Eating coal is a good way to meet new friends.

"Congratulations, you have absolutely no talent for energy manipulation."

Over the past two months, Sirius had tried to teach Izuku the fine science of Alchemy, but the green-haired teenager could only do so much. Even right now, he was unable to complete the simplest Transmutation to the end. The wooden bird he was trying to transform from a cube was only half-finished.

"Well, to be precise, your body is a terrible medium," Sirius explained, seeing the expression on Izuku's face. "You will be able to create small items - I think no more than ten centimeters in a radius - but Battle Alchemy is impossible for you to perform. At least I don't know any Alchemy that can be used with your talent."

Midoriya frowned and began to think. These two months were quite challenging for him, especially considering Bang's martial arts training and learning Alchemy from Black. And now he finds out that he will not be able to use his abilities in battle.

"Then I'll take a different path. If I can't fight with Alchemy, then I can create things to help me in that fight."

"Are you going to create Support Gear?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "That's a little bit illegal."

"It's not the first time I've broken the law, they haven't caught me yet."

"Uh-huh, sure. There is nothing I can do to help you with it, my research lies in another area."

"And that is?"

"Transmutation, Fire, Explosion and Biological Alchemy."

"Shit, that could be counted as four Quirks."

Izuku sighed heavily and tried to hide his flinch from the pain in his shoulder but he failed miserably.

"Hey broccoli boi, why are you flinching? Don't tell me Bang dislocated your shoulder again."

"No, that's not it. I'm fine."

Sirius looked straight into Izuku's eyes and the green-haired teen felt uncomfortable.

". . . I also told my friends that I was fine when I felt like shit. As a result, one day, my sister in all but blood, had enough and tore me a new one for not telling her about my problems and feeling miserable every second of my life. After that, she did not speak to me for two months. It knocked me out of that bad habit."

Sirius stopped trying to drill a hole in Izuku's skull with his gaze and returned to his notes.

"I reeeeeealy hope that I don't have to become your sister so you stop bottling everything up. It's not healthy."

Midoriya chuckled softly at the thought of Sirius as a girl. It would be a little scary.

"Your sister, where is she now?"

"She is no longer with us. I hope she lived her life to the fullest."

". . . I'm sorry for your loss."

'He's had too much shit in his life to fit in sixteen years.' Izuku thought.

Silence reigned in the room where two teenagers were reading books on Alchemy - Giran found some surprisingly good copies - and occasionally did Midoriya ask a question about a particular technique.

As the sun went down below the horizon, Izuku went into the guest bedroom while Sirius continued writing theories on how to use Fire Alchemy better. The green-haired teenager often stayed here when he did not want to return home.

Black never asked why exactly Midoriya avoided his home, and Midoriya never asked Black how he knew what he knew. Both teenagers did not want to answer these questions and did not intend to answer them yet. But even without those questions, Izuku's situation was pretty obvious.

His mother died in an accident four years ago when Izuku was only nine years old, so his father had to return from his overseas business trip. Izuku got off with a terrible scar on his right forearm and small scars on the right side of his ribs. His mother covered him with her own body and took the blow for him.

It didn't take Sirius long to realize that Izuku's father probably blamed him for Inko's death. Given his status as Quirkless, he suspected that the situation at his school was no better.

Black got up from his seat and left the house shivering a little from the cold of the night. He didn't know why he was always so cold and he didn't like it at all.

Five Basilisks crawled upon his body, taking their usual places. Rowena and Helga wrapped around his shoulders under his clothes, Rasputin wrapped around his neck and fell asleep at the same moment. Godric took his place of honor as his hair tie and Clay wrapped around his waist. All the snakes had grown - although Godric was still very small - and could already speak.

He will definitely not stand out from the crowd, not at all.

§Where are we going, Sssalazar?§ Rowena asked, resting her head on his left shoulder.

§I want to walk around town and have coffee sssomewhere, that'sss all. I can't sssit at home all the time.§

Sirius walked past a field of scorched earth where he was testing his Alchemy and contemplated changing the earth to stone tiles. Unfortunately, this will take too much material out of the ground and all he would get is a stone pit. In the end, he decided that he would just transmutate some himself.

After twenty minutes of walking, two stolen packs of cigarettes, and one lighter, Sirius came to a 24-hour cafe. He opened the door and looked around, instinctively looking for all possible exits and places where there one could hide. The habits he developed as an Auror were slowly coming back to him. The cafe was small, there were only ten tables inside, and right now two people were sitting at tables on opposite sides of the room.

He ordered black coffee - 'Black orders black, heh' - and went to sit at the table outside. Sirius smelled his coffee with its improved sense of smell and smiled, the bitter smell always kept him awake. He took a piece of coal from his pocket and crushed it over the cup, letting the pieces fall into the hot liquid.

"What the fuck are you doing?" There was a voice from somewhere in front, but Sirius didn't even look up from his cup. Right now, he had better things to do, namely coffee.

"Coffee," Sirius answered and took the first sip, savoring the taste of the charcoal-infused coffee.

His unknown interlocutor sat down opposite him and Sirius saw that it was a girl of about fourteen. She had long silver hair tied in a ponytail, with only a couple of curls hanging down the sides of her face. Her silver eyes gave off an aura of extraordinary seriousness that did not match her soft face. She was dressed quite lightly for this cold weather, - although +30°C was cold weather for Sirius - a black shirt with oil stains on it and the same black pants.

"Why did you ruin the holy drink?" She asked with the same serious look.

"Why did you come up to a stranger at night and demanding answers from him?"

"Do you always answer a question with a question?"

"Do you expect an answer?"

"I wouldn't ask you if I didn't expect anything in return, would I?"

"You know that this is cheating?"

"Do you know that all life is cheating?"

"Why are you still here?"

"Why did you ruin the holy drink?"

"Why did you come up to a stranger at night and demanding answers from him?"

"You're repeating yourself?"

"Are you not?"

"No." Her eyes widened slightly and she snatched the coffee from Sirius's hands and took a sip. "Fuck, I lost."

"Do you have a death wish?" He growled and snatched his coffee back. "Never take coffee from people. You can lose your head because of it."

The girl pulled a huge thermos out of nowhere and drank a couple of big sips. It was only now that Sirius was able to notice the huge black circles under her eyes, as big as his own.

"You still haven't answered, why did you do that? I checked, it tastes awful, so not for that."

Sirius glared at her but answered.

"My family was huge, so if you left your coffee somewhere unattended, it is no longer yours. I solved this problem by adding coal to the mix, no one but me can drink this rubbish."

"Hmm. I just run the wires to my thermos. Anyone who touches it will be fried on the spot."

"I take this, you are tech-savvy?"

"Oil stains are a dead giveaway." She nodded.

"Black Sirius."

"Hagane Gin."

"How good are you with tech?"

---

Izuku rubbed his temples wearily and slowly got out of bed. He was not a morning person, no matter what anyone thought. The teenager put on his pants and walked out into the kitchen, ignoring the two people at the table. He poured himself a cup of coffee and eagerly drank the hot liquid, and only then did his brain begin to work.

"Don't you need to be in school now?" Sirius's voice sounded from behind him.

"School can suck my dick. Today is Monday and some people will come there in a bad mood." He muttered the last part to himself.

"Can't you just break them?"

"No, the principal will just dump all the blame on me, I've already fallen into this trap."

"And why?" Asked another female voice.

"Prejudice over Quirkless." Izuku blinked a couple of times and turned around and only now realized that there was a girl with silver hair that he did not know sitting at the table. "Black, what the fuck."

"Hmm? Ah, this is my new friend, Hagane Gin. And this is my old friend, Midoriya Izuku."

"You're half-naked." Gin said, shamelessly staring at Izuku's muscular body.

"I didn't expect Black to bring a friend here. Actually, I didn't expect Black to have friends other than me."

"True. You know this psychopath drinks coffee with charcoal?"

"Don't remind me, I accidentally tasted this shit once. You haven't seen him sprinkle cakes with ashes yet."

"Oi, you cunts, this is a delicacy."

"Are you serious?"

"No, that's me." Both younger teens ignored his joke.

"He didn't steal you off the street, did he?"

"No, rather, I stuck to him, he seemed interesting."

Realizing that he would continue to be ignored, Sirius left the kitchen and went outside to do God knows what.

"By the way, don't you also need to be in school? You look no older than me."

"I finished it a year ago, now I'm just waiting for me to be old enough to go to UA. The assholes refused to admit me last time."

"Are you going to apply to UA?" He sat down opposite Gin, who was poking a screwdriver at some device.

"Support Course." She nodded. "This is the best place that can provide me with the materials I need for my research."

"Hm. Support Course. . . Maybe it'll be worth a shot."

Izuku was a realist, he knew that without a Quirk, no school of Heroes would teach him, if only because all Hero Courses are focused on improving Quirks. If he can help the Heroes by making the right equipment, it will make him feel like he is helping people.

"Hey, Hagane, can you help me learn how to make good Support Gear?"

Silver eyes lifted sharply to look into his emerald ones. A predatory smile appeared on Gin's face that sent a chill down Izuku's spine.

"Of course, it was a long time ago when I taught someone. But you better get ready, I'm not going to walk easily on you. And no matter how hard it is for me to say it, get dressed, it's distracting."

Izuku got up from the table with a smug grin and went to his room to get dressed. His life got much better after he joined Bang's Dojo.

'I need to call Mina and Kirishima. Haven't met them in a while.'

---

Sirius dressed in completely black clothes and hid his face with a shadow. Basilisks decided to stay behind to guard the house - except for Godric, who never left his hair. He had a strange feeling that told him that today he wants to keep his identity a secret.

Black pants, black T-shirt, black jacket and black combat boots. His presence was hidden, and even if someone paid attention to him, they would not see his face. He looked like a black silhouette.

Crowded streets surrounded him and Sirius opened a small hole in his "shadow mask" for a cigarette. A bad habit he got from one of his subordinates. Jack could always get his hands on the best cigarettes in England.

Black looked around for what exactly made him feel so. . . strange. He only felt this way before the Death Eaters' attacks. His every instinct screamed for danger from the moment he left his home. So he went where that feeling was strongest.

He stopped next to the bank without going inside. Sirius took a drag on his cigarette and watched as a group of masked men entered the bank building with not very good intentions. Shouts and sounds of gunfire were immediately heard from within. The heroes were not visible, but the police sirens were already audible. The Villains apparently did not expect this and, in a panic, began to take hostages.

'Not good.'

Sirius walked to the bank, ignoring the cries of the civilians for him to stop. The Alchemist threw open the doors, drawing the attention of four robbers, three of whom took hostages.

'Two more are missing, most likely in storage.'

"Hey, are you dumb?! What the hell are you doing here?!" The skinny man asked, pointing a gun at Sirius - a Glock 17 to be exact.

"I'm here to kick bubblegum and chew ass. And I'm all out of ass-"

Sirius was interrupted by the sound of gunfire, the cigarette fell to the floor from his mouth. The bullet collided with his shadow mask and his head flew back. The screams rang out in the building again, but they were replaced by sheer silence as the Alchemist's head slowly returned to its place with a crunch. He rubbed his face as his body slowly began to be covered with shadows. Eyes opened at his sides along with a dozen mouths.

"That's not nice."

Before anyone even had time to react, all four men fell to the ground in pain. Shadows pierced their flesh, causing them to fall to their knees. Their weapons were devoured by shadow mouths and were lost forever in the dimension of Gluttony, and their arms and legs were broken to prevent them from escaping. Sirius picked up the bastard who shot him and found himself face to face with him.

"Now tell me, your friends are in the vault, right?"

The robber nodded in pain, confirming his guess.

"Thanks, buddy." Sirius headbutted the Villain and he knocked him unconscious.

The civilians looked at their savior with fear in their eyes, he looked much more menacing than these robbers. Shadows covered his body, and they had green eyes and toothy mouths that could bite through metal. He didn't look like a Hero, he looked like he came here to personally rob this bank.

Sirius looked around and noticed that no one even moved from his place. He bit back a groan and his eyes narrowed.

"Scram. I don't need collateral damage."

Some kid in a red cap was able to muster up the courage to ask a question before his mother could stop him.

"W-what's your name, mister?"

"Kota!"

Sirius's eyes darted towards the child and he turned so that his body was directed towards him.

"Salazar Slytherin." He said and after a little thought, he threw a semi-transmuted figurine of a bird made of wood to the kid. "Keep it as a souvenir. It's time for me to deal with the impolite gentlemen who ruined my day."

Salazar's shadows wrapped around the four Villains and dragged them into the vault after him, giving the civilians the sign to get out of here.

Kota was in the hands of his mother, who couldn't help during the robbery. His father could only create water, and his mother could control it so that one without the other was greatly weakened. The child looked with interest at the head of a wooden bird in his hands.

"Mom, was that man a Hero?" He quietly asked.

"No, baby. . . I think he was a just good man."

---

Naomasa examined the scene and frowned. The bank robbery - which no Hero had time to react to before it was stopped - ended before it began. Their new Vigilante Salazar Slytherin had finally appeared on their radars. Aomoto just stared at the cigarette with disbelief in his eyes.

"How dumb is he to leave such evidence at a crime scene?" He muttered and touched the cigarette.

His fingers glowed with gray light and his eyes clouded over. But just as quickly as it came, it disappeared and Aomoto could only vomit into the bag he had taken beforehand. Naomasa patted him on the back and waited for his subordinate to recover.

His Quirk, Memento Mori, upon contact with something, allowed him to "see" the last alive being who touched that something. But every time he "saw" anything, his inner ear was sick from the sensations.

". . . This is bullshit, the last person to touch this cigarette is a worker in a factory."

"Didn't he touch that cigarette with his Quirk? Witnesses say he was smoking when he got inside, so you should be able to see him."

"I don't see anyone other than this damned worker! As if he never touched that cig!"

The detective and his subordinate couldn't have known this, but Sirius technically could not qualify as an alive being. And his Quirk was just a product of a forgotten science.

"That means we have absolutely nothing. Well, at least we know he escaped by biting a hole in the floor. Seriously, how strong are those teeth?"

The answer to this question: really fucking strong.