ALL-MIGHT IS WORTHY!!"
The words plagued her mind as she struggled to concentrate on the sound of her breathing. Inside her mask, she could feel the warmth of her breath spreading across the lower part of her face. She hardly ever took the thing off. Force of habit, an old remnant of her past life, but also a necessity. The only time she removed it was when she needed to sleep, the reason being that it never seemed to stay put while she tossed and turned at night. The other exception was when she needed to take a shower. Otherwise, the mask stayed on no matter what. Her quirk allowed her lungs to produce any kind of gaseous material and then breathe it out into a radius around her. A powerful ability with an equally powerful drawback. Although she could produce any type of gas she could think of, she was not immune to their effects, hence why she needed to wear a mask.
Though she was careful when it came to how she used her quirk, her lungs had suffered permanent damage from years of use. Every breath was painful and she often had to keep herself from bursting into long fits of coughing. To counteract this, she had had learned out to better control her breathing through meditation and breathing exercises she had learned from her mentor, the man she had once called father.
Kneeling down in front of a low table, her ears focused on the raspy sounds of her breaths. The pain eventually faded away along with the rest of the world around her, as she was left with only herself and her own thoughts...
Like many, Yuka had witnessed Stain's vision being revealed to the entire country. She had been in awe of his statements regarding the current state of their society. His hatred for the ones he called "fake heroes" burned in equal measure within her own heart. Up until that point, Yuka had been wandering the cities of Japan in search of a purpose, something she could strive for. Since the death of her mentor, she had always felt dissatisfied with today's society. Her strong sense of honor cultivated by the many years serving under the Shie Hassaikai had made her utterly disgusted by today's pro heroes, who only cared about money and fame while they played god with the people they were sworn to protect. They held all the power in this unjust society, and Yuka was growing tired of the current status quo. Luckily for her, the League of Villains had taken up the Hero Killer's mantle and were currently looking to increase their numbers.
Giran had been friends with her father back when she was still running with the Shie Hassaikai. They had met only a handful of times during her time with them, but she still had his number even after all these years. She remembered how he had been on good terms with her father before he passed away and figured he would probably be willing to lend her his network of contacts to get in touch with the League of Villains. So, after sending him a cryptic text message, they agreed to meet up at one of the shady speakeasies that Giran visited frequently. The entrance was off a back alley and the door was illuminated by a single exposed light bulb directly on top of the door. Yuka had brought her mask and her sword with her in case things went south. She wasn't expecting any trouble from Giran, but she couldn't be too careful. Since she was running around with a deadly weapon, she sneaked around to where Giran had told her to meet him. The bouncer at the door was kind enough to leave her with her weapon. Criminals frequented this establishment often, so it was commonplace for them to carry weapons with them. This didn't mean that they were free to use them inside the bar, however, but Yuka hadn't planned on attacking anyone tonight. Not unless she was provoked...
As she entered the main area of the shady bar, many eyes shifted towards her. She was one of the few women in the building and was probably the youngest there. While she wasn't so young that she could barely pass for eighteen, she was still one of the few people under the age of thirty in this bar. As she scanned the different people there with her dark eyes, she immediately recognized Giran sitting in a booth at the far end of the bar, smoking a cigarette. She approached him calmly, her eyes fixed on him as she ignored the people that were throwing curious glances in her direction.
"Giran," she said simply, her voice flat and emotionless.
The middle-aged man turned his attention to her, a toothy grin stretching his lips as he recognized the girl in front of him.
"My my Yuka..." He looked her up and down for a few seconds. "You've grown into quite the young lady."
She felt her face twitch slightly at the way he was eyeing her. Her eyes remained completely neutral, while her mask concealed the slight disgust on her face. She took her place on the bench facing him, shifting her sword so that the scabbard rested on her thighs instead of the small of her back where it usually sat.
"It's good to see you again," she said to him, keeping her sentences as short as possible.
"Same here kiddo," Giran chuckled as he took another hit from his cigarette. "I'm surprised I haven't heard about you all this time. For a moment there, I thought you had died alongside your old man, may he rest in peace..."
Yuka's face twitched slightly once again. That was the extent of what her face was allowed to show in terms of an emotional response, and that was mostly because she had yet to conquer that little emotional twitch when she felt anything. She usually had a solid hold on her reactions and her emotions, but seeing Giran again made a whole host of memories rush back in all at once.
"I didn't come here to talk about the past." Yuka said curtly. "I'm here because I need your help finding the League of Villains."
Something in Giran's eyes lit up immediately when she mentioned she was looking for the League of Villains. This got her curious, but her curiosity was obviously concealed from her face entirely as she stared at Giran with her cold, dark eyes.
"The League of Villains, eh?" Giran chuckled once more. "Somehow, this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. In fact, I had a feeling that it was the reason you decided to reach out to me after all this time. I'm suspecting that you've also been inspired by the Hero Killer's actions, correct?"
Yuka scowled behind her mask. She didn't appreciate Giran reading into her so easily, but she also figured that many in her position had come looking for the League of Villains, and if Giran knew how to get into contact with their leader, it would stand reason that a lot of people would be turning to him for help in that regard. She answered him with silence, which only made him laugh even more.
"You haven't changed a bit, haven't you?"
He inhaled a large amount of smoke from his cigarette, then blew it away from their table. Yuka was thankful she had her mask on, since the smell would have most definitely triggered a coughing fit right about now.
"You still haven't told me if you can do it or not..." she replied dryly. Her eyes hadn't left him this whole time.
"Getting in touch with the League won't be a problem," he answered with a crooked smile. "But are you sure you want to be doing this, Yuka? These aren't the honorable samurais you're used to. They're villains, hardened thugs... They operate a lot differently than the Yakuza."
She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm well aware of that, Giran. If I had a problem with how the League operates, I wouldn't have come here asking your help to find them..."
While it was true that she operated more on the honorable side of villainy and that she wasn't a huge fan of wanton violence, she could also appreciate the League's dedication and the amount of resources they had at their disposal. Right now, they were her best chance at bringing real change to this rotten society, regardless of the way some of them chose to do that.
"Alright then," Giran quickly relented. "How would you like to have a meeting with them right now?"
He flashed her another toothy grin. Yuka was surprised by his sudden proposal. She had not planned on meeting with the League tonight, but at the same time, it's not like she had anything better to do. Plus, she was eager to see the League of Villains for herself, so she accepted his proposal by nodding.
"Good. Let's get out of here then, shall we?"
Giran extinguished his cigarette before stepping out of the booth. Yuka followed suit as they both made their way towards the door. Once they were out of the bar, Giran took the lead and started showing her the way towards the League of Villains' hideout. They made sure to stick to the shadows on their way there, following the vast network of alleyways that connected the streets of the Kamino Ward. Yuka remained alert to their surroundings in case of any ambushes, while Giran casually strolled towards the back door of an unassuming building. Once they got inside, Giran led her up a few flights of stairs towards what seemed like a hidden bar. He motioned for her to wait in the hallway, before disappearing inside. A few moments later, he returned to open the door for her, inviting her inside the bar where a whole host of individuals were eagerly waiting for her, some of which she recognized from the media.
"Oh my god! Another girl!"
A shrill voice spoke from the back of the room. She quickly ran up to Yuka as she entered the room and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly.
"You have nooo idea how happy this makes me! It was beginning to feel like a boys club around here. I bet you we're gonna be such good friends..."
Before Yuka could even react to her sudden appearance, another voice called out for the young blonde girl.
" Toga! " The man Yuka recognized as Tomura Shigaraki spoke in a harsh tone. "Step away from her. She's not part of the group yet..."
The girl he had called Toga whined as she sulked back into her seat. The white haired boy sighed next to her, turning his attention towards the newcomer that Giran had brought him. He stood up from his seat, approaching her as he examined her intently from behind his mask. He moved slowly around her, holding his hands at the base of his spine, as Yuka followed him closely with her eyes. It was hard for her to get a read on his expression with his face covered. The only glimpses she managed to get were of his lips, which seemed in desperate need of chapstick. Once he was done with his initial examination of her, he stopped in front of her, still holding his hands together behind his back.
"So," Shigaraki started to speak. "Giran tells me you're ex-Yakuza..." His head bobbed slowly, as if he were looking her up and down. "Well... You certainly have the look of one."
A few surprised gasps emerged from some of the members that were present in the room. The only person that seemed completely disinterested in her at the moment was a tall, dark-haired man with patchwork skin and piercings all over his body. Yuka was unsure from a distance if they were scar tissue or some sort of elaborate tattoo, but in any case, his appearance disgusted her almost as much as Shigaraki's...
"Tell me... what's your name?" he inquired curiously, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"Yuka Sakurazuka," she answered in a flat voice.
"And what is it that you do , Yuka Sakurazuka?"
She eyed the room for a few short seconds, then, in the blink of an eye, unsheathed her saber to strike at a plastic plant that stood near the door. This put everyone in the room on edge, except for Shigaraki, Giran and Kurogiri, who merely stood by and watched. She slid her blade back into its sheath calmly, completely unphased by the tension she had created in the room.
"Interesting..." Shigaraki purred as his hand rose to his neck to start scratching at the skin there. "And what about your quirk?"
For this, she turned her attention towards the man with the patchwork skin, who's hand was now cloaked in blue flames. She walked over towards him, her dark eyes turning a bright shade of yellow as her pupils formed into slits. A quiet hissing sound emerged from her mask as the air around them started to feel heavier and more dense. The man started to have difficulty breathing as his flames became weaker and weaker.
"Wh... What the fuck?!" he said in a raspy voice as he struggled to get the words out.
He fell to one knee as he struggled to breathe. Now that she had gotten closer to him, she could clearly see that the patches on his skin were in fact burn marks, which only made her cringe at the sight of him even more. Others were starting to feel the effects of her quirk in action as they moved away from them. After a short while, she finished exhaling her gas and inhaled deeply to blow oxygen back into the room, her eyes turning a bright shade of blue this time as she activated her quirk. The man she had chosen as her unsuspecting victim started gasping out loudly as he got up from the floor. Meanwhile, Yuka could hear Shigaraki chuckling maniacally behind her.
"I'm not sure what you did, but I feel like we're gonna get along quite nicely ..."
She couldn't help but feel like he was only saying this because she had picked this particular person as her target. Speaking of which, the man had fully risen up to his feet and was now staring daggers at her.
"You're lucky I'm not roasting you alive right now, sweetheart," he growled angrily, prompting her to turn her head towards him as she glared at him with cold eyes.
"Don't call me sweetheart..." she said in a frigid tone.
He snickered amusingly. "I'll call you whatever I want... sweetheart ."
Her blade left its sheath once more as she pressed it to his throat. Her previously emotionless expression was then replaced with a cold hard gaze as she stared him down aggressively.
"Call me sweetheart one more time... I dare you."
"Now now children," the amorphous bartender said in a paternal voice. "Play nicely now..."
"Hoo I like her!" Shigaraki chuckled hysterically as he turned towards Giran. "You've brought me quite the prize this time, Giran!"
"Does that mean she'll be joining us, bossman?" Toga asked excitedly, barely containing herself.
"Just a second there, Toga," Shigaraki calmed himself down. "I just need to know a few more things about our new friend here before I officially invite them to join the League..."
Yuka was still staring down the man she had previously been choking out using her quirk. Once she heard Shigaraki say that he had more questions for her, she slowly lowered her weapon before turning towards the leader with a slightly disinterested look.
"What would you like to know?" Her previously flat tone returned.
"I want to know more about your quirk and how it works..." He punctuated his word with another curious head tilt.
Yuka blinked slowly as she finished putting away her sword. "My lungs can create any kind of gas that I want. I merely need to imagine it and the air in my lungs starts transforming into what I want it to be. I can then breathe the gas out in a radius around me, affecting the area with it..."
"I see..." Shigaraki said with interest. "We had someone else with a similar quirk pass through here not too long ago, but your quirk seems a lot more powerful than his. Also, you seem a lot more mature than he is... How old are you?"
Yuka cocked her eyebrow slightly. "A bit of a personal question, don't you think? But if you must know... I'm 27."
"Yes, much more mature... And regarding your quirk, I'm assuming you're wearing a mask to counteract its effects?"
"Precisely. I am not immune to the effects of my quirk."
"I'm also assuming it lets you release your gasses without having to remove it..."
"You're quite perceptive... Surprisingly so even."
She heard a slight chuckle coming from the young man behind her, prompting her to throw him a short glance in his direction, before looking back towards an unamused Shigaraki.
"Anyways..." He tried moving on from her last comment. "I think I've asked all that I wanted... Welcome to the League of Villains, Yuka Sakurazuka. Oh that reminds me... Got an alias you want us to use?"
"I go by Miasma nowadays," she answered cryptically.
"Alrighty then! Welcome to the League of Villains, Miss Miasma!"
"Yayyyy!!" Toga jumped out of her stool and charged at her again to hug her once more. "We're gonna be best friends, Miasma! Just you see!"
Yuka let out a disgusted noise from behind her mask, while the guy she unceremoniously attacked earlier scoffed at Shigaraki's decision.
"Are we just gonna ignore the fact that she almost choked me to death?" he complained in a gruff voice.
"Don't be so dramatic, Dabi," Toga said as she turned to look at him.
"Honestly Dabi," Shigaraki sighed. "If that's all it takes for someone to kill you, then maybe I misjudged your usefulness to the League..."
He then motioned for Kurogiri to open up a warp gate for him. As the portal opened up in front of him, he seemed to be reminded of something.
"Oh, before I leave..." He turned towards Miasma. "There's a vacant room left for you. Be sure to move in by the end of tomorrow..."
Yuka nodded silently before watching him disappear into the dark portal. Once he had left the room, the air suddenly felt a lot lighter without his presence. She made her way to the bar and sat down on one of the stools, making sure to avoid the one Shigaraki had been sitting on prior. She then lowered her mask from her face, letting it hang from her neck and sighing deeply as she inhaled the air inside the bar. The air wasn't too polluted in here, she thought to herself. As she made herself more comfortable, she was joined by Toga and Kurogiri, who had been wiping down a glass before she sat down.
"Welcome to the team," he greeted her in a low, smooth voice. "Might I interest you in a drink, perhaps?"
"Some warm sake would be really nice," she answered him dryly.
He nodded at her request and quickly got to work making her drink. Meanwhile, Toga stared at her intently, holding her face in her hands as she leaned against the bar with her elbows. She swung her legs under her stool hyperactively, staring at her with blushing cheeks. After a moment of silence where she and most of her newfound comrades stood there staring at her, she eventually side-eyed the young girl before lowering her head again.
"Is there... something I can do for all of you?" she asked in a mildly annoyed voice.
"I was just thinking about the fact that you carry a sword just like Mr. Stainy!" Toga mused cheerfully. "Does that mean that you admire him as well?"
Yuka sighed deeply. She was already annoyed with her new coworkers...
"I really don't see how that's any of your business..." she answered in a low voice.
"Aww come on Mia'! We're supposed to become good friends, you and I!"
Yuka growled slightly. "Don't call me Mia... Call me Yuka if you don't want to use my villain name... Also, I'm not here to make friends."
"But Mia sounds so cute! It's such a cute nickname!" Toga mused, completely ignoring the last part of her statement.
"Now now, Miss Toga," a man's voice came from behind them. "I wouldn't cross our newest companion just yet."
The man in question was tall and wore a bright mustard yellow trench coat. On his head, he wore a large top hat and a mask, reminiscent of a magician. There was a very debonair allure to him which Yuka appreciated, but not so much as to make her turn towards him. She briefly acknowledged his presence with a quick side glance, then went back to staring at the wall in front of her.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he said to her politely, taking off his hat in an elegant flourish. "Sako Atsuhiro, but you may call me Mr. Compress, milady..."
"Already laying it on thick with the charm there, Compress?" Dabi said in the background. He had moved from his previous position over to the wall next to the main entrance.
Yuka exhaled through the nose. "At least he has charm, unlike some of you..."
A few snickers could be heard from the other members in the room. Dabi merely scoffed at her words, looking away nonchalantly as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Whatever, sweetheart..."
She stared at him with an unimpressed look. She had a feeling he wasn't going to let go of that nickname anytime soon... not until she would make him stop. But right now, she wasn't interested in teaching him a lesson. Instead, she turned her attention towards Mr. Compress and nodded at him.
"It's nice to meet you..." At least he had been polite to her...
"The pleasure is mine, Miss Yuka," Compress answered in a charming tone, visibly not at all bothered by his colleague's remark.
"Ayyo it's my turn to say hello to the new girl!/Buzz off chick!"
A man wearing a black and white skin tight suit approached her, speaking in different voices. Yuka frowned confusingly at the way he was speaking to her, unsure if he actually wanted to come talk to her or wanted nothing to do with her.
"Umm..." she started to speak in an unsure tone.
"Don't mind Twice, Mia!" Toga reassured her in a cheerful voice. "He's just constantly fighting a battle against himself."
"Heyy quit telling everyone about my demons, Toga!/Thank you wifeyyy!" He spoke.
"Oookay..." Yuka said as she watched the two (three?) of them interact. "So your name is Twice, correct?"
"Heck yeah it is!/Actually, my name is Jin Bubaigawara. A pleasure to make your acquaintance!/Hope I never see you again!"
She didn't know exactly what to make of this man. He was clearly deranged, but seemed eager to meet her nonetheless. She merely nodded at his words before turning towards Kurogiri who had returned to her with a hot bottle of sake and a glass.
"Your sake, ma'am," he said as he presented the warm beverage to her.
"Much obliged, sir," she answered back as she bowed respectfully.
"Wow you really are uptight," Dabi commented with a slight snicker. "Did your old Yakuza teachers put that stick up your ass or were you just born with it?"
Yuka exhaled loudly once again, rolling her eyes at him. Luckily, she didn't have to respond to him, as someone else stepped in to do it for her.
"Come on Dabi! Give it a rest! Why don't you go jerk it in your room instead of bothering everyone?"
The person that had intervened spoke with a very effeminate voice, despite their appearance being somewhere between masculine and feminine. Yuka stared at them up and down, trying to figure out what gender they were. They inevitably turned towards her, offering her a smile behind their tinted glasses.
"Sorry about him," they replied. "He's just salty because no one's managed to humiliate him like you did just now. By the way, I'm Magne! But you can call me Big Sis like the rest of them do."
Yuka nodded in thanks while Dabi just continued brooding, before finally deciding on leaving the main area after being shunned by his peers.
"Fine... It's not like I wanted to hang out with you losers anyway," he said in a huff before disappearing behind the curtain door leading to the back of the bar.
Yuka shook her head disapprovingly. "Is he always such a pain in the ass?"
"Sadly, yes," Magne replied. "But you'll get used to him."
"I'm not sure I want to..." Yuka answered as she took her first sip of sake. The hot beverage was doing wonders on the soreness in her throat that was left over from the use of her quirk.
"Don't worry Mia!" Toga interjected eagerly. "Big Sis and I will keep you safe from him..."
"I can take care of myself, you know?" Yuka's voice was flat and unamused.
"I know that! But that's what friends do, you know?"
"We're not friends..."
"Not yet !"
It was pointless to struggle against her enthusiasm, so Yuka decided to let it be. She merely sipped on her drink quietly, trying desperately to tune out the sounds of their voices as she drank what Kurogiri had served her. She was slowly starting to regret joining the League of Villains, but only time would tell if her regrets would progress any further...