Chapter 74: Prelude to Two Heroes (1)
~Third POV~
[League of Villain Hideout, Kamino Ward, Yokohama Japan]
Meanwhile, the students of Class 1-A were dealing with Final Exams, some managed to grow, while others couldn't push past their limits. That was the bittersweet ending of the practical final exam.
But meanwhile, a certain group was gearing up to make their move. Kamino is a ward in Yokohama City. It is the secret hiding place for the League of Villains.
Hiding in an abandoned bar, a place that serves as their main hideout. Within the bar, Tomura was gazing at the photo of Ren winning the Sports Festival, glaring intently at the image.
*Knock*
But knocking on the door was heard as Giran appeared with a cheeky grin from the doorway lightly opened as he spoke neutrally, "Shigaraki. We've been spreading the word about you for the past few days. About how it seems like something big's about to go down."
*Crush*
Decaying the photo, Tomura asked in a raspy tone, having a new centerpiece hand over his face, "Well? Who are they?"
Coming from the right side was a young man with an athletic physique, long black hair gathered in a ponytail, and a perpetual smirk. His most distinctive feature was a long diagonal scar that jutted across his face and over his nose, wearing formal clothing.
The other is a reasonably tall, pale young man of slim shape but somewhat muscular build, described as in his early twenties. He has white hair with a few red flecks at its crown that spikes upward around his head, all dyed in black, hanging low over his thin, turquoise, and heavily lidded eyes.
His most striking features are undoubtedly the patches of gnarled, wrinkled, purple skin that cover much of his lower face and neck, all the way down past his collarbone, below his eyes, around his torso, and on his arms and legs, and what appears to be attached to the rest of his skin by multiple crude surgical staples or hoop piercings.
The first to speak was the man in piercing as he spoke in a stoic tone eyeing the bluntly saying to Tomura's face, "In person, you're… super gross, dude."
The other young man with formal clothing nonchalantly responds, introducing himself in a cheaper tone, "Now that's not nice, buddy. But ignore Scarface here. Let me introduce myself. I'm Rock because I'm a rockin' guy. I wanna join your League of Villains! What you say, good chum old buddy old pal?"
Tomura gazes at them before he points at them bluntly responding in a raspy tone of his clear dislike to them, "… Kurogiri, warp them away. It's like the two types I hate most showed up as a duo. A brat… and a guy with no manners."
Rock froze hearing that as he muttered, "Huh?"
Kurogiri sighed aloud as he spoke in a neutral tone, trying to convince Tomura, "Come now… they've traveled all this way just to see you. You could at least humor them with a chat, Tomura Shigaraki. What's more… if they're introduced by our influential broker friend here… we can be sure they're at least competent fighters."
Exhaling a whiff of some from his cigar Giran responded with a crooked grin informing the two in a neutral tone, "Either way, I'll take my finder's fee now, Kurogiri."
*Tmp*
Taking a step forward, Giran introduced the two in a stoic tone as he pointed his thumb at Rock, "As for those introductions… Let's start with our cheerful fellow. This guy caused a lot of trouble and kill counts in Naruhata, being affiliated with the Villain Factory and Tokyo Egg bombings. He had some help escaping the police using his Quirk scot-free into hiding."
Rock smiled happily as he waved at Tomura. Tomura gazed at him, uninterested, as he spoke in a raspy tone, "I don't get it. You some kind of freak?"
Giran soon pointed to the young man with piercings as he introduced him to Tomura in a charismatic tone, "You both have similar goals. I'm sure Rock will be useful to you. Next, this young man has no outstanding criminal record to speak of… but he's enamored with the Hero Killer's ideals."
The young man eyed Rock with a cautious glint behind his friendly smile as he openly spoke in a blunt tone, "I'm not sure about this Giran… Is this bunch dedicated to the cause? I mean, they're letting this nut job join up."
Rock appeared stunned in mock shock, mouth agape. Tomura ignored him as he openly spoke in an annoyed tone, "Hey, hey. At least this boy scout here can state his name. If you're a proper adult, how about you try doing that."
The man with piercings soon introduced himself in a stoic tone eyeing Tomura, "I go by Dabi right now."
Tomura, annoyed, asked for Dabi's real name however, he replied in an annoyed tone, eyeing Tomura, "You'll know it when you need to. Anyway… the hero killer's will… I plan to make it a reality."
*Sway*
Standing up and swaying his seat Tomura soon got annoyed readying his hands to destroy Rock and Dabi, "No need to answer questions I didn't ask. Everyone nowadays is all Stain this and Stain that… Bad, bad, bad… I'm in a bad mood!!! Cuz you guys are no good."
*Shudder*
*Swf*
Every one of them reacted to attack one another, but Kurogiri used his [Warp Gate] to calm down the situation, scolding Tomura in a neutral tone, "Please calm yourself, Tomura Shigaraki. If we are to act upon your desires, expanding this organization is a necessity. And oddly enough, this is our chance while we're in the spotlight. I advise acceptance, not rejection, Tomura Shigaraki."
*Psst*
Moving his ghostly figure near Tomura's head, he whispered to his ear using All for One name to influence Tomura, "Acceptance of anything we can use… of whatever remains of his will…"
*Swip*
Tomura childishly moves away as he growls, annoyed, heading to the entrance of the abandoned bar, "Shut up. I said shut up!"
*SLAM*
Slamming the door shut Giran sighed in a tired tone rubbing the back of his head of the situation, "Pains me to say it, but our business partner there… he's too immature."
Rock and Dabi merely eyed the door as Kurogiri spoke up in a neutral tone gaining their attention, "We will have an answer for you within a day or two. Will that suffice? I expect I even he knows that he left without a word. First All Might, then the hero Killer… he's been humbled twice now. He'll figure it out, I'm sure. An answer that will satisfy… you two, as well as himself…"
/////
[UA High School, Class 1-A, Japan]
*SLAM*
Everyone in Class 1-A who was talking at first straightened up, hearing Aizawa coming through the door as he spoke in a stoic tone, "That's the bell. Be seated. Morning. About your final exams… Unfortunately, there are a few of you who did not pass your final exams. As such… Everyone is going!"
This caused the students to be alarmed as they nearly all exclaimed, "What a twist!"
Aizawa nodded his head as he replied, looking at his students in a smug tone, "Yeah. The good news is that no one bombed the written exam. But in the practical… Kirishima, Bakugo, and Todoroki have failed."
Kirishima looked surprised by the news as he exclaimed in a stunned tone, "Wait… I failed too?!"
Aizawa nodded as he spoke in a stoic tone at Kirishima, explaining the situation to him, "Yeah. Your partner did all the work when you got captured during the practical. You rushed in without having a chance to speak with your partner. Yui-san captured the teacher, but you didn't do anything to help once you got captured. Speaking of exams…"
Turning his attention to the class, he began to exclaim in a stoic tone about the situation, eyeing his students, "Allow me to explain. For the practical battles, the teachers made sure to leave a way for the students to win. Otherwise, you never would have stood a chance. We were interested in observing how you each worked together and approached the task at hand."
That was when Kendo raised her hand asking in a confused tone about the exam, "But didn't you promise that the teachers wouldn't be holding back?"
Aizawa nodded his head as he explained, answering Kendo's question in a stoic tone, "That was just to get you on edge. Besides, the training camp will focus on building your strength. Those who fail need those lessons the most. We were never going to separate you. That was just a logical deception we used."
Listening to his words, the class erupted in a stunned tone at Aizawa's shamelessness, "A logical deception?"
Despite being bamboozled by their homeroom teacher, Aizawa spoke in a stern tone, addressing the trio that failed, "Still failure is a failure. We've prepared extra lessons for the three of you. Frankly, they'll be far tougher than what you'd face at summer school."
The three simply nodded their heads, looking down as they contemplated their failures. Bakugo, especially looking down after being humbled.
Before class could continue, Aizawa paused as he spoke in a calm tone, eyeing Ren, who surprised him the new, "Oh right. Yuki-san, before you leave after school or when you have the time, the principal would like to speak to you. It's something that you've done, earning your 1st place spot during the sports festival. A special reward to those that earned 1st place spot."
This perked Ren's interest immediately. Many things were going through his mind, but he ultimately thought in a curious tone, 'Interesting. What does Nezu-Sensei want with me or reward me? Better to meet him during lunch. Although…'
When Aizawa began to teach his students, Ren's classmates all eyed him in interest as Ren thought in an awkward tone, '… I could do without the staring. But I feel like it's a plot line for something. Guess the only way to know is to find out myself.'
/////
[Lunch Time, UA High School, Principal Office, Japan]
As promised, Ren arrived inside Principal Nezu's office. This time, it was only he, the principal, and All Might present as Nezu broke the ice in a kind tone, "Thank you for coming here on short notice, Yuki. But first, congratulations on successfully making it through the first semester of UA."
Ren smiled as he responded in a respectful tone, taking his seat with a nervous grin on his face, "Heh. Thanks, but Aizawa-Sensei certainly didn't make it easy that much, I can tell. The guy can give a mean kick."
Nezu laughed, being the one to allow Aizawa to fight without restraint. But returning to the serious topic at hand, he linked his paws together as he said in a neutral tone, "Yes, I believe it was quite the experience, but that brings us to our next topic. Your reward for the Sports Festival."
Hearing that, Ren turned his gaze towards the two as Nezu explained in a calm tone, with All Might listening in, "As I've come to know one of your clones working in the Support Course is spending your time free time investing in the production of support items with your [Create] skill has certainly improved with Mei Hatsume and Izuku Midoriya. Your Quirk Ores, especially those that were sent to I-Island to further advancement of Quirks and Support Items, gained interest."
Ren's face blushed, getting embarrassed with the praises as Nezu continued in a cheeky tone of his inventor partners, "Since I believe by now you found someone suited to helping you with your Support Items to that task. If not… well, Toshinori-kun and I have great news adding another brilliant mind to your group to grind."
With Nezu passing him the baton with his gaze, a glimmer of nostalgia reflected in All Might's blazing blue eyes as he revealed in a proud tone, handing Ren a ticket, "Since you earned your first place spot, let me be the first to hand you this special ticket. But I received an invitation to attend this year's I-Island Expo from the daughter of my close friend. You probably know him as the man who served as my first-ever sidekick, the brilliant inventor who went on to shake the world with his innovative spirit and passion for helping others, David Shield!"
Listening to the notion got Ren excited about meeting one of the world's most brilliant scientific minds Ren asked in an excited tone, "Are you suggesting I attend the I-Expo as your guest? If so, I'm more than happy to oblige."
Striking a Jojo pose that didn't suit All Might, he waggled his index finger from side to side as he clarified in a proud tone, "While it's true I'm inviting you to attend the Expo, there is another reason I'm bringing you along. Dave's daughter, Melissa, is just as brilliant as her father. She also wishes to follow in Dave's footsteps, so, as my successor, I wanted to introduce you. The two of you are similar in age, so she would make a phenomenal sidekick once you become a Pro."
Ren momentarily paused at All Might's words, considering the idea. He genuinely gave a thought over, but All Might's voice interrupted his train of thought as he said in a proud tone looking over Ren, "Lucky for you, she happens to be a very attractive young lady. With your shared interest in developing Support Items, you may be able to become more than sidekicks. You're young, so now is the best time for such things. If you follow my example, you'll end up an old man without anyone to welcome you home."
Ren paused, considering this. He simply nodded as he understood how much All Might sacrificed for his ideals of becoming the Symbol of Peace. All Might explained to Ren the trip would be ready in a few days to head to I-Island as he eventually returned contemplating All Might's words…