Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The first thing you learn as a hero is that tragedy can strike at any given moment—

Pro-hero Thirteen and students announced dead after attack on U.A.

Villain attack on first year hero students leave several dead.

New villain group attacks U.A., pro-hero Thirteen and students dead.

Pressure on U.A. after seven students die on a school supervised trip.

League of Villains: who are they? Group behind U.A. students’ death.

Tenko sighs at the dozens of headlines staring back at him through the screen. He’s already read through a few of the articles on his feed, and while much of the details of the attack had been struck from the press, it’s all terribly grim. He pockets his phone just as he reaches the exterior of his agency.

“Guess you heard about what happened,” Shirakumo asks, voice heavy with the news.

Tenko nods. “I can’t imagine anyone woke up this morning without hearing about it.”

“Yeah.” Shirakumo leads Tenko past the entryway to the offices upstairs. “Pretty fucking tragic. But I also got some news concerning this.”

“Hm?” Tenko asks.

“This group, the League of Villains,” Shirakumo tells him. “U.A. has started to hire outside sources to investigate them, and we’re one of the agencies being called in.”

“We’re on this case?” Tenko follows his mentor to one of the private halls their agency uses when going over new cases. As the two heroes enter the room, Tenko sees that Shirakumo has already left relevant information to their case shattered sporadically across the walls and desk.

“Yup.” Shirakumo states. He opens the nearest folder to refer to while speaking. “Most details of the attack have been redacted from the press, but since we’re being added to the case, we’ve been given all the information the school and first responders received at the time of the attack.”

“Like villain descriptors.” Tenko says. This sort of case is one he’s most familiar with: Pro-hero Mon is known for excellent profiling of villains. No one does it like Tenko does. “I noticed the media all had like zero details for the villain group.”

“Like villain descriptors.” Shirakumo confirms. “But let’s start from the beginning first.”

Both heroes take a seat at the table before beginning, preparing themselves for this heavy case.

Rain and Cloud Hero Agency is one of the most efficient hero agencies out there. Many theorize the reason their agency works so well hinges on the fact that Loud Cloud, a top twenty hero who the public loves to love, only hires and employs underground heroes. The conjunction makes for an extremely profitable workplace. Tenko had been here since his work-study during his second year internship. He had begun as a simple intern looking to get his foot in the door anywhere that would take him. But he began to get more insight to the field past filling out files, and expanded his skills under his mentor.

The other sidekicks frequently joke that he had become Loud Cloud’s successor through the years.

But as efficient their agency may function, it does not change the fact this case will be a handful for the duo. Never before had a group launched such a wide scale attack on a hero school before, nevermind the top hero school. They’re both alumni of UA, and are more than aware how secure it truly is.

Shirakumo shuffles the files and clears his throat.

“Class 1-A arrive at U.S.J with their homeroom teacher, Midnight. Thirteen is said to have gotten there fifteen minutes prior, and greets the group. Midnight and students enter the U.S.J., when it is said that the doors then audibly lock behind them.”

“The doors are built to lock from the outside?” Tenko interrupts to ask.

“Not ordinarily. A look into it by a detective on site revealed the door looked to have been altered the night before to reverse the locks.”

“And no one noticed before entering?”

“Well, the door looked largely the same, so it would’ve been hard to notice.” Shirakumo waits for Tenko to nod before continuing. “Anyway, the doors lock behind them. Then, students report hearing a crash in the distance. Midnight goes to investigate while Thirteen stays to protect the students. They wait fifteen minutes, and nothing happens. Right when Thirteen prepares to—“

“Wait.” Tenko interrupts again. “Why didn’t the students use their quirks to escape during that time they were waiting?”

Shirakumo sighs. “You’re bringing me to my next point. When Thirteen prepares to go find Midnight, two things happen. First, students reported that some sort of smoke-screen appeared.”

“Their visuals got obscured.”

“Correct. While they were blinded…” Shirakumo hesitates to continue, staring at the report with a clenched jaw, before releasing a ragged sigh and continuing. “Their quirks were then erased.”

“What do you mean?” Tenko questions, a tone of unease entering his voice.

“Students were incapable of using their quirks. They were a bit stunned, and at that time the villains struck and killed Thirteen and the students.”

Incapable of using their quirks... A like of dread wells up into Tenko’s stomach. No. That man is dead. This has to be someone else.

“How many villains?” Tenko scratches his neck, bad habit, in tension. “Dozen? More?”

“Two.” Shirakumo states. “Only two villains were reported by the remaining students.”

“You’re telling me just two villains managed to form a group and break into one of the most secure places in the world and kill several students?”

“Only two were reported being noticed by the students although the police suspect more than two individuals.”

Tenko raises an eyebrow. “What’s the evidence leading to more than two?”

“Well…” Shirakumo says. “The second villain, not the one who erased their quirks, functioned as if he had multiple quirks. Either these villains are extremely powerful individuals, or there were other villains present unseen by the students. But many of the surviving students swear on the fact that any quirks except erasure were used by the second villain with the smoke quirk.”

Students unable to use quirks. Extremely powerful individual. Villain with multiple quirks.

Tenko hums a sound of acknowledgment to his mentor, allowing him to continue. He doesn’t quite trust himself to speak without breaking character.

“While the smoke quirk severely limited the students’ eyesight, detectives were able to piece together base descriptions for the two villains present.” Shirakumo slides over a police sketch of two people. “The first is a man, roughly estimated to be in his thirties. Dressed formally in black pants, grey vest, button-up, and a tie. Surviving students said he had an odd helmet over his face, best described to be a ‘fish tank bowl with tinted one-side glass all around.’ The second villain was a child—“

“A kid?” Tenko interrupts, staring down at the police sketch.

“Unfortunately. Kid was described as wearing casual clothing, all black with green highlights, the main article bein a hoodie with a rabbit ears sticking out the hood. All the surviving students said they assumed him to be around their age based off his build and mannerisms.”

Tenko stares down at the images laid out in front of him. These individuals were unlikely to be that man, based on description alone and the fact there were two instead of one but… something wasn’t adding up. Too many coincidences, yet too many differences.

“What about the students killed?” Tenko asks.

Shirakumo responds by silently sliding over a list of names to his mentee.

U.S.J. Casualties:
Pro-Hero Thirteen, along with students Ashido Mina,
Iida Tenya,
Kaminari Denki,
Kouda Kouji,
Satou Rikidou,
Sero Hanta, and
Mineta Minoru.

Tenko stares at the list of casualties, thoughts racing around in his trying to find the connection between them, if one exists. Attached to the list of casualties are basic files on each student.

Nothing is adding up. He despises it.

Shirakumo reads where his mind is going, “Police believe that the student death count would be higher if not for the fact some of the students, Asui Tsuyu, Ojiro Mashirao, Hagakure Tooru, and Shouji Mezou, had mutation quirks that were unaffected by villain with the erasure quirk. Those students protected several of the other students, while some were able to flee on their own.”

That would make sense, Tenko supposes. Already, this case was an uneasy one that was beginning to itch at his skin. “How were they killed?”

“Either strangulation, stabbing, or both.”

Tenko whinces. Brutal ways to die, for kids so young. He prays for the deceased that it was a quick matter.

Shirakumo nods. “I know, the situation is incredibly unfortunate. Oddly enough though, one of the multiple quirks reported being used by the kid was the one that strangled the students.”

“Hm?” Tenko asks. “What is it?”

“Aside from the smoke-cloud quirk, he used some sort of dark rope, or whip, to strangle the students.”

That doesn’t seem like the type of quirk that man would’ve thought to pair with a smoke-screen… could this even be him? Was he fixated on the past?

“That’s weird…” Tenko says. “Maybe the smoke seen previously was just a side effect of the kid’s rope quirk?”

“That could possibly make sense,” Shirakumo runs a hand through his whispy hair. “Except, the kid showed signs of a whole ‘nother quirk too.”

“Another one?”

“Yeah. Half the reason the kid got the jump on them was because he appeared from above them.” Shirakumo says. “Aside from the smoke quirk and whip quirk, the kid has some sort of aerial suspension quirk.”

Smoke-screen. Black whip. Float.

Useful quirks with nothing in common—

Nothing in common, except—

Ah. Tenko thinks. His neck feels itchy. I’m beginning to see the pattern now.

<

“In guess we’ll just have to do some more investigating,” Tenko clears a pain stuck in his throat in the hopes his mentor doesn’t notice it, and gathers the files in his palms as he rises from his chair. “I’ll, uh, go check the system for anything. Yeah, I’ll just, see you later?”

Tenko tries to ignore the feeling of staring behind him as he makes a clumsy exit out of the conference room they met in. Shirakumo trusts him enough not to bring his emotions to attention, but he knows this is going to be brought up the next time they meet for the case, and Tenko feels hot with embarrassment for his overreaction.

Except he can’t call it an overreaction, because this case has only just begun and it’s already digging into his most painful roots.

Walking down endless streets, covered in the blood of his family, it is Tenko’s sixth birthday, ironically enough. He bumps into someone and recoils, expecting a backhand to the face or something of the sort.

“Are you okay?”

Tenko looks up. A man is in front of him, an expression of concern etched into his face as he stares at Tenko. It makes his skin itch, he just wants to scratch, scratch, scratch, scRATCH—

The man grabs Tenko’s wrist as soon as he begins to dig his nails into the flesh of his neck. He flinches from the contact.

“Hey, it’s alright, are you okay?” The man asks once more. He kneels to the same level as Tenko, and the boy finally looks up to make eye contact. The man is thin, with blonde hair and blue eyes that unnerve him. “What’s your name?”

“Tenko,” He goes to scratch at his neck again but stops when he realizes the man is still holding onto his wrist. “Shimura Tenko.”

The man startles. “A-ah, of course. Everything will be alright, Tenko, because I’m here!”

Mon-chan: we need to have a discussion

Yagi: Yes, I would agree.

Sir Nighteye: What is this about?

Mon-chan: all for one.