Shie Hassaikai Hideout
6:00 AM
A young girl slept silently in her bed - more of a cot, really- the only thing that decorated her room (prison), save for a few toys scattered across the cement floor. Her skin was pale, almost as white as her hair. She wore a ragged brown dress. Bandages covered her forearms. She whimpered quietly in her sleep, caught within the throes of a nightmare she couldn't escape from.
Suddenly, the door to her room opened. A beam of light cut through the darkness, washing over the girl's face and waking her abruptly.
"Eri?" her caretaker called to her, sticking his head into the chamber.
She was out of bed before she was even completely awake, conditioned to always be ready to comply with any order given to her, despite her young age. She stared at the man, eyes half-closed, waiting for him to speak.
"Uh, yeah, good morning…" The masked man cleared his throat. He glanced behind him before he continued. "We… Have some visitors right now. One of them wants to speak to you."
Eri blinked, wide awake now. That was new. Most of Overhaul's associates didn't even know of her existence, much less request to see her. This was different from her normal routine- whether that was a good thing or not remained to be seen.
"I'll just... Let them in," the man murmured, slightly unnerved by Eri's silence. He flicked on the light switch, then opened the door wider and stood aside, revealing someone Eri had never seen before.
Her mysterious visitor was a blonde woman with her hair held in twin tails. Her face was covered by the same dollface mask that she wore at the home invasion of the Yaoyorozu Estate. She was wearing what Eri would describe as 'revealing'. The woman then skipped happily in, letting herself stop right in front of the girl.
"Well, hello, hello, little girl!" Hare greeted the child with a cheerful wave. "Is your name Eri?"
"...Yes..." Eri whispered. She gripped the lower half of her dress in her fists, resisting the temptation to climb back into her cot and hide under the blanket.
"Aww, ain't you the cutest?" the woman gushed as she bent down to her knees and sat on her ankles, wrapping her arms around her legs, "Well, my name is Hare! And we're here to provide you some entertainment by Mr. Overhaul!"
Eri blinked at that. Overhaul providing her entertainment? He barely let her have any kind of amusement to enjoy herself with. Why now? What's going on here?
"Speaking of Mr. Overhaul, I can finally take this mask off without him complainin'!" Hare said as she grabbed her mask and took it off. Her face was revealed to have stark white powdery makeup on it, with black eyeliner around her eyes. It made her have an ashen look to her face, but the most troubling thing about her was...she was smiling quite widely...and a little too enthusiastically.
Honestly, looking at her now, Eri wanted her to put the mask back on. Her smile looked too...what was the word? It wasn't a good smile caused by pure happiness and joy by any means. In fact, the smile looked...bad? Like...she was going to do something awful to someone...and she was going to enjoy it one way or another. Either way, Eri had never seen anyone smile so widely before.
...Actually, she'd hardly ever seen anyone smile, period. Most of the Shie Hassaikai wore bird masks, making it impossible to know what expression they were wearing.
Eri softly gulped in anxiety.
"Awww, what's the matter, little Eri?" Hare cooed. "I'm not scary looking, am I? This is just my makeup! I have to look good for my boss every day, you know? Don't worry, when you get older, you'll understand why a lady has to wear makeup every once in a while. But enough of that! I'm here to present to you the one, the only..." she stood up with and stepped to the left with a showy gesture, as if presenting someone, "Mr. J!"
As she did that, Eri could see the doorway, where another person stood.
Eri's heart nearly stopped.
It was a man. Like Hare, his skin was white, but it wasn't because of makeup- he looked like a sheet of paper. Red lipstick covered his mouth and cheeks, in the shape of a smile. He wore a bright purple suit, so bright and loud that Eri's eyes, accustomed to the dull shades of concrete walls, ached. When his bloodshot eyes fell upon her tiny form, his lips - his actual lips, not the scarlet curve stretching across his face- quirked into a sinister smirk. Eri swallowed, throat suddenly very dry.
"Good morning, little Eri," the pale-skinned man crooned. It sounded like he was trying to soothe her, but the shivers that ran down her spine at his menacing tone did the exact opposite.
"Uh… G-Good morning?" Eri mumbled in reply, voice so quiet she could barely hear herself. It seemed like the man had heard her loud and clear, though, because his demented smile broadened.
Joker took a few steps closer to Eri, and she involuntarily scurried backwards, only stopping when she ran into the metal frame of her cot. "I'm here to show you a few tricks. Would you like to see them? I promise they'll be a ton of fun."
"...Fun?" Eri hesitantly asked. She still felt uneasy, but her interest had been piqued. Again, Overhaul rarely provided her with entertainment, and she'd grown bored of the toys in her room weeks ago.
"Oh, yes, indeed!" Joker said, tone almost as bright as his suit. With a flick of his right wrist, a card slid out of his sleeve and into his hand. Holding it between his index and middle fingers, he held it out to her and said, "Here. My card."
Eri stared at the item warily for a long moment, before finally accepting it. The card had a picture of a medieval jester on it, the word 'Joker' spelled across the top.
"Joker?" Eri read out loud.
"That's-a me!" Joker said, jabbing a thumb into his chest. He snatched the card back and stowed it away in a pocket. "Now, how about some magic?"
"Oooh!" Hare clapped her hands excitedly as she plopped down on Eri's bed, startling the young girl with the sudden movement. "Oh, you're gonna love this, little lady!"
Joker's grin broadened at his minion's pep. He flicked his left wrist, and this time, an entire stack of cards fell into his palm. He shuffled them and mixed them together in a flashy showman's fashion, and once he was finished, he fanned out the stack and presented it to Eri.
"Here! Pick a card, any card! But don't show it to me! Keep it a secret," Joker said to Eri with a crooked smile and a wink.
"...Okay..." Eri cautiously grabbed one and turned it over. The ace of hearts.
"Don't show it to me now!" Joker repeated. He grabbed it, being careful not to peek, and inserted it back into the deck, face-down. He reshuffled the cards, then pulled one out. He showed it to Eri- it was the ace of hearts. "Is this your card?"
"Oh… Y-Yes, it is," Eri answered with a nod, a little impressed as she showed him the card, "Wow… How did you do that?"
"Ah-ah-ah!" Joker told her, wagging a finger, "Can't tell you all my secrets! How about another trick?" He tucked the stack of cards into his pocket and pulled something else out; a small, colorful box with a lever on the side.
Eri blinked at the cube, the various colors fascinating her. Behind her, Hare's excited grin shifted into something slightly malicious.
"Now, watch." Joker began to crank the handle in circular motions, the mechanisms clicking audibly. Music started to play, a melody that sounded like "Pop Goes the Weasel"- not that Eri knew what that was. She stared at the Joker as he continued to crank the box, slowly becoming more perplexed. Was it supposed to do something besides make noise?
Then, the top of the box popped open! Confetti exploded into the air, and a doll launched out. It would've been flung directly into Eri's face if it had not been connected to a spring, which he bounced on top of. Eri yelped, scrambling up onto her bed and flinging herself backwards. Hare cheered, uncaring of the young girl's fright.
"Yaaaay!" Hare cried, clapping her hands wildly.
Realizing that the doll wasn't going to do anything else except hang there limply, Eri observed it a bit more closely. It… Looked kind of like the man in front of her. Like the Joker.
Its face was pale white, but the eyes were blue instead of red. The hair was black and slicked back, styled into two horns at the back. It was smiling creepily, yellow teeth on full display. The main reason Eri drew a connection between the jack-in-the-box and the Joker was the purple suit it wore.
"Here you are, little Eri! Meet Mini J!" Joker introduced the doll to her as he got it off the spring. He tossed the empty cube to the caretaker behind them, who looked surprised and barely caught it, fumbling slightly but ultimately not dropping it.
Eri took the Joker look-alike doll from the man's hand. She observed it for a moment, the grin boring into her mind. Something about it made her skin crawl. She decided she didn't particularly like Mini J.
"Hey there!" said a voice that sounded like Joker, but almost higher. "How are you, little Eri?"
Eri jumped again and looked up at Joker. He simply stood there, hovering over her with a smile on his face, lips almost pointedly pressed together.
Eri opened her mouth to say something, but the doll 'spoke' again.
"Hey! What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or are ya just shy, little Eri?"
Eri looked down at the doll, her eyes widened. "Huh?"
The doll then 'spoke' once more, not moving his painted-on lips and teeth. "The name's Mini J! But you already know that because the nice man who gave me to you told ya! Haha! Whoopsie!"
"Um..." For some strange reason, the high-pitched voice slightly eased the distress stirring in her gut. She lifted Mini J up to her face to observe the stuffed toy closer.
"Aww, ain't you a doll? I bet you're a real sweetheart!" the Joker-replica 'said', "Say! Let's see what else ol' Joker has up his sleeve, shall we?"
"Oh. Uh..." Eri looked up at Joker, whose smile then turned into a peculiarly disturbing grin.
"Why thank you, Mini J! I actually do have something up my sleeve indeed! But first! I need a volunteer..." Joker turned around and pointed at Eri's caretaker, "You! Step right up!"
"Huh?" the caretaker blinked. "Me?" he asked dumbly
"Why yes, you!" Joker said energetically. "You're going to be my volunteer!"
"Uh… I-uh-" the caretaker stuttered, but Joker interrupted him.
"Don't be shy now!" Joker egged him on, "Be a good sport and come on down. We don't wanna disappoint the little girl, now do we?" The underlying threat in his tone flew over Eri's head.
"No..." The masked man stepped forward and warily stood next to Joker.
"Now, we're gonna play a little game," Joker began, grasping the man's shoulder. It was supposed to be a friendly gesture, but the mafia thug looked more than a little unnerved by the close proximity. "It's a game of chance I learned that started in Moscow. That's in Russia, by the way, which is why it's called- you ready? Russian Roulette!" the clown crowed.
The caretaker tensed, fear showing clearly in his eyes, but by that point, it was too late for him to do anything. As he glanced at the door to find a way out of this, Hare leaped up from her perch and flew across the room, slamming the door shut.
"Hey, hey, where ya goin', buddy?" Joker asked, fingers tightening like a vice as the man struggled a bit to escape the tight grip. "I promise, this is a different kind of Russian Roulette. Not that boring one you probably heard about. No, I'm an original kinda clown, ya know?"
Hare giggled a little too giddily. Eri, meanwhile, just glanced at Hare and back at the two men in curiosity.
"Y-You said-" the masked man started, panic clawing up his throat, only for the Joker to cut him off.
"Yes, but I also said it's not the Russian Roulette you're thinking of," the Joker explained patiently. "It's a lot less messy, trust me."
The caretaker looked like the last thing he wanted to do was trust the clown, but he hardly had a choice. He jerked his head up and down in something resembling a nod.
"Oh, goody!" Joker squealed, releasing the man. He stuck his right hand in one of his coat pockets and pulled a revolver out of it, eliciting a shriek of terror from the mafioso.
"Ay! You said it wasn't-!"
"And it's not!" Joker interrupted. He pointed the gun at the floor and pulled the trigger. Instead of a thunderous blast that would have destroyed their eardrums in this enclosed space, all that came out was… A click.
"See? Not loaded!" Joker assured him.
"B-But-"
Joker turned to Hare. "Hare, be a dear and take off his mask, will you?"
"Sure thing, Puddin!" Hare jumped up and in one swift movement, she yanked the plague mask off, showing his large lower fanged teeth and terrified expression.
"Ah! W-Wait! I-I didn't sign up for-!" The caretaker tried to protest, but Joker once again cut off his sentence.
"Actually, you did. But anyway!" Joker said as he flicked open the revolver's chamber, and pushed something into one of the slots.
The caretaker's fears were realized.
"Hare, if you could, guard the door, please."
"Yes Sir, Mr. J!" Hare spun around the men whimsically, planting herself in front of the door with a wicked smile on her face. She looked like she was having even more fun than the Joker himself.
Eri was confused, but she also felt a little nervous seeing the weapon in the clown's hand. She clutched the creepy doll tighter, and it provided her a slight bit of comfort.
"Now wait a minute! O-Overhaul will-"
"Not care, because this is all a joke. Don't ruin it, pal," Joker told him darkly. He spun the chamber of the revolver and snapped it back in place.
"L-Listen, you! I-I-I'll pulverize you-"
Joker pointed the revolver at the man, the barrel almost pressing to his forehead.
"Hey. Relax. It's all… A joke. You don't seriously think I'd do anything like that in front of a little girl, do you?" Joker asked with a not-so-reassuring smile.
The man just stood there, frozen, staring down the barrel so intently he went cross-eyed.
"But you know, it is funny. You're so scared of just a single gun. I mean, sure, they're deadly, but they're hardly that dangerous anymore. There are Quirks that can do a ton more damage. Hell, there are Quirks that are basically guns- I saw this one lady who could shoot bullets out her fingers," Joker jested. "And Japan's gun laws are pretty strict, so you're not gonna see that many in the first place. But Quirks? Everyone's got one of those...well, most people do, at least." The clown was silent for a moment, deep in thought, before tuning back into the one-sided conversation with his teeth flashing into an unpleasant grin. "Anyway, just relax and let the girl enjoy the show."
And then...
BANG-POOMPH!
"AAAH!" yelped the caretaker.
Eri screamed as well, the loud noise startling her something terrible.
...There wasn't a bullet at all. Just a yellow flag coming out of the barrel, the word 'Bang!' printed on it in a bold, red font.
"See? All a joke!" The Joker held up the fake gun, waving it around. "And you fell for it! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!"
"Hahahahaaaa!" Hare echoed his high-pitched laugh.
The caretaker, however, after getting over his initial shock, wasn't impressed.
"You son of a-" Upon remembering Eri was there, he rephrased the term, "snake!"
"Hoo-hoo-hooooo! Oh, come on now, you were a good sport! You believed in me, and look at you! You're all fine and dandy!" Joker smirked as he put the fake gun in his coat, "Come on, put 'er there, pal!" he said, using his other hand, his left, to stick out for him to shake.
The caretaker, while he was furious, did look down at his hand to see that he had a hand buzzer on his middle finger. Thinking he was trying to trick him again, he thought of just crushing his hand, so his joke could backfire, but...Overhaul would punish him if he did that to Joker, since he's the ticket to their goal.
"...Eh, whatever," he mumbled begrudgingly as he gave in and shook the hand.
That was a mistake.
BBZZZZT-CRACK-CRACKLE-BZZZZT-CRA-CRA-CRACK-BZZZZZZZTZZZZZZT!
"AAAAAAUUUGGGGGGHHH!" The mafioso's nerves were overloaded with pain, sending jumbled signals to his brain. He felt cold, but in actuality, the skin on his palm was already blackened and shriveled, burned to a crisp.
The sinister grin of Joker was still plastered on his face... And he kept on smiling, not once flinching away from the pained convulsions or blood-curdling screams.
Eri...could only watch in horror.
She squeezed the clown doll in her hands, forgetting how similar it was to the madman in front of her. She tried to take some comfort in the plush, but with the screams of Overhaul's subordinate bouncing around the concrete room, it hardly worked.
The electrocution kept going when his screams were literally starting to die down. His body was still twitching, his head thrown back into a phantom howl. With his eyes glued to the ceiling, he was unable to see that parts of his clothes were set aflame, not that he could feel it, numb as he was.
The burnt body of her caretaker stood there for a couple of seconds...until Joker released the man's ashen hand and let him fall backward in a limp heap.
Joker still stood there, his left arm and hand still in the hand-shake greeting while he still gazed at the body, which kept twitching. He then slowly turned his head to Eri, the smile still on his face.
He raised his hand up, turning his palm as he relaxed his fingers out, and wiggled them, letting the buzzer finger, his middle one, have the most attention. "Hand buzzer. Oldest trick in the book…well, one of them, at least. Although, I did add a little pep to it."
Eri sat there, shivering in fear at what she just witnessed.
"Oh come now, he's fine," Joker told her as he turned off the electro-buzzer and got it off his finger. After putting it in one of his coat pockets, he gestured the still-clinging to life burnt man, "I mean, look at the man! He's still breathing!" He turned his head to the burnt body with a grotesque grin on his face that looked to be too happy, "Although...he doesn't look too good. I might have shocked him a bit too much...hmm…" he turned his head to Eri with the same demented smile on lips, "Why don't you give him a hand? Hm? I'm certain he would appreciate it."
Eri, upon seeing that he was looking at her, jumped in her seat and gazed at the crazed clown with wide and fearful eyes.
"W-W-What?" she squeaked.
"Oh yes, you better do so. He's barely clinging to life right now. Your Quirk can do something like that, right?" asked Joker as he looked at her with the same evil smile.
"...I...I...I don't think my Quirk can..." whimpered Eri as she held the doll tightly to her.
"Oh don't say that! You'll never know until you try! Who knows, you can be a Hero to this fellow! Ho-ho! That rhymed!" Joker told the little girl in sick giddiness.
"A...A Hero?" Eri lessened the grip on the doll she was holding as her expression softened.
She heard about Heroes...how they save people...but...if that's true, then why hasn't anyone saved her from the situation she's been going through lately?
"Oh yes! But you need to hurry now! Every second counts!" Joker urged her.
Eri sat there for a second, until hesitantly, she got off her cot and gingerly walked to her caretaker with the doll in her arms. As soon as she was close to him, the burnt man turned his eyes to look at the girl, his gasping and moaning grew even faster and louder. The severe pain was probably coming back to him after the electric shock nulled his nerves. It quite frankly disturbed the little girl...
She then gingerly, but quickly got one arm out of her bandages and held it out while holding the doll with her other, her hand extending out to reach out to him.
The caretaker's eyes widened, if that was even possible, and let out another loud moan. He seemed restless, his whole body trying to move, almost as if he was desperate to get away from the girl. The nerves in his body were still recovering as he still tried to move, but only still staying in place.
That was what made Eri stop, the look in his eyes and his slight restless movements as he shuffled away from her...she also hesitated mainly because she didn't really want to touch the burnt skin of her caretaker.
"What's the matter?" Joker asked, his smile still remaining, "You want to save him, do you?"
"...I...I…" Eri's eyes began to water, "I'm...I'm scared to. O-Overhaul said I shouldn't use it on anyone without his permission. H-He said it would make me a bad person if I were to use it without him around, and...and..."
"Oh, don't you worry about Mr. Overhaul, Little Eri! I'll take all the blame for letting you use your Quirk on this man! In fact, I would think Overhaul would appreciate it if you save one of his men! So, go ahead, do your thing!" Joker 'assured' her.
Eri looked on at the incredibly injured caretaker, who basically was now getting some movement into his nerves and bones. Her eyes were still wet with unshed tears and she just stood there, contemplating if she could use her Quirk or not.
"...Why are you hesitating?" Joker asked her with the same evil smile intact, but his eyes were narrowing in disapproval, "That's not how a Hero would act."
"...I...I..." Eri felt herself shake, her hand also shaking at being indecisive, and not knowing what to do. "...I honestly don't know how to make my Quirk work. I-I really don't..."
"...Alright then. How about this?" Putting his right hand in another pocket inside his coat again, he got something out...
Eri then heard something ominous.
CA-CLICK!
She froze. Turning her head ever so slowly, her peripheral vision sees what made that sound...
...Her eyes widened in horror once she fully sees the object in Joker's hand.
"How about I...get you a little motivated?" Joker said, his smile as wide and sinister as it could be.
In his hand...was a gun...and it was aiming right at Eri's head.
As soon as the girl in question briefly sees the inside of the gun's barrel, she turned her head back to the caretaker in a snap, so frozen that she dropped the doll in her arm. The pupils in her eyes shrunk in fear as pools of tears began to form in them.
"Oh, come on, now, why so serious?" Joker quipped, "I'm just fooling around, this gun isn't loaded! Heck, it could be the same gun that I used on Sabertooth here! You never know! Hoo-hoo! Just pretend you're in a dire hostage situation and I'm the one deciding whether you live or die! It'll be fun!"
Eri trembled with so much trepidation, confused and scared at whatever is happening here. She whimpered as she could practically feel the gun barrel on the back of her head.
"So...go ahead. Heal him. Or else...well, I don't want to hurt that pretty little head of yours," Joker now smirked.
Now, Eri was starting to feel the intense fear of knowing that she was probably going to die...again. But not by Overhaul. It'll be by this...random...clown person...named Joker.
"You're...You're not really gonna...h-hurt me are you?" Eri sniffled as she continued to look at the crispy burnt caretaker with tears now falling from her eyes, not wanting to look behind her again.
"...Oh, deary, I'm not going to hurt you," Joker said in a faux soothing tone. "I'm just merely playing The Executioner here."
...This didn't calm the young girl in the slightest.
"You see, the way this game plays, is that if you don't heal him in the next five seconds, then you're dead, per se. If you do heal him in that amount of time, then you live...it's quite simple." Joker explains.
Eri stood there...frozen in fear and dread, with her bare hand out.
"Now...on the count of five..."
She whimpered and held onto her arm, hoping to somehow get her Quirk working.
"Five..."
The caretaker's eyes widened too as he realized that this could not end well for both of them. They're gonna be killed by this crazed...Quirkless clown! He tried to say something, but it all came out as moans.
"Oooouuughhh…oouugh!"
"Four..."
Feeling her Quirk activating, Eri gasped and went forward to the caretaker.
"Three..."
"UUUUGGGHHH!" The caretaker loudly moaned out, telling her somewhat a semblance of the word 'stop'.
"I'm so sorry, please be okay!" Eri cried out to her caretaker.
"Two..."
Joker then moved his gun a little to where Eri's back is.
"NAAAAA-UUUUGHHH!" The caretaker desperately cried out for her to stop.
But Eri already touched his face.
Then...the caretaker started to vibrate...the more Eri held onto him, the more the man was turning back to his original self...his burnt skin was reverting back to his very own skin.
But as he was reverting back to his normal state, he was turning a bit younger...and then he started to fade away…
Eri looked on in horror as she then erased the man out of existence.
"ONE!"
POOM!
"AAAAAHHH!" Eri screamed as she felt a hard stinging pain hit her in the left side of her back. She fell forward to the ground, frozen in shock...
...A couple of footsteps...
And then, something was yanked off her back. It felt like it gave off some relief from the sting, but the pain was still there.
Joker inspected the projectile that he fired...a dart-like bullet with Eri's charged up Quirk blood.
"...Excellent." Joker grinned in a malicious fashion. He looked down at the stunned Eri on the ground. "Hoo-hoo! You certainly have a nifty Quirk there, kiddo!" He turned to Hare, who was there at his side, "Hare, be a dear and give this to the labcoats of Overhaul's ASAP, will you?"
"Absolutely, Puddin'!" Hare said with a happy smile and took the shot canister from his hand, almost acting as if Joker just didn't harm a child. She turned to Eri, who was still on the ground, and said to her, "Thanks for being such a sweetheart, little Eri! Hope you have a good day!" She then put her dollface mask on, went to the door, unlocked it, opened it, and merrily skipped out of the room.
Joker then turned to the little girl with the same grin, although it softened into a wicked smile.
"Thank you for your participation, little Eri. I certainly had a lot of fun! We should really do this again someday," he chuckled darkly, "And remember! Put on a happy face! Ciao!" Joker then walked his way out, closing the door behind him.
...Eri laid there, still stunned at what transpired.
...The shock wore off...but the pain was still in her back...and she didn't feel like getting up right now...
Meanwhile, in a different room, Overhaul and his two subordinates looked on at a screen, watching the whole scene through a hidden camera in Eri's room.
"...Damn," Kurono said as his eyes went a little wide, blinking at what just occurred in shock and intrigue.
"Shit, man..." Irinaka said as he was still in his black cloak-pod, "It's a good thing he told us what he was gonna do, or we would've barged right in there."
"...Joker's ethics are...a bit eccentric, I'll just say. But he surely did force Eri to use her Quirk," Overhaul said as he examined the screen where he sat on the couch with his fingers clasping together in thought.
"Yeah...so, Joker will try to work it from here with the lab guys?" Irinaka asked his boss.
"That's what the end of his bargain entails," informed Overhaul, "...I am interested in what he meant by turning the formula into a 'gas' shape, though."
"Yeah, that was...quite interesting when he mentioned that," Kurono said.
"Man, not only he said he can make it faster and stronger, be he can make it into gas? Got to say, if he really can do that, then this Quirkless guy knows his stuff." Irinaka praised.
"Hm...yes. In the meantime, we'll see if he's really legit or not..." Overhaul narrowed his eyes as he laid his sight on Eri, "Fate must be on our side at this point...however, Kurono, Irinaka, don't lose your sights on Joker. I don't fully trust him. So far, he has a loyal crew, and he could order anyone of them to do something...he also has quite the unique arsenal from what I could see. I also get the feeling that he does have some sort of fighting expertise."
"Fighting expertise? That guy?" Irinaka said in disbelief as he turned to Overhaul. "He looks a little lanky. I mean, I'm pretty certain he ain't like Eraserhead or something."
"Never underestimate anyone, Irinaka," Overhaul told him darkly, "Just cause he's Quirkless, doesn't mean he isn't capable of bringing down people with Quirks. You saw the news about the bank heist and what he did to Eri's caretaker."
"Well, yeah, but...I mean, I guess he can take care of Quirked folks like those robbers just fine, I suppose. But the caretaker was kind of a puss anyways," Irinaka reasoned.
"Speaking of, do we need someone else to watch over Eri?" Kurono asked.
"Hm...we'll see when the time comes," Overhaul lets his fingers break away from each other as he began to stand up. "As of now, let's get to where Joker is. We'll see what kind of chemistry skills he has. Hopefully, we can get things done sooner than expected."
UA Academy
Cafeteria
7:00 AM
As soon as Izuku and the rest of the gang walked into the cafeteria, what was supposed to be chatter among the students of UA, was now died down as soon as they soon entered the dining facility. All of the heads of the student body turned to the group of teenagers...
...There was silence...
Izuku and the gang all stood there, the sense of quiet being odd to them...
"...Um…" Izuku uttered a little anxiously.
Oh man...more unwanted attention...
The rest of Izuku's group also looked a little sheepish from all the stares coming from the other students.
"Man...this is not how I wanted to go back to school," Kaminari muttered.
"Yeah...everyone is looking at us," Jirou commented a little uneasily.
"Well, that's terrific. *ribbit*" said Tsuyu with a frown, "I don't know if we're gonna be ridiculed or pitied."
"Awww man..." Mina cringed, "I would rather be held hostage than suffer through this."
"Hm. Although we tried to fight against those thugs, it would be apparent that our peers would be receiving judgment on us," Iida mumbled, "It goes to show that even in most situations, we still are just students learning to be Heroes fighting against evil-doers."
Todoroki glanced at all of the kids with intent as he muttered, "Goes to show we need to get better at what we do..."
I can't believe I let myself get taken down like that.
Frowning at having that feeling of failure in his mind, he slightly shook his head to clear it.
Ochako frowned as well, "Well, they came out of nowhere while we were studying. We were taken by surprise."
"While that may be true, we're still students at UA..." Momo looked crestfallen...but she straightened herself up and stood tall in determination. "Well, we'll do our very best to never let this happen again. We will get better."
Izuku turned his head to Momo, seeing her expression being serious, which he couldn't help but smile at her resolve. She then glanced at him, and upon seeing that he was looking at her, she blushed and turned her head forward, looking intent again as she nodded. Blinking in confusion at that reaction, he just chopped it up as her being shy. So he kept on smiling as he nodded and said, "Yeah...we certainly will."
Momo gave out a slight hopeful smile on her face as she blushed a bit more.
Jirou, who was next to Momo, saw the blush on her face, and couldn't help but smirk a little.
The other girls also took note of this. Tsuyu looked curious, while Mina 'sensed' it, having a big smile on her face.
Ochako, though...had mixed feelings about it.
Either way, the gang walked bravely into the cafeteria and over to the line where Lunch Rush is making breakfast.
However, before they went any further...
"Hey, guys!" said the boisterous voice of Kirishima.
They stopped in their tracks and turned to Kirishima, who was with the other Class 1-A students. They were rushing towards them, each having worried looks on their faces.
"Dude! I saw the news last night! Holy cow, I'm glad you gals and bros are alright!" Kirishima said to them.
"Yeah! Wow, I can't believe that happened!" Tooru said with her gloved hands on her face, easily looking distressed.
"I hope you all weren't scarred from that," Tokoyami said with a serious look as per usual.
"My, from the look of Midoriya, he seemed to have gotten the brunt of the attack. Um, no offense, Monsieur Midoriya." Aoyama said.
Even Mineta was panicking and exclaimed, "OH GOSH! I hope you're all okay! Especially the girls!"
Izuku smiled at them in reassurance, "Yeah, we're all okay, thankfully. And no offense taken, Aoyama."
Kirishima went over to Mina and said, "Yo, Ashido! You, uh...you looked banged up. I-I mean, I didn't mean it that blunt, but...w-well, are you okay?"
Mina smiled widely to reassure Kirishima, "Hehe! Don't worry, Kirishima, I know what you mean! And yeah, I'm a-okay! Just had a bit of a concussion. I was knocked out a bit, but hey! At least this thick skull protected my brain!" she giggled.
"Oh, man...I'm so sorry, Min-u-uh, A-Ashido! That must like...really suck...and it also must hurt," Kirishima said sympathetically.
"Ah, no worries! At least I got a hit in with one of the Villains!" Mina said with a carefree grin.
Tooru went to the Momo and expressed her concern as she said to her, "Oh Yaomomo, I'm so sorry about your home! Oh goodness, that must've been, well, horrifying! I hope you'll be alright after that!"
Momo smiled kindly at Tooru, "Thanks Hagakure. Yes, it was...terrifying, but..." she took a quick side glance at Midoriya, who was flooded by the guys asking him how he got his bruises. "...Well, we're just glad we all got out of that situation safely."
Jirou saw that Momo's gaze was on Midoriya for a brief moment. Smirking at this, she remembered the conversation that they had when Momo stayed at her home last night.
"Okay, Yaomomo, talk to me," said Jirou to Momo bluntly.
"Huh?" Momo blinked in confusion.
They were in Jirou's room, and Momo was sitting on the chair near the Rocker girl's desk. When she entered Jirou's room, she could definitely see that the girl was into various styles of rock, there being posters of grudge bands, classic rock bands, and a few metal bands. Along with the rocker decor, she has an electric guitar in the corner. Right now, Jirou was sitting on her bed, crossing her arms over her chest with a serious but knowing look on her face.
"Spill. What's going on with you and Midoriya?"
"Uh...what?" Momo said, still confused.
Jirou looked at her with a 'really?' look and sighed exasperatedly while rolling her eyes. "Oh come ooon, Yaomomo. I mean, you gave the guy the longest appreciative hug ever."
Momo straightened up and blushed, "Wha...y-you saw me do that?"
"...Yaomomo, I was like ten feet away, of course I did. You were hugging him close and everything."
"...Oh. Uh...um..." Momo blushed even harder in embarrassment.
"Which, by the way, I bet the whole crowd was watching you hugging Midoriya too."
"O-Okay, alright, I get it. I was a little impulsive on that part."
"Nah, it wasn't impulsive. I would be grateful too if he did that for me...like, if a guy came and shield me from any debris, that would be...cool of him." Jirou glanced to her side with a blush.
"W-Well...um, I mean, well, y-yeah, he spoke out for me when that crazy Joker guy was about to..." Momo began to shiver just thinking about it, making her rub her forearms rapidly together to cancel out the feeling.
Jirou frowned in sympathy, "Whoa, hey, don't think about it, okay?"
The Yaoyorozu heiress took a deep breath and exhaled, giving out another shiver. She nodded a couple of times to let her friend know that she was okay.
"And I mean, yeah, I get that. But again, you just seemed...really...I don't know, really happy after that? Like wherever you're around him now? Or whenever you now look at him?" Jirou speculated.
"...I...I mean...I-I was just grateful. And…I was showing my gratitude."
"Okay, yeah, that's cool...but here's the thing that I noticed," Jirou started, "From what I heard, your heartbeat was going around ninety miles per hour after this whole fiasco. And it wasn't from the trauma. It was around Midoriya."
Momo's eyes widened. "I...um..."
"I mean, hey, if you like him now, I'm not judging. He was pretty heroic..." Jirou then muttered the last line, "Almost like Kaminari, believe it or not."
"...What now?" Momo blinked.
"Uh, nothing," Jirou waved it off, "So, be truthful. Do you like have flourishing feelings for Midoriya now?"
"...W-Well, I..." Momo looked down for a moment from her chair, "...I-I don't know...maybe? I mean...not only was he brave and heroic..." she smiled at when she said that.
Yeah…he certainly was.
Shaking her head, she continued, "H-He's not only that, but he's really...well, from what I've seen from him, he's kind and loves to...help people...and..." Momo blushed a bit, "...He is handsome..."
"...Oh yeah. You're totally smitten with him."
Momo looked up at her friend in surprise.
"If I know you from the times we hang out, you never reacted this much about a guy," Jirou nodded, "Besides, you're turning redder than Kirishima's hair."
"I-I wasn't blushing that much."
"Ah, so you admit you were blushing. The question is, was it about Midoriya?"
"J-...Jirou, I just..." Momo sat there thinking if she could admit it. That she…likes Midoriya...
Don't. Don't ever think that about yourself.
"...I think..." the Yaoyorozu heiress looked at Jirou and said, "Jirou, I think...Midoriya was there at my home for a reason."
Now Jirou blinked, "...Is this gonna get deep?"
"...What? Oh, uh, n-no, I was just saying...well, I think Midoriya was…I mean, I think he was trying to...console me...b-before we got ambushed."
"Console you?" Jirou raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah...I don't know, I just feel like that...that that could be the reason he was there at the study group..." Momo smiled at that.
"...Huh..." Jirou thought about that possibility.
"...Yeah...I was really...well, wondering if I could be a Hero or not. I mean, after the Sports Festival, I felt...well, you know."
Jirou nodded, "Yeah..."
"...But I think he was about to console me on that...and really..." Momo smiled a lot more warmly as she blushed, "...I appreciated that."
Jirou couldn't help but smile at that as well. "Yeah. If that is true, then he's a pretty cool guy to go out of his way to do that..."
Momo nodded, her smile still warm, "Yeah...I...I think I do like him."
Jirou then grinned, "Well then, it's settled. You like him."
Chuckling at that, Momo said, "Maybe I do..." she then looked at Jirou with a knowing smirk, "Now, enough about me...what about you and Kaminari?"
...Jirou blinked...and blushed...
"...I mean…" The Rocker Girl twirled her ear jacks a little bit with her finger, "...Well...he…" she sighed, "...Okay, promise you won't like...squeal or anything, but...I...think he called me...cute..."
...
...Momo just couldn't help it. She squealed loudly in delight.
And from that display of telling Bakugou off, I think she may be even more smitten. Jirou smirked even broader.
Then, there were some other students that came up to them. These students are part of Class 1-B, those students being Itsuka Kendo, Ibara Shiozaki, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Yui Kodai, Yosetsu Awase, Juzo Honenuki, Sen Kaibara, Pony Tsunotori, Setsuna Tokage, Reiko Yanagi, and Neito Monoma.
"Hey, Yaoyorozu!" said Itsuka, who came up to her with a worried expression. "Hey, I saw the news! Wow, I'm so sorry that happened to you!"
"Indeed," Ibara said with a nod, "Whoever these Villains, as well as their leader, are, they will surely be punished by God for doing such a sin."
"Man, you guys were on the front lines, weren't you?" Tetsutestu said, surprisingly a little sympathetic, although he said it with a loud tone.
"Tetsutetsu, keep your voice down," Yui said, her face unmoving as always.
"Shit, I hope you guys weren't scarred from that," Yosetsu said with actual concern.
"That's what I said," Tokoyami muttered.
"I'm very sorry that happened to you all," Juzo said to them in sympathy.
"Man, seriously, you guys didn't deserve any of that," Sen told them.
"My goodness, I hope you'll all be okay after that. That must have been terrifying," Pony told them in concern.
"Yes...that really must've been scary," Reiko nodded.
"Wow, whoever did that whole thing at your Estate, Yaoyorozu, are really despicable," Setsuna said to Momo, also with a nod.
Neito stood there, not saying anything...until he snarked, "Well, I guess we're here at UA for a reason."
"MONOMA!" Setsuna exclaimed at him. "You promised!"
"Yeah, show some compassion for a moment, will ya?" Itsuka said to him in frustration.
Neito frowned, "What? I didn't say anything that bad!"
Momo sighed, "Thank you all...I'm, well, I'm still recovering from what happened, as well as my classmates, also."
While Momo was talking to some of the girls of Class 1-A and 1-B, the guys from both classes went up to the Midoriya and the boys, asking them questions.
"Whoa, Midoirya, Bro, what happened to your face!?" Kirishima asked him.
"Yeah. Wow, you looked banged up a bit," Sero said with a concerned frown.
"I heard you got beaten up by the leader! Is that true?" Mineta asked him.
Midoriya looked solemn-faced, his eyes showing hard hatred when he remembered the man that beat him up. "Yeah...I did it so he wouldn't...so he wouldn't harm Yaoyorozu."
"Sacre bleu! He was going to harm Yaoyorozu?" Aoyama asked in surprise.
Tokoyami narrowed his eyes as he nodded, "From what I heard, he was going to carve her face with a smile."
"Whoa! Dude, that's hardcore brutal!" Sero said shocked.
"Yo, that is not manly," Kirishima shook his head in disapproval.
"I wish death on this man," Mineta said plainly, his expression full of deadpan anger.
"Uh...dude, that's...kind of not very heroic sounding," Kaminari said with a sweatdrop.
"Yo, Kamninari, Iida, Todoroki, are you guys doing okay as well?" Sero asked them.
Iida stood tall and said, "I had a slight concussion, but I am certainly fine. I tried to hold off one of the Villains, but they were devious enough to surprise me and knock me unconscious."
Kaminari smiled sheepishly, "Honestly, I didn't do much fighting. I mean, I was just held down by a big guy who was made of rubber…but I did shield Jirou from the debris from a guy who used his locomotive Quirk to barge through the doors." he said a little proudly.
"Hey, nice, bro!" Kirishima said with a smile and a thumbs-up, "That's really manly."
"I'm...I'm doing okay," Shouto said, his tone sounding a little shamefaced, "Although, I feel like I should've done a bit more...there were just...I guess there were just too many of them..."
Midoriya turned to Todoroki, looking at him with empathy. "Hey, don't worry about it, Todoroki. I mean, you're right, they were too many Villains for us to face. And they were pretty skilled."
"Man, who was the fucker that lead them? He sounds like an evil sadistic bastard from what I heard in the news." Yosetsu said.
"Did he have a really strong Quirk?" Tetsutetsu asked curiously.
Midoriya froze, "Um...w-well-"
"Yes," Shouto said, interrupting Midoriya.
Midoriya, Iida, and Kaminari looked at Todoroki in shock.
"Midoriya fought as best as he could, but the leader...he was too crafty," Shouto explained.
"Whoa," Sen said with slight awe. He turned to Midoriya, "What was his Quirk?"
"U-Uh…well-" Midoriya tried to explain, but he was interrupted again.
"He used it very briefly from what Midoriya said," Iida threw in his version as well, "Todoroki and I were knocked out. We were filled in later on when we woke up."
Kaminari decided to pitch in, "Uh, yeah, he was like...really vicious with it...it-it was all so weird, I-I can't explain it."
Midoriya looked at the three teenage boys in surprise...and his face was filled with gratitude as he realized what they were doing.
Wow...thanks, guys.
Neito, however, didn't look convinced, "Hm...hey. Midoriya, is it?"
Izuku turned to Neito, "Huh? Oh, um...yes?"
"...How would you describe the leader of this gang of crooks' Quirk, hm?" Neito asked him with a raised eyebrow.
Eyes widened at that, Midoriya tried to think of a way to lie, but Todoroki beat him to it.
"Hey, he doesn't want to talk about it right now, okay? We're all pretty banged up and we don't want to relive some of the stuff we went through. Alright?" Shouto said with a subtle glare at Monoma.
"Yeah, Monoma, don't open up any traumatic wounds for them," Honenuki told him.
"I'm just saying, these guys haven't said what kind of Quirk he had. In fact, the news was trying to figure that out as well."
That made Midoriya and the rest of the boys blink in shock.
"Wait, what?" Midoriya asked surprised.
"Yeah," Neito said with a slight smirk, "But you said you faced this guy head-on. So give us a slight clue on what kind of Quirk he had."
"...Um…" Midoriya faltered, looking like he was trying to think about it, but in reality, he was thinking up some kind of lie...and Izuku sucks at lying.
Thankfully, one of Class 1-B's students, Sen, told his classmate, "Hey, Monoma, we don't really need to know what kind of Quirk the leader of this group had. I mean, they already suffered through enough."
"Come on, don't you guys want to at least know what this Villain's Quirk is? We can, like, beat up the guy for our neighboring class, you know? Let us just get some intel so we can avenge UA's reputation and whatnot," Neito explained.
"Really, Monoma? Come on, man, this isn't a competition." Juzo said with a disapproving look.
"Oh really?" Neito frowned, "Well, this guy must be super strong then if he beat some of Class 1-A's top students."
"Hey, dude, I did ask about the Quirk, but I didn't really want to know about it. I mean, I really don't want to if it makes them too uncomfortable," Tetsutetsu said.
"Well, I'm a little curious. I just want to know," Neito shrugged. He turned to Izuku and asked him again, "Come on, just give me a hint. What's his Villain name?"
"Uh...w-well...h-he..." Midoriya stood there, completely still.
Momo, hearing the conversation slightly, looked at where the boys were at, as well as Midoriya, who basically looked like he was struggling to answer the question. Frowning at Monoma's insistence, she decided to come over there and tell him off, when...
"Come on, man, you make it sound like he doesn't have a Quirk at all," Monoma jested a little antagonistically.
"Monoma! Seriously, stop!" Sen scolded him.
"Hey. You heard the extra. Go fuck off somewhere."
All the kids blinked. Turning around they saw…
"...Kacchan?" Izuku blinked the most in shock.
Bakugou was standing behind the boys' group, scowl and all.
Yaoyorozu blinked at his intrusion in surprise as well.
Neito looked at him with an indignant look. "Well, you're late to the party. Did you know your classmates here were in some kind of deep trouble last night?"
"I'm not gonna say it again after this, so you better do as I say: Fuck off," Bakugou said with a sneer.
...Monoma scoffed, "Fine. Whatever. I need to finish my breakfast anyway and head off to class."
And so Neito walked off to their table, while the guys from 1-B turned to Midoriya, Juzo saying to him, "Sorry about that. I think we do need to get to eating breakfast and heading over to our classes though."
"Yeah," Tetsutetsu said, "We'll see you guys around. See ya, Kirishima."
"See ya man," Kirishima said with a smile and a wave.
As soon as the boys of 1-B disband to go to their designated tables, one of the girls of 1-B, Ibara, said, "I think we should go as well. We do not want to waste the nutrition the Lord has made for us today...as well as not waste any of Lunch Rush's food."
"Yeah, I agree," Setsuna nodded. She turned to the rest of the girls of 1-A, "Again, sorry all of that had happened."
Itsuka nodded, "Yeah. And we hope everything goes back to normal over at your home, Yaoyorozu."
"Oh, um, thank you..." Momo said with a small smile and a nod.
They said their farewells and soon, the rest of Class 1-A was left...and that's including Bakugou too.
Midoriya looked at Bakugou and said, "Um...thank-"
"Get this straight, Deku," Bakugou said to him firmly, "I didn't do what I did cause I felt like you deserved it or anything. And I ain't sorry for what I said...but if you really fought and lost against this guy, then you better start getting tougher. To me, that ain't a True Hero. That's just an extra trying to survive...so get stronger, Deku."
And with that, Bakugou turned around and went back to his table to sit down and scarf his whole breakfast down.
Midoriya stood there, a little flabbergasted.
Yaoyorozu went up to Midoriya as she looked on at Bakugou, frowning a little bit.
"Well...that was different of him," Momo said.
Izuku smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "Heh...yeah...I guess that was his way of saying 'sorry'?"
"Well, he should try harder," Todoroki mumbled.
Ochako looked at the blond explosive teenage boy for a moment in curiosity, until she looked back at Midoriya saying, "Well, I'm certain you and all of us will get stronger too, Deku!"
"Heh, yeah. We won't be blind-sided by any Villains like that again," Izuku assured with a smile.
They then heard a loud grumbling noise...
…Jirou looked at Kaminari, who was standing next to her. She raised a judging eyebrow at him, as Kaminari noticed that the Rocker Girl was looking at him peculiarly...
"...Huh? Whoa, hey, Jirou, I didn't do that!" Denki defended himself.
But then, Jirou started to snicker, "Dude, I know. I was just messing with ya. That was Mina."
"Huh? Hey!" Mina pouted, "Way to throw me under the bus, Jirou! And can you blame me, I'm hungry!"
Everyone chuckled and laughed, as Midoriya was the first to say, "Yeah, we probably should get something to eat now. We don't want to be late for class."
"Indeed!" said Iida, "We would need to learn all we can if we were to be future Heroes!"
Everyone agreed to that, and the rest who had their meals went back to eat, while the others went to get in line with Lunch Rush's breakfast items.
However, when Midoriya went to the line, he felt a presence behind him…
"Um...c-can I stand behind you to wait for our food? I mean, do you mind at all?" said the voice of Yaoyorozu.
Once again, Midoirya froze and turned around to see Yaoyorozu behind him with a shy smile on his face.
"Oh, uh...h-hey, n-no, t-that's fine," Izuku said with a small blush on his face.
Momo smiled back brightly. "O-Okay."
And so she did...and Midoriya stood there as well...waiting for their breakfast.
"...H-How are you feeling, Midoriya?" Yaoyorozu asked him.
"Oh, um, I-I feel a little better. I mean, my nose is still broken, but hey, I...I, um...should, uh, you know, be used to that."
"Used to that?" Momo asked in surprise.
"I mean, I'm gonna be a Hero, so I should be used to these kinds of fights! Heh..."
"Oh...um, well, yes, I suppose so..."
They went silent after that...
"...If you don't mind me saying, your mother is absolutely adorable. I mean, she came all the way to see if you were alright," Momo said with a smile, changing the topic.
"Oh, um, heh, yeah...m-my mom is really one of a kind...I really do love my mom. I mean, she has done everything for me…" Izuku smiled widely as his eyes became a little teary.
I see now that I was absolutely wrong! And I'm glad that I was wrong! You can be a Hero! You ARE a Hero, Izuku!
Izuku quickly wiped the tears in his eyes with his hand as he sniffled.
Upon hearing Midoriya sniffle and seeing how he looked like he was wiping tears from his eyes, Momo just looked at him, surprised at the moment, but she felt touched that he cared so much about his mother.
"...Well, I'm certain she's very proud of you, Midoriya," Momo said with a warm smile.
Midoriya sniffled, and he turned his head back to her with a happy smile saying, "T-Thanks, Yaoyorozu. I really appreciate that."
Momo giggled and Midoriya chuckled, enjoying each other's company.
However, one person behind them was Ochako, who was looking at the scene with...worry.
...I may have a problem here...
And done! That's the chapter! Hooray! Finally, am I right? :)
It was gonna be longer, but damn, I think this is long enough! XP Either way, tell me what you think of this one in a review! :D I love the feedback! ^_^
Next chapter, we get them back to class, and All Might receives a call from an old friend...I wonder who that friend is? :O
Thank you all for being patient and thank you for reading! Until then, keep on rocking everybody! :D
-TSP