Archive of Our Own

“ Hero Killer Stain kills again!” The news reporter exclaims as she goes into detail about the latest victim. This time it was an underground hero named Bumblebee, their quirk was bee, they were able to sting someone like a bee, these stringers could appear from anywhere. The stinger immobilized someone for a short period of time. It was the perfect quirk for undercover missions where you had to break into a place with guards. However, it wasn’t the best when it came to someone as skilled as Stain. Therefore, Bumblebee didn’t stand a chance. 

Denki felt his lips crack into a slight smile at hearing the news, but quickly recovered when he remembered he was in the common room at the U.A. dorm and his classmates were around him. He pushed his feelings down and feigned concern and horror for the news. Just like everyone else. 

Denki first heard about the Hero Killer a few months back when heroes kept getting murdered. The scenes were always grotesque. Bloody massacres left and right. Heroes began to step down for fear that they were next. Denki’s heart thrummed with excitement. The Hero Killer was full of conviction and this really spoke to Denki, who was surrounded by “fake heroes”. He’d made the mistake of showing his true thoughts on the matter after stating how cool Stain was in front of his classmates, who were disturbed by these words. 

From then on, Denki kept these thoughts to himself, especially given that Iida’s own brother, Ingenium, was attacked by the Hero Killer, so the topic was categorized as taboo. Denki was pissed to say the least, when he heard that the Hero Killer was caught and in critical condition. He was even more pissed when he overheard his classmates, Todoroki, Iida, and Midoriya, talking in hushed voices about how they’d taken part in his capture. 

Who was going to make sure that the fake heroes were weeded out now that the Hero Killer was gone? The answer came to Denki in a dream a week after the capture of Stain. To most it would’ve appeared to be a nightmare, however, to Denki it was the Solution. He’d dreamt of himself, patrolling the alleys at night, wearing a similar costume to Stain as he stalked and hunted down the imposters like they were prey. He felt the thrill of the knife in his hand leaving a trail of blood as he slashed someone’s throat from behind. He didn’t feel guilty at all. He felt Purpose.

Denki was going to be the one to save this wretched world. 

He decided to lay low as he planned what his next moves would be. He continued to go to class. He continued to talk to his classmates and mess around with them as he usually would. He endured their insults as his hatred for these false heroes grew. He snuck out of the dorms late at night and took to the city streets. He was looking for who his first extermination would be. He watched as he saw a burglary at a convenience store take place. A hero who was on patrol that night, witnessed the scene and watched from the sidelines as the burglar began to get away. Then, once he noticed a crowd begin to form, he jumped into action, taking down the small-time criminal, making a big display of his quirk as he did so. 

Denki had found his first leech. This hero’s name ended up being Dew, his quirk being that he could control greenery, which included grass, leaves, moss, and things within that category. Denki watched from afar to gain more intel on this hero, and the more he saw, the more he was sure that he was doing the right thing getting rid of this hero. He only cared about the fame and praise he received from taking down villains, he could care less about actually helping to make society better. Denki formulated a plan of how to rid this weed from society. He thought of all the ways that he could combat against Dew’s quirk, and landed on his final plan. Dew’s quirk was greenery, so if Denki got him in an area that wasn’t near any sort of greenery, then he could weaken his quirk and take control of the situation. Denki knew the perfect spot. Dew’s patrol route always passed by the same dark alleyway, which Denki inspected to find it only had a few patches of grass peeking through the cracks in the ground. This area was also abandoned and perfect for what Denki planned out. 

He waited until it was the night after a bad rainshower. The ground was covered in puddles, and Denki made his way to the alley, and waited. As soon as he heard footsteps he walked out of the alleyway and ran excitedly to Dew, putting his acting skills to the test, he performed, “WOW! Are you the Greenery hero Dew! I am such a big fan, would you mind giving me an autograph?”

Dew looked at Denki and got a smug look on his face, “Aww how sweet, a fan of mine? Of course I can give you an autograph.”

“OMG thank you sooo much!” Denki reached into his pocket, but then groaned, “Oh no, I dropped my backpack with my pen and notebook in the alley. I let my excitement get the best of me when I saw you!”

“No problem, kid. Come on, we can get your notebook, I’m assuming you’re a high school student? What’re you doing out here so late at night?”

Denki began to lead Dew into the dark alley as he turned his face away to look forward, hiding his sinister expression, “Yup! I’m a high school student. I went to get a quick snack from the nearby convenience store after a late study session at a friend’s house. I decided to take this alley as a shortcut.”

Denki waited until they were in the darkest part of the alley, which was also directly on top of a giant puddle, this will do perfectly. “My bag is just right over here!” Denki leaned down to make it look as though he was reaching for his bag, when in reality, he was activating his quirk, right atop of the puddle that Dew was standing in. Before the hero could react to this sudden action, Denki reached for a knife that he’d tucked away into his sock. He unsheeted the blade and lunged towards the dazed hero, slashing his throat. Dew looked at Denki in shock and then fear as his eyes drained of life. He fell to the ground a moment after. Denki wasn’t done yet though. He was going to make a statement that would never be forgotten. 

Denki cut away at the hero, leaving him almost unrecognizable, other than his head, which he left untouched. He wanted him to at least be identifiable. Denki then used Dew’s blood to write a message on the alley wall, propping what was left of Dew underneath the message. He then stepped back to take in his masterpiece. He felt happiness as he realized that this was only the beginning of his Cause. He wasn’t going to allow Stain’s beliefs to be forgotten.

Denki awoke the next morning, to the worried voices of his classmates, as he made his way to the common room. He looked to see all of his classmates gathered in front of the tv with the news station on, “ Breaking news! A horrific murder took place last night. The victim being 26 year old pro hero Dew. The scene is so graphic that just thinking about it is making me nauseous. I won’t go into much detail, since it’s not suitable for people to hear. However, I will report that it seems the murderer responsible is a fan of the Hero Killer. In what was identified as blood, they left a message next to the victim’s body. I will read the message to you all now, ‘He has risen. From the dewey grassland, comes a savior. Stain’s ideals will not be forgotten.’ The police are still on the lookout for the person responsible for this gruesome murder. They urge everyone to be cautious and to not move around by yourself. Stay in groups of three or more and try not to stay out too late at night. Now on a different note….”

Denki did his best to act disturbed so that he wouldn’t stick out from his other classmates. He was a little disappointed they didn’t show any actual uncensored photos of his masterpiece, but alas he did what needed to be done. He was all over the news. He felt the visible shift in atmosphere as his classmates went about their day. Everyone had a somber air around themselves. Denki loved it.

Denki snuck out his window once again as he’d already found another crack in the hero society foundation that needed sealing. This “hero” had an elastic quirk, though it had its limits. Their skin was extremely stretchy, which Denki found annoying at first, until he thought of ways to combat this. Fire. Elastic and fire don’t mix, and so Denki made a quick trip to a hardware store a few train stops away from UA. He decided to purchase a mini blowtorch. Denki was always one for the dramatics. 

The first time Denki noticed this hero was shortly after his first kill, he’d gone to one of his favorite record stores, which was a few stops away from UA. He’d just purchased his CD when he was leaving the store and came face to face with a devastating scene. A small child, around 5 or 6 was walking the streets in ragged clothes and no shoes, looking scared and lost. Denki took in his surroundings to see if the child was with anyone, but no one else acknowledged the child, which broke Denki’s heart. As he went to step in, he noticed a hero in an elastic suit. She saw the child, but did nothing. Denki felt enraged at the actions of this “hero”. Denki approached the child after he sneakily took a picture of the prohero so he could look up her description later. 

The child looked at Denki with a petrified expression, but Denki flashed a smile and helped the child lower their guard. He then led the child with a gentle touch to the police station where the child was checked on and sent to a relative's house who was distant from the child’s mom. She seemed to be a nice person and Denki made sure to give the child his name and contact info if he ever needed anything. 

Then, it was back to business. Denki looked the hero up online to find they were a low ranking hero named Elasta. That’s how Denki found himself in front of his favorite record store as he waited for the hero to do her night time patrol. He saw her start to walk towards him and he put on his best pained face as he collapsed to the ground when she was close enough to notice him. She quickly ran up to him and knelt down beside him, “Hey, kid! Are you alright? What happened? Can you stand?”

Denki let out a cough and gripped his side, “I’m alright, could you help me stand up? I suffer from seizures, and embarrassingly, I’m still recovering from one I just had.”

Elasta reached out and put her arm around Denki to support him and lead him towards a bench that was nearby. The streets were empty. It was now or never. Denki planned for the traffic cameras and made sure to wear a hoodie that hid his figure with a mask covering his face. He also sported a black cap that obscured his face. He let Elasta help him up and then, with his hand still gripping his side, he pulled out the mini blowtorch he’d hidden inside his jacket. Then he turned it on. Elasta had no time to react before her rubbery skin made contact with the high temp flames. She let out a scream of agony as her skin melted leaving her muscle to show underneath. She was quick to die. Denki smiled as he used her blood exposed from her muscle to write out another message. Things were beginning to get good.

“Another murder has taken place, this time in XXX city. Just a few train rides away from the last murder. It has been confirmed that they are connected, due to another message being written in the blood of the victim. This victim was another prohero, her name being Elasta, or civilian name Maria Naoyama. Naoyama was 32 years old, and had been a very important hero to her community….The message that was written has just been released by police, ‘He has arrived. Within a fiery blaze, the smell of burned rubber filled the air.’ As of now, the police have no leads on who the suspect may be….”

“This is so scary!” Mina exclaimed as she looked at the tv in horror. The rest of the class were all in the common room with the purpose of doing a study session or just hanging out, however, the news brought everyone’s attention to the tv. Denki felt satisfaction at the fact that his art was being showcased all over the news and on social media. He was doing the right thing by ridding the world of these false heroes, whether they realized that now or later on. 

Denki felt that his work was now being expected. Nobody was shocked anymore at his actions, though they were still horrified and deathly scared. They still had no leads other than that it was a man from what Denki gathered after using his electricity to get in contact with the police radios. He listened in on their conversations about his murders and they were beginning to think he was only going after small time heroes. This annoyed Denki and made him want to make a big statement. So far, Denki had weeded out six proheroes, which was good numbers, but there were still so many pests to get rid of. He needed to up his strategy. That’s how Denki ended up in a strange bar face to face with none other than Dabi, a member of the League of Villains.

Dabi looked at him with a fierce expression. The whole situation gave Denki chills, but he knew that despite the fact that the LOV had put him and his classmates in danger on multiple occasions, joining up with them would benefit his plan overall. He needed help from an outside source. Allies. Denki wore a mask over his face to keep his identity a secret. He couldn’t trust the LOV just yet. Stain worked with them, and so Denki decided to give a try at working with them too. 

“Wow,” Dabi drawled as he looked Denki up and down, “I wasn’t expecting the infamous killer to be a kid.”

“I’m 16,” Denki replied. 

“Okay, my bad kid,” Dabi smirked, “Still a kid though. What made you go on a killing spree?”

“I refuse to let Stain’s ideals die.”

“That’s something I can agree with,” Dabi said as he took a seat at the bar. He then motioned for Denki to do the same, “Don’t worry I don’t bite.”

Denki walked over to sit a few stools away from Dabi. They sat in silence for a bit before Dabi got to the point, “So what’s the name you’re going by? Since I can’t see your face I’m assuming that you want to keep your identity secret.”

If Denki was being honest, he hadn’t really given his new “persona” much thought. He’d just been consumed with purpose and went in without thinking about it. Denki wanted to fix the world and create a place where heroes actually cared about the citizens and not just the compensation of how they are perceived. He was sick of being stuck in a world where people that needed saving were overlooked. He didn’t want anyone in the same position he’d been in when he was younger. He was going to save everyone. 

“My name is Salvator, because I will restore greatness to our society and rid the world of these parasites that dare call themselves heroes.”

“Damn. Sounds badass. Is that why you’ve been leaving all those creepy messages? You’re leaving an impact that’s for sure. Why do you want the LOV to help you out? You are the one who got in contact with us, though if I’m being honest we’d been looking into hunting you down and scouting you. In the end, this works out.”

“The messages are showing my resolve. They are a warning to all of these false heroes,” Denki began as he thought about his plan and how he should propose it to the villain, “As for why I reached out to meet up with the LOV, that is because I need to make a statement. My art has been broadcasted all over the news, but everyone is beginning to expect it. I need to do something so big that no one will be expecting it or know how to react. Now that All Might, the one true hero according to Stain, is out of commission, Endeavor has taken the stand. Endeavor is not a true hero. No hero would act the way that he does. I despise that roach and his actions. In order to cement myself as a savior, I need to murder Endeavor. However, I’ve realized that this is impossible to do by myself. I’m requesting the LOV's help in carrying out this plan.”

Dabi appeared to jolt at the mention of Endeavor and Denki just hoped he’d done the right thing involving the LOV in his plan. Dabi’s fire rose from his arms as he clenched his teeth in rage, “Did you say that you had a plan to take out Endeavor?” Dabi lunged towards Denki who closed his eyes to embrace for an impact that never landed, “You’ve got yourself a deal, Salvator. Let’s take that fucker out for good.”

Denki grinned underneath his mask as he shook hands with Dabi and exchanged numbers on a burner phone to communicate easier. Dabi promised to get into contact with Denki at a later date after bringing up Denki’s intentions to the rest of the LOV. 

It took a whole week of Denki anxiously awaiting before he finally received a message, which was simply an address and a time. Denki waited until his classmates were all asleep before he snuck out of his dorm and made his way to the location, which wasn’t far from U.A. to Denki’s surprise. He made sure his mask was on tight so that they wouldn’t figure him out as he came across what appeared to be an abandoned building, which he recognized to be the same building he’d met Dabi at last time. He walked around to find Dabi waiting outside for him, “Well, look who decided to show up. Thought you’d bail,” Dabi said with a joking tone before he turned to the door he was standing next to and nodded his head toward it, “They’re waiting inside. Watch out for flying knives.”

Denki followed in after Dabi and ducked as a knife came flying toward his head. He felt himself shake by the sudden action, “Woah, nice reflexes Mr. Murderer,” Himiko Toga smiled widely at him as she skipped around him to gather her thrown knives. Denki wondered if it was too late to turn back. No, Denki you’ve made it this far, and you need them in order to pull off this next kill.

Tomura Shigaraki sat at the bar looking annoyed as he held a glass with his pinkie sticking out. He didn’t have a hand covering his face like how Denki normally saw him. He noticed a few other familiar faces, including Twice, Mr. Compress, Spinner, Magne and Kurogiri. They all looked at him as he walked into the bar and stood in front of them trying to look bigger than he was. He needed to be taken seriously. 

“This is the kid I was talking about,” Dabi pointed at him as he took his spot next to him, almost in a comforting way, though Denki wasn’t sure whether that was intentional or not, “He wants to kill Endeavor.”

“Name’s Salvator,” Denki said as he raised his hand in a greeting, then stayed silent as he waited for one of the members to speak up. The one to talk first was none other than the leader Shigaraki, “So, what makes you think that you can kill Endeavor?”

“My conviction is strong. I want to live in a world free of false heroes. Endeavor is one of the worst. Though I know that by myself, there’s nothing I can do to the number 1 hero, like I did with the other heroes. That’s why I need your assistance.”

“What’s this grand plan of yours?” Shigaraki asked as he set his drink down and turned to face Denki head on. Denki seemed to have caught everyone’s attention. He just hoped his plan was enough to convince them.

“I’ve decided that I can catch Endeavor off guard if the LOV is able to cause some sort of distraction. Everyone assumes that I only go after small-time heroes. I can use this to my advantage and also have this be my debut into the public eye. Everyone has heard of my deeds, but no one has actually seen me in the flesh. I’ve heard rumors that people think I’m a group of people or that I’m going after weak heroes. I need to show the world what I’m capable of. I need to rip their current views from their hands and show them the truth. Their number 1 hero is a false one and I will show this to them. I will tear this society down to make way for a better one.”

“How do you plan to murder the number 1 hero?”

“He may be number 1, but he’s still human,” Denki begins, “I’m just going to remind everyone of this fact.”

“Okay, Salvator,” Shigaraki grinned as he locked eyes with Denki, “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Denki made a routine of meeting with the LOV to talk strategy. Dabi seemed to know a lot about Endeavor which was helpful to Denki as he fortified his plan. Denki also got a suit that Dabi claimed would help him in the long run. When Denki got this new suit he decided to take it for a test run. The suit was black with red streaks down the sides that reminded Denki of Stain’s eye mask, which Denki also sported overtop of his new mask that was honestly much easier to breathe in than the one that he had been wearing. The suit was form fitting and had comfortable lightweight material that allowed Denki to move around easier. Another plus was that the suit had a voice modulator, so that his voice wasn’t recognizable. It also had many different pockets and secret hiding places to store knives, and other weapons. Denki grabbed a gun which he put into its designated hollister, along with an assortment of knives that were Toga approved. He also carried smoke bombs and night vision goggles with a tracking device and chip he could attach to his next victim so that he wouldn’t lose track of them. 

Finally after a month and a half of not killing anyone, Denki snuck out to put his grand plan into motion. He met the LOV at their designated spot before they went to where they knew Endeavor was going to be patrolling. They watched as Endeavor walked into view, it was late at night, but the streets were still bustling with nightlife. Denki nodded to the LOV as they broke away from him to put the first part of the plan into motion. Chaos. A fire of blue flames broke out engulfing a building that had been abandoned into flames. Soon after, Nomus took the streets. Endeavor was quick to act, along with some other back up heroes. 

As Endeavor took in the situation, Denki watched his movements closely, waiting for when he could catch him off guard. The LOV continued to cause chaos by blowing things up, drawing all of the heroes' attention towards them and away from the main course. Denki watched as Endeavor fought against the Nomu trying to kill them before they got to the bystanders. Go time.

Denki crept from his hiding place, making sure that the cameras from the news channels were all aimed towards Endeavor, as he reached for his knife. Endeavor was screaming and blasting the Nomus, and was oblivious to the true danger that was right behind him. With one swift motion Denki slipped behind Endeavor and reached his knife to Endeavor’s neck where he proceeded to slit his throat. Endeavor turned aggressively and coughed as his windpipe was cut. While Endeavor was still disoriented, Denki reached for his gun and pushed Endeavor to the ground. Denki looked down to Endeavor, hatred gnawing inside him as he put the gun to Endeavor's head. He held him at gunpoint, watching as lights from the news helicopters flashed down at him. Finally, it was his time to shine. Endeavor looked up in rage, croaking out his final words, “W-ho-o ar-e y-you Vil-la-in…?”

“I go by Salvator, and I will restore society to its former glory.”

Boom.

Endeavor dropped to the ground, blood pooling from his head. Life completely drained from his body. Denki stepped back so that he wouldn’t get any of the blood on his shoes. Denki raised his face in the air and yelled so that the microphones would pick his words up as he made his declaration, “I am Salvator, I have risen to bring society to its former glory. Stain may be in jail, but his ideals will never die. I will weed out every last fake hero in this wretched society.”

Before the heroes could react to try to capture him, Kurogiri warped him and the rest of the LOV members back to their hideout. Once they were back they celebrated the success of their plans by playing Mario Kart, which resulted in Spinner being the winner, and Shigaraki getting so mad he destroyed one of the controllers. Dabi seemed relieved, though Denki wasn’t completely sure why. 

Denki watched as society fell apart completely. People were consumed by paranoia, many heroes decided to retire from the scene to save their own lives. Denki smiled to himself as he sat in class thinking about how he’d succeeded. Todoroki sat in the back of the room, and despite the fact that his father had been killed a week earlier, he looked somewhat more peaceful than he had in a while. Denki felt that he’d done the right thing. Hawks was now the number 1 hero. Denki believed that he was a true hero, much like Denki, he had his own persona to uphold. Denki decided to leave him be. 

A month after the death of Endeavor, a new classmate joined Class 1-A after the “tragic” death of Mineta. He was found murdered on his way to the convenience store, another death from Salvator. This sent society into another even worse panic to find that not even their children were safe from the murders. This new student transferred from the general course and did fairly well during the sports festival. This classmate was Hitoshi Shinsou. Denki thought that the boy had a lot of secrets hiding behind his stoic face and harsh words. He immediately liked him. Denki was the type of person to be rather outgoing and extroverted, he felt a need to befriend Shinsou no matter what it took. He just needed to plan a way to get Shinsou to like him, which ended up being easier than he thought. To his surprise, Shinsou approached him first. 

Denki accepted Shinsou’s invitation to study together, though Denki wasn’t sure why Shinsou asked him of all people. Despite this, they still walked back to the dorms together and went into Denki’s dorm room to try and do the homework together. Shinsou claimed that he was behind in his studies, but ended up helping Denki more so than Denki helped Shinsou in math. Denki’s smarts did shine while doing the English homework though, and he was able to help Shinsou as well. 

Shinsou made it so that Denki felt comfortable around him. Even when there was silence it wasn’t the awkward kind. Shinsou was much nicer than he showed in class, which made Denki like him even more. As they finished their homework they both sat in silence after doing all of their homework in one sitting. Shinsou even helped Denki with his late assignments. 

As the two sat together, soaking in each other’s company, Shinsou broke the silence, “Kaminari, I’ve been meaning to ask you something, but why do you put on a persona when you’re around other people? I’ve been observing you for the two weeks I’ve been in 1-A, and you always put on a fake smile and act dumber than you are.”

This surprised Denki, and he was at a loss for words. His whole time in Class 1-A, none of his classmates had realized this, but a guy he’d just met a few weeks ago was able to see through him so easily. Denki wasn’t quite sure how he could get out of this without exposing his double life as Salvator. Denki decided that a half-truth would be best, “I can’t believe you noticed haha. Well, I guess if I’m being honest, I wasn’t really all that liked as a child. So, some of my past habits have stuck with me. I’ve kind of given up on trying to prove myself to others, I think it’s best to underachieve, and that way you won’t embarrass yourself if you fail. That’s why I just end up putting on a fake persona, I don’t want to have a repeat of my not so happy childhood.”

Okay, maybe he’d overshared a little more than he meant to, but it felt nice to finally get it off his chest. Denki hadn’t had the best childhood, and ended up in the foster care system at the young age of 10, where he seemed to only ever get the short end of the stick. This included being used by the adults around him to carry out their petty crimes or being beaten and bruised. His school life wasn’t all that good either, he was in and out of many different schools, and didn’t have a concrete structure to lean on. 

He grew to resent the heroes around him that he knew saw what was happening to him, but continued to do nothing to save him. He’d always hoped he’d be whisked away and given a better life, and that’s what first lit the match in him to want to become a hero. When Stain first appeared, he felt seen. He felt like he finally found someone who wanted to save people like him, and he dedicated his life to Stain’s cause. He knew that by weeding out all of the bad heroes, he was helping to make society a better place. He was a true hero. Sometimes, heroes needed to get their hands dirty for the betterment of society. 

“You know, I didn’t have the best childhood either,” Shinsou began a frown on his face, “So I can sympathize with you. But you are smart, Kaminari. You shouldn’t be scared to show everyone what you’re capable of. I know this may sound kind of weird, but I hope to one day see a genuine smile on your face. And, just so you know, you can talk to me about anything.”

Denki felt warmth take over his cheeks as he took in Shinsou’s words. He felt like Shinsou wasn’t just talking to the current him, but also his past self, his very soul. He wanted to cry. 

“Man, that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Denki whined as he threw his arm over Shinsou’s shoulder without really thinking about it, “You’re a good guy, Shinsou. Let’s be friends!”

“Okay.”

“Wanna play Mario Kart?”

“Sure, I’ll kick your ass.”

Okay, so maybe Denki had gotten too confident in his double life. Maybe that’s why he didn’t think he’d ever be caught in a lie. Maybe that’s why he didn’t expect to see Shinsou of all people waiting outside the gates of U.A. while Denki tried to sneak out. It had been a good two months since Denki befriended Shinsou, and if he was being honest, this was the closest he’d ever been to another person. He really didn’t want to mess things up with Shinsou, and he also really didn’t want his identity to be exposed. 

Denki stopped in his tracks and gripped the straps of his backpack which held his costume. Shinsou hadn't noticed him yet, and so Denki took this time to regain his composure before he made himself known, “Shinsou, hey! What’re you doing out here so late?”

Shinsou jumped at the sudden noise, but relaxed when he realized it was Denki, “I should be asking you the same thing, Kaminari. This isn’t the first time you’ve been out so late. I’ve noticed that you’ve been sneaking out late almost every night.”

Denki felt his smile falter for a split second before he recomposed himself, “You caught me haha,” Denki laughed as he playfully raised his hands in the air, “I have trouble sleeping at night and so I like to get out and take late night walks. I don’t like staying still for too long.”

Shinsou seemed to accept this answer as he nodded his head and put his hands in his pockets, “So, where do you usually walk to?” Denki thought for a moment, before deciding to take Shinsou to a place he used to frequent before getting into U.A. Denki began to walk down the street, Shinsou following after him. They walked in silence, soaking in the comfort of the night air and atmosphere. Denki used to go for walks even before he was Salvator. 

As they continued to walk, the scenery became more and more sketchy, until they reached a rickety fence. Denki stopped in front of the entrance, Rosebud Cemetery , before pushing the fence open and allowing Shinsou to follow after him. Just like breathing, Denki made his way to a back patch where a small grave could be seen. It was one of the few gravestones that hadn’t overgrown with weeds, this was thanks to Denki’s doing. He knelt down to take a closer look at the grave before turning to Shinsou, “Meet my mom.”

Shinsou looked down and took in the gravestone, then he turned to Denki sadly, “I had no idea that your mom had passed away. What happened?” Denki looked back to his mom’s grave as he brushed his fingers against the carved words, Sora Kaminari, December 5th, XXXX to June 22nd, XXXX. Denki didn’t like to recall his mom’s final moments, but it was something that he had to live with. And he trusted Shinsou enough to at least lay some of his burdens on him.

“She died when I was only 8. I still have fond memories of her, and I visit her as much as I can. You know, it’s my fault that she died,” Denki’s voice wavered slightly before continuing on, “I’d gotten my quirk later than most kids, and I happened to get it on June 22nd, a week before my 9th birthday. There was a horrible thunderstorm and I was holding my mom’s hand as we were walking out of the grocery store. We’d picked up some decorations for my birthday party and I remember how excited I was. Then, before I realized what was happening, I stepped into a puddle of water and in that exact same moment my quirk manifested and I electrocuted my mom so badly she died of heart failure only an hour after she was taken to the hospital.”

Denki sniffled before continuing, “My dad was pissed and he blamed me for my mom’s death. He fell into alcoholism and became addicted. He also turned to some not so fun coping mechanisms, he’d beat me with a belt and force me to wear a quirk suppressing anklet. Eventually, I was taken away and put into foster care, but you know, my past always followed me, and it scared people. They would chain me up and refuse to feed me, the only time I was able to leave was for school. I went through 6 foster houses before finally getting to stay in the U.A. dorms.”

Denki stared intently at his mom’s grave, refusing to look at Shinsou, which is why he was startled when he felt arms wrap around him. Shinsou pulled him into a warm embrace and Denki sank into it. He could feel the tears springing to his eyes, the hug felt as if Shinsou was reaching into Denki’s soul and warming his tattered heart. 

“What happened to your mom is not your fault, Kami,” Shinsou said, tightening his hold, “You were just a kid. You didn’t know something like that would happen. You deserved better than what your dad and foster families put you through.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I was in a similar situation,” Shinsou sniffled as he pulled away from Denki, “I went through the foster system too because my parents feared my quirk when it manifested. They were scared that I would use my quirk on them to make them do things against their will. Then, when I was in foster care, I was forced to wear a muzzle so that I couldn’t use my quirk. I still have scars from it.”

Denki looked at Shinsou’s face and took in every single detail. He noticed that there was some scarring where the muzzle had gone, it made Denki’s heart ache with sorrow. He knew the pain of scars, since he had his own from hard hits and from having to wear quirk suppressants. Denki and Shinsou had more in common than he’d originally thought. Denki pulled up his jeans to expose his own scars.

“It’ll get better, I promise,” Shinsou said as he smiled at Denki, “ I found my dads and they saved me from the dark life I’d been forced to live. You have me now Denki, and I promise you I’ll help you live the life that you should've been able to have from the beginning.”

Guilt rushed through Denki, he felt that he didn’t deserve Shinsou’s kindness, but he also felt anger surge through him, because Shinsou had said what he’d always wanted to hear from a hero. During his darkest moments, he would daydream of a pro hero coming to his rescue, but they never showed. Denki felt more motivated and ensured in his actions than before. 

“Thanks, Hitoshi,” Denki smiled as he saw the sun begin to rise, had they really been out that long? Denki thought as he turned to Shinsou and suggested that they head back. The two left and made their way back to U.A., both feeling closer than ever to each other. 

Dabi: Yo, Salvator. Where have you been? Haven’t seen you in days??? You still alive, kid? 

Denki: Sorry, bro. Had some things to do. Is it okay if I come to the hideout tonight?

Dabi: See you tonight.

Denki looked up from his phone, sliding it in his pocket as Present Mic began to teach the class. Denki zoned out and left his mind to wonder. Denki hadn’t gone out as Salvator in weeks, ever since he’d killed Endeavor, the media lost their shit and were frantic to find out who this person was. Denki wanted his next move to be perfect. He’d thought of some possible candidates for his next kill, but none of them could surpass Endeavor’s death.

Denki snuck out to the LOV’s hideout, excited to see his friends once again. He wore his suit as he made his way to the hideout. Denki had done some thinking since his last time seeing the LOV, and he’d come up with a plan. His magnum opus, to be more specific. He was excited to tell everyone his plan. 

Like always, Dabi waited outside for him, and walked into the rundown bar with Denki following close behind. Denki took in the smell, most would say that it smelled of water damage and alcohol, but Denki thought it smelled like home. For once in his life, Denki had found a place where he belonged. People who genuinely cared for him. Even if they didn’t know his true identity, they still completely trusted and cared for him like he’d always been there. 

Everyone greeted Denki happily as he walked in, taking his usual seat on the rundown couch next to Dabi and Toga. Shigaraki turned to look at Denki, “Salvator, welcome back. It’s been a while.” Denki turned to look at Shigaraki, who looked as happy as he could. Denki decided that it was now or never to bring up his new idea. 

“Yeah, sorry about that Shiggy,” Denki laughed as Shigaraki rolled his eyes at the nickname, which Denki had picked up from Toga, “I’ve been busy, but I didn’t come empty-handed. I have an idea. My perfect conclusion, or beginning, I suppose depending on how one looks at it.”

This got everyone’s attention, as they all turned and focused on what Denki had to say. Denki stood up and began to pace around as he began to speak of his idea, “There is going to be a hero convention in two months, and I plan to crash this party. I was thinking to myself the other day, what could I do as a way to completely catch society off guard? And that is a massacre. I’m going to do a mass extermination of all of the fake heroes that will be present at this convention. Then, when everything is full of chaos, and all eyes are on me, I’m going to reveal my true identity.”

Silence followed as Denki allowed the LOV to take in his words, the first to speak up was Dabi, “An identity reveal?! For the whole world to see? Why would you want to do that? You haven’t even revealed your true identity to us.”

“Because, once people see who I am, society will crumble, and I, along with the LOV if you are willing, will be there to build a new society. A better one.” Denki turned to face all of his new found friends, “I’m going to show how fucked up hero society is, and that all starts with my identity. It’s going to destroy people, I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces.”

Denki smiled widely as he spun in a circle, imagining the news reports and all of his classmates' faces, when they saw that stupid Kaminari was behind the mass murders. Denki tried not to linger too long on how Shinsou would react. He couldn’t let something stupid like his feelings get in the way of his higher purpose. 

“Also, on the matter of you not knowing my true identity, I think that everything will be explained when I reveal it in front of everyone.”

“That’s a hardcore plan, I for one am behind you all the way,” Dabi said as he smiled at Denki, almost like he was a proud older brother. Shigaraki also agreed and said that the League would obviously help him out. Denki was grateful to all of them, and went further into detail about his plans. Similar to what happened with Endeavor’s death, the LOV was going to be used as a distraction, and also fight against some of the heroes that weren’t on Denki’s hit list. That way, they would be too focused on protecting the civilians present, that they wouldn’t be thinking of their fellow heroes. 

Denki walked out of the hideout after their meeting finished, making his way back to U.A. He was lost in thought when he heard someone call for him from behind. Denki turned to see Dabi running up to him. Denki slowed his steps so that Dabi could catch up, “Something on your mind, Salvator? You seemed lost in thought, even when you were talking about your plan.”

Denki cursed Dabi for being so perceptive. He decided that he trusted Dabi enough to confide in him, “Well, I guess I’m easy to read. You’re right, Dabi. I have a lot on my mind right now.” Denki looked up to the sky, decorated in stars, he wished that he could be up there, shining brightly without a worry in the world. 

“What’s up? It usually helps if you tell someone else to get it off of your chest.”

Denki sighed, “I’m in love with someone, but I can’t tell them.”

“Why not?”

A laugh escaped Denki at that, “Isn’t it obvious? I have no right to tell them. Even if I’m doing this for the betterment of society, I can't get someone else into my mess, especially if I’m going to be revealing my identity so soon.”

“You know kid, everyone deserves to be and feel loved. It’s human nature to want love and to want to give love. Even the most broken parts of society long to be loved.”

“Do you love anyone?”

Dabi looked to Denki when he asked that, but sighed as he looked up to the sky sadly, “Yeah, I do.”

“Have you told them?”

“Fuck no.”

Denki laughed at that, “Way to take your own advice.”

“This is different,” Dabi snapped as he lightly bumped shoulders with Denki. He then went to sit down on a park bench, they were in a secluded area so Denki sat down next to Dabi, without worrying about someone coming across the two of them. 

“How is your situation different from mine?”

“Because, this person is a hero,” Dabi said as he continued to look up sadly, almost like he could see who he was talking about. Denki waited for Dabi to continue talking, “This person is amazing. A true hero. I’m crazy for him. But, he’s a pro hero, a high ranked one at that. The hero commission has him completely wrapped around their finger. He’s even pretending to be a traitor for the commission. He’s been trying to get on my good side so that I’ll tell him all of the League’s secrets. I can’t bring myself to tell the LOV for fear that they’ll hurt him. So I’ve been putting off having him interact with any other LOV members.”

Denki felt his heart break as he listened to Dabi talk with so much love in his voice, for someone that he could never be with. Denki feared that this would become his fate. Would he talk about Shinsou like this in the future? When they went their separate ways, would Shinsou cling to his mind? Denki thought he’d never be able to let Shinsou go, even if it destroyed him, like Dabi’s love destroyed him. 

“You know, it’s not the same, but the person I’m in love with is a hero in training,” Denki said as he put a reassuring hand on Dabi's shoulder. Dabi turned to look at Denki, before wrapping him in a warm embrace. Denki returned the hug tightly. 

“Don’t be afraid of telling this person your true feelings,” Dabi said as he broke out of the hug, “Even if it seems stupid, you deserve to feel true love.”

“Thanks, Dabi.”

“No problem, kid.”

“I’m in love with you.”

Denki’s pencil fell out of his hand as he looked up abruptly so that he was face to face with Shinsou, who had just beat Denki in confessing his love. Denki’s jaw hung open, never in a million years was he expecting Shinsou to reciprocate his feelings, furthermore that it would be Shinsou who confessed. 

Both boys were on Denki’s bed, Denki lying on his stomach as he worked on his math homework with Shinsou, who was sitting with his back against the wall. Denki was at a complete loss for words. One moment they were going over the pythagorean theorem, the next Shinsou was blurting out his love for Denki.

Shinsou looked nervous, a slight blush on his face as he tried to keep his cool, Denki could see right through him though. Over the years, Denki had gotten good at reading body language, and he was especially good at reading Shinsou’s body language since they spent almost every moment of free time together. 

“Your answer?” Shinsou asked as he glanced at Denki anxiously. Denki snapped out of his thoughts, realizing that he still hadn’t answered Shinsou.

“I’m in love with you too,” Denki said as he sat up and pulled Shinsou into a hug, “You beat me to it, Hitoshi!”

Shinsou blushed at the use of his given name, but didn’t comment on it. That’s how Denki started dating the one and only Hitoshi Shinsou, just one week after he’d told the LOV about his plan to destroy hero society. Denki only had two months with Shinsou before everything went to shit. Instead of focusing on the bad, Denki decided to focus on how lucky he was to get the chance to date someone as perfect as Shinsou. 

Denki continued to try and juggle his double life. During the day he was Denki Kaminari, hero in training who was dating the absolutely amazing Hitoshi Shinsou. At night, he was Salvator, a villain who didn’t mind getting his hands dirty to succeed in his goal of rebuilding hero society. Denki only had a few weeks left until his plan was to be set in motion. He couldn’t help but feel excited to carry out his plan and throw society and everybody in it into chaos. He was also nervous about what was to come between him and Shinsou after he revealed himself. 

Denki decided that the only thing he could do was break up with Shinsou before he revealed himself to the whole world. He didn’t want people to point fingers and harass Shinsou if they knew that the two of them were together. Plus, Denki doubted that Shinsou would even want anything to do with him after he revealed himself. He wasn’t even sure if he’d be able to escape the crime scene and avoid getting arrested, and even if he did escape he’d have to stay in the LOV’s hideout.

He continued to maul over his dilemma until it was the night before the big event. That’s how he ended up in front of Shinsou’s dorm room at 8pm after sending a text to Dabi that he’d be arriving later than usual to the hideout. Denki stood in front of Shinsou’s door, sweat forming on his forehead and he nervously shifted on his feet. Now or never Denki, come on just knock. This is for the best. Be grateful you were able to stay by his side this long. With that thought in mind, Denki finally knocked on the door waiting patiently for Shinsou to answer.

As soon as Shinsou opened his door and realized it was Denki on the other side his eyes lit up and he smiled warmly as he greeted Denki. Pushing back the nausea rising in his throat, Denki walked into Shinsou’s dorm at his request. Shinsou sat down on his bed, waiting patiently for Denki to join him. Denki took a few deep breaths before he sat down next to him, trying to put some space between them.

“So, Denki, what brings you here so late?”

Denki looked at the floor, unable to meet Shinsou’s eyes, he should just rip the bandaid off and leave, that would make things easier in the long run, “I actually need to tell you something.”

“Of course, what is it? Everything alright? You’re acting kind of strange.”

You can do this Denki, remember this is for the best, for both of you, “Listen, Hitoshi, I think that…we should break up.”

Denki squeezed his eyes shut, too scared to see Shinsou’s reaction. His heart felt like it was being strangled as he held back his tears. The room was silent, which only made Denki feel more anxious. Then, he felt a warm hand on his own, and he was brought back to reality, “Denki, open your eyes and look at me please.”

Hesitantly, Denki looked up to see Shinsou’s eyes filled with sorrow. The very look felt like a stab to the chest, especially since he was the cause of it. He felt awful, and it took everything in him to not start sobbing and taking his words back. I’m doing this for Hitoshi. I want him to be safe. I love him too much to allow him to suffer.

“Why?” Shinsou’s voice cracked as he asked this, tears forming in his eyes. Denki held back the urge to hug him tightly, instead he pulled his hand away from Shinsou’s and stood up, “Listen, Hitoshi, I love you. And it’s because I love you that we have to break up. You’ll understand soon enough. This is really for the best.”

At this Denki turned away as tears broke free and fell down his face. He hurried out of Hitoshi’s room, guilt eating away at him. He felt horrible just leaving Hitoshi there by himself. But, he had a plan to carry out. He couldn’t let anything stand in the way of his purpose, not even Hitoshi. 

“You look like shit, Salv, what happened?” Dabi asked as a way of greeting when Denki made it to the hideout.

“How do you even know that? I’m literally wearing a mask,” Denki said, even with the voice modulator, it was obvious he’d been crying. 

“The way you’re carrying yourself is all depressing, plus it sounds like you’ve been crying, kid.”

“I just had one of the worst nights I’ve had in a while so that’s why,” Denki said as he and Dabi entered the bar.

“So, what happened to make this ‘one of the worst nights’?”

“Well, I broke up with my boyfriend.”

“YOU WHAT?”

“Please don’t make me repeat myself, I’ll just start crying again.”

“Why did you break up with him? I thought you were super happy to be with him.”

“I am, or I was…but you know what’s happening tomorrow. I didn’t want to drag him into my mess. He deserves so much better than me and the path I’ve chosen. Even if I know the path I’ve chosen is the right one for me, and my conviction is strong, I don’t want him to be lumped with me and seen as a traitor, or worse used as bait to lure me out. It’s best I cut ties with him now and not after everything goes down.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Dabi said sadly as he patted Denki on the shoulder. After that, Denki tried his best to pull himself together as he finished finalizing his plan with the LOV. This was it. Finally, he was going to fulfill Stain’s wishes and rid society of all of the fake heroes.

The next day, Denki attended class like normal, and tried to avoid Shinsou’s sad eyes that seemed to be constantly watching him. He couldn’t let himself get distracted. Denki snapped his attention to the front of the room as Mr. Aizawa stood at the front and delivered the news Denki was waiting for, “Stand up and grab your costumes, we’re going on a field trip to the hero convention.”

Everyone stood up and excitedly grabbed their costumes, Denki included, though he had his other costume stored away in his school bag waiting to be changed into. Denki walked with the rest of his classmates and got on the bus. He tried not to let his excitement get the best of him as his leg bounced up and down. He looked around at his classmates, taking in their happy faces for what might be the last time. After today, Denki wouldn’t be allowed to have these moments with them. He tried not to think too long about this. Especially if it meant he wouldn’t see Shinsou ever again, except if he catches him on the news in the future.

“Yo, Kami, is it true?” Mina turned to look at Denki from the seat in front of him, Kirishima and Sero following suit, focusing their attention on him. Bakugou continued to just sit and look ahead pretending that he wasn’t listening in. Denki felt he knew what this was about but he still asked to be sure, “Is what true?”

“That you broke up with Shinsou!”

“Yeah, it’s true.”

“WHAT!” Mina, Kirishima, and Sero all screamed together as their eyes widened in shock. 

“I don’t really wanna talk about it. I’ve got my reasons though,” With that Denki turned to look out the bus window. He needed to mentally prepare himself. This was a big day for him after all. 

“Try to stick together, I don’t want to have to report any students missing. Go get changed and meet back here in 10.”

“Yes, sir.”

Denki walked to the locker room with everyone else as they all changed into their costumes. As Denki finished changing he reached for his phone and sent Dabi a text, go time. Begin phase one. With that Denki walked back out with the rest of his class, waiting for a chance to sneak off. The LOV should be gathering some more nomu at this point, and should also be getting into the building with their civilian disguises. 

As Denki thought this, he felt a ding in his pocket, he grabbed his phone and saw that Dabi texted him back, We’re in. Hack into the security system and put this place on lockdown. Denki pocketed his phone and then used his quirk to mess with the electrical wires, triggering the security system. As he did this a loud crash was heard from above as nomu fell to the ground and began creating chaos. Denki used this as a chance to sneak away from his class and change into his other costume. Salvator was finally going to be making an appearance again. 

Denki went back out into the chaos, spotting many heroes on his hit list fighting the nomu along with some of his classmates. Denki then noticed that the LOV also made an appearance fighting multiple heroes at once. I suppose it’s about time I jumped in. With this Denki went up to an indoor balcony where you could get a good view of the chaos below, as he grabbed his gun and took aim. 

Bam. Bam. Bam. Three bodies dropped to the ground. The sound of the gunshots alarmed everyone in the room as they looked around trying to find the source of the noise. Bam. Bam. Bam. Three more bodies dropped. Denki ducked down to hide from other’s view. He then crept down from the balcony. It was time for him to get his hands dirty. 

Denki weaved through the crowd, wielding a knife in both of his hands as he stabbed and slit throats left and right. Bodies fell without any warning, causing the heroes to panic as they continued to fight and look around anxiously. The bodies were falling at random and it was hard to tell where the next kill would happen. Denki continued like this until he met the LOV in the middle of the crowd in front of a big stage.

“Nice of you to join us, Salvator,” Dabi said as he continued to throw his flames at the heroes surrounding them. Shigaraki nodded his head in greeting as he continued to disintegrate heroes that were on Denki’s hit list. Toga giggled as she slashed at people, smiling as she turned to briefly acknowledge Denki, “You’ve got some good knife skills, Salv.”

“Thanks, but this is just the beginning. Let’s begin the next phase.”

At these words, the LOV followed Denki as they all made their way to the stage. Many of the nomu had already been destroyed and the news channels that had come in to record the hero convention were hiding in the back of the room recording the group’s next moves. As the villains stood on the stage, the room fell silent as everyone turned their attention to the stage. 

“Heroes,” Shigaraki began his raspy voice echoing throughout the convention hall, “We’ve come today to put an end to your fucked up society.”

The heroes all looked at them with disdain but none of them moved to fight the villains. They just stood planted to the ground panting heavily from the injuries and exhaustion they were experiencing. Denki looked around and noticed that his classmates were closer to the stage than he originally thought they were. 

“We have with us today a very important guest,” Shigaraki continued with a smile creeping on his face sending a chill throughout the room, “You might know him as the one who murdered Endeavor.”

Everyone in the room gasped as Denki grabbed the mic from Shigaraki, the mask covering his face held everyone’s attention as they waited with hushed breaths for Denki to speak. Denki inhaled and then exhaled before he finally spoke, “My name is Salvator and I am here to save this flawed society. Stain may be in Tartarus right now, but his ideals will not be locked away with him. I am here with the purpose of fixing this society, for I am a savior. You do not need to thank me yet, but trust me you’ll be grateful to me a few years from now. I had a dream you see, a call to action. I am entrusted in saving all of you. That starts with ridding the world of all of these fake heroes.”

Denki then looked around taking in all of the faces of these fake heroes before he continued to talk, “Ever since I was young, I’ve seen first hand the cracks in our foundation as a society, and the biggest cracks are the incompetent heroes who only care about money and fame. Of course, like Stain, I believe there are true heroes in the world, like Hawks and All Might. That is why I am cleansing this world. I will not stand by and allow society to continue as it is now. For you see, I myself am an example of the failure of heroes.”

Denki reached up and pulled off his mask revealing his face to the world. Denki heard as his classmates gasped and choked back sobs, feeling betrayed. The LOV also looked surprised to see his true identity, Denki continued to talk feeling manic as he faced the whole of Japan feeling cameras on his face. He tried to ignore what sounded like Shinsou yelling his name, “My real name is Denki Kaminari and I am a U.A. first year student. No matter what it takes, I will purge every last fake hero from this world and I will build society from the ground up. I will build a society that is peaceful and full of true heroes. I don’t care what I have to do or who I have to kill to accomplish this. That is all. This won’t be the last of me. Now, Kurogiri.”

Kurogiri appeared out of nowhere and opened up a warp gate back to the hideout, at this the heroes were kicked out of their daze and went to act. However, by that point only Denki remained, with Dabi halfway through the gate and every other member already gone. Denki turned to walk into the warp gate, but stopped when he heard a familiar voice, “DENKI!”

Knowing he shouldn’t, Denki turned around locking eyes with Shinsou who made his way to the very front of the audience. Tears were pooling in his eyes as he looked at Denki, “Why are you doing this? Please Denki, this can’t be real. Please tell me this is some elaborate prank.”

“Hitoshi…”

“Salvator, we’ve gotta go come on,” Dabi yelled as he grabbed Denki’s arm so he wouldn’t be caught by the many heroes now charging at him. 

“Denki,” Shinsou said as he looked completely heartbroken as he locked eyes with Denki. Denki took a deep breath before finally speaking to Shinsou for what would probably be the last time, “Hitoshi, I’m sorry. I love you. This is good-bye. Become a top hero for me. You’re one of the few truly good ones.”

With these words Denki gave Shinsou a sad smile as he turned away and walked through the warp gate. With that, he was back in the hideout, but this time he wasn’t just Salvator, he was Denki Kaminari. The LOV now knew his true identity. It was only after he’d walked through the gate that he realized Shinsou didn’t use his quirk on him. He’d spoken to Denki, and Denki had responded, yet despite this he didn’t use his quirk to brainwash him and have him put into custody. This thought was enough to break Denki’s heart.

“I never would’ve guessed the Salvator was a U.A. student, a first year at that.”

“Surprise…” Denki raised his hands in the air as he left out a small laugh. The LOV had gathered in the bar to celebrate another success. Denki felt relieved that he hadn’t been caught, but he knew better than to let his guard down that easily. Especially now that the media knew his face. His phone was buzzing with messages, but he refused to look, he didn’t want his good mood to be ruined. Especially if one of the messages ended up being from Shinsou. 

Denki pushed his worries to the back of his mind, he’d finally succeeded in his masterplan. He should be celebrating and happy. Feelings like love are only temporary, eventually, Shinsou would’ve left him whether he was Salvator or not. Denki wasn’t the type that someone could love long-term. 

“You were pretty badass with that speech, Salvator,” Dabi said as he patted Denki on the back. Denki had ended up putting aside his thoughts and enjoyed himself with his newfound family for the rest of the night. After everyone had finally passed out from tiredness, Denki snuck out to get fresh air. The area that the hideout is in made it so that Denki didn’t need to worry about pedestrians seeing him and calling the police. He’d thought everyone was asleep, but Dabi followed him out shortly after. He sat down next to Denki without saying anything. He just sat there, as if he knew that Denki wasn’t in the mood to talk.

Denki’s phone buzzed once again from inside his pocket. He decided it was finally time to see what was waiting for him, even if the thought of it was dreadful. Dabi stayed silent as Denki pulled out his phone and was met with various messages:

Mina: Kami, is this fr? Please text me back. 

Mina: Why would you do this to us? I thought we were friends.

Bakugo: You fucking dumbass, how dare you betray us like this? I will find you dunceface.

Sero: Kami, dude, what the fuck. 

Sero: Okay, sorry. Please text me back. The whole class is worried about you. I think you owe us an explanation.

Kirishima: Kamibro, this was so not manly. You hurt a lot of people. 

Kirishima: I’m worried about you. Did the LOV threaten you?

Kirishima: Just lmk if you’re okay or not. Please Kaminari.

Ojiro: Kaminari, this is so unlike you. Just come back to the dorms. 

Jirou: Kaminari, how could you betray everyone like this? We all thought you wanted to be a hero like the rest of us. 

Jirou: I can’t believe I talked to you and treated you like a friend. You’re a horrible villain. What you’ve done is unforgivable. 

Denki held in a deep breath as he landed on the one name he was scared the most to see.

Hitoshi: Denki, please talk to me.

Hitoshi: Just for one minute. Please.

Hitoshi: I love you.

Hitoshi: Denks, I need to talk to you. Please.

Hitoshi: The police are looking all over for you. They keep questioning me. Asking me where you could be.

Hitoshi: Can I just see you?

Hitoshi: Meet me at XXX at midnight. Trust me, Denks. 

Denki checked the time on his phone, 11:45pm , the place Shinsou wanted to meet at was 30 minutes away by bus, and it would take longer by foot. Something inside Denki longed to go to Shinsou, to see him and talk to him. To hold him in his arms one last time. So, without really thinking it through, he jumped up from his sitting position next to Dabi, who’d been silently observing the whole time, and took off running as quickly as he could. 

“Good luck!” Dabi yelled after him, Denki gave Dabi a thumbs up as he continued running. He tried to get to the meeting place as fast as he could, but by the time he made it there it was 12:30am. 30 minutes past the meetup time. He was too late. Denki fell to the ground huffing from how much and how fast he’d just ran. He was filled with a helpless feeling, and his lungs burned painfully in his chest. He was too late.

Just as he felt tears begin to form in his eyes, he heard a crunch of leaves behind him. Denki whipped his head around to find the source of the noise and was met with purple eyes. Shinsou’s purple eyes. They stared into each other’s eyes unmoving for some time before Shinsou fell to his knees and hid his face into his hands. Denki rushed to act as he closed the distance between the two of them and wrapped Shinsou in his arms. 

“Hitoshi,” Denki called out as he felt the tears fall down his face. He wanted to hug Shinsou for the rest of his life, until they molded together and became one. He never wanted to let him go ever again. As he held Shinsou in his arms, he felt that he’d found his purpose in life. One that was stronger than his loyalty to Stain. 

“Denki, oh Denki,” Shinsou cried as he wrapped his arms around Denki, reciprocating the hug. 

“I was worried that you’d already left,” Denki said as he tightened his embrace. 

“I would wait until the end of the world for you, Denki,” Shinsou replied, his tone so sincere that Denki felt fresh tears pour down his face. He wanted to stay in this moment with Shinsou forever. 

“FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND STEP AWAY FROM THE CIVILIAN!”

Denki froze at the voice and the sounds of sirens filled his ears. He looked around his surroundings to see that he was fully surrounded by heroes and police officers, along with police cars. He noticed that Aizawa was among the heroes. He looked back to Shinsou to see his face full of shock. 

“Denki, please, this wasn’t my intention. I didn’t mean to set you up! I didn’t know I was followed,” Shinsou pleaded as Denki looked into his eyes. He held onto Denki’s arms as he looked at him desperately. Denki felt that there was no way he was going to be able to get out of this. So, he stood up and stepped away from Shinsou, shaking off his grip so that Shinsou wouldn’t get in trouble with him. Mr. Aizawa had his hair rising above his head, showing that he was using his quirk on Denki. Denki put his arms in the air as a show of surrender. He’d already accomplished all that he wanted to, and so he felt satisfied with how everything turned out. He even got to hug Shinsou one last time. 

A strong force grabbed him from behind and threw him to the ground, “Denki Kaminari, also known by the alias of “Salvator”, you’re under arrest for the murder of pro-heroes Dew, Elasta, Endeavor, and many others, as well as working with the League of Villains. You have the right to stay silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you.”

Denki allowed the man to yank him up and drag him to a police car. Shinsou tried to chase after him, but was stopped by some other officers. Denki turned his head to look at Shinsou one last time before he was thrown in the back of the police car. He could see Shinsou still trying to reach out to him, tears falling down his face as he looked at Denki with complete helplessness. Even as the car was put into drive, Denki continued to look at Shinsou until he was out of his view. 

Denki sat in a small interrogation room, his hands locked to the table with quirk cancelling handcuffs. He’d been sitting there all alone for so long that he lost track of the time. All Denki could think about was Shinsou and how sad he looked when Denki was being taken away. He also worried about the LOV, but decided no matter what he wouldn’t betray them by giving up their hideout or any information. They were his family. The family he’d wanted ever since his mom passed away and his whole world changed forever. 

As Denki was preoccupying himself with these thoughts, the door to the interrogation room opened and he was met face-to-face with his ex-homeroom teacher and a man wearing a police uniform that he’d never seen before. Denki put a confident, cunning smile on his face as he looked at the two men that were taking seats across from him. Aizawa looked at him with a blank face, but Denki swore he could see disgust in his eyes. The police officer looked exhausted as he looked at Denki and began speaking, “Denki Kaminari, also known as Salvator, I’m detective Tsukauchi and I’m here to ask you some questions.”

Detective Tsukauchi pulled out a recording device and set it on the table before pressing the start button, “Please state your name for the record.”

“Denki Kaminari.” Denki decided that he would play along for the time being, since he was trapped anyway and the LOV most likely didn’t know about his capture yet. 

“Are you the villain known as Salvator?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, before continuing questioning, I want to inform you that my quirk is a lie detector quirk, so I’ll know whether you lie in response to any of the following questions. I also need verbal answers for every question so that it can be on the record.”

“Okay.”

“Before I ask anything, Aizawa here wants to question you first.”

Denki looked to Aizawa and waited for him to start asking questions. Aizawa looked at him with a fierce gaze, and Denki tried not to squirm under the pressure of the stare. 

“Kaminari, why did you do this? Didn’t you want to become a hero? You were in U.A. for a reason. Were the things you said in your speech your true feelings?”

“It’s just as I said in my speech. I’m continuing Stain’s work and ridding the world of fake heroes. I am a hero to everyone who has been shunned by our flawed society. Only those who have never felt true desperation and fear call me a villain.”

“What led you to think like this?”

Denki looked silently at Aizawa, not wanting to answer his question. However, he knew that he had no choice but to answer. So he looked Aizawa directly in the eye as he smiled, “Mr. Aizawa, have you ever been chained up and starved for days on end? Have you ever been beaten with a beer bottle until you're bleeding so badly that all you can see is your own blood? Have you ever been left in negative degree weather overnight in only a loose tank top and shorts? Have you ever felt so helpless that you try drowning yourself only to wake up the next day like nothing ever happened? Have you ever wished to be saved, kneeling and praying for forgiveness and pleading for a hero, or anybody, to come and save you to the point that the skin on your knees is raw?”

Aizawa’s eyebrows rose in shock at Denki's words and his mouth fell open but no words came out, and so Denki continued talking, “Because I have. The only time I ever got to eat was when I was at school, but because of my home conditions, I was shunned at school and I had no safe place. So, I decided that I wanted to become a hero in order to save people like me. But when I got to U.A. I was met with people who don’t deserve the title of hero. That was when I learned of Stain and his ideologies. I felt hope for the first time. When Stain was arrested, I knew that I needed to carry on his mission. People may see me as a villain, and I’ll be honest, I wish that things hadn't gotten to this point, but sadly, sometimes people won’t change until drastic measures are taken.”

“Kaminari, I’m sorry that you went through such horrible conditions, but that is no reason to kill innocent people. Heroes can’t save everyone, and that is the cruel truth. It’s a truth that people don’t want to acknowledge, but it’s still there. I wish that I could’ve saved you, and I will have to live with the fact that I didn’t know you at your lowest points, and that no one else came to your aid, but that doesn’t erase or excuse the things you’ve done.” 

Aizawa reached across the table and patted where Denki’s hands would be if not covered by the handcuffs, “You have to understand that by killing all of these people, you’ve torn families apart. I read your record and so I know what happened with your mom and how you’ve been through the foster care system. I wish that I could’ve been there for you and guided you down a better path, but it’s too late for regrets now. You need to think of all of the people that heroes did save. Some of these heroes had children, and you’ve taken away their right to life and the right to be with their families. Think of Endeavor, and your classmate Todoroki. Because of you, he has lost his father. Just like you’ve lost your mom, and for the rest of his life he will never be able to see his dad or talk to him again. You took that option from him.”

Denki felt a painful throb in his heart as he realized the gravity of his actions. He hunched over in despair and dropped his head to rest on the table. He hadn’t thought of how his actions were affecting other people, and he thought back to how hopeless he’d felt after losing his mom. The pain that he still experienced even years later. He was no hero, he’d only continued a cycle of hurt. Now it was too late to do anything. He had to live with the blood that was now forever stained on his hands and on his name. 

“What have I done,” Denki cried out in despair as tears fell down his face. The tears stung as he kept his head down and continued sobbing. 

“Detective Tsukauchi, please undo his handcuffs. It’ll be alright. I can use my quirk if anything goes wrong.”

Denki heard the screech of a chair as he heard the sound of footsteps getting closer to him and he heard the click of a lock and the pressure on his wrists disappeared. In Denki’s confusion he kept his head down and continued crying, only half-aware of what had just happened. Aizawa’s voice shook him from his grief for a moment, “Kaminari, look at me and listen carefully.”

Denki looked up and sniffled as he tried to even out his breathing and listen to whatever Aizawa was going to say.

“There is a new program being set up for youths and villains that still have the potential to be reformed. I think that you are the perfect candidate to show the success of this program. You are showing remorse for your actions and you’re still young enough to be saved. So I’m going to propose that you join this program. You’ll go through special classes and community service, along with joining class 2-A in the upcoming school year and learning alongside your old friends and classmates. You’ll have a completely new identity and look, but this way you won’t be stuck in prison for your whole life. This program is a huge step forward for the justice system and corrections, and is still in its testing stage.”

“I-I can get a second chance?” Denki looked at Aizawa like he was dreaming, he didn’t deserve this chance, but he also felt that this was a perfect way to try and fix the damage that he’d done. He wanted more than anything to save people even now after everything that he’d done. This was a golden opportunity. Nobody would recognize him, and he’d have a clean slate.

“Yes, Kaminari, you can be a hero.”

For the next few months, Denki went through special reform classes alongside other people participating in the program. He was isolated in this program with no contact to the outside world other than with Aizawa who frequently checked up on his progress. Now, Denki sat across from Aizawa on his last day of special classes as he awaited his new identity. 

“You did good, Kaminari,” Aizawa smiled the tiniest bit as he looked at Denki, “Or I guess I should start calling you by your new name, Miyazaki Yuuma.”

“Miyazaki Yuuma,” Denki sounded out and let the name settle in the air for a moment, “I like that.”

“I’m glad,” Aizawa answered, “Now, we just need to change your appearance to match your new name.”

“I’m ready for whatever needs to happen,” Denki answered and did a fake salute. Aizawa got up from his seat and Denki jumped up to follow after him. They then went to a private salon where Denki got his hair cut and restyled. They also dyed his hair all black to hide his lightning bolt. As well as brown eye contacts so that nobody would question him or recognize him. Denki looked in the mirror after everything was done and didn’t even recognize the face looking back at him in his own reflection. 

Denki was good at adapting to his environment, and so he decided that he needed to change his personality as well. He decided that he would be the quiet type that didn’t say much. People would know that he was there for the villain reform program but nobody at U.A. would know his true identity except for his teachers and the principal. In order to ensure this, Aizawa and the people overlooking the program changed Denki’s quirk to a different name. Instead of his quirk being called Electrification, it was now called Lightning. Electric based quirks weren’t all that uncommon so Denki was still able to use his quirk without raising suspicion among his classmates or outsiders.

“You ready for this, kid?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you for the opportunity, I’ll do my absolute best,” Denki replied to Aizawa as they began walking from his office to the 2-A classroom. Denki felt nervous as they got closer to the classroom, he hadn’t seen his old classmates for almost 6 months now and the thought that they might recognize him made him feel nauseous. He tried his best to get his emotions under control as they came to a stop in front of the classroom door. Denki could hear the sound of voices laughing and loudly chatting with each other inside. This helped to put Denki at ease a bit, he felt that he could rest better at night knowing his actions had not affected his classmates too badly. 

Aizawa gave one last look to Denki before opening up the classroom door and addressing the people inside, “Everyone take your seats and quiet down. I have someone to introduce.”

Aizawa motioned for Denki to walk inside the classroom, which he did as he took his place next to Aizawa and turned to face the classmates that he hadn’t seen in so long. They all looked at him, not a hint of recognition on any of their faces. Denki scanned the class and took in all of their faces, he stopped when a familiar hint of purple caught his eye. He met eyes with none other than Hitoshi Shinsou who was staring at him intensely. Denki worried for a moment that Shinsou recognized him but before he could spiral, Aizawa caught his attention again, “This is a student that is being put through a villain reform program that is going through the testing stages. He is a trial participant, and also a new student in our class. Treat him like you would any other classmate, please introduce yourself.”

Denki put on an act of pretending to be quiet and reserved as he introduced himself with his new name, “Hello, it’s nice to meet you all. My name is Miyazaki Yuuma, and uh my quirk is Lightning. I hope that we can all get along.” 

With a bow, Denki went to take the empty seat that he was directed to. It happened to be right next to Shinsou. Denki wondered if the world was trying to get back at him by putting him in this situation. He wanted nothing more than to hug Shinsou and talk to him like he knew him, but that was impossible. He was supposed to be Miyazaki Yuuma, and Miyazaki Yuuma didn’t know Hitoshi Shinsou. So, he sat down and didn’t say anything to him. Aizawa fell asleep shortly after, which gave the class time to talk amongst one another. With this opportunity, everyone gathered around Denki’s desk and began asking him questions. Denki thought they would be wary because he was part of the villain reform program, but it seemed that no one was holding this against him. 

“Yuuma! It’s nice to meet you. My name is Mina Ashido! Let’s be friends!” 

“I’m Eijiro Kirishima!”

“I’m Hanta Sero!”

“If you need anything, talk to me. I am the class rep, Tenya Iida.”

Everyone took turns introducing themselves to him and asking him questions about what he liked to do for fun and where he was from. Denki answered all of the rehearsed answers he’d looked through when he got his new name. Denki was also grateful that nobody was asking about the elephant in the room, which was what he’d done to end up in the villain reform program. They probably assumed that he’d done something small like theft or something that didn’t even come close to the things that he’d done. However, he wouldn’t complain that no one was asking, he was happy that he didn’t have to get into that story. Denki was able to lie about everything pertaining to his identity, but when it came to his criminal record, he was forced by the law to inform people of what he was being charged for.

As Denki talked to his classmates and did his best to keep up the shy persona, he felt eyes on him the whole time. These eyes belonged to Hitoshi Shinsou who silently observed him. Even when everyone took their seats and Present Mic came in to teach English, Denki still felt Shinsou’s eyes on him. He didn’t understand why Shinsou was just staring at him, there was no way that he recognized him. Denki did his best to ignore the stares and tried to focus on taking notes and not giving up his identity. 

The school day ended without anything interesting happening, it was nice. Nothing had changed since he’d left. As Denki thought this, he was stopped in his tracks by a familiar voice calling out to him, “Hey, you!”

Denki turned around to look at the owner of the voice and saw Shinsou looking at him. He wondered for a moment if he had it wrong, but as soon as he turned around, Shinsou ran to catch up with him.

“I need to talk to you,” Shinsou said to him with a blank face, Denki was confused on why Shinsou would want to talk to him, it’s not like he knew who he was. He was just Miyazaki Yuuma, an ex-villain who was trying to turn over a new leaf by participating in the villain reform program. Despite this, Denki wanted to know what he had to say, and so he nodded his head and followed as Shinsou turned to walk toward the direction of the dorms. They walked in silence as they made their way to Shinsou’s dorm room. As soon as they got inside Shinsou walked over and sat on his bed. Denki stood for a moment unsure what to do, but sat next to Shinsou after he patted the spot beside him. Denki looked around Shinsou’s room as a bout of nostalgia washed over him. He hadn’t been here in so long. He took a deep breath as a familiar smell entered his nostrils. The smell of coffee and lavender. He loved it. He was violently pulled back to reality as soon as Shinsou opened his mouth.

“I know that Miyazaki Yuuma isn’t your real name.” 

….what?

“Wh-what do you mean,” Denki felt his hands begin to sweat as he laughed awkwardly and turned away from Shinsou unable to meet his eye. 

“Denki,” Shinsou began but Denki couldn’t comprehend anything else that followed. Did he just call me Denki? How does he know? What should I do? 

“Are you listening?” Shinsou asked as he waved his hand in front of Denki’s face. Denki snapped out of his train of thought and just stared at Shinsou dumbfounded. There was no point in trying to deny it since he’d already said his name straight to his face.

“How?”

“What do you mean?”

“How did you know it was me?”

“Denki, no matter how much time passes or how different you look, I’ll always know it’s you.”

“How is that even possible? I look so different. I even have a different name,” Denki continued reasoning, this whole thing felt like some sick joke. He didn’t want to get his hopes up. 

“I love you,” Shinsou responded, “The moment you walked into the classroom, I felt like there was a force pulling me to you. You looked so familiar to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it at first. Your voice, the way that you carried yourself, and your eyes all left me feeling a sense of familiarity. But I wasn’t sure until you sat down next to me. You might’ve thought you were doing a good job at pretending to be someone else, but your habits didn’t change at all. You still tap your pencil the same exact way and you have this look on your face while studying. All of these things told me that you are my Denki.”

“And here I thought I was doing an amazing job at being someone else,” Denki muttered under his breath to hide his embarrassment and the butterflies that were overtaking his stomach. 

“I tried to visit you while you were in prison, but I was told that it wasn’t allowed,” Shinsou said in a sad tone as he looked at Denki with what could only be love. 

“You didn’t have to visit,” Denki replied, he wasn’t sure how to react to the love being given to him. He thought that he’d long since lost his chance to be with Shinsou. He hadn’t anticipated this situation. 

“I wanted to,” Shinsou grabbed Denki’s hands in his, “I’ve missed you so much Denki. I’ve wanted nothing more than to see you again and tell you how sorry I am for making you come out and meet me. I had no idea that I was followed, I’m so sorry. Denki, I never meant to betray you like that.”

“Hitoshi, you have no reason to apologize,” Denki cut off Shinsou as he looked at him, “I was gonna get caught eventually. You were just a pawn in the plan. Don’t waste any more time thinking about it. You’ve done nothing wrong. Even if you did know they were following you, which before you say anything, I trust and believe you when you say you didn’t, I still wouldn’t hold anything against you. You’re a future hero. That’s just another day on the job.”

“You’re a future hero too, Denki.”

“I don’t think I have the right to be a hero.”

Shinsou didn’t say anything more, he just pulled Denki into a hug. The hug was so warm and familiar that it said words that neither of them could even phrase. They stayed like that for a while before Denki heard his phone buzz. He pulled away from Shinsou to answer the call. 

“Hello?”

“Where are you kid?”

“Oh, Mr. Aizawa. I’m sorry I know I was supposed to be back by now, but Hitoshi caught me as I was leaving and asked to talk to me. I’ll be back soon. I’m sorry.”

“Okay, bring Hitoshi with you.”

With that, Aizawa hung up. Denki turned to Shinsou who looked at him with confusion, “Why did Mr. Aizawa call you?”

“As part of my program, I need a hero who can supervise me and report back to the police about my progress. He offered to look after me, and so I’m staying at his house so he can keep a better eye on me. He asked me to invite you to come with me.”

“Okay.” Shinsou said without even questioning why. Denki decided not to question it either, and walked with Shinsou to where he would be staying for the duration of the program.

As they walked up to Aizawa’s front door, Denki couldn’t help the confusion that filled his thoughts as Shinsou walked up to the front door and lifted up the welcome mat, reaching for the house key, and unlocking the front door like he’d done it millions of times before. Denki didn’t even have time to question it before Shinsou opened the door and stepped aside to let Denki walk in first. Denki hesitantly walked through the front door, this was his first time being in Aizawa’s house since before he’d been staying in the reform program’s dorm. 

That was why Denki felt his jaw drop when he entered the house and was met with the warm scenery of a home cooked meal waiting at the dining table, and Present Mic calling out a “Welcome home!” from the kitchen where he was finishing up some last minute dinner preparations. Aizawa was also in the kitchen grabbing some dishes from a cabinet to set out on the table. (Denki knew there was something going on between Present Mic and Aizawa!)

Shinsou took off his shoes and set them aside neatly before walking further into the house, Denki followed after him like a lost puppy. 

“I’m home,” Shinsou said as he made his way into the kitchen. Present Mic stopped what he was doing to pull Shinsou into a warm hug. Aizawa smiled at the scene from where he was standing. Denki felt an out of body experience as he just stood there trying to piece the scene together. 

That’s when Present Mic noticed Denki, “Hello, Kaminari,” He smiled warmly and it made Denki feel like he wanted to shrink away. He wasn’t worthy of such a kind, welcoming smile, “Or would you prefer I call you by your new name?”

Aizawa snapped his head toward Present Mic at the mention of Denki’s real name, before he nudged Present Mic and glanced toward where Shinsou was. Present Mic realized his slip-up and slapped his hand over his mouth. Shinsou laughed at the display before he spoke up, “Don’t worry, dad. I already figured it out.”

Both pro-heroes looked at Shinsou in shock before Aizawa asked, “How?”

“I know Denki.”

Aizawa sighed before he continued talking, “I figured that’s why you were with Kaminari when I called him. You’ve always been extremely perceptive.”

Denki was so caught up in the conversation that he almost didn’t notice the way Shinsou referred to Present Mic, almost , “Wait, wait, wait, did you just call Present Mic ‘dad’ ?”

“Well, yeah. I told you about my dads didn’t I?” Shinsou asked, looking confused. Denki grasped Shinsou by his shoulders, “Yeah but you didn’t tell me your dads were our teachers?!”

“I guess I did forget to mention that little detail,” Shinsou replied as he laughed at Denki’s reaction. Aizawa and Present Mic also laughed along with him.

After the initial shock, Denki fell into a comfortable rhythm and felt like he belonged in this three person family’s little world. He laughed with them as they all talked and ate dinner together. He felt his inner child being healed as the night went on. His whole life, Denki had suffered and fought to survive whether he lived with his dad or in one of the many foster homes he’d been forced into staying at. He hadn’t felt the warmth of a family since his mom passed away. 

The closest he thought he’d get was with the LOV who he’d found a family in, but that was short lived. The thought of the LOV made Denki’s heart ache. He wanted to reach out and check on them. He wanted to be back in that hideout and laugh with Toga about how bad Twice was at video games. He wanted to talk to Dabi about life, he wanted to ask him if anything happened with the guy he liked. He wanted to give Dabi the hope of a better life that Aizawa had given him. He didn’t know all of the details of Dabi’s past, but he did know that it wasn’t great. He felt that Dabi and him had suffered through similar experiences, and because of this he felt like he could relate to Dabi. He was like the older brother that he’d always wanted. 

For the first time in Denki’s life, he felt that maybe he did deserve this life he was given. He felt that his suffering was finally paying off. He’d done things that he couldn’t take back and that was something that he would have to live with for the rest of his life. Still, he thought that maybe he should allow himself to feel love and warmth; The kind that would last.

With this thought Denki continued his life with the Aizawa and Yamada household. He got into a comfortable routine of living with them in their house that smelled like coffee. He continued going to U.A. and he did his best to become a hero that could save everyone, even if it would never erase his past actions. He got along with his classmates and fell back into a familiar rhythm with Shinsou. They were inseparable once again. Denki felt as if there was an invisible string that tied them to each other. 

Denki’s love for Shinsou grew by the day, everytime he thought that he couldn’t love Shinsou anymore than he did, he would be proven wrong and fall even deeper for the purple haired boy. He knew that Shinsou felt the same way, since he himself said so one day after school as they hung out in Denki’s room after eating dinner with Aizawa and Present Mic. 

“Denki, I think I’ll love you forever,” Shinsou blurted out, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over them after they finished laughing over some dumb joke Denki had made. Denki froze for a moment at the declaration before he turned to Shinsou and locked eyes with him. Shinsou’s eyes were filled with pure, genuine love. Before Denki could think of something to say in response, Shinsou continued talking, “I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. I want to follow you through every time, place, and universe. Ever since I was young, I thought that I’d never find someone to love me so I would push people away and try to act like it didn’t bother me. But then you came into my life, and I don’t think I can ever let you go. Please stay with me, Denki.”

Denki's heart pounded wildly in his chest and he felt butterflies in his stomach as he took in Shinsou’s words. Denki felt as though he didn’t deserve this love, but he knew that part of growing as a person included making peace with yourself and your past. This didn’t mean Denki would forget what he’d done or not spend the rest of his lifetime making up for his past actions, but he thought that maybe, he needed to forgive himself and allow himself to feel loved. 

So, he made the easiest decision of his life and he grabbed hold of Shinsou’s hands, “I’ll stay with you no matter what. I love you too, Hitoshi. I don’t want to be apart from you either.”

With this, Denki pulled Shinsou into a warm embrace and brought their lips together. The kiss wasn’t long, but it held a love that was eternal, a promise that they would keep until the end of time and even past then. 

Denki felt as though his life was going better than he could’ve ever hoped. He was back with Shinsou officially and his grades were improving way more than they had when he was still known as “Denki Kaminari”. He was also doing well in all of the hero training exercises. But of course, if there was one thing Denki Kaminari knew it was that his life never went the way that he wanted it to, and that fact still stood even if he had the new identity of “Miyazaki Yuuma”. 

Class 2-A was out doing some community service work when a villain attack took place out of nowhere. One moment they were cleaning up a park and chatting happily with the civilians, and the next a purple warp gate opened and the class was being attacked. Denki looked toward the familiar warp gate and saw faces he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen up close again. Yet there they were, the LOV, in the flesh. He wanted to go up and talk to them, laugh like old times, but he was a hero student in training, and his job was to fight them. He wasn’t Salvator anymore. He was a hero. And they were the villains. Denki didn’t think they were villains though. 

Denki shook these unnecessary thoughts from his head and got ready to fight. He needed to protect the civilians. That’s what a hero does. As his class fought against the villains, Denki found himself in a 1v1 with Dabi. He put his feelings aside and began dodging Dabi’s fire and tried to incapacitate him without hurting him too badly. The more Denki dodged, the angrier Dabi got. Denki ended up getting up close and swept at Dabi’s legs, making him lose his balance. During this, Denki got caught in the fall as well and they both went tumbling down a hill that neither had realized they were next to. 

The two fell and got separated from everyone else. Denki got into a fighting position, expecting Dabi to recover quickly and continue the fight, however, he was met with Dabi looking at him with his jaw dropped and he looked at Denki in bewilderment before he blurted out, “Salvator?!”

Denki was caught off guard, he hadn’t been referred to in that way in almost a whole year. The name felt foreign to him. Despite this, Denki couldn’t help the look of shock that went across his face, how did Dabi know it was him?

Denki decided not to play dumb and instead responded, “Long time no see, Dabi.”

“It really is you!” 

Dabi sat up and threw his hands in a surrender motion as he looked at Denki with a surprised look, which Denki supposed was fair enough, as far as the LOV knew, Denki was locked away in Tartarus. Yet now here he was back at U.A. fighting the ones he once thought of as family. Denki fell on the ground next to Dabi, he didn’t want to fight him. 

“How’d you know it was me?”

“Your fight style,” Dabi replied without hesitation. He smiled at Denki and gave him a light punch on his arm.

“Damn both you and Hitoshi know me too well,” Denki huffed out a laugh as he crossed his arms and pretended to look annoyed. Dabi laughed at Denki’s reaction as he gave Denki a familiar smile, “Is Hitoshi your boyfriend? The one you’d mentioned before?”

“Yup, that’s him. I look completely different, I’ve even got a different name, yet the first day I returned to U.A. he knew it was me. He said my facial expressions were a dead giveaway.”

“So you’re really back in U.A.?”

“Yup, I’m in a villain reform program. My new name is Miyazaki Yuuma. My hero name is Lightningrod, since I couldn’t keep the hero name Chargebolt and Salvator is also a no for obvious reasons.”

“I’m happy for you,” Dabi said as he took in Denki’s appearance, he really did look like a hero, “You know, I don’t think I ever told you this, but I used to want to be a hero. When I was younger, my dad wanted me to surpass All Might and so he had me train tirelessly, but my quirk rejected my body. So, one night I went to train by myself. I didn’t tell my dad what I was up to, and my quirk consumed me, it burned my skin. Everyone thought that I died, and so when I awoke my family wasn’t there to greet me, my dad just moved on to his next victim. I went back to my house to show my family, my dad, that I was still alive. But instead of a tearful reunion, I watched as he trained my littlest brother as if I never existed. I thought that he’d learn from his mistakes and he’d go easier on everyone else, but there he was training Shoto.”

“Shoto? As in…”

“Yeah, I’m a Todoroki. My real name is Touya Todoroki, but I reject anything that connects me to Endeavor, even if he is dead now, so I abandoned that name and now I live my life as Dabi.”

Denki hadn’t expected Dabi to carry such a backstory. The two sat in silence as they realized how much their lives had changed, and how they now were on opposite sides of a war neither asked for. Denki thought about how this was probably the last time he’d ever be able to talk to Dabi like this and felt a heaviness in his heart.

“Maybe in another life we could be like real brothers, who aren’t forced by our circumstances to fight against each other,” Denki sighed softly as he rested his head on Dabi’s shoulder, taking in the last peaceful moment they’ll ever be allowed to have together.

“I’d like that,” Dabi replied in a voice just as soft and quiet.

For a moment, the sounds of everyone else fighting became a quiet background noise, and it was just the two of them. Even if they weren’t related by blood, they were tied together like kindred spirits. Brothers by choice, not by blood, doomed in this lifetime to play opposite roles. 

Suddenly all sound came rushing back into Denki’s ears and he heard his name being called, at the same time, he heard the sounds of Shigaraki calling for a retreat. Once again, their time was cut short.  

Denki and Dabi both stood up, and Denki waved to Dabi and mustered up the biggest smile he could, he didn’t want to part with tears, “Goodbye, Dabi. I wish you all the best.”

“Goodbye, Lightningrod.”

Denki thought that maybe he wasn’t meant to have everything. Afterall, a hero can't save everyone. He wished that he and Dabi had met earlier. Maybe they could’ve changed each other’s fates and been heroes together, opening a hero agency and sharing more memories with one another. Maybe they could’ve been kids longer together, sharing inside jokes and talking about their love lives. But Denki knew thinking about this wouldn’t get him anywhere, and so he forced himself to break his eyes away from Dabi.

Just like that, they went back to not being a part of each other’s lives.

As Denki ran back toward his class, he felt he was running toward his future, one he thought he’d never get. Denki was lucky to have found Shinsou who loved him unconditionally and would be by his side forever, and he was lucky to have been given a second chance by Aizawa who looked after him like he was his own kid. 

No matter what the future held, as Denki interlocked his fingers with Shinsou, he was filled with a sense of gratefulness to have met someone as wonderful and caring as Hitoshi Shinsou.

“I love you so much, Hitoshi,” Denki said with a smile as he and Shinsou walked hand in hand toward their future. Together.