I hurried out of the what I can only assume was the ruins zone within the USJ. Leaping over piles of rubble and hiding from every villain I saw, I got past quickly and without trouble. I knew that I could leave Kirishima and Bakugou to fight, they were strong and would find no difficulty in taking the villains down.
In the distance I could see the central plaza, the adrenaline in my blood carrying me as fast as my body could carry me. Up ahead I could see what I could only describe as a large bird man with an exposed brain and a man with baby blue hair, hands of the same color covering his body. He even wore one on his face, using it like a mask to most likely hide his identity.
As I got closer, the man with hands covering his body noticed me approaching. And as I got even closer, I noticed a beaten and bloody person on the ground. From the mop of raven locks I knew exactly who it was and it pained me knowing that he was hurt.
Shota...
I wanted to run to him, to protect him with my shield and destroy anyone who tried to lay a single finger on him. Shota had done so much for me, I cared for him a lot.
Finally reaching the plaza, I watched as the man with hands covering his body turned his body to face me.
"Did you do this to Shota?" I asked in a demanding tone, my anger returning and ready to let loose once again. He nodded, noticing how my eyes flickered light green.
"Yes, well actually, it was Nomu but I did tell him to get rid of that nuisance," he chuckled dryly. My fists clenched in rage, readying myself to pummel this guy and his freak of a partner. In that second I lost all sense of humanity and all I wanted was to kill them, literally this time.
It was different from being upset about what people said regarding those I cared about, this time they had actually been hurt and badly too. In the bottom of my heart, I held hope that Shota wasn't dead and that he was scold me like he usually did. He'd get up and hit me on top of the head before rushing off to defeat the villains... but that was a child's fantasy and nothing that I could even comprehend in that moment.
All I felt was anger, rage and the need to exterminate the one who had hurt Shota. They needed to die, I needed to see them suffer and scream out in pain and agony. Rushing forward, I pushed off the ground with repel on my feet and launched myself at the man with the hands. I drew my arm back, extending it forward with a glowing green fist which held the strongest punch I had ever dealt to anyone ever.
A long time ago I promised myself I would never use my quirk on another human being. I know what I can do when I use all of my power against another human who can't protect themselves from my attack.
Someone without a strong enough defensive quirk...
A single punch could kill them.
Before my fist could make contact with the hand covered man, his bird-headed accomplice blocked me from getting to him, taking the hit instead. I would've liked to have said that all he did was stumble back, fall over perhaps... but that wasn't even close to what happened. The force of the repel was so strong that when I opened my eyes to look at the one I had hit, the top half of his body was gone.
Time seemed to slow down as I stared wide eyed at what I had done. His legs remained standing, connected to his pelvis which also remained. But above that, there was nothing. It took barely a second before the chucks of flesh and downpour of blood began falling from the sky. I looked up with the blood falling down onto me, soaking into my clothing and leaving me feeling sticky and disgusting. There was nothing worse than being soaked blood.
It was then that I fully came to realize what it was that I had done. I had broken the promise I made to myself all those years ago. My breathing started to increase in speed, my brain going into overdrive as I tried to push away the idea that I had killed someone. My own hands had ended their life, sending them to an early grave. It pained my heart, I didn't want to carry this burden of what could only be described as murder.
I stood still, looking up only when I noticed movement in front of me. It was a distraction and it was what I needed in this moment where I knew I would break down. The legs which remained standing moved at where they had been separated from it's top half. The flesh contorted, seeming to grow and regenerate. I watched with interest as the bird-man returned to his normal form, his top half recovered, having no sign of damage or injury. It was shocking to say that least, the man I had just killed remained alive even after something which would normally end someone. A dark chuckle caught my attention, my head turning to look into it.
"I've heard about you, some of the villains I gathered used to work for your father and told me all about you." I stood in front of him, refusing to move nor speak. It was only an assumption but I thought that he would try and get to me like that boar man had did, except have the intention of killing me. I knew that the boar man had no intention of actually getting rid of me after I defeated him, for a villain he had somewhat of a good heart.
"What do you know about me?" I challenged, wanting to know what he had heard. I couldn't see his face properly but I could see the glimmering red orb of one of his eyes through a crack in his hand mask's fingers.
"Well, I'd say I've learnt a lot about who you are and your connections as of lately. There were things I already knew, stories my teacher had told me, but with new information I can put the pieces together," he said, raising his hand to his neck where he scratched at the skin like a flea-ridden dog.
"Like what?" I encouraged, wanting him to go into specifics. He hummed as he leaned back, eyes gracing the ceiling of the USJ.
"I know about your father and how he met your mother. How he was the son of a Yakuza boss but was revoked as the heir because of his weak mental health. Also how he had a daughter who became the heir of the Yakuza but ran away not long after her mother died." I watched him carefully, only looking away when I saw something move in the water nearby. There were three students I knew who hid there, watching my exchange with the blue-haired man. But he hadn't seemed to have noticed them yet.
"So that means that you've been lying about who you truly are to your classmates, right? Who would have thought that their classmate in heroics would be a member of the Yakuza? Surely the teachers know though, the hero association has been hiding you very well. And from what I hear about your father, he's still out there looking for you." I grit my teeth.
"Shut up."
"Oh, am I saying something that upsets you? I haven't spoken badly about anyone except you, do you really have a problem with that?" he pressed. But it did nothing, I felt no anger, I just felt like my usual self again. After the hand guy didn't receive an answer from me, he clicked his tongue and turned to his bird companion.
"Nomu, why don't you make her talk? It seems that she may have something stuck in her throat." The dark-feathered bird man, who I now knew was named Nomu, approached me. I readied myself for his attack by covering the entirety of my body with my aura shield, the bright glowing of the green light catching the attention of not only the three in the water but Shota's attention as he fought to stay conscious. I noticed the movement of his eyelids, feeling thankful that he was still alive, I don't know what I would do without him.
The Nomu suddenly charged at me, trying to strike me with it's large fists. I blocked and dodged all of his attacks, my shield protecting me from any damage. I then hit him again, this time sending him flying backward with a more controlled use of repel. His back hit a wall, it taking a moment of him to recover before it got back up. I turned to the villain with the hands and glared.
"Who the hell are you?" I asked, feeling annoyed that the Nomu had come after me. He chuckled, scratching at his neck again.
"The name's Shigaraki Tomura," he introduced. I was surprised that he was so open about using his real name but guessed it was an alias to protect his true identity.
"And may I have your full name?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow.
"Huh? Don't you have my name?" He shrugged his shoulders, adjusting the hand which covered his face.
"No one goes into specifics when it's stories like yours, I don't even know your father's true name since he uses so many aliases. But I did tell you mine so it's common courtesy to share said information." I could see where he was coming from and didn't want to get into any trouble at the moment so I went for it.
"(Y/n) (L/n)." He seemed happy that I gave him my name, his head turning to look at the Nomu as it returned to try and attack again. I dodged its fist as it tried to hit me, ducking below it. Using it's momentum, I kicked it side to make it unbalanced and fall. It did so, getting up a second later to try and strike me again. While this continued, I noticed that the portal-user had returned to Shigaraki and he didn't look too happy about whatever his mist companion was telling him. I badly wanted to know what they were talking about, but needed to pay attention to the Nomu at the same time since he was non-stop attacking me. But there something that caught my attention.
"If the symbol of peace won't show up, then I'll just have to damage his pride a little." I watched as Shigaraki lent over the the water to touch the three who were hiding there. My heart felt like it stopped, my blood running cold as I panicked. They wouldn't be able to move away in time and I had no clue what this guy's quirk was yet. By the state that Shota was in, there was no way of telling what it was. All I could do was see what Nomu had done which were the larger, more severe injuries while there was one which the bird-man would have been incapable of creating. The skin of Shota's exposed elbow was cracked like the earth during a drought, this was my only lead as to what Shigaraki's quirk could be. This paired with the fact that he reached his hand out towards them, I could only assume that if he touched their skin it would crack just like Shota's elbow had done.
It took a second to leap out of Nomu's way, getting closer to the water. Using repel in my feet, I launched myself towards the three in the water. Shigaraki's hand grew closer and closer to Tsu's face, Midoriya and Mineta panicking. I saw that Midoriya was readying himself to attack Shigaraki but Nomu had now turned his attention to the three as well. If they didn't move, they'd all be dead.
After throwing myself at the three in the water, I grabbed all of them, doing my best to cover them with my shield before any harm could be done to them. The shield formed from Mineta at the bottom, moving upward to cover me last. But the shield moved too slowly, the feeling of a hand being pressed against my back and a searing pain following. I gasped, trying to keep my pain silent as I braced for our landing. We hit the ground, tumbling awkwardly for a minute before we came to a complete stop. I released the shield and sat up, making sure the other three were fine.
Thankfully, they were. Tsu, Mineta and Midoriya not suffering from any injuries at all, they were just a little shaken up from the close call. Not wasting a second, I stood from my seated position but something didn't feel right. My mid rift felt cold, the feeling of the bandages no longer there.
"H-hey, (L/n)," Midoriya stuttered, pointing to your now exposed stomach. Looking down I was met with the sight of my bandages laying on the ground, something having torn them. Now my three present classmates, Shigaraki, Nomu and the portal-user could all see the abnormal scars which covered my stomach.
So much for trying to keep that a secret. Just a heads up, these scars are not caused by self harm or any kind of self inflicted wound. You'll find out how you got it later. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :)