Why was he here? To look for an underground broker for villains. To try and find a way to stop the HPSC? To avoid the awkward situation he has involving the serial killer he lives with? Izuku stopped himself from crying, looking back at the Nomu he had just beheaded. Dust littered the ground by its neck, its tongue disconnected from the rest of the body, lying under where the man stood.. Trying to calm himself down. The man in front of him was crying.. Staring daggers into him. “That’s..” In the back of his head he felt as if something wasn’t right, His emotions seemed to be out of control. He looked around the wrecked buildings, nothing standing out in the quiet atmosphere. “Look let me get you out of here, is there anywhere you feel safe enough to be left?’
The man in question huffed Beginning to limp his way back the way he came. Picking up a glove and putting it on in a slow and methodical nature, his hands shaking from the effort.
Izuku followed the man, eying the surroundings, His mind on edge.
“So, what happened to the blade you had?”
The man turned “Not everyone carries around knives and swords you know?”
Izuku was surprised. “Sorry. It was just such a clean cut… although it could’ve been a quirk. That’s quite the strong quirk there.”
The man Changed the subject, clearly uncomfortable “Who are you anyways”
“Oh you can call me Luruni!” Izuku said in an all too excited manner.
Hatsume Industries Workshop TM
A ping sound rang in the empty room, both occupants jumped up from their work. Seeing a flashing screen labeled #74 97% match found
He stared at the footage, not believing his eyes “So, he is alive.” He almost couldn’t believe his own voice, they had been searching for so long. The camera had notified them of a large commotion, before heading towards the loud screams, assuming that if their friend was in the area, he’d head towards that.
The lady next to him shoved him away, typing something into the computer. “I told you so!"
“Yea, yea. But who is that with him?”
He saw the camera zoom in on the lead man, his face was mostly hidden by a hood, until the little camera began to scurry in front of the pair. Getting a good look at the chapped lips and sunken eyes.
Hatsume pulled up a different tab, typing in a few words before a police sketch popped up. Some of the details were wrong but they definitely shared a similarity.
Shinsou read the heading, not believing his eyes “Shigaraki.. You mean the guy that killed All Might?”
Hatsume piped in “Maybe he is taking him to the police?” she sounded more hopeful than anything.
Shinsou stared at the screen, looking at his friend's face. A face that had an extra scar on the cheek, and bags under his eyes. But he still saw that same drive in his eyes. The drive that had gotten him a chance at heroics in the first place. “I don’t think he recognizes who that is. And the lead guy is limping. I’m pretty sure he had been fighting the big purple guy. We saw…” they still hadn’t really decided what to do with that information.
Hatsume shook her head “That’s a Nomu, why would one attack the guy who controls the things?”
Shinsou remembered the article, he doesn’t think anyone in Japan could forget it. A guy controlled a monster of All Might level strength, it only followed his commands. He had also heard stories from whispered conversations in 1A. He rubbed his temple “This doesn’t make any sense.”
Hatsume piped in, “We can just watch for a bit, now that we know where he is we can go find him.”
They had discussed this in depth when they had first agreed to look for him together. Shinsou had seeked her out. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to find the gremlin alone. She had started her own business after UA fell apart, and it was doing well, people buying her equipment in mass. Especially after Detranet went under.
Shinsou was antsy though, “Let’s just go get him then.”
Hatsume shook her head, fiddling with the project in her hand. “Too risky, you know we are being watched, he is a wanted criminal after all. They assume he will meet us, being his friends.”
Hitoshi remembered the several times the police or heroes had come to interrogate Hatsume, the several people passing by the Hatsume complex. He pulled out another ice coffee, turning on his laptop to begin research on Hosu. he was gonna know everything he could, including satellite images of the area they had found him. His friend was alive, and he was gonna make sure he stayed that way.
Hatsume could’ve gotten into almost any school, but when UA had closed she had found herself already with a rabid customer base. People who had seen her inventions at the Sport’s festival. That and the sudden loss in supply meant her works were even more invaluable. Although she had found the whole thing lacking stimulation. Most people just want things that boost their quirks, or limit their drawbacks. Which wasn't very hard to figure out, she could do it in her sleep. She had grown bored already, nothing really challenging her. So when Shinsou had come to her door, asking for her help with nothing but a bag and eyes full of tired determination. Well her whole world suddenly felt so much more alive. Every day was new, having to dodge the government, hacking into secure servers. Scouring cities for any sign of Midoriya. And she had someone there who kept her company, someone who she could bounce off of. Not that she didn’t love her parents, but they never really challenged her, only congratulating and praising her.
She unfolded the equipment she had been building all morning, it was a device that targeted HPSC software, forcing a shutdown. She fiddled with it some more. Spinning in her chair. It had to be perfect, they’d only get one shot before countermeasures would be put into place. There could be no hiccups.
In a Unmarked HPSC Building
It was raining Shoto stood still, watching the ice pierce his father’s neck and chest, his eyes one of shock, falling over and showing a scared boy, huddled in the corner. Shoto saw his younger self there. Cowering from the now dead man. “I…”
Shoto breathed heavily, feeling himself fall to the ground, snipe standing over him shaking his head “You zoned out there, is everything alright kid?” Shoto pulled himself up getting back into a fighting stance, but his new trainer backed off. “Don’t think I’m gonna continue training after that. It looked like..” he got interrupted by their babysitter. She leaned on the wall “Seemed to me like the kid had a flashback.”
She sighed, rubbing her temple “It had been hard enough to get Keigo to stop..’ she spoke as if it was a minor annoyance, something that was more annoying than an actual problem. Snipe answered back “And it seemed like he needs therapy before I can continue to train him. Unless you want to risk the boy going catatonic.” The lady sighed, pulling out her phone “Fine, no more hand to hand training, but I still expect the boy to complete his quirk training” Shoto slumped as he saw his teacher glare at the girl, fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist. “Fine but If he has another episode I will stop it.”
She waved her hand in a dismissive manner. “If he does, we will sort it out.”
Life has been like this ever since his abduction, training, lack of any real human contact besides the two bickering adults in front of him, It reminded him too much of home, of his father. He dragged himself up as the babysitter motioned him to move. They headed down sprawling corridors of windowless rooms. All locked behind keycard scanners. She scanned her device pushing Shoto into a room that had nothing but a computer screen, and a chair. Sitting down he stared up at the screen until it changed, showing a middle aged man on the other side, his hair graying, a smile plastered onto his face. “Hello, how may I help you” he droned out.
Shoto stared at the man, who seemed to be on his phone.
He looked up after a few minutes. “Look kid, I can’t help you if you don’t yap.”
Adults are all the same. None of them cared for you
“Whatever kid, sit there in silence if you want, I get paid by the hour.”
They sat together in silence, the only sound being that of the man typing on his phone.
His mind drifted back to that night, like it always did. He remembered being dazed, Coming back into consciousness in the sky, hearing Hawks speak on the intercom, whilst staring down at his principals and his father’s corpses. Lying down in the alley. And he heard the man who had also soaked his hands in blood that night convince whoever he was talking to to not kill him. He should’ve killed me there, Would’ve saved them the hassle of doing it later.
He knew the second they realized he wasn’t gonna be their puppet he’d be axed, and he didn’t really care. I’m no better than father. He laughed to himself. It was funny, his father killed his older brother, and now he had killed father. It was almost poetic, like those old Greek myths.
“You know kid, if you want to not end up in a psych ward, maybe laughing to yourself after being dumped into therapy isn’t the best way.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
He stopped laughing, his face falling back into its comfortable mask. “Not that it matters, I’m dead either way.”
The man hummed “Why is that?”
“The second they realize I am not useful I’ll be disposed of, I’ve seen too much.” he said it with totality, as if he had already accepted his own death.
The man nodded “And if that’s true, then why are you still here?”
“What?” Shoto looked back up at the screen, the man eying him with a bored look. A nametag showed the name Gilaire.
“Why do you still train, why are you still trying if you want to die.”
“I’m not..”
“Oh please, you could throw a fit, try to escape or even just lock yourself into your room. Hell with a quirk like yours it’d be easy to off yourself if you wanted to. So I’ll ask again, why are you still here, what drives you?”
“You’re an awful therapist, you know that?”
The man gave a dry laugh “I get that a lot, but you still haven’t answered my question”
Why am I still here? Why would I?’ His mind flashed to the worried look of Midoriya, his calming presence. He remembered the rough guidance of Snipe. He remembered his siblings worried glances in the hallways. Their occasional hushed conversations. He remembered Hawks arguing for his survival. Nezu guarding him from Stain. So many people had struggled for him to get this far.
“I can’t die yet, Not until I repay my debts.”
“I’ve heard worse reasons to live, you should’ve heard Ke…” the man’s face lit up for just a moment, before he sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Hold onto that feeling kid, and don’t forget why you keep moving.”
The door behind him opened, a guard walking in. “Time's up, let’s go kid.”
Shoto looked back at the screen, only for it to be blank. He walked out back into the bland hallways, a new determination filling him.
Gilaire leaned back in his chair. “That kid reminds me of you, Keigo.” he thought back to his meetings with the kid, one in particular coming to mind.
17 years ago..
Gilaire sat down, ready for his first patient at his new job. He had landed a nice position at the HPSC, The benefits were even better than the governments, and he got paid more than any other job. Although he had balked at the number of NDA’s (Non disclosure agreements) he had to sign. He looked at the paper once more, the boy he was working with apparently had issues training, especially when it came to fire. He tapped his desk. turning on the screen to see a boy with wings sitting there, his frame seemed thin, too thin for even a boy with an avian mutation. He looked no older than 6 What the fuck have I gotten into
“I’m Gilaire, what’s your name kid?”
“Keigo,” the boy answered, shaking like a leaf.
They talked for a bit, allowing him to get to know the boy, as well as get the kid to calm down some.
But he eventually had to get to the topic at hand.
“So what happened today Keigo?”
The boy had stiffened up again. “I had… ran from training today.”
“Can you tell me why?”
“They had used fire, to test my.. durability.
He hoped that didn’t mean what he thought it meant. “So you ran because of pain?”
The boy shook his head “-ran when I saw it.”
Sounded like it was more than just the threat of burning. “Have you had bad experiences with fire before?”
The boy curled up, covering himself with his wings.
Shit I fucked up, clearly it’s bad
He wrote it down, noting down the new information. As he was writing his report the boy spoke up “Dad..”
Your father, what has he done?”
“Sold me, but before.. He would get angry.. And would put out his cigarettes with my …” his wings folded in on themselves and Gilare got the message. But he had said his father had sold him, so did the commission save this boy? “You said you had been sold, was this before the Commission found you?”
The boy shook his head “They bought me.. Didn’t you know that?”
The doors opened, and the boy was escorted away.
11 years ago. The boy he had been helping all this time was finally growing out, his wings had grown faster than his body though, his wings twice as long as he was tall. Keigo had recently had an incident he had been charged with dealing with. Although he had quickly learned that he wasn’t meant to do anything more than just talk to the kids. Turns out Keigo wasn’t the only one in this program he had joined, there were 3 other kids, a set of twins. One boy and one girl. The girl, Keino Tsutsumi had a quirk that allowed her to craft bullets out her hair, and put them into a gun she forms from her right elbow. She had a litany of her own problems, her brother, a boy named Akihiro Tsutsumu hadn’t been born with a quirk. But he was very effective with close ranged weapons, together they made for a deadly duo, able to cover up each other's weaknesses. He had seen them train first hand. They had both been found on the streets, apparently running from home. And the last boy. Had a very strange quirk, it allowed him to make people see their worst fears, he had accidentally used it on his parents, who had given him away to the foster system, where the commission picked him up. However that boy was now dead, having been found in his room. He hadn’t asked for more details past that.
But that had brought him into his first meeting with Keigo in 3 years, the boy had seemed fine before that. But now he walked in. he sat across the table, not looking into Gilaire’s eyes. “How have you been Keigo?”
The boy didn’t look over, preferring to stare at his Endeavor poster on the wall. He had bought it when he learned of the boy’s affinity for the man. “You know.”
He sighed “What happened to him isn't your..”
“It is! It’s all my fault.”
“And why is that?”
The boy fiddled with his wings. “I.. he had asked for me to help him escape.. He had said he couldn’t handle it anymore and he’d either had to leave or end… end it all.”
This took Gilaire by surprise, he hadn’t gotten an inkling of the boy’s sorrows from their regular meetings.
Keigo continued “He had given me an ultimatum when I had said no. Either I'd help.. Or I wouldn’t tell anyone and he’d handle it. AND I DIDN'T TELL ANYONE! Some hero, right?”
The boy looked over, daring Gilaire to accuse him, to berate him. “Look Keigo, that’s a decision no 12 year old should be forced to make. I’m sorry we hadn’t.. No, I hadn't noticed sooner. But the responsibility doesn’t fall on you.”
The boy scoffed “No it’s okay Keigo, you just failed at the one job we had been training you for since you could remember Keigo..” the boy had said in a mocking tone.
“Look kid, I can’t make your guilt disappear, but do me a favor and think of what he would’ve wanted you to do, would he have wanted you to sit here and beat yourself up over it. Ok? “
The boy had nodded, leaving him alone in the room as he wrote his report, he walked into his supervisor's office, stepping in. “Here’s the report, I’d make sure to address the lingering guilt involving his friend.”
She nodded “Yes that will be quite useful, Guilt is such a good motivator after all.”
Gilaire held onto the report pulling back slowly “You don’t mean to weaponize the boy’s trauma do you?”
She gave him a sympathetic look as she leaned back “We have to use everything to make these kids into perfect assets, you are aware that this will speed up his progress by twofold. “
“Even if it does it won’t be good for his mental stability, You don’t want that.”
She shrugged “I have faith in our subjects, they seem hardy… well most of them anyhow. This is all within acceptable parameters.”
“You call the death of a child acceptable! I got brought here to help them, not feed them to the damn wolves!”
She turned over, looking at the wall “See I told you he was too attached, If this keeps up he will be a flight risk..”
A man stepped out, an older man in a suit. Someone he recognized as the head of the HPSC “Getting the kids a new therapist in the most important part of their development would be rough.” he snapped his fingers “we will just keep him in a separate facility, they can still do call sessions after all.”
Gilaire paled, realizing they were discussing his life.
His supervisor nodded “But I want a security detail on him, can’t have him going the same way as subject #2.”
“I gave you full autonomy in this department, I don’t care what is done, as long as it’s done.” he walked off, leaving him alone with his supervisor, who had a terrifying smile on her face.
The present
He remembered back when he could afford to care about his patients. Back when he thought he could make a difference in their lives. Back before he had lost a patient to suicide, another who had outlived their usefulness, locked away in Tartarus. and the last two, both stuck under a system that doesn't care for their lives. He had become a therapist to help children, not help kids being fashioned into murderers cope with their new lives. But he couldn’t just leave, he’d be killed for sure. And no matter how much he hated the position he was in, he was too much of a coward to try to leave.
He wrote his report, being sure to include almost everything, although he left out the last part of their conversation.. He found it best to not let the commission have any more ammo on the kids than necessary.
They deserved at least that much.