Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
Chapter Text
When he woke up that morning, Aizawa Shouta didn’t think he’d be experiencing his most arduous assignment from the other perspective, especially two years early. He stood before this year’s class of Hell Spawns, taking in their varying expressions as he reviewed their next significant assignment.
“Today we’ll be going over the ‘Heroes vs Villains’ assignment.”
Chaos. Pure, unadulterated chaos around the classroom.
His eyebrow rapidly twitched before he felt his hair float, indicating the activation of his quirk to quiet the rowdy students down.
Iida—and Shouta would have to bring this up to Tensei–raised his hand momentarily before speaking without being called on. ‘Why did he raise his hand then?’
“Sir! I thought we did this assignment on the second day with All Might?” The boy waved his arm frantically, eyes narrowed and eyebrows drawn in confusion.
“Enough.” Shouta growled, cutting off the student’s voices. He moved his gaze around the room, making eye contact with most kids. “This is a different exercise that’s actually authorized by the school,” the man felt a headache coming on, “this is one we’ve been doing for many years but has been on the backburner.”
The sigh he let out when he saw the kids whispering came straight from his soul.
“It’s a multi-day exam that’s supposed to last a week at least, though it has never gone on longer than two days before. It’s an immersive team battle between the hero and the villain.” Shouta hid his growing smirk in his scarf.
“There will be a hero and villain leader, who we’ve randomly assigned. They will get a knock on their door tonight, where I’ll place a letter in front of their dorms. The villain leader has the option to stay anonymous for realism, while the hero leader must announce it tomorrow morning. After that, I will call everyone out one by one to go over any questions you may have.”
He saw multiple kids plotting the essential points, though he exasperatedly noted how Midoriya wrote down everything he said. Always taking things to the extreme, that kid.
“You will have a week of prep time, during which you have to tell me your affiliation before the day of the exam.”
He ignored Yaoyorozu and Midoriya’s hands going up, continuing his speech.
“You’ll have the rest of homeroom to read these rule books and come up with any questions you have for me.”
Shouta took the stack of paper pamphlets and gave the first person in each row enough to pass back, taking the time to make eye contact with every student to watch them squirm.
But he felt a flash of anticipation as he climbed into his sleeping bag, wondering how this would go.
Damn, Nezu.
“We’re bringing back what?!”
Shouta slumped down in his seat as Nemuri raised her voice, slamming her palms on the long table and glaring daggers at the mammal at the head.
Nezu’s expression didn’t change from its usual cryptic smirk.
“We’re bringing back the Heroes vs Villains exam for class 1-A. After encountering the villains they’ve faced so far, I believe showing them a different type of battle is important. They’ve only experienced lineal altercations, but working on their intelligence is important for the future.”
Shouta had to admit, “This is a logical decision.”
Nemuri’s glare could cut him better than any knife.
“This is ridiculous! This exam hasn’t been done since that student had a mental breakdown and tried to kill themselves over it! And you want to put these students, these already traumatized students, into the situation that caused that?!”
Shouta sighed, rubbing his temple as Hizashi looked between a furious Nemuri and a still-grinning Nezu.
“Yes,” the principal said like it was discernible, “that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Nemuri growled, prompting Hizashi to put a hand on her back.
“Come on, Nemuri. I think that it’ll be a learning experience for them. And we have Inui in case anything like that happens again.”
Nemuri was about to speak up when Kan interrupted, voice gruff and grating on Shouta’s nerves like every time he spoke.
“Lighten up, Kayama. That only happened because that student didn’t see Hound Dog. As long as they see him, it should be fine. I mean, you did it your third year, and didn’t that turn out fine?” The man waved a hand dismissively, a single eyebrow raised in question.
Nemuri sighed, finally sitting down as she massaged her wrists. “Fine, as long as the students are made to go to Inui after it’s over.”
Nezu hummed, looking around the table before stopping on Yagi.
“Yagi, you look confused.”
Shouta raised an eyebrow at the blond man, his eyes trailing over the emaciated body and the bloodied handkerchief in his garish yellow suit pocket. Even Shouta had a better fashion sense than that man.
“Ah, excuse me,” Yagi coughed lightly, “I just don’t know the exam you’re talking about.”
“Ah, yes, we implemented it after you already graduated,” Nezu hummed, taking a sip of his tea, “can one of you explain?”
Shouta sighed as he listened to his coworkers, friends, and husband speak over each other to explain the exam to Yagi, telling by his wide eyes that the man didn’t catch half of it.
“And-uh,” the gaunt man looked around, “who are this year's leaders?”
They all looked toward Nezu, who smiled wickedly.
~~~
Momo sighed as she flipped from one page to the next, taking her pen and writing down a small note in the margins.
So far, she’s found at least five questions she needs to ask, yet she’s only on page four. Momo wondered what team she’ll join, and while she realized most, if not all of her classmates, wouldn’t be having the same dilemma–joining the hero team as soon as possible–she wanted to keep her options open.
She was tired of losing and relying on others to get her farther. She was tired of thinking herself not worthy of being here. She wanted to be proud, wanted to show that she was capable, show that she was going to be a fantastic hero.
“Woah, isn’t this so exciting, Deku?”
Momo looked up, watching Uraraka, Todoroki, Iida, and Tsu crowd around Midoriya’s desk. The boy looked sheepish, a faint flush staining his cheeks as he waved his hand around.
“I know! I can’t wait to pretend to be an actual hero,” the boy smiled brilliantly. His friends returned an endeared look, as if he were a little kid, when Todoroki said, “I’m joining whatever team Midoriya is on.”
Momo looked away from the familiar scene to the left of them, watching Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero wave their arms excitedly and speak loud enough for the whole room to hear.
“Bros, this is gonna be so manly!”
“Yeah,” Kaminari chuckled, and Momo instantly noticed a foreign glint in his eyes, “I wonder what’s gonna happen.”
Sero was facing away from her, so she couldn’t see his face when he said, “What do you think will happen if no one joins the villain’s team and it's just the leader?”
Momo almost shook her head in amusement, already knowing her affiliation. Looking before Sero, she saw Kyoka turning around in her seat and looking at her.
She felt her heart skip a beat when the other girl smiled, and Momo couldn’t do anything but smile back.
~~~
The clock read 2103 as Momo sat at her desk, finishing her homework for the night. Her hair was still wet from her shower, but she paid it no mind as the night was muggy, and she didn’t have a risk of developing a cold.
She had just finished her last math equation when she heard a knock on the door.
2104.
Notes:
The first few chapters are a little slow but I guarantee it picks up speed :)
Chapter 2: Cheers to the Outcasts
Chapter Text
Kyoka really liked her girlfriend, Momo. She was brilliant, gorgeous, kind, and even her quirk was prodigious, though that wasn't a huge factor for her. Kyoka could go on and on about her, and when they made eye contact as Kyoka walked into homeroom, she almost lost feeling in her legs.
Thinking about last night, Kyoka smiled to herself, growing larger when Momo smiled back. God, Kyoka was so gone for her.
She was too caught up in her thoughts and barely paid attention to her classmates coming in.
"So," she heard Kami as the boy planted his elbows on her desk, leaning over with a smug, crooked smirk, "how'd it go?"
Kyoka scoffed, snickering as he yelped, using her jack to wedge it into his side. "It went perfect," she sighed, knowing she sounded lovesick.
Her best friend nodded, his smile softening.
"Happy for you."
Kyoka inwardly swore as she felt her throat tighten.
"Shut up," she muttered, "I'm gonna stick my jack in your eye." Kami just laughed and went to his seat, causing her to cross her arms and look the other way.
God, what an idiot.
~~~
Momo straightened in her seat as Bakugou skulked into the room, placing himself in front of the teacher's desk and sneering.
"If you extras want to win, you'll join my hero team."
It was quiet for a beat before Bakugou's squad burst out laughing, Kaminari almost falling out of his seat as he screeched. "You're killing me! You're killing me man!"
Bakugou took offense to that. Though, Momo thought with amusement, he took offense to most things. The blond bomb shot out of his seat and dove at Kaminari, causing him to shriek and hide behind Ashido.
"I'll fucking kill you, Pikachu!"
"Kacchan!" Momo watched as Midoriya jumped out of his seat and grabbed Bakugou from behind, valiantly dragging the blond back to his desk while enduring explosions to the face.
"Get the fuck off me, Deku!"
" What ," the dark voice froze everyone, Midoriya dropping Bakugou in shock as they all looked to the front at their furious teacher, "is going on here?"
No one spoke as everyone returned to their desks, sitting perfectly still. Momo saw Mr. Aizawa let out a deep sigh, and she couldn't help but feel bad for him.
"Now, the Hero leader has announced themselves?"
Kaminari couldn't contain his snort as Ashido said, "Oh, yeah, he definitely did." Their teacher rolled his eyes, and though she couldn't hear him, Momo saw him mouth out, 'I don't even want to know.'
She could understand his plight.
"Would the Villain leader like to announce themselves? They can either do so now, later, or keep it to themselves."
Only the sound of a chair scratching the linoleum floor filled the room; everything else was silent as she stood up.
"Yes," Momo stated, proudly puffing up her chest like she'd seen others do, "I promise to lead the Villain team to victory."
She caught Kyoka's gaze and smiled fondly, giving an uncharacteristic wink to watch her girlfriend flush. She was so cute.
Ahem.
Momo held Mr. Aizawa's gaze haughtily, feeling like the hero she would be. The man met her eyes and gave a simple nod, face neutral.
"Alright. I'll be meeting with the leaders first to go over their rules and objectives. Don't burn the class down while I'm gone. Bakugou, you first."
The boy just grunted, following the teacher into the hallway. Momo sat down and pulled out a journal, checking something off before flipping through her list of questions.
She was ready for this.
~~~
Shaking Kiri's shoulders, Mina squealed, "I'm so excited for this! We're going to Blasty's team, right?"
Kiri chuckled, flashing his sharp teeth as he said, "Yeah! It'll be totally manly! Though, I feel bad for Yaoyorozu. I doubt many people are going to join her team."
They were startled when a bang echoed through the room.
"Well," Jirou stated, palm still flat on her desk with everyone's eyes on her, "I'll be on Momo's team. And if you also want to be on our winning team," she shot a dark look at Bakugou's empty chair, "then stay behind during lunch."
As she sat back down, Bakugou came back in, grunting for Yaoyorozu to leave. The girl stood up elegantly, smiling at Jirou before she left.
"Man," Mina murmured, "They're taking this really seriously."
But it's just an assignment.
Right?"
~~~
"So," Mr. Aizawa grunted, slumping over on the couch opposite Momo's.
"So," Momo clicked her pen, flipping open the notebook to all the questions written down, "first question: How do we win?"
Mr. Aizawa smiled at her sharply, "There are several ways for the villains to win. The leader must either stay alive for a week, though I'm sure you're aware that it's never lasted that long, complete all of the objectives thats given to them, kill the Hero team leader, or have the Hero team leader surrender." Momo nodded, writing those down under Win .
"And how do we lose?"
"If the Villain leader is killed, the entire villain team is captured, the villain leader is captured for more than 12 hours, or fails to complete at least four of the objectives."
Looking back down at the list of questions, she raised her head to look him in the eye.
"It says here that teachers won't step in unless there's a medical emergency. What counts as an emergency?"
Mr. Aizawa seemed to mull that over, then said, "if it causes permanent injury, counts as a high risk situation, or threatens to harm one of the class A civilians, we won't step in. It'll be determined by Recovery Girl."
Momo sighed but nodded, making a note of it. "Class A civilians?"
The man grunted, stating, "There are class A and class B civilians. You're allowed to kill, harm, and do anything to the class B civilians, but class A civilians cannot be harmed in any way."
The girl smirked. That was interesting.
"Is there any restriction on the equipment we're allowed to bring?"
"Nothing fatal, but other than that, no restrictions."
Momo smiled, checking off a box before flipping to the next page.
"Are teams given bases, or must they find their own?"
"The hero team is given an agency. The villain team has to find their own."
"How many people are needed on each team?"
"There's no set maximum, but a minimum of the leader and at least one other as their second."
Momo nodded. She's acceptable in that department.
"Can you tell me the city layout?"
Mr. Aizawa shook his head, though the left side of his lips twitched upward. "I can't tell you any information not included in the rule book or related to the assignment."
Momo nodded, smirking to herself as she wrote down a small note.
"Thank you, Mr. Aizawa," Momo stood and bowed, smiling at her teacher kindly, "this has been very informative."
The man tilted his head toward the side, eyes not betraying much as he said, "Please send in Hagakure next."
Momo nodded, heading out to the hallway. She was heading back to the classroom, face down in her notebook as she walked, when she accidentally bumped into someone coming around a corner.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she quickly bowed before straightening. She faltered, looking at the person in front of her.
"Oh, you're…."
~~~
Fumikage sighed as the lunch bell rang. He watched as almost everyone stood up and left, feeling pleasantly surprised when he noticed several other people staying behind with him.
"Well," Momo began, her hands folded in front of her with her back straight, shoulders set. She looked ready for business. "Thank you all for considering my team, before we start, I'd like to hear everyone's reasons for joining."
Fumikage looked around, surprised to see two particular people, as he was sure they'd join Bakugou.
"I'll go first," Jirou stated, shrugging her shoulders, "I'm doing this for Momo. I know that she's extremely capable and that she'll lead us to victory."
"Aw," Hagakure cooed, "that's so sweet."
Jirou flushed, pulling on her jacks. Fumikage felt Dark Shadow pop out of his back and watched as she nuzzled into Jirou's hands. "Why don't you go next, Hagakure."
The invisible girl's uniform twisted, though Fumikage was uncertain what that meant.
"Alright," she spoke hesitantly, "I just…I just feel so useless," she sighed, ignoring the other's wide-eyed looks, "I mean, compared to people liked Todoroki or Midoriya or even Aoyama, no offense to him, but I just feel so inferior compared to them. They can destroy concrete at the touch of their hands, but I'm just invisible. I want to be able to say that I'm useful for once. I want to stand proud and say "I am here"!"
Fumikage looked at her and sympathized. He bet it was hard to be invisible, to have a passive quirk in a class full of combatives.
"I'll go next, I guess," Shouji sighed. "I've always been seen as either a monster or as a meathead just because of my strength. I'm only ever used for simple tasks, never given more than people think I can handle. But I'm not just a brickhouse, I'm a person with thoughts and able to make plans. I'm capable of more than just durability; I want to prove that. I want to prove that I'm just as useful doing cunning things rather than just punching."
Fumikage patted his friend's arm, saying, "You're more than muscle to me, Shouji."
The other boy smiled behind his mask, giving him a quiet thank you.
"Thank you two for sharing," Yaoyorozu smiled sympathetically before turning to the blond next to Hagakure. "Kaminari, would you like to go next?"
Fumikage was really interested in his reasons, as he thought the boy would join Bakugou's team as his friend. Same with Sero, who was fidgeting with his elbows uncomfortably.
The blond boy sighed, slumping his shoulders uncharacteristically. "I know I'm not the smartest, and I know that I can do some pretty dumb things, but I'm sick of people writing me off as nothing but an idiot. I mean, I got into UA, the most prestigious school in the country. I know I'm the worst in the class, but it's gotta say something that I'm here, right? I don't know, I just want to show that I'm not just a 'dumb blond', that I'm smarter than people give me credit for. I feel like I can prove that here."
Fumikage watched Jirou frown and nudged the dejected boy.
"Hey," she muttered, "I know I joke around a lot, but I know you're not actually an idiot. I'm sorry if I made you think that's all I see you as."
"Me too," Sero wrapped an arm around Kaminari's shoulder, and Fumikage saw more than felt Dark Shadow move to the blond, asking for pets.
"Thanks, guys," Kaminari smiled, petting the sentient quirk.
"My turn," Sero muttered, returning his arm from Kaminari to roll his tape. "Ever since the sports festival and Todoroki completely obliterated me, I've been wanting to prove to myself that I can beat him. I've wanted a rematch, but I've always felt like I could never win against him. But now, when I know he's going to be on the Hero team? I feel like this is my one chance to say that I, regular Sero Hanta, was able to beat Todoroki Shoto. It's really selfish, especially compared to everyone else's, but I just really want this one win."
Fumikage shook his head, finally speaking up.
"Nay, my friend. Selfishness is but a human sentiment used to shame us for wanting, when life is all about wanting. You call it selfish, yet others call it redemption."
Everyone stared at him before Sero sniffled, smiling wobbly, "Thanks, dude."
He just shook his head, "I did nothing but speak the truth, my friend."
"Tokoyami," Yaoyorozu cut in, smiling softly, "why don't you go?" She looked down as her phone buzzed but quickly looked back up when Fumikage spoke.
"My soul is one of darkness, but I have forever reached toward the light of salvation. This is my chance to dip my fingers into what I've always avoided, and give myself a taste of the forbidden fruit that others have forsaken themselves for."
"So, you're saying that you want to know what it's like for real villains?" Shouji clarified, seeing the confused faces of their classmates.
"Ay," Fumikage agreed, "I shall never know what plagues their hearts, but I shall endeavor myself in painting my soul a similar black in order to see through theirs."
The other kids seemed to understand as they nodded, but all turned away once Yaoyorozu stood from her chair.
"This has been very informative, and I thank you all for sharing. But I just got an urgent message that I need to deal with. Give all of your numbers to Kyoka, and we'll start making plans tonight."
They all murmured as Yaoyorozu left, leaving a quietness that Fumikage was used to. It was challenging to make friends when an unwanted guest crashed every conversation, but Fumikage didn't have to sit in silence for long.
"So…" Kaminari rolled out, drawing everyone's attention.
"So?"
"I was wondering what our villain names should be."
"That's what I'm wondering too," Sero collaborated, snorting in amusement.
"Shouldn't Momo be here for this?" Jirou asked, looking out the door for her girlfriend.
"It's fine," Hagakure cheered, "Kaminari should go first since it was his idea."
"Zappy!" Kaminari said confidently, then yelping once Jirou smacked him.
"Unoriginal!" She called, "Not creative at all!"
"Killjoy…" He muttered, yelping again at a second smack.
"Unbelievable," Shouji muttered.
Fumikage smiled to himself.
He can already tell that this'll be a great team.
Notes:
Update schedule: Every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday (if I miss a day, don't judge me)
Chapter 3: A Fly Who Spies Gets Caught in the Spider's Web of Lies
Chapter Text
Hanta grunted as he dodged Kami’s punch, lowering his body into a crouch before tackling his friend onto the gym mat.
“Ugh,” the blond groaned, “I yield.”
Hanta huffed, standing and offering Kami a hand, which he grabbed. Pulling his friend up, Hanta looked around to see Hagakure judo flip Jirou, which he snorted at. And saw Shouji and Tokoyami practicing their kicks.
“Having fun?”
Hanta looked over at Kami, taking in his calm expression and noting, not for the first time, how pretty his friend was.
“Yeah,” Hanta agreed, shaking the thought out of his head as he watched Yaomomo–as they’d taken to calling their leader–come back into the gym with a large whiteboard.
“Alright,” Yaomomo clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention. “Thank you all for showing up, I know I sent that text late last night.”
Hanta had just taken his prescribed gummies when he felt his phone vibrate in his pants pocket. Taking it out, the edges of his vision hazy, he saw Yaomomo add him to a group chat.
Yaoyorozu Momo has added You to a group chat
Yaoyorozu Momo has added Jirou Kyoka to a group chat
Yaoyorozu Momo has added Tokoyami Fumikage to a group chat
Yaoyorozu Momo has added Shouji Mezou to a group chat
Yaoyorozu Momo has added Kaminari Denki to a group chat
Yaoyorozu Momo has added Hagakure Toru to a group chat
Yaoyorozu Momo has changed her name to Amaranth
Amaranth has changed Kaminari Denki’s name to Aureolin
Amaranth has changed Jirou Kyoka’s name to Zaffre
Amaranth has changed Your name to Skobeloff
Amaranth has changed Shouji Mezou’s name to Celadon
Amaranth has changed Hagakura Toru’s name to Eburnean
Amaranth has changed Tokoyami Fumikage’s name to Vantablack
Amaranth has changed the group chat’s name to [V]
Amaranth: Hello, friends.
Amaranth: I know it is late, but we will have a training session tomorrow morning in training room B.
Amaranth: Please be there by 8:00.
Amaranth: Thank you!
Hanta hadn’t questioned it, only setting an alarm for 19:30 before passing out. When he woke up early the following day, he wondered if it was worth it.
Now, standing in front of a whiteboard full of different plans and backup plans and backup plans for those backup plans, he knew he made the right choice.
“Man, Yaomomo,” he hummed, eyes scanning over the writing, cataloging the buzz words he saw like ‘Hit and Run’ and ‘Drug Deal.’ “Did you spend all night coming up with these?”
The girl smiled something mysterious, her eyes sort of blank in a way Hanta didn’t understand and didn’t question. “Yeah,” her expression became serene, and Hanta quickly forgot her earlier reaction.
“There are ten objectives they’re giving us,” she pulled out multiple sheets of paper, one for everyone. Hanta’s eyebrows lifted as he read through the sheet.
- Headshot
- Shoot a civilian in the head
- Hit and Run
- Participate in a hit-and-run, then get away before the cops come
- Sewers
- Explore the sewers and use them as an escape at least once
- Drug Deal
- Participate in a drug deal with a known drug dealer
- Informant
- Meet with an informant at least once
- Spying
- Spy inside the Heroes Headquarters
- Robbery
- Rob the bank and leave with at least $10k
- Breaking and Entering
- Break into the Mayor’s office and steal confidential files
- Kidnapping
- Kidnap the chief of police’s daughter
- It has to be during the day
- Kill the Hero Leader’s Second
- Find and kill the Hero Leader’s second
- It doesn’t count if the Hero Leader is killed first
Hanta looked through the list and wondered why this exam lasted only three days at most.
“Let's go over each objective. Hagakure, can you go and spy on the hero team to find out their second? I’ll fill you in on the rest later.”
Hanta saw Hagakure’s clothes bob up and down and then watched transfixed as she completely disappeared.
“Now,” Yaomomo smiled confidently, inspiring Hanta’s own self-confidence.
“Let’s start with the Headshot.”
~~~
As quietly as she could, Toru opened the dorm's front door. Thankfully the common room was loud enough to cover the sounds of the door squeaking. When she walked closer, she noticed Bakugou getting in Todoroki’s face.
“Hah?” Bakugou sneered, “What the fuck did you just say to me, Icyhot?”
Toru watched, transfixed, as Todoroki spoke with a blank face. “I said that I didn’t want to be on your council.”
Toru saw Mina covering her mouth, staring wide-eyed between the two like it was a soap opera. She silently agreed with her friend and stood near the wall to watch the show.
“Why the fuck not?!” Bakugou looked pissed, growling with narrowed eyes and jaw clenched.
“I want to stay near Izuku, and I can’t if I’m on the council and he’s not.”
“Bro,” Kirishima whispered, wiping away a tear, “That's so manly.”
“And since when were you on a first name basis?!” Mina squealed, looking between him and a red-faced Midoriya.
“W-Well…” Midoriya rubbed the back of his head, squirming as Uraraka looked at him with a smirk, “Shoto asked me out yesterday….”
“Really?!” Mina jumped up, and Toru had to bite her hand to keep from screaming herself. She knew it!
“Y-Yeah. But that’s not important right now!” Midoriya looked determined, looking between Bakugou and Todoroki. “Kacchan still needs to pick his council, and since Shoto doesn’t want to do it, he has to choose someone else.”
“Then who do you suggest, fucking Deku?” Toru watched as Bakugou calmed down somewhat. Just enough to step away from Todoroki. “‘Cuz I refuse to listen to you yap anymore than I have to.”
Midoriya deflated a little, and Toru just wanted to squish his little cheeks. “How about Kirishima as your second, since you listen to him and all….” The boy bit his lower lip, “Your council should be a mix of quirks for variety but people you’ll still share with…Tsu to keep a level head, Uraraka for optimism and determination…and Iida for structure?”
“You talk too fucking much,” Bakugou barked, “but fine! Your extras can be my fucking council or whatever.”
‘He’s so tsundere,’ Toru thought, remembering the details. Yaomomo would be pleased to learn who the second was.
“Anyway,” Ojiro, her ever straight-laced boyfriend, cut in, somewhat annoyed, “can we get back on task? What do we have to do?”
“Tch,” Bakugou clicked his tongue, “we have to capture seven villains without killing them. That’s it. See why it doesn’t last longer than three days?” The boy rolled his eyes.
“I still can’t believe Kami and Sero abandoned us,” Mina huffed, talking to Kirishma. “I just don’t get why they’d join the villain team when they want to be heroes.”
“Ah,” Aoyama cut in, smiling at her brightly, “I wouldn’t be too quick to judge, mon fabuleux ami ,” he wagged his finger while clicking his tongue, “it’s not nice to judge someone’s reasons while not knowing them.”
Mina, at least, looked contrite. “Sorry, you’re right. I’ll ask them after dinner later.”
Aoyama smiled pleasantly. “It’s alright, mon cher . Just be kind.”
Toru figured she’d heard enough and returned to the front door, freezing in her steps when she accidentally made a squeak. Looking around, she felt her soul escape her body when she saw Todoroki looking in her direction. But after a moment, the boy shrugged and looked away.
She quickly opened the door and escaped, letting out the breath she’d been holding and reminding herself to practice her silent steps more.
~~~
“So, we learned that Kirishima is Bakugou’s second. That’s not a surprise,” Mezou watched as Yaomomo wrote that down in her notebook on their way back to the dorms. He wondered where she’d gotten it, as he’d never seen her use that brand before, but he figured that Aizawa gave it to her as the leader.
“And you said his council was Iida, Uraraka, and Tsu?” She looked in the general direction of Hagakure.
“Mhm,” Hagakure hummed as they arrived outside of the building.
“Alright,” Yaomomo closed her notebook before her phone rang, a classical piano playing as she tucked the book under her arm and moved out of the way of the door. “Go in without me, I’ll be right there.”
They all nodded, and Mezou pushed open the door, holding it open for his comrades. For the first time, he felt part of a group that understood him.
“Hey guys!” Kaminari grinned at those in the common room. Mezou could tell there were fewer people than Hagakure said, meaning the official meeting was over, and instead left behind his regular classmates.
“Hey, Kamibro! Serobro!” Kirishima called from the couch, remote in hand. Mezou didn’t know what was on, some animated show. All he saw was a tentacle, and suddenly he didn’t want to know more about it.
“What's up, guys?” Sero asked, following Kaminari to the couch. “Nothing much,” Kirishima replied, making room for his two friends, “we just finished our meeting.”
“Kiri,” Mina hissed, but Kaminari laughed and said, “me too!”
Bakugou laughed a harsh sound that grated on Mezou’s extra ear, turning it into an eye to watch from a better angle.
“And where’s your leader? Don’t tell me she abandoned you this early?”
“Don’t assume the worst of people, Bakugou, just because they’re not around to defend themselves.”
They all turned toward a surprisingly pissed-looking Yaomomo. She stood with her phone in one hand and her book in the other, shooting Bakugou a dark look that Mezou didn’t know she was capable of.
‘Guess that’s why she was picked as the leader, as everyone knows the randomness is bullshit.’
Yaomomo walked gracefully into the room, standing before Bakugou with a blank face. “If you’d like to issue an official challenge, then please do it when the one you’re challenging is in the room. Instead of talking behind their back like a coward.”
Everyone’s wide-eyed look of astonishment followed her as she calmly entered the elevator and took it to her floor.
Mezou saw Bakugou look at it once before stomping toward the stairs. Making an extra ear, Mezou could hear the boy muttering something about ‘Deku.’
‘Why does he have to relate everything to Midoriya?... Wait…’
“God, I’m so gay.”
Hearing Jirou’s whisper brought Mezou out of his thoughts. He snorted.
“This is gonna be a shit show,” Ojiro said.
“Agreed.”
Notes:
Sorry that the early chapters are a little slow, I didn't know how to make them any less boring
The chapters get more interesting I swear you won't be disappointed (or you will who knows)
Don't mind the V names I just wanted them all to match and I chose unique colors based off this article Obscure Colors
Chapter 4: The Implosion Before the Supernova Before the Shockwave
Chapter Text
Momo sighed into her palm, eyebrows narrowed as she crossed out the words in her notebook and started a new paragraph.
‘...Kyoka and Hagakure as reconnaissance, Shouji and Kaminari as back up, Tokoyami and Sero as capture…Sero and Shouji for kidnapping, Kyoka and Tokoyami for hit and run…”
She was startled as she heard a knock on the door, shaking her head with a sense of deja vu. Squeezing past her large bed, she opened the door to reveal Uraraka, Kirishima, and Midoriya. Momo smiled at them kindly, though thoughts raced behind her eyes.
‘This wasn’t planned. Are they here to scout? Because of my challenge?’
“Hey, Yaoyorozu,” Kirishima’s pointy teeth flashed awkwardly as the boy shuffled on his feet, “I know we’re on different teams and all, but we just wanted to let you know that we wish you luck!”
Momo relaxed, smile softening as she saw Uraraka and Midoriya nod along.
“Yeah,” the green-haired boy beamed at her, “I know this is just a school exercise, but the way you’re taking this so seriously is inspiring!” Midoriya grabbed her hands, his scarred ones dwarfing her calloused palms.
Momo giggled, clasping his hands in a firm grip. “Thank you, guys. I look forward to facing you in battle.”
Midoriya stepped away, cheeks turning pink, and avoided her gaze as Uraraka poked him in the side before turning her naturally flushed cheeks in Momo’s direction.
“We promise not to hold back!” Uraraka pumped her fist, Momo copying her movement with a matching grin of determination. “We’ll give it everything we’ve got, so don’t hold back!”
Momo slipped her left hand into her pajama pocket, her right placed gently on top of her heart. “I promise to give it my all and not hold back.”
With a wave to her departing friends, Momo shut the door and returned to the desk, where she placed both hands. A chuckle escaped her mouth without notice.
‘I see.’
She smirked, opening her desk drawer and placing the flash drive into her laptop.
‘I promise,’ she scrolled down, the edges of her smirk catching in the reflection.
‘You’ll see nothing you’ve ever seen before.’
~~~
Kyoka twirled her jack around her finger, shifting her gaze from one end of the hall to the other while she waited for the door to open.
“And you’re sure this is fine?”
She relaxed slightly at Momo's smile before all the tension returned to her shoulders once the door opened.
“Heyo, Kiddos,” Mr. Yamada, Kyoka’s favorite teacher, said. That, at least, let her release the breath she had held in.
“Good morning, Mr. Yamada,” Momo greeted with a calm smile as she asked, “Is Mr. Snipe in?”
The man smoothed his mustache, looking behind him before looking back at them with a nod and smile.
“Yep! Come on in.”
Kyoka followed Momo closely, looking around the teacher’s office as they moved closer to the seated man they were looking for. She noticed in the corner a counter with a coffee mug reading ‘What a CATastrophe’ and snorted at the image of Mr. Aizawa drinking from it with an angry face.
“Howdy, kids. What can I do for you?” Snipe was seated at one of the desks facing the door, next to one with photo frames that Kyoka couldn’t make out from her angle.
“We’d like to ask if you’d be willing to give us a gun safety class,” Momo stood regally, her hands folded in front of her with her eyes trained on the stunned man.
“Well,” Snipe drawled, rubbing the back of his head, “we don’t usually start gun training until second year…though it wouldn’t hurt…aw heck, why not. Meet me at the shooting range tomorrow morning before homeroom, it’s the only time I'm free.”
Kyoka couldn’t contain her wide smile. “Thank you, Mr. Snipe!”
The man just chuckled, making a shooing motion with his hand. “Run along now, and don’t let me catch y’all even going near a gun before tomorrow.”
The two girls stated their acknowledgments and went to their designated gym.
“How did you even get guns, anyway?” Kyoka was curious. Getting weapons like those in this country wasn't easy. But Momo just smiled; something twinkling in her eyes made Kyoka swoon.
“Just a friend, no need to worry.”
~~~
“Alright, so starting now, we should get used to our code names,” Yaomomo stated, causing Denki to nod. He’ll take a while to remember everyone’s names, and they only have three days until the exam–assignment. Whatever it was, Denki wasn’t entirely sure.
“We’ll be working in teams of two, but those teams will change depending on the objective. Celadon and Aureolin for objective SW, Skobeloff and Vantablack for BE, Zaffre and Eburnean for SP.”
Denki watched, transfixed, as Yaomomo elegantly laid out multiple plans for each objective.
“And while plans C, H, and D are going on, I’ll be meeting with our informant.”
“Wait, but isn’t that dangerous?” Denki blurted, playing with his charger, “I thought you said that we need to be in teams of two?”
Denki didn’t know if he sounded dumb, but with the way his leader smiled at him patiently and calmly, he didn’t think it was that stupid of a question.
“I know, but as the leader it’s my responsibility to do what no one else can do.” She smiled so kindly that Denki had to believe her.
“A-Alright,” he stuttered, ignoring Jirou’s annoyed side-eye. He knew he would pay for that later but couldn’t help himself in the face of such elegance.
“Alright, for now, why doesn’t everyone practice their parkour skills,” Yaomomo grinned, clapping her hands excitedly.
“How are we gonna do that?” Sero tilted his head in confusion, and Denki could relate. They were in a flat, open room with gym mats. No place to climb, jump, or roll off of. Not that Denki thought he could do that, anyway. The only parkour he’d seen was when he and Mina spied on Mr. Aizawa’s training with his student, which they still didn’t know the name of.
Denki knew he’d die the moment he jumped.
“We’ll be going to gym T today,” their leader beckoned them toward the door, following her like ducklings until they made it to a building twice as large as the one they were in before. Opening the large doors, Denki gasped as he entered the city-like space. There were tall concrete pillars in the shape of buildings, and the floors looked like streets, sidewalks, and pathways.
It was an urban paradise.
“Time to become real villains.”
Notes:
Double update because this is a short chapter :)
The next chapter will be out right after this one, so tune in
Chapter 5: Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
Summary:
The exercise is starting…but who are you?
Notes:
TW: Kidnapping, (light) torture, broken bones, “dead” bodies (not really dead but they’re called dead bodies), gun violence, explosions
it’s starting :)
(V name reminders in end notes)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Momo spun in her chair between the screens on the hard wooden floor of the apartment they’d set their base in.
“Aureolin, Celadon, how are the sewers looking?”
“Lookin good, Amaranth.”
“Good. Skobeloff, Vantablack, have you made contact with the dealer?”
“Not yet, boss. But we’re near where you said his spot is, so we’re just waiting for him to show up.”
“That’s fine. If he doesn’t show up in the next fifteen minutes, go start ‘Plan R’.”
“Roger that.”
Momo sighed, massaging her temple as he clicked on the next coms.
“Zaffre? Eburnean? Status?”
All she heard was static.
“Status?”
A jarring crackling before the sound of rushing wind, honking cars, and, most of all, harsh breathing.
“Co…in…he-roes…” Zaffre gasped, “ba…up! Backup! Iida and Sato!”
Momo slid her chair over to where she pulled up the city security cameras on a desktop.
“Where are you heading?” She demanded, quickly switching through each camera until she spotted the two getting chased across the rooftops. The two heroes were following them on the ground, but they were two of the physically strongest in the class, and compared to Zaffre and Eburnean’s slighter frames and non-combative quirks, the two couldn’t face them head-on.
“Turn left!”
She had to lead them.
~~~
Kouji looked around the room nervously. It was a simple building with a front lobby, a common room, a meeting room, and two floors for rooms separated by gender. They were currently standing around a long table in the meeting room.
“Heroes, this is your mission,” Mr. Aizawa stood at the head of the table, a serious look on his scarred face. “There is a group of unknown individuals that we suspect to be a part of the group, ‘Void’.” Kouji watched as the man pressed a button and jumped back when a holographic image floated above the table.
“We have three confirmed sightings, but don’t know how many are in this group.”
The holographic image showed two people dressed in all black except their masks, which were different colors. One mask–on the taller individual–was a bright shade of yellow —the other light green .
“This is the clearest picture we’ve gotten so far. You must bring these people in for questioning as fast as you can.”
Kouji nodded, looking around the room to see everyone’s determined expressions. His anxiety melted a little as Aoyama gave him a reassuring look, and he felt a hand pat him on the back, turning to see Iida give him a small smile.
“There is no need to worry, Kouda. We shall bring these villains to justice swiftly and without fail!”
Kouji couldn’t stop smiling, signing, “I’m ready.”
The taller boy nodded back, one of his only classmates fluent in sign. When Kouji questioned, the boy just shook his head and said that his uncle was deaf and he learned from a young age.
Kouji didn’t think he’d end up with these fantastic friends when he started UA. For his whole life, no one had ever taken the time to learn sign to speak with him and called him a freak for refusing to speak even when he could talk.
But now…
“Hey, Kouda!”
Turning, Kouji saw Midoriya waving at him with a bright smile, Uraraka, Tsu, and Todoroki around him, all looking Kouji’s way.
“Come on!”
Yeah, Kouji smiled.
UA was different.
~~~
Tenya clicked the side of his helmet twice, jumping and sliding over a sidewalk railing, when he heard a click in his ear, and Ojiro said, “Ingenium?”
“Me and Sugarman are in pursuit of two individuals wearing the signatures of the Void group. One in blueish purple and one in beige .”
“Received. Requesting backup?”
Tenya thought momentarily, then suddenly saw the two individuals jump to the left at a sharp angle, causing him and his partner to rush through alleyways.
“No. They’re heading toward the city square–” He cut himself off when he saw the two split into opposite directions. “Never mind, they just split up.”
Taking his hand off the button, Tenya yelled at Sato, “You go left, I go right!”
His partner nodded, and the two split ways, Tenya going after the one with a beige mask. “Ojiro, I’m going right.”
“Got it.”
Tenya let go and sped up, keeping an eye on the sky to keep track of the runner.
That’s why he didn’t see the crowbar coming.
~~~
Toru sighed, slowing down as she stopped hearing Iida’s engines.
“Did I lose him?” She asked herself, leaning over the edge of the low building and planting her hands on the cement wall, keeping her from falling.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say you lost him.”
Toru gasped, but it was too late.
~~~
“Kyoka?”
Momo rushed over to her wheezing girlfriend.
“I’m-” She gasped with her hands on her knees, chest heaving, “I’m fine.”
Whispering quiet assurances, Momo took stock of who was there: everyone but Hagakure, Kyoka’s partner for their mission to stalk the heroes’ base.
‘Thank you for the blueprints to the city.’
“Where’s Hagakure?”
Kyoka stopped, looking around before noticing that her partner was missing. “She should be here. She was being chased by Iida, but I thought she’d be able to slip away from him.”
“Let me try my coms.”
Momo clicked the machine in her ear twice.
“Eburnean? Can you hear me?”
A crackle before a deep, static-filled voice blared in all of their ears.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about her anymore.”
Their eyes widened as they gasped, with Kyoka covering her mouth with her hands in disbelief.
“What did you do to her?” Momo demanded, looking around the room at all the distressed faces.
“Come to the city square,” the voice cooed, “then you’ll see.”
The voice clicked off, and Momo found the signal jammed when she tried to get back on.
“Let’s go,” she said, going to the door.
“But what if it’s a trap?” Kaminari asked, absentmindedly letting out shocks from his fingertips into the air.
“I won’t be leaving her behind.”
Momo could feel their admiring gazes on her back as she went deeper into the shadows.
~~~
Katsuki growled, stomping outside with the rest of the idiots behind him.
“Kacchan, I don’t trust that voice,” Deku’s narrowed eyes bore into him, staring into his soul.
I don’t trust your judgment.
“Well, suck it up,” He barked, feeling himself getting annoyed. The situation was dire. One of their own could be on the line. “I thought you’d do anything to get glasses back?”
For some reason, Deku looked away from that question. Katsuki raised an eyebrow.
“Of course I would,” the boy scoffed, “But this is highly likely to be a trap.”
“I fucking know that, Deku,” Katsuki ground out as civil as he could, but it was difficult with this particular annoyance. “That’s why we’re bringing fucking everyone.”
Deku just smiled at him annoyingly, giving him an alright before moving to the middle of the pack to Todoroki, taking the boy’s hand in his own.
Katsuki shook his head, trying to get rid of any thoughts about Deku and only mildly succeeding. When they reached the city square, they were surprised to meet the villain group they were supposed to capture.
“Hey!” Round Face yelled, getting their attention. All but one got into fighting stances; their leader remained upright, staring at him with unreadable eyes.
A shiver ran down his spine, though he ignored it and got into his own fighting stance. “Oi! Are you bastards the one who took glasses?”
The villains shook their heads, refusing to ease up even with their confusion. “One of our members was taken,” the tallest one, and Katsuki could tell by the arms that it was Tentacles, “a mysterious voice told us to come here to learn what happened to her.”
Katsuki paused, putting the pieces together quickly.
“The same happened to us with Iida,” Deku piped up, and Katsuki resisted sending him a snarl, instead looking up and around until he stopped on a digital billboard.
A person was standing up there.
“Oi!” Katsuki screamed, startling everyone around him until they looked at where he was shouting at. “Who the fuck are you?”
Because that was the question: who were they? Who was the mysterious voice? Everyone in the class was accounted for, so who were these secret players?
The figure said nothing, only tapping their ear once before running and jumping onto the closest building to the billboard. Katsuki was about to chase after them when the billboard snapped to life.
The screen showed a person cloaked in black, hair hidden by a black hood clipped to the front of a mask that covered their face. It was all black except for a white silhouette of a flower . Their baggy, dark jumpsuit made it hard to make out their build.
Overall, no one knew who it could be, which scared them.
“Hello, hello! Is this thing on?” The person comically reached forward, tapping the screen twice before standing straight, clapping their hands excitedly. “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what you’re all doing here. And I’m here to tell you…It’s an execution!”
They announced it so cheerfully, so childishly, that it took a second to register what they’d just said in Katsuki’s brain.
“Huh?!”
“What?”
“Seriously?!”
Multiple people shouted their shock, getting increasingly rowdier as the seconds ticked on.
But they all suddenly fell silent when the screen turned to reveal a tied-up Iida and Hagakure, though she was only clothes. They both seemed to be struggling, their mouths covered in cloths to keep them silent.
“Now do you believe me?” The person’s voice changed just then. It sounded dangerous.
“And who the fuck are you?!” Katsuki yelled, getting tired of whatever this situation was. “Who the fuck are you to show up here and think you can get away with this, huh?!”
The person paused briefly before chuckling, something dark and low, before lowering into an exaggerated bow.
“You’re right, how terribly rude of me. You may call me Anemone.”
Katsuki scoffed. What a stupid fucking name.
“Now, Iida here is either going to tell me what I want to know. Orrrrr,” they drew out the word, swinging their head back and forth before reaching off-camera. When the bat came on screen, almost everyone paled.
“I break his arm!”
“Y-You’re sick!” Katsuki thought that was Soy Sauce Face’s voice, but he couldn’t tell over the beating of his heart.
“Maybe,” The figure didn’t deny, instead coming closer to a very much struggling Iida. The boy’s eyes were wide enough to be dinner plates, the cloth muffling all his shouts of protest.
“Alright, Ingenium ,” Anemone purred, planting the bat on the ground and leaning on it. “Tell me…” They leaned close to Iida’s ear and whispered something the camera couldn’t pick up. But Katsuki watched the boy’s eyes widen, shaking his head so violently that the cloth around his mouth fell.
“Never!”
“Hmm…” The villain hummed, leaning in closer, “Are you sure?”
“With every fiber of my being,” Iida insisted, and Katsuki could tell from his eyes that he didn’t believe the villain would break his arm. If he was being honest, Katsuki didn’t either.
That’s why it surprised the hell out of him when he saw the bat swing down. He felt nauseous as he heard the crunch of Iida’s bone and the high-pitched wails that tore out his throat. His screams would haunt Katsuki forever, just under the Sludge incident.
“Too bad,” Anemone shrugged as if they had just learned they were out of coffee. As if it would rain. As if they didn’t just break a boy's arm.
“You’re useless to me then,” the figure handed the bat off-screen, ignoring the wretched screams of pain, and took his arm back to showcase a gun instead.
“You’re a sick bastard,” Icy Hot snarled, stepping forward as if to burn the billboard.
The figure just laughed. And laughed. And laughed.
“Yeah.”
And then Anemone shot the two in their stomachs.
Katsuki thought it was real blood until he saw their eyes still fired with life and heard Nezu’s voice announce that Iida Tenya of the Hero Team and Hagakure Toru of the Vigilante Team have been killed .
“Vigilante team?” He heard one of the extras on the other side of the street mutter while Katsuki calmed down slightly as he realized it was only red paint.
“Yes, vigilante team,” the villain chuckled, stepping closer to the camera again and blocking the two ‘dead’ bodies from view. “I’m about to show you what a real villain looks like.”
And then, as if the day couldn’t get any worse, multiple buildings exploded.
“Boom.”
Notes:
V names:
Jirou: Zaffre
Shouji: Celadon
Tokoyami: Vantablack
Kaminari: Aureolin
Sero: Skobeloff
Yaoyorozu: Amaranth
Hagakure: EburneanDead:
Iida
Hagakure
Chapter 6: Picking Up the Pieces of the Clock Called Time
Notes:
TW: Dead bodies, talk of dead bodies, injuries, mentions of blood
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mashirao watched with shock-wide eyes as Yaoyorozu ran over to his leader, Dynamight. His tail flicked back and forth sluggishly as the image of Hagakure’s floating clothes burned into his memory.
“We’re here to help!”
Everyone stared at her in confusion, seemingly even the villains--or vigilantes--Mashirao guessed if the person on the billboard spoke the truth. And judging by Nezu’s announcement, Mashirao had different enemies than those across him.
He’d find the bastards who hurt Hagakure and make them hurt far worse.
“We’re willing to lend our assistance for this mess!” Bakugou narrowed his eyes, saying nothing for a long moment and causing Yaoyorozu to growl, which Mashirao didn’t even know the girl could do. She always seemed calm and in control of herself, but they had never had a proper conversation, so he probably should stop thinking and start helping civilians.
Thankfully the only ones in the area were class B civilians, so Mashirao didn’t have to see any actual dead bodies—only broken robot parts with splatters of fake blood. Though, the blood made him queasy.
“There’s no time for this!” Yaoyorozu started barking orders to everyone. The first person to move, as always, was Midoriya. The green-haired boy followed Yaoyorozu’s instructions and started lifting rubble.
Everyone scrambled to follow their leads. As Mashirao picked up a still-alive civilian–only indicated by the low beeping noises it let out– and passed Bakugou, he realized the boy was almost pouting. Mashirao’s head was too stuck on Hagakure’s struggling body and the subsequent massacre to feel amused.
He wondered what happened to Hagakure after she was killed. She was obviously taken to Recovery Girl, but was she watching the rest of this mess go down? Or was she too scared to even leave her bed?
“Over here!”
He shook his thoughts away and saw Yaoyorozu creating a massive white blanket, laying it down on the flattest ground that managed to avoid any debris and rubble. “Put any injured on here. Zaffre, Sparkling, come help me.”
Gently laying the robot he was carrying onto the tarp, Mashirao watched as the three scrambled between the many, many injured.
‘I’m sort of glad that Hagakure isn’t here to see this,’ he shuddered before giving a small thanks to Sato as the boy helped him shift through rock.
~~~
Robot and human cops swarmed the area hours after the initial blasts, and Denki felt vaguely nauseous as he saw how many white sheets were covering the deceased.
‘I know they’re just machines…’ The boy looked away sharply when he saw a girl with long blue hair crying and making these dying whale noises, hiding her face in her hands and kneeling beside a covered body. A bent metal arm was missing a hand and sticking from under the sheet.
‘But this is just heartbreaking.’
“Come on,” Denki felt Sero’s hand on his shoulder, a strained smile on his usually carefree face. For some reason, seeing the effects the bombings had on the living people affected him more than seeing the dead. “We’re going back to base to plan.”
“I’m afraid that can’t happen.”
They both turned and saw Todoroki standing with a blank look. The only indicator he’d been affected was the smeared dirt on his face and the rip in his hero costume at his right elbow.
“As heroes, it’s our job to arrest those who commit illegal acts. And as vigilantism is illegal, I will have to ask you two to come with me.”
Denki didn’t know what to do. He looked at Sero, who looked just as out of depth as Denki felt before they were interrupted by Yaomomo. She looked at Todoroki with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“We’re not going to do that.”
Todoroki’s blank expression became colder, more closed off, and similar to the beginning of the year before the Sports Festival.
“Wh-”
“Scatter!”
Yaomomo, the goddess she was, threw down a smoke bomb Denki didn’t even know she had, though she could have made it. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, he ran.
All his teammates shot off in different directions, ignoring the multiple shouts from the heroes. Denki panted as he ran, stumbling slightly over a rock and tipping forward with a yelp. He was only saved because Mina grabbed the back of his gear and pulled back, yanking him upright without losing momentum.
“Thanks!” Denki didn’t risk looking back, only raising his hand to wave his friend off and smirking when he heard her make a noise of frustration.
He returned to the hideout in record time, bursting through the front door and immediately screeching, “What the fuck was that?”
That was the catalyst, as his friends chattered and spoke about everything that happened.
“I still can’t believe Hagakure’s dead,” Shouji whispered, invoking an oppression silence. The only sounds for a moment were Jirou’s sniffles and his internal struggle.
“I think we need to discuss what’s to happen next.”
They all looked to Yaomomo. She stood in the front of the room, the light of the setting sun spilling onto her back from the window and painting her hardened features as if out of marble.
“I have a plan.”
~~~
Katsuki sighed, rubbing his left wrist with his right hand. Fuck.
Fuck.
He took a deep breath, held it for a second, then slowly let it out through his nose and closed his eyes.
This was a goddamn mess. On the first day, not only has he lost one of his lackeys- teammates , but he witnessed a public execution and hundreds more dead from a bombing.
‘Is this what real hero work is? Feeling so fucking useless?’
Katsuki had always been told he was the best. He was the best. At least until UA. And then reality hit, and suddenly he was All Might’s downfall. He was behind not only three people but also Deku— the little boy who was always three steps ahead and two steps back.
Heroics was always a pedestal Katsuki was told he would climb higher and higher. The number one spot became a bright beacon to aim for with the support of all those who witnessed his quirk. He pushed and pushed and pushed as he felt the hands of all those who said he’d be great on his back.
But for the first time, he couldn’t feel any pressure on his back.
“Katsuki?”
Katsuki shook his head, pushing away all those thoughts, never to be explored again. He was Bakugoug fucking Katsuki, and he would be the number one hero, kick all of the villain’s asses, and save everyone.
Because he would be the number one fucking hero.
“What?” Katsuki grunted, ignoring Shitty Hair’s questioning glance as he stomped up the stairs to his room. He didn’t feel like standing in an enclosed space at the moment.
“Are you alright?”
What kind of question was that? How could he answer? He was the leader; he had to be alright. He was Bakugou Katsuki; he had to be alright. He was the future number-one hero; he had to be alright.
But what if it wasn’t alright? What if nothing was alright? What if nothing was ever alright or would be again?
“I’m fucking fine.”
Fucking liar
“Are you sure? Because I was scared to death, and I know others are too.”
Katsuki growled, spinning around to stick a finger to his wide-eyed second’s chest. To his friend’s chest.
“The fuck do you want me to do? Spill all of my fucking guts out and start sobbing like a bitch? We’re going to be heroes . We’re going to experience every fucked up thing there is in the world, so I can’t fucking cry and breakdown after every single one or I might as well not even be a hero at all.”
Katsuki didn’t wait for a response, instead turning back around to walk a few paces and get into his room. The bland, dull, temporary room was only supposed to last three days at most, but now, Katsuki doubted that’d be true.
Not when there was an unknown third party that no one seemed to know about.
“Unfucking believable,” he muttered.
Sitting conspicuously on his pillow, bathed in the pale moonlight coming from his–previously not–open window, was a plain white envelope only signed with Dynamight.
Son of a bitch.
~~~
Kyoka sighed, adjusting her beanie as she sat at a table behind and to the left of the table Momo sat at. It was early morning in a corner-shop cafe Momo walked into without telling Kyoka the location before they left. The only other people there were the barista Kyoka vaguely remembered seeing in the halls once as they had neon green hair and two other patrons facing away from Kyoka, one with blond hair and the other with a black hat.
She ignored them, focusing on the bell ringing, signifying that their target took the message well enough to show up.
Kyoka saw Bakugou with Kirishima slightly behind him, similar to her and Momo. Speaking of Momo, Kyoka glanced over to see her girlfriend smiling politely, if not coldly. Certainly different from her usual bright, happy smiles that Kyoka was used to receiving.
Focus, Kyoka, be gay later.
Bakugou sat across from Momo, and Kirishima pulled an extra chair to the middle.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me. You didn’t tell anyone else about this, right?”
Bakugou sighed, an unfamiliar gesture from the blond that had Kyoka looking at Kirishima to see his reaction, but the redhead just looked between the two leaders, determined.
“Yeah,” Bakugou grumbled, “only Shitty Hair as a witness.”
“Hello,” the boy in question smiled before realizing and quickly frowning, “I mean, greetings.”
Kyoka shook her head fondly.
“I know that I was vague in my letter, but to be frank: I’d like to form an alliance between our teams.”
They all paused, Kyoka glaring intensely at the two heroes.
“What could you offer us?”
Momo smirked, leaning across the table to whisper into Bakugou’s ear. Not even Kyoka’s heightened hearing could pick it up. Not without her having to extend her jacks and risk her position as an ‘outside observer.’ The only reason the two boys shouldn’t have noticed her yet was due to the beanie hiding her hair and the menu hiding her face. Honestly, she wouldn’t be surprised if they saw her.
Annoyed but not shocked.
Bakugou’s eyes widened. Just slightly, but enough to tell. Kyoka wondered what Momo said as the girl slid back into her seat with a smug smile.
“Would that suffice?”
Bakugou mulled it over, Kirishima hovering beside him with a pensive look.
“And what are you asking of me?”
Momo smiled.
“The ability to work together without the threat of arrest, mixed patrol routes, and the use of your facilities including med ward for any injuries.”
“Bro, that sounds like a lot,” Kirishima ‘whispered,’ leaning next to Bakugou far less effectively than the girl across them.
“Shut up,” Bakugou hissed before looking back at Momo, his signature scowl in place as he clicked his tongue and held out a hand.
“We have a deal, Tea Bitch.”
Kyoka breathed a sigh of relief as Momo smiled back, shaking his hand.
“Deal.”
Later, on their walk home, Kyoka couldn’t hold in her curiosity.
“What did you offer him?”
Her girlfriend sighed, a resigned twitch of her lips as she looked down at the shorter girl.
“What our objectives are and who we planned to do them.”
A gasp escaped her unwittingly as her eyes widened in alarm.
“Are you sure that was a good idea?”
If she didn’t know any better, Kyoka would say that her girlfriend was laughing at her. But Momo took her hand and kissed her fingertips, hiding the bottom half of her face in Kyoka’s palm.
“Of course.”
Her lashes fluttered.
“It’s what needs to happen.”
Notes:
Sorry if Bakugou is kinda out of character, I'm bad at characterization or just think of it as rapid character development
Shortish chapter sorry, but the next chapter will be much longer dw
You just have to wait and see :)
Chapter 7: And it Picks Up Speed Faster Than You Can Call for Help
Summary:
Meeting more of the crew :)
Notes:
TW: Gun violence, attempted murder, attempted hit and run, hostage situation, blood and gore, limbs, descriptions of vomit/throwing up, mentions of kidnapping
I think that's it but if there's other stuff please leave a comment
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The mid-morning sun shone brightly through the semi-transparent curtains, the sounds of cars honking and the mix of robotic and humanoid footsteps creating a somewhat pleasant symphony to Fumikage’s ears.
“Wah! I’m so bored!”
Except that.
Fumikage sighed, coming up from his pose on his borrowed yoga mat and making reluctant eye contact with his forever unruly quirk.
“Please, Dark Shadow,” he told her, lowering himself down again into his finishing stretches. He knew that when she was bored, he’d never get anything done.
“But ever since yesterday we've had nothing to do! Everyone’s become as gloomy as you,” she huffed, her distorted black body curling around him in the air as she crossed her arms. “We should go out and do something, Fumi!”
Heaving another sigh, Fumikage gave up and put away the yoga mat. Leaving his room to shelve it in the hallway closet, Fumikage decided it’d be a good idea to head downstairs and see if one of his comrades were in the meeting area.
Coming down the stairs, he heard the front door open and saw Yaoyorozu and Jirou walk in, their expressions unreadable.
“Oh, Tokoyami. Good, you’re already down here,” Yaoyorozu hummed, “we’re having a team meeting.”
Fumikage nodded, Dark Shadow coming out to brush against Jirou as the girl went upstairs to get the rest of the team down.
“Is this a solemn matter?”
His leader shook her head with a narrow smile.
“No, just some changes to our plans.”
Fumikage accepted that with a murmur and went to sit on the sofa. It took a few minutes for everyone to leave their rooms, but soon they all sat on or around the couch with Yaoyorozu in front, like always.
“I have made a deal with the Hero team leader.”
Que the murmurs from around the room, though Yaoyorozu ignored them and continued with a professional tone.
“As we’re now considered vigilantes, there are certain things we can and can’t do now. Starting: we now have an alliance with the heroes and will now join them on certain patrol routes.” What? “We can also use their medical wing in case we receive any injuries, which was something we were worried about. And we’re no longer at risk of arrest by the heroes.”
Fumikage had several questions.
“But now we can’t commit any crimes that are too black on the moral scale, which includes killing Kirishima and kidnapping the Chief of Police’s daughter.”
“But what was the point of giving those as objectives if we can’t do them?” Fumikage had to agree with Sero’s question. It didn’t make sense. Why did they spend time preparing to be villains, being told they would be villains, to end up as something else?
What weren’t they being told?
Yaoyorozu grimaced, and Fumikage narrowed his eyes as the girl sighed. “I don’t know. Mr. Aizawa said that whoever received the black letter with the objectives would be the villain leader. That black letter contained the objectives I told you. But now there is a secret third group that shouldn’t be registered, so I don’t know whether Mr. Aizawa was telling the truth or not.”
His leader started pulling at the ends of her hair, her mouth screwed tight, and her eyes pointed angrily at the ceiling as if asking God to help her.
But if God weren't so malevolent, would any of them be there?
“I don’t know if we still need to do the objectives to win, or if there even is a way to win in this situation, or if we should even try to win anymore. But if we do need to complete the objectives while also allied with the heroes, then it makes sense that we only need to do four to win. We’ve already spied on the hero base–before we became allies–and yesterday before the mess went down I set up a meeting with our informant for tomorrow night. So then all we need to do is break into the mayor’s office, steal confidential files on the city’s politicians, then use those files to blackmail one of them.”
Around him, Fumikage’s teammates all nodded along to the plan. But the bird-headed boy had to wonder: who was the informant Yaoyorozu was meeting? And when did she contact him?
“We also have to arrest the–real villains–” she hesitated, so used to thinking of them as the villains, Fumikage guessed, “which is why we’ll be using the Heroes’ gear, including their handcuffs.”
That made sense.
“Now, I think that’s everything-”
“How did you make a deal with Bakugou?” Shouji’s mask hid most of his face, but after spending the past week with him more than usual, Fumikage learned the boy’s tones better. At that moment, Shouji sounded as suspicious as Fumikage felt.
“Yeah,” Kaminari piped up, eyebrows lowered as he thought about it. “I know Kacchan’s temper has gotten better recently, but he’s still super aggressive, yo.”
Sero agreed with a hum, and they all turned to their leader. Yaoyorozu’s stance didn’t falter, but with his bird-like vision, Fumikage saw the girl’s throat bob—just a bit.
“I told him that we’d allow ourselves to be arrested after we captured the villains and that we’d tell them about the,” she sighed, “other villain groups in the city.”
“But there aren’t any?” Sero raised his hand as if in class, and Fumikage was about to comment before he saw Jirou’s astonished expression. He’d worry about that later as Yaoyorozu spoke again.
“Yes, we know that. And I’m sure they know that. But we’re doing a real life scenario. So, in real life, we’d logically know of other groups around here. Whether for us to avoid them or for us to partner with them; we’d know other groups.”
“If this were a real life scenario, we wouldn’t suddenly switch from villains to vigilantes,” Kaminari grumbled.
“Yes, I agree,” though, judging by her expression, Yaoyorozu didn’t agree. “That’s all. So, get ready and I’ll contact the Heroes to work out our new patrol routes.”
Everyone stood to leave, Fumikage following Shouji until he reached the stairs and paused to take a piece of lint off his slippers.
“Momo, why’d you lie?”
Fumikage stopped, quickly opening the door to the downstairs broom closet and squeezing himself in between the door and mop before closing the door just as footsteps came closer.
“Shouldn’t they know what you promised Bakugou?”
Fumikage heard Yaoyorozu sigh as he shuffled further back. “I don’t want them to worry about it, so it’s not essential to know. I promise that if that changes, I’ll tell them.”
The boy stayed in the dark for a few more moments, waiting until a minute had passed when the second set of footsteps walked away.
Going up and entering his room, he sat on the bed staring at the off-white walls.
Why was his leader lying to them?
~~~
Croaking as she walked down a block from the main street, Tsu tapped on her coms. The afternoon sun was warm on her suit, thankfully able to help her thermoregulate correctly and prevent her from getting too hot and passing out.
“This is Froppy, checking in from the ground, Ribbit . How’s it looking above, Skobeloff?”
The devices crackled in her ear for a moment before she heard his tiny voice.
“Looks good, Froppy. I don’t see-What the fuck is that?!”
Tsu snapped her head from side to side, wide eyes growing larger when she saw the speeding car driving on the wrong side of the road, driving closer and closer to the sidewalk where she stood gaping. Thinking quickly, Tsu shot her tongue at a street lamp and propelled herself into the air just as the car swerved right where she was a moment ago.
The car stopped to a halt, and a person wearing the same outfit as the one in the video that haunted Tsu’s nightmares last night. Except the flower on their mask was different, but Tsu didn’t know enough about flowers to know its name.
“Damn it, Buttercup! You missed her,” the person whined. When they spoke, it was as if ten different people spoke simultaneously with different tones and inflections.
“Shut up, Iris,” the driver, Buttercup apparently, grumbled just loud enough for Tsu to hear their deep voice, definitely made deeper by their changer.
“Oh well. Anemone only said to give a little warning. So, Hero.” Iris looked right up at Tsu from where she crouched on top of the curve of the lamp, and she shuddered violently at the sheer aura Iris gave off.
Like Tsu was staring at the face of an open-mouthed serpent.
“Tell your leader that God’s Garden doesn’t take weeds too kindly.”
At that, Buttercup revved the engines and spun, creating skid marks on the part of the sidewalk they parked on, before shooting off back down the wrong side of the road just as a couple of police cars dove around the corner and sling-shotted one after the other to the runaway car.
“Froppy, engage?”
Tsu shook her head to clear it. Leaping off of the post, she answered. “Yes, engage! Catch that car!”
She watched Skobeloff use his tape to throw himself off of the building and use it similar to that early-quirk superhero Spider-Guy or something. Tsu wasn’t knowledgeable about early-quirk superheroes or villains; that was more of Midoriya’s thing. Or Bakugou’s.
“Roger that.”
She and her partner chased after the police cars as the speeding vehicle was too fast, swerving expertly between incoming cars like it was nothing.
‘I didn’t know anyone in our grade knew how to drive, but maybe I just haven’t asked.’
She could think about that later. Right now, Tsu had to get closer to that car.
“Skobeloff! Fling me!”
The boy nodded, landing on a fire hydrant before shooting his quirk. It wrapped around Tsu’s waist, and she felt Skobeloff jump before wrapping both hands around the tape and thrashing it like a whip. Tsu ricocheted forward like a bullet and positioned herself like a torpedo. She flew over the cop cars and almost missed her target, but Tsu spat out her tongue and wrapped it around the left mirror.
Landing on the vehicle, Tsu attempted to break the sunroof with her fist but hissed as the glass didn’t budge. She was about to smash it with her legs when it slid open, and Iris popped out.
Holding a revolver.
“Sorry, but not really.”
The bullet was too fast to dodge.
“Froppy!”
~~~
The living room was stifling with tension. The only sounds in the room were Midoriya’s sniffles and Todoroki’s whispers consoling him.
Ochako couldn’t bring herself to speak. Two of her best friends were significantly injured, and one was considered dead, so she had no clue what happened to him. At least Sero-er, Skobeloff managed to get Tsu medical attention before she was considered dead. Her friend only had a concussion from falling off the car and road rash from skidding across the pavement.
Tears sprang to her eyes automatically, but Ochako slapped her cheeks to keep them at bay. She would not cry. Crying wouldn’t solve anything. She was about to go and revisit Tsu when the warning alarms went off, causing everyone to run into the meeting room.
Bakugou ran in before going to the front, bringing up the holographic table, which Ochako thought was a slight waste of money, but she couldn’t say much as she thought most of UA was a waste of money.
Anyway…
The table lit up to show a 3D map of the city and two red splotches on opposite sides.
“Fuck,” Bakugou cursed before repeating himself louder and more harshly. Ochako almost flinched but steeled herself as the hero she was.
She could handle anything; just channel Deku’s spirit.
Do it for Tsu and Iida.
“We have two fucking problems,” Bakugou barked, causing everyone to pay attention. “There’s a hostage situation at the Bank,” Ochako saw the vil—vigilantes pale. Ochako narrowed her eyes at them. “We also have a robbery at a jewelry store.”
The second one didn’t seem as bad, but Ochako had learned since coming to UA that not everything is as it appeared, especially if it looked simple at first glance.
“Me, Red Riot, Zaffre, Uravity, and Tailman are going to the bank. Celadon, Shoto, Sparkling—“ “That’s not-“ “Can it! And Pinky are going to the jewelry store. Everyone else go prepare or something. Be on standby.”
Everyone nodded with determined faces, Ochako included. She could do this.
.
.
.
She couldn’t do this.
Around the bank were robots and humans alike, staring at the two imposing figures standing on top of the city bank, a white marble building with thick columns framing the large wooden doors in the front.
Ochako thought it looked slightly stereotypical, but she couldn’t worry about that now. Now, sitting on the feet of the two villains was a small bot.
A child.
“Now, now, what’s all the hubbub about?” One of the villains asked, leaning one hand on their covered cheek and the over on their hip. “Don’t tell me that you’re all here for little old us? Can you believe it, Buttercup?”
Buttercup, the one who almost ran Tsu over. Does that mean that the one speaking was Iris? The one who shot Ochako’s best friend?
If it were, there’d be hell to pay.
“I think they are Carnation,” Buttercup hummed, and it was a little hard for Ochako to see, but she thought she saw the figure kick the robot boy a little, even though the small bot was making heartbreakingly realistic crying sounds.
So murder was still on the table.
“And we even got our Boss’s nemesis,” Carnation theatrically gasped, and they reminded her of that god-awful broadcast. The dramatics of it, at least.
“Shut the fuck up,” Bakugou growled, and Ochako saw Jirou’s head move as she associated with the girl rolling her eyes.
Now wasn’t the time, though.
“Let the hostage go!” Ochako shouted, stepping toward the bank and the two on top of it.
“Hm,” Buttercup hummed, allowing Carnation to finish for them by chirping out a cheerful Okay.
What?
Buttercup kicked the crying robot off the building, drawing gasps from the crowd and horrified cries. Ochako cursed, running toward the boy but was blindsided by Bakugou’s bright explosions as her leader flew toward the falling boy. Bot. It didn’t matter.
Ochako sighed in relief when the bot was safely in Bakugou’s arms. Thank god.
“Take it.” Bakugou held out the boy, and Ochako rushed to take him from Bakugou’s arms. “Him, Dynamight,” Ochako muttered, checking over the bot as if it were a real boy.
“Whatever. Now we can blast them to sky high.”
Ochako brought the boy over to the paramedics, two real people she’d never seen before, but they took the boy from her arms just in time for her to see Jirou take off her mask with a pale face.
“Don’t!”
But it was too late, as Bakugou and Kirishima burst the doors to the bank wide open with an explosion and rock-like arm. But that’s when everything went wrong.
Blood splattered everywhere as countless human limbs flew through the air.
Ochako didn’t know who screamed until her throat hurt, realizing it was her. She couldn’t control her stomach and staggered to her knees before her breakfast came back up with a gag or two.
She breathed heavily, snot running down her nose and mixing with the vomit on the ground. There was another liquid there, too—one she didn’t want to acknowledge.
“Hey, Uravity, it’s okay! It’s not real!”
Ochako struggled to look up, her vision slightly blurry around the edges as Ojiro kneeled in front of her, avoiding the pile of sick. She felt it drop down her chin.
“What?” She whispered. She couldn’t hear. Everything was ringing. Her chest hurt. Everything hurt. Oh, god.
Was she dying?
“It’s not real blood, okay? The limbs aren’t real, but we have to go. We have to go now!”
Ochako nodded without thinking and winced when his bulkier hand grabbed her arm. She followed his pull before stumbling, looking down to avoid the flashing lights of the reporters that started swarming like sharks that smelt blood.
In this case, the blood was real.
Or, not real if Ochako heard Ojiro right.
“Come on, we have to get back to the agency,” Ojiro whispered in her ear, and Ochako nodded.
Right, the agency.
Because this was an exercise, and none of this was real.
But what about years from now, when it is real?
What would Ochako do then?
~~~
Katsuki roared, throwing another punch to the sandbag and clicking his tongue when another bag broke. Looking around the agency gym, he sighed when he saw the three broken bags on the floor spilling sand. Sand that someone would have to clean up eventually.
“Damn it,” he leaned his forehead against the brick wall, biting his bottom lip until he tasted blood.
Everything was going wrong.
The bank was a disaster. While they knew now that the limbs were fake, synthetic material that looked like natural skin planted in a pile by the door, the media called him and Kirishima murderers and Pink Cheeks weak for losing her stomach.
And the robbing didn’t go much better. From what he heard from Icy Hot’s report, the robber used an electric gun to stun Sparkles and Pinky. Icy Hot and Arms took their eyes off of the villain for a moment to check on their teammates, and suddenly the villain ran off using some speed shoes.
Where the fuck were they getting all this tech? Bombs? Electric guns? Fucking actual guns?
None of it made any sense.
He thought that since he would fight against the Tea Bitch that he’d win with sheer force, though it’d be close considering her quirk and intelligence. But he recognized the insecurities in her and naively assumed that that’d hold her back from using her full potential.
But since the start of this stupid exercise, her insecurity has disappeared overnight, and Katsuki didn’t understand. How could someone training to be a hero become more secure in themselves by playing a villain? And then finding out that you’d also been played by the teachers and ended up not being the villain leader after all? Unless that fucking flower person was lying, and they weren’t supposed to be included?
None of it made any goddamn sense.
Katsuki yelled again.
“Fuck!”
The doors to the gym burst open by a sweaty-looking Pikachu. “Bakubro! You need to come quick.”
Katsuki didn’t hesitate, as heroes can’t hesitate. “What?” Katsuki grunted as they ran up the stairs to the living room.
“It’s on the news.”
Half of the team was already sitting on the couch. Two people were in the infirmary, three if he counted Pink Cheeks visiting Frog. Bird, Deku, and Grape were out on patrol.
Looking at the tv, Katsuki felt his stomach drop, not from the news itself, but from what it meant.
“Fuck.”
Hero Grape Juice: Kidnapped in the dark!
Fuck.
Notes:
This one was a doozy I'd say and way longer than last chapter, hope you enjoyed :)
I hope y'all know that when I was making this fic I thought "what are the most fucked up things I can make them do" and I made them do them
Chapter 8: All that Hides in the Dark
Summary:
A lot can happen in a little amount of time :)
Notes:
TW: Mentions of torture, mentions of kidnapping, description of sexual assault/harassment (mineta), gun violence, gun violence against children, school shooting, talk of bombs
i think thats it, but if i missed one be sure to tell me
its a heavy chapter so beware
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The alarm clock flashed a bold 5:07 in the increasingly bright room of the morning. The orange sun became increasingly golden as Eijirou lay in bed, uselessly fighting for at least an hour of sleep.
When the clock ticked to 5:08, he gave up. It just wasn't a night to sleep. With a sigh, he slumped into a sitting position and stared at his hands.
Hands that were painted in blood just yesterday.
Eijirou was startled when he saw a spot and blinked to see clean hands with a single water droplet in his palm. With a sigh, he started getting ready for the day. Drying his hair, he debated on doing his hair that day but decided that he had to be as normal as possible. He had to pretend that everything wasn't falling apart around him.
After his routine, with his spiky hair and an even sharper smile that he plastered on, he shuffled down the stairs to see Yaoyorozu in the kitchen holding a cup of tea in her hands with her phone held between her ear and shoulder.
Not wanting to disturb her, Eijirou quietly took out a protein bar and sat at the counter.
"No, I understand how you're feeling," Yaoyorozu hummed, her eyes flicking toward Eijirou for a moment before returning to her tea. "It can be hard to watch a loved one suffer like that and not know how to help."
Eijirou was curious but didn't want to seem rude, so he didn't ask. He munched on his bar and tried to pretend that he wasn't eavesdropping, though could it really be counted as eavesdropping if the person was speaking loud enough for even the next room over to hear?
Eijirou didn't think so; he told himself so as not to feel as guilty.
"Alright, I'll talk to them for you. But really, as their-"
Yaoyorozu stopped as more people entered the kitchen, listening to her curiously. She just sighed and smiled fondly, if not in exasperation. "I'm going to have to call you back at a later time. But I suggest just talking to them. Communication is key in a relationship."
She hung up, and Eijirou had to give it to her for not jumping when Mina clamped onto her arm, sparkles in her eyes at the smell of gossip.
"Who was that? What relationship?"
Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes with a giggle, looking at Mina in fond exasperation and shaking her head. "Sorry, but I've been sworn to secrecy. Though, I'm sure you'll find out soon. They're ready to come out soon."
Mina pouted at the first bit, but her grin came back tenfold by the time Yaoyorozu finished speaking.
"Yes! I've been running low on good material!"
Eijirou grinned. Man, he loved his friends.
"Guys!"
Their heads snapped toward the common room, Eijirou's position giving him a perfect view of Sato's horrified face. "Come over here!"
Deja vu, much?
They rushed over, and Sato switched channels to a news channel. A black-haired boy sat behind the desk, and Eijirou realized it was a UA student as they introduced themselves. "Welcome back to 'UA First!' I'm your host, Hajime Daichi, and today, we have an exciting piece for you all today."
A few more people walked into the room, Bakugou included.
"As we all know, city hero Grape Juice was kidnapped at around 3:00 am last night." Eijirou clenched the cushion under him. "We've just received an anonymous video of Grape Juice that some viewers may find disturbing."
He braced himself for the torture; electrocution, waterboarding, stabbing. After the display with Iida and the bank fiasco, Eijirou couldn't help but assume the worst.
But the video started with Mineta sitting calmly on a chair, not even tied up, and with blank, white eyes.
"My name is Mineta Minoru," the short boy murmured with a monotone voice that Eijirou never heard from him before.
"Something's wrong," Kaminari muttered, the closest to the perverted boy. Though, Eijirou suddenly realized now that maybe not so close as the blond boy didn't look too bothered by the other's disappearance.
But, much to Eijirou's guilt, he didn't either.
"I became a hero to touch the ladies. I only want to touch their boobs and butts, I don't care about saving the guys. They're only competition to me."
Eijirou grimaced, feeling overwhelmed with disgust. Looking around, he saw everyone else looking the same. However, the girls seemed downright murderous.
The only way that Eijirou could see the video cut was the slight change in lighting, and he didn't even realize it until Kaminari, who was more skilled in video editing, pointed it out.
"I wouldn't save someone if they weren't a pretty girl because then I have no reason for them to live."
Eijirou growled, echoed by others in the room. He could feel the aggressive tension growing.
"I'm guessing the one recording is asking him questions for him to answer," Jirou sneered, eyes flashing dangerously. Those around them agreed with quiet voices.
Eijirou didn't think he was capable of speaking at the moment.
The video cut out to show the newscaster from before, their expression matching those in the room watching him.
"Well, that was…informative. It just makes me wonder how he's kept his hero license for so long," Hajime sighed, a desolate look on his face, "and I wonder if his fellow heroes knew about his thoughts…what if they covered for him?"
"What the fuck?!" Bakugou blew up. Others were shouting along with him.
"I mean, ever since this new group of heroes have shown up, crime has increased exponentially! Plus, they haven't shown to be very effective. Remember yesterday?"
Soon, the anger melted into dejectedness, their murderous intent transforming into crestfallen looks directed at the tv.
"We've asked some of the city's residents for their views, take a look at these."
An unseen person held a microphone in front of a tall, blue-haired girl in a maxi dress standing in a busy corner. Her mouth twisted into a frown with troubled eyes.
"I don't think that these heroes are who they say they are. I mean, for the past years our city has been nothing but peaceful. But suddenly these heroes show up and everything goes to shit? Suspicious if you ask me."
This time, it cut to another girl with shoulder-length pink hair and round black-out glasses covering her eyes. "I don't like these heroes," Eijirou raised an eyebrow at the familiar voice, though he couldn't place where he'd heard it before. Probably in the halls or the cafeteria. "They've brought nothing but problems and have shown that they don't care about us, as shown in the video of that disgusting grape."
Then it was a boy with grey hair and eyes saying they were useless and that the city didn't need them. That he wished they'd leave.
The screen turned black with a click, only showing their heartbroken faces.
They remained gloomy until they heard Nezu announce that Mineta Minoru of the Hero Team has been killed.
"He deserved it."
They all looked at Yaoyorozu, who looked more enraged than Eijirou had ever seen her. Not that he could blame her. He was Mineta's favorite victim due to the size of her chest.
"I wish I could have seen his face when he died," she scoffed, standing up with a scowl and stomping out of the room.
No one had the heart to follow her.
~~~
Denki sunk into the couch, his face in his hands as thoughts swirled his head. What has this exercise turned into? He thought it'd be a fun game full of spy work showing how smart and devious he could be--that he wasn't just a joke.
But now he felt more like the world's biggest fool for not knowing what was happening. How come it had to play out like this? Why did some unknown group--with a pretentious name--have to go and crash his chance to shine?
He felt the spot next to him dip down, peeking through his fingers to see Sero smiling at him softly, his eyes so warm.
Badum. Badum.
"Hey," his friend whispered.
"Hey."
Sero sighed and leaned his head on his shoulder, causing Denki to relax and slump into him.
"This is all so fucked," Sero sighed. Denki couldn't do anything but agree. It was fucked.
"In this time of betrayal, I'm glad I know I can rely on you to stand by me."
Denki blue-screened, his face flushing a dark scarlet.
"Yeah," he whispered, hiding his face in the other's neck, "me too."
Alert Alert Alert
Man, Denki hated that fucking alarm.
~~~
Kouji fiddled with the mask around his neck, staring nervously at the building before him. It was quiet; the only sounds were the police cars surrounding the area and his classmates' muttering.
It didn't look like a shooting, but he'd yet to go in.
"We have a report of gunshots from the city's elementary school."
Kouji shuddered, feeling dread filling his stomach and clogging his throat.
Bakugou looked the palest anyone had seen him, even while kidnapped. Kouji saw Uraraka covering her mouth, Ashido hiding her face, and everyone else looking nauseous or scared.
Scared. They were just frightened kids—all of them.
"We need child-friendly heroes," Bakugou wasn't as high-strung as usual, and Kouji couldn't blame him. "Uravity and Froppy go for the kids. Anima, Zaffre, go for recon.”
"Kacchan, Asui's still not fully recovered," Midoriya argued, the only one, "I should go instead of her."
Bakugou didn't fight him for once, only grunting. All his anger simmered down in the face of dead kids.
Kouji sighed, the mouse in his hand scurrying down his leg and into the building with the task to find the shooter and come back to tell him on what floor.
"Are you okay?" Kouji turned to Midoriya, a concerned look on the sweet boy’s face. " Yes, I am okay. Are you okay? "
It took Midoriya a minute to figure out the sign, but when he did, he looked nervous and rubbed the back of his head. "Er- I mean, I'm okay as I can be after everything so far. But let's focus on this villain and prevent any more deaths," the green-haired boy raised his fists with a determined smile.
Kouji felt his own sense of conviction fill him. His friends were fighting so hard that Kouji also had to give it his all.
He heard a squeak and felt the mouse he sent in climbing back up his leg. It crawled into his palms and started relaying the information.
Kouji's eyes widened.
"What is it?" Uraraka asked as she and Jirou came over. Both were missing their masks and face shields, hoping to come off as more child friendly to any scared kid they found.
" One shooter, second floor. Only robots, no humans ."
All three nodded, Midoriya's thumb and index finger pinching his bottom lip as he mumbled.
"Me and Ko-Anima will go to the second floor where Anima will send a mouse to determine where the shooter is and I'll disarm them. Uravity and Ji-Zaffre will go through the first floor to see if there are any survivors. If there are, lead them outside and to the paramedics."
Kouji nodded before following the boy to the side of the building. Midoriya held him with one arm by the waist. Kouji pushed down the urge to blush as the green-haired boy jumped, using his quirk to grab onto a window ledge and pull them inside.
They looked around, seeing broken robot parts and bullet shells on the hallway floors. Kouji felt sick but held it together as Midoriya looked at him with less-than-steady eyes.
"Go send-" Midoriya didn't finish as they heard more gunshots coming around the corner. They sped off, though Kouji was surprised when they didn't stumble over any robot parts. It was as if they weren't there, though he could see them all around.
They slowed around a corner before looking past it and saw an indistinct figure walking down the hallway, calmly cruising through with a large gun. Kouji wasn't knowledgeable about firearms, but it seemed like the type that shouldn't be available to anyone but the military. So how did it get into UA?
Midoriya jumped around, though Kouji tried to stop him. He's going to get himself shot!
"Oi!"
The figure turned around, and Kouji gasped to himself. That was the one who killed Iida and Hagakure. The leader, Anemone!
"Stop right there!"
Midoriya jumped forward recklessly, but the figure slid back and pointed their gun between Midoriya's eyes. The boy froze, his eyes wide. Kouji's, too; his jaw dropped in shock as the figure laughed.
"Oh, you poor naive hero," the figure cooed, "but I can't let you go farther."
Midoriya bit his lip, glaring fiercely at the shooter.
"Why are you doing this?"
The shooter hummed, keeping their gun trained straight. "Why am I doing this? Well, because I can!"
Kouji felt sick.
Midoriya growled, hand shooting forward with a green flash, but to Kouji's surprise, his hand phased right through. What?
"What?"
The shooter laughed (why did it sound different than before? It's not the same laugh from the broadcast-) , moving their gun to the side so it went right through Midoriya's head.
"Oh yeah, did I tell you that this was a projection?"
The projection flickered, and suddenly the shooter and robot parts vanished, leaving an empty hallway. "This already happened, and you couldn't stop me."
Something burned hot in Kouji's chest when he heard Uraraka's and Jirou's loud footsteps bounding up the stairs, no doubt seeing the bodies flicker.
"Until next time," Anemone waved a hand, the gloved fingers bowing one by one in a clumsy manner.
Then, it vanished for good. Leaving nothing but Kouji's fast-beating heart behind.
~~~
Mina stared at the ceiling, the back of her head cradled in the couch's back cushions. How did everything get so twisted?
Surrounding her were her slumped, dejected teammates. Classmates. Friends.
"This fucking sucks."
Mina couldn't stop the fond huff that left her lips at Kami's blunt words. She lifted her head and saw the blond boy's head on Sero's shoulder. Both boys looked exhausted, but so did everyone else.
Hearing footsteps down the stairs, Mina turned and saw a weirdly-put together Yaoyorozu enter the living room with a calm smile. Greetings flew across the room as the girl sat down in one of the free spaces on the couch left of Mina.
"Hello, everyone. How are you all feeling?"
Sero snorted, giving a sarcastic, "how do you think?"
"Don't be rude," Jirou lightly slapped Sero's arm, shooting the boy a glare as she snuggled close to her girlfriend. "She was being nice."
The boy sighed, giving a reluctant but sincere nod, "Sorry, Yaoymomo. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we're stressed."
God, Mina couldn't hold it in anymore.
"What the fuck is happening?!" She screeched, jumping up and pacing the room, "What is happening to us?! We're supposed to be doing a simple heroes vs villains exercise then suddenly we're watching an unknown villain break our friend's arm? Blow up several buildings and kill hundreds of people?! Shoot up an elementary school?!"
Everyone looked pale around her. Except, Mina took deep breaths, Yaoyorozu.
"We're going to be heroes," the elegant girl sat with a straight back, eyes frigid as they looked right through Mina. She shivered in the hot room. "That means being prepared for anything. Coming up with plan C when plans A and B don't work. Adapting."
"We're just kids!"
Mina heard someone hiss, but she ignored everything but the stiff set to Yaoyorozu's shoulders.
"We're just kids, we're not real heroes yet. We should be allowed to freak out and fuck around and get scared when scary things happen! We're supposed to save the world but we can't even fucking drive yet! How fucked up is that?!"
Mina sniffled, feeling the first of many tears drip down her cheeks.
"I just…I just want my mom."
She wiped her leaking nose with her arm, feeling the shaking of her shoulders. The tears were cold on her cheeks.
"Ashido, I-"
They were interrupted by a knock on the door punctuated by a loud silence.
"I'll get it." Yaoyorozu's voice was quiet and had lost the harsh edge. Mina refused to look up as she heard the door open and close, followed by the soft thumps on the wooden floors.
"It's a package."
Mina looked up with wary eyes, looking the package over before shouting when Yaoyorozu started opening it.
"What if it's a bomb?!"
But the black-haired girl just smiled, giving Mina the creeps. "Don't worry."
She opened the cardboard flaps, and Mina flinched back, hiding her face before looking back after a few seconds ticked by.
"The probability of it being a bomb was less than 5%."
'But that's not 0%…'
Mina glared at Yaoyorozu when the girl pulled out a small piece of white cardstock. It was folded in half, and on the front, it read, 'Dear Weeds.’
Inside, when Mina managed to squeeze her face between the others to get a glance, it sent a chill down her bones.
‘You have 24 hours before we start spraying the weed killer. Start saying your goodbyes, for there'll be no one left to hear them.’
Notes:
The seeds have been planted, now it’s time for the flowers to grow
Dead:
Iida
Hagakure
MinetaDid i make mineta worse than canon? yeah, but its cuz i hate him <3
Chapter 9: But it Fell in One
Summary:
The seeds have been watered. Now its time for them to grow :)
Suprise :)
Notes:
TW: gun violence, betrayal, mention of blood (not real blood)
I think that's it, but please tell me if I missed something
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ochako gasped, going weak at the knees when she saw the gun.
"D-Deku!"
The boy looked panicked, his green eyes wide as the gun pressed deeper against his forehead, making him wince.
"Stop! Why are you doing this?!"
The assailant paused, their eyes flickering to meet Ochako's eyes.
Cold, dark eyes as glacial as the Arctic.
"Why?"
Yaoyorozu chuckled.
"Because it's all part of the plan."
~~~
Katsuki sat on the edge of his bed with his face in his hands.
Tch.
"God damn it…" he hissed through gritted teeth, tugging at his hair. "God damn it!"
He stood, grabbed something from his nightstand, and threw it against the wall, hearing glass shatter in quick succession.
"Fuck," he whispered, kneeling to grab what he threw and check it out. He picked it up, ignoring a sting when he cut his thumb on broken glass, and let his eyes roam over the two smiling boys in the picture.
It was right before his fourth birthday. Before his quirk came in, he and Deku had gone to a nearby carnival with their parents. Deku's dad had died just a year before, leaving both Midoriyas in grief.
Katsuki wanted to see Izuku smile again, so he tried his hardest to win the boy an All Might Bear from the shooting game. He tried to shoot five balloons to pop them but had only gotten three. Katsuki had gotten so mad that he threw the gun at the vendor, jumped on the table, grabbed the bear, then ran away with Izuku's hand in his.
Their parents were so mad, but Katsuki didn't care as Izuku laughed for the first time in a year.
It was one of Katsuki's proudest moments, and he was secretly glad his Old Hag of a mother managed to take a picture of them laughing together, Izuku holding the All Might bear.
That was one of the moments that defined being a hero to him. Seeing Izuku smile, he felt just like All Might, and from then on, he knew he wanted to be a hero to feel like that again. To feel that sense of pride fill him to his core.
He would be the number one hero, defeat all the villains, and feel pride in seeing people smile because of him.
His musings were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Katsuki?"
Katsuki growled, stomping to the door and yanking it open to Shitty Hair, who had darker and darker eye bags growing. It was only the fourth day, yet everyone looked like they hadn't slept in a week. Though, Katsuki knew that he had no right to talk. But that's never stopped him before.
He'd been up all night thinking about how useless he'd been since Glasses and Invisibitch were killed. How no matter what he did, he was always a step behind.
It reminded him too much of Deku, who seemed to be one of the only extras who wasn't on death's doorstep.
"What?" Katsuki growled once he realized he'd been spacing out. Shitty Hair looked at him sympathetically as if he had read Katsuki's mind. As if. Even Katsuki couldn't keep his thoughts straight, so how could someone else read him?
"Yaoyorozu called a meeting."
Katsuki sighed, nodding silently and following the other to the meeting room where his remaining team stood.
It was a hard blow to lose three people in one night. His entire night patrol had been slaughtered, only revealed when they were woken up with the announcement that "Ojiro Mashirao, Sato Rikido, and Aoyama Yuga of the Hero Team have been killed."
Now, he only had 13 remaining, himself excluded, with the vigilantes counted as heroes. At this point, he accepted them as entirely on the hero team and just a clique. They hadn't seemed to be going for any of the objectives Creation Bitch told him about, but maybe with the depth of their eye bags, they might be doing them at night.
Not likely, though.
Katsuki sighed and settled against the wall as Creation Bitch settled her hands on the table, a serious look on her pointed face. She looked as regal as she could, considering how tired she looked, but she seemed to be doing better than most. Not him, of course, but those weaker than him, like Animal Lover over there.
"I met with my informant last night, and he gave me information on the villains."
Everyone perked up, and Katsuki scoffed when he saw Deku bouncing somewhere in the back.
Typical.
"He gave me this flash drive," she held up a nondescript flash drive as if it didn't potentially contain the key to fixing Katsuki's sanity. She plugged it into the table, and suddenly a building formed as a holograph.
"Is this their hideout?" Icy Hot asked, looking at the building with his usual dumb, blank face.
"Yes," Creation Bitch hummed, looking at it thoughtfully, "For what I gave him, it should be."
"What did you give him?" Earphones looked at Creation Bitch worriedly, as if she wasn't, and Katsuki was reluctant to admit this, the smartest in the class.
"I gave him evidence for a crime he asked for," she smiled sweetly, "Don't worry, it won't affect us."
Katsuki sighed, stepping away from the wall and creating a parting to stand before the shown building.
"It looks like one of those abandoned fucking buildings near the edge of the city. Everyone, get geared up and prepare to move in teams."
Everyone nodded, and Katsuki glared out of the corner of his eye when he noticed Icy Hot and Deku talking animatedly with Shitty Hair. God damn it.
"Bakugou."
Creation Bitch called Katsuki over to her, waving him over discreetly.
"What."
"I have a request."
~~~
Kyoka looked across the city with her face cradled against her palm as she saw the buildings fly past her window.
"Are you sure it's fine that we're taking the truck?"
Kyoka saw Momo smile and look over from the corner of her eyes. Momo was driving down the streets with surprising speed, turning corners recklessly that had Kyoka clutching her seatbelt.
"Yes, I asked Bakugou before we left."
"But how come he agreed?"
Kyoka turned her head to look at Momo, and her lungs constricted. Her blood froze in her veins as she looked at her girlfriend.
Momo looked deadly.
Her grey eyes focused on the road, but Kyoka could see something foreign in the corners. Her mouth was a flat line, uncharacteristic for the girl, creating a scary image with the oppressive aura the girl exuded.
Kyoka almost thought she was about to be murdered.
"Kyo?"
She shook her head, unfrozen, as she saw Momo's concerned face. Right. This was her girlfriend of six months, who she loved. Not some stranger in familiar skin.
It was fine.
"Sorry, I zoned out. What did you say?"
"I said we're here. Are you sure you're alright?"
Kyoka nodded, pasting on a plastic smile.
"Yeah. Let's go, I want this assignment to end."
Momo chuckled, shooting a grin and agreeing.
Everything was fine.
.
.
.
Everything was not fine.
"Momo?!"
Kyoka stared, heartbroken, as Momo held up a gun to her. Her finger was on the trigger, the safety off.
She was serious.
Everything was going fine. They'd just arrived at the building and were supposed to wait another few minutes until the others arrived. But Momo had convinced Kyoka to sneak in and use her jacks to see if the villains were inside.
Kyoka agreed, but when she snuck in through the window, she heard Momo close it behind her.
"Momo?" She whispered, "don't we need that open?"
Momo didn't answer, so Kyoka turned around, but the girl was gone.
"Momo?"
Click.
Kyoka spun around, gasping in disbelief, when she saw Momo pointing a gun at her.
"Momo?!"
Momo looked at her with dry eyes, a frown marring her beautiful face.
"I'm sorry," Momo whispered, "But I have to."
"A-Are you being threatened?" Kyoka started sweating, betrayal causing her heart to race, "I can help you! You don't have to do this."
"No," Momo whispered, her frown slowly morphing into an apologetic smile. "I do."
That's when Kyoka realized that there was no stopping this.
Momo betrayed her.
Bang.
Kyoka gasped, shakily placing her hand on the red paint on her chest.
"Jirou Kyoka from the Hero Team has been eliminated."
"I'm sorry, love."
Kyoka couldn't do anything when she heard the front door bang open, Midoriya shooting in with green lightning flickering to and fro.
Kyoka couldn't do anything when Momo created a whip and used it to grab Midoriya mid-air, ignoring his yelp and pulling him close.
Kyoka couldn't do anything when the rest of the heroes—Was she ever a villain? Or vigilante? Or was that just a lie Momo told her?—came in right after Midoriya.
Kyoka couldn't do anything.
She was dead, kneeling in the blood her girlfriend spilled.
~~~
Ochako gasped when she saw Yaoyorozu drag Deku close to her, digging a gun into his temple as she held onto his torso.
"Come any closer, and he dies."
Ochako went weak at the knees, barely holding herself together when she saw Yaoyorozu smirk, the gun digging into Deku's head, causing him to grimace in pain.
"Deku!" She and Bakugou called out simultaneously, the other heroes clambering behind them.
Deku's eyes were wide, the green irises jumping between Ochako and the one holding him hostage.
"Stop! Why are you doing this!" Ochako couldn't believe it. Yaoyorozu was so lovely, why would she betray them? She was being helpful the whole time; was that just an act?
What could Ochako believe in anymore?
"Why?"
Yaoyorozu stilled, her grey eyes moving away from her victim and staring into Ochako's.
"Because it's part of the plan."
She clocked the gun, and Ochako couldn't look.
"No!"
She heard Bakugou scream before she heard a gunshot in the darkness behind her eyes.
Only she was the one who felt something splatter on her shoulder, knocking her to the ground.
"What?"
She opened her eyes, Yaoyorozu's gun pointed right at her, and her arm around Deku loosened. But the boy remained standing in her hold, his head lowered to hide his face, and Ochako imagined the boy's shocked look.
"D-Deku, run," Ochako puffed as Tsu and Mina ran over to her. Ochako saw Katsuki's face pale, eyes lightening up as he realized something.
"Shi-"
"Pfft."
Everything froze.
The birds stopped chirping.
Her heart stopped beating.
Time stopped moving.
Tilting his head up, Midoriya Izuku stood there with laughter in his mouth and chaos in his eyes.
"Oh my god," Deku laughed, and laughed, and laughed. He couldn't stop laughing, even when he tried to muffle the sound with his hand. "Oh my god, I can't believe this entire thing worked!"
“D…De-ku…” Ochako tried to stand up, hands shaking, but she couldn't. She couldn't move. Her head filled with cotton. Her two friends around her seemed to have a similar problem, their faces ashen.
"What the hell are you playing at?!" Bakugou barked, held back by a green-looking Kirishima. The blond was shaking, his pupils blown in shock yet jumping around. What a mess they all were in the face of their naivety.
"Hah?" Deku tilted his head back, pushing his hair out of his dark eyes so that it fell to one side of his face and leaving his cruel smirk out for all to see. "Did you think I couldn't break out of her hold at any point? Have you forgotten that I'm more than a simple Deku?"
Ochako felt her lungs seize, her heart starting to move again. Hard.
Badum
Badum
Badum
Deku-no, Midoriya crossed his arms, his face twisted in a smug sneer.
"I'm the real villain here."
"B-But what about Todoroki?! He'd follow you to the ends of the world?" Ochako felt rage fill her. " I would have followed you to the end of the world!"
The broadcast, Iida's arm, the bank, the jewelry store, the media scandal, the school. It was all him? He who was supposed to be her best friend could do something so cruel?
He just sighed, shaking his head as he stepped around Yaoyorozu and gently took the gun from her hand, the girl smiling at him as he did so. "I knocked him out on the way here," Midoriya shrugged, "He really wanted to be on the hero team, so I told him what he wanted to hear."
Ochako couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Now," Midoriya stepped back, and that's when Ochako saw the three masked figures holding up large guns to her and her friends. She felt as if she'd used anti-gravity for an hour.
"I think it's time we go."
The green-haired boy nodded back toward the gunmen, Yaoyorozu included and spoke. "Let's g-"
The windows broke, wind whipping at everyone's hair as a large ice block covered Midoriya just below his shoulders. He growled, looking around for Todoroki.
"What?! I thought I knocked you out!"
"You did." Everyone turned to the side, Todoroki holding onto an open window with thin lips and furrowed brows. There was a slight bruise on the side of his temple. "But not hard enough."
"Scatter!" Midoriya twisted his neck to shout at the villains, and they all nodded, running off before anyone could grab them. Ochako saw Yaoyorozu creating a grappling hook and felt overwhelmingly sad when she saw a 'dead' Jirou watching everything with wide eyes.
Todoroki stalked into the room with heavy footsteps, and each step lightened the weight on Ochako's heart. When the boy froze Midoriya's wrists together, Ochako breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's get him to the truck for questioning," Todoroki hummed, "Uravity, can you make him lighter?"
Ochako took a second to process but nodded with conviction. Midoriya gave it his all, so she would extend the same courtesy.
"Let's get him to the agency."
~~~
"So," Shouta watched Nezu smile widely, his tail flickering back and forth.
"Let's grade them so far, shall we?"
Notes:
How are we feeling? Did anyone see this coming? I hope not, but if you did it's probably because I left too many hints lmao
I've been planning the reveal scene since the beginning, so I'm happy to have finally shared it
Dead:
Iida
Hagakure
Mineta
Ojiro
Sato
Aoyama
Jirou
Chapter 10: The Final Problem
Notes:
TW: talk of suicide/suicide-baiting, vomiting, discussion of betrayal, talk of bombs, talk of fire, hostage situations, blood and gore, amputation, slight body horror? idk if it counts but I tagged it anyway, explosions
as always, please tell me if I missed anything
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Katsuki looked through the glass, seeing their prisoner smile back blankly.
‘How much does this freak have planned?’ He thought, maintaining eye contact even though he knew the other couldn’t see him. Seeing Deku in handcuffs was sickening.
Katsuki had always known that Midoriya Izuku was intelligent. Far more intelligent than he’d like people to believe. Ever since the boy was young, he’d kept far too detailed notes on others. Katsuki had never known what the boy would write down in those stalker books of his, only finding out in junior high the kind of twisted plans the boy thought of, the way he planned to take people out permanently.
He hated it. He hated that the boy could so elegantly fool others into believing he had no harmful bone in his body, even after they had all seen the way he broke himself during their numerous villain attacks; That he could do no wrong and wasn’t capable of being cruel.
Everyone had that: the ability to be cruel. But it wasn’t a matter of knowing you could be cruel. It was a matter of knowing when to be cruel. Katsuki hadn’t always had that ability, but he developed it naturally as he grew and matured. As UA shaped him with tough hands and rough words.
The problem Katsuki had with Midoriya Izuku is that the boy knew far too much about when he should be cruel, and to him, it was when no one else was there ever to believe that he was in the first place.
Midoriya Izuku could play the hapless Deku all he wanted. If he wanted to ruin Katsuki, he could have done it twenty times over.
“I’m going in,” he grunted, ignoring Shitty Hair and Pikachu’s warning.
The interrogation room was mostly empty, the space only containing the tale with two chairs facing each other. Katsuki sat across from Izuku, as he wasn’t Deku anymore. He’d given up that disguise.
Katsuki and Izuku, two sides of the same coin.
A reflective pool: the same, yet rippled across the surface at the slightest drop.
“Izuku.”
The other froze, his venomous green eyes staring holes through Katsuki’s. The game was on.
“Tell us your plans,” Katsuki grunted, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back casually.
Izuku didn’t fall for it, the fucker, and instead, grinned. “Why would I do that? The game isn’t over yet, Katsuki.”
He shuddered.
“Tell me who the fuck you’re working with! I know they’re not in this class!” Katsuki lost his patience, slamming his hands on the table and glaring at Izuku harshly.
Izuku just folded his cuffed hands together and gave him a smug smirk.
“Hm, I wonder…They have such pretty names, it’d be a shame if no one knew them.”
“We know three of them,” Katsuki spat out, “Buttercup, Carnation, and Iris.”
“Ah, those three,” Izuku spoke fondly, his eyes staring off into the distance with a warm smile so different from any the class had seen before, “they’re chaotic, they are. I’m not surprised they’ve been giving you trouble.”
His teeth ground into each other as Katsuki felt one of his eyebrows twitch uncontrollably. “How many others are there,” he growled.
“Violet, which is Momo. Sweet girl, taking my request so seriously,” Izuku cooed, making Katsuki roll his eyes. Yeah, if shooting your own girlfriend was considered sweet.
“And, well, I’m Anemone,” he said casually as if he didn’t just admit to breaking his friend’s arm and shooting elementary school kids, “then there-”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Dunce Face burst into the room, and Katsuki barked at the idiot. “What the fuck are you doing?!”
“How are you Anemone if Anemone broke Iida’s arm on screen, but I remember seeing you in the crowd with us!”
Izuku looked at Dunce Face with an endeared smile as if he were a little kid. It pissed Katsuki off.
“Oh, I had Carnation wear my mask for me to introduce us. It wouldn’t have been the same if the leader wasn’t introduced first, you know?”
Pikachu nodded as if he understood, and Katsuki felt himself losing brain cells.
“Get the fuck out of here.”
“No, no, he can stay,” Izuku grinned, fiddling with his cuffs. Katsuki kept an eye on them, ensuring Izuku wasn’t picking them. He probably learned how back in junior high . “I like him more than you.”
“How the fuck!”
Katsuki bared his teeth, snarling and snapping when Pikachu started to laugh. He just knew the rest of his idiots were giggling behind the screen too.
“He didn’t tell me to kill myself, Katsuki.”
Any laughter Katsuki imagined fell silent. Katsuki, too, fell into a terrible silence. He didn’t know what expression he was making, but it must have been so unexpected as Izuku burst into laughter. He brought his legs up and curled into himself, a cruel imitation of his middle school self that made Katsuki nauseous.
“Oh, the look on your face! Oh, that’s so funny, I can’t.”
Izuku laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more until his face was bright red and tears fell down his round cheeks.
The laughter stopped, but the tears continued to fall.
“I’m tired.”
He was like a different person: no more laughter, jokes, or smiles. Izuku looked like a shell of himself, and Katsuki couldn’t hold it anymore.
He burst out of the room and ignored the other’s exclamations of shock as Katsuki emptied his stomach into the closest garbage can. He heaved, maniacal laughter escaping the interrogation room and crowding Katsuki’s head with noise.
“Wow! The great Bakugou Katsuki was brought to his knees by only a reminder of his shitty past! How amazing!”
He didn’t know who, but someone shut the door to silence Katsuki’s mind. The viewing room was quiet. The only sounds were Katsuki’s panting.
“What the fuck did he mean.”
Glancing up, he saw the angry faces of his teammates.
“None of your business.”
“Uh, it is if you told him to kill himself!”
“It seems like a big deal-”
“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!”
Katsuki punched the wall, ignoring the new stinging of his knuckles and the flakes crumbling to the ground. Instead, he walked past everyone’s stunned looks and went to his room.
Fuck that.
Fuck them.
They didn’t know anything.
If they still pitied the nerd, then they obviously didn’t fucking know him.
~~~
Mezou crept into the living room, finding the remains of the ‘Dekusquad’ in shambles. Ashido and Tsu clung to each other in the loveseat while Todoroki sat on the couch alone. His face was blank, similar to the beginning of the school year, and Mezou assumed he was thinking about his boyfriend’s betrayal.
“That objective was for two people to betray their significant others,” Midoriya had started leaning the chair back as far as it would go, balancing on the back two legs and looking up instead of at Kirishima, who’d taken over in Bakugou’s absence.
Mezou stood with those who agreed to witness the interrogation; Ashido, Sero, Kaminari, and Tokoyami. The rest, who were closer to Midoriya, had left the room as soon as possible for emotional distress.
“So Momo and I agreed. Plus, I always have Buttercup.”
Mezou’s eyes widened, and he saw the rest do the same with one of his extra eyes.
“You’re cheating on Todoroki?!” Kirishima damn near screeched, and Mezou had to agree with his tone. He thought the two had the perfect relationship, but now suddenly, Midoriya betrayed Todoroki not once, but twice?
But Midoriya didn’t answer, only smiling mysteriously and refusing to answer any more questions for the day.
Mezou felt awful for the boy. Todoroki was emotionally stunted as hell, and this could cause him to regress any progress he made this year. Mezou shook his head and decided to sit next to the poor boy on the couch.
“Hey, Todoroki, how are you holding up?”
The boy tilted his head back, and Mezou just wanted to pet his hair. The boy looked so sad in his monotonous way. It made Mezou feel awful.
“I’m fine.”
“No offense, but your boyfriend just betrayed you…And admitted to cheating on you,” he admitted, refusing to sink in his seat when Uraraka and Tsu snapped their heads to look at him.
Tsu croaked in surprise.
“Unfortunately, Midoriya just admitted that he and whoever Buttercup is have something going on.”
Ashido looked heartbroken for Todoroki, who just stared off into space.
“B-But he was telling me how happy he was that Todoroki asked him out! How can he cheat on him?!”
“I mean, ribbit , Midoriya never told us that he was the villain leader, so…”
Mezou had to give it to Tsu; she was rational to a fault.
Ashido burst into tears, hiding her face in Tsu’s hair.
Man, Mezou hated this exercise.
“I’m going to go for a walk,” Todoroki muttered, and the three of them waved him off.
They sat in silence for a good ten minutes, taking the time to recover and stop crying in Ashido’s case.
Then, the alarm bells started ringing.
Right, the other villains.
~~~
“Right!” Bakugou yelled, skin pale and bags beneath his eyes darker than before. His conversation with Midoriya must have really gotten to him, Hanta thought.
'Why are you still thinking of him as a friend?’ A voice in Hanta’s head made him frown, thinking back that Bakugou didn’t explain and that Midoriya could have been lying.
‘Did it look like he was lying?’
Hanta shook his head.
Shut up.
“We’ve got two villains threatening to blow up the hospital, another at the police headquarters taking the chief of police hostage, and another has set an apartment building on fire. Pinky, Celadon-“
“Actually, us remaining vigilantes have decided to forgo those names and just go by our real hero names. Seeing as we’re heroes.”
Hanta, despite the situation, felt a swell of pride swarm through him. It cleared away some of his exhaustion, but not enough to express it.
“Fine,” Bakugou sneered without heat, “Pinky, Tsukoyomi, and Anima will go to the hospital. Froppy, Tentacole, Sparky-“ “Hey!” “-and Cellophane will go to the apartment building.”
‘Froppy to a fire? Is he in the right state of mind?’
“Me, Uravity, and Red Riot are going to the police headquarters.”
‘He doesn’t care about you,’ the voice curled in his ear, ‘he’s only bringing his favorites with him even though Tsu and Uraraka would be better switched. He doesn’t care about what happens to you.’
Not true. Bakugou’s just scared and bringing his remaining council with him, Hanta thought back. But then the idea hit him like a truck.
Bakugou Katsuki was scared.
Oh, God.
They were all screwed.
“Where’s Shoto?”
No one answered until Shouji hesitantly raised an arm.
“He said he’d be going on a walk, but that was ten minutes ago. He’s not answering his coms.”
Bakugou growled, running a hand through his hair.
“Fine. If anyone sees him, tell him to go to the hospital.”
With that, they all split up, and Hanta was left feeling that something was about to go incredibly wrong.
~~~
Eijirou played with his fingers nervously, attempting to psych himself up as he stood in front of the building. It was three floors and covered in windows. One of which he could see a villain in all black and the characteristic flower mask holding a large knife— or was it a sword? —to a person’s throat.
An actual person’s throat.
Eijirou recognized them as a third year as he remembered seeing them at last year’s Sports Festival. But for the life of him, he couldn’t remember what their quirk or name was.
“Come on,” Katsuki grunted, rubbing at his wrists where his gauntlets were supposed to be. But Eijirou realized that Katsuki hadn’t worn them since the previous bank incident.
“Bakugou,” Uraraka spoke, forcing deep breaths before squaring her shoulders. Eijirou had to give it to her; she embodied the meaning of determination. He thought Midoriya did, too, but maybe that was just one side of the boy.
He realized he didn’t know much about Midoriya, even before his betrayal. ‘Which still stung, by the way. Even in a simulation.’
No time to think about that. The boy was sitting in an interrogation room waiting for his prison cell. Or for the exercise to end.
“Uravity, go float Red Riot to that window. Riot, reach in, and try to disarm the villain. With your quirk,” Katsuki stressed, and Eijirou winced when he remembered the time he forgot to use his quirk and ended up with a third-degree burn during training. Both Katsuki and Recovery Girl were disappointed.
“Got it!” Eijirou smiled as wide as he could, which wasn’t as wide as usual, and hit his fists together while hardening.
He’d try to act as normal as possible before breaking down later. He’s going to need an emergency session with his therapist after this.
“Let’s go!” Katsuki barked, and Eijirou felt Uraraka slap his arm. Feeling weightless, he grabbed onto the side of the building and flung himself up. Rapidly approaching his destination, Eijirou hardened himself and dug a fist into the side of the building.
He came face to face with a mask and a crying third-year in a police uniform.
“Ah, Red Riot. I didn’t know they’d send you , but then again, who else would face me head-on?”
Eijirou frowned and said, “Let them go.”
“Hm,” the villain tilted their head. “If you insist.”
With that, the villain cut off the hostage’s right leg.
Oh my god.
“Oh my god!”
Eijirou felt sick, feeling their blood splatter across his face and hearing their damning screams. The stump sluggishly bled, coating the wooden floor with dark red blood.
“I’m going to be sick,” Eijirou let go of the building and covered his mouth with his hands, gagging as he felt the warm blood on his lips.
His tongue tasted metallic.
“That was more blood than I expected,” the villain muttered, backing up and grabbing the limp leg with their free hand. “I’ll be taking this.”
“Y-You’re a sick bastard,” Eijirou knew he sounded faint, but he honest to god thought that he would pass out.
He suddenly felt all of his weight coming back, instantly falling to the ground and having to activate his quirk so he didn’t break his neck. He sat on the concrete, staring at the blood on his hands.
“Riot!” He looked up to the concerned eyes of Uraraka and Katsuki, though Katsuki tried to hide his concern like usual. “What happened?”
“Hello, Heroes!”
The three looked up, their eyes widening when they saw the person falling out of the window.
“Shit!”
Katsuki used his explosions to shoot himself up, turning them off in time to catch the bleeding third year and landing with bent knees and a hiss.
“What happened?!”
“T-They cut off their leg…”
“What?” Uraraka turned pale, rushing to the third year and checking their stump. Eijirou was about to throw up when the muscle around the bone suddenly started moving.
“What the fuck,” he whispered, watching their leg grow back in seconds.
“Oh-uhm, I’m sorry. I should have said,” the third-year sniffled. “My name is Akamura Koichi, a thir- I-I mean, the chief of police. My quirk is Chameleon. I can regrow my limbs, but I can only do it once a day. I can also change my hair and eye color, but those aren’t as cool…”
Eijirou fell onto his back, staring at the sky. Slightly cloudy with a light breeze, yet still warm.
What the fuck.
~~~
Katsuki sighed, trying valiantly to scratch the blood off of his hands. The literal blood this time, not the metaphorical blood he kept seeing out of the corner of his eyes.
“Status report,” he tapped his coms once, listening to it crackle and hearing his voice come from the two beside him. After a second of silence, he grew irritated. “I said, status report!”
“There are none.”
Hearing Icy Hot’s voice, Shitty Hair yelped. “Wha-?”
Boom
The three ran toward the agency, but it was only smoking rubble when they got there. Small pieces fell and landed near Katsuki’s feet.
“What the fuck happened?!”
“Did you know that when cold air is rapidly heated, it can explode? That’s the mechanism of an atomic bomb. Apparently, that’s what happened at the sports festival.”
Hearing De-Izuku’s voice, Katsuki started looking around rapidly. His breathing began coming in faster and faster.
“Izuku! Reveal yourself!”
“Oh, Kacchan,” he looked at the top of the rubble, seeing the boy wearing his villain costume with a half mask. This one left his venomous green eyes free to stare through him. On either side of him were two other masked individuals. One Katsuki knew as Buttercup, the other unknown. Though he recognized the flower on his mask as a Sunflower, so Katsuki guessed that was their persona.
“Isn’t it time you grew up?”
Notes:
Sorry this was so late, I was busy today
please enjoy, and I think that's most of the TW out of the way :)
Chapter 11: The End of the Beginning
Summary:
How everything came to be…
Chapter Text
Izuku sighed, his chin resting in his palm as he looked out the window. The weather was warm, leaving him wishing for a short-sleeve t-shirt. The trees were a lush green, and the school's garden had bloomed beautifully.
It was a perfect day, which was why Izuku was waiting for something to go wrong.
Ever since he was little, whenever it was a seemingly perfect day—no matter what or when—something would go wrong. He and his mother went out for ice cream during a warm summer day? His father died of a heart attack. He and Kacchan promised to be heroes together? He's 'diagnosed'— and Izuku hated that term —as quirkless and lost all his friends.
No matter what happens, Izuku Midoriya never has perfect days. He can have good days, even great days. But never perfect days. And he's learned to accept that. So, on this perfect day, he was waiting for something to go wrong.
That something comes in the form of his teacher coming into the room announcing an assignment that Izuku had never heard of.
.
.
.
Shouta sighed. He hated the cryptic nature of the principal sometimes. All the time, really. He always spoke in riddle and nonsensical terms.
"They are neither obligated nor encouraged to reveal themselves," Nezu cheerfully announced after Yagi asked. "Even to us."
"So… they're a secret?" Hizashi asked. His husband had always been more intelligent than he was given credit for. Shouta knew that Hizashi was thinking similar things to him: why was this year different?
"This year is different from previous years in that this year's class has already faced villains at such an early stage of their development. As such, I feel as though we should treat this differently. I want all of you to go in with as little bias as possible. As such, only Shouta will be told who this years leaders are."
Shouta sighed. Of course, it was him. It always was. Not only was he most familiar with the class, but he was also the rat's personal student for his high school years.
That came with special privileges.
"Tch," Hizashi clicked his tongue theatrically, though Shouta knew he'd be hearing Hizashi's honest opinions that night in bed. "It's always Shou."
"Shut up, Zashi."
With that, Shouta followed Nezu back to his office. Sitting on the rat's desk were two envelopes—one white with a red seal and one black with a green seal.
He seemed to know where this was going.
"I think you can infer who I've picked, Shouta."
The man just sighed, looking at the two envelopes with as much contempt as possible.
"Yes, I do."
Izuku blinked as he listened to Aizawa's explanations. He needed to ask so many questions, yet there were so many loopholes to be exploited just by the little he'd heard.
Izuku knew he was fucked up. He knew that most people didn't think the same things he did. He spent hours every night analyzing people's quirks, their personalities, their habits, and thoughts.
He was a stalker, and he knew it. He was also a genius and knew it.
He knew things that others didn't, though he tried not to be too arrogant. But ever since he was little, he'd known things that other kids his age, and even adults, didn't.
It was hard to ignore when he could reasonably pretend to be a college kid when he was 12. None of the professionals in the analysis forum he joined realized that Akatani Mikumo wasn't the 19-year-old he pretended to be.
So, since he spent time analyzing everyone in his life to a weird degree, he recognized the resigned look in Aizawa's eyes. When the man made eye contact with everyone in the room, Izuku instantly knew who the leaders were just by looking into the man's eyes. Because when they looked into Izuku's, all the boy could see was the man's anticipation.
As he flipped through the rule book, mentally noting down things he'd have to ask, he subtly took out his phone and started typing without looking. He'd memorized the keyboard back in middle school when he'd spend hours during class texting his online support group or writing down notes that he couldn't keep in his notebooks.
Izuku's Bitches
Milk Ad : Meet me at Mei's during lunch
Nya : K
Escaped Patient : *Read*
Wtf : Okie!
Izuku powered his phone off and put it back in his pocket just as the rest of his 'Deku Squad,' which he detested the name of, came over.
"Woah! Isn't this exciting, Deku?"
Izuku smiled brightly, the usual fake smile he used to protect himself.
"I know! I can't wait to pretend to be an actual hero," Izuku flicked his eyes over to Shoto, the only one not to answer in the group chat, and let the left side of his lips twitch upward when the boy boldly claimed, "I'm joining whatever team Midoriya is on."
Izuku knew that Shoto knew that Izuku wouldn't willingly join the hero team, and he relished that feeling of security.
Flipping through the rule book again, taking out a notebook with an innocent smile toward three of his friends, he began planning.
He'd make sure this was an assignment no one would ever forget.
~~~
Hitoshi sighed, opening the door to Mei's room with little fanfare. Seeing the chaos inside, he once again asked himself how he got there.
Mei was cackling over blueprints, Neito and Izuku were arguing over something, and Shoto was lighting something on fire for some reason. Hitoshi didn't want to ask.
"Ah! Hito!" With a sigh of defeat, Hitoshi let Izuku drag him into his usual spot next to Mei's desk.
"So, what did you do this time?"
Shoto snorted, which, wow, but then Izuku scoffed, so Hitoshi had to let it go.
"Nothing! Why is everything automatically my fault?"
"Because it's always your fault."
"He's not wrong, Izuku."
"Wow! Why is everyone ganging up on me suddenly!"
"Because you deserve it," Neito sneered without venom, making Mei stick her tongue out at the boy. Again: how did Hitoshi get here?
"Anyway, this time it's really not my fault. But, will you become villains with me?"
What. The. Fuck.
"I thought you were hyperfixating on being a hero?" Hitoshi drawled with a single eyebrow twitch.
He didn't sign up for this when he was ambushed into being friends with three crazy people and a fourth slightly less crazy person. He didn’t sign up for anything, really. He was kidnapped into this friend group.
"Oh, I am," Izuku waved his hand casually, "but we're doing a heroes vs villains exercise-assignment thing and I know that I'm guaranteed to be the villain leader. I know that Nezu has been using the cameras to read my notebooks, or at least the code I'm writing them in. So, he definitely wants to test me."
God, Hitoshi needed a drink.
"Okay, I'll join your villain team," he shrugged.
Hey, he never said he wasn't also a little crazy. He just managed to hide it better than the rest of his friends. That was why he never escaped from their ridiculousness.
"Count me in!" Mei cheered, "As long as my babies shine!"
"Hm," Neito stopped his charade for a second to tilt his head with a serious expression, "are you sure you're allowed to recruit from other classes? They didn't even tell 1-B about this."
"I mean, Mr. Aizawa didn't say I couldn't include other classes. He just never said I could either."
After a second, Neito nodded. "That checks out."
"I'm already on Izuku's team," Shoto spoke softly. The boy was whipped, but so was Hitoshi, so he couldn't judge.
"Yeah. The problem is that I don't want others to know that I'm the villain leader. A lot of villain leaders are only successful because a select few know of them. Just look at All For One; only his closest people know him personally, everyone else just sees Shigaraki as the figurehead."
The group sat in contemplative silence until a lightbulb hit Hitoshi across the head.
"Why not just do that, then?"
The rest turned to him as he spoke.
"Why not use someone else as a figurehead and pretend to be a hero? Didn't you say that there's probably a traitor in your class, which- we'll be getting back to that one- but why not ask someone who won't snitch on you to say they're the villain leader and make their own group? We can use them as a distraction group to do our own things then when we reveal ourselves as villains they can be called vigilantes or something."
His friends were silent for a moment, probably taking in the fact that that was the most he’d ever spoken at once, before Izuku jumped on him.
"That's genius, Hito! You're so smart, why didn't I think of that?"
Feeling his face flush, Hitoshi murmured something about common sense, but seeing Shoto's small smile left him completely incoherent.
Fuck, he was so gay.
"But who will you choose? I mean— 1-A is clearly more obnoxious than 1-B so they'll all blab-"
"Okay, Neito, shut it for a moment," Izuku chuckled, backing off of Hitoshi and slinking over to Shoto's side. Said boy's red hair burst into a small flame.
"Oh, I know just the person…"
~~~
Momo stood up from her desk, leaving her math homework finished when she opened the door.
She greeted Kyoka with a smile.
"Hello, Kyoka. How are you?"
"I'm good! Great, even…" Kyoka's face was a faint pink, and Momo found it adorable. "I was just wondering…if you…wanted to go on a date this weekend? I know this assignment is kind of not ideal, but there's this cute place I've been wanting to show you and-"
Momo giggled, charmed by her girlfriend's shy nature. "Of course I'll go with you, Kyo. I'm looking forward to it."
Kyoka brightened considerably, beaming at her with a quick "Awesome, goodnight!" before racing back to her room.
Closing her door with a pleased hum, Momo yelped when she saw the figure sitting on her window.
"That was cute, it really was."
"Midoriya?"
The boy came into the light, holding a black envelope with a broken green seal in one hand.
Her heart stopped for a moment, then came back faster than before.
"I have a proposition for you," Midoriya gave her a sharp grin.
"How would you feel being a leader?"
~~~
Izuku's Bitches
Milk Ad added God to the chat
Milk Ad : We got our figurehead.
Notes:
If you feel like Izuku is OOC…it’s cuz he is bcuz I’m bad at characterization also this is a fic so I’m allowed to change him as I see fit
he is a puppet that i’m forcing to dance on this stage, he has no say in his actions
also, i’m trying not to bash anyone in this fic (besides mineta cuz fuck him) so i’m trying to make them all close to canon but just slightly to the left
chat names:
Izuku: Milk Ad (for obvious reasons)
Hitoshi: Nya (was gonna be ‘Not A Furry’ but Nya was easier)
Mei: Wtf (it’s what everyone says when they see her explosions
Neito: Escaped Patient (cuz he always acts like he just escaped the hospital high off meds)
Shoto: Dumb Bitch (it’s not included but its cuz he acts like a dumb bitch /pos sometimes)
Mono: God (again: for obvious reasons)
Chapter 12: The Unseen
Summary:
The unseen side of the beginning
Chapter Text
Izuku hid his grin behind his palm, looking at the rest of the class with knowing eyes. He saw Jirou and Momo smile at each other, and Izuku felt his smile soften in turn.
They really were a cute couple.
Speaking of couples-
Izuku let his eyes flicker to Shoto and watched the boy converse with Iida. Iida looked very passionate, while Shoto kept on a neutral mask. But Izuku knew how to read people well enough (and knew Shoto enough) that he could tell Shoto was somewhat exasperated by Iida and whatever he was saying.
But Izuku was interrupted from his musings by Katsuki stomping into the room. The blond boy stood before Aizawa's desk and proclaimed, "If you extras want to win, you'll join my hero team."
Izuku had to smother his laughter when the 'Bakusquad' burst into uncontrollable howling. ' Man, Katsuki was so predictable sometimes.'
'I guess that confirms that the choices weren't randomized, though I knew that anyway.'
Seeing his childhood friend throw himself at Kaminari, Izuku shot out of his seat and grabbed Katsuki from under his armpits, almost like a toddler.
"Kacchan!" Izuku didn't have to use the nickname, but he knew how much it annoyed his–friend? Rival? Ex-bully that was actually trying to teach him a lesson and was also dealing with his own baggage, but which still doesn't excuse his actions?
He'd come back to that one.
When Aizawa came into the room, Izuku could have cried. His plans were finally starting.
He almost cheered when Momo proudly stood up and announced herself as the villain leader. Izuku knew that Aizawa's eyes shot over to him for a second, but hopefully, no one else caught it.
That'd ruin everything.
"Alright. I'll be meeting with the leaders first to go over their rules and objectives. Don't burn the class down while I'm gone. Bakugou, you first." When Katsuki left the class, Izuku braced himself for his friend's inquiries.
"Woah, Deku! I'm kind of surprised that you weren't chosen as the hero leader, to be honest," Uraraka chuckled. Her, Asu- Tsu , Iida, and Shoto formed a semi-circle around his desk.
"W-Well it was random, wasn't it?" Izuku tilted his head and smiled innocently, "Kacchan just has amazing luck!"
Iida nodded firmly, about to respond, when they were interrupted by a bang. They looked over and saw Jirou glaring around the room, specifically at Ashido and Kirishima, who seemed somewhat cautious.
"Well, I'll be on Momo's team. And if you also want to be on our winning team then stay behind during lunch."
Izuku could laugh.
She sounded so offended for Momo's sake, and she didn't even realize she was doing Izuku's job for him.
Find Momo a "team" check.
"Well, that was passionate, ribbit."
Izuku nodded to Tsu.
"Yeah. I, heh, get Jirou's point, but I just really want to be a hero, you–uh–you know?"
His friends nodded, smiling at him fondly. And no, Izuku didn't feel a little guilty for tricking them. Whoever said that was a liar.
Looking at Shoto, Izuku relaxed. Everything would go fine. It was just his anxiety talking.
He had his team. They just needed to prepare.
~~~
Momo sighed, walking back to class.
When she turned the corner, she yelped as she bumped into someone taller than her.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she quickly bowed before straightening, faltering when she saw the person in front of her.
"Oh, you're…." 'Supposed to be in class,' she finished mentally.
"Hey," Shinsou greeted with a perpetually tired face. Meaning he didn't look any different than usual.
"I'm here to pick up the notebook for Izuku." He gently took the notebook from Momo's grip and started flipping through it. "Hm, he'll be pleased with this."
Momo felt a pleased flush crawl up her neck.
"Thanks," she smiled, feeling happy when he returned it with a smaller yet genuine one. "I'll make sure to send him next."
Shinsou nodded.
"Thank you for this, Yaoyorozu."
"It's my pleasure," she chuckled, "and please, call me Momo."
"Call me Hitoshi, then."
~~~
Shouta sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he waited for Hagakure. When he heard a knock on the door, he called them in, expecting to see a floating set of clothes.
Instead, his resident Problem Child walked with harsh eyes.
"Midoriya," he greeted, "I was expecting Hagakure."
"Yes," Midoriya hummed, "but you'll get me first."
'This kid…'
"I'm sure you're aware that I'm the real villain leader, and I thank you for not giving that away."
Shouta took a moment to look over the boy in front of him.
Where Midoriya was usually jittery and bouncing a knee— something to look into? —the boy now sat shocked still, his hands clenching firmly on a pen and notebook with his furrowed brows matching Shouta's.
"You said that Recovery Girl won't step in unless the injury is serious…does broken bones count as serious enough to warrant a teacher stepping in?"
Shouta looked into the snake-like eyes of his student and shivered .
"Yes," he finally said, giving his student a considering look after a brief silence. "Broken bones will warrant teacher intervention. Along with concussions, torn muscles, and other head-related injuries."
'It's always the ones you least expect.'
"Will the teachers interfere if the student," he used finger quotes, "'dies' right after the injury occurs?"
"…The teachers won't interfere if the student is declared dead at a maximum of five minutes after they receive the injury."
Midoriya nodded, writing that down. That's when Shouta realized it was the same notebook Yaoyorozu wrote in and figured it'd be better not to mention it.
'Damn kids.'
"I noticed that you didn't say that we couldn't bring in any transportation."
Shouta sighed, seeing where this was going. "If you have your license, then you're allowed to use the regarding vehicle."
Midoriya hummed, "are there any driving classes on campus?"
"Third years are required to take a driving course during the first semester."
"Are first years allowed to request driving lessons?"
"Yes," Shouta deflated, "you have to fill out a form and submit it to the principal's office."
"Hm, interesting…Thank you," Midoriya, on the surface, looked as if he were only superficially paying attention. But Shouta's been an Undergrounder for enough years to tell when a person's pretending to pay attention and when they actually are. "Now, for the villain's objectives. Several of them include specific civilians. Are those civilians counted as A or B, or are they in a separate category?"
"Objective civilians are counted as B type civilians."
"Wonderful," Midoriya cracked an eerily similar grin to him, "that's great."
Shouta watched the boy frantically write down information, and found himself looking forward to this year's display.
This event will be something never seen before.
~~~
Izuku hummed, absentmindedly clicking his tongue in Morse code to piss off Neito as they waited for Momo. It was during lunch, and Shoto had gone to the cafeteria to pick up some food.
'He's the best,' Izuku sighed dreamily, thinking of his friend. "I-uu?" Speaking of dreamy, he turned to an out-of-it Hitoshi.
"Hey, Hito," Izuku chuckled lightly, delicately pressing one of his mangled hands to the laid-down boy's forehead. " Bah ?" 'So cute…' " Very articulate," he giggled, "but you have to get up. Momo will be here soon, and we need to plan."
"Wh-um… F'ne," Hitoshi yawned, showing off his sharper-than-normal canines. Izuku thought they were cute, but he also knew Hitoshi had them sharpened for survival, and it was better not to bring them up. 'I'll just keep them in my fantasies.'
Speak of the devil, and they shall appear, as Momo quietly opened the door to the lab and walked in holding her phone.
"How many people have you got?" Neito and Mei came around to form a circle with chairs. It was perfect timing as Shoto walked in, holding three bowls.
"Wow, I see you didn't get anything for us," Neito scoffed, ignoring Izuku's playfully sharp look. "Only for your boyfriends?"
Shoto just looked puzzled. "I only got for Izuku and Hitoshi?"
Hitoshi groaned, smothering his look in Izuku's shaking shoulder. Their faces were bright red, provoking Momo to chuckle while Mei cackled.
"We get it, Lover Boys!"
Shoto made a cute little frown and shook his head, settling the two bowls on Izuku and Hitoshi's laps while he started picking at his own. Soba, Izuku should have known.
"Now, Momo, how many people did you get?"
Momo smiled and held out her phone to a notes app.
"Six. All listed here with their reasons."
They crowded around her phone, and Izuku smirked.
"That's perfect. Now, here's where we start."
He turned to a preoccupied Shoto.
"Shoto, I need you to ask me out."
Shoto choked.
Notes:
Sorry this is so short, I just didn't know what else to add and thought I left it in a good spot
Does this count as the comfort in the hurt/comfort tag? lmao
also also, I've gotten so many comments with theories from previous chapters, and I have to say, they're 1000% more smart and creative than my ideas lol so I'm sorry if the rest of this fic doesn't meet to those expectations
Chapter 13: Down Below We Go
Summary:
The beginning of plans upon plans
Notes:
TW: Mentions of kidnapping, explosions, amputation, breaking bones, shootings, betrayal, robbery, corruption, blackmail
As always, let me know if I missed anything
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku sat at the edge of his bed, pumping his weight. It gave him time to think about what happened earlier.
"Huh."
Hitoshi spat out his soba, looking frantically between the two. Izuku almost felt bad, but thriving on chaos, he only felt amused.
"Why him and not me?!" Hitoshi covered his mouth with his free hand as he stared wide-eyed, face steadily turning pink.
"Well, this is a plan, but I can ask you out too, Hito," Izuku replicated Aizawa's sharp grin and leaned off his chair into Hitoshi's space.
"Oh my god, is it finally happening?!" Mei loudly whispered to Neito, shaking his shoulders. The blond couldn't respond, too shocked to react as he watched the drama unfold.
"I-Izuku…" Hitoshi covered his face with his hands, feeling Izuku and Shoto leaning over his shoulder.
"After this assignment, we should go out. The three of us," Shoto said, smiling softly.
Hitoshi just made an unintelligible noise as Izuku hummed in agreement. On the surface, he presented casually, but inwardly, Izuku jumped for joy while simultaneously crying in the corner of his mind.
"I need Shoto to be my boyfriend for a plan, but you can join too, Hitoshi."
"O-Okay…"
Izuku smiled at the memory softly, dropping his weight and texting the group chat.
Monochromatic Boys
Green : hitoshi, i'm gonna need you to brainwash someone for me later, okay?
Purple : 👍
Pink : Izuku, Bakugou is calling everyone down for a 'Hero Meeting.'
Green : Coming!
Purple : tell me how it goes
Izuku shut his phone off and headed toward the elevator. The doors opened to reveal Shoto, Ashido, Tsu, and Kouda. He greeted them with a smile and stuck close to Shoto, making idle conversation with Tsu.
In the common room, Izuku and Shoto decided to sit close together on the smaller couch. Katsuki stood behind the wooden table and watched everyone congregate with angry eyes.
"Listen up," he grunted, "we're going to crush those villains into the dust, so you extras better be ready to haul ass."
Izuku held in a sigh. Katsuki was an excellent hero. He had the strength and the sense needed, but he was slightly too reckless to be a leader. And yes, he knew that was hypocritical. But Izuku always had dozens of plans; he just never aired them. Still, there was time for Katsuki to mature. He was already leagues better than middle school, so there was hope yet.
But for now, he was too inexperienced for what this exercise genuinely called for. Whoever thought that this would be a simple team match had already lost.
"I'm going to make you wish you were dead with this training, so if you can't handle it, don't come crying to me."
Shaking his head, Izuku saw Katsuki pointing to the boy beside him.
"Icy Hot, you're my second."
Complete silence as Shoto bluntly said, "No, thank you."
Izuku almost cackled when he saw Katsuki's befuddled face. But instead, he was distracted when he heard the front door squeak. So, Momo took his suggestion and sent Hagakure to spy.
Good.
"Hah?!" Katsuki sneered, grabbing Shoto's collar and pulling his boyfriend up. "What the fuck did you just say to me, Icyhot?"
"I said that I didn't want to be on your council."
"And why the fuck not?!" Katsuki was getting pissed the more Shoto riled him up. It was entertaining, but the scars decorating Izuku's body told him not to test his luck –
"I want to stay near Izuku, and I can't if I'm on the council and he's not."
–but Izuku had never listened to anyone, and he wouldn't start now.
Katsuki's answer of "Hah?!" was overshadowed by Ashido's squeal.
"Bro," Kirishima wiped away a tear, causing Izuku to sweat drop, "that's so manly."
"And since when were you on a first name basis?" Ashido got in Izuku's face, grabbing one of his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Uraraka and Iida's shocked faces.
Izuku made himself blush by thinking of explicit images he'd never tell anyone else about, but it got the job done as he smiled sheepishly.
"W-Well Shoto asked me out yesterday…"
"Really?!" After this exercise, Izuku had to talk to Hagakure because the girl's stuttering breathing was too obvious.
"Y-Yeah, but that's not important right now!" Izuku took his hand back and rubbed the back of his neck, "Kacchan still needs to pick his council, and since Shoto doesn't want to do it, he has to choose someone else."
With a hidden smirk, Izuku told Katsuki who he should have on his council. Filling it with those he had a plan for. As his surrounding classmates conversed, Izuku noticed Shoto looking in Hagakure's direction.
Izuku held his breath, not having told Shoto what he told Momo, and was relieved when Shoto looked away just in time for the girl to escape the room.
"I'll explain later," Izuku whispered in his boyfriend's ear, who just nodded and sat back to listen to the cacophony of noise.
~~~
That night, after laughing hysterically at the security feed of Momo's confrontation with Katsuki that Mei had sent, Izuku looked back down at his list of objectives.
- Betrayal
- Have one significant other betray another.
Check with Momo and Jirou.
- Explosions
- Blow up at least three buildings.
Mei can make explosives that they can set up the night before. They know where the assignment's taking place, and there wasn't a rule saying they couldn't scope it out.
- Robbery
- Rob a bank and take at least $1 million in cash.
That wouldn't be easy, but Hitoshi and Neito have been working out. They could split it between them and carry it out.
- Kidnapping
- Kidnap a hero.
Mineta. Hopefully, showing his teachers that the boy could easily be kidnapped would get him kicked out. It was a mystery why Aizawa hadn't expelled him the first day, but Izuku had some theories.
- Scandal
- Orchestrate a media scandal about one or more heroes.
Oh, that plays well with Mineta's kidnapping. Hitoshi will have to practice using his quirk for more fine-tuned things.
- Bribe
- Bribe a notable figure using any means.
They can use the money they get from the bank, so that must happen first.
- Informant
- Sell information to anyone.
They'll add that money to the bribe. Wait, does the payment have to be money? He'll have to ask Aizawa later.
- Plain sight
- Show an undisguised villain on television without getting caught.
It'll have to be Mei since no one knew her other than Iida, so they'll have to take out Iida before then.
- Council
- Kill a member of the hero council.
Oh, that's perfect. They'll kill Iida the first chance they get. It could be used as an example since Iida was one of his stronger classmates.
'I feel like I shouldn't be thinking that so casually,' Izuku snorted, then went back to planning. He was used to ignoring his more sinister thoughts and urges.
- Blackmail
- Blackmail a politician using any means necessary.
Izuku will come up with something for that later. Instead, he was more interested in the last four.
- Shooting
- Commit a shooting.
He knows he'll have to do that himself since he doubted anyone on his team would willingly do it. Not that he wanted to do this objective anyway, but he was gunning for a 100% completion rate.
'But how will I escape the heroes' notice? I could do it at night? But we'd have to get into the robot's programing…'
- Break
- Break a hero's bone.
'We can do this when we kill Iida. Maybe make it a scare tactic, who knows. But we'll have to kill the hero right after anyway for them to go to Recovery Girl.'
- Amputation
- Cut off a limb of the chief of police.
It's supposed to be a class B robot, but Izuku had another idea for a scare tactic.
Taking out his phone and ignoring the last objective— his favorite, really — Izuku called a specific contact.
"Hey, Mei. How would you feel about hacking into UA's database?"
Notes:
Sorry this is short too, but we've gotten a relationship development and discussion of plans!
I'm too stupid to come up with anything elaborate, so you'll get snippets of these
And if you saw that Izuku/Secret tag I added for a bit...it was Hitoshi! this is a throuple fic cuz I love them
(I named shoto pink cuz red + white = pink and I thought it was cute)
Chapter 14: Pop Goes the Weasel
Notes:
TW: Mentions of breaking bones, bombs, explosions, and crying. Knives and breaking and entering.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Toshinori knew that he wasn't the craftiest. For his entire career, he spent every day with the motto, "Hit it hard and hit it fast." But he didn't become the number-one hero for over a decade without using some brain.
So, he was smart enough to feel pure terror when he saw Nezu and Aizawa, his scariest coworker, cackling together first thing in the morning.
"Shou," Yamada, Toshinori's second scariest coworker—purely for the reason that he was married to Aizawa and that said a lot—walked into the viewing room with an exaggerated expression of fatigue. Toshinori moved out of the way to sit in one of the seats and saw the rest of his fellow staff shuffle in on tired feet.
That made sense considering it was four in the morning.
"Why are we here this early?" Instead of her usual hero costume, Kayama wore a beige cardigan over a spaghetti strap— yes, Toshinori knew what that was. He wasn't living under a rock —tank top and fluffy shorts that came up to her upper thigh.
The other teachers, minus Aizawa and himself, wore similarly comfortable clothes. The only reason he wasn't still in his pajamas was because Naomasa had called him out early to talk about All For One and Shigaraki.
"The villain team has elected to come set up early," Nezu hummed, clapping his paws together.
"Really?" Snipe—who never told Toshinori his real name— leaned forward to watch the screen with his fingers coming to tap along the bottom of his mask.
They saw two masked individuals drive along an empty street and stop in the city square.
"Who are they? They don't have any identifying traits, so I wonder if it's Jirou and Kaminari," Ishiyama mumbled, his deep voice rumbling.
"Oh," Nezu chuckled, "I'll let you all make guesses. For now, only me and Shouta have the play notes."
Toshinori side-eyed Aizawa before quickly looking away when the man started to turn in his direction.
"Ah, I wonder what Young Yaoyorozu will come up with," Toshinori commented, "I know she's a very intelligent person."
Aizawa just grunted, his eyes sliding back to the screens to watch the two figures, now joined by another, placing little boxes next to four buildings on either side of the city's tallest billboard.
"Does anyone know what they're placing down?"
No one answered him.
~~~
Nemuri raised a singular, perfect eyebrow when she saw the darkly dressed group enter the city a few hours after Yaoyorozu's group.
"Hey, who are they?"
Everyone looked at the screen she was pointing at and saw the group of seven pry open a sewer cover and jump inside.
"That would be Yaoyorozu's group," Shouta grunted, making her do a double take.
"But—I thought we saw them earlier?"
Shouta, the asshole, didn't answer her. Only smiling creepily—to others, not to her as she was used to it—and hiding his face in his ever-present scarf.
"Shouta, who did we see earlier?" Bless Hizashi, who was smart enough to know what questions to ask but too headstrong to leave them unasked. Just as she expected, Shouta didn't answer. Neither did Nezu, but the animal never did, anyway.
So the rest of them were left to question as they watched the heroes appear an hour later than the second group-Yaoyorozu's, apparently. The clock now read 6:02, and Nemuri was hungry for something exciting.
Positively thirsting for something to happen.
.
.
.
Except for whatever just happened.
"How were two hero students kidnapped so easily," Shouta grumbled, watching as two masked figures–and Nemuri reluctantly admitted to liking their masks and theme–dragged Iida and Hagakure into a van and then drove off to a random abandoned building.
They switched cameras to the ones in the building, as there were cameras in every aspect of the gym, and watched two figures sit the kidnapped students in chairs and tie them up. The third one was hiding on top of the billboard from earlier, watching the teams meet.
Nemuri couldn't hold her gasp when one of them removed their mask.
"Monoma?!" Kan clenched the arms of his seat, almost jumping out of it. "What's he doing there? I thought this was a 1-A exercise!"
They watched as Monoma changed from his previous mask to an almost identical one, except for the design on the front. This flower had more defined petals with a circle in the middle for a center.
"What's he doing?" She muttered, ignoring Chiyo's cane tapping and Yagi cracking his fingers. She even tuned out Ectoplasm's quiet muttering.
They watched as the other person—and Nemuri wondered who they were, as they clearly weren't in class 1-A—positioned a camera on a masked Monoma and a barely conscious Iida and Hagakure. They then walked out of the frame and grabbed a baseball bat.
Nemuri didn't look forward to finding out its use.
~~~
Hizashi knew he should feel more sick as he watched one of his students break another's arm after kidnapping them, but Hizashi had been a hero for a long time.
He was used to seeing fucked up things.
Like hearing a student's screams of pain due to their broken arm that another student broke with a bat. Which: points to creativity.
Hizashi sighed, sparing a glance at Shouta before seeing Chiyo scoff and shake her head. Nemuri looked a little green, and Hizashi couldn't blame her.
Yagi had grabbed a nearby trash can, and he really couldn't blame him.
"You may send in Recovery Girl, now," Monoma stated as he removed his mask. The livestream to the billboard had just ended, and the third person was running away, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and ignoring all of the destruction. "Iida and Hagakure are officially dead."
"Y-You," Iida murmured, delirious with pain. Hagakure was making crying noises, which caused Hizashi to turn away.
He couldn't deal with crying.
Chiyo scoffed and exited the room, an Ectoplasm clone following her to escort the two deceased and presumably carry Iida to the infirmary.
With Iida passed out in Ectoplasm's arms after a kiss from Chiyo, they left the building just as the third masked figure climbed into the room using a window.
Those skills were familiar.
"Wait…"
Confirming his suspicions, the figure peeled off their mask to reveal Shinsou Hitoshi from his homeroom.
"Oi, Shou," Hizashi side-eyed his husband, "you didn't tell me your kid was in this." The boy had certainly improved from the impoverished boy he met at the beginning of the year, but Hizashi didn't know how he got roped into this exercise.
Shouta grunted, but Hizashi knew his husband was pleased with his protege's skills, primarily since they were being used to terrorize his class.
"What the fuck was that," Kan blurted out, "Monoma , who shouldn't even be there, just broke your student's arm and you don't even care?!"
Hizashi remained silent, only giving Kan a look . He let Shouta deal with that one.
"Of course, I care," Shouta sighed, "but I was already told this would happen. And they got him to Recovery Girl in time, so it's in the rules."
"Plus," Nezu backed up with a cryptic smile, "it was one of the objectives."
"Really?"
They all watched as Yaoyorozu started leading the heroes and newly dubbed vigilantes. Hizashi couldn't tell what the girl was thinking, but he assumed she'd reveal her hand at some point. It was suspicious how calm she was, so Hizashi figured he'd let things play out since he couldn't interfere anyway.
"Yes. And they completed it perfectly."
~~~
Shouta watched in contemplative silence as one of the Problem Children (the entire group gave Shouta grey hairs) ran across the rooftops in the middle of the night. He was among the only ones up, the others being Nezu, who he doubted ever slept, Hizashi, and Yagi.
Hizashi was grading student essays and complaining while Yagi whispered into his phone, voice low and harsh. Shouta elected to ignore both of them, though he kept one ear open to listen to his husband's amusing comments and watched as Shinsou, his second Problem Child, arrived at an apartment building.
It was one of the notable buildings, even if it didn't seem like it compared to the bank or the mayor's office. This was the apartment building that all A-type civilians slept in.
Shouta watched Nezu zoom in on Shinsou, who had perched himself on the ledge of the flat roof. His student tilted his head behind his mask, nodded once, then tipped forward off the top.
Yagi spat out blood behind him, and Shouta saw out of the corner of his eye how Hizashi only looked up briefly before going back to grading. His husband was a diligent teacher, the opposite of him. Shinsou grabbed onto a window ledge just in time to prevent himself from falling, and Shouta felt proud.
After months of training, it was time to see how prepared his mentee was.
~~~
Hitoshi sighed, and his mask muffled the sound. He had waited until Mei informed him of the disabled alarm on the window to pull off that flashy move. He almost missed, but he grabbed onto the ledge in time.
"Damn, I wish you missed that," Neito chuckled in his ear.
"Shut the fuck up," Hitoshi grumbled as he opened the window. He slid it open as slowly as possible before climbing into the room. He landed in a kitchen, which was inconvenient as he needed to get to the safe in the office on the other side of the apartment.
He crept through the hall, taking extra care to stop just before the bedroom's open door. He peeked his head in to state his curiosity and cringed when he heard the loud snoring of the occupant.
Suddenly, Neito spoke in his ear. “Mori Ayano, class 2-I. Quirk: Bubbles. She can create giant bubbles from her mouth that can trap people. Currently acting as the mayor."
"Did you get that from Izuku?" Hitoshi mumbled as he shuffled past the door and to the safe.
"Mei, actually. She got a list of the city's politicians."
Hitoshi rolled his eyes as he made it to the office. It was next to the bedroom, so he had to take extra precautions not to wake the sleeping mayor.
Tiptoeing across the hardwood floor, he looked around the room but didn't see a safe.
"Neito, I can't find the safe."
"Have you looked in the closet?"
"What closet?"
Hitoshi looked behind him and saw a closet next to the door.
"Never mind."
"Yeah, thought so."
Hitoshi started imagining skinning Neito alive as he opened the closet doors and saw a heavy safe.
"Alright, what's the code?"
"How would I know?"
"Because you're on the fucking coms, Neito!"
Hitoshi froze when he realized he didn't hear the snoring anymore.
"Shi-"
Before he could react, Hitoshi found himself trapped in a bubble. Mori stood in the doorframe, looking tired yet angry.
"Well," the bubble distorted her voice, but Hitoshi could still hear the harsh edge to her words. "You won't be needing that code."
"Abort! Get out of there! The cops are on the way."
Mentally agreeing, Hitoshi tried to grab one of his knives as subtly as possible, but when he saw her eyes flick down toward his hand, he figured it'd be better to be quick. So, he grabbed his sharpest knife and sent it flying.
He hoped it'd pop the bubble, and his hopes were finally answered as the knife soared through the air and made his exit. He assumed the girl was too tired to harden it properly, as it was the middle of the night. But he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Mori yelped as the knife flew past her face, taking a few hairs as it stuck into the wall. Hitoshi used that moment to rush past her into the hallway. The study had no window, so Hitoshi had to return to the one he climbed in since it was already open.
He quickly jumped out and threw his capture scarf to catch himself on a lamppost and a nearby roof. He didn't stop running until he was a couple of blocks away and saw the rushing cop car drive in the direction he just came.
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Neito spoke in his ear.
"That was a shitshow."
Hitoshi huffed as he fell back, looking up to watch the stars.
They were very bright that night, with the moon giving the world an ethereal glow.
"Yeah...Guess we'll have to go with another Plan."
He couldn't wait to tell Izuku.
Notes:
I had to rewrite the entire ending cuz I didn't like what I had previously, so enjoy as it added an extra 300 words lmao
I tried to characterize Yamada as I've seen others describe him: seeing the world in more black and white, more intelligent than people think, less emotionally available than people think (with the crying and not knowing how to deal with that), and making him less dramatic than his present mic persona bcuz rn he's just Hizashi Yamada, not Present Mic, so he's not putting on a persona at the moment and instead he's reacting with logic and reasoning
also, he does care that Iida is hurt, but he knows that Recovery Girl is there and that it's all part of an exercise and since both Nezu and Aizawa know and are fine with it, he's fine with it too
also also, while I do love All Might bashing fics and fics where he's an idiot, I tried to make him realistic since he's been the symbol of peace for years which had to take some brain. so I made him know his shortcomings and be realistically smart, but not as smart as others who are known for their intelligence and technique
Chapter 15: Like Trying to Start a Fire with Matches in the Snow
Summary:
More looks behind the scenes and a true lesson on conviction
Notes:
TW: Car chases, guns, mention of experimentation (Nezu), mention of blood & limbs, bribes & threatening, implication of school shooting
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Momo sighed, adjusting her position in her seat. When the person across from her sat down, she forced herself to smile politely.
“It’s just you two?”
After the disaster that was last night, this meeting was even more critical. While she didn’t blame Hitoshi or Neito at all, their failure meant that her plans must succeed to keep up with Plan Beta.
Seeing Bakugou’s silent nod, she relaxed as much as she would allow herself to.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me. You didn’t tell anyone else about this, right?”
Bakugou sighed something fierce, which Izuku told her was a good sign. She just had to back him into the corner as fast as possible.
“Yeah,” the boy across from her grumbled with overwhelming reluctance. It almost made Momo giggle, but she held it in with a slight smile. “Only Shitty Hair as my witness.”
“Hello,” Kirishima smiled like usual until he remembered their situation. He tried to school his features into one more serious, though Momo saw the way his brow twitched as he frowned, “I mean-greetings.”
Usually, she’d at least feel amused, if not fond. But she was too wound up at that moment. So instead, she just continued with a neutral look on her face. It was the easiest mask for her to conjure.
“I know that I was vague in my letter, but to be frank: I’d like to form an alliance between our teams.”
When the two heroes paused, Momo took a second to glance at Neito, who’d been hiding his face from them all as he recorded the conversation for later.
“What could you offer us?” Bakugou finally spoke, falling hook, line, and sinker. Momo let herself reveal a smirk as she leaned across the table to whisper in his ear, quiet enough that Jirou couldn’t hear without risking herself.
“I’ll tell you who the traitor on your team is.”
When she saw his eyes widen, she knew she won.
“Would that suffice?”
It would; Because Bakugou hated traitors.
“Offer him something he can’t refuse, Violet; His pride.”
.
.
.
“Hey, Bakubro?”
Katsuki grunted, not looking Eijirou’s way.
“Why did you accept?”
His friend was silent for a moment before speaking.
“I want to win this with a completely loyal team.”
His pride indeed.
~~~
Mei cackled as Hitoshi swerved around a corner, the top of her body leaning out the window as she aimed her gun at the closest cop car chasing her.
“Come in Iris and Buttercup,” her boss’s voice rang clearly in her ear, “You’re coming up on Froppy and Vantablack. Make a sharp right.”
“On it,” Hitoshi grunted, stepping on the gas as he did what Izuku asked. She spotted their targets on the right as they shot down a side street, thankfully losing their long line of followers.
“I see them! Aim toward Froppy!”
This car chase was the most fun Mei had had in years. Not since she “accidentally” burnt down that support convention a few years ago when they didn’t allow her to participate because she was “too young.”
The brakes squealed on the pavement, and she watched Froppy narrowly escape their truck.
“Damn it, Buttercup! You missed her,” Mei whined, though they never planned on actually hitting her. Mei just wanted to say that to set her on edge, and it seemed to work as the frog girl’s wide eyes narrowed, her pupils constricting.
“Shut up, Iris,” Hitoshi grumbled, but Mei could see the fondness in his body language. He always said he was there against his will, but Mei knew that Hitoshi had trouble expressing his feelings.
His reaction to Izuku and Shoto’s proposal said enough.
“Oh, well,” Mei hummed, looking back at Froppy. She could see the girl’s partner, Skobeloff, hiding on a nearby roof. But he wasn’t crucial for the moment, so Mei ignored him. “Anemone only said to give a little warning. So, Hero,” she spat the word with real venom.
Despite working in the hero industry, she knew the high corruption in society. Heroes that abandoned those in need just to stand in front of the cameras, heroes that left those they didn’t agree with behind to die, heroes who pointed fingers at her just because she wasn’t seen as “normal” and almost got her arrested.
It wasn’t her fault that building gave her a lot of muscles; why was she punished just because other kids were insecure and picked fights with her?
She felt her eyebrow twitch behind her mask as her composure crumbled by the second, but she did as Izuku taught her and channeled that into her murderous intent. Mei knew it worked when Froppy shuddered at her words dripping in venom.
“Tell your leader that God’s Garden doesn’t take weeds too kindly.”
(Like a viper, Izuku had told her with almost glowing green eyes, waiting in the shadows before striking your prey.)
‘Yes,’ Mei thought as they drove off. When she felt something land on top of the car, she opened the sunroof and aimed her pistol at the hero, who wouldn’t give up.
“Sorry, but not really.”
‘A viper describes us perfectly.’
~~~
“Something’s going to happen,” Nezu said around his teacup, causing his staff to look at him weirdly.
That wasn’t an unusual occurrence. For his entire existence, he’d always been looked at weirdly.
Whether for his unnatural intelligence, being a talking animal, or as a science experiment–
Nezu had always been on the receiving end of strange looks.
“Buttercup and Carnation have already stolen the money,” Nezu revealed, switching to the cameras inside the bank to show what he said was true. The two boys held large bags full of the cash they’d taken from the vaults. Around them were the broken pieces of the civilian bots at the bank.
The teachers around him watched as Mr. Monoma Neito removed a box from somewhere Nezu couldn’t see on the cameras.
‘Interesting…’ he gleefully watched as the box that Miss. Hatsume created unfolded itself to become a larger box with wheels. ‘Very interesting…I’ll have to ask what else she’s created. I wonder how she fell under my radar?’
“Uhm, Nezu, Sir,” the principal shot his beady eyes over to Kan, one of his quarrelsome staff. “Yes, Kan?”
“What did you mean by something’s going to happen?” The man asked nervously, having lost his spark the more he saw his student committing crimes. How sad. “What else is going to happen at a bank robbery?”
“Shouta?” Nezu smiled at the cluelessness. To be the smartest in the room was always somewhat refreshing, if not slightly infuriating. At times, he rejoiced in being one step ahead of everyone else. And others, he raged at the incompetence of those around him.
Sometimes, Nezu wished to find someone on par with him. Shouta was close, but the man was too open-hearted for him. Shouta was an excellent pawn, but he needed an opponent. One to challenge and drive him.
And it seemed as if Midoriya Izuku was his leading contestant.
“Buttercup,” and Nezu was excited to finally have enough proof to bring to the school board to accept Mr. Shinsou’s admission to the Hero Course, “and Carnation wouldn’t have stayed this long if they weren’t planning something else.”
Nezu watched in rapt attention as the two stood on top of the building; Carnation—Monoma—mocked the heroes ruthlessly until Bakugou burst forward with his characteristic rage.
And he cackled in glee when the blood and limbs flew around and splattered the boys in seconds.
“See,” Shouta grunted, “they hid them in the camera’s blind spot.”
“Are-“ Toshinori looked green, clutching his trash can like a child’s favorite toy, “are they real?”
“No,” Nezu and Shouta spoke in unison, once again proving Shouta to be the closest to Nezu’s level, “the blood is too red to be real, and the limbs are too squishy.”
“Nicely said, Shouta,” he grinned, “now, let's see how the others are doing.”
Switching cameras to the jewelry store, they switched just in time to watch as Iris tasered Aoyama and Ashido.
Nezu couldn’t contain his laughter.
“…I can’t believe he’s laughing at his students getting tased,” Nezu heard Kayama mutter to Yamada. But the blond looked off into the distance and quietly replied, “I can.”
Oh, Yamada. Brighter than he’d like people to believe, yet too invested in the black & white of the world to aim higher. An Icarus unable to fly. Stuck watching the clouds he could have surely soared. It was a shame, but he always liked their tea time.
Shouta started switching between cameras rapidly, not saying anything.
“Ah, Aizawa, what are you looking for?” Ishiyama asked. But Shouta didn’t reply, finally stopping in a back alleyway.
There, they watched as one of the villains leaned against the brick, one of their feet planted on the wall behind them.
They wore the Anemone mask that Monoma donned for them.
“Ah, the real Anemone,” Nezu chuckled at his employee’s shocked faces. He couldn’t wait to see Toshinori’s face when the true leader’s nature was revealed.
Anemone waited in the alley for a few minutes until a panting student ran to them.
“A-Are you Anemone?”
Midoriya—for that was what Nezu knew for sure—hummed and took their leg off the wall. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and rose to his full height of 5’5. On the shorter end compared to his classmates, but his aura—which was palpable even through the screens—gave him a presence.
The student, wearing the suit Nezu had given them when he appointed them as Assistant Mayor of the city, looked ready to faint.
“L-Look, I don’t know what you want from me,” the student, Sasaki Akira, from class 3-D, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I don’t know anything.”
Midoriya sighed through his mask, uncrossing his arms and stepping– though it was more like stalking– toward Sasaki, who had to step back and bumped into the wall with a flinch.
“I think you do,” Midoriya drawled, tilting his head in an intimidation tactic Nezu knew well. He’d have to ask the boy where he learned his technique, maybe over some tea.
“I mean, the Assistant Mayor has to know something , right? Otherwise, how do you do your job?”
Sasaki whimpered, and Nezu could almost see Midoriya’s triumphant smile.
“One million dollars.”
“H-Huh?”
“One million dollars for you to get me the classified documents from the Mayor’s safe.”
Nezu saw Sasaki shiver, his eyes losing their nervous edge and landing steadily on Midoriya’s mask instead.
“You need it, don’t you?” Anemone shuffled closer to the third year, leaning up to talk in his ear. “Isn’t your mother sick? She’s in the hospital, right? Dying of lung cancer. It’s a shame, isn’t it? She still has so much to live for, yet you don’t have the money to get her surgery?”
“Wow,” Kurose spoke for the first time. Nezu almost forgot they were there, but he knew they didn’t enjoy this particular assignment. “I almost want to do it myself.”
“Hm, yes,” Nezu smiled when he saw Sasaki’s expanding pupils and the shallowness of his breathing. Checkmate.
Nezu knew what the boy would say even before he said it.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
The cackle that exploded out of him was euphoric.
~~~
Izuku smirked behind his mask as Sasaki ran away, the promise of 25% of the money for each of the four documents he brought. Tapping his com twice, he spoke to his teammates.
“Operation Sakura is a go. Buttercup, Carnation commence operation Wine.”
“Got it, Boss.”
Izuku chuckled at the nickname from his boyfriend as he made his way over to the school.
“Iris, start operation Holo.”
“Coming right up!”
With time on his side, Izuku casually strolled through the city alleys. There wasn’t anyone else as it wasn’t an actual city, so he wasn’t worried about running into any criminals or witnesses.
And the only other heroes out tonight were a little preoccupied.
“Boss, operation Wine is a go.” Buttercup was so helpful, Izuku told himself to give an extra reward later. “Vantablack is engaged,” Carnation grunted, the mic picking up the rushing wind.
“Good. Iris, how’s your project coming along?”
“Bots are in position. They were all in the building already in the basement so I just started their programming to go to their daytime positions.”
“Alright,” Izuku hummed, making it to the school in five minutes. He could see shadowed movements in the darkened windows.
Taking the gun out of his holster, he stared at it. His eyes honed in on it, the edges of his vision going black around the edges as he thought about what he was about to do.
But he was the only one who could do this. He’d never subject any of his friends to doing this. It was his responsibility.
But did he really have to go through with this? Was he really about to sacrifice his little morals just to win a school exercise? Was he really about to shoot children? They were robots, but what if they weren’t? What if they had names and faces and families that loved them–
“Izuku?”
Izuku shuddered.
He cocked the gun once before heading in.
“Operation Holo is a go.”
Notes:
Idk what I was doing with Nezu's pov, but I tried to make him cryptic/as intelligent as possible but as a non-intelligent person it's hard
anyway we're almost done! personally the last chapter is my favorite, but I may be biased lmao
Chapter 16: You Who Shines Gold and Breathes Smoke
Summary:
The aftermath of Project Holo...
Notes:
TW: Mental breakdown, mentions of blood & assault, Mineta
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Neito looked up sharply from his iPad at the sound of a crash. He watched Izuku stumble through the entryway, grab a potted plant on the side table next to their couch, and throw it at the wall with a roar.
"Woah!" Neito jumped up, watching helplessly as his boss, his–though reluctant to admit– friend , destroyed the room and himself. Izuku's eyes were wide and unfocused, his mask thrown near the front door.
The blond boy didn't know what to do. He was the only other person at the base; Mei and Hitoshi were busy with their guest, and Momo and Shoto were at the hero base. It was up to him to calm Izuku down, and he was panicking because he didn't know how.
"Izuku! Stop for a moment!" Neito wrapped his arms around Izuku's middle just as the boy had raised his arm to throw one of Mei's mystery inventions. He knew the girl wouldn't be furious if Izuku broke it in his breakdown, but she wouldn't be unaffected.
"Izuku, please talk to me," whispering into Izuku's neck seemed to work as he burst into tears. 'At least he's not wrecking the base anymore,' Neito thought wryly. They sank to the floor in tangled limbs and heaving sobs.
"There, let it out," Neito started rubbing his hand up and down his friend's back, causing Izuku to shuffle around until he could hide his face in Neito's neck. They started rocking together as Izuku's sobs continued.
"I know we're not the closest, and I still think 1-B is way better than 1-A," eliciting a watery chuckle between calming sobs, "but you're not only my boss, but also–very reluctantly–my friend. Please tell me what's wrong."
Izuku's sobs eventually tapered into sniffles until the boy leaned back and wiped his eyes and runny nose.
"I'm a monster, Neito."
The blond boy blinked. But in his moment of processing that information, Izuku continued with his spiel.
"I've known I was a monster since my first moment of consciousness. I looked around me and thought, 'Everyone is different from me.' I was alone in the world. Only three years old, and I could understand that I was fundamentally wrong . There was something different about me that no one could ever explain. Yet I didn't realize I should hide that part of myself."
Neito felt sick.
"That didn't change when I turned four and was quirkless," Izuku let out a bitter laugh, so unfamiliar from the normally happy-yet-sarcastic boy. "I only learned that to survive, I had to be quiet."
He hummed with faraway, misty eyes.
"When I was six, I saw three older boys picking on this young girl. My first instinct was to grab a large rock from an alleyway and hit the ring leader's head with it," his smile was so fragile that Neito could have shattered it with a single breath, "I smiled at the blood that splattered, and it grew when the two boys had to carry their leader away. When I turned back to the girl, she looked at me in such fear . More fear than when she looked at those bullies."
"I ran away. When I got home to an empty house, my mother working long shifts to support her useless son," he spat the word out with venom, "I went into the shower, and I cried. I cried for a long time, and I vowed never to give in to my urges ever again. I'd hide myself away to never be seen as the monster that I am again. I'd put up a mask of innocence and let myself be poked by pitchforks in order to avoid being burned at the stake."
Shaking his head, Izuku tried to give Neito a comforting smile, yet his red-rimmed eyes and shaky mouth had the opposite effect.
"I just-I guess this exercise made me face how horrible I really am."
~~~
Hitoshi paced his room holding his phone. He knew he was panicking, but that came with debating whether he genuinely wanted to call this person.
Deciding to give them the benefit of the doubt and reassure himself that she said he could call at any point, he took a deep breath and pressed 'Call.'
"Hello?"
"U-hm. Hi, Momo," Hitoshi muttered, already regretting his actions.
"Oh, Hitoshi! Good morning."
"Good morning. I have a problem."
"Oh no, what is it?"
"Izuku had a breakdown last night and I wasn't there for it-"
"Is he okay?" The girl sounded highly concerned, and it made Hitoshi relax a little. At least he knew the girl was a good friend.
"I don't know, and I don't think so," he sighed, sitting on his bed with his face hidden in his knees.
"I know he needs me, but he keeps saying he's fine. I want to comfort him, but I feel bad for not being there and like I need to apologize or that I don't have the right to comfort him since I wasn't there. Then there's Shoto, who hung up on me after I told him. I just feel like we're breaking apart after only a week of being together."
"Well, take this one step at a time. First, you shouldn't feel guilty for not being there because you had an important mission that he sent you on. If you abandoned that mission half way, he never would have forgiven you."
That was true. Izuku was incredibly self-sacrificing. He'd break himself over and over again to get the mission done. If Hitoshi had jeopardized it by checking on him, Izuku would never forgive either of them.
And it was only possible for Hitoshi to know what had happened once it was too late. He was busy kidnapping the grape boy and putting Plan Wine into action with Mei.
Hitoshi crept around the corner and spied on his target. The short boy was slowly walking down the sidewalk and trying to stay under the lit street lamps, shaking in his boots as he kept looking back and forth.
What a coward.
Clicking the choker on his neck, he quietly cleared his throat before screeching. Like planned, his voice came out high-pitched like a girl.
The "hero" looked over and took the bait with the fervor of a shark in blood-infested waters.
"D-Don't worry, miss, I'll save you!"
Mineta ran into the alleyway armed with two balls, but that wasn't enough to beat Hitoshi's capture weapon. "H-Hey?! Aizawa?!"
"No," Hitoshi clicked the voice changer back to the deep setting that hid his honest voice. "I'm here with an offer, Mineta Minoru."
The short boy shrieked in fear, face pale and sweaty as he struggled in the scarf. "You're one of those flower freaks!"
Hitoshi chuckled, made intimidating by his rich voice. "Yes."
He let his words from before sink in.
"Wh-uh-what offer?"
"Hm. You see, I have a certain picture of you that I'm sure you wouldn't want to get out." Hitoshi held the photo from his back pocket and smirked at the shaking boy.
Seeing the photo, Mineta gasped and turned a little green.
"Th-That's photoshopped!" His lisp made it a little hard for Hitoshi to understand, but that didn't quell any less of his anger at the boy's audacity.
"Well, even if it is, no one can prove it. Plus, who'd believe you? Who'd take your side?"
Seeing the tears in Mineta's eyes, Hitoshi decided to wrap this up quickly.
"So the way I see it. You can either cooperate, and this picture never sees the light of day…or run away like a coward and have your entire career ruined when I post this."
Hitoshi gave it a few seconds, semi-patiently waiting until Mineta sniffled and muttered an acceptance.
"Very good," Hitoshi cooed, enjoying the boy's flinch, then immediately feeling like an asshole. But then he remembered that Mineta spoke lewdly about Eri, his little sister in everything but blood, and decidedly didn't feel bad anymore.
Hitoshi smiled at the memory of the tied-up boy remaining quiet on the way to their second location, where Mei was waiting. They walked into the building–well, he dragged Mineta–and Hitoshi had no problems tying the boy to a chair.
He didn't even try to escape once; he was too worried about the picture getting leaked.
"Now, Mineta. I'm going to need you to answer a few questions." Hitoshi stood beside Mei behind the camera, looking between the recording and the real boy.
Mineta said nothing, only sniffling and nodding his head.
"Can you state your name?"
"Mi-"
Just like that, the boy went under. His eyes went white, allowing the purple-haired boy to come closer to take off the ropes. It'd look better on camera.
Then, all Hitoshi had to do was tell Mineta to answer his questions honestly and leave Mei to edit. She was a genius with any and all technology; video editing was no issue for her.
Though there might be an explosion for some reason.
"You're right," Hitoshi sighed into the phone, leaning back to lay against his pillows. They were almost too soft, but he wasn't complaining.
"See? Now, what was his breakdown about?"
"...He called himself a monster, Momo…After Operation Holo, he came back to base and started breaking things. Neito managed to calm him down, but his eyes were still kind of hollow when I got back. He just went back to the hero base without doing more than muttering to himself."
"Oh, Izuku…"
"He's been shouldering such a burden for a long time, and I think going through with Operation Holo was his breaking point. I know that he wouldn't have let any of us go through with it either, so he took that onto himself and tipped over the edge. It hurts to see him like this, Momo, does that make me selfish?" he admitted.
"No, I understand how you're feeling. It can be hard to watch a loved one suffer like that and not know how to help."
"Can you try talking to Izuku? I know he appreciates your company. And Shoto, too. He won't answer my calls and I don't know if it's because he's busy or just doesn't want to talk to me."
"Alright, I'll talk to them for you. But really, as their-"
Momo paused, and Hitoshi was about to ask her what was wrong until she spoke again with a different tone, something much lighter that indicated someone else was in the room.
"I'm going to have to call you back at a later time. But I suggest just talking to them. Communication is key in a relationship."
They murmured their goodbyes until she hung up, and Hitoshi languished in bed with his arm over his eyes.
"Izuku, what can I do to help you?"
~~~
Momo ensured no one was around when she knocked on Izuku's door.
"Come in."
His voice was muffled a bit by the door, but she could hear the sheer exhaustion in his voice. She felt terrible and hoped she could provide at least a semblance of comfort to her friend. Going into the room, she watched the boy continuously throw kicks into the air.
She didn't speak until she closed and locked the door behind her.
"Izuku," she was hesitant, but since the start of this exercise, she's felt more sure of herself than ever before. So, she put on a brave face and faced her friend and leader.
"Izuku," Momo stood firmer, her voice a touch louder. Loud enough to get the boy to stop and drop his foot onto the ground.
"Talk to me," she begged, coming closer to look the boy in the eye. His face was closed off and cold, but looking into his eyes–the windows to the soul, as people have said–she could see the overwhelming conflict there.
"I don't like the things I do, Momo," the boy confessed, falling to his knees and causing her to kneel before him. "The more plans that go off without a hitch, the more I like seeing my friends and classmates fall deeper into despair because of me, the more I feel as though I can never be called a hero."
Momo shifted to one knee, grabbing Izuku's hand and holding it in both of hers. She made him look her in the eyes. Made him see her sincerity.
"Midoriya Izuku, you are the one most worthy to be called a hero. You've shown me that most heroes just do it for fame. That all they care about is the camera. But you've never once put any thought into that. Out of everyone, you're the truest hero here because you care about people so much that it hurts you. You call yourself a monster, but I see someone who's had to claw their way through mud just to live."
Tears dripped down Izuku's cheeks as Momo smiled.
"Everything you did. Everything you do. It's all for the people, and that's why I follow you. Now, come on. The climax is soon, and we need you to be at your best."
She smiled when he chuckled, pulling himself up to stand tall.
"Thank you, Momo. I may not see myself as good, but I'll be a leader that makes you proud."
"Izuku, you don't have to be good."
She unlocked the door and opened it to an empty hallway.
"You just have to be true to yourself."
Notes:
Just wanted a chapter to show that Izuku is deeply affected by what he's had to do, especially for Project Holo, he just puts up a mask of sarcasm and snark and only lets out his true feelings when he feels safe/can't hold it in anymore. So yes, he had a breakdown after shooting kids, even if they were fake and just robots.
Hitoshi & Momo friendship 🤝 Izuku & Momo friendship
I just love Momo and think she should be included
Chapter 17: We Thought the World of You...
Summary:
It will end how it will start...with a bang
Notes:
TW: Mentions of mental breakdown, discussion of humanity, talk of past bullying & harassment, implied (fake) cheating, internal panic & thoughts of suicide, explosion.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shouta frowned into his capture weapon as he watched his number one Problem Child break down. He didn’t even care for his coworkers' reactions to the reveal of Midoriya being Anemone, though he’d have to ask Hizashi for his thoughts when they got home.
“I’m not surprised that it’s your ‘Problem Child’ as the evil mastermind,” Kan scoffed, “with Bakugou as the hero leader, it didn’t make sense that it was truly a random selection.”
“Oh, Kan,” Nezu chuckled darkly, “If you really thought the selection was random, then you may need a few supplementary classes.”
Shouta wished he could have enjoyed Kan’s sputtering, but he was busy hissing to himself as Midoriya started to cry.
“Midoriya, my boy…” Shouta finally turned away from the screens to see Yagi’s stricken face. He looked as if someone had killed his dog. But Shouta didn’t know if that was because of Midoriya’s breakdown or the revelation that he wasn’t as innocent as he seemed.
“I’m a monster, Neito.”
Midoriya’s shaky voice made Shouta narrow his eyes. What made a person a monster? Was it a lack of empathy? Too much empathy? Will and conviction? Or could they even decide that themselves–Was it just a title given by others?
Shouta didn’t know.
But what Shouta did know was that Midoriya Izuku was one of the most complicated people he’d ever met. The boy could do the cruelest things, then turn around and be kind. He was a genius who planned this entire event yet did the most idiotic, reckless things that threatened his safety. He could look you in the eye as he broke your bones, then cry when his mother hugged him. He was overly complicated yet also simple.
Nothing was more apparent to Shouta that Midoriya wasn’t a monster, nor was he an innocent saint, as the class seems to think.
No.
Midoriya Izuku was nothing but fully human: The worst thing to be.
“I wonder if you can call Midoriya ‘evil’ now, Kan,” Hizashi said snidely, and Shouta loved him for it. Hizashi knew of Shouta’s distaste for Kan’s general worldview that tended to ignore anything in the gray area. At least Hizashi acknowledged it, even if Shouta wished his husband looked more at the nuances.
“Okay, he’s not evil, but is he really hero material?”
Shouta felt immensely angry on behalf of his student, who had proven time and time again to Shouta that his initial heroic assessment was wrong. He was about to rip Kan a new one, but was pleasantly surprised when Yagi spoke up with a cold voice.
“Mind your words, Kan. Young Midoriya is going to be one of the greatest heroes because he thinks like this. He thinks like villains, but he’s kind and courageous enough to strive on the heroic path. He understands the horrors of the world better than most and has the intelligence to make a true difference to the world. I was a temporary solution to a prolonging problem, and I realize now that I wasn’t completely correct in my approach to be the Symbol of Peace.”
After all that Shouta had worked with Yagi, he was slightly ashamed to admit that he had forgotten that it took some sense to become a global symbol for years. Shouta spent so long on the underside of society that he forgot what it looked like on the surface.
‘I guess I owe Yagi an apology for doubting him.’
“But that boy is on his way to becoming a better version of me. No,” The man shook his head. “Of becoming the best version of himself.” Yagi stood tall, and despite his sunken face and thin frame dwarfed by his garish yellow suit, he looked every bit a hero as he’d always been.
“He is the most humane person I’ve ever met, so don’t say he’s anything but that.”
~~~
As Izuku sat in the interrogation room, playing with cuffs he knew he could escape from by dislocating his thumbs, he tried to channel–as Mei called it–‘Bastard Cat Energy.’
He sneered smugly; he spoke arrogantly; he riled Katsuki up—everything Neito would do with the bonus of Hitoshi’s sarcasm.
It worked out when his childhood something had to run from the room to empty his stomach. It made Izuku very pleased yet very sad.
Katsuki had tormented Izuku for years. He burned permanent scars on his body and burrowed himself underneath Izuku’s skin for the rest of his life. Always there whispering in the back of his ear his worthlessness and freakishness.
Sometimes, Izuku wondered if he should have just jumped like Katsuki said. That wasn’t the first time someone told him to kill himself. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so flippant about it most of the time. But it was the first time Katsuki said it, and it seemed as if the boy hadn’t regretted saying it at the time.
Sometimes, Izuku wondered if he should have jumped just to ruin Katsuki.
But then Izuku felt a deep, piercing sorrow that made him kick everyone out to return later. He laid his head between his arms and rested his forehead against the metal table, ignoring any requests to talk.
Kacchan was his best friend, his brother in all but blood. Yet, he let the pressure of society get to his head. Instead of sticking to his ideals, he let himself be molded by those around him. It hurt Izuku to his core that Kacchan was forced into a role he should never have been in, forced to become a boy who didn’t know what to do in life other than aim for an out-of-reach goal.
That was why they were similar, Izuku reflected. They both aimed for the stars and refused to be weighed down on earth by the force of nature.
It saddened him because Izuku wondered if he could have changed it somehow. Suppose he showed Katsuki his true self instead of wearing a mask. He wondered if Katsuki would have accepted him and wouldn’t have seen him as another of society’s statistics. Wondered if they could have remained brothers instead of what they’d become.
Bully and victim. Rival and rival. Strangers to brothers to enemies to strangers once more. But they weren’t even strangers. No, it was worse. Because they still orbited around each other, still knew each other more intimately than anyone else, yet drifted apart like the stars they aimed for.
Izuku knew Katsuki liked ginger tea, but he saw the boy drinking rooibos in the dorms. He knew that Katsuki listened to metal music, yet he heard the boy listening to rock and roll during his workout.
Izuku knew Katsuki like an old glove. He remembers the shape, yet it didn’t fit anymore.
Two sides of a coin. One, yet never facing the same direction.
~~~
Eijirou looked over Midoriya critically.
“Why did you betray us?”
The green-haired boy sat up straight, not hunched over like he sat in class. It gave Eijirou a weird sense that the power shifted, but he didn’t want to look into it. He was asking the questions: he was in charge.
“I can’t exactly betray you when I wasn’t with you since the start.”
Eijirou clenched his fist.
“Why are you acting so differently? Are you just acting? Method acting?”
Midoriya chuckled, leaning his head back to look through his bottom lashes. He looked ethereal with the fluorescent lights shining down on the back of his head, shadowing his face and showcasing the green in his dark hair. It made his eyes glow.
“This is who I really am. I’m not really that shy little kid you all know. That was just an act, and you were all fooled. How funny.”
‘So the Midoriya who was my friend was fake?’
“I bet you’re thinking that our friendship was fake, right?”
‘How could he-’
“But I wouldn’t say it was fake,” Midoriya hummed, leaning back so his chair tipped back. His cuffed hands were pulled taut against the table, so he kept them in front of him. “More like built on a falsehood.”
“That’s saying the same thing!” Eijirou was getting tired of Midoriya's nonsense. “Fine, whatever. This doesn’t matter.”
Eijirou sent a glare that the other returned with a head tilt and a polite–if not satisfied–smile.
“Just tell me, how did you get Momo to join you?”
“Oh, that was easy. We just spoke, is all. Violet had something to prove, and I know she’s incredibly capable. There was no one else that could have filled the role such as her. She even managed to complete one of our objectives by saying that it was for her fake team! Hah,” Midoriya snorted so hard he almost fell forward.
“And what were some of your objectives?”
“Eh, you wouldn’t wanna hear them,” Midoriya stated like a little shit. How the boy could sound so cheerful with eyebags deeper than Mr. Aizawa’s was a mystery. “Though, I’m sure if I told you about the betrayal objective you’d see why I really needed Momo.”
“And why’s that?”
Midoriya hummed, not looking at Eijirou but instead at the ceiling.
“That objective was for two people to betray their significant others. So Momo and I agreed. Plus, I always have Buttercup.”
Eijirou’s blood froze, then roared in his veins like lava.
“You’re cheating on Todoroki?!”
How could Midoriya do that?! Todoroki was Midoriya’s biggest fan. He was Midoriya’s world. Midoriya broke him out of his shell and then did something like this that threatened to make him build higher walls.
It was disgusting.
Midoriya didn’t speak for a moment, only smiling at him like he was an enigma. As if Midoriya was in on some big secret that Eijirou couldn’t understand no matter how hard he tried.
“You don’t know anything.”
After that, Midoriya refused to answer any more questions.
~~~
Izuku settled in his chair with a certain feeling blossoming in his chest. It was light and airy, and Izuku had never doubted the world more.
If this was what it felt like to be called inhuman, then he didn’t want to be a part of them.
It felt freeing to be himself, even if a small (large) part of him told him that he was making a mistake and that he just lost all of his first friends in years. But the other part of him was so high on adrenaline and relief that when Uraraka came into the room, he didn’t hesitate to send her a smirk.
She didn’t falter, and Izuku loved her for it, for her strength. He was kind of sad that he had to go against her like this, but she’d never truly forgive him if he didn’t go all out.
“De-Izuku.”
“That’s a great start.”
Izuku was fully committed to playing up his Bastard Cat persona. He even decided to add Shoto’s dry wit just because he could.
He loved his boyfriends so much, even if it’s only been a week.
“Izuku,” Uraraka continued like he didn’t interrupt her, “why didn’t you include me?”
That actually pulled him short for a second.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean. Why didn’t you include me on your villain team? I would have joined you. I would have moved the heavens and the earth for you, Izuku. You’ve inspired me so much to become a better hero. A better person. We all rely on you all the time. I rely on you, always. Why didn’t you rely on me for once?”
All that relief, that airy feeling, came plummeting down.
“It’s not that I didn’t think about it,” he muttered, looking down at the table to avoid her intense gaze. “I just didn’t think you’d like the real me.”
She was quiet, taking that in with a nod until she whispered.
“Izuku, I thought- no - think the world of you. I thought we’d always fight side by side. Friends forever. But you didn’t realize that I’d love you no matter who you are. Because you’re important to me, Izuku. So, so important. I love you. And I’m sorry that you didn’t know that before.”
She left, and Izuku was alone.
Again.
That was how it always ended up. He was born alone, and he’d die alone.
Just like how he thought he would.
~~~
Shoto waited until the last group of heroes left the agency to head back in. He knew he was alone–sans Izuku in the holding cell–as few remaining heroes were left.
They had some time, the others in his ear constantly communicating.
“Just grabbed Akamura in his office. He still doesn’t know that he replaced a bot, he just thinks this is for extra credit.”
Shoto heard a small voice coming through Momo–Violet’s– mic, going, “Wait, what?” But Shoto ignored it as he went to grab Izuku.
When he got to the interrogation room, the atmosphere felt wrong.
“Izuku?”
The boy didn’t lift his head from where he slumped forward. Shoto would have thought he was asleep if not for the shallow breathing causing his back to rise up and down too fast.
“Izuku, what’s wrong?”
“Is Iz-Anemone okay?”
“I can finish this early if he’s not.”
Shoto took off his com briefly and let it hang around his ear. He knelt next to Izuku and tilted his face up.
He wasn’t surprised to see the wetness in his eyes. Despite everything, he would always be an easy crier.
“Hey, Izuku. I’m right here, okay? I’ll be here forever, so just come back to me.”
His boyfriend–and wasn’t that a novel term? He not only had one, but two boyfriends? Endeavor would piss his pants–blinked a few times to let the drops roll down his cheeks.
“Shoto,” he murmured, leaning toward him like a flower in the sun.
“Hey, sweetheart.” Shoto loved pet names because they never failed to get a response out of Izuku and Hitoshi. He wasn’t sadistic, no matter what they said . He just thought their blushing faces were cute.
“What’s wrong?”
As Izuku searched for an answer, knowing Shoto wouldn’t take an ‘I’m fine,’ the younger teen got to work on removing the handcuffs. He took out the keys from one of his pockets, having swiped it on the way in, and clicked it in.
“No one’s going to forgive me after this. They’ll never look at me the same way again, and I don’t know how to feel about it. No, I feel excited. That I’ll be able to live my true self. But I feel guilty for feeling excited, so I feel like I can’t go through with it even though I know I have to and want to. I planned this, so I have to see it through.”
“You don’t, though. You don’t have to do this big finale that you’ve been wanting, you’re allowed to finish this any way you want. But I know that you’ll always be disappointed if you don’t. And I don’t want that for you. I want you to look back at this moment and feel proud of yourself for all that you’ve accomplished.”
They sat in silence, only the slight buzzing near Shoto’s ear.
“I love you, Shoto.”
It was Shoto’s turn to blush.
“I love you too. Now, you go get changed for your big plan. I’ll finish here.”
Izuku smiled at him fondly and leaned down for a kiss.
It was sweet, sweeter than the matcha candies his mother gave him whenever he visited.
As Izuku left the room, Shoto got to work.
He put his com back in and said, “Finish up in the next five minutes. I’m about to start Operation Steam.”
Ignoring the muttered complaints of Neito and the confirmation of Hitoshi that he was on his way, Shoto smiled.
No matter how cold the room became, it couldn’t extinguish his burning feeling of accomplishment and pride.
And when Izuku returned with Hitoshi, matching jumpsuits all, not even the ensuing explosion could bring him down.
~~~
“Izuku! Reveal yourself!”
“Oh Kacchan,” Katsuki looked at the top of the rubble, seeing the worst part of himself wearing the Anemone costume with a face mask. Except it only covered half his face; it was in the shape of a sanitary mask but all black with the Anemone design covering the mouth.
It left the toxic green eyes free to stare at him with unhidden glee.
“Isn’t it time you grew up?”
Notes:
We're finally almost done! Last chapter on Sunday, I'm excited. Thanks to everyone who's stuck around and who'll read this in the future.
I love the scenes with Uraraka and Todoroki, I just thought Izuku needed to hear those things
Also, sorry if Aizawa's internal thoughts on humanity and what makes someone a monster aren't that coherent or seem childish. It's cuz I'm childish, and that was the best I could do with just spewing my thoughts out onto a page.
Also also, I tried to give Izuku and Katsuki's relationship canon level of symbolism and introspection without making it inherently romantic, but there's definitely still some romantic undertones that I didn't intend to add (I don't rlly ship them cuz I like them more as chaotic brothers/bffs but I can't deny their chemistry and the character development in recent chapters) but like in this they're 100% platonic and their relationship is just dramatic (IZUKU DOESN'T LOOK AT KATSUKI ROMANTICALLY HE'S WITH SHOTO AND HITOSHI THERE'S NO CHEATING IN ANY WAY sorry I just needed to say that)
Chapter 18: Drowning in Fear that's Just Like You
Summary:
The end...or is it?
Notes:
TW: Derealization/depersonalization (idk which one this is, so I'd look out for both), mentions of bullying, assault, suicide & suicide-baiting
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Katsuki breathed heavily, his vision tunneling in on the three before him and ignorant of his two companions.
They were the only two he trusted not to betray him. When Creation Bitch told him that there was a traitor in the heroes, he clung to Shitty Hair and Pink Cheeks with a fervor that scared him.
He clung to certainty and let it be his downfall as the rest of his teammates were dead.
“Isn’t it time you grew up?”
When Izuku said that, Katsuki couldn’t hold back his roar.
“You’re the one who needs to grow up!”
Although Izuku’s hood hid his hair and eyebrows, Katsuki could vividly imagine his inquisitive expression–exactly like Auntie Inko had taught him.
“You hid behind a mask like a coward, and now you expect anyone to trust you? How fucking naive can you be?”
When Katsuki sucked in a breath, for a moment, everything was still. The next, he felt like he was watching his body from an outside perspective.
“Oh, Kacchan,” Izuku cooed, except, it wasn’t Izuku. No. The one wearing the Anemone mask lifted the hood to reveal untamed purple locks. His voice-changer fell to his chin to show his wide smirk.
“Aren’t you the naive one here?”
The one on the left of him reached up and took off his mask to reveal the real Izuku grinning in victory.
“Bakugou, blast the two next to you hard enough to count it as a kill but not hard enough to harm them permanently.”
He was a prisoner in his own body, unable to break free as he watched himself blast his last two teammates into the rubble. They put up a decent fight, but Katsuki knew they were no match for him due to their exhaustion.
It only took a few minutes for them to be declared dead, and then they were gone, taken away by two Ectoplasm clones.
Awareness kicked back into Katsuki, and he sucked in a deep breath. He barely even noticed when three more masked people joined them in the rubble as he was too busy holding his stomach.
“Aw, what’s the matter? Not fun when you’re not beating up the useless old Deku?”
It was the real Izuku speaking that time, having stepped around Troll Doll–who had taken out his green contacts and put on his Buttercup mask–and on Katsuki’s level.
Katsuki couldn’t speak, though not for a lack of trying. Yet the only sounds able to escape his mouth were harsh pants.
“Do you need a reminder?”
“Kacchan, won’t we be heroes together?”
He blanched.
Fuck.
That was Izuku’s voice, yet his mouth didn’t so much as twitch from its cruel smile—an imitation of Katsuki’s. No doubt, just to spite him.
“K-Kacchan please stop!”
“Don’t hurt him!”
“I p-promise not to follow you anymore–please leave me alone!”
Katsuki remembered these moments.
He remembered the burning hand he shoved into Izuku’s face. He remembered the tears that caught on Izuku’s lower eyelids. He remembered the feeling of pride when he saw Izuku’s defeated limps home.
Now, all he felt was shame.
“St-”
“Kacchan, I thought we were gonna be heroes together?”
“Stop-”
“I thought we’d be like All Might together?”
“Sto-”
“Why did you abandon me, Kacchan?”
“STOP IT!”
Katsuki couldn’t see.
He couldn’t hear.
He couldn’t breathe.
“Stop it, stop it, stop it!”
“You left me, Kacchan.”
“I didn’t!”
“You hurt me, Kacchan.”
“No!”
He spun around.
All he could see was green.
Green hair.
Green eyes.
Green bruises.
Green, green, green.
“Kacchan, why did you hurt me?”
“IT’S NOT MY FAULT!”
“Yes it is.”
Katsuki looked up into the cold, toxic stare of his regrets.
“It’s your fault I jumped, Katsuki.”
He didn’t mean it.
“Bakugou Katsuki of the Hero Team has been killed. The Villain Team wins.”
Katsuki looked down, tears blurring and dripping onto the ruble when he saw the red splotch on his costume.
He saw Izuku’s sickly sweet smile before the smoking gun. The boy’s hands didn’t even shake, unlike Katsuki’s, which rose to the fake wound on his abdomen. That was all before his vision blacked out.
Unconscious before his head even hit the ground.
I’m sorry, Izuku.
~~~
Izuku sighed, his chin cradled by his palm as he looked out the window.
Before he started planning, he knew that things would never be the same or that his classmates would never see him as a friend again.
But then Uraraka bounded into the room, bandages wrapped around her head despite Recovery Girl’s healing, and came over to his desk.
“Good morning, Izuku.”
Izuku stared at her, shocked, before a small, genuine smile grew on his face.
“Good morning, Ochako.”
She returned his smile to him tenfold before going over to Tsu. The girl got glass in her tongue when she went to the apartment building, so her mouth was a little swollen.
Despite all the stares, Izuku looked down at his desk and felt warmth in his chest.
‘Maybe not everything is ruined.’
“Alright Hell Spawn, sit down.”
Everyone sat at their desks, and Izuku noticed the one behind him was empty.
‘Does that mean?’
“We’ll be talking about what happened during the assignment, but first, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, Mineta is not here. He has been expelled–”
Izuku smirked at all of the cheers, and he even saw Mr. Aizawa’s slight smile before he buried it in his scarf.
“Ahem. As I was saying, he has been expelled. Please say hello to your new classmate, Shinsou Hitoshi.”
Izuku brilliantly smiled as Hitoshi walked into the room, and Izuku couldn’t resist blowing the boy a kiss.
“Bro, what about Todoroki?” Izuku turned and saw multiple of his classmates looking at him in distrust. Iida looked especially outraged; face scrunched like he wanted to lecture Izuku about his immoral actions. Izuku just gave them all a slight smirk, finding their recoils amusing.
“I have two hands, you know.”
Kaminari got it first, looking between Hitoshi and Shoto’s fond smiles and red faces.
“Oh my god, Midoriya bagged two hotties.”
They laughed, the tension in the room fading somewhat as Hitoshi took the seat behind him.
Izuku was content, even though Kacchan refused to look at him and ran away whenever he tried to initiate a conversation. He had two boyfriends he liked, now both in his class. And he had shown his true self, with the hope that he would be accepted by all those he considered friends.
Content could only describe a fraction of the feelings swirling inside Izuku.
“Midoriya, please head to the Principal’s office after class. You’ll be excused for next period.”
Izuku looked into Mr. Aizawa’s eyes, saw the horror there, and grinned. Complete and majestic in the way that made the corners give an evil little curl.
It made Ochako smile.
“Yes, sir.”
Aizawa shuddered, which Izuku found amusing, and continued going over everything that happened during the assignment, including the villain’s objectives—even the last goal, which was Izuku’s favorite that he hadn’t told anyone about.
Make the hero leader cry .
That made Katsuki growl, but he thankfully remained silent. At least it got giggles out of the rest of the class.
Izuku spent the rest of homeroom vibrating in his seat with an ever-growing grin and ignoring his friend’s concerned looks.
When the bell rang, he wasted no time sending Hitoshi and Shoto air kisses, then raced through the halls, much to Iida’s displeasure.
He arrived on short notice to a plain wooden door that opened on its own when he went to knock.
Walking in with a straight back, puffed-out chest, and intense eyes, Izuku sat before the principal, who stared back.
It was like looking into a weirdly warped mirror. Maybe a funhouse mirror, Izuku didn’t know. But as their staring contest slipped into the minute mark, they simultaneously burst into maniacal laughter.
“I’m glad to finally be meeting you, Midoriya Izuku.”
Izuku hummed, the most him grin painting his face.
“Me too, Principal Nezu.”
Nezu gave a matching grin.
A grin of the geniuses.
A grin of the outcasts.
A grin of the most humane monsters.
“Please.”
A grin of those ready to tear the world apart piece by piece.
“Call me Sensei.”
Notes:
THIS IS THE END! Thank you everyone for reading, and I hope you liked the end of the exam as much as I did. It was one of the first things I'd written for this fic, so you know I've been looking forward to it for over a month. In case it was a little unclear, what happened was that all of the villains had voice changers so Hitoshi pretended to be Izuku to take control of Katsuki (cuz I thought it'd be cool), then they all spoke using Izuku's voice causing Katsuki to have a slight breakdown from guilt.
Sorry if that was triggering but I thought it'd be a cool way to end their suffering :)
I probably won't write a sequel to this cuz I don't even know what would be in it (probably just Izuku terrorizing everyone with Nezu's help lmao).
Once again, thank you for reading!
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