The Giant Villain appeared out of nowhere, towering over the buildings and peering down on civilians as if they were ants. Shimura saw Kamui Woods swinging towards the threat and tried his best to follow on foot. There wasn't much assistance that his quirk, Decay, could do against a villain that large without causing permanent damage. So, he decided to stick to crowd control. There weren't many Pro Heroes on the scene when the villain sprung up, so all Shimura could do was watch Kamui Woods try his best at containing the threat. It was amazing how versatile his quirk was: movement, defense, offense. It truly was the perfect quirk for a hero. "Maybe if I was born with a different quirk, I'd be able to help people faster, instead of wasting time running to the scene," Shimura muttered. It was just a childish thought, a vast majority of heroes didn't have movement based quirks … but a boy could dream.

A buzzing in his earlobe alerted him to a call. He tapped at the earbud, "Shigaraki, I've got a visual on a damaged building that the villain bumped into when he transformed. All the people inside are pretty shaken up and some on the higher levels are thinking they can't escape. Seems perfect for you."

"Thanks Tobume-"

"Nope, when I'm on the job it's Clairvoyant."

Shigaraki sighed as he ran, "That's such a dumb name, I'm not calling you that." You're such a handful Tobume, Shimura thought. You're lucky I've known you forever.

"Hey, I heard that, Shigaraki! I call you your hero name when you're on duty, call me mine!"

"Fine, Clairvoyant. Thanks for the visual," he said, stretching the "a" in his name.

"You're welcome."

And like that Shimura hung up. It took him a few minutes, but he made it to the building Tobume was talking about. A small crowd had formed around it and Shimura could see a chunk broken off the top. There wasn't any time for deliberation, Tobume's quirk could only get him so far with identifying people, since he was so far away. Someone noticed him and shifted out of the way, his hero costume wasn't very heroic, but it was still identifiable. For some reason, he'd decided on hands as his gimmick in high school and hadn't bothered to change it. A palish blue hand covered his face, obscuring it from view. It was both creepy and practical, acting like a gas mask in case he had to rescue people from toxic fumes. The rest of his costume wasn't anything people would gawk at, he wore mostly black with a similarly pale blue skull on his chest. He had a utility belt around his waist, mainly containing any first aid materials he'd need. To top off his gothic look, he wore a dark coat that stretched all the way down to his ankles. Tenko Shimura was a civilian, like Tobume had said, he was Shigaraki during hero work.

Shigaraki dashed into the building and located the nearest stairs to him. Clairvoyant mentioned something about people on the upper levels stuck by the debris, so that's where he'd go. As he was running he slipped his half glove off his right hand, exposing the world to its destructive capabilities. By the time he encountered any issues he was on the third floor, where a clump of fallen ceiling stopped his ascent. Swiftly, Shigaraki ran forward, placing his five fingers on the rubble. Before he could trip on it the blockade dissipated into grayish dust.

With the barrier gone, Shigaraki could see a whole trove of scared people staring at him. It only took a moment for them to process that they could run and so they did. Before Shigaraki could continue, someone grabbed at his cloak, catching him slightly off guard. "Help my big brother! He's trapped in his room!" A girl clung to him tightly, her tear stained cheeks so small. "I'll save him." Shigaraki said, trying his best to embody All Might's bravado. He made his way to the door the girl pointed at, he went through it with his quirk, not bothering with the doorknob. The room he entered wasn't much different than his own home, which meant he knew the layout too.

Only one of the doors leading into a personal room looked stuck, so he started with that. His right hand passed easily through the door again as it crumbled between his fingertips. Surely enough a young man was on the other end of the door, and Shigaraki had to do his best to not make him decay. He stumbled slightly, focusing all of his precision on keeping his hand in check. Shigaraki didn't deny he looked creepy, so when the girl's brother took off without thanking him he didn't feel offended.

Shigaraki tapped at his ear, "Clairvoyant! Are there any more people in the building? It looks unstable!"

A few seconds of static rumbled before he got his answer, "No one else conscious is in the building. My quirk isn't that great for exact predictions, but it seems like a lot of the fearful thoughts are leaving the building."

Shit.

Tobume can only read the minds of unconscious people when he's close to them. And at that range he can only grasp figments of their psyche.

"I'm going to check the last floor, just in case."

"'Kay. I'm on my way, but traffic is crazy and I can't ride on the sidewalks with this many people on them, so I'm officially sidelined. Hope nobody else is in that- DAMN is that Mt. Lady?! Damn bro she's prett-"

Again, it was Shigaraki who hung up on Clairvoyant, his banter wasn't distracting enough to limit his hero work—but it was definitely annoying.

The fourth floor staircase wasn't as damaged as the one on the third, but it definitely had seen better days. Passing through the rubble was as trivial as before. "HELLO!" He shouted, "IS ANYONE IN HERE?" He pulled his hand mask off with his left hand and continued. "I'M A HERO, AND I'M HERE TO HELP!" Nothing. I guess I have to check each room manually. Like a blur, Shigaraki was sprinting through the floor, disintegrating people's front doors, and screaming in them. His results weren't stellar. Both options still weighed in his mind, he was either being paranoid or somebody was so hurt they couldn't respond.

Someone had left their stove on in a panic when they left, so a small fire arose from whatever they were cooking. It distracted Shigaraki for a moment, and upon closer inspection it was some sort of meat. Maybe it was burned beyond recognition, but he couldn't recognize it in the slightest.

Help …

A small child's voice, no older than four years old. It was raspy and the kid could barely choke out the words. It was a sound of adolescent desperation that Shimura knew all too well. He sprinted towards the sounds and with his left hand took off his cloak. After busting through a wall he found the child. His face was porcelain white. No, this kid's face was actual porcelain, clearly noticeable from a crack running from his upper lip to his right eye. Blood was slowly leaking out of the fissure, but even it didn't seem right.

No, no, no. Of all the heroes that had to come save him, it was me. I feel like I'd crack this kid down the middle just by touching him, even with just one of my fingers.

The kid was able to detect Shimura's hesitation, and he backed himself further into a corner.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you," Shimura said. "I'm a hero, alright? I'm here to save you."

Shimura felt naked. Without his cloak, all he was wearing was a skintight suit. He wasn't unhealthy. In fact, he was quite muscular for his age, by no stretch of the word. But among other heroes, he was still kind of scrawny.

Shit, I think I dropped my glove on one of the lower floors. How could I be so careless?

If he didn't have to keep up his calm and hopeful hero façade, Shimura would be pulling his hair out. He outstretched his gloved hand once more, hoping to some higher power the kid would take it before the building collapsed on itself. In his carelessness to find the lost child, he'd weakened the apartment complex's structural integrity. A rumble in the walls confirmed Shimura's thoughts. If he wanted to get out before the building collapsed, he'd have to change his approach.

"What's your name?" Shimura asked, the nicest smile he could muster plastered on his face.

"K-Kowasu, Kowasu Ocha."

"Well Kowasu, I'm gonna get you out of this. But, I need you to do one thing, just trust me, okay?"

The building's bones creaked once more, they were standing on borrowed time.

"I-I'm scared."

"That's okay, Kowasu. Sometimes, when I'm saving people I get a little scared. But, being a hero is going beyond that fear—being courageous."

"L-like All Might?"

Shimura smiled, his uncle still instilled hope when he wasn't there. "Yeah. Like All Might."

And with that Kowasu took Shimura's hand and embraced Shigaraki, the hero that would make his worries go away. Shigaraki smiled, this was always the best part of the job. He wrapped his discarded cloak around Kowasu and made his way to the door. But, unfortunately, his time was up. A chunk of the ceiling gave out and fell only a meter away from the pair. Dust erupted from the newly created hole, momentarily blinding the hero. He subconsciously tightened his grip on Kowasu.

When his eyesight returned—if only partially—Shigaraki looked around the cramped apartment. Sunlight poured out of a window, but it was only mocking him. The fire escape had fallen off long before, leaving only a five story fall. There had to be another way that didn't involve the breaking of his bones on the sidewalk. Suddenly, Shigaraki looked down, seeing nothing but the carpeted floor below him.

There's one way, I guess.

"Hold on, Kowasu!"

Shigaraki crouched down swiftly, planting all five of his fingers on the carpet. As expected, it crumbled beneath his hand and suddenly the surrounding area he was standing on did too. Even with his newfound belief in Shigaraki, the boy he was holding screamed as they fell to the floor below. Shigaraki's hand remained fixed below him and disintegrated the fourth floor too. His feet only felt the solid ground for a split second before he started his descent once more.

The fall only lasted for a few seconds, but Shigaraki knew when it was over immediately. It was definitely less painful than just jumping out of the window. His thoughts didn't waver for long, before he remembered the child he was protecting. Kowasu's face was obscured by his cloak, but he wasn't making any sounds. Shit! He discarded the cloak, which landed on the cavalcade of rubble around the two. Kowasu definitely had more cracks on him than before they descended through the apartment complex, but none as big as the crack he had when Shigaraki found him.

The giant villain's attack was an hour ago, and now the police and the Hero Public Safety Commission were doing damage control. Once Shigaraki had returned Kowasu to his caregivers, he stayed around, rescuing any other civilians trapped in other still standing buildings. Clairvoyant only arrived when the conflict was over, his metallic purple motorcycle pulling up next to Tenko.

"Dang, did I really miss everything, Tenko?"

Tenko looked up and saw his friend, clad in his violet costume. Rose gold accents complimented some splashes of magenta in his suit. Tenko couldn't even look him in the eyes because of his round black sunglasses. Even if Tobume acted stupid sometimes, Tenko did envy his fashion sense. "Pretty much, yeah, Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady cleaned out the villain pretty fast."

"Aw, to have quirks like those. A guy can only dream."

Tenko scoffed, his voice dry from the day's work. "Who are you kidding, I'm the one that should be making those snide comments of yours." Tenko held out his ungloved hand, "I've practically got a black hole turned on constantly."

Tobume stepped back playfully. He had a look of over exaggerated disgust painted on his face. "Ew! Get your destructo-hands away from me!" He whined sarcastically. To anyone else that knew of Tenko's affliction, that reaction would've been warranted. But, Tobume Shizuka had spent enough time around him to know Tenko was always severely uncomfortable when his hands were ungloved.

Tenko laughed, before returning his hand to his side, careful where he pointed his so-called "destructo-hands".

"Hey, crime rates usually go down after a flashy fight like this one, right? Before any would be supervillains pop up, do you want to grab some takoyaki? My treat."

"If you keep spending so much money on sweets, you're gonna turn into Fat Gum."

"Oh-ho-ho, but do you really think so? I've seen inside of that noggin of yours Shi-ga-ra-ki, and I know you think I would look great with Fat Gum's illustrious body." Tobume said, careful to pronounce every syllable of Tenko's hero name. Tobume shrugged, "You know the mind doesn't lie."

"You're such a dumbass."

"Well then, you've got some dumbass friends."

Tenko paused for a moment, thinking of a retort. "Dumbasses shouldn't be riding motorcycles," he said, glancing over at the beauty Tobume was riding. "Especially right after highschool."

"Gasp!"

"Did you just say "gasp"?"

"Of course I did! I'm appalled by how you would insult my baby like that. Especially after I built her myself!"

"Well, read my mind, genius," Tenko said.

Behind Tobume's dark sunglasses, Tenko could see his eyes sparkling. No matter how much he tried to hide the side effects of his quirk, it would always happen when Tobume read someone else's mind.

"Thinking about my baby exploding into a million tiny burning pieces isn't going to help your case."

"Yeah, but it'll make me feel better." And in Tenko's theater of the mind, he imagined Tobume's motorcycle spontaneously combusting even more.

Tobume sighed, comically frustrated. "Well, no takoyaki for you." He stuck out his tongue childishly as he peeled away.

Sometimes, Tenko wondered what his life would be like if Tobume hadn't found him all those years ago.

Author's Note: I know this chapter doesn't explain much about this AU, but I promise that'll come soon!