Hi guys, what's up? It is I, here with a brand new chapter!

Before we begin, I have a question: If I do a review response window like in other fics, will you be more inclined to leave reviews?

As usual, I own nothing but the OCs, read, review, moo, yodelayheehoo.

Thanks to Swift-sama of SB and old man of the mountain of Discord for betaing!

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"And that's all for today. Make sure to get a full night's rest, because tomorrow you begin the newest aspect of your Hero training! Class dismissed!"

"Thank you, Midnight-sensei!"

The busty Heroine sent a flirtatious wink at the class, to which a certain yellow-haired boy shivered in delight. Jiro winced at that - that was one image she did not need in her head right now. At least he wasn't Mineta; the little pervert was probably drooling all over the gym floor.

"That was a rather intense workout, wasn't it?"

She glanced to her left. "Yeah, Midnight-sensei's not a Pro for nothing. And to think this is just the first week."

Momo Yaoyorozu, clad in her red costume, nodded. "Well, this is the top Hero school in Japan. We should have expected this when we applied, if not from that then from Aizawa-sensei's test."

Jiro bit her lip at the mention of their homeroom teacher's surprise Quirk Assessment test. She didn't think anyone in the class expected him to pull something like that out on the first day. "Tell me about it. For a moment there I really thought he was going to expel the loser."

"W-well, it was an obvious ruse from the start" replied Momo, twirling a stray lock of black hair. The faint blush on her cheeks did not escape Jiro's notice, but she refrained from commenting. "I find it hard to believe that a teacher can expel a student on such a basis, even in a Hero course."

"I don't know. he looked pretty serious, and I've heard some rumors on the internet about a whole class that was expelled."

Momo looked at her in surprise, the two entering the female's locker room. "Truly? You're not joking?"

Jiro shrugged as she started taking off her clothes. "The writer looked pretty serious, but this is stuff on the internet we're talking about. Best to take it with more than a grain of salt."

Momo nodded and she proceeded to strip down as well, prompting the rocker girl to avert her gaze. 'She's my age! How can her chest be so big?'

A loud holler sounded from outside the door and the pink-skinned Mina Ashido barged in.

"Aaah, I'm spent! I think I might've started sweating acid at some point!" She noticed the other two girls in the locker room and her smile widened. "Yaomomo! Jiro-chan! What's up?"

"Ah, uh, I am fine Ashido-san, thank you for asking."

"Same."

The horned girl grinned and walked to her own locker, which was at Jiro's left. "So, you going straight home?"

"Yep, I'll collapse if I do anything else remotely stressful today. Thank goodness for the train – straight to Shizuoka."

"Ah yes, I too shall be heading home. My driver should be at the gates any minute now."

Jiro blinked at that little tidbit. Right, at least three of her classmates were loaded. And Momo was richer-than-god loaded. Still, the way she blushed when she said it was…cute. Far from the prissy-faced stuck-up one would expect from a rich girl.

"Same. The gym class is one thing, but after that ruckus in the lunchroom? I need to go home and fall flat on the bed."

Jiro felt her lips twitch. "Thanks for the idea, I think I'll do just that. After the homework of course."

Ashido groaned and Momo let out a giggle. "Midnight-sensei did tell us to get a good night's rest. And you're right, what happened at lunch today was unusual. What do you think happened?"

"Beats me. The teachers didn't really say anything. But because of that, we have Iida as our class president. Who knew acting like a human signal light was so impressive."

"He did manage to rein in the students and help them walk out calmly. I agree with Midoriya-san in his assessment to hand over the position." She buttoned on her shirt and grasped her chin. "Midoriya-san did seem rather reluctant to accept it in the first place."

"Yeah, he doesn't seem like the type to be a leader, y'know?" commented Ashido. "Not that says anything bad about him, it's just that Iida does seem like a better fit, though he acts like a total stick-in-the mud at times." As she proceeded to dress back into her uniform – to Jiro's hidden envy – her grin returned. "So, what do you have planned for the future, Vice-President Yaomomo? Anything exciting in that big brain of yours?"

Momo perked up at the question. "Oh, I've had a few ideas." She started counting off on her fingers. "I was thinking of organizing group activities where we could discuss plans for our Pro careers. I have several contacts that would be glad to give us lectures…"

With that, Jiro tuned out Momo's excitable tirade and finished donning her uniform. Yeah, it seemed like these next three years were going to be one roller coaster of a ride. But that's what she signed up for, Plus Ultra and all that, right?

She pulled out her phone to get a playlist ready for the trip home when she saw a notification on the home screen.

Ritsu-oji: Unread messages (1).

That was…unexpected, but not unwelcome. She hadn't heard much from the older boy lately, only a couple of 'how are you' and 'what's up?'. A master of small talk he was not, but she wasn't that experienced herself so she didn't mind that much. Singing was far easier.

She pressed and…yep, she should've expected it. How's it going at the hero school?

Exhausting. Might pass out soon.

Pain?

Yes. Lots of it. A lot more tomorrow.

Ouch.

"Hmm? Who're you texting Jiro-chan?"

"Eep!" The earphone-jack girl jumped in place at the voice so close to her ears. She turned to see none other than Mina looking over her shoulder with curious eyes.

"W-why are you asking?" Mina shrugged.

"I'm just curious."

"That's not a good reason."

"I'm still curious. Everyone's changing so it can't be anyone from the class. Besides, isn't a Hero's job to be nosy?"

Jiro grumbled and tried to protest, but any words she might've had died in her mouth when Mina leaned over staring intently at her phone.

'She's not gonna give up, is she?' She sighed, relenting. Better to get it out of the way than to endure a headache so late in the day.

"It's just…someone I know. We talk sometimes."

Mina did not look satisfied with the answer and tilted her head. "'Ritsu-oji'? He's an older guy?"

"Yes, but not like that!" she hurriedly said. "He's just a year older and I call him that because he has white hair!"

The pink-skinned girl grinned impishly. "Oh~?"

"Ah, Ashido-san, it is not proper for us to question Jiro-san's personal life."

Mina turned and pouted at Momo. Taking advantage of the distraction, she moved to close her phone only for another message to pop up.

Big hero exercise tomorrow or something?

She glanced to her side and noticed that Mina had started talking to one of the other girls, the froggy-looking one – Tsuyu was it? Good, that meant she was safe for the time being.

Yeah. The teacher told us to get a good night's sleep. Does not sound ominous at all.

The screen remained unchanged. The 'typing' symbol was still on however, so she waited. Thirty seconds later, she looked at her phone, puzzled. What was taking so long to write?

Then, she got her answer.

Be careful.

The status bar switched from 'active' to 'disconnected.'

She blinked at the short yet brief message. That was…odd.

The sound of one of the girls exiting the locker room snapped her from her thoughts. As she packed her things and swung her backpack over her shoulder, the message still floated at the forefront of her mind.

'It's probably nothing. I mean, he looked freaked out when I told him about the robots at the entrance exam, not that I blame him. He probably thinks it's gonna be something even crazier, and seeing what kind of teachers we have, I'm probably thinking the same thing. But what could be crazier than a field of giant robots?'

"Wow."

Have you ever had that moment where you saw pictures of some tropical beach, untouched by man, with pristine sands and crystal-blue waters, and when you get to that beach it's either filled with garbage or sweaty tourists snapping photos for social media?

Yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now.

Here I was, lurking in the shadows of some empty warehouse, ready to rationalize and debate with Mawla why we should at least take some preemptive measure to sabotage a Villain attack on UA High despite having full (or nearly full) confidence that any hero there would wipe the floor with them when said Villains started to trickle in.

'They must've been scraping at the bottom of the barrel to get this sorry lot. Dabi must've been a lucky find.'

'I am in full agreement with thee, contractor. Even an Umayyad desert guard regiment could dispose of these reprobates.'

They're all wearing clothes that seemed to be picked up or stitched from the local charity or trash bins. That I understand; they're Villains. Not exactly the kind of faces that can waltz into your friendly neighborhood clothing store, even if they have the money. What I don't understand is the fact that none of them looked like they'd ever been in a proper fight. Sure, they have muscle, and a few of their Quirks look interesting – like the woman with the snake hair – but based on their postures – hunched, nervous, irritated and the like - I would bet a month's supply of cookie dough ice-cream that the most they can do is rush in and try to beat someone up, with different variations based on Quirks. Granted, half of the mooks I've cut down were the same, but still!

Also, there are too few. For an attack like this, you'd need a lot of bodies to throw at the Heroes and students. But these…twenty or so? Not in a million years.

I feel my body slacken. I really was worried for nothing.

'Good. Now, let us leave this place and pursue more important – observe.'

A misty dark cloud suddenly appears on the far side of the room. Out of it steps a short, lanky man in a dark blue shirt who looks like he's in dire need of moisturizer. And if that isn't creepy enough, he has what appears to be severed hands attached to his upper body and face.

He takes a sweeping look(?) over the room. "Kurogiri," he whispers in a raspy voice. "Why is the party count so low? Didn't you put out enough quest notices?"

From the mist a pair of slanted yellow eyes appear. "I have scoured through the entire prefecture's underworld and then some, Tomura Shigaraki. It appears that these were the only ones to appear."

Shigaraki grunts and raises his voice. "So you're all here for the job?"

One of the goons speaks up. "Yeah, that's us. When's the payment?"

"Rewards are given after the quest's done. Why are there so few of you?"

I don't think anyone is gonna answer that question - wait, the snake-haired woman's chiming in. "What you see is what you get, handjob. In case your misthead buddy didn't notice, a lot of us have gone under ever since our drinking buddies started dropping like flies."

"Dropping like…" he begins scratching his head. "Shinigami?"

"That's right." A larger goon with dark muscular arms snorts. "Maybe you've been too holed up in your game room brat, but most people, even Villains like us, don't want to do a job that would likely get them murdered in their sleep. Even if you do manage to kill a Hero, that masked freakshow is gonna come gunning for you. Or is it knifing?" A few chortles come from the audience.

Huh, so this is my fault, but in a good way? Dabi did mention that the underworld has grown scared shitless of me. I guess I'm seeing the results firsthand.

Shigaraki kept scratching, but I could hear his growling whisper from under the severed hand. "Fucking chatty NPCs…fucking cheat rogue…" He clears his throat and straightens himself. "Let me worry about that. All you've got to worry about is how you're gonna spend your cash when the job is done."

"Oh yeah?" The woman steps up to him, hands on her hips. "Then tell us handjob, what makes you so sure that this little stunt of yours will work in the first place? Even if there were more of us, how do you plan on killing All Might?"

The pale-skinned man's hands twitch. I hear the woman drawing a quick and sharp breath. Is he going to try and make an example out of her? Is it related to his Quirk?

The twitches suddenly stop. "Kurogiri, if you will."

The black mist behind him swirls. Nothing appears. Should I take a closer look? I prepare myself to step forward –

"SKRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!"

A horrifying noise, a monstrous fusion of a screech and a roar, echoes throughout the building. The sheer volume makes me clap my hands over my ears as I try to shake the sudden migraine shuddering through my skull. Damn, I feel like I'm bleeding from my ears. If I hadn't shut down my Quirk in time, they might've exploded.

The villains take a step back. "What the fuck was that!?"

Thankfully, with the help of a few deep breaths, the migraine lessens, so I manage to make out Shigaraki's low response. I have no doubt that he's smiling under that hand. "If you wanna kill an angel, you bring a demonic sword. If you can't find one, then you forge one." He gives the crowd another look-over. "Anyone else has any doubts?"

The woman from before stares at him, before letting out a chuckle. "Damn, you're one crazy bastard. Okay, what the hell. I'll give it a shot."

"Y-yeah, I'm in."

"Me too!"

"That sounded fucking sick!"

"Do you really think it can kill All Might!?"

A raspy chuckle escapes Shigaraki's throat this time as the Villains all clamored for their acceptance. "Looks like I've got a raid party. All of you, take a step back."

The audience quieted down and do so. The mist behind Shigaraki expands until it becomes twice or thrice its size. "Kurogiri will take us to our goal. Get your engines revved up because this will be a bloodbath. When you're ready, step through."

He turns around and enters the portal, but not before sending out one last line.

"Welcome to the League of Villains."

And with that, he vanishes. The grip I have on a nearby rotted desk grows tighter. League of Villains? That sounded very troubling.

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for!? Let's go kill some Heroes!"

The battle cry snapped everyone from their momentary shock. Their various Quirks begin to activate and they all start to charge through the mist. In less than a minute, the warehouse grows empty.

For a moment I'm tempted. Tempted to rush in and gut them all like fish.

But I stop myself.

The mist dissipates and there I am, standing alone in this broken-down building. I let out a long, deep breath and walk towards the center of the warehouse – still Concealed of course.

'Well, that happened.'

'Indeed. The starving dogs have left to bite the lions. While I am confident of the Heroes' success, that' he pauses for a moment. 'Creature was not something either of us could have foreseen.'

'Tell me about it. What the fuck was that thing? And why was Handsy Psycho-NEET calling it a demonic sword? Was he calling it a hero-killer?'

'Most likely. It makes more sense in hindsight; an attack like this could not have been prepared without the assurance of some trump card. And as to the identity of the creature…I have no possible idea. No animal alive makes such a sound, at least in my time.'

'Same here. I was trying to avoid my eardrums exploding, but I'm pretty sure that that was no animal.'

'I thought as much. Although…there was something familiar in that feral roar. Something unmistakably human.'

Okay, what? 'Back up. You're telling me that thing was a human!?'

He doesn't answer immediately.

'There is no mistaking the sound of human rage and agony.'

I rub my masked forehead and swallow at those words. I find it very hard to believe; the sheer savagery in that roar sounded nothing like a human. I don't think even a monster Quirk or something like that could result in such a sound. The other implications do not paint a pretty picture.

'Okay,' I cross my arms. 'Let's recap: We have a psycho in desperate need of moisturizer with a hand fetish and a penchant for gamer talk, his pet monster which may or may not be human, and his underling that can turn into teleporting purple mist. The League of Villains, they call themselves. Generic-ass name if I've ever heard one. Now, I'd say that the Heroes would thrash their asses and haul them away, but…'

'The presence of this Kurogiri turns that fact into a possibility, and not a high one I fear.'

'Ugh. That means we'll probably hear from them again.' Not to mention the fact that trying to go after them myself would be nearly impossible; they could be hiding anywhere.

'I am inclined to agree. If my Order was in possession of such an ability, even the Mongols would have fallen to us, despite their overwhelming force.'

I nod, trying to shudder at the possible implication of the most notorious assassin group in history having teleporting powers. Another sigh escapes my lips as my finger idly taps my forearm. 'So, now we wait?'

'As the Romans said, the die has been cast. There is little else to do in this matter but leave it to the whims of Allah.'

Also not a very appealing thought, but fine. With a sigh, I head out of the warehouse. 'I hope Makoto-sensei will forgive me for ditching class in the first week…yeah, no, I'm toast.'

Two hours later, I'm back in my apartment. I stare at the computer screen while idly glancing at my phone. The news had broken out, even quicker than I expected; a Villain attack on UA High, the first time such an incident of scale has occurred in many years. The article before me provides very little information on the attack itself, only that, I quote, "despite this unprecedented breach of security, the Pro Heroes of UA's faculty arrived in a timely manner to apprehend the criminals on sight, including All Might himself. Only two have eluded immediate capture, more details to follow."

Just as Mawla suspected. I don't need a news report to learn who those two are.

'The call will not make itself, contractor.'

'I know, I know!' I shoot back. 'I'm trying to figure out how to phrase this!'

'What more needs to be said? Public news of an attack reached thy ears and thou want to confirm the girl's wellbeing.'

I send a half-glare behind me because he'd definitely be standing over my shoulder if he was corporeal. Yes, that is the gist of what I want to ask.

I just don't want to bludgeon her with incessant questioning, that's all. Especially after such a possibly traumatic event.

A perfectly reasonable explanation.

'Contractor…'

"Okay, fine!" I pick up the phone and dial her number. After a few ringtones, the line gets picked up.

"Ritsu?"

"Hi, Jiro. I heard about the attack."

I clamp down on my bottom lip and fight the heat rising to my cheeks. Too direct!

"R-really? How?"

"There's an article. It's blowing up on the net."

"Already? Yeesh, the press works fast."

"It's a Villain attack on UA. They'd be stupid not to."

"Good point." I hear her shifting in the background. "Yeah, there was an attack. Not what we expected today at training."

"What exactly happened?" She goes silent for a moment before starting again, this time in a lower tone, gradually rising back to normal.

"They didn't tell us not to…well, we got to the USJ at gym class – it's like this huge disaster area arena, not Universal Studios – when all of a sudden this black mist popped up in the middle of the yard. Out of it step out more than a dozen Villains."

"More than a dozen? Wow. And one of them can teleport?"

"Yeah. Then their leader steps out and – get this – he had hands, as in actual severed hands, attached to his body. He started asking where was All Might when Aizawa-sensei told him to fuck off."

"Sounds like a grade-A psycho. Aizawa-sensei?"

"Our homeroom teacher. Then the leader said they were the League of Villains and said that if he isn't here, he'll just kill us instead." She swallows. "I'm not gonna lie, for a moment I just froze."

"A villain with his army of goons threatened to kill you and your classmates. I can only imagine what that must feel like."

"Yeah. He wanted to say something else when the mist turned into some kind of person. He whispered something in Handman's ear before he shrugged and snapped a finger, and then…"

I hear her gasp. "You can stop if you want."

"N-no, I'm fine. Just a cold breeze. Another black portal opens up and…this thing stepped out. It looked like something out of a bad monster movie; a black muscular body, a bird's beak, and his brain was exposed. He called it Nomu, the anti-Symbol of Peace."

Nomu, huh? So that's where the roar from the warehouse came from.

"After that…it's kind of a blur. Everyone was fighting against one another. That Nomu thing was also insanely strong. At some point, one of our classmates, Iida, managed to escape and get help while we delayed the mist man. By the time we knocked out all of the mooks, I was too drained to help anymore."

"Your classmates stopped the Nomu?"

"More like delayed it. Another one of our classmates, Todoroki, kept freezing the thing over and over until All Might and the rest arrived." The shift in her tone tells me that she's smiling. "It was awesome. He kept punching that monster until he blew it out of the arena. He literally sent it flying with one punch!"

One punch against a monster like that? "I guess he is the Number One for a reason."

"Still, seeing it in action is completely different than on TV, I swear to you. After his little Frankenstein's monster was gone, Handman and Mistboy teleported out of there before Aizawa-sensei could stop them. I think he took a hit to the head or something. Then we got sent home, at least those of us who didn't have to go to the nurse."

I scratch my head as I take in her account. This is perhaps the best outcome I could've hoped for. The Villains had their asses handed to them (bar two) and none of the students were permanently injured. "You holding up ok?"

"Hm? Yeah just…still need to take this in. Mom and Dad are scared so I'm gonna have a little jam session with them to calm us all down. After that, I'm taking a nice, long shower."

"Sounds great." I move my finger to the 'end call' button. "See you next time."

"Wait!" I pause right as my finger hovers over the screen. "…thanks for calling. Sorry if I got a little wordy there; I just really needed to vent."

Huh. That feels…strange. "…you're welcome, I guess."

She giggles. "The inmates at the old folk's home not this chatty?"

Aaand there it is. "Ha ha. They actually are too chatty, I'm the only sane one."

"Whatever you say, old man. See ya!" With that, she hangs up.

I lean back in my chair and look up at the ceiling. Yeesh, that was quite a day. For some reason, this felt just as, if not even more, exhausting as one of my hits.

'Understandable. Thou have left this act mainly up to chance. Granted, the odds were never in the scum's favor, but it feels quite frustrating to stand by and watch the events dance to the will of Allah. Yet this was the best option available to thee. Take heart in knowing thy decision bore ripe fruit.'

This time, I allow the blush to rise. Just a bit. "Thank you, Mawla."

'This old wraith is merely fulfilling his duties as a teacher, nothing more. But take caution. We have not seen the last of the two escaped sharura. Especially knowing their capability to appear wherever they wish.'

I nod, firmly agreeing. The psycho-NEET sounded and looked too determined to just try and give up after one shot. This League of Villains will definitely pop up again.

And should our paths happen to cross…the evening bell will toll their names.

'Now, I must ask of thee: was calling that girl truly as difficult as thou imagined it at first?'

My head unceremoniously leans forward and slams itself on the desk. Great, it's as if I don't have Makoto-sensei to worry about tomorrow…

Ritsu Ogawa (Assassin - Hassan-i Sabbah)

Stats:

Strength: D++

Agility: C

Endurance: D++

Mana: C++ (Only when using Power of the Valley. Otherwise, nonexistent.)

Luck: C+

Skills:

Presence Concealment D++: The ability to hide from others. A poor level for any Assassin, but against ordinary criminals and some intelligent ones it works well.

Throwing (Dagger) B and Throwing (Retrieval) B: The expertise for throwing projectile weapons; in this case, daggers. His daggers have the same destructive power as firearms when thrown, typically spelling certain death for human targets. He can retrieve them to his hand with but a mere gesture

Information Erasure C++: Erases all traces of the user's identity, physical or digital, after leaving a scene of assassination. It does not hide the user's identity in any other situation, and clues can be pieced together to deduce identity. If the user's identity is discovered, then the effects of the skill weaken. Rank increased thanks to multiple exposures outside of Presence Concealment.

Power of the Valley of Death C++: A unique connection forged as a result of finding a relic of Alamut. Assassin can draw power from the Valley to perform certain skills he would otherwise be incapable of doing.

Quirk - Super-Hearing C+: A power gained as a result of evolution. Allows the user to hear precise details within a certain range. Can extend the range in exchange for loss of detail. Also alerts the user of incoming danger provided they can react to it.

Muraqubah D+: A meditative state that enhances Ritsu's connection to the Valley. If used enough times/for long enough, combat specs have a chance of increasing. In addition, it also enables ?

Noble Phantasm:

Zabaniya - Delusional Judgment Rank C+

An 'ultimate assassination technique' bearing the same name as the angels of hell, a title which all previous 'Old Men of the Mountain' used for their own techniques. Unlike them however, who were forged by extensive modification of the Hassans' bodies, this technique is a reflection of the Assassin's desire to inflict what he deems true judgment. Calling upon his unique connection to the Valley in the Shadow of Death, Assassin drags his target's soul to the Valley, where the First Hassan awaits them. Their soul is laid bare before the Great Founder and should they be found guilty of whatever sin Assassin finds them to have committed, the flames of Gehenna will burn away their soul and body until naught but ash remains.

There we have it! The USJ arc...done in one chapter. This was the most logical course for Ritsu to take, and because of his past actions, fewer villains joined up with Tomura at the start (pre-Stain).

Also, Ritsu's first encounter with the main antagonist cast. That's a thing too.

I've been thinking about returning to my Harry Potter crossovers, namely On Black Wings. Would any of you like an update to that?

If you're feeling helpful, go to my page at pat . reon/user?u=47732921 and help!

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