The timeline shifted slightly because of the appearance of Kaito and Makoto in this reality.
The villain known as Ending launched his attack weeks earlier, striking during the New Year holiday.
Now, it was the mid week of January, and a completely different threat descended upon a busy intersection in central Tokyo.
CRASH.
SHATTER.
The windows of the surrounding skyscrapers blew out.
A massive river of sharp glass ripped out of the metal frames and swirled violently into the sky.
Down on the street, the pedestrians scrambled in absolute terror.
"Run!"
"Someone help!"
"The glass is being sucked up!"
People screamed and covered their heads with their bags.
They shoved past each other, desperately running away from the crosswalk.
Cars screeched to a halt, causing a pile-up on the road as terrified drivers abandoned their vehicles to escape the falling debris.
High above the street, a man hovered in the air.
He rode on a swirling vortex of broken glass. He wore a dark, starry cloak.
A massive, multi-pointed star-shaped mask covered his entire head. Glowing eyes stared down at the fleeing crowd.
"THE TIME OF DEMISE IS NEAR!" Starservant yelled, pointing his finger at the city. "I RECEIVED A DIVINE MESSAGE FROM THE UNIVERSE! THE EVIL STARS ARE COLLUDING ON THIS LAND!"
He ignored the screaming civilians below.
"I WILL EXPOSE YOU! I AM THE ONE WHO WILL DESTROY THIS DARKNESS!"
He threw his arms up.
CRUMBLE.
SWIISH. SWOOSH.
The thousands of sharp glass shards swirling around him gathered higher into the sky. He compressed them together.
The shards formed a dense, gigantic sphere of solid glass.
It hovered directly over the center of the intersection, casting a heavy shadow over the street.
"Enlightened Fallen King!" Starservant screamed. "RUN AWAY CITIZENS!"
WEE-OOO. WEE-OOO.
Police sirens blared down the block.
Endeavor sprinted onto the scene.
BAAM. SWOOSH.
Flames roared from his shoulders and facial hair.
Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki ran right behind him, fully equipped in their winter hero gear.
Endeavor stopped in the middle of the street. He looked up at the massive glass sphere threatening to crush the intersection.
He wanted to show his new work-study interns how the Number One Hero operated.
He glared back at the three students.
"I told you to watch from the back!" Endeavor barked.
He bent his knees.
He flared his flames hotter, preparing to launch himself upward and incinerate the glass sphere with a Flashfire Fist.
POP. POP. POP.
BAAAM.
Behind him, green lightning sparked around Midoriya.
Bakugo ignited small explosions in his palms.
Frost spread across Todoroki's right side.
The three students tensed their legs. They completely following Endeavor's back.
Before the students could burst forward.
SNAP.
A crisp sound echoed across the intersection.
It cut right through the roar of the flames, the grinding glass, and the police sirens.
The sound carried a strange, heavy weight that forced everyone to stop moving.
"..."
Endeavor froze mid-stance.
Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki stopped in their tracks.
Up in the air, Starservant paused and looked up.
--<>--
Ten Minutes Earlier.
Location: The X Agency, Tokyo.
Kaito stood at the stove. He wore a simple black apron over his white suit trousers and dress shirt.
He tossed a mixture of rice, egg, and vegetables in a large iron wok.
SIZZLE.
Makoto sat at the breakroom island. She rested her chin in her hands and watched Kaito cook.
Mirai sat at a dual-monitor computer station in the corner of the room.
He wore a plain gray sweater and dark slacks. His new identity, Shin Kudo, was fully active.
He typed rapidly on a mechanical keyboard, monitoring the local police scanners, news feeds, and HPSC dispatch channels.
"We have a major situation in central Tokyo," Mirai announced.
He stopped typing and pushed his glasses up his nose.
Kaito turned the stove burner off. He scooped the fried rice onto three ceramic plates.
"What kind of situation?" Kaito asked.
"A villain calling himself Starservant," Mirai read from the screen. "He is hovering over a major intersection. He is ripping the glass out of the surrounding skyscrapers. He created a massive projectile over the crowd. Endeavor just arrived on the scene."
Makoto sat up straight. She looked at the live news footage playing on Mirai's second monitor.
"Central Tokyo," Makoto said, her manager instincts kicking in. "Middle of the day. Hundreds of civilian witnesses. At least four news helicopters already in the air."
Mirai turned around in his computer chair.
"It is the perfect scenario for a debut," Mirai agreed. "The HPSC finalized your hero license few days ago. You need a public event to establish your presence. The current Number One Hero is already there. If you handle this cleanly, you will instantly validate The X Agency."
Kaito picked up two plates of food.
He walked over and set a plate of fried rice in front of Makoto. He walked to the corner and set the other plate on Mirai's desk.
"Eat before it gets cold," Kaito said.
He took his black apron off and tossed it onto a nearby chair.
He adjusted his gold glasses.
He didn't need to take the stairs or catch a cab.
"I will be right back," Kaito said.
SNAP.
He vanished from the breakroom.
"Such a dramatic exit..." Mirai murmured.
"You tell me." Makoto laughed. "You need to follow up for PR management Sasaki-san."
"...Yes"
--<>--
Time: Present
Endeavor froze. He lowered his fists and looked up.
Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki stopped their charge.
They followed Endeavor's gaze.
High above the intersection, a man stood on the very edge of a fifty-story commercial skyscraper.
He wore a crisp white suit, a red tie, and gold glasses. His hands rested casually in his pockets. He looked down at the street.
"Who the hell is that?" Bakugo yelled. "Some suicidal extra?"
"He has zero support gear," Midoriya muttered, squinting at the roof. "I don't recognize that costume."
Hawks crouched on a different rooftop across the street.
He gripped a feather blade. He stared at the white suit.
He had high-level HPSC clearance. He read the restricted files yesterday.
He saw the blurry name on the registration form and the combat reports from Edgeshot.
Hawks remembered the Quirk name.
"Canvas?"
Hawks put his feather blade away. He stayed completely still and watched.
On the edge of the skyscraper, Kaito stepped backward.
His boots left the concrete ledge. He fell freely toward the street.
The civilians screamed.
"He jumped!" a woman shrieked.
Kaito kept his left hand in his pocket. He pulled his right hand out.
SNAP.
The entire intersection changed color. The normal daylight vanished.
A heavy, washed-out blue covered the sky, the buildings, and the street.
The shadows disappeared.
Todoroki stopped running. He looked at his hands.
"What is happening to the light?" Todoroki asked.
SNAP.
The color flipped.
A vibrant neon red saturated the block. The air pressure dropped.
Starservant snapped out of his daze. He glared down at the falling man.
"Who are you?!" Starservant screamed. "You dare interrupt the stars?!"
Starservant swung his staff down. He hurled the massive glass sphere directly at Kaito.
Kaito pointed his index finger at the incoming glass meteor.
SNAP.
The giant glass sphere lost its physical depth. It flattened completely into a two-dimensional ink drawing.
THWACK.
The flat drawing flew sideways. It slapped against the concrete wall of an adjacent office building. It stuck there like a painted street mural.
Endeavor's flames flared up. He stared at the wall.
"A drawing?" Endeavor.
Starservant stared at the mural.
His jaw dropped.
"No," Starservant stammered, gripping his head. "The stars gave me that power!"
Kaito reached the street level.
He stopped his fall and landed softly on his feet right in front of the U.A. students. He shoved his right hand back into his pocket.
"You brought friends," Kaito said casually.
SNAP.
Three men wearing star-patterned hoods popped into existence on the asphalt next to Kaito.
They held combat knives. They looked around wildly.
"How did we get out here?" one of the cultists asked.
CLATTER.
He dropped his knife on the ground.
Kaito ignored them. He looked up at Starservant.
"You are so noisy," Kaito said.
Kaito raised his hand and pointed at the floating villain.
SNAP.
Starservant's physical body folded inward. His bones, his robes, and his glass orbs flattened. He lost all volume.
He turned into a two-dimensional drawing of a man.
CRUMPLE.
The flat drawing folded itself up tightly. It turned into a small paper ball.
It dropped from the sky.
Hero X held his hand out. The paper ball landed directly in his palm.
"..."
"..."
The intersection went completely silent.
Midoriya stared at Kaito's back.
"He turned that villain into a paper," Midoriya whispered.
The three teleported cultists dropped to their knees. They put their hands behind their heads and surrendered.
The civilians realized the danger was over. They cheered loudly.
SCREECH.
A news van slammed on its brakes at the edge of the crosswalk.
The back doors flew open. Dozens of reporters and cameramen sprinted into the street.
They ran right past Endeavor. They swarmed Kaito and shoved microphones in his face.
"Who are you?!" a reporter shouted.
"Where did the villain go?" a cameraman asked.
Kaito held up the crumpled paper ball.
"He is right here," Kaito answered smoothly. "He is perfectly safe in a two-dimensional state."
The reporters gasped and stared at the paper.
"What is your hero name?" a journalist yelled from the back.
Kaito smiled. He pushed his gold glasses up his nose.
"I am Hero X," Kaito said clearly.
SNAP.
Kaito vanished from the street.
The reporters spun around. They looked left and right. He was completely gone.
Endeavor crossed his arms. The Number One Hero stood on the sidelines, completely ignored by the press.
"Excuse me," a calm voice said.
A man in a sharp business suit stepped out from the crowd of civilians on the sidewalk.
Mirai walked directly into the center of the media swarm. He held a small tablet in his hand.
"I am Shin Kudo," Mirai introduced himself. "I am the Logistics Officer for The X Agency. I will answer your questions on behalf of Hero X."
The cameramen turned their lenses toward Mirai. The camera flashes went off rapidly.
"Hero X prioritizes zero collateral damage," Mirai told the reporters. "As you just witnessed, the threat is fully contained with absolutely no injuries. Our agency handles high-intensity battle, disaster rescue, and absolute villain containment. We look forward to keeping the entire Japan safe."
Mirai adjusted his glasses and took the next question, securing the public relations victory right on the street.
--<>--
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: The X Agency, Lounge Area
Kaito sat on the leather couch holding a warm cup of coffee.
Makoto sat next to him. She scrolled rapidly through her tablet.
Toshinori sat in the armchair across the coffee table. Mirai stood by the wall.
The wall-mounted television played a continuous loop of the afternoon news.
The screen showed Kaito dropping from the sky. It showed the color of the street shifting.
Then it cut to Mirai in his sharp suit, stepping out of the crowd to address the reporters right after Kaito vanished.
"Hero X is trending across all platforms in Japan," Makoto said. She swiped her screen. "Our agency website crashed twice in the last hour. The web traffic is huge."
Kaito took a sip of his coffee.
"The debut went perfectly," Kaito said.
Toshinori watched the screen. He chuckled quietly.
"You haven't lost your touch at all, Mirai," Toshinori said. "You just woke up a few days ago, and you are already managing the press like a veteran."
Mirai pushed his glasses up his nose.
"The public needs a narrative," Mirai explained. "If people think X just deletes villains from reality, they will fear him. Confirming the containment aspect was crucial. By framing the power as a safe, zero-casualty containment method, they feel protected."
Toshinori nodded. He looked closer at the television screen.
The news replayed the footage of Endeavor standing on the street.
Right behind the Number One Hero, Toshinori spotted Midoriya, Bakugo, and Todoroki looking up at the sky.
Toshinori smiled warmly. He felt a deep sense of pride. Young Midoriya was out there working hard on the front lines for his work-study.
The news broadcast cut to a live interview.
Pro Hero Edgeshot stood outside a local police station.
Several microphones pointed at his face.
[I tested Hero X myself,] Edgeshot told the reporters. [I can verify his Canvas Quirk. The public has absolutely nothing to fear. However, any villains watching this broadcast should reconsider their career paths. His two-dimensional containment is absolute. If you get trapped in his plane, your physical strength means nothing. You cannot escape.]
--<>--
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Gunga Mountain Villa - Paranormal Liberation Front Headquarters
The underground lounge was dark. A large flat-screen television lit up the concrete walls.
Tomura Shigaraki slouched heavily on a leather sofa. He wore his thick black coat.
SCRATCH.
SCRATCH.
He dug four fingers into the dry skin of his neck.
Spinner sat cross-legged on the floor. Dabi leaned against the wall near the doorway.
Re-Destro stood in the back behind the sofa.
They watched the exact same news broadcast. They watched the white-suited hero turn Starservant into a piece of paper.
Spinner scoffed.
"What a joke," Spinner complained. "He drops from the sky just to get some camera time. Just another fake hero desperate for fame."
Dabi smirked. He kept his hands in his pockets.
"I don't care about the new guy," Dabi laughed lazily. "But look at the Number One Hero. Endeavor got completely ignored by the press. A rookie just made him look like a total idiot on national television."
Re-Destro stroked his prominent chin. He analyzed the footage of the glass sphere flattening against the wall.
"This Canvas meta-ability is a fascinating anomaly," Re-Destro noted. "A power that completely ignores physical volume is extremely rare."
On the screen, Kaito caught the crumpled paper ball in his hand.
Shigaraki stopped scratching his neck.
He stared at the screen with dead, red eyes. He felt absolutely no intimidation.
He was the Grand Commander of the Liberation Front. He had an army waiting for his orders.
"It doesn't matter," Shigaraki sneered.
He let his hand drop to his side.
"Who cares if he turns people into paper?" Shigaraki said, his raspy voice cutting through the dark room. "Paper turns to dust just like flesh. Decay destroys everything."
Shigaraki turned his head away from the television.
"Ignore this flashy extra," Shigaraki ordered. "We have an entire country to destroy soon. When the time comes, this Hero X will crumble to dust right alongside the rest of them."
--<>--
A/n: This is my last surplus chapter... Quick update on my health, I have a lump/boil in my perineum.
So it really hurts, I can't stand at all. For the last three days, I'm in my house. With my legs open 90° all the time.
Didn't expect it to happen to me. It was my first time having this.
I would be inconsistent with my chapter releases for the next few days.
If I can think well then I can write it. Proper release schedule will be back after my health gets better.
Thanks for understanding.