Hunter Amongst Villains Prototype Draft - More Stuff, Rise of the Plushie (Patreon)

Here, you will see a poor first draft of my previous vision about how Ghin fights Midoriya in a rival fight scene. 

The next part is my attempt at comedy involving Garou's growing hate of something.

Also, wow for the person that pledged 25 dollars, damn. Now I want to post something good in exchange for such high expections of me. Anyways, here you go.

“Bum, bum, bum, buuu-bubum, buuu-bubum.” Ghin sat cross-legged, humming Darth Vader’s Imperial March as he waited patiently in the Gamma Gymnasium, bobbing his head left and right to himself.

Under Garou’s ‘suggestion’, UA had chosen to open their Gamma Gymnasium for the challenge between the three. Alongside one wall was a large array of seats, positioned above to observe. The seats were filled by a variety of UA students and teachers. Class 1-A was positioned closest to the edge, all closely watching the doors for their two classmates. Behind them was seated the teachers, with Eraserhead, Midnight, Cementoss and All Might sat still.

The audience was nervous, though not as nervous as when Garou himself tested Endeavour. The two challengers were preparing themselves, mentally and physically for their test. They were taking their time. No one could blame them. They were facing a disciple of Garou, the very first.

Off to one side, sat amongst several empty seats, sat Garou. A few members of 1-A would occasionally cast glances over in his direction. Leant back in his seat, he surveyed the gymnasium.

The air was tense as everyone awaited the ‘challengers’. Suddenly, the doors to the gymnasium were swung open. In the doorway, stood two figures, light streaming in behind them. Walking in, both Bakugou and Izuku had donned their Hero costumes. They both radiated an air of determination, their eyes firmly locked onto the stationary form of Ghin. The silence was almost deafening.

“Yo! Ready to lose your bones?” Ghin waved ‘hi’ at the two as he hopped up to his feet, smiling. Most likely anticipating their defeat, and gloat in his victory.

Stopping, Bakugou and Izuku stared at Ghin. They had both physically and mentally prepared themselves for a few days. They couldn't be more prepared. They’d done extensive amounts of research and info-gathering on Ghin and attempted to come up with ways to counter him. Exchanging glances for a moment, both Bakugou and Izuku turned back to Ghin.

“Yeah. We’re ready.”

Izuku spoke, as Bakugou remained silent.

“To lose your bones?” Ghin smiled as his ahoge wagged joyfully in the air.

Narrowing his eyes, Bakugou sent his own grin at the silver-haired boy.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. We haven’t started yet.”

“I've been practicing too, you know?” Ghin shot back as he started stretching his arms up, circulating his blood through his veins.

Almost in response, the two UA students began checking, then double-checking their Hero costumes. Mentally, they were both going over every scenario they had come up with. Izuku had filled at least a dozen pages of his notebook.

“I don't know what you did in these few days, but know that I've not been idle. I've been improving these few days as well. Know the drive of the one who wishes to surpass Garou!” Ghin laughed almost like a villain as he declared that.

Bakugou raised one palm, releasing a small test explosion. The sudden explosion lit up one side of his grinning face. Clenching his fist open and closed, Bakugou glared at the kid in front of him. On the other hand, Izuku was still checking his costume, mumbling to himself. He’d occasionally glance over at Ghin and then mumble something more.

“You will say, ‘prepare to cry to Garou’ next aren't you?” Ghin asked.

Lowering his fist, the grin on Bakugou’s face diminished somewhat.

“Don’t need to say anything. I’ll be getting some payback for last time.”

“You barely even changed to be honest.” Ghin said as he stared at Bakugou’s hands.

“The output of your attack barely increased in power since last time. Almost laughable.” He said.

Stepping up besides Bakugou, Izuku had finally finished with his checks. His own smile was on his face.

“Don’t write us off just yet.”

“I've been improving and training endlessly every day since the last time.” Ghin said as he smiled.

“Your training is nothing compared to what I've been through.” A hint of condescendance could be seen in his smile now.

Suddenly, both of the UA students took up their own respective stances, pointed towards Ghin. Neither Bakugou or Izuku said anything, determination etched onto their faces. They wouldn’t be going down so easily.

“Come at me. I'll let you have the first move since I issued the challenge.” Ghin wagged his finger as if saying, come at me.

Releasing a calming breath, Izuku darted in. The power of One For All : Full Cowl coursed through his body as he sped towards Ghin. Meanwhile, Bakugou had launched himself off the ground and into the air using his explosions. Bakugou began to rocket towards Ghin from the air.

Izuku seemed to have reached Ghin’s position in only a few moments. Overhead, he could hear the telltale explosions of Bakugou. Waiting for a moment, Izuku held off attacking. The airborne Bakugou took this as his signal, launching a gigantic, billowing explosion towards Ghin. Raising one hand to protect his face from the intense heat, Izuku waited for the heat and flames to die down.

Their initial strategy was based entirely around depriving Ghin of his senses, making him easier to strike. The smoke cloud left behind acted as cover as Izuku suddenly darted in to where Ghin was positioned a few moments ago. Hoping to strike something, Izuku whipped out his leg as it whistled through the smoke. Izuku would have worried about smoke inhalation, if he wasn’t wearing his mask.

When Izuku struck where Ghin was, however… the smoke dissipated, revealing that Ghin was no longer there. Ghin used the smoke to his advantage as well.

Izuku immediately whipped his head around behind him. His eyes scanned every inch of the area for signs of the silver-haired boy.

“Deku! What are you doing?!” Bakugou shouted at Izuku.

“He's on top of you!” He shouted.

From Bakugou’s POV, Ghin was standing atop of Izuku’s hair, his weight as light as a feather for some reason. Ghin was smiling at Bakugou, almost as if mocking him for using smokescreens against him.

Eyes widening as he heard Bakugou’s cry, Izuku immediately lashed out, throwing an empowered fist above his head.

His fist struck empty air as the falling form of Ghin landed in front of him. Izuku’s eyes widened as Ghin caught him at his opening.

“I thought you researched me.” Ghin said before he threw a straight punch, straight to Izuku’s solar plexus.

As the fist connected, all the wind was driven out of Izuku’s lungs, causing him to gasp heavily. He was flung backwards, rolling along the ground.

“My style is much different than Garou’s. Don't use the ‘me’ from back then as a good reference. I've improved, bully.” Ghin looked at Bakugou his fist clenched as he readied his stance. Left arm outstretched and palm open while the right tucked before his shoulder.

“Do better.”

Bakugou landed next to the prone form of Izuku. He glared down at Deku.

“What the fuck are you doing? Get up!”

He reached out, offering one hand. Raising his head, Izuku nodded, taking hold of the hand. Izuku was hoisted back to his feet. His costume now bore a few scrapes and was almost coated in a thin layer of dust.

Activating Full Cowl once again, Izuku began to dart to one side of Ghin. Bakugou began to launch himself the to the other side. As they both circled the boy, Bakugou began launching explosion after explosion every time he rapidly threw his palms at the boy. Meanwhile, Izuku empowered his hands, combining with his gloves, to flick tremendous gusts of wind at Ghin. Inwardly, Izuku was glad that he’d fully checked out that his costume was ready. He sent a silent thanks to Mei.

“Heh.” The boy immediately dashed to Bakugou, his moving hands forming streams of white as he deflected the explosions, his smile widening as he immediately closed into Bakugou ready to strike.

Seeing the rapidly approaching form of Ghin, Bakugou began throwing explosion after explosion, using the recoil to continue his retreat via launching him back like a rocket. Grimacing, Katsuki could feel the strain in his arms slowly build up.

“Baaa ba ba badudum.” Ghin was humming as he made his way to Katsuki, patiently catching up to him as he noticed the veins in Bakugou’s arms swelling underneath his skin. Bakugou was ever more furious upon hearing him hum like he was taking a stroll through the park.

“Your veins will pop in around seven more shots.” Ghin warned before he increased his pace, already close to Bakugou almost in arm’s reach.

Scowling, Bakugou did the only thing he could think of. He threw his arms behind him, setting off explosions behind him. His retreat was abruptly slowed as Ghin approached at blistering speeds now. Seeing Ghin speed towards him, Bakugou threw his entire head forwards, attempting to catch Ghin in a brutal headbutt. All he could do was brace for the pain of impact.

“Whoa!” Ghin threw his head back at the last second, his reflexes showing through as he clamped Bakugou’s head with both his hands.

“Surprised me!” Ghin said as Katsuki struggled.

“CRAP!” He cried before Ghin slammed down his head down towards his knee, Bakugou’s chin smashing Ghin’s kneecap as the result.

Slumping down, Bakugou’s eyes were dazed and unfocused. He remained balanced on his knees, swaying in place. His eyelids opened and closed rapidly, attempting to regain any sense of bearing.

“Kacchan!’

Izuku had already been heading towards the two, but his speed only increased when he saw his childhood friend’s head violently impact Ghin’s knee. Anger began to leak out of Izuku as he began to push his body further. He began to channel One For All even more than he already had, making him feel like his body was breaking apart.

The gymnasium seemed so small, now that Izuku was travelling so much faster. He faintly remembered the words he had been given by multiple people. In order to face Ghin, you’d need to give it your all. And that was what he planned to do. Quickly approaching Ghin, Izuku threw forward his fist. That one punch fueled by all of his determination, his entire being placed into that fist.

Ghin quickly turned to Izuku, his hands raised to block Izuku’s fist, but he failed at the last second. This time, Ghin was struck hard in the face. Very hard. Launched across the air back towards the wall as the result.

The spectators had been watching the entire exchange with rapt attention. The fight only seemed to have gone on for a few seconds. Watching Ghin flying backwards, Class 1-A cheered as the teachers remained silent.

“Yeaaaah!! Get him, Midoriya!”

Kaminari shouted out a cry of encouragement. He had rose out of his seat, grinning widely.

“That’s right! How’s that?”

Mineta smiled at seeing Ghin flying backwards. He felt the tiniest hint of sympathy for the young boy, but the memories of 1-A’s ‘test’ swiftly crushed any sympathy.

Todoroki merely watched in silence. However, the smallest smile was present on his face. The fact that a hit had finally been landed on the disciple of Garou was enough to make everyone in Class 1-A feel a bit of hope for their classmates.

As the class cheered, the flying form of Ghin lodged his feet into ground, digging his soles into the rock as he killed his gradually slowing velocity. After finally stopping, Ghin rubbed the cheek where Izuku struck. It stung him to the touch, making Young Ghin smile at Izuku.

“Good punch! Wait.” His smile turned into a frown upon seeing Izuku struggling to even stand.

“Never mind. What the hell is that?” His eyes were focused on his Izuku’s arm.

Izuku’s arm could withstand around four or five more of those attacks. His legs could hold even longer. Izuku could use around thirty percent of One For All. At that moment, he used around thirty five just to land a good hit in.

“Ehhh, you're just like the bully. How much more of those punches can you use? Four? Three?” Ghin’s accurate observation was also an obstacle Izuku and Bakugou had to overcome. He was reading them. He knew the amount of recoil their bodies suffer as if he already experienced their Quirks firsthand. As if he had those Quirks.

Izuku’s sleeve had been torn and shredded, hanging off of his arm. The tattered sleeve revealed the damage to his arm. It hadn’t been as extensive as a 100% Smash, but it still hurt. Large patches of pink-purplish skin were dotted around his arm. Izuku clenched his jaw as he fought through the momentary waves of pain.

“You're doing better than I thought. I have no idea how your Quirk works exactly, but I have a few ideas. You cannot bring out the full power of your Quirk as of right now, or else you will probably pop like a bloody balloon or something. The damage you received is not like the time during the Sports Festival against that guy.” Ghin pointed his finger at Todoroki in the spectators seats.

Despite the situation he and Bakugou were in, Izuku couldn’t help smiling at the young boy.

“You really are observant aren’t you?”

He sounded genuinely impressed, despite his injuries.

“The bully is frustrated. He is struggling to calm himself and not lash out at me to preserve his damaged pride. His breathing is rough, a few of his veins popped in his arms, slight internal bleeding here and there.” Ghin smiled as he pointed at Bakugou, answering Izuku in his own way.

Bakugou waved one arm through the air sluggishly.

“Shut it, kid. When we were told that you like talking, we weren’t told that you’d yammer on this much!”

“Was it cartoon face that told you? Wait, your face told me already.” Ghin said as he raised his hand to stop Bakugou from talking.

“You're recharging, cooling your arms down to prepare to blast my face off at the slightest opportunity. You're now thinking of using your grenades hanging at your belt to blind me when my guard is down, then you'll try to blast my face off. Or, if you decided to swallow your pride, gang up on me with the coward.” Ghin continued his observation as he pointed at Bakugou’s grenades.

“.......”
Bakugou said nothing. He clenched his jaw, glaring at Ghin. He could still feel the fog of disorientation in his mind. He tensed his arms, attempting to distract himself.

“You're lucky! You are suffering head trauma! You're mind is lulled, almost to the point of dropping out cold! If I hit you again, expect instant knockout! No exceptions! Muahahahaha!” Ghin started laughing triumphantly, his knuckles on his hips as he gloated.

Straightening himself up, Bakugou stepped forwards once, taking up a position next to Izuku. He staggered slightly, but corrected himself. His eyes were narrowed in concentration. If he let up on his concentration, his mind would lose focus and become dazed once again. Looking over at Izuku, Bakugou pointed a thumb in Ghin’s direction.

“You heard the kid? Next time, don’t let him get so close.”

Bakugou glared at the side of Deku’s head, heavily emphasizing the last part.

Nodding once in acknowledgement, Izuku prepared himself to engage once again. He took up his stance, and out of the corner of his eye he could see his childhood friend doing the same, albeit a bit slower and more sluggish. The entire gymnasium seemed to shrink. The spectators presence seemed to disappear completely. Bakugou and Izuku both focused all of their attention on Ghin. Allowing One For All to seep into every part of his body, arcs of green lightning sparked off of him.

Beside him, Bakugou examined his arms. The time they’d bought was valuable. It had cooled his arms down, allowing for more explosions.

Allowing the power to increase throughout his body, Izuku could feel the power amping up. The strain began to build, further and further. Gritting his teeth, he fought on through the intense straining.

Exchanging glances with Bakugou, they both nodded almost in unison. Turning back to the stationary Ghin, Izuku prepared himself. Suddenly, both he and Bakugou moved. They both rushed towards Ghin. Bakugou however, was only sparingly using his explosions for movement. He needed to save up the big blasts.

Reaching Ghin’s position, Izuku changed his strategy. Instead of launching a kick or a punch at Ghin, Izuku sent a empowered kick directly into the ground in front of Ghin, causing a rain of debris to be scattered around. The air was filled with a plume of dust. Bakugou began launching smaller explosions into the cloud of dust, seemingly at random.

However, whilst the three combatants were engulfed by the dust, the spectators could see nothing. The occasional flash of Bakugou’s explosion caused a sudden realisation in a few members of class 1-A.

“What’s Bakugou doing? He’s just firing randomly! And those kinds of attacks would never work!”

Kaminari rose from his seat, worry etched onto his face. He extended one palm in the direction of the huge plume of dust. Occasionally, the flashes would allow the spectators to see shadowy shapes in the cloud. Todoroki merely turned his head to Kaminari, his face unreadable as usual.

“He’s using weaker blasts on purpose. They threw up the cloud to obscure Ghin’s vision and now they’re using Bakugou’s explosion to try and find him.”

Kaminari’s arm wilted at being told so matter-of-factly. All eyes fell on the dust cloud.

Izuku eyed his surroundings, wary of any shadow flickering in the dust. Ghin proved to be very nimble and stealthy, especially in an obfuscated environment. Suddenly, Izuku heard a metal clank as he looked down on his feet. He crouched low as saw a smaller shadow within the darkness. He picked it up towards his face, only for his eyes to widen upon seeing it. It was Bakugou’s grenade. When did Ghin swipe it from Katsuki’s belt?

Attempting to throw it away, he channeled One For All into his arm. He tried to throw it straight up, but it detonated a few seconds after leaving his hand. Raising one hand to shelter his eyes from the bright overhead light, the cloud of dust was now much clearer. Everything was illuminated by the flashbang, creating a strange, eerie environment. Dust hung in the air, unmoving. Izuku began scanning every single movement he could see. Concern built up for his childhood friend.

“Bombardment!” Izuku heard Ghin’s voice from above. He was above them to avoid their sight. Meaning, he leapt high into the air to divebomb them.

“Kacchan! Get moving! Now!”

Izuku shouted a warning to his friend, hoping he was still conscious. Hearing a whistling sound approach from above, Izuku activated Full Cowl. The noise only got closer by the second. Knowing he couldn’t outrun Ghin, Izuku turned around, looking up to face the airborne boy. His fists clenched in anticipation. A small wave of pain came from the myriad bruises on his damaged arm.

“Down with bullies!” Ghin cried in a childish tone, both his arms raised up and hands laced together, ready to knock Bakugou down to the earth.

The boy was aiming for Katsuki first.

Suddenly seeing Bakugou underneath the falling Ghin, Izuku immediately knew what to do. Increasing the power in his legs, he could feel the strain grow fiercer. Crouching down, he cast one quick glance up at Ghin. Quickly guessing, Izuku launched himself towards the boy, the flashbang still illuminating the area. Like a missile, the green-haired teen flew towards Ghin. He had launched himself directly into a collision course with Ghin.

Immediately, Ghin undid his attack before turning around to face Izuku, and swung his leg at the courageous coward.

“Feint!” Ghin cried, smiling. But at that moment, Izuku blocked Ghin’s kick with his left arm.

With one of Ghin’s legs blocked by one of his arms, Izuku took advantage of the moment, swinging another greatly empowered fist straight towards Ghin’s lower torso. Even with his other arm blocking Ghin’s kick, Izuku could still feel a tremendous force pressing against that arm.

Ghin was sent flying away again, as he landed his feet. He clutched his stomach a little, feeling a slight sore left as a result.

“Your punch needs work.” Ghin said as he tanked that punch, and coughed once before wiping the spit off his lips.

Izuku finally landed on the ground. Looking down at his arm, the pink-purplish sections of flesh seemed to have grown. It felt as if his arm were covered by hot coals. A shiver of agony passed through him, though he suppressed it. That one was much harder to suppress than the last wave of pain.

The cloud of dust dissipated around them, revealing Bakugou standing somewhat behind Izuku. Bakugou walked up, coming to a stop next to Izuku once again. By now, the haze over Bakugou’s mind had seemingly almost cleared up. He walked without staggering, but he clearly was cautious.

“The bones of your left arm are vibrating under your skin. Your right arm felt as if a bomb went off in your muscles.” Ghin observed Izuku feeling for his arms.

“Yeah… feels like it…”

Izuku spoke through gritted teeth. Each new surge of pain threatened to overwhelm him, but he kept a tight lid on them, suppressing them with a shudder. Izuku’s condition was worsening, evident by his appearance. His costume was dirty and torn and his arm looked like it had just been run over by a car.

“I yelled just for the heck of it to test your reaction timing. It's not bad, but still sucks.” Ghin gave his opinion on Izuku’s current level.

Bakugou clenched his teeth at this piece of information. Even after everything, he was still giving them handicaps. Casting his eyes over to Deku, Bakugou could feel the frustration rise up. He wouldn’t be shown up here.

“You have, like, two more of those punches at least… three if you're lucky. How are you going to make them count? Let's find out.” Ghin smiled as he stretched his arms, before walking towards them.

Seeing Ghin approaching them, both of the UA students took their stances, preparing for anything. Izuku prepared to flood his body with the energy of One For All, and Bakugou flexed his hands, prepared to launch another explosion.

“Not sure if you could do the same with your legs, but I don't think you would. You need them for walking after all.” Ghin continued his observation as he analyzed their tactics.

“The bully might explode the ground to obscure the area again. Don't think it will work like that. You will sign your death warrant like last time.” Ghin added as he smiled at Bakugou.

“Also, I took this from you.” Ghin raised a hand, revealing another one of Bakugou’s grenades. The explosive hellion patted his waist, finding himself missing his grenades. When did he take them?

“I have another one in my pocket, too!” Ghin gloated.

Bakugou ground his teeth, glaring at the silver-haired boy. He suppressed the urge to rush in and attack out of anger. Painful memories flashed through his mind of the last time.

“...I’ll be getting those back.”

“What makes you think I won't use them though? Using the enemy's strength against them. One of Garou’s fundamentals. And you can't use my own strength against me.” Ghin’s smile grew even wider as he gently placed his fingers on the pin.

Narrowing his eyes, Bakugou glared at Ghin. Izuku stood beside him, his focus also on the silver-haired boy.

“Items are a hindrance. It is nothing compared to the power within.” Ghin started his own lecture as he pulled the pin.

“Items hold no loyalty to the maker. Only to those who wield it.” He continued as he waited for the grenade to explode.

Both Izuku and Bakugou shielded their eyes with their arms, as they both waited for the grenade to explode.

“Also.” The light never came.

They heard Ghin’s voice so close to them. Very, very close the moment they shielded their eyes.

“It is so easy to scare you guys.” Ghin added.

*BAM*

Izuku felt like a bomb exploded in his gut, Ghin’s fist lodged into his solar plexus. Again. Then followed by three swift jabs to his chest, an uppercut to his jaw, followed by a barrage of fists leaving trails of blue as Ghin utilized the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist. He finished his combo with a flip kick, leaping as he greeted Izuku’s chin with his foot before landing back down on the ground.

Izuku barely attempted to raise his arms in a defense, but the savage strikes kept coming. As Ghin’s foot impacted with his jaw, Izuku’s head snapped back. The green-haired teen was sent flying back, landing in a crumpled heap. Watching Izuku be blown away, Bakugou whipped his head back around to focus on Ghin.

“Catch.” Ghin said as he tossed something to Bakugou. A round, ovular object. Bakugou reflexively grabbed it without thinking, his panic undermining his reason. When he looked at the object in his hands, it was his flash bang.

“I placed the pin back in to feint you guys. I just pulled it out again!” Ghin said as he covered his eyes.

Clenching his fist in an attempt to cover the grenade, Bakugou grimaced as he sheltered his eyes. However, he attempted to keep his sight firmly on Ghin. He had no desire to end up like Deku. A blinding light emerged from between his fingers. Hissing in pain, Bakugou could feel the intense heat being emitted from the grenade.

Slowly, the light began to die down. Opening his fist, Bakugou let the scorched remains of the grenade fall to the ground. Parts of his hands were blackened from the heat.

He could stop himself from closing his eyes. He lost sight of Ghin. The moment he reopened his eyes, the sight of a smiling silver-haired boy stood before him with his fist reared at the ready.

“And scene!” Ghin said as he punched Bakugou’s most vulnerable place. He aimed for his family jewels, his knuckles making contact with the sacred orbs hidden in his pants.

A sickening impact drove Bakugou to his knees. His face went pale, and he barely held back the urge to vomit out of sheer agony. His wide, manic eyes looked up to glare at the one who had inflicted such pain.

Almost every spectator winced in pain at seeing both Izuku and Bakugou being so brutally dispatched. But Bakugou…. More than a few of the male members of 1-A were glad that they hadn’t been chosen.

“That’s low man.”

Sero shook his head, seeing his fellow classmates completely vulnerable.

“That was for that day at the first test, bully.” Ghin sneered at Bakugou, the lights behind his back flashing murderous black for an instant.

Bakugou moved one arm up slowly. His arm was trembling as reached out for Ghin. In Bakugou’s eyes, hidden behind the layer of intense pain, was sheer rage.

“How does it feel to be helpless? To be one bullied in return?” Ghin asked as if mocking him out of personal grudge. His dark side already leaking for him to see.

Small explosions came from Bakugou’s palm, pathetic compared to the ones he had been launching before. His trembling hand inched closer, a furious glare burning into Ghin’s skull.

“How does it feel to be labeled as worthless? Pathetic? Don't tell me that you bullied expecting to not experience the victim’s suffering one day too?” Ghin asked as his lips curled into a smile. A very dark smile.

“.......”

Suddenly, Bakugou’s arm stopped moving. It hung in the air, extended towards the boy. He gritted his teeth as he cast his eyes away, off to the side. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the battered, unconscious body of Deku, not moving. A turbulent maelstrom of emotions swirled around inside his head, causing him to freeze.

“Another reason why Aniki is better than you. You shun the potential and worth of others. You refuse to acknowledge anyone, even when they deserve it.” Ghin added as he waited for Bakugou to make his move.

Turning his head to focus on the boy, Bakugou narrowed his eyes, glaring. His arm drooped back down, hanging by his side.

“...Bull….shit…”

“Another lesson. In this big world, there is always someone better. But that doesn't mean you should stand still and remain the same. The world does not center around delusions. Only truth.” Ghin lectured the explosive hellion as he waited for his next move.

Clenching his fists, Bakugou felt the powerlessness and frustration overwhelm him.

“Who are you….. to say that we’re not fuckin’ trying? It’s just because you and.... And Him..”

Bakugou pointed one finger over at the seated figure of Garou.

“Because I put my life on the line to obtain this strength. I nearly died in my training. Each and every day. Literally.”

“So? Just because your suffering is worse than ours, means you can just write us off?”

Bakugou seethed, releasing all of the pent up anger and frustration.

“Since when have you truly put your life on the line anyways?” Ghin asked as he scoffed at Bakugou’s attempt at catharsis.

“You and Him… you both showed up out of nowhere… what do you know about what some of us have been through?”

“Your levels are indication enough of your efforts. Like I said, I can read you like a book. You just never bothered to read your own life.” Ghin replied.

Angrily waving an arm through the air, Bakugou forcefully suppressed the shivers of pain.

“Bullshit. You both are so powerful, you make the rest of us feel like all of our efforts have been wasted.”

“They are wasted. Want to know why? Because none of you! And I mean, none of you!” Ghin pointed at the stand where Class 1-A and the teachers sat.

“NONE OF YOU EVER SHOWED ME THAT WE CAN GROW STRONG WITHOUT QUIRKS!!!!” Ghin exploded with a fury that silenced Bakugou’s heart to a standstill. The lights behind Ghin turned to crimson red with fury. Tears started running down his eyes as he glared at Bakugou in his anger.

The entire gymnasium had been almost forced into an uncomfortable silence. Everyone could feel the tension in the air.

“What is all of OUR suffering for!? Us Quirkless forced to remain silent as we watch others become heroes, while we are forced to endure our fate as bystanders and victims?! What is all of it for?!?!? Don't speak as if I don't understand what it means to be looked down upon! I've been experiencing it all my life! You have NO RIGHT TO EVEN PROTEST AFTER ALL YOU HAVE DONE!!!!”

“........”

Bakugou had nothing to say. He could only remain still, weathering the verbal outburst of the young boy. The air the boy was emanating was unstable and violent. It felt as if he could snap and attack at any point.

“You're a boy who was born with everything! EVERYTHING! And you wasted all of your potential just to indulge in your privileges!!! Everything you've done IS WASTED! EVERYTHING! BECAUSE YOU CHOSE TO WASTE IT EVER SINCE YOU STARTED TO ABUSE YOUR QUIRK!!! DON'T SPEAK AS IF YOU'RE THE VICTIM!! YOU WERE NEVER THE VICTIM!!!”

Still on his knees, Bakugou was genuinely unsure of what to say.

“You were never Quirkless. You never truly struggled to gain strength. You don't know despair. True helplessness. I got this strong without a Quirk, you bastard. Do you even know how hard it is to get this strong in the first place? No, I don't think so. All you've learned is to complain without knowing the hypocrisy of your words.” Ghin calmed down after his outburst, but the lights behind him are still crimson red.

“...you’re wrong. I… do know how it feels to be powerless.”
Bakugou’s voice was low as each word almost pained him to say. Almost as if he was breaking out of his shell made of pride.

“Before or after Garou’s debut? Before you ask, it does matter. Your answer determines your very worth.” Ghin asked critically waiting for Bakugou’s answer.

“...During. All I could do was watch as Garou easily overwhelmed All Might.”

He snapped his head up to glare at Ghin, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes as his voice broke with leaking sorrow.

“Heroes are supposed to win. No matter what they face. But… how could anyone win against that?”

He pointed one finger accusingly at the still seated figure of Garou. He didn’t seem to move as dozens of eyes turned to look at him, all of the teachers and Class 1-A sharing Bakugou’s feelings. Just what in the world can actually defeat someone as illogical as Garou?

Ghin remained silent as he smiled, the lights behind his back returning to silver.

“Because Aniki reached the point where no regular hero can defeat him. Only a true hero can defeat him. That true hero must earn his strength from the ground up. Just like how Aniki did.” Ghin’s tone reverted back to normal upon the mention of Garou.

Gritting his teeth, Bakugou could feel the tears begin to slowly run down his face. Staring at Ghin, his vision was blurred by the tears.

“...then that’s what I’ll do.”
He shouted out loud, filling the entire gymnasium with his anguished yell.

“You hear me, Garou? I’ll show you what it means to be a hero! Quirks or not, I will surpass you!”

The entire class of 1-A fell silent. Eye wide, they all watched Garou. They seemed shocked that their classmate had explicitly challenged Garou. And it was Bakugou of all people. The teachers showed no outwards reaction.

“…good. You finally get it.” Garou’s words broke the silence as his lips curled up into a small grin.

Glaring over at the now-grinning Garou, Bakugou attempted to rise to his feet. A groan of pain emerged from between his lips as he staggered to his feet. Bakugou could feel unconsciousness encroaching on him.

“…wow.” Ghin spoke this time.

“You finally said something noteworthy for once.”

Ghin’s last words coursed through his ears before his world went black, his body finally collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud.

Within the nurse’s office of UA, where Recovery Girl was stationed, two boys lay bedridden, surrounded by teachers and classmates alike.

Izuku had a plaster cast over his arm and bandages practically covered almost every other part of his body. Only his mouth and eyes were exposed on his face, after Ghin’s brutal assault. Bakugou on the other hand had thick wraps covering both of his arms, up to the elbow. And a bag of ice placed on his groin.

Both of them were awake, groaning in pain. Even turning to face their classmates caused them further pain. Bakugou had gone pale as the adrenaline had died down, allowing him to feel the full force of all of his injuries. The same went for Izuku, although he was glad he wasn’t injured in quite the same way his childhood friend was.

“So… we lost.”

Izuku was the one to break the silence with a very obvious statement, given how he was currently bedridden.

1-A and the teachers smiled nervously at the bandaged Izuku. All Might stepped forwards, clearing his throat with a cough.

“Don’t be disappointed. You put up an excellent fight.”

He cast his eyes over to the scowling Bakugou.

“Both of you.”

The two heart monitors in the room constantly kept beeping, filling the room. Recovery Girl walked over to Izuku, her cane in hand. She frowned at the green-haired student.

“Now I know I said that I wouldn’t heal you anymore if you chose to injure yourself…”

She released a momentary sigh.

“..but given who you were fighting, I can let this one go for now. Just don’t go picking fights with him all the time!”

She tapped her cane on the floor once in reinforcement of that.

“…did Ghin fail us?” Izuku asked the important question.

“…no. He did not, surprisingly.” All Might answered.

“Though he gave you a C minus for… not giving him a proper fight as he said it hahaha.” The former symbol chuckled as he reminisced Ghin’s pouting face.

Bakugou shifted around in his bed in mild outrage.

“Not… a proper fight?”

The rest of the room could only watched as Bakugou struggled to move in his bed, heavily wrapped up in bandages and cooling wraps. A sudden wave of pain hit him, causing him to finally stop moving.

“Bakugou, my boy. He never went all out. Never did he even use his Quirk. This is an undeniable fact.” All Might informed trying to bring Bakugou to terms with reality.

Grimacing, Bakugou could only sink further into his bed as he mumbled to himself.

“...it’ll be different next time…”

Strolling over, Recovery Girl gave him a stern glare, cutting off his mumbling. 1-A turned their gaze back to Izuku for a moment. Kirishima grinned widely at the bedridden classmate.

“But man! Midoriya! You were pretty damn cool there!”

He gave one thumbs up in a gesture of approval.

“Bakugou did pretty well too! Until…”

Kirishima merely glanced downwards. He could feel Bakugou’s furious glare on his skull.

“How do your nuts feel? Are they still working?” Kaminari asked bluntly without tact.

Seething, Bakugou shifted his gaze from Kirishima to Kaminari. His eyes promised an equal amount of pain to the electric Quirk user.

“When I get out of this bed, I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“Do not be discouraged either of you!”

Iida broke the uncomfortable silence, raising one hand to gain everyone’s attention. He was using his usual ‘Class President’ voice.

“Given that Garou’s young disciple fought our entire class by himself, I think it was highly impressive for you both to have done as well as you did!”

Whilst they were watching the fight take place, the spectators barely had time to realise something had happened before the next thing occurred. Everything had happened so quickly that the fight seemed to have barely lasted a minute. Class 1-A looked on with admiration in their eyes at their two classmates.

“It wasn’t enough.” Izuku replied, shaking his head.

“Ghin was simply playing with us. He never treated us as if we were an actual threat to him. We never stood a chance despite our preparations.”

“Do not sell yourself short. You both did the best you could in the time you were given.”
Todoroki stepped forwards, shifting his eyes between the two bedridden students. He, as well as the rest of the class, knew exactly how hard the both of them had researched Ghin in the days coming up to the fight.

“In a real fight… would you say the same if lives were put on the line?” Izuku asked Todoroki as he stared at the white ceiling above.

Todoroki narrowed his eyes, shrugging.

“You’re both still students. We all are.”

He gestured to the rest of 1-A, who nodded in silent agreement.

“…he’s a kid much younger than us though.” Izuku argues as he contemplated.

“And Garou is much younger than I am.”

All Might’s voice broke through Izuku’s silent contemplation. The rest of 1-A looked at All Might, interest in their eyes.

“…we are really far behind, aren’t we?” Izuku asked as he gave a small chuckle.

The rest of the room gave their own chuckle. Both of the silver-haired duo were so far ahead, it could potentially take years of intense, non-stop training to even approach their level.

“Well… what have you two learned?”

Aizawa stood there, carefully watching both of the beaten students. Turning his head to focus on Bakugou, he was most interested to see what he had to say.

“.....”

Bakugou’s anger diminished as he looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact with his teacher. His scowl had given way for a more gloomy expression. The rest of 1-A was a little taken aback with Bakugou’s strange behaviour. All eyes focused on him.

“...You need to be willing to put everything on the line to even stand a chance against that kid. Half-measures would do nothing.”

Aizawa turned his head, eyes now focused on Izuku. He stood there, patiently awaiting Izuku’s own answer. Furrowing his eyebrows in thought, Izuku stared off into space. He already knew quite a lot about Ghin, if the extensive notes he had were any proof. But facing him in battle… was an entirely different beast.

“Be prepared for your enemy to manipulate you and take advantage of your reactions.”

Painful memories flashed through his mind, a blurred recollection before he was knocked out.

Nodding once, Aizawa crossed his arms. His expression was hard to read with the scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face.

“Now try not to do this again. I don’t really like visiting my students in hospitals all the time.”

The rest of the people present chuckled. Izuku did seem to be the most ‘hospital-prone’ out of the entire class of 1-A. All Might laughed as well, despite being both worried and concerned for his successor. Izuku joined them in their laughter, whilst Bakugou merely huffed.

During their laughter, the door knocked, tapped rhythmically as a voice followed.

“May we come in?” A familiar voice asked. A very young familiar voice.

Both Izuku and Bakugou’s heads snapped to the door, eyes locked on the open doorway. All Might merely smiled, gesturing inwards.

“Of course! Please come on in.”

The familiar figure of a silver-haired duo walked in. Followed by the ‘Big Three’ behind them as the duo carried what seemed to be gift baskets in hand full of fruit.

“Aunty wouldn’t let me go when I told her I grinded your bones to powder.” Ghin pouted as he walked towards the group.

Class 1-A watched in silence as the boy entered the room. Izuku and Bakugou both kept their gazes firmly on the boy, an aftereffect of the battle they’d just been through. Aizawa cast a glance over at Garou. All Might smiled widely at the five new visitors.

Izuku shook himself out of his focused stare, smiling somewhat at the sight of the gift baskets.

“Are those for us?”

“The landlord forced us to give you guys apology baskets or else.” Garou informed as the Big Three snickered behind his back, earning a glare from Garou.

Suddenly noticing his fellow intern, Izuku smiled wider. He would have waved, had his arm not been entombed in a cast.

“Mirio-senpai! And Nejire and Tamaki!”

Bakugou broke off his stare, also noticing the familiar face.

Hado waved enthusiastically at the bedridden boy, smiling. Tamaki on the other hand appeared to be slowly receding around the doorway in an attempt to hide from the large group of people inside. Mirio also waved at Izuku and Bakugou. A slight grumble came from his bed, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

Looking down at Ghin, Izuku grinned at the young, silver-haired boy.

“That was… quite a fight!”

He felt like he was putting it lightly.

“You suck, to be honest,” Ghin, however, countered.

“I fought more intense fights. It was a boring fighting, you know?” Ghin pointed his finger at Izuku.

Izuku grimaced at Ghin’s harsh words, nervously laughing. Bakugou kept his gaze firmly on the opposite side of the room as the silver-haired duo.

“Still! We did better than last time!”

Izuku kept trying to see the bright side from the bed he was currently stuck in. His constant optimism began to annoy Bakugou, who lay still. The bitter taste of defeat was stuck in Bakugou’s throat, a constant reminder.

“You still suck. You didn't even made me use my Quirk.” Ghin retorted.

“Hey! Cut them some slack at least.”

Kirishima quickly added, cocking his head to one side. Whilst it was true that Ghin had never chosen to use his Quirk, the rest of 1-A was still impressed by how long these two managed to hold out. They had taken quite the nasty beating.

“They lasted that long was because of a whim. I still could've ended them instantly. I expected much better though.”

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Bakugou turned his head glaring at the boy. Izuku on the other hand, merely smiled nervously. An awkward silence quickly settled over the room.

“Midoriya! How’s the experience dueling Young Ghin?” Mirio asked as he broke the silent atmosphere.

Scratching one cheek in consideration, Izuku cast his eyes to the ceiling.

“It was… difficult?”

To be honest, he didn’t really know how to describe the fight he and Bakugou had been through. Judging by Ghin’s appearance, he hadn’t actually taken any serious damage. Difficult was the first word that came to mind when thinking of the silver-haired duo.

“... Difficult? It was way more than that.”

Bakugou interjected, surprising Izuku. His voice was low, as he almost mumbled to himself. The battle had been as much verbal as it was physical, at least for Bakugou.

“Hahahaha! Yeah! Young Ghin is full of surprises!” Mirio laughed as Garou walked towards All Might.

“Here.” Garou said presenting the basket of fruit, enough to feed the whole class to him.

“Take it or I won't hear the end of it from my landlord.” Garou demanded.

All Might’s skeletal face twisted into a grin as he nodded at Garou.

“Thank you. That landlord… she’s quite something.”

The only person capable of forcing Garou to bring a gift basket. If it was anyone, it had to be Garou’s landlady. A few of the members of 1-A sported confused looks as they tried to think of anyone telling Garou to do anything. Meanwhile, behind Garou, the ‘Big Three’ all bore grins.

Taking the basket from Garou, All Might grunted as he could barely lift the tremendous amount of food with his scrawny, skeletal arms. Placing it down on the ground, All Might turned to Izuku and Bakugou, a strained smile on his face.

“I think you’ll both need to carry that out of here.”

All Might and Izuku chuckled together, whilst Bakugou merely rolled his eyes.

“So, did you finally get it, little bomb?” Garou asked Bakugou as he towered over him, the students of class 1-A parted ways like the sea before Moses.

Looking up at the towering form of Garou, Bakugou could find nothing to say. All he could do was nod mutely in agreement. A silence hung over the two as their eyes locked.

“You know, I was planning to test you personally, though your luck saved you.” Garou informed.

Bakugou barely suppressed a shudder. This was the first he’d heard about Garou wanting to test him personally. No doubt his injuries would be much, much worse if that were the case.

“I would've literally grounded your bones into dust myself. Probably removing a limb or two. Or punch a hole through you like I did with that monster.” Before Garou could continue, Hado walked up to Garou from behind and tapped his shoulder.

“Bad Garou. Stop scaring him.” Hado pouted as she presented something in her hands. Something that would indefinitely piss Garou off.

Garou turned around to face Hado, only for his eyes to widen upon seeing… that plushie in her hands. She gave the plushie a good squeeze, the toy making a cute squeaking sound for all in the room to hear. Veins bulged under his skull as his face contorted with unspeakable wrath boiling within him.

1-A watched with rapt attention. A few of the students bore humoured smiles, seeing Garou’s outraged reaction to the cute little doll of himself.

Even All Might and Aizawa bore smiles upon seeing it. Bakugou merely watched everything going on, a mildly confused expression on his face. Izuku mirrored a few of his classmates, a wide smile threatening to turn into laughter. He cast his eyes over to Ghin, only to see the young boy staring at the plushie, his eyes wide and expectant.

“...you're still holding that?” Garou asked, his voice filled with suppressed anger.

Hado didn't react to the layer of anger and frustration in Garou’s voice. She beamed at the infuriated Garou, waving the plushie around a little.

“Yep! And you’re not having it!”

“Hand it over or I will end the world!” Garou roared as he lunged towards Hado, reaching out for the doll.

“Nope!”

Hado turned around and began to run towards the door, still clutching the plushie with both hands. The entire room watched in silent bemusement.

“Get back here!” Garou shouted as he ran after her, following her out the door with what seemed to be the angriest face he ever made.

A moment passed as the two pairs of footsteps began to quieten down, getting further away. Looking over at Ghin with a confused expression, Izuku raised one eyebrow

“...Couldn’t Garou use his speed and easily catch her?”

“Don't tell him. It wouldn't be fun this way.” Mirio waved his hand dismissively at the question.

Pointing one finger towards the door, Ashido’s reaction was similar to many of her classmates.

“Is… this how he is usually?”

“You would be surprised how normal he is when he is not testing or scaring people.” Mirio then broke down into laughter, unable to suppress himself.

Class 1-A merely looked around at each other, bewildered by the idea that Garou could even act like a normal Third Year student. All Might and Eraserhead both knew of Garou’s…’antics’ during his classes.

“I want that plushie…” Ghin uttered now determined to find it.

Now that Ghin mentioned it, when Izuku was in the Garou store he didn’t notice any of that kind of product. Where had Nejire even got that plushie from? All Might merely turned to 1-A, a bemused expression on his face.

“If Snipe is to be believed, this isn’t the first ‘incident’ regarding Garou and that plushie.”

A moment passed, before laughter began to fill the room. The strange surreality of the whole situation was absolutely hilarious.

Hado then burst into the room, the plushie held high above her head in both her hands as Garou followed behind her, his eyes bloodshot and his body radiating so much red wrath, his very anger heated the air.

“Hand it over!” Garou demanded with a blood-curling tone.

Shaking her head furiously, Hado held the plushie even harder. Her face bore a unusually serious expression.

“No! You’d just destroy it!”

She held the plushie high up in the air, out of Garou’s grasp. The laughter in the room ceased for a moment, before starting up again even harder.

Garou reached out for the plushie she held high overhead, his fingers barely reaching the doll as he strained all his efforts to claim the bane of his existence and burn it to oblivion. Hado tiptoed on her toes, raising the plushie even higher.

“...can I have it?” Ghin asked Hado as he eyed the plushie with starry eyes.

Still tiptoeing, Hado beamed at the young boy.

“Of course! I bought it for you!”

Garou seemed to flinch upon Hado’s reveal. Ghin’s smile spread across his entire face as he smiled at the girl.

“I just haven’t been able to give it to you!”

Her tone turned accusational as she turned her head to look directly at the straining form of Garou, still trying to reach the plushie. Everyone else in the room watched on in silence, hoping to not interrupt such an… interesting scene.

“Quick! Throw it to me before he gets it!” Ghin shouted as he spread his arms wide ready to receive the plushie.

“You little devil!” Garou growled as he leapt, about to snatch the plushie from her hands.

Jumping up into the air with all her might, she threw the doll right over Garou’s head, giving it one quick squeeze for good measure.

It sailed through the air, making its cute little squeak. All eyes in the room watching the falling doll. Suddenly, it landed firmly in the hands of Ghin, who looked at it with wide eyes.

“Yay!” Ghin raised the plushie high into the air, the lights behind him shining at its brightest as he squeezed it. The plushie squeaked again, the sound grating to Garou’s ears.

“Quick! Run! Before he gets it!”

Hado pointed towards the seething form of Garou, who seemed to be making his way towards his young disciple.

“Sorry, Aniki!” Ghin started running away towards the window, and opened the sill as he leapt out while the plushie made cute squeaking noises along the way. The lights behind him turned into wings as he took flight to the skies, ascending away from Garou into the air.

“Yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!” The lingering echo of Ghin’s voice reached their ears.

“SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMP!!!” Garou roared as he ran towards the window, roaring to the heavens with world-ending fury.

Hado merely pumped one fist in a victorious gesture, grinning widely at Garou. Mirio and Tamaki both bore wide smiles, as did All Might. 1-A merely watched as Ghin had flown away.

Tooru suddenly spoke up, causing a few students around her to jump in surprise.

“Where did you get that? I need one!”

Shaking her head, Hado pointed directly towards the furious Garou.

“I can’t tell you. Then he’d know where they are.”

Placing one hand over her mouth, Hado whispered to the invisible girl. However, her whispering was still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her, including Garou.

“I’ll just have to tell you when he’s not around.”

“You will tell me now.” Garou’s voice interrupted those in the room as he turned his head towards the mischievous fairy.

Pulling her backpack over onto the floor, Hado quickly began rummaging the contents within. Mirio and Tamaki both had an inkling as to what she had brought. Suddenly removing her hand, in her grasp was another plushie. It was exactly the same as the last one. She gave it a squeeze, and it even squeaked like the other one as well. Hado smiled at Garou impishly.

“I had a backup!”

“.....” without a word, Garou took a veeeeery deep breath.

“...so this is how it's going to be.” Garou calmly walked towards Hado, passing by various students of Class 1-A and the teachers as Hado stepped back, squeezing it again as it gave a squeak. Then she bolted out the door again as Garou immediately followed her, his face bearing a fierce resolve to capture that plushie even if it's the last thing he'll do.

Everyone simply watched them run out of the room again, too bewildered to say anything.

Hado sprinted down hallway after hallway, still clutching her new plushie. Thunderous footsteps behind her told her that Garou was still hot on her trail. Quickly looking around, she saw a door slightly ajar. Looking in from outside, it also looked quite dark inside. Rushing inside, she realised she had ran into what was basically a janitor’s closet. She could see Garou’s head appear around the door, glaring right at her.

“Give me the plushie and you will live.” Garou said as he walked into the closet, his eyes glaring at her with the rage of a thousand suns.

Shaking her head, she once again began tiptoeing to prevent Garou from grabbing the plushie. Light streamed in from behind Garou, casting his silhouette into the room. With Garou blocking the only source of light, it became even darker. Struggling to even see, Hado attempted to take a step backwards, only to trip and fall on her back. As she was falling backwards, she desperately reached out with one hand to grab something to keep her upright. She did grab something, but it easily fell forwards with her.

Landing firmly on her back, Hado could feel a heavy weight on top of her. The darkness made it hard to see. Squinting slightly, she suddenly came face to face with Garou. She had grabbed Garou’s shirt, pulling him down on top of her. A furious blush began to spread across her face as she realised the compromising situation they had found themselves in. She could feel his breath on her neck, causing her to shiver. She raised the plushie, attempting to cover her face to hide her blush.

“..I….oh...um..”

“…” Garou was just as equally ashamed of the compromising situation. It was awkward. Really, really awkward.

“…uhhhh…”

He had no words to say.

“....sorry…”

Hado’s voice came out, barely more than an embarrassed squeak. All she could do was lie there, her face burning.

“…” Garou lost the desire to throw the plushie to the sun at this moment. His concern focused on the current situation at hand.

“…uhh… you’re pretty cute?” Garou uttered now that he took a good look at Hado. In truth, this was the first time he got a good look at Hado since he would usually dismiss her.

Hado squeaked in response, tensing up. The entire situation they’d found themselves in was incredibly intimate. Garou’s face was so close. She could feel his warmth. And then he’d said that? She didn’t know what to say, other than making embarrassed noises.

“…if you want, uhh… you can keep the plushie?” Garou said to get rid of the atmosphere. It was very heart-pounding especially for him.

“....thanks…”

Her voice was barely a murmur. Her grasp on the little Garou plushie only increased.

“…what do others do in this situation?” Garou asked to continue his conversation, his absence of common sense revealing itself.

Hado however, had seen a few romantic films. This kind of thing would happen alot. But…

Her blush increased in intensity as she thought of what else would happen. The intimacy, the quiet room…

“Oh… I… w-well…”

“…uhhh…” He doesn't know how to respond to that.

They both remained still, moments passing. Neither of them moved. Hado attempted to look away from Garou’s close face. To not take notice of his sharp facial features. She forced her eyes close to distract herself.

“So… where’d you get the plushie anyways?” Garou asked, no longer as angry as a thousand suns.

“....Tokyo…”

Hado was too embarrassed to say anything else. She kept her eyes closed, despite the urge to open them.

“…okay… since when did they have rights to make merch out of me.” Garou said as he started a conversation to make the atmosphere less awkward.

Saying nothing, Hado’s grasp on the plushie increased. Suddenly, the doll squeaked, causing Hado jump and release a squeak of her own, making her open her eyes. She was once again confronted by Garou, staring right down at her. His stare felt like that of a predator. She squirmed slightly underneath Garou. As she looked at Garou, she noticed that the front of his shirt was hanging down. She stole a quick glance, before turning away. She caught a glance of Garou’s impressive physique, causing her to shiver. His toned body was very well built, possessing little to no body fat whatsoever.

She turned her head away once again. But the image of Garou’s sharp features and muscular body were burned firmly into her mind. Shaking her head, she tried to dismiss such thoughts, but they only came back faster. Her curiosity began to overwhelm her as she extended one hand. Her hand came into contact with Garou’s chest. She heard a slight gasp come from him as she touched him. His chest was hard, so hard it’s almost like she could grind meat on his chest without worry.

She couldn’t really control herself as her hand glided up and down his rippling chest. Shivers kept passing through her as she continued, awed by his physique. Her other hand let go of the plushie, letting it rest on the floor. It mirrored the other hand, running up and down his chest.

Feeling the urge inside her swell up, she lifted herself off the ground, drawing closer to Garou. She could feel his body against hers as she grew closer. Suddenly, she locked lips with Garou. She shocked herself with her sudden action. They both remained still, engulfed by the suddenness of the kiss. She could hear nothing from Garou, except his hot breath on her neck.

Garou, on the other hand, felt a reminiscent urge, the same feeling he felt when Mirko invited him to her home. On instinct, Garou grabbed Hado by the shoulders and pulled her in, giving her a deeper, more impacting kiss.

Hado could feel her breath being stolen away from the kiss. A part of her mind was still questioning what was happening. In truth, she felt the urge build up and she couldn’t resist it. The atmosphere in the small closet was hot and intimate. She could feel Garou shifting around on top of her as their lips remained locked together. Opening her eyes, she caught a glance of Garou’s face. Her hands gripped both of Garou’s muscular shoulders. It felt like she and Garou were the only two people in the world right now. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Garou’s hands started to snake their way around Hado, his mind on autopilot as they started groping Hado’s rear while he continued stealing her soul through his kiss. His mind had flashed back to the steamy night with the bunny heroine.

Hado wriggled and squirmed underneath Garou as his grasp tightened. Breaking away from the kiss, she looked up at Garou. His face seemed determined, but also twisted by lust. The face was new to her… and she found it wanting deep down within.

Suddenly, realisation came back to her. She remembered where they were, and what exactly they were doing. Garou was still seemingly on autopilot. Shivering from Garou’s grasp, she waved one hand in front of his face.

“....Garou?...”

Her voice snapped Garou out of his trance.

“…what?”

“We… ummm… should probably get out…”

She gestured around at the closet they were in. The air inside the closet had become extremely hot and heavy.

“Oh… oh!” Garou got up as a blush donned his face the moment he realized what he was doing.

Hado bore her own blush as she began to rise to her feet. She reached down, grabbing the plushie with one hand. Pushing the door open, she and Garou stepped back out into the hallway. Luckily there was no one there. If there had been, it would have seemed a bit suspicious for two students to disappear into a closet for a few minutes and then come out, far more sweaty than they’d gone in.

“Sorry… uh… do you hate me?” Garou asked, rubbing his hair sheepishly, a little ashamed that he nearly crossed the line.

Smiling at Garou, she shook her head. Her hand still clutched the plushie.

“Nope! It was dark and neither of us could see what we were doing!”

Her undertones were clear. It would stay between them. But she was still beaming at Garou, cheerfully.

“Uhhh…” Garou did not get the hint though.

Leaning towards Garou, she poked him on the cheek. She looked like she was scolding a child for doing something bad.

“Tell me next time you’re going to be like… that. You shocked me!”

Garou then scowled at her.

“You started it.” He pointed out.

A blush spread across her face as she turned away from Garou. She raised the plushie in an attempt to cover the blush on her face.

“well… I was curious…”

“About what? What a kiss is like? Or that we were about to cross the line?” Garou smugly poked fun of her.

She turned her head even further away, squeaking in embarrassment. She was glad that there was no on here to witness this.

“I… no… umm…”

“…do you hate it?” Garou asked.

Lowering the plushie, a small smile spread across her face. She shook her head, still blushing furiously.

“....no…”

A moment of silence passed between them. They were the only two people in the hallway, silence engulfing them.

“…I think I like you…” Hado confesses, squeaking in further embarrassment.

Garou widened his eyes as he blushed as well. This was different than the aggressive confession of Mirko. This one was… pure.

“Oh…” Garou rubbed his silver hair in response.

“…since when?” He asked.

“Since you saved me from the monster.”

She smiled somewhat at the memory. Waking, being carried by Garou, so warm and safe in his arms. She had been so embarrassed for days afterwards.

“…I… don’t know what to say.” Garou was lost. Very lost. He was confessed by two girls and he does not know what to do.

Hado smiled at Garou. It was a genuine, caring smile. She shook her head at Garou’s words.

“You don’t need to say anything.”

She hadn’t expected to be confessing to Garou so soon, but then again, she hadn’t expected anything to happen in a dark closet...

“…”

The Hero Hunter remained silent as he took this all in.

“…I feel… strange. Warm yet…” he cut himself off as he looked at Hado again. The way she smiled touched his soul, as new feelings arose from within him, ones he cannot get used to.

“…should we talk about this later?” Garou added wanting some time to sort himself out.

“Yep! Whenever you want to talk is fine for me too!”

Hado nodded at Garou’s decision. They would need to talk about… what had happened between them. They couldn’t just push that under the rug.

“…” Garou then stared at the plushie within her hands.

“…you won’t stop with just Ghin having that damned plushie, won’t you?” Garou asked, his mind returning to his natural state as anger started to seep back in.

Clutching the plushie closer to her chest, a look of satisfaction came over Hado as she shook her head again.

“Nope! This one’s mine!”

She gave it a little squeeze and giggled at the squeak it made.

“You won’t let me live it down won’t you? Don’t tell me you’ll keep bringing it every time?” Garou asked, though deep down he already knew the answer.

Hado merely beamed, her grasp on the Garou figure increasing.

“I’ll keep bringing it. It’s mine after all!”

She gave the plushie an affectionate hug.

“I take back what I said. I now regret letting you keep it.” Garou started groaning as she continued squeaking the plushie to his ire. The sound of it made his spirit curl in recoil every time, harming the image he created after so long as a former Symbol of Fear.

The Third Year class had all gathered in one of UA’s indoor facilities, with Class 1-A as the spectators. A murmur of excitement was in the air as every student knew exactly the reason they’d all gathered. The rumour going through the class was that Garou himself had offered to train the ‘Big Three’. And Mirio had gathered everyone to give a demonstration of what he had learnt in his short time training. Although more than a few of the Third Years were a little confused as to why Class 1-A were spectating them.

The facility they had all gathered in was one of the training facilities, with large rocks and buildings everywhere. The Third Years were extremely familiar with the area, having spent a lot of time refining their Quirks.

Tamaki, Bang and Hado all stood together amongst the crowd of Third Years. 1-A stood off to one side, separated from their seniors. Occasionally, Hado would sneak a glance over at Bang, smiling to herself.

1-A did already knew that Garou was a senior in their school, but seeing him in a school uniform was… something else. It felt like trying to clothe a lion. No, a dragon as a human. The way Garou fit in with the third years, the way the third years treated Bang like he was one of them, was even more surreal. The Third Year’s had no idea that they have a dragon within their midst.

The air was abuzz with excited chatter, waiting for Mirio to appear. The entire class of Third Years were excited to know the extent of Mirio’s training under Garou. Plus, they were all interested to know what the man himself was like. All minus Hado, Tamaki, and Bang.

Suddenly, Mirio’s head appeared from behind a nearby corner. He noticed the large gathered crowd and waved at them all as he approached. As all eyes turned to Mirio, more than a few people noticed the bruises on his waving arms.

Coming to a stop in front of both the Third Years and the First Years, Mirio grinned. Everyone watched him with expectant eyes. 1-A had already experienced someone who had trained under Garou, as did the Third Years. They all had some level of expectations.

“Hey everyone! Thanks for gathering here!”

Crossing his arms, Garou watched as Mirio performed in front of the two classes, barely amused by his attempt at humor. He was more interested in his progress than to be entertained.

As Mirio greeted everyone, a voice shouted out from the crowd, voicing the thoughts of a few people.

“So what has Garou taught you?”
A few other students nodded in agreement. They all wanted to see exactly what the Hero-Hunter had taught Mirio. The Third Years still were a little surprised as to why Garou chose to train the ‘Big Three’. He’s never even met them!

Staring off to one side, Mirio recalled the brutal training. The constant reinforcement of the very basics. He had never imagined the training to be so bone-breaking. He felt like he had been making good progress. He wasn’t sure if Garou saw it that way however.

“Well, he’s been constantly reminding me of the basics. And by that! I mean him beating the living stuffing out of me!” Mirio started laughing as he made light of his hardships before the class.

A round of nervous laughter came from the Third Years. They had all noticed the heavy bruising on his forearm as he entered. They were a little concerned about Garou’s brutal training methods, but at the same time they were all still curious.

“Anyways, as for what he taught me, want me to show you?” Mirio asked as he walked to a nearby wall made of concrete, and stretched his arms up and then wide as he rolled his neck around, preparing to demonstrate for the class.

A round of ‘Yeah!’s came from the Third Years. 1-A also joined in, interested to see what Garou had shown to Mirio. Izuku and Bakugou both watched with rapt attention, not taking their eyes away for a moment. Both classes waited for Mirio to finish his stretches as they noticed a look of serious concentration on his face.

“Fuuuuuuuuuu~” Mirio took a deep breath, as he raised his arms towards the wall.

In his mind, he flashed back to the training grounds of Garou.

“This is the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist.” Garou said as he pointed at the wall of the mountains, with concentric rings of stone lying before their feet. The three watched as Garou demonstrated the more impossible aspect of his martial arts before them. How did he manage to cut through stones with his hands, and made the cut so clean?

The whole facility grew silent as everyone watched quietly, awaiting Mirio’s demonstration. Anticipation filled the air.

“Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist…” Mirio’s arms blurred as they converged in a vortex, the two arms seemingly intertwined as he moved as Garou taught to the slightest muscle twitch.

“Iron Whirlwind Murderous Fist!” Mirio shouted as the stone concrete cracked, as concentric rings of cracks formed on the wall, threatening to break under the pressure.

Both 1-A and the Third Years all gasped, shocked by the speed and strength of such a display. The Third Years all knew Mirio’s Quirk. And it didn’t allow him to carve rock with his bare hands. The wall now bore several concentric circles, a mind-boggling accomplishment thought not possible without Quirks until now.

“Uwah, I thought so. Garou would be pissed that I didn't cut through the wall, hahaha!” Mirio laughed again disregarding his supposed accomplishment.

The classes continued to stare, wide-eyed at the chuckling Mirio. He’d only been training for a few days, maybe a week. All of the Third Years got the image of Garou in their minds, a hellish instructor with no mercy. They all shivered as they realised they may undergo the same training.

“Is… Is there anything else you can do?”

The same voice came from the crowd, shock still present in his voice.

“Humph!” With a straight face, Mirio punched through the wall, breaking down the same wall with his fist as it crumbled into heaps of rock and stone. When Mirio retracted his fist, he flicked it as if he could still feel the recoil.

“I can break rocks now like Bruce Lee! Hahahaha!” Mirio laughed, not minding that his fist looked more bruised than before.

Everyone stared, disbelieving. All except a few. Namely Hado, Tamaki, Bang, Izuku and Bakugou. Hado looked towards Garou, a look of mild disapproval as Mirio had bruised himself further. She tapped his shoulder, garnering his attention as he turned to see a pouting Hado. Bang averted his eyes, as if saying sorry to Hado.

Both Izuku and Bakugou took a mental note. So this was what Mirio meant when he said Ghin could ‘cut them up with his bare hands’. The two imagined Ghin using it on them. The result would end in red piles of meat staining the floor.

One hand rose from the Third Years, as a shocked student stared on.

“Sooo… how hard was this training?”

“Pain, suffering, and muscles so sore it hurts to even touch a simple doorknob. Each and every day, hahahaha!” Mirio said as he laughed at his own hardships.

Hearing the effects of the training, a few students paled. It sounded more like physical torture than actual training.

“Is Garou a sadist?”

Another voice came from the Third Years, not noticing the glare being directed into the back of their skulls. A few students agreed. With the picture that had been painted, it seemed like Garou was indeed a sadist. Tamaki and Hado suppressed a chuckle as they watched Garou emitting red radiating wrath.

“He is sadistic in a way, but it is his way of life! He is just as harsh to himself as he is with others! Hahahah!”

1-A could only nod collectively in agreement. They had experienced Garou’s ‘harshness’ firsthand. Still, the memory of Garou chasing that plushie around the room stuck inside their minds, causing a few grins. Kirishima raised one arm.

“How long have you been training to do that?”

He pointed his other arm at the gaping hole that had been left in the wall, pieces of broken brick still crumbling and falling.

“More than a week! It was hard! He won't let me go until I can crack a stone wall, you know? He will make me go at it even at night if I fail to meet his standards! All while eating in front of my face by a campfire! My stomach wouldn't stop grumbling at that night!” Mirio gave a smile directed at Bang who just scoffed with a hint of pride. Mostly relishing Mirio’s torment.

More than a week? Mirio’s statement seemed so unrealistic. His class struggled to process the overload of information. If this was what ‘more than a week’ can do, what could a month do? A year? No wonder the Hero-Hunter was so ridiculously powerful.

“What’s he like? The Hero-Hunter?

Most of the Third Years held the same question. They had heard what he was like a teacher and a trainer, but more than a few were interested in what he was like an actual person.

“He is like the worse demonic instructor one can ask for! He enjoys your pain and suffering as if it's a personal achievement! And he eats! A lot! So much he can eat a restaurant dry!”

1-A all smiled, knowing most of this already. The Third Years however, were surprised at hearing of the Hero-Hunters large appetite.

“Also, he has high standards for a hero. Very high standards. When we were training, I got a good glimpse of what he considered an ideal hero.” Mirio’s tone then turned serious, no longer laughing as he gave a stern gaze.

The atmosphere took a sudden dip as most of the audience gulped nervously. It would make sense for him to have high standards of Heroes.

“Garou hates Quirks. He hates them to a point where he would do anything to compromise their value, usually with his unfathomable might. Can anyone guess why he does?” Mirio asked as he placed a hand to his ear as if waiting for the correct answer.

Raising one hand, Izuku looked over at Mirio, a serious look on his face.

“He thinks of them as ‘unearned’ power?”

Both he and Bakugou knew the correct answer. And after their bout with Ghin, they couldn’t possibly forget it.

“Correct!” Mirio pointed at Izuku.

“But that's not all.” Mirio added before anyone could react.

“When Garou was researching our world, there is one thing that he discovered that amplifies his hate for Quirks.” Mirio said as the atmosphere tensed. Every student remained silent, swallowing their saliva as their heart pulsed, all wanting to know the answer.

“One. Quirks cannot truly grow strong with the user. Quirks cannot evolve along with the user as they mature.” Mirio stated as Garou nodded in satisfaction with his answer.

Most of the Third Years had some idea of what he meant. They could find additional applications for their Quirk as time went past, but a Quirk was different to something like a muscle. You can train a muscle, increasing its strength. But with Quirks, once all of the applications of the Quirk had run out, there was no more growth capable. It then depended entirely on the user.

“Two, everyone’s over dependent on their Quirks, ignoring the fundamentals. The most important part of a hero is that they give everything they’ve got, not just their Quirk, but absolutely everything.” Mirio continued.

Both Izuku and Bakugou nodded in agreement, clearly recalling their fight. Hado glanced over at Bang and saw that he was staring straight ahead at Mirio, his face unreadable. Realisation began to spark in a few third year students. That must have been why they were being taught martial arts.

“And… yeah, that's all I can think of right now, hahaha! Anyways, you get the point of the lesson?” Mirio asked the two classes as he started rubbing his hair.

A voice came from the middle of the Third Years, although the source was hidden. The familiar voice of Ran broke the momentary silence.

“Yeah. I think so. It seems he wants us to not rely so heavily on our Quirks, I guess.”

“Hahaha, wrong!” Mirio rejected.

“Eh? But… I thought you just said?”

The short boy was shocked at Mirio’s sudden rejection of his assumption.

“If Garou was here, he would drag you into the mountains and throw you into the ‘fires of hell’ until you repent!” Mirio replied as he pointed at Ran.

‘And he is here.’ The entirety of Class 1-A thought in unison, their eyes turning to one specific figure. Especially the way Garou was eyeing Ran as if contemplating how to slaughter a lamb.

“Would you be kind to enlighten us on Garou’s intentions, kind Lemillion?” Another student, Claudette Victoria asked as she raised her hand.

“Ah, yes! He wants you to stand strong before the upcoming evil. To be strong, not just in body, but in mind and spirit. To stand unflinching even in the face of death. To be tempered through pain and discipline until you can stand atop the mountain and stare into the heavens without pause.”

Hearing Mirio’s words, both 1-A and the Third Years felt a level of determination inside themselves. The picture of the Hero-Hunter that had been painted by Mirio was dramatically different to what the Third Years had expected. He sounded tough, stern and determined. But the fact that he was willing to teach people how to better themselves showed a level of benevolence that no one had expected.

“Any other questions so far?” Mirio asked as he smiled with radiance, despite him being worse for wear.

The towering figure of Susumu raised her giant arm as she stared at Mirio expectantly, a large grin on her face.

“What does he look like? Does he really look like he did on TV?”

Now that she mentioned it, none of them had actually seen Garou in person. All they’d seen was the footage of his duel with All Might. And even that was from a distance.

‘…’ The entire Class 1-A could let out a drop of sweat as they caught the sight of Bang, smirking behind their backs as if enjoying this. They made a mental note on Garou’s evilness.

Numerous pairs of eyes focused on Mirio, patiently awaiting his answer. Their curiosity had been piqued by the interesting thought.

“Underneath his monstrous appearance, he is human! I’ve seen his human face!” Mirio smiled back at the smirking Garou.

“But he would destroy me if I tell you what he looks like, so give up asking!”

Susumu seemed to deflate slightly, as did a few others. He’d successfully avoided answering the question, much to their chagrin. Now everyone was wondering what he looked like under the monstrous appearance of his.

“Aww come on! He’s not here! He’d never know!”

Susumu attempted to get some answer out of Mirio, not deterred.

‘You have no idea.’ Hado, Tamaki, and all of Class 1-A denied as they saw the evilly grinning Garou. Garou looked like an evil spirit, how darkness marked his smiling eyes and lips.

“Besides, why’s he so protective of his appearance? It’s not like we’ve ever seen him in person before!”

As the tall girl continued talking, Hado, Tamaki and 1-A resisted the urge to chuckle. It was almost funny how none of the Third Years knew how close they were to Garou right at this moment.

“Hahaha! Uncanny power of the Quirkless man number one! A Quirkless man can ‘teleport’ behind you before you know it!” Mirio laughed as he occasionally stole glances at the smiling Bang.

The crowd shivered as they looked around, just to be sure that Garou hadn’t ‘teleported’ behind them without their notice. Yet, one noticed Bang’s grin.

“Besides, he would be livid if I tell you! He would make me undergo further intense training if I leaked just a little!” Mirio laughed as he suppressed a shudder, the memories of his recent training already transformed into a trauma.

Upon hearing of Garou’s potential punishment for the reveal of his appearance, the rest of the class immediately dropped the question. They could only feel sympathy towards Mirio as he had to deal with Garou on almost a daily basis.

“Anything else besides the topic of Garou’s supposed identity?” Mirio asked.

One female Third Year raised her own arm, staring hopefully at Mirio. She smiled as she asked her question.

“Is there a Ms.Garou?”

“Eh?” The smile on Mirio’s face stiffened as he paused.

“Excuse me?”

Bang shared his reaction as he stared at the female.

A few other Third Years looked at the girl, incredulous looks in their eyes. She merely shrugged off their stares and asked again.

“Does he have a special someone?”
To be honest, a few others shared the same question. Even those in 1-A. Especially after that new footage...

Hado blinked as she processed what she just said. Before a furious blush came over her as she remembered about the accident in the closet.

“...…” Mirio was rendered speechless. Absolutely speechless.

“..…ehhhhh, how should I say this…” Mirio remembered the rabbit heroine kissing Garou, though judging by the way he avoids her, he doubts that he held her close to his heart.

“No.” He answered. The other reason he said ‘no’ was to prevent Garou from throwing him into the ocean. Filled with sharks.

Glancing shyly over at Garou, Hado noticed that he was currently glaring directly at the girl who had asked. Even 1-A was watching Garou’s reaction, somewhat interested.

“Awww…”

The girl who had asked shrunk back slightly, a disappointed look on her face. She was hoping...

“Though it will be interesting to see anyone considering him an ‘romantic’ interest.” Mirio added for his amusement, earning another baleful glare from Garou.

A round of chuckles from both classes filled the air. They had no idea who was crazy enough to possibly go after someone so… dangerous. It seemed too out of this world.

“What else… oh, do you want to know Garou’s first disciple?” Mirio asked. He realized he could use this as a chance to introduce his class to Ghin.

Izuku and Bakugou shared a momentary glance. 1-A in general became ever so slightly more tense. The seniors, on the other hand, seemed quite interested and excited to see who could be Garou’s first disciple. They gestured for Mirio to continue.

“Hahaha, Garou’s first disciple is probably his biggest fan! I would call him over, but he is quite busy at this time!”

And by that, he meant he was busy at school.

“You accept challenges?” Bang asked, speaking up for the first time.

The rest of the seniors all turned to look at Bang. He had been strangely silent the entire time. They’d thought that he would have said something upon seeing Mirio’s demonstration of his training. A strange level of tension filled the air. On the other hand, Class 1-A merely felt sympathy for Mirio. Having to train with him all day, and then go to school with him sounded like a hellish experience in itself.

“Uhhh…” Sweat started pouring down Mirio’s brows. He feared that he would end up in a hospital at this rate.

“Y-Yeah?” He took a deep breathe and braced himself for the beatings.

“Yo, juniors. Any one of you wanna challenge him?” Bang asked as he shifted his attention towards Class 1-A, his eyes almost as if daring them to step up.

1-A remained silent, no one moving. They’d already fought Mirio once. And they’d all lost. And now he had been empowered by Garou’s training. None of them stood a chance.

“I… think we’ll pass.”

Kirishima waved one hand in the air, a gesture of their reluctance. The rest of the class nodded in agreement. They’d come to watch, not to fight.

“You sure? You won't know the difference between the him before and the him now. Or are you too scared to become a hero?” Bang asked questioning their worth.

Frustration began to spread through the ranks of 1-A. They were all being called out by Garou himself. Their worth was being questioned once again. An air of determination quickly settled over the First Years.

“If that’s how you’re gonna put it… then yeah. We’ll take him on!”

Glancing around at his classmates, he pointed towards them.

“Is this gonna be a one on one? Or a ‘whole class’ deal?”

“Don’t ask me. I don’t make the rules.” Bang said as he turned to Mirio.

“Oh. Um…”

Garou raised two fingers into the air.

“One on one. But I can take you all on again if you’re not ready for that.” Mirio caught onto Garou’s message as the Hero Hunter nodded in satisfaction.

Not wanting a repeat of last time, 1-A all collectively agreed to the rules. Although a few stares were sent Garou’s way for calling them out on their worth, and then immediately stepping back. Tokoyami stepped forth, the first one to go.

“I shall be your first opponent.”

Eager eyes watched him walk towards Mirio. The seniors seemed doubtful that the First Years could stand up to one of the ‘Big Three’, trained in Garou’s martial arts.

“Hahaha! Get ready then!” Mirio said as he stepped back making room for the first year. The two classes stepped back, giving Tokoyami and Mirio room for their duel.

Given that none of Class 1-A had been expecting a fight, they were all still in their school uniforms, much like the seniors. Emerging from underneath Tokoyami’s shirt came a floating black shape. Taking up a position in front of Tokoyami, Dark Shadow extended it’s shadowy claws. Tokoyami himself held two fists up in preparation. With there being a few sources of light nearby, Dark Shadow was about as large as normal.

“Dark Shadow!”

“Haiyo!” His shade cried at the ready.

Taking the initiative, Dark Shadow rushed in, claws extended. Tokoyami began circling Mirio, who hadn’t moved an inch. All eyes watched the battle, intrigued to see exactly how it would go down. Reaching Mirio finally, Dark Shadow struck out.

“Hmph!” An air of suspense was leaked as Mirio immediately dashed forward, bypassing under Dark Shadow at a speed that could be called ridiculous and barely trackable by Tokoyami’s eyes.

‘Fast!’ Almost all of the spectators and Tokoyami thought. How'd he become so fast? Mirio was nowhere near this fast when he faced them before. His speed could be comparable to Ghin’s.

Seeing Mirio rapidly approach him, Tokoyami clenched his fist, tensing up. Dark Shadow had whipped around, now trailing after Mirio. However, there was one thing every spectator had noticed. He wasn’t even using his Quirk. Even with Dark Shadow rapidly chasing him, Mirio still managed to keep ahead of it as the distance between him and the bird-headed student closed.

“You cannot defend yourself, can't you?!” Mirio shouted knowing Tokoyami’s weaknesses as he lunged forward with another sudden burst of speed, his fist travelling through the air heading towards Tokoyami’s face.

Seeing that Dark Shadow wouldn’t reach him in time, Tokoyami raised both forearms in a guard. He braced for the inevitable impact of Mirio’s fist with his attempted block.

Mirio pulled back his initial punch as stopped before Tokoyami, throwing his other arm to punch Tokoyami’s solar plexus through the side.

“Wrong choice!” Mirio laughed as he punched his stomach. The force behind his punch was much stronger than the last time he punched him.

All the air in Tokoyami’s lungs was forcefully expelled out in a harsh burst. Widening is eyes in momentary pain, he was sent flying backwards. With a thud, he landed on his back near Class 1-A. All he could do was groan in pain as he raised his head to look at Mirio.

“I….concede.”

“Ahahaha! Sorry, my friend! I had no choice but to go all out or I would disappoint you-know-who!”

A few of 1-A turned their heads, staring firmly at Garou. So Mirio would be even more fired up than last time. And he couldn’t afford to be soft. Not with Garou watching.

“Who’s next! I can do this all day, you know!” Mirio dared the rest of Class 1-A to take the challenge.

Planting his fist in his other hand, Kirishima grinned widely as he stepped forwards. He glanced down at the downed form of Tokoyami.

“Don’t worry about it man! I’ll get him back for you!”

Tokoyami merely groaned in response.

Ten seconds later…

“Ughhh…” Kirishima sprawled over the floor next to Tokoyami, groaning in pain. He sported bruises all over his body despite him using his Hardening to its maximum potential. Why the hell did Garou teach Mirio grappling techniques? His Hardening cannot prevent his limbs from bending the wrong way. Not only that, Mirio’s punches actually bypassed his defenses somewhat.

1-A began to realise the hopeless situation they were in. None of them stood a chance against Mirio. He hadn’t even used his Quirk once and two of the best fighters in their class had been downed in a flash. All eyes turned to Bakugou and Izuku. Both boys felt the urge to fight Mirio.

“Hahaha! You can fight me with your class if you want! Though if Garou would see that, he would be angry!” Mirio dared the class without intent to damage their esteem.

Their spirits had been momentarily lifted, then dashed as Mirio spoke. Whilst it did seem like a better idea to attack him as a class, no one wanted to bring Garou’s anger down on them. That was something everyone wanted to avoid. So they’d have to stick to being picked off one by one.

Suddenly, Todoroki stepped forth, the next challenger. His face was his usual unreadable look, although it held the slightest hints of anxiety. He stopped walking toward Mirio earlier than Kirishima and Tokoyami had, giving him far more distance. Everyone watched him, silently hopeful of his chances.

“Oh, didn't think I fought you before at that time. Son of Endeavor, right?” Mirio asked as he started stretching, raising his arms up and then down wide apart.

Nodding silently in acknowledgment, Todoroki began rolling his shoulders and performing a few little stretches of his own. Both combatants continued their stretches, watching each other the entire time. A slight shimmer began to ripple in the air surrounding the left side of Shouto. Every member of 1-A knew what that meant.

“Please take care of me, Senpai.” Todoroki spoke for the first time as he braced himself.

“So! Think you can make me use my Quirk? I'm not as nimble as Young Ghin to be honest, but I'm catching up. Though he is very upset that his position as Garou’s greatest disciple will be taken from him, hahaha!” Mirio laughed as he finished his stretches, then began repetitive light hops as a final measure.

Todoroki finished up his own stretches, staring at Mirio. He, like every member of 1-A, had seen Bakugou and Izuku’s fight with Ghin. He knew that he’d need to do more than just using his Quirk. If he didn’t want to end up like the two groaning figures on the ground, he’d need to put more effort. To go Plus Ultra.

As Mirio finished his hopping, Todoroki could immediately tell that the fight had begun. The whole atmosphere surrounding the two fighters had shifted. Immediately, Shouto created a huge pillar of ice underneath himself, causing him to rise up into the air.

“Hoh! Keeping distance from a close range fighter! Smart!” Mirio commented as he looked up at Shouto.

As the pillar rose into the air, Todoroki began hurling huge plumes of fire down onto Mirio. Judging by the size of the flames, he wasn’t holding anything back.

“Hahaha!” Mirio laughed as he ran towards the ice pillar with incredible speed, curving left and right to avoid the gouts of flame burning the landscape. Shouto grimaced upon seeing Mirio possessing almost the same speed as Ghin’s when he first tested the class. He would have to predict where Mirio would be instead of firing at him.

Todoroki knew that the ice pillar wouldn’t keep Mirio away for long. Using his right side, he began to slowly lower the temperature of the entire area. Both 1-A and the seniors could feel the entire facility grow colder and colder. Both classes began to shiver. As Izuku began to rub his arms to warm himself, a spark of realisation hit him. Todoroki was lowering the temperature in the area to slow down Mirio. As the air would grow colder, he’d get slower. But with his left side to warm himself up, Shouto had a way around it.

At the Third Year’s side, all of them shivered under the growing cold. Well, all except for Garou. He stood there, unfazed by the cold. Curious, Hado touched Garou by the arm.

“Waahhhh! He's so warm!” Hado cried as Garou felt warm to the touch, a bit too warm for any human being to be honest but still. Temptation added her mind, a growing desire to wrap herself around Garou started to take hold. But she refrained from hugging him for warmth since it would cause a scene. Though before she could do anything, Garou turned around, offering his hand to Hado.

“You cold?” Garou asked.

Smiling at him, Hado took his hand. If Garou’s hand hadn’t warmed her up, the rapidly spreading blush on her face was doing that just fine. She was glad that everyone was too focused on the fight, otherwise someone might have noticed her and Garou.

Mirio seemed affected by the cold, his joints and muscles stiffening from the rapidly cooled air. However, his speed remained undaunted, unfaltering even in the cold as he leapt towards the pillar of ice, grabbing the uneven protrusions jutted from the sides. Mirio’s grip on the ice was so great, it cracked and caved under his fingers as he propelled himself up, climbing up towards Shouto fast. Very fast.

“I've been training in the mountains! This much is easier compared to what he put me through!” Mirio laughed heartily at Shouto as he was already halfway towards him.

As Mirio climbed his way up the pillar with the dexterity of a professional mountain-climber, Todoroki continued to rain fire down on top of him despite knowing that he will melt the ice pillar he stood upon. Fire and ice don't mix after all. The ice pillar begun to melt underneath Mirio’s grasp, becoming slippery and wet.

“Ahahaha!” instead of slipping and fall, with a good punch, he thrusted his fist into the now softened pillar, a loud crack resounding through the air as Mirio let go, allowing gravity to pull him down away from the fiery plume almost gracing his head. The cracks spread throughout the ice pillar, webs shattering and breaking the ice threatening to throw Todoroki overboard.

Seeing the ice beneath him begin to shatter and fall apart, Shouto did the only thing he could think of. He leapt from the giant pillar. As he began to fall, he held his left arm out towards the ground and released a giant continuous stream of fire, slowing his descent.

However, he lost focus at that moment.

“Hahaha!” He heard the laughing voice of Mirio moving close to him. He turned his head to see Mirio leaping high in the air. In other words, Mirio had high jumping power as well. Class 1-A dropped their jaws as they saw a man they knew so well leap so high it would be hard to believe that he does not have a jumping Quirk or something.

As he saw Mirio leaping towards him, Todoroki could do nothing. If he turned to blast him with his fire, he’d plummet straight into the ground. All he could do was watch as the laughing Mirio grew closer, and crashed his fist into his face as he slammed him down to the earth without mercy.

Todoroki’s limp form slumped down into a heap, unconscious. The rest of the First Years could feel their despair deepen as another of their best fighters had been eliminated.

Yet, despite their casualties, Izuku and Bakugou both still felt the urge to fight Mirio.

“Hahaha! You lasted much longer than the others!” Mirio praised as he landed, standing above the unconscious form of Todoroki, and laughed with his knuckles on his hips.

Any further desire to fight Mirio had been swiftly crushed. Shaking his head, Iida spoke up for the rest of the First Years.

“I think we’ve got the point. None of the rest of us wish to face you.”

Nodding in agreement, most of the class wanted to stay uninjured. Garou’s training was certainly something.

“Hahaha! Now, what did you all learn today, class?” Mirio asked the two separate classed with a wide grin on his face.

“That Garou’s training is ridiculously powerful?”

One senior student raised his hand, a unsure expression on his face. However, his question was quite obvious. Everyone could see that Garou’s training had a definite impact. He hadn’t even used his Quirk once.

“Yes, and?” Mirio asked gesturing to Class 1-A.

Raising one hand, Uraraka stared over at the laughing form of Mirio.

“Keep your attention on the opponent at all times?”

Seeing Todoroki be so brutally dispatched… It left quite the impact.

“Lame! Do better!” Mirio lashed out at Uraraka.

She recoiled at the sudden rejection of her suggestion. The rest of 1-A began to wrack their minds.

“Plan out your combat strategies?”

Ashido broke the sudden silence with her own question. None of the challengers seemed to have fully thought out their combat encounter.

“Not enough!” Mirio replied as he pointed at Ashido almost as if he was giving her an F.

Izuku finally raised his own arm, still staring at the three sprawled bodies of his friends.

“......”

Even with his arm raised, Izuku couldn’t find the exact words to say. He kept trying to think of something to say. Some lesson that he had learnt. But the only lesson he could think of was ‘become stronger’.

“The answer is to know how to move forward.” Mirio gave the answer to them.

1-A listened in to Mirio with rapt attention. The Third Years also paid close attention. It was clear to see that he’d been trained mentally as well as physically. Garou seemed to have this effect on people.

“...How do we move forwards?”

Iida raised one arm with a troubled expression on his face. The thought of ‘moving forwards’ took him back to that alley. The encounter with Stain.

“That depends on you. There is no right answer for everyone. But, the best answer can lead you to start finding your own path.” Mirio added.

Both classes nodded in acknowledgement. A few members of the first year class already knew that they needed to go their own way. They couldn’t follow anyone else's. They had set themselves on a path of their own making. And the most crucial part was their mindset. It shaped the road they would walk.

“Anyways, that's all for now! This is what it means to grow strong through your own power! I admit, my muscles are very, very sore right now! It hurts to even walk, you know? Hahahahaha!” Mirio laughed as he limped a little as he recoiled from stinging pain in his legs.

As they heard Mirio’s wrapping up words, both classes begun to depart slowly. The last to leave from 1-A were Izuku, Bakugou and Uraraka. Izuku and Uraraka gave a departing wave. Bakugou merely scowled, turning away. As for the senior class, only Tamaki, Garou and Hado remained. Despite the fact that the temperature in the air had returned to normal, Hado and Garou remained, each holding the hand of the other.

“Should… should we get going?”

Hado pointed towards the exit that everyone else was leaving through.

“Yeah. Sure.” Garou said as they left. Hado remained blushing along the way, with a smile on her face as they walked.

The Kid

“[Yahoo!]”

Another day, another rabbit to deal with. Garou woke up from his bed as he received a phone call to his cell phone. It was the rabbit. He hadn't heard from her for over a week after their night together.

“..what do you want, rabbit? It's early, and you're interrupting my morning exercise.” and by exercise, doings sets of martial arts and researching more fighting styles to integrate to his own.

“[Heyyy! I’ve… got something you might need to see.]”

The voice of the heroine seemed unusual. As if she was hiding something.

“...what happened? Don't tell me you tattled on me…” Garou asked, the tone in her voice forewarned an omen.

Even through the phone, Garou could hear Mirko’s smile.

“[I’d never do that! Even I don’t want all of our… private interactions to be known.]”

“Get to the point. What are you hiding from me? Depending on your answer, I might or might not make rabbit stew from you.” Garou warned. He could practically hear her smile growing wider, making him realize that what he said could be taken the ‘wrong’ way.

“[Welllll~….]”

As Garou was waiting for the rabbit heroine’s response, the phone went quiet.

“[I kinda… need you to come over here. Like, right now.]”

Her usual confident, cocky tone was replaced by one of urgency.

Ten seconds later….

*Knock Knock*

Mirko perked her ears as she sniffed the air. Garou was already at her front door.

“...wow.” Mirko really underestimated his speed. As she quickly checked herself in the mirror, she picked something up. The something that Garou needed to see. She quickly headed over to the door.

Standing in front of the door, she looked through the peephole she noticed Garou standing there impatiently. Taking a deep breath, Mirko swung the door open coming face to face with Garou.

“Heyyy…”

Despite her attempts to seem casual, Garou’s eyes were immediately drawn to the thing that was huddled in the arms of the bunny heroine. The thing had rabbit ears as well, similar to Mirko’s. Not only that…

“Is that a… baby?” Garou asked pointing at the thing in Mirko’s arms.

Smiling somewhat, Mirko nodded in agreement. He appeared a little confused. Oh if only he knew…

“Yep! Guess whose!”

Despite the… situation, Mirko was still determined to milk it for everything it was worth.

“That kid’s your nephew or something?” Garou asked. The kid did have rabbit ears.

Shaking her head, Mirko merely grinned. His denseness was kind of cute sometimes.

“What? Whose is it? Your little sibling?” Garou guessed again as he blinked. Why does he feel so… drawn to the kid somehow?

Massaging her temples, Mirko sighed heavily. It looked like he’d need it to be spelled out to him. Pointing to the head of the baby, she specifically pointed out the baby’s silver hair colour.

“...Any ideas now?”

“.....it's yours? Don't joke with me. As if a kid can be born that fast.” Garou shook his head in denial.

Frowning in response, Mirko placed her fingers on one of the kid’s eyes, opening the eyelids just enough for Garou to see. The Hero Hunter widened his eyes as he saw the pitch black sclera and glowing golden pupil before Mirko released the eyelids.

“.......” She had successfully stunned Garou into speechlessness. Only he had those kind of eyes when he dons his monster costume.

“It looks like you’re getting it.”
She smiled as she saw the dawning realisation on Garou’s face. It had only taken her literally spelling it out for him.

His jaw slowly hung, dropping to the floor as he put two and two together.

“What? H… How?” Garou asked as if demanding to know why he became… a f… a father in more than a week.

Mirko shrugged, pointing at her rabbit ears to explain.

“Hey. I guess my ears aren’t the only rabbit-like trait I’ve got eh?”

She couldn’t resist grinning at Garou’s bewildered reaction. And now she had the perfect way to keep Garou nearby, in the form of the baby in her arms.

“...no way…” Garou blinked as he looked at the bundle within her arms.

“.......I'm a father…” Garou does not know if he should be scared… or what. He wasn't ready to be a parent. No, he never expected to be one in a thousand years.

“Be glad it wasn’t twins or anything.”

The rabbit heroine laughed at her little joke, although it was also an attempt to get a reaction of her child’s father.

“......” Without a word, Garou poked the little thing in her arms. His finger nudging the cheeks of the little fragile thing, eliciting a moan from the baby in response. This little thing was his. Various emotions swirled around in his heart, unable to control them to order.

“........is it a he? Or she?” Garou asked now concerned with this fact.

“It's a boy, just so you know,” Mirko giggled.

“.....does he have a name?” Garou asked as he continued poking the thing in her arms.

Furrowing her brow, Mirko looked down at the wriggling form of the baby.

“I guess… that’s part of why I asked you here. I thought you should have a say.”

It even shared her own dark skin.

“...” Garou stopped poking him when the baby started to wake up in her arms, his black and white scleric eyes locked onto Garou.

“Aaa babu?” The baby uttered random gibberish as he raised his arms towards Garou, as if asking to be hugged.

Extending both of her arms gently towards Garou, Mirko smile genuinely at him. With the child in her arms, her feelings towards the Hero-Hunter were… different now.

“Want to hold him?”

“....” Without a word, Garou reached out for the little one, gently holding the kid in his hands as the baby started touching his face from the chin, giggling along the way.

“...the kid seem to got his personality from you.” Garou uttered the boy started tickling his neck with his soft, pudgy hands.

A moment passed between the three, the only noise being the entertained mumbling of the baby in Garou’s arms. Mirko smiled as she watched Garou stare down at his child.

“Well… he gets a few things from you.”

“...besides the demon eye?” Garou asked.

“Yes, besides the eye. And the hair.”

Leaning over, Mirko gave the leg of the baby a gentle squeeze. Almost immediately in response, the baby’s body seemed to change in Garou’s hands. Two tiny horns emerged from the little head, along with the baby’s skin darkening further, turning black, reminiscent of Garou’s own transformation.

*Hahi hahaha*

The baby gave an adorable giggle despite it demonizing in his arms, squirming in ticklish joy.

“..........huh.” Garou was genuinely impressed.

“When was he born?” Garou asked as he continued poking the baby’s cheeks, now interested in him.

“About a day ago. Luckily, no one has got wind of this yet.”

Mirko suddenly turned serious. She felt strange. Defensive, almost.

“...” Garou stopped poking as he shifted his gaze back to the rabbit.

“...I think I should name him… hmmm, I am thinking of a name for… Kariko ?” Garou uttered as the baby giggled in his arms before his transformation was slowly undone, returning back to the dark-skinned boy with a single demonic eye.

Nodding, Mirko smiled at Garou.

“Sounds like a good name. I mean… you helped make him!”

She grinned widely at Garou, winking at him.

“Don't push it. You sound like you want another…” Garou frowned at the rabbit.

Her grin only grew wider as she winked at him again.

“I mean, if you’re up for it…”

The child in her arms was now a direct tie to Garou. And she did enjoy the ‘making’...

“...” Garou started poking at the baby again, making Kariko giggle in response.

“I don't think I am up for it to be honest…” Garou does not want to complicate his life any further. Having one baby is one thing, but two… it is bound to get unwanted attention.

Crossing her arms, she stared right at Garou. Leaning up against the doorframe, she broke the silence.

“Alright. Now there are a few ground rules that need to be set out. When it comes to the baby.”

She gestured towards the child in Garou’s arms, drawing his attention.

“First… you need to actually visit now. I’m not having him grow up with an absent father.”

“Ugh.”

“Don't ‘ugh’ me. You can basically teleport here at will. You have plenty of time to spare.” Mirko pursed her lips at Garou.

“...fine. Though don't expect me to buy any baby things.” Garou made his conditions.

Nodding in agreement, Mirko raised two fingers on one of her hands.

“Second… try to keep the fighting away from him. At least for the first few years.”

She glared right through Garou, drilling the point home. She didn’t want her child being put in danger.

“Uhh, as in not fight around him or…” Garou could not parse her wording.

“No fighting around him. And don’t bring any villains or enemies here. Or else.”
Her tone was stern. Clearly she wouldn’t budge an inch when it came to this specific topic.

“Oh, then I'm cool.” Garou wouldn't even allow any villains to thrive around Hosu. He might start cleaning up the villains here in his schedule.

As she raised a third finger, she gazed at Garou fondly, a smile spreading across her face.

“And third. Don’t forget about us!”

She knew that Garou wasn’t one to stay in one place for too long. The best she could do was to make a place that Garou could come back to occasionally.

“....I won't.” Garou promised as he smiled, seeing the baby giggle.

“Babuh. Babuh.” The baby giggled as he tried to say ‘papa’.

“Good.”

Smiling, Mirko leapt forwards and planted a kiss firmly on Garou’s cheek. Pulling back, she took in the image in front of her.

“I’ll be holding you to that. You don’t want anyone else to know about this? Do you?”
Her words held a somewhat threatening undertone, her hidden meaning clear.

Garou averted his eyes as he heard her say that.

“...no…” in the end, his relationship will be known to the world. He never asked for this in the first place, but in the end… he doesn't mind.

“....did you kiss someone else?” Mirko asked as she sniffed Garou’s lips. The scent of another woman lingering in his mouth. No, it was still there.

“..........” Garou averted his eyes. This was bad. He was being cornered between a rock and a hard place. The ever-present frown Mirko was displaying was not helping the guilt settle in his soul.

“...was she cute?” Mirko asked as Garou looked away even further. Little did he know, he now currently acted like Tamaki in avoiding people.

“..............”

“Oh my god, how cute is she? Tell me!” Mirko demanded as she grabbed the scruff of Garou’s shirt, pulling him close to her until they are eye to eyes.

“.....Alright, fine. She's cute. Damn cute. Are you happy now?” Garou confessed unable to handle the guilt.

Releasing a hold of Garou’s collar, her frown remained, still intense. Her glare seemed to burn into Garou’s skull.

“No. I’m not really happy.”

Taking a deep breath, Garou prepared himself for the worst emotional damage he would receive.

She poked one finger right at him, her tone stern.

“Look. I know I can’t really tell you to actually do anything. But…”

Her hand wilted as she glanced down at her baby, emotions surging up inside of her.

“...I… don’t really know what to do here. This is a first for me too. You need to actually take responsibility.”

“...I never expected to take responsibility like this so soon.” Garou retorted holding up the baby to her face to prove his point.

Shrugging, Mirko leant on the doorframe once again.

“I mean, you had to have at least considered it. What did you think would happen when two people sleep together?”

She cocked one eyebrow in Garou’s direction.

“...shut up.” Garou turned his eyes away again.

Mirko merely laughed to herself at Garou’s response. Had he really not considered it? He really was young.

“One thing though. Once he is old enough, you will be training him. I’m not having our kid be some weakling.”

“You're looking at a man who trained a little boy to the point where he can own Class 1-A by himself.” Garou glared at Mirko, insulted that she doubted him.

“And I expect you to train our kid even more. Even harder. He should be able to take on the whole world by himself.”

She stared at the two figures of Garou and her child.

“...think you should be saying that when you couldn't end the world in one punch?” Garou asked, smugly mocking her a little for his amusement.

“Do you disagree?”
Mirko merely cocked one eyebrow at the smug Garou.

“I will do it even without you telling me. But I'll do it my way, woman.” Garou smugly grinned at Mirko.

Widely grinning in response, Mirko bore a highly satisfied look. That was exactly what she was hoping he would say.

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“...alright.” Garou then handed Kariko back to Mirko, as she carried the boy in her arms again.

“I gotta go do some things.” Garou said as he turned around, preparing to vanish.

Before he could disappear however, Mirko called out to him.

“Make sure to come back! And don’t forget I’m the only one for you! I won the gold. Everyone else is just a runner-up.”
Even as he was leaving, she still loved teasing him. His reactions were just the best.

Garou rolled his eyes. At least she won't make things too complicated. Now that he thought about it, he should ask Hado to talk about what happened now that this is out of the way.

“Think we can talk about that now?” Garou asked Hado as they sat alone in the park. Both of them sitting on a bench alone, few people even around them at this time in early evening with the setting sun dying the sky orange.

Glancing over at Garou, Hado released a calming breath as she nodded. She knew that she and Garou would have to talk about… what happened. And the last thing she wanted was for their relationship to become awkward and uncomfortable.

“...Yeah. I think we can.”

“...hah. Where to start… first, I… never expected any girl to like me. I mean… I mean ‘me’. I have a very powerful reputation. When I started out my journey to infinite power, I abandoned the thought of anyone that could actually like me in the first place so… yeah. It is new for me.” Garou started as he looked at Hado.

“And to think it would be someone this damn cute now that I took a good look at you.”

Hado blushed as she lowered her head. An extremely happy smile was on her face as she stared down at her lap. She struggled to think of what exactly to say. She’d been waiting for this moment for so long. To properly explain her feelings.

“It’s… not about your reputation. It’s about… you.”

She pointed towards the conflicted Garou.

“You’re just so…”
Hado stopped, trying to think of the words to properly express herself. She couldn’t miss this chance. She had to explain how she felt clearly.

“...when I woke up after the ‘monster’s’ attacks and saw you… my first thought was ‘He’s so heroic’. The way you choose to protect everyone… You really are a good person. And that’s why. That’s why I like you Garou.”

She raised her head, looking over to Garou awaiting his response.

“........” Garou took a deep breath as he looked at her.

“...I don't know what to say… this… this is the first time I've been properly confessed by a girl…” Garou said as he looked down now.

“...you're something yourself.” Garou started making his own speech.

“You're the first person not afraid of me despite knowing who I am. You're curious, carefree, nosy, and you enjoy my suffering with that damned plushie. You're still holding it aren't you?” Garou asked as Hado smiled.

Seemingly pulling it out of nowhere, Hado held the Garou plushie in both hands, a wide smile on her face. A little squeak came from  the doll as she squeezed it.

“...Hah. I knew it.” Garou surrendered himself to the plushie. The plushie had won the war…

“...I think I like you too.” Garou decided to confess himself as well. Like it or not, he grew just as fond of her during the time they spent together. She was not a person he can simply turn away, possessing an innocence that he wished to cherish and protect.

Hado lowered her head once again, staring down at her legs. Her hands trembled as she rested them on her legs. A huge smile was present on her face as she heard Garou admit his feelings. This was one of the few times that she’d ever seen Garou reveal anything emotional.

“You're like nosy fairy that I just cannot ignore. One that I cannot help but cherish and protect when around me.” Garou chuckled. If the old him would hear this, that version would cringe.

A huge blush practically covered Hado’s face. She couldn’t smile any wider. Her heart thumped furiously in her chest as Garou kept admitting. It was exactly like she’d hoped…

“....so…”

“...but before we can continue… I have a confession. You will hate me for it…” Garou took a deep breathe as he looked at Hado. Preparing to embrace the greatest pain he will ever receive. He must do it.

Hado’s heart sunk as she heard Garou’s sudden shift in tone. She had no idea what he could possibly say to make this moment at all bad.

“...before you confessed, I was caught off guard by the rabbit… unlike this, she was… unnaturally aggressive. You saw the kiss at the hospital… she invited me to her bed. I had no idea what she was planning at the time, but I realized too late… do you hate me?” Garou said as he closed his eyes, ready for any rejection that will come his way.

Realising everything, Hado didn’t move. She could feel tears welling up at the corners of her eyes. Looking up at Garou, she shook her head, wiping away the forming tears with her sleeves.

“No! It’s ok!”

Hado suddenly lunged towards Garou.

“...eh?” Garou opened his eyes, only to see himself being embraced by Hado, as she wrapped her arms around him.

“It’s ok! I don’t hate you! I… I can’t hate you.” Hado smiled. As she leaned her head in, boldly locking lips with the conflicted Garou, washing away his turmoil and pain with her love.

“...” Garou remained silent as his heart, tempered by the rain of pain and sorry, now graced with the warm sum of caring light. For the first time in his harsh life, tears started welling at the corner of his eyes. Albeit the tears only lasted for a few drops before Hado broke their kiss, she now smiling at Garou with a face that shone like the sun.

“........thank you.” Garou does not know what to say other than that in a hushed whisper.

Hado merely beamed at Garou’s thanks. Her eyes locked with Garou’s

“It’s ok! We can make this work! I’m sure of it!”

Hado’s hands remained holding Garou’s shoulders as she stared deep into his eyes.

Garou allowed himself to smile. His heart settled as he felt… at peace.

“.....you know…” He started to talk.

“If the others heard about this… imagine the jealousy they would have.” He started laughing as he realized the situation he was in. A harem… an actual working harem… and he is confident that he could make them all happy. He will not let them down in any way.

Hado laughed along with Garou. The atmosphere was a pleasant one. A pure one. She smiled at Garou as she shook her head.

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone! It’s between us”

“Yeah. It would be much funnier this way.” Garou snickered with mischief. The air settled as silence took hold once again.

“...so… how did it feel?” Hado asked, now curious about the ‘next step’.

“...do you want me to show you when you're ready?” Garou asked, now confident.

Hado almost jumped in response, utterly shocked by Garou’s sudden change in attitude. She stared at him, a wide, confused smile on her face.

“...eh?”

“What? Too fast?” Garou asked. The memory of the closet flashed through Hado’s mind. How they nearly crossed that line.

Hado didn’t move. She had always been the one taking advantage of Garou’s ‘social weaknesses’. But now he was doing the same to her. And she didn’t really know how to respond.

“...I wouldn’t mind….”

Her voice was barely above a whisper, a sign of her clear embarrassment.

“...eh?” Garou was the one who was surprised.

Another period of awkward silence dawned between them.

“...Ahem. Well… I suggest we wait until we are truly ready for this. What do you think?” Garou suggested. Hadou smiled at Garou, beaming with a nod.

“Mmm!”

Thus, they started their secret relationship, one hidden from the eyes of acquaintances.

Footsteps echoed throughout the long, dark corridor. A number of shadowy shapes strolled down, all grouped together. The overhead corridor lights flickered on and off, illuminating the group. Shigaraki led the way for the group, hands in his pockets as he hunched over. Behind him, he was flanked by a few members of the League of Villains and a few of the foreign villains. One of the groups wore porcelain masks bearing impassive faces of dolls dyed in blood, envoys of Angel’s Dementia. The other, the group of Africans with Raven tattoos on their cheeks, Grave Ravens.

Tomura kept his eyes forwards, half-lidded. He could barely suppress his frustration at being so publicly humiliated. Tomura’s eyes narrowed upon the memory of the damned hooded American. Raising one arm, he began scratching away at his neck.

“A leader shouldn’t vent through habits, Shigaraki. Actions will reveal too much of you. Do not forget your position.” B’nul, envoy of the Grave Ravens and one of their greatest commanders warned.

His hand froze mid scratch. Slowly, he lowered his arm, leaving it hanging by his side. He continued leading the way. In order to fully gain the support of these foreign Villains, he’d need to prove why he was worthy of their aid. And that was exactly what he planned to do.

“May we learn your destination?” A soft, human, yet unnatural voice asked, the source being one of the masked men. Tomura learned his name was Amentia.

Beside Tomura, the wispy form of Kurogiri turned his head to look at the masked man. Amentia was tilting his head, as the others behind him mimicked his actions in synchronization. Tomura and Kurogiri found them creepy and abnormal even for villains.

“We wish to show our allies what we have to offer. And it goes beyond our simple Noumus.”

Even despite the fact that Kurogiri was made entirely out of mist, these masked figures seemed so… unnatural. It unnerved him. Kurogiri researched these villains just in case. Not much was known, other than a disturbing rumor that the founder of the group formed his villain organization via brainwashing of various Quirk users. Sometimes even civilians. Others being heroes. Tomura was forewarned of their danger as they might not be complete humans.

“We will start by showing our stores of those ‘cells’. Then we will move onto… bigger things.”

Kurogiri stopped himself. Tomura would be most displeased if he gave away their ‘ace-in-the-hole’ immediately.

As they came to a stop before a huge, rusted iron door, Tomura cast a momentary glance back at the rest of the group. Reaching out, he pushed the door open. It swung inwards with a deafening, grating screech. Leading the way, Tomura stepped into the room, followed shortly by the rest of the League and then the foreign Villains.

The foreign villains all immediately noticed one thing. The walls of the rooms were lined with dozens upon dozens of large tanks. The harsh, flickering lights above illuminated the tanks, revealing their contents. They were filled with a bubbling, greenish liquid. Floating in the middle of the liquid were the familiar shapes of the ‘cells’ that Tomura had shown off to the warehouse of villains. The grotesque orbs of flesh pulsated and throbbed in the liquid, almost like a heart. Tomura turned his head to the foreign villains, one finger outstretched pointing at the tanks.

“This is where we ‘cultivate’ those ‘cells’.”

The hum of machinery filled the air, as numerous tubes and pipes filtered in and out of each of the individual tanks. A nearby computer monitor ran on its own, monitoring the progress and status of each of the cells. Judging from the number of tanks, there had to be at least 15 cells. Maybe even more.

“Ohhhh…” Amentia and his men shuddered almost simultaneously at the sight of their ‘farm’. The way they reacted with rapture disturbed Tomura and the other villains, even the other foreign villains

Nodding at Kurogiri, Tomura gestured for him to take the ‘stage’. Kurogiri stepped forwards, turning around to face the whole group.

“Each one of these growths requires a specific amount of nutrients. The larger they grow, the more powerful the… transformation. However, once they grow large enough…”

Noticing one particularly large cell, Kurogiri pointed towards it, drawing everyone’s attention. The disgusting clump of meat shivered and shook in the liquid. Suddenly, it appeared as if a growth began to form on the side of the cell. Then, the cell began to stretch and warp. The two sides of the cell stretched further apart, ripping apart from each other. Ripples ran through the liquid as the sudden tension was released. Where there had been one large cell, there were now two medium-sized ones.

“...they will undergo a form of ‘mitosis,’ splitting apart and creating a new cell. I’m sure you can see how this is quite useful.”

The two, now separate cells stopped their shuddering and shaking, floating in the liquid peacefully.

“…these cells are alien…” B’nul commented as he eyed the strange cells nurtured within the prison of glass and liquid.

Tomura nodded at his assessment of the cells.

“We first received one of these ‘cells’ when Kurogiri had an unfortunate… accident regarding his warping. And two of those things emerged.”
Still hunched over, Tomura pointed one finger at one of the tanks. To be honest, they had no idea where these cells even came from. But seeing the function of these cells, they don’t want to find out lest they risk death at the hands of abominations beyond their imagining.

Kurogiri broke the momentary silence, continuing his explanation of the cells.

“After many tests, we found that consuming the cell would provide the consumer a tremendous boost in speed, strength and durability.”

The warper remained stood straight as he remembered All For One’s first experiment with the cells. If he wasn’t made out of mist, a bead of sweat would have trickled down his head. The mere memory of the resultant… monster unsettled him.

“But… the consumer will become more animalistic. Their base urges are amplified to a previously unseen degree. Depending on the consumer, their physical appearance and their personality, the transformation will change them.”

The memory of the monsterized Russian was still fresh in everyone’s mind. How his flesh had twisted and warped, becoming an inhuman abomination.

“Even though we’ve only had one human consume the cell, it appeared he retained some of his former intelligence and rationality.”

“So they’re only useful in making killer guard dogs…” The child summarized.

Tomura grinned as he continued to look on at the array of cells.

“I was going to see if I could kidnap a Hero. I’d love to see if their morals would hold up against the transformation!”

There was so much they didn’t know about the cells. The doctor had been studying and experimenting on them for months on end and even then, they weren’t entirely sure how it even worked. They needed more test subjects. Tomura was currently considering every choice, regarding the Hero he could ‘test out’ one of the cells on. Grinning even further, he remembered seeing a certain someone on the news a week or two ago. Perhaps he could see how close He was to those two female heroes He saved…

“Whatever face you’re making, I take it that you have a target?” B’nul asked the crazed man-child.

As he grinned under his hand-mask, Tomura turned to the foreign villain. He was still formulating the whole scheme in his head. And he’d need to make sure that Garou couldn’t intervene.

“I have a few potential targets…”

In truth, there were quite a few Heroes he’d like to ‘test’ the cell on. Any of the top ranking Heroes would be a good choice. But they needed to able to be restrained and kept. Tomura’s grin shifted into a frown as his list grew smaller the longer he thought.

“Regardless… these cells are a powerful weapon. And we intend to use them to our full advantage.”

Kurogiri quickly brought the topic back on track. Tomura was currently deep in thought as he thought who would make the perfect ‘subject’. Currently, they had to keep demonstrating their findings and their worth to these potential supporters.

“Even if all they’re good for is making ‘attack dogs’... All you need to do is release one in a city. No Hero could stand up to it. Panic and chaos would follow.”

These monsters worked perfectly as a ‘fire-and-forget’ weapon. So long as the villains kept their distance, everyone would be fine.

The room continued to hum as the computers and machinery continued running automatically. Everything appeared to be quite well automated, with very little required input.

“I am still questioning if your method of controlling monsters will work on every Noumu. I think even you don't know how they work…” The child asked, bringing up a good point.

Pausing for a moment, Tomura gazed over at one of the tanks, a cell floating sedately within.

“That’s why we’ve been continuing our ‘tests’. Once we find a way of ensuring their loyalty, then we’d have nothing to worry about.”

The child was right however. And it irked him. There was still so little they knew about anything they were working with regarding the cells..

“These cells emanate the feeling of an inexplicable dread… a power that will turn against us anytime soon.” B’nul interjected as he stared at the cells, feeling an inexplicable unease regarding them.

Shigaraki merely shrugged nonchalantly in response.

“It’s merely one of the risks. If one of our ‘subjects’ were turn against us… we would contain it.”

“If heroes can't hope of defeating that abomination, what made you think you could?” The child asked, questioning Tomura even more.

Kurogiri spoke up, his stare turning to the child. His two glowing eyes floated in place.

“Heroes are held back by having to ‘protect’. We have no obligations to do so. We’d have no reason to hold back against one of these monsters.”

“Can you even kill one? Wait, can you really hurt it?” The child raised an eyebrow.

The warper’s mind once again flashed back to the contained monster. One of their first attempts. And their first failure.

“You saw how the monster in the warehouse was so easily dispatched. We have confidence in our own skills.”

Silence shrouded the room once again, the air so quiet only the hum of machinery and bubbling fluids within the tanks could be heard.

“......” The child stared at Kurogiri, his eyes screaming suspicion and doubt behind him.

“...can you prove it?” The child asked.

“Show me how you tame these monsters firsthand.” The child said, calling Tomura out.

Feeling the tension in the room rise, Kurogiri glanced over at Tomura, who merely nodded in acknowledgement.

“...Very well.”

Strolling over to one of the tanks, Tomura removed the large lid. Throwing it to one side, he plunged his arm into the green liquid. Reaching out, wrapping four of his fingers onto the flesh, he felt the familiar sensation of the pulsating cell. Removing his arm from the tank, he placed the cell in his other hand, shaking his arm clean of the nutrient liquid.

“Follow me. It is time I show you the Noumu storage.”

Tomura then began walking towards the door, not looking back. One by one, everyone in the room began to follow.

The group continued to follow Shigaraki down the dark, winding hallways of their hideout. Silence had settled in over the group, the only sound their footsteps on the tiled floor. They passed door after door. Each door looked the same as the one before, coated in rust and decrepit. Tomura lead the way with his hand still clenching the cell, green liquid dripping down onto the floor in globules.

The group of villains seemed to be walking for what seemed like forever. Every corridor looked identical, all dark, dreary and worn. A few more minutes passed, and Tomura finally came to a stop in front of a door that was far more clean than the ones before. Casually pushing the door open, Tomura entered the room. Kurogiri followed shortly behind him. The rest of the villains entered the room, a sense of caution filling the air.

As they entered the room, they noticed that this room was somewhat similar to the tank room. However, on three of the walls were huge, thick panes of glass, forming what seemed to be huge windows. Next to each of the huge panes of glass were three large metal doors. It seemed that they had stepped into some kind of central control room.

Then the villains noticed the Noumus. In each of the three adjacent rooms, there were quite the number of Noumus. Each room seemed almost filled with them. The large panes of glass were observational windows. In every room, the Noumus stood stock straight up against the walls. They almost looked like grotesque statues. None of them moved a muscle, not even when the group of Villains entered the central room.

Gesturing around, Tomura glanced over at the foreign Villains.

“This is our ‘Noumu Storage’ area.”

Turning away, Shigaraki narrowed his eyes as he looked at each and every Noumu. Eventually, his eyes landed on a pure white Noumu. Walking over to the door of the room that contained the white Noumu, Tomura swung up a large deadbolt as he swung the door open. Pointing at the white Noumu, he gestured for it to enter.

“You. Get in here now.”

The head of the Noumu snapped to Shigaraki as it began to move towards the door. Its heavy footfalls filled the air. As it moved past him and into the central room, Tomura swung the door close behind him, slamming the deadbolt back down into position. The Noumu stood numbly in the middle of the room, awaiting further instructions.

Moving in front of the Noumu, Tomura’s eyes scanned the group of villains. Other than Kurogiri, he’d brought Dabi as well as Mr.Compress, should things go poorly. Not that he expected anything to happen…

“As you asked for, we’ll demonstrate our control.”

Holding his hand out, he opened his palm.

“You. Noumu. Eat this.”

The large white hand of the Noumu reached out and grasped the disgusting cell. Raising its arm up, it threw the cell into it’s gaping maw. The sound of squelching and chewing filled the room as everyone waited patiently.

A moment of silence passed. Then, like with the Russian, a low rumbled emerged from the lips of the Noumu. The assembled Villains watched as the Noumu’s white skin seemed to gain more of a glisten. The sound of dripping alerted the group. The Noumu had, in a few moments, gained a slick coating of some kind of slime or mucus.

As they watched on, the Noumu began to groan and hiss in pain. The head of the Noumu cracked and twisted, slowly taking on a new form. The Noumu’s mouth, already filled with sharp teeth, seemed to grow even more teeth. It’s eyes shrunk and shrunk, eventually becoming non-existent. The head of the Noumu had now smoothed out, creating a very worm-like appearance. Mucus continued to drip down onto the floor, forming disgusting puddles.

The arms of the Noumu flexed, before a sickening sliding noise filled the air. It’s hands slowly sunk into the Noumu’s wrists, disappearing completely. The resultant hole in the wrists twisted, as rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth emerged from the skin. The legs of the Noumu underwent a similar transformation as they lengthened dramatically. The feet eventually gave way to long, tentacle-esque appendages.

The sound of bone splintering and taking new forms filled the air, putting everyone on edge. As the head of Noumu continued transforming, it’s neck seemed to extend, growing considerably longer. The head of the Noumu almost seemed to hang down as a result of the longer neck. Suddenly, the horrific noises that had just before filled the room quickly ceased, leaving an unnatural silence into the air.

The eyeless worm-headed creature shrieked, an inhuman animal like shrill, a vibrating high-pitch thrum that forced every villain to cover their ears in pain. Saliva dripped from the rows of teeth, and worse, the saliva is melting the floor underneath it until a hole could be seen. Tomura compared the acidity to be similar to the that of the xenomorphs from Alien, the ones with the acidic blood.

Moving around on the spot, the now-monsterized Noumu slithered and squirmed in position. The sound of the slimy flesh sliding against the floor was truly revolting.

“...so what now?” The child asked as he took a step back from the monster. The thing became even more disgusting, and it gave off the feeling of apprehensive danger.

“Kurogiri. The meat.” Tomura ordered as the mist man nodded.

A small black portal appeared above Tomura’s outstretched hand. Suddenly, a large chunk of meat fell downwards, emerging from the wormhole. It landed in Tomura’s hand with a wet slap. The noise immediately caused the monster to whip its ‘head’ around, pointed squarely in Tomura’s direction.

“Back in your cage.” Tomura ordered as he threw the meat into the cage, expecting the monster to slither towards the meat. However, the creature stood there, its head still looking towards Tomura’s direction, not paying heed to his words.

“...uhhh…” Mr. Compress does not like this. Squinting his eyes behind his mask, he scrutinized the abomination closely, trying to see why it wouldn't listen to Tomura.

“...Tomura-san… I just realized that thing does not have ears… and eyes.” Mr. Compress pointed out as the creature continued ‘looking’ towards them.

Any kind of expression immediately dropped off of Shigaraki’s face. He could feel a shiver pass through him as the monsterized Noumu stood there, seemingly analysing him. He didn’t move a muscle, for fear of setting the beast off.

*Kreeeee*

The monster shrieked again as it slithered towards Tomura. Dripping saliva from its maw on its face, and from the ones on its hands… a lot of saliva. It was salivating, the acid globules melting a smoky trail along its wake.

Tomura couldn’t tear his eyes away from the monster as it approached him. He mumbled out an order to Kurogiri.

“Kurogiri… send it back to its cage…”

A large black portal appeared underneath the feet of the monster. Likewise, inside one of the rooms, a similar portal appeared on the ceiling. Screeching, half of the monster fell into the portal. Suddenly, the Noumu’s two ‘arms’ stretched out, easily digging into the concrete floor, while the head was screeching at Tomura and the villains.

“Shigaraki Tomura, orders?” Kurogiri asked as Dabi prepared his flames while Tomura stared at the creature screaming at him with hate. He will not let this mistake undermine his efforts. The villains he lead were already backing away from the monstrous being. They want to see how Tomura handle the situation.

He pointed one finger at the top half of the monster, whilst glancing over at both Dabi and Kurogiri.

“Burn it. Then close your portal.”

Tomura’s plan was simply to have Dabi scorch the top half of the monster, and then cut it in half as Kurogiri closed his portal. He needed to get rid of this thing as fast as he could. The longer it remained, the more of a threat it posed.

Nodding in agreement, Dabi pointed his hand towards the top half of the monster and unleashed a wave of blue flame. Stepping back even further, everyone present raised an arm to shield their face from the searing heat. Seeing the plume of flame, Kurogiri’s portal seemed to almost snap shut, bisecting the worm-like monster at it’s waist. A heavy thud came from the Noumu room as the lower half hit the ground with a wet slap.

However, once the flames died down, the villains could see the charred aftermath. The creature’s skin was shriveled, yet still thrashing with life as he continued screeching at them. As if it was promising slimy death and caustic vengeance. Then it spat out a glob of putrid green acid at Tomura, the speed like water from a high-pressure metal cutter.

Seeing the globule of acid speeding towards him, Tomura attempted to move out of the way, falling backwards onto his back. A wet impact above Tomura’s head caused him to look up. The spit had impacted the wall and had already eaten a huge chunk out of it. Smoke rose up as the acid continued hissing and dissolving the wall.

The acid flew over the other villains as well, hitting the wall above the entrance to the room. The affected wall then started to melt, reduced from solid to liquid as it slowly dropped down towards the entrance, sealing the exit out the room.

“That thing’s still alive?” Dabi asked rhetorically, impressed that the thing could live despite looking like dry fish in the desert.

The sound of muted thrashing momentarily drew everyone’s attention to the direction of the noise. Inside the cage that the bottom half of the Noumu had been dropped into, limbs were thrashing and flailing around. The lower half was also clearly not dead as it continued to flail around inside the room. Huge tracts of concreted were gouged out of the wall as the tentacle-esque legs struck everything around it. Then, something unexpected happened.

*Splash*

They saw a head growing from the segmented torso. Followed by two more maws as it continued growing at a rapid pace. They saw how the head grew, flesh regrowing as it’s grotesque arms finally reformed as well as an identical head of the worm similar to that of the one outside. It screeched as it turned its attention to Tomura and his entourage outside the glass window.

Suddenly, the same process began on the monster outside the cage. Like a liquid, the flesh of the monster began to stretch downwards, taking on the shape of a lower torso. Then, the flesh continued growing, soon becoming a pair of legs. Everyone could only watch, wide-eyed as both halves of the monster had regenerated into two new monsters. A shiver passed down the spine of everyone present.

“Dabi! Burn it!”

Tomura shouted a desperate order towards Dabi. Things were spiraling out of control. If things kept up, they’d all be killed. Nodding in acknowledgement on of the order, Dabi pointed both of his hands towards the newly regenerated monster.

*Screee!!!*

As if protesting, the head of the creature closest extended its head towards Dabi, rows of teeth hungrily waiting to snap the pyromancer’s head off and into its gullet.

As the head blurred towards him, Dabi quickly ducked in an attempt to get out of the way of the toothy maw. A loud crunch came from behind him as the head passed over him. Glancing back quickly, he saw the mouth had engulfed the head of one of the foreign Villains. One of the masked ones, if Dabi was correct. The Villain’s body twitched and jerked as the crunching and snapping of bone filled the room.

Quickly turning his attention back to the monster, Dabi let loose. A huge gout of blue flame engulfed the monster. However, Dabi didn’t stop. The burst of flame kept going and going. The temperature in the air began to rise swiftly. Gritting his teeth, Dabi glared at the spot where the monster would be. He wouldn’t stop until he was sure that it had been reduced to a pile of ash.

All anyone could hear was the rushing of the flames, heat licking at their faces. The group stepped even further back in response. A screech suddenly emerged from the flames. The ‘arm’ that was attached to the head of the foreign Villain twitched and writhed, before falling limp. The end of the arm fell into view, being a blackened, ashy mess. The heat had seemingly burnt the arm straight from the body. Seeing the end of the arm being so badly burned, Dabi began to slow down, eventually halting the flames completely.

“…” They remained silent. The now headless corpse of the villain dropped to the floor like a puppet. The other masked ones didn’t actually took notice of their companion’s demise.

Tomura, after seeing the worm dead once and for all, he turned his attention to the one in the prison glass, slithering its way out of the now open cell.

The great slithering mass approached the group, not even glancing over at the charred remains of its compatriot. Turning his sights onto the new monster, Dabi prepared to throw his flames.

This time, unlike before, the creature spewed a stream of corrosive liquid at Dabi, as if firing high pressure water from a hose. The amount of acid would be enough to melt all the villains here.

As the stream of acid shot towards them, Kurogiri quickly began to form a gate in the projected path of the acid. His hands dissipated as they formed the portal. A wisp of black mist traveled over towards the monster, opening a portal directly next to the monster. The stream of acid flew straight into the portal, and came right back out the other portal, spraying the monster with its own acid. However, the monster was unfazed by it, it’s mucous membrane a protective shield against its own attack as the acid slid off its skin and dripped to the floor, melting the concrete around it. The strong acid started destabilizing the ground it stood upon, until it cracked, crumbling as the floor gave way under its weight.

Everyone in the room remained still. No noise came from the hole that the monster had fallen into. Slowly, Dabi and Mr. Compress began to approach the hole, their hands extended in preparation. Quickly glancing over the edge of the hole, all they could see was darkness. Reaching down and grabbing a nearby chunk of broken concrete, Dabi swiftly lit the stone aflame before dropping it into the hole, the blue light lighting the darkness as it fell. As the blue light grew smaller, numerous reflections began to surround the rock, before the light was quickly extinguished. A loud splash made their hearts sink. Dabi pointed one finger down into the darkness.

“I… think it’s escaped into the sewers…”

Tomura gritted his teeth in frustration. This was the worst possible outcome. Not only had the Noumu transformed and gained worm-like qualities and regeneration, but it had escaped, free to multiply, if it is smart enough to breed itself which was the worst possible outcome. Clenching his fists, Tomura glared over at the gaping hole.

“Someone… fix that hole. We can’t have it getting back in.”

Tomura then looked at Kurogiri.

“Kurogiri. Inform the doctor to prepare some Noumus. He can monsterize one or two if he wish. It must not be let loose or it will leave tracks back to our base.” Tomura added. He must make sure these Noumus are well equipped to dealing with the worm.

The Third Years were all abuzz with excitement and anticipation. They had all been quickly packed onto a UA bus and were on their way to their field trip that they were all looking forward to. The bus was full of excited chatter as Snipe sat at the front of the bus, occasionally listening in.

Towards the back of the bus, sat the figures of Mirio, Tamaki, Hado and Garou. Tamaki and Mirio were seated behind Garou and Hado. All four of them watched the trees rapidly pass them by as the bus sped along down the road towards their destination. They had all been told a while ago that some ‘inventor’ had created a kind of robot designed to assist the Police during potential Villain activity. They were on their way to act as ‘combat testers’.

Hado was almost bouncing in her seat in excitement, whilst Garou was merely resting his chin on his hand, staring out of the window. Mirio bore a wide smile and Tamaki kept nervously glancing around at the rest of the bus. Hado turned to Garou, an excited gleam in her eyes.

“Are you excited?”

She practically bobbed up and down in her seat as she spoke.

“Well…” Garou paused to find his words.

“…Truthfully, I don’t expect much. Never been in a field trip since I was little.” Garou replied.

Hado’s gaze softened slightly as she remembered Garou’s stories of his home. The monsters, combined with Garou’s life of fighting…

“Don’t worry! We’ll make it fun!”

She smiled widely at Garou. If anything,she’d try her hardest to make sure he at least enjoyed himself on this trip.

“…” Garou couldn’t help but leak a small smile.

“Where are we heading to anyways?” He asked, curious of the destination.

Hado cocked her head to one side, a finger on her lips as she remembered what they’d been told by Snipe.

“Well… apparently we’re going to heading directly to the testing facilities for these robots.”

She wasn’t sure if Garou had heard their teacher when he’d told the class. Maybe he wasn’t listening as usual. Hado barely suppressed a giggle at the thought.

“I heard, but I meant in more clarity since he was annoyingly vague.” Garou clarified.

Hearing the telltale voice of Garou, Snipe turned around in his seat. Standing up, all conversation quickly cut off as all eyes turned to him.

“All right everyone. It won’t be much longer until we arrive at our destination. Until then, I thought I’d give you a little more information. For those who wanted it.”
Snipe looked over at Garou as he finished his sentence. Recalling all of the details he’d been given, he began.

“The facility we are going to is one of the primary robotic testing sites in the country. It’s actually where UA gets their robots for the entry exam.”

A few ‘Oooohs’ and ‘Aaaahs’ came from different students as they heard this interesting tidbit. Funnily enough, none of them had ever actually thought about where the robots came from. Most of them assumed that UA made them themselves.

“How’d they afford to make them anyways?” Garou asked.

Shrugging in response to the question, Snipe turned his attention to Garou. He himself wasn’t too knowledgeable when it came to the robots and the creative process behind them.

“Government grants I assume. I’m not entirely sure.”

“…whatever.” Garou shrugged before he looked out the window, now uninterested.

“Anyway…”

Snipe turned back to the rest of the bus, addressing everyone once again.

“The robots we will be facing are around the same height as many of us. Nothing crazy, so don’t worry.  Each one of us will be facing a robotic drone in a one on one battle. Once you either win or are defeated, you may leave and explore the nearby areas.”

A murmur of excitement passed through the students as it was revealed they’d be fighting the robots in a one on one. Mirio raised one hand, a curious expression on his face.

“What’s so different about these robots? Compared to the ones we have at UA?”

Snipe looked at the top of the ‘Big Three’… Though he wondered if it should be the ‘Big Four’ with Bang as the top student. Well, he would’ve been if not for his rebellious personality.

“…these robots were originally designed to help take down Garou himself.” Snipe decided to give the big reveal. They deserve to know what will come.

A few gasps sounded out, but other than that, the bus was now entirely quiet. Their expectations of these robots had been raised dramatically.

“But that was before his ‘reform’, thus it was repurposed into taking down the growing threat of villains instead. Any questions about them?”

Susumu raised one hand, a wide grin on her face.

“How tough are they?”

“They were modeled after the human body. Using All Might as a reference for their functionality. They have no Quirks, thus, their strength relies on the more traditional factor.” Snipe explained to the giant girl.

The class began whispering and muttering amongst themselves. With the use of their own Quirks, the students should have a decisive advantage over the robotic drones they’d be fighting. Snipe himself was unsure of how physically powerful these robots would be, but if they were designed to take down Garou, then their strength would have to be considerable.

The chattering continued, filling the bus with noise. Snipe waited for a moment, allowing the class to discuss amongst themselves. Coughing loudly, all conversations were abruptly cut off as all eyes turned to their teacher.

“Now, full use of your Quirks have been allowed. But please try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. We don’t want to destroy the facility. And that includes you.” Snipe pointed at Bang.

All eyes turned to Bang sitting besides Hado. He turned to Snipe, his face one of confusion.

“...what?” He asked as he doesn't understand Snipe’s meaning.

“Try not to go overboard. We all know your… fondness for overkill.”

If there was one thing Garou was known for, it was being extreme.

“No, I don't.” Bang denied.

Cocking one eyebrow underneath his mask, Snipe couldn’t help but grin at Garou.

“Are you sure? I recall that some serious repairs were needed in Gym Gamma after your… usage of it. And not to mention the buildings you knocked down in one of our other facilities.”

“Can't Cementhead just fix that gym in a poof?” Garou asked as he slightly averted his eyes, not wanting to admit the damage he caused to the other facilities.

Crossing his arms, Snipe continued staring over at Garou, who was clearly trying to avoid the blame being placed on him.

“Mr. Ishiyama isn’t there to clean everything up. And besides, that isn’t the point. He isn’t here now, so we can’t afford to do too much damage to the facility.”

Hado, Tamaki and Mirio couldn’t stop themselves from laughing quietly, as Garou was reminded of the destruction he was responsible for. Whether he liked it or not.

“...the buildings fell on their own when I touched it.”

“By ‘touch’, do you mean using your many super moves on them as punching bags?” Snipe retorted as Garou turned his head even further until it turned ninety degrees.

“........” Garou did not answer back this time, no longer having any words to retort.

“Anyway, please try to keep the damage to a minimum.”

He turned away from Garou, addressing the entire bus once again. They were here to test the robots.

Chatter then resumed as the students started discussing either about the robots they'll face or other random subjects of private interest. Mirio stood up, standing behind Garou’s seat, until he can see Garou over the backseat.

“Are you going to use another one of your ‘new moves’ there?” Mirio asked, his lips curled in a sly grin. The amount of new skills Garou could churn out never surprised him.

“Maybe. Might used the Cross Fang Dragon Slayer again. I've been refining my affinity with my main arts, so yeah.” Garou replied.

Hado, Mirio and Tamaki were also interested to see how their training with Garou would help them during their fights.

“Enough about me. How's your progress? You're past the basics, so you better be working hard or you'll return to those days.” Garou warned, as their bodies pulsed with mental pain, memories of days when they have to return home with bruises each and every day. Not even Hado was exempted from the pain… well, Garou had no choice but to be more lenient with her, but still.

Mirio nodded in response, smiling confidently.

“I’ve been continuing to practice everyday. Just like you taught us to.”

The daily practice was extremely straining, but to avoid those days, they had to keep up with it. It almost seemed as much a mental exercise as a physical one.

“Prove it, or I will assign Ghin as your refresh coach.” Garou warned as his lips curled into a devious smile.

Casting his eyes around the bus, Mirio cocked his head in confusion. Did he mean right now?

“I can’t demonstrate right now… We are on a bus after all!”

Mirio laughed as he leant back in his chair slightly.

“Joy. You know when I mean.” Garou rolled his eyes.

“So, how's your internship going?” Tamaki asked this time, which was surprising since he was usually very shy.

“Went to Best Jeanist’s place the other day. Guess what happened when I did.” Garou’s smile grew even wider.

“W-what happened?”

Tamaki could stop himself from being a bit curious as to how one of the top ranking Heroes would respond to Garou just showing up. Although he had an idea...

“Well… ever seen a hero taking a bath in his own sweat before?” Garou gave them a good hint.

Hado shook her head as she looked over disapprovingly at the grinning Hero-Hunter. Both Mirio and Tamaki felt a level of sympathy for the Hero.

“You’re going to give someone a heart attack one day…”

Tamaki almost mumbled to himself, looking away from Garou.

“I have no regrets.” Garou said with absolute conviction.

“...who else did you scare?” Mirio asked afraid of the answer.

“Oh no, just him. I also went to Endeavor’s to see what else he could teach me… though I ran into a problem…” Garou grimaced as he shuddered.

Feeling a sense of unease from Garou, Mirio wondered what could possibly cause such a feeling.

“What ‘problem’? What happened?”

Both Hado and Tamaki shared his morbid curiosity. Anything that Garou would describe as a ‘problem’ was surely something important.

“...I forgot that Endeavor’s place is a hotspot for ‘vermin’…” Garou shivered as he said that.

“...Vermin?”
Mirio merely cocked one eyebrow in confusion.

“...the media.”

Mirio let out an ‘ohhhh’ in response. Judging by his reaction on the news footage, Garou was clearly not fond of being in the spotlight. He didn’t seem like the type.

“...Did they hassle you?”

They could just imagine Garou, surrounded by reporters all begging for questions.

“They followed me for hours. Hours.” Garou cried pitifully as he hung his head low.

Hado looked on sympathetically, while Mirio and Tamaki shared a glance, smiling slightly.

“...what kind of questions did they ask?”

“...my origins sometimes. Most of the time… relationships with other female heroes… Is it legal to toss them into the ocean?” Garou asked as if begging for reprieve.

Shaking his head in response, a smile crept across Mirio’s face.

“Don’t tell us you answered any of their questions?”

“Like hell I'll answer to vermin. They can drown in shark-infested waters for all I care.” Garou seethed.

Hado lay one reassuring hand on Garou’s shoulder, whilst Mirio and Tamaki silently breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there, they’d thought that he’d told the reporters something, just to get them off his back. Even over the chatter of the bus, Snipe still overheard some of their conversation, grinning to himself.

“...why didn’t you use your speed to get away?”

Tamaki raised a very good question. With his speed, he could easily escape.

“One, it would raise suspicion. Two… I did. They found me ten minutes later.” Garou answered.

Eyes widening in shock, Mirio, Tamaki and Hado all seemed surprised that the press had actually been able to catch up to him. That would make them the first people to actually chase Garou and catch up. Even some Pro Heroes couldn’t do that.

“The moment I relaxed, they just showed up again. I asked how they did it, they replied that one of them has a tracking Quirk. I nearly killed him on the spot.” Garou almost felt like crying.

“So will we expecting to see you on the front page of a newspaper?”

Grinning at the downcast Garou, Mirio was mildly surprised to learn of Garou weakness with the press. He really was more ‘normal’ than many thought.

“I wish it is legal to maim them…” Garou complained. If only he could beat them bloody and be done with it without consequence.

Shaking her head, Hado frowned at the sulking Garou. She could feel his frustration.

“You can’t beat people up just because you don’t like them!”

If Garou had his way, there would a lot more filled hospital beds in the world.

“They are infinitely worse than the masked freak I crushed along with All Might. How? How can I win against a foe that I can't just crush into a bloody paste?” Garou mulled in his self-depression.

“Yeah. Wouldn’t be the first time….”

Mirio briefly recalled their stunt in the hospital, and Garou’s ‘encounter’ with a certain rabbit-eared Hero. The way he’d simply frozen. Garou seemed to have quite a few ‘social weaknesses’. Hado herself was also quite aware of that.

“Shut up. How do you deal with them? I must know how you repel them.” Garou begged as if his life was on the line.

Mirio shrugged, momentarily bouncing in his seat as the bus continued.

“I’m not sure. I’ve don't deal with the press much.”

Tamaki raised one hand in suggestion.

“...Maybe you could actually answer a few of their questions? It might make you less ‘mysterious’.”

“If I do, they’ll come back with even more. I refuse to give the vermin even the pleasure.” Garou denied, speaking as if he was in a war against the press.

“You know what? Should I just destroy their stations and force them into bankruptcy?” Garou proposed a very dangerous solution.

“...you know that wouldn’t work? Most of these stations would have some kind of insurance. It might not be that easy.”

Tamaki raised one finger in complaint. Garou seemed to be quite frustrated by these companies.

“I’ll destroy the insurance companies as well.” Garou added them to his list.

Hado, Tamaki and Mirio all merely smiled at Garou’s absurdly unrealistic threat. Although, he could probably do it if he really wanted to…

All four of them suddenly lurched forwards as the bus began to slow down. Looking out of the window, a large building towered over the bus, casting a large shadow.

From the outside, it appeared somewhat like a large, metallic bubble. Heavy plates of metal and thick pipes almost coated the outside of the building, making it seem like an extremely mechanical facility. The entire building was a drab green colour. Clearly the building wasn’t built with style in mind. Occasionally, out of some unseen vent on the roof, pillars of smoke and steam would emerge, trailing up into the sky. The distant sound of metal crashing onto metal registered in the ears of the senior students.

The bus eventually came to a full stop. As the door slid open Snipe rose from his seat and exited the bus first, gesturing for the students to follow. One by one, the students filed out of the bus. Eventually, Hado, Mirio, Tamaki and Garou all emerged from the bus, standing amongst the rest of the students.

The class were currently stood outside of what looked like an entrance to the facility. Everyone was looking around, taking in their surroundings.

“Looks queer.” Bang was the first to break the silence.

“This is a highly industrialized facility. I’m not sure that looks where the first thoughts of the designers.”

Snipe gazed over at Garou, his masks lenses staring right at him.

“For some reason, I want to break it down until there’s only pieces left.” Bang dangerously commented.

Garou could feel the familiar sensation of a poking finger. Turning around, he could see Hado frowning slightly at him. Shaking her head, Hado wordlessly conveyed her disapproval.

“…what? I won’t tear it down… that much.” Garou turned his head as he felt a soft hand thudding his back. Garou smiled a little as Hado continued slapping his back as if to punish him.

Snipe raised on arm, massaging his temples.

“Well, if you do end up choosing to destroy this highly important and valuable facility, I’ll be sure to send the fees to your landlady.”

“So?” Garou smiled at Snipe as Hado continued slapping his back even harder. He won’t miss the chance to make the landlady’s life more horrendous.

Snipe could feel the stress building up. Gesturing for the class to follow him, he began to walk towards the entrance. He released a heavy sigh, shaking his head as he did so. This was going to be… something else.

As the class entered the building, they all looked around at the reception area. Stopping abruptly, Snipe turned to the class behind him. Pointing towards Garou, Snipe gestured for him to come over.

“Bang. I have some things I need to discuss with you. The rest of you can explore the facility. But be sure to be back here in two hours. Don’t get lost!”

Chucklingly a little, Snipe began to lead Garou away from the group, walking towards the elevators nearby. Quickly glancing back towards the class, he could already see the groups of students separating and walking off down some of the corridors.

Hado, Tamaki and Mirio all watched as Garou was led away. A mild sense of concern came over the three of them. They all hoped that Garou weren't in any kind of trouble.

Pressing one of the buttons on the elevator controls, Snipe and Garou waited for the doors to open. Suddenly, a loud ‘ding’ alerted them to the elevator’s arrival on their floor. As the doors slid open, both teacher and ‘student’ stepped into the elevator.

“Let me guess. I’ve been summoned?” Garou asked.

Pressing another one of the buttons, Snipe watched as the doors slid closed, leaving just him and Garou in the elevator. Turning to Garou, Snipe nodded once.

“I told the creator of these robots that I could schedule a meeting with the ‘Hero-Hunter’. She wishes to meet you in person. To see exactly what he designed his robots to combat.”

“Oh?” Snipe caught his interest.

“This will be fun.” Garou smiled, now intrigued by this person.

A silence settled over the elevator as it continued to rise up through the floors. A sudden ‘ding’ alerted them. As the doors slid open, both Snipe and Garou came face to face with a woman staring at both of them. She was wearing a typical white lab coat, and had her brown hair tied up in a bun. Had she been waiting on the other side for them? Quickly glancing behind her, a buzz of activity seemed to be taking place. The elevator seemed to have stopped at some form of laboratory, with engineers and scientists rushing around busily.

Holding a clipboard up in her hands, the woman narrowed her eyes at Garou.

“You’re Garou ‘The Hero-Hunter’, I assume?”

She ran her eyes up and down his body, carefully analysing him. Casting a glance back down at the clipboard, she reached into one of the pockets of her lab coat, pulling out a pen and writing down something on the clipboard, nodding as she did so.

“What are you writing?” She then heard Garou’s voice so close behind her the next second without warning.

Raising her head to look at the direction the voice behind her, she didn’t seem too shocked. In fact, she nodded again, as if confirming something to herself.

“An up-close analysis of the ‘Hero-Hunter’s’ physical characteristics.”

She spun the clipboard around, revealing an extraordinary amount of notes and scrawlings, all centered around a picture of Garou.

“Huh… your art is terrible. Children’s level.” Garou scoffed as he smugly looked at the childish drawing of him.

Still holding the clipboard, the woman crossed her arms as she stared at Garou.

“I guess you really are him. The dismissive attitude, combined with the logic-defying feats.”

“Do you want the full monster course as well, Girl?” Garou asked as if daring.

Cocking an eyebrow, she pointed the pen towards Garou’s body and legs.

“Judging by the fact you’re in a school uniform, I’m pretty sure I’m older than you. Don’t ‘Girl’ me.”

The man with many titles was even more abrasive as she thought. While she was aware of Garou’s illogical might, she will not let him belittle her as he pleased.

“Hoh, feisty.” Garou then donned his monster form, bombarding the room with his aura.

“Tell me. What do you see?” In his forgotten demonic form, Garou asked as a mountain of force was pressed down on her and Snipe. The scientists behind the woman all froze in place, like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

Glancing quickly down at her notes, she couldn’t stop her hand from trembling as she experienced fear on a level her rational mind could not endure. However, a slight smile appeared on her face.

“So this is the ‘transformation’ up close? It’s…. overwhelming to say the least.” She strained to maintain her tone composed.

“Hah! Not bad. I don’t see anyone capable of such composure at first encounter… but you should work on your acting. Your legs are a dead giveaway.” Garou pointed out as he looked at the shaking legs, almost as if ready to give out and collapse.

A shaky laugh emerged from her lips as she shrugged slightly. The waves of power… they were outstandingly powerful.

“I had kind of prepared myself for my meeting with you. But this is… a little more than what I had expected.”

Out of one of her lab coat pockets, she pulled out a small handheld camera. Holding it up in the air to show it off, the woman looked over at Garou, still analysing him.

“May I? Just for the sake of study.”

Garou glared at the woman.

“One picture. You better not distribute it or else.” He warned the female scientist. His hate for the press resurfaced the moment he laid eyes on the camera.

Smiling at the mere opportunity, she began to tilt from one side to the other, gazing through the camera lens. A sense of excitement and anticipation filled her heart. She’d be one of the only people to have an up close picture of the monstrous form of the Hero-Hunter. The information they could pull from such a picture… she relished the chance.

Finally finding the perfect angle, a flash momentarily blinded both Garou and Snipe. Looking down at the screen on the back of the camera, the woman nodded in pride. The picture was perfect. She’d need to get studying it immediately. The horns, the darkened layer of ‘armor’... It was all mysterious. A power not derived from Quirks… she wished she could study it in detail, though she would experience a very painful demise if she did it without Garou’s permission.

“Thank you so much.”

She extended one hand in a handshake as she locked eyes with Garou, a thankful expression on her face.

“I forgot to introduce myself. I am the creator of the drones you’ve come to test. Yaseia Shiso. A pleasure.”

Yaseia could still feel the slightest tremble in her hand as she extended it. Inwardly, she considered numerous possible ways for Garou to emit such… unspeakable terror. If it were not for her fondness for scientific discovery, especially experiencing the enigma known as Garou, she would’ve fled on instinct. Even a scream was suppressed in the depths of her throat, trying to claw its way out of her lips.

She remained in position, hand extended towards the monstrous form of Garou. She could feel the slightest trickle of seat on her forehead.

“…Garou, the man with many titles. The Breaker of Heroes my personal favorite.” He responded with equal courtesy as he took her hand.

Yaseia shivered when she touched him. Even making skin contact amplified the terror within her, the feeling as if the hand could drag her deep into the depths of hell. Even Snipe wasn’t immune to the fear, his knees shaking and jellifying dying before the fear.

Shaking the hand thoroughly while pouring more mental effort in maintaining her composure, she gestured for both Snipe and Garou to follow her. The lab behind her began to ever so slowly start moving again, the lab assistants and the other staff nervously edging around the room. They all had some idea of who that was.

“...Would you care for a tour? I can show you how we developed the drones, if you’d like.”

Faster than a blink, Garou’s form returned to his human one. No longer was the fear present, allowing Yaseia her long needed reprieve. She let out a relaxing breath as she untensed her muscles. The experience was beyond what she expected.

“Sure. Should be interesting.” Garou wondered if they could build something on par with the Demon Cyborg’s calibur.

Turning on her heel, Yaseia began to lead the two through the lab. As they passed, both Garou and Snipe could feel dozens of nervous stares, all focused directly on them. Loudly clapping her hands together, Yaseia shouted in the direction of the frozen staff.

“Come on. I know we have visitors, but that’s no reason to stop!”

Inwardly, she was attempting to keep her composure. If she showed a hint of panic or unease, it would quickly spread through the rest of the staff like wildfire. They weren’t fighters. They were researchers. They shouldn’t have to deal with… that level of fear in a lab.

Galvanised into action by her words, the lab once again became a rush of activity. Even so, the occasional nervous glance would be thrown Garou’s way. The sound of typing and paper rustling now filled the lab.

As they continued walking through the lab, Yaseia pointed to what looked like a display case on her right. Stopping suddenly, she turned to face her two guests. Inside the display case was a large statue of All Might, posing dramatically.

“I’m not sure if either of you know this, but I was kind of a huge fan of All Might. While he was active, that is…”

She almost seemed to deflate at the last part. A somber expression came over her as she gazed into the case.

“I will not apologize for breaking the skeleton.” Garou stated firmly, with a hint of pride.

Raising one palm in a gesture, Yaseia shook her head. Much like the rest of the country, she’d been absolutely devastated at seeing All Might defeated so soundly.

“You don’t need to. I’m aware of your ‘reformation’. Still, I can’t help but feel a sense of frustration. Watching you crush our Symbol of Peace… Unlike everyone else, I wasn’t going to sit there and do nothing.”

Steeling herself, she locked eyes with Garou. Her crazed determination to ‘avenge’ the Symbol of Peace was something she couldn’t forget easily.

“That’s why I created the drones. I had to do something. I built them to fight you.”

She pointed one finger squarely at the form of the Hero-Hunter.

“I noticed.” Garou smirked a little. He approved of her character. While not a fighter, she does have the spirit of one.

“Gotta say, you’re better than I expected. Not even most heroes have that spark like you do.” Garou acknowledged as he smiled, not condescendingly but with genuine praise.

Placing her clipboard of notes down on a nearby table, all Yaseia could do was nod in thanks.
“I thank you for your compliment. Not every child wishes to be a Hero when they grow up.”

“Anyways, how strong are these things? Are they on the level of Demon Cyborg?”

Snipe blinked at the name behind his mask. A name he never heard of before.

Yaseia cocked her head to one side, raising an eyebrow in response. Whoever Garou was talking about, she didn’t know who he was.

“Demon Cyborg?”

She could feel her scientific curiosity building up at such a name.

“Oh right, he’s a strong cyborg I fought back home. The guy is tricky, detachable arms, blades, wires, and laser shooting palms. Very strong too.” Garou explained.

Nodding at each of the descriptions, Yaseia took a mental note. Perhaps she could attempt some upgrades, basing them on what Garou was describing… Narrowing her eyes, her curiosity had been piqued.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any similar stories of your home? Are there other individuals like this ‘Demon Cyborg’?”

“There is Metal Knight. I’ve never fought him, but he’s famous for using nuclear missiles as weapons.” Garou replied.

The word ‘nuclear’ choked any response in either of their throats. Snipe’s head turned to face Garou, and Yaseia gaped at the Hero-Hunter. Under his mask, Snipe was astounded. Garou had told them many stories of his home. But… using nuclear weapons? Yaseia seemed equal parts shocked and appalled.

“.....”

“What? Some monsters are literally immune to nukes. Even if they explode in their faces. I mean, I remember him using it against a giant centipede. It did not work.” Garou said as if was obvious.

Both Snipe and Yaseia continued staring at Garou, both wide-eyed. Slowly shaking herself out of her momentary shock, Yaseia furrowed her brows.
“These monsters… I assume they are similar to the one that was on the news. Are they that big of a threat to use nuclear weapons?”

“Well, if they’re around Dragon Level, then yeah.” Garou shrugged.

Inwardly, Yaseia was glad she’d invited Garou for a meeting. She’d only met him for about 20-30 minutes and she’d already learnt so much.

“So, I assume by the names ‘Demon Cyborg’ and ‘Metal Knight’ that these are both Heroes? Or at least, Heroes where you come from?”

“Oh yeah. They’re from back home.” Garou affirmed.

Yaseia’s mind was working on overdrive. The background of the Hero-Hunter was steeped in mystery. She’d never heard of a ‘Demon Cyborg’ or a ‘Metal Knight’. Even overseas. Where had Garou come from? Quickly placing that train of thought momentarily to the back of her mind, she gestured for them to continue following her.

“I’ll show you the drone production and design next.”

As she walked ahead of the two, her eyes were narrowed, still considering Garou’s origin. She couldn’t find an easy answer. And it was frustrating her.

Walking down corridor after corridor, the peaceful sound of typing were replaced by those of whirring and sparking. As they continued walking, Yaseia suddenly took a door on her right, Garou and Snipe following her. As they walked through the door, it was almost as if they’d entered an entirely different building. They had stepped into a room with an expansive interior. Machinery and mechanical arms hummed and whirred, as engineers and staff oversaw everything. The smell of metal hit steam filled the air, harsh to the nose.

As she began pointing to various parts of the room, Yaseia had to shout in order to not be drowned out by the extremely loud machinery.

“This is the production area. Everything mechanical is built in here. This is also where we build the robots for UA. Hence why the room is so large.”

Yaseia chuckled to herself as she remembered the gigantic robot that UA had ordered last time.

“Those robots are weak though… low Tiger level at best.” Garou commented.

Grinning slightly, Yaseia pointed right at Garou.

“That’s one of the benefits of robots and mechanical drones. They can easily be modified and upgraded to suit nearly any situation. Their potential adaptability is nearly unparalleled.”

“They are limited, slow, and prone to disrepair though. They could barely reach the level of Demon.” Garou scoffed.

Still smiling at Garou, Yaseia could feel that her pride as a researcher and inventor was being brutally slandered. Frustration built up a little inside her as she narrowed her eyes at the Hero-Hunter.

“We were asked to build robots for UA’s entrance exam. They are for students. Children. Of course we couldn’t give them our most powerful drones.”

A frown began to creep it’s way onto her face, replacing the smile that had been there prior.

“…do you know the meaning of the disaster levels back home? They were meant to label the threat of monsters and dangerous events on the scale of potential destruction they can bring.” Garou started smirking as he decided to see if her genius could build something that can rival the best of the best in his home.

“I wasn’t aware of these ‘Disaster Levels’. Judging by your previous assessment, I’d assume that ‘Tiger’ is weak?”

Garou kept throwing around unknown terms to her. Listening in carefully, she began to think.

“Oh yeah. Wolf is civilian level, anyone can take them out. Tiger is a threat to multiple people. Demon meant monsters that can wipe out a city alone. Dragon is akin to a living natural disaster, capable of wiping out many cities if left alone. God is the apex, a living threat to humanity. Tell me… can you make a robot around demon level?” Garou asked as if challenging the inventor.

Furrowing her brows, she began to think about the details of what would be required to create such a drone. She’d need an absurdly powerful power source. If the robot was to reach ‘Demon’ level, she’d need to make so many adjustments to any current design.

“Just so you know, the giant centipede that’s immune to nukes is around Dragon in case you’re wondering. The monster in the news is around Demon.” Garou smiled.

Rubbing her chin in thought, Yaseia could help but feel the urge to take up the challenge that Garou had laid out for her. If she could create something of that level… The potential was endless. Police assistance, combat roles, search and rescue…

Looking up at Garou, her eyes were narrowed with her brows still furrowed in deep thought.

“By your description, I would be unable to make a ‘Dragon’ level threat. I simply do not have the resources. But the ‘Demon’ level sounds more… manageable. Why are you asking?”

“I’m curious if you can make something that can rival that of the top heroes back home. Otherwise, you’re just as weak as the heroes here.” Garou said something her pride could not ignore.

Gritting her teeth, she glared at Garou.

“...You want a robot? I’ll show you a damn robot. I’ll blow every single one of your expectations out of the water. Then maybe, you could be a little more considerate next time.”

Frustration bubbled to the surface, showing itself.

“Oh no, I’m enjoying this too much to even give you consideration. I’ve never been so entertained ever since I went to Best Jeanist’s place.” Garou’s smile grew even wider, obviously relishing her frustration.

Glancing between the two, Snipe stepped towards the inventor. She seemed to be quite riled up from Garou’s words, a talent of his. Bowing slightly, Snipe shouted out an apology. He only barely shouted over the humming of the working machines.

“I’m… very sorry for his behaviour…. He’s like this with a lot of people.”

Snipe cast his eyes over to Garou, staring right at the offending figure.

Standing back up straight, Snipe looked at the frustrated woman.

“How about this. For an apology…”
Snipe abruptly cut himself off, reaching deep into one of his duster’s pockets. Grabbing ahold of something, Snipe pulled out a familiar shape. In his now extended hand, was a Garou plushie.

“...I’ll give you this.”

“…when did you get that?” Garou asked, his tone now indignant.

Snipe merely glanced over at Garou, the faintest grin appearing on his face underneath the mask.

“I’ve been carrying it for a while. As a deterrent.”

“…hand it to me or I will throw you to the moon.” Garou threatened as veins started bulging under his skull.

With his head still focused on Garou, Snipe flung the plushie towards Yaseia. Garou could only watch in despair as it landed in one of her outstretched hands. Rotating it around in her hand, Yaseia took a moment, analyzing the strange doll. Glancing back up at Garou, a sudden look of dawning realisation appeared on her face. Raising both her eyebrows, she looked at Garou with a look of surprise.

“I didn’t know you had merchandise. Did you make this yourself?”

“…no. Now give it to me so I can rend it to pieces.” Garou demanded, his hand forming a claw as his arm straightened forward demandingly.

Glancing down at the plushie, Yaseia took a moment. Quickly glancing back up at Garou, a grin was now on her face.

“No I don’t think I will. I think I’ll be keeping this.”

“Give it. Now. Or I will destroy everything with world-ending fury.”

“He won’t though. He’ll just get amusingly angrier. Just keep it away from him and you’ll be fine.” Snipe told Yaseia, earning a raging glare from Garou. The sight of him like this was even more entertaining.

Nodding once in thanks to Snipe, Yaseia tucked the plushie away in one of the inside pockets on her lab coat. She had no idea that the Hero-Hunter could get so riled up by a simple stuffed version of himself. The idea was quite funny to be honest.

“Thank you Snipe. I’ll be sure to do just that.”

Her gaze turned from Snipe to Garou, deliberately waiting for his reaction. Her entire expression was twisted with a mocking smile.

“I will break this planet in half if you don’t give it to me.” Garou threatened, his threats becoming more absurd with every word coming out of his mouth.

Gesturing her head towards the ground, Yaseia’s mocking grin only increased in size.

“Go on then. Break away. But you’re not getting it from me.”

She made a mental note of the sudden shift in attitude of Garou, and the way that Snipe took advantage, seemingly without repercussions.

Garou fumed. The inventor could see the air turning red around him as his anger soared to new heights. She never thought seeing the Hero Hunter this angry could be so entertaining.

“How about I buy you a All Might plushie instead?”
Even though she was asking a question, she fully expected Garou to explode in anger and frustration.

“You little…” Garou almost did, the air turning crimson red around him.

Yaseia turned to Snipe, an inquisitive look on her face. She was… unaware of this side of Garou. If he was so easily riled up and manipulated by a mere doll, what else was there about him?

“Is he always this easy to annoy? And is there anything else?”

“You just need to know the right buttons. And I’ll tell you if he misbehaves again.” Snipe intoned the last word for effect.

Yaseia turned to Garou, a daring look in her eyes. She was daring him to do something. Anything to step out of line.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to implement these plushies in all of my new designs. I’ll attach them to the front so it’s the first thing they’ll see.”

The thought itself was quite funny. Perhaps the next order of UA robots could have Garou plushies attached to the front…

“GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” The explosion finally erupted with a deafening roar, his voice so loud every person in the building could hear it, from the researchers working to the Third Years sightseeing.

Both Snipe and Yaseia covered their ears, deafened by the furious cry. It even drowned out the noise of the heavy machinery nearby. Slowly, the roar began to settle down. Releasing a sigh of relief, both Snipe and Yaseia removed their hands from their ears. Looking over at Garou, the very air around him was shimmering, as if boiling from his intense exteriorizing rage.

“Hah… hah…” Garou panted for breath. He has been screaming for a while now. Around five long minutes to be exact.

Staring at Garou incredulously, Yaseia raised both eyebrows.

“Are you done?”

She was still a little shaken from the scream.

“…I think so…” Garou said as he calmed down… though the urge to scream to the heavens was still there.

“Good.”

Yaseia turned over to the form of Snipe. She pointed one finger squarely at Garou. Even in situations like this one, her curiosity could easily get the better of her.

“Does that count as misbehaving?”

“No. That was entertainment. If angered, he would scream for an hour at best. To the point of drowning everyone’s ears with his anger.” Snipe smirked behind his mask.

“Damn.”

Clicking her tongue in disappointment, the inventor was kind of frustrated that she wouldn’t find out all of Garou’s buttons that she could press.

Shaking her head, Yaseia gestured towards the door they had come through.

“Let’s move on.”

Turning to leave, she cast a quick glance back at Snipe and Garou, a satisfied smile on her face.

“But thank you for the entertainment. I needed that.”

“Screw you. I will sink this building when we’re done.” Garou threatened.

“If you squeak the toy, Garou will get angrier.” Snipe chimed as Garou ‘misbehaved’.

Reaching deep inside the pocket of her lab coat, she swiftly pulled out the plushie, raising it into the air for everyone to see. Her grip tightened, and the familiar squeak emerged from the toy. She carefully watched Garou, waiting for his reaction.

“....” Both of his eyes twitched as unspeakable rage coursed through his veins. She could literally see his body shaking, power coursing through his being yet contained, threatening to explode.

Despite Garou’s rising anger, Yaseia kept on smiling. However, she didn’t want to undergo another twenty minutes of furious roaring from the silver-haired menace. Placing the toy back in the pocket, she nodded to Snipe.

“Thanks for the info. I’ll be sure to take advantage of this later.”

“I will throw you to the sun after I turn you to mincemeat.” Garou threatened again.

“Buy more of Garou’s merch.” Snipe chimed in again. This was fun. Giving away Garou’s buttons every time he threatens her. Suffice to say, today was the most enjoyable day of his life.

That seemed like something she really needed to do. She chuckled a little as she imagined Garou’s frustration at the idea of his own merchandise. However, they did need to move on. The engineers were getting quite distracted by them.

“That’s enough entertainment for now. Let’s move on.”

Heading towards the door, Yaseia could hear Snipe and Garou’s footsteps behind her. She could almost hear the frustration in every one of the Hero-Hunter’s movements, heavy footsteps and heavy breathing.

Exiting the room, they once again entered the corridor they were in previously. As she walked along, Yaseia tilted her head back as she addressed the two.

“So… what do you think of our facility?”

“A waste of money.” Garou said.

Yaseia could feel a bulging vein on her forehead, one eyelid twitching. Garou seemed to be extremely proficient at damaging her professional pride. She’d put in so much work inside this facility. It felt like she was being insulted herself.

“Well… thanks. Do you have anything… positive to say?”

“I don't expect these things to even defeat the old me.” Garou added as he smirked, relishing her mental pain.

Her walking speed increased slightly, a sign of her mild annoyance. Garou had quickly turned the tables back on her.

“Don’t write us off just yet. I’ll be sure to build something that’ll… educate you. I’ll just need a little time.”

She’d already begun formulating designs and potential forms for the ‘Demon’ robot that Garou had challenged her to make. Once she’d mastered the creation of drones of that level, perhaps she could move on to make one of those higher levels Garou mentioned...

“Impossible. Machinery is limited and clunky. They cannot grow by themselves. They take too much time and effort to make and improve.” Garou continued poking her ego as he continued bringing up the downsides of machines one by one.

“They cannot grow by themselves, correct. But robotic drones are far more disposable than human lives. Plus, they can be capable of far more applications that simply combat. The modifications and upgrades are invaluable.”

Her tone had grown somewhat defensive. It felt like Garou was attacking her work. Her livelihood.

“If they go too far, you might instigate a robot apocalypse. What will you do if that happens? Are you planning to replace all humans with machines like a mad nutjob?” Garou asked as his smirk grew wider.

Even though Garou couldn’t see it, Yaseia merely rolled her eyes. If she counted how many times the whole ‘robot uprising’ was mentioned to her, she’d easily lose count.

“I’m not some ‘mad scientist’ that wants to replace all human life. I just want to make current life easier and safer.”

“Feh. Don't go too far.” Garou’s face contorted to a scowl at the mention of the word ‘easier’.

“Besides. As long as you exist, I think any risk of a ‘robot apocalypse’ as you call it, is zero.”

She didn’t doubt that anything she can create would be able to stand up to the silver-haired student behind him. He was almost like a living deterrent.

“Har har. I doubt you can make anything on par with Demon Cyborg though.” Garou continued jabbing her pride. Mocking her.

“Well I make robots. I don’t make ‘cyborgs’. Comparing the two is a bit unfair don’t you think?”

Even at the level she was at now, cyborg creation was pretty advanced stuff. It would be prohibitively expensive. That was if it was even legal.

“They are better than mindless drones to be honest. The difference is that he has a living brain that can think and adapt.” Garou replied.

The sheer level of technology that would be required to create a cyborg of Garou’s description would be absolutely ridiculous. She’d need another few decades before she would even be able to think about creating such a cyborg.

“Well, given that your home seems to be constantly under threat of wide spread damage and destruction by these ‘monsters’… it’d make sense that your home would be more advanced in a few ways.”

As she spoke, a lightbulb almost went off in her head. That orange monster was the only one of its kind ever seen. The fact that not a single other country has ever experienced a ‘monster’ attack seemed a little strange. Plus, with the advanced tech Garou had mentioned, surely she’d have heard of such a place? It all seemed a little suspicious.

“I can read you. ‘Where do I actually come from’ is what you’re thinking. Have you finally rubbed those brain cells of yours together?” Garou asked as his smirk grew even wider. Snipe sighed as he could not punish him for messing with her.

Rubbing her chin, Yaseia began to actively think out loud.

“Advanced technology… monsters that can threaten multiple cities… One of my more outrageous thoughts is that you aren’t from here. This planet, I mean.”

“Bingo. Give her a round of applause everybody. The clueless inventor finally figured it out!” Garou started clapping as if to mockingly praise her.

“...That’s not true, right? I mean… that’s just too outlandish!”

Stopping abruptly, Yaseia turned on her heel to face the two behind her. The inventor seemed to be completely disbelieving of the sudden reveal of Garou’s origins.

“It’s true.” Snipe spelled it out for her.

She pointed one finger at him, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

“That’s… ridiculous though! If he’s from another planet, why does he speak our language? Why does he look like us?”

Question after question spilled out of the inventor’s mouth.

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know how the universe works. It could be a parallel Earth for all I know.” Snipe raised both his arms up as if saying ‘ask someone else’.

She’d been taken aback by the sudden information overload. She had expected Garou to have come from remote backwater. Not another planet. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she sighed heavily.

“Ok… I think I’m gonna need a sit down for a minute.”

“Oh no, ask more questions. What do you want to hear? That there was a giant so big a swing of his arms destroyed a city alone? And his body size can crush another city by just falling on his back? Or the alien ship that completely destroyed another city in a heartbeat?” Garou asked as if enjoying her reactions.

Raising one palm towards Garou, gesturing for him to stop, Yaseia looked over at Snipe, an exhausted look in her eyes. Her overloaded mind cannot take much more of this. Anymore information will short-circuit her brain. She cannot handle the surreality of Garou’s home anymore.

“Perhaps you can gather your students now?”

She glanced down at her watch.

“It is almost time for the testing after all.”

Snipe looked at her with a hint of sympathy. He sighed as he nodded.

“Come along, Garou… let's leave the kind scientist alone.”

“I refuse.” Garou bluntly denied.

Her glare hardened as she stared at Garou.

“Alright then. Mr. Snipe, tell me everything about Garou, please.”

Her tone was quite demanding and stern. It seemed like she was ordering him.

“Uhh… miss?” Snipe asked now unsure if he should answer.

“Tell me everything. Everything.”

She continued practically ordering Snipe.

“That’s a lot of everything you’re asking. You don’t know how long it’ll take for me to explain. Should I just take him away instead?” Snipe asked.

Sighing heavily, Yaseia nodded once. Every single one of her movements seemed to be drained of energy.

“....Fine. Get him going. But next time I see you, tell me the most important information. I demand compensation in the form of knowledge.”

“Other than he is practically invincible and faster than god?” Snipe asked back just in case.

“I think everyone knows that by now.”

The inventor rolled her eyes once again. She could feel the frustration once again.

“Alright…” Snipe wondered how much he would tell her. Garou had plenty of secrets not even he would reveal just to mess with him. There is a line after all.

“Eh? But I want to continue enjoying this.” Garou almost complained like a misbehaving child.

“I will buy everyone here a plushie if you don’t move your feet this instant.”

“Let’s go.” Garou immediately changed his tune as Snipe threatened him, heading toward the open door of a nearby elevator.

The entire class of seniors all waited, excited for the ‘testing’ to come. All wearing their respective Hero outfits, they stood in a room, a window on the side of the wall with the actual testing room on the other side. The testing ground was several meters lower than the ground they’re standing on, allowing to look down on the ‘arena’ from above. The arena was a square room, all made of a unique gray concrete blend designed to absorb shock and weather damage far better than the norm, with two doors, each on the opposite side of the walls, with white light illuminate the room from the ceiling.

Inside the testing room, there was already one figure stood in there. Mirio was inside, glancing around at the testing room. He could feel his class’s eyes on him. He was going first. And he didn’t plan to disappoint. A sudden clunking noise came from behind the furthest door away from Mirio. His entire body tensed, in preparation.

As the door slowly slid open, a metallic figure emerged from the doorway. It looked completely different to any robot Mirio or any of the seniors had ever seen before. Broad with metal, polymer, and carbon fiber, its shape almost reminded him of All Might. The colors were also reminiscent of All Might’s costume.

It stood about his height, two glowing lenses locked firmly on him. The robot was strangely quiet compared to some other robots that Mirio had fought. The only noise coming from it was a low, rumbling hum.

“Huh. Themed off All Might? I like it!”

Mirio definitely approved of the whole style of the robot. As did most of the spectators in the adjacent room. In the other room, Hado turned to Garou.

“Do you think Mirio can win?”

She didn’t actually seem worried for her friend. She had full confidence in Mirio’s skills. She merely wondered what Garou’s opinion was.

“He better win. I will throw him back to hell if he dares to lose.” Garou responded as he glared at Mirio through the glass pane so intensely, Mirio could feel his gaze searing into his skull.

“Will you cheer him on with me?”

The girl continued smiling at Garou, a expectant look in her eyes. Regardless of whether they win or lose, she still planned on cheering for her classmates. Especially Garou.

“If you count threats as cheering…” Garou answered.

Frowning somewhat, Hado stared at her silver-haired classmate disapprovingly

“I’m sure he’d cheer you on! You need to be more supportive!”

“…define ‘supportive’.” The word in Garou’s vocabulary equated with pain, suffering, and tough love that can only be found in hell.

Clenching one fist in the air, Hado glanced inside of the room, seeing Mirio performing his stretches.

“Like this! ‘Go Mirio!’ or ‘You can do it!’. Something like that!”

Hado began giving little examples of cheering on her friend. She seemed so determined whilst doing so as well.

“…” Awkwardly raising his hand up, Garou gave it a shot… he paused as he realized that he cannot deny this girl’s positive charm. He scoffed to himself as he attempted.

“You better not fail… or else you’ll suffer!” Garou tried… using the only words he knows.

In response, Hado beamed at Garou and raised one thumb in approvement.

“That’s good! Do that.”

She’d managed to get Garou to at least be a little supportive. That was a victory in itself.

“…it feels awkward though.” Garou replies.

“How’d you call that a cheer, Bang?” One of his classmates snickered behind his back.

“Shut up or I will dunk your head in ice water.” Garou threatened.

Tamaki seemed to appear next to Garou, almost out of nowhere. He seemed a little nervous with so many people around.

“...S-since when have you cared about being ‘awkward’?”

Despite his nervous nature, the fact that all four of them were friends allowed Tamaki to speak to Garou in such a way.

“Want me to throw you to the sun, ‘Suneater’?” Garou asked as he raised his right hand before Tamaki’s face, his fingers squirming as if itching to try.

“He’s doing his best. I thought Bang’s cheer was great!”

Hado turned to the classmate that had made light of Garou’s cheer. She seemed pretty defensive of her friend’s attempt at being positive.

“It sounds more like a robber holding a hostage at gunpoint.” The blonde student, Claudette, chimed in with a haughty giggle.

“I will sink your home for that.” Garou threatened.

“See?” She giggled as upon hearing another one of Bang’s many threats, infamously overdramatic.

The rest of the class could feel the tension surrounding the little group. Snipe was stood nearby, watching everything unfold. He allowed a small smile at seeing Hado’s efforts to make Garou cheer for Mirio. This wasn’t even the first time that sparks had flown between Bang and Claudette.

“Calm it down you two. We’re here to fight robots. Not each other.”

Their teacher quickly spoke up, cutting off any argument or discussion swiftly.

“Hmph.” The haughty girl of high society simply gave a harrumph in response. Garou only scoffed as he returned his focus on the robot. Judging by the woman’s reactions, she is at the same level as fodder here. He does not expect much out of these robots now that he received a good estimate of her capabilities.

Mirio continued his stretches, his eyes locked firmly on the drone. It’s two blue, glowing lenses seemed to be thoroughly analysing him. Mirio knew he could beat this robot. It was nothing compared to Him.

“So am I going to make the first move? Or will you?”

Mirio asked the drone, despite not expecting an answer from the metallic figure.

Suddenly, a deafening voice almost filled the room. The voice seemed to be coming from every direction in the room.

“We have performed our checks. Are you ready Lemillion?”

Garou recognised the all too familiar voice of the inventor coming from the speakers.

Standing up straight, Mirio finished his stretches. As he took up the stance that Garou had meticulously drilled into him, Mirio nodded once, smiling.

“Yep! Let’s do this.”

A determined air settled in around Mirio, as his grin seemed to radiate confidence.

“Alright. Ready… begin!”

As the speaker suddenly announced the fight, Mirio began to rush towards the robot. Likewise, the robot began slowly running towards him. It was surprisingly spry and fast for a robot. The loud noise of metal on concrete filled the air as the robot’s heavy feet continued its approach.

The spectators watched expectantly, wanting to see what a robot designed to face against Garou was capable of. Metal joints grinding on oil, the robot reared back its arm and threw a straight punch towards Mirio.

“Hahaha!” Mirio ducked under the metal fist and immediately threw his palm forward at the abdomen, sending the robot back with a burst of shockwave fired from his palm. A trick Garou learned from All Might’s Smash series and Chinese kung-fu along with his own martial arts. Mirio fires off his ‘ki’ from his palms, the force behind it like a shotgun of force instead of bullets. Mirio even left a palm-sized dent into the robot’s metal abdomen as well.

The robot remained on its feet, but it now bore a large palm-shaped crater on its lower chestplate. The drone showed no outwards reaction. It paused for another moment, watching Mirio. Then it began to rush back in.

Hado and Tamaki merely watched, a smile on their faces as they saw the initial exchange. They both had full confidence in Mirio’s abilities. Hado glanced over at Garou, attempting to see what he was thinking.

“Hoh, nice improvement.” Garou was nodding in satisfaction with Mirio’s growth. His level of growth could be compared with that of his first disciple’s. It probably derived from Mirio’s experience with hard work due to his highly difficult Quirk.

“See! Being supportive isn’t so hard!.”

She grinned widely at her silver-haired classmate. He’d actually complimented Mirio’s progress, something he rarely ever does.

“Eh? But I wasn't?” Garou denied as he turned his head towards Hado confused.

But Hado didn’t seem to believe Garou’s denial. She merely grinned at him, proud of his improvement.

“Sure!”

A loud crash suddenly drew their attention. Turning back to the battle between Mirio and the robot, they could see that the robot had thrown a large punch downwards, Despite the power behind the punch, Mirio had deftly avoid the strike, leaving a small crater in the reinforced concrete. If this was all these drones could do, there was no threat to Mirio.

Quickly, the metallic head of the robot rotated around, focusing on Mirio. Sluggishly, the robot pulled back it’s fist from the punctured ground. The drone took a moment, before raising both of its fists. This time however, it began to slowly approach instead of charging in. Mirio could almost see the small group of technicians and scientists behind each and every movement.

The humming from the robot grew ever louder as it approached. Clearly after the two failed attacks, the crew behind the robot was choosing to act far more cautiously. The stance the robot was in even looked like a mimicked version of Mirio’s own stance.

“Uhhhh…” Mirio does not know how to react to that… can they even utilize that stance? There was a concept behind it, so he doubted they could pull it off. Plus, it was awkward seeing a robot attempting the stance that Garou drilled into him, left leg forward and one arm outstretched with the other under it, both arms foming claws like that of a demon’s. They better not botch it, or Garou would be absolutely livid.

Staring at Mirio with it’s cold, metallic stare, the robot continued approaching. Reaching within striking distance, the drone lashed out. One fist sped towards Mirio’s lower torso and the other was aimed to connect with his forehead. It moved surprisingly fast for a machine. But not fast enough.

Mirio grabbed both of its fists and shifted his weight left, leaping to the side in a cartwheel, his body side-flipping as he dragged the robot along with him. Carrying his foe, Mirio slammed the robot down with a large crash as he then leapt up with both arms high in the air and slammed both his fists into the robot’s head, denting it to the point of bending the circuitry behind its head.

The entire body of the robot sparked and twitched as the glowing lights in the eyes slowly died down. Slowly, the twitching metallic frame of the robot grew limp. As Mirio stood over the now powerless heap of metal, the speakers came to life, once again filling the room with their noise.

“...Well done Lemillion. We thank you for your participation. You may now wait in the adjacent room with the rest of your class.”

The door on the far side of the room slid open and a small crew rushed out, hurrying over to the downed form of the robot. As Mirio began to head towards the exit, he cast a glance back at the remains of the robot, now being carried through the other door. As Mirio pushed the door open, he was greeted by a round of applause from his classmates.

Both Hado and Tamaki were both clapping loudly, smiling right at Mirio. The rest of the class clapped along, even Snipe joining in.

Garou just looked at him only giving a curt nod instead.

Looking over at Garou, Mirio replied with his own nod of acceptance. Snipe strolled up to Mirio, still clapping.

“Well done, Mirio. You performed excellently.”

Mirio had almost effortlessly taken out the robot. Clearly his training had paid off in spades.

“Hahaha, I just know how to fight better! Nothing special!” Mirio waves off the praise as if he didn’t deserve it.

“You did great Mirio! Even Bang was supporting you!”

Hado smiled widely at Mirio, ignoring Garou’s stare now focused on her. Mirio looked over at Bang, a curious expression on his face.

“…I just threatened you though.” Garou however, averted his eyes. The concept of positive praise was still alien to him.

“No! You were like…”
Hado straightened up, holding one fist in the air. She put on a mimicry of Bang, deepening her voice. A serious look came over her.

“..’Nice improvement’.”

“No, I didn’t.” Garou didn’t remember saying in that manner.

Mirio grinned at seeing Hado’s impression of Garou. He’d need to ask to see it more. Looking over at Garou, he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

“Well thanks for the support I guess!”

As the room began to fill with chatter, the voice of the speakers quickly deafened the room, cutting off all conversation.

“Can Miss Hado please enter the testing room next please?”

A look of determination came over the energetic girl, as she turned to the door. Glancing back at Garou. Mirio and Tamaki, she beamed at them

“Wish me luck!”

Both Tamaki and Mirio grinned at her, waving and wishing her luck. They had no doubt that she would be able to handle the drone by herself.  Glancing over at the silver-haired classmate, Hado waited for him to say something.

“What?” Garou asked as he looked around, seeing no one else near him.

Frowning slightly, Hado turned away from the three. A surging sense of disappointment came over her. Until…

“…don’t lose out there.” She heard Garou’s reluctant voice at the end.

Smiling to herself, she could feel the disappointment easily dissipate at Garou’s words. It had been replaced by determination to win. To not lose. Confidently, she walked through the entrance to the testing room.

As she came to a stop in the middle of the room, she glanced around at the inside of the plain, concrete room. Glancing towards the door that the drone had come out of, Hado waited expectantly. Her entire body was tensed, in preparation for the battle. She was determined to not let Garou down.

Hearing a sudden mechanical humming, the door slowly slid open, revealing an identical drone to the one Mirio had fought. She could be mistaken for thinking that it was the same one. However, it was lacking the dent in the lower torso that the prior drone possesed. It was even featuring the same colour scheme as the last one, highly reminiscent of the All Might.

Steeling herself for battle, Hado entered her combat stance. Her body unconsciously ached as she remembered the amount of times that Garou had practically beaten it into her. She smiled to herself, despite the painful memories. They were also fond memories.

The robot began slowly thudding towards her, its two lenses locked onto her. Despite that, she didn’t feel any fear. She’d faced far worse than this machine. The drone once again took up the stance it had against Mirio.

“Ehh, a copy cat is still a copycat.” Hado pouted. She was slightly offended that it didn’t go through the steps she had to endure to learn that stance. In the end, it felt like a cheap copy.

The two figures in the room both began circling each other, both carefully watching each other. Hado could feel the lack of skill behind the stance that the drone had taken up. She didn’t even need to use her Quirk. She also wanted to impress Garou at her improvement and growth, but she’d never tell him that.

The air was tense as the two grew closer and closer, still circling each other. Hado could feel the urge to end the fight as fast as possible. She wanted to display her progress in her training.

Suddenly, Hado ducked towards the robot, almost a blur of movement. The robot barely managed to move in response as Hado twisted her hand into a claw-shape. As she twisted her hand it appeared as if a small whirlwind had formed inside the room. Then, gouges began to appear on the metal plates and the polymer body mesh that made up the drone. It looked as if someone had taken a knife and had begun carving away at the robot with gouged metal falling off its body and clattered on the floor.

The materials constituting the robot was made with the toughest materials money can buy. Not even Mirio could manage to cut through it without much difficulty. The secret behind Hado’s Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist was her Quirk. She used her Quirk’s uncanny spiral energy to help boost her newfound martial skills, heavily increasing her offensive power to the point of rivaling even Garou’s offensive power before his debut. However, she must balance the output of her Quirk in complement with the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist, lest she will cancel out her skill and her Quirk altogether.

Behind the door where the robot had come from, panic was in the air, as well confusion. The crew stared at the screens incredulously, gaping at what they’d just seen. Standing behind them, Yaseia merely stared at the screen, her face an unreadable mask. One confused technician broke the bewildered silence.

“What the hell was that?”

As if releasing a dam, a flood of questions filled the air, directed at no one in specific. They were all simply voicing their confusion.

“That… that wasn’t her Quirk! I thought we’d researched these students?”

The girl ducked another punch, rested her fingers on their creation’s right shoulder before twisting her wrist on the screen. The result was the right arm now dangling off its socket now useless.

“How did she carve through the titanium and polymers? They were practically state-of-the-art!”

Yaseia continued staring at the screen. The idea of Garou training his classmates was one that they had considered. But judging from the first two battles, he had indeed been sharing his skills. The inventor remained silent as the crew continued shouting and panicking.

The robot jerked and twisted in response to the brutal assault. Whilst it didn’t fall to pieces completely, the drone was now sporting some serious gashes, also missing several chunks of itself. The sound of whirring grew louder as it jerkingly stepped towards her. Sparks flew from the large gashes in the body of the robot. The whirring coming from the robot began to grow louder and more higher pitched.

Hado watched as the robot stood on its two feet. She wondered if it still could fight, but she wanted to end it off with a finisher move. Taking up her stance once again, Hado focused on the stationary robot in front of her. Suddenly, Hado dashed in once again. She had no intention of allowing the robot to mount a proper defense. As she neared the robot, her hands seemed to almost glide through the air. Remembering what Garou had taught her, she began channeling her breath as she calmed her mind, and gathered internal energy for the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist.

As her arms seemed to slide through the air with seemingly no resistance, Hado was still surprised by the sense of serenity and calmness that this martial art could bring on. Readying herself, Hado’s hands sped towards the robot, becoming a blur of movement. She had to get the timing perfect, if she wanted her finishing move to work.

Channeling her Quirk, Wave Motion, a helix of pure sky blue energy spiraled around her arm as she lunged in with a long swift, stride, closing the distance between her and the robot in an instant. The moment her fist impacted the head of the robot, a loud, tremendous crash filled the room, the sound akin to a bomb set off shattering metal and glass, as the head of the drone was blasted off shoulders. The team of scientists watched with gaping jaws as they saw Hado decapitate their creation with her hands. And as a insult to injury, the girl did not spare mercy as she thrusted her other arm forward, twisting her wrist while a blue spiral enveloped her fingers, and carved the head until it was a unrecognizable ball of scrap metal as it clattered on the ground after three bounces, rolling away to the nearest wall before Hado.

Piece after piece clattered to the ground. The pile of scrap metal now looked like the robotic version of a brutalized corpse, murdered and beaten with excessive force, like a villain abusing a poor civilian. At least to the scientist’s eyes as they felt like crying over their creation’s ‘demise’.

Hado stood there, waiting for the speakers to inform her of her victory. Suddenly, the telltale crackle filled the room as the speakers activated. However, there was a moment of silence as the technicians and scientists all attempted to parse what had happened.

“....Well done Miss. Hado....You may join your class. Congratulations on your victory.”

The determined air surrounding Hado seemed to dissipate, being replaced by one of pride and joy. Lacing her fingers behind her back, she grinned widely as she happily made her way over to the exit. As she reached the door, she swung it open, greeted by sudden applause from her class. As the class applauded her, her eyes travelled to Garou, looking for his reaction.

“.....” Garou’s eyes looked at her as if he was both betrayed and impressed.

Besides Garou, both Tamaki and Mirio were smiling and clapping. They were both honestly a little surprised at how fast Hado dealt with the robot. It seemed like that the fight had taken only a few scant seconds. She had shown no mercy towards her metallic opponent.

Hado waved at her classmates as they applauded her. She kept her wide smile, feeling prideful of her victory. Snipe was clapping along with the class, clearly impressed.

“Well done Hado. That robot stood no chance.”

Hado beamed at Snipe.

“His training does come in handy!” She waved off his praise with modesty.

Moving away from the open door, Hado seemed to have a spring in her step as she made her way over to Mirio, Tamaki and Garou. As the applause began to die down, the room was filled with discussion of her one-sided slaughter of the drone. Standing next to Garou, Hado glanced at him, a satisfied smile on her face.

“Did I do well?”

“...you used my old fart’s moves with your Quirk…” Garou uttered as if betrayed.

“Yep! I wanted to make my ‘finishing move’!”

Despite Garou treating her finishing move like a betrayal, Hado was still happy at her own demonstration.

“...you were supposed to train it to the point of doing that without your Quirk… I was planning to bring the next step after that…” Garou continued, his tone still that of the betrayed.

Hado’s smile turned downwards upon hearing Garou’s seeming disappointment. Maybe she shouldn’t have used her Quirk? Regret began to build up inside her.

“...but you surprised me with your creativity… hah. Well, synergy with your Quirk also works, I guess… who knows? Maybe you'll create a move even I can't mimic one day…” Then he relented with a defeated sigh. He had no control over their choices. Though he still will put them through hell to force them to make the choices he desired at least.

Quickly her smile returned. Turning to face Garou, she beamed at him. Seeing his acceptance kindled her pride. She been aiming to impress, after all. She was also a little happy that she’d surprised Garou with her creativity. As the speaker filled the room, Tamaki stepped up for his own fight.

Strolling the busy streets of Mustafa, the three American Heroes, Sola, Araca and Gawain kept their eyes peeled. The sidewalks were packed with people, an ocean of faces moving in waves.

Despite the day seeming bright and pleasant, the three Americans were on high alert. In fact, they’d been on high alert for a few days now. Word from the States had reached them that certain members of Darklight had almost disappeared from the country entirely. No sign of them could only mean one thing. That they’d left the country to pursue the Hero-Hunter.

All three of the Americans kept their eyes narrowed, checking every single face in the crowd. Araca’s six eyes were working overtime as she analysed everyone surrounding them.

As the foreign Heroes cautiously walked down the sidewalk, Gawain noticed a familiar head of silver hair. With the height disparity to everyone around them, he immediately recognised the same kid that they’d met on their first day in Japan. He was surrounded by a few other students who seemed to be a bit older than him. Quickly abandoning his caution, Gawain strolled over to the boy and clapped one hand on his shoulder.

“Hey kid! How you doing?”

Both Sola and Araca turned their attention from watching the crowd to their teammate and the familiar silver-haired boy.

“Geh?!” Immediately, the boy placed his hand over Gawain’s, and gripped. Very hard on reflex. Gawain grimaced upon feeling the bones in his hand creak under the pressure.

“Woah! Calm down! We’ve met before remember?”

The bearded American pointed one finger towards his own face, trying to remind the young boy who he was. The pain in his hand only increased his worry.

“Eh? Metal man?” Ghin turned around to see the grimacing man towering over him.

“You're still alive?” Ghin asked as if he expected him to die.

Looking back at his teammates, he bore a confused smile.

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You said you will challenge Garou… and stuff. So did you meet him?” Ghin asked as he pointed at Gawain.

“Oh.”

Now it made sense. Gawain shuddered as he recalled the sudden and unfortunate encounter with Garou. They’d antagonised him almost instantly.

“Yeah… Yeah we did meet him.”

Sola showed no outward reaction at the mention of the Hero-Hunter, but all six of Araca’s eyes immediately shifted onto the young boy, her body shaking nervously.

“Eh? He didn't kill you guys yet? I don't see any signs of you in the hospital…” Ghin pointed at the three heroes.

Sharing a glance with his two teammates, Gawain laughed nervously. He was kind of expecting that himself. He was still a little worried that Garou would appear in front of him, like the Grim Reaper collecting his due.

“...I’m not sure why, but he let us go. Without any injuries.”

“Oh. You're lucky. If you met him days after his debut, you would've died a horrible ‘Death by Garou’.”

The students around Ghin looked at him, before shifting their gaze to the three heroes, blinking in confusion.

Grimacing at the young boy, Gawain could tell this was definitely the same Ghin that they’d met before. He still seemed to be lacking the ability to mince his words.

“...Thanks. So… what are you doing out here?”

He gestured out at the packed street.

“Planning a surprise party for Aniki.” Ghin said as he looked at the three.

“...uhhh, little Ghin, do you know them?” A female student asked. One with a crescent ponytail, and a ample bust for someone her age.

“Oh, I met these guys a month ago. They wanted to challenge Garou… I warned them to not do so. Surprised they're still alive to be honest.” Ghin bluntly introduced, not holding back in his words.

“Eh? And you just wrote them off just like that?” The one with yellow hair asked the kid in disbelief.

“No one usually lives after challenging Garou.” Ghin firmly stated.

The yellow-haired teen and the pink-skinned girl stared at him incredulously, taken back by the boy’s casual disregard of the heroes’ lives.

“What are you three doing here though? Now that I think about it, you guys are here to challenge Garou. Why are you three still here?” Ignoring their stares, Ghin asked as he consecutively pointed at him, Sola, then Araca.

Stepping forwards, Sola locked eyes with the young boy. She seemed to be shimmering slightly in the bright sunlight.

“We have put aside our challenge for the Hero-Hunter. As of now, we are pursuing a group of Villains.”

“...from America or other countries?” Ghin asked, now raising an eyebrow.

Sola merely nodded once in acknowledgement. This young boy certainly was smart for his age.

“From America. We do not want to trouble any other countries’ Heroes with our own Villains.”

“Then why are you here? There's no way in hell they'll come here.” Ghin asked, looking at them critically as if gazing a dumb animal.

Once again exchanging a glance, the three Americans all silently debated telling Ghin and the students their theory. That Darklight would attempt to contact and recruit Garou. However, after meeting him they knew that there was little chance of that. Turning back to the silver-haired youth, Gawain chose to tell him.

“We believe that the Villains we are pursuing will attempt to recruit Garou as one of their own. That was the main purpose for our visit.”

The three American Heroes were greeted with incredulous stares from the students. They stared, clearly confused as to how anyone got such a suggestion. However, their stares only made the Americans confused themselves.

“.....pffffff…. Ahahhahahahah!” Ghin started laughing at them. He laughed so hard that he doubled over, clutching his stomach, while gathering attention from the other passerbys.

A few of the passersby cast a confused glance at the three foreigners, the laughing boy and the students, before walking around them. The three Americans stared at the laughing form of Ghin, a little take aback by his sudden laughter.

“What is so funny?”

Sola as well seemed rather confused, narrowing her eyes at the silver-haired boy. Combined with the skeptic stares from the students, made her feel like someone was playing a joke on them. And it wasn’t very funny to her.

“Ahahahaha… ahahah….. Hah… ahem. Well, first, you're looking at the wrong place. Let me show you something.” Ghin dug his hands into his pockets and brought out a large map of the area.

“No villains will make a ruckus here. It is too crowded, and the police are close here. They'll usually congregate around… here. The red spots is where the villains usually appear to make trouble.” Ghin said as he unfolded the map, and pointed around five places. Each of the areas a gray spot, devoid of any population and etcetera. The red marks Ghin colored in are villain hotspots, where they usually appear to cause trouble.

Leaning in, Gawain stared at the map with great interest. But he could also feel a rising sense of suspicion. Why does Ghin know where the villains tend to congregate? Combined with the fact that he seemed to be quite fond of the Hero-Hunter… The bearded American wasn’t sure what to think.

“How… How do you know all of this?”

“It is easy if you're observant enough to know the patterns.” Ghin smiled at the American Heroes, disregarding their suspicion.

Glancing back at his two teammates, he could tell that they had a similar sense of confusion and suspicion. The possibility that this young boy was a Villain was not one Gawain wanted to consider. He liked the kid.

“And how do you know the patterns?”

Sola stared over at Ghin, further narrowing her eyes. She did not share the same sentimentality for the boy as her teammate did. The boy was a potential threat. However, their experience with Garou had taught them not to be so rash in their initial judgement.

“Garou culled the villains around here and made an example of them. Do you really want to know what he did to them?” Ghin asked as if it was obvious.

Shaking his head, Gawain could imagine what kind of things would be inflicted on Garou’s opponents. The suspicion in his heart had dimmed a little, but he was still a little interested to know how Ghin knew where Garou had been ‘culling’ Villains.

“No… uh, I don't.”

Sensing an awkward atmosphere begin to settle in, Gawain chose to swiftly move the conversation onwards to something else.

“So… a birthday party eh? How’s that going?”

“Ehhh, I'm working on it. It is hard finding the things Aniki will like.” Ghin smiled. Hiding the fact that he was buying things that Garou will indefinitely abhor. Like Garou merch and other things.

Rubbing his chin, Gawain allowed a grin to cross his face.

“Yeah. I know what you mean…”

He cast his eyes over to his arachnoid teammate. She was always so difficult to buy for, hiding away when he came to present it to her. He recalled one particular time when she’d dug into the ground, away from a party for her. It reminded him of a funnel web spider.

“...What kind of stuff does your ‘Aniki’ like?”

“Ehhh, mostly food… the other things he likes is stuff relating with martial arts, but I don't I can find a katana around here for him.” Ghin said as he shrugged.

“Martial arts, eh? I can appreciate that. I’m not into that kinda thing myself…”

He’d never actually considered martial arts as helpful for him. His Quirk had been perfectly fine for what he’d needed. Gawain had considered boxing once, but dismissed the idea.

“Your ‘Aniki’, is he a pro?”

“Oh yeah. He's the best. He can take down anyone.” Ghin smiled even wider.

Gawain grinned in response to Ghin’s own widening smile. Judging from his reaction, he really was confident in his Aniki’s skills. It warmed his heart a little to see.

“Has he taken part in any tournaments? I might have heard of him if he had.”

The students all shared a glance, their eyes wide. They seemed to be holding in the urge to laugh. Sola glared at them, but Gawain simply ignored them and continued addressing Ghin.

“Not yet. He is only eighteen though.” Ghin replied.

“Only eighteen? He sounds like quite a guy!”
From all of Ghin’s descriptions, his ‘Aniki’ seemed like some pretty big upcoming talent. He’d be interested to meet the person that had Ghin so motivated.

“What stuff have you bought for him already? Some training dummies?”

“No, he already has that. I want to buy him a real japanese sword, but it is very illegal here…” Ghin pouted. He searched everywhere online for a japanese sword, a very good one. So instead, he threatened Yaoyorozu to make the best katana there is.

She had been quite insistent that she wouldn’t make one. Her explanation was that any weapon that she created from her Quirk, she felt responsible for. In her exact words, “I just wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing that I gave Garou of all people, a deadly weapon.”

Ghin responded with, “Garou is more powerful than any weapon. Giving him a sword is like giving him a toothpick. Give it to him. Now. Or I will beg him to destroy UA.”

There had been a rather fierce debate. None of Class 1-A wanted their school to be destroyed, but on the other hand, they felt like giving Garou an actual weapon was an exercise in futility. Thus, they had attempted to convince Ghin to go out and try to find a replica. Ashido, Kaminari, Kirishima and Yaoyorozu had chosen to go along with him. Ghin was still adamant on a real sword, however.

“Despite me wishing to see this party a success, Ghin, but allow me to reiterate my concerns. I do not wish to make a lethal weapon, not even for you.”

Yaoyorozu turned to Ghin, shaking her head in disagreement.

“Make it! Or I will blast holes in you all! Aniki will be cooler with a sword!” Ghin threatened with pouting cheeks, as he threw both his arms in the air.

“I’m not sure a Pro should be carrying a deadly weapon around. Besides, it really doesn’t seem like he needs one!”

Kaminari, Kirishima and Ashido all agreed with Momo. If there was one person in the world who didn’t need a sword, it was Garou. In fact, it would probably only hinder him.

“Don't care! Give it!!!” Ghin rejected.

The four UA students all seemed to sigh at once. Dealing with Garou’s apprentice was almost as tiring as dealing with the man himself.

“Why haven’t you asked him what he’d actually like?”

The bearded American attempted to add a suggestion, seeing the small group struggle with ideas.

“It's a surprise you idiot.” Ghin turned to Gawain now insulted.

“Well then… have you asked people who know him? Surely they’d have some idea.”

Merely shrugging off the insult, Gawain continued attempting to give ideas. He could feel the glare of his golden-haired teammate on the back of his head. He could even imagine the exact words she was thinking. ‘He’s wasting time’.

“No. No one knows him better than I do. There's no way they'll know.” Ghin, however, rejected.

Frowning a little, Gawain really wanted to help Ghin, despite his dismissive attitude. He struggled to think of any possible suggestions. Shrugging, Gawain threw out some more suggestions.

“What about his parents? His girlfriend?”

“...he has no parents. No girlfriend. He used to be all alone.” Ghin replied, his tone now somber.

A grim atmosphere settled over the group. No one knew what exactly to say.

“...thank you for trying though…” Ghin gave Gawain a small smile to help alleviate the atmosphere.

“Anyways, you should go back. Your girlfriend looks like she will roast you alive if you talk with me anymore.” Ghin smiled as he pointed at Sola, who was giving Gawain the most searing death glare she can make.

Feeling the glare burning a hole through the back of his head, Gawain knew that he couldn’t say anything. She’d go off on another one of her rants about ‘Time efficiency’ and the like.

“Oh, before you leave, a fair warning. Beware of monsters. Run if you see one in your search.” Ghin warned critically.

Giving the young boy a confused sidewards glance, Gawain wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. As he and his teammates walked away from Ghin and his little ‘entourage’, Gawain just couldn’t get those words out of his head. They kept ringing around inside his mind. ‘Beware of monsters’. What could he mean by that?

“You guys suck. Haven't you learned anything from the Pussycats? Or did their lessons fell on deaf ears?” Bang chided his classmates, most of them beaten and bruised, some parts of their hero costumes worn and torn. After Tamaki decimated the third batch, using a combination of his Quirk and the monster-slaying arts, others that followed after him… yielded less than desirable results. Even the haughty Claudette, wielding her Quirk-enhanced rapier into battle, lost after a desperate battle against the robotic foes.

Barely any of the other Third Years could respond to Bang’s berating. They were all too busy panting heavily, sweat covering their bodies. Despite the lack of response, Garou could feel a few frustrated glares focusing on him. Leaning up against a nearby wall, the gasping figure of Ran stared at Bang.

“Haaa… Well… we’re not all as… superhuman as you four…”

“You guys still suck. They’re barely A-Class and you failed.” Bang sneered with a scowl.

A few more glares were sent Bang’s way. So far, the only ones who had passed were Mirio, Tamaki and Hado. And their battles had all been one-sided beatdowns. The rest of the class, however, weren’t all so successful.

Snipe watched his exhausted class with a mixture of sympathy and displeasure. He was hoping that at least one other student would win. The ‘Big Four’ were bound to win their fights handily, and he wished the same for the others.

Then, the all too familiar speaker blared to life again. A few students shivered slightly, the speaker reminding them of their defeats. To Garou, the recognisable voice of the inventor filled the room.

“And for the final test… Can Fenrir please enter the testing room?”

Fenrir sighed as he started walking towards the door.

“Watch how a hero should win.” Bang lectured as he entered the room, determined to end this in one shot to further stab the woman’s pride. He smiled as he entered, waiting for the punching bag to enter.

Staring at the fortified door of dark grey titanium he knew the robot would come out of, he watched as the door slid open, revealing a metallic figure behind it. However, once the robot stepped into the light, Garou’s eyes widened. Behind the glass, Hado, Tamaki, Mirio and Snipe all widened their own eyes, attempting to hold in their laughter.

The robot was functionally identical to the dozen that had come before. The same size, the same colour scheme, everything was the same. Except for one thing. On the lower torso, attached rather haphazardly with tape, was the all too familiar form of the Garou plushie. Yaseia could only grin harder as the drone took each step closer to Garou. She knew that her drone could not stand up against Garou. But she was determined to make it fun at least.

“......” Garou took a deep breath as he watched the robot taking step by step, focused on the plushie attached to the torso. Staring at it intensely as the plushie mocked him. Taunted him.

And as if to add insult to injury, the robot grabbed the plushie as it gave it a squeak. The mere adorable sound severed the fragile strings holding his wrath, his anger fully unleashed.

“...GRAAHHHH!!!” With a world-ending roar, Fenrir rushed forward and threw a downward punch.

*BOOOOOOOMMMM*

The entire building shook, rumbled as if an earthquake greeted the building present. The testing room and the adjacent rooms took it at the brunt.

Despite the entire room shaking around them, Hado, Tamaki, Mirio and Snipe could no longer hold in their laughter. As they room trembled around them, they could only howl with laughter. The rest of the class didn’t pay much attention to the four laughing figures. They were all too busy trying to not fall on their rears, their exhausted legs barely supporting them.

They couldn’t even see through the glass pane. The punch had thrown up a huge amount of dust, obscuring their vision. Behind the controls of the robot, Yaseia grinned as she received the perfect response. The rest of the crew didn’t know what to say. They’d been stunned after the first defeat of their drone. The same went for the second and third time. But this… there hadn’t even been a fight! The cameras had barely picked up a flash of movement, before the drone suffered instant death without any form of resistance.

Slowly, the dust began to settle in the testing room. The first thing everyone noticed was a shadowy figure, still slightly obscured by the dust. No one was surprised that the robot had been defeated. Eventually, the cloud of dust and debris had cleared up entirely, revealing Garou standing in the middle of the room. He seemed to be panting heavily, not out of exertion, but of excessive anger. The drone was nowhere to be seen.

However, a few scrap pieces of metal were scattered around the room. It appeared that the robot had almost literally disintegrated. Whilst the testing room was completely silent, the observation room was still filled by laughter, although it had begun to die down somewhat. Seeing the plushie was quite the surprise for Hado, Mirio and Tamaki. Even Snipe hadn’t actually expected the inventor to follow through with her word.

*Hah*Hah*

Garou continued panting as he smirked at the disintegrated remains… however, he frowned in horror upon seeing the plushie was still there. Undamaged.

Despite what it had just been through, the toy was only a little bit dirty. It didn’t look like it had taken a full-power punch from Garou. It’s sewn eyes stared up at him, unfazed.

“.......how?” Garou asked as in how such a thing could not be destroyed. It was as if the universe wanted it to be there to mock him, to relish his suffering.

The image of Garou and the stuffed toy staring at each other was enough to set the four in the observation room off on another round of raucous laughter. Even the rest of the class began to join in. Meanwhile, the plushie remained staring at Garou. It almost seemed as if it was challenging him.

The decision on whether to destroy it or not ran through his mind. He could just end it… though he felt a pair of eyes resting on him. Looking back through the glass, he saw Hado looking at him as if begging to spare it.

Hado continued staring at Garou. She knew that he could feel her gaze on him. She was silently pleading for Garou to not destroy the stuffed toy that lay at his feet. The rest of the class watched on. They were all strangely taken in by this surreal scene.

“.............tch.” Garou clicked his tongue as he left.

“You win for now.”

As Garou walked towards the exit, he could feel the eyes of the entire class on him from the other side of the glass. He could also feel the thankful gaze of Hado, focusing directly on him. As he reached out to grasp the door handle, he cast a glance back at the plushie. It remained where he had left it. It almost seemed to follow him with it’s sewn eyes.

Veins popped under his skin as regret started swallowing his soul. A strong part of him screamed to end that plushie and send it to the depths of hell… he absolutely wanted to.

*click*

But, in the end, he cannot go against his word. The best he could do was grumble, and turn the knob as he opened the door. Entering the room, he cast his gaze over the others, seeing annoying smiles plastered on their faces.

“One word and I will sink this building.” Garou warned as he rejoined his group.

No one said anything as they continued grinning at Garou. Slowly, one by one, the class began to clap. Applause filled the room, but no one stopped smiling at Bang. Even under his mask, Snipe was grinning at Garou. He knew it was a good idea to give that woman the stuffed toy.

“Well done, Bang. You really showed that robot…. and that plushie.”

Snipe couldn’t resist breaking the silence, prodding at Garou’s grumbling mood.

“That's it. I'm sinking the building.” Garou said as he raised his arm dramatically, prepared to end the world.

However, as he raised his arm, he could feel a hand on his shoulder. Turning over, he could see Hado staring at him. She didn’t need to say anything as she continued to look at him. She silently pleaded with him once again. She knew that he wouldn’t destroy the building. Not while they were all in it.

“.....guhhhh.” Garou lowered his hands as he glared at Snipe with fury of a thousand suns.

“Any other smart words you have for me? Anyone?” Garou asked as he mentally braced himself for the verbal assault.

A few students shared glances, still grinning. They all considered what they could possibly say to him.

“… talk about overkill?”

A voice spoke up from the back of the group of students. Other than four people, everyone else had been momentarily taken aback by Bang’s sudden furious strike.

“Anything else?”

“Weakness: plushie. Attempt to destroy it, failed.” Claura chimed.

“Shut uuuuuup!” Garou pointed at her seething.

“What is it with you and that toy?”

Ran spoke up from amongst the group, now verbally getting his revenge on Bang for his prior mockery of their strength. That was a question that a few other students had as well. It wasn’t the first time that there’d been an ‘incident’ regarding a plushie. They all vividly recalled the last time, when Hado and Bang had both faced off with the stuffed toy.

“Two words. Shut up. Or I will throw you to the sun.” Garou threatened.

Despite his threat, everyone continued grinning. Bang seemed to be on the defensive as everyone focused directly on him.

“You really did destroy that robot though!”

Mirio spoke up from beside Garou. The sheer level of strength Garou had displayed was definitely above what was normal.

“Would break the earth if I could.” Garou grumbled as he continued fuming to himself.

“It’s ok. You did really well!”

Hado beamed at the silver-haired student. Upon seeing the plushie attached to the drone, she knew that the robot would not last. But seeing the stuffed toy survive his powerful strike… It was quite strange. And funny.

“Grrr…” Garou’s left eye twitched in angst.

“Is it lunchtime yet?” Garou asked no longer wishing to deal with this.

Looking down at his wrist, Snipe checked his watch. He seemed to recoil slightly upon seeing the time.

“Oh. It is. We’re running late. Let’s get going.”

Snipe headed towards the exit, gesturing for the class to follow him. They had been promised food after their duels after all.

One by one, the students filed out of the room, their exhausted stomachs rumbling. Eventually, even the ‘Big Four’ made their way to the exit. Hado, Mirio and Tamaki were all looking forward for their meal, whilst Garou was still slightly grumbling.