Next chapter is here and we are back to our familiar walkig powder keg.

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Comments:

Miqila: Kick Ei out? You heartless monster. How can you look at that face / smile and even suggest that. Not to mention kicking him out would risk being exposed. Really what happens is more a question if Izuku or Shirokuro wins. Still even Izuku won't be about about Eijiro hanging out with All Might and All Might putting Eijiro in danger with ofa, despite as deserving of 9th as he would be.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 76: An Unholy Duo part 1

Katsuki frowned, starting to get tired of waiting. He was laying on the lowest roof overlooking a small alley. He had stripped to his wifebeater, ready to fight, leaving his criminal bait shirt to act as a pillow while he laid in wait. He had been perfectly silent waiting for at least ten minutes, but he would soon have enough of that and take it out on someone's skull.

Thankfully there were plenty of 'volunteers' right below him. He had learned to identify shady people from a distance and the ones he had followed clearly had some kind of meeting at the darkest nook of the alley. A lesser hero would have taken them out as soon as they arrived and then handed them to some useless police who were too weak from the start to get into a hero school.

Katsuki wasn't that stupid. They were waiting for someone.

Since this building was quite low Katsuki could hear the trio under him getting impatient just like him. Sounded like they were waiting for just one person so he'd only need to eliminate four.

That was a few skulls to bust in at one go, but they seemed to be just regular thugs and maybe Yakuza, not some super powerful villains. They would not be a problem for someone that would be the number one hero, especially if Katsuki dropped on them with the advantage of surprise. One blast and they would be down if they didn't have endurance quirks. Katsuki flexed his arm and fingers absentmindedly.

"Is that him?" One of the three asked. Katsuki's head perked up. He glanced over the edge and took only seconds to see the idiocy of the criminal below. He did not recognize the approaching man, but he was clearly a hero. He had a colorful bodysuit dulled in the dark, gloves, and some stuff around his arms and waist. Only heroes dressed like that and walked around openly in public.

Katsuki had half a mind to take the trio of criminals out before the apparent hero would find them, but that bastard would then try to catch him and steal his credit if he left the crooks in too good of a condition. Katsuki had lost a lot of respect for the pro heroes considering how many criminals he had taken out at 15 without a full week of hero school, but there were still really strong heroes. Even he wasn't overconfident enough to unnecessarily challenge a hero whose ability he did not know yet, at least he wasn't dumb enough to do it carelessly.

The crooks did not seem that smart as they stepped out to where the hero could see them and waved. Talk about self-destructive behavior.

Except the hero glanced around and waved back. Katsuki had developed enough of an instinct to feel something was wrong and was confirmed right, of course, as the hero joined the three crooks in the dark nook.

"You are late."

"It is called patrol because I'm patrolling for trouble. Caught a drug seller a bit outside the train station, not one of yours of course. Figured you'd value the clearing of competition more than a few minutes of time."

"Fine, excuse accepted. Just let us know when you find out whose he was."

Katsuki grit his teeth. It had not taken him long to realize what was going on. This dirty hero got to parade around and get paid for taking in thugs and Katsuki was the one who had to avoid heroes and the police while living in a dump.

Meanwhile that man was probably living in luxury and, as if that wasn't enough, getting more money from criminals. Katsuki was soon seriously reconsidering the surprise attack and blasting the whole group across the opposing wall, pro hero or not.

"How about that sidekick of yours that got too nosey and idealistic to understand his own benefit?" One of the crooks asked.

"I took care of it. He won't be a problem."

"What exactly do you mean by won't be a problem?"

"Let's just say he had a tragic accident. It is a dangerous profession and people think it is even more dangerous than it really is. The young and inexperienced can easily get careless and suffer the consequences without anyone asking too many unnecessary questions. He was found in an area controlled by your competition. As his mentor I will make them pay of course. Consider that a bonus."

Katsuki still did not know how strong this guy was, but he was cold. Katsuki would have to be careful or Tartarus wasn't what he needed to worry about.

Then again, if he exposed this fake people would see how failed the system was at picking who was the actual hero. They would have to see he was more than strong enough to be a hero if he had not been sabotaged.

After an exchange of money was complete the trio of criminals left. The 'hero' stayed behind until they had left the alley and Katsuki could not risk following them or the man might notice. The man was a 'hero'. They weren't exactly difficult to find info on. As long as Katsuki remembered how he, or even just his costume looked, Katsuki could identify and find him afterwards.

The criminals were a different story and now they disappeared onto the street. The hero followed a little later, not even noticing the burning stare on his back as Katsuki seared the 'hero's' image in his mind. He only moved once he had gone. He pulled out his current phone, a slow, used hunk of junk with a prepaid connection.

Still, it was adequate at skimming through hero websites and databases as he walked in the opposite direction of where the four had gone. He already knew the alleys in these parts, so he didn't need to pay much attention to find his way.

Until someone bumped into him with enough force that a lesser, regular person would have dropped their phone. Katsuki spun around, other arm up, ready to scatter the intruder across the length of the alley.

"Hey watch it asshole!" He shouted. There was some drugged up looking skinny man, probably relatively young, but it was hard to say on that face. The man scowled. There was a glint of a metal blade behind him where his other hand moved just out of Katsuki's view.

"Watch your words kid. Unless you want to buy, you better get lost before I get angry."

"Am I supposed to be worried?" Katsuki responded, getting excited at this opportunity. His free hand cupped and sparked. "What are you going to do twig? Fly off in the wind? Do you even have a quirk or are you just another quirkless Deku that needs a knife to feel tough?"

"You brat…" The man swung his arm to stab Katsuki, but slowly. It was easy to dodge and slap the arm away with one hand, despite it still holding onto the phone, while bringing his other hand around and slamming his open palm on the drug dealer's face.

"Die," Katsuki said far more quietly than usual with that word, but with far more meaning than most of the times before. The man did not have time to respond until a flash lit the alley. Katsuki felt the shockwave but was unfazed. He was tougher than that.

The drug dealer on the other hand… After the thud, Katsuki looked down and gulped.

He was a head shorter now, more like head and shoulders. Thankfully all extra pieces had been launched in the opposite direction from Katsuki by the shockwave. He closed his eyes and rotated his head to relax his own shoulders.

"One down for today at least, but just a small-time rat."

He crouched, focusing on the parts below the shoulder level to dig through the man's pockets. He let the drugs drop on the ground. He'd never destroy his body with that junk. He'd put way too much effort to making himself the strongest. The wallet and money in his pockets were a whole other story. There was enough to keep Katsuki going for weeks, with his current living situation. Drug dealers usually had good cash on them.

At least this one didn't have pictures of kids in his wallet, so hopefully he hadn't bred more scum into the world at least.

Katsuki left without wasting any more time on the corpse. Better get out of the way before someone raised a ruckus about Katsuki cleaning that garbage from the street without any of the appreciation he deserved.

He found a house with balconies and sturdy looking gutters to climb off the ground before people got there to investigate the explosion. They should have come there to praise his work, but instead he had to get out of sight to not get the police and 'heroes' chasing him.

Hanging out on roofs might have been a bit of a cliché, but he liked being above people and could use his quirk to move quickly in any direction with open space if he needed to. At least he was less likely to be interrupted by random drug sellers there.

Climbing roofs was also good training. Most of the people below could not have even gotten there without falling. He just climbed to a higher roof and hopped to the next one almost effortlessly, like someone else going for a jog.

He stopped when he found a rooftop terrace with a nice outside sofa and no one else to annoy him as he laid on it, getting back to his research. The sofa was more comfortable than the bed he slept in the previous night and his eyelids drooped.

There were steps behind him.

He was sitting up in about half a second, and standing up turned-around after other half. The hand that had already killed today was up, ready to blow up the intruder, and remained so even after Katsuki recognized the scarred, burnt face.

"What are you doing here?" Katsuki barked.

"Just heard a bang and came to look," Dabi responded. "Nice work. Really gives real meaning to the word 'headshot'. Might be a bit too quick for my tastes, but depends on who the poor bastard was."

He was just standing there, hands in pockets acting all nonchalant. Katsuki lowered his hand but not his guard and scoffed.

"Some drug dealer that didn't know his place, probably, because he used most of his own supply. He's not my concern right now."

"Oh, got your eyes on bigger prey? Must be serious if you didn't just go and blow up the poor guy already."

"It is a 'hero'. I was just trying to identify him."

"Oh, so you are finally turning to the villain side."

"Shut up. That 'hero' is a total sham. You know how that Hero Killer declares heroes fake?"

"Sure does."

"Well this is a real fake. Was going to bust some thugs and that so-called hero showed up to get paid by them. He gets all the money and fame of a hero I was denied but is just a crook. Apparently that cold bastard even killed his sidekick for getting in the way."

"Not sure either of us can complain about killing, but that is a good example how rotten it all is under the surface. People might even be seeing it finally. Have you seen the whole Long Arm thing?"

"Long what?"

"The hero Long Arm. Stain killed him last night with some new guy. Got him to confess all his creepy actions on video before dying. Reaal sick guy. People are actually talking about all that stuff and not just talking about the Hero Killer like he's just any random serial killer."

"No, I haven't heard," Katsuki responded, looking up the news right after. It did not take him long to find the video. It was plastered all around the web. He scowled.

"The supposed heroes are even more disgusting than I thought. No wonder they'd side with that thief. And they think they can tell me who can be a hero."

"It is quite an embarrassing look for the heroes," Dabi said, grinning. He stepped closer to Katsuki, but Katsuki's hand rose, popping with warning explosions.

"People are actually talking more about what he did than his murder. Maybe that Hero Killer has the right idea."

"You didn't think that before?" Dabi asked.

"He's a serial killer. If I had gotten him people might have finally recognized who here was meant to be a hero."

"He is getting rid of the fake ones. I've thought about doing that myself. Just have to be careful to not risk my final goal."

"And what is that supposed to be?" Katsuki questioned, still suspicious of the burnt man's motives.

"You don't need to know that, but sounds like we can agree on some things about fakes, even if you are still a wannabe hero."

"Going to be number one someday… though if people are fooled by this kind of scum not sure what even that is worth anymore."

"Also, number one heroes are not known for leaving headless corpses behind."

Katsuki scowled at Dabi who spread his arms grinning in that annoying way with his ugly face.

"Maybe you should shut up, Scarface."

"Hey, just telling the truth. Isn't that what you have been doing?"

"At least that guy isn't going to be ruining people's lives anymore. Isn't that what a hero is supposed to get done?"

"Hey, you don't need to convince me. At least what you are doing is better than that pervert," Dabi said and pointed at Katsuki's phone.

"Anyone would be better than that. Too bad he is dead already. If heroes refuse me, maybe people could at least see me clean off the fakes."

"Well now you are just sounding like Stain… it's not a bad thing."

"Well the guy is dead already."

"That one, but how about the one you saw?"

"I was just trying to figure out who he was when you interrupted me. Have to find out how strong he is to know how to beat him."

"Didn't expect you to be so careful and worry about someone being stronger than you."

"I'm strong, not stupid," Katsuki responded and stared at the phone that he switched back to the hero website. "There are a lot of pro heroes that seem so weak I have no idea how they became pros or are still alive, but some are still actually, especially if I get into a fight without knowing his quirk. Have to be careful if I'm going to deal with one alone."

"I know," Dabi responded, "want help?"

Katsuki tilted his head. "Why would you do that?"

"I told you. I have considered doing something like that myself, just careful about the risks. With two that is less since, despite everything, you seem to be pretty strong at least."

"What do you mean despite everything?"

Dabi took a few steps away before facing Katsuki, as if that was far enough to not get blown up.

"Your personality is garbage, like a flaming garbage bin and you are still a kid, but if you can keep cool in a battle, I'll take it."

"And why would I help you with anything?"

"Not help me, just get something done we both agree on. You just admitted yourself you can't take on pro heroes alone no matter how fake they are."

He held his hand open, slightly cupped, not too different from what Katsuki would often do, but rather than the crackling of explosions, a small blue flame lit over his palm.

"Heroes might be on alert, but against both of us that 'hero' doesn't stand much chance. Even Stain doesn't seem to be working alone anymore."

"So that's why you are suddenly pestering me about working together."

"So, what is it going to be?"

Katsuki looked away from Dabi. He didn't really need the other, so he did not want to look interested, but Dabi could be useful.

"I'll consider it," Katsuki said. "You seem to know how to show up to annoy me, so you can get your answer the next time."

"Fine," Dabi turned theatrically, hands in pockets. "See you soon."

He walked to the door to the rooftop terrace. He barely brushed the lock, which then glowed and bent out of the way as he pushed the door. Katsuki stopped with the thought of 'what if someone is home?'

Then again, that was not his problem. Katsuki got back into studying his new target. Yes, if the profession of a hero had been taken over by fakes that explained everything, and the only way to get back what belonged to him was to take the fakes out and expose them.

Who would have thought the Hero Killer had a point? Doing what he did might do more for Katsuki than even taking him out.

He glanced once again at the partially molten lock and scowled. He put his phone away and sprinted to the edge of the terrace, easily leaping to the next roof without even using his quirk. The 'hero' wasn't going to disappear suddenly, so Katsuki could take his time to decide how to take him out.