Brainwashing the Brainwasher!

Once the dead were fed to the fishies, I teleported to Saitama and found Shinso skulking about in the park, choking back tears.

I bought a hot chocolate from the konbini by the station and walked over to him.

"Here." I said, handing him the can, and taking a seat on the swing beside him, as he looked on curiously, before looking away in embarrassment as he realized his tears were showing.

He hated pity. It was a sign of weakness for him, something engrained into him all his life.

The shame and guilt, mixed with his frustrations and came to a boiling point as his emotions tipped over.

I sipped on my max coffee, as he burst into sobs, and tried running away.

Grabbing onto his shirt I plopped him right back down on the swing.

"Sit your ass down, bud. Crying is nothing to be ashamed about." I said, patting his back, as he just sat there, weeping like baby.

After a solid 15 minutes of crying and being pet, he calmed down.

Meanwhile, I copied his quirk, and began to subtly exert suggestive influence on him.

His quirk had so many possibilities but he was too dense to use them.

If he can compel people to move without their consent, he can for sure subtly influence their minds.

Not outright mind control but rather a hypnotic suggestion of sorts.

That's the crux of how his quirk works but that was something he didn't know, and what I was going to use to great effect on the owner of the quirk himself.

Sipping on his now cold hot chocolate, he asked.

"Not going to ask why I'm crying?"

"Nope. I don't like poking my head into another's business." I joked.

"Clearly." He chuckled back.

"Besides, I already know why you're crying. You failed the UA entrance exam, didn't you?" I replied.

Shinso froze like a deer in the headlights.

I laughed at his struck expression and pointed to his pocket.

The UA exam ticket was peeking out of it, displaying the illustrious institution's name for all to see.

He breathed a sigh of relief, before punching me in the shoulder.

"Owie!"

"Asshole. You almost scared me to death!"

"What? Did you think I was some psycho stalker out for your head?" I teased.

"For a moment there, yes." He replied frankly.

"So what happened back there?" I asked.

"In the exam?" Shinso prompted, "I panicked. There were theses robots and we had to break them but my quirk, it's not flashy or strong in the conventional sense. I can't use to beat robots the size of skyscrapers.

And so, I failed. Just like that."

"What's your quirk anyway?" I asked.

"Brainwashing. I can mind control people!"

Shinso turned to me and replied with a deadpan expression, looking like he was gauging my reaction.

"Man! That's such a cool quirk!" I responded, blindsiding his expectations.

"You don't have to lie. It's a villainous quirk and you know it!" He cried.

"What? Were you bullied for it?" I asked.

Shinso looked down, clutching his hands together.

"You were bullied for it! What idiots!" I exclaimed.

"You're not afraid I'll use it on you?" he asked.

"Why? Are you the sort of guy that abuses their friends?" I asked.

Shinso looked away, smiling.

"No." he replied.

"They used to say that to you all the time huh?" I poked at his painful past.

".....Yeah. It was like that all the time. Ooh brainwashing, it's perfect for a villain.

You could use it to make girls do anything!

You haven't mind controlled me have you?

Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?

Such stupid, stupid comments, treating m elike I was a criminal!

At first it was just small comments and jokes here and there, but now?

Now they just avoid me like the plague. Whenever I try to talk to someone, it's always, 'Please don't brainwash me!' or 'Leave me alone, creep!'.

They act like I'm a villain by default! Just for being born with this quirk!" He seethed with anger.

"Eh, shit happens. Don't worry about it too much. No sane person would want to be a hero anyways." I said.

Shinso sighed and gave in.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"Think about it, why do we have this extensive hero system? I mean aren't heroes supposed to be self sacrificing brave men who do good things cuz good needs doing? Then what are these people who play at the legend for clout and money.

Posers is what. They only save people if they can get something for it. Of course, there's a good reason for that, administratively at least. If they don't offer the powerful quirk users any incentives, they would ruse up and overthrow the government, becoming warlords and such.

But that just makes it even worse!

It creates a system of fear, where either you're on top or you throw a tantrum until you get your way.

Is that the sort of sad excuse for a human being you want to become?" I asked.

"I guess not?" he answered.

"Exactly!" I said.

Shinso stared at the dark night sky, and stared up, listlessly.

"What do I do now?" he wondered out loud.

"What were you going to do earlier? Surely you had a backup plan, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. I was going to join the general studies and try to get promoted. But seing this, I don't think so anymore. I mean what's the point anymore? It's not like it's going to change anything! People are the same everywhere!" He cried, kicking the ground in frustration.

"No. I mean yes, but no. Listen uh, what's your name again?" I asked.

"Shinso. Hitoshi Shinso." He replied.

"Yeah, Shinso. Listen up. The quirk you're born with wasn't your choice. It's what you do with it that matters." I said.

"Uh Huh? Even I can spout dollar store motivational slogans for days, you discount Tony Bobbins!" He teased.

"Hey! Don't insult Tony. He's an upstanding decent man. It's just his mutant quirk that makes him look like kind of a dweeb." I bantered back, as his mood lifted.

"But seriously, that's a really cool quirk. Shame you were born in this society, where you're not valued at all, unless you have a flashy looking quirk.

These people are like monkeys, just chasing fireworks, when there's real talent stuck in the dirt." I said.

"Yeah. You're right. But what can I do about it? That's the way the world is after all!" Shinso said, kicking the can into the dustbin.

"Ooh! You see that?" He asked.

"Yeah. That was awesome!" I replied.

A comfortable silence returned between us.

I broke it after a minute or so.

"Hero society is corrupt beyond recourse. The only way to get what you want is grab it with your own two hands?

If you want to see change in the world, you have to be that change yourself!

As they say, you can't visit heaven without dying yourself!" I said, spurring him on with his own quirk, copied with Monoma's power, planting suggestions in his mind.

"So what do you think I should do, genius? What can I even do? I can't fight the system all alone!" He cried.

"Not with that attitude you can't! And who said you're gonna fight alone?" I said.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Do you know of the Avengers Initiative?" I said, smiling madly.

"What?" He asked.

Ugh! Definitely not a man of culture.

But he can be trained, built into a better cowboy, no, a cowman.

We have the technology!

"Nothing, don't mind it. As for what I was suggesting," I said, looking him in the eyes, and spoke the crucial hook into to pull in this big fish.

"How would you like to join the revolution?" I asked.

He looked dazed for a moment before he slapped himself to alertness.

This was a situation straight out of a fucking YA novel.

And there only one answer he had to give when the call to adventure landed on his doorstep.

"You know what? Fuck it! Fuck all of it! I'm in!"