Chapter 31: The Next Steps

Chapter Text

After getting off the phone with Uraraka, he ran straight to the teacher's dorms where he knew Thirteen would be. He banged on the front door until it was opened.

"Shimura, what brings you…" Cementoss greeted, but Shimura walked right in, ignoring what he was saying, heading straight to the kitchen where he caught a glimpse of Thirteen's arm, "…here?"

"How can you just sit by while there's an entire city under attack?" Shimura demanded, completely unaware that his outburst was being watched by the entirety of the UA staff. "It's in your job description, and you're not going? Not even going to go assess the situation for yourself?"

"Nice to see you, too Shimura," Thirteen replied happily. They were no longer wearing their helmet, but was still mostly in costume. Shimura briefly paused in surprise when he actually saw what they looked like beneath the helmet. What graced his eyes was a round, androgynous face with short, orange-brown hair that matched the nebulas in space, in a bob cut with their bangs curled to the left. Their eyes were the same color, with a horizontal slash through their irises. They looked expectantly at Shimura, who was still lost in shock, "… you were saying?"

Shimura blinked twice before he shook his head, remembering why he was there in the first place, "Why aren't we going out to Hosu?"

Hearing that sobered Thirteen up, "What's happened in Hosu? What's wrong? Did the Hero Killer strike again?"

"You… you don't know?" Shimura looked at them astonished. He turned around, seeing the rest of the faculty in similar states of confusion and worry, "None of you know? What have you been doing all day? Turn on the TV! Now! The news, anything, there's no way it's not on every channel yet."

At the desperation and forcefulness of his voice, Yamada spurred into action. He was lounging on one of the couches, but tumbled off, startled by Shimura's outburst. He pawed at the coffee table for the remote and clicked the TV on. Out of habit, he turned the volume up on the TV even though it was already more than loud enough. The teachers gathered around the TV, fully engrossed with what was showing on screen.

What was showing was the same broadcast Shimura was watching before he ran out. The network must have looped the coverage, which could only mean there were no new developments. Shimura had a bitter taste in his mouth from realizing this.

The teachers all made noises of distress when they saw the damage that wrecked Hosu. When the Nomus' scream rang out over the speakers, they looked alarmed, but only one of them had a truly negative reaction.

The door swung shut, causing everyone else to jump. They turned their heads to the newcomer and saw Aizawa frozen in fear, his already pale skin growing paler still, "No. That's impossible."

Seeing the most stoic and hardened teacher display such raw emotion only added to the rising worry in the room. Kayama found her voice and gently asked, "Sho… what is it?"

Aizawa made a disbelieving sound, words escaping him. He wasn't looking at Kayama at all, his eyes glued to the TV. She followed his sight, the screen now showing the two figures on the water tower. Like Shimura, before the camera could focus on them, he already knew exactly who they were.

"Kagero Shigaraki is the one sitting- now standing up. The other one is called Kurogiri. Those two are the main villains from the attack at the USJ, with Shigaraki as the leader," he reported, "They've gone dark ever since then. The trail went entirely cold, no leads were found, no random sightings, not even a mention by name in the underground. They just, disappeared."

The camera finally focused and zoomed in on Kagero and the entire room felt a chill crawl up their spines. Those that weren't part of Nezu and Tsukauchi's debrief after the USJ shivered, feeling like his gaze was staring into their souls. Even those that were still felt the unease. The picture they were provided with was decent at best, but now they had a crystal clear view of him. The only pluses that they could find was that they now have a detailed description of Shigaraki and Kurogiri, and they knew where they were for the time being.

"This… this is the varmint you had a standoff with? The way he's staring, I reckon he thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow," Snipe drawled, his American Southern saying completely lost on everyone in the room, "and seeing him like this, I would believe it too."

Kagero pointed away from him, the camera following, showing the fire and smoke in the distance, then panned back, now pointing at himself. At once, everything clicked for Aizawa. The lack of activity from the League, the lack of progress with the investigation, the uptick in hero deaths, the reports of blue fires around Hosu.

Aizawa drew in a steep breath, his eyes going wide as they darted around the room as if he were seeing things appear and disappear, trying to track them. His heart started thumping heavily in his chest, beating faster and faster.

"Shigaraki and Stain are working together," he deduced. "That's why there are more hero deaths reported. The silence, the fires, everything. Shigaraki wasn't lying low, he was making moves, gathering allies."

If he didn't have everyone's attention when he came in, he certainly did now. Everyone looked to him for his take, "A little while back, there was a news report about random blue fires around the city. There wasn't much to go off and the media wrote them off as a serial arsonist on the loose, but it was indisputable that the fires originated in Stain's prime kill zones."

"You're saying that Shigaraki and Stain split up the work?" Ectoplasm surmised, "But that doesn't explain why Stain remained in Hosu. At that point, he'd already surpassed his quota."

"And you said the fires are blue," Cementoss added on. "From the intel we have, Shigaraki didn't display the ability."

Aizawa shook his head, "Do you go into a fight with your most powerful attack first?" He was met with shaking heads, "Exactly. Shigaraki was testing our ability as heroes at the USJ, we all agreed to it. Now he's displaying his abilities to his new ally or any potential allies that would head his way. As to why Stain stayed in Hosu, my guess is as good as yours, but I'm willing to bet that Shigaraki is the cause of it."

Thirteen, who was quiet throughout the whole thing, had turned their attention back to the TV. They brought their teacup to their lips for a drink, but released it in shock, the glass shattering on the ground. They brought both hands to their mouth, covering it, "Stain used the attack to kill more heroes. And… Is that- is that Kaminari? And Todoroki? I see Manual, but who is… Who was interning with Manual?!"

Dread filled Aizawa's gut, who ran towards the TV, his eyes scanning the screen. Stain had been apprehended and there was a trail of gurneys following. Todoroki stood near his father who was in conversation with Conduit. Kaminari and Manual were walking next to the third gurney. Aizawa brought his face right up to the screen as if he could see more detail the closer he got. It was hard to make out, but what was visible had him close his eyes and sigh heavily in defeat. He knocked his head on the TV screen before turning around, sliding to the ground, his head in his hands.

Yamada timidly approached Aizawa, his voice quiet and tender, "Sho… was that…?"

Aizawa slowly raised his head, his expression showing pain, regret, and exhaustion twenty times over, "I've failed my students. I've failed my friends. I've failed myself."

Shimura's jaw dropped, his hands reaching his throat as he began to scratch, "No. That can't be. There's no way… I- That's got to be a mistake. It's not Iida, it's not. He wouldn't do something so reckless and stupid." He looked to his teachers, to Aizawa, who was going through his own bout of denial, "You know Iida. There's no way. He's- he's probably just injured badly. Yeah! That as to be it, he was helping another hero and got caught up in the attack."

Even as he kept making excuses and trying to rationalize every possibility that wasn't his friend's death, he knew it was true. He saw Iida losing himself bit by bit in the days up to their internships. He saw the burning anger in his eyes, how he shut himself off from his friends. The signs were there. Even if Iida himself wasn't truly aware of the thought, his intentions were clear. He would kill Stain or die trying. Shimura stopped scratching his neck and crouched down, his hands gripping his head, hunched over his knees into a ball.

"I should've done more. I should've reached out. I should've said something. I should've told someone. I should've been there. I should've been a better friend. I should've-"

Shimura could feel himself working up to a panic attack. He felt the constriction starting in his throat, how his breath was growing more rapid and shallow. He could see the edges of his vision darkening, his perception of the world distorting as if he were looking out of a fishbowl. He heard people calling out to him but their voices were warped, garbled, unnatural, like someone was backmasking on a vinyl but the message itself was backwards and could only be understood at half-speed. He became vaguely aware of the bodies crowding in on him but jumped back as if bitten. He didn't realize it, but he growled at them like a cornered dog.

The last coherent thought he had before succumbing to the darkness was something he would find himself regretting later, but right then, it was the only thing that came through.

Iida, you absolute, god damned idiot. This is your fault.

After dealing with the mess that happened in Hosu, the two crashed at a cheap motel, unable to travel back to the Office in Fukuoka due to all trains in and out of the city being stopped. They barely made it into the room before Kaminari rushed to the bathroom, sounds of him throwing up came out moments later. Conduit dropped himself in the arm chair, his legs spread wide and head hanging over the back of it, groaning in both exhaustion and pain. Eventually Kaminari came out of the bathroom and sat on the edge of one of the beds, looking more haggard than when he went in.

"How do you do it?" Kaminari asked.

Conduit brought his head up, appraising Kaminari. Seeing how down he looked, Conduit sighed heavily before sitting up, scooching his chair so he was sat right in front of him.

"Let me start by saying that I'm sorry," Conduit replied, his tone soft and patient for once. "I forced you into a role that you weren't prepared for, and as your mentor, I should've done a better job at being more receptive to how you actually are and not focusing on what you can be. I saw how scared you were and decided to throw you into the deep end because I'm a firm believer in do or die, except I didn't realize that 'die' was a little more literal this time around."

Kaminari replied, "Don't blame yourself. There's no way you could've known."

"I'm not blaming myself, I'm stating it as it is. The life of a hero is a hard one, and sooner or later, everyone learns that what they see on TV with interviews and bright smiles and flashy takedowns is only a fraction of what being a hero really is. My only regret is that I couldn't be there with you when you faced down Stain."

Kaminari shrugged, he ruefully hummed a response, "Could be worse. I could be dead too."

Conduit flicked him on his forehead, earning a whine of protest, "That's the worst takeaway you can get from this. And believe it or not, that would've been the best outcome."

"How could me being dead be the best-case scenario?" a flicker of rage flashed in Kaminari's chest, "How could you even say that? My friend died. At least three other heroes died. Hosu was in flames and there was an unknown number of civilian casualties and probably an even greater amount of injuries. Do you not feel anything for that? Maybe there's a reason some people call you the Demon or Beast."

"If you were dead, you wouldn't be going through what you are right now," Conduit replied flatly.

Hearing those words knocked the wind out of Kaminari's lungs. He rocked forward like he was punched in the gut.

"You feel like shit, right? You're feeling anger at not being strong enough, sadness at losing a friend, loss for not knowing if you could've done more, regret for being too slow, fear for your future. Ringing any bells? If you were dead, your problems would vanish instantly," he snapped his fingers, "like that. Since you're not, you now have to deal with the outcome."

"So how do I do it? How do I pick myself up and keep going? I let it flow through me just as easily as the electricity does." He created a spark at the tip of his pointer finger and let it flow down his hand, up his arm, into his chest, out to this other arm, and through to his other fingertip. "You can remember everything, you can feel everything, but you can't let it stick in here," he poked Kaminari's forehead again, "or here," he poked his heart.

"If you let it stay in your head, you'll never be able to move forward. You'll be trapped in the 'what if' and 'should've, could've, would've' mindset. If you keep it in your heart, you'll never forgive yourself for something that you had no control over and wasn't your fault."

Kaminari sighed and fell back onto the bed, his arms splayed to the side, "You make it sound so easy."

"I've been at this for years at this point. You only have three hours' worth of experience. Learning to accept and let go is both the hardest and easiest thing to do."

The room fell into silence. Kaminari closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to do what Conduit said. He replayed the scene in his head, from when he first caught sight of Iida running down some street to seeing him get stabbed to… when Endeavor and the heroes showed up.

He opened his eyes, and sat up, looking around the room. Conduit had all but fallen asleep on the chair he was on, his breath growing slow and steady. He laid back down again and closed his eyes tight, but this time in concentration. Again, he replayed the scene.

He saw Iida running. He saw Iida get stabbed through the back and flinched at the memory. He saw himself shoot a streak of lightning at Stain. He saw Stain throw his knife and kill Native. He saw Stain turn his attention to him and felt the same fear he felt right then. And then he saw Stain lunge and attack him, moments away from being stabbed himself, but then being saved by Endeavor.

He would've let it lie and tried to let it flow, but something about that encounter didn't feel right. He knew that Endeavor was nowhere near him when he chased Iida down, and he knew that there must've been some sort of fight between the two, his sore body confirming it, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what happened. He was sure there was a memory there, but it was just out of reach, like it was behind an invisible wall. The feeling was almost familiar.

He sat up again, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his head in his hands, "What happened?"

The day after the attack on Hosu was a quiet affair. The League walked around the bar and living room above on eggshells, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Kagero's ominous comment about their sleep hung above them, but as far as they could tell, he hasn't done anything to them. Yet.

Kagero confined himself to his room, in a meditative silence. He thought of the attack and the results it yielded. He thought about how he would go about the next phase in his plans, but something didn't feel right. He sat and thought about it but couldn't figure out what it was. He shook himself out of it and headed down to the bar.

Kurogiri was in his usual place, cleaning a glass when Kagero walked in, "Greetings, Kagero. Is there something I can help with?"

"Bring me to him," Kagero commanded.

Kurogiri nodded his head, a portal forming. Kagero stepped through as he was adjusting his jacket, finding himself in the middle of the Nomu warehouse. He walked with purpose over the cables and around the tanks that held Nomus in stasis. He made his way to the door in the back and knocked twice.

"Enter," a voice responded from the other side.

Kagero walked in, quietly closing the door behind him, "Kagero, what a surprise. I wasn't expecting you here."

All For One was sat in his chair, the wires and tubes still connected to him. His mouth was covered by a respirator, but by how his face crinkled and how light his tone was, he was smiling. Kagero dropped to a knee, "Sensei."

"Oh? It's been a while since the last time, hasn't it?" All For One stood up, the tubes popped out of their casings. They hissed and flailed like snakes whipping to attack as the air still fed through. "Walk with me."

He stepped past Kagero who fell into step behind him. All For One led them around the warehouse, idly stopping at some of the tanks, admiring the Nomu held within. He placed a hand on the glass and hummed.

"Springlike Limbs, Kinetic Booster, Tongue Web, and of course, Super Regeneration, such a unique combination of quirks all in one body; this one is definitely meant for mobility. The Doctor has truly outdone himself with these Nomus."

"You mentioned Super Regeneration as if it's a given every Nomu would have it. If that's the case, then how come only one of the Nomu I brought to Hosu showed any signs?"

"Would you have done anything different if they did?"

Kagero huffed and stuck his hands in his pockets, refusing to answer.

"You haven't come to me to talk for some time, what brings you now? Are you dissatisfied with your endeavors in Hosu? Maybe how your members acted?"

"I'm dealing with my members, there's no need to worry about that. While on the topic, however, has the Doctor been able to fully synthesize Nightmare?"

"I must admit I am not too keen on his progress on things, but given the time since we'd acquired it, I wouldn't doubt he has. I assume your want for it has to do with your members' outburst?"

Kagero hummed an affirmative, "Sensei, tell me. When you were building your empire, how often did things go exactly as planned?"

All For One paused and turned around. He no longer had eyesight, but through a clever combination of quirks, he was able to manage. He glanced down at Kagero, taking in what he was "seeing." Thermal Sense confirmed Kagero was in front of him. A mix of Hyper Sense and Mental Imaging gave him a rough estimate of his position, which relayed to All For One he still had his hands in his pockets and was rolling his neck to loosen it. Heartbeat Monitor told him Kagero's heart was beating slow and strong, no sense of nervousness or anxiety, no doubt or lie. Kagero was genuinely curious.

"The difference between what I went through and what you're going through is society itself," All For One explained, "In my rise to power, society was in shambles. Quirks had just started to develop, and people didn't know how to react. As you would expect, society splintered. There were those that hid their quirk to escape discrimination. There were those that hated, feared, or coveted those with quirks. There were those that wanted to get rid of theirs. There were those that wanted to just move on with their lives, quirks be damned. And then there were those that that used theirs to instill a new hierarchy.

"Time went on, people adjusted, but governments were still trying to pick up the slack. Do quirks make a person no longer human? Can you consider those that mutated as human? Should quirks be allowed for common use or strictly regulated? All of their focus went on to fixing laws rather than enforcing safety and security. They wanted to protect themselves instead of those that they were meant to serve."

All For One laughed, "Pardon me. It's ironic that how I'm phrasing this makes it sound like I'm a hero, but I assure you my actions were anything but noble. I picked those up that were downtrodden by society and laws and rules and gave them a place where they could feel welcomed and free. I crushed those that tried to fit us into their tiny boxes. I became the original Symbol of Hope for the commonfolk the same time I became the Symbol of Fear for those in power. I had a vast trove of quirks to choose from and use. I had no shortage of people indebted to me. I had all the power in the world in the palm of my hand."

They had finished a full lap of the warehouse and found themselves back in All For One's room. Kagero sat down in one of the available chairs, All For One sat himself back down, taking time to attach the wires where they're supposed to go.

"Humans either fear that which they do not know, understand, or can't control, or they follow it. It's a learned trait through evolution that keeps them alive and safe, but also satisfies their innate curiosity. What they know is good, what they understand is better, and for those that like power, what they can control is paramount. It's why those that followed me worshipped me as if I were a god and why those that were against me wanted me dead. My plan was always to rise to the top of the food chain. My quirk made it easy. The government focusing on itself and not me made it possible. I saw my destiny, and I went for it."

All For One took a breath, "My plans, in comparison to yours, were child's play. The main steps were to amass a following and to gather support. Then I would exploit my strength and their weakness. Of course, I had a bigger picture in mind, but each step was small and calculated."

"But did it always go as you expected?" Kagero asked again.

"Are you dissatisfied with your recent successes?" All For One asked instead.

"I-" Kagero paused. Was that really it? If things were going as planned, why was he complaining? He shook his head, "I don't think dissatisfied is the proper word. Maybe disappointed?"

All For One hummed, encouraging him to explain, "It's just that I was expecting more of a challenge. So far, everything has gone off without a hitch. I shook the trust the public has in UA and heroes with the USJ. I'm gathering people with unique skills that will be helpful in plans to come, and I've removed a problematic piece from the board.

"I went into this treating it like poker, where it's me against everyone else, but the heroes are treating it like blackjack. They think it's them against the dealer only."

"And who is the dealer in this analogy?"

"Me. You. Villains. Good and evil, right and wrong, day and night. They think there are only two parties involved, them and not them. It makes it pathetically easy to pull the wool over their eyes."

"And who are you playing against?"

"Heroes, society, the government, other villains. Everyone's been dealt a hand and we're waiting for the dealer to deal so we can see who comes on top or who bluffed it till the end."

"So why not let it play out? Poker isn't a one-round game. You go until you drain the pockets of the other players or you choose to cut your losses, whether it be to quit while you're ahead or you yourself have run dry." All For One crossed his legs and clasped his hands in his lap, "So the question you need to ask yourself now is 'are you going to stop now or keep going?'"

Kagero almost scoffed, "Of course I'm going to keep going. I built my momentum, I need to keep it going."

"So then why did you ask me for help? What you should do next seems clear to me."

"I don't know if I should focus more on the heroes, or if I should start working on spreading my reach with the villains."

"You're thinking too far ahead again," All For One clicked his tongue. "A skyscraper is worthless without a solid foundation."

Kagero sat quietly in the chair, bringing up a hand to pinch at his lower lip in thought. He mumbled to himself as All For One looked him over, entertained at how quickly Kagero would lose himself to his thoughts if given the chance. All For One quietly hummed a tune as he waited for Kagero to come to his decision.

"I need to spread my reach, grow my numbers," Kagero eventually responded. "That is my current goal. Stain endorsed me right before he was arrested, I need to be ready to receive people when they come out of the woodwork."

"Very good, Kagero. You have ambition and a knack for planning ahead, but you still lack living and acting in the moment. You speak about pulling the wool over the heroes because they're shortsighted, yet you're doing the exact same thing, but in opposite. By focusing too much on the future, you blind yourself to what's right in front of you. You need to find that balance."

"Of course, you're right, as always, Sensei," Kagero stood and bowed. "Thank you for speaking with me."

A portal swirled behind Kagero, "It is my duty to help guide you, Kagero. I pledged myself to help you with all of my power. If you ever need any help, you need only ask."

Kagero nodded and turned to the portal. Before he could take a step, All For One spoke again, "As for Nightmare, should I have the Doctor send a Nomu with it over to you?"

"No," he responded, "I'll go to him. That was a quirk I'd like to try for myself, if you would be so inclined. Have him prepare four tables instead. I think that their punishment should be done personally."

All For One chuckled, with a small smile on his face, "Like I said, you need only ask."

Kagero walked through the portal without another word. All For One's smile didn't fade even though he was no longer there.

"Doctor? Did you catch that?" he asked.

One of the speakers crackled before the response came, "Of course, my lord. Truthfully, I am curious as well to see how the quirk works. When he had captured that hero asking if I could copy her quirk, I looked into it a little more. Nightmare would be excellent for interrogation and perhaps even minor brainwashing if done correctly. Should I prepare another copy for you?"

"No, that won't be necessary, I'll just take the one Kagero will use. He wouldn't want to keep it anyway, he is very fond of the ones he has."

"Very good, my lord."