Dabi slowly opened his eyes against the bright light as he blinked himself awake. He took in his surroundings and noticed what looked to be a bar. Being in an unfamiliar situation, he forced himself to get up and immediately scanned the area around him.
Noticing a mirror on the far side of the room, he could see bandages covering his entire body. Purple burn marks riddle from top to bottom, but those are the ones he's grown accustomed to seeing since long ago. It was the large bruise forming on the side of his cheek that got his attention. It contrasted with his rough patch skin and he found himself remembering the recent fight he had with Endeavour.
However, despite the severity of the injury itself. He barely registered any of the pain. After all, His nervous system had already suffered from his immolation, causing his body to be insensitive to any sort of pain.
"So you're finally awake."
Dabi immediately turned around, arms up lit with blue flames as he held it threateningly at the source of the voice.
The man just ignored him while continuing to wipe a few glasses behind the bar, "Woah easy there. Wouldn't want you to burn down the entire bar now, would you?"
Easily recognizing him, Dabi said with a low voice as he slightly lowered his arms. "You're Kurogiri, of the League of Villains.."
"In the flesh. However, you have me at a disadvantage. You might know me, but I don't know you."
Dabi continued to look at Kurogiri before sweeping his eyes across the entire room before introducing himself. "Dabi."
"A codename, huh? Never trust anyone with your real name, especially in this job." Kurogiri commented.
Dabi himself just narrowed his eyes. "Look I appreciate the rescue, but why exactly am I here? I doubt you did all that out of the kindness of your hearts."
"Well you would be right…"
A sudden voice made him swerve towards the entrance of the bar. Shigaraki made his appearance as he strided confidently into the room.
Dabi raised an eyebrow in a silent question. He also kept his guard up just in case, although the man in front of him seemed rational enough, there were rumors that the head of the League of Villains was a little bit on the crazier side.
"When we heard rumors that someone was going toe to toe with Endeavour himself, we couldn't help to be intrigued. After all, whoever this person is could either be foolish, or dangerous… So, which are you?"
"Heh, what's it to you?" Dabi challenged back.
"I'm looking for allies. Elites that are able to do things that I can't. Ones that I can rely on to get the job done. And you, Dabi, make for a good first candidate."
"So you're here to recruit me?" The patch faced man asked. "What's in it for me?"
"Well seeing you tackle the Number Two Hero like that, means you have a grudge right?" Shigaraki started, earning a frown by Dabi. "I won't ask what it is, and to be honest I don't really care. With your defeat, I'm sure you realized that taking down these heroes alone just won't do. You need allies, and so do we. You'll help us, and we'll help you. How's that sound?"
Dabi studied the person before him with a critical eye. What he said wasn't wrong exactly. His personal vendetta against Endeavour is something he'll never be able to let go. And if the recent bout taught him anything, is that he can't face him head on by himself. Not yet at the very least. So, if working together with the most notorious villain group currently residing in Japan could help him reach that goal? Why the hell would he say no.
He raised his arm and shook Shigaraki's as the latter grinned in acceptance.
"You made the right choice…"
— The Warping Hero —
The rays of the sun could barely be seen on the clouded sky as thousands of people gathered together to mourn the deaths of heroes of the Hosu Massacre.
Kazuya looked down at the coffins arrayed before him as he stood with his parents among the crowd. A massive funeral was being held in the aftermath of everything. It was just a day ago that the Endeavour and Edgeshot agencies, along with the local heroes of Hosu managed to properly clean up the streets of Hosu.
Although it would still take another month or two for the city to be functioning again, most likely to prepare accordingly and fix all the damages that happened during the fights. At the very least, the city itself is in its process of healing.
The same could not be said for the families of the heroes who died. Even now he could hear mournful wails and cries of their loved ones. What's worse, is that among them, is a person he calls a friend.
Iida had not been the same since he, Midoriya, and Todoroki confronted him the first time when they reached Hosu. He was angry, rightfully so. He took onto the streets the moment they were given the green light back in Hosu and refused to rest even for a second until he found Stain.
Suffice to say, they were worried. They at least felt a little better about it when some of Ingenium's sidekicks offered to keep an eye on him. But his rage never seemed to quell until the very last day.
Neither hair nor hide of Stain or Shigaraki could be seen in the 5 days it took to completely clean up Hosu. They searched every alley, every rooftop, and not once did they see a member of the LOV. Which isn't really surprising considering Kurogiri's abilities. With his quirk, they could be anywhere in Japan.
By the end of it all, Iida's rage completely turned to sorrow and misery. He never left his room and only did when his parents visited him so they could prepare for the funeral.
All the students of 1A are also here to give their friend and classmate their silent support. Most came with their families and others came as a group. It was a major eye opener for all of them. They knew heroism wasn't a game, but it just never clicked to them that death was a real thing, and it could happen to anyone.
This also served as a moment of realization towards all the parents whose children are budding heroes. A reminder that perhaps one day, they too could be in this exact position. Forced to attend the funeral of their son and daughter. It was the biggest fear of all parents. After all, no one wants to outlive their own children.
The U.A. teachers along with half of Japan's heroes also made an appearance. All Might even gave a speech about the brave heroes that fell and how he's opening a charity to help all the families of the heroes and victims along with another to help the recovery of the city.
The day ended quickly, and soon all the students were returning from their internships.
Kazuya found himself back in class with all his classmates barring one, Iida had to take a few days of absence, which the school gave wholeheartedly.
"Damn, I can't believe something like that happened to Hosu." Kirishima said in an uncharacteristic mild voice. The whole mood of the class was pretty somber and everyone avoided saying anything about it until now.
"No one expected this from the League of Villains, kero." Tsuyu chimed in. "The Shigaraki from the USJ is so different from the one we say on the news."
"I know right?! I had chills when I saw him that time." Mina agreed.
"I feel bad for Iida, I can't even imagine if something like that happened to me." Ojiro said with his head down. The other immediately agreed.
"Most of our internships were pretty mild now that I think about it, huh?" Kaminari chuckled, trying to lift the mood.
"Yea, but Kazuya, Midoriya, Todoroki. You guys helped with Hosu right? What was it like?"
"Oh uh, well it was pretty bad, I guess." Midoriya said while shaking his head. "There were just so many things going on at the same time. We had to fight villains and rescue civilians non stop for 5 days."
Todoroku nodded. "We had to scour the entire city to make sure there no more villains in hiding. Despite the numbers we had, it was still pretty tiring."
"Man…and here all I did was pick up trash with Fourth Kind! Really pales in comparison to what you guys did, huh?" Kirishima chuckled.
"Really? All I did was just train and go on patrols." Tsuyu hummed as she pushed a finger to her cheek. "There was that one time when we caught smugglers from a neighboring country though."
"That's crazy!" gaped Mina and Hagakure in shock.
"Well, I just helped people evacuate and did some logistical support. I didn't do any fighting though." Jirou stated while twirling her earphone jack on a finger.
"What about you, Yaomomo?"
"Oh, I did my internships with Midnight! And it was a very productive if I had to say so." Yaoyorozu answered. "The first week was spent on some of issues I had while the next week was spent on patrols. I didn't do anything as crazy as Kazuya-san and Todoroki-san, but I had my fair share of villains."
"So you fought some villains?! That's crazy!"
"Mine was pretty similar to Yaoyorozu. Aizawa had to make sure first that my skills were up to par before taking me with him on his nightly patrols. I also learned a thing or two about underground heroics." Shinso stated from his seat.
"Is that what you want to be when you graduate, Shinso? An underground hero?" Midroiya asked, curious.
"I don't really know yet. Being unknown to the people works towards the opposite of my goal, but I can't deny that it's useful to not have villains recognize you at first glance."
Midoriya ahh'ed with understanding as conversations popped up more and more between the students.
Kazuya smiled since, at the very least, everyone has moved on from the depressing atmosphere.
— The Warping Hero —
The next day, All Might brought the entire class to the Gamma Training Field for a rescue training race. Midoriya was pretty excited since he could finally show his classmates the results of his training.
All Might called out the first group, with him, Kazuya, Mina, Sero, and Ojiro standing by the starting point. They were all given a few minutes to stretch and prepare themselves while their All Might stood with their classmates, loudly discussing the upcoming match.
"This first group is gonna be insane! Everyone one of them have good mobility." Kaminari mentioned his observations.
"I believe this was done deliberately by All Might. It would make sense after all to have those of similar mobility levels all be in one group. Like how there are weight classes in wrestling or something similar." Yaoyorozu said.
"Well whatever the case, isn't Kazuya gonna win it easily? His quirk is pretty busted for race dontcha think?" Kirishima said with a chuckle. Everyone nonetheless agreed with his statement.
The discussions and debates then fell towards who's gonna get second place. Kirishima bet that Sero would get it. Kaminari pointed out that Ojiro was there so it wouldn't be that easy. Most of the girls supported Mina. The rest however, noticed how Midoriya was at an obvious advantage, with Bakugo being the most vocal, saying 'Deku would be dead last.'
Midoriya himself heard these comments and mentally smiled. He's not one to usually boast, but definitely can't wait to see the looks on his classmates faces.
Kazuya just smirked as he too had the same idea. He, along with Todoroki, are the only two who knows what Midoriya is capable of now.
All Might pressed a button and yelled 'start!'. Immediately, all students moved from their positions with their own unique movement. Kazuya simply flashed away. Sero launched himself into the air with his tape, Mina slid along a pipe with her acid, and Ojiro propelled himself from the ground and used his tail to make big leaps.
Everyone watched on in excitement, happy to see their classmates show off with their quirks. But that was when Midoriya came rocketing into the scene. With full cowling, he was easily able to leap from one building to another. Quickly gaining distance and surpassing the others.
All Might and the other students could only gape at the screen at the skill and improvements he's made.
Bakugo however, could only look with wide eyes as the person he saw as nothing more than a pebble made strides forwards once again. He thought back towards his internships and cursed the fact that he spent so much time doing useless things.
Midoriya quickly overtook the other members of his group. Ahead of him, he could see Kazuya flashing around the area, throwing his knives one moment only to disappear the next.
He stopped paying attention however, as he put his thoughts towards maintaining full cowl instead. He urged himself to stay alert and calm. Just like the training he did with Edgeshot, he focused on his movement and his footing, making sure to not slip and landing on places that are able to hold his weight.
Soon enough, he saw the finish line with All Might standing there. He landed and was met with his mentor's proud smile. He told him how surprised he had been, hardly believing in his own eyes. He gave Midoriya a subtle thumbs up before turning away to address the other members in his group.
Midoriya had tears forming before he wiped them. Hearing his idol praise him so much made him proud of the progress he's made and happy that all his efforts are appreciated.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
This chapter may seem rushed, and that's because it is. I messed up this arc so bad it hurts. Honestly, so many things went sideways and off the railings, I don't know what's going on anymore.
So I just made this chapter to completely move on. Internship arcs are finished. There are still a few plot points untouched and incomplete but I don't really care anymore. I just had the craziest writers block in writing this arc, everything just went up in flames.
I've actually spent the entire last month making a new fic. I glossed over it the last chapter. It's called the Marionette of Suna and I already have 10 chapters prepared.
Crazy, ikr. And this time, I actually planned out the plot and characters properly. The MC will be properly developed, unlike this perfect specimen that is Akio Kazuya. No canon characters will be OOC.
The first chapter is gonna be published in a few hours. And let me tell you, I'm REALLY excited about this project of mine. It's refreshing, it's fun, it's glorious, and it's gonna be leauges better than this dumpster fire of a fic. Can't wait for when it goes public.
Warping Hero is gonna take somewhat of a backseat from this period on. I'm still gonna post chapters for it, I'm adamant on finishing it after all. It's just that for the first few weeks, MOS will be more prioritized instead of TWH.
Advanced chapters and other benefits on my Patr_eon! Make sure to check it out.
P_atr_eon.com/TeemVizzle
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That's all from me!
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