The boy with dead-looking eyes suddenly awoke.
In an instant, he sat up and looked around.The place was a small, dark room lit only by a single faint light.
Anyone used to spending time indoors would feel an odd sense of discomfort upon entering that room.
Not that entering it was even possible. After all, the room had no windows.
No entrance either.
It was, quite literally, a sealed room.
Because no sunlight entered, a small light had been left on.
Yet he noticed that, in addition to the few objects casting shadows, a large new shadow was beginning to form.
A black haze — a warp gate.
"...This is the worst. Why the hell do I have to be woken up like this first thing in the morning?"
"You still wake up quickly, I see. Though your mood upon waking seems rather poor."
"Thanks to you, Blackie. ...What do you want?"
To the boy's question, the man wrapped in black haze — Kurogiri — responded with a sigh, as if pressing him not to run.
"...Ah, just kidding. Don't look at me like that."
"So even you make jokes. First time I've seen that side of you."
"That's the real bad joke here."
"Indeed. ...Shigaraki Tomura is calling for you. He's going to explain the final details of the operation to everyone, so please come along. Contact me once you're ready. I'll return immediately."
Having said what he came to say, Kurogiri promptly activated his quirk and left.
Perhaps he'd been considerate of his just-woken state.
For a villain, Kurogiri was surprisingly gentlemanly.
Why someone who seemed so serious would follow that broken old relic, looking after that deranged anti–All Might zealot, was beyond him.
Not that he was all that interested anyway.
Besides, the one who was truly insane was himself.
The boy, Hachiman Hikigaya, looked up — as though praying for forgiveness from a god who might be watching.
Please, give me a break. How did it end up like this?
...All he saw was a plain white ceiling.
Today, he would kill All Might.
He would be forced to help in that act.
Being told to do it as if he were just running an errand had nearly broken his spirit for the first time in a long while.
Among the few things given to him, he used the bathroom to wash his body, then dressed and prepared himself.
He'd been told to contact them once ready, but he wouldn't.
Shigaraki would lose patience and send Kurogiri to fetch him anyway.
All his actions were being monitored.
The old relic's constant hedging against every possible risk filled him only with irritation.
Soon enough, the warp gate began to reappear.
A faint commotion could be heard from the other side.
That commotion dragged his mood down even further.
At what would his hands be aimed?
The step forward into the black was more terrifying than anything else.
__________________________________________________________
"Everyone's here, right? We'll go over the whole procedure now. If there's any fool who misses something, I'll tear them apart."
Clapping his fingers, Shigaraki looked over the gathered shadows and spoke.
In fact, he had already necrotized one young man in front of them for "bad manners."
Shigaraki Tomura — his quirk is Decay. If he wants, he can kill a person in seconds.
At the dead-looking eyes and the deadly earnestness in his words, the thugs Shigaraki had gathered trembled inwardly.
"...Alright, you all understand. ...I'll start the explanation. Kurogiri."
"Yes."
Kurogiri stepped forward as if the rest was finished, while Shigaraki sank into the chair on the stage. The thugs knew Kurogiri well — after all, most of them had been rounded up by his quirk.
"I'll break this down into broad phases. Phase one: we begin infiltration using my quirk. During that time, Jack will activate his electromagnetic-wave quirk and accompany the entry."
Kurogiri recited only the necessary details in a flat tone, and his demeanor turned the petty criminals into soldiers willing to throw themselves at the objective.
"If infiltration succeeds, we move to phase two. We'll send squads suited to each hazard zone — that is, you. Those sent in will engage the students. Phase three begins there. You may kill them if needed. However — they are hero trainees, so don't get careless. After infiltration, I will send the students your way with my quirk when an opening appears; prepare yourselves until then."
The color-gang members, thieves, and villains with resigned, rotten eyes began to change expression.
"Besides the students, watch out for pro heroes. Present will be Eraser Head, Number 13, and All Might. Push with numbers against Eraser Head and Number 13 so Shigaraki can finish them. One or both may be protecting the students — whichever side goes to defense, I will handle."
When All Might's name was spoken, they finally swallowed reality and grew certain.
"And the final obstacle and main objective: All Might. The Nomus will engage him first. After that, I will go and deal the finishing blow."
We're going to kill All Might, they understood.
"Also, the main building houses many pro heroes. Infrared sensors and the like won't activate because Jack's quirk will block them, but if anyone manages to call for help, we lose. In short — make sure the students can't escape."
"And Connector, your role... you'll have basically no assigned tasks. Stay by Jack's side and protect him if things go south."
...Connector?
A murmur of doubt ran through the soldiers when the named man was called. Jack was expected — his name was somewhat known among villains and those in the shadows. He's fairly famous as a villain who causes radio interference to disable alarms and isolate targets, then robs them.
But the name Connector was unfamiliar. Looking back at the stage during Kurogiri's explanation, there was only Kurogiri speaking, Shigaraki with many hands attached to his face and body as their leader, and a huge man — a Nomu — with black skin covering a large frame and a monstrous face.
"There's also a possibility you'll help with killing All Might — if the Nomu or Shigaraki fall. In that case, we'll transfer you here immediately, and stop All Might."
"Yeah, right. Can I even do that?"
They turned to the source of the reply. There, indeed, was a human — a young man mingled among the soldiers, wearing a grimy gray hooded coat. From his voice he was definitely male, but his face could not be seen. His build was average; his back was terribly hunched, probably once straighter. Perhaps still a teenager — his voice sounded young.
...To be honest, he looked like any random homeless kid. He did not seem like the kind of capable person Kurogiri would single out. In fact, he was denying Kurogiri's suggestion.
"Maybe second only to the Nomu in potential."
"...I'm worst with types like All Might, though."
He spoke in a surprisingly casual tone. The soldiers listening were dumbfounded, and because of that surprise they were slow to confirm the facts.
...Did Kurogiri just tell that Connector kid to stop All Might?
"Also, you'll act as rear guard when we flee. If the heroes target us while we're running, we can't handle it — you're good at one-versus-many fights, right?"
"Too many jobs... No way, seriously no. I'd be running like hell."
Shigaraki added yet more demands. Those around him began to reassess the boy called Connector. Could it be that this kid was strong...?
"You really think you can do that? For real? I won't stop you if you want to try."
The boy's words stopped in response to Shigaraki's taunting tone. He seemed to be thinking about something. Other than that, there was no obvious change in his demeanor, but Kurogiri frowned. No one noticed the instant, but Kurogiri was clearly chastising Shigaraki with his expression.
"Hey? What's it going to be, Connector—?"
"Don't call my name all fancy-like..."
With a small sigh, the boy looked at Shigaraki. From the eyes peeking from under his hood, two feelings could be seen. Shigaraki nodded satisfiably — he understood Connector would take the job.
Shigaraki rose from his chair and looked down at the soldiers; their eyes glittered. Only one pair looked resigned, but that didn't matter. When the operation started, there would be no choice but to act — not only Shigaraki, but Connector understood that too.
"We begin operations in approximately two hours — at 1:30 PM. First: the destruction of U.A. High. Final: the extermination of All Might!"
A roar rose.
Covering his ears against the echoing shouts, Connector noted that Kurogiri was still in the middle of explaining.
__________________________________________________________
Mid-April.
Our Class 1-A was wearing our respective costumes and heading by bus to the rescue training site. ...Incidentally, I was the only one in gym clothes. The combat training the other day was so intense my costume got damaged.
On the bus, everyone was chatting about the upcoming training. Not a strict briefing or anything—more like our eyes were sparkling as we wondered what we'd be doing.
"Rescue, huh... Yukinon looks like she could just zip in and rescue people in no time!"
"'Zip in,' you say..."
"Compared to that, I'll probably take a little longer..."
"...Your quirk is very rare, and in disaster relief it's practically the optimal solution. I'm sure you can become a one-of-a-kind hero."
"Eh!? Uh, ehehe ♡ Thank you, Yukinooon!"
"H-hey... don't cling to me so much..."
It seemed Yukinoshita-san and Yuigahama-san were the same as ever. ...Why do I feel like I should look away?
Seeing them like that, they really just looked like ordinary high schoolers. I almost forgot how shaken we all were the other day.
But, Yuigahama-san aside, Yukinoshita-san definitely isn't just a normal high schooler. After I first spoke with her, I looked into her and the others a bit, and was shocked. To us, Yukinoshita-san was someone way up in the clouds.
Yukinoshita Yukino. Alias: Outsnow. Apparently it means snow that falls from the sky... honestly I don't really get the name.
By "alias," I mean she actually holds a pro license. Of course, "pro" as in Pro Hero.
But she isn't a Pro Hero.
Strictly speaking, she has the pro license, but she hasn't debuted as a Pro Hero, nor is she a sidekick at any agency.
Still, holding a pro license lets her exercise authority equivalent to a Pro Hero. For example, using her quirk in the course of hero activities—a privilege ordinary people don't have.
What's more, she supposedly got her pro license in her third year of middle school.
They say talent like that appears once in several years. In the past few years there have been three, apparently... Even so, it shows how exceptionally precocious and capable she is as a hero.
I need to learn from her!
...But it seems the fact that Yukinoshita-san has a pro license wasn't widely publicized. On a hero information website, there was only a one-year-old notice saying a girl had obtained a pro license. Only after digging in did I finally learn her name was Yukinoshita Yukino. I wonder if there's a reason...
"I say whatever I'm thinking, Midoriya-chan."
"Huh?! Asui-san!?"
"Call me Tsuyu-chan."
"Curly-hair boy stutters too much, it's hilarious! Just like a certain someone!"
Asui-san suddenly spoke to me and my voice cracked.
Is saying "hilarious" Orimoto-san's catchphrase? I've never had someone like her around me before. ...Well, I didn't really have many friends.
"No, not quite, Orimoto-san. If it were that man, he wouldn't be able to speak at all."
"Ahh, true... How's someone like that even supposed to become a hero?"
"He said he didn't need 'social rehab!' Said he'd do everything by himself!"
"It's worse precisely because he can."
"...Weren't you all asked by Hiratsuka-sensei to help rehabilitate him? Especially you, Yukinoshita."
"...Oh my, Kawasaki-san. And where did you hear that?"
"I think Komachi-chan said so..."
"Heard it via Taishi."
While I was getting flustered with Asui-san about quirks, the five from Soubu were talking about a certain person. Maybe she was someone central to them? It seemed that person wasn't here.
"If we're talking flashy and strong, it's gotta be Bakugo and Todoroki, right?"
Phew, the topic finally changed.
Kacchan and Todoroki-kun, huh. True enough. Explosions for Kacchan, and for Todoroki-kun his quirk is half-cold half-hot... was it?
Classic hero-type abilities straight out of anime or comics.
Kacchan is insanely strong despite his personality, and as for Todoroki-kun, I heard he shut out both Ojiro-kun and Hagakure-san by himself. He'll probably be popular... well, at least Todoroki-kun will.
"Bakugo-chan flies off the handle, so he won't be popular."
"Say that again and I'll blow you up!!!"
"See?"
Kirishima-kun, caught between Kacchan and Asui-san, had a very complicated expression. Jiro-san, too. I have a feeling Kirishima-kun's going to keep suffering collateral damage from Kacchan... just a hunch.
"In this short time we've already pegged your personality as sewage-boiled crap. Impressive."
"What's wrong with your vocabulary—die!!!"
"Yours is weirdly narrow too, which is hilarious!"
"Is that the only thing you can say?!"
Ahhh, Kacchan's become the butt of the jokes... Kaminari-kun and Orimoto-san are seriously bold. And they seem utterly unfazed by Kacchan. This is U.A., huh...!
"...Just a hunch, but Deku-kun's thinking about something totally unrelated right now, isn't he..."
"...I have the same feeling."
"Is this class going to be okay like this?"
"Who knows... A-ahaha."
"By the way, Yukinoshita-san, I have a question."
"What is it, Yaoyorozu-san?"
"What's up?"
"It's about the person we brought up earlier..."
Twitch.
Yaoyorozu-san was asking Yukinoshita-san and the others about the person from before.
It was only curiosity, but I still couldn't help being interested.
"...You want to know about him."
"So something did happen? Ah, but if you don't want to talk about it, that's totally fine...!"
"No, I don't mind. I figured I'd have to talk about it eventually. It's basically the reason we're aiming to be heroes."
"Yukinon..."
"I'd like everyone to listen. We might even get some useful information."
"Hm? Something the matter, Yukinoshita-kun?"
"What is it, what is it—?"
Everyone in Class A turned their eyes to Yukinoshita-san. Aizawa-sensei glanced our way too, but he didn't seem intent on stopping it; his gaze returned to the front immediately.
"...There was a boy among us. His name is Hikigaya Hachiman. He used to be our..."
There she paused, seeming to struggle over the right word. Yuigahama-san looked a little troubled too.
"...Mm—friend? No, that's not quite it."
"To me, he was a best friend."
"I'm... not sure. A classmate? Maybe. A brother-friend... perhaps."
"I'm a former middle-school classmate! A lot happened, though—"
While the four gave their answers, Yukinoshita-san seemed to be choosing her words slowly and carefully.
"...Former enemy."
"E-enemy!?"
"Yukinoshita-san's answer is completely different..."
"Geez, Yukinon!! No point getting bashful here!"
"I-I'm not blushing..."
"Man, Hikigaya sure is a lucky guy!"
"Ahaha, totally."
"What is he doing... honestly."
"C-could this be, like, that kind of story?"
With a huge grin, Ashido-san leaned in. If the bus weren't moving, she'd probably have pounced. Looking closely, most of the girls were smirking, while a few of the boys (Mineta-kun and Kaminari-kun) were shedding tears of frustration. Hey, those look like real tears.
"...Yes. ...Phew..."
"...He's someone precious to me."
"To me too—someone special."
"Endaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Noooooooooooooooooo!"
"Quiet."
With just one word from the teacher to the two who screamed, the bus instantly transformed into a very well-mannered group of passengers.
...Thanks to them, though, we missed a lot of important details.
For example: where that boy is now and what he's doing.
__________________________________________________________
"...You ready, punks?"
"Yeah!!!
"Central Plaza Shooting Squad, ready anytime!!"
"Central Plaza Melee Squad, all set to smash 'em up!"
"Flood, fire, mountain, landslide, heavy rain and storm ambush squads—ready to deploy!!"
"Jack, you'll be warped first. Activate your quirk as you go through the gate."
"Got it."
"Connector, you understand, right? Don't hold back when the fighting starts."
"..."
"Nomu... no need. Let's go, Kurogiri."
"Yes. Sensei... we're off, then."
"Ah. Shigaraki Tomura—do your best to kill All Might."
"Yeah."
...
"...'Do your best to kill him'—that's messed up."
"What's wrong, Connector-kun? Hurry up and go. If not Kurogiri, then Tomura will lose patience."
"You really think he can be killed? The Symbol of Peace?"
"He can indeed, if you put your mind to it. With Nomu, a superb frontliner, and Kurogiri, an ideal support for you... it's simply a matter of your will. Capture All Might, and seconds later, with Tomura's quirk, the Symbol of Peace will be reduced to mere dust. Literally."
"...Sorry, but unless Kurogiri and the others specifically request me, I won't act. Shigaraki may talk big, but even he has his pride."
"..."
"This whole operation's about giving Shigaraki experience, isn't it? You don't actually expect it to succeed. You, who once felt All Might's fist firsthand, should know better."
"...What a waste. Why not officially become my subordinate?"
"I'd refuse even if I died."
"...Then hurry along. Go, and let yourself be swallowed by despair."
"Keep watching through those disgusting surveillance cameras of yours. I've given up on plenty of things... but even I have a few things I won't ever compromise on."
__________________________________________________________
[Two years ago]
"...Endeavor, sir, it's terrible!! That boy—we've received word he was attacked...!!"
"That boy!? Don't tell me—Hikigaya Hachiman!!! What's the source!?"
"It's Sun-Eyes' younger sister!! At the nearby seaside park—together with a friend, he helped her escape!! She says, please, hurry and save him!! Wait—hey, you!!"
"Endeavor!! Please help, Hikigaya-kun!!"
"I beg you, there was a villain with a warp quirk!!!"
"We move out immediately!! Bring every sidekick from the office except those on comms!! And you—Sun-Eyes' sister!! You'll follow after!!"
"I'm going right now!! I can't just wait around here!!"
"It's dangerous!! You may have a provisional license, but don't do anything reckless!! Contact Sun-Eyes at once!!"
Why!! Why didn't he escape as well...!!
"Where!? Where are you, Hachiman!! You're here somewhere!!!"
"Endeavor!!"
"...! You—All Might!!?"
"It's been a while!! But this is no time to quarrel!! We need to search and rescue right now!! The facilities are half destroyed!! Hikigaya-kun is worrying, yes—but we also must save the other civilians!!"
"Tch...!!"
That's right, there's no time for talk...! I must save that man's son...!!
"Five seriously injured, thirty-eight with minor injuries, zero dead. However—one person is missing..."
"..."
"Also, during the search, we found a severed left arm, cut from the elbow. The police confirmed it—it appears to belong to Hikigaya Hachiman."
"...That left arm will be preserved, won't it?"
"Eh? Y-yes."
"Good...! He will return. Based on the testimony of the two girls who saw the villain, put out a nationwide wanted order!!"
"Wh—!? You're going to release information about the villain!?"
"Of course!! We will track him down no matter what!!!"
"That's not something I can approve of."
"Hii!?"
"Wow, screaming just from seeing someone's face. Rude, especially toward such a beauty like me."
"Sun-Eyes...!! What's the meaning of this!?"
"It can't be done right away. Rather, it's fine to release the villain's info, but what mustn't be released is Hikigaya-kun's information. Frame it simply as one boy being kidnapped."
"What are you plotting!?"
"Naturally, Hero Sun-Eyes will always protect the citizens ☆"
"Don't mock me!!! If that's the case, then right now I'll...!"
"And Yukinoshita Haruno will always do so for Yukino-chan—and for Hikigaya-kun."
"...This... you call this the best move for his sake!?"
"That's right. He surely will."
Not so far in the future, he will become the greatest hero.