Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was Sunday.

And a lot of things had happened since Internships.

I had also taken the time to learn about them. The movies were canon, the League was wisening up, and oh yeah the league continues to get away- the canon League. Toga escaped from Yaoyorozu and Kirishima, Compress from Iida and Midnight, and so on

And so on. 

But that wasn’t all!

Parents were talked to, dorms were coming early. And today was the day we were supposed to move into them. Now, was I happy about that? No, not really. It made Vigilante activities harder to do since I had to actually be more careful about sneaking out now.

'Not a problem for us though, right?"

'Correct, my friend.'

We were the Shocker. How could we let something as small as security stop us?

Suddenly, I noticed Aizawa speak and I snapped back to reality.

"Is everyone here?" The Teacher checked over the class, looking over us one by one. And we were all indeed here. Some looked less happy than others. Like Franco, for example.

Mineta gave a grin and threw up a quick salute. "Yes Ma'am!"

'Definitely not normal Mineta.'

'Nope.' Meanwhile, I merely nodded as it was still way too early in the day for me to be excited about school(10 AM). "Unfortunately."

Midoriya nodded as well. "Yep."

Iida also nodded, looking far more somber than anyone else here did. "Here ma'am, at least half of me is."

'He looks fully intact. Any idea on what he means, Kukui?'

'Nope. None.'

Although, it was definitely nothing good.

"I did a head count and this should be everyone," Yaoyorozu spoke up suddenly, making me glance toward her as Aizawa nodded

Meanwhile, I noticed Shoji nodded as well.

'Lots of nodding today, no?'

'Yeah... feels like a lot.'

"Good. To begin with, I hope all of you have had productive internships. Even if they were cut short by the incident earlier this week, your mentors should have had some time to teach you something valuable. Remember these lessons and hold onto them as we return to normal hero classes," Aizawa explained and that made me pause.

Something definitely happened this week. That much I was already certain about. What exactly? I didn't know yet. I didn't bother checking. But...

"Not sure about everyone else's… but there was a lot of trouble during mine," I rubbed my arms. They were marred with scars as per usual. 'I wonder if I should say anything about Stain...'

'No... It's not worth it.'

'Yeah... it isn't.'

"You alright dude? I heard everyone got hit pretty bad," Mineta asked, looking at me and making me glance back at him

Internally, I laughed. Because holy shit I was not alright.

I fought a feral Stain, nearly died, had to watch my friend lose a limb and fight the madman as well.

'But we're still alive and kicking!'

'And... that's all that matters.'

"Got stabbed, slashed, and overall had a wonderful time. Not sure how legal it is for me to talk about the rest of my time," I looked down and grinned briefly before looking back up. 'But who cares, right? It's our duty to fight in the face of impossible odds. Publicity is not important.'

Meanwhile, Midoriya nodded. "Same."

And Kirishima, looking at least somewhat worried, spoke. "From what I've heard it was pretty bad but could've been a lot worse; I'm really glad to see that everyone's made it out alright. Don't forget to go to Hound Dog or talk to one of us-" Kirishima gestured toward himself and Yaoyorozu who nodded. "-if you guys need a friendly shoulder!

"Already seeing Hound Dog, thankfully. He's really nice. Would recommend visiting," I had another session later today. If I played it right, I could probably get out of Therapy with a clean bill of health and the ability to be a Vigilante once again.

Various people had their own reactions to Kirishima's words and my own recommendation presumably. Midoriya nodded, Mineta called us all cool for fighting the League of Villains, and Shoji said something I couldn't hear.

'It's not a good idea to skip out on Therapy, Kukui.'

'No. It is not. But, we need to move forward and we don't have much time. Therapy can wait.'

'...Fine.'

Suddenly, Aizawa cleared her throat and everyone snapped our attention to her. "Let's get back on track," The UA teacher deadpanned as she looked around at us all. "While I'm very excited to see all of you in class tomorrow, today is supposed to be spent discussing dorms. Both of our first year classes are going to share one dorm building, with each student having an individual room and four to five students on each floor. As a reminder before I announce these groupings: living in a dorm with your fellow classmates like this is a privilege, not a right. While we will not be kicking you off campus, I will warn you that living in the teacher's dorm is a much less pleasant experience."

Yeah... I would be doing everything in my power to stay far far away from them.

"Be quiet, don't burn anything down, and don't do anything stupid inside the dorms. That about it?" I counted all the options on my fingers before nodding to myself and looking at Aizawa.

Mineta grinned and gave a thumbs up and Kirishima nodded for the nonvocal reactions.

"You got it!" Ashido was much more vocal than those two, however.

"I've lived in an apartment and a college Dorm, I'm used to it," Iida sounded slightly dead inside. At least to me.

'You know... I wonder. How many of you guys are adults?'

'Don't wanna think about that.'

'Fair enough.'

"With that in mind: Dorm #1 is going to be Fumikage Tokoyami, Shihai Kuroiro, Kojiro Bondo, and Kosei Tsuburaba," Aizawa's words brought various reactions to people.

"Revelry in darkness," And that was canon Tokoyami for sure-

'Guess we've lost a few people again...'

'Not gonna think about that.'

"We're with 1-B too, huh? Cool!" Came Kirishima's reaction. Which was much more excited than my own reaction.

I gulped at the idea of being placed with someone I would potentially be arguing with or just didn't want to be around. Or worse, multiple people. "Oh… joy."

"Dorm #2 is going to be Yosetsu Awase, Denki Kaminari, Mashirao Ojiro, Togaru Kamakiri, and Katsuki Bakugo," Was Aizawa's sudden announcement.

Franco's reaction summed my thoughts up perfectly. "Ok…"

I blinked. "Could be worse… could be better. I just hope I don't need to buy headphones."

Ojiro, Awase, and Kamakiri I could live with. Franco? That all hinged on if he wanted to be a dick or not.

'Well... now we don't have to pay attention anymore. What now?'

'Wait and see if anyone says anything interesting, I guess.'

Dorm announcements passed by quickly. Nothing interesting of note came with those.

"Line up by dorm number and I'll give you your keys. Class 1-B is moving in later this afternoon, so you should have time to get your stuff in first," Aizawa said next, which made me smile.

I nodded at the announcement. "Sweet," Then, I lined up "As soon as this is over with, I am going to go take a nap."

Listen, I needed to catch up on sleep sometimes, okay?

Mineta ran over to his spot and that was the end of the excited people group as Iida somberly walked over to his spot in the line. “So I Don't know a good time to let you guys know, but Iida's dead."

Everyone was horrified. Everyone said their own bit.

But I couldn't hear them.

'We... can leave too?'

I ignored Denki as I paused all movement before resuming and turning to Iida. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and go on with my day and future nap."

I myself was ignored by Iida who continued. "I got blown up by Compress who was throwing bombs, was in like a vestige realm talking to Iida and he said his connection or something has been weakening and he's just gone now."

He said that all with a completely straight face.

Suddenly, I could hear everyone else speak again.

"That's… messed up," Was the first thing I heard, which came from Mineta who was clearly unnerved.

"Alright, can't pretend- Okay… so we've seen SI's disappear. But… this is a fresh new hell…" I looked around and let out a heavy sigh as I could see some faces who definitely looked sadder. Or happier depending on who they were. "Alright. Anyone else missing friends?"

"I assume the ones from before we all ended up in this shitshow don't count? Cause if they do, there's three idioti that I'm definitely missing," Franco sarcastically said and I clenched my fist. No need for the sarcasm, asshole.

I looked at Franco."No… Although that's just because I never had any. Count them if you like, I suppose."

"Fallia is no longer among us," Tokoyami's words came next, and they calmed me down enough to hear Denki.

Then, I turned to Tokoyami. "I'm… sorry to hear that. I don't know if you even knew them or what things were like before… this. But sorry about well… everything."

"There might not have been bodies… but it… looks like Wednesday got more of us than we thought…" Mineta said, causing Iida to speak next.

"Should we have a funeral for the lost? The others who are gone?" He asked, looking at us all. Some clearly thought it was a good idea...

'It's not worth it.'

I nodded.

"A funeral won't do us any good now. Let's focus on doing what we can before we may go as well."

'We might only have a limited time left together, huh?'

'Yeah... in that case, we need to live our best life, yeah?'

'Yeah.'

"But they're… dead. They should get… something…" Mineta said, looking rather uncomfortable.

"That might be nice, yes," Yaoyorozu said, voicing the words of several other classmates who clearly agreed with the sentiment.

I sighed and turned to Mineta. "You all can do it… We all mourn differently. Personally, I'm going to sit in my room all day and have a crisis."

'Is the Crisis a part of our best life?'

'It's a part of mine, I'll have it silently, and nobody will know about it but you.'

'...I'd argue, but we don't have the time for that.'

'Nope.'

I heard several people continuing the conversation, but truthfully I was just done. 

So, I looked at Aizawa and once again sighed. "Can I get the key to my room, please? This is a lot…"

Meanwhile, Franco pointed at me, looking about just as done as I was. "For once, I agree with this idiot. Can we just hurry this up?"

Aizawa simply nodded and began handing keys out to everyone. "Remember to be responsible and I'll see you all in class tomorrow."

And with that, I left for Dorms.

It was after the whole thing with Iida and him revealing that oh hey, canon Iida just fucking died, that I was moving in.

Ojiro left for reasons I could only assume. And thus, I was left with him.

Franco.

I tried my best to ignore him, placing a box full of clothes (Including my vigilante gear) down for a quick break before I moved them into my room.

But the bastard put his stuff on the ground as well and sat on the ground near us.

I noticed him glancing around, as if he was worried someone else would be here. 

‘I wonder if he wants to start a fight.’

‘He’s an ass. But he’s not that much of an ass.’

Suddenly, Franco spoke.

“So… You’re a vigilante.”

The words cut through the room like butter.

‘How… How does he know?’

‘It doesn’t matter right now, doesn’t it? Prepare for a confrontation.’ 

I tensed, noticing Franco do so slightly as well. “I am.” 

He blinked, looking surprised at the honesty. “Huh…” 

There was another pause. With me and him just in the hall and looking at each other.

“So how’s that going for you, then?” Franco asked.

I scratched my arm, glancing at the scars. Even though I was wearing a compression sleeve, I could still trace every one, each of them being a reminder of a fight I, no… we have been through.

‘And we’ll go through more… Including one with Franco if we have too.’

‘Right.’

“I’ve committed the stupidest of crimes in the name of justice, been cut, slashed, and so on.” And that wasn’t even counting the times I fought as a vigilante. 

‘God, the fight against Stain was so…’

‘Horrifying?’

‘I was going to use stupid, but I like that more.’

I glanced back at Franco who had processed the information. “Damn, that’s rough, buddy…”

There was another awkward pause.

We stared at each other.

‘Did… he just say that?’

‘H-he did. He really did!’

Suddenly, the room erupted with laughter, the awkward silence melting away just as quickly as it set in.

“God, I never thought I’d see the day where I’m actually fucking civil with you of all people.” And just as the laughter from me was about to die down, I continued laughing at the emphasis he put on ‘you’.

‘I can’t believe it…’

‘Oh fuck off, you befriended pre-character development Mineta.’

‘That was in another universe and you know it!’

I shrugged Denki off as I continued to laugh and laugh and let it echo out throughout the area. “Weirder things have happened, I guess. I never thought I’d see the day where I’d be civil with you .”

“Fair enough, we have been kinda assholes to each other before,” I began leaning against the wall as Franco continued. “Like remember during the elections when we just flipped each other off for no fucking reason?”

‘Memories…’

‘Good ones, too.’

“Ah,” I let out a fond sigh, shifting against the wall. “Good times… Back when it was just class elections and not whatever the hell happened a few days ago.” 

‘No Stain, no Vigilante’ing… Just us idiots.’

‘Yep… Before Sato fucked it all up for us.’

The look on Franco’s face wasn’t fondness, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. “Yeah, back when everything was so…” His face scrunched up in thought briefly. “…I don’t wanna say normal, cause literally nothing about this has been fucking normal, but…”

“Peaceful?” I added. “It’s been the exact opposite of normal. But it was at least peaceful… or as peaceful as this all could be.”

Excluding all of my personal life and the shenanigans there, there was plenty of things in our lives that weren’t normal.

Superpowers, Superheroes, Supervillains. 

Everything.

“True, true…” Franco trailed off, seemingly looking for something else to say.

‘Okay, you need to keep the conversation alive. Ask how internships went.’

“So…” I trusted Denki, but was this the best thing to say after… well, everything?  “How did internships go for you?” 

“It was alright. Did some brief patrols with Hawks, got stabbed with needles in my left arm several times,” He almost sounded like he was talking about the weather. Real serious. 

Although, he was rubbing his left arm and I did notice that whilst it may have been fully healed some skin still looked fresh.

‘Yeah he definitely did not get it easy.’ 

‘No… still probably didn’t have to fight fucking Stain though.’

‘Very true.’

“Had a near mental breakdown in the hospital. You know, the usual,” He finished, sounding like he clearly just had such a grand old time.

No sarcasm at all.

“Nice, Nice.  Sounds like it was a wonderful internship experience. Glad to know I wasn’t the only one who was stabbed as well,” I hid a brief smile. 

Truth be told, knowing that someone else also had the short end of the stick… it made it feel slightly better.

Knowing I wasn’t alone.

“Damn, did you run into Toga or something?” Franco shifted and I considered something…

‘Fuck it. Denki, I’m doing something stupid.’

‘No wai-’

I laughed, cutting Denki off. “Toga would have been nice,” Toga would be an absolutely tough fight, especially with an extra quirk. But I was confident it wouldn’t be as bad as Stain… “For legal reasons, what I say next can’t leave this room.”

“Uh…” His face shifted into a more serious one. “Ok? What, did you kill someone or something?”

‘Okay at this point he just has to be really good at guessing.’

‘He has to be- No fucking way does he know any of this.’

I took a quick breath.

“All for One gave Stain a second quirk. He was… feral. Not in his mind at all. Even more of a lunatic than usual. And he attacked me and later on, a friend,” I blurted it all out, not quickly enough to where Franco couldn’t hear, but quickly enough that others might not catch it.

I was not confident I could make it through the conversation with three other people explaining in detail why and how I killed Stain.

“ Ah… so it wasn’t just the bitch I fought who had two quirks, then…” Franco looked almost relieved at that.

Or maybe it was something else.

It was always hard to tell when it came to other SI’s for some reason.

“Figured…” I pushed myself off the wall before going and picking another box up, bringing it back to the hall, just outside of my room. “So, who did you fight?”

“No idea. Some bitch with red hair that could be shot like needles and also short-range teleportation.”

Red needle hair…

Only one person I knew fit that profile.

I blinked. “Red hair that’s like needles… The Teleportation is new. Slice?”

Franco shrugged, the name clearly not ringing a bell. “No idea. I’ve only read the manga myself, and don’t recall ever seeing someone like that in it.”

‘Ah… you are about to ruin his night.’

‘Indeed I am, my friend!’ 

“Movie character. Unfortunately, they are canon.”

Franco groaned, mumbling something I couldn’t hear before putting his head in his hands. “God, this is bullshit.”

‘Best thing he’s said all day.’

‘Can’t help but agree.’

I nodded and glanced down at the box I picked up briefly. “It so fucking is. Nine was involved with this attack and got away. And fucking apparently, Wolfram was involved in the USJ and got arrested.”

Yeah, that one was still a shocker. Even to me.

Franco looked up at me, blinking. “You act like I got any idea who these people are.”

‘Right-’

“Wolfram had Magnetic powers and was given a Strength augmenter quirk by All for One, no idea if that happened here. And Nine has Weather Manipulation. It is what it says on the tin. Don’t know if he has or will get the weaker version of All for One here, though.” 

Oh god if Nine did… then yeah, he was priority number one.

‘We… should probably look into a sniper rifle if he comes up.’

‘Yes we fucking should.’

“ Huh… good to know, I guess,” I couldn’t gauge how Franco took the information, so I decided to continue.

“I’m pretty sure the only Movie Villain left unaccounted for is Flect Turn. Who by the way, is Overhaul 2.0 but on a much larger scale… I don’t know much about his quirk, though,” His movie was the only one I didn’t watch. 

At least, not in a while. 

“ Alright. And by larger scale, how big we talking?” His curiosity appeared to be piqued. “Bomb a building or 9/11-scaled international terrorism?”

‘It was pretty bad, right?’

 I idly tapped a box with my foot, the subtle tapping noise only audible to me as I tried to recall it.

“I don’t know the specifics. But pretty sure he had some kind of trigger bomb? And using that and the anarchy caused from it, cities and shit were destroyed.”

‘Yeah… okay, so we can’t do anything about it…’

And that really fucking sucked.

“Wow…” My fellow Isekai appeared to be stunned.

“Yeah… it’s a lot. Unfortunately, nothing to be done about it since Flect Turn is in a different country. All I can do is stuff around Japan and hope for the best,” Because that’s all I could do. 

I could only move forward and fight what was in front of me.

“ Sounds like that’s the only shit we can do.”

I nodded, agreeing with Franco.

“Unfortunately, yeah… So… should we finish moving in before the other people arrive?”

“Yeah, we probably should…” Franco said.

“Alright,” I responded.

An awkward silence fell again.

“…So are we gonna go or are we just gonna sit here until the next ice age?” Franco asked, standing up.

“Option one. My legs already take enough abuse. No need to ice them,” For a moment, I could imagine feeling my legs cold as ice.

And then frostbite.

With blood pouring out of my legs as they snapped off.

“Entirely understandable,” Franco went to leave then, leaving me alone with Denki and my thoughts.

‘Well, to our room we go…’

No point in leaving everything in the hallway

I picked up another box, and began sliding another one to my room.

It was time to get settled in.

It was a while after getting settled into dorms that I finally had time to relax and nap.

Unfortunately, as soon as I settled into sleep I was woken up by Yui and now I was in the common area. 

I forgot about the dorm competition thing entirely and I regretted that Denki could still sleep soundly because it would have been nice having him around for this.

But alas…

“Is this everyone?” Ashido’s eyes darted around, as if she was looking for people or rather, a lack of people before turning her gaze to Kirishima.

The red haired SI simply gave a double thumbs up.

Beside me, I noticed my mantis roommate grumble before being elbowed by Tetsutetsu. 

Poor bastard…

Meanwhile-

“I was dragged here against my will,” I said, hiding a yawn. 

Then sharp pain impacted my side.

‘Yep- Definitely awake now-’

“Mm,” The one who did it said innocently. 

Before I could retaliate, Ashido began speaking.

“Then let the first ever Heights Alliance dorm room judging competition…” She took a deep breath and we all braced ourselves. “BEGIN!”

After a few rooms which were… interesting, we made it to my own. Idly, I glanced around and took it in.

My room was a simple one. 

There was a desk in the corner with a PC. A controller was obviously connected to it too.

My bed was a decently large bed with a lot of pillows. There were also some figurines strewn about on my desk. 

There was also a Mirko figurine. 

“The Mirko figurine is not mine. It is Denki’s. Do not ask,” I expertly lied through my teeth.

I had shame, people. 

And that shame was the fact that I-

“It's his, he just won’t admit it,” The rat I call my other best friend said from beside me, making me freeze and turn to glare at her. 

‘Where was I-’

“What is in box?” Before anyone could make note of the figuring, Pony saved me. And I looked around, only to see my closet door open…

With the box that had my vigilante gear inside.

Shit.

Smoothly, I made my way over to the closet and kicked the door shut lightly. “Personal stuff.”

And that was that.

Next room that caught my eye was Kamakiri’s. Mainly for two reasons. 1. The Berserk poster he had (HOW?) and 2. THERE WERE SO MANY KNIVES IN HIS ROOM!

Like, wall to wall.

Just so fucking many…

AND THEY WERE ALL BEAUTIFUL TOO.

Although… It did feel a bit off.

As everyone looked around the room, Kamakiri simply nodded. “This is it, like it or not.”

“It’s metal!” The Metal Man of Class 1-B gave 2 thumbs up to which I could only agree with.

‘This is dope as all hell.’

“…Nice knife collection?” Monoma said, probably not sure what to say next.

I didn’t blame him. This was a lot to take in.

“Personally, I expected swords… still nice though. They look well cared for,” All polished, all sharpened, not a single scratch, dent, or thing out of place.

I honestly respected Kamakiri so much more now.

“Oh, I’ve got swords too. Just couldn’t fit most of ‘em in the car to take to U.A.- but there’s a few in the closet,” The mantis boy admitted casually-

What a shame…

“Tragic. They should be on display…” I then considered my next words very carefully. “Now I kinda wanna get a sword.”

I had one with my vigilante gear, and a blunt sword with my hero costume…

But I wanted a sword to put on display too!

After Kamakiri’s amazing room and Franco’s which was infuriating. Not because his room sucked. But because he was watching soccer and the refs sucked.

Shitty refs were the worst.

Anyways, there were a few more nice rooms. Yaoyorozu’s was honestly just impressive- But also shockingly enough one of the more normal ones.

Besides Ojiro’s. 

Honestly, Ojiro’s room was nice. It was clean, organized, and overall looked like Ojiro knew what he was doing with it.

For two of those points, the complete opposite could be said for Tokage’s room.

It was… just an utter mess. But also had tons and tons of Dinosaur merch which was cool.

But it was still an absolute mess.

“ Didn’t really have time to clean up,” The main inhabitant of the room shrugged apologetically, trying to look away from it.

“…We literally got here today! Set, how did you already- why- what?” Kirishima flabbergasted, looked around and… honestly, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“I’ve been asking that for years, Eijiro. Just… ignore it,” Kendo tried to comfort Kirishima. And it looked like it worked-

But I didn’t really know for sure…

“I honestly just feel impressed- This could not have been easy to achieve,” I looked around… yeah. 

After Tokage’s room, there were a plethora of cleaner and interesting rooms- Although it definitely felt like some of them were people with various consoles and other things which I wondered how they got.

But alas, I wasn’t going to care all that much.

Yui’s room was next.

It looked about as I expected it to look, honestly. Although the only thing I noticed that I didn’t expect was a punching bag.

Yui looked at it, then back to the class. “Don’t ask.”

“Fair enough!”

Next was Kirishima’s room.

Looking around… It was about as I expecting. Except for one thing.

A fucking Superman poster…

Okay where were these people finding this shit? How could I find it? Where could I even find it anyways? 

Who had them?

“Here we are! Got some posters up and everything,” Kirishima grinned and I could only look at the Superman poster.

It was almost insulting in a way…

But yet, seeing Superman… It was nice.

Superman was a symbol of hope. And knowing that Superman still existed here? It honestly filled me with a bit more hope.

I guess I needed that.

Still though… 

“...And here I thought most media from the past was dead. This makes me wonder if other stuff is still around now,” Seriously, where did they get this stuff?

Kirishima nodded, moving to sit on his bed. “Well, there’s a lot gone, but managed to dig this up- I’ll have to see if I can find any old comics.”

“I’d be interested in trying them, Eijiro,” Kendo also looked at the poster before looking back at Kirishima.

“I just wonder if there’s any manga… or figures left. Or hell a CD…” I sighed… I missed it.

The music I used to listen too, the manga I used to read, the anime I used to watch.

It was tough to just… not be able to have access to it.

But I had to trudge on.

Idly, I noticed Monoma staring at a picture frame before his eyes trailed over to the wall with the poster on it. “…is that Superman?”

“Yeah?” Kirishima looked at Monoma, waiting for something else to be said. But before anyone could say anything Tetsutetsu looked at the poster.

“Hey, wait a second-”

And then it was Tetsutetsu’s room.

Which was basically identical to Kirishimas… Except, he had a fucking Batman poster.

“Here we are! Got some posters up and everything,” Tetsutetsu grinned as he gestured around.

“…Hey, wait a second…” Three guesses as to who said that and the first two didn’t count.

“…Identical.” Tsunotori said and I’m pretty sure everyone else muttered or thought the same thing-

Still though I was caught up on one thing- The Batman poster.

“You have…” I shook my head- No point in saying it since it was obvious. “ I think this is the sign I need to go look for some old merch I wanted. But Batman? Seriously? No offense but I thought you’d be a Spider-Man guy or something if anything.”

“Hey, if it works,” Uraraka said and at that I relented any future words I may have had in mind.

“True- Fair enough I suppose.”

It was on to the next set of rooms.

Eventually, we reached the final one. Manga’s dorm. And true to his name, his room had posters of various Manga.

Naruto, One Piece, and so on.

And I felt like crying because I was actually seeing stuff from my past life again.

But also…

“How, where, and who do I have to punch to get copies and other stuff?” I didn’t know if other people spoke, I didn’t care.

I had to find it… I HAD TO FIND A COPY OF SOMETHING, ANYTHING THAT HAD HARUKA MIRAI ON IT.

I NEEDED TO LISTEN TO IT DAMNIT-

Unaware of everything going on inside my head, Kamakiri grinned. “I’ll give you a hand if you want.”

I immediately shook my head. “‘No, this is personal… I swear if I find someone who sells these at an outrageous price…” I sighed… no use talking about beating scalpers up- Were they really scalpers though? Honestly didn’t care. “I’ll just be really sad.”

“I’ll send you a link to the shop I use later, dude- don’t worry,” The saint that was Manga Fukidashi said, breaking me out of the temporary depression I was in.

I smiled as brightly as I could. “Thanks… Although, I do still wanna go look for other stuff on my own. If there’s one place, there’s more. I’ll find it! Even if it kills me!”

That would be a later project- 

After Manga’s dorm, it was voting time. And that went quickly. All that was left to do was to tally the results and see what would happen next. 

And…

I didn’t win. Neither did Yui. And the winner was Yanagi. 

Honestly, I thought Yanagi didn’t deserve to win. Yui, Manga, or Kamakiri did but that was a different matter and it didn’t even matter anyways since it was just a contest for fun.

Plus…

“I need a nap…”

I jumped back and dodged to the left.

Just to the right of me, a beam flew by. "You're fast," The Crawler commented as I ran toward him, telegraphing a right hook which he grabbed just as I tried to go for his jugular. "And vicious too. Not fast enough though. And maybe a bit too vicious."

I was then sent back by a repulsion beam.

'This guy's annoying to fight.' Denki said as I got up and activated Electrification. 'You've got a plan in mind, don't you?'

'Yep.' I began running toward The Crawler as he prepared to shoot another beam. I then kicked up some sand, making him shift just slightly to the left. He still fired his attack and I was sent even further back. 'Ow...' I got up, just as I noticed The Crawler begin sliding toward me.

"You don't have any long range options with your quirk, right?" He asked, just as he reached me and slammed a palm into my chest. "Might be a good idea to get something to help with that. Especially for your vigilante activities. Nice stream last night, by the way."

I was knocked back and into the sand. I groaned. "Duly... noted. And thanks," I then glanced around, grabbing a nearby shell before throwing it at The Crawler who effortlessly dodged. I then moved to the left, away out of another strike before slamming my hand into his back.

He spasmed. But instead of falling, he began floating and he moved his arm. Three shots flew and hit me. And I fell to the ground, clutching my face before being hit with another repulsion blast. I groaned as I fell to the ground, defeated.

'He... did not hold back at the end there, didn't he?'

'No. Are you okay?'

'It hurts, it hurts a lot... but I can get up.' And that is exactly what I did. And I groaned once more. "That hurt a lot..." I said as I noticed The Crawler regain his footing. "I wish Electrification could work like that."

'Me too, buddy. I want a cool thunder sword.'

"It'd be cool, yeah. But we've all gotta make do with what we have. And besides, your quirk can still do a lot probably! Electricity is really good for hero work. Honestly, if this was a real fight you would have probably used more electricity and I'd have been on the ground for a lot longer," The Crawler grinned as he rubbed the back of his head. "Knuckleduster-sensei's really doing a good job with you."

"He is..." I collapsed into the sand. "Still though, I could be better. I want to be better and faster. I can't afford to be losing fights like these," I looked up at the sky as the chill of the morning air kicked in and I sat up. "I'll look into support items later... I just wanna rest for now."

"Fair," The Crawler sat down in the sand next to me. "So... you've got anything big planned? I know Knuckleduster-sensei expects you to do something big and stupid soon. But do you really have anything in mind?"

'Going to Deika? Fighting a League member? Do we have anything?'

'Not really... we probably should go do something soon though.' I sat up and looked at the ocean. "I'm thinking about it. What could I do? Who do I go after? I've got so many ideas. MLA, The League, hell at this point I think I'm even getting ideas about the HPSC. I want to look into the MLA since it seems like nobody's looking into them. But the League have-" I blinked. "How much were you told?"

'There's a lot... man, I wish someone else were here to explain this.'

'Same...' There was just so much about this whole situati-

"Just the basics. Interdimensional travelers who know the future, some heroes, some villains. It's a lot of news but it's not like any of you asked for any of this," He shrugged as he decided to lay down on the sand. "And I get you. You wanna do a lot, you want to help people. But you're only one person. Things will be alright though. Don't worry," He grinned before it faded away. "Why do you want to go after all these people, though?"

Everything else went unsaid.

I'd been maimed, scarred, seen people I had grown to care about get hurt...

"Guilt, I guess," I looked down at the hand that wasn't mine. It was Denki's. "I wasn't really a great guy in my past life... Then, I made myself forget. I made myself someone who just gave up on life. I used to be a fighter, I used to be someone who just hurt. I never stopped. I just fought until one day, someone I cared about got hurt and then... It's hazy from there," I put a hand on my head before sighing. "But, everything leading up to now is why I'm doing this."

"So, you're atoning for wasting your life, basically?" The Crawler asked and I nodded slowly. "You don't sound like the worst person I've met. A few of my old buddies  used to be bullies and absolute jerks. But they turned it around. Anyone can turn their lives around and I think you're doing a good job at it. But are you really sure this is what you want to do?"

'...'

'...'

I looked at The Crawler, grinning. And without a second thought in my mind I spoke. "Absolutely... Even if it kills me, I want to be a hero. Helping others is the best thing ever, really... every time I do it I feel happier. My life is better because that person's is better. But not only that?" I stood up. "I have a great power. And with great power comes great responsibility... A wise man once said that. I have a responsibility to do everything in my power to be a hero now. Or at least, a damn good vigilante."

At that, The Crawler smiled and stood up as well. "Well I'll be sure to do everything in my power to help you. Friends?" 

"Friends," I replied back and rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. "Also, you'll probably be the other person who beats me up until I can fight back. So there's that."

The Crawler chuckled. "Yeah, I will be. Feels weird to be on the other side of the teaching stick."

I imagined it did.

I hoped to be on the other side of it one day.

“By the way, call me Koichi- If we ever meet in public than it’d be easier than you calling me something like Crawler or Cruller-” 

Oh yeah- Vigilante names in public was bad-

“Alright, then call me Kukui. Now we’re friends for real.”

Was it awkward standing there after that?

Yes it was!

“This sucks…” I sighed as I looked at my homework/study material. 

I hated studying with every fiber of my being. But I made sure to allocate an hour a day at least to studying. I didn’t want to fail the written portion of the finals. 

Hence me studying for at least an hour a day. It was also coincidentally the hour a day Denki took to have time to himself.

Jerk…

But that didn’t matter!

There were multiple things I had to worry about. This was the finals for the first semester after all. The main subjects I was worrying about was Math and History.

Math I had never really cared for in my past life. But, I was always able to learn it. I used to be weird in the way that I could learn something quickly. But, I usually never wanted to learn anything.

And for History, I was never really a huge history guy either. But I knew enough. History was interesting and especially History involving quirks and the origin of heroics.

Which was really fascinating. But it wasn’t really anything to get into. But a neat little thing was about Vigilantes.

They were a lot more common originally than they were today. And some of them were even known as the biggest heroes of their time. Not in Japan of course. But still. 

But unlike with history, Math was still roughly the same. Boring, unfun, and hard. There were obviously some new concepts. But it was just like everything else in math. Learn it and move forward. Relearn things if needed.

At least, that was how I did math.

I knew the basics, yeah. But I never really remembered anything for long unless I studied a lot . Which was the purpose of my studying today.

“Carry the three…” Currently, it was Math. It took up a large part of my time studying. And whilst I didn’t expect to do great, I was confident I would at least pass math. 

And English- Although my grammar would fuck me over if it came to that. 

The other classes were fairly alright, though. I did have some help in studying for my finals for certain classes. Yui, Gentle and La Brava, and Knuckleduster-sensei were happy to help. 

“And…” I looked at the problem before quickly checking it over. “Everything should have been done right!”

I checked the problem over one more time before using the answer key I found online and…

“Yep!” 

“Hahaha!”

Now…

Next problem!

“C = 5/9(F - 32)”

…

Fuck.

“Now, you may be wondering. Who is the absolutely gorgeous masked person next to me?” I gestured to Yui who awkwardly waved in her Vigilante costume. “My partner in Vigilantism, my dear friend Boulder!” 

“Hi,” Was all that Yui said and I grinned under my mask.

‘You’re really excited about this, aren’t you?’

‘Hell yeah I am. I’m gonna have some fun today!’

“She doesn’t like talking. But she’s a serious one. Anyways, today I’m just gonna be teaching her the ropes of our chosen profession! Vigilantism 101!” I pointed my camera back to Yui. “Do you have any questions, my dear friend?” 

“What exactly will we be doing today?” At that, I gestured toward the streets as the loud noise of footsteps could be heard.

“Being a Vigilante at its core isn’t about beating people up. It’s heroism. Just without the recognition. Which? Who cares!” I placed my camera around my neck then, making sure it could still see what I wanted it to. “Now come on, let’s go!” 

I grabbed Yui’s hand and began dragging her along.

Our first stop was a group of middle schoolers shaking a vending machine, a snack being stuck. “Watch, my dear friend! And learn how it’s done.”

“...Okay…” I gave Yui my camera then. “I’m not your cameraman.”

“No, but I’d appreciate it if you were for the moment. Only a minute or two?” Slowly, Yui nodded and I grinned under the mask, turning to go look at the middle schoolers who were now just watching on.

“Yo?” 

‘One on the left… they look apprehensive.’

‘They do. But, this just means they’ll be happier later.’

“Your snack got stuck?” I asked, glancing to the vending machine. It wasn’t one of the weirder ones Japan had like the Milk or Energy Drink vending machines I’ve frequented nights past. 

“Yes? Are you gonna try to get it out?” The one in the middle asked, causing me to nod.

“Indeed I am. Now watch, and observe!” I placed my hand on the Vending Machine and just activated a fraction of Electrification.

The Vending Machine malfunctioned.

And numerous snacks and drinks were dropped to the bottom.

“Now go! Take what you want and scram! Save yourselves before the big bad police arrive and take the snacks away!” I comically raised my arms in the air and swayed them.

The middle schoolers and Yui all deadpanned.

“We’re not children- But we’ll take the tip. Thanks… Wait- You’re that Shocker Guy?” The one on the right grabbed their phone and pulled out a video. One of my various streams. “Holy shit it is you! I thought you just beat people up.”

“Nah,” I waved the kid off. “There’s more to life than just fighting and stuffs… Also, you know who I am? I didn’t expect that.”

“Of course we know who you are- You’re a local Vigilante who’s extremely active yet hasn’t been caught by the police,” The one in the middle pushed their glasses up. “You’re still not anywhere near as cool as Gentle Criminal. Or Puccelle.” 

‘I have no idea who that last one is.’

I was too busy sulking to respond.

Suddenly, Yui grabbed the collar of my jacket. “Come on let’s go… You did enough here.”

“Fine…” I then looked at the Middle Schoolers as I was allowed back on my own feet. “Like and Subscribe by the way! Big things are coming soon!” 

“Sellout…” Yui handed me back my camera and suppressed a laugh. “Nice one, though.”

“Thanks! Now, we’ll be finding something for you to do next,” I straightened my jacket out and turned the Camera back to me. “And that is Vigilante 101! Just generally doing nice things for people is the normal thing for Vigilantes! Or at least, my brand of Vigilantes.”

“Good to know,” Yui walked slightly in front of me before turning back. “I’m still expecting some kind of fight, though.”

“You seem eager,” I let out a chuckle. “We can probably find some mooks soon. There’s always a few thugs running around.”

Plus, with the current state of Japan, there might be more… Dangerous people that needed to be stopped.

Ever since the Tartarus break in caused by the League of Villains, it’s been… tense. Heroes failed to stop them. They broke out a few of the strongest villains in Japan and there was the possibility that others escaped. 

And there were a lot of rather nasty villains that were in Tartarus. 

‘No need to think about that right now, Kukui.’

‘Yeah…’ 

“Thugs like you!” I heard suddenly and my instincts flared as I pulled Yui to the side, just barely avoiding a large eel which would have swallowed us whole. 

I looked over to the side and put my camera around my neck once again.

“Boulder. You got your wish,” In front of us was the Pro Hero, Eel Boy. I glanced down to my camera as I grinned under the mask. “Chat, watch.” 

“Confident little villain, aren’t you?” Eel Boy retracted the eels on his arms and I unsheathed my Katana. 

“We’re Vigilantes,” Yui threw forward several pebbles which rapidly expanded into boulders. 

Quickly, the hero released two eels from the back of his hands. The Eels batted the boulders away like they were merely softballs.

‘This guy’s gonna be tough…’ 

“And you’re just attacking us for no reason,” Electricity coated my Katana as I pointed it at the Hero. “We’re not looking to fight a pro.”

“But you were looking to commit all those crimes with Gentle Criminal. No matter what you say, you still are a villain in the eyes of the law,” The eels zoomed forward.

With the crackle of lightning, I dashed forward, raising my Katana to block the bite of the first eel. 

Suddenly, from beside me, a boulder expanded right in the other Eel’s mouth, causing the jaw to expand.  The eel retracted and Eel Boy stepped to the side as a boulder appeared right where he stood. 

‘Now’s your chance!’ 

I ducked under the eel and poised my sword forward, ready to cut into the hero.

Eel Boy raised his leg up 90 Degrees and I moved just to the left. “Thunder Style: Flash Slash!” 

The slash was blocked by the emergence of an eel which let out something resembling a roar.

“Your reign of terror ends here Shocker!” The eel’s mouth opened wide and crashed into me, sending me flying back along with it with its teeth digging into my side and back.

‘Damnit…’ 

I grit my teeth as we crashed into the ground and tried to stab it in the top of the head. 

It didn’t dispel. 

Suddenly, a boulder crushed the eel, allowing me to pry its mouth open and escape.. “My friend isn’t eel food, Eel Kid,” A boulder was “summoned” to stop an eel from hitting Yui before it was shrunk.

“Thanks for the save,” I grinned then. “How about we try something?” 

Yui simply nodded and prepped three boulders. 

Eel Boy retracted both of his eels before flourishing the back of his hands, allowing his quirk to activate once more as he narrowed his eyes. “Whatever you’re planning, I won’t let you!!” 

“Now!” I rushed forward, jumping as Yui threw her arms forward. A boulder dragged down each of the eels. 

And a boulder under me allowed me to jump into the air, preparing to kick the pro hero. 

I sheathed my Katana and grinned. “You wanna hear something cheesy? Feel the Thunder!” Eel Boy raised his arms to block the kick. 

“You’re a joke,” Eel Boy pushed me to the ground and I smiled as suddenly, a rock from the side expanded and hit him, knocking him down. 

“Boulder, now!” The various boulders covering the street turned back into pebbles and Yui was missing. 

“Your friend must have left you. That’s the thing about villai-” Suddenly, a small rock hit him in the back of the head. 

“Those who break the rules may be scum in the eyes of the law. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum,” I gave Yui a thumbs up as she gave a mock salute. 

“That… enough of this. Villains like you, they shouldn’t be here and able to cause harm to others!”  

An Eel grabbed my arm and flung me down the road. 

I rolled and landed on my feet in time to catch Yui who had been thrown as well. “The eel bites hurt,” She groaned as I placed her down and multiple boulders blocked Eel Boy’s view of us as Yui put her hands together. 

“They do, yeah…” My arms crackled with lightning then as the hero’s quirk simply moved over the boulders. “You take one, I’ll take the other, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Yui flourished several pebbles and threw them at the eel on the right.

The eel swallowed them all and expanded as the eel on the left reached me. 

I ducked under it’s bite and punched upward, causing the thing to spasm uncontrollably at the shock of Electricity. “It’s not a person, so my punches can be as strong as they need to be!” 

The eels retracted, the one on the right spat out the boulders before the two of them began wrapping together. 

“Eel Hurricane!” The eels began spinning rapidly, generating a slight breeze as they rushed toward us. 

“Shocker!” Yui called out suddenly and I nodded, raising my hands up and rushing forward. 

‘Maximum Output for only a second…’ 

‘Right!’

“Maximum Output: Black Flash!” I thrust my arm forward, gritting my teeth as it impacted the hard fleshy like quirk. 

Eel Boy let out a yell of pain and the eels retracted. 

My arm fell limp to my side. 

But, I moved forward. 

Yui followed and Eel Boy, who had recovered by now, let his eels forth once more, this time they looked far more battered. 

Unsheathing my Katana, I cut straight through one of them as the other was stuffed with a boulder. 

“You fiends…” The eels tried to bite us but me and Yui were too quick as we made it to the hero and I sheathed my sword. “...WON’T WIN!”

“YES WE WILL!” I kicked the hero, making him stumble back as Yui impacted his side. 

The pro raised his hands to block the next attack, the eels retracting to block as well. Electricity flowed into my arm and the crackle of lightning could be heard as I punched the eel. It fell limp to the ground, leaving Eel Boy exposed.

With a palm strike from Yui, the hero staggered back. “Jupiter Strike.”

A boulder expanded, right at the heroes chest, sending him back and down to the ground before the boulder disappeared. 

“You… scum…” Eel Boy took in a few ragged breaths before raising his palms once more. I kicked his hands and he winced.

“You attacked us…” I panted as I moved my left arm to grab my camera. “Now, people will see that you suck. Boulder, sharpie.” 

I couldn’t see it, but I could practically just guess that Yui was smiling as she pulled out the torture instrument. 

“W-what are you gonna do to me?” Eel Boy asked, crawling backward and I grinned, although he couldn’t see. 

“Simple…”

A minute or so later and lots of screaming, Eel Boy was left unmasked with things like “Shocker and Boulder beat me” and “Eel Boy is a terrible name” written on his face. 

And we left the hero tied up. 

But that didn’t matter as we slowly walked away, with me having ended the stream a bit ago. 

‘God that one’s gonna be talked about for a bit.’

‘Oh hell yeah it is! Cannot wait to see the comments.’

“Now… do you know anywhere we can go rest for a bit? I think my everything is killing me…” I groaned as I clutched my arm.

“My family’s apartment is a few minutes away. Nobody should be home so we can rest there,” Yui staggered and I began to help her walk. “Thanks…”

“Don’t mention it… We just beat a hero after all!” I let out a laugh and lid my mask to the slide slightly so Yui could see my smile.

She slid hers to the right and smiled as well. “Mm.”

“Sounds… nice.”

A day after our encounter with Eel Boy, we had to unfortunately review what we had studied so far.

I didn’t want to do that, however.

So me and Yui compromised.

“This is not what I had in mind!” I shouted, jumping back, holding my notebook in my hand. 

“Well, you wanted to train, and I wanted to review. We get both,” Yui kicked forward, causing me to stagger back and wince. “What’s the distance between 0, 2 and -1, 5!” 

I blocked another kick with my leg.

‘You’ve got this!’

‘Thanks- But STUDYING AND FIGHTING IS A PAIN IN THE DICK!’

“Four!” I stepped to the right, extending my arm and hitting Yui’s shoulder. She winced and stepped back before trying to kick me again.

I grabbed her leg and glanced down at my notebook. “How does Climate Change affect animal populations?” 

Yui struggled to free herself from my grip before dropping the the ground and kicking my legs out. 

“Gah-” I blocked a punch and hissed. “That hurts…”

“That’s the point,” I dodged another punch, then a headbut. “Climate Change can affect an animal in a variety of ways. It can damage the habitat of an animal, thus driving them away and to a different area where they may be unsuited to survive and thus go extinct.”

“That’s dark,” I stood back up as Yui did and immediately, she went in for a jab. 

I grabbed her arm and twisted.

“Ow Fuck! Do you nee- And I’m being a hypocrite,” Yui grit her teeth as I laughed and she looked down at her own notebook. “Why are hero teams so important?”

“Hero teams are important because they allow heroes to foster trust within one another and give them better skills when working in a team,” I replied immediately.

Hero Studies was one of my better subjects.

‘Your best subject, actually. Also speaking of teams, don’t you think it’s about time we tell Gentle and La Brava about… everything?’

‘We ca-’ The world went white for a moment as I was punched in the nose and knocked back. “Hey! I was having a conversation!”

“Then tell the voice in your head to shut up so we can continue,” Yui glanced down to her notebook again before looking back up at me. 

“Fine Fine, Denki shut up. Although I do think you’re right… we can do that later,” I muttered the last part as I glanced down and grinned. “What are the three main laws about hero costumes?”

‘That’s a devious question Kukui.’

The punch to the face I narrowly avoided was evidence of that. 

I moved to the left, kicking the back of Yui’s leg and causing her to fall over.

“I hate you so so much…”

“Love you too!”

“I think I want to tell Gentle and La Brava about everything,” I dodged a punch and blocked a kick before shifting and shifting gears to a more offensive approach.

‘Kick his ass!’

“You trust them that much, kid?” I jumped forward as Knuckleduster-sensei raised his arms. Then came the knee to the stomach.

I held back a scream as I kicked off of Knuckleduster-sensei and landed, avoiding a kick in the process. 

“Absolutely. I trust them. They’re good people,” I punched Knuckleduster-sensei in the side before jabbing him with my knee.

Ignoring the hits from before, Knuckleduster-sensei grinned and and I felt a fist impact my cheek and I was knocked back. 

“They are,” Knuckleduster kicked but I rolled, grabbing some sand and throwing it at Knuckleduster, causing him to cover his eyes.

‘Kick his legs out.’

‘Will do.’

I kicked and Knuckleduster didn’t budge, instead headbutting me and causing me to stumble back. “Ow…”

My head rung, but I once again rolled to dodge an attack.

“Do you want to open up the circle of people who know even more? Do you think they would tell a soul, kid?” Knuckleduster-sensei pushed and I pushed back, springing forward and punching him in the stomach with all my might. “Good one…”

‘He’s wincing! Ha!’

‘First good hit in all day…’

I grinned.

“I trust them… They’re good people. Without a doubt like you said. And they are my allies. They wouldn’t tell,” I moved my head to the right, barely dodging a punch and feeling the air pass by my head.

I wasn’t fast enough.

But ever so slowly, I could feel my body reacting quicker.

Each fight made me better.

More training made me better.

“Then tell them, kid. Trust them and they’ll trust you,” Knuckleduster-sensei kicked my leg, causing me to stumble forward and right into an uppercut.

I was very suddenly looking at the sky.

“Ow…” I groaned before sitting up and seeing Knuckleduster-sensei. “Fair… Did you really need to hit that hard though?”

Knuckleduster-sensei grinned. “Yes, I did. Can’t take a punch?” 

‘Oh…’

‘It is on!’

I cracked my knuckles and pushed myself up, entering a fighter's pose. “Oh I can…” Suddenly we both moved. 

I ducked, avoiding a punch and Knuckleduster-sensei dodged a kick. I then grabbed onto his arm, pulling him down.

We both cocked our heads back and-

BUMP!

“That was a terrible idea, kid…” Knuckleduster-sensei groaned as we both fell to the ground, making a large thump as we hit the sand.

“That… was…” My head hurt.

‘My everything hurts.’

‘Oh god! Not your everything!’

“From now on, no more headbutting each other. One at a time,” The declaration was met with a groan of approval from me as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

“Welp… I’m gonna clear my plans for today… Everything can wait until tomorrow…” My head hurt, I had a headache now, and I didn’t want to have a possibly emotional talk like this.

“You just want a day off, don’t you?” 

“I have been advised by my council to not speak.”

“...Take the day off. Don’t need any excuses, kid.”

“VICTORY!”

"Alright," I said before taking off my mask and sitting down. "I feel like we've been working together long enough that I can consider you both friends."

"That's rather sweet, Shocker. But I don't think that's what you wanted to tell us," La Brava said, looking only slightly worried as I grimaced and nodded.

"Whatever it could be, it cannot be worse than the Quirk Boogeyman existing," Gentle said, frowning.

'Technically, this isn't.'

"It isn't," I said before taking a deep breath. "Have you both heard of the multiverse theory? Just nod because this... is going to be a long explanation," Both of them did with slight trepidation. "Okay, great. Basically, I'm not the real Denki Kaminari. I'm one of at least 20 or so interdimensional travelers who inhabited the bodies of certain people in a Manga back in our home. Some of us have the real people in our head, some combined, others are just them. I'm in the first category. If you want proof-"

"That's how you actually know about..." La Brava cut me off briefly. "We were Manga characters?" She looked on in slight horror at that.

"We appear to be very real, La Brava. Any worries you may have can be put to rest," Gentle grinned before looking at me as La Brava looked at Gentle, her frown shifting into a smile. "Would you mind telling us our roles in this Manga? If any?"

'I wonder how awkward this is gonna be.'

'Very, Denki. Very.'

"You two were villains who first showed up, trying to break into UA during the cultural festival," I said before sighing. "You got arrested, but managed to keep La Brava out of jail. But the words Izuku Midoriya said to you inspired you and you ended up showing back up during the War Arc to keep UA floating... long story there. I'm not sure what happens after the War, never finished before dying."

"You died?" La Brava immediately asked, snapping her head up at me. Gentle's grin died a quick death upon that question being asked. And the room grew silent.

"Choked to death... Then I woke up. A few weeks after that, I became a vigilante, met Knuckleduster-sensei, and so on and now we're here... Doesn’t matter. “

I played with my fingers a bit as I glanced at my scars.

The room fell silent once again.

And it stayed silent for a few minutes.

'This... is definitely awkward.'

'It is... yeah.'

"We… will have to have a discussion about that later,” Gentle said, breaking the silence.

“Yeah…” La Brava glanced to Gentle before looking back at me. “Only if you’re fine with it, though. It feels like it’d be personal.”

“It is… but, it’s the past. I’m fine with talking about it,” I tried to keep a smile up.

“Alright then… Now, would you mind if I asked a question?” Gentle asked. 

“Shoot,” I grinned, doing duel finger guns to try and ease the tension.

It didn’t work.

“Why not just tell a hero something and then leave? If you knew the story... you don't have to be in danger. Why be a Vigilante in the first place then? Why risk dying so young once more?" Gentle paused briefly, as if considering his next words. “Why be the Shocker?”

‘That’s…’

‘Fine.’ 

I felt a warmth in my chest spread as I began.

"At first, it was kind of just because I wanted to feel like a hero... but there's something so magical, something so..." I grinned as I looked up and felt a feeling in my heart. 

Love, joy, and pure pride at the fact I could say this. 

"Being in service to others, saving them, helping them. There's nothing better in the world than doing that!"

Gentle and La Brava's expressions froze. 

And I continued. 

"It's life threatening, it's dangerous, I could get killed any second. It's not even about atonement at this point. It's not even about anything at this point... I just like helping people," I finished with a smile .

There was nothing better in the world than helping others.

Knowing that with every person I punched out, someone else was safe.

Someone wouldn’t be injured or worse because of them.

And the person would face justice and possibly have an opportunity to better themselves.

'And to think, you call yourself a monster.'

'Shut up.'

"Did the manga ever go into detail about my life?" Gentle asked suddenly and slowly, I nodded. He then let out a chuckle. "Then you'll know that I used to want to be a hero... But, as you are no doubt aware, life got in the way and I became the Gentle Criminal."

"You did... but, you still were... you still are a good man," I pointed out.

"You are! Danjuro, you've saved so many, you've taken down so much evil!" La Brava readily agreed and Gentle froze at the use of his name.

 "You're a criminal, but one with a heart of Gold. That’s why you call yourself the Gentle Criminal, right?” The Hacker continued, beaming at Gentle who’s frown wavered briefly.

"I'm still a criminal. And..." La Brava clutched his hand and Gentle looked at me, purposely looking away from La Brava.. “I couldn’t even be a hero, I couldn’t even make it past my final year and be a sidekick. I’m not a hero.”

“Bullshit.”

I looked Gentle dead in the eyes. 

“Tell me Gentle, how does your heart feel when you save someone? Do you get joy because of that? Or because of the attention you may get because you’re an internet celebrity?” 

Gentle’s shoulders tensed before relaxing.

“My heart… it longs to save people, Shocker. Attention, praise, admiration are all nice… But saving people is a separate feeling altogether,” Gentle looked down and his pant legs began to stain with tears.

La Brava began trying to comfort him, but she didn’t speak. 

I smiled, trying to think of something to say. 

That was when I settled on one final thing.

“You have the heart of a hero. Now I want you to tell me one more thing,” Gentle looked up at me. “Do you truly enjoy being in service to others?”

“I do!” 

The immediate response was juxtaposed by the silence after. 

"I want the Gentle Criminal to die out. I want to be known as the man who gives his all to help others, because that is my passion.." He teared up then, more stains on his pant legs forming as he slumped forward entirely once more

 "Shocker…  I do not see myself as a hero now… But as someone who knows of my future I need to ask you one more thing… can I still be a hero?"

Those final six words stunned me.

Could I make that judgement?

…

I already knew the right choice.

At that, I stood up and walked over to Gentle, and sat down on the ground directly in front of him. "If you were to ask me, then I'd say you already are. But I need you to ask yourself something. Do you want to be a hero?"

'Really pulling this stuff out now, huh?'

'Yep! Gotta do it.'

"More than anything in the world, I want to be known for helping others, I want to feel the joy of seeing people smile because they're safe..." Gentle broke down into full on tears then.

"I want to be a hero! One that can truly save others! I want to be a hero that can inspire others to do better… better than I ever could…"

La Brava hugged him and looked at me, glaring as if to say 'you better say something good.'

I smiled and then Gentle looked at me, staring into my eyes. "You can be a hero, Gentle... Maybe not one in the legal sense. But as long as you help others, as long as that fire burns on in your heart. You can truly be a hero.” 

I placed a hand on my chest and Gentle did as well. “Can you feel it ?”

“I… I can,” Gentle slowly nodded.

 “Then, as I said before. You can do it! You can be a hero!"

And with that, Gentle continued to cry. 

"Thank you… I… don’t know what to say… I don’t know how to continue. But thank you…”

La Brava continued to hug him and looked at him. "Like Shocker said... you can do it! No... you already are a hero. You're my hero, Danjuro."

"And many others, I imagine," I said before standing up and turning to walk. "I'll leave you both alone for a while to think about... well, everything. And thank you both... for being my friends," I said turning to leave before I was stopped by an air barrier.

"No... thank you, Shocker. Thank you so much!" Gentle said, composing himself slightly. "I want to dedicate my life to helping others. I'm no longer the Gentle Criminal. I'll be the Gentle Hero!" 

I grinned. "That's... a stupid name. Just Gentle works, man. Also?" I turned. "Call me Kukui."

There was a pause in the room as the two adults acknowledged it. 

“Then you can call me Danjuro,” Gentle wiped away his tears and smiled.

La Brava smiled as well. “And you can call me Manami.”

“Alright then, Danjuro, Manami. See you later, then?” I asked, already grabbing my phone and opening my scheduling app to see if we had anything listed.

“No… We need more time to organize a new job, our grand debut as true vigilantes!” Gentle stood up and turned to La Brava. “Will you help me, Manami?”

“Of course, Gentle… Although it might take a bit,” The Hacker grinned widely before turning to me. “We’ll have to leave you out of this one, I think.”

I let out a chuckle. “Of course. That’s fine by the way. Can’t be in every video. Just send whoever you’re targeting my regards…” I turned once more.  “See you later, then!”

The elastic air turned back to normal and I left.

'So... that went well.'

I nodded. 

Nothing else needed to be said.

"I hate studying so much..." I sobbed as I looked down at my homework.

'Whoever decided this much studying was needed... we will hunt them.'

'YES WE WILL...'

"It isn't that hard," Yui pointed out, sitting across from me with her own homework.

"It's not... but I just can't really sit down for long," I finished the math problem quickly and looked back up. "I get stressed out or I end up sitting there for 3 hours and getting everything done for the week but am completely burnt out."

"Really? Haven't noticed either... at least, caused by school," Yui said as she closed her notebook and put it to the side.

"I just... kind of have been slacking off a bit. I prefer fighting, I prefer being more physical. And this is my first time at a normal esque school too so it's been... hard to say the least," I looked down at my next problem. Trigonometry...

'Time to learn an entire concept again in an hour!'

'Yay me...'

"At least, this is the easy part... There's still the practical exam," That made me gulp as I turned pages, looking at the notes on how to actually solve these problems I had. I then glanced up at Yui who was on her phone, presumably taking a break. "You can take a break too if you want."

'Breaks are for... honestly, we need one. But eh.'

'Yeah. We can't afford to lose any time.'

"I can... but I don't wanna fail. I know it won't matter in the end since we'll be going to the summer camp no matter what, but I still want to pass. Failure is not an option if I want to prove I can be..."

"The Shocker?" Yui asked, putting her phone down and I nodded. "No matter what happens, it doesn't change who you are. The test could be harder than you expect."

"It could be... but if I can't pass a test, how can I step up and challenge people who would be considered gods back home?" I solved the question then. Or at least, I hoped I did. Lest Ectoplasm rain more homework down upon me. 

'If he does that, then we need to put salt in his coffee.'

'Agreed.'

"That's fair... Do you need help?" Yui moved over to sit next to me then.

She was so close…

I tried to stop my face from turning red. 

'Say yes.'

"No," I smiled. "Thank you, though."

'Idiot.'

It was only a matter of time until I dialed a certain number I was given.

And then I was given a meeting place and went there with Knuckleduster-sensei.

Speaking of him, I glanced around and saw him waiting in the corner.

"The Shocker... It's odd how many vigilantes have been my clients recently," The man took a puff of a cigarette as he glanced around the room, locking eyes with Knuckleduster-sensei briefly. He was Giran. A villain, someone whose teeth I should punch inward. But, he was ultimately a broker and was more useful around than not.

'This still feels shady.'

'Yeah... I hate it. But we need firepower.'

"Strange. I'd ask about them, but confidentiality and all that," I said, shrugging. "Let's end the small talk there. You can get me what I want, and I can give you money. We both don't need to be here any longer than we need to be."

Giran laughed. "We don't. And I would prefer to keep this short as well. What do you need?" He asked and I pulled out a piece of paper.

"My quirk produces electricity from my arms. It can't be shaped, or at least not well, and I can't use it for much other than shocking people. Hence the name," I began before pointing down to the shitty drawn version of the support item I wanted. "And I need something to up my game a bit. Ala, this."

"So, you want a gun?" Giran took the drawing and looked at it. "One that uses your electricity?"

"Essentially, yes," I slid over a bag of money which I had accrued over the months. It was nearly all of my savings, but it'd be worth it. "This should be enough. Should it not be, then we can discuss other payment options," Once again, Giran glanced over to Knuckleduster-sensei.

'I wonder if he was threatened at all.'

'I'd guess he was... You never know, though.'

"I think it'll be enough, Shocker. Do you have any non-call hours?" He asked, taking the bag of money with a smile. Greedy bastard... Once again, I felt bad about doing this. But he was a broker. One who should realistically be punched in the teeth. But still, a broker.

Not the one killing people directly.

'Still a bad man, though.'

'Yeah... He's evil, but a necessary evil.'

"I have a civilian persona to keep up so any time before 5:00 PM and after 8 AM is a no go. Any time before or after is perfectly acceptable, however. And on any day of the week," I said before standing up. "Thank you in advance."

"And thank you for the money," Giran chuckled as he too stood up. "I'll call within the week. Now, Knuckleduster, do you have any business with me today or are you just here to monitor your apprentice?"

"The usual," Knuckleduster-sensei stepped out of the shadows, nodding. "But I would like to talk with Shocker alone for a minute."

"Then I'll be back in five minutes. Gotta make some calls anyways," he said, waving the plans around. With that, Giran left the building and Knuckleduster-sensei looked at me.

"You will be training to use your gun before actually using it," He said, looking at the door. "Missing could end up being fatal for you."

'Unfortunately he's right... But training won't be too terrible, at least.'

'Yeah. Good luck, and not my problem!'

"It could be. And that's why I intend on training. I don't want to miss. I'll only be able to get one or two good shots out of it in a fight, so I need to be good about where I aim," I said, glancing down at my hand. "Some people in the future are going to be rather... strong."

"I know," Knuckleduster-sensei's face shifted into a grin. "And we'll beat up every one of them."

I smiled back although it wasn't visible thanks to my mask. "Yeah, we will," I then turned toward the exit. "Now... I need to go study for class again. Finals suck."

Knuckleduster-sensei laughed. "Still don’t miss school. Good luck."

'We're gonna need it.'

'I hate math.'

"This thing really is unlike any gun I've seen before," I said as Electrification fueled the gun in my hands. Giran's call came quickly and I got my latest Support Item. It was called the Electro-something but I had a different name in mind for it.

"It looks like something from a game," Knuckleduster-sensei then flipped through the instructions manual. "How did you read all of this in an hour?"

"I've had to study 200 years of history within three weeks. A 20 page manual within the hour isn't terrible," I shrugged as I pointed the gun. "Safety's the trigger in front, firing mechanism is in the back."

"Good, those are the only two things you should need to know. Are you done loading the first shot yet?" Knuckleduster-sensei threw away the manual then as I nodded. We then looked over to the targets that he had set up. "You're going to need to be accurate. So by the end of this, I want you to be able to hit your shots. We'll be moving on to moving targets after today so I expect you to learn quickly."

'What does he mean?'

'I don't know. Not sure if I want to know. But hey, it'll help us so I don't care.'

"Got it," I looked at the target and I aimed my gun. "This should have minimal to no recoil with this kind of shot but..." I firmly planted my feet into the sand below me. "Always good to be prepared."

"It is," Knuckleduster-sensei nodded before turning and pulling out his own pistol. "Always aim just a bit higher than you think you'll need too. Not too much. Imagine this like cooking. You don't want to add too much salt because it'll ruin everything."

"That's a terrible analogy," I chuckled before readying myself. "But, I suppose you're right," I aimed just ever so slightly higher before taking a deep breath. "Aim..." I pulled the trigger. "FIRE!"

The electricity shot through the air and hit the edge of the target and I stumbled back. "Okay... so less energy in it, got it," I told myself as I regained balance.

"You're gonna need to do better than that. That would be a headshot, but usually you're not gonna want those," He walked toward me, idly shooting his own target and hitting a near bullseye. "Now that you know what the recoil is like, I expect you to be able to handle it next time. Got it?"

'We'll do it.'

'For sure... Although, I think my shoulder hurts slightly.'

"Got it," I nodded as Electrification activated again. I then took a deep breath as I began loading the gun once more.

'Ready... Aim...'

Once it was loaded...

'FIRE!'

"I was never really able to try coffee before... Like, I've had coffee flavored things, but not any actual coffee," I said, holding up the cup of iced coffee.

Meanwhile, Yui sat across from me, drinking an abomination of Tomato Juice and coffee. "It's not great, but it helps in the mornings."

Denki had noped out once the abomination had been placed on the table, unfortunately. So now I was alone in smelling it.

"I can see how-" I nearly buried my nose in my own iced coffee which thankfully had a nicer scent to it. Cinnamon. "This smells nice. Unlike that tragedy of a liquid..." I shivered as I looked up and Yui took a sip.

"You're just uncultured," Yui grinned smugly as she took another sip without puking somehow.

"No, I'm perfectly fine. You are not. Are you sure we shouldn't go to the hospital?" I asked, noting that her cup of coffee was only half full. "I think we'd be let in pretty quickly- Hell maybe in record time."

Yui rolled her eyes. "My choices in drinks are perfectly healthy. You're just jealous."

"No I'm not! That just smells putrid!" I took a sip of my own coffee, briefly stopping to look at it. "Also, coffee is disgusting- I don't like it."

"Your taste is poor," Yui looked down. "I shall mourn you when you die from only drinking tea and soda."

"I drink water as well," I said before taking another sip of the coffee and leaning back in the chair. "And I'll mourn you whenever you die of liver failure from your poor, abused liver having to process that ."

"My liver is perfectly fine. It's definitely healthier than yours, at least," She said, miming a pained face for a moment as she lightly tapped her own liver.

I placed my coffee down on a coaster and glared briefly. "That's not fair and you know it."

"All's fair in war, Kukui," She said, grinning as she finished her drink before looking at mine. "Are you going to finish that?"

"You can have it-" I slid it over to her before resting my head on my arms. "I think next time I'm gonna order some water and maybe a pastry. I wonder if they have garlic bread..."

"They do. Although, it's not very good garlic bread. Their garlic knots are way better since they make them in house," Yui took a sip of the cinnamon coffee. "Needs more tomato."

"Evil..." I muttered before sitting back up. "Garlic knots it is next time, then."

"With tomato sauce on the side. I will steal them from you," Yui smiled and I sighed, glancing down. "Fine, only half of them."

"You better pay for half of it too, then," My hand slid toward my wallet. It still was aching from the abuse it took when purchasing the gun I was affectionately calling the Spirit Gun for now.

"Fine, fine. Cheapskate..."

I chuckled at that. "Says the one who's bumming off of me."

At that, my friend shut up, trying to frown. 

And I continued to laugh.

“So…” I looked at my remaining dormmates. “Franco’s gone.” 

We had learned about it a little while ago from a teacher. Apparently, he had a freakout at the class memorial because he learned of Jirou no longer being an SI.

Which was the first I’ve heard of it. 

‘Can’t be too sad… I didn’t know her for long… The only thing I can do is keep her in my memory.’

But apparently, she was Franco’s only friend or something and… yeah.

‘It’s… very silent in here.’

‘Yeah…’

I looked around at Ojiro, Awase, and Kamakiri who were very visibly confused on what to say. 

I was as well.

“We should do something right?” Awase finally spoke up after a few minutes, glancing down at his hand. “He is our classmate and dormmate.”

“Well, we should. But who knows where the bastard went?” Kamakiri glanced out the window before looking back at us. “Plus, he’s very very mobile.”

“Explosions are loud, though… If we haven’t seen any news reports, I don’t think we’ll find him…” I fell back and looked up at the roof. “I loathe to say this, but we need to leave this to the pros.”

‘Will the Shocker go look for him, though?’

I paused to consider that for a moment.

‘No… Franco made a choice. If he wants to come back, he will. As long as he’s not a villain, he can do what he wa-.’

“Yeah… there’s not much we can do,” Ojiro began, unknowingly interrupting my conversation with Denki. Silence fell briefly before Ojiro began speaking again. “So…” I sat back up as Ojiro began looking around. “How is everyone doing?”

“I was watching a documentary before being dragged here,” At the looks he got, Kamakiri shrugged. “They’re interesting.”

“Fair enough. As for me, I was catching up on some sleep,” I yawned at that before resting my cheek on my hand. “Studying has been a pain.”

Awase groaned. “Don’t remind me… That’s all I’ve been doing recently it feels like.”

“It sucks, but we have to do it…” Ojiro then looked at me. “Hey… I know it’s kind of awkward. But do you know how we all did in these tests?”

“Everyone here passed the written and practical except for the guy in my head. Lost the practical. Don’t intend on losing this time, though,” I grinned and tried to not look cocky.

‘At least you have faith in yourself?’

‘I’m confident that as long as I’m working with anyone I can get along decently with and we aren’t fighting Ectoplasm or All Might, we can win.’

‘Why Ectoplasm?’

‘He can jump us instead.’

‘Oh.’

“Great… I assume the other shit you know is gonna be useless, though,” I glanced at the Mantis boy as he continued. “The practical exams could be anything.”

“Even a practical exam!” 

My laughter turned awkward quickly.

“Sorry, sorry. Something from back home,” I frowned briefly before shaking my head. “But you’re right, they could be anything. Although, I’d assume they would remain the same, fighting the teachers, but I don’t know if they would or wouldn’t change the match ups or not. I presume so since we all are different.” 

“So, we’re going in blind… Oh joy,” Awase sighed, grabbing his phone from his pocket. “We’re all gonna need to do more training too.”

“Yep,” I grinned before an idea came to me. “It also might be a good idea to update our costumes if possible… Might send a request today.”

“Mine’s already good enough as is,” Kamakiri shrugged before standing up. “Anyways, I’ve got to finish that damned documentary.”

“See you, then,” Awase himself stood up after this. “I’ve got to go back to studying, I guess.” 

Seeing as things were ending, I stood up as well. “I’m gonna go back to my nap, then.” 

Ojiro paused before also standing up. “I guess I’m going to go back to birdwatching…”

I elected to ignore that as I opened the door to my room. 

‘So are we actually not gonna do anything about Franco?’

‘Yeah… he can take care of himself. And he’ll be fine.’

Again, just as long as he wasn’t a villain, he could do what he wanted with his life.

Even if that meant he left UA. 

This shit was crazy.

‘And that is why I move forward… If nobody else will, I will.’

"Now, I wonder how many people are tuning in and seeing me on this oh so familiar rooftop," I leaned back and grinned under the mask.

It was time to shake up the world.

"Now, my first few streams haven't been focused on shaking the world up. They've been more about me as a Vigilante. But, after my encounter with an actual pro hero, I think some things are clicking for me. I need to go all out to crush my enemies. How does that relate to this? Well, it doesn't. It's just making me think I need to be more active."

'Just get to the point Kukui.'

'Fine, fine.'

"So, you know how in my first stream I mentioned people who wanted Liberation?" I asked, letting the question hang in the air for a bit before I continued. "Well, that group of people is actually over 100,000 strong. The Meta Liberation Army."

I felt a disturbance in the force the moment I said that.

"Didn't they die out with Destro? Well yes, but actually no. Because Destro left an heir. And then so on until now when we've reached the current leader. Rikiya Yotsubashi. Or rather, Re-Destro," I paused and felt the weight of what I was saying crash down on me.

'We're gonna be screwed, but oh well.'

'Yeah. But fuck it, more eyes on this bastard means more help for us.'

"What evidence do I have of my claims? Well, truthfully, none that is tangible. But in Deika City, their base of operations, every single person is a member of the army. Every. Single. One. And let me ask you this. Why should you care?"

'The answer is simple?'

"The answer is simple," I nodded and stood up. "These people want free quirk usage. Now, personally I agree with that message since I grew up in America. Freedom and all of that is valuable to me. But what's not right is how they want to express that. They have a "strong rule the weak" mentality last time I checked."

I hated those kinds of people.

'It's exactly why they all need to go down.'

'Very astute, my friend.'

"So, if you lose the genetic lottery, you'd be pretty screwed by the world they want to create. And that's just wrong. Because everyone is capable of great things. Quirk, Weak Quirk, or No Quirk. And we shouldn't be judged based on what powers we have. Instead, we should be judged based on the kind of people we prove to be. With second chances of course. Most people deserve those," I said before grabbing my camera and walking to the ledge of the building.

"Now. Why am I revealing this? Well, with the recent attacks the League is making and the power moves they're making, it feels like the perfect time for a shadowy secret organization to take control and make their moves," I put down the camera before sitting back down.

'We're gonna be in the deep end after this.'

'Yep. We so are.'

"People will dismiss me. Totally fair. I don't have evidence yet. But I know that there will be someone listening. And I know for a fact, a certain hacker is going to be seeing this," I let out a chuckle. "Pass this along to your boss with one final message."

'Really willing to ask a group of villains to change their ways?"

'It's worth a try.'

"I didn't reveal all of your cards. Use those you have left and change for the better. Try peace before violence. We live in a different world than Destro did. One where we don't need to fight, where Meta-Abilities can be free with the right rules in place. There's a middle ground here that should be met. Extremes are that, extremes. Escalation just means people will die pointlessly…."

I sighed and grabbed the camera and prepared to end the stream. "I know the consequences of this could be big. But, someone has to say something… Shocker, out."

"We better get a cool tombstone..." I muttered, looking over the city.

'The coolest.'

Later that night, I started another stream and strapped my camera to my neck using some wire and rope. And it was later that same night, I found myself fighting a villain.

"You won't get away from me!" I shouted, digging my sword into a panel on the train and holding on for dear life. Meanwhile, the villain was sticking to the top of the train.

"WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME? THIS IS GOING TO SHIBUYA!" The villain shouted back in a much louder voice, turning around before shakily standing up and using his quirk to keep himself upright.

'Does this bastard have no shame?'

'Apparently not.'

"You tried to set an orphanage on fire. What the fuck's wrong with you?" I said, pushing myself forward and grabbing onto another panel before using my sword to stay attached as the air practically kept kicking me.

"I HAVE EXTENSIVE TRAUMA FROM MY OWN ORPHANAGE EXPERIENCES!" The villain shouted back at me, taking another step forward before grabbing a piece of trash from his pocket and throwing it at me.

It passed over my head.

"WAS THAT A CANDY WRAPPER?" I glanced down to my camera which was catching all of this. "CHAT. I KNOW I CAN'T SEE YOU BUT DID THIS GUY SERIOUSLY JUST DO THAT? LIKE... THAT'S THE MOST INEFFECTIVE ATTACK EVER."

"SHUT UP! ITS ALL I HAVE ON ME BESIDES MY LIGHTER- YOU ALREADY MADE ME DROP MY GAS CANISTER! THAT WAS REALLY EXPENSIVE BY THE WAY," The villain took another step forward before just falling to his knees and crawling. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW ME THIS SUCKS SO MUCH!"

'This guy- Really... honestly the craziest villain we've fought.'

'Or the most normal... Probably both, honestly.'

"YOU TRIED TO BURN DOWN AN ORPHANAGE WITH QUITE LITERALLY EVERYONE STILL INSIDE- COULDN'T YOU HAVE JUST GONE TO THERAPY INSTEAD?" I began reaching for my pocket then and grabbed my gun. "FLASH SHOT!"

I aimed and fired. An arc of electricity crackled as it exited the pistol. The shot just barely missed.

"DID YOU JUST TRY TO SHOOT ME?" The villain turned to look at the shot. "WHAT THE FUCK DUDE?"

"IT'S ONLY ELECTRICITY. AND AGAIN, YOU TRIED TO BURN DOWN AN ORPHANAGE. LIKE COME ON DUDE. ALSO ONCE AGAIN, THERAPY. GO TO THERAPY," I shouted as I began loading my gun again.

"IT'S SCARY AND I DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE TALKING ABOUT IT AND INSTEAD JUST WANT MY PROBLEMS TO GO AWAY NATURALLY BUT THEY WON'T EVER DO THAT AND I NEED A WAY TO FEEL BETTER SOMEHOW!" The villain made it to me then and I shot my gun off. An underpowered arc of lightning hit him in the shoulder. " OW THAT STUNG!"

"IT'S MEANT TO KNOCK YOU OUT OR SEVERELY CRIPPLE YOUR FIGHTING ABILITIES FOR A FEW MINUTES!" I headbutted the villain before pocketing my gun and then punching him. "GIVE IT UP ALREADY!"

"NEVER!" The villain tried to grab my sword, but I shooed his hand away. "DID YOU JUST SHOO MY HAND AWAY?"

"I DID YOU CHILD NOW..." I punched the villain one final time and he was knocked out. "Oh thank god..." I noticed the train begin to slow down and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in. "I need to work on my aim- And he's sliding off his quirk deactivated oh fuck-" I grabbed onto the villain with my free hand and glanced down to my camera.

"Why couldn't I have gone into Law or something? This sucks..."

'At least you can say you fought a guy on a train before!'

'That... is true...'

But still, I needed a nap.

And a train home...

"I wonder if I can buy a ticket home..."

"You know, I used to play air hockey whenever I went to the movies. With my brother," I said as we took our positions. Currently, we were at a movie theater. One with an arcade.

'Really takes you back, huh?'

'Yeah... it does, honestly.'

"You have a brother?" Yui asked, placing the puck down on her side of the table and grabbing her striker.

"Had, technically," I said as the puck slid over to me quickly. I quickly knocked it back, causing Yui to block before a rapid exchange began. "But... I-" I moved to the side, pushing the puck toward Yui. "-am here now."

"I see... did-" She quickly pushed her arm forward, hitting the puck and causing it to glide right into the goal on my side. I silently cursed as Yui grinned ever so slightly before frowning. "Did you two have a good relationship?"

'I am curious, honestly. But also damn... we'll need to hit her twice as hard next time.'

'Hell yeah we will!' I replied, grinning before my face also settled into a frown. "Not really... I never really had much of a relationship with most of my family," I grabbed the puck and put it back on the hockey table. "My mother and father sat in their rooms all day and never tried to spend much time with me. My brother and I didn't talk much and I used to be an ass to him... And that's all I feel like talking about for now."

"Fair," Yui's eyes then widened as I hit the side of the hockey table with the puck and Yui very narrowly put her striker on top of the puck before it fell into her goal. "You're evil, Kukui. Very very evil."

"Thank you, I try," I laughed before hunching over. "I'm gonna go all out. Don't wanna lose," The puck was hit back to me and I quickly struck it back, making it bounce off the corner. Yui extended her arm, barely missing the puck. "I'm a pro."

The puck fell into the goal.

Tied game.

"Oh you bastard... It is on," Yui said, hunching over the table as well.

'This is going to be fun to you, isn't it?'

'You bet!'

And the game began again then.

‘Reminds me of home…’

“This feels weird!” I bounced off of the air before landing on more air, gripping onto it as the air behind me stretched 

“You shall get used to it in time, Kukui. We’ll be doing this a lot after all,” Danjuro then grinned as I darted forward and kicked the dummy over. “You’re already making progress.”

“Have to learn fast! Don’t wanna crash into the wall again!” My back burned in phantom pain as I slowed down and glanced to the side.

Yui and Manami were talking and doing their own things whilst me and Danjuro practiced a combo move.

“That would not be beneficial for our chances of winning a fight… Especially if we are in the middle of a street,” At that I winced at the thought of being thrown across a street.

“That would be correct…” I shook my head before landing with a roll. “And… Superhero landing!”

‘That was lame.’

‘Go back to reading that book you have up there or something.’

‘Fine.’

“A very fine landing. Although you’re still no expert like I am,” Danjuro jumped and the air below him stretched and launched him up, giving him time to pull out a tea cup.

Then he landed, taking a sip of the tea cup as he did so. 

“Oh it’s a competition now…” I grinned and grabbed my grappling hook, only to feel my shoulder be chopped from behind. “Hey!”

“No being an idiot inside of the warehouse. We’re still using this thing illegally,” I turned my head to see Yui.

“Oh come on! It’d be fun! And I can’t just let Danjuro beat me out as soundly as that! I’ve gotta at least try!” 

“There’s not even anything for you to grapple on too…” Yui sighed as I shot my grappler anyways. 

Suddenly, I hooked onto something. 

“It appears as if you were wrong, Boulder,” Danjuro chuckled as Yui looked over to where exactly I had grappled onto.

“He still can’t pull himself anywhere, though.”

At that, I sagged.

“I need a better grappling hook…”

“You could… just have Gentle launch you and let physics do the rest?” Manami suggested, making me turn my head to her.

“Oh… Oh hell yes,” My neck then turned in what was probably a very unhealthy way to look at Gentle. “Fastball Special.”

“What?” Everyone asked at once.

“That’s the name of this now. Fastball Special. I jump, you effect the air under me, I grapple and kick someone in the face! It’s foolproof.”

Two things.

1, I had managed to get ahold of some older comics and Manga. It was a painful, arduous process but Manga held true to his word and sent me a good website. I still had to fight someone else who wanted them though. 

2, There was no copyright on any of this stuff anymore so I was free to name my attacks and combo’s whatever I wanted.

“...This is a bad idea,” Danjuro said, just as I jumped. The air under me stretched.

And then I was sent flying.

I then realized I was being sent flying toward a wall. And if I did manage to stop and use my grappling hook’s current placement, I would at best hit a box…

Fuck-

“REMEMBER ME IN THERAPY-”

“I swear…” I looked down at the criminal below me as they reached for a gun. “You people are the worst. ”

With a kick, the gun was knocked out of their hand. 

And another was a knockout. 

I smiled at a job well done.

‘Another night, another set of muggers, robbers, and scum that get beat up.’ 

‘Yep… It feels good.’ 

“You know, with how you fight you almost look like one of us~” 

I turned behind me at the sudden voice. ‘This feels… familiar.’

‘Too familiar.’ 

I couldn’t catch sight of the person behind me as they had apparently disappeared.

“But you are his student after all. He always fought like a savage. Yet you and your ragtag group could fight my pretties. And you beat my previous host which was totally stable. Great job on that by the way!”

I turned again before activating Electrification. 

Nothing was behind me.

Her… pretties?’

‘Oh no…’ 

“It’s you isn’t it?” I clenched my fists as I turned one final time to catch a glance of a girl with short reddish hair swept over her left eye. 

Kuin Hachisuka.

‘Her…’

“Oh you recognise me. How sweet!” The Bee let out a laugh. “I know what you’re thinking. “How is she alive?!” or “Why is she here?” and to tell you the truth, I don’t know why I’m wasting my time with someone like you!”

I grit my teeth as Hachisuka sat down and reached into her pocket. “What are you grabbing?”

“Juice,” From her pocket came a box of juice. “It’s a long walk from home to here, so of course I got thirsty. “

I took a deep breath.

“Give the girl’s body back,” I pointed my arm at the Queen Bee who merely laughed.

Bees poured out from her eyepatch and I gulped.

‘It’s okay… I’m here. We’re doing this together.’ 

“Oh her body? No no. It’s my body now. And I can do what I want with it!” Suddenly she stood up, thrusting her fists into the air and her bees began targeting the Criminal below me.

Quickly, I deactivated my quirk and jumped back, pulling the man along with me. 

“Leave him out of this.”

I unsheathed my Katana. 

“Eager to kill me now, aren’t you?” I froze and Hachisuka smirked. “You already have two… Mister Announcer and good ol’ Stendhal. Who will be next? A civilian? A hero?”

My fists clenched tighter and I took a step forward, poising my Katana for a slash to Hachisuka’s eyepatch.

‘She’s trying to manipulate you. Don’t give in.’

I took a deep breath and decided to listen to Denki.

“How do you know about Stain?” I pointed my Katana at the villain who sat back down, crossing her legs and sipping her juice.

“Oh… it’s simple. The way his wounds were described on the news told me everything. And it’s been speculated a hero student did it. The only hero student in that particular area of Hosu? Denki Kaminari ,” Hachisuka’s smirk broadened.

Something inside me snapped as I pointed my Katana forward.

“You know, you’re not the only person stealing someone else's body. So don’t call me that,” Electricity coated my Katana before I could even register what I said.

“Oh?” Hachisuka leaned forward, tapping her knee. “What do you mean by that? Do you happen to also be a sentient quirk?”

‘Don’t say anything more?’ 

‘No, fuck that.’ 

‘...Just not a lot okay?’

‘That was the plan.’

“Not exactly. Not a quirk, a soul…” Bee’s began floating around me as I steadily increased the output of Electricity going into my blade. “And unlike you I FEEL GUILT! YOU SOULLESS CREATURE!” 

I dashed forward, but a wall of Bee’s blocked me. 

With a slash, I cut some of them down before moving to the left, avoiding a sting. 

“Oh guilt ? Don’t make me laugh. If you felt guilty, you wouldn’t have killed Stendhal!” Hachisuka laughed as she clapped from the side. “And calling me soulless? Oh, how mean.”

I said nothing as I dashed toward her, lightning crackling behind me. 

She sidestepped me, punching my back as she did so. “Where are your manners?” I turned and saw more bees coming from her eyepatch. 

“They went and died a mile, or I guess Kilometer ago.”

‘That’s not how it works dumbass.’

“That’s not how it works dumbass.”

My eye twitched. “I hate that both you and the voice of the real Kaminari agreed.”

“He sounds like a smart guy,” Hachisuka dropped her juice box to the ground. “Now now… You can call me anything you like. But what about you? I saw how you smiled earlier. Were you happy because you beat up that guy? Because you enjoyed it?” 

“I only enjoyed knowing he wouldn’t be thinking about crime for a while!” I jumped forward, slashing at the villain who only just moved their head to the side to dodge. “Don’t play games with me Hachisuka!”

“Oh, Shocker… I think we know each other well enough now for you to call me Kuin!” The living Bee giggled before pushing me to the side, getting behind me once again. “And besides… it’s fun! Just like how beating that guy up was fun to you!” 

“Shut up already damnit! And we’re not friends!” I tried to punch the villain with my free hand, only for my arm to be grabbed. 

“Now now Shocker. You’re right. We aren’t friends. But listen…” She leaned in closely. “You and I? We’re the same.”

‘Oh shit…’ 

I felt fury. Nothing but fury at being compared to someone who was the scum of the earth.

One of the people who were even worse than a monster.

“I’M NOTHING LIKE YOU!” I tried to stab Hachisuka in the eye, only for that attack to be dodged as well. 

“Now now~” Her bees began coming back to her. “You’ll accept it in due time. Don’t you worry, Shocker. Don’t you worry~” 

Suddenly, a Bee flew in front of me. 

Before it could explode, I jumped ducked into an alleyway, avoiding the boom that I heard behind me. 

‘That… bitch…’ 

‘Kukui…’ 

I stood up, looking behind me to see Hachisuka was gone.

‘This is personal now, Denki…’ 

I took a deep breath. 

‘Kukui… just focus on finals. Go for her later.’

My shoulders slumped.

‘Fine…’ 

I turned and looked the other way as I began walking.

The buzz of bees haunted me.

They haunted me until my finger twitched toward my phone.

I needed someone to talk too.

“What would you do if the Queen Bee came back again?” I asked after a few minutes of silence.

It was late, but I had managed to meet with Knuckleduster-sensei. 

“Kill it again,” Knuckleduster-sensei replied immediately, the grin on his face turning into a frown.

“Why not trap it?” 

“It’s evil.”

“But isn’t killing wrong?” I looked forward, recalling how the last time Queen Bee was taken out and how that went. 

“It’s wrong. But, I’ll still do it, kid,” Knuckleduster-sensei’s face shifted into a grin. “I’ll kill the damned thing as many times as I need too.”

I blinked. 

“Didn’t you tell me that killing was bad and not to do it unless I needed too?” 

Knuckleduster-sensei sighed, placing a hand on my head. “I did, kid. It’s the number one rule to not break. But I’m me and I break that rule. I don’t want you to be like me.”

I frowned. 

“How often do you break the rule?” 

“Way too often, kid. That’s why I don’t want to be like me,” Knuckleduster-sensei stood up then. “Your finals are tomorrow, right?”

Slowly, I nodded and decided to just let it drop for now. 

“They are, yeah. There’s a lot to worry about…” I let out a laugh. “No matter what happens, I’ll win.”

“That’s the spirit. If you have to fight, kick their asses,” With that, Knuckleduster-sensei left.

And I stood on top of the building. 

‘Way too often… huh…’ 

I couldn’t think about that now.

“I suppose we can worry about her later… What we’ll do then is what we’ll do.”

‘And it’ll be the right choice, no matter what.’

With a new weight on my shoulders, I prepared to leave once more.