Shinso sat at the edge of the concrete platform, his legs dangling off the side. He was so frustrated. Everyone else had been able to at least start thinking of things over the course of the past two days. But he hadn't been able to think of anything. His quirk just doesn't work like that. And the same with his scarf.
He had asked his dad what he did, but apparently he'd never chosen a special move. Like him, it wasn't like there was a way he could increase his output or do anything differently that would end the fight quickly. Plus, his dad had said that you didn't need anything special so long as it ended the fight.
And he agreed with that, but Shinso's quirk didn't work like his dad's. Erasure could work at anytime on almost anyone, but Shinso needed a direct response from someone before he was able to do anything. It's why he trained with the capture scarf so relentlessly. He had to do whatever it takes.
He groaned, watching most of his classmates head down to take a break from beating up Ectoplasm's clones. Might as well... it's not like I'm going to have any epiphanies in the next few minutes.
"Stumped?" Shinso turned to see Izuku-sensei standing right behind him, watching with a knowing eye.
"...A little, yeah," Shinso admitted. "I mean, what am I supposed to do? I ask questions, and then people are brainwashed when they respond. There's not much more too it."
Izuku-sensei suddenly got very animated, and Shinso remembered what was guaranteed to get their teacher off-topic. Talking about quirks and their applications. "Well, I entirely disagree with you there. Your quirk has so many different applications, and I think that we can definitely stretch your capabilities, either by increasing the amount of time you can brainwash someone for, increasing how many people you can brainwash at once, how much damage they can take while under your control, what commands they're able to carry out, how..." Izuku-sensei blinks, and he seems to realize that he's been rambling. Shinso notes that his hand is twitching again, a clear sign he wants to write down everything that he just thought of.
"Ah... I got a little carried away there. We will go over those things later, but we were talking about... special moves, right?"
Shinso suppressed a chuckle as he said, "Yeah. But I'm starting to think that I should just be like my- Aizawa-sensei and just not have any special moves. I'm planning on being underground anyways, so there's not really any point."
Izuku-sensei tittered out a soft laugh and said, "I wouldn't go so far as to say that. Special moves aren't just something a pro announces so the press will have something to talk about, they're something that utilizes your abilities, either in a general situation or one where you're desperate." He paused, seeming to consider something. "And Aizawa does have some special moves, he just doesn't announce them out like most daylight pros do."
Shinso furrowed his brow. What would his dad even do with his quirk to make a special move? And what did Izuku-sensei mean by 'announce them out'?
"What do you mean? He doesn't have any special moves. He just uses his scarf and Erasure to fight villains. Isn't that just using his quirk?"
"Yes, but special moves aren't just 'using your quirk'. There are other ways to have a special move." Izuku-sensei thought for a moment. "In this case, Aizawa has special moves by using his scarf. When there are certain maneuvers done, it is considered something that can only be done so many times in one fight or iss something that almost immediately ends the fight and is therefore a special move. Your special move could be anything like that, from tripping someone and using your scarf on them to brainwashing five people at once."
Oh. That makes sense, actually. But that still doesn't explain one thing.
"Then why doesn't he announce his special moves as he does them? Does it even count if it's not shown to others?"
Izuku-sensei sighed, not in irritation or annoyance, but with exasperation. "Special moves have gotten the reputation for being something you have to announce out loud, otherwise it's just any other maneuver in a fight. But, with most underground heroes and the like, it's actually smarter for you to keep your cards close to your chest." His eye twitched. "For instance, I once taught a moderately powerful hero that was battling against someone they should have easily beaten."
Izuku-sensei rolled his eyes, surprising sassiness coming from the last person Shinso would've expected it from. "And then they had the absolutely wonderful idea to name their special move, 'Fake-out'. I'm sure you can guess how that turned out." Shinso sent him a disbelieving stare. "I'm not joking. Luckily, they survived. Sometimes, it's better to stay quiet and just win the fight. It doesn't matter if people know what you did if you're dead."
Shinso nodded, a little shocked by how nonchalantly his teacher described it. You wouldn't have guessed what they were talking about if you weren't close enough to hear their words. "Um. Izuku-sensei?"
"Yes? Is there anything else you want to ask?"
"D-do you have any special moves, named or otherwise?" Shinso can't seem to stop himself from stuttering a bit when he asks. He knew that Izuku-sensei wouldn't mind the question, but it still felt oddly personal. Like it wasn't something he was supposed to know.
Izuku-sensei flushed uncomfortably, and Shinso opened his mouth hurriedly to take back the question. But Izuku-sensei answers before he can.
"Uh. Yes, actually. I do."
Shinso waits a second, and when his teacher doesn't offer any elaboration, he delicately asks, "What is it called? And what do you do?"
"Well. It's one of those special moves that becomes completely useless if you announce it before you do it, so it's never been officially recorded or anything like that. But, uh, it's called... Well, I've always thought of it as, 'Play Dead'. The, uh, name is pretty self-explanatory."
Shinso quirks an eyebrow at his teacher, and the other man sighs. "When I'm in a certain position in a fight, where the enemy is reasonably sure that I can't survive whatever attack they've thrown at me, I pretend like I'm, well, dead. After that... I'm sure you can guess what happens next." Shinso takes a second to process that. He's starting to get what Izuku-sensei meant about some special moves only being applicable in certain situations.
...Also, that must be incredibly traumatizing for the villains. Do they have therapy for that? Maybe a support group or two for people who have been duped and then attacked by Izuku-sensei? And now that Shinso thinks about it... wasn't that exactly what Izuku-sensei had done to All For One? He has to repress a shudder when thinking about his teacher's broken, bloody body lying there.
Shinso's voice was slightly strangled when he asked, "And how often does that work?"
Izuku-sensei paused to think for a moment. "I don't have the exact numbers, but if I were to guess I'd have to say around 90% of the time. Maybe." And what happens in the times it doesn't work?
"How often do you have to do it?"
Wincing, Izuku-sensei pulled his fingers through his curls. "Well... I don't really know the exact amount of times I've had to, since getting almost-killed usually involves some head trauma. Things get a little blurry from there..."
Shinso blinks. "Are... are you okay?"
Brightening, Izuku-sensei says, "Yes, of course I'm fine! My quirk prevents any long-term damage from being done, so it doesn't really matter anyway." It doesn't matter anyway? "Now, go take a break and think on this. You still have two weeks before the entrance exam, so there's still time to perfect your move, or just your regular attacks if you decide you don't need one."
Shinso nodded, a little stunned. He blankly walks down the steep concrete stairs, being careful not to trip on his way down. That would hurt quite a bit. There was an uneasy feeling sitting deep in his gut, and he couldn't quite put it into words. It... it wasn't normal what Izuku-sensei said, right?
He didn't even realize he was down with the rest of his class until he bumped into Iida and Uraraka head-on, getting a mouthful of brown hair.
"Ack!! I'm-gah- sorry! I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Are you okay?" Shinso spat out, awkwardly rubbing his face.
"No, no, don't even worry about it! It's fine. Are you-'
"You should pay more attention to your surroundings, Shinso! I would absolutely hate it if you got hurt because of an accident." Iida pauses his hand chopping gestures and concerned lecture to take a closer look at Shinso. "Are you okay? It's not like you to be so absentminded."
Shinso sighed, carding his hands through his purple hair. "I don't know. I was talking to Izuku-sensei about special moves, and something he said was a little... concerning."
Iida frowned. "Concerning? How?" Both him and Uraraka leaned in closer, with Todoroki entering the conversation quietly. For someone who doesn't have any social grace, he has the uncanny ability to understand a conversation, even if he was only present for half of it. And then make wild and unbased theories on one's parentage off of said conversation.
Uraraka chimed in, "Yeah, Izuku-sensei usually pretty straight-forward when you ask him for help." She winces. "Unless... you didn't happen to ask him about possible weaknesses in your quirk, did you? It was a little unsettling when he said all someone would have to do to stop my quirk would be to cut my hands off."
The three friends turned to stare wide-eyed at her. There was no way Izuku-sensei would say... actually, Shinso could see him saying that, without having any idea that he was freaking them out. Ridiculously smart and yet completely oblivious.
"That wasn't it. I mean, now I'm glad I didn't do that, but he said something else. We were talking about special moves, since I had no idea what I was going to do for mine and he was giving me some advice, and he was explaining..." Shinso trailed off when he realized he was rambling. "Uh- sorry. I got off track there. The point of this is, Izuku-sensei said it doesn't matter when he gets hurt because of his quirk."
"Well," Uraraka said hesitantly. "He's an adult, right? I mean, he's older than any other teacher of ours. He knows his limits, right?"
Everyone was silent for a moment, all thinking over how many times they had personally seen Izuku-sensei get injured. And Shinso suspected that Iida and Todoroki were thinking of a similar situation to him. Specifically, when Izuku-sensei let All For One hit him so hard that his body was practically fused to the ground.
And, now that Shinso knows what he did about his teacher's special moves, he's pretty sure that it was Izuku-sensei's plan all along to be hit. His teacher had said it himself: his special move was play dead. And if he couldn't beat the villain while he was expecting him to attack, then he would attack when he didn't expect it.
"I don't know," Todoroki said thoughtfully, finally speaking up. "I don't think that he would encourage that sort of behavior in us, and he has lectured us about making sure to take care of ourselves before." Shinso nodded along, remembering all the disapproving stares his teacher had given him since the Kamino Ward incident.
"We must not question our teacher's methods!" Iida said hurriedly. "I'm sure that Izuku-sensei knows what he is doing. He is a very capable hero, and an even more exemplary teacher." Even as Iida defended their teacher, he could see the slight doubt in the other boy's eyes. "Now, we should get back to working on our super moves! If we want to get our provisional licenses, we're going to have to practice all we can!"
"Right," Uraraka says excitedly. "I just know that we're all going to do great."
"And then we'll be able to start doing real hero work," Todoroki added.
Shinso nodded silently, grabbing a quick drink of water before he headed back to where Ectoplasm had a clone waiting for him. As he stepped up the stairs, he couldn't help but think back to what Uraraka said earlier.
'He knows his limits, right?'
It made Shinso wonder... what were Izuku-sensei's limits? If Kamino wasn't it, then how far would he go?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hawks groaned when his phone lit up with a message from Dabi, having just barely gotten off patrol. And he was pretty sure the other man knew that and chose to target him. It was just like the villain to do whatever he could to annoy Hawks.
Even after only knowing him for a week, Hawks could tell that he was one of those people who chose to mess with others as much as he possibly could. And it seemed he had found a new target in Hawks. So, the blonde chose to annoy him back as much as possible. If Dabi called him in the middle of the night for an impromptu 'report' that took five minutes, then Hawks would make sure he was exactly ten minutes late to every official meeting they had that didn't include the rest of the League. And he made sure it was exactly on the dot each time, really being clear that he was doing it on purpose.
If Dabi wanted to play this game, so would he.
The message called for him to meet him by the place the black-haired man had first taken him to the league at. Which meant that this was probably one of those full-league meetings that he couldn't be late to. Hawks was not interested in pissing off Shigaraki anytime soon. The man was... strange. Sometimes he seemed like a completely normal guy that just had an addiction to games and not a lot of maturity, and then other times he would talk about killing All Might obsessively. It was unsettling.
Overall, the members of the League weren't nearly as bad as he expected. Sure, a couple of them were a bit unstable, but it's not like all they talked about was murder or attacking someone. Even Toga had interests outside of blood. He hasn't had to participate in an undercover assignment like this one ever. They knew who he was, he knew who they were, and he was expected to get close to them. There were times he even forget they were criminals.
"What took you so long, birdie?" Hawks rolled his eyes. For some reason, Dabi insisted on calling him everything he could but his name. Or... at least his hero name. Hawks didn't expect the villain to know his real name. No one really did anymore.
"I was on the other side of the city, Dabi. Of course it took me a minute to get here."
"And here I thought you were supposed to be the 'fastest hero'," Dabi mocked. "Isn't that your whole thing? Flying and being fast?"
"Not true." Hawks paused. "My feathers are pretty sharp too."
Dabi lets out a surprised snort which he quickly covers, pulling out his beat-up phone. The League had never let him see where their hideout was, and the windows were always covered. Honestly, he's surprised they let him in it at all. In every interaction he's had with Dabi, the man has made it clear he does not trust him. Sure, he's the one who takes him to the hideout every time, but once the hero's there he can feel the eyes on his back. He has to watch his step.
The now-familiar disorienting enveloped him as he was transported over to the hideout. Hawks paused for just a moment, getting his bearings, but Dabi just strutted up to the bar and picked up a half-empty glass. As soon as his vision wasn't blurry, Hawks walked over to one of the empty recliners and positioned his wings over the back. He's never been able to find a chair that he's completely comfortable in, and he's pretty much given up on looking for one.
"Hey, Hawks! Can I have some of your blood?" Toga was leaning against Twice on the couch next to him, casually playing with a knife. This wasn't the first time that she had asked for his blood, and he had pretty much figured out how to respond when she did.
"Sorry, Toga. I like it when my blood stays inside my body." Toga pouts for a moment, but doesn't press the subject any further. She was actually surprisingly respectful when you told her no, but she did ask pretty much every day. Sometimes multiple times a day.
"Hmph." She brightens. "Oh, oh, oh! Have they told you what we're going to be doing? Because I think it's going to be so much fun!"
Hawks swallows the feeling of trepidation and makes sure his rehearsed smile never wavers. "Um, no. They haven't. Was I already supposed to know?"
"No! If they haven't told you, that means it's a surprise, and I don't want to ruin the surprise!" She giggled, throwing the knife to the side. "Right, Twice?"
"Of course! No, he's an idiot for not figuring it out. Why do we deal with him? He's the best! I'm so glad he joined us!" Hawks blinked with whiplash, separating the statements. Twice could be... difficult, but he was also not an entirely bad person. He ddin't hurt people just for the sake of it, and he was actually very nice once you focused on his real personality... or one of them, at least. Still, it could be weird to see him arguing with himself.
"Thanks, Twice. I think." There really wasn't any other way to respond to that.
"Are you done gossiping over there," Shigaraki barked. "Or can we finally start this stupid thing?"
"Yeah, we were just waiting on bird brain over there." Dabi jerked a thumb at him. Hawks' feathers fluffed out in outrage, but he curbed the stinging comment sitting on the tip of his tongue. He couldn't risk ruining this mission because he couldn't take a few insults coming from one of the members. Sure, he might exchange some banter with him when they were alone, but it was different when they were with the League. There was more pressure there, the crushing fear of failure if he messed something up.
When it was just him and Dabi, things felt lighter. Sure, there was the ever-present fear that he would get found out or that he would do something wrong, but there were a whole lot less chances to do so. And when Dabi did his best to make Hawks mad, there wasn't much else to do but push back.
"Great," Spinner said unenthusiastically. "Can we just get this over with?"
Spinner and him hadn't exactly had that many interactions, but he wouldn't say the other guy hated him. They just didn't talk. He knew that Spinner at least respected him since believing in Stain's morals was part of his cover story, but he hadn't ever approached him about it. There was a certain distance between the rest of the League and him, and part of his assignment was to close that distance and get close to the center of their operation.
"Please, everyone make their way to the sitting area," Kurogiri said, slowly corralling Shigaraki away from his video games. "There is an important matter to discuss."
There were a few grumbles, but everyone settled down. Dabi had dragged over one of the bar stools and was sitting close to Hawks, his feet sometimes touching the ends of his wings. It was slightly frustrating, but Hawks just chose to ignore him. Dabi was just constantly trying to get a rise out of him.
"Are we going to start, or what?" Magne asked from where she had her arms draped over the back of one of the couches. "Because I've got things to do other than sit around here all day. Some of us have a life, you know." She gives the evil eye to Shigaraki.
"Yes, yes. This will be short," Kurogiri says. "We needed to discuss a few different things. Up first is what we do next." Oh, this is what I'm here for. "Up until now, we've mostly been focusing on restoring our assets and just generally sowing chaos," Twice and Toga nodded approvingly. "But we have a plan already in the works for fixing that completely. Right now, we need to figure out what we're going to do next." Oh, well that's just great. They have a plan.
"We're going to follow Sensei's plan," Shigaraki said. "And we'll kill All Might, and hero society will crumble. Then there will be nothing holding us back from being ourselves." Hawks saw a few of the members throwing him hesitant looks, as if they're not really sure they can trust him yet. He made sure to nod along, careful to not oversell it.
"Yes, we know that, Tomura. But do you have any idea how we're actually going to accomplish that?"
"Sensei left a plan in place," Shigaraki said triumphantly. "And all of you side characters don't need to know."
A deep pit settled in Hawks' stomach. If Shigaraki wasn't even telling those closer to him what All For One's plan was, then there was little to no chance he would tell the hero anytime soon. And if All For One had left anything behind, that was bad. The villain had done enough damage in the time he was active.
"Whatever," Dabi said absently, kicking Hawks' wing again. "As long as we're cutting down this stupid society at its knees."
A few of the other members looked more hesitant, but they didn't speak up.
"Is that all?" Bis Sis Mag asked incredulously. "You called us all here to say that we don't need to know anything?"
"No," Kurogiri said. "As long as Tomura knows what to do, that's enough." A surprising amount of trust for someone who takes the reins so often, Hawks notes. "We also need to discuss something we know we're going to be doing. We want Twice, Compress, and Magne to go around and find others that may be willing to work with us. Of course, we'll be the ones in charge, but having those with similar goals next to us may be beneficial in the long run. We can get more information and supplies while gaining more manpower for our final goal."
This wasn't the first time the 'final goal' had been mentioned, but it was never discussed in detail. And he couldn't pry, not while none of them had any trust in him. They were barely willing to speak like this around him. This was going to be frustratingly slow, he could tell.
"Great, so if that's all I'll be on my way." Magne heaved herself up off of the couch. "And I'll do that recruitment crap." She exited out of one of the back doors, one of them that Hawks had no idea where it went. He didn't even catch sight of anything but a brick wall.
"You can count on me! No you can't! I hate all of you and wish you were dead! Man, I'm so happy to be here with you." Whiplash.
"Oh, and Hawks?" Kurogiri said. "You'll be running a mission with Dabi, targeting one of the Commission's supply trucks. Find out a location by tomorrow and then you'll attack together."
"Alright then!" Hawks grinned, mentally planning on how to finish the incident without any casualties. They hadn't asked him to hurt anyone so far, but there was always the chance. Although, the League as a whole didn't seem to be out to hurt people just for the sake of hurting them. Sure, Toga stabbed people and Magne was technically a murderer, but it wasn't like they just enjoyed doing it. They had a reason for it.
It was part of what made them so dangerous.
"Do I have to work with Birdie again?" Dabi groaned. "He's such a freaking annoyance."
Hawks gasped mockingly. "Are you saying you don't enjoy my stellar company? I'm shocked Dabi, just shocked."
He was sent the evil eye. "Can we send him back now? This was a waste of time."
Kurogiri tilted the mist that served as his head to the side. "Yes, perhaps it wasn't the best choice to gather the entire League here for such a message, but I was told it might improve group morale and help us bond together." They're not always so organized... It seems there's a lot more leeway now that All For One is gone...
"Yes, I feel so close to all of you now," Dabi deadpanned. "Can I go already?"
"Fine," Shigaraki waved a hand dismissively. "Just don't get into any trouble before we need you again."
"Oh, and here my plan for the night was to land in jail," Dabi snarked. "Shut up."
He grabbed Hawks by the wing and proceeded to yank him over to where Kurogiri had opened a portal. The blonde fought the urge to yelp and slice his hand off, and instead just ignored the black-haired man, shaking his wing free once they were back on the roof.
"Do you have to do that every time? You keep stealing my feathers." It was weird because he could never feel them burn up later. He knew they were out there, but he didn't feel any pain from them, which meant they were still out there. Dabi had probably just been dropping them all over the place randomly as soon as he tore them away from his wing.
"Just testing a theory," Dabi says evasively. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it."
Instead of asking what the theory was, Hawks batted his eyelashes and said, "Aww, you think I'm pretty?"
Dabi's eye twitched, but he didn't say anything in response. All he did was shove Hawks off of the roof and watch with a pleased smirk as the hero yelped and was forced to catch himself with his wings.
"Hot topic junkie!"
"Overgrown pigeon!" Dabi hollered in response. Hawks just rolled his eyes before flying away, barely managing to restrain himself from giving the villain the middle finger.
He only had so much patience, after all.