Chapter 53
[Play KH1 OST Villains of a Sort]
"Sooooo...what're you gonna do after you get your revenge?" That was the first thing Himiko said to the Figure, who had just finished reading up on the folders containing Magne's and Spinner's info. He didn't reply to her. "Come oooooooon~" She pressed on, leaning towards the opening on his hood as if it was to look him in the eyes.
Still no answer, but before Toga could press on even further, Kurogiri spoke for the Figure. "Our anonymous ally does not wish to socialize as often as you do, Lady Toga."
"No need to be so formal." Himiko told him. "Just Toga is fine."
"Very well, Toga." Kurogiri honored her request. "If I may, I would suggest that you attempt to socialize with other members of the League, then talk to him later."
"Aww. But Hoody here seems the most interesting." Himiko argued. "He's the only one who's ever managed to cut me and not get cut by me."
"Hoody?" The Figure finally responded to her.
"Well what else are we supposed to call ya?" The girl pointed out. "You haven't even given us a name or alias."
"I told you that I'd tell you when you need to know." He reminded her.
"Yeah. And then you told me that we'd talk later." Toga reminded him. "To me, later is now."
"Not to me." The Figure said, starting to get annoyed.
"I won't shut up until you open up." Himiko stated as she once again leaned towards him.
"Just answer her questions for god's sake." Tomura spoke up. "If not, then take this back and forth somewhere else. That's an order."
"You can't be serious." The Figure responded.
"Toga, you get three questions. After that, you either go talk to someone else or shut up." The League Leader told her.
Kurogiri seemed a bit surprised at the direction that Tomura was taking this, but was very pleased as well. "That seems fair."
"Sweet!" Himiko explained. "So, question number one. What're your plans after you get your vengeance?"
The Figure turned their head towards Shigaraki and Kurogiri, who did not make any attempt to stop this, and then he sighed. "Nothing. Once I'm finished, there's nothing left for me to do except watch everything fade to darkness."
That answer got some of the League's attention, as the Figure made it sound like that he'll be present for the end of the world or something. Either that or he was a serious downer. Toga then asked her next question. "Where'd you learn how to fight like you do?"
"Self taught." He answered, leaving it at that.
"As expected." Spinner commented. "Almost every Villain teaches themself how to fight."
Himiko then asked her third and final question. "Can I have some of your blood?" She requested.
[Silence]
That just confused some of the other league members as Magne said "What?"
"His blood." Toga repeated. "I want some. Can I cut you? Please?"
The Figure was silent for a second before he said "Give me your knife."
"Can't I cut you myself?" Himiko asked. "It'll be much more personal."
"Knife. Now." The Figure reiterated, making the girl forfeit one of her blades to him. He then stuck his left hand out and pointed the tip of the blade to the still gloved palm, but before he continued, he spoke to Toga. "Just so you know, Himiko. After I do this, you owe me a favor."
"Fair enough. Now do it and gimme." She accepted that deal.
The Figure then sighed at that eager acceptance, holding her to that, before he moved the bottom part of the glove out of the way and moved the blade towards the uncovered part of his left hand.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Villain]
The Figure did not hold back as he stabbed the blade in his hand so hard that it actually went through the palm and out the back of his hand. There was a small splatter that hit the table, but most of the liquid was leaking onto the knife. That however was the only thing that was normal about this situation, as everything else was not quite right.
First off, the Figure had no physical reaction to the blade literally being stabbed through their hand. There wasn't even a hint of shock either. If he had a quirk that nullified pain, then that would make sense, but his 'quirk' was more like conjuring things out of nowhere, which had nothing to do with pain receptors.
Secondly, he let the blade literally get soaked in his blood, even twisting it a bit to get some more blood on it a bit faster, which while cool for Toga, was a bit of a red flag for people like Spinner and Magne. This let the members of the League know that The Figure either gives the most in a deal, no matter how screwed up or self harming it is, or he savors moments like these.
Lastly, and this one even got Himiko slightly weirded out. The Figure's blood was not like anyone else's blood she, or anyone had ever seen. It was thick, like slime, and instead of a dark red hue, it was pitch black. This 'blood' looked more like black ooze leaking from his hand. No matter what the quirk is, it never made blood look so...unnatural.
The Figure then pulled out the blade and put the glove back on over the open wound, not caring about it at all, before giving the knife back to Toga. "There's your sample. Now you owe me a favor in the future."
"...Right." Himiko responded, more focused on the Figure's blood all over her knife. "Um...this is your blood?"
"You've already exhausted your three questions." The Figure reminded her.
Toga didn't ask again, figuring that their conversation was over at this point. She then decided to hesitantly, which was very surprising for her, let a drop of the blood fall from the blade to the tip of her tongue. What was once again surprising to her, was her very own reaction to the blood.
She immediately spat it out, and used her sleeve to try and scrub off the taste. "Agh!...Eugh!...Bitter!" She criticized as she, for the first time in her life, disliked the taste of someone's blood.
The Figure let out a small chuckle and said. "I guess that made the whole thing worth it."
As Himiko went to wash off her knife in the bathroom, the rest of the newer League members looked at eachother, sharing the same feeling of slight discomfort at what they just saw happen before them.
Elsewhere in what seemed to be another abandoned bar, Giran was sitting in one of the booths, smoking a cigarette, until he heard the door open and he looked to see a man with a paper bag over his head.
[Play KH Concert First Breath Dearly Beloved]
It was sunset by the time Sora got back to the Midoriya household. There wasn't anything outside the norm that happened after he and Mina had left Kiyashi. Same old pedestrians recognizing him and talking nice about him, while he just smiles and waves at them while getting to where he needed to be. Now that he was back at his current home, it was time to clock out for the day when it came to being outside.
Sora opened the door and was greeted by the smell of dinner being cooked. The boy then spoke up "Izuku, Inko, I'm home!" as he took off his shoes and placed them out of the way.
He then heard Izuku's voice and saw the boy approach him. "Welcome back. How was...whoa."
"Pretty good look right?" The Keyblade wielder showed off his new clothes and backpack to his friend.
"Yeah...and that's what you're gonna wear at the training camp?" Midoriya remembered.
"Yep." Sora confirmed as he walked towards the living room and saw Inko making dinner. "Hey Inko."
The mother looked away from the food she was preparing to talk to Sora and saw the new getup he was sporting. "Well now." She began. "I see that you've been busy."
The Keyblade wielder turned his body so that she could see all of the design, while announcing "Say hello to Summer Camp Sora."
Inko giggled at the introduction before going back to her cooking. "Izuku told me that you went to go shopping. It sounds like you had a good time."
"Yeah." Sora confirmed. "I ran into Mina and the two of us helped each other find the stuff we needed for camp. Then we ended up dancing together at an 'arcade' I think it was called?"
"Well you certainly had an eventful day." Inko commented.
"How about you two? Did anything interesting happen while I was gone?" The brown haired boy wondered.
"Not really." Izuku answered. "I just got started on some of the summer assignments while mom went shopping for food to cook."
"Oh yeah." Sora just now remembered. "We still have school work to do. I kind of forgot about that with the whole incident that happened a few days ago, and then me focusing more on getting my camp supplies."
"I can help you out if you want." The One For All user offered.
"Uh...sure." Sora accepted the offer. "Just...don't go overboard when you start to explain stuff, okay? My brain can only take so much of your motor mouth."
"Oh...right." Izuku understood what his friend was talking about. "I'll try to keep it short and simple."
"Thanks." The Keyblade wielder replied.
After that conversation was finished, Sora had changed out of the clothes he was wearing to something more cozy. He also put the new clothes and his used ones in the washing machine before going back to the living room to both have dinner with the Midoriyas and shortly after, start his summer homework with Izuku.
By the time Sora had caught up to where Midoriya was at in completion, the food was ready. The pair decided to continue the homework together after their dinner, so they each got a dish, said their thanks, ate their dinner with Inko, then while she took care of their dishes, the two boys continued their studies together.
As the two worked on their assignments together, it was pretty clear who was more in their zone. Izuku could easily complete these assignments three times over before the week ended, but he took it slow. Not just because he was keeping himself at Sora's pace, but because he wanted to make sure that he didn't make any mistakes, or accidentally show Sora something incorrectly.
Sora, while still able to complete the homework assignments without too much challenge, was not nearly as much of a bookworm like Midoriya was, and while he has vastly improved from where he began when it came to his intelligence, he would still get things wrong more often than he would like. He was lucky enough to have someone like Izuku as a tutor, in spite of his occasional over-explanation of things.
The boys kept at it until they felt both physically and mentally tired. At that point, they had completed a sizable portion of their summer homework, and while they felt a bit proud, they felt more exhausted than anything. The two each decided to clock out for the day, with Midoriya taking his stuff and going to his room, while Sora cleaned up his things and curled up under the blanket on the couch.
[Silence]
Night passes and by the time the sun begins to rise, the residents of Mustafu Japan begin to wake up. Shoto Todoroki was one of those residents. He got out of his futon and began preparing for the guest that he invited over.
He first started with himself. Going to the bath and cleaning his body. While doing so, he had fully woken up, partially due to the water, and partially due to him mentally rehearsing what he was going to say to Sora when he got there. By the time he finished cleaning himself, he figured out at least how to bring up the topic that he wished to discuss with him.
After drying off, getting dressed and doing his hair, Shoto went to his family's dining room, where he saw his older sister Fuyumi, sitting at the table with some Miso soup, rice, and a few side dishes that she cooked herself. The girl noticed her youngest brother enter and greeted him. "Good morning, Shoto."
"Good morning Fuyumi." He responded as he saw an extra meal on the table for him. "Thank you for the food."
"You're welcome." She replied as she waited for him to sit down with her. "I heard you in the shower and since I was already making food, I decided to make a little extra."
"I appreciate that." Shoto told her in his usual calm demeanor.
"Do you have plans later today?" Fuyumi asked, which made Shoto look at her, with a questioning glare. "You look like you're about to meet up with someone."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Moist Twilight]
The flame user decided to fill her in. "I invited someone over."
"What? Really?" The older sister said, sounding both surprised and a bit excited.
"Yes." He answered. "He's from my class."
"Is he a friend?" Fuyumi questioned, hoping to get the answer she wanted to hear.
"...Yes." The 1-A student confirmed.
"That's so great, Shoto." She stated. "Why didn't you tell me or Natsuo?"
"I didn't think it was important for the family to know." The younger sibling reasoned.
"Of course it's important to us. At least to me and Natsuo it is." Fuyumi told him. "You were never able to be social as a kid, but now that you're in U.A. you've been given the chance to make friends, socialize with others, and build bonds. It makes me so happy that you're doing that, and if one of your friends is coming to visit, of course I'd want to know about it. I'd want to meet them and tell them how great it is for you to be friends with them."
After a brief moment of silence, Shoto spoke. "...Well, he'll be here at around midday, so if you're here at that time, you could meet him."
"I have today off, so that's perfect." Fuyumi stated. "Oh, and since Natsuo's summer break started at the same time yours did, he'll be here too. I should go wake him and tell him the news."
"You don't need..." The younger brother began, but got cut off.
"He'll want to meet your new friend too, Shoto." She pointed out. "Oh, this is going to be so exciting. I can't wait." Fuyumi was acting very giddy now as she finished her food and left to tell their brother Natsuo about the guest coming over.
Shoto then sat alone at the table and quietly ate his food, pondering on what had just happened. For a brief moment, he was doubtful about introducing his siblings to Sora, but then he remembered that Sora, being the social butterfly that he is, would most likely want to meet them anyway. He accepted this fact as finished his meal, then he went to the family's living room and simply waited for midday to come.
Meanwhile, Fuyumi told a now awake Natsuo the news and the two decided to prepare the house for this guest of their younger brother's together. They were going to make sure that they made a good first impression.
[Play KH1.5 Remix OST 100 Acre Wood]
It was about 9:00 AM when Sora woke up on his own. He yawned and stretched his arms out as he sat up and looked at the time. He couldn't make it out, due to literally waking up seconds ago, so he rubbed his eyes to make his vision less blurry. He then saw the clock more clearly and could see the time more clearly.
When he saw what time it was, he got off the couch, tidied it up, made himself a quick breakfast and as he began to eat, he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He looked to see that it was Izuku, who looked like he also just woke up. "Morning Izuku." Sora told him.
"Good morning Sora." Midoriya replied. "Is that breakfast?"
"Yeah, but I only made some for me." The Keyblade wielder told him. "I would have made more, but I'm in a bit of a rush."
Izuku went over to the table and sat with his friend. "What's got you in a rush?"
"Shoto texted me yesterday." Sora said.
"Todoroki?" Midoriya responded.
"Yep." Sora confirmed. "He wanted me to talk with him about stuff at midday."
"Oh." Izuku understood, before realizing something. "Wait, but it's only 9:00 AM"
"It's a long walk away." The Keyblade wielder added.
"Wait, you're walking?" Midoriya questioned. "Why not just take the train and get there early?"
"I just feel like walking today." Sora explained. "Besides, I need a break from being crammed up in a train full of people."
"Ok. I guess." Izuku decided to accept Sora's reasoning, before changing the subject. "So, what about the rest of our current summer assignments?"
"I'll finish those up after I get back home." The Keyblade wielder said. "If you want to, you can finish yours then by the time I get back, you could help me out with mine."
"Sure. I can do that." Midoriya agreed with that idea. "Then after that's finished, we could do some training."
"Maybe." Sora replied, and with that conversation over, he finished his food, did his dish, cleaned himself up, made sure that he wore some nice looking clothes, took a full bottle of water, and then left the residence to go to the Todoroki abode.
The walk there was long, as to be expected. Thankfully, Sora had left at a time where if he did travel by foot, walking was all he needed to do. Any later and he would have needed to jog or run, and while Sora has run through a sandy desert in extreme heat, while also simultaneously fighting Heartless there, he still didn't prefer running in the heat, unless there was some water for him to either drink, or jump in to cool off.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened while he was on his way to the Todoroki abode, but while he was walking there, he recorded his daily update and sent it to his other friends. He made sure that he did it when there wasn't anybody close to him though, just in case. By the time he made it to his destination, he had just finished the water in his bottle.
[Silence]
Shoto and Natsuo were sitting in the family living room, while Fuyumi was finishing up with cleaning the family dining area. The three Todoroki kids were anticipating the arrival of Shoto's guest at this point, since midday just came. Then there came a knock.
Shoto was about to get up and answer the door, but Fyyumi beat him to it, opening the door to see who knocked. She was greeted by a boy with spiky brown hair that was around her youngest brother's age. "Oh. Hello." he said to her.
"Hello to you." She responded. "What brings you here?" She most likely already knew the answer to that, but she still asked just in case this wasn't Shoto's friend that he mentioned.
"My friend, Shoto invited me over to his house and asked me to come at around this time." He stated. "This is the Todorokis' home, right?"
[Play KH3 OST Lovely Little Moments]
"So you're Shoto's guest. Please, come in." Fuyumi said in a very welcoming tone.
"Thank you. I'm Sora by the way." He introduced himself to her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Sora." She said, "I'm Fuyumi, Shoto's elder sister."
"Pleasure to meet you too Fuyumi." The Keyblade wielder replied as he stepped on the genkan to the Todoroki Abode and saw the interior. "Whoa..."
"Is this your first time seeing a home like this?" Fuyumi guessed.
"Yeah...it's...wow." Sora was taken aback at how different and oddly appealing the design of the house's interior was to him. It was a classic Japanese style design, which Sora had only seen in pictures, but never in person. "So cool."
The Todoroki sister let out a small giggle at Sora's awed reaction to their family's preferred interior design, before saying to Sora, "You know, since you're Shoto's guest, maybe he can give you a tour of the place, if you ask him."
Sora then recomposed himself, took off his shoes and put them out of the way, as per Japanese etiquette. Slippers for guests were provided and the boy placed his feet inside a pair, before stepping off the genkan and inside the Todoroki's abode. "If it's okay with him, then sure. So, where is he anyway? I don't want to keep him waiting."
"He's in the living room." Fuyumi told him. "I'll show you where it is."
"Thank you." Sora slightly bowed before following her to the family living room. Fuyumi slid the shoji door to the living room open and gestured for him to enter. As he did he saw a face he recognized and another new face turn to look at him. "Shoto."
"Sora." The flame user replied to his friend, before a slight awkward silence filled the room.
"Uh...aren't you gonna introduce me, Shoto?" The other person in the room pointed out.
"Oh, right." the young Todoroki realized his error before gesturing towards the other person. "Sora, this is Natsuo. He's my elder brother."
"Nice to meet you Natsuo." Sora slightly bowed to show respect.
"The formality is appreciated, but you don't need to be like that around me." Natsuo informed Sora. "Oh, and nice to meet you too, Sora. So, you're friends with my younger brother?"
"I'm one of his friends." Sora replied as Fuyumi closed the door behind them and escorted him to a seat.
"That's nice to hear." The elder sister said. "Shoto hasn't told us much about his social life. In fact, we only heard that you were invited over today a few hours ago."
Sora let out a small chuckle as he responded. "Well, Shoto isn't the best socializer, so I can kind of see that."
"You've got that right." Natsuo agreed with the Keyblade wielder, before he and Fuyumi laughed a little bit too.
Shoto acted indifferent. He didn't really care about the comment, because he knew it was true. At first he wanted to just talk to Sora about what he invited him over to talk about, but now that he's seeing Sora interact with his siblings, he kind of wanted to see where this was going. So he didn't speak, deciding to let the others talk first.
[Play KH BBS OST Peaceful Hearts]
"So what do you think of Shoto, friend wise?" Natsuo went back to the subject.
"He's got his moments. Some of which are unintentionally hilarious." Sora commented.
"Oh really." Fuyumi replied. "Like what?"
"There was one time where Me and another friend of ours got our hands a bit messed up." Sora began to give context, to which Shoto recognized the context and slightly tensed up. "Keep in mind that these injuries weren't caused by Shoto. He just happened to be there when it happened."
"Ok. Go on." Natsuo said, while both he and Fuyumi got a bit invested in the story.
"Well, when we got our hands fixed up, Shoto looked at us and then said and I quote." Sora then did his best impression of Shoto. "Whenever I'm involved, someone's hand gets all messed up. I'm like the hand crusher or something."
Both Natsuo and Fuyumi could barely hold in their laughter at that moment, while Sora himself struggled to hold it together even after it had been so long since that conversation had happened. Shoto then spoke up. "I'm serious though. It always happens when I'm around you guys."
"Oh reeeeally." Natsuo teased. "If that's the case little bro, then how come Fuyumi and I aren't always walking around in arm casts?"
"Yeah Mr. Hand Crusher, why's that?" Fuyumi chimed in. "Hmmmm?"
The young Todoroki was silent for a moment before Sora spoke up. "They've got you beat there Shoto." He let out a grunt before the Keyblade wielder continued speaking. "Aside from those rare gems, it's mainly just us talking about class and us occasionally working together during the Hero course. Then the occasional banter during lunch."
"So just regular guy stuff." Natsuo summarized. "That's good to hear."
"Moving on from Shoto though, what about you Sora? What are you like?" Fuyumi asked.
"What am I like?" Sora repeated. "Well, I'm like me. And whatever you see me as is how I'll be to you."
"That's a rather vague answer." Natsuo commented. "How about what DO you like, instead of what ARE you like."
"What do I like." Sora repeated that as well. "Well a lot of stuff, but some favorites of mine are dancing, flying, exploring, and the occasional race or spar with friends."
"A lot of physical activities." Fuyumi pointed out. "You must be pretty energetic if you can do all that."
"Well, I don't tire out as fast as others." Sora modestly replied. "It also makes people around the area laugh and smile too, so that's a bonus."
"You like seeing people happy around you?" Natsuo noted.
"Who in their right mind doesn't?" Sora said, which was a pretty valad point. "It's especially good when you get someone who usually doesn't smile to crack one around you. I'm still trying with Shoto, but I feel like I'm getting there."
That comment made both older siblings smile warmly towards the boy, seeing just how good a person he was for someone like their younger brother. Fuyumi then spoke up. "It's so good to know that someone like you is friends with Shoto."
Sora happily smiled at the Todoroki siblings and said "I'm glad that you like me." before turning his head to Shoto and asking him. "So Shoto, is it okay for me to ask you something?"
"What is it?" Todoroki replied.
"Is it okay if you show me around your home?" The Keyblade wielder requested. "I've never been in a house like this, and I'm kind of curious about it."
"I don't mind. But the house is fairly large." Shoto pointed out.
"We can talk while you show me around." Sora said, getting a bit more to the point. "You did invite me over to do that, right?"
"Oh. Right. That makes sense." The Ice user now understood what Sora was doing.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's this talk about?" Natsuo wondered.
"School stuff. Mainly the Hero course." Sora stated.
"Ah." The older brother replied. "Well I don't think I'll be able to understand that, so I guess I'll help out Fuyumi around the house while Shoto gives you the tour."
"Sounds like a plan." Fuyumi agreed with that.
"Alright then. Whenever you're ready, Shoto." Sora told him.
"Right." The young Todoroki said as he got up and began to escort Sora out of the living room.
As the two boys left, Natsuo and Fuyumi both looked at each other with proud expressions, feeling glad that their younger brother was having a healthy school life, in spite of his not so healthy early life.
[Silence]
Shoto then toured Sora around his house, showing him the restrooms that they had, the family dining room, the bathing room, the outside area, his father's training room, which was currently vacant, the upstairs area of his home, and then his room.
As the pair were walking around the abode, The Keyblade wielder decided that now was the time to ask. "So are we talking about the moment in the practicals that I think we're talking about?"
"The moment where you asked me about Axel, yes." Todoroki confirmed.
"Ok then. Talk to me." Sora said.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Forever No. 2]
"What was he like?" Shoto asked him.
Sora was confused at that question at first, but still answered it. "Well...when he was my enemy, he came off as a big jerk who didn't give me a straight answer for anything. But after I got to know him, he acts kind of like a nonchalant older brother." He explained in a bit more detail. "He's cocky and has a bit of an ego, considering that he wants nobody to ever forget him, and he rarely takes anything seriously, treating most stuff like a game or annoying job, but outside of that, he cares about his friends, and while it sometimes doesn't come off this way, he wants what's best for them."
Todoroki was silent, as he was unsure of how to take that. Then the pair reached the room he wanted to show Sora. "Before we continue, there's one more thing I need to show you." He then opened the door and entered the room, with Sora following behind him.
[Silence]
The room looked like it belonged to a kid, with a small bookshelf that had a few toys and books. But Sora then saw a butsudan that was well decorated and had a picture of a young boy who had red hair and bluish green eyes.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Three Secrets]
Sora didn't even need to ask, because he already knew that Shoto was going to give an answer. The young Todoroki then gestured his hand towards the butsudan. "The boy in the photo. That's Toya, my eldest brother." Shoto saw Sora nod before he began to talk about his oldest sibling. "I don't know much about him, because I was raised separated from my siblings for my early life. But I've been told by my siblings what he was like. Fuyumi told me about how he was always trying to be acknowledged by our father, while Natsuo told me that he was really close to Toya and the two would talk about personal things together. The three of them used to play together while I was being trained by our father."
"I'm just going to say this right now." Sora spoke up. "Axel is not Toya."
"I know he's not." Shoto stated. "Toya had died after losing control of his quirk and burning down Sekoto peak ten years ago." Todoroki's expression then slightly changed to a more saddened one. "It's just that...when I saw Axel in action, and now that you've described him to me, I just can't help but think, if Toya didn't die, would he have grown up to be like him?"
Sora didn't know if that was Shoto just speaking his thoughts, or if he was asking Sora that question, but when the ice user looked towards him for one, he took a brief moment to think about what to say. "I...I really don't know. All I know is that Axel and Toya, while they do look similar and both have fire quirks, they're not the same person. I can't really say whether or not Toya would have been like Axel if he didn't pass, but if what your siblings said is true, then he probably would have grown up to be a good person."
The young Todoroki seemed to look a bit less saddened at that response, but still saddened nonetheless. "Can you wait outside for a moment?" He requested.
"Sure." The Keyblade wielder said before leaving and closing the shoji door.
Shoto then sat in front of the butsudan and prayed to his eldest brother. While he didn't know him as well as the other members of his family, he wished he did. At the very least, he could find some comfort in Sora's words, knowing that if he was alive, he would have grown up to be a good person.
[Silence]
After a few minutes, Sora saw the shoji doors open and out came the Young Todoroki. There was a small moment of silence before Shoto spoke to him. "Sora..."
"Yeah?" The Keyblade wielder replied.
"There's one more thing I want to take you today." The ice user told him.
"Lead the way." Sora gestured.
The young Todoroki walked ahead of his friend and said "We'll be leaving my home."
"Got it." Sora understood.
The pair soon got to the front entrance and were switching the slippers for their shoes on the genkan. Fuyumi and Natsuo were there to say goodbye to their little brother's friend. "It was a pleasure to have you over." Fuyumi told him.
"It was a pleasure to be invited." Sora responded.
"You'll come back again, right?" She wondered. "Maybe stay for dinner next time?"
"Maybe." The Keyblade wielder said. "If I'm not drowning in school work."
"I understand that struggle." Natsuo commented, earning a chuckle out of Sora.
As the pair got their shoes on and Shoto opened the door, Sora said "have a good rest of your day." as he left with the young Todoroki.
"Take care." Fuyumi replied.
"That guy's a real gem." Natsuo commented.
"He is." Fuyumi agreed. "A great person for Shoto to be around."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST The Murderer's Eye]
Back at the bar, The Figure was once again reading one of the folders that was given to him by Giran. This particular folder was interesting to him though, because unlike the others, it was missing some information. The first thing missing was the name. The person's alias was there, but not the name. The second thing that was missing was a history prior to the criminal record, which made the Figure realize something. This guy was almost as anonymous as he was. He looked towards the one who this file was for.
Dabi was minding his own business, but soon noticed the Figure's head facing his direction, which was something that he wouldn't normally care about, if it was literally anyone other than the Figure.
[Silence]
Before anything could be said or done though, the door opened and in came Giran and the Broker with the eye patch. "We're back with more." Giran stated.
"Show us who you brought this time." Tomura said, choosing to just get to business.
"Gotcha. But first..." Giran reached into his coat and pulled out three different folders. "Here you go." He gave them to the Figure. "Alright. Let's start with one of my guys."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Evil Of Psychology]
The first person who came in looked very theatrical, as he had a tall brown tophat with a feather on it, as well as a black and white patterned mask and black balaclava over his head, completely covering his face. He also wore a dark Yellow overcoat over whatever he was wearing underneath, and a pair of white boots with black toe caps. "This guy doesn't have too much on his criminal record, but he's got a few good tricks up his sleeve, as well as motivation."
The man then took a bow and spoke. "Atsuhiro Sako. However, I prefer to go by my stage name, Mr. Compress." He then pulled out a small blue marble and with the snap of his fingers the marble suddenly expanded until a cane appeared in his hand. "I merely wish to expose the corruption that almost everyone turns a blind eye to. There's no point in doing it legally, since that never works, but I also can't do it alone. I heard that this League wishes to do the same?"
Then a second person came in. "He's not the only one." This person sounded and looked younger, about the age of a teenager. He wore a gakuran school uniform, which supported the idea that he was on the young side. He also wore a heavy duty gas mask. "And Hero Society's Pros aren't the only ones that are corrupt. The schools are too. Especially the upper brass ones like U.A. I heard you guys got in and did a little damage before All Might showed up."
Before the other Villains could comment on the boy, Giran spoke up. "This guy came from him." He pointed to the one eyed broker. "The kid is still green, but he says he can hold his own."
"Just give me a gun and some ammo, then I'll do the rest." The boy said.
"How bout you give us a name, first." Shigaraki pointed out.
"Call me Mustard." The boy responded.
"Try your real name." Tomura said, sounding slightly annoyed at the kid.
"It's in that folder. Isn't it?" Mustard guessed.
Shigaraki decided not to respond to his comment, and went back to talking to Giran. "Anyone else?"
"Just one. But I promise you'll like this guy." The gray haired broker stated as the final person came in. He didn't look like much, wearing some raggedy clothes and a paper bag over his head, which made the League Leader wonder how exactly he was going to like this guy. "He doesn't look like much, but that's because he's only just fallen from grace. This guy is an S rank Villain, and he got that high in only a few months. Even after his fall from grace, he's still on the most wanted list."
The man then quietly introduced himself. "Jin Bubaigawara. I don't have a codename." His tone then suddenly shifted to a very energetic one. "YES I DO! AND IT'S TWICE!"
Most of the League members looked at Jin with slightly confused expressions. "Well, that was a mood shift." Magne commented.
"Long story short, he's got a split personality." Giran stated.
"I just want to be accepted for who I am and be around people who support that." Bubaigawara said his first reason, before his split personality took over again. "I DON'T NEED ACCEPTANCE! I JUST WANNA GET BACK AT THE WORLD!"
"Very contradictory." The Figure pointed out. "But both of those goals fit with what the League is aiming to do." He then turned to Tomura "Your call."
After a brief moment of consideration, Shiragaki said "Take em."
Suddenly a dark corridor opened up behind the three Villains and The Figure got up. "You're gonna show me just how much you want to be in this League. Follow me." He then stepped through the dark corridor.
"A test of merit." Mr. Compress guessed. "It would be my pleasure." He then went into the dark corridor.
"Anyone got a gun for me?" Mustard requested. Giran gave him a spare type 38 revolver in his coat. "Loaded?"
"Yes, but it's gonna cost you." The broker said.
"Got it." The young Villain replied before walking through the dark corridor.
"This doesn't look very inviting...ALRIGHT LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Twice said before he literally dove through the dark corridor. Then it closed, leaving the fate of the three League hopefuls in the hands of the Figure.
[Silence]
The three Villains exited the other side of the dark corridor to see a mass of dead trees, surrounding them, with burnt grass and small pieces of metal chunks on the ground they were standing on. It was clear to them that a battle of sorts had occurred here, which made them all keep their guards up. The trio then saw the Figure stop and speak to them.
"Before we get started, is there any more preparation you need?" He asked.
"You're giving us a chance to prepare?" Mustard questioned.
"Unless I see your best, this will be pointless." The Figure pointed out.
"I appreciate and accept your offer." Compress stated as he looked in his pockets to see what he had at his disposal.
"Your funeral." Mustard commented as he prepped the type 38 revolver and checked his gas mask.
Then suddenly, Twice surprised his two current allies when he took out measuring tape and began to measure Mr. Compress. "Ok. 181 centimeters, minus the hat." He muttered out before he began to measure the stuff on Mr. Compress as well, while muttering out the measurements.
"Um...excuse me?" Compress spoke up.
"What the hell are you doing?" Mustard questioned, looking confused.
"I know it's not obvious, but I'll explain in a minute...I'M OBVIOUSLY MEASURING HIM!" Twice answered. "I need it for my quirk."
"Uh...I mean...okay?" Mr. Compress decided to go along with it.
When Twice finished measuring Compress, he then began to do the same to Mustard, who was still confused, but he let the paper bag wearing man do it anyway. If it gave them an extra legup in this fight, then he wouldn't argue, as long as the results are worth it.
The Figure, who at this point was an optimal distance away from the three, was watching and waiting, while wondering how much more of a wasteland he was going to make this barren place look like. As soon as Twice finished measuring up Mustard, the Figure saw the three look at him.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Runaway Battle]
The Figure then summoned their weapon and got ready for a fight. The other three villains also got ready for the brawl. "Last longer than a minute." He told the trio.
"Cocky, aren't you." Mustard commented as he aimed the revolver at the Figure.
"I'm sure that at least I can manage that." Mr. Compress stated as he held a few marbles in between his fingers.
"A minute? That's no time at all for me...THAT'S WAY TOO LONG!" Twice said as he darted off towards the trees away from the group.
The Figure pointed the tip of his blade towards Twice's direction and it began to glow orange. Then soon after, a mass of fire came out and bolted towards the paper bag headed man. However, before the fire could reach its intended target, Compress threw one of the blue marbles in his hand. When the marble got in front of the fireball, it suddenly began to glow, before expanding and suddenly a mass of concrete was formed.
The result was an explosion of fire and concrete shrapnel flying in multiple directions. While the Figure was caught off guard at that for a brief moment, he now knew Compress' gimmick. He pointed his blade towards the theatrical Villain and shot out another fireball, to which Compress responded with another marble, this one containing a hardwood door that he used as a shield to block the fire, and got sent flying towards another area in the trees.
Before he could pursue, he suddenly heard a gunshot and saw a bullet almost graze his hooded head. The Figure turned and then saw Mustard, who was now emitting purple gas from his body, had his gun pointed towards him, ready to shoot again. The Figure then faced him, and Mustard shot once more, however the Figure knew it was coming and swiftly blocked the bullet with his blade. He then watched as Mustard was enveloped in the gas, allowing the young Villain to remain unseen by the Figure while it continued to spread around the area.
The Figure stayed still and let himself also be enveloped by the gas. He waited for something harmful to happen, only for the gas to have no effect, which disappointed him. "Gas and a gun." He listed off the only two things Mustard had at his disposal. "That's really all you've got?" He walked forward, then heard another gunshot. A bullet whizzed through the gas and towards the Figure, but his quick reflexes made blocking the bullet with his blade easy.
"You can't hide from me in my own gas." Mustard called out, as he shot another bullet from the revolver, only to hear it clank on the Figure's blade again. "I know how you move, and when." He suddenly detected that the Figure got behind him, so he turned around and pointed his gun in that direction, then shot another bullet.
The Figure leaned his head to the side to dodge the bullet. "But you're not nearly fast enough to react." He pointed out, as he once again got behind Mustard and spoke to him. "And since you have to wear a mask, you aren't immune to the gas you so easily spread."
Mustard quickly turned around to face him, only to detect that the Figure was once again behind him. "What, and you are?"
The inner part of the Figure's hood briefly glowed orange and then he took a deep breath, before exhaling the gas he just breathed in behind Mustard's neck. "Even if I wasn't. I can still hold my breath long enough to break off that mask you're wearing." He then grabbed one of the tubes on Mustard's gas mask and disconnected it, before kicking Mustard forward, causing the boy to stumble.
"You've got one shot left, and not a lot of time." The Figure stated. "I'll give you a chance to take it."
Mustard didn't respond, holding in the small bit of breath he had in his lungs as he quickly turned to face the Figure and shoot him. He did not hesitate to pull the trigger, but when the bullet came out, the Figure caught it with his free hand.
[Silence]
"What the hell are you?" Mustard uttered out, while he deactivated his quirk so he could breathe.
The Figure said nothing, then blitzed forward and slammed Mustard's head into the ground, knocking the boy out. "Not even 30 seconds." He said in a disappointed tone. The Figure then went in the direction that he had sent Mr. Compress. The inside of his hood briefly glowed orange again as he walked away.
In another section of the forest, Twice had stopped running and took a moment to sit and catch his breath. He needed to make distance between himself and the Figure if he was going to have a chance to shine, and luckily for him, the other two provided him that opportunity. When he wasn't panting from exhaustion anymore, he stretched his arms forward, mimicking the action of popping his knuckles, without actually doing so, and then he activated his quirk.
A grey mud like substance began to come out of his hands, but it didn't just leak all over. It took shape into two pairs of legs, then a body for each pair, then arms where the bodies' shoulders were, then a neck and head. The blank bodies then began to shift into more detailed shapes, sizes and colors, until one body looked exactly like Mustard, and the other looked like Mr. Compress. "Alright. They don't look wrong...HORRIBLE! THEY LOOK NOTHING LIKE THE ORIGINALS!"
"Excuse me?" Both duplicates said in unison, clearly confused at what they just heard.
"Oh right. I gotta explain that. This might take a while...LONG STORY SHORT, YOU'RE COPIES OF THE REAL MUSTARD AND MR. COMPRESS!" The S Rank Villain explained, before pointing in the direction he ran from. "The fight is that way, so let's go...I'LL STAY HERE SO WHEN YOU GET TAKEN OUT, I CAN MAKE ANOTHER!"
The two duplicates were still confused, but at this point just decided to go along with this plan only because the last thing they remembered was that they were being tested through combat, by a hooded figure, so they were gonna be fighting anyway. The two then set off in the direction that Twice pointed at.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Strategy VS Wilderness]
Elsewhere in another tree covered area, the Figure stood still, knowing that someone was hidden among the leaves. He glanced in the direction of where he correctly assumed the person was and pointed his blade in that direction. "I know you're there." He stated.
"Oho." Mr. Compress responded. Before he jumped out of the tree and up into the air. "But is that all there is to it?"
That response led the Figure to assume that he walked into a trap, however he couldn't immediately tell what the trap was, so for now he just kept his eyes on Compress and waited for him to make a move. That move was him once again snapping his fingers, and then the trap he made was sprung.
All at once, multiple blue marbles scattered all over the branches of the surrounding trees rapidly expanded until they formed into other trees that he most likely acquired while the Figure was dealing with Mustard. The trees descended upon the Figure, who was admittedly impressed with the display, before he swiftly moved out of the way to avoid the trap sprung for him.
Compress saw the direction he went and snapped his fingers again. The Figure heard the snap and pointed the tip of his blade towards the treetops again, but he didn't see a glow. He suddenly felt something hit his back as he was propelled up by a tree suddenly appearing underneath him. Under the ground to be exact.
Before the Figure could deduce out how Compress hid a marble in the ground, he saw the Villain pull out a marble in his pocket and move in between himself and the Figure. The marble glowed and rapidly expanded until it formed yet another tree, but the Figure was fast enough to counter the move, by slicing straight through the tree, cutting it in half widthwise.
The Figure then saw another marble, and quickly shot at it with a fire blast from his blade. As soon as the marble glowed and expanded into another tree that Compress landed on, the fireball landed and blew the tree apart, which also caused Compress to lose his balance and fall uncontrollably.
As the two fell, the Figure pointed his blade towards Compress and shot out a Dark Blizzard spell. The icy projectile rapidly approached the Theatrical Villain, but he noticed it in time and grabbed another marble from his jacket and threw it towards the attack. The Marble expanded until it took the form of a mannequin before it hit the Blizzard spell and was covered in ice.
Compress looked at where the Figure was, only to notice that he wasn't there anymore. He then heard the Figure's voice say. "But was that all there was to that?" Before he felt his leg get grabbed, and then his body fiercely thrown down to the pile of trees that he tried to drop on the Figure.
Compress had a hard landing, getting the wind knocked out of him, as soon as his front side hit the trees, before he immediately felt a stomp on his back, that took him out of commission.
[Silence]
The Figure jumped off of Compress and looked at the damage that this Villain caused to get to him. "Hm...Much better than the other one." He stated as he picked up Mr. Compress, carried him over his shoulder and began to walk back to where he left Mustard.
As soon as he exited the trees, something immediately caught his attention. The purple gas was back, which already cued to the Figure that Mustard wasn't out of the fight. Before he could be impressed by that, he looked to where he left Mustard, and could see that the boy was still unconscious on the ground.
Now the Figure was disappointed. "That's it? I thought you actually got back up, but this? This is just sad." He said as he walked over to the unconscious boy. He then kicked the boy's body until his front side was facing up. The Figure then held his blade in reverse grip and positioned it above Mustard's chest. He raised the blade up and was more than willing to plunge it down.
Suddenly, another gunshot was heard, and the Figure turned in the direction it came from, only to see the bullet hit the hand that he was using to hold his blade. It didn't hurt too much, but the shock surprised him enough to let go of his weapon, before it disappeared.
The Figure looked at his hand and saw that the bullet pierced through it, leaving a hole that began to ooze out the black liquid that made up his blood. He once again looked in the direction that the shot came from and saw...Mustard...Undamaged and with a loaded type 38 revolver that he did not have ammo for. "What?!"
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Threat of Offence and Defense]
Mustard didn't say a word, instead just deciding to shoot the Figure again, firing two more times. The Figure dropped Mr. Compress, dodged the two bullets, resummoned his weapon and blitzed towards the second Mustard with the intent to kill him.
Mustard then fired his remaining three bullets towards the Figure. The Figure blocked the bullets with his blade before doubling down on his charge, moving even faster than before. In a vain attempt to slow him down, Mustard threw the gun towards him, but the Figure caught it and threw it back hard at the boy's head, causing Mustard to lose balance.
The Figure reached Mustard's position and swung horizontally, but with much more force than he was using before. The force he used literally cut through the second Mustard, violently splitting his upper half from his lower half. But there was no pained scream. Instead, the second Mustard turned to mud that splat on the floor while the gas almost instantly cleared up.
"Huh?" The Figure said, even more confused, before he heard the sound of fingers snapping, and saw the glow of dozens of marbles above the branches of the trees, then felt the ground below him crumble before he was launched up.
Suddenly all around him, there were dozens of trees, a few slabs of concrete, and mannequins that all wore coats, masks, and hats that were very similar to Mr. Compress. Then came a voice. "A rather brutal execution of that Mustard, wouldn't you say?" It was a second Mr. Compress' voice, which only confused the Figure even more. He just dealt with the two of them, and now there is another of each one?
As the trees and concrete reached the Figure, he spun his body like a spinning saw blade, while simultaneously casting many fire spells, destroying all of the mannequins that acted as dummies, and most of the concrete slabs and trees. The second Mr. Compress had a marble in front of him that he decompressed until it formed a door that he used as a shield to block one of the fireballs that fell towards him, which worked, but also destroyed the door.
Before he could even recover from that blow, he was met by the Figure's blade cutting his arms off in such rapid succession, it almost looked simultaneous. However, he did not scream. Instead, he also turned to mud that splattered onto the ground, as well as the concrete slabs and burnt mannequins that he brought with him.
As soon as the Figure landed, he took a moment to think about what he just dealt with. He looked back and saw that Mr. Compress and Mustard were still knocked out where he left them, then noticed where he was, from where they were. He went in the direction that Twice went, which also happened to be where these two mud made copies came from.
"Alright." The Figure said before he raised his blade and casted Curaga on himself to close the wound on his hand. "This guy is gonna be a problem."
Elsewhere in the forest, Twice had already finished making two more clones and pointed them towards where the fight was going to be, letting them go to it while he kept going in the opposite direction. There was no way that he was going to go to the front lines when he sensed that his two previous copies died back to back. He'll stay back and just tire the Hooded guy out this way.
Back to the Figure, he blitzed forward, moving at such a ridiculous speed that he looked like a literal black streak. He noticed another Mustard and Mr. Compress running towards him, but by the time they noticed him, it was way too late.
Mustard could only get one shot off, before he was decapitated and turned to mud, and when Mr. Compress threw out multiple marbles, he didn't have enough time to use what was in them as the Figure cut him in half vertically.
Twice saw the Figure and made one more of each close as fast as he possibly could before yelling out "Over there!...RIGHT HERE! Oh crap this is bad!...TERRIFIC TIMING GUY!"
The Figure saw Twice and the other copies and almost instantly reached them. He swatted the copy Mustard's gun out of his hands, grabbed it by the barrel and slammed the handle into the copy Mr Compress' face, damaging it enough to turn into mud, before he spun around and used the gun to shoot the copy Mustard in the head, turning that into mud as well.
Twice then took out his measuring tape, and tried to attack the Figure with it, but the Figure simply dodged the attack and swung his blade towards Twice's face. The S rank Villain avoided it, but it came at the cost of his paper bag coming off his face and getting cut open.
"AHHHHHHH!" He screamed out. "NOnoNOnoNOnoNOnoNOno!" The Figure swiftly turned around and was about to attack again, but then saw Twice drop to the ground and grab his now exposed head with both his hands, acting like he was having a seizure. "Aghhhagh Ti TIMEOUT! I auuuuugh! I need to...COVER UP!" He continued to scream and freak out in front of the Figure. "Can't...SPLIT! Please god no! I CAN'T SPLIT AGAIN!"
At first the Figure was confused, then it soon changed to slight enjoyment at the sight of this man's distress, then that pleasure soon faded as he hit Twice in the back of the head to knock him out, which also shut him up. He then picked up Twice and carried him over his shoulder as he made his way back to the other two downed Villains.
[Play KH3 OST Graveyard Labyrinth]
When he got there, he threw Twice on top of Mustard before he healed all three of them with Curaga. The three at first didn't move when they woke up, expecting to be hurting somewhere, but they all felt no pain. Twice was the first to scramble up to his feet when he realized that he was still uncovered, which prompted Mr Compress to take out a marble, and decompress it to show a mannequin that had a spare balaclava and mask that Twice immediately took to cover his face with, which finally calmed him down.
Mustard reconnected the tube that the Figure took off before, back to his mask, and he picked up the empty type 38 revolver from the ground to hold on to it. He also had an uneasy look on his face, but the gas mask covered it. The Figure could still tell that the boy was uneasy towards him, which he should be.
Mr. Compress touched the mannequin and compressed it into the oh so familiar blue marble that he had so many of in his pockets. He then adjusted his mask and gloves slightly before he turned to face the Figure, knowing that he was going to be evaluated on his performance.
The Figure looked at the three and then after a moment of silence, said "Alright, I'll accept that."
"So I take it we did well?" Compress assumed.
"You did enough." The Figures answered before he opened up a dark corridor and stepped through it, letting the others follow behind him. As the corridor closed, the battlefield around it now had new things added to it. That being bullets from a gun, many uprooted trees that were piled together in two different spots, and some mud splats on the ground.
[Silence]
Elsewhere, outside of a medical institution of some kind, Sora and Shoto stood out front and looked towards the building. The Keyblade wielder was confused as to why he was here, but just decided to trust that his friend brought him here for a reason.
Todoroki looked slightly hesitant at first, but then doubled down on his decision to come here with Sora and walked towards the entrance, with his friend following behind him. He went to the front desk and the people there recognized him. "Oh. You're here a little later than usual." One of them pointed out.
"I was busy earlier." Shoto explained.
"Well, she's waiting for ya." Another person said, before the people noticed Sora. "Who's that?"
"A friend that I want her to meet." Todoroki said. "If that's okay."
"Sure. That's fine." The first person confirmed. "You know where she is."
"Thank you." The Ice user replied before he ushered Sora to follow him.
As the pair walked down a few hallways, Sora couldn't really stay silent anymore, and he asked "Shoto, I know that you said that you wanted me to meet someone, but I have no idea who it is. Can you please tell me?"
"We're here." Todoroki said as he approached the door. He put his hand on the handle but didn't open it yet. "Wait out here for a minute. I'll let you in soon."
"Uh...sure?" The Keyblade wielder responded, still not sure of who he was meeting.
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Can't Look in the Eyes of Serenity]
The flame user then opened up the door, entered the room, and closed the door behind him. He saw the same person that he came to meet here every time he could and she looked happy to see him. "Hi Shoto."
"Hi mom." He replied back to her. "Sorry that I'm late."
"It's fine." She assured him. "You're here now, aren't you?"
"Well, the reason why I was late was different than a missed train or schoolwork." Shoto stated.
"Regardless of the reason, you still came to see me." His mother pointed out.
"Yes." He said. "But this time, not alone."
"Oh?" She replied.
"I...brought someone that I'd like you to meet." Shoto said. "If it's okay with you that is."
His mother let out a light giggle before she spoke to her son. "If you think I should meet them, then they must really be someone special. I'd love to get to know them."
"Okay." The ice user said, as he grabbed the door handle and opened it up. "You can come in now."
Sora then came into the room and saw a woman with white hair and silver eyes. At first, Sora was unsure of what to make of this, but then he looked back at his friend and noticed that his right side was strikingly similar to her looks, and then it clicked on him. "Is this…?"
"Yes." Todoroki confirmed. "This is my mom." He turned to her. "Mom, this is my friend, Sora."
She had a warm smile on her face as she said "Hello Sora. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Sora at first was too stunned to even speak, but when he remembered his manners, he straightened himself up and replied. "T-The pleasure is all mine, miss." He then slightly bowed. "I'm sorry. If I knew I was going to meet you, I would have brought something."
Shoto's mom once again lightly giggled at the humbleness shown to her. "That's very sweet of you to say."
"Thank you." Sora responded.
"So, you're friends with my son?" She asked.
"Oh. Yes." The Keyblade wielder confirmed. "We've been friends for a while."
"That's very good to hear." She said, feeling very happy. "I'm happy to see that my youngest son is living a good life, in spite of my...lack of presence."
"Well...he had good role models in his siblings." Sora stated.
Mrs. Todoroki slightly perked up from that response. "You've met his siblings?"
"Yeah." The Keyblade wielder confirmed. "It was actually earlier today. Shoto asked me to come over, and he introduced me to them."
That made her smile widen as she looked back at her youngest son. "That is also a very good thing to hear."
The young Todoroki knew that was directed towards him, and he spoke up. "I just wanted to talk to him about something at school, then Fuyumi and Natsuo heard about it and wanted to meet him, so they did."
"I'm glad I did." Sora stated. "They're great people, and they really care about you. It's a great thing to have in your life."
Shoto's mom once again was happy to hear what had come out of Sora's mouth, as she agreed with that. "Very true. Friends and family that can care for you, and are there for you are what everyone needs in life."
"Yeah..." the flame user also agreed with them.
After that moment, The Todoroki mother decided to switch the subject. "So Sora, I'm curious. Does Shoto have other friends, and if he does, what are they like?"
"Has he not told you about them?" The Keyblade wielder questioned.
"Not much. In fact, you're the first one I've really gotten to know, or even meet." She stated.
"Oh...well...if it's okay with him." Sora replied, to which the young Todoroki simply nodded, stating that it was okay with him. "Okay. Well, where to start...oh. I know."
[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Resting Symbol of Peace]
Shoto and his mother both watched and listened as Sora listed off the mutual friends that he and the young Todoroki had. "There's Izuku, another friend of ours. He's a really good guy. Always wants to help people when they need it. He's a bit socially awkward though, with his motor mouth and occasional stutter when a girl from our class gets super close to him."
Shoto's mother once again let out a giggle before Sora continued. "Then there's Tenya. He's a stickler for following rules and does his best to make sure that we follow them too. Sometimes he's a little too in your face about it, but we know he means well. He just wants us to be model Heroes. His way of supporting us is just different from others in our class."
She understood and was glad to hear that, then Sora went on. "Oh, and Momo. She's a really great student. The smartest one there actually. At first, I voted for her to be our class rep, but she ended up being the deputy instead. Even so, she's still one of the most capable students in the class, even when she didn't think so for a while."
The female Todoroki got a little curious. "The way you're talking about this Momo makes me think you might have some feelings for her."
The Keyblade wielder already knew what she was saying. "No. I do not have a crush on her. I just think she's a really strong and really capable girl. She actually reminds me of another girl...who I do actually have feelings for."
"Well, being half right is still nice." She said with a proud look on her face. "Are there any others?"
"Honestly, I'm pretty sure that everyone in our class is friends with us." Sora explained. "But the three I talked about and I are probably his closest, since he talks to us more than the others."
She looked to her son with a warm expression before speaking up. "It makes me so happy to hear that my son is making friends, and that those friends are actual friends and not just people who want to be close to our family."
Shoto's cheeks slightly turned red out of embarrassment, which was a first for him, but he still felt glad that his mother was happy with the people he considered friends. He unknowingly cracked a small smile on his face that his mother noticed. But he quickly turned his head before Sora could see his face.
The Keyblade wielder looked to the young Todoroki when he noticed that his mother was, but only saw his head facing away from him, which had Sora a bit confused at his friend's action, but he just chalked it up to the ice user shrugging it off. He then noticed the time. "Oh man. It's actually getting a little late."
"You need to go somewhere?" Mrs. Todoroki asked.
"Yeah. I need to head back home. I told Izuku that we'd work on some of our summer homework when I got back. I don't want to keep him waiting." Sora explained as he walked over to Shoto. "Thanks for the invite. It was nice to hang out with you and meet some of your family."
Shoto, who had now gone back to his normal expression, replied to his friend. "It was nice for me too."
Sora then opened the door and looked back to his friend's mom. "It was nice to meet you Mrs. Todoroki."
"Oh, Sora." She realized something. "Call me Rei."
"Oh. Okay." The Keyblade wielder replied. "Nice meeting you Rei."
"It was nice meeting you too, Sora." Rei said before he closed the door, leaving the two of them alone.
[Resume KH3 OST Graveyard Labyrinth] A.N. If I timed it right. You should have started at the 50 second mark.
Back at the bar, a dark corridor opened up, and out came the Figure, along with Mr. Compress, Mustard, and Twice, who still had on the balaclava and mask that Compress gave him. The League members noticed this but before they could question why, the Figure spoke up. "They're all in...however." He then turned to the broker with the eyepatch. "Mustard only barely passed. The next time that you bring a candidate, make sure that they can do more than that."
That insult was not subtle at all, nor was it trying to be. The one eyed merchant got the message. "I know two guys that can do that. When I find em, I'll bing em."
Giran's smug grin only got more smug when he had gotten no complaints about the two he brought in. He then tackled the matter at hand. "Still need more people, or should I start writing down a grocery list for equipment?"
Tomura looked at his group and then made a decision. "Start looking into equipment. If the next two that he brings in aren't good enough, then we'll work with what we've got."
Both brokers understood and after collecting their pays, the one eyed one left the group to do his job, while Giran stayed. As the League now had three new members, they each found a place to occupy. Mustard sat alone at one of the booths. Twice sat alone at another booth, but it was close to Toga and the Figure. Mr. Compress occupied a corner in the room, inspecting the marbles he had in his pockets, as well as occasionally adjusting his mask and hat when he felt uncomfortable.
Giran had gotten the gist of what everyone wanted. Dabi was basic and just wanted some fire resistant clothes and cuffs. Toga wanted something that would help her drink blood in battle, as well as more knives. Spinner requested replacement blades for the ones that were broken, as well as straps to replace the ones that were snapped. Magne requested an updated look for her giant magnet. Mustard just asked for ammo for the gun that Giran gave him. Compress didn't ask for anything. Twice just asked for something that would keep his face covered, but Giran decided to take it a step further for the S rank Villain and opted to cover for a whole costume made for him that he would put on a tab to be paid for later. Shigaraki, Kurogiri and the Figure did not ask for anything, and with that list created, Giran left to go acquire this hardware.
Tomura motioned for the Figure to come to him, which the Figure decided to comply with. When he took a seat next to the League leader, he was asked "Barely passed?"
"I was originally going to kill the schoolboy, but a copy of him was a good shot and stopped me." The Figure explained. "That's the only thing that saved him from dying then and there."
"Aside from that?" Shigaraki questioned.
"He'll only be useful as a distraction." The Figure stated.
"Good to know." Tomura said before he let the Figure go back to his usual spot. At this point, even if the other two that come in later don't prove to be good enough, The League was large enough for him to start thinking about a plan he wants to carry out when U.A. send out their students to do a certain activity in the summer.
And now Chapter 53 is out. Sora got to meet the Todoroki family. I'd say he made a good first impression. Not only that, but Sora and Shoto had their talk about Axel and how he looked and acted like Toya (At least what Shoto heard about him.) Then on the Villains side, we got to see three more people join. One just barely, and two definitely. Now the only two League members left to join are Muscular and Moonfish. That, as well as the Save the world with Love episode will be covered on the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one and until I decide to upload again. ;)