Chapter Text
The crack of lightening struck against the already frail walls of the building the retired League Of Villains called home, each shudder of the walls producing dust from the corners of cobwebbed ceilings that sprinkled along the six individuals very heads as they faced one another at a small, rounded table. The wooden surface was cracked with age and had art of stick figures and of a variety of creatures that were drawn by the children when they were younger.
Mr Compress drummed his prosthetic fingers in a rhythmic pattern against the surface, the sound alone breaking the otherwise silent table. "I have only one condition, if I'm allowing Rin to go," Touya spoke first, voice gravely and deep as he stared down Tomura Shigaraki, who sat directly across from himself. The retired boss nodded, signalling with a gloved hand to continue.
"Is that kid at that hero school?"
Tomura thought for a moment, red eyes narrowing at the challenging turquoise. He broke eye contact, heaving a sigh before leaning back in his rickety chair, lacing his fingers together upon the table. "If I told you he was?"
"Then Rin's going, simple as that."
"Touya, you haven't even met the poor kid-" Toga attempted, her blonde hair down and spilling over her bony shoulders as she sighed, her eyes pleading exhaustion over the past draining years.
"Last I checked that never mattered, Toga," The white haired man growled, slamming a fist on the table on time with a crack of thunder, causing the surface to violently shake. "Why do you think I had him in the first place?"
Spinner, who sat to Shigaraki's left, sighed, closing his eyes tightly, already sensing the blooming anger from Mr Compress.
"You," the man snarled, mask off and brown hair in smooth strokes along his scalp jostling slightly with how quickly he stood up, his chair falling down behind him from the force of it "have no right to claim as such, do you hear me?"
Beside him sat his wife, Rui Sako. Her red hair was held up tightly in a bun, her bangs framing her face perfectly and matched her black t-shirt and long skirt. The woman wore a tense expression as she sat at the table with the retired villains, having being told the meeting was important and relevant to her child. Up until now, she had her pale, slender and manicured hand upon her husband's good arm, reassuring him, however now she looked up in shock as he stood up abruptly in anger at the fire user.
"Oh, always the saviour as of late, huh Sako?" Touya sneered, smoke trickling from his jaw.
"Honey, please-"
"Rui! I..." Mr Compress whipped around to face his wife before sighing and taking a deep breath. "You have no idea what that man did to have Rin."
The red head opened and closed her mouth, her eyes widening before staring in shock at Touya, who wore a shit eating grin.
"Oh relax, I didn't force her to do shit, I just happened to not have any protection and she happened to die after giving birth." the fire user raised his hands in mock surrender, but the sharp look in his eye said otherwise.
Rui gasped, covering her cherry red mouth as the horror of the situation dawned on her. She had known the children in this building didn't have a full set of parents but...she had thought they had left or passed by their own circumstances.
Touya cackled, and she looked over to the rest of the individuals, hoping they also didn't murder their partners right after childbirth. Children needed both parents, and she simply could not fathom how they grew up otherwise. It pained her greatly.
Toga Himiko met the woman's gaze and she scowled, golden eyes narrowing. "Go on, ask me."
Mr Compress sat back down, harshly glaring at Touya before looking down to focus his gaze on the table, just listening.
Rui Sako took a deep breath, the air coming back out shaky and uneven. "Himiko...did you mur-"
"No, I didn't! People don't know us, Sako! People just-just judge off of rumours rather than the truth!" Toga yelled, glaring at the frightened woman. She looked down, clenching her fists before closing her eyes. "My...he...he killed himself after realising I was a villain on the news fucking twenty something years ago!"
The red haired woman was startled, lost for words as she heard the horrid confession from the once bubbly woman. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know, Himiko I..."
"Before you ask, no, I did not murder my partner." Tomura Shigaraki said quietly, closing his eyes as he leaned forward, looking Rui in the eye. "She was targeted because of my past mistakes, something I will remember forever and beyond the grave. She was killed on the way to the hospital, where the attacker knew I couldn't be."
The silence was heavy before the retired boss finished speaking. "They just managed to save the twins, but I didn't see them for weeks after, as our doctor on the inside had to keep everything under wraps and fake an adoption of the children."
Tears streamed down Rui Sako's pale cheeks, choked sobs making their way past the hand covering her mouth. Her husband turned to her side and hugged her against his him, sighing deeply before looking out at his old gang.
"Are...are we going to discuss the matter at hand, Shigaraki?" he said quietly, knowing the conversation at present was a sensitive one, but he needed to get Rui out of there as soon as possible; this way of life was not kind to her.
Tomura nodded, white hair spilling across his shoulders with the action, before addressing the letter in the centre of the old table, right beside a drawing of a young Hana, labelled in scribbled handwriting beside it: 'me and tenko and daddy!'
"This was sent from Principle Aizawa of U.A, and it was addressed to all of us, which is why I assembled you all here today with your...busy schedules." he said sarcastically, gesturing to the paper before picking it up and beginning to read, the U.A letters printed in a large font along the back, facing the rest of the companions.
'To Tomura Shigaraki,
As you are aware, I have now taken the mantel of Principal at UA, and have a proposal, and should you accept, be rewarded generously.
While your tracks and location have remained anonymous and unrevealed, we have no clear insight into whether any surviving members of the League, or the Paranormal Liberation Front, have any children within your, or their, residences.
Knowing this, I invite on my son Hitoshi's behalf and my own, for your children, no matter their ages, to attend our hero course program, with some added classes to help accommodate for the changes in scenery, atmosphere and actions.
We encourage for most, if not all of your children to attend, and will be in the same classes together and live in a separate section of the U.A dormitories.
We encourage only the children to attend on the first day, should you all agree, as there could be public disturbance, which I am sure you understand.
If they attend, please arrive outside U.A's gates by 9am, and my son will meet the children there shortly after.
See you all in two days,
Sincerely,
Shouta Aizawa, Principle of U.A.'
The six were silent, before Rui broke into an excited laugh, before quietening down at seeing the variety of emotions across the table, clearly not as ecstatic about the opportunity as her.
Tomura Shigaraki closed his eyes before sighing and leaning forward, his red gaze surveying his companions. "Alright, one at a time, express your opinions."
Shuichi Iguchi ran a scaled hand through his pink hair, his expression one of a tired sense of happiness. "I...Nami, she, she deserves a shot at this," he whispered, a fond look on his face "that girl is too pure, and I...I believe she can be with more people like...like her. When I found her, she had been tossed in a fucking trash bag on the side of a busy highway and since then the...the only life she's known is so much less than she deserves. What she deserves is a luxury room, hell, a functional fucking building! She needs friends, and to know the world isn't just built on hatred. I've come to terms that I can't complete or follow Stain's ideals anymore but maybe...maybe she can become the type of person he believed should help heal this world."
Mr Compress looked at his friend with shock, having not expected such words to fall from the lizards lips, but he also felt a surge of pride. He nodded toward Spinner with a fond look on his face once the shock resided. Rui had tears in her eyes that had become happy ones as she observed the man she now came to respect.
Shigaraki nodded after a moment, signalling for the next person to speak.
"I believe it's up to Kamina but...I think she would be incredibly enthusiastic to attend U.A, having already expressed such opinions before," Atsuhiro spoke up, holding Rui's hand tightly "and I also believe she could help guide the others along the way, as they've never attended school before-"
"So let me get this fucking straight," Touya interrupted, sitting up properly and leaning forward, surveying the table with a predatory gaze, a snarl on his burnt lips. "these kids run around getting into shit constantly and getting up to all kinds of crap and suddenly they want to be bloody heroes?" He shifted his gaze to Spinner, who defiantly glared back. "And what fucking caused you to drop Stains ideals, huh? That was your whole fucking cosplay and what you spent every waking second trying to accomplish twenty something fucking years ago, so why the fuck doesn't you mutt of a daughter want to as well? Haven't you been fucking teaching her? Training her? She's your fucking kid you green freak, not some charity case that needs a pat on the back for existing.
Don't any of you fucking get it, huh? What was the purpose of even keeping the little shits if not for a reason? A cause? Because if you're getting all soft then you can pack your shit and get the fuck out because that is not what we all banded together for. They need to carry on the message of our corrupt society, and remind humanities fucking idols that they do not remain high on the pedestal of power forever! It's not fucking rocket science you psychos, we have a reputation and we are not sending the soldiers to that hero school without a proper fucking reason and objective."
"And what's this big fucking plan that you have, huh, Touya?" growled Spinner, hatred shining through his tone as he clenched his scaled fists tightly.
"To defeat Shoto's kid of course!" the fire user yelled, cackling loudly as spoke began to fizzle from his neck and mouth, the man gesturing wildly with his scarred palms as if he were explaining the information to a toddler. "It's Rin's purpose! The final shot to get back at Endeavour and to remind him that the past never dies, and will forever be remembered and carried on through the memory of his mistakes! Isn't it obvious? The soldiers have grown up with an objective, a goal, whether that be their next meal or bed until we found this shithole, they always had an idea to strive toward. Flipping that and turning to heroism is pushing all we ever fucking did right down the drain! Our history and legacy will be tainted and forgotten if they are allowed to just change and mould into society, and become exactly what we strive to destroy!"
Touya was furious, but was stopped with a hand up from his old boss, who glared at one another for a moment.
"Thankyou for your opinion staples, now allow for everyone else to talk." the flat tone caused the fire user to scoff before crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, tapping his foot absentmindedly against the cracked floor.
Taking a deep breath, Toga spoke next, picking at her broken nails riddled with dirt and grime as she whispered. "Tomura, if Jay goes, can you promise he would be happier than here? More...alive?"
Golden eyes met red, a silent conversation learnt through years of trust passing through their gazes as they stared at one another.
Their white haired leader nodded slightly, lines of age and scratch scars stretching along his face as he spoke, voice gravelly but comforting. "Happier..? Alive? Both of those are certainties. Your decision is not to be held down by my opinion, Toga. We decide our futures in our free world, including the futures of our children. Whether that be continuing the league's ambition, attempting to fulfil your...own more personal desires, or forging a new path, that is entirely up to you and what you believe is best for your son and his future."
Toga nodded as she thought for a moment, leaning back in her chair, causing her dirty pink top to crinkle more against her form, the colour more of a brown due to it's lack of a wash. "Then..I think I'd like to send him there. I need him to get his spark back and to...help me get mine back too. Besides..." a smirk found it's way upon her face, her eyes narrowing "maybe Ochaco will be there!"
A fond smile slightly graced Shigaraki's features before he nodded, looking down before sighing and staring at the letter again, eyes glazing over the words carefully, ensuring he didn't miss a word. His mind raced with the possibilities that could emerge from such an opportunity. Revenge, peace, violence, quiet, redemption, salvation, anger, happiness. The final decision was up to him - it always had been, ever since the beginning. Despite the spats and arguments that occurred within the League, retired or not, the final choice was always up to Tomura. It was their own way of doing things, and it flowed better that way, a judgement they all counted on that was best.
The pressure increased upon his shoulders upon coming to the realisation that whatever he chose would impact the world greatly. Perhaps, this was the helping hand they had each hoped for as children; a second chance. His tired gaze trailed around the building they called home, the mouldy walls and cracked, broken furniture only proving his own decision. The children lived in pure filth. They washed themselves in puddles and rain when they could, and washed their clothes the same way - the very clothes that never fit them due to them being hand downs from the league. After all, what had the league even accomplished since All For One's passing? He knew his sensei would be incredibly disappointed in him, for just lying around for decades doing barely a thing.
Tomura clenched his gloved fists tightly. He had come to realise a long time ago that he had been manipulated and used by his old master, but he still found himself thinking as if he were him, his thought patterns and speech sometimes feeling unlike his own - although he supposed having anyone fused with your own body would do as such.
The logical decision...would be to allow his children to attend, and feed him information and give him all he needed to know about the updated U.A.
And yet, he found that he was doubting himself, his thirst for the destruction of the school seeming less appealing as the days stretched on.
Such thoughts confused him to no end, his brow furrowing as he tried to bring thoughts of doubt to a ceasefire, his mind plagued as if he had his very own angel and devil upon his very soldiers, whispering into his ears harshly.
Clenching his jaw, Tomura Shigaraki faced his companions, his almost lifelong friends and new family with a firm expression, his chapped lips pressed into a thin line before he spoke.
"Hana and Tenko will attend U.A, for reasons beyond your mind's understanding for now, any final queries?"
The members nodded, a mixture of frowns and small smiles upon their faces around the table. Touya went to speak, but was thankfully silenced by a sharp rap on their front door, the six exchanging a narrow eyed expression as the sound echoed throughout the quiet, empty room. Spinner got up first, heading toward the door, blade in hand.
When the lizard yanked the door open, a sharp grunt was heard - but not from the intruder, no, from their own companion, who was now doubled over in pain as he bristled, a string of curse words pouring out of his clenched jaw.
In stormed Hana Shigaraki, her dirty, now mud covered blue locks covering her face as she had slammed her first into Spinner's stomach, knowing one of the members of the retired league would have been at the door - and apparently not caring.
Tomura frowned, watching as his daughter went hurriedly up the stairs to their floor, a tense Tenko following after her with his jaw clenched, black hair flowing behind him as he went after his sister. Toga made a sound of surprise as Jamiki entered in next, a small smile on his face as he mumbled to someone she couldn't see. Nami followed after, crouching down with a frown as she checked on her father.
Rui called out quickly as she spotted her red haired daughter entering the crowded room, ushering the worried girl over and away from the retreating children heading upstairs. Kamina went to protest, but went silent as she stood behind her seated mother, her body tense as they waited for the inevitable to occur. The rooms collective energy went rigid as Rin Todoroki entered through the door, his gaze along the ground before stepping toward his father, stopping a mere two metres away from the suited figure.
Lifting his head, the eldest boy looked into his fathers eyes, their matching turquoise colliding before Rin spoke, voice level despite the burns that scorched along his cheek and jaw, fresh from quirk use.
"Grape Juice, or Mineta Minoru's, agency has been officially disarmed and eliminated, along with any remaining individuals inside. Casualties on our side are nil. Two security guards, male, have been neutralised."
Touya nodded, before standing up, his chair scraping against the ground with an ear-grating screech as he then walked over to his son, boots heavy as he slowly then stood in front of him, looking down.
"Is that your complete report?" The older man spoke lowly, eyes piercing Rin's identical ones, gaze never wavering.
Rin nodded, "Yes sir."
There was a small sigh of something the two could not pick up on, before Tomura spoke, voice raised slightly. "And what of Hana? What occurred, Rin?"
Rin swallowed, before turning his body, facing Shigaraki fully, his father's intimidating presence taking up his right side. "Hana Shigaraki was wounded by one of the now eliminated security guards."
"I thought you said no casualties?" hissed the retired boss, red eyes narrowing at the seventeen year old.
"Yes sir, no one was eliminated during the mission-"
"Fuck, Rin, how serious is the damage?" Tomura snapped, fists clenched tightly, the rest of the table silent as they watched.
"Hana Shigaraki was found unconscious due to the blocking of her carotid arteries from strangulation, which deprived her brain of oxygen and reduced her breathing capacity greatly, even after her target was neutralised. However she lost consciousness after the fight, due to the adrenaline coursing through her veins to begin to cease to exist. Overall, minimal injuries were sustained and she will have the ability to speak clearer in a few days."
The room was silent, the only sound daring to break the room's tense atmosphere being the thunder outside, and the hoarse coughs from upstairs.
Touya, who had previously shifted his focus to Tomura, now angled his head back down to his son, eyes narrowed as a sly smirk made its way upon his scarred features.
Rin had no time to even think of protesting before a giant, scarred hand had enclosed around his throat, pain igniting as the calloused palm closed around the fresh burns decorating the pale boy's skin. He at first attempted not to struggle, but his brain refused to listen as his form began spasming as he found his feet being lifted from the ground. Rin met his father's cruel gaze, the hand around his neck only tightening. "Minimal injuries? Why, Rin, you shouldn't be the judge of how severe something is without having experienced it yourself, correct?" His father hissed, face close to his own struggling form that he could smell the smoke curdling around the scarred jaw.
Kamina had a hand covering her mouth as she watched, eyes wide with horror as she took in the scene. Her father stood up, his chair scraping back loudly, but it didn't once halt Touya's actions against his son.
"We are done here. Contact me about any updates, otherwise we will be at U.A as the letter specified," Mr Compress said quietly to Tomura, before helping Rui up out of her chair, and holding her hand tightly, nodding to his companions. The Sako family swiftly left the building, shutting the door behind them as soon as they did, heading for their black tesla which was hidden under a tarp from prying eyes.
The three entered their car, with Mr Compress in the front seat, breathing out a long sigh as he leant forward and rested his head up the steering wheel, closing his eyes.
"Dad.."
"Kami, hun, just...just wait a moment." Her mother whispered, rubbing a manicured hand reassuringly along her husbands hunched back, the air in the car thick with tension. Rolling down her window, Kamina closed her eyes, breathing in the damp air before she suddenly jolted, hard.
Anguished cries of pain were sounding from within the building the three had just emerged from, her eyes widening in horror as she realised that was Rin. The red haired girl immediately went to open her door, only to find it locked. She desperately looked up at the mirror along the front of the car, meeting her father's tired gaze. "Dad-"
"You are not going in there, do you hear me? That's not our...not our business." Atsuhiro Sako bit out, his expression becoming pained from where she could see. "Don't you even think about teleporting in there, Kamina. I know you left cards behind with them."
"Honey, it's for your own good, okay? Todoroki is not someone to be involved closely with...either of them." her mother spoke quietly, before twisting in her passenger chair to face Kamina directly. "But hey, how about you tell me about this mission you guys all did." she smiled, completely unaware of what the missions really consisted of.
"Fine," the card wielding girl sighed, clenching her fists as her father began driving away, the begging shouts of 'stop, sir please' being left behind to merge with the winds very own voices. "It went well, for the most part, just uh...exploring, you know?"
Rui Sako nodded reassuringly, not once asking about Hana and what had happened with any security. In her eyes, Kamina was her top priority, and it may be harsh, but she didn't care much for the street kids that building housed, nor the old league members her husband associated himself with. She didn't think of him any less, but she only went there if it were about her daughter, and only allowed her to visit if her husband was there too.
So, as long as Kamina wasn't injured in any way, she didn't mind what they did behind closed doors, or where they went. All she knew, was in that moment before, she was not going to stand for it if that man had turned his fired form on her little girl. No, that would not do at all.
"Hey Kami?" Mr Compress spoke up after awhile, the familiar buildings of the busy streets entering their visions. "How would you feel about attending U.A?"
The girl almost shot out of her seat with how fast her head tore from gazing out the window, to staring wide eyed at her parents from between the seats. "What?!"
Her father chuckled, although it was strained. "You've been personally invited to attend, by the principal himself."
Kamina was shaking in shock and excitement, her only self control being used on ensuring her quirk didn't accidentally activate and distract her dad from driving. She was unable to respond, a variety of thoughts racing through her head before one particular one stuck with her, causing her expression to morph into a frown. "But...aren't you mad?"
"Mad? Why would I be mad?" her dad asked, confused as he turned into their driveway, a name-card with an attached 'RESERVED, SATO' decorating the parking space in front of the bonnet from where they were now parked.
"Well, you know, because you hate heroes? You used to attack that school?" Kamina stated, like it obvious as she stepped out of her side of the car, the door now unlocked before then slamming it lightly back closed.
Rui raised an eyebrow as she exited her side, closing the door softly as she walked across, making her way over to her husband and daughter.
"Ah, I mean yes, but..." Atsuhiro Sako sighed awkwardly before placing a hand on his daughters shoulder, smiling softly. "Maybe, just maybe, you can help change that system."
Kamina felt pride and longing swell up from inside her, a bright smile on her face as she nodded with a newfound determination. "I won't let you down, Dad."
"I know you won't Kami," Mr Compress chuckled before ruffling her hair. "Because you never have."
Word Count: 4,314