Tomura stared at the picture of the potential admin held carefully in his hand. Father was on his face making him feel anxious yet safe in anticipation for their coming guests. Kurogiri, who stood behind the bar watching his charge, had arranged for some broker to find them better recruits. The decayer hated to admit it but his plan to hire just any old thug for the USJ attack had been a botch on his part. Meaning that going forward he would have to be more careful about his party members' stats. If he ever managed to find anyone he liked that is.
Red eyes peered between the covering digits at the picture of one person he very much wanted to recruit. Midoriya Izuku was still on his list despite that stupid Stain's insistence that he was wasting his time. Screw him. Tomura would show that damned idiot Hero Killer he didn't know jack shit. Sure, the kid had that annoying desire to be a Hero but the Villain was sure he could convince him. All he needed was an opportunity to talk with the Quirkless boy.
He was growing more and more sure that Midoriya was indeed the admin even though he had only ever heard his voice once and briefly. But the decayer had this sort of gut feeling that it was him. Midoriya was smart and resourceful. Clearly able to find a counter or work around when up against different kinds of Quirks. Even strong ones like that brat of Endeavor's though Tomura didn't know what the whole face touching moment was about. It was completely different from his current one with Father. But then again, he didn't know much when it came to physical affection in general.
In the vague memories of his life before Sensei, Tomura remembers some touches. The patting of his head from his grandparents. The feeling of his sister's hand in his. The hug of his mother. But the touch that was still seared into his flippant memory was the sting of his father's hand. His memories were shotty but the punishing slaps still managed to break through whatever mental block that locked the rest away. With them brought the strong urge to scratch.
But now that same hand gave him a strange sense of comfort where it rested on his face. Father may have hurt him in the past but now all that was left of him served as Tomura's support instead. Caressing the young Villain's face instead of hitting it. His father was long dead, but Father would stay with him forever.
Tomura was jolted from his thoughts at the sound of the bell jingle as the door to the bar was opened. He tucked the picture of the admin in his pocket as he turned to see their visitors. In walked Okuta Kagerou or better known in the underworld as the broker Giran. He looked like a sleaze with a frumpy purple suit, lumpy scarf around his neck, and wore round tinted glasses even at night. Topping it off with that stupid pencil thin goatee, missing tooth, and constant cloud of smoke from his cigarette. It was enough to make Tomura want to gag.
But he begrudgingly admitted the man was good at his job. Or at least Sensei and Kurogiri said he was. If his master thought so there must be something to this NPC. It was enough for him to push past his annoyance and listen to what the sleazy man had to say.
"Shigaraki," Giran greeted jovially as he strolled through the door. "Word has been spreading about your League of Villains for the last few days. That something big is about to start. Certainly has peaked interest in a number of people."
The broker smirked as he took a hit of his ever-present cigarette before blowing the putrid smoke into the air. Tomura itched to decay that cigarette but held himself back from the urge. Giran would just light up another one if he did.
"Well?" the decayer replied eyeing the clear lack of 'interested people'. "Who are they?"
Giran gave a pleased grin before turning back out the door. A moment later two strangers walked into the room with the broker not far behind. One was a girl dressed in a high school uniform with blonde hair in two messy buns and her cheeks a rosy pink as she smiled with apparent glee. In contrast was the scrutinizing stare of a black-haired man in rumpled and tattered clothes that had seen better days. His skin too as he was covered in scars and were those staples?
The fuck is up with these two?
"Huh, so this is you," the scarred man said, a smirk on his face and his hands in his pockets. "Pictures don't do you justice. You're way grosser in person."
What.
His eyebrow twitched in irritation.
"Wow, it really is the handy man!" the girl chirped with her fists pounding in the air in excitement. "You're friends with Mr. Stainy, right? Oh, please let me join the League!"
Ugh, fucking Stain again?
Tomura had the strong urge to scratch. How could these two weirdos possibly be a good match for the League? Sensei must have been wrong about this broker. But…Sensei was never wrong, right? Either way, Tomura couldn't possibly allow these freaks into his party.
"Kurogiri, get rid of these NPCs," the young leader growled with a finger pointed at the useless trash in his hideout. "There's no way I could work with them. They're two types of people that I hate griefing me in my own home base. I don't want a brat and some guy with no manners."
The girl let out a questioning sound at the rejection but still continued to smile. While the scarred man beside her stared at the decayer blankly with half lidded teal eyes.
"Come now, Shigaraki Tomura," Kurogiri said with a placating gesture of his misty hands. "They have come all this way to see you. The least we could do is hear them out."
Tomura didn't want to but he guessed he could at least unlock the very basics of their character profiles. He let out a quiet relenting growl that only the warper heard.
"Besides," the misty man continued with a subtle nod before turning his attention to Giran. "This broker is well respected in the underworld. They could be quite valuable assets or at the very least competent fighters."
The sleazy man blew out a puff of smoke at the praise before saying, "Either way, you still owe me my finder's fee. Now for introductions…"
Giran stepped away from where he had been leaning on the door to stand behind his found recruits.
"…let's start with this one," he began gesturing a cigarette holding hand toward the still smiling blonde. "She seems like a typical adorable high school girl, right? Well, the media kept her identity under wraps, but she is actually a suspect in several deaths where the victims have bled out."
…huh.
Well, that was certainly an unexpected twist. A killer under the guise of a high school girl. Tomura started to play around with the idea of an assassin on his team. That is until she spoke.
"Toga Himiko, here!" the girl beamed with a smile made sharp with pointed teeth like a vampire. "Life is too hard! I wanna make life easier to live in this dumb world."
The girl wiggled her arms excitedly as she spoke. Still smiling and blushing like a school girl. It made Tomura fall back to his original opinion that she was of no use to him.
"I wanna be Mr. Stainy!" Toga rambled on with crazed glee. "I wanna kill Mr. Stainy!"
Another nail in her coffin of so not being a good fit. Though that second part piqued his interest enough that he had an inkling of curiosity as to what she meant by 'be' Stain.
"C'mon, handy man!" she begged, grinning widely with her arms outstretched in excitement. "Please let me join you, Tomura!"
And that was the last straw. The use of his first name irked Tomura to the core. Only Sensei was the one to call him that or well by itself that is. Kurogiri used his full name so it didn't count and he rarely saw the doctor so he didn't matter. But this random girl had the balls to call him that without his permission and on their first meeting? On top of that she was obsessed with Stain like everyone else was for some gods damn reason.
"What is she? Crazy?" the decayer sneered.
"Well, she knows what she wants at least," Giran replied with a shrug as the girl just kept smiling seeming oblivious to his utter disinterest. "I'm sure she could be useful to you in some way."
Tomura highly doubted that but said nothing at the broker continued.
"Next up is this young man," Giran said gesturing to the scarred stranger who just looked bored. "While he hasn't committed any flashy crimes, he has taken Stain's ideals to heart."
Again with fucking Stain. Seriously, when was everyone going to just forget that freak? When were they going to instead focus on him?
"I'm not liking this," the scarred man drawled. "Is the League really dedicated to the Hero Killer's cause?" He glanced over at the smiling girl. "Seems unlikely if you're gonna let this nut job join."
Toga didn't seem phased by his insult and continued to beam. It was like she couldn't turn the smile off or something. It was kind of unnerving, but at least she could actually properly present herself unlike this guy. How annoying.
"Fuck off, you human raisin," Tomura growled. "At least freak girl knows how to introduce herself to people unlike you. How about you give it a try like a proper adult?"
The scarred man glared back before answering, "Right now I go by Dabi."
Dabi? Like cremation? The fuck kind of name is that? A fake one obviously. That ticked the decayer off.
"Not good enough," the young leader pressed. "I want your real name."
"You'll know my real name when you need to," the scarred man shot back stubbornly with a dismissive turn of his head before side eyeing Tomura. "In any case, my goal is to make the Hero Killer's will a reality. In any way I can."
"That wasn't what I asked you, patchwork," the decayer sneered back in irritation. "Fuck. Nowadays all everyone talks about is 'Stain this' and 'Stain that'. Why is everyone so hung up over him?"
Tomura stumbled in his growing anger as he suddenly stood up from the bar. His palms now facing the two annoyances in front of him just itching to touch and decay his current problems away.
"Don't do it, Shigaraki Tomura," Kurogiri pleaded beside him sensing his charges intentions.
"Every damn day," Tomura ranted as he geared up to attack. "It's really pissing me the fuck off. You two are dead."
The growing tension in the room snapped as the decayer lunged forward hands outstretched. His opponents reacted with surprisingly quick reflexes. Toga popped out a knife and thrust it at him with noted skill. Dabi quickly withdrew his hand from his pocket and aimed his palm at the handy man. All adamant to dish out their own violence whether to attack or defend. But none of their attacks hit true as they were all redirected by carefully positioned portals. Tomura's and Dabi's hands appearing above their own heads and Toga's knife plunged into the floor a distance away from everyone.
"Please calm yourself, Shigaraki Tomura," Kurogiri chided as Giran watched the display unimpressed letting out a puff of smoke. "If we are to work towards realizing your desires, it is necessary to expand our organization. As we are now in the spotlight, this is our chance."
The warper then elongated his misty neck to snake his head over directly next to Tomura's ear.
"I advise you to be more accepting, not rejecting so quickly, Shigaraki Tomura," Kurogiri implored before dropping his voice to a whisper. "Acceptance would allow you to use them and take advantage of the ideology the Hero Killer left behind."
The young leader glared but made no further move to attack. He very much still wanted to but the misty man did have somewhat of a point though he didn't want to admit that. Because this whole situation was just so gods damn irritating! It was all about fucking Stain and not him. They didn't want to join the League because of Tomura. They wanted to join because of that annoying Hero Killer who was stealing all of the attention that should be on the young leader of the League of Villains.
Why were they so obsessed with Stain? How was he seen as so different from him? What made people be drawn to the Hero Killer and not Tomura? There was something about that blood licking bug that inspired people and the decayer just didn't get it. It was seriously pissing him off and he needed to get some air. To get away from this irritating situation so he could think.
"I'm out of here," Tomura declared as he retreated his hand from the disappearing portal and started for the door.
"Where are you off to?" Giran asked as he passed.
"Shut up!" the decayer snapped as he slammed the door behind him.
...
Dabi watched in displeasure as the handy man walked out on their meeting. Raging like a petulant child even though he didn't look much younger than himself. Was this really the leader of the League of Villains? No wonder the attack on UA had fallen through. Whatever half-baked plan an immature guy like that could come up with was bound to fail.
Is joining the League really going to help me take down Endeavor?
"I hate to say anything ill about a client," the broker said with his cigarette hanging from his lips. "But he's too young and far too immature."
My thoughts exactly.
"I really thought he was going to kill us for a sec!" the blonde said still smiling even after all that.
Seriously what is up with this girl?
"He makes me want to vomit," Dabi commented returning his hand to his pocket.
Maybe this was a mistake. The handy man seemed to have a grudge against Stain which seemed contrary to the media reporting they were working together. But you didn't necessarily have to be on good terms with your coworkers especially in the criminal world. Then again, he seemed to have a potent animosity for the Hero Killer.
To be honest, Dabi was actually more neutral when it came to Stain's ideals. Sure, he agreed that a great number of Heroes were fakes and Endeavor being one of them, but Dabi didn't care about seeking out the liars as much as Stain had. He only cared about taking down one false Hero in particular. One he had hoped would be taken out by the Hero Killer himself and had been intrigued when he had learned the Villain was already looking into the Number Two Hero. Which was why he had approached Stain and had given all of the evidence he had collected over the years of the Villain in Hero clothing.
But it had all been for naught.
Endeavor was number one on his shit list and he had every intention to still work towards tearing the bastard down. But now another Hero was on his list as well. Or rather a Hero-in-training. It was all that damn Midoriya's fault that the Hero Killer couldn't go after En-dick-vor. He was the one to end Stain's Villain career and put an end to the revenge Dabi desired.
If I ever meet that kid in person…
Honestly, he didn't know what he would do but there would certainly be an element of fire involved. Dabi would burn him like he had burned up the fire user's chance for swift revenge. The Hero Killer seemed like the most promising outlet for Endeavor to be torn from his false throne, but now he was in custody with no way to carry out his will. And now Dabi was stuck with seeking other avenues of support to fulfill his personal mission.
The League had seemed the most promising after Stain but now he was having second thoughts. An immature leader and then Dabi being recruited alongside the psycho chick next to him. What was he getting himself into? Would it be worth it in the long run? Dabi was seeking to join the League as a means to an end, but at what cost to him.
His sanity probably if the League turned out to be more of an insane asylum. But then again, his mental state had always been precarious. Ever since he was young, he had issues with his emotions trying to understand the situation he had been born into. Raised to be a Hero despite his faulty Quirk only to then be recast as an understudy when his youngest sibling's 'superior' Quirk manifested and eventually completely cast aside. Only the words of his mother had kept him somewhat sane as he grew up in a world of rejection.
Dabi had blamed his replacement for a time not knowing where to channel his growing frustration. Seeing all he wanted being handed to an ungrateful brat. Eventually lashing out but was thankfully stopped even if it was by that bastard. Because after talking with his mother he realized he had been angry at the wrong person. That it was actually all that bastard's fault and no one elses.
Endeavor deserved to have all that he has worked towards destroyed because it was all built on a lie. He didn't want to make a Hero as he claimed, he wanted to make a weapon. One he would use to take down All Might. Something that Endeavor could never do as the weak excuse of a Hero that he was. Dabi was his first try but was ultimately rejected because of his own flawed genes.
Whose fault is that, you Quirkist bastard?
Perhaps this was a mistake but what else could Dabi do? He needed more power in order to take down the Number Two Asshat. It wasn't something he could do alone. He needed allies, money, connections. If this League could help him reach that goal, Dabi guessed he could put up with a few crazies for a time. As long as he got his in the end, he would do anything to complete his personal mission.
"Please allow us to get back to you about recruitment at a later time," Kurogiri said breaking him from his thoughts. "I believe our leader knows what he must do in the end. Understands the circumstances he is in. First All Might, and then the Hero Killer…he has been humbled twice now."
Cry me a river. I've been 'humbled' my whole life.
"He will come back with an answer," the misty man assured them though Dabi still had his doubts. "One that will satisfy all parties. Yourselves as well as him. He only needs some time."
Hand Freak could take all the time he needs. It's not like Dabi had anything else lined up for his plans against Endeavor. He was willing to wait for whatever answer the handy man had for them. He had waited this long for his revenge against that bastard. What was a little bit more?
Dabi nodded his agreement along with the others before they all left the misty man to his bar. They stayed together until parting ways outside of the hideout. The scarred man tipped a nod in goodbye to the broker but ignored the girl as she waved cheerfully before skipping away. He cast one last glance at the unassuming building. Dilapidated and covered in graffiti. Looking nothing like it housed the newest Villain group with a number of violent attacks under their belt. One failed and one semi-successful but still enough to garner attention from the media.
Teal eyes squinted at the building in thought before turning away and heading back to the rat hole he called a home. He was still not sure about this League and its immature leader though he was siding with just biting the bullet and going for it. Take a chance to see what the League could offer him and if it wasn't good enough, he could always leave burning anyone who tried to get in his way. It wasn't going to be swift as it could have been with Stain, but Dabi would use this League of Villains to fulfill his goal.
In the end, no matter what, one day the world would know what kind of scum bag the Number Two Hero was. Force them to see that they worshipped a false idol and that their Hero society wasn't as perfect as it seemed. The Hero Killer had laid the ground work and Dabi would do all he could to make it spread. Help his ideology grow and flourish until Endeavor fell victim to his deadly design.
Only then would Dabi be fully satisfied.
...
'There is no meaning to wanton killing and bloodlust without conviction.'
Just you wait, Hero Killer, Tomura thought as he trudged down the street.
The sun was bright in the sky and the people of the city were milling about their days. They were as bright and happy as the day was with no sense of the unknown danger among them. Tomura was a Villain after all and could kill dozens of people with only a touch before any Heroes would show up. Honestly, he felt like he stuck out like a sore thumb in his black hoodie and pants along with his blood red shoes. A blip of darkness amongst the light. Yet no one paid him any mind as they lived their lives in blissful ignorance.
Much like how the media gave him little to no attention and focused only on the Hero Killer.
That seriously pissed the young leader off. What about him? What about his Noumu? Why was everyone so obsessed with Stain? Even those useless NPCs that sleazy broker had brought only wanted to join the League because of the Hero Killer. How was he different? Weren't they the same? Destroying what they hate? Tomura just didn't get it.
The Villain mindlessly walked until he came to a huge shopping center. The place was packed with couples, families with their children, and hordes of teenagers scampering about. Random kids fawning over garish Hero merch and school age friends talking and laughing. All of them smiling without a care in the world as if they were safe from the dangers that lingered in the shadows.
Tomura didn't know if they were naïve or just ignorant. No one was safe. There was definitely someone somewhere getting killed in this very moment and yet these idiots just kept smiling. Like that crazy girl Giran found. Smiling as if nothing could harm them. Smiles, smiles, smiles. Their optimism was enough to make him sick.
"Whoa, look! Hero Killer merch!" an NPC called out drawing the Villain's attention.
Tomura paused to watch two boys standing before a wall of things dedicated to Stain. There were replica masks, scarves, and swords along with themed clothing like beanies and t-shirts. Even he knew that was messed up to sell such things. The boys as well though that didn't stop them from taking a picture of one of them wearing a mask. Laughing and calling it 'cool' despite the connection to a murderer. Gaining entertainment from a man who committed acts of violence.
He just didn't get it.
Stain attacked and killed Heroes that he hated. Tomura did the same with what he hated, the most hated being All Might. He was so fake. Giving false hope with his stupid smile. Always claiming that he was there to keep everyone safe. But where was he when Tomura needed to be saved? No one came to his aid when he needed it most. No one except Sensei.
His master raised him to hate. To embrace that hatred and unleash it in any way that he wanted. That was what the Hero Killer was doing too, right? Lashing out at those he hated. Yet he was getting all the attention. From the media, from sympathizers. Some of who couldn't care less about his ideals like those boys. They all turned to him.
Why? Why him and not me? Seriously what gives?!
How were they the same and yet so different? Tomura just couldn't wrap his head around why. He didn't understand what drew others to one and not the other. It was in that moment that he saw the one person who could possibly truly help him understand. Tomura weaved his way through the crowd carefully as he approached the boy in question.
Let's see what the 'Little Hero' has to say.
...
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