Himiko woke up to somebody blowing up her phone with calls.

She rolled off from her totally-a-futon on the floor, and started ruffling around in the mess of stuff around her bed. The noise was getting on her nerves, and she had half a mind to just ask Dabi to burn this shit to ash. She finally found her phone – Giran.

"It's better be a good fucking reason, bitch. It's…" Toga stopped to look at the time. "It's just six fucking PM, your motherfucker."

"It's just six PM? It's already six PM! They are quarantining the city.", Giran answered, clearly not understanding that Toga only went to sleep at twelve in the morning. And the fuck is he talking about?

"What city? Musutafu? Why?", Toga asked, rolling back onto the mattress.

"What? No, Sao Paulo.", Giran said, like it answered every question Toga had.

"The fuck is Sao Paulo?", Himiko questioned.

"Oh, I forgot that you and Burnscar are cavemen, sorry. A villain attacked Sao Paulo, Brazil yesterday-ish. Timezones are a bit funky. Killed…", Giran started, but Himiko didn't care enough.

"Boring. It's more Burnscar's forte. Call him about this shit on the other side of the globe, okay?", Toga said, and hung up. Barely six hours of sleep. Joy. She needed a smoke. Himiko went for another deep dive into shit around her, but her only reward was an empty carton of cigs.

"Fuck! Dabi! Da-a-a-abi!", Toga shouted for her teammate-roommate-friend. Dabi, as always, was asleep. Eight hours of sleep every day, every week, every month, every year. Like a fucking soldier, or something.

Toga stumbled to his resting place, still a bit woozy after being woken up before the end of her beauty sleep. Himiko started unceremoniously kicking Dabi in the shins, trying to wake him up. Dabi only pulled his legs closer to himself.

"Dabi! Do you have smokes! I need a fag! Wake the fuck up, samurai!", Toga continued her yelling. Dabi started turning around, clearly not wanting to wake up yet. Toga started kicking him more.

"Shut the fuck up, Himiko!" Dabi motioned with his left hand in the direction of his pile of stuff. "I think I have a pack there, somewhere. Just leave me alone."

"Oh, also, Giran called you. Or tried to call you, and then called me. It's about Sao Paulo, or something. Probably should check in with him.", Toga said, and proceeded to ruffle around in Dabi's stuff. His pile was less of a pile, and more of an organized space with everything he needed. So Himiko found the pack relatively fast.

And it was empty.

"Fuck! Okay, shopping time.", Himiko said to herself.

Himiko went to her clothes, grabbed something at random, and went into bathroom to change. Toga glanced in the window – thin, wiry body. Eyebags, a patchy black dye job on the ends of her dirty blond hair, which she put into a high ponytail. And scars. So many scars all over her. Mostly on her arms, where she constantly used her quirk, but some even on her face. She looked like a professional suicide risk. Or maybe not, if she didn't die from all of these cuts.

Ripped jeans with chains, an oversize T-shirt over a stripped long sleeve, top it up with neck chains, and voila – her previous dead inside look is now at least intentional. She slipped out of the bathroom, put on the final piece of her fit – almost dead black converse, literally her, and… proceeded to search around for her wallet and switchblade for another five minutes.

Now, almost ten minutes after she decided to buy cigarettes, she finally exited her panel house. Here is hoping that corner store won't ask her for an ID – she literally doesn't have one. But, it's Japan – who the fuck asks here for documents when selling to minors.

That silvery white haired girl was once again sitting on the swings in the courtyard. She was constantly fucking around the hood every evening. Today, she looked even more dead inside. Not on Himiko's level, but close.

Toga strolled to her favorite corner store – favorite by virtue of being close to her place. She quickly bought a carton of her favorite cigs, and lighted one up right outside, finally inhaling the blessed cancer stick.

The girl was still sitting on the swings. You know what? Fuck it, we ball. Toga strolled to her, debating on what to say to her. The only thing she managed to settle on was not to say anything stupid.

"You look like you need a smoke.", Toga said, sitting down in the adjacent swing. The girl turned to look at her, her expression guarded.

"Are you selling drugs, or something?", she asked.

"Nah. Only the legal ones. And not selling, offering. Free of charge.", Himiko said, holding out a cigarette. The girl took her sweet time to take it. "Everyone needs to try at least one, you know? It's like the shit that parents pull on you with new food. You never know until you try."

The girl hesitated a bit more, but common sense lost the battle this time. She took the fag, and put into her mouth, waiting for a light. Himiko, of course, obliged.

"You know how to do this, yeah? Inhale, into lungs, wait a bit, and exhale. You can keep the smoke in your mouth to cool it down, if you want. I do it sometimes.", Toga explained. "I am Himiko, by the way. Himiko Toga."

Why the fuck did she give the girl her real name. That was stupid as fuck.

"Reiko. Reiko Yanagi.", the girl answered. Reiko was pretty good, for a beginner. Didn't even cough once. "You practiced that emo look, Himiko?"

"Pot calling the kettle black much?", Himiko said. Reiko glared at her, and exhaled right into her face. "Fuck you, bitch!" Reiko snorted, and took another drag.

"So, what's with the hanging around the hood constantly?", Toga asked. Reiko didn't answer at first, taking two drags before she opened her mouth.

"Just don't like staying at home.", Reiko answered. Toga could dig that, yeah. Last time she was to her home was around seven years ago. Everything after that was barely a house oftentimes. Or worse.

"Cool. So you are, like, free right now, yeah?", Himiko questioned.

"Yes? To do what?", Reiko asked. Good question. Toga didn't have a lot of activities lined up in mind.

"I dunno. Just to hang out. I don't have anything to do today too.", Toga answered.

"I… you know what, fuck it. Sure.", Reiko said. Toga sprang to her feet, caught Reiko by her arm, and dragged her off from the swing.

"Okay, I have a plan in mind.", Toga said. They went back to that corner store, where Himiko bought eight cans of chuhai – her favorite flavor, lemon. Starting your day with alcohol is probably not a good sign, but Himiko stopped giving a fuck a long time ago.

"In for a penny, in for a pound.", Reiko said, looking over Toga's purchases. "So, where are we going? Or we are just drinking these on the playground now?" That was actually a pretty good idea, but another day.

"Nah. I have a place in mind, just need to get on a bus there.", Toga said, walking towards the stop. Dead hoods. Ghost neighborhoods. Whatever the fuck everyone calls them. Dead parts of the city, with buildings built in the last several centuries, abandoned, infested with junkies and criminals. Every city in Japan has those, the government too preoccupied with sucking their own dicks to demolish them.

"Dead hood? My friends got jumped in one of those, actually.", Reiko said, when Toga walked out of the bus.

"How are your buddies? People here are all clowns, but still. Gunsmith toys can be found even here.", Toga said. The building she was heading for was the largest one still standing – one of those high-rise human anthills, which even a century later looked better than those definitely temporary panel houses. But nothing is as permanent in Japan as a temporary solution.

"They are okay. Fucked them all up. Got the guy with the gun first, all others were just fodder.", Yanagi said, climbing into a window after her. Elevator was, of course, fucked, so they were forced to use the staircase.

"You are in school, or something?", Toga absentmindedly said.

"Yeah. UA, Hero Class.", Reiko stunned Toga with the confession. Toga eyed her over the shoulder, but decided that fighting her wasn't worth it. And she was alright, for a hero.

"Seriously?", Himiko said instead.

"Yeah? Is it hard to believe?", Reiko replied. It was? Not like Toga knew many hero maggots before, but still. They looked happier in her mind. Heroing was supposed to solve all your problems in life, was it not? That what everyone always told her.

"Yeah. You don't look as happy-go-lucky as the guys on the posters. And billboards. And ads on the videos. You get it.", Toga said, climbing over a piece of debris. Reiko let out a choked laugh. She didn't say anything.

The only thing standing between them and the roof was the door. Toga grabbed a blanket hid in the attic, and proceeded through the door. It was, as always, an incredibly shit view. Dead hoods looked somewhat presentable from the ground – even had a certain charm to them, but looking at all the decaying, wrecked, overgrowing buildings, with a downcast sky, from such height really sealed the 'dead' part of the name.

Toga cracked one can of chuhai, and took a sip. Warmth spread throughout her body, the fuzzy feeling of alcohol already getting it's clutches into her mind. She spread the blanket on the roof, and plopped down on it, Reiko not far behind her. Toga tossed her a can. Yanagi stared at it for a moment, but popped the lid too.

They sat here for some time, just drinking. Looking over a dead tumor inside a city. Cancer, that was spread all over Japan. One can, two can, three cans. The alcohol percent was not enough to completely fuck up Himiko, but it lowered her inhibitions enough to say and do some dumb shit.

She walked up to the edge of the roof, and stood on the boundary between life and death.

"Did you ever think about killing yourself?", Toga suddenly asked. Reiko looked at her behind her bangs, but didn't say anything. Yeah, maybe that was too much.

But Himiko thought.

Life has been a burden for a long time. She wanted to take a step and — and if she got lucky — be reborn in another world where there is no fucking framework for being normal. At least be another person entirely, who is able to enjoy something other than blood and violence. Himiko closed her eyes, inhaling the fragrance of freedom and letting the wind surround her with this false feeling. Goosebumps ran through her body. Toga put her foot forward, spread her arms, tilted her body forward, opened her eyes and burst into hysterical laughter, jumping back sharply, stumbling, and instinctively doing a cartwheel.

She despised looking at herself in the mirror every evening. The image of a normal girl, was disfigured beyond recognition, stained with blood from head to toe, and the creaking cries of her soul were drowned in vices and pain of others, only to come back again and again.

"You look like you need a smoke.", Reiko suddenly said, pulling her back into reality. Toga snorted. She cracked another can of chuhai, stood back onto the edge of the roof, once again put the foot over it, and jumped back again. Over and over. On repeat, like a fucked up video tape.

Strong drink, a game of chance, and companionship.

The rush of life.

"No person was identified with the same quirk as a so called 'Behemoth'." The talking head drawled. "He is definitely not a mutant – such a quirk would be too noticeable, too memorable to be completely erased from human memory. Experts consider this a case of a quirk awakening, with some kind of dynamokinetic quirk evolving to produce such power. Stay tuned for more new on the attack on Sao Paulo!"

Shigaraki switched off the TV. Why did Behemoth do this? Killing so many people, to what end? For killing sake? For some kind of twisted desire to bring as much pain to the world as possible? Or is it just a puppet – devoid of thoughts and feelings, pulled by the strings by another.

"Shigaraki. Stain agreed to the meeting. Sending him through right now.", Kurogiri said, his tone as monotonous as always. Couldn't he warn him more in advance? Maybe he needed more time to prepare for the upcoming talk.

Stain walked through the portal. He was taller than Tomura, by a handful of centimeters. Ripped clothes, chains, spikes and blades – Shigaraki struggled to not call him an edgelord to his face. Takes one to know one, but still.

"So, you are the bastards who raided UA?", Stain started with a great opening phrase, really making Shigaraki reconsider allying or recruiting him. "And what did you accomplish? Murder some children?"

To be fair, Shigaraki didn't give an order to murder the brats. He would admit that he ordered Nomu to kill the dragon fucker, but he was dangerous, and could impede him in his goal of killing All Might, so he had to go. And he lived, so no blood on his hands. But his fucking goons interpreted 'you can kill the heroes' as 'you can kill the brats in training'. Which might be his fault, yes, but Tomura didn't think that you need to spell it out to people that murdering teens is kinda bad optics.

"And you wanna add me to your little gang? The League of Villains?", Stain continued on his spiel. Fucking media naming his gang that stupid name. He didn't know that they could fall lower in his eyes, but they manage to break through the bottom over an over again.

"It's Undersiders, actually.", Shigaraki corrected Stain. Hammers that 'fuck the society' thing Tomura is going for, without being extremely edgy. It's also unique, at least Shigaraki didn't find any other gangs with this name. Which is good – nobody would still his credit, with some kind of League of Supervillains, or something.

Stain snorted, but didn't say anything. Good, if he didn't like the name, he has no place in Shigaraki's gang. It's like the first rule, or something – respect the name.

"What's your goal, kid?", Stain asked. Kid? Is he serious? Is that a jab at the name? Fucking bastard.

What is the saying? Samurai has no goal, only a path? Or was it way? Who the fuck cares.

"I want to end All Might. Kill him, destroy his career – whatever. End his 'era'. This gilded age of heroism. He started it – with him heroism descended into this pit of consumerism, media coverage, public fanaticism. And then… It doesn't matter.", Shigaraki laid out his goal.

And then – destroy this System, that will eat itself. That is eating itself right this moment – its contradictions enhancing its inability to prevent people like him falling through the cracks, that would only come back with vengeance. And when the only pillar that is upholding this sham of a society will fall – the rest would be history.

The child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.

"And then society would destroy itself without him. The heroes of today are weak, corrupt, more concerned, as you said, with fame and money. And if All Might falls – the country would follow him into ruin. We are at odds, Shigaraki. I respect your conviction, and would offer you a merciful end when your time comes. Get me back to Hosu, I have unfinished business there.", Stain said, and showed his back to Tomura.

What is better – to endlessly kill people to uphold the system that can't survive without sacrifice, or to create something better, even if it requires a lot of bloodshed to achieve?

Cassie Kusanagi was not having a good day.

It was not the usual kind of bad day she had most of the time – being bullied for being a half-American in a small, conservative town in Japan in the middle of nowhere. It was the Teeth-are-fucking-attacking-my-town kind of bad day. You know, the gang of murderhobos. Joy.

She was huddled in her home, praying for her life. And praying for her mother, for the life of Maria Kusanagi. She switched off lights in her home, locked the door to her room, and engaged her quirk in God knows how long. The force fields gleamed in the dark, illuminating objects in her room – her bed, photos of her and Mom. The photo of Dad. It was an ethereal sight, and if she survived this encounter, she would repeat this, no matter how much Mom disliked her using her quirk.

Then she heard somebody banging on her door. Cassie jumped a bit, but ignored it – nothing good would come from opening it. People on the other side got fed up with waiting for her to open it, and started trying to smash their way in. Why did her door open to the outside of her room, why? A crack, and it opened. She prepared to see some kind of tribal-wear guy, or girl, waving around a gun, or a machete, and trying to kill her.

Instead it was her tormentor – Yasukawa Hiroshi. The surprise of it all broke her concentration on her fields, and they withered out of existence. He stood there, his clothing bloody, a switchblade in his hand. Hiroshi was the prime target for PHS recruiters – brutish, bigoted motherfucker, who despised her for only being a half-American. She hated him, and she hated how alright everyone was with his campaign against her. The students, the teachers, even the headmaster. Nobody cared.

And now he was here to finish the job, it seems. Was he with Teeth, or was it his one-man crusade against the 'taint that sullies Japan'?

"Hello, hafu. Fancy meeting you here. I already had a chat with your Yankee mother. Shame the anarchists fuckers cut it short, I was forced to flee. There were too many, even for me. But here – here you are so conveniently alone. Out of the way.", Yasukawa said, smiling. A long time ago she even liked this smile, before everything turned sour.

Cut short? She hoped it meant that he didn't have enough time to kill her. Not that he didn't have enough time to… whatever the fuck he wanted to do. Yasukawa advanced on her, the blade in his hand. Cassie was frozen with fear – for all her bravery before, she wasn't ready to come face-to-face with real danger. With the breath of death on the back of her head.

Then she heard footsteps. It belonged to a really heavy person – she could hear them even through the racing of her heart. Hiroshi, it seems, heard them too. He turned around too look at the intruder.

A man entered her room. His upper face was covered by the front of someone's skull, his lower hidden behind a gas mask. He wore a heavy coat, littered with bones of his fallen foes, all blackened and charred, from the usage of his quirk. Urban camo pants and combat boots finished his outfit. Ifrit, a pyromaniac enforcer of Lord of Bones. Creates some kind of burnable substance from all over his body, and could teleport into it, igniting it in a fiery explosion.

He stood there, breathing through the respirator. Inhale – exhale. Inhale – exhale. No words. Just looking at her and Hiroshi, trapping them here. He lifted his hand, and pointed – first at Yasukawa, then at Kusanagi. Hiroshi understood it as the sign it was – turning around, and lunging for her.

"W-well, it seems you will die the same way as your gaijin mother – quickly. A shame.", Yasukawa said, his voice trying to hide his fear.

What. No, no, n-no. He did not. He did not. Mom is not dead. She is not. Cassie is not now a fucking orphan, stuck in this shit town. Why the fuck is she thinking about this fucking town, she is going to fucking die before the consequences of Maria's death hit her.

Before this day, Cassie Kusanagi's force field blades were barely sharp enough to cut… well, anything. They were for defense, not offense. But today, something answered. Maybe a higher power, maybe something deep inside her. A myriad of blades morphed into existence, grinding Hiroshi into shreds, his entire body covered in a vast array of deep, gnarly wounds. He dropped to the floor, grabbing at them, trying to staunch the flow of the blood.

Ifrit motioned at her, and pointed back at Yasukawa. Even in this state, Kusanagi understood what he meant. She has nothing left in this world – no parents, no relatives, no future. She still hesitated – this is a one way ticket to a new life. But something inside of her compelled her to do it.

She activated her quirk again, and it once again responded with razor sharp blades. She aimed them at Hiroshi's face, ripping it into a macabre painting, some blades slashing through his carotid artery. He quickly bled out.

Staring at his lifeless body, Kusanagi's strength left her. She dropped down to the ground, and vomited, expelling her lunch, She started crying. She killed someone. She killed a living, breathing, thinking human being. And then, in her lowest moment, she felt a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

She looked up, and stared right into Ifrit eyes. They were… not as cold as she imagined them to be. He looked calm, stable. It, in turn, soothed Cassie. He picked her up from the ground, his hand still on her shoulder.

"Welcome to the Teeth."

He stood still a bit, mulling over his next words.

"Vex."