After careful consideration, Fuck you

"Ah." Midoriya squeaked on the other end. Had he expected her not to pick up? Kyouka tapped her thumb against the back of her phone case and creased her brow, annoyed. Why the fuck did he call her, then???

. . . Probably for the same reason she texted him. Somehow Kyouka doubted that he actually knew his own reason any more than she did.

She leaned against the door for a second and glanced around the bathroom, making sure she hadn't just locked herself in with any unsuspecting women before she made her way to the mirrors and sat herself down right between the sinks. All the doors were open so there wasn't one particular invisible girl hanging around, and with the door locked she felt confident that she would be left alone and could turn up the anger.

"Is that all you have to say?" She spat, her voice barely above a whisper.

"U-um, well-"

"You fucking jackass! You kidnapped me! Who the hell were those people!? Why me!?"

"They-"

"What is wrong with you!?" She actually shouted that, and she heard Midoriya whimper. She took in a sharp breath and one of her jacks wiped her eyes. Her throat was tight and her breathing was audibly shaking. Anger and betrayal fought within her and she wished she could punch him in the face. Her carefully constructed apathy had been fractured and Kyouka was at a loss for how to express what she was feeling. "Who . . . who are you? Why are you a villain? Why . . . why did you call me?" Why was he still acting like her classmate? He was a villain! He should have just ignored her text. She shouldn't have texted him, but he shouldn't have responded to her either. "I thought you were my friend," she said weakly.

"I-I don't . . . I don't know what's wrong with me," Midoriya said softly, "but I never lied about w-who I am. E-everything I said and did . . . t-that was me. In class, I mean." He swallowed a mouthful of spit and Kyouka heard him shifting around as he sat down on something. There was a tremor in his words, like he was crying too and that made her feel angrier."I r-really did just want to g-go to school with all of you. A-and if I could I would have stayed out of all of this. Y-you may not believe it but I really did want to b-be a hero."

"If you wanted to be a hero then – then you – "

"Yeah. Yeah . . .I know. B-but helping the people I love matters more than what I want."

Kyouka felt fury coil hard in her stomach and she growled, "why? Why the fuck would you be friends with villains!? Why do you love them!? You can't-! That's wrong!"

"It's not wrong," Midoriya said sharply, "there's more than one way to do the right thing, just because I can't be a hero d-doesn't mean I'm doing the wrong thing." He sounded like he was trying to be confident, but she could detect the waver and hitch, enough to know that he wasn't entirely happy with how things were going. But after a long while he spoke again. "Jirou, do you really think this is okay?"

"Huh?"

"The world we live in. Do you really think it's okay?"

"Wha – I guess?" Kyouka wrinkled her nose. Was he about to give some villain speech?

"When I was little I met Tomura. I was – my quirk manifested when I was a teen so back then I was Quirkless. All my life everyone treated me like I was a disease. They pitied me, or they hurt me just because I was weaker and I thought I deserved it."

Sounded like a villain speech. But Kyouka was actually a bit curious what he had to say so she didn't cut him off.

"E-even people who thought they were helping me just . . . Everyone just thinks that Quirkless people are pathetic. It's like everyone thought I was quirkless because I was defective. Bakugou-" Midoriya spat the name with venom "-he's the worst person I've ever met but he gets to be a hero? He . . . you know he t-told me to kill myself? When he thought I was Quirkless and still wanted to be a hero he told me I should just kill myself. Why is he so much better than me? Than Tomura!?"

". . . that's not true. Bakugou's not-"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Midoriya snarled so viciously that Kyouka winced. He sounded as venomous as a serpent and she was taken aback for a moment. But when he spoke again his voice was soft, "d-do you know how many heroes around the world are arrested a year? The career is a magnet for people who thrive in the spotlight a-and so many of them are just . . . monsters."

"Okay. Yeah, I've seen those stories too. But most heroes aren't like that! And the one's who are get put away!"

"Not if they're rich enough. Or if they're popular enough."

Kyouka squeezed her eyes shut and brought her chin down to her collar bone. "So there's a problem. But why does this have to be solved with violence? I . . . you wanted to kill All Might, Midoriya."

"Izuku."

Kyouka drew her lips back over her perfect, pearly white teeth and glowered at the bathroom stall across from her. "I hardly think that's appropriate."

"Midoriya is my mom's name. And my dad's, for what he's worth. So that name can't be mine anymore. Hah! I'm a villain, Jirou! Please don't force me upon my mom, she doesn't deserve that kind of backlash."

She guessed that made sense in a twisted sort of way. But she still shook her head in stubborn refusal, even if he couldn't see the gesture. "No. I'm no calling you by your last name."

"Then Shigaraki. Call me Shigaraki Izuku." 'Death hand'? Melodramatic but that wasn't her concern right now.

"Okay. Fine. Shigaraki. Why the fuck do you want to kill All Might?"

"I think the reasons we have are all different . . . but what Sensei used to say is that All Might made himself a symbol of peace by deliberate choice, and because of that he had to be taken down before we could change the world."

"That's the dumbest shit I ever heard. And I hang out with Denki." Shigaraki actually let out a sharp bark of laughter at that.

"I . . . you know t-thats what I was telling myself since the school year started. I just have to destroy All Might and everything will change. The world would finally see Tomura and everything would be fine. Better, even."

Kyouka groaned and pressed the back of her head against the mirror behind her. Shigaraki made a weak noise and she heard him sniffle before he furiously rubbed at his face. "But . . . now a-all I have is my faith in Tomura a-and Sensei's plan. I don't care what the outcome is anymore." Kyouka tightened her jaw and Izuku laughed again, mirthlessly. "Yeah. Selfish, isn't it? But that's how I feel. Th-that's . . . I'm not a hero, Kyouka. I don't think I have it in me. I don't think I ever really did. B-but I think you're the kind of hero this world needs. You're going to be amazing! Iida, Uraraka, Kirishima, Mina, a-and the rest of that class aside from Bakugou . . . you guys will be great. So stay out of my way. Because I will take your powers and then I will kill you."

Kyouka hung up and almost threw her phone across the bathroom before she hit the redial button.

Shigaraki picked up halfway through the first ring and she yelled, "fucking EXCUSE ME!? You'll take our power and then KILL us?"

"Y- . . . yes?"

"THAT KIND OF THING NEEDS MORE THAT A 'YES', Midoriya!" She screamed so loud her throat hurt and she clamped a hand over her mouth. She plugged a jack into the wall behind her so she could listen for anyone coming to check on her. She couldn't let her emotions get her so worked up that she gave herself away.

"Hey, I'm not Midoriya!"

"Shigaraki! You. You are going to kill anyone who gets in your way."

"Well I've done it before," Shigaraki said, sounding strangely defensive about his being a murderer.

"WHAT!?" That did not jive at all with her image of who and what he was. Well. With who Midoriya Izuku was. Maybe . . . Maybe this was who Shigaraki Izuku was? A boy willing and capable of killing of killing. But before she could think too hard on it she narrowed her eyes. "You aren't saying that as one of those technicalities are you?"

"What?"

"Like it was fucking manslaughter and now you're being all fucking melodramatic and angsty about it."

"Uh."

"UGH! That's it! That's exactly fucking it!"

"W-well she's still dead-"

"Yeah!? Well there's a pretty big difference between that and willfully killing your classmates." The other end went silent and Kyouka squeezed her eyes shut before she took a deep breath. "Mid-Shigaraki. Listen . . . please just come back. Bring the other Shigaraki too – bring that weird smoke dude too. It's the right thing to do."

"No. It's just the easy thing."

Silence lulled between them before something else tickled at the back of Kyouka's mind. "Hey Shigaraki? What did you mean? That you'll take our powers."

"It doesn't matter."

"Wait-"

"Hey l-look Jirou I have to go. Please think about what I've said a-and don't get in our way."

His phone clicked off and Kyouka dropped her own into her lap before she put her hands to her face. She was in over her head. She was so in over her head. What should she do? If she went to anyone she would be accused to being a secret spy too but she couldn't not talk about it! She felt frozen and she pressed her face against her knees and took a shaky breath then stood up. She couldn't lock herself in the bathroom for the whole day and she furiously thumped her palms against her head before she jumped off the counter and calmed herself. Okay. She could do this.

Kyouka walked briskly to the door and threw it open . . . and walked right into All Might as he walked past the door on his way down the hallway.

XXX

Izuku decided to be walk through the walls back to Tomura's room, walking right into his computer table so it looked like the screen was coming out of his chest. "Hey," Tomura said without looking up, "this kid from 1B is crushing it. Or, he was before he went up against anti-gravity."

"What happened?" Izuku asked as he looked down.

"He was making people walk off the board. Your Kacchan got pretty close, made it obvious what the kid's quirk was I guess."

"Oh?" Izuku walked out of the computer and back to his chair, only turning tangible as his ass hit the seat. "What was his quirk?"

"I don't fucking know, you're the one who analyzes everything for fun. But Uraraka figured it out and just made him float up really high then dropped him and won."

"Good for her."

Todoroki and Fumikage were fighting on the screen now. The dark shadow was doing an amazing job of deflecting ice but it looked like Todoroki was in a bad mood, and his attacks were unrelenting. Still, the ice littering the platform and the crow darted about, his shadow twisting and pulsating until it finally grew large enough to ram Todoroki off the platform and into the walls surrounding the stands. Even from the distance of the camera, Izuku could see a light dusting of frost on Todoroki's skin, and as he slumped down to his knees he was shivering violently. "I wonder why he didn't use his hot side?" Izuku mused aloud and Tomura gave him a disgusted look.

"I don't fucking want to hear what you think is hot."

"Wha-? OH! N-no, oh no oh my god th-that's not what I – h-he's just – his quirk is h-half hot and half cold."

"Oh." Tomura was still squinting at him before he shrugged. Izuku covered his face with his hands and made a faint whining noise. He hadn't been calling Shouto hot! Even if he thought that he sure as shit wouldn't have told TOMURA about it! But Tomura had just looked back at the screen. "So his quirk is fire and ice?"

"No, I think he can just make ice and melt it."

"What? So an ice and room temperature quirk? Christ that's fucking lame."

"I . . . well maybe it's fire and ice. I don't actually know much about him. His last name is Todoroki s-so he might be Endeavor's son . . ."

"Whatever."

Ads were dancing across the screen as the stadium was prepared for the final match, and Izuku stared at his hands for a moment before he said, "I'm going to use your first name."

"As flattering of a proposal as that is, I'm going to have to turn you down," Tomura said without looking away from the dancing girls in fruit costumes on the screen. Izuku wrinkled his nose and made a faint noise of disgust.

"Not like that! Don't be gross. But I was thinking that I need a fake name like you and Kurogiri. And I like the sound of Shigaraki Izuku."

Tomura turned his head to look at him, and it was one of the few times where his expression was unreadable, even to Izuku. But his deep set red eyes bore into him, picking him apart with an intelligence that surely far exceeded his own. Fortunately, before Tomura had the chance to say anything the television blared, "AAANNNND WELCOME BACK TO THE U.A. SPORTS FESTIVAL! CAN I GET A YYYEEEAAAHHH!?"

The fight between Uraraka and Fumikage had started, and Izuku was disappointing to see that she already looked exhausted. He wasn't surprised, she hadn't had any sort of time to train her weight limit and outside of he blazing sunlight there wasn't much of any weakness that Fumikage had.

Still, when the shadow raced at her Uraraka sprang up then rolled, and Izuku noticed she was pressing her fingers against just about everything. He understood why as soon as the shadow jabbed roughly after at her and cracked the ground she had just touched. So she had a plan, it was just a question of if her own limit would catch up to her before she could put it into motion.

That was how it went for a bit before the ground was ripped apart and she clapped her hands together.

Great chunks of cement rose up around Fumikage, and his dark shadow pulled protectively around him. Uraraka grinned and lifted her hands over her head. She let out a war cry so loud the mic picked it up before she brought her hands down sharply and chunks of rock fell down hard over the crow, overwhelming him before a rock bashed him on the head and laid him out. Uraraka only managed to stand for a few seconds after that before she collapsed onto her hands and knees, trembling and gasping for air.

But she did it.

Uraraka was the winner of the sports festival, followed by Fumikage and Hitoshi of 1B. Unexpected, but Izuku smiled to himself. It was nice to see the non-aggressive underdogs winning out over the fan favorites.

XXX

Villains could be so stupidly dramatic. It wasn't uncommon at all for Kurogiri to find villains perched on rooftops mumbling dramatically and, unfortunately, the Hero Killer Stain was no different. And, unsurprisingly, the man immediately tried to attack him, only for both his arms to vanish through his warps. "There's no need for that," Kurogiri said calmly, "I believe we have similar interests. And my . . . organization has a proposition for you."

"Ehh?" Stain asked, his voice rattling heavily. Somehow he seemed to take less care of his skin than Tomura did, though Kurogiri suspected that was because the serial killer didn't have anyone like Izuku hounding him with chap stick, lotion, and eye drops regularly.

"Indeed. Please, if you are interested-" his small warps vanished as Stain withdrew his hands, only for a much larger warp to open between them. Kurogiri stepped through the warp first, landing behind the bar then shifting the location so that when Stain stepped through he was standing in the center of the bar between two tables.

Tomura was seated neatly in his costume, watching the serial killer around the hands on his face while Izuku sat on the counter next to him, a little slouched with his face entirely hidden in his mask. Next to each of them was a tall glass; wine for Tomura and orange juice for Izuku, though neither were drinking. "You must be the Hero Killer Stain," Tomura said. He folded his hands over his thin stomach, keeping his middle fingers up. "You've already met Kurogiri, our warp. I am Shigaraki Tomura, and this is Shigaraki Izuku."

Kurogiri suppressed his reaction of shock. When had the boys decided that? And why was he hearing about this now?

"And this is the villain alliance," Tomura gestured broadly at the room at large, and Stain's eyes flickered back and forth to confirm that, indeed, the bar was entirely empty outside of the trio. His expression plainly said 'yes, and?'

"Izuku here . . . noticed that you want the same people dead as we do."

"So you want me to join with your little gang?" Stain licked his lips and Kurogiri saw Izuku's hands twitching nervously. Apparently he was just as unsettled by the lack of basic self care as Kurogiri himself was. But Stain's attention was fully captured by Tomura. "So what is your goal?"

"We want to kill All Might. We got close before but lost that boss fight. And then we're going to destroy everything that's not to our liking."

"Hm?" Stain growled, "so you're the bastards that attacked that school? And kidnapped those kids?"

"Yes," Tomura said blandly.

"Feh. It was ill advised for me to be interested in this – You . . . you're the kind of person I despise the most!" Izuku shifted his weight a little more onto his knees, and his shoulders grew tense but Stain was still ignoring him as he went on, "you're just some fucking brat throwing a temper tantrum, targeting children and causing violence for the sake of violence. What's the sense in bloodlust without a cause? Why would I ever get buddy buddy with someone lacking even a basic creed?"

In a flash, his knives were withdrawn and he stabbed Kurogiri's hand before he had the chance to react. "Ah! Wait!" Izuku yelped as Kurogiri's body locked up, preventing any sort of movement.

Stain glowered as he licked his lips, but understanding glimmered in his eyes. Even with his voice muffled through his mask it was clear that Izuku was young and it seemed that Stain did have some opposition to killing children. That didn't stop him from lightly scraping one of Izuku's fingers on his outstretched hand and Izuku sank to his knees as he was overtaken with paralysis as well. Stain lunged at Tomura, knocking him out on his back and ramming one knife cleanly through Tomura's shoulder.

"Tomura!" Izuku cried out, but he could only squirm uselessly.

"Ugh, ow," Tomura protested, "you're way too o.p. The fuck's up with that? Izuku, take his quirk then get him out of here."

"I can't move," Izuku hissed between his teeth.

"This must be the work of his quirk!" Kurogiri added.

Stain clicked his tongue irritably and he pressed his knee hard into Tomura's stomach in a way that must have been painful, though Tomura gave no outward reaction. "Not only do you have brats hanging around but you told him to try to fight me?" Stain jeered, "you're hardly an excuse for a man. You're no better than those fake heroes, just a criminal that needs to be purged!" He moved a knife down against Tomura's throat, and the blade got dangerously close to the hand over his face.

"Woah there," Tomura said. He reached up and grabbed the blade using the arm that had been impaled already. "Can't let you do that." The blade in his hand was crumbling into a fine dust between his pale fingers and Tomura made one of his unsettling, shrill giggles, "if anything happens to this hand I'll kill you."

Stain reeled back a little, clearly surprised by the destructive force behind Tomura's power.

"You're pretty chatty, I thought serial killers would be the quiet type. But as for my own creed? If I had to then I'd say that I want to crush the society where garbage like him is set up so high and mighty. I'll bring this world to its knees, that's what I've been thinking!" Rather than paralyze him as well, Stain sprang back to avoid Tomura's open handed swipe and Tomura was free to rise. He pressed his palm into his bleeding shoulder and glowered hatefully, but he was more than ready to attack right up until Stain spoke again.

"I get it," he rasped and Tomura cocked his head. "looks like we have the opposite goals but I want to destroy today's society too."

"Are you fucking kidding me? Get the fuck out and die. Aren't I the kind of person you despise the most?"

Izuku made a faint squeaking noise before he shot up, much to Kurogiri's shock. In a second Izuku was next to Tomura, looking wary but ready to fight if need be. Stain seemed unsurprised and he muttered, "Hm, an O then." When it became clear that Izuku didn't plan to try to attack him without Tomura's say so Stain went on. "People only show their true colors when they're about to die. You're an odd one but you have a twisted creed in the making. Whatever it is . . . I'll decide if I want to dispose of you after I ascertain that for my own eyes."

"Ehh? Dispose of me? I hate the idea of having a nutjob like this hanging around."

"Tomura!" Izuku protested before he bowed to Stain. "We appreciate it, Mr. Hero Killer! S-since our target is All Might we wanted to arrange an attack whe-eep!" Izuku shuttered and cut himself off with a yelp when Stain turned his gaze onto him. The serial killer loomed over him and Izuku found himself bending over backwards a little so he didn't have to crane his neck too much. He pressed a little closer to Tomura, his desire to protect the older boy apparently overwhelmed by his fear. Kurogiri felt the rigidity leaving his shoulders, and he was finally able to straighten up and move freely. Good, though it was unfortunate that it hadn't been to move when there was immediate danger.

Stain seemed unduly interested in Izuku, and Kurogiri laid his hand flat against the counter, ready to make a warp at a moment's notice. "Shigaraki and Shigaraki . . . you two brothers or something?"

"U-um, I'm w-well I um-"

"How old are you?"

"F-fifteen?" Izuku squeaked. Tomura had put his hands on his hips and Izuku had shifted a little so he was partially shielded by the older boy's elbow and his hands were fidgeting nervously. He still was just a child, nervous and agitated when he was presented with such a threat he couldn't help but let his fear show.

"Feh. You're barely out of Middle School then!" Izuku flinched but he was standing a little taller now, as though the comment about his age was riling him up more than the possible threat. "What's a brat like this doing in your little club?"

"I'm not a brat!" Izuku protested indignantly.

"That's enough Izuku, Tomura. Our negotiations have been successful." Kurogiri cut in.

"Yeah, yeah, we're done here. If that's it then send me back to Hosu. I haven't finished with my business there." Kurogiri glanced at the two boys before he nodded, and then a warp opened behind The Hero Killer Stain. Whatever he was up to was irrelevant, so long as he would be there to participate in their next big plan he could do whatever the hell he wanted.