Chapter 7: USJ- Unfair Sneaky Jerks
Taking Izuku's terrible luck into consideration, shit still hit the fan incredibly fast.
They were barely in the door before villains started pouring out of a black void down below.
"Is the training starting already?" Kaminari asked.
A good guess, but they were here for rescue training, not combat. Izuku already had his arms out to keep Uraraka and Katsuki behind him.
Aizawa slipped on his goggles. "This is real. Thirteen, get them out of here."
Izuku glanced between his classmates and his teacher. Eraserhead was good. He knew that. But there were a lot of villains down there. And as good as his teacher was, he wasn't infallible.
Izuku had seen him get hurt before.
So while his class turned towards the door, he slowed and turned back towards his teacher, pulling his hood up and settling his visor over his face.
"That included you, problem child," Aizawa snapped.
"There's too many down there and you know it," Izuku said.
"Oi," Katsuki yelled. "The hell do you think you're doing?"
"Get out of here with your class. I'm not telling you again!" Aizawa said. He insured he wouldn't tell them again by jumping off the ledge, activating his quirk and throwing out his scarf.
A gunshot echoed in Izuku's memories. He wasn't going to let history repeat itself.
"Kacchan, make sure everyone else is safe," Izuku ordered before following Aizawa. He called up just enough fire to surf on.
"Like hell! You're not going off by yourself!" Katsuki yelled.
"You two, get back here!" Thirteen yelled.
It was too late. Katsuki propelled himself off the ledge with his blasts.
Izuku wished he hadn't done that, but what was done was done. He'd just keep an eye on Katsuki. Thirteen would be able to keep the rest of the class in check, hopefully.
Once on the ground, he felt like he was back in familiar territory. Fighting was a language he understood. There were more than he was used to, with more dangerous quirks than a typical mugger had, but they weren't overpowered. None of the villains gathered here even compared to most of his classmates' skill levels. It was like this league had gone for quantity over quality.
"You two are in so much trouble when we get back," Aizawa growled when the fight brought them close together.
"That's fair," Izuku agreed.
"Look out for each other, at least," Aizawa added, not sparing another glance before taking off for another cluster of villains.
It was easy enough to do what he asked. Katsuki had one eye on Izuku at all times, and Izuku was already hyperaware of Katsuki's every move.
Honestly, Izuku was more worried about the rest of his classmates. He'd heard something going on behind him, and then a lot of the villains had scattered throughout the USJ. The class was no longer in the doorway, but the warp villain that had gotten them all in hovered up there. Izuku doubted the guy would have been so calm if even one of his classmates had snuck past him.
He didn't like this. They weren't used to real fights like this, he needed to help them…
A sword almost took his head off, and he bent back and folded his knees to avoid it.
He needed to focus was what he needed to do. If he got his head chopped off here, he couldn't help his classmates.
Between him, Katsuki, and Aizawa, the villains weren't much. It was tedious more than anything else, and Izuku was almost insulted. They'd come here to beat All Might with weak skills like this?
What they lacked in ability they made up for in numbers. None of them could take a second to catch their breath. Katsuki's explosions were getting smaller, which was never a good sign. Not that Katsuki was letting this fact slow him down at all; his screaming was as loud as ever.
Izuku slammed his fist against a villain's temple, knocking them to the ground. Then he used a flame whip to wrap around another villain's leg as they approached him, tearing them off their feet and tossing them into the sky before hurling them back on the ground.
He missed the moment Aizawa and the villain with the hands ran at each other, but he did see their close combat standoff. He saw Aizawa jump back, right sleeve destroyed and the muscle on his elbow exposed.
That was not good on so many levels.
His distraction earned him a brutal kick to the side. He skidded over the ground, just barely twisting himself back onto his feet.
"Oh, and by the way, hero" the hands villain started. "I am not the final boss."
A large black thing towered over Aizawa. Maybe at one time it had been a person; it stood on two legs and had a torso and two arms. But half its skull was missing, exposing the pink fleshy brain, and it had a beak full of canine teeth.
Izuku hoped the rest of his classmates were faring better.
Xx
In the landslide zone, Todoroki froze all the villains instantly and interrogated them about their plans. Hagakure stayed safely out of the way, careful not to startle Todoroki and meet the same fate.
In the fire zone, Ojiro utilized a hit and run strategy to knock out his opponents and find respite from the smoke when he could.
In the squall zone, Tokoyami worked together with Koda and Dark Shadow. Kouda had no animals to call upon, so he acted like bait to lead small groups of villains into Dark Shadow's waiting clutches.
In the shipwreck zone, Tsuyu debated offering a blubbering Mineta to the villains as a sacrifice. They'd taken shelter on the ship, and the villains waited in the water below. When the villains sliced the ship in half, Tsuyu grabbed Mineta and leaped into the air. Mineta, crying and panicking, hurled his purple balls into the water. He only hit villains by accident, but it did work to make a few of them stick together.
In the earthquake zone, Kirishima was only alive because they couldn't break through his hardening. His punches knocked them out cold, and every blocked attack gave him an opening to strike. He stayed light on his feet and threw out fast jabs, taking everyone down as fast as possible.
In the mountain zone, Yaoyorozu made quick weapons for herself and Jiro. They coerced Kaminari into using his quirk and frying their opponents, at the expense of him losing most of his IQ for a few minutes.
And at the entrance, everyone else worked together desperately to give Iida a chance to break free and run for help.
(Somewhere, somehow, Aoyama stayed hidden and kept himself alive)
Xx
With another scream, Katsuki knocked the last weakling villain down. His hands ached from using his quirk so much, but things were only getting started.
He turned back to Izuku and saw him kneeling on the ground, one hand on his ribs, completely frozen at the sight before him.
When Katsuki saw the monster, he understood the feeling. They had to fight that now? After fighting all those weak villains?
The nightmare only got worse. Right before his eyes, in a matter of seconds, the monster tore through Aizawa. Yellow goggles flew through the air with a splatter of blood.
Aizawa was pinned face down on the ground, and that monster had his bloody elbow in its grip.
"What do you think?" the hand crazy villain asked. "He's the bioengineered anti-symbol of peace. But you can call him Noumu."
The Noumu let out a fierce shriek.
Katsuki grit his teeth. He didn't care what they called it, he just wanted to explode its face off.
Izuku pushed himself to his feet, his shoulders a tense line. He must be feeling the same way.
The Noumu twisted Aizawa's arm, making the man cry out. Katsuki heard the bone snapping from where he stood.
"You can erase people's powers," the hand villain said. "That's irritating, but it's nothing impressive. When faced with true devastating power, you might as well be a quirkless child."
"Let him go!" Izuku yelled, hurling his fire at the Noumu in a spear.
The Noumu shrieked again and brushed it aside. It spun through the air but came right back, going for its exposed brain.
"Don't interfere!" the hand villain yelled. He took one step towards Izuku.
Katsuki took seven, placing himself between Izuku and this bastard. He raised his hands. "Don't come any closer unless you want to die."
The villain growled and scratched angry lines into his neck. "Children should respect their elders."
Katsuki scoffed. "No villain is ever gonna get my respect."
Aizawa cried out in pain again. The Noumu had stepped on his left arm, likely shattering that one as well.
Behind him, Izuku lost his control. He charged forward. "Get off him!"
"Izuku!" Katsuki yelled, trying and failing to grab him. If the idiot's fire wasn't working, what did he think he could do? He was still a little shrimp, he couldn't tackle something as big as this Noumu.
He was going to get himself killed for real this time.
And Katsuki was going to have to watch.
Like hell. He threw his palms behind him and blasted himself forwards.
The Noumu screeched. Izuku retaliated with his own battle cry, swirling a massive fireball between his hands. It didn't act like fire, it was still, more solid, more like what he surfed down here on.
Between that being thrown into the Noumu's side and Katsuki using one of his gauntlets, the Noumu was forced to take a few steps back.
That was it. Two major attacks, and all they could do was make it step back.
The hand villain giggled. Giggled.
Katsuki wanted to punch the hand right off his face.
That would have to wait, though, because the momentum of the attack had brought both him and Izuku next to their teacher, within reach of the Noumu.
Katsuki had a rare moment of uncertainty. Should he grab Izuku and run for it, or try and save their teacher?
Izuku did not have that hesitation. "Use the other gauntlet!" Solid fire helped Aizawa to stand, and Izuku pushed him behind them.
Katsuki pulled the pin on the second gauntlet. All it really accomplished was creating a smoke screen they used to try and put some distance between them.
"You two need to get out of here, now," Aizawa bit out. His arms hung uselessly in front of him, and he looked like he'd fall over with a gentle breeze.
"Not without you," Izuku retorted.
"Damnit, kid, you're not Alley Cat, you're my student, and you need to leave!"
A hand larger than Katsuki's head reached through the smoke. They didn't have time to run away even if they wanted to.
He aimed an explosion into the palm, but it did nothing to slow Noumu down.
Izuku pulled Katsuki down out of the way, tossing a small solid ball of fire into the Noumu's hand. Fingers clenched around it, squeezing the fire into wisps of smoke.
Shit, that could have been Katsuki's head.
"I don't like you boys," the hand villain said, suddenly way too freaking close.
A hand latched onto his bicep.
"Kacchan!" Izuku yelled, tugging him backwards.
"Really, Eraserhead," the villain whined.
Katsuki snarled and twisted his arm around to aim an explosion at his face. The villain jumped back, disappearing into the haze of smoke.
With an unholy screech, the Noumu launched itself at them and tackled Aizawa, slamming him facedown into the concrete again. He left a crater under Aizawa's head, and the man didn't move.
"Tomura Shigaraki," the warp villain stated, announcing his presence.
"Kurogiri, did you manage to kill Thirteen?" Shigaraki demanded.
This would have been a good time to learn some information about what was happening in the rest of the USJ, but neither Izuku nor Katsuki had much patience at this point.
Their teacher was down for the count behind them, and there were three powerful villains surrounding them.
"Kacchan," Izuku murmured.
Katsuki half turned to him.
"Do you trust me?"
"What the fuck are you planning?" Katsuki demanded, because any plan that started off like that was not going to be one he liked.
"I need you to hold on to Aizawa."
He could do that, but that meant they were going to get Aizawa away from the Noumu somehow, and Izuku wasn't sharing that part of the plan.
"Oi, what the fuck are you going to do?"
"I'll be fine." Izuku turned towards the Noumu.
"That's not a fucking answer!" Katsuki grabbed at Izuku's wrist.
Izuku, flames supporting his feet, rose into the air and leapt onto the Noumu's back. He placed a burning hand on the Noumu's exposed brain.
It worked to get the Noumu off Aizawa. The monster shrieked again and flailed, wildly reaching around to get at Izuku. For once in his life, being small was a blessing for Izuku. He was that much harder to reach, but the Noumu would figure it out eventually.
Stupid Deku with his stupid, self-sacrificing plan…Katsuki stormed forwards to help rescue his idiot of a best friend.
"Now, Kacchan! Get Aizawa!" Izuku yelled.
Katsuki stopped short and blinked down at his still unmoving teacher. Solid fire was gathering under Aizawa again, a flaming stretcher to carry him to safety. And Izuku needed Katsuki on there as well so Aizawa wouldn't fall off.
But if Katsuki went with Aizawa, Izuku would be left alone to fight the Noumu, a monster that was impervious to most of their quirks. It was suicide for any of them to fight the Noumu alone.
"Do you trust me?"
He could stay and help Izuku, at the very least make sure he wasn't killed. He wasn't going to mourn his best friend again.
"Kacchan, now!" Izuku cried. He'd lost the stupid metal visor on his hood, and blood trickled down the side of his face from a cut on his forehead.
The fire under Aizawa was ready, hovering a few inches off the ground.
Izuku or Aizawa?
How could he choose?
"Help Sasaki!" Frog girl said, hopping out of the water and nearly giving Katsuki a heart attack.
"Where the fuck did you come from?" he demanded harshly, the only sign they'd snuck up on him.
"The shipwreck zone. We'll talk later, go!" she said, hopping up next to Aizawa with the grape boy clinging to her in tears.
Izuku noticed the change of plans but didn't comment, only sent the trio zooming off out of danger.
Katsuki would have to remember to thank frog girl later. For now, he had a moron to save.
The moron in question was swinging wildly from his precarious position. Smoke still rose up from the exposed brain, but it was apparently more durable than Katsuki would have expected considering what it was. And the Noumu was getting closer with each blind grab.
And then it wasn't a blind grab.
A warp appeared in the middle of the Noumu's arm, and the exit point was directly behind Izuku.
"No!" Katsuki yelled. He blasted himself forward.
The Noumu already had a grip on Izuku. Its hand was big enough to wrap around Izuku's entire body. It tore Izuku off and back through the warp gate. For a second, it held Izuku in the air in front of it.
Izuku kicked out wildly, but his eyes were trained towards the entrance, where he was currently sending two of their classmates with an injured teacher.
Katsuki didn't look behind him. If he saved Izuku, they'd be fine.
The Noumu lifted its hand and then slammed Izuku down. Izuku choked out a cry.
Katsuki screamed. "Die!" His gauntlets weren't fully charged, but that only made those blasts easier. It wasn't impossible without them. He aimed two massive blasts at the Noumu's face. It screeched and stumbled back.
Arms trembling, Katsuki stood over Izuku. The latter was still conscious, coughing and struggling to get his hands and feet under him. "The…others…"
Katsuki spared their classmates a glance. Unbelievably, the fire hadn't gone out under them during that. Frog girl had her eyes on them, and one hand each on Aizawa and Mineta, like she was ready to bail and protect them at any moment. "They're fine."
"Thank goodness," Izuku muttered.
"Before we leave," Shigaraki said behind them, and fuck, Katsuki had practically forgotten about them with this monster in front of them. "Let's make sure the Symbol of Peace is broken. Noumu, destroy them."
Shit.
Izuku was just getting to his feet, one hand wrapped around his chest. Katsuki couldn't feel his arms.
And the Noumu was fast.
Izuku grabbed the back of Katsuki's shirt and twisted them out of the way of the first blow. The Noumu left a crater where they'd been standing.
They tripped over each other, though, landing hard on the ground. Izuku yelped when Katsuki jostled his ribs. One or more were definitely broken.
The Noumu grabbed Katsuki's leg and yanked.
Sore arms or not, Katsuki was not going to be this thing's punching bag.
Izuku yelled behind him.
Katsuki's hands warmed up, and it ached, but he had no choice.
The Noumu's other hand poised above him, impossibly far, it was going to come down with so much force…
The front doors of the USJ blasted open, and everything froze.
All Might stepped into view. "Have no fear, students. I am here."
The joy Katsuki felt at seeing him rivaled his happiness when he'd learned Izuku was alive. Even if All Might wasn't smiling. He was still All Might. These villains didn't stand a chance now.
Xx
All Might wasn't smiling. Izuku had known their situation was bad, but somehow, knowing that even All Might couldn't smile through this made it seem so much worse.
They were only lucky that All Might's appearance distracted even the Noumu. It still had a hand on Katsuki's leg, but Katsuki was in one piece.
"After all this waiting, the heroic piece of trash shows up," Shigaraki said, turning his attention to All Might.
All Might looked over them all. Then he moved. One second, he stood at the top of the stairs. The next, he'd knocked out a few villains getting back to their feet. The third second, warm hands wrapped around Izuku.
He blinked, and Izuku found Katsuki safe beside him. All Might stood between them and the Noumu. "Back to the entrance, you two."
"Yeah, okay," Izuku agreed. At this point, they'd only be in his way. He knew Katsuki was at his limit after all those big explosions, and his own ribs twinged with what little pain he felt through the adrenaline. It wasn't smart for him to keep fighting up close like that.
Shigaraki had both his real hands over his face; the fake one had been knocked off, and he muttered darkly while reaching for it and reattaching it.
The two of them turned to leave, but Izuku couldn't help looking back again. "Be careful, All Might. That Noumu took Kaa—I mean, Bakugou's gauntlet explosions and barely even felt it!"
All Might threw a hand behind him. "Young Sasaki." All Might looked back, finally smiling, and threw up a peace sign. "I got this."
Katsuki tugged on his arm. "C'mon, let's get out of his way. He can't go all out with us hanging around."
"Right." Izuku reluctantly turned to head towards the entrance. Aizawa and his classmates had made it up there safely, and Izuku hoped his teacher would be okay.
He couldn't banish the sinking feeling in his gut that something was wrong. Obviously a villain attack in the USJ was bad, but All Might was here. He could beat anyone. Even if that Noumu was specifically created to kill All Might, there was no way it actually could.
Right?
Was it even possible to beat it? Izuku had burned its brain, and it hadn't done anything. His hand print was still charred in the flesh.
And All Might had seemed…different, from how Izuku remembered. Maybe he was imagining things, but he would almost swear that All Might had been slower just now. He'd timed plenty of All Might's attacks growing up, and he knew all the stats about the man. In similar hostage negotiations, All Might had taken down the guards and freed the hostages in the time it took to blink.
He'd definitely been slower today. But maybe that was on purpose?
The image of All Might not smiling haunted him. He was so worried he couldn't even maintain his signature grin.
Something was wrong.
Izuku looked over his shoulder.
All Might punched the Noumu over and over, but the monster never faltered. It never even stumbled back.
Izuku stopped running, and Katsuki followed suit with a curse.
All Might got behind the Noumu and locked his arms around its chest, and then he lifted it up and bent backwards, slamming the Noumu's head into the ground.
At least, he attempted to. The warp villain intervened, and where the top half of the Nomu would have sunk into the ground, it now disappeared into an inky void. It reappeared not even a foot away, right under All Might, and sunk its claws into All Might's side.
"No!" Izuku yelled.
Blood stained All Might's shirt.
This was all wrong.
All Might let go of the Noumu and attempted to pry the fingers out of his side, to no affect, and Kurogiri described how he would crush All Might in his warp gate.
All Might sank a few inches towards the warp gate.
Izuku ran. Katsuki's steps echoed behind him, but Izuku never felt him trying to stop him.
With a cry, Izuku launched himself at All Might and the Noumu, flames spiraling around his hand. Kurogiri intercepted him, but Izuku was going too fast to stop. He'd have been warped wherever the villain wanted him to go if not for Katsuki, who latched onto a metal brace around Kurogiri's neck and slammed the villain down on the ground.
And then ice shot across the ground, freezing the Noumu in place and allowing All Might to finally break free.
Izuku could have cried in relief. He shot a grateful look to Todoroki, and then to Kirishima when the red head attempted to smash Shigaraki. He missed, but it was nice to have the back up.
Especially because things only continued to get worse. The Noumu broke off its limbs to free itself from the ice, and then regenerated what it sacrificed.
"I thought you said its power was shock absorption?" All Might asked.
"I didn't say that was his only power. He also has super regeneration. He's designed to take you on even at one hundred percent." Shigaraki giggled. "He's basically a highly efficient punching bag that hits back."
No wonder he and Katsuki hadn't been able to damage it. This Noumu really was designed to take on All Might. How had Izuku not come across any of these experiments in the dark web? How far underground was the League?
"First we need to free our method of escape," Shigaraki went on. "Noumu, if you would."
Izuku's eyes cut across to Katsuki, still pinning Kurogiri down and now the sole focus of a super powered monster.
Katsuki bared his teeth and flexed his hands.
The Noumu charged.
So did All Might.
The backlash sent them all flying head over heels. Izuku and Todoroki were the only ones to somewhat land on their feet.
Where Katsuki had been were now two long drag marks.
His heart leapt into his throat. "Kacchan!"
"I'm right here," Katsuki responded behind him.
Izuku whipped around and saw Katsuki pushing himself to his feet.
"Whoa, are you okay?" Kirishima repeated.
"I'm fine, Shitty Hair."
Todoroki, ignoring the other three, gasped as the smoke cleared.
All Might stood in front of a new hole in a wall, sleeves shredded and panting.
The feeling that something was wrong only grew in Izuku's gut. Was the Noumu's really that powerful that one punch had All Might out of breath?
His fingers twitched. Should he try and fight again? Or would he only be in the way?
Shigaraki went on a monologue about heroes and violence, but All Might shot down everything he said, striding forward with power.
Izuku couldn't look away from the blood on his shirt. He was still hurt.
Right when the four of them were getting ready to jump into battle, All Might brushed them aside and told them he would handle it.
Todoroki didn't seem convinced, either, but All Might insisted.
The ensuing fight was intense. All Might's punches were so powerful and so fast that the backlash almost blew them all away. Izuku might have gone flying if Katsuki hadn't shoved his hand on Izuku's back to ground him. The sheer power was incredible, and to think that anything could withstand even one of those punches was unbelievable.
All Might smashed the Noumu so hard it went flying out of the USJ, leaving a gaping hole in the dome.
The quiet that settled after was unnatural and short. They were in awe of the raw power All Might displayed.
Izuku stared at the man. It was one thing to watch recordings of his fights and to know he was strong. It was another entirely to have fought the same villain earlier and to understand how powerful All Might really was.
Shigaraki scratched furiously at his neck, refusing to surrender when All Might demanded it. They were slow to attack, though.
"All Might can handle these two," Todoroki said. "We should get out of his way."
Could he, though? The blood stain had only gotten bigger. And if All Might thought he could handle these guys, then why hadn't he moved yet? Why was he hesitating?
"Great, these extras are getting back up already," Katsuki muttered, facing the weaker villains behind them.
Kirishima hardened his arms. "We can stop them from getting to All Might."
"Will you be joining us, Sasaki?" Todoroki asked.
Why hadn't All Might attacked yet? What was he waiting for? Was his side giving him more trouble than they realized? Izuku reached up to brush over where he'd been stabbed six months before. He hadn't even been able to stand for very long, and his injury hadn't been as bad. There was no question All Might was stronger, and it made sense for him to hold up better than Izuku had, but a bleeding wound was still a bleeding wound, no matter who had it.
Kurogiri and Shigaraki rushed All Might.
Something was wrong, and Izuku didn't know what, but he could still help.
He made a stream of fire and hurled it at Kurogiri, aiming for the neck brace Katsuki had latched on to earlier. A warp gate redirected it back in Izuku's face, and it was all he could do to force the flames to curl around him and not burn him.
"Sasaki!"
"Shit, man!"
Katsuki growled and slapped at the flames burning his shoulder.
Izuku brushed him off to focus on All Might. He'd punched Kurogiri back, but Shigaraki was reaching for him. Even if All Might blocked, he'd still take damage from that decay quirk.
"No!"
A gunshot pierced his scream. Shigaraki drew back from All Might, clutching his bloody hand.
Izuku whipped around. The rest of the teachers had finally made it.
Snipe shot Shigaraki a few more times, once in each limb, and then Kurogiri warped the two of them out of there.
Their teachers were already swarming around the USJ to round up the weaker villains. All Might checked on the four of them briefly before going to help.
The danger was over.
Izuku's knees gave out beneath him. "Holy shit, that was terrifying." This was worse than when his father had tried to kill him. Nothing from his time as Alley Cat even compared, not even the night he'd been stabbed.
"We should join the rest of the class," Todoroki said. "Sasaki, can you walk?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." The adrenaline was starting to fade, and his limbs were shakier than he wanted them to be, but he pushed himself to his feet. His ribs disagreed with this idea, and he hissed and wrapped an arm around his chest.
"Whoa, are you hurt?" Kirishima asked.
"He's got a broken rib, maybe two," Katsuki stated.
Izuku glanced up at him. He hadn't realized Katsuki had noticed, but it shouldn't surprise him.
"Then let's not waste time," Todoroki said. He made a chunk of ice in his hand and offered it to Izuku to use as an ice pack.
"Thanks," Izuku said, gladly taking it and pressing it against his side while they walked. "How are your arms, Kacchan?"
"They're fine," Katsuki growled.
Izuku narrowed his eyes, not believing that for a second.
"Worry about your damn self," Katsuki said. "All I need is rest."
"Are you okay?" Kirishima asked, concern lacing his tone.
"I'm fine," Katsuki insisted.
"His arms hurt when he overuses his quirk," Izuku explained.
"Oi!"
"That's good to know," Kirishima said. "My skin gets super sensitive when I overuse mine."
It was a tactful olive branch. He'd learned Katsuki's weakness, so he shared his in return.
"Tch," was the only reply Katsuki gave, but his temper had calmed. Izuku counted it as a win.
Xx
Kurogiri bandaged Shigarki's wounds. All the bullets had passed clean through. The benefit of being shot by a hero, he supposed.
They'd discussed the failure with their Master already, and they were working out their next steps. But there was one thing Kurogiri wanted to discuss before they went too far.
"Tomura. Do you remember the vigilante, Alley Cat?"
"I wanted you to recruit him, didn't I?" Shigaraki asked. He tapped a finger idly on the bar.
"Yes. I followed him for weeks and decided he would never make an adequate villain." It was hard to say exactly what gave Kurogiri that impression. Possibly the genuine cheer he gave to the victims before telling them to leave it to him, possibly the visible restraint in his attacks, his chosen targets…in the end, nothing about the vigilante screamed villain, and Kurogiri convinced Shigaraki to move on.
"Why are you bringing him up now?" Shigaraki whined.
"He was there today. The small one with the fire." He'd recognized Alley Cat mostly by his fighting style, but also because of how small he was.
Shigaraki grunted. "So what?"
"You don't find it interesting that a vigilante is now a UA student?"
"How is that supposed to help us kill All Might?"
Kurogiri tied off the last bandage and started cleaning up the medical supplies. "If we exposed one of his precious students as nothing more than a vigilante, it could weaken his spirit."
Shigaraki hummed. "Perhaps. Alright then, find out what you can about the brat. Get some solid proof. We'll see if it's any use to us later."
Kurogiri agreed. Shigaraki liked the big dramatic plays, but subtler things like this were just as powerful sometimes. All Might wasn't someone to bring down all at once. They'd have to gradually weaken him overtime, take the wind out of his sails so to speak.
Kurogiri would do whatever it took.