Shojo S - Scandal (Bleach Opening 10)

It was quiet.

Far too quiet for my liking.

I understood that before the raid started, a few plans had to be set in motion. Many heroes and sidekicks were divided into smaller groups with their own goals and objectives, which was great. I was stuck on the Nighteye team, along with Aizawa and Midoriya. Mirio, Nighteye as well as his two sidekicks, Bubbles and Centipeder, were also on our squad. Our main goal was to capture both Overhaul and Azrael.

Uraraka and Tsuyu were with Ryukyu, while Kirishima was with Fatgum. Both teams were stationed near the entrance with the specific goal of 'raising hell.' Or rather, that's what I said to them since our squad was supposed to be one of the main squads. I shuddered under the November cold, even if it was supposed to be eleven in the morning it was cold. Bzzt. My phone was in my pocket, but I was too busy smoking my penultimate cigarette to care to open it.

"Are you really doing that now?" Bubbles asked me, frowning.

"Why not? It helps for my Quirk."

"Really?" She prodded once more, it was clear that she didn't believe me at all. And she wasn't wrong, I was lying after all. "I've never heard of a Quirk that requires smoking a cigarette to be a part of it."

"It's not needed. Just that it helps."

"So then if it's not needed, why are you smoking it?"

"Because it helps, dipshit. Did your mother drop you on the head as a baby or something? Shoo! Go bother Lemillion or Deku." I snapped at her. What an annoying bitch… I turned my head to face Nighteye, who had a pair of binoculars and was watching the Shie Hassaikai hideout with intense focus.

"Is it possible for me to ask you to refrain from using such crude language with my students?" He asked me, still staring at their hideout.

"Probably. But you'll have to pay me extra for that. If you promise to buy me five packs of cigs, I'll promise you not to swear for the rest of the year." I had no idea if Nighteye was ignoring me, thinking over my proposal or was still staring intently at the hideout for the most infamous yakuza group in modern times. All I did know was that I wasn't going to get a response in this century at least. I sighed, swivelling around to face Mirio and Midoriya who were sitting in a corner together.

"Yo." I waved at that.

"Ah! S-Sora, is it really okay for you to be smoking before the raid?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Think of it as a good luck charm. Hopefully. I don't know about you, but my mum believes in fate and all that shit so she gives me all these charms and stuff for the New Year. Tells me that it'll help, but to be honest with you it never does. Although the bluebird she got me once was cool if a bit useless since it was a plushie. Anyways, what's up?" Midoriya shrugged his shoulders as Mirio answered for him.

"Nothing much! We are just strategizing how we will be saving Eri. Wait, did Deku fill you in on her?"

"Vaguely," I replied, sitting down opposite them. "But I got the gist of it. She's the girl that's being experimented on by Overhaul and Azrael to make Trigger and Felix Felicis, right? If that's the case then it should be pretty easy to save her. While we," I pointed at everyone else on our squad. "Deal with Overhaul, Azrael and whatever dumb cunt that stands in our way, you two can kidnap the girl and escape."

"Sora, we can't kidnap a young girl-,"

"Why not? Also is it really kidnapping if they were kidnapped in the first place?" Neither had an answer to my question. I smirked, marvelling at my brilliance. "Exactly! Therefore just listen to what I have to say for a moment. You take the girl and run, take her to safety and protect her. Overhaul is gonna try and send others to try and get her back, so while we deal with him you'll have to fend off whoever comes your way. What do you say?"

"It sounds like a plan that will not happen," Aizawa sat down next to me, a small smile on his face. "Saving the girl, Eri if I remember correctly, is a secondary mission for this squad. The capture of Overhaul, Azrael as well as stopping the production of Trigger is our primary mission. If two of our members run off to do their own thing, it'll make capturing Overhaul and Azrael that much harder. Don't forget, the League of Villains is also here. There is a high chance that we will have to deal with them as well therefore we need as many fighters as we can get."

"Is that why all of us are grouped up in the same team?" I asked Aizawa, who nodded in response. Great. Just great. I glanced over at the building in which the Shie Hassaikai operated and scoffed. I thought yakuza flaunted their wealth, but taking one look at the building told me all I needed to know about the Shie Hassaikai. Cold. Almost like a surgeon in a sense, but also willing to bite back hard. Despite all that, I felt the need to glare back at the building.

I wasn't about to lose to a non-sentient object!

"Are you having a blinking competition with a building?"

"Maybe." I replied.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

Centipeder probably thought I was insane after that last comment, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to talk with Bubbles. Bubble girl. Right, her name wasn't Bubbles, but I was going to call her that anyway. Bubbles was a way cooler name than Bubble girl, and I wasn't going to give up on that even if she tried to correct me. I sighed, I was so bored. Eventually, I finished my cigarette and put on my mask, turning to face the object of my boredom.

The Shie Hassaikai hideout.

I just wanted to grab a stick and poke it.

"What are we waiting for?" I asked Nighteye.

"For the raid to start."

"And when will it start?"

"Right about," Nighteye finally looked away from the building to gaze at his watch. Pointing at the building, a loud bang woke us all up. "Now. Let's go." I didn't know how to react as tons of yakuza came running out of the building, guns in hands shooting in random directions. Especially when every hero who was a part of the raid came running out in response. When I said I was bored, I didn't mean that chaos should just start randomly…

But I didn't have time to lament the fact that the fighting was one hell of a wake-up call for me.

The raid against the Shie Hassaikai had officially begun.

DECIDE

Six

'Angelz of HELL'

While I didn't think I was a genius like Yaoyorozu or even a hard worker like Midoriya, I wasn't a slouch when it came to my studies. While yeah, it was because the stuff we covered in school were things or skills that I already knew, that didn't mean that I wasn't academically gifted. But my true intelligence was being street smart, and anyone could tell you that about me. Which was why I found it truly baffling when a Shie Hassaikai member holding an SMG spraying bullet around like they were Christmas Presents screamed in terror as I cut his 'fun' in half.

Then he ran around screaming like a headless chicken which was sorta funny.

My eyes narrowed as I dodged a knife that would have landed in my chest. But Aizawa had taken of the idiot who had thrown the knife at me, rather violently as well. He used his scarf to slam the boy on the pavement, along with the crunching sound his body made as he hit the ground made me feel sorry for him. It wasn't just chaos, it was pure unadulterated chaos.

The type that would be compared to sinful behaviour.

It was a complete free-for-all as our team tried to enter the building. It was clear for us all to see that the Shie Hassaikai knew about the raid beforehand and had tried to set defensive measures against us, even if they were just tactics to stall us. But even as I scoured all the yakuza currently out to play, I couldn't spot Denji. That meant that he was still inside - That he was still in danger.

Midoriya and Mirio covered each other's backs as we made it to the entrance, but not before I watched Nighteye take three guys at once and come out unscathed. Bubbles and Centipeder were also quite cool as they took down their own group of goons. Eventually, we made our way inside the building as we fought off even more yakuza. Just how many people did they have at their disposal? I ducked as someone swung an axe at my head, not before making a Rasengan in my hands and drilling the floor below them watching as they got stuck in the floor.

I sent out a Truth Seeking Orbs at the idiot that tried to sneak up on Midoriya, not before finding myself surrounded by three other guys. That was before Nighteye and Aizawa teamed up to make quick work of all three, and probably make them regret ever coming into 'work' today. It was rather fun as we fought our way through the Shie Hassaikai main headquarters, and it totally made me feel like a badass. It got to a point where we had yakuza actively running away from us. But Nighteye told me to make a dog construct to chase them down and bring them back to him so he could arrest them.

It was sorta funny when one of my dog constructs brought back a man who was screaming for help as he was dragged across the floor.

"Aozora! Check the room on the left!" Aizawa instructed me as he looked into the room on the right. I nodded at him, kicking the door down as I walked in. Huh? There was nothing here-,

I threw myself on the floor to avoid a knife aimed at my back. Tch. Midoriya took quick work of the idiot though, punching so hard it sent him flying through walls. I saw how Midoriya winced at that, before shrugging his shoulders as he helped me get up from the ground.

"Sorry about that," He apologised to me. "I think I put too much force into my punches."

"No shit Sherlock, I never woulda guessed," I joked. "Cheers for that. If weren't for you, I'd probably be a shish kebab right now." Before Midoriya could reply, Aizawa stuck his head in the room and sternly warned us to get a move on. Right. We were still raiding a notorious yakuza group, we didn't have time to chit-chat. But as we met up with Mirio and Bubbles, who were both keeping tally of the amount of yakuza they had beaten, I felt myself sigh at our teacher.

"Why can they have fun?" I asked him, punching the idiot who charged me holding a chair in the face.

"Because," Aizawa managed to get out as he wrapped his weapon around two other yakuza and yanked them to the ground hard. "You can't talk and fight at the same time. Your mouth gets carried away."

I took a page out of Kaminari's book, running in close and swiping one guy, before turning around and using my sword to cut the AK-47 that a woman was holding in half, waving at her as Mirio knocked her out.

"That's my point."

"Nu–uh! Aozora clearly rendered them useless first!"

It was sorta funny how even in the middle of a raid against serious criminals, these two clowns managed to have a competition in the middle of it. What was funny was that Sir Nighteye, their teacher, was allowing it and actually found himself smiling at their exchange. Even Midoriya had a small smile tugging at his lips, which made it even worse for me. I was supposed to be the class clown, but not even I would challenge someone to compete in this situation.

Hell, I don't think Bakugo would either.

And he's Bakugo!

As we made our way deeper and deeper into the building, clearing rooms and going down more stairs, I started to wonder where Denji was. I hadn't seen him outside, or thus far, and since Aizawa knew what he looked like and I knew that or he'd tell me right away. It was no secret to Aizawa and Nighteye that one of the main reasons I was on the raid was to deal with Denji, and they were giving me the opportunity to deal with it. As a hero should. But all I had to do was find him first.

We fought a few more goons before we found ourselves near the basement. The reason how we found out was a nice little sign stuck at the top of one of the doors. While I wasn't a yakuza, I thought one of the first rules to being a criminal was not to write down stuff that your enemies could use to beat you. Midoriya ran in front of all of us, likely rushing to try and find Eri. That was until I heard a click.

"Deku! Wait-,"

I pushed him to the side as the floor under me gave way, and I found myself falling. If it wasn't for Aizawa wrapping his weapon around me, I would have fallen all the way to the bottom without even realising it. Well, I probably would have made a Nimbus construct before I hit the ground, but it would still work.

"Are you alright?!" Aizawa asked me, slightly panicking.

"Yeah, I'm good. Do you think you can-,"

"I'm fine. No need to follow me around." I paused mid-sentence to listen down below. That was Denji! I'd recognise his voice anywhere! But what the hell was this hole doing here? I looked up at Aizawa, briefly taking off my mask to grin at him as I made a Nimbus platform and let go of his scarf. But what I wasn't expecting was for him to jump down alongside me, catching my platform before he fell right to the bottom.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, confused.

"Following you. While I'm letting you deal with your friend, it would be irresponsible for me to let you walk around an enemy base all by yourself. Especially when we don't really know who awaits us down at the bottom."

"I heard Denji," I replied, guiding my construct to lower itself as I put my mask back on. "It was him, so if we follow this path it should lead us directly towards him."

"Aozora, while your friend may be your goal, that doesn't mean that-,"

"It's not the primary goal for everyone else, I got it. It's why Deku and Lemillion are going to get scolded by Nighteye soon, isn't it? Because they want to prioritise saving the girl?" Aizawa nodded at me. We touched down on the ground, and I whistled at how the basement of the Shie Hassaikai really looked. It looked more like a government facility rather than a place where yakuza had their operations. I didn't know if Aizawa was impressed or not, especially considering he had the same blank look on his face as ever.

That was until I looked at what he was staring at.

Two yakuza who were clearly strong were glaring at us, and if it wasn't for the briefcases that they had dropped I never would have known that we weren't supposed to have arrived here right about now. The one on the right I identified as Hekiji Tengai, a bastard that could create barriers, while the taller man on his left was Kendo Rappa. Assault, kidnapping, murder, any crime you could think of Rappa had done it. The infamous 'sword and shield' combo was standing right in front of Aizawa and me.

The two bastards that stopped me from reaching my friend.

I cracked my knuckles, grabbing my sword out and pointing it directly at them.

I wasn't going to waste any time.

"All right, you miserable pieces of shit! I'm only going to say this once!" I yelled as Aizawa readied himself for the oncoming fight. "Get the hell outta my way before I crack your skulls open!"

Izuku Midoriya POV

"S-Sora!" For a brief moment, Izuku Midoriya forgot about his friends' hero name as he saw him fall down into a hole, with their teacher following right after. It took everything in his body to not jump in right after them, but he trusted that his friend and their teacher could handle themselves, even if they got into trouble. No, the more pressing matter for Izuku was the fact that it had been fifteen minutes since they had entered the building, but not even a single trace of any of the remaining Eight Bullets, Overhaul or even the mysterious Azrael himself. What was even worse was that Izuku knew if he found one of them, Eri would be close by.

The clock was ticking for him to find and save the girl, just as he had promised. And he wasn't going to be breaking any promises today. Dashing through each corridor, fighting any yakuza as quickly as he could, he could see that Mirio and himself were the ones leading the way. 'Uraraka and everyone else are upstairs, taking care of anyone trying to get out or back in. I need to focus and do my job properly!' He thought to himself. Izuku had no time to waste, yet each second felt like an hour had passed.

Perhaps it was the pressure finally getting to him, or it was genuine worry. Izuku thought it was the latter, his mother had cried when she called him earlier this morning wishing him luck for the raid. Izuku smiled to himself as he took down another yakuza, this time kicking them in the stomach. 'I bet Kacchan would have said something like I don't need luck if someone said that to him. I already know that Sora would say something like I'm Lady Luck's human avatar or something.'

…

Izuku sighed as he ran down the hallway.

It was Sora himself that was the one that made him the most worried. This was his first fight ever since camp, but more importantly, the entire class could see how scattered his thoughts were. He hadn't attended school yesterday, but it didn't matter since his attendance for the month of November (which hadn't finished yet) was still at forty per cent. And with what Jiro told them bout one of their friends being a member of the Shie Hassaikai, Izuku wished that his friend could have relied on him more.

While he wanted to save Eri, he wanted to help his friend just as much.

But then Sora went and did his own thing, just as always. He couldn't help but admire that side of his friend, and Izuku knew that before the raid was over they would be seeing each other once more. After all, they had to apprehend Overhaul and Azrael together, it was something that they were going to do together. Izuku didn't need any luck to know that Sora would save his friend, nor did he need any luck to know that the villains were going to be stopped today. He could feel it in his gut. And whenever he had that feeling - It was usually correct.

This time wasn't going to be different!

"Sensei!" Bubble Girl called out, pointing at one of the enemies ahead of them. Izuku thought of the list of dangerous people Nighteye had given him and recognised the man to be Deidoro Sakaki, one of the Eight Bullets. However, before he could ready himself for a fight, Bubble Girl and Centipeder started to fight against the man instead. "You, Lemillion and Deku continue going forwards! We got this!"

Nighteye nodded at them as he lead Mirio and Izuku forwards.

'I have faith in them too!' He thought to himself as they were led to an open area. Before Izuku could even ask where they were, the doors behind them shut.

"Damnit!" Izuku yelled, punching the door while using Full Cowling. "I can't even put a dent in it!" While he was able to control fifteen per cent of One For All normally, and seventeen if he wanted to push it, he was surprised that not even a single dent appeared on the doors. Mirio looked worried as well, but it was another voice that made the blood in Izuku's body run cold.

"Well, well. Look who we have here?" Sitting on top of a small hill, Mr Compress greeted them. "A bunch of heroes that seem a little lost. Dabi, what do you think?" He asked the man who was playing with blue fire at his fingertips right next to him.

"I'm not really paid to think," Dabi joked, before staring coldly at the three of them. "But if I were, I'd tell them to call any family they have and say they ain't coming back. Not alive at least." Izuku tried not to show that he was panicking, because on the inside he really was.

'Shit! When did the League of Villains arrive? We knew they were helping the Shie Hassaikai with shipments of Trigger, but not showing up to help them. It must be the work of their teleporter, Kurogirir!' Izuku thought to himself, before steeling himself for a fight. They had the numbers advantage, but the sheer destruction that Dabi could cause, as well as Mr Compress's ability to compress anything, including body parts, made Izuku swallow down his bile.

It was going to be a tough fight.

"Now, now, there isn't a need to start fighting right away," A third man said. Izuku's eyes narrowed, and a growl escaped him as he saw him with his lavish clothes and plague mask smiling at him. Kai Chisaki gazed down upon all of them from his own hill as if he were trying to insinuate that the rest of them were diseased. But the small little girl standing next to him made Izuku's heart skip a beat. Eri, looking as downtrodden as ever was standing right there. "Why don't we just talk things out?"

"How about we have a conversation with you in a jail cell," Nighteye countered, a small smirk on his lips. "I'll even throw in a free meal for you. Sound good?" Overhaul had the gall to laugh at that as he patted Eri's head, shoving her forwards with little to no care.

"So, if I give you the girl and go with you, I'll get a free meal? Sounds like a good deal to me."

"Stop horsing around!" Mirio shouted angrily. "We're saving the girl and taking you in. The only free food you'll be getting is my fist in your face!" Izuku nodded at that, but for whatever reason Overhaul didn't seem fazed at all. It unnerved Izuku to no end that he simply stared at them as if nothing happened. That Overhaul revelled in this violence that he had created.

"Really? Why is there so much fuss over this little girl," He asked, pulling out a pocket knife and pointing it at her throat, almost touching it but "I mean seriously, even if you heroes get ahold of her, you'd just turn her into another weapon at your disposal. Another shiny weapon for the government to use to control the masses. At least I'm using her to save society."

"Save society?! Who are you trying to fool here?" Izuku yelled at him, trying to calm himself down. Eri was right in front of him. "You're just doing this for the power. You don't care about saving society! If you did, you wouldn't be hurting an innocent girl for fun!"

"But it's not for fun," Overhaul replied, holding out a red cartridge in front of them. "See this? It's a Quirk erasure bullet. You get hit by this and your Quirk is gone for good. That's powerful, sure, but our society has become so infested with Quirks that I'm simply getting rid of it for us all. And Eri here is our hero, bringing us all back to the good old days. You can't tell me that Quirks haven't made our society complacent, made us value what you're born with over what you could achieve."

Izuku… had no answer to that.

He wasn't born with a Quirk, and he was ostracised for it. He knew first-hand what being born with a Quirk gave you in terms of privileges, but even if Overhaul had even a shred of an argument, to Izuku it meant nothing! Not when he was holding a small girl against her will, experimenting on her. Overhaul sighed, pocketing the red vial, and Izuku knew that's when the fight would break out.

It wasn't a surprise to him when Mirio charged Overhaul while Nighteye covered his students' run by facing off against Dabi. That meant that Izuku had to face off against Mr Compress, once again. He didn't forget the man that was the reason why Sora even went with the villains in the first place. He had bargained to go instead of Izuku, who had been captured by Mr Compress. If anything, beating Mr Compress here was a statement that Izuku wasn't the same weak person he was back then!

"So, we're going to have another fight-," Izuku didn't give the villain enough time to rest as he used his Quirk, Black Whip, to close the distance between himself and the villain before kicking him in the face as hard as he could. Perhaps Mr Compress wasn't expecting it, or perhaps he was waiting to see how strong Izuku had gotten, but as his mask crumbled to the floor he had a look of pure shock on his face.

"It's not going to be another easy fight for you!" Izuku told him, readying himself as Mr Compress shook it off, pointing his staff at him. "This time, I will beat you!"

"Go ahead and try, brat."

Mr Compress lunged at him, and it took all of Izuku's balance to not fall over as he rolled to the side, flicking his fingers to send Mr Compress back. But Izuku didn't expect him to jump over his projectile attack, and Izuku had to use Black Whip to retreat as he came up with a different plan. 'He's fast, strong and has a deadly Quirk to boot! Think Midoriya, think! How can I beat him?' Izuku's thoughts were interrupted as he had to dodge another strike from Mr Compress. 'Aha! If I just time it right!'

He punched the ground, hard, shattering it with enough force to send Mr Compress in the air to avoid a bit of debris, which left him vulnerable. Izuku grinned to himself as he sent another projectile, whispering to himself what Sora would say in this situation.

"Bullseye."

Mr Compress had no way of dodging Izuku's attack as he was forcefully pushed backwards, slamming into the nearby wall. That was until Izuku found himself attacked by multiple large rocks heading his way. 'He must have put them in marbles before I started to fight him! Crap!' Midoriya panicked as he avoided most, but not all of them. But Mr Compress didn't give him any time to breathe as he was on him yet again, using his cane to try and sweep Izuku off his feet.

Once again, he was on the back foot, But with the experience Mr Compress had over him along with the versatility of his Quirk, it didn't take long for him to be pressed up against the wall.

"What now? Cat got your tongue?" The villain teased, his cane brushing past Izuku's arm. "I'll admit, compared to all those months ago you've improved considerably. In fact, I'd argue that we are more on an even playing field, but your lack of experience in a real fight shows," Mr Compress eventually did sweep Izuku off his feet, and he swore quietly as he hit the ground with a thud. "Unfortunately, your tendency to get lost in your thoughts proves that I am still your superior. Do you yield?"

His cane was pointed directly at Izuku's throat.

"Never." He replied, sitting up straighter.

Mr Compress sighed.

"I suppose killing one hero will have to do-,"

Izuku had never had an interest in blades. They were always too sharp for him to handle properly, not to mention he was half afraid of chopping his own arm off by accident. But he could admit that some blades were beautiful. His classmate, Sora, had a fascination with swords and other blades. To him, they looked cool, and thus Sora had used plenty of blades throughout his tenure in U.A. But the blade in front of Izuku right now made his breath hitch in his throat because it was the only thing stopping his throat from getting crushed by Mr Compress's cane.

A thick double-edged sword, wielded by Zero.

"Watch it," Zero warned Mr Compress, even with the voice modifier, Izuku could tell that his tone of voice promised pain. "What did I say about harming anyone in 1A?"

"You said as long as that Yamazaki brat took your deal of leaving 1A, which he didn't, you would make sure everyone in that class was safe!" Zero nodded.

"I did say that. I also said that if any harm came to 1A I would personally find those responsible and murder them myself. Tell me, Atsuhiro Sako, would you like to know how I would personally murder you?" Zero threatened, refusing to budge even a centimetre over. Mr Compress glared at the masked villain, before lowering his cane and storming off away from the scene. Zero didn't say anything to Izuku as the two of them stood in silence.

"Why did you save me just now?" Izuku found himself asking. "I'm sure you know my value. So why did you save me? Why did you allow Sora to trade himself for me?" Izuku had never spoken to Zero before, in fact, only Jiro and Sora had, but they were questions that Izuku wanted to know the answers to.

"Why I saved you…" Zero repeated, resting his blade on his shoulders. "I made a promise to someone very important to me. That whatever happened, I wouldn't allow harm to come to anyone in 1A if I could prevent it. If All For One had gotten his hands on you, I wouldn't have been able to keep that promise. But even then, I couldn't keep my promise to protect Sora either. In fact, perhaps if I had refused his offer he would be in a better place than he currently is."

Izuku didn't know if Zero was talking to him or himself.

"Why help the Shie Hassaikai? Power? Money?"

"It wasn't my idea, I'm simply following the orders of a child," Zero answered. "If it were up to me, the Shie Hassaikai would have been left alone. Sadly, your rival doesn't understand that. Tomura Shigaraki is many things, patient is not one."

"Rival? What do you mean by that?"

"If you are One For All's current master, then Shigaraki is All For One's mentee. Neither can live while the other survives. You best believe that Shigaraki is going to gun for you when he finds out that All Might's 'sabbatical' is permanent." Izuku froze at that. He hadn't told a single soul about that, not even Sora. As far as he was aware, not even Aizawa-sensei knew the truth about what happened to All Might. It was one of the reasons why Nighteye had gone out of his way to mentor Izuku after all.

Because All Might was in a coma with a small chance of ever waking up.

"How do you know about that?"

"Why would I tell you that?" Zero scoffed. "But don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I've known about it long before you even found out yourself anyways." Before Izuku could reply, Zero had left him as Kurogiri opened up a portal for him and Mr Compress to escape in. Dabi followed right after, waving goodbye to Izuku. It was strange. Despite the League of Villains being… villains, out of all of them, Zero felt the most like a hero.

Perhaps it was the stories Sora had told them about or Jiro's account of what happened during camp and how Zero protected her.

But Izuku could say that Zero was trustworthy.

For a villain at least.

"Deku!" he heard Nighteye yell. "Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to help us fight Overhaul?" Mirio was thrown across the room rather comically as Nighteye dodged a spear made of stone that would have impaled him. Eri, standing all alone at the top of one of the hills, watched the fight unfold with tears in her eyes.

'Right. I still haven't saved Eri yet!'

"Get the hell outta my way before I crack your skulls open!"

As soon as I said that, we all jumped into action. While Aizawa took care of Rappa, I swung my sword at Tengai, only for it to bounce back. His barriers were strong. Tsk. I jumped back as Rappa tried to drill through me. But Aizawa quickly led our second attack, with him cancelling Rappa's Quirk allowing me to lunge forwards and slash the man across the chest… only for Tengai's Quirk to appear just in time, saving Rappa from defeat.

I made two wolves and two crows, forming a Rasengan in my hand as I made sure to attack Tengai's barrier all at once. Crack. I grinned at that, even if it was the tiniest crack in the world, it meant that the bastards' barriers weren't invincible. Pushing some Nimbus to my legs, I jumped over Rappa and aimed a few Truth Seeking Orbs at Tengai. The bastard didn't know what hit him, especially since his barrier was still propped on Rappa.

It gave Aizawa an opening as he rushed in, using his Quirk on Tengai nullifying his barrier as I attacked Rappa from behind, slashing his back with my sword while my constructs attacked him at the front. It was a simple strategy, but one that Aizawa had drilled into me along my many lessons with Shinso. Suffice to say, whenever I fought with Aizawa, it was like the two of us could communicate without saying words. Of course, we weren't actually telepaths, but the man understood me and the plans that I made up on the go dangerously well.

Rappa screamed in pain as he turned around and tried to beat me to a bloody pulp, but I managed to evade his attacks as Aizawa turned to use Quirk on him, I then dealt with Tengai who was starting to get more and more frustrated. Essentially, that was Aizawa and I's plans. To switch our opponents often, angering them, so we could take them out one after the other. It was rather simple, crude and probably the worst way to deal with Rappa and Tengai, but Aizawa went along with my plan as he realised it was the one with the most chance of success.

Tengai grew more and more careless as I timed my attacks just after he put up a barrier around Rappa, I had decided to get rid of Tengai's annoying Quirk first. While Tengai was mostly feared for his barriers, the man was no slouch when it came to speed either. However, he hadn't seen me in Bankai yet. He spat out blood as I formed an armour of Nimbus and charged at him with more speed compared to before, as well as more power, and I managed to knock the man out rather easily.

That was before Rappa flung me to the closest wall.

Ah.

Pain.

The one weakness of my Quirk.

Everything disappeared, and I saw Rappa smirk at me smugly. That was before Aizawa used his Quirk on the villain and dispatched him rather easily, which was always great to see. I got up from the floor, walking over to Rappa's tied-up state as I stuck out my tongue at him behind my mask.

"Do you think you've won?" He asked us, clearly amused. But unlike the situation with Hojo, the two of us were prepared.

"Dude, if you think we don't know that you have Felix Felicis at hand? Well, you're wrong. Go ahead and try it, but we both know that you'll die after using it. We wouldn't want ya' to meet the same fate as your buddy Hojo, now do we?" Rappa growled at that, but he didn't deny anything. He relented to Quirk suppression cuffs being put on him and Tengai, and we left them resting against the corridor neatly.

I turned back to the end of the corridor, that was where I had heard Denji's voice last. Wherever Rappa and Tengai were going meant that Denji was likely to be there as well, and so I readied myself for another fight. I knew that I could beat Denji in a fight, the only problem was if I could actually fight him. But I still wanted to talk things out with him, we were still friends. He wanted to save me, and I wanted to save him, that was a truth that both of us accepted.

"Aozora," Aizawa started. "From this moment onwards, be careful. We were lucky that we ran into Rappa and Tengai, they were the two's Quirks who we could counter the most easily. But from here on out, we have no idea what awaits us. Since we separated from Nighteye and the others, we don't even know how they are doing thus we should be careful if we sustain any injuries as well. It would be irrational for us to fight as if we don't have other goals to accomplish, even if this may be your priority."

I nodded at that.

"Got it. No injuries, doesn't seem hard enough," I joked as we walked down the corridor. "Say, if I manage to get through this whole raid without a single injury will you get me a present?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"What the present is."

"Three packs of ciggies and three cigars, expensive ones as well!" I told him. "Also, a promise that you'll organise a poker night for all the boys in 1A where the dress code is suited only and we'll be able to drink whisky on the rocks while playing."

"I'll agree to the three packs of cigarettes, but everything after that is a no-go," Aizawa told me. "Anyways, the likelihood of you getting through this raid unscathed is not even a miracle at this point. It's flat-out impossible. You rack up more injuries than yellow cards in a football game, and that says something."

I didn't reply as we walked deeper and deeper into the basement of the Shie Hassaikai base. It was rather eerie for a base, but I suppose being yakuza meant that it had to be that way. Still, all the metals and greys meant that everything looked the same, and if I was being honest I wouldn't have minded seeing some colour on the walls here and there. Maybe a light blue, or a mint green would have really done wonders to differentiate where we were going and not make me feel like I was going around in a circle.

"How's the sword?"

"Good. Mei really outdid herself this time. Honestly, I think I've fallen in love with it. Just the way sparks bounce off it when it comes into contact with other metals is so satisfying," I resisted the urge to hug my sword. "Not to mention it's highly useful in other areas. It also looks very cool."

"Ah yes, the true essence of being a hero. Coolness." Aizawa snarkily bit back, sniggering to himself as I nearly tripped over my own foot.

"That was totally planned!"

"Uh-huh. I totally believe you."

Eventually, Aizawa and I made it to the end of the corridor, where a large door was open for us, That was already incredibly suspicious, but I turned to look at Aizawa who nodded at me. He was going to have my back the whole way through, and that was comforting. The two of us walked into the dimly lit room, with my right hand clutching my sword handle tighter than before while Aizawa was constantly on the lookout for even a single sign of movement.

Flip.

The lights switched on, which made me tense slightly, but I kept on walking forwards. It was clear that was what we were supposed to do. The room was filled to the brim with tables and chairs, along with science equipment sitting at the top of them. There were even a few tubes with weird liquids inside of them with a 'DO NOT TOUCH' post-it note stuck to the front of them.

"Like my lab?"

Swirling around on a chair was a man I had never seen before. He had unkempt dirty blonde hair that reached past his shoulders and curious blue eyes, along with silver horn-rimmed glasses. He wore a generic lab coat with a tank top and grey sweats underneath and black boots to finish off his outfit. My suspicions were confirmed as I saw the number seven tattooed across his chest, which fit his semi-homeless vibe as he had some stubble growing as well.

But it was the lollipop in his mouth that really surprised me.

"Azrael?" I asked as the man's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Ah! Of course, you know my generic villain name," He complained, spinning around his chair wildly. "Please, if you're going to call me Azrael or something along those lines, could you do it with more oomph? Like Azrael, I've come to take your life! Pretty please? I'll even throw in a free lollipop or two for your troubles?"

"Well I haven't come here to take your life, but you are under arrest," I told him plainly.

"Oh poo. I don't suppose you'll allow me to finish my new experiment, will you?" I turned to look at Aizawa in confusion. Was this guy being for real? I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. "It's supposed to be this brand new jawbreaker that becomes harder the more you lick it, like an unbeatable jawbreaker. I was planning on making it from metal, so you know, it would actually break jaws. What do you think of it?"

"I think," I replied, slamming his head on the table as Aizawa put the cuffs on him. "That you have the right to shut your fucking mouth, and if you say another annoying thing I'll personally punch you in the face."

"That doesn't sound very lawful." He told us. He said it in such a tone of voice as if it meant nothing to him, or rather like this was just some fun little excursion for him. It honestly baffled me how someone could act like this during a raid against a criminal organisation. Was he just that much of an airhead that he didn't realise what was going on?

"Azrael-,"

"Natsuki," He cut Aizawa off. "Please, just call me Natsuki. It's my name after all, and did you know I was born in July? July the eleventh to be precise. I love my birthday, it's honestly one of the few days that I can relax and drink four bottles of sake all on my own. Well, others try and help, but they usually pass out after the second bottle. Oh and presents! How can I forget about presents? Wait! Before I'm taken away from here, do you think we could take a commemorative picture of me getting arrested?"

What…

What the fuck is this guy going on about?!

"Tell him to eat shit, sensei."

"Go tell him yourself."

I sighed as I glared at Natsuki's innocent eyes.

"Eat shit, asshole."

Natsuki tried to clap his hands, but he immediately howled in pain as he remember that he was handcuffed. It was really stupid. How was this Azrael? The man that had apparently made the Shie Hassaikai into an even more feared gang? He was just… an idiot.

"Hahahaha. I'm getting arrested, isn't that cool?" Natsuki asked us, but before we could reply the rest of the lights switched on. Six people surrounded us, all holding assault rifles. Tsk. I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I grabbed Natsuki by the collar and placed him right in front of me. He was tall. Natsuki was a little taller than Iida, but it didn't matter since it meant that he'd be an even better human shield for Aizawa and me.

That was when I spotted the ringleader.

Denji…

"Let Azrael go, and we won't shoot," Denji demanded. "And take off your mask. I know it's you, Sora." I grumbled as I followed what he said, uncuffing Natsuki and I threw my mask to the floor, watching as Natsuki's eyes narrowed as he stared at me intently.

"Hm… you look familiar."

"Yeah. I'm the Fourteenth. Nice to meet ya'."

"Aha!" Natsuki jumped up and down excitedly. "I knew it! The Fourteenth person I've met that has blue hair! Whew, I thought I was already at sixteen people, but thanks for reminding me!" I-, What?! I felt the tension in the air just disappear, and even some of the yakuza that were surrounding us lowered their weapons in confusion. That was before Natsuki clapped his hands once. Immediately, the tables surrounding us were flipped as what seemed like to be military-grade turrets surrounded us all.

"Now children, let's put down our guns," Natsuki told us as he walked back over to his chair and sat back down on it, resting his feet on his desk. "There we go, now we can have a real chat, right Sora? Tell me, how's life been? It's been sixteen years since I last met you. I can't believe it's been that long, I mean I'm only twenty-eight myself. I was twelve when you were born, isn't it crazy how time just flies by?"

Huh?

"Oh come on, don't act too shocked," Natsuki opened a can of beer and began to drink some. "Do you really think that I wasn't old enough to remember your mother? Nice on the eyes she was. Oh, and how can I forget about Tokage, she was also quite pretty. Crazy, but pretty. But honestly, torturing children? How despicable!"

"What's he talking about?" Aizawa asked me in confusion.

"Oh, you didn't tell him?" Natsuki leaned forward in his chair. "How interesting. Well now, I suppose I'll have to tell him since you'll be under All For One's Quirk still. Luckily, the bastard couldn't put it on me. My own Quirk prevented it you see, I call it 'Antithesis'. Essentially, it allows me to cancel out any Quirk that affects me. Well, Aizawa-sensei if I may call you that, what would you like to know?"

"Wait!" I interrupted the two of them. "What the hell are you saying? Are you crazy or something?"

"Hm. I don't know how to answer that question," Natsuki replied. "I mean sure, I experiment on people, but I'm a scientist. I thirst for knowledge, for understanding. You probably have a few moral and ethical concerns regarding Eri, and that's totally fair. I did cut her open and stitch her right back up with no problems, but it was for understanding. In a sense, isn't that what they did to-,"

"Cut it out!" Surprisingly, it was Aizawa that lost his cool.

"Or what? You'll attack me?" Natsuki asked him clearly amused by the situation. He got up from his seat and patted one of the turrets that were pointing at Aizawa. "I made these bad boys myself. I call them the Gum Gum Gattling Guns 'cause they shoot out rubber bullets, not real ones. But it doesn't matter if they are rubber 'cause they are shot out at such high speeds that the rubber bullet is set alight. It'll pierce your skull and then set your body on fire. Probably. I haven't really ironed out the kinks yet."

"Azrael, please we need you to-,"

"Evacuate?" Natsuki finished Denji's sentence for him. "Right. Well, it was fun meeting you again, Sora. You know if you ever meet Yukari Aotsuki again, she'd be proud of you. You aren't the devil you think you are-,"

"I know." I cut him off.

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"I-, I met her. Yesterday." I heard Aizawa bristle beside me, and if I turned to look at him I'm sure I'd see him staring at me in confusion. God, Natsuki was such an insufferable piece of shit.

"You met Yukari?" Aizawa asked me. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I was going to."

"When? Sometime next year?"

I had no answer for him.

"Ooo," Natsuki's lower lip dropped as he frowned at the two of us. His suitcase was already packed as he finished his can of coke and threw it in the bin. "Awkward. Personally, I think you two should have a heart-to-heart. You seem close, so I reckon it'll work. Plus, you are his best friends' son. Wait, he knows that, right?!"

"How do you know that?" Aizawa asked him, taking a couple of steps forward. Evidently, they were a few more than he should have as suddenly all four turrets in the room snapped to gaze at him.

"Because I saw it happen with my own eyes," Natsuki replied. "Seriously, Aizawa, haven't you figured it out yet? Your best friend has a son months after he died? Sora's mother having abandoned him? Interest in him from multiple powerful people? The riddle is easy to solve at this point, but I'll leave that for you to figure out."

"You aren't going anywhere."

Natsuki giggled at that, clapping once more as his turrets stood down.

"If you want to find out more, I guess you'll have to chase me. Denji! You know what to do!" And with that, Natsuki the Angel of Death took off running through his lab to the exit, with Aizawa hot on his heels. I tried to chase after them, but a few of Denji's friends stood in my way. I sighed, turning around to face my old friend.

"Sorry about Azrael," he apologised, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment just like how he used to do all those years ago. "There is a reason why he's stuck in his lab all day. He's… eccentric."

"Really? I never would have guessed." I narrowed my gaze at what he was holding in his hands. No, as to what all of his friends were holding. They had thrown their weapons away and were now holding Trigger. Tch. That bastard must have given some to them all before Aizawa and I came.

"Sora… please, is there any way you'll let us go? Without any more bloodshed. This raid has taken a lot out of us, do you know how hard I fought to keep my friends with me?" I turned around to look at Denji's friends. Sure enough, they were roughly the same age as Denji and me. Each with a look of sadness on their face. They didn't want to be here. "Sora, none of us wanted to be here. Please. Is there nothing you can do to save us?" My friend pleaded with me.

…

"Denji. Right now, you and your friends are carrying around Trigger. This raid started because of that damned drug," I told him raising my sword and pointing it directly at him. "You threw away your guns, but you still have the damned drug! Throw that away and maybe I'll conveniently forget that you were holding it! That should take care of one of your charges!"

I wasn't going to back down.

I was a hero.

This was my duty.

Even if it pained me to do it, even if I really was underwater, it's what Aizawa and Nighteye wanted me to do. What they warned me I should do. It was what Midoriya and everyone in 1A wanted me to do, the reason why my family and friends even wanted me to be a hero in the first place. Denji sighed, but ultimately he didn't back down either. The two of us were stubborn fools, and I watched as he and his friends injected himself with Trigger.

Six against one.

I like those odds.

These next few chapters will be short cause honestly it's mostly fighting.

Fights and some dialogue, but it mostly speaks for itself.

Yay. :)

Easier time for me to edit!