The Hero & The Demon

Chapter Eighteen

Despite having survived his first day at UA, Izuku Midoriya couldn't help but feel he had simply gotten lucky. The results had hardly been in his favour.

He had tried to employ Kage's advice about keeping his power output spread across his body, but without knowing how to properly regulate it in the same way that his friend intuitively grasped, the only result was having one hundred percent of One For All spreading through all of him. He was lucky Aizawa had erased his Quirk before he could try using it at the softball throw.

He was still able to manage one impressive score, though. He simply did the opposite of his friend, forcing all of the energy he could into the last possible point of impact, his fingertip. The result was a throw that nearly rivalled Kacchan's – 703 metres compared to his 705. Understandably, Kacchan had not taken this well.

Kage had intervened and forced Kacchan into tripping up before he could press him on the subject. Izuku was both grateful for the assist and disappointed to see that the switch in schools had done nothing to stop the two from fighting. He knew that deep, deep down, Kacchan was not a truly bad person. He wasn't without his problems, and Izuku knew it would be foolish to still think of him as a friend at this point, but he couldn't find it in himself to truly hate him.

It saddened him that there was no way for him to make Kage see that. Kage was a good person himself, and he was sure that he would make for an excellent hero. He showed a great ability to understand a person's feelings and a good eye for analysis, plus his extensive powers would be useful.

They were all working towards the same goal. Even if heroics did have a competitive element to it, why did they have to make it so hostile? Izuku sighed.

"Life isn't fair." He recalled. "That's what Aizawa said. I'm not sure this is what he meant, but it's no less true." He wondered briefly what his teacher would do, if anything, to help calm the hostilities between the two. For Kacchan, it was more of a three-way battle, though Izuku still wasn't sure if he actually wanted to compete with him.

He wanted to be the best, so he supposed it was true in that sense. Kacchan was amazing, and some part of him strived to achieve that himself. Still, he didn't love the idea of fighting his former friend over it. At this point, it felt…tainted. It wasn't competition or rivalry.

It was just a feud. After a certain point, it felt wrong to indulge it. However, there wasn't another option he could see. Only one of them could be the number one hero, after all. Izuku would be lying if some part of him didn't enjoy the thought of showing himself as superior to his old friend. He wasn't sure he liked that part of himself.

"I shouldn't be thinking about this right now…" Izuku groaned. "I'm tired enough as it is." Recovery Girl's Quirk was apparently to blame, though he had to assume the stressful nature of the day was a factor of its own to consider.

"Hey, Izuku."

"How's your finger?"

Two voices approached Izuku at either side, making him jump in surprise. Kage appeared at his left side, wearing a relaxed smile and holding his hands behind his head. Despite appearances, Izuku could tell something was just a little off with his friend. His smile was a little too forced. On his right side, Iida had gently grabbed his shoulder and looked at him with the firm expression that Izuku was beginning to think was just the boy's default state.

"Kage, Iida!" He greeted quickly before turning to answer Iida's question. "It's fine now, I think. Recovery Girl repaired almost all of the damage. I should be all better by tomorrow!" Iida took his hand off Izuku's shoulder and nodded, clearly satisfied.

"That's good to hear. I'm impressed you were willing to go so far." He said. "I suppose it's to be expected, given how mister Aizawa had us all duped with that logical ruse of his. I was sure he was trying to make a point of how cutthroat the industry can be, but his real intentions were far different."

Izuku relaxed a little. He had first thought Iida to be overly harsh and even a little scary, but it seemed he was really just serious about his life and his schooling especially. Izuku could respect that. He still didn't like how he had accused Kage of being a fake plant by the school, but Kage seemed entirely cool with him, so there was no reason to make an issue out of it.

"I figured he was probably lying." Kage said. "There's no way he would've actually expelled anyone on the first day. It'd be real illogical to act like that's a long enough time to have a god judgement of someone, even after a bunch of tests." Izuku narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Is there a reason you couldn't have said anything about that sooner?" Kage simply grinned in response.

"If you knew, it'd change how you act. That goes against the whole point." Somehow, Izuku got the sense there was more Kage was saying here. He had that look in his eye, like he was saying something especially funny that only he understood. "Besides, what if I turned out to be wrong? You would've relaxed, then Aizawa would have expelled you and I'd have to Detroit smash him into the sun for being stupid." Izuku laughed.

"Right, right." He said, amused. "The punchy one."

"The punchy one." Kage nodded dramatically. "Told you I remembered it." He grinned, and the two both laughed at the same time. Iida watched them curiously, then frowned at Kage.

"You should be more respectful towards our teacher." He said. He then held his hands out in surrender, realising an unpleasant implication. "N-not to suggest he would be right to expel Midoriya, obviously, only that you shouldn't speak so casually about committing acts of violence against him."

"That's fair, I guess." Kage shrugged. "But I'll show him all the respect I think he's earned from me. Being a teacher is a noble profession, but I'm not obligated to see him as more than he is because of it. I mean, the man showed up to class in a sleeping bag. You have to admit, it's a little tricky to take him seriously."

"He certainly is…" Iida paused, clearly looking for a word that wouldn't sound too insulting. "Unconventional."

"That'll do." Kage nodded in agreement. "He's actually a pretty good hero, though. I met him before once. There was this incident at a burning building. He pretty much saved my life." Iida gasped, though Izuku only raised an eyebrow. Kage had told him the full story of that particular encounter some time ago, back when the two of them were training on the beach. Whilst he hadn't mentioned why he had found himself at a burning building near a hero, he had talked about his own efforts there.

It was a curious thing for him to leave out, creating the implication that Aizawa had done the bulk of the work and not simply shown up at the end.

"I should expect nothing less from a UA faculty member!" Iida exclaimed. "It warms my heart to hear that our teacher is indeed a hero to be proud of. Perhaps his appearance was meant as a test in and of itself, that looks can be deceiving and that true heroes should be more focused on their roles in society than any superficial appearance concerns. Then again, if that's the case, he may have gone too far…" Iida tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe, but I also think he's just like that." Kage said. "What do you think, Izuku? You're the expert. You recognised him as Eraserhead, right? Do you think he'd be thinking that far ahead?" Izuku considered the question, sorting through his mental encyclopedia of hero knowledge.

"Hard to say." He said, allowing his thoughts to pour out of his mouth. "There's not actually all that much information on him online. He's an underground hero, which means he prefers to stay out the public eye. He never does press for himself, and most content that can be found online is usually recorded videos of fights or brief mentions from civilians found in articles about heroes. Present Mic's podcast actually had a feature on him once, but I think the only thing it brought up was that he was a fan of cats, which is interesting trivia but not all that revelatory about his personality or the sorts of intentions he might have. I think the only fair judgement would be to go from what he's said in class, and given his behaviour it's hard to say what it and isn't genuine." He pulled himself out of his rambling, recognising that he was likely going on for too long. Kage looked over to Iida, who seemed intrigued, though also now confused.

"Basically, it's about a 50/50 chance he was faking or being genuine." Kage summarised. Iida nodded thoughtfully.

"I see." He looked at Izuku. "Thank you for your insight, Midoriya! I apologise for not having been able to digest it effectively."

"Oh no, it's fine!" Izuku let out a nervous laugh. "I get carried away a lot, sorry."

"How about we just call it even?" Kage said light-heartedly. "I get the sense there's an apology loop incoming." Izuku and Iida looked at each other and nodded. Izuku could see that happening, both of them seemed very polite and exactly the kind of people who could get caught going back and forth like that.

"Hey, you three! Wait up!" A new voice called out from behind. The three boys turned around to see the brown-haired girl Izuku knew from the entrance exam. He wished he had time to pick up on her name, but there hadn't been an opportunity before Aizawa had arrived. Next to her was Sora, who looked noticeably tired from the effort of running to catch up. She was looking a little pale and was panting.

"You're all heading to the train station, right? Why don't we go together?" She beamed a bright smile. Izuku nodded immediately, seeing no reason to object.

"Sure." Kage agreed. Iida similarly nodded. With the unanimous vote, three became five. Iida thought for a moment, looking at the brown-haired girl.

"You're the infinity girl, correct?" He asked, referring to her infinite score on the soft ball throw. She had a Quirk that allowed her to alter gravity and make things float. Izuku wasn't sure exactly what the details were, but he had noticed that she needed to touch and object with all four fingers and her thumb, and she could release the effect by pressing her hands together. She announced "Release!" when she had done it during the entrance exam, but Izuku wasn't sure if that was a necessary part of her Quirk or just a habit, like how All-Might told him to yell out 'SMASH' in his head when using One For All.

"Mhm! I'm Ochako Uraraka!" She introduced herself. Sora seemed to settle down and gave a half-hearted wave.

"Sora Kinzoku." She said. "Just call me Sora."

"Let's see…" Uraraka looked across the three boys before pointing to each one. "It's Tenya Iida, Deku Midoriya and Kage Sekai, right?" Sora looked over at Iida and seemed to mentally take note of his name. Kage frowned at Uraraka, whilst Izuku just stared at her in confusion.

"Deku?"

"Yeah!" She said. "That's what Bakugou called you, right? Is that not your name?" Izuku could practically feel Kage's anger sparking next to him. He didn't say anything, but it was clear that Kacchan's insult having caught on wasn't something he was a fan of.

"I-it's Izuku Midoriya, actually." He explained. "Deku is just a nickname Kacchan uses for me. He's done it since we were kids."

"It's more of an insult than a nickname." Kage added." Izuku attempted a smile and gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, Kacchan sort of does that with everyone." He said. It was true, Kacchan's demeaning nicknames were hardly an Izuku exclusive. He only remembered Kage's name because he refused to let him forget it, insisting on it every time Kacchan tried anything else. Izuku wasn't entirely sure if it was some sign of respect for someone Kacchan saw as a rival or if it just meant he had gotten deep under Kacchan's skin. Knowing his explosive former friend, both was a strong possibility.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Uraraka quickly apologised. "I didn't know it was an insult. That's a shame, I thought it sounded pretty cute. It has a sort of 'you can do it!' vibe, you know?" She smiled once more.

"Y-YOU CAN CALL ME DEKU!" He found himself blurting out before he had any chance to even think about it. Uraraka blinked and tilted her head at him, whilst Iida started gesturing emphatically with his arms.

"Show some self-respect, Midoriya!" He chastised. "Isn't it an insult?"

"Only if you let it be." Kage replied. He didn't seem to show any strong reaction to the nickname, which surprised Izuku given his usual opinion on it. "I wouldn't use it, but that's just because Bakugou sucks."

"He does suck." Sora added. She seemed largely distracted, though not quite ignorant of the conversation. She simply seemed like she had other things on her mind. "But using his insult as a nickname seems like a fun way to mess with him. Take away his power over you."

"It's like a Copernican revolution." Izuku mumbled through his hands, having firmly planted his face in them so as to avoid looking at anyone. His levels of embarrassment were reaching peak capacity.

"Coperni-who?" Uraraka asked. Sora pumped her arms into the air excitedly.

"Viva la revolution!" She yelled, also not seeming to grasp the reference but finding it amusing, nonetheless. Kage joined her immediately.

"Viva la revolution!"

"Viva la revolution." Iida said in a much calmer manner than the other two. He said it with a deadpan expression, nodding as he did so. Uraraka looked at them all.

"Viva la revolution!" She cheered. She then blinked and looked again. "What are we revolting against?"

"Shame."

"Bullies."

Kage and Sora spoke at the same time. They looked at each other for a moment before grinning.

"Both?"

Both."

"Both are good." They shook hands on it. Iida watched with mild confusion, whilst Uraraka burst out giggling.

"Sounds good to me!" She said. She placed her hand on top of Kage and Sora's, turning a handshake into more of a circle. She grinned, looking between her apparent co-conspirators. Izuku couldn't help but wonder what he had just started by complete accident and whether or not it should concern him.

"So, are we revolutionaries now?" She asked. "'Cause I can get us some berets."

"Would that be allowed by the school dress code?" Iida stepped up, placing his hand on the impromptu circle, seemingly more out of obligation than anything else. The idea of Iida fighting in a revolutionary movement seemed totally bizarre to Izuku from what he had seen, but nothing about this conversation was normal anymore.

"If it isn't, we can add it to our list of things to revolt against." Kage said. "Bullies, shame and school dress codes. Honestly, there's some overlap in there. It fits." Uraraka nodded along, with Sora following a moment later.

"Makes sense." She said. "These uniforms could do with more style anyway. I mean, grey blazers? Really? What kind of hero wears a grey outfit that isn't made of metal? It just doesn't look cool." She complained. Izuku was sure there were some heroes who wore grey outfits, but he did have to agree that they were hardly visually iconic most of the time.

"Mhm." Uraraka looked over to Izuku. "Hey, Deku, join in! I think a beret would suit you, anyway." She beamed. Izuku did not know how much money he would have to get a selection of hats at that moment, but as he put his hand down in the circle, he made a promise to himself to look into it. He wondered if there were any All-Might berets out there.

"All right, looks like we have our five-man band!" Kage exclaimed. He paused for a moment and tilted his head thoughtfully. "Well, three man and two-woman band technically. Then again, it's a trope and I'm pretty sure those are gender neutral. Eh, whatever, you guys get the gist. We're friends now."

"Indeed." Iida pushed up his glasses as he spoke. "It's a pleasure to make friends with all of you. I can only hope we don't actually have to start any kind of civil revolt."

"I make no promises." Sora said with a deadpan expression. Uraraka snorted. She snapped her fingers with her free hand.

"How about we all raise our hands and cheer something?" She said. "You know, like a rallying cry or something. That'd be fun!" The others all nodded, seemingly all coming to the same decision about what needed to be said. Sora wordlessly held up three fingers and counted down.

3. 2. 1.

"Revolution!" They call cried out, separating the circle and cheering. Just about everyone started laughing as they continued on their way to the train station. The energy they all carried was intoxicating, and it was impossible for anyone to avoid a smile on their face. Even Iida, whose expression tended to stick to more monotone, held a certain shine in his eyes.

Perhaps this really was like a Copernican revolution, Izuku decided. After all, going from middle school and the tension of Aizawa's first lesson to this really did flip his whole understanding of the world on its head.

Kage Sekai was thrilled to be able to get along so well with everyone, but he knew there was something he had to do that would take the fun out of things a little.

It would be difficult to maintain a friendly and charming energy when he was about to discuss information about the future, including the actions and attacks of major villains that could, if he wasn't very careful, lead to people being injured or even killed. People had been relatively safe in canon at this point, but he couldn't rely on that.

He glanced over to Sora discreetly. He couldn't blame her for wanting to know the details, but he had to admit it was an annoyance for him.

He didn't like to think about why, but he was forced to acknowledge that it was primarily because she made his situation impossible to ignore. He couldn't simply tune it all out and focus on doing his best at school like the others. With great power, there must also come great responsibility. Kage had power in both a literal and figurative sense with what he knew, so he was obligated to act.

But it was one thing to know that in the abstract sense, quite another to commit to it when it was right in front of him. When he was actually inside UA, seeing the whole class of characters he knew that were all suddenly real people. Not just characters in his head, or images on a screen. People.

There were so many people whose lives depended on him. He was barely responsible with his own.

Kage knew he had to discuss some of this with Sora privately. She wasn't someone directly involved in the same way the other three were, but she was still a potential victim of anything that happened. He wasn't sure if that made her easier or harder to deal with, but it was definitely a different situation. As the group all approached the train station, he looked around and strained for an excuse to separate.

Fortunately, he wasn't the only one thinking about it.

"Oh, right!" Sora slapped a hand against her forehead suddenly and looked over to Kage. "I still owe you some money from our last trip to the arcade, Kage. We should probably go over to an ATM machine before I forget." She gestured with her head behind her. Kage was momentarily confused before catching on, nodding his head slowly as the realisation set in.

"Good call, Sora." He said, hoping he sounded relaxed and nonchalant. The exact opposite of how he really felt. "I'll need the money to get a train ticket anyway." He turned to the other three members of their group.

"Sorry guys, Sora and I have to split. Catch up tomorrow!" He waved them off before walking away, Sora quickly matching his pace and following along. If he had been thinking more clearly, he might have realised that Izuku was aware he had a train pass for the full year and thus he wouldn't have needed to buy a new ticket.

But a small detail like that was the furthest thing from his mind.

Once they were sure that they had both gotten out of visual range of their companions, Sora began taking the lead on where to go. It occurred to Kage that he had no idea where he was supposed to explain everything. Ideally somewhere private and with few people around, but he hadn't actually seen many places like that in the city. He might have been able to pick out a café or something small like that, but it seemed he didn't need to. Sora led him through increasingly quiet streets with ease.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Kage asked, a sense of unease bubbling within him. "If it's far, I should probably tell Tsukauchi that I'm going to be home late."

"You should call him, then." Sora said, not looking at him. She seemed very focused, not slowing down for even a moment. They weren't quite running, but she did seem eager to move quickly. As far as Kage could tell, they weren't being followed.

"So, it is far." Kage tried again. Sora hesitated for a moment before responding.

"Not that far." She said. "I just think we'll probably have a lot to talk about, anyway. My dad won't mind if I'm out late, but I don't know the rules for you. The guy you live with is a cop, right?"

"Yeah, he's a detective." Kage explained. "He's been letting me stay with him whilst he investigates me as some kind of…I guess missing person's case? I try not to think about the details, honestly. I don't know what I'll do when he finds the answers he's looking for."

"Does he know about you?" Sora asked, her voice lowered. Even in private, speaking these sorts of things aloud felt strange. Almost taboo. Kage shook his head.

"No. As far as I know, you're the only one who knows the truth."

"I see." Sora said. She seemed like she wanted to say something else, but decided against it. The area she was leading Kage to seemed to have rather empty looking buildings all around. Most of them were small, and showed some kind of disrepair. They were clearly old. She led him into one of them, which had stairs that descended underground. It was only then that Kage realised what this place was.

"Did we really go all this way just to find another train station?" He joked. Sora didn't quite laugh, but Kage could see a small smile briefly appear on her face. She seemed tense here, noticeably more closed off than she had been before.

"Not exactly." They walked down into what looked like it would have indeed been a train station. However, it clearly hadn't been used in a very long time. Shockingly, there were still some functioning lights, but nothing else in the area gave off the sense that it worked.

The rails seemed damaged, with chunks even missing outright. The walls were scratched and had tiled scattered across the floor, which itself was a dust-covered mess that crunched beneath every step. The platform looked as though it was falling apart completely, and no one had taken note of that. Kage couldn't tell from sight exactly how old it was, but he had the suspicion that he and Sora were the first people to stop here in years.

"Welcome to the underground." Sora said, gesturing widely. Her voice was laced with sarcastic enthusiasm that echoed around the empty space. "Well, a part of it, I guess. This particular tunnel hasn't seen a lot of use, but it's still a way in and out." Kage raised an eyebrow.

"In and out of what?" Sora looked at him for the first time since their arrival, her expression surprised. She blinked at him a few times.

"Is this not something in your future manga or whatever?" She asked. Kage's eyes narrowed and he sighed. Time to start getting into it, he supposed.

"That's not really how it works." He said. "I don't know anything the story didn't show, really. It might've been important in this world's history, but if the writer didn't mention it, I have no idea. And I don't recall anything about abandoned subway tunnels ever coming up." Sora looked at him strangely for a few moments.

"Huh." She said, before seeming to compose herself. "Well, I guess a little history lesson is in order. I don't know if most of this is covered in schools, so pay attention. Who knows, maybe it could be helpful."

"Maybe." Kage said. Access to secret pathways across Japan was the kind of thing that could be useful, he supposed. "What's the story then?"

"Well, you probably know a lot of civil infrastructure got reworked when Quirks first became a thing." Sora explained. "If you look at a pre-Quirk city map and compare it to one today, it'll look like gibberish. One of many things to get overhauled was public transport, specifically trains."

"See, people with Quirks – or meta-abilities as they were called back then – tended to hide around train tunnels like this one. They made them hard to find, and kept them out of sight of otherwise normal people who were trying to get at them. People became too afraid to use underground stations for fear of running into dangerous villains or just freakshows in general."

"So, they got shut down?" Kage asked. "Following so far, but I'm guessing there's more to this story from how you said it. What happened next?" He tilted his head slightly. The events Sora were described sounded fascinating, but they were also ancient history in this world. The way she said underground suggested it was more present, however.

"Ah, now that's the part where the history books usually stop." Sora spun and pointed dramatically. "Most of 'em will talk about how new public transit was developed, primarily more highways and upper-level trains. But they won't mention that other people kept being drawn into the underground tunnels. Cities are pretty good for heteromorphs and other drastic Quirks now, but things were a real mess for a while. These tunnels and underground pathways became a safe haven, of sorts."

"And it's not just that," She continued, though her expression darkened a fraction as she spoke. "The underground grew into something more, thanks to a few people taking it upon themselves to turn a shelter into a community. It was mostly older folk, people who had been there for a long time. Their leader is a man who goes by Faust, and he's apparently been around since the dawn of Quirks."

"You're kidding." Kage said, eyes widening. "That's…that's kind of insane. I mean, I know that's a stupid thing to say coming from me, but there's basically no one I know who's from that time save for one or two people, and they aren't the 'building communities for homeless people' type. Also, why Faust?" Sora shrugged at his question.

"I don't know." She said. "I think it has something to do with his Quirks, but I never heard the details."

"Wait a second, Quirks? As in, plural?" Kage held his hands up in a stopping motion as he paled. "That is familiar and extremely worrying. Are we sure this whole underground thing is…well, I was going to say above board but the legal issues are probably a moot point, but you get what I mean, right?"

"Yeah." Sora nodded. "As far as I know, it's all exactly what I told you. Safe and peaceful and nothing to be worried about. But it sounds like you have reason to think something else is going on, right? Something from your future knowledge?" Kage took a deep breath. Right, he had almost forgotten why they needed to speak in private in the first place.

"I have a worst-case scenario." He said. "But, from the sounds of it, there's a lot about this world I haven't accounted for. Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds. But…"

"But you're worried anyway." Sora finished for him. She walked over to one of the old, somewhat rusted benched next to one of the walls of the platform. She sat down on one end and tapped on the metal for Kage to join her. "So, spill. The more I know, the more I can help." Kage still didn't think telling her more was a good idea, but he knew that at this point, trying to keep more secrets would make things worse.

He sat down. The bench creaked a little, but it held together. That about matched his feelings on the whole situation.

"Alright. I should start with the most immediate stuff, right?" He was asking himself as much as he was her. "I'm not sure I can just drop a load of huge lore on you and have it make sense or be useful. How about I keep things at the next few days for now?" He leaned forward in his seat and placed his hands under his chin.

"Sure." Sora said, letting out a small sigh. "I get it. The big stuff is probably too far away to do much about right now. So, what's the plan?" Kage wondered what she would think if he were completely honest and admitted that he was largely making things up as he went along rather than planning. Getting into UA had been the plan for so long that he wasn't sure what to do whilst he was there.

"Nothing big happens tomorrow. Just combat training. Everyone gets their costumes, Izuku and Bakugou fight, but no one takes any damage Recovery Girl can't fix and there's nothing I…nothing we need to worry about." He explained, still finding it hard to avoid placing the responsibility solely on him. "The day after that, though, is when things get a little more serious. The press finds out All-Might is at UA and they show up in droves demanding info. We'll bump into them in the morning, so try smiling for the cameras."

"Oh gods…" Sora groaned. "If they start trespassing, doesn't that make them villains? I can just bat them away with my wings or something, right?" Kage laughed at the image of Sora shoving press away with giant metal wings, shoving them away from her like the world's most impractical feather duster.

"Not really, but they aren't the important part." Kage said. "That comes later. At lunch, there will be an alarm that will say people have broken through the security. The press will be through the UA barrier. Everyone panics until someone steps up and says it's all fine, then nothing to worry about. For them, at least. For you and me, this is where things get tough."

"Some kind of diversion, right?" Kage nodded at Sora's deduction. "Some villain sneaks into the school using the press as a distraction. Do we know where to find them, what they're looking for?"

"The latter, yes. A school schedule. They want to mount an attack on All-Might, so they'll be looking for a time when he's at class and we're all separated from the main school facility. That happens the next day, during a lesson at a place called the USJ."

"Universal Studios Japan?" Sora blinked.

"Unforeseen Simulation Joint, but that mix-up happens a lot." He gave a smirk. "It's a training facility for rescue missions. The hero Thirteen runs it, and she'll be in charge of the lesson. However, a group calling themselves the League of Villains show up. Their goal is simple – kill All-Might. They have a way to do it, too."

"Holy crap…" Sora gasped. "So, are we supposed to save All-Might's life? I-I mean, we've barely been doing this whole hero thing. The way you say it, we won't have a full week before all this crap! No wonder you looked so tense at the fitness test." Kage gave a slow nod.

"It…It might not be that bad." He said. "In the original canon, the League failed. Izuku hurt himself with his Quirk, but no one else got seriously injured. Even when the League split the class up throughout the facility, everyone was able to handle it. There are only about three people we need to worry about, in theory."

"Tomura Shigaraki is the leader. He covers his body in hands, and if he touches you with all five of your fingers, he disintegrates you into dust." Kage recounted. "Kurogiri is a man who looks like he's made of nothing but black mist. He has a real body, but it'll be obscured. He makes portals through that mist; that's how the League splits us up. Finally, there's Nomu." Something scratched at Kage's head when he said the word 'Nomu', but he wasn't sure what.

"Nomu is an augmented superhuman with multiple Quirks. Specifically, Shock Absorption and Hyper Regeneration. He can tank just about anything and recover from any damage someone actually does do." He said. "He's the League of Villains' weapon against All-Might. If you're looking to survive, these are the people to stay away from. Deal with the smaller villains if you can, stay hidden if you can't. If I'm lucky, we won't have changed enough to doom anyone."

"You'll be lucky, then." Sora stated as though it was that simple. Kage turned to her with a confused expression. "Besides, maybe we'll even stop the attack before it happens. All we need to do is find the guy after the class schedule, right?"

"I hope so." Kage said, turning to look down at the ground. "But the more I'm here, the more I realise that I don't know this world as well as I thought I did. Things were the same as I expected them to be at the fitness test, but how am I supposed to know that wasn't just a coincidence? And maybe just by us being here, we've caused a butterfly effect that will make things worse. The students who were meant to be here instead of us-"

"Don't say it like that." Sora cut him off, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just because we're not in your comicbook doesn't mean we deserve to be here any less, okay? Besides, if we can help people, maybe this is where we're supposed to be."

"Are you sure?" Kage asked her, looking up with uncertain eyes. "I thought you said all this hero stuff was stupid and that I shouldn't be so worried about it. Yet here you are, letting me basically dump the weight of the world on you. Is…is this where you think you're supposed to be?" He couldn't think of a way to make his question not sound harsh. Sora frowned and was quiet for a moment, giving Kage ample time to regret the words he had just spoken.

"Sorry, that was-"

"I don't know." Sora answered. "I said before that I'm not sure I believe anything more than that you're telling the truth, as far as you know. We're talking about knowing all about future events from reading a manga or watching an anime, and that's on top of all the usual things heroes do that I just don't understand. I'm not sure I'm the kind of person who can risk her life for people I don't even know."

"But I do know these people." She clenched her fists. "Deku and Uraraka and Iida, we've all become friends now. We didn't get to talk much, but I really liked all the girls in the class. Ashido's fun to joke around with, Yaoyorozu's a great leader, Tsuyu's real funny. I think now that I know they could be in danger, it doesn't matter where I'm supposed to be or whether I really have a place here."

"It doesn't matter if I want to be a hero or not, the fact is I'm going to be one." She swore. "Maybe it's stupid, maybe I'll end up causing problems, but I don't think I could just stand back and let people get hurt if I know I could help them." Kage watched her eyes shine as she spoke. He was bound to this path, committed to it by the very nature of his being. She was just someone who enjoyed flying around, and yet she had chosen the same burden he had.

If he were in her position, a bystander who had basically been roped into something far beyond his control, he wasn't sure if he would make the same choice.

No, that was a stupid thought. This wasn't really any different. Besides, whether Sora knew it or not, she was already a hero in some ways. She was someone willing to do whatever it took to help the people she cared about. Whether or not she wanted to admit it, she was a kinder person than she realised.

After all, she had seen a boy struggling with all the burdens of the world, a boy who had already accepted that fate and was ready to carry it on his own, and had taken him to the arcade. She saw in him what he didn't want to see in himself – that he was still a child, still a person. That he was meant to live more than just be alive.

"Alright then." He nodded an agreement with her, wondering if there was any way she could feel the gratitude he had for her in his voice alone. "Then we're going to be heroes. You and me. If you have to step back, I'm not going to push anything more on you, but I'm glad to have your help." He smiled at her. Sora gave a wide, beaming smile back.

She leaned over and pressed herself against his shoulder. Kage froze, unsure of how to respond.

"I'm not backing down." She said, still smiling. "You're stuck with me through all this, no matter how bad it gets or how many butterflies we effect. No way in hell am I gonna let you go through any of this alone, okay?"

"'Cause I care about you too, Darren. And that means I'm helping you out."

Kage Sekai, Darren Smythe, whatever he wanted to be known as. He smiled. He leaned his head against Sora's.

"The feeling's mutual, Sora. If you need me, I'm here."

AN: I'm not going to say I'm 100% committing to these two as a pairing but I am saying it's been living rent-free in my head so don't be surprised if things lean in that direction. This chapter was a lot of fun to put together! The underground actually isn't an original concept of mine, I shamelessly stole it from my friend and DM in DnD (if you read this, Hi! You're cool! Thanks for letting me use your awesome stuff!). If it caught your interest, rest assured we'll be coming back to it in the future. One last thing – my update schedule for this story (roughly a chapter a week if possible) might be a bit screwy for a week or so due to the funniest problem ever, work has made me take a holiday. I usually write this story as my pre-work routine, so managing it during my time off might work out differently. We'll see how it goes, but just so you know I'm not dead or anything if we miss next week. See you all in the future!