The air in this prefecture was thicker, the scent of pollution almost suffocating.
Iron tangs to the air and plumes of smoke a show of the corruption that openly stalked the streets, however for all their boldness they prided themselves around their boastfulness allowed Stain to continue on with his mission without his victims notice.
Using the shadows they cast to move unseen, taking advantage of the blind spots that had been intentionally left for something far greater than his victims could have ever dreamed of.
To turn predators into prey.
Prey that was completely oblivious to where he sat above them, watching them and all of their sins, his victims naively convinced that they were able to perfectly mask their true selves from the rest of the world as they continued to take advantage of those they viewed as beneath them.
The whole lot of them so used to taking without any question that many of them didn't even bother to hide their shameless behavior from the world as they knew it.
Such as Endeavor.
The man was at the very top of his list to purge from this tainted world, unfortunately he didn't have the ability to cleanse that man, yet.
Too much to risk for so early on in his mission to cleanse the streets of those who hid their evils behind the word hero.
Stain's hand gripped his blade tighter as he thought of their blasphemy upon the once respectable name of such a righteous idea, twisted and warped by those that held no honor or self-respect for the legacies they were making.
A large tv projecting the nightly news caused him to pause as the civilians on it discussed the recently held billboard results once again.
The discussion was a reminder of why he stood on a rooftop instead of stalking his next victim.
Thunderous booms and rain pelting the world suitably thematic as he pondered the end of an era.
Because, for all the millions of monsters and fakes that hid behind and abused the very meaning of the word, there were a handful of people out there that truly lived up to the ideals of what it meant to be a hero.
All Might, even with the fame and power to crush the world in his hands, simply reached out to those that the world had thrown away and used the gifts given to him to bring about as much peace for them as he could.
He could remember when he first met the man.
Perhaps it was just one of many fires for the hero, but that building held his grandparents, the kind and god-fearing people that refused to allow his parents to simply abandon him when his quirk had come in and raised him themselves even though his parents called him sick.
Both of whom would have been left to burn if All Might had not come to pull them out.
He remembered the fiery resolve that was lit in his chest that day, when the calling to become a hero ensnared him when his name was still Akaguro Chizome, a naive boy wanting to follow in All Might's footsteps.
His dreams of becoming a brilliant and bold hero that reached his hand out to all were swiftly crushed though.
The well of heroes tainted by snakes that only allowed the most vicious of the greedy to profit from the corruption they sowed, letting only their own ilk take their share of fame, and the powerful to crush the meek beneath their feet.
His disgust drove him to plead with the people of the blood that covered their supposed 'heroes' hands, but as with many times in history the people would not listen to words alone, and the righteous fire that All Might sparked within him burned to the point he chose to act.
To show the many ignorant to the sins of the heroes by exposing the rot they let happen, if not actively aided in to line their pockets.
But even that was not enough in the end.
So, once he was left alone in the world after burying the loving grandparents that had given him everything they could in the last years of their lives, he too laid to rest Akaguro Chizome and his chosen name of Stendhal.
Neither of those names would be needed for his new mission, one that would be violent, bloody and raw, full of pain and suffering for everyone involved, himself included.
Murder could be justified, but even if every body he put in the ground deserved to have their festering corpses rot and be consumed by their sins, he was still paving himself a road to hell for it.
And even though it meant he'd never be reunited with his grandparents in paradise, he knew that his mission was right and that he needed to cleanse the world of those that used their power or fame to harm the people they were meant to protect.
His hands would forever be stained red with the blood of those he'd damn, but he would shoulder the burden of being the one to carry the greatest of sins to ensure that the world would be changed for the better.
Even if it meant that he must stain the streets with the blood of those that pretended to be heroes.
All Might's retirement would only make his mission all the more important.
He knew that the fakes would pounce on the chaos to further spread their twisted rule over the world, none of that was All Might's fault though.
All Might had been a brave and defiant light of hope and peace even when the world around him was tainted by so much corruption.
But he was no god, merely a brave man upholding justice in a world of vile monsters that pretended to be his peers.
A man that made the bravest choice once again by choosing to step down and away before his body truly began to give out on him.
To show all of those naive and still hopeful of becoming true heroes that there was no shame in stepping away for your health, that pushing yourself to your death or to irreparably damage themselves was not the only choices that you had as a hero.
A duty to uphold justice and obligation to do what was right, yes.
But that one must also acknowledge when their time had come and to make the right choice of stepping aside when forcing themselves to continue would only endanger those they swore to protect.
However, All Might wasn't just wiping away the martyrdom the commission all but demanded but continuing to show his conviction in the power of the civilians around them and their own power to bring change.
All but promising to not give up his fight on the corruption in the world by using his voice to speak on the behalf of the many who could not.
I am here.
Words that All Might had held onto so fervently in memory of his dear mother and yet he so freely gave to the world, something so precious was given without a second thought to all who needed it.
Just as any true hero would.
He allowed his head to fall backwards, and he took a deep breath of the chill air, his breath coming out in a small puff of mist as he let himself mourn.
All Might was not dead; he was sure that even once the day came for the man behind the grand figure of the symbol of peace was to be buried that the legacy of All Might would not fade.
But the billboard was still the beginning of an era.
One day All Might would fully step away from the field, and his speech at the hero's billboard was only the first of many steps of such a journey.
And just for one day he'd give himself the night to feel the impact of such a loss, something he would not be able to do later once All Might was no longer there to hold the rest of his peers accountable.
However, as he looked back to the large public screen, he had to think that perhaps All Might was right that not all hope was lost with his eventual departure from heroics.
The screen changed now showing the greenette that worked at U.A.
This Midoriya Izuku did not share All Might's optimism, but he did ignite some hope within himself for the future generations.
He did not know the boy well, but he'd seen parts of himself reflected in the quirkless boy.
Someone that was willing to not just step in when the supposed heroes were abusing their power but to stop them from harming others, whether they were pro-heroes terrorizing children or greedy brats attempting to take advantage of the corrupt system.
He relished seeing the same fire within himself reflected in the boy's eyes as he confronted the public with its own hypocrisy.
But Midoriya was doing something he could have only wished would happen back when he was pleading to the people on the streets before taking up the new name of Stain for his crusade to cleanse their tainted world.
He was making the world pay attention to the heroes.
Sure, some of the news was purely obsessed with the boy's quirk status, but the rest?
Heroes were being questioned on their opinions regarding Midoriya's actions and being forced to reveal their true stance on issues that were never brought up before.
Already Midoriya's words had brought a crippling wound to one of the worst fakes of all of Japan's heroes.
Why else would Endeavor be dragged down to fifth place? The furthest he's fallen in the rankings in two decades.
And if that wasn't enough, he was bringing change to the hero industry through the students that were under his guidance
From the young girl Haku's refusal to play into the hands of those that abused their title at the sports festival, to the protection of the students with pure intentions being targeted while still young.
It was clear that Midoriya was helping to aid a new golden age of pure heroes by instilling the ideals of true heroism among the students of U.A.
The very school that All Might himself once learned.
So, Stain had hope for this new era of heroes, with Midoriya's firm but nurturing cultivation of new heroes and his culling of the monsters hiding behind the masks of the mighty, the dawn was looking far brighter than he expected it to.
Stain moved over to the side of the roof where the fire escape was and leaped over the side, with plans to turn in for the night and wake tomorrow morning early and prepared to begin his hunt anew.
Shigaraki smirked as he heard the doctor fuss in front of him.
The man had been so wrapped up in his latest project that he hadn't heard the news of the hero billboard before now.
He'd of course been watching in real time since he always found the event mildly amusing considering all of the lists that the commission had made over the years.
Even so, he let the doctor lose himself in his worry for a few minutes.
He could not see the doctor, but the man was making enough noise that it wasn't hard to picture the man's flailing.
However, after a minute had passed Shigaraki found the man's cries had become grating and he let his head fall into his palm.
"I'm well aware of that foolish oaf's speech at the hero rankings, Doctor." he said fully cutting off the man's hysterics.
"N-naturally Master, I would never doubt you wouldn't!" the Doctor immediately stammered back "But Master, this wasn't accounted for! Our plans never considered the idea of the boy retiring from heroics!" the Doctor countered, no doubt waving his arms.
Shigaraki's lip twitched down at the reminder, he loathed to admit it, but the Doctor was correct that none of their plans had considered that his brother's current pet would willingly step away from the field.
Sure, there were plans to force the stubborn brat by mutilating him into a state similar to his current body's health.
But not for the idiot to voluntarily walk away without a little mental manipulation.
In fact, his brother's current pet announcing his plans for part-time work had come as a great surprise to him at first.
However, the brat's hollow brain wasn't hard to pick apart, and upon realizing the only reason why his brother's pet would do so, well it only played into his plan.
Maybe skipped a step or two but they were ultimately on schedule all things considered.
"Tell me Doctor, why do you think my brother's current host would choose to do something so rash?" Shigaraki inquired, with his free hand held out in a way that invited the other to speak.
The Doctor paused to consider the idea, muttering under his breath with only a few syllables being caught by Shigaraki.
"Why isn't obvious Doctor?" Shigaraki continued, tired of waiting for the man to reach the conclusion on his own.
"The fool is finally ready to find himself a successor to pass my brother on, and without my brother's quirk he'll soon be nothing but a husk." Shigaraki told him with a chuckle.
"Ah, of course Master! A shame little James wasn't needed but this is fantastic news." the Doctor commented, sharing in his delight now that he was on the same page with him.
"Yes, what a shame," Shigaraki agreed placatingly, rolling his eyes internally "However considering the bumbling buffoon would not make such announcement without already having a plan for finding one, or already a person in mind I've already had my people looking into things." Shigaraki explained to him.
Part of him wished he could wave around a stack of papers like he used to, but such files and dramatics would have to wait until he had eyes once again.
"And while we haven't been able to follow his movements in person," Shigaraki said leadingly with no small amount of annoyance.
The hero working with that pathetic woman had taught his brother's pet better than he previously thought.
"We have confirmed that he seems to have plans to join U.A's. staff as a teacher if his application to study for a teaching degree and texts with Nezu are anything to go by." Shigaraki stated with a smirk when the Doctor started chuckling.
"My, how the stars align themselves... " the Doctor said equally amused.
"Indeed, we will need to inform our little scout though that his role will be changed somewhat. He shall also need to keep an eye out for the supposed successor of my brother's pet in addition to finding the weak spots in U.A's security." Shigaraki mused, tapping his cheek with his pointer finger of the hand his head was in.
The Doctor hummed, likely nodding his head.
"Yes, yes. It seems that the deal we made with the Aoyamas will be more fruitful than we previously thought, Master. Especially if we can get the boy to 'befriend' your brother's next host." the Doctor told him, his mind already at work adjusting to the changes in the plan.
*That it would.* Shigaraki agreed in his mind with a grin.
Those desperate french fools offered everything including their lives if they would just give their son a quirk, any quirk.
And who better than their son to be his plant in U.A? Feeding him information about the teachers and class schedules so that he could bring down the famous institution in return for not killing the boy's foolish parents.
Which would bring him so much closer to ruining everything the wretch that held his brother for so long worked so hard for.
World domination wasn't quite at the top of his list, on it sure, but it would be so much more satisfying since his brother's pet had to go parading himself around the world.
And if nothing else, should he get bored of ruling the world, then he'd just use those leftover warheads to start all over again.
Being a god to whatever civilization that rises from the nuclear ashes could be fun for a few centuries.
Hello, to anyone interested I've got a tumbler page now, under the same name.
I'll answer questions there when I've got the time/remember it exists when my brain isn't stuck on my latest hyper fixation.