A Speech

The League are all sitting in the bar, settled in to watch UA's Sports Festival. Why are we watching the Sports Festival? Because why not! Not only will we get information on all of the hero students' quirks, but we also might catch sight of someone who could be open to joining us and becoming a villain. Unlikely, yes, but if we do manage to recruit a UA student, it would go a long way to helping Shigaraki bring down hero society.

It's hard to understate how useful a spy inside of UA would be. A shame All For One labeled the person he initially had his eye on as 'incompetently flashy'. Whatever that means.

Of course, that's the official reason. Really though, most channels are airing the event, so there's not really anything else interesting on. Plus… I might, maybe, possibly, more than likely want to see how Shoko is doing?

I've checked up on her occasionally, sure. But I haven't actually… seen her since that day I followed her. I was glad to find out that Endeavor's home has gotten less medical supplies delivered to it than in the past though. Which means that she isn't getting trained to the point that it can be considered abuse anymore! Good for her!

I'll still have to see if she wants my murder plans for Endeavor though. If he's become a better father to her, she may not hate him anymore. That's the main reason I haven't gone after him yet. Or at least convinced Shiggy that we should target him. Plus he's the number two hero, so it wouldn't be easy. We already learned that the top ten heroes can't be tracked down reliably outside of their typical patrol routes, and that goes double for someone who often gets called in to assist the weaker heroes whenever they can't handle a villain. And on their patrol routes they're too on guard to be taken down by a surprise attack.

"Who ya think will win?" Skyfall throws out into the room.

"How would we know?" One asks with a raised eyebrow.

Skyfall looks at him like he's an idiot -not unreasonable given his response. "Because the lot of you attacked the school? Fought the students?"

One lazily twirls his fake mustache. "Ah, yes. That we did."

"You aren't coming off gentlemanly," Himi notes. "More condescending. Drop the smug, increase the accent."

"I see, I see." One nods, twirling the other side of his fake mustache. "Perhaps this is more acceptable?"

"Better," I say, "but I'd like to point out that you, specifically, cannot see the words you speak. Annoying Seester over in America can though. Her Closed Caption quirk is kind of strange, but useful."

"Isn't that just describing how she is?" Shigaraki questions with a curious look.

"Sounds mean." Eri pouts.

I shrug. "Yes, but she has a close relationship with her younger brother so she took it as her hero name since he always calls her that." I pause, trying to recall what I know of her brother. "I think his hero name is Laboratory, and his quirk has something to do with compressing objects into marbles and releasing them. He hasn't actually given any official information about his quirk though, so I'm not entirely sure."

"Hmm." He hums but doesn't let his thoughts show on his face.

"I would advise you not to go causing trouble in the wider world." All For One's voice comes out of the second, older tv we have. We're waiting for the Sports Festival to start on the bigger one I bought. "Or at the very least, you should avoid China."

Shiggy glares at his father/sensei's tv. "But what if I can find good recruits there?"

Let it be said that Shiggy has shown absolutely no interest, let alone intention, of leaving Japan for any reason. I'm pretty sure he's just annoyed at All For One directly telling him what to do for once. At least his fanaticism is gone!

"Because they have people there who are without quirks, but can manipulate the elements." All For One states calmly, me and the other diagnosed quirkless sitting up and paying more attention now. "They are known as benders, with a modifier for the element they can manipulate. For example, the most dangerous bender, an earth bender, actually has two hero names, depending on whether or not you've faced her."

The seriousness in his voice has all of us tense. Even I am, since I'm not too familiar with heroes outside of Japan. I only knew of the brother and sister pair because I craved a relationship like that with my own sister for so long. That said, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one taken aback by one of the hero names he says.

"On the official hero records, her hero name is Melon Lord, while those who have faced her in combat refer to her as the Blind Bandit. In her long career of being a hero, she has never once lost a fight."

Skyfall rolls her eyes. "Must not have been that long if she ain't lost a fight."

"She is over one hundred years old, and is still an active hero."

"..."

It's safe to say that our brains shut down. And I'm pretty sure Shiggy will need a reboot after we hear what he says next. "In fact, I challenged her thirty years ago and was defeated."

"..."

"It appears the Festival is starting." Kurogiri's words are enough to shake us from our shock, though I make a mental note to interrogate All For One for more information about these 'benders'. Are they like me, One, and Skyfall? Or are they something else…

But that's for later, right now my attention is pulled to the screen when I hear who's doing the student pledge for the first years. I scowl watching Izumi climb the three steps onto the stage, taking her place in front of the microphone. She takes a deep breath, a look of determination on her face. She opens her mouth, and my mind grinds to a halt.

"Anyone can be a hero. To you, it may seem easy for someone in the hero course like me to say that. You may think that I'm in the hero course because I have a strong quirk. But that's not true. I'm in the hero course because I want- no, I need to be a hero. I will become a hero."

"It's not the quirk that makes it possible for someone to become a hero. It's their heart. So long as you have the heart of a hero, the determination to become one, then it doesn't matter what anyone else says. It doesn't matter how many people tell you to give up, that you can't become a hero because you're weak. Because your quirk isn't suited to it."

She looks up, staring directly down the lens of one of the cameras, her entire face filling the screen. There are tears in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter if you have a good quirk, a so-called villains quirk, a weak quirk, or even no quirk at all. You can be a hero. So to everyone gathered here today, I say show the world your determination! Show the world that you too, can become the heroes you know you can be! Go beyond-"

""PLUS ULTRA!!!""

"..."

Silence.

I'm aware that the others are looking at me. I am. But it's a distant awareness. I know that Himiko is taking Eri out of the room. But I don't react to it. I can hear people talking to me. But all I hear is static. No, that's not right. I don't hear static. Instead I hear-

"Just accept the fact that you'll never be a hero and give up."

"Worthless Deku! You'll never be a hero!"

Laughter.

I hear her words. I hear Kachan's words. Their mocking laughter.

"You have the knife? Good, let's make sure everyone knows this trash is quirkless. He'll have a harder time lying about it after we're through with him."

I feel the knife. The fear. The desperation.

Fire. Burning. It won't open. Why won't it open?

I feel trapped.

Crashing. Pain. It hurts.

It hurts.

"No."

My voice is a whisper. I stand, my seat tipping backwards from how abrupt my action is. I grab it before it can fall, dragging it with me as I step forward.

"No."

I stand in front of the tv, watching as the crowd cheers for Izumi's speech.

"You don't get to say that…"

"What a speech from one of our top students! She's an inspiration to every aspiring hero!"

"You don't get to sAY THAT!!!"

I scream as the chair smashes into the tv. I stare at it with bloodshot eyes as I swing it again, broken plastic flying past me.

"YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT! YOU DON'T GET TO BE A GOOD SISTER! YOU DON'T GET TO PRETEND LIKE YOU BELIEVE THAT!"

Each sentence is punctuated by another swing. Another crash as the chair destroys the tv. Each swing is filled with my anger. My rage at her words. At the blatant hypocrisy she displays on live television.

"WHERE WAS THAT WHEN I WANTED TO BE A HERO!? WHERE WERE YOU!? TEN YEARS! YOU HAD TEN YEARS! HOW DARE YOU! YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT!"

Before I know it the chair is splinters in my hands, my breathing coming out in ragged gasps. I stare at the destroyed screen, gritting my teeth.

"You don't get to say that anyone can be a hero, when you said I couldn't." Do I say those words? Maybe. I don't know. But I do know this.

She will suffer.

I turn around, ignoring the way the others face me, ready for a fight in case I lash out. But they aren't the ones I'm going to hurt, no~. It's looking to me like Izumi wasn't happy with how our last family reunion turned out. So I think it's time for another.

"Midosagi."

I look up. Tomura is standing in front of me, his arms crossed and a glare in his eyes. I breathe out slowly, unclenching my hands, feeling the blood dripping down my palms.

"What."

It's not a question. It's a demand to know why he's standing in my way.

We keep eye-contact, neither of us looking away. One and Kurogiri look between us uneasily, while Skyfall has taken cover behind the bar, her eyes peeking out to see what happens.

Suddenly, he lets loose a malicious grin. "Make sure everyone knows just how badly the heroes fucked up."

I stare for a moment, uncomprehending. And then I smile too, returning his manic grin with a savage one.

"Always, party leader."

Himiko comes out of the door leading to the bedrooms, my costume in hand. "Here you go sweety. Just… keep Eri and me in mind, ok?"

My expression softens just a bit at the concern in her eyes, and I accept my costume from her while giving her a deep kiss. It's not a quick one, not a long one. It's the perfect one to show her how much I love her. It's a promise that no matter what, we will be together.

Always.

I pull back with love in my eyes. "Always."

She wraps her arms around me, giving me a fleeting hug before skipping backwards with her hands behind her back. "Then go ahead. Remind your sister of what she's done. That her actions have consequences."

I grin, and I'm fully aware of the madness dancing in my eyes. I don't care though. I know I'm crazy. Himiko knows I'm crazy. The League knows I'm crazy.

But they accept me anyways. Like a family should.

I turn away, off to teach someone who doesn't know how family acts exactly why they shouldn't lie. I leave a single word behind in the bar as I walk out the door. A promise.

"Always."