Chapter Text
Katsuki was a smart kid. He knew almost everything he needed to know. He followed most of the rules, and when he didn't he made sure no one noticed. Of course, at the park, there are no rules. Katsuki, being six, loved to abuse that power. He played however he wanted to, without fear of his mother punishing him for being to loud. So he would scream and laugh and talk endlessly.
Thats why it was such a horrible transition. Katsuki hadn't been paying attention. Once he had started it was to late. Inky blackness surrounded the once bright park. Kids were screaming and running around aimlessly. They where trying to find an escape from the grabbing hands, the rough voices, and the gunshots. Katsuki had hid. He found himself under the slide, uncomfortably stuffed inside a colorful box like playset.
Katsuki really, truly, had been trying to stay quiet, but he was just so scared. He was breathing heavily, and sobbing his heart out. All the while the noises continued. They got worse actually. The villains started to get more aggressive. They shoved more and more kids into the black hole they created, uncaring if they got hurt. Soon enough, Katsuki was sure he was the only one who hadn't been found. Then, they started double checking.
Suddenly Katsuki was painfully hoisted up by his hair. That's when the explosion had started ringing. The rough looking man had laughed at him. Before he threw bakugou into the black hole. It felt surreal almost. Like he was wafting through cotton candy.
That was, until he landed on the other side. The fall was alot more than unpleasant. It had hurt. Badly. He landed right next to what looked to be a maimed rat. It was ugly and bloody. Its guts had been hazardously splattered, and an unknown yellow substance was leaking from its mouth. It was almost enough to make Katsuki throw up. Almost.
Katsuki got up much quicker than he would have if the rat hadn't been there. He walked around trying to get a sense of control. He took in a considerable number of details. Many of those details were gory and bloody. It was only until he finished assessing the room that he noticed the silence.
Katsuki knew there was supposed to be screaming, kicking and crying. Especially for the number of children in the room with him. He counted 16 in total. They were staring at something, seeming to hold their breath. One of them, a girl with short brown hair, was doing her best to stifle her sobs. Finally, he turned to see what they were staring at. He froze instantly at the sight.
A scarred man was standing there, glaring down at all the children as if they where the scum of the earth. He looked livid, but that wasn't the worst part. In his right hand he held a silver blade. In his left hand he was holding a kid by the hair. He was covered in red. So much so that his shirt looked like a rag dipped in red paint. The shirt was torn in multiple places. Katsuki assumed thats where he had been impaled. The thought sickened him, and in that horrible, terrifiying moment, Katsuki realized that the boy looked eerily similar to the girl.
They looked like twins, and even though the girl wasn't facing him, he assumed they had the same dead eyes. This time Katsuki's puke made it all the way into his mouth before he swallowed it. Katsuki was disgusted, afraid, and at a complete loss for what to do. It was then that the portal closed. Katsuki hadn't even realised it was still open.
The three gruff men that had walked out of the portal started inspecting the kids. It made katsuki feel uneasy, knowing he was being watched and dissected. He couldn't help but think that this was how he was going to die. That they were going to take one look at him and decide he was to much of a hassle.
They didn't do anything, aside from watch them squirm. The man that had been standing at the doorway threw the body hazardously to the floor. Katsuki was filled with relief the second they stepped out the door. Relief that Karaige was off with his family. Relief that he woulfn't have to experience whatever they where about to go through. He couldn't say the same for the other children.
Everything happened all at once. Like the flip of a switch, as soon as their captors left chaos ensued. The girl that had been holding back her sobs now wailed so loud that he couldn't hear much else. About three kids sat staring at the wall. He guessed that they couldn't really process what was going on. A kid with blue hair paced around muttering to himself that this was all one sick dream. That same kid was nearly pulling all his hair out, failing to cope with the reality they faced. About five kids ran around screaming with big fat crocodile tears making their way down the kids faces. The rest of the kids found a corner to shake and cry.
Katsuki seemed to be the only one that was remotely calm, and even his heart was pounding so much in his ribcage that he feared his ribs would break. Surprisingly enough he felt a strange sort of detachment from the situation. He knew, logically, he should be panicking, but he also knew that would get him nowhere. He had to devise a plan that would result in escape.
Numbly he made his way to one of the dusty yellowed mattresses lined on the floor. They where even more uncomfortable than they looked. They smelled too, but it was better than the bloodied floor.
If he thought about it, really thought about it, the heros would be coming soon. They had to have noticed that sixteen children got kidnapped, very obviously for that matter. All at the same place to. So, it was a waiting game. He just needed to figure out how to survive until they showed up. It would probably be a couple hours at most. The thought calmed him. He could wait a couple of hours.
In the back of his mind, Katsuki's hope that the heros would save them was dwindling. Fast. He didn't know how long it had been. He could never be sure. All he knew was that it had been too long. Sixteen was now six. Bile, blood, and bodies are randomly scattered on the floor. The decomposing bodies made the rooms smell unbearable. The most horrific detail? The six children that had made it this long looked far more dead than the ones with maggots eating at them. Still, even if he lost hope in the heros, Katsuki still had a star. Karaige would always be at the back of his mind, encoyraging him to survive.
Every second in that place had been gruelling, on all of them. Some of them became soft because of it. Those were the ones that died first. The six living children had been hardened by the foul treatment. They became ruthless, mindless, killers.
Once enough of them dropped they had been given numbers. Katsuki had been given the number 057. When the number was branded into his skin Katsuki had screamed, because it had hurt. A-hellova-lot more than what they experienced up to that point. That night he cried, because of that mark he had been ruined. They had branded him as something terrible, they told him he was a killer.
The marked kids were forced to fight until one of them died. It lasted for what 057 could guess was about two days. It lasted until he was the only one left, and he was vengeful. He's certain that it was only his spite that had gotten him up to this point. It had taken so much effort to just live.
057 was actually quite proud of himself. He had the most kills, not a single cop or pro hero had ever seen his face, and now? He's training his ass off because he really wanted to go on more missions. Hanging out at the base is fine and all, but 057 needs a little fun in his life. A laugh almost bubbled out of his throat at the thought. Almost. He used to be terrified to go on a mission. Period. Now, here he was, begging for more.
He heard a low, drawn out, whistle. 057 sighed, giving the bag one last punch for good measure. After that, he turned to face Dabi. He liked Dabi of course, he was the only one who could effectively bring shagaraki down from his fucked up high without actively dying. He was also the only one who saved his critques for after the fight, and he could tell that the bastard actually gave a damn about him. However, he could also be just as much of a condesending asshole as the rest of them when he wanted to be.
"You have a mission, squirt. " there was also that infurating nickname that he couldn't shake. He curiously followed Dabi to the bar, where shagaraki sat. He stood silently, waiting for details. 078 was here two, Dabi had probably gotten him first. He assumed that he'd be working with him on whatever this was. Dabi would probably supervise. Hopefully.
Shagaraki picked up a photo and handed it to 057 to examine. 057 recognized him instantly. He was the doctor that had worked on him. The doctor has done as much as he could to evade his good graces, the torturous bastard.
057 remembered everything he did in vivid detail. The first thing he did to 057 after he had completed training was stick several painful tubes into his body before suspending him in green goo. He liked to think that was the worst of it, even if the only reason he had was that it was his first time. He stayed with the doctor for months having his blood pumped with some sort of weird ass glowing slime. He rembered how it burned his insides with every injection. How long he had screamed before passing out. Of course, he had become stronger because of the experience. That didn't mean he had to like it.
078 looked equally displeased. The other boy was interesting enough. They hadn't been in the same group, but he heard rumors. 078 was said to have killed all his opponents by simply asking them to do it themselfs. It made sense, 078 was as ruthless as he was. It was why they were paired together so often. They worked well together. They knew exactly what to do and when to do it when fighting with each other, without any verbal confirmation. It was a useful skill to have.
"Kill him quickly, we don't need any messes." Shagaraki instructed boredly. 078 glared at Shagaraki. Harshly. 057 couldn't help but agree with the unspoken sentiment. He wanted that bastard to suffer, nice and slow. The doctor was a traitor, so it shouldn't take much to get the green light. Even so, Shagaraki could be difficult. Neither of them spoke, but they didn't leave either. It was a ditch effort, they knew Shagaraki would punish it if he pleased. They did it anyway. Shigaraki lifted his head in annoyance. "What do you want." He grumbled, seeming like he wanted nothing more than to be rid of them.
They didn't speak, it wasn't allowed without explict permission. They knew that, and Shagaraki did to. He had...interesting punishments. 057 had been on the receiving end of those punishments more than once, and they were horrendous. When he was eight he had refused a mission. Shagaraki had dragged him to a closet, him screaming the whole way, and stripped him of his clothes. He replaced them with clean, restricting, white clothes. 057 was then shoved into a white room with blinding white lights and fed white food for months. All the while he was slowly disintegrating. It was agonizing to say the least. 057 never disagreed to a mission again. As he got older, he got increasingly more cooperative, almost dying in agony half a million times tends to do that.
It wasn't like he actively tried to get on the bastards bad side, he just did. It didn't help that handsy was eternally pissed at everything. Most of the time he hadn't even been in the same vacancy as Shagaraki when he decided that 057 needed to be punished. Someone else just set him off with their stupidity. 057 learned very quickly not to do anything incriminating, which included talking.
Shagaraki, the bastard, actually looked disappointed when they didn't talk. 057 wished he could say that it surprised him, it didn't. 078 didn't exactly look shocked either. Judging by the way he dragged his hand over his face, carefully only letting four fingers touch his skin, Shagaraki knew exactly what they wanted.
He waved his hand dismissively, looking very much like he'd do anything to be drunk instead of here. Kurogiri brought him a beer. 057 and 078 stood tall in front of Shagaraki, waiting for explicit permission. It had to be said out loud. With at least one witness. They where taking every possible precaution they could without acting in defience. They did not want to get punished for how they executed the mission. Shagaraki always made those punishments the worst.
"Fine, tourture the bastard, but make it quick." 057 and 078 nodded simultaniously. They knew how to do that. They had a pretty....hands on teacher that showed them how to do stuff like that. Dabi put his hand on 057s shoulder, heating it up in small amounts. A reminder, don't push things to far, don't get yourself killed. He nodded, very subtley, if he got caught Shagaraki would throw a temper tantrum.
The doctor should be in his lab, working on building more nomus and powerhouses. The door would be unlocked, All for ones rule, so it would be easy to get in. Their where still too many unknown variables, and the doctor had an intelligence quirk so he could already know they where coming. It was frustrating as all hell, especially taking into account the phantom aches 057 still gets every so often. The bastard really knows his way around a knife. Unfortunatly. 078 turned the dial on his voice changer. He still didn't talk. He was too smart for that, especially right now.
The trip to the doctor was uneventful. They stuck to the shadows, dodged the police, and Dabi trailed behind them lazily. Dabi was the selected help for this mission. 057 always liked missions better when Dabi tagged along. He was helpful, he had sharp eyes. If an attack was coming that he couldn't see, Dabi blocked it. Dabi was one of the only two people 057 could tolerate. He was annoying sure, but he wasn't a complete sadistic asshole like the rest of them.
Once they actually arrived at the devils door, the air shifted. It became more calculated, more deadly. 078 got into the character of all for one quickly. "Doctor, what is your progress with the latest nomu." All for ones voice boomed, and there was a resounding echo. 057 instantly stood straighter, and he unconsiously started producing more sweat. Artifical or not All for ones voice was fucking terrifying.
Currently they were hiding behind shelves of disgusting looking liquid and spare body parts. They stood silently waiting for a reply. "Well." All for ones voice was louder this time, the voice sounded pissed. No one could deny a pissed All for one, his fucked up mind could think up far more intimidating punishments than his underlings. 057 tried his best since the start not to get on the mans bad side, he could tell even at fucking eight years old he knew that would only cause a world of pain for himself. That had been his first and only meeting with All for One. He had thrown up once he got out of the mans sight. Bile spilled on the floor shamelessly, he was punished, but he knew it could have been so so much worse.
Shagaraki was the only one that talked to the big boss daily, and that was only due to two things. He blantant lack of self presevation and the undeniable special treatment the bastard gets from him. This all led to Shagaraki constantly switching between 'responsible leader' and 'spoiled child who got the wrong color of private jet.'
They finally got a squeak out of a doctor, before he started spilling all he knew on the latest nomu. It was a long list by the sound of it. None of them where really listening, the idiot had just given up his location. He was in the far corner, surrounded by sheleves of organs and glowing gunk. He was typing furiously on the computer like his hands where trying to keep up with his explanation. He was sitting in a chair which was ideal.
It was much easier to loop the rope around his neck because of that. 078 held it in place until 057 could tie the rest of the rope around the doctors plump body. Once he had, the rope around the doctors neck was released. 057 grinned, and he's sure 078 was wearing a matching one under that mask. In spite of himself, he giggled. Just a little bit, he loved this. He was finally in a position of power, he was finally able to give back what the doctor had given him. It was enough to make him giddy, like a puppy. He quickly dismissed the thought, he was not like a puppy.
It he sucked in a breath, looking over to 078. It looked like whatever he was feeling was mutual. It made him feel just a tensy bit better that he wasn't the only one on a fucked up high. He turned his attention back to the doctor, after so many years of being painfully forced under everyones thumb with tourture that could make even the strongest beg for mercy, he wasn't going to go easy. No. The monster before him deserved to go painfully. He reached into one of the secret pockets in his cargo pants and pulled out a poisoned blade.
It shone beautifully against the yellow light around them. The blade would have glinted on its own, of course, but the poison added life to it, making it absolutley breathtaking. 057 couldn't wait to use it. While 078 was preoccupied gauging the doctors eyes out, he dragged the blade teasingly along the doctors jaw and down to just above his belt. He hadn't pressed hard enough to cut, but the doctor was screaming anyway. It sounded beautiful.
Before he decided to do anything else, he admired the place where he had drug his knife. It looked like it was dissolving the skin. It bubbled and rapidly changed to burnt red. 078 stuffed the doctors eyeball down his throat, the doctor gagged. 078 tisked. "Come on doctor, you should know you have to chew before you can swallow." 057 scolded playfully, before stabbing the eye ball with his knife and placing the bloody eye on the doctors tongue. He stabbed his weapon into the doctors shoulder between the joints.
Carefully, 057 placed his hands on the doctors face. He grabbed the doctors jaw almost gentley, before he forced the man to chew. The 'pop' was almost inaudible as the doctors teeth crushed the eye. 057 let out another loose giggle, it felt deranged almost. 078 ruffled his hair, obviously pleased with his actions. He ripped the knife out of the doctors shoulder roughly, causing another painful shriek to erupt from the doctor. The poison ate away at the doctors shoulder faster this time.
Dabi stood To the side patiently. The doctor was a traitor, so he was going to let them have their field day. God knows they need it, they hadn't gone on a mission in weeks. He wasn't going to report anything condemnatory to Shagaraki either. He was sent here as the examiner. Shagaraki wanted to be sure that they could handle the mission that was about to be handed to them, because it was a big one. The kids were just the right age for highschool, and he wanted them to infultrait U.A. Dabi had been the one to suggest the idea, a couple months ago when he found out all might was going to be teaching at U.A. He disgused his proposal as a way to take down All Might, rather than wanting to get the kids a proper education.
The lessons the league had been giving them doubled down. The kids had to pass the written exam as well as the physical exam, so for the past couple months instead of going on missions they've been teaching the kids everything they thought was going to be on the exam, judgeing by last years test. Blondie took to the material quickly, getting perfect scores or almost perfect scores as soon as the lesson was taught. Lavender didn't take as quickly, but he did considerably well. He could tell that the kids were getting angsty, staying in the base too long was taking its toll.
When they learned that the Doctor was a traitor, selling their information to the yukaza and some low level heros, he told Shagaraki to put the boys on the case. It would be a breath a fresh air for the boys when they finally got to do something other than school. Shagaraki said that this would be a trail run, if they did well they would be able to compromise U.A. Dabi agreed.
So, now he was leaning against a shelf full of organs, watching in slight disgust as blondie made the doctor chew and swallow his own eye. They continued to torture the doctor for another five minutes, before lavender wrapped razor wire around the doctors throat loosley, giving one end of the wire to blondie. Once they had both gotten a secure hold they yanked it as hard as they could. Blood gushed where the head once was. The boys still seemed attached to their high, so he let them be for about five minutes.
"Good job." 057 heard Dabi say after they had killed the doctor. He wasn't sure how long it had been, but he was coming down from his high faster than expected. Guilt tried to naw at his stomach, he repressed it. He was just doing what he had to to survive. He wasn't going to feel guilty for that. He focused on what Dabi said. It made him feel less guilty and more proud of himself. He hadn't been on a mission in months, and when he came back he kicked ass.
That was something to be proud of. Dabi motioned for them to follow him. They went back to the leagues base swiftly, and watching Dabi's back the entire time. Once inside of the base 057 saw Dabi grin cockily then strut up to Shagaraki and brief him on the mission. He seemed like he really ment it when he said he was proud, and while 057's face was neutral, he felt a burst of pride at the thought.
057 had just started to go clean themselves up when they were interupted. "Where do you brats think your going?," Shagaraki sounded annoyed,"We haven't briefed you on your mission yet." 057 and 078 shared a look. Another mission, so close to the one they just completed? Dabi, while he usually remained neutral, looked absolutley elated. It was a rare expression. It was also an expression that made them want to piss their pants, because if Dabi of all people was happy, then they probably had Something to be worried about.
078 and 057 walked over to Shagaraki quickly and stopped infront of him, standing stock still. Shagaraki still looked like he would rather be face down in a ditch black out drunk than sitting at the bar. He looked at each of them carefully. He was studying them. Dissecting them. Trying to make them crack under some kind of invisable pressure. When it didn't work, he sighed and gulped the rest of his whiskey. Kurogiri brought him a new one, he gulped that one to. Kurogiri looked like he really wanted to roll his eyes, however he was physically incapable. So, he brought Shagaraki another drink, setting it down with a wee bit more force than needed.
Shagaraki dragged his hand down his face, pinky lifted of course. He groaned before adressing them directly. "You two have a stealth mission. Your goal is to infiltrait U.A and gain as much information as possible. You will take note of anything useful, use any weakness to your advantage. Do not let my generosity go to waste. You're my favorite pets, I would hate to kill you."
057 felt a shiver run down his spine. From the way the bastard said it, and that gleam in his eye, he knew that Shagaraki would be fucking elated to kill them. The shitty fucking crusty bitch would probably throw a god damn party.
Never the less, he was excited. This would be his first time going to a real school in at least a decade. He used to love school before he was taken and trained, he was always top dog. He wanted to be able to do that again. Wanted to be able to surround himself with people that hung on his every word, people that admired him. It would be a welcomed break from shitty ass villains who looked at him like he was worth less than the dirt on their pinky toe.
He was excited, but judging by the subtle shake in 078s shoulders, he was not. He could guess what 078 was treated like before he got here, and it did not paint a pretty picture. 078 was a acceptable person, just a bit above dabi on the tolerable scale. They practically breathed in synce, so 057 could tell when something was wrong. Right now, something was very, very wrong.
He tapped the side of his own thigh, trying to hide it from Shagaraki but make sure it was fully in 078s view. Morse code. It was their preferred language, none of the league of shitty fucking bastard has caught on so far (well mabye dabi has but all he did was raise his eyebrow and smile at their fucking creativness or whatever), so they kept useing it. The only problem with that is that they both sucked ass at comforting eachother without some form of physical touch wich sucked ass for a variety of reasons. The most prominent one was 057s quirk, he was constantly sweating a toxic ass substance that was constantly trying to kill him, and would not hesitate to do the same with others. They had figured this out when one of his handlers got real touchy with him, it didn't end good for either of them. There was also things like their current situation, and when they were on missions, or only one of them was on a mission. To many obstacles, to many consquences.
So 057 was stuck tapping out random sentences and hoping that 078 saw them, and would be comforted by them. 057 knew it was a long shot, that didn't matter. It was his only option at the moment. He felt a small fleeting sense of relief when 078 stopped shaking. It only lasted for a few short seconds before Shagaraki was talking again.
"057, your name will be Akane Jigoku. 078 your name will be Itsuki Mugen. Both of your files are being filled out as we speak, once they are brought back to the base you will memorize every detail. We don't want the heros," he spit the word 'heros' out like it tasted like vomit, "catching on to you at all, are we clear?" He hissed venom driping from his tone. They both nodded at the same time, then they were dismissed. They would absolutley crush this mission.
After that, the training they did became more and more brutal. They where pitted against Nomus, either separately or together, it depended on Shagarakis mood. When the time came that they could beat one Nomu with only a couple scratches, they upped the number to three. U.A's entrance exam was supposed to be brutal, and failure was not an option. Shagaraki would be so pissed that there would be no telling what he would do to them. It was a constant reminder that made ice form under their skin. "You're my favorite pets, I would hate to kill you." It didn't scare 057, death had lost it's meaning to him. It wasn't that he wanted to die, but he wouldn't be afraid if he did. Nothing was more terrifying than being alive and trapped in the hell hole they were in now.
Besides, he wanted to be with 078 as long as possible. 078 was his brother, in everything but blood. That would only help them pass the entrance exam. He knew that they would score top marks, even in the written exam. They will be the best. They will thrive.
They walked into the big as shit over sized fucking auditorium, peaking at the cards to make sure they would be at the same testing site. They ended up being five seats apart. 057 wasn't happy at this predicament, but if it ment he would be at the same testing area than he wouldn't complain. Too much.
Not very many people were here yet, they probably got there early. About six other canidates were sitting, all spread out. The first one he noticed was the boy a couple of rows behind them, he sat stiffly, like he had shoved a stick up his ass right before coming here. The part that grossed him out was that that could very well be why he was sitting like that, people were into some weird shit.
The second person he noticed was a guy with flat black hair, his back was to 057 so he couldn't see his face. Judging by the way his fist pounded against his chest, he could guess that the guy was giving himself some sort of pep talk.
More people started filing in and he chanced a glance at 078, he was nervously tapping at his thigh. When 078 glanced over, he tapped out a, "Don't worry dumbass, I'll give you the answers to any of the problem ya can't figure out. Just like the base, its not a problem." 078 seemed less nervous, knowing he had a saftey net. It wasn't like 078 was incompetent, he just got stuck in his own head, especially when it comes to things he doesn't have experience with. He had only ever gone to pre-school, and back in pre-school all they did was color. It was just stressfull having his routine broken.
057 scoffed when he saw present mic climb onto the brightly lit stage. 057 hated heros, but this guy was the worst. He hated the guy down to even the most minuscule details, like his jacket pockets that always seemed stuffed with something. Most of all he hated the guys quirk, and when he came in here shouting at all of them with that fake ass smile of his...lets just say he wasn't doing himself any favors.
He walked around, useing big hand motions on anything he felt needed to be exaggerated. If 057 was being honest to himself he wasn't listening at all, everyone already knew what they were doing they didn't need a hour long lecture about it. He guessed that it was just a formality in case anyone was stupid enough not to read the breifing.
The one that katsuki thought had a stick in his as stood up suddenly, and loudly, god he didn't know chairs could make such a fucking horrendous sound. Once his dumbass had everyones attention, the guys hand shot into the air. He had already been talking so it was a little redundant but what-the-fuck-ever. "-such an error in a prestiogous school! You should be ashamed of yourself-" 057 rolled his eyes. "Can you shut the fuck up, we all want to take the exam with out you wasting our fucking time. If you had actually read the damn phamplet in the first place this wouldn't be a fucking problem." He didn't say it very loud but his voice was ice cold and rough from disuse.
Sure, he couldn't talk at the base, but here? He could say every word he damn well pleased. He shot the fumbling bitch a glare for good measure. He looked decomposed at being called out, serves him right they were almost done. Now because of that bastard he had to listen to present mic scream at them. Again.
078 caught his eye, tapping seemingly absentmindedly on the table in front of him. "Calm down moron, don't get expelled before you even apply." 057 rolled his eyes, tapping out a quick I won't before returning his misery.
Finally the got the tests handed to them. It was simple enough. They had two hours to do the test, he finsished in roughly thirty minutes. Neither of them needed problems explaned to the further on the test, and they both finished at about the same time. It took thirty more minutes for them to confirm their answers with each other, and for the most part they where the same. The remaining hour of silence was boring but it was nothing they weren't used to. It felt almost surreal. Like he wasn't the one experiencing this, he was watching everything through T.V static.
He would snap out of it soon, he had to because the physical exam was next. He always got sharper when he fought. It was like everything suddenly came into focus. Besides, 078 was in the same testing site as he was.
Once the scratching of lead on paper had stopped, they where instructed to pick up the cards on their desks. 057 glanced at his again, site A. He looked up and 078 seemed to be double checking to. He raised his eyebrow, 078 nodded.
Once they were at the testing site 057 noticed that most of the people here were the ones he saw earlier. There was a few...interesting people here. Someone that was pink, another with a bunch of arms, and some guy laughing all creepy like while trying to hit people.
Without warning the gates opened, 057 grabbed 078 on instinct and shot off, leaving everyone else in the dust. He heard Present Mic scream something, then the other quickly followed them in. 057 and 078 had racked up about 60 points each in the first five minutes. Their movements were calculated, exact. They took down robot after robot, with out their quirks. It was to easy, esspecially when they worked together. It was like breathing, they didn't even have to think about what they were doing. They trusted eachother and no one else, that was how they got through this.
They had just met the hundred point mark when the ground started to shake, causing mock buildings to collapse and the ground to crack. They switched their motive instantly. They already had enough points to be at the top, now they had to make sure nobody got hurt. They hated heros, and they despised villains, but they weren't going to watch people get hurt and / or die. They experienced enough pain to know that they didn't want to inflict it on anyone who didn't deserve it. They knew who deserved it, and both parties would get their fair share of grief in time.
Aizawa was not having a good day. He hated exam day, it was just a bunch of hopeless kids that hadn't put forth any effort trying to get into U.A. Most of the time they didn't make it, but there were exceptions. The class Aizawa had last year only proved that, he had to expelled all of them. It was exhausting seeing so many kids that couldn't make it as a hero. He rubbed a hand over his face, looking at the cameras with the other staff.
"Look at those two, what are their names." He pointed out the kids that had come in an hour early, peaked at the cards and then sat five seats away from each other. "Akane Jigoku is the blond and Itsuki Mugen is the one with purple hair." Aizawa narrowed his eyes.
"Keep an eye on them, if they pass I want them in my class." He looked over at Nezu, who was happily clapping his hands in delight. Hazashi looked more giddy than shocked. Then he broke out into a massive grin, "Eraser you never claim kids! They must be something speacial!"
"No." He replied blandly, "I can already tell they're going to be the biggest headache of my career." He wasn't lying, those kids knew each other, and well if their body language was anything to go by.
The kids were probably unaware of the cameras in the testing room, he grinned to himself when he saw them talking in morse code. "Nezu, can you zoom in on their fingers please." He didn't let himself be bothered to know just how weird the request probably sounded. "Look, they're talking."
"Don't worry dumbass, I'll give you the answers to any of the problem ya can't figure out. Just like-" Jigoku moved his hand out of the way so Aizawa couldn't see the rest of what they said. Nezu clapped his hands together again. "My you really have an eye out for talent Aizawa!" He looked over at the principle with a glare. So far the students he pointed out handn't done anything but discuss cheating on the exam.
Hazashi left a bit after that, to get the students started on the exam. Jigoku very obviously did not like Hazashi, Mugen just looked indifferent. They kept glancing at each other, almost like they were trying to make sure the other was still there.
When the exams started is when things started to get interesting in Aizawas opinion. Neither of them had so much as looked at eachother until they had both finished at, he glanced at the clock behind him, about thirty minutes through. He narrowed his eyes slightly the students were given two hours for a reason, thats when they started talking again.
"Nezu they're checking their answers." He stated as if it wasn't obvious what they were doing. After they had finished, they sat there and waited for the exam time limit to end. No figiting or tapping, nothing.
It was...strange to see children so still for such a long period of time. They didn't even seem tempted to move. It was like they were living, breathing statues, and it was unsettling. He continued to watch them, continued to look for a twitch. At least a finger moving, but he came up with nothing.
Once the two hour time limit was up, and Hazashi became obnoxious again, they started to move. They picked up their cards, checking them like they hadn't done so earlier. "What site are they going to?" He wanted to know what they would do. He wanted to see why they chose to go to the same site. "Testing area A." He dragged his eyes to that screen.
Once the gates opened it was like Jigoku was given about fifty adrenaline shots, he grabbed Mugen and flew. With explosions. Aizawa rubbed his temple. They only stopped once they got to the middle of the exam zone, it was like they hit the jackpot. Robots always crowded that spot since so many students were stuck in ths front, now it had barley been five minutes and they already had more than half the average number of points.
They worked together very well, and they moved like seasoned pros. Reading eachothers movements before they happened and responding accordingly. They worked to well that for the rest of the time Aizawa didn't see them use their quirks.
Once they both got about 100 points, Aizawa pushed the button. It was sooner than it was supposed to come out, hell he wasn't even supposed to be the one pushing the button, but he wanted to see what they would do when everything was falling apart. When people were in danger. Nezu didn't coment he simply watched in unrestrained glee. Aizawa couldn't help but mentally roll his eyes, the sadistic rat bastard.
Their movements changed entirely, which even caught aizawa slightly off gaurd. They no longer focused on robots at all. Instead they helped people, continously. It was the only thing he saw them use their quirks for. He smiled to himself, this year was going to be fun.
He missed the way the terrified look the other instuctors threw at him. He did not, however, miss Hazashi praying for the kids health and sanity. He also did not miss the sadistic principles maniac laugh.
057 wasn't sure how many points he and 078 had racked up, and in his moment of idiocy he thought that it was enough. Enough to be the best. Enough to escape Shagarakis critisism. Enough to not be punished. But then again, when is anything they do ever enough?
They were going to U.A to kill All Might, to gain information, nothing else mattered. Even covered in sweat, and dirt, and scratches, they knew that. Of course they knew, it was beaten into them everyday for the past two months.
He looked at 078 and offered him a hand, smiling sadley. It was the only kind of smile either of them could manage these days. 078 took it with no hesitance. They trusted eachother fully and completely. Nobody else could even come close. (They didn't want to admit that they trusted Dabi almost as much as they trusted eachother.)
Dabi liked to think that he was a sort of brother figure for the kids. Someone they could trust. He knew that he could never have their complete trust, and that was okay. He didn't care if they fucking hated his guts, he just wanted what was best for them. Always.
He had thought about breaking them out, god how many nights has he stayed up plotting, scheming up was to get out of this hell, but it was always too high risk. Too many ways things could go wrong. Too many chances for them to get hurt. So he stayed instead.
He snuck them as much food as he could when Shagaraki wouldn't let them eat, studied their strengths and weakness, and showed them how to improve. On the rare times that they weren't paired on a mission together, he tried to take the others mind off of it. Even if it had been days since they last saw each other. Even if all he could do was be a punching bag. He stayed.
Don't get Dabi wrong, he's not a good person, he's actually a spawn of the personifacation of the devil. He's just saying that he cares for them weather he wants to or not, he's also saying that he would have left this shitty rag-tag group of fucking wannabes a long time ago if not for them. He has his own goals, and he thinks killing all might is a waste of time. He wanted to watch every molding piece of hero society crumble, but the cleaner parts could be left alone. He was indifferent to them.
When the boys returned scraped up and dirty the first thing out of his mouth was unsurprisingly, "You look like shit." Then he got off of the wall he was leaning against and walked over to them. He wouldn't admit he was worried, he wouldn't, but when he grabbed their faces, carefully turning them over, it was hard to lie to himself. He led them to the bath, normally they only got to rinse, (and even that was rare) but this time he gave them soap. He did this as often as he could without risking them getring caught, because they were kids goddammit. They deserved to feel clean, it shouldn't have to be earned. "Don't worry," he said studying their faces, again, "I grabbed it off the shelve of some nothing store. It won't burn you." He hated that he even had to say that.
Shagaraki had somehow found out that they used soap once, and gave them a block infused with acid. Not strong enough to leave a mark, but strong enough to hurt like hell. He couldn't argue with Shagaraki, it would get them all killed. So, he went out into the city and wreaked havoc there instead. Then, he came back and nursed their wounds as best as he could.
Once they had washed, he led them up to their sorry excuse of a room. It was a cramped, dirty space, no beds just the cold, hard ground. Dabi had been prepared for this, of course. He had two mattresses in his room, hidden under his own bed. Every night he brought them in here, along with the multitude of blankets he collected. He tried to mame sure the kids slept comfortable, but he always had to wake them up at an ungodly time to take back the mattresses so that no one found out. Fuck, it realky was like walking on broken fucking glass in this hellhole.
Once he had dragged in the mattresses, and given each kid their respective blankets, he sat on the floor. "Tell me what happened." He wanted to know. Wanted to be able to protect them in case anything went wrong. They did this every night, after every mission. Even if he was there himself. He liked hearing them talk, even if their voice was alway rough from disuse. Even if they were hesitant in speaking because something had gone wrong. He had a suspicion that they enjoyed these moments to. That it made them feel more grounded when they could anaylize just exactly what happened.
So they talked, quietly yes, but talking none the less. He hummed every now and then, to let them know he was still listening. By the time they were done they looked exhausted and Dabi couldn't blame them. From what it sounded like they had a long day. An even longer one tommorow judging by Shagarakis mood. He told them to rest, tommorow they would be fighting the nomu again.
It went on like that for weeks, 057 and 078 fighting nomu after nomu. 057 shouldn't be surprised at this point. He really should expect everything grueling, and gross, and down right horrible to come his way. It took weeks for them to finally catch a break. The only reason that they got one was because their fucking letters arrived.
057 stood in the middle of the bar, 078 right beside him. The league was standing around in various positions. Shagaraki was angerly scratching his neck. "Open it already!" He demanded harshly. 057 tore open his envelope just as quickly, instead of a letter a projecter fell out.
057 recognised who was in front of him almost instantly, he was the only hero he hadn't lost faith in yet. The only one he still sorta trusted. Eraserhead stood before him, a deadpan look on his face. Everyone watched in anticapation.
"Akane Jigoku and Itsuki Mugen, i'm taking the liberty of assuming your watching this together. You caught our attention very quickly, mine specifically. Your written test scores came out perfect, but you already knew that didn't you?" Eraser head asked. A clip came up of them checking their answers. Shit. "You two work well together. I'm pleased to say that you would make a great hero duo." While he was talking another clip of them checking the cards came up. Double extra shit with whipped cream on top. Fuck. "You tied for the top spot in the physical exam as well as the written, even surpassing the previous record of 127 points set by all might." Another clip came up of them fighting...and saving people. "The exam had a hidden scoring system. You got points for defeating the villains yes, but you also got points for saving people. You did it safely and efficently, which is why your going to be in class one a this year." He kept the dead tone through the entire speech, and then the projector shut off