Switcheroo \BnHA Various x Reincarnated!OC\

42 - Bound... Or Not

A baby's schedule is pretty thin so Renka spent many a day after rebirth thinking. She thought about her faux friends and the kid with the best reactions when teased. She thought about the air plants that her mum kept which everyone took turns misting. She thought about the gifts in her room that she hadn't given out and the games she installed but hadn't played. The pink sky in the evening by the porch. Her pretty house with moss and scraped paint in all the right places.

The high school she was supposed to enter.

Her strict but warm father and his foolish, trusting wife. Her brother, who went from a small monkey with red and wrinkled skin, to a nosy brat. Too curious for his own good, he was. Annoying everyone with his whys, running to places he shouldn't go.

Right into the claws of a villain.

She thought about the incident in which she lost everything.

What went wrong?

She was rebellious and stupid and failed to bring her brother with her. She was weak. Complacent. Slow to react.

"Haam," the small creature yawned, tired out from trying to roll over. Red marred the soft baby skin that rubbed against the bedding. A mature glint unsuited for a child's innocent features crossed her eyes.

She had endless flaws and having them created that tragedy. That fact would never change. But there were other factors too, she thought hatefully.

The society that bred irredeemable villains.

And the heroes that were a step too late.

※※※

The number of Noumus Shigaraki unleashed in Hosu City is three.

The four-eyed Noumu was stopped by Endeavor.

The musclebound Noumu was rendered inactive by Renka.

And the final, a winged Noumu with taloned feet, escaped from the heroes' encirclement and took to the air. Its destination... right out a dirty alley where everyone convened there as though drawn by some irresistible force.

Pro heroes find students trudging from the alley, pulling the subdued Hero Killer Stain. They are all worse for wear, clearly having been through a tough battle. Maybe it was the adrenaline leaving. Or maybe it was being in the presence of strong adults, but the kids let their guard down too early.

It isn't until Izuku feels a crushing pain around his waist that he notices the monster with wings like a bat. The Noumu had swooped in and flew off with the teen.

"MIDORIYA!"

Gran Torino, Izuku's mentor for the course of the internships and one of the heroes who found the students, starts moving. Todoroki Shouto, who subdued Stain with Izuku, activates his ability a beat after.

But someone's faster than the two of them.

Hero Killer Stain's Quirk requires the ingestion of blood so he tends to carry blades to draw blood from targets. He had been disarmed of the larger blades but the students missed a small flip knife hidden under his wristband. And that carelessness will be what saves them.

It doesn't take long to cut the ropes binding him.

At the same time the sliced ropes land on the ground, a burned and bloodied man digs the knife into Noumu's exposed brain. It lets out an uncanny wail that sounds far from human and flaps its wings for the very last time.

Izuku, falling from the loosened talon, is caught by Stain's free arm. His brain freezes at this incomprehensible situation but his body automatically squirms, trying to escape the grasp of a man scarier than any Noumu.

But Izuku's mental wellbeing is the farthest thing in the mind of Stain, heavily injured and with his consciousness slipping. He instinctively feels that the end of his purge is nigh. It was too short and his blades had reached too few pests. His relief at saving the seedling of a true hero is engulfed by deep resentment. For every true hero, there are thousands more fakes. Is it right to leave the infestation alone, letting it grow and multiply?

Once, he believed that words can bring about change. It's been 10 years since he realized that action speaks the loudest.

"This society overgrown with fake heroes..." Time seemingly slows as the heroes and hero wannabes pause. Stain is close to collapsing but no one steps forward to apprehend him. Maybe they still sense a threat in the villain. Maybe they find themselves wanting to hear his words to the end.

"... and criminals waving their power around... are targets of my purge. This is all... to create a more just society."

Having just arrived at the scene, Renka feels her heartbeat slow too. Seeing Iida and her classmates around confirms her suspicions that the man is Hero Killer Stain, who put Iida's brother in hospital.

What else is a person who leaves a good hero paralyzed for life? Stain can only be an evil villain.

But the words of that very villain ring in her ears and etch deeply in her memory. They resonate with the ugly heart hidden under her politically correct shell.

Just as they do for many people watching the video recording a bystander shot.

※※※

The Hero Killer passed out on his feet after his speech. While he could be said to have been brought down by Izuku, Iida and Shouto, they used their Quirks unauthorised. To avoid blame falling upon the kids and their mentors, that achievement became Endeavor's and publicly it is said that Stain was stopped by Endeavor.

At least the pro hero looked disgruntled about taking credit.

Renka neutralising a Noumu similarly became another pro hero's doing. There were few eyewitnesses for the incidents so everything could easily be kept under wraps.

And with the end of the week-long internships, it's back to school for the U.A. students.