Chapter Text
Midoriya Izuku thought that none could top the scarlet gaze of Shigaraki Tomura—leader of the League of Villains—as it was ladened with malice and rage, enough to send him shaking all over.
But no, he was absolutely and completely wrong.
Because a child with star-like eyes, gleaming with pure bloodlust, has Izuku’s feet frozen to the ground.
It felt as if the entire world stood still.
“The bird in the cage….”
Blood slowly drips onto the deck. Drip. Drip. It echoes in his ears.
They pull back their sleeve to reveal blades taped onto their skin, glistening with crimson.
“When…oh, when….”
Drip. Drip.
“...will it come out?”
The doll in their hands begins to hiss, then it cracks .
It cackles. The child sings. The ship shakes.
Izuku screams.
And in the next moment, someone's hands are on his neck and he thinks—
A few weeks ago….
“So with that being the case, we ought to be more wary of the enemies’ movements. The destination for our regular school trip will likely be changed,” announces Aizawa one morning, just a few weeks shy of the start of summer vacation.
And a few weeks before Izuku meets them.
“And the new destination won’t be announced until the day of the event.”
“HUH?!”
The class of 1-A, of course, was surprised at the sudden change of plans.
“But I already told my parents….” Groaned Sero with a frown.
“Why can’t they announce it now, sensei?” Kaminari complains.
“That’s precisely the point. The school can’t control who learns what or how,” Izuku glances over his shoulder toward Yaoyorozu. Turning away, he bit his lips—she does make a point.
“Hey, we’re just lucky they haven’t canceled the trip altogether!” Hagakure quipped.
“Yeah, guys! Let’s look at the positive side!” Chirped Mina as she pumped an excited fist into the air.
Izuku nodded. She was right. After all that happened, it’s a miracle that UA hasn’t canceled their training camp.
And this is how their intense first semester came to a close.
Followed by summer break—their training camp finally begins.
The scorching sun dawning upon Class 1-A signals the first day of their training camp.
“Aren’t you excited, Deku-kun?”
Izuku gave her a grin. “Of course, Uraraka-san! Our first training camp in UA!” The thought of it is enough to give him butterflies.
“Me too!” She smiled. “I wonder where we’re going, though. Aizawa sensei said they’ll announce it on the day of the event but…” Her eyebrows furrowed.
“Maybe it’s a part of training camp?” Shinsou suggested.
Uraraka’s eyes widened, turning to the purple-haired boy. “That makes sense, Shinsou-kun!”
Izuku nodded. “Knowing UA, that’s exactly what they might do. And—”
“Wha? Class A needs supplementary lessons? That means someone got a failing mark!?” He feels his soul being sucked out of him upon recognizing the voice. That pretentious tone belongs to none other than—
“Monoma…” He hears Shinsou mutter with a glare.
“Huh?! Isn’t that weird?! Isn’t that strange?! I thought Class A was supposed to be superior to Class B, right? HUUUUUHHH!?”
Izuku secretly clenched his fist.
Just as Itsuka Kendo, Class B’s class representative, uses her own fist to knock Monoma unconscious.
“Sorry,” she says with a sheepish smile, casually holding the blonde by his collar.
“Well, a lot of stuff happened at the Sports Festival,” one from Class B pipes up, “either way, congrats, Class A.”
Izuku manages to give her a smile. “Uh…back to you, Class B.”
“Yeah! You did a good job too, Class B!” Beside him, Uraraka chimed.
And it’s not long before Iida’s voice echoes throughout the parking lot: “Class A’s bus is here! Please line up in seating order!”
“I guess that’s our cue,” says Uraraka. “See you later, Class B!”
He gives a small wave, before catching up with the rest of his class.
Izuku thinks he can understand his teacher a bit now.
“Everyone! Seats are meant to be sat in! Please sit down!” Iida orders, though his words fall on deaf ears.
“Let’s blast some tunes! Something summery…”
“Give me pocky…”
“The beginning of Carol’s Summer to end all summers!”
“It’s ending?”
“Something that begins with B! Bank! Now, K!”
“Kash money!”
“Hey, hand me some pocky too….”
“Everyone—”
Izuku rests a hand on Iida’s arm, shaking his head. “Let them be, Iida-kun. Everyone’s just excited,” he whispers with a smile.
“But rowdiness is unbecoming—” Iida then pauses, releasing a sigh before he finally sinks back down to his seat, crossing his arms. “Fine. Just this once,” he hears him mutter as he turned to face the window.
Izuku beamed. “Hey, Iida-kun. Want some chips?” He delights in the way his friend’s eyes peer to cast down at the bag of chips in his hands.
“...Sure.”
And Class 1-A are completely unaware of what awaits them in an hour.
“Boss! The text came just now—they shall be arriving in an hour.”
The man smiled. “Good. Bring Q to the port,” he orders. “And inform the Agency that our plan will now take motion.”
He nodded, giving a bow before he goes to leave.
“Chuuya-san?” The child is sitting right outside the office, star-like eyes innocently staring up at him.
He crouches down, offering them a small smile. “Q, are you ready?”
They eagerly nodded. “Of course, Chuuya-san! Ready as I’ll ever be!”
He softly chuckled. “Good. Let’s go,” he rises to his feet, before holding out his hand.
The child gladly takes it.
“And if you do a good job, I’ll treat you to some mochi later,” he tells them as he presses the button on the elevator. “Topped with brown sugar, your favorite. You like that, right?”
They beamed, happily nodding. “Yes, Chuuya-san! I’ll do a good job of playing with them!”
He smiled. “That’s great,” he says before pulling out his phone.
Move your ass, Dazai.
“Rest stop! Rest—”
Class 1-A suddenly still as they realize that they’re definitely not at a rest stop.
“Wait, this isn’t a rest stop?”
“Wait, where’s Class B?”
“Aizawa-sensei…where are we…?” All eyes turn to the man in question.
“A port,” he replied.
“We know! But what on earth are we doing in a freaking port!” They scream just as a ship blows nearby.
“We’re gonna take a boat,” he answers, gesturing to the ship behind them.
Izuku notices the words S.S Zelda printed against its side. He’s getting a bad feeling about this—something heavy is settling in his stomach.
“No shit, sherlock. I’m sure that’s what ports are used for?” Mumbled Shinsou.
“Your training camp is….” He slowly points towards a city in the distance, barely visible through the bright gleam of the sun. “..over there.”
“Wait…if my knowledge of geography is correct then…” Yaoyoruzu’s eyes widened before she turns to Aizawa. “...isn’t that Yokohama across!”
Everyone’s heads turn so fast toward their teacher that it’s a miracle none of them haven’t gotten whiplash or something yet.
“Sensei…”
“You’re not serious, are you?”
And to their absolute horror, he nods. “Your training camp is in Yokohama.”
“WHAT?!”
Yokohama.
It is the only isolated city in Japan, having locked itself from the rest of the world ever since the emergence of quirks. The primary reason is because of abilities. None much is known about abilities, other than the fact they are more powerful than quirks.
It is said only less than one percent of the world’s population possesses abilities.
And all of Japan’s ability-users reside in Yokohama.
Other than being labeled as the city of abilities, it also has a rather infamous reputation of absolutely despising heroes to the point that any who dare intrude would end up a corpse the next day, drained of their blood and abandoned beyond the city walls.
That’s why not much is known about Yokohama. What it looks like inside. How the people live inside its walls.
Because none returned alive to tell the tale.
Which means getting on that boat—
“Is an immediate death sentence!” Shrieked Hagakure.
“Everyone! Get back on the bus!” Kirishima said, already making a run for it.
And it’s not long before the rest of Class 1-A follow behind him.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, brats.”
An unfamiliar voice declared.
“...The bus is gone!”
Izuku’s eyes widened. He swears just a moment ago, that the bus was there.
But now…
“How?!” They glance over their shoulders to see a tall slim man with dirty blonde hair, wearing glasses as he donned an outfit that looked like it went out of trend decades ago, standing on the deck.
(He eerily bears a similarity to a certain uptight blue-haired boy who also wears glasses.)
“Is he an ability-user?”
“Who…are—”
He pushes up his glasses. “I’m Kunikida Doppo. Member of the Armed Detective Agency.”
The class frowned. “Member of the what now?”
He clicked his tongue. “We’ll delay our schedule if I explain it to you, brats,” he said, pulling out a notebook. “See? We’re already late by 5 minutes and 30 seconds. Tch, I planned on arriving at 9:24,” he muttered.
“What the fuck is this guy on about?” Bakugou scoffed.
He finally noticed their existence, looking up from his notebook. “What are you brats doing? Get on the boat now.”
“Hey, don’t you know the saying: ‘Stranger Danger’!” Jirou said. “We don’t know you. For all we know, you might be a villain, trying to trick us into getting on that boat to kidnap us or something.”
“Yeah! Exactly!”
The man simply shook his head, releasing a sigh. “I don’t even know why I’m doing this,” he muttered. “Just ask your teacher, brats,” he tells them before turning away, disappearing from their view.
“Hey! Wait a minute! We’re not done—”
“That’s extremely rude, you know!” Kirishima calls out to no avail.
“Uhm…sensei?” Izuku turned to his teacher. “What is this?”
“Yeah, sensei! Why are we in a port? Why is our training camp in Yokohama—the city that hates heroes? And what is the Armed Detective Agency?”
The entire class gawks at Mina who managed to ask the right questions.
“Yeah! What Mina said!”
Aizawa lets out a sigh, pressing a hand against his forehead. “...Sorry kids,” is what he said, “...it had to be done.”
“What do you mean, sensei?”
Izuku felt dread sink into his person.
(His intuition is never wrong.)
“Oi~ Aren’t you getting on? Kunikida-kun is going to flip out, you know~” Class 1-A turns to glare at the one who dares interrupt their conversation—which turns out to be a young man with wavy brown hair, wearing a sand-colored trench coat.
“Woah, he’s pretty…” Izuku gapes at Hagakure.
(But he won’t admit that he agrees.)
“Though I don’t mind Kunikida flipping out—it’s quite funny,” he grinned.
“Oi, Dazai! What are you doing over there!”
“I’m just warning the students, Kunikida-kun!” He chirps over his shoulder. “That you’re gonna get pissed off if they don’t get on!”
“HUH?!”
“Dazai?” Uraraka unconsciously echoes.
The man smiled down at them. “That’s right. My name is Dazai— Dazai Osamu ,” he introduces himself, just as the ocean breeze blows through his brunette locks.
“Oi! Dazai, get back in here!”
He rolled his eyes, glaring behind him. “Yeah, yeah, Kunikida-kun! You’re so noisy!”
Then he’s gone from their sight.
“You should really get going,” said Aizawa as soon as their gazes fell on him once more. “You don’t wanna keep them waiting.”
“Sensei…are you serious?” Koda asks, jaw agape.
“Aizawa-sensei, you know how dangerous Yokohama is,” Yaoyoruzu frowned.
“And you’re sending us there?” Ojiro said.
“I’m sorry…” is what he murmurs, giving them a bitter look. “But I will follow you. Soon.”
“And how soon is that?” Bakugou huffs, eyes narrowing at him.
“When you land in Yokohama, I will be there,” he assures them. “Now, go.”
“But—”
This is Yokohama we’re talking about.
“You’ll be fine."
“Sensei—”
Those people may be villains.
“I believe in you. You are future heroes, are you not?” He raised his eyebrow. “Now, go, Class A.”
“You heard that, everyone, right?” Iida clapped his hands to catch their attention. “Come on, let’s first line up in seating order!”
And in his peripheral vision, Izuku notes the look their teacher flashes Iida—a look that says: ‘I trust you. Take care of them for me.’
“Class A, please hurry!”
Izuku stares at Aizawa a bit more, before finally tearing his gaze away and racing to catch up with the others.
“You damn slowpoke,” Bakugou remarks.
He simply offers him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Kaachan.”
And when he glances over his shoulder for the last time, he sees Aizawa’s hidden smile.
Then, it’s time to lift the anchor.
“Finally. You brats took too long.”
Class 1-A secretly glares at him.
“I apologize, Kunikida-san,” Yaoyoruzu steps up to bow, “there were…some internal issues.”
For a few moments, he wordlessly looks at her before releasing a scoff. “Never mind. Just follow me,” he grumbles.
The boat is too large to be used for simple transportation—it looked luxurious, even.
“Why do I feel like Yaomomo would own one of these?” Whispered Jirou, gawking at the opulent paintings lined on the walls.
“Well, you’re not wrong, Jirou-chan,” Their vice-president mumbles with a shy smile. “Though it seems this boat is used for commercial purposes,” she observed.
“Like a yacht?” Sero quips.
Yaoyoruzu nodded. “Mhm. Just like that.”
Just then, there’s a loud squeal ricocheting against the floor, which turns out to be Kunikida suddenly pausing. He looks over his shoulder, “keep up, brats,” then he resumes once more.
“Bastard,” Izuku hears Bakugou curse under his breath after, then he quickly glances forward to see if the man has noticed.
Thankfully, he has not. And Class 1-A quicken their pace.
“Uhm…excuse me?” Uraraka suddenly asks amidst the silence that settled. “May I ask a question?”
Izuku flinches, as the man hums in response, green-grey eyes peering to look at her.
“Uh… where are our things?” She nervously fiddles with her fingers. “Because the bus disappeared and all our things were inside…” her voice trails off.
Everyone turns to Kunikida—wondering what would his reaction be. “Don’t worry about that, brat. Your things will safely arrive in Yokohama,” he replied, before returning to walking.
“Oh…thank you very much,” she mumbles.
And it’s not long before they finally reach the ship’s deck.
“Wow…” Izuku finds himself saying in utter awe.
It was just like one of those paintings Jirou mentioned. Streaks of white are smeared across the canvas of blue. The sun gleams in the midst of it all, mirroring against the roaring waves down below.
He feels a breeze gently kiss his face as the scent of the sea slowly fills his lungs.
“It’s beautiful…” He hears Shinsou murmur under his breath, violet eyes shining with amazement.
“Mhm…” Todoroki hums behind him.
“It looks like it came out of a movie, kero,” Comments Tsuyu.
“It smells fucking salty,” Izuku turns to Bakugou who has his face twisted into one of annoyance, nose crinkled.
“Bakubro…” Kirishima stares at him, dumbfounded.
Izuku lets out a sigh, turning back to the view before him. Kaachan wasn’t one to appreciate beauty anyway.
A cough is what draws their attention away. “Make yourselves comfortable, brats. I’ll be up there,” announces Kunikida as he points to the upper deck of the ship. “But don’t get too comfortable,” he sternly warns.
“Yes, Kunikida-san…” They chorused.
“Leave it to me, Kunikida-san!” Iida says, placing a hand against his chest. He bows. “I’m Class A’s president! Iida Tenya!”
“Ah, I see,” Kunikida nods as Iida raises his head. “Then, I shall leave it to you,” he says over his shoulder before walking away.
And Izuku barely catches the ‘release them, Dazai’ as Kunikida slips inside.
“Release who?” He echoed, staring at the now-empty space—
—unaware that his question will be answered just a few minutes later.
“Dazai-san, you’re too mean.”
The man hummed. “That’s insulting, coming from you of all people,” he rolled his eyes.
“Hey!” The child grumbled. “You’re the one who handcuffed me!” They cried, shaking the restraints, tying their wrists together. “And give me back my doll!”
They’re referring to the doll currently tucked in his arms. “How about ‘no’, Q?” He sarcastically replies. “You’ll get it back later. When Kunikida-kun gives me the signal.”
“So mean!”
Just then, his phone vibrates.
“Release them, Dazai” is the only thing he hears before the line goes dead.
“Wow, Kunikida-kun. Hanging up on me like that,” he comments, staring at his phone with fake disappointment. He puts it back in his pocket, rising to his feet. “Q, stand up.”
The child’s eyes lit up. “Dazai-san, is it time?”
He clicked his tongue. “Yes, unfortunately.”
They gasp, quickly standing up. “Yay! Now, release me! Release me, quickly!” They whine, jostling the restraints around.
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” he mutters before clicking the lock open. “Here, you impatient brat.”
As soon as the handcuffs fell with a metal clink, they immediately snatch the doll from his hands, hugging it to their chest. “Dazai-san is a big meanie,” they murmur to the doll, “locking me up like that and stealing you,” they glared at him.
The man simply sighs. “Whatever. Come on now,” he waves over his shoulder, beginning to walk away.
Trailing after him, the child grins to themselves, glancing at the doll. “I’m so excited to play with heroes!” They hug it again before quickening their pace.
“It feels like we’re on vacation.”
“Yeah, a vacation that leads to death,” Shinsou dryly corrects Uraraka.
She inhales sharply. “Yeah, that too,” she mumbles, “but Aizawa-sensei said it would be fine, right?”
“Yeah, but this is Yokohama we’re talking about.”
“I have heard countless stories from my parents,” Yaoyoruzu pipes in, “about the atrocities that ability-users have committed.”
“But…UA won’t do that, right? Put us in danger, Yaomomo?” Uraraka said, eyes shaking.
“Of course not, Uraraka-san. I’m certain our safety is their number-one priority,” Their vice-president assures her, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
(Izuku may have nodded along, even flashed a reassuring smile towards Uraraka’s way, but he is not so sure himself.)
“Oi, who are you?”
Suddenly, Bakugou’s words laced with confusion have Izuku’s gaze shifting behind him.
Then his eyes widened. He even blinks a few times just to check if it wasn't his poor vision messing with him.
“What is a brat doing here?”
“Bakubro…” Kaminari hisses.
A child with two-toned hair, one side white while the other is black, is currently staring at them. One of their pupils is a glowing yellow while the other is shaped like a star. But their strange features are not what catches Class 1-A’s worry or is it the weird fashion they’re wearing, it’s the doll sitting in their arms.
“Creepy…” Izuku hears Shinsou mumble, recoiling away.
“Is that the new idea of ‘cute’ for kids nowadays?” Todoroki wonders.
Though the child doesn’t seem to be bothered by their comments, eyes glazing over them.
“Hey, kid. Did you get—” They even push past Kirishima, gaze focused on something else.
“Oi, you shitty brat—”
“Hey, wait—!”
Then in the next moment, what Midoriya Izuku did not expect was a child literally throwing themself onto him.
“Uhm—”
“Hey, oniisan!” The child chirped, meeting his gaze. Their lips slowly formed into a grin. “Wanna play with me?”
Izuku panics, absolutely clueless about what to do. He turned to the rest of the class for help to no avail—they simply gave him helpless looks and shakes of their heads.
“Uh…” He fumbles before, “...sure. What game do you wanna play?”
“This one!” They take a step back, smiling brightly.
Then as if turning a dial, their entire demeanor completely changed.
What Class 1-A mistook for child-like innocence was in fact—
—pure bloodlust and desire to ruin everything around them.
They smirked.
I need to stop them, Izuku thought.
But his feet stayed glued to the ground. No matter how hard he persuades himself that this child was about to do something horrifying, he could not budge.
The eyes boring into his soul were nothing like he's ever seen before.
Even Shigaraki Tomura’s scarlet gaze that had him trembling falls short.
Chills ran through his body. But he could not move. He could only stare helplessly as they began to sing.
“The bird in the cage….”
Blood slowly drips onto the deck. Drip. Drip. It echoes in his ears.
They pull back their sleeve to reveal blades taped onto their skin, glistening with crimson.
“When…oh, when….”
Drip. Drip.
“...will it come out?”
The doll in their hands begins to hiss, then it cracks.
It cackles. The child sings. The ship shakes.
Izuku screams.
And in the next moment, someone's hands are on his neck and he thinks—
I have to protect them.