Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or MHA.

Rating: T

Words: 7868

Warnings: language, violence.

Chapter Summary: Faced with a monster, teenagers being attacked, and a weird huge blonde man who looked like he could crush rebar with his pinkies, Ichigo was in an utterly strange situation. The Villains had no idea who this freaky orange-haired man was, but they knew they had to get rid of him.

Notes: What's a Shinigami/Hollow/Quincy hybrid to do when he gets plopped in the middle of superpowered people fighting? Not as long as the last chapter, but slow and steady wins the race! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

Chapter: 2) The Foreign Black Blades

Wednesday, April 15, 2X75

Pale fingers just barely skimmed the girl's face before Ichigo kicked the guy away.

"You alright?" he asked as he crouched down in front of the kids who were crouched in shallow water. The green-haired frog girl had scratches on her, the curly green-haired boy was sporting broken fingers and scratches, and the small purple boy had some scratches and blood running down his face. Ichigo himself didn't feel like he was in any better shape. He used the larger blade of Zangetsu to lean. That Shunpo and kick shouldn't have made him out of breath like that, damn.

"A-Aizawa-sensei! He needs help!" The green curly-haired boy pointed towards the man in all black. Ichigo saw a bright glowing red eye beneath dark black hair and red blood before his whole face disappeared as the monster slammed him into the ground once again. Other powered adults, some with non-human traits, began to surround him.

He's their sensei. Ally, then. Need to get him away from the monster and those people. Then he thought, What the hell are students doing here fighting like this?

"Ahhh, don't kill us!" The purple kid screamed as he lobbed a squishy ball at him. "Don't chop us up!"

He detaches them from his head?!

Ichigo ignored Zangetsu's comment for now (even though he shared his disbelief). He easily dodged it, but he did notice the ball and the ones after stuck to anything it hit. He held out a placating hand. "Hey, whoa! I'm not going to hurt you! Tell me what's going on so I can help."

The green girl was wary as she looked at him with large eyes. "Who are you, kero?" He watched her tense like she was getting ready to jump. With every second he was near her, he really understood how she was like a frog; from her speech patterns, to her eyes, to her wide mouth, to her large hands.

At the same time, the curly green-haired kid spoke a mile a minute, "Thank you, sir! Are you a new Hero? What's your Hero name? And since when do Heroes use giant swords like that?!"

Did he breathe at all between any of those questions?

A Hero? He said new Hero, which means there were old Heroes. Is that a title or something? "I'm just trying to help. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, what is—?"

Before he could continue, the green kid's eyes widened as he looked at something happening over Ichigo's shoulder. Looking back, Ichigo could see a huge muscular blonde man—he must have been bigger than Kenpachi!—with deep angles on his face jump towards the man in black, Aizawa, that was still under the mercy of the giant beaked brain monster.

Ichigo cursed under his breath and tried to keep his legs from shaking as he tensed them to get ready to save Aizawa. He was still weak from the ritual Fath—from what He had started.

"All Might!" the students exclaimed.

They didn't sound panicked, instead almost relieved at the man. All Might, huh? Why did that sound like some kind of pro-wrestler name? An alias, then? He turned to them quickly. "That guy, All Might. Friend or foe? I don't want to be attacking the wrong side."

The three of him looked at him in disbelief. The curly green-haired boy especially; his face looked like Ichigo had told him the sky was green and grass was blue. The purple grape-looking kid waved his arms and exclaimed, "How do you not know All Might! He's the number one Hero in Japan, of course he's on our side!"

The frog girl was quick to recover despite her still looking at him like he was a weirdo. "Ally. He's one of our senseis."

"Stay away from my students, Villain!"

Whatever he was about to say next was halted when he felt air shift near him. Instincts made him dodge on reflex. Quick eyes found the All Might guy having dashed with some kind of super speed towards the kids and scoop them up away from him. The glare that he sent Ichigo burned bright blue in the shadows of his deep-set features. His teeth were not a smile but a baring of warning. A threat if Ichigo was set on harming any of the kids.

He's fast! Especially for his size. Ichigo's eyes narrowed when he felt himself grow dizzy from the fast movement. But not as fast as me. He had to help this guy with the monster and the hands guy before he passed out.

"All Might-sensei!"

"All Might!"

The students' exclamation only made All Might look them over quicker in search of an injury once he touched the ground. He opened his mouth to ask them something, but the students were faster.

"He's not a Villain!" the curly green-haired student (Ichigo needed to get their names) told him. "Kurosaki-san saved us from Shigaraki. He's on our side!"

"Yeah!" Frog girl and the grape kid backed him up.

All Might looked them over once more before turning his attention to Ichigo. His eyes rested on his Zanpakutō in particular. Ichigo knew what he could have looked like to this guy, large weapons so close to his students, but that didn't mean he had to like being stared at like that. Ichigo's grip on the hilts on Zangetsu tightened as the memory of first being separated from him resurfaced from an ugly place. "Because my students have vouched for you, I will take their word. But there will be a conversation after this as no one here knows who you are."

"Fair." Ichigo nodded. "No time for small talk. Faster we finish this, faster we can get your students out of here. What is that thing?" He didn't want that monster to go after any of the students now that it was done with Aizawa.

Aizawa and someone in some kind of white space suit were not too far away from where All Might landed with the students. Two guaranteed injured. In need of medical attention ASAP.

All Might's tone was grim. "A Nomu. I am not exactly sure what it is, but I know it is immensely powerful."

"It has ridiculous endurance! It'll keep going after being hurt." The green-haired boy warned Ichigo and All Might.

Possible Arrancar-level Hierro-like skin maybe?

"Midoriya-shōnen," he directed the green-haired boy to his fellow students, "Thank you for the warning, but I will be fine. Get Eraserhead and Thirteen out of here with Asui-shōjo and Mineta-shōnen."

The way Midoriya's face pinched and how he bit his lip spoke how he wanted to protest. He relented, however, and nodded. The students hurried over to Aizawa and the space suit person who Ichigo assumed to be Thirteen (what an odd name).

With them out of the way, Ichigo could tell a fraction of All Might's tension bled away. Ichigo felt the same. It was difficult to battle when civilians and/or injured comrades were in the battle area. Once they were far enough away, Ichigo said to All Might without taking his eyes off the Nomu, "Any weaknesses you know of?"

Shigaraki made his way behind the Nomu. His expression was hidden by the severed hand on his face, but Ichigo could sense nothing good from him. Great.

"Not any I know of," he frowned. He ripped off his tie and tensed his body, "But that only means we need to end this sooner!" With that, he dashed forward towards the Nomu, arms in front of him.

"Carolina Smash!" The hell is with that attack name?

As soon as All Might's feet left the ground, Ichigo wasted no time to Shunpo in the air to stop behind the Nomu and attack Shigaraki. Shigaraki was no Shinigami or Arrancar, so he would not be able to dodge Zangetsu in time. But as neither Shinigami nor Arrancar, Ichigo had a strong suspicion he wouldn't survive being cut down by Zangetsu. He had to hold back his strength, even as fatigued as he was.

But as soon as he swung his blade, a dark portal swallowed his strike. Zangetsu's blade appeared from another dark portal about ten feet away from Shigaraki. This bought enough time for him to get away.

Next to Ichigo, he felt more than heard the impact of All Might's attack making contact with the Nomu. To both his and Ichigo's shock, the Nomu was undamaged. Like All Might and his speed, the Nomu's size did not hinder how quickly it could move.

"Nice try, Hero," Shigaraki grinned.

"Dammit!"

Shigaraki then went after the students who were evacuating Aizawa and the space suit person (Thirteen?), but Midoriya turned around and cocked back a punch to stop him. Before it could connect, the Nomu in front of himself and All Might dashed over them with speed he had not expected to get to Shigaraki.

Ichigo ripped the half of Zangetsu that had been swallowed by the dark portal that the purple portal person made and flew over to them. All Might was quickly behind him.

Midoriya's punch hit the Nomu square in the abdomen but did no damage. Ichigo could see Midoriya wincing, but whether from fear or pain, he was unsure. The panic, though, was clear in his wide eyes.

"Mama, no!" Wide eyes stared in abject horror as a child's mother was scooped up like a toy. Skinny little arms reached up to her in desperation.

Wet crunching was loud in the air as one of Yhwach's black monsters gobbled up the child's mother right before her eyes. Quick like lightning. Her blood still poured down its face as Ichigo killed the thing and saved the young girl. The black monster—devouring, emptiness, void, wrong, wrongwrongwrong—was blasted away by Ichigo's powered-up Getsuga Tenshō.

But, watching the child sob and wail into the top of his shihakushō, he didn't feel like he saved them. Those wet wide eyes and broken wails were proof of that.

Not again, he was not going to let this happen again.

"Midoriya, move!" Ichigo screamed with his full chest.

Thankfully, he and All Might got there before the monster could hurt Midoriya. Ichigo poured reiatsu into his Zanpakutō and swung both blades directly at the Nomu's massive arm. All Might punched it twice in the head. Zangetsu was able to score deep into the Nomu's skin. Hierro-like skin or not, his reiatsu through Zangetsu should have done it. Blood was drawn. Being so close to the Nomu was giving Ichigo a weird feeling, something in his senses that screamed to him that the monster was off, wrong. Zangetsu's blades continued to bite deep into the Nomu's flesh. But as soon as the wound appeared did it disappear just as quickly. All Might's double haymaker dented the Nomu's jaw.

Ichigo swore, and he could see the matching frustration in All Might's gritted teeth when the attacks proved to do nothing.

Shigaraki, delighted by All Might's failure in delivering injury to the Nomu, laughed and mocked them. "For the Number One Hero, you sure can't do much against my Nomu. Same to you, NPC—you didn't do shit. Its Shock Absorption Quirk perfectly negates your strength. Actually," he made a show of tapping his chin like he was in thought, "You would have a better chance defeating him if the Nomu let you gouge out its flesh. And chances of that happening are none."

All Might retreated, but the Nomu changed gears. It ran then spun as it was running to gain momentum. It lashed out its massive arms aiming to hit Ichigo and All Might.

Ichigo blocked with Zangetsu while All Might used his crossed forearms.

Dust was kicked up by the impacts. Ichigo could feel the power of the Nomu through Zangetsu. His arm shook with strain. Ichigo had blocked one of Yammy Llargo's massive handed attacks before with just one arm, and this was making him struggle so much? The frustration that burned in his core did nothing to bolster him. Neither did his anger. He was weakened, low on reiryoku, felt sick, and knew he had to finish this quick. He wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep this up.

What he did not expect to see or hear was All Might's chuckle. "I think you should have kept that information to yourself. Now," All Might shocked Shigaraki by grappling the Nomu into his arms, "I know its weakness!"

With flexibility that shouldn't have been possible for a man his size and bulk, All Might freaking suplexed the Nomu, creating a large shockwave.

Ichigo wasn't kicked by the shockwave, but he did have to shield his face from the dust.

When the dust settled, he was shocked to see the same purple portal that had swallowed Zangetsu earlier now under All Might. The man was still in the suplex position that he had used to attack the Nomu, but now the Nomu's bottom half was downward into the portal while the upper half was no holding All Might in place. Ichigo could see the Nomu's claws digging into All Might's side, drawing blood and causing the man to grimace in pain.

Shigaraki openly mocked All Might once again, saying that All Might's plan to bury the Nomu in concrete wouldn't work since the Nomu was modified to have the same strength as him.

Modified?

They created this thing?!

The purple mist person used his power to change the portal around All Might. "We had to restrain you because of your speed."

"Oh, no you don't!" If they were worried about All Might's speed, then they wouldn't know what to do about Ichigo's speed. He poured reiatsu into Zangetsu once more and charged to slice away the half of the Nomu that was gripping onto All Might. Just like when he was attacking the Nomu earlier, he couldn't use a Getsuga Tenshō with how close All Might was.

It was at this time that Midoriya seemed to have a similar idea to Ichigo. He bolted from his friends, sprinting towards All Might.

Shit!

Ichigo had to quickly change the trajectory of Zangetsu because as soon as Midoriya rushed back into the fight, the mist guy shifted and lifted a hand towards the boy. Ichigo could see purple mist just starting to coalesce right in front of Midoriya.

"Midoriya, move!" He yelled.

Between one second and the next, an explosion attacked the purple mist guy. Ichigo whipped his attention to see who or what did that. Another attacker? No. A blonde teen came flying in with a menacing grin, creating explosions from his palms. The same explosions that were being aimed at the mist man.

(When he would think back to this later, oddly enough, it did not weird him out as much as the other teens. His explosions, while fiery in nature, were not unlike reiatsu explosions visually.)

Holy shit, look at him! That kid can EXPLODE, that's so fucking sick! It was the most excited he'd heard Zangetsu in…Ichigo didn't know how long.

Trying to ignore the stab of guilt that went through him, he sent a mental prod towards him. Zan, focus! He couldn't believe he was the one telling his Zanpakutō that. (He missed Ossan.)

"Too slow!" The blonde teen roared, "Die!"

'Die?'

'Die?'

The explosion sent the mist man reeling backward, but that was not it. The blonde explosion teen quickly swiveled and attacked the Nomu. More explosions were sent the Nomu's way before the teen changed course again and returned to attack the mist man. Ice suddenly engulfed the Nomu's limbs. Ichigo saw that its source was another teen, this one with white and red hair that was split evenly down the middle. Ice came from one side of his body and determination was set in his eyes. And before the ice could even fully stop the Nomu, a third teen, bare chested with bright spiky red hair, entered the fray. This one attacked Shigaraki, but the attack was evaded.

There was a lull on the battlefield for a moment.

All Might and Ichigo were at the ready to attack. Midoriya had ended up next to Ichigo. Two of the three new students were grouped together, their powers ready at their hands. The blonde explosion teen was on top of the mist man, having subdued him. Everyone watched, tense, to see if the ice would finally stop the Nomu.

A chuckle drew their attention from the Nomu to Shigaraki. "Pretty good effort there, UA newbies." To the mist man, he said, "Kurogiri, it's a shame you got caught by a newbie like that. Really?"

"Tch!" the explosion teen scoffed above the mist man, Kurogiri. "Wasn't hard to figure out his guy's weakness. Using the mist to hide the actual body, smart but not enough." When Kurogiri tried to move, the explosion teen hovered a palm of small sparks close to Kurogiri's neck armor. "Ah-ah! I'm gonna blow you up if you move!"

Ichigo heard the spiky-looking redhead say as he glanced toward his friend, "Dude, that's not something a true Hero says."

Shigaraki waved an arm towards the Nomu. "Nomu, get Kurogiri back!"

Loud crackling made them all realize the ice had not done the trick.

The order seemed to awaken the Nomu. It roared, breaking free of the ice. Ichigo watched as the monster regenerated its frozen, shattered limbs and side bloating and bubbling outward to create new flesh and bone. With a screech, its legs pounded the ground, trajectory towards Kurogiri and the explosion teen.

"Bakugō-shōnen!"

Before Ichigo could attempt to assist, All Might flew towards the teen and landed in front of him. Wham! The Nomu's punch contacted, it sent another powerful shockwave through the area. Ichigo was able to hold his ground, but he heard cries of others who were knocked to their feet. More dirt was kicked up but cleared quickly enough. Once it cleared, it was apparent to see that All Might took all of the brunt of the Nomu's attack, saving Bakugō from being turned into paste by the Nomu.

Seeing All Might save Bakugō irritated Shigaraki. "Using violence to save your comrades…how is that any different from what we do? Society categorizing violence as good or bad depending on if heroes or villains carry it out. Symbol of Peace—you create nothing but more violence!"

Symbol of Peace? Ichigo looked at All Might who appeared to be more upset. Is that what he's called?

The young Shinigami remembered all the pressure he had thrust upon him as the 'chosen one.' The one the entire Gotei relied on to fight Aizen, the one who they called upon for all their problems, the one who directly fought against Fa—. Against Him. To be called a 'Symbol,' what a burden. That was so much pressure, too much, for one person.

Shigaraki went after the students while All Might's fight was with the Nomu. Each punch and hit that was exchanged between the man and monster created shockwaves that prevented any of the students from getting close. The students…and Shigaraki and Kurogiri.

Bakugō's teeth were bared at him when a thrust of Ichigo's Zanpakutō prevented Shigaraki from touching him. "Who the hell are you, Orange Head?!"

Midoriya, who Ichigo hadn't noticed came near until just now, said to Bakugō, "He's an ally, Kacchan!"

"Obviously!" More explosions were sent towards Shigaraki and some of the other 'Villains' who took the opportunity to gang up on the students. "I'm not blind, Deku!"

Fighting off the 'Villains', Ichigo began to work on autopilot.

These were not Arrancar or Hollows. They were not Quincy. They were not Him.

Ichigo could not slice at them like Arrancar or slay and purify them like Hollows. They all appeared to be normal-ish people sans the powers and some mutations. Like Fullbringers. If Ichigo attacked them like he normally would, he knew he would inadvertently kill them. So autopilot guided his limbs.

Restrain a punch so he didn't maim the one person he sent flying.

Dodge that ice from that white-red student.

"Who is that?" he heard one student ask.

Kick one Villain away. Use the hilt of one blade to knock out one then the larger blade to sweep back a group of them.

"How is he lugging those swords around?!" came from another student.

Fuck, why was he so tired?

Autopilot.

Autopilot.

Pinning one Villain to the ground, his head snapped up when he heard the change of pace between All Might's battle with the Nomu. All Might threw the Nomu off the ground after colliding in mid-air. He landed, but Ichigo could tell he was slowing, getting tired. Even someone like this 'Hero' would get tired of fighting a monster like that.

The Nomu bounced off the ground.

The tide was turning.

"I will show you the meaning of Plus Ultra!"

With that loud declaration, All Might charged and cocked back a fist, charging up a punch, and hit the Nomu with what looked like all the strength he had. The punch connected, and faster than a normal person would be able to see—Ichigo had no problem seeing it so quickly—gold kinetic energy surged from the impact site. An explosive hockwave, stronger than any before, cracked the very ground below All Might.

The monster flew through the air like a rocket, its body crashing through the roof of whatever this place was. Glass, metal, and concrete shattered and broke. The lights from where the Nomu crashed through the roof exploded, fire and smoke erupting from them.

Debris fell.

The Nomu was officially defeated.

After a moment of disbelief seeing his monster defeated, Shigaraki monologued again at the tired Hero. Ichigo didn't quite understand what he meant by All Might's prime, but it didn't matter now.

The tide of the battle was changing once again.

Although the Nomu monster was no more, there were still enemies on the field.

Shigaraki and Kurogiri, who had managed to escape Bakugō, appeared to exchange words between them. Ichigo knew from far too much experience that a battle was not over until the enemy was clearly and definitively defeated. He could hear the students cheering for All Might and retreating, assuming the battle was over.

It was a mistake.

Shigaraki and Kurogiri charged at All Might. Ichigo could tell from his position that All Might was barely standing upright after that clash with the Nomu, and he knew he had to help.

And then a blur of green whizzed past his vision.

A purple portal and pale hand appeared.

Ichigo could see swollen, limp legs trailing behind Midoriya as he leapt towards All Might. Damn kid just broke his legs to be that quick?! Ichigo could track high speeds, so he was able to see what Midoriya did not expect. Kurogiri opened up a portal for Shigaraki to stick his hand through. Shigaraki's hand extended to hurt Midoriya—he wasn't sure what Shigaraki's power was, but he did know that being touched by him was Something Not to Do.

No.

Despite his waning energy, Ichigo pushed himself into a fast Shunpo. He appeared next to Midoriya, wrapped his arm around his middle, and pivoted in the air in one motion. "Kurosaki-san!" Midoriya cried out in surprise. "How—?"

With a growl in his voice, Ichigo let lose the fang that wanted to tear through the air. "Getsuga," dark reiatsu flecked with blue and gold gathered around Zangetsu's largest blade edge while Midoriya covered his face out of surprised reflex, energy like white stars vibrating with intensity around his reiatsu's darkness, "Tenshō!" (1)

His attack carved through the air towards the portal. An explosion sounded as his Getsuga Tenshō ate up the ground below it, sending dirt and debris flying. Rocks cracked and glass shattered. He heard Midoriya shout next to him, but he was focused more on making sure the teen didn't die than his shock.

Several moments passed and he waited in tense silence.

The smoke and dust cleared. His attack didn't kill the two Villains, but it sure had sent them back flying towards one of the walls. They appeared to be still on the ground for the most part, though struggled to move. Good.

Fairly certain the two would not get up, he descended from the air. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he staggered and had to use Zangetsu to help hold him up. He carefully released Midoriya, careful of his limp broken legs, and the kid wasted no time and fretting over him. "Oh my gosh, Kurosaki-san! Are you okay? Was that your Quirk? How did you make that—"

Ichigo heard commotion not far from them. He swallowed nausea that it was starting to make itself known and turned towards the sounds. A large group of rather colorful people marched through an entrance. A shaky breath. Allies or enemies?

From the way the students cheered, more 'Heroes' he assumed.

Whatever, Ichigo didn't care who they were, as long as they were here to help in any way they could.

"Midoriya!" he heard one of the Heroes yell. Following came the names of the other students that were in the area.

His vision swam for a moment.

Although his Getsuga Tenshō sent the enemies running, maybe it wasn't a great idea. That and that last Shunpo. His wrists burned.

"Are the…Are the students o-okay?" He hoped he was speaking clearly. He couldn't hear himself well.

"Yes. Kurosaki-san, are you—"

His vision was growing blurry, and the uncomfortably familiar preface of his ears ringing before sounding like they were being stuffed with cotton came. He could hear voices yelling towards him, but the cotton sound muffled them too much to understand. Everything was garbled.

A green smudge neared his left while a yellow one neared his right. Midoriya and All Might? Or someone else?

"S-sorry," he slurred. "'M pass out now."

Where…the fuck did…did Kisuke send us?

Darkness encroached around the edges of his vision.

I don't…I don't know.

He distantly felt his knees hit the ground hard before he passed out.

…Kisuke…What have you done?

Hizashi was loud.

It was as much a fact as saying most people's blood was red and the summer sun was warm.

Hizashi used his loudness proudly in his life, from crafting his boisterous persona of Present Mic to having a great radio program at his Put Your Hands Up radio station to using his Quirk, Voice, to be a Pro Hero. He knew how to call attention to himself whether to take charge of a crowd or to create a distraction for his allies. Skillfully, at that. He knew how to manipulate his voice depending on what the occasion needed. A pure scream to shatter glass, a deep yell to send a large group flying via a powerful shockwave, or a high-pitched whistle for something more controlled and concentrated. Loudness was in Hizashi's breath and blood.

But Shōta was his one weakness. His one true, honest to god, weakness. One of the few things that could make him quiet. Make his loud volume dial down.

More specifically, Shōta's safety.

Asui and Mineta called him over, and the breath left Hizashi's lungs.

"Oh shit," he swore as he slid to his knees after running towards Shōta. His knees would protest as soon as he got up, but he did not care. His husband looked terrible and even that was an understatement. His inky black hair was turned into a mess that was matted to his worryingly pale face with his own blood. His face was more red than pale skin. It made Hizashi queasy with distress. Shattered would have been putting it lightly. Shōta's nose was clearly broken, and the cheeks of his face didn't look like they sat in the right places. He could see dark bruising already beginning near one of his eyes, swelling it fully shut.

As much as he wanted to scoop him up in his arms, Hizashi knew it was best not to touch him. He didn't know the full extent of his injuries. Was his neck injured? While he could see that one arm was broken at a nauseating angle and the other looked to be partially decayed at the elbow—Oh god, was that bone? —Shōta could have more injuries that were hidden under his suit. Internal or otherwise.

And yet, that didn't stop him from gently brushing tacky black strands away from his face as best he could.

He gritted his teeth as a surge of anger travelled through his body. Damn Shigaraki. Oh, how he wanted to scream.

Thank god Īda got to them when he did.

If he hadn't…

Don't think like that, Hizashi. Don't do that to yourself.

"Mic-sensei," Asui said quietly. Neither she nor Mineta looked well, from the scrapes to the blood. They needed to get to Recovery Girl so she could give them a look over. "We…I…" Her voice was thick with worry and fear and something else Hizashi couldn't quite pick out. She was one of the more level-headed students, so seeing her so out of sorts made him wish so much more than he had gotten here sooner.

"Is he—is Aizawa-sensei going to be okay?" Mineta clutched his dirtied yellow cape.

He could hear his fellow Heroes begin to round up the Villains and tend to the students. All he wanted to focus on was his husband, but he also had students who needed him. He did his best to project reassurance in his words. "We're going to get Aizawa to a hospital and Recovery Girl, don't you worry, little listeners!" (How much he was trying to convince himself rather than the students, he wasn't sure.)

He heard the mechanical voices of the robot helpers Recovery Girl used, which prompted him to usher the students towards the other teachers and faculty. When Recovery Girl got to him and Shōta, she grimaced, but quickly got to work. Hizashi watched almost like a lingering ghost as she began to stabilize him, splint and brace everything that needed to be kept motionless, and whatever else that Hizashi's brain wasn't computing right now. "Aizawa-kun," she sighed.

In typical Hizashi fashion, he fell victim to his mouth moving before his brain. "At least it wasn't his fault this time." He winced as soon as he said it.

Recovery Girl gave him a look, but it wasn't chastising like she normally would. Her attention returned to Shōta. "At least it wasn't his fault," she agreed tiredly. Hizashi and Shōta had been common visitors in her infirmary over the years, ever since their time at UA and into their professional careers as Pros.

To Hizashi, as the robot helpers got Shōta into a stretcher, she said, "He'll be in the closest hospital shortly." I'll make sure he is okay, is what was left unsaid.

He quickly thanked her and began to follow her and her robots as they took Shōta out of this wrecked place. He had seen as soon as he had entered USJ that the place was a mess, but it wasn't until now that he realized a lot went down while they weren't here. Giant craters, a huge hole in the damn ceiling, All Might almost falling over himself—nothing was left without a mark.

As he followed his husband, more stretchers entered his periphery. Midoriya was a face whom he recognized, but it was the man who had been next to Midoriya earlier that he had no recollection of.

"Who's that guy?" he asked Uraraka who was following the stretcher Midoriya was being carried on. She didn't have more than a few scrapes and dirt on her, which gave him some relief. He spotted the boy's broken limbs and grimaced. Five days into the semester. Problem Child indeed.

A lingering glance to her classmate, she looked at the man on the stretcher. "Kurosaki Ichigo, Tsuyu-chan told us."

Mineta had run up towards Midoriya when he noticed him being taken away. Now, like Uraraka, he was keeping pace with the robot assistants, though needing to put more effort due to his short stature. "He didn't even know who All Might was! He looked like he was going to attack him for going near Aizawa-sensei. And he even saved Midoriya from getting turned to dust!"

And that made him pause further.

One, who in their right mind didn't know who All Might was? Even if a person lived under a rock, All Might, the Japan's Symbol of Peace, was so well known that even other countries knew him. Even people in remote villages in Japan's most isolated communities knew him. Hell, even the rare old hermit knew who the man was.

So, someone who had no clue who All Might was? Very weird indeed. Foreigners knew who he was!

Two, his choice of gear sent alarm bells ringing through Hizashi's head. He had seen the massive blade he had been leaning on when he and the other teachers first entered. It was ridiculous in size and black like no other sword that he had seen before. (And he had seen some impressive blades in all the years he had known Shōta.) When one of Ectoplasm's clones had gone over to Midoriya, Hizashi had seen the student frantically gesturing at the orange-haired man like he was an ally. If the man had been a threat, Midoriya would not have been acting like that. When Ectoplasm had tried to lift the sword as Kurosaki was loaded on a stretcher, he couldn't lift it up. He had to get four other clones to heave it onto a floating platform one of the robot assistants had brought.

And then, to Hizashi's surprise, yet another sword was heaved onto the first one. It was smaller but nonetheless heavy from how Ectoplasm struggled with it.

No Pros that he knew used weapons like that. Yes, there was one older man in the lower ranks that used a traditional katana, but he mostly used it to cut through materials, not people. Swords like the ones Kurosaki possessed were meant to deal damage. Even if Kurosaki was an emitter type and used the swords to channel them somehow, there was no way the guy should have been able to wield ones those sizes like that. It took Ectoplasm four clones just to barely get the big one on the platform while the smaller one was still a struggle with just one clone. It did not make any sense.

He made sure to take a few pictures of them.

Shōta was going to go nuts when he saw them.

Three, this Kurosaki had been ready to fight All Might for going near Shōta? A man he didn't know who he was? It made the thoughts really turn in his head. He knew he was biased for being touched that a stranger wanted to defend Shōta knowing nothing about him. He also knew that it was insane for Kurosaki to be ready to fight All Might who wielded super strength as easily as breathing without knowing who he was or what his Quirk was. The instinct to protect an injured person despite not knowing the full situation—food for thought.

And speaking of Quirk. Kurosaki had fought with All Might against the Nomu and Shigaraki. He had to be powerful to do that. What kind of Quirk did he have to fight alongside All Might like that? Was he an emitter-type who channeled his energy through the swords? Maybe he had super strength to be able to carry them around. Hizashi had never heard of the name Kurosaki before in the Hero community. It made him curious. An Underground Hero? Possible, but not likely as Hizashi knew at least the names of almost all the Underground Heroes through Shōta. (Sometimes his husband talked about other Underground Heroes he had worked with or knew of. Other times he had a full rant ready on his lips about the incompetence of some of the Underground Heroes before Hizashi could make him his coffee in the mornings. Those occasions were rare—both because Underground Heroes usually being quite serious and competent with their work and that it was rare Shōta was conscious enough to talk much before coffee made its way into his system.)

No rants about a Kurosaki from Shōta and no former information about him in any of the Daylight Hero community boards.

He heard the overlapping voices of students telling the other teachers and faculty what they experienced. He was able to make out a few things that did not make sense to him. How could the Villains have gotten into USJ? How did they even know the students and Shōta were here today? How did Kurosaki, who apparently the Villains had no clue who he was, fall through Kurogiri's warp gate? What did they want? All Might had mentioned briefly that they had tried to kill him, but there was always underlying reasons from trying that hard to get rid of the Symbol of Peace.

And it was not just the Villain activity that did not make sense. From what he was able to pick up from a few students, Kurosaki was a pure oddity.

Falling out of the same portal that Kurogiri created. Being able to lug those swords around. Having the ability to walk on air while firing energy from his sword. Apparent teleportation from one spot to another.

It was possible for a singular Quirk to be trained and manipulated to be used in more than one way. Tensei Īda, for example, had a Quirk like that. His engines allowed him to move incredibly fast, but some civilians and Villains had wrongly assumed that Ingenium had super strength. Hizashi knew Tensei did not have augmented strength. He just manipulated the speed his Quirk allowed him to back up his strikes, allowing him to punch and kick with more force. Even All Might, as strong as he was, did not have a second Quirk. The guy was so powerful that his super strength-enhanced punches could create shockwaves and even clear the sky. Having that much blow back was not an ability to manipulate the weather—it was just a side effect of his super strength.

No person was able to have more than one Quirk. Super strength, energy manipulation, air-walking abilities, teleportation—none of it made sense.

As he continued to speedwalk alongside the stretcher the robot assistants were carrying Shōta on, his gaze rested uneasily on the stretcher carrying the man with bright orange hair.

Who are you, Kurosaki?

A purple warp gate opened in midair, the swirling darkness spitting out two figures in a hideout bar.

The shorter one groaned as he sat up and clutched the wounds on his body. He had burns on the arms he used to protect his face and a bullet wound in his shoulder. Blood dripped onto the hardwood floor. "Damn," Tomura gritted his teeth.

The second figure stood up and closed the purple warp gate. Tomura noticed the slight stagger that Kurogiri tried to mask. "Your injuries will be treated shortly."

"Kurogiri," Tomura rasped, "Who was that NPC? He came out of one of your portals and that hurt you." It wasn't a question. The image of Kurogiri hunched over, groaning in pain was fresh in his mind. Kurogiri had been his caretaker for years now, and while it was difficult to connect with him at times, that did not mean he wanted to see him injured.

Kurogiri was silent for a moment. He then walked behind the bar, picking up a clean rag and to start wiping glasses. Shigaraki knew he had cleaned all the glasses the night before. "I know not who that man was. I," here he paused, then continued through the motions of cleaning the glass, "I do not recall ever feeling like that. It was as if I was split from myself and that my warp gate was not mine." He finished the first glass and quickly moved onto a second.

Not his? Could that man have manipulated Kurogiri's warp gate? "He had multiple Quirks."

The explosive arc of energy had nearly killed the both of them if not for Kurogiri's fast warping. Tomura had never seen anything like it before. The NPC's swords were like something out of one of his video games. He would have guessed a superpower Quirk, but then he saw the NPC start teleporting and walking on air. He hated to admit that he was curious about the orange-haired guy. The only other person he knew with multiple Quirks like that was—

"Sensei." Shit, Sensei needed to know what happened. "I need to report to Sensei."

Kurogiri stopped cleaning the glasses. He reached underneath the bar to pull out a first aid kit and began tending to Tomura. "He did indeed possess multiple Quirks." He was quick to remove the bullet from Tomura and patch him up. The burns on his arms were coated and ointment and wrapped in bandages. Tomura did his best not to move too much despite the pain. "Normal humans do have the capacity for this."

Nomu did, was left unsaid.

Tomura leaned over to the keyboard that was by one of the monitors and dialed the familiar number. A foreign, though dull anxiety made him clench the edge of the table.

One ring.

Three rings.

Then the monitor connected, although blank, "Ah, Tomura. I have been looking forward to your call."

He took a deep breath. Sensei would not be mad at him, but he was not sure how he would take the news about the NPC. "Sensei, I have a lot to tell you." He told him everything that happened from beginning to end. From their information about All Might's weaking being false to the strange man.

"An unknown man, you say?"

"Yes, Sensei."

There was quiet on the other end of the line for a few moments as Sensei took in what he said. "Multiple Quirks, hm?" The curiosity and interest were clear in his voice. "Tomura, I want you took keep an eye out for that man. He is an unknown, and unknowns such as he are important."

"Yes, Sensei."

A second voice came through the monitor. "You sure did put in work today, Shigaraki. Now, ah, what of my Nomu?" Garaki-sensei's eagerness was clear in his voice. (2)

Kurogiri, who was disposing of any soiled medical materials, said, "I regret to inform you that I was not able to locate the Nomu. All Might's punch sent it soaring through the USJ building and well into the stratosphere from what I could tell. Apologies, Garaki-sensei."

"Gather the villainous elite, my dear Tomura. You will eventually be feared by the world. This is just a small set back." He chuckled low. "And as I said, we must keep an eye on this mysterious new man. If we can get him on our side, he will be a great asset to you."

A slow, satisfied smile spread on Tomura's face. "Anything you say, Sensei."

Maybe the NPC wasn't quite the NPC he thought after all.

It was silent in one of the alleys of the city. Trash cans lined the back entrances of shops and other businesses while strays scavenged for any food they could. A few cats meowed and a dog growled, but other than animal noises, this part of the city was oddly silent at this time.

The cats and dog suddenly started yowling, moving as fast as they could away from the alley.

A ripping sound came from the very air itself multiple feet above. The ripping was a tear that was widening with every second, purple mist mixing with a strange glowing energy. When the portal was as large as two doorways put together, blackness began to pour from the portal like an oily ink. It gushed like a river, but only for a short time. The blackness began to slow to a trickling tap and the portal crackled as it closed, dissipating the purple mist and glowing energy.

The blackness began to spread on the ground, enough so that something was visible moving in the center. It looked to be part of the blackness at first, but after a few moments of it barely moving, it was able to get up. It was a man. The blackness seeped away in some places though continued through the man's hair as it curtained his face, acting like it was part of the blackness. The same went for his tattered cloak. Soon, the man was able stand up on two feet. His mostly white garb contrasted with the blankness all around him.

The man took a step but stumbled. He pressed a hand to his side which was bleeding heavily, though the blood could not be seen due to the blackness he was a part of and the darkness of the night. He lifted his other hand, gazing at it as he collected some energy around it. Bright blue-white and pure black coalesced between his fingers only to flicker and dissipate a moment later.

The man cursed the Shinigami he had been fighting under his breath. "That devilish cat woman…and Urahara Kisuke…," he growled. Yhwach disliked unnecessary violence, but the desire to crush the blonde man's heart between his fingers was far too great; a burning need to feel the beating of his heart cease and his blood between his fingers as he ripped it out of his chest. He did not want to kill him. No, no, he wanted to destroy him.

The Shinigami pushed him to be like this. All of them. He was so close to joining with his son and they took him away from him!

How dare they? How dare they!

He looked around for a moment before drawing near the edge of the alley. Although his reiatsu was low and acting rather difficult right now, he was still able to partially obscure himself. The mouth of the alley opened enough for him to see the city it resided in. Tall buildings, a few cars parked on the quiet street, strong metal streetlights poured light from above. No decay. Clean as any city could manage to be.

The opposite of the cities that fell to him and the strongholds that rose from their ashes.

Recognizing this, he closed his eyes and reached out tentatively with what reiatsu he could manage at the moment. Silence. Nothing. It was as if he was the only person with reiatsu—not just in the area but at all. Even the lowly humans who had no powers had flickers of reiatsu. A soul generated the bare minimum of reiatsu to live, so to feel nothing through his senses…

This was not the world he left. This was not the world he had made.

He was a foreigner in a strange land.

And if this was where Urahara had sent his son, he would need to find him.

"Father has come to rescue you, my son."

Originally Published: 3/23/23

FF Published: 9/19/23

(1) So I know according to the Bleach Wikia that Ichigo's reiatsu is supposed to be gold. But since the TYBW anime came out with that stunning shot of Ichigo's Bankai reiatsu, I just auto default to that black reiatsu with a shimmering white-gray glow! It just looks like stars ahhh!

(2) In this situation, sensei here does not mean teacher, but rather doctor. Doctors are often referred to with the title of 'sensei.'

A/N: Let it be known that I really hate writing fight scenes.

A/N 2: Thank you so much to everyone who has favved this fic, and thanks to The Blackened King, and JamesBlafking for leaving a review on Chapter 1!

I normally don't do this but I do, however, want to point out Guest who left this review (translated from Russian via Google translate):

""My love"?!Yes, Ichigo will personally send any (f-word slur referring to a gay person. I, the author, am not typing it out) to Hell for even a hint of such a relationship. Author, may you die!""

I will not tolerate bigoted, homophobic comments to my fic. It is 2023 and it is absolutely ridiculous and uncalled for. As this Guest did not have an account, I cannot reply, but I wanted to show how childish and pathetic this person is. Hate is an ugly thing, and it only makes the hater look uglier and stupid.