Chapter 16: Stained Ideals

Yui woke up that morning feeling refreshed and relaxed. For the most part, she liked the internships so far. Although the squad was very tough on them, they offered advice and taught them how to get better. She didn't know how Kuro was, but Kendo and Ibara said he was really nice. She did, however, have a high opinion of Kuro because he kept the kitchen stocked with the best tomatoes that she has ever tasted.

"Morning, Yui-chan," Yui heard Ibara speak as she brushed her hair.

"Mm!" Yui responded happily before stretching a bit.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Ibara said, her expression softening. "That's great to hear. I'm glad you're enjoying the internships."

"Mm." Yui responded as she prepared to get ready for the day.

Kuro was sitting in his office in his firm, which was substantially cleaner than the office at UA. His eyes were darting between a box of cigarettes and the bag of cookies Inko had driven over to give him. "Eh, I can fight a lot of things, but I can't fight addiction," He grumbled to himself as he tossed the cigarettes behind his back and started to open the bag of cookies.

As he munched on his cookies, his phone started to ring. "I swear to whatever god that is out there the person who interrupts my cookie time will-" he looked at the phone and saw the person who was calling him. "Oh, nevermind."

"You asked for me?" Gunhead's voice came out of the phone as Kuro answered it.

"Oh yeah," Kuro said. "One of your interns signed a contract with me a while ago. I need to borrow her today. Is that a problem?"

"Which one?" Gunhead asked.

"Himiko Toga," Kuro said.

"Oh thank god," Kuro head Gunhead mutter under his breath.

"What did she do now?" Kuro asked.

"Her and another intern, Uraraka Ochaco have been having 'competitions' during sparring classes to see who can beat more interns," Gunhead said. "Let's just say it's not pleasant."

"Ah, that's so like them," Kuro chuckled. "Actually, if Uraraka-san can come as well, that would be great."

"You'd be doing my interns a favor," Gunhead said, a hint of relief in his voice.

"That's nice to hear," Kuro said before hanging up. He scrolled through his contacts before settling on the next person he had to call. Shimura Nana.

"Occhan!" Toga shook her roommate awake. "Ne, Occhan!"

"Himi-chan, I'm trying to sleep," Ochaco grumbled, still half asleep.

"Gunhead-san said that I can take you with me to see Kuro-nii!" Toga squealed.

"Why are you going to see Kuro-san?" Ochaco asked, giving up on falling back asleep as she rubbed her eyes.

"He said that he needs me for a super important mission in Hosu!" Toga chirped excitedly, trying to drag her friend out of bed.

"Why does he need you?" Ochaco asked her. "Can't he just have some pro do it?"

"Kuro-nii said I'm not allowed to talk about it to anyone," Toga admitted, slightly saddened. "But I'm sure he'll tell you if you asked!"

"Alright, alright," Ochaco stretched her arms and yawned before standing up. "I guess I have no choice in the matter."

"Midoriya-kun!" Nana called over from the kitchen.

"Coming!" Izuku called back before showing himself in the kitchen, wide awake and in his hero costume.

"Kuro-san said he wants us to come with him to patrol at Hosu," Nana said. "Something about a no-something."

Izuku stared at her, trying to determine what the mysterious thing was. "Alright," he said. "If Kuro asks, then it must be for a reason."

"Yeah," Torino said as he entered the kitchen. "One thing I've learned about the brat is that he only sticks his nose in when it's important."

"Now that you think about it," Izuku said. "He has always been around at times when bad things were happen, like at USJ and the yakuza incident."

"A hero needs to have a good intuition," Nana said, shifting uncomfortably. "Anyways, we should be preparing. We're going to make rounds here before we go to Hosu. Kuro wanted us to come late afternoon, after all."

"Dabi!" Toga squealed as she tackled her brother in arms. Dabi groaned to himself and patted the girl's head.

"Wait, I recognize you," Ochaco said, tensing up and preparing for a fight. "You're an A-Rank villain. Get your hands off my friend."

"Relax," Dabi grumbled, lifting the girl up and setting her down. Toga turned to face her friend.

"Occhan, this is my big brother Dabi!" Toga said. "We used to be villains together! Isn't that cool?"

"Oh, so this is the girlfriend you were mentioning before?" Dabi asked. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. It would be in your best interest to treat Hime-chan well."

"W-what?!" Ochaco took a step back in shock, her face red. "G-girlfriend?! And you were a villain!"

"Knowing her, she probably means 'friend that happens to be a girl'," the three turned to see Kuro with the rest of the squad and the interns. "Anyways, I'm sure you have questions, Uraraka-san."

"Himi-chan is a villain?" Ochaco asked. "Why is she at UA? And did you know about this?"

"Was a villain," Dabi corrected.

"Yeah," Kuro said. "You remember when I mentioned she had a rough childhood? Yeah, she was practically thrust into villainy. I won't be the one to tell you the details, though. After I took Hime-san and Dabi into my care, I offered Hime-san a spot in UA."

"I wanted to go to school and make friends!" Toga chirped, hugging Ochaco. "And now I have you! I'm really happy that Kuro-nii let me go here because I met you and everyone!"

Ochaco blushed, opening her mouth to say something before stopping herself, a sweet smile forming on her lips. "I'm really happy to have met you too, Himi-chan."

"That's all well and good," Magne butted in, bringing everyone's attention to her. "But when are we going to start doing stuff?"

"Fine, fine," Kuro said. "The final group just got here, anyways."

As if on cue, Nana floated down as Izuku and Torino jumped down from a tall building. "Izu-kun!" Toga squealed, attempting to tackle the boy, but Dabi held her back.

"Not the time," Dabi warned. Toga pouted, but thankfully didn't attack him.

"We're going to be in groups of three," Kuro said. "Each member of the squad will be accompanied by two interns. Since there's an odd number, one of you will take three. Dabi, Toga, Magne, Spinner, Twice, and Mustard. Come up to pick your interns. Nana, Torino, and Izuku will be one group. I'll be taking Shoto and Teyna-san."

"Wait," Shinso said, putting his hands up. "You said Mustard?"

"Yeah," Mustard butted in. "I'm a part of the squad. You have a problem with that?"

"Tell me the truth," Shinso said, using his quirk. "Are you a part of the squad."

"Yes," Mustard said, a dull tone in his voice.

"Jeez," Shinso said, releasing his quirk in shock.

"If you're done with your mind games, I'd like to do my job," Mustard grumbled. Shinso silently nodded as the group began to pick their interns.

Izuku walked around with Nana and Torino as they did their evening patrols. Kuro had given all members of the squad as well as Nana and Torino communications devices so they could all stay connected. Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and Izuku froze up as a creature eerily similar to the creature at the USJ approached them. They all got into a fighting position.

As they prepared to attack, Izuku heard a scream from an alleyway not too far from him. "I heard someone else in trouble!" Izuku shouted at the two. "I'll go check it out!"

"Midoriya, wait!" Nana called, but Izuku had already dashed away. "Kuro was right. He is a real handful."

The two heroes faced the monster and prepared to fight.

Kuro received memories from his Illusion clone as he fiddled with his phone. He looked up to see a Nomu flying in the sky.

"Excuse me, Kuro-sensei?" Shoto got the man's attention. "We have reason to believe Midoriya-san is in trouble. Can we go to this alleyway?"

Kuro looked at the spot Shoto was pointing out on his phone and suppressed a smile. He had snuck into the two's room the night before and added his phone number to their contacts under Izuku's name. He knew that it wasn't morally right, but he couldn't take any risks, considering how much he changed the timeline, so he did what he had to do. He looked up at the Nomu. "You two go on ahead. I have a villain to take care of."

Before the two interns could react, Kuro jumped into the sky, tackling the Nomu and sending the two spiraling into the city. Iida and Shoto looked at each other before nodding and dashing off to save their friend.

Izuku turned the corner to see a pro hero, Native as Izuku recognized, about to be struck down by the hero killer Stain. Izuku, without thinking, went into five percent and kicked the Hero Killer in the face, sending him flying to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Izuku asked. "Can you move?"

"Can't move…" Native managed. "His quirk… run…"

"A kid, huh?" Stain asked, wiping his cheek. "You should go. You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

Izuku looked into Stain's eyes, not showing vengeance of fear, but a fiery determination. "I will not," Izuku said sternly, getting into a fighting stance. "If I see someone in danger, I will save them, no matter the cost. I am a hero, and that is what we do."

"I like your eyes," Stain said, licking the blade of his katana clean before getting into a fighting stance himself. "But you're getting in the way, and as such, I can't let you live."

The two dashed at each other, Izuku at ten percent. They traded blows for a while, Izuku keeping up at a surprising pace. Stain then managed to get a small cut on Izuku's cheek and before the boy could land a hit, he licked the blade and swallowed his blood.

"W-what..?" Izuku's fist was barely an inch from Stain's face before he froze up, his body not moving.

"You fight good, kid," Stain said, raising his katana. "If you stayed put for a few more years, I may have considered you a true hero, but as it is now, you have to die."

"Not if I can help it!" A new voice appeared as a familiar boot went for Stain, who dodged it, jumping back a few feet.

"Tenya-san!" Izuku called. "What are you doing here?!"

"He's not alone," Shoto said as he slid across his ice to stand next to Tenya. "You really need to be more specific with your messages."

"What message?" Izuku asked the two, a confused look on his face.

"Nevermind that for now," Iida said, turning to Stain. "Can you move?"

"No," Izuku responded. "I think it's his quirk. As soon as he licked his blade, I wasn't able to move."

Shoto looked at the scar on Izuku's cheek and nodded. "It must be that when he ingests blood, he can immobilize the person who the blood belonged to."

"Tsh, more brats," Stain sneered. "No matter, I'll kill you all!"

Stain and Iida dashed at each other, but before Stain could slash at the boy, Iida jumped as Shoto made a pillar of ice next to him. Iida kicked off it, dashing to the side. Shoto created an ice pillar between Iida and Stain and Iida kicked it, causing the ice to shatter and launch towards Stain. The hero killer managed to jump back, but now without sustaining some injuries.

"Not bad," Stain said as he pulled his arm back. Suddenly, a kunai flung back, cutting Iida's neck on its way back. Izuku's eyes widened in shock, but then noticed that the kunai was tied to a string. Iida dashed for the hero killer, but Stain got to his blade first. He licked his blade, causing the boy to stumble, immobilized. "But not good enough."

Shoto then dashed forward, fire streaming through his side. He swung at Stain, using his fire to extend his strike. Stain jumped back and threw a kunai at him. Shoto dodged and cut the string on it with an icicle. "Won't fall for that trick twice."

"At least you fakes aren't all the same," Stain sneered. He launched towards Shoto and launched a flurry of attacks. Stain was surprised by how well the ranged fighter was performing in hand to hand combat, but he still wasn't as good as Izuku. Stain eventually managed to land a few cuts before licking his katana, immobilizing the last of his resistance.

"It's such a shame that such a promising generation is lead by fakes," Stain said, raising his katana to finish Stain. As he swung it, Izuku felt himself be freed and dashed, pushing aside his friend and taking the hit, lodging the katana on his shoulder.

"Don't tell me…" Stain's eyes widened in shock as Izuku prepared to punch him with fifteen percent power. "Your Blood Type is O..?"

Izuku didn't answer as he punched Stain in the gut, sending him flying out of the alley.

"Why did you do that..?" Shoto asked. "Why did you take the hit for me..?"

Izuku turned around and managed a weak smile. "Because that's what heroes do."

"Interesting…" Stain muttered as he forced himself to stand. Izuku looked in horror as the hero killer pointed a weak finger at him. "What's your name?"

"Midoriya, don't," Iida said, but Izuku ignored him. He had just engaged in a fierce combat with the hero killer, and Izuku believed that he should honor the hero killer's request in the name of a good battle. Kuro had taught him that warriors would ask the name of their opponents as a sign of respect, and Izuku had no reason to deny Stain that gesture.

"Deku."

Kuro tightened his grip, crushing the skull of the second Nomu. He had gotten word that Nana and Torino had taken out the last one, but Izuku was nowhere to be seen. Kuro had already sent for the police, but he figured the fight would be almost over, so he should go himself. Since Endeavor wasn't around, he should be the one to take his place.

"Do you think that I'd let fakes like you kill me?!" A wave of killer intent washed over Kuro as he saw Stain yell at the police. He then saw the Shoto and Iida supporting Native and Izuku, who had a large gash on his shoulder, but thankfully, he didn't overuse his quirk. "The only ones who I will let kill me are All Might, Black Lightning, and Deku!"

The wave lasted for a good few seconds, though Kuro probably figured it would last longer. As it subsided, he heard one of the cops speak. "He… he passed out…"

"I hope I wasn't wrong about you, Deku," Stain's last words rang in Kuro's head. During the second year of the war, Kuro was almost killed by Shigaraki, but Stain had jumped in at the last second, taking the hit for the time traveler.

"Thank you, Chizome," Kuro whispered before he started to approach the group. "We won't let you down this time. I swear it."