Chapter 1: The curtain closes
Chapter Text
It was cold.
Everything was too cold. Why was he cold?
The whirring of machinery was ever present in the back of his mind. There was a pressure on his chest, sitting heavily in his stomach.
Fear, that’s what this was huh? He could have laughed. Fear was the only companion he had these past few days. Its icy claws dug into his upper arm and back, slowly moving through his bloodstream.
Staring at the descending sheet of metal, counting the nicks in the otherwise flawless material, was all he could do to pass the time.
It wouldn’t be long now… but didn’t he say that ages ago?
It wouldn’t be long now, someone will rescue us.
It wouldn’t be long now, the time limit will end soon.
It wouldn’t be long now, the unholy song from the piano would eventually end.
It wouldn’t be long now, the next pieces are waiting for their turn in the game.
It wouldn’t be long now, I will win this killing game.
Sighing, he looked back towards the descending press, inches from his face.
Yes, it wouldn’t be long now, his masterpiece would finally come to pass.
A small smile formed on his lips, chasing the fear away for just a moment and replacing it with exhilaration.
He wondered if Shuichi would figure him out? The detective was one of the few people he felt could truly unravel the web of lies he placed.
He shivered as another cold chill passed through him. It was getting hard to differentiate the cold from the fear, the metal, and the blood loss at this point.
Ever closer, his impending doom marched towards him, the mechanics screeching in tandem with his thoughts.
He wished he had more time, but time waits for no man, and after what he has done, he bears no right to call himself human.
The agonizing cries of what were meant to be his friends from his memories mixed with the hydraulics to create a terribly beautiful song in his mind.
It was centimeters away now. His curtain call was rapidly approaching, and he played his part well. He was the perfect antagonist. There was nothing more he could wish for.
A tragic end to an equally tragic boy. He closed his eyes.
He was content.
For this was always how Kokichi Ouma’s story was destined to end.
…
…no.
His eyes flew open, the press millimeters from his face.
He didn’t want it to end like this. He was never meant to be alone, not when it truly mattered.
“You are alone Kokichi, and you always will be”
As those words echoed through his mind, Kokichi attempted to move, his drive to live overpowering his desire to win. However, it seemed the poison had finally taken effect, as his limbs would not react to his attempts at movement.
He wanted another chance, he couldn’t die here in a place like this.
All of a sudden, there was no more cold, only hot searing agony. The metal sheet pressed down on his face, shattering his skull before continuing pushing. It crushed every bone and organ as it continued on its path.
Hot blazing fire seeped from the wound that had once been his body. Agonizing suffering eventually brought to an end as the metal finally reached its final destination. There were no more pleas from under the press.
However, maybe there was someone listening after all. Perhaps some god took pity on the poor boy and gave him his desire. Or more likely, something more sinister heard his cries and decided that he was interesting enough to get a second chance.
After all, the world is a stage, and Kokichi Ouma is nothing if not a great actor.
Chapter 2: Would you like to continue?
Notes:
We’re getting into the meat of this thing with this chapter!!! People who read the original will start to see differences in the plot pretty soon so I hope you enjoy the way this is going!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Light streamed through the windows, as birds chirped and flew in the morning sun.
It was one of the more pleasant ways he had been woken up in his life.
…
Life?
The memories came back slowly, his plan, his goal, his death. Kokichi attempted to open his eyes, but the brightness of his surroundings forced him to screw them shut again.
Adjusting to the light in the room took some time, but eventually, he could look around his new environment. This was not his first time waking up somewhere he doesn’t remember falling asleep at, but he’s never died and woken up somewhere.
The room itself was quite small overall, there was a desk against the far wall as well as a nightstand next to the bed he was on currently. Overall a very normal room.
Except for the posters.
And figures.
And merchandise.
They all had the same smiling man on them. It was honestly baffling how much merch of this one guy was in this room. Kokichi lifted his hand to move the sheets when he saw it.
His hand was covered in a litany of different scars, some aching from past use.
“Wha-“ kokichi immediately shut his mouth and threw his hands over it.
That was not my voice.
Looking down at the covers once again, Kokichis hair flopped into his face, but that was different too. Instead of his usual purple hair, green curly locks fell into his peripheral vision.
What is going on?
Suddenly, an unfamiliar stirring in his very soul cause Kokichi to jump, before passing out once again.
Opening his eyes, Kokichi figured he finally made it to purgatory, or hell, or wherever he is right now.
The room Kokichi was in was completely empty. There was not a single other person for what looked like miles. Looking at himself, he noticed a few things.
Kokichi’s entire body was made out of purple tinted smoke, except for his right hand and the top half of his face. Examining his hand proved he was himself once again, his hand being unscarred and purple strands of hair falling into his eyesight.
Looking back forward, a person had formed directly in front of him. They had green hair and a scarred right hand.
“It’s you,“ Kokichi thought to himself, as he could no longer speak. As if responding to the question, the green boy looked directly at Kokichi, eyes wide in shock.
All of a sudden, footsteps could be heard echoing through the void. Both boys looked towards the sudden noise and saw a man. He was taller than both of them, but still rather short and had long white hair that flowed through the air as he stalked forward.
“The singularity is soon to be breached, you are close to using 20 percent, but this development is new,” the man spoke as we walked.
“While unexpected, this situation could be a blessing in disguise, so please work together,” the man was a few feet away now. He continued walking forward until he was right in front of them both. The man stretched his hand forward, and Kokichi felt the need to do the same. It appeared the green haired boy thought the same thing as well.
“Help each other grow and learn, perhaps there is more to this existence than you realize,” the man finished speaking right as they all touched hands. The man disappeared in a cloud of white smoke, but Kokichi and the green haired boy were seemingly pulled together by an invisible force. As they inched closer, black dots flooded Kokichis vision until everything went dark.
H-hello? Are you awake?
A voice spoke gently, waking Kokichi up for the second time. The voice sounded close, but there were no attempts at shaking him awake either. Opening his eyes, Kokichi realized there was no one else in the strange room.
“Huh?” Kokichi wondered aloud before realizing that “his” voice sounded just like the voice that woke him up.
Hello? Can you hear me?
“What the hell,” kokichi muttered. The voice was still speaking despite him being the only one in the room.
So you can hear me?
“Yeah, I can hear you. Where are you?” Kokichi spoke cautiously, exploring the room as he spoke.
Oh thank god. I had no clue how this would work.
“Yeah I’m sure whatever you’re doing is super cool or whatever, but where the hell are you?” Kokichi’s patience was growing thin as he walked into the bathroom. He stopped in front of the mirror, still slightly shaken by his unfamiliar appearance.
T-that’s me. I don’t really know where I am, but I can see what you see.
Kokichi was silent for a few moments before speaking.
“What the actual fuck.”
Yeah, I don’t really understand either.
Realizing how little he knew about his current situation, Kokichi decided to try and get some information.
“So what’s your name since I guess it’s my name too now,” kokichi asked as he leaned over the counter to properly examine his new body. His eyes were the same bright green he had seen in the void earlier. There were some freckles dusted across his face as well.
Oh! My name is Izuku Midoriya.
Kokichi hummed noncommittally before he leaned away from the mirror and placed his hands behind his head, a sly smile on his face.
“Well, I’m sure you’re curious about your new roommate too! Names Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader!”
H-huh?
Kokichi furrowed his eyebrows, “What? Not up to your standards? I know it doesn’t sound like much of an ultimate, but I’ll have you know I run a very successful organization with over ten thousand members!” Kokichi continued speaking, the lie coming to him naturally.
I’m sorry but what’s an ultimate?
Now it was Kokichi’s turn to be shocked.
I mean unless that’s your quirk?
Shock morphed to confusion almost immediately.
“Quirk?” Kokichi muttered under his breath.
Yeah, your quirk. Is it being a good leader?
Not knowing what something is is not a feeling Kokichi likes, especially after once again waking up somewhere unfamiliar. While he was tempted to lie, Kokichi was in an unfamiliar situation and lying could get him into some major problems later, especially if these quirks are common knowledge.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun while getting said information.
“Ah yes, quirks are such cool things that I definitely know about!” Kokichi made sure to put enough sarcasm in his tone so that Midoriya would know he was lying.
You don’t know what a quirk is?
“So it is common knowledge, interesting,” kokichi thought to himself.
“Sorry greenie, I’ve got some atrocious memory problems let me tell you,” kokichi spoke smoothly, pausing to raise his finger to his lips before continuing.
“Let’s just say this isn’t my first time waking up somewhere completely different with no memory of how I got there!” Kokichi laughed as he spoke.
O-oh, well I’m sorry about that.
“Eh, it’s whatever,” kokichi shrugged, waiting for Midoriya to elaborate on these supposed quirks.
Well a quirk is a type of superpower that 80 percent of the population is born with.
Kokichi blanched at the information.
“Oh so I’m super fucked then.”
“So you’re a first year student at a school that makes superhero’s and you have a superpower that you got from the literal top dog of superheros?” Kokichi recapped as he finished putting on his new school uniform.
Yeah, that’s pretty much it.
“So I have literally no clue how to use said superpower, as my world definitely did not have quirks,” kokichi spoke.
Your world?
“Well since where I’m from there are no quirks I think it’s safe to assume we are from different worlds and at the very least, different timelines,” Kokichi explained his reasoning as he adjusted his tie.
I guess that makes sense, but you mentioned an ultimate earlier? If it’s not a quirk, what is it?
Kokichi grinned slightly, at least he wasn’t stuck with someone who was stupid.
“An ultimate is essentially a title given to someone who is the very best at what they do,” kokichi explained with a flourish.
“For example, I am the ultimate supreme leader because I run a very successful evil organization with over ten thousand members!” Kokichi recited the lie with ease.
E-evil organization?!
Smiling to himself, kokichi looked back at the mirror.
“I could be lying, I am a liar after all.”
W-what part was the lie?!
“Guess you’ll have to figure it out!” Kokichi laughed as he put his hands behind his head.
Can I get a better example of an ultimate please.
Kokichi made a point to sigh loudly.
“Fine, but only because you said please!” Smiling as he spoke, kokichi thought of his old classmates and who would be the best example, besides himself of course.
“Well, one of my old classmates was known as the ultimate detective! He got his title by solving a murder case!” Kokichi explained.
Wow! That’s impressive for someone who is still in school! What year was he when he solved it?
“Well, we met when we were around 16, but I don’t know what year, since we didn’t really have classes,” kokichi answered honestly. No one in the school really knew how old they were with their missing memories, so everyone just kinda picked their age and went with the one that felt the most right.
Your school didn’t have classes? Then why did you go at all?
“That’s a question for another day my forest colored friend! For now, why don’t you tell me about your personality!” Kokichi turned the conversation away from that train wreck of a topic and onto something more palatable for 7:30 in the morning.
My personality? Why do you need to know that?
“Well, I have to impersonate you right? We don’t want all of your friends freaking out the moment I walk in do we?”
I guess not. Although there may be someone who will be able to tell no matter what.
That caught Kokichi’s attention.
“What, do you doubt my ability to deceive? I am a masterful liar!” Kokichi bragged.
It’s not that I don’t think you can do it, it’s just that I’ve known Kacchan since we were kids. He will probably be able to tell almost immediately.
As if sensing the dread from the other boy, Kokichi hesitantly asked his next question.
“What would his reaction be if he does find out?”
Well, he will probably assume you are a villain impersonating me and attempt to murder you.
“… of course, another maki,”
“Ok, I think I’ve got everything down for the most part,” kokichi spoke as he finished packing his bag.
Yeah, you did pretty good!
Kokichi scoffed, “Of course I did! I am a master impersonator! Some may even call me the Ultimate Imposter!”
Yeah, but are you sure you dont want to tell Kacchan ahead of time?
Kokichi smirked before slinging the backpack over his shoulders.
“Of course! Where would the fun be if we told everyone immediately! That would be so boooorring!” Kokichi whined as he went to open the door.
Wait! I want to try something before we leave.
Kokichi froze, hand outstretched onto the door handle.
I think we should try to figure out communication. Once you go out there you can’t speak to me out loud without looking insane.
Bringing his thumb up to his lip, Kokichi thought it through. It is true that if he was to talk out loud he would probably get discovered sooner rather than later. He could always play it off as the muttering that Midoriya claimed he did often, but it wouldn’t be a permanent solution. Kokichi sighed before speaking.
“Well, what do you suggest? I’m not having any ideas that could last for long term.”
Maybe you could try thinking your responses? I get some vague impressions of your thoughts in here so maybe if you think something with the intention of speaking to me, I will be able to hear it clearer.
Kokichi’s eyes widened slightly. If this works it would solve their problem completely.
“Well let's give it a shot then!” Kokichi exclaimed before thinking his next statement.
Hello my name is Kokichi with a B, and I’ve been afraid of insects my entire life.
Where would the B-
“Theres a bee?!” Kokichi yelled, jumping to escape the imaginary bee.
…
“C’mon that was hilarious! And now we know that thinking will work!” Kokichi spoke cheerily, thoroughly enjoying messing with Midoriya.
Yeah, I guess. You better hurry though, class starts soon.
“Alright alright, geez,” kokichi spoke before reaching out and opening the door.
Notes:
Anddddd that’s chapter 1! I hope you all are enjoying this story so far!!!
For reference, when speaking in the mind, Midoriya speaks in italics and Kokichi speaks in bold text.
Also I couldn’t help myself with the vine reference lol
Chapter 3: Why do troublemakers dream of checkerboard scarves?
Summary:
Day 1 of class with the boyssss!! How long can they pull off their 2 kids in a trench coat plan? You’ll have to wait a see? Of course, the plan would probably be more sound if a certain someone wasn’t a sucker for trouble.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Standing in front of the giant classroom door, Kokichi found himself at a loss for words.
Why is this door so tall?
Probably for mutant quirks that make people really tall.
Ah, but of course.
Kokichi had been standing outside of this door for around 5 minutes now and he was lucky that no one had seen him yet. Shaking his head, Kokichi settled his resolve and reached for the handle to the classroom. Upon opening the door, it was immediately obvious that Kokichi, and subsequently Midoriya, were the last ones to arrive. This fact did not go unnoticed by one student in particular.
“Midoriya! You were twenty minutes late compared to when you normally arrive which in turn caused you to only be five minutes early for class! As an upcoming hero student, you should always strive to be at least fifteen minutes early everyday!” the blue haired boy shouted as he walked over. Kokochi would have loved to scoff, but he had a role to play today.
Name?
Tenya Iida, a very close friend.
Kokichi hummed noncommittally before speaking, raising his hand to scratch the base of his neck.
“S-sorry Iida, I got a little distracted this morning with my notes and lost track of time,” Kokichi lied easily, falling into the role he was meant to play. Iida seemed to believe it, and huffed with laughter.
“Yes, well try not to let that become a habit, you don’t want to fall farther behind do you?” Iida teased. Kokichi raised a questioning eyebrow, but someone else cut him off.
“Yeah, now that you are off house arrest, you should be able to catch up in no time!” a brunette girl, named Uraraka according to Midoriya, explained.
House Arrest? I didn’t pin you as a criminal greenie.
Because I’m not. It was a school thing and since we have dorms, instead of detention or suspension, we got house arrest.
We?
As if on cue, another voice spoke up over the crowd.
“As if I’ll ever need to catch up to you extras! I was so far ahead that even with some time off I’m still better than all of you combined!”
Kacchan?
Kacchan…
Kokichi rolled his eyes as the other students shouted back at Bakugou to defend their honor.
Where’s my seat?
…behind Kacchan.
Dude…
Kokichi huffed to himself and walked over to his seat. As he walked past, bakugo seemed to notice something off about the boy. His eyes narrowed dangerously, but he didn’t say anything. Kokichi sat at his desk.
Did he seriously figure me out by my walk?!
N-no I don’t think so. He’s probably just in a bad mood or something.
Are you sure? It looks like he seriously wants to kill me.
He looks like that most of the time.
Kokichi then thought of an amazing idea.
I’m going to mess with him.
What?! Why?
Because it would be hilarious. He’s already on our trail anyways! Let’s have some fun with it!
B-but we don’t want anyone to know…
And no one else will, I can play anything off and no one will be the wiser!
Midoriya was silent for a moment, as if thinking it over. Eventually, he spoke.
Fine, you can mess with him.
Kokichi grinned devilishly before schooling his features and leaning forward so that only Bakugo could hear him.
“Hey there bakuhoe, didn’t like the way I was walking earlier, hm? Maybe you wanna give me a real reason to walk weird?” Kokichi whispered sweetly into bakugo’s ear.
The reaction was immediate. Bakugo’s entire form stiffened slightly and he sat still for only a couple moments before-
“D-damn, didn’t think you would be exactly l-like Maki, b-but here we a-are,” kokichi whispered as he was being choked by Bakugo. While Bakugo was the only one who heard Kokichi speak, everyone else saw Bakugo lifting Midoriya up by the neck for seemingly no reason. Their classmates immediately cried out to get Bakugo to stop, and Kokichis own crocodile tears did nothing to slow them down.
“This isn’t shitty Deku! It’s a fake or something!” Bakugo screamed over the crowd. That got everyone to quiet down slightly. Bakugo narrowed his eyes at Kokichi, who easily settled into his role.
“Ka-Kacchan, p-please it r-really is m-me,” kokichi spoke as best he could, tears still running down his face. Bakugo’s eyes wrinkled in disgust at the display.
“Bullshit, the real Deku would never say that shit you said to me earlier,” Bakugo cried out.
“B-but I didn’t s-say anyth-thing!” Kokichi lied.
Gaslight gatekeep girlboss.
You are literally being choked to death.
“I-I’ll prove I-it, please,” kokichi begged once again.
“Bakugo, set him down right now,” Iida commanded. Bakugo looked at the president incredulously, but set Kokichi down reluctantly, who took in an exaggerated breath as soon as he was released. A couple people ran up to help him off the floor, one of them being uraraka.
“Alright you, if you truly are Midoriya, tell us something only the true Midoriya could know,” Iida announced. Kokichi coughed a couple more times, as he came up with his lie.
Well greenie? You got something for me?
You could mention Stain since Iida and Todoroki will probably understand. All three of us fought him in Hosu, but we couldn’t get the credit for defeating him because we didn’t have licenses yet.
Kokichi rolled his eyes internally at the messed up logic, but wouldn’t look a gift lie in the mouth.
“S-stain. In h-hosu,” kokichi muttered before continuing, “Y-you know I can’t say more than that with everyone h-here.”
Iida’s eyes widened in surprise, before lowering his head slightly and speaking.
“Yes that is true. This is Midor-“
“Bullshit! You just want me to take that half-assed response after what he said to me?” Bakugo interrupted loudly, looking at Kokichi sharply.
“I want you to tell me what I said to you after the sludge villain incident,” Bakugo spoke calmly, which was almost scarier.
Well?
…he said he would never ask for help from me, that I wouldn’t cut it as a rent-a-cop and that he doesn’t owe me anything.
Geez, I thought you were on good terms with this guy?
Well we weren’t on amazing terms then, but he’s getting better! We’re proper rivals now!
Okayyy whatever you say greenie.
“Y-you told me that you would n-never ask for help f-from me. T-that I wouldn’t cut it even a-as a rent-a-cop, and that you don’t o-owe me anything,” kokichi spoke slowly, watching Bakugo’s confident smirk slowly disappear from his face.
“Was that all the proof you needed Bakugo? This is the real Midoriya, you must apologize!” Iida once again spoke up. Bakugo was still staring at Kokichi, face blank.
“N-no Iida! Seriously he doesn’t have to apologize, let’s just get to our seats since class is about to start,” kokichi rambled slightly.
Iida froze at the realization that class would start at any moment and guided everyone back to their seats. As soon as everyone except Bakugo had their back turned, Kokichi plastered a devilish grin across his face and leaned in to once again whisper to Bakugo.
“That was what you meant right? It would be a shame if you meant something different. Maybe something that happened earlier that day, right?” Kokichi spoke softly as he walked past Bakugo who had froze in place. Bakugo broke from his stupor and caught Kokichi’s shoulder.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I know for a fact you aren’t Deku. You may have these extras fooled, but I know better,” Bakugo whispered quietly as well.
“Well maybe I’ve always been a liar and you don’t know me as well as you thought,” kokichi jeered and he sat down in his seat, mask firmly back in place as the teacher, Aizawa, walked in.
“Bakugo, please sit down, it’s time to start class,” Aizawa commanded, and Bakugo grumbled and sat down.
That was fun huh?
N-not really. It was kind of scary.
Pish posh Midori! Twas all in good fun I say!
…what do you want me to say to that.
Kokichi snickered to himself as Aizawa called the role.
Maybe we should tell Bakugo sooner rather than later, he may try to get us in trouble, and that's no good!
I think telling Kacchan would be a good idea.
Of course you would think that greenie. We can tell him later though. I want to mess with him today.
…
Something on your mind?
H-how did you know about what Kacchan said to me earlier. Before the sludge villain.
…
Because I definitely didn’t tell you, and I don’t think something like that should be dropped casually in conversation.
Kokichi placed his thumb on his lip. How did he know that? He knows that Bakugo said something terrible to Midoriya before the sludge villain attacked, but Kokichi has no idea what was said.
I honestly have no clue what he said to you, just that it was terrible. It’s kind of like Deja vu or something. I just assumed he probably remembered it and maybe felt bad, so I thought I would bring it up.
Oh, weird, but you probably shouldn’t bring it up anymore.
Kokichi sighed exasperated.
So many rules, how can you do any mischief like this!
You shouldn’t be doing mischief!
Ok ok, calm down, I’ll leave the mysterious statement alone for now.
…thank you.
Kokichi hummed noncommittally and refocused on the lecture.
In all honestly, Kokichi had never once considered that being in a completely different universe that had literal superpowers could be boring. And yet here he was.
“Having your Provisional Hero Licenses prevents you from having to ask for permission in a fight, if it is unavoidable. However, that does not mean you can go around looking for villains to fight,” the teacher, Present Mic apparently, was currently teaching about laws and ethics. These are things that Kokichi finds utterly boring and is thus, bored.
You know, I thought maybe this whole thing we have going on was a second chance at life or something, but I think this might just be actual hell. Not even like purgatory just straight up hell.
C’mon it's not that bad, these laws are super interesting!
I thought I was the liar here.
…Ok I will admit it gets a tad bit boring, but I have a secret trick that helps me pay attention when it starts to get too boring!
Kokichi’s eyebrows twitched up imperceptibly.
Oh? Pray tell how you make the most boring thing since Kaito’s ‘I believe in you’ lectures less boring?
…I understood maybe half of that.
Kokichi huffed out a small laugh that could pass for a sigh.
Ok but for reals, how on gods fucked up earth do you make this horseshit fun?
Ask nicely and maybe I will tell you.
Kokichi blanched for a moment, before smirking slightly.
C’mon greenie, you know I’ll die if I say anything like that! My blood will reject the words and refuse to flow!
Nope! I won’t even speak another word if you don’t ask nicely. Then you’ll have to sit and listen to this entire lecture with no distractions.
…You wouldn’t.
…
Kokchi’s eyes widened slightly, but he was not one to back down from a challenge. Looking at his phone, it was 1:07 and this class ended at 2:15.
Oh, can totally make it. You have no clue who you're messing with here.
…
Ok, Ok, I take it back. You win. Please tell me how to make this atrociously boring class even slightly tolerable.
See that wasn’t so hard was it?
…you are the worst.
Yeah yeah, how long did you last though? I was pretty impressed since normally I get fed up after about fifteen minutes. You definitely lasted longer than me.
Kokichi looked back down at his phone, the time read 1:42.
Wow! Thirty five minutes is pretty impressive!
Quit patronizing me and get on with it.
…
Ugh, please…
So when I really want to be anywhere but this class and still retain the information to use on tests, I will try and find as many loopholes in the laws we are learning as possible.
That took Kokichi by surprise. Midoriya had presented himself as the type to always follow the rules. This info, combined with his supposed house arrest a couple days, ago painted a very different picture.
So you are a little criminal, huh? Should I bring you into my super secret evil organization?
N-no! I don’t use the loopholes I find, it just keeps my mind busy.
You are telling me that you have never once used one of these legal loopholes you just so happen to find?
…
There's a story to that silence. C’mon and spill the beans, green. You know I will find out eventually!
Ugh, I know… It really isn’t too crazy of a story.
It’s better than listening to this guy go on about the morality of revenge while eyeballing mr. stick-up-my-ass.
…The story is actually about that.
Oh! How convenient! Is this the strange stain incident?
Yes, we were on internships and Iida’s brother had been attacked earlier by the Hero Killer, Stain. Iida’s brother got paralyzed from the encounter, and Iida attempted to get revenge for his brother.
Ah revenge, gotta love it.
…Anyways, I happened to be passing by Hosu when a big attack happened. I realized Iida wasn’t at the fight and probably found stain. I was correct, and I, as well as my friend Tokodroki, protected Iida until he could fight with us after realizing murder is wrong.
Boo, everyone knows murder is morally right and should always be done!
I'm going to ignore that. We ended up winning, but we obviously used our powers when we did not have licenses or permission to use our powers. This meant that, by law, we would have to be severely punished, probably kicked out of hero school and serve a bit of time.
Damn, no wonder people turn to vigilante shit this hero crap is ridiculous. They got you jumping through hoops like a damn circus animal!
Yeah, it’s not fun. But, thanks to a fun little loophole, we were able to not be expelled or face punishment! Because of the fact that no one was in the ally to witness the event other than the people directly involved, we were able to spin the story in our favor! This meant we could not take the credit, but we also avoided punishment.
Huh, interesting.
Yeah! That's essentially what Present Mic is trying to teach right now, but he’s doing a terrible job.
Kokichi looked around at the rest of his classmates and saw that every single one of them were either asleep, not paying attention, or slamming their face on their desk in an attempt to pass out. Present mic has either not noticed or refused to acknowledge it and the latter is most likely true.
“And that is where I will leave this lesson for today! Please do not forget-” anything else Present Mic was going to say was lost to the crowd of children rushing to escape the hellhole of boredom they had been trapped in for the last seventy five minutes. Kokichi was not far behind.
That was the last class of the day, we have a study period now, but I normally just study in my room.
So what now? Just go back to our room?
I gue-
“Young midoriya, may I have a word with you?” A voice called from behind Kokichi.
Kokichi turned around and saw a skeletal man wearing a suit waving him over.
Oh boy, you better put on the performance of a lifetime or get ready to tell the truth for once.
Why do you say that?
Kokichi plastered on a smile and began walking over when he realized the skeletal man was not alone, but had a man in a trench coat with him.
Because that guy is my mentor and the other is a walking lie detector.
…
Aw shit man.
Notes:
And that’s the end!!
Hope you guys like this chapter!! The differences start showing up here! Also ik the detectives quirk isn’t actually lie detector as far as canon goes, but it’s pretty much law in fics that this guy is a walking lie detector. I also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to kokichi go up against what is essentially an unbeatable polygraph test lol.
Also, I do not plan on there being ANY ships in this fic. That means that while there is no official pairing in any way shape or form, kokichi is still going to be a prick and make sexual jokes, as seen in this chapter, since that’s a part of his character.
Chapter 4: The good old 1 2 switcharoo
Summary:
Oh no! It’s the cops!!!
Notes:
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!!! I’ve got a really fun surprise in here so I hope you enjoy the teaser for the future!!
Also this chapter is dialogue HEAVY, so be aware.
ALSO also, once again, THERE ARE NO SHIPS IN THIS FIC!!! Anything that could be perceived as slightly in that way is embarrassment or kokichi being kokichi.
Ty
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Do you think Bakuhoe called the cops on us?
Don’t call him that and I don’t know, maybe? I’ve never done anything like what you did earlier so I had no clue what his reaction would be.
Great, fan-fucking-tastic.
Please calm down, I think they can smell your fear.
Kokichi looked up at the two adults sitting in front of him and tried his best not to look nervous. Kokichi was not a very trusting person to begin with, and this entire situation screamed interrogation.
“S-so, what’s this about, All Might?” Kokichi asked tentatively.
“My apologies, young Midoriya, but we have some questions for you, if you do not mind,” All might spoke softly, as if to put Kokichi at ease. This only ended up having the opposite effect on the boy.
Ah shit man, Bitchkugo definitely snitched.
Seriously, stop it.
“Can I finish this tea first? It’s really good and I would hate for it to get cold,” kokichi said shyly, hoping to buy himself some time.
“Of course young Midoriya, we are in no rush,” All Might laughed as he spoke and leaned over to converse with the policeman, Tsukauchi.
Well what are we supposed to do? Anything they ask me will end up being a lie!
Maybe if there was a way for us to switch-
Midoriya’s voice distorted around the world, crackling and fluctuating unnaturally.
…
That was different.
Maybe you try thinking it too?
Ok, maybe we could switch.
Weird…
Maybe if we think it at the same time something will happen?
SWITCH
Then, the world
s h i f t e d.
Midoriya opened his eyes to see a cup of tea in his hands, resting in his lap. The warmth from the small cup spread through his fingers and eased the ever constant ache in his joints. This fact, in itself, was not unusual, but perhaps the strangest thing was that he was fully in control of his body. This should not be a strange thing, but Midoriya had been having a strange day so far. Midoriya wiggled his fingers experimentally, and they followed his command.
Woah, it's crazy weird in here.
I can’t believe that actually worked.
I can’t believe neither of them noticed.
Midoriya looked up at the two adults sitting across from him. They were talking animatedly about a new restaurant that had opened, neither any wiser about what had occurred a table across from them.
Ok well, now that whatever we just did apparently worked, we should probably get this interrogation over with yeah?
Yeah, let's get this over and done with.
Midoriya quickly finished the last of his tea and set the cup on the small table, catching the attention of both adults.
“Ah, are you ready young Midoriya?” All Might asked, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.
“Yes sir, but can I ask what this is about?” Midoriya questioned.
“The principal got an anonymous tip that there was an infiltrator at the school posing as a student in the hero course. We are interviewing everyone in the hero course as a precaution,” detective Tsukauchi answered.
That's a lie, they were definitely told we were the infiltrator.
How do you know?
Well for one, I am the best liar the world has ever known, I know when someone is lying to me. Also, the detective flinched while saying that they are interviewing everyone, I assume because of his quirk affecting himself. They want us to think we haven’t been caught, so we will slip up.
Oh…
“Oh.. well I may have some information about that…” Midoriya answered sheepishly. All Mights eyebrows rose slightly in shock.
Are you seriously about to out us?
No, I’m just going to use some loopholes to get us out of this mess.
“It's just that, something strange happened this morning before homeroom,” Midoriya continued.
“Something strange?” the detective questioned farther. Midoriya nodded his head.
“This morning, I was sitting at my desk when Kacchan attacked me all of a sudden. He kept saying that I said something to him, but I never said anything to him,” Midoriya spoke smoothly, knowing that the lie by omission would pass by the detective's radar unnoticed, and was rewarded by the unflinching form of the detective.
Ah yes, because technically I was the one who said it. You're a much better liar than you give yourself credit for.
That’s not the compliment you think it is.
“He made me prove that I was me and when I did, I think he got mad,” Midoriya finished recapping the events from that morning and looked at the two adults expectantly.
“Hm, well that sure is interesting Midoriya. Do you have any idea what could have set him off like that?” The detective asked nonchalantly. Midoriya’s mind went to say no, but that would be a lie, one that he couldn’t work around with omissions. However, the vagueness of the question worked in Midoriya’s favor as well.
“I figure that maybe someone could have insulted him, or insinuated something about his character. That’s really the only thing that gets under Kacchan’s skin that badly from what I can remember,” Midoriya once again spoke in half-truths and lies of omission, not once triggering the detective's quirk.
Tsukauchi seemed to be satisfied with that answer and moved on.
“Did you see anyone who could have triggered this response from young Bakugo? He doesn’t seem like the type to lash out at something not there,” All might asked.
“I sit right behind Kacchan in class and he’s in the front row. The only person who could speak to him without at least one other person hearing would probably be me, and as we established earlier, I didn’t say anything to him,” Midoriya was getting tired of lying already.
How on earth do you do this all the time?
It’s pretty fun once you get used to it and you aren’t being interrogated.
For sure, I believe you one hundred percent.
Hey now, why the sarcasm all of a sudden?
Midoriya mentally rolled his eyes, refocusing on the conversation in front of him.
“-is a chance that someone is playing a prank on young Bakugo, with a quirk similar to Mandalay’s,” all might offered.
“That seems to be the case, since everything Midoriya has said is true,” Tsukauchi said, hand on his chin and he thought.
Midoriya sat in the lingering silence for a moment before speaking.
“I-is it ok if I leave? My study period just ended and some of my friends were expecting me,” Midoriya spoke completely truthfully for the first time in the conversation.
“Ah yes, we are very sorry about the inconvenience, young Midoriya,” All Might bowed slightly to emphasize his point.
“I-it’s ok All Might! I’m just glad I was able to help!” Midoriya stood up after he finished speaking and left, leaving the two adults alone. Midoriya let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding when the door closed behind him.
That was actually the worst thing ever. I’m never letting you do anything ever again.
Aww come on! Today would have been so boring without all this! You’re welcome!
Midoriya grumbled underneath his breath as he walked back towards the dorms. He wasn’t lying when he said he had plans after study period, so he was not surprised to see Iida, Uraraka, Todoroki, and Tokoyami sitting on the couches by the tv.
“Deku! What took you so long?” Uraraka ran up and gave Midoriya a hug, which he returned easily.
“All might wanted to talk to me about this morning, sorry I took so long,” Midoriya walked to the couches as he spoke, Uraraka not far behind.
“It was very unheroic of Bakugo to attack a fellow classmate like that completely unprovoked!” Iida shouted.
“I wouldn’t say entirely unprovoked,” Midoriya muttered under his breath loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Why do you say that?” Todoroki asked.
“Well, detective Tsukauchi was also there when All Might was talking to me, that makes me think it was more than just Kacchan mishearing something, you know?” Midoriya explained. While Kokichi would have been perfectly content to let Class 1-A think their resident bomb threat was actually insane (more so than usual), Midoriya does, in fact, care about Bakugo to a certain degree.
Where is the walking fire hazard anyways?
Probably sulking in his room.
Lmao emo.
“Oh, well I hope whatever happened gets solved soon,” Uraraka spoke softly.
Midoriya nodded in agreement before turning his attention to the television.
“So gang, what are we watching tonight? Midoriya asked lightheartedly.
“Well, we were thinking about watching some kind of reality tv, like Survivor or something,” Uraraka answered quickly.
“Aren’t those all staged anyways?” Todoroki questioned.
“Yeah, pretty much. It’s still fun to watch though!” Uraraka excitedly announced.
“We could watch Survivor, although I don’t really know of any other reality shows so I’m not really the guy to ask,” Midoriya laughed once he finished speaking.
The room was silent as everyone stared in disbelief. Midoriya squirmed under the scrutiny of their gaze.
“You don’t know any other reality shows?” Tokoyami, who had been relatively silent until now, finally spoke.
Should I know more?
Hell if I know, I don’t even know what ‘Survivor’ is.
“No?” Midoriya answered hesitantly.
“Not even Big brother?” Iida asked.
“Or the bachelor?” Uraraka added.
“Or Danganronpa?“ Tokoyami also added.
“That one is real, you know,” Todoroki whispered under his breath.
“Yeah right todoroki, we don’t need another theory night. Everyone knows Danganronpa is completely acted. It really shouldn’t be labeled reality tv at all,” Uraraka giggled as she spoke.
“Nope, not a single one,” Midoriya answered honestly, getting back on topic.
“Wow, well that’s got to change!” Uraraka announced, standing up abruptly as she grabbed the remote.
“Since a new season of Danganronpa will be starting soon, we can watch that all together so we should watch something else tonight,” tokoyami suggested.
“Oh yeah! Season 53 right?” Todoroki asked.
“Yup, so that will be a good time to introduce you to that show. Anyone have a preference between Survivor, Big Brother, and the Bachelor?” Tokoyami asked, now supposedly in charge.
“I think we should watch Big Brother. Tensei and I love that show!” Iida shouted excitedly.
Everyone agreed, so while Todoroki and Iida set up the tv, Uraraka, Midoriya, and tokoyami made some snacks.
“Hey tokoyami, do you mind taking those trays to the couches? Deku and I have the rest of this from here. We’ll meet you over there when we’re done!” Uraraka asked politely, but left no room for argument.
“I do not mind, good luck,” Tokoyami spoke the last part of his statement quietly to Midoriya as he walked past.
Oh great, what is it now?
Don’t complain, all the talking too’s that we’ve gotten today have been because of the stunt you pulled this morning.
Yeah yeah, I shouldn’t have done it or whatever, but it was so fun!
Midoriya shook his head lightly at the other boy's antics. He felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned towards Uraraka.
“I wanted to check in with you about this morning. Are you ok?” Uraraka asked gently. Midoriya smiled at his friend's kindness.
“Yeah, I’m ok, just a little shaken up honestly,” Midoriya answered honestly. Uraraka did not look reassured.
“Listen, I know you’ve said that you and bakugo’s past is something we don’t need to worry about, but I can’t help it, you know? I know that dredging things up from the past won’t do anyone any good, but if you need to talk to someone, you can talk to me,” Uraraka spoke earnestly. Midoriya’s breath hitched and he felt tears begin to pool at the corners of his eyes.
Ew what the fuck, I’m crying too. Gross.
Midoriya ignored Kokichi and listened to Uraraka.
“I didn’t say anything earlier because I didn’t think it was my place in the middle of class, but what you said that Bakugo told you, that’s not ok. He should have never told you that and I want you to know that I think you will be and are a great hero," Uraraka smiled reassuringly, and Midoriya could no longer hold back the tears. Rushing up to her, Midoriya hugged Uraraka tightly.
“Thank you, Uraraka. I don’t think you will ever know how much that means to me," Midoriya whispered. Uraraka smiled and returned the hug.
“Of course, I’m glad I’m able to be your friend.” Midoriya laughed softly, separating the hug and wiping his eyes.
“Me too,” Midoriya smiled brightly as he spoke.
“Well, let’s not keep the others waiting now!” Uraraka began gathering the rest of the snacks as she spoke. Midoriya quickly helped with the last few items and they walked into the main room together.
That was so cute! You and your girlfriend sure are quite the pair huh?
Midoriya’s steps faltered for a moment at the comment, a bright blush rising on his cheeks and neck.
She’s not my girlfriend!
Yeah, ok buddy.
Midoriya sighed to himself and tried to get his blush under control as he sat on the couch. Iida had booted up the show and the intro began.
As the show went on, Midoriya looked around at his friends and realized once again how lucky he was to meet All Might. Without him, his dream would be even farther from reach. Midoriya remembered the all encompassing despair he felt when All Might told him he couldn’t be a hero. He felt like he was truly drowning and he didn’t have the strength to pull himself up anymore. His mind had wandered to dark places, places he didn’t want to think about today, but thanks to All Might, he was able to achieve his dream! When All Might told Midoriya that he could be a hero, he felt hopeful about the future for the first time in years. Shaking his head, Midoriya refocused on the show. Kokichi had been strangely silent since Midoriya’s trip down memory lane.
It seemed the reason for this was because Kokichi was completely drawn into the dramatics of the show, so he was quiet for a while. This allowed Midoriya some time to himself to process the day's events and his unexpected new guest.
There was seemingly no trigger for his and Kokichi’s situation, but something had to have triggered it. Thinking about the boy caused Midoriya to realize how little he actually knew about him. Kokichi Ouma was his name, and he most likely came from a different world or dimension where there were no quirks, but there were ultimates. He was the Ultimate Supreme Leader and has an organization. There’s also a chance he was a villain in his old world, due to his organization supposedly being “evil”, but that could have been a lie. That was essentially all Midoriya knew about him though. Most of it was maybe’s or most likely’s, not much was concrete.
The only other hint to what happened to him was an off handed comment he made during Present Mic’s class.
“You know, I thought maybe this whole thing we have going on was a second chance at life or something, but I think this might just be actual hell. Not even like purgatory just straight up hell.”
He mentioned their state being a second chance at life. Does that mean he died? Was he just being dramatic?
Midoriya shook his head lightly and refocused on the show. There was no point in worrying anyways. He could always ask him later and hopefully get a truthful answer.
“Ok so we’re talking to Kacchan tonight right?” Midoriya spoke out loud now that he was in his room. Changing from his school uniform into his comfy clothes was as freeing as it had always been.
Yeah, I guess. I still don’t like it though.
“Yeah well maybe you should have thought of that before making a fool of yourself,” Midoriya chastised.
What are you talking about, I didn’t do anything!
“That’s a lie and you know it,” Midoriya grumbled.
Nihishi! You're right!
Midoriya rolled his eyes and finished getting dressed.
“Well, now’s better than never!” Midoriya steeled his nerves and walked out his door towards Kacchans room.
Actually I think never is better.
You're not getting out of this.
Uuugggghhhhhhh! Fine!
Midoriya laughed a little at Kokichi’s dramatics. As he stopped in front of Kacchans door, the pit in Midoriya's stomach he had been resolutely ignoring came back with full force. He hoped Kacchan would be willing to hear him out. They had just gotten back on somewhat good terms and he would hate for this to ruin that.
Taking a deep breath, Midoriya knocked on Kacchans door, the same pattern he had since they were kids. Midoriya waited for what felt like an eternity, before the door swung open. Kacchan stood in the doorway, glaring at the other boy.
“What the hell do you want,” Kacchan growled.
“I-I wanted to talk about this morning,” Midoriya spoke more confidently than he felt. Bakugo stared at him for about thirty seconds before stepping to the side and allowing Midoriya to walk in, which he did. Bakugo watched him intensely the whole time.
Standing in the middle of Bakugo’s room, Midoriya watched as he closed the door and turned towards him with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Cut the bullshit, who the hell was that this morning huh?” Bakugo accused. Midoriya knew he looked shocked, but he couldn’t care about that now.
Oh so now he knows you’re you? He thinks someone replaced you for the day or something?
I- I don’t know. I thought he would think I was still replaced.
Well obviously he knows you better than you thought.
“How did you know it wasn’t me this morning,” Midoriya asked tentatively. Bakugo scoffed.
“Hah? Like some shitty extra could fool me! He was walking too confidently! Your back was too straight and strides a little too short, like he thought he was shorter than he actually was,” Bakugo recited the facts quickly and precisely. Midoriya was baffled. He had no idea Kacchan was paying that close attention to him.
Damn he really did have me figured out because of my walk.
“A-and how did you know I was me now?” Midoriya asked tentatively.
“When you walked into my room,” Bakugo answered quickly.
So that’s why he made me walk in, I thought I would have to ask to be let in.
Looks like this guy might be a useful ally after all! If you had told me he actually had a brain cell I would have totally been on board with this from the get go!
Really?
Nope, that was a lie.
Don’t you get tired of doing that?
Never!
Midoriya sighed, but tensed and looked back to Kacchan, hoping he didn’t notice.
“Why did you want to talk to me anyways?” Bakugo asked, eyes narrowing slightly.
He definitely saw that.
Yup.
“I wanted to clear everything up,” Midoriya answered honestly. Kokichi might have been lying earlier, but Kacchan was a good ally to have. He notices things that most people don’t, and is extremely smart.
Bakugo sat down in his desk chair, shrugging his shoulders as if to say to get on with it.
Midoriya took a deep breath and recounted the events of the past 12 hours.
“Why the hell should I believe any of that bs,” Bakugo’s words didn’t match the calm demeanor in which he spoke them. Izuku felt a shiver up his spine at that. Calm, angry Kacchan had always frightened him more than when the blonde was shouting.
“Because it’s the truth,” Midoriya spoke confidently. Bakugo narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed as though he could accept the story astrue, but couldn’t believe it yet. He needed one more ounce of proof.
How are we meant to provide that proof though?
Midoriya thought it over for a second when he realized what he needed to do.
We need to switch.
What? Why?
Then you can talk to him. That will be definite proof.
Why would that be proof?
You’ll see.
Fine! Leave me with a cryptic ass statement!
“We could switch? Then you could talk to him and see for yourself?” Midoriya offered. Kacchans eyes widened at the offer.
“Why would talking to that bastard confirm anything?” Bakugo asked. Midoriya smiled at Kacchan, as he accidentally mimicked Kokichi.
“Well, you know there are certain things I would never say to you, like what he said this morning. By talking to him you will be able to tell that I am not acting or something,” Midoriya explained.
Is this your way of giving me permission to be a little shit to the pomeranian?
Sure…
Hell yeah!
“Fine, whatever. Just do what you have to," Bakugo shouted, crossing his arms and looking out his window. Midoriya smiled at his childhood friend's antics.
Well, let's get this show on the road.
We've never tried switching while standing, so I should probably sit down.
Oh yeah, we haven't, what would even happen?
Well we would probably just stay standing, but I don’t want to risk it.
…
I don’t like that silence.
Listen, where are we even going to sit to switch?
Midoriya rolled his eyes a bit and looked around the room, his eyes settling on the bed.
We could sit there to-
SWITCH
Then Midoriya's world went dark.
When Kokichi opened his eyes, he realized he was on the floor.
Why did you do that?
Kokichi sat up and noticed the other boy standing from his chair, looking like he was about to rush over, but froze halfway.
Wanted to see what would happen.
Of course, why do you do anything? Because you're bored or curious.
Wow! We haven’t even known each other for a whole day and you already know me so well!
“Hey there Bitchkugo! Can’t believe you called the cops on me!” Kokichi spoke brightly as he stood up. Bakugo tensed in the corner of kokichi vision.
“Who the hell are you?” Bakugo asked quietly.
“The one and only Kokichi Ouma! How’ve you been? Still thinking about what I said earlier? Offers still on the table, you know?” Kokichi smiled slyly, placing his hands behind his head. Bakugo growled at the reference to earlier.
Seriously stop bringing that up. I wish to scrub that memory from my mind and I can’t do that if you keep reminding me of it.
C’mon, you mean to tell me you wouldn’t hit that at least once?
I would rather die than continue this conversation with you.
“Listen Blasty, I know you don’t exactly trust me, but its not like I can go around doing whatever I want, ya know?” Kokichi whined before speaking again.
“I’ve got this little green nag in my ear and he’s keeping me from doing bad things. It seems as though my conscious finally developed or something,” Kokichi looked back at Bakugo who had a small smirk on his lips.
“He is a fucking nag isnt he?” Bakugo smiled sinisterly.
Oh no.
What?
I should have never introduced you two.
“Listen, I don’t trust you, and I can tell you don’t particularly care about earning my trust, am I right, creepy bitch?” bakugo accused, sly smile still on his face. Kokichi’s own smile widened slightly.
Now I see why you didn’t want us to meet.
Dear god, please, what have I done to deserve this.
This is going to be fun.
“I would love nothing more than to have your respect!” Kokichi lied.
“Bullshit, you just can’t help lying, can you?” Bakugo stated, leaving no room for argument.
“No way! I hate liars!” Kokichi puffed his cheeks out in faux anger.
“Yeah, whatever! Get the hell out of my room, bitch!” Bakugo could no longer hold on to his calm, angry demeanor and shouted at his normal volume level.
“Sure thing! See you later Kacchan~,” Kokichi sang as he left the room, Bakugo sputtering behind him as the door closed.
That was truly the worst thing ever.
Calm down greenie, it really wasn’t that bad.
Kokichi could somehow feel the glare Midoriya was leveling at him in the void room. A shiver went up his spine and he walked back to his new dorm room.
As he was getting ready to go to sleep, Midoriya remembered something.
Oh no, I have to meet Sir Nighteye tomorrow!
Who?
Notes:
That’s the end!!! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!!! I’m sure I can tell what your thinking…
DANGANRONPA CANON IN MHA?!?! Yes, and I’m going to place some SMALL clarifications here. This will all be discussed later in the story, but I’m going to discuss some stuff that happened in this chapter.
Everyone in MHA believes Danganronpa is staged, think actor au type thing. To them, everything is fake and everyone participating knows it’s fake. There will be more details regarding this later in the story.
Todoroki is going to be a huge theory nerd in this. He’s got crazy theories out the wazoo, which means one of them is bound to be right, and it’s this one. Like most people who come up with ridiculous theories, he doesn’t believe in most of them (see all might secret love child for examples that he believes 100%). This is why he still watched Danganronpa. 1. So that he can continue to prove his theory and 2. Because he doesn’t really believe it’s real. The whole thing is just kind of like a crack theory to him.
This is all of the info I will be sharing abt this at the time. To find out more about how Danganronpa plays into the MHA verse, keep tuning in!!!
Also! For those of you wondering, when switching, Kokichi and Midoriya black out for about 5 seconds. If sitting, they are able to maintain their position, but if they are standing, they faint.
Alright!! I think that covers everything!
Also, I totally took inspiration from my fam for the reality tv segment. My family would always watch new episodes of survivor right as they dropped, so I may have projected a bit onto Iida lol.
See yall next week for sir nighteye!!!
Chapter 5: Boys meet...
Summary:
Sir Nighteye is here! How will Kokichi and Midoriya convince him to take them on for Work Studies!
Notes:
IMPORTANT NOTE!!!!!
This chapter is mainly a rehash of episode 3 of season 4 of My Hero. Lots of dialog that doesn't really chance, because a lot of this I feel is really important to Midoriya's character. There is still plenty of fun Kokichi moments and some odd quirk shenanigans as well! This chapter is also extremely dialog heavy. Like, LOTS of dialog. So I hope ya'll enjoy that! I did end up skipping some dialog in this, with a time skip. For that moment, just assume everything happened the same as in canon, and Kokichi was too bored to make any comments lol.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Who the hell is Sir Nighteye anyways? You’ve been too freaked out this morning to tell me properly.
Midoriya looked to his right at Togata. They were both walking in comfortable silence at the moment, but as they approached Nighteyes agency, it felt less and less comfortable.
Sir Nighteye was All Might's first and only sidekick. He has the power to see forward in time if the requirements are met.
Wow, op much?
Midoriya agreed, his nerves starting to get the better of him. It seemed as though Togata noticed this.
“Hey, don’t be nervous! I know Sir Nighteye sounds like a scary name, but he only fits the bill mostly!” Togata announced cheerfully.
Was that supposed to be encouraging?
Hell if I know.
“Well I hope he will take me, I don’t really have any other options,” Midoriya said nervously. This fact was not entirely true. He could probably convince All Might to introduce him to someone else if he really pushed, but Midoriya had his mind set. It had to be Sir Nighteye.
Togata examined the other boy for a moment before looking back forwards just in time to stop in front of the agency. Midoriya stopped next to him, looking at his senior with expectant eyes. Togata was only two years older than him, but according to Aizawa-sensei, he was the closest to the next number one out of everyone, even pros. It was a little intimidating if he was honest. All might had entrusted Midoriya with One for All in the hopes that he would be the next Symbol of Peace, and yet here was someone who was essentially already there, no borrowed power required. Midoriya found himself looking to Togata in reverence and cautiousness at what was essentially his own finish line. This is what a successor to All Might should look and feel like. It was intimidating. Togata looked back down at Midoriya.
“Well, here’s one piece of advice, try and make him laugh,” Togata offered with a smile.
…huh?
I thought this guy was like super serious™?
I… thought so too.
Togata left him with that and led them into the building. Midoriya’s mind was running a thousand miles a minute, and judging by the way Kokichi had gone quiet, his was too. What would make a guy like Sir Nighteye laugh? What did Midoriya know about him? A memory from years ago surfaced in Midoriya’s mind.
“Are you sure you want to watch this Izuku? It’s not even All Might?” His mother spoke kindly in the memory. The tv shone brightly in a way that only makes sense in memories, a man with green and yellow striped hair sat on a sofa, long limbs curled in a way that was surely uncomfortable.
“Yes mama! That’s Sir Nighteye, All Might’s sidekick!” A young Izuku exclaimed. At 6 years old, Izuku was still determined to be a hero, despite his quirklessness. He pretended not to notice the sad expression his mother aimed at him anytime she thought he wasn’t looking. He had always been observant after all.
“So Nighteye, why is it that, despite being All Might's sidekick for a considerable amount of time at this point, you only have a few pieces of merch with the hero yourself?” The interviewer spoke excitedly as she questioned the hero.
“Well, I have always admired All Might, that is the reason as to why I had to become his sidekick. My admiration for the Symbol has always been all encompassing. There was never any other option for me other than to work directly for him,” Nighteye spoke calmly, almost emotionless as he began his response.
“It’s not that I do not think I am worthy to be on the same merch as him, if that is what you are thinking. It’s more that…” Nighteye hesitated for a moment, before a small smile plastered itself on his face.
“I really am a huge All Might fanboy, and it would seem vain to have so many pictures of myself around.” As soon as he finished speaking, multiple images of Nighteye’s office as well as his living room were shown to be covered in All Might memorabilia.
Izuku’s heart pounded in his chest. Reaching up and grabbing his mothers skirt, he tugged at the corner to get her attention.
“Momma! Momma, look! He’s like me! He likes All Might like me!” Izuku shouted gleefully. His mother smiled at him, a smile that seemed genuine, and gave her son a massive hug.
The memory seemed to fade away as the mother and son celebrated the small victory.
Snapping back from the memory, Midoriya knew exactly the kind of joke he should pull on Sir.
Sooo, don’t mean to alarm you before your big moment, but I totally just experienced that entire flashback.
Midoriya’s steps faltered slightly, almost causing him to trip on the air.
You what?!
I didn’t do it on purpose! One moment I’m chilling in the void room, and next I’m little you sitting on a couch!
How is that possible? That shouldn’t be possible…
You think I don’t know that!
Midoriya shook his head slightly to regain his composure.
There’s no time to worry about that now, we need to focus. We’ll worry about it later when we have time.
Midoriya heard Kokichi sigh through their mental link.
Yeah, yeah, knock 'em dead or whatever.
Midoriya smiled at the encouragement, before walking to the entrance to Sir Nighteye’s office. Not allowing himself a moment of hesitation, Midoriya swung the door open and was greeted with…
Is this some kind of kink or something?
Normally I would disagree immediately, but…
Midoriya’s mouth hung agape as he watched Bubble girl get tickled in some kind of giant machine.
Maybe we should go somewhere else, this guy seems to be a couple monokubs short of the full pack if you know what I mean.
…no I don't.
Oh…
Midoriya left the odd statement, and placed his head in his hands. He had to make sure it was perfect, since Sir Nighteye would know the difference.
Looking back up at the hero, Midoriya plastered on his All Might impression, as perfect as it could possibly be.
…
…
Ain’t no goddamn way you thought that was going to make him laugh…
Sir looked at him with eyes filled with barely contained rage, but Midoriya held his ground.
“Are you ridiculing All Might?” Sir Nighteye asked him, his rage boiling over in an ominous aura. Midoriya flinched at the harsh tone, but did not back down. He heard Togata gasp from behind him in what had to be shock.
Nighteye turned fully towards him and began stalking forward as he spoke.
“What’s with that face? What are you trying to do here?” Nighteye spoke calmly, as though nothing was wrong, although the dangerous aura coming from him told otherwise.
“O-oh, well,” Midoriya tried to explain, but Nighteye cut him off immediately.
“You committed this outrage knowing that I was All Might’s former sidekick?” Nighteye reached out a hand to Midoroya’s face, grabbing at it and pulling.
“All Might’s wrinkles are not like that.” Midoirya gasped in slight shock at Nighteye’s words.
Wow so this guy is a nerd like you.
Hey now…
“In his normal face, All Might’s wrinkles are .6 centimeters long, and from silver age and on they were .8 centimeters long,” Nighteye continued to explain.
Oh lord he really is just as nerdy as you…
Don't say it like it's a bad thing!
“These days even unlicenced merch has the name of the age it's from. Do you not know even that?” Nighteye looked Midoriya directly in the eye as he spoke. Midoriya attempted to look anywhere but the hero’s piercing gaze, but as he looked around Midoriya noticed something interesting.
Every corner of this office is filled with All Might merchandise…
Yeah it almost looks like your room.
Midoriya’s eyes caught something on the far side of the room.
That's the 10th anniversary tapestry that wasn’t for sale anywhere! I want it!
Ooohhh! Violence and robbery time?!
…no, we can’t.
You hesitated!
Well there is definitely no doubt now that this man is definitely a serious All Might fan!
…Even after all that you still had doubts?
Nighteye let go of Midoriya’s face before speaking again.
“This is very unpleasant, please leave,” Nighteye turned to walk away, but stopped when Midoriya began speaking.
“The vinegar riverbank incident… Are you not aware of that?” Midoriya dared question.
Oh? Getting a little sassy there, are we Greenie?
Sush.
“When a middle schooler fell into a river and activated his quirk, which could change water’s quality, and All Might saved him. The drowning middle schooler changed the river into vinegar when he was panicking, and when All Might jumped in, some got in his eyes. His face at the interviews afterward was slightly different because the vinegar stung his eyes made them more narrow. That was the face I decided to impersonate!” Midoriya finished his tirade and looked at the back of Sir Nighteye expectantly. Nighteye turned to look at Midoriya, his eyes held less malice than before.
Be so for real, there is no way that worked!
The power of fans, it amazes me every time…
Shut up, this is too ridiculous, even for me.
“Of course I knew about that. It happened before I teamed up with him,” Nighteye looked back forward before speaking again.
“They also mentioned it on the Yomiuri TV program, A Look Back,” Midoriya nodded his head enthusiastically.
“Yes, that one! There weren’t any villains, so some people say it’s boring-”
Like me.
“-and its not talked about very often, but I really like it! I really liked the witty response he gave after the boy thanked him!” Midoriya continued on, not sparing a thought to Kokichi’s comment.
“Thanks to you, my skin feels ten years younger.” Sir finished the statement for Midoriya, back still turned to the boy. Midoriya smiled brightly once again.
“Yes! That's it!” Midoriya agreed, shaking his arms up and down in excitement. Nighteye looked back towards the boy again.
“You. Were you testing me?” Nighteye accused.
“Oh, no! It’s just that because All Might is a teacher at our school, its hard to speak so much about him, so I got too excited and couldn’t help myself,” Midoriya admitted sheepishly as Nighteye walked over to him again.
This is insufferable, I am actively wishing for death once again to escape this conversation.
We will be discussing those concerning comments later, don’t think I forgot.
Ughhhhhh!
Midoriya continued to ignore the other boys whining and discussed more obscure All Might lore with Sir Nighteye.
Dude, this guy is an asshole.
Midoriya couldn’t help but continue to stare at the man in front of him incredulously. He had to get the seal in three minutes? Midoriya’s mind was brought back to his first attempt at using full cowling and the similarities. Nighteye continued to prattle off the conditions of the fight as he twirled the stamp in his fingers. Eventually though, he palmed the seal and leaned forward before speaking.
“Come and get it,” Nighteye’s words sent a shiver down midoriya’s spine.
I have no way to fight Nighteye’s quirk, but I can’t just give up.
Yeah, but how are you meant to get it if he can see the future? He’s just going to predict all of your moves.
Midoriya shook his head and cleared his mind of any doubts, there wasn’t time to be thinking like that. Activating full cowling at five percent, Midoriya jumped for the seal as quickly as possible. Nighteye dodged, but something was odd.
Right as Midoriya went to attack, Nighteye had opened his mouth to speak, but the words seem to have caught in his mouth. His impenetrable icy demeanor from before had seemingly been cracked, but by what? Nighteye looked at the boy in what seemed to be confusion, his quirk activated and shining through the lens of his glasses.
Ok, so he can see in the future, how should that be combated? Maybe an attack from the left?
Midoriya considered the idea for a moment, before going straight for the seal again from the back. Nighteye seemed to panic for a moment, dodging slightly to the right, before realizing where Midoriya was and dropping his hand and spinning away from the boy. Midoriya landed in front of the man, who’s eyes held barely contained panic and interest.
He attempted to dodge to the right, which would be the correct way to dodge if we had used my idea and went to the left. Do you think our current situation is affecting his ability to predict where we go?
There is a chance. Try and plan out as many alternate attacks as possible and suggest them to me. I’ll come up with some of my own and we can go from there.
Midoriya lept for the seal once again, but still missed. Over and over, midoriya would come close to catching Sir in a mistake, only for the hero to dodge at the last second. If it was any consolation, it seemed as though Nighteye was also extremely flustered over his lack of precision in his foresight. He seemed to be exerting himself more, and he did not speak. The minute hand ticked over by one, and Midoriya decided to back off for a moment, reassessing his possibilities. This seemed to calm Nighteye, however.
“At the one minute mark, you should back off briefly and become uneasy at the lack of progress you have made. That is the power of my Foresight, which you cannot overcome,” Nighteye’s voice strained as he spoke the last part of his statement.
It doesn't matter how quick I am or how many alternate plans you throw at him, he is still quick enough to correct himself. Is there any way around it?
Maybe by speeding up? I can tell you have a limit set on your power.
I can’t. If I go too high, I’ll break my limbs.
Sir sighed at Midoriya’s lack of response before speaking again.
“I did have high expectations of you, you know? You have enough power to become a symbol, but you’re completely ordinary,” Nighteye spoke calmly once again, seemingly back in control.
Who the hell does this guy think he is?
Midoriya couldn’t even dignify Kokichi with a response.
“In this time where villains are getting rousey and gloom is creeping in, he should have let Mirio inherit One for All after all,” Nighteye accused harshly. Midoriya’s eyes widened in surprise.
“One for All? Togata?” Midoriya muttered under his breath. Nighteye sighed.
“I love and respect All Might, even after all this time, but I cannot comprehend his selection of a successor,” Nighteye spoke with a deep resignation in his voice. Midoriya stood up straight as the implication of what Nighteye had said settled in his mind.
“After all” is what Nighteye said. So Togata was a candidate for inheriting One for All?! Did he know? What made them choose him? Does All Might even know or was this all Nighteye?
Hey greenie, you got to put those thoughts to the side! We're still in a timed battle!
Midoriya blinked from his stupor, realizing his error. Looking back at Nighteye, it seemed as though he had continued speaking.
“I will tell you exactly what I think of you. There is someone far more worthy of inheriting One for All than you. I cannot acknowledge you,” Nighteye spoke plainly and to the point, leaving no room for argument.
Midoriya clenched his fist, reactivating his quirk, and looked Nighteye directly in his eye.
I have to surpass my all if I want to beat him, I can’t just assume he would let me in.
Midoriya bumped his power usage up to eight percent.
He is a pretty nasty bitch though, you still want to work for him?
Nighteye looked slightly shaken once Midoriya reactivated his quirk. Nighteye looked at Midoriya, but also seemingly right next to him, as though he was expecting someone to be there.
It has to be him, but I can’t just let him reject everything All Might and I have been through up until now!
Midoriya began jumping between the walls as fast as he possibly could, moving like Gran Torino from his memory. NIghteye seemed to notice this, but did not comment. He looked flustered once again, finding it hard to track the other boy's movements. Midoriya continued to make attempts for the seal, and got closer with each try, but never close enough.
“I will make you acknowledge me!” Midoriya shouted as he bounced around the room.
“I can see what you do wherever you do it! You cannot trick my foresight!” Nighteye spoke with more emotion than he had the entire time midoriya had been there. It seemed whatever effect Midoriya and Kokichi had on his quirk was making Sir agitated. Midoriya continued to bounce around the room as Kokichi planned.
Hm, the way he worded that was weird, don’t you think? Does he see the future from a third person perspective? Or does he see from the affected person’s perspective?
MIdoriya’s mind went alight with ideas. As he bounced around the room, one stood out as the most likely to succeed. Making one more attempt for the seal, Midoriya found himself by a small bookshelf. He remembered one of Sir’s rules being to not worry about the state of the room, so Midoriya grabbed onto the shelf and flung the papers into the air.
“Sorry!” Midoriya shouted, not really feeling all that sorry, before leaping for the seal once again. Midoriya hoped that the other objects would prevent Nighteye from seeing where he would approach from. Reaching for the seal, Midoriya felt the wood of the handle, before Nighteye quickly turned around, barely dodging the teen. His eyes were wide with surprise, mouth hung slightly agape.
“I’m not done ye-” Midoriya was cut off by face planting into the opposite wall, eventually sliding down to the floor. Sir audibly sighed behind him.
“Time’s up,” Nighteye spoke nonchalantly, although there was a slight edge in his tone.
“N-no,” Midoriya looked at the clock incredulously before looking back to Nighteye.
“I’m quite astonished, honestly. You had one plan that didn’t work out, and it made you clumsy and exhausted,” Nighteye wiped his hands across his suit to clear it of debris.
This guy is a grade A asshole, we totally had him on the ropes!
“It’s not that I’m exhausted…” Midoriya spoke as he stayed doubled over on the floor.
“Then was it a mistake?” Nighteye questioned.
“I was about to step on the tapestry that wasn’t for sale celebrating All Might’s tenth anniversary of being a hero,” Midoriya admitted.
There is no way you threw the match because of some merch, there is no way!
Midoriya flinched slightly at the others' tone, but couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about it. He would have felt worse if he got the seal, but ruined such priceless items.
Nighteye looked around the room at the admission, noticing how all of the imprints from Midoriya’s shoes were on the walls and bookshelves, but not the hero’s merchandise.
Midoriya continued to think through what he could have done differently, when he heard a huff come from Sir, before the door swung open to reveal Bubble Girl and Togata.
Was that a laugh?! Did that count!
I-
“I’ll take him, Mirio,” Nighteye spoke. Midoriya whipped his head up to look at Nighteye.
“W-what?! Why? I-I couldn’t do what you asked me to?” Midoriya stumbled over his words as he spoke. Sir turned back towards the rest of the room.
“I told you to take the seal and stamp it yourself, but I never said I wouldn’t take you if you didn’t get the seal,” Nighteye explained, before walking over to his desk. Togata walked over and helped Midoriya off the floor.
“Midoriya, you did it! Sir you laughed, right!” Togata asked after helping Midoriya.
“I had already decided to take you when I heard you were coming. I also knew that you weren’t completely useless, but I hadn’t accepted it,” Nighteye held the work studies form up for Midoriya to see before placing it on the desk in front of him.
“Right now, during these harsh times, the people need a dazzling light, not a dim one. So even if it goes against his will, I will make you realize who is the most worthy of that power right now by having you work alongside the pros,” When Nighteye finished speaking, he pulled out the seal and dropped it on the desk with the paper.
One for All if transferred through the will of the user. He’s taking me on to make me give up…
What a genuine ass, and here I thought you couldn’t get worse than Kaito or Bakago.
Midoriya took the seal and placed a stamp on the form, before looking Nighteye in the eye.
“I look forward to working with you,” Midoriya announced.
Nighteye nodded his head at the admission.
“Well, we better get back to campus now,” Togata interrupted to ease the tension.
“If you do not mind, I would like to have a small conversation with Midoriya about his trial before he leaves. Please wait for him by the entrance, Mirio,” Nighteye spoke firmly. Midoriya suppressed a shiver at that.
Is he going to fight us again?
Maybe it's about why he was so freaked out during our fight? I have never seen him show that much emotion ever!
Togata and Bubble Girl closed the door behind them as they left. Nighteye looked back at Midoriya in what seemed to be curiosity.
“How did you do it?”
“H-huh?” Midoriya retorted dumbly.
“How were you able to throw off my Foresight? I have never had a problem with it before today, so tell me what you did,” Nighteye all but demanded as he sat down in his chair.
“U-um, I will be honest Sir, I really do not know. I still don’t even know the activation requirements for your quirk,” Midoriya laughed slightly at the end of his statement. Nighteye looked at him curiously.
“Well, I guess that is something we will need to figure out while you do your work study here. Go on and meet Mirio out front, he will tell you when to be here and what you will need,” Nighteye waved him off.
That’s weird. I wish we got some more information about what exactly he was seeing that messed with his foresight so bad.
Yeah, well I’m just glad to be out of that god forsaken office, yeesh.
Midoriya shook his head lightly as he met with Togata out front and they both headed back to UA.
Notes:
And that's the end! Sorry about this chapter being late! I wanted this chapter to be a bit longer, but I had finals last week and this was all I could get out. There will still be a chapter this friday and it will be the original "second half" of this chapter. When I was planning this chapter, I didn't realize how long this segment would be, so I think it worked out!
Another new fun fact about Midoriya and Kokichi's situation! They can now share flashbacks! Shared flashbacks will only occur if the person remembering seemingly looses spacial awareness when remembering, or if it is a trauma induced flashback. In this instance, because the memory was so far back, Midoriya had to really focus to remember, which caused Kokichi to be able to view it. This will definitely come back later.
Next chapter we will see little Eri! See ya'll then!!
Chapter 6: An encounter
Summary:
The boys have an encounter...
Notes:
This chapter is a bit shorter than the other chapter's I've put out and that is simply because I felt the ending to this chapter was more natural this way. I didn't want to force myself to make it longer for the sake of it, so I didn't.
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It was a good thing Midoriya had insisted he lead today because once again, Kokichi was bored in what should have been a completely not boring situation.
I'm just saying, if all we have to do is walk around, why can we have some fun and use these powers a bit?
Because that is illegal?!
Meh, I’ve done wayyyy more morally gray stuff than use superpowers.
That is not comforting. Are you sure you weren’t a villain in your old world?
Guess you’ll never know!
Midoriya groaned internally, focusing ahead as he walked. Sir had left him with Togata, or Lemillion as he just mentioned. They were meant to patrol the area, Lemillion giving Midoriya helpful tips along the way, while Sir and Bubble Girl followed a lead on the Shie Hassaikai.
Nothing super interesting had happened on their patrol, and Kokichi was quickly becoming antsy.
I am seriously going to lose my mind if something doesn’t happen soon.
Midoriya had been about to retort, when a weight hit his leg. Looking down, a small child had run into him and was now on the ground.
“Sorry, that must have hurt,” Midoriya reached to help the child up, but froze when she flinched at his approaching hand. That, along with the bandages on her arms did not paint a pretty picture, but Midoriya couldn’t jump to conclusions. Midoriya noticed Lemillion stopping and turning towards him.
…
Taking note of Kokichi’s silence, Midoriya focused his attention back on the girl.
“Can you stand? Are you ok?” Midoriya made a show of moving slowly, to place his hands under the girl’s arms to lift her up. When he began picking her up, he noticed something.
She’s trembling…
“Now you know…” the child flinched harshly at the voice from the ally. Midoriya looked up at the alleyway the voice came from and froze upon seeing the man exiting.
“...you can’t go around causing trouble for the heroes,” Kai Chasaki spoke coldly as he exited the ally.
No way…
You need to get out of there, now.
I- I can’t-
“I’m sorry about my daughter, hero. She likes to play around a lot and keeps getting hurt. I don’t know what to do with her,” Chisaki laughed slightly as he spoke and his eyes upturned in what could be seen as a smile, keeping the barely fragile atmosphere from shattering.
We. Need. To. Leave.
I can’t. We have no evidence, it would be considered kidnapping-
Midoriya couldn’t finish his thought as his hood was harshly thrown over his head. Looking back up, Lemillion’s smile was strained as he looked at Midoriya.
“Your hood and mask came off again. Maybe the sizing is off? We’re sorry too, for bumping into her,” Lemillion’s attitude seemed off to Midoriya, who had seen him act this way genuinely.
My expression. My disbelief had to have shown on my face, proving that I know this guy. Chisaki wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone if they were to get in his way. This act Lemillion is doing is to keep Chisaki from attacking us and help us get away.
But what about her! He won’t leave without her and that can’t happen!
Midoriya was slightly taken aback by how vehement Kokichi was. Midoriya was also concerned for the girl's safety, especially after finding out that Chisaki is her father, but Kokichi seemed frantic almost.
Looking up suddenly, Midoriya realized he had missed most of the conversation between Chisaki and Lemillion.
“Anyway, we need to finish patrolling this division by lunch. Let’s go!” Lemillion motioned for Midoriya to follow, but his legs wouldn’t move. They felt fuzzy, like someone put tv static in his veins. Then, as soon as it had appeared, it vanished, but as soon as it did, the girl tightened her grip on Midoriya’s costume. He couldn’t see her face, but a small voice echoed in his ear.
“D… Don’t go…” the little girl pleaded.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Midoriya’s entire body filled with static. It was an effort to get any words out of his mouth, but not speaking would only make this situation worse.
“U-um..” Midoriya’s voice cracked in unnatural ways, however he seemed to be the only one who noticed.
“You-r daughter-r seems s-scared,” the more he spoke, the more Midoriya became aware of himself. He noticed that his voice had moments where it sounded like Kokichi, although the boy had been silent for a while now. No one else seemed to notice the strange vocal behavior, however. He also noticed that his hands would no longer move at his command, hanging midair despite his protests. The rest of his body was in a similar state. Midoriya could no longer break eye contact with Chisaki even if he wanted to.
“That’s because she just got a scolding,” Chisaki’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. He clearly was not pleased at what Midoriya was insinuating, but he couldn’t stop.
“But-t wait, these b-bandages do-n’t look like they are from-m playing to-o much,” Midoriya did not want to stop, but he knew he should stop. This was threatening everything that Sir Nighteye was trying to do with his investigation, but still. The girl leaned forward slightly, letting the tears building in her eyes run off her face. Midoriya wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he let this girl go back without some kind of fight. Midoriya’s arms began wrapping around the child without his command.
“She falls a lot,” Chisaki seemed to be running out of patience.
But so were they.
“For-r such a s-small child to be trem-mbling like this without ma-aking a sound…” their arms finally wrapped around the little girl.
“I don’t t-think that’s normal,”
Their determination was set, their decision made.
“Please don’t force your own “normal” on other people’s families,” Chisaki’s eye twitched in annoyance.
Good.
They realized someone else was speaking, but nothing else in that moment mattered. It was them and Chisaki. They frowned sharply at the man.
“What are you doing to this girl.”
The atmosphere had broken, intentions laid out for all to see. They had set their claim. How would the opposition respond?
Prepare for anything, think of all scenarios, all routes, all options.
“Jeez, hero’s are so sensitive to the subtle signs in people, huh? Very well,” Chisaki sighed in what seemed to be parental annoyance, but it was poorly done. They could see the frustration and rage radiating off the man.
“It’s embarrassing to talk about it and people are watching. So will you come this way with me?” Chisaki asked before turning towards the ally and walking back in, not waiting for an answer. They knew it was a lie. There would be no embarrassing truth here, and they knew that. This would be the perfect opportunity to leave, but a hand was placed on their shoulder, leading them into the alley. It was the upperclassman. His eyes were obscured by his visor, but he seemed to not be too upset. That was good.
Following the man into the alley, they took notice of every possible method of escape.
There was a fire escape eight steps behind them and twelve steps in front of them. The walls were close enough to jump between them. They could-
“Actually, recently, I’ve had a lot of problems with Eri. She just keeps defying me no matter what I say,” Chisaki spoke, still attempting to keep some of the pretense of before. They knew better.
They had used the same trick before, after all. Misdirection and confusion. It worked amazingly after the fourth trial. The upperclassman was speaking again, but they couldn’t hear. All noise other than Chisaki had been drowned out by their own thoughts, running endlessly. Looking for a solution to any situation that may present itself.
“Yes, children are hard to understand. They feel like they can and will become someone,” Chisaki reached for his glove. At that moment, Chisaki’s murderous intent rose to an astonishing level.
“They seriously think that…” Chisaki had not even finished his statement, when Eri suddenly jumped from their arms and ran back towards his side.
At the sudden loss of contact, their entire body filled with static once again, and they was frozen in place, every scenario they had prepared for falling through their fingers as she caught up to the man.
They couldn’t even hear what Chisaki was saying anymore. All noise had been replaced with static. Their body was frozen as Chisaki and Eri walked away into the dark. Moving seemed impossible, even after Lemillion had walked in front of them.
Who were they?
They w ere one … but th at is no t quit e right ei ther.
They we re…
Midoriya,
And…
Kokichi.
When had they become “they”?
When had they become one?
With that thought, they collapsed to the ground.
Notes:
That's the chapter! Please note that the ending will be explained in the next chapter, but the boys are still 2 separate people sharing the void space. Like I said though, it will be properly explained in the next chapter.
I hope you guys enjoyed this one! I had a lot of fun writing it!
Chapter 7: Fighting fate in unconventional ways
Summary:
After the events of their first patrol, Midoriya and Kokichi confront All Might with their questions.
Notes:
This chapter is almost completely dialog from an episode. This moment between All Might and Midoriya is super important, so it needed to be done, and I didn’t just want to skip it like I’ve done some other scenes. So be wary, lots of canon compliant dialog in this one.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Blinking the black spots from his vision, Midoriya was greeted with an assault of a bright yellow waving back and forth in front of him.
Ugh, what happened?
No clue greenie…
Midoriya startled slightly at the voice in his head before he remembered his situation.
The waving yellow blur seemed to be slowing down as Midoriya’s vision cleared, revealing it to be his upperclassman, Togata.
“Hey, are you ok?” Togata asked, his smile slightly pinched. Midoriya shook his head again, the memories of what happened before he passed out coming back to him.
Eri…
“W-wher-“ Midoriya attempted to speak, but fell into a coughing fit before he could finish. Togata leaned over to help him as he grabbed a small water bottle from his bag and offered it to the boy.
“Here, drink this,” Midoriya took the water and drank it quickly, downing the whole thing in less than thirty seconds. After he finished the bottle he looked around desperately.
“Where’s eri? I-is she hiding?” Midoriya rattled off question after question, his panic from earlier returning full force.
Hey, calm down and take a deep breath.
How can I? Eri is gone somewhere and we need to find her.
I know, but panicking like this won’t do us any good. We need to be rational about this.
Midoriya could feel Kokichi’s barely hidden anger bubbling beneath his words. He closed his eyes for a moment.
…yeah. Ok.
Midoriya took a few steadying breaths before looking back at Togata.
“What happened?” Togata winced at that, before standing up and offering a hand to Midoriya.
“Listen, I’ll give you the details as we walk, but we have to meet with Sir and Bubble Girl asap. They are on their way now so we need to get moving. Are you ok to walk?” Lemillion asked as he lifted Midoriya to his feet. Wobbling slightly, Midoriya found his footing and looked back at Togata.
“Y-yes, sorry I’m fine to walk,” Midoriya once again shook his head to clear some of the leftover static from his body.
Togata kept a firm grasp on his arm as they began walking towards the meeting point.
“After eri ran back to Chisaki, you froze completely. I thought you may try to follow them, so I grabbed your arm, but then you collapsed. I went to grab you, but as soon as you hit the floor, you were waking back up,” Togata explained, ringing his hands together.
“O-oh. Thank you,” Midoriya looked forwards as he spoke. Togata seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again.
“Listen Midoriya, are you ok? You weren’t acting like yourself earlier,” Togata’s nervousness was finally given a source, and now it was Midoriya’s turn to be nervous. Leftover static shot up Midoriya’s arms as a reminder of what happened.
“I-I’m not sure w-what that was, but if I figure it out, I’ll let you know,” Midoriya answered honestly.
We need to talk to someone.
…I know.
After being dismissed by Sir, Midoriya was practically sprinting back to UA. He needed to find someone quickly.
Running to the teachers lounge, Midoriya swung the door open, quickly scanning the room for-
“Midoriya? What’s got you in such a hurry?” A voice from the side of the room called out. Turning towards the voice Midoriya saw Midnight waving him over.
“M-Mrs. Midnight! Sorry to disturb you, I was looking for All Might...” Midoriya explained as he walked to her desk.
Is this not a high school? Why is she dressed like that?
Midoriya ignored Kokichi’s remark to focus on Midnight.
“Oh, he’s out jogging. I figured you would know. He’s been working out a lot since the home visits ended,” Midnight explained.
Looking out the window, Midoriya could see where All Might was stretching before his run. If he was quick, he could catch him.
“Thank you Mrs. Midnight!” Midoriya called out as he ran out towards his mentor.
Are you sure telling this guy is a good idea? What about your homeroom teacher? Wouldn’t that be smarter?
All Might is who gave me my power to begin with. If anyone can help us understand what happened and get you caught up on how to use One for All, it’s him.
Midoriya activated 5 percent of one for all as he exited the school.
I also want to talk about what happened with Nighteye, I deserve to know…
Kokichi was silent for a moment before sighing loudly.
This is ridiculous! Never in my afterlife would I have ever thought this would be happening to me…
Midoriya filed that comment away for later as he approached his mentor.
“I have to talk to you All Might!” Midoriya shouted.
“Woah, okay, Young Midoriya is here!” All Might exclaimed in surprise. Midoriya took a moment to catch his breath.
Geez you know that shouting could have killed him right?
“Hold on, how did you even know where I was?” All Might questioned. When Midoriya didn’t reply immediately, he began to walk away.
“You knew… what I was walking into. Nighteye knows how One for All works and he wanted you to give it to Togata, not me,” Midoriya clenched his fists as he spoke.
“You had to know that I would find everything out, right? Why didn’t you warn me?” Midoriya finished speaking and waited for All Might to reply.
“I wasn’t sure it was my place to tell you…” All might did not face Midoriya as he spoke. The anger bubbling beneath the surface had come back tenfold at this.
“Of course it was!” Midoriya shouted, looking back at his mentor.
“To hear everything at once, be rejected by him…” Midoriya’s voice broke slightly, but he continued.
“All of that before I even had a chance to make sense of any of it.” Midoriya’s looked down at the ground again.
“The worst part was not knowing why you kept it a secret. How I should feel. I need to know everything All Might,” Midoriya looked back up at the hero, who had still not turned to face him.
“Not as your fan, but as your successor,” Midoriya finished speaking, slightly out of breath after his speech.
All Might did not speak for a moment, a small gust of breeze blew between them.
“I didn’t think knowing this information would help with your development. But if you really want the truth…” All Might stopped before finishing speaking.
“Anything’s better than having you keep secrets from me,” Midoriya spoke to encourage All Might to continue.
“You may regret this,” All Mights voice was on the verge of breaking as he spoke. Midoriya hardened his gaze before he spoke.
“I won’t.”
“Okay,” All Might relented before speaking again.
“Nighteye had always been a fan of mine. It was my policy not to take on sidekicks, but eventually I gave in and let him be my number two. We worked together for five years and he was the brain behind my operations,” All Might spoke with barely concealed fondness and nostalgia.
“I know that much. I also know you two got along,” Midoriya offered.
“We did. But…” All Might took a deep breath before continuing.
“Six years ago we dissolved our partnership because of my injury. Turns out we had different values,” All Might went quiet for a moment, seemingly trying to find the words to say.
“He wanted me to retire then and there. He said if I continued my hero work, he wouldn’t support me, he couldn’t. It was then that I realized why he was so adamant. He saw my future, used foresight on me,” All Might spoke calmly. Midoriya felt his pulse quicken.
Nighteye said he would never use his power to look into the long term future…
Could this be why?
“If you continue like this, you’ll face off against a villain and die an unspeakably gruesome death. That was my future he had seen,” Midoriya’s body tensed at those words, but All Might continued speaking.
“The two of us parted ways after that argument. We couldn’t agree about my future. Principle Nezu recommended young Togata to me, but before I could meet him, I ended up running into you,” All Might’s spoke with fondness when regarding Midoriya.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you. Because… Because you’re my fan,” All Might finished speaking. When Midoriya did not reply, he continued his jog.
“All Mights… going to die?”
…
Midoriya looked down at the ground.
“He’ll die…”
…
Everything around him had begun to blur, as tears formed at the corners of his eyes. Suddenly, Midoriya ran after All Might.
“Wait, hold up. All Might, please,” Midoriya called after him as he rounded a corner. All Might stood waiting for him.
“Tell me about Nighteye’s vision. How far into the future was it?” Midoriya was practically yelling as he spoke.
“Six or seven years. The further into the future he sees, the harder it is to know exactly when something will happen. But his foresight had never been wrong,” All Might explained, his back still turned.
Midoriya felt a pit form in his stomach.
“W-wait, then that would be this year or the next…” disbelief coated every word out of Midoriya’s mouth.
“Y-your kidding. Right? This c-can’t happen. I want you to live All Might!” Midoriya’s voice cracked with emotion as he spoke.
“Do you remember what you said at the sports festival? Our promise? I can’t do that yet. So live. Until I can keep our pact,” Midoriya spoke with determination as he made his declaration.
“Watch me tell them ‘I am here.’ I need you here. Don’t you understand?” Tears once again welled in his eyes as he spoke.
“Young Midoriya. Back then, when I heard I would die, I accepted that as my future. I just figured I would keep running at full speed until I got to the finish line,” All Might turned his head slightly towards Midoriya as he spoke, his back still turned.
“All Might…” Midoriya whispered, but his mentor continued.
“And then, when I was fighting All for One, I thought that would be the end of the race,” All Might turned to face Midoriya.
“But, you were there, kiddo. You see, all those days we spent with one another affected me. You were timid and quirkless, but you had heart. And then your mother told me to live so I could protect and help raise you. So despite my future, I’ll keep fighting with you by my side, young Midoriya. Because you have changed me, I promise that I will live. I won’t be killed,” All Might transformed into his muscular form to prove his point.
“I will mold my fate and strike down anything else that gets in our way with this fist,” All Might smiled as he help his fist out to Midoriya, his muscle form falling away after a few moment.
“But you see, so far everything has been as he said. In each case, Nighteye’s predictions have come true. And that’s why I can’t face him after all these years. Please know I never wanted to become a shackle holding you back,” All Might laughed as he continued to speak.
“Hey. Who knows, maybe I’ve already reshaped my destiny into the future I wanted,” All Might finished speaking.
“Not yet. We can’t be positive his prediction won’t come true. It can’t happen. I refuse to let it,” Midoriya put his fist out in a similar manner as All Might earlier.
“That’s why, no matter what happens to you, I’ll be there to help fight fate,” Midoriya declared.
All Might looked at Midoriya for a moment before reacting out and bumping Midoriya’s fist with his own.
“I’ll try not to be too much trouble. I promise,” All Might smiled as he spoke. Midoriya smiled back, before All Might went to continue his run.
You know as sweet and cute as that whole thing was, it was most definitely not the reason we were looking for him.
Midoriya froze. He had completely forgotten the other reason he needed to talk to All Might.
“Hold on,” Midoriya called to All Might, who stopped and faced him.
“There was something else I really need to talk to you about. Pretty serious stuff that we shouldn’t really talk about in the open like this,” Midoriya explained nervously. All Mights eyes widened in shock before looking around.
“Yes, I suppose that makes sense. Where did you want to talk?”
“Gym Gamma, huh? You know this place is usually reserved for training, not serious conversations?” All Might joked as he walked toward the center of the gym.
“Yes, but I figured that this would be best, because of what I need to talk to you about,” Midoriya clarified. All Might turned to Midoriya before speaking.
“And what exactly do you need to tell me? Is this about One for All?” All Might questioned.
“Yes and no?” Midoriya shrugged as he sat on the benches at the side of the gym. All Might followed and sat next to him.
“So a couple of days ago, something weird happened,” Midoriya started. Explaining everything to Kacchan had been easier because he already knew something was up, but All Might has no clue. Fiddling with his hands, Midoriya continued.
“I woke up, but I wasn’t in my room. I was in some strange void. I couldn’t move and my entire body was made of smoke except for the top of my head and my right hand,” Midoriya explained.
“That is odd,” All Might cut in. Midoriya nodded his head in agreement.
“Yeah, but after I looked at my hand I looked back forward, and there was a boy standing in front of me,” Midoriya stared at his hand as he spoke.
“He had purple hair and eyes, and he looked just as shocked to see me as I was to see him. Then another voice spoke,” Midoriya recounted the experience with ease.
“I looked over, and it was a man. He was taller than me, but shorter than average with bright white hair and he was walking towards us with his hand outstretched. He told us that the singularity was soon to be breached and that I was close to using 20 percent. He said that this development was new and to work with the other boy. I didn’t know what he meant at first, but when he was right in front of us, I reached out my hand and touched his. As soon as that happened the man disappeared and I was pulled towards the other boy,” Midoriya took a breath for a moment and looked at All Might. His brow was furrowed in worry and his eyes shown with concern.
“When I woke up, I was still in the void, but my body was whole and there was a giant window. I could see my room through the window, as if I was looking at my own ceiling. I tried calling for the other boy since he wasn’t with me,” Midoriya resumed fiddling with his hands.
“That was when the window started moving. I realized that the window was what I was seeing, or rather, what my body was seeing. I was moving without my control,” Midoriya took a deep breath once again before continuing.
“To make a very long and stressful story short, me and the boy are somehow sharing my body. I don’t know why and I don’t know how, but we figured out how to switch places, so it’s really me right now,” Midoriya looked back at his mentor who was sat completely straight, mouth slightly agape.
“I-if you want you can meet him? It might make the rest of this process go smoother,” Midoriya offered. All Might took a moment to collect himself before nodding his head.
Ok, well here goes nothing.
Please don’t say anything that could freak him out.
Yeah yeah, don’t have fun, I know the rules.
This going to go so bad.
SWITCH
When Kokichi opened his eyes, he noticed that Skeletor had taken a more defensive look, now that his precious pupil wasn’t talking to him anymore.
“Wassup,” Kokichi announced his presence and leaned back with his hands behind his head. All Might visibly flinched at his nonchalant address.
“H-hello,” All Might stammered as he spoke. Kokichi stuck out his hand in an American style handshake.
“Names Kokichi Ouma! Nice to formally meet you! Especially now that you don’t have the po-po with ya,” Kokichi shook the man’s hand as he spoke. All Might's eyes widened at the last comment.
“You're the infiltrator we were looking for…” All Might realized.
“Still can’t believe Bakubitch called the cops on me,” Kokichi murmured, crossing his arms in annoyance.
“How were you able to get past the detectives quirk?” All Might asked, slightly shocked. Kokichi smiled slyly at the hero.
“That was 100% greenie’s doing,” Kokichi admitted, recounting the event to All Might.
“That is quite impressive, although it should go without saying that you cannot provoke Young Bakugo like that anymore,” All Might scolded.
“Noooo! Scolding from a parental figure! My only weaknessss!” Kokichi dramatically flopped off of the bench onto the floor, before popping right up, much to the shock of All Might.
“We already talked to Bakago, so there’s nothing to worry about there. Can we get into the real reason we’re talking right now?” Kokichi asserted. All Might nodded his head in agreement. Kokichi spoke without hesitation.
“I need you to teach me how to use One for All.”
Notes:
And that’s the chapter! Sorry it’s pretty late, my service has been out for the last couple weeks and I haven’t had a moment to properly post this. We should be getting back on schedule soon!
I know that technically, the talk between Midoriya and All Might is a few days after the initial Eri patrol, but I couldn’t justify forcing them to wait a few days before talking, so instead it happens the same day!
Next chapter we will be getting some Kokichi training as well as a much needed talk between the boys.
Let me know any theories you may have! I’m loving reading all of your comments and predictions!!
See you next time!!
Chapter Text
“You want me to help you learn how to use One for All?” All Might asked questioningly.
“Yeah, old man. What else would I mean?” Kokichi laughed as he began to stretch.
Don’t call him that.
Yeah yeah, I’ll call him whatever I want. He’s your dad.
Midoriya sputtered at this comment, which left Kokichi chuckling to himself before turning his attention back to All Might.
“W-well, I guess I am curious as to why? Young Midoriya knows how to use the power and is the one in hero training, so if you were ever in a dangerous situation, he could get you both out, couldn’t he?” All Might asked as he prepped the gym for training.
“Well, what if I was leading and all of a sudden a villain shows up and there is no time to switch? I would have to fight then. Also, I am technically taking every class greenie is too, so I am also a hero student,” Kokichi explains. All Might shook his head in acknowledgement before speaking.
“Yes, that is true. I guess what I am trying to say young Ouma, is that for someone who seems to toe the line between morality, you seem very keen on helping young Midoriya become a hero. I guess I was curious as to why?” All Might stopped preparing the gym equipment and turned to look at the boy. His hair had grown slightly longer in some places, and seemed to be tinted purple as opposed to the usual dark green. All Might hadn’t noticed until he began speaking with Kokichi. Then, Kokichi lifted his arms behind his back and put on a nonchalant look.
“No reason in particular, Skeletor. No, I’m not up to some nefarious deed or anything, I just think it would be best if I knew how to use it. Just in case anything were to happen,” Kokichi responded, having finished all of his stretching and walked over to All Might, who chuckled slightly at the answer he was given.
“Yes, I suppose that makes sense. What did you want to start with?” All Might asked.
Kokichi seemed to think for a moment. There were a few things he could learn about, but he had an idea about what he should work on first.
“I think if we could try and get me to where I can use around 3% of One for All on my own, that would be good. I was able to discover how the power should feel thanks to greenie’s fight against Nighteye, so I know generally what I’m going for,” Kokichi explained.
“All right! Let’s get to it then!” All Might announced, before activating the combat dummy he placed.
The robot raced over to the boy and stopped right in front of them. It stood still for a moment, while Kokichi attempted to call upon the power, before deciding it had waited long enough. The dummy reared back and socked Kokichi in the jaw, causing him to fall to the floor.
This is going to be a long training…
Ow! I felt that in here!
After about 2 hours of practice, Kokichi could use around 2% of One for All safely. While this seemed like good news, Kokichi felt the need to vocalize his opinion.
“Everything hurts like a bitch!” Kokichi shouted from his position on the floor of the gym. All Might seemed to find Kokichi’s plight amusing, laughing softly at the boy.
“Well, it did take you a good few tries to even activate the power, young Ouma. The training dummy was able to get some good hits in before then,” All Might reached down to help Kokichi up. Kokichi lifted his head slightly and stared incredulously at the man for a few moments before laying back down fully and speaking.
“Nope. I refuse to get off this floor,” Kokichi exclaimed.
Are you serious?
Yes, I have never been this serious before in my entire life.
Are you going to make me do it?
Kokichi blinked, intrigued at the others mischievous tone.
Do what, Mid-oriya?
Did.. you just place an hyphen in my name?
“Are you sure you wish to stay down there?” All Might asked, leaning back to stand fully straight and look down at them. Instead of gracing the man who spent the last 2 hours helping him with a response, Kokichi elected to stay perfectly still on the floor and not respond.
Seriously?
Whatttt? Are you still threatening me with your mysterious ‘it’? I wonder what it is?
…
You were just planning on forcing us to-
SWITCH
Midoriya opened his eyes to see his mentor looking down at him. All Might seemed to relax slightly upon locking eyes with him.
“Ah, it is good to speak with you again young Midoriya,” All Might said with a smile, leaning down once again to help Midoriya up, who took the offer with zero hesitation. The slight ache in Midoriya’s ribs and jaw were noticeable, but nothing compared to the intense training he did to get to UA.
“Good to speak with you too All Might,” Midoriya answered quickly, dusting off the dirt and grime from his uniform.
Seriously? That’s what you were planning?
I thought you had guessed it…
I did. I just didn't really feel like walking back to the dorms all sore.
So you purposefully fell into my trap?
Maybe, or maybe I’m just trying to save my ego and I fell for it completely! I guess you’ll never know!
Midoriya groaned out loud and he gathered the last of his belongings and met back up with All Might.
“Did you want to do some more training tomorrow?” All Might asked.
“I actually have my work study until later tomorrow, but I’ll send you my schedule and we can figure something out,” Midoriya answered, pulling out his phone and sending his schedule to All Might, which he received with a loud message letting him know that A Text Message Is Here! All Might did not seem the least bit embarrassed by this, though.
“Well, it is getting late, you should head back to the dorms. I need to head to the teachers lounge to grab some things, so I’ll be off,” All Might waved as he left in the opposite direction of the dorms.
Well the was the worst thing I have ever done in my life.
I didn't think it was that bad!
That was a lie, green. You really shouldn’t just believe people, you know?
Midoriya rolled his eyes and began walking towards the dorms. As he walked, Midoriya couldn’t help but question the events of that day. Specifically, whatever happened when he found Eri that morning.
Midoriya’s mood dampened at the thought of the girl, but the strange thing to him was what happened when he talked back to Chisaki, just before heading into the alley.
It was as if he and Kokichi had fully integrated into each other. There was no Kokichi and Midoriya at that moment, only Them. In that moment, they had fully become one, and it wasn’t until Togata grabbed their shoulder did they split apart again. It was an extremely odd experience, one that Midoriya wasn’t too keen on replicating, unless they could fully understand it.
There was also some thoughts they had when they were one that were concerning. A thought that clearly belonged to Kokichi was about a trial, a fourth trial if Midoriya’s hazy memory was correct. This, along with his statement about the afterlife from earlier, confirmed some thoughts Midoriya had been having about Kokichi, but also raised more questions.
Before he could sort out his thoughts farther, Midoriya reached the dorms, and walked in. Looking around the common area, Midoriya noticed a good chunk of his classmates were huddled around the tv, watching a commercial. Midoriya couldn’t see what was on the tv clearly, but he noticed the logo on the tv had v3 after it and he heard some of the others chatting about a new season coming soon. Midoriya is usually a sucker for new media, but after the training earlier, he walked past with a small hello, and went to his room.
Are you sure you don’t want to talk about earlier at all?
“Not yet. I can barely stay awake at this point, so I don’t think we would be talking for long before I passed out. Plus we have Present Mic again in Laws and Ethics again tomorrow, so I figured we could talk then,” Midoriya’s statement was followed by a long yawn as if to accentuate his point.
Whatevs, I’m just glad that we’ll have something to do in that god awful class.
...
There was darkness.
Deep, cold, and unforgiving darkness.
There was darkness, and then, there was sound.
At first, it was a muddled, far away beeping. But slowly, it got closer and closer, until the blaring sound of an alarm was right in his ear. Blinking awake, he looked around, and noticed he was in some kind of pod.
Removing the lid was easy enough, but doing so caused the blaring siren to double in volume. Slamming his hands over his ears, he looked around his new surroundings. He found 2 more pods, closed like his, but there were 13 open and empty. There was a massive machine in the corner of the room, a bright red warning flashing on its monitor.
As soon as he finished looking around, he stood up. Or at least, he tried to stand. His legs did not seem to want to cooperate with him in that moment. As he struggled to stand, the other two capsules opened as well, releasing their inhabitants. The taller of the other two seemed to recover the quickest out of all three of them, and made their way over to him to help him up.
The blaring alarm had yet to cease, and sounds of pounding footsteps echoed between blares of the alarm. They were coming.
What they would do if they found the three of them awake was an unknown variable that he did not want to find out. Looking to the tallest girl, he asked her a question silently.
‘Can you get us out of here?’
She responded with a tight expression, one of fear and anxiety. She looked back at him and conveyed her question.
‘Any means necessary.’
For her, she would have no problem. He nodded his head.
‘Yes.’
She walked over to a wall of stashed weapons and found something to her liking, before arming the smaller girl with a small knife, and him with a larger axe.
Opening the door and running through hallways of despair and destruction, they would find their way out.
They were free.
Notes:
Ooooo, mysterious chapter ending! I'm sure of you have about 3 brain cells you can tell who the last bit is about, but the suspense must be kept either way!
I've been wanting to put a little tease like this one in a chapter since around chapter 2 lol, but I could never find a place. This seemed like a good one to sprinkle a bit of fun into, so I hope you enjoyed it!
Also I should be able to be a bit more consistent again now that I am home for a while, so you have that to look forward to!
See you all in the next one!
Chapter 9: Classrooms are a great place to talk, especially when its boring.
Summary:
Midoriya talks about his feelings and Kokichi.... well...
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Midoriya woke up that morning with a pounding headache. It was not unusual for him to have a headache, especially after the type of training his body went through yesterday. Midoriya was reveling in the quiet of his room, trying to ignore the ache behind his eyes, when Kokichi decided to wake up.
Good morning sleepyhead!!! How's that headache treating ya?
Midoriya groaned in response, before throwing off his covers and getting ready for school. Kokichi’s shrill voice did nothing to alleviate the throbbing pain in Midoriya’s head.
You're not even going to respond?! How you wound me sir!
Midoriya swears he hears Kokichi fall to the ground dramatically in the void room.
“Good morning Kokichi,” Midoriya muttered as he finished getting ready.
Actually, its a bad morning. I thought you would have known that because of the headache. It really does suck.
Slightly startled by this, Midoriya stops tying his shoes for a moment.
“You have my headache too?” Midoriya questioned.
Nope! Supreme Leaders never get headaches! We assign them to the lowest ranking minion and make them deal with it!
There was silence between the two boys as the absurdity of that statement weighed on them. Midoriya huffed slightly before going back to tying his shoes.
What's got you laughing, huh?
Midoriya shook his head in amusement, before leaving his room.
Here he is again, Hero Ethics and Laws. Kokichi is certain that Midoriya makes him lead for this class simply to spite him and so he doesn't have to be there himself. After lunch, they had decided to switch for the rest of the day. Kokichi had readily agreed, as there was hero training later that he was going to be able to participate in, but now he sees the ruse for what it really was.
Kokichi sighed and tried to make it look like he was paying attention, when he definitely wasn't. Kokichi had maturely decided that this class was dumb and stupid.
Are you done pouting now?
Maybe if I was pouting, I would be, but I’m not.
Kokichi heard Midoriya sigh before speaking again.
Listen, we need to talk, like, serious talk.
Kokichi felt his mood sour slightly. Yes, this had been the plan last night, but now that it was here, Kokichi would rather not be having Serious Talk TM . However, he was quite literally trapped in this boring ass class with nowhere to run. Kokichi sighed again.
Fine. What do you want to start with.
Midoriya seemed to think it over for a moment before speaking.
I want to talk about yesterday morning, with… Eri.
Kokichi figured that was what he wanted to discuss, but even hearing the girls name again, Kokichi’s blood started boiling at the idea of what that Chisaki guy was doing.
Alright. What did you want to talk about specifically?
There was silence for a moment, as Midoriya seemed to collect his thoughts.
Why did you get so emotional… angry?
That was the big question wasn’t it. It wasn’t like Kokichi to get carried away by his emotions like that unless he meant it as a lie. Those feelings then however, were one hundred percent genuine, so why?
I dunno.
…
Midoriya’s silence was concerning. Kokichi knew why he was mad, obviously he did, but he wasn’t ready to share such vulnerabilities with someone he met just a few days ago, body sharing be damned.
Midoriya seemed to hum to himself for a moment before speaking.
I don’t really talk about this that often, but you know how I said that I got my power from All Might?
Kokichi nodded his head in agreement slightly, so as to not draw attention from his classmates.
Well, before then, I didn’t have a quirk… I was quirkless.
Hesitating for only a moment, Midoriya continued.
Being quirkless is… extremely rare… especially now. People call them a ‘dying breed’. I know that when we met, I said that 80 percent of the world had quirks, but if I had to guess, it's probably closer to 90 percent. Most of the quirkless population nowadays consists of older folks from previous generations. I looked for ages for someone like me who was my age, but there was nothing.
When you are born without something that everyone is born with, it makes you different, easy to target, and I was…
Teachers would look the other way at the way I was treated, and the students saw this as permission to get harsher… more violent.
Kokichi was silent as the boy continued to talk.
That’s why I was so upset… seeing Eri like that. It reminded me that, even though I have power now, there are still people who are treated like I was. Maybe not exactly like me, but I can’t help but feel a sense of responsibility, you know?
I don’t know why you were so… angry, but I hope that knowing why I was upset… can maybe help you tell me. I know that you know why you were angry, like I said, I get impressions of your thoughts here, but I’m not going to pressure you into telling me.
…
Midoriya sighed at the silence, before accepting it. Kokichi closed his eyes.
…Back in my world… there were these kids I knew…
Kokichi could somehow feel Midoriya’s eyes on him as he spoke. He could feel the boy's anticipation under his own skin. Kokichi shuddered at the sensation.
By this point, I had lots of members in my Organization, around six thousand, but then I saw these kids…
They were in an orphanage, beat up, bloodied, and bruised.
Kokichi felt his anger rising as he spoke.
The workers there were mean, but not physically abusive, no. That task fell upon the older kids at the orphanage. They would beat these kids senseless and leave them outside to wallow in pain. The caregivers would pretend to never see, and never punish.
Kokichi tightened his grip on the pencil in his hand.
I hated them for it. I hated the way they continued with their life, as if they weren’t destroying multiple lives with their negligence. So I rescued them. Gave them a place to stay in my organization. I made sure no one would be hurt them anymore…
Maybe he shouldn't admit that to the hero in training, but Midoriya hadn’t said anything while he spoke, so he continued.
After those guys joined, I got a bunch more members and voila! I had my ten thousand member organization!
Midoriya once again did not speak to fill the silence.
I guess that’s why I freaked out… Eri seems a bit too much like them, I guess…
That admission seemed to be what Midoriya was looking for.
I figured as much. Thank you for telling me. I think now I can figure out what happened exactly when things went fuzzy.
Kokichi appreciated Midoriya moving on from the heavy subject quickly, he did not want to linger too long on the honestly he revealed. Thinking about D.I.C.E. for too long always made Kokichi feel weird, so he chose not to think about it.
Yeah, that was weird. We haven't experienced anything like that since though, not even with my one for all training.
Yeah, I figure it had something to do with our common goal. We both have had experience with people in Eri’s situation, or at least similar to it, so maybe the anger we felt combined and caused some kind of new state.
That is true. After we began walking, I remember feeling different, like I wasn’t entirely myself.
Kokichi was quiet for a moment.
It felt like we became one person.
…Yeah, that's what it felt like for me too.
Kokichi looked up at the clock. Class would be over in five minutes.
Maybe we could talk to All Might and Kacchan after hero training today about it? We need to learn more, in case it happens again.
Kokichi felt the urge to sigh loudly at the mention of the two blondes.
Man, can we do anything without telling them?
I don’t know if you remember the last time I let you go around and not tell them something important, but let me remind you that it resulted in you being choked against the wall and the cops being called!
Ughhhhh, fine… you’re never letting that go, are you?
Never.
As the bell rang, Kokichi actually did sigh as he grabbed his things to head to the changing room. Hopefully this next class would actually be fun.
It was odd, being back in Gym Gamma with it full of people. Kokichi would definitely say he preferred it last night, when it was more empty, but whatever. Kokichi pulled up the corner of his gloves and adjusted his mouth guard.
Why do you even have this if you never use it? Mirio was right, you never wear this hood, you should get rid of it.
Midoriya groaned internally in… embarrassment?
My mom made my first version of my hero costume based on some old drawings that I made when I was younger. They were all All Might themed, and I was going through them to pick what parts I wanted to keep for my actual costume. She saw one of them and thought it was the one I wanted, and made me a whole costume from scratch based on that.
Kokichi has made a mental note to find a picture of Midoriya’s first costume.
It didn’t last, since it wasn’t made from any reinforced fabric, so it had to be remade by the support department, but I really loved the gesture, so I kept the same design…
So that’s why you wont get rid of the hood and mouth guard even though you never use them.
W-well, maybe if I fight a gas based villain, I can use the mouth guard!
Kokichi shook his head as the last of his classmates appeared in the gym, and Aizawa began speaking.
“All right class, today you will be doing a special exercise,” Aizawa announced, turning towards the doors.
“There’s a bus waiting outside to take us to the location, lets go,” Aizawa left no room for argument as he began leaving, his class following close behind.
Kokichi heard a few of his classmates whispering to each other.
“I thought we were working on more ultimate moves today?”
“I guess not… I wonder why there was a change?”
“I hope we're doing some rescue training!”
“I hope not! Then we would be going back to USJ, and I would rather not.”
Kokichi sat down close to the back of the bus, and decided to consult his own professional about the situation.
So what do you think were doing, Greenie?
Please don’t call me that…
You say that every time, but you don’t hear me saying it any less do you?
…no.
Kokichi giggled and saw a red and white haired boy sitting next to him on his phone with headphones. Seems Kokichi wouldn't have to worry about keeping up a conversation then.
Exactly, so what’s the haps here?
… Well, according to the schedule, we were meant to be having ultimate move training, thus why I let you lead. Aizawa isn’t one to stick to schedules all that much, but for Hero classes like those, he's stubborn about not changing them. Something must have happened that made him think this kind of training is necessary, but I don’t know what?
Well, there is a chance this could be about Eri, right?
At the mention of the girl, Midoriya’s mood significantly dampened.
Why do you say that?
Well, isn’t it Night Night’s job to tell our teachers if anything strange happens? Like with Eri?
Midoriya hummed noncommittally at that.
I guess, but Nighteye didn’t send me or Togata back with paperwork, and Aizawa hasn’t said anything to us about it. He’s the type of guy to pull someone aside and ask about it before doing something like this. I think this might be because of something that happened while he was working.
When does Aizawa work? You said he’s underground?
Yeah, he patrols at nights on weekends and late afternoons on weekdays. If there's a big thing happening though he’ll get pulled from class to help. I heard that's why he wasn't teaching this morning.
He’s working on a big case?
Yeah, there’s some massive case he's been working on for years apparently. I’ve always found it interesting, but I could never find out what he was working on. Apparently it has something to do with a bunch of missing high schoolers.
Interesting… maybe something happened with it, and that's what this is about?
That would be my guess.
Kokichi felt the bus stop and looked out the window to see a massive city skyline.
Oh, we're at Ground Beta, I guess it's fixed up now.
Fixed?
A couple of days before you… arrived… me and Kacchan had a big fight here, the one that resulted in house arrest. There was… lots of property damage, but it looks good as new now!
Kokichi followed his classmates off the bus and into a group in front of the massive city entrance,
“All right, I’m sure you all are wondering what we're doing here. Well, instead of training your Ultimate moves, today we will be practicing something else,” Aizawa finished explaining, before turning and pointing at a table with fake weapons and disguises.
“Today we will be training espionage and infiltration,” Aizawa stated with that signature grin.
Oh! How fun! This is perfect for me!
Almost too perfect…
Kokichi rolled his eyes at the statement, before schooling his features. Midoriya wouldn’t be too excited about this, so Kokichi can’t be too outwardly excited either.
“You all will be split up into teams of two, and paired with some actors we have hired for this. The actors will be playing real villains, and you and your partner are hero’s infiltrating the establishment. The actors have not seen each other and will be wearing the same things as you, so they will not be aware of who the students or actors are. The two students will be aware of who the other student is, however. If you are discovered, you will lose and your turn of over. To win, you must successfully infiltrate the enemy base, and get a flash drive, all while convincing the others that you are not the infiltrator,” Aizawa explained as he handed out the disguises.
Kokichi’s excitement was through the roof at this point.
“If only one student is caught, it is not yet a loss. The captured student will be put in a holding cell. If the other student is able to retrieve the flash drive as well as release their teammate from their temporary cell, then the team will pass with a point deduction to the captured teammate. If the other student gets the flash drive, but cannot rescue their team mate, the successfully escaped student will pass with point deduction. You want to escape with both teammates and the flash drive,” Aizawa finished explaining before grabbing a clipboard and explaining the teams.
Oh man, this is going to be amazing!
Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.
“Midoriya and Uraraka will be team 3,” Aizawa spoke as he continued down the list.
Kokichi looked over to the girl in pink, before smiling as he walked over to her.
Oh yeah, this is going to be lots of fun.
Notes:
Wassup everyone!!! Its been a hectic couple of weeks for me, but I've finally been able to sit don and write this chapter! I hope you all like it! Sorry if anyone seems OOC, this one was a hard one to navigate through lol.
ESPIONAGE TRAINING NEXT CHAPTER!!! This seemed like a super fun way to explore more of Kokichi's antagonistic nature in front of the rest of the class, so you have that to look forward to! See you all in the next one!!
Chapter 10: Espionage Start!
Summary:
The boys get ready for their Espionage lesson, but Midoriya is learning that when Kokichi plays, he plays to win.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Kokichi walked up to the table holding all of the disguise equipment, deciding on what to take with him.
Maybe just a cloak? All of the actors are oblivious as to who the students are.
That may be true, but the sports festival was still pretty recent, and I don’t believe they didn’t watch it.
Kokichi tilted his head slightly at that statement. He began gathering different disguises, deciding which would work best.
Sports festival?
Oh, I guess you wouldn’t know about that either, sorry.
Kokichi rolled his eyes.
Yeah, whatever. Just explain it. I can only look like I’m deciding on my outfit for so long.
The sports festival was a massive televised event where all the UA classes competed. It’s also where the Hero course students get scouted for internships. It is considered one of the largest events in the world. People compare it to the Olympics in the pre-quirk era. Pretty much everyone watched the sports festival, and because my class was in the news right before, most people watched our events.
So you're pretty recognizable, then we’ll definitely need a wig.
“Hey Deku! Have you decided on your outfit yet?” Uraraka walked over from the other table towards Kokichi, wearing her disguise.
Uraraka had gone for a long blue wig, styled similarly to her original haircut, in a ponytail. She had a dark green long sleeve shirt on and gray cargo pants with black converse. She also had the required cloak around her shoulders, trailing behind her as she walked. Her eyes were a bright red, due to the contacts she found as well.
“Hey Uraraka! You look great, and no, I haven't decided yet,” Kokichi imitated Midoriya easily as he looked back at the table.
“I’m not sure if I should wear a wig or not. The actors may be able to spot me because of the sports fest, you know?” Kokichi wondered aloud, wanting to hear Uraraka’s opinion.
“Well, if I’m honest, I don't think you need it,” Uraraka explained. After not responding for a moment, she seemed to become flustered.
“N-not because you're unnoticeable or a-anything! It’s just,” Uraraka went quiet for a moment, before pointing at Kokichi’s hair.
“The way you’ve been doing the edges of your hair… dying them purple? I don’t think people will recognize you because of that,” Uraraka explained.
Wait… What?!
Kokichi grabbed a strand of hair, and sure enough, it was tinted dark purple at the ends.
“O-oh, yeah. Thanks Uraraka. I’ll probably just go for some contacts and concealer then. I’ll meet you at the gate?” Kokichi spoke quickly, grabbing the items he had decided for himself and headed to the men’s locker room.
Why’s our hair changing color?
I don’t know. How didn’t we notice?
Maybe because we’ve seen it progressively? So we didn’t notice the change straight off?
Kokichi walked into a stall and slammed the door close, hissing at the loud sound, before turning to the mirror.
Looking at his reflection, it was clear that a lot had changed. Grabbing the same hair strand again, Kokichi examined it closer. It seemed as though the dark green areas had slowly turned to purple. A very dark purple, but purple nonetheless. Releasing the strand, Kokichi looked closer at Midoriya’s face. It was the same as ever, at first. There were some places in his eyes though where it seemed darker than before. Small patches where the color was just a tad off. After seeing no other visible differences, Kokichi leaned away from the mirror and looked back towards his chosen disguise. A grin broke out on Kokichi’s face, as he grabbed the scarf he chose and tied it around his neck, the fabric falling familiarly around his neck.
Let's have fun with this!
Uraraka was waiting in front of her section's gate, just like Midoriya had asked her to. Kokichi walked up to her with confidence.
“Deku! Your costume looks awesome!” Uraraka exclaimed upon noticing him. Kokichi looked down at his outfit.
He had a dark gray tank top on, with black leggings and a darker version of Midoriya’s red utility belt on his hero costume along with some dark green gloves. He had worn gray contacts, and had a prosthetic horn placed on his head, in hopes of throwing off the actors about his quirk. Funnily enough, the placement was eerily similar to where Eri’s horn was.
At the thought of the girl, Kokichi grimaced and grabbed at the fabric around his neck, covering his mouth. The dull gray scarf lacked the flair of his old checkerboard one, but it would do.
“Thanks Uraraka. We have about fifteen minutes before we start. Did you want to discuss strategy?” Kokichi spoke cheerily, despite his darkened expression. Uraraka seemed to pause for a moment, before nodding. The two walked over to the waiting area for ready teams to begin discussing their plans.
“Do you have any ideas?” Uraraka asked, seemingly ok to let Kokichi take the lead on planning.
I do a lot of training and planning on my own. She probably assumes I have a plan already figured out.
Makes sense, your notebook thing was pretty detailed.
Bringing a finger up to his lip, Kokichi began speaking.
“I think the best thing we can do is plan around if one of us is caught, since it will most likely happen. These actors are going to be suspicious from the get go, so if we do anything to tip them off, we're done,” Kokichi began.
“What, like a code word?” Uraraka questioned.
“No, I mean like an insurance plan. Let me ask you a question. If you're in a situation where you are overpowered and there is one person there who is on your side, what would you do?” Kokichi asked, leaning back into his hands. Uraraka seemed to think for a moment before speaking.
“I would probably try to find my teammate, so we could work together to beat the opposition,” Uraraka answered. Kokichi nodded his head, since he was expecting that answer.
“I figured. But in our situation, that would reveal my status as the other traitor right? This isn’t brawling training, it's espionage. If we get found out, we're done, so fighting is off the table. Honestly that is probably one of the things the actors will be looking the closest for,” Kokichi explained, raising a finger to point at Uraraka as if to emphasize his point.
“I think the best course of action in that case would be to act genuinely shocked and stare hard at a random actor. Since the other actors are also oblivious as to who is who, that will cause distrust, allowing the other student to sneak off and get the thumb drive or rescue their teammate,” Kokichi finished.
“That is a good plan. Even if no one else notices, the other student can call attention to it as well, putting on pressure and basically excusing themselves in the meantime,” Uraraka's voice was calm as she spoke, but her bouncing leg showed her underlying excitement and anxiety.
“Yup. I think it’s a pretty solid plan,” Kokichi exclaimed before laying his head back against the back of the chair and closing his eyes.
Uraraka seemed to take this as a sign to stay quiet for a moment, as the silence droned on.
Are you not going to come up with a plan in case neither of you get caught?
Nah, she's going to get caught.
Why do you say that?
Kokichi peeked an eye open and looked at the girl. She was staring at the horizon, a conflicted expression on her face. Every now and then she would steal a glance towards Kokichi, not noticing his eye cracked open.
She has suspicions about us. She won’t be able to hold it together throughout the whole thing.
W-What?! She thinks there’s something up? But how?
Kokichi sighed through his nose, and rubbed his eyes.
I don’t really know, but that's the vibe I’m getting. Either way, it’ll work out for me, because my plan revolves around her getting caught.
Why not just tell her that?
Kokichi sat up straight and looked Uraraka in the eye, and unreadable expression on his face, just before-
“Group 3, please head to your location. Your test will begin in five minutes,” Present Mic’s voice boomed over the intercom.
Where’s the fun in that?
Kokichi smiled and walked to the testing facility, with Uraraka trailing slightly behind him.
Walking up to the gate, Kokichi saw someone he didn’t know waiting at the entrance.
That’s Vlad King, 1-B’s homeroom teacher. I wonder if they're doing this exercise too?
“Ok kids. I’m going to go over the rules one last time before I take you in ok?” Vlad King looked at the clipboard in his hands as he spoke.
“Yes sir.” Uraraka responded while Kokichi opted to just nod.
“Ok then. Your job is to infiltrate this building and get a flash drive with the villain's plans on it. The flash drive is located on the main console on the third floor, while the prisoners quarters are located on the first floor. The main lounge area is the second floor, and that's where you will start,” Vlad King seemed to take a moment to swallow before continuing.
“The Big Boss is scheduled to be out today, but keep your eyes open. We do not know if there are countermeasures in place to prevent the flashdrive from being stolen, so keep your guard up,” Vlad King finished, finally meeting Kokichi’s eyes and hands unclenching slightly from the clipboard. Kokichi cocked an eyebrow at him.
Is something wrong?
He’s lying.
A-about what?
The big boss not being here, if I had to guess. There's probably some measure preventing the drive from just being yoinked, and I bet the boss has it on him.
Oh. So you would have to beat the boss in order to get the drive, all without getting caught?
Vlad King walked off, grabbing a two-way communication device, before heading back towards the teens.
Yeah, that's my guess.
“Here’s your communication devices. Please be sure to have them silenced unless you know you are both in a secure location,” Vlad gave the devices to Kokichi and walked toward the entrance gate, motioning for them to follow.
Kokichi looked to Uraraka, before handing her the device and following Vlad King.
“I will be taking you in one at a time between the other actors so that there will not be any obvious correlation. Midoriya, you’re going first. Please follow me,” Vlad King announced and began walking into the testing facility, Kokichi walking calmly behind him.
You didn’t tell her about the big boss either?
Nope. I wanna take that guy myself.
But you can barely use three percent of One for All yet?!
Kokichi smiled darkly as he walked behind the teacher.
Maybe, but I’ve got some tricks that I wanna try out.
Finally reaching a large set of double doors, Vlad Kind turned back to Kokichi, nodded his head, and walked back the same way he came. At least, that’s what it appeared to be. Kokichi sneakily followed the teacher back a little bit, and saw the man turn and walk down another section of the hallway they were in, presumably towards the actor’s rooms.
That must be the rooms the actors are being kept in.
Yup, and just like I thought, they are wayyy farther from our rooms.
It will take way longer for them to get to the room than us. If we had walked straight in, there's a possibility someone could have figured us out.
Yuppers.
Kokichi sneakily made his way back to the double doors, before pausing there for around a minute.
Do you think anyone would have noticed?
No, I don’t think so. Not naturally, anyway.
What do you mean by that?
Kokichi smiled menacingly before throwing the door open.
“Hey everyone! Where’s the party, huh?” Kokichi called out to the room, expecting more people. There was only one other person there however, and they didn’t look like much of a talker. This person had their hood so far up their face, it was impossible to make out any features. Kokichi could have laughed.
That's how you get caught. Being too suspicious.
As soon as the door closed behind Kokichi, the figure immediately jumped up from the couch they were on and examined Kokichi, walking in circles.
“Hey man, if you want to check me out, could you at least use cash?” Kokichi taunted, walking towards the now vacant couch and taking a seat. Leaning forward and grabbing the tv remote, Kokichi turned it on and was flipping through the channels. The figure seemed shocked by this, but reluctantly sat next to Kokichi, fiddling with the corner of their cloak.
Geez, this guy is a piece of work, lemme tell ya.
He’s doing the best he can, ok?
Kokichi had to repress the urge to laugh. If this was his best, he should quit while he's ahead.
Looking over at the suspicious individual, Kokichi decided to be civil, for once in his life.
“You got a name? Or something I can call you?” Kokichi asked nonchalantly. The figure stared at Kokichi for a long moment, before removing his hood.
The man had a light blue skin tone, and long dark brown hair. His eyes were gold, and had no irises or pupils. He looked Kokichi up and down, before speaking.
“I’m Desero, and you are?” The figure, now visible, questioned in return. Kokichi was slightly shocked at the man’s willingness to show himself based on how guarded he was originally.
“I’m goin by Jester currently,” Kokichi spoke calmly, turning his gaze back to the TV to continue his channel surfing. Desero also went quiet, but Kokichi could see him glancing at the double doors often.
“I have a question,” Kokichi’s voice was smooth as he kept his gaze trained on the tv. He saw Desero turn back towards him and met his eyes.
“How long did it take you to get here?” Kokichi asked innocently.
What are you doing?!
Just having some fun, greenie. Calm yourself.
Desero looked confused about the question, before responding.
“Well, it took me about seven minutes to get here. You appeared about twelve minutes later.”
“I am a bit of a speed walker, what can I say,” Kokichi giggled when he said that, before taking a more serious expression.
“It’s just that, when I was walking in, I noticed that after the last left we had to take, you know the one I’m talking about?” Kokichi asked, grinning devilishly behind his mask. Desero nodded in agreement.
“Well, I noticed that the hallway extends backwards and has a large door at the end. I saw some light through the cracks of the door as well,” Kokichi explained, keeping his face twisted in confusion.
“Really?” Desero’s face held a mixture of shock and skepticism.
“Yup. I think that maybe that’s where some of the other people participating in this are being held, but I wonder why that specific group gets to be so much closer than the rest of us, you know?” Kokichi asked innocently, trying to let the man fall into the answer himself.
As the confusion on Desero’s face morphed into shock, Kokichi knew he had him right where he wanted him.
“That must be the door the traitors will come through,” Desero answered. As if on cue, the door burst open and in walked another actor, this one, once again, with their hood up. Desero turned to Kokichi, who made a show of looking at the clock on the wall and mouthed the words ‘seven minutes total’ to Desero, who looked at the newcomer with suspicion.
What was the point of that? It's just going to make Uraraka look suspicious in the end.
Kokichi turned back to the television and smiled. It seems things were finally going his way.
Notes:
Alright! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!! Next chapter will be the rest of the Espionage training!!! I hope you all are enjoying this so far. It's been fun writing my own little training arc in! Who knows, I might do more in the future? If I do that, I will at least wait until the end of the overhaul arc lol. Ik a lot of you are waiting for that. It's coming soon, promise!!!
I will try and get the next chapter out hopefully soon!!P.S.
SEASON 7 EP 11 GENUINELY BROKE ME OH MY GOD!!!!!!! It was so well done. I knew it was coming, but I still cried like a baby lol.
Chapter 11: I think therefore, am I?
Summary:
Kokichi begins his espionage training. Some things go to plan, others don't.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It took around an hour for everyone to get to the room, and Kokichi was thoroughly ready to start this thing. Uraraka looked over at him suspiciously, before looking away once again.
She needs to quit doing that. She’s going to get us caught.
Well maybe she would be less on edge if you hadn’t made everyone wary of her as soon as she walked through the door! I don’t think a single person has gone up to talk to her yet!
Kokichi looked over at Desero, who had pulled all the others who took over ten minutes to arrive over and told them his suspicions. He was doing a good job at planting paranoia in the minds of the other participants, but because of how intense he was being, people were becoming suspicious of him. Kokichi smiled, and walked over to someone standing in the corner of the group, just far enough away so that no one could hear them talking.
“Hey man. What do you think of all this?” Kokichi asked quietly, gesturing to the main group. The other person, a shorter man with green hair, sighed at the question.
“I don’t know. I mean, it makes sense, but for those of us who arrived later, we only have his word to go off of, you know?” the man responded. Kokichi nodded his head in agreement.
“Yeah, I mean, didn’t he say he was the first one here? He could’ve been here super fast, but since he was first we would have no way of knowing,” Kokichi mentioned nonchalantly, before shrugging and heading back to the couch. The man seemed to contemplate Kokichi’s words, before walking to the woman closest to him and mentioning the thought. The seeds of chaos were being sown, now it was time to wait.
Everyone participating had been told that once the last person had arrived, there would be a couple minutes where they were to mingle, then an alarm would blare, signaling to begin patrolling the building. If Kokichi was right, the alarm would sound in about five minutes, so he had a bit of time to spare. Looking back to where Uraraka was sitting, he caught her eye and subtly motioned her over. Uraraka made a glance to the larger group, before walking over and sitting next to Kokichi on the couch.
For a moment, they sat in silence, allowing the sounds of quiet chatter and tv ads to fill the silence. Eventually though, Uraraka had enough.
“Do you have any idea why that entire group has been shunning me since the moment I stepped foot in here, but are all buddy buddy with you?” Uraraka quietly asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Kokichi did not once take his eyes off the tv.
“I did a bit of scouting before walking through the doors when Vlad King dropped me off,” Kokichi confessed. If he was going to do this, he was going to need as many possibilities open to him as he could get, including Uraraka.
“That was allowed?” Uraraka gasped, being careful as to not alert any of the others.
“I… didn't really ask, if I’m honest,” Kokichi chuckled slightly as he spoke.
“When I followed him, I noticed that he turned down a hallway before the door we came in, and down that hallway was a very long tunnel. Like, almost double the length of our hallway,” Kokichi explained.
Are you going to tell her that you're the reason no ones been talking to her?
Whaaat?? I didn't do anything!!!
Midoriya had been giving him the silent treatment for the most part, ever since he mentioned the time thing to Desero. He only ever chimed in to be snarky.
“Oh, so it took everyone else way longer to get here than me, and because you went searching, you took a long time too,” Uraraka recapped the situation nicely.
“Yeah, so you and the guy who was behind me,” Kokichi gestured to the other person sitting by themselves, although they don't seem too upset about it, “are suspected currently, so be careful. If you're caught, try and pin it on him.” Uraraka nodded and stretched, before getting up and heading back to her old seat.
Kokichi glanced at the clock once more.
Should be any second now…
As if on cue, a blaring alarm played for about 20 seconds before shutting off, followed by silence.
“Guess that's the signal guys! Who wants to be party leader huh?” Kokichi’s shrill voice pierced through the almost oppressive silence quickly and effectively. Everyone began gathering anything they had set down and lining up in the doorway.
Kokichi stood up and reached down to the coffee table, grabbing his fake weapon of choice, and holstering it behind his back.
Kokichi caught Desero’s eye and sent him a sinister smile of comradery, before walking to his place in line, second.
Let's get this party started!
The main doors to the building slid open, and the villains walked into the building in two rows of 5. Eight villains and two undercover heroes.
I told you to plan for this, but nooooo, you didn't want to.
Shut up, geez you're giving me a headache with all that yapping.
No I'm not, because I don't feel a headache.
Shut, or you'll be getting a bad grade for this exercise.
It seemed Kokichi’s insistence finally paid off somewhat, because Midoriya backed off for the moment. While he wouldn’t admit it out loud, it seemed like Midoriya was right to some degree.
They had been patrolling the hallways for about 7 minutes now, and Uraraka had yet to be caught, which Kokichi needed to happen for his plan. Grimacing slightly, Kokichi thought of a plan that could work, but it would be obvious that he was the one that caused her to get caught, which would ruin Uraraka’s perception of Midoriya even more. He could turn on his communicator, a small walkie-talkie like device, and hit the mic or something, causing Uraraka’s receiver to play the audio out loud, immediately throwing suspicion onto her, at the cost of her and Midoriya's friendship. While she was suspicious of them and Kokichi was planning on using that suspicion to his advantage, he didn’t really want to have to explain their situation to someone again .
So that left Kokichi with very few options left. Thankfully, Desero was in front of him, and Uraraka was the lead of her line, opposite him. Tapping slightly on Desero’s arm, Kokichi leaned forward and whispered at a level that was barely audible.
“The late girl next to you is acting suspicious. It's been a while, maybe you should call it?” Kokichi watched as Desero stiffened slightly when he finished speaking, but continued walking. Eventually though, Desero raised his hand in a stop motion, causing the other line to pause as well.
“We have been walking for almost ten minutes with no leads on the traitors,” Desero spoke the last word with the type of venom that only a seasoned liar like Kokichi could see through.
Huh. I guess he's a better actor than I gave him credit for.
Yeah. Uraraka fell for it.
Kokichi realized that when Desero had mentioned traitors, he had looked Uraraka straight in the eye, causing her to flinch, which Desero took notice of. Kokichi smiled behind his scarf.
“You. I believe you are one of the traitors,” Desero wasted no time in pointing straight at Uraraka, who jumped in surprise.
“W-what?! You suspect me?!” Uraraka’s shock was not faked in that moment. She collected her composure quickly however, and looked Desero straight in the eye.
“On what grounds?” Uraraka asked condescendingly. Kokichi would have to admit, he was slightly impressed. This did not cause Desero to let up at all, however.
“Why the hell should I tell you what grounds huh?” Desero leaned back and put his hands on his hips, looking at the rest of the group for support.
“She totally flinched when I mentioned a traitor earlier and freaked out when I accused her. I think that, plus what we discussed earlier is plenty of evidence, don’t you?” Desero asked the group, who all responded with agreements, both reluctant and enthusiastic.
“Heck yeah! Put her in the jaillll!!!” Kokichi shouted from the back of the group.
You will be apologizing for this later.
I figured.
Desero turned back to Uraraka, who was trying her best to stand her ground, the slight shaking of her fists being the only thing that gave her away.
“Well then, Jester! Get over here with those restraints!” Desero called out, and Kokichi obediently walked out of the crowd towards Uraraka, fake cuffs in hand and a devious smile on his face. Uraraka’s gaze sharpened when it landed on Kokichi, as if she hated him more than anything.
Good. She’s playing up her distrust in me.
…
As Kokichi walked towards the pair, a brilliant plan formed in his mind, his smile growing sharper and more genuine.
Oh hell yeah. Now that will be some fun.
Please do not kill my grade because you're having too much fun.
Kokichi walked up to Desero, gave him a high five and went to restrain Uraraka. Thankfully, since her back was literally against the wall, he could whisper to her without anyone else being any wiser.
“Go for the big guy here. When I’m walking you to the people who will take you down, mutter under your breath and I’ll pick it up and shout, but I’ll be mean. Play it up, you’ve got this,” Kokichi quickly explained as he finished putting on the fake handcuffs. He stood up and began walking Uraraka towards the crowd.
“Now who will be taking this lovely lady down bel-” Kokichi stopped his speech, when he heard Uraraka whisper shouting at Desero, who looked bewildered. Kokichi grabbed Uraraka’s shoulders and turned her towards him.
“What the hell did you just say, huh?” Kokichi felt the malice dripping from his every word. It seemed the other villains were just as surprised as Uraraka, when he began speaking. Kokichi turned his head to Desero before releasing Uraraka to another villain.
“Are you fucking kidding me man! I thought we had a moment, but you're the other traitor?!” Kokichi began raising his voice and he walked closer to Desero, pointing an accusing finger at him the whole time. The man in question had fear written across his face, and backed away with every step Kokichi took closer.
“I heard the shit she just tried to tell you! ‘We’re on the same team! Please come rescue me!’ I was practically carrying her so of course I heard it you imbecile!” Kokichi pointed to where he left Uraraka and noticed she had already been taken to the cells by someone else.
All of the other villains who were present and heard this new information immediately clammored to Desero in an attempt to restrain him. Desero ran in a panic, while every single villain followed him. It was laughable, really. How quickly they all forgot about the person throwing the accusation.
Kokichi giggled to himself as he walked to the stairs to the third floor, no villains any wiser.
It wasn’t hard to find the main server room, the main problem was getting in. Kokichi was fairly certain at this point that if the Big Boss is here, he’ll be in this room, which makes getting in tricky.
Kokichi’s back was against the wall next to the server room door while he thought.
If I just walk in, that will be seriously suspicious…
I might have an idea?
Kokichi blinked in surprise. Midoriya had seemed pretty adamant that he wasn’t going to help with this exercise because of what he did at the beginning, so hearing him offer advice was not unwelcome.
Sure green. Hit me with it.
Well, since everyone else is so panicked, maybe we can play that for our advantage again? We could rush in, and locate the drive, then visibly relax when we see it, and begin to leave. If no one says anything or jumps out, the coast must be clear, I think.
Kokichi hummed as he thought the plan over. It was risky. If the boss is in there, he may think the initial rush is for the drive and attack, or he might let them leave, and attack when they think the coast is clear.
Well, it's the best chance we got. Let's do it.
Kokichi walked down the hallway a bit, before breaking out into a sprint and slamming the door open, quickly looking over the room in what appeared to be a panicked state.
Eyes finally landing on the flash drive, Kokichi forced his body to fully relax with his exhale, and began walking for the door.
It looks like it's empty.
Yeah…
“Stop,” A voice echoes from a dark corner of the room. Kokichi immediately froze upon hearing the voice.
“Turn around,” the voice commanded, and Kokichi did not hesitate to comply, wiping his face clean of any indication of fear. The person in the shadows was completely obscured. Not a single thing about them was visible from where they sat.
“Name?” The voice asked, slightly calmer. Kokichi had to make a quick decision here.
There's a chance the big boss was given different information as opposed to the lower rank goons. If they hear the name Jester, and it wasn’t on their list, it’s over.
Kokichi once again, did not hesitate before speaking.
“Desero.” Kokichi spoke confidently, as if that had been his name all his life. The big boss seemed to relax at that, stepping into the light of the main room.
“I’m glad. I remember you from my list. Number one, correct?” The boss's hood covered every inch of their imposing figure.
“Yes,” Kokichi once again answered curtly.
“Why did you feel the need to come here?” The boss was right in front of Kokichi now. He had to look up to even see the boss’s hooded face. Their height was easily double of Kokichi’s, staggering high above the boy. The sheer height difference would scare most people off.
Good thing Kokichi wasn’t ‘most people’.
“We found one of the infiltrators without trouble, but when I was taking her to be sent down to the cells, she called after someone next to me, asking for help. When he was confronted with this information, he ran and everyone chased after him, exposing himself as the other hero,” Kokichi explained confidently.
“What was his code name? I can confirm if he was the traitor or not with my list,” the boss walked over to the computer next to the drive and typed some information into it.
“He claimed he went by Jester, sir.” Kokichi answered quickly, not wanting to seem any more suspicious.
“Yes, that name is not on my list. You all were correct in your pursuit. Please continue with your explanation,” the boss nodded as he spoke, still completely obscured.
“Once I realized everyone was chasing, I thought maybe the other hero escaped and came this way. I thought there was a chance they planned for one to get caught, so I ran here as fast as I could to check and make sure everything was in order, sir,” Kokichi finished his explanation, glancing at the flash drive sitting just about two feet away from the boss, whose back was still turned toward him. Silence filled the room for a moment, before the boss broke out into laughter. Kokichi watched, truly stunned into silence at the absurdity.
Maybe they hired real villains? These actors are really good.
Kokichi nodded slightly in response.
“Sorry kid, your just really good,” Kokichi’s breath stopped in his throat for a moment, before the boss continued.
“You really make this thing sound real, after this I wanna know what school you went to for lessons, yeah? I’ve always enjoyed the arts,” Kokichi let out an imperceptible sigh. He thought Kokichi was an actor, that all but confirmed it. Finally regaining his composure, the boss began again.
“I appreciate your good intentions, my faithful underling, but it was entirely unnecessary!” the boss finally turned towards Kokichi again and threw off their hood, finally revealing their appearance to the boys.
The man looked as if he was a cyborg, having a metal contraption wrapped around his eye and embedded into the skin. The eye next to it was completely red, with what looked like information running through it. His hair was short and silver, the same color as the metal, and his other eye was bright gold. His smile peeled across his face unnaturally, in the same way Kokichi imagines his face warps when he smiles. It was slightly unnerving to see his signature grin poorly replicated, but it was a poor replication, so Kokichi wasn’t too bothered. The look Kokichi gave the boss seemed to confirm something in his mind, and he continued his tangent.
“While it may not look like it, this flash drive they seek has a protective barrier around it,” the boss put his hand on Kokichi’s shoulder and guided him toward the drive, the weight and lack of heat made Kokichi realize that this man's quirk probably had to do with robotics. Kokichi could have laughed. There was no way this guy was going to give a demonstration on how to get the drive.
T-this has to be a trap, right?
I don’t think so. But I can’t be completely sure just yet. Try to figure out his quirk while we’re talking. This might come to a fight, so I’d like the best chance I can get.
Got it.
“This barrier is mostly invisible to the naked eye, except for a flash every 20 seconds,” Almost in sync with his voice, the barrier flashed slightly to show its entire circumference.
“If anyone, including you staff of mine, try to touch the drive, I get a silent alarm notification. Go ahead and try,” the boss motioned to the drive, and Kokichi hesitantly reached an arm out. Once getting within reach of the barrier, his hand was met with resistance, and he saw the boss's electronic eye flash red. He then grabbed Kokichi’s arm and pulled it away.
“That keeps the information from being able to just be snatched off the table! Since I am the boss however,” instead of continuing talking, the boss leaned down and placed the emblem on his hood onto the barrier. It lit up red, and then blue, before powering down. The boss reached into the enclosure, and pulled out the drive.
“You have an override access in your emblem,” Kokichi muttered out loud. The boss began laughing once again.
“That is correct! You are an impressive minion, I must say,” the boss went silent after that, holding the drive up to his chin as he became lost in thought. Kokichi used this as an opportunity.
What have you gotten on his quirk?
It seems like a minor mutation quirk. If I had to guess it has something to do with cyborgs or merging with technology. Since this is meant to be espionage training, I assume it’s function would be better at capturing than combat, since that is what the actors were instructed to do, but he is the big boss. There is a chance he has a more powerful quirk because of that. I…
…What? Why'd you stop?
I would say it is highly likely that this is a lower level pro hero. I know a lot of pros, but I don’t recognize him. That means they either got a new hero, a lower rank hero, or a hero from out of country.
Are you serious?
Yeah, if I had to guess which one, I would say he is a newer hero. I don't recognize him and he seems a bit too giddy and not all that serious. Some villains aren’t serious, but I don’t think he’s fought many if he is a pro. He also completely broke character either, which makes me believe he’s not an actor by profession, especially not one hired by the commission like the others. He’s not taking this seriously.
So, this guy might get scared easily if some bigger fish come by to play?
…possibly, yes.
Kokichi tilted his head down and giggled under his breath. This caught the boss's attention, causing him to fall quiet. Kokichi couldn’t help but laugh, louder and louder, his laughter echoed through the soundproof room. The boss was unnerved, that much was easy to see by the way he backed up unsteadily, flash drive grasped tightly in his palm, and eyes trained on the little figure in front of him. Eventually the laughter died out, an oppressive silence filled the room.
“Let me ask you something, boss,” Kokichi spoke calmly, a complete antithesis to the aura of the room. He had yet to lift his eyes from the floor, obscuring his face.
“How many villains have you encountered?” Kokichi asked, turning and examining the still unlocked computer.
There has to be some useful information here…
There! The admin password at the top.
At the top corner of the screen, there was a text box. It looked to be a command box for the barrier surrounding the drive. It read, ‘hero_cyguy_accessgranted’.
It’s just too easy.
“What are you talking about? I’m the boss, so I’ve encountered lots of villains,” the hero was confident with his words as he spoke.
“No, I’m not talking to the boss anymore,” Kokichi quickly walked up to the hero, who tried to back away, but hit the wall behind them instead. Kokichi was still looking at the ground.
“I’m talking to you, hero.” Kokichi looked the boss in the eye with as much malice and hatred in his gaze as he could conjure. His face split in two as his malevolent grin stretched across his face. His eyes turned into vacuums, filled with empty space devoid of the faintest glimmer of light. The boss stumbled and fell back, now at eye level with the bloodlust coming from the small figure in front of him.
“I-I don’t know w-what you're talking ab-bout…” the boss tried to defend, but his stuttering only caused the rebuttal to fall flat, causing Kokichi to laugh once again.
“C’mon, hero. Don’t play dumb with me. You’re pretty new, aren’t you?” Kokichi tilted his head in unnatural ways, leaning into the hero’s personal space. The boss turned away from Kokichi, his eyes pressed shut in fear. This was what he was waiting for.
“You haven’t seen the true terror of people at their limits, have you?” Kokichi began reaching for the flash drive as he spoke, still grasped tightly in the hero’s hand.
“You don’t know what it’s like to wake up and be surrounded by death, every day. Your own death looming over you like the plague,” he continued to fill his words with malice and fear as he spoke, causing the boss to flinch every time he spoke.
“You haven’t experienced the bloodlust of a killer, or the agony of unfulfilled wishes,” Kokichi got to the hand that held the drive, and grabbed it tightly, pulling the man so that their faces were inches apart, using two percent of Once for All.
“You have not looked death in the face and told it to try its worst.”
At those words, Kokichi slammed the man's face into his own knee, knocking him unconscious. The hero fell to the floor in a heap. After a moment, Kokichi stood up, flash drive in hand. His face was carefully blank.
Notes:
Yayyy!!! I got the chapter done for friday!!! Who could've seen that coming!!!
On a more serious note, I'm glad you all are liking this series. I'm really enjoying this new direction, and I'm glad a lot of you are too!! I hope I did Kokichi justice in his scenes. Funnily enough, Kokichi is a character that I really struggle to write in what I think is a semi-canon way. That's one of the main reasons I decided on this rewrite in the first place. I didn't think I did Kokichi's character justice in that, so I'm trying to do it here!!!
I've thought about adding some artwork for character designs as well, to properly portray the designs for characters like Desero and the Big Boss. I'm not amazing at drawing, but I would consider myself at least decent lol. Would you guys want to see some of that if I linked it in the next chapter?
Leave a comment about any future predictions or theories!! I read every comment, they mean a lot to me!!!
See you guys next week!!
Chapter 12: Espionage Finish!
Summary:
The espionage training is wrapping up, but is Kokichi too wrapped up in his own mind to tell what is real?
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
After regaining his composure, Kokichi quickly leaned down and grabbed the boss’s cloak and swapped his own. The boss’s coat was extra long to accommodate his extra size, but a little tear with One for All proved to be effective in altering it. Kokichi slipped the flash drive into a pouch on his belt, and reached behind him to make sure his weapon was still secure.
After confirming it was, Kokichi threw the cloak over his shoulders and went to go find the original group.
…
Midoriya’s silence was something that Kokichi could deal with later. Especially considering the fact that he's about to do the same thing all over again.
Kokichi wandered the halls for a while, before finally finding the group of goons huddled around each other. Kokichi straightened out his posture , deepened his voice, and shouted.
“What the hell is going on here?” The effect was immediate, as the villains turned toward him quickly. As they separated, Kokichi’s eyes landed on the source of their intrigue.
Desero was there, sitting on the floor, with fear written across his face. Once his eyes fell onto Kokichi, a glimmer of hope appeared. Desero stood up quickly and began speaking.
“Boss, sir. There’s been a misunderstanding. These people believe I am a traitor, but I would never betray you sir. The real traitor is still here.” Kokichi hummed apathetically, and looked around the room. Thanks to the hood he was wearing, all of his features were obscured from view. As he examined the room, the other goons would stiffen in place when he turned to them. Finally, Kokichi let out a slight laugh.
“Nihishi, well there is an easy way to tell if you’re lying or not,” Kokichi turned back towards Desero, leaning into his personal space.
“As the boss, I have been given special access to information that others do not…” Kokichi let that knowledge sit before speaking again, “...such as a list containing the names of all players. If you are as innocent as you say, please give me your codename. I will compare it to my list,” Kokichi finished speaking and turned so that his back faced Desero.
“Unit 1, codename Desero, s-sir,” Desero’s voice was steady for the most part, only wavering slightly at the end in what seemed to be relief. Kokichi grinned maniacally. This poor fool, not knowing what he’s gotten himself into.
“Oh, really?” Kokichi tilted his head questioningly, still facing the rather large crowd.
“Y-yes…”
“Well, I guess that clears everything up then!” Kokichi announced cheerfully, turning back to Desero with a smile on his face. Desero’s entire form went slack from relief, and the other minions were whispering to each other. Kokichi’s smile turned dark beneath his cloak as he reached behind him, grappling for his weapon. Feeling his fingers curl around the weapon brought a fierceness to his grin. If only he had one of these in the killing game…
Desero stood up, and turned to walk towards the rest of the group. Kokichi stayed perfectly still, readjusting the weapon in his grip. Once Desero was far enough past him, Kokichi turned and pressed the barrel of his gun against the nape of his neck. Feeling the cool metal press against his skin, Desero froze in place, shocked at the turn of events, while the other grunts went silent.
“I guess that does clear it up… huh,” Kokichi spoke darkly.
“Y…you can’t be the t-traitor…” Desero whispered.
“You’re right, I can’t be the traitor, because it’s you. In case you couldn’t tell, there was no ‘Desero’ on my list bub,” Kokichi taunted, digging the barrel of the gun into Desero’s neck, forcing him to his knees. Kokichi grabbed some handcuffs from another villain and handcuffed Desero.
“B-but, how is that…” Desero seemed to realize something and looked around frantically.
“W-where’s jester!? H-he's the one who accused me!” Desero called out to the other brutes in an attempt to save himself. Kokichi had to give it to him, he didn’t think Desero would realize he was gone, but it was too late.
“Oh, buddy. Didn’t they tell you?” Kokichi talked as condescendingly as he could and walked to stand right in front of Desero. He leaned down to make himself eye level with Desero, before throwing off his hood, much to the shock of everyone.
“I was out running a quick errand,” Kokichi’s smile distorted as he spoke, causing the temperature in the room to drop a few degrees. Desero looked at the boy in fear, his mouth gaping in shock. Kokichi stood up to his full height before speaking once again.
“Alright everyone, I’m going to escort this prisoner down to the cells, but since I’m here, the top floor is kinda unguarded right now,” Kokichi spoke nonchalantly as he forced Desero to his feet, gun still pressed to his head.
“If you all would be so kind as to patrol the top floor while I take this guy to join his partner,” Kokichi cheerfully commanded as he forced Desero to walk, following closely behind. Kokichi could hear the pitter patter of the other villains’ feet as they ran to the top floor. It wouldn’t be long before they realized that the actual boss was still knocked out on the top floor and came running to get him.
“H-how is any of this… how did you do it?” Desero whispered to himself as he walked. Kokichi sighed and stopped walking, causing Desero to stop as well with his back fully turned. It really would be a hassle to bring this guy all the way down to the cells. Kokichi felt his hand grip the gun, still placed on the back of Desero’s neck. It would be easier to dispose of him now, so he can’t escape and come back later for revenge. Kokichi felt his hand shake and forced himself to stop. It’s not like it would be the first time he’s caused someone to lose their life, but this time, it would be one hundred percent on him. No puppets or plans or disposable goons, just Kokichi taking someone’s life with his own hands. He felt his finger flex on the trigger. Desero has been eerily quiet for a while, seeming to understand the decision Kokichi is bringing himself to. Desero understood that at this moment, he was about to die. Kokichi readied himself, and then he-
Wait!
Kokichi’s flinch was sudden and harsh. Thankfully, he didn’t pull the trigger when he flinched, but it was a close thing. Kokichi’s breaths began coming in harsh and shallow. Looking down the barrel of the gun, Kokichi noticed it was shaking harshly.
What is going on…
This isn’t real. It's a test, calm down. You aren’t killing anyone for real. That gun has rubber bullets.
Kokichi’s eyes drifted to the gun, which had felt so real before. The heaviness of the steel bullets from earlier was gone, replaced with the lightweight fake bullets that had always been present. Kokichi raised his eyes once again. Desero was standing in front of him, back still turned in silence, but not the kind of silence where you’ve accepted your demise. No, it’s more like the silence of someone who has no clue what to say. Like an actor forgetting a line in a play.
Actor… This was a class…
Yes. It's espionage training with Uraraka. We were on our way to go get her now.
Kokichi immediately regained his senses. What on earth was he doing?! Shaking his head Kokichi pushed Desero forward once again at almost double the pace they were walking earlier.
I can’t believe I let myself get distracted like that, especially after knowing that the others upstairs could come down any second.
…
Finally, they reached the holding cells. Rounding the corner, Kokichi saw the cell Uraraka was in, as well as an empty one next to it. Grabbing the door, Kokichi quickly swung it open and threw Desero in, quickly locking it behind him.
“Deku! There’s some kind of lock on the cell. It needs master authority to unlock it,” Uraraka explained as quickly as she could. Kokichi nodded in understanding. It seemed that was how the teachers were planning on making people interact with the boss. By making the emblem on their cloak the key to the cells, they would have to find and defeat the boss without being noticed to retrieve their classmate. Too bad Kokichi was one step ahead.
Leaning down, Kokichi pressed the emblem on his cloak to the cell lock, which immediately opened upon contact. Uraraka quickly exited the cell and looked to Kokichi.
“We need to get out of here. The entire second floor is clear, but not for long. We need to head out the same way we got in,” Kokichi quickly explained as he began running, Uraraka not far behind.
Getting to the waiting room proved easy enough, but as he was running through, Kokichi saw something he never expected to see again. It seemed as though he left the tv on from when he was surfing the channels before the exercise. There was a commercial for a new tv show. Well, new show is not quite the right term.
“Puhuhuhuhu! We hope to see you all in Danganronpa 53! A new Killing School Semester beings in just five days!” the heinous bear laughed on screen with sixteen identical blacked out figured below him. Kokichi could only stare in shock, as he felt Uraraka grab his wrist and pull him through the doors and down the hallway.
What was that? Are you ok? Kokichi?!
Kokichi couldn’t answer anything Midoriya was saying. Seeing that bear and then running through this tunnel was reminding him of the death road of despair, and the horrible truth of the outside world. Kokichi shook his head violently, he didn’t want to remember those things.
He focused on the light, barely shining at the end of the tunnel. Finally reaching the end of the hallway, Kokichi and Uraraka emerged from the building. Looking around, Kokichi didn’t see any other student’s, which means they must have finished first. After quickly getting dismissed with an odd look from Aizawa, Kokichi sat down in the chair in his room.
Are you… ok?
Kokichi took in Midoriya’s worried tone. He wondered why he sounded like that.
“Yup. Never been better actually,” Kokichi snarkily responded.
It’s just… I saw some things earlier. In the tunnel?
Kokichi sighed. He figured that would happen eventually. Ever since their shared flashback at the Nighteye agency, he’s been concerned that this would happen. It’s an unfortunate side effect it seems, of sharing a body, you don’t get to keep nearly as many secrets.
“What did you see?” Kokichi asked aloud, although he knew the answer already.
Something called the death road of despair, I think. I didn’t get a good look at anything because I didn’t get a full flashback. It was only flashes of memory mixing with the tunnel walls, if that makes sense.
Kokichi nodded. The flashback of Midoriya’s that he experienced wasn’t like that at all. It was constant, never wavering until the memory was finished.
“I was really trying to not focus on the flashback, so maybe that’s why?” Kokichi thought aloud.
…
Ok, it’s time Kokichi finally address the silences Midoriya has been going into.
“What’s up with you anyways?” Kokichi asked as nonchalantly as he could.
It’s just… what you said to the boss. Your reaction to that tv commercial too, and what happened in the hallway. I’m just a little confused, I guess.
Kokichi sighed. He knew this was what was wrong, but he really didn’t want to talk, especially after what he remembered.
“I guess the best way to put it for now is…” Kokichi’s voice cracked slightly as he spoke.
“You know that show your friends want you to watch with them, Danganronpa?” he asked as he began fiddling with the fabric in his hands. They had let him keep the gray scarf, and it was proving to be a lovely material between his fingers.
Yes, that was the show we saw the commercial for as well.
“Yeah well, I didn’t realize but I have some history with the franchise, or something,” Kokichi ran a hand through his hair. Green and purple locks fell into his face at the motion. He didn’t really understand how Monokuma was in this world, or how a show like ‘Danganronpa’ would work with contestants who have powers, but he would find out eventually. Kokichi took a deep breath before continuing.
“I recognised the bear, but not the show name. I don’t even know if it’s the same guy. Pretty much any weird thing I’ve done, aside from my amazing personality, can be chalked up to something that happened because of the bear,” Kokichi finished explaining.
Maybe someone here knows something? Aizawa-sensei has that big case he’s working on, and we have that meeting tomorrow for the work study. Maybe All Might will know something?
Midoroya kept muttering possibilities as Kokichi hummed, leaning back and looking at the ceiling, his expression neutral.
Danganronpa, huh? I guess I was right after all.
Notes:
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I know it's a bit shorter than usual, but I wanted a whole chapter dedicated to the next arc, so I cut this one a bit short.
I just got back into school, so hopefully I'll be able to stay at least semi consistent with chapter updates!
Kokichi finally know's about Danganronpa!!! Woahhh!! I will state for the record, we will be finishing the Shei Hassaiki arc before we move on to the Danganronpa stuff so keep that in mind!!
I love all of your comments and theories for the future! They help keep me motivated to show you the mysteries!!!
https://www.tumblr.com/invisiblechild01/759265565843111936/heres-some-art-for-my-fic?source=share
Here is a link to my tumblr account. I will post art for the fic here and if you guys want to draw anything I will be able to see it!!! Plz tag me in posts!!! The image is of Kokichi and Uraraka's Espionage designs!! I hope y'all like it!
Chapter 13: Hi there! What the heck was that?!
Summary:
Midoriya thinks then asks some questions.
Someone has questions for him too...
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Midoriya opened his eyes slowly. The darkness of the room surrounding him felt like a comforting blanket, but sleep would not return for him. The last twenty-four hours had felt like a fever dream with how much was going on. Midoriya kept his eyes trained on the dark ceiling, worried that too much movement would rouse Kokichi from his sleep in the void room.
He began thinking about everything that had happened yesterday. Kokichi had always been an enigma of a person to Midorya, and it wasn’t hard to see why. They were almost completely different personality wise, and very often did not see eye to eye on things. Despite all of this though, they had begun to reach a kind of understanding, at least Midoriya thought they had. Kokichi had been opening up, they had been making progress.
Midoriya rolled over onto his side, staring at the door to his dorm. Kokichi did not stir and he let out a soft sigh of relief. Focusing back on the door, Midoriya continued his attempts at sleep to no avail.
Kokichi was just too confusing. Most of the time Midoriya has known him, he had presented himself as a prankster, someone who values a good joke, but was ultimately harmless. The Kokichi that Midoriya saw during the espionage training was deadly. The way he spoke to the boss actor genuinely scared Midoriya, no matter how hesitant he is to admit it. The way Kokichi casually spoke about seeing death around him and being threatened with his own death to the point of desensitization was disturbing.
That’s not even touching on the disaster that almost happened with Desero in the hallway. Kokichi had fully lost himself to his persona and was planning on murdering that man. While the gun may not have been loaded with actual bullets, Kokichi was not in his right mind and did not know that at the time. He had fully planned on pulling that trigger, if his frantic thoughts that Midoriya caught could say anything. It was scary how quickly Kokichi was able to convince himself to pull that trigger. His thoughts may have been conflicted the whole time, but Midoriya knew where the conclusion would be drawn. Midoriya tightened his hands into fists, grasping for a weapon no longer there.
Sighing loudly, Midoriya resigned himself to no longer sleeping tonight, and got up to get some water. Grabbing his phone to check the time, Midoriya was relieved to see it was 4:23, having slept through most of the night. Immediately following that thought, Midorya yawned harshly as if to taunt him for having a positive thought. Midorya grumbled slightly, pocketing his phone as he made his way to the kitchen before his meeting with Nighteye today. It will be nice to not go to class today at least, although Eri had been a point of many different changes in their situation. There is a chance this meeting could cause some new aspect of their body sharing predicament to come to light, which would probably be bad.
Midoriya shook his head lightly to send that thought path away. He wanted to know more about Eri, no matter the consequences to himself. He wanted to know how to help her, and hopefully this meeting would show that. He would just have to be mindful about anything that feels off.
Sitting down in the common room with his cup of water, Midoriya found his thoughts once again drifting back towards Kokichi. More specifically, the most concerning revelation from yesterday, Danganronpa. Midoriya had never seen the show himself, never really finding the look appealing enough to watch it, let alone do any sort of research of the plot. Somehow, Kokichi was tied up in it, and it was supposedly the cause of some of Kokichi’s strange statements.
Heavy footsteps startled Midoriya out of his thoughts. Quickly turning around, Midoriya locked eyes with Iida, who looked at him confused.
“Midoriya? What are you doing up at this hour?” Iida asked as he went to get him a drink from the kitchen.
“I have a work study meeting today, and I suppose I’m a bit nervous. Couldn’t sleep very well,” Midoriya admitted. Kokichi seemed to stir once Midoriya began talking.
Isso early…
Midoriya giggled slightly at the other boys' slurred speech.
Good morning to you too.
“Well make sure you don’t exert yourself too much,” Iida spoke from the kitchen, nursing a glass of orange juice before his morning run.
“You too Iida, don’t think I haven’t noticed all of these late night and early morning runs,” Midoriya teased, causing the other to sheepishly rub his neck.
“Yes well, I will see you tonight Midoriya,” Iida announced as he walked out the front doors. Midoriya’s smile slipped off his face and he looked back at the water in his hands, a contemplative expression on his face.
Are you awake properly now?
Yeah, although I was hoping for another hour or so of sleep.
Midoriya hesitated once again. It was five thirty in the morning. Maybe it was too early to be having this conversation.
I can hear you running your mind in circles, greenie, you can ask. I’ll only be a little offended, promise.
Midoriya sighed. Of course Kokichi saw through his flimsy defense.
I just… didn’t really understand your explanation yesterday about Danganronpa.
At the mention of the show, Kokichi’s mood seemed to sour.
What are you talking about? I gave an amazing explanation yesterday.
Midoriya raised a questioning eyebrow at that.
Ok fine. I guess I will try to explain better, but I will say that I really don’t understand it myself.
Kokichi paused for a moment, seeming to collect his thoughts before continuing.
That bear mascot for the show is the one I know. I’ve never heard of Danganronpa or anything like it before, but I know Monokuma.
Monokuma?
That’s the bear's name. He was like my class's headmaster of sorts, along with his “kids”, the Monokubs. He was technically in charge of us, but we all kind of did what we wanted.
I don’t know much else about it besides that. I don’t know how he’s here, or how his game works here, but I want to find out.
His game…?
Before Kokichi could respond, Midoriya saw Tsu and Uraraka waving at him as they walked towards the kitchen.
“Good morning deku!” Uraraka shouted as she passed by.
“Ah- Good morning Uraraka, Tsu. Why are you both up this early?” Midoriya asked.
“We both have a meeting for our work study this morning, ribbit,” Tsu answered while pouring herself some cereal for breakfast.
“Oh, me too. What a coincidence!” Midoriya laughed as he stood up. Waving goodbye to the girls, Midoriya made his way back into his room to get ready for his meeting.
After this meeting we can do some research into Danganronpa and maybe figure some stuff out.
Yeah, whatever.
Midoriya sighed at Kokichi’s attitude before walking into the common room.
“Hey Midoriya! You have a meeting this morning too?” Kirishima asked from the doorway. He was with Uraraka and Tsu.
Midoriya smiled and walked over to the group.
“Yeah. Do you? It’s odd that we all have meetings this morning,” Midoriya questioned.
“I’m not thinking too hard about it,” Kirishima shrugged as he began walking out the door.
He seems like the type to not think too hard about a lot of things.
Don’t say that!
How likely is it that you all are going to the exact same meeting?
More likely every second it seems.
Midoriya approached the building where his work study meeting was being held followed by his friends who are also participating in their own work studies.
Midoriya stopped directly in front of his building. Everyone else stopped as well.
“This is weird, right?” Uraraka questioned.
“What mission could possibly need this many hero teams to work together?” Tsu asked as they began walking into the building.
Like a lightbulb, Midoriya immediately remembered Sir’s current objective.
When it was just the Shie Hassaikai, Nighteye’s agency was fully capable, but now that Eri’s in play it’s a rescue raid. We need all hands on deck.
It would seem so, but this still feels a bit excessive.
Midoriya looked at the room where at least 50 pro hero’s were gathered to wait for the meeting.
Yeah, maybe a tad excessive.
Scanning the crowd, Midoriya spotted Gran Torino.
“Gran Torino!” Midoriya waved as he approached the older mentor, who looked at the boy in shock.
“What the hell did you do with your hair boy? You know, back in my day we frosted our tips with bleach, not purple!” Gran Torino laughed as he pointed out the tinted edges of Midoriya’s hair. Midoriya laughed slightly awkwardly before continuing.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were working with the police on something and you couldn’t take work studies?” Midoriya questioned.
“You’d be right there, sonny. Unfortunately, my work with the police has hit a roadblock as of now and Tsukauchi has allowed me to help y’all out with this here raid in the meantime,” Gran responded.
I like this guy, he’s fun.
I have resolutely decided to never let the two of you meet.
What!? Why? I’m so loveable!!!
I’m going to hold your hand when I say this…
Fuck you too then!
With that, Nighteye opened the door to the meeting room, signaling the start of the meeting.
Midoriya walked into the meeting room, unaware of a pair of silver eyes following him as he walked.
Lurking in the corner, Aizawa watched his student interact normally with his upperclassmen and peers, a strong counter to his actions in the espionage training yesterday.
Grabbing a handful of his capture material, Aizawa began making his way towards the meeting room, catching Midoriya’s eye which filled with shock upon seeing his teacher, before morphing into a smile and wave. Aizawa nodded his head and went to his seat as Bubble girl began the meeting.
Aizawa wasn’t sure what was going on with his student, but as Midoriya’s homeroom teacher, he intended to find out.
Notes:
HELLO EVERYONE!!!! I'M NOT DEAD!!!!
Sorry for the random hiatus, school has been straight up killing me, and this chapter was not easy to write. I changed my mind like 3 different times about what I wanted to happen this chapter leading into the meeting about eri, and eventually settled on this so I hope you like it!!!
I also want to say THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for the encouragement while I was gone. It seriously meant the world to me when I would get a notification that someone left a comment and definitely lit a fire under my butt to get this out lol.
Next chapter I have a surprise for you all so get excited for that!!! Hint: It's referenced slightly in this chapter.
I know this chapter is kind of short for all the time that I was gone, but hopefully next chapter will make it up to you all!!!
Love you guys and see you in the next one!!1
Chapter 14: Choose your character! Espionage arc!
Summary:
Aizawa gets a bit more than he bargained for when he changed the lesson to surprise espionage training.
Notes:
Hello everyone!!! I wanted to pop this here since I know not everyone reads the authors notes at the bottom but-
I HAVE A TUMBLR ACCOUNT!!!
https://www.tumblr.com/invisiblechild01
I will be semi-active over there and will post updates on when chapters might be releasing as well as art sometimes!!
Anyways Enjoy the chapter!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“All right class, today you will be doing a special exercise. There’s a bus waiting outside to take us to the location, let's go,” Aizawa watched his students' faces twist with confusion at his words. A few hushed whispers were shared among the group as they all filed onto the bus. After ensuring that everyone was on the bus, Aizawa gave the driver the go ahead to begin heading to Ground Beta and sat in his own seat. He could hear the questions in the student’s minds as if they were his own.
“Why was there a change of plans?”
“I wonder what we will be doing instead?”
“It isn’t like him to change up the itinerary on a whim like this…”
Aizawa would agree with the last point, changing schedules at the last minute is illogical, so he always tries to avoid it as best he can. Sometimes however, things change.
Aizawa sighed as he leaned his head back and thought about the events that had caused him to switch the exercise.
It was late in the evening on one of his patrol shifts when he got the call. People knew not to call him while he was working, so this must have been urgent, and judging by the caller ID, it was. Aizawa answered and lifted the phone to his ear.
“Hey Tsukauchi,” Aizawa spoke hastily into the receiver.
“Hey Eraser, sorry to call on short notice, but I need you to get down to the station,” the detective spoke casually, but his voice carried tension. Aizawa’s eyebrows creased in concern.
“I’m on my way. Be honest, what am I walking into,” Aizawa began the journey to the police station, traversing rooftops to get there quickly. He already had a guess about what the sudden call was about.
“Your case is back up, Danganronpa’s active again,” Tsukauchi muttered through the phone.
The jolt of the bus brought him back to the present as he ordered his students off the bus. After arriving at the location, Aizawa stood next to the equipment table as his student’s lined up in front of him.
“All right, I’m sure you all are wondering what we're doing here. Well, instead of training your Ultimate moves, today we will be practicing something else. Today we will be training espionage and infiltration,” Aizawa explained while gesturing at the table of supplies and equipment. As he quickly explained the rules, he examined his student’s demeanors. Some student’s looked nervous, such as Mineta and Kaminari, while others seemed excited, like Yaoyorozu and Hagakure. Midoriya also looked excited at the prospect, which seemed odd, since he had never shown any inclination towards the espionage or stakeout aspects of heroism. Shaking away the thought, Aizawa assigned the groups and separated everyone to their prep area before heading to the viewing room himself.
The viewing room was quite plain, being the same room they used to observe the entrance exam. Looking at the other teacher’s present, Aizawa noticed that All Might looked a little nervous.
“What’s got you nervous? Afraid your golden boy won’t do well at the exercise?” Aizawa spoke as he walked towards All Might, who looked at him in surprise before laughing slightly.
“Come now Aizawa! You should know better than anyone that teachers shouldn’t have favorites,” All Might looked back towards the screens with the students gathering their disguises. Aizawa quirked an eyebrow at the former number 1 hero before sighing.
“Lying isn’t a good look for you All Might,” Aizawa walked forward to give the command for Vlad King to let the first group in.
“You don’t look so hot yourself, Eraser. Your case giving you trouble again,?” Midnight called from across the room.
“You know my case is confidential, quit asking,” Aizawa muttered as he watched Vlad lead the first group, Todoroki and Jiro, into the facility.
Todoroki and Jiro’s match went about as well as he thought these matches would go. Jiro used her ear jacks to create audio distractions so that Todoroki could sneak off, which was a solid plan at first. Eventually, the group noticed Todoroki’s absence causing him to get caught. Jiro was able to sneak away in the commotion and even found her way into the server room, but she heard the big boss and had to attempt to fight him, which was unsuccessful. This led to her capture. After discussing with the group for a moment, Aizawa looked down at his rubric.
“A B+ for Jiro and a B- for Todoroki, send in group 2,” Aizawa announced over the comm system.
The second group, Mineta and Tokoyami, were finishing up their preparations when Aizawa noticed something on another camera.
“Is Midoriya still picking out his disguise?” Aizawa asked exasperatedly. All the other teacher’s attention quickly turned to the green haired boy still looking contemplatively at the disguise table.
“It… would seem that way,” All Might, somehow, seemed more exasperated than Aizawa was feeling.
“Maybe his partner can talk some sense into him,” Present Mic announced as Uraraka, already in her disguise, approached Midoriya. They talked for a moment, before Uraraka pointed at Midoriya’s hair while saying something. A fleeting moment of panic crossed Midoriya’s eyes as he grabbed a strand of his hair, before laughing and running to the bathroom with his chosen disguise. Uraraka stood there for a moment, confusion visible on her face, before she made her way to the gate.
“That was weird, even for Midoriya, right?” Midnight asked hesitantly. All eyes, unsurprisingly, went to All Might. The man almost choked on the attention.
“Why would I know what that was about?” All Might tried to defend, which was followed by accusatory silence.
“...There is a chance it could be about Young Midoriya’s change in hair?” All Might explained.
Upon looking back at the screen, Midoriya was still getting ready and the next group was beginning their test. Aizawa would have to look into it later.
Group two went almost exactly as Aizawa expected most of today’s exercises to go. Immediately at the start of the match, Mineta was caught. His nerves proved to be too much to go unnoticed, but Tokoyami was able to do relatively well solo. After Mineta was found, he threw some of his balls around to stick as many people in place to help out Tokoyami, who used dark shadow to lift him towards the ceiling and crawl on the roof to get to the flashdrive. He made it the whole way to the room, but was stopped by the barrier around the drive itself and was captured by the boss shortly thereafter. Not a terrible attempt, but it could have been better.
“Mineta gets a C-, Tokoyami gets a B, next group,” Aizawa announced. Looking back up the screen was Uraraka and Midoriya, both ready to begin the exercise. As Vlad gave them the instructions, Aizawa turned to All Might.
“Midoriya seemed unusually excited about this exercise today. I thought he wanted to be a daytime hero, not deal with stuff like espionage,” Aizawa asked. Vlad was on the monitors leading the first actor into the room.
“Ah, yes. His goal is to become the number one hero, which would be a daytime hero’s job, but Young Midoriya has never shied away from getting out of his comfort zone to help someone,” All Might responded thoughtfully. Vlad stepped out the door and motioned for Midoriya to follow him.
“I think Young Midoriya gets excited by anything that could help him be a better hero, even if he wouldn’t use it all the time,” All Might finished his explanation right as Vlad and Midoriya approached the doors to the lounge. Vlad began to walk off as Midoriya stood facing the door while not moving.
“What’s he doing?” Midnight asked. Midoriya had looked back towards the way Vlad King had gone and was now trailing him slightly. Aizawa had to hold back the surprise in his tone.
“He’s scoping out the facility. Because we didn’t give them any directions other than first floor, second floor, third floor, he’s using this moment by himself to look around,” Aizawa answered.
“What would be the point in doing that in this hallway though?” Present Mic questioned as Midoriya peaked around the corner Vlad took to get an actor. All Might let out a loud laugh at that.
“It seems Young Midoriya has realized that none of the actors can come from the way he did,” All Might announced. Aizawa was slightly shocked, but shook it off and pulled up a small diagram of the facility on a separate monitor.
“What All Might is talking about is this,” Aizawa pointed at the student entrance and the actor entrance.
“Because we had to keep everyone separated for the exercise, the actors had to be placed in another hallway that is significantly farther away than the student entrance. Thankfully, due to the nature of these matches, people won’t worry too much about things like how long it takes someone to get somewhere. Midoriya seemed to have realized on his walk down that he didn’t see a way for the actors to get to the main room, and followed Vlad King to understand,” Aizawa explained.
“So what’s he doing now?” Midnight asked as she pointed to the screen. Midoriya had walked back to the second floor entrance and was standing in front of the door, not moving.
“I believe I can answer that one!” A voice came from the doorway to the viewing room.
“Principal, I thought you couldn’t make it for this?” Aizawa asked skeptically as Nedzu made his way to his seat.
“I did have some stuff going on, but this match was already so interesting, I decided to come watch it in person myself!” Nedzu announced.
“To answer your question Midnight, Midoriya seems to have realized the time difference between the walk from the actor’s rooms and the walk from the student entrance. He is waiting a bit longer to make himself less suspicious and the actor behind him more suspicious, if the people inside notice the time disparity,” Nedzu answered quickly before putting his attention back to the screen. It seemed that Midoriya had finally decided to enter.
“Hey everyone! Where’s the party, huh?” Midoriya can be heard over the speakers as he slammed the doors to the lounge open. Aizawa’s eyes widened in shock at Midoriya’s almost 180 in personality. A groan from All MIght caused Aizawa to watch as the former number 1 hero put his head in his hands in dismay.
“I… didn’t know Midoriya could act,” Present Mic seemed unsure even as he spoke. Nedzu broke out into giggles which sent shivers down the spined of everyone present.
It seemed as though the actor in the room recovered from their shock quicker than the teachers, because they were quickly on their feet, examining Midoriya for possible indications that he was the traitor.
“Maybe it was a one time thing. Maybe now he will keep it toned dow-” All Might whispered to himself before he was cut off by Midoriya kn screen once again.
“Hey man, if you want to check me out, could you at least use cash?” Aizawa heard Present Mic choking on his own spit, while Midnight laughed maniacally as Midoriya walked to the couch on the screen. Aizawa had a sinking suspicion that something was going on that he wasn’t aware of. Looking back towards All Might, Aizawa noticed that he seemed tense. Aizawa went to say something, but was cut off by a grab at his sleeve. He looked at the source and saw the principal.
“Let’s examine the match and then ask our questions, yes?” Nedzu spoke his question with the authority that told Aizawa that it wasn’t a question at all. Aizawa made a gruff acknowledgement before sitting back down in his seat. Everyone in the room was eerily quiet as Midoriya nonchalantly flipped through the tv channels. After a bit of silence, Midoriya asked for the actor’s name which he revealed to be Desero. Desero then asked Midoriya for his name. Midoriya responded quickly, leaving no room for hesitation.
“I’m goin by Jester currently,” Midoriya’s confident tone filtered through the room as he spoke.
“You’d think he was born for espionage with how well he’s doing so far…” Midnight spoke under her breath and Aizawa was inclined to agree. Aizawa was the one who went individually to all of the actors and told them about the exercise and what to look out for. One of the main things was hesitation. If someone hesitated for a moment too long on something they should know, like their name or quirk, that was a good way to tell if someone was lying. That was how the other groups had all gotten suspicion laid on them at first. Midoriya has, so far, expertly navigated the hardest part of espionage, initial infiltration.
“I have a question,” Midoriya’s voice rang throughout the room, not once looking away from the tv.
“How long did it take you to get here?” Midoriya’s question caused all of the teachers to look at the monitor in surprise.
“Is he bringing up the time disparity? That will make his teammate look more suspicious,” Present Mic asked. All Might sighed and put his head in his hands again.
As Midoriya explained the difference in the hallways to Desero, Aizawa looked at his student. A lot of strange things had happened in the last few days, all of them involving Midoriya somehow. The first situation was immediately after Bakugo’s house arrest was over and he came storming into the principal's office after class claiming Midoriya had been replaced by someone. After explaining the entire situation, Aizawa was inclined to believe something might have happened, as Bakugo had never made up baseless accusations before. After bring Tsukauchi to the school and having him talk with Midoriya, he reported that Midoriya never lied when he claimed to not have done anything or that he was in class all day. The general consensus ended up being that someone with a thought-projection quirk was trying to get a rise out of the most volatile member of 1-A. Aizawa was beginning to have doubts though.
The things that Bakugo claimed Midoriya had said sound similar to the way Midoriya was talking now. Speaking in a way he never had before, a scarily calm demeanor, and a poker face devoid of emotion were all things that Aizawa was seeing now.
As the next actor walked in, Aizawa determined to figure out exactly what was going on with his student.
It was a while later when all of the actors had entered and the exam had finally started. Aizawa noted that when Uraraka had entered, Midoriya was acting more similarly to the way he had before. At one point, he had called her over to discuss why everyone had been wary of her, which was his fault technically, and explain a good target to deflect onto if she got caught. Shortly after, the alarm went off and everyone separated into their lineups and began patrolling around the building.
“Uraraka seems to be doing well, despite the initial shock of everyone being immediately suspicious, she's holding her own pretty well,” All Might spoke as they watched the group walk. It had been about 7 minutes since the match had officially started and both students were blending in well. Of course, that meant that something was bound to happen soon, and that took the form of Midoriya leaning into Desero’s space and whispering to him.
“The late girl next to you is acting suspicious. It's been a while, maybe you should call it?” Midoriya spoke calmly and quietly to Desero, who stiffened and stopped slightly ahead.
“He’s trying to get her caught?” Present Mic exasperatedly shook his head as he spoke. Midnight hummed in solidarity. Desero began speaking shortly after stopping.
“We have been walking for almost ten minutes with no leads on the traitors,” Aizawa watched as Uraraka flinched at the last word Desero spoke, sealing her fate as Desero’s eyes narrowed in understanding.
“You. I believe you are one of the traitors,” Desero announced as he pointed accusingly at Uraraka, who blanched in surprise. She recovered quickly though, asking what grounds they had to suspect her, to which Desero responded with fury and his evidence. She had no rebuttal.
“Well then, Jester! Get over here with those restraints!” Desero announced as he made way for Midoriya to get to Uraraka, who looked at him with fear and apprehension.
“It’s impressive that she’s able to keep a level head enough to not rat out Midoriya accidentally,” Midnight praised. Aizawa was watching Midoriya as he walked towards Uraraka. He seemed to be playing the nonchalant villain well, but for just a moment as he was walking, Midoriya’s face split open into a terrifying grin. Aizawa felt a chill down his spine and his blood ran cold at the sight of his own student. The look as gone as quickly as it appeared and looking around the room, no one else seemed to have noticed. As Midoriya put the cuffs on Uraraka, he quietly whispered something to her.
“Go for the big guy here. When I’m walking you to the people who will take you down, mutter under your breath and I’ll pick it up and shout, but I’ll be mean. Play it up, you’ve got this,” Midoriya quickly explained his plan as he finished cuffing his partner.
“What’s he doin-” All Might didn’t get a chance to finish his question when all of a sudden Midoriya was shouting at Desero about being the other traitor.
“I heard the shit she just tried to tell you! ‘We’re on the same team! Please come rescue me!’ I was practically carrying her so of course I heard it you imbecile!” Midoriya’s rage was palpable through the screen and everyone was frozen in shock. After Midoriya’s accusation, all of the other actors who were still there, excluding the grunt who took Uraraka to the cells, started chasing Desero, who ran from the group. No one noticed the lone figure left behind in the chaos.
Midoriya stood alone in the once busy hallway, a smirk visible on his face. A small giggle left his lips as he turned and began running to the top floor, no one any the wiser.
Aizawa watched his student retreat with a pit in his stomach.
What on earth is he doing now?” Present Mic asked, his head in his hands.
“It seems as though Midoriya has realized there might be alternate defense measures put in place to protect the drive and is attempting to figure out the best course of action moving forward,” Nedzu responded giddily as he watched. Midoriya stood next to the server room door, his eyebrows drawn together in deep thought. Eventually, his eyebrows shot up in realization and he began walking away from the door, before turning and breaking into a sprint.
“He’s just going to break the door down?!” Mic yelled in confusion before placing his head on his knees in exasperation. Nedzu began laughing again. Aizawa turned his attention back to the screen. Midoriya had just burst through the door and looked around the whole room in a panic, until his eyes eventually settled on the flashdrive. He visibly relaxed and began to walk out of the room.
“He pretended to be in a panic, looking for the flashdrive, but upon seeing it, he relaxed and began to leave to make it look like he was checking to see if it was stolen,” Aizawa spoke to himself, but the silence of the room made everyone aware of his thought.
“Yes. This allowed him to enter the room, check for weapons or guards without his cover being blown if there was someone in there,” Nedzu finished Aizawa’s thought for him.
“Stop,” the voice of the big boss thundered through the speakers. Midoriya immediately stopped. He then turned around as the boss instructed, wiping all indications of fear from his face in the meantime.
“Name?” This would be where Midoriya got caught unless he realized who this was. None of the students had been told, but the boss was given a list of names and placements for the people participating in this challenge. Midoriya once again answered immediately.
“Desero.” Aizawa looked at the screen in shock. Midoriya had never shown any indication that he knew espionage training or even how to lie properly. It was startling to Aizawa to see that he had missed such a massive ability in his student. The big boss listened as Midoriya recounted his story of why he had come to this room and Aizawa watched. He watched as his student lied so effortlessly, that Aizawa began to question if he had his camera on the wrong person and this truly was Desero. It was as impressive as it was scary, how effortlessly Midoriya lied.
The booming laughter of the boss, brought Aizawa back to his senses.
“Sorry kid, you're just really good,” the big boss laughed as he spoke, and Aizawa shook his head.
“Breaking character in the middle of an exercise. We probably won’t hire him back if we do anything like this again,” Nedzu pouted as he spoke, as if broken free from the immersion. Aizawa nodded in agreement.
On the monitor, the boss led Midoriya to the flashdrive, showing him the barrier.
“Man, this guy kinda sucks as the boss. I’m surprised we didn’t see it in the other exercises,” Mic spoke with the shame of someone who actually cared about performance.
“Technically, he thinks this is one of his minions. In the other situations, he knew from the get go that the person he was speaking to was the target, so he was more threatening,” Nedzu begrudgingly admitted.
“You have an override access in your emblem,” Midoriya’s voice was just as shocked as the teacher’s felt in the viewing lounge.
“He just.. took the flashdrive out and showed it to him?” Midnight asked, shock apparent in her tone.
“I… guess he did,” All Might replied.
There was silence for a long moment, before it was broken by giggle. The teacher’s eyes all locked onto the screen, expecting the boss to laugh and explain that he had caught on to Midoriya’s whole act. That was not the scene they were greeted with.
Midoriya was on the monitor, hunched over. Laughter echoed from his form as he slowly went from a giggle to a full on cackle. Aizawa watched, his face no doubt showing his own fear for his student. The laughter finally died out, but it was followed by a heavy silence.
“What the hell is going on…” Present Mic whispered under his breath.
“Let me ask you something, boss,” Midoriya’s voice was patronizingly smooth, his head still downturned and his face still obscured.
“How many villains have you encountered?” Midoriya turned towards the monitor in the room and began examining it, looking for something. Aizawa heard Nedzu gasp next to him, seeming to realize something that Aizawa didn’t.
The boss seemed just as shaken as the teachers felt at the unusual demeanor of their student.
“What are you talking about? I’m the boss, so I’ve encountered lots of villains,” the big boss tried to get control back of the situation, straightening his back and standing to his full height. Midoriya seemed to scoff at the attempt. Nedzu went to the control panel and started typing, little fingers flying over the keys, doing something that Aizawa couldn’t comprehend in the moment.
“No, I’m not talking to the boss anymore,” Midoriya quickly crossed the room as he spoke, forcing the boss into a corner, mentally and physically as he backed into the wall behind him.
“Ok, something serious is going on, there is no way this is Midoriya! S-something had to have happened o-or…” Present Mic’s voice cut through the silence, but not the oppressive atmosphere that had settled on Aizawa’s chest, preventing him from speaking. It was then that Midoriya finally lifted his head to an angle that was visible to the camera’s.
“I’m talking to you, hero,” Midoriya’s face was split wide into a malicious grin as he spoke. Aizawa froze at the sight. The bloodlust and malice coming from his student through the screen was enough to make Aizawa’s blood run cold in the way it did with extremely dangerous villains.
“H-how did he know… about the hero?” Midnight asked between breaths.
“The admin panel on the monitor from when the boss used his badge right here,” Nedzu announced, changing the camera view and zooming in on a small panel on the monitor with the boss's hero name on it. It seemed that accessing this other camera was what Nedzu was attempting to do earlier. Midoriya’s voice once again caught the attention of everyone in the room in a split second.
“C’mon, hero. Don’t play dumb with me. You’re pretty new, aren’t you?” Midoriya’s head turned to angles that felt unnatural as he spoke. Aizawa noticed something through the oppressive atmosphere.
“He’s going for the flash drive,” Aizawa muttered under his breath. Sure enough, if you paid enough attention to Midoriya’s eye movements, they were tracking the flash drive in the boss’s hand. As Midoriya intimidated the boss, the closer he got to the drive. As he kept pushing, the boss fell back. Eventually, the boss shut his eyes in fear. Midoriya’s face faltered slightly, but fixed itself immediately.
“You haven’t seen the true terror of people at their limits, have you?” Midoriya pressed as his hand floated towards the hand with the drive in it. Aizawa looked at the monitor in shock. There was something about what Midoriya was saying that felt… off.
“You don’t know what it’s like to wake up and be surrounded by death, every day. Your own death looming over you like the plague. You haven’t experienced the bloodlust of a killer, or the agony of unfulfilled wishes,” Midoriya’s face lost its shape, a carefully blank mask taking its place as he grabbed for the flash drive. Aizawa listened to his student as he spoke casually of his own imminent death. Yes, Aizawa’s students have been through too much for their age, near death experiences being one of them. The way Midoriya was speaking now however, it was obvious he was not talking about the villain attacks he faced, but something else entirely.
Midoriya took hold of the flash drive, as well as the bosses collar and used his quirk to yank him forward. The electric green of his quirk seemed to mix with the colors of the room to look purple every now and again. Midoriya’s face was still carefully blank as he spoke.
“You have not looked death in the face and told it to try its worst.” Midoriya then slammed the boss's head against his own knee, knocking him out cold.
The entire observing room was dead silent as everyone took in Midoriya’s last statement. Aizawa in particular was mulling over the implications of what Midoriya could mean. Like Aizawa had thought before, Midoriya in particular had been through his own fair share of life threatening situations, but something about this statement in particular felt different. This statement felt as though it carried more weight than anything else.
On screen, Midoriya took the cloak from the boss’s shoulders, tearing the ends of it off to make it fit better, before walking out of the room to find the others.
“So can anyone explain what the fuck that was?” Midnight asked exasperatedly. No one seemed to have an answer to her. Aizawa felt himself sigh before he realized what he was doing.
“All Might and I will take care of it. As his homeroom teacher, I take the blame for not seeing any signs of,” Aizawa gestured to the screen where Midoriya was approaching the group of actors huddled around Desero, “this. Unfortunately, I won’t really be able to look closely into it with my case being active again, thus why All Might will be helping me out.” Nedzu nodded approvingly at Aizawa’s statement.
“That would definitely be the best course of action. Thank you for trusting me to handle it, Eraser,” All Might spoke softly as to not overstep.
“It also seems as though Midoriya is going for a perfect finish. He’s heading to the group instead of escaping, so he must be attempting to free Uraraka,” Nedzu pointed to Midoriya on the screen as he walked right up to the group of people.
“What the hell is going on here?” Midoriya’s voice cut through the moment, quickly drawing everyone’s attention to the screen once again. He had pulled the boss’s hood over his head to obscure any identifying features about himself.
“The goons all think this is the boss, not Midoriya,” Aizawa observed. It was a smart move, now that the boss was… incapacitated.
Desero was pleading his case to Midoriya, unaware that he wasn’t the boss. It was impressive how easily Midoriya fell into the role of an imposing leader. It felt as though the large cape and authority belonged to him.
“Nihishi, well there is an easy way to tell if you’re lying or not,” Midoriya laughed as he explained the big boss’s list perk, which he had no access to. The others didn’t know that last part though, if Desero’s relaxing form was anything to tell by it.
“Unit 1, codename Desero, s-sir,” Desero’s relief at being able to prove his innocence was palpable, even through the screen.
“This guy is about to be so confused,” Present Mic laughed slightly as he shook his head.
“Like us you mean?” Midnight teased back with a strained smile.
“Well, I guess that clears everything up then!” Midoriya announced loudly in a cheerful tone. Desero took this as his cue to walk back towards the group, thinking he was cleared of suspicion.
“Holy… who put the gun out?!” All Might’s voice was a surprise, as he had kept mostly quiet throughout this entire endeavor.
Midoriya placed the barrel of the gun right at the nape of Desero’s neck, which stiffened at the contact.
“I guess that does clear it up… huh,” Midoriya’s dark demeanor was back in full force. The look of fear on Desero’s face was almost masked entirely by his confusion.
“Y…you can’t be the t-traitor…” he whispered under his breath. It seems the idea that the big boss could be replaced had not crossed his mind. Midoriya taunted Desero about being the traitor, before he spoke again.
“W-where’s jester!? H-he's the one who accused me!” Desero’s desperate attempt was something Aizawa had seen coming the moment Midoriya laid out the accusation. If someone knows they aren’t guilty, then the accuser is the most likely to be guilty. This was not a normal situation, unfortunately for Desero.
“Oh, buddy. Didn’t they tell you?” Midoriya’s patronizingly sweet voice filtered through the speakers as he threw his hood off, revealing himself. There was shock on everyone’s faces, Desero’s being the most panicked of them all.
Midoriya sent the guards to the top floor under the disguise of keeping the flash drive in his own pocket safe, effectively clearing the second floor for the eventual escape.
“If we look past the moments of, frankly concerning behavior, Midoriya is currently on record to have a perfect run, with Uraraka only trailing slightly behind for having been caught in the first place,” Midnight announced as Midoriya walked Desero to the cells.
“Yes, it truly is impressive,” Nedzu praised as he watched the screen with a curious glint in his eyes. On the screen, Midoriya stopped walking.
“He stopped?” All Might asked out loud. Aizawa took a glance at Midoriya’s face and saw something he didn’t expect. Behind the mask of impassivity that Midoriya had put on for the exercise, was fear. It was evident in the sheen of sweat on his brow and the shake of his hand as he held the gun to Desero’s neck.
Then, like a crash of lightning, Midoriya flinched harshly at nothing, breathing raggedly as his eyes darted around the quiet hallways. He looked at the gun in his hand before shaking it a few times, as if to test its weight.
“Was that… a ptsd attack?” Aizawa whispered the words so quietly, only the principal in front of him heard. The principal heard him, if the short nod he got in response was anything to go by.
On the screen, Midoriya seemed to shake himself from whatever had gotten him stuck, and he rushed down the hall, Desero in tow.
“That was… odd,” Midnight broke the silence first as Midoriya approached the cells.
“Yes. We will take it into consideration during our investigation, right All Might?” Aizawa promoted the number 1 hero for a response, which he got in the form of a head nod.
Looking back at the screen, Midoriya and Uraraka were now running together through the entrance hallway and towards the doors they both came through, no one inside any the wiser.
“So, what grade do we give… that?” Present Mic leaned back, shock still evident in his demeanor. Aizawa went to answer, but was interrupted by the principal.
“What other grade could we give him? A+ for Midoriya! A- for Uraraka!” The principal declared as he walked back out of the room.
Aizawa wrote down the principal’s declaration of the grades before turning to look at the tv once again. Midoriya was standing outside the facility, eyes vacant and glossy. Aizawa knew one thing for certain. There was something major going on with his student and if he didn’t find out soon, it could be too late.
Notes:
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!!! I really had a blast writing from Aizawa’s perspective and I hope you guys liked this short “special episode” of sorts! Next chapter we will be returning to regularly scheduled programming with the meeting and then hopefully into the hideout raid of the arc!! I can’t wait!!!
Again thank you all for being patient with me. This story had been so much fun to rewrite for you guys and I’m glad you all are enjoying it so much!! I have lots planned for the future so I hope you all enjoy the ride!!!
Chapter 15: Quick update (will be deleted)
Chapter Text
Hey everyone! Hope you all are doing well!!
To put it bluntly, I have had a BUSY time recently lol. I’m sorry for leaving you all with nothing for a while, but it was not for nothing!!!
I wanted to post this as a small update on the overall status of this fic.
IT IS NOT ABANDONED, DISCONTINUED, OR ORPHANED!!! It WILL be continuing.
The main reason I’m making this post is to inform you all about some changes to the tags, mainly the loss of the “eventual killing game tag”.
For those of you who have been here from the beginning, before this rewrite, (I am so sorry that old one was horrendous 😭) you may remember that I originally had class 1-A go into a killing game in I think the 6th chapter 💀.
Originally, this rewrite was supposed to expand on the time that Kokichi spent in the MHA-verse which would eventually lead to that same killing game, but as time has gone on, I have felt my opinion shift.
I’ve found myself more often then not debating with myself on why the killing game HAS to stay, whether that’s for the people who want that, or to stay faithful to the original idea, but NONE of the arguments I had ended with me saying, “that would be a good ending”.
I think, as this story has progressed, so has my idea of what I want this story to be. I think it would be a disservice to this story put these characters in a killing game. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to tell the story I want to.
HOWEVER, for the people who REALLY want a killing game in this universe, I have thought of a compromise of sorts.
Once this story is finished, I may create a “divergent story” that takes place from a certain point in THIS stories timeline, where the characters DO end up in the killing game. This is just an idea for now, but even if it does happen, it will be AFTER this story is completed. I have the rest of this story’s timeline completely mapped out, so hopefully I can get some new chapters for yall very soon!
I will delete this chapter once I post the next one, but I will put it in the Authors Note of the next chapter.
Everyone’s comments have been so encouraging!! I also want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH to the person who made me some fanart on Tumblr!!! You know who you are!!! For everyone, If you’ve made fanart and I haven’t responded it’s because I haven’t seen it!!! Please tag me in it!!! I love all the fanart I’ve received!!! Yalls passion for this helps fuel my passion!!! ❤️
TLDR: No more Class A killing game in the future, but maybe a sequel series after this one is finished!
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Last Edited Thu 20 Jun 2024 05:58PM UTC
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