#we also know dazai can control his heart rate at will so maybe he can drop his pulse to zero for like thirty secs | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bungou-stray-dingus · 5 years ago

Note

Could I request headcanons of Chuuya with a girlfriend who is shorter than him, plays a lot of instruments(Piano, flute, violin, percussion, I guess singing counts too?) professionally, and is sun allergic? I’m sorry if it’s too much!

FOR BB!! Also hell yeah for marching band!! I miss my marching band days.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING THIS AS MUCH AS I ENJOYED WRITING IT!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

High School AU

You sat in the back of the music room, waiting for the teacher to give the signal that it was time to head out onto the field. It was the first game of the season, the Homecoming Game, also known as the most important football game of the year. The sun was still setting, but just there enough to cause your eyes to water and you to start sniffling.

“You alright?” Chuuya came up to you, the drum sticks tried under his arm. He was so cute in his marching band uniform, and you had secretly been crushing on him since the first day you saw him. The two of you had managed to become super close, and you hoped deep down that he would ask you to the homecoming dance.

He waved his hand in front of your face, pulling you out of the daydream daze you were in and you shook your head, giving him an awkward chuckle. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. The sun is just setting off my allergy. Hopefully it’ll be fully set before we go out on the field.” You gave him a sheepish smile and he looked out the window then back to you.

“Oh yeah, do you need a tissue? We can’t afford to lose our best percussionist.” He smiled back to you and you felt your cheeks heat up.

“Uhm, first thing, your flirting sucks, and second, marimba isn’t percussion. Duh.” Dazai’s voice broke through, and you watched as he brought the trumpet up to his lips, trying to play it as he walked closer.

“Dude, shut up! Also, the marimba is definitely a percussion instrument. How did you even make it into this class. Who’s trumpet is that?” Just seeing Dazai had Chuuya on the verge of a fit of rage. His last question was answered when Kunikida ran over to where Dazai was standing, blowing into the mouth piece, producing a bunch of spit but no sound.

“Dammit Dazai, now I’m gonna have to disinfect it.” Kunikida said, snatching the instrument from Dazai’s hands with a look of disgust. “Also, the marimba is definitely a percussion instrument.” He added before walking away, mumbling under his breath about how disgusting it is to use someone else’s mouthpiece.

“I don’t know what his problem is.” Dazai shrugged, then looked down at you. “You look very good in the uniform by the way, Y/N.” His voice was suggestive and if it were possible, Chuuya would have smoke coming out of his ears, he looked so pissed at Dazai’s comment.

“SHE ALREADY KNOWS THAT!” He shouted, smacking Dazai with one of the drumsticks. “Y/N, you look great.” He said, and you dropped your head to try to hide your blushing face.

“Dude, why not ask her out already.” Dazai said, dodging Chuuya’s second hit. “I’m just saying!” He held his hands up as he backed away. “You guys would be soooo cute together.”

“I... He.... heh... let’s get your instrument down to the field?” Chuuya stumbled over his words, obviously put in an awkward situation and he didn’t know how to react at all. “Kenji, give us a hand?” Chuuya called to him from across the room. The saxophone player was rather strong considering his small build. He easily lifted the other end of the instrument with no sign of a struggle, he didn’t even break a sweat.

You sat on the bleachers with Chuuya, waiting for the other members of the band to come out. Chuuya situated himself between you and the light of the setting sun to help keep your eyes from watering. “Are you nervous?” He asked, noticing your fingers tapping nervously against your lap. He placed his hand over yours to keep you from tapping, and you felt the blush rise into your cheeks again. “There’s no need to be nervous, most of these people talk over our playing anyway.”

“I-I’m not nervous, I just...” You noticed he was staring at you, his eyebrows raised, obviously not fooled by your lie. “Alright... maybe I am. But...”

“I’ll be right next to you the entire time.” He whispered, his thumb rubbing circles into the back of your hand. It made your heart rate spike and you tried to keep your heavy breathing to a minimum. “Oh, looks like everyone’s coming down now. Are you ready?” He asked and you nodded quickly.

Everyone lined up on the field, getting into the formation that had been practiced multiple times over the last two months. The sun had finally set, but that was the least of your worries at this point. All the lights, all the eyes on you, it had you sweating profusely. Chuuya looked down at you and noticed how pale you had turned, the tiny beads of sweat that were forming on your forehead considering how chilly it was. “Psst.... hey.” He whispered just loud enough for you to hear. You looked up to him, his smile seemed brighter than any of the lights on the field. “Keep your eyes on me, whenever you feel nervous, just look at me. Okay?” His voice was soothing and you felt yourself relax a little.

You and your instrument were in the center of the field, the rest of the band had circled around you, but you kept your eyes on Chuuya, his red hair peaking out of the hat let you know that it was definitely him. You felt a pair of eyes on the back of your head and you turned around to see that it was Dazai. He licked his lips and winked at you before wrapping his mouth around the mouthpiece of the saxophone. You faced back to your teacher quickly, his hands were in the air as he waited for everyone to get ready. Then they dropped, and the sound of everyone’s instruments filled the field. The band started to move, walking in sync to the rhythm of the music and your eyes focused in on Chuuya, you could pick out the sound of his instrument through the sound of everyone else’s. When his solo came up you couldn’t fight the grin that spread across your face, hearing him play, it was pure talent. His drum solo was absolutely flawless, and you almost missed your time to start playing again, you were so entranced by his playing.

The football game started and the band took their seats at the far end of the bleachers, all the instruments and their cases littered the ground in front of the seats. You were sat between Akutagawa and Chuuya who talked across you about how football was meaningless. The crowd roared when the team scored a touchdown and Akutagawa groaned. “They didn’t cheer like that when we were done playing. They don’t appreciate the art that is playing an instrument.” Chuuya nodded at Aku’s words.

“Well I think we played really well tonight!” Tanizaki chimed in, leaning forward so he was peaking between yours and Chuuya’s shoulders.

“Heck yeah! We were awesome tonight!” Atsushi added, patting Chuuya’s back. “Oh, where’s Ranpo?” Atsushi asked, looking around the bleachers.

“He went to the snack stand. You want to go?” Tanizaki asked and Atsushi nodded. Akutagawa, Kenji, and Kunikida followed behind them.

You shivered as a breeze blew through the stands, and Chuuya wrapped his arm around your shoulder. You leaned against him, he was so warm and you enjoyed the feeling of his arm around you. “Awwww. You guys are so cute. Can you just ask her already!?” Dazai’s voice broke through, ruining the serene moment. You sighed and moved away as Chuuya did a 180 and turned to face Dazai who was sitting two stands up.

“Will you just shut up for once? God, you’re so annoying!” Chuuya argued, and you could see how agitated he was when Dazai just laughed. Chuuya’s cheeks burned red when he turned back around, he was breathing heavy as he tried to control his anger.

“You should just ignore him. He’s trying to make you mad.” Dazai’s laughter ringed in your ears as you tried to help calm Chuuya. He sighed loudly before standing up and stepping over your legs.

“You wanna take a walk?” He asked, waiting for you to follow him. Dazai’s clapping and cheering irked the both of you, and you saw Chuuya clench his fists as he walked a little faster, most likely to get away from Dazai as fast as possible so he wouldn’t punch him.

He held the doors open for you as you walked into the school. The empty building brought peace now instead of the anxiety that usually came along with the over congested hallways. It was quiet, and your footsteps with Chuuya’s seemed to echo down the long halls. Even your breathing seemed to be amplified by the emptiness.

“Chuuya...”

“Y/N...” You both spoke at the same time and you let out an awkward giggle that matched his own. “Oh sorry, you can go first.”

“No, no, what were you going to say?” You asked, stopping at the stairwell and taking a seat on the bottom step. Now that the two of you were alone you could hear your heart beating in your ears, your entire body felt warm as his eyes lingered on your face.

“Are you... uh... going to homecoming?” He asked, refusing to sit down. He was standing in front of you, biting his lip as he waited for your answer. You shook your head no and he smiled a little. “Oh... well... would you maybe want to... I don’t know... go with me?” Your stomach did a somersault as his words registered in your brain.

“Like, as friends?” You asked, hoping that he’d say no. He shrugged and finally took a seat next to you.

“I mean... if you want to go as friends.... but....” He wasn’t able to finish his sentence. The sound of footsteps racing down the hallway startled the both of you.

Tachihara turned the corner and spotted the two of you and he sighed. “Man, teach is freaking out because of you two. We’re about to go on for half time.” He was out of breath from running and you found it hard to hold back your laughter seeing him so flustered.

“Sorry dude, we’re coming.” Chuuya said, stifling his own laughter.

The three of you sprinted through the empty hallways, bursting through the double doors. You took your place on the field where the rest of the band was already in formation. Your teacher scowled at you and Chuuya, but that wasn’t even the worst. Dazai’s smug smirk put you on edge and you couldn’t shake the awkward, uneasy feeling his look gave you.

Chuuya’s words replayed in your mind over and over as you watched him move across the field. What was he going to say after the but? You wished that Tachihara hadn’t barged in at such a bad time, now you were left with the overwhelming feeling of nervousness at Chuuya’s unfinished sentence.

The music faded, and the band ran off the field as the crowd erupted with applause as the football teams sprinted out on the field. Everyone began packing away their instruments, ready to finish up the night and go home. You held Chuuya’s tenor drums as he and Kenji worked to carry in your marimbas. The two walked ahead as you stayed behind talking with Tanizaki and Atsushi who were taking apart their clarinets. “So where were you and Chuuya anyway?” Tanizaki asked, genuinely curious as he was highly worried when they couldn’t find you at first.

“Well... we were-“ You began but Dazai jumped in again.

“You two were probably making out in an empty stairwell. Ha! So cool, didn’t know you had it in you Y/N.” He said, leaning closer to you. “You know if Chuuya won’t ask you out-“

“Shut up Osamu.” You mumbled, pulling away from his whispering lips that were far too close to your ear.

“I like when you say my name like that.” He winked at you before walking away. Akutagawa shook his head as he looked after Dazai.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s just a typical upperclassman. He probably hasn’t even had a girlfriend.” Tanizaki said, patting your shoulder to try to make you feel less upset about what he had said.

“Yeah, he acts like he’s....” You stopped listening to them, you just wanted to get back up to the classroom and put your stuff away so you could go home.

Chuuya was waiting for you next to the door to the classroom, he had already changed out of his uniform, his backpack slung over one arm as he scanned the hallways, his eyes lit up when he spotted you. He took his drums from your hands and took them to the back of the class and you followed him. “You took a while, I was starting to get worried that Dazai got to you until he came up.” He chuckled, but you could hear that the thought alone made him uncomfortable. “I’ll let you get changed.” He reminded you that you were still wearing your uniform and you nodded, grabbing your backpack and heading to the restroom to change.

You stared at yourself in the mirror, suddenly self conscious about the way you looked. You so badly wanted Chuuya to like you, as more than a friend. Whenever you were around him you felt like you couldn’t breathe, he was so perfect and there was nothing more that you wanted than to call him your boyfriend. You didn’t know how he felt though, and you were way too nervous to ask him. You walked out of the bathroom, heading back to the music room to wait for your ride. Chuuya had probably already left, you would never find out what would come after the but. Even if you were to go to homecoming as friends, there was nothing bad about that, you would still be with him... right?

Taking a seat on the piano bench, you dropped your bag to the floor next to you and began playing a song that you had made up on the spot. It started out cheery, lilting and fun, then it slowly turned more solemn, kind of how you felt whenever you were with Chuuya. He was always able to cheer you up, he made you happy, he made you smile, whenever he would hug you it felt like your heart would explode out of your chest. Even with all of that though, you knew that there would never be anything more to your relationship. You would never be able to walk down the halls with your hand intertwined with his, giving him a quick kiss after he drops you off at your class. There would be no cute couple photos taken in photo booths filling the front of your binder.

Your fingers slid from the piano keys and rested by your side. “That was beautiful, I’ve never heard the song before. What song is it?” His voice was soft, he was hoping not to surprise you by coming in, and he was glad that he got to listen to you play. He never knew that you could play the piano, but that was just another thing he could add to the list of things you did that amazed him.

“I uh... I made it up.” You said, turning around in the bench to face him. “I thought you had already left.”

“No... I never got the chance to finish what I was saying earlier.” He rubbed the back of his head nervously, biting his cheek as he thought of how to word what he was going to say next. “I uhm... I didn’t want to just go as friends. I wanted to know if.... maybe you would like to be my girlfriend?” He asked, his voice rising an octave with each word.

You were shocked that he had asked, you had never thought that he felt that way about you. You couldn’t even manage to say yes, so you nodded, you nodded so fast that it made your head hurt. He laughed at your reaction, stepping forward to stand in front of you. He grabbed your hand and pulled you up off the bench, wrapping his arms tightly around your waist. It was different from the friendly hug he’d usually give you whenever he saw you in the hallways at school.

“Do you know how long I’ve been wanting to ask you that?” He asked quietly, his lips brushing the top of your head. The feeling sent shivers down your spine and you sighed as you rested your head against his chest.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to ask?”

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yellowcanna · 4 years ago

Text

Two Sides, Same Coin

Summary: Since the beginning of Quirks, Yokohama has announced independence from Japan and closed itself from the rest of the world.

To this day and age, no one knows what lies within the city of Yokohama—or that was what the public was made to believe. In reality, Yokohama has long fallen into the control of the world’s largest criminal organization known as the Port Mafia.

Follow Class 1-A as their principal organized a field trip to Yokohama! In their short trip there, they must change their perspectives and learn exactly what it means to be justice and what it means to be villains.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, hint of shounen-ai (boy love)

Pairing: Contains mild Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya) and Shin Soukoku (Akutagawa x Atsushi) if you squint

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Available on AO3!!

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◅ PREV MAIN NEXT ▻

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CHAPTER 14

STRAYS (NIGHT 3: TUESDAY)

This story has been beta'd by Momentary_Flight, Nanami_ontheShore, Shady Spades

Dazai sat comfortably in his seat as he looked towards the stage, his eye meeting a pair of sky blue ones. Bathed within the red light, nobody noticed the faint trail of a crimson glow slowly disappearing from the singer’s body.

Chuuya was smiling at the crowds and even talked to some of the audience that ran too close to the stage despite the line of waiters holding them back. Somewhere in the back, someone even threw him a can of beer, which he caught with ease before waving in that direction.

The man down there was like a star shining brilliantly in the night sky.

Yet only Dazai knew that, right now, every movement Chuuya made was carefully calculated. No matter how he stood or where he was seemingly looking towards, he made sure that Dazai was well within his sight. Despite how relaxed he may look, there was no question that the Executive would spring into action the second danger towards his boss was detected.

Chuuya walked off the stage, tossing the microphone to Tachihara who took his place.

The music picked up again, pulling the crowd's attention away from Chuuya as the redhead made his way back into the VIP section.

As soon as Chuuya returned, Dazai dismissed the guards around him, leaving the space for only the two of them.

The brunet patted his knees, but the redhead stopped right in front of him with his arms crossed.

“What’s wrong, Chuuya?” Dazai blinked his large, chocolate brown eye at his lover expectantly. “You were so docile before!”

“You want to see how docile I am?” Chuuya gritted, cracking his knuckles to loosen his joints.

“You never know who might be watching, we need to keep the act up!”

“There’s no one watching,” Chuuya retorted.

“They could from that giant hole in the wall.”

“You mean that?” Chuuya huffed proudly as he gestured towards the wall he had thrown the League of Villains through. The hole was already filled up by broken pieces of bricks, smashed together and squeezed into the hole until not even the smallest gap could be found.

“Uwaah…” Dazai made a disgusted face. “I bet interior designers all over the world are crying in joy that Chuuya didn’t become a construction worker.”

“Hah?!” Chuuya felt a vein on his forehead throb. It was a miracle his veins haven't popped yet. "I'd like to see you do better, you shitty—mmh!”

While the Executive was distracted, Dazai reached up, a nimble finger hooking onto the silver ring on the redhead’s choker, and pulled him down. Chuuya stumbled as he fell over Dazai, but he swiftly put a knee between his boss’s legs and a hand on each side of the brunet’s head to stop them from colliding.

Chuuya moaned into a pair of lips that smothered against his, with a wet tongue slipping into his mouth without any warning. Rough, calloused hands caressed his hips before they slipped under his tank top to feel his abs.

The redhead shivered at the touch before pulling away.

Dazai didn’t stop him. He just sighed in disappointment and licked his lips that were moist from the shorter man’s saliva.

“You know, Chuuya.” He looked up to the redhead who was fixing his clothes despite how it didn’t matter since they were in a club and the other wasn’t in his usual suit. “Maybe I should demote you and have you become my personal dog. That way, I can have you on my lap day and night.”

“I would like to ask the boss to please reconsider, as the Port Mafia cannot afford to lose a valuable asset such as Chuuya-sama.”

The boss and his right-hand man turned to see an elderly man making his way up the stairs.

“Ah, Hirotsu-san,” Dazai greeted cheerfully, “did you enjoy your vacation?”

“It was quite eventful.” Hirotsu bowed to his boss before turning to Chuuya. “Your performance tonight was spectacular, Chuuya-sama.”

"At least someone appreciates my effort," Chuuya moved to stand by his boss's side.

“Well then, tell me about your reports, Hirotsu,” the Port Mafia boss said as he got comfortable in his chair.

Hirotsu reached into his coat and pulled out a large yellow envelope. Chuuya stepped forward to take it before passing it to his boss.

The first thing the two of them saw when Dazai pulled out the papers was the picture stapled on the first page. She was a young girl about the age of six or seven with bluish silver hair, crimson eyes, and a horn on the right side of her forehead.

“I have confirmed that the Shie Hassaikai is indeed creating a drug capable of destroying Quirks. The drug is created using the flesh of Chisaki Kai’s adoptive daughter, Eri.”

“Flesh?” Chuuya raised a brow. “So it’s a Quirk?”

“Yes. The girl’s Quirk is to rewind the time of living beings.”

"Which means with proper adjustments her Quirk can directly attack the virus within the host's bloodstream and completely erase the virus from the body without damaging the body itself," Dazai hummed as he flipped through the documents.

“It is quite similar to the vaccine first created when Quirk began to appear,” Hirotsu nodded.

“But now, those vaccines will only kill them,” Chuuya pointed out. “Since the second generation, the bodies of those outsiders started to merge with the virus and now it is part of their genetics. There's no way of reversing that process without killing them.”

“Yet this girl can rewind the time of the genetic structure of the body to separate the virus without taking their life.” Dazai smiled before his eye snapped to Hirotsu. “How far along is the development of this drug?”

“I would say at eighty percent," Hirotsu replied. “The current drug created by Shie Hassaikai can only temporarily remove a host’s Quirk for six to seven hours.”

“And?” Dazai tossed the documents onto the table. “Surely you’ve brought me the finished product.”

Hirotsu bowed before setting a black briefcase onto the table. He unlocked the case with a finger scanner then swiftly keyed in the passwords.

The case unlocked with a light click.

Spinning the briefcase around, Hirotsu laid it down and opened it to reveal five syringes. Each syringe was within a vacuum-sealed bag and filled with crimson fluid.

“During my infiltration, I had taken some of the incomplete drugs as well as some samples from the girl and brought it to the laboratory yesterday evening. These are the completed versions that the lab has created.”

“So they only needed one day to finish what Shie Hassaikai had been trying for years,” Chuuya snorted. Organized crime in the outside world is getting worse and worse as the years go by. It was also stupid of the Shie Hassaikai to sell the drug when it was still incomplete. Did they think they wouldn't catch unwanted attention? Or were they that confident in thinking they were the only ones capable of creating the drug just because they had the material?

Dazai reached forward and took out one of the syringes. He squinted his eyes to get a closer look at the drug inside. While the colour was the same as blood, the density was closer to water’s.

“Have these been tested on Ability users?”

"No," Hirotsu replied. “According to the head scientist, this drug only targets the body's DNA which the viruses reside in.”

“That I’m sure.” The brunet agreed as he put the syringe back into the case. “But nevertheless, we can never be too careful. Give these to Ryuunosuke-kun and have him test it out on Ability users. If by some miracle it does have the power to destroy Ability…”

Dazai’s eye narrowed, losing the warm light it held before and took a colder, crueler quality.

“Kill the girl and burn the Shie Hassaikai to the ground.”

“Yes, boss.” Hirotsu bowed. Recognizing his boss’s dismissal, he took his briefcase and headed off to complete the first task he was assigned since returning to work.

Chuuya watched Hirotsu leave before looking over to Dazai who was lazily flipping through the documents scattered on the table while humming a light tune.

“You seem pretty happy,” the redhead noted.

“Can you blame me?” Dazai grinned at his right-hand man. “It’s been a while since someone dared to blatantly scheme in front of me like that, especially when the schemer is as easy to read as an open book. I can’t help but play along~”

“Play along?” Chuuya narrowed his eyes, not believing a single word that came out of his boss’s mouth. “You mean manipulating them to play along with your shit? And don’t fucking tell me that making me sing on stage every Tuesday for the past three months was just for this!”

“How could you accuse me of that, Chuuya!” Dazai gasped with his hands flying over his heart. “I truly enjoyed watching you sing every night. Chuuya’s like a shining star on stage!”

Another vein popped out from Chuuya’s forehead. As much as he wanted to slam his fist into this man’s gut right here and now, he knew he couldn’t. They were in public, they had an image to keep up.

“So? What’s with those kids?” Chuuya snapped, changing the subject.

“Chuuya, even if they have eighth-grader syndrome with dreams of destroying the world, calling them kids is a bit—”

“I’m talking about those Hero kids,” Chuuya corrected. “The ones from U.A. You purposely led them here at this time and knew I would have no choice but to let them out the backdoor.”

“I did promise their principal to show them around Yokohama," Dazai smirked. “What kind of guide would I be if I didn’t let them enjoy Yokohama to the fullest?”

Chuuya snorted at the poor excuse. He didn’t care that Dazai didn't answer his question, as he already has a clue as to what that was about. After all, that person was doing his mission nearby. Although the chances of them accidentally running into one another were slim, if a certain scheming bastard manipulated this…

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Seven Months Ago—Port Mafia Headquarters

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BOOOOOOOOOOM

The sounds of explosions resonated through the air, shaking the entire building as dark smoke stretched towards the night sky.

“Fire! Shoot it down!”

“The barrier’s been damaged!”

“What are they doing?! Why isn’t the barrier restored yet?!”

“The system’s been jammed! We can’t operate it!”

"Another one's coming!"

"GET DOWN!!"

Within the darkness, a missile flew down from the sky, slicing through the wind as it aimed towards one of the five Port Mafia buildings. The missile slipped through the hole in the barrier the first missile had created, slamming into the side of the building as crimson flames erupted, followed by the sound of explosion.

Alarms echoed across the halls as sprinklers were immediately activated to put out the flames.

Men and women ran towards where the explosion had occurred to help put out the fire.

A man cloaked in black rushed down the hallway, his body almost becoming a blur as he flew down the stairs and arrived at the floors that had suffered the most from the explosion.

“Senpai!” a blond-haired woman gasped as she did her best to catch up to her superior. “Senpai! It’s too dangerous, please head back!” she shouted after him, but the man did not listen to her words.

The explosion had annihilated the hallways of three floors, but that wasn’t important at all. What’s important was the room at the end of the middle hallway.

He ran into the fire, one hand holding a cloth over his nose and mouth to protect his lungs from the heavy smoke. When he arrived at the room, his eyes flew wide at the metallic door that had been completely blasted off its hinge, distorted and leaning against the corner.

His cloak fluttered around him as he walked into the room. Silver eyes narrowed as he surveyed his surroundings. Aside from one side of the wall completely blasted away by the explosion, the remainder of the room was pretty much undamaged.

The man looked over to the bed, then to the collection of large stuffed animal toys. Activating his Ability, black tendrils shot out of his coat, stabbing into the bed, toys, and closets—tearing everything apart.

The blond woman finally caught up, panting heavily as she walked into the room. She wasn’t given the time to take in what the room looked like before her eyes shifted to the missing wall where the outside world was visible to her eyes.

“Senpai!” She cried as the man whirled around, looking up to the sky where a giant whale was swimming beneath the sea of stars.

They were only able to see the barrier around the headquarters materialize for a split second before multiple explosions blasted over the surface of the barrier. For a minute straight, the barrier was engulfed in flames, casting crimson light upon those inside the building.

Everyone shielded their eyes as the barrier protected the building from being touched by the scorching flames. When the flames finally disappeared, all that was left was the crumbling pieces of the barrier. When the raven-haired man looked back up to the sky, the whale was gone.

“So this was what they were after.” The man gritted his teeth as he stormed out of the room, stepping over a framed TV in the process, completely shattering the screen under the pressure of his foot. “Higuchi, send out an order. They couldn’t have gotten far with Q. Send out all men to find Q and kill them on sight.”

“Yes!” The woman hurriedly did as she was told. She tapped onto the Bluetooth in her right ear and commanded, “Abandon all battle stations! Q has been captured by the Guild! All personnel are to find Q and kill on sight!!”

From another building identical to the one that had suffered from the bombing, a man in a black suit and a red scarf stared at the bright flames lighting up the night.

“Boss, please step away from the window! The barrier is gone, it’s dangerous!” the men around him fretted, but the brunet just waved them off.

“It’s fine. They can’t see anything from the outside.”

“But—” The men looked like they wanted to argue, but a sharp glare from their boss silenced them as they remembered their place.

“Boss.”

“Ah, ane-san.” Dazai smiled when he saw Kouyou speed walking over to him. The men surrounding him backed away, making room for their Executive.

“Where’s Chuuya?” She furrowed her brows, instantly noticing the lack of a petite redhead. Ever since Chuuya had become Dazai’s right-hand man, the two were barely ever seen being apart.

“Chuuya is checking on the barrier," Dazai replied. “Do you need something, ane-san?”

"The Guild has Q," Kouyou informed her boss with a grave look on her face. “Please follow me into the safe room until the situation is dealt with.”

“Ah-ah~” Dazai sighed, but obediently followed Kouyou down the hall with men surrounding the two as protection. “I leave the headquarters’ defense to Ryuunosuke-kun and this is the result. Looks like he’ll need some more discipline once the Guild’s been dealt with.”

“The missiles accurately targeted the room Q was confined in,” Kouyou frowned, not as easy going as her boss. “I’m afraid we may have a traitor amongst us.”

“Hm…” Dazai hummed, “There’s no need to worry, ane-san. I’m sure everything will work out.”

Kouyou glanced over her shoulder to her boss. Questions were swirling in her eyes, but the Executive kept her silence and continued leading the way.

It was only after they began descending the spiral of stairs that she spoke again.

"The Guild has crossed the line by directly attacking us," Kouyou said as they arrived at the lowest floor. She waved off the men around them and led Dazai down a long hallway. “Do you still refuse to let us step in?”

“I told you, ane-san. Taking down the Guild is Atsushi-kun and Ryuunosuke-kun’s job,” Dazai said, stopping in front of a door. The two guards standing by the door bowed at his presence as Dazai’s fingers danced swiftly across the number pad.

After scanning his palm, the doors opened, one layer after another. The moment Dazai stepped inside, the doors slammed shut, clicking sounds echoing in the air as the locks were being put back into place.

Dazai strolled into the simple underground chamber. The most elaborate thing here was the bed and chandelier. He leaned over a handrail, humming as he gazed up at the chandelier hanging directly above his large bed. He should find some time to replace that obnoxious thing.

Dazai blinked, seeming slightly surprised before he stifled a small laugh.

“Four years ago, the first thing that would have come across my mind would be how perfect it is for hanging.” Dazai snorted at his own change as he walked to his bed and plopped onto the king-size mattress. Or perhaps he could sabotage the chandelier and have it fall on him while having a peaceful sleep.

“If you want to die that badly, I can come and finish you off,” a sarcastic voice came from the black Bluetooth in the Port Mafia boss’s ear. “How does the curb sound to you, shitty boss?”

“And leave Chuuya to become a widow?” Dazai smirked as he folded his hands behind his head. “I trust that you haven’t been caught?”

“Who the hell do you think I am?”

In the other building, a short man in a black suit and fedora kicked down the iron door. He emerged from his hiding spot with his hands tucked in his pockets. Despite the entire place being charred and dusty, there wasn’t a speck of dirt on his body.

“As if I’d get caught by that apprentice of yours,” Nahakara Chuuya snorted as he walked into the room that looked as if a beast had been rampaging in it. Everything that could hide a person had been violently torn apart and thrown onto the ground.

“Looks like I wasn’t needed,” he said, kicking away a small piece of cement by his feet. “But to think those bastards broke through the walls with just two missiles…!”

Chuuya clicked his teeth. Even if this was planned by Dazai, he didn’t like it one bit. The outer layer of the building was specially made to withstand at least sixty consecutive missiles! And for the protection barrier around the headquarters to be so easily blasted apart was another issue.

“It’s not surprising that their weapons are more advanced than ours. They don’t have a city like Yokohama to protect them in America, so the developments of their technologies are solely focused on weapons,” Dazai hummed, “Though they were still discovered and hunted for human experimentation.”

Chuuya frowned at that. He has heard of too many similar stories in the outside world.

Despite the seemingly peaceful relationship they have with Japan, the rest of the world treated Old Humans very differently. For one, the knowledge of Old Humans isn’t known to the whole world. Their existence had always been top secret in Japan and kept from the rest of the world. It’s only in the last century that it was no longer a state secret.

As society became more and more stable, there were always curious eyes turned towards the mysterious city. So occasionally, Yokohama would invite a selected few inside, allowing only one to walk back out and deliver information.

This was the only way to get those nosy governments to get rid of any weird ideas about Yokohama—like reclaiming it for example. By showing Yokohama as a threat, the Japanese government wouldn’t move recklessly, especially when they still have the issue of Villains. They couldn’t afford to create another enemy, and as long as they are left alone, Yokohama has no intention of waging war against them.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for other countries. Without a base to protect them, once discovered, Old Humans will easily be captured. Abilities are extremely rare and even if they were powerful, they cannot fight while protecting a whole community.

“If that’s the case, then won’t they blast the entire city to the ground?”

“They won’t,” Dazai replied with certainty, “Even if their technology in weaponry is a tad higher than ours, Fitzgerald isn’t stupid enough to think we won’t have a countermeasure against large scale attacks. And even if he is, he knows he won’t find what he’s looking for if the entire city is gone.”

Chuuya walked over to the open wall. He leaned forward, poking his head out a little so he could see the state of things below. Blue eyes sharply trailed over each man and their positions before the redhead leaned back and glanced to a torn blanket lying on the ground not far away.

“So who were the ones that took Q?” Dazai asked cheerfully. Chuuya was sure the other knew already, but responded anyway.

“It’s the two that engaged with that other apprentice of yours,” Chuuya said as he took out a small booklet from his pocket and flipped through the pages. “John Steinbeck and Howard Phillips Lovecraft. So far, we still can’t figure out what Ability the second guy has.”

“Then perhaps it’s not an Ability at all.”

“You mean he’s a Quirk user?” Chuuya didn’t believe it. After all, if that man was a Quirk user, he wouldn’t have slipped through the barrier.

“It doesn’t matter.” The redhead could hear the smirk behind his boss’s lips. “After tonight, they won’t be relevant.”

Chuuya didn’t ask what that meant as he picked up the cotton blanket and headed back towards the edge. Crimson light coated his body as Chuuya activated his Ability. With a stomp of his feet, the floor beneath his feet caved in. Chuuya threw the blanket around his body as he fell towards the ground.

The sight of the baby blue blanket falling attracted the attention of the men stationed nearby. They raised their guns and circled the blanket that had a bulge in the middle. One of the men stepped forward, gripping the corner of the blanket and ripping it away only to find that it was a piece of concrete.

To be sure, the men searched around the area. After making sure there wasn't anything suspicious, they returned to their posts.

Perched on a nearby tree, a certain Executive watched the sight with narrowed eyes.

“Bunch of morons. I’ll deal with them after this is over,” he muttered darkly before he turned and darted off. He easily made it across the street, undetected by the Port Mafia underlings that were on watch.

The more of them he successfully evaded, the more the redhead felt his blood boil. It seemed their training had been too lax. He'll need to have a long talk with Kouyou about creating a new program after this entire mess got cleaned up.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. With a quick scan of his fingerprint, the phone lit up with a map on the screen. Chuuya stared at the blinking red dot that was rapidly approaching. He looked towards that direction just in time to catch a blur of white darting across the street before it was gone.

“Dazai.”

“Yes, love?” Dazai’s voice whispered gently into his ear.

“If this plan of yours doesn’t work, I will kill Q.”

“Of course.”

◤━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◥

Present

◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢

“Who are you?” the child asked as mismatched eyes looked at the group of twenty people standing there.

They were all stunned at the sight of such a young girl—or perhaps a boy? Either way, this didn’t seem to be a place where they would find a child.

They automatically looked around, hoping to find the kid’s parents, but couldn’t see another soul in sight.

“We’re just some people who are a bit lost,” Uraraka laughed as she crouched down to get to the child’s height. “What about you? Where’s your mom and dad?”

“Mom and dad?” the child hummed, needing to take some time to think over that question before smiling back at them. “I don’t have one.”

“E-eh?” Uraraka’s jaw dropped. This was an answer neither she nor her classmates had expected. She frantically waved her hands as guilt consumed her. “I’m so sorry! I-I had no idea!”

"Sorry?" the child tested the word as if it was something foreign to them. "Why?"

Uraraka blinked as her hands stopped in midair.

Why? Why what?

However, she couldn’t ask that, as she had already stepped on a landmine. Fortunately, Asui came up to save her.

“Do you have anyone looking after you?” she questioned with a finger to her lips.

“I do!” the child chirped brightly, but then saddened as they slowly swung their legs back and forth. “But I got lost…”

“Do you know their phone number?” Iida asked, already pulling out his phone, “I’ll call them for you.”

“I don’t know...” the child replied, looking unconcerned over not remembering their guardian’s contact number. “But it’s fine! He’ll find me. He always does!”

Everyone exchanged looks. They were all skeptical about this. During their way to the bar, the latter half of their trip was void of any people. No matter how they looked at it, this area was filled with factories and warehouses. Why in the world was there a child so young here all alone in the middle of the night?

Didn’t anyone know how dangerous it was?

"Maybe his dad brought him to the bar or something and forgot about him," Mineta whispered, only to be stabbed in the eyeball by an earphone jack.

"Let's wait around for a bit," Midoriya suggested. “Maybe his guardian is looking around for him.”

"Ah…there goes our curfew time," Kaminari whined jokingly. He understood that finding this kid's guardian takes priority over everything else. He looked around the empty street, “What if they never show up?”

"We can always call the police afterward," Tokoyami stated.

Midoriya walked up to the child and knelt in front of them with the friendliest smile he could muster. "My name is Midoriya Izuku, what’s your name?”

“I’m Kyuusaku!” the kid replied. Those symbol-carrying eyes looked Midoriya up and down, scanning over his body before the kid brightened even more. “You’re the one that broke your arms and legs!”

Arms and legs?

Midoriya recalled the foreigner he met when he was handing out the flyers earlier today. “You watched the Sports Festival?”

Everyone was surprised, but then remembered that the people here had access to the outside channels.

“So you watch the Sports Festival!” Kaminari laughed as he crouched down in front of the kid and pointed at himself. “Then do you remember me?”

Kyuusaku shook his head, still smiling so brightly that Kaminari didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“….Don’t mind," Asui patted his shoulder.

"Did you enjoy the Sports festival?" Jirou asked.

Kyuusaku nodded, “It looked really fun! I wish I could play too…”

“Oh! Do you wish to become a Hero in the future?” Iida asked excitedly.

“Hero?” Kyuusaku blinked. They stared at Iida with wide eyes before the child suddenly burst out into laughter, as if Iida had spoken the most hilarious joke they’ve ever heard. “No way!”

Everyone just stared at the child in confusion, then to each other. None of them were able to understand the joke.

“Big brother, do you like Stain?” Kyuusaku asked, mismatched eyes locking onto Iida.

Everyone froze at the name none of them had expected to hear coming out of this kid's mouth. They automatically looked towards Iida, whose face had darkened at the memories of the Villain flickering through his mind.

“Of course we don’t like Stain!” Sero exclaimed, drawing the kid’s attention to him. “He’s a bad guy!”

“Bad guy?” Kyuusaku tilted their head cutely. “Why?”

“Because he does bad things," Sato explained.

“Like what?” the kid pushed on, not noticing the discomfort the teenagers were feeling. There was only pure curiosity on the child’s face.

“Well, like—” Kirishima swiftly caught himself and stopped talking. He couldn’t possibly talk about killing in front of a kid, but even without the redhead saying it out loud, the child already knew the answer.

Kyuusaku smiled at the redhead and finished the words for him. “Like killing?”

Everyone stared at the child who had spoken of killing with such a happy expression.

"Yes…like killing," Yaoyorozu said slowly, eyes darting to her classmates.

“But don’t Heroes kill people too?” Kyuusaku then asked.

“Of course not! Heroes don’t kill people!” Midoriya defended.

At that, Kyuusaku looked genuinely confused as they turned to Midoriya. “So when Heroes fight Villains, they hold back their strength?”

“Well, no—”

“So you don’t hold back?” the boy asked, not even bothering to wait for Sato to finish.

"When Heroes fight, we use our strength to save people," Iida told the boy. "It's not about holding back or not."

“So you fight with all your strength?” Kyuusaku giggled. “Then how do you know you won’t kill the bad people?”

Some of the students opened their mouths but found that they couldn't answer the question.

"I saw a bad person die on TV. He died when fighting Heroes." Kyuusaku told them, still smiling.

“That’s not killing,” Todoroki tried to explain.

“But someone died?”

"Yes, but those are accidents," Shouji told the boy. “It couldn’t be helped. In a fight against Villains, there are always innocent bystanders getting caught in between. A Hero’s job is to—”

“But killing is killing,” the kid stated. “No matter what reason it is, you still killed someone.”

“Kyuusaku-chan…do you like Stain?” Yaoyorozu couldn't help but ask. The child's thought process was so…well, weird. How could a child talk about killing so easily? No, it’s because they’re a child that they didn’t understand the gravity of what their words meant. Considering the amount of influence the Hero Killer brought, Yaoyorozu wouldn't be surprised if Kyuusaku, much like many others in Japan, could understand Stain’s motive.

She wasn’t the only one thinking this way. Everyone else was expecting the kid to answer yes, given the conversation they just had. But to everyone’s surprise, the warm smile on Kyuusaku’s face dropped for the first time. On that kid’s face was an expression of pure confusion as those large eyes blinked up at them.

"No," Kyuusaku answered, as if it should be obvious. “He’s just a murderer that needed excuses to kill people. Why would I like him?”

Kyuusaku’s voice and tone were purely innocent. There was no mockery, no laughter…nothing. The child’s voice only held confusion over why they even asked that.

Everyone was taken back by the child’s response. Never had they heard anyone describe Stain like that. When Stain’s name first came around, the only things discussed were his actions and the current state of Heroes. There had been many debates over whether or not Stain’s actions were right, but so blatantly calling Stain a murderer was…something else.

“Kyuusaku-chan, what do you mean by that?” Asui asked with a frown on her lips.

“Isn’t it true though?” Kyuusaku jumped down from the bench and landed onto their feet. A bright smile lifted the corner of their lips. “He just wants to kill, yet he justified his actions by making a grand excuse. Isn’t that funny?”

“Justified…?” Midoriya stared at Kyuusaku. What is this kid even talking about?

The rest of the class wasn’t doing any better. They stared at the kid strangely as if they couldn’t understand the words coming from the kid’s mouth. This was no longer weird—it wasn’t normal.

“Hey, let’s play a game!” Kyuusaku suddenly changed the topic as they walked up to the U.A students. “I haven’t played a game in a long time! Won’t you play with me?”

Midoriya opened and closed his mouth. He was still trying to wrap his head around what this child had just said.

“S-sure, what do you want to play?” Hagakure hurriedly asked when the silence dragged on for a bit too long.

Everyone was now looking at the child weirdly. There was something not right with this kid. Despite that, none of them saw Kyuusaku as a threat. What they were beginning to worry about was this child’s environment.

Just what kind of environment gave the child such a skewed viewpoint? Kyuusaku did say they don’t have parents, but what about the guardian? Was this child perhaps neglected?

Many of them were already compensating on whether or not to call the police, but then Kyuusaku spoke.

“Let’s play tag!”

“Oh! Tag! That’s a great game!” Sero laughed, trying to brighten the weird tension in the air. “I’m super good at tag!”

“We can play in that park!” Ashido said, pointing to the park right next to them. Even if there weren’t any cars around, playing on the street was still dangerous.

“Alright! Who will be it?” Kaminari asked as he looked around.

“What’s an it?” Kyuusaku suddenly asked, causing everyone to look at the child in surprise.

“Kyuusaku-chan, have you not played tag before?” Asui asked carefully.

The young child shook their head, “I’ve only seen other people play it.”

“…I haven’t either.” Todoroki suddenly spoke up, frowning as he looked at the child.

Everyone stared between Todoroki and Kyuusaku while Midoriya’s eyes widened.

He looked over to the young kid. Could it be that this child had a similar childhood to Todoroki? No, rather than saying it's similar, it's more like…

“The it is the person that catches the other people," Ojiro explained as he walked up to crouch by the child. "They catch people by tapping them. If you get tagged by the it, you’re out.”

“What happens when you’re out?” Kyuusaku asked.

“Then you have to sit and wait until the it catches everyone. After that, the game restarts.” Tokoyami finished the explanation.

“Then I want to be it!” Kyuusaku said happily before reaching their hand out and tapping Ojiro on the shoulder. “You’re out!”

No one bothered to correct the child on how they should be given time to run. The moment Kyuusaku announced this, everyone ran off, squealing and giggling like little kids. Ojiro just laughed as he scratched his cheek, not minding how quickly he got thrown out of the game.

“Do I have to run after them?” Kyuusaku blinked as they watched the older kids run away.

“Yes, if you want to catch them?” Ojiro replied unsurely. "You don't like to run?"

"No, it's just running hurts," Kyuusaku replied. They didn’t sound sad or anything…just stating a fact.

Ojiro’s eyes automatically dropped to the child’s legs. Since the kid was wearing shorts, he was able to get a good look at slender legs lacking any form of muscle. Aside from the kid being a little thin, there didn't seem to be anything wrong. Maybe they sprained their ankle? Was that why they were sitting on a bench?

Believing that he had found the answer, Ojiro turned to his classmates who were scattered on the grass. They hadn’t gone far and were all waiting for the child to begin chasing them.

“Come on, Kyuusaku-chan!” Uraraka called as she waved her hand at them.

“Guys!” Ojiro called, successfully grabbing their attention.

“What’s wrong, man?” Kirishima asked, about to walk up when he stepped on a tiny twig lying in the grass.

Snap

“…!”

Ojiro heard a sharp intake of breath behind him. He turned and saw Kyuusaku standing there, trembling with wide eyes locked on Kirishima. Those irises were dilated and unsteady…there were even droplets of sweats rolling down the kid’s face despite how chilly the night was.

Those small hands were gripping onto his doll so tightly that they were shaking and white around the knuckles.

“Kyuusaku…?” Ojiro called out gently, but the kid didn’t even seem to have heard him. Their breathing was growing faster and faster. The time between each breath was also getting dangerously short, to the point where Ojiro thought they might hyperventilate.

The other kids noticed this as well and they all began to run over. Their footsteps thundered across the grass and somewhere amongst those footsteps, another twig snapped, causing the boy to completely freeze in place, his breathing stopped altogether.

“Kyuusaku?” Ojiro reached out both hands and grabbed the child’s forearms, hoping to snap the kid out of whatever shock they were in. The moment his hands made contact, he felt something very wrong. There were multiple hard objects under his palms sinking into the kid’s arms from the pressure of his grip.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!”

Kyuusaku suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream, pushing Ojiro away and stumbled back, clutching onto the doll even tighter.

“NOOO!!!” They shrieked, voice cracking as pale fingers sank into the fabric of the doll, pulling on the surface of the fabric so hard that some of the white stuffing was being squeezed out. “NO! NO! NOOOO!!!”

“Kyuusaku-chan?!” Yaoyorozu wanted to approach, but was afraid she might agitate the child even more.

“What’s wrong?” Midoriya spoke loudly, hoping his voice could be heard through the child’s screams.

“IT’s aLL YouR fAuLt!!” Kyuusaku screamed, face morphing into what could only be described as pure malice. The doll trapped in his grip was beginning to move, but no one noticed as their eyes were all locked on the child’s face.

“I’LL cUrsE yOU! I’ll CURSE—!!”

“Q!!”

A voice bellowed from the distance, causing Kyuusaku to freeze up.

For a long moment, nobody could move. They all stared at Kyuusaku with cold sweat rolling down their faces.

What…what was that?

What exactly was that?

The sound of footsteps slowly brought the students back. One by one, they turned around to see a person emerging from the dark alleyway. He was covered in a long, black leather coat with white fur around the base of his collar.

Silvery white hair fluttered in the gentle breeze as the person slowly stepped into the light. They couldn’t see much of his face, as half of it was covered by his coat’s tall collar, but the way those golden eyes seemed to glow in the dim streetlight was unnerving.

He looked young… not much older than Class 1-A.

“A…Atsushi!” Kyuusaku seemed terrified as they clenched onto the old doll.

"What were you going to do, Q?" the white-haired boy questioned.

“I-I wasn’t doing anything!” Kyuusaku gasped, sounding desperate as they ran up to the young man. They reached out a small hand and gripped onto his black coat. “I wasn’t, so—”

When those golden eyes narrowed, Kyuusaku swallowed down the rest of the words. They clutched the doll tighter to their chest and spoke in a desperate voice.

“I’m sorry, I won’t do it again! So…don’t leave me!”

The white-haired boy’s gaze softened a little before shifting to the students.

“Thank you for taking care of this child. I apologize for the trouble,” he said, nodding in their direction before turning to leave.

“Wait!”

Upon being called, the man stopped and turned around. His golden eyes met with Midoriya’s green ones.

“Are you…” Midoriya hesitated, eyes darting down to Kyuusaku then back to the stranger. “Kyuusaku’s guardian?”

“I am,” the other replied naturally. That didn’t seem to be a lie…and from how Kyuusaku interacted with this man, he was most likely the child’s guardian. However, it was precisely because of this that Midoriya needed to stop them.

"Do you have any identification to prove that you're that child's guardian?" Iida asked, looking at the man with a face full of distrust.

No matter how they looked at it, that interaction just now wasn’t normal. It wasn’t a conversation any ordinary kid would have with their guardian. Kyuusaku was terrified of this man, yet the way they still begged not to be thrown aside was raising red flags in all of their heads.

The images of Kyuusaku’s crazed look were still fresh in their minds, but that only fueled their desire and need to protect this young child. Anyone could tell by now that the kid’s mental stability wasn’t, well, stable. The cause may very well be this person right there.

“Proof?” The man raised a fine brow as those golden eyes shifted to Iida. The moment their eyes met, Iida felt a droplet of sweat rolling down the back of his neck. He didn’t know why, but something wasn’t right with this person.

“…There is no need for me to prove anything to you,” the white-haired boy said calmly. He turned again and began to walk away.

“Wait!” Kirishima called, but the other didn’t stop. He just kept on walking with Kyuusaku by his side.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!” Bakugou roared. He knew he needed to stop them. Something wasn’t right about that guy. He couldn’t let him take the kid. “We’re not done speaking!”

“Don’t yell at Atsushi!” Kyuusaku suddenly spun around and shouted. Those eyes were glaring murderously at Bakugou who stopped in his tracks.

Bakugou was stunned. He couldn’t understand why the kid would defend this man who terrified them like that.

“Q, we’re leaving,” the boy known as Atsushi called. He didn’t look back and continued to walk away, not caring about the group of teenagers behind him.

Kyuusaku ran back to his side, one hand gripping onto the older boy’s jacket as they walked down the abandoned street. From the shadow of the alleyway Atsushi had emerged from, a dagger soundlessly slid back into its sheath as a figure slowly stepped back and vanished into the darkness.

Class 1-A could only watch as the young man and the child disappeared from their sight. None of them were able to stop them.

“We…we have to call sensei!” Aoyama all but screamed after they lost sight of the pair.

“No matter how you look at it, that’s not normal,” Jirou agreed.

“I’m calling right now!” Iida was way ahead of his classmates as he opened his phone, pausing at the contact list. Who should they call? Their teachers? But their teachers were outsiders as well, would they be able to do anything?

So Iida chose the most obvious choice and clicked on Kunikida’s contact. The blond man was the one they were most familiar with. Iida was certain he could save Kyuusaku.

“What’s wrong, Ojiro?” Shouji asked when he noticed Ojiro was still sitting on the floor, the same position he had been in since Kyuusaku pushed him away.

Ojiro didn’t reply, his head dipped low as he stared down at his own hands. When everyone else looked to his hands, they paled at the sight of red fluid covering both of his palms.

“Ojiro-kun! What happened to your hands?!” Midoriya was horrified by the amount of blood that was there.

“It’s not my blood!” Ojiro explained, voice quivering slightly. "When Kyuusaku was screaming, I tried to get him to calm down and gripped his arms, I—"

Ojiro was quickly calming down as he recalled the feeling of what he felt underneath the child’s sleeves. Whatever those were, they were sharp and all over the kid’s arms. No, rather, it felt like his hands were the ones that made those sharp objects sink into the child's flesh.

He quickly explained that to the others.

“Back then…Kyuusaku said that running hurts.” Ojiro felt sick as he finally realized what was wrong. It wasn’t the child’s legs that were hurting, it was his upper body that was hidden beneath his coat. “We have to find him, he might be in danger!”

They should have realized sooner just how incongruent everything about Kyuusaku was!

“Kunikida-san?” Iida spoke and everyone turned to see him on the phone with Kunikida. “We need help! There’s a child and— where are we? Uh…” Iida began looking around, but couldn’t see any road signs indicating their location.

“I know!” Kaminari said as he fumbled with the paper map he used to lead them to the bar.

Iida turned the phone to speaker mode and turned it towards his classmate.

“We’re on—!” Before Kaminari could say the address, Kunikida began to speak.

“That’s alright, I can see where you are on the map,” the blond stated from the other end. “I am not going to start with why all of you are even there. You have forty minutes to come back. I won’t be explaining to your teachers if you miss your curfew time.”

“Kunikida-san! There’s a kid that’s hurt and got taken away by a strange man!” Ashido explained.

“He could be a human trafficker!” Aoyama joined in the background.

“A kid was taken by a strange man?” They could all hear the frown on Kunikida’s face. “By force?”

“No, they walked away together but—” Todoroki tried to pipe in, but was interrupted by Kunikida.

“Forget it.”

“Eh?” Ashido blinked, as if unable to believe she had heard right. “What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I meant.” Kunikida said on the other end. “If you don’t know how to get back, stay put. I’ll come to get you.”

“Wait!” Midoriya yelled. “There’s an injured child who might be in danger!”

A sigh came from the other end of the line.

“Yokohama is not the outside world,” Kunikida reminded the group. “Don't stick your nose into places where it doesn't belong.”

“That’s got nothing to do with anything!” Bakugou shouted. “Did you not hear a fucking word we said?! There’s a kid—”

“And I’m telling you to forget about this kid,” the man sighed “Use your brains, would any ordinary kid appear in such an isolated place so late at night?"

“That’s why we need to help!” Yaoyorozu said, as if it was the most obvious thing. “Something isn’t right and that child could be in danger! He’s bleeding!”

Another sigh. “You know what, this is going nowhere. Just stay there and don’t move around. I’m coming to pick you up.”

Click

Just like that, Kunikida hung up, leaving the kids staring in shock and disbelief.

“What the fuck?!” Bakugou hollered, voicing out everyone’s thoughts in three short words.

Iida gritted his teeth, hands gripping tightly onto his phone before he began dialing again.

“What are you doing?” Tokoyami asked.

“The police!” Iida answered, typing in the numbers before putting the phone over his ear. He reached the helpline fairly quickly. Everyone watched hopefully as Iida explained the situation to the operator.

“It’s Kyuusaku, sir!” Iida said into the phone. “Surname? I don’t know...gender? A boy maybe? No, I don’t know for sure—we just met in the park!”

Iida seemed to be panicking as he struggled to converse with the other side. Everyone just watched as his responses grew weaker and weaker.

“Well, yes, that person claimed to be their guardian but—…yes…yes…they left together.” After that, Iida didn’t say anything. He just waited for the other side to finish before he slowly pulled the phone away from his ear.

“They…” Iida opened and closed his mouth a few times before he could finally utter the words. “They said they can’t do anything.”

“What…do you mean?” Uraraka asked. “A child’s being taken—”

“Kyuusaku-kun walked away by himself," Iida told everyone. "And that person said he’s Kyuusaku-kun’s guardian. The operator said the police won’t get involved unless we can provide proof that he was being taken away against his will.”

“What?!” Ashido was outraged. “What kind of response is that?!”

“How can…are we just going to let it happen?!” Sato spluttered.

For the first time since arriving, the kids felt the malice within Yokohama. This was wrong! This whole city was wrong! How could they all turn a blind eye to someone—a child — that needed help? No matter how they looked at it, it’s just not normal!

“I’m going.” Midoriya suddenly announced.

“Deku-kun?!” Uraraka gasped.

“Kyuusaku needs help, and I can’t turn a blind eye to it,” he said as his hands rolled into tight fists. Questions flooded through his mind as he kept replaying their conversation with Kunikida.

Why?

Why did he refuse to help even when there was someone in need of help? Wasn’t the Armed Detective Agency there to help people?

Midoriya didn’t understand, but one thing that’s clear was that no one was going to save Kyuusaku.

“It might be dangerous!” Aoyama whimpered. “Kunikida-san told us to stay put, and we can’t use our Quirks!”

“I’m just going to follow them and find out where they went,” Midoriya explained. “If I can find their location, then we can call the police and have them do something, right?”

“That’s true,” Sero agreed. “They want proof right? If they go take a look for themselves I’m sure they’ll find something wrong!”

“But you saw how Kyuusaku-chan defended that person,” Yaoyorozu pointed out.

“We can’t just do nothing!” Ojiro was the most affected by the situation due to the child’s blood staining his hands.

“I agree with Midoriya,” Todoroki said. “I’m going as well.”

“I’m coming too!” Bakugou announced, still grinding his teeth in irritation at the thought of that man. “There’s something off about that guy.”

“You guys can’t all go! You’ll get found out!” Hagakure said as she pulled off her gloves and threw them onto the floor. “How about this, I’ll go with Midoriya-kun! Since they can’t see me, I can scout the area without getting seen!”

“But your Quirk—” Sato began, only to get cut off.

“I’m not using my Quirk! I’m just naturally like this!”

Well, she wasn’t wrong about that.

“I’ll go with them!” Jirou said. “Even if I can’t use my quirk, I can still hear better than average people.”

“I’ll go with you too,” Shouji walked over to Midoriya. “If anything happens, I can take everyone and run.”

“Then I’ll—” Kirishima also wanted to volunteer, but was stopped by Bakugou.

“Any more and the enemy will notice, stupid,” he pointed out.

“We have enemies now?” the blond gaped.

“Thank you, Shouji-kun, Hagakure-san, Jirou-san,” Midoriya thanked the three. He knew he was being selfish, and he knew that it was going to be dangerous. Whoever that white haired male was, Midoriya could tell he wasn’t anyone ordinary.

Everyone else knew as well, that’s why none of them could turn a blind eye to Kyuusaku’s situation.

“Fifteen minutes,” Iida finally gritted out. Anyone could tell he strongly disapproved of it, but he also wanted to save Kyuusaku more than anyone else. “If you don’t come back in fifteen minutes, we will call the teachers and Kunikida-san.”

“Yeah,” Midoriya nodded.

“Here, take this phone.” Yaoyorozu held out her phone. “It seems there are trackers on the phone for Kunikida-san to find us. I’ve turned off the sound just in case. If anything happens, we can find you.”

“Thank you, Yaoyorozu,” Jirou said as she took the phone.

Ashido also handed the phone she carried to Hagakure, while Midoriya and Shouji took out their own phones and muted them.

“Don’t do anything dangerous, ok?” Uraraka told them.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back before you guys know it!” Hagakure said cheerfully, though no one could see her aside from the pair of shoes still on her feet.

Just like that, the four of them took off, running towards where the man had disappeared off to with Kyuusaku.

As the rest of the class watched them go, Asui let out a small croak from the back of her throat and looked up to the cloudy sky. A cold droplet of water came out of nowhere and fell onto her left cheek.

“Gero?”

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#bsd crossover #soukoku #shin soukoku #dazai x chuuya #mha fanfiction #bnha crossover

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animepopheart · 5 years ago

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Review: Human Lost

Imagine a future where death has been conquered—any injury or disease can be healed through a government-run medical system, one that not only cares for its citizens’ physical well-being, but upon which the entirety of society is based. Yet, the vision of such a future isn’t fully secure, nor is it immune to favoritism, malfeasance, and a form of dangerous transformation, a mutation that one man will manipulate while another must control as he decides how to approach his own powers and the critical role he’ll play for the future of the world.

Human Lost, inspired (mostly superficially) by Osamu Dazai’s masterpiece, No Longer Human, is a film of staggering sci-fi vision. Set just a couple of decades into the future, Japan is now under the auspices of the S.H.E.L.L. healthcare system, to which all humans are connected, kept alive, and restored through remote nanotechnology when illness, injury, or death occurs. The best benefits of the system are enjoyed inside massive city walls; on the impoverished outside, Yozo Oba, a disaffected youth, joins a friend’s biker gang and the mysterious Masao as they make a high-risk effort to push their way through the boundary. However, their operation reveals that Oba has powers previously unknown and connected to the “civilization bringing curve,” a model that shows the current path of civilization. It is also divulged that Masao is an “applicant,” a human who wields tremendous power, which he plans to use to destroy both S.H.E.L.L. and society itself, which has forced its workers into 19-hours work days to pay for a pension system for an aging population, led by elders who want to live longest of all as they “stabilize” society. But most of all, Masao hates a system that forces people to stay alive—the exception being those that under duress transform into monstrous beings with destructive power and the unique ability to die.

There’s a strong philosophical narrative at work here that will be familiar to fans of sci-fi. The ground is laid early when one character remarks, “In order for humans to be human, we need death.” That philosophy and the opposite one are the motivating factors for most of the major characters in the film, but not for the protagonist, Oba. When he first appears on-screen, Oba isn’t even alive. His corpse, brought back to life through S.H.E.L.L. tech, is an apt analogy for his life to that point, one that feels meaningless, one where he’s trying to make a connection but to whom or what, Oba does not know. His own awakening during the wall assault conducted by his friend begins to drive him forward, though it’s the friendship he forms with Yoshiko, another “applicant” like Masao and himself, that gives him purpose.

The direction of the film is as big as the narrative. There are some wonderful “shots” in the movie, with director Fuminori Kizaki makes careful choices throughout the film: close-ups are frequent, top-down shots dominate scenes conveying the grandness of inhuman monsters, and shaky-camera animation brings us into the action when necessary. The first act also has a wonderful aesthetic, one that has a touch of cyberpunk in it, with a chase sequence that feels like Mad Max meets Minority Report. In fact, those movies feel like strong influences on the movie, the latter being no surprise with executive director Katsuyuki Motohiro’s filmography including the Minority Report-influenced, Psycho-Pass. However, the energy spent in art direction seems to dwindle away in the last 2/3 of the film, maybe by design as the animators have so much story to tell, and such a complicated one, that it’s almost as if they don’t want the art to get in the way. But it does, with 3D animation that isn’t advanced enough to animate a film of this magnitude.

While 3D animation has come a long way, it still struggles to attain the beauty and fluidity of more traditional work. Dark sequences marked by brilliant bits of light dominate Human Lost, but they can’t hide the failures in animation. The action sequences are flawed, but more troubling are the characters themselves. They look too much like they’ve walked out of a video game and not far enough from the uncanny valley effect from the first photorealistic animated film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, developed some two decades prior. The faces, when not expressing any particular emotion, look really good, but as soon as they have to show anger or sadness, the facade is exposed. It becomes almost laughable when tears or sweat appear—they look like shooting stars streaking across the characters’ faces, not likely to incite the emotions the director wants us to feel. It’s a shame, too, because strong voice acting performances are wasted, both in the English dub (particularly from Macy Anne Johnson in playing Yoshiko, a challenging role as the moral center of the film, and Robert McCollum, who is making quite a career out of playing complex antagonists like Masao) and the original Japanese track—Mamoru Miyano is particularly expressive as Oba, but his voice seems at odds with the rubbery character animation; Kana Hanazawa fits better with Yoshiko, who is more even keel, but as her role grows more important and more emotional, the same problem occurs: the animation can’t properly convey her talent.

But ultimately, it’s not poor CGI that ruins Human Lost—it’s a screenplay that’s too grand in scope for 100 minutes. There are two tales simultaneously occurring—Oba is transforming from a (literally) brain-dead painter with a traumatic family history to a man whose heart (literally) can change the world, joining with a mystery sci-fi tale about S.H.E.L.L., the Qualification Ceremony, and Masao’s background, as well as a mental game of Who is right? The latter story is overly complicated, and despite giving the audience some wonderful questions to chew on, is told in a way that’s like jumping from the first two episodes of Evangelion to the clap-happy final two episodes (this is effectively what happens in a movie that runs the same length as four anime episodes and is obviously influenced by the property). Meanwhile, there’s no subtlety in the character development. We’re meant to see Masao as at once a frightening figure and one who may not be entirely wrong, but he comes across only as a crazed maniac since it’s difficult to comprehend why the system is so evil that it requires an entire “Human Instrumentality Project”-level reprogramming, as he intends. Oba, meanwhile, is wasted even further—nothing he does feels remotely human. He moves quickly from one world-altering decision to another, and while we understand why he might get to these places, the screenplay hasn’t earned his sudden changes nor his heroic growth. Lines like “I was always jealous of you” may work to help develop character in normal settings, but not when the speaker has only known the other character for two days.

The disconnected screenplay and inadequate animation veer what could be a great film off course, leading to a disappointing result. The good elements prevent Human Lost from being a truly bad film, but with it so chock-full of information that never quite connects, the end result might even worse: a film that’s forgettable. A movie lost.

Rating: C-

Human Lost’s limited theatrical release is this week, with showings today (subtitled) and Wednesday (dubbed) in the U.S. and November 6th and 9th in Canada. Visit the official website for theatrical locations and more information.

#human lost #funimation #kana hanazawa #sci-fi #anime

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yellowcanna · 5 years ago

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Two Sides, Same Coin

Summary: Since the beginning of Quirks, Yokohama has announced independence from Japan and closed itself from the rest of the world.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, shounen-ai (boy love)

Pairing: Contains mild Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya) and Shin Soukoku (Akutagawa x Atsushi)

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Available on AO3!!

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CHAPTER 5

ARMED DETECTIVE AGENCY (DAY 1: SUNDAY)

Disappointment didn’t even begin to describe the students’ feelings when they stood within the Armed Detective Agency office.

It wasn’t like they got a problem with the office. It was a lovely office with emerald floor tiles and overall it gave off a nice, relaxed feeling.

It’s just that they had expected a bit…more. As in something that didn’t look like any other regular offices.

“Ah, Kunikida-san!” A boy perked up at the sight of all the people that came in. He jumped out of his seat by a desk and quickly came over to Kunikida.

The boy was young, maybe just two or three years younger than the U.A Students—which meant he must be in middle school. The boy has sun-kissed hair and was dressed in blue overalls with a straw hat tied around his neck and sandals on his feet. His clothing made him looked like a farmer that just came from the countryside. But is there a countryside place in Yokohama?

And more importantly…

The boy was cute!

The soft features on his face that still got some baby fat, those freckles and that pure smile instantly won over all the girls in the group.

“This is Miyazawa Kenji.” Kunikida introduced the boy to their guests. "He is one of our staff at the agency.”

Staff?

“Hello~!” The boy sang energetically with such sweet smile that it practically melted all the students’ hearts—even the guys! Well, most of the guys. They didn’t know if they were seeing things, but they could have sworn there were pink bubbles floating around the boy beaming at them.

“Nice to meet you all!”

“Nice to meet you!” The class chorused—the tension and disappointment from before were all cured by that gentle smile. The boy was just so adorable that they didn’t even bother thinking over exactly what Kunikida’s introduction actually meant.

“What the heck are you morons doing?” Bakugou muttered to the sideline. With him were Todoroki and Tokoyami.

Crouched on the ground not too far away was Mineta who was biting his thumb and muttering a string of inaudible words. However, if listened closely, one could make out that most of his words were among the lines of “pretty boys should all die”.

“Kunikida-san, I got a call from Ranpo-san so I’ll be going!” Kenji informed the older blond. Kunikida nodded as he wrote something down onto his notebook.

"Bye-bye!” The boy waved to the U.A guests, skipping around them as he bounced away like a ball of happy energy.

“Bye-bye~” The students waved back union as they watched the delightful boy go. Really, he was such a precious boy!

“Hm…” Kunikida stared at his notebook, then around the empty office. “Yosano-sensei!” He suddenly called, gaining the students’ attention. “Yosano-sensei!”

They waited for a while, but there was no response.

“Um, could this person have left the office?” Toshinori supplied helpfully when it looked like Kunikida was about to call again.

“No, she’s here," Kunikida said, holding up his notebook proudly. “I have everyone’s schedule written down, there’s no mistake.”

“Okay…?” Toshinori stepped back as he watched the blond opened his mouth, ready to call out again when the sound of the door slamming open echoed from the other side of the room.

“Stopped yelling, Kunikida. I heard you." The tired voice of a woman came, followed by a long yawn.

Everyone turned to see a slender, black-haired woman stepping out of a room. Her red heels clattered against the emerald tiles as she strolled towards them, her black dress swaying to her movement.

“This is Yosano Akiko-sensei.” Kunikida gestured to the woman. Mineta instantly got hearts in his eyes while the other students greeted the older woman politely. "She is our agency's physician. If you have any injuries, you can come to her and she will have you treated.”

“So you’re the ones from U.A High School?” Yosano hummed, hands on her hips as she regarded the crowd.

“Aizawa Shouta.” Aizawa greeted as he held out his hand politely. “Thank you very much for having us.”

“Oh? The one on the news?”

Aizawa was a bit stunned by her response. News? What news?

The Underground Hero didn’t have to think too hard before an answer came to his head. As an underground Hero, he tends to avoid media, so there couldn’t be much news about him. His expression darkened as he remembered that interview he had to do when Bakugou was taken by the League of Villains.

She couldn’t have meant that one, could she?

He heard from Toshinori that these people got access to the outside media…so it was true? It wasn’t that he doubted the former No.1 Hero. If anything he knew that his information was right, but it was just hard to believe until he could confirm it himself.

“If you have any injuries, come see me at any time." The woman said, taking his hand in a firm shake.

“Yes. I appreciate it.” Aizawa thanked, then stepped aside to let Toshinori go next.

“I am Yagi Toshinori, thank you for having us.” Toshinori offered his hand to the woman. Yosano took his hand in a firm grip—but she didn’t shake it. She just held the skeletal man’s hand, showing no sign of releasing as she stared into the ex-Hero's almost hollowed-out eye sockets.

A soft smile lifted her lips, one that was much different than the confident smile she wore when she made her appearance.

“Good to see you doing well.”

Toshinori froze as he regarded the young lady before him.

“…Have we met somewhere before?” Toshinori’s face was filled with uncertainty as he stared at the woman. He didn’t recall ever meeting someone like her, but the way the woman had spoken sounded like they should know each other.

“No.” Yosano let go of his hand and moved towards the students, not giving Toshinori the chance to question anymore. “So you are the Heroes-in-training?”

“Yes! We are!” Iida replied for the class, as it was his duty as the representative.

Yosano looked over each one of them, her gazes lingering longer on some more than the others. Specifically on those with more unique features.

“You there.” Yosano nodded to a certain invisible girl.

“Eh? Me?” Hagakure pointed at herself. Or at least, she appeared to be pointing at herself. Without any gloves, it was hard to tell.

“Is your blood and organs also invisible?”

“W-what?”

“I’m asking if your body from inside out is invisible, or is it only the outer layer of your body that has camouflaging capability that makes you invisible.”

“Uh…I’m invisible inside out?” Hagakure answered unsurely. She has no idea why the lady would ask her such a weird question.

Yosano eyed the invisible girl with mild interest sparkling in her eyes.

“Will her invisibility be an issue?” Kunikida asked as he too eyed the floating clothing that’s a person.

Hagakure was practically sweating under the two adults’ intense gazes. Although no one could tell, her eyes were darting around, seeking her classmates for help.

“No,” After what felt like forever, Yosano finally drew her gaze back. “It won’t be a problem. If anything happens I will just have to get a bit more physical.”

The lady smirked as a weird glint flashed across her eyes. She then looked over to Tokoyami who stiffened under her sharp eyes.

“Well, like Kunikida said, come to me if any of you are injured. I will give you kids a special treatment~”

“Special treatment?!” Mineta was instantly panting out hot breathes at the explosive news.

“Seriously, that’s enough.” Kirishima who was standing behind Mineta frowned in disapproval.

“Since I’m not needed, I’ll be going out shopping," Yosano announced as she looked over to her co-worker.

“We’re low on Ranpo-san’s snacks and tea. If you could get some that would be much appreciated.” The blond man swiftly informed her, as if he knew she would say that.

The woman waved her hand as an indication that she will before walking straight through the students who immediately parted ways for her. Flashing the children a smile, she disappeared behind the door.

The kids stood there, listening until the sharp clattering of her scarlet heels faded into the distance. It was then that they all finally let out breaths of relief.

“Haa…she's finally gone," Hagakure muttered, sounding completely exhausted.

“Right? I’m sweating just from her looking at me!” Asido whispered.

“Gero, it feels a bit unpleasant...” Asui felt like she should know what that weird look in that woman’s eyes was when she stared at them…but she can’t think of anything.

“What do you mean?” Uraraka blinked in confusion, unable to understand what her classmates were talking about.

“I didn’t feel anything?” Sato looked around, confused as well.

“What was it like?” Midoriya was immediately interviewing Ojirou, trying to get an understanding of what exactly did they experienced.

“She looked at your particularly long, didn’t she?” Shouji looked down at Tokoyami.

Tokoyami didn’t say anything. He just stood there with his arms crossed and brows furrowed, seeming to be thinking over that as well.

“It must be a pain to be so popular!” Sero joked as he nudged his bird-headed classmate with an elbow.

While some were confused and some were concerned…there were two individuals with a completely different reaction than the rest of the class.

“Think she’ll treat me if I get a little cut?” Kaminari wondered hopefully.

Mineta, on the other hand, was already fumbling with a piece of paper, about to slide the sharp edge over his finger when Iida snatched it out of his hand.

“Ahem!”

The sound of throat-clearing quickly reminded the students where they are. They quieted down, glancing at their homeroom teacher to find the man glaring at them warningly. Remembering how Kunikida was still standing there, they realized how rude they must be just now and hastily gave the blond man their full attention.

Fortunately, Kunikida didn’t seem to notice their little chatters as he was checking something on his phone.

“It seems like the President is running a little late from his meeting.” Kunikida informed them, closing his phone and slipping it back into his pocket. “For the time being, you can look around the office and make yourselves comfortable. If you have any questions, now's the time to ask."

Jirou wasted no time raising her hand.

“Yes?” Kunikida nodded for her to speak.

“You mentioned before that there’s police here…does that mean you have your own government within Yokohama?”

Of all things Kunikida had expected them to ask, he did not expect them to still be hungover such trivial matter.

“Of course,” was the simple answer he gave the girl.

“Then why the heck are these criminals running everything?!” Bakugou snapped.

“Because they’re criminals, you can’t expect them to maintain proper laws.”

“…HAH?!” The boy exploded. Obviously, this was not the answer he was looking for. "THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!"

Kunikida arched a brow at the boy’s rudeness, but it was thanks to this that he finally took a closer look at the other children’s faces. He finally understood their problems now. In their eyes, these kids can only see the good and the bad. They are blind to everything in-between.

No, rather than saying they were blind, perhaps it was due to the environment they grew up in…

“Listen carefully as I will only repeat this once.” Kunikida began. “In Yokohama, there are two main forces that oversee the city. The Port Mafia, and the Government. In your world, those with Quirks are the norm, but in our world, ordinary people are the majorities. The Government governs over those ordinary people while the Port Mafia oversees Ability users. Of course, over time the Government also developed their own Special Ability department to oversee that as well.”

“Gero? But if there is government, why is Yokohama controlled by Port Mafia?” Asui asked in confusion.

“Because Port Mafia is stronger than the government, simple as that.” Kunikida replied. “They were the ones who secured Yokohama and created the barrier that exists to this day, so they gained initial control of this city. But!" The man adjusted his glasses. "Those are just matters of histories! One day they’ll lose their standings!”

“So…why is the government still around again?” Kirishima asked, not feeling as though the man had answered their questions. “If Port Mafia got control over everything, why are they keeping the government?!”

“Were you not listening to what I just said?” Kunikida was beginning to wonder if these kids got memory issues. “They’re criminals, they don’t run laws.”

“Then why didn’t they destroy the government?” Iida pressed on, and that’s when a small vein budged out from beneath the thin layer of skin on Kunikida’s forehead.

“That is what I kept telling you!” Kunikida gritted his teeth with a vein-popping onto his head. “They are Mafias, why would they bother with governing law and ordinary people?!”

“AND THAT’S WHY WE KEEP ASKING YOU!” Bakugou roared, finally having enough of going around in circles and not getting any answers. “WHY THE FUCK DO YOU STILL GOT GOVERNMENT HERE WHEN YOU’RE CONTROLED BY VILLAINS?!”

“THAT’S WHY I SAID—” Kunikida shot back at the kid.

“This is getting nowhere," Tokoyami grumbled as he stared at the screaming match between the grown adult and kid.

“There’s clearly a miscommunication somewhere…” Ojiro laughed weakly as he stated the obvious. As for where that miscommunication is…that's what they wanted to know.

“That’s enough!” Aizawa who had been watching by the sideline with Toshinori finally cut in. His intense glare made the students all withered under his gaze.

Kunikida quickly gathered himself and cleared his throat. He couldn't believe how he had just lost his temper to a brat who—in his opinion—was too old to be acting like one.

These kids were already sixteen! Seriously, how were they even taught in the outside world?!

“I am very sorry about that.” Toshinori hurriedly stepped up to apologize.

“No, I’m at fault too for raising my voice.” Kunikida sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Anyways,” the blond looked back to the kids, “during your stay at our agency, you will accompany some of us to learn how we operate. Since you are Heroes in training, I sure it will provide valuable experiences that you can use in your field of work. Other than that, you’re free to go around Yokohama. There are a few sightseeing locations in Yokohama you can go take a look at.”

“We’re free to go around? Just like that?” Uraraka was bewildered by the fact.

“Of course not.” Kunikida rebuked. The blond adjusted his glasses as his eyes narrowed over the students.

“As you know, Yokohama does not have Quirks. The citizens here retained the same genes as our ancestors before the rise of Quirks. When you go out, be sure to make yourself as normal as possible! Fortunately, it is autumn so no one would find it weird if you wear a bit more clothes.”

“Normal he says…he makes us sound like we’re not normal…” Ashido muttered.

“Like you for example!” Kunikida pointed a finger at the mumbling pinkie, causing her to jump in surprise. "When you leave the office, put on a pair of sunglasses and a hat to hide those horns and eyes! Your skin as well! If you can’t cover them up then put on foundations!”

“Eeeeh?!”

Kunihiga then turned to Tokoyami. “You there! Wear a hat and scarf to hide your beak!”

“What?!”

“And you!” Kunikida turned to Hagakure who staggered back.

“Me again?!”

“When you leave the office, cover yourself up from head to toe! Put on foundations on any part of your body that might be exposed! You’ll need sunglasses, face mask, and wig!"

And then, the blond began pointing out all the students that didn’t fit into his human criteria.

“Don’t hunch your shoulders! Straighten up! Don’t stick out your tongue either!” That was to Asui.

“We don’t have engines for legs, keep them covered at all times!” That was to Iida.

“Hide those extra limps!” To Shouji.

“Wear a hat!” Koda.

“Get either earmuffs or headphones to cover up your ears!” Jizo.

“Conceal your arms!” Sero.

“Wear a coat to hide your tail!” Ojiro.

“And you!” Finally, Kunikida turned to Mineta.

“Me too?!” Mineta shouted.

“Cover your head!” Kunikida demanded, jabbing his index finger down at the tiny boy. “We don’t have balls growing out of our heads!”

Mineta was petrified by the remark. A woman saying that may be appealing…but hearing that from a man turned into great insult…

Kunikida adjust his glasses as he regarded the students. Half of them looked as if their souls had gotten sucked out of their bodies. Midoriya briefly wondered if this could be considered discrimination.

"B-but…I didn't bring that much stuff.” Hagakure could finally voice out her opinion now that Kunikida stopped. Never did she think she would one day have to cover herself from head to toes like some wanted Villain.

“Same here.” Ojiro agreed. He never wore any long coat or got any clothing big enough to let him tuck in his tail. Why would he need that in the first place?

“Oh, with my Quirk I can—” Yaoyorozu was about to offer a solution when Kunikida held out a hand to stop her.

“I already have everything prepared.” The man told them. “There are boxes of clothing at the dorm you’ll be staying at. Be sure to pick out suitable ones before going outside.”

Then, the man looked over to Yaoyorozu.

“I’m sure that you are already informed, but it looks like I will need to remind you all that you are not allowed to use any of your Quirks inside Yokohama. That is the rule Port Mafia has set for you during your time here. As long as you’re within this city, you are under Port Mafia's watch. Do keep that in mind.”

“But—” Yaoyorozu was about to question why when the door behind the kids suddenly opened.

“Apologies for our lateness.” A female’s voice came as everyone turned to see a woman walking through the door. She has long brown hair and red glasses, dressed in office lady uniform. She stepped aside, revealing a shadow of a person standing behind her.

“The President has arrived.”

A tall man with silver hair and dressed in traditional Japanese clothing walked through the door. The sight of the man instantly made everyone in the room tensed up. There was a pressuring aura rolling off this man and the scowl on his face only made him that much more intimidating.

“I am Fukuzawa Yukichi.” The man’s voice was deep and stern, just like his appearance. From these short, simple words, the kids could already feel authority coming off the man. “The President of Armed Detective Agency.”

Like what they’ve done with the other agents, Toshinori and Aizawa stepped up to greet the President.

“I am Yagi Toshinori, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Toshinori extended a hand towards the man. “We are really thankful for you taking us in during our stay here.”

“I am simply returning a favour to the Port Mafia boss by letting you stay with us. You have no need to thank me.” The man said stoically, making no move to accept his guest’s outstretched hand. He glanced at the students—his sharp eyes made the kids felt like they were being stared at by a predator.

“For the rest of the week, you will follow my subordinates and learn of how we operate within Yokohama. As future Heroes, I believe this will be a valuable experience for all of you. While you observe, you must listen to my subordinates and follow their instructions at all times. Those who cannot follow the rules will be sent out of the agency immediately, is that clear?”

“Y-YES!" The students all shouted in unison, unable to help but feel a bit excited as they learned that they will be having the opportunity to follow these people to work. This was just like an internship!

“My secretary will brief you in on the rest and show you to the dormitory where you’ll be staying.” With his speech done, Fukuzawa walked away, leaving behind his secretary to do the rest.

“I am Haruno Kirako.” The secretary lady said, drawing everyone's attention to her. "First, let’s go to the dorm and get you all settle down!”

And that was how the Heroes and Heroes-in-training got back onto the bus and drove about fifteen minutes down the street. Much like the Armed Detective Agency, the dorm they will be staying was very…ordinary—and a little bit run down as well.

They gathered at the open space in front of the building where the secretary pulled out the keys to the dorms.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have enough rooms for everyone. There are only ten available rooms, so I’m afraid you’ll have to find a roommate to share. Two of the rooms will need to be a three-person room.” Haruno turned to the two teachers. "I will let the teachers decide on the students’ rooming.”

“…You guys decide on your own.” Aizawa quickly brushed off that responsibility. He didn't care how the kids decided to pair themselves up and neither does Toshinori.

The students looked at one another. It didn’t take them too long to sort themselves out.

For girls, it was:

Asui and Uraraka.

Yaoyorozu and Jirou.

Hagakure and Ashido.

For guys:

Kirishima and Bakugou.

Midoriya and Todoroki.

Tokoyami and Shouji.

Sato and Koda.

Iida, Sero and Aoyama

Kaminari, Mineta and Ojiro.

Naturally, the two teachers also had to share one room. It was in their room that they found the boxes of clothing Kunikida had mentioned.

As they move into their new living place and began to unpack their belongings, a problem soon erupted as horrified screams resonated into the air.

“My phone’s gone!”

“My camera! I’m sure I put it in here!”

“I swear mine was in my pocket!”

“I had mine in my luggage!”

“My watch! Was it dropped on the bus?!”

“Has anyone seen my phone?! It got a pink case!”

“This is…!” Toshinori stared his empty pockets before turning to Aizawa who was glaring at his bag.

It wasn’t just phones and cameras. All of their electronics were gone, including digital watches some students had brought with them...

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

“Your electronics?” Kunikida looked at the group that has gathered back in the field after somewhat getting over with the initial panics. “They were confiscated by the Port Mafia the moment you entered Yokohama.”

“WHAT?!” Ashido was the first to react to the bomb dropped over their heads. “I just bought that phone! I got a lot of things in there!”

“Same here!” Uraraka joined in, almost breaking into tears at the news. “My parents bought that for me on my birthday!”

“You can’t just take them away without asking!” Kaminari complained.

“Don’t worry!” The secretary hurriedly reassured the kids who looked as if the world had just ended. “I’m sure you’ll get them back once you leave. They didn’t want to risk you taking pictures of Yokohama and bringing it outside.”

“I wish we were informed of that before bringing us in.” Aizawa was seething. Although he could understand the logic, he didn’t approve of the method. Who knew what those criminals might do to their personal devices! This was clearly a violation of their privacy!

“Then you can take it up to the Port Mafia.” Kunikida huffed as if it wasn’t his problem.

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed.

For a second, Toshinori feared the raven-haired man might start an argument with Kunikida, but fortunately, Aizawa held himself back. Toshinori knew how Aizawa felt. He didn’t like this either. If they were told of this beforehand, then they wouldn’t even bring any phones or electronics, to begin with.

As Heroes, their personal information was very sensitive. In this modern age, all these private information can be found in their smartphones. Their contact list, their browser history, their apps...there was no telling what the Mafias might be doing to their devices while holding onto them.

“Please don’t worry.” The young secretary continued to work hard to resolve the tension. “I’m sure all of your devices are safe! The Port Mafia has no reason to tamper any of your belongings. Now that everyone’s here, how about I go through the arrangements for everyone during your stay here?”

While none of them were happy, there was nothing they could do about it. So they just listened as the girl began to go over a list of things for them.

“There is a cafe called Uzumaki on the first floor of the agency’s building. All of your meals will be provided by them. Their opening hours are 8:00 am to 9:00 pm every day. When you go, just tell them that you’re from U.A and they will understand.

As you can see, there are no baths or showers in the dorm, but there is a bathhouse just across the street. We have spoken with the bathhouse owners and they are aware you are students from the outside. Between 6:00 pm to 11:30 pm, the bathhouse will close and only open to you guys. So for those with special body structures, there will be no need to worry about exposing your identities. When you go to the bathhouse, just show them this tag and they will let you in."

And then, each student and teacher received a small wooden tag with the bath house’s mark on it.

“Lastly, if you need of Yokohama’s money, you can exchange them with anyone in the agency or any banks in general.”

“Currency?” Midoriya’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Yokohama’s currency different than ours?” The moment Sero asked that question, he already knew how stupid he must have sounded. Yokohama has been isolated for centuries. It would be weird if their money were the same as the rest of Japan’s!

“Yes. The exchange rate between Yokohama’s currency and Japan’s are 1:1.” The secretary replied. She pulled out Yokohama’s paper bills and coins, presenting it to the kids. Since Yokohama’s currency was also yen, it wasn't all that different than Japan's except appearance.

“Um, Haruno-san?” The green-haired boy hesitantly called out the woman’s name, unsure if he had got it right.

“Yes?” The secretary smiled at him. Okay, he got it right.

“Isn’t Yokohama is closed off? Why does the bank offer currency exchange?” Midoriya asked.

“Yokohama is only closed off from the outside.” The secretary explained. “The citizens living within Yokohama can leave and come anytime they want as long as their passport gets approved. Many large companies and even Port Mafias themselves have foreign business dealings with the outside world under the guise of a company in the outside world. That’s why our banks have currency exchange.”

The students were all stunned by the news. Never would they have thought that the people of Yokohama can leave the city. They had assumed it was a completely sealed off city where no one can come in or out.

But…that didn’t make any sense!

With a criminal organization controlling this place, why would they allow people to come and go as they pleased?

The secretary, oblivious to the confusion on their faces, reached into her bag and pulled out a phone. It was one of those extremely old flip phones that they don’t see anywhere else in the world nowadays. There wasn’t even a camera on that plain old device!

“These are rental phones for you during your stay. These will only work within Yokohama, so you won’t be able to make any calls to the outside world. It only has texting and calling systems. I have taped your phone’s number and the agency’s address at the back. My phone number has been set as your very first contact. If you have any questions or if anything happens, call me immediately.” The secretary instructed them seriously. “Even if you are lost, call me and I will immediately find help for you. If you got into any troubles and requires the police or ambulance, all emergency numbers in Yokohama are the exact same as Japan. Although do call us first as we might be able to assist you faster. Now then, please line up and I will hand out your phone. Unfortunately, we have limited phones, so I will give out one phone per dorm.”

Very quickly, the students lined up and soon received the phone which will be their only communication device during their stay in Yokohama.

“I didn’t think I’ll ever see one let alone use it," Jirou said as she examined the simplistic device with mild interest.

“I feel like we just went back to the Stone Age.” Sero heaved out a heavy sigh. Who in the world still use these things?! But then again, judging by how old this entire city seemed, they probably should have seen it coming.

“Here are your phones, Aizawa-san, Toshinori-san.” The secretary handed over two phones to the teachers. “Both of your phones’ contact lists got the complete contact numbers of all our employees, including the President’s. Please call anytime you need assistance."

“Thank you.” Toshinori examined the phone in his hand. Aizawa was doing very much the same.

The students may not know, but the two adults fully understood that Yokohama's technologies were way ahead of theirs. So why in the world do these things still exist here? Was there some sort of trick?

“Now then,” Kunikida who had been silent the entire time spoke. He glanced down at his watch. It was 3:00 pm already. This took more time than he liked, but fortunately, he had predicted this when making his schedule.

“I need to talk to the teachers back in the agency. There is nothing planned for today so you kids can go take a look around the city. Just remember to meet up in the office at 9:00 am sharp tomorrow. And remember,” he pointed towards some specific students, “cover yourself properly before you leave!”

The kids sweatdropped at the reminder of how some of them don't exactly fit the normal criteria. But they soon threw that behind them and started talking about where to begin their exploration of this mysterious city.

“Wait.” Aizawa quickly cut in as the class's chatter died down. The students all looked to their teacher with pleading looks on their faces. Aizawa ignored the stares directed at him and focused on Kunikida. “Is it safe for them to be wandering outside?”

“There is no need to worry. Arrangements have already been made.” Kunikida replied. Aizawa and Toshinori immediately understood what arrangement the man meant. “So long as these kids don’t use their Quirks, nothing will happen.”

Aizawa stared at the blond for a long time.

The raven-haired man weighted the danger…only to quickly toss that out of his head.

Who was he kidding? They were in the danger zone the moment they all took this field trip and thrown right under the eyes of the world’s largest criminal organization. There was no way he could keep the children lock up for an entire week. They will have to go out and see Yokohama at some point whether he like it or not.

On top of that, Nezu had given him a long talk of not restricting the students before setting off...

“I won’t stop you kids from going outside,” Aizawa turned to the kids with an intimidating look on his face. That instantly made all of them shut up and give their homeroom teacher their undivided attention. “But you must all go together, or not at all. And I don’t care what your reasons are, no one is allowed to leave the group. If one person needs to use the bathroom, three others have to follow, understand?”

“YES!" They cheered.

“Aizawa-san, Toshinori-san, this way please.” The secretary called.

Giving the kids one last look, Aizawa and Toshinori followed the two agency members back to the bus. Toshinori spared a glance back as they left. He looked over the excitement on those children’s faces as they ran for their rooms to get ready.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

Arriving back at the Armed Detective Agency, the two teachers were showed to a meeting room.

“Please, have a seat.” Kunikida said as the secretary set down a pile of documents in front of the blond before leaving to let them talk in privacy. “Most of our jobs come from client requests and cases that may pop up from the police. As the President had said, your students will accompany us to observe our work. But before that, I need to get an understanding of them so that should anything happen, we can act accordingly.”

“And what do you expect to happen?” Aizawa questioned suspiciously. Something just wasn’t sitting right with him. His instinct was telling him there was more going on in this city than what it seemed on the surface.

“It is just precaution.” Kunikida replied, but the raven-haired man wasn’t convinced. “I have your students’ reports, but I would like to hear your input as their teachers.”

Aizawa and Toshinori looked over the papers in front of them. They were all detailed documents with the students’ photos attached to each one. There were descriptions of their strengths, weaknesses, Quirks, and personalities.

“Where did you get these?” Toshinori’s brows furrowed as he looked through them, feeling uneasy that this agency got such sensitive information of their students.

“Relax, these were given to us by your principal.” Kunikida replied. “I need to make sure that these kids of yours won’t cause us any additional trouble. Especially these two.”

Kunikida gestured to two specific files with Bakugou’s and Mineta’s pictures stapled on top.

Aizawa was already feeling a headache coming. He wasn’t surprised by the man's concern about Bakugou. A lot of people were. Mineta, on the other hand, was one he didn’t expect yet probably should have.

“From what I gathered, this boy is very dangerous.” Kunikida said as he tapped his finger over Bakugou’s picture. “Just from our short interactions, I don’t need to read these reports to know that he has short temper and acts impulsively. As for the other one…”

His finger hovered over Mineta. There was a long pause before the blond man continued.

“…I frankly don’t understand the meaning behind his existence.”

The two teachers were unable to say anything back to that.

“If this Bakugou was a citizen of Yokohama, he would be put under heavy surveillance just for his personality alone never mind his powers.”

“I understand your concern.” Aizawa couldn’t remember how many times he had to repeat this line. “I can assure you that Bakugou has a high sense of justice—”

“That is not the issue.” Kunikida cut the Hero off. “Before you came, I looked over that interview you had after he,” he tapped at Bakugou, “was kidnapped by your world’s Villains.”

So they did saw that interview…

“Even those Villains believed he is better suited with them than as a Hero. Why do you think that is? This is not about whether or not they have a sense of justice; this is a matter of self-control. This is Yokohama, not your world. Your values of justices mean little here. This boy’s behaviour may not present an issue in your world, but here nothing will go his way. His rashness will only put the other kids at risk.”

“We understand. We’ll keep an eye on him to make sure he stays out of trouble.” Toshinori promised.

“I do hope so.” The way Kunikida looked at them clearly stated that he didn’t believe a word. “From what I can see, he doesn’t seem to be the type to listen to teachers either.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Aizawa gritted. Although he was a bit irritated by this interrogation—or that’s what it felt like—he nonetheless dipped his head politely.

“And give that other boy a stern talking about basic respect towards women.” Kunikida sighed, as if tired by just talking about this kind of subject. “I don’t want to get a call to go bail him out of jail for sexual harassment. Yokohama is very strict on that.”

“We’ll do that.” Toshinori sighed as well.

Mineta’s behavior was troubling indeed.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

“…Mineta-kun?”

The group of students stared at the empty spot that Mineta was just at.

What happened?

What just happened?

One moment, Mineta was there and the next, he disappeared…

“Hey, bitch! What did you do?!” Bakugou demanded, glaring daggers at the girl standing right next to where Mineta was a split second ago.

“Ah?!” The girl snarled, turquoise eyes fearlessly meeting the explosive boy’s. She patted her dress as if there was some sort of germ on there and flicked one of her thick, auburn braids over her shoulder. “That disgusting pervert was looking up my dress and you got the nerve to question me?!”

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