n April new school year began yet again. Only nine more of those and she can begin higher education. Also famous battle between All Might and Toxic Chainsaw took place. The plot was moving forward and Kieruko finally felt like she was getting the BNHA experience she was expecting.
Then she remembered "Vigilanties" series and with a quick search, she was able to confirm that indeed spin-off was canon as well. Or at least the Pop Step part for now.
And then in June, there was sparse news about some kind of natural disaster and All Might dropped off the face of the earth. An obvious gag order had to be put on news stations because no one was mentioning it.
"All Might got hurt."
"How do you know that Kieru-chan?" asked Toru.
"It's the first time he's gone for more than two weeks. Even when on "vacation" he always inevitably reveals himself the second crime takes place in his vicinity." It was amazing to talk about plot even if it was in a roundabout way. And she was right. "So actually, ever since debut he rarely leaves the spotlight for more than five days." Ergo Toshinori Yagi lost a lot of weight organ-wise and All for One is finally in his ultimate potato form. For now, the plot was smoothly going.
"You seem to be really interested in All Might lately Kieruko", Mei interjected while tinkering with what was supposed to be a jet pack but for now only qualified as a fire hazard.
"Mmm-hmmm I was just... interested in his Quirk initially and then found all those fascinating discrepancies."
"So you must have figured it all out by now, right?" Toru teased.
Kieruko would not disappoint. "Oh yeah, I did figure it out. His Quirk is a transformation into his powered-up form that he fights in. I mean otherwise someone would have pictures of him doing anything besides hero duties. There is no way the guy didn't step into a grocery store in over 30 years." Ah, yes. The art of dropping heavy lore onto kids who didn't know it was the absolute truth of this world. And it's not like they could prove her right or wrong.
Toru looked like someone had just given her a divine revelation, even surprised Mei took her eyes off the death contraption for a second.
"There is no proof that's true." Invisible girl pouted after a second.
"You're right", Kieruko replied. "But that's the best" and 100% correct "theory you'll find."
"You are our Quirk specialist after all," Mei added.
And wasn't that true. Nothing could be better than some harmless foreshadowing on a peaceful day.
Vacation sneaked up on her.
"You're going to a summer camp for two weeks."
Was she happy about that? No. Would she throw a temper tantrum over this? Also no. Seichi deserved a break.
"Are Toru and Mei going?"
"Unfortunately, that's why we decided to sign you up. Neither of them will be here in that time period, so we are doing it to avoid incidents similar to what happened last year." Great argument, she agrees wholeheartedly. Still upsetting.
She was going to spend 14 days with children who were not destined to save Japan from ultimate destruction and found it disappointing. Her standards became simply too high.
When the two first weeks of August were marked with "Summer Camp ?" on the calendar she just sent a silent prayer to Kōhei Horikoshi begging for an upgrade from whatever emotionally taxing disaster last year was.
Even during ungodly early hours, children continued to be loud. Parents were one by one checking out offspring by the bus and saying their goodbyes. The father-daughter duo stood to the side getting ready to make their own farewells.
"If the camp turns out to be a disappointment, I'm not doing this again."
"How about we'll talk about it after? You might love it."
"But if not?"
"I'm open to negotiation." An agreeable deal.
"I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too, sunshine. Now go and remember to have fun."
Fun. She didn't like that word anymore.
Child-based noises did not stop after she entered the bus. In fact, they intensified as the menagerie began participating in a ritual known as socializing. And they did it for multiple hours they were all stuck in a vehicle. It will never be known where they get their seemingly infinite social batteries from.
She was ensnared in that amazement the whole day as they arrived at the camp, divided kids between rooms in an old-school wooden building, and gave dinner to the starving locust. She really was bad at making friends when Toru wasn't the spokesperson. Yikes.
To be fair while not exiting camp was fine. Few cabins in the clearing of the woods. They had daily activities and edible food. She wasn't outright attacked by resentful masses but also others didn't really talk to her. Then again, no one knew her Quirk, and camp counselors actually were trying to keep a friendly atmosphere.
Oh. Now that she had a chance to think about it, kids were starting fights with her every time she showed off Not Today. Why they thought it was a good idea remained a mystery.
Unremarkable days went by till last evening before going back home.
Local village small town held a widely popular summer festival. A lot of people loved the idea of a cute outing. Too many.
With the amount of stands and enough tourists to fill the town thrice, the main street felt too narrow to fit them all.
Sun was setting over the nearby peak, giving the local temple and trees a gentle glow.
After drawing attention to themselves counselors' instructions were clear. Campers had an hour to split up, and have fun, then everyone would meet up again at the gathering point and together they would watch fireworks.
It was obvious that kids were supposed to stay in groups watched over by a chaperone. It was also incredibly easy for Kieruko to slip away and enjoy the festival on her own. She was eager to finally have a moment to herself. Besides, what would they do if she was caught? Send her home a few hours early?
The village had one main road filled with vendors on both sides and ended with a small square where the stage was located. Countless lights and lanterns illuminated the street packed with colorful folks.
Allowing herself to "get lost" in an energetic yet gentle crowd gave Kieruko a chance to truly appreciate the spirit of the festival. She drifted along with the current of people, observing obviously rigged game booths, a few local artists selling their crafts, and a whole lot of food vendors. Surrounded by the noise of countless conversations and laughter she soaked in the genial ambiance.
She couldn't remember the last time she had a chance to simply exist. Like a passerby instead of an active participant.
It was nice.
Sometime later she purchased a dango and began to cheerfully nib on it while standing on the side when she noticed an abandoned phone lying on the ground. It looked new and when Kieruko turned it on it became painfully obvious it belonged to a middle-aged woman. For one it's wallpaper was a photo of a forty-something lady with distinct magenta hair and two teenagers, one on each side of her. Three of them were proudly standing on the peak of a mountain, both an older woman and younger son grinning to the camera while the other boy was visibly flustered for some reason.
It was a charming picture.
Second, the phone had no code. She almost went straight for the album before remembering that privacy was a thing. The contact list showed the last call was made 30 minutes ago. Finding the owner would be too easy.
So no reason to stress over that.
This would count as hard to trace back, right? In a stroke of "pure genius," she logged on to her burner email and ignored an unread answer. She tapped away happily, only for it to slowly transform into anxiety and lingering concern by the end of the email.
Dear Nedzu,
Not crazy after all.
I think that proves I know the future (unless you think I manipulated somehow both OfA and AfO but that makes me crazy powerful and contacting you would be redundant.)
Actually, I also realized that changing things now could be irresponsible or rather potentially disastrous. So I won't be contacting you in the near future unless this timeline gets spectacularly derailed.
I just kind of became aware I might have doomed us all by writing to you...
Please don't mention/act upon the implications of my existence.
We'll talk again,
Sibyl
Always overthinking.
She really hopes the principal won't do anything drastic as a response. If he even read what she wrote. Wait, there was some sort of reply to the previous email. She checked the response to the first message.
Very well.
The Principal of UA,
Nedzu
?
For some reason, she fully expected an auto-reply. The thought of being ignored, unable to influence the flow of events even if disheartening would bring her solace in knowing she couldn't screw it up.
Besides, what an insane way to answer. Menacing as fuck.
Not wanting to linger on that any longer she dialed the last number. She was answered by a teenage voice and they agreed to meet by the stage. After carefully wiping her fingerprints, still paranoid for some reason, she once again let the vibrant crowd guide her toward her intended destination.
She recognized the merry family from afar. It made her feel slightly bitter as she gave the phone back. And she had to confirm multiple times that no, helping out wasn't a problem, yes, she was not lost and no, she didn't need help.
Thankfully, she had to dive once again into the sea of people and hurry back to the rendezvous point. She was already late.
As to confirm her suspicion of how unpunctual she was, the fireworks began to light up the dark sky. Many turned their gazes up to enjoy the show, consequently slowing down their pace.
Kieruko was going to get the worst scolding when she reunites with legally responsible for her adults but for now, she marveled at the enticing display of pyrotechnics.
Far away behind her, there was one deeper sounding explosion to those of fireworks. She turned around to see a rapidly growing cloud of dust. A hulking figure stood in a hole, the crumbling wall of a building around it. Just a few meters further person fully clad in crimson was slowly rising from the prone position. Collected demeanor indicated they were used to this kind of situation.
"There is only one fate for those who wronged me." Said with disdain man in red.
People were slowly beginning to notice the commotion.
The massive gray guy roared back. "Brave words considering you won't be more than a smear on the pavement when I'm done with you."
The exchange made Kieruko realize one thing. They were both villains. Engaging in combat in the middle of jam-packed space. She needed to run.
Just as she was turning around, the gray guy fell to his knees and an enormous red flower sprouted from his back. Dead.
A flash of recognition. She was so incredibly fucked.
Now everyone was moving.
Screams echoed as the crowd began to run in blind panic away from the villains. A writhing mass of hysterical bodies wanting to immediately go in the same direction jammed the only available path. Why was she seeing so much red? Kieruko was barely standing on her feet crushed by frightened tourists. Worst part? They were barely moving forward.
That's when everything went from bad to disastrous.
Cries rapidly began to still one by one. There was so much more space now.
Pain.
Red bloomed all around. Multiple bodies dropped as not only huge plant-like monstrosities emerged but also countless smaller flowers shot out, spearing defenseless victims.
Kieruko fell to the ground as something went through her thigh. Fuck, it hurt. After a flimsy attempt, made of her frantically yanking at a stalk with the durability of a metal cable, she realized it was impossible to pull it out. She had nothing sharp to cut it.
Stuck.
All the struggle was brought to a halt as she felt movement under her skin. Left forearm. Right shoulder. Under right shoulderblade. There was something squirming inside her. No. No no no no nononononononononononononononononononnonononononononnononononononononononononoononononononononononononononononononononononononnonononononononnononononononononononononoononononononononononononononononononononononononnonononononononnononononononononononononoonononononono
She was going to die. She was going to die. She was going to die a gruesome death. She was going to die a pointless death. She was going to die for no reason. She was going to die suffering. She was going to die. She was going to die again. She was going to die. She was going to die. She was going to die. She was going to die.
She didn't want to die.
s
Emotions were undesirable at the moment.
She needed to act logically.
With fascination, she watched as a small crimson bud broke through the skin on her forearm.
More pain.
She did not have time.
k
This disaster was a product of a Quirk.
Locate the source.
She looked up to see the man in red. He was currently talking in an amused tone to the only hero available. Pro was doing his best to attack the villain with his stretchy limbs but he was visibly losing strength. Vermillion buds springing out of a simple sky-blue costume told everything there was to say.
The villain's name was Kunieda. Quirk: Ability to propagate and control carnivorous plants.
Hero's name: unknown. Quirk: Elasticity (of some kind).
Terrible compatibility in combat.
Plan of action:
Kieruko lay down calmly on the ground, erased the villain's Quirk, and squeezed her eyelids shut.
Just as she hoped predicted, it stopped the plants from growing further. The sounds of survivors' ragged breathing, whimpering, sobbing, and begging for help filled the air. She didn't move.
The choking scent of iron. The expanding pool of warm thick liquid slowly soaking into her clothes. The smooth voice of a villain who was getting closer. It made the dormant part of her mind beg her to move, to run. But she couldn't afford to even flinch.
The villain was forced to fight Quirkless with the badly injured pro. Somehow it evened the odds out.
The plan was simple. Keep Kunieda's Quirk inactive as long as possible, hope that the hero can knock him out, stay hidden in case hero fails, hope reinforcements come as quickly as possible, remain undetected as long as she can. This way even if the villain figures out someone in the crowd is blocking his ability, he'll go after moving suspects first. After all, you have to be conscious to activate most Quirks.
She could hold basic Not Today for around 7 minutes. Recovery time 20 seconds. Those were her safety settings. Today was an exception.
Sounds of combat were ceaselessly approaching as the pressure grew.
Angry howl. "What did you do to my Quirk?"
Migraine achingly settled in, her ears were barely picking up anything besides the deafening sound of pulsing blood, even her eyes were throbbing.
She let go of the connection. Necessary if they're to survive long enough. Roots in her muscles shifted. Focus. It's expanding. Just a moment. One more twitch from the alien organism. This should be enough.
She opened her eyes, and the second villain's head was turned activated Quirk, once again closing them immediately.
A growl of frustration followed.
This was a waiting game with the highest stakes possible. All or nothing.
Kunieda seemed to be capable enough to keep up with Quirked Pro even if the latter was severely weakened. It was taking too much time.
It felt like hours went by.
Where is the backup?
They were too close to her. If she canceled Not Today now, it would be impossible to re-establish the connection without being noticed.
The thoughts were becoming increasingly less coherent as her brain became liquid agony, her eyeballs were screaming for the sweet relief of what was not coming, how long, how long, how-how long?
She felt a stream of warm tears steadily making their way down her face.
N o
Remember.
Pain is preferable to death.
She experienced both before and the permanent deletion from existence was not an option. She had too much to do.
It wasn't "I AM HERE" but a sudden shift in temperature that finally gave her hope. A moment after an audible clash between two forces she let go of her Quirk.
Even with blurry vision, she saw a torch of a man decking the villain.
Endeavor.
Thank fuck the guy was a workaholic and in the area.
As the fight was finally over, the cacophony of human suffering reverberated through the air once again. Moments later first responders began to arrive.
With her leg still skewered she didn't dare to move more than just to sit up. She desperately needed medical attention and really didn't want to be mistaken for a corpse.
When Tenju got his Hero License it seemed like there were countless adventures waiting for him. Now, two years into his official solo career he found himself in a slightly stagnant position.
Even if he was good at his job, and in Tenju's humble opinion he was incredibly effective, there was barely any recognition from both HPSC and the public. So he decided to do a soft restart of his career. A rebranding as it's called.
And while he waited for his friend a marketing specialist to redesign his hero persona, he volunteered to watch over a popular festival in some village that was too small to have an active hero working there. It's not like he was needed anywhere else.
What he could not predict was having to fight an A-class villain for his life. In the least favorable circumstances to exist.
Just his luck.
He immediately recognized there was a low chance of him stopping the villain so he called the high-level emergency immediately on the Hero Network. And that was the best decision he ever made, considering he barely endured long enough for Endeavor to arrive. There were no words that could describe his relief, even if he would feel bitter about it for years to come.
Now here he was, barely standing in the middle of a disaster site. Dozens of people lying on the ground, many of them not moving. And there was just so much red. Not only because of the villain's Quirk but also...
No matter. He's still a pro hero and has a job to do. Helping victims is the cornerstone of his profession. His gaze stopped on a small motionless figure.
Child drenched in blood.
He almost threw up before realizing that they were alive. Just in shock.
He is a hero. This is his vocation.
Tenju approached the kid surrounded by unmoving forms and, oh god they couldn't be older than 10, why are there people in the world who would without any hesitation do such things?
"Are you okay?"
The child twitched as if snapped out of a trance, then pointedly looked at their leg. The sight wasn't pretty. And he didn't have anything to sever the stalk growing out of... a casualty. The kid who began to follow his gaze paled instantly.
No. He was supposed to act professionally.
"Hey, look at me." Thankfully it worked. The pair of dazed black eyes snapped back to him. "Everything is going to be alright." It feels like this line would bear more weight coming out of the mouth of someone who wasn't almost killed a few minutes ago. "What's your name?" Keep the victim engaged, just like in training.
"I think I'm bleeding out." Not exactly what he wanted to hear but it's better than nothing. "Could you find someone to cut the red thing? I'll be fine...alone." A beat of hesitation. "For a moment."
So maybe he didn't expect the kid to be this composed but it was probably due to the shock. Tenju had to be in a worse state than he thought cause he barely remembered catching the attention of a firefighter (or maybe paramedic?) and in the next moment, he was already in an ambulance with the child and had no memories of how he got there.
He really wasn't a good hero, was he? Almost got killed by a single villain, saved at first by seemingly divine intervention deactivating the villain's Quirk but that wasn't enough, he still needed to be saved by another hero. And he was too injured to even help in rescue except for a single person. How pathetic.
"I'm glad we both survived", whispered a small bandaged figure.
"Me too", he murmured back.
"Kieruko. That's my name."
"I'm Mr. Elongastic."
The sudden bark of laughter startled him.
"That is a terrible name."
A smile slowly crept onto his face. "Hey! It's not that bad", he argued jokingly, starting a playful banter between them. It seemed like they managed to distract each other, even if only for a short while.
She didn't remember a lot from the first few hours in the hospital. When she came to consciousness she was greeted by the worried faces of her parents and information that the surgery was successful (when did that happen?). The doctor said she was going to make a full recovery with just a few scars.
While Seichi hugging her tightly while crying was welcomed and expected, it was a nice surprise to see that Ishiki actually cared. And she did, judging by the just as tight hug accompanied by more tears.
Why can't any relationship be simple?
Convincing her parents that she was fine, she wasn't, and that she didn't remember a thing, she did in vivid details, was a necessity. No need to treat her like a fragile piece of glass or send her to a shrink.
She was going to be just fine after some rest.
It took her a while to realize that besides obvious injuries she still had a pretty severe case of Quirk exhaustion. Might be cause the doctor didn't mention it and whatever pain meds she was on were working wonders. But the familiar memory of a migraine and mild strain to her eyes were still present. Her vision was still slightly blurry. She hoped that wasn't permanent but at least it confirmed her theory. Even if the line of sight wasn't needed to keep it active, her Quirk, in fact, was channeled through the eyes like Aizawa's. So it wasn't exactly a telepathic link like in Seichi's case. Fascinating!
And now she quietly observed as nurses and doctors were running around trying to help as many people as possible. Even hours later there was still a shortage of staff and a surplus of victims in need of medical care.
On the morning news, she will be mentioned as a number. Part of a statistic. Fucking powerless to truly change anything.
...well...
That's not exactly true now, isn't it?
That hero would not survive without her. The number of victims would be higher. She did something.
That was the ironic part. She tries to be just another extra in the background to keep the balance, not changing anything of importance. But she also wants change. When she decides it should happen, on her terms.
The less people know the less will change. Easier to bend fate to her whims when she knows what to expect. That is the easiest way to keep everyone safe. Besides, there is a guaranteed strategy to actually avoid more incidents. She simply should exist around people who she knows will survive next few years.
There is no way she's going to experience this kind of excitement out of her own free will anytime soon.
Slight change of plans.
New list of priorities just dropped.
1. Make sure Kunieda never has a chance to escape Tartarus (slightly personal)
2. Kill All for One if she has to because her heart won't survive Tartarus prison break
3. Do whatever it takes to achieve those two goals
After all, she can and will make the change no matter how hard it's going to be.
It's late. Everyone else has a break from their duties for the duration of summer, leaving the building eerily empty. In the vast office, a small figure illuminated only by the light of the computer screen sighs deeply.
Almost a year ago he received the most intriguing message. A possibility of a person under a Quirk capable of some sort of time-space and/or perception manipulation (the wording was too unusual for it to be their own Quirk). A promise with a vague threat. On itself, it was more amusing than intimidating so he decided to play along with the sender's request.
Tracing the email was a dead end. It led to a library in a village. Mail address was created there and only used once. He chuckled at the password "Iknew¥0Ud_DOthis". Whoever his correspondent was, they decided to hide by using simple methods and outdated technology with no link to any other physical or virtual identity. Basic yet effective.
He filed away the unusual occurrence in the back of his mind and went on with his life.
Then unexpectedly early second message went through. The content of that one was anticipated but still thrilling. He treated it as a green light to check the Prediction and he was not disappointed but disturbed.
When he was informed of All Might's triumph in his fight against All for One, the thought of "one of the biggest victories your allies will achieve" automatically was brought forward. It was only a prediction but he doubted anything more important would happen soon, still, he was content with not opening the mysterious file yet. But now that it was referenced he felt completely justified in satiating his curiosity.
He read the text again.
All Might and All for One will have a battle to the death.
AM performs lobotomy via fist on the AfO.
AM ends up with severe injuries in the hospital +falling out with Sir Nighteye.
(this is a good ending DO NOT CHANGE)
The implications of everything he found out in the last 48 hours were not exactly comforting.
Nedzu glanced at a bloodstained piece of technology still wrapped in a police evidence bag lying on his desk.
He was able to track the owner of the phone. He was also able to construct the timeline and deduce the message was sent minutes, at best, before the owner was swept up in the villain attack.
Considering the woman was now peacefully waiting on a shelf to be processed out of the morgue, his plans of getting answers directly from her were no longer feasible.
With that, the mysterious future-knowing sender remained anonymous. And hopefully was still alive.
Oh dear.