'Someone...' A scared child began thinking. 'Stop this...' They were watching two large figures clash. The first one was a large man covered in a lot of muscle fibers. He called himself Muscular. He looked terrifying.

He was also the reason why their friend was now a monster... The other one. Fighting to protect them all. But he looked so... scary. He was now a tall humanoid with four arms and a mostly pale-skinned body. His head has a pointed appearance with a red color, sharp teeth, and two circular eyes with cross-like pupils. He also has long horns, resembling how his normal form looked that one time when Kazuko made him ingest his blood, and longer hair in this form. His chest has an open rib cage showing a chest cavity full of intestines up to his neck.

In short, Nightmare fuel.

The Twelve year old watched as his friend created dozens of blood spears as Muscular kept ripping his guts out of his body. They kept growing back. Two of his friends arms grabbed Muscular suddenly... His mouth opened

'Oh no...' His friend was too far gone now... 'He's not gonna... no...' Satoru was a hero at heart. He would never kill someone right? Even if they were as deplorable as this man was. 'Please someone stop him.' Blood made his friend far more powerful. He might do something whilst he wasn't stable...

Suddenly his friend's visage covered Musculars...

'No...'

Satoru Murano looked down at the cuffs on his wrists. This was the most freedom he had been granted over the last three years. Something fishy was happening. 'I aint gonna complain.' Maybe this was what she told him about? The HPSC wanting him as an attack dog. 'It'd make sense as to why I've been given so little security. There's likely a hero with whoever's coming to kill me should I try to escape.'

Not that he could even try.

There was a gun pointed at his head at the back of the room. Should he even use his quirk to try and make defenses the bullets would just pierce and... Yeah Satoru didn't want to think about it. The idea of death... He was intimate with it. But he didn't want to be even more intimate with it.

'Maybe I can use the blackmail I was given to try and intimidate them enough to let me free somehow?' No... Satoru wished it would work but the chances of the HPSC doing anything good was slim. He was in no position to do anything against them. The chances of it happening were as good as All Might himself coming into Tartarus and breaking Satoru free.

That thought actually made Satoru laugh.

"Whats so funny demon?" The poor sap assigned to make sure that if all else failed he'd be dead asked. Satoru glanced at the man. He was fairly plain looking. Even for the standard of those with mutant quirks. "Not thinking of escaping now aren't we?"

"Now thats whats funny. All of this security for little old me?" Satoru grinned. He had mastered the art of false bravado. He poked at one of his horns before flicking it. "Also just thinking of a good joke." Laughter was the only other thing that was keeping Satoru sane.

Now that his dreams died a firey death in Shibuya of course. Actually that was underselling it. It was like All Might and Endeavor gangbanged his dreams into oblivion. Actually, that sounded wrong. It was like both used their strongest moves on his dreams.

Yeah that sounded better.

"We can't trust you." The overly serious obvious virgin replied before both of them looked at the door as a single knock was heard. The man looked at Satoru. "Stay here." He sloly walked over to the door and slightly opened it.

Satoru could see the man's mouth moving though so he was likely talking to someone. There was also a clicking noise behind him. Satoru looked behind himself and saw that the gun from before shut off. It made sense. Don't want to accidentally shoot your own agents if the intended target makes an escape. 'I wonder who the HPSC's sending.' There were quite a few heroes he was told about that were under the HPSC's payroll.

Satoru looked back in time to see his Guard walking toward him again. "Your visitors are here now. Don't try anything and you might just get something you don't deserve demon." Satoru wondered what that could be. Definitely not freedom. The man then began walking toward the door. "Be on your best behavior."

He then walked out of the door.

A minute later two people entered. A hobo esque looking man Satoru didn't recognize and the Principal of UA, Aka Mr. Principal. 'Oh the irony.' Now why would these two be here today to talk to him? Satoru had no ideas.

"How curious. A Hobo and the Smartest creature in Japan." That ranking was rigged too and Nezu still won. "What brings you two here today?" There were hints of genuine curiosity in his voice. Nothing could be worse than his current situation really so he wondered why the hell the hobo and the rat were here.

Nezu sat down at the chain across from Satoru. "Satoru Murano. Its a pleasure to meet you." Nezu said, ignoring Satoru's previous question. "I've been meaning to have this conversation ever since I've heard of the Shibuya Incident. A shame it took three years before it could happen."

Satoru raised an eyebrow. "A pleasure to meet you too Mr. Principal." Satoru wished he could mock bow. Really would have put those drama classes to use. "I suppose that meeting someone incarcerated in this wonderful establishment wouldn't be easy."

"Indeed it isn't." The Chimera said. "Now you do want to know why I'm here don't you?" Satoru simply nodded. "Tell me. Do you want to be a hero?"

'Ooh boy here we go.' Satoru sighed. He knew where this was going. "Why do you think I'm here? I was a hero and because of that I was incarcerated." Fuck his father for giving a bad rep to transformation quirks like theirs. 'I wonder if mom and big sis saw that...' If his dad didn't take him with him when his parents had a divorce he might of had a better life. "I want to be a hero." Satoru sighed. "But people's opinion of me would never allow that to happen even if I got out of this place."

Nezu nodded. "That would get in the way. Your fight with Muscular gave you a lot of negative attention which would get in the way of a lot of hero work if you ever became an above ground hero. But I read your quirk file and know you don't need to transform to use some of your powers. You can be a hero."

Satoru laughed amusedly. "Someone, somewhere would piece together who I am somehow. We have similiar powers. And a similar appearance." Maybe they would spill it if he ever became a hero? Who knows. "Or someone high up in society could do that." Then the world would turn against him again

"I assure you that wouldn't happen." Nezu grabbed a file from seemingly nowhere. "I assume you heard of my push for a villain rehabilitation program?" Man that was a shitshow five years ago. Satoru nodded and then he knew where this was going. "Well recently it was approved by both me and the president of the HPSC."

Satoru saw the hobo's eyes widen. He didn't know why but he assumed it meant something big. "So you plan on using me as a test run for this or something?" Maybe there'd be like one or two others there but Satoru doubted it... 'This is just a sick joke.' His hope died years ago.

Nezu nodded. "If you manage to graduate from UA down any course then this could help so many before they are too far gone." That made Satoru think. He grew up in a relatively seedy part of town. So many good people could have done great things had they been given a chance... "You are no villain but the world sees you as one. They see others in bad circumstances as villains when they just need a little push. If this ends well then it would mean many more heroes can be molded and there will be less villains in Japan."

"Fine." 'At least this'd let me be free... Maybe I can save a few lives whilst I'm at it.' "I'll do whatever you want me to do." Satoru sighed. "I'll take the exams for the hero test I guess." Satoru knew this was probably gonna end badly.

But he might as well give it a try.

"Splendid." The Chimera said. "Now that we have that out of the way I suppose we should iron out the details of how you'll be free."

'Oh joy.'

As it turned out, Satoru's freedom didn't come without some strings attached. Satoru expected some of course. Like being watched whenever he was out, having his new phone checked for suspicious activity, and needing to notify his watchers whenever he was going out. Those were most of his restrictions.

Satoru was fine with those. Especially since he got to live alone in his own apartment now, a phone, and he was able to walk freely again. He was also fine with alerting his watchers whom he was in contact with. Which so far was nobody. He wasn't ready to go into the outside world yet.

He got his groceries delivered anyway. He was also given a weekly allowance should he ever decide to go outside. He was saving that currently. 'This still feels weird.' He was looking at one of his minders. The one he saw the most due to the man literally living next door to him. Aizawa Shota. AKA Eraserhead. The man was his perfect counter... He was a lot of people's perfect counter. "So... Why are you here again?"

"I don't know why the Rat wants me here." The man seemed like he needed a nap. " Probably to check on you though. You haven't been outside yet. Why is that?" Satoru leaned back and looked up at the man. His most notable features were his long black hair and his tired looking eyes

"A few reasons." The entrance exams were in a week. He had to be ready. "Mainly I don't wanna go outside right now, I'm studying, and I don't need to go to the gym to build muscle mass." Satoru was really happy he was free. Well relatively free. But he just wasn't ready to face the outside world.

"Fair. I imagine that being outside after so long is both exciting and scary. Take your time with it." THat was strange for the man to say but Satoru supposed it was because the man was an educator. "Do you think you'll pass?"

Satoru nodded. "Yeah." He knew there was a written exam which he was confident he'd at least pass. he didn't know what else there was though. "I'm sure I can pass a written test thanks to the help I got in Tarturus and the studying I've been doing for the past week." Hopefully the next time he was there it'd be for a visit. "But I don't really know what's next."

He was very out of practice with his quirk so hopefully it was something easy.

"Don't worry." Aizawa had a creepy grin on his face. one that Satoru didn't like. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Your grin says otherwise." Satoru pointed out. Maybe the man wanted to see him fail. Maybe the man was just weird... Yeah probably that. As much as Satoru didn't trust others he somewhat trusted Aizawa. Mainly due to not being killed in his sleep by the man.

The man's grin went away and the children outside started laughing again... That can't be a coincidence. "Like I said. I'm sure you'll be fine.' He now looked like a grump but that was fine with Satoru. It fit the man.

"I hope so." Satoru looked at his hand. "You know there's just something so nice about being able to walk again." In Tartarus, you were kept unmoving with guns pointing at you 24/7. "Also sleeping horizontally is as great as I remember."

"Are you sure you want to be a hero or are you just doing it because you think its your best shot at continuing to be free?" The man asked.

"A bit of both." Satoru shrugged. "I always wanted to be a hero when I was a child to help others. To not be like my father. But after being incarcerated for three years I just want to relax and maybe help others if I don't switch tracks in the middle of the year or something." Satoru twirled some of his hair in his finger.

"I suppose that is fair. You were acting to protect others that day and lost yourself. Because of that you were put in one of the worst places on earth." Aizawa was slowly becoming one of his favorite people. Slowly.

"Yeah..." That day in Shibuya was the worst in Satoru's life... It was when he realized that like his father he was a monster... The horns really should have given it away though. He just thought that it was because his parents were freaky before they divorced."...That place is immoral. Even for some of the worst." She didn't deserve to be in there as well... 'I'll have to visit sometime.'

That was one of the only things Satoru asked for. Being able to visit his one and only friend. He gave Nezu all the blackmail on the HPSC he could for that. Even if most of it was probably outdated.

Satoru looked at his current guest. "So. Want to play a game?"

"UA... Never thought I'd be able to step foot here." A ghost of a smile creeped onto Satoru's face. UA had been his dream school. After he had been incarcerated he had given up on his dreams. Even now that they weren't exactly entirely his dreams anymore it still felt surreal to be at UA.

All he had to do was pass the written test and at the very least he'd be in Gen-Ed. But that wasn't his goal. No. 'Might as well stop more situations like mine from forming...' There were already plans in his head for what he'd need to do. If there was a written test then there'd likely be a practical test as well. But what would that be?

'I need to be prepared for anything.' Satoru looked down in his hand and blood began to seep out of it. He pulled the blood back inside with a thought. 'I don't have a lot of control but I have enough to make a few things...' His quirk allowed him to manipulate his own blood and regenerate. His body was also stronger and filled with more blood as a result of his quirk needing a lot of blood to work with. Satoru also could drink blood if need be for a boost... but yeah that wasn't gonna land him anywhere good.

'As long as I'm not fighting anyone that strong I think I can win a fight...' A fight would probably be the practical test. It made sense. It showed both the capabilities of the possible student and what they'd need to work on if they passed and it would show the control they had over their quirk.

'No matter what just focus on getting into UA. Not just for your half dead dream but for your freedom.' Satoru clenched his fists. He wasn't going back to that hell. No... 'Focus on picking up the pieces.' Satoru began walking toward the building once more.

That's when the ground began to grow closer.

"Fuck." Satoru sighed when he hit the ground. He spat out a tooth and felt it grow back within a minute. "Well thats a great start to my day," Satoru stood up and looked ahead.

"That was just sad." Satoru looked behind him and saw another blond headed boy. "It is rather unfortunate that you fell. That is usually a sign of bad luck." There was something about his face that looked really punchable.

Satoru sighed again. "Yeah." They both began walking toward the gate. "Name's Satoru Murano. How about you?" He extended a hand to the side fo a handshake. The boy all too eagerly took it. 'Must involve his quirk somehow...'

"Neito Monoma." The boy said with a bit of flair in his voice. "A pleasure to meet you, Murano." Monoma's face settled into a mixture of a smug look and a curious one. Satoru wouldn't question it...

"A pleasure to meet you too I suppose." Satoru looked back at UA. "So what course are you trying to enter?" They had a bit before they made it to the exam hall. Might as well make some small talk. "I'm going for the hero course personally."

"Me too." Monoma smiled. "Although I have a back up plan in the General education course should I fail." Monoma scowled. "My quirk isn't exactly suited for a lot of practical situations." Satoru could relate. His quirk was only good for combat and not really anything else... Okay regeneration was always useful.

"Hopefully you pass then dude." Satoru grinned. "Gotta have more heroes around who can inspire others to be heroes too. Not everyone can be Endeavor or All Might." Satoru noticed the boy smile again at that. "I don't really got a friendly quirk so I kinda wanna inspire others with "villainous quirks" so they can have someone to look up to."

"That is rather noble Murano." Monoma said. "I myself am doing it to show others that side characters like me can be heroes. So I suppose we have similar goals." Monoma's smile turned grim as they reached the exam hall. "Good luck Murano. I hope to see you pass."

Monoma entered the exam hall and left Satoru wondering what the fuck he meant by Side Character.

[Chapter End]

I honestly enjoyed writing this a lot. Satoru is shaping up to be a really fun character to write. He seems all happy and stuff now but he won't always be happy. One of my favorite parts of the chapter was the flashback at the start of it. Yes Satoru has the powers of Power from CSM. I see a lot of Chainsaw Man Izuku fics but never a fic where he or someone else has the powers of another devil. Naturally I being the person I am decided that this was a good idea.

Now we're here.

Anyways any ideas for the future of this fic? I just kinda threw chapter 1 together in a few hours. I might not upload this without a chapter stockpile tho... I may have some ideas by then. but any ideas will be appreciated nonetheless.

- Tobi