Shigaraki could barely contain his ire as the media kept on prattling about this 'Emerald Ghost', which was no doubt, Midoriya Izuku's nickname on the outside world. Words after words, the fiery flames inside of him threatened to consume him whole. He gritted his teeth, wrapping his fingers around the glass in front of him, disintegrating it into pieces.
"Turn that off." Shigaraki ordered. Much to his dismay, Kurogiri didn't do as he said. Shigaraki turned his head to glare at the villain with the metal brace, "Something clogged those nonexistent ears of yours? Turn it. The fuck off."
"I'm afraid not, Shigaraki."
"Why the fuck not? What, do you get off to the media constantly moaning about that precious newcomer of yours?" Shigaraki spat.
Kurogiri's eyes were still trained to the screen of the television as he replied, "Why? At least provide me with a concrete reason."
Shigaraki stood up, "Try to sit here and listen to those fearmongering fuckfaces drone on and on about the big bad 'Emerald Ghost' coming out to snatch the little kiddies, you'll realise how obnoxious it is."
"But you wouldn't mind if the media talks about you instead, wouldn't you?"
Shigaraki's gaze slowly shifted to Kurogiri, approaching him until he was close enough, his breath breezing against the metal brace, "You want to say that again?"
"Of all the things that the boss had taught you to do, correcting that infantile nature of yours should take precedence." Kurogiri said daringly.
Shigaraki's eyes twitched, his fingers itching to land themselves on this insolent fool. Kurogiri leaned forward, "Disintegrate me. I dare you."
Shigaraki became hesitant as the bartender challenged him. He retracted his hands back, slipping them through the pockets in his trousers, "You've got balls. I'll give you that."
The both of them stared into each other's eyes for a while, before the door to the bar opened uncermoniously, "Yeah, yeah, you two can put aside your grievances now. There's something that needs your attention."
Both the villain turned to see a man with short gray hair and a mustache entering the room.
"I told you to knock before coming in, Giran." Shigaraki admonished.
"Can't exactly knock with all that bickering and quarreling." Giran said, as he placed a paper of some sort in the table, "New villain, huh? Looks like you can recruit on your own without my assistance nowadays. 'Emerald Ghost'. Sounds tacky."
"Sensei has a plan of his own regarding this...'villain'. It's in an entirely different ballpark."
"Yeah, whatever," Giran then said, "There's something that you guys need to know. As you might know, there are a couple of rumours about All Might applying himself as a teacher in UA."
"Rumours. That's about it." Shigaraki remarked.
"Not this time. It seems that there is a certain..legitimacy to this rumour. Take a look at the paper." Giran pointed at the paper.
Shigaraki's eyes widened as he took in the contents of the paper, "This looks like a contract paper of some sort. From UA?"
"Take a look at the signature, dummy."
Shigaraki's eyes squinted. He didn't understand what was so significant-
"All Might's signature." Kurogiri concluded, much to Shigaraki's dismay.
"Surprised you caught on quick. I expected the leader to be the wiser one." Giran remarked.
Shigaraki growled, "I could've figured it out on my own!"
"Moving on," Giran continued as he sat on one of the chairs, "How are you all going to move forward knowing this? I have an army of villains at the ready, but I don't think that's quite enough.."
"Kill him." Shigaraki almost ripped the paper to shreds as he said that.
"Woah, not so fast, Shiggy. That guy may have seen better days, but he's still a force to be reckoned with." Giran said.
Kurogiri then said, "The boss is working on something. Something that can kill All Might in his weakened state."
"You mean that newcomer-" Giran was interrupted.
"No." Kurogiri's tone was forceful, "A weapon, precisely. If we move forward with Izuku, that would foil our plans completely, given his lack of experience. He should be used as a last resort."
...
"What makes you so apprehensive about the idea of Midoriya finally having his chance to kill All Might?" All For One inquired.
Kurogiri cleared his throat, before saying, "I am not against the idea completely, but don't you think it's a little fast? Think about it. Midoriya lacks the adequate experience. Should he fail and eventually get arrested, we're off with one less trump card. We should test out the waters, play our cards right. If we can gauge All Might's capabilities at first by pitting him up against one of our stronger Nomu's, then we'd know what we'd be dealing with. We'd be fully prepared on our next encounter, should the Nomu fail."
"And what of Midoriya? Why should I let him rot in his stagnant state?" All For One asked one more time.
"We will enroll him as a student in UA under false pretenses. I can forge a new ID card for him. He will be there to observe, to attain crucial information that would be useful for us. He could also be there to observe the fight between All Might and the Nomu." Kurogiri offered. He stood in anticipation. Maybe he'd refuse. Maybe this was a bad idea-
"Excellent, Kurogiri." All For One's lips curled delightfully, "I've always underestimated your intellectual capability, but you have proven me otherwise. Had I gone with this plan of mine, it would surely yield futile results. I grant you full permission to carry on with this plan of yours. Make sure that Tomura learns from this as well. But..one warning."
Kurogiri nodded, waiting for All For One to state his warning..
"If this plan of yours fail," All For One clenched his fists, as Kurogiri felt an excruciating pain throbbing across his head. He had felt the pain before, but never this bad.
All For One leaned back, his fists unclenched, "Well then, the floor is yours, Kurogiri."
...
Kurogiri's eyes snapped open, both Shigaraki and Giran staring at him as if they were anticipating for him to said anything further.
"You make a good point," Giran smiled smugly, turning his attention back to Shigaraki "Hey, Shiggy, with all due respect, you gotta learn from him. What, with your position as the leader, you could use a little tact."
Shigaraki, however, eyed Kurogiri suspiciously. Though, he didn't say anything.
"Welp," Giran stood up, waving at them, "I gotta run. Was nice catching up, but I have a group full of insolent villains to manage. See ya!" He exited the bar, slamming the door hurriedly.
Shigaraki's eyes were still trained to Kurogiri. Though this time, he finally spoke, "I don't know what you're up to, but if you fuck this shit up..."
"This hostility is unneeded. You of all people should know that I would not do anything that would compromise our mission, especially one that involves All Might's demise."
Shigaraki stared him down, his eyes glinting with uncertainty. After a long while of silence, his glare ceased, "I'll take your word for it," before turning around to walk towards the exit door, leaving without a word.
Kurogiri stood there all by himself, as he tilted his head towards the door leading to the training room.
...
Tsukauchi pinched the top of the pen as he looked at the paperwork that he had to do. Try as he might, he couldn't find Midoriya's trace. Security footages revealed that Izuku had escaped from the room, leaving to god knows where. It baffled him that the whoever is watching from behind the surveillance room was lenient enough to not realise that one of their patients were wandering around without supervision.
Yagi himself was none-the-wiser. Finding an AWOL teenager wasn't exactly his forte. He was all about the brute and less about the brains. But there was one thing that came to his mind, "Tsukauchi."
Tsukauchi lifted his gaze from the desk, "Something on your mind, Toshinori?"
"Have you heard of the news? Something about an 'Emerald Ghost' character appearing out of nowhere in Yokohama." Yagi replied.
"How is that relevant?" Tsukauchi asked bluntly.
"I don't know. It's better than nothing, isn't it? Why don't you write that down? Maybe we'd find something that'll add to the piece down the line." Yagi proposed.
"Are you insinuating that Midoriya would-" Tsukauchi was cut off short, something clicking in his mind.
"What is it?"
"Toshinori," Tsukauchi stood up, "Do you have an empty schedule?"
"Uh, that's a bit abrupt, but I think I'm all out of schedule today..If Nezu's generous enough, he might even give me another day off tomorrow." Yagi replied.
"What do you say to a little trip to Yokohama?" Tsukauchi pointed his pen at the door, "We might find something there."
"Not so fast," Another voice chimed in. Yagi turned around to see the dry, disinterested eyes of his colleague staring right back at him.
"Aizawa-san?" Yagi's brow raised, "W- what are you doing in here?"
"So this is what you've been up to." Aizawa remarked with an unamused expression, "Scouting for missing problem children."
"He's not just any 'problem children', Aizawa-san." Yagi defended.
It was Tsukauchi's turn to speak, "I wasn't aware that you'd be coming here."
"Nezu told me to follow after this moron. Said something about keeping an eye on him in the likely scenario that he does something reckless." Aizawa answered, glaring at Yagi as he did.
The scrawny, skeleton man coughed out a blood as he replied, "O- Oh, I mean.. that's nice of him, but I can handle-"
"You're losing pretty much the last embers of your quirk, Toshinori," Tsukauchi pointed out, "You can only use your quirks up to, at bare minimum, two hours. Three if you're lucky."
"Ah, right," Yagi deflated. While it was true that he was in no condition to do something unpredecented, he was still more than capable of handling himself, but he conceded anyway, "Alright, if that's what you want, I won't stop you, but are you sure that you're alright with leaving the students behind?"
"They can handle themselves. If they couldn't, I would've expelled them the moment I deemed that they had no potential." Aizawa blurted out, "Well then, are we going or not?"
Silence reigned on the three of them as they awkwardly stared at each other. Then, Yagi was the first to speak up, "You're going to pay for your own ticket, though, right?"
Aizawa only replied with a sly smile.
...
Izuku hadn't known how long it had been since he last started training. Sweat dangled loosely from his jaw, some of them dripping into the floor. He gripped the blades tight enough that he was sure he was going to break them. His muscles throbbed, aching to settle down. He yearned for home. He yearned for his mom, for the little back and forth that they had whenever they had a dinner together, for her pep talk, for her soothing words when he was down.
His breath hitched, turning into a small hiccups as tears began to slowly slide down the freckles on his cheeks. Izuku's knees felt like they were collapsing. He couldn't find the strength to stand anymore. He vividly recalled the screams, the bloodshed that he had momentarily reveled himself in. It was nothing short of mortifying. The thing that he was turning himself into, all in the name of supporting his mother..
He threw the blades against the wall, screaming into the air as he did so. His throat went rigid, feeling as if his vocal cords were being ruptured. He didn't care. He couldn't be bothered to care. He roared relentlessly, as his screams echoed across the room. The rage was sustaining him, beckoning for him to fall prey to it's grasp.
Then, the door behind him slowly creaked forward. He gradually tilted his head to his back, glancing at Kurogiri who was standing in front of the door.
"Midoriya," Kurogiri spoke softly. Though Izuku gave no response to the villain's greeting. He persisted anyway, "How are you holding up?"
Izuku snorted, "I don't know."
Kurogiri's expression was unreadable behind the metal brace, "Is it okay if I...stay here for a bit?"
"No one's stopping you." Izuku said coldly.
Kurogiri didn't flinch. He leaned against the wall, seemingly contemplating about something. His eyes darted to Izuku, "Midoriya."
Izuku didn't give a verbal response safe for the scowl.
"The boss has...plans for you. Well, for today, I mean."
Izuku's eyes perked, dreading what the villain was going to say next.
...
"However, Kurogiri," All For One stopped Kurogiri from reaching to the door. He tilted his hip slightly. All For One continued, "I have a plan of my own."
Kurogiri turned around in a split second, "How do you mean?"
"I want to send Midoriya on...How do I put this in simple terms...'expeditions'." All For One said.
"Expeditions, sir?"
"Midoriya's quirk is volatile. To complement that fact, the outside world is hostile. Throw him into the mix, his quirk will react in a way that will make him do things that he wouldn't do normally. You did see how he almost killed that man, didn't you?" All For One questioned.
"I did. It was...something to behold." Kurogiri remarked.
All For One's lips curled, "The streets are filled with all kinds of defective crows, preying on whatever vulnerable thing that they can find. Villains, delinquents, serial killers, all of the sort, Midoriya is bound to find one of them, and when he does, his quirk will spring to life to defend it's host."
"Host? Do you mean that his quirk-"
"Is sort of like a parasite, yes." All For One finished for him, "Eating away at whatever good is left inside of him. To that light, expeditions such as this one is crucial to his upbringing as my masterpiece."
Kurogiri almost let out a displeased grunt, but he kept it in. With a heavy breath, he asked again, "Do you intend to leave Izuku on the streets for the time being until he does something that you find to be...beneficial to his progress?"
"That is precisely my intention." All For One leaned forward, "You are to watch over him, to make sure that he doesn't do anything foolish."
Kurogiri maintained his composure, trying to circumvent the plan, "Don't you think that's a little extreme for a novice such as him?"
"Novice?" All For One smirked, "I have high expectations for him, and for that to be met, extreme measures must be conducted."
Kurogiri tried to say something else, but All For One put a finger on his lips, gesturing for him to silence himself, "You have questioned my methods enough. My tolerance has it's limit."
Kurogiri remained silent, keeping whatever he was going to say swallowed. He conceded, "Yes...sir."
As Kurogiri went out of the room, he heard All For One spoke..
"Go forth, Κράτος."
...
The villain then continued, "You're going to venture to the outside world once again, but I will be staying behind to watch over."
"But why?" Izuku inquired, "D- don't tell me that this is going to be some sort of scheme to get me to.." He paused for a moment. His eyes moved to the blades, which were stranded on the ground, "Right. I don't have a choice, do I?"
"I'm afraid not."
"I thought you were trying to help me." Izuku lamented.
Kurogiri didn't respond to that. He created a warp gate that led to a city that Izuku didn't know about yet. Izuku grabbed the blades from the ground, before moving forward to enter the warp gate...
As he went through the warp, he took in the environment, discerning the area around him...
"You took me to Hosu?" Izuku asked, turning to his back, only to find that Kurogiri was no longer there.
Right. Shit. No objectives. No directions. No nothing. What the hell was he even supposed to here, anyway? All For One and his vague instructions.
Izuku hung the blades over his back, hunching forward to let them settle. Right. He hadn't worn any clothes, all except for the green loincloth wrapped around his waist. Not to mention that he was only wearing a pair of sandals as well.
Training with clothes had been a bit..stifling, so to say.
He walked around, hiding in plain sight to avoid suspicion. This was the city where the Hero Killer had risen to infamy. That adds to the multitudes of reason why he didn't want to be here.
He took the alleyway as a safe passage, trying to navigate his way across the city through unconventional routes. He didn't know that much about Hosu, since the last time he was here was when he was at the age of eight.
The insidious environment urged him to take the normal route, to cross the streets like a normal person.
The scent of iron prevailed in the air, tugging at his nostrils like a soft cotton. He could've sworn that he heard a scream.
His instincts blared, pushing him to investigate. He squinted his eyes as he proceeded forward.
But then...
He ducked under the trajectory of a blade ramming straight to the wall. The viridian boy widened his eyes as he glanced at the assailant.
Meeting him was the last thing that he wanted.
"What are you doing here, boy?" A man with a long, unkempt black hair said, hunching over to the front.
Izuku noticed the man laying besides the Hero Killer. A man with a red mask, with his full attire being a red and white coat and an omega symbol dangling from his neck. He was the hero known as 'The Correspondencer', with his quirk being the ability to bind it's victims to things that they dread the most permanently.
"I was just...passing around." Izuku made a bluff, hoping that the Hero Killer would buy it-
"Those blades on your back, something tells me that you're not here just for sight-seeing," Stain loosened his grip on the collar of the man, "You're not here on some foolish task to stop me, aren't you?"
Izuku gulped. His eyes darted to the hero. His face lit up, before saying, "Maybe we could...settle this like gentlemen."
"Why should I?" Stain said in disdain, his eyes landing once again on the battered form of the hero, "This man is a false hero like the rest of them. I am doing this world a favour by getting rid of him."
The hero's lips quivered, gazing at Izuku almost pleadingly. He could've sworn that the man was going to utter the word 'help', but couldn't find the courage to do so.
"You should move along, boy. I don't take kindly to murdering innocent children, but if I have to, then I will." Stain gripped his blade tightly.
Izuku looked at them for a while. Then..
KILL!
Izuku backed away, "N- No. Not again-"
KILL!
"NO!" Izuku sheathed the blades from his back, hunching to the front as he did. He fought the urge to advance forward, to finish the job, to drive these blades through that contemptible man's throat.
KILL!
Izuku fought against the movement of his muscles, his brain scrambled.
KILL!
He couldn't. No matter how hard he tried...
ꈵILL
The rage threatened to consume him.
K̷̵̶̸̛͙͇͔͇̬͍̘̮̥͇̻͙͖͆̾͆̾ͨ̎ͦ̀̈̂̒͒́̌͋̆ͯ́̀̓̀͟͜͞I̶̶̸̸̵̶̢̡̧̻̼̥̣͇̞͆ͯ̌̇́̇ͩ̊ͨ̅ͥͮ̿̎ͭͥ̇̉ͥ͋ͪ̕̕͠ͅĻ̵̢̢̖͈͙͕̲̘͎͔͒̉̋̓͂̀ͤ̎͌́ͫ̊͛ͫͪ͝Ĺ̷̶̵̢̨̰̻͎̮̳͕̖̹̯̼̙̻̮͓͎̓͊ͩ̍ͨ̚̕̕͢͞_
Izuku roared as he lunged forward, swinging the first blade to the front. But Stain quickly jumped over the blade's path, "So that's how you want to play it, hm?"
Stain used the wall to propel himself to Izuku's direction, lunging at him with the blade. The viridian's own blade clashed against it, igniting a spark of flame that melted the side of Stain's weapon. Izuku's arm jerked forward, as the chains propelled the right blade to slice the Hero Killer.
However, Stain intercepted the blade, catching it by it's handle, before wrapping the chains around his own wrist. He pulled Izuku to his side, his immense strength overpowering the boy's own, before impaling his torso with the enlarged blade.
Izuku tried to wriggle free, but Stain's hold was too powerful, "You're tenacious. But that alone won't save you from the fact that you're going to die."
Izuku growled, forcing himself out of the blade's hold. The blood gushed out of his skin, as he was finally freed from the blade. He pulled the chains to his side, his strength rising ever so abundantly.
"He's getting stronger...!" Stain remarked.
Izuku's shoulder hunched, letting out an animalistic growl as he advanced forward. Stain's eyes widened at the sight. This boy...
"What is your deal?" Stain asked, "I thought you were just passing by to stop me, but it seems that there is another factor at play here."
Izuku didn't respond. He only growled, bending his knees.
"No matter," Stain licked his lips, before grinning widely, "Once I'm done with you, I'll move on to the other fake heroes of this society."
Izuku snarled, sprinting forward with the chained blades clashing against the ground. Stain did likewise, as their weapons repeatedly clashed against each other. Izuku spun his blades around, while Stain intercepted each of the attacks with his weapon.
However, the last attack to hit his blade caused it's edge to fall off into the ground, "What the-"
Stain jumped at the last second before the blade could hit him and land the final blow. Izuku slammed the blades into the ground, as the floor erupted chaotically, rocks and dust scrambling in the air.
As he landed on the ground, he lost his balance on his footing. Stain struggled to reach for his second blade. However, it was already too late. Izuku already lunged at him with his blades.
Stain prioritised keeping his distance from the boy, hopping from one spot into another as he relentlessly slammed the dual chained blades into the ground.
What manner of weapons is he holding?!
As Izuku violently slammed the blades against the ground, gradually losing his sense of coordination, Stain took it into his own hands to swiftly reach for the blade he had on his back, "Now's my chance."
He quickly spun around, avoiding the path of the blades carefully, before slicing Izuku's arm, causing a considerable amount of blood to smear on the tip of his blade.
You're done for, brat!
He licked the blood on his blade, causing Izuku to freeze on his place. Stain's lips curled delightfully, as he turned around to inspect Izuku and the blades that he was using.
"Intriguing. Those blades, they have quite the level of craftmanship put into them." Stain bemused.
As expected, Izuku didn't move, nor did he say anything. The quirk put him on hold, immobilising him.
"Now, as much as it pains me to say it, but you, along with these pretender masquerading as heroes, will be purged imminently. You could have been a useful ally, but it seems fate has other plans." Stain raised his blade to slice Izuku apart.
But then...
Izuku's fingers twitched. Stain could've sworn that he saw a burst of flame slightly blazing outwardly from his body. He relented for a second..
His instincts were right. Izuku suddenly moved, swinging his blades once again
HOW-?!
He stepped to the side, but his neck was quickly bound in place by the chains that passed him by. He choked on his own saliva, unable to suck the air due to the chains straining the passageway in his throat.
Izuku used the other chains to tighten the hold even more, wrapping them around the Hero Killer's neck. He pulled it apart with both of his hands, the force threatening to rip the villain's nape from it's sockets.
But then...
A warp gate engulfed him, causing him to disappear without a trace. Stain dropped into the ground, struggling to breathe. He looked around, looking for any signs of Izuku...
Only to find none.
"Where... did he go..?!" Stain said with strained breath.
...
Izuku found himself tumbling into the dry floor once again, finding himself in the same empty room that he had been thrown into a couple days ago.
He growled, looking for the perpetrator that brought him here. But before he could get a good look at him, the perpretator in question tackled him into the ground, pinning his arms with the gates, "Stop this at once, Midoriya!"
Izuku jerked his arms around trying to break free, but the man was quite strong.
"You're not yourself! Snap out of it!" Kurogiri pleaded.
Izuku snarled, gritting his teeth as he did. His heart rate rapidly plummeted as he struggled even more. His strength began to wane as his mind settled. His eyes fluttered, his muscles relaxing.
...
"What...what happened?" Izuku asked, meeting Kurogiri's soft gaze. His eyes widened when he remembered, "No! D- did I kill him?! D- d- did- oh god!"
Kurogiri firmly gripped the boy in the shoulder, "You haven't. Please, calm down."
Izuku looked at Kurogiri, "D- did you...stop me?"
Kurogiri was silent for a few moments, before replying, "I did..."
"But.. he's going to-"
Kurogiri shook his head, gripping the boy's shoulder even tighter, "Don't worry about it."
"Kurogiri, you- he's going to kill you!" Izuku protested, "Y- y- you didn't have to do that for me! I know I was being a jerk, blaming you and all, but I'd never want you to put yourself in this-"
"Midoriya." Kurogiri's voice softens, "Stop. It's alright. I've gotten good at covering my tracks when it comes to this. It's okay."
Izuku's gaze never left the villain. A strand of hot tears swam down his cheeks, before burying his face into Kurogiri's shoulder. He muttered, "Thank you, thank you, y- you didn't have to, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"
Kurogiri rubbed circles on the boy's back. He sighed to himself.
He's really going to die soon, isn't he?