Note: Hey guys! This chapter all the way to Chapter 12 is kind of a dumping of a bunch of chapters from the AO3 version of this fic. The notes are kind of copied from there, with a few minor edits. Hope you enjoy!

Hey everyone, good to be back! A little later than I would have liked to post this, but I got caught up in life, so sorry about that. Still,I like this chapter, the beginning of our first arc after the introduction arc, and the first to establish the pattern I'll have with arcs going forward. Each arc of this and Acid Pink will be around three chapters. Smaller arcs may have less than that, but to try and make sure this story isn't bloated, I want to limit the amount of chapters per arc. If I really think I need it, an arc might be four chapters, though the only one I really see the need for would be the final arc of the story. Back to this chapter in particular, this introduces the first of my OC's for this story. There will be more in the future, but the story isn't going to flood with them for the most part. Many of the ones introduced will be arc specific, and there are really only a few that stick around. With that out of the way, Enjoy.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXO

I'll admit it: this was a bad idea. Texting while on patrol was stupid and dangerous. But I felt like I needed to do this now. I had gotten Uraraka's number two days ago when she visited the store for a second time. Surprisingly easy, but given who Uraraka was, I wasn't that surprised. So, I sat down on a rooftop and pulled out my phone. I had gone a bit out of my usual range for patrol, but I was confident it would be okay.

Toga: Hey. It's me. Toga.

Uraraka: Oh Hi Toga! How are you?

I hesitated for a moment, before typing back.

Toga: Good enough, I guess. What about you? Doing good in hero school?

Uraraka: Oh I'm great! I made new friends, and our teacher is nice, it's just…

Toga: Something wrong?

Uraraka: Well, you heard about what happened at the USJ. Right?

I couldn't help the snort. Know? I had been there. But I couldn't really say that, so…

Toga: Oh yeah, I saw the news on it. You were involved in that?

Uraraka: Yeah, my class was attacked by villains. I'm stil a little scared

Toga: Oh, I'm sorry

Uraraka: It's not your fault. Besides, no one got hurt, so it's not that bad.

Toga: Good, I'm glad. How are you managing aside from that? Living on your own isn't easy, I know.

Uraraka: Oh, it's fine. It's kind of nice to have a space to myself. My home is a little loud normally. What about you? Why are you on your own?

I shivered a little reading that, before trying to change the subject, though I noticed a few people talking in the area around me, sounding pretty close.

Toga: It's a long story.

Uraraka: I have time.

I thought for a moment on how to reply, before I heard a commotion kick up in the alleys near me. I moved close to the edge to have a peek and saw an interesting sight. The alley below me was a little more open than most, and there was quite the scene unfolding. It appeared that there had been a meeting in the alleyway, of suspicious looking thugs, dressed in two different outfits.

The meeting had been crashed by a figure who was most certainly different from the rest, though it was hard to get a good look at him as he was moving too fast, dodging around a punch from one of the thugs, who had grown some sort of spikes on his arm, and swept his feet out from under him and stomping on his leg. He then turned and threw some pellets at an approaching enemy that exploded into green gas, causing the man to double over coughing.

Okay, so there was a criminal dealing, so the guy crashing it is either a hero or a vigilante. Probably a vigilante. I took my phone out and shot one more text to Uraraka, telling her I had to go to work, before putting in in a secure pocket and running to the end of the building, skittering down it quietly and approaching the fight from behind.

One of the thugs, a man with blue skin and some kind of cold quirk, was waiting on the fringes, probably for some opportunity to strike in. I cut that short with a quick slash to the back of his legs, causing him to fall, before a boot to the head took him down.

The other figure continued his own fight as I did so, narrowly dodging a wire shot at him by another thug, before delivering a devastating uppercut to one of the others trying to flank him, knocking him back and giving the figure a chance to turn and take care of the wire thug with his own restraints, a kind of bola that wrapped him up and caused him to fall and crack his head.

It was at that point I jumped in, jumping onto the back of one of the larger thugs, who had a weird cylinder-shaped head, causing him to stumble as I delivered a slash across his back and pushed off, throwing his balance off and pushing him into another thug, allowing the figure to take that one out with a few more of the gas pellets he had used earlier.

He gave me little more than a nod as he charged past me, delivering a swift kick to the knee of a thug who I had missed behind me. I focused on the cylinder head, drawing my knife again, and keeping him at bay with knife slashes. He blocked with his arms, getting cuts. The more he bled, the more I felt an urge that built and built, until I finally let it go.

A giggle tore its way out of my throat, building to a laugh as I flipped over the punch headed my way. I couldn't help it! I was just having too much fun. I kicked his arm hard, hearing a satisfying crack and his cry of pain, before I slashed him across the face, leaving a massive gash. He cried out, holding his face as he ran. I simply giggled. Who was next?

The next lucky contender ran up, a guy who looked pathetic compared to the last one. He was cute though. Would be cuter with a little blood. I drew one of my knives and threw it, causing it to sink into his arm. He screamed and I smiled, using the moment of distraction to close the distance.

I slashed him across the chest, leaving a big wound. He screamed and fell over. I licked my lips, before shaking my head. Damn it, I let the quirk distract me. I was frozen just a moment, only to be caught off guard as a fist slammed into the back of my head. Lucky for me I rolled and didn't take the full force, but things were blurry for a bit, leaving me dodging blind as a big shape was coming at me.

My vision slowly cleared, and I found myself at a match. This guy was better than his peers, managing to block my kick, and following it up by a devastating haymaker that made my head spin again. I stumbled back, just barely blocking the follow up, but my arms shook from the effort. The thug smiled at that.

"What, little girl can't handle Takahashi? Can't say I'm surprised."

I grimaced, before smirking.

"Takahashi? The Takahashi? Can't believe I'm meeting you."

Takahashi smiled, looking like he enjoyed the ego boost.

"Well, guess you're a fan then? Takahashi's always happy to give autographs."

I giggled, before full on laughing. He seemed taken off guard from that, looking a little put off. Hmm, maybe the psycho laugh could be useful. I straightened up and shook my head, still with a slightly too wide smile on my face.

"Nope, never even heard of you. Really fell for that?"

He seemed angry, his face shifting as he took a momentary step back. Taking advantage of the distraction, I took a knife from one of my sheathes and tossed it toward him. His face turned surprised before bringing an arm up to block it. The knife landed dead center in the middle of his upper arm. Blood started leaking as he brought it up to his face and inspected it, looking mildly bemused. I couldn't help my shock.

"The fuck?"

Takahashi just smiled.

"Guess you're better than I thought little lady."

I took a step back as he cracked his knuckles.

"Now I need to get serious."

He charged and went for a jab. I just managed to move out of the way, but I could feel the air whoosh by as I ducked, before trying for a leg sweep. He didn't even react as it hit, and I ended up hurting my leg. He came down on me with a hammer fist, which I rolled out of the way of, seeing his fist impact the concrete and crack it, bloodying in the process. He again didn't react. Some kind of pain quirk?

I backed up and jumped up, slashing at him wildly with my knife. He simply took the slashes, blocking them from his chest with his arm, and only wincing slightly. He wound up for another blow, before and explosion went off on his back. It looked like someone had used some miniature explosives. I turned to see the figure from before, standing over the rest of the thugs, all knocked out. They spoke for the first time, in a clearly disguised voice, made deep by some sort of modulator.

"Forget about me, Takahashi?"

Takahashi frowned, before huffing.

"This isn't over Shade. Consider yourself lucky the little lady was here to help. Otherwise our rematch would have been here and now. And you know what that would mean."

Takahashi shoved me to the ground and ran, surprisingly fast for his size. The Shade pursued for a moment, before stopping as he reached the end of the alleyway, turning and coming back. He kneeled next to me, helping me up, before looking at the various thugs either knocked out or restrained. He hummed as he passed me by.

I finally got up, and got a good look at him. The figure themselves was dressed in quite the noir outfit, all black, trench coat, fedora, gloves, and what looked like boots. The only non-black thing he wore was a silver full face mask. I dusted myself off as he walked over to the knocked-out thugs, taking out a small device and attaching it to each of their arms. They unwound into restraints, making sure none of them could escape.

I broke the silence once he had finished his work.

"Pretty impressive tech there. Make it yourself?"

He simply nodded and said, "In a way."

I walked forward as he stood up, standing beside them.

"Any idea what these guys were doing?"

He responded by walking over to a downed briefcase, and opening it up, before speaking.

"Drugs. Looks like they were handing off some new supply for the dealers."

He picked it up and set it by the thugs, before taking another small device and pressing the button on its top, then dropping it to the ground. I felt a little awkward, so I kept talking. I was honestly not great at keeping things like this up, and this Shade guy wasn't really helping.

"That Takahashi guys said you were called The Shade, right? You a vigilante?"

He turned to look at me, tilting his head slightly to acknowledge the question, before simply saying "That is my name, and yes, I am a vigilante."

I sighed under my mask.

"You aren't much for conversation, are you?"

He responded curtly.

"I don't see much of a reason for many words when a few do just fine."

I shrugged. Guess that was kind of true. Still didn't give me much to work with.

"Well, guess it's good to meet you."

I held out a hand.

"I'm Bloodrush. I'm also a vigilante, though not usually around here."

Shade looked at my hand, before slowly taking it, and giving it a strong shake.

"Nice to meet you. I haven't met many of our kind before. Too many seem to have been caught by the police…. speaking of which, we should go. That beacon I put down should have led the local police to be here soon."

He ran to a nearby building and jumped up, his boots attaching him as he ran up it. I skittered up after him with my gloves, following close behind, before we stopped a few buildings down. He seemed surprised though it was hard to tell, though his voice did betray it.

"Why did you follow me? I expected you would have gone to your own patrol."

I shrugged as I spun a knife in my hand lazily.

"I was a bit curious. That Takahashi guy seemed like he knew you. You deal with him before?"

He nodded.

"Several times, but I only fought him once. He nearly killed me."

I winced in sympathy.

"Yeah, I get that. This kind of gig is dangerous. You must run into his gang a lot then?"

He seemed to stiffen a little, but responded in the affirmative.

"They are the ones I hunt. I've been at war with them for two years now."

I tilted my head curiously.

"Grudge? How's it working it out so far."

He let out a sigh.

"I've managed to get a few of their operations shut down, but so far it seems like I haven't made much of a difference. They're too big. If I could take out their leader it might weaken them substantially, but I haven't been able to touch him."

Wow. That was the most he'd talked at once since we'd met. I shook off the surprise and thought about it for a bit. Hmmm, he seemed like he was struggling.

Then we help him out!

'WHAT THE- oh. Geez, you scared me Himiko. You've been silent ever since I went on patrol, what's going on?'

I dunno.

'I-seriously?'

Yep.

'Okay, we'll unpack that later. You said we should help him?'

Yeah! Maybe we could be the thing he needs!

'I see the logic.'

Plus, we have a longggg time until we need to do something.

Good point. When did you get so smart?

Thanks, I- Hey! :(

I ignored her as I appeared to be in thought, before gasping and smiling.

"Hey, I got an idea then. Maybe you just need a wild card to get them off guard!"

"And that would be…?"

I jumped up from where I'd perched near the edge of a roof.

"Me! I could help you out, and we take this leader guy out together! Vigilante team up!"

"No."

It was flat and final sounding, like he knew that was the case, was certain about it. I frowned.

"Why? You just said- "

He cut me off, walking near the edge of the building and looking out over it at the city below.

"Black Dove is mine. I will bring him to justice, no one else. This is my burden to bear."

"But-"

Before I could even argue, he'd jumped off the edge and vanished, leaving me just confused. He'd just shut me down for no reason, and then run off.

'Well then.'

Douchebag

'Okay, calm down there. He didn't seem that bad.'

He didn't even let us explain. Just ran. He seems like a douchebag.

'Not wrong there…but still.'

I turned and began to move. I had other things to do tonight. Not like I could really waste it sitting on a rooftop. Maybe I'd see The Shade again. I hoped it would be on better terms.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXO

Turns out it would not be good circumstances I would meet him in. Three days later, I was on patrol, and something felt off for most of the night. It felt like something bad was going to happen. I tried to ignore it for a little bit, punching out a few burglars, but it just grew. And that urge, when I finally decided to listen to it, pulled me out of my usual zone where I patrolled.

This was weird. Sure, I had gut instincts, but this was a bit out of that depth. Still, those gut feelings had always steered me right so far, so I started patrolling around the area. Caught a dime a dozen thief before I found what my instincts were probably leading me to. Was out of the way too, leading me to a shipping yard near the docks. The scene wasn't pretty.

Perched on one of the higher stacks of containers, I could make out a figure, surrounded by a number of dangerous looking thugs. They looked around the same quality of those from the USJ really, but it was the one in the white suit leaning in the back that got my attention. It was Takahashi, the blowhard with the pain quirk. So, by deduction, the surrounded figure was…

It's Shady!

'Nickname pending, but yeah, that's them'

They looked worse for wear too. Getting a little closer with my goggles, I saw a few major injuries. One arm looked ripped up bad, a sleeve torn, and it looked to be bleeding. He was favoring his left leg when he moved too, the pants he was wearing having a gash across them that was also bleeding. Not to mention the numerous rips and cuts visible. He was in bad shape, his mask the only real thing not injured. Heck, his hat had been knocked off, revealing short black hair. I shivered at the sight of all that blood, but I pushed those thoughts down.

He was in trouble, and I didn't even think about it before I jumped down from the stack of containers I had perched on, around the edge of the fight. The Shade had swung and kept a few of the thugs at bay, but other were closing in from the side. He caught one of their fists in his side and stumbled, but kept his footing. The guy just wouldn't go down.

I took the opportunity to ambush, running quickly and quietly toward the fight, and opening it up with a showy move meant to draw attention. I flipped through the air, doing my best psychotic giggle and shouting. "OOOOOOH! Fun party, mind if I cut in!?" before landing on the shoulders of one the thugs, a red skinned man with horns (Satan is real? Wait who's Satan?), and pushing off, causing him to stumble.

This was followed by a knife thrown straight into the weapon arm of another thug, causing him to yell and drop his crowbar. I then picked it up quickly on landing and swung for his head, knocking him out. I turned to look at the rest of the thugs, winking.

"Any of you gents wanna take this lady out for a dance?"

The Shade spoke up at this point, seeming worried.

"What are you- I told you I work alone."

I shrugged as I drew a knife and parried the blade one of the thugs had swung at me, formed from his hand.

"I was in the area and saw you were in trouble."

I pushed forward with my knife, and in a swift motion shoved blade hand back, causing him to stumble, with Shade following it up with a swift punch to the temple. I gave him a serious look.

"So you work alone. At least let me help you out now. Let's work together and take these guys down."

He seemed stunned, but nodded. I drew another knife, holding one in each hand, as The Shade took a fighter's stance. The rest of the thugs surrounded us, and we stood back-to-back now, ready. They charged, and we went to work.

I weaved between him and his fists, covering when he whiffed a swing due to his arm or blocking an attack when he wasn't fast enough to dodge. It was exhausting, but as the fight went on, and blood started spilling, I found myself caring less and less. Giggles began to surface from my mouth again, and I started swinging a bit wider and gashing deeper into flesh. It was just so fun to see them bleed! Besides, it was just making these jerks a little cuter, why not do it that way?

Still, The Shade and I made a good team. I ducked and let him use some of his gadgets to disable a few, then I would leave them bleeding! He was cool and kind of cute, especially with all that blood. Maybe I should-

Uh, Ethan?

A scared voice caught my attention, and I felt the world snap back into focus, leaving me vulnerable again. This time it was a spiked fist to my side, throwing me to the side and leaving a big gash that promptly began to bleed.

I recovered quickly, and threw myself back in. Soon enough, most of the men were down on the ground. They were disorganized and didn't work well together. That had allowed me and The Shade to play them on each other. That and our teamwork let us win, bruised and bloody as we were. I had taken another good few hits after the first, leaving me with a black eye and a few more cuts. Shade looked even worse. His mask had even cracked, and more of his skin was exposed through the cuts in the fabric of his costume.

Takahashi looked impressed.

"Well, you got Takahashi's friends down pat. But you don't look so good Shade. You either little lady."

He gave me a shit eating grin that made me want to strangle him. But I knew that I was in no condition to fight. I had been far less injured the first time, and he had nearly gotten me. I wasn't going to win now.

But I wanna stab him!

'He wouldn't even feel it.'

But it would feel good!

I ignored my passenger and looked over at The Shade. He was breathing heavily, I could tell, and though his fists were balled, he seemed to know what I knew. He moved forward, and Takahashi's grin widened.

"So you want a rematch, eh? Well Takahashi is glad to abl-Agh!"

The explosives to his face and the smoke bombs going off around him stopped his statement in its tracks. I took the queue and ran after Shade, seeing him rapidly climbing up and onto a nearby building on the edge of the shipping yard. It wasn't too far of a run, and I caught up quickly, skittering up and getting to my feet. I didn't wait to hear what Takahashi had to say. We stopped after nearly ten minutes. Looking over my fellow vigilante, he looked worse up close. Some of his wounds were still bleeding, and several looked like they had tried to start scabbing, only to be ripped by his movement.

I was already feeling bad, but he looked like he was gonna pass out. I thought fast. Who could I call? We go to the hospital, we get arrested.

What about Uncle Jin?

'Good idea, but he won't be happy to know we're a vigilante'

We don't really have much of a choice.

'…Yeah, you have a point.'

I whipped out my phone, and dialed his number, answering Shade's question of "What are you-"

With a quick and panicked response.

"I'm calling someone who can help. Please do your best to stay awake."

The phone rang twice (ha) before Twice picked up.

"Himiko? What's going on? You interrupted dancing with the stars! Why are you calling so late, kid?"

I paused and breathed in a minute before responding.

"Hi Uncle Jin, I need to stop by your place. Bit of an emergency. Are you alright with that?"

"Sure No! What's happening, are you okay? I don't care!"

I talked quick as I moved and supported Shade. He was having some trouble as we walked.

"Sorry can't explain right now be there in a bit!"

I hung up and focused on getting us there. My phone showed it wasn't that far from here, so we needed to move fast. Shade seemed curious.

"Who was that?"

I answered honestly.

"Someone who can help us."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXO

The way there was nerve wracking. Shade was losing a lot of blood, and I had to keep myself in check at the same time. My quirk had been actin up bad recently, and I tried my best not to look at his wounds. It would only make things worse. Shade was also barely conscious at some points, only managing to stay awake with my help.

But we made it to Twice's apartment building. I had visited already and so I knew he was on the second floor. Slowly, we both made our way down the building from the top. We figured it would be easier than going through the building. Less chances to be spotted. I nearly slipped once but with some grit, we made it, and both landed on a small ledge outside Twice's window. I could see him inside, looking worried and pacing. He looked like he was arguing with himself again, but he froze as I tapped loudly on the window.

Twice moved slowly over to it, and I waved at him, motioning to open it. He seemed confused.

Why isn't he opening it?

'Oh! He doesn't recognize us!'

I pulled down my mask and gave him a full toothed grin. His expression changed from wary to shocked before he opened the window. I slipped through quick, and Shade followed soon after. I dusted myself off and gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks Uncle Jin."

He still seemed shocked.

"Himiko, what's going on? This is confusing!"

I sighed as I prepared to explain, before I heard a thud. Twice and I both turned to see Shade had finally passed out, and was now bleeding on Twice's floor.

I rushed over and kneeled by him, checking his pulse. He was still doing okay, but we needed to stop his bleeding. I looked to Twice and began to speak.

"We can talk later. This guy needs help right now. Do you have any medical supplies?"

He snapped out of it and ran to the bathroom, while I moved Shade to a more comfortable position, and began removing parts of his costume. The trench coat was first, revealing a simple black shirt underneath. Then the mask, revealing Shade's face to me. He looked just a little older than me, with sharp features and clean skin, along with black hair kept short. I tossed the costume pieces into a pile as I removed them.

Soon enough, Twice was back with some of the essentials. Bandages, cotton, it looked like he had grabbed anything he had in the bathroom he thought would help. I knew a bit about first aid, so I took what he had and got to work, trying to ignore the blood. Twice watched, and handed me the occasional thing I needed. We were quiet throughout, though occasional snippet of talk slipped though.

"So, you a vigilante?"

I paused my work just a moment as I considered how to respond.

"Yeah. It's a long story."

Twice was quiet after that, until I finished up. I had managed to stem the bleeding and wrap the cuts. I couldn't do much about the bruises, but it looked like he didn't break anything, though I would have to ask once he woke up.

I stood back and sighed in relief, before collapsing into one of Twice's chairs. He sat down near me, and we just sat there for a while, not knowing what to say. I spoke first, figuring I might as well break the news.

"So, I guess you wanna know why I showed up with a random guy at like ten at night."

Twice nodded quickly. I sighed, before starting things up.

"He's a vigilante like me. Helped save him from a bad spot, and we needed somewhere to get to right then. You were the first thing I thought of."

He chuckled a little.

"Thanks."

I shrugged.

"Hey, it worked out. I was a little scared you wouldn't react well to…well this."

I gestured to my vigilante gear. Twice gave me a look I couldn't decipher, and was silent a bit before speaking again.

"I…knowing the story with you and your family, I feel like I'm the only one who can look after ya right now. If you got hurt, I could never forgive myself."

I braced myself.

"But, if you want to do this kind of thing, I can't really stop you,"

Okay, not what I was expecting.

"But if you're in trouble, give me a call. I might be able to help."

I nodded, grateful he understood. Before I could say anything, I heard a groan from the couch, signifying that Shade was waking up. I quickly got up and rushed to his side, Twice following after.

"What…? Where am I?"

His voice sounded different without the modulator, more unsure and a bit scratchier than I thought. I piped up, trying my best to sound calm.

"How much do you remember, Shade?"

He shot up at my voice, head whipping toward me. This also let me see that his eyes were a striking shade of blue. It gave him an intense look about him.

"Who-Bloodrush?"

I nodded as he moved to a sitting position, wincing a bit from the wounds.

"Did you wrap my wounds?"

"Yep, though the supplies came from my uncle here."

I pointed to Twice, who waved enthusiastically at Shade. He returned the gesture, though slower and with wary eyes.

"Thank you, both of you."

He sighed.

"Loath as I am to admit it, that fight wasn't going well for me."

I chuckled.

"You are very welcome. Just glad to have helped. And I think since we've both got faces out it would be okay to just say it. I'm Himiko Toga. Nice to meet you. Again."

He didn't respond, looking as if he was contemplating something, before speaking again.

"I'm…Kaito Akitamura. It is…good to meet you too, Toga."

I smiled at him, before looking over his form, checking my wrappings were secure.

"How are ya feeling?"

He didn't respond for a minute again, but did eventually.

"Not great, but better than before, at least."

I nodded absentmindedly, still studying him. Without the uniform, I could tell he was well muscled and pretty chiseled. Kinda cute…okay nope nope not going there again. I will sort those feelings out later. Into the bin you go.

"Good. I'm glad. I think you should be good in a week or so, just don't do anything too strenuous. I'm not a doctor, so that's just a guess."

He grimaced, but nodded.

"I don't like not being on the streets, but It's a price I'll pay."

Twice abruptly got up and walked to his room, but turned and looked at us.

"I'm…going to sleep. I'm gonna read Manga! You guys can sleep in here tonight."

He closed the door, and I heard a bit of shuffling go on, before it was just me and Akitamura. He looked to the door, before turning back to me.

"Is he always like that?"

I shrugged.

"Pretty much. I just kinda deal with it."

He nodded and we sat in silence for a bit.

"So…last time we met you ran kind of abruptly. What was with that?"

He seemed to seriously think about it.

"I…guess I let my emotions get the better of me. I apologize."

I smiled.

'Guess you were wrong about him being a douchebag'

I guess, but I'm not really mad about that. He's cute too.

'Toga!'

What? I know you were thinking about it too!

'That's…not important!'

Gotcha ;)

I groaned internally but focused back on the real world.

"It's fine. Those guys must've done something pretty bad if you responded like that."

His look darkened and he looked over toward the window, avoiding eye contact.

"Their leader…he's a scumbag who exploits people's naivete to gain power and fame, all while masquerading as a virtuous and great hero."

I stopped at that. Huh, that was quite the idea. Not that impossible though, considering Endeavour and how people overlooked that.

What did Endeavour do?

'Long story, but to make it short, he was an abusive father and husband.'

I felt Toga's curiosity turn to white hot rage.

We should kill him.

'No.'

Why.

'Again, long story, and I'll tell you later.'

I ignored the now enraged Toga to continue the conversation

"That's horrible."

He nodded.

"I've dedicated myself to fighting him, to bring him to justice. His name is Black Dove."

I nodded. I had heard the name thrown around a couple times, but never many details. I decided to seize the opportunity.

"So…now that I've demonstrated my worth, how do you feel about working together to take Black Dove down?"

He seemed wary again, but sighed.

"I still don't like it,"

I was about to object, but held on.

"but you have proven to be competent. You may be right. Another factor may be just what I need to finally bring Black Dove down."

I grinned and held out my hand.

"So…partners?"

He looked at it in contemplation, before taking it, and giving a firm, resolute shake.

"Partners."

Once that was done, I sat back, sighing in relief.

"I'm glad you agreed. I thought you might argue more, but you're surprisingly amenable. No offense."

He laughed a bit. It was the first time I'd heard it.

"I'm not unreasonable, even if I can be occasionally pig-headed."

We simply sat there, basking in a relaxed atmosphere. Akitamura spoke up after a few minutes.

"So what do we do now? I cannot be on the streets for a week as you said."

I thought it over for a moment, before giving my best response.

"We plan. I'll do my usual patrols and we meet and talk while you rest."

Then it hit me. This could be a good opportunity.

"But once you're good, there's something we can do. It's not involving Black Dove, but I think you'll find it worthwhile"

He cocked an eyebrow, looking curious.

"What?"

I smiled. We were going to be busy the day of the sports festival. Maybe I could ask Twice to record it for me.

"How do you feel about catching an infamous villain by surprise?"

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If anyone's curious, the plan for this story in particular looks a bit like this at the current time, a rough estimate of where things will go:

Chapters 1-5: Introduction Arc (Finished)
Chapters 6-8: Vs. Black Dove Arc
Chapters 9-11: Interview Arc
Chapters 12-13: League Training Arc
Chapters 14-16: Camp Arc
Chapters 17-18: Vs. ? Arc
Chapters 19-20: Aftermath/Revelation Arc
Chapters 21-23: Shie Hassaiki Arc
Chapter 24: Vs. !
Chapters 25-27: Meta Liberation Army Arc
Chapters 28-30: MLA Training Arc
Chapters 31- 33: Revolution Arc
Chapters 34-37: Final Arc
Chapter 38: Epilogue

Again, this is a rough plan, just a teaser in case you guys were curious. But onto the chapter itself I really enjoyed writing and Coming up with The Shade, or Kaito, as a character. I always felt like there was a severe lack of heroes who used gadgets, which is a shame because that's an entire archetype of hero in most comics. So I brought my own take on it to the table. He'll be showing up later in the story, but he's not going to be a prominent figure. Just a side character I had fun writing. But for this arc only, he's a main character. Look forward to the next chapter soon!
P.S: I'll be listing my picks for VA's just for fun. For Kaito, I feel like Derek Steven Prince could pull off the no nonsense, yet slightly cocky voice I imagined for him. A little late, but dreamscape Evan would be voiced by Sean Chiplock. I'll talk about villains and others as they're introduced.