The Hero & The Demon

Chapter Twenty-Six

Kage Sekai wasn't able to sleep that night.

He should have expected that, he supposed. It was only natural that he was stressed out of his mind over the next day. The day he had been dreading and preparing for ever since he had gotten into UA. The day he and the rest of the class would find themselves up against more villains than any of them had ever seen before. The day everything could go wrong.

The day of the USJ incident.

That said, it wasn't the intensity of the coming fight that kept him awake at night. He knew what to expect from that. It depended on exactly where he got sent, but the villains were consistently all manageable by the students present. He could presume he was no different. He had plenty of combat training and very versatile powers.

When they listened to him, that was. He could only hope they wouldn't react like they did to Dark Shadow. He needed control if he had any chance of holding things together. That wasn't his true worry either, however. It was certainly a concern, but his powers hadn't reacted like that to anything since the battle training.

He knew he had questions for them, but they could wait.

What worried him most was Sora. He had no idea if she would even show up to school that day, and after their argument, he couldn't blame her if she chose not to. He had dragged her into a mess that she wanted nothing to do with and wasn't ready for. She had every right to step away and avoid it altogether.

He didn't have to be fond of the idea in order to respect her choice. He knew he wouldn't hesitate if he was in her position, but they were very different people who saw the world in very different ways. Kage didn't know why Sora was so resistant to the idea of helping people at the cost of herself, because such simply didn't make sense to him. Even in his old life, he hadn't held much regard for his own safety if he could do something to help other people. Now that he had superpowers, that was only amplified.

Besides, he had to make up for his existence somehow. Whether he meant to or not, he had killed someone by being here. The only thing he could do was try to earn that sacrifice. He didn't expect that to make sense to Sora, but it was crystal clear in his head.

It was so frustrating that he couldn't just clearly explain why doing this was such a necessity to him. Sure, a lot of it was guilt, but he didn't think he would be able to stand back if he had been reborn in a body that had no past at all to speak of. If he had to grow up a new set of fifteen years, starting as a newborn baby, he felt confident he would make the same choice.

People who wanted to hurt others wouldn't stop based on how ready he was. If he knew what was to come and did nothing, how did that not make him responsible for it? It didn't matter whether or not he would be able to handle it – he had to, because other people wouldn't.

Sora had said that the only thing he was responsible for was his own life. He thought he understood what she meant – if he wasn't the one doing something wrong, he couldn't really be blamed for it, especially if his actions were in the service of preserving his own life.

But even if doing nothing kept him safe, how was inaction acceptable? Even if it wasn't stolen, what would make his life more meaningful than anyone else's?

"Does this make sense to you?" He sat up in his bed. He knew something in him could hear his words. Whether or not it was listening or would respond to him was another matter entirely, but he knew it was there. He flexed a hand out, watching dark energy coil its way through. "My life meaning more than someone else's, the idea of sitting back and not helping when I could to keep myself safe..." He frowned as he stared at his hand.

"You saved me, right?" He asked. The power gave no reply as he curled and uncurled his fingers, watching the strangely illuminated blackness drift across the veins in his hand. He felt the faint, tingling sensation of the energy within. "Back when I... when Darren died." He glanced away. Referring to himself in the third person like that made it easier to acknowledge.

Easier, but not easy.

"All I could think was that I didn't want to die." He continued. "I could feel it happening to me, and I hated it. It was cold, and I could feel myself fading away. Everything that I was felt like it was being pulled apart. Not even in a painful way, but like I was unravelling. I didn't want to die, and you heard that. You saved me. Whoever or whatever you are, you're the reason I'm here."

No response. There was no change he could feel in his arm, no response from the thrumming energy beneath his skin. He scowled and stood up.

"Why?" He demanded, spreading the energy all across his body. Maybe it wouldn't talk to him, but he needed to be heard. He needed answers. "Why me? No one who's alive wants to die, so why did you save me? There has to be a reason. You've been helping me, giving me this power. You've been going along with everything I try to do, and even if I don't like how you show it, you care about me, don't you? You stepped in against Bakugou, you spoke to Tokoyami and Dark Shadow and stopped when I told you to. You even said you were hitting them so hard because they threatened me."

Still no response. If the energy within him had any protests to his words, he wasn't hearing them. He couldn't feel them. He knew it was listening – it always was, he was sure of it. It was always present, always a part of him. Why wouldn't it talk to him?

"I know you can hear me!" He insisted, allowing more of the energy to pour into his every muscle. "So come on, why me? What makes Darren Smythe so important to you that you couldn't let him die, huh? And what about Kage Sekai? He must have had a life too, right? Does that mean nothing to you?!" Tears burned in his eyes, and still there was no response.

Still nothing. No answers.

He turned and slammed his fist down onto his bed. The energy in his hand fled just before it impacted, but he could still feel it bracing underneath the mattress.

"Great, you won't listen to me, but you'll keep things quiet." He sighed, the anger giving way to a powerless despair. He let the energy recede, returning it to whatever state it occupied when he wasn't actively using it. He still didn't know anything about what that state was.

So many questions. No answers. None that he had for himself, and none that he could give to anyone else.

"Why..." He fell to his knees. The tears streamed forth and his voice broke into sobs. "Why are you doing this to me? This-this has to all be for something, right? Why won't you tell me? Do you really just want me to suffer?"

"No."

He gasped, lifting his head. Finally, a response. Proof that he was being heard. That there was something there that was listening to him.

"This is difficult for both of us. You are not ready. I am not ready. Someday, this will all make sense. But we are not ready."

"N-not ready for what?" Kage's voice came out quiet, still shaking. But it didn't matter. The voice was coming from his head, there was no way it didn't hear him regardless of how he spoke. "At least let me know that much. Please, give me something. I don't know what I'm supposed to do." There was silence once again. For a terrible moment, Kage was sure the voice wouldn't say anything more. That he would be all alone once again.

Then, after that pause, he heard it again.

"We knew each other. Long before and far away. You are...different, now. You do not remember me. It hurts. You are not ready to remember. I am not ready to start anew. I... I am sorry."

"So, that's it?" Kage asked. "You're waiting for me to remember you, to be someone you used to know? What does that mean for who I am now? Will I just be...gone? Does that matter to you, at all? How do you even know that I'm the person you're looking for? What makes them more important than anyone else?"

The silence returned, and Kage could tell that the voice had gone quiet once again. What it had said so far was a compromise. An acknowledgement and something of an answer that still didn't tell him much of anything. They still weren't connected in the way it wanted them to be, so it didn't want to hear from him. He had just been insistent enough to make it admit that much.

He didn't like it. In fact, he was fairly sure he hated it. But it wasn't completely nothing. He still didn't have a clear picture, but a few pieces of the puzzle made more sense to him now. The visions he had seen. The way he knew how to fight and why those instincts felt different from Kage Sekai's other memories.

In the same way that he wasn't always Kage Sekai, he wasn't always Darren Smythe either.

There were plenty of belief systems that spoke of some form of reincarnation, taking on a new life after death. This didn't totally line up with any he knew of, but he understood the basic concept. The voice was someone or something from a past life. They must have been close.

So close that it found him again.

Why it had chosen to revive him in a new body with powers and not just return him to his old life, he had no idea. Maybe there were more mechanics to this than he was aware of. Some set of rules that explained all of these actions. Or maybe it was something more personal to the voice. Maybe this world had its own meaning to it.

One thought haunted him. Maybe it was his fault. He loved this story, these characters. Had that been all the voice needed to put him here instead of home? Was he the reason why the Sekais, whoever they were, had lost their son?

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer there. Perhaps it was better left a mystery.

There was one thing this left him certain of, however. He couldn't stop.

He was spared from truly dying because he was special. Because of some connection to a force he didn't understand. No one else was that lucky. He was the exception that proved the rules. Sora would hate to hear him say it, but it seemed he really was the chosen one. Maybe he didn't have some grand destiny or purpose, but he was still saved and chosen for a reason.

He had to use that. Make it mean something. There was no other option for him.

Maybe he had been wrong to try to get Sora involved. He needed a friend he could talk to, and he felt it was better than leaving her in the dark. At least, if she knew, she could prepare and keep herself safe even if he couldn't. But if she got hurt, there was no power that would save her like it did him. She was in danger, and even just being aware of that was more than she had ever asked for, let alone being a participant in it.

He was unique. She didn't have to be. Her living her life in the way she chose to should be enough. It was his job to make sure she had that chance, that everyone had that chance. It wasn't on anyone else to do that for him, not when he was already on his second shot. He was being looked out for, even if he didn't fully grasp why.

They weren't. Even if he wanted Sora's help, he had no right to push her into a position that was only meant for him.

"She's not gonna like this." Kage admitted with a small smile. She had always been saying that he needed to be more careful with his own life, that he needed to make a point to live and not just follow his heroic mission to the ends of the earth. He didn't think she was wrong to say any of that. But at the end of the day, it couldn't be a priority over other people.

It wasn't an easy call to make. Even if he was utterly committed to his path, he knew Sora was right when she said that neither of them were ready for this. Was there anything more he could do about that? He had given her as much detail as he could about the attack itself, but was there any way he could help them both be prepared for what was to come?

She was right to be scared. He would be lying if he said he wasn't terrified, even accepting that he had to act. He didn't know if there was anything he could do to reassure her or help her. He would try to talk to her, but there was nothing else he could think of.

At that moment, Tsukauchi knocked on his bedroom door.

Sora Kinzoku didn't know what choice she had made when she arrived at UA that day.

After everything she had said to Kage the day prior, it had occurred to her that she didn't need to come in to the class. She could very easily have called in sick and simply not been there. She didn't have any reason to assume anything would go wrong if she was absent – according to Kage, she wasn't there the first time and things had turned out fine.

Despite that, she had chosen to show up anyway. She honestly had no idea why.

It wasn't that she didn't care about her classmates, she just didn't know if she cared enough to risk dying for them if anything went wrong. She'd known all of them for only a few days. They were generally nice enough people, but how much was that really worth? There were plenty of nice people in the world. What made them so special?

She supposed that she just couldn't ignore knowing they would be in danger. It was stupid, but Sora thought that all heroics was based around people being idiots. It seemed to work out for the best, but that didn't make the initial choices any less absurd.

She hadn't said anything to Kage all day. Well, nothing serious at least. During lunch, she had made idle conversation with the others in their little friend group, and she hadn't made a point of avoiding Kage there. She wasn't exactly his biggest fan at the moment, but they were still friends and she didn't want him to think she hated him all of a sudden.

She didn't know what she thought about him at this point. She cared about him, she was frustrated by him, she wanted to help him, she wanted to tell him to piss off. For Sora, Kage Sekai was a mix of conflicting emotions. She didn't know if she wanted that conflict to simply go away or if she wanted some kind of resolution, nor did she know what sort of resolution she wanted.

What was there to be said? She was harsh in their argument, to be sure. But she had meant just about every word. She couldn't help but think that things would be better if she had never passed the exam and Kage was off somewhere else, living a more normal life. He was given a second chance, and this was how he was choosing to spend it? He was going to drive himself mad.

And she was going right along with him. The two were staring down the bottom of a cliff, and neither considered just flying away. Sora saw the fall ending in only one way. They were going to break.

Even if they didn't die, neither of them would be prepared to live the kind of life Kage seemed to want to. He was convinced he was a chosen hero of destiny or whatever, but that simply was too much to put on a traumatised child like him.

If only she could make him realise that.

The bell rang, silencing her thoughts. There was no time left to address the reasons why they were both here. The simple fact was that they were. As Aizawa entered the room, Sora forced herself to make some semblance of peace with that.

"Today's hero class is going to be something a bit different." He announced. Out of curiosity, Sora glanced around at the others in the class. Kage's face was grim and determined, like they were all going to be sent out to war.

In fairness, it wasn't far off.

Most of the others showed varying ranges of excitement mixed with trepidation. No doubt they were thinking of Aizawa's threats of expulsion in their first lesson. That was a hard thing to ignore, and it left everyone in the class wary around their homeroom teacher.

"You'll be working with me, All-Might and one other teacher." Even knowing who the third teacher was, Aizawa's vagueness still made her raise an eyebrow. It wasn't like the teachers had anything to hide here. Well, not either of them at least. All-Might had plenty of his own secrets that Sora was now privy to, but that wasn't the point.

It was also something that sat firmly away in her 'don't think about it' box. Even Kage had admitted that there wasn't anything either of them could do about that situation, at least not for now. One For All was its own can of worms. It might become an issue in the far future, past what Sora had been told, but for the time being, it was safe to ignore.

"What'll we be doing exactly, sir?" One student, a boy with black hair and funky-looking elbows, raised a hand and asked. Sora didn't know his name, but she recognised his Quirk from the battle training. She decided to mentally dub him 'Tape-Man' until she was corrected. Aizawa fished a card out of his pocket and thrust it in front of the class.

"Learning how to handle disaster relief, from fires to floods. It's rescue training!" Gods, Sora hoped she wouldn't be dealing with the flood zone. Having large, heavy metals grow out of one's body didn't seem like it would be helpful when it came to navigating an underwater space.

Then again, there were no locations she thought would be all that safe to deal with given what she knew.

"This is gonna be a rough day..." She found herself saying involuntarily. Kaminari nodded from a few desks away.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." He said. He sounded relaxed, but he seemed to tense up when Sora made eye contact. She raised an eyebrow at that. She didn't think she was all that threatening. Besides, he was the one who electrocuted her. Why was he bothered?

"C'mon guys! This is classic hero stuff! I'm pumped up just thinking about it!" A red-haired boy spoke up with infectious enthusiasm. Sora thought it was slightly ironic that he was describing what being a hero was all about when she knew they were all about to go fight supervillains.

Truly, he had no idea how right he was.

"Right!" Ashido agreed with him enthusiastically, nodding her head fast. There was something so inviting about the energy of the room. For just a moment, Sora got lost in the same feeling of excitement as everyone else.

Maybe this was what she was staying for. Living how you wanted to was much harder to do alone.

"If everyone could settle down for a moment," Aizawa raised a hand to silence the class, who dutifully followed his instructions. "you're being given the choice on whether or not you want to wear your costumes for this exercise. I know they're new and exciting for you, but some of them might not be suited to the activities ahead. It's your call."

Sora didn't know how the man expected anyone to not go for their costumes right away. Sora considered it, but she hesitated. Maybe she was being dramatic, but in her mind, the costume represented a commitment. It was her declaring she would really be a hero. That she wasn't just along for the ride, but was willing to give the same level of dedication as her classmates in the defence of others.

She didn't think she was ready for that. Not whilst she still couldn't figure out why she was still present, or if it was worth it.

In the end, she settled for just grabbing her belt and going to the changing room to grab her gym clothes. Her costume might end up being more awkward to fight in, anyway. Despite being immensely stylish and good-looking on her, it wasn't designed with peak mobility in mind. It would probably do okay, but why take the risk?

The belt contained the few small gadgets she was able to acquire from the support company. Mainly just little flash-bang bombs. She was sure those would be getting plenty of use to get around the situation.

The situation. What a casual way to refer to how she was perilously close to being murdered.

"Sora?" A voice shook her out of her automated actions as she tied up her hair in a ponytail. She looked over to see Uraraka looking at her with a tilted head and an expression of concern. She wondered what kind of face she was making for her to look like that. She was dressed in her own costume, which Sora had to admit she was a little jealous of.

It looked so dang good on her, it was unfair.

"Sorry, what's up?" She tried to give a smile. Uraraka didn't quite relax, but she did look ever so slightly less concerned.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked. "You were looking a little out of it at lunch today, and you didn't take your costume. Is something bothering you?"

"Why yes, the distinct possibility that I am going to die in the next few hours, all because I'm too stupid to get out of a bad situation and too worried about a friend whose self-preservation instincts might as well not exist. How are you?"

She pushed back from the bitterness of those thoughts. It was unfair of her to think that way. Uraraka didn't deserve any of that.

"Maybe a little." Sora allowed herself to say that much. "I guess I've just got a lot on my mind lately. Don't worry though, I'll be fine." She gave a reassuring smile that Uraraka didn't look convinced by.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Sora sighed. She figured that was a natural follow up.

"It's...not really easy to talk about." She said. "Thanks for asking though, I appreciate it. It's just not something I think I can get into. I don't even know where I'd start." Her words were punctuated by a small, bitter chuckle that slipped through her lips as she spoke.

Uraraka looked thoughtful for a moment. Then, her face briefly lit up and she asked a question Sora never could have expected.

"Did you and Kage break up?"

Sora's mouth hung open and she found herself falling to the floor in surprise. What? What the hell was she talking about? How did that even make any sense for her to have thought of?!

"Wha-I-no!" Sora struggled to spit out a proper response as her mind bounced between several in a haphazard fashion. "Why would you even-we're not even like-what?!" She practically screeched out, garnering the attention of everyone in the changing room, who all looked at her strangely.

Sora's face turned to shades of red previously only thought visible to obscure species of shrimp.

"Well, you two seem really close, and you looked really tense with each other today," Uraraka began rattling off her bizarre and clearly absolutely insane reasonings for her wild claims. "plus, there was that time you two vanished after we arrived at the train station..."

"T-That was just to talk!" Sora crossed her arms as she spoke. "Entirely platonically, which is because there is nothing like that going on between us! Seriously, what the heck?" Despite her immediate outrage, there was a part of her that found the whole thing relaxing and amusing in an odd sense.

If only her problems were as simple as a relationship issue. Not that those were simple – Sora had read enough romance books to know they were often anything but. They were often more mundane, though. Sora loved a good thrill, but she was beginning to find new appreciation for the smaller things in life now that they were more distant from her mind.

"Sorry, sorry." Uraraka apologised, though she smiled with some sick amusement. Sora had no idea why this baffling torment was something she enjoyed, but to each their own. "You guys just seemed close, so it was the first thing that came to mind. So, that's not what's bothering you?"

"No." Sora sighed. "I mean, I guess Kage kind of is, b-but not in whatever way you're thinking of! We just...well, we had a difference of opinion recently, and I don't know how to handle it. I guess you could call it an argument. It happened just before I was sent home early yesterday."

"Right, I was wondering about that!" Uraraka replied, smacking a fist into her palm as she recalled. "I tried asking Kage about it, but he just said it was nothing to worry about. He didn't look like he was taking his own advice, though." Sora snorted.

"Of course that's what he said." Sora shook her head. "I don't know what else I expected. He thinks anything short of having brains blown out means it's all hunky-dory. It was kind of a mess, and I blew up at him about that. And now...now I don't know what to do about it."

"Isn't that the easy part?" Uraraka asked. "Just talk to him and say you're sorry. I only met him a few days ago and even I can tell he's not going to hold a grudge." Sora frowned, looking down. Uraraka wasn't wrong, but it was more complicated than that.

She still felt she was right, even if she didn't like how she had said what she did. They weren't ready for this, and things might have been better for everyone if they stayed out of it. There was no way Kage would agree with that, and she didn't know what she would even do if he did.

She had accepted that she wasn't prepared for what was going to happen. She didn't know whether that changed if she wanted to be there or not.

"Come on, we'll be late if we spend the whole time gossiping back here." Sora returned an easy-going grin and left the changing room, having finished getting herself dressed during her talk with Uraraka. As expected, most of the class were already out and changed into their hero costumes.

She noticed that Izuku was in gym clothes like hers. His suit was probably still being fixed, given how Bakugou had blown up a solid half of it just two days ago. He'd still taken his belt, however, and he seemed to have a new mouthguard piece. It was nice to see commitment to the aesthetic, however limited it was.

"-last time, I promise you we're cool." She overheard Kage's voice and turned to find him conversing with a nervous-looking Kaminari. He had his full helmet on, which displayed glowing golden eyes that rolled with exasperation.

"I'm just trying to make sure, man." Kaminari held up his hands in surrender. "You just seemed really pissed after battle training, and I want to be clear that I'm sorry about electrocuting your girlfriend and I don't want you to go murdering me about it." The eyes on Kage's helmet blinked, then seemed to double in size.

"I'm sorry, my what?"

"Your girlfriend." Kaminari repeated. He then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, am I misreading that? It's just you seemed really defensive about her, and apparently you guys are close and talk a lot, so I just kind of assumed-"

"W-w-well stop assuming!" Kage said loudly. "I don't even-that's not-it's not like that!"

"Can confirm." Sora made herself known to the two at this point. She smirked casually. She couldn't see Kage's face, but she was certain he was flushing red underneath that helmet. A little embarrassment seemed only fair to her. "Weirdly, you're not the first person to think that."

"Wait, what?" Kage said in disbelief. He pointed between the two of them. "So, other people think you and I... I mean, you know..." Sora rolled her eyes, hiding her own embarrassment beneath a layer of disinterest. Her cheeks still tinged red, but she contained it better than she did with Uraraka.

"No need to sound so enthusiastic." She said sarcastically. As expected, Kage sputtered out several noises in place of words. The image on his helmet changed to a spiral loading screen.

"I- that's not what I-I mean not that I'd...are you- you're not, no. I-" He stammered his way through a few incomplete sentences before finally landing on one. "We're not like that so it doesn't even matter."

Sora couldn't hold it back any longer. She laughed.

"Gee, no need to sound so enthusiastic." Kage crossed his arms and repeated Sora's sarcasm back at her, which only made her laugh harder. She had to wipe a tear out of her eye after a moment.

"Sorry, sorry." She steadied herself. "I'm just teasing you, dude. Don't worry about it." She turned to Kaminari, who looked similarly amused as she did, though with a distinct nervous air of wondering if he should still be listening.

"You'll be thrilled to know I'm still single." She said to him. "I know all those sparks flying between us two days ago means you're very interested in my love life. Maybe we can talk about it another time." She gave him a wink. Kaminari pointed to himself, then blushed a little.

"Really? Awesome!" He cheered, then coughed as though to contain himself. "I-I mean, cool. Whatever. See you around after class, I guess." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and casually strolled off, joining the rest of the class who were gathering over to a bus outside.

"Huh."

"What?" Sora raised an eyebrow. Kage immediately threw his arms up in surrender and backed away.

"Nothing. I'm just surprised is all." He said. "I mean, you do you obviously, but he did kind of electrocute you to the point of unconsciousness. He's a cool dude, don't get me wrong, but like... isn't that a red flag?" Sora gave him a deadpan expression.

"There is no way you of all people are giving me a lecture about spending my time with dangerous men." She said, lowering her voice slightly so as to not be overheard. "In case you forgot, I kind of got exploded a whole bunch yesterday because of you." Kage winced at that.

"Fair enough. I withdraw my statement." He said. "Can... can we talk about that before we go? I don't wanna leave things unsaid. You know, in case..." He trailed off, which Sora was grateful for. The temperature of the room dropped as he spoke. Sora found herself shivering.

"We don't have to." She said, looking away from him. "You said everything will be fine, so I'm trusting you that it will be. I... I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday."

"Don't apologise." Kage insisted. "You were right. Well, at least kind of right. I get where you're coming from, I mean. I put you in more danger than you ever should have been in. You're allowed to be pissed at me for that, I get it. Plus, you're right – we're not ready for this." He took a deep breath. Sora was relieved to hear what he was saying, but she could just feel the 'but' coming.

"But," There it was. "neither are they. The bad guys aren't going to hesitate because we're just kids. It sucks, but that's the reality of all this. You're not going to like this, but I know I was put here for a reason. This isn't something I feel like I can just walk away from. Maybe I'll make things worse, but maybe I'll make them better. But I have to do something. I get that you don't feel the same way, and that's fine. I shouldn't be expecting you to. I'm...well, unique, for a lot of reasons. You don't have to be."

"I'm not trying to ignore what you have to say here," He continued. "In fact, I've already tried to prepare things a little more as best as I can. But at the end of day, as much as it's scary and a lot of pressure, I can't help but feel it comes down to me and what I do. So, I'm going to keep doing this. I get it if you don't think you can join me, but there isn't anything you could say that would stop me." Sora let his words sit for a moment. Kage looked at her with a shining determination that was visible even though his face was completely obscured.

"Okay." She finally said.

"Okay?" Kage asked.

"Okay." She repeated. "I can't say I like it, or that I really understand it, but there's no point in me disagreeing here, is there? You're a stubborn guy, and I respect that. So, stick to your guns, friend." She gave him a friendly punch on the arm as she walked off, smiling. Just as she walked away from him, one last thought slipped free from her mouth.

"At least you know what you're aiming for."

She had no idea where she was trying to go. But, gun in hand, she was firing the trigger regardless.

For Kage Sekai, the bus ride was calm and contemplative. There were conversations had as they all made their way towards the USJ, but he offered little more than passing comments. Even seeing Bakugou getting bullied for his shitty behaviour didn't pull him out of the dour mood he was settling into.

Though he couldn't deny that it made him laugh.

Just before arriving at the USJ itself, Kage pulled out his phone from a pocket obscured by the black fabric of his costume. They weren't very big, but they were useful if he ever needed to carry any essentials with him. They were also waterproof and could be zipped closed for security's sake. He flipped the phone open and pressed a few buttons until he reached the app he was looking for.

"Send location to [Tsukauchi]?"

He pressed confirm and placed the phone back into his pocket. That took care of his most immediate preparation. There was nothing else he could do from the outside, and so he was guided with the rest of the class into the USJ building itself.

The Unforeseen Simulation Joint was an absolutely marvellous building. It was massive and filled with visible and diverse biomes to match any kind of disaster, whilst at the same time managing to still look inviting. The fountain in the centre was a nice touch, even though Kage was watching it closely for villains who might emerge. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted by wonder, but he had to admit that the scenery was nice.

Thirteen appeared at the top of the staircase. She was exactly as Kage had expected from the show – her suit was built wide and puffy, resembling an astronaut with the black helmet and white design. There was little detail, which only served to make her look more inviting and less threatening.

She and Aizawa had their quick exchange about All-Might, revealing that he had used up all of his available time and thus wouldn't be present for the exercise. Kage kept his gaze on the fountain, waiting for the black mist of Kurogiri's portals to emerge. If he was extremely lucky, then stopping the villain yesterday would have been enough to stop the attack itself.

Kage didn't feel lucky.

"Now then, before we begin, I have one or two points to raise." Thirteen said. She then hesitated, looking at her hand for a moment. "Actually, maybe three. Four? No more than five." She shook her head and stopped herself before she got too carried away.

"As I'm sure you all know, my Quirk is called Black Hole. It can suck in and tear apart anything."

"Yeah, and you've used it to help people from all sorts of disasters!" Izuku chimed in. Uraraka was next to him, nodding vigorously. It was certainly impressive to be able to use such a Quirk purely for saving people. Kage nodded himself as a sign of respect, though he doubted it was noticed.

"That's true, but it would only take a slight change in the use of my powers to kill." She declared, immediately changing the atmosphere of the room for everyone else. Kage was tense enough as it was, but he felt the importance of the point. His powers weren't always under his control, so this was something he was keenly aware of.

"I'm sure many of your abilities are similar. In our superhuman society, powers are restricted very carefully for a reason. The system may seem stable, but it only takes one wrong move to bring about disaster." She explained. Kage took those words to heart when he read them in the manga back in his old life, and only internalised them more now.

One wrong move on his part, and people could die.

"During Aizawa's fitness test, you uncovered the start of your true potential. At All-Might's battle training, you experienced the dangers your powers can pose to others." Perhaps more than he was prepared to, Kage thought, but he agreed. "Here in this class, you will gain a new perspective! It's time you learn how your powers can be used to save lives. I hope you leave here with the understanding that you're meant to help people."

Kage knew exactly what he was meant for, but he would be glad to have that reaffirmed in a safe environment. Thirteen bowed and thanked the class for listening to her speech. It was a rather inspiring one, Kage had to admit. If it wasn't for the flicker in the fountain, he would have been pumped up and grinning with the rest of the class.

Unfortunately, he had noticed. He knew what was coming.

He stared as the fountain flickered a few times. As it did so, a small black rift tore open the air in front of them. In the centre of the building, a gateway to hell had opened up. And through it, devils began pouring out. First it was the glaring eyes of a man covered in hands, but soon they were swarming the floor.

"Thirteen, protect the students!" Aizawa spun on his feet and made his demand, to which Thirteen nodded.

"What the hell?" Kirishima commented as the rest of the class quickly became aware of the commotion. "Are those guys part of the exercise?" Kage and Aizawa spoke at the same time.

"Stay back! Those are villains!"

AN: And so, it begins. When I did my first version of this story, years ago, I expected to get here and be done by about twelve chapters, if that. I never imagined just how much this story could grow into what it is now. Sora was almost a background character for one scene, and now she's practically a second protagonist! Things have evolved far beyond what I ever thought possible, and I hope you're loving to read it as much as I enjoy writing it. See you all next time!