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Teiko went back to the waiting room. Now that Toya wasn't so focused on her scores, he was able to better look around at the area stacked with rows of chairs, a television which depicted players' victories and defeats, and a water cooler. Thanks to the gym's central location, there were perhaps eighteen people seated. None of them wore costumes. "I probably won't be matched," she told the teen as she gazed up at the board and matched the victories. Nobody came anywhere close to her level. "Want to get more fights for yourself, or head on out?" The way she glanced over her shoulder told Toya she expected to be followed.

He warred between the idea of more battles under his belt and learning more about his aunt. Level four, he reminded himself. Not only that, he didn't feel particularly inclined to have a discussion with the masked man. Toya strode across the room and removed his name from the list. Teiko did the same and they both exited after only one battle. It had been, by far, Toya's shortest visit.

They roamed dark alleys without fear. As they got moving, Teiko began her tale. "Out in the boonies, everyone went to Quirk Gyms. Life as a farmer comes in waves. Sometimes you have to harvest or plant for days on end, while other days all you can do is sit on your hands and watch the grass grow. No matter how much effort you put into something, none of that matters if you don't have a crop to show come market day." She made sure Toya understood the motive before she pressed on. "One of my neighbors was a dishonest man. We'll call him Jim.

"I noticed that some of my produce was going bad, even though I took proper care of it. I asked around and my neighbors admitted to having the same problem. Jim lied and said he faced the same difficulties. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Jim snuck around at night and used his quirk to turn everything rotten. A vigilant old lady caught him in the act, but couldn't capture him. She phoned me the moment she got inside. I woke up at four in the morning to our sweet neighborhood granny shouting in my ear, 'It was Jim! Go get him, Teiko, it was Jim!' I did the only reasonable thing. I hung up on the crazy old bat and went back to sleep.

"Come morning, she came to my house and pounded on the door. She said the same thing again and again, 'It was Jim. It was Jim!' Let me assure you, this woman wasn't the most reliable witness. I greeted her at the door and agreed that I would check on Jim's property. She drove me in her car and we went deep into the country, as Jim lived farthest out in the sticks. We poked around and saw that all of Jim's things were fine. He had crates of produce ready to go to the market. I was only in my twenties and was quick to the draw. I screamed at him and told him he had two options. I could report him to the police and he could go to trial - we didn't have any evidence, but all the time away from home would ruin both of our chances of turning a profit, or we could meet at the Quirk Gym that night and enter level four combat.

"He chose the latter. Word spread fast and dozens of families approached me and begged that I would avenge them. This was their paycheck for the growing season. They were furious and many of them had no idea how they'd survive." Even as she spoke, Toya noticed how her arms shook with rage. Flames danced at the tips of her fingers. "Jim discovered that fire doesn't decompose."

Toya warred with his emotions. He felt she'd been justified in attacking Jim. Though she didn't say so, he assumed that Jim had been buried decades before.

Teiko caught the intensity of her words and closed her palm, which quenched the fire. "There aren't really heroes in the middle of nowhere. Even if there were, what could they have done? We used our Quirk Gyms to attain barely legal justice, provide entertainment, and catch up with our neighbors in a neutral setting. If only two people in a category for a period of five minutes or longer, they automatically match, no matter how uneven the numbers."

A voice spoke from above. "Did you expect compensation for dispatching of such a sinner?" Stendhal walked from an adjacent alley. His covered face pointed at them with the same intensity as before. His words bordered on a growl, as if he expected Teiko to answer wrong.

Teiko was not one to be taken by surprise, but she jumped. Either she had been caught up in the story, or the fanatic was a master of stealth. "Fuck you're creepy," she declared to detract from her tale.

Of course it wouldn't be so easy. Stendhal repeated himself, though he spoke slower. "Did you exact compensation for dispatching of such a sinner?"

She decided to answer. "No, dumbass. Farmers don't have extra money sitting around to give away."

Stendhal lifted his hand to his mask and pulled it from his face. Beneath the gleaming silver was by far the ugliest man Teiko had ever seen. His chin was overlarge and mouth turned in what seemed to be a permanent sneer. His too small irises were no larger than the average pupil. Their hue was an unattractive mottled brown, like curdled sewage. "Then you are a true hero," he declared. "I seek to correct or corrupt hero society. When I saw both of your faces, I thought you were traps set by pro heroes to lay us low." Toya frowned and subconsciously reached to touch his hair, as it was one of the traits that matched his father. Stendhal regarded the teenager. "As for you, Dabi, you are not a true enough student for this hero. You fight and look obsessively at the board. All you desire is to win, not to learn."

Teiko hated to admit that Stendhal had a point. It was one she wanted to address to Toya later. The boy slid his fingers down to his face. True to form, Enji had never injured his son in such an obvious way. "You're awfully preachy for someone so young. Exactly how will you repair society?" The teen asked.

Stendhal smiled, as if thrilled someone would ask. Oh great. I feel a speech coming on. Toya regretted his question at once.

"I will act by refusing to get my hero license and saving people all the same. If I encounter a false hero, I'll cut them down as swiftly as I would a villain, for false heroes are even more villainous than those who blatantly commit acts of terror. I'll stain the streets with their blood." A sickening grin stretched across his face.

Toya spoke without giving much thought. "Yeah?" He snorted. "I know just the one for you to start with."

Teiko could have whapped her nephew on the head. She turned around sharply and frowned at the boy. For all of Enji's crimes, he was still her brother. Despite her bluffs, she'd never turn him in. Stendhal leaned forward, his interest sparked. Toya had a look of defiance that told Teiko all too well that he planned to rat out his father.

A scream echoed in the night.

Stendhal broke from his intrigue. At these younger stages in his life, saving others was far more important than prying information from children about their fathers. He always knew where to track down Dabi later, as the boy was a frequent brawler at the Quirk Gym. The vigilante darted down the familiar streets and made his way swiftly to the shriek. Teiko warred between the urge to follow and assist and the desire to get away. The former won. "Come on, Dabi."

They relied on Toya's knowledge of the city to reach the cry. It only took them minutes, but by the time they arrived, Stendhal stood over a corpse. A woman rushed swiftly from the scene, her eyes filled with horror. The man had replaced his mask at some point in his journey, for his face was again shielded from view. "What a heroic deed, to approach even though you already knew I would be here."

"You're making quite a few assumptions, Whelp. Maybe we were trying to prevent your cold blooded murder." Teiko said as she surveyed the scene. A man lay on the ground, his eyes unseeing. Stendhal drew his blade and crimson gushed from the neck wound. Toya felt nauseated, but Teiko looked on with ease. "So what'd he do that didn't match your ideals?"

Stendhal wiped his sword against the corpse's clothes. "He attempted to sodomize the woman."

"All right, murder face. That's enough for tonight." As an afterthought, she looked down at Toya. She registered the horror glued on his face. "Ah, shit…" Happy birthday, Toya. You get to see your first dead body. If this didn't put her in the running for world's worst aunt, she didn't know what would. "Come on, let's go." Teiko grabbed his shoulder and steered him away. He walked with a disconcerting, numb obedience.

Stendhal began a speech even as they walked away. He preached while crimson leaked over the street. Toya may have listened, but a deafening ring echoed through his head. His legs kept moving, even though they felt numb and heavy all at once. A high, long buzz filled his ears and shut out all else. His eyes seemed to look through a haze.

As they ventured home, Teiko remembered her first time seeing a corpse. Jim's death hadn't been a clean affair. In her haste for justice, she had sunken both of his feet into rocks and incinerated his body while he still lived. Her neighbors had watched. Though some were horrified and never attended the Quirk Gym again, other particularly savage beings brought their disputes to Teiko to dispense their justice. Her departure from the farm had been as much to retire her career as judge as it was to help her brother. When she and Toya left the taxi a few blocks from the house, she told him just enough of her history for him to understand. "If people found someone to be guilty and could provide enough evidence, I sparred the accused."

They reached their street. "Heroes don't care what happens in the sticks. If we wanted justice without lengthy court procedures, this was the way to get it done. Rei's family knew, but never told her. They never attended, anyway." It was because of Teiko's activities in the ring that they never told her about Rei and Enji's home life. The kind parents feared not only for their daughter, but the entire family if Teiko were to visit.

Toya didn't have any questions. He went to bed and spent a long night in a restless daze.