The Hunter Amongst Villains Draft - (Patreon)

Heyo. I don't have much to say. Work has really tired me out these days. Still working on the From Beyond the World Tree and my original novel instead. Anyways, enjoy this one. This is from me undergoing the Harem trope high back in those days. And I was unaware of the High Ends as well, so enjoy something original.

Slice of Life Part 3

Another day, another class. Garou smiled in reminiscence of throwing Snipe into the ocean of sharks. He loved the face he made as the hero tried to scramble his way towards the ocean shores with ravenous man-eating fish trying to take bites of his behind. Snipe now flinched every time he saw Garou entering the class. A good reaction that soothes his evil soul.

The gunslinger Hero was beginning to regret sharing Garou’s rather delicate weakness with Nighteye. Garou had been hounding him for days on end. Still though, Garou’s weakness never failed to amuse the masked Hero. He had take the time to occasionally remind Garou of this, whilst he was part of Garou’s newly assigned ‘entourage’.

Today was another self-study session. To continue on discussing their plans on the martial tournament they planned on enacting for the Culture Festival, as the class started chattering among themselves idly.

“What's for lunch today?” Garou asked Mirio now that he grew used to his constant presence.

Taking a moment to remember, Mirio turned to inform Garou. Garou’s voracious appetite was infamous amongst UA, gorging in mountains of food whenever he could in mere minutes without any quarter.

“I’m not quite sure. The amount of food being served recently has decreased. I wonder why…”

Mirio threw a glance over towards the probable reason for the decrease in food.

Bang averted his eyes, switching focus to Hado sitting behind him.

“.......no idea.” he gave his two cents after a guilty pause. Garou started to reconsider controlling his stomach for a while, as he might devour all the food in the world if he allowed his hunger continue unchecked.

“Have you alway eaten this much? How did you afford it?”

Hado questioned Garou. The amount that Garou eats is easily enough to bankrupt the average person.

“...landlord.” Garou reluctantly informed.

“I can eat normal amounts if I want to though…” Garou added.

Both Hado and Mirio chuckled at Garou’s reluctance. They both had been spending far more time with Garou ever since becoming a member of the ‘team’ assigned to him. All the time they had spent with him had humanized him in their eyes. Of course he still had his inhuman speed and strength, not to mention his trademark brutality.

“How often do you eat ‘regular’ amounts though?”

“...I usually eat normal amounts out in the wild streets to conserve my finite savings.” Garou answered.

A moment passed as both Mirio and Hado imagined Garou traveling the streets, nothing holding him back. Hado faced Garou, a curious expression on her face.

“This landlady of yours… what’s she like?”

“A woman that defies logic. For some reason, she has a certain strength that made even me recoil despite being weaker than the lowest of heroes.” Garou informed with a shudder.

The two then pictured Garou being disciplined by this strict landlady of his. Such an image really did change how they saw Garou.

“If you're both imagining what I think you're imagining, I will sock you two to the heavens.” Garou deadpanned with a menacing glare, already aware of what ran through their minds.

Both Mirio and Hado raised their hands in a mock surrender. His absurd senses seemed to extend into highly accurate prediction of inner thoughts.

“It’d be interesting to meet her!”

Hado seemed quite enthusiastic about the idea.

“I refuse. She might do something against my back and tell you two something unnecessary.” Garou shook his head in denial.

“That’s only more of a reason to go!”

Each moment that passed only seemed to reinforce the desire to meet the woman who managed to keep Garou so… controlled.

“Give me one good reason why I should let you arrive at my home unscathed?” Garou asked as the red shadow of a raging asura slowly emerged behind him, defensive of his territory.

Hado seemed to be deeply engrossed in thought as she thought of a reason. Mirio could only watch in mild interest. Unlike his friend, he didn’t really share the same desire in meeting Garou’s ‘handler’. The three grew silent, as they listened to the noises around them. The typical murmur and chattering of the class had become a staple of Garou’s school life.

“Well… I think it could be fun! I’d get to learn so much about you!”

“........” Garou remained silent as he quirked a brow.

“Fun?” Garou uttered the word as if it did not exist in his vocabulary.

“Yeah! I’m sure it’d be a great time!”

She was looking at Garou, anticipation in her eyes.

“...I doubt there is anything inter-...” Garou paused upon remembering his disciple, and his unwanted ‘pack’ his idiot disciple gathered.

“Scratch that, there is no way I will let you come to my home.” Garou set his foot down. No matter what, he will not let her have her way with him.

The girl seemed to deflate in front of Garou’s very eyes. Her head raised, locking eyes with him. Her eyes were wide as her bottom lip trembled. Mirio smirked as he watched Garou bear the brunt of this ‘attack’.

Garou’s left eye twitched, caught off guard by this girl’s attempt to convince him through cuteness. He mentally chanted a mantra in his mind, ‘I will not give in’, repeatedly again and again, until he can wait out her-

“God damn it! Fine! Happy?! I'll let you come! Bring whoever you want, I don’t care!” Garou relented in a spectacular fail.

Her puppy-dog look broke as she smiled widely and celebrated. The more you knew him, the easier Garou was to deal with. Mirio’s smirk grew larger and larger as he turned his eyes to the defeated Garou.

“Not one word, Cartoon Face.” Garou warned to salvage his dignity.

An hand rapped on Garou’s shoulder. Hado seemed to be full of anticipation for this ‘meeting’ between her and the woman who could handle Garou so effectively.

“When will we go?”

“A thousand years?”

Hado could only pout in response to Garou’s joke.

“...fine. Anytime you want. I have a lot of free time anyways…” Garou murmured in dissatisfaction.

The young girl performed a miniature fistpump as Garou relented further.

“So I could pop over anytime?”

The idea of Hado just appearing at his door at any time was indeed a worrying one. The last thing he needed was to be disturbed on the regular.

“...mostly after school.” Garou gave his conditions.

Mirio gave Garou a look of sympathy, albeit with a smile on his face. Garou’s weaknesses were getting easier and easier to find and exploit. He could only wonder how Garou felt about being so easily exploited.

“Hey Bang, got any ideas for the Culture Festival coming up!” One of the students pitched in just in time to save Garou from further torment.

“Define ‘ideas’.” He immediately answered in his escape.

“We were wondering about any possible ways to spice up the tournament you suggested. Do you think that there is anything we could add?”

A few heads turned to focus on Garou. Being the one who thought of the idea for the tournament, he must have some ideas to add to the tournament to make it more interesting.

“…” Bang looked up in contemplation, trying to recall the martial tournament he once infiltrated for the prize money.

“…there is a martial tournament I recall having call girls…” Bang murmured just enough for the class to hear.

The students looked at each other in shock and confusion. One of them turned to look at Bang, a bewildered expression on his face.

“Uhhh… call girls? You mean… that?”

“Yeah? They’re always there before a match starts.” Bang wonders if that was a good idea. His common sense was quite underdeveloped to his ignorance.

“Did you ever… call one of them?”

The student couldn’t help the curiosity seeping into his voice. Most of the other students had stopped talking and were now listening in, morbidly curious about this ‘interesting’ topic.

“What?” Bang quirked a brow in confusion for a moment, before his eyes widened in enlightenment.

“Oh, ohhhh. No, no. I didn’t.” Bang shook his head in denial.

Smirks began to adorn the faces of most of the students now, listening to Bang’s furious denials.

“You sure about that? Hey man, no judging.”

The male student rose one of his hands in a gesture of consolation.

“The hell are you thinking? Of course not. Do you want to know the dirt outside intimately as I bury you in the ground?” Bang threatened now annoyed.

“You sure this was a fighting tournament? It wasn’t… something else?”

Another voice rose from one corner of the room, making a unsavory suggestion.

“Yep. It was a fighting tournament. I was there myself fighting for the prize money. And won over a hundred million yen first place.” Bang confirmed with sincerity.

Raising their brows in shock, they had no idea that Bang had ever entered a martial arts tournament. They had all collectively assumed that he must have had some form of training though, to have so effectively beaten the two Garou-trained Pussycats.

“What did you spend the money on?”

Mirio asked ‘Bang’, curious of what he would possibly purchase with such an amount.

“Food… and a quiet house. Nothing fancy or eye-catching.” Garou said.

“You… spent a hundred million on food and a house? Was your newly purchased abode a mansion?”
A female student asked, disbelieving that he could spend so much on such simple things.

“No, it’s a small cottage out in the woods. I was saving the money for emergencies at that time.” Bang wondered if he should switch topics now that they’re diving too deep into his dark past.

“I think a hundred million yen is a bit past ‘emergency savings’. What kind of emergency would possibly need that much?”
Mirio cocked one eyebrow. He didn’t doubt that Garou would have actually spent a hundred million on food and a simple cottage.

“Daily disasters.” Bang replies vaguely.

The class could only bury their faces in their collective hands. A hundred million yen was likely more money than any of them would see in their lives. And Bang had spent it all on food, a small house and ‘emergency savings’.

“What kind of emergency were you preparing for? The apocalypse or something?”

“...yes.” Bang answered with false sincerity.

“Hey man! You should have spent that money on those call girls you were on about!”

A voice shouted out from one side of the classroom. Laughter quickly followed it.

“The bank holding my money sunk in an earthquake. It is literally unrecoverable now.” Bang lied.

“...” His lie stunned the class into silence. They couldn't let out their thoughts through their lips, as they don't know how to convey how terrible Bang’s luck was.

“You lead a very… interesting life.”

Mirio added from besides Garou as gently as he could.

“It's not everyday you lose a hundred mil to a natural disaster… don’t judge me.” Garou defended himself. In truth, he lost access to his prize money the moment he came here. How he wished he still had the prize money to this day… the amount of food money he could have in his pocket.

“Well, who knows. Maybe you could take part in some more martial arts tournaments. I don’t think any of them have that level of prize money though…”

“You… I just had an idea. What if we gave a prize money to the winner? And have a betting ring for the spectators?” Garou proposed.

The sudden voice of Snipe cut over the murmurs in the classroom. Stood at the front of the class, their teacher drew their attention.
“No way. While the prize money may be a good idea, there are explicit laws against underage gambling. And besides, I don’t think it’s quite appropriate for a class of prospective Heroes to be betting on the outcome of fights.”

His tone was a stern one, one you would expect a teacher to have. Clearly he wasn’t budging on this point.

“Tch, killjoy. Well, we need something to entertain the spectators as well. Thoughts? Besides the call girls and prize money?” Garou asked his classmates for ideas.

“Perhaps other classes could act as challengers?”

“I still can’t believe Bang got to meet call girls. Lucky…”

“How about it be a separate division? One with Quirks, one without?”

A number of suggestions for the tournament came from all corners of the room.

“…what if the winner gets to demand anything from the losers?” Garou offered.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea either. Sounds like it could be easily abused.”
Snipe once again, attempting to be the voice of reason, shooting down any suggestions.

“Winner gets to have anything autographed by the hero of their choice or something?” Garou added that one when the image of All Might appeared in his thoughts.

Judging by the reaction of his classmates around him, it was a widely popular suggestion. Snipe looked on as the class was clearly riled up, each student ready to win for their own reason. Nodding once, Snipe agreed.

“What? That counts? Really?” Garou asked as if in disbelief. He preferred money over autographs at any time. He doesn't care about the value of the heroes.

The class was abuzz, each discussing which Hero they’d be choosing. Mirio already knew what he’d choose, whilst Hado still considered.

“Alright… question is how we will get the heroes to agree to this. The only idea I have is somehow having ‘Garou’ threaten UA or something…” Bang gave Snipe a glance that said, ‘make it happen or else’, before his eyes returned to his class.

“Ehh? As if that brute would perform our whims so easily.” One of the students, Clara Victoria, a woman with a slim, svelt figure and a blonde ponytail styled in a drill hair commented.

The gunslinger sighed under his mask. He’d need to find a way to get the autographs of literally dozens of Heroes. Well, it depends entirely on who wins.

“Eh, a thought. So, we good with the autograph as the prize?” Garou still prefer money.

“Yes I believe we are.”
Snipe mentally was guessing as to which Heroes each and every different student would pick. Inwardly, he hoped at least someone would pick him...

“…and the call girls?” Garou asked just in case.

Snipe merely shook his head as he grimaced under his mask. He had no idea why Garou had even suggested such a thing in the first place. He’d never taken him as that kind of person.

“Again, it’s not appropriate to have that kind of thing around high school children.”

“Huh… fine then.” Garou concluded.

“Well, it seems like you’re all quite looking forward to this tournament.”
Snipe addressed the whole class, all eagerly discussing the topic of their tournament. The students all seemed to be filled with anticipation and determination. None of them seemed to have any desire to lose.

A round of ‘Yeah!’s filled the room as everyone was riled up. Snipe smiled slightly. Who would have thought they’d be so excited by the idea of a tournament. The gunslinger did have to hand it to Garou however. What their class was planning seemed far more… unique than the rest of the school.

The class bell rang, signaling the end of the class period.

“...hah, off to english.” Garou mumbled as he and the rest of the class rose from their seats as they all strolled out the slide door, and into the hallways.

After school…

“Gehhhh…” Garou groaned, as he went to his disciple’s school. With Hado and Mirio behind him as they were curious to see Garou’s daily life outside their prying eyes. The road Garou took was long, taking bus then subway until they arrived at a certain elementary school, a private one of sorts meant for the gifted, Maragnos Elementary School.

“Aniki!”

Shouting from the distance, on the sidewalk at the front of the school, a certain silver-haired boy with lights behind his back ran towards Garou. He was carrying a large backpack full of school supplies, color silver and… are those Garou themed merchandise? Demonic keychains with Garou’s monster uniform was adorned on his backpack, even stickers were slapped onto it as well, bearing pictures of his demonic visage in all their glory.

‘Since when did they have those things?’ Garou felt a bit violated now that he saw merchandise of himself being distributed to the public. He felt like hunting them and giving them ‘Deaths By Garou’ if they're THAT enthusiastic about him.

“Oh! I remember you!”
Hado seemed to  light up as she remembered the young, silver-haired boy in front of them.

“Eh?! You!” The lights behind Ghin, color changing from silver to yellow, instantly conjured orbs of his death lasers as he aimed them at Hado.

“Go away! I already did my community service!” Ghin squawked like a chicken as he instantly formed a defensive martial stance, wary of Hado.

“She's not here for that you idiot.” Garou lectured his idiot disciple.

“Eh?” Ghin then looked at his master and then at Hado, his eyes darting from one figure to another rapidly in confusion. His death lasers powered down before his lights returned to silver.

“What? Why? Did Aunty force something weird on you?” Ghin asked as he looked at Hado in confusion, before his eyes caught Mirio at the corner of his eyes.

“Ehh, what a stupid face.” Ghin commented on Mirio’s unique appearance.

Mirio could only grimace as he stood there, being insulted by this young child. Hado only smiled wider at the young boy.

“I have to say! You sure took off fast last time!”

“Hisss~” Ghin hissed at Hado before moving near Garou, popping out of his legs while glaring at Hado defensively.

“You will not get me next time!” Ghin declared.

“Did you do something behind my back again?” Garou asked, his gaze turned intense as he looked down his disciple.

“.....no.” Ghin meeped out of fear for his sensei.

“Then stop clinging to my leg and introduce yourself properly.” Garou then bonked his disciple on the head as he whimpered, moving away from his legs while rubbing the swelling on his head with sniffling tears. Mirio and Hado could only watch in dumbfoundment, the former never before seeing Garou’s disciple first hand.

Noticing the numerous ‘Garou’ stickers and merchandise on the boy’s bag, both Hado and Mirio looked at each other, a smile on their faces. They could both imagine how the man himself felt about being turned into commercial products.

“Those are some pretty cool stickers! Where’d you get them?”
Hado questioned the young boy on the decals. Garou would not be pleased if they got their hands on such products. Which was why they want them to tease the hero hunter for their amusement.

“....they're recent… the supermall in Mustafa my friends told me. They got it for me.” Ghin answered before Garou realized the two’s intentions. He silently glared at his entourage with the intensity of a thousand suns. They remained smiling, his intense glare bouncing off them like a bullet to a shield.

The two knew that they needed this Garou merch. Watching his reactions would be extremely enjoyable.

“...are they your friends from UA?” Ghin asked Garou as he looked at the two teenagers of similar age to Garou’s.

“...They're-”

“Yep! We’re his friends, little guy!” Mirio answered for Garou before he could. Garou glared at Mirio with even more fiery eyes.

“Ehhhh… you actually made friends? Really?”

“Should I use you as bait for the sharks?” Veins bulged under Garou’s skin upon hearing the rude question. His ‘friends’ smiled, stifling their giggling.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Ghin asked pointing at Hado.

Upon the young boy’s assumption, Hado smiled widely and laughed. Mirio kept his eyes on Garou, waiting for his reaction to his protege’s assumption. This silver-haired youth stared at Hado with wide eyes.

“No, I’m not. I don’t think he found it as funny as I did though.”

Hado pointed one thumb in the direction of Garou.

“...oh…” Ghin blinked upon hearing that.

“I could’ve sworn he’s too cool for any girls though…”

*BONK*

Without warning, Garou bonked his disciple with his hammerfist. Again at the same spot, making the boy double over as he crouched, sniffling as he rubbed the spot his sensei bonked twice.

“Any other questions that doesn't make me angry?” Garou asked his idiot disciple.

“...who is that guy with the stupid face?” Ghin asked pointing at Mirio.

“That’s Mirio! He’s one of your master’s classmates.”

Hado pointed towards Mirio as well, mirroring the young boy.

“...hello. My name is Ghin. I am his first and greatest disciple.” Ghin waved his hand at them shyly, blushing a little.

Mirio and Hado exchanged both waves with Ghin, smiling at the precocious young disciple of Garou’s. Looking at him a bit more, he really did remind them of Garou himself. Except the merch. Garou wouldn’t be caught dead with anything of that sort. Mirio turned to address Garou.

“So now that we’ve picked Ghin up, what’s the plan?”

“...we indulge Hado… to my home.” Garou hissed at Hado the same way Ghin hissed at her.

The two classmates of Garou’s grinned widely. Ghin seemed just as hesitant as Garou. But having relented, Garou was forced to take them. They both were awaiting their meeting with the homeowner.

After thirty minutes…

The group of four arrived before his apartment. It seemed rather… plain, after his stories of millions of yen and tournaments. Still though, this was where the Hero-Hunter had been staying, whilst he was performing his ‘hunts’.

“How many people have visited your home?”
Mirio asked, curious. It seemed as if no one had actually seen where the Hero-Hunter himself lived.

“No one. Like hell I will let anyone see my home.” Garou said as he walked away.

“You don’t have some big secret hidden do you?”

The voice of Hado followed Garou as he was walking away. He just couldn’t seem to get away.

“It is the place I first came here in this world. The squirt found me when I escaped from a gruesome batte.” Garou informed as he entered the sliding doors.

As Mirio looked around, his curiosity piqued upon hearing Garou mention a ‘gruesome battle’. Most battles involving Garou were indeed gruesome.

“This battle… how bad was it?”

“It was when I was still in my hero hunting days. I fought both my master and my master’s brother in a brutal battle. Don't pity me. I deserved it in the end.” Garou replied as they continued walking.

“Did you win?”

The young girl ran up alongside Garou as he walked along. She stared at him, with wide expectant eyes.

“No. I did not.” Garou replied. Hado looked down dejected, though surprised to hear that Garou admitted his loss.

They stopped before an elevator, pressing the up button. All four of them entered the elevator, listening to Garou continue as the elevator hummed in the background.

“The squirt found me when I came to. It is how he first convinced me to take him in as his disciple.”

Ghin let out a small smile at the two heroes upon the mention of him.

“I can imagine. He seems quite… tenacious.”
Hado nodded as Mirio described Garou’s young follower. With all of the Garou related items the boy owned, it wasn’t hard to see that he was obsessed when it came to the Hero-Hunter.

“I did it out of my own will. I see a lot of myself in him before I became the Hero Hunter. Though he had it worse.” Garou replied as the elevator hummed.

“I can see what you mean.”

“You don't.” Garou replied.

“The boy is an orphan, he lost his own parents due to the blunder of a hero. He is born Quirkless, a natural pariah. He was forced to suffer even more at school, bullied just because he did not have something everyone else had. He suffered more than I did when I grew up.” Garou corrected.

“I doubt any of you know the meaning of pain, or what it means to turn the pain into strength to fight on.”

Ghin remained silent, as he drooped his head at the mention of his parents.

The atmosphere inside the elevator became grim. The two UA students looked at Ghin, eyes full of sympathy. The bright, energetic attitude the boy put off only saddened the two students further as they thought of all he’d gone through.

“I took him in to give him the strength to fight back against the world that wronged him. And prove the evil of Quirks to the world.” Garou continued his story as the elevator dinged, opening the doors in front of them.

“This is one of the things you heroes failed to see. One of the real reasons I hate Quirks.” Garou said as he left the door with his disciple following behind him, his mood sulken and somber.

The two classmate followed behind Garou silently. After hearing Garou’s words, they were now both slightly uncomfortable to encroach on the silver-haired duo’s territory. Both seemed to be internally struggling with so much, that it saddened both Hado and Mirio. As they followed, they passed door after door. They still hadn’t seen another person. Were the other occupants aware of who was staying so close by?

“This building is owned by the boy’s aunt. There were a few occupants here, though they all left after the villain attack to abduct the boy. His aunt is a talented lawyer, her Quirk that of Persuasion. She was recently a target of villains these days, but I crushed them and fed them to the police.” Garou informed, already knowing what they're thinking as they continued walking until they were down at the end of the hall, a bit double-barrelled door before them.

Looking at this door, they assumed that this was the house that Garou and Ghin were both so defensive of. It almost felt like entering the lair of some great, terrifying beast. Only they were being actively brought in by the predator.

As Garou entered in through the doors, behind the doors, the eyes of Mirio and Hado were greeted by the sight of a large living room, a large bean bag sofa and an actual sofa, and a plasma screen TV.

Looking around at the inside, they two UA students were slightly surprised. The inside of the house didn’t really match the outside look. They began to wander around, taking in the environment. They both noticed out the the corner of their eyes that Ghin and Garou both seemed to be watching their every move.

“So… where is your landlady?”
Mirio turned towards Garou. The homeowner seemed absent.

“Ghiiin! How was school?” A call came out from the kitchen.

“I'm fine! Aniki brought over friends!”

Suddenly, they heard a loud clatter came from the kitchen. The two watched as they saw a young woman that could be mistaken as her teens stumble out of her room, her eyes so wide it almost like they will bulge out of their sockets, staring at them.

“.....” She stared at Mirio and Hado with bloodshot eyes, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Hado and Mirio walked towards the assumed homeowner. Waving towards her, they introduced themselves. They kept a polite demeanour as they addressed her.

“Hello. We are Garou’s classmates. I’m Mirio Togata and this is…”
He pointed towards Hado, who finished his sentence for him.

“Hado Nejire! It’s very nice to meet you! We’ve heard so much!”

“....yessss.” The woman whispered to herself as she pumped both her arms in the air in her mind.

“Ahem, greetings. My name is Tsukihana Shinjitsu. I thank you for taking care of the scariest man on earth.” Shinjitsu smiled warmly at the two, before giving them both a curt bow.

Hado and Mirio both bowed in response. They were somewhat taken aback. From Garou’s descriptions, they had been expecting someone a little… scarier. But the woman in front of them was polite and friendly. They both wondered how she could possibly manage with Garou.

“Tell me, did he try to scare you both away? Or torture you all with his pranks?” She asked just in case.

Hado and Mirio looked at each other for a moment, before turning back to Tsukihana and nodding, almost in sync.

“Both.”
They also both spoke at exactly the same time. Garou did have quite a tendency for his ‘pranks’.

“Oh… did he threaten to break your bones or send you both to the hospital?” She asked.

“We’ve both lost count.”
Mirio added, a hint of amusement in his tone. The amount of times Garou had made those threats, not just to them, but to others as well, was off the charts.

Garou himself seethed at Mirio for even answering.

“Ah, thank you for your sincerity. I take it you two grew wise with him?” She asked with a smile now growing more ever present on her face.

“Yep! I think our classmates are beginning to get used to his presence. Even our teacher!”

The innocent voice of Hado only made Garou seethe further. She didn’t even notice Garou’s reaction. Mirio, however, did notice, judging by his smile.

“Please, make yourself at home. I have so many questions on how he is doing at school. Let me treat you two something.” Tsukihana said as she returned to the kitchen.

Pulling out two chairs from a nearby table, the two UA students took a seat as they watched Tsukihana move around in the kitchen. They could feel two glares on the back of their heads. If looks could kill, they’d both be dead a hundred times over.

“So… what is your relation to Ghin?”

Mirio queried on the relationship that the young boy and she shared.

“...” Tsukihana stopped as she brought out some leftover sushi from the fridge on a plate, covered by plastic wrap. Her face paused, her smile turned to a frown.

“...a child I'm trying my best to save.” She solemnly said as she removed the plastic from the plate and placed it inside a microwave, and set the timer for one minute to heat the food.

Hado turned her head around to look at the young boy in question, a look of sympathy on her face.

“He seems to be quite a polite young boy.”
Judging from what she’d seen of Ghin, it was true that he seemed quite polite. He also appeared to be full of energy.

“Before he met Garou… there wasn't a night he wouldn't cry in his sleep.” Tsukihana said as the microwave finished. She took out the plate of warmed sushi and placed the plate on the table.

The two UA students both felt even worse for the young boy after hearing her words. The image of the boisterous silver-haired youth being so broken and downtrodden, tore at their hearts.

“You could say that Ghin was one of the main reason Garou hates Quirks so much. That how a society could ignore a boy’s suffering when he doesn't deserve it…” She added.

A feeling of shame began to fill the two students. Mirio especially. With his dream of saving a million people, seeing Ghin suffer so badly under the watch of society, only made him feel somehow responsible. Hado and Mirio remained silent.

“Don't blame yourselves for his pain. It is not your responsibility to care for him, so please don't feel guilty. The fault lies with me for failing him. Anyways, the bad part is that Garou taught Ghin many weird things… which worked, unfortunately. Now, he won't stop asking if he could break the bones of whoever from time to time. You have no idea what I had to deal with when Ghin came back stronger as than an Quirk-empowered ox.” Tsukihana then joked to lighten the atmosphere.

Breaking their self-imposed silence, Mirio cast a glance over at Garou and Ghin.

“How do you manage? With those two?”

“Give them the greatest death glare you can muster and discipline them with an iron will. No, a will made of titanium. And the patience of God.” She said as Ghin started giggling at her while Garou smiled smugly at Tsukihana.

Mirio could only rub the back of his head awkwardly. This woman must have an unbreakable will.

“A few have tried. Doesn’t really seem to work with us.”

“Don't try. Do. It won't work if they just try.” Tsukihana replied as she returned to the room with drinks, setting them on the table along with the sushi.

“Please, try them.” She urged the two to try the food.

Reaching out, Mirio and Hado both took a piece of sushi. As they chewed, a sinister thought came over Mirio. He was a little worried about the reaction from behind him, but he was more interested to see how Tsukihana would react.

“So… I assume you know a lot about Garou’s ‘weaknesses’?”

“You will die a thousand deaths this time for asking that.” The smiling Mirio felt a hand clutching his head, threatening to crush his skull like a balloon.

“He won't kill you, but he will torment you. Last time, he used a certain hero as bait to lure sharks for his dinner…” Tsukihana said as she narrowed her eyes at Garou. Garou returned her glare with his own filled with world-ending fury.

“Let him go. It is not nice to treat your friends that way.”

“They're not my-”

“Impolite. You can do better.”

A tense silence passed between the two, the woman and Garou locking eyes with each other in a death staredown, one that would determine the fate of Mirio in Garou’s clutches.

Mirio remained deathly still in Garou’s clutches. The grip on his head was one that was easily threatening to shatter his head like a bird’s egg. Hado watched on, as she couldn’t stop this exchange.

“...............” Slowly, Garou released his clutches, one finger at a time, before Mirio no longer felt Garou’s hand on his head.

“Good. Now be polite and show him around. Ghin, you too.” Tsukihana said as she walked back into the kitchen, humming to herself in her victory.

Nervously rising from his chair, Mirio stood up and faced Garou. The glare he was receiving seemed to be threatening to push him into the ground. Gesturing towards Garou, Mirio broke the silence.

“Lead on.”

“...There's not that much here.” Garou succinctly said, though his tone indicated otherwise.

“Show them your room!” Ghin suggested, making Garou flinch. Hado and Mirio did not miss him flinching.

They both were morbidly curious. What was the room of the scariest man on Earth like? Would there be portraits of Heroes on the walls? Or satanic objects like blood or a summoning ritual pentagram on the floors and ceiling? A number of potential images flashed through their heads as they attempted to imagine Garou’s room.

“No. I refuse. There's no way I will let them in my room.”

Two minutes later…

“Whooooaaaa….” Mirio dropped his jaw at the sight of Garou’s room. Pictures of heroes and villains along with maps of Japan were stuck on the walls of the room, with ones marked with red crosses being indications of his successful hunts. The room was big, having a martial art equipment for Garou like a Wing Chun Wooden Dummy, a practice dummy with arms and legs and other protrusions, punching bag dangling from a chain, and various books on martial arts littered around the floor and so much more. Around the corner was his bed, a mattress on the ground with a plain looking blanket.

It looked like the room of a fitness freak had combined with the room of a Hero fanboy. As they looked around the room, Mirio came across a familiar face. On the wall was a picture of All Might, smiling widely. A large red ‘X’ crossed over the image. He could almost imagine Garou returning from that famous duel, striking All Might off his list as his prey.

“It's cool right?!” Ghin asked, smiling with his hands on his hips, standing right next to a downtrodden Garou, his head looking down to the floor with dejection. Ashamed that he allowed them in his room.

Hado was still walking around the room, taking everything in. As she passed one of the training dummies, she gave it a wayward tap with one finger, causing it to swing ever so slightly.

“I don’t know what I expected really.”

She sounded a tad disappointed.

“Just what do you want to expect anyways?” Garou asked, exasperating with wrath and shame.

The long-haired girl shrugged in response. In hindsight, Garou didn’t seem like the kind of person to have a elaborately decorated room. He seemed more… simple. No need for unnecessary indulgences.

“I was hoping for something exciting. Maybe posters of your favorite movie or something.”

“Like I care about movies. The shrimp likes those things. I don't.” Garou retorted with a scowl.

“You should!” Ghin shouted in protest to Garou’s decision.

Mirio and Hado smiled at listening to the little exchange between the two silver-haired martial artists. Turning to Ghin, Hado had another curious expression on.

“What about your room?”

They both had an idea of what it would look like, as they looked over at Garou.

“Uhh…” Ghin froze. His smile stiff on his face before slowly melting into a worried frown.

“Yeah, shrimp. What about your room?” Garou asked, with a smile on his face.

“...You won't see it!” Ghin shouted as he ran out the room, but before he could reach his room and barricaded himself inside, Garou hooked a finger into the scruff of his shirt.

“Let them see your room.” Garou ordered with a devilish smile on his face.

“Nooooo!!!” Ghin flailed helplessly in Garou’s grasp, his hands prying the finger holding him in place but to no avail.

The two UA students followed alongside Garou holding the wailing, squirming form of Ghin. They smiled, clearly seeing the relationship the two silver-haired menaces shared. They exited Garou’s room and continued walking through the house, coming to an abrupt stop in front of another plain wooden door.

“Is this his room?”

Mirio pointed at the door.

“No! Stay away from my sanctuary!” Ghin cried out in dismay as he flailed like a fish on dry land, kicking his legs and desperately tugging the invincible finger hooked into his collar.

Both Mirio and Hado waited expectantly. They both had an idea of the contents within Ghin’s room.

“We won’t touch anything. I promise.”
Hado looked at the squirming form of the young boy. He seemed extremely resistant to the idea.

“You’ll never get in!” Ghin protested vehemently as Garou already grabbed the doorknob, and opened the door.

“Nooooooooooo!!!” Ghin cried in childish anguish as the contents of his sanctuary was revealed.

What greeted their eyes was… a bit unexpected. His room was more colorful, though mostly in silver, his bed befitting those of his age plain and comfy. However, what made it different were the notes and papers on the walls of his room. They were research notes on the various Quirks and jotted notes on counters to deal with via martial skill, and other notes on… Mirio walked towards one of the papers clustered on the wall, reading martial arts and techniques, experimental ones. These notes were his ideas on moves, original moves based on the fighting styles Garou taught him. There were even very well drawn poses on them along with notes on the strengths and weaknesses of the original techniques in detail.

On another end, however, at the far corner of the room, Hado saw… a poster of All Might above his bed. One with red lines crossing out All Might’s face, with some parts ripped apart.

Looking over at the now still form of Ghin, Hado could only give him a reassuring smile. They felt somewhat like intruders being in this room. Mirio, however, continued looking around the room.

“I’m surprised. I expected more Garou-related stuff. Some posters maybe.”

Mirio was indeed mildly surprised with the lack of Garou merch.

“…why need them when he is here with me…” Ghin muttered, his cheeks pink with shame as he dangled off Garou’s hooking finger.

Garou hummed to himself. He never bothered to intrude his disciple’s room that much. The notes multiplied since the last time he entered. His disciple worked very hard behind closed doors.

Mirio’s gaze lingered on the damaged picture of All Might. Casting his eyes over to the owner of the room, Mirio knew. This young boy felt like he had been let down. And he had. For him to have suffered in silence… There was no wonder he had attached himself to Garou. One of the only powerful people to have noticed his pain.

Hado walked over and took a look at the pile of notes that lay on the nearby table. They seemed extremely comprehensive when it came to the subjects of the note. Diagrams, descriptions, theories and possible counters filled every inch of the individual notes. Looking a bit closer, she noticed a few familiar faces. One note was titled ‘Endeavour’, whilst another was named ‘Crimson Riot’. There seemed to be quite a few Pro Heroes in these notes.

Notes on their strengths and weaknesses in great detail. For example, Endeavour’s arrogance and his dark history and ways to exploit it, and his lack of speed and flexibility. Another one was Best Jeanist, theories on the speed of his Quirk and the effectiveness of its influence over different types of clothing. Hado blinked. If she didn’t know any better, these are plans for Ghin to duel and defeat the Pro Heroes in close combat.

“I hope we don’t have notes dedicated to us!”

Hado joked, but she guessed that at some point, there would be a sheet of paper with her name on it. The same went for Mirio.

“…” Ghin withheld his words, answering her with silence. His eyes locked to the floor beneath his feet, not wanting to even speak with the two.

Her expression softened as she approached the silver-haired youth.

“If you want us to leave, just say so.”

She kept a gentle tone when addressing Ghin. He seemed quite distressed.

“…there’s no point in it anymore.” Ghin whimpered, not even looking at Hado.

Casting her eyes up to Garou, Hado bore a concerned expression on her face.

“Is this really alright? Should we… go?”

“…that’s up to him.” Garou replied, as he dropped his disciple, letting him go finally as the boy landed motionless on his feet.

Mirio had stopped looking around and had walked over, coming to a stop beside Hado. They both looked down at the still form of Ghin, awaiting his response in regards to their presence.

“…will you mock me like the others?” Ghin started to speak, his voice so low it’s like a whisper.

Both the UA students got to one knee, to get on eye-level with Ghin. Mirio reached out one hand and lay a reassuring hand on the young boy’s shoulder. They both looked at him with utter seriousness.

“Of course not. We were invited into your home. We’d never make fun of you.”

“…the other kids would.” Ghin replied.

Mirio and Hado shook their heads furiously. There was no way they could allow that. Now that they were aware of this young boy’s suffering, they had no desire to see it continue. They would stop it at all costs.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t. And if they did, we’d have a certain someone give them a few stern words.”
Mirio pointed one thumb over to Garou, who now stood over the boy and the two kneeling students.

“...…I want to be strong.” Ghin reluctantly said.

“Strong enough to shut the world up. To where the world has no choice but to listen to me, and heed me… is it wrong to become a hero to prove the worthlessness of Quirks?” Ghin asked as the lights behind him dimmed into a dull grey.

“No. No it’s not.”
Mirio steeled himself. He knew that other people’s livelihoods depended on their Quirks. To make them useless… that would potentially ruin their livelihoods.

“But it’s not wrong to live with a Quirk. People rely on them. Some people need them.”

“…then why do some abuse them?” Ghin asked, as if wanting answers.

“I don’t know. That’s why we try to stop those that do.”

Mirio shook His head. He knew he didn’t have the answers that the boy needed. He could only give his view and his opinion.

“…” The boy looked behind him, seeing the lights behind his back remaining dull grey.

“I see…” Ghin paused as he processed Mirio’s words.

“...…do you like my room?” Ghin shyly asked, changing the subject.

Both Mirio and Hado broke out into wide smiles.

“It’s pretty cool! I wish my room was like this!”

Hado reassured Ghin on his room. Clearly he was pretty sensitive when it came his personal spaces.

“They’re notes on how many ways I can break the bones of my enemies, though.” Ghin revealed.

“Well, so long as we’re not your enemies!”

Mirio jokingly responded. That had confirmed his earlier assumption that Ghin had planned to take down each of his ‘targets’ in combat. The fact that they were all Pro Heroes worried him slightly. Maybe he could add some villains?

“Nnn…” Ghin looked at the papers regarding his ideas for killer moves.

“...what do you think of my ideas for original moves?” Ghin asked as he walked towards the section of papers on the walls, and ripped two of the papers off and handed it to Mirio and Hado.

They both looked down at the notes they had been given. A little cartoonish figure that appeared to represent Ghin was centered in the middle of the note. He appeared to be performing one of his original moves.

The picture depicted Ghin… breaking a mountain in one kick. Little red scribbles represented energy channeled into his leg, and with the force generated, the picture of Ghin dropping the heel of his feed down at the top of the mountain so hard, the mountain broke down under the force of his high heel stomp, crumbling into small pieces. Mirio noticed a headline of the note. It was the final version of the move, his ideal, how he wanted the technique to be in the end.

Mirio continued looking down at the note.

“Have you tested this move out yet?”

“Uhhh… I tried it on a boulder, but it didn't turn into sand and I didn't generate an magnitude ten earthquake… I am still too weak.” Ghin pouted.

Turning his head to Garou, Mirio wondered what Ghin’s teacher thought of these moves. He was aware that Garou did have his own moves. He specifically remembered the ‘God Slayer Fist’ he had used during his duel with All Might.

“And what do you think? Of Ghin’s ‘special moves’?”

“Meh, I don't judge. It's a matter of when he could pull it off in the end though.” Garou said as he looked at the move. The Falling Mountain… one of the Earth God Slayer series.

The two UA students took another look at the note in their hands, before extending their arms to return the notes. Ghin appeared to be quite self-conscious about both the design and execution of his moves.

“...I plan to reach Garou’s level one day.” Ghin said as he took notes back and pinned them back on the wall he tore it from.

“I don’t doubt it.”
Hado and Mirio both knew that Ghin would inevitably reach the absurd level of Garou. Be it in a few years or a few decades, they’d have another Garou. Suddenly, an image flashed through both of their minds. An image of the one-eyed threat. Mirio subconsciously gulped in anxiety. Garou’s ‘entourage’ had been searching every inch of the city for any hint of this threat. Both Hado and Mirio were now caught up in their thoughts of their target.

“Hello?” Ghin called out to the two daydreamers, waving his hand in front of Mirio’s face.

Quickly gasping, Mirio shook his head as both he and his friend pulled themselves back to reality. Looking over at the silver-haired duo, they noticed that they were watching them with expectant eyes.

“Sorry. Got caught up in our thoughts. Should we go back to the kitchen?”

“Yeah. The squirt is now feeling anxious. Stay any longer and he will burn additional holes in you.” Garou lightheartedly joke as orbs of light slowly formed behind Ghin, grey lights ready to fire his death lasers.

Garou’s two classmates began to move towards the door, in a rushed manner. They hurried back towards the protective influence of Tsukihana. Being closed in a room with the silver-haired duo seemed like a poor idea, in hindsight. It was like being trapped in an enclosure with two hungry lions.

“Anyways… are your curiosities sated now?” Garou asked as he followed the two out of Ghin’s room. The moment he left, Ghin slammed the door behind him, the loudness of the slam indicating that they were no longer welcome in his room.

The two students nodded. Their curiosity had been sated by visiting the two rooms. Hado wondered to herself how many people had seen the inside of those two rooms. Likely, the number was one that could be counted on one hand.

“Good. I cannot force you to get out, or I would throw you two out the window by now. You two gonna continue loafing around here or go to intern at the other skeleton’s place?” Garou asked.

Mirio cast a glance over at Hado, silently communicating.

“Yeah, we’d better go. We don’t want to spend too long in here.”

Hado agreed. They had intruded in this house for quite a while. They had seen all they needed to. She was, however, curious enough to ask one more question, before turning to the door.

“How many people have actually been inside your house?”

“You two are the only ones allowed in my sacred grounds. Anyone else, and they would've been sent in the hospital with a case of amnesia or severe brain damage.” Garou answered with his usual bluntness.

“It feels… nice to know that you trust both of us enough to let us in your home. Thank you.”

A sincere smile was sent Garou’s way. Mirio smiled alongside her.

“...tch. Just go. I will be at Skeleton’s place later.” Garou said as he watched them wave him goodbye before taking off to the exit in the lounge.

Both the UA students walked towards the door as they left. Sir Nighteye would be… interested to know the kind of room that Garou stays in, to say the least.

Kurogiri stood, soaking in the silence of the warehouse. He was growing anxious. The task he had been assigned by Tomura was one of utmost importance. With the League’s weakened position, they had to make sure that this mission was a success. They couldn’t afford many more losses. Tomura was growing more distressed with failure after failure.

Suddenly, the silence in the warehouse was shattered by two gigantic thuds behind him. The atmosphere grew tense, as Kurogiri could feel the feral power from behind him threatening to savagely feast on his being. Reaching out one hand, his misty formed twisted and warped as a giant warp gate was opened before him. With his other hand, Kurogiri reached inside another warp gate and retrieved a large chunk of flesh. Heavy breathing began to emanate from behind him.

Quickly, he threw the lump of offal into the warp gate. Mere seconds afterwards, a blur passed by his vision. He could barely even perceive what had just occurred as his warp gate had indicated that something had gone through. Lowering both his hands, the warp gate faded out, returning to Kurogiri himself. If he could sweat, he would be drenched right now. The power that the beast possessed was far beyond that of any Noumu they had created before. Kurogiri even doubted that the enhanced Muscular could beat it. Before his crippling, of course. Turning to walk away, the fog villain silently wished their newest weapon a happy hunting.

The building containing Sir Nighteye’s Hero Agency was quiet as usual. Inside his office room, the rapid clicking of a keyboard filled the room, staving off the usual silence. Adjusting his glasses, Nighteye continued typing. Whilst his stoic expression betrayed little of his emotions, inwardly he was frustrated. There had been no movement from the League of Villains for the last few months. Not only that, but there was no possible trace of any foreign villain activities.

He gave a moment to think about the members of Garou’s newly assigned ‘entourage’. He had not received any updates regarding their search either. An uncomfortable feeling began building inside Nighteye as he grew more and more anxious. The lack of activity from both the foreign villains and the League indicated some potential plot or scheme.

Maybe they were already cooperating? Nighteye shook his head, as if to dismiss the thought. They would almost certainly head for the Hero-Hunter first. Only then would they choose to contact the League. His hands hovered over the keyboard.

Suddenly, just as he was about to continue typing, a low rumble shook the room. Lowering both his arms, Nighteye rose out of the chair. Another rumble shook the building, this one was far closer. He began to walk swiftly towards the elevator. That feeling of worry inside in only grew as he traveled down to the first floor and towards the exit.

The sound of distant screams caused Nighteye to speed up, turning his walk into a mild jog. Car alarms blared and the sound of metal creaking and groaning filled his ears. Pushing his way out of the door, Nighteye was met with a horrific sight.

The road was shredded, as if an earthquake had struck. The wreckages of cars were strewn around haphazardly. Most of the cars were in multiple pieces, clearly torn apart by an unknown disaster. Looking across the street, the building opposite his now had numerous giant holes in the walls. Street lamps were twisted and deformed, sending sparks flying. Another rumble almost knocked Nighteye to his knees.

Looking around, Nighteye immediately noticed a number of bodies in the building opposite him. Picking up his pace, he ran over to them, attempting to keep his balance on the wrecked roads. As he grew closer, his heart began to sink as he noticed blood stains smearing a nearby wall. He reached out to a face down body, draped over the edge of the broken wall. Placing his fingers on their neck, it only took a moment to confirm the worst. Casting his eyes around, the rest of the victims seemed to only be in worse states.

Quickly reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone. As he went to type out a number to call, a earth shattering roar shook him to his core. The buildings seemed to groan and crack as the roar continued, unabated. At that moment, Nighteye had the feeling. He didn’t have a lot of time.

The sound of sirens quickly reached his ears. Rushing out into the middle of the road, he could see the telltale flashing lights of police cars. Nearby footsteps caused Nighteye to whip around to face their source. Instead of some great threat, it was just a few bewildered Heroes, picking through the wreckage, checking the bodies. Judging by their grim expressions, they hadn’t had much luck.

The screech of tyres filled the air as Nighteye noticed the police cars had stopped quite the distance down the road. The shattered road had prevented them from driving any further. Squads of police officers began to rush over. As all this was occurring, a thought passed through Nighteye’s mind. Had he failed to find the one-eyed threat? Was he too late? All these questions circled around his head as police began to fill the scene, barking orders to other police officers.

This buzz of activity was abruptly cut short as a nearby explosion rocked the already broken road. Looking over to the source, a huge plume of fire had billowed out of one of the parked police cars. And standing over the car, with a handful of twisted metal, stood a true monster.

It towered over everyone, even from the distance it was at. Three faces all barked and screamed at varying intervals, forming a hellish cacophony. Six muscular arms flexed around in the air, fists clenching and unclenching. A sudden gust of wind blew the huge pillar of fire directly into the face of the monster. As the fire died down slightly, the monster remained still, fire licking its fiery orange skin.

The three faces all slowly turned to face the group of Police and Heroes. The assembled group could only shiver under the fearsome gaze of this beast. Nighteye reached into his pocket, retrieving a number of his support items. Looking around at the other Heroes, they all seemed to be doing the same.

The monster turned to face them. Suddenly, it took one step towards them. And then another. It strolled towards them, radiating an air of invincibility. It’s giant form seemed to blot out the sun as it towered over the Police and Heroes.

Raising their pistols, the Police began firing volley after volley of bullets into the monster. It merely continued walking, unaffected by the storm of bullets. The bullets deflected off the monster’s tough skin, scattering around the streets. Both the police and the Heroes all ducked as the reflected bullets flew around them.

The monster had finally reached their position. Towering over a nearby police officer, it gave him what seemed like a light backhanded slap. The horrific sound of squelching flesh and shattering bone filled the air, as the limp corpse of the police officer was sent careening off to one side, leaving a bloody smear on a nearby wall. The rest of the heroes and police paled at the sight of their comrade crushed like a bug, dying like an unfortunate ant under a shoe.

The monster continued walking through the group. Screams and thuds echoed out as police were sent flying left and right, painting a grotesque mural that rivaled the macabre masterpiece of the Hero Hunter’s, only this time no one survived. The Heroes stood still, tensed as they awaited the monster. As it grew closer, Nighteye swiftly pulled his phone out of his pocket. Panic began to well up inside him as he rapidly began typing out messages to numerous numbers of his contacts. All he could hope was that someone would get here in time, or else further casualties will ensue.

Walking down the street towards Sir Nighteye’s Hero Office, Mirio hummed to himself, now garbed as the hero, Lemillion, as he strolled to his workplace. During his stroll, the concrete under him rumbled, followed by the area around him vibrating as if a small earthquake passed him by. Then, a blood-curling roar resounded in the distance, screaming at various intervals in a cacophony of murderous intent, forcing Lemillion to spring into action the next second without delay.

Rushing over to Nighteye’s building, Mirio came across a scene of pure carnage. The area was absolutely devastated. Nearby screams drew his attention. As he ran closer and closer, he could see what was occurring. The towering form of a monster was carving its way through the heroes and police, holding a screaming officer in one of its hands. Lemillion widened his eyes as the monster placed the man’s head in the mouth of the middle face, and then…

*CRUNCH*

With a sickening crunch, it bit off the officer’s head and chewed audibly, breaking the bone and brain matter between its teeth before licking its lips with its inhuman, reptilian tongue. Its head suddenly turned as the face on the left took a bite off the upper torso, and turned again as the head on the right ate the rest of it. The faces seemed to be fighting amongst themselves on who gets to devour which part of the ‘food’ in its hand. And it was sickening to Mirio’s very soul.

The sight of the noumu-like creature devouring the man reminded him of Tomoko’s story about Garou’s home. Monsters roaming the world, hungry for human blood… always prowling, always killing.

Amongst the nearby group of police and Heroes, Mirio noticed the familiar form of Sir Nighteye. Steeling himself, Mirio rushed to the side of his boss.

“Sir! Sir!”

Calling out to Nighteye, Mirio ran over to support the other Heroes.

The shocked gaze of Nighteye landed on the form of his intern, rushing towards him.

“Mirio! What are you doing here?”

“I came over to support! We need to stop that thing!”

Mirio seemed absolutely determined to assist his boss. He couldn’t allow himself to run away from this monster, not after witnessing its atrocities.

The monster was now only a dozen meters away from Nighteye and the rest of the Heroes. Each step it took shook the very earth beneath their feet. The assembled costumed heroes, from the scrawny to the strong, all tensed in preparation. Everyone present knew they couldn’t beat this monster. They tried using their Quirks on the monster, it just grabbed one of the cops and ate him. Bullets tried to pierce its hide, only for it to maim the shooters, tossing it into its cavernous, monstrous maw in its stomach and devoured them one by one with a sickening crunch. The sight of someone actually being devoured in front of them drained the courage of most heroes present, while robbing their stomach as they collapsed to their weakened knees and puked their guts. The remaining few stood strong, yet their faces green with sickening dread.

As the beast towered over them, it released a deafening howl, causing everyone present to cover their ears in pain. A few defenders of justice fell to their knees, blood trickling out from their ears behind their hands. The situation was grim for the Heroes. The police had been almost entirely annihilated by this monster.

A bead of sweat trickled down Nighteye’s forehead. Quickly analyzing this monster, he almost breathed a sigh of relief. This monster had six eyes, not one. Still though, from his analysis, this was a creature that possessed not only  unbelievable strength, but also unparalleled durability. It merely shrugged off the hail of bullets the Police had fired at it. Casting a glance over at Mirio, Nighteye noticed that his intern had a serious look on his face. Mirio appeared to be analysing this monster as well.

“Sir! What do you think?”

Mirio called out to Nighteye, drawing his attention. Adjusting his glasses, he cast his eyes over to his intern.

“Well, it bears the slightest resemblance to Noumus that attacked Hosu City. It is, however, much more heavily mutated than its predecessors. We can assume that this attack has been perpetrated by the League of Villains.”

Nodding in acknowledgment, Mirio turned back to focus on the giant shape of the mutated Noumu. They’d need backup.

“However, I do not know why they released a card this powerful out into the open… unless…” Nighteye continued as an epiphany struck him.

“It is a grand debut…” The League’s unsettling inactivity, the silent peace during these tense months… the direct cause of their peace was Garou. The Hero Hunter made proper examples of various villains across Japan, striking a level of fear unprecedented in recorded history into the hearts of evil. The decreased crime rate, lack of new villains, his actions had driven the league into a corner. Meaning Shigaraki must be very desperate as he is now.

Suddenly, the thudding of the Noumu’s footfalls stopped. It stood there, stationary. The three pairs of eyes shifted from one Hero to another, spending only a few seconds on each individual Hero. A malicious glint seemed to have appeared in all three pairs of its eyes. Nighteye shuddered as he realised.

“It’s appraising us…”

The other Heroes were taken aback. The air that this monster let off was one of primal power and savagery. But here it was, carefully observing each and every threat before it. A clear demonstration of some level of intelligence.

“Sir! Can we beat this thing?”

Mirio called out to his mentor for advice. A few nearby Heroes listened in, hoping some secret weakness could be revealed.

“…I doubt we can even scratch it.” Nighteye grimaced. He was no fighter, but even he must acknowledge the threat the monster emanated.

“We need more heroes, but I doubt anyone here can stand up to it. Only those like Endeavour or All Might could stand a chance… or…” Nighteye paused before he could mention Garou. It was funny, the man who crushed his idol also appear in his mental list of heroes that can save the day. Plus, according the information, the man can ‘teleport’ anywhere regardless of distance using the Muscular incident as reference.

Swiftly reaching into his pocket, Nighteye pulled out his phone. As he began to tap away, a flash of movement in front of him caused him to freeze and tense up. A blur seemed to collide with his hand, followed by a snap of bone.

“!! Ahhhhhjgghhh!!!”

Recoiling his right hand in pain, his wrist dislocated with multiple bone fractures in his hand, he noticed that his phone had disappeared. Raising his head up at the monster, he could see his phone delicately balancing between the monster’s thumb and forefinger. Flicking it’s hand, the Noumu sent the phone flying. Nighteye could only watch in despair as the phone flew into the maw of the middle face, as the two rows of teeth clamped onto the device. And chewed it slowly, almost as if to sadistically chew on Nighteye’s hopes between his jaws.

Even whilst it was crunching the phone in its jaws, the monster kept all three pairs of eyes locked onto Nighteye. A shiver passed through the now wounded Hero. That phone was one of the only phones with Garou’s number on speed dial. And the monster had no intention of allowing them to call for aid.

“Is there any way we can hold off until someone arrives?”

A nearby Hero looked over towards Nighteye. They had limited possibilities. With the monster’s speed and intelligence, it’d definitely prevent them from contacting any form of backup.

“…not possible.” Nighteye ran through countless simulations in his mind, each designed to test the the probabilities of their survivability. However, not even a single one of them allowed room for success.

“The monster has no intention of letting us go.”

The crunching coming from the direction of the Noumu stopped, clearly finished with the phone. It almost looked like all three faces were smiling at the Heroes. Raising one giant leg, it began to approach the group. Crying out desperately, a nearby Hero rushed in, fists raised.

All three faces snapped to the source of the cry. Reaching the monster, a punch was thrown. However, since the monster was so tall, the punch only reached its knee. The hero recoiled as he clutched his hand in pain, his knuckles broke upon impact despite using his enhancing Quirk.

The Noumu remained still, eyeing the little man that recklessly ran into the monster’s maw. Without any mercy in its eyes, the Noumu extended one of its six arms towards the small man, drool leaning out its mouths with unholy hunger.

Upon seeing the freakish hand of the monster reaching out for him, the Hero turned to run, clutching his broken hand. The hand only seemed to grow closer as he ran. Massive, thick fingers began to close in on the fleeing hero. Suddenly, the form of Mirio rocketed out of the earth, smashing into the monster’s outstretched hand. With the impact, the reaching hand was slightly knocked away, allowing the fleeing Hero to escape the grasp of the beast. Three furious pairs of eyes focused on the shape of Mirio, who stood there, defiant before the towering monster.

Two arms reached out, grasping towards Mirio. In response, Mirio ran towards the monster, sinking into the concrete as he ran. The giant hands closed on thin air as Mirio sank entirely into the ground. Each of the three faces scanned the surrounding ruined street, each pair of eyes bloodshot with rage as it howled with fury for the first time. Fists smashed into the concrete as the six arms of the monster began lashing out, digging into the concrete after Mirio.

Before it got very far however, Mirio appeared out of the ground directly beneath its head with both his fists pumped up, aiming for the eyes of the middle face. No matter how durable the monster is, it’s eyes were an ever present weak spot of every living being.

As his fists collided with the grotesque eyes, the monster screamed in unbearable pain. It’s six arms wailed around as it thrashed in pain. A waywards fist struck Mirio’s side, sending him flying off to one side. Nighteye could only watch in horror was his intern was sent careening away from the blow. The monster, however, continued howling and thrashing out in pain. Blood seeped from underneath closed eye sockets.

The human cannonball known as Lemillion swiftly activated his Quirk as he phased through the wall of a nearby building, and then through the ground trying to bleed off the momentum. He underestimated the speed of the monster. He failed to made all of himself intangible, leaving a few ribs tangible the moment he was smacked away to the side.

The monster still reeled from its injury. It panted in heavy, furious breaths almost clouding the air. The other two faces snapped around as they attempted to fill the blind spot that had been created by the blinding of the middle face. As it turned it’s faces around, it caught a glimpse of the still stationary group of Heroes. The monster’s heart burned with fury, but a specific kind of fury. Hateful vengeance welled up inside the monster as it searched for the one who had wounded it.

Turning towards the direction Mirio was thrown away, they monster began charging. Effortlessly smashing through the wall, the two remaining faces scanned the nearby environment for any sign of it’s target. Not finding anything, another howl shook the area. Now seething, the monster began indiscriminately destroying everything around it. Arms whipped out, a blur as they easily shattered the walls. Stomping its feet, giant craters begun to form, throwing dust up into the air.

Mirio popped up from the concrete a distance away from Sir Nighteye. It was a challenge predicting the location of his mentor, but searching around, he sighed a breath of relief at the sight of the bespectacled man. The catharsis was short-lived when the pain of his broken ribs finally caught to him, doubling him over as he fell to his knees coughing trickles of blood. The fractured bone seemed to have punctured his lungs.

“Mirio!”

The sound of Nighteye rushing over comforted Mirio. Struggling, Nighteye threw one of Mirio’s arms over his shoulder as he heaved his intern to his feet. The building that the monster had disappeared into shook and shuddered and furious howls emerged from it. Nighteye turned to look at the rest of the assembled Heroes.

“Evacuate the area! Someone give me their phone before that thing comes back!” Nighteye shouted with desperation, almost demanding the heroes.

The group turned and quickly began to leave the area. A Hero rushed over, handing their phone over to Nighteye’s free hand.

“Thank you.” Nighteye thanked as he quickly flipped the phone open, but before he could type in the phone number of the world’s scariest man, another ear-shattering howl filled the air. And the feeling of four eyes pressed onto Nighteye’s figure from afar.

The group hadn’t even made it very far before the rhythmic sound of footsteps had begun behind them. They didn’t need to turn around to realise that it was after them now. Desperately, Nighteye called out to the rest of the group.

“Go! Run!”

Quickly looking back down, he hurriedly attempted to enter the one phone number he needed. His fingers typed faster and faster as the footsteps behind him increased in proximity and speed. His grip on the phone threatened to break it as he kept hobbling along, supporting Mirio the entire way. With the extra weight, Nighteye could only watch as the rest of the Heroes gradually grew smaller as the footsteps behind grew louder.

As they continued running, a sudden explosion seemed to have taken place behind them. Turning their heads, the Heroes could see a huge cloud of dust from where they could only assume the monster had been. As the dust began to clear, they caught a glimpse of the monster, on its hands and knees. It appeared as if something had forced it to the ground. However, it didn’t appear outwardly injured from the mysterious attack..

Suddenly, a giant shockwave shot down out of the sky, crashing into the monster. The ground cracked as the monster was driven further into the earth. It could only howl in response to the barrage.

Raising their heads to find the source of this attack, the group could see a female form floating through the air. Mirio sighed in relief as he immediately recognised the identity of their backup. Looking up, Mirio locked eyes with the person he knew was Hado.

The dust around the monster cleared once again, but this time, a number of Heroes had surrounded the crater that it lay in. Looking slightly closer, Nighteye could see the forms of the Dragon Hero Ryukyu, as well as Crimson Riot. They appeared to be backed up by a number of other Heroes, all of them arriving from a distress beacon one of the heroes here sent out much earlier. Everyone stood around the crater in their respective combat stances.

Using all six of its limbs, the monster swiftly pushed itself back to its feet. Its two faces scanned the new threats, eyes narrowed. Other than its attitude, there was nothing that even indicated that the mutated Noumu had even been slightly injured by the aerial bombardment. All six of its fists clenched.

The Noumu gave a low, rumbling growl. It felt like it was shaking the bones of everyone nearby. In response, many of the heroes shifted position, sensing the aggression in the air. Ryukyu grew and shifted form, taking on the usual shape of a large dragon. She now stood slightly taller than the orange beast. In a similar vein, Crimson Riot sharpened his stance as his hair altered, hardening and turning black.

Nighteye felt both relief and apprehension upon the arrival of their reinforcements. While Ryukyu and Crimson Riot were two powerful combat Heroes, he had his doubts with the horror they faced. He looked back down at the phone as he continued typing in the number he needed.

The entire area remained still, the only sound being the clattering of bricks hitting the ground. Neither the Heroes, nor the monster moved. The tension in the air was so thick, that it felt like everyone was being crushed.

A flash of movement drew the Heroes attention as a large orange shape seemed to appear directly in front of the Dragon Hero. Bracing herself, she saw three large fists speed towards her.

*BOOM*

The resulting sound of the impact made a few stumble. Ryukyu however, was pushed quite a distance backwards, smashing into a nearby van and crushing it. After quickly ensuring that there were no civilians in the van, the heroine staggered back to her reptilian feet. Her vision shook, resting one arm on the damaged van.

Another blur of movement sped towards Ryukyu, as the fiery orange monster mercilessly pursued his dazed target. Four arms were raised this time, hanging in the air like guillotines. As the Noumu took a step forwards, it felt a minor stabbing pain in its side. Twisting one of its faces down to look, it could see the form of one of the Heroes standing there.

Using the monster's momentary distraction as an opportunity, Crimson Riot had charged in headfirst, quite literally, and impaled the thigh of the Noumu with his hardened hair. Unfortunately, his solidified hair-point hadn’t sunk very far into the flesh of the beast. The resistance the flesh put up was absurd.

A giant orange hand flashed before Crimson Riot, slapping him away. Casting a gaze down at the small wound, the deformed, distended eyes of the Noumu’s face looked on impassively. The giant leg of the monster seemed to flex as the injury closed, mending the wound at an unholy pace.

‘Regeneration…’ The first Noumu that fought All Might flashed within Nighteye’s mind upon seeing its healing prowess.

Steadying herself, Ryukyu rose back up. The orange monster turned to face her, it’s four eyes carefully watching her. The way that it seemed to shift from savage rage to calm, calculated analysis unnerved her. As she straightened herself up, she slashed out with her reptilian claws.

As her claws closed in, she noticed that the monster hadn’t moved a single step. It hadn’t even raised any arms to block. A sickening scratching sound filled the air as the slash connected, swiping across the Noumu’s chest. However, Ryukyu stared with wide eyes as all that had resulted from her attack were three small scratches across the torso of the beast. A moment passed, and they had already healed with no indication that it had even been injured at all.

“...” The two faces of the monster grinned, and then started howling at certain intervals, its voice grating to the ears. Nighteye, Ryukyu, and the rest of the heroes wincingly covered their ears at the sound, however, from the sound of it, it almost sounded as if… it was laughing. This Noumu was laughing at them with eerily human condescendance. Mocking Ryukyu for her weakness.

The large chest of the Noumu heaved up and down as it ‘laughed’. A cold shudder passed through every single Hero.

“Weak.” The monster uttered with an unholy voice, its three mouths speaking in sync. The heroes, including Nighteye, blanched. The monster spoke.

Mirio and Nighteye stared, wide-eyed as the blood encrusted eyelids of the Noumu slowly flicked open, revealing perfectly healthy eyes. Blinking a few times to gain a bearing, the newly regenerated eyes sharpened as they darted around from Hero to Hero.

“Food. So much food.” Drool leaked from its lips through its white monstrous teeth, the glistening droplets melting the concrete underneath its feet to sizzling, smoking liquid.

The ground shook as the Noumu took a tremendous step towards the Dragon Hero. It’s mindless fury had now been replaced by overwhelming confidence. The six fists clenched and unclenched as it approached.

“Meat.” It uttered towards the dragoness.

However, before it could take another step, a huge spiral shockwave blasted into the monster’s side. The monster took it head-on, as it was knocked away. Lining grooves entrenched the ground as the Noumu attempted to anchor itself to the ground.

“…snack.” The monster aligned all of its eyes up at Hado, with vicious hunger. Each of its mouths licked its lips with their inhuman, reptilian tongues. It decided to eat the girl in the sky first as an h'orderve.

Nighteye could feel Mirio attempted to pull away, trying to get to his friend. A strained look of determination had settled in on Mirio’s face, fighting against the pain.

“We need to get over there! We need to help them.”

“Don’t.” Nighteye placed a hand on Mirio’s shoulder in protest.

“You will die. We can’t beat it.” He said as the monster vanished, already leaping up high into the air as it grabbed Hado in its monstrous grasp before she could even react.

“It doesn’t matter! We need to save her!”

Mirio wrenched himself out of Nighteye’s grasp, as he began half limping, half running towards the location of Hado and the monster. One of his hands rested on his side, clutching his wounded side.

Hado stared at the monster, all three pairs of eyes locked onto her. The middle face opened its mouth, its long prehensile tongue licking her cheek.

“Sweeet.” The monster cackled with its high hoarse voice.

Caught in the grasp of the monster, Hado furiously struggled against it’s iron grip. The grip tightened as she fought against it, causing her to gasp in pain. She watched with wide eyes as the three pairs of eyes locked onto her. After a few more moments, she began to slow down in her struggle to escape. The size of her previous blasts had drained her more than expected. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her head as could only futilely writhe in its grip.

“Hado!”

The other heroes rushed in to save her, Ryukyu at the vanguard as she swiped her draconian claws at the Noumu, but before she can smack it, her momentum instantly ceased. While feeling a painful pressure grasping her arm.

“Wait turn.” The monster said as he grabbed her arm with two of its arms. And then did the unthinkable. It lifted Ryukyu up despite the difference in size and swung her around, using her as a living weapon to swat the other heroes around it.

Crimson Riot attempted to dodge the giant swung form of Ryukyu. He slid to one side as she collided with several nearby Heroes. Locking eyes with the monster, he charged in once again. A massive orange shape flickered in front of him and suddenly, he was sent flying away, crashing painfully into a pile of nearby wreckage.

Mirio continued rushing over to assist, despite the wound in his side. Noticing a large shadow covering him, Mirio activated his quirk, slowly sinking into the ground. He gave one grunt of pain before he sunk into the earth. A few seconds later, Ryukyu’s battered form as swung directly down on his former position. The Dragon Hero groaned as she lay there, beaten and bruised. Slowly opening her eyes, all she could see was her fellow Heroes scattered around unconscious. She was responsible for this. Shame welled up in her heart as unconsciousness began to swallow her too.

Mirio appeared near Sir Nighteye, unable to get in close to the monster without risking instant death.

“I never said that Hado will die, Mirio.” Sir Nighteye informed as the Noumu started opening its maw, ready to bite Hado’s head off. For once in her life, she was afraid. Afraid for her life.

The young intern turned to Nighteye, an anguished expression on his face. He gritted his teeth in frustration.

“We need to… we need to help her…”

“I already did.” Sir Nighteye raised his phone to Mirio’s face.

“They bought more than enough time for me to call him.” Mirio blinked, as he looked at the phone. He saw the text message Sir Nighteye, the person he was chatting with was…

An explosion of air resounded, followed by inhuman cries of pain roaring from the throat of the monster, making Mirio turn his head around to see…

“I take my eyes off you and you are already reduced to this. I expected better from you.” A familiar voice spoke as multiple slaps of flesh followed. Turning his eyes to the monster, Mirio could see multiple craters indenting the monster’s body in overlaps, its six arms broken into painful angles. Including the fingers. As the monster was launched away into nearest building, crashing through the brick walls as the falling form of Hado landed into his arms.

Nighteye sighed in relief, wiping his brow clean of the sweat that had built up. They had really cut it close near the end. Mirio continued grasping at his side, staring wide-eyed at the newly arrived figure. Suddenly, his vision went fuzzy as he fell to his knees, hissing in pain. He could feel the pain swallowing him.

“You… took your t-time.”

Mirio could hardly speak from the pain, but barely managed to whisper.

“I already got here twenty seconds ago.” The human form of Garou briefly replied, garbed in his Fenrir costume.

Carefully looking over at the form of the unconscious girl in Garou’s arms, Mirio breathed a sigh of relief.

“Is she… ok?”

“Fainted from pain. She’ll live.” Garou said as he laid her down.

“I never thought I’ll see a monster here though.” Garou added before focusing his eyes on the hole in the wall.

Almost in response, a low growl emerged from the hole in the wall, soon turning into a full scream. The unearthly cry shook the building, throwing up a fair amount of dust. A shadowy shape began to stagger out of the hole in the wall. Stepping clear of the dust, the orange monster leant on the wall. The twists and cracks of bone were sickening as the Noumu’s arms rotated and twisted back into place. The large craters that had been made on it’s flesh were slowly fading away. All three pairs of enraged eyes locked onto Garou.

“Youuuuuu!!” The Noumu seethed with fury.

In response… Garou raised his arm and lodged his pinky into his ear. Picking the earwax from it.

“Well, this will probably be the first time I killed a monster in this world, so I'll make it count. Are you ready to die?” Garou smirked as he flicked the wax from his pinky before taking his stance, albeit far more casual than usual.

Pushing itself off the wall, the monster waited for a moment as it’s healing finished. It stood there, deep, heavy breaths clouding the air. A sudden flicker, and a massive orange shape now stood directly over Garou. Wind whipped at Nighteye and Mirio. The monster was unmoving as it glared down at the form of the one who had hurt it the most. The shadow it cast covered Garou, Mirio and Nighteye. Six flashes alerted Nighteye and Mirio to sudden movement. They could barely see the fists speeding towards them.

Six massive fists were met with six blue streams, as Garou diverted the bulks with only his left hand.

“Meh.” Without warning, Garou countered with just his right. One simple, one-inch punch straight into its stomach, the force so strong Garou…

“…” Both Mirio and Nighteye dropped their jaws at the display. At the large, gaping hole that now appeared in the monster’s stomach. Organs dangled from from the monster’s stomach, blood leaking from the faces and the death wound.

All the monster could do was let out a pathetic growl as one of its hands explored the new hole that had been created. All six eyes seemed to be staring with an equal amount of disbelief. The edges of the giant hole slowly attempted to heal, but the damage was far too severe. The regenerating flesh slowed, ultimately stopping as the beast’s regeneration had clearly reached its limit. One by one, the faces of the monster began to go limp. Once the final middle face had slumped down, the giant form of the monster collapsed into a heap on the ground, pooling the ground crimson.

“A simple karate punch… needs more tweaking.” Garou commented as he looked at his knuckle, casually talking as if he did not just ended a man-eating monster in one punch. His knuckle was not even stained, pristine free of blood.

The telltale sound of sirens grew ever louder as a fleet of emergency vehicles appeared. Police cars, ambulances, everything. Giving one last look at the triumphant form of Garou, Mirio collapsed onto the ground as the darkness swallowed him.

Nighteye rushed over to check on his intern. Placing one finger on his neck, he waited for a moment.

“We must move the injured to an ambulance as soon as possible.”

“I only have two arms though.” Garou jokingly replied as he crouched towards Hado, and picked her up in a bridal carry.

As Garou began to walk towards the fleet of vehicles, Nighteye’s voice followed him.

“Can you please at least check on the others? We don’t know the extent of their injuries.”

“They’re fine. None of them bled or lost a limb. Though there are some who broke their bones in the end…” Garou said as he continued walking towards the nearest ambulance, ignoring the blaring red flashing sirens of the red and white vehicle. Medical staff rushed to Garou.

“Sir! How is she?” A woman asked as her coworkers carried a stretcher behind her.

“She’s fine. Just need(s) some rest.” Before Garou could hand her over, Hado’s eyes fluttered as she opened them.

Her head turned as she looked around, momentarily confused. Looking up, she gasped as she saw the all too familiar face of Garou staring back down at her. As she came further to her senses, she noticed that Garou was holding her. And he was so close… A creeping blush grew across her face as she quickly looked away from her saviour.

“I-it’s… nice to see you…”

Garou did not answer as he gently placed her on the stretcher.

“Heh, we’ll talk later.” Garou smiled as he walked away, leaving her into the care of the others as he headed to the unconscious form of the dragoness. Her body was still in her dragon form. He wondered if he could…. no, wait, she was shrinking. She was slowly being reverted back to her human form.

As Garou stood over her, a groan emerged from her lips. Her eyelids slowly opened, almost immediately catching sight of Garou stood over her. A slight smile played across her lips.

“Ah. Hero-Hunter.”

“Call me Fenrir.” Garou corrected as he picked her up the same way as he did to Hado.

“My infamous title should not be used here.”

As Garou carried her over to the ambulances, she nodded, still smiling.

“Of course. I have to thank you Fenrir. You’ve saved many lives. Including ours.”

“Don’t push it.” Garou blandly narrowed his eyes as he carried Ryukyu towards the nearest ambulance. He garnered some attention from the way he was carrying the dragoness, the police and medical staff mentally whistling at the sight of a hero carrying a woman like that.

A number of sudden clicks, accompanied by numerous flashes distracted Garou as he whipped his head around. A rather large crowd of journalists and press had arrived in the aftermath of the battle, clearly following the massive fleet of emergency vehicles. At the front of the crowd stood a number of news reporters. Almost all of the cameras were pointed squarely in the direction of Garou. With the extensive destruction behind him, added with the way he was carrying one of the top ranking heroes made it quite a juicy piece of journalism.

The crowd grew closer as microphones were held out to the motionless Garou. A barrage of questions were sent his direction. Ryukyu turned her head and laughed upon seeing the situation they were in.

“Excuse me! Nightly News! Any info on what’s happened here?”

“Why are you so uninjured despite the other heroes?”

“Are you and Ryukyu in some kind of affair?”

The Dragon Heroine covered her mouth as she continued to chuckle. She kept casting glances back up at the one carrying her. She knew that she’d need to answer a few questions from her fellow Heroes after this.

“Would you be willing to take part in an interview?”

“….” Garou instantly decided. The media were natural vermin. The questions hounding him without leaving him room to breath was suffocating, and he wanted out. He quickly turned away, not wanting to deal with the media anymore. No, he does not even want to look at them. He pretended they were never there.

A barrage of questions continued, bouncing off the indifferent Garou. However, the clicks and flashes of the cameras didn’t cease as they continued to take picture after picture. Not to mention the fact that he was being broadcast on live television.

“…how can I make them stop?” Garou asked Ryukyu as he headed for another ambulance. One away from the vermin hounding him.

Ryukyu raised both her eyebrows as she cupped her chin.

“Nothing really. Even if you break their cameras, they’ll come back next time with double the ferocity. Just smile and bear it.”
She knew that Garou wasn’t exactly the ‘grin-and-bear-it’ type.

“I would rather destroy their news station.” Garou replied.

Her smile grew slightly as she chuckled quietly. Ryukyu attempted to imagine Garou going on a live TV interview, only to walk off step a few seconds in.

“A few of us are inclined to agree. Some journalists are more dedicated when it comes to a good story than even the most focused Hero.”

“Are they human?” Garou questioned their standing as people.

“Well, sometimes I’m doubtful. But anyway… are you going to keep carrying me like this? You’re giving them more pictures.”
She pointed over in the direction of the crowd, who were eagerly snapping photos.

“…would you rather me drop you and be done with it?” Garou asked as his body stiffened, as he quickened his pace towards the ambulance.

“I’d prefer if I were let down slowly. I’m a little bruised is all.”

Judging by her current state, she most certainly wasn’t ‘a little bruised’. Large purple and blue splotches were scattered around her body, with large red patches of swelling.

“Yeah, right. You look like Endeavour when I broke him on live TV.” Garou joked with a light laugh as he finally arrived at the ambulance, though not without receiving impish stares from the medical staff, both male and female.

It was a seemingly regular day inside Class 1-A. The room was full of idle chatter and laughter. Iida, Todoroki, Uraraka and Izuku were all sat discussing something. Bakugou was leant back in his chair, feet up on his table. Aizawa was strangely absent from the class today. They had been informed that it was another ‘self-study’ day. That meant that very little study actually was done.

Suddenly, the entrance to the classroom was slid open. A few eyes turned to it, but no one gave it too much thought. That was until Kaminari burst into the classroom, wide-eyed and panting heavily.

“Guys! Guys!”

He shouted, cutting off the conversations as all eyes turned to him. Kirishima cocked his head upon seeing Kaminari’s eager attitude.

“What’s up man?”

Pointing at his other hand, Kaminari brandished his phone in his hand, waving it around for everyone to see. Curious expressions were exchanged upon seeing their classmate’s peculiar behaviour.

“Guys! I’ve got something I need to show you!”

He rushed over to his seat, as people began to crowd around. Jostling for a position, 1-A were now all curious to see exactly what their classmate had to show them. He seemed unusually excited.

Activating his phone, Kaminari began to play a video on the screen. Everyone leaned in to get a better look. Some of the shorter classmates towards the back of the group struggled to see. Bakugou remained in his seat as he scowled at the rest of the class. The video that was playing showed a scene of absolute destruction. Buildings were smashed, the road was annihilated. Collective gasps rose from the group as they all saw it.

“What the hell! When did this happen?”

Kirishima leaned in as he exclaimed. He hadn’t heard of anything like… like this. Surely they would have heard about this already?

“Such destruction. What kind of person could so recklessly cause such devastation?”
Tokoyami shook his head in frustration. The level of destruction seemed to be on par with some kind of natural disaster.

Kaminari merely turned his body slightly to indicate he was talking to Kirishima.

“This only happened yesterday. But wait… look at THAT!”

The entire class fell silent as shaky camera footage played. A ear-curdling howl came from somewhere in the video. The cameraman seemed to be running somewhere as the camera shook heavily. Turning a corner, they spotted it. The hulking orange, six-armed beast.

“What the hell is that!”

The voice of Sero broke everyone out of their intense focus on the video. A shudder passed through all of them.

“Perhaps it is another one of those things that attacked us at USJ. Ribbit.”

The typically deadpan voice of Tsuyu was the one to respond. The idea that this was another one of those things still out there… It worried the entire class.

“But look. It’s clearly way taller than those three figures! And it has six arms! And three faces!”

Kaminari began to point out details in the video. It was true. This Noumu seemed far, far larger than the USJ one. Plus it seemed to have three faces, six arms and was coloured bright orange. Squinting slightly, 1-A did indeed see the three figures that the Noumu towered over.

Narrowing his eyes, Izuku leaned in, before suddenly reeling backwards. Uraraka barely caught him as she looked at him with concern in her eyes.

“Izuku! What’s the matter?”

Pointing one finger at the video, Izuku’s eyes were wide in disbelief.

“T-that’s… Mirio-senpai. A-and Sir N-Nighteye?!”

He seemed completely shocked. And his emotions quickly infected the rest of the class. Iida lay one hand on Izuku’s shoulder.

“By ‘Mirio-senpai’, would you be talking about the same Mirio Togata we faced as a class?”

Izuku shakily nodded in response, earning a gasp from some members of the class. That would make the suited man Sir Nighteye. Judging by the footage, Mirio was down on the ground kneeling. Was he badly injured?

Squinting slightly, Yaoyorozu pointed a finger at the third figure.

“But then… who is that?”

He was clad in a outfit that none of them had ever seen before. He appeared to be some kind of new Hero. Izuku began mumbling to himself.

A large grin crossed Kaminari’s face. The rest of his class was worried at the implications of such a grin.

“Just wait.”

1-A continued to watch the footage. It abruptly cut off suddenly. Then it took the point of view of a official news report. As the news anchor spoke about the situation, the entire class of 1-A went wide-eyed at who was the focus of the news report. With his familiar hair, his sharp features and bad attitude, they instantly recognised who it was.

“GAROU?!?!”

The entire class exclaimed at almost the same time. Garou was the last thing they had expected when watching this footage. They gaped at his appearance.

“What is he wearing?”

Jiro couldn’t help herself from questioning what the Hero-Hunter was dressed in on live TV. He looked like an elaborate mix of a viking and a martial artist, one that complemented the character of the Hero Hunter to an absurd degree it was eerie.

Kaminari swiftly cut off all discussion as he shouted over them once again.

“Oh? That would be the Hero Fenrir.”

“I’m sorry, did I hear you say Hero?”

Ashido seemed to be both intrigued and astounded. Her reaction mirrored the entire class.

Kaminari nodded in an exaggerated fashion, as if to hammer in his point. This meant… Garou had become a Hero? They’d have plenty to talk about, if he ever popped into 1-A.

The shock had begun to subside as people began to discuss amongst themselves. Since when had Garou become a Hero? Everyone in the class was just as dumbfounded. But as they turned back to look at the video…

“Wha-WHAT?”

The despairing voice of Mineta rang out, filling the classroom as he saw what exactly was on screen. Live footage of Garou carrying not only the Third Year Nejire Hado, but carrying the Dragon Hero Ryukyu. And it was in bridal fashion as well. Kirishima whistled long and hard at this. A few sly grins began to creep across the faces of 1-A.

“Who knew Garou was that kinda guy?”

1-A almost nodded in sync at this. They had never took Garou as the ‘romantic’ type. Mina let out a little ‘awww’ upon seeing Garou carrying the two women so gently.

Pulling out a notebook, Izuku began mumbling to himself as he rapidly shifted his glance back and forth between his notebook and the screen.

“...new hero, no Quirk… relationship with Ryukyu?”

He furiously scribbled on his notepad.

The rest of the class continued watching with peaked interest. The atmosphere of shock now replaced by one of amusement. They rested easy, knowing Garou wasn’t nearby to overhear them sharing a laugh at his expense.

Suddenly, the shape of Bakugou appeared amongst the group watching the video, his eyes narrowed. His jaw tightened as he watched Garou.

Everyone watched the footage as the reporters bombarded Garou with rather pressing questions. The mics got closer and closer as the crowd drew in towards Garou. The entire class knew that the Hero-Hunter wouldn’t exactly have a fondness for the media.

“Hey, he looks kinda like Bakugou here!”

Kirishima pointed at the video as Garou was scowling, swiftly turning away from the myriad cameras pointed directly at him.

Said explosive teen grabbed ahold of Kirishima’s collar as he too scowled, only earning a few extra chuckles from the class.

“What the fuck do you mean by that? I’m nothing like that guy!”

“Yeah. You’re right. You wouldn’t be caught dead carrying a girl like that.”

Kaminari turned to face the now seething face of Bakugou, a huge grin plastered across his face. The rest of the class all shared a laugh.

Releasing his grip of Kirishima’s collar, he stormed away. He slammed the classroom door open, casting one glance back before quickly shutting the door behind him.

Casting their eyes back to the footage, they seemed to have missed part of it due to Bakugou’s furious departure. The video now showed a bruised, but smiling Ryukyu and Garou standing near an ambulance, clearing sharing some words. Class 1-A couldn’t help by admire the way the Dragon Hero seemed to be so casual with someone like him.

“Anyone thinks they're an item?” Kaminari asked with an impish smile.

Raising one arm with enthusiasm, Mina bore a wide grin. A excited look seemed to be twinkling in her eyes.

“I do!”

A voice seemed to appear out of nowhere right next to Tokoyami. Everyone was momentarily confused, before everyone remembered Tooru. Everyone then noticed the school uniform hovering in the air.

“Same here! I mean, just look at that!”

Whilst no one could actually see her hand, they could see her sleeve point towards the screen as the footage repeated with Garou carrying the heroine.

Murmurs of agreement passed around the class, when one voice swiftly disagreed, turning all attention to the source. Mineta stood there, arms crossed with an outraged and indignant look on his face.

“No way. Does anyone actually think that such a thuggish and brutal person like him would actually settle down with someone? He’s definitely the kind of guy to use his ‘roguish bad-boy charms’ and then just leave. He’s like some kind of romantic lone wolf.”

While a few people agreed with parts of Mineta’s outburst, they weren’t so sure about the whole ‘charms’ part. Judging by their encounters with him, he wasn’t exactly the most charming person in the world. Uraraka cocked her head to one side in thought.

“I mean… now that you mention it, Garou does kinda look like a wolf! The hair makes the ears, the face…”

It took everyone a moment to parse it for themselves before it all clicked for them too. Todoroki nodded in agreement.

“....a god slaying wolf…” Izuku said aloud as he remembered the name. Fenrir.

The room fell silent as everyone fell deep into their own respective thoughts. They had not expected to see Garou on the news today. But what made it even more funny for the class was that a very small number of people knew that was even Garou. The press probably wouldn’t be hounding him so enthusiastically if they knew his true identity.

Within a certain apartment, Ghin and Tsukihana watched the footage of Garou, carrying Hado and Ryukyu. Ghin smiled sheepishly at the sight, finding it far too amusing for him to not tease Garou. Tsukihana blinked in surprise that Garou made his debut so soon, though his silence to the mass media concerned her. She might need to discuss this with her secret entourage on how to solving this problem later on.