of their veins and through their skin was one of Its favorite things to do. The feeling made It shiver in delight.

This was like a goddamn feast.

And It was starving.

It never had control on how to act before.

It liked being able to choose.

Choosing who lived or died.

Choosing which direction Its play toy would go to.

Being the deciding factor on whether or not limbs would become useless dead weight.

Oh, It loved this.

It didn't love the actual prospect of torture.

It didn't love the screams of pain that came from the practice, only the feeling that came from it.

But The Man did, so It had to learn to ignore it.

And ignoring the pleas and begs of mercy was easy right now.

Because It was angry.

It was bloodthirsty.

And It was finally getting what It had always wanted.

Authority.

Power.

Control

.

After all these years, It was finally the one who got to choose.

It was the one who made the decisions.

It was finally in control.

And best of all?

It was doing this to people who deserve it!

They knew what they were risking when they came here to kill.

You don't plot a happy carefree massacre without thinking of the consequences!

They knew that there was a possibility of injury and death.

And by far were these guys innocent civilians.

So It was technically in the clear!

It pulled the blood off of Itself once again, leaving Its crimes behind as It moved onto the next.

It pulled an unconscious body along and slammed it into a larger villain, making them fly into the wall and cause spider cracks to form as a crater. It licked Its lips, feeling the iron taste of blood on his tongue.

It should really leave and evacuate like everyone else probably has.

If It stayed too long, It ran the risk of being discovered.

And if It was discovered, Its freedom would be compromised.

And autonomy was a requirement now.

There'd be no point in living without it.

So It should retreat and play it safe.

It should claim the day's rewards and play the victim to the heroes.

But it wouldn't hurt to go on a little longer…

After all, there's only 2 more villains left guarding the utility tunnels that lead to the engine room.

People would benefit from the main generator being turned back on.

It was helping.

Right?

"You shouldn't be coming with me Young Bakugou!" All Might shouted as he raced towards the center court of the stadium, going slower than normal to reserve his power for the oncoming fight. It was still impressive that his successor was still managing to keep up at the speed he was going though, the amount Young Bakugou has improved in such a short amount of time… FOCUS ALL MIGHT!

"Shut up old man!" Bakugou returned with a spiteful tone. "If you think you can beat someone powerful enough to fucking invade UA right now you're an idiot!"

He tucked his knees into his chest as he allowed his body to fall on a villain below him. There was a higher frequency of the extras the closer they went to the middle.

Bakugou kicked the bitch in the head and used it as a stepping stone to further his momentum. They were racing past all of the villains, trying to defeat as many as they could as the moved past. But it wasn't enough. There were too many for 1 overpowered yet tired hero, 1 under experienced, raging student, and the limited time frame.

He felt something rubbery wrap around his foot and drag him backwards, away from his teacher. He spun around to try and land a spinning side kick to the extra's face but they managed to dodge. Their hair was an odd, pale grey that wiggled like the tentacles of an octopus. He charged again, holding out his palm to blast them in the face when the villain jumped back. In their place, a tentacle went forward, now changing shape into a sharp blade, inches away from Bakugou's face.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of the… tentacle – knife? He could faintly hear his mentor call out his name in a panic but his mind didn't register it. His full focus was set on the sharp object coming towards him.

He couldn't use his normal quirk in time to move away since both his arms were facing behind him right now. His head was too close to try and lean to a side. He wasn't used to One for All yet, charging the power up took roughly 5 seconds, which was time he didn't have. But, there wasn't any other option except those, right?

His mind raced through all of his options one more time, trying to find a solution to the damn problem in front of him. The blade slowly inched closer and closer. Everything else around him paused, as if they were waiting for him to finally figure it out.

There was no solution to this problem.

…

Well that's stupid.

Didn't some ancient bitch say there always was?

Was he just stupid or something?

No, Bakugou was the smartest person Bakugou knew!

Except Principal Nedzu.

But that was because he had a quirk, so it didn't really count.

No, there had to be something that he could do.

There's no way he was actually going to die!

Him, with one of the best quirks out there!

Him, who was going to become the number 1 hero!

Fuck no, he was too strong to die before he got the chance to make something of his life!

Think.

For God's sake the blade is almost to his forehead just FUCKING THINK –

And suddenly, the tentacle dropped down uselessly like a fish out of water. Time resumed as normal and Bakugou continued to fly straight at the very-confused villain's face. His instincts reacted for his mind-boggled state and raised his arm to let out an explosion at the villain's head. He landed gracefully and crouched down as he looked around to find whatever his solution to his ~~impossible~~to his possible problem was.

This corridor was a lot wider than the other ones deeper in the stadium, mostly because this was the runway for a contestant to go through and they needed to be bigger for dramatic flair. There were a total of 5 villains still standing – or wait, kneeling? Standing near the shadows was a person facing towards the 2 heroes.

The person was on the taller side and had what looked like a jacket tied around their head. It hid their face and hair surprisingly well. They wore a large, oversized coat with cargo pants and utility boots. Some parts were drenched in dark red blood stains, but he had a feeling the blood wasn't from them.

"Who are you?" Bakugou spat out, a little angry at the fact that this person may have totally - not saved his ass.

But this was still a very bad situation despite the potential ass – saving. What's important right now was the fact that Bakugou didn't recognize them. They could be an underground hero or a lower - ranking hero but those kinds of people never showed up for the UA Sports Festival. No, this person was someone else, and the possibility of them being a villain right now was high. And they were obviously more powerful than the idiots who were attacking him previously, which means even more wasted time fighting useless minions instead of the main boss.

The person scoffed. "Don't you think taking out these simpletons is the better choice right now?" they said, gesturing to the still struggling-to-stand extras. Their voice sounded deep but feminine.

Bakugou growled, quickly launching himself forward with his explosions and knocking out the remaining villains before turning back to the mystery ~~savior~~mystery person.

"So who the hell are you? Answer the damn question then I'll blow your damn head off."

They raised their eyebrow. "Don't you mean ' or I'll blow your damn head off?' Wow, and after I just saved your ass. You're welcome for that by the way."

Bakugou growled as they turned around and started running deeper into the halls.

"Hey we're not done yet bitch! You still haven't told me who you are!" Bakugou said, raising his palms behind his back, ready to launch himself forward.

"I think you have more important things to worry about considering all of the shit that's happening in the center. But if you really want my name, it's Gigaton!" they shouted, disappearing into the darkness ahead.

Bakugou snarled but turned around to keep running in the direction of All Might, who had disappeared into the light at the other end of the tunnel. As much as he wanted to beat the bitch up, they were right.

There were bigger priorities than them.

Eraserhead was not having a good day.

First off, the coffee machines broke this morning. Therefore he never got the miracle life juice that was the only thing keeping him alive.

Second off, he found out that Etsuri Izuku wasn't participating in the Sports Festival, which only infuriated Aizawa even more at the fact that he still won't have a fucking clue on his student's actual skill level.

Third off, he had to help Yamada in the announcements booth. Which meant he had to talk. When he was already running on 30 minutes of sleep with no coffee for the past 36 hours.

Fourth off, he tried to use the coffee machine again and it was still broken right before the third round.

Aaaaaaannnnnd… oh yeah. The fifth reason was a bunch of villains decided to invade UA the ONE DAY he didn't have his morning coffee. On any other day would be semi – fine for him. But no. It just HAD TO BE TODAY.

When the black mist that appeared in the middle started the flow of villains, Aizawa had already left the announcer's booth and was halfway down the steps towards the stadium seats. The power had been shut off as he ran down the flights of stairs through the dark, kicking open unpowered – security doors along the way. It only took 2 minutes for him to get to the stadium's seating area but all hell seemed to have broken loose during the timeframe.

To put it shortly, there were villains. Like a fuck ton of villains. Some were being teleported away in the center by a black and purple mist man with bright yellow eyes. Everyone else had seemingly climbed up to the audience and begun attacking – no that's sugarcoating it. They were massacring.

There was no mercy in the villains' eyes as they moved without hesitation. Impaling hearts, committing headshots. Age didn't matter. Looks didn't matter. There was no discrimination to their killing. Their goal was clear as day. They came here for one thing.

To be the harbingers of true chaos.

There was even laughter coming from the center. Through the screaming and panicking of the crowd it could barely be heard.

Aizawa made a mental note to punch whoever the fuck was laughing at literal people being killed as he grabbed his scarf and activated his quirk. The slightly – red filter came over his vision as he activated his quirk, as well as the confused faces of the villains in front of him once they realized their beloved power had gone missing.

Crack

A man with literal finger guns was knocked out cold with one kick to the head.

Bang

A person with an ant head was slammed into a pole by Eraserhead's scarf.

Fwoomp

A bull with a gas mask went flying towards a group of villains as the scarf swung him towards the crowd.

Each and every one dropped like flies as Aizawa let his inner animal out. He hated these kinds of people. Villains who traded humanity over power. He knew that he was punching some of these guys too hard, and that they were going to wake up with serious concussions and possible brain damage. But part of him didn't seem to care right now. Because he just had to pull away 2 fucking 5 year old children from a mummy with a machete. Now wasn't the time to be on the high moral ground.

Now was the time to fight dirty.

But alas, he couldn't fight all of the villains in the seating area by himself.

Eraser wasn't a quirk that was built for group fights.

And this fighting terrain was really annoying for a hero who favored parkour.

It was so easy to trip, which was both good and bad for him since it meant the villains were more likely to fall, but the same went for him.

So when he hear the obnoxious screaming voice behind him, part of him was relieved, and part of him was annoyed. Because he couldn't deal with Present Mic's volume level unless he had his morning coffee.

Which he didn't.

Cause the fucking machines broke.

(A fact that he was still very pissed about and was taking out on the villains.)

Luckily he didn't have to deal with it for long since the other teachers had seemingly joined the fight. Waves of cement trapped villains inside. Bullets rained down hitting each target with 100% accuracy. A scarlet red mist with the scent of blood came from Aizawa's sworn enemy. Clones of the same slightly – terrifying figure carried the injured away and ushered civilians to the exits. The heroes who had come here to watch the festival had joined as well. He briefly saw the bright flames of Endeavor incinerate 5 villains in an instant, their bodies falling unconscious to the floor.

He paused for a moment to look around. His section had been cleared out by now. Each teacher was currently fighting a handful of villains around the entire ring of seats. Most of the civilians had gotten the memo to run when the villains started rushing the stands, so not many people had been hurt yet. The villains who came first had only done large scaled base attacks on the crowded entrances of the stairs, with the killers coming in afterwards to clean up those who got left behind. But most of the heroes had jumped into action and managed to save the few people still running to the exits. But someone was missing.

Midnight.

No pink mist could be seen in the battlefield. She was in the center court when the intruders had first arrived, which Aizawa didn't stick around for since he ran down the stairs immediately. Anything could have happened to her. She could be dead for all he knew.

His focus slowly shifted to the 3 figures standing in the middle of all the chaos. The black mist was the most stoic of all 3 villains, silently watching the fight before them as their body shifted in the air. The navy muscle bird stood completely still, its eyes bulging out like some kind of cartoon character. But the last one… he was cackling. He was the source of the giddy laughter that Aizawa had heard in the beginning. His fist clenched tightly. He wanted to beat the shit out of a disgusting person like him. His quirk flared up as a response to the on flow of hate that entered his heart. But to his surprise, the cackling stopped. The hands man simply looked up in his direction. Even though they were miles apart, Aizawa could tell that the man was staring at him. Most people reportedly felt "something missing" as an after effect of his quirk. Maybe the man had realized he had erased his quirk and was angry at him for it?

A part of Aizawa really hoped the guy was getting angry at him, because if he did, then that means the man would more than likely attack Aizawa. Which means that Eraserhead would get the chance to beat the ever loving Go–

Boom

That's all Aizawa registered as a shockwave of air dispersed into the fight. He held up his arms and anchored himself to the ground. He looked up moments later, and a feeling of both dread and relief once again washed over him.

"DON'T WORRY."

That stupidly confident voice echoed throughout the stadium. The few civilians left started to cry and scream as a new light of hope washed over them.

But Aizawa just did a face palm.

Here we go again.

"WHY?"

The looming figure of the Number One Hero appeared as the dust cloud in the stadium lifted. He had tried to punch the laughing man but was blocked by the muscle bird.

"BECAUSE I AM HERE."

Aizawa finally looked at All Might, expecting to see him in a stupid limelight hero pose that everyone did. His brain rebooted as he fully registered the seemingly impossible sight.

All Might wasn't smiling.

Which could only mean one thing.

These villains were fucked.

Chapter End Notes

I KILLED LYNX

HA!

Nah like when I was writing this chapter last week I suddenly realized I had forgotten about Lynx and immediately thought "What if I just killed her off to make people cry?" and my brain was like "That's a great idea." So Lynx is dead because I wanted to make ya'll cry. If I didn't... well good for you I guess. I'm not going to congratulate you because that would be me literally telling you guys "Good job you didn't cry when an innocent cat got ripped apart [literally] from the inside out." So... good for you is all your getting.

To the people that did cry: haha. L

Anyway you guys are probably going to get 1 chapter this week specifically because I CANNOT FUCKING WRITE ALL MIGHT'S AND BAKUGOU'S POV IT IS SO ANNOYING BECAUSE I HATE THEIR CHARACTERS. But who knows maybe I'll hyperfixate on it and get the job done. If I do finish Ch. 14 then you guys are also getting Ch. 15 because I have already written that one (goes to show how much I'm avoiding the next chapter).

I'm also been kind of worried that I'm adding too much death into this event. In the original USJ attack, all the villains were trying to kill the students so I thought it would only make sense that they would do the same here to the regular civilians. But I'm not 100% sure on it. But that's it! See ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Showdown

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

At first, things seemed to be going smoothly.

His army was following his every word.

The screams of people could be heard for miles.

The scent of blood was in the air.

All of it screamed destruction.

And Shigaraki loved destruction.

Whether it be an object or a person, even the whole of society. It didn't matter. Because in the end, it all gave him the same feeling.

Pleasure.

Destroying things and people was the only source of happiness for Shigaraki. And it was the only source he needed. It was the only source he wanted to have.

So watching the people's screams as they ran away from his soldiers was amazing to him. All he could feel was pure and utter joy. The only thing that could make it better would be joining in on the fun. He moved his hands, building up the warmth of his quirk in his fingertips. He imagined the feeling of his quirk coursing through the skin of his victims as they fell apart. Hearing them scream in pain as they realized their destruction. As their minds try to comprehend the fate that was arriving. Oh that would make it all so perf–

The warmth in his fingertips suddenly disappeared. He stood there, stunned for a moment as his mind pulled himself to reality.

His fantasies had been interrupted.

But why?

He looked up at the seats all around him, most of them empty and tainted with blood. His eyes fell onto a man with jet black hair that floated upwards and a costume that could double as pajamas. Red, glowing eyes stared back at him, with hate equal to Shigaraki's heart.

Ah.

Eraserhead.

As much as Shigaraki hated him for interrupting his fantasies, he had to hand it to the hero.

He looked like a total badass.

That wouldn't spare him from the same fate as everyone else though.

Death doesn't play favorites.

So neither will Shigaraki.

In the end, destruction is all anyone will–

Boom

Shigaraki looked to his left. He could barely make out Nomu through the dust cloud that came from the explosion.

"DON'T WORRY."

That stupidly confident voice echoed throughout the stadium. The few civilians left started to cry and scream as a new light of hope washed over them.

It made Shigaraki want to puke.

Here we go again.

"WHY?"

The looming figure of the Number One Hero appeared as the dust cloud in the stadium lifted. He had tried to punch Shigaraki but was blocked by the muscle bird.

"BECAUSE I AM HERE."

Shigaraki finally looked at All Might, expecting to see him in a stupid limelight hero pose that everyone did. His brain rebooted as he fully registered the seemingly impossible sight.

All Might wasn't smiling.

The Symbol of Peace… wasn't smiling.

…

Oh, this is so much better than it could ever possibly be.

Shigaraki had done it.

He will forever be the one who did it.

He will be marked in history as the man who made All Might stop smiling.

He will be the one credited for showing All Might's true self.

The one that always lurks behind the stupid fucking fake idiotic smile.

The one oblivious to all the destruction around it.

Shigaraki was the one to give All Might the wakeup call.

Holy fucking shit, he was glad that his spy failed to get into UA now. This was so much better than a simple USJ invasion could possibly provide.

"I've been waiting, hero." Shigaraki calmly said.

All Might's eyes traced over Shigaraki, his frown turning into a full on scowl.

Good, get angry, Shigaraki thought.

"You trash of society, I'll kill y–"

Shigaraki felt his mask – Father – on his face get pushed away as Nomu stood next to him, its arm stretched out. All Might had tried to move past Nomu and punch Shigaraki, but only managed to touch Father before Nomu pushed him away. He scowled.

Wasn't All Might supposed to be slower than that?

"Skipping monologues are we? The violence of a government official…" Shigaraki said, slowly picking up Father and returning it to its rightful place.

"So then. Number 1 Hero."

A sly grin could barely be seen from the side of his face, the only part Father didn't cover.

"Are you ready to die?"

All Might seemed to pay no mind to the venom Shigaraki was spitting, immediately launching forward once again.

"CAROLINA SMASH!" he said, crossing his arms in an x-shape and swinging them forward, hitting the Nomu straight in the gut.

No effect. The two beings traded blow after blows, punching and sending airstreams powerful enough to be considered hurricane winds. The arena's walls and floor started to crack, Shigaraki and Kurogiri had to brace themselves from the impact of the two. Even the heroes and villains all around them had to stop fighting and take cover.

They were Gods of strength battling over life and death.

Two of the most powerful beings created by the superhuman society of the present.

And only one was taking damage.

Finally the barrage stopped and the dust cleared. All Might was the only one who seemed to have taken any damage, slightly bleeding from busted skin and bruised in various places. Nomu looked the same as it did before.

Shigaraki laughed.

"Don't you like it, All Might? Nomu has Shock Absorption, he's been built to be able to take the most powerful punches you could make. Isn't it amazing?"

"SHOCK ABSORPTION, HUH? THANK YOU FOR THE ADVICE!" All Might said with a hidden smirk, diving back into battle with the Nomu.

Punching its face over and over again, throwing it off balance enough to grab its waist. He lifted it into the air, slamming it into the concrete and creating a large explosion of air and concrete. The hurricane winds returned once again and the dust flew back into the air.

Then the silence came.

"Were you trying to stick him into the ground to keep him from moving?" Shigaraki taunted. "This is good Kurogiri."

He was almost tempted to look away from the glorious scene in front of him to look at the heroes in the seating area above and around him, who had stopped fighting with the villains and started to watch the battle. He wanted to desperately see the look of horror and fear etched onto their faces as their hope was destroyed right in front of them. But no, he needed to etch every second of this view into his mind.

Nomu's bottom half was sticking straight up from the ground, his top half a few feet away. Kurogiri's warp gate was underneath the two halves. All Might was grappled in the Nomu's grip, his hand puncturing into All Might's skin. Blood dripped from the most powerful man in the world.

And it was all because of Shigaraki.

All Might started to try and rip open the Nomu's grip, but to no avail.

Finally, the stoic Kurogiri decided to speak up for the first time.

"Nomu will lower you through the gate, and when you are halfway, I will close it, essentially cutting you in half. I do not want blood and guts overflowing within me, however, I will make the exception for you, All Might. Now, prep–"

"DIE!"

2 blasts permeated from the tense air, hitting both Kurogiri and the Nomu. Kurogiri sauntered away, his warp gate body frantically waving around as he stabilized. The Nomu was hit in the gut, and for a split second, loosened his grip, which All Might exploited. The giant man bounced away towards the entrance he had come from minutes before, this time with another person behind him.

Spiky blond hair and red eyes that could rival Shigaraki's anger.

The happiness Shigaraki was feeling had disappeared.

All that was left was the cold, numb void that made him feel dead.

He hated that.

He hated feeling angry.

He hated feeling sad.

He hated feeling dead.

He wanted to be alive.

He wanted to be happy.

And this little bitch had ruined his happiness.

He started flexing his fingers again, feeling the warmth of his quirk to try and calm his mindset. When it didn't work, he started to frantically scratch his neck while trying to think. He couldn't destroy anything near him right now, so the skin on his neck will have to do.

Why did that little shit ruin his fun?

He was happy.

He was going to finally do his lifelong goal.

He was going to kill All Might!

How DARE this cunt try to destroy that!

Only he can destroy people's joy!

Only he can decay the world!

Why?

Why do things never go his way?

Why does God hate him?

"Shigaraki."

Oh, had he said all those things out loud? Good thing Kurogiri was here, otherwise he would have gone like that for a while.

He lowered his hands from his neck, returning his focus to the battle in front of him.

He was going to kill that son of a bitch.

Just wait and see.

For fucks sake, Bakugou wasn't THAT far behind!

He could hear the fight had already started but all of the villains All Might skipped had started to come straight for him! It only took 3 minutes tops to deal with those extras.

How the fuck was All Might already in a losing position!

He was gone for one second!

And also, why the fuck was the final boss a guy covered in literal hands!? Oh God, were they real? Bakugou might puke if they were real. And then beat the shit out of hi–

"YOUNG BAKUGOU! I TOLD YOU NOT TO ENGAGE. THIS IS A FIGHT FOR PRO-HEROES, NOT A FIRST-YEAR HERO IN TRAINING."

Bakugou turned his deadly gaze to his teacher.

"You would have been mincemeat if I didn't step in old man. Now shut up and focus on bird fuck. I'll take care of willow-whisp and Mr. Pedicure."

He put his arms behind his back, ready to blast himself forward at a moment's notice.

"Nomu."

The bird creature turned to the pale hand man.

"Bring me the brat."

And all Bakugou felt was being pushed out of the way as a blast came from his right.

He looked around. He was sitting down on the floor now, a few feet away from where he was just standing moments prior. He looked to the source of the blast. All Might was sitting in a crater in the wall while the Nomu stood where they previously were.

All Might had taken the blast for him.

He curled his fists.

Godammit.

~~He was just saved again.~~

All Might was coughing as the Nomu just stared blankly. A small laugh grew from the center of the court.

"Sorry All Might, I had no choice! The brat was ruining my plans and I need to stop him from doing that."

He put out his arms like a bonsai tree and walked forward.

"You know what All Might? I'm angry! Violence only breed violence. The world will know this once we kill you!"

It was like a 5 year old child was speaking through a coarse, deep voice. Being entertained at the littlest things. This guy was nothing more than an immature brat who was never told the word "no."

"DON'T BE STUPID!"

The booming voice of the Number 1 Hero was hard to miss.

"YOU'VE GOT THE EYES OF A WHITE COLLAR VILLAIN. CRIMINALS LIKE YOU DON'T WORK TO SEND A MESSAGE. YOU JUST WANT TO CAUSE DESTRUCTION!"

The pale man stopped moving and lowered his arms.

If looks could kill, then Bakugou would've dropped dead.

"YOUNG BAKUGOU! GET BACK."

Bakugou sent another glare, hopefully as murderous as the last, to All Might. He knew that All Might was running out of time. Hell, it would probably be only a minute until the deflated, gaunt face of the man was revealed.

"IT'S FINE." he said, standing up from the wall and walking towards the bird fucker.

"JUST WATCH AS A PRO GIVES IT EVERYTHING HE'S GOT."

And suddenly he lurched forwards, crashing straight into the Nomu. The force knocked Bakugou, Shigaraki, and Kurogiri from their feet, making them go flying away.

"Hey hey, didn't I already tell you about Shock Absorption?" Shigaraki said, gracefully landing like a cat ready to pounce.

"IF IT'S SHOCK ABSORPTION..."

All Might and bird creature began trading blow after blow, punch after punch. Each one packed with enough power to rip a man's arm off yet both of them stayed intact. Their arms blurred together as the movements became faster and faster, stronger and stronger.

"THEN THERE'S A LIMIT, RIGHT?"

For a split second, the Nomu punched All Might right in his gut, his weak spot, the injury he had gotten from the greatest villain who had ever lived 5 years ago. Blood spilled from his mouth but he pushed on, going even faster than before. 5 seconds went by, 10 seconds, 15 seconds. Everyone could only stare in shock as they watched one of the most powerful fights Japan had ever seen in a long time.

"MADE TO FIGHT ME AT 100% HUH?"

The duo became even faster, the air force dispelling from the two becoming stronger in turn. Bakugou was almost sent flying again but he planted himself firm onto the ground, determined to watch the display of true strength in front of him.

"IF THAT'S TRUE, THEN I'LL FORCE YOU TO SURRENDER BEYOND THAT!"

And suddenly, All Might began to take over the fist fight. His punches were hitting faster, the blur was more prominent on his side. The Nomu was reeling back from the force of it all and started to miss some of its hits.

It suddenly dawned onto Bakugou what this fight really entailed. All Might was hitting with more than 100% percent of his power. For every. Single. Punch.

"A HERO…"

All Might trailed, launching Nomu back into the air and into the seating ring, destroying the stadium chairs as it landed. Out of the corner of Bakugou's eye, he saw some heroes barely manage to get out of the way. The Nomu picked itself up, using all 4 limbs to launch itself into the air, planning to land on All Might. All Might jumped at the same time, grabbing its arm and spinning it in the air, building momentum with each turn.

"CAN ALWAYS BREAK OUT OF A TOUGH SPOT!"

He threw it into the ground.

A giant crater emerged in the dead center of the arena. Rocks flew everywhere as Bakugou was launched back into the entrance hall he had just ran through to get there. All he could do was grit his teeth and watch.

How he hated it.

It bounced off the ground, flying in the air vertically as if it was laying down when All Might seemingly teleported to the ground.

"HEY VILLAIN."

He slowly rose as the Nomu kept flying up, almost 12 feet off the ground now.

"HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THESE WORDS?"

He pulled his arm back.

A hint of aqua blue glowed from his eye.

"GO BEYOND!"

His hand curled into a fist.

An aura that screamed one word emitted from him.

Power.

"PLUS…"

He swung his arm forward, hitting the Nomu square in the gut. It lurked forward from the force.

"ULTRA!"

A giant burst of air rocketed forward, destroying some of the stadium lights and metal sheet coverings as the Nomu went flying. In the sky, clouds dissipated as it seemingly broke through the stratosphere. Bakugou kept staring up for a few seconds, though the Nomu couldn't be seen anymore. He looked down to his mentor in pure awe.

White smoke came off of his feature. He was bleeding all over the place, especially the wound where half his stomach was missing. His face wasn't smiling, but the foreign scowl he once had was gone as well.

"NOW THEN." All Might said, turning to the 2 villains left standing.

"ARE YOU NEXT?"

For the first time, silence finally came after the tens of thousands explosions that occurred moments ago.

The pale man wasn't moving. He was probably still recovering from the brain-fucked state everyone else – ~~including him~~– was in.

"Cheater."

It was barely a whisper. Bakugou almost thought he had imagined it.

"Did sensei… lie to me?"

Bakugou raised an eyebrow. So there was a man behind the scenes?

The pale man started to scratch his neck excessively.

"COME AND GET ME IF YOU CAN."

Bakugou turned his focus back onto All Might. There was no way his teacher could move in the state he was in. No, the amount of smoke being released from his body showed that.

The man was bluffing.

Fuck.

It was their only option since no one else seemed to be jumping in at the moment. He mentally cursed out the heroes who were just standing by doing nothing.

Why hadn't anyone jumped down to help All Might yet!?

"WELL WHAT'S WRONG!?"

The hand man backed away. Shaking. Still scratching his neck while muttering the words cheater over and over again.

A 5 year old gamer in a man's body.

Fucking childish piece of shit.

How did a bitch like him manage to pull off an invasion like this?

"Shigaraki. Please calm yourself."

The hand man froze.

"The heroes seemed to be frozen in fear. Some of our own can still fight, and those knocked out are beginning to wake up. If you announce a charge, we can use this opportunity to attack All Might together."

The sickly being hunched itself over, all of a sudden acting calm and in control.

"That's true. We've come so far anyway. The last boss is in front of us. All we have to do is kill him."

Fuck.

The bluff failed.

"ALL VILLAINS, ATTACK!"

A loud roar snapped everyone out of their stunned silence as the seating area erupted into chaos once more. Despite everything they had seen, despite the incredible feat All Might had just pulled, they were still attacking. That told Bakugou one thing.

Getting arrested and charged was a better fate than disobeying the orders of Shigaraki.

The mist guy was rapidly approaching All Might, the pale man to the left side of him, away from Bakugou's view. But only one thought was registered into Bakugou's mind at that moment.

His mentor was in danger.

His mentor couldn't move.

Bakugou could move.

He had the power to move.

He had the SAME power as All Might.

Literally!

So he should move.

But using his explosions wouldn't be fast enough.

His arms were still on the ground. He would need to move them back to launch himself forward.

And all he had was a single second to react.

Luckily, he had a giant pool of power for him to tap into.

An ocean filled to the brim with energy.

He could feel that power coarse through his legs as he launched himself forward.

Pulling back his arm and he reveled in the warmth that spread through it as well.

Pink streaks appeared on his exposed hand.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" he screamed.

He couldn't be the one to let All Might die.

He had so much to learn from him, after all.

He had only just gotten started!

But to his horror, a black mist appeared in front of his face. An outstretched, pale hand came through the portal, ready to latch onto Bakugou's face.

The scent of death was in the air.

That hand reminded him of the cold, bony hands reapers usually have in horror films.

Every fiber of Bakugou's being screamed at him not get touched by that hand.

His instincts told him that he would die.

But he was in the air now.

His arms were in no position to set off a blast.

There was nothing he could do.

Yet another impossible problem to this insane day.

This was his third time almost dying in 10 mins, if he counted correctly.

Why was he being so useless today?

He hated doing nothing.

He hated being nothing.

He hated the fact that he could do nothing except watch.

Watch others do the work for him.

Watch others praise him for a quirk anyone could have gotten.

Watch others solve his impossible problems.

Watch the hand of death slowly come for his soul–"

" LEVEL 3 ALERT. VILLAIN ATTACK. PLEASE EVACUATE. I REPEAT. LEVEL 3 ALERT. VILLAIN ATTACK…"

The blaring message rocked the stadium. The lights of the stadium turned on. Everyone was so focused on their own individual problems that they had shut out the rest of the world from their senses. The large, sudden sound burst through that wall and made everyone freeze. The bright, blinding lights made everyone flinch as they tried to cover their eyes.

Shigaraki was one of them.

The arm was suddenly pulled back a few inches, just enough so that Bakugou could flop onto the floor untouched. The warp gate almost closed and cut off the hand. Even All Might coughed blood from the jumpscare.

Someone must have restored the power.

At exactly the right moment.

…

DAMMIT HE WAS SAVED AGAIN!

DYING ALMOST SEEMS LIKE THE BETTER OPTION THAN DEALING WITH THIS EMBARRASMENT!

He tried to stand up but found that he couldn't move his legs. He looked down. It looked like someone had beaten his legs into oblivion. The pain was just starting to register, and from what was coming he could already tell that he had broken both of them. They were bruised and battered beyond use at this point.

Great.

Now he REALLY couldn't do anything.

Fuck, he was so useless.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

He watched as Shigaraki lunged forward in a fit of anger, being the first one to break out of the overwhelming lights and sirens. His hand – the symbol of death – rocketing forward at all Might. He tried so hard to move, to force himself to stand up, but his legs were unresponsive.

The realization came in.

He was about to watch his mentor die.

He was about to watch the Number 1 Hero die.

And it would all be his fault–

A scarf wrapped around Shigaraki's arm, causing him to fly backwards. Bakugou looked to his left, just in time to see Aizawa-sensei deliver a devastating yet satisfying blow to the pale man's jaw, knocking the creepy hand mask off of his face and making him go flying to the right. He couldn't help but grin maniacally at the sound of the man's jawbone breaking with a loud crunch. Eraserhead stood in a starter position, the punching hand slightly bleeding, his red eyes causing chills on Bakugou's spine. The flaring red screamed one word: anger.

"I believe that is enough."

The unconscious body of the pale man was suddenly wrapped in black mist before vanishing from sight. It happened in less than an instant. Aizawa-sensei blinked confused, looking around for any sign of the mist/hand man but found none. He relaxed and walked over to All Might and Bakugou.

"You really pushed yourself today, All Might. Maybe if you hadn't spent the entire day neglecting your teacher duties you wouldn't have had to struggle."

Damn, that was cold, even for Bakugou.

All Might shifted uncomfortably from his stance.

"YES… THAT PROBABLY WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER. SORRY. BUT FOR NOW, I'M ABOUT TO RUN OUT OF TIME, CAN YOU HELP ME INTO THE CORRIDOR?"

He could see the disappointment on slowly wash over Aizawa-sensei's face. His heart slightly jumped in fear when his teacher turned to him.

"Didn't I say to the class that injuring yourself in the heat of battle was the worst thing you can do?"

Bakugou gulped and lowered his head onto the ground, allowing his body to relax and cave in from the exhaustion of the day.

"Yeah… I know."

Chapter End Notes

Hello!

Nothing major happened in this one, just a finisher of the Sports Festival. This week you guys are probably getting 2-3 chapters so get ready to readdddddddd.

Next week I have this volunteering thing that's going to take up the majority of my time so I don't know if I'm going to be able to post anything. I will definitely try tho.

More on that tomorrow. For now, cyaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Reaction

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Tsukauchi Naomasa was a pretty good detective.

His quirk, Lie Detector, was basically built for his chosen career.

Whenever his colleagues needed help with their cases, they went to him.

Whenever coworkers couldn't get someone to talk, he'd step in.

He was efficient.

He was smart.

And most importantly, he got the job done.

But he was also experienced.

Skilled enough to know when to pursue the truth and when to back down.

Knowledgeable enough to know where the line should be drawn.

Experienced enough to know to never put your emotions into a case.

And damn this case was making that hard.

There was only one word to describe the Sports Festival: horrifying. 54 people were mildly hurt, 27 civilians were seriously injured and 6 died in the stadium seats. Some of them were still in the hospital on death's door. Thankfully, most of the heroes managed to come out unscathed since most of the ones who were present were the more powerful pros. Most of the UA students managed to come out unharmed, though some were sent to the hospital. Unfortunately, All Might's time had been reduced to one hour. And while all of it was absolutely terrible and extremely hard to work through, there was one part that stuck out to Tsukauchi the most.

The pictures of that dreadful scene laid somewhere inside of the giant case file in his car. Since he was the best at interrogations of criminals and witnesses, he was the one who had to talk to the 2 hero course students who found that mess.

Let's just say he never wanted to do that ever again.

He turned the block and stared at the giant gates with the emblem "UA" on the top. The giant building loomed over everything in sight. It was hard to believe that a place as grand as this was attacked viciously a few days ago.

Checking into UA would have been a lot harder and lengthier if it was any other police officer. Luckily for him, he knew Principal Nezu pretty well, so getting in took a significantly smaller amount of time than it normally would. Even with the extra security measures.

With a giant stack of files, Tsukauchi navigated the empty, camera-filled halls of the school. It was eerily quiet. He knocked on the door that read "Council Room", walking in with a small smile as Eraserhead opened the door.

The room had no windows or obvious doors, but he knew that there were probably multiple hidden entrances and exits within the walls and floor. 4 plants sat at each corner of the room. A U-shaped desk took up the majority of the room with a large screen on the opposite of the wall. Nezu sat in the middle, facing directly at the screen while the other teachers sat along the sides. Eraserhead, Ectoplasm, Hound Dog, Snipe, All Might (the thin version), Present Mic, Thirteen, Powerloader, and Vlad King all turning towards him and giving small greetings.

He frowned at the sight of Midnight's empty seat, her nametag sitting on the desk, being the only evidence of her existence as a UA staff member in the room. She was still missing from the invasion. No one knew where the portal villain had teleported her away.

The disappointment on Tsukauchi's face seemed to answer the question of "Where is Midnight?" that every teacher desperately wanted to ask. The question was left unsaid.

"Hello Tsukauchi-san? I hope coming into the school wasn't that big of an issue?" the principal spoke, his usual cheery tone filling the worried atmosphere.

"Not at all. It was actually surprisingly easy to get through even after the security measures you put after the Sports Festival. Speaking of which, I think we should all get started as soon as possible."

Everyone silently agreed as they sat down, Tsukauchi making his way up to the screen while passing a few files in front of everyone. He cleared his throat.

"I don't have a lot of time so I'm going to go pretty fast. Specific details are in the files if you want to take a look. What we know so far is very simple. A group called the League of Villains teleported to the stadium without warning. The power generators were hit with some type of blast, but not a physical one. Just something that caused a malfunction in its processes. One of the villains that we arrested admitted to using his quirk to accomplish that."

The screen flashed to show a picture of the man in question before flipping to another slide with 3 pictures.

"These 3 seem to be the most important of the attack. This person," Tsukauchi said, tapping the picture with the pale man and light blue hair, "was deemed the leader. He was called Shigaraki numerous times by Kurogiri, the portal one."

"And the other one?" Vlad King asked, his gruff voice greatly contrasting with Tsukauchi's neutral tone.

"The other one appears to be the key to the whole invasion. His name is Nomu, and he was found several kilometers away from the stadium." Tsukauchi glanced at All Might. "When we arrested him, Nomu was completely unresponsive, as if he was unconscious, yet his eyes were wide-open. At first, we thought brain damage had occurred due to his fight with All Might, but further research showed something even worse."

Tsukauchi turned to the rest of the teachers, eyeing them with serious gaze.

"Nomu contained the DNA of this man." Tsukauchi flipped the screen once again, the presentation displaying a photograph of a scrawny man with a large frown. "This is Ito Sai. A lowtime thug with an exceptional speed quirk. He was never reported missing, yet somehow, he ended up like that."

Though hidden, Tsukauchi could see the small amounts of disgust and panic in the pro heroes' faces. They see messed up shit every day, and over time, you learn to shield yourself from the unfairness and inhumanities of the world. But sometimes, every once in a while, it leaks out.

And honestly, who can blame them?

"We still don't know much about the Nomu, but the only thing we can confirm is that it is a bio-engineered human, made to fight All Might. I'll update you more once Tartarus has finished doing a full examination. Moving on, I'm sure you all know about what happened with the majority of the villains who had gathered around Shigaraki."

All Might decided to chip into the conversation.

"There's one thing that's been bothering me this entire time. When I beat the Nomu, Shigaraki started freaking out and calling me a "cheater" and other video game references were made. He even told me that Nomu had Shock Absorption, which is very foolish. Who tells the enemy your secrets?"

"Sounds like an inexperienced child to me."

Everyone turned to Aizawa.

"Mood swings, videogame references, expecting things to go your way and when they don't, you throw a tantrum. That sounds like a 5 year old kid with a Power Ranger action figure."

"So what you're saying is, we're dealing with a manchild?" Ectoplasm said with hesitance.

"If that's the case, then how the hell did he get that many people to follow him? I find it hard to believe that this many villains were willing to follow a manchild to the very end."

All Might spoke up.

"He did mention the word 'sensei' at one point. Young Bakugou told you about that, right Naomasa?"

Tsukauchi nodded. "Unfortunately, the name Shigaraki doesn't fit anyone with this picture, so it's likely an alias. We'll continue to look through what we have, but since Shigaraki never used his quirk, we don't have much to go on other than his appearance. No luck with this Kurogiri warp gate either."

He paused to take a breath.

"The only other significant appearance at the attack was reportedly the vigilante Gigaton. They clothes they wore was nothing like they're regular costume though. They are also most active in other cities, so it doesn't make sense why they would be here."

"Maybe they infiltrated the League of Villains to stop them?" Powerloader suggested.

Tsukauchi shook his head.

"That doesn't explain the change in outfits. My guess is that they were actually there to watch the festival. When I have the time, I'd like to have a list of every person who bought a ticket into the stadium if you don't mind Nezu-san."

"Not at all!"

The conversation became livelier after that as the final details were said and settled, most of the teachers leaving the office slightly more informed on their attackers. Only the principal, All Might, and the detective remained.

"Now since we are alone, there are a few more things I need to discuss in private."

The two heroes nodded, signaling for Tsukauchi to continue.

He sat down next to All Might and opened one of the files he hadn't given to the teachers.

"We took a blood test with the Nomu, and while it did show Ito Saito's DNA, it also showed many other people."

All Might gasped while the mouse stayed still, his ear's twitching being the only indication that he had heard something.

"Toshinori." Tsukauchi said, leaning in closer. "The Nomu had multiple quirks."

Silence filled the room as the heavy words traveled through the air. All Might looked stunned, the color draining from his sickly face.

"You don't… you don't think it's him right?"

Tsukauchi sighed and leaned back, looking up at the roof. He took a moment to study the symmetrical pattern of the roof tiles to stall his answer.

He slowly shook his head. "I don't know. But it's very likely."

An uneasy quiet creeped into the room as suspense filled the atmosphere. As if he was about to come through a wall at that very moment.

Fortunately, no one came.

"Anyway, that's all I needed to tell you. I need to continue a discussion with Nezu if you don't mind."

The Number 1 Hero didn't say a word, just slightly nodding and robotically heading towards the door. A few seconds went by before Tsukauchi gave a small sigh. He knew that All Might wasn't going to take it well, but he had hoped for the best.

"So, Nezu-san, there's still one more thing that I didn't mention specifically because of the… uh… content… that I know most of the staff didn't have to or want to see. It concerns the ut–"

A knock at the door interrupted them. Tsukauchi shouted for them to come in. Aizawa slowly opened the door, softly closing it behind him before facing the detective and the principal.

"I figured that I would wait until All Might would leave before I came back. Figured that there were some things I'm not supposed to know. But since you didn't leave, I came back in."

"Are you sure? What I'm about to discuss is pretty… bad. Like, even I couldn't eat for a bit after seeing the… crime scene." Tsukauchi said with a shudder.

Aizawa simply rolled his eyes.

"I'm an underground hero. I've seen enough fucked up shit for a lifetime. What's one more?"

"Fair enough." Tsukauchi muttered while Aizawa took the seat All Might previously sat at.

"Like I was saying, the battles in the utility tunnels were very… disturbing." he said, pulling out some of the photos he took without looking at them. He had already done a good job of forgetting those images, and he didn't want to revert back. The amount of times he was jump-scared by the color red was too high a number for Tsukauchi to admit.

Even Nezu and Aizawa couldn't hide their neutrality as the gore of the images burned into their minds. And Tsukauchi couldn't blame them. The utility tunnels were their own kind of bloodbath. It was like the seating area but a 1000 times worse.

"The working theory is that another Nomu was put into the utlity tunnels to guard the power generators from being turned back on. That was, until we tested the blood. All of them belonged to murderers and small time offenders, essentially, villains who were part of the attack. Which means the Nomu theory is out. And when whoever the hell did this turned on the power generators, all of the cameras had been destroyed, which meant that no footage was kept. And we couldn't even look at the camera footage beforehand since all of the day's footage was deleted during the attack. There's only one option, whoever did this snuck in with the villain group and betrayed them last minute. If that were the case, then we really have no chance of finding who did this unless one of the arrested open their mouths. But there's something else I need to talk to you about."

Aizawa and Nezu looked up from the file for the first time, silently asking him to continue.

Tsukauchi sighed. He trusted both Nezu and Aizawa with what he was about to say, but it didn't make the fear in his heart any smaller.

Sometimes, being the detective sucks.

"The fact that they knew about the layout of the stadium, enough to directly teleport some of the people there, suggests that at some point they stole that information."

"The media break-in?" Aizawa suggested.

Tsukauchi nodded. "Yeah. That would've been the most likely time judging on the past records. And while it's possible that Kurogiri simply teleported someone to the inside of UA, there's another theory I have."

He paused, studying their faces before continuing. "Do you think any of the students here are working for the League of Villains?"

Both of the heroes narrowed their eyes, their motions almost mimicking each other perfectly. One of the only hints of the fact that Nezu was Aizawa's mentor.

"I know it sounds bad, but I really need to know. Is there anyone who could've faked some records or may have a motive to work against heroes?"

He fully expected both of them to full on deny it. He felt stupid for even asking it. Tsukauchi was essentially calling their students potential traitors with no evidence.

But to his surprise, they only shared a glance.

"Wait, you actually have someone in mind?"

Aizawa turned to Tsukauchi.

"I wouldn't say in mind, but it's… possible, considering these circumstances. Their quirk is organic telekinesis, and while I've never seen them display this," he studied the photo, "kind of power or hostility, with that quirk it's probably possible. And he managed to hack into Nezu's mainframe during the entrance exam. We even recently determined that he was one of the smartest in Japan with the rat's personal IQ Test."

Tsukauchi pulled out a small notepad, not even registering the weight of his friend's words.

"Who?"

Nezu and Aizawa shared one more glance before both giving a deep sigh. Nezu responded, his carefree tone disappearing entirely.

"Etsuri Izuku."

Tsukauchi, still not even realizing the full extent of their words, mindlessly scribbled down the name. His mind was running through a checklist of what he had to do when he got back to the precinct, the same list he always went through whenever he got a suspect for the case. This was routine. It was nice to have something normal despite the unfavorable circumstances.

He stopped though, putting down his notebook and resting it on his lap, staring at the floor now.

"What?" Aizawa grumbled, confused as to Tsukauchi's sudden pause.

"Well, I was just thinking, he can't be both."

"Both what?"

"The spy and the villain murderer. It doesn't make sense for him to work for the League if he just murdered a bunch of his own allies in the utility tunnels."

They both paused, now realizing the conundrum that had revealed itself through the few theories they had. Both the student and the master had a sadistic love for logic, so part of them enjoyed the mind games and paradoxes of crime, despite the horrors that come with it. Only Aizawa kept it secret though, Nedzu practically wore it like a god damn crown.

"So, we've got two theories then. Either Etsuri Izuku is a spy, or he's a villain." Tsukauchi said, standing up and putting the whole weight of his body on his arms and the table, staring intensely at the file below. As if somehow the ink would melt off the paper and show him the answer. God, he'd kill for a quirk like that. He glanced at the photographs sitting near Aizawa and Nedzu, who had both turned them upside down so that they wouldn't be distracted by its terror-filled gaze. He cringed as the content they held flahsed through his mind for a second.

Maybe not kill, bad choice of words for the moment.

"One thing is for certain, at the very least. He's got no obvious ties to our normal world. He's a new player who won't give up his background so easily." the mouse said, his ears twitching as he rested his chin on his arms. He wasn't looking at the file, instead looking straight ahead. It was very clear though, that even if he wasn't completely looking at them, he was watching their every move.

"Someone with that many secrets? That means he's dangerous."

It had been days since Izuku last left his apartment building.

Those days were filled with nothing but aggressive typing, violent shaking, and the god-sent blessing that was microwave meals.

Seriously, those things were the best fucking things created. You literally only had to press 1 button and boom. Dinner. 0 effort. Great for depressed sons of bitches like him.

Izuku was currently numbingly eating a cup of ramen while frantically typing a quirk analysis essay on his laptop. He was completely wrapped up in 3 blankets like a cocoon with an army of stuffed animals on top of him, trying desperately not to look up what had happened 4 days ago.

Whenever he tried to think about the Sports Festival, he found himself not being able to… well… think. His brain sort of defaulted back to whatever Izuku was doing no matter how hard Izuku tried.

So because of this, Izuku didn't remember what happened at the Sports Festival. In other words, he didn't understand what happened at the Sports Festival. He knew villains had attacked, but that was pretty much it.

And Izuku… needed to understand things.

If he didn't understand then that means he didn't know.

And if he doesn't know, then how can he stay in control?

He knew what it was like to not be in control.

The Man had him wrapped around his finger back then.

So now Izuku needed to be in control.

But he couldn't be in control if he didn't know what he needed to control.

And while his instincts were screaming at him to try to understand, some other part of him kept telling him not to. Like he'd regret it severely if he were to research what happened at the Sports Festival. A gut instinct that told Izuku the knowledge would make him upset.

And Izuku didn't want to be upset.

He was happy.

Uraraka had made it out alive and Iida had apparently left before the attack so they were both fine.

That made him happy.

No harm was done to the rest of his classmates either, which he didn't particularly care about but counted that as a win regardless.

So he was happy.

But if his quest of knowledge were to conquer that joy…

Well…

Izuku couldn't allow that to happen.

So here Izuku was. Trying to ignore his traumatically gained instincts and run away from the truth by distracting himself with intriguing quirks because he didn't want to cry.

Like the fucking coward he is.

He sighed as he looked outside of the window to his right. The early morning sunrise started to seep through his blinds. He had to stay up all night because the internal conflict in his head refused to let him rest his insomniac brain.

The fucking nerve of his brain.

How dare he not let himself sleep?

Not to mention that this was his last piece of food. He needed to go out and buy groceries, something he really hated doing. That store manager would always try to talk to him as if he were a goddamn child or something…

But then again, it had been a while since he last left his house. Maybe a walk would be good for him. He usually never left his house unless he had to, the less of a presence he made the better. But he needed to get groceries anyway, so taking the longer route wouldn't hurt.

He slowly stood up, ~~making Lynx hiss as she fell onto the floor~~causing Mt. Stuffed Animals to crash onto the floor as he grabbed a hoodie from his dresser and a knife on the wall. He quickly skimmed down the fire escape steps and landed gracefully onto the city sidewalk. There were people going to work on a typical early morning Thursday, passing by like worker ants. The so-called city scum of the night were retreating back to the shadows once more. He pulled his hood up and began his journey to the really cheap but really fucking annoying grocery store.

The fresh scent of dew mixed with smoke from the final embers of cigarettes brought some solace to the peaceful atmosphere. The sun was tucked away behind the buildings of the red-light district, hiding its annoying light yet comforting warmth.

He passed by a construction site, the workers drinking coffee in an effort to ready themselves for the day. Izuku watched as large boxes of stones were moved by a man with 4 arms of muscle with ease. The sight of the arms felt… oddly familiar to him.

A blurry image of a girl's face covered in dark, thick liquid flashed in Izuku's mind. He shook his head and kept walking. It wouldn't be good to start dissociating in the middle of the sidewalk. Still, that was a pretty gory sight for anyone but him.

Was that one of his memories from the event?

He really hoped whoever did that to the person got their ass handed to them.

The only thing he did remember from the invasion was the panic attack that occurred when… well, he didn't know WHEN but he knew it had happened at some point. The voice that had replayed back then echoed in his head clearly now, though with significantly less static.

"I need you to make this one suffer."

Thinking about the mantra always made Izuku uneasy.

Like a kid with dementia lost in a mall.

Not knowing where or who he really was.

Why was his life so complicated now?

It was so much easier back with The Man.

He just had to do what he was told.

He was a robot who carried out orders.

Nothing less nothing more.

There were no feelings put into his work.

But now?

Now he had to deal with guilt.

Now he had to be a good friend.

Now he had to accept the sadness that came with happiness.

He missed simplicity.

He missed being dependent rather than being independent.

He missed being a tool –

Izuku froze dead in his tracks. He almost fell as the uneven sidewalk threw off his balance. It earned him some curses from the people walking behind him who bumped into him but he didn't care.

He bit his lip hard enough to taste his blood as he forced himself to keep walking.

He missed being a tool.

He hadn't thought that before, not in the year he's escaped.

He's had his doubts about staying free, yes.

Of course he would, you don't recover from mentally considering yourself as an object in a heartbeat!

But he never despised his freedom.

He was just unsure of it.

But right now?

He missed being a tool.

He missed the simplicity of the concept.

He missed being empty inside.

He missed belonging to The Man.

…

What if he went back?

It would be easy, especially now with all the chaos happening from the Sports Festival.

The Man would certainly welcome him back with open arms.

That unnerving question of who he was would be answered once and for all.

He would be The Man's weapon.

His body, life, and soul would belong to him.

It would be simple.

But if he went back, that would also confirm what Izuku had tried so hard to change.

It would undermine the reason of his escape.

All that effort would have gone to waste.

It would ruin his redemption, and confirm what Izuku has known all along.

That Izuku was a villain.

If he chose to go back to be a villain's tool, then that would make Izuku a villain by default.

That would make Izuku bad.

And he would have to do even more bad things once he was back in the clutches of The Man.

And Izuku... didn't want to do bad.

He wanted to do good.

Because it would make him FEEL good.

Because it would remind him that there is still a small part of him that hasn't been corrupted.

At least, he thinks so.

Don't get him wrong, he still doesn't want to be a hero. Firefly killed that dream.

But he still wanted to be told that he had done a good thing.

Because that would mean he was good.

Right?

And killing made Izuku feel like he was BAD.

Izuku hated the feeling of guilt, despite being filled to the brim with it.

It practically runs through his veins, suppressing his lungs to the point where he can't breathe anymore.

If Izuku goes back to The Man and tries to complete one of his tasks, he doesn't think he'll be able to do it.

Not anymore at least.

Not when he's unlocked the emotions kept in the vault of his brain.

Doing what The Man wanted him to do would make him feel bad.

He wouldn't last.

So returning to The Man isn't an option anymore.

It's just not the right thing to do.

That didn't help with his personal problems though.

He still didn't know who he really was.

The mantra still made him confused.

Emotions were tough.

Especially when it comes to his purpose.

The reason he was born was to make The Man's enemies suffer, by death or torture. He would do that by popping his target's blood vessels and manipulating the free blood into various places. Sometimes he'd flood their lungs and other times he'd rip the blood through their skin.

But when Izuku left The Man, he became something more than a tool.

He was still a torture device but something changed.

He became a friend.

Despite everything that held Izuku back, he managed to make 2 friends.

Uraraka and Iida.

Friends were a part of being a person.

But Izuku was a bad person.

And a crazy one, too, apparently.

His craving for the buzzing connection his quirk meant he was insane, at least to the Internet.

And when has the Internet ever been wrong?

The fact that he reveled in the authority his power gives him over people makes him bad.

He liked being in control.

If he can control people's movements, then they can't hurt him.

But him being in control makes people cry.

It makes them hurt.

And villains… hurt people.

So therefore Izuku was a villain.

He hurt people.

It's what he was born to do.

It was a habit so ingrained into his soul that he could never break.

But how could he be a villain if he was enrolled into a hero course?

Then again, not all heroes were… well… actual heroes.

Endeavor was a prime example of that.

And don't get him started on Firefly.

But in the end, those people get called heroes because they beat up a few villains every day.

So if Izuku did that, would that make him not a villain anymore?

Was that even possible?

For fucks sake, why is everything so complicated!

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he found himself reaching for an invisible ramen cup on an empty shelf. He looked around, recognizing the bubbly, joyous decorations thrown around the building's inside. When the hell did he get to the grocery store!? He must have gotten lost in his thoughts again.

And right after saying that dissociating on the sidewalk wasn't a good idea!

He was such a fucking hypocrite sometimes.

He looked around the busy store that he had seemingly teleported to. Masami's Foods and Goods was a surprisingly large business despite being located in the villainous red-light district. Most of the time, larger enterprises like these would get robbed 5 times a day and eventually run out of business, yet somehow this place stayed standing. Its prices were cheap and quality was adequate enough to draw in the poor and desperate ones to shop here. And because it had never been robbed or stripped of its dignity, people began to hover over it like God had built it himself. Izuku thought it was because this place actually had a bit of normalcy in the atmosphere, which most of the people shopping here would never have. So the store had become like an open secret that the invisible peasants of the world would die for. Anything to escape the harsh realities of life and pretend to be normal for one fucking second.

~~Relatable.~~

Izuku's working theory of why the store never got robbed was because of how terrible the outside of the place looked like. The building had been a brothel originally, so the outside still bared the scars from particularly bad nights of the place. It was plastered in depressing grey tones and dirt, the yellow sign that spelled out Masami was covered in spray paint dicks, and someone even stole the letter "d" from goods. Now the sign spelled out Masami's Foods and Goo s. If Izuku ever found out who did it, by gods they were going to be missing some teeth after Izuku was done with them.

Seriously, why the fuck do you need the letter d!?

However, the inside of the store was the complete opposite of what the outside suggested. It was, dare Izuku say it, clean. Like really fucking clean. Probably the only clean place in the red-light district.

So villains only looked at the outside of the building and assumed that the place was poor and useless to rob from and therefore left it alone, while the reality of the situation couldn't be any more different. That was the only explanation Izuku could think of. Either that, or a really powerful gang group in the area was secretly working with Masami, the store manager lady, and claimed it as their territory. Honestly, either theory could work in practice. He'd have to patiently wait and see which one turned out to be the truth.

Now if only he could make a new theory on how to stop fucking losing himself every goddamn 5 seconds…

He turned back to the empty shelf he was just reaching into moments ago, scowling at the sight of nothingness. His favorite ramen brand was gone ~~yet another thing he can't control.~~Oh well, guess he'd get another one for the time being. He started inspecting the other brands and getting lost in his thoughts on which one to buy, taking a lot more time than the average person would give.

Decisions were hard, ok? Should he buy the shitty cheaper one and use his money for something else or should he buy the good tasting one and just do more commissions? Each had their pros and cons and Izuku NEEDED to understand them before he could make the best choice!

Recently, it felt like Izuku was just being pulled by invisible strings to wherever life wanted him to go to. It was like he didn't have control over himself. And Izuku NEEDED control.

Maybe that was why he had got so deep into something as insignificant as ramen brands that he had started to mutter to himself and tune out the world. He just wanted to be just a little bit more in control. And if taking his goddamn time on some ramen brands would give him that stability, then he would do it.

He was startled when a hand was placed on his shoulder, so much so that he responded with his unfortunate default: violence. He immediately grabbed the arm and swung it forward while sidestepping himself, slamming the unknown figure into the shelf.

"OW! SORRY IZU-KUN I FORGOT YOU HATE JUMP SCARES. I WON'T DO IT AGAIN I PROMISE!"

He blinked a few times before letting out a huge sigh and relaxing. He was pinning an older woman in her 40s, her long brown hair splitting into 2 braids. She wore a long sleeved pink sweater and jeans with a white apron tied around herself.

Masami began rubbing her left side of the face that was hit against the metal sheet. Izuku took this opportunity to escape and began to quickly walk away.

"Hey Izu-kun where you going? I haven't seen you all week and I was starting to get worried!"

Izuku groaned as he turned around to face the annoyance in front of him.

Here we go again…

"Sorry Masami-san. It's been a rough week and I've been busy with work–"

"Work? A kid like you shouldn't be working! You should be focusing on school and your future career. You have to start making money one day but it shouldn't be while you're still a kid! You need to learn how to relax a bit mo–"

"With all due respect Masami-san, I'm not a kid. And I can handle myself. So you can really stop bother– I mean worrying about me all the time."

Masami stared at Izuku for a few more seconds, trying to determine whether or not he was lying. She was so focused that she didn't even catch Izuku's slip up of using the word "bother".

"Well, if you say so. I noticed you forgot a basket so I came to bring one over." she said cheerfully, her smile never wavering the slightest bit. Honestly, she could rival All Might with the amount of time she spends smiling.

"Come and meet me at the counter so I can ring you up when you're done, kay?"

Izuku nodded and she happily walked away, humming a song without a care in the world. Izuku turned back to the shelf, a sigh of relief escaping his mouth. Now where was he…

It took Izuku over an hour to figure out everything he needed. He was taking his time today, not wanting to rush or skip over any aisles. He needed a break, and this was his way of having one.

In the end, he filled his basket with fresh produce for him to cook when he isn't completely depressed and more heavenly microwave meals before reluctantly heading towards the cash register.

"Are you done Izu-kun? Oh what did I tell you about eating healthier? You can't just eat microwave meals and expect your body to grow! And with how short you are already–"

"I'm not that short." he mumbled as he started to tune out another one of Masami's annoying rants.

Don't get him wrong, Masami was a really kind person. She was kind to all her customers and helped out the community whenever she could. The woman was a walking charity case.

And that's exactly why Izuku doesn't like her.

She doesn't have a hidden dark side as far as he could tell. He maybe possibly cyberstalked her a little bit just to make sure. She came out of a wealthy family and just spontaneously decided to walk away from her ensured future to open up a grocery store in the worst part of town. The records show that and so has Izuku's stalking.

Even his friends have their own darker parts! Uraraka is a beast when she gets mad and Iida… is well, Iida. Izuku counts his excessive ramblings about following the rules as part of his dark side.

Point is, they aren't happy all the time.

But Masami is.

And for the life of him, Izuku can't understand why.

She's constantly surrounded by dirt poor people who have all been abused in some form. Depression, anger, sadness, it all flows through the air. This district suffocates both outsiders and insiders with the hidden horrors that take place.

But she never stops smiling!

She never stops being happy!

She never stops caring!

And as much as Izuku wants to trust that, he just can't.

He's physically incapable of it.

The idea of someone actually caring about his wellbeing, and not just for their own selfish reasons, is beyond him.

So when Masami constantly frets over him, treats him like a 10 year old, he feels like running as far away as he can.

She's just so… foreign, to Izuku.

He can't understand her.

So he stays away from her.

Unfortunately, she doesn't stay away from him.

And thus, she's annoying to Izuku.

The small TV sitting behind her counter starts playing music, as a man appears with BREAKING NEWS underneath him. Masami stops rambling and turns around, causing Izuku to re-enter reality as well.

"Breaking News. We have just received a report that The Turbo Hero: Ingenium has been attacked and hospitalized. The police have not confirmed a suspect yet, but it is highly likely that the attacker is none other than The Hero Killer: Stain, who's been active around Hosu lately."

Masami shook her head as she went back to scanning Izuku's food.

"It's so unfortunate. Hopefully they catch that man soon enough. If you ever see him, make sure to run away as fast as possible."

Izuku didn't hear any of that though. All he could do was stare at the TV as Ingenium's face was plastered on the screen. A face that was strikingly close to Iida's.

He had suspicions that Iida was related to Ingenium but this basically confirmed it.

Poor Iida.

"You okay Izu-kun?"

"Hm?"

Izuku turned to Masami.

"Oh yeah. Sorry, spaced out for a second Masami-san. Thanks." he said, quickly grabbing his bags.

Masami just gave a bright smile and nodded, saying the same speech about safety and "kids these days" as she walked him out of the store and waved him goodbye. He breathed comfortably for the first time in an hour as he started the walk to his apartment. His mind drifted back to what the news channel said.

He'd have to give Iida a call to make sure he was okay.

That's what a friend would do.

Or so he's been told.

When he pulled out his phone though, a frown came over his face. A concerning notification had popped up on the lock screen.

" RECORDS HAVE BEEN OPENED"

Who the hell was looking into Izuku's past?

Chapter End Notes

HALO!

That's all you're getting for this week. I decided to merge the 2 chapters I had since they weren't that big on their own.

Also I have decided to rewrite the next stuff I was originally going to do. So essentially, I am starting from scratch once again. I still don't know how next week is going to work but I am going to try my best to give you guys at least 1 chapter though it might be a little late. You guys will want to check Sunday if I haven't posted on Friday or Saturday.

This chapter was mostly for letting you guys understand Izuku's reasoning a lot more. He seems like a complicated character and I want to simplify him a bit more. If you notice, his lines are written a lot more child-like compared to other chapters. Short sentences, repeated phrases, etc. There's even a parallel that can be made between him and Shigaraki.

You'll get an explanation as to why I chose to make him block the memories of the Sports Festival later as well.

But enough about that, I hope you guys liked this chapter and I can't wait to figure out how to transition to the next arc, Combat Training and Stain!

CYA!!!

The Dish Best Served Cold

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The walk to school was the same as any other day.

Take the train.

Take a left and walk down until you hit that café with green canopies.

Take a right and continue 3 blocks down.

Then take another right and you're there.

The front gates of UA.

It was the same path every day.

It had the same people passing by.

The same buildings were always there.

So why was it so different?

Izuku knew why it was.

The Sports Festival.

Trying to think back on the day resulted in him getting pushed back to reality. The story was that he got a concussion early on and it caused amnesia of the whole day. That's what the paramedics told him at least. So memories of the day was a no-go.

And he hadn't looked at the news at all during that time period.

So he had no idea what the full extent the Sports Festival would have.

On society.

On his classmates.

On his teachers.

On his friends.

On his future.

Luckily, it had been a week since that day, so there was no media stampede at the front of the UA gates. It was peaceful and quiet, with only the sounds of passing cars being heard. By all means, it should be a normal school day.

But it wasn't.

But that didn't mean people weren't going to try to pretend it was.

Like he said before, people would kill for the taste of normalcy.

It was the golden rule of the red-light district, and it was the same in UA.

The beginning of class looked normal on the outside, but everyone could feel the dread bubbling inside of their classmates. Still, no one mentioned the Sports Festival to each other. Only a few would dare to talk about it, but their conversation were structured as if they weren't in the middle of it.

Kaminari was the main aggressor in this, straight up asking people how they were holding up. Some gave lighthearted answers, some didn't answer at all.

Instead of the Sports Festival, everyone seemed to hone in on the other big news of that week: Stain's attack on Ingenium. Those who figured out Iida's open secret went up to him and asked him how he was holding up. Iida answered earnestly, but Izuku could see the hidden turmoil in his eyes.

It was all just so… dead.

Like robots trying to pretend to be human.

Everyone was on autopilot.

It was all fake.

And that… bothered Izuku.

He knew what it was like to suppress emotions to the brink of insanity.

It was probably the most painful thing he had ever done.

So watching everyone pretend to be ok… hit a nerve.

Ok well not EVERYONE, mostly just Uraraka and Iida.

But still.

He should find a way to break the awkward tension in the air.

The question is: how?

His deep thought must have got the attention of principal, who decided to speak up in the moment.

"Is everything ok, Etsuri?"

He looked up towards the principal, a fake smile forming on his face.

"Yes. Sorry, I was just lost in thought."

"Oh about what?" Nezu said, sipping on his tea in his usual cheerful mood.

Izuku paused for a moment. It wouldn't hurt to ask for advice since the problem wasn't like a secret or anything.

"I'm just thinking about my classmates. No one wants to mention the Sports Festival, and when it does get brought up everyone just side-steps the conversation. It's not right."

Nezu leaned forward, his chin resting on his hands. His face didn't change, but a cold, calculating stare formed in his eyes.

"If you don't mind me asking, where were you during the event?"

"I actually don't know. Apparently I got a really bad concussion early on and it caused some minor amnesia of the day. That's what the paramedics said at least."

"I see."

A small, uncomfortable pause lingered in the air. Izuku paid no mind to it though, looking up at the ceiling for some kind of answer.

"I didn't see any of the villains or experience the fear that my classmates did. And if I did, I can't remember it, so I don't think it would really count in the end. Basically, I don't know what they went through. I don't understand the emotions they felt on that day. So how can I help them through it when I don't even know what it is?"

The tension in the air slowly lifted as the silence continued to thrive. The green-haired boy kept staring right at the ceiling, trying to make sense of it all, while the smartest animal in the world took careful consideration of his next words.

2 beings with similar minds yet somehow worlds apart in experience.

"The only way any of us can. Being there for support."

Izuku gave a small laugh.

"If it were that simple, then I wouldn't have asked you the question.

And just like every day, the bell rang and Izuku left to go eat his lunch.

But it still wasn't normal.

In fact, the day somehow got even worse.

Mostly because Modern Hero Art History class came before Heroics class.

The class that Midnight taught.

Who was missing.

And the acting was predictably even worse after that.

The period was converted to a study hall session that was ran by a substitute teacher who looked like they hadn't eaten in days. No one really talked, everyone just did their work quickly and silently. Heroics class didn't come fast enough in Izuku's opinion.

Finally, FINALLY, that God-sent bell came and ended Modern Hero Art History. Everyone quickly left and filed into the homeroom class once again, itching to do some fighting to release some of the pent up anger inside of them.

Their hopes brightened when Aizawa-sensei told them to go to Gymnasium A for class. But they dimmed once they saw their teacher's expression as they walked in the building.

The man cleared his throat and the class fell silent almost immediately.

"Before we get to it, I'm going to address the elephant in the room, since none of you guys did." His tone was sympathetic yet monotone.

"Monday was a failure on UA's part. I'm sure a lot of you guys saw some disturbing scenes. Things that you're not supposed to see until you start doing internships."

The buzzing mood everyone had died instantly.

"As your teacher and as a faculty of UA, I apologize for the failure of security. And for forcing you all into a life or death situation in the seating areas. It should have never happened, and you guys shouldn't have had to experience that."

Everything was quiet. But not the good kind. It was a sad one, like the tragedies of the incident were whispering into everyone's ear, reminding them of their failures.

For Uraraka and Todoroki, it was the blood drenched hall.

For Bakugou, it was the sight of the Number One Hero's blood.

For Iida, it was the news covering the disaster that had taken place, knowing he could do nothing but wait.

For everyone else, it was the villains hopping over the giant arena walls and into the seating area, and the blood bath that came next.

"That being said," the class looked up, "you all have to move past it. You're going to see that kind of stuff in heroics no matter what. If you can't handle it, I suggest you leave. But if you want to stop that from happening again, I suggest you stay."

No one moved. Only Izuku was actually looking up and around at everyone, who all had their heads down. They were taking careful consideration to the words Aizawa-sensei said.

The suspense lasted for what felt like an eternity. For a moment, Izuku actually thought someone was actually going to leave.

But slowly, each of his classmates lifted their heads. The dead silence before had been replaced with a quiet determination, only sung by the winds and birds. They were all here for a reason: to save people. That means that they will be the ones who stop the Sports Festival massacre from happening again.

A sigh came from Aizawa-sensei, one that sounded like relief.

"If you want to stop that from happening again, then all of you will need to get a lot stronger. From this point onwards I am going to put you guys through hell and back. I'm going to force you to push yourself beyond your limits."

An angry glare was shot in Izuku's direction. He flinched back in fear.

"We'll start with a warm-up. Go."

And thus began the week of hell.

Every day was pure agony. Aizawa-sensei would hold them hours past class times. The only ones spared from the extra work were the people with part-time jobs like Uraraka. Any teachers who had free time would come and steal students away for more specialized training. All Might kept taking Bakugou away early on, much to the class' jealousy.

Even Izuku started to break a sweat, something he saw Aizawa-sensei discreetly gloat about. He was put on parkour practice most of the time, which admittedly, he wasn't very advanced in and needed practice with. He knew more than the basics and could get around fine most of the time, but he was far from an expert. The missions he had before never required him to push himself since he specialized in stealth, and even then, most of his victims were dead once the first blade cut through. Only a few required him to actively move, and even then he only had to get to the next hiding spot for easy takedowns. But doing wall jumps continuously for 4 hours straight was way too much, even for him.

He had to actually start going to bed at normal times in order to get enough rest for the following day!

Up until this point, Izuku had NEVER had a normal sleep schedule!

The tragedy of it all!

Still, everyone seemed much happier compared to the doomsday of Monday. They all felt like they were finally doing something about the Sports Festival. That the invasion was behind them, and would only serve as a reminder as to why they were there.

To save people.

The pretending act of happiness seemed to fade away throughout the week. All that basic conversation was replaced with playful fighting and laughter. Everyone seemed happy.

Well, everyone except Iida.

The robotic teenager was still acting… off. He always wore a fake smile and rarely engaged in conversation anymore. It was like his mind was elsewhere.

To a normal person, Iida seemed like he was just spacing out for the time being.

But Izuku could recognize the feeling that surrounded him when he looked outside the window.

Pure and utter rage.

And he had a pretty good idea what Iida was planning to do with it.

Friday finally came and everyone finished up their last minute stretches before heading home for the day. Izuku and Iida started the long, painful walk to the train station. Both were extremely sore from the week's training, and moving was equivalent to slowly dying.

The 2 walked in silence, with nothing but the people and cars passing by them to fill the air. Normally, Iida would be leading a conversation, but again, Iida was being weird and quiet this week. For good reason too.

The Hero Killer: Stain was still out there in Hosu, presumably at least. Ingenium reportedly had survived but announced a break from his hero career in order to heal.

But even though Stain was one of the most wanted criminals in the country right now, he still hadn't been caught.

Iida was probably raging inside at the fact that his brother's attacker still hadn't been brought to justice yet.

The question was whether or not that fiery anger would turn into determination for revenge.

So for the past week, Izuku had been following Iida after they parted ways at the train station. So far, Iida had just been heading straight home for the day, no hint of any rebellion in sight. But today was different. When Izuku turned around to look at Iida, he found his friend walking in the opposite direction that he normally goes.

He silenced his footsteps, blending into the messy crowd. He was an assassin in a different life, he knew how to tail someone without them knowing.

Still, he felt guilty for not trusting his friend's competence enough. He didn't think Iida would ever go to Hosu to look for the Hero Killer on his own. Iida was too smart for that.

But this wasn't the normal Iida. This was an angry, hurt version of him.

An exact clone that only looked like his friend at first glance.

He stopped feeling guilty once he saw Iida go down the steps to the station that brings you to Hosu.

God dammit.

Sometimes it's tough being right.

Time to knock some sense into this not-exactly-Iida-person-friend-thing.

"I heard Hosu has a really cool ice skating ring with an awesome light show."

Part of Izuku laughed as Iida whipped around in shock.

"I-IZUKU! What are you doing here!?"

Izuku tilted his head to the side playfully.

"We both know why. I'm worried about you Iida."

Iida stiffened his stance. "Well you shouldn't."

"It comes with the job. And so does keeping you alive. So I'm going to need you to talk to me before I let you on that train."

Iida gave a face of disapproval. Izuku sighed.

"Look, if you want to go, you can go. Just tell me so that I won't worry. Please?"

Iida studied Izuku for a bit, as if he was assessing whether or not he was a threat. Izuku tried his best to look nonchalant as possible, putting his hands in his jacket, leaning to the side, wearing his usual neutral expression on his face. He couldn't really afford to mess up right now.

Because failing to convince Iida to not enter that train meant he was going to wind up dead in an alley with a shredded heart.

Iida sighed in return, giving into Izuku's suggestion. "Fine. Though I don't want to involve you. This is my business and mine alone. It was not your brother that was attacked, it was mine. I don't want to drag you into a fight that you had nothing to do with."

His shoulders tensed as his fists curled into balls.

"I'm angry. I'm mad at Stain. He attacked my brother, my hero, and accused him of being a fake. My brother is the most genuine person I have ever met. And seeing him like that, fills me with so much rage that I can't sit still anymore. I don't care what happened to me. I'm going to kill Stain if it's the last thing I do."

Izuku's eyes widened. Wow, he didn't think Iida was capable of that.

He looked up.

Murder, huh?

It's been a while since that topic came up, especially when this time it wasn't about whether or not Izuku was going to kill someone. It was about whether or not Iida would be capable of doing it.

"So you're going to kill The Hero Killer? That's a tall order, especially for a first-year hero course student."

He paused, giving himself time to think about how to handle this.

Alright, let's take a risk.

So." he clapped his hands. "How you going to do that?"

Iida was shocked, probably at the fact that Izuku hadn't reprimanded him for his words, but more so, almost encouraged it. He relaxed a bit. Izuku was his friend after all. He had already revealed so much about his true self, who would Iida be if he didn't give a little trust back?

"Well for one, Stain is definitely still in Hosu. He kills 4 heroes in every city he visits, and my brother was his third attack. Which means that he still needs to kill another hero before he will move on. So I will stay at a cheap motel and walk around at night."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, how you are you going to kill him? Or more like how are you going to win against an opponent who's obviously way better than you?"

Iida shifted uncomfortably as Izuku pointed out the flaws in his plan. He stopped being able to look his friend in the eye.

"I don't know. But all I know is that I have to succeed. I know his quirk allows him to paralyze his victims when he swallows their blood thanks to my brother's testimony. I'll just have to keep my distance and be careful with my attacks."

A short pause came before Izuku spoke up in a small voice.

"Iida, let me ask you something."

Iida looked up to meet Izuku's eyes. They were empty, but a hint of concern was hidden inside.

"Are you faster than your brother?"

He was caught off-guard by the question.

"Um… no. But what does that–"

"So how the fuck are you going to keep a distance from Stain when even your brother couldn't?"

That shut Iida up real quick.

Izuku sighed.

"Look. I understand your reasoning. Honestly, I don't think your plan is half bad. But blindly throwing yourself into battle isn't going to–"

"Look, I can't just do nothing ok!? I know I'm being stupid and I know I'm being irrational but I don't care right now! I just… I have to do something. I can't just keep watching my brother struggle to walk down the hallway when he used to be able to travel that distance in less than a second! I know what I want to do is far from the path of a hero. I know that violence isn't the answer. I know that 2 wrongs don't make a right. I know that getting revenge won't help my brother. But I don't care! I have to do this! Even if I die, at least I'll go out doing something about Stain while the rest of the Hero Commission DO NOTHING!"

Iida was panting, trying to catch his breath at the end of his rant. His hands were on his knees, and he was facing the ground. God, it felt good to finally say that part out loud. He didn't really want to know the face Izuku was making. Probably pity, or maybe even disgust–

"I never said that you weren't being a hero."

Iida shot upwards at those words. "What?" he choked out.

Izuku's stance didn't change a bit.

"Well, when a hero fails to save someone, they make it up by defeating the villain who hurt them. They rough them up a bit, throw them in jail, and the government takes care of the rest. It's called justice for the victims. But to me, it's just legal revenge."

Iida's eyes widened at that thought.

Izuku looked up.

"I don't really get the saying 'violence isn't the answer'. Because it is. We live in a world of brains and brawns. Who you overpower, whether physically or systematically, will change your life. Violence is just one of the ways to do that."

Izuku looked back at Iida.

"And the '2 wrongs don't make a right'. What the hell does that mean? Of course it does! It's called playing dirty. If society doesn't want you to do a wrong then maybe they shouldn't have done it first!"

He took a step forward.

"Iida. Your resentment to Stain is valid. Don't feel embarrassed by the fact that you want to beat him to a pulp. Because you should! He attacked your brother solely on his principles that society doesn't even agree with! He's just a philosopher with a blade and martial art skills and nothing better to do than die in a blaze of glory. By all means, you should get revenge!"

His tone seemed to soften yet darken at the same time.

"But killing Stain? That's… going too far Iida. You need to control your anger just a little bit. You can get revenge, just make sure it's the legal version, ok? No matter how much you're in the right, revenge isn't worth losing your whole future as a hero. You'll do more harm than good if you kill him."

Iida just stared in shock. Never, NEVER, in a million years did he think Izuku would actually ENCOURAGE him to take action. He knew his friend was a bit on the dark side when it comes to morals, but he still didn't expect this.

It was just… a lot to take in at the moment.

"That being said, you're being really stupid right now and you shouldn't go to Hosu. You can't get revenge if you're dead. You gotta wait until the time is right to strike. And don't think for a minute that you're going to do this alone. If your brother couldn't stop him alone than neither can you at the level you're at. So like it or not, I'm going to have to be the one who makes sure you don't die while you kick that bitch's ass into the fucking ground."

Iida finally snapped out of the haze he was in.

"Izuku! You should refrain from using curse words while dressed in UA's attire!" Iida said, making his usual chopping motions as he talked.

The sight of it almost made Izuku smile. His friend was finally back.

Looks like the "being there for support" strategy that Nezu suggested actually works.

"I've been cursing the entire time moron. Now come on, you're going to buy me food as a thank you for stopping you from looking like an idiot."

Chapter End Notes

Hi I am posting this chapter reallyyyyyyyyyy fast because I'm about to leave somewhere so I don't have time to put my thoughts down so I will do that tmrw.

BTW you guys are getting 2 more chapters tomorrow (probably)

OK BYE

A New Player

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"Wow, you were right Izuku, this store really is good. The outside of it paints a whole different picture."

"Yeah, it's probably the only good store in this part of town."

It's been about 3 weeks since the Sports Festival happened. And it's also been about 2 weeks since Izuku wasn't in constant pain from Aizawa-sensei's hell training. And while the whole thing has helped Izuku improve a lot, he was still bitter at the fact that he found it impossible to lift his legs past his waist without immense pain.

During this time, Izuku had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to exist. This included eating healthier, going to bed at proper times, and actually leaving his house.

The last 2 were simple enough that Izuku (begrudgingly) maintained rather easily, but the first proved to be a challenge. Izuku had to keep going to Masami's store more than usual because he kept eating everything at his house for energy. Which meant more excessive ranting and deep-rooted mistrust from the woman who was too kind to be a human.

Yay him.

Izuku wasn't the only one who had to make these sacrifices though. The rest of his classmates were doing the same as well. Class 1-A started to eat violently at lunch, earning them plentiful of stares from the rest of the school. Eating snacks while switching to other classes became somewhat the norm now. The only person who didn't change their eating habits was Uraraka.

And it didn't take a genius to know why.

She can't afford to.

So here Izuku was, showing Uraraka the best place to shop for cheap but good food. He's been trying to take Nezu's advice to heart and try being there more for his friends rather than just relying on them. They've already helped Izuku in ways they couldn't imagine, so he has to pay them back somehow.

And it gets even better.

He's been waiting for this moment for a while.

The day Masami finally had something else to do that day.

Which means she wouldn't be in the store.

For the first time in forever, Izuku can shop without fear of the unknown.

It was a gift sent from God.

Which meant a demon will be sent next.

Worth it.

"Thanks a lot Izuku. You really don't know how much this'll help me. My sister was going to start sending me more money if I didn't figure this out soon enough and I really didn't want to burden her like that."

"No problem. It's really not a big deal. You've already done a lot for me so I have to pay you back a little bit. And I'm sure your sister wouldn't mind, she's your family after all."

"Yeah, but she's already helping me pay for UA."

"Not your parents?" Izuku replied, turning around to face Uraraka directly.

"No, they own a construction business that hasn't been doing well too lately. But last year, my sister got a really good job in another city that pays a lot."

"Huh, that's interesting." Izuku said, trying to picture the woman in his head.

After a short pause, he remembered that he actually had shopping of his own to do.

"I'm going to take care of my own shopping so I'll come back in a bit."

"Alright!"

Uraraka was busy looking at the vegetables near the front of the store while Izuku sauntered over to the microwave meal section in the back, putting on his new headphones. He was recently introduced to the concept of listening to music while outside, something he found really enjoyable. He never thought that he would be one to like music, but then again, he's never really liked anything another than his quirk. His previous… profession… didn't allow Izuku to explore useless endeavors like hobbies. But now Izuku can afford to do that. And he's decided that listening to music was great.

Well, it was great.

Until he was so lost in the tune in his head that he didn't even hear the bell chime violently ring as the door was slammed open. His brain had shut out the world entirely as 4 masked figures entered the produce section while waving guns in the air. He didn't hear the gasps and screams of the poor residents of the red-light district as everyone ducked for cover. He didn't listen to the order that everyone get down and hand over their wallets, or the threats made to the cashier.

Yeah, the problem with headphones is that you lose the ability to hear.

Instead, all Izuku did was grab a box of fried pork and walk out of the aisle. He was heading back to the entrance, humming to himself, to grab a basket since he had forgotten to get one when he had initially walked inside. He didn't see the looks of fear from the hostages as he dared to disobey the villain's orders. He didn't hear the shouting from the criminal that was blocking the door or Uraraka who was sitting behind a grapefruit stand.

No he didn't register any of that.

All he felt was a sudden, rough hand on his shoulder, oddly close to his neck. A shiver went down his spine, stemming from the sudden contact, like a cold form of electricity. He didn't like being touched. He could bear it with soft things, ~~Lynx is soft~~, in fact, he even found comfort sometimes. But this hand was rough, like an army veteran's hands. He could feel blisters through his uniform. He didn't like it. And it was placed so close to his neck. He didn't like being touched there. He always wore turtlenecks because he hated the feeling of being exposed there. Being touched there reminded him of his collar.

And he will never wear a collar again.

Because he didn't belong to anyone anymore.

He was free.

He had autonomy.

Being touched there was like a reminder of a time when he wasn't free.

When he was owned.

Izuku didn't want to be reminded of that time.

He didn't want to remember that place.

How DARE this person try to make Izuku remember!?

So Izuku didn't think twice when he grabbed the hand and twisted as hard as he could. He didn't stop until he heard a satisfying crack that signaled he had broken the bitch's wrist. He hadn't even looked at the person's face before he turned around and skillfully performed a backwards spin kick directly into their ribcage. He didn't even realize what he had done until the violator was sitting in a pile of radishes, looking extremely dazed. For a moment, he stood there, crouched down and stunned at the scene laid out before him. He took the chance to actually look at the person he had just… attacked?

The person had a classic black ski mask with holes and tears all over the top covering their face. Izuku saw orange hair sticking out at odd angles through the fabric. They were extremely skinny but reached average adult height, around 5'7". They wore a white, plain t-shirt with an army veteran green jacket along with dark grey pants and black boots. They also had a fuck ton of chain bracelets and necklaces that appeared in varying places. Honestly, the amount of chains they wore made Izuku think they just escaped from jail. A gun holster was tied to their waist and in their right hand held a… wait, why did they have a gun? This was just a normal supermarket, why the hell was this person pulling out a gun –

"Hey Boss! We've got a fighter here!" someone said to Izuku's right.

Izuku turned, only to be met with 2 people glaring at him with very angry eyes. One was making knives float all around them while the other menacingly stared, flexing his muscles like some sort of threat. The knife guy had an average build and wore a mask too, revealing long, light green hair that went all the way down to his knees. He was wearing similar stuff to the person Izuku had just kicked the shit out of, except they had a noticeable roman numeral tattoo on their face just under their eye. The muscular man had no mask at all, looking like a panda bear with rabies on steroids. He obviously had a mutation quirk, but his muscles made the cute, innocent feeling pandas usually gave die in a fire. He wore a nasty snarl on his face that made Izuku know he was in some deep shit right now.

Why the hell were these guys mad?

Was the person Izuku attacked their friend?

Why did they all have weapons–

Oh.

Ohhh.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

THIS PLACE WAS GETTING ROBBED!

FINALLY!

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!

AFTER 17 FUCKING YEARS THIS PLACE IS FINALLY GETTING ROBBED!

AND ON THE ONE DAY IZUKU DECIDED TO COME WITH URARAKA!

ISN'T THAT HILARIOUS!?

Wait a minute.

This place was getting… robbed.

By villains.

And Izuku… just attacked one of the villains.

…

Fuck.

He barely dodged an onset of knives that were thrown at him, rolling away behind a wooden box filled with potatoes. Well, he was in a precarious situation, wasn't he?

He looked towards the broken door, measuring the distance and the time it would take to run over there. He could definitely make it through fast enough before the villains could react. He would just have to make sure to barricade himself inside of his apartment for a few days and lay low. He'd be fine.

His gaze shifted, however, to Uraraka sitting behind one metal fruit stands on the other side of the room. They locked eyes. Her face had a look that Izuku was all too familiar with.

Fear.

But this was a different kind of fear.

Izuku had seen the emotion in the faces of 1000 people. Mob bosses, political leaders, traffickers. In his 6 years of killing, never had he seen an expression like Uraraka's. Her eyes just screamed one word into Izuku.

Fear.

She just seemed so… small and helpless. Like she didn't deserve any of the things happening to her.

Only once had Izuku seen a fear like that, and it wasn't in his victims. All of the looks his targets gave him right before they died were masked with selfishness. Hate. Disgust.

Not Uraraka. She just had pure, innocent fear. Not a hint of impurity or ill-intent in her eyes.

He's seen that look before.

He's seen it in the mirror.

And suddenly, Izuku didn't want to run and hide in a shitty apartment. He wanted to beat the ever-loving shit out of these villains for making someone as innocent as Uraraka scared like that.

He wanted these guys to pay.

A fire rose inside of him as he gripped his small throwing knife that he always kept in his pocket. An urge to use his quirk, to get lost in that amazing buzzing feeling began to surface. But no. Izuku wouldn't use his quirk. These small time thugs didn't DESERVE the privilege of Izuku's control.

Yet a manic, REAL grin still painted onto Izuku's face.

He got the feeling he had worn the same one not too long ago.

He could hear his heart start to pump faster and faster in anticipation of the fight.

A heartbeat that stood out compared to everyone else.

It was even faster than the 3 villains in his range.

Adrenaline would never be as good as the buzzing feeling, but it definitely took second place.

Because adrenaline made Izuku remember that he was human.

That he was a person.

That he could bleed.

That he could die.

Killing didn't give off the same feeling.

He didn't find it exhilarating when someone else could die.

But when it was his life on the line?

Izuku could hardly hold in his excitement.

Because tools couldn't die.

They could only rust over time.

But people?

No, people don't waste away.

They leave behind legacies, good or bad.

When they die.

Adrenaline made him remember that.

He loved adrenaline.

It made him feel real.

Too many times, Izuku had wondered whether or not he was just playing out a story some fucked up author was writing.

They even made a goddamn movie about his dark past!

Adrenaline told him this was reality.

Adrenaline told him he was real.

Adrenaline made him feel alive.

He felt the panda man's blood bend in his legs, getting ready to jump at Izuku from beyond the box.

Bring it.

He knew that if he abandoned the safety of the wooden box he would become the next human darts board so he waiting until the panda man was sufficiently close enough to him. Right before being landed on, Izuku rolled forward, pivoting on his left foot and launching himself at the panda's head. The dumb fuck was even slower than Izuku had estimated, still looking down at the destroyed floor when Izuku grabbed his neck between his arms and used him momentum to bring the panda down with his momentum.

The knife guy, seeing as its strongest physical ally had been taken down so quickly, was stunned and hesitated for a second, just like Izuku had wanted. These guys were too inexperienced to not let these situations get into their heads. Izuku widened his stance and charged at him, going an unnatural speed for someone without a speed quirk. He swung his leg into the man's knee causing him to fall. He spun around lifting his left leg for an axe kick, landing it against the man's head. The sound of his skull cracking could be heard a mile away as Izuku dodge a neon blue hexagon that had been thrown at his head.

The odd, neon blue shape went on to slice a metal "FOR SALE" sign in half. Needless to say, Izuku did not want to be hit by one of those things. He could see the frustration in the radish villain's blue eyes as 8 more hexagon shapes appeared in each hand, each glowing a bright neon blue.

Well this would be fun.

They were all thrown simultaneously, some curving at odd angles while others came at him in a straight line. Izuku crouched to dodge the first one then ran forward in an effort to put himself behind the curved ones. Instead of hitting the ground, however, they changed direction and began to follow Izuku's path. So the user could control them outside of their palms then. That certainly made things more difficult. But it also meant that it had a very exploitable weakness. Human error.

He mumbled his thought about the quirk as he made an unnaturally sharp turn at one of the walls, tricking 4 of them to impale the wall while the rest managed to make the turn. He jumped onto one of the tables before doing a front flip and pulling out his throwing knife. The hexagons still traveled under him and he took advantage of the one second delay the radish villain would have. Facing directly downwards to the floor and the hexagons, he threw his throwing knife to the ground, pinning 1 of the hexagons to the floor while the rest travelled up towards Izuku. His airtime had finished however and he was back on the ground, away from the sharp shapes for just a moment. That one second was all he needed, as he started to race back at the radish villain, who's face of frustration had degraded into a full on rage. Izuku ran as fast as he could, but he still wasn't fast enough to outlast the spinning hexagons. That was what Izuku wanted though, as he dropped down to the floor at the last second, causing the hexagons to continue flying at the villain themselves. They made a strange "yelp" sound as they stopped the hexagons movement, but by that time it was too late to react to the next attack. Izuku vaulted up a cart, sending him flying in the air, and delivering enough momentum to slam the radish villain's head into the ground to knock him out.

Unfortunately, Izuku slammed the villain's head a little too hard as a small pool of scarlet blood formed near the forehead of the villain. Izuku stared at it, feeling that buzzing sensation stimulate his mind once again. It was agony to try to pry his eyes away to stop it. But in that time, he didn't notice the panda man charging at him until the last minute. He managed to dodge the punch but the villain was able to grab his arm. He spun Izuku around and grabbed his other arm, holding both together behind Izuku's back as if he was in handcuffs.

No biggie for someone as ~~fucked up~~as skilled as Izuku though.

With a spine-shivering crack, Izuku's shoulder and wrist disconnected from their sockets as Izuku twisted his body, freeing his right arm from the man's grasp, leaving him room to spin around. He wasted no time delivering a fatal blow to the man's balls with his foot, which both freed his left hand and killed a LOT of future babies.

Just kidding!

As if anyone would get laid with a bitch like this guy. He put a gun to people's heads, which, in Izuku's opinion, is the least attractive thing you could do.

He snapped both of his dislocated joints into place with his left arm, not even feeling the pain from the amount of adrenaline pumping through his blood. The aches that came from Aizawa-sensei's training were gone by now. Because of his quirk, he could physically FEEL something extra being added to his circulation system, which made the hormone's effect so much fucking BETTER than it already was. The only thing that hurt was his cheeks from smiling too wide, but he was too happy to care.

Because Izuku was feeling alive for the first time in days.

Hanging out with friends was a different kind of alive.

That was passive.

And while it wasn't easy, it was satisfying.

But fighting?

The fact that every single second could be your last made Izuku want to faint.

It was just so exhilarating.

And best of all?

Fighting meant that Izuku was in control.

He determined if his enemy lived or died.

And he loved it.

If there weren't people around, Izuku would be laughing his ass off right now.

He was just that giddy.

His mind flashed back to when he first discovered how exhilarating a fight could be. His previous missions never allowed him to immerse himself in the experience. He didn't have emotions back then, and the way he handled missions wasn't up to him. It wasn't fun if someone else decided how he'd take care of the enemy. It was about 2 months after he escaped, back when he was still homeless and slightly more a wreck than he was right now. He heard screams from an alleyway and saw 2 older guys robbing a poor girl.

An innocent lady, who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Villains, just like The Man, who were taking advantage of someone who bid them no harm.

Something sparked in him that day. It was his first time he had ever felt angry at something. He didn't know what to do with it. So he followed that strange emotion and found himself running at the attackers with a knife in his hand.

Honestly, it didn't make sense as to why Izuku intervened. It was the illogical thing to do after all, drawing attention after only 2 months of freedom. But something about how the criminals were talking, with all the fucking confidence and drive in the world to hurt an innocent person, unlocked the door of hate inside Izuku.

Of course, they pointed their weapons at him and attacked Izuku. One of them was taken care of easily, but the other proved to be somewhat of a challenge. The person was either really good at martial arts (which Izuku severely doubts considering they were a street thug) or they had some sort of prediction/analysis quirk. It wasn't until a knife barely missed Izuku's head that he realized it.

He and the girl could die.

This guy could land the final blow by the time the fight was over.

Maybe even a minute later, hell, even the next second he could be dead.

At that moment, something washed over him, something that made his heart pump yet his mind calm.

It was adrenaline. And pretty soon, Izuku grew to love it. And since fights was what caused adrenaline to leak out, he began to love fighting too. Once he realized this, Izuku started to go on a manhunt for street fights simply for the purpose of fucking people up. The concept of death had always been interesting to Izuku but when it applied to himself? God could only stop him. Or in this case, reports that a vigilante had hit the streets causing too much of the police force to patrol the streets looking for the mysterious street fighter. He was disappointed that his debut had to stop but ultimately realized that it was a good thing.

So to entertain himself, he began to reflect on his previous missions, feeling a small spark in him whenever he realized how close he came to dying in all of those fights. And when he thought about using his quirk in fights, or even better, controlling a person with their blood stream, he almost forgot to breathe. The thought of 2 of his most favorite feelings being combined gave too much joy for Izuku to comprehend. But with that joy came fear. The fear of himself. The fear of getting lost in the maze of emotions that Izuku had never explored. So to combat that fear, he limited himself with a promise to never use his quirk drastically – especially to kill someone.

It was something he would never break.

~~It was something he already broke.~~

God if he ever broke that vow, he would kill himself. He had made it right after that fight, the battle that awakened his emotions. He knew he was dangerous without emotions, but now? Now that he actually got a taste of anger, he knew it was something he'd never be able to fully control.

And Izuku hated that as much as he loved it. Because while it was out of his jurisdiction, emotions made him feel human, and that was arguably more important at the time considering he had the emotional capacity of a fetus.

But emotions were dangerous, and could influence Izuku to do some… bad things with his quirk… again. Things guilt would make him feel very bad about. So his oath was a way to make sure that he was making progress. If his promise was broken, if the boundary that was set had been breached, it would mean that everything he had ever done at that point was pointless. It would mean that Izuku could never change his sadistic ways. He could never stop hurting people close to him, both physically and emotionally. Removing himself from the world would be the least he could do to stop people from dying.

But even if he made that promise, that didn't mean he ever stopped loving fighting.

It was quite simple really.

He hated villains.

He hated killing.

He hated guilt.

He loved to battle.

He loved blood.

He loved being human.

And he loved being in control.

Was that so bad?

Probably.

Izuku was a bad person so that probably meant it was bad.

But right now that didn't matter.

Because panda man just stood up.

And he looked PISSED.

Good.

He revealed the gun he had discretely grabbed from the radish villain's hand, throwing it like a boomerang and hitting panda man directly in the eye.

He didn't fire it as that would just limit the panda man too much. He didn't even throw it as a distraction. He just wanted to get the villain even ANGRIER. Because the angrier he got, the higher the stakes would be.

The panda man howled in pain before finally screaming, "I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT!" charging at Izuku, seemingly learning nothing from the past 2 encounters he just had. Izuku decided to play along, pivoting to dodge punch after punch, until the panda man seemingly tired himself out. This guy was like thrift store All Might…

"Huh? What's this? I'm still alive? Didn't you say you were going to kill me, Panda-san?" Izuku somehow grinned wider. The prospect of hurting a villain's feelings made Izuku feel unnaturally good.

The panda man took a lot of offense to that. "DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT YOU BASTARD!"

Izuku waved him off. Just to tick him off even more, he sat down on one of the apple crates crossing his legs and raising his chin to look down on the weakling, smirking like an egocentric.

"Huh? Why not? You're basically a panda on steroids. Do you want me to lie to you like your mother did?"

The rabied panda obviously got ticked off, forgetting about his stamina and full on charging Izuku without any technique or plan. Izuku playfully rolled his eyes as he used his arms to launch himself backwards into the air and onto the wall itself while the crate got smashed. He used all four of his limbs to launch himself at the villain, striking him in the chest with both of his legs. The villain went flying backwards, only a couple meters because of his weight, but still a lot for his size. He turned around. As much as he hated it, Aizawa-sensei's training actually helped him. He couldn't do that before.

Suddenly, gasps and cheers could be heard as the bystanders realized he was winning.

Oh yeah. There were people.

He kind of forgot about everyone here except Uraraka hiding near the door.

Whoops!

Speaking of which, how is Uraraka?

He turned around, sighing in relief as she slowly rose from her hiding spot. His eyes narrowed once he realized the state she was in.

She was shaking. Badly. Facing away from Izuku and staring at the hexagon man.

Her face had pure fear and her eyes were empty. Like she wasn't fully there.

He followed her line of sight to figure out what exactly she was looking at.

Was it the blood?

"Uraraka? You ok?" he said, slowly walking up to her.

She flinched at the new sound, whipping around to Izuku and putting on a small smile.

"Y-yes! S-sorry, its j-just he's b-bleeding and it just r-reminded me ab-b-bout…" she shuddered as her voice trailed off.

It would probably be best not to push her on this. If she wanted to talk about it, she would eventually.

"Alright. Sorry about this by the way. This place hasn't been robbed since it opened so I really thought it would be perfectly safe to–

"LOOK OUT!"

Izuku had less than a second to twist to his right, avoiding the claws of a very angry, very large bear. He hadn't realized the villain had entered his quirk range since he was so focused on Uraraka.

Fucking hell, can these guys just fuck off already?

He was preparing to launch himself at the man's kneecaps but paused once he realized what Uraraka was doing. She had used her quirk on the very HEAVY metal grapefruit stand she had previously been hiding behind. With complete ease and the grace of a cat, she swung her arms forward, slamming the stand onto the bear's head. The guy fell forward and onto the ground, knocked out cold in an instant.

"Wow."

Uraraka looked over at Izuku with a smug grin and her hands on her waist.

"You're not the only hero around here Izuku." she said with a playfully confident voice.

Izuku just gave a smile and turned back to the mess he had just made, walking away from Uraraka and closer to the door. Masami was going to rant about this for weeks once she came back. And he might have to go to the police station to give a witness testimony, which he'd rather not do.

Speaking of which, how the hell was he going to explain this to the cops? He still hadn't bought his groceries yet eith–

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as Izuku just barely managed to dodge a bullet aimed straight for his arm. It grazed him but not enough to cause any harm. He's been through far worse. He looked back up to face his newfound threat.

"Izuku! Are you ok?" Uraraka said, putting herself in a fighting stance while facing the new enemy.

"Yeah, it's just a scratch." His eyes narrowed at the foe before them.

A woman with white, short hair and pure, white eyes held a gun in her right hand. She still had pupils but the color of her eyes were white. They were strange, yet, captivating.

Her outfit was completely different than the others, clearly establishing her as the leader. She wore a white robe with light grey furs along the edges. It was tied together by a dark grey belt. She wore light grey pants and white high-heels that made Izuku feel pain by just looking at them.

They were just so fucking high. Was she insecure about her height or something?

She wore a large mask that had sculpted out teeth, leaving a permanent snarl on her face. Izuku guessed that the mask added an echo effect to act as a voice changer. The way she carried herself seemed almost graceful and elegant, unlike the rough and loud people of the red-light district.

"You're not from here." Izuku said. It wasn't a question, it was a fact. People here don't own clean white clothes.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "So you're observant too. That seems a little unbalanced, doesn't it?" She talked slowly and carefully. Her tone seemed almost motherly, but it was hard to tell with the echo effect from the mask ( called it).

Izuku stared her down as she began to walk forwards. He was still on alert, but he had a feeling this woman wasn't a threat.

Yet.

She passed Izuku and Uraraka, heading for the door, not even exchanging a glance. "I wonder what your weakness is. You didn't use a quirk at all through that exchange. It seems so unfair doesn't it? To be blessed with such fighting ability and observant thinking, seems like God gave you quite the gift."

That made Izuku snort and break into a laugh.

She stopped just before the broken door's frame and turned around, "Oh? And why did that make you laugh?" Her eyes showed a bored expression yet honest curiousity.

Izuku turned to face her, this time with a sad smile on his face instead of the manic one he had worn throughout the fight. "It's just that, if there is a God, it definitely didn't gift me anything. I'm its playtoy, not its champion."

She paused for a moment, letting his words sink in, before humming thoughtfully in response. "I suppose so. Well, I guess I'll see you around, mystery hero."

She walked through the empty doorframe and disappeared into the crowds outside.

Izuku wasn't going to pursue her. There wouldn't be any point, seeing as Izuku wasn't a professional hero yet. And second off, he was pretty sure he'd get absolutely creamed if he fought right now. His hands were still shaking from the excitement of the fight before and his mind was still racing with the speed of a rocket. He wasn't in a condition to have a serious fight, and if he fought that lady, she would make it a serious fight. He'd have to save his unnatural love of almost dying for another day.

"Um… what was that?"

Izuku turned to Uraraka. He looked around the rest of the store. The other people inside had begun to crawl out of their hiding spaces and inspect their attackers.

"A new player." was all he could say.

Chapter End Notes

Hello! This is my second time writing this end of chapter section because I am an idiot who closed the tab on accident!

Yay me!

Anyway Chapter 16 thoughts: I thought I did really well tbh. Izuku would have a warped sense of revenge since he probably would have had to carry out missions for the sake of revenge. And when he would complete them, he would see the happiness it brought to his bosses. So in my head, it would make sense that Izuku would see revenge as a good thing rather than a bad thing. And ty for the comments that said my dialogue and writing style was great, it really boosted my confidence and moral to keep posting (not that it was declining but still).

I also have a question for you guys: which is better? Canonical USJ Attack or my Sports Festival version?

Personally, I pick Sports Festival (totally not a biased opinion guys I promise) because it makes more sense to attack that in my head rather than some random class in USJ.

Anyway, Chapter 17 thoughts: holy shit it was so fun planning out his moves and everything. You see, this chapter was originally connected to the part in Ch. 15, Reaction, where he goes the store for the first time in the storyline. So originally, this was a chapter dedicated to Izuku blowing off some steam after the Sports Festival, but I changed it! I decided to include Uraraka in it for more comedic effect and also Izuku development in like, personhood? Idk dude. Also, don't think this chapter is shipping Izuku and Uraraka, I don't really know how to write romantic relationships so I just avoid it entirely while writing. BUT you got a new character out of this chapter too~~~~~

This chapter is going to be the start of EVERYTHING that isn't LOV related btw, so get ready ppl! You are going to cry!

You guys also got an explanation for why I made Izuku trauma-block the Sports Festival. His character just wouldn't be able to emotionally recover from that, and I can't make him commit you-know-what when I've barely gotten started! I tried multiple ways to make the logic flow but it just didn't sit right with me, so trauma-block it is!

That definitely won't come back later!

Ha!

Ha.

ha.

...

You guys are so screwed in the future...

ANYWAY, that's all I have to say about the 2 chapters. You are getting a third one tomorrow and I'll give you guys a sneak peak at the name.

Chapter 18: Let's Play A Game

This is my second favorite chapter that has been written so far and I absolutely love it! Also, props to that one commenter who said they can't wait for Izuku and Tsukauchi interaction, I went back and changed my original plan after realizing the conversation was trash and it is sooooooooooooooooooooo much better now. Ty for calling that out if you're reading this dude, I owe you one.

This'll be posted probably around 10:00 pm since I posted today's one at 10:00 am and I like consistency.

Alright, CYA TMRW!

Let's Play A Game

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Staring.

People weren't even trying to hide the glances they gave him. They were just blatantly looking at him in public. He could practically feel people's eyes burning into the back of his head during his walk to school. They'd pivot their heads while walking by and continued to look at him when they walked past him.

And for the love of God, Izuku couldn't think of one damn reason why!

Was it because of his UA uniform?

Maybe people were still hung up on the Sports Festival?

He hadn't checked the news channels since the catastrophe actually took place, so Izuku had no idea how the press reacted to it. Maybe they were still focused on the event? But the press usually stop talking about an event after a few days so it still didn't make sense!

But whatever was happening with the media, the attention still made Izuku's skin crawl. Attention was bad. It caused more risk to Izuku getting exposed to The Man again.

And God knows the length The Man will go to get Izuku back in his clutches.

No, not Izuku.

Bloodline.

He could hear loud yelling coming from the school's entrance as he slowly approached the corner of the block. He gulped and braced himself for whatever shit storm was laid out before him.

To be honest, Izuku was less surprised than he was expecting to be as he slowly approached the entrance. A crowd of ruthless journalists and news reporters yelling at the entrance of UA. It was a similar sight to the break-in that happened earlier in the month. But it still didn't make sense. The press always move onto new topics after 4 or 5 days max. Why would they still be going for interviews right now? Surely UA hadn't postponed a statement for this long –

"HEY OVER THERE! IT'S HIM!"

Izuku paused when he saw a reporter was pointing at him with an excited expression. He turned around. Was All Might behind him or something?

And suddenly he felt a ton of bodies pressing into him as microphones and cameras were shoved into his face, including a healthy dose of screaming at his ears.

"ARE YOU ETSURI IZUKU?"

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO GIVE A COMMENT ON HOW YOU BEAT THE VILLAIN GROUP CALLED ARSENAL?"

"WERE YOU SCARED AT ALL IN THE FIGHT?"

"WHAT MADE YOU ACT OUT INSTEAD OF COMPLYING?"

Izuku didn't pay attention though, because all he could feel was the pressure around his body that was refusing to allow him to move. Specifically, the compression on his chest. Preventing his lungs from expanding and him from – you know, the very important function called BREATHING.

He tried to push them away but that only seemed to bring them even closer. What should he do!? He was basically trapped and he couldn't move or use his quirk since he couldn't see their blood. God fucking dammit he knew he shouldn't have come to school today. That grocery store fight was a blessing in disguise because it finally calmed Izuku down from the Sports Festival. And one good thing always means another bad thi–

He felt his body get pulled up as a scarf wrapped around one of his arms that was in the air. He landed on the ground with an audible "oof" as he started violently gasping for breath. He could barely hear the voices of the reporters demanding him to give a statement. He looked up and immediately regretted waking up today for the third time.

Aizawa-sensei was standing there. And he was PISSED. But not at the reporters – no, he wasn't looking at them. He was staring Izuku straight in the eye, his eyes giving a feint red glow as he slowly dismembered Izuku with nothing but his eyesight.

…

Oh fuck.

He was so dead.

What did he do to deserve this?

Ok, that was a dumb question.

He's killed 330 people in like 6 years.

But still.

They don't know that!

"You've got some explaining to do." was all he said, grabbing Izuku roughly by the arm and dragging him all the way through the UA doors and to the 1-A classroom. Izuku didn't bother fighting the physical touch like he normally would. He didn't want to die from scarf strangulation right now. Mostly because he knew Aizawa-sensei would pluck him from his special place in Hell and drag him back to the torturous purgatory called life. All he could do was dread the moment where everything was explained to him.

Was his connection to Bloodline found out?

Was he going to Tartarus?

No, if that were the case then they would've done a 100 man assault on his apartment building. Not bring him inside a school where he could take anyone hostage.

Didn't the media ask for comments about a fight? But he hadn't been in a serious fight for a while! Except for the Sports Festival but it was on record that he was just knocked unconscious early on. So why would they crowd him like that?

What's the missing piece here?

Aizawa-sensei finally relaxed his steel – tight grip on Izuku's arm in front of the UA door. He glared at Izuku, saying a variety of "you fucker" and "open the door before I toss you through it" with just his eyes. Not wanting to die by his teacher, Izuku obliged.

The entire class turned to the door's creaking and stared at Izuku for a few seconds. Silence enveloped the room, but not the good kind of silence that Izuku loved. This was the calm before the storm.

And then the classroom exploded, everyone yelling and pointing at Izuku while he just stared in shock. Just what did he do!?!?!

"HEY BUSH HEAD? SINCE WHEN THE FUCK CAN YOU FIGHT LIKE THAT!?"

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?"

"HAVE YOU BEEN GOING EASY ON US OR SOMETHING?"

"THAT WAS THE MANLIEST FIGHT I HAVE EVER SEEN!"

"WHEN YOU DID THAT FLIP I ALMOST DIED FROM A HEART ATTACK!"

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU EVEN MOVE LIKE THAT?"

"YOU WERE RUTHLESS DUDE!"

"EVERYOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNEEEEE!"

The classroom immediately became enveloped in silence as Iida stood up, his usual robotic demeanor taking over once again. Izuku narrowed his eyes at him. Iida seemed a little… off. Maybe it had something to do with what Izuku had done?

"I understand we all have questions. But please do not force Izuku into answering! For all we know, it could've been a very traumatic experience for him that you just reminded him of! Please be more respectful of our classmate!"

Everyone turned to Izuku with the one look he hates the most: pity.

"Oh my bad dude I didn't even think about that…"

"Yeah sorry for crowding you…"

"If you ever need to talk about it we'll be here…"

Izuku just kind of stared with his mouth slightly hung open. They thought… they thought he was traumatized by said incident… when he didn't even know the incident? All right. That's it. Fuck this. No more beating around the bush. He was going to ask.

"Hey Iida?"

The robotic teenager turned to him.

"Uh… what are you guys talking about?"

Silence.

But not the good kind.

Again.

Kaminari was the first to break it.

"You… you don't know?"

Izuku just shook his head.

Aaaaaaaaaaannnnnndddddddd more yelling.

"THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN 'YOU DON'T KNOW'!?"

"HOW CAN YOU DO ALL THAT AND NOT REMEMBER IT!?"

"WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO CALM!?"

"THIS IS THE ISSUE AT HAND, MONSIEUR!"

A phone was thrusted at his face by Aoyama, the French guy, before Izuku had time to react. He stared blankly at the video being played.

Oh.

It was the grocery store fight against the military jacket idiots. But that wasn't a big deal, it was just a couple of low – level thugs? They were common in the red-light district. Nothing to warrant a news cover and Aizawa-sensei's anger.

"I still don't get it, those guys weren't a big deal? Robbery gangs who don't know how to actually use their quirks is common in the place I live at. Any of you guys could have taken them."

The stunned shock that flashed over everyone with some added face palms made Izuku rethink his statement.

"Izuku." Uraraka said, her head lying flat on the table, looking exhausted. Oh God, Aizawa-sensei and the rest of the class must've gotten to her too. For the first time in his life, Izuku sympathized with someone.

"Did you watch the news at all this weekend?"

Izuku eyes widen at the specific question. "Um, no not really. Why?"

Uraraka groaned.

"The group you fought was called Arsenal. They were ex – military veterans who were dishonorably discharged recently. They robbed a bank on Wednesday in another city and severely injured the heroes on scene. They're elite villains according to the Hero Commission that only pro-level heroes should engage with."

…

Well that explained a lot. It also would've been good to know when he actually BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF THEM–

"… oh." was all Izuku could say.

But in his mind, he could really only think about one undeniable fact.

For a bunch of soldiers, they were weak as fuck.

"That's it? Oh!?" Ojiro shouted, marching up to Izuku, coming face to face with him. Izuku subconsciously took a step back. Looking at Ojiro always reminded Izuku of Day 1, which always made Izuku want to throw up.

"How the hell did you move like that!? It doesn't make sense no matter how I look at it! I know you're skilled when it comes to martial arts, but you've never showed that kind of talent during class. When that panda guy grabbed you, it should've been impossible to escape from in the position you were in! Not to mention all the crazy crap you did taking out the hexagon guy. Since when were you that good!?"

If he hadn't prewritten an entire autobiography on his new persona at school, Izuku probably would've panicked.

"Um, well I've been taking self-defense classes since I was 5. And I've seen a lot of fights because I grew up in a lot of bad neighborhoods, so I'm pretty decent at it. And as for the grip, I just dislocated my wrist and shoulder so that way I could pull my arm out."

His calm tone was a stark contrast to the loud voices of the class.

That last sentenced apparently hit Ojiro's nerve. And everyone else's too.

"Y-YOU DID WHAT!"

"I dislocated my joints…?"

"WHAT THE FUCK! ARE YOU INSANE!? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

Izuku was just so confused. And he hated being confused. He wasn't in control of the situation right now because he didn't understand why everyone was upset at him. He didn't do anything too rash during the fight. So why was everyone gawking at him like the devil!?

"To… escape the grip?" he said hesitantly.

"OBVIOUSLY! BUT DISLOCATING A LIMB? SERIOUSLY!?"

He stared in pure, innocent confusion, tilting his head. "Is dislocating an arm a big deal?"

Ojiro's mouth snapped closed after that statement. The rest of the class just looked blankly at Izuku, not really knowing what to make of that tone. It sounded so, well, confused. Like he genuinely couldn't comprehend the fact that dislocating a joint on purpose is a big deal.

But Ojiro snapped out of his daze a moment later, along with rest of the class.

"YES!" everyone shouted, somehow lining their voices perfectly in time. Even Uraraka joined in.

"… oh."

"What the hell do you mean 'oh'–"

" That's enough."

Izuku flinched at the sound of the deep, tired voice that came behind him. Fuck, he had almost forgotten about Aizawa-sensei. He was still in deep shit. A deep sigh came from behind.

"Everyone go back to your seats. You'll all have time to berate Etsuri later in the day. Class representatives will say the announcements as usual. And Etsuri?"

Izuku gulped as he slowly turned to look at his teacher in the eye. For the first time in a while, Izuku felt pure fear.

" You won't be going to the rat like normal. Instead, you'll be staying here. You're going to be pulled out of class at some point in the day. I suggest you prepare yourself."

And with that totally not scary-ass statement, everyone went back to their seats and stared at Izuku as he sat down in the back. Throughout English class, everyone kept turning around and glancing at him. Hell, even Yamada-sensei had started calling on Izuku, which Izuku was luckily able to answer correctly since he was already fluent in the language. Right before class ended, Aizawa-sensei appeared at the door to pull Izuku out of class. He could feel the eyes trailing him as he walked to the front and disappeared through the door. The feeling never went away as students in the halls whispered and stared at Izuku.

Goddammit.

He was absolutely fucked.

Aizawa's first reaction to the video was filled with mixed emotions.

On one hand: holy crap. He knows his mysterious student's skill level now.

On the other hand: holy shit. Etsuri is insanely fucking skilled. Way too skilled for a 14 year old.

And on the other other hand: what the fuck. He's going to kill this kid for starting fights and using his quirk illegally.

Unfortunately for Etsuri, his anger overshadowed his excitement about finally learning a single fact about his student after being expertly outsmarted for 2 fucking months. He couldn't allow himself to mentally celebrate right now. Because first, he had to shake the fucking stupidity out of his student's head.

Seriously!? Vigilantism! This kid was supposed to be the next coming of Nezu and he did something like this! Especially right now when the press were already on UA's ass from the Sports Festival. What the hell was he thinking!

He marched the kid into his mentor's office, but to his surprise, his student wasn't skillfully hiding his emotions this time. There was panic written all over his face as he nervously walked inside while Aizawa resisted the urge to angrily slam the door. Inside was the rat god and the best detective around: Tsukauchi Naomasa, the latter hiding his frustrations well.

"Hello Etsuri! I'm sure you know why you're in here. Tea?"

The rat's sickly sweet voice did nothing to calm Etsuri.

Instead of responding, he just looked at Tsukauchi. Aizawa could see a shadow fall over Etsuri's eyes which was masked by his panicked state.

"Um… can we just start? I'd rather just get this over with…"

Tsukauchi simply nodded as Etsuri and Aizawa sat down on the couch facing him. Everyone studied Etsuri while Etsuri studied Tsukauchi.

"So, Etsuri-san. You fought the group Arsenal in Masami's Foods and Goods, correct?"

"Yes." Etsuri responded hesitantly. Tsukauchi tapped his finger once on the table. Truth.

"Are you aware of the problems with that?"

"Um… no not really sir."

Tsukauchi sighed, slowly face palming before looking up at Etsuri.

"You're being charged on vigilantism due to illegal quirk usage on an offensive charge. Not to mention acting as a pro-hero when you don't have a licen–"

"Wait but, I didn't use my quirk? So how would it be vigilantism?"

Everyone did a double-take upon hearing that, all leaning in closer to Etsuri than they already were.

"Tsukauchi he's lying right?" Aizawa found himself saying. He was really hoping the kid was lying. He wouldn't know how to feel if Etsuri had taken out pro-level villains with only a singular throwing knife.

Tsukauchi sat there mouth hanging open in shock. Finally recovering, he turned to Aizawa, slowly shaking his head. "No, he's telling the truth."

God fucking dammit.

Aizawa looked at the child next to him. "Kid."

Etsuri turned to him nervously.

"You're a fucking idiot."

Etsuri swallowed an invisible lump in his throat before turning back to the human lie – detector.

"And about the pro-hero acting, technically what I did was self – defense since they touched me first."

And here come the legal loopholes. Whoop-di-fucking-doo.

Aizawa turned to Tsukauchi right as the detective did the same. They both locked eyes before letting out the 5th huge sigh of the day. Unfortunately for everyone, Nezu decided to speak up in that moment.

"Well, I think it would benefit us if Etsuri was allowed to give an official statement about the incident before we go any further on possible criminal charges."

A nervous laugh came from Etsuri, one that Aizawa had never heard before.

And thus the story began. Tsukauchi asking for very specific details so they could determine if Izuku was liable for any charges. Details that disturbed Aizawa severely.

Like how the kid didn't even notice that the place was being robbed until he got to the door.

How the kid used psychological warfare by taking out the biggest guy on of group immediately to make the other minions panic.

How the kid easily snapped his arm and put it back together like nothing.

The whole time Aizawa could only think about one thing.

Everything about this situation was messed up.

The fact that a 14 year old kid with average height was able to pull off those kind of moves against ex-military professionals.

The fact that he had fought quirkless against, again, ex-military veterans.

Even he didn't do that! His quirk allowed him to even the playing field on everyone except heteromorphs but he had ways to deal with that, aka his scarf. This kid only had a throwing knife.

The fact that said kid didn't see a problem with DISLOCATING HIS FUCKING JOINTS to escape a griphold was a major issue too.

It was all just so… wrong.

Another sigh escaped Aizawa's mouth as he leaned back into the sofa, getting as comfortable as possible. He felt like he was at a library listening to story time. Except this story involved ruthless fighting against villains who weren't afraid to kill heroes by a 14 year old kid who was basically unarmed.

He resisted the urge to violently shake the kid the entire time.

"Um… by the way, Uraraka isn't going to get in trouble for using her quirk, right?" Etsuri asked.

Tsukauchi replied in his normal tone. "No, her case can be considered under self-defense since she didn't really have any other option. And she didn't use it on a person, she used it on an object. Besides, she only used it once so it can be left off as a warning."

"Ok, that's good."

Etsuri was slightly rocking back and forth on the couch now in an effort to fill in the empty, awkward silence in the air. The panic in his face hadn't disappeared entirely either.

"Well that's it I guess. Since I can confirm your story, I can confidently say you're not going to be criminally charged with anything since there was no quirk usage and the whole ordeal was technically self-defense. But it was still very reckless of you to do that."

Etsuri just nodded and looked away, his face growing more and more red as embarrassment flooded his mind.

"You're free to go, but if you don't mind, I have another question I want to ask you."

Etsuri looked blankly at Tsukauchi. "Go ahead."

"Because of this case, I've read your file, so the answer kind of seems obvious, but I wanted to ask you specifically. Etsuri, why do you want to be a hero?"

And suddenly, all of the emotions were gone in an instant. The boy was completely still like a cold, stone statue. His eyes darkened as an uneasy aura leaked out.

Even Tsukauchi and Aizawa were caught off-guard by the sudden shift in mood. Nezu managed to hide any shock of his own, if he had any at all.

"Why do you want to know?"

Tsukauchi hesitated for a second before answering. The voice was still the same, but it was like the life had been sucked out of it. "Well, I just started to wonder after the video. I just have honest curiousity."

Etsuri continued to stare at Tsukauchi, a cold calculating stare that could rival Nezu's forming in his eyes. He stood up and started walking towards the door. Reaching for the handle, the student finally spoke.

"Who said I wanted to be one? The only reason I'm here for is redemption."

And just like that, the door closed, and the boy was gone.

The 3 adults just sat there, stunned by the honest confession they managed to squeeze out of the kid. Aizawa slowly turned to Tsukauchi who was sitting there with a shocked expression on his face.

"So, what you think of him?"

Tsukauchi kept staring into space. A few seconds went by before he finally answered.

"That kid's been through some shit."

Izuku liked learning things.

Knowledge lets him understand the facts.

And if he knows the facts, he can control the situation.

So learning new things is one of Izuku's favorite things to do.

And he's learned something in the past few hours.

Normal heroes fight like a bunch of cowards.

To normal people, dislocating your joints on purpose is seen as "self – destructive" and "dangerous" and "you shouldn't do it". Which Izuku still doesn't understand – he's done it more times than he can count, the pain is easy to ignore – but he's going along with it anyway. He thought back to the crying he had to deal with on the people who had dislocated their joints in the exam test and figured that had something to do with. To normal people who weren't trained to ignore pain, it probably hurt a lot. But Izuku probably would've died by now if he hadn't learned that specific escape trick so he didn't understand why Aizawa-sensei told him not to do it. If it works, and there's hardly any backlash, then why can't he do it?

Hence the new fun fact of the day: everyone is a bitch when it comes to pain levels in fights.

The staring never stopped no matter where he went. Random girls he's never seen before started to talk to him in a… certain… way, calling him the new hot-shot hero. Which Izuku doesn't get. He's not a hero at all. Why would they be talking to him just because he beat up a bunch of villains and saved the people inside?

Once again, he realized how weird normal people were.

Or, how weird he was compared to everyone else.

The scoldings he got from Iida at lunch weren't fun either. He went on and on about how Izuku shouldn't be putting himself in danger and how he should leave it to the pros and how he could die and blah blah blah. As if Izuku hadn't been surrounded by danger his entire life! Hell, he's probably the embodiment of a danger sign.

Surprisingly, Todoroki had joined them in the scoldings too at lunch, even sitting down at their booth for the duration of the period. He only ever said a few sentences here and there but it was more talking than Izuku had ever seen him do. Actually, Todoroki had been inching into their little trio ever since the Sports Festival. Iida seemed a bit confused at first but Uraraka paid no attention to it, which made Izuku think something happened between the two.

He also took the break period to finally look at the news on his phone. And just like he suspected, the video of him beating up Arsenal was the breaking news of the day. Turns out, someone started recording the moment Arsenal walked in, which meant that they had captured the part where Izuku stupidly walked over to the entrance for a basket. They posted the video on Sunday night, and the story blew up from there. Normally, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But the crimes Arsenal had done and the fact that a first year UA student was the one to defeat them right after the Sports Festival made it headline worthy. Iida and Todoroki made him go over the fight in detail, and more yelling occurred when they found out Izuku hadn't even realized the store was being robbed until he punted the guard at the door as a reflex.

The most ridiculous part of lunch was the fact that Uraraka actually apologized for apparently not doing more. Izuku shut her up real quick when he pointed out the fact that 1. She wasn't a hero yet so she shouldn't have fought in the first place and 2. Izuku was the one who started it, therefore she shouldn't have put herself in danger just because Izuku decided to be aggressive in the first place.

It was all just so… weird.

The attention.

The concern.

He didn't like it.

He wanted to shrink back into the stuffed animals of his apartment and hide from the world.

But alas, the day wasn't done yet.

Combat class came.

Aizawa-sensei was still obviously very pissed at Izuku as he ordered everyone to change into their costumes. Izuku took a little longer than usual, double-checking all his gear and making sure he was ready for every possible outcome. He had a feeling he was actually going to have to try for once.

Everyone except Izuku excitedly walked to Ground-Beta where the fake city was located. Usually the more fun/hero-related activities happened here, which of course, in a class full of hero hopefuls, was the favorite training type. So today would probably be especially fun.

But not for Izuku.

He could sense the smug grin Aizawa-sensei was wearing as they stared each other down. Izuku curled his fists. Something was about to go down.

"I'm sure everyone is excited today since we're here at Ground-Beta."

A couple of excited noises came from a few people as everyone quickly recovered from the somber mood.

"I'm also sure that you are aware of a specific classmate's feats the other day."

He could feel the eyes burn into his skin once again, a feeling he was starting to get very familiar with. Way to call him out teach'.

"Etsuri. I know you are cleared from any legal troubles but that doesn't mean you're getting away with no punishments. There were a lot of things revealed in that fight, but one fact arose from it all."

Suddenly, Aizawa-sensei seemed very tall and intimidating right now.

" You've been holding back in class. You've been disrespecting your peers by not giving it your all every day. Especially me. If you think you can slack off in my classroom, you're sadly mistaken. Clearly, you need some motivation to push yourself to the limit. So here's what's going to happen."

He started walking towards Izuku, every footstep sounding like eerily similar to a heartbeat. Once again, pure fear hit Izuku like a truck.

" You're going to face the class in a 1 v 19. If you refuse, you're expelled. The rules are simple: incapacitate a hero or wrap their wrists/ankles in capture tape to take them out. Your goal is to last until the end of class. Everyone else will be aiming to incapacitate you in the same way."

He stopped walking, standing a couple inches away from Izuku. The height difference was REALLY showing right now.

The red glare of his teacher made everyone else subconsciously take a step back in an effort to get far away from the terrifying man. But somehow, Izuku managed stayed still and composed. He was fucking petrified, yes. He was trying so hard to not violently start shaking. This guy could compete with The Man's scare factor. But, despite it all, the small voice in the back of his mind protested the teacher's words. Yes, he had technically disrespected everyone's efforts by doing what he did. Yes, he probably deserved to be expelled for it. But none of that mattered right now. Because if his teacher thought that he could intimidate Izuku right now, he was sadly mistaken. Izuku wasn't going to be pushed around anymore. He wasn't going to follow orders like a dog. He wasn't going to bow down to any overwhelming force anymore.

He broke free from that past self when he escaped a year ago.

So, with a death wish in hand, Izuku fought back against the neon red eyes, slowly taking off his motorcycle helmet that was a part of his costume before meeting his teacher in the eyes.

"Will incapacitating everyone here work too?"

He was so going to get fucked over for this. But he knew it wasn't impossible. He's managed to defeat a 65 manned raid! He can beat 19 sub-par heroes. Only 2 of them were strong enough to be sidekicks right now. Everyone else was below the bar. He had his original gear, and an even better costume than before. The only difference was that he couldn't kill. He could do this.

Everyone else seemed clearly shocked – and some offended – by this outright declaration of war. Only Bakugou seemed to have the guts to respond to it though.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME BUSH HEAD? I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU–"

" Bakugou." The cold voice of the erasing-hero hadn't wavered. It even managed to make Bakugou shut up.

Never breaking his gaze, the teacher refocused on Izuku. " You get 15 mins of prep time. That leaves you 45 mins to incapacitate 19 people. Don't forget, you're playing the villain. Act like one. Go."

And just like that, with no more words said, Izuku was off.

What the fuck.

What the actual fucking fuck was that!?

It took everyone about a minute to recover from the absolutely petrifying scene that took place. First, Izuku is apparently some sort of martial artist god. Second, Aizawa-sensei was pissed, which already signals a very bad day for everyone. Third, Izuku actually DOUBLE DOWNED ON AIZAWA-SENSEI'S PUNISHMENT, which means that he's a dead man. Jirou fully expected the boy to go flying into a building by the deadly scarf and then forced to do 150 pushups (not joking, he's made them do that as a punishment) but no! Aizawa-sensei only tells him to start preparing!

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?

She shook her head as she focused on Yaomomo's voice. Right now, they had an incoming fight to deal with. She highly doubted that Izuku could actually take on 19 people, but the confidence that radiated from his voice threw her off.

"So we should have Kouda, Shouji, and Jirou go to the tallest place to work as scouting. We've got comms so make sure you update on Izuku's whereabouts constantly. Having the number advantage is great and all, but we can't do anything unless we know where our target is."

"They don't have to do shit, I'll just blast the fucking idiot in 5 mins. You all can sit back while I destroy the fucker." Bakugou growled.

Yaomomo shook her head, completely ignoring his statement. "Our short distance fighters will engage directly with Izuku. This team will consist of Iida, Mineta, Bakugou, Kirishima, Ojiro, Kaminari, Sato, and Tokoyami. Toru will also follow you guys as a backup supporter and follow Izuku around since he doesn't have a power that will drastically increase his speed. So Toru will be able to keep up. And long ranged fighters like Aoyama and Tsu will use hit and run tactics in between fights. Izuku will be forced to use his own guerilla tactics, so this will essentially trap him in an endless loop until his stamina runs out."

Uraraka raised her hand inquisitively. "But I'm a close ranged figher too, so what will I be doing?"

Yaomomo smiled and pointed to her. "I think the best way to go about this is to have a group of people constantly stopping Izuku's passageways and remain out of sight. His quirk only works when he can see the person so having an invisible group will help immensely. Uraraka, Mina, Todoroki, Sero, and I will be doing this. Even if it's just simply placing a car in front of an alleyway, dripping acid all over the road, or taping up the underpath of a bridge, it will limit Izuku's options more and more. We'll trap him like a rat in a maze and drain his energy until we either capture him or incapacitate him."

Everyone thought the plan over carefully, but no one could see any potential flaws in it. Jirou checked her watch.

"We still have 4 minutes left to spare, the groups Yaomomo made should probably plan out strategies for their tasks for now."

And with that, everyone gathered in a group as talking took over the muted air. The tracking group didn't have much to discuss though. Koda was already calling the birds and mice that lived here and Shouji was making eyes and ears. Their purpose was pretty simple. Find the tallest building around, have Uraraka float them up there, and sit and wait. So instead of planning, her thoughts drifted to what Izuku could be doing right now. How the hell was he going to beat all 19 of them?

Suddenly, a phone's ringing cut through the conversations as everyone turned to the source of the sound. Aizawa-sensei was holding up his phone, showing that the timer had gone off. Without a word, everyone turned and ran into the fake city.

This was going to be a fun, easy win everyone thought.

Since they've been here multiple times, everyone already knew where the best building to scout was: the building with the radio tower next to the canal. Uraraka, Shouji, Kouda, and Jirou managed to get there in under 3 mins. Uraraka quickly floated everyone and ran off. Once they got the top of the building, they radioed Uraraka to release her quirk through the comms. The roof was largely empty with only a few fake AC units and a tall, fake radio tower looming over them. Immediately, all 3 students started to scout for any sign of Izuku, but after 2 mins, there was still nothing.

Yaomomo's voice cut through the empty silence. "Anything at all?"

Jirou sighed as she momentarily focused her attention to her actual ears. "Nope. Nothing. I don't get why he's waiting though, since it benefits us more than him if he was serious about beating all of us."

"There could be any number of reasons, maybe he's still preparing right now. Just remember to stay vigilant."

"Got it." was all Jirou responded. She focused back onto the small vibrations in her earjacks, scanning through every one and becoming even more disappointed every time it revealed a teammate's location. She turned to Shouji and Kouda. "Any luck?"

They both shook their heads as all of them went back to work. Kouda was watching the skies to the West, waiting for birds and mice to come while Shouji was facing North, leaning over the edge while his limbs spread over him. Jirou was right next to the radio tower, looking down.

None of them were looking at each other.

None of them looked at the radio tower.

None of them saw the attack coming.

All Jirou felt was a heavy weight on her head as she slammed forward into the ground, a darkness consuming her immediately. All Shouji heard was a loud thump behind him as he whipped around, only to be grabbed by the back of his shirt and thrown into the middle of the roof. He didn't have time to react before the figure was on top of him, delivering a quirk jab in the head and bringing the darkness to him as well. Kouda saw Shouji get knocked down and scrambled to say something in the comms, only managing to say the word "he" before succumbing to the same fate as the rest of the scouters.

The figure stood up, taking a moment to capture his breath before picking up the headset on Kouda's head and adjusting the width, listening to Yaomomo's voice trying to reach the already knocked out Kouda. The word "shit" and an audible click came after, meaning she had switched to another wavelength. He adjusted the knobs on the headphones until he finally heard Yaomomo's voice again, who was announcing to all party members that the scouters have been taken out and to head to the radio tower at once.

A small moment of peace was appreciated as Izuku walked to the trapdoor that led to the inside of the building. He had spent all his time making sure his traps were set, so now all he had to do was place himself in the middle of the building and wait. He had to make sure that when they got to him, they were bleeding at least a little bit, otherwise he wouldn't be able to use his quirk.

He looked up at the sky before jumping inside.

Let the games begin.

Chapter End Notes

HIYA

Ok, this chapter was suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper fun to write. I could go on and on about this but I'll save you from my rants.

Instead, I'm gonna talk about what's to come in the story. I think it's finally time for the class to see just how powerful Izuku can be under the right conditions. Keep in mind though, every battle Izuku is going to have won't be fought with Izuku's full strength. Because when Izuku goes all out, people die. And I can't have Izuku kill anyone yet soooooooooo~

We've also got Stain, the internships, The Man, and the replacement for the Hosu incident coming up. Imma be real, the video taken of Izuku's fight with Arsenal is going to be the thing that starts EVERYTHING that's not LOV related.

So this combat class arc part is mostly just for practice writing/planning fights in the future. I want to get a feel for how Izuku would truly do battle against an opponent. Sports Festival didn't let me do that because everything Izuku did had to be written as if it was like a blur so I'm doing it now!

LOV isn't going to come into play for a while now, so get ready for some custom plots!

CYA!!!!

Win or Lose

Chapter Notes

sorry for reposting this chapter so much, I was very confused on how to upload images on AO3.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Shit.

Crap.

Shit!

How could she be so stupid?

Her heart had dropped when Aizawa's voice cut into the comms announcing that Jirou, Shouji, and Kouda were out. Of course Izuku would target the scouters first! Without them the rest of the team would be useless! And he already knew which building they would use because he's seen them use it a 1000 times during training. All he had to do was wait! She should've added extra protection for them, like Todoroki or Tsu. Dang it she's such a moron!

By the time everyone would get there, Izuku would probably be long gone as well, leaving them to square one. They'd never be able to find him before the timer rang. It was hopeless.

Well, it would be if there wasn't the other possibility.

Izuku had said that he was going to incapacitate everyone. Which, for one, is absurd to even think about. There's no way he's going to beat everyone PLUS Bakugou AND Todoroki. Maybe the top 10 heroes on the billboard could, but no way is a hero in training going to accomplish that. Let alone go through with his word.

But he had looked so confident in the moment that it made Yaomomo doubt her logic. There was a small chance he wasn't lying.

And that was the only chance they had.

"Yaomomo, we're here at the building! Bakugou blasted off to the top saying he'll work his way down while everyone else went through the bottom." Kirishima said, breaking into her thoughts.

She put a hand up to her ear. "Ok that's good. I don't like the fact that Bakugou is going alone but we don't have time to get Uraraka to float you guys. Enter the building and be careful but quick. He might not even be there."

"Got it." was all that was said as the audible click came, meaning the end of the message. She took a deep breathe before picking up the pace.

They've only got one chance, and it all depended on the ego of the most average kid she had ever met.

She didn't like those odds.

The first thought that Kirishima had while entering the building was "dang this is creepy."

Most of the lightbulbs had been broken to where you couldn't see the ground clearly. There was only a couple of working lights left, and apparently it was just enough for Tokoyami to control Dark Shadow. Which was a weird coincidence but moving on.

They all quietly walked the halls, staring straight ahead of them and slowly peaking around the corners for any sign of movement. They had been walking for what felt like an hour until Kaminari finally decided to say something.

"Dude this so boring! We already know that Izuku is screwed, there's no way he could actually beat all of us. And we even have Bakugou and Todoroki on our side! What's the point of fighting?"

Ojiro spoke up. "I'm not sure that's the best take on this honestly. The skill level he showed in the video was pro-level. I've been taking martial arts since I was 7 so I know how to judge a person's skills. And I've never seen him use his quirk during class except for Day 1."

"Yeah yeah, he may be good at close quarter combat but what's he going to do against Todoroki's glacier?"

Kirishima could barely make out Ojiro shaking his head. "I don't know man, and that makes me nervous. The fact that we have no idea what else Izuku's been hiding."

The mood that they all had when they had first entered the building returned, everyone suddenly much more aware of their surroundings. Since the scouting team was gone, they had no one to tell them where Izuku was, so all they could do was stay vigilant and hope for the best.

Sadly, vigilance can only take you so far.

Kaminari suddenly swung forward to the ground, a loud "oof" and the sound of string being pulled against something echoing in the dark halls. Kirishima looked down. A tripwire. Dammit.

He could barely react as a large explosion pushed the giant walls of concrete and everyone away. Only he remained firm, hardening himself to resist the streamline of air that pushed him. His ears rang from being so close to the explosion, exactly the same as the ringing he gets during practice with Bakugou. Luckily, he's grown accustomed to it to the point where he can function normally despite the lack of hearing. He turned around to try and find out what happened to his friends.

Kaminari had been blasted into the wall. Mineta was stuck to the roof by his actual hair, dangling from the ceiling while the squirt tried to remember how his quirk functioned. Iida seemed relatively unharmed due to the knight armor he wore. Dark Shadow had saved Tokoyami from falling through a hole to the next floor. Sato and Ojiro were both underneath some rubble but were slowly standing up. All in all, it was a weak ass explosion compared to the ones Bakugou makes. No one was seriously hurt, with everyone except Iida, Kirishima, and Tokoyami having a small assortment of cuts and bruises. Nothing they couldn't walk off.

Regardless, it was better to be safe than sorry when it comes to injuries.

"Hey is everyone ok? No one broke an arm or anything like that, right?" Kirishima said.

Kaminari slowly picked himself up from the wall. "Yeah. Don't worry about it. It's all goOOAH–" Kaminari shouted as he went flying towards the darkness of the unaffected halls.

"KAMINARI!" Tokoyami shouted, as Dark Shadow flew towards the same direction, defying physics along the way. They only got a couple feet though as Kaminari was thrown back at them, landing square on Dark Shadow's face. A small wince came from Dark Shadow as they scrambled to catch Kaminari. Their eyes widened in shock. Kaminari had capture tape around his wrists.

Dark Shadow immediately whipped around.

"HE'S HERE!" they said, just as Aizawa-sensei's voice came through stating that Kaminari was out. Kirishima, Sato, and Ojiro ran forwards into the shadows, scanning the area for any kind of movement.

They only managed to catch a glimpse before the figure ran past them.

"SHIT HE GOT PAST US!"

The cloaked man emerged from the shadows, jumping straight up for Mineta, who everyone seemed to have forgotten about. He held the dreaded white tape as he quickly wrapped Mineta's dangling ankles while in the air, falling down and moving on to his next victim, Iida.

Iida charged, his engine launching him forwards and covering the 12 foot distance in a second, his leg already swinging down next to Izuku's back before Kirishima could blink.

It's over, he thought.

No one's as fast as Iida's Recipro Burst, he thought.

He thought wrong.

No one could believe it when Izuku actually reacted to that incredible speed. He fell forwards, crouching onto ground as the leg swung over him, carrying Iida in front of Izuku due to the momentum. Using this opportunity, Izuku launched himself forwards, his tiny ass body fucking body checking Iida's looming figure while both of them went tumbling down. However, the ground had weakened due to the explosion. It crumbled underneath the force as the 2 disappeared to the lower floor.

"Iida!" Sato shouted, as the 3 students ran back to the hole. They looked down. Iida had his wrists bound together from capture tape. They were already down to 13 people and it had only been 12 mins!

Fuck.

Could Izuku actually do this the entire time?

Kirishima shook his head as Aizawa relayed the missing members. That doesn't matter right now. What matters is the task at hand. Focus.

Yaomomo's voice cut in. "Kirisihima! What's going on, you guys have lost 3 of your people already. I need you to talk to me!"

Those left in his group dropped down to the lower floor. Izuku stared back at them as he ran away, as if he was taunting them to chase after him. This wouldn't end well if they rushed it. They had time on their side, for now at least. Everyone else in the group seemed to figure that out as well as they chased Izuku at a comfortable distance.

He put a hand up to his ear. "Sorry Yaomomo. Kaminari set off a tripwire and an explosion caught us off guard. He managed to take out 3 of us during the chaos. We're chasing him now but keeping a distance, and we're having Dark Shadow look for traps on the floors now." he said, prompting Dark Shadow to do what he just said.

He heard a heavy sigh. "Alright, be more careful. Bakugou's not answering his comms and everyone else has secured the 2 entrances and exits of the building. He's trapped like a mouse, all you guys have to do is beat him."

"Got it boss."

Kirishima took his hand off of the headset as the cloaked figure slammed a door behind him. The group came to a stop. For all they knew, it could be a trap again.

Kirishima swallowed the small amount of fear building up inside him. "I'll open the door, my hardening makes my resistance better than any of you guys."

Everyone immediately nodded – mostly because no one wanted to be the one to open the door – and stood back as Kirishima walked forwards.

He placed a hand on the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

The first thing he noticed was the amount of shit on the ground. It looked like someone had just dumped a month's worth of office supplies everywhere.

The second thing he noticed was the sitting figure on the desk in the middle of the room. The light from the window created a shadow over his face. A silhouette against the soft blue of the sky.

"Aizawa-sensei told me I was supposed to act as the villain, so I figured I'd get that over with right now."

The voice made Kirishima's heart jump. It was so… unnatural. Nothing like the bored tone with a hint of childish nature that Izuku normally had. No, this voice sounded dead. Like someone had took the life out of it and replaced it with an old, broken one.

He could feel the rest of his group slowly enter the room, the creaking of the door slowly swinging closed behind them, filling the intense atmosphere. He gulped.

"Izuku, we have you trapped. It's best for everyone if you come quietly." There was always a healthy dose of roleplay in these types of training sessions, so this wasn't out of the ballpark for Kirishima.

A soft clicking of the tongue reverberated in the room. "You know what Kirishima, I don't think I will. I kind of like being here at UA, as annoying as it is sometimes. Even though I usually don't try in class, I have a little bit of fun bouncing around during exercises and running circles around Uraraka and Iida. I'm not really ready to give that up yet. And if I don't beat you all like I promised, then something tells me that I won't be able to show my face around here for a while."

He started to swing his legs, like a child on a swing. "So here's what's going to happen."

2 screams came from behind Kirishima as Ojiro and Sato flew forward. Dark Shadow was the only one who was able to react, trying to grab onto Sato's leg but wasn't fast enough. The 2 students flew towards the figure, and to Kirishima's horror, out the window.

LUCKILY, they didn't immediately fall, dangling by some invisible force and staying right where the windows used to be. Their faces both clearly showed that they were in pain, but no matter how much they struggled, they didn't move. Their jaws remained clenched as their limbs twitched, begging to be free from the unseen force keeping them still. But Kirishima was more focused on the fact that they were literally dangling 40 METERS IN THE FUCKING AIR.

"DUDE WHAT THE FUCK! IF THEY FALL THEN THEY'LL DIE!" Kirishima said, turning back to Izuku.

Another click of the tongue. "That's only IF I let them fall, which I won't."

"DUDE, STOP! THAT'S CROSSING THE LINE IZUKU!"

Izuku tilted his head – holy shit that was so fucking creepy – like a 5 year old kid and relaxed his arm.

"Now, now, I don't think I've broken any rules, have I sensei?"

A tired, deep voice chipped in. "He's not doing anything illegal Kirishima. I told him to act like a villain, and he's acting like one. You need to treat this seriously, and not as a practice session."

The audible click ending the message made Kirishima's heart drop.

"See Kirishima? I haven't done anything wrong. Legally, anyway." Izuku said, slowly walking towards the bird duo and the red head.

"So before I was rudely interrupted," he growled, "I was about to tell you what's going to happen next."

His footsteps louder and louder as he came closer.

"You're going to wrap this," he tossed a capture tape roll into Kirishima's hands, "around your wrists, and in return, I won't let natural selection take the wheel."

Kirishima scowled, looking up at Izuku. "That's not very manly, dude. Holding Ojiro and Sato hostage? They're in pain dude, it's obvious! I know you're not the type to cause pain to others, I can tell."

Izuku's face seemed to darken at that statement. A 1000 demons seemed to surround Kirishima as Izuku got closer, closer, closer.

"You. Don't. Know. Shit about me Kirishima. Now tape your wrists together, before I make you."

He raised his hand as a silent threat.

Kirishima stared at Izuku for what felt like ages. How much does Kirishima truly know about this guy? He thought that he wasn't the brightest since he got pulled out of normal classes early on in the year. Clearly, from everything that's happened so far, he was wrong about that. He thought he wasn't that athletic since he never does much in training. Again, that was wrong. How much has Izuku been hiding?

Suddenly, Izuku jerked to the side, grabbing an invisible object and twisting his arm around, still standing. It took a second for Kirishima to realize.

Hagakure was still here.

"Sorry Hagakure, you didn't get to have your big moment. My quirk works as a sensor too. I can sense people within a certain radius, so I could feel your presence the entire time. And the litter on the ground didn't help with your stealth either."

Kirishima heard a frustrated growl as a knife slipped into view past Izuku's sleeve, pressing against what he could only assume was Hagakure's neck.

"So Kirishima, now I have 3 hostages. You'd better hurry up and tie yourself and Tokoyami."

Kirishima gritted his teeth before turning to Tokoyami. The man said nothing, only holding out his arms as an answer.

He angrily sat down against the wall as the rest of his teammates were captured using the tape, watching his classmate, no this stranger move with a weird elegance. Like as if the guy was in his element or something.

No matter what, the same thought always came to mind.

What the fuck just happened?

17 minutes have gone by.

He's already defeated 11 people so far. Only 8 people left. Not too bad.

He's got 28 minutes left, which to be honest, isn't a lot of time. Considering he has to fight Bakugou and Todoroki that fight will probably go on for 10 minutes. Which means he's got 18 minutes to capture the other 6.

For now though, it's time to find the 2 most annoying people to fight that weren't at the top 3 of his class: Aoyama and Tsu.

Long ranged fighters.

His ultimate weakness.

Considering no frog attack or laser beam came through a window, it's safe to say that those 2 weren't on the side of the building he's in right now. But he had no way of tracking them, so he did what he does best. Stay silent and listen. After a minute though, it became clear that Yaomomo must have been traveling with the majority of the people left since nothing came through the comms except the occasional yelling for Bakugou. Which meant that if he wanted any information, he would have to split that group up, which would be hard to do in his circumstance. The faster way to do this would be to disturb every side of the building then wait for one of the 2 to strike. It would make more sense for Aoyama and Tsu to be together since Tsu's long ranged ability is limited and she could support Aoyama with mobility issues.

Making his way up, he finally heard what he had been waiting for. Footsteps. Loud, ANGRY footsteps. Aka, Bakugou's footsteps. Perfect.

Who else was better at grabbing the attention of everyone?

A small part of Izuku grinned inside. He gets to curse out loud now! No more Mr. Innocent! Usually he only gets to curse people out inside of his head, but in this case, it's a good cause.

He heared Bakugou pass the corner he's hiding behind.

Showtime.

"OI DICKHEAD!"

Bakugou immediately whipped around, only to find a short, bush-haired kid standing right behind him.

"WHAT YOU JUST CALL ME YOU BITCH!?" Bakugou shouted, launching himself forward and letting out a large scale explosion that Izuku just barely dodged.

Ok, this was actually going to be a bit harder than normal. As much as he hated it, Bakugou was actually talented.

So like totally-not the coward he is, Izuku full on sprinted down the halls, dodging left, right, up, down, anywhere to avoid being killed by the murderous Pomeranian. Fortunately, Bakugou still had some really bad habits that he hadn't gotten rid of yet, like that beginning right hook, so Izuku was able to dodge relatively well. When they reached the corner though, that's when his plans had to change. The temperature had suddenly dropped. Izuku could see just the smallest tips of ice covering the lowering stairs below. He thought back to the training exercise of Todoroki, where he froze the entire building, including his opponents, in one shot.

He must be doing the same thing here. Damn, he's smart. Todoroki was probably making his way up, freezing each floor and checking it for Izuku. He either needed to get out of the building or under Todoroki fast.

Since going down the stairs was a death trap from the slippery ice, and nowhere left to run, Izuku instead turned around to Bakugou, it was his only option anyway. Bakugou was surprised to say the least, but continued full blast at Izuku, letting himself fall to try and deliver a fatal kick. Izuku spun around, reaching for a pressure point on the back of his neck. Bakugou quickly recovered though, instead grabbing Izuku's arm and vaulting him over himself, throwing him onto the ground. He pointed his arms straight out while Izuku quickly stood up.

"DIE!" was all he said, as a giant explosion emerged from his palms. There was nowhere to dodge for that one unless he wanted to be frozen to the ground. Besides, Izuku needed a shortcut to the lower floors anyway.

Crashing through the window and falling through the air, Izuku waited for a bit before pulling out his miniature grappling hook he's had since he was 7, firing it at the concrete walls. Luckily, it punctured through and Izuku swung into the side of the building, struggling to keep a firm grasp on the rope before slamming head-first into the wall. He could feel multiple ribs crack from the crash.

Fuck, he's going to be forced to go to Recovery Girl after this, and then she's going to notice his scars, and then he's going to have to lie, and then –

FOCUS.

Shaking his head, he positioned himself like a rock-climber as he took a moment to breathe. He looked at his watch. 4 mins had gone by. He looked down, counting the amount of windows to determine what floor he was on. From his count, it was the 4 th floor. Peering through the window to his right, he could see the emergency stairs inside. Leaning against the door was Uraraka while Yaomomo screamed into the comms for Bakugou to explain the giant explosion.

Perfect.

Taking a moment to hook the rope onto his waist, Izuku pulled out a small, circular device and a jagged knife. He slammed it against the glass as hard as he could shattering the glass easily. He tossed the circular device in while pulling the pin, and a large grey cloud started leaking through the now forcibly-opened window. The sound of coughing began. He quickly pulled himself inside, disconnecting himself from his grappling hook and letting him feel the blood flow through the veins of the 2 girls. Pulling out another role of capture tape, he quickly subdued Uraraka and Yaomomo, much to their complaint.

Waving the smoke clear, he smugly looked Uraraka in the eye, who was now sitting down with her hands behind her back.

"Come on Uraraka that was a piece of cake. You're usually stronger than that."

"Keep talking and I'll show you just how strong I am, starting with a punching test."

Izuku gave a fake laugh but quickly stopped teasing Uraraka. She wasn't lying when she said that. The grapefruit stand's deformed condition briefly flashed before his eyes as he turned to Yaomomo.

"You're pretty good at this by the way. Your role designation made perfect sense to me. I would've added Kirishima to guard the scouters but I'm sure you had your reasons."

Yaomomo blinked, clearly not expecting a compliment from her current enemy right now. "How do you know about the roles?"

Izuku pointed to the headset he took. "I stole this from Kouda. You should really learn to switch channels whenever someone goes down by the way."

Yaomomo looked both shocked and frustrated – probably at the fact that she didn't even consider the fact that the headset could be stolen.

"Well, you still have to deal with 6 other people, 2 of them being Todoroki and Bakugou, and you've only got 22 minutes left. Don't get too full of yourself."

Izuku didn't have time to respond as a giant beam of light rocketed towards the 3 students, Uraraka and Yaomomo ducking just in time. The loud explosion that came from it threw them in a daze, but they quickly snapped out of it. Yaomomo snapped the capture tape in half as she put a hand up to her headset.

"Did I hit him?" she heard Aoyama say.

The dust started to settle. No sign of Izuku. She looked behind her. A small series of holes were left through the walls. She could only presume that he was blown through there.

"Yeah… I think you did. It's game over everyone." she said, relieved.

The comms buzzed with multiple shouting celebratory phrases, while others just hummed in happiness. That was actually harder than everyone expected.

"Not quite."

Her eyes widened in shock as she heard a poor imitation of Izuku's natural voice. She looked up. Izuku was hanging on the railing of the stairs above them.

"A tip, Yaomomo." he said, not to her, but to everyone in the comms.

"If you're going to do a surprise attack on someone, don't keep glancing in the direction like a kid does to his presents on Christmas."

The dark figure let go of the railing, letting himself fall as he went to the open window.

"Let's see, 5 th floor huh? It's a good thing the buildings in cities are so close. There's only 2 car lanes separating me and you guys, Aoyama and Tsu."

The voice was so… awful. It was just so weird and inhuman. It petrified Yaomomo and Uraraka. But Izuku just seemed to become even more elated.

"Jeez, you guys are really making me feel an adrenaline rush. And I get to use my quirk? God, I thought this day was going terribly but apparently I've still got some good luck!"

The laugh that followed afterwards made Yaomomo want to puke.

"Anyways, enough messing around."

Izuku pulled out the spare grappling hook he always kept. Aiming it at the 7 th floor, he jumped off of the ledge to fully swing towards the 5 th floor of the neighboring building.

"I think it's time we change the scenery, don't you think?" he said, letting himself fly through the air once again and crashing through a window.

Wow.

Izuku just got hit with déjà vu.

It all feels so… familiar.

Like something he's done his whole life.

Like something he hadn't done in a while.

Giant missions like these where it involved absolute stealth and thorough planning.

He blinked, momentarily pausing right in front of Tsu and Aoyama, forcing him dodge both a light beam and frog tongue.

Muscle memory began to take over.

The steady rhythm of battle began to form.

What was so familiar?

He crouched down, letting Tsu fly over him to the other side of the room.

He looked up, only to find Aoyama charging up for his next shot.

Like a man loading bullets into a gun.

Oh.

That's why it felt so familiar.

This is what he used to do.

He threw multiple throwing knives, pinning Aoyama's cape to the wall.

Long ago in an ancient past, he'd take on bigger organizations than UA.

Druglords.

Trafficking rings.

Mafias.

Political parties.

This is what he did back then.

This is what Bloodline does.

His heart sank when he heard that Aoyama and Tsu are out from Aizawa-sensei. There was only 18 minutes left yet somehow Izuku had taken down almost the entire class. Even he couldn't do that! There were only 4 left now, including him. Mina and Sero, who were trailing behind him, running to where Yaomomo last was, and Bakugou, who refused to answer any comms or follow any coordination.

Todoroki looked behind him. This fight was probably going to have to come down between Izuku, Bakugou, and Todoroki. Mina wouldn't be much help here other than a support to Bakugou, which definitely won't happen, and Sero might be able to catch Izuku off guard and capture him, but with the agility Izuku displayed, Todoroki doubted that.

First, they needed to force Izuku out into the open. Kirishima's loss was a clear testimony to what will happen if they try to fight Izuku indoors. Todoroki made an ice bridge – he's gotten better at controlling the shape – to connect the 2 windows and enter the building of Aoyama and Tsu's position. He found Aoyama unconscious and Tsu with capture tape dangling loosely from her wrists, holding Aoyama up.

She looked up at the trio.

"Careful, kero. That video was no joke. He's really good, kero."

Todoroki simply nodded before heading opening the door of the room they were in. The rest of the floor was open, clearly being an office building of some type since there were hundreds of small working booths inside. He closed his eyes, feeling the frost build up on his right side, imagining the ice crawling up the entire building. This office building was a lot smaller than the radio tower, which was over 35 floors, only having 10. Yeah, Todoroki could easily freeze this. But frosting the lower levels isn't the priority here. It's freezing the top ones to force Izuku to go down and onto the street since there were no more neighboring buildings to go off to.

They were next to a harbor of some sort, where a large canal ran through the city, wrapping around the back of the building. The only nearby buildings were across a large, open road that normally would have shipping containers or cranes if the city was real. No, the only option was either to go back into the already frosted radio tower, to go into the street, or the canal. The water and frosted buildings will only hinder Izuku, so the only option he could take would be the street.

He heard explosions behind him followed by a loud "thump" as he built up a large amount of frost. He didn't have to turn around to know it was Bakugou.

"Out of my damn way extras, especially you Half n' Half!"

Todoroki continued to face forward. "He definitely went upstairs since he has the advantage up there. You won't beat him indoors, he's too good. Plus, there might be more traps set up here. We need to bring him out into the open."

"Shut up! I'll beat him indoors with my arms tied behind my back if I have to! Now out of my way."

"No. Sero, bring Mina to the road and stall for time. We will follow." was all Todoroki said, finally unleashing the cold that was building up, covering everything but the bottom 4 floors.

"Sure thing Todoroki!" Sero replied, grabbing Mina and using his tape to lower himself to ground level.

Todoroki let out a misty breath, immediately warming himself with the heat of his left side. After catching his breath, he turned around.

"Bakugou."

Bakugou was still staring at him with the usual amount of fury in his eyes. They both stood in silence while Todoroki quickly recovered from the cold.

"I don't know about you, but I've never seen Izuku like this. I've only ever talked to him a couple times, most of them being from today, but that Izuku was completely different than the one talking in the comms."

He took a step forward. All of this reminded him of one of his father's hero friends. He was a man who was previously an underground hero like Aizawa-sensei, and he was one of the best out there. A living legend that no one knew. A man who had seen the darkest places of the villain world yet still came out laughing. Laughter that was eerily similar to the one Izuku made.

~~Laughter that briefly brought him back to the stadium halls.~~

Yeah, one look at Izuku's ruthlessness and Todoroki could tell he was a veteran fighter from the darker parts of the world. Just like that mysterious underground hero family friend.

"In my experience, people like that, the ones with a hidden dark side, are usually the most dangerous opponents. Because unlike the loud and prideful ones, they have something to hide. It could be a secret past or a dark desire, doesn't matter. What matters is whether or not Izuku is that type of person. Because if he is, it means he's way stronger than given credit for. Because he will do anything to prevent his secrets from leaking out. That's what I think at least."

He slowly walked towards Bakugou, hearing a small sound of a window breaking outside. The headset clicked.

"Todoroki, Izuku is coming!" Sero shouted through the comms.

"We'll be right there." he said, lowering his hand from his ear.

Todoroki looked at Bakugo.

"You're not going to beat him alone right now. This test's purpose is to force Izuku to reveal those precious secrets to Aizawa-sensei and the rest of the class. And if Izuku is one of those kinds of people, then he's not going to make it easy. You want to beat him? Help us and push Izuku to his absolute limit with your explosions. Keep hitting him until he finally snaps. Got it?"

Bakugou stared at Todoroki for a second, silently thinking about the words he just spoke. Finally, Bakugou let out a "hmph!" and grabbed Todoroki's arm, using his explosions to fly them both to the street. They both executed a solid landing and looked at the fight.

Izuku was dancing circles around Mina while dodging Sero's occasional tape.

They shared a glance.

"What the hell has got you so pumped up?" Bakugou asked with a scowl, but pure interest.

Todoroki smirked. "I really want to test out my fire against the guy who made me want to use it."

Acid.

Tape.

Explosion.

Ice.

Acid.

Tape.

Explosion.

Ice.

13 minutes left on the clock.

4 targets left to neutralize.

Currently located in a disadvantaged terrain.

The odds were stacked up against Izuku.

He liked that.

He never thought he would have this much fun beating the shit out of his classmates and sending a metaphorical middle finger to Aizawa-sensei. Part of him regretted not showing his true skills at the start of this year, but he had to do it. Attention was bad for people like him.

He leaned backwards to avoid another string of tape. He had to go even further back to avoid an explosion, doing a backflip and leaping away to gain distance. They were pushing him closer and closer to the canal's edge. He really needed to get Sero and Mina out of the game so that he could focus on Todoroki and Bakugou. He wasn't built for strong confrontations like this but Todoroki forced his hand.

As another roll of tape launched at him, he brought his arm up, letting it wrap around his forearm. Sero hesitated for a moment, confused that he actually got Izuku before getting thrown across the road, flying towards Todoroki. Todoroki had to stop supporting Bakugou and Mina with ice and fire in order to catch Sero. Cutting the tape with the hidden blade under his wrist, he charged Mina, who had started to slide away with her acid. Izuku launched himself forward, her balance being thrown off as she was visibly startled by Izuku's speed. However, Bakugou let off an explosion between the two, isolating everyone from Izuku once again and letting the cycle of attacks continue. He bit his lip out of frustration.

Alright, that clearly didn't work. He was running out of time too. Time to play dirty.

He didn't want to use any of his weapons since they all kind of… hurt… but he's got no choice now.

"Sorry." was the only warning he gave as Mina slid past him using her acid.

He requested paralytics to be infused with the darts and throwing knives he asked for, nothing harmful but it would last for 20-30 mins depending on the person. He took out 3 and threw them at Mina, aiming for her legs and arms. She swiped her hand up, releasing a glob of acid that acted as a wall, melting the projectiles and stopping their flight. She stopped moving.

"Was that all you gAH–"

She looked down at her leg, the source of the sudden pain. A small knife was imbedded into her calf, fortunately not too deep. She felt her body go limp as she fell to the ground. The pain faded as her legs went numb. The 3 darts were a distraction for a boomerang shot Izuku had thrown with the knife.

"Mina!" Sero shouted, throwing another round of tape at Izuku. Once again, Izuku let himself be captured, except this time, he leaned back and pulled Sero towards him.

Sero let out a shaky scream before getting kicked in the face by Izuku, his jaw bone fracturing as he went flying and landed with a thud.

He never got back up for the rest of the match.

Instead, Izuku turned to face Bakugou and Todoroki, who were previously referred to as the strongest of the first year hero course students.

Something told him that the title belonged to someone else now.

A manic grin appeared on his face once again as the adrenaline wave washed over him. It wasn't as glorious as the grocery store battle since there was no chance of death, but it was still going to be a pretty fun fight.

"Alright then! We have 9 minutes on the clock and 2 people left. This'll be fun!" Izuku said with a giggle, launching himself forward towards Bakugou. The explosive blonde didn't hesitate in the slightest, blasting at Izuku as the two engaged in an all-out war. They would spar for a couple seconds before Izuku would have to leap away from the occasional iceberg or flamethrower that Todoroki provided.

But Izuku wasn't really focused on the fight. He let muscle memory and instinct take over as his mind retreated from the battle to do what he does best: overthink shit and plan.

Most notably, he started to focus on the fact that his body was starting to feel a little… tired.

Could you blame him, really?

He'd been running in circles for 45 mins straight.

Even he didn't have infinite stamina!

(Though The Man certainly tried to give him that.)

Even when Bloodline was on missions, he would have to take breaks every now and again.

Sometimes he'd even sleep in the enemy base.

That was always *fun*.

But that wasn't the only thing wrong.

Izuku's emotions were also a problem right now.

His heart was pounding too hard.

He couldn't hear anything except the sound of his blood pumping through his body.

And the buzzing feeling that was writhing underneath his skin didn't help either.

It wanted to be used.

It needed to be used.

And the thought of using his quirk always made Izuku extremely happy.

The exact opposite of what he needs right now since his heart is already being overworked.

He needed to calm down.

He was getting too excited.

He needed his sense of hearing back.

He needed a little time.

Just a short break to control his blood flow and slow his heart.

That was all he needed.

So naturally, his brain decided to make that happen by thinking.

Looks like mistakes will have to be made in order for Izuku to get what he wants.

Jumping back after another round of punches, lost in his train of thought, Izuku felt his foot slip forward. He had landed on some of the ice that had covered the ground meaning he couldn't jump away as easily as he normally could. He was like a fish falling in air, he couldn't do anything. Todoroki immediately saw this and let out his strongest attack: Glacier. The move that had destroyed so many people at the Sports Festival before the invasion. Bakugou barely had time to react, immediately thrusting his arms forward and blasting away from the giant iceberg.

He landed with a grunt.

"Dammit Half n' Half I wanted to be the one to finish him off!"

Todoroki turned to Bakugou with a tired expression. "Does it really matter who gets the credit?"

"Of course it does!"

Todoroki just sighed, too tired to deal with Bakugou's aggressive attitude. He felt the warmth build up on his left side as he slowly walked over to the giant glacier. There wasn't any need to rush after all. The icy mist had begun to clear and Todoroki searched for Izuku's frozen body with his eyes through the crystal ice.

Instead, all he got was a shadow's movement from the corner of his eye as a sharp pain covered his head. He felt his body go limp as it fell to the ground, his vision and hearing going null. He could feel his mind slowly slipping into unconsciousness as he desperately fought against the darkness.

But another kick to the head ended that fight.

The highly-skilled pair posed a significant challenge, even for someone like Izuku. Each attack was carried out with the utmost precision. But there was always a weakness to exploit. And that weakness, was Todoroki.

Ice was Todoroki's default. It became part of his natural instinct from his childhood trauma's hate for his left side. And even though he is beginning to use his fire, old habits die hard. In other words, it was predictable.

So it was easy to manipulate.

And it was easy to control.

All it would take was one mishap, one little mistake that put Izuku in a bad spot. The 2 students would exploit it immediately. Their natural instincts would finish him off before their logic could catch up.

And Izuku already knew that Todoroki's instinct was his ice.

Especially his glacier attack.

The boy had gotten so used to winning with one shot of ice.

It was his go-to because it always gave him the win.

Just like Izuku's quirk.

So dodging was easy.

When you know what's coming for you at least.

He could move his own blood without seeing it after all.

So all he had to do was pretend to not look where he was landing. All he had to do was wait until the last possible second and pull his body back with his own blood inside of him.

The glacier was fast but Izuku was faster.

His quirk's speed was faster than Iida's Recipro Burst.

(A fact proven by the past fight.)

And it was easy to dodge when you know what the attack is!

What's more is that the glacier provided the perfect cover to hide behind, another major weakness of Todoroki.

His quirk compromises his eyesight completely.

So he slowly inched closer and closer to Todoroki behind the ice and mist, who had started walking towards the giant block of ice to unfreeze it. He waited until the bi-chromatic teenager had gotten within punching range and let out the strongest right hook he'd ever done. Part of him felt bad for the amount of concussions he's given people today, but then again, they signed up for pain when they joined the hero course. They'll be fine.

Probably.

He hoped so at least.

Somehow, the boy was still awake, groaning as he slowly moved. Another kick – this time soft – to the head and the boy was finished. Izuku took a deep breathe. His heartbeat was back to normal and he had calmed down significantly. Mission successful.

Now, for the grand finale.

"Dammit."

Izuku turned to Bakugou, who had his head down, slightly in the direction of Todoroki's unconscious body. He tilted his head inquisitively. Bakugou's voice was surprisingly quiet and sad, nothing like the loud, bashful voice he always had.

"I'm still so useless. Couldn't even protect my fucking classmate." he mumbled, kicking a rock to release some anger. He was clearly deep in thought.

Izuku just stood there, confused.

Was this guy having a main character anime moment or something?

Was he about to sit through an entire monologue of his tragic backstory or some shit?

His watch beeped coincidently. 5 minutes left. He should really take care of Bakugou. He looked back up, only to meet the eyes of an angry inferno.

"Listen here bitch."

Bakugou took a step forward with all the intensity in the world.

"I'm going to defeat you."

He started stomping, popping small explosions from his gloved-hands.

"And get revenge for everyone that's fallen."

Izuku just stared blankly at the boy, not really sure what to make of his declaration.

He was being a bit corny. Izuku knows there's supposed to be a roleplay part in this exercise but that's just really boring and dramatic. It's not like he killed anyone.

His jokes stopped though, as he noticed pink streaks going across Bakugou's face.

That's new.

What the fuck was that?

"DIE!"

And before he knew it, Bakugou's figure dissipated in the air and appeared right in front of him.

Before he could focus, Bakugou had punched the air right in front of Izuku, the pink streaks still coursing through his body.

Before he could react, his body was hit with a strong gust of wind.

It was like getting hit by a truck.

He could feel more of his ribs break from the sheer amount of force.

He could feel his brain hit his skull from the recoil, nullifying his senses for a second.

He was sent flying into the air faster than he could blink.

Even Izuku's quirk couldn't react to that.

And it was faster than Iida's Recipro Burst!

For a moment, he floated perfectly still. With nothing but the soft winds tickling his hair.

He glanced up.

The clouds weren't too far away.

He looked down.

The canal's water was swaying below him.

He was probably about 4500 feet in the air considering he hadn't reached cloud level yet.

Then he started to fall.

What goes up must come down.

But at the same time, he heard screaming below him.

Bakugou was blasting off into the air, rotating his body using his explosions. A large amount of debris was picked up by the sudden twist of air, being carried by the forming winds. It looked like a tornado had been created around Bakugou's body. A tornado that was heading right for Izuku.

The explosion-boy used the momentum to quickly cover the distance upwards, past Izuku's falling body, still carrying all of that momentum built up. A glow appeared inside the dust abyss, right in front of Bakugou's palms.

He was charging up his power to throw it at Izuku with everything he's got.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!" the student screamed, the glow reaching its pinnacle moment.

For a moment, time stopped for Izuku, just before the blast was launched.

His eyes hurt just from looking at the scene in front of him.

Bakugou was basically throwing the sun at him after all.

And even though Izuku couldn't see from the blinding light…

Even though Izuku couldn't hear from the loud ringing in his ears from Bakugou's explosions…

Even though Izuku could hardly breathe from his cracked ribs.

He could briefly tell that he was laughing like a madman.

The adrenaline that was coursing through him.

The buzzing feeling that gave him all the confidence in the world.

The heat emanating from the giant ball of raging fire.

Oh, it was all just so fucking great.

It made him feel so alive.

It made him feel so real.

It made him feel so seen.

The thing Izuku was before could never feel like this.

The thing Izuku was before could never be like this.

He wondered what the aftermath be after this was all over.

Would he be hailed as the number 1 hero course student?

Or would Bakugou claim the title?

It didn't really matter.

All that mattered was that there was an aftermath.

A legacy to be created.

A precedent to be made.

Tools couldn't have a legacy.

Weapons couldn't set a precedent.

But a person can.

And that's what Izuku was now.

A person.

Not a tool.

Not an object.

Not a pet.

A person.

He was alive.

He was free.

He could die.

He could bleed.

The brighter the sun glowed the more adrenaline pumped into his veins.

It was a sight to behold.

2 crazy idiots with nothing but power hurling it at each other.

And for what?

Pride!?

Joy!?

Honor!?

Well, it didn't matter anyway.

All that mattered was winning.

All that mattered was staying alive to fight another day.

To feel this wonderful feeling again and again and again.

And to do that, he was going to have to dodge this attack.

Because if Izuku gets hit by that explosion, he was definitely going to have to go to Recovery Girl.

And he really did not want to explain where he got his scars from, nor did he want to deal with the injuries he'd 100% get.

So Bakugou is going to have to be stopped.

For a moment, he glanced away from the blinding light, looking at his watch.

2 minutes left.

He closed his eyes.

The loud ringing from his exploded eardrums ceased as the buzzing feeling of his quirk took over.

It coursed through his body, his veins, his blood.

He could feel Bakugou's heartbeat echoing in his ears.

He studied its quick tempo for a bit.

He changed his heartbeat to match the boy just for fun.

He felt the wind crash into his back and push his hair into his face.

He felt his coat hug his body, pressing all of his blades against him as well.

He took a deep breath.

And he let himself soar.

Chapter End Notes

Hi! I am currently getting ready to leave somewhere rn so I can't sit and chat. Just wanted to let you all know that if I can finish a chapter today you guys are getting 3 more chapters!

Reasoning

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

UA was a really rich school.

Like, insanely rich.

The budget was insane.

The government gave them a ridiculous amount of money to produce high quality heroes.

And don't get him started on the donations from rich fucks who have nothing better to do.

So basically, they had a lot of money to mess around with.

One of the main things they funded was the surveillance setup of the entire campus.

Not just for security, but for monitoring as well.

Watching students fight in a safe, comfortable distance and having the ability to rewatch the footage was pretty useful.

The cameras were even adjustable to!

You could move them side to side.

Or in this case… up.

Which Aizawa was extremely grateful for right now.

Because holy shit, he didn't know what he would do if he couldn't see this completely through.

Yes, his plan's result must be seen through to the very end.

So, to recap, Aizawa's plan fucking worked.

Half of him couldn't believe it.

After literal weeks of getting outsmarted and outplayed by a 14 year old kid, he finally did it.

He got Etsuri to finally show his true colors.

And what the actual fuck.

This kid was fucking ruthless.

And surprisingly really strong despite being on the shorter side.

He knocked out all 3 trackers in a single blow.

This might be a problem.

He could tell from the audio being played back that every student who got punched or kicked by the kid definitely got either a concussion or a sprained arm/leg.

He called Recovery Girl over after the first three were taken out, telling her to bring a lot of ice packs.

And then the rest ensued.

Aizawa had to hand it to Etsuri. He was really smart.

Like, it was obvious already.

But it's different when you see it, you know?

The amount of planning and logic that followed every action was mind blowing.

The only reason Aizawa could keep up was because of his experience.

And don't get him started on the kid's appearance.

That creepy laugh and childish tone sent shivers down Aizawa's spine.

There were very few people who could do that to him.

And Etsuri Izuku was one of them.

By the time Mina, Sero, Todoroki, and Bakugou had started their battle with Etsuri, most of the class had returned to the observation deck Aizawa was in. Though his eyes never left the screen, he could tell some of the students were in a state of shock just from the atmosphere. The tracking unit had been healed by Recovery Girl, with only Jirou still being knocked out. Kirishima's group had been healed of the small cuts and bruises/the stress on their bodies from Etsuri's quirk. Now all that was left was to watch the rest of the battle ensue.

Everyone physically cringed at the sight of Mina's calf getting stabbed.

A ripple of "oof" and "dang" occurred as Sero's face was hit with an unbelievable amount of force.

Recovery Girl just shook her head, mumbling about how she was going to knock some sense into the green-haired brat, while pressing the button for recovery bots to pick up the 2 fallen students. She sent 2 more in advance since everyone could already tell how this fight was going to end.

The fight between Todoroki, Bakugou, and Etsuri took a while to change its pace, so the rest of the class started to talk while watching.

"Dude, I can't believe Izuku was this good and we never knew."

"I know right? Why didn't he ever show this much skill all this time?"

"Bro, his quirk was so uncomfortable. I don't know how you and Ojiro lasted 30 seconds under that feeling."

"Well, we didn't really have a choice…"

"Hey Uraraka and Iida, you guys both talk to him the most. Did you ever know he was like this?"

"We knew he was smart and that he was pretty good at martial arts but nothing like this…"

And suddenly, after more than 30 mins of pure fighting perfection, Etsuri finally made a mistake. He didn't see where he was landing, a rookie thing to do. And, to Aizawa's pride, his other students took that small mishap and turned the tables on him in an instant.

He didn't even get the chance to blink before Todoroki unleashed all of his might into forming an iceberg, the same move he used during the Sports Festival. A few sounds of awe came from behind as the rest of the class took in the sight.

They all knew how powerful that move was, so all of them thought the battle was truly over.

Cheers, similar to the ones made when Aoyama sent a laser at the boy, enveloped the room.

Awe for Todoroki, one of the top students, grew exponentially.

Everyone was clapping and celebrating.

Everyone except Aizawa.

Yeah, Aizawa wasn't falling for it.

False hope is a bitch.

It's better to be skeptical of logic than betrayed by logic.

Etsuri committing a rookie mistake?

Don't make him laugh!

And that theory held true as Etsuri came out of nowhere and punched the shit out of Todoroki.

Recovery Girl screamed in the background about brain damage or some shit like that but no one listened.

Everyone's eyes were just locked on the screen, watching this hidden force of nature reveal its true colors after all this time.

None of them were thinking or trying to find something to say.

None of them were actively moving around or flinching at the sights.

No, their minds had fully cleared to take in the scene for granted.

To understand the power being shown before them.

Aizawa just smiled.

So this kid was stronger than Todoroki.

Now to test Bakugou.

And holy shit, did they not disappoint.

Because Bakugou seemingly developed a new power/strategy out of nowhere and launched Etsuri more than 4000 feet in the air.

And the kid didn't even touch Etsuri!

All he did was punch the air!

Aizawa observed carefully, pouring even more focus into the scene before him than he already had.

It wasn't just Etsuri on the line anymore, Bakugou was important too.

What was happening with those pink streaks all over him?

And then Bakugou started launching himself in the air with his normal explosions, rotating himself to create momentum and what looked like to be a dust tornado.

Oh shit.

This was going to go really badly.

"Bakugou, stop!" Aizawa screamed into the mic.

But the boy didn't listen.

In a matter of seconds, the kid was above Etsuri, pointing what looked like a giant fireball at him, still reveling in whatever power those pink streaks were giving him.

Aizawa just kept yelling at the boy to stop, zooming in and adjusting the camera to keep an eye on the two students.

But there was nothing he could do.

The shockwave reached even the observation deck, with everyone having to brace themselves as the explosion ensued.

Aizawa had to look away from his precious cameras and cover his eyes.

Dust went flying everywhere as it was carried by the winds.

A couple screams could barely be heard followed by what Aizawa swore was cursing from Recovery Girl.

As soon as the force became bearable, Aizawa briefly flashed over everyone in the observation deck, making sure everyone was ok. After confirmation, he whipped his head towards the cameras, desperately looking for his 2 students. There was a large cloud of smoke in the sky as well as a lot of water falling down like rain from the canal. The blast must have launched some of the surrounding water into the air from the force. But then a figure fell from the giant, grey cloud, leaving a small trail of smoke behind him. He zoomed into the figure with the camera.

Bakugou seemingly jolted awake midair, launching himself into the air again with his explosions. He began to routinely fall, blasting every couple of feet in order to slow himself down. Aizawa sighed in relief. At least one student was ok.

But where was Etsuri?

The explosive blonde seemed to also ask that question, as Aizawa saw him slowly looking around.

For a moment, Aizawa feared the kid had been knocked out and was in the water.

That fear quickly subsided once another figure fell from the dust cloud.

Or more like into the dust cloud.

Somehow, SOMEHOW, Etsuri was now falling above Bakugou.

The camera wasn't close enough, but Aizawa could only imagine the face Etsuri was making.

The silence that enveloped the air was almost deafening.

A great contrast to the loud explosion they all heard just moments prior.

No one could believe what they were watching was real as Etsuri fucking slammed into Bakugou in the fucking air.

No one could believe it as they watched both students crash into the ground, near the camera everyone was so desperately watching for answers.

(Luckily, both apparently took measures to ensure they wouldn't die from the fall as they both didn't die immediately on impact.)

No one could believe it as they saw Etsuri bounce up like a fucking cat after falling from that height.

No one could believe the look on Etsuri's face when he finally turned to the camera.

And Aizawa couldn't believe the laughter he had heard through the audio.

Let's just say he was really glad that he didn't put it on speaker.

No one said a word, all waiting to say their piece once the infamous student walked through the doors of the observation deck.

Aizawa rubbed his head, trying to stop the migraine that was starting to form.

Well, that was NOT what he was expecting to happen.

Mental Note: never put Etsuri Izuku in a situation where he has to go all out.

Because if you do, someone will get seriously injured.

Or maybe even die.

And soar Izuku did.

His back faced the ground as his eyes faced the sky.

A bright blue filled with fluffy white clouds.

A great contrast to what was most definitely a shit show below him.

Even though it wasn't glowing like the sun, it still hurt his eyes.

Maybe it was just too beautiful for mortal eyes to fully witness.

He was almost at cloud level now, which meant that he was almost at 6500 feet in the air.

It wasn't much considering skydiving planes go up to about 10,000 – 13,000 feet.

But it was higher than Izuku had ever been.

He didn't mean to go this high.

In order to dodge that attack, Izuku decided he would have to pull himself to the right using his quirk.

But in order to avoid the shockwave ( that would have launched him several miles to the right and probably to his death), he would also have to go up immediately after.

And well… that's what he did.

Unfortunately, Izuku's quirk wasn't completely fast enough since he still got caught up in the shockwave at a weird angle.

And somehow he ended up here.

Above the smoky-abyss.

Below the stunning sky.

Arms spread like wings.

Hair blowing into his face.

Just slowly falling to what would eventually be his death.

Wow.

Now this was a feeling Izuku could never get used to.

It was like all the adrenaline had left his body all at once.

It was like his mind stopped racing with a thousand thoughts per second.

It was like his quirk stopped begging Izuku to use it.

And all of that was done just for Izuku to capture this one moment.

Normally, Izuku would've been pissed to see the two best feelings in the world leave his system.

But not today.

This feeling probably took 3 rd place.

It wasn't as good as adrenaline's reality check.

It wasn't as good as the control his quirk gave.

But it was good.

Great in its own way.

Suddenly, the smell of smoke hit his senses.

Oh right, he was still falling into the mess Bakugou had made.

He didn't have time to stare at the glorious scene in front of him.

He had a fight to win.

And 2 lives to not end.

Flying wasn't the dangerous part.

Crashing was.

So he'd have to take measures to make sure neither he nor Bakugou die on impact.

Quickly holding his breath and closing his eyes, he felt himself plunge into what felt like a ball of heat.

He could feel smoke at the tip of his senses that he dared not breathe in.

The feeling of touch came back to him with his hearing quickly after.

From what he could tell, he was slightly burned in multiple places from stray embers and the hot temperature around him. His ribs were still broken from the day's debut. He didn't have a brain bleed but he did have a serious migraine that made him want to drop dead.

But all that pain faded away as adrenaline slowly kicked back into his system.

All of that momentary panic left when his quirk began to flare, giving him the confidence to pull this all off.

The heat dropped dramatically as Izuku left the dust cloud.

He opened his eyes and exhaled, turning around midair to find Bakugou somewhat close to him.

Alright, time to finish this.

He tucked in his limbs, dramatically increasing his speed as he fell through the air.

He didn't scream or laugh, holding his excitement in as to not give a hint of his location to the enemy.

He only silently grabbed Bakugou as he began to drag the boy down with him.

If gravity was taking Izuku from the sky, then he was sure as hell going to bring Bakugou down too.

"SON OF A BITCH HOW!?" Bakugou screamed, as the two began to wrestle in midair.

It was an extraordinary moment for the both of them.

Mostly because this was officially the craziest thing either of them had ever done.

And Izuku's done a lot of crazy shit.

That's when you know it's messed up.

He squeezed his hand, hitting the small button on his palm that popped his hidden wrist blade out. It pierced through Bakugou's flesh, and out came that liquid joy Izuku so desperately loved.

The buzzing feeling grew exponentially at the sight of it, quickly taking control over Bakugou's entire bloodstream.

Using his quirk, he pushed himself and Bakugou away from each other, breaking their downward momentum and causing both of them landing with a solid crash. Izuku stopped Bakugou from landing properly though, letting him hit the ground with enough force to put him out of commission but not kill him.

Izuku, however, immediately fell into a roll on impact with the ground. He didn't bother standing up or moving at all. Instead, he stared at the sky filled to the brim with clouds, the place he had been just moments ago. He felt the soft bullets of what felt like water from the canal. He was breathing heaving and his heart was in his ears.

And then he burst out laughing with a wild smile on his face.

That was amazing!

He never knew Bakugou was that strong!

That was the best ending he could've asked for!

He bounced up, ignoring the pain from his chest and head as he ran over to Bakugou.

The boy was breathing heavily, slowly trying to get up but ultimately collapsing on the ground.

Izuku didn't seem to notice though, he was too pumped with adrenaline to care. All he did was excitedly pick up Bakugou and swing him over his shoulder, ignoring the complaints from the boy. He glanced over to where Todoroki had previously been in. The recovery bots must have gotten to him. Cool, less people to carry!

On the way back, Izuku slowed his heartbeat much to his own dismay. He needed to reconstruct his neutral façade again so that he didn't look any weirder than he did already. Which he didn't particularly care about but decided that it would probably be for the best if his class didn't know that he was an adrenaline junkie.

He slowly approached the door to the observation deck. His mind started to drift to what the class' reactions could be beyond the doors.

They wouldn't be too crazy, right?

He didn't know if he could handle another yelling match like this morning.

While the fight had gotten a little crazy in the end, the rest of it wasn't that big of a deal. All it took was careful planning and methodical reasoning to pull it off. Anyone with half a brain could do it.

He put his hand on the doorknob.

So his class shouldn't be too shocked at his win. Yeah, they would have calmed down by the time Izuku had gotten there–

One look at everyone's faces told Izuku the exact opposite of what he was thinking.

He sighed in frustration.

Time to get yelled at some more. Yay him.

Why did he have to be the abnormal one out of everyone?

"BRO WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU!?"

"DUDE I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TOOK DOWN ALL OF US."

"WELL DONE MY GUY!"

"Revelry in the dark."

"YOU WERE SPARKLING MONSIEUR!"

"DUDE WHO TRAINED YOU? I'D LOVE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THEM!"

That last comment made Izuku snort and burst out into laughter, a more calm and normal version than the adrenaline-powered one moments ago. The rest of the class stopped their "fanboying" and watched, a little confused. It took Izuku a little bit to stop laughing.

He slowly walked to where Recovery Girl was to drop Bakugou off, who had passed out on the trip here, fakinga grateful smile.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just Kirishima's comment was just really ironic. And while I appreciate the compliments, I really did not do anything that special except for the end."

In reality, that translated to "fuck off I don't want your attention I don't want to be the number one hero course student just give that title to Bakugou and Todoroki leave me alone it wasn't that amazing or cool anyone could've done it" etc. etc.

You get the picture.

Of course, none of them understood what that meant since Izuku was stuck playing the nice guy. Thus, protests were launched back. Yaomomo was the first to speak up.

"Izuku, you seriously can't look us all in the eye and say that. You just beat 19 people in 45 mins."

Except he did look them all in the eye and say that.

He literally did it 2 seconds ago.

Why was she saying he couldn't do it!?

Of course, all of that was left unsaid, much to Izuku's annoyance. "Except you can't really call it a 1 vs. 19 battle. In reality, it was just a 1 vs. 4 since I managed to beat the rest of you guys without any major fighting. The main part was when I took hostages from Kirishima's group to avoid fighting all of you guys. I'll admit that the end part was impressive but I really don't deserve all of that praise."

Mumbling rippled through the class as they all silently voiced their protests and thoughts to the matter at hand. Eventually, Ojiro spoke up through the soft silence that had entered the room.

"So, why didn't you ever show that kind of skill in the 2 months we've been here?"

Izuku looked at Ojiro, ignoring the way his stomach twisted in response. "I don't like attention."

Pure silence crashed through the window as everyone stared at Izuku, mistaking the quiet for a momentary pause. Eventually, Ojiro spoke up again.

"Wait. That's it?"

Izuku shrugged while nodding. "Yep."

Sero spoke up.

"Ok. Quick question. You're becoming a hero, right?"

Izuku shifted his weight from side to side. If he answered honestly, that would lead to more talking when he already wanted to run away from this entire conversation. But he also didn't want to lie… so, half-truth it is.

"Let's just say that for the time being."

Sero hesitated at the weird response but decided to continue. "So, if you become a hero, you do realize you're going to get all of the attention in the world, right?"

Izuku stopped swaying. "I plan to become an underground hero to avoid unnecessary drama."

Sero made an "oh" sound while Tsu followed up. "But I still don't get why you don't try in class, kero."

Another deep sigh came from Izuku. He immediately regretted it once he felt his ribs move from the expansion of his lungs. He managed to hide the pain well, though.

Fuck, he was going to have to pay an underworld doctor to fix these wounds. As much as he wanted to just suck it up and suffer, it would be too much to handle.

"The thing is, being the strongest means that everyone weaker than you will always try to constantly fight you, and I'm just not interested in that. I'm not aiming for the hero billboards or anything like that. I just want to get strong enough to save people, that's it. I don't have time for competition or rivalries or other crap like that. And declaring yourself as the strongest gets the attention of aggressive crowds that I really don't want to interact with."

It was another golden rule of life Izuku had figured out during his growth as a person.

Just like in prison, the toughest person always gets challenged.

Because people's ambitions are too strong to resist the urge of competition.

But Izuku was raised without passion in anything.

He wasn't raised to have a spirit of raging fire or something like that.

So looking at competitions now always just seemed stupid.

He really didn't understand why people got so hyped over them.

It's just not something he wanted to indulge with.

It's not the kind of attention he wanted to associate himself with.

And declaring himself as the alpha of the entire hero course would 100% put him on that spotlight.

Of course, there were other reasons as to why he didn't want the attention.

None that he could say out loud though.

"That being said, I really hope none of you guys try to start any rivalries with me or anything like that. I'm not interested in being the best like all of you guys. I just want to get through this course so I can start doing actual hero work. Bakugou and Todoroki are plenty strong enough, keep them at the top pedestal and leave me out of it."

He started to try to walk away from everyone, away from all of the staring and attention.

He felt like he was a rat trapped in a cage.

Except it was a metaphorical, social cage.

An introvert's worst nightmare.

But before he could leave, coat started to drag him backwards. He looked over his shoulder. Recovery Girl had grabbed him by the collar.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING YOUNG MAN!? I STILL HAVE A FEW WORDS WITH YOU. FIRST OFF, WHAT IS WITH YOU AND GIVING PEOPLE CONCUSSIONS!? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY I HAD TO TREAT ALL THIS TIME? ONE OF YOUR CLASSMATES IS STILL KNOCKED OUT FROM YOU SLAMMING HER HEAD INTO THE GROUND. AND SECOND OFF, NEVER DO WHAT YOU DID WITH THIS BRAT," she pointed at Bakugou violently, "AGAIN. HE COULD'VE BROKEN HIS SPINE OR HAD A BRAIN BLEED! WHAT YOU DID WAS EXTREMELY RECKLESS AND NOT TO MENTION DANGEROUS…"

At this point the class had started to slowly back away from the angry old woman. Aizawa had silently dismissed the class and people slowly exited the building, trying not to make any sudden movements or noise as to not draw any attention from the beast to themselves. Izuku spared a glance at Iida and Uraraka.

They both looked him dead in the eye as they slowly walked through the observation deck, knowing full well what wrath they were dumping Izuku into.

Wow.

Just wow.

The Man was right.

Friends WILL just betray you in the end.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME YOUNG MAN!?"

Someone please help him.

He's been yelled at his whole life but this was the first time he actually felt scared from it.

And it's from an old woman with a cane too.

Another sigh escaped his mouth before he could stop it, expanding his lungs and once again raining hellfire onto Izuku's chest.

Why did God always have to punish Izuku after the good times?

Chapter End Notes

Hello hello!

I am posting this chapter early so that everyone can have a chance to read it either overnight or right before bed. The next chapter is going to be a bit of a time skip so I wanted to simulate that by posting it a few more hours later than normal.

Basically, I'm forcing ya'll to take a break.

I didn't get a chance to talk about last chapter so I'll be including that too. I've had that chapter written up since June 1st, and I haven't read it until yesterday to proofread it. But when I reread it, I actually hated it for some reason. I don't know why but I don't like that chapter. But it was too late to rewrite it and everyone said it was good so like...

This chapter I also wrote like last minute cuz I realized I needed to include everyone's reaction to Izuku's skill or else you all will murder me. The original plan was just to end the class battle and go straight to the time skip so be grateful that you're getting this ppl.

Nothing too major happened with how I wrote this week. I kind of feel like I'm not adding enough humor to my writing so bear with me guys. It's kind of hard to tell how to include jokes that will make everyone laugh when thousands of ppl with different humor styles are reading this.

Anyway, you guys are NOT ready for what is about to come next.

As a warning...

enjoy the good times while you can.

Located

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"Because of the Sports Festival, we couldn't risk allowing you guys to do this until the coast was clear. But now that it's been 4 weeks, we're finally letting you guys do the one-week internships."

The class immediately started buzzing with cheers and excitement. All of them were happy at the prospect of finally doing some real hero work. Everyone but Izuku that is. This was just another annoying thing he had to get across.

"Even though the Sports Festival was cut short, we still have the recommendation offers from pro-heroes who watched the tournament." Aizawa-sensei said, turning to the side to show the screen.

Todoroki had the most offers, which made sense considering his glacier attack in the third round. Uraraka took second, followed by a silent air fist bump. Tokoyami took third, and Yaomomo took fourth.

"Anyway, the forms for you to sign up for one are on my desk. Make sure you consider this very carefully. There are lots of students who wasted this week and regretted it even to this day. Turn it in by tomorrow. But before you turn it in, you guys have to pick out your code names. Be careful since the name you choose now will probably stick around for the rest of your life. And whatever you do, don't ask me. I don't deal with that kind of stuff."

And with that, the teacher slumped into his sleeping bag and disappeared into the corner. The rest of the class excitedly got their papers and started to talk about who they were going to intern with and what hero names they could choose.

"Well I already know what my name is going to be. I've had it picked out since I was a little kid. How does 'Uravity' sound to you guys?"

Iida spoke up. "That is a very friendly and clever name Uraraka! It really does reflect on who you are as a person!" His robotic demeanor was back and stronger than ever despite it being missing for a week.

Uraraka leaned back subconsciously. "It isn't that deep or anything. What about you Iida?"

Iida stood up, proudly putting a fist on his chest like a salute. "I will be inheriting my brother's hero name, Ingenium!"

Uraraka smiled. "Makes sense when you're the one who's going to inherit the family business. What about you guys?" she said, turning to Izuku and Todoroki.

Todoroki responded with his usual blandness. "Shouto."

Izuku responded with the exact same amount of excitement, aka, none. "Izuku."

Why the hell should he have to pick another name for himself? He already spent a month agonizing over his first one!?

Uraraka, though, looked disappointed. "That's it? You guys have such cool quirks and you're not going to give yourself an awesome name!?" she stood up, matching Iida's intensity.

Izuku and Todoroki looked at each other, shrugging.

"It doesn't really matter that much." they both said, their voices lining up perfectly.

Uraraka sighed in defeat. "Guess I'll just have to come up with one for you guys so you don't look like idiots in the media." She collapsed onto her chair, looking blankly up at the roof.

A few minutes passed of pure silence as Uraraka thought about hero names for Todoroki and Izuku. Everyone else was busying themselves in the internship papers, filling out the required data.

Eventually Uraraka jumped out of her seat, pointing at Todoroki.

"Ok, you're either Flashpoint or Enthalpy, take your pick."

She violently pointed at Izuku.

"And you're Tyrant!"

Both Todoroki and Izuku slowly blinked at her, confused.

"Why?" they both said, again, at the same time.

"Because Todoroki's quirk has to do with temperature, which is basically what enthalpy is. And the name flashpoint sounds cool. And Izuku's quirk lets him control people's movements against their will, aka, like a tyrant. I think it works perfectly."

She sat down, satisfied with herself.

Izuku pressed on though. "But doesn't that just make me sound like a villain? I mean, tyrants are technically villains."

That was literally the opposite of what he was trying to be.

"Then how about Ruler?" Iida quipped back.

Izuku sighed. "There's like 5000 Rulers, both hero and villain wise."

Uraraka buzzed back in. "Good point. If you can't think of something, just put your name for now and I'll come up with something later. Now, about the internships…"

She picked up the papers sitting on her desk, pausing when she noticed how long the list was.

"Wow, there's more heroes on this list than I expected. How are we supposed to comb through it all in such a short amount of time?" Uraraka said with frustration.

Todoroki turned to her. "Well, you can narrow it down by picking heroes that are similar to the type of hero you want to be. What are you thinking of going into after we finish UA?"

"Oh, well I want to be a rescue hero like Thirteen. So maybe I should pick Landslide or someone like that."

"Don't jump to conclusions so soon. This is going to be our first real experience of working as a hero. We should consider variety and try new things we haven't done or seen before." Iida added.

"Says the guy who's already picked his brother's agency. Bet you got tours of the place constantly by your older brother." Uraraka said with a smirk.

Iida didn't have a good comeback to that so he stayed silent. After a few moments of thinking, Uraraka turned to Izuku.

"Hey Izuku, what do you think is better? Learning rescue stuff or fighting stuff?"

Izuku looked up from the list. "Why?"

Uraraka looked down in a serious manner. "I mean, I want to become a rescue hero, so I'm not going to engage villains very often, but if I ever encounter villains, I don't want it to end up like…" She curled her fists as her voice faded. She didn't have to say the last part though. They all knew what she was talking about.

The disaster at the Sports Festival.

Izuku leaned back. "Well, if you want my honest opinion, learn fighting. Rescue jobs tend to rely mostly on quirks, which are easy to train at UA. From what I've read so far, I would pick Gunhead."

Iida was taken aback. "Gunhead? But he's a hero that relies on heavy duty combat."

Izuku just nodded. "Exactly. He uses heavy equipment and martial arts to get the job done. Uraraka can make that stuff as light as a feather, and she can learn martial arts from someone more experienced than me."

Uraraka gave it some thought. "That makes a lot of sense. I think I'll keep looking through the list but I'm probably going to go with a combat hero instead of a rescue one. What about you Todoroki?"

Todoroki turned to Uraraka. "I'm going to intern with my father."

Uraraka leaned back and playfully groaned in frustration. "Man, it pays to have the Number 2 Hero as your father."

Izuku glanced at Todoroki, making sure the boy was still sane. After what he was told during the Sports Festival, he wanted to make sure Todoroki wasn't going there against his will.

Fortunately, Todoroki gave a slight nod, signaling that everything was ok and that he wasn't in danger. Izuku turned back to the list in his hand. There was no point in intervening when it wasn't necessary. He was still reading through all the dumb names heroes had. He couldn't believe that he actually found some of these names "cool" when he was younger. His mind fell into a rhythm as he travelled down the list.

Serpentine, Cleanslate, Taser, Owl Man, F̶͚͚͍̰͈͙͓̭̈́͋̿́̓̊̆̾͋͌͗̎̇ḯ̴̢̡̧͙̟̝͙͉̟͔̹̝̺̼̈́̀͑̋r̸͖̉̓̄̐̽̎̆͆͝͝e̶͕̪͇͙͍͙͑̽̅͂͂̎̊͝͝f̶͕̮̪̬͓̂̄̅̄̓͛͊̐̑͆̚͘l̴̥̬̍͑̔́͋͊̓̍͑̚̚y̸̲̳̏̉̇͐̌̌̈̀̓, Manual, Papercu–

Wait a minute.

His eyes restarted from the top.

Serpentine, Cleanslate, Taser, Owl Man, F̵̰̟̜̽̓ḭ̴̛̛̗̗̘̈̈̽̔̿̅̓͛̔̚͝r̶̥͎̜͉̻͔̦̣̫͙̈́̿͗͜͜͠é̴̗̞̻̼͈̺͌̾̂́̏͑̎̚f̴̨͖̲̜̳̰̋͜l̴̝̽̏̃̀̀͌͐̕͝ͅỳ̶̨̨̧͎͚͔͇͚͜, Manu–

The static returned in an instant.

"Anyway, which one are you going to pick Izu–" Uraraka stopped midsentence.

Todoroki and Iida both looked up from their papers, confused. Their eyes widened as they realized what had happened.

All three of them had started to get used to Izuku's sudden switch of personas that came out once in a while. It only ever happened during combat training or serious topics that involved Izuku's past. The sudden shift to a cold voice with no emotion to be found was kinda weird, but hey, everyone had their quirks. Literally! And after all, who were they to judge?

So when they saw the same empty void in Izuku's eyes, none of them were that surprised or scared compared to the first time they saw it. It was still super creepy but again, everyone has their own defense mechanisms.

But this time was different to all the other times they had seen it. In the past, Izuku seemed neutral throughout the whole thing. During fights, sometimes he'd get a little too excited and a poor imitation of happiness would leak out.

Again, very weird, but again, how can they judge?

But the expression Izuku had now was different to that. It was more emotion than any of them had ever seen in that cold state.

There was only pure rage and fear to be found in those eyes.

The familiar blankness that they had all come to know could barely be seen.

He hadn't moved his posture from where it was before. He wasn't clenching his jaw or anything. He was just sitting still. No, nothing had physically changed. But all of the color had drained from his face and he was shaking slightly. He was clenching the paper tightly, almost crumbling it with just his grip.

"Uh… Izuku. Are you ok?"

The boy showed no recognition of Uraraka's voice. He didn't even seem to register it. All he did was continue to stare at the list with that terrifying look in his eyes.

5 seconds passed.

Then 10.

Then 15.

Finally, Izuku answered. That void of anger and fear dissipated in an instant.

"Sorry, what did you say Uraraka?"

They were all thrown off by the sudden normalcy in his voice. Uraraka hesitated before answering.

"Uh… I asked if you were ok? You were looking a little tense there…"

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. Just got lost in thought. Oh and about which hero I'm choosing, I have no idea. I'm hoping to become an underground hero but that's really all I have so far. And since I don't really need to improve my combat skills, I think I'm just going to focus on learning the logistics of hero work instead. So maybe someone like Nighteye, but he isn't on the list, so…" he ended with a shrug.

Izuku finally looked up to meet Uraraka's gaze. He saw the shock written all over her face.

"Um… are you good or…?"

"What! Oh, no I'm fine! Just caught off… guard."

He shrugged and just returned back to the list, as if nothing ever happened. The three students slowly turned back to their own papers.

Their friend was super fucking weird sometimes.

Don't do it.

The repeated phrase was the only thing Izuku could hold onto in his insanity.

He knew how to get rid of the static.

He knew how to get rid of the burning sensation on his right hand.

It would be so simple.

An easy fix for such a complex problem.

But doing it would raise some specific questions that Izuku wouldn't be able to answer honestly.

So resisting the urge it is.

But man, that was totally unexpected.

He never thought that Firefly would be on that list.

The reason he didn't freak out like the time he had the nightmare was because he had already considered the fact that he would probably interact with Firefly again at some point. It was inevitable since he was going to become a hero in the future. And heroes, unfortunately, have to collaborate with each other, which meant chances are he would have to see Firefly again.

So he'd already prepared himself mentally.

That didn't stop the memories from hitting him like a truck though.

And that didn't stop him from wanted to stab the ever loving shit out of that stupid fucking symbol–

"Uh… are you sure you're ok Izuku?"

Izuku snapped back into reality. He looked to Iida who had asked him he question.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you've been scratching your right arm really hard for a while now."

Izuku looked over to his right arm. He had started to subconsciously scratch it because of the burning sensation on his palm. His skin was starting to tear and his blood could barely be seen, poking through the small holes he had made.

"Oh yeah, sorry. I think I'm just having a small allergic reaction or something. My hand feels like it's burning." Izuku said with a smile.

They were walking back to the train station after a long day of school work. The sky was a bright blue with fluffy clouds. The sound of cars and people added to the peaceful atmosphere. Even the sun wasn't being annoying for once.

It was a perfect day indeed.

Suddenly, Uraraka stopped talking with Todoroki and turned around to face Iida and Izuku.

"Hey, since we're doing internships that means we won't see each other for a whole week, right?"

Todoroki, Izuku, and Iida all nodded.

"So why don't we do something fun on Sunday as a hangout since we won't see each other for a bit?"

Todoroki and Izuku didn't react but Iida immediately assumed his excited robotic stance. The guy was so easy to read…

"That is a great idea Uraraka! How about that theme park on the west side of town?"

"I'm down! What about you Todoroki?"

Todoroki shrugged.

"I'm free that day. So I don't mind." Todoroki responded with his usual neutral tone. But Izuku could see a small spark of excitement hidden inside of him.

Uraraka turned to Izuku. "What about you?"

Well, if he accepted, it would definitely be a new experience for Izuku. He didn't know exactly what a "hang out" entailed since Izuku had never actually "hung out" before. Mostly because he's never had a friend to hang with, but from what he could tell, "hanging out" wouldn't be bad at all. It would probably be good for someone like him. There was one problem, though.

"Well, I'd like to go, but I don't think they'll let me in."

Confusion ran through Uraraka's mind. "What do you mean?"

Izuku looked up at the sky. "Well, the thing is that everyone under 16 has to be accompanied by an adult. And I'm legally 14 now 'cause Principal Nedzu made me change it so..."

"Wait, you're 14?" Todoroki asked.

Izuku turned to him, then looked back at the group. "Should I tell him the whole thing? I've been meaning to for a while."

Uraraka and Iida both nodded in approval as the group headed for the closest bench they could find. They all sat down as Izuku went on a whole rant about his true education level and age, being forced to tell the illegal hacking of the government parts by Uraraka and Iida, as well as his true job as Deku.

At the end, Todoroki seemed completely indifferent about the whole situation, which Izuku was very thankful for. He didn't know if he could handle another barrage of questions like Uraraka and Iida had thrown at him when they first found out.

"So, unless we have someone over 18, the theme park won't let you inside." Todoroki concluded.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." Uraraka said, putting her hand up to her chin while trying to find a solution.

Izuku was also trying his best to find another way. He was tempted to suggest that he could just sneak inside of the theme park – an easy feat for someone as skilled as him – but he figured the others wouldn't be willing to break the law so easily. Luckily, he didn't have to resume his international criminal status as Uraraka jumped out of her spot on the bench.

"I can just ask my sister to come along with us! She's 22 so she's technically an adult."

Izuku looked at Uraraka. "Didn't you say that she works in different cities?"

Uraraka shook her head. "Normally she does, but she took a position here in order to be closer to me. Since, you know, the whole Sports Festival thing. She wanted to be close in case something else happened."

All three boys made an "oh" sound while Iida spoke up. "If your sister is free, that would be perfect Uraraka."

Uraraka was beaming. "Perfect! I'll let you all know the finer details. Just purchase a ticket today so we can be prepared!"

And with that, the 4 students stumbled all the way to the train station, all of them waving goodbye while Izuku snuck away without taking a train. The 15 min walk back home was calm, a nice contrast to the chaotic energy he had just experienced moments prior. The static that had been itching his mind all day had died at some point during the conversation. The stinging pain from his palm had also disappeared entirely. He even forgot about Firefly's existence.

He looked through the windows of the shops, scanning through all the items displayed through the glass. Toy trains, mannequins wearing clothes, kitchen supplies. A variety of consumer goods. He paused, though, as his eyes adjusted to something else on the glass.

His reflection.

For a brief moment, Izuku had seen himself smiling.

He hadn't even realized that he was happy.

Usually, he had to force it out, and if he ever felt tempted to, he kept it in. Because he was scared to show his emotions so openly. Normally, he'd get punished for displaying even the tiniest amount of empathy. They, no. QUANTUM had no place for emotion. So keeping a neutral façade was Izuku's norm, one that he was too scared to break.

But right here and now, it was like none of that mattered anymore.

Because he actually felt happy for once.

Because he actually felt seen for once.

Because he actually felt excited for something in his future.

He looked up at the sky once again, his smile growing wider. It was the perfect day after all, he might as well enjoy it.

For once in his life, Izuku actually felt lucky to be alive.

Fortunately for him, Sunday came very quickly.

It was just like the Sports Festival's morning. He was in a cheerful mood as he excitedly got dressed, racing across his apartment as he got ready. There wasn't a sinking feeling this time though, just the usual amount of paranoia and anxiety, so Izuku only limited himself to bringing 2 small daggers instead of his guns. This was a day of relaxation after all.

He tucked the blades inside his long, black hunting boots that he always wore outside. He put on normal beige cargo pants and a red, thin turtleneck sweater. And, like always, he wore his gloves.

He practically ran out the door and into the train. He resisted the urge to yell at the conductor to make the train go faster. For the first time in his life, he was shaking with excitement. The anticipation was almost too much to bear.

But it was worth it.

When he got there, he was greeted with the smiling faces of everyone in the group. Uraraka and her older sister, who was introduced as Hana, were the last to arrive.

Hana was a woman in her late 20s, with a white crop-top and dark, military camouflaged cargo pants. She had long, jet-black hair and brown eyes, the same as Uraraka. She wore black utility boots, similar to construction work boots. She was also really buff regardless of her thin figure.

Despite Izuku's excitement, he did pick up some red flags from the woman as she walked over to Izuku, Todoroki, and Iida. For one, the way she carried herself seemed very controlled, every movement was made with a purpose rather than just casual walking. She was staying on the balls of her feet and you could see her glancing around every once in a while. Almost as if she's making sure no one was watching them too closely.

Everything about her screamed a person who's seen their fair share of battles. He got the feeling that she could be a force of danger if she wanted to be.

But who cares!

Today was going to be Izuku's first hangout and he was NOT going to let his inquisitive mind ruin everything for him.

Hana and Uraraka both greeted everyone as the 5 of them walked into the carnival. It was the weekend so the place was busier and more packed than normal, but no one seemed to mind the crowds.

Walking through the entrance, Uraraka immediately grabbed Todoroki and pulled him over to one of the silly attractions. The place doubled as a small zoo in which tamed, friendly animals were allowed to roam with some restrictions. The one Uraraka had pulled Todoroki to had a red and white frog who could spit out hot embers and ice chunks.

Thus Todoroki was forced to endure a 1000 terrible insults and puns that Uraraka blurted out.

Izuku stayed at the entrance, just taking the chance to look at the park as a whole. He looked over to the booths with miniature games, all lined up as if they were in a hallway of some sorts. For some reason, the only people at it were little kids who were yelling at their parents to let them play it. Everyone else was passing by, which was weird since the games seemed kind of fun. Hana must have noticed his confusion as she came to clear it up for him.

"You've never been to a theme park, right? Those games are always scams that the booth guys sabotage so you can't win. Which always sucks since they have the best plushies in this whole place. You have to get really lucky in order to beat them."

Izuku looked over all of the booths, observing them, trying to figure out the trick in all of them. His eyes fell on a shooter game, where the targets moved unreasonably fast for just little kids. They probably secretly increased the speed just before a person played it.

Well this would be fun.

"Hana."

The woman turned to Izuku.

"Which one do you want?" he said, pointing at the shooter game.

Hana looked at the booth and back at Izuku a couple times before it finally hit her. "W-wait. You're going to play? But I just told you it's a waste of time!"

Izuku playfully rolled his shoulders. "Just watch." he said with a grin.

At this point, Iida had noticed the pair walking over to the stand and ran over to join them.

A booming voice welcomed them to the game. "Hello! Welcome to Shoot Out! It only costs $5 to play!"

The man at the booth wore a bright blue polo shirt with white flowers, similar to a Hawaiian shirt in the US. He had a big, goofy smile and a small beard. The guy seemed like a classic lovable people-person. But all of it was just the mask of a charlatan. Greed that was expertly hidden behind fake joy.

That was going to be fun to break.

Izuku happily obliged, giving his money to the man, playing the "innocent kid card" to the very end. Hana took the moment to fully study the game.

As the game revved up, a little children's song started to play to hide the whirring of the machinery. The game itself had about 20 targets that rotated on a belt. Only 7 targets could be seen at a time. In order to win, you had to hit 17 out of the 20 targets, which was a lot to expect from a person who's never shot a toy gun before. Guns weren't that attainable to the average person compared to America, so most of the people would probably have to spend more money to get used to the toy gun, giving the charlatan more money. And then every time they bought another round, the man would raise the speed just a little more, throwing them off again. It was the perfect scam.

But her sister's friend didn't pay any attention to those odds, simply raising his toy gun as a countdown started being played.

And holy shit did the shorty kill it.

The whole thing lasted for only about 30 seconds but it felt like no time had passed. All the targets had been hit in an instant. And with perfect bullseye accuracy. Both Hana's and the booth stand guy's mouth were hanging open, eyes bulging out of their heads in shock as Izuku got a perfect 20 out of 20.

Izuku just threw a smirk at the charlatan.

"So, do I get my prize or what?"

And thus began the downfall of every single scam booth at the carnival. Each and every one was no match for Izuku's deadly skill in… well… EVERYTHING. Throwing basketballs, knocking down milk jugs, the creepy clown water gun game, rope ladders. Don't get her started on the darts one. It was a massacre. She was pretty sure they gave the dart booth guy trauma after it was over. Every single game was easily taken down with a perfect score every time.

They were about to go for round 2 on all the games before they realized none of the scammers would allow them to play again in fear of losing profit. By the time they finished, they had won multiple giant plushies and even a gaming console. But no one wanted it, so they gave it to a random kid who had been trying to win it for an hour.

All in all, it felt good to finally shove a middle finger at those sons of bitches.

Next were the rollercoasters, which Izuku vehemently refused to ride on because quote "I don't have enough luck in the world to ride one of those and not die or get seriously injured." Everyone else rode them though, including Todoroki, whose face did not change from his normal neutrality the entire ride. Looking at the photos taken where Todoroki looked bored as hell while surrounded by a screaming Uraraka and Iida was the funniest thing ever. Even Todoroki cracked a smile at it.

They enjoyed the many spontaneous street performances and small marching bands that would appear at random times.

Izuku got soaking wet after standing too close to one of the water rollercoasters they were considering to ride. Todoroki had to dry him off with his fire while everyone else laughed at Izuku's misfortune.

It was just a fun day with a normal group of friends.

A normal occurrence in a normal person's life.

It wasn't anything revolutionary or mind blowing.

It was just… fun.

After that, the group finally decided to call it quits on the day and return home. They had to get a good night's rest after all since internship started tomorrow. The sun had gone down as Izuku and the rest of the group exited the park under the moon and stars. Uraraka was talking with Hana, carrying a floating bag with an unhealthy amount of giant plushies, while Iida was chatting idly with Todoroki. Izuku was walking comfortably in the back, a little distance away from them. They were surrounded by a crowd of people who were also leaving for the day, all of them carrying the fun accessories they had bought throughout the day.

Honestly, this was probably the best day of Izuku's life. Never had he felt so happy. Never had he felt so free. He couldn't believe this was his life now. He was in the exact opposite place he was just a year ago and he couldn't believe it.

Back then he was alone. Back then he was a weapon. Now he had friends. Now he was a person.

It was all just so… liberating.

It was all so new.

It was all… kind of hard to believe.

For a moment, everything Izuku had experienced in his life flashed through his mind like a tape on rewind. A quiet static rose from the depths of his soul.

"Allies are just people who'll betray you later."

"Friends aren't necessary."

"Bloodline needs to work alone."

Damn, he already knew this but today was kind of the final piece of evidence.

The Man was full of shit.

Why be alone when you can destroy a bunch of charlatans' dreams with 2 people laughing at the aftermath every time?

That was way better than being quote on quote "safe!"

But despite the day, part of him was still unsatisfied.

The part that was still locked in its cage.

The part that still belonged to The Man.

It wanted to question the trust between him and his friends.

The Man had always said to never let your guard down, even with allies.

But he pushed away that thought.

None of them would ever betray him.

(At least, they wouldn't betray him in anything that didn't involve Recovery Girl getting mad.)

He was an idiot for even thinking that!

So he pushed his rude questioning down as far as he could.

His mind drifted from his thoughts to reality, looking at all the people passing by. He had ended up behind the giant crowd of people somehow. He looked forwards, slowly rotating his head to watch as the people behind him catch up to the main crowd. He stopped walking soon after, blinking a few times to try and reset his vision. His group was out of sight. Had he started walking slower amidst his thoughts? How long had it been?

He pulled out his phone and called Uraraka.

"Izuku?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I kind of spaced out a bit and started walking slower, so I think I'm behind you guys now. Where are you?"

"Oh crap I didn't even notice you were gone! Sorry, we're almost at the train station now."

"Ok, I'm about 3 mins away then. How long until the train arrives?"

He started speed walking down the street, weaving in and out of the crowd. If he cut through the alleyways, he could probably make it there in a minute.

Uraraka's voice came through the phone just as he turned into a dark, narrow alleyway.

"Well, it says the train is coming at 8:51 but you know that they're always a minute late. So you probably have about 2 minu–"

Fwoom

If you were to ask Izuku what made him dodge at that moment, he wouldn't be able to say what. There were no signs that anyone was actively following him. Izuku would've noticed regardless of whether or not he was actively looking because of his quirk's range. There were no footsteps to be heard or shadow from the rooftops.

The only thing he felt was the sudden urge to move. The only thing he heard was the silent sound of wind traveling behind him. The only thing he felt was death knocking on his door.

Izuku knew better than to ignore that deadly feeling, so he obliged. Pivoting on his right foot, he turned around, looking behind him to see whatever the hell made him feel like that.

There was a knife imbedded on the ground, puncturing the hard concrete enough to stand upright.

He faced forwards, ignoring Uraraka's voice of alarm as Izuku refused to answer. He barely had time to register the next knife soaring through the air to his shoulder, let alone dodge it. He wouldn't be fast enough if he tried to move his legs now. So instead, he pulled on his own blood with his quirk, throwing himself backwards near the end of the alleyway, enough for him to safely run.

Thank fucking God he didn't have to see his own blood to use his quirk on himself.

"So you're as skilled as you were in that video." A large man suddenly appeared on the rooftops above Izuku. So that's why he couldn't sense his attacker. He was above 20 meters.

Izuku chose to bite his tongue as the giant figure skillfully joined him on the ground. He looked behind the man for a second. The crowd Izuku was following was gone now. He was completely alone with the attacker.

Great.

And the day was going so well for him too.

Do you understand the previous statements of God hating him now?

Suddenly, a soft voice could be heard coming from the middle of the alleyway. Uraraka was still on the call. He had dropped the phone when he panic-pulled himself with his quirk. Izuku slowly watched as the man approached the phone, stomping on it, breaking it completely. The 2 never stopped looking at each other, both looking for any hint of an attack.

Finally, Izuku decided to speak.

"Who are you?"

He didn't try to make his voice sound threatening in case there was a chance he could talk himself out of the situation.

But the large man ignored it completely.

Rude.

"The fight you put up, that required a large amount of skill to pull off you know. Any veteran fighter would be able to tell that you've been doing stuff like that for a long time. But that's not what drew me to you."

His voice was deep and venomous. The dark figure finally stopped walking, about 8 feet away from Izuku now.

"It was your face. The grin you had on your face as you knocked each of those scumbags down was outright terrifying. And your eyes, they had a look to them that I needed to see for myself. And now that I have, I have my answer."

The large man took a deep breath.

"You have the eyes of a killer. That's not something a hero should have. And that smile, you were enjoying the fight weren't you? You forgot that there were lives on the line, didn't you?"

Izuku didn't answer. Mostly because half of him wasn't listening to the guy's monologue. Instead, Izuku focused on the way he moved. He was staying on the balls of his feet, his arms were in a position so that he could easily block. The fact that even Izuku hadn't noticed him until the very last second was a major red flag. All of it screamed that this guy knew what he was doing. He's probably been in his fair share of battles.

Probably even more than Izuku.

This was bad.

"I don't give a shit what you think about me. I asked you a damn question, answer it."

It was obvious that there was no way this guy was going to back down. Playing the nice guy would probably hurt more than help right now.

Izuku swore he heard the man chuckle. Even in the dark, he could tell that the man was smirking.

"I'm someone who stops fakes like you from tarnishing the title of Hero any further. I will kill every one of you damn fakes if it's the last thing I do. No hero should be grinning like that when protecting others. No hero should have the ruthlessness of a killer and that kind of darkness in their eyes. I will kill every hero who strays from the path of light and stops benefiting society. Even if it means culling a kid like you."

Izuku stood there for a moment, trying to think of the best way to respond. In the end, a small smile grew on his face as a cold, empty darkness with a hint of amusement clouded his eyes.

"So The Hero Killer, huh? My, my, that video drew up a crazy crowd." His voice reverted to that childish tone he was starting to love. It was a poor imitation of excitement that made the opponent a little more scared. "But you're wrong about one thing. I don't intend to become a hero. I'm not telling anyone that I am either. It's too late for someone like me to become that ideal figure society so desperately wants."

Stain lowered his stance, drawing 2 swords from seemingly nowhere. "Even so, you are in the hero course, which means you'll get a license eventually. Before you do, I will eliminate you so that the divine title of hero doesn't get passed down to scum like you." he said with a snarl.

Izuku considered his options. He could just fucking bolt out of there. He was smaller and could use his quirk as a boost, which meant he was probably faster than Stain. The Hero Killer would stop chasing him once he got into a sufficient crowd, the guy only ever worked in the shadows after all. But his heart's pounding in his ears dragged that thought of reason into the depths of the ocean.

Because Izuku just felt that wonderful drug enter his bloodstream.

Adrenaline hit his head like a truck, sending a wave of euphoria down his spine.

And all of a sudden, that passiveness that was there before was gone.

All Izuku could feel was the calm before the storm enter his mind.

All Izuku could hear was the pounding of his heart.

All Izuku could think about was how dangerous this situation was.

How he could actually die here and now.

A single strike with that sword and he could be gone.

Don't get him wrong, Izuku was extremely fucked right now.

There was no way he was actually going to beat The Hero Killer without any mishaps on his own.

If his aim was to kill? Sure, then maybe Izuku could win without getting a scratch.

But that wasn't the point right now.

It was the fact that Izuku was so fucked that made this so much fucking better than it was already.

Death's door was wide open.

The reaper's hand was outstretched

And that made Izuku feel so alive.

Even more than he thought possible.

It felt so fucking good.

He wanted to feel like this forever.

He wanted to be like this forever.

Fighting right now would give him some more time to feel like this.

Fight right now would give him just a couple more minutes of pure and utter joy.

The perfect end to the perfect day.

And if he fought, then he would get to use his quirk.

Izuku wasn't that careless, he knew the only way he was going to stand a chance was by using his quirk without hesitation.

He wasn't going to kill the guy of course!

But the thought of feeling that amazing buzzing connection in his mind was too glorious of a thought to ignore.

The sound that always drove away the madness of the static.

The power that always let him win.

The quirk that always lets him stay in control.

It was too much of a temptation for Izuku to bear.

Besides, he was kind of curious to see the rumored Hero Killer fight.

He was going to help Iida beat this guy after all.

It'd be nice to know what they were going to be facing.

Yeah, those were good enough excuses!

A giddy Izuku slowly lowered his stance, almost exactly the way Stain had done moments prior. With pure grace, he slid the hidden daggers from his boots into his hands. The only bright thing in that alleyway was the glint of blades that each side was holding.

2 dual wielders stared each other down.

One with swords and one with daggers.

2 veterans with an unnatural amount of experience for someone their age.

2 killers who knew how to give both painless and torturous deaths.

2 warriors who had transcended above the fear of death a long time ago.

Both dug their heels into the ground.

Both pulled their arms back and their respective blades, ready to unleash an unnatural amount of force.

Both were reveling in adrenaline's effects.

And both charged each other with the bloodlust of a wolf.

Chapter End Notes

HOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE ARE AT STAIN NOW!

In the actual show, Stain actually likes Izuku and so far every other fanfic I've ever read keeps that same thing so I decided to do something about that. Therefore, this chapter came.

This arc is going to involve a lot of different plot points intersecting all at once. I won't tell you which ones cuz *surprise* so best of luck to ya.

You guys are getting 1 more chapter and I will probably post it around 9:00 or 10:00 depends on how impatient I am feeling. BTW it was super fun to write both this and the next chapter. There's a lot of stuff I can do with the plot right now so you guys are probably only getting 1 or 2 chapters next week but it's going to be high quality so, I'd say it's worth it.

Anyways, I'll see you all tonight!

Bloodcurdle

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Stain.

An anomaly in the society of the present.

The first of his kind to gain so much traction in the media.

There have been hero killers in the past, though none of them made an impact like Stain had.

None of them were as skilled either.

Not a single one of Stain's victims makes it out alive.

Ingenium was the first.

All hero killers started out the same, working as vigilantes in an attempt to stay morally grey.

Stain used to be Stendhal, a vigilante that was more ruthless than normal.

But something must have happened to change him into a full on villain.

Maybe the corruption of the Hero Commission was too much to bear witness to.

Maybe a hero had personally wronged him in a way that he could never forget.

Whatever the hell it was, it was what broke the camel's back.

Izuku could relate a little bit.

He'd been wronged by a hero himself after all.

But that didn't mean he hated Stain any less.

Mostly because Izuku didn't understand him.

After Iida's attempt at going to Hosu, Izuku went home and immediately started to research Stain. Every single kill he made had its own page in a notebook. He even hacked into police records ( which by the way, the government really needs to up its game. That was the easiest shit Izuku had ever hacked) for more details.

So yeah, Izuku knew a lot about Stain.

More than the average person at least.

He figured out his motive quite easily, something the police struggled with until Ingenium had given his testimony. It only took Izuku the first 3 attacks to figure it out.

God, the police were so useless sometimes.

Just like heroes.

All 3 attacks were made against corrupt heroes whose crimes had been exposed to the public. And that pattern followed every single hero attacked by Stain. In Ingenium's case, a sidekick made a huge mistake during a robbery, causing multiple injuries to both the villains and the bystanders. The controversy was uprooted when Ingenium announced that he was not going to fire the sidekick, and that everyone deserves another chance.

Which, in Izuku's opinion, was the right choice. The sidekick had already gotten enough punishment by the amount of slander and damage the Internet did to their reputation. There wouldn't be anything to gain by firing them.

But alas, Stain must have seen this as a betrayal of the contract between heroes and society.

And he tried to kill Ingenium.

Which brings Izuku to what he hated.

Killing.

Why did Stain do it?

Whatever happened to him must have happened off the record since he could find nothing about Chizome Akaguro that screamed "I am a murderer because of this tragic traumatic incident in my past."

(Which, yes, he did know Stain's true identity. It was easy to figure out after Iida told him about his brother's testimony. When you have the right connections to the underworld at least.)

But that's not what Izuku cared about.

It's the fact that Stain killed and he still had the audacity to call himself the good guy.

Killing was bad.

That's what Izuku's new life was entirely based upon.

He shouldn't do it.

Because it would make him bad.

Killing = bad person.

It's simple math.

But The Hero Killer?

He took that math and threw it out the window.

And Izuku hated that.

It went against everything he stands for.

It went against everything he believes.

And it didn't make sense.

Killing was bad no matter what the situation!

Even the rest of society agreed with him!

So why did The Hero Killer say it was good?

It didn't make any sense.

He couldn't understand.

That curious itch that he always had was unsatisfied.

So to cope with not being able to understand, Izuku turned to hate.

And honestly, his hate was justified.

The guy was a killer after all.

Izuku was allowed to hate him.

It still didn't make his need to know everything go away though.

That curious voice still echoed in the back of his mind.

But then again, he'd probably never be able to know.

Since Stain clearly hated him.

And curiosity killed the cat.

~~Just like Lynx~~

Izuku may fantasize about his death but he wasn't desperate enough to allow himself to be killed by this guy.

Which brings him to the battle at hand.

And the sword that was swinging right for his head.

Now that Izuku was actually face to face with the guy, he could actually see his outfit now. A dark grey, sleeveless body suit outfitted with a variety of knife holsters and spikes served as his main body armor. He wore boots with so many spikes that it looked like they belonged to a zombie apocalypse movie. He had maroon colored holsters that went around his thighs which held, you guessed it, more knives.

This guy may have more of an addiction to blades than Izuku. And that was saying something considering Izuku literally nailed a 100 of them to his wall.

His forearms were covered in bandages and he wore dark, grey arm bracers that matched the body suit's style. The most notable thing was the scarf and bandana he wore around his face. A dark red scarf, the color of blood, wrapped around his neck, flowing in the wind as the two danced with blades. His light grey, off white bandana was even longer, ripped at the edges, giving even more of a battle-esc vibe to his whole outfit.

Sadly, the guy did know how to make a pretty cool costume.

But that wasn't going to stop Izuku from punching this guy in the face.

Dodging right and spinning on his left foot, he used the momentum to deliver a kick to the man's torso. Stain leaned back, managing to back away from the kick before swinging his sword down in a similar fashion to an axe kick. Izuku saw the attack coming though and put out his right dagger to block the attack.

And HOLY SHIT he should NOT have done that.

He kind of forgot that he was going up against a 31 year old man when he was just a 14 year old kid.

To be fair, a really buff 14 year old kid, but no matter what, there was no way he was going to beat Stain in a strength match.

It was like his whole arm vibrated from the amount of force that hit the dagger. Like getting hit with 120 pounds of steel. Even his grip didn't hold as the dagger was knocked away from his hand.

Obviously, Izuku backed up. There was no way he was going to counter after being hit with what felt like a truck. And it was a good thing he did since Stain had 2 swords he could swing.

Because immediately after Izuku fell back, Stain swung his other sword directly up.

And the most dreaded feeling washed over Izuku.

A small, hot flash of pain on his right cheek.

The feel of liquid slowly squeezing out of the tear in his skin.

Stain had cut him.

This was bad.

He didn't even let himself think as he pulled on his quirk harder than he ever had before. Pulling even the tiniest drop of blood back to him from the tip of Stain's sword. Pushing all of the red liquid that was leaking out back inside. There couldn't be a single cell exposed.

Because if Stain got to his blood, Izuku was as good as dead.

He was still running on instinct as Stain grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, yanking him forward. He felt the squishy, wet tongue brush against his cheek right where the cut was. He shoved the man back as hard as he could but it was a useless endeavor. A 14 year old kid couldn't beat the might of a fully grown man. So Izuku just had to take the disgusting feel of the man's tongue against his skin. He just had to rely on that buzzing feeling all over his face and hope he had done it all in time.

He just had to wait.

And finally, Stain leapt back, leaving Izuku standing a few feet away. For a moment, Izuku felt paralyzed. As if Stain had actually used his quirk on him and he could no longer move. It was like his body was tricking him into believing the worst possible outcome had happened. But slowly and surely, Izuku flexed his hand. Then his entire arm. Then his head. A sigh of relief escaped Izuku's mouth.

He had hid his blood in time.

Stain must have realized his quirk wasn't working either, as he looked down at his sword to lick the blood that sat on the blade. But it wasn't there.

He looked back up to Izuku.

"I thought your quirk only works on solids, not liquids."

Izuku shrugged, focusing on keeping his blood flow steady in the cut cheek. He wiped off the spit on his face.

"You really think someone like me would actually reveal all my secrets to the government? As if I'm stupid enough to trust them. I think you could agree."

The creepy, child-like voice Izuku always put on was still going strong.

Stain sneered. "Don't compare someone like me to you."

"But why? You don't even know who I killed! For all you know, they may have deserved it. I mean, even you think that killing isn't a punishment too far off the moral scale. So why are you attacking me for something you do every day?"

He was half-tempted to just say Stain's real name just to see the look on his face, but that seemed like a one-way ticket to getting absolutely stabbed the shit out of. He started rocking back and forth on his feet to fill the tense air.

Stain took the bait.

"Because my practice is righteous. I'm not a hero, I'm just a killer. I strayed from the path of good a long time ago in order to save it."

And that made Izuku stop his swaying. He moved his gaze to lock eyes with The Hero Killer.

So that's why he kills.

It all made sense now.

It was because Stain thought of himself as a villain.

He KNOWS it is wrong.

But he does it anyway.

And suddenly, the math started to fit.

Killing = bad person.

Everything Izuku had based his new life upon was correct.

He felt a wave of relief wash over him as his curiosity was finally satisfied.

Relieved that everything he based himself upon wasn't a lie.

Pleased that the outlier in his morals was actually the same all along.

And with that piece fulfilled, his determination stepped up.

He finally understood what made The Hero Killer tick.

He finally understood who the enemy before him was.

And now that he understands…

He can take control.

There was no way that The Hero Killer was going to back down with words, so Izuku's actions will have to do.

Wordlessly, the two charged each other again, Izuku dropping down low to grab his second dagger.

They danced around each other while swinging their blades. Dodging, attacking, swinging, stabbing. The 2 experts never backed down, each using the full extent of their power to go for the final shot. Stain was clearly stronger than him, but Izuku was faster. Little by little, Izuku started to overwhelm The Hero Killer. Throwing his daggers like boomerangs to attack behind him while charging forwards. Swinging his knife forward with all the intent in the world to stab just before dropping it at the last moment.

All he had to do was cut him once and it would be over.

It was definitely possible.

All he had to do was throw in more variables than Stain could count.

Yes, Izuku was keeping up with Stain by using all of his feints. He definitely wasn't winning, but the two were now on an equal playing field.

At least until Stain started to throw in some of his own feints into the mix.

All of his movements showed that he was about to go for an X-slash, similar to All Might's Carolina Smash. So naturally, Izuku backed up, trying to avoid the onslaught of chipped swords.

His mistake.

A hot flash of pain appeared on his thigh as a small blade pierced through his skin. He looked at Stain with wide eyes. The man had copied his feint, dropping one of his swords and going for a throwing knife.

Oh great, Stain really was the worst.

He had enough confidence to try something the enemy did after watching it once.

Izuku's quirk reacted for him, immediately pulling his blood flow so that nothing would leak out of the wound. Fighting with a knife inside of him was annoying but doable. He would just have to avoid kicking with his right leg now so that Stain wouldn't have the opportunity to grab the knife out of him.

But then the buzzing connection started to fade.

And the world started to slowly shake.

And that feeling Izuku hadn't felt in a long time began to bubble inside of him.

Oh shit.

He was so fucked.

You see, back when Bloodline was active, he had to become physically strong in order to complete his missions for well, obvious reasons.

But there was a limit to how strong a little kid could get, especially when you're talking about a 7 year old.

And The Man didn't like limits.

After all, he wanted the most powerful weapon in the world which could surpass all of his limits.

So instead of just more physical training, Bloodline was subjected to… other means of physical enhancement.

One of which was the medical route.

To this day, Izuku had no idea how drugs were pumped into Bloodline back then.

Maybe that was why he was so resistant to the effects of morphine and other painkillers when he tried to get addicted to them as a way to cope…

ANYWAY!

Drugs weren't the only method The Man used.

Sometimes, progress had to be made through… surgical means.

And since Bloodline was still training to ignore even the strongest amounts of pain, there wasn't a need for any major anesthetics. Thus, for Bloodline's first surgery, Novocaine was used. The chemical is mostly found in dental offices since it is one of the most shortest-lasting anesthetics there are. It lasts typically 30 to 90 minutes depending on your body size and whether or not epinephrine was involved.

And for Bloodline, epinephrine was involved. Considering he swelled like a balloon and started losing his vision the moment it entered his system. Luckily, one of the guards was allergic to nuts and carried an epi pen with them at all times.

Yeah.

So it turns out Izuku was slightly allergic to Novocaine.

And most anesthetics in general.

(A fact that he was punished severely for.)

But anesthetics were common drugs in the criminal world.

If you needed to knock someone out, they were the go to cheapest option.

So over time, after getting hit with many darts and getting gassed dozens of times, Izuku could recognize the feeling when an anesthetic entered his body.

After all, it had to travel through his bloodstream in order to have an effect.

So he could recognize the symptoms and feel the chemical quite easily.

He could even tell some of the anesthetics apart!

For instance, the one going through his system right now was most definitely Novocaine.

But the worst part about anesthetics wasn't the possibility of a severe allergic reaction.

No, it was the fact that it stops his quirk from working.

His quirk required a great amount of focus to work.

Focus that had become almost second nature to Izuku.

Focus that had turned into a subconscious thing after being used so many times.

But anesthetics throw that instinctual focus out the window and make Izuku's brain loopy.

Not to mention how hard it is to breathe when his throat starts to close up.

Which meant he couldn't get oxygen.

Which means his brain couldn't work at its fullest potential.

Yeah.

So getting hit with an anesthetic was the worst thing that could happen to Izuku.

So going back to the fight, Izuku could immediately tell that the throwing knife had been laced with Novocaine. Stain probably had it in order to combat heroes who he couldn't cut through or reach their blood. Izuku wouldn't be surprised if one of his pouches contained a gas bomb.

Luckily, the amount of adrenaline pumping through him would slow the Novocaine's effect a little bit. The drug wasn't actually a powerful anesthetic, normally it was used as a numbing agent for certain areas. But the underworld always takes passive drugs like dentist numbing agent and fucks it up. So this Novocaine was probably 10 times stronger than the normal one. It could probably paralyze a limb or two for a bit, even with just a small amount. Then when you add Izuku's reaction to Novocaine and his short size to the mix, you get a recipe for a disaster.

Yeah, Izuku was really fucked.

The chances of beating Stain right now were next to none.

And adrenaline would only hold off the drug's effects for so long.

The world was already swaying and the buzzing feeling was fading in and out.

He could feel his blood slowly escape his cheek and thigh.

But that's not what Izuku focused on.

Not the threat of going into anaphylactic shock.

Not the buzzing feeling slowly slipping from his grasp.

No, Izuku didn't focus on any of that.

Instead, he stared at what was in front of him.

The murderous eyes of The Hero Killer as he got closer, closer, closer.

The long tongue that escaped a wide, cruel smile.

The kind of grin a hunter has when they successfully killed their prey.

Time slowed as the 2 slowly inched closer.

Izuku leaning backwards, trying desperately to get away from the harbinger of death.

Stain launching forwards, releasing his long, snake-like tongue directly for Izuku's blood.

One drop and it would all be over.

One drop and the game of life would end.

One drop, and Izuku would finally be put to rest.

…

Ah.

It's been a while since Izuku's felt like this.

One second before true death.

He's never felt it as a person before, only as Bloodline.

In all of his fights as a person, he's thought about the feeling, yes.

But he never actually came close to it.

Because he was always in control of all those other fights.

But now?

Never had he felt death's march so clearly.

It was just… amazing.

Like everything Izuku had done up until didn't matter.

His sins weren't relevant in this moment.

His past wasn't a factor anymore.

All that mattered was life and death.

All that mattered was the answer to a question.

Does Izuku want to live?

…

The answer had always been no.

No, Izuku didn't want to live.

Because being alive meant more suffering than he already had.

Being alive meant CAUSING more suffering than he already had.

But despite it all, he never tried to commit suicide no matter how much he wanted to.

Because he didn't deserve the sweet release of death.

He didn't deserve to leave all of his mistakes for the world to clean up.

He didn't deserve to run away like a coward to the place where nothing mattered anymore.

No, he deserved to suffer for his crimes.

So he stayed alive in this torturous world for 14 years.

And he'd been trying to redeem himself for the past year.

Had he done a good job already?

He did save countless people at the grocery store.

He did support his friends through their grief and suffering.

The news had called him a good person.

He definitely made an impact on at least some people's lives.

Was that good enough?

Did that make his soul redeemed?

…

He didn't know.

The only way he was going to know was by dying and seeing if he woke up surrounded by fire or clouds.

Heaven or Hell.

He could just let himself die right now.

The tongue of The Hero Killer was about 4 inches away from his face.

He could just let the man end it all for him.

He could be free from the misery of his life.

So, back to the question.

Does Izuku want to live?

…

The answer is yes.

Despite everything that was said…

Despite everything that was established…

Izuku wanted to live.

Why?

Honestly, he didn't know.

Maybe he was still feeling the effects from the day's events, aka, the greatest day of Izuku's life.

Maybe he felt like his soul wasn't redeemed enough to be able to avoid Hell.

Maybe he felt like he still deserved to suffer for all of his past crimes.

He didn't know.

All he knew was that everything inside of him was screaming at him to attack, to block, to move, to do something.

Everything was telling him not to die.

Everything was telling him to stay alive.

And Izuku knew better than to disobey his instincts.

So he moved.

He still had a dagger in his hand even though he dropped the other one at some point.

And he swung it up.

It didn't matter where it hit.

It didn't matter if it hit.

All that mattered was that Izuku moved.

And now that he moved, he could run.

His blood's pumping was the only thing he could hear as he pivoted his foot and turned around in a flash. His eyes never left The Hero Killer's figure, even as he felt someone's blood splatter all over his face.

He spotted the place where the dagger had been left behind.

Oh, so he actually did hit Stain.

And it was in the best place imaginable too.

The irony of it.

The temptation to laugh was hard to resist but it was doable.

A perfect way to end a fight indeed.

Izuku didn't look for long though, immediately bolting out of the alleyway by digging his heel into the ground. He winced as the knife in his thigh impaled further from the force. But the pain didn't matter. He could take it.

Getting as far away as Izuku fucking could was what really mattered.

The amount of adrenaline Izuku felt was unreal.

He had never felt so alive in his life.

Normally, he would be giddy over such a feeling but the calmness in his mind overcame his excitement.

No, all that mattered was getting away.

It didn't matter where he was going.

It didn't matter where he ended up.

All that mattered was getting away from Stain.

Run.

The wind played with his curly hair as it passed by Izuku.

The buzzing feeling empowered his heart as he made his blood flow go faster, faster, and faster.

He couldn't see around him anymore.

Everything was a blur.

All he could feel was his blood pumping through his veins.

All he could think of was one singular phrase.

Survive.

Don't die.

Stay Alive.

Survive.

Surv–

OH SHIT STAIRS!

And with that, Izuku fell forwards, tumbling down the stairs all the way until he hit rock bottom. Pain rocketed through his limbs as he used them to soften the fall. He landed with a loud thud at the bottom of the stairs, bruised and probably bleeding in even more places. A migraine began to form. The gasps and screams of people slowly faded in as his heartbeat left his ears.

He looked forwards. The world was still swaying, even more than it was before. His vision was covered in the usual black spots that came with an allergic reaction.

He could feel the hot blood all over his face slowly drip to the floor. He was panting, trying to get all the oxygen in the world to calm down. He could feel a small tightness in his chest start to appear.

Great, adrenaline had run out of time. His lungs were failing to get enough oxygen now.

"OH MY GOD IZUKU!"

He heard footsteps behind him as he pushed himself up with his arms. Where the hell was he anyway? He heard multiple people drop down next to him.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?"

"WHERE ARE YOU INJURED!?"

"OH SHIT DUDE ARE YOU OK!?"

"OBVIOUSLY HE'S NOT OK HANA! CALL AN AMBULANCE."

Hana?

Oh right, he was heading to the train station to meet up with Uraraka, Iida, Todoroki, and Hana right before Stain attacked. Did that mean he was at the train station?

He pushed himself up even though his body screamed at him not to, sitting on his knees but still keeping his head down. His arms laid uselessly at his side. Yet, through it all, he still managed to focus on his breathing. He could feel his throat starting to close up. He needed an epi pen now.

He could hear a lot of screaming telling him not to move. A loud ringing in his ears that was synonymous with blood loss and lack of oxygen started to push through. The wound on his thigh must have hit an important artery.

"Epi… pen. Can't… breathe." he coughed out, his voice slowly deforming into violent choking.

He could barely hear Uraraka's voice desperately asking the crowd if anyone had an epi pen.

He could barely feel the cold slowly cover his burning, painful wound on his thigh. Todoroki must be using his ice to slow the bleeding.

He could barely hear Hana angrily yelling at some poor police responder to "get their asses over here."

No, he could only focus on the one sound directly in front of him.

Iida's worried voice carried through the rest of the crowds screaming. Just repeatedly asking who did this to Izuku over and over again.

Izuku wanted to respond.

He knew there was a good chance he might die from anaphylactic shock.

He needed to say it now before anything bad happened to him.

Sirens could be heard rushing over to the underground train station from far away. Everyone but Izuku listened to them, getting more and more hopeful as the sound became louder and louder.

Only Izuku looked up through his coughing and wheezing, his lungs desperately wanting air. He looked Iida in the eyes. He could feel his body starting to go numb and his heart desperately pushing the limited oxygen everywhere. And through all of it, Izuku pushed on to say one word.

"Stain."

And with that, Izuku promptly fell forward, still choking to death, and letting the darkness consume him.

Part of him wanted to smile.

If he did die, at least he left a little piece of himself in the world.

He wouldn't die forgotten.

At the very least, Stain wouldn't forget him after what Izuku did to him.

But it was out of his hands now.

His life was out of his hands now.

Chapter End Notes

Hi. I literally have nothing to say except that I have no clue how I'm going to write the next chapter so bear with me.

That's it.

Bye...

The Guessing Game

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

When Aizawa got a phone call at 8:25 pm, his first thought was "fuck me".

He was sleeping goddammit.

Underground heroes don't get a chance to sleep in their entire lives!

But he had gotten the rarest opportunity, the thing that every single underground hero desired most in life: time off.

Holy shit, Aizawa couldn't be more excited to lay down in a bed and fucking sleep for 8 blissful hours.

Truly, a gift from God.

And then the devil had to ruin it all by calling him 25 mins into his sleep.

Why the fuck did he have to be born as a light sleeper?

He groaned, not even opening his eyes as he slammed his hand angrily on his nightstand. He grabbed the phone and brought it to his face violently, creaking one eye open to see who it was.

Tsukauchi Naomasa.

…

Fuck.

That was the worst person to be calling him right now.

Honestly, Aizawa would've preferred Hizashi's loud greeting over Tsukauchi.

Because Tsukauchi doesn't call if it isn't serious. He knows how important rest is for underground heroes like Aizawa. So he never calls Aizawa for no reason on the rare chance of the hero sleeping at that hour. It wasn't work the risk in his eyes. And Aizawa was extremely grateful for it. So if Tsukauchi was calling him now, it meant that it WAS something important.

Something that Aizawa would definitely have to get up for.

He groaned, muttering curse words ( not at Tsukauchi, but at the world) while he answered the call. He didn't bother saying hi, he was too tired to speak right now.

"Aizawa-san. Sorry to bother you, I know you were probably sleeping just now. But it's important."

"What." Aizawa responded, his voice muffled by the pillow he stuffed his head in.

"It's Stain. He attacked one of your students. Etsuri Izuku."

Aizawa had never jumped out of bed and out the door faster in his life.

It was like he blinked and he was there at the hospital, running up to Tsukauchi near the hospital entrance. The 2 men simply nodded at each other and headed inside, not bothering to greet each other.

They both knew how to stay on business.

In a way, that was their own hello.

They checked in with the hospital staff and were quickly brought to Etsuri's room. In the meantime, the doctor explained all of the events as far as he knew. His student was found in the train station after falling down the stairs while presumably running away from Stain. He was in the midst of anaphylactic shock, but was quickly saved once a bystander provided an epi pen and used it on the boy. The paramedics arrived immediately after and loaded him into the ambulance. They determined that the femoral artery was damaged but was stable because of the boy's quirk. Other than that, he had a small fracture on his arm and a few cuts/bruises, but nothing of any significance. He would have to stay under observation to make sure his airway doesn't close up again, but otherwise, he would be able to leave tomorrow.

Of course, that was the normal version of the events.

What actually happened was that after he regained consciousness, the kid used his quirk to find any damage on himself and tried to relay it to the paramedics, who dismissed him as trying to be "cool" by using "fancy medical terms" because of his young age/appearance. So naturally, Etsuri decided to let his femoral artery bleed out in order to make the paramedics listen to him. THEN, he fought the doctors when they tried to do a physical examination, threatened to leave the hospital if they made him change into a gown, and when the doctors were deciding how to pull the knife out, the kid ripped it out of him like its nothing because apparently, he got impatient.

None of which were seen as extreme or bad in any way by his student.

The amount of curse words that flew through Aizawa's head as he approached the hospital room was enough to send him to hell.

He swore to God he was going to strangle this kid…

But it only got worse from there.

Because of course it did.

No one can ever have nice things.

Especially Aizawa.

As the door slid open, Aizawa watched as Etsuri's face immediately fell from a smile to a hidden scowl at the sight of the 2 adults. The kid quickly recovered though, resuming his usual neutrality.

"Hi Aizawa-sensei, Detective Tsukauchi-san, are you guys here to take my statement?"

Tsukauchi nodded. "Yes, though first I want to say that I'm glad you're all right. No one has come out of an attack from Stain as well off as you have."

Etsuri just shrugged. "I did what I have to do. Before we start, I have a question. Why is Aizawa-sensei here?"

Tsukauchi sat down along with Aizawa. "I'm sorry, your teacher is here as a replacement for your guardian, since we couldn't get a hold of your parents."

"Ah." was all Etsuri said. Aizawa narrowed his eyes once he realized how much blood the kid was covered in and how normal Etsuri seemed. Was the kid in shock or something?

"Anyway, I'm sure we'd all like to get this over with as soon as possible, so let's start." Tsukauchi said, flipping his notebook open.

And so the questioning began. It was normal routine from there on, with Tsukauchi asking detailed questions about the encounter with The Hero Killer like any other interview. Aizawa's student went into detail about how he had lost his friend group in a crowd and took a shortcut through an alleyway. How Stain apparently saw the grocery store video and wanted to see for himself whether or not Etsuri was worthy of becoming a hero ( the answer was apparently no). How the kid, for some reason, had 2 daggers with him and managed to fight the raging beast on his own. And how the kid ran out of there as soon as he realized what Stain's throwing knife was coated in.

But what surprised Aizawa the most was his tone. He just talked about the whole encounter with the same dramatics as if you were talking about a trip to the grocery store, AKA with 0 enthusiasm.

Like this wasn't a big deal.

Like it was some daily occurrence.

It wasn't even an act as far as Aizawa could tell. The kid was being 100% genuine with his speech about the attack. There wasn't a hint of fear or nervousness or anything that would normally result from a traumatic encounter like this.

All in all, Aizawa was both impressed and angry.

A mixed ball of strong emotion.

Part of him was still in shock even after sitting there for well over an hour.

This kid literally went against STAIN, and lived.

This 14 year old kid went head to head with a probably 30 year old man in a stabby match and fucking lived.

But the thing that shocked him the most was the final comment made, just before Tsukauchi and him left.

"By the way, I wouldn't worry about Stain coming after me or anyone else for a while." Etsuri added as the 2 men were about to open the door.

Tsukauchi turned around, puzzled. "Why?" he asked, hesitantly.

Etsuri's neutrality didn't waver even the slightest bit. "Because I stabbed his tongue and left the dagger inside right before I left."

What.

What the fuck.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK–

"Y-YOU FUCKING WHAT!?"

Even Tsukauchi couldn't keep up his professional appearance at that, letting out his own f-bomb. If Aizawa was drinking coffee right now, he would've spit it out at the mere thought of that.

This kid… thrusted his knife… into the tongue… of the most wanted man in Japan.

WHAT WAS AIZAWA EVEN SUPPOSED TO SAY TO THAT!?

The kid, oblivious to the rest of the room's shock, muttered away like nothing happened. "There aren't that many healers in the underworld so Stain will have a tough time finding someone to fix his tongue. Although-I-wished-I-would've-twisted-it-when-I-stabbed-him-to-try-and-cut-it-off-so-that-way-the-next-person-he-will-attack-would-have-a-better-chan–"

"I – do you even hear yourself right now? What are you even saying?"

Etsuri looked up for the first time in a while, immediately noticing the look of concern everyone had on their faces. He turned a slight shade of red.

"Sorry… I've gotten into the habit of mumbling lately."

A couple moments went by before Tsukauchi remembered how to function like a normal human being.

"Ok, this has definitely been… interesting. At the very least, thank you for sharing this information. It'll certainly… help." Tsukauchi said, walking to the door. Aizawa followed behind him.

The 2 men both fell into their comfortable silence while walking through the hospital halls as they processed the information given. This time though, Aizawa got into Tsukauchi's car and the 2 began the journey back to the police station.

It was a peaceful journey through the busy streets, a lot quieter than usual. You could hear the soft sounds of slow-moving music and the humming of the car's engine echoing through the night. The lights of the city weren't so bright that you couldn't see the stars in the black sky. There were trees in every corner of a block that would distract you from the boring, grey buildings. Neon signs of different shops flashed in different patterns and sequences to try and catch the attention of consumers. The people walking the streets were tired, all heading home after enjoying the free day to its fullest, laughing along the way.

A very different feel compared to the shit show in that hospital room they were just in. After 5 minutes of peacefully watching the world go by, Aizawa finally spoke up.

"I guess we should inform the rat about this." he said, sinking back into the car seat.

Tsukauchi's eyes didn't drift from the road. "I guess so. I already called him before I called you so that he could plan for when the media eventually gets ahold of this, so he should already be awake."

Aizawa simply nodded, calling Nedzu on his phone. The familiar audible click and cheerful greeting echoed in the quiet car.

"Hello Aizawa-san! I'm assuming Etsuri is fine considering you didn't start talking immediately?"

Aizawa sighed, remembering the ridiculous testimony he witnessed moments ago. "Yeah. He's just fine. Alarmingly fine. The kid was sitting in his own blood soaked clothes with dried blood on his face and he gave a description about a traumatic attack like it was just any other Sunday afternoon. Fucking creepy…"

Tsukauchi nodded along to Aizawa's descriptions, adding in some of his own. "And it gets even better than that. Turns out the kid stabbed Stain's tongue, left the knife there, and used that as a distraction to run away. I don't know about you but there's only a handful of people who can say that so calmly, and most of them are psychopaths."

"I'm starting to think that kid is just a robot with fake emotions. The fact that he can act so normal and say stuff like that with a straight face is beyond me." Aizawa quipped back, rubbing his face while the details swarmed inside of his head.

It was kind of ridiculous, right?

Someone like him, the best underground hero in Japan, was alarmed by a 14 year old kid.

But Aizawa considered himself to be a logical man.

He didn't let his pride or emotions get in the way of reason.

So he wasn't scared to admit it to himself.

The fear of the unknown.

Aizawa was just tired.

Tired from the lack of sleep he's been running on all week.

Tired of playing this kid's game by the rules.

Tired of not knowing anything about the student he was supposed to be teaching.

He looked up.

Fuck, he really was pathetic wasn't he?

He wasn't going to get anywhere if he chose the pacifist route.

But he's still choosing to take it.

Like the coward he is.

~~Like the coward he's always been.~~

"I mean, I wouldn't take it that far Aizawa-san." Nedzu quipped back.

Aizawa looked at the phone while Tsukauchi kept his eyes on the road.

"We all keep looking at him as if he were a criminal but what we're really forgetting is that he's just a kid. He's young. Which means he hasn't had time to fully develop the knowledge and experience that adults have from society. It makes sense that he's different in an emotional regard if he's never experienced what we have all our lives. Calling him emotionless and judging him for not being affected by normally traumatic things is a bit harsh."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying that we shouldn't judge the kid as a psychopath because he might have grown up in an environment where stabbing people's tongues aren't a big deal?"

"Exactly~!" the rat sang through the phone's speaker.

Aizawa looked down, shaking his head. "Yeah no. I'm judging. He's fucking weird. I don't care if he's my student or not, it's the truth. And if you're right about him growing up in a more cutthroat environment than most people, that just helps the idea of him being responsible for the Utility Tunnel Massacre in some way even more. Which, by the way, only a psychopath or a person way far off the crazy scale could do."

This time, Tsukauchi spoke up. "Actually, I was going to tell you guys tomorrow but since we're all here, I might as well tell you right now. I had a friend from forensics look at the details of the utility tunnels, she's really good at her job. I've never seen her proven wrong for 15 years so far. Anyway, she said the way the bodies were… destroyed… wasn't possible with a quirk like Etsuri's. The way the people were killed was almost as if they were ripped apart from the inside out. Etsuri's quirk would've just broken both the outside AND the inside at the same time."

A small pause came afterwards as everyone processed the information given. Aizawa decided to say what they were all thinking.

"So the kid wasn't involved with the utility tunnels then." A small sigh of relief escaped from his mouth before he continued. At least he wasn't teaching a fucking murderer…

"Well that means that the whole spy thing isn't off the table. Since all of the people who died were villains, we weren't sure if he was a spy since killing your allies seemed counterintuitive, but this just adds to the latter. Tsukauchi, did you find anything in his official records that can be a connection to the League of Villains?"

Tsukauchi shook his head again. "Nope. Nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. But then again, you guys said he had the brains to hack into the government and not leave a single trace, so I don't think they would really matter in this case. The only way I'm going to find out more is if I get some first-hand accounts of people who know him."

Finally, the rat spoke up once again.

"Well, that can be left for later. For now, let's talk about the Stain attack. I don't think canceling the internships is a good idea since there's no real threat to the other students. The Hero Killer only focuses on one target at a time, and there is no reason to suggest that he would go after the other hero course students. The only one I think we should take precautions with is Etsuri. The hero he chose to intern with doesn't have the means to fully protect him so I think it would be best for him to remain here at UA. In fact, we could join him with the special student you're taking in Aizawa-san. That way, we can both keep an eye on him and find out more about him~" the rat chanted.

Aizawa felt his mood instantly worsen. The fact that the rat sounded giddy meant that something bad was about to happen.

Half of him was embarrassed by the fact that this sadistic creature was his mentor.

The other half was terrified for the rest of the week.

"I mean, I'll try my best, but trying to figure out what that kid is thinking is as good as a chance as finding a needle in a haystack. It's just a guessing game at that point." Aizawa said with a shrug.

It hurt, but, it's the truth.

He essentially knows nothing about his student.

Or who Etsuri Izuku really is.

Concussions are a bitch.

Your brain becomes impossible to work with.

You know what you want to say but it comes out all wrong.

Not to mention the fucking headaches that will come to life inside of your head.

The worst part about it all though, was the fact that Shigaraki was powerless against them.

He couldn't DECAY something that didn't physically exist!

And his quirk didn't work on himself sadly, so decaying his brain wasn't an option.

So Shigaraki was stuck with slurred speech and the worst migraine in the world for a while.

Luckily, he got off scott-free in terms of actual damage.

It pays to have a man with a 1000 healing quirks as a father figure.

But holy shit, was Shigaraki going to make someone pay for that.

Specifically Eraserhead.

The guy can throw a punch, Jesus Christ.

Sensei always told him to destroy whatever he didn't like.

And Shigaraki hated Eraserhead now.

So that guy was on his fucking list.

Including that explosion brat.

If it wasn't for him then All Might would be dead by now…

And Shigaraki would've been happy…

But right now, he's not.

He's angry.

He wants to be happy.

And that brat took his happiness away from him.

So he has to pay.

The damn cunt.

And now that he finally isn't waking up in regret due to his bitch headache, he can finally start doing what he wants.

And he can use the Sports Festival as his starting point.

Well, he was GOING to use the Sports Festival as his starting point.

But then his attack was immediately overshadowed by The Hero Killer.

The media had moved on in a matter of seconds.

And thus, the birth of his legacy was destroyed.

The momentum was lost.

So now, Shigaraki had someone new on his list.

Stain, The Hero Killer.

How dare the man destroy his stage when it was just starting to be built!?

After very little consideration, Shigaraki decided that he hated Stain.

So it was to no surprise when Shigaraki blew up on Kurogiri and his sensei when they suggested adding Stain to the team.

"Why should I allow someone who took all of the meaning of my attack onto my team!?" Shigaraki yelled, standing up from his high, bar stool chair and glaring at the TV.

The bar he had lived in for months had become used to Shigaraki's angry outbursts, baring the scars of particularly bad nights. The whole bar was rather small, with yellow, old-fashioned lights hanging over the counter. Kurogiri stood where the bartender normally stood, holding a few pictures in his hand. Shigaraki was sitting in a barstool seat, next to the TV, away from Kurogiri and the rest of the drinks.

"Tomura, the reason why you failed before is because of the low quality of your people, as well as many other factors. If you wish to continue your pursuit, you must collect a team of elite soldiers who can get jobs done. The Hero Killer could be one of those chosen few."

Shigaraki growled, scratching his neck, his default whenever things got stressful or complicated. "But I don't like Stain. He took the media away from my message. You said I'm allowed to destroy things I don't like. And I don't like him. So let me kill him."

The TV responded with the same eerie tone. "Shigaraki, it's true that you can destroy the things you hate, however, there is a time and place for such endeavors. And now is the time to rise above those emotions and learn how to tie the strings around your puppets."

Another scowl came before Shigaraki angrily sat down, resting his head on his arms. He thought about the words of advice from his sensei before finally giving his verdict.

"Fine. I'll act all fucking business man with him. Has he woken up yet?"

The TV gave a small chuckle before responding. "He's about to. Fixing his wounds took little effort due to our technology and techniques. I've also picked another person I think you'd get along well with."

Shigaraki glanced to the television. "So I'll be trying to recruit 2 people then?"

"Yes. In fact, the man of the hour is stirring awake. Kurogiri, could you please?"

A wordless Kurogiri simply nodded as a black mist formed on the other side of the bar. Out came a man covered in way too many spikes for comfort, falling over like corpse.

Now that Shigaraki was actually face to face with the guy, he could actually see his outfit through the small light of the bar. A dark grey, sleeveless body suit outfitted with a variety of knife holsters and spikes served as his main body armor. He wore boots with so many spikes that it looked like they belonged to a zombie apocalypse movie. He had maroon colored holsters that went around his thighs which held, you guessed it, more knives.

Sadly, the guy did know how to make a pretty cool costume.

But that wasn't going to stop Shigaraki from decaying the guy if he got too snippy with him…

The man slowly moved, picking himself up from the ground and lazily blinking to refocus his eyes.

But without warning, the man jumped up like a spring and immediately charged Shigaraki, grabbing his swords along the way. Stain's weapons weren't removed as a sign of good faith. Luckily, Kurogiri must have been expecting this, as he instinctively moved his portal body between Stain and Shigaraki, blocking the path to him. Stain jumped back, taking the moment to both calm down and observe his surroundings.

"Who are you." The voice was deep and venomous, radiating confidence and bloodlust into the depths of Shigaraki's soul.

It wasn't a question.

It was a demand.

The fucking nerve of this bitch…

"We're the League of Villains. We're also the ones who saved you from the alley and fixed your tongue. So attacking us would be a poor way of repaying your debt."

Shigaraki could see the man's jaw move, clearly testing to see if Shigaraki was telling the truth. After a few seconds passed, the giant man finally responded.

"It seems you did. Although I don't usually mingle with other villains, I'll repay my debt by hearing what you have to say, instead of culling you of course."

Shigaraki had to hold his breath in order to avoid growling at the threat and power play. He took a deep breath.

Sensei said to be cordial… remember?

"Kurogiri, sensei said there would be 2 people. Could you bring the other one now?"

Again, Kurogiri didn't say a word, simply opening a large mist of black and purple, tall enough for a person to walk through. After a few seconds went by, a woman with white, short hair and pure, white eyes came forth until she was right next to The Hero Killer. She still had pupils but the color of her eyes were white. They were strange, yet, captivating.

Her outfit was completely different than most villaims, clearly establishing her as an alpha. She wore a white robe with light grey furs along the edges. It was tied together by a dark grey belt. She wore light grey pants and white high-heels that made Shigaraki feel pain by just looking at them.

They were just so fucking high. Was she insecure about her height or something?

She also wore a large mask that had sculpted out teeth, leaving a permanent snarl on her face.

She silently observed her surroundings for a second before looking at Shigaraki.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to be the one I was meeting. Especially along with…" she glanced at Stain for a second, " interesting… characters."

She talked slowly and carefully. Her tone seemed almost motherly, but it was hard to tell with the echo effect from the mask.

Stain didn't take that hidden insult well, immediately glaring at the woman with the bloodlust of a wolf. But the woman just shrugged it off.

"Anyways, I don't believe we have met, Shigaraki. I believe a proper introduction is in order." Her posture tightened as she readied herself for the pointless dramatics all people have.

"My name is Chronos, although the people who fear me sometimes call me Lady Time. You may choose whichever. Now then, I do believe it is time for you to share your full name, Shigaraki?" She gestured her arm for him to finish the sentence.

Shigaraki glared at the woman for a second, annoyed by the subtle confidence in her voice. Finally, he relented to her game. "Tomura."

Why did both of them have to be such cocky brats?

She lowered her arm, satisfied with that answer. "Now then, what do you wish to discuss? It must not be personal since this…" another glance was thrown to Stain, "man is here."

Honestly, Shigaraki should stop her from doing that since the plan was to get both of them on the same page, but his anger for Stain overshadowed that small piece of logic. It was fun to see him get angry over the small teasing.

"I'll cut to the chase. If I want to continue my interests, I'm going to need some quality soldiers instead of the street thugs I used in the Sports Festival." He pointed a finger towards their direction. "And I'm hoping the 2 of you would consider joining me."

Silence enveloped the room as the 2 villains thought over their answer. Stain was the first to break it.

"And to what purpose would you be making us work for? What are you after?"

Shigaraki playfully leaned back, still keeping an eye on the pair. "For now, I just want to kill All Might. I want to break everything I don't like."

Both of them narrowed their gaze at Shigaraki's honesty. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Kurogiri ready himself for a battle.

Did he say the wrong thing or something?

He was just being honest.

"I see. I was wrong to even listen to your proposal." Chronos exclaimed, not wavering in the slightest bit. Stain joined in as well.

"It was foolish of me to be interested. You just wish to kill without conviction. And that is something I can't stand behind. There is no meaning in death without desire." Stain repositioned himself in a fighting stance.

Without warning, Stain leapt forward, charging for Shigaraki once again. Kurogiri immediately let lose his portal wall, which was dodged to the right by the large man. He landed on the bar counter with a loud thud, swinging his blade at Kurogiri. The tip slowly dipped into the black mist, drawing blood from seemingly nowhere. Stain lifted his sword to his mouth, tasting the iron blood while activating his quirk. He then continued his pursuit for Shigaraki, who had moved to the center of the room. Kurogiri moved to try and block the attack, but found himself paralyzed by the small cut made. Shigaraki felt his shirt being pulled as he was expertly pinned to the ground. He felt a sharp pain as a sword was stuck through one of his palms.

"You wanted to add me to your numbers?" The man spitted out, slowly pushing the blade through the ground and Shigaraki's palm. "No matter what you want to accomplish, conviction and desire are necessary factors to achievement. Those without any will be weeded out as the weak. It's only natural. You do not have any, which is why our meeting turned out like this."

A small sigh came from the back of the room. Chronos was looking away, almost disappointingly.

"My my, and I had such high hopes too. Turns out most people in the world are just people who thrive on destruction. The only difference is that you have someone powerful to back you up." She spared a glance at the TV.

"Would you mind stating your name before we go any further?" she said to the mysterious voice coming through the cable box.

There was silence for a few seconds before Shigaraki's sensei responded.

"I'm of no importance. Just an urban legend that's been passed through generations."

But Shigaraki wasn't listening, only focusing on the rage that was building up inside of him. The urge to use his quirk, his crutch, to make it all go away was getting hard to resist. He had had enough of having the man on top of him. He cranked his neck to look at Kurogiri.

"Kurogiri, take them away, now."

Kurogiri was still struggling to move. "I… can't move my body." he whispered.

Stain just continued his rant despite the conversations happening around him.

"This world is full of fake heroes, all of which have forgotten the true meaning of heroics, allowing criminals to wave their power idly. They all must be purged." Stain said with a grin, slowly moving a small blade into Shigaraki's neck.

Ok, that's enough.

Shigaraki has tried patience.

Now he can destroy.

Now he can decay.

Now he can get lost in that wonderful warmth his quirk gave him.

Now he can use his frustration on something fulfilling.

He can use it to power his destruction.

He can use it to power his ruin of the bitches in front of him.

They, with their stupid fucking idiotic confidence.

They, with their minds at peace due to them thinking they are safe.

That they're secure.

That they can't die.

That the person before them is weaker and therefore can't kill them.

If there was one thing that Shigaraki hated most in the world, it was false security.

He hated it even more than All Might.

Even more than the world.

False hope, false safety, they were all lies that people told themselves to make them feel better.

Lies that people used as excuses.

~~"It's ok Tenko your father is just frustrated… you shouldn't have gotten him mad if you didn't want him to hurt you… he didn't mean it sweetie just forget about it…"~~

…

There were many things that powered these… false realities.

Love, fear, obsession, laziness…

Confidence.

So yes, these people's insanely large hubris were pissing him off.

And when Shigaraki was angry, he needs to release it somehow.

Otherwise it's like a boiling pot of water that's overfilled.

The bonds between the molecules are trying its best to hold together through the scorching heat, but to no avail.

Something has to be done to cool the pot, or else it'll end up empty.

He grabbed the knife with his free hand, glaring at The Hero Killer at the same time.

"I'll kill you." he said, while the blade began to crack. Stain's face slowly morphed into shock.

"You sure like to talk a lot. Conviction? I don't have anything grand like that." his voice was raspy and cold. The dagger snapped into dust.

"If I had to pick, it would be killing All Might. I want to completely crush this society where trash like that get worshipped. I want to completely destroy the false realities people created, where peace has washed over the world and the times of war are only in the past." A manic smile grew on Shigaraki's face as he let his mind travel to what he imagined the aftermath would be.

Stain immediately noticed it, leaping back just in time to dodge a death hand that had tried to grab him. He pulled his dagger in front of him while Lady Time just stood there, silently observing the scene. Shigarkai just slowly pulled himself up, still feeling a wave of euphoria and power from the warmth of his quirk.

"Man, and I just finished healing from my last injury. We don't have a local healer in our party, you know."

He began to flex his good hand, reveling in the power his quirk gave him.

"Will you be taking responsibility for this? Or the fame that you stole from–"

"So that's who you are."

Both Shigaraki and Stain turned to face the woman who stood forgotten in the background.

"It seems that all of our goals oppose each other, however, we all do agree on one thing. Destroy the present." She playfully flicked her short hair.

Shigaraki just scowled. She had ruined his moment.

"I don't care. Go home. Die. Haven't you decided that I wasn't worth you and this guy's time?"

Though her face was covered, everyone could tell Chronos just smirked. "I do believe he was just testing your motives. Isn't that right, Stendhal?" The woman glanced at the larger man, who gave a growl in return.

She turned back to Shigaraki. "People usually show their true colors on the verge of death. It's small, but there's a small amount of conviction in you. It might be worth to see it through before you dispose of him, Stendhal."

This time, Stain responded to the woman's antics. "Do not call me that unless you want a blade to the heart, Chronos."

The woman just brushed it off, completely ignoring the threat.

"So you're going to dispose of me either way then." Shigaraki said, rubbing his injured palm while feeling the blood escape. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kurogiri slowly being able to move. The Hero Killer's quirk must have run out.

"Kurogiri. I don't want people this crazy as part members."

"But Shigaraki Tomura, they would both be huge assets if they were to join." Kurogiri protested.

But at that moment, Stain piped up. "Forget it. I'm not interested. Now, return me to Musutafu. I have business I haven't been able to take care of yet."

Begrudgingly, Kurogiri opened a portal for both villains to walk through. As much as Shigaraki wanted to grab The Hero Killer and decay him in an instant, he held himself back. He couldn't win with his injury right now. He could feel his body sway from the small amount of blood loss he had experienced. So for now, his list remained the same.

That didn't mean he couldn't plant the seeds of chaos though.

"By the way, before you go, I'd like to give you some information, Hero Killer."

Both Stain and Chronos paused right before the portal, looking back at Shigaraki with suspicious eyes.

Shigaraki paid no mind, just sitting down at the bar next to Kurogiri.

"There was a hero student brat at the Sports Festival who really got on my nerve. The bitch kept shouting die as he attacked my people. I don't know about you, but I don't think such violence is correct for a future hero official in your image. It might be worth checking out."

Chronos just rolled her eyes but Stain grew curious. He shifted his stance, trying to tell if Shigaraki was just lying or not.

"And who are you talking about?"

This time it was a question and not a demand. Shigaraki smiled, picking up one of the cards Kurogiri was holding before this meeting, tossing it over to Stain.

"Bakugou Katsuki. His quirk is explosion, which is fitting for someone as violent as him."

Chapter End Notes

HALOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sorry I didn't post on Friday. The youtuber who got me through the pandemic lockdown (Technoblade) died and the video was posted while I was watching his Skywars videos in the background. Which was kind of funny cuz when I saw that he posted I was like "Oh, what a coincidence!" And then I watched the video and found out he died and I was like, "oh... what a coincidence."

BTW if your a person who doesn't like Technoblade for whatever Twitter drama reason, don't take offense to this. I don't use Twitter or any social media besides Youtube and TikTok so I literally never hear anythingggggg about what offensive joke or canceling shit is happening. I'm not quote on quote "educated" with all the stuff about him, and I really don't care to find out since, well, it doesn't really matter anymore cuz of... deadness. All I know is that Technoblade was very funny, I really like his humor/content, and I'm sad that he's dead. Let's just leave it at that.

So as a distraction from depression I decided to finally finish watching Stranger Things season 4.

Big mistake.

BECAUSE THE ENDING FUCKED ME UP EVEN MORE!!!!!

While I would love to talk about it, I can't since Ik some people haven't watched the literal 2 hr episode that is Chapter 9.

Which, in my opinion, is fair, but STILL. I really wanna talk about it but I can't!

Anyway, back to what you guys are here for, fanfic shit. Not my life and mental status. I have a plan. I don't really have a lot of the plan but I have a plan. Except for one thing.

And this has been weighing on my mind for a while now, so I feel like I should come out and say it: I have no idea what to do about Midnight. I kind of just panicked when I realized, which kind of went like this: "oh crap wait Midnight will be there, meh I'm sure my brain will come up with some really dark crap to torture you guys"

Long story short, I can't think of shit. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo yeah. Feel free to give suggestions, it might help inspire me or something. Idk.

About this chapter, I think I fucking nailed it with Shigaraki's part. I really like how I wrote his motives down. Also the twist at the end was pretty funny to write.

AND FOR FUCKS SAKE PLEASE TELL ME YA'LL NOTICED THE PARALLELS BETWEEN HIM AND IZUKU'S THOUGHT PROCESSES! I LITERALLY COPY PASTED STAIN'S AND CHRONOS' DESCRIPTIONS FROM IZUKU'S PERSPECTIVE!'

I DID IT IN THE SPORTS FESTIVAL AND ONLY ONE PERSON POINTED IT OUT I WAS SO SAD THAT NO ONE REALIZED SO PLEASE, PLEASE TELL ME YOU NOTICED NOW!

Anyway, that's it. No more chapters this week btw, my upload amount is going to be slowing down because I'm going on vacation soon and I got to get a lot of summer hw done before it.

CYA!

Not A Chapter

Hey guys! I mentioned before in one of the end notes that I was going on vacation soon and that my upload schedule will suffer from it. Well, that starts today!

I was originally going to post another chapter just to leave you guys with it but I had to do other stuff this week which led me to speed writing it friday night and when I read it this morning, I just hated it. I want to make sure every chapter is good quality so sorry you're not getting more.

My vacation will end at the beginning of August, so expect an update at that point!

I also need to talk about how school is going to change my writing time. I am taking a LOT of AP Classes (I'm in highschool) this year and free time will need to be dedicated to school. So realistically, I'm probably going to be so swamped with work that I can only post once a month, which is sad but that's life. I'll post any chapters I have at the end of the month btw so that way you guys aren't constantly checking like everyday just to see if I posted. During winter/spring breaks I probably won't post much either because my school is mean and assigns HOMEWORK FOR THE BREAKS. Which, 1, WHY!?? And 2, the packets are like 15 pages long (not joking) so I'll be spending my life doing that.

I'll be completely off writing from March to May because that's exam season for me. And after exams, normal weekly schedule for the summer!

I really wish I could post more but I honestly don't know how much work I'm going to get over the year. Maybe I'll be able to post every 2 weeks if we're lucky?

Anyway, sorry to disappoint you all, and for the long rant.

I'll see you at the beginning of August!

Revelations

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku's never understood what the "high road" means.

He was raised to always take the "low road" and resort to violence in most of his problems.

And it worked.

Extremely well.

The promise of violence is a very effective strategy to get what you want.

But the high road?

That was still unfamiliar ground.

Being quote on quote "moral" was really, really hard when you don't know what the normal, "moral" thing is.

It was mostly evident on the recent incident involving Izuku.

Which Aizawa-sensei was currently yelling at him about.

But for the life of him, Izuku couldn't understand what he did wrong!

The Hero Killer halted Ingenium's career for most likely years by stabbing his spine.

So why couldn't Izuku do the same by stabbing him in the tongue!?

And the paramedics, they weren't listening to him and kept telling him to "relax" and "stop trying to be brave in front of the adults" and blah blah BLAH.

Clearly, they wouldn't listen to what he was saying, therefore, drastic measures had to be taken!

And technically he DID do what they said! He calmed down and relaxed, which meant that he stopped using his quirk and let his blood escape his femoral artery while both the blood pressure monitor and the paramedics freaked the fuck out.

It's not called being reckless, it's called establishing dominance.

Which, by the way, WORKED!

So why was Izuku being yelled at if all was good in the end!?

He partially understood the threatening to leave the hospital part, since Aizawa-sensei didn't know the true reason behind it, but everything else was just confusing.

Hence, the high road dilemma.

He didn't understand the abnormality and wrongness of the "low road."

He didn't understand how to take the "high road."

All he knew was the one, resonating fact he's come to realize… normal society was fucking weird.

These types of things used to be a daily occurrence in Izuku's old life!

Forget stabbing a tongue, he's cut off multiple tongues!

It's not that big of a deal!

But unfortunately for him, Aizawa-sensei seemed to vocally disagree, which was how Izuku spent the first hour of his day.

Since Izuku 100% had a target on his back now from Stain, Principal Nedzu decided it would be best if Izuku stayed the week of the internship under school grounds. Cue a very awkward conversation about not letting his teachers inside of his apartment ( he couldn't let them see the mess of knives and stuffed animals thrown literally everywhere) and Izuku was now at UA, sitting in his now-dorm room while Aizawa-sensei went over everything Izuku did wrong in the past 24 hours.

Of course, Izuku didn't really pay attention. He wasn't in the mood to feel awkward, or sad, or any negative emotions whatsoever, so tuning out his tired teacher was the go-to option.

Actually, now that he's thinking about it, he hadn't felt severely anxious or depressed in the past few days.

In fact, he's been feeling… dare he say it… good.

Like… really good.

Which is really bad.

Because if Izuku's actually happy… then that means something really bad was coming to fuck him over.

Being happy and content wasn't a natural occurrence.

There was Newton's Law of Motion.

The Laws of Thermodynamics.

And then there was the "Izuku must suffer" law.

Constantly.

The 3 rules of the universe.

But right now, he wasn't.

It was an anomaly that only happened in hindsight of a bad future.

But as the paranoia creeped into his mind, he found himself not being able to, well, care.

He was probably riding on the dose of joy he got from his quirk usage and adrenaline rush the other night, but still.

His mindset was eerily positive.

If he could put it to words, it was almost like saying " throw whatever you want at me and watch me win" to the world.

Like any challenge he faced could be easily overcome.

Which was… weird.

Considering the fact that Izuku's never failed before, it was weird to feel obsessed with success.

There wasn't a point in fixating on it since he already knew that success was always going to be the outcome.

His quirk was basically a guarantee win for every fight.

His intelligence always made him 3 steps ahead of his opponents.

And his fighting ability was unreal.

It all gave him one thing: strength.

He knew that he could win.

He knew that he could accomplish everything.

But he's never really applied it to anything except fighting.

But now?

It was like he was applying it to the things God throws at him to bring his mood down.

Feeling sad was failure.

Staying happy was success.

Essentially, he wanted to win.

Not just in fighting.

But in emotions.

It was scary, but it was also relieving.

He's succeeded in every challenge that had come his way.

He had lived an assassin's life for 6 years and survived it all.

He escaped the grasp of one of the biggest crime groups in the world.

He taught himself how to think independently, to feel, to live.

He's learned how to create boundaries so he doesn't kill another human soul ever again.

He's succeeded in all of that.

~~No he hasn't.~~

Yes, he has done it all.

He's had a 100% success rate in everything he's ever done.

So applying it to his emotions?

Chances are Izuku would never feel sad again!

And that would be the best thing he could ever ask for.

To feel both the passive happiness from his friends and the feral joy he gets from fighting, forever!?

That would be the ultimate reward for the shit Izuku's had to go through.

It would just be so grea–

"Kid are you even listening to me!?"

…

Oh right.

Aizawa-sensei.

He was following his teacher to one of the gyms to train.

Looks like he spaced out again.

Whoops!

Shaking himself out of his head, Izuku mustered a quick nod while meeting his teacher's gaze. Aizawa-sensei gave a disapproving glare but gave up with a sigh.

"As I was saying, you'll be spending the entire internship with me since Stain's got it out for you. Which means we'll be working on your weaknesses and such. Specifically, I want you to use your quirk more. You never use it in class. Why?"

Izuku paused at that question. It's not like he could tell the full truth of the fact that he lied about his actual quirk. Half-honesty it is!

"Well, the thing is, my quirk hurts. Like a lot. And I really don't want to deal with people's screaming, so it's better to just go in quirkless." he said with a shrug.

Aizawa-sensei just narrowed his eyes. "So using your quirk is a no but stabbing someone's tongue is ok?"

Izuku copied the same sarcastic tone. "Well, most people aren't national criminals so, I did what I had to do."

Aizawa-sensei opened his mouth to argue, ready to repeat the rant he gave earlier that morning but was stopped by the gym's door opening. Both the student and the teacher looked over to see who it was, feeling the recoil of the blinding light that reached through the door.

A kid, taller than Izuku but shorter than Aizawa-sensei walked inside with the usual UA gym outfit. Izuku squinted, trying to look past the white rays of the sun and at the taller figure. As soon as the boy became visible, ~~Izuku immediately recognized him as Shinsou Hitoshi, one of the Sports Festival participants who made it to the final round~~. He had spiky, lavender hair and eye bags that could rival Aizawa-sensei's. He looked exhausted as he casually walked towards the pair.

The boy quickly scanned over Izuku before turning to Aizawa-sensei.

"So, this is where we'll be training?" his voice being as monotone and bored as Aizawa-sensei's, but not as deep.

The scarfman simply nodded. Shinsou then turned to Izuku, who was standing there with equal confusion. They locked eyes as the two silently judged each other.

"And why is someone else here?" Shinsou finally asked.

"I've already seen your combat ability thanks to the Sports Festival. To be honest, it's below average. I can't teach you more advanced stuff until you get the basics down. And Etsuri," a glance was shot towards Izuku, "is going to help with that. Teach him how to fight, but at the same time, use your quirk on yourself. Go."

With that, the blunt teacher immediately walked away from the pair, slinking into a sleeping bag in the corner of the gym closest to the students.

"Motherfucker" Izuku silently said in his head. He turned to the taller, lavender-haired boy that was apparently his sparring partner now. He held out his hand as a greeting.

"Hi. My name's Etsuri Izuku but I just go by my given name. You're Shinsou, right?"

Shinsou looked Izuku up and down before giving him a definitive answer.

"Yeah. Shinsou Hitoshi. Sorry, but I don't recognize you. Are you in the hero course or…?" he asked hesitantly.

Izuku just nodded, offering a friendly smile to lighten the mood while walking towards one of the equipment crates near them.

"Yep! Although I didn't participate in the Sports Festival if that's what you mean by 'I don't recognize you.' I had other things going on that I had to do. Anyway, put these on." Izuku said, tossing Shinsou a pair of padded gloves.

Shinsou caught them and Izuku walked back, observing Shinsou's stance like a predator does with it's prey. In return, Shinsou was watching Izuku as if he was staring at a zoo exhibit.

"Aren't you going to put on your own set?"

Izuku shook his head, stretching his arms and legs and warming up. "No 'cause I won't be punching you. I'll just stop midway through."

Shinsou gave a mumbled "okay" as he got into a fighting position, along with Izuku. There was a brief pause as the 2 opponents stared each other down. But this was different than the other fights. There was no bloodlust or determination, only a large desire to get this over with.

And as the 2 boys launched at each other, the day went by.

Izuku kicking ass.

Shinsou collecting bruises.

It was a waste of a day for everyone except Shinsou, since he ended up walking away with a plethora of new fighting knowledge.

The session ended just as the sun began to sink into the bellows of the earth. The sky was a beautiful pink and yellow, the color reflecting on the translucent clouds. But there was still no sign of the gentle moon that always came without fail.

Instead of looking at the beautiful sky, Izuku walked straight to his dorm room, moving quickly so that no one could take the opportunity to trap him in useless conversation. A new skill he's learned to maintain his introvert status: power walking to avoid conversation. As soon as he got into his current safe space, he leaned on the half-open door. It swung shut from the force he put on it. He closed his eyes, reveling in the sound of the door locking shut before sinking to the ground.

The room he had was quite similar to his normal apartment room. It had a grey, blueish-green color palette that matched the rest of the school. The biggest difference was the fact that the room extended from the door vertically instead of horizontally like his. The bed rested on the right side while the desk sat on the left. His dresser stood at the foot of his bed against the wall. There were no shelves, but it was spacious enough so that they wouldn't be necessary.

Izuku was currently sitting right in front of the door, just staring up at the ceiling blankly. The entire day replayed like a VHS tape in the back of his mind.

After a few minutes of silence he let out a loud groan before rubbing his face with his hand.

That motherfucker.

That son of a bitch.

Was Aizawa-sensei trying to give Izuku a heart attack!?

He was obviously trying to learn more about Izuku and his quirk's details/capabilities, so he made Izuku use his quirk on himself.

It's always something like this.

Always trying to get Izuku to try and use his quirk.

Ever since Day 1 that man has had it out for Izuku.

But it's only ramped up more since the Sports Festival!

Was he trying to expose Izuku's white lies about his quirk!?

Because it's fucking working!

On top of that, Izuku's 90% sure that it has something to do with that detective who's been looking into Izuku.

And the worst part is, Izuku didn't even know why!

What did he do!?

Whatever it was, it probably had nothing to do with Bloodline, otherwise a mere city detective wouldn't be on the case.

And also there would be about 50 international ambassadors on Japan's land, monitoring the situation.

And the underworld hadn't noted anything like that yet.

So what else could there possibly be!?

Why couldn't they just leave Izuku alone instead of forcing him to actually do shit!?

Gathering the strength to stand, he put his forearms onto his desk, sitting down in the spinney desk chair the school had provided. He only managed to stay in good posture for 5 seconds before flopping over on the table's surface. The coolness of the wood seeped into his cheek as Izuku just laid there for a minute, thinking over his troubles.

He gave the world another sigh as he pulled himself from the desk's surface and his thoughts. He turned to his left, slowly reaching down and picking up a metal briefcase with the number 18 plastered all over the side. ( The suitcase that he definitely did not steal from the classroom so that he could make his own edits to his gear without getting the support department involved.) He took his time opening up the case and examining the costume inside. After a few seconds, he picked up one of the throwing knives that was filled with paralytics. This one was empty though, he had used it on Mina during a combat training session.

Staring at it for a few seconds, he started dismembering the knife dart hybrid. He had brought his own tiny tools to make these changes to his costume from home. He slowly unscrewed one of the bolts holding the handle in place, taking his time. There wasn't a need to rush after all, it was only an experiment for his idea.

You see, the Stain fight, as wonderful as it had been, ended as a very close call for Izuku.

He almost died.

And Izuku wasn't an idiot.

Far from it actually.

He needed to take it as a lesson for the next time he fought Stain.

Because as long as that guy was out there, Izuku would be stuck here.

In UA.

Away from his comforting apartment that had fallen victim to his paranoia.

And he really wanted to go back.

But it would probably take a while before the government decided to actually do something about Stain.

A long, long time for a job Izuku could just do himself.

And when it comes to trivial things like waiting, Izuku was very impatient.

One of the things that definitely would have helped him in that fight was a way to fight ranged.

He couldn't carry a gun around – turns out you need to be a certain age to get a license even if you're becoming a hero.

And while Izuku didn't really give a shit about the law, what if Aizawa-sensei saw him using guns?

No way is he taking that chance, he's learned from the whole Arsenal incident.

And while throwing knives were already a good option, they had one, very exploitable weakness – limited numbers.

Izuku couldn't carry an infinite amount of blades after all!

Which means, against skilled opponents who can dodge accurately like Stain, throwing knives would only take him so far.

So, ( naturally,) Izuku thought about how he could fix that.

And he's found an answer.

Suddenly, a loud ringing to the right interrupted his mind's scheming. He looked over, seeing his phone physically vibrate from the sound it was protruding. He picked it up, observing the light blue screen that had popped up.

Oh, Iida was calling.

Fucking finally.

He was getting worried when the robotic teenager hadn't said anything all day, even after Izuku had messaged everyone his whereabouts and all that.

He clicked the green phone icon and put on speaker mode, setting the phone down right next to him. He looked back at the knife he was taking apart.

"Hey Iida. Surprised you didn't call sooner."

There was a brief moment of silence before a tense, controlled voice answered back.

"Hello Izuku. Are you recovering well?"

Izuku shrugged in real life despite Iida not being able to see. He tried to sound even happier than usual to lighten the mood.

"I feel better than normal actually. I guess staying overnight at a hospital has its benefits."

Another pause.

"That's good. I'm glad… I'm glad you're alright."

A few more seconds went by as Izuku leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. He was really hoping Iida would be the one to start it. But alas, Izuku can't have it all, can he?

He was just going to have to outright say it. Sometimes it sucks being the token blunt guy.

"Iida, I swear to God if you go after Stain, I'll bring you back to life just to punch you in the balls."

A weird sound came through the phone as Iida tried to recover from the threat.

"That-that wasn't what I was thinking!"

Another moment of silence.

"Ok… I was thinking about it."

"You mean you ARE thinking about it." Izuku said, returning back to the blade in his hands. He picked up his tiny screwdriver once again and undid another bolt.

A sigh that was very similar to a "yeah" came through the phone as they both fell into silence. Izuku just silently working on his experiment while Iida tried to find the right thing to say. Eventually, the words were found.

"It's not just revenge that I'm thinking about."

Izuku stopped working and looked at the phone, his silence prodding Iida to continue.

"I couldn't do anything when my brother was attacked since I was a 100 miles away. All I could do was sit there and watch. I couldn't do anything to prevent it. But in your case, I was there, and there was a chance I could've done something to help. And seeing you lying on the ground, I just–"

"You're fucking with me right?" Izuku cut in, his voice filled with pure shock.

Another moment of silence.

"W-what?"

"You're actually feeling guilty about the fact that a murderous philosopher with no fucks to give in life attacked me, without any prior warning that the attack was coming? Dude, I was the one who fell behind the group. I was the one who was stupid enough to go into a dark alley alone at night. It isn't your fault that I was an idiot and paid the price for it."

He unscrewed the last bolt, the handle popping off along with the container hidden inside.

"Y-you aren't an idiot! And I know all of that, but–"

"But bat shit. It isn't your fault that I got attacked, nor is it your fault that your brother got attacked. The blame lies with the guy who did it, Stain. What happened, happened. You can't look at the past and say what-if. You have to come to terms with it and, more importantly, learn from it. Like I have."

There was a brief moment of silence where Izuku could almost hear Iida tightening his grip on the phone. A small indication of anger resonated within Iida's voice.

"So you've moved on already? How can you be so calm and, and OKAY with this!? He almost KILLED you!"

Izuku playfully leaned back in his chair, holding the dismembered blade in his left hand, flipping it around like a switchblade.

"Yeah, but he didn't."

He slowly took off the glove on his right hand, revealing the hidden mess of scars underneath it, frowning at the sight of it.

"And thank god he didn't! But I don't understand how you can just move on so readily!? Aren't you angry or hurt, or scared or… or anything!?"

He kept staring at the ruined mark on his hand while spinning around in his chair.

"Of course I do. I feel unprepared."

"That's, that's not what I meant. I thought…" A sigh came through before Iida spoke up again, this time in a calmer manner. "I thought you'd feel a little more like I did when my brother was attacked. I mean, aren't you scared that he'll come for you? That he'll make you bleed, and hurt, and all of that?"

At that same moment, Izuku rested his right palm on the blade of his left, pulling his hand through the sharp edge in one movement. The hot flash of pain and the heat from blood instantly flared at the site of the cut. He immediately grabbed the empty paralytic chamber and watched as his blood dripped into the tube.

"I mean, I'm not scared or anything like that. I don't feel upset or angry that the man attacked me either, mostly because I sympathize his viewpoint."

"And also because I had it coming for pretending to be something I'm not" flashed through Izuku's mind, but he neglected to say that thought out loud.

An audible gasp came through the phone as a loud voice and the sound of someone slamming their hand on a table returned.

"SO YOU'RE SIDING WITH HIM!?"

Izuku just stared blankly at his phone, moving his chair back and forth, keeping his hands steady.

"Of course not. I just said I understand him."

The notebook hidden inside of his suitcase rippled through his mind.

"He wants to make the world a better place by getting rid of the monsters hiding in the light. It's not a bad goal to have, it's just the way he does it is flawed. It's like I said a while back. You're looking at him as if he was some demon born from the fiery pits of hell itself. You need to–"

"OF COURSE I AM! HE ATTACKED MY BROTHER AND NOW ONE OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS FOR NOTHING! LIKE HELL I WOULD EVER TRY TO CONSIDER HIS SIDE, LET ALONE SYMPATHIZE WITH HIM!" Iida shouted with venom.

"Iida that's not what I–"

The sound of the call ending stopped Izuku halfway through his sentence. He stared at the phone for a couple of seconds, wondering what just happened.

He's never thought Iida could ever sound like… like… Bakugou of all people.

He moved to try and call Iida again, but stopped himself once he remembered the fact that his hand was literally gorging out blood. He looked at the phone, confused and sad.

Iida sounded really angry.

Izuku's never heard that before.

He's seen a controlled version of it that one time at the train station.

But nothing like this.

Should he call him back?

No, that wouldn't help.

Iida probably needed some space right now.

There was no point in talking in the heat of the moment.

That only brought the worst out of people after all.

Still, his mind wandered back to the conversation, trying to figure out where he went wrong.

He just told Iida why he wasn't angry at Stain.

What's wrong with that?

Looking outside of the window, he realized the sun had finally disappeared, the moon's darkness slowly taking over the pastel sky. White dots that humans called stars would appear soon after.

This was the first time he'd ever made one of his friends angry.

He didn't know what to do.

Maybe he'd ask Uraraka for advice in the morning, she was always good with the whole "emotions" thing.

Nedzu gave good advice last time too, so he could be another option.

"Nah," Izuku thought, turning back to the project in his hands.

That rat was probably conspiring with Aizawa-sensei and the detective.

And despite the conversation he just had, he wasn't about to take the advice from one of those privacy-hating bitches.

It's been about 3 days since the start of the internship week. Those days had been filled with nothing but surprise attacks from a short old man that turned into full on battles inside the giant gyms of UA.

On Friday, All Might had gotten a letter from his old mentor asking to intern Bakugou for the week. He had apparently been a teacher at UA for one year, but never did much hero work to earn him a grand stage in the media.

And, well, you'd be an idiot if you didn't accept an offer from the man who taught All Might himself.

To waste an opportunity like that?

Hell no!

So Bakugou accepted the letter from the shaking hand of the Number One Hero and voila! Here he was getting his ass handed to him by a too-fast-for-his-own-good senile who tried to play dead when he first arrived.

The teacher was a man named Gran Torino, whose quirk allowed him to propel himself through the air by the jets in his feet.

A relatively simple quirk which absolutely pummeled Bakugou the entire 3 days.

Honestly, the fact that All Might was shaking from fear when he told Bakugou should've been a warning to what he was like.

But nope!

He still went on with it anyway.

What a fool he could be sometimes…

Though, Gran Torino's ways weren't without its benefits.

Bakugou hadn't been learning nothing this entire time after all.

His reaction time and speed had gotten significantly better over the course of 3 days.

As well as his overall agility.

But the answer to one statement still evaded his mind.

"Your sense of duty to All Might are acting as your shackles. It's making your use of One for All completely ineffective."

What the fuck did that mean?

Whatever that meant, it was probably the key to unlocking One for All.

Since, despite his use of it, he still had yet to beat Gran Torino in a fight.

Which made no sense when you think about it.

It was the power of the Number One Hero, and yet it couldn't even beat a fast old man!

Clearly, he still had a lot to learn.

And a lot to improve on.

Which only made him even angrier.

There was so much to do and no time!

And Gran Torino seemed insistent on not telling Bakugou the answer.

Which was… GOOD.

Because Bakugou wasn't an idiot!

He could figure it out himself!

…

Of course, he wouldn't say no to any… hints.

Not that he needs any!

Giving him hints would just… speed up the inevitable!

And after tossing and turning in his bed until 3:00 am, Bakugou decided to speed up the inevitable process of finding the answer to all his problems.

So he quickly changed into more casual clothes than pajamas and walked down the motionless, grey halls of UA. The motion sensors activated as the light appeared just in front of him, the grand windows letting in the natural light of the moon. His soft footsteps penetrated the silent atmosphere of the night.

Finally, he reached the door he was looking for, pausing right in front of it, desperately fighting against the hesitance in his mind.

What was he, an introvert!?

Don't make him laugh!

If he wanted to ask something, then you goddamn bet he will ask it!

He tapped softly on the door 3 times, loud enough to be heard by the person inside.

After a minute of no response, he switched tactics, loudly banging on the door continuously. The entire time he glared at the door with loud, furious eyes. It was almost as if he was trying to intimidate the door into opening itself.

But the door lacked the sentience required to be intimidated, so a person opened it instead.

"What do you wahnt…" they said with a yawn, lazily blinking their eyes.

It was obvious that they were dead tired from who knows what, buuuuuuuuuuuuuut Bakugou didn't really care. He needed to get this over with and turning back now meant being a coward.

Which he was NOT.

He was a strong, courageous man who wasn't afraid to ask a few simple questions for… "help. "

That's all!

So like the big man he was, he marched himself straight inside and plopped himself onto the chair.

"We need to talk." was all the context he gave.

A sigh came with the sound of the door slowly closing. The boy lazily made their way to the bed, whispering, "Can't this wait until morning? We both have training to do and it's 3:00 am…"

Bakugou just sent another mean glare, similar to the one he gave the door. "No, it can't. Hurry and wake up already, you look like a zombie."

The boy just grumbled as he flipped on one of the lights, landing on the bed with a solid "fwoomp", yawning once more.

"Yeah but why me? We've never even talked since a week ago."

Bakugou continued to stare at him. "Exactly. One week ago you beat my ass and I want to know how you did it. In detail. Go."

The 1v19 was a very interesting battle for Bakugou to say the least.

It was his first time he used One for All without breaking any limbs. All Might said it was probably because it was the first time he ever used it on a person, so his brain subconsciously held back or some shit like that.

But if he could do that consistently, then maybe he'd be able to beat the shit out of that senile fuck.

And in order to do that, he needed to know what he did wrong back then that led to Izuku's victory.

So here he was asking the ass-kicker himself.

For… "help."

(If you could really call it that.)

He could tell that Izuku didn't really hear that statement, his mind still trying to recover from the eternal darkness that is sleep.

"Sorry, say that again? It's really hard to concentrate on you right now."

This time it was Bakugou who sighed – more like growled – in frustration. He leaned forward in the chair. "I said how the fuck did you beat me during the 1v19?"

This time Izuku heard it, now able to look at Bakugou in the eye without squinting tremendously. "And why are you asking me that at 3:00 am?"

Bakugou snarled. "Just answer the question already."

Izuku didn't answer right away, instead leaning back and staring at the roof, either still waking up or thinking of his answer, probably both. After a few seconds, he finally replied.

"Well, I guess it's because I anticipated what you'd do in the first place."

Bakugou raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me you knew that I was going to launch you into fucking orbit and then explode you to pieces?"

Izuku shook his head. "No, that would be anticipated your attacks. I'm saying I anticipated what you'd do. Usually when someone commits an attack as strong as the whole 'dropping the sun' on me thing, they kind of just expect it to work. They don't think about what comes after it's said and done. Just like you. When you finished that attack, you were looking for my unconscious body falling down. It's why you didn't look up."

Bakugou stayed silent, prodding Izuku to continue. Izuku took the hint and kept talking.

"If you had gone under the assumption that the attack failed, you wouldn't have been air-tackled by me and surprised attacked. You were too confident and didn't have any back up plans in case it failed."

Wow.

The answer was quite simple when you hear it out loud.

"So basically you're saying I need to think more about my opponent?" Bakugou said, raising his hand up to his chin while lost in thought.

Izuku shrugged, moving from the bed to look outside of the window. "Yes, you do need to do that, but also something else. You need to just stop assuming that a fight is over just because you hit your opponent once. It's not always going to be the case."

He walked over to Bakugou, reaching around him to grab a notebook sitting at the corner of the desk before sitting back down on the bed once more.

"What are you doing?" Bakugou asked.

Izuku didn't answer, flipping through the pages of the notebook until he finally found whatever he was looking for. He read to himself for a couple seconds before looking back up to match Bakugou's eyes.

"It's kind of like this," he lowered the notebook so that Bakugou could see the pages. Drawn out was a diagram of the attack they were just talking about.

"You dumped all of your energy into this one explosion thing instead of slow burning through it. You need to start spreading out your energy so that way you could last longer in a fight. A cheap one-shot trick isn't going to work every single–"

"Wait. Say that again?" Bakugou said, a revelation forming in his eyes.

Izuku just stared in both boredom and impatience, clearly not wanting to participate in this anymore. He looked back down at the diagram.

"I said you wasted all of your energy on one move, if you conserved it and spread it throughout the whole fight–"

Thump.

Izuku looked up just in time to see the door swinging shut. He stared at the door in disbelief of the audacity for a few seconds before sighing, putting the notebook back on the desk and going back to bed.

Bakugou, on the other hand, was more than ecstatic.

He finally got it.

He finally understood why One for All was being so weird.

He was only using it one at a time for each limb.

He needed to spread it out throughout his whole body in order to increase his overall power.

Just like he needed to spread out his energy for the whole fight.

He paused, standing in the middle of the still empty hallways, closing his eyes. He felt the warmth of the ocean of power inside of him, calling it to the surface of his skin. His body was immediately showered in pink streaks, evolving into orange bolts of lightning crackling into the air. He didn't dare to move as he could briefly tell that any sudden movement would end disastrously.

Somehow a draft had picked up in the halls, the silence being replaced by the hums of lightning and wind.

Now this… this felt wonderful.

Euphoric.

Warm.

Powerful.

Yes, this is what he should've been doing this entire time.

Slowly he let the power fade, opening his eyes once more as the pink streaks and orange lightning ceased to exist.

He smirked to himself.

Oh, that short old man was finally going to get his ass handed to him.

He couldn't wait to see the look on that guy's face when he finally grabbed him.

Chapter End Notes

SUP BITCHES I'M BACK!!!!!

DID YOU MISS ME!??!

So to recap my vacation was pog , there's a Michael Jackson Shrine in Munich, Germany and Switzerland is fucking expensive.

BUT ANYWAYS wooooooooooo story fanfic writing all that jazz is coming BACK!

I still have no idea how my writing schedule is going to be cuz school hasn't started for me yet but I will definitely tell you guys as soon as I decide.

But anyways back to the actual storyline that I'm trying to convey...

I HAVE DONE IT!!! I HAVE CHOSEN THE PLOT!

I had like 5 different directions that I could take the story through when I first went on hiatus, so I spent my entire vacation trying to figure out what I should do for Stain's arc to end. And I am proud to say that I finally have a coherent storyline that I can write!

I only wrote this chapter because I needed to catch up on all the summer hw I totally 100% did (that I totally did not save for the last possible second) but you guys will probably get 2 chapters next week at the very least.

Anyways, that's all I have to say. Have a good day and CYA!!!!

Change

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Have you ever been thrown through a wall before?

Like a concrete, 13 inch thick wall.

Just straight through with nothing to stop the force?

No?

Well, Uraraka has.

And this may come as a shocker, but just hear her out, getting thrown at a wall… fucking hurts.

Or in her case, getting kicked through a wall.

By an angry muscular rabbit woman with an addiction to adrenaline.

Who just happened to be the Number 5 Hero.

Who was also trying to break Uraraka both physically and emotionally by fighting from dawn to dusk.

Yeah, she was having fun~~~

How did this fun all start, you may ask?

Well, who fucking knows?

Uraraka had just shown up, got kicked the living shit out of, had an emotional conversation where they talked about feelings, then got her ass kicked again.

If you wanted to know, ask the fucking rabied bunny who was trying to murder her.

Her internship started off completely normal, just hopping off a train and heading to her teacher's agency on a sunny afternoon.

Looking back, she should've savored those normal, peaceful moments when she had the chance.

Too late for regrets, though.

She was expecting some sort of grand building that stood out from the rest of the offices, something sleek and modern. Something that screamed the Number 5 Hero just from the look of it. All Might had a grand skyscraper in Tokyo that emanated importance. Something like that. Something that reflected the heroine's power into the concrete itself.

Instead, she was given an address to what looked like an abandoned factory building right next to the ocean. The stench of fresh fish filled the air as she watched giant cargo and fishing ships dock and leave into the watery abyss. There were seagulls – chirping? – more like screaming as they tried to fight the dock workers for some of the fish, surrounding crates to the point where they collectively looked like a white cloud. The sound of waves crashing into the shore could be heard every now and again, reminding Uraraka of the peacefulness that is the coast.

But she couldn't afford to watch the lively atmosphere for long, she didn't want to keep her interning teacher waiting.

Mirko, or Rumi Usagiyama, was the Number 5 hero on the billboard chart. A powerful woman that excelled in physical hand to hand combat more than any other hero. In terms of technique, she was probably better than All Might.

She was a very aggressive, prideful character that gave the same aura of Endeavor, but more kind and thoughtful than the cold shoulder attitude you get from the Flame Hero.

Powerful and confident, but you could briefly tell she had a soft side just by talking to her.

Didn't make her any less terrifying though.

And it certainly didn't make Uraraka any less nervous.

She didn't really expect Mirko to actually read her letter, let alone accept it.

The heroine had never taken any interest in raising the next generation of heroes before, even though she was on the list that Aizawa-sensei had given. Whenever the media asked why Mirko is like this, she always responded that she never saw anyone that she thought she could teach.

Which, wow.

That raised the chances of Mirko accepting her offer less than 1% in Uraraka's opinion.

There wasn't really a point in applying.

She had only applied just to say that she tried.

She didn't actually expect the woman to outright say yes.

But somehow, here she was.

Very confused, very nervous.

And in a world for pain.

Of course, Uraraka didn't know that yet.

But she would soon.

Uraraka glanced back down at the address on her phone, then looked up at the very old, very rundown building standing in front of her, repeating the process a couple more times. She was expecting something… well… something new that wasn't built in the 1900s from the Number 5 Hero. But hey, maybe Mirko was just a really frivolous person when it comes to agencies?

Turning on her flashlight on her phone, she slowly pushed open the green, copper door, shivering at the loud creaking of the metal's hinges and stepping through the doorway. Her mouth hung slightly open as her eyes adjusted to the light. The inside was a lot more grand and open than she thought it was going to be. It was a long hallway that stretched to the very end of the building, filled to the brim with different conveyer belts and old machines that belonged inside of a museum. Chains of all sizes slowly swayed from the ocean winds that had somehow found a way inside the room. Though it was far from clean, the place seemed more maintained than you would've expected it to be. At the very least, it didn't reek of any awful smells.

To the sides, there were large concrete walls that contained the stairs to move onto the second floor. Taking in the strange yet captivating moment, Uraraka cautiously walked up the stairs, wanting to explore the strange building even more.

The second floor was far from grand as the main factory level was, leaning to a more depressing atmosphere. There were multiple stone hallways that led to the other flight of stairs across the building, containing old oil lamps and a couple of railings in the center of the corridors. It was filled to the brim with small cubicles of concrete, each littered with old mattresses and blankets, some with bunkbeds and some just lying on the floor. It honestly reminded Uraraka of a prison. They weren't completely dark as there were barred windows letting some sunlight in. These rooms were less maintained than the bottom floor, but you could still see signs of scrubbed off dirt and mold.

And while this was all very interesting and strangely calming… Uraraka was still nervous.

She was probably even more scared than before.

Where the fuck was Mirko?

The heroine didn't just stand her up, right?

There's no way all of this was just some sick pra-

CRACK!

Her brain physically rebooted as all she could feel was a powerful kick to her stomach, sending her flying through the empty doorframe. Filled with adrenaline, she immediately bounced back up, her instincts rampaging as she positioned herself behind one of the railings that sat at the middle of the corridor.

"You recovered pretty quickly. I guess that means you are good for something."

Uraraka didn't really register those words, just focusing on the figure standing in the dark cubicle room Uraraka had entered just moments before. The person slowly stepped forwards, heading straight for Uraraka. She let herself relax, preparing herself for a fight she believed was about to come.

But all of the preparation went away when her eyes laid upon the Number 5 Hero, Mirko.

The shock written on Uraraka's face must have been obvious, because Mirko immediately bursted out laughing.

"Dude, you should see the look on your face! Holy shit, and I thought Hawk's girlish scream when I ambushed him couldn't be topped, this must be a close tie…" her voice trailed off, still snickering at the seemingly funny expression Uraraka had.

Uraraka slowly stood up, the pain from the kick now settling in nicely in her stomach. She leaned on the railing in order to relieve some of the pain, biting her tongue to avoid making any sounds.

"What was the point of that?" she winced, now finally taking the time to observe her new teacher for the rest of the week. Her eyes widened as she took in the woman's figure.

Mirko, to be honest, was STRONG. Like, her muscles? The size of watermelons. She had white hair and 2 rabbit ears sticking out, almost the shape of tall horns. She had a bodysuit on that was similar to a one-piece swimsuit, a mix of white and navy blue with a yellow moon crest on her chest. She wore navy blue leggings up to her thighs that turned into boots, which resembled a rabbit's foot. Overall, her costume wasn't that captivating or flashy compared to other heroes.

Her body on the other hand?

Damn bitch.

You could tell that she'd never missed a day of exercise in her life.

Mirko didn't respond for a bit, still recovering from the laughing storm that had descended onto her. After a few breaths she could finally talk.

"Well, I was following you the entire time you were exploring this place, and I was pretty bummed out when you never figured out I was there. So I thought I'd ambush you as a little joke, but I also wanted to see what your first reaction was. You definitely didn't disappoint in that department."

For a moment, Uraraka's heart swelled with pride with the last comment, but she quickly shook herself out of the feeling. "Wait, you were following me?"

Mirko just nodded.

"Yep. We'll have to add that to the list of things I want to drill into your head while we're here. Which reminds me, let me explain what exactly we'll be doing."

Mirko straightened up a bit before looking at Uraraka directly in the eye.

"I'm going to be blunt here, I almost didn't pick you. You were amazing at the Sports Festival, and your eyes showed you had a fighting spirit, but I could tell that you weren't really going all out. Those muscles aren't for show you know, you should really learn to use them." Mirko said, pointing at Uraraka with an accusatory stance.

Uraraka herself had a pretty muscular body, not on the same scale as Mirko though. She was still working on it, but you definitely could see the outlines of muscle on her arms and legs, as well as an emerging six-pack.

Mirko continued.

"I don't have time for people who aren't willing to put everything they got in a fight. So I was going to flat out say no to your application until I reached the personal bit the school always make you write."

Mirko pulled out a small piece of paper from seemingly nowhere, unfolding it and revealing Uraraka's application form. She looked down and read the exact wording, her smile disappearing.

" 'I want to learn how to let it all out and push through despite having enough fear to hold me back. I want to someday match the same intensity of you even if the odds are stacked against me. I want to stop being a coward, and I think you can help with that.' "

Uraraka shifted her weight side to side uncomfortably at the small reading of her very dramatic wording. Mirko looked up, this time having a small amount of sympathy in her piercing eyes.

"You mind explaining that to me?"

Uraraka looked down, tensing her shoulders in some small sense of shame. She sighed and looked back up to match Mirko's gaze.

"I'm afraid of blood."

Saying the sentence out loud was a lot different than saying it inside of your head.

It kind of made everything a lot more real.

She could feel her body physically cringe at the statement, but she continued anyway, building up in rage after every sentence.

"After the Sports Festival, it's like I can't look at blood without immediately freezing up and wanting to puke. I tried to just get over it, but that somehow made things worse. Even the color red makes me flinch. And I can't be a hero if I can't even handle seeing someone bleeding from a FUCKING PAPERCUT!" She screamed out the last part, angry at that memory from the past.

For a moment, Uraraka swore she could hear a child's laughter radiate the halls.

Not out of sheer happiness that a small child would get while playing with a toy.

No nothing normal in the slightest.

This laugh was different than that.

It didn't originate from a small sense of joy.

But from a manic insanity that can only come from hell.

The world around her began to swirl as that fucking laughter echoed louder and louder in her head.

Limbs and heads hanging from the ceiling…

A fucking heart laid splattered against the corner wall next to Todoroki's head…

The unnerving stare of a yellow eyeball on the floor that they had only ever seen in movies…

The broken body of a loving cat who only had good to offer in the world…

Uraraka physically shook her head, pulling herself out of that red abyss that had been haunting her dreams for weeks on end. The demonic laughter died immediately, like a branch suddenly snapping in half.

She tightened her grip on the railing, trying to bring herself back to the physical world.

She wasn't there anymore.

She was here.

And it was time to get that fact into her fucking skull.

There were a few moments of silence before Mirko spoke up. "But why me?"

Uraraka paused before replying earnestly.

"Because you're known for always diving into villains with very volatile quirks, ones that cause a lot of bloodshed. You once fought a villain with your leg half-open, and you still managed to win! So I figured if anyone knew the secret of getting past my f-fear," she paused hesitantly, "it's you."

A couple seconds passed by, turning into a minute, then into 2. Mirko had turned to the side, facing away from Uraraka and now looked at the gloomy, not quite dark hallway. Another sigh came before Mirko turned her head back to Uraraka.

"Well, I don't know if you made the right choice. Because my method of getting past all that phobia shit is kind of an unorthodox-method."

Uraraka stopped leaning on the railing, curling her hands into fists as she faced Mirko with determination.

"That's fine. As long as I learn to get past it, I don't care what the method is."

Mirko looked at Uraraka questioningly before sighing, this time facing her fully. Another cocky smile formed on her face.

"It's going to be hell."

Uraraka nodded. "I'm prepared for that."

Mirko clapped her hands excitedly, her smile growing even wider.

"Perfect, then let's not waste any time!"

Uraraka grinned, satisfied and excited for what's to come. "Alright! I look forward to being under your guide then, Mirko. So should I change into my hero costume in one of the cubicles or-"

CRACK!

Another blow, this time to Uraraka's chest came, as well as a world of adrenaline and pain. She could briefly tell she was flying for a moment before crashing into the wall of concrete, feeling her body power through the thick stone from the sheer amount of force that was launching her back.

The crackling of the rocks as the old wall gave up rather easily filled her ears as she went back-first into the ground, groaning as she landed. Another laugh came through the large amount of dust in the air.

"Kid, you really got to stop letting me get freebies, it's way too fucking funny every single time." Mirko giggled.

Uraraka only responded with an, "Ow." as she sat up straight to face the muscular bunny woman.

Mirko was standing where Uraraka previously stood, stretching her arms and cracking her knuckles.

"Let me give you the rundown. I own this place so we can wreck the walls as much as we want. We'll be fighting from dawn to dusk until I fucking break that cowardly shell and pull out the beast hidden inside of you. When this week is done, you won't be able to recognize yourself. And more importantly, fear won't be controlling you anymore."

Mirko seemed satisfied with her stretching, now charging up for another kick at the poor sandbag Uraraka was becoming.

"Instead, fear will be scared of you."

And even with that scary ass statement, the only thing that came to mind in Uraraka's head was, "Bring it."

Run rabbit, run.

It honestly hadn't been that bad so far.

Todoroki was expecting worse.

Or, well… anything other than this really.

His internship with his father had been surprisingly… what's the word?

Ah.

Melodramatic.

He was sort of expecting to be put through hellish training in order to make up for the lost time on his fire, but the Flame Hero was surprisingly being lax of all things.

Like, it was still hard work, but nothing like his childhood.

He'd been through worse.

His internship started off exactly how he expected it to be: awkward.

And it had gone in the same direction as he expected it to be: awkward.

The only thing he wasn't expecting was the training.

It was almost like his father was taking pity on him or something. He could see a hint of guilt and sadness in those bright sapphire eyes he had hated all his life.

Usually those eyes were filled with nothing but an empty passion and cruelty.

But now his father's eyes were foreign to him.

He had never seen them like this before.

It was really… weird.

It was small but to Todoroki, it was a drastic change.

And changing from the norm was very uncomfortable.

Though, Todoroki wasn't one to complain. He preferred this new teaching method of explaining the concept multiple times instead of screaming it once and yelling when Todoroki failed to do it on the first try.

And while it was nice and all… it also made Todoroki nervous.

Well, nervous wasn't quite the word.

He wasn't scared of his father.

He used to be scared of his father when he was 5 or 6, but when he reached his teen years he had stopped caring. He stopped trying to force himself to do the things his father wanted and just let teenage rebellion take over. And eventually, his father left him alone to his own devices, swearing that one day Todoroki would come back to his left side.

And well, the Flame Hero was right.

He wasn't scared to admit it.

But anyway, this sudden change didn't make him scared or anything.

Just… uncomfortable.

Wouldn't you if your abusive father suddenly changed into a better person just like that?

The 3 days he had been there, the question of "why the sudden change" plagued his mind, though he dared not ask. He didn't want to risk his father's sudden progress to backtrack into the same mindset as back then.

So he kept his mouth shut and just enjoyed the positive atmosphere that was Endeavor's agency. The interns and sidekicks were all very nice people that all got along well together. He didn't get to talk to them much because of how busy the agency was, but the small conversations showed that they were all caring people. Very much the opposite of his father.

Todoroki never left the agency building for the first 3 days, instead spending his time in the training room working on his fire along with his doting father giving him tips. Despite everything that was said, it was still hard work, and it really showed Todoroki how much he'd have to work on with his left side.

He was prepared to do so, though. It was his own fault for being so behind with his left, so he'd just have to fix it.

Day 4 was when things got interesting.

It was around 8:00 am, Todoroki and Endeavor were still in the training room, talking about how to control the fire's release, when there was a knock on the door.

Endeavor shouted for them to come in, and one of the main sidekicks, Burnin', walked inside. She was a medium-tall lady with bright yellow and green flames leaving her head like hair. She had a black bandana that was strikingly similar to Bakugou's and a white coat on.

She did a playful salute to the Todoroki family before delivering the news.

"Endeavor! The police finally got back on that smuggling ring, we're doing the raid tomorrow. They want to meet with you in the debriefing room to go over the details though."

Burnin' left immediately after, not waiting for a response from her boss. Todoroki just turned forwards, resuming his focus onto his training. He hadn't gone out to do any hero work yet, so he assumed that this would happen without his presence. He stared the target in front of him down, building up the heat on his left side while pinpointing the accuracy of his future attack. But a rough hand on his shoulder broke all of that attention.

He looked up at the Flame Hero's conflicting eyes, waiting for a response.

"Shouto, you should join on this raid, I want you to see how the police and sidekicks assist the main hero and more of the logistics. If we just focused on training your left side this entire time, you'd be a one trick pony." his father said, walking away from Todoroki and towards the door.

Todoroki paused for a second, fully taking in his father's words before following him through the exit, all the way to what was apparently the debriefing room. It was very plain, just light grey walls and 2 long desks with 1 giant screen at the other end of the wall. There were many sidekicks there, along with other small pro-heroes Todoroki had seen a couple of times. Not really knowing where to sit, he decided to stay by the door next to some of the other hero outcasts who were all confused as to why they were there. The whole room was filled with chatter about various things, it falling silent as the main policeman, Haru Akio apparently, calmed everyone down.

He cleared his throat just before his speech.

"Alright. As many of you know, we've been tracking an American drug smuggling group called the 'Jade Eyes' for quite some time now. They're a pretty new group overall, but we believe they had been going longer prior to discovery. They sell a variety of drugs from simple cocaine to quirk enhancers and suppressors. Over the course of 7 months, we've finally gathered enough evidence to get a warrant for search and arrest. We'll be doing a raid on the port of Kyoto, the specific address is listed in the file. They number around 165, maybe even more, and while Endeavor's agency should suffice, I still thing we should call in someone else just to be safe."

There was a low murmur that came after that, mostly among the sidekicks of Endeavor at the implication of them "not being strong enough." Todoroki paid no mind, though. Ideally, he wouldn't be part of the fight, just on the sidelines observing how the system worked.

But Endeavor shot up from his seat.

"With all due respect Detective Haru, my agency is the second best in Japan, I think it's safe to say that we will suffice. There'll be a total of 72 heroes there, and against common criminals like these? It should be a breeze."

The detective narrowed his eyes at the obvious challenge.

"That may be true, however, I still don't think it would hurt to add a little more to the fire power. That's why I'm asking Mirko to join us. She's already at the location training a UA student for their internship week. With that, I am confident that the raid will go over smoothly."

Everyone could tell that Endeavor was pissed, but no one dared point it out loud. The Flame Hero decided to bite his tongue to avoid causing a scene, just huffing and sitting back down without much of a disturbance.

The policeman took this as a sign to continue, explaining further details on how the attack will start, who will be assigned to who, etc. etc.

And while Todoroki was paying attention to all of that, most of his attention was still locked onto his father. He was watching every small movement his father was making – how he breathed, how often he blinked, how he moved his hand – everything.

It was like seeing some strange cloned version of the man he used to hate with every fiber of his being.

His father was just so… passive all of a sudden.

Did he have a brain tumor?

Was he affected by some kind of quirk?

It didn't make any sense as to why his father was acting like this.

Was it strange to say that he missed the man who he considered to be the worst human in the world?

Probably.

Yeah… definitely.

He pushed it outside of his mind for now. Considering this raid was going to be the very first real hero mission Todoroki would be a part of, it deserved all of his focus.

And he wasn't going to mess up this chance.

He was done wasting his time, just like he did with his fire.

Now's the time to get serious.

Chapter End Notes

HALOOOO

I am back and I have news!

So school started for me this week and I managed to finalize my schedule completely. Now I am going to be completely blunt with you guys: I have 6 AP Classes.

For those of you who don't know, AP Classes are college level classes that you can take in high school. At the end of the year you're given the option to take an exam that will allow you to skip that class in college. If you pass it, then boom: college credits. If you don't, oh well it'll be on your transcript but you still get high school credit for the class.

Now the thing abt AP classes... is that they are a LOT harder than normal classes. Their workload is higher, the content is more difficult, you get the picture.

Now normal ppl will usually take 3 or 4 max.

I am taking 6.

I am going to die.

So sadly I definitely won't be able to do a chapter a week. But I have set scheduled time aside (by signing up for a useless club that I know the teacher doesn't care abt) so that I can just sit down and write my heart out without anyone bothering me. And I want to do stuff throughout this year that I enjoy (like writing) even tho I'm going to be handling a tremendous workload this entire time. So my goal is 2 weeks, 1 chapter. If I write more, great.

That starts today btw, so I will post next on the 26th of August. But you guys are most likely getting another chapter tmrw no promises tho cuz idk if I'll be able to finish it by tonight.

BUT I WILL TRY MY HARDEST.

See you guys tmrw! (probably)

Battleship

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

It wasn't a sunny day, but the weather was still nice.

There were a lot of light grey clouds blocking the piercing rays of the sun, which most of the people were thankful for.

It was hard to work when you were squinting the entire time after all.

So the lack of sun wasn't all too bad.

Though it did ruin the whole "by the ocean" atmosphere.

The only strangeness of the scene was the lack of life.

Todoroki was expecting more seagulls to be honest, but for some unknown reason, there were none in sight.

Maybe they had felt a storm coming?

He had heard that nature had a way of knowing what the weather was going to be.

Maybe seagulls had the same thing.

He looked at the sky, trying to observe whatever the seagulls had seen with his own eyes.

Yeah no. This wasn't working.

The seagulls were good at finding out the sky's secrets.

But Todoroki was not.

(Obviously.)

(Why was he even trying?)

(Has he gone mad or something?)

He really hoped there wasn't a storm coming.

If it did rain, he wouldn't be able to use his fire as effectively as he was planning.

At least, on the off chance that he did do any fighting at all.

Oh well, if it did rain, then it rained.

He didn't have a quirk to control the weather so there was no use stressing about it.

He'd just have to adapt.

Just like every other hero.

The police he was with were located just outside of the docking area, away from the main fighting area and were making the final preparations for the raid. It was decided that Todoroki was to stay with the police guarding the exits in case any of the criminals managed to slip past the other heroes, though the likelihood was very small.

The cops were lining up their cars in a way to block any villains from escaping, something Todoroki hadn't given much thought of until now. The riot shields were being distributed to heavily armored people, who were going to go to the docks to flank any potential villains trying to run to the exit.

And even though he was put in one of the least exciting areas of the raid, it was still very interesting to watch how everyone worked together. It was like watching a well-oiled machine move, each part doing its duty to perfection to help the main task force do their job well.

He was so lost in thought and observation that he failed to notice the small presence slowly creeping up behind him. All he felt was a small hand grab onto his shoulder firmly out of nowhere. He jumped and spun around, slumping over in disappointment once he saw the face of his beaming friend, Uraraka. She was giggling at her successful attempt at scaring Todoroki.

"Did I scare you Todoroki?" she asked, sarcastically.

Todoroki scoffed playfully and turned to the side. "Just a little bit." was all he said.

He turned back to look at Uraraka more closely this time, his eyes widening once he realized the condition she was in.

She had a slightly bruised eye – not a black eye – and there was some minor swelling in various places. The bruises followed downwards, her hero costume was torn and scratched in a few places as well. There were a few patches of blood on her clothes, but they came from small cuts and scratches as far as Todoroki could tell. There were no major injuries, but enough minor ones to be concerned.

She basically looked like she had gotten into a fight with a bull, again and again and again.

And then got hit by a truck after the bullfighting was over.

And then thrown at a wall by a berserker from DnD.

And then run over by another truck.

You get the point.

She basically looked like crap.

Todoroki kept staring at her, his eyes still widened at the shock. "What happened to you?"

Uraraka's face didn't change, but her tone became slightly more aggressive and dare he say violent.

"Mirko's training has been tough. But I'm learning a lot so I consider it to be great."

They both walked over to one of the stone benches in the area, a few feet from where they originally were while Uraraka kept explaining along the way. Todoroki just silently nodded, listening to Uraraka's tale about her internship and retelling his own internship experience after, leaving out the whole "daddy issues" part.

"By the way, do you know what they're even doing out there? All Mirko told me was that this was a raid, and not to worry since it'd likely be an easy fight. But I kind of hope it goes on for longer, I haven't had this much rest in 4 days." Uraraka asked.

Todoroki nodded.

"Apparently a drug smuggling group has been using this dock to ship good from America to Japan. We're here in case any of the villains manage to escape past the heroes and into this exit here." Todoroki said, pointing at the street that eventually led to the docks. "This is the only exit that they'd use, mostly because the other exits all lead to eventual dead ends."

Uraraka started to bounce up and down on the bench impatiently.

"Well, let's just hope this all goes smoothly. And if it doesn't, then I guess it'll be up to us." Uraraka said, looking up at the sky with a sigh.

Todoroki looked up as well, staring at the grey abyss he was studying moments ago. He briefly remembered the small hints to a storm that only nature could see. Except now, it had become obvious to his inferior human eyes. The clouds were a little darker now, the telltale sign of future rain. Dang it, fire wasn't goin–

BANG!

Both Uraraka and Todoroki jumped out of their seats, facing towards where the large explosion came from. Each had a look pure concentration, ignoring the suddenness of the sound and small amount of fear that had jumped in that moment. There was silence for a few seconds, only the sounds of distant yelling. A small trail of smoke could be identified rising into the water-filled clouds. Then another explosion came just as sudden as the last one, except this time it sent shockwaves that could be felt through the ground as well as the noise.

Then another.

The pebbles on the ground shook as Uraraka and Todoroki were keeping their balance over the small vibrations of the floor. They were forced to look away from the mystery source in order to look at the ground to stabilize themselves. It was common practice to keep your eyes on the enemy at all times, so looking at the floor was a bit annoying.

Instead of stopping, these small earthquakes just became louder and stronger, and while they weren't enough to knock a building, or even a person over, it was something to be cautious of. Everyone had the same questions in mind.

And the questions were answered as a fading outline of a person headed towards them.

At that moment the wind blew, an invisible symphony to dramatize the battle at foot.

The person just kept running towards them, shouting something incoherently. The explosions in the meantime grew louder and bigger, but the person just kept running albeit stumbling through it all.

At this point, Todoroki and Uraraka had started to make their way to the dock exit, now standing in the middle of the police blockade along with some of the other officers. Everyone had taken position behind their cars, pointing their own handguns at the running figure.

After a few seconds, they could just barely hear the shouting over the large shaking of the earth.

"YOU NEED TO RUN! THEY HAVE BOOSTERS! YOU HAVE TO RUN!"

Todoroki narrowed his eyes as the man running towards them got closer. He could now see that the man was covered in body armor, same as the riot police who were gearing up moments ago. Listening to the man's repeating phrase confused him a little. What the heck were boosters?

One of the cops must have noticed Todoroki's confusion, turning to him. "Boosters are quirk amplifiers that can raise the power of someone's quirk to a dangerous level. They're one of the most top priority drugs for the Hero Commission to stop the distribution. But this gang doesn't sell boosters nor should they be able to afford it…" he ended, mumbling to himself.

The man in the distance just kept shouting and sprinting towards them, saying the same things over and over again. He was halfway to the exit now, passing a four-way intersection for the trucks. It was strangely a peaceful scene to look at, though the circumstances shouldn't have allowed such a moment to exist. The explosions had even stopped for a second too, letting everyone take a deep breath to calm the panic in their minds. Uraraka and Todoroki even unconsciously relaxed too.

How foolish.

This wasn't a moment to relax in.

This was the calm before the storm.

And very suddenly, a large explosion occurred, followed by the appearance of a new threat. Long, dullish… wait.

Pink?

Pink tentacles rounded the corner of the four-way intersection turning towards the running man and swiping at him. The man somehow yelled even louder, this time skipping the whole "booster" part and just yelling the word "run."

The… octopus?

Squid?

Whatever it was, it finally rounded the corner entirely, and this time everyone could fully see the scale of this thing.

The battle-ready minds everyone had left immediately upon sight of this thing. He was pretty sure most people would have been laughing if they weren't caught so off-guard by its appearance. Everyone was briefly staring in shock, not even realizing the fact that this strangely cute sea titan was heading towards them. It was only when it raised a tentacle and slammed the poor riot man into a building that everyone realized the danger.

The thing had… there was no other way to say this. The thing had googly eyes of all things and magenta spots all over. It was a ridiculous sight to say the least.

They were being attacked by something that looked like a children's play toy.

And what made it worse was how the thing was moving. It wasn't slithering like you'd expect any normal sea creature would move.

No, this thing… was walking.

Like a spider across its own spider web.

…

What the actual f-

Many of the policemen retreated, abandoning the line of cars they had prepared to block the exit and running for cover. The earth's shaking became stronger as cars were crushed under each leg. Some would've called the police cowardly for this act, but Todoroki and Uraraka understood immediately. The police were filled with quirks more in favor of intelligence gathering than actual attacking, and it wasn't like a gun could take this… whatever it was down. They just simply weren't equipped to handle this thing, and so they all took the logical choice of live to fight another day.

Unfortunately with its giant legs, the octopus was able to catch up with the few stragglers who still hadn't run to the hills yet.

In one single motion, it pushed its large tentacles across the road, sweeping the road clear of lampposts, signs, cars.

Even the people.

Some were able to avoid it as some lucky miracle but others weren't as lucky. Those who got caught up in the sweep were immediately launched to the right after riding the tentacle across the road. They crashed into the buildings they were thrown into, some hitting their heads and others landing flat on their back. Some didn't get up while others struggled to keep moving.

But the octopus paid no mind to the people it hurt, instead it moved on to the next targets on the list.

Quickly walking (which was still very much a disturbing sight), it reached the point where it was directly above a pair of stragglers who had started running away as a group to help each other clear the obstacles.

Raising its long, pink arms, everyone could tell that those cops were fucked at the exact moment.

Which only drove Todoroki more to take action.

Enough standing around, time to do what they were placed here for.

Todoroki had been building up his ice to the limit while watching the whole fiasco take place. Sprinting towards the pair, the opposite direction as most of the officers, he released his ice just in time to create a large canopy for the two. The large tentacle crashed into the ice with enough force to crush a truck, but to everyone's surprise, the ice held.

Uraraka was now running behind him too, eyes completely focused on this newfound threat. Todoroki focused on defense, exerting as much ice as he could while Uraraka helped the pair stand up despite the ground-shaking vibrations. Building the frost in his arm to the pinnacle moment and releasing it all at once, over and over again while the octopus-thing kept slamming its tentacles into the blue, cold crystals. He had almost forgotten how overwhelming and useful Glacier could be against an enemy, especially a large one. Getting his ass-kicked multiple times by Izuku must have damaged his confidence a bit.

A small radio crackle could barely be heard despite the constant sounds of ice breaking overwhelming everyone's ears. One of the cops grabbed their radio from their vest and started speaking into it. Todoroki didn't pay attention though, he was still blocking all of the attacks from the raging octopus who was insistent on killing them.

The cop started to shout over the explosive noises.

"WE JUST RECEIVED WORD FROM THE MAIN FORCE! APPARENTLY ONE OF THE MEMBERS USED A BOOSTER AS A LAST RESULT. HIS QUIRK ALLOWS HIM TO TURN NONLIVING THINGS INTO ESSENTIALLY PERSONAL GOLEMS FOR HIM TO COMMAND, EVEN ALTERING THEIR PROPERTIES LIKE ITS SIZE. HE JUST COINCIDENTALLY FOUND A CARGO BOX FULL OF STUFFED ANIMALS AND WENT LOOSE."

Uraraka turned towards the screaming cop a bit shocked.

"ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS THING IS A FUCKING PLUSHY!?"

Todoroki finally looked away to stare at the cop, essentially repeating Uraraka's question with the amount of confusion and shock on his face. The cop just nodded, not wanting to waste his voice any further before turning away with the other officer right behind him.

"JUST OUR FUCKING LUCK!" Uraraka screamed before turning back to the fluffy pink golem.

He could only roll his eyes at the mere thought of beating up a murderous sentient plushy before turning around, facing the enemy that was still actively trying to break through his ice. Now that he was up close, it was now fairly obvious that this thing was not actually an octopus mutation. You could see the lines of stitching and fabric that kept the whole thing together.

This was actually good news, in a special kind of way. Though it was awkward to call fighting a sentient octopus golem plushy that wanted to kill every cop and hero in the area " good news," but it was good news nonetheless.

If this was actually an octopus, it would've been much harder to find a weakness to exploit. Plushies, however, have very obvious weaknesses.

A weakness that Todoroki definitely had the means to exploit.

Plushies… could burn.

And it wasn't raining yet.

Todoroki turned to Uraraka, who was still staring at the roaring creature trying to break through the ice.

"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DISTRACT IT FOR A BIT?" he shouted over the loud explosions. Uraraka turned to him, then back to the octopus thing, then back to him. A determined nod gave him his answer.

"THEN USE YOUR QUIRK ON ME! AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!" he shouted.

Uraraka wasted no time, immediately rushing to Todoroki, her hand outstretched. The pink aura enveloped Todoroki almost immediately. There was a slight tingling feeling and the rush of adrenaline as his body left the ground, though it wasn't uncomfortable.

He'd been under Uraraka's quirk before so he knew how to somewhat navigate being under zero gravity. But this time was different from the other times though, he could tell that he was rising much quicker than normal. Uraraka must have really pushed her quirk to make him as light as possible.

Todoroki wasted no time, building the heat up in his left while trying to navigate through the air. He had leapt backwards so that he wouldn't get caught under the ice canopy, and was now floating in clear skies.

Unfortunately, this meant that the plushy golem changed targets, from trying to break the ice canopy to trying to break Todoroki's bones. It raised a tentacle to swat down Todoroki like the little fly he was at the moment, though with significantly less bloodthirstiness than you would have expected from such an action.

He wasn't going to lie, part of him was absolutely convinced that this thing was going to smack him down from the sky as he watched this monstrously sized toy prepare its attack. But he had faith in Uraraka… some faith at least. It was hard not to doubt your teammates when being attacked by a giant octopus plushy who was about to smite you. It's a good excuse, ok!?

Luckily his 100% non-wavering faith in Uraraka paid off, as a police car hit the golem plushy square in the… neck?

Lower head?

You get the picture.

The car hit the freaking thing.

Obviously, the plushy golem turned around to face the source, this time getting pummeled by another police car. Todoroki couldn't see past the golem, so he could only assume that Uraraka had somehow gotten behind it and was now becoming the distraction. He had no idea how though – he didn't think it was possible to move that fast without anyone (or any thing in this case) noticing. Her internship must have reaped some benefits in the end.

Putting Uraraka's sudden skill to the side, he could feel his left arm tense up as the heat started to become irritating. The flames were practically begging to be released, to put an end to this fanatical, ridiculous fight and to purge this being into ashes. And frankly, Todoroki was to.

So he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He was still working on precise control over his flames so that he wouldn't accidentally give someone 3 rd degree burns. Though that centered more on the build-up part of his fire, and in this case, there was no need to hold back considering this thing was fucking huge and not – you know – alive. But that didn't mean he couldn't practice his release.

The way his father had taught him about his quirk was ironic to say the least. It was a metaphor using water for controlling fire. A contradiction at its core.

Imagine a garden house that's just been stepped on. When you release it, the water comes out like a wave. But it you narrow the path of its release, then it shoots like a jet.

Restrict the release, essentially.

Three simple words that were a lot easier to say than apply.

Perfect was the expectation.

And Todoroki was far from perfect, so he needed all the practice he could get.

Why not on something that involved no risk?

He had already condensed his fire to the utmost limit, the flames were starting to get antsy and crawl edat the surface of Todoroki's skin, desperately trying to find a way out to coat the world in flames.

He opened his eyes, now concentrating with every fiber of his being at the palm of his hand, the designated "release spot" he had settled on.

And then… he answered the fire's call.

There was more backlash than Todoroki expected, though looking back, he shouldn't have been surprised.

He could feel his body jerk backwards as the force of the fire propelled him away from the golem, something that silently made him panic. For a moment, he thought that he would travel too far for his flames to reach, but his fire somehow covered the growing distance.

The golem didn't shriek like giant monsters typically do in the movies, in fact, it barely reacted at all. It never even turned around to face Todoroki, just kept its focus on Uraraka, who had now started to retreat once the need for a distraction was no more. The golem tried to raise a tentacle to swipe at her, but to no avail. The all-consuming fire quickly spread through the fabric and stuffing, causing its main body to fall uselessly to the floor, which meant no control over the tentacles.

It was a raging firestorm, to say the least. An inferno that could even make Endeavor hesitate. The golem was engulfed in transparent, colorful flames that always produced the same black smoke. It charred the fabric, turning it into nothing but black flakes of useless material. The scent of smoke hit the air, and the raging spirit of the fire could be heard for miles.

A pyromaniac's dream.

It was also weirdly silent. The only sound that could be heard were the minor explosions and fighting still happening in the distance and the crackling of the flames, their hunger to burn still unsatisfied. He almost wished that the golem would scream an ungodly pitch (like that cat on the day of the media break in) just to fill the eerie air. So he didn't have to watch this thing die without acknowledging the fact that the Sthing was never even alive. The entire scene made him very uncomfortable, so he simply turned away to look behind him.

"Todoroki!"

He changed his escape to downwards, now staring at a tiny version of Uraraka standing on the ground. It hit him suddenly on how high he actually was, he was reaching the golem's height at this point.

"I'm going to release my quirk so get ready to land ok!?" Uraraka shouted, her hands cupped around her mouth.

Todoroki simply shouted an "ok" back as he felt all of the pink aura disappear almost instantly. He prepared himself for the sudden wind and feeling of helplessness as gravity started to take over. Free falling was always terrifying, but you learn to shorten the time you spend panicking after a while.

He let out his fire once more to break his downward momentum so that he didn't fall flat on the pavement from 15 meters in the air. It was good to be on the ground again, though it still carried vibrations from the distant fights occurring at the same time. Nothing compared to the ones from before, though.

He turned around, now facing Uraraka who was also trying to avoid looking at the giant bonfire next to them. It was good that the sun was tucked behind the clouds, otherwise the heat would had been unbearable.

"So, do you think Mirko and Endeavor need help or should we stay here?" she asked, thoughtfully, clearly trying to steer the conversation from the silent inferno.

Todoroki decided to play along. "Well, considering the fact that we're the ones set to guard this exit, then we should keep doing that. Especially since most of our defenses have been destroyed thanks to that thing," he gestured with his head, "and abandoning our post while the fight is still going on would probably be worse."

"That makes sense. But we should definitely help some of the cops who got hit by this thing's attacks." She said, pointing at the walls of the buildings surrounding them.

Todoroki looked around at that same time, looking at all the officers struggling to get up. He felt a little bit embarrassed for completely forgetting the fact that some of the cops didn't retreat fast enough, but he pushed those thoughts to the side. Focusing on treating the wounded was far more important than his guilt. Especially if any of the officers were bleeding.

~~Otherwise it'd be like the blood drenched halls, a lake of dark thick velvet liquid that will forever haunt his mind–~~

He could hear footsteps coming from afar, most likely the cops who retreated were now falling back to pick up where they left off. Everyone there had been trained to perform some form of first aid, so everyone already knew what to do. Uraraka and Todoroki went off in a pair, going through their mental checklists and waking some of the officers up.

They only got to check on 3 people before Round 2 came along.

Uraraka was the one who noticed first as Todoroki was struggling to wake up the 4 th person they were at. But he quickly looked up once the cackling came through the explosions.

It happened so fast that only All Might could've reacted in time.

Just a blue blur and the sound of slightly insane laughter.

There were two people, one hanging onto the other's back, flying through the air like a fighter jet but closer to the ground. Water was circling around them almost like a coil – he could only guess that it was somehow keeping the two in the air. He couldn't get a good look at them, but he could briefly tell in those few moments that the two were surprisingly giddy of all things, despite what was happening around them.

The first thought that came to his mind was the fact that those two definitely weren't a part of the hero team that was currently fighting in the docks still, which meant they were probably villains.

The second thought was an inquiry on how the heck they were flying.

The third thought was something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, we're supposed to arrest them."

The fourth thought was "OH FUCK WE'RE SUPPOSED TO ARREST THEM!"

So Todoroki immediately took off running for the two, but they were already far away and traveling at lightning speed. Uraraka had started running a few seconds before him but there was really no need.

Another blur came, this time white and silent. It launched itself into the air, all the way in front of the blue blur, finally pausing. It took a second for Todoroki to recognize them as Mirko. She was wearing a bright smile like she was looking forward to this moment.

Though he couldn't see any signs, he could hear the blue blurred pair start to panic, as the water circling around them changed direction. They started rising into the air, clearly trying to go above Mirko.

Which was really stupid when you think about it.

After all, Mirko is part rabbit.

And jumping is what rabbits do best.

She didn't hesitate in the slightest, immediately launching herself into the air and kicking one of the people in the stomach. He saw the ground splinter slightly from the sheer force of her jump. He could almost feel the shock of the villain as the inevitable pain washed over their body just by watching.

The water encirclement seemed to die instantly, and the two began falling to the ground. The other one –the one who was not KO'd by Mirko – seemed to realize their predicament, and jumped off their partner and onto the ground, a little ways from Mirko. They didn't even turn to look back as they started booking it, not going as fast as before but fast nonetheless.

"Hey kids you deal with this one while I chase after the other got it!" Mirko shouted, preparing to start another chase once again.

She never got the chance though, as water seemingly blocked her path. Water bullets appeared in front of her, aiming for her with the force of a missile. Mirko was forced to dodge, ducking down to avoid the first two then spinning to the right to avoid the third. She turned around to find the villain she had kicked before slowly rising up, clutching her stomach, clearly in a world of hurt and rage.

"STUPID BUNNY BITCH!" the villain screamed, as more water bullets were created and fired upon her.

She clearly was going to preoccupied for a bit, enough time for the villain to get away.

And clearly, Uraraka thought the same, as both Todoroki and Uraraka started booking it past the hydrokinetic villain and Mirko.

Only Uraraka looked back, shouting "We'll get the other one! You deal with this one!"

Mirko pivoted to her left to dodge another water bullet, facing directly towards Todoroki and Uraraka. She held out her hand as if she was trying to stop them. "Wait! Don't! You don't have perm–" but another water bullet cut her short.

Todoroki made a small jump, releasing ice from his right foot as an effort to start gliding across the road. Uraraka managed to grab onto him in time, and the two were going at a faster pace than just running. Weaving through people and cars, the only thing being left behind was an ice trail marking their exact positions.

After a bit, they managed to catch up to the villain, who had already made it past the cop car blockade and almost to the main streets of the city. Todoroki gritted his teeth and sped up, increasing the heat from his left to counter the ever growing cold.

The villain was a scrawny, skinny man who was probably around 30 or 40. He had a leather jacket on with green signatures all over as well as a giant green eye sewn onto the back. He had gaunt features, almost like he was malnourished, and dirty blond hair.

The man looked behind him and flinched when he saw Todoroki and Uraraka, starting to run even faster. He didn't slow down to turn into an alleyway, instead choosing to slide across the concrete and almost falling the process.

It was only a few seconds before Todoroki managed to turn into the alleyway, but at that point the man as gone. He stopped his ice, and Uraraka loosened her grip on Todoroki as well.

He looked around. The walls were covered in graffiti and there were the usual dumpsters and rats laundering about. But it looked like any other alleyway. At the end, it split off into two parts, each heading the opposite direction, like a T-shape.

Todoroki turned to Uraraka, and she looked at him as well.

"I take left you take right?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

Uraraka smiled brightly and nodded. "Sure!" she chirped, running off into the alleyway and turning to the right. Todoroki followed not long after, but instead turning left. He started up his ice as he went through the long narrow paths of the alleyways. The dock was completely surrounded by old buildings and factories, and the main road was in the opposite direction of where the man turned. The villain was clearly trying to lose them by getting lost in the paths, but neither Todoroki nor Uraraka had a quirk that could effectively stop this.

So blind searching it is then, he thought as the wind started to rush past his body. But then something light hit his forehead, his arms, his eyes. He glanced up. The first few droplets had started to fall, succumbing to gravity as they were destined to.

Looks like the birds were right.

It really was going to rain.

Chapter End Notes

Hello!

Been a while, right?

Sorry I didn't post last week, I was like halfway done with the chapter but I didn't finish it.

So turns out, 6 AP classes are a LOT of homework!

WHO COULD'VE GUESSED!??

No but in actuality, it's not necessarily a lot of work, but it's also a lot of time dedication. I have to find worksheets of practice problems and do them so that I can excel during assignments. The only reason I was able to finish this is because I got sick and I was dying so hard for like 3 days that I couldn't do school hw so I used my time for this chapter. So my upload schedule will sadly have to be moved to every end of the month :C

I plan to dedicate at least an hour every week to writing though, so maybe I will probably be able to do 2 chapters in a month?

I'm not really sure tbh. I still feel really bad for just leaving you guys in the dark though, but I hope you understand.

Anyways enough about me, hope you guys like the fact that Bloodline is BACK BABY!

Vigilance

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Home had always been an interesting concept for the boy.

Home was traditionally supposed to be filled with love and care.

The sense of security was supposed to take over as soon as you step inside.

It was your special place that only those who you truly care about can visit.

Or it could be a person, someone who protects you with all of their strength.

Regardless of what or who it was, homes were something for a person and that person only.

They were people's safe space.

Of course, the boy never knew all of that.

To him, home had always been the place he lived at.

Nothing more, nothing less.

His home was his cell.

And, in a way, his home was The Man.

The place he always returned to.

The person who was supposed to protect them.

It was a cold illusion of what a home really is.

But a home, nonetheless.

He'd often leave his home per the request of The Man, to do whatever mission he was assigned that day.

He had no emotion, but if he was honest with himself, leaving home always took an immense amount of pressure of his shoulders.

An invisible force that was always choking him to death, like his collar.

It always disappeared once he left his home.

But today wasn't a "leaving the home" day.

Today was a "staying at home" day.

Which… he wasn't particularly bothered by.

Though he would have preferred to be on a mission right now, he was content enough to stay inside of his home.

He knew that he was supposed to act as he was told.

That included being told to stay put.

He was 7 years old, but mature enough to know the consequences for disobeying.

Though that didn't stop him from moving around restlessly inside his home.

The chains around his wrists rattled like snakes as they were dragged across the cold stone floor.

The entire morning was spent walking off the breakfast he was given.

Eventually, he resided to sitting down right next to the door, ready to sprint out the moment he was told to leave. If he sat there long enough, eventually one of his handlers would open the door and give him a new assignment, and then he would leave his home. He didn't want to waste one second on leaving this place, so he decided that sitting at the door would do for now.

Though, that put him in the perfect place for eavesdropping.

He didn't mean to do it, he knew there were some things he was just simply not allowed to know.

And… he was ok with that.

Yeah.

If his orders were to stay ignorant, then he'd stay in the dark.

It's that simple.

The Man is his home, which meant that this was all for his protection.

Who was he to betray that?

Besides, the conversation he heard wasn't anything important in the grand scheme of things.

It wasn't filled with a top secret that could threaten Quantum's entire existence if it were ever revealed.

It was just a talk between 2 men, one of them being The Man.

The other was a voice the boy had heard often, though he had never seen his face.

There was a third sound, the sound of cheering and battle coming from a television box. Oh right, the Sports Festival in that famous Japanese school was today, wasn't it?

Though most of the people here weren't Japanese, The Man was. He had grown up his whole life watching the Sports Festival, presumably at least. And pretty soon, everyone else had started to watch too.

There must have been something wildly entertaining about a bunch of students fighting each other for the spotlight.

Something the boy would probably never understand.

Nevertheless, The Man and the other guy seemed to revel in its suspense, both cheering as soon as what sounded like a final blow came from the TV box. There was a short laughter followed by the sound of beer bottles being clicked together.

"Damn, I thought 'dat damn loud mouth was fuckin' done for! Talk about turnin' the tables!" the other man said with a laugh.

The Man chuckled, he was never boisterous with his voice like the other guy. It was always polite chuckling or simply no emotion at all. "This tournament is probably one of the best we've seen in a while. Though I am sad about the contestants."

The other guy sounded confused. "What do ya' mean?"

"Remember last year? The one with that amazing quirk and glowing red eyes? I believe it was called Erasure?"

"Oh yeah! I remember that guy! Damn, if only we scouted him out when he was young, 'dat kid could have done wonders for us." he said with a laugh, taking a moment to gulp down more beer. "But why ain't he here now though? With a quirk like 'dat, and it being the last year for that guy, you'd think he'd want to be in the spotlight, ya' know?" He downed his beer bottle to the final drop, reaching for another one.

The Man also took a sip, a lot smaller one though. The boy had never seen the man drunk like the other people before. Part of him doubted that he ever will.

"I've heard that hero students who wish to pursue underground heroics stay away from the spotlight like the plague entering their third year. Perhaps that's what that boy's intention is. He would certainly excel at the job." he said with a smile on his face.

The other man was the polar opposite. He was a loud and abrasive American and never learned to keep his mouth shut for as long as the boy had known him.

"Damnit! Which means another one against us!" the other man said, slamming his fists onto the table. He was clearly very drunk, his words were slurring and the boy could smell the booze through the door.

The Man payed no mind to the drunken rage. "Such is the life of a villain." Another sip was taken.

This time the drunk guy directed his venom to The Man. "How the damn hell you so fuckin' indifferent all the time? I swear, you some kind of fuckin' robot." he managed to stammer out, slumping back into his seat with a thud. The other man always got argumentative when he was drunk, making problems out of nothing. An annoying trait to say the least.

"I just simply don't need to indulge myself in such trivial matters. Getting angry over something pulls time away from actually fixing the problem itself."

The drunken man didn't seem convinced. "So if emotions such a waste of time, why the hell you always laughing when we clean out the fuckin' useless trash cloggin' up our cells? You're always fuckin' giggly like a 6 year old girl at her birthday party when we kill 'em. You're such a two-faced bitch, ya' know?"

The Man reacted with the same emotion as he always did, aka, none. "Well, indulging myself into matters that make me happy are completely different. In those cases, there are no problems that need to be fixed. It's simply the perfect situation that offers no harm when I fully immerse myself into it. Therefore, I can enjoy with my heart's content." Another sip.

Again, the drunken guy didn't seem satisfied. "You didn't answer the damn question ya' bitch." He paused to try and collect himself from his frazzled mind before pushing himself up from his seat, swaying as he struggled to stay balanced. "Why. Do. You. Love. Torturing those fuckwits? You got a torture kink or some shit?"

Another chuckle from The Man, this time deep. "Oh you're always so lewd when you're drunk! You should really learn how to keep yourself together when under the influence."

Drunk guy growled at the obvious deflection. There were a few moments of silence before his loud, abrasive voice filled the boy's home once again. "Fine. If you won't answer maybe the fuckin' brat over there will. You've been courting him on torture, right? We can all hear your damn laughs while you do it so don't try to dodge 'dis shit again. Maybe he'll tell me why you love the damn thing so much."

The boy flinched when he heard the obvious reference to him. Footsteps started to get louder and louder, obviously coming closer to the door. He was stuck trying to decide whether to stay by the door or not. He wanted to leave his home, yes, but doing so would send him straight into The Man's clutches, his second home. And he wanted to leave both.

Fortunately, before he could decide, The Man decided to speak up. "You wouldn't get an answer from it, since I haven't been teaching it to enjoy the practice. That feeling is for me and for myself only." Another sip from the seemingly infinite beer bottle.

The drunken man's anger was growing by the second. "And why the damn hell should I believe you, you fuckin' bitch!?" He wasn't quite shouting, but the volume was close enough.

"Why would I teach something that I've spent so hard trying to cultivate without these very same trivial matters? When you develop happiness like mine, anger and sadness must follow through. Happiness can't exist without it's opposite. It's a yin and yang."

The drunk pounded his fist onto the outside wall of the boy's home.

"I fuckin' hate when you speak in goddamn metaphors. So you saying this lil' kid ain't gonna know your twisted ways or not?"

The Man took a deep breath, sounding slightly frustrated from the other man's idiocy. "Yes. And don't call it that. Bloodline is not some normal 7 year old boy. It's the greatest tool we've been able to build for a while."

He could hear the American growl through the door. "Stop talkin'. I'm not gonna listen to your goddamn speech again. It's all you ever talk about. Seriously, get a hobby or some shit. Even watchin' you torture is more entertaining than 'dis shit."

The Man chose to ignore the drunken bastard. "It's not bound by any moral or ethical principles like the rest of us. We've all been indoctrinated into thinking about how we can self-sacrifice to better the lives of others since the moment we were born. Some of us turned to the opposite direction, but we are still unable to cross all moral lines. Bloodline, however, is capable of that. And its quirk is just perfect for this line of work. How could I not brag about my perfect little blade?"

The other man started on a long drunken rant, screaming about how he just said he didn't want to hear it and didn't give a damn about any of that. The boy, however, stopped listening. He backed away from the door, though that didn't deter the frustrated speech from reaching his ears.

He wasn't a tool, was he?

No, wasn't he a person?

He had emotions.

What was The Man talking about?

He shouldn't be here.

Why was he here?

He covered his ears in an effort to stop it all, closed his eyes to stop the dark from piercing into his soul.

He tried to eradicate his senses. He wanted to sit in an empty void that could only offer solitude and nothing else.

But the drunken rant became louder and louder, to the point where it was screaming in his ears.

The boy had started to scream too, his ears were bleeding from the sheer volume of the noise. His head was filled to the brim with The Man's static, which was taking every second to its advantage and inching its way into his mind.

He couldn't breathe. His lungs ached and his diaphragm felt like it was having a seizure. He bit his lip, trying to direct his senses to pain other than inside his head. He could taste the blood, metal iron and thick. A taste he had practically memorized by now –

And then suddenly he jolted awake, panting and staring into the emptiness of his wall.

It took a moment for his neck to feel free again, for his wrists to stop aching with phantom pain.

For a moment, he forgot where he was, even who he – no. WHAT he was.

But Izuku closed his eyes, not worrying about what could be around him at that moment.

He just listened to his heartbeat become slower, and slowed his own breathing down at the same time. After a few moments, he opened his eyes.

He was sitting in his temporary UA dorm, facing the familiar grey wall with greenish-blue stripes trimming it. He glanced at the windows, which were still covered by curtains and only had the wisps of light poking through them. He looked down at the clock sitting on his nightstand.

6:45 am.

Dammit, he woke up 15 mins early. Wasn't that just a great way to start the day?

He sighed as he collapsed back into his bed. He wasn't going to bother getting up when he could just do it 15 mins later. The pillow and bed felt warm, the soothing kind, and that was something he wasn't willing to give up yet.

As his mind drifted away from his annoyance, he thought back on his dream, narrowing his eyes at the ceiling.

The dream itself didn't bother him, he'd been plagued with nightmares from the moment he left that place. They usually ended with him having an identity crisis as the progress he made in the day seeped into the mindset of the past. He used to avoid sleeping – they were always filled with stuff he didn't want to remember, so the obvious solution was to stop sleeping. But alas, sleep was sadly a necessary component to life, but after a while, he started to get used to their panic-filled effects. Now, he saw them as insights as to what he used to believe back then.

Apparently, he used to consider The Man and his cell as his own "home." He didn't ever remember thinking that, which meant it probably was one of those memories he unconsciously repressed a while ago.

But either way, that was stupid of him.

Homes were meant for people, and the thing Izuku was back then wasn't a person.

He was just a tool, something that could be used and thrown away.

The ultimate weapon, as The Man would often call him.

It was impossible for that 7 year old boy to have a home when he was barely human.

"Yes", he thought. Once upon a time, Izuku didn't have a home.

Then he got one, and he lost it again in only a year.

He missed that sense of security he had now, surrounded by a million comforting items.

His home was weird, but it was his.

"Dammit", he thought, as he sprung out of his bed to get ready for the day in an effort to take his mind of things.

He really wanted to go back to his home.

Which meant only one thing.

Stain was going down.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Ok screw this, up.

His previous thoughts were correct, these alleys really were a maze. None of them connected to a main road, only more dirt and dumpster filled corridors. He had been drifting around with his ice, leaving a trail behind (which was really good now that he was thinking about it, it would be really hard to find his way back once he caught this guy), taking what felt like a 1000 rights and lefts. Eventually, he got tired of it – doing this would lessen his chances of catching that villain to little more than luck. So he paused for a moment before slamming his right foot down, creating a narrow pillar of ice to shoot himself up and using his fire to finish the launch. He managed to get about 3/4ths up the building, grabbing onto one of those exterior fire escapes most city buildings had and climbing the rest of the way up. From there, he started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, occasionally using his ice as a small bridge if any of the gaps were too large.

It was still drizzling, and his clothes began to dampen as the tiny drops of water littered the Earth. It had been hard to feel the rain from within the alleyways, but now that Todoroki was out in the open, it had become obvious. Fire was useless now, much to his dismay.

He must have been running across the rooftops for 2 minutes before he heard hushed voices. He immediately stopped, taking a moment to catch his breath and think. He crouched down, slowly making his way to the edge of the roof. A few birds sat beside him below the roof's trimming, snuggled inside their nests, but he paid no mind. He peaked his head just barely over.

The villain he saw before was there. He was scrawny – almost to the point of looking sickly – with black short hair that looked like a helmet. He had narrow slits for eyes that made him look slightly cruel. He was wearing one of the gang's classic jackets, black leather with green accents/stitching with a giant green eye sewn on the back, except his was sleeveless.

Surprisingly, there was another person standing next to him, but the shadows were too dark to make out any specific details. They were wearing what looked like a tank top-turtleneck fusion shirt. They had a grey jacket that stopped right before the elbows and extended towards a hood which covered their face from view. Black gloves and an arm bracer that looked padded as if it were a mini shield decorated their arms, and a smaller skirt that fell into high knee boots covered their legs, but their arms mostly stayed bare. If they were a hero, then they were definitely underground.

Though, why would a hero meet up with a villain?

He could hear the scrawny villain panting as he tried to get his words out. "Fucking hell, you think you can choose a better spot to meet? I had to run for 6 minutes straight dodging and weaving to get away from those heroes, then another 2 minutes just to get here!" he managed to breathe out.

The other person seemed indifferent to the man's pain. "So when's the drop happening?" they said, immediately getting straight to the point. Their voice sounded mechanical, and it was obvious that they were using a voice modulator.

The scrawny villain looked offended, waving his hands in the air as he spoke. "Oh come on! I just got here! You really going to get straight to the point after all we've been through? I thought you cared about me more than that Gigaton!"

Todoroki filed that name in his mind for later, leaning closer to the rooftop to be able to hear them better.

The other one, Gigaton, didn't seemed impressed, now sounding more threatening. "Where and when is the drop happening Isamu? As you said before, the heroes are crawling all over this fucking district. We don't have time for small talk."

The scrawny villain sighed in defeat, dropping his hands to his side. "Fine, it's happening in the 11 th district, you know that old car junkshop? 1:00 am sharp. Now give me my money, I want to make my risks worth it at the very least."

Gigaton seemed satisfied with that, reaching into their pocket for what Todoroki presumed to be cash. Once she handed it, however, the two would surely leave the area, which meant that the chance of capturing both of them was next to null. If he wanted to catch them both, then now would be his only chance.

So he built up the frost on his right arm and released it, guiding the ice to the right side of the alley and creating a giant wall in almost an instant. He scared the birds hiding under the roof's trimming in the process; they started screeching and flapping their wings as they tried to escape the danger. Todoroki ignored them and jumped down, using both his ice and fire to slow his fall. Both of the villains were staring at him, the scrawny one quite shocked while Gigaton remained neutral. He locked eyes with them, grey and blue versus chocolate brown eyes, though he kept the scrawny villain within his peripheral.

"H-how did y-you just – oh fuck never mind that!" the scrawny villain screamed, now launching forward to try and attack Todoroki. Gigaton took the smarter option, using this chance to run away. He briefly saw them turn right and ran forward to meet the scrawny villain face to face.

"DIE!" the scrawny villain shouted, as vines shot towards Todoroki from his arms, which was probably the reason why his jacket was sleeveless. They all pinpointed Todoroki instead of spreading out though, so it was easy to dodge. He launched himself to the right and kept running, sending a small glacier of ice at the scrawny villain who was locked in place in an instant.

"HEY! LET ME GO YOU BASTARD!" the scrawny villain screamed, struggling to break the ice with his vines. Todoroki blatantly ignored him, instead running to the right and spotting Gigaton several feet away.

He immediately started using the same tactic as before, leaning forward and gliding along the alleys with his ice. Gigaton was surprisingly fast, and they made Todoroki push himself quite a bit. However, normal running could only get you so far.

They were just about to be in range for Todoroki's ice when he felt it. It was like someone had jumped on his back as his entire body went limp from the amount of pressure placed upon him. He jerked forward and rocketed towards the ground, he could feel his jaw snap shut as it collided with the dirty concrete floor. He tried to push himself up with his arms but found it to be useless, there was no way in hell he could stand up right now. He glanced up, the taste of blood in his mouth and the feeling of adrenaline pumping through his body were hard to ignore. He looked just in time to see Gigaton turn around and continue running. Clearly, this was their quirk.

But Todoroki wasn't out of options yet.

He couldn't move, but he didn't have to in order to use his quirk.

So laying down on the ground against his will and the look of determination in his eyes, he unleashed fury with his ice, creating a web of spikes that all rocketed at Gigaton. It was the same move from all of these years, the one that always, ~~not always Izuku managed to beat him~~ ALWAYS won him the fight. It was his ultimate move, his trump card that none could defend –

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand his ultimate move crumbled to the floor, the sound of it shattering his hubris at the same time. He stared straight ahead, watching his ice crack and fall under the enormous amount of weight that was undoubtedly placed upon it. What surprised him most was to hear panting in the distance, most likely coming from Gigaton. At least he pushed them to the absolute limit, though that was barely a win. By the time the weight had lifted off his shoulders (literally), Gigaton was gone.

He slowly pushed himself up, moving his jaw around as he felt his bones creak and crack. There was blood building up in his mouth, he must have bit his tongue when he slammed into the floor. Dammit.

"TODOROKI!"

He looked around him for the source of the noise before finally spotting Uraraka running at him, out of breath and worried. He stood up in an effort to show that he was ok.

"Todoroki! Thank god you're ok! I heard that villain scream 'die' and then a bunch of loud bangs followed and I didn't know if you were ok– OH MY GOD!"

Todoroki had opened his mouth to try and say something but all the blood in his mouth just fell out, almost as if he was drooling. He could feel pain slowly come to the surface as his adrenaline spike was wearing off. He wasn't sure if it was ok to swallow the blood, so he just tried to put pressure on his tongue to try and stop the bleeding. Clearly, it wasn't working.

" 'Mm fine. Bit my tongue." he said curtly, though he sounded like he was being water boarded.

Uraraka relaxed a bit, relief filling her eyes.

"Oh, ok. That's good. Well not good but not that serious. Just, keep doing what you're doing?" she said in a not so confident manner. Todoroki just nodded, not wanting to open his mouth and drool blood all over again.

Uraraka continued. "Ok, the villain we were chasing is still stuck in the ice back there, so we should probably unfreeze him so he doesn't die of hypothermia. Speaking of which, why are you even here– actually wait, don't answer that. You can tell me later."

Again, Todoroki nodded as the two headed back to where the villain had originally been. Fortunately he was still there, trying to break through the ice with his flimsy vines, shivering and turning blue by the second. The man was surprisingly weaker than what most people would expect from a villain. They began the careful maneuvering of trying to subdue the villain without immediately releasing him from the ice before Mirko showed up, scolding them for running off like that without permission, but was impressed nonetheless. After that, the process was really smooth, Uraraka and Todoroki were returned to the paramedics who quickly fixed their injuries. Todoroki's mouth was still sore, but at least he wasn't bleeding out anymore.

Speaking of bleeding…

"You're acting really normal."

Uraraka turned to him, a little confused. "What?"

Todoroki stared without blinking. "I mean, I thought you would've at least panicked a little back there with all the blood."

She went wide-eyed before turning solemn and looking away.

A little while ago, after the Sports Festival, Kaminari had accidentally cut his finger on a piece of paper. Obviously papercuts weren't that serious but this one was surprisingly deep, enough to cause a few drops of blood to leak out. For some reason, the entire class had their attention on it since Kirishima called it out, and most started watching the 2 extroverts deal with the situation. It wasn't that interesting, so Todoroki looked back around the room. That's when he saw her.

Pale and frozen with fear. Wide eyes locked onto that velvet liquid that miraculously gave life. Uraraka was just sitting and staring, her breathing becoming more and more sporadic akin to a panic attack. No one noticed as she sat in the back of the class next to Todoroki, no one but him. He had to reach over and shake her a few times before she finally snapped out of that daze. She mumbled a few excuses but ultimately let out a few hints for Todoroki to understand.

Even he got uncomfortable around the sight of blood now, though he was usually able to move past it.

He didn't blame Uraraka for her reaction.

Which was why he was surprised at how normal she seemed when he literally drooled a gallon of blood in front of her.

Uraraka was still looking away, now staring at the burnt corpse of the octopus golem they had fought an hour ago. After a few moments, she finally spoke.

"That's the real reason I wanted to go to a battle agency. I thought that exposure to blood and fighting would make it better."

Todoroki stayed silent for a few seconds, observing Uraraka before deciding on what to respond. "And? Did it work?"

Uraraka back at Todoroki, this time smiling. It wasn't a happy smile, but it wasn't a sad one either.

It looked more like… hopeful.

"Yeah. It… it did."

"We usually take shifts for patrolling, but you'll be joining us exclusively on 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The hours are longer now that your brother isn't here, normally we'd work for about 3 with a 5 minute break in between. We'll do some light training at the end of the day as a final stretch before hitting the hay. Tomorrow you'll be on your own until 3:00 since we have a mission to settle in the morning. It's probably going to be messy so it'll bleed into the afternoon. In the meantime, I expect you to– hey are you listening?"

Iida shook his head violently in order to snap himself back into reality. "Y-yes sir!" he said, giving a small salute.

The sidekick, Motorcade, didn't notice his obvious lie and kept talking. Iida once again drifted out into his mind and thoughts, blocking out the peaceful sounds of car engines and the buzzing conversations of people walking by.

It was Thursday now, 4 days into the internship. There was a few things Iida had learned during his time here.

Hosu was a city of normalcy, there was only ever the typical crimes and the bad neighborhoods.

In fact, Stain's visit was the only thing out of the ordinary that had happened for a while now.

It could be that the people were just naturally nice, or it could be that the villains were just good at hiding their business.

Either way, the city still appeared normal.

It hadn't changed significantly from when Iida was a little kid.

He used to come at least twice every year or so to tour his brother's agency as a small child. He was good at school and completed his homework quickly, so often times he was left with nothing to do for days at a time. So, every once in a while, his brother would take him to his agency to fulfill his childhood affection of heroes. And a little bit of his pride for his brother grew every time.

The city was nostalgic to him, in that sense. Back when things were perfect, and if there were any flaws his child mind never found them.

If only those moments could last eternity.

Then he wouldn't have the urge to cry every time he looked at his brother, sitting in a wheelchair.

The internship hadn't been all sun and flowers to say the least.

He often found himself staring of into nothingness, just picturing his brother patrolling in the same streets he was in, or training at the agency's gym room.

As if his imagination could bring back the strong and powerful Ingenium that once roamed this city.

The internship had also been really… boring.

While he had learned a lot (he had no idea the amount of logistic support you need to run an agency), there was also just not much crime. And any crime they did come across he didn't play a part of, because it was either so easy that sidekicks handled it almost instantly or too dangerous for a hero intern like him.

So he took his frustration to the training room, but even then that could only get you so far.

Sometimes, you just need to kick someone.

In the past, Iida would have kicked himself in the head for thinking that, but he's found himself not really caring anymo–

"HEY WATCH OUT!" Motorcade screamed, as he pulled Iida back.

Iida stumbled backwards, confused and still trying to pull himself from his thoughts when he realized. He had almost walked into open traffic because he wasn't paying attention.

"Kid you ok? I know we all space out once in a while but come on! You seriously got to be more careful." Motorcade said, more worried than mad to be honest.

Iida straightened himself. "Uh, y-yes sir! I apologize for my lack of attention!" he said with a bow.

Motorcade seemed to accept this answer and turned around to wait for the crosswalk to turn green without any more scolding. Iida shook his head again, still trying to bring himself back to reality. Yeah, his internship had been really boring but it was still an internship. He should give his all, it's what his whole school mantra is about anyway.

So the day went by, and as expected, nothing really happened except helping out a few older people and giving directions to people who were lost. Just overall community engagement. Which was good, and it made Iida feel good but… it wasn't enough.

As Motorcade said before, they started heading back at 7:00. The streets were full of employees who were heading home after a long day of working and people walking to their night shift jobs. It was hard to tell who was who, so Iida entertained himself by guessing whether or not someone was working the nightshift or heading home. That's when he saw it.

A beige bandana with eye slits and torn up ends.

Plastic swords with serrated edges and black handles.

Bandages and black arm bracers.

A red, blood-colored scarf that frayed near the end.

All hanging behind a window for all the people to see.

Though Stain had never really been seen in the public eye before, Ingenium's and Izuku's description to how he looked like gave everyone a general idea of the man's villain costume. The Hero Commission even put his hypothetical picture on the news on the rare chance that someone would recognize him and call to report it.

Basically, people knew what he looked like now. Which was probably the reason why they could get merchandise this accurate.

Of course, Iida knew what those props were the moment he laid his eyes on them.

He had burned that picture released into the public in his mind.

He stopped walking, mouth open wide with shock, completely numb.

It was like a blanket had come over his mind, shielding him from all emotion so that he could grasp every detail of that sight.

Then the rage came.

His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists, the amount of pressure made them feel dead as it cut off circulation.

He bit his lip, cementing his teeth into his skin so that he wouldn't succumb to the urge to scream.

He kept walking, forcing himself to look away even though doing so only made him grow in anger.

He wanted to blow up that building and kick the window down.

How could they do something so arrogant and insensitive!?

They put up merchandise of the man who almost KILLED his brother!

The same brother who had protected them and this city for almost 5 years!

The same brother who risked his life over and over again to save their lives!

He hated them, hated how they were playing off how terrible Stain is and using his brother's demise for money.

He wanted to curse them out.

He wanted to make them feel the same amount of pain his brother has felt this past month.

But he couldn't.

It was the problem he kept running into.

The fact that he couldn't do anything.

They were innocent civilians who legally had every right to do this.

They were the people he was supposed to protect.

The same people who had just shown would betray that protection in an instant.

And no matter how much Iida wanted to kick, scream, and insult them… he couldn't do it.

And that only made him hate them even more.

His entire body was shaking by the time they got back to the agency. He made up some excuse about being tired and wanting to retire from the day early, which the sidekicks believed from his shaking. They thought he was barely able to stand up from how exhausted his body was, but in reality, it was far, far worse.

So off he went to his temporary bedroom, somehow not slamming the door on his way in. The first thing he did was grab his pillow and throw it at the wall, and the second thing he did was pick up the pillow and throw it again, this time at the TV. It hit the screen uselessly, and fell to the ground once more, illuminated by the screen's brightness.

The news was on, he had forgotten to turn it off this morning. So the idle chatter of the news reporters filled the background as Iida slowly calmed down. It took almost an hour of breathing and pillow throwing before he finally stopped shaking. His brain had gone numb, probably tired from the subtle anger still coursing through his veins. His rage was like a caged tiger, stuck behind the bars of morality and law and left to rot alone. Still, it was weird to switch from such a powerful mindset to a silent, calm ocean in such a short amount of time frame.

Iida was laying down on the bed now, he wasn't lying to the sidekicks when he said he felt tired. He blankly stared at the TV while watching Kamui Woods takedown a group of villains who had gone on a joyride in one swoop. His phone beeped. He took a second before glancing at it. A message from Uraraka, asking how things had been that day. The small squad that had somehow formed had been messaging each other every day, all but Iida. Every single time he opened that chat, he couldn't help but feel that all too familiar flame rise to the surface. He was still mad at Izuku, and seeing his name just made Monday's conversation echo in his head. He needed time to get over it.

Izuku literally said that he could sympathize with his brother's attacker after all.

He didn't even know what to think about that.

Why was everyone taking Stain's side?

He was a KILLER for god's sake!

He's a MURDERER.

He's a CRIMINAL.

He's the definition of a VILLAIN!

And yet Izuku, ONE OF HIS VICTIMS, can agree with him.

And the city, who had LOST on of their best heroes BECAUSE of Stain, can sell MERCHANDISE of him!

What the hell is wrong with people!?

What are they seeing that he isn't!?

Why is everyone trying to make excuses for all the horrible things Stain has done to Japan, to his brother, to him?

He didn't get it.

He didn't really want to, to be honest.

All he wanted to do was beat the ever loving–

"And now for our next topic, Stain."

Iida shot up from his bed, eyes glued to the TV instead of his phone now. His brain had gone numb again, like that window display of Stain's gear, only making room to fully capture the details in front of him.

"This just in folks. The Hero Commission has now released an official statement on Stain. They have ensured that the public has no need to worry, and that a special task force is being worked on at this very moment to catch this villain once and for all. Ichika Mei takes the stand."

The TV then cut from a man sitting at a desk to a woman, holding a bundle of papers as if she were a teacher about to give homework to the class.

"Stain never used to be in the public eye, and it was only after Ingenium's famous escape from the villain's 100% success rate that the public even learned of him. Since then, it's been downhill for the man, with even an anonymous UA hero student getting attacked and allegedly surviving with no major injuries. But still, his message and his morals are interesting enough to cast those failed assassinations aside, and the more important question we should be asking is how powerful the man really is."

Iida's jaw locked as he tried everything humanely possible to not scream at the woman for hyping up a serial killer to the audience.

"Apparently, the Hero Commission has decided that enough is enough and is finally doing something about Stain."

The woman rolled her eyes in an obnoxious way, getting her silent point across.

"They sent a statement out that they are now working on a specialized task force in order to subdue this villain once and for all. But to be honest, would getting rid of Stain even be a good thing–"

He didn't have time to hear the rest before he angrily threw the remote at the TV, shattering the screen and causing it to spark and glitch out. He was breathing heavily, but he couldn't hear anything other than the blood pumping into his head.

Again.

AGAIN!

Again people are siding with Stain for no good reason!

Did they not care about the unforgivable acts done to him and his family!?

Or about the other hundreds of heroes whose families had been destroyed!?

His eyes burned and his throat clogged up. He couldn't tell if he wanted to scream or if he wanted to cry.

He was gripping the blanket and pillow on his bed tightly, as if that was going to take away all the stress and anger that had dwelled inside of him for so long. He bit his lip so hard that it started bleeding.

It tasted like iron.

Iron like swords with serrated edges, stabbing his brother in the middle of a dark and dirty alleyway and subsequently ruining his life–

He shook his head, abruptly standing up.

The shaking ceased, and that numbness returned.

This time, though, there was no blanket that shielded his mind from emotion.

No, the anger had turned into that calm ocean now.

Enough is enough, he thought.

There's no point in thinking anymore.

There's no point in waiting around hoping for the best.

He's been wishing for this hell to end every day for the past month yet its only gotten worse.

Clearly, nothing's going to change.

It'll take days for the Hero Commission to assemble their so-called "power team."

How many more heroes will die then?

3 heroes are doomed to die right now in Musutafu.

Everyone knows that Stain isn't going to leave any time soon.

So why were they hesitating?

Why was HE hesitating!?

Why wait around when he could stop the man once and for all by simply moving?

He glanced over to his phone, briefly wondering if he should open up the chat log and learn about how good his friends' days were.

Maybe he should send one final goodbye just in case the worst happened.

But they might stop him before he even got the chance to start.

He couldn't risk that, not when he was about to take the biggest risk of them all.

The risk of being alive.

The risk of being dead.

The risk of getting revenge.

The risk of dying in vain.

It was a gamble, no one was arguing with that.

But it didn't matter anymore.

The only thing that mattered was his brother.

The only thing that mattered was his family.

The only thing that mattered was watching that man's spirit slowly crumble away, just like Iida's world had that fateful, horrible day.

He almost wanted to laugh as his talks with Izuku suddenly filled his head.

"You'll do more harm than good if you kill him."

"If your brother couldn't stop him alone than neither can you at the level you're at."

Just watch him, Iida thought as he opened the door as quietly as possible.

Just wait and see, Izuku.

Just wait and see.

Chapter End Notes

AYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

New chapter! And I even wrote in a new POV (Iida) which was pretty fun. I'm posting this a couple days early because there's a big chance I won't be able to post it on friday.

And good news! Chances are you'll get a second chapter in a couple days!

Anyways, a lot of things are about to happen, and honestly I haven't planned it all completely but I am excited. I srsly hope you guys are excited too, because there is just going to be sooooooooo much. This'll be a fun arc.

For me at least.

Not for you guys.

Heartstopper

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Back spin kick.

Right hook.

Straight punch.

Roundhouse kick.

Finished.

Once again, Shinsou landed his ass onto the smooth floor of the gym. Izuku looked smug yet bored, he didn't enjoy this but was entertained nonetheless.

Shinsou only scowled at the ground, accepting his defeat but not in any honorable way. He got up and dusted himself off, heading over to one of the benches for some water. Aizawa-sensei, who was still supervising (and doing nothing mind you), yelled for both of them to take a break. They both sighed in relief as they collapsed on the benches panting as they tried to catch their breath. Eventually, it just turned into awkward silence, one that only Shinsou was brave enough to break.

"So… what's your quirk?" Shinsou asked in a genuinely curious voice. It was a strange question to ask now, especially since it had already been 4 days into the internship.

Izuku turned to look at him. "Why do you want to know now?"

Shinsou just kept staring at him blankly, he reminded Izuku of Todoroki in a way. "On Monday, Aizawa-sensei told you to use your quirk while we train, so I expected some really powerful physical quirk like super strength. But you haven't really shown anything."

Izuku started kicking his legs back and forth on the bench as a way to stop his muscles from cramping.

He answered earnestly. "My quirk is called organic telekinesis, which is exactly what it sounds like. If you want the rundown version of it, it's basically just moving humans with my mind."

"Oh." was all he said, as he took another sip from his water bottle. Shinsou didn't really look impressed or anything like that. The awkward silence started to settle in again, but this time Izuku was determined to not let it take over again.

"So what's your quirk?" he asked.

He immediately regretted it though, as Shinsou started choking on his water the moment the words left his mouth. Cue a coughing fit and sporadic breathing, and some comforting pats on the back that did bat shit.

"Sorry. I was just caught off guard." he choked.

Izuku just sort of nodded and looked away, feeling his body tense up as a small amount of guilt seeped in for causing that anxiety spike. A few moments of quiet occurred before Shinsou surprisingly spoke.

"It's called Brainwashing. I can ask a question and if someone answers it, they go under a trance and listen to whatever I say, to some extent. They get snapped out of it though once they get hit with enough force." he said, hesitantly.

Shinsou had looked away while talking, and took a few seconds to look back. He was expecting some sort of nervous or even disgusted look on Izuku's face. That was most people's reaction, and he honestly couldn't blame them.

So imagine his surprise when Izuku was just gawking at him as if he was the next coming of Christ.

"Lucky…" Izuku whispered in an awestruck voice, his eyes piercing into Shinsou's soul.

Shinsou leaned back, genuinely confused. "… what?"

Izuku's face immediately dropped into some sort of sulk before turning to face forward. "I wish I had that, I wouldn't have half as many problems as I would right now with that kind of quirk. And you'd make such a good hero too, no wonder Aizawa-sensei is going to train you."

For Izuku, those words fell out of his mouth as if it were complete and utter fact. He had said the truth, and nothing else. So he was caught off-guard when he looked back at Shinsou and saw his expression.

"I… you don't think my quirk is bad?" Shinsou let out, his voice barely above a whisper.

His surprise only grew at that statement.

"Why the hell would I think that? Your quirk is practically made for hero work. You can stop a fight without even fighting, which is the whole point of law enforcement!" he said, waving his hands around to get his point across.

But Shinsou only half-heartedly nodded.

"Yeah, but you don't think that it's a villain quirk?"

Izuku had some sort of an "oh" moment at those words. He could see why Shinsou was being so apprehensive about Izuku's reaction to his quirk before. He understood, he and his quirk had been viewed in the same way before.

Though, he seriously doubted Shinsou's quirk was judged as villainous by extremely powerful international villains like himself.

Izuku looked back up at the roof again, still kicking his legs back and forth.

"I mean, if you want my honest opinion, then kind of. It's kind of a villain quirk. But so is every other hero's quirk. Any power that can do any type of emotional or physical damage is a villain quirk. But I don't think that having a villain quirk makes the person a villain or anything like that. That's up to the person." he said with, again, full honesty.

He knew that what he was saying wasn't really right in the eyes of the internet. He'd seen a bunch of advocates shouting out messages that basically said "Quirk's aren't evil!" or, "There's no such thing as a bad quirk!" on the news before, fighting against quirk discrimination that had cemented into society because of the past.

Yeah, that was fucking stupid he decided.

What if your quirk was the equivalent of death note?

You'd have to be fucking stupid not to say that wasn't an evil power.

Or are you seriously going to tell him that Recovery Girl's healing was the same thing as Bakugou's explosions?

Trying to push this "all quirks are equal" thing was stupid.

Because they're not.

Every single day a new volatile quirk forms inside a 4 year old kid.

And every single time someone gets injured because of it.

But there are a thousand other kids who get weak, small powers.

And no one ever gets hurt from those.

It should've been clear since the beginning, yet some dreamers refuse to accept it.

Quirks aren't equal.

And don't get him started with the "anyone can become a hero!" bullshit.

The amount of people that repeat that "go for it" garbage made Izuku's faith in humanity waver a little.

They're just so wrong.

It's stupid to say that weak quirks can help someone become a hero.

And it's stupid to say that volatile quirks can lead to good.

Because they don't.

They will occasionally, sure.

But in the end, it'll only end up hurting someone else.

"Sometimes the only thing you can do with power is destroy. Even if you're the sweetest person in the world, it'll happen. And when it does, you can only blame the fact that you were born with that power, and the fact that the option was even there in the first place." he said, finishing his thoughts out loud. His mind was flashing back through all of his experiences, even the ones he purposely avoided remembering most of the time.

But he snapped out of it, returning back to the conversation.

"But yours isn't like that, there's more to it than destruction. Sure you could exploit it for your own profit, but it could also be used to help people. Yeah, looking at it on paper makes it seem kind of evil, but in practical use, it could be used for hostage situations, stopping suicidal people, and it's basically built for underground hero work. It's not as bad as mine, for example."

Shinsou blinked a couple of times before responding. "What do you mean 'it's not as bad as mine?'" he said, with even more confusion than before.

Izuku gave a playful smile. "The thing is, when I use my quirk on people, it kind of causes their muscles to tense up in a really painful way. They usually just end up screaming in pain, and if I use it for too long, then they could even die. So comparing yours to mine is like comparing a kitten to a tiger. Yeah the kitten could still scratch you, but the tiger can maul you to death." he said with a laugh.

But Shinsou only shook his head. "I don't think yours is that bad honestly. I mean, I can see it being really useful. You could pull people out of the way or clear a path from a crowd. If your quirk can control a person's blood too, then you can even stop someone from bleeding out." he replied, with little enthusiasm but more emotion than Izuku had ever heard coming from him.

The words did sink into Izuku though, to some extent at least. His eyes widened at those thoughts, looking up once again.

"I… never really thought about it like that. Usually I just think about the fact that I could rip a person's head and limbs off just by looking at them. Violent stuff like that, you know?"

They both heard a sudden, strange noise as Izuku finished his sentence, and they both looked to the right for the source. Aizawa-sensei had spit out his coffee, now pulling a Shinsou and having a choking fit. He took a few seconds before recovering, a strange look forming in his eye as he stared at Izuku.

"Are you ok?" Shinsou asked with little concern in his voice.

Aizawa-sensei just nodded, still giving Izuku a strange look. "Just get back to practice." was all he said.

Izuku and Shinsou were confused, but shrugged it off nonetheless. They both trained some more, finally finishing practice at 7:00 and heading back to the main building like normal. The entire time, Aizawa-sensei was giving Izuku a solemn look, something that pestered Izuku, but he never came close to understanding why.

He didn't know how literal Aizawa-sensei took his words when he said "rip a person's head and limbs off" while talking with Shinsou.

Or that Aizawa-sensei had to remind himself that Izuku had already been proven innocent of those deaths.

And that he was, in fact, not teaching a murderer.

Oh, if only he knew…

He'd be in for a treat.

Regardless of Etsuri's unknowingly poor choice of words, Aizawa-sensei still had a job to do.

Etsuri was still a suspect for being a spy of the League of Villains, though even he had to admit, the evidence was lacking and circumstantial. There was a chance that he was, but there was also a chance that he wasn't.

But regardless of that, it was obvious that the kid was hiding something at the very least.

Etsuri was definitely smart enough for the spy industry. That had been proven time and time again with the government hacking and the IQ test trick.

His skill in fighting was also another factor, there was no way he had gotten that good by taking community martial art lessons like he claimed. Someone powerful had to have trained him, and hypothetically that someone could be affiliated with the League of Villains.

And there was also the fact that they practically knew nothing about his past. They couldn't trust what he had on the records since he had already shown those were unreliable. Even though Nedzu had made him change them back to what was supposedly "the right information."

But that was Tsukauchi's job since there was little Aizawa could do when it came to record digging. He was a hero, a front line worker, and Tsukauchi was far better at logistical support than he could ever be.

So his job was to find out everything he could about Etsuri by pulling the "I'm your teacher card" in hopes that they'll find something.

And Nedzu's job was to sit back and reap the rewards.

Fucking rat.

Hearing the words "rip a person's head off" and the flashback to the pictures in that dreadful file only made Aizawa more determined to uncover every single fucking detail of this kid. And so he asked the fateful question.

Why has he been waiting all week?

Why not start now?

And the answer was… nothing.

There was nothing stopping him from metaphorically shaking his student for secrets like a kid does with their piggy bank for all of its coins.

So… yeah.

No more hesitating, he decided.

Etsuri was sitting alone in the empty cafeteria, eating dinner Lunch Rush had made for all the staff and the 3 students who had been staying overnight for the past week.

Time to walk up to the kid and expertly guide the conversation in such a way history textbooks would be recounting the tale.

So he did just that, sitting down a few feet away from Etsuri with his own dinner. He wasn't sitting at the same table as him, but he was close enough that his appearance was very obvious. He opened his mouth to speak, right before the sound of a tray slamming on the table stopped him.

Bakugou had walked up, aggressively pulling the chair out and sitting down like he owned the goddamn place. He looked Izuku dead in the eye, and his voice showed no hesitation.

"Give me that notebook you showed me on Monday."

Etsuri looked up, chewing for a second before swallowing. "No." he said, very unimpressed with Bakugou's confidence.

Bakugou took offense to that, for some reason. "Why the hell not?" he said, angrily picking up his own spoon before digging into his food.

"Because I don't see the need to." was all Etsuri replied, already sounding exhausted by the mere two sentences of the conversation.

Bakugou scowled before swallowing. "You had some notes about the 1v19 battle in there, and I want to read them."

Etsuri stared at him a couple seconds, seriously considering Bakguou's demand. After a bit, he finally responded.

"Ok. After this, just follow me to my dorm and I'll give it to you." he said, with a strange neutrality in his voice.

Bakugou looked satisfied, very content with the outcome of that pathetic excuse of a conversation and dug into his food. There were no more remnants of the chat that just happened a minute ago, and the two only sat in a comfortable silence. Aizawa could still probably interrogate Etsuri even with Bakugou present, he knew the only way the boy was going to get involved is if the conversation turned to him. So he opened his mouth, once again ready to speak, going over everything he had planned to say in his hea–

"Oi kid! Don't forget to go to bed early tomorrow, and don't you dare practice without any of us present, you zygote!" Gran Torino yelled across the room, turning around and walking out of the cafeteria as soon as he was done. Everyone turned to look at him, slightly confused before turning back to their food. But Bakugou and Etsuri just ended up looking at each other, clearly trying to initiate another attempt at small talk. God fucking dammi–

"Who is that?" Etsuri said, with some curiosity in his voice.

Bakugou looked down, glaring at his food as if he were trying to take out his frustrations on his soup. "That's the guy I'm interning with. His name is Gran Torino, and he's All Might's sensei."

Etsuri's eyes widened. "All Might's sensei? Seriously? I thought he'd be another bodybuilder to be honest. But I guess that explains why I keep seeing you and All Might together around campus."

Bakugou laughed, though it seemed pained. "Trust me, that guy doesn't need to work out. He's strong enough already. You won't understand until you get head-butted when he's flying at Mach 20."

Etsuri just became more curious. "So his quirk is flying?"

"No, it's called jet boots. Basically he's got an air jet on his feet that lets him zoom everywhere, except it's faster than you think. You only ever see his after shadow, never his main body."

"That makes sense. You can't really be all Might's sensei without being amazing on your own terms." Etsuri said, taking a moment to bite into his food. "So why'd he yell at you across the room?"

"Oh, he's been bitching about me practicing at night without any supervision. I accidentally pushed myself too hard and broken my arm this week. And he wants me to get rest so that I 'function better during actual training times.' And tomorrow we're also going out to fight crime and shit for the first time, which I kind of need a full night of rest for."

And with those words, Aizawa could feel the atmosphere around him change. A smile had grown on Etsuri's face, a cunning one, as if he had found a loophole in some rule that Aizawa hadn't realized he made. He could feel dread build up as Etsuri turned to him, looking him dead in the eye with nothing but glee.

"Hey Aizawa-sensei, don't you think I should do some hero work too? All I've been doing this past week is working on my basics with Shinsou, which we both know I don't need help with. And didn't you say we shouldn't waste this week, and how some 3 rd years are still regretting the choices they made in the first year? You don't want me to waste this one time opportunity, right?"

Oh ok, so that's how it's going to be. This little fucking shi–

"And what are you suggesting?" Aizawa responded, with his usual monotone voice.

Just breathe, Aizawa. Just breathe.

"I mean, Bakugou is interning with All Might and his sensei. That's got to be as safe as it can get, right?"

Oh, so that's where this kid is taking this. He wants to go on a joyride with Bakugou while being hunted by a serial killer. What a great idea!

"No. You have a target on your back by literally the most wanted man in the country right now. I am not going to allow you to go out into the city at the dead of night, which is literally the man's hunting hours."

Etsuri made a pouting face. "But All Might would be there too. Are you saying that Stain could beat the Number One Hero?"

At this point, Bakugou piped up, completely oblivious to the manipulation war going on between the student and the teacher.

"Actually, it'll just be me and Gran Torino. Not All Might. Kind of hard to do hero work with that guy around since he kind of just intimidates villains into surrendering."

Etsuri visibly scowled at Bakugou while Aizawa-sensei resisted the urge to gloat.

"You heard him. No leaving the school, got it?"

Etsuri didn't respond, just looking back at his food in the same way a kid does when they can't get a toy from the store. But Aizawa didn't care, he was just happy to have a landslide victory in the small argument.

But of course, it had to be ruined.

"But we aren't staying in Musutafu, we're actually going to one of the next door cities, I don't know which one though."

And immediately the smug look returned on Etsuri, and Aizawa's face dropped. Why was everything going wrong today!?

"So that means I'd be out of Stain's hunting grounds!" Etsuri chirped, looking at Aizawa the same way an eagle would at a mouse.

Aizawa took a moment before responding. "But there's a chance he could follow you guys to the train station. Even then, it's still a really dangerous and unnecessary risk. And we don't even know if Gran Torino will agree."

Bakugou looked at Aizawa. "Nah, that bastard will agree. He seems like the type to like surprise twists. And can't UA just arrange some transportation to drive us there? I wouldn't really mind, especially since I kind of owe Izuku a favor or two."

Etsuri just made a "see, I was right" gesture while smiling cockily at Aizawa. He just sighed as he took a moment to think.

He really wanted to straight up say no and shut his student down. For one, the kid was annoying him, and two, it really was an unnecessary risk. He already knew that the kid had real life fighting experience already, and going on a hero patrol would be just as useless as staying here. And Etsuri definitely knew that too.

So why was the kid trying so hard to leave school grounds?

He wanted to ask so badly, but he knew that would only lead to the kid shutting down.

But then denying him this opportunity would lead to the same outcome.

Which means that Aizawa should… oh goddammit. Today really wasn't his day, was it?

"Ok. But only if Gran Torino agrees."

Etsuri looked a little shocked at his response, but he slowly morphed into satisfaction.

Bakugou looked indifferent, only shrugging as he returned to his food.

Aizawa just sighed, finally digging into his own dinner even though it was cold by now.

Today hadn't gone exactly as planned, but at least he was one step closer to his goal.

Even if he had only moved about half an inch forward, it was forward nonetheless.

And so Friday came.

Everything was normal, and everyone had gone for a late lunch at around 3:00 and then an hour long break afterwards.

Aizawa was heading back to the gym at 3:50, walking at a slower pace than usual in order to conserve his energy. He was finally going to join the two in training, now that Shinsou actually had good basics down. He was actually 20 feet away from the gym doors when his phone rang.

He took it out of his pocket and looked at it. Some number he didn't know was displayed on the screen.

He answered it regardless, you learn that when you're a hero you get calls from even the most unexpected of places.

Scam calls are a necessary risk on the off chance that it was some villain or hero about to make a demand.

"Hello, is this Eraserhead?" a woman asked, very high-pitched and quiet, but not enough to be unnatural.

See, he was right. The most random ass people call him.

He hesitated before responding, making sure to note their voice.

"Yes, who are you?"

"This is Idaten Agency, and I have a concern about the student we agreed to foster here."

He increased the volume of his phone, he could barely hear the woman from the shyness of her voice.

"Our agency was handling a mission, so our intern, Iida Tenya, was left to his own devices for the day. He was supposed to report for patrol at 3:00, but he hasn't shown up."

Aizawa started squeezing his phone, and he had to take moment to loosen his jaw so that he could speak.

"So what are you saying?"

He heard the woman take a deep breath, as if she were trying to calm herself down.

"I'm afraid Iida Tenya is missing."

Holy shit.

Fucking finally.

FINALLY, he was leaving this place!

After a week of plotting and scrapping ideas, the time has finally come!

Seriously, do you know how hard it is to plan to break out of UA undetected?

It's almost like they don't want Izuku to leave!

…

Well, they don't, but that's beside the point.

The important part is that he can finally breathe fresh air.

And, even better, put in his plan for Stain.

It would be hard to slip away from Gran Torino and Bakugou, in fact, he might not even get the chance to.

But that wasn't a major concern of his, the more important part was dragging the trip so that he could stay outside as long as possible.

He was banking on Stain's dedication to his targets, which he had already proven to be very high.

He once chased a victim for 2 miles before they finally got a blade through their heart.

So surely he'd attack Izuku if he's given a good chance.

And thus, excitement.

Because once this was over, then he could go back to his home.

He understood the word homesick now, to say that he didn't miss his bed or the security that place gave him would be the biggest lie he's ever told.

And he's told some pretty huge fucking lies.

He was too excited to finally fucking leave that he didn't even notice Aizawa-sensei's sour mood.

Nor the other UA teachers' anxious mindsets all day.

He was too focused on the clock reaching 7:30pm and equipping his hero suit, restocked and filled with a bounty of weapons, including his own experimental blades somewhere in the mix. He had modified them quite a bit since Monday, and he'd like to test them while he had the chance. Regardless of Stain, they were going to patrol another city in the dead of night, which means that fighting villains was almost a guarantee.

So he was pacing back and forth along with Bakugou at the front of UA's entrance eagerly waiting to climb inside the empty black car sitting right next to them. Gran Torino and Ectoplasm showed up, gesturing for them to get into the car. They both obliged, and it was taking everything in Izuku's power not to shake in excitement.

Ectoplasm never was one to have small talk, so Gran Torino filled the silence of the night, twisting around to face the back of the car at the intern pair.

"So, Etsuri right?"

"Yes sir." Izuku said, trying to hide his enthusiasm in his voice.

Gran Torino offered a playful grin. "So then, I heard nothing but praise from this brat," Izuku glanced at Bakugou, who only offered a scowl in return, "so I'm expecting a good performance tonight. Speaking of, mind if we go over some of your quirk's details so I can better understand it? I'll need to know the full extent of your capabilities in order for this to work."

Izuku leaned to the side playfully, enough so that he was now facing Gran Torino directly. He kept himself still despite the rocking of the car. "Sure." was all he said.

So the drive went by, the two asking and answering questions about Izuku's quirk the entire time. Bakugou and Ectoplasm listened with the same intensity, after all, you don't see a quirk like Izuku's every day. Telekinesis with the power scale described, the fact that it affected organic matter, and being based on sight instead of touch made it truly a terrifying quirk. The possibilities were endless.

The streets weren't crowded with cars per say, but there was definitely enough that it did slow the car ride down. Musutafu was a busy city, there were always traveling businessmen coming from long meetings and taking a cab back to the hotels. Not to mention all the minimum wage workers coming off of their shifts and finally heading home to their probably broken sanctuaries. It wasn't unusual for the later hours to be filled with nothing but the sound of engines and the soft light of the moon.

What was unusual was a giant explosion going off just in front of them.

And the loudest alarm Izuku had ever heard ringing into the dead of night.

Well, that was a lie.

Present Mic's screaming was louder.

A car went flying into the air from whatever the hell made the explosion, and just from his quirk's sensory radius he could feel two people in the car, probably screaming their heads off. But before he could even move, Gran Torino had already kicked the door open.

He blasted out from the car horizontally to the right, and then immediately blurred into the air, right below the car's hood now. He angled himself parallel to the car, his feet right up against the hood. He let out a giant air stream, sending the car even higher into the air and him rocketing down into the ground. He twisted his body midair so that he could let out another stream before hitting the ground, slowing his fall. All of this was to give enough time for Ectoplasm to make clones and send them into the air, who effortlessly caught the car and gently put it on the ground. The people inside wasted no time opening the door and collapsing on the ground. The man just started bawling as he laid defeated on the dirty concrete, while the woman started screaming profanities at whoever the hell launched them into the air.

But Izuku didn't focus on that. No, he couldn't care less about those people. He was grinning, the same maniacal smile that always formed just before battle.

Whoever did this wasn't Stain, that much was obvious. Stain had never had a history of causing distractions to kill his victim, instead he would hunt them until an opportunity revealed itself. Which meant that this was the perfect place for the man to ambush Izuku.

After a few seconds, he and Bakugou both threw open the car doors, almost breaking them in the process. They both sprinted for the explosion, which was now releasing a medium sized smoke trail into the sky, pushing through the numerous people abandoning their cars for safety. Bakugou was faster, he had explosions of his own to project himself with, and got there a few seconds before Izuku did.

The explosion had taken place in a jewelry store, which was now slowly being engulfed in unforgiving flames, dancing as their never ending hunger grew satisfied. Coming out of the building, though, were 4 people, who all looked like they were recovering from the explosion themselves. Though, it was obvious they were the ones who set it off in the first place.

Each wore a basic ski mask and all black, classic jewelry robber attire, and one of them was blatantly carrying a crowbar, not even trying to hide it. They looked like shadows of the night, the only thing that gave them away was the moon's silent light. Other than the, you know, giant blaze of glory behind them.

But what shocked Izuku was the fact that they seemed to be arguing of all things. They were all just shouting at each other to shut up, one was even being held back as they tried to claw at the biggest one of the 4. They hadn't even noticed Bakugou and Izuku standing right there.

The pair paused, unsure of what to do. They were both so ingrained in battle mode that the lack thereof caught them off guard. Izuku just sighed, looking at the ground. It stared back, a dark grey that shined every now and again from a reflective particle. It gave no answer. Because, you know. It's a fucking road.

He looked back up. He was intending to draw this battle out for as long as possible, but that wasn't possible anymore. These people were idiots, and they had 4 heroes on site already. All they had to do was attack simultaneously and then it's over. He would get in trouble if he did otherwise.

"HEY IDIOTS!"

Izuku's head snapped towards Bakugou, perfectly in sync with the other villains. Holy shit, did Bakugou really just–

"WE'RE STANDING RIGHT HERE, YOU KNOW!" Bakugou shouted, popping off small explosions in his hands as a small threat. He was also smiling with a bloodlust similar to Izuku's, and he was hunched over in a lower battle position, one that clearly lets him take off with the most power.

Only one of the villains turned pale, the others turned bright red as blood rushed into their head. You could barely see it through the small holes in their masks, but it was obvious once you looked. They glared at Bakugou like they had just witnessed them kill his mother, all of the rage they had for each other now turning to him.

Izuku was the opposite. He was fucking giddy. Bakugou had just ruined the perfect opportunity for an ambush for his own selfish desire of wanting to fight them. HE was the one who was going to be yelled at, and Izuku could now safely exploit this fight for all the time in the world. The more time they spent here, the more of a chance Stain will show up, and begin stalking Izuku He would wait and wait, staying just behind Izuku so that his presence would be unknown, watching his stamina drain from the night's debuts and then try to finish the job.

Wasn't that just great!?

Both Gran Torino and Ectoplasm had rejoined the pair, the older one having a sour look on his face. He probably noticed the golden opportunity they had, the one Bakugou ruined, and would probably be the one to scold Bakugou after this. The villains started moving, each in their own independent ways that resembled nothing like a team.

One of them purposefully ran in front of the biggest one, trying to slow them down as they charged towards the heroes. The biggest one didn't like this, so he shoved them away and kept running. The third didn't bother teasing the other 4, creating what looked like spinning razorblades in his hands and throwing them at the heroes. They spun as fast a helicopter's wings.

But the fourth, the fourth was the one that Izuku liked the most. They were the one that turned pale upon seeing the heroes. And they did what any self-respecting villain would do.

Run away from the fight like a bitch.

His smile grew wider at this, a chase would take a lot more time than he could ever stall for.

Izuku crouched onto the ground while Bakugou and Gran Torino launched themselves into the air to dodge the flying razors. Ectoplasm chose to sacrifice his clones to stop one of the blades, which dropped uselessly on the ground after losing its momentum from impaling the fakes. Normally, Izuku would charge and go straight for the biggest one of them, but he let Gran Torino go first. The goal wasn't to be done with this fight quickly, after all.

What Bakugou had said before held true, you could really only see the man's shadow. After launching himself into the air, he projected himself straight for the villain who was trying to run away. He was only a blur, and it was a miracle that the villain was even able to respond. The villain pivoted on their foot, just enough so that Gran Torino crashed onto the wall of the building they were next to instead of them. They stood there, frozen for a moment before running the opposite direction, into an alley between the flamed jewelry store and the building next to them. Gran Torino turned to face the cowardly villain, getting ready to launch himself again, only to be interrupted by another spinning razor aimed straight for his head.

"WHAT, YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST RUN FROM THE FIGHT GRANDPA!?" the villain screamed, throwing another razor into Gran Torino's direction.

Gran Torino was forced to launch himself backwards and abandon his pursuit of the coward. The other two villains had reached the other 3 heroes by now, each launching an attack of their own. The biggest one (unsurprisingly) had super strength and tried to punch Ectoplasm, only to find himself punching the ground. The other villain attacked Bakugou with what looked like quills coming out of his arms, which was easily avoidable since Bakugou was in midair still. He just blasted forward with his explosions, avoiding the storm of quills that simply succumbed to gravity later on. To Izuku's surprise, however, Bakugou continued moving forwards, landing in front of the same alley Gran Torino had tried to enter, shouting, "I'll get this one!" He didn't give a chance for Gran Torino to respond, just blasting off in the same direction as the coward.

Gran Torino clenched his teeth as he twirled in the air to avoid another razor. He looked at Bakugou for only a moment, yelling back "Don't go without permission kid!" A useless attempt at trying to reel in Bakugou, to say the least. Bakugou's presence shook the razor villain's attention from Gran Torino, a moment that was immediately exploited.

Gran Torino landed, not even hesitating as he took to the air once again, this time speeding past all the villains and ultimately targeting the quill one. He twisted his body so that he ended up kicking the man in the head, a fatal blow that knocked the man out immediately. Gran Torino wasted no time shouting to the rest of the heroes on site. "Ectoplasm, take care of the fire. Other kid, show me what you got!"

Izuku grimaced at being declared as the "other kid" but followed nonetheless. He had simply been staring this whole time, and while he did want to drag this fight on as long as he could, he didn't want to make himself look like an idiot. The more Gran Torino trusted him, the less his attention would be on making sure Izuku was alive and well. And the easier it would be to slip away.

So he ran forward, past the biggest villain who had traded sparring partners for Gran Torino while Ectoplasm rushed towards the burning building. Izuku had no idea how the man was going to put it out, but he didn't really care. It wasn't his job so he wasn't going to spend time fretting over it. Instead, he squeezed his left fist pressing the button on his glove and releasing his hidden blade. He looked at the razor villain's eyes. A bloodshot red, fitting for the arsonist crime they just committed.

He noticed something was off with his body when he got into a 15 feet range of the villain. He hadn't been running full speed ahead necessarily, but it seemed like he was now. It was a sudden feeling, growing in power that you didn't even want, but it only continued. It got to the point where Izuku was now practically long jumping with how much physical strength he was pouring into his running. He tried to slow down, tried to constrict his muscles into behaving, but he just kept going. The razor villain's face was covered, but even he could see the smile forming under the mask.

He didn't panic, he'd been in far more dangerous situations to panic over something like this. Instead, he focused on how his body was behaving, trying to figure out the man's quirk. What did this have to do with lightning fast spinning razors?

"Ah." he said, realizing the answer as he let the man's quirk take hold. He stopped trying to run, now jumping and letting himself fall to the villain. They obviously didn't expect this, and now scrambled to back up from Izuku's landing spot.

"You increase force, don't you?" was all Izuku said, as he landed onto the concrete. His momentum was strong enough to crack the concrete floor, although barely. He felt a shiver run through his body as his legs took the brunt force, but he didn't let it limit him.

The villain's quirk was increasing the force Izuku put against the ground as he ran, and for the razors, he was increasing the force at which they threw the blades. It was a double-edged sword, as those who were inexperienced or over-reliant on muscle memory would fall to the ground from losing their balance under its effect.

But the good ones would only use it to their advantage.

He blasted off with his right foot, waiting until the last possible moment to unleash a furious right hook. The villain had been led to his own demise, getting punched with the same force he had created in the first place. An ironic, yet satisfying end to a pitiful fight.

He landed roughly, still being affected by the villain's quirk for a few more seconds before the feeling of empowerment disappeared entirely. He took a moment to catch his breath, turning away from the fire that was now starting to destroy itself over its unfathomable hunger. He held up his hands to hide his eyes from the light. The flames were too bright, this kind of treatment only belonged in the day.

He glanced behind him. Gran Torino was still dancing to the super strength villain, zooming around him, bouncing off the walls, the floor, hell, even the lamppost facing the opposite direction. Kicking and beating up the poor man and chipping away every last part of his freedom and dignity. But the man kept fighting, even after Izuku witnessed multiple blows to the head. He roared and kept uselessly grabbing Gran Torino's after image, only to turn his head as another blow forced him to. It seemed like his quirk was more of invincibility rather than super strength.

Whatever, Izuku couldn't help with that if he didn't want this fight to end immediately. His own punches would do nothing and his quirk would end this in no time at all. Nor could he do much with the fire, there wasn't any water around here so unless he put out the fire using his own blood then he's got no options. He glanced behind him, towards the alley that the coward and Bakugou had both run through. It looked like a portal from over here, waiting to swallow its next victim into a world of running through dirty, unrelenting paths. Looks like that was the only option then. Besides, running off on his own had been the golden star of this mission.

Stain wasn't going to attack the whole group after all.

He glanced at Gran Torino. He'd have to risk getting in trouble for running off without permission, but he wasn't going to disappear entirely and have the man call every police officer in the district. Gran Torino knew that Stain was after Izuku, and his knowledge was Izuku's Achilles heel. So telling him where he's going should ease the stress of unknown whereabouts.

"GRAN TORINO-SENSEI! I'M GOING TO BRING BAKUGOU BACK!" he said, cupping his hands around his mouth, not really waiting for an answer before sprinting into the unknown. He swore he could hear the man yelling for Izuku to come back, but he didn't care. He let the crime scene melt away as the buildings surrounded him on all sides blocking the noise.

His heart was in his ears and adrenaline was in his blood.

He was laughing, trying to stifle it as he briefly knew that he needed to be quiet.

But then again, there was a lesser chance of Stain fighting him if he stayed quiet, right?

Which means that he could be as loud as he wants!

He stopped trying to muffle his giggling as he ran full speed, the wind playing with his hair and slightly burning his eyes as it tried to dry them out. A muted pain that only served as a slight annoyance. He didn't care though, he was too excited for what's to come.

How great will his fight with Stain be?

Two people who could truly rival each other and make for an epic battle of life and death.

How close will Izuku come to dying?

Will he get pricked by anesthesia again?

Will he get critically injured?

Will he die?

Will he live?

So many questions that were about to be answered.

So many possibilities that Izuku had full control over.

And one magnificent moment where it all comes crashing down.

Where nothing matters anymore except defeating the enemy in front of him.

A place where the ghosts that haunt Izuku's soul can't even reach.

Because nothing matters when the sword comes crashing down onto your neck.

The past, the present, the future.

All irrelevant.

Nothing matters except you.

It was a moment that Izuku could truly call himself free.

He couldn't wait to feel that extravagance once again, to feel his sins wash away, powerless against the threat of death.

It was just going to be him.

It was just going to be Stain.

It was just going to be 2 killers.

It was just going to be them.

No victims, no targets, no masters.

Nothing else.

No one else.

…

"STOP IT YOU BASTARD!"

…

God fucking DAMMIT–

Izuku hit the brakes, freezing up as he caught his breath. He had been running around for several minutes, in and out of the alleyways. It was a lot harder to stay in the dark than you'd expect, as this part of Musutafu didn't really have that many backstreets, and the few that existed almost always connected to the main roads.

He closed his eyes, trying to listen for that scream once more. He swore, it almost sounded like–

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU GODDAMN ARMS OFF IF YOU LAY A HAND ON HIM! FIGHT ME! OI, ARE YOU LISTENING!?"

Bakugou.

That was definitely Bakugou.

He kicked the dumpster next to him. A cat, hiding behind one of the garbage bags that laid on the floor screeched, hissing as it ran off.

Seriously, did Bakugou had to suddenly suck at fighting now!?

He was in the middle of luring out one of the most dangerous people on the planet!

He didn't have time to go save Bakugou!

He couldn't waste an opportunity like this!

He briefly wondered if he should just ignore his classmate's cry for help. Bakugou was strong, he could handle whatever the hell he was facing. Besides, Stain was something that couldn't wait.

So should he leave his classmate stranded to possibly die, or go fulfill his fantasy fight with a serial killer that he's been day dreaming about in explicit detail this past week?

…

Well if you put it like that then that just makes him sound like a bad person.

So (begrudgingly) he turned heel and ran towards the profanities and small popping sounds echoing in the distance. It didn't take long for him to reach the source of the sound, though he braced himself for what was about to happen.

Bakugou sounded, dare he say it, scared.

Desparate.

Hopeless.

And even though Izuku barely knew the guy… he knew that those sounds shouldn't be coming out of Bakugou's mouth.

It wasn't in the boy's nature.

So he grit his teeth and flexed his fists as he jumped around the bend of this backstreet. He had somehow ended up in one of those alley mazes that every city had, the type of place he was just trying to find moments before.

He could hear Bakugou's voice even clearer now, his footsteps becoming more silent and quicker as he fastened his pace.

Something wasn't right.

He knew it.

Every fiber in his being had gone on high alert.

He knew that he wasn't going to like what he saw.

He prepared his brain to take in the necessary information so that he could leave out his emotions.

He didn't want to hinder his first instinct, nor his first impression.

He prepared his heart to keep going even if it wanted to desperately stop in light of the turmoil.

He'd need his blood to pump efficiently so that he could work to his fullest potential.

He held his breath.

Just in case the sight would want to make him scream.

He knew how to stay focused on task.

He knew how to ignore those muddled emotions for later.

And he's seen far worse than the average person would.

He should've been able to handle it.

And yet, when he turned that dreadful corner…

Let's just say, he wasn't prepared at all.

Not by a long shot.

Chapter End Notes

AH I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED THIS WITHOUT AN END NOTE! WHOOPS!

Ok, so basically this one took a little more time to edit than I thought it would. I was gonna do it yesterday but my family ended up going to get BBQ so that was fun.

ANYWAY.

It's finally happening~~~~~~~~~

2 more chapters until my absolute FAVORITE part of this story so far.

HOLD ON TO YOUR SEATS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN BC HALF OF YOU ARE GOING TO CRY!

Cowards & Catastrophe

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The sky was an iridescent sea of darkness. Clouds swirled and crowded together, occasionally letting in the starlight of the sky as if a spotlight was just shone onto a stage. There was only the sound of crickets to be heard, hiding somewhere with the grasses of UA. The Forest Sector used for training was especially filled with wild-life, and the nocturnal animals living there were making their marks of the night. It was a beautiful symphony, to say the least.

Though All Might, or Yagi in this form, was never one to take a liking to animals. They were cute and all, but his appreciation for them never went past the surface level. The sky though? God, he could stare at that for hours.

Yagi had always preferred the stars when it came to the outdoors. They were beautiful little snippets of the universe, where the possibilities were endless. If he hadn't become a hero, he most definitely would have gone into astronomy.

The door clicked behind him, and he could just barely hear the soft sound of pattering footsteps walking towards him. He was in his office, grading papers but now just staring out the window as a little break. He glanced behind him, sighing as he saw who it was. For such a small being, Nedzu had an incredibly large presence.

"Hello All Might! I'm surprised you're still working at this hour!"

Yagi chuckled, turning back to the window for one last look. "I got a little distracted, but I'm almost done. Just a couple more papers to grade."

Nedzu sat on one of the two couches located in the middle of the room. "Well, that's great to hear." he said softly.

Yagi just nodded to himself, turning around and walking to the other couch, sitting across from Nedzu. "So what brings you here?" he asked earnestly.

"Oh well, just some light conversation." Nedzu said, taking a moment to study the sky Yagi had been so obsessed with earlier. The silence was appreciated, but the cut off was not.

"Have you considered telling Bakugou?" he suddenly asked.

Yagi continued to stare at Nedzu, this time confused. "What?"

Nedzu didn't look at him, still at the beautiful constellations forming in the night. "Have you considered telling Bakugou about All for One?"

His breath hitched as he stared in some small form of shock. He looked to the ground, narrowing his eyes as the memories that come from that name came crashing through like a tsunami. "No, I haven't." he said firmly.

Nedzu looked back at him, his smile slightly dimmed. "Are you sure that's the best idea?"

Anger. That's what Yagi was feeling right now. That name always took the worst out of him…

"Of course. There's no need to tell Young Bakugou about someone who's already dead."

A silence, still appreciated, cut through the peaceful night as Nedzu thought about what to say.

"But he could be aliv–"

Yagi cut him off immediately. "No. He can't. I made sure of it."

"But they never found a body."

"His body was just trapped under the rubble. Or maybe he just rotted away instantly, God knows what he did to his body. It's a very real possibility."

"But villains have been on the rise, we both know the statistics. And that Nomu had multiple quir–"

"LOOK." he said firmly, not quite shouting but in a louder voice. He stood up, breathing heavily as he tried to contain the anger that always came without fail. He took a deep breath before sitting back down, trying to calm himself. "He can't be alive, Nedzu. He just… he just can't."

A short pause. "And why not?"

It was a simple question, but one that carried a lot of weight nonetheless.

Yagi looked Nedzu dead in the eye. "Because if he is, then I have failed in my purpose as a hero."

He had spent his entire hero career training to do what 7 others before him couldn't. He became the most powerful, probably in all of the world, just to stop one man. Now here he was, broken and barely holding himself together, but finally complete. He had stopped All for One.

If that man was still alive, he didn't know if he could win another fight.

Which meant that if that man was still alive, he couldn't finish what he started.

~~He couldn't get his revenge.~~

Everything he had done, every action he took, every late night he spent training, would have all been for nothing.

He would've failed to break the cycle.

He would've failed to protect the younger generation from having to deal with such a being.

His entire hero career would essentially be mounted to nothing.

So he couldn't be alive.

There was too much at stake for him to be alive.

So he had to be dead.

Simple as that.

"Don't you think you're ignoring the evidence a bit, All Might?"

~~Yes, of course he was.~~

No, of course he wasn't.

He isn't that stupid.

Sure, there was a decent argument to be made that the man was still alive. But it was a failed argument nonetheless, right?

Yagi sighed, he didn't bother answering as he looked up. He preferred the starry night sky over the dull cubic pattern on the roof. He knew that he was just running himself in circles, though that didn't mean he wanted to stop.

Nedzu decided to fill the silence, once he realized that Yagi wasn't going to answer his question. "You should tell him. He needs to know before it is too late. Think of it this way, you're telling him the history of your quirk rather than as a warning of All for One being alive!" Nedzu said, cheerfully.

Yagi smiled. It was easier to do it when he thought of it that way. He clenched and unclenched his fists as a way to keep moving. His body had this unnecessary feeling to keep moving whenever he felt nervous. This was a way to keep that feeling satisfied while he stayed still.

"Although, you should really consider asking Bakugou about something else." Nedzu continued. Yagi looked down, back at that small creature with the most terrifying traits known to man.

"You should inquire to him about finding some allies to confine with. There's only 3 people he can talk to about this, me, you, and Gran Torino, and all of us are adults. He needs people around his age that he can trust will help him."

Yagi paused, considering his boss' words. He hadn't even thought about that. Young Bakugou had never shown any sign of feeling lonely or stressed out from keeping the secret from what he saw.

But Nedzu was right, that was something he should talk to him about.

After all, the weight of the secret was no joke.

You inherit the legacy of 8 people before you.

~~Not to mention the attention of the greatest villain who ever lived.~~

Everything passing by him was a blur.

The artificial lights of the train as they flew by were nothing but streaks of yellow and white.

The people around him were blurry, moving in his vision even though he knew they were standing still.

It didn't stop when the train came, no, it only increased.

What was going on?

His body felt as if it was on the brink of collapse, yet he was practically bouncing up and down with energy.

He felt… focused.

Anger.

Happy.

All at once.

A ball of complicated and contradicting emotions with no answer in sight.

But they didn't bother him too much.

No, he could barely even feel them.

Despite the sheer number of emotions piercing his thoughts, numbness had taken over quite nicely.

Along with some deep-rooted fury hiding in the dark.

The slight ringing of the train as the doors opened to his destination stayed in his ears.

He didn't mind, it was either that or listening to his heart practically radiate throughout his body.

That was another strange thing, too.

His mind felt calm, almost stoic, even though what he was about to do was the complete opposite of that.

But his body was on the other side of the spectrum. His hands were shaking slightly and his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He walked with a strange quickness, much faster than he wanted to go.

It was as if his body knew that something was about to go horribly wrong, despite not having a mind to fully comprehend it.

~~It was as if his body knew that he was going to die.~~

Again, he wasn't nervous.

Far from it, actually.

If he failed to kill him, he would lose nothing, materialistically anyway.

The only thing that bothered him was his limited time frame.

He couldn't wander around in the dark forever after all.

His brother's agency must have noticed his disappearance by now, though they shouldn't be able to track him since he left his phone in his room.

It was no doubt vibrating from phone call after phone call from his family.

His mother and brother must be worried sick, they always were ones to spam call even if it was clear that the person wasn't going to pick up, and his father was going to be so disappointed in him, after all he knew what he was doing was wrong he knew he shouldn't be doing this and oh god what will his family do if he died his mother wouldn't be able to cope and Tensei would blame himself maybe he should turn back it wasn't too late to turn back –

Some drunken screaming from a random apartment abruptly ended that trail of thought. It managed to catch Iida so off guard that his vision returned normal for a second. He glanced up at the dimly illuminated window with the faint shadow of a person outlined by the light. The slight ringing in his ears died down too, though only temporarily. He lost interest in a matter of seconds, returning his attention to the sidewalk straight ahead of him. The background faded into a blurry mess and the song of the night became ignored. He continued walking down the road, his worries still itching the back of his mind.

Tonight was the only night he was going to be able to find Stain. The heroes would find him soon enough, and by then Stain would have moved on and gone to another town and start the same cycle he was trying to end.

And that wasn't all, he had basically become convinced that tonight was the night that Stain would hunt.

He had checked the records, public due to transparency laws, and today had the least amount of heroes on patrol. It was the perfect time for a monster like Stain to strike. Though, none of that guaranteed he would be able to find the killer in the first place.

But a part of him knew that he was going to find him. His mother had always said "if you go looking for trouble, it'll always find you."

So he walked, and walked, and walked. Every minute, every second that passed by made him even more determined.

He wasn't going to turn back, he was in too deep already.

And if he died, then that was ok.

At least his death would force the Hero Commission to finally stop ignoring the problem.

He wasn't important enough for his life to actually matter in that sense.

He would only have 2 regrets if he died.

One was leaving his family behind.

The other?

The other was not being able to kill that son of a bitch with his own 2 hands.

And so, he marched down the road of death.

The warmth of his suit making him insulated.

The soft sounds of his footsteps against rock.

'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here' hung like a sign in the sky, trying to block his path.

He was entering the place of everlasting anger and desire for dreams other people call nightmares.

Revenge.

Selfishness.

Pain.

He smiled.

It was the first real one he's had for the past week.

He took a deep breath, one filled with the warm wind that danced through the air.

And he gladly walked through the gates of hell.

"And next on our program, we have an interview with special guest Oda Habuki, a member of the HPSC in charge of the special task force to take on Stain. Oda-san, thank you so much for coming, have a seat."

Oda smiled, sitting down in the chair in a relaxed manner to try and look as comfortable as he can. He knew what was about to happen, and the amount of games that were about to be played. Basically an interrogation for the entire world to watch. Luckily, this wasn't his first time fighting the news stations.

"So first, tell us more about this task force that is in the works."

"Gladly." he responded, his smile growing wider. The illusion of transparency was key. "See, this task force isn't just for Stain, we intend to use it for a larger variety. We want a more combat-specialized unit that can quickly and effectively capture any troublesome villains, for whom we've created conditions to determine whether or not to send this task force. Stain will just be our starting point, as he is currently the biggest threat to our country that fits the criteria."

"Interesting, does this task force have a name?"

He nodded, catchy acronyms are also important. "The Capture And Restraining Mobile Arresting Unit. Or CARMA for short. We all love catchy names, don't we?"

That got a few laughs from the news reporter. The joke took about 5 seconds of potential talking from the interview time. More than he thought he was going to get.

"The HPSC seems to be taking Stain very seriously. Things have always been pretty stagnant with the Hero Commission lately, so this is a pretty sudden change. Is there any reason why you've waited this long to create CARMA?"

Ah, a trick question. They're basically asking 'Why the fuck did you let so many heroes die before you decided to act?' Instead of scowling at the obvious trap, Oda's smile grew even brighter.

"Well, the president of the HPSC always wants to maintain a good relationship with the heroes of our country. And to accomplish that, we need to put a certain amount of trust that heroes can resolve the conflict."

"So the 68 heroes dead didn't shake the Hero Commission enough to rethink their ways?"

Wow, aggressive much?

"I think you misunderstand." A great sentence to use when you don't want to deny or confirm a statement. "We have always taken any villainous threat to our country's heroes very seriously. We provided them with top-notch information about Stain, and we simply trusted them to act accordingly."

"So you're saying it's the heroes who died's fault?"

"Of course not! I would never disrespect their legacies. I and the entirety of our country should be assured that all 68 heroes who died tried their best during each of their fights with Stain. All I am saying is that it's clear that the heroes of our country need some… assistance."

The interviewer nodded to herself, clearly sensing that Oda would not allow himself to say any egregious comment that would get the news stationi hundreds of views. Which meant another round of questions was about to begin.

"I see. Though I have to say, there is a large minority of Japan that views Stain as not a villain, more like an anti-hero or vigilante. For example, we all know the story of Uranium."

Oda had to physically fight the urge to cringe. Even he, probably one of the scummiest people on the planet, couldn't help but hate that hero. The man tortured and killed his own daughter, and basically got away with it after all. But alas, executioner wasn't his job. If anything, he was the janitor.

"Ah yes, I'm well-informed about the situation. The HPSC was investigating at that time as well."

The interviewer nodded, taking his words only at surface level. "Yes, it was a very tragic situation. There was overwhelming evidence the man had did it, yet he was found not guilty in court and was allowed to resume his local hero status. He wasn't even suspended from the HPSC. Many Japanese thought that our country's government was going to let him get away with the crime. And to many, Stain was the one who brought him justice."

So an ethics argument? Two can play at that game.

"Stain's justice is nothing more than a pathetic excuse to justify murderer." he said, curtly. Normally, he'd refrain from making bold statements like these, but assertion is necessary in this case.

"Killing someone before they can be accordingly tried and found guilty in court is not justice. It is murder. The court found Uranium not guilty, but an appeal was in the works, and his expulsion as a liscensed hero was inevitable. He was not going to get away with this, yet some people can't exercise patience when it comes to these matters. If we start making exceptions, then we'll have to apply it to everyone. What about those who are accused but in reality, innocent? Are we just supposed to let Stain kill them too and look the other way when the truth comes out?"

Damn, even he was impressed with his words. The interviewer's face turned sower. She realized she was not going to get the reaction she wanted with Oda. He was a veteran fighter when it came to the press, and he was not one to let too much out immediately. There was an intense tension between the two, but both were so well practiced in the art of masking that it was invisible to any viewer watching the TV. Their focus was unbreakable.

So both were extremely caught off guard when one of the camera crew members walked up to the stage, right next to the interviewer. The camera member leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and Oda could feel dread bubble inside of him as the interviewer flashed a quick smile that turned into carefully constructed seriousness. This wasn't good.

"We've just received the news about a new Stain attack, involving 3 UA students. 1 of them was extremely injured to the point of hospitalization, it's unclear whether or not they'll survive, and Stain–"

"Excuse me, I have to take a phone call." he firmly said, getting up and walking away as fast as possible while both the interviewer and camera stayed on top of him. He could hear her shout questions and demanding answers, though none of that bothered him. He threw open a door to a random room, he didn't know what the purpose of this room was, but there was no cameras so he considered it safe. He scrolled through his phone, immediately opening the 1000 news apps he had downloaded for the sake of his job.

Dammit.

This was bad.

He scanned through every article he could find, his heart sinking as he got more and more information.

This was really, really bad.

Would this little shit stay still for just one fucking second!?!?

Every time Bakugou tried to slam the guy into the ground, he'd just apparate a few feet away and keep sprinting like it was his last day on Earth or some shit.

The man also kept screaming, shouting, crying for god sake as they ran. And it was starting to get really annoying…

"PLEASE LET ME GO I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT!" the man whimpered, not even having the guts to turn around as he spoke, drifting across the damp concrete floor to make a right. Bakugou stopped his explosions, only for a second, letting himself glide through the air until he rounded the corner and faced perfectly in line with the coward. He drew upon the great ocean of power that had been sitting inside of him for months now, letting it wash over him like waves striking the shore. He channeled it throughout his -body, reveling in the power, in the sound and feeling of the orange lightning that crackled right above his skin. He concentrated his firepower and blasted, launching him into the air more quickly than the coward was expecting.

"COME HERE YOU BITCH!" Bakugou screamed, fury and annoyance clouding his eyes as he finally honed in on his prey. A quick "yelp" followed by the sound of metal hitting rock reverberated in the abandoned street. He had gotten a hit quick enough so that the villain didn't have time to use his quirk and teleport right before Bakugou's eyes, and had gotten himself kicked into the front of a dumpster. A few pieces of garbage flew off as the dumpster collided against the wall behind it, though it flew unnoticed. The dumpster itself turned sideways, now sitting vertically from the road.

The man groaned, trying to stand up but was clearly lacking in the physical department. The kick had taken a lot out of him, and part of the villain wanted to just sit there for all of eternity and wait for the pain to go away.

Bakugou wasted no time, taking out a pair of cuffs (all hero interns were required to carry at least 3) and roughly grabbed the dazed villain. The man seemed to snap out of whatever internal battle he had in his head and started to violently thrash, trying to get free.

"HOLD STILL YOU FUCKER!" Bakugou shouted over the man's cries and pleas, finally locking the two cuff rings on the man's arms that were pulled behind his back. He sighed as he finally let go of the man, who had been pulling and leaning forward in an effort to break away from his grasp. He felt satisfied as the coward, who had not been expecting to actually be let go, fell to the ground from how far he was leaning forward.

He roughly grabbed the villain's shirt and pushed them against the wall, getting real close to the coward's face. The man was still whimpering, and now tears were forming in his eyes. Bakugou sighed, it really didn't feel good to yell at someone who was clearly scared out of their mind, even if they deserve it.

"Look. If you cooperate, you won't get in nearly as much trouble as those other guys. Since you didn't even try to fight back against us, we could probably get you on lower charges if you cooperate with the police. But to do that, you have to stop fucking crying. Please!?!?" Bakugou said, trying to sound sympathetic. It came out as more condescending and taunting, though.

The man nodded violently, stopping his cries immediately, though you could still see the fear in his eyes.

That was as good as a response as Bakugou was going to get, so he relaxed, letting go of the man's shirt while straightening up. He rolled his shoulders, feeling them crack and pop as he stretched them. He stared at the man for a few more seconds, before sighing and finally grabbing the coward's arm, gently this time, and pulling him up. The man made no effort to resist, his jaw was clenched shut as he dared not to make a sound to annoy the hero intern any further. Bakugou rolled his eyes, dread bubbling inside of him. This was going to be a long and awkward walk back wasn't it…

Not that he couldn't handle it or anything!

He'll walk in awkward silence all night if he had to!

…

But it's not like he was going to enjoy it–

A man's scream cut the loud silence and awkwardness in an instance. It sounded really close, but honestly it could have been far since the sheer loudness of the tone made it unclear. He could tell that the person had said something, but there was so much anger laced in the yell that it only came out as a giant mess of sounds. Jeez, from the sound of it, someone was about to get seriously injured.

He cringed as another line of shouting echoed, even louder than before.

Yeah, he should probably go there.

Dealing with this shit is technically part of his future job anyways.

He started moving forward, only to remember the villain standing right next to him.

They locked eyes for a second, both completely unsure of what to do.

"Uh…" Bakugou said, trying to break the awkward air. His brain resetted while he tried to figure out what to say.

Fuck, why was he the one panicking?

This guy was the one who's in trouble, not him!

He looked around, lighting up when he saw his solution.

"Get over here." he said, leading the villain over to the dumpster that was still sitting vertically. The guy didn't resist, but he did start shaking even more. Bakugou undid one of the cuff rings, ready to slam the guy if he tried to run, but surprisingly the man did not. He looped it around the bar all dumpsters have sticking out of the front for some reason, then redid the cuff. The man was now tied to a dumpster. Perfect.

He pulled out his phone, dialing the police, ignoring how unnerving the distant yelling had started getting.

"Hello this is Musutafu's police speaking?"

He took a deep breath. He talked quickly so he could head over there as fast as possible.

"Um, hi this Bakugou Katsuki, I'm a hero intern and I just caught a villain on," he paused and looked at the end of the alley way for some kind of street sign, "Fersi St. and Oak Av. The guy is tied to a dumpster right now, could you come pick him up? Ok thanks bye!" he ~~stuttered~~he confidently finished.

"Hey wait–" the 911 operator began to speak, but was quickly shut off by the press of the end call button.

Bakugou turned to the villain, glaring at him dangerously, channeling his old middle school confidence ( ~~on second thought, maybe not that considering what happened because of it~~), pointing at him in the most threatening way he could.

"Don't. Move."

The villain gulped and just nodded slightly, his shaking somehow getting worse and had now started to vibrate the dumpster along with him. Bakugou didn't wait, he quickly summoned his orange lightning and launched himself in the direction of the screams, which were now becoming more sad and desperate than angry.

'This must be one hell of a domestic fight' he thought as he kept running to the sound. He didn't use his explosions to make him go even faster, doing so would only alert the people that someone was coming. In the meantime, he was able to pick out a few words here and there, though most of it was still a garbled mess. The fight was clearly something about someone's brother.

It took him around 30 seconds to get there, but he didn't even realize he found the fight until a couple seconds after.

It was hard to tell where the voice was coming from, so Bakugou had just resorted to running in and out of alleyways while glancing in the other direction. He almost missed it, actually. Almost. He had already started to run in the opposite direction when he turned around to look at the other alley. His eyes widened when he saw a familiar figure resting on the ground.

A white knight armored suit with a modern look to it was laying down flatly. Short, navy hair that looked black in the dead of night waved silently in the small breeze. Perfectly rectangular glasses laid broken on Iida's face. The cracks in it shined as the small light of the moon seeped through.

But there was another person, a giant figure standing on top of him with a foot planted on Iida's back. Beige and red cloth swirled behind him, their cut edges making it flow awkwardly in the wind. Knives, so many knives, gleamed all across the man's body. Spikes were implanted on the mostly black body armor, and there were bloody bandages wrapped around his arms.

But what ~~scared~~what caught Bakugou's attention was his swords. Serrated edges, clearly for cutting through flesh and inflicting the most damage possible.

Swords pointing downwards.

Swords pointing directly for Iida's head.

He didn't even have time to tell himself to turn around, his body already did it the moment he saw them.

He pivoted on his left foot, launching himself and blasting off the wall with his right. His orange lightning crackled even louder in response, and a hint of pink streaks could be seen on his arm. It all lead up to one powerful, monstrous right hook to the giant man's face.

Surprisingly, the man didn't fall, only skidding down the road a bit, his face turned as he was still reeling from the force of the punch. Apparently, the man could take a punch at 5%. That probably wasn't a good sign.

Bakugou landed with a solid thud, never taking his eyes off the stranger. Though, that didn't mean he couldn't yell at the loser behind him.

"GLASSES, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?"

He wasn't dense, something really important was happening here. And Mr. Stabby probably wasn't going to tell him what.

"B-Bakugou!?" Iida shouted, with genuine surprise. "What are you–"

"Kid no!" a third voice called out. Bakugou only spared a glance, he didn't want to take his eyes off the giant man for long. There was a woman wearing a sleeveless, black dress that wrapped around her body like a blanket. She had golden arm bracers with what looked like test vials sticking out of them, and golden boots that stopped just above her knee. A golden theatre mask laid right beside her, and she herself was curled up against the wall, staring at Bakugou with a look of pure fear. She had bright orange hair and green eyes, a rare mix of pigment to say the least.

If Bakugou had to guess, she was probably a hero. Or a random cosplayer. Or maybe a vigilante–

"That's Stain kid! You need to leave now! Take that kid with you too! Don't worry about me!"

The stranger, Stain, still 15 feet away from them, growled. "Stop trying to act like a selfless hero now. It's already too late."

The woman whimpered as she fell silent, but her words made Bakugou freeze. His mind was racing as he tried to fully understand the depth of his situation. He went into a silent ~~panic~~into a silent ~~breakdown~~… into a silent… a silent… fuck.

Seriously, wake the fuck up! He couldn't afford to spiral right now!

This was Stain.

THE Stain right in front of him.

THE STAIN WHO'S KILLED OVER 68 FUCKING HEROES!

Focus.

What are his options?

He couldn't leave, not with this random bitch and car parts behind him. It wasn't possible to carry both. He thought back to the news, fuck why did he never pay attention to the news? He knew they had talked about Stain and his details once the Commission released them to the public. They talked about his quirk, he remembered the scene clearly. What was his quirk what was his quirk what was his quirk–

"And who are you supposed to be?" Stain said, his dark voice sending shivers down his spine.

Bakugou cringed, trying to shake his ~~nervousness~~his uncomfortableness out of his system.

"Bakugou Katsuki."

He said it slowly to stall for time as he tried to think of anything that could help him.

He didn't know whether to prepare himself or to relax when the Stain's eyes lit up. He readied himself for a fight regardless.

Then the man started to laugh. "Ah, so you're the one Shigaraki has been so angry with. I have to say, you're a lot less menacing than you were in those photos. Back then, you looked like you were about to strangle someone."

Bakugou's brain did a reset when he heard those words.

There was too much in that sentence.

Shigaraki.

Photos.

Him looking passive right now?

He shook his head.

Not now.

Focus.

"You know, Shigaraki tried to spin you to make me believe that you were one of those fakes," he snarled that word, "that infest this society. He is really, really angry with you, you know. Unfortunately for him, I'm not a mercenary. I'll decide whether or not I want you to die."

"Not going to happen." Bakugou said, firmly. He wasn't going to let himself die here, or the two others laying on the ground next to them. Although, he'd have a much better chance of surviving if he could remember this guy's fucking quirk–

"Bakugou, why?" Iida cut in, clearly agitated at Bakugou's newfound presence. He mumbled his words, though it was a lot more similar to a dog growling.

Bakugou spared a glance before quickly turning back to Stain.

"This has nothing to do with you. I'm the one who, I'm the one who has to kill him! He hurt everyone, and no one is doing anything about it. So I'm the one who…" Iida trailed off.

Bakugou didn't move, just silently staring in front of him. He knew why Iida was here, again, he wasn't blind. Iida had been a lot quieter and less annoying to Bakugou after Ingenium was attacked. Their suits were very similar too. They were probably family. He couldn't completely blame Iida for what he was trying to do too.

Not that he wasn't in the wrong.

But still, did he have any right to judge Iida right now?

What the hell was he supposed to say to him?

"Just so you know, if we clash, the weaker will be culled." Stain added, with no hint of sympathy or pity in his eyes.

Bakugou swallowed. This was going to be different than every other fight he's ever been in. He was going up against a dedicated killer.

One that wouldn't hesitate to slit his throat.

"Iida."

He didn't know if the usually well-mannered boy was listening to him or not, but he continued anyway.

"I'm going to yell so many curse words at you when this is over, but for now I'll just say this."

He brought up his hands, his right slightly forward and ready to block while his left was tucked in to let out a punch.

"Getting involved in shit that has nothing to do with you is what heroes are supposed to do. At least that's what All Might says." he announced in full confidence as he glared at Stain, trying to match the man's bloodlust. "But then again, that man's number 1 for a reason, so his words are probably right."

He didn't falter when Stain made a wide grin, lowering himself and ready to pounce.

"So if you want everyone here to make it out alive, then you better tell me what the fuck this guy's quirk is because I cannot for the life of me remember."

He didn't realize how awkward he sounded, just focusing on his charge into the inevitable battle before him. Stain didn't hesitate, bringing his own swords behind him, ready to swing them forward with an unbelievable amount of strength.

Iida didn't say anything, but the probably-a-hero woman spoke up.

"Don't let him cut you! If he licks your blood you'll become frozen!"

Bakugou didn't reply, instead focusing on the man before him. The man's arms were slightly elevated, he was going to swing both of those swords down onto Bakugou. So he jumped backwards, lightning crackling at the sudden motion, letting the man come to him instead of trying to force his way into the range of the swords. The man missed his downward x-slash, now leaping forward to try and side slash him. He let out an explosion inches away from the man's face, not enough for damage, but enough to blind him for a moment. A second was all Bakugou needed, as he took the moment to let out 2 large explosion directly at the man's chest. He was pushed back from the force of his own explosions, flipping in the air as he landed on all fours, Stain stumbling backwards as well. Though, much to Bakugou's dismay, he still didn't fall.

The man chuckled with the same tone as if this was all some sort of sick game to him. He was breathing heavily, Bakugou had just knocked the wind out of him after all.

"So looks like Shigaraki was wrong about you. You are strong. I can tell just by that."

He twirled his swords around as he slowly caught his breath.

"Not many who haven't faced real combat could land a hit against me so easily. Even your little killer friend had a hard time keeping up with me, and he's probably one of the most adept fighters out there."

Bakugou narrowed his eyes. 'Little killer friend?' The fuck does that mean?

"Although, you do seem to be a little bit on the dull side," Bakugou growled at the snide remark, "since you haven't realized the most important part here."

He pointed at the woman in black and gold with his sword, pointedly not looking at her. "You can't guard two people at once."

Bakugou took only a moment to glance at the woman, though he thanked the stars when he did. In that small instance, he saw her finger twitch. That must mean Stain's quirk is wearing off.

He did his best to hide his hope from Stain, though he did tilt his head to keep the woman in his peripheral vision.

"Of course I fucking thought of that. But I don't think you'd let me just carry her over to Glasses without attacking me. Besides, I have a quirk that boosts my speed, and you don't. I can switch between the two a lot faster than you."

Stain only smiled – god he wished the man would stop doing that – his deep voice piercing through what was supposed to be a peaceful night.

"You know your strengths well, don't you?"

He cringed. He didn't really know how to feel about getting complimented by a serial killer.

"Tell me, why do you want to become a hero? Someone as violent and vulgar as you seems hardly like a good candidate. Yet you say the right words."

Bakugou froze, but not in the way he usually did.

He wasn't dissociating persay, though a large part of his attention seaped into the back of his mind.

…why does he want to be a hero?

Images flashed through his mind like a slideshow: birthday parties, action figures, playing in the old creek that only they knew how to get to.

'Let's be hero partners when we grow up, Kacchan!'

'We'll be the best pair of heroes the world has ever seen!'

'I'm… I'm quirkless Kacchan…'

'Can't I still be your partner?'

'Please stop, it hurts!'

'You can't go around and pick on people like that!'

'That's a mean thing to say, Kacchan!'

'I… I can still be a hero Kacchan. I just know it…'

'Spider lilies, really?'

'… would that make you happy, Kacchan?'

He blinked. He took a deep breath while twirling his hands, feeling his wrists pop and stretch.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt."

It was the honest truth, technically.

He didn't want anyone to get hurt anymore.

Not strangers, not his family, not his friends.

He just didn't finish the sentence.

What he actually wanted to say was that he didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him.

He just didn't think the silent part of that sentence was the right thing to say at the moment.

His restraint proved to be in his benefit, at least he hoped so, since another smile creeped onto Stain's face. Red eyes met red. 2 very violent people but were worlds apart when it came to experience and morals.

"You don't want anyone to get hurt? Interesting goal." Stain said, slowly walking forward, Bakugou took a step back, just in case he needed to launch himself.

"But I'm afraid what you're doing right now is the opposite. These 2 fakes are only going to act on selfishness. They are not true heroes, and therefore will do more harm than good." He pointed at the heroine, still not taking a moment to look at her. "That is Merge. A hero who recently just left a family to die in a burning building because she was too cowardly to charge in." he said with pure disgust.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE! I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE IN THERE!" the woman shouted, though she paused once she realized her current state. She had lifted herself up from the ground. Her arms were back under her control. And Stain still hadn't noticed.

He had to resist the urge to smile and look away from Stain's bloodshot eyes.

"Do you honestly think that a 'hero' as useless and immoral like that won't hurt anyone?" the giant man asked.

Bakugou blinked, lowering his stance and ready to pounce. Stain immediately recognized the fighting stance, and began to prepare himself as well.

"I mean, I wouldn't call her useless…" he trailed off, grinning as he watched Merge slowly come out of her paralytic state.

He knew that he wouldn't be able to fend off Stain for in a 1v1 for long, even he had limits after all. But a 2v1 is a different story…

He stayed still, ready to let loose on the serial killer the moment Merge landed her surprise attack. He watched her stand, the shaking in her legs ceasing as she pushed herself off the wall. He saw her knees bend, clearly she was about to start running. He prepared himself in every, single, moment.

And yet nothing could have prepared him enough for Merge bolting out of the alley in the opposite direction of the 2 hero hopefuls like it was her last day on Earth.

His jaw dropped as he focused his vision completely on her now. Stain noticed his change of mood, and turned around to witness the pathetic excuse of a hero running the fuck out of there.

…

… great.

Just his luck.

There was a dedicated silence that rang through everyone's mind, mostly as everyone tried to comprehend what just happened.

Bakugou… Bakugou was shocked to say the least. Like, he knew some heroes weren't 100% good, ~~he was a good example of that,~~but seriously? What was with him and cowardly people today!?

It was just…

Just… wow.

Fuck.

Shit.

There were no words to describe what he was feeling.

It was like he lost the ability to speak.

But Stain, Stain started laughing. It was the most empty and pathetic excuse of a laugh Bakugou had ever heard, but a laugh nonetheless. His vision snapped back to Stain, though he was still in a state of shock and dissociation.

"SEE!" Stain laughed, pulling his swords out from seemingly nowhere and charging straight for Bakugou. He barely dodged, it was a miracle those terrifying swords didn't cut him and end the fight right then and there. He swerved to the right, letting out a large blast aimed for Stain's side. The man dodged it, leaping back and charging for Bakugou once again.

"ALL HEROES ARE THE SAME! THEY ALL ARE COWARDS HIDING BEHIND THE ILLUSION OF KINDNESS!" he shouted, another sword swinging up to Bakugou's face. Merge had left his mind by then, the only thing he needed to worry about now was surviving.

So he dodged.

"THE ONLY ONE I'LL LET KILL ME…"

And dodged.

"IS THE TRUEST HERO…"

And dodged.

"ALL MIGHT!"

He kept trying to keep himself between Stain and Iida, but goddammit Stain was making it hard. And through every sword swing, every punch, ever knife that soared past his face, one fact became obviously clear.

Stain was holding back the first time.

But Bakugou wasn't unskilled. He knew how to hold his own, even if he was less experienced than Stain. After dodging a blade, he crouched down low to make it seem as if he was going to try and sweep the man's leg, but instead shot straight up, trying to land an uppercut. He missed, albeit barely, and Stain stumbled backwards from the loss of balance in that moment. Bakugou had brought up his left hand in anticipation, letting out an explosion that acted more as a flash. He was too far away to do any actual damage, so this was the better option. Stain, blinded for a second once again, swung his sword forward, thinking that Bakugou would do the same thing as last time and charge him from the front to take advantage of his precarious state. Instead, Bakugou grabbed Stain's side, leaping off the ground thanks to the orange lightning on his skin and dragging Stain across the building's wall, leaving a trail of dust behind them while he built distance from Iida. It only lasted for about 3 seconds, until Stain elbowed Bakugou's gut hard, like REALLY hard, enough to cause Bakugou to flinch and let go. They both fell to the floor, Stain gracefully and Bakugou like a brick dropped from the Eiffel Tower. He coughed as he struggled to stand, and Stain wasted no time preying on the already downed Bakugou. Fuck, he was going to have to use that, huh?

Orange blurred the edges of his vision, as he charged all of his power into his hands, always facing Stain as he dug his feet into the ground so that he wouldn't go flying. One for All gave him physical enhancement, but it also acted on his original quirk. So whenever he channeled 5% into his hands, his explosions would become a lot stronger too. He had only done this a couple times during practice, and hell did it hurt, but this was not the time to play safe and be afraid of a little pain.

So a giant ball of furious fire was launched at Stain, just as the man was starting to get too close for comfort. Of course, Stain dodged it, leaping back and trying again, this time to the left. Just as the explosion and the stinging pain faded, Bakugou set his eyes on the man once again, standing up fully now, ready to let out another enhanced explosion. He bit his lip, he wasn't about to give this serial killer the luxury of knowing how much pain he was in. But because of his explosion, he didn't see the knife that had glided from the killer's hand until it was already next to his arm. He moved his body just in time for the knife to graze his arm instead of impaling it, subsequently ruining his life as the flash of pain came. Fuck, this was bad. The feeling of dread and fear flooded him as his blood leaked out. It was barely the size of a paper cut, but it still marked a certain outcome that Bakugou did NOT have time to think about.

He let out the explosion he had built up anyway, he was too far into the attack to abandon it. Stain lept away once again, now charging in from the right. Wait a minute, how the hell did the guy throw the knife? Where did his sword go?

He watched Stain, watched as the man glanced up and quickly back at Bakugou again. He did the same, only to see a sword flying in the air, gleaming from the sudden spotlight of the moon. The guy tossed his sword, but why–

He felt himself being pulled forwards, the only things in his vision were a beige bandana and a smile that should never be on anyone's face. In the moment he felt as if his soul was being ripped out of his body. And the only thing he could do was berate himself for looking away. How could he be such an idiot!?

The warmness of the man's tongue on his arm made his skin crawl, it made him want to puke just from the wet sensation.

The paralyzation that came afterwards was arguably better, at least Bakugou lost all feeling in his body so that he wouldn't have to feel the absolute train wreck Stain's tongue had left on his nerves.

He couldn't appreciate that fact though, only numbness and fear clouded his mind. He couldn't feel his body fall onto the ground, he could only watch it happen.

He laid on the ground for a few seconds, shock returning for a moment in an effort to protect himself mentally.

Mental blocks can't last forever, though.

No, no, no.

No no no no no no no.

No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-

"You're not strong enough."

That deep voice emptied Bakugou's mind once again, only to be filled wtith dread.

"You mauever well, you're obviously quite skilled and you move in a way to restrict your opponent's movements, giving them less options. It's just that you don't have enough fire power. Ironic, isn't?" Bakugou could only stare at the sword Stain dragged on the ground, leaving small sparks as it collided against the road as the man walked away. "In any case, you're worth letting live."

Then the worst happened.

Stain started walking to Iida.

No-no-no-no-no-

"STOP IT YOU BASTARD!"

Every step felt like a tidal wave crashing through his hope.

He wanted to move, to attack, to fight, to do something.

And yet his body refused to respond.

He could feel his heart flaring, overworking itself in a desperate attempt to force his muscles to contract.

But nothing happened.

And all he could do was scream.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM YOU BASTARD! I'M GOING TO RIP YOUR GODDAMN ARMS OFF IF YOU LAY A HAND ON HIM! FIGHT ME! OI, ARE YOU LISTENING!?"

He tried to fire off his explosions in his hands, tried to summon his orange lightning, hoping that they'd launch his limp body at Stain, and maybe even cause a miracle. But his palms remained cold, and his fears only grew.

He kept shouting, a pathetic attempt to try and feel like he was doing something worthwhile.

This can't be happening.

He wasn't about to actually watch his classmate die ~~again~~… was he?

"DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING DO IT! YOU SON OF A BITCH! I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN UNTIL THE END OF TIME! I WON'T REST UNTIL YOU'RE LOCKED IN A CAGE YOU FUCKING CUNT!"

They finally met eye to eye right as Stain reached Iida, who was just staring forward blankly, Bakugou's eyes almost glowing with the amount of rage he was feeling. Some small part of him hoped that Stain would just drop dead so he wouldn't have to see this.

But the man only smirked, his body perfectly fine.

"I look forward to it."

And with that, he thrusted his sword down.

Aimed directly for Iida's chest.

Iida's heart.

The miracle organ that had somehow evolved into existence billions of years ago.

And Bakugou could only watch as that delicate piece of work was destroyed in a single blow.

Part of him believed that this was a dream.

He had secretly talked to the back of his mind, shouting that he's 'ready to wake up now.'

Because if you spend your whole life winning at everything, it becomes hard to fathom the concept of losing.

But that illusion was shattered by the most disgusting squelching sound Bakugou had ever heard.

It was gone the moment blood came into view.

It was gone as a gaping hole was made in Iida's chest was formed.

White armor met red liquid.

Purity imperialized by anger.

Grief.

Revenge.

And even though he witnessed it all with wide, all-capturing eyes, he still questioned his reality.

Iida wasn't actually dead… right?

No, not again.

He didn't just have another classmate die right in front of his eyes.

There was no way.

There had to be a mistake.

Something was wrong.

'Hey did you hear the news? That geneless freak finally died.'

Stop.

Stop tying this back to him.

This wasn't about him right now, this was about Iida.

'Yo Aika! Remember that bet we made on how long that unevolved bitch was gonna live? Well you were right, age 12! Rest in pieces, hahaha – "

'Took him long enough. Seriously, how did it take him 12 years to figure out he wasn't wanted in this world?'

He wanted to cover his ears, block these memories from flooding in as the sea of grief grew.

But he still couldn't fucking move –

'Hey, you alright Bakugou? Don't tell you actually miss that useless bitch…'

'Hey look at the bright side! At least you won't have deal with his clinginess and crying all the fucking time.'

'Bro, why are we even holding a school assembly for him? Not like anyone's actually going to miss him. I heard his mom actually cheered when the cops came to tell her the news –'

"No."

It was a whisper, and honestly Bakugou wasn't sure if he or someone else said it. But then it came again.

"No."

He focused on the sound, anything was better than keeping his attention on Iida right now. He continued to stare at the tragic scene of Iida and blood in case Stain moved, but this time his vision adjusted to emphasize on the smaller figure behind them.

"No, no, no. What. What just. What…"

They were still whispering, but something in their voice made time stop. It could just be from the paralytic effect and Iida's limp, bleeding body stunning his mind still, but Bakugou seriously doubted it. Even Stain turned, his sword still embedded in Iida, looking a little confused.

"I… No. No… What did you… Iida. Why? No. What happ – what did you do..."

It took Bakugou a minute to fully recognize them. But once he saw the bouncy green curls, it was easy to figure out the rest.

The bush-haired kid, the one who managed to win against Bakugou in a 1v1, the strongest student Bakugou had ever met, the one who looked so much like him, was standing there.

Just standing.

Whispering to himself like a broken record that can't complete a full turn.

He couldn't see Izuku's face, it was too dark in the alley and the moon was blocked partially by the buildings. But he knew that Izuku must look broken right now. Iida and Izuku often hung out, so this scene must have been more traumatizing to him then for Bakugou.

Then it all happened too fast.

Too much movement in a second when no one had moved for the past 10.

Stain had quickly charged Izuku, abandoning his sword inside Iida to save some time, pulling out a spare knife he had from his seemingly infinite reserves.

But Izuku was still standing there, assumingly still staring at Iida, his mind too shocked to fully understand what Stain's charge meant.

"WAKE UP IDIOT! MOVE!" Bakugou shouted. He was not about to watch two of his classmates die in front of him in less than 5 minutes, especially when Izuku looked so much like him.

He didn't know if his words had any impact on Izuku, looking back they probably didn't. But something must have happened, as Izuku pivoted to the right, pulling out his own sword that Bakugou had never even seen leave its sheath out, slamming it against Stain's second strike. It was a thin blade, clearly not meant for force and more for clean cuts. He still kept his head down, not even looking at Stain.

"I'm… I'm… you…"

Bakugou didn't even hear the words, the only clue that Izuku had even spoken was Stain loudly saying "What?"

Izuku's voice was so quiet that the man, who was less than 1 foot away, didn't even hear it.

And then Izuku looked up.

They had moved under the position of the moon's light, so Bakugou could finally see his classmate's face.

Rage.

Anger.

Fury.

Guilt.

Disgust.

And green eyes that screamed death.

Another wave of shock ran over Bakugou, he didn't know how much more he could take.

He had never seen so much hate in his life.

It looked so… strangely foreign on Izuku.

He always looked younger for his age, so it was easy to assume that he still had some childhood innocence left in him.

He certainly didn't look anything like Stain, scarred and twisted both physically and emotionally from all the battles he'd been through.

But in that moment, there were two Stains.

Izuku looked up, his eyes locked onto Stain, not even acknowledging Bakugou's existence.

He probably didn't even know Bakugou was there to begin with.

He opened his mouth, venom unleashing in copious amounts.

A yell that could be heard for miles.

A cry that could send shivers down the spines of psychopaths.

And so much anger that it could paralyze you.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!!!!!"

He didn't know what to think.

He didn't know what to do.

So all he did was lay on the ground.

Wishing that this would end.

Wishing and staring that none of this ever happened.

Watching the biggest beatdown Bakugou had ever seen.

Watching and waiting for his body to come back.

Watching and waiting…

Watching and waiting like the useless hero he is.

Chapter End Notes

Ok guys, guess how many words are in this chapter?

9500

I WROTE ALMOST 10K WORDS :D

Also, it was so hard to describe the emotions being felt in the chapter. Like, everyone was kinda feeling the same things, so i kept coming up with new ways to describe it, but i only have so much vocabulary man.

Anyways, I need to finish writing the next chapter, so if I don't finish and post it tmrw check thursday, and then friday cuz ya'll are getting 3 CHAPTERS!

Anyways, congrats. Bakugou didn't die. Iida did (or did he). Although personally I was rooting for Bakugou to get the one seriously injured, even tho im the author. I like it this way tho, it sets things up a lot better in the future. Anyways I gotta go play doors on roblox with friends, see ya tmrw probably!

Runaway Crybaby

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

His eyes stayed glued to The Man, listening to the tapping on the table right next to him, a consistent tempo that set a chilling mood. He couldn't see what was on the table, he was too short and he was sitting down on a chair. His eyes followed The Man's arm as he clearly picked up something from the table, a medium sized toolbox that he put by the edge, on the way to the door.

He straightened up once The Man turned to him, giving him that same cold stare he had known all his life. His voice was deep, rasped from previous injuries that caused a slight crackling in his voice.

"Do you know what the biggest failure of a fighter is?"

He shook his head. It wasn't like he was afraid to respond, The Man didn't punish him for wrong answers when it came to lectures, as long as emotion didn't come into play.

The Man fully turned to face him now. "It's having a weakness exploited."

He walked with a strange slowness, a strange importance, keeping his eyes on his future blade the entire time. He crouched down to meet the 5 year old kid face to face.

"If an enemy finds out your limits, that's when you become exposed. The possibilities of your defeat suddenly become possible. Which is why," he put his hand on the boy's head to make sure he was paying attention, "we have to eliminate them."

He lightly ruffled his curls, his face morphing into a scowl. The boy's heart jumped, though he didn't let himself show it. Had he done something wrong?

"I really need to cut your hair, we can't have any physical features showing when you start, right?" he said, before taking the boy's arm, who visibly sighed in relief, and leading him off of his chair. They walked with the same slowness as before, reaching the door and grabbing that toolbox in an absurdly long amount of time for such a short distance. The Man lightly pushed the door open, and the boy could immediately hear the sounds of chains being pulled and loud whimpering. He squeezed The Man's hand tighter.

"Why, don't tell me you're scared?" The Man said sarcastically while leading him inside. The room had another man who looked no more than 20 from the features present, though the boy would guess them to be around 18. They were gagged and wearing a blind fold, they had ragged clothes too, ripped and bloodied from the wounds inflicted before the boy had walked in the room, though nothing too severe. They were chained to a chair, a lightbulb hanging solemnly from the roof and putting them in a spotlight for the world to see. Tears were beginning to leak out of the bandana from the sound of the door opening.

The Man let go of the boy's hand, now walking towards the tortured victim sitting in the room. He took a moment to set down the toolbox on another table inside this new room, but didn't divert from his original path. They cried out in alarm at the sound of the footsteps, a cry for help that went unheard.

"This," The Man began, "is Julian Aryan, a Venezuelan Arabic boy with a manipulation quirk. His family fell on hard times, and his older brother turned to criminal activity as a way to cope. His parents tried to stop his brother's unruly behavior, and yet this only created animosity between the two." He paused, letting Julian's whimpering echo in the empty room. The boy stood still, trying his hardest to pay attention to The Man and not at the sad sight of a doomed man. It was easier to pretend than acknowledge this 'Julian'.

"Unfortunately for them, his brother ended up getting involved in some high stakes gang activity, and now his family has to pay for his brother's debt from all the loans he took to get buy drugs and booze. If they didn't, those loan shark gangs would have teared his whole family apart. So this saint," he hissed, grabbing Julian's face and twisting it to face him forcefully, creating a stunned and shaking Julian, "decided to help his family out by working for us. He's been using his quirk to collect some 'products' in exchange for some money."

He let go of Julian's face, who was now crying even harder, and started to circle around the kid like a shark himself. The Man's cold eyes replaced the shark's fin that penetrated the water's surface, his bloodlust equal to that of the water beast. "We've run out of uses for him, though. And he knows too much, so we can't just let him go free. But I requested for him to be brought here, he'll be a good example and practice test." He ripped off the blindfold covering Julian's human features, and both Julian and the boy flinched at the sudden movement. Bright blue eyes stared back at the boy, filled with equally blue tears streaming down Julian's face. The boy grimaced at the apparent humanity of the kid and looked down.

"Well, what do you think?" The Man said. The boy stayed silent, he knew The Man was about to say the answer anyway. A short pause filtered into the room. Then –

"Do you remember what I said about the enemy finding out your secrets?" The Man spoke, giving up on the boy's response. The boy nodded. "Well, we're about to get rid of one of those weaknesses."

He walked closer to the boy, kneeling down and cupping his hands around the boy's face. The boy looked up to match The Man's gaze.

"Do you know why heroes don't always win?" The boy blinked before shaking his head 'no'. "It's because they take out one of their options to defeat the enemy automatically. They can't do what we can, Bloodline. They can't kill." he said, in some sort of glorified tone as if he had just found the secret of the universe. The boy stayed silent. Blank. Expressionless.

"And the good villains know that, Bloodline. The smart ones play off the fact that they won't die if a hero confronts them. And if you become bound by those humanities heroes cling onto as well, then you'll become just as useless as them."

The Man let go of the boy, now walking back to Julian, who was sinking into his chair in fear. The Man slowly reached out a hand, grabbing the gag in Julian's mouth and throwing it off to the side.

Immediately, they started pleading their case.

"NO, LOOK PLEASE! I CAN STILL BE USEFUL I PROMISE! I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT PLEASE JUST DON'T KILL ME! I HAVE A FAMILY, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS WOULD DO TO THEM–!?"

"SHUT IT!" The Man replied, not listening to the desperate cries echoing in the room. Julian immediately snapped his jaw shut, not daring to say another word. The Man sighed, now turning to the boy, smiling.

"Bloodline." The boy fixed his gaze on The Man. "Kill him."

The boy's breath hitched at those words, and Julian froze too, probably in a state of shock. The boy looked apprehensively at Julian, his hands shaking slightly.

Kill?

But that's what villains do right?

He can't, he shouldn't –

"You're hesitating." The Man said. The boy flinched. In his short life, a punishment usually followed those words.

The Man walked back to the boy, taking his hand once again and leading him to Julian. "It's to be expected. Humans are pack animals, we thrive off of social interaction and the feeling of taking care of each other. It's only natural for you to hesitate. I can get rid of your emotions, but I can't get rid of your instincts."

The boy said nothing, barely listening to the words as he tried to think through The Man's initial command. They stopped at about 5 feet away from Julian, who was still staring blankly at the boy.

"Tell me, do you think he deserves to die?" The boy looked up at The Man, he could usually figure out the answer The Man wanted to hear by just observing his eyes. This time, though? He was lost. He didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth and closed it, furrowing his eyebrows and repeating the motions. In the end, silence remained.

"A difficult question, isn't it?" The Man began. "On one hand, he helped traffic probably a hundred kids into the hands of abusive people, but on the other hand, he was just trying to help his family survive. Does he really deserve to die, just because he wanted to live?" He knelt down to the right of the boy, looking up at Julian at the exact same angle the boy was. It was almost as if The Man was trying to study Julian from the boy's perspective.

He was a fool to think that.

The only perspective that mattered was The Man's.

"Or maybe…"

Whoosh.

The sound of the wind from how suddenly The Man sprung up and clasped Julian's throat made the boy flinch back fiercely. The poor kid started choking, thrashing violently in his chair to try and loosen The Man's unrelenting grip. The boy took another step back from the violent scene, for fear of accidentally getting kicked by Julian's panicked state.

"…he needs to suffer for his unforgivable crimes!?" The Man laughed, squeezing harder on Julian's throat. Rasped breathing and coughing reverberated in the room. He started to look pale, his thrashing had started to weaken, and his body was going limp. After a few more seconds, The Man let go, and Julian immediately lurked forward in his seat, gasping and coughing for air.

He only gave Julian about a few more seconds of freedom before landing a punch straight into his chest, stressing out his already overworked lungs even more. The smile on his face was bone-chilling as he went in for another.

And another.

And another.

Punching kicking screaming crying.

His arm should have been growing tired by now, yet it only became stronger.

The motion was easy, maybe that had something to do with it.

Pull his elbow back.

Then release.

Over and over again.

Make them suffer.

For their 'unforgivable crimes'.

He's the one who has to do it.

The toolbox.

He's been doing it all his life, what's one more minute?

The bad instruments were in the toolbox, the ones that hurt others.

The ones that had cut and bludgeone the flesh of humans in the past, ones that never saw the light of day again,

They didn't falter, serving their purpose to the utmost perfection in the hands of The Man.

They didn't stop moving, gliding across the skin.

So he kept going.

Elbow back.

Then release.

Over and over again.

Why won't The Man stop?

He didn't hesitate.

Hasn't he done enough?

He kept pushing through every single thought that gave him doubt.

This is wrong.

Pushing through the tears he shedded over the victim.

Bright blue tears mixed with dark red, bathing the sinner in his own tainted fluids.

Over the people that get hurt because of him.

This was his fault, if you think about it.

Julian wouldn't be here if the boy didn't need a 'practice dummy'.

Julian would have been able to die a much easier death if the boy wasn't born.

And those thoughts… stirred something inside of him.

God, wasn't he pathetic?

What was this… sensation?

Why was he crying?

Why was his face suddenly wet?

This felt good.

This felt wrong.

This was deserved.

No one should go through this.

Why was he even considering stopping?

Stain needed to die.

Even death was better than this. At least you stop feeling pain when you die.

'It was only right,' those familiar sensations screamed, the fire of hatred burning even brighter than ever before.

Was he… feeling? But he wasn't supposed to have emotions! How he 'feels' doesn't matter. Right and wrong doesn't matter.

… right?

Of course it does!

And this was him being right.

This was him being good right now.

Stain took something important from him.

He needs to pay for that.

No one messes with Izuku's perfect life and gets away with it.

And Stain has taken how many lives by now!?

It was only right that his life was taken away too!

So stop f̱̳̃̕ư̹̳̾c̘̉̕ͅk̨͍̹̳͛̇̈́͒į̦̗͇͐̏̔̉n͇̲͂͂g̪̙̥͗̀̀ ̛̛̝͈̖̪͆̆ć̛͈̪̺̻̉̆̕ͅr̬̪̙͌̓͌͡ͅy̩̜̺̅̃̈́͘ͅí̗̬̪̥͐͋̐ṅ̫g̨̢̩̦̦̈́͒̉̃̓!͇̥̏̒͐͟

His hair was pulled, ~~god he hated that feeling~~, and his head was twisted so that he was right next to The Man's face. He felt a rough hand grab his cheek, wiping away the singular tear that had escaped from his moment of weakness, before he was dropped back onto the floor again. The Man loomed over him, an infinitely tall and powerful entity from the boy's perspective.

"How many times have I told you that you're not supposed to cry?" The Man said, sounding borderline angry now. Despite being with him for so long, the boy had never seen The Man angry at him. Only ever disappointed. And even then, his punishments were usually hell.

Imagine what the punishment would be if The Man got angry…?

But those thoughts left as his mind went blank from the most dreaded feeling washing over his conscious. The sound that caused him so much grief invaded his ears, the sound that would always lead to him banging his head against the walls of his cell in an effort to knock himself out, the sound of –

Static.

The stubborn noise that would fill his ears until he was essentially drowing in his own stimulation.

And the pain that would come after made him want to die in infinite bounds.

If pushed to the limit, sometimes he would be out for days at a time, and even then the concept of light would cause excruciating pain for the next 2 weeks after.

It was really ironic, how much suffering he went through because of it.

He had access to some of the best underground healers who could have fixed him in less than 2 seconds.

He wouldn't have had to drift in and out of consciousness for 3 to 4 days at a time if he was just brought to them.

And yet The Man seemed intent on having him writhe in the most excruciating pain.

It was part of the reason he left.

It wasn't worth living if he had to deal with that.

Looking back, it was almost hard to believe that all of that suffering came from one man.

A singular quirk.

A little piece of power that was placed in the wrong hands.

But he never really left, did he?

He had been quote on quote 'gone' for almost a year now, and yet he still had that stupid fucking static ringing in his ears every other day.

Even though he was the exact opposite of what The Man wanted now!

He had stripped Bloodline to nothing but its skeleton and rebuilt himself!

He had emotion now.

He had humanity.

He had freedom .

So why did it still pester his mind?

He could hear it now, crackling near the edges of his mind, flaring and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

For that one moment of weakness that would be his downfall.

He was taking a huge risk right now, he was still composed enough to realize that.

He was on the border of oblivion and sanity.

Lean too far on one side, and his center of gravity would shift.

And he'd fall.

Back to the place he was in one year ago.

Hungry, undeserving, a being of panic and anger, surrounded by an unrelenting storm of static.

…

He couldn't give even less than one fuck.

He had given up on consquences the moment he saw the white knight's armor covered in red.

The future didn't matter.

The present did.

All that mattered now was his anger.

All that mattered now was Iida's bleeding heart.

All that mattered now was making sure Stain was –

"…in pain." the boy whispered, as if that would be his saving grace, somehow pushing through the static that was killing his mind. The Man stayed silent, only a tilt of his head gave any indication of him hearing those words. "He's… in pain… and… you're hurting… h-him. I… I don't th-think h-he deserves this…"

Punching. Kicking. Screaming. Crying.

Not from the criminal.

But from him .

The Man sighed, kneeling down for a third time to meet the boy's eyes, who was now sitting on the ground, paralyzed, breathing heavily from his punishment, which had fortunately began to fade. "You're right Bloodline, he doesn't deserve this."

For a moment, the boy thought he was going to see sympathy for the first time in his life.

Kindness.

Good nature.

…

Ą͎̣͙̎̏̆̍͆͜l̘̠̯̖͉͂̂̓̀̾ļ̘̼̈̎͞ h͚̖̠̓̂̌̓͢e͈͖̗̺͉͌̏̂̾͡ g̥̝͉̟̬̖͛͗͂̃͌́͡ͅo̦͞t͇͕͕̼͑͆̐̽ w̝͚̍̈́̏̑͟͜a̢̼̭͓̯͗̈́̾͘͝s̰͑ t̘͓͚̟͛̍́̌͘͟h̛̲̭̰̳̎̾̃̉͟ė̙̅͢ ş̛̼̣͕̪̖̻̌̏̽̉͆̕h̢̡̺̮̪͐͛̐̀̄́͆͢͢ā̘̣̹͖̼̦̏͆͐͘̕t̝͙̋̍t̮͆ȩ̤͖̞͑̀́̇͢͞r͙̻̻͈̯͍̂̀͊̏̊͡e̡̡̻̻̥̣͊͛̈̌̾͐͢͞d̠͐ v̧̟͖̝̗̲̉̎̇̏̑͞e̩̜̦̹͔̗̗̾̀̔͗̈́͊͛ì̫l̬̒ ờ̺̭̪̭͙͋̇͑͜͞f̢̛̤̪̽͂͘͢ n̪̿ä̗̯̪́̚͠i͈̅v̖͚͓͂̆͑͗ͅȩ̛͙͍͔͖̋̐̃͆͟͞ṯ̡̡͈̑̕͞͡ÿ̺̟̥́̈̆.

The Man turned, pulling out a pistol from seemingly nowhere and aimed it directly for Julian's leg. The small explosion of the gun was loud, louder than anything the boy had ever heard, but the screams that came after were louder. He covered his ears instinctively from the noise, but it didn't really help. Julian howled in pain, jerking backwards so violently that if the chair wasn't bolted to the floor, he would've knocked himself over. And the boy could only look in horror as The Man let out a bellowed cackle of pure and utter joy, a poor immatation of what was supposed to be graceful –

Laughter.

Someone was laughing.

But who?

The air that struck his face from the tempting blade only proved how serious this fight would be for its duration. He paid no heed to it, only swinging his own to block the second sword swinging down for his neck while he used it to shift its weight. He still couldn't commit full blocks against the might of Stain's strength, so instead he chose to tilt his sword in a way that Stain's serrated edges would simply glide along the surface. His sword wasn't made to take brunt force attacks, it was to made to cut. It was a miracle that it didn't snap from the force of Stain's first attack when he arrived.

He side-stepped another side-slash, using the opportunity to commit an uppercut of his own. The large man leaned back, missing its tip before recommitting to another attack. But Izuku had let go of the sword during his first attack, now catching Stain's grip on the serrated sword swinging down on him and pulling out a knife with his other hand. Stain was bringing up both hands in order to slash, and Izuku was planning on lodging his knife into the other arm. But Stain reacted differently than he expected, instead choosing to kick Izuku back while he made some distance with the grace of a gymnast. Izuku didn't go flying, persay, though it did knock him over.

He was coughing from the air that was forced from his lungs, but none of his ribs were broken. He was in his hero suit now, which had its own armor and defenses, especially around the chest, so it was something he could push through quite easily. His sword crattled on the ground a foot away from him, he'd be able to pick it up quite easily. He threw his throwing knife at Stain, hoping to distract him and buy a few more seconds before picking up his sword once again and engaging in a flurry of sword dances. Glints of their steel was highlighted by the moon, and their fight only got faster and faster. God, he missed using a sword. It was too easy to hurt his classmates with, so he hadn't used it during his time at UA, but he wished he could.

Every time a sword collided, a high pitched screech would hit everyone's ears, warning them of the cost of this battle. It stopped soon enough, but as the fight got faster, it began blurring into one constant sound.

But even through the loud, toned sounds of metal vibrating from contact, there was something foreign in the atmosphere to be heard.

A strange sound with an indescribable emotion behind it.

… laughter.

Someone was laughing.

But who?

He gritted his teeth as Stain slammed his leg into Izuku's knee, making him buckle from the force. He took a wide stance, ready to pierce Izuku's back and raising his swords to point straight down. Blocking wasn't an option, so Izuku rolled forwards, inbetween the hero hunter's legs and turning around to face Stain, who was in the midst of breaking out of his downward motion.

There was a moment, a split second, where Izuku had to decide what to do. Stain was open, so the possibilities were infinite. He could slash the back of his knee and impair his movement, he could do a shallow cut along the man's spine and watch killer squirm from the pain.

Or he could stab the stupid son of a bitch into hell, pierce his heart from behind like he had done a million times before.

He wanted to, wanted to do it over and over again until the man begged for mercy, until enough blood was shed and drained from the waste of a human being Stain was.

But his promise, his promise rung in his ears.

The one he made the day he learned anger.

The one he made after feeling adrenaline for the first time.

He knew they were dangerous.

He knew HE was dangerous.

The promise keeps him and everyone else safe.

It was the cage for the part of him that was still trapped and couldn't leave.

Placed there for amusement.

Placed there as a last resort.

Placed there as a punishment.

If he broke it…

What then?

What would he do?

Kill Stain and then immediately kill himself?

He had based his new life solely on not being a villain.

And villains… villains kill.

So that would make Izuku a villain.

Like Bloodline.

And he can't be Bloodline anymore.

So… he shouldn't do it.

But Stain…

His anger…

Iida's life…

Was it really ok to just throw it all to waste?

Does Stain's crimes really not matter right now?

… does Iida even matter right now?

No, of course Iida mattered right now.

He was doing this for Iida to begin with, he should consider him until the end.

And what did Iida want?

… to kill Stain

So that means…

Stain needs to die.

No.

Yes.

No!

Coward.

If he did it now then what was the fucking point of leaving that cell!?

To get himself out of there, away from the static.

Liar.

He did it to better himself.

Who's lying now?

Yes, The Man's static was unbearable, but that's not the only reason!

He was selfish. Selfish by nature and would never stop being selfish. He doesn't care about people, he finds them actively annoying. He only cares about the people who he's close with. Trying to help people was a load of bullshit.

No.

He wants to help.

He doesn't want anyone to go through a fraction of what he did.

It's just… hard to care about people when you've seen them as your enemy the entire life.

Liar.

It's not a lie!

Liar.

He hates lying, and that's not a lie!

Then why is he hesitating on his this?

Why did he even consider killing Stain in the first place?

What, did he really think he could actually be any different than before?

He was a killer, that fact was burned into his nature like the fucking symbol on his right hand. It wasn't something he could walk away from.

But he had gotten better, he had learned to restrain himself. He's been in so many battles since then and he hasn't killed once.

Y̲̺̎̀es̨̱̪̯̓͂̚͡ h͈͚̤̜̓͊͝͝e̗͖̭͌̀̉ d̘̻̯̦͗̈̚͡i͋͟d̲͈̱͒̿͛͢͝ yo̗̳̳̓̎̀̄͢u̱͍̓͝ k̡̼̃̑̽ͅn͉̻̲͊̌́ö̡͎̝́̚̕w̰̠̔̅ y͓̙͉̒̽́o͍͡u̡͕͐́ dĩ̜̥̫͕̊̍̚d̲̋ s̬̜̊̍t̫̺̣̄̉̈́ọ̧̳́͆́ṕ͉̪̔̀͢ r̞̥͙̀̊̒unn̙̕í͓͍͘n̮̗̐͋͆ͅǧ̘̹͕̟̎̈͐ f̘̱̺̯̏̄̆͝r͐͜o͚̻͒̐m̻̗͕̓̓͝ t̗̀̔ͅẖ̒e͖̭͆̾ f̼̲̔̒ǔ̥̦̂c̹̘̒̅͜͡k̭̼̰̀̿̊i̦̪̐͗ng̪̙̀̊̑͟ t̟͍͗͘r͖̃u̳̐t͘͟ḥ̥̰͑̏͂͞ͅ y̡̰̏͗ou ç͎̄̊̉͢ow̖̉a̔͢ṟ͍͚̳̔̈́͋̂d̩̀ you ȋ͇̦͘d̹͘i̠͍̔͠ȏ̡̱̎t͕̪̀̄ y̯͗ȏ̯̜̃̉͟ǔ̹̲͕͖͆̓̆ ki̳͎̤͉̽̋̉͛l̳͠le̗̻̙̒̈͆d̡̟̑̈ ẗ̻̤̑h͙͆em͍̒̓͢ ǎ̞̤̻͍̏͑͝l̨̦̫̉̍͊l̪̋ y̰̽o̢̤̚͠ú͔ t̯̜̬̍͂̍o̬̊r̡͍̈͘ę̿ t̫͂h͇́e̛͚̤̕͢͞͠ͅm̳̠̔͝ ập̳̩͐͌ằ̹͎̖͘ŗ̡̛͎̉̈́t̝̻̉͒ y̙͔̝̋̃̇o̠̣̠͗́̔͜͝ů̯̥̅ h̘͚͗͠u̡̞̪̐͘͞ŗ͇̝͛̋̑t̬͙̟͌̋̚ L͙̈́yn̼͍̞͗͒̅x̨͍̍̄͑͟ –̪̱̽͝

He was better.

–At killing. Anger is a useful tool.

He was good.

At lying to himself, maybe.

But even if he wasn't he was doing good things!

He was protecting his friends!

He was trying to kill someone.

He wasn't trying to kill someone yet.

He charged with full intent to kill at the beginning.

He didn't remember that.

How convenient.

He blinked, hoping to manually reset his thoughts and restart this conversation all over again. But instead of Stain's back, all he saw was Stain's gaunt face, manic and out for blood.

He took too much time.

Stain was already attacking.

Dammit.

Steel glistened as their swords contacted in the perfect spot for the moon's light to hit, a glowing white that never faded, a great contrast to –

The lightbulb in the room that was slowly dying, flickering on and off like a candle at the last of its wax tower. It created a setting straight out of a horror movie, where blood and bruises were illuminated by the faint glow. The Man finally stopped with his 'practice,' letting Julian whimper over his traumatic injuries. A few chuckles escaping The Man as he turned back to the boy, his face wide-eyed and clearly in a frenzy.

"YOU'RE RIGHT BLOODLINE, HE DOESN'T FUCKING DESERVE THIS! NO ONE DOES! IN THE END, WE'RE ALL HUMANS WHO HAVE TO FOLLOW THE SAME FUCKING MORAL CODES AS EVERYONE ELSE!" he shouted, throwing his pistol straight at Julian, which ended up hitting the kid's chest again and bouncing off onto the floor, uselessly.

The Man turned back to the boy, a manic state forming in his mind that none could truly understand, including himself.

"BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO, BLOODLINE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO! YOU'RE THE SAME SPECIES AS US BIOLOGICALLY, SURE, BUT WE ARE NOTHING ALIKE! YOU HAVE NOTHING HOLDING YOU BACK, NO EMOTIONAL TIES TO ANY PERSON OR OBJECT. I'VE MADE SURE OF THAT!"

Punching kicking screaming crying.

S̻̭̞̤͈̘̯̣̈́̏̐̆̏̌̈̎̚͟ẗ̻̪̘̾̃a̢̼̺̬̬̹͐͛̓͛́̚b̻͔̅͞b̛̩̥͕͚̬̬̪̝̥͆͋͆̍̚͠͞͝i̦̻̮̦͕͐͆́̃̃̔͜n̟͎̙̤̒͒̂̕ g̡̢̝͍̠̘̟͙̣̱͇̲̳͋̿͗͐͛̓̂̊̃͌͌͘̚͢͠ p̩̼͍̤̻͕̲͚̩̮̰̤̝̽̌̐̑͐͊̊̏̈̅͋̀͘͢͡i̧̬̭͉͖̱̺̟̮̺̫̼̫͓͌͊̈́̍̑̍̉̊̓̂̆̉̏͞ e̡̨̠̹̯̝̘̼̐̾͛̇͋̕͢͡͠͞r̭͔̂̏č̡̧̧͉̩͍̙̞̮͕͑͗̈́́̅̇͂͆͐̚͢͢͡ĭ͕̲̙̼̞̤̻̳̂̅̅̌̈́͝͡n̢̫̝̮͚̠̲͎̗̖̜̉̌̔̈́͑́̒́̚̚̚͢͡ g̢̢̨̲̗̯̖͇̳̩̅̌́̋͋͗͆͌̅̈ s̻̘̙̗͙̋̅̈̽͗ḩ̯̱͎̯̠̙̣̞̖̾̃̓͑͑̈̂̃̍͡ o̧̙̰͗̆̇̍͟o̠͠ t̡̗̣̞̝̬̞̠̪̝͊̇̀̑̃̽͋̈̉̚͜͠į̛̠̲̠͈̼̠̪̐̋̂̿̉͐̕̚͟n̖̽̋̉͟͢g̢͕͈̖͛̌͒̕ ș̖̍́ õ̢̨̲͖̗͙̍͊̒̈́̓̒ͅb̫̱̣̟̆̾͊͑̕͢b̢̧͖̫̥̟̗̎̽͂̓̀͑̽ i͍̥̘͍͈̮̹̻͛̓̓͛̂̉̄̕n͚͉͈͍͇͕͈̪͙̓̊̅̉͆̅́̇̓͜͠g̨͔̮̬̩̥̼̬̗̠̗̖̓́͐̎͛̈́̐͐͋͛͘̚̕͜ .̯̜̹̒̕̕

The gun felt cold, smooth, unfit for his small child hands. He was shaking slightly, though he forced himself to stop once The Man grabbed his hands. The Man guided them to the correct position of the gun, slowly raising the boy's arms to the correct angle and target – Julian's head.

2 words.

2 words that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

2 words that would become the sole-embodiment of his self-hate.

2 words that were whispered in his ear, unforgiving and cold forevermore.

"Kill him."

…

This was wrong.

That doesn't matter.

Something… didn't feel right.

He shouldn't be able to feel anyway, ignore it.

He should be angry.

He should be reveling in rage right now.

He should be sinking into the darkness of his soul.

And yet, something strange was leaking out.

No, there wasn't.

Something… unfamiliar.

Stop.

He had never really learned the names to describe his feelings, so he didn't really know what it was.

Maybe… pity?

He didn't have that.

Sorrow?

It wasn't possible.

Guilt for what he was about to do?

He was emotionless.

The Man had said before that he couldn't get rid of the boy's instincts.

The Man had also said to kill him and he's not allowed to disobey him he has to die just pull the trigger he has to die–

He wanted an empty pet, in a sense.

One that would listen to him and not be held back by societal standards.

One who's instincts would follow the logic and whims of The Man.

And yet, his instinct was telling him
not
to kill Stain.

And back then, his supposedly non-existant emotions were telling him
not
to shoot Julian.

Liar liar liar liar–

This is wrong.

He shouldn't be doing this.

It doesn't matter. Nothing does. Shoot him.

This wasn't what his instincts were telling him to do.

Who cares about them?

This wasn't what the logical part of his mind was saying.

Fuck logic. The Man matters more.

He shouldn't do this.

He wanted to stop.

He wanted to walk away and find an empty room to cry in.

…

B̡̗̼̋̍̊ù̜̥̪̱̙̍̐́͆t̡̧̢̛͎͙͍̳͓̺̗͓̫͚̙̬͎̻͚̘̄͂͗̽͊̍͋́̽͒̋̀͂̐̂̀̂͘̚ͅ ţ̪̠̮͕̥͔͕̖̰̣̠͕͓̀̈́̍͗̎̌̊͌̾̀̇͛͡h͔̖͓͕̟͍̣͗͌͋̇͆̓̇̊ͅè̡̝̺̪̩̟̣͙̟̖̺̈́̌̊̂̏̀̃̎͗͟͡͞͠ͅ i̘̜̼͉̬̯̭̠̳̻̤̹̘̦̼͂̈̍̋̆̍̒̀͑̓̓̊̀̄͐̕̚͢͜ḿ̰̳͎̉͢͡͞m̧̛̫͔̲͇̦̘̞̽̎̓̓̓̚͘ȯ̼̖̟̽̋̈͜rţ̨̛̱̩̯̝͚̘͈̻̜̜͚͉͙̞͈̎̔̑̏͊̈͒̈́̎̐̂̊̌̿̋̋̃͛͘͢͟͜͞ͅà͇̜̠̜͔͎͎̾̅͊̏̅̂̋̈͜ͅl̨̡̧̛͎͉̗̻̦̗̹͖̯̗̩̲̫̊̊̆̐̊̈́̀̓̅̾̍͆̚͝͠ h̢̡̧̯̠͙̩̖͖̜͇̩̥͉͇͓̤͂͌̌̄̌́́́̎͂̀̀́͆̋͑̀̚͘͢͜͟͠à̩͍̮̭͇̰͇̽̒́̆̄̊̈̕͢͟t̩̯̫̘̲͖̜̦̣̺̤̝̣̩͂̔͗͑̾̈͛̽̕̕̕͠͡͞ę̡̧̙͓͓̺̤͍̖̭͙͉̩͓͙̰͗̓͒̒̆͌͆̑̀̉͊̈́̀̃͘͟͞͝ b͔̀͜͠u̻̗̗͓̻̫̯͚̮̬̙̦̜̒̈́͌̓̂̓̏͐̀̓̔̌̑̿̈́̚͢͟ͅr̬̱͓̦̞̲̙̟̭̀̓͗̽̏̿̌̔̈́̋͝ͅͅn͇̩̹̥̥̠̼͙͐̓̀̉̓̾̚͝i̼̫͍̥̬͚͈̦͍͑̅̿̔̽̎̄̒̓͆͒͜ͅñ͉͓̝̦̯̜͙̭͎͖̈̿̉̇͋̓͌̾͝g̨̧̧̧̢̬̼̜̪͔̥̫̜͎̻̗͚̳͙̾̌̈̈́́͐͂̍̓́̐̐̈͘̕͡͝͞͝ ỉ̡̛̬͚̼̠̯̗̱͉̮͓̦̯͙͉̮̽͌̒͋͂͒͌̈̉̑̌͛͗͟͡͝͠ͅn̥̖̖͈͓̪̠͉̺̹͈͗̽̊̐̋̑̏́͆͌͠ș̤̼̝͈̣̥̮̙͉͓̹̀͗͆̑̏͛̔̎̐́̕̕͘͜i̯̩̳͉͚̜͖͎̋̋̂̓̀̈́͑̕͟͞d̛̛̞̟͈̘̮̹͉͇̯̳͎̼̖̄̏̃̒̌̐̋̓́̅͟͜͡͞͝ẽ̛͚̩̖͉́̾̄͟͜͝ o̹̠̣͔̱̗̯͇̺̪̙̣͈̳̫̙̭̒̿̉͛̐͋͊̈́̈͆͒͌̅̾͆̓͘͘ͅḟ̨̖̰̻̍̕͠ ḩ̡̛̫̬̗͙͚͖̩̦̳͙̀̅̒̿̆̄̿̌͗̃̿̿̕͜ͅï̡̼̟̘̞̣͓͈͉̯̿̏̾͗̒̽͒̿͛̋̚͟͟͜͠m͔̜͎̟̯̖̣̮̫̽͑̀̃̇̄͒̊͡ d̢̛̦̠͇̩̟̫̼̥̲͉́̂̿̓͊͗̀̇̚̚i̡̡̘̦̯͔̯͎̠̺̦͑̏́̽͑͆̎̏̓͐͑ḑ̢̢̛͖̯̥͈̺̰̣̬̣̩̹͎̦̳̬͙̂́̔̄̓̔͐̊̅̒̾̀͛͐̍͂̂̈n̢͙͕̗͙̯͍̮͉̘͍̖̼̝̥͔̙͓̤̘̊̀̅̽̓͆͛͊͑̽̇̈́͋͛͆̇̑͟͞͠͞͞'̢̞̳̫̌̍͆́̓͟t̡̢̜̪͙͕͖̳͊͑̽̅̄͐͝͞ g̙̭̦̩̳̖̣͎͙̻̓͛͂͌͛̒̎͗͆͘i̡̡͖̹͓͙̦̩̯̜̻̬̝̞͚̱͇̐̋̈́͐́͋̊̿͂̓͂̍͐̕͘͘͠v̧͖͉͈͈̎̅̈́̂̓e a̡̧̤͎͕͕̻͎̬̥̟̘͕͆̓͗͌̓̎͋̑̆̒̇̓͘ s̝̺̫̮̮̘̱̅̀̌̓͐͑͞h͈̖͊̚ì̡̢͓̣̫͓̺̞̜͈̬̤͈̦̬͍̏͐̅͛͐̅̑̎̓̈̈́̓̄͘͘͢t̢̞̱̰͕͎͕̞̳̮̣̞̘̳̊̿͑̃̈̓̒́̽͌͑̈͑͌̇ͅ.̰͇̹͉̄̐̔͂͜͝

So he brought his sword back up, in the same motion he had done his entire life.

He focused his gaze at Julian's head, who was still looking back at him with those same pitiful, desperate eyes.

He swallowed, narrowing his eyes while his finger twitched over the trigger.

He grimaced as he looked at the face of his victim.

This was wrong.

This was wrong.

H̨̢̢̡̧̡̳̙̥̬̼̳̰̟͔̯͖̻̖͍̙͎̜̪̺̼̻̯̤̥̻̋͂̈͋̾̔͗̓̒̆̒̈́́̋̈̾̔͂̈͂͋͑̽͊͗̆͊͋͑͘͘͘̕̚͜͜͟͢͞͠ͅe̛̥͉͍̞̜͕͔̳̪̯̞͚͈̦̞̳̳̩͙̯̤̮͓̪̖̯̤̗̹̼̖̊͐͒̃͆̈́͒̾̋̇̄̓͆̍̎̍̔̑̋̾̅̀̄̉̀̄̀̔̕̕ ş̛̙̯͍̬̭̖̟͈̰̘̰͍̖͇̻͓͎͕̳̄̊̽̒͗̅̓̄̑̒͊͌̓̀͊̑̊̓͟͝͡ẖ̢̫͉̯̯͈̟͚̪̮̰̞̲͎̯̲̼͈̗̱̇̒͂̈̎̀͊͗́̅̎͂͊̈̀̐̃̋͌͛̔̚͢͜͝ȏ͟u̧̦̘̜͕͕̯͓̞̩͓̣̝͇͉̣̫̭͆̑͒̑͂̓͑͌͋̀͒̈́̂́̈͋̈́̋͆͢͟͜͡͠l̻̭̹̒̀̅ḑ̧̛̤̳͚̪̜͖̟̖̱͕͍̱͚̤̰̭͇̖̝̯͙̫̮͇͙͎̫̐̓͑͐̔́̃́͌̈́̔͗̒̆͗͐̈̐̽̓̑́̍̌̕̚̚͟͜͟͝͞͡͞͞ͅň̡̢̡̧̧̘̯̙̤̲͍̩̻͉̻̜̟̥͈̰̭̻̭̪̫͍̞̙̍̋̌̀̿͒́̀̃̍͗̓̽̓̄̃̈́̃̆̆͌̓̈́̚͟͢͠͡͞͞͝'̡̨̹͖̖͍̰̯̙̗͎̟͖͉͈̲͎̣̣̮̖̲͔̇̐͌̓̀̆͐͒̀́̒͗̃̅̉̎͗̓̽̊̒̇̾̚̚̕͟͢͟͠ͅt̨͕̥̦̭̬̤̥̟̲͍͕͙̺͍̮̞̼̤̥͚̯̰͓͔̭̙͍͕̞̹̞̫̱̱̭̥̪͔́̆̂̀́̌͊̃̍̑͊̐͋̋͛̂͛͗̈́̓͂͗͛͒͛̀̇̐̏̄͋̔͑̒̚̚̚͘͟͜͟͡͝͞͝͝ͅ ḏ̨̡̧̛̛̛̯̤͇̳̥͕̻̝̮͉͚̫̩͕̤͖͍̞̖͔͇̯̯̟̠̼͈̦̪̘̙̤͉̈͗̽̍̏̎͂͐͌́̆̈́̓̈͋͂̌̉͌͑̉͌̾̃̊͐̏͊͑̅̐̎͒̕̕̚͟͟͟͠o̗̕ t̯͕̦̟͇̺̮̯͍̞̦̠̘̦̓͊̑̉̐͑͛̌̿͛͂̾͠͡h̢̨͍̻̞̝̗͉̻͖̳͓̤̬̣͍͕̮̲̦̲̫̹̹͙̫̤̭͎̮̫̩͈̬̟̯̪͆͌̿̍̔̅̍̾̾̋̔͒̅͑̉̆̂͑̆̓̂̑͂̇̃̾̊͊̉̒̂̽̏͘̚͜͢͢͟͢͡͠͡͡͝͠͝î̡̧̢̧̳̹̮̤͙̹͙͓̬͚̯̖̬̣̦͖̺͓̮̭̠̲͍̪̄͆̇̓̔̎͂́̏͑̓̋̂̽̑̉̐̌̏͂̂̍̀̽̉̇̀͜͜͟͞͠͡ṡ̨̡͖̣͎̜̣̹͌̀̎̒̿̉̔͂̏́͢ͅͅ.̡̧̛̖̼̰̭͖̹̤̮̙̱̪͔͖̘̗̯̝̜͎̜̯͌͑̑͆͂͂͗̒̎̅͊̾͐̋̊͛͌̈͐̕͢͞͞͠

…

Bang.

Whoosh.

He wanted to say he was sorry.

But that would be a lie.

And Izuku hated lying.

Though not as much as he hated Stain.

Dark scarlet liquid joy started leaking out of a bullet wound of a head.

Thick velvet grace slowly spilled out of the gapping hole now made in Stain's side.

On his fist.

On his face.

On the knife that he had thrown before, his experiment that he drained his blood into so that he'd be able to control it when he wanted to.

The one Stain merely blocked and moved on from.

He was the first one to land a hit.

He was the one who saw the blood first.

… he won.

But that buzzing sensation that he would always run towards, the one he always relied on to do his bidding, the only constant in his life that he could fully trust –

…
betrayed him in that instant.

Blood started to return to the head of what was formerly Julian.

Blood started to seep back inside of his enemy, though his own body stayed covered in blood and red.

…well that was certainly new.

Wasn't that a bit entertaining?

His own quirk, instead of fixing his own issues, was trying to save the very same person he was trying to kill!

Another little paradox to tease at!

…

Laughter.

Someone was laughing.

But who?

…

Him.

It started as a little giggle.

He didn't even realize he was laughing until it started to get louder.

Loud enough to outshine the static bludgeoning his mind's defenses.

He honestly didn't know why he was laughing.

He expected himself to stop.

He had no reason to laugh.

None of this, nothing about this was funny.

…

And yet it continued.

A hand grabbed his arm, locking him into a tight position where he was forced to look directly at Stain's eyes.

Red.

Dark burgundy red.

Burning with an unbelievable amount of passion.

Seething in an incredible amount of bloodlust.

Oh, this man wanted him dead.

…

Good.

That just makes this easier on his conscious than it already is.

…so he kept going.

Punching kicking screaming crying.

S͓͇̰̦͔̦͙͒͑͂̑̎͝͠t͎͙̎̋͌ͅą̛̬̿b̯̬̙̲͖̭̅̎̍͆̔̅ḅ̱̬̭͉̘̲̪͎̍̌͛̄͊̌̌̊̓̃͜ï̪̞͌ń̡̧̺͇͚͐͗̅̿g͓͍͔̫̼͖̟̦̰̀̏̂̎̉͒̿̾͡ ͈͔̲̰̯͇̱͕̆̈̐̄̂̋͒̉̕̚͜͜p̮̱͈̫̞͖͐͐̊͑́͂i̢̛͕͇̦͈̰̘̔͒̇̿̋̎͡ͅer̰̪̜͎̔̔͂͞c̤̳͂̓i̡̢̧̛̦͔̙͈͉̟͆̽̐͛͑̏̌͘͜͠ǹ̥̫̮̻͇̿̑͘͝g̛̰̬͉͍̽̂̎̌͜ ̻͎͖͙̱̗͋̈́̑́̈́̐̈́͌͌͢͢ͅş̡̞̀̃̈͘͘͟͟ho̪͖̯͋̈́̿o̧̼̤͎͕͚̣̙͈̤̊̎̉̇͂̓̉̕͝͠ṯ̫̦̈́̂̾̒͜͟͝i̢̡̹͖̤̺̠͓̮͆̅͛̒͛̓̒̒͠ṉ̛̲̺̗̩̎̈́͆̌͘͢͟͞g̫̋ s͍̥͖͕͂̓͑̎͢͝ơ̹̭͘ḃ̛̞͍͇͗ḃ͟ĩ̢̤̮̫̗̞̘̜̱͋̓̔̿͑͗̉̆̚͜n͚̰̗̩͛́̌̐͜͢͝͡g͎͡ ̨̹̯̻̙̠͕̞͂̑̏̏̏̽̂͟͠͞–̹̱͉͇̬̊̌̈́͛̈́

He was like a record now.

Except instead of sobs, only laughter could be heard.

The blood coated his arms, and everytime he tried to grab or punch, there would be a slippery feel.

He couldn't land a fully solid punch anymore, though that didn't deter him from trying again.

And again.

And again .

Why the hell did this feel so fucking good ?

This was… nothing he's ever felt before.

It was close to adrenaline.

It was close to flying.

And it was close to satisfaction.

But not quite the same.

It was close but it was still… different.

New.

He didn't know how to feel about… new.

And honestly, was it actually new?

He could recognize some of the traits.

Anger was the main one.

And his anger was being let out to let satisfaction in.

That wasn't anything he hadn't discovered before.

…

But he's never felt anything to this degree.

It was all so strangely… freeing.

Like his rage was being put to use.

A satisfaction of being used, almost like his quirk, if it would stop disobeying him.

The flame consuming him now had an outlet to release its smoke.

And every sight of newly cut skin made him feel slightly better.

Slightly more satisfied.

Slightly more… happy.

…

Ah.

He understood now.

He understood why The Man always laughed when it came to hurting others.

He would laugh too if he felt like this every single time.

…

Wow, he really wasn't prepared when he stepped into this alley, was he?

When he was running here, he knew that in a couple seconds, something was coming.

He was prepared to feel his heartbeat change and the thoughts swirling in his head to suddenly jerk in a different direction.

He thought that since he knew what was about to happen to him, it would lessen the blow.

As if anticipation could somehow make the bad things go away.

…

And then the world stopped spinning.

…

Red.

Scarlet, dark red.

A bold color that wasn't afraid to show itself to the world.

Oh, how much he loved that color.

And it was all around him now.

Wasn't that just the greatest?

His lucky day!

There was almost enough blood now to equate to Izuku's hate .

To the amount of destruction he wanted to cause.

No, that he needed to cause.

If not Stain, then where the hell was he supposed to put this anger?

Someone needed to be his outlet.

If Stain wasn't, well, then prepare.

Because people will die.

It wasn't a question, it was a fact.

Good ones, bad ones, it didn't matter.

All were equal under Izuku's wrath.

And all were destined to die.

So this way, only one person had to die!

And it wasn't like Stain didn't deserve it!

He was a murderer after all, he chose his path knowing the consequences that follow it.

So… he might as well enjoy it.

Laughter.

His laughter.

A manic cackling with a broken tone that would crack every now and again.

It wasn't a perfect laugh, though that was probably what made the beauty of it.

He didn't have the mental strength to analyze it, nor did he have time to.

He didn't have enough attention to divert away from the sinner in front of him.

Punch. Kick. Scream. Cry.

Elbow back.

Then release.

Over and over again.

Make hjm suffer.

For his 'unforgivable crimes'.

But there were no thoughts of doubt anymore.

There were no hidden tears behind a mask of void.

And there was no hesitation.

There was only a smile.

A wide grin of cruelty and revenge.

One that was capable of horrendous things.

It didn't matter, though.

Morals, right and wrongs, ethics.

Who cares!?

None of it matters.

Not after what Iida's been through.

Not after what IZUKU'S been through.

Yes.

Izuku.

That's his name.

Not Bloodline.

His first, real name.

He was Izuku.

He was human.

He was alive.

He was free.

He was –

"STOP GODDAMIT! IZUKU! FUCKING STOP!"

He blinked, frozen still as everything in his vision became alarmingly clear yet suddenly blurry at the same time. His body felt numb, he was cold – why was he cold, where was his jacket? Oh, he was wearing it… but then why was he cold? He could just barely tell that there was someone clasping his arm, the only sensation being pressure instead of touch. Who was touching him? Why were they –

"Hey, hey. Are you there? Hurry up and stand, get off of him I need to see the – oh my god. I… what the fuck… you – fucking hell what did you do? What the fuck did you do!?"

He blinked, snapping his head around so that he could face the bitch who dared to ruin his… his… what was he doing again?

His vision snapped into focus, causing a flare of pain to reach his eyes at the sudden clarity. He blinked again, trying to ignore it in favor of his surroundings. He saw a black and orange glove gripped onto his arm, an arm that was currently reeled back and shaking from how tight his muscles were. His fist was drenched in blood, physically dripping into such familiar large puddles that Izuku hadn't seen in a long time. Though he didn't look elsewhere, he could briefly tell the rest of his body was covered in blood too. There were certain parts that felt warm and wet, sticky and heavy, where his quirk buzzed and thrived off the sensation. It was a feeling he could recognize in his sleep. Was it his? How was that even possible? His quirk hadn't found any bleeding on his arm, or anywhere on his body in fact. And with this much blood, he should be passed out by now, maybe even dead.

He blinked again, his focus now looking for a face. Blond spiky hair and copper crimson eyes came into view. Wait, why was he here? Something… something about screaming? That's right, he was running before this, towards the sound of –

"Bakugou?" he said weakly, still hazy and dazed from… from… whatever the hell just happened. He was kneeling, there was something under him but he didn't care enough to look right now.

"I… what? I don't… understand…" he mumbled.

Bakugou flinched back at Izuku's sudden ability to speak, but managed to recover quickly enough that Izuku couldn't tell through his dizziness. He started to try and pull Izuku to his feet.

"Ok, let's just… shit. Fuck. FUCK! I – Stain, what the fuck. Why the fuck didn't they teach us how to deal with this in class? What the fuck am I supposed to do? I… treat wounds. That sounds right. I, ok Izuku, you're dissociating right now so I'm going to need you to stand away from Stain while I – cops? Yes! Finally some luck! HEY, WE'RE OVER HERE!" he began to shout for some unknown reason, as he shifted Izuku's limp weight onto his own body. Izuku cringed at the sudden loud noises, wanting to crawl away and just wrap himself in vivid silence.

Wait a minute, there were police sirens in the distance. Who called the police? Did Bakugou do it? Is that who he was yelling for? He was sort of being dragged like a ragdoll by Bakugou, away from whatever mess laid behind them and forcefully moved forwards while Bakugou continued to yell. They made it about 6 steps before Bakugou suddenly stopped. Izuku's head lolled from the recoil, but he gathered the strength to look up. He wanted to crawl out of his skin when he saw how angry Bakugou had become all of a sudden. Did he do that? Did he do something to make him upset –?

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE BITCH!?"

Izuku forwards. A woman with flaming hair and golden armor accents poking out of her black dress stood there, a bit shocked and staring at Bakugou as if he were a giant minnow out of water. But her eyes shifted, more to look behind the pair then at them. Izuku narrowed his eyes. Why was she looking there? What happened?

He started to try and turn around, but Bakugou stopped him.

"NO! No, do not fucking look behind you, do you understand!? I am not about to have you go bat shit crazy again. God fucking dammit. Fuck! Hey bitch, if you want to finally be useful for once you'd check if car parts is still alive! He was coughing and shit 30 seconds ago. I think Stain missed his heart!"

'Car parts?'

Why did Bakugou sound so… scared?

Something wasn't right.

He needed to turn around.

He tried again, only to be met with the same reaction from Bakugou as he was pulled away even further. He tried to fight him, he really did, but he was just so goddamn tired for some reason. But he didn't really have to overpower Bakugou, since the student was jumping his attention left and right.

"HE'S ALIVE!" a woman's voice said, piercing through the loud sirens of the police somehow.

He could feel the large amount of air that left Bakugou as he sighed in relief, then start a hysterical giggle as the news sunk in. It wasn't a good laugh, more pained and frantic as if he was trying to cope with whatever just happened. He was too focused on the fact that… 'he' was alive that Izuku managed to loosen his grip, pushing him away and immediately whipping his head to look behind him.

He froze.

…

… falling.

He felt like he was falling.

Like the ground had been swept underneath his feet leaving him to skydive.

Down to the Earth's core where he would be cemented and incinerated into this horrible planet.

There was just too much to see.

Too much to take in.

Stain.

To be fully honest, the man looked dead.

Even more than dead.

Like he had died a thousand times.

Memories started to flood back, of the motion his arm had been doing for a minute straight before Bakugou was finally able to move and stop him from doing anything else.

Not like it really mattered if Izuku continued.

There was no coming back from this.

His face was deformed from the amount of times it was punched.

It was bruised and swelling, he couldn't see the features from the blood and abnormalty.

He briefly wondered whether or not the man was actually dead.

If he had really just broke his promise in less than a year.

In just 3 fucking minutes.

He wondered if he even cared enough to find out.

But (unfortunately) Stain's chest rose then fell, signaling the man was still breathing somehow.

His gasps for air sounded wet, a disgusting sound fitting for a disgusting sight and a horrible man.

He heard shouts of alarm from that woman's voice again. Slowly his head turned, towards the white knight armor covered in ~~red liquid joy~~ in that dreadful scarlet blood. The sword that he had watched penetrate Iida at the beginning was still there, though something had changed near the wound's sight. It was almost as if Iida's body was now attached to the sword, as little tendrils that faded from grey to Iida's skin color gripped onto it. He didn't have time to question why, just focusing on the scene before him.

The silence was the worst part, there were no breaths coming from Iida anymore.

The woman and Bakugou were freaking out, trying to take the armor off of Iida's chest in order to do first aid.

He wanted to move.

He could stop the bleeding.

It would be child's play for someone like him.

But he couldn't.

He could barely even stand, much less walk.

And what use could he possibly be right now?

He was the reason for all of this.

The reason Stain was there, deformed and even more deranged than ever before.

The reason Iida in even came here in the first place.

The reason things ended up like this.

Yes, staying away from them would be best.

Words echoed in his head, ones from the past and ones from the present.

Filled with various amount of venom for him to take and use.

"Kill him…"

"I don't care what happens to me. I'm going to kill Stain if it's the last thing I do…"

"…fucking hell what did you do? What the fuck did you do!?"

"What, did he really think he could actually be any different than before?"

"Kid."

He blinked.

White. There was so much white. It was so dark before. Where the hell was he? What happened in the alleyway?

He looked up, lifting his head from his curled position on a chair. He was hugging his knees, previously trying to clear his head before this moment. A sign telling him he was at Musutafu Hospital Center was embroidered in front of him in some modern, sleek design to try and hide the horrors that happen here. He slowly turned his head to the right, where the sound came from.

Aizawa-sensei was there, standing a few feet away from him, frozen still just as he was. His vision was still blurry from the dissociation, but he had no desire to wake himself up from it. Being numb felt nice right now, and he didn't want to deal with the panic attack he was going to have in the next few days.

He blinked, trying to get a better look at Aizawa-sensei but ultimately failing. He couldn't see the man's face clearly, so he had no idea what Aizawa-sensei was even thinking right now.

He had questions, so many questions that he couldn't ask, that he didn't want to ask, that he didn't want to solve.

But there was one, one that he knew he had to ask. That he had to look Aizawa-sensei in the eye in order to get an answer. An answer that would determine his future.

He whispered so quietly that he didn't even hear himself over the small ringing in his ears. He briefly wondered if he even said anything. He couldn't even look at Aizawa-sensei's face in order to know if the man had heard it.

"Did I kill him?"

Silence.

God, he hated the silence right now.

He used to love it, he loved being alone and independent with nothing but his own voice to drown out the world around him. He was never granted the right to speak before, even in his own cell, and it felt good to be someone who could finally be heard, especially in his own solitude.

But now?

Now it was just a step of suspense, the hallway between the doors of ignorance and truth. And fucking hell he would give anything to skip it right now.

He couldn't see the look on Aizawa-sensei's face, so he had no way of guessing the answer. He could only wait until the man finally spoke. And in the most apprehensive tone, he said –

"No. He's alive. Barely."

He didn't sigh in relief, only nodded to himself as he turned to look straight ahead of him. He could feel the numbness start to waver, that comforting blanket of relief slowly slipping from his grasp. He clutched onto it, desperate to not start breaking down in front of his teacher. He'd rather die than let a man like Aizawa Shota see him cry.

He blinked, trying to clear his mind again, trying to hide those bubbling emotions in an internal struggle invisible to the world.

He didn't want to feel right now.

Was that hypocritical of him?

Yes.

No.

Maybe?

He didn't know.

He didn't want to know.

He didn't want to know anything right now.

He gripped the cloth on his legs even harder, tucking himself into a tighter ball as if he were falling apart physically. He was trying to fit puzzle pieces that don't fit together all while under the spotlight.

But no matter what he did, one of them leaked out.

"I wish I did."

He didn't even know he had said it.

He couldn't hear himself speak those words.

The static had reached through him before, fighting with him to try and poison him against Stain.

Its crackling voice sounded like a monster from untold nightmares.

It wanted him to kill.

It wanted him to follow the example The Man had wanted him to.

God, he hated how he entertained it.

He hated how he didn't immediately ignore everything that part of him said.

He hated that he actually was weak enough to try and take comfort in it.

And he hated how it was right.

"You wished you what?" Aizawa-sensei asked.

No no no no no no no no.

Stop hating.

Stop feeling right now.

He had been doing nothing but that for the past month, and look where it got him?

The static flared at that, angry that Izuku was trying to hide his hate from it.

The internal battle going on was getting harder to hide.

A battle of desire.

Truth versus peace of mind.

Don't get him wrong, his mind wasn't being shared or anything like that.

There wasn't multiple personalities in his head.

No, just merely different ways of thinking.

A loud subconscious, if you will.

There was a side that tended to be optimistic, and found it comforting to hide in illusion.

And there was another that believed logic and selfishness is the only way to survive.

It was like the light and dark side of the moon.

In the end, it's still just a singular rock.

And in the end, they were both Izuku.

So no, the static didn't answer for him.

Izuku did.

"I wish I killed that son of a bitch with my own two hands."

He could briefly tell that Aizawa-sensei was still standing there, frozen once again.

'Leave' he thought, he begged within the conflict of his mind.

Hasn't he given the man enough to satisfy his curiousity?

Why was he still trying to investigate him?

When would he be satisfied?

When he uncovered every single detail of Izuku's life?

But finally, Aizawa-sensei walked away, not speaking another word. Or if he did, Izuku didn't hear it.

Because the static got louder, overriding the soft ringing in his ears from his dissociative state and pulling Izuku from his numbness.

He didn't want to go.

He didn't want to think.

He didn't want to feel.

He wanted, he wanted…

What did he want?

…

He wanted to die.

He wanted to be alone.

To make this overarching, stinging pain in his heart go away.

If dying would accomplish that, then he'd do it.

He was selfish, wasn't he?

Part of him thought so, clearly.

He could be selfish one more time.

A team of doctors burst through the ER door, wheeling a gurney and a random woman strapped to it, covered in her own scarlet lifeforce. Izuku didn't even flinch at the sudden sound, he was too tired to do so. His quirk didn't even buzz at the sight of it, he was that far gone in his mind.

So he sat there, lost within a radio from hell's crackling and his own thoughts, trying hard not to remember the scene he was in moments ago. He watched as Iida's family arrived, apparently he had been sitting right in front of Iida's surgery room as he refused to let the doctors and nurses examine him.

He watched as they cried tears over an uncertain death, from the hurt a member of their family has gone through. All with guilt-strucken faces, even though it was not their fault.

Wait a minute.

Iida.

Iida was put on a gurney

Iida was hurt.

Really badly.

He couldn't die before knowing if Iida made it out alive.

He was the reason Iida got stabbed in the first place.

How could he die before knowing if he had another victim?

… yeah, that works.

Just until Iida is ok.

Just a little longer.

He's suffered his whole life, what's a couple days more?

Chapter End Notes

AH I FORGOT END NOTES AGAIN!

Helloooooooooo i skipped doing physics hw in order to do this. Uh holy shit. This was so fun and so annoying to write. I love how I managed to make everything such an easy transition but like oh my god it took FOREVER to do it. I have 7 different version of this, not joking. Dude I didn't even think abt adding a blend of past Bloodline shit and present day Izuku together until like last weekend. The way I speedran writing this is crazy.

Also, I kinda said it in the story but I want to reiterate it. I'm not doing any like multiple personality disorders with this character because I honestly don't know much about that kind of stuff and I don't want to offend anyone or paint these conditions in a bad light. They already get a lot of shit for things that are just blatantly untrue and I don't want to accidentally add to that.

BUTTTTTTTTT I'm still breaking Izuku's mind. It might've been confusing while reading but I tried to be consistent to each side of him. In case you didn't figure it out, just bold text was 5 year old Izuku killing that random dude, bold and underline was like his rly loud subconscious that sounds like a mixture of The Man's static quirk cuz *trauma, bold and italics was combination of static voice and Izuku, italics was Izuku fighting Stain in a dazed state, and normal was, well, normal Izuku.

Obviously I don't expect you to like keep a fucking key and remember this shit for later chapters, but in case you wanted to reread and analyze it a bit I'm giving it to you. You guys have already seen bold text = flashback so like I feel like that isn't too hard to understand. Bold and underline is 100% staying, so ig while you read just imagine this like static crackling from a walkie talkie but SOOOOO much worse.

Actually wait speaking of static you guys finally got an explanation for it! The Man's quirk basically causes high amount of pain (aka migraines) to the target. The victim hears static for some reason (mostly cuz I think it's awesome) which leaves them in a paralyzed, very sensitive state. It lasts for about 6 hours if The Man wants it to. Activation is still a secret.

But that's it! You guys are getting 1 more chapter tmrw so I'll give you the title:

The Hate I Give (Is Really For Me)

Guess the pov. Byebye!

The Hate I Give (Is Really For Me)

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

He couldn't walk there fast enough.

Every second felt a little too long.

Every breath felt like it wasn't fast enough.

Slam.

He practically threw open the door as the two men, Tsukauchi and Nedzu turned to look at him, a little shocked by the sudden noise, though most of their surprise came from the sight of Aizawa's face. There was a dangerous fury boiling in his eyes, and his jaw was clenched so hard that his teeth must have started breaking from the pressure. His quirk was activated, though both knew it wasn't intentional. He kept blinking and it kept turning on, his hair rising and falling as it happened over and over again. His fists were curled so tightly that they had turned pale, the blood being stopped from his contracting muscles.

They both knew things were about to turn ugly the moment they laid eyes upon the beast.

"Tsukauchi. Leave. Now." Aizawa commanded, his voiced laced with venom and purified rage. It was misdirected anger, anyone could tell by just a glance, though no one wanted to test it. Tsukauchi winced at that terrifying sound, just nodding at Nedzu (one that eerily whispered "good luck") before walking quickly out of the room. He closed the door softly behind him, trying to defuse the situation even though he was leaving it. It didn't work, but at the very least, he didn't make it worse.

Nedzu had carefully reconstructed his face into a more neutral look, trying not to be overtly one emotion as to not upset Aizawa further. He knew his student, probably even more than Aizawa knew himself, and he knew how to calm his student down.

They both stared at each other, a dark unreadable genius against powerful scarlet fury. Fighting to see which one would break. Neither of them lost, but neither of them won.

"Tell me what they said."

Nedzu blinked, though his cold stare never wavered. "Who?"

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Aizawa only growled at the small games Nedzu had tried to start.

"Don't play with me Nedzu. What the fuck did they say!?" he wasn't shouting, he'd never do that to anyone except students/people who fully deserve it. But the large amount of anger laced in his voice made it hard to speak in his usual quiet, monotone manner.

Nedzu blinked again. His unreadable face remained the exact same.

"The Hero Commission doesn't want to publicize the fact that it only took 3 UA first year students to defeat Stain, something 68 heroes failed to do. They're sweeping it under the guise that Ectoplasm and a few other heroes had rushed to the scene. Our students won't face punishment, both criminal and academic, as long as they keep quiet."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say too, as Aizawa's face slowly morphed into a stunned expression, followed by unmatched rage. He slammed his fist against the wall as a way to release the surge of energy he had gotten, otherwise he would have screamed his heart out when he responded back.

"SERIOUSLY!? SO WHAT, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO SIT BACK AND PRETEND LIKE THAT LITTLE TERROR DID NOTHING!" he shouted, never breaking eye contact with his former teacher. Seems like Nedzu was one of those people who deserved to get shouted at by Aizawa, even if doing so was a blatant form of disrespect.

"THAT KID, NO, THAT THING ALMOST KILLED STAIN. I SWEAR TO GOD, WE'RE PROTECTING A GOD DAMN FUTURE MURDERER. AND THAT'S ONLY IF HE HASN'T KILLED ANYONE YET! AND TO BE HONEST, I'M WILLING TO BET HE HAS CONSIDERING HE BASICALLY BEAT A MAN TO DEATH!"

His gasps for air were strangely uniform as his mind tried to catch up with the thoughts racing through his pounding headache. He didn't care, though. He'd talk through the pain if it meant bringing his point across. He didn't want to stop yelling until every single board official he could find had heard him out.

"I'M NOT GOING TO BE TEACHING A FUTURE VILLAIN HOW TO GET STRONGER, JUST SO WE CAN STRUGGLE WHEN THAT KID FINALLY FUCKING SNAPS. THAT KID NEEDS TO BE EXPELLED AND LOCKED UP IN SOME MENTAL FACILITY, BECAUSE NO 14 YEAR OLD SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT TO ANOTHER HUMAN BEING."

Nedzu stared at him, this time unblinking and unforgiving. It made Aizawa even angrier, he wanted a reaction, an emotion, just something from his former teacher.

But he knew that was impossible. Years spent with the animal told him the only thing he'd ever get was the right answer and brutal truth.

"So what, you're giving up?" Nedzu asked, a starkly calm voice in the middle of a tense room.

Aizawa sighed, holding his hand up to his face, massaging his jaw as he still continued glaring at his teacher. He really needed to calm down.

"Yes," he said quietly, "yes I am. I told you from Day 1 that something is off about that kid, we both know there's a big chance that he's from the League, and now this? I'm not going to train someone just so they can turn around and kill someone. Besides, kid doesn't even want my help. Why the hell should I offer it?"

They both sat in silence as they thought over what they said. Aizawa stood by it, he meant every word. That brat was dangerous, probably on the brink of a psychotic breakdown, and no way in hell was he going to sacrifice his other students just to save the Hero Commission's 'oh so important public face.' How could he know that Etsuri wouldn't just kill the next person who made him slightly angry? His students were no match for that monster, he knew that for sure. They wouldn't be able to defend themselves if the brat attacked or fucking snapped.

They were all at the mercy of Etsuri Izuku, whether they wanted to be or not.

And Aizawa didn't like the fact that he was stuck as a puppet to his deranged student.

Not one bit.

"Do you know what the purpose of UA is, Aizawa-san?"

Aizawa blinked, feeling his hair fall back down as his quirk reset. It activated again, though it did nothing to Nedzu. He had a brain mutation quirk, and due to some specific things with neurons and the properties of Erasure that Aizawa didn't care to remember, it didn't work on Nedzu.

"Seriously, you're asking that of all times?"

"Just humor me."

His tone was far from any light hearted jokes, though.

Aizawa sighed still rubbing his face, eyes still locked on Nedzu's. "It's to train future heroes and make sure they don't die or kill anyone on Day 1 of the job."

"That's right. We are a hero school after all, and we've produced some of the best heroes in the country. But you're forgetting one thing."

Aizawa blinked in response, feeling his hair beat against his neck as his quirk deactivated.

"We're here to make heroes, just as much as we are here to stop villains. Including future ones."

He bit his lip. He knew where this was about to go.

"Did you seriously think that I hadn't noticed Etsuri's unstable behavior?" Nedzu paused, letting his statement sink in. " Do you think I didn't notice his erratic behavior, his mood swings, his tendency to hide what he's truly thinking? I know that, if given the circumstances, he could turn to the dark. This event just proves it even further. But that doesn't take away from the fact that he has potential. He is extraordinary at fighting, he could probably become one of the top ten if he worked hard enough. We just need to guide him to the path of good."

Aizawa paused, thinking over Nedzu's words. He sighed, now tired from all this back and forth.

"So what the hell is your plan then? How the hell are you so sure this kid isn't going to break until we can fix him? How do we know he won't hurt any of our students? Just like you said, he's unstable. He could attack us at any moment!" he said, throwing his arms up in defeat just from the thought of it. He quickly brought his arms down though, as Nedzu's gaze transformed into that all too familiar seriousness.

It brought chills down his spine. A cold empty stare that so many people had told him was the mark of genius. Moments like these were one of the few times where Nedzu truly looked like a wild animal, almost incapable of showing emotion other than selfishness.

"And how are you so sure he will break before then?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it. Then opened it and closed it again.

He wasn't sure. He knew that. ~~He knew that he was being illogical.~~But–

"It's still not worth the risk." he said, flatly. He had calmed down for the most part, though his anger could quickly return in a matter of seconds. Nedzu knew this, it's why he hadn't changed the moment from Aizawa walked in the door. Though a sigh broke his constant neutrality.

"Don't you think your letting some of your past experiences cloud your judgement? Are you sure this is about the students and their well-being?"

Anger took over in less than a second. He could feel his eyes burn as his quirk activated on instinct, his hair flying up. He could only imagine it making him seem much more pissed off than he already was.

"Are you seriously questioning my fucking integrity right now, Nedzu!? I'm only saying this BECAUSE I'm worried about my students, and you're accusing me of being selfish and arrogant!?" he growled.

Nedzu blinked, a frown finally forming on his face, as if even he didn't like what he was about to say. His eyes said sorry as his words pulled the trigger.

"Aizawa, some of your students will end up like Oboro no matter what you do. You can't make them live forever."

His whole body went frozen at the sound of that name.

Oboro.

That sweet highschool hero hopeful who would never live to see his dreams come true.

Images flashed through his head like a tape on rewind.

Blue hair. Clouds. Bright. Blue eyes. Talking. White. Bandages. Bubbles. Clouds. Foam. Pure–

"Let's make a hero agency once we graduate, Shou!"

"Since there's 3 of us, even if one of us makes a mistake, the other 2 can cover for them."

Ash. Smoke. Concrete. Silence. Blood. Red. Blue hair. Pure. Red. Empty. Gone–

His arm started to hurt, almost as if the rock that had grazed him while he was running down that fateful hallway had just cut him again. He instinctively held his right arm to cover it, unsurprised when he didn't find blood. There wasn't even a mark on his skin to preserve the history of that day. Part of him wished it had scarred, and the other half found it insanely stupid for him to even think that.

He stayed silent, they both knew that Nedzu had crossed a line. The mouse showed no signs of remorse for his actions though, only pity, which didn't make Aizawa feel any better. It was about a minute when Aizawa finally spoke.

"I know that. God knows I know that. But I'm not going to let them die so easily." he whispered.

They were still staring at each other, black meeting red. Dark vs light. 2 truly unique beings that only came into this world by nothing short of a miracle.

"And what about Etsuri?"

Aizawa blinked.

"He's still your student. Are you just going to let him die too? Are you just going to let him sink into his problems until he can't climb out?"

He stared blankly, the silence was so deafening he could hardly think. His vision had gotten blurry on the edges, he couldn't tell if it was from his irregular breathing or his anger. But then his mind went numb, and his eyes stopped flaring. He didn't even feel his hair beat against the back of his neck as it fell. He's had enough experience to realize that he was in a dissociative state, which meant there was no use continuing this conversation now.

"If it means saving 19 other lives, then yes." he bluntly said, not fully registering the extent of his words as he turned around to walk to the door. Looks like Nedzu won the staring contest, since he was the one who broke eye contact for the first time in 7 minutes. He reached out to turn the door knob, only feeling the coolness of the metal, not the actual smoothness of the knob itself. The door creaked as it opened, but it was left unheard by Aizawa. His hearing would probably be out for the next 2 hours or so, in the meantime he'd find a nice quiet place to wake himself up and drink coffee like there was no tomorrow. He couldn't afford to have a freak out right now, his student was still in surgery. And someone had to watch Etsuri.

But even though he was practically deaf, he swore he heard his former teacher mumble words that made him freeze on the spot.

"That's what you said to Oboro, and look where it got you. I won't let you make the same mistake twice, Aizawa-san."

…

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't see.

He couldn't feel.

He didn't know that he had only paused momentarily, to which his body quickly walked out the door.

He didn't know he had started walking down the halls, dodging people expertly even though he wasn't conscious.

It felt like he had teleported, he found himself right outside of the surgical room that Iida had been taken into. His family were there, softly crying. They all looked guilt-struck, as if their entire world was crashing down from the weight of their sins. Tensei looked the worst.

Etsuri was also there, but now his panic had disappeared almost entirely.

There was only a blank stare, a similar condition that Aizawa was currently experiencing right now.

Aizawa didn't sit, opting to lean against the corner of the wall, leaving enough space for the grieving family and Etsuri.

He watched him, noted every time the boy blinked or twitched, how often breathed, etc.

All he wanted to do was watch this kid all day, waiting for the kid to find his 13 th reason.

He knew he was right.

He just knew.

He didn't understand why no one was believing him.

He didn't want to either.

Even Nedzu, the most likely person to hear you out and agree with part of your argument, completely disagreed with him.

No, on second thought, he didn't want to think about his former teacher.

That man had crossed a line.

And also, thinking about him made his appearance pop into his head.

White fur with only a pink scar and two black, beady eyes as his main facial features.

He didn't want to think about white right now.

White reminded him of clouds.

Clouds that were strong enough to carry people.

Swirling around one of the best people he had ever known.

He blinked.

The hallway was white.

The hospital was white.

Everything was white.

He didn't want to see either.

He wanted to close his eyes, and maybe fucking sleep for once in his life.

He was tired, he wanted to dream, dream about the good times and pretend they were still around.

But no.

If he closed his eyes, he wouldn't be able to watch Etsuri.

He lifted his right arm to grip his left, squeezing the place where there should be a scar.

He wasn't going to let any of his kids die before they make it out of school.

It was the promise he made to himself the day he became a teacher.

Even if that meant sacrificing one of them to hell's abyss.

Chapter End Notes

Guys, I have a singular regret when it comes to the current storyline.

I wish I made Aizawa's little competition with Izuku SO much more interesting and unhealthy than it is right now. I'm going to be able to scoot around it and still get the point across but damn is it one of my main regrets.

I actually have a lot of regrets when it comes to the story. I really wish I talked about the games of the Sports Festival in far more detail, maybe in a couple different POVs to get some side character action going, but oh well. Maybe when this story is 100% complete I'll go back and redo some parts.

ANYWAY I was gonna say stuff that I forgot to say yesterday, but now I can't remember it (if I do I'll go back and edit it into the notes). So imma just talk about this one instead.

It's a really short chapter compared to the last 10k word ones (this one's around 2k) but I think it's a mellow break even if half of it's shouting. I really only have one concern with it, and that's involving Oboro into this. I don't regret it necessarily, but I do wonder, am I tying current events to character background too much?

Like, I did it with Bakugou in Ch. 30, if you don't remember I put flashbacks of different phrases implying that he had a quirkless ex-friend who killed himself in front of Bakugou i(for now). And I've done it with Aizawa and Oboro in this chapter as well.

Is it annoying or is it actually good writing? I can see both sides so I'm like so confused if what I'm doing is right.

But that's it for this month! And holy shit do I have my work cut out for me in the next like 2 chapters. The different plots rn are going to intersect, like literally every single one. All are going to mentioned at some point in the span of 2 chapters. I'm so excited but I'm also so fucking scared that imma mess it up.

But I shall persist and see you at the end of this month!

Byebye!

Not A Chapter

Sorry everyone! I am really busy for the beginning of this month and I wasnt able to get the next chapter to a point where I felt good to post it. I have a lot to do this and next week anyway so sorry D:

Semi-good news depending on how you look at it, but you'll be getting 2 chapters at the minimum at the end of december! I have also prewritten then next like 5 chapters so you might even get a max of 7. Depends on what happens tho.

Again, I am really sorry that I wasn't able to finish it. If you want some of my other work, I have another fanfic called "Eternal Hunger of A Silent Mind" which is basically AFO Izuku but my take. It's basically for when I can't write this one and I just need a change in my writing. So check it out if your interested, tho this Izuku and the one in the other fanfic is very different.

Have a good day!

When It Goes Full Circle (Like The Path of The Sun)

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Beep

It was like a metronome.

Counting down the orchestra to perfectly play the melody.

The footsteps of the doctors were the drums.

The screaming of patients were the melody.

And every few seconds, the monitor would tell its story.

Singing the song of the heart.

…

Beep

It would signal the pump to spread oxygen throughout the body.

The body that was resting on the cheap, hard pillows hospitals buy to save costs.

The body that sat motionless, filled with a 1000 different tubes doing god knows what.

The body that looked exactly like the person Izuku had learned so much from in the short span of 3 months.

The body that was Iida Tenya.

… part of Izuku thought this was a dream.

Some sick twisted illusion God had planted into his mind just to torture him even more.

But it was real.

There was no denying it, and believe him, he tried.

Tried so hard to deny it, but logic won this fight.

He hated that.

No he didn't.

…

He never actually saw Iida's body until a few hours later.

The ends of his visions were blurry, and his mind felt… numb.

He could briefly tell he was deep in a dissociation – deeper than ever before – but he didn't really care.

His dissociation stopped him from caring.

He was numb.

Emotionless.

He hated that.

He preferred it this way to be honest.

He didn't want to risk hurting anyone else.

God knows he's hurt too many people.

People who deserve it.

So his face was neutral when he saw Iida's grieving family, crying their hearts out with no end in sight.

And he stayed neutral even as he opened the door to Iida's room.

And… well –

…

It wasn't the worst thing he'd ever seen.

Izuku used to be a part-time torturer after all.

He's gutted people alive before.

He can keep a straight face to almost anything if he really tried.

But this?

This was… different.

And – he didn't really know why.

He couldn't feel – he wasn't supposed to be able to feel – so he didn't know why pure despair overwhelmed him at that moment.

And he didn't like how wide the hole inside his heart grew.

Or how the sight of Iida made him want to puke.

He hated this.

Hated feeling this.

He hated feeling.

This was supposed to be better.

Emotions were supposed to fix everything.

But they haven't.

They're making him feel even worse.

Cold, hopeless, like he was stuck falling down a bottomless pit.

Doomed to spend the rest of eternity wishing he could be happy, and then stay happy .

What was the fucking point of everything he did, everyone he killed, sacrificed, threw away if the life he wanted was just even worse!?

… it was cold.

He was cold.

And the air… hurt.

It tasted… bitter.

It was blasting into his face, attacking his eyes and trying to dry them out.

Why was it so cold?

Why.

That's a good word.

Why .

If he had the courage to use it, he could probably answer a lot of his questions.

Coward.

Agreed.

"We're here."

He jolted up, flashing lights hitting his eyes as the world suddenly shot him in the head. His breath hitched on the acidic air, his lungs froze as everything suddenly became crystal clear. That… who… what?

"Hey, you alright kid?"

He blinked.

The world was back. The world… was back. Why?

He wasn't… he was –– what?

He blinked again, this time trying to find the source of the voice. Oh, there's a police officer in front of him. He was turning around, looking at Izuku as if he was crazy –– he wasn't, he wasn't crazy, why was this guy looking at him like he was crazy?

Wait, why was there even an officer?

He just nodded, hesitating before taking his eyes off the man and looking around. He was in a car – oh, a police car. Was he being arrested? No, he doesn't have cuffs on. That wouldn't make sense if they were arresting him, they would've chained him otherwise. So – a ride? To where? When did he even –

"… you going to get out yet? Hurry up and get inside, this is a bad neighborhood you know. Your parents should move uptown. Anywhere where there's less of…" he gestured towards some broken buildings on the right, ones that get damaged so much in gang fights the city stopped fixing them completely, " that."

He glanced at the officer, making sure he wasn't a threat before looking out the window. Oh, he was home. Right, he was kicked out of the hospital and sent home by Aizawa after he ignored every officer who tried to take his testimony. And in his state of mind, he couldn't really find the words to fight back against his teacher so he just dissociatingly succumbed to his fate.

His eyes flickered back to the officer as he awkwardly tried to shuffle out of the car. The man was still staring at him like he crazy – he wasn't he was sane he was smart he knew that why did everyone think he was crazy – but he ignored it readily and just closed the door. The car was loud as it sped away from his street. It made the air taste like smoke as the carbon leaked out of its exhaust.

He didn't know how long he stood there, staring at the empty road but eventually, he relented to just going inside. The cop was right, it was a bad neighborhood. He climbed the stairs absent-mindedly, he had more important things to focus on.

Click. Normally he reveled in the sound of unlocking his own front door. Today, it stirred nothing inside of him.

Empty. His home was empty. It had been empty for more than a week now. What else was he expecting?

He creaked his bedroom door open. God, he had dreamed of this moment. He'd vividly imagined collapsing on his bed and snuggling in his blankets a thousand times over the past week. His. That was the key to all of this. This was his home, his stuff, something he owned, not just given. Property, not a privilege that can be taken away.

But there was no comfort in the sight of his bed like he expected.

Like he needed.

He stood there for god knows how long, just silently watching the toys and knives that decorated his room. The normally comforting rhythm of his heartbeat was gone. He felt dead. Destroyed. Like he had just been thrown into a junkyard with no hope of climbing out.

He blinked. Trash. That's the word. He felt like trash.

Oh, wait. He was… feeling now.

… he didn't like that.

He did.

He didn't.

He didn't want to panic right now.

He wanted it all to stop.

He didn't want to leave himself vulnerable.

His home didn't feel safe anymore.

It didn't feel like it was his right now.

It never was.

He didn't want to panic.

He didn't want to cry.

He wanted –

He wanted…

… what did he want right now?

…

… he wanted Iida to be fixed.

White walls white rooms white robes white clothes its all white its all so pure and clean where the blood is scrapped off to mask the agony ––

Beep

–– ' We managed to stop the bleeding, luckily the sword only cut his left ventricle, and we repaired any damage done to the lungs.' –

B̵̈́͜ẻ̸̪ẽ̵̹p̸̪̋

–– ' However, he lost a lot of blood. I'm afraid we'll have to do some more tests to see if there was any permanent damages done to the brain...'

B̷̲̟̰͊̀̍̅̔ḙ̶̺̮̼̪̹̉́̏͒̂̑͠ḛ̷͛̃͑̀̃̋͝p̶̧̞̟͇͖͔͔͗͊̀̌͂̿̚͠

'For now, the most you can do is pray and hope for the best…'

…

… he liked having Iida around.

He wasn't exciting, and Izuku didn't get a high off of him, but he was… caring.

Serious.

It was always funny to see him take the smallest things seriously.

But at the same time, it just showed how much he cared about everyone.

After all, if he could seriously care about the smallest rule of UA policy…

Then how much would he seriously care about someone he was attached to?

What lengths would he go to protect someone he loves?

It was… a ' nice' characteristic .

He didn't really know how to feel about being cared about yet, but it felt… nice.

But now that's gone.

Because Iida is gone.

Almost gone.

Gone.

Basically dead.

He hated that.

… he wanted the guilt to go away too.

He was so tired of feeling that stupid self-conscious aversive emotion.

He hated how it made him realize the sheer number of crimes Izuku had committed.

He hated how illogical it made him act.

He was smart, he should be b̸̡̡̼̩̯̤̊̈ĕ̶̯̥t̷̡̞̔̈̉͆̀t̶͕̏̊ȩ̷̰͓̠͌̓ȓ̸̟̯̱̎̄ , he was supposed to be the fastest, the strongest, the u̵̬͚͐͌̏̀̏n̸̗̜̔̽̑̅̄̆k̶̘̝̈́̐́̚̕i̷͔̯̍̑͒͗͝l̷̡̤̳̫̩͊ͅl̷͈̟̹̥̰͈̿a̵͈̜̲̻͛̅b̷̧̪̭̱̥̊̈̍͌̓͝l̷̨͕̺̟̳̖̓e̸͖̩̪͍̱͊̚ –

And guilt ruins that.

It was filling him to the brim, and he couldn't hold it in anymore. Weight after weight was being put on his shoulders, strapped to his chest making it hard to breathe, and he couldn't take it anymore –

His body started falling. He felt heavy, it was hard to stand. He tried leaning on the doorway but it didn't work. He just collapsed on ground, curled up in the doorframe, wrapping his arms around his chest like he was about to fall apart. God, he was so pathetic .

Where did he go wrong?

You're supposed to support your friends.

That's how this works, right?

All he did was support what Iida wanted.

That's what he's supposed to do.

He just validated Iida.

That wasn't a bad thing!

Right!?

He didn't know.

He honestly didn't know.

And he hated that.

He was smart. He was supposed to be smart. This wasn't supposed to happen. He had it under control. W̶̙͛̎h̶͖̞̯͑̃̅̍͂͝ͅę̴̖̮͖̱͎̈͑̀ń̵̯̱̪̻̪̑͌̅̕ͅ ̸̰͎̠̯̠̥̈́͑͂d̷̤̉͜ì̵̢̯͗d̷̨͔̘̣̯̫̈́͒̃̕͠ ̷̪͙̣͔̳̽̏̉̕͜͝͝i̷͕͚͙̽͑̈̐́t̵̹̙́̌͛̇͝ ̵̭͙́͘g̸̩̱̯̠̃͂e̶̗̰̟͎͙̐̉t̵̞̯̝͙̓̕ ̷̻͔͓͠ò̴̼̲̣̲͉̫̔̒͌ů̸̱̩̙̩t̴̹͙͎̎̓͝ ̸̗͈̪̀͂̐ơ̷̤͉̩̒͂̿͘f̴̝͑̂͛̒ ̷̞̺̗̯̜͓̋̿ḧ̴̘͝i̸̛̪͛͊͛̓s̴̜̾͒̕̕ ̵̧̛̪͍̲̒c̷̥̙̰̈ǫ̷̝̺̱͕́́̈͊̿͝ṅ̷͍̭͕̱̰͍̆̀̓̇̀ť̷̛͕͓̘̬͔̞̽̽͆r̶̭̐͂o̸͚̼̱̐ļ̸̙̮̌̐̏͊͗͝ –

Iida was mad at him before. Why was he mad? He was just thinking about Stain logically. He just understood the man. It didn't mean he didn't hate him. It didn't mean he betrayed Iida. So why was Iida mad? What did he do wrong?

… his face was wet. He was crying. God he was such a baby. Such a waste of air that contradicted himself every chance he got –

He put his hands to his face, like he was trying to shove the tears back into his eyes. He didn't want to cry. He didn't deserve to cry. He failed. Broke his promise and Iida's heart. Literally. And failure meant pain. Punishment. Some type of suffering to make up for it. It was the rule back then and it's the same now. He deserved to feel like this. Guilty beyond the point of sanity. But he's not insane. He's not crazy. He's not – no, it doesn't matter. He doesn't matter right now. Iida does.

He looked up, surprised when the world didn't spin at the sudden motion. Everything was clear. Crystal clear. Nothing to distract him. There was nothing to hide behind and shield himself from his own consequences. The pure emotional agony from his failure to help Iida, to keep him alive, was evermore present.

He tried breathing, but it felt like trying to inflate a balloon with a needle stabbing it. It was warm now. The air had a sickly sweet taste. He didn't like it. He'd rather be cold than warm. The cold gave him an excuse to hide under layers of fabric, the warmth didn't.

…

So what now?

He didn't know.

He didn't know what to do.

What the fuck can he do!?

Get revenge?

He already did!

The man who did this almost paid for it with his life!

… it was warm.

It was too hot.

The walls were closing in on him, trying to choke him even further.

His body was sweating and he felt like he had a fever.

The air was burning his insides and he wanted out.

It's a bad neighborhood it's a bad neighborhood it's a bad neighborhood ––

He didn't care.

He didn't care anymore.

He did.

He didn't.

He doesn't.

He doesn't care what happens anymore.

He can't.

He won't.

Caring meant running the risk of making the gaping hole in his chest worse.

It hurt to stand. It hurt to walk but he pushed on. To the door, past all the knives hanging on the wall –– he's not crazy he's not crazy he's not crazy he's not crazy –– practically falling down the stairs. He couldn't breathe. The air was boiling. He needed out. Let him out let him out let him out let him out ––

Bang.

… he pushed the door too hard. He threw his weight on it sloppily, basically bodyslamming the door and bursting through it as a result. He stumbled a bit, trying to stop his momentum with the same elegance as an alcoholic trying to find a new fix to drown themselves in. He looked up. The sky was nice. Too nice. Why was it so nice when it was such a bad day? He could see his apartment's window from here. The curtains were closed. Good.

Breathe in. Breathe out. He blinked once. He blinked twice. Why did he panic back there? He was usually fine around small spaces. He'd spent his whole life in a tiny cell surrounded by a thousand enemies. He didn't know why he was so scared of the walls closing in on him moments ago. He didn't know why he couldn't stand the thought of staying home right now. He just knew that the moment he left, was the moment he could breathe.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Just breathe. It'll be over if he just breathes. He felt like he just smoked a cigarette for the first time. Like he was coughing up invisible smoke that was burning him from the inside out, that was making the abyss in him spread everywhere else. No, yes –– no. He wasn't going to think about the darkness of his soul right now. He'd just be going in circles if all he did was wallow in his sins. He failed. It's that simple.

So what was he going to do about it?

… he started walking. He didn't know where he was going but he just kept walking.

Maybe he was searching for an answer.

Maybe he was just looking for an excuse to die.

He walked, staring at the floor and absent-mindedly navigated through any crowd that passed his way. He kept his head down, locking eyes with the sidewalk. Concrete was nice like that. It wasn't sentient, it couldn't judge or yell at you. It was a stepping stone, one that was easy to conquer.

He didn't know when, but he started running. He didn't even realize he was running until he almost fell.

He let out a muffled grunt when he half-slammed into someone side, he was inches away from running at them headfirst.

"Hey watch it asshole!" They were loud and slurring their words, but they didn't smell of liquor, only cigarettes.

He stumbled a bit, freezing at the notion of being yelled at. His body froze on instinct –– he wasn't allowed to fight back during punishments he just had to take it if he just took it everything would be fine afterwards, everything would be normal again and he could fulfill his purpose once again ––

No, it's ok. Breathe, breathe. It was yelling from a stranger, not anyone he knew. They couldn't hurt him. But he could hurt them.

He let out a mumbled "Sorry." and continued running, ignoring the curses streamlining out of the guy he bumped into. He didn't mean to run into the guy, everything was just so… blurry.

N̷͚̐͌͆͌o̴̟̰͈͇͛̆̈,̵͍̌ ̷̝̺͍͆d̵̘̬̝̑̀ò̸̡̘͍̘n̵̦̩͙̳͂'̴̯̒t̵̼̆̅ ̸͔͓̔̅̎̕ď̸͎i̷̮̒̆̈͆s̵̟͙̑͑̕s̵͎͕͊̆͆ỏ̵̻̮͐c̴̹͘ỉ̴͚͈̱͌a̶̺̾̄̑ṭ̶̢͍̳̐̒̚e̴̗̟͗̌͒̿ ̴͍̀͑ą̴̺̮͉̾̈̚͝g̶̹̘͉͕̓͗̍ą̸̅̈͝į̵̯̝̊̀͘n̵̖̭͊.̷͍̙͒̈́̏̋

Yes, fall into numbness again.

He didn't want to feel, he didn't want to test the limits of his abilities anymore.

He didn't want to push himself when he was already so close to the edge.

He wanted to run.

Away.

From everything.

Maybe that's why he started running down street after street, every avenue and boulevard, past every dumpster and alley cat screeching at him for being in a place where he didn't belong.

Society.

That's where he didn't belong.

He was out of place in this city.

He should've stayed.

He should've stayed at UA and wait for the 'good guys' to catch Stain, as useless as they are they would've done it eventually.

He should've stayed home, it's a bad neighborhood and he wasn't in the right mind.

He should've stayed far away from the rest of society when he left, the amount of danger he was subjecting everyone to wasn't worth his temporary happiness.

He should've stayed in his cell, he was so stupid for even thinking that things could change.

And he was supposed to be smart.

Ironic, isn't it?

They say those with low intelligence are more likely to believe they are better than everyone else.

And he's the most egotistical person out there.

Says something, doesn't it?

He let himself skirt on the sidewalk stopping completely right as a streetlight switched to red, blocking his path with stupid cars, filled with stupid people who were probably better than him in everyway. He glanced at the building next to him. A 24 hour pharmacy, the light inside glowing out of the windows like a bonfire. This was a lot more passive than a raging flame though, the benefit of electric lights.

He shook his head. Stop trying to distract yourself by analyzing the fucking lightbulbs.

He blinked, looking around. The street signs were unfamiliar, and he's never seen this block before. He slowly spun in a circle, just looking at the serene, quiet buildings surrounding him. He blinked again.

… where the fuck was he?

… did he even care?

He thought for a moment, the first time he let himself truly think in a while. Saturday's evening breeze swung through the street, playing with his hair and clothes as a way to tease him to keep running. Running from The Man. Running from his sins. Running from the hospital and running from the truth. That's all he does, really. He just runs and pretends he's growing from it. But he's not. Clearly, he's not.

He looked up.

The sky was fighting with darkness, the usual happy blue was now depressingly turning into navy. The stars will come out of hiding, then the moon, something he'd never have the courage to do.

He was more similar to the sun than anything, as ironic as it is, only coming out when it's convenient for him.

The moon changes. The sun doesn't.

The sun infects the Earth with a blatant light then leaves when it becomes bored.

It plays hide and seek with the clouds and ducks behind them when it's moody.

And it's so dramatic.

It shines it's annoying light in your eyes, always at an angle where you can't hide from.

It has to be the center of attention, it's why there's no stars in the daytime.

Not to mention it's literally going to die with a bang.

It's similar to him in a lot of ways.

He'd rather die in a blaze of glory than anything else.

He was a slave to his own emotions, something he killed to get.

His eyes hurt. He wanted to cry. No, he didn't. His body did. He didn't though. He wasn't about to leave himself vulnerable like this. Of all the fucking mistakes he's made in his life, this is the one he'd never let himself commit.

He looked at the pharmacy again. The light coming out of it was soft, nothing like the sun. His labored breath was uneven, uncontrollable. He tried to press his chest with his arms to keep his breath consistent, another failure. He looked down, back at the non-judgemental concrete. Don't cry. He didn't want to cry. He's not allowed to cry ––

The cars were gone. The light turned green, commanding him to walk forward now. It was a different green. Nothing like his hair or eyes. It was soothing, not warm in anyway but one you could find safety in.

He looked forward. There were a few stragglers but it was mostly an empty street. He looked behind him. The pharmacy was glowing brighter as the sky grew darker. Breathe in. Breathe out.

He blinked once. Twice. He sighed.

…

… he should go home.

He was being followed. Ever since he passed Masami's grocery store. It was hard to check discreetly due to the strange lacking of people on the streets but he definitely was. It was just this feeling, this sixth sense he developed over the years of being a weapon. But that didn't really matter.

What mattered was what he did next.

…

He could just stab them and be done with this bullshit.

No, they weren't being hostile yet. Besides, he'd prefer to know who's tailing him rather than wallow in paranoia that would result from it.

He growled under his breath. Fuck, he didn't have time for this. Or the energy. Or the mental sanity to even think about this shit.

He was tired. He was dragging his feet and struggling to keep his eyes open. His arms were hugging his chest to make sure he was breathing right. In and out, heavy breaths. Quick ones lead to crying.

But it's fine. He knows how to handle this. He's been trained his entire life on how to do this.

So he could've done this more grace, so much that even Aizawa-sensei would be forced to praise his tactic. He could've easily sucked it up and shaken off the creep.

… yeah he just turned around and gave a look of death.

They were a girl, cream-white hair that fell into braid, resting on her shoulder. She had glasses and held a cigarette in her hand, twirling it around her fingers. She wore all black, except for white boots with giant buckles to secure them around her legs. She wore a croptop and baggy pants, a jacket was draped across her shoulders, but she wasn't wearing it. Weird, since it was a little cold.

If she was surprised that Izuku dared to turn around and face her, she didn't show it. She simply spoke without any change.

"Etsuri Izuku?"

He narrowed his eyes. Her voice was calm, but there was a strangeness to it. Almost… apprehensive. You know what? Doesn't matter. After all the shit he's been through in the past 2 days, he wasn't going to add anything to it.

"Wrong person." he immediately replied, straightening his head and keeping his eyes locked on the horizon. Please go away please go away please go away please go –

"You're the one who almost killed Stain, right?"

He wanted to keep walking, just ignore everything the woman said, but he stopped, frozen in his tracks. The words triggered the memory of last night, blood and death writhing in the background of each image. He shook his head. God, he was being pathetic. And stupid. He should just keep walking. This was clearly not about to end well for anyone in this situation, and he for one was not going to experience that. Nope. Absolutely not.

… he turned around.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he lied, his face dropping even further to try and mask the panic inside of him. He stared daggers at the woman, a silent threat she obviously didn't care about.

"Well someone's a bit cranky." she smirked, taking the moment to take a breath of smoke. He watched her breathe out the smoke the same way dragons do in movies, before shaking his head slightly. Fuck this. Fuck everyone. He kept walking. She kept following.

"Word goes around fast, lots of people were betting on Stain continuing his killing. What you did was a gamechanger, not to mention impressive."

He walked faster.

"Of course, not everyone knows it's you that stopped him, but those with the right contacts told then you're the one who did it."

He whipped around, more pissed off than panicked now, staring her down as if she was a tick sucking the life out of him.

"Get to the fucking point." he demanded, a shadow falling over his eyes. It still didn't sway the stranger.

She cleared her throat before slowly taking another breath in her cigarette, clearly trying to pause for the greatest amount of time possible and make him even more pissed.

"Whatever you say." she breathed out, staring at the smoke dissipating into the air for a moment. "My point is, you lost something in that fight. One of your classmates was severely injured, right?"

His hand shook for a moment, he felt the urge to slam this woman into the wall, but he just breathed. In and out. The last time he got angry he almost broke his promise, and he could not afford to do that again.

"We've been monitoring the situation, or, our contact is, and it seems like your friend isn't going to be waking up anytime soon." she drawled on, circling him the way sharks do on an injured prey. He kept his eyes on her the entire time, clutching his shaking fist to try and physically hold back his anger. Why him? Why was he the one who had to deal with this?

Or maybe this is what he deserved, his punishment that he had to get through in order to move on. Yes, no – maybe? He bit the inside of his mouth and blinked. There's no use thinking about this.

"You lost something. Some one. And lucky for you, we've lost something too. And maybe, we can fix each others problems, if a deal is made of course."

He paused, letting her words sink in. He didn't want to get caught in a loophole, not now when everything is on the line.

"We?" he asked quietly, like he was afraid the world would shun him out for making the slightest bit of sound.

Another smoky breath. "Monolith. But if you want to get specific, the Jade Eyes in Kyoto. 2 days ago police busted a pretty big deal in two separate incidents, one at a shipping yard and the other at an old abandoned car joint."

He blinked once. Twice. He sighed. "Look, I'm not going to steal your drugs from the fucking cops for you. So why don't you go back with your Matrix Men in Black remix outfit and fuck off." he growled, turning to start walking away again. But the lady just continued.

"The port wasn't well guarded, but the car lot was. It was locked down tight, only the guys in too deep knew about it. The police couldn't have found out about it. The only reason they were there was because someone else broke in."

He sighed dejectedly, muttering a string of curses under his breathe before reluctantly looking at the stranger again. He wanted to go home, take too many Nyquil pills and pass out in a dreamless sleep so that he wouldn't have to deal with the nightmares he's 100% having for the next few weeks. He hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep when he was at the hospital –– he didn't want to leave himself more vulnerable than he already was, especially with Aizawa-sensei there –– and the thought of not thinking for hours at a time felt so good.

"And this involves me how?" he said, rolling his eyes in a pissed off tone.

She flicked some burnt embers off her cigarette, taking another breath of smoke. "This… other person. They're a vigilante. And this isn't the first time they've done this, but now they've made the mistake of ruining a very important deal for my boss. She's pissed, but unfortunately, her best men were arrested at the shipping yard, so until they get out she's got no one who could beat them. That's where you come in." She pointed her cigarette at him accusingly, before dropping it into the trashcan right next to them. At least this woman doesn't litter.

"Who's your boss?" If he was agreeing to anything, he wanted all the information about his employers as he could get.

The woman took a quick breath of cigarette smoke. "Does it really matter?"

He shrugged. "Does to me."

Another breath. Another line of smoke dissipating into the air. He wished he could do that. Disappear on command.

"Chronos. But that doesn't matter. What matters is who's on her side. We've got a healer, someone who could hypothetically save your classmate. But only if you do something for us." She started inching closer, her circular path tightening to choke him. His eyes went wide, his body rigid in shock. A healer? Someone who could pull someone out of a vegetative state? That's… what the… that's just so rare. And exactly what he needed to ––

… fix this.

He needed to fix this.

He needed to fix Iida.

That's what he's been thinking this entire time, right?

The amount of guilt that could be taken off his shoulders if he just fixed this.

The end of suffering – for both Iida and his family – that's worth it, right?

This was all his fucking fault.

He couldn't stop Iida from being a fucking idiot.

He was the one who triggered Iida into drastic action.

All because he was too stupid to not realize how bad Iida really was.

He thought he was in control and he got cocky.

He got cocky and reckless and arrogant and now Iida is a vegetable because of it!

And now he could fix this, the solution presented to him on a silver platter.

This is, this is –

… too good to be true.

"What do you want in return?" he hesitated, asking slowly and trying to gauge the reaction from the woman. There wasn't a sign of emotion to be seen. He felt jealousy writhe inside of him, it tasted bitter unlike anger. He wanted to do that. He wanted to be able to shut his anger and the rest of his emotions down as easily as this person could.

"Well it's simple really." She stepped closer, pausing for a moment to get a good look at Izuku before spinning around gracefully. The smile on her face was unnerving, dread washed over Izuku instantaneously. His breath hitch for a moment, and he forced himself to look down. He didn't want the lady to see the torment forming in his eyes.

After all, every deal has its price.

"I want you to kill them."

He sighed, his face becoming rigid in a forced neutral as he felt a wave of numbness follow through. The stinging cold disappeared, the sound of his heartbeat was gone, the static slowly inching into his mind retreated instantly, and the prickling in his eyes went away instantaneously. Dissociating. It's like when the sun sets on the horizon. All that emotion ready to explode in a blaze of glory goes away instantly.

He looked up. The moon was out, he couldn't see it because of the buildings but he could just tell. The stars seemed happy, they liked the moon's company and hated the sun's theatrics.

… he preferred the moon over the sun to be honest.

"What's their name?" he mumbled. He hated how weak his voice was compared to the woman in front of him. Hated how desperate he was to go home so he could finally break down without having to worry about the public. Hated how he ran in the first place – he was fine with small spaces he was fine he was fine sure he liked having a clear and open exit but that had nothing to do with how trapped he felt back then – and how terrible the air was.

Hated how much hate there was in his heart.

The woman simply smiled, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a cigarette box. The speed at which she pulled one out and lit it was almost incredible. Almost.

She walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. If she notices the flinch he tried to surpress, she didn't comment on it. He hated her smile, it radiated confidence she was able to hide earlier. A certain level of ego that reminded him of his own.

She patted his shoulder a couple times before starting to walk away, her shadow lengthening by the second from the fading light in the sky.

Villains.

So fucking dramatic.

"Gigaton."

Chapter End Notes

hi. this might be the only chapter you're getting bc i literally forgot abt this until like. 3 days ago? IDK but if i can finish the next chapter in time ill post it, its a 50 50 gamble honestly. but anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

I make weird metaphors. Im realizing that now cuz like usually ppl compare the sun to like the best characters and im like: no its fucking annoying.

AND IM RIGHT.

Everyone says that the best kind of weather is sunny with clouds but no. They're wrong. The best kind of weather is full cloudy, where you can't see the sky, and the sun can't fucking blind you so you can actually look around instead of the fucking concrete. AND NO ONE AGREES WITH ME!
That's my pet peeve of the world. The sun is fucking annoying, it shouldn't be idolized like it is. It sucks. It just does.

Anyway, back to fanfic shit, this chapter - imma be honest this is probably the best I could've narrated it. Its literally a jumbled mess, and it has to be a jumbled mess because the character is a jumbled mess, but i have to make the mess sound good. And fucking hell that was hard. I think I did alright? The bottom half is definitely not as good as the top one but mixing dialogue into Izuku going crazy is just - bro im only an ao3 writer not Shakespeare. When I do get better at writing I will definitely be rewriting this chapter. It could be so much better I just don't have the skills to do it. But that's it! HAPPY NEW YEAR AND CYAAAAA!!!!!!

Assignment

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

…

Before, he wasn't allowed to think.

It was just him, his handler, and the mission.

It was just that.

The only thing he had to think about was how to dodge.

How to punch.

How to kill.

Hearing footsteps meant to hide.

The silence meant he could move.

And when it was all said and done, the screaming marked the end.

Then he went back.

And it started all over again.

That's how it worked.

There was nothing else.

There was nothing else to do.

Nothing else to see.

Nothing else to think.

It was simple.

…

That meant it was good.

A complicated fight is a bad fight.

If there were too many factors, failure was a lot harder to avoid.

This can't be complicated.

Complicated.

Complicated?

Comp – plicated.

Complicated was bad.

Complicated was bad.

…

So, this needs to be easy, right?

This shouldn't be hard.

The best jobs were always done in the easiest, most efficient way.

And he needed to be perfect, right?

He can't afford to mess up right now, right?

…

Complicated.

Complicated.

This can't be complicated.

He can't afford to mess up right now.

Emotions are complicated.

No, emotions are useful.

They make the fight more fun.

…

Emotions are complicated.

…

He can't have emotions right now.

Passion.

Feelings.

He couldn't really tell what she was feeling right now.

She looked… bored.

No, not bored.

Hesitant?

No, not that either.

He blinked once. Twice. Her voice cut back into his mind like a radio that just turned on. On second thought, not a radio. He's had enough of radios.

"Gigaton. No one really knows anything about them. They're pretty good, would make decent cash if they were a more neutral mercenary. All they do is target villain groups though, and steal from their wallets while on the job. They rarely take any clients, so not much is known about them since all their victims go straight to jail. Only thing I know for certain is that they work with a high-end infobroker. Name's Wise.

"Wise?"

"He's how we found out about you, actually. He's got connections to dirty cops and heroes, people in high places. He's valuable for sure, but we can't approach him directly for information."

"Why not?"

"I already told you. We lost our good men in the shipping yard. We've only got newbies who aren't strong enough to take on a person like that."

The wind was nice. It blew his curls out of his face, just in time to let the stranger see him roll his eyes. "Bullshit." he muttered, shaking his head. Did she think she was being clever?

She seemed unfazed. "Like I said before, the boss is interested in you. She wants to see how you'll play a part in all of this."

He rolled his eyes again. Villains. Every single one of them was the same. They were all liars. Just like him.

He looked up, tired eyes staring blankly at the stranger in front of him. "Then she's got the wrong idea. I'm not going to get involved in anything after this."

Breathe in. Breathe out. Smoke out of the cigarette. Smoke out of her mouth.

She smiled.

Confidently.

He hated that.

"Oh honey, if you think like that, you won't survive a day in the real world."

…

There was someone crying.

Crying?

Crying.

~~Laughing.~~

Sobbing.

Was it him?

No no no stop he can't cry can't feel perfect he needs to be perfect right now he has to be perfect –

He shook his head.

No, it wasn't him.

He held a hand up to his face, it wasn't him.

His face was wet, but for a different reason.

It was sticky. Sticky from the crimson splattered all over his face. No – not his face. He's wearing a mask right now. A cheap black one he stole from a cosplay shop. He felt bad about that. Why did he do that? He could've paid for it, he had the means to do so. But he wanted to avoid talking to the cashier, so he stole it. Was that a good enough reason? Stealing to avoid interaction?

He looked down. Crying. That's who was crying. A man on the floor was crying.

He knelt – why was he kneeling? – tilting his head inquisitevly at the poor sight. He felt… no, he isn't feeling. He shouldn't feel right now. That would mess everything up. He isn't feeling right now. He isn't. He can't. He won't.

"Now."

He knelt down, gently picking up the man's head to make him look directly in his eyes. The man was scared. Afraid. Lost. Confused. Hurt. ~~Just like him.~~

Good, he deserves it.

Does he really?

It doesn't matter.

It does matter.

No, it doesn't. He doesn't matter. He's just an obstacle. He has a mission to complete. He has a goal to accomplish. He has to do it, do whatever it takes, just like before just like with The Man he has to do it all to make him happy
–

He blinked.

His grip on the man's head loosened.

Oops.

He spiraled again.

His bad.

Blink.

BANG!

"What was that?" he asked, looking into the distance. No, not the distance. Just under him, into the canal from his topdown view. The woman looked too.

"Just a cat, nothing special. We aren't being followed, don't worry. I think we both would've noticed by now."

Izuku didn't reply, he just kept following the stranger as they walked across a concrete bridge that ran over a small canal. He's been here before. The first day he arrived at Musutafu, actually. He had walked under that bridge all those months ago. Back when he was learning to be human.

He shook his head; maybe that would get rid of the memories. Those thoughts didn't matter right now, Iida did.

He turned back to the stranger. All he could see was her back.

"That infobroker, Wise, got anything else about him?"

She hummed while she thought, then took another breathe of smoke.

"Other than he's a major drug dealer, not much else. He's pretty stupid actually, but he hasn't got caught in over 15 years so, he must be doing something right. He probably gets warned everytime the police start getting a little too close by one of his contacts, then he runs, cycle continues. If it works, it works. You should be able to get the information out of him."

He blinked once. Twice. Every word was being scrutinized in his mind. His mind which was blank. Emotionless.

He looked away.

"… right."

"Let's try this one more time." he whispered. He pulled back his arm – just like Stain he did this to Stain what was wrong with him why did he do that why was he doing it again but he has to do but he didn't want to he wants to go he wants to run he doesn't want to do this anymor –

BANG!

He slammed the man's head back into the ground. Crimson splashed. His clothes, his gloves, his black mask were covered in it, but luckily not his eyes. He needed to see right now. He needed to see what he was doing. He needed to make sure it was all real. That he wasn't about to do something horrible and then turn around and realize none of it happened. He felt the buzz overwhelm his senses once again – his quirk was back his quirk was back his quirk was back and it was finally his – he watched as the blood slowly seeped back into the man's head. There was more crying. More whimpering. More heartache that he ignored. He didn't care. He simply didn't have the capacity to care right now. Iida was more important. Iida was more important. Besides, the only people who would faun over this man's injuries were his clients. Unlike Iida, who had a family grieving by his bedside. No one who actually cared.

He cleared his throat. Why was he so nervous? Why was he so scared? He wasn't the one pinned to the floor, head bleeding out like a popped waterballoon.

Crying.

Bleeding.

Sobbing.

Tears.

…

Why was he the one who had to do this?

"It just doesn't make sense to me. Why can't you just ask Wise yourself? Infobrokers care about their clients, and you're clearly one of them. I'm sure he'd pick a gang over a random vigilante."

She breathed in. Smoke came out.

"'Cause we aren't clients. We've only worked with him once, to find out what happened to Stain. Wanted to make sure whoever took him down was someone we didn't have to worry about. We don't have a history with him. He'd pick his guaranteed next sale over us for now."

He paused, she stopped. He stared at the ground for a bit before looking up.

"So why do you think he'd tell me?"

She inhaled. She respired smoke out like a dragon. That should be her villain name. Dragon.

"To be honest, we don't. We think you can get your answers… the other way."

"Where are they."

It wasn't a question.

It was a demand.

Silence. He waited for a second. Then two. Then three –

BANG!

"NO! I CAN'T! I ALREADY TOLD YOU, I CAN'T BETRA – AGH!"

Another hit. More sobs.

"Yes you can. It's ok, no one will blame you. It'll all stop once you say it..."

Gasps for breath. They were wet. ~~Just like Stain's.~~

"I CAN'T! YOU KNOW I CAN'T! I'LL LOSE ALL MY CLIENTS IF I BETRAY ONE OF THEM! I CAN'T! I WON'T DO IT – AGH!"

He didn't like screaming. He didn't like how loud they were, how you couldn't ignore them no matter how hard you tried. And he's tried.

He turned around, this was dragging on. It was getting old. It was getting boring. He needed the answer now. Every second he wastes is another moment of despair. He glanced back, then at the dining table he had temporarily conquered. For a villain, the man's house was relatively clean. Except for, you know, the giant stash of crack tucked in the ice crusher of the broken fridge.

His weapons were laid out on the man's dining table. A couple pistols, some knives, brass knuckles and – no. He shook his head and turned around. No, he's not using that. It'd make things faster. He didn't care. He wasn't going to do that to this guy.

Coward. He went through that his entire life. This guy could take 5 minutes of it.

No. Yes. No. Yes.

…

… maybe.

"That doesn't answer the question."

She finally looked at him, she had been leaning on the roof's railway and staring at the bright blue sky for so long he thought she was stuck. She exhaled. Like an exhaust, a cloud of smoke escaped.

"I really don't get why you're pushing for this. We just want to start a relationship with someone who's clearly worth the trouble of establishing trust." she mumbled.

He rolled his eyes, moving to join her, leaning on the railing too. He talked dryly. "I'm a 14 year old first year UA hero student. Establishing anything other than complete enemies is risky, for both of us. Unless your boss is a dumbass, I want a real answer. Why? Why me?"

She didn't say anything, continued to look away into the bright blue sky, above the misery that is this district. Rooftops were really great, in that sense. The only thing you can see up there is the infinite sky.

She looked down, hair and shadow covering the look in her eyes as she responded.

"Why you? It's simple. The League."

What time was it?

What day was it?

How long had he been here?

It was… how long – it was Sunday. Sunday. It was Sunday. When did Saturday happen? Friday was – Friday was Stain, then Saturday – what happened Saturday? Smoke. The smoke. The stranger. The deal. The smoke. He was trusting a stranger to heal Iida. That was stupid. He should've asked for proof. Proof that they could heal him. Why didn't he do that? Why didn't he ask for –

"HEEEELP! SOMEONE GOD, HELP ME! HELP, HELP HELP HELP!"

He blinked once. Twice. He rolled his eyes. God, Wise has been screaming that for so long he'd fallen deaf to it. Why did his ~~toys~~ his victims always do that? They scream for hours as if that was going to change anything. It doesn't. It never does. It never will.

He scowled, he needed time to think. He needed silence to think. Does he want to think? No, he does. He needs to. This man won't give up. Is the guy just stupid? Yes, he's stupid actually. He's done his research, the guy was an infobroker not because of any good traumatic reason. He simply invested horribly, got cocky and tried to scam the government, all the while building a hole so deep the only way to get out was to keep digging down. He was stupid. Really fucking stupid.

He grit his teeth.

And so goddamn resistant –

"Will you shut up?" he asked, but it wasn't really a question considering he stuffed a piece of cloth into the man's mouth. It didn't stop the guy's vocal chords from making sound, but at least it was significantly muffled. A lot easier to ignore.

He put a hand to his mask, as if he was rubbing his temples. It slipped from the blood drying on it. What now? The guy didn't have any family he could threaten, not that he wanted to anyway. The less innocent people involved in this the better. Maybe – no, that was a bit much. If he took the guy's arm he wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding – and he didn't have the right equipment for it. Maybe, maybe…

His eyes landed on the table, the one with all of the tools he'd been using so far. He moved to grab the small black box, one of the ends was curved with two bits of metal sticking out. Fucking hell did he hate tazers. He didn't care how useful they were, he hated them with every fiber of his being.

He pressed the button, just watching blue lightning become aflamed in the world. His vision somewhat flickered, growing even darker at the sight of it, trying to hide from the lightning. No, no. Now's not the time to hide from this stupid fucking box. Suck it up and take it. This is the least he deserves anyway.

He held it up right in front of his face, just staring at it and clicking the button to activate it every now and again, watching the blue electricity dance between the two metal prongs. The coward in him hissed at it, trying to hide even further in the darkness of his mind. People always debate what the strongest element is, but to him it's pretty clear.

Lightning.

The thunderous power of the sky.

He closed his eyes. He didn't need his fears to hold him back now. Breathe in. Breathe out.

He turned around, scrolling the dial on the side to increase the voltage. He doesn't usually work with tazers. They weren't his tools. They were his punishment.

"AAAAHG!"

The man's body tried to lurch away from it, but he convulsed, unable to move for what felt like a year when it was only 3 seconds. It was a strange sight, but Izuku knew exactly what was happening. He's memorized the feeling after all these years. He knew that the man was feeling hot, no, now he felt cold. He could see the man's eyes twitch as his brain shortcircuit from the recoil. He caught him just in time, the man's balance being knocked off course in his 3 seconds of paralyzation. It was all the same. Exactly like him.

He backed away, nervous but trying desperately not to show it. The worst thing you could do is look weak in front of your victim. Breathe, breathe. It's ok. It's not him. He's not feeling this, the idiot was. He grabbed his own throat, failing to feel the collar that had been the reason for his pain for so long. He bit his lip, trying to keep himself awake, away from dissociation, trying not to let the static in him flare even more from that. But the memories still slipped through.

"If you just did what I asked, then you wouldn't have to be here…"

"For fucks sake, will you just shut up!? Or I'll give you a good fucking reason to cry!!"

"Raise the charge level –"

No no no no no no no please don't please please he'll be good he won't do it again please please don't it won't please just don't he can't he can't take this anymore –

He blinked. Where was he? What was happening? Oh, right. He wasn't the one getting tazed. Wise was.

He pinned the man's head back, a line of drool was leaking from the man's mouth as he removed the gag. He narrowed his eyes. God, torture was fucking disgusting.

"Tell me where they are."

He moved the dial slightly, turned the tazer on and watched as lightning danced between the two prongs. That used to be him. He used to have those prongs digging into his flesh every second of the day. They got infected a lot, and of course, he didn't get the luxury of being treated for it.

He narrowed his eyes. He stretched his neck.

He'd never wear a collar again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHG!"

It was quiet. Really quiet. His ears were ringing from how loud the silence was. But it was quiet. A nice kind. One that he couldn't enjoy.

The rooftop was cold, no, the breeze was. Everything was cold. He liked the cold better than the warmth. Warm made it weird to wear long sleeves and long pants. Scarves and gloves. Turtlenecks. He didn't fit in with summer. He was more normal in the winter.

He blinked, never keeping his eyes off the building he was watching. The rooftop he was sitting on was away from the moonlight, which meant he was in no danger of casting a shadow. And it was in perfect view of the target building. All he had to do was sit and wait. Simple. Easy. That's good. He leaned against an AC unit, the mechanical humming from its engine vibrated his chest. Perfect assignments meant easy methods to complete them. That was perfect. The definition of perfect. And he needed to be perfect.

…

… but perfect wasn't possible.

He let his head hang between his knees. He brought his hands to his face, massaging his jaw. He bit his lip, he wanted to scream but he needed to be silent, and no matter how great his inner torment was, he refused to make a sound. He closed his eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out.

This was it. Everything was in place. All he had to do was cut them. That's it. Nothing else to it. Simple. Easy. Perfect.

…

Except he had to kill.

Could he do it? Could he – no. That's not the question. He doesn't matter right now. Who cares about his promise right now? It wasn't a question of whether he could do it, because he could. He's done it before. He can do it. It would be painless for everyone except him. But he could take that pain. All the way to his grave.

The question was should he do it.

…

… was it worth it?

Take a life for Iida's sake?

Was that moral?

Was that right?

…

He didn't know.

He didn't know anything about this place.

This world he's only started living in a year ago.

Was this right in their eyes?

Was this normal?

Was this ok?

…

Iida was just a kid.

This person was what – 30?

They've already had a chance to live.

And they might be a bad person too!

They might deserve this!

Which means this is right.

Which means this is worth it.

Which means he should kill.

…

But what if they're a good person?

What if they have a family?

Someone who will mourn them at their bedside just like Iida?

Does that make it worth it?

Does that make it right?

…

He looked up. He felt the urge to slam his head against the AC unit he was leaning on to reset his brain, but that would make noise. That would ruin everything. And he can't afford to mess up right now.

He blinked. He felt… calm. Despite the raging turmoil happening in his head, it wasn't affecting him all that much. Was he dissociating? But everything was clear. The world always leaves him behind when he dissociates. He hated that. Why does the world always do that? Why does it only want him around when he's strong? He's only – is he human? He's not feeling right now, if anything he was more akin to Bloodline right now. But he's here because of emotion, and Bloodline never did that. So was he human? Or was he just a hired gun right now?

… did it even matter anymore?

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes actually, it does. What about the League? What about me? What does any of that have to do with me?"

She looked bored. And annoyed. Like she might walk away any second and take the last light of hope he has left. Should he care? Probably. Did he? Absolutely not.

She let out a deep sigh, the first time she exhaled without smoke coming out immediately. She was a heavy smoker, that much was clear. Even her clothes smelled like smoke.

"It's simple, really. A few weeks ago, my boss got invited to a meeting. Shigaraki proposed… an alliance of sorts, Stain was there too. They both turned it down, but before they left, Shigaraki gave a bit of information to Stain, for 'good faith.'" she ended, doing actual quotation marks with her hands sarcastically. He waited a second before speaking.

"What kind of information?"

She shook her head. "My boss didn't tell me. All I know is that it was something about a UA student, but what matters is that information was probably a trap. Shigaraki looked like he was about to kill both of them at the end of it, and it wouldn't be a shocker if he tried to do that. Which means, either they were hoping for some hero to finally beat Stain," she leaned in, "or they wanted UA students to get involved."

He didn't react. He just simply stared. He didn't really want to think too deeply on this right now.

"… so why me? Why ask me to do this?"

There was silence, then –

"The boss thinks you're an investment that's worth it. Clearly you're the right amount of fucked up to be useful unlike those perfect hero shits with their perfect lives and all that crap."

He rolled his eyes, this time playfully. "Now you're just going in circles. One minute I'm the best person out there for the job the next I'm the most fucked." he sighed, leaning against the railway once more. Bridges were nice. They felt unstable no matter how thick they were, but they were nice.

"How could you tell?" she laughed, taking another breath of cigarette. They stood there for who knows how long, clearly trying to wait the other out. It didn't work, though. Izuku was very good at being patient.

Eventually she sighed, looking him in the eye. He didn't look back.

"Chronos thinks that after this, after the League finds out what happened, they're going to come for you. You almost killed Stain. You were going to if you weren't stopped. You're far from hero material. And you're skilled enough to be a great villain. I'm not going to question why you're at UA, 'cause frankly I don't care. What I do care about is a powerful asset going into the hands of the enemy. Like I said, it's simple. You're going to have to choose at some point, and you better choose us."

He finally turned to look at her, but he let the silence speak for himself. He was thinking. He didn't have time to respond immediately. But eventually –

"I choose UA."

She smiled. He hated that.

"Sooner or later, that's not going to be an option. 'Cause I think we both know how your hero career is going to end. You're going to kill someone, and they'll probably deserve it. But that doesn't matter. All anyone cares about is strength. And this world sees killers as weak. Weak pieces of shit who refuse to be normal even after the door to heaven is open for them. People hate weak. And they stop caring once the strong becomes weak. And that's exactly what's going to happen to you."

He blinked once. Twice. He felt the world disappear from his senses, nothing was there anymore. But he didn't react to it. He just kept staring ahead into darkness, because he knew that the stranger was there in the real world.

He smiled.

"Have you ever considered becoming a therapist? You'd be good at seeing past the bullshit."

She laughed, somehow it brought him out of his darkness. Hearing, then eyesight. It was the first emotion he'd seen in her other than annoyance.

"Fuck you." she breathed out, trying to calm herself down and regain her stoic face.

He smiled a while longer, before looking away. He closed his eyes, running the conversation in his head. He was so tired. He couldn't really think that well. But from what he was hearing…

When he turned back to her, she'd mostly calmed down. There were a few stifled breaths, but nothing she didn't recover from. He kind of wished she laughed a little longer, it was great for stalling his answer. He blinked once. Twice. Waited until she looked him in the eye. Waited until he had no choice but to respond. He sighed, looking down. Concrete. Bland. Boring. He kind of wished he was concrete.

"I'll do it."

BANG!

He shot up, went from panicked and shocked to still and calm. He – no, stop. Wait. No. What was he – he was, he was watching the building. What time was it? He was watching the building. Did he, wait, the moon is out place. It was so far away before. Why is it – did he fall asleep?

Look. Look at the building. He has to… he has to…

He was a little shocked to be honest. There was a figure on the building, crouched down and clearly trying to open a trapdoor on the roof. He leaned closer, still hiding in the giant shadow covering his rooftop, trying to get a closer look. They were wearing all black, and they were too far away to make out any significant details. But then again, there was no reason for any person to be breaking into this place, which meant only one thing.

This had to be Gigaton.

He took a deep breath before slipping his black mask on. It was still caked with dry blood he'd forgotten to take off with his quirk. It didn't matter anyway. There were far more important things happening right now.

He quietly lowered himself to the next building, waiting for the figure to disappear inside before making any significant moves. As soon as the shadow left his sight, he dropped down, landing softly and staying crouched. There was a trapdoor swung open with an open lock, not broken, just open. So this person can pick a lock, great. He paused before standing up, there was a ladder leading inside. His eyes flickered around him, but he didn't see anyone else in the area. Good. He walked over to the ladder and lowered himself down, swinging the trapdoor shut with a hopeful silence. It creaked slightly, but luckily it wasn't rusted so not much sound was made. As soon as he entered he heard voices echo from afar, clearly someone was below him. He stood there for a moment before turning, moving down the small walkway. It was a wired bridge like you see in factories, where the only way to go was forward. These types of bridges were loud, but he's had enough practice to walk on them silently. The bridge split off into a fourway, and he could barely see a humanoid figure in the darkness to the right, also crouching on the bridge. He stopped immediately. He didn't like how exposed he was, but there weren't any objects to hide behind so there wasn't much he could do about it. Besides, the figure seemed like they were looking down, so chances are, they wouldn't spot him.

He breathed slowly, he didn't want them to hear his breaths. He closed his eyes, listening to the voices echoing below them. It sounded like normal chatter, the occasional laughing and playful insults by adults. From their talk, it sounded like they were playing some kind of card game.

He opened his eyes, watching the figure watch the people below them. He didn't know why they were here, only that they had paid Wise for the location of this building. So the far safer option would be to let them do their job then attack, to avoid any intermediates in the fight.

A minute went by. Then 5. Then 10. He was used to it, but God was it so hard to be patient. This was getting annoying. ~~It was getting boring~~ .He was about to reconsider his position until –

"WHAT THE FUC – AGH!"

They dropped down, supposedly beating him to the punch and attacking the people below them first. He heard crashing and angry yelling, the sound of a gun being loaded before another yell. He slowly crawled to the same place the figure was before, finally getting to view the fight.

His eyes widened as he crouched even lower out of view. They were good. And from the look of it, their quirk was good too. Increasing weight based on eyesight? That was powerful. And they could fight. It wasn't the cleanest fight, but they maneuvered well. He saw a woman lunge for a fallen gun on the floor, but as she tried to grab it, she struggled to lift it. The woman was grunting, straining her arms to try and lift it, but to no avail. She looked up in time to get a fist to the face, the last one to go down. The others were taken down at a surprising speed too. A little impressive.

He watched as the shadow figure stayed hunched over the woman's body, breathing heavily and trying to calm themselves down. He watched as they immediately went for the gun, picking it up comically easily compared to the struggle the woman had before, unloading it and dropping the bullets to the floor. He kept watching as he slowly crept along the wired bridge, to his left, right above the ghostly silhouette of the vigilante. He watched and waited. Watched and waited until the figure bent down, rummaging through the pockets of the woman they had taken down last. Watched and waited until they were in a perfect compromised position. He blinked. Breathe in… Breathe out. He flipped the knife he was holding to its blunt side, the handle was specifically made for takedowns like these. He tightened and loosened his grip on it, breathing, blinking, watching and waiting. He closed his eyes.

Three… Two… One… Now.

BANG!

…his movements were robotic. He's done this a thousand times before, and that muscle memory hasn't gone away. It made sense. There shouldn't have been any other outcome. And there wasn't one. The mission was completed instantly. He blinked and he was on top of them, their head planted firmly into the ground, their limp body sleeping on the stone cold floor. He stayed there, slightly stunned at how fast and easy it was before shaking his head violently, struggling to stand upright. He kept staring, he nudged them to fully convince himself that they were actually unconscious. They didn't move. No response. Nothing. It was done. He'd done it.

His hands started to shake. He grabbed both his arms to try and hug his chest and make it stop but it didn't work. His breath quickened, he felt like his heart was on the verge of flatlining. Was it even there? Was he even alive?

He shook his head. Why is he asking stupid questions like that? Why is he feeling stupid emotions like this? No, it doesn't matter. He doesn't matter right now. What matters is his ticket to solving everything wrong in the world is sleeping right in front of him. That's what matters. Nothing else. No one else. Just Iida. Just Gigaton. Just Iida.

He flipped the blunt knife in his hand repeatedly as he slowly crouched down. He neglected staring at it, the less he saw the less it made this real, so he chose to focus on turning the person onto their backside. Now that he was close, he could actually make out details, but there was nothing spectacular. No body suit, but they wore tightfitting clothing to mimic the effect, all black and dark grey. The only impressive fashion they were wearing was a grey mecha-looking mask, probably a voice modulator from how bulky it was. It only covered half their face though, the hood covered their eyes and hair.

He stared at them for what felt like hours before he slowly moved the knife closer and closer to them. He was still shaking, God he hated that. Why was he so scared of this person? They were the ones about to die, not him! His breath quickened and the world started to darken. No, focus. He can't let his mind go right now. He needs to see this. He needs to see exactly what he's doing and burn it into his memory. He's not going to run away from this. He has to do this. He has to. He has to…

His eyes refocused on the blade. The knife was about a centimeter from their neck. He's done this before. It'll be painless for them. They'll choke slightly but they won't feel anything. They'll be gone in an instant. So he wasn't really hurting them in a sense. No, why he was he trying to justify this? He's about to kill someone. Someone who's never done anything to him. Someone who's just in his way. It isn't right. This wasn't right. But it had to be done. Did it really? Yes, it did.

He moved his focus slightly up. The mechanical mask. Black hood covering any facial features. They didn't look alive like this. The only hint that they were was their chest slowly rising up and down. It would be easier to do this without a face to link to the name. It's less humanizing this way. Like what he was about to do didn't matter since he wasn't actually hurting a person.

He shook his head. He kept the knife still while he moved his other hand to take off their mask. No, he'd already decided to carve this memory into his mind. He was never going to forget this. He was going to bring this all the way to his grave. It was the least he could do.

The mask was hard to take off, they probably secured it on tightly for situations just like these where they are prone and vulnerable. He moved the knife to slit the straps, they were leather and thick, so it took a few seconds. Eventually, they snapped from the pressure, the second ones came off more easily because of it. He blankly stared for a moment before sighing, slowly pushing the mask off their face. And –

He blinked. Once. Twice. Three times. He violently shook his head. He stood up and immediately backed away, never keeping his eyes off Gigaton for even a second. His mouth was slightly open, he probably looked stupid and dumbfounded from what he was seeing.

Lying on the ground, looking peaceful of all things, was Gigaton. But they weren't just a random vigilante anymore. It was Hana. Uraraka Hana. Because of course it was. The world just had to fuck him over one last time, didn't it?

He stared confused, unsure of what to do with himsemlf. He felt like everything he'd known had been turned upside down at this point. He was shaking so hard he almost fell over, he half-caught himself on a random table that had been kicked over in the previous fight. He let himself sink to the floor, still staring, still watching and waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. All that could be heard was the sound of his panicked breaths.

He couldn't – no, wait. Why – how, does it matter? No, it does. He can't, he's not going to do this. He can't. But…

…

He blinked.

Well… now what?

Chapter End Notes

IM SO SORRY GUYS!

Imma be honest, I completely forgot about this fic. To be fair, I have a good excuse, but also sorry :C

So to recap, I missed February update because I had an AP exam thing that I was completely stressed about. Funny thing about AP Seminar is that the Part 1 of the exam is actually in February, and worse: ITS A GROUP PROJECT. I don't think I need to elaborate anymore than that. You get the point. Group projects are awful. Anyway, so that finally finished like 2 weeks ago. But then I proceeded to get bombarded by unit exams in every single class, and the problem with my school is that we go through units REALLY quickly, so like the next week I already had the next unit exam FOR THE SAME CLASS, so I was stuck studying my ass off. I still have unit exams btw, pray for me Monday and Tuesday. And you would think that would be the end of it BUT NO. I also had TWO FUCKING BAND COMEPTITIONS THROUGHOUT THE MONTH, DURING WHICH MY TEACHER MADE US STAY AFTERSCHOOL FOR LIKE 2 HOURS, SO I ALSO HAD NO FUCKING SLEEP THIS ENTIRE WEEK. AND YOU WOULD THINK IT WOULD END THERE, BUT NO! I ALSO HAVE SAT THIS WEEK! SO I WAS ALSO DOING SAT PRACTICE THIS ENTIRE MONTH! AND THEN YOU WOULD THINK THAT WOULD BE THE END OF IT, BUT NO. I ALSO HAVE SATURDAY STUDIES NOW FOR AP EXAM PRACTICE!

Yeah so as you can see, it was completely my fault I had all the free time in the world and I was just being lazy with the updates /sarcasm

Anyway, I like this chapter. It kind of breaks up the whole vibe in a good way and switches back and forth on various levels of depression. Unfortunately, I have no idea if I can write the next chapter. In the winter, I prewrote like chapters 36-40 because they were easier than chapter 34/35, so if I can finish the next one in spring break, then you guys will get consistent updates again. However, if you don't see me posting at the end of this month, don't worry. I'm just dying from academic overload. I'll probably come back at the end of May in that case, and from there on it'll be weekly updates again. Again, I'm so sorry for the wait, I completely forgot about this from the workload I had, but I'm back! (kinda)

BYEEEEEEEEEE!

Afterword

End Notes

I want to reiterate at the top just in case people don't get the message: DO. NOT. READ. THIS. IF. YOU. HATE. GORE.

You will most definitely be traumatized by the image my descriptions will put in your brains.

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!