Hosu is roaring with red hot flames and panicking civilians. Dazai is vaguely reminded of the Dragon Head incident, but when he looks closer the only real similarity is the injured or potentially dead people littering the streets. It's a gruelling scene. If Dazai wasn't himself, he may have been horrified.
But he's not even disturbed as he treads next to a stressed Aizawa. Fair enough, Iida's in Hosu. Probably out for revenge. Which is exactly why Dazai is out here in the sweltering heat, about to be dropped off to some babysitter while Aizawa fights Nomus.
Of course, he's going to slip out the first opportunity he gets. He doesn't particularly care about Iida's life; He's much more interested in Stain's ideology. Dazai wants to crush it. He wants to watch his whole life's purpose shatter before his eyes.
"Stay here. Do not move." Aizawa orders, placing his hands on Dazai's shoulders as he looks him right in the eye. "Please."
"Sure thing, Eraserhead." Dazai smiles.
Aizawa's shoulders drop in what seems to be relief, before flying off with his capture weapon without a second thought. Dazai waves at his retreating figure cheerfully before spinning around to evaluate the agency he's at. There's a sign near him that says something about a hero named Manual.
Now, where has he heard that name before? It's on the tip of his tongue. Whatever, he's got more important things to do. Another hero is eying him carefully, half distracted as she rapidly talks to the one resting between her ear and shoulder. Her hands are occupied with scribbling things into a notebook.
He tries to walk away casually, but she unexpectedly catches on and provides him with a glare that could rival Chuuya's. Scary. He sits back down on the sidewalk, waiting for his opportunity. There's got to be some distraction coming, right?
Almost as if his prayers are answered, a Nomu races past Dazai at breaking speeds. His hair flies up and back at the winds coming from the pressure of the speed.
And finally, the hero is sidetracked. Her phone drops to the ground with a resounding crack as she calls for backup verbally and abandons her babysitting duty. Thank God. Dazai takes off running toward the alleyways around Hosu with his abysmal knowledge of the area.
According to the reports sent by Chuuya, the League sent out an offer to Stain to collaborate. Stain predictably declined. Their views differ too much. It was a frightful encounter though, with tension high. Chuuya was ordered to just intimidate and not to interfere with their bargaining.
Dazai doesn't think the League is aware that Chuuya isn't a mindless drone, but whatever. Chuuya's basically a loyal dog anyways, just not to them.
All he knows about Stain is that he likes to kill heroes and he operates in shady areas that aren't visited by the public. So if he finds one area, he'll be led around to similar. Dazai's feet pound on the ground as he makes sure he's not being followed. It would be worse if that hero caught him.
He wanders the alleyways until he hears a vaguely familiar voice. There he finds Iida and Stain together, with a random guy slumped on a wall. A hero, most likely. Dazai approaches with Stain's back to him, stepping lightly with one hand trailing the wall. Iida's on the ground, clenching his teeth painfully.
Iida's eyes lock with his and Dazai returns the look with a slight wave.
"Iida! Funny finding you back here. Is that Stain?" He says excitedly as the man in question turns to look at him.
Almost immediately Stain rushes toward Dazai, pinning him against a wall with a knife to his throat. Iida cries out while Dazai makes no move to struggle against the hold. He stares dead in the man's eyes and continues talking with a sharp smile. Wow, they both have bandages. Twinning. Dazai's running the fashion industry with these trends.
"Wow! I've been wanting to meet you for a while, I have to say Stain, your ideologies are quite interesting. Of course, I have some faults I'd point out with them as well."
"Who are you?"
"Just a classmate of Iida's."
"Another one of those fake heroes?" Stain spits. "I should just kill you too."
"As long as it's painless, feel free to! By the way, what makes a true hero?"
Despite making the news lots, Stain's opinions and reasoning for going after heroes are vague at best. All he talks about is heroes being fake. Looking into the backgrounds and reputations of his victims, Dazai figures that it's to do with people's motivations for becoming heroes.
Dazai still doesn't get it. If the situation is flipped and the mafia is considered, it doesn't make sense for all mafia members to join because they enjoy violence. On the contrary, many join the mafia just to make money. Unethical as it may be, not everyone's motives are pure. The high standard for heroes is frankly ridiculous.
"People who become heroes for shallow reasons like money and fame are disgusting." Stain says. "All Might is the only true hero. All others must be purged for the sins they have committed!"
Money makes the world go around. It's odder if someone didn't want money at all than someone who chose a job for the money. Actually, how much do heroes get paid? Now Dazai's curious. Surely there are less dangerous jobs that pay more than heroics. Why needlessly endanger oneself for money?
Does Dazai really have an opinion? He's not a part of hero society. He kills people selfishly for a dream of his that will never come true.
"All Might sells merchandise, doesn't he?" Dazai tilts his head, still locking eyes with Stain. "That makes him lots of money, which means by your definition he's a fake hero."
Stain's eyes widen comically at the revelation, stepping back but keeping the blade poised only a few centimetres from Dazai's throat.
"You're wrong!" Stain accuses.
"I'm wrong?"
"All Might is virtuous and a real hero who saves everyone! Other heroes can't compare!"
"It seems your ideology is flawed, Stendhal. It was disappointing to come here." Dazai leans forward, pressing his throat against the knife to bring his lips to the man's ear. "You think you're righteous, but you're like a child clinging to a simple solution."
"Dazai! Please leave, this is my situation to deal with!" Iida interferes pathetically.
His classmate slobbering all over the ground with tears dropping everywhere is hysterical. Iida's eyes are blown wide with panic and pain, clenching his teeth hard. The other hero isn't much better. He's obviously lost consciousness but seems to be breathing shallowly.
The sound of heavy running catches Dazai's attention, faint as it may be. Familiar energy is humming in the air.
"Kill me, Stain." Dazai taunts, ignoring Iida.
Stain rears his knife after gathering his wits, pointing it straight at Dazai's throat. Iida cries out hopelessly, attempting to move his arm out to reach for the other.
A punch flies toward Stain's face, smashing into it with aggressive force and power. Midoriya's power is as volatile as ever, but now he can control it. Iida yells at Midoriya as he did to Dazai, something about interfering. But instead, Midoriya talks about saving a friend. Yeah, they're very different.
"Do not interfere. It is my duty to cleanse the world of these two children. They've already been corrupted." Stain rasps out.
Dazai takes the opportunity to run to where Midoriya's standing with Iida and notices him sending a message. Dazai's first thought is it's to a pro, but when he feels his phone buzz a second later, the only option is the class chat.
"As a hero, I have to protect my friends. He's made a mistake! But so do others! Iida isn't corrupt." Midoriya defends, quickly getting into a position to fight.
His green lighting fires up as he slides under Stain, maneuvering in the air to punch his head. Dazai's reminded of All Might with the actions. Their fighting styles are shockingly similar.
And then Midoriya falls as quick as he arrived with Stain towering over him. Dazai should probably step in now. The issue is, his main weapon when he's parading around as a hero is a knife. With Stain, it'll be more of a hindrance. His skills are drastically better than Dazai's, meaning any blade he uses can easily be turned against him.
He'll have to play support in this fight. His ability will be useful at least. He should be able to stop the paralysis if he touches Stain, considering there are no drugs involved in Stain's quirk. Just a weird phenomenon with licking blood.
Dazai makes his move, approaching Stain easily. The vigilante spins around to take a jab at him. Dazai dodges to one side but he prepares for that, striking his arm with a second blade. Dazai swings his non-injured arm around to lightly tap his bare shoulders. Both Midoriya and Iida's paralysis wears off instantly.
The former jumps up to deliver a sharp roundhouse kick to Stain's back while the man is caught off guard. Iida on the other hand slowly kneels, clutching his injured shoulder. He drags the collapsed hero toward the exit of the alley.
Then a fucking tunnel of flames comes charging at all of them. Dazai barely dodges, the end of his coat singes from the flames. As he moves, he feels something tear in his chest. Shit. His chest wound opened up again.
It'll just be harder to navigate the fight with it, but he should be able to help.
"Todoroki?! Why are you here?" Iida questions.
He seems pretty unhappy considering they're the people that are stopping him from dying. Maybe he wants to die too.
"Midoriya. Be more specific in your texts." Todoroki says, completely ignoring the rest of them. "It took me a while to get here, I'm late. The Pros are coming in a few minutes."
Heroes are finally coming! Great, now he doesn't have to participate in combat for that long. The injured hero stirs awake, eyes widening at the scene in front of him. Todoroki lets out a stream of jagged ice, encasing Stain.
Midoriya and Todoroki fight together for a while, defending each other's weak points. Dazai stays to the side, really only watching the fight with rapt attention. He only needs to step in once they're paralysed, or else he's more of a nuisance with his ability. Stain's proficiency to fight is very impressive, now that he gets an opportunity to analyse it.
He moves constantly, shifting around or spinning a blade. Whether it's a battle tactic or just a thing he does, Dazai doesn't know. He easily slices up Todoroki's ice, leaving his fire to the natural solution. A shame he's less adept with his flames, it would make the fight go smoother if he didn't have to focus so much attention on controlling it.
Iida is shifting around, clearly debating joining the fight again.
"Don't join in right now, Iida." Dazai cautions.
"Why!? I have to help, they're fighting because of me!"
"Yeah they are, and you'll make it worse. Just wait a bit, jeez. No need to be so impatient!" Dazai chides, dragging the slightly awake hero away ever farther.
"Who are you, by the way?" He directs the question at the hero.
"My name is... Native." He croaks, closing his eyes again.
For a professional, he's kind of wimpy. Dazai could fight through those injuries, probably. Chuuya definitely could. Shame on him for being bested by a short fifteen-year-old ginger.
"Wow, he's kind of useless. What do you think, Iida?" Dazai turns to his classmate, watching the fight with pale skin and wide, distracted eyes.
The boy in question doesn't respond. Dazai sighs, getting Native to the almost front of the alley. A nasty trail of blood is left behind him.
Stain finally nicks Todoroki's leg, licking the blood up almost immediately. Todoroki goes stiff, quickly collapsing on the spot. Midoriya shouts out. Iida tenses, clenching his fists. Yeah, he's probably about to jump into the fight. Dazai starts to run into the fight, past Iida.
Midoriya tries to take the attention off the other boy, flying around the air and on the walls with that new quirk thing of his. Stain's attention shifts, just enough that Dazai can drag Todoroki a meter or two away and try to touch Stain again.
Dazai lunges for his shoulder with success, but Stain turns around fast. He dodges the first knife, but another finds itself directly through Dazai's stomach.