The Hero & The Demon

Chapter Twelve

Izuku Midoriya thought he knew the worst he could expect. He was sure that the moment his failure would hit him most was when he next saw All-Might, and faced the inevitable disappointment in his eyes. The moment Izuku proved his own self-doubts right and the hero's choice wrong. Once he saw how badly he had messed things up, there was no way he would let him keep One For All. He'd surely have to return it.

Izuku was wrong. The pain came much sooner than that.

Kage Sekai's smile. That was what Izuku simply found unbearable. As his friend walked up to him, cheerily waving, Izuku found he couldn't dare to meet his eyes.

All-Might was one thing. Izuku had expected to disappoint him. He was the number one, the greatest hero of all time. Izuku knew that ten months couldn't get him to anywhere near the man's level, even if he had One For All the entire time. He'd always known he was worthless, that training with All-Might was just a chance for him to briefly escape his reality.

But Kage? Somehow, his friend's sheer optimism had almost made him believe otherwise. Kage had no reason to expect anything from Izuku, he had no reason to even spend time with him at all. He had a much better Quirk; he was able to talk to people clearly and without stuttering or diverting into tangents no one could follow. He was simply better.

And yet, he never acted like it. Quite the opposite, in fact.

He had unending faith in Izuku, even though he had never seen any Quirk of his and his grades, whilst not unimpressive, weren't far above average. Even though Izuku had no friends to speak of, Kage hung off his every word. He listened whenever Izuku spoke, even when he had no reason to.

All-Might had at least seen Izuku trying to help Kacchan. He knew that counted for something, and he'd do it all over again even if it hadn't led to him gaining a Quirk. But Kage hadn't seen Izuku do anything but lift some scrap metal and haul it around. How was that enough?

There was no way he could comprehend it. It simply was.

Kage saw himself as the lesser of the two, somehow. He was far more easily drawn to his failings than his positive qualities. It was a stark contrast to Kacchan, who radiated ego from his every motion. Every step Kage took seemed to make him hesitate, as though he wasn't sure if he was allowed to or supposed to take it. His attempts at confidence were clearly fake, and no one was more aware of that than Kage himself.

Izuku knew there was something more to this. Beyond just Kage's amnesia, he knew the boy had something profoundly troubling him. Izuku was similar in that way, though nothing as extreme from what he could tell. There was something pained about Kage.

That was perhaps the best excuse Izuku could think of for why he couldn't see just how pathetic he was. Why he could look at him with a happy grin and wave, glad to see him.

Why he could believe that Izuku had managed to pass, because the alternative was simply inconceivable to him.

Izuku stared down at the ground. If Kage saw his tears, it would shatter the illusion, and Izuku was sure he would lose his only real friend.

"Hey, buddy." Kage said as he arrived. "How did it go?" Izuku wondered how he could possibly answer that question without breaking down. Certainly not honestly, though he doubted he could convincingly lie and say it went well. He wasn't sure what would be worse – lying to his best friend or the fact that he knew Kage would believe him.

"It…went." Izuku managed with a non-committal shrug. Kage seemed to catch on to his unpleasant mood. He frowned and lowered his voice in what was clearly an attempt to be comforting. Izuku wanted to curl up into a ball and die.

"Not great, huh? I hear you." Kage nodded. "I didn't do too well either. I definitely bungled the whole thing right at the end, too. But hey, it'll all work out in the end!" He gave a forced cheer. Izuku managed to bring himself to look up and meet Kage's gaze with his own. Somehow, it indeed seemed that the boy was torn up about his own performance.

That didn't make sense to Izuku. He was certainly the far more capable of the two. Beating down robots should have been easy for him.

"What…what happened in yours?" Izuku reached for the distraction from his own failings, and Kage graciously lowered it. He sighed and began recounting his story. It was a little disjointed, and it seemed there was something he wasn't saying. He mentioned that he felt lost and disoriented when the exam started, and that he lost track of his surroundings. Izuku surmised this much was true, but there was something else present.

He found himself stunned when Kage recounted how he had taken care of the zero-pointer. His mouth hung open. Izuku had needed All-Might's strength to take one of those down, and it had destroyed him! Kage had apparently exploded one in half and looked fine! Too stunned for words, Izuku resorted to gesturing towards Kage, who thankfully got the picture quickly.

"Oh, right." He said, looking down at himself. "Apparently, my powers also include some kind of full body reset? I'm not sure about the details, but it seems that when I get too injured, every part of me reverts back to a previous point. I'm not really sure just how far back it can go, or how it decides that."

"I see." Izuku tapped his chin thoughtfully. Kage's Quirk was a fascinating mystery. Its versatility was one thing, but what was more interesting than its array of abilities that seemed now to be increasing was the sheer awareness it seemed to possess. Kage had never mentioned hearing any voices or unusual sounds when using his power, or even feeling another presence, but it was clear nonetheless that his powers possessed some degree of sentience and the capacity for independent thought. How else would they have managed to react without his say-so? The real question was the nature of this awareness. Sentient Quirks usually were capable of communicating with their wielders in various states, but if Kage's powers were in communication with him, he had not mentioned. It was possible he was keeping it secret out of concern or perhaps even shame – sentient Quirks were often seen as distinctly unnatural and unnerving to some, so it would make sense-

"You thinking about something?" Kage asked, and Izuku reflexively clamped his hands over his mouth. He was getting better, but it seemed he still had a bad habit of mumbling out his racing thoughts at inopportune times. Kage looked bemused rather than offended.

"Sorry."

"Don't apologise!" Kage protested. "You like thinking about weird stuff like this. I do, too, but I'm not really analytical enough to get very far beyond thinking things look cool. If it makes you happy, it's cool to me." He said. Izuku gave a shaky smile.

Maybe…just maybe he had misjudged Kage a little. He accepted Izuku's other failings easily. Would this really be any different? He took a deep breath.

"I…I failed." He finally said. Kage looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Izuku hated feeling like he had to say more when saying that much already required clawing the words from his throat, but he pushed forwards nonetheless. He had to be able to tell the story eventually. "I couldn't really get my Quirk to work until the very end, and by then it was too late. I wasn't able to get a single point!" Tears stung at his eyes. Kage hummed for a moment.

"So, what did you do?" Izuku blinked at him with confusion, so Kage elaborated. "You got your Quirk to work at the end, right? So, you obviously managed to do something with it, even if it didn't give you any points. What was it?"

"I…" Izuku thought back to that moment. "T-the zero-pointer had come out. It was massive, towering over most of the buildings in the city. Everyone was running away, and I had fallen over just looking at it. I-I tried to crawl but…"

"But?"

"There was a voice." Izuku said. "She was hurt. Her leg had gotten pinned down by rubble, I think. She couldn't move away. And the robot was coming. I was so sure that if I didn't do anything, she would have…" He shook his head, dismissing the worst-case scenario from his mind.

"A-anyway, before I had even realised what was happening, I was running towards it. I leaped into the air – I cleared the buildings without even noticing. It was incredible. Then, I put everything I could into my fist and…punched it a bit."

"Punched it a bit?"

"Punched it a bit." Izuku repeated. As he recounted, he realised this whole thing was embarrassing in and of itself. "Then it exploded."

"I see." Kage said. "What about the girl? Do you think you helped her?" Izuku thought on the question. Looking back, it was obvious that UA wouldn't let her die, but that didn't mean she couldn't have been hurt worse by the gigantic machine. And there could have been others just like her who were further up, similarly trapped by circumstance.

As much as it had cost him, Izuku knew he had done the right thing. He knew, just like with Kacchan and the sludge villain, that if he got a do-over, he would make the same choice.

"Yes." He decided, giving a reluctant smile. Perhaps this would be a victory of its own. A small one, but Izuku couldn't claim to want to be like All-Might only to run away when people needed him. Kage grinned.

"Well then, that's a win as far as I'm concerned!" He cheered. "When I destroyed the big robot, I don't think it did much. You sacrificed life and limb to help someone. That's what being a hero is all about." Izuku smiled. He had done that, hadn't he? Still, he couldn't help but feel somewhat melancholy.

"I'm not sure UA will agree, though." He admitted. Kage frowned and placed a hand on his shoulder, surprising Izuku.

"Izuku Midoriya," He spoke firmly. "You acted like a true hero would in a dangerous situation. You didn't do what you did for yourself, you did it because it meant helping people. It meant the right thing to do. If UA doesn't appreciate that, I will personally Detroit smash the entire school faculty." He swore, even raising a fist coated with black energy to emphasise the effect. Izuku couldn't help it.

He laughed.

He knew Kage was being serious, which somehow made the whole thing funnier. His sadness practically vanished, and he was giggling wildly to himself. Kage gave a confident smile before laughing himself. Any semblance of tension in the air drifted away from the two, replaced by a juvenile amusement that could only come from such overdramatic sincerity.

"You'd use a Detroit smash?" Izuku asked, wiping a tear from his eye. It wasn't sad, like the ones that had stung at his face moments before. Kage looked at him.

"Yeah. That's the punchy one, right?"

"They're all pretty punchy, Kage." Izuku explained. "That's the whole point."

"Well, that's not true."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Kage said with a false pout. "Some of them are kicks." Izuku burst out laughing again, and once more Kage joined him. He wasn't even sure if All-Might did have any smashes that were kicks, at least not off the top of his head. Then again, despite his best efforts, he had never managed to track down every single All-Might attack and properly categorise them.

He might ask the man. Assuming he didn't hate him now. But Izuku was finding it increasingly hard to believe that he would. If Kage had shown him one thing, it was that people who cared about him didn't suddenly stop just because he was a failure. If that could be said of his friend, why not his mentor?

He knew perhaps better than anyone else in the world that All-Might wasn't invincible. That the man could fail like anyone else. Most of the time, that notion was terrifying, but today Izuku found it strangely comforting. All-Might didn't give up even when his entire stomach had been removed. He never gave up even when he could only be a hero for a few hours at a time.

Izuku had to be like that if he really wanted to be the greatest hero. He might have failed the entrance exam for the hero course, but there were still other possibilities. If he was extremely lucky, the written exam might make up for it. If he was just a little less lucky, he could still try for General Studies – it didn't happen often, but some students got the chance to transfer to heroics after the Sports Festival.

Izuku's dreams remained distant from him, but that didn't mean he had to stop reaching. All-Might wouldn't. Kage would never lose faith in him. Maybe, if he just held onto some faith in himself, he would be alright.

It would be a struggle, but he would try. He wouldn't give up. He would act like a hero would.

And he wouldn't do it alone.

It had been two days since the UA entrance exam, and Katsuki Bakugou was already growing impatient.

He had aced the exam, but that was never in question. He had obliterated robots with little to no effort, and unlike the other examinees, he wasn't a coward who ran off just because one of the villains was bigger than the rest. All-Might wouldn't have hesitated in the face of something like that, so neither would Bakugou.

The written exam had gone similarly well. Bakugou's diligent study had paid off, and whilst he could certainly see how someone might find it challenging, to him it was an easy obstacle to overcome. He had finished quickly, though not so quickly that he didn't make sure to go over every one of his answers to ensure he was doing everything properly. There had been a handful of examinees who had finished their exams in under an hour of the three-hour time window, and Bakugou felt he could safely dismiss those idiots.

On the other hand, those who spent the entire window of time struggling were similarly easy to discount. Both were clear signs of having been challenged too hard by the school. Bakugou had finished with around a half hour left. Enough time to have thoroughly finished without also leaving himself scrambling to check things out. UA had allowed students to leave as soon as they were sure they were finished, but Bakugou had made sure to stay for the full length of time. Combat wasn't the only place he could expect to find rivals, after all. If he wanted to be known as truly exceptional from the moment he arrived at UA, and wanted to continue that as he proceeded through the school, he had to make sure he was doing markedly better than those around him.

It was no surprise that Deku seemed to be struggling, though Bakugou would reluctantly acknowledge that he did better than he had expected, as far as he could tell. He didn't start crying or panic and rush through things, nor did he find himself hastily scribbling until the very end. He would still get nowhere when compared to Bakugou of course, but his ability in this area was something at least worth note, if not respect.

It made sense. Whilst he was a Quirkless loser, he had always been a determined studier. It was the one area someone like him had any chance at truly excelling at, where there was the faintest possibility of success.

The black-veined freak – Bakugou had been forced to remember his name was Kage only because he tended to repeat it whenever Bakugou so much as mentioned him otherwise – had also proven to be something of a point of concern. Like Deku, he hadn't given up or dropped out of the entrance exam. Unlike Deku, however, he posed a potential threat. He had a Quirk, and a decently powerful one at that. In a proper fight, Bakugou was sure he could obliterate him, but he had managed to pin him when he had been taken by surprise. Bakugou had to acknowledge a little strength in that. Plus, he had apparently been regularly training at a gym ran by a pro hero.

During the written exam, he had seemed reasonably average. Bakugou didn't take much note of his behaviour past that, as there was nothing that stood out to him in particular. That on its own was something to be concerned by, however, as it meant that he lacked any obvious faults that could let him be discounted. Deku was still unlikely to get in no matter how he did on the written exam, but Kage posed a threat to his plans.

He pushed the thoughts aside for the moment. He didn't know if the freak had any chance of actually passing, so there was no point doing anything just yet. He could try to 'persuade' him into leaving another time. Right now, Bakugou was simply trying to entertain himself whilst he awaited results. That means stopping by the local arcade.

He hadn't been here in some time, as studying for UA took up about all of his energy. A couple of the extras, like Fingers, had taken him around the place a few times, and some of the games were admittedly pretty cool. Bakugou was especially fond of the shooting games personally. They were simple yet effective means of practicing hand-eye coordination, and were one of the few situations where him yelling "DIE DIE DIE!" was not only expected, but often encouraged.

After all, who didn't love shooting zombies in the face?

Fingers had wandered off, as had Bakugou's other tagalong – he couldn't even be bothered to remember that one's name, honestly. He had been mentioning the idea of sneaking into bars lately a lot, so Bakugou felt Letch would do for a name until he grew the hell up. Still, he didn't protest when the three were steered instead to this more wholesome activity.

They didn't particularly love spending time with Bakugou, he could tell. But they seemed to admire him all the same. Bakugou was perfectly comfortable with that. Having the adoration of extras was nice, and he didn't care to be acknowledged for anything more than his strength and ability. Those were all that really mattered to him, after all.

"Woah, you're doing good, dude!" Bakugou heard Fingers in the distance, and glanced to find him cheering on someone at a dancing game. Bakugou had messed around with those a few times and found them pitifully easy. It was just about being able to move on the right arrows quick enough. There wasn't really any skill to that.

"Thanks, Yubi!" Bakugou's ear twitched. He recognised that voice immediately. What the hell was he doing here? Bakugou had claimed this place to be a distraction, the last thing he needed was some stepping stone showing up to mess with him. He stalked over to see Kage Sekai and some girl he didn't recognise, both engaging in some rock song on a 'Revolutionary Dance, Dance' machine. Kage was clearly sweating, but he also had an idiotic smile on his face. "You wanna have a turn after this round?"

"What, scared I'll kick your ass again?" The girl piped up, and immediately Bakugou knew he would like her more, only because she was threatening Kage. She similarly looked like she had been sweating, but she seemed to be doing notably better. Kage snorted.

"In your dreams, Sora. Watch this." He boasted, before suddenly picking up his pace. Bakugou couldn't see the boy's legs through his trousers, but immediately he could tell he was channelling his Quirk through them. The girl – Sora? – also noticed and let out a gasp.

"Not cool, man! Not cool!" She protested. She tried to match Kage's new pace, and to her credit she did a good job of it. It wasn't quite a match, and the effort was clearly straining her, but she remained grinning, so it didn't seem it mattered.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Whoa!" Kage slipped the second he heard Bakugou's voice, falling flat onto his ass. The machine let out a loud 'GAME OVER, PLAYER 1 WINS!' announcement in response. Sora didn't look pleased with her win though, just confused. Understandable. She did well, but it wasn't her own skill that won the day.

"Bakugou?" Kage looked up to see him glaring down. His expression was sheepish and surprised, though not quite afraid. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, sorry." Fingers chimed in, much to Bakugou's annoyance. "I kinda invited him. I didn't think you would be here. You never said you knew the place."

"I didn't." Kage replied, standing up and getting off the machine. He poked a thumb towards the girl. "Sora mentioned it. I haven't been to an arcade since…well, not for a long time." He finished after a moment's pause. That was another thing Bakugou hated about Kage – how he seemed so obviously to be hiding something. It wasn't that Bakugou particularly cared what it was, more that he felt it was so blatant that his refusal to admit to it was grating. It was like he thought everyone around him was too dumb to notice.

"I feel that." Fingers laughed. He and Kage bumped their fists together, and Bakugou rolled his eyes. The two even had a special way of doing it – Fingers extended the fingers on his hand whilst Kage produced black energy from his to match. The result was less like a fist and more like a strangely hand-shaped birdcage, but it seemed to amuse the two all the same. "I haven't hung out here much either. Exam stuff has kept us all swamped. Especially Bakugou." He turned and smiled, though it died when he saw Bakugou's expression.

He wasn't feeling friendly.

"Shut it, extra!" He barked out. Kage frowned at him and stepped forward.

"Don't talk to my friend like that, asshole." He said harshly. Kage was an easy person to provoke, in Bakugou's opinion. It took him no real effort at all to get under his skin. He often achieved it without even trying. "There's no reason to be a dick just 'cause you're worried about the exams."

"Worried?" Bakugou scoffed. "There's no way in hell UA isn't gonna greet me with open arms. Especially when the competition is so pathetic." Bakugou looked Kage up and down for effect. Kage's expression hardened, but before he could say anything else, he took a deep breath.

"No."

"No?" Bakugou asked. Kage's face went level and he crossed his arms.

"No. I'm not doing this today." He declared. "I'm not indulging your dumb egotistical power-trip. I'm not gonna lower myself to your level. Unlike you, I don't have an insane and pitiful need to prove I'm always the best at every single thing under the sun. I don't have to constantly insult people just to feel good about myself, because I don't have an inferiority complex as big as a zero-point robot." He turned around, leaving Bakugou stunned.

Stunned and furious.

"There's plenty of games around here, Bakugou." Kage waved his arms out. "Why don't you find something better to do with your time." Bakugou growled, storming to him and grabbing him by the shoulder.

"What makes you think you can talk to me like-" He didn't get the chance to finish before Kage's arm, wrapped in energy, batted him aside and onto the floor. His eyes had black sclera and were filled with venomous rage.

"What part of 'I'm not indulging you' isn't getting through your thick fucking skull?!" He yelled. He was drawing attention to them now, with several people looking away from their games and over at the argument. Kage didn't seem to notice. "For once in my goddamn life, I was actually having a good day. I was having fun. Why do you have to just ruin everything for everyone just because you can't handle not being the specialest person in the room, huh?! News flash, you're not the protagonist! The only reason people give a flying fuck about you is because of your stupid Quirk, which is fitting given how much it makes them all blow smoke up your ass! You're not some chosen one, destined for greatness. You're a pathetic child with anger issues, and I'm tired of pretending I can even tolerate you."

Bakugou growled. Kage looked at him, fury still in his eyes, and let out a deeply frustrated sigh. Wisps of black energy even emerged from his mouth, as though he could barely contain himself.

"Oh my god. This is still just a fight to you, isn't it?" He said incredulously. "It doesn't matter what me or anyone else is feeling or saying, all that matters is I got a hit in and you want payback, right? You're pathetic. Strength doesn't mean shit, but that's all you understand. So, fine. Tomorrow, Gunhead Martial Arts Gym. Three thirty PM. We can beat the ever-loving shit out of each other then and you can finally beat me up and then stop giving a shit, okay? If that's what it takes for you to leave me the hell alone."

Bakugou said nothing as he pulled himself back up. He glared at Kage, but knew there was no point trying to make more of an argument. Besides, he'd issued a challenge. That was more important his temper tantrum as far as Bakugou was concerned. He would finally put the freak in his place and cement himself as the undisputed best. Kage seemed offended by it, but Bakugou didn't see any point in valuing much past a person's strength.

Heroes were incredible because of their will and their ability to always win. All-Might was so admirable because he was unstoppable. That was the kind of person he wanted to be. The undefeatable champion, the ultimate hero.

He didn't know what kind of person Kage was trying to be, but his views didn't seem compatible with Bakugou's. That was fine. Their fight would thus also serve to prove whose perspective was right. When Bakugou won, he would prove Kage was nothing more than a whiney child, crying because he couldn't handle even the slightest bit of pressure without breaking apart.

"If I win-"

"Oh my god, this isn't a bet." Kage groaned, pulling his hands down over his face in exasperation. "You're not going to get me to drop out of UA for you just because you punched me good. I'm just doing this so you'll stop with all the glares and the threats and all your bullshit. I'm tired of you. This is me throwing you a bone. Take it or leave it." Bakugou grunted, but it was clear Kage wasn't going to be interested in saying anything else. He turned and began walking off.

"See you tomorrow." He said, before glaring off into the still watching crowd. He raised a hand threateningly, and everyone dutifully began looking away.

Strength was what drove everything else in this world. That was a lesson Bakugou had learned at four years old.

He looked forward to being able to prove it.

Kage Sekai took another deep breath and leaned against the back of the dance machine. Just a few minutes ago, he had been amused by the name and had been having a great time with Sora, trying out a bunch of songs he had no hope of recognising.

In mere minutes, Bakugou had successfully driven Kage's mood to rock bottom. Nobashita Yubi glanced at him uncertainly. Kage let out a breath.

"It's fine, Yubi." He said honestly. Bakugou's actions were entirely his own fault. He wasn't going to get upset because they had mutual friends. "I'm not mad at you or anything. That guy just…really gets under my skin, you know?"

"Y-yeah…" Yubi said, looking away. It was clear he still felt some guilt over the way things had gone. Understandable, though it gave Kage yet another reason to want to slam Bakugou's head through a table again. He didn't know why he ever felt bad about doing that the first time. "Still, sorry about all that."

"No worries, man." Kage shot him a smile, hoping to ease the tension. It seemed to help Yubi relax. His shoulders slouched a little. "It's not your fault he's like that. I'm sure he has his moments. You go have fun. Unlike our mutual blonde acquaintance, I won't stop you." Yubi allowed himself a small laugh at that, though he seemed to glance around for a moment to make sure Bakugou wasn't still listening. He wasn't, thankfully.

"Alright. See you around?" Yubi waved. Kage nodded. Yubi was a nice enough guy once you got to know him. He just didn't have the best taste in friends. Like a lot of people, he was suckered in by Bakugou's presence and…force of personality, to put it delicately. He was actually pretty chill whenever the prick wasn't around. He didn't even have any issue with Izuku – as it turned out, most of the class didn't. Bakugou just exuded a passive pressure to reinforce his own hatred. He wasn't really consciously inciting it, but it was enough to make the whole class seem worse when he was around.

"See you around." Kage confirmed. Yubi grinned and walked off, looking to find another game to play. Kage turned to see Sora, who was currently extracting a bunch of prize tickets they'd won from the dance machine.

"Sorry you had to see that."

"Hm?" She looked over at him. "Ah, not your fault. That guy was a total asshole and I look forward to watching you punch him in the face tomorrow." Kage raised an eyebrow.

"You want to watch?" Sora tugged the last of the tickets out and stuffed them into a small purse she was carrying. She wore a blue hoodie and a plain white t-shirt underneath, and had a skirt and leggings on her lower half. Over her shoulder, she was carrying a black purse that seemed a bit old. She had done her hair up in a ponytail. Kage could see her other eye now, and it was a similar shade of yellow to his own. It was hard to notice at a glance, but he had picked up on it. She nodded at him.

"I like seeing cool fights, and this seems like it'll be a cool fight." She shrugged. "That is, if it's not a problem. I guess this does seem pretty personal."

"No, no!" Kage said quickly. "It's cool. I could probably use someone to help me keep my head on straight, anyway." He admitted. It would probably help to have a friend around to stop him from going too far. Bakugou already drove him mad just by talking, so a fight was almost certain to have unpleasant repercussions.

In all honesty, it wasn't Kage's best idea by far. Still, hopefully it would result in Bakugou leaving him alone – either by being humbled if Kage won or by being satisfied he was still the best if Kage lost. The former was unlikely, but he was an optimist. The latter was a more plausible outcome – Bakugou responded badly because he felt Kage was trying to challenge him as a rival. Kage not caring didn't seem to make sense to him, since basically everyone around him cared about how cool he was and how impressive his Quirk was and yada yada.

UA would serve as a wake-up call of its own, but if Kage could speed that along, it would be all the better.

He shook his head. All of this was tomorrow's problem. He wanted to focus on today. For once, he didn't want to be worrying about the future looming over him.

"So, where to next?" Kage clapped his hands together. "Any other games you wanna try out here? I still don't really know what's good and what's not." He hadn't been to an arcade in quite some time, even before being reborn as Kage Sekai. He wasn't sure if this body had ever been to one, but nothing here looked familiar to him as far as he could tell.

Sora looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Nuh-uh." She shook her head. "I picked the last game, so now it's your turn. This isn't all about me, you know. We're both here to have fun." Kage frowned, but didn't protest. He had tried to earlier, but Sora was insistent that he should have some say in how this went. Seeing as how she was the one who had saved his life, Kage supposed it was worth indulging her on that at least. He didn't feel it was a fair repayment, but Sora didn't want him to see it as a debt in the first place.

Kage looked around, searching for any fun-looking games that were also free to use and didn't have any long queues. His eyes settled on a racing game over to the side that no one seemed to be using. It was one of those machines where the seats and controls were made to look like an actual motorbike, so you would really rev the engines and move by moving the seat. Kage smiled.

"How about that one?" He pointed towards it. "I haven't played one of these since I was a kid, but racing games were always a favourite." When he was younger, he had this idea in his head that everyone was super skilled in at least one genre of game. He used to think his was racing or platformers, though in reality, he was never very good at either.

Still, that didn't serve to make them any less fun.

Sora tilted her head. "That one's pretty old, but I guess it's your call." She shrugged. She jogged over to the machines, with Kage following behind. She hopped onto a motorbike seat, whilst Kage mounted his as though he was getting on top of a horse. He even patted the front of the thing. He pulled out some coins – Tsukauchi had been generous enough to lend him some money for this trip. Kage had never asked, but it seemed he was paid quite well. He just led a modest lifestyle by choice. Sora had also paid for a few games herself.

The screen of the game showed that the motorcycles were actually hover-bikes, and the whole thing had a distinctly sci-fi aesthetic to it. There were tracks that had people racing across ceilings, underwater, all sorts of impossible locations. Kage wondered if this looked impressive even to people from this age of the supernatural.

The character selection screen seemed to be mostly just palette swaps of the same few character models and cycles, but that wasn't a big deal. It was an arcade game; it didn't need much depth to it so long as it was fun for a few minutes.

"Ready to eat my dust?" Sora said. Kage grinned in response and revved his engine. The machine made a satisfying sound and vibration. It was clearly pretty high quality, even for an old game.

"READY…ON YOUR MARKS…GO!" The machine declared, and in moments both Kage and Sora were off, almost immediately overtaking the AI racers. They leaned their machines closer to one another and bumped each other virtually, trying to force their ways ahead. The track was pretty strict on where one could be without falling off – it consisted of many narrow platforms and twisting bridges, some of which looked at a glance to be too wide to just cross.

But that wasn't a problem a good hoverbike didn't solve. Especially once Kage had located a boost button between the handles. It lit up after a little time had passed, suggesting it charged up over time. Once he pressed it, Kage took a solid lead. Sora gasped.

"Oh no you don't!" She tried to press her own boost, but it seemed it didn't have quite enough charge for her to use. She revved her engine again regardless, trying to force out as much speed as possible. Kage laughed.

The machine was showing a fairly simple event on a screen. He wasn't on a real motorcycle. But somehow, he felt the wind flowing through his hair as he raced through these bizarre streets. He could feel the wheels of his machine that twisted and shifted to allow hovering across obstacles. He could hear even the AI racers behind him as though they were really present.

There was no real pressure here. No future that depended on how he performed in this race, no friends he would need to comfort when it was all over or secrets he would have to keep about how he knew how to ride so good. It was just something fun.

He cheered as he crossed the finish line first, raising both arms to the sky and laughing. It was amazing how good it felt to just have fun.

Some part of him wanted to take those feelings and put them in a cage, lock them away. He was a murderer just by existing. He had stolen someone else's face and form, robbed a family of their loved one. What gave him the right to have fun whilst Kage Sekai was dead and alone?

But for once, he didn't listen. It wasn't like he had asked for this to happen, and it wouldn't change anything to dwell on guilt about it.

Darren Smythe was here now. The least he could do was enjoy it.

He froze. The high score screen presented itself and showed him at number one. It asked for an input, a name. He had one for it.

His own name. It was his again. He had gone nearly a year without being able to remember it, and after one day, here it was.

Darren Smythe. That was who he was before. Did it even mean anything to him now? What did it say about him that he remembered it only by avoiding his guilt? Was this some kind of sign? Did it mean his true life and his duty with this one could not connect?

"Kage, you good?" Sora snapped him out of his thoughts, waving a hand in front of his face. He blinked. Tears were in his eyes. He had been crying. He hadn't even noticed. He wiped his eyes.

Maybe, just this once, it didn't have to mean anything. There were three characters for him to input a simple name, so he went with DRN.

Darren. The boy who died. Kage. The boy who survived. Together, they had a duty to fulfil. Deaths to prevent. Lives to save.

But that was tomorrow's problem. Just for one day, he felt they could agree, that they could have fun. Why save lives if you weren't going to live them?

"Even better," Kage replied. "I feel alive."

AN: I've been holding onto this name reveal for a while, and I hope it was worth it! I wanted to get more into Sora's history and character here too, but honestly given the chapter, it made sense to save that for another time. She's not interested in sharing tragic backstories just yet and Kage's here to relax. I hope Bakugou doesn't come off as too OOC here, I worry I seem like I'm bashing him too much just because Kage hates him. I hope you all look forward to seeing them exchange blows next time! Let me know what you thought!