Chapter 7: One Step Forward
Kagero didn't return to the bar after his meeting with All For One, instead he chose to aimlessly roam Kamino, taking in the night sights.
The streets were bustling with the night life, billboards and signs blazing in their bright neon colors, practically begging people to come in and enjoy what they have to offer. Groups of drunks were stumbling along the sidewalk, loud and obnoxious. He would've crossed the street and kept walking, but he was never one to move out of the way for someone else, save All For One. So ahead he kept walking, purposefully walking into the middle of the group, shoving everyone out of his way, smirking as he heard shouts of discontent sound from behind him.
He continued walking, no destination in mind, reflecting on his latest encounter with All For One.
He approves and accepts my plan, so what should I do now? Way too soon to do something else so big, but I don't want to lose any momentum. Maybe recruit some new members? I only went for fodder last time, but moving forward there should be at least some people who can think beyond petty crimes.
By the time Kagero finally made up his mind, the moon was already high in the sky, but he still had more to do. He dipped into an alleyway, using the dumpsters and fire escapes to make his way on to the building's roof before pulling out his phone and dialing. It rang four times before the line was picked up.
"Giran," he opened, less of a question and more of a statement.
"Depends on who's asking," a sleezy, lazy voice replied.
"Shigaraki. I want to put a line out."
"Oh? And what are we hoping to catch?"
"Allies."
"I heard that your attack on UA was unsuccessful and whoever was with you was arrested. Finding people who are willing to join you after such a failure will be difficult."
"Those weren't allies, they were fodder. Their role was specifically to get captured, why else would I bother with purse-snatchers and convenience store robbers? I want actual villains, people who are willing to put in the work for the bigger payout."
"Still a bit of a tall order, but nothing that I can't do. Anything in particular? How many you hoping for?"
"Normal vetting, I don't want any loose cannons or outright psychopaths. If they have some sort of honor or moral code, even better. Bring as many as you can find to the bar, but I'm capping the ones I take in at eight."
"And my fee?"
"You'll be compensated accordingly. If I don't let them join, you get half, if they do, paid in full."
A pause slight pause, but when Giran spoke up again Kagero could tell he was smiling, "I'll see what I can do."
The line clicked and Kagero was left alone, staring over the city. He took a big breath, allowing some fire to escape his mouth, giving him temporary warmth. He took a running start to the edge of the building and leaped across to the next.
Now to start phase two.
"Shimura-kun!" Three knocks on his door sounded, Uraraka's voice behind it, "Shimura-kun are you all right? Everyone's been asking where you were after you didn't show for dinner."
Shimura sat on the floor of his room, back against his bed facing the TV. The curtains were drawn closed and the lights were off, the room only illuminated by the TV. He sat hugging his knees, staring at the "GAME OVER" screen displayed on the game he was playing.
His mind was still playing back the events of the USJ. The scream of the Nomu, the piercing gaze of Kagero, the words spoken to him, everything on a constant loop in his mind. His eyes peer at the screen from just over his arms. Beyond the words, it shows his character in a bloody mess, panning to whatever it was that killed him in the first place.
That could've been me. That would've been me. Why the hell wasn't it me?
More knocks sounded on the door, this time much louder and aggressive with an equally loud and aggressive voice behind it, "Oi, nerd! Bring your sorry ass out here before I blast your door down!"
He heard even more voices sound out after this, one of them sounding like the earnest voice that could only belong to Iida. Despite the war in his mind, he still smiled as he imagined the scene outside his door. Kat yelling at whoever dared to tell him otherwise, Iida chopping his hands as he tries to explain the importance of some rule, and Uraraka's head shaking back and forth like she was watching a tennis match as the two others go at it.
Feeling his mood lighten a little, he slowly stood back up, shuffling quietly as he made his way to the door. He opened it slowly to allow his eyes to adjust to the light in the hallway and was greeted by exactly the sight he conjured up in his mind. He raised his hand up to scratch his neck but stopped himself before he made contact.
"Hey guys," he spoke up, "Sorry for worrying everyone, it's just been really tough since… You know."
All three friends stopped mid action to look at him.
"Shimura-kun!" Uraraka jumped at him, hugging him tightly before immediately backing off, "Sorry about that." She sheepishly scratched at the back of her head.
Bakugo studied him closely, his eyes flitting from him to his room behind him, eyeing the game over screen on the TV, "Some gamer you are, still stuck on that easy ass level?"
Iida was quick to admonish him, "Bakugo-kun, it isn't polite to insult people on their skill in their hobbies!"
"Was I talking to you, Four Eyes? Not my fault the nerd is trash."
Bakugo and Iida devolved into another arguing session, but Shimura didn't take what he said to heart. He's known him for years and has learned how to differentiate how he talks. This wasn't him telling him off, this was him silently asking if he was alright.
"No," he cut in, "I was just trying out a glitch I found. It was supposed to make me invincible from that point on, but I guess I did something wrong. My character reverted just before I made it to the boss."
Again, Shimura found himself under Kat's eyes, "Whatever. You done then?"
"Nope. I wanna get it down, the boss is still really hard to beat, even after playing it over again."
"Shimura-kun, I must advise that you take a break for now. It isn't healthy to play video games for so long, and in the dark at that."
Uraraka took this as her cue, "Yeah! Anyways, we came up here because Ashido-chan and Hagakure-chan are setting up a movie night down in the lounge since we're off school for a few days. You should come down and watch with us!"
"Ah, thanks," Shimura gave her a small smile, "Yeah that sounds great. You go ahead, I'll meet you down there."
Iida and Uraraka waved as they left to round up whoever else was still in their rooms, but Bakugo stayed behind, not saying a word. Once they were out of view, Shimura let his shoulders droop and let out a long sigh.
"Listen, Ka-"
Bakugo grabbed Shimura's shirt and dragged him back into his room, slamming the door behind them. He threw Shimura onto the bed, walking over to his curtains, pulled them apart and opened his windows, letting in fresh air.
Grabbing the wooden chair sitting at his desk, he placed it facing the TV and plopped into it, arms resting on the back as he stared at Shimura.
Neither boy spoke a word, staring at each other, reading each other's emotions, trying to glean some information from the look in their eyes. Shimura shifted uncomfortably on his bed as the silence dragged on, but he knew that Katsuki wasn't going to be the one to break it, so he bit the bullet.
"Kat, listen. I- I don't really know what you want from me. I'm a little down from what happened, so what? We're all safe now, that's what matters right?"
Bakugo scoffed, "As if you actually believe that. If you did you wouldn't be holed up in your room playing that shitty game. So what actually happened that messed you up so badly?"
"Like you don't already know, come on."
"No, I don't," Bakugo stated, "I was out cold the entire time. All I remember is being transported to the mountain zone with shitty Hair-For-Brains, hearing a loud scream, finding the warp freak, then getting tackled. I woke up in a hospital bed wrapped in gauze. You know I don't like repeating myself, so tell me. What happened?"
Shimura stared defiantly at Katsuki before finally relenting, "I almost died."
"Yeah, no shit. Me too. And Shitty Hair, and Hobo, and Michelin Man, and apparently Frog and Grape. Hell, might as well throw in the entire class for that matter."
Shimura groaned, "You're really going to make me say it, huh? Well fine. I almost killed the Nomu, the Nomu almost killed me, and then I almost went and got myself killed again by wanting to go talk to the villains."
"Still doesn't explain anything."
"Do you believe that I can be a hero?"
The question threw Bakugo through a loop, coming completely out of the blue. He froze out of confusion, his eyes blinking slowly before his mind finally caught up.
"That was our plan from the beginning. You and me, being heroes together. I'll be Number One, you'll be number whatever because you'll never be as good as me. I'll blow them to bits, and you clean up after me."
Shimura adjusted himself on his bed, sitting cross-legged at this point, desperation bleeding into his voice, "But do you believe that I can be a hero? That I'm supposed to be a hero?" Bakugo stayed silent, not understanding what's being said, "Something happened when I was down there with the Nomu, before All Might came back. I wasn't thinking, I was just moving, and when my mind finally caught up to my body, my hand was on the Nomu. It was crumbling before me, screaming.
"I nearly took that thing down entirely, and then the dragon-mask villain, Shigaraki. He spoke to me. He broke down my quirk in an instant, mentioned how my quirk could be used to kill people so easily, asked if I wanted to be a hero. Of course I'd want to be a hero right? That's why I'm here.
"But a part of me wanted to keep going. After All Might defeated the Nomu and the villains were just waiting, I started to walk towards them. I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back, I just really wanted to touch them. Reduce them to dust. That's not what a hero does, right?"
Shimura was scratching at his neck frantically, parts of it starting to bleed from the irritation. Bakugo was in front of him in a second, grabbing on to his hands to stop him.
"Stop that, Tenks. You know you're not supposed to do that," he made his way to Shimura's bathroom, searching through the drawers until he found his ointment. He tossed it to Shimura who caught it, silently applying it to his neck.
"You never answered me, Kat."
"Because you already know the answer to that," Bakugo retorted, sitting back down on the chair, "I might be Number One, but that doesn't mean you're gonna be nothing. You're gonna be a hero, even if I have to beat that into you until you realize that."
"Then why do I feel like I'm not?"
"Shit Tenks, I'm not a therapist, I don't know. Go talk to Hobo or something, I'm sure he'll have a better answer."
At the mention of their teacher, Shimura's eyes widened in remembrance, "Fuck! Aizawa-sensei wanted to talk with me about the USJ! I'm so screwed."
Bakugo smirked, "Have fun with that, nerd."
Aizawa was pouring over the notes he'd been given by Tsukauchi. Reading over every statement from each of his students, paying more attention to the ones that either came into contact with, or were able to view Shigaraki from where they were at. All the stories lined up, each going over the same events in the same fashion, but he couldn't help but feel that something was missing.
He moved from his coffee table where the papers were spread out to the computer on the counter behind him, rewatching the footage they were able to recover from the USJ. Luckily, whatever quirk they used to knock out the security system didn't affect the cameras, but watching over the footage only filled him with more anguish.
Each time he watched the clips over, he was reminded of his faults as a teacher, as a hero. Not only was he unable to protect his students from the danger, but he was also taken out easily. He was sidelined not even ten minutes into the attack, and could only hope that his students could fend for themselves long enough until help arrived.
He leafed through the clips to when Shigaraki was reported to being in the mountain zone. Unfortunately, none of the cameras in the zone had the best angle, but it was clear that Shigaraki was watching the fight between the Nomu and All Might intently, only taking his eyes off when he was addressed by Bakugo. He continued to watch, noting down what Bakugo stated about Kurogiri's quirk – extremely helpful for any future instances.
As the clip got to the point when Bakugo attacked Shigaraki, he paid closer attention. Through the pixelation, it was hard to make out, but he could see Shigaraki's body move as if he was taking a deep breath. At the same time, he saw that the explosion Bakugo was releasing dissipate, and smoke started to billow out of Shigaraki's mask.
He clicked through the different cameras again, trying to find one that had a better angle. He replayed the same moment, watching as Shigaraki took a breath, and Bakguo's explosion disappearing. He let the clip play through to completion, noting that the strength of the attack Shigaraki released looked eerily similar to the explosion that came from Bakugo's full gauntlet.
Aizawa rubbed his eyes, fatigued from working for so long but pushed through. Looking through the footage for when Shigaraki used his quirk again, to right before his coworkers made it to the entrance. This time, there was no explosion, but he noticed that Shigaraki had sizable balls of fire from his hands. Shigaraki looked to take a deep breath again, but this time the fires at his hands disappeared, and what came out from his mask looked exactly like them.
Aizawa's eyes widened in realization, quickly going back to the mountain zone's cameras and watching through again. He watched the clip at the plaza over again, comparing to what he did before.
So, Shigaraki can pull fire from an external source and release it through his mouth. He must have a lighter or something along those lines to use in case there isn't already a fire going.
He walked to his couch, letting himself fall over the edge and landing on it laying down, an arm covering his eyes.
An unregistered warp quirk and a sort of flamethrower quirk, both extremely powerful from the looks of it. That's one checkmark on the "What do we know" list, but that's still nowhere near enough information.
Unwilling to work any longer, he let himself drift off to sleep, his dreams haunted by Shigaraki's dragon mask and toxic green eyes.