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[Socializing]
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…
{"What has become of the kid's family? Surely you didn't leave them on their own after their child got taken away?"}
{"They've been taken into protective custody. Until we locate the villains and prepare to neutralize the threat, they'll remain under our protection."}
{"Hah? You still haven't found them?"}
{"Unfortunately, this process takes time."}
{"Can you really say that when that kid might not have much time left?"}
{"There's a reason they took Suzuki alive instead of killing him. We'll find their location before they change their minds."}
{"Unbelievable. What will you do if it's too late by then?"}
{"It won't be. We'll make sure of it."}
{"What does that even mean?"}
"Damn," Suzaku muttered, eyes fixed on the TV where Aizawa and Vlad King faced a storm of questions with grave but focused faces.
And while at it, he casually and shamelessly waved his glass in front of Kurogiri's face. The villain didn't say a word, just filled it again with more Quirkcola.
—Fizzzz…
-Sip-
As Suzaku drank, calmly watching the broadcast, someone sat beside him.
"Ahem."
He turned lazily, giving a bored glance to the newcomer.
It was Mr. Compress.
"Poor hero. They're putting him on a burning stake for something that isn't even his fault," Compress remarked, pushing a glass toward Kurogiri, who promptly poured him a drink as well. "It's such a wonder why anyone would choose such a strenuous path."
Suzaku sneered, his eyes drifting back to the TV. "Is it really? It pays well, and you get famous while at it."
Suddenly, someone clicked their tongue nearby. "... Tsk. You don't even bother to hide it. As expected of the kid Stain tried to kill, your heart's as rotten as I'd have expected, yet you were trying to claim the title of hero? Disgusting!"
Suzaku turned slightly, catching sight of Spinner leaning against the wall, trying a bit too hard to look cool.
"Who are you, his fanboy?" Suzaku muttered, eyeing Spinner's Stain cosplay.
The lizard man clenched his fist, raising it as if proving his own determination. "I'm a follower of his ideology! This society is tainted by corrupt heroes who dare claim the title when they're not deserving of it in the slightest! It's only natural for me to agree with his vision and—"
"Fanboy."
"Why, you—!" Spinner bristled, but before he could move, Mr. Compress raised a hand to stop him.
"Now, now, there's no need to get feisty," he said calmly, before turning back to Suzaku. "Still, Spinner-kun has a point, don't you think? This society—overflowing with heroes—has become too dependent on them. Because of that, they hoard their wealth, while the corrupt system lets the most famous ones get away with anything, so long as the public image of heroes remains untarnished, and their precious status quo is maintained… That's why I joined this organization, to unmask this injustice and show it as it is to the world once more."
"Is that so? Good for you." Suzaku gave him a curt nod before focusing on the TV again.
But Compress wasn't finished.
"I know your reason for joining us is strictly business-like, given what I heard in that conversation with our supposed boss, but it wouldn't hurt to sympathize with a few of our ideals, right? Especially since we'll be comrades from now on. So tell me… what do you think? Can you really say society's fine as it is? Can you ignore the injustices this system creates?"
"I don't really care," Suzaku replied flatly, his gaze remaining on the TV. "I think there'll always be injustice—sometimes more, sometimes less—but it'll always exist. Humanity's flawed nature will never let it reach perfection."
Compress didn't look bothered. Instead, he leaned forward, his tone more invested in the conversation. "Yes, but isn't it humanity's responsibility to strive for that perfection, impossible as it may be? To make society the best it can be?"
"I wouldn't call it responsibility. That's just the way you feel."
"Ah, but if there were no sense of responsibility, we'd still be in an uncivilized world—people trampling over one another without thought, values reduced to delusions. Maybe it isn't an explicit rule, but isn't that what humanity as a whole has been striving for since ancient times, even if that desire often has gotten twisted into selfish goals along the way, delaying its process?"
Suzaku raised an eyebrow, finally tearing his eyes from the TV to glare at Compress.
"You sure talk nice."
"Of course. That's the most crucial skill of a showman—"
"I almost forgot for a moment that you guys tried killing my classmates just yesterday."
At that, Mr. Compress fell silent.
"I don't know man, but doing that really didn't seem all that essential for a better society," Suzaku said, his face not particularly expressive. He spoke coldly as he swirled the cola in his glass. "So spare me the theatrics. Keep that to yourself when you want to justify the shit you do."
Spinner's voice came again. "You call them your classmates, but they're just more seeds of corruption waiting to grow. Fake heroes wanting to pollute this society further. If we'd killed some of them, we'd have done the world a favor."
Suzaku didn't reply.
Instead, he stood up and walked toward Spinner.
He was taller, not by much, but enough to look down at him once they were face to face.
"You talk like you know them."
"Hmph, I don't need to know them. Anyone Stain hasn't personally recognized isn't a real hero."
Suzaku let out a low chuckle.
"No wonder you're his fan. You're both braindead to the limit." He glanced at Stain, who sat with a blank gaze in the corner, staring at the floor as if it was the murderer of his mother, and smirked before turning back to Spinner. "One has protagonist delusions, and the other just follows them like a good little dog. Quite the pair."
"Y-you—you called me a dog?! You don't know anything about Stain-san's ideals! You're just another rotten fake hero who uses the title for your own convenience!"
Suzaku tilted his head faintly, his eyes narrowing. "Maybe so. But my classmates aren't like me. They're good people. Yet you don't even bother to check—you just label them fake heroes and add them to your kill list because baldy over there didn't say so. For someone supposed to be carrying some noble mission, your criteria for doing something like murder sure are lax. What does that make you if not a good little doggy wagging his tail?"
Spinner gritted his teeth. "Take that back…!"
The redhead sneered, eyes flashing momentarily towards Stain again, whose blank stare had changed slightly, with his gaze now landing on Suzaku with cold, unblinking eyes, despite his countenance being roughly the same.
Despite it, he simply sneered. "Or what? You and baldy over there gonna try something? I'd love to see you try."
"Enough."
Shigaraki, who until then had been sitting on his own, on a table away from everyone, suddenly stood from his seat and made his way to them.
"Cut it out, Spinner. All you're doing is letting him rile you up further by answering him."
"Tsk." The reptilian man clicked his tongue and turned away.
"And you." Shigaraki turned his glare to Suzaku, narrowing his eyes. "Just because Sensei allowed you to join us doesn't mean you can run your mouth however you like. So behave—or I'll make sure to send you to Garaki with a few limbs missing when it's time for your treatment. I'm sure he can give you new ones after that."
"Spooky," Suzaku answered, utterly unserious.
The two glared at each other for a few seconds, sparks almost visible between them—
… until Suzaku yawned and walked back to his seat, leaving them behind.
Compress was still seated there, but the atmosphere had turned awkward, so he stayed quiet.
Once seated, Suzaku let out a sigh and drank the rest of his Quirkcola in one gulp. Then, after letting out a satisfied breath, he pushed the glass to Kurogiri.
"Hey, fog face, pour me more."
"You'll get diabetes from that much Quirkcola, Suzaku Suzuki."
"I'm built differently from scrubs like you. If I continue drinking, Diabetes will get me instead."
"...?"
Confused, Kurogiri scratched his foggy head before sighing and pouring some more cola on Suzaku's glass.
Victorious, Suzaku gulped down his drink before returning to look at the TV.
But just when he thought he could finally watch the press conference in peace, a head with blonde hair tied into two buns popped out from behind the counter, right in front of him.
"Hi there, my name is Toga!"
"Who asked?" Suzaku didn't even spare her a glance.
"Well, aren't you rude?" she pouted. "And here I thought we could be friends since we're gonna be teammates."
"I don't befriend fodder," he said, giving her a small look of disdain. "And you're all pretty much fodder."
"What did you say, you bastard?!" a voice came from behind—angry and outright hostile—only to turn depressed the next second. "You're right. I'm sorry we're so pathetic."
"...?"
Suzaku tilted his head back, seeing Twice walking up to them.
"And now who the hell are you?"
"I'm Twice, you bastard! Learn your place! When speaking to a senior, show respect!"
"I only respe—"
"Hi there, I'm Twice! We have cupcakes and cookies."
"..." This time, it was Suzaku's turn to be speechless. Tilting his head in bafflement, he asked, "You wrong in the head or something?"
"Something like that, actually," Twice replied, unusually neutral this time. "Anyway, welcome to the League of Villains, kiddo!"
With that, he offered a handshake.
Suzaku glared at it. A few seconds went by, leaving Twice with his hand awkwardly hanging.
Until—
"Eh?"
Suzaku handed him his glass, then turned back to the TV—leaving the poor villain holding it, confused.
Once again, Toga spoke up, undeterred by Suzaku's not-so-friendly attitude. "Hey, hey, so how old are you? Fifteen?"
"Spiritually, I'm in my forties," Suzaku answered without looking back.
"Good one, kid!" Twice slapped his thigh.
'I wasn't joking, though,' Suzaku sneered inwardly.
Doing quick math, that was actually his real age—or the age of his soul, if he still had one.
He sure didn't feel like a forty-year-old man, though. He hadn't progressed much mentally after dying; if anything, he'd regressed.
Being in a kid's body for so long does that to a man.
His amazingness, however, never diminished.
"I like your hair a lot! It reminds me of something I really like!" Toga chirped, resting her head on both hands while leaning on the counter, swaying it left and right with a happy expression.
"Yeah? What?" Suzaku looked at her from the corner of his eyes.
"Blood!"
"... Of course it's blood." Suzaku deadpanned and went back to watching the TV.
"You also remind me of something I like!" Twice pumped a fist, tone strangely enthusiastic.
Suzaku just hummed in acknowledgment, not even wanting to ask.
It didn't seem necessary anyway—
"Shut up! Nobody said anything to you, brat!"
Suzaku closed his eyes lazily.
'As expected of a villain den… It's full of lunatics.'
…
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| Kamino's Police Station: |
…
"So the time has finally come," Naomasa Tsukauchi muttered, looking through countless files as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously—but his eyes still shone with determination.
"Indeed. All these years of investigation culminate here… No, it's more than that, isn't it?" said Kenji, the dog-headed police chief, checking over more papers.
"If we consider All Might's words… then no. This will be the culmination of an entire era." Tsukauchi's eyes narrowed.
And so did Kenji's.
"Illegal experimentation, the abduction of several children, funding an orphanage for child trafficking, not to mention the bribery of multiple influential people, and funding of multiple villain groups… This is no longer a matter of villains versus heroes. This is a fight against the most twisted side of Quirk society. A monster who's been alive for over a hundred years, and whose roots still run deep in our country—woof."
A heavy silence fell between them.
Then Kenji lifted his head, gaze steeled.
"But it's time to uproot it once and for all."
With that, he walked away, opening the door to the office and stepping through.
Tsukauchi stared after him, uncertain—but after glancing down at the papers in his hands, he sighed and followed.
And as soon as he crossed the doorway—
"Well, we were waiting."
A deep voice called out.
Before him stood the image of dozens of heroes gathered together.
All Might, Gran Torino, Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, Edgeshot, Best Jeanist, Mirko, Gunhead, a few others—and Endeavor, who had just spoken—filled the room.
All Might stepped forward, clenching his fist. "We are ready, Tsukauchi-kun."
Tsukauchi sighed; the pressure was immense. He glanced at Kenji, who now stood to the side and gave a slight nod toward the heroes—telling him to take over.
Taking a deep breath, Tsukauchi moved up.
"We have currently determined two of the villains' bases. The first one…" He pulled out a small remote from his pocket and pointed it at a corner screen, revealing an image of a building camouflaged among others. "…is where we assume their base is located, and where Suzaku Suzuki is most likely being held. It was identified thanks to witnesses reporting people of strange appearance entering and leaving the building. At first, these reports didn't seem relevant, until we realized some of the descriptions matched those of the villains who attacked the students."
He clicked the remote again and displayed another image — a seemingly ordinary building. "And this is the second. We believe this is where experiments to create the bioengineered soldiers known as Nomus are carried out and where they're stored. From studies on recovered specimens—once several years ago and a few times recently—we detected components linked to Nomu creation that trace back to this location, or to sites very near it, under abnormal secrecy. That's why we have reason to believe this will be the main source of firepower should things turn ugly and the villains try to deploy more manpower by summoning these beings with one of their Quirks."
He flipped a page in his notebook, checking his notes for a moment before continuing. "The few Nomus we've found that were not dead date from years ago. According to our investigation, they remain passive even if they're injured or provoked. However, given their multi-Quirk composition and the attacks we've seen in recent months, we assume a command must be issued for them to act. That means if we can cut off them off before the villains can get to them, they won't be a problem and won't be able to reinforce the villains in the main base."
-Thud-
He slammed both hands on a nearby table, meeting the heroes' gazes. "Hence, two teams will be formed. One will neutralize the Nomus and prevent them from aiding the villains. The other will engage the villains directly, apprehend them, and rescue the hostage."
""Oh!"" The heroes nodded in unison.
Tsukauchi allowed a faint smile. "Very well. Here's a debriefing on the information we currently have about the villains."
One by one, the villains' identities, Quirks, and criminal records were displayed for all the heroes to see. Tsukauchi then divided the group into the two assigned teams, explaining each hero's role and the tactics each team would adopt once the raid began.
Having debriefed everyone, Tsukauchi gave the heroes a moment to discuss the plan. Soon enough, chatter broke out among them, and he finally allowed himself a short break. He leaned his back against the wall and exhaled.
Kenji approached. "Good job, detective. I think we're ready."
Tsukauchi nodded with a faint smile, but it faltered as he looked back at the assembled heroes. "Chief, do you think we were fast enough? Given these villains' records… I'm worried Suzaku Suzuki might be out of our reach."
"You mean…?"
"They might not want him dead, but Suzuki was once kidnapped by the same group—or someone connected to them—because his body was a prime subject for experiments. So it's safe to assume their motives haven't changed."
Kenji closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Tsukauchi's worry showed on his face, fearing the worst.
Then Kenji let out a small sneer and smiled calmly. "I wouldn't be so worried."
"Why?"
"You could call it intuition. I have a feeling that kid's pretty resilient."
"That doesn't exactly reassure me."
"Well, if you want something more concrete… remember Sawaya Tatsuo?"
"I do recall him, yes. He helped us in a raid against the villains two or three months ago. He was also an old acquaintance of yours and Suzuki's master—what about him?"
"I wasn't his disciple, but I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't have trained a rash idiot. No matter how brutish Suzuki seems, even if he does not have the strongest Quirk, I'm confident he's quick-witted enough to hold out until we get there."
Tsukauchi considered that, then nodded. He didn't feel fully reassured, but if Suzaku wasn't needlessly provoking the villains, that was a good sign.
"Albeit," Kenji added with a dry smile, "he might've trained an abrasive, mocking disciple, much like himself was… so that could be a problem."
Tsukauchi deadpanned.
After massaging his temple, he cleared his throat to call the heroes' attention back. "Everyone. It's time."
The heroes straightened and began filing out of the office. As they left, Kenji grabbed a radio and barked into it—not literally, though, he had a dog head, but he didn't outright bark.
"This is Chief Kenji—initiate the raid. All units advance and lock down the area."
The police station erupted into organized chaos as teams mobilized. Tsukauchi rolled up his sleeves and squared his shoulders.
"Let's do this."
…
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: And so, the heroes make their move, unbeknownst to the villains.
I wanted to show a bit of what the previous events, from Suzaku's infancy until this day, have caused. In this case, the police have recovered several alive Nomus from the first time Suzaku was kidnapped, and have been aware of All For One's alive status for a while now, in contrast with the series where it was unknown until he literally appeared and wrecked some heroes before fighting All Might.
I want to expand on what else it might have caused, but at the moment, my mind has not been able to think of any ramifications.
Either way, in these cases, I come up with something good eventually.
At the last second, usually.
Another consequence is that, thanks to Tiger having gotten beaten up badly by the Nomu—and also because Suzaku met her—another hero joined the rescue operation. Mirko.
Honestly, I don't know what I'm gonna do with her, but that's the magic of life.
I'll see as I write what I have planned, and change things whenever they might seem more fun.
Also, the next chapter shouldn't take that much, given I'm in a boosted state right now and I'm writing faster than usual. So, yeah, expect a chapter in not too long.)
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