Guild Master here again, again.

If you wish to get ahead of the content here on Fanfiction, go visit my site. A friend had been kind enough to finance the project as I started my creative ventures and the extra traffic would really help us out. It's all free and chapters already done exist there for you to read.

Check it out.

Gamemastersden and then .com

Out front of the resort was Haru sitting at the steps of the entrance while smoking and in soccer sweats paired with a plain crew cut tee shirt. His shoes were normal athletic shoes while he was waiting for the nine thirty deadline to start the class. It was now nine fifteen as the first batch of students were now starting to show themselves. All of them thought they just happened to have caught their catering cook during a late night smoke as they were waiting for this mysterious and legendary teacher.

Haru humored their assumptions and just spent time chatting amongst the students as more and more students were volunteering themselves to the extracurricular lesson. Kaminari and Sato were obviously there as the alternative to taking the supplementary lessons that ended at two in the morning was to take the extracurricular lesson that ended at midnight. Two hours of sleep was two hours of sleep.

A good fifteen or so students were there by nine twenty eight and some of them were certainly asking questions as to who this mystery instructor was. Seeing Tiger walk out the front doors made almost everyone assume that the quirk user was their instructor until the man announced one minute until the instructor was to reveal himself. The seconds counted down and when the time hit nine thirty exactly; only one sound could be heard amongst the apprehensive students. Everyone turned to the source of the sound that was somewhere in the center of the mass of students.

"Huh, guess it's time."

Haru hit the snooze button on his wristwatch and just began to address the shocked student body as to his true identity and purpose at the UA summer training camp.

"Good evening, students. I will be your extracurricular course teacher. My name is Nakamura Haru; many of you know me already as the catering staff here at the camp. I do hope that we can work well together."

So many of the students were asking their homeroom teachers and the one Wild Pussycat member if this was some sort of weird joke that was just a very oddly timed April Fools joke. Every single accusation of the school playing a practical joke was confirmed to be baseless and false while Nakamura was just waiting for his time to speak again while the students got their shock out of their systems.

"Settle down students. There's a very good reason this man here was asked to be here during your training."

Aizawa got the students voicing their complaints to settle down and listen to his explanation.

"We work to develop your inherent powers during the day, but there is something that is also in need of growth for your future as heroes."

A finger was pointed at the students as a group as he made the reason known.

"Your skill. As powerful you are, not managing your inherent skills in combat and wielding that power you possess would just be giving you a bigger stick without teaching you how to swing it."

He gestured to Nakamura and stated the rather shocking fact about Haru that only four or five students knew who were there to participate in the lesson.

"Nakamura-san here has an abundance of experience in dealing with all sorts of situations and has excellent insight to finely tune your abilities. He lived his life as a quirkless man his entire life; do not underestimate what that should mean to you lot."

Still, there were those questioning the validity of letting someone without any sort of power to teach them how to fight. This scenario was predicted by the man as he proposed a rather interesting deal to the students.

"Okay, there's some doubt as to my identity. That's fair. How's 'bout this?"

From nearby on the ground, a stick was retrieved and used by Haru to draw a circle roughly an arms length wide for the mad and promptly discarded before he made his next declaration.

"Any of you can get me out of this circle; you all get to leave your lesson tomorrow one hour early."

Every student there was now listening intently. Aizawa was certain that Haru didn't have that sort of power, but if any of these could manage to complete the challenge; they wouldn't even have to be here at that point.

"Alright! Stand back! It's my turn to go."

Tetsutetsu was given first run at the challenge. He thought to only armor up around his arms to take on the quirkless man standing in a circle. Though it looked like Haru was quite the scrapper, his quirk was more than enough of an advantage. His quirk was one that allowed him to transform his body into steel while losing none of his ability to move around normally. While Tetsutetsu was taking position, Nakamura just cracked the joints in his hands and wrists while waiting patiently for the student to make the first move.

Immediately, the teenage boy went for a straight dash into the adult while swinging for a wide haymaker. He guessed if this guy was all that; then he should be fine taking one solid punch. Just outside of the circle, Tetsu swung, but had whiffed the shot completely. There was no mistake to his distance and he had above average spatial awareness as an enhancement type quirk user. Off to the sidelines were the two homeroom instructors looking on at the lesson in interest.

Vlad King saw a rather unexpected display of skill from Nakamura as the adult had parried the attack rather efficiently. Haru had allowed the boy to get close enough and used his farther reach to swing a leg to sweep out the foot Tetsutetsu was about to land on the ground to deliver his punch. That sudden loss of footing caused the punch to veer off way too much to the left and even served to throw the boy even further off his balance and turn while he fell backwards into Nakamura himself.

Things pretty much stopped there as Haru was nice enough to catch the boy and help him back to his feet. Feeling rather indignant for the act of pity, Tetsu wanted to go again; to which Haru told them there was no limit to chances or participants for the challenge. This gave Tetsu enough reason to try again.

He guessed that maybe he should just armor up and take this guy a little seriously. A full metal conversion later; he was ready for round two with the still nonchalant Haru. Another full charge with both arms out this time to grab the man in a grapple made more sense as he had better control of his balance and would be able to counter on both sides if an attack were to happen.

What he didn't expect was to see Haru suddenly drop and disappear out of his periphery. Tetsutetsu was too close and moving too fast to stop his sprint, which Nakamura took full advantage of. He leaned slightly forward so as to bump his shoulder with the front of the kid's hip, but it wasn't a tackle he was going for. Haru used the momentum of the boy to then launch the kid into the air and send him flying for a few meters. For that entire time, neither hand left Haru's pockets as he still was dead center of his circle.

Tetsutetsu wasn a mean or even angry child to begin with. His battlecry and charge right back into the fray with Haru was testament as to how frustrating it was to be tossed around like a marionette doll. There was an even more intense focus in his eyes as now the gloves were off and he just went for an honest atack to get some sort of result for his efforts. Vlad king saw the escalated use of violence in his student and went in to stop things from getting worse.

It was Aizawa who stopped the hero and just told him to watch what would happen. There was no way that Haru was going to get the drop on him now as Tetsutetsu even began to strafe a little to throw off the man and catch him slipping. Not a damn thing happened with Haru just waiting patiently with both hands still in his pocket. Going in from the side seemed to have been the right course of action to catch a window out of the adults peripheral vision.

Seeing the kid move and react to the situation with good judgment did make Haru recognize the young man as someone who could at least hold his own in a fight. That wasn't good enough for this sort of training.

The straight that went right for Nakamura's left thigh was dead center of the limb. He was again finding his body move without his permission once more as rather than just being thrown, he went straight into the ground with his right arm being restrained by the wrist and painfully had the outstretched arm wrenched behind him.

"Owowow!"

The students saw Haru move again to not only let the blow slide; he caught the attacking arm and tripped the boy to send him into the dirt and just began to wrench the arm in the wrong direction as he used his other hand and knee to keep Tetsutetsu pinned below him.

"You dipped your head too low when you tried to punch me. Not only that; the fact that you depend so heavily on the defensive capabilities of your quirk made you forget a very important fact…"

Another slight push on the hyperextended joint got the metallic boy to tap out and say uncle even more than he already was.

"Your body is still just that, a body. I could still pop your bones out of place or suffocate you."

That got the boy to realize that this guy was probably more terrifying than he first gave him credit for being. It was a short lived moment of terror as Nakamura lifted the boy and even helped dust him off. Tetsutetsu returned to his spot in the crowd respectfully.

"Seems we are short on time for now. I'll let you guy's try again tomorrow, but the lesson is gonna go on as planned."

Haru peeked down at his digital watch to confirm that it was some few minutes and this was sort of an important first lesson. He faced the students once again as he stepped out of his circle to speak earnestly. It was a bit of a continuation for the boys of class 1-A yesterday when Nakamura informed them of his thoughts on their progress as heroes.

"Bottom line is that none of you have the skill or acuity to utilize your abilities properly. Some may be lacking in the actual technical control of your powers. Most of you are in need of a very specific thing, and it's something everybody here is in need of."

His lesson was mostly to get the student's up to date on one thing he was recognized for by those he interacted with.

"None of you can actually fight without your quirks. As someone who had nothing but his own physical body and nothing else to protect himself; this lesson is going to be focused on getting the roughed out shapes of your blades into usable swords!"

There was a moment of slight apprehension amongst the boys as they felt a bit under prepared mentally for their lesson. They clearly underestimated the experience and ability of this man from their impression of his usually nurturing demeanor as well as the fact they thought him being quirkless was their advantage.

"Let's get started!"

The lesson was a bit more straightforward than expected. Haru had a few student's like Fumikage and Bakugou with more specific lessons in mind while asking the rest of them to line up in rows and give each other some space. His first course of action was to have them practice a fighting stance and a basic combo of punches. They all went at once to demonstrate their forms with the combo he gave them all. This was about a solid twenty five minutes of him just going around and correcting those he saw as having huge problems with their stances.

Some of them tried to justify their stances as being their way of utilizing their quirks. Ojiri specifically had his tail he used and had to swing the prehensile limb and turn his back to his opponent often. Haru shut down that thought process with a thick black marker he used as a mock edged weapon. The boy was riddled in black permanent marker lines by the end of the demonstration match they had. So many of those lines were on the boy's tail.

"This thing isn't just a weapon. It's a living part of you that can be cut, stabbed, shot, burned, or get injured through so many other things. You have to think of it like a tool."

He clarified that weapons are things that take a beating and can be repaired for their abuse. Even replacing the weapon or some of its parts may be necessary with enough time or use. A tool was something that was usually only brought out for specific tasks and required careful consideration when using it. Bladed chisels were not multi-use tools in a skilled craftsman's hands.

Getting such fine instruments meant that the craftsman invested money or something of great value to obtain them. He had to make sure they were sharp and well kept without damaging them in order to get the best potential out of their usage. If he mistreated or neglected to take care of them, then that was it. He would have to spend again, and it would have been likely that he didn't have the funds anymore at that point to regain such quality.

Okiro understood that he needed to be more selective and train his body as a whole if he were to become a more skilled hero. The boy was told that they would go over more and see what could benefit his style by Haru before he returned to the drills.

While one teacher was looking at the man with a rather impressed look and astonishment, the other was perfectly familiar with Haru's teaching skills as one of his former students. Vlad could see the tailed boy understand the concept his teacher explained with ease and eagerly listened to him and his instructions after the conversation. To say he was impressed was a bit of an injustice to how absolutely confused he was that this man was a food truck owner versus being a self defense teacher.

There were other students that were finding it harder to absorb the material with how it was they moved and fought usually. One notable example nobody in the class expected to struggle so much was Shoto. His style of using his ranged powers was making it a little tough to move so specifically without coming off a bit awkward. It didn't escape Haru as he constantly adjusted the boy's punches and stance whenever he passed him by. It was slowly coming together as time went along.

While the other students were practicing the basics of combat; there was a separate matter of those who needed his attention on a more personal level. First up was Tokoyami and his shadow. At first the boy was against Haru asking to see the boy's shadow without flood lights or something to maintain his control of it. Haru made certain nothing bad would happen as Aizawa and another instructor were there just in case things got out of hand.

With a guarantee of safety; Fumikage cautiously called upon the shadow inside of him. It was all too eager to try and lash out and be all mighty with its presence. There were some exterior lights of the building that reigned in the being's attitude a bit, but not by much. In comparison to it's grandiose entrance; Haru was looking indifferent to its presence as he began to not only grab the base of its form, but began to yank it and pull it towards him rather effortlessly.

It didn't know what to do as the pace he was being yanked down was startling it enough to keep it from attacking Haru. Once the face of the shadow was brought to eye level, a well placed smack and a finger pointed at the thing was just enough to startle it into complete silence.

"You're gonna listen to me. I don't care about you or your power over or inside the shade of a fucking tree. You listen to me while your owner gets his bearings on you, and we won't have an issue. Understood?"

For years of his life Tokoyami struggled with his shadow's presence when things got way too dark. That cave he was forced to remain in while trying to command his shadow was a waking nightmare for him to go through. His shadow suddenly becoming meek like it was hit with a ray of sunshine while still being in the dark of night amazed him so.

A rather comical display of dominance for the other heroes present. They could have had the same results over the creature, but to do so by threatening it like that was a whole new level of ridiculous. Haru's task for the boy was brought to him with a folding table brought from his van with a ream of paper in his arms. He set up Fumikage in front of the table under an outdoor light so as not to strain the boy's eyes and placed two pieces of paper in front of him. This was then followed up with Haru pulling out a pencil box filled with wooden pencils all pre sharpened for the boy.

"How much control do you have over that shadow normally?"

Looking up at the shadow revealed it was hesitant to act out like it would have wanted to right now. He tested the obedience of it in his mind and saw that it was rather optimal at the moment.

"Good. I can make him do most things and it seems to be coordinated enough for my needs."

"So your command of it depends on its mood. That seems to be rather inconvenient."

It wasn't a wrong statement to make about the boy's quirk. Often enough to irritate the boy at times, the shadow really did feel somewhat inconsistent at times. Now it was being submissive for someone other than him. A bit of an injustice in his eyes.

"So it's mind and your mind don't exactly share the same brain, though things like what to do can be felt through your connection. Since that command of yours will take time, let's focus on what we can do."

Haru presented two pencils for Fumikage's shadow to take in it's outstretched claws.

"Try to draw five stars on this piece of paper while you draw seven circles in a ring on this one."

It seemed a bit basic for someone like himself. He took the command in stride and used his shadow to produce the desired drawings. It wasn't perfect, but it satisfied Haru enough to move those finished papers out and place three pieces of paper now. One more pencil was offered to the shadow creature.

"Now draw ten squares while making them into a staircase."

Now it was starting to dawn on Tokoyami and the teachers what Nakamura was trying to do. The boy struggled a bit to find the correct shape and manipulate the shape as another arm. After taking more time and breaking one of the pencils by accident, he was done. Same thing happened once more with four pieces of paper being placed in front of him now.

"Take this and draw nine triangles with each one being inside the one after it."

Tokoyami was now starting to get a bit of a headache with doing such precise tasks all at the same time. While the boy was being challenged with that task, the last one in need of his tutelage was Bakugou Katsuki himself. He was on his phone while waiting and put it away after spotting Haru approaching him. He stood to attention and dutifully awaited his lesson when Haru pulled out what looked like a chunk of white marble and put the cold piece of mineral in his palm.

"Go ahead and use your quirk to break that rock up."

A simple enough looking job that got Bakugou fired up and ready to show this pebble what for. A sizable blast that startled the others went off and gave Haru the brief task to tell the others to keep up their forms while correcting the forms of a few of the boys while doing so. Something didn't feel right for Katsuki as the smoke cleared. There wasn't even a crack in the rock he made in the still very cold stone he was given. He cursed again as he beat the rick with another attack with more oomph. The results were just the same as before.

"Figures. Bakugou, do you know what the different types of explosions are?"

His mind blanked at the weirdly phrased question Haru posed to him.

"Aren't explosions just explosions?"

A moment was taken for Haru to just scratch the back of his head as he explained in broad terms what the science of explosions boiled down to.

"There are three. Chemical, mechanical, and radioactive. We're gonna focus on the first one since it's the type of explosion your quirk produces."

He went on to explain as he lit another cigarette for himself. Vlad took issue to which Aizawa just said to allow for the man. Technically they couldn't stop him if he wanted to smoke.

"This one splits up into two categories; high and low ordinance. Difference between these two types is somewhat significant for someone like you."

There was a lengthy explanation over how Katsuki had a habit to produce a low ordinance explosion and how it was actually the weaker explosion of the two. That chemical reaction of fire and smoke simply meant that the reaction was too slow. Getting fire out of your explosion meant that the amount of force in the chemical reaction couldn't suppress a flame. If it was a strong enough blast; then the chemicals would be under too much weight from the expanding gasses to burn visibly.

"In short, you need to increase the speed your explosions go off at. Right now you're something closer to a firework when you can easily become something like dynamite."

Having that image was a hell of a motivator for the boy as he was really starting to feel it. It was then unfortunate to that intense passion that Haru slowed the boy down to tell him to just stand there and practice a small explosion until he could no longer see a large amount of fire and smoke. Katsuki was to increase the reaction speed with nothing but practice to help him achieve that result. Every explosion he attempted was a burner and made Katsuki increasingly frustrated with each failure.

The next two hours were relatively paced as the students were starting to grasp the topics while a few were in need of Nakamura to help them keep up with the lesson. From drills, to sparring, to being shown demonstrations of core fighting values; the two hours passed and left the students filled with valuable knowledge and a new understanding as to what their powers meant to them.

The Next Day

It was just another day of torturous exercise for the poor student's of UA Academy. Class 1-A and 1-B were all beat neck tired and it wasn't even noon yet. Almost every guy from class 1-A and a few from class 1-B were a bit more sluggish than the others that went to bed at a reasonable time. At least nobody regretted being there to help improve their progress as heroes in training.

Back at the actual resort, Haru was seated in his van on his computer while his mobile was plugged into it via the unique jelly like adapter tab. Last night was a success for teaching and pushing the student's progress by a significant amount. What was on his mind since the evening of yesterday was the message he received through the cloned profile of Aoyama's mobile. It was an outgoing message from Aoyama himself that was just the name of the resort without anything else attached to it.

When tracking the number it was being sent to; the mobile that it reached was eventually traced to the current known hideout of the League of Villains. It wasn't as difficult as he had anticipated, but the caution he took was there for good reason nonetheless. People really did trust the anonymity of burner phones way too much. People like Haru were unfazed by such a flimsy security measure.

Now it was Haru's turn on the board. He sent encrypted messages to his watchtowers posted all around the training camp forest to alert him to any observable changes worthy of mention. The survey teams at each location were to work on the double that night to check for any biometrics that were indicative of an intruder. His eyes and ears were spread to every corner of the battleground, and all he needed to do was cast his dice.

He was sure to tell the others at the camp that he wanted to go grab something from a supplier and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. He left prepared ingredients for the students to take advantage of while he was gone. The trust he put into Katsuki and Ochaco was a well placed one. He took up the mobile and just added his own message with the one Aoyama was intent on sending.

Haru left and took his van to a location a few kilometers away where his people could take care of it. The hidden floor compartment containing his gear set was emptied and closed as he dressed himself in his alternative outerwear. The black ensemble was ideal for the forest at night. He gathered his equipment and placed everything he would need in his pack; every weapon, ordinance, etc. he would need to hunt.

Once that was all set up; the last and likely most important piece of equipment was taken and equipped. The mask was similar to the one he used to hide his face from Stain as he beat him like a sick child. Placing it on his head formed a shell around his skull and disguised all distinguishing features he had.

He took his pack and secured it in preparation to jump off the cliff and slide to a halt at the bottom of the cliff. There was time to beat as he needed to make his way through the forest and towards the area nearby the resort that would give him an advantage against the inevitable intruders. His figure disappeared into the dense forest as he went on his way to prepare for a hunt.

League of Villain's Main Base of Operations

There was something that Shigaraki felt was wrong about the lack of a message that his master told him would come to the burner phone. Their double agent was responsible for sending the league classified information on the location of the UA class they were out to eliminate. Even waking up the next day to a blank phone was starting to agitate Tomura enough to start scratching once again.

"Do not worry, my pupil. They shall come through for us with the information. They know the consequences if they disobey or fail me."

Inside the base was an increased number of villains since the two first official recruits. Toga was just merrily minding her own business while Dabi was just lounging around with his head empty of thought. The newer faces were all waiting in anticipation of the message.

"Jesus Christ! How long do w-"

A small jingle alerted everyone that the location had finally arrived for them to head towards. The tall and wide figure wrapped up in just a black cloak was cut off from making their complaints known. Shigaraki read the message and suddenly realized something was off. The look of confusion wasn't lost on the master speaking through the blank monitor.

"What is it? Is the location not there?"

"N-no… There's a strange message attached to the location. It doesn't sound like anything that makes sense, master."

A minor annoyance that he could correct in the student had it come from them.

"What is it? Spit it out, Tomura."

"Um, 'ask him if it still hurts when he thinks of me'. There's a smiling emoji for some reason t-"

A loud groan of pain could be heard that kept escalating in intensity by everyone in the bar. It shook everyone out of their own business as the supposed head boss was sounding like he was being taken to the wheel. Tomura was especially worried for his master sounding as though he was in agony.

"Master?! Master! Master, are you okay?!"

On the other end of the call was the doctor racing to see what it was that alerted him to All for One's condition. He found the man gripping his face while thrashing around in his chair. This got him to try and see what was going on without any success doing so. Watching blood pour from the scar that was deeply embedded into his jaw was what left the doctor a bit speechless.

The regeneration quirk he gave All for One was capable of restoring him to the ideal state he needed to be at from the powers perspective. Not only was the wound reopened, it wasn't healing as fast as it should be. In all honesty, it looked like more blood was beginning to leak from the reopened wound.

"He's here!"

A moment of confusion for both the doctor and Tomura made them shut up long enough for the villain to speak about what it was that was giving him pain.

"After all these years… After all those nightmares and sleepless nights because of him… I can drag him back down into the hell he deserves to rot in! No longer will I live in sheer fucking terror, knowing he's out there somewhere! Now I'M the one who's the one he cannot kill!"

Nobody could understand what it was their leader was talking about. The doctor especially was lost in the situation as All for One was laughing and smiling like a madman while ignoring the gushing wound ripping across his jaw. It must be some form of trauma that was causing the involuntary bleeding, but to the degree of being this severe while being unable to heal was unsettling. Who was it that was doing this to the greatest villain in the world without even being near him?

The laughter was something nobody there dared not forget for the rest of their lives…

UA Training Camp Evening

Dinner was an amazing meal that Haru had thankfully left in a state where the students could assemble the rest of without too much hardship. It was Katsuki who commanded most of the meal prep as he kept chopping veggies and setting them aside. One person even commented how uncanny it was to see someone as brash as Bakugou handle a knife so elegantly and quickly. He couldn't do anything else but yell back in offense to the underhanded compliment.

After the meal was the test of bravery that the Pussycats had decided to push in for the evening. It wasn't a formal program that was really trying to improve the heroes in training; it was just to let the kids have fun and let loose during their camp time. Pixie Bob was a bit more friendly with Midoriya compared to the other men and it got on their nerves.

The remedial class began and it was going to be a lesson plan that was going till two in the morning without Haru's class being temporarily canceled for the night. They protested, but Aizawa had no mercy for the teenage boys. With everyone being where they needed to be; the official start of the bravery test began.

Elsewhere In the Forest

Haru got some of the worst news possible in his predicament. The estimates were that the point of intrusion was going to be most beneficial from farther out of Haru's position. Watching the dots on the 3d map begin to spread out from the resort got him to immediately contact his watchtowers to get some kind of information.

Turns out that the teachers were just trying to give the kids something fun to do with one another and had planned a last minute bravery test. Now they were spreading out farther into the forest when he received a new call that just made his day.

"Sir, Biometrics south of your location indicate the arrival of primary targets… They're here, sir."

East meant that they were scouting the terrain ahead before they entered the forest. The resort was visible from that vantage point, so they would be able to see the multitude of students entering and exiting the forest from the west. They had a teleporter that could move them anywhere in the blink of an eye, and he was unable to warn the students or school staff without coming off as suspicious. He was stuck in his gear while the children were moving further and further away from safety.

The first target was already at the resort. He needed to get there and ask questions later. With his weapon in hand, Haru took off through the forest while hoping he wasn't too late.

Inside the Resort

Mandalay had alerted all the students and teachers to the presence of villains at the camp. Aizawa sprinted through the building to then lay witness to the inferno that was starting to engulf the forest in front of the resort. How it was these villains found this place was beyond him.

"... This is not good."

"Worrying got the best of you this time."

A horribly scarred villain with skin that looked patched onto his body had his hand up and pointed the palm out at the teacher.

"Sloppy move, Era-"

The villain suddenly flew backwards after a loud smack sent him flying into the darkness of the forest. The villain collided with a few trees before he audibly came to a stop. It took a second for the hero to realize that he was just rescued. It didn't take much effort to see what had done that as the one who attacked the villain was still in front of him.

A man by the looks of it. All black ensemble with a hood draped over his head. The thing he used to send the villain away was a shotgun looking weapon that looked a bit too advanced for a world that essentially let the technology stagnate and almost disappear. This guy had the weapon held by the barrel and used it like a bat to hit a home run with a human body.

While the stranger stood up, he took the opportunity to just look at Aizawa for a moment through his gas mask. It was quite intimidating to be stared at by this mysterious gun wielding vigilante. Aizawa didn't risk being stupid and sighed in relief as the stranger walked away. The forest where the villain known as Dabi was sent burst into flames as the masked man kept walking forward. Even from way back where he stood, Aizawa needed to partially shield his face from the heat alone. From out of the flames came the very pissed Dabi.

"I am gonna turn you into ash, you piece of shit!"

There was such an immense amount of heat that was coming off of the villain alone. Aizawa needed to take shelter behind a wall in order to keep himself from burning in the air. These two kept staring down one another for a few moments with two very different things going through their minds. Dami was certain that this was just the staredown before they went at it and tried to kill one another. Rather than matching the intensity of the emotions emanating from the flame user; the mysterious stranger could see in person that this was somebody he knew.

"... Touya? Is that you?"

From behind his hiding spot, the air cooled off considerably and freed the hero from his entrapment. He cautiously turned the corner and saw that the villain was looking more stressed than he was angry.

"... How the fuck do you know that name?"

Something had happened that was beyond his understanding of the situation. That man clearly was involved with the villain in some way, and right now it just meant that he needed to treat him as a textbook villain.

Dabi was a bit hesitant to let the man remove his mask. The hood remained on as the armored helm that was attached to the mask started to slide open piece by piece. He saw white hair. This was giving him a sinking sensation as he was starting to get a hint as to who this person may be. It was finally revealed for certain as the mask was completely removed.

They stared at one another as memories from a time better left forgotten came flooding back to the both of them. One was finding it difficult to contain his relief and joy that the young man was still alive. Things weren't so simple with Dabi being frozen with so many conflicting thoughts and emotions. His mind was racing as Nakamura took one small cautious step after another, like he was a delicate and wild animal about to run off.

This isn't what he wanted. Ever since he made a break for it after the accident, he ran from everything. A part of him that he was unable to destroy or kill with his flames of hatred and resentment was shielded by this man. The part that he hated the most about himself. The part of him that felt like it could still be loved and cared for.

Abandoning that name was his way of beginning anew and finding what it was he needed to do. Had he heard the name from anybody else, he would have killed them on the spot. Hearing his old name spoken by Nakamura only served to make his broken heart beat once more.

Though he was just about to engage in combat with Dabi a moment ago; now he just wanted to make sure that this wasn't just a dream. Haru reached for the boy's face with one of his gloved hands and just let the gentlest of touches interact with the scarred flesh. Dami winced as if the touch burned the skin once again. Tears were threatening to come forth as he looked at the young man with so much sorrow for how much pain he went through for the past few years.

Last time he saw a face look at him with love and care was when he was a young boy. Perhaps it was the universe being poetically cruel with the fact that it was even the same person, unaffected by time, that was looking upon the boy's pain while carrying their own.

What was communicated without words was how nothing has changed in how Haru still loved the boy like his own. It was a thing that had always bothered Touya if the man's love came from a place of genuine concern for the boy's wellbeing or if it was something that happened by proxy with his mother. If Nakamura was just making this all an act for his mother; he hoped to have that truth never be known for certain.

Life had given him a cracked bottle to fill up while his brother was given one made to deflect bullets. His dad tossed him aside and now he was a broken person for it. It was Haru who was now telling the young man that just because you feel broken, doesn't make you hopeless for a better life.

A hand was outstretched for Dabi to take as Haru offered his help with a smile that was something he could only dream about his father showing to him when he was a kid. Nakamura's promise to the child was still being honored by the man years later. How was it that after murdering and doing all sorts of horrible things; Haru was somehow still on his side and offering his help?

He couldn't take it anymore. He took off into the burning forest without a word and kept sprinting for as long as he could. His chest was burning to the point of being unbearable. As he kept stumbling through the shadows and darkness, the tears he thought were long dried away returned with a vengeance. None of this was fair. Why couldn't his life be either just all good or all bad? Being trapped in the middle like this was beyond painful.

Back outside the forest; it was Haru who knew that Touya was hurting and was overwhelmed by his presence. He couldn't stop himself from revealing himself to check the boy he once knew and cared for. That part of Dabi that wanted to be healed was still there. There would be a time when the boy would be ready to help himself, but that time wasn't now.

Wrapping up his left hand suddenly was a white strip of cloth that also trapped the weapon in his grip. That's right, he was here to do a job. He would be damned if it wasn't seen through. The mask he hung off his ammo belt was plucked back up and placed on his face to cover the teary eyes that were once again hardened for the coming battle.

"Who are you? What is your purpose here? How do you know that villain?"

Ever the dutiful hero, Aizawa was. There was no desire to remain for Haru as the current high value target was at the hidden cave base that he remembered was Kouta's. As much fun as it would be to square off against Aizawa, he was short on time. Something had dropped from the man next to his feet that Aizawa tried to take a better look at before a deafening bang and burst of light stunned him and the people who were shortly on the scene just then.

Regaining his sight only served to show the negation hero a lack of anybody at the end of his cloth. He clicked his tongue as Vlad and the other students began to question Aizawa about who he had his scarf around. Inspecting the sash he had trapped the masked man with revealed that it was in fact cut.

This fabric was designed to be sturdy enough to pull several hundred kilos and blades sharpened enough to shave hair effortlessly. He hadn't felt the tug of force used, so how was it he cut the fabric? There were more pressing issues at hand as there were a lot of students still unaccounted for in a forest filled with villains intent on killing them.

Some Distance Away

Kouta could only listen to his auntie Mandalay apologize for her inability to come save him as a massive goliath of a man shrouded in black was getting closer and closer to the boy. His unsettling behavior was talking about how the man wanted his hat versus the mask his new organization made him wear. It was clear this man wasn't just looking for pleasant conversation, so Kouta made a break for the slope leading down from the cave ledge.

"Oh, too bad."

The stone cracked underneath the force the villain was using to leap and bounce off the wall. He easily cut off the boy from his only way of escape.

"Guess I gotta take my frustrations out on you."

His mask fell off with the sudden movement of his massive body to entrap the boy and prevent his next victim from escaping. Kouta remembered the live news report that described his parent's killer as a man who was in possession of a quirk that had the ability to enhance his strength. What sent his heart plummeting to the depths was seeing the scarred left eye his parents marked the villain with as a memento of their fight.

By the skin of his teeth; Izuku flew in to wrap his arms around the boy as the villain was about to make Kouta a stain on the mountain. Izuku was just able to rotate as he anticipated the punch to prevent himself from taking the blow head on. Doing so to prevent taking damage was like placing thorn bushes as a substitution for iron fencing as a security measure. The two boys went for a tumble that lasted a few meters before they were able to stop rolling.

Midoriya got up and stood between the child behind him and the villain in front of him. Fighting by himself against such a massive looking villain was far from ideal. His current situation was from him just booking it here in a rush without explaining himself. He checked his pocket and it was confirmed that his phone was completely unusable from the tumble he took to protect Kouta. There was no backup or help coming for him.

Thinking about how alone and likely he was to die was not doing the morale any good. Imagining his death and how his loved ones would be destroyed by his death was just the icing on this shit cake of a situation. All those faces crying and begging for him to come back. His mother, Nakamura, even Mina. He couldn't do that to her.

Their time together was some of the best in his life. Even without the love of their other friends, he couldn't imagine living his life without his soulmate. Looking at Kouta's terrified expression

One for All began to activate as Izuku told Kouta something he knew to be true.

"Don't worry, Kouta. I'll get both of us out here. Together."